celebrated by the saints in the heavenly Jerusalem, as in Peter Abelard's splendid hymn, O
BooklV 255 they did in so literal-minded, materialistic a way26 that this was the day on which they found fault with the Lord our savior on seeing him working, and on which he gave them this splendid answer about the work of the Father, with whom he too was working equally, not only at the government of the whole created universe, but also at our salvation. Now however, in the time after the full revela tion of grace, that observance of the sabbath, in the shape of leaving one day vacant or free from work, has been eliminated from the observances of the faithful.
What they do in fact observe in this present time ofgrace, those who work what ever good they work in the hope of a future rest and who do not boast about these good works oftheirs as though they had any good which they had not received,27 is a perpetual sabbath. They accept, you see, and understand the sacrament of baptism as if it were the day of the sabbath, the day, that is, of the Lord's inactivity in the tomb, and so they rest from their former works, and walking now in newness of life (Rom 6:4), they acknowledge that God is at work in them, who both works and rests simultaneously, both bestowing on his creation the management it requires and enjoying in himself an eternal tranquillity.
The question raised: why God only sanctified the day of his rest
14, 25. Finally, he himself neither grew tired when he created things, nor found it a relief when he stopped; but he wished through his scripture to urge upon us a desire for rest by intimating to us that he had sanctified the day on which he himself rested from all his works. At no time, l mean, during the six days in which all things were created is he said to have sanctified anything; nor before the six days them selves, where it is written, ln the beginning Godmade heaven and earth, did it add, and sanctified them; but he wished to sanctify this day, on which he rested from all his works that he had made, as though with him also, who experiences not the slightest toil or trouble in his work, rest and quiet is worth more than any activity. The gospel indeed makes the same point for us in the case ofhuman beings, where our savior says that because Mary, seated at his feet, was resting quietly in his word, hers was the better part rather than Martha's, although she out of the loyal devotion with which she was attending to his needs was busy with many things, and working what was indeed a good work.28
But how this may be even understood in God it is difficult to say in words, even if in thought one may be able to capture a faint idea ofwhy God should have
26. 1n the Latin, simply tarn carnaliter, in such a fleshly way. 27. See 1 Cor 4:7. What he means here by "a perpetual sabbath" is of course not that which is celebrated by the saints in the heavenly Jerusalem, as in Peter Abelard's splendid hymn, O quanta qualia sunt illa sabbata, but the Christian's everyday life lived in the innocence of baptismal grace. 28. See Lk: 11:38-42.