“He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and every one that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.” (John 15:2.)
Saint Ephrem the Syrian offers the following insight on this verse from today’s Gospel proclamation (John 15:1-8):
“The sons of truth grow large on this Branch of Truth;
they have been perfected and have
become fruits fit for the kingdom.
But, although the Branch is living, on it are
also dead fruits that only seem to blossom.
The wind tested them and shook down the wild grapes.
Blessed is he who crowned by [the Spirit] those who held fast in him!
Jesus, bend down to us your love that we may
grasp this Branch that bent down her fruits for the ungrateful;
they ate and were satisfied, yet they demeaned
her who had bent down as far as Adam in Sheol.
She ascended and lifted him up and with him returned to Eden.
Blessed is he who bent her down toward us that we might seize her and ascend on her.
Who indeed will not weep that although the Branch is great,
the weakness of one unwilling to seize her greatness maintains that
she is a feeble branch — she who has conquered all kings and cast
a shadow upon the entire world! By suffering her power has increased.
Blessed is he who made her greater than that vine from Egypt!
Who will not hold fast to this Branch of Truth.
She bore the true ones; she shed the false.
Not because they were too heavy for her did she shed them.
For our sake she tested them in the breeze;
it shook down the shriveled;
it ripened the firm.” (Hymn Against Julian: On the Church, 5.)
they have been perfected and have
become fruits fit for the kingdom.
But, although the Branch is living, on it are
also dead fruits that only seem to blossom.
The wind tested them and shook down the wild grapes.
Blessed is he who crowned by [the Spirit] those who held fast in him!
Jesus, bend down to us your love that we may
grasp this Branch that bent down her fruits for the ungrateful;
they ate and were satisfied, yet they demeaned
her who had bent down as far as Adam in Sheol.
She ascended and lifted him up and with him returned to Eden.
Blessed is he who bent her down toward us that we might seize her and ascend on her.
Who indeed will not weep that although the Branch is great,
the weakness of one unwilling to seize her greatness maintains that
she is a feeble branch — she who has conquered all kings and cast
a shadow upon the entire world! By suffering her power has increased.
Blessed is he who made her greater than that vine from Egypt!
Who will not hold fast to this Branch of Truth.
She bore the true ones; she shed the false.
Not because they were too heavy for her did she shed them.
For our sake she tested them in the breeze;
it shook down the shriveled;
it ripened the firm.” (Hymn Against Julian: On the Church, 5.)
Collect
O God,
Who through Your Spirit
raised up Saint Teresa of Jesus
to show the Church the way to seek perfection,
grant that we may always be nourished
by the food of her heavenly teaching
and fired with longing for true holiness.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Who through Your Spirit
raised up Saint Teresa of Jesus
to show the Church the way to seek perfection,
grant that we may always be nourished
by the food of her heavenly teaching
and fired with longing for true holiness.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen
