Bellarmine on Psalm 127 : Verse 4

Verse 4

Thy children as olive plants, round about thy table. 

Filii tui sicut novellae olivarum in circuitu mensae tuae.

The third blessing is now described, namely bringing up children. For men who fear God and who walk “in his ways,” will have not only numerous children but they will be good and moral children, because the parents will teach them from infancy to fear God and to walk “in his ways.” And so he says: “Thy children as olive plants,” that is, they will be like the best shrubs, such as olive plants, which are evergreen and produce the most sweet fruit; they will not be like brambles, or thorny shrubs, or barren plants; they will be “round about thy table,” so that seeing them all at the same time, and eating with them and living together, you will obtain the greater delight from them. All this applies also to spiritual children; when the father feeds them with the Word of God and sees them make progress, he is wonderfully delighted . And He says along with the Apostle: “My joy and my crown; so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.”[1]

[1] Therefore, my dearly beloved brethren, and most desired, my joy and my crown; so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. Itaque fratres mei carissimi, et desideratissimi, gaudium meum, et corona mea : sic state in Domino, carissimi. [Philipp. iv. 1]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.