Matthew 5:7

Ver 7. "Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy."

Gloss.: Justice and mercy are so united, that the one ought to be mingled with the other; justice without mercy is cruelty; mercy without justice, profusion - hence He goes on to the one from the other. Remig.: The merciful is he who has a sad heart; he counts others' misery his own, and is sad at their grief as at his own.

Jerome: Mercy here is not said only of alms, but is in every sin of a brother, if we bear one another's burdens.

Aug.: He pronounces those blessed who succour the wretched, because they are rewarded in being themselves delivered from all misery; as it follows, "for they shall obtain mercy."

Hilary: So greatly is God pleased with our feelings of benevolence towards all men, that He will bestow His own mercy only on the merciful.

Chrys.: The reward here seems at first to be only an equal return; but indeed it is much more; for human mercy and divine mercy are not to be put on an equality.

Gloss. ap. Anselm: Justly is mercy dealt out to the merciful, that they should receive more than they had deserved; and as he who has more than enough receives more than he who has only enough, so the glory of mercy is greater than of the things hitherto mentioned.