The Sacrifices and Feast of Dedication

We read that two altars were set up in the temple built by Solomon, one outside and one within. On the one that was outside, the sacrifice of animals took place, while on the one inside, the burning of incense was offered. Let us see, brothers, whether there are two altars set up in ourselves, the one that is of the body and the other that is of the heart. God, finally, asks a twofold sacrifice of us: the one, that we be chaste in body; the other, that we should be pure of heart. For this reason good works are offered on the exterior altar, that is, in our body. May holy thoughts emit a sweet fragrance in our hearts, and let us continually do what is pleasing to God on the altar or our heart. We celebrate the consecration of an altar with joy and in right order of things at the time when we offer the altars of our heart and body purified in the sight of the divine majesty and with a good conscience.

But we should note this too: having explained the dedication and subsequent festival, Scripture concludes, “And Solomon dismissed the people, who blessed the king and set out for their own dwellings joyfully and glad of heart for all the goodness the Lord had done for David his servant and for his people Israel.” When he has brought to completion the gift of resurrection, our Lord dismisses his elect joyfully to their eternal dwelling places. Surely he does not move them further away from his presence but lets them pass into the dwelling place of the heavenly fatherland after the division at the final judgment (which, according to the saying of the apostle, we know will take place in the air), so that each may receive his promised seat in the kingdom in proportion to his deserts. What is said here, that the people set out for their own dwellings, refers to the setting-out of which our Lord speaks in the Gospel: “In my Father’s house are many mansions.” And it is well said that the people set out for their own dwellings while blessing the king, because this is the single supremely tranquil and joyful action of the heavenly citizens, singing hymns of thanksgiving to their Maker. Thus is it written, “Happy are they who dwell in your house; they will praise you forever.” Thus the same prophet [David] has filled the final seven psalms with the sweetness of the divine praises; moreover, in the eighth psalm before the end of the psalter, he commemorates by blessing the Lord for his victory in the fight in which he killed the giant [Goliath]. In this he clearly indicates that all who triumph in their contests against the malignant enemy here below will sing the praises of their Maker and Helper there, where they will have true rest. “They blessed the king and set out for their own dwellings joyfully and glad of heart for all the goodness the Lord had done for David his servant and for his people Israel.” The just do indeed go into the dwellings of the heavenly mansions joyfully because of the goodness they have received from the Lord. Although the labors of this age are burdensome and prolonged, whatever ends in eternal blessedness seems short-lived and trifling. Hence each one of us, dearly loved, must press on with his devout actions by exerting himself to the extent of his ability by encouraging, entreating and rebuking in the building up of the house of God, lest, if the heavenly King catches sight of anyone slothful now in the work [of building] his temple, he may make him an outcast from his great solemn celebration at the time of the dedication.

"Solomon held a great feast, etc." [1 Kings 8:65] It is said that Solomon held a great feast, and all Israel with him; a great multitude from the entrance of Hamath unto the brook of Egypt before the Lord; by the entrance of Hamath, it means the northern region of the promised land; by the brook or torrent of Egypt, as the Chronicles name it, it designates the southern. I think the reader will be pleased to quote some passages more extensively from the words of Saint Jerome. It is written in the book of Numbers, in which the entire promised land is divided in a brief speech by the four regions: The southern part shall begin from the wilderness of Sin, which is near Edom, and shall have its boundaries against the east at the Salt Sea, and shall circle the southern region by the ascent of Scorpions, so that they pass through Zin, and reach as far as the south to Kadesh-Barnea. From there the boundaries will proceed to the village called Adar, and extend to Azmon, and the border will go round from Azmon to the brook of Egypt and shall end at the Great Sea shore. Concerning which in the last vision of the prophet Ezekiel it is thus said: The southern boundary southward from Tamar unto the waters of Meribah (Ezek. 47), that is, of contradiction. Also Kadesh, and the brook until the Great Sea, which means the broad wilderness of Sin, which is near Edom, and in the Red Sea to circle its boundary, and by the ascent of Scorpions, and by Zin, and Kadesh-Barnea, and the courtyard or village of Adar, and from Azmon to reach up to the brook of Egypt, which flows into the sea near the city Rhinocorura. Here indeed, the boundary of the southern region begins at Thamar, which is a city in the wilderness, which Solomon built with remarkable works, and today is called Palmyra, and in the Hebrew language is called Thamar, which in our language sounds as "palm"; up to the waters of the dispute of Kadesh, which is undoubtedly in the desert. And the stream enters the Great Sea, which extends along the shores of Egypt and Palestine. It follows in the book of Numbers: But the western region will begin at the Great Sea, and will be closed by that end (Num. XXXIV): that is, from sea to sea, from the stream namely of Rhinocorure, which flows into the sea, up to the place where the city of Hemath of Syria is. Whose name Ezekiel puts in this region: And the border, he says, of the sea, the Great Sea from the boundary straight on, until you come to Hemath (Ezek. XLVII), which is now called Epiphania, with the name changed from the cruelest tyrant Antiochus; for he had the surname Epiphanes. Moreover, to the northern part, he says, the boundaries will begin from the Great Sea, reaching to the highest mountain, from which they will come to Hemath up to the borders of Sedada, and the boundaries will go up to Zephron and the village of Enan. These will be the boundaries in the northern part (Num. XXXIV). The Hebrews say that the northern region begins from the Great Sea, which extends along the shores of Palestine, Phoenicia, and Syria, which is called Coele, and Cilicia, and through Egypt extends to Libya. But what he says, reaching the boundaries up to the highest mountain, the same Hebrews consider it to mean either Mount Amanus or Taurus, which seems more likely to us. And the boundaries will go, he says, up to Zephron, which city today is called Zephyrium, a town of Cilicia. What follows, and the village of Enan, for which in Hebrew is written Haser Enan, which means the atrium of the fountain, is the boundary of Damascus. Hence Ezekiel says: And the boundary will be from the sea to the atrium of Enan, or Haser Enan, the boundary of Damascus, and from the north to the north, the northern region (Ezek. XLVII). From there, he says, they will measure the boundaries toward the eastern region from the village of Enan to Sephama, and from Sephama the boundaries will descend to Rebla opposite the fountain. From there they will reach toward the east to the sea of Chinnereth, and extend to Jordan, and finally end at the most salty sea (Num. XXXIV). Thus from the boundary of the northern region, that is, the atrium of Enan, the boundaries extend to Sephama, which the Hebrews name Apamea. And from Apamea the boundaries descend to Rebla, which is now called Antioch in Syrian. And so you may know that this Rebla signifies the city which now in Coele Syria is the most famous, it follows, opposite the fountain, which is clear to signify Daphne, from which the above-mentioned city enjoys abundant waters. From there, he says, the boundaries will reach toward the east to the sea of Chinnereth, that is, the lake of Tiberias. However, it is called a sea, though it has sweet waters, according to the idiom of Scripture, where gatherings of waters are called seas. And the boundaries will extend, he says, to the Jordan, and finally be closed by the sea, either the Dead Sea or (as some think) the tongue of the Red Sea, on whose shore Aila is situated.