“When therefore you shall see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place: he that readeth let him understand. Then they that are in Judea, let them flee to the mountains: and he that is on the housetop, let him not come down to take any thing out of his house: and he that is in the field, let him not go back to take his coat. And woe to them that are with child, and that give suck in those days. But pray that your flight be not in the winter, or on the sabbath. For there shall be then great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until now, neither shall be. And unless those days had been shortened, no flesh should be saved: but for the sake of the elect those days shall be shortened.”
The abomination of desolation, in a historical sense, was the statue of Caesar, which Pilate placed in the desolate temple: “Their graven things thou shalt burn with fire: thou shalt not covet the silver and gold of which they are made, neither shalt thou take to thee any thing thereof, lest thou offend, because it is an abomination to the Lord thy God” (Deuteronomy 7:25). This was during a time when Rome razed Jerusalem, and utterly conquered the Jewish people, but twelve men, armed only with love, could not be suppressed by them: “Their sound hath gone forth into all the earth: and their words unto the ends of the world” (Psalm 18:5). When the Roman army drew near Jerusalem, the Christian people withdrew to the city of Pella, and the urgency seen in this was to leave behind what is unnecessary, including money and garments, with the difficulties of pregnant women or those with little children being great, and the pitilessness of Rome being extreme, which is nothing novel: “Then Herod perceiving that he was deluded by the wise men, was exceeding angry; and sending killed all the men children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the borders thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men” (Matthew 2:16). Flight to deserts or mountains in winter would be grueling and unsustainable, and the choice between flight and worship is an excruciating one. Because of the faithfulness of some of the Jewish people, the fall of Jerusalem did not lead to a total extermination of the people, and whenever there is grave affliction, the days will not exceed what can be handled by you, that you may not bear a burden too heavy and collapse: “For the Lord will not leave the rod of sinners upon the lot of the just: that the just may not stretch forth their hands to iniquity” (Psalm 124:3). This passage can also refer to the end times, when the Antichrist will be active, claiming the authority of God and drawing nations after him, desolating the earth, which is the sanctuary of God: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth my footstool: what is this house that you will build to me?” (Isaias 66:1). Because “You know not the day nor the hour” (Matthew 25:13), the following instructions then become admonitions for being watchful. The first is to flee to the mountains, which is the call to the heights of contemplation, to which all men are called: “I will bring them into my holy mount, and will make them joyful in my house of prayer: their holocausts, and their victims shall please me upon my altar; for my house shall be called the house of prayer, for all nations” (Isaias 56:7). It does not take a removal from the world, but a devout, ardent prayer life, which can flourish in any context. Because it so transforms the desires that the offerings of the Antichrist would be repulsive rather than an enticement to be spurned, the call to contemplation is then laid out, with Jesus then admonishing not to come down from the heights of love, represented by the housetop, to engage the lower desires of nature, represented by the things which are in the house of your soul that do not lead you deeper into love: “All things are lawful for me, but all things do not edify” (1 Corinthians 10:23). Do not, Theophila, return to the warm garment you used to wear, robing yourself in your old self: “Put on the new man, who according to God is created in justice and holiness of truth” (Ephesians 4:24), for in tribulation this will become enticing, but set your face like flint and be strong, marching ever towards perfect love: “Do ye manfully, and let your heart be strengthened, all ye that hope in the Lord” (Psalm 30:25). There then comes the striking idea that, woe to the one, Theophila, who being so heavy and plump with knowledge do not give their hearts a chance to sing, love, and be loved, for intellectual knowledge does not carry the heart through grave trials, but love does: “Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it” (Canticle 8:7), and woe to those that are still drinking the milk of the breast and living in the nest of a fledgling faith, rather than the meat of a virtuous love that has long left intentional sin behind, for winds will blow the nest, and the one that cannot fly will fall with it. Now, to be afflicted while your heart is cold draws out the worst in you, which is what is represented by the winter, but to keep your heart warm with love at all times will keep you ever disposed to love: “Winter is now past, the rain is over and gone” (Canticle 2:11). When He says to pray these things don’t happen on the sabbath, this is a call to much labor, for idleness is the enemy of the soul, and the seraphic St. Francis desired to always find his brothers either at work or in prayer and taught them as such: “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, do manfully, and be strengthened. Let all your things be done in love” (1 Corinthians 16:13-14). Thus, do not discontinue good work, even if this is the holy leisure of Sunday rest; consecrate your rest with enriching time with others, holy reading, or prayer, anything to give your mind and body a break and your heart the water it craves: “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath” (Mark 2:28). Finally, there is an overarching meaning to all that Jesus says here, that many are those that desecrate the name of Christ, His scriptures, and His influence on the world by a misinterpreted teaching, and therefore you are called to the mountains of truth, that you may ascend the mountain of God by knowing Him through prayer and knowing about Him by sacred reading: “Now this is eternal life: That they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). Labor in the field in which your treasure is hid, which is transforming the garden of your heart by way of God’s truth, cutting away the brambles and replacing them with lilies and roses: “Thou shalt be like a watered garden” (Isaias 58:11), not falling back into your old habits or understanding but building a new, beautiful home for God: “If I shall give sleep to my eyes, or slumber to my eyelids, or rest to my temples: until I find out a place for the Lord, a tabernacle for the God of Jacob” (Psalm 131:3-5) by building towers of truth. To be pregnant in this sense, then, is to have heard the word often, but with no acts of love to show for it: “Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22), not bringing forth the fruits of love, but keeping them built up in oneself, still in a state of growth rather than joyfully seeing them. Then, let the seed of love that was planted in your heart grow into a magnificent tree, rather than remaining a sapling: “He shall be like a tree which is planted near the running waters, which shall bring forth its fruit, in due season” (Psalm 1:3),. Do not let the winter of a cold heart come upon you, Theophila, for the enemy rejoices in a downcast, overshadowed spirit: “For sadness hath killed many, and there is no profit in it” (Ecclesiasticus 30:25), but with warmth and peace go to the mountains of prayer, letting love enrapture you, and truth be your guardian: “His truth shall compass thee with a shield: thou shalt not be afraid of the terror of the night” (Psalm 90:5) and your companion: “Say to wisdom: ‘Thou art my sister:’ and call prudence thy friend” (Proverbs 7:4). Many are those who war against the truth, Theophila, rending Lady Wisdom’s garments with bad philosophy and erroneous theology, and to love the truth, letting it make your heart sing because of what it says about God and His creation, this delights your Beloved: “Study wisdom, my son, and make my heart joyful” (Proverbs 27:11), for a gentle reading of the truth can easily lead into deeper prayer: “Drink the wine which I have mingled for you” (Proverbs 9:5), which is best enjoyed slowly, savoring every little drop, picking up on its every note, and so too with savoring the truth. Let every word rest in your heart as a treasure found, that your heart may rejoice in the extraordinary fact that God invites you to know Him and love Him: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you abundantly, in all wisdom” (Colossians 3:16).