The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus 43:8 Коментар

After having discussed the sun, he rightly speaks also of the moon, because the church follows Christ, and as the moon is illuminated by the sun, in the same way the church is illuminated by Christ and established by his glory. Scripture recalls this in the psalm in which the prophet speaks in a mysterious way of the king and of the king’s son, saying, “He will endure as the sun, like the moon through all ages.” The sun, in fact, is the Word of the Father, the Son of God, the Christ who remains as God and man, one from two natures and in two natures distinct and perfect. Moreover, Christ remains before the moon, that is, before the church, which gazes on him always with the light of the heart. It is right to compare the moon with the church, since it does not have a splendor of its own but receives light from the sun in certain ways that astronomers accurately explain, along with other things. In the same way, the church is apportioned light from the true Creator. In time of persecution, the light diminishes. Then, with the return of peace, it becomes full again with the joy of the clearest light.