Bellarmine on Psalm 128: Verses 5-7 (conclusion)

Verses 5 & 6

Let them be as grass on the tops of houses: which withered before it be plucked up: Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand: nor he that gathereth sheaves his bosom.

Fiant sicut foenum tectorum, quod priusquam evellatur exaruit, de quo non implevit manum suam qui metit, et sinum suum qui manipulos colligit.

There is another prayer which also refers to a prophecy : for it signifies that the happiness of the persecutors will be of a most brief duration, and with wonderful imagery he compares it to grass, which is in itself next to nothing and of no great worth; as it says in the Gospel : “that is today … and tomorrow is cast into the oven(’s furnace);”[1] but not satisfied with having compared it to grass, he adds that it is like grass which grows, not in the fields, but on the roofs of houses; that is, comparing it to the smallest of plants which grows on roofs, which is of no value and has no use : and for this reason no-one cuts it or binds it into bundles, but it is just left to dry up and die.  Now to us, who see nothing of less value and usefulness, this may seem an exaggeration, yet when we come to the last judgement, it will seem to be an understatement; for what will it be like to see those men who were once so rich and powerful, and who thought they had established for themselves their households in their kingdoms and empires, to see them, I say, wretches cast down into the entire world’s deepest pit? And to see those who, habituated to pleasure and enjoyment, incapable of enduring the slightest inconvenience, delivered into everlasting torments, there to remain with no consolation through all eternity.  

Verse 7

And they that have passed by have not said: The blessing of the Lord be upon you: we have blessed you in the name of the Lord.

Et non dixerunt qui praeteribant : Benedictio Domini super vos. Benediximus vobis in nomine Domini.

Because he has said that the grass on the roofs is not usually cut and gathered up, he now adds that those gathering (this grass) will not be blessed by passers-by in the way that those men are blessed who harvest hay or corn which springs up and grows in the fields; this refers to the greater confusion of the wicked, who are compared to the grass growing on the roofs. He therefore says : It has never been the case, nor will it ever be the case, that those who pass by should bless them that harvest you; for they are not harvesting you but those men who clean the roofs cast you into a fire or into the gutters. Now although the blessing of the passers-by pertains to the men harvesting, it also redounds to the benefit of what is being harvested; for the passers-by pray that the harvest will be ripe and plentiful; and so the absence and lack of a blessing redounds upon the wicked themselves, whom no-one will bless at the last judgement, and no-one will have pity on them; but they will be despised and condemned by all, because this pertains to the greatest disgrace. No-one will therefore say to them: “The blessing of the Lord be upon you;” but rather on the contrary, the words will be spoken by Christ the judge and by all His Saints: “Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire.”[2]

[1] Now if God clothe in this manner the grass that is today in the field, and tomorrow is cast into the oven; how much more you, O ye of little faith? Si autem foenum, quod hodie est in agro, et cras in clibanum mittitur, Deus sic vestit : quanto magis vos pusillae fidei? [Luke xii 28]

[2] Then he shall say to them also that shall be on his left hand: Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels. Tunc dicet et his qui a sinistris erunt : Discedite a me maledicti in ignem aeternum, qui paratus est diabolo, et angelis ejus : [Matthew xxv 41]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.