Bellarmine on Psalm LXXXVI: Verse 2

Verse 2

Glorious things are said of thee, O city of God.

Gloriosa dicta sunt de te, civitas Dei!

Intoxicated with the spirit, and admiring the city’s excellence, just as the prophet began abruptly with the words : “The foundations thereof, etc.,” so he changes with no delay his manner of speaking and and addresses the city, saying: “Glorious things are said of thee, O city of God,” that is: do not wonder, O holy city, if I began to speak somewhat abruptly, for I am overwhelmed by the number of your praises ; for many are glorious, magnificent and outstanding things told me of you by the Holy Spirit. Indeed, who could keep to any order in telling the praises of this city, where God will be all things to all men, and where those good things will be saved for the chosen, “which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man.”[1] [2] Now although these glorious things are said, strictly speaking, about the city of God, which is in heaven, and in a certain manner about that city which is spread on earth throughout the whole world : yet “glorious things are said” also about the earthly Jerusalem, as a type of the Church, a royal and sacerdotal city; for in her were kept the temple of the Lord, the ark of the covenant, and many other things;  and what is greatest of all, it was there that the King of Angels and the Lord of all things taught, performed miracles, and having worked the redemption of the human race there, rose from His tomb, sent the Holy Spirit from heaven, and laid the foundations of His Church, to endure forever.

[1] From the beginning of the world they have not heard, nor perceived with the ears: the eye hath not seen, O God, besides thee, what things thou hast prepared for them that wait for thee. A saeculo non audierunt, neque auribus perceperunt; oculus non vidit, Deus, absque te, quae praeparasti exspectantibus te. [Isai. lxiv. 4]

[2] But, as it is written: That eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love him. Sed sicut scriptum est : Quod oculus non vidit, nec auris audivit, nec in cor hominis ascendit, quae præparavit Deus iis qui diligunt illum : [I Cor. ii. 9]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.