XXXVII. LIGNUM VITÆ. E ST locus ex omni medium quem credimus orbe, Hic ego de sterili succisum robore lignum XXXVII. Fabricius, Poëtt. Vet. Christ. Opp., p. 302.—This graceful allegory, which of course is not Cyprian's, has yet in time past been sometimes attributed to him, and is found not unfrequently printed with his works. Whoseever it may be, the allegory is managed with singular skill, nor could one beforehand have supposed that, keeping so close to the one image with which he starts, and introducing no new element which is not perfectly consistent with it, the poet could have set out so admirably Christ's cross (1-10,) his death and burial (11,) his resurrection (1214,) his ascension (15-17,) his constitution in the twelve of a Church (18-21,) the gifts of Pentecost (22-25,) and the whole course of the Christian life from its initiation in baptism and repentance (27, 37-39,) to its final consummation in glory, (68.) 3. sterili robore] Does this mean the tree of life? It is certain that the early and middle age legends are almost infinite, which connect in one way or other the cross of Christ with the tree of life; the aim of all being to shew how the cross, as the true lignum vite, was fashioned from the wood of that tree which stood in the Paradise of God. The legend appears oftenest in this shape, namely, That Seth was sent by his dying father to obtain a slip of that tree, which having by the grace of the angel at the gate obtained, he set it upon his father's grave, that is, on Golgotha, the "place of the skull," or spot where Adam was buried. It grew there from generation to generation-each significant implement for the kingdom of God, Moses' staff, Aaron's rod, the pole on which the brazen serpent was exalted, having been taken from it; till at last, in its extreme old age, its wellnigh dead stock furnished the wood 5 Non tamen hos illis, qui se posuere, colonis Crevit in immensum; cœlumque cacumine summo Ecce sub ingenti ramorum tegminis umbrâ Fons erat: hic nullo casu turbante serenum 15 20 25 of passion, and thus it again became, and in the highest sense, the true tree of life, bearing the fruit which is indeed unto eternal life. This, and other forms of the same legend, constitute some of the fairest portions of what may without offence be called the Christian mythology. We find allusions to them in the Evangelium Nicodemi, (Thilo, Codex Apocryphus, v. 1, p. 686,) and Calderon has wrought them up into two magnificent dramas, the Sibilla del Oriente, and El Arbol del mejor Fruto. 20, 21. Cf. Ezek. xlvii. 12; Rev. xxii. 2. Perspicuis illimis aquis, et gramina circùm 35 Hunc circum innumeræ gentes populique coibant, 30 Ergo ubi cœlestem ceperunt ora saporem, 40 45 50 55 Multi verò bono portantes pectore, totis Accipiunt animis, penitusque in viscera condunt. 60 Ergo qui sacros possunt accedere fontes, 65 62. Septima lux] Forty rather than seven was the number of days which generally the ancient Church desired to set apart for the immediate preparation for baptism: yet within that forty, the last seven may, and would, have had an intenser solemnity, even as the traditio symboli very often did not take place till the seventh day preceding; thus, not till Palm Sunday, for those who should be baptized on Easter Eve. |