Ask counsel of every man who is wise, and don’t despise any counsel that is profitable.
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 18. Burial, or sepulchre. See Baruch 6:26. Sirach 7:37 and 30:18. The Jews followed this custom, which was common to the pagans, but from very different motives. The latter supposed that the souls fed on such meats. The Jews, and afterwards Christians, did it to feed the indigent, that they might pray for the deceased. These feasts were sometimes abused, and on that account forbidden by Saint Ambrose, to whose authority S. Monica submitted. Saint Augustine Conf. vi. 3. See Const. Apost. viii. 24. Calmet.—Just man, who may be supposed to have died in God’s peace. Bible.—It is of no service to pray and give alms for the damned.—Wicked, so as to encourage their evil conduct. Menochius.—Works of mercy extend to the dead. Worthington.