| IX. Choir | 13 January |
|---|---|
| Who bends the young trunks | Baptism of Jesus |
He stands before us in the garb of a gardener with a shovel beside him. With much tenderness and patience he bends the young trunks with their crowns to the warm ground at the right time, to protect them from freezing. He wraps them in foliage and leaves no part of them raised high. He has all the tools with him: bast and wax and notching knives. It is Saint Thola, the faithful steward who bends the young trunks to the ground.
He is an angel of the ninth choir assigned to the fourth choir of Dominions, and to the fifth of the twelve angels of Word and Answer, Saint Pachad, who puts the fear of God into the construction of all creation.
In order to attain the true fear of God, one must be clear and true. Indeed one must be at least inwardly young, otherwise one does not have the proper fear of God, this living and gladly bowing reverence, but simply, the fear of punishment.
So, Saint Thola is also an angel of the fear of God. He bends the souls, which are not yet woody and withered, deeply enough into the ground in good time, not with the feet, but with the head, thus with the spirit. For in the spirit sits arrogance, the non serviam, which prefers to break off with proudly uplifted head, rather than bow before God.
Darkness or arrogance comes over each one of us at one time or another. If we have not learned to bow, then we either freeze in our own pride or we break in the darkness and unkindness of the world. But if we bow before God, the only Holy One, the only Strong One, the only Majesty, then the fear of God becomes the love of God and humility rests in the root. That is where our path leads.
Prayer: Though we groan, Lord, and find bending to the ground an unjust humiliation, let Thy holy Angel, Saint Thola, bend us to the ground before Thee and for Thy sake, for Thou art wisdom, solicitude, and love; Thou seest farther than we do what is fitting for us for eternity. Thou dost always make it right. Amen.