vEB. 18— 21. ST. LUKE. 489 BEDE. Now the man, is Christ,the garden, His Church, tobe cultivatedby His discipline.He iswell said to have takenthe grain,because the giftswhich He togetherwith theFather gave to us from His divinity,He took from His humanity. But the preachingof the Gospel grew and was disseminatedthroughout the whole world. It grows also inthemind of every believer,for no one is suddenly made perfect.But in itsgrowth,not likethe grass,(which soon withers,)but itrisesup likethe trees. The branches of this treeare the manifold doctrines,on which the chaste souls, soaringupwards on the wings of virtue,buildand repose. THEOPHYL. Or, any man receivinga grain of mustard seed,thatis,the word of the Gospel,and sowing itin the gardenof hissoul,makes ita greattree,so as to bringforth branches,and the birds of the air (that is,they who soar abovethe earth)rest in the branches,(thatis,in sublime contemplation).For Paul receivedthe instructionof Ananias Acts9,17. asitwere a small grain,but planting it in his garden,he broughtforth many good doctrines,in which they dwell who have high heavenly thoughts,as Dionysins,Hierothens, audmany others. He next likensthe kingdom of God to leaven,forit fol lows,And again He says, Whereunto shallI likenit? It isliketo leaven,$c. AMBROSE. Many think Christ is the leaven,forleaven which is made from meal, excelsitskind iustrength,not in appearance. So alsoChrist(accordingto tbeFathers)shone forthabove othersequalin body, but un approachablein excellence. The Holy Church thereforere- preisentsthe type of the woman, of whom itis added, Which a woman tookand hid in threemeasuresof meal,tillthewholesat«. was leavened.BEDE. The Saturn is a kind of measure in useinthe provinceof Palestine,holding about a busheland a half.AMBROSE. But we are the meal of the woman which hidethe Lord Jesus in the secretsof our hearts,untilthe heatof heavenlywisdom penetratesour innermost recesses. And sinceHe says it was hid in three measures,it seems fittingthatwe should believethe Son of God to have been hidin the Law, veiledin the Prophets,manifestedin the preachingof the Gospel. Here however I am invitedto proceedfarther,because our Lord Himself has taught us,