Lent 5 Meditation
Collect
Give me, O Lord, a steadfast heart, which no unworthy affection may drag downwards; give me an unconquered heart, which no tribulation can wear out; give me an upright heart, which no unworthy purpose may tempt aside. Bestow upon me also, O Lord my God, understanding to know You, diligence to seek You, wisdom to find You, and a faithfulness that may finally embrace You, for You live and reign, one God, now and forever.
Thomas aquinas
Anastasis, Harrowing of Hell, at Chora
Saint Anselm of Canterbury (c. 1033 - 1109) - from Meditation on Human Redemption
God was not obliged to save mankind in this way, but human nature needed to make amends to God like this. God had no need to suffer so laboriously, but man needed to be reconciled thus. God did not need to humble Himself, but man needed this, so that he might be raised from the depths of hell. The divine nature did not need nor was it able to be humiliated and to labour. It was for the sake of human nature that all these things needed to be done, so that it might be restored to that for which it was made. But neither human nature nor anything that was not God could suffice for this. For man cannot be restored to that state in which he was first established unless he is made like the angels in whom there is no sin. And that could not be done unless he received forgiveness for all his sins, and that could not be unless he first made entire satisfaction.
To make such satisfaction it was necessary that the sinner, or someone for him, should give to God of his own something that he does not owe Him, and something more valuable than all that is not God. For to sin is to dishonour God, and this no man ought to do, even if it means that all that is other than God should perish. Immutable truth and plain reason then demand that whoever sins should give something better to God in return for the honour of which he has deprived Him, that is more than the supposed good for the sake of which he dishonoured Him.
Human nature alone could not do this, nor could it be reconciled without the satisfaction of the debt, nor could the justice of God pass over the disorder of sin in His kingdom. The goodness of God came to help, and the Son of God assumed manhood in His own person, so that God and man should be one and the same person. He had what was above all beings that are other than God, and He took on Himself all the debt that sinners ought to pay, and this when He Himself owed nothing, so that He could pay the debt for the others who owed it and could not pay.
More precious is the life of that Man than all that is not God, and it is more than all the debt that sinners owe in order to make satisfaction for their sins. For His death was more than all that can be thought outside the person of God. It is clear that such a life is more good than all sins are bad. This Man, who was not obliged to die for a debt, because He was not a sinner, gave His life of His own accord to the Father, when He allowed His life to be taken from Him, for the sake of righteousness. This gave an example to others not to reject the righteousness of God because of death, which of necessity they would all at some time have to undergo, for He who was not obliged to suffer death and could have avoided it with justice, willed to give Himself up to death and underwent it for the sake of righteousness. Thus in Him human nature gave to God something it had of its own, willingly, and not because it was owed. So through Him human nature might be redeemed in the other men who had not got that which would pay the debt that they owed.
Vexilla Regis Prodeunt
Venantius Honorius fortunatus, 569
The royal banners forward go;
The cross shines forth in mystic glow
Where He in flesh, our flesh was made,
Our sentence bore, our ransom paid;