The Burning Bush and the Jubilee of Puy
Dom Jean de Monleon's Histoire Sainte was published 60 years ago - we study his allegory of The Burning Bush
Histoire Sainte (Holy Scripture), the 5-volume work by Dom Jean de Monleon, is a pure, clear, and deep Catholic masterpiece. The second volume concerning Moses was published sixty years ago, so we take this opportunity to study its richness
That this volume is a beautiful work is immediately evident – even in its preface. He refutes brilliantly, and with humor, those pretentious and peremptory partisans of “contemporary exegesis”, who attacked the first volume on the Patriarchs, which had been published two years prior.
The author demonstrates that these critics betray their narrow and ignorant views: poor knowledge of the basics of Patristics, and less knowledge of the the encyclical letter of Pius XII, Divino Afflante Spiritu, which they deceptively try to use against him.
Their judgment also shows an ignorance of the three main spiritual senses as formulated by Saint Thomas Aquinas in the Summa: Allegorical, Moral and Anagogical, according to the common doctrine of the Church. The critics reduce these to a figurative sense, which they imply should be avoided, even though Divino Afflante Spiritu accepts that the figurative sense may be useful, albeit with moderation and restraint.
Chapter 4, dedicated to the Burning Bush, is an eminent example of divinely inspired traditional interpretation, recognized as such by the Church.
Dom de Monleon himself, in his moral and mystical commentary, describes it as “one of the passages of the Old Testament where it is easiest to discern the different mystical meanings that relate to the same historical event, and the harmony that unites them, despite their diversity.”
We will content ourselves with considering the allegorical meaning. This is timely, as events of this year underline their importance. Quoting our author:
The burning bush, in which the Divinity revealed itself to Moses, represents the mystery of the Incarnation, in which God manifested himself to the world. St Gregory asks: “What is the significance of God speaking to Moses in a burning bush?
It was that from his people would come one day a Man who, in the fire of Divinity, would feel the pains of our flesh as well as the thorns of a bush, and who, in the midst of the flames of His divine nature, would keep his human nature without the latter being consumed and destroyed.
Already, during the great Christological heresies, the fathers of the Church had used this interpretation to affirm the inconfusibility of the two natures, divine and human, in the single person of Christ. However, the allegorical meaning also concerns the Virgin Mary. Here again, Tradition is unanimous, and the liturgy expresses this in the beautiful antiphon from the feast of the Purification of Our Lady: “The bush, which remained intact in the midst of the fire, represents the Virgin Mother...bearing in her womb, the majesty, beauty and splendor of God the Creator of heaven and earth, whilst she remains subject to the limits of her human nature.”
A little further up, Dom de Monleon says,:
The universally accepted tradition, the well-known monastery of Mount Sinai was built at the location of the Burning Bush.” The body of St Catherine of Alexandria, who gave her name to the monastery, rests there. “Near the sarcophagus is the chapel of the Burning Bush, a very small and dark oratory. Before entering, pilgrims are requested to remove their shoes in memory of God’s request to Moses....The location of the bush is indicated by silver plaque. Daylight only enters through thin veiled windows, one of which is angled through the wall...once a year, towards the 25th of March (Feast of the Annunciation), a sun ray passes through a gap in the mountain and through the slanted window, lighting the position of the Bush.”
It so happens that this year, the beautiful confirmation of the allegorical meaning of the Burning Bush, through the Annunciation was made manifest on Good Friday in a surprising manner.
Since the 10th century, when Good Friday falls on the 25th of March, the Church celebrates the Jubilee of Forgiveness of Our lady of the Puy, also called Our Lady of the Annunciation. Several popes in succession have confirmed this as a time of grace.
For various safety reasons, it is not possible to go to the monastery, despite its fortifications, to see the ray of the Annunciation illuminate the place of the burning bush.
It is however possible to visit the shrine of Our Lady of the Puy-en-Velay, during this period of March 25 through August 15th of this year and especially during of the SSPX pilgrimage on April 9th and 10th, in order to meditate upon this providential convergence.
