Bonaventure

“Corporeal nature was brought into being in six days, such that in the beginning, before every day, "God created heaven and earth." Since things flow from the first and most perfect principle, and such a principle is most omnipotent, most wise, and most benevolent: therefore it was necessary that they be brought into being in such a way that in their production the aforesaid threefold nobility and excellence would shine forth. And therefore the divine operation for producing the world-machine was threefold, namely creation, which is appropriately attributed to omnipotence; distinction, which corresponds to wisdom, and adornment, which corresponds to the most generous goodness. And since creation is from nothing, therefore it was in the beginning, before every day, as the foundation of all things and all times.”

“To intimate the order of nature, Scripture determines, according to what was fitting for God to work: that in the beginning, before the course of time, that threefold nature was brought from non-being into being, when it says: "In the beginning God created heaven and earth" and "the Spirit of God moved over the waters." Where by the name of heaven the luminous nature is intimated; by the name of earth, the opaque; by the name of water, the pervious or transparent, whether subject to contrariety or elevated above contrariety. Where also the eternal Trinity is intimated, namely the Father in the name of God creating, the Son in the name of the beginning, the Holy Spirit in the name of the Spirit of God. And thus is to be understood that which is said: "He who lives forever created all things simultaneously": not because He created them in a chaos of every kind of confusion, as the poets imagined, since He brought forth this threefold nature, the highest in the highest place, the middle in the middle, and the lowest in the lowest: nor indeed into a being of every kind of distinction, since heaven was perfect, and the earth unformed, and the middle nature, as it were holding a middle position, had not yet been brought to perfect distinction.”

“Three errors are to be guarded against in the sciences, which destroy sacred Scripture and the Christian faith and all wisdom. The error against the cause of being concerns the eternity of the world, namely to posit that the world is eternal. This first error is refuted by what is written: "In the beginning God created heaven and earth." For you hold that God is the cause of all things either in part or in whole. If in part: then you take away from God his primacy of causing. If in whole: then God is the cause of every other thing; therefore he produces it not from himself, not from something else, because nothing else exists; therefore from nothing. Likewise, it follows according to this error that a thing had being and non-being simultaneously, and that being was before non-being; and many other absurdities. Whence it is certain that God created all things.”

“It is manifest that a beginning should be made from the One from whom the two greatest Wise Men began: Moses, the originator of wisdom, and John, its consummator. The former said: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," and, in Augustine's opinion, this means the Son. And John said: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God; and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him." If, therefore, it is impossible to understand a creature except through that by which it was made, it is necessary that the true Word go before thee.”

“These, then, are the mysteries concerned with the Tree of Life, that is, Holy Scripture, because it begins with eternity and ends in the direction of eternity. Hence, "in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth"; and at the end, "I saw a new heaven and a new earth." These are the forty-eight boards of the dwelling — twenty on one side, and twenty on the other, and eight in the back — within which is placed the Ark, that is, Christ, containing in Himself "all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge," upon whom the Cherubim gaze.”

“To intimate the order of nature, Scripture determines, according to what was fitting for God to work: that in the beginning, before the course of time, that threefold nature was brought from non-being into being, when it says: "In the beginning God created heaven and earth" and "the Spirit of God moved over the waters." Where by the name of heaven the luminous nature is intimated; by the name of earth, the opaque; by the name of water, the pervious or transparent, whether subject to contrariety or elevated above contrariety. Where also the eternal Trinity is intimated, namely the Father in the name of God creating, the Son in the name of the beginning, the Holy Spirit in the name of the Spirit of God.”

“Now rightly the whole of time, which runs its course according to a threefold law, namely the law implanted within, the law given from without, and the law infused from above, runs through seven ages and is consummated at the end of the sixth; so that the course of the world may correspond to its origin, and the course of the greater world may correspond to the course of life of the lesser world, namely man, for whose sake it was made. For the first age of the world, in which the formation of the world itself took place, the fall of the demons and the confirmation of the Angels, rightly corresponds to the first day, on which light was made and was distinguished from darkness. Now the first age is called infancy, because, just as infancy is entirely erased by forgetfulness, so that first age was consumed by the flood.”

“Of the central Person, it is said in Genesis: "The Lord God made to grow out of the ground all kinds of trees pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden." In reference to which Augustine writes that of all the things that were made, it was said: "Let there be, He made it," and so it was--excepting light, of which God said "Let there be light," and there was light--for they were produced first in all eternity from Eternal Art, second in the intelligent creature, and third in the material world.”

“And yet Scriptures say: "God said, 'Let there be light.'" And again, "God said," that is, He begot the Word in whom He disposed all things, and, disposing them, made them. Hence Augustine writes in his Confessions: "Whatever You make, you make through your Word coeternal with You, nor do you make anything by any other mode than by expressing it; and yet You do not eternally make what You eternally express."”

“There is a vision through that understanding which is given by nature, and a vision through that understanding which is lifted up by faith, taught by Scripture, exalted by contemplation, enlightened by prophecy, absorbed by rapture in God. Through the first vision, we understand that to which our intelligence reaches by its own power. This corresponds to the first day on which light was made. Without this light which is given within, a man has nothing, neither faith nor grace nor the illumination of wisdom. For this reason also light was separated from darkness.”

“God saw that the light was good. God separated the light from the darkness, etc. After every one of the works of the six days, with the exception of the second, it is said: God saw that it was good. And at the end: God saw that all He had made was very good. God is said to see, because He makes us see. The first vision of the soul is by means of understanding naturally given. Hence in the Psalm: The light of Thy countenance, O Lord, is signed upon us. And here all the difficulties of philosophy could be explained. The philosophers have offered nine sciences and promised a tenth: contemplation. But many philosophers, while attempting to avoid the darkness of error, have themselves become involved in major errors. While professing to be wise, they have become fools. Because they boasted of their knowledge, these philosophers have become the likes of Lucifer. With the Egyptians was the densest darkness, but with Your saints was the greatest light. All those who properly followed the Law of Nature, the patriarchs, the prophets, and the philosophers, were the sons of light. Truth is the light of the soul. This light never fails. Indeed, it shines so powerfully upon the soul that this soul cannot possibly believe it to be non-existing, or abstain from expressing it, without an inner contradiction. For if truth does not exist, it is true that truth does not exist: and so something is true. And if something is true, it is true that truth exists. Hence if truth does not exist, truth exists!”

“It has been said that truth is intellectual light radiating over intelligence either human or angelical; and that it shines forth in a manner that cannot be stopped, for it cannot be thought of as non-existing. Now a thing may shine forth in three different ways: as the truth of an object, as the truth of an expression, or as proper behavior. As the truth of an object, it consists in conformity of existence with essence; as the truth of an expression, it is conformity of essence with thought; as proper behavior, it is righteous living. And this is clear on the part of the principle which sends forth light, of the subject which receives this light, and of the objective towards which it enlightens. As a cause of being, this light is powerful; as a reason of understanding, this light is clear; as an ordering of life, this light is good. And that is the reason why it is written: God saw that the light was good. As a powerful light, it irradiates for the sake of understanding substances or essences, the quantities and natures of the world; as a clear light, it irradiates for the sake of understanding rational expressions, reasonings and proofs; as a good light, it suffuses the intelligence, or demonstrates matters of propriety, activity, or justice. As a means of understanding propriety, it points to the practice of good habits; as a means of understanding activity, it points to intellectual speculation; as a means of understanding justice, it points to political laws. First, it is necessary that propriety be acquired, then activity investigated, and finally justice exercised. And here is shown how a prelate should behave: being perfect in both action and contemplation, he must accept the laws. Where? On the Mountain of Contemplation, with Moses, so that he may act with propriety and industry, and not as a beast, for a beast cannot go up into the Mountain: a beast that touches the Mountain must be stoned.”

“God saw the light that it was good; and He divided the light from the darkness. This passage is quoted to explain the vision of intelligence which is infused by nature. Concerning the fact that it was good, it makes us see, both through scientific consideration and through the contemplation of wisdom. Through scientific consideration, it makes us see in so far as it illumines as light, that is, as the truth of things, the truth of expression, and the truth of behavior. Through the contemplation of wisdom, it makes us see in so far as it illumines by means of the influx of a radiation from the eternal light into the soul. It procures the vision of this same light in itself, as in a mirror; in a separate intelligence, as in a medium somewhat removed; in the eternal light, as in the original subject. It is also written that He divided the light from the darkness; and that some philosophers attacked ideas, as a result of which the threefold understanding of truth was hidden: that is, the truth of eternal art, the truth of divine providence, and the truth of the fall of the angels—which follows if angels only have their perfection from motion. The consequence of this is a threefold blindness: concerning the eternity of the world, the unity of the intellect, and the question of punishment and glory.”

“These philosophers had the wings of ostriches, for their affective powers were not cleansed or ordained or straightened: for this can be obtained only through faith. Hence they proposed a false circle of beatitude, second a false sufficiency of merits in the present world, third an eternal soundness of internal powers. In these three instances, they fell into darkness. But faith, brushing away these obscurities, indicates the disease, its cause, Physician, and medicine; it heals the soul by placing the roots of merits in God who must be satisfied. And so the soul goes forth through faith into assured hope by means of the merits of Christ, and not in a presumptuous fashion. And so faith heals, straightens and ordains: in this manner the soul may be changed, straightened and ordained. The philosophers did not know these roots. Faith alone, then, divides the light from the darkness. Hence, the Apostle says: You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. For faith, that has hope and charity together with good works, heals the soul, and once it has been healed, cleanses and lifts it up and makes it into the likeness of God. Now we are in the true light: not like those who sleep and take the false for the true, an idol for God.”

“"God saw the light that it was good; and He divided the light from the darkness." The passage, "God saw the light," is quoted on account of the first vision of the intelligence, which is infused by nature. It means that God made it possible to see. This has been covered in the two preceding collations by considering the sciences, in that the light shines as the truth of things, the truth of words, and the truth of moral acts. And nine parts were distinguished in the doctrine, of which the three principal are radiations proceeding, according to Augustine, from the decree of the eternal light. It was also established that "God saw," that is, made it possible to see, through wisdom-procuring contemplation, through the enlightenment of the soul seen in itself as in a mirror, seen in the intelligence and in a conveying medium, and in the uncreated light as in its fountainhead, in accordance with the six conditions which this light impresses upon the mind. And in accordance with these, the soul rises up in the said light by means of reasoning, testing, and understanding, as it has been said. And the philosophers — at least the most worthy among them — and the ancients have come to this point: that there exists a beginning and an end and an exemplary reason. "God divided the light from the darkness" in order that what had been said of the angels could also be said of the philosophers. But why have some of them followed darkness? Because of this: although all could see the first cause as the universal principle and universal end, they had different opinions concerning the means. For some denied that exemplars of things existed in this cause: the leader of these seems to have been Aristotle who, in the beginning and the end of his Metaphysics, and in many other places, strongly condemns the ideas of Plato. Wherefore he says that God knows only Himself, and does not need the knowledge of any other thing, and produces as the desired and loved. But this supposes that He knows nothing, or no particular thing. Therefore Aristotle is the principal assailant of Platonic ideas in his "Ethics" where he says that the supreme good cannot be an Idea. And the reasons he adduces are worthless, and the commentator answers them. Upon this error, there follows another, that is, that God has neither foreknowledge nor providence, since He does not have within Himself a rational justification of things by which He could know them. They also say that there are no truths concerning the future except that of necessary things. And from this it follows that all things come about either by chance or by necessity. And since it is impossible that things come about by chance, the Arabs conclude to absolute necessity, that is, that these substances that move the globe are the necessary causes of all things. From this it follows that truth is hidden, that is, the truth of government of worldly things in terms of pain and glory. If, indeed, these substances are inerrant movers, nothing is supposed concerning hell or the existence of the devil: neither did Aristotle ever suppose the existence of the devil, nor happiness after this life, as it appears. Here, then, there is a threefold error: a concealment of exemplarity, of divine providence and of world government. From this follows a threefold blindness or darkness, that is, concerning the eternity of the world, which seems to be Aristotle's thesis according to all the Greek doctors, for instance Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory Nazianzen, the Damascene, Basil, and the commentators of all the Arabs, who say that Aristotle holds this opinion, and his words are seen to mean it. Never will you find that he said that the world had a principle or a beginning: he even argues against Plato who seems to have been the only one to suppose that time began. And this is contrary to the light of truth. From this follows blindness concerning the existence of a single intellect, for if the world is supposed to be eternal, one of these hypotheses must be true: that souls are infinite in number since there would be an infinite number of men; or that the soul is corruptible; or that it is transmitted from body to body; or that there is only one single intellect in all, an error attributed to Aristotle by his commentator. From these two propositions it may be concluded that after this life there is neither happiness nor pain. These men, then, fell into error and were not separated from darkness: and these are the worst errors. And they are not yet closed by the key of the bottomless pit. These are the obscurities of Egypt: although a great light had been seen in these things through earlier forms of knowledge, yet all light was put out by these errors. And some men, seeing that Aristotle had been so great in other matters and had expressed the truth so well, could not believe that in this he had not said the truth. But I say that the eternal light is the exemplar of all things, and that the mind, once lifted up as was the mind of others among the noble philosophers of antiquity, is able to reach it. And in the same light, the first thing to come to the mind is the exemplar of the virtues. As Plotinus writes, "it is absurd that the exemplars of other things be in God, and not the exemplars of the virtues."”

“It is rightly said that the firmament was made in the midst of the waters, not because the waters above the heavens are fluid, cold, heavy, and corruptible waters, but because they are subtle and incorruptible, pervious and raised above all contrariety, and on this account are of celestial nature and to be placed among the celestial things by reason of the nobility of their form. They are also placed there by reason of power and influence. For since every bodily action in lower things takes its rule, origin, and vigor from celestial nature, and since there are two active qualities, namely the hot and the cold, and some heaven is principally influencing the hot, namely the sidereal heaven by reason of its luminosity: it was fitting that some heaven should influence the cold, and thus the crystalline. And just as the sidereal heaven, although it influences toward heat, is nevertheless not formally hot: so also the heaven that is called watery or crystalline is not essentially cold. Hence what the Saints say, that the waters are placed there to restrain the heat of the higher bodies and other similar things, are to be understood not according to formal predication, but according to efficacy and influence.”

“The second age, in which through the ark and the flood the good were saved and the wicked destroyed, corresponds to the second day, on which through the firmament the separation of waters from waters was made. The second age is called childhood; for just as in childhood we begin to speak, so in the second age the distinction of tongues was made.”

“In the work of virtue, six things are required corresponding to the works of the six days. It is necessary that a man set for himself a right end in God; and this is indicated when he says: Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters. And God called the firmament heaven; because it is necessary that a man be drawn upward, so that he may have a right intention toward God.”

“Wisdom refers to the understanding of the eternal God, knowledge to the knowing of God made man. Wherefore the firmament was made in the midst of the waters, that is, faith, in order that the soul may know those things that are above the firmament and those that are below it. And such wisdom concerns divine things, and such knowledge, human things.”

“The second time corresponds to the second day and to the age of childhood: for then there was made "a firmament in the midst of the waters." At this time, a covenant was made by means of the rainbow, lest man be wiped out by the waters from below; and by means of the ark, lest he perish later in the flood. And as in childhood infants speak and learn to speak, so in the second time tongues were divided. And this extends from Noah to Abraham.”

“In the work of virtue, six things are required corresponding to the works of the six days. It is necessary that a man set for himself a right end in God; and this is indicated when he says: Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters. And God called the firmament heaven; because it is necessary that a man be drawn upward, so that he may have a right intention toward God.”

“GOD called the firmament heaven. The loftiness and firmness of faith have been explained. Now we must speak of its splendor. Heaven is called caelum, because engraved (caelatum), that is, sculptured with stars. Genesis explains how splendid is this faith: "Look at the heavens and, if you can, count the stars. So shall your posterity be." The promise of a bodily posterity was made to Abraham, for it is written: "So shall your posterity be." The promise of a spiritual posterity was also made to him, for through faith he was to be the father of a multitude. The flesh of Abraham gave forth offspring and was thus multiplied. All the more so would his spiritual begetting be fruitful: for he begot spiritually through his fruitful mind. Now, the great number of thoughts arising out of faith transcend in clarity the light of the stars.”

“GOD called the firmament heaven. It has been said that the scope of faith consists in two things, the extreme of loftiness and the extreme of depth. The scope of faith has been discussed: its firmness now remains to be covered. But if faith is lofty, how can it be certain? For the higher a thing is, the less it is known; and the less it is known, the more doubtful it must necessarily be. Wherefore we should understand that the firmness of this faith is threefold. It consists first in the witness of truth expressed through the uncreated Word; second, in the witness of truth expressed through the incarnate Word; third, in the witness of truth expressed through the inspired Word.”

“There now follows the work of the second day, which is the second vision of understanding, lifted up by faith: and of this it is not said that God "saw" but that He "called" it. Literally speaking, this heaven is lofty, stable, and visible: it is lofty as regards its position, stable as regards its form, and visible as regards its clarity. It is lofty: hence in Proverbs, "The heaven above and the earth beneath." By the very fact that the heaven is noble, it holds the highest place in the order of the universe, and the earth the lowest. It is also stable as regards its form, for it moves without changing place, but within its place, around a center. Hence in Job: "Do you spread out with Him the firmament of the skies, hard as a brazen mirror?" It is finally visible as regards the multitude of its adornments. Hence, in Job, "His spirit hath adorned the heavens." And, in Ecclesiasticus, "The beauty, the glory of the heavens are the stars, that rise to adorn the heights of God." Because of the latter quality, heaven is called caelum, from caelando, "by engraving," and not "by concealing": by carving, since it is written with the diphthong ae, for it is adorned and so to speak engraved with lights. Firmament means a vision of faith. For faith makes the soul or intelligence lofty, since it goes beyond every reason and investigation of the mind. It makes it stable, because it excludes doubt and vacillation; it makes it visible, because it displays its multiformed light. And so, the solidity of faith is also called heaven, because it makes understanding lofty through investigation, stable when it establishes the truth, and visible when it fills it with a manifold light. Hence in Daniel: "The wise shall shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament." But no one is wise unless he is taught by God, for "No one comes to the Father but through Me," says the Saviour. And in John: "They all shall be taught of God." No one is taught in matters of faith except through God; and because it comes about through God's voice, it is said: "God called the firmament heaven." It is not said, God saw the firmament, but called it, because the solidity of faith consists rather in belief than in contemplation. For belief is through the ear, because, as the Apostle wrote to the Romans, "faith depends on hearing," and, before that, "with the heart a man believes unto justice." Now faith consists more precisely in the confession of truth than in the communication of light. Hence, "with the mouth profession of faith is made unto salvation." Therefore in a certain sense faith sees, and in another it does not see. The merit of faith is founded on non-seeing, the light of faith on believing. There exists therefore a firmament-heaven, "the substance of things to be hoped for." And it consists in light, because it is "the evidence of things that are not seen." Wherefore it has both light and clouds. "God called the firmament heaven." In Ecclesiasticus it is written: "The firmament on high is His beauty, the beauty of heaven with its glorious shew." And here, three things are touched upon: loftiness, stability, and beauty. For this vision of faith is lofty, stable and beautiful. This faith is most noble, most solid and most splendid. Many possess it, however, without knowing it, for the face of faith is covered: it wears a kind of dark veil. It turns sinful souls into the most exalted. Hence, in the Acts, "He cleansed their hearts by faith."”

“The third age, in which Abraham was called, and the synagogue was begun, which was to bear fruit and generate offspring for the worship of God, corresponds to the third day, on which the earth appeared and brought forth green plants. The third age is called adolescence, because, just as the generative power then begins to pass into its act, so then Abraham was called, and circumcision was given to him, and the promise concerning the seed was made.”

“The third vision is understood of the third day, when the waters were gathered together and dry land appeared. The land is Scriptures which have spiritual meanings and refer to angelical and divine hierarchies which have often been marvelously described by the saints: and from these Scriptures spring forth vegetation and the tree of life. But let everyone beware of the tree of inquisitive knowledge.”

“Such is the third vision, of understanding instructed by Scriptures, which is figured in the work of the third day. And as in the work of the days, there is added a second to the first and a third to both of them, so also out of the first and second visions there comes forth a third, and this vision is more noble and greater than the preceding two. And although such adaptation and comparison to the work of the third day may not seem properly fitting since the earth is the lowest of the elements, while the Scriptures are most high, yet the relationship is excellently pointed out: for whatever the heavens contain in any measure of excellence, the earth holds or receives or possesses in some measure of liveliness. Wherefore it receives the influences of heaven and brings forth the most beautiful swarms of beings. Now this vision is concerned with three things, the spiritual meanings of the senses, the sacramental symbols, and the manifold interpretations that are drawn from them. All of Scriptures may be reduced to these three. The first are offered to our understanding by means of the gathering of the waters, that is, the spiritual meanings.”

“The sacramental symbols are represented by the swarming of beings on earth, in this passage: "Let the earth bring forth vegetation." The manifold interpretations are signified by the seed, in this passage: "...containing their seed," etc. Who can know the infinity of seeds, when in a single one are contained forests of forests and thence seeds in infinite number? Likewise, out of Scriptures may be drawn an infinite number of interpretations which none but God can comprehend. For as new seeds come forth from plants, so also from Scriptures come forth new interpretations and new meanings, and thereby are Sacred Scriptures distinct from everything else. Hence, in relation to the interpretations yet to be drawn, we may compare to a single drop from the sea all those that have been drawn so far.”

“"Let the earth bring forth vegetation: seed-bearing plants," etc. It has been explained how, by the gathering of waters, spiritual meanings should be understood. Now it remains to explain how the sacramental figures are symbolized by the vegetation of the earth. For it is not without reason that the vegetation of the earth is seen to point to Sacred Scriptures, in the sense that it has a great number of figures that grow and produce a multiplication of thoughts in the soul. Vegetation on earth is alive, generous, and lovely. Alive, that is, having strength: wherefore it produces the green herb. And by this it is shown that the sacraments of Scripture, which externally seem arid, are yet alive within. Some people believe that these sacraments and these Scriptures were so composed that the man who wrote them merely placed one sentence after another. It is not so, for Scripture is supremely orderly, and its order is similar to that of nature in the development of vegetation on earth. First there was a fixing of roots; then the production of green foliage; third, a multiplication of fresh flowers; fourth, an abundance of restoring fruit. Likewise, in Scripture there is first a fixing of the roots of virtue, as in the Patriarchs who are in a sense the roots of all that is said in Scripture. Hence in their calling there is a first planting. But later, in the establishment of commands and sacrifices, there is a production of green foliage. Later still, in the manifestation of the prophetical visions, there is a multiplication of flowers. Finally, in the diffusion of spiritual charisms, there is an abundance of restoring fruit. And so, here there was first one Patriarch as a single root, that is, Abraham, then another, Isaac, and a third, Jacob. And he begot twelve patriarchs from whom came the Twelve Tribes. After this plantation there followed the Law as a production of green foliage, that gave shade. And because foliage is not to last forever, but is to be followed by flowers, there followed prophecy with both fragrance and beauty. And because it was fitting that the heavens distil dew, there followed in the fourth place a Fruit in Christ, because Christ is the fruit of the Law and its fulfillment.”

“"The earth brought forth vegetation, every kind of seed-bearing plant and all kinds of trees that bear fruit containing their seed," etc. Concerning this vision of the intelligence taught by Scripture, we have said of the spiritual interpretation that it was understood by means of the gathering of waters. Likewise, of the sacramental figure, that it was understood through the germination of the earth. We have spoken also of the theories that were understood both through the seed and through the fruit. For these theories reproduce in a manner related to seed, and they sustain in a manner related to food: wherefore they are understood partly under the aspect of seed and partly under the aspect of the germination of fruits. In terms of seed, they consist in correlations of times, by which times follow one another; in terms of the fruit of a tree they consist also in correlations of times, by which times correspond to one another. In the order of comparison of a tree or a seed to the seed, the times follow one another; in the order of comparison of the germ to the germinating, they correspond to each other.”

“There follows a reference to seeds and fruits. "The earth brought forth vegetation, every kind of seed-bearing plant." As in the gathering of the waters, there was a symbol of the many forms of intelligent beings, and in the germination of the earth, a symbol of the multiplicity of sacramental images, so also in the seeds is shown a kind of infinity in the heavenly theories that are pointed to by these same seeds. For the principal intelligences and figures exist in certain determined numbers, while the theories are almost infinite. For as the reflection of light-rays and images from a mirror comes about in almost infinite ways, so it is from the mirror of Scriptures. Who can know how many are the intermediate angles between the right and the obtuse, between the obtuse and the acute? Hence, as in the seeds there is multiplication to infinity, so also are the theories multiplied. Wherefore in Daniel: "Many shall pass over, and knowledge shall be manifold," for one man and another look differently into the mirror.”

“"The earth brought forth vegetation, every kind of seed-bearing plant and all kinds of trees that bear fruit containing their seed," etc. Concerning this vision of the intelligence taught by Scripture, we have said of the spiritual interpretation that it was understood by means of the gathering of waters. Likewise, of the sacramental figure, that it was understood through the germination of the earth. We have spoken also of the theories that were understood both through the seed and through the fruit. For these theories reproduce in a manner related to seed, and they sustain in a manner related to food: wherefore they are understood partly under the aspect of seed and partly under the aspect of the germination of fruits. In terms of seed, they consist in correlations of times, by which times follow one another; in terms of the fruit of a tree they consist also in correlations of times, by which times correspond to one another. In the order of comparison of a tree or a seed to the seed, the times follow one another; in the order of comparison of the germ to the germinating, they correspond to each other.”

“The heavenly bodies influence terrestrial and elemental things as regards the distinctive signification of times, namely of days, months, and years. For thus Scripture says that they are for signs and times and days and years. They also influence as regards the effective production of things generable and corruptible, namely minerals, plants, sensible creatures, and human bodies. Yet they are signs of times and the governance of operations in such a way that they are not certain signs of future contingent events, nor do they influence free will through the force of constellations, which certain philosophers called fate. The heavenly bodies through light and motion serve for the distinctions of times, namely of the day, according to the light of the sun and the motion of the firmament; of the month, according to the motion of the moon in its oblique circle; of the year, according to the motion of the sun in the same circle; and of the seasons, according to the varied motion, distance and conjunction, ascent and descent, retrogradation and station of the planets, from which arises diversity in the seasons.”

“The fourth age, in which the kingdom and the priesthood flourished, because King David expanded the divine worship, corresponds to the fourth day, on which the formation of the luminaries and stars was made. The fourth age is called youth, because, just as in youth the age of man flourishes, so in the fourth age the synagogue flourished under kings.”

“In the work of virtue, six things are required corresponding to the works of the six days. Just or right election is required, so that all our works may be done in an orderly manner, according as they ought: and this is indicated in the fourth work, when he says: Let there be luminaries in the firmament of heaven, that is, let our works be ordered.”

“The fourth vision is understood of the fourth day, when it was said, "Let there be lights," that is, the sun, moon and stars. A man who does not have contemplation cannot yet enjoy the adornment of sun, moon and stars. Contemplation of the super-heavenly hierarchy is represented by the sun, contemplation of the sub-heavenly hierarchy, by the moon, and contemplation of the heavenly hierarchy, by the stars.”

“The fourth allegory, concerning Sacred Scripture, is shown in Genesis: "God made the two great lights, the smaller light to rule the night," that is, the Old Testament, "and the greater one to rule the day," that is, the New Testament. As the moon receives its light from the sun, so does the Old Testament from the New. And so when the sun stands in the east, and the moon on the opposite side in the west — "Stand still, O sun, at Gabaon, O moon, in the valley of Aialon!" said Josue — then is the Old Testament lighted up: it cannot shine, except by means of the New.”

“So let us say of Christ that He is the Tree of Life in the midst of Paradise, who is symbolized in four instances found in the first mystery, beginning with the words: "In the beginning God created," to the words: "The earth was corrupt." He is symbolized by the greater light, the Tree of Life, Adam's marriage, and most of all, the murder of Abel; for Christ was killed by His brothers.”

“GOD made the two great lights, etc. It has been said that contemplation consists in the delicious consideration of the heavenly Monarchy, the delicious consideration of the Church Militant, and the delicious consideration of the hierarchized human mind, or of [that mind] ordained in a hierarchical manner. The first is understood through the sun, the second through the moon, and the third through the stars. We should speak first of the sun. The Eternal Sun, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is alive, resplendent and warming. The Father is supremely alive, the Son supremely resplendent, and the Holy Spirit supremely warming. The Father is the most lively light, the Son the most beautiful and bright splendor, the Holy Spirit the most ardent heat. As the real sun imparts life, light, and heat to all things, so do these three. Liveliness, splendor, and heat are one sun, and yet they have distinction although they are not three suns. Likewise, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one God. And as liveliness is resplendent and warming, and splendor is quickening and warming, and heat is quickening and resplendent in this visible sun: so also the Father is in Himself and in the Son and in the Holy Spirit; and the Son is in the Father and in Himself and in the Holy Spirit; and the Holy Spirit is in the Father and in the Son and in Himself, by reason of circumincession which is characterized by identity with distinction. In this consideration, there is a certain reason of divine exemplarity in relation to all enlightenments. But a certain enlightenment pertains to the Father, as He exists in Himself, another as He exists in the Son, and yet another as He exists in the Holy Spirit. And there is another [enlightenment] that pertains to the Son as He exists in Himself, another as He exists in the Father, and yet another as He exists in the Holy Spirit. And [there is another enlightenment that pertains] to the Holy Spirit as He exists in Himself, another as He exists in the Father, and yet another as He exists in the Son. And it is proper to enlightenments to correspond to this ninefold series. These enlightenments consist in considering the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as they are in Themselves, and [as such] they are three in number. Other enlightenments [consist in considering] them as related to each other, and they are six in number. And so there are nine. And because of this number six, six times the Lord said "Let there be," and so it was, in the work of the six days.”

“GOD made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day and the smaller one to rule the night, and He made the stars. It has been explained how the soul is hierarchized in relation to the light of the Sun, in that this Sun is alive, shining, and warm. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are the origin of all illuminations or irradiations by reason of excellence, influence, and pre-eminence; and in that the soul is assimilated to the Sun through conformity and by reason of the fullness of the hierarchical disposition, and because of a threefold aspect. And there are three considerations. It is hierarchized also in relation to the Church Militant, in which there is a distinction by reason of processes, of ascents, and of practices, for this is how the Church is seen, and in no other way: in it, there is one head, one body, and one food. Paul speaks much of this, for he was well versed in this consideration. Likewise, the Psalter speaks much of it. And sometimes it speaks in the name of such a person [the Church], and at other times, in the name of another. Hence in the Psalm: "The Lord is King, in splendor robed," it refers to the Church's head and to its four orders. After that, it was explained how the soul is hierarchized in the contemplation of itself according to ascent, descent and renewed ascent. And when the soul has achieved this, some marvelous theories are in existence in it and produce in it. For it has twelve series of nine: three exemplars in the sun, three exemplated in the heavenly hierarchy, three in the sub-heavenly, and three in itself. These are twelve illustrations to which are added twelve considerations, like twelve stars, that is, the bodily natures, etc., so that the soul is in the light at all times, for it cannot remain [statically] in any one, and in the final one, there is repose, that is, in the exemplary reason in the fatherland. These things do not occur simultaneously on the way, but in the fatherland, all things will be seen together at a single glance. But all twelve of these considerations are free, and they have an infinite number of branches, out of which an immense book could be made.”

“The fifth age, in which those in exile lived among many peoples and were afflicted, corresponds to the fifth day, on which the formation of fish from the waters was made. The fifth age is called old age, because just as in old age strength diminishes and beauty fades, so also in the exile it happened concerning the priesthood of the Jews.”

“The fifth vision, which comes about through understanding enlightened by prophecy, is still higher than the preceding ones, in that contingent things are seen infallibly, which comes about through a certain kind of sight looking into the Eternal Mirror. The contingent is changing and varied: if then a prophet sees with infallibility and certainty, everything he sees must be considered within infallible Truth. This vision is understood to refer to the fifth day when the fishes of the waters were made together with the birds, for the soul is carried up to God on the breeze by means of pinions and a great number of feathers.”

“To this vision of rapture corresponds the work of the sixth day: "God said, 'Let us make mankind in Our image and likeness,'" for it is of such great worth that it must "have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and every creature that crawls on earth." The higher a man is lifted up, the humbler he is, as is the case with Paul, who lowered himself through humility when it came to determining the nature of the union.”

“In the New Testament, after the universal scripture and the course of time, Christ was formed, as was man on the sixth day, that He may "have dominion over the fish of the sea," and "the birds of the air." As the Psalm says, "what is man that You should be mindful of him, or the son of man that You should care for him? You have made him little less than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him rule over the works of your hands, putting all things under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yes, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, the fishes of the sea," etc. And in order that it be understood of Christ, the Apostle says: "You have made him little less than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor." And there follows: "But we do see Him who was made 'a little lower than the angels,' namely, Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of His having suffered death." Man was created out of a virgin soil that had never received blood, which signifies Christ born of the Virgin; and as Eve was formed out of Adam's side, so also the Church, out of the side of Christ. But since Christ never sinned, how can Adam's transgression correspond to Him? There must be transference from the head to the body.”

“Genesis 1: Let us make man in our image and likeness, and let him have dominion over the fish of the sea, etc.; on which words Augustine says in the nineteenth book of the City of God: "God did not will that rational man, made in the image of God, should have dominion except over irrational creatures"; but it belongs to the dictate of nature that man should preserve the divine institution: therefore it accords with natural right that man should not command man, nor that one should be subject to another by obeying. To which it must be said that in those words Augustine does not intend to exclude subjection and obedience, but coerced servitude, which indeed neither existed nor ought to have existed except through the intervention of the guilt of sin as a disease contrary to nature itself.”

“The rational soul is a form having being, living, understanding, and exercising freedom. It has in the mind the image of the Trinity according to memory, intelligence, and will. A form that is understanding not only created essence, but also the creative essence, to whose image it was made through memory, understanding, and will. Because the form capable of beatitude is capable of God through memory, understanding, and will: and this is to be in the image of the Trinity on account of unity in essence and trinity in powers: therefore it was necessary that the soul be understanding God and all things, and through this be marked with the image of God.”

“The creation of the world is as it were a certain book, in which the fabricating Trinity shines forth, is represented, and is read according to a threefold degree of expression, namely by way of vestige, image, and similitude, such that the character of vestige is found in all creatures, the character of image in intellectual beings alone or rational spirits, the character of similitude in deiform beings alone: from which, as though by certain stairlike degrees, the human intellect is naturally suited to ascend step by step to the supreme principle, which is God. Every creature is compared to Him in a threefold way: either as to a creative principle, or as to a motive object, or as to an indwelling gift. And since a creature cannot have God as its principle without being configured to Him according to unity, truth, and goodness; nor God as its object without apprehending Him through memory, intelligence, and will; nor God as an infused gift without being configured to Him through faith, hope, and charity: hence it is that the first is called a vestige of the Trinity, the second an image, and the third a similitude.”

“The sixth age, in which Christ was born in human form, who is truly the image of God, corresponds to the sixth day, on which the first man was formed. The sixth age is called decrepitude, because, just as that is the age which is joined with death, yet possessing a great light of wisdom; so the sixth age of the world is terminated with the day of judgment, and in it wisdom flourishes through the teaching of Christ.”

“In the work of virtue, six things are required corresponding to the works of the six days. Charitable formation is required, so that the works may be complete, clothed over with all circumstances, according to what the law of divine charity demands. For charity is the perfective form of all things; and he who has charity has all these six. The sixth work of virtue, therefore, is the formation of charity: which is signified when it says: God made man in his image and likeness.”

“In this consideration, moreover, lies the perfection of the mind's illumination, when, as on the sixth day, it sees man made in the image of God. For if an image is an expressive likeness, when our mind contemplates in Christ the Son of God, who is the image of the invisible God by nature, our humanity so wonderfully exalted, so ineffably united, seeing at once in one the first and the last, the highest and the lowest, the circumference and the center, the Alpha and the Omega, the caused and the cause, the Creator and the creature, the book, that is, written within and without: it has now arrived at a certain perfect reality, so that with God it may reach the perfection of its illuminations in the sixth stage, as on the sixth day; nor does anything further remain except the day of rest, in which through the ecstasy of the mind the keenness of the human mind may rest from every work which it had accomplished.”

“Conjugal chastity is consonant with the law of nature by reason of created nature itself. It accords with the law of nature by reason of created nature, which was formed in the distinction of the sexes, according to that passage of Genesis 1: God created man in His image and likeness; male and female He created them. From this the union of man and woman is natural; and all of this belongs to it according to the state of the law of nature, from which the act and exercise of conjugal chastity itself first draws its origin.”

“A twofold precept was given to man, namely of nature and of discipline; the precept of nature: "Increase and multiply"; the precept of discipline: "Of the tree of knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat." A twofold good was prepared for man: one visible, the other invisible; one temporal, the other eternal; one for the flesh, the other for the spirit. Of these goods, God gave one and promised the other, so that one might be possessed freely, and the other sought through merit. And because a good is given in vain unless it is preserved, and is promised in vain unless one attains to it, therefore a twofold precept was given to man: one of nature for preserving the good given, the other of discipline for meriting the good promised.”

“That which accords with divine precepts is a work of virtue and consonant with the law of God: but the conjugal act is of this kind: therefore it is a work of virtue. The minor is proved: Genesis 1: Increase and multiply, etc.: but this is accomplished through the conjugal act: therefore the conjugal act is a work of virtue.”

“Conjugal chastity accords with the law of nature by reason of the superadded precept, while the law of nature still remained, according to that passage of Genesis 1: God blessed them and said: Increase and multiply and fill the earth: which indeed is not done legitimately except through the exercise of conjugal chastity. From this it is moral; and all of this belongs to it according to the state of the law of nature, from which the act and exercise of conjugal chastity itself first draws its origin.”

“Against the vowing of widowed continence it is objected: everything that is repugnant to a divine precept is to be condemned; but to vow continence is repugnant to a divine precept, namely Genesis 1: Increase and multiply: therefore continence is not to be vowed. To this it must be said that the precept of nature is twofold: one which regards the common state; another which regards the state of a singular person. The first does not bind anyone per se and determinately, so long as there is another who fulfills or can fulfill that command. And since there are many who devote themselves to carnal generation, as much as suffices for nature, the observance of continence in a singular person is not repugnant to that precept. For that precept does not descend to any determinate person, except in a case in which nature could not subsist unless that person devoted himself to generation, as was the case with Adam, or with the sons of Noah, to whom it was expressly said: Increase and multiply and fill the earth.”

“On the seventh day God rested, not from labor nor from work, since He works even until now, but from the establishment of new species: because He had made all things either in likeness, as those things which are propagated, or in seminal reason, as those things which are brought into being by other modes. To the six days of works there is added a seventh of rest, which day is not written as having an evening — not because that day did not have a succeeding night, but to prefigure the rest of souls, which shall never have an end.”

“The seventh age, which is the rest of souls having no end, corresponds to the seventh day, on which God rested from all the work that He had done. And thus these seven ages are distinguished on account of the notable events that occurred at their beginnings, by reason of which they correspond to the days of the formation of the world.”

“Since, moreover, each of the aforesaid modes is doubled, inasmuch as it happens that one considers God as the Alpha and the Omega, or inasmuch as it happens that one sees God in each of the aforesaid modes as through a mirror and as in a mirror, or because each of these considerations must be mingled with the other conjoined to it and must be considered in its purity: hence it is necessary that these three principal stages ascend to the number six, so that, just as God completed the whole world in six days and rested on the seventh, so the lesser world may be led in most orderly fashion through six stages of successive illuminations to the repose of contemplation.”

“In this consideration, moreover, lies the perfection of the mind's illumination, when, as on the sixth day, it sees man made in the image of God. For if an image is an expressive likeness, when our mind contemplates in Christ the Son of God, who is the image of the invisible God by nature, our humanity so wonderfully exalted, so ineffably united, seeing at once in one the first and the last, the highest and the lowest, the circumference and the center, the Alpha and the Omega, the caused and the cause, the Creator and the creature, the book, that is, written within and without: it has now arrived at a certain perfect reality, so that with God it may reach the perfection of its illuminations in the sixth stage, as on the sixth day; nor does anything further remain except the day of rest, in which through the ecstasy of the mind the keenness of the human mind may rest from every work which it had accomplished.”

“These six considerations having therefore been traversed, as if they were the six steps of the throne of the true Solomon, by which one arrives at peace, where the true peaceful one rests in a peaceful mind as in an interior Jerusalem; and as if also the six wings of the Cherub, by which the mind of the true contemplative, filled with the illumination of supernal wisdom, may be borne upward; and as if also the first six days, in which the mind must be exercised, so that it may at last arrive at the sabbath of rest; after our mind has contemplated God outside itself through vestiges and in the vestiges, within itself through the image and in the image, above itself through the similitude of the divine light shining upon us and in that light itself, insofar as is possible according to the state of wayfaring and the exercise of our mind; when at last in the sixth step it has arrived at this point, that it contemplates in the first and highest principle and the mediator of God and men, Jesus Christ, those things whose likenesses can in no way be found in creatures, and which exceed all keenness of the human intellect: it remains that, in contemplating these things, it should transcend and pass beyond not only this sensible world, but also itself; in which passing over, Christ is the way and the door, Christ is the ladder and the vehicle, as it were the mercy seat placed upon the ark of God and the mystery hidden from the ages.”

“By means of diffusion, as of brightness out of light, of heat out of fire, of a river out of its headspring, of rain out of a full or humid cloud. In the first diffusion, equality is lacking, for brightness is not the same as light. In the second, closeness is lacking, for heat is not close to fire, since it is the principle neither of its form nor of its origin, but is merely an accident. In the third, simultaneity is lacking, for a spring diffuses itself by flowing, and not all at once. In the fourth, fullness is lacking, for not all of the rain is drawn out of a cloud, but only successive drops. Now, join these four conditions to a single diffusion, one of splendor having equality, of heat having closeness and substantiality, of a river or fountain having simultaneity, and of rain having fullness: and in this way, you will have a trace of the eternal generation. Hence, the Son is sometimes compared to brightness: "Being the brightness of His glory," etc.; at other times, to a flame, as in Moses' bush which represented the person of the Son; or again, as a river or spring: "But a spring rose out of the earth. A river rose in Eden." Again, He is sometimes compared to rain: "For just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth," etc. And, later: "So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth," that is, from the Father's heart.”

“The body of the first man was so fashioned and from the slime of the earth formed, that nevertheless it was subject to the soul and in its own way proportionate, proportionate, I say, with respect to an equal temperament, with respect to a most beautiful and manifold organization, and with respect to uprightness of stature. In order that the power of God might be manifested in man, He made him from natures most greatly distant, conjoined into one person and nature — such as are the body and the soul, of which one is a corporeal substance, while the other, namely the soul, is a spiritual and incorporeal substance, which in the genus of substance are most greatly distant. In order that the wisdom of God might be manifested therein, He made such a body that it would have proportion in its own way to the soul. In order that it might be conformed to the vivifying soul, it had an equal temperament, not from weight or mass, but from the equality of natural justice, which disposes toward the most noble mode of life. In order that it might be conformed to the soul as moving through the manifold variety of powers, it had a manifold variety of organs with the highest beauty and artfulness and flexibility; as is evident in the face and in the hand, which is the "instrument of instruments." In order that it might be conformed to the soul as tending upward toward heaven, it had uprightness of stature and the head raised upward, so that bodily uprightness might bear witness to mental uprightness.”

“So that the goodness and benevolence of God might be manifested in man, He made man without any stain or fault and without any punishment or misery. For since the First Principle is at once most good and most just; because most good, He ought not to have made man other than good, and thereby innocent and upright; because most just, He ought not to have inflicted punishment on one who had absolutely no sin: and thereby He constituted for that rational soul such a body as would be so obedient to it that there would be in it no struggle of rebellion, no proneness to concupiscence, no diminution of vigor, no corruption of death: so also it would be so conformed to the soul that, just as the soul was innocent and yet could fall into fault, so the body would be impassible and yet could fall into punishment; and therefore it was able not to die, and it was able to die; it was able to have sufficiency, and it was able to have want; it was able to obey the soul, and it was also able to have rebellion and struggle against it.”

“In the New Testament, after the universal scripture and the course of time, Christ was formed, as was man on the sixth day, that He may "have dominion over the fish of the sea," and "the birds of the air." As the Psalm says, "what is man that You should be mindful of him, or the son of man that You should care for him? You have made him little less than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him rule over the works of your hands, putting all things under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yes, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, the fishes of the sea," etc. And in order that it be understood of Christ, the Apostle says: "You have made him little less than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor." And there follows: "But we do see Him who was made 'a little lower than the angels,' namely, Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of His having suffered death." Man was created out of a virgin soil that had never received blood, which signifies Christ born of the Virgin; and as Eve was formed out of Adam's side, so also the Church, out of the side of Christ. But since Christ never sinned, how can Adam's transgression correspond to Him? There must be transference from the head to the body.”

“It should be noted that as a fruit delights both sight and taste, it delights the sense of sight mostly by its excellence and beauty, but the sense of taste, by its sweetness and flavor. Likewise, these theories sustain the intellect by their beauty, and the affective dispositions by their sweetness. This is what Scripture suggests when it says: The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, to the east, and He put there the man He had formed, etc. This is said as a recapitulation on the seventh day, since the planting was done on the third day. There follows: The Lord God made to grow out of the ground all kinds of trees pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, so that it would sustain the intellect by its beauty and the affective dispositions by its sweetness. But consummation was to come about in the tree of life, provided caution was exercised in regard to the tree of knowledge. The soil, therefore, is Scripture which brings forth all kinds of trees pleasant to the sight, as regards the intellect, and good for food as regards the affective dispositions, that is, the manifold theories both delighting and sustaining. In the heavenly paradise, there is no planting, except of eternal reasons, and although there is sustainment in the fact of the predestination of all the saints, I will rejoice rather over my own. And this is what the Lord suggests: "Rejoice rather in this, that your names are written in heaven." Paul could speak of the heavenly paradise, because he was caught up to the third heaven. We do not know, but we speak of the earthly paradise.”

“The tree of life was also given for continual nourishment, and finally for perfect transformation through perpetual immortality. There would be a consumption of nutrimental moisture through the action of heat: there would also nonetheless be a restoration through the nourishment of the trees of paradise, restored through the tree of life, that is, with the radical moisture preserved: which tree indeed had this virtue, on account of which, as Augustine says, it was not only for food but also as a Sacrament. The incorruption and immortality of Adam's body came principally from the soul as from that which contains and influences, from the body's good and balanced constitution as from that which disposes and receives, from the tree of life as from that which vivifies and assists, and from the governance of divine providence as from that which conserves inwardly and protects outwardly.”

“Of this central Person, it is said in Genesis: "The Lord God made to grow out of the ground all kinds of trees pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden." In reference to which Augustine writes that of all the things that were made, it was said: "Let there be, He made it," and so it was--excepting light, of which God said "Let there be light," and there was light--for they were produced first in all eternity from Eternal Art, second in the intelligent creature, and third in the material world. The Word expresses the Father and the things He made, and principally leads us to union with the Father who brings all things together; and in this regard He is the Tree of Life, for by this means we return to the very fountain of life and are revived in it. But if we stoop to a knowledge of things acquired by experimenting them, investigating beyond what is conceded to us, we fall from true contemplation and taste of the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil, as did Lucifer. For if Lucifer, in contemplating this Truth, had been led back from the knowledge of creatures to the unity of the Father, he would have turned dusk into dawn and would have enjoyed daylight. But because he fell for the love and desire of his own excellence, he lost the day. And Adam did the same. Now, this Center is one that produces knowledge, it is the Truth, that is, the Tree of Life, while the other truth is an occasion of death, when a man falls for the love of created beauty.”

“The third mode of generation is by means of propagation, and this in a fourfold way: as of a growth coming from a seed, a tree from a root, a conceived offspring from the belly or womb of the mother, or children from a begetting father. In the first mode of generation, formal beauty is lacking, for in the seed the form is vague and hidden. It is not so in the case of the Son. In the second, conformity is lacking, for although there is a single root, it is different in shape from the branches even though they produce a single tree. In the third, actuality is lacking, for although the mother is in a certain sense the active principle of the offspring, yet she is much more of a passive principle. In the fourth, eternal coexistence is lacking. Now, take away these defects and suppose first formal beauty. In this sense, there is Isaiah: "The branch of the Lord will be luster and glory, and the fruit of the earth will be honor and splendor." Second, suppose conformity: The Son conforms to the Father to the point that He is "the tree of life... in the midst of the garden." Hence, in Proverbs: "She is a tree of life to those who grasp her." Third, suppose actuality: in this sense, you have the Psalm: "With Thee is the principality in the day of Thy strength, in the brightness of the saints: from the womb before the day star I begot Thee. From the womb," says the Psalmist, which is in relation to the warmth of the Father's bosom, from which He does not withdraw. Fourth, suppose eternal coexistence. In this sense, there is the Psalm: "This day I have begotten You," that is in eternity, or in My eternal today.”

“"The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, to the East, and He put there the man He had formed. The Lord God made to grow out of the ground all kinds of trees pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." The trees pleasant and good represent the sacraments of Scripture which have great beauty. Yet they are not seen as beautiful except through the conformity of the symbol with the thing represented. For these trees are beautiful because ordained.”

“It is true that in this regard there comes the danger of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, so that, after dismissing the tree of life by reason of the sweetness of emotions, the soul may wander around other sciences and go so far that it can no longer come back but is excluded from the delights of paradise and loses the flavor of the tree of life. To eat of the tree of life by means of these enlightenments is to be sustained, so that a man seeks nothing but the intelligence of truth, the mood of piety, and the enjoyment of sweetness, that is, the solace of contemplation. But when a man forgets these things and delights in the pursuit of inquisitiveness, he only wants to know; and out of this is born the arrogance of vanity when he looks down upon other men. And upon this there follows the conflict of lawsuits, because he considers himself dishonored when someone stands up to him: and he is always ready to fight any opponent. And in such a way true life is taken away from man, as occurred with Adam, or rather, with the woman who was inquisitive and wanted to be like God. Therefore, they made themselves coverings and blamed another for their sin, Adam blaming God for having given him such a wife, and the woman blaming the serpent. Hence these enlightenments must enter the affective dispositions in order that the intellect be straightened.”

“And so, progressing little by little, Scripture explains how the Antichrist will be, first, most filthy, etc. Hence, next to the tree of life was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil: for the latter promised good and rendered evil, wherefore it will turn into a serpent, a dragon and a beast. In all these mysteries, there is some relationship with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, for the Trinity must shine forth mostly through their works.”

“It should be noted that as a fruit delights both sight and taste, it delights the sense of sight mostly by its excellence and beauty, but the sense of taste, by its sweetness and flavor. Likewise, these theories sustain the intellect by their beauty, and the affective dispositions by their sweetness. This is what Scripture suggests when it says: The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, to the east, and He put there the man He had formed, etc. This is said as a recapitulation on the seventh day, since the planting was done on the third day. There follows: The Lord God made to grow out of the ground all kinds of trees pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, so that it would sustain the intellect by its beauty and the affective dispositions by its sweetness. But consummation was to come about in the tree of life, provided caution was exercised in regard to the tree of knowledge. The soil, therefore, is Scripture which brings forth all kinds of trees pleasant to the sight, as regards the intellect, and good for food as regards the affective dispositions, that is, the manifold theories both delighting and sustaining. In the heavenly paradise, there is no planting, except of eternal reasons, and although there is sustainment in the fact of the predestination of all the saints, I will rejoice rather over my own. And this is what the Lord suggests: "Rejoice rather in this, that your names are written in heaven." Paul could speak of the heavenly paradise, because he was caught up to the third heaven. We do not know, but we speak of the earthly paradise.”

“Because outside the unity of faith and charity, which makes us children and members of the Church, no one can be saved: therefore, if the Sacraments are received outside her, they are not received unto salvation, although they are true Sacraments; but they can become useful if one returns to holy mother Church. Whence Augustine against the Donatists writes: "The Church, compared to paradise, shows us that people can indeed receive her baptism even outside, but that no one can either obtain or retain the salvation of blessedness outside her. For the rivers from the fountain of paradise, as Scripture testifies, also flowed abundantly outward: for they are mentioned by name, and through which lands they flow, and that they are situated outside paradise, is known to all; nor yet in Mesopotamia or in Egypt, where those rivers reached, is there the happiness of life that is spoken of in paradise. Thus it happens that, although the water of paradise is outside paradise, blessedness nevertheless is not found except within paradise. So therefore the baptism of the Church can exist outside the Church, but the gift of the blessed life is found only within the Church."”

“The four cardinal virtues are symbolized by the four rivers of paradise, in so far as they are originated by faith. A river stands for the grace of the Holy Spirit poured out into these four virtues: Phison corresponds to temperance, Gehon to prudence, Tigris to fortitude, and Euphrates to justice. Phison represents the rational power, Gehon the concupiscible, Tigris the irascible, and Euphrates the whole soul.”

“By means of diffusion, as of brightness out of light, of heat out of fire, of a river out of its headspring, of rain out of a full or humid cloud. In the first diffusion, equality is lacking, for brightness is not the same as light. In the second, closeness is lacking, for heat is not close to fire, since it is the principle neither of its form nor of its origin, but is merely an accident. In the third, simultaneity is lacking, for a spring diffuses itself by flowing, and not all at once. In the fourth, fullness is lacking, for not all of the rain is drawn out of a cloud, but only successive drops. Now, join these four conditions to a single diffusion, one of splendor having equality, of heat having closeness and substantiality, of a river or fountain having simultaneity, and of rain having fullness: and in this way, you will have a trace of the eternal generation. Hence, the Son is sometimes compared to brightness: "Being the brightness of His glory," etc.; at other times, to a flame, as in Moses' bush which represented the person of the Son; or again, as a river or spring: "But a spring rose out of the earth. A river rose in Eden." Again, He is sometimes compared to rain: "For just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth," etc. And, later: "So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth," that is, from the Father's heart.”

“It should be noted that the Church was placed in paradise, like the first man, "to till it," in such a way that no one would say "that anything he possessed" was "his own." For it began in a state of great perfection that is observed today in the religious life, for the love of Christ was still recent, and in those days "a large number also of the priests accepted the faith." This Church, meaning the one that began with the Jews, because they were converted at one time by the three thousand, and at another, by the five thousand, possessed the "tree of life," that is, faith, because "My just one lives by faith." It also had the "tree of knowledge," that is, the Law, which remained with them for seeing and reading, and not for eating. Much more: for "the day you eat of it, you must die." And so you may see the tree of knowledge, but not eat of it, or else you would destroy what Christ had done; and death would necessarily come in, for "the letter kills." Hence Paul says: "I, Paul, tell you that if you be circumcised, Christ will be of no advantage to you."”

“According to others, time is divided into five: and this is established by Christ who referred to five summonses: "The kingdom of heaven is like a householder who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard." The five summonses were in the morning, and at the third, sixth, ninth and eleventh hours. The morning saw the beginning of the creature, for God placed man in Paradise and commanded him "to till it and to keep it." But man had as yet neither mattock nor hoe: but he was able to make them out of the trees that were obedient to him. The second summons was under the scourge, until Noah who preached that man be more careful; the third, under Abraham who was a worshiper of God and a builder of altars, and it lasted until Moses; the fourth, under Moses through the Law and the prodigies, and it lasted until Christ; the fifth, under Christ and through Christ by means of penance—and He called all men to it and also to the wedding feast.”

“It is fitting to work within sacred Scripture and to train the mind. As Seneca says, "Many have I found who trained their body, but few their mind." In Genesis it is said that "the Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to till it and to keep it." Such a training is a spiritual disposition towards devotedness.”

“For according to the first institution of nature, man was created fit for the repose of contemplation, and therefore God placed him in a paradise of delights. But turning away from the true light toward a changeable good, he was bent over by his own fault, and his entire race by original sin, which infected human nature in a twofold manner, namely the mind with ignorance, and the flesh with concupiscence; so that man, blinded and bent over, sits in darkness and does not see the light of heaven, unless grace with justice comes to his aid against concupiscence, and knowledge with wisdom against ignorance.”

“Genesis 2: God placed man in paradise, that he might work: likewise, in chapter 3 of the same it was said to man sinning: In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread, etc. Therefore the precept concerning labor regards man according to nature as instituted and according to nature as fallen, therefore according to all times; but it especially regards the man who is able by himself and cannot supply through another; but such is the able-bodied poor man: therefore such a one is bound to labor manually.”

“A twofold precept was given to man, namely of nature and of discipline; the precept of discipline: "Of the tree of knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat." Obedience is pure when a precept obliges of itself alone, not from any other cause; and such is called a precept of discipline, because through it one learns how great is the virtue of obedience, which by its merit leads to heaven, but by its contrary casts one down into hell. Therefore that commandment was not given to man on account of any need that God had for human service, but to provide a way of meriting the crown through pure and voluntary obedience.”

“It is said in Genesis: "Of every tree that is in paradise, you shall eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in whatever hour you eat of it, you shall die the death." Adam with his wife contracted the vice of curiosity, when the devil said to them: "You shall be as gods, knowing good and evil": he also contracted the vice of carnality, when he ate of the fruit: he also contracted the vice of vanity, when he wished to be as gods.”

“It should be noted that the Church was placed in paradise, like the first man, "to till it," in such a way that no one would say "that anything he possessed" was "his own." For it began in a state of great perfection that is observed today in the religious life, for the love of Christ was still recent, and in those days "a large number also of the priests accepted the faith." This Church, meaning the one that began with the Jews, because they were converted at one time by the three thousand, and at another, by the five thousand, possessed the "tree of life," that is, faith, because "My just one lives by faith." It also had the "tree of knowledge," that is, the Law, which remained with them for seeing and reading, and not for eating. Much more: for "the day you eat of it, you must die." And so you may see the tree of knowledge, but not eat of it, or else you would destroy what Christ had done; and death would necessarily come in, for "the letter kills." Hence Paul says: "I, Paul, tell you that if you be circumcised, Christ will be of no advantage to you."”

“In Genesis: "The Lord cast a deep sleep upon Adam, and when he had fallen asleep, he took one of his ribs" and made a woman "and brought her to Adam." And why, while he slept, did He take one of his ribs? Could He not have done this while he was awake? This is mystical. Was not the Church formed from the side of Christ, when Christ fell asleep on the cross? And from His side flowed forth blood and water, that is, the Sacraments, through which the Church is reborn. From the rib of Adam, Eve was formed, who was joined to him in marriage. Just as man was formed from virgin earth, so Christ from the glorious Virgin. And just as from the side of the sleeping Adam woman was formed, so the Church from Christ hanging on the cross. And just as from Adam and Eve, Abel and his successors were formed, so from Christ and the Church the whole Christian people. And just as Eve is the mother of Abel and of all of us, so the Christian people has the Virgin as mother.”

“In the New Testament, after the universal scripture and the course of time, Christ was formed, as was man on the sixth day, that He may "have dominion over the fish of the sea," and "the birds of the air." As the Psalm says, "what is man that You should be mindful of him, or the son of man that You should care for him? You have made him little less than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him rule over the works of your hands, putting all things under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yes, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, the fishes of the sea," etc. And in order that it be understood of Christ, the Apostle says: "You have made him little less than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor." And there follows: "But we do see Him who was made 'a little lower than the angels,' namely, Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of His having suffered death." Man was created out of a virgin soil that had never received blood, which signifies Christ born of the Virgin; and as Eve was formed out of Adam's side, so also the Church, out of the side of Christ. But since Christ never sinned, how can Adam's transgression correspond to Him? There must be transference from the head to the body.”

“"The Lord cast a deep sleep upon Adam, and when he had fallen asleep, he took one of his ribs" and made a woman "and brought her to Adam." And why, while he slept, did He take one of his ribs? Could He not have done this while he was awake? This is mystical. Was not the Church formed from the side of Christ, when Christ fell asleep on the cross? And from His side flowed forth blood and water, that is, the Sacraments, through which the Church is reborn. From the rib of Adam, Eve was formed, who was joined to him in marriage. Just as man was formed from virgin earth, so Christ from the glorious Virgin. And just as from the side of the sleeping Adam woman was formed, so the Church from Christ hanging on the cross.”

“Adam said that she was "woman, because she was taken from man. This," he said, "is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh." And why, while he slept, did He take one of his ribs? Could He not have done this while he was awake? This is mystical. Was not the Church formed from the side of Christ, when Christ fell asleep on the cross? And from His side flowed forth blood and water, that is, the Sacraments, through which the Church is reborn. Just as man was formed from virgin earth, so Christ from the glorious Virgin. And just as from the side of the sleeping Adam woman was formed, so the Church from Christ hanging on the cross.”

“Conjugal chastity accords with the law of nature by reason of the revelation shown from above. For Adam prophetically said after his deep sleep: This now is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. Wherefore a man shall leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall be in one flesh. This word is said to have been spoken by God in Matthew 19, because Adam said it while illuminated by the divine Spirit. From this the union is sacramental; and all of this belongs to it according to the state of the law of nature, from which the act and exercise of conjugal chastity itself first draws its origin.”

“Since each of the spiritual unions signified in the Sacrament of matrimony is a union of one as agent and infuser, and of the other as patient and receiver; and this by the bond of love, which proceeds from pure will: hence it is that matrimony must be a joining of two persons, differing according to the relation of agent and patient, namely of the male sex and the female, and this from the pure consent of the will. And because consent before commingling does not make a full union, because they are not yet one flesh: hence it is that by words regarding the future, matrimony is said to be initiated, by words regarding the present confirmed, but in carnal union consummated, because then they are one flesh and become one body: and through this it fully signifies that union which is between us and Christ. For then the body of one is fully transferred to the body of the other according to the power of one's spouse for the procreation of offspring.”

“And the Lord said: "For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife." And the Apostle said: "This is a great sacrament; but I speak in Christ and in the Church." Was not the Church formed from the side of Christ, when Christ fell asleep on the cross? And from His side flowed forth blood and water, that is, the Sacraments, through which the Church is reborn. From the rib of Adam, Eve was formed, who was joined to him in marriage. Just as man was formed from virgin earth, so Christ from the glorious Virgin. And just as from the side of the sleeping Adam woman was formed, so the Church from Christ hanging on the cross. And just as from Adam and Eve, Abel and his successors were formed, so from Christ and the Church the whole Christian people.”

“Conjugal chastity accords with the law of nature by reason of the revelation shown from above. For Adam prophetically said after his deep sleep: This now is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. Wherefore a man shall leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall be in one flesh. This word is said to have been spoken by God in Matthew 19, because Adam said it while illuminated by the divine Spirit. From this the union is sacramental; and all of this belongs to it according to the state of the law of nature, from which the act and exercise of conjugal chastity itself first draws its origin.”

“When God had established man in the happiness of paradise in both sexes, namely male and female, the devil, envying man, having assumed the form of a serpent, attacked the woman—first by questioning: Why has God commanded you not to eat? Since the devil, who formerly was knowing and upright, by falling through pride became crafty and envious—and therefore through envy wished to tempt and through cunning knew how—he therefore tempted insofar as he was able, and God permitted it. That he assumed the serpentine form in tempting was of divine dispensation, so that not only could his craftiness be detected, but also from that figure the diabolical craftiness in tempting might become known to all the children of Adam. Again, that he tempted concerning the precept of discipline was likewise of divine dispensation, so that whether he conquered or was conquered, the merit of obedience or the demerit of disobedience might become known to all. But that he began with the woman was of his own craftiness, because it is easier to cast down the less strong; whence the cunning of the enemy attacks the city from its weaker side. Similarly, the manner in which he proceeded in the temptation was of great cunning, because he proceeded by testing, impelling, and enticing. For he conducted his test through questioning, he impelled through assurance, and he enticed through promise. For first he questioned about the reason for the commandment, so that he might lead reason into doubt.”

“The manner in which the devil proceeded in the temptation was of great cunning, because he proceeded by testing, impelling, and enticing. For he conducted his test through questioning, he impelled through assurance, and he enticed through promise. For first he questioned about the reason for the commandment, so that he might lead reason into doubt; second, doubt having been established—Lest perhaps we die—he gave assurance, so that he might lead the irascible power into contempt; third, he promised, so that he might lead the concupiscible power into desire, and thus by these three modes might draw the freedom of choice to consent, which faculty belongs to reason and will, embracing nonetheless the three aforesaid powers: the rational, the irascible, and the concupiscible.”

“The devil attacked the woman—first by questioning: Why has God commanded you not to eat? second by asserting: You shall not die at all: third by promising: You shall be as gods, knowing good and evil: wishing by this temptation to cast down the weaker woman and through her afterwards to overthrow the male sex. For first he questioned about the reason for the commandment, so that he might lead reason into doubt; second, doubt having been established, he gave assurance: You shall not die at all, so that he might lead the irascible power into contempt; third, he promised, so that he might lead the concupiscible power into desire, and thus by these three modes might draw the freedom of choice to consent.”

“Third, the devil promised: You shall be as gods, knowing good and evil, so that he might lead the concupiscible power into desire, and thus by these three modes might draw the freedom of choice to consent, which faculty belongs to reason and will, embracing nonetheless the three aforesaid powers: the rational, the irascible, and the concupiscible; with respect to which the devil enticed the woman through a threefold desirable object, namely through knowledge, which is desirable to the rational power; through excellence after the manner of God, which is desirable to the irascible power; through the sweetness of the tree, which is desirable to the concupiscible power. And thus he tempted everything that was temptable in the woman, through everything by which she could be led into temptation, which is the threefold desirable object of the world, namely the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life; according to which three things the origin of every temptation is discerned, whether from the world, or from the flesh, or from the devil.”

“Adam with his wife contracted the vice of curiosity, when the devil said to them: "You shall be as gods, knowing good and evil": he also contracted the vice of carnality, when he ate of the fruit: he also contracted the vice of vanity, when he wished to be as gods. Hear, brothers: those who have the knowledge of the Saints, namely clerics, let them take heed for themselves, lest they have anything of vice mixed in; because if a man mixes in anything of vice, he loses the knowledge of discerning between good and evil.”

“The reasoning of the devil leads to hell: it is a fallacy, a sophistic and destructive reasoning. For the devil deceived the first man and assumed the existence in the heart of man of a kind of self-evident proposition such as this: the rational creature must needs desire to be the same as its Creator since He is its likeness--and, said he, "When you eat, you will be like God." Hence it is good to eat of the forbidden fruit in order to become like Him. And by this syllogism all men sin, for as Dionysius says, "No one commits evil with evil as a goal: every man intends good and desires good. But he is deceived because he takes for true what is only a likeness of good." By means of this same fallacy, the devil made man fall into the sufferings of nature, the needs of indigence, and mortality of life.”

“One should consider with fear what Job says of Behemoth-Leviathan: "He shall strew gold under him like mire." Through knowledge, temptation easily leads to ruin. "You will be like God, knowing good and evil." Wherefore some men want to search beyond the way of nature, that is, beyond contingent matters. Concerning the levels of pride, blessed Bernard says that the primary vice is inquisitiveness which brought about the fall of Lucifer. By this, too, Adam fell. The hunger for knowledge must be changed: wisdom and holiness must be preferred to it.”

“The woman, consenting to the diabolic temptation, desired knowledge and excellence after the manner of God, and desired no less to experience the sweetness of the forbidden tree; and at length she fell into transgression of the precept. Nor content with this, by offering the fruit of the forbidden tree, she led the man, who, unwilling to grieve his delights, did not correct the woman, but rather gave consent to her evil persuasion; and by tasting the offered fruit, he became a transgressor of the divine commandment. Since from the first principle there had been given to man a twofold sense and appetite with respect to the twofold book and with respect to the twofold good, so that according to the freedom of the will man could turn to either, the woman, having heard the exterior suggestion of the serpent, did not have recourse to the interior book, which renders itself legible to the right judgment of reason, but kept her sense fixed upon the exterior book and began to occupy herself with the exterior good. And because her sense did not approach the infallible truth, her appetite began to turn toward the mutable good. She therefore desired what the devil promised, and thus she consented to do what he suggested. By desiring excellent knowledge, therefore, she was raised up into pride; and raised up into pride, by this very thing she was enticed to gluttony; and through this she was thirdly cast down by disobedience. The first was in the mind, the second in sensuality, the third in action. And just as the temptation, beginning from the lower part, reached all the way to the highest, since from hearing through desire it came to consent, so conversely the disorder, beginning from the higher part, reached all the way to the lowest and produced one consummated sin, which in human nature is the beginning of all sin and the origin of evils. For the woman, having been enticed, enticed the man, who, similarly turned toward the exterior book and toward the mutable good, esteeming too highly the companionship of the woman and the solace of her society, was unwilling either to correct the woman or to grieve his own delights. And since he ought to have corrected her and did not correct her, therefore the sin of the woman is imputed to him. But because he was unwilling to grieve his own delights by repelling the woman from himself, he began to love himself excessively, and through this, withdrawing from divine friendship, he fell into gluttony and disobedience. The transgression of the precept was therefore common to both, although from different causes; in both, however, namely in the man and the woman, there was a disordering from the highest to the lowest, because first in the mind or in reason, then in sensuality, and lastly in deed. For each was prostrated through disobedience and enticed through gluttony, because each was raised up in pride: the woman indeed by desiring and pursuing what she had not yet received, the man by excessively loving and prizing what he already had; whence the woman believed she would be exalted by eating, but Adam, thinking himself something great and dear to God, believed he would be punished less severely. For he had not yet experienced the rigor of divine severity. And thus each, while inordinately raising himself above himself, fell miserably below himself, from the state of innocence and grace to the state of guilt and misery.”

“The man and the woman immediately after their fault felt the penalty of rebellion and shame in the flesh; and therefore to cover their shameful parts they made for themselves loincloths. Since each parent, by being proud in mind and tasting in the flesh, was disobedient to their superior, by the just judgment of God it came about that their inferior became disobedient to them, especially with respect to those parts according to which there is the union of both sexes, which are the members serving the generative power. And because this was in them not from nature but from their own fault, therefore they were ashamed and covered themselves.”

“The blessed Virgin possesses that price, because she is strong and valiant as one valiantly fighting. In Genesis: "The Lord said to the serpent: I will put enmities between you and the woman, and your seed and her seed; she shall crush your head, and you shall lie in wait for her heel." Bernard says of the glorious Virgin: "She crushed the head of the ancient serpent, when she reduced to nothing every suggestion of the evil one, both regarding the allurement of the flesh and the pride of the mind." Do not allow the serpent to enter into your heart through suggestion; for Gregory says that when the head of the serpent has entered into any opening, then the whole body easily enters.”

“For the woman the punishment was doubled, because there was inflicted upon her the penalty of manifold hardships in conception, the penalty of pains in childbirth, and also the penalty of subjection to the man in married life. Since from the woman sin took its beginning, therefore her punishment is doubled. For because she was proud in mind, she incurred subjection; because she saw and desired the tree as sweet to eat, she incurred pain; finally, because she broke the yoke of obedience, she incurred the bond and burden of manifold hardship. And thus it is clear with what order the manifold punishments were inflicted by divine providence upon the man and doubled in the woman, so that "the disgrace of sin would not be without the beauty of justice."”

“By divine judgment, the man incurred the penalty of labor and anguish, the penalty of hunger and want, the penalty of death and dissolution into dust, as Scripture says: Cursed is the earth in your work. Because the man, having despised the supreme delectable, sought to delight in the flesh, therefore by the just judgment of God there was inflicted upon him labor and the want of hunger and thirst. Since the First Principle is most provident in governing and most upright in presiding, it leaves nothing whatsoever disordered in the universe; and since fault is rightly ordered through punishment, therefore immediately in the first parents the disgrace of sin was followed by the dignity of judgment, so that what was disordered by falling from the order of nature might fall immediately into the order of justice. For this twofold order so embraces all things that what falls from the one relapses into the other.”

“Because on account of the good of the flesh man chose to be separated from the good of the mind, therefore by the just judgment of God the soul is unwillingly separated from the flesh through death and incineration—and through this, just as God had given to man according to the order of nature a body subject to the soul, capable of propagation without lust, capable of sustenance without failing, incapable of change without death intervening, so, when man sinned, according to the order of justice it came about that He withdrew all the aforesaid and inflicted their opposites: so that fault might not remain unpunished and disordered, which divine providence ought in no way to permit.”

“As to the objection that man from his original condition was ordained to this work, it must be said that no man ought to be without labor in this life, lest perhaps what is said of the reprobate in the Psalm be said of him: They are not in the labor of men, and with men they shall not be scourged: but from this it does not follow that one must be occupied with manual labor, and especially that which is lucrative. And through this the response to the objection about the example of Adam is clear, because it is certain that not all are obligated to the work of agriculture. Nor was that which is said: In the sweat of your face, etc., said then as a precept of life, but as a punishment for sin committed, as is clear from the following text.”

“That remedy ought to have had efficacy first upon those who believed in Christ, and by believing hoped, and by hoping loved; and on this account He ought to have descended to the nether regions immediately for their liberation. Whence, when the gate of heaven was opened through the passion of Christ—who by making satisfaction removed the flaming sword, by changing the divine sentence—He snatched from hell all His members.”

“Now Adam, in the act of making fruitful, represents those doctors who, falling upon the law as lovers upon their spouse, consumed the tree of the knowledge in order to observe the Law, and consented to the Serpent who persuaded them to do so, whence arose the heresy of the Ebionites, who taught that the Law was to be observed together with the Gospels. And so great was the zeal for the Law that Peter fell into that fallacy, but the grace of God delivered him. And thereupon follows the expulsion from Paradise, God withdrawing Himself from them. And they were dispersed, and cursed in their work, and devoured as by two bears, Titus and Vespasian. Thus did Cain, the murderer of his brother, that is, the Jewish people, receive a sign.”

“The first mystery is that of the creation of beings, and there the Antichrist is represented by Lamech who was the first to introduce bigamy and was a transgressor of the natural law and given to extreme lust. Then "the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair, and they took wives for themselves, as many as they wished." Because of this came the Flood. And hence it is possible to surmise what the Antichrist will be like: he is the filthiest one. And his symbolic meaning is shown in this, that he would kill the one to whom a token had been given, that is, the Jews represented by Cain. Wherefore Lamech "shall be avenged seventy times sevenfold," for his sin will be greater than the sin of the Jews.”

“The first mystery is that of the creation of beings, and there the Antichrist is represented by Lamech who was the first to introduce bigamy and was a transgressor of the natural law and given to extreme lust. Then "the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair, and they took wives for themselves, as many as they wished." Because of this came the Flood. And hence it is possible to surmise what the Antichrist will be like: he is the filthiest one. And his symbolic meaning is shown in this, that he would kill the one to whom a token had been given, that is, the Jews represented by Cain. Wherefore Lamech "shall be avenged seventy times sevenfold," for his sin will be greater than the sin of the Jews.”

“The manner in which sacrifice was introduced is seen in the fact that Abel offered a sacrifice by faith, and so did Noah, of whose offering it is said: The Lord smelled the sweet odor. And these sacrifices represented that which Christ offered on the cross. Hence it is said, the Lord smelled: God was appeased by the death of His only Son. By contrast, the demons, because of their pride, seek to be worshiped as God Himself, in order to obtain on earth the honor they could not have in heaven, and because men are farthest removed from God. A man who makes such sacrifices offers the blood of Christ, in that it was shed in order to appease the Father.”

“Heaven is called caelum, because engraved (caelatum), that is, sculptured with stars. Genesis explains how splendid is this faith: "Look at the heavens and, if you can, count the stars. So shall your posterity be." The promise of a bodily posterity was made to Abraham, for it is written: "So shall your posterity be." The promise of a spiritual posterity was also made to him, for through faith he was to be the father of a multitude. The flesh of Abraham gave forth offspring and was thus multiplied. All the more so would his spiritual begetting be fruitful: for he begot spiritually through his fruitful mind. Now, the great number of thoughts arising out of faith transcend in clarity the light of the stars. These thoughts of faith are compared to the stars and also to twelve pearls. Although these stars are countless, there are twelve signs through which the sun runs its course. These twelve signs are merely clusters of stars which have divers influences because of their different configurations and lights. And the sun, in combination with these, affects the course of life on earth at different times and according to the different influences. These thoughts also, arising from the considerations of faith, are compared to the clarity of pearls because they are bright, vivifying and joyful in the manner of pearls. For pearls have brightness or refulgence, while they also comfort through their efficacy, and rejoice the heart.”

“We have spoken of the second vision, that is, of understanding lifted up by faith, as expressed through the words "heaven," or "firmament," meaning lofty, firm, and beautiful. Of this, it was said to Abraham, that is, to the believer: "Look at the heavens and, if you can, count the stars." And by the twelve signs through which the sun of understanding runs as it traverses the hemisphere of our intelligence, producing the day and the year of faith; and by the twelve gates, each one made of a single pearl, may be understood the twelve principal ideas to which the others may then be retraced, and according to which the others are ruled and directed: and these twelve principal ideas are bright, vivifying, and joyful. The first of these ideas was to consider God as the first Being; the second, to consider Him as triune.”

“The promise of a bodily posterity was made to Abraham, for it is written: "So shall your posterity be." The promise of a spiritual posterity was also made to him, for through faith he was to be the father of a multitude. The flesh of Abraham gave forth offspring and was thus multiplied. All the more so would his spiritual begetting be fruitful: for he begot spiritually through his fruitful mind. Now, the great number of thoughts arising out of faith transcend in clarity the light of the stars.”

“Conjugal chastity accords with the written law by reason of the divine promise: because the Lord promised to Abraham, Genesis 17: You shall be the father of many nations; and I will make you increase most exceedingly, and I will establish you among nations, and kings shall come forth from you. Since therefore the Lord as a benefit promised that He would give offspring to Abraham through the way of marriage, it is evident that conjugal chastity accords with the written law.”

“The other way of anagogy is above the skies, as in the case of Abraham who saw three men and worshiped one, for the Trinity appeared in these three; and in the case of the two angels who were sent to Sodom, the Son and the Holy Spirit who are sent by the Father; and because the Father is never sent, He was not seen there, but He was seen in the case of the three men, for here He appeared and was not sent.”

“For testimony is given in the Old Testament concerning the Trinity both in figures and in words. Among the figures, however, that one was especially authoritative which was shown to the father of our faith, Abraham: of whom it is said in Genesis eighteen, that when three men appeared to him, he indeed saw three, but adored one, whence he spoke to the three as to one, in this understanding in himself and intimating to others the mystery of the Trinity.”

“Conjugal chastity accords with the written law by reason of the divine miracle, according to that passage of Genesis 21: The Lord visited Sarah, as He had promised, and fulfilled what He had spoken, and she conceived and bore a son in her old age, at the time which God had foretold to her. Since therefore the Lord as a benefit promised that He would give offspring to Abraham through the way of marriage, and miraculously made fruitful the dead womb of Sarah, and also gave laws according to which marriage is to be contracted: it is evident that conjugal chastity accords with the written law.”

“This dew is the influence of the Holy Spirit's grace which visits the Scriptures and in which it is sweetly found. Hence, in Genesis: "The fragrance of my son is like the fragrance of a field which the Lord has blessed! God give you dew from heaven, and fruitfulness of the earth, abundance of grain and wine." Jacob, that spiritual man, is well learned in the Sacred Scriptures. Out of him comes forth an odor that abounds throughout the Scriptures in their threefold meaning: the grain referring to allegory, the wine to tropology, and the oil to anagogy.”

“The spiritual senses denote mental perceptions concerning the truth to be contemplated. This contemplation indeed was in the Prophets through revelation with respect to the threefold vision, namely corporeal, imaginative, and intellectual; in other just persons, however, it is found through speculation, which begins from sense and arrives at imagination, and from imagination to reason, from reason to understanding, from understanding to intelligence; from intelligence, however, to wisdom or ecstatic knowledge, which begins here on the way but is consummated in everlasting glory. And in these degrees consists the ladder of Jacob, whose summit reaches heaven: and the throne of Solomon, upon which sits the most wise King, truly peaceful and loving as the most beautiful bridegroom and wholly desirable: upon whom the Angels desire to gaze, and toward whom the desire of holy souls sighs, as the hart longs for the fountains of waters.”

“Since therefore one must first ascend before descending on the ladder of Jacob, let us place the first step of ascent at the bottom, setting this entire sensible world before us as a mirror, through which we may pass over to God, the supreme Artificer, so that we may be true Hebrews passing over from Egypt to the land promised to the Fathers, and also Christians passing over with Christ from this world to the Father, and also lovers of wisdom, who calls and says: Pass over to me, all you who desire me, and be filled from my generations. For from the greatness of the beauty and of the creature, the Creator of these things can be knowably seen.”

“These six considerations having therefore been traversed, as if they were the six steps of the throne of the true Solomon, by which one arrives at peace, where the true peaceful one rests in a peaceful mind as in an interior Jerusalem; and as if also the six wings of the Cherub, by which the mind of the true contemplative, filled with the illumination of supernal wisdom, may be borne upward; and as if also the first six days, in which the mind must be exercised, so that it may at last arrive at the sabbath of rest; after our mind has contemplated God outside itself through vestiges and in the vestiges, within itself through the image and in the image, above itself through the similitude of the divine light shining upon us and in that light itself, insofar as is possible according to the state of wayfaring and the exercise of our mind; when at last in the sixth step it has arrived at this point, that it contemplates in the first and highest principle and the mediator of God and men, Jesus Christ, those things whose likenesses can in no way be found in creatures, and which exceed all keenness of the human intellect: it remains that, in contemplating these things, it should transcend and pass beyond not only this sensible world, but also itself; in which passing over, Christ is the way and the door, Christ is the ladder and the vehicle, as it were the mercy seat placed upon the ark of God and the mystery hidden from the ages.”

“There is therefore a right order; man should study first Sacred Scripture, in the letter and the spirit; then the original writings of the saints, giving priority to Sacred Scripture over them. It is the same with the writings of the masters and those of the philosophers: one should scan them stealthily as if it were not good to tarry. How much was Rachel enriched for having stolen her father's household idols? The only thing she gained was to have lied and to have simulated weakness after having put them in the camel's saddle and sat on them. The same thing happens when the notebooks of the philosophers are concealed. Our waters should not go down to the Dead Sea, but up to their first point of origin.”

“There is therefore a right order; man should study first Sacred Scripture, in the letter and the spirit; then the original writings of the saints, giving priority to Sacred Scripture over them. It is the same with the writings of the masters and those of the philosophers: one should scan them stealthily as if it were not good to tarry. How much was Rachel enriched for having stolen her father's household idols? The only thing she gained was to have lied and to have simulated weakness after having put them in the camel's saddle and sat on them. The same thing happens when the notebooks of the philosophers are concealed. Our waters should not go down to the Dead Sea, but up to their first point of origin.”

“Scripture enlightens in a circle, as, for instance, when it advises us not to flee, because we have protection all around. For we have the Lord and angels about us, wherefore the Psalm: Mountains are round about Jerusalem; so the Lord is round about His people. To the servant of Eliseus who cried out because of the Syrian robbers who sought to capture him, Eliseus said: "Lord, open his eyes, that he may see." And the Lord opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw. And behold the mountain was full of horses, and chariots of fire round about Eliseus. Jacob too, afraid of his brother, saw the angels and said: "This is the encampment of God." Wherefore the Psalm says: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? And in another passage: Had not the Lord been with us, let Israel say, etc., until the end.”

“This was also shown to blessed Francis, when in the rapture of contemplation on the lofty mountain — where I pondered in my mind these things which have been written — there appeared a Seraph with six wings affixed to a cross, as I and many others heard from his companion who was then with him there; where he passed over into God through the rapture of contemplation, and was set forth as an example of perfect contemplation, just as he had previously been of action, as another Jacob and Israel, so that through him God might invite all truly spiritual men to this kind of passing over and rapture of the mind, more by example than by word.”

“Of these twelve modes of generation, it is said in Genesis: "I had another dream," he said. "The sun, the moon and eleven stars were worshiping me." Now, this One is the most comely Joseph whom all things worship: temporal beings cry out by means of the moon, and spiritual beings, by means of the sun and the eleven stars. The modes of generation of creatures correspond to eleven of the conditions, while the twelfth is lacking: it came about in the generation of the Son of God. Wherefore there are here eleven stars, a quantity short of twelve which is a rising number, for all beings are defective in relation to the mode of generation of this One, and tend toward the generation of the Word: for all beings point to the generation of the Word.”

“Again, they are compared two by two: in the Old Testament, there are the times before the Law and under the Law; in the New, the times of the calling of the Gentiles and of the calling of the Israelites that shall be at the end. And these times are symbolized by the two sons of Juda, Zara and Phares. Now, Zara "put out a hand. The midwife took a scarlet thread," and "tied it on his hand. But he drew back his hand," and Phares was born, who opened the breach. The Jews believed at first, but they immediately drew back their hand at the time of the early Church; but after all of the Gentiles have come in, then Zara will be born and the Jewish people will be converted.”

“Again, they are compared two by two: in the Old Testament, there are the times before the Law and under the Law; in the New, the times of the calling of the Gentiles and of the calling of the Israelites that shall be at the end. And these times are symbolized by the two sons of Juda, Zara and Phares. Now, Zara "put out a hand. The midwife took a scarlet thread," and "tied it on his hand. But he drew back his hand," and Phares was born, who opened the breach. The Jews believed at first, but they immediately drew back their hand at the time of the early Church; but after all of the Gentiles have come in, then Zara will be born and the Jewish people will be converted.”

“Carnal concupiscence took from us our noble generation, by which we would all be born innocent and heirs of paradise, and it makes us be born in death and guilt and the loss of the birthright. This was prefigured in Reuben, who lost the right of the firstborn, because he went up to his father's bed and defiled his couch; and Joseph, on account of his chastity, was made prince over his brothers.”

“In the mystery of the calling, Christ is symbolized by the two sons of Judah, Zarah and Phares, for of him many things are said in happy remembrance, such as this: "A lion's whelp is Judah; from the prey you have gone up, my son. He crouches and couches as a lion; as a lioness, and who will disturb him?" Hence the lawgiver also placed here this figure of the two sons of Judah born of Thamar.”

“In the third mystery, that of the calling of the fathers, the Antichrist is represented by Dan. And some commentators choose to say that he will literally belong to the tribe of Dan. I would not dare to assert that it will be so. And yet in the Apocalypse the tribe of Dan is not designated. It is said in Genesis of this same Dan: "Dan shall be a serpent by the road, a viper by the path," that hides itself in the sand in order to catch the birds flying around; and in this it is shown that he was extremely deceitful. "Biting at the hoofs of the horse, so that the rider tumbles backward": certainly, the horse is a symbol for the preacher of truth, and the hoof points to evangelical perfection, which the Antichrist will fight. For a horse is worthless unless it has a steady hoof. Joseph, therefore, accompanied the sons of the servant-girls who sold their brother; but Dan was the first-born of the sons of the servant-girls.”

“Second, there must be the clear view of wise judgment, so that, as the dove staying over water can see the bird of prey, man too may see in Scriptures. And this pertains to Joseph, which is understood to mean "growing." "Joseph is a growing son," a most handsome son, the savior of Egypt, the leader of his brothers, meaning that he has that judgment by which a man is guide and instructor to others: and this pertains to wisdom. And he is in the eleventh place, so that he can gather the wheat, not the leaves, but the documents of truth in Holy Scripture, and that he can pour it out again later for the salvation of the people. This is the sixth angel, [the one] of Philadelphia, "saving the inheritance." This one provides wheat against future famine.”

“A figure preceded in the bush and fire, which Moses saw; a figure in the rod and flower of Aaron; a figure in the fleece and dew of Gideon. Whence Bernard says: "What was shown to Moses in the bush and fire, to Aaron in the rod and flower, to Gideon in the fleece and dew: this Solomon clearly foresaw in the strong woman and her price; more clearly Jeremiah foretold concerning the woman and the man; most clearly Isaiah declared concerning the Virgin and her son; and at last Gabriel made it manifest by greeting the Virgin." Who brought it about that the Virgin conceived? Certainly the Holy Spirit, who is a love fervent, fruitful, undefiled, virile, incorrupt, and deifying. That he is a fervent love is signified to us in the bush and fire.”

“Hence Moses, after he had led the flock across the desert, saw a bush which, though on fire, was not consumed. "I must go over," he said, "to look at this remarkable sight, and see why the bush is not burned." And there he was enlightened. The spiny bush is the flesh liable to suffering; the flame is the soul of Christ full of light and of the fire of love; the light itself is the Godhead; the light joined to the bush by means of the flame is the Godhead joined to flesh by means of the spirit or soul. And so, in order that He be able to quicken the dead and to make sons of God out of mere men, He had to be preeminent.”

“By means of diffusion, as of brightness out of light, of heat out of fire, of a river out of its headspring, of rain out of a full or humid cloud. In the first diffusion, equality is lacking, for brightness is not the same as light. In the second, closeness is lacking, for heat is not close to fire, since it is the principle neither of its form nor of its origin, but is merely an accident. In the third, simultaneity is lacking, for a spring diffuses itself by flowing, and not all at once. In the fourth, fullness is lacking, for not all of the rain is drawn out of a cloud, but only successive drops. Now, join these four conditions to a single diffusion, one of splendor having equality, of heat having closeness and substantiality, of a river or fountain having simultaneity, and of rain having fullness: and in this way, you will have a trace of the eternal generation. Hence, the Son is sometimes compared to brightness: "Being the brightness of His glory," etc.; at other times, to a flame, as in Moses' bush which represented the person of the Son; or again, as a river or spring: "But a spring rose out of the earth. A river rose in Eden." Again, He is sometimes compared to rain: "For just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth," etc. And, later: "So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth," that is, from the Father's heart.”

“The first object of speculation is the fact that God is. The first name of God is "To Be" which is most manifest and most perfect — and therefore, first. Hence nothing is more manifest, for anything said of God is retraced to being: this then is truly God's proper name. God would not have said to Moses, that is to the Giver of the Law, "I am who am," unless He were First. Later, He said: "The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob," by which He expressed the mystery of the Trinity. Thirdly, He said: "Who gives one man speech?" by which He explains that He is the Exemplar.”

“You know to whom the first noble knowledge of the commandments was given? Certainly to Moses, who wrote through the Holy Spirit. But when did he have this knowledge? Certainly, when the Lord appeared to him. And in what manner did He appear to him? Certainly, in the fire of the flame of the burning bush. And then Moses said: Who are you, Lord? And the Lord answered him: I am who I am. And then the Lord gave him two lights, namely the light of eternal essence and the light of eternal truth. The bush was burning and was not consumed, in which the mystery of the incarnation is signified to us. These are the two lights and the principal foundations of faith, namely the light of eternal essence and the light of eternal truth, and together with this also the mystery of the incarnation of our Savior. And when we make the cross on our forehead in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we acknowledge the Trinity and together with this our Redeemer. By saying: In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, man acknowledges the Trinity; by making the cross on the forehead, he acknowledges the Redeemer.”

“As related to pre-existent truth, in three ways: as regards essence, as regards excellence, or as regards refulgence. The divine essence is the first thing that comes to the mind. When Moses inquired about God's name, he was told: "I am who am," that is, every kind of goodness and power. As regards excellence: God is one, triune, and true. As regards refulgence, He is the Exemplar of all things.”

“The first object of speculation is the fact that God is. The first name of God is "To Be" which is most manifest and most perfect — and therefore, first. Hence nothing is more manifest, for anything said of God is retraced to being: this then is truly God's proper name. God would not have said to Moses, that is to the Giver of the Law, "I am who am," unless He were First. Later, He said: "The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob," by which He expressed the mystery of the Trinity. Thirdly, He said: "Who gives one man speech?" by which He explains that He is the Exemplar. The fact that God is first is most manifest because from every proposition, both affirmative and negative, it follows that God is. Even if you say: "God is not," it follows that God is, for every proposition implies itself as both affirmative and negative.”

“Now this is the most manifest and perfect name of God, for all things depending upon God are comprised within this name: "I am who am." This name is properly His, and it was said of it in what manner all things represent Him by way of order, origin and fulfillment, or immediate relationship. This name written in the soul gives it light so that it may see.”

“The first mode first and principally fixes its gaze upon being itself, saying that He Who Is is the primary name of God. The second mode fixes its gaze upon the good itself, saying that this is the primary name of God. The first pertains especially to the Old Testament, which above all proclaims the unity of the divine essence; whence it was said to Moses: I am who I am; the second pertains to the New, which determines the plurality of persons, baptizing in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Therefore our master Christ, wishing to raise the young man who had kept the Law to evangelical perfection, principally and precisely attributed the name of goodness to God. No one, he said, is good but God alone. Damascene therefore, following Moses, says that He Who Is is the primary name of God; Dionysius, following Christ, says that the good is the primary name of God. Whoever wishes therefore to contemplate the invisible things of God with regard to the unity of essence, let him first fix his gaze upon being itself and let him see that being itself is so certain in itself that it cannot be thought not to be, because being most pure does not present itself except in the full flight from non-being, just as nothingness presents itself in the full flight from being. Just as therefore absolute nothingness has nothing of being nor of its conditions, so conversely being itself has nothing of non-being, neither in act nor in potency, neither according to the truth of the thing nor according to our estimation. Since, however, non-being is the privation of being, it does not fall into the intellect except through being; but being does not fall through another, because everything that is understood is understood either as non-being, or as being in potency, or as being in act. If therefore non-being cannot be understood except through being, and being in potency only through being in act; and being names the pure act itself of a being: being therefore is what first falls into the intellect, and that being is what is pure act. But this is not particular being, which is contracted being, because it is mixed with potency; nor analogous being, because it has the least of act, since it has the least of being. It remains therefore that that being is divine being. Wondrous therefore is the blindness of the intellect, which does not consider that which it sees first and without which it can know nothing. But just as the eye, intent upon the various differences of colors, does not see the light by which it sees the rest, and if it sees it, does not attend to it: so the eye of our mind, intent upon particular and universal beings, does not attend to being itself beyond every genus, although it first presents itself to the mind, and through it all other things. Whence it most truly appears that "as the eye of the bat is to the light, so is the eye of our mind to the most manifest things of nature"; because, accustomed to the darkness of beings and the phantasms of sensible things, when it gazes upon the very light of supreme being, it seems to itself to see nothing: not understanding that this very darkness is the supreme illumination of our mind, just as when the eye sees pure light, it seems to itself to see nothing. See therefore being most pure itself, if you can, and it will present itself to you that it cannot be thought as received from another: and thereby it is necessarily thought as in every way first, which can be neither from nothing nor from something. For what is through itself, if being itself is not through itself nor from itself? It also presents itself to you as entirely lacking non-being, and thereby as never beginning, never ending, but eternal. It also presents itself to you as in no way having in itself anything except what is being itself, and thereby as composed with nothing, but most simple. It presents itself to you as having nothing of potentiality, because every possible thing in some way has something of non-being, and hence as supremely most actual. It presents itself as having nothing of defectibility, and hence as most perfect. It presents itself lastly as having nothing of diversification, and hence as supremely one. Being therefore, which is being pure and being simply and being absolute, is being primary, eternal, most simple, most actual, most perfect, and supremely one. And these things are so certain that the opposite of them cannot be thought by one understanding being itself, and one of them necessarily implies the other. For because it is simply being, therefore it is simply first: because it is simply first, therefore it is not made by another, nor could it have been made by itself, therefore it is eternal. Likewise, because it is first and eternal; therefore it is not from others, therefore it is most simple. Likewise, because it is first, eternal, and most simple: therefore there is nothing of potentiality mixed with act in it, and therefore it is most actual. Likewise, because it is first, eternal, most simple, most actual; therefore it is most perfect: to such a being absolutely nothing is lacking, nor can any addition be made. Because it is first, eternal, most simple, most actual, most perfect: therefore it is supremely one. For what is said through every manner of superabundance with respect to all things. "What also is said simply through superabundance, it is impossible that it should belong to any but one alone." Whence if God names being primary, eternal, most simple, most actual, most perfect: it is impossible for him to be thought not to be, nor to be anything but one alone. Hear therefore, O Israel, your God is one God. If you see this in the pure simplicity of the mind, you will be in some measure flooded with the illumination of eternal light.”

“The first object of speculation is the fact that God is. The first name of God is "To Be" which is most manifest and most perfect — and therefore, first. Hence nothing is more manifest, for anything said of God is retraced to being: this then is truly God's proper name. God would not have said to Moses, that is to the Giver of the Law, "I am who am," unless He were First. Later, He said: "The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob," by which He expressed the mystery of the Trinity. Thirdly, He said: "Who gives one man speech?" by which He explains that He is the Exemplar.”

“The first object of speculation is the fact that God is. The first name of God is "To Be" which is most manifest and most perfect — and therefore, first. Hence nothing is more manifest, for anything said of God is retraced to being: this then is truly God's proper name. God would not have said to Moses, that is to the Giver of the Law, "I am who am," unless He were First. Later, He said: "The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob," by which He expressed the mystery of the Trinity. Thirdly, He said: "Who gives one man speech?" by which He explains that He is the Exemplar.”

“What else is this than what was signified by the taskmasters of Pharaoh, of whom it is said in Exodus 1, that they hated the children of Israel and brought them to bitterness, afflicting them with hard labors of clay and brick, and with every kind of servitude? And hear what the Gloss says on that passage of Exodus 5: Why, Moses and Aaron, do you disturb the people from their works? Go to your burdens: "Today if Moses and Aaron, that is, the prophetic and priestly word, should urge a soul to the service of God, to go out from the world, to renounce all that one possesses, to attend to the law and the word of God; immediately you will hear the unanimous friends of Pharaoh saying: See how men are seduced, and young people are perverted, so that they neither labor, nor serve in the military, nor do anything profitable, and having abandoned necessary affairs, they pursue idleness and leisure! What is it to serve God? They do not wish to labor and they seek occasions for idleness. These were then the words of Pharaoh, these also his friends now speak, and they persecute not only with words, but also with blows."”

“Whoever looks upon this mercy seat with full turning of the countenance, gazing upon him who hangs upon the cross through faith, hope, and charity, devotion, admiration, exultation, appreciation, praise, and jubilation, makes the Passover, that is, the passing over, with him, so as to pass through the Red Sea by the rod of the cross, entering the desert from Egypt, where he may taste the hidden manna, and may rest with Christ in the tomb as though outwardly dead, yet sensing, insofar as is possible according to the state of wayfaring, what was said on the cross to the thief clinging to Christ: Today you shall be with me in paradise.”

“Whoever looks upon this mercy seat with full turning of the countenance, gazing upon him who hangs upon the cross through faith, hope, and charity, devotion, admiration, exultation, appreciation, praise, and jubilation, makes the Passover, that is, the passing over, with him, so as to pass through the Red Sea by the rod of the cross, entering the desert from Egypt, where he may taste the hidden manna, and may rest with Christ in the tomb as though outwardly dead, yet sensing, insofar as is possible according to the state of wayfaring, what was said on the cross to the thief clinging to Christ: Today you shall be with me in paradise.”

“That the divine being is eternal, the authority of Scripture demonstrates this, Exodus 15: The Lord shall reign forever and ever; and Romans 1: His eternal power also and divinity. The truth of the faith also demonstrates this: "Eternal the Father," it says in the Athanasian Creed, "eternal the Son, eternal the Holy Spirit." Likewise, the necessity of reason concludes this same thing. For everything that is its own being is eternal; for being cannot not be, therefore it can neither begin nor cease, and thus it lacks a beginning and an end: if therefore God, since he is most simple, is his own being, indeed is simply being itself; therefore he is altogether eternal.”

“Again, you can multiply the four cardinal virtues by the three theological, and then there are twelve: for prudence must be faithful, trusting, and loving; and so it is with the others. And they are represented by the twelve springs, the twelve gems in the High Priest's vestment, and the twelve doors of the City. First, the twelve springs, for as they flow into each other, they make the soul clean. Second, the twelve gems, for they adorn the soul with all the virtues carried in the heart, as these gems were carried on the High Priest's chest. Third, the twelve doors, in so far as they lead in: for in the east, there is the sincerity of temperance; in the south, the serenity of prudence; in the north, the stability of constancy; and in the west, the sweetness of justice.”

“And here is shown how a prelate should behave: being perfect in both action and contemplation, he must accept the laws. Where? On the Mountain of Contemplation, with Moses, so that he may act with propriety and industry, and not as a beast, for a beast cannot go up into the Mountain: a beast that touches the Mountain must be stoned.”

“For knowing the Creator, he says: I am the Lord your God. In that he says Lord, he intimates the power of the Father. In that he says God, he intimates the wisdom of the Son. In that he says your, he intimates the benevolence or goodness of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, in that he says I, he denotes the identity of essence, and in this he intimates God as triune and one, Creator of all things. There follows: Who brought you out of the land of Egypt; here he intimates the gift of restoration through the incarnate Word. The Lord speaks to all to whom he gave the commandment, and he gave the commandments to all, although he first gave them to the children of Israel. From the house of servitude, that is, of sin; for all of us have been led out from the servitude of sin who have been redeemed through the blood of the Lamb. The whole Trinity speaks these words. He says therefore I, namely, the one whom you ought to obey and whom you ought to love and adore. Or he says I, who made you in the being of nature and in the being of grace. We ought therefore also to say: Lord, you are the one whom we ought to adore, whom we ought to serve; you are the one who created me; you are the one who redeemed me. These two things, therefore, namely the knowledge of the Creator and the Restorer, are set forth first, without which we can understand nothing, because these are the foundations of our faith.”

“It is necessary that certain moral precepts order us toward God: and certain toward our neighbor according to the twofold precept of charity; which the Holy Spirit willed to intimate through the mystery of the two tablets, and therefore they are said to be written by the finger of God. And because God is triune, namely Father and Son and Holy Spirit, to whom belongs the highest majesty to be adored, truth to be professed, and charity to be embraced, according to the irascible, rational, and concupiscible powers, through the act of deed, of mouth, and of heart: therefore the commandment of the first tablet is threefold, corresponding to the three aforesaid, namely subjective adoration, truthful oath-taking, and sacred sabbath-observance.”

“Note that latria is worship owed to God alone and is rendered in such a way that it is owed to no other. God prohibits the worship of others in the negative, and by this he implied the worship of God in the affirmative, which is made explicit in the New Testament, when the Lord says: Thou shalt adore the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. It is asked: why did the Lord prohibit the worship of others in the negative and not make explicit the worship of God in the affirmative? Certainly, because he wished to give us the commandments in the easiest manner he could; and therefore in the negative he called us back from the worship of others, so as to imply his own worship in the affirmative. And it should be noted that he called us back from all idolatry. Now everything that is adored other than God is either an intellectual creature, such as angels and demons; or a corporeal creature, such as heaven and earth and water and the like; or it is a figment of the human mind. And the Lord prohibits adoring these three. Sacred Scripture places the intellectual creature at the highest level, the figment in the middle, and corporeal nature at the lowest; and accordingly it first prohibits idolatry with respect to the intellectual creature, when it says: You shall not have strange gods. We Christians ought to see beyond that Jewish people to whom these commandments were given, because the truth has been made manifest to us. In the first word: You shall not have strange gods before me, all profane pacts with demons are prohibited, whether they be made through incantations of words, or through inscriptions of characters or images, or through immolations of sacrifices. In these three consist all the parts of the magical art. And thus by prohibiting these three, all things are prohibited from which all profane pacts with demons arise, whether they be made for the transmutation of natures, as the magicians of Pharaoh did; or for the deception of the senses, as illusionists do; or for the investigation of future contingencies. All these Augustine calls pacts with demons, because in such things there is attributed to the creature what ought to be attributed to the Creator; and therefore such persons sin against the first word of the commandment: You shall not have strange gods before me. We have an example of this in a certain learned man, who had long studied how he might become rich, and had made his tongue available for hire for a long time, and yet was always in want. But he thought thus: since I cannot be made rich through God, I will be made rich through the devil. He sought a magician among Jews and Christians and found none. At length he thought: I myself will try whether I can become rich through the devil. He went by a certain shady, rocky path alongside a torrent and said: Where are you, demon, who always seek to deceive men? I am here to give you my soul. The first and second time the demon did not come nor respond, because the Lord did not yet permit it. But the third time the devil came and said: What do you seek from me? He answered: That you make me rich. The devil said to him: It is necessary that you first adore me. And then he bowed down and adored him. And immediately the devil had power over him and deceived him: he made all those stones appear to him to be gold. And the demon said to him: Take as much gold as you wish. And then he, rejoicing, loaded himself with stones, and when he came home he placed the stones in a certain corner of the house; and the stones caught fire, and the house was burned along with whatever was in it, so that he himself barely escaped. He thought again to return to the former place, saying: I will go and take enough gold. And when he came to the place, then he saw that there was nothing there but stones: and so he was made a fool.”

“The Jews sometimes reproach us and say that we do not properly observe the first commandment. Concerning the first statement, namely: "You shall not have strange gods," they say that the Lord says: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one;" and you posit a Trinity, namely the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. To this objection, that we worship three gods, I say that if we worshipped three persons such that we said there were three gods and a threefold essence, it would necessarily follow that we worshipped three gods. But we worship the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God and one essence, but three persons. Whence, just as we see that in man there is a plurality of natures, namely intellectual and corporeal, and yet there is but one person, so conversely in the divine there is unity of essence and plurality of persons. God the Father has a Word and the Holy Spirit: indeed He has a Word, through which He made all things; and He has the Holy Spirit, through whom He preserves all things. The Word flows forth from the one who speaks and is God from God. Likewise the Holy Spirit is spirated from the Father and the Son and is God and in God. The Holy Spirit alone is the one who searches the depths of hearts, and He is God. Hence the person who wishes to understand these things and to speak about them must have the most elevated thoughts, not earthbound ones: for otherwise he cannot understand the most exalted things concerning God. For when we posit the Trinity, we do not posit Christ as a mere man, but God with man.”

“In the first tablet are contained the commandments ordering us toward God: but God is the Trinity, Father and Son and Holy Spirit. To the Father is attributed majesty, to the Son truth, and to the Holy Spirit goodness. In the Father there is supreme majesty to be humbly adored; in the Son there is supreme truth to be faithfully asserted; in the Holy Spirit there is supreme goodness to be sincerely loved. In the first commandment is commanded the humble adoration of divine majesty, when it is said: "Thou shalt not have strange gods."”

“And from this fact, that He is the pious worshiper of Himself, the true witness to Himself, and the holy lover of Himself, there comes down from heaven a threefold radiation in the mind, according to the three commandments of the first tablet. For the creature must behave in relation to God in a manner that is pious, true, and holy. This consists in worshiping God piously, hence, the first commandment, You shall not have other gods besides Me, but only one; in witnessing to God: You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain; in loving God in a holy manner: Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day. These three imprint the Sun in the higher portion of the soul.”

“Concerning the first, we proceed as follows and it is shown that the divine being is supremely one. And that this is so, faith and divine Scripture sufficiently proclaim, Exodus twenty: Your God is one God; and Deuteronomy thirty-two: See therefore that I alone am, and there is no other God besides me; and David in the Psalm: There shall not be in you a new god, nor shall you adore a foreign god: and divine Scripture sufficiently preaches this.”

“It must be said that this truth, that God is one, is a truth not only believable, but also intelligible: since it is necessary and certain not only from the testimony of Scripture and the illumination of grace, which is found in faith; but it is also certain from itself and from the testimony of creatures. From itself, therefore: because the divine being, on account of its singular sublimity and sublime singularity, possesses unity in every way. For since God has every perfection in himself, and this in the highest degree and most excellently, he is shown to be one not only from the sublimity of nature and wisdom, power and goodness and influence and causality, but indeed from all his conditions and noble properties that are attributed to him in the highest degree. Hence all conditions attest to the unity of the supreme essence. From the testimony of creatures also: because every creature, just as it has natural goodness, so also is shown to have unity. "For nothing can exist unless it is one," as Boethius and Augustine say, and as sense and intellect teach. Therefore, just as every creature by its goodness proclaims that in God there is true and supreme goodness, so by its unity it proclaims that the cause of all things is one in itself. Nor does the diversity of things stand against this testimony. For every diversity of things is comprehended within one universe, which in itself is indeed finite and limited and perfect. But this would not be so unless that plurality were reduced to something in which there would be a stopping point: and therefore it is necessary that all things be reduced to one ultimate end and one first principle, otherwise there would be a regress to infinity. Therefore the very universe of things testifies that God is one: whence, just as it is impossible for one circumference to have, nor can one rationally conceive, any but one center, from which lines flow and to which they are reduced as to a terminus: so in one universe one cannot posit or understand anything but one God alone.”

“In the second word: You shall not make a graven image, all false and superstitious inventions of errors are prohibited. And it should be noted here that every error is nothing other than a fiction of the mind. For imagination produces error by clouding reason and making what is not appear to be. Now all false and superstitious inventions of errors arise either from the wicked audacity of philosophical investigation, or from a perverse understanding of Sacred Scripture, or from a disordered affection of human carnality. From the wicked audacity of philosophical investigation proceed errors among philosophers, such as positing that the world is eternal and that there is one intellect in all men. For to posit that the world is eternal is to pervert all of Sacred Scripture and to say that the Son of God was not incarnate. To posit, moreover, that there is one intellect in all men is to say that there is no truth of faith, nor salvation of souls, nor observance of the commandments; and this is to say that the worst man is saved and the best is damned. And whoever fabricates or defends or imitates this, or proceeds according to it, errs most gravely, because he acts against the second word of the commandment: You shall not make a graven image: whence the fabricator, the defender, and the imitator alike are all prohibited here. Second, errors arise in some from a perverse understanding of Sacred Scripture, as among heretics, who hold wrongly concerning the Trinity and the Holy Spirit. Such are the Arians, the Sabellians, the Donatists, the Pelagians, and the like. Third, errors are prohibited which arise from a perverse affection of human carnality, such as the errors of the Epicureans, who say that there is no other life than this one; and the Nicolaitans, who say that it is lawful for anyone to act shamefully with anyone. The Saracens likewise do not have what they say from Sacred Scripture nor from the height of divine wisdom. Therefore all errors, in whatever manner they proceed, ought to be abominated as graven images, because they sin against this word of the commandment: You shall not make a graven image. We must therefore stand upon what the lights of faith dictate, and whatever is opposed to this, we ought to abominate entirely as a graven image. In the third word: Neither shall you make a likeness of those things that are in the heavens, etc., all perverse valuations of worldly natures are prohibited. Now every perverse valuation of creatures proceeds either by reason of sublimity, or by reason of sufficiency, or by reason of delight. In the first way it is the idolatry of the proud; in the second way it is the idolatry of the avaricious; in the third way it is the idolatry of the lascivious.”

“Concerning the command "You shall not make a graven image," the Jews object that we make graven images, because we have many images in our churches. I say that it is impossible for the Divinity to be carved; but we make an effigy of Christ — of Christ, I say, incarnate, and we adore that effigy. But it must be understood that there is a twofold adoration: one which is called dulia, another which is called latria. With the adoration of dulia we can adore all those in whom there is power, wisdom, and holiness: and thus we adore princes, prelates, and masters as those in whom there is power and wisdom; likewise those who have the excellence of prophecy, as those in whom there is wisdom: and thus that captain of fifty adored Elijah. Likewise, we thus adore the Saints who are in the homeland, as those in whom there is eminent holiness. Similarly, the adoration of dulia is to be shown to images, not insofar as it is an image or painting, but by reason of that which is signified through it. But to God alone is the adoration of latria to be shown.”

“Concerning the third clause of the first commandment, in which God prohibits worshipping corporeal nature, the Jews say that we worship a morsel of bread; and this seems to them most absurd. But it must be understood that at the utterance of the word of the priest and the intention of the one speaking, the substance of the bread is immediately converted into the true Body of Christ, which has a soul united with the Divinity. But the Jew says: how can this be? I say that He who can separate substance from accidents can bring it about that the substance which is under alien accidents does not appear to our senses. Hence I say that we adore the true Body of Christ and God, three and one; and in this the virtue, power, wisdom, and goodness of God are manifested. But the Jew errs who believes he can judge of this in an earthbound manner.”

“There are certain things which avail for the observance of the commandments, and these must be subjoined. It should be noted here that all commandments are either affirmative or negative. Affirmative ones indeed are that man should do good; negative ones, that man should avoid evil. But it is impossible for man to avoid evil except through fear, and to do good except through love; and on account of this, two things are necessary for the observance of the commandments, namely fear and love. A bird cannot fly without two wings, nor can a man walk without two feet. Similarly, no one can be a perfect observer of the commandments of God unless he is filled with fear and love. But man is not filled with fear except from the consideration of divine severity, nor is he filled with love except from the consideration of divine goodness. This twofold consideration is therefore necessary for man. And on account of this He says: I am the Lord your God, strong and jealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of those who hate me. A mighty zealot, that is, having the strongest zeal, namely against those who hate me. Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, not that he punishes the children on account of the actual sins of the fathers, but when the children are imitators of their fathers' crimes, then the Lord punishes the sins of the fathers together with their own sins unto the third and fourth generation, namely of those who hate me. He says this so that we may fear, and through fear turn away from evil.”

“Together with fear one must also love him, because he says of himself: And showing mercy unto thousands to those who love me; in which he shows us that the mercy and kindness of God transcends the punishment of iniquities. When the heart is enlarged through love, then man easily keeps the commandments of God. I have run the way of thy commandments, when thou didst enlarge my heart. I have seen an end of all perfection; thy commandment is exceedingly broad. He says that the way of God's commandments is broad, yet to some it seems to be narrow. Certainly to those who love, it is broad; but to those who do not love, it seems to be narrow.”

“Because God is triune, namely Father and Son and Holy Spirit, to whom belongs the highest majesty to be adored, truth to be professed, and charity to be embraced, according to the irascible, rational, and concupiscible powers, through the act of deed, of mouth, and of heart: therefore the commandment of the first tablet is threefold, corresponding to the three aforesaid, namely subjective adoration, truthful oath-taking, and sacred sabbath-observance.”

“Just as in the first commandment humble adoration of the supreme majesty is commanded, so in this second commandment faithful confession of the supreme truth is commanded, and the denial of truth is forbidden. In the Old Testament it is said that he who swears in the name of God should swear and not perjure himself. For to perjure is the same as to forswear, and this is to take the name of God in vain. Jeremiah says: "And you shall swear: the Lord lives, in truth and in judgment and in justice;" and the Gloss says there that "an oath ought to have three companions: truth, judgment, and justice." First, I say, an oath ought to be made with truth; whence he says: "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain," that is, without truth. Now it must be understood that there is a twofold oath, namely assertory and promissory, such that there is a certain oath given as testimony and a certain oath given as a promise. An assertory oath is made thus: I assert this to you and testify to it by the witness of divine truth. Now this assertory oath must first possess truth. Truth is present in an assertory oath when a man does not deny what is true, nor affirm what is false, nor knowingly assert what is doubtful; for speech is indicative of those things which are in the heart. But do you know what it means when a man testifies to something false by the witness of divine truth? It is to say that he lies and that divine truth lies along with him. And this is the first way of taking the name of God in vain, namely, when we deny the truth. Second, an assertory oath must be made with justice. It is made with justice when it is not made against a commandment of the divine law, nor against a precept of holy Mother Church, nor to the detriment of one's own salvation or that of another. And he who swears against these three swears rashly and sins in a twofold manner: both because he swears and because he keeps the oath. Third, it is necessary that judgment accompany an assertory oath, so that there be in the mind a discernment of truth and justice, namely, whether the oath is true or false, just or unjust, fruitful or unfruitful. Whence, if I swear without judgment, not discerning among these three, I swear rashly. These three companions ought to be present in an assertory oath. But the Manichaeans assail us and say that we ought not to swear at all, because it is said in the New Testament, namely in Matthew: "You shall not swear falsely;" and it follows: "But I say to you, not to swear at all. But let your speech be: yes yes, no no." I certainly say that in certain cases or for certain reasons it is quite lawful to swear. But the heretics do not rightly attend to the force of the words. For it is one thing to say: "not to swear at all," and another to say: "at all not to swear" — just as it is one thing to say: "a certain man does not run," and another: "not a certain man runs." "At all not to swear" is the same as "in no way to swear," and "not to swear at all" is the same as not "to swear in every way," but for certain reasons. Second, the name of God ought not to be taken in vain in a promissory oath. Now a promissory oath is made in three ways, namely for promoting good, for preserving fidelity, and for entering into mutual peace. In the first way, inferiors swear to superiors; in the second way, equals to equals; in the third way, superiors to inferiors. By the first oath the Apostle swore, saying in Romans: "God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit." In the second way, Laban swore fidelity to Jacob. In the third way, superiors swear to protect the people. From the first oath a threefold benefit results: faith in the intellect, love in the affections, and peace in effect. For these three reasons an oath is made for promoting good. In the second way, a promissory oath is made for preserving fidelity, and this is done in three ways, namely for restraining malice, for settling controversy, and for clearing away infamy. First, I say, it is made for restraining malice, so that a man may neither deny the true nor affirm the false; and this is the reason for the usefulness of the oath. Second, it is made for settling controversy. Whence the Apostle says to the Hebrews: "The end of all controversy is an oath." Third, it is made for clearing away infamy. Whence in Deuteronomy it is said that the elders had to clear themselves by oath when a dead body was found. For these three reasons an oath is made for preserving fidelity. In the third way, a promissory oath is made for entering into mutual peace: and in this is understood the restraint of all mortal sins; because "every true oath is dangerous, a false one is pernicious, and no oath is safe." And for this reason it is said in Ecclesiasticus: "Let not your mouth become accustomed to swearing." This is the literal understanding of the words. But the spiritual understanding of this precept is this: that we take the name of God not in vain in three ways, namely for effecting, for promising, and for expressing. First, I say, we take up the name of God not in vain for effecting, as in the Sacraments, when it is said in baptism: "I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Second, we take up the name of our God not in vain for promising, as when I promise to go to Saint James, or to enter religious life, by an oath. Third, we take up the name of God not in vain for expressing, as when we speak with an oath. Conversely, we take up the name of God in vain in three ways: first, through frustration of a Sacrament received; second, through breaking of a vow made; third, through uttering of blasphemous speech. First, we take up the name of God in vain through frustration of a Sacrament received; and according to this there is a threefold degree of taking the name of God in vain. The first is when someone does not believe in the Sacrament, like a heretic. Second, when one believes but does not dispose himself for the Sacrament, like a usurer. Third, when someone does not preserve the grace received in the Sacrament, like one who afterward sins. Hear, you who are marked with the Christian name: the character is then imprinted upon you through the power of the name of God; and when you afterward sin, you empty out the power of the Sacrament. Of such persons the Apostle says to Titus: "They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him;" and thus "you trample upon the Son of God" and "treat as polluted the blood" of the covenant, you who were washed in the blood of Christ! The second mode of taking the name of God in vain is through breaking of a vow made. And here there is likewise a threefold degree. The first is through irrational delay, as when I promise to go to Saint James by an oath and do not assign myself a fixed term, and thus always procrastinate. In the second way, breaking of a vow occurs through a contrary will, as when someone promises something to God and afterward repents of it. Against such persons it is said in Deuteronomy: "If anything has proceeded from your lips, you shall not make it void." In the third way, breaking of a vow occurs through apostatic rebellion, as when a man apostatizes from religious life. The first of these modes is evil, the second worse, the third worst, because it is said: "An apostate man is a worthless man;" on account of which it is said in Ecclesiastes: "If you have vowed anything to God, do not delay to pay it; for an unfaithful and foolish promise displeases God." And this is so when time and hour and day and year were calling out. In the third way, we take up the name of God in vain through uttering of blasphemous speech; and this occurs in three ways: first, when someone, speaking of God, uses cursing speech, as when he curses God. The second mode is through mendacious speech, when someone denies what is true of God, or affirms what is false; because Anselm says that the nobler part of every contradiction is to be attributed to God. The third mode is through reproachful speech, such as when someone speaks of the lower members of Christ, he blasphemes most wickedly, even if he speaks the truth, and despises Christ in that He was humble and assumed our nature. And such persons have been destroyed by divine judgment. For Gregory narrates that a certain boy of six years was accustomed to blaspheme the name of the Lord. One day, when he was blaspheming and was in the lap of his father, he was seized by demons and carried into hell. On account of which it is said in Leviticus: "Whoever shall have blasphemed the name of the Lord, let him surely die."”

“God is the Trinity, Father and Son and Holy Spirit. To the Father is attributed majesty, to the Son truth, and to the Holy Spirit goodness. In the Son there is supreme truth to be faithfully asserted. In the second commandment is commanded the faithful assertion of divine truth, when it is said: "Thou shalt not take the name of thy God in vain."”

“And from this fact, that He is the pious worshiper of Himself, the true witness to Himself, and the holy lover of Himself, there comes down from heaven a threefold radiation in the mind, according to the three commandments of the first tablet. For the creature must behave in relation to God in a manner that is pious, true, and holy. This consists in worshiping God piously, hence, the first commandment, You shall not have other gods besides Me, but only one; in witnessing to God: You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain; in loving God in a holy manner: Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day. These three imprint the Sun in the higher portion of the soul.”

“Because God is triune, namely Father and Son and Holy Spirit, to whom belongs the highest majesty to be adored, truth to be professed, and charity to be embraced, according to the irascible, rational, and concupiscible powers, through the act of deed, of mouth, and of heart: therefore the commandment of the first tablet is threefold, corresponding to the three aforesaid, namely subjective adoration, truthful oath-taking, and sacred sabbath-observance.”

“In the first tablet are contained three commandments ordering us to God according to three things appropriated to the three divine Persons. In the first commandment is commanded the humble adoration of the divine majesty; in the second, the faithful confession of the supreme truth; in the third, the sincere love of the supreme goodness. See that in these words the Holy Spirit wrote the tablets: for by the finger of God the Holy Spirit is understood, who inscribed all the precepts with the utmost diligence, signifying the integrity and consummation of the commandment. In this commandment, however, the Lawgiver commands something, permits something, and prohibits something. He commands to sanctify the Sabbath day, where it says: Remember to sanctify the Sabbath day. For sanctification is that which turns the soul toward the holy God, toward the true God, and toward God who is to be loved above all. He permits something in this commandment, where it says: Six days you shall labor and do all your work. He truly prohibits something, namely servile work, where it says: You shall do no work on it. This is the perfect rest, which has joined to it good work and the prohibition of servile work.”

“But the Jews mock us and say: you hold the Decalogue, and the Decalogue contained only moral precepts; but a moral precept has binding force for all time. But the seventh day, on which it is not permitted to work, counting from the first day on which it is permitted to work, is the Sabbath day, which is called the day of Saturn; and you rest on the Lord's Day instead of the Sabbath day. Likewise it is said: You shall do no work on it: and you do many works, and thus you destroy the whole thing. See, dearly beloved: it must be understood that that precept contains something that is purely moral, and something that is purely ceremonial, and something that is mixed from the moral and the ceremonial. That the Lord commands sanctification, that is, rest for the sake of loving, this is a purely moral precept. Whence blessed Peter says: But sanctify the Lord Christ in your hearts, that is, love him. For he sanctifies or makes holy the Sabbath who loves God above all things for his own sake, not for the sake of something else.”

“But you will say: why did he confuse and mix together moral and ceremonial precepts? - I say that this commandment: Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day, is about charity: and whatever is manifest and hidden in the other commandments is consummated in this one. And therefore he mixed together the ceremonial and the moral, so that we might better recall them to memory: lest, if he had set them out separately, our memory would be burdened. Now there are three things that are required for perfect love. The first is divine leisure, converting the soul to God. The second is the imitation of Christ in good works. The third is cessation from every servile work, which renders the heart pure and clean. Now the conversion to God takes place according to seven works, without which the soul is not converted to perfect leisure in God; of which three are intrinsic, which are done by meditating, praying, and exulting: and from these three results contemplation. The other four are extrinsic, which are done by reading, chanting psalms, offering sacrifice, and fulfilling the divine law; and this is done either by hearing, or by teaching, or by conferring with others. And this is what he says: Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day. The Lord therefore first commands leisure converting the soul to himself.”

“God is the Trinity, Father and Son and Holy Spirit. To the Father is attributed majesty, to the Son truth, and to the Holy Spirit goodness. In the Holy Spirit there is supreme goodness to be sincerely loved. In the third commandment is commanded the sincere love of divine goodness, when it is said: "Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day."”

“The third was the plague of gnats, by which the undevout were struck, who did not keep the Sabbath day, which is the day of devotion. Gnats are small flies, and they greatly disturb and vex men. Similarly the undevout are disturbed. In this sign the magicians of Pharaoh failed, as a sign that we cannot escape the restlessness of thoughts except through devotion. Of blessed Gregory it is read that scarcely in an entire day did he have a single thought about earthly things.”

“And from this fact, that He is the pious worshiper of Himself, the true witness to Himself, and the holy lover of Himself, there comes down from heaven a threefold radiation in the mind, according to the three commandments of the first tablet. For the creature must behave in relation to God in a manner that is pious, true, and holy. This consists in worshiping God piously, hence, the first commandment, You shall not have other gods besides Me, but only one; in witnessing to God: You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain; in loving God in a holy manner: Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day. These three imprint the Sun in the higher portion of the soul.”

“He commands imitation of himself, when he says: Six days you shall labor. Concerning this imitation the Apostle says: Be imitators of God, as most beloved children: and in Luke it is said: Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Now there are six works of mercy, namely: feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, gathering in strangers, visiting the sick, and ransoming captives. Moreover, the work of perfect virtue cannot exist unless the creature is conformed to Christ in these things.”

“Now for the work of virtue, six things are required corresponding to the works of the six days, which are provident circumspection, right intention, pure affection, just or right election, vigorous prosecution, and charitable formation. The first, then, is understood in the work of the first day, when God said: Let there be light: and light was made: this is provident circumspection. Second, it is necessary that a man set for himself a right end in God; and this is indicated when he says: Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters. And God called the firmament heaven; because it is necessary that a man be drawn upward, so that he may have a right intention toward God. Third, pure affection is required; and this is understood in the third work, when God divided the land from the waters, that is, secular affections from divine ones. Fourth, just or right election is required, so that all our works may be done in an orderly manner, according as they ought: and this is indicated in the fourth work, when he says: Let there be luminaries in the firmament of heaven, that is, let our works be ordered. Fifth, vigorous prosecution is required, which is signified in the fifth work, when God brought forth living soul in the waters, as swimming creatures, and in the air flying creatures. Sixth, charitable formation is required, so that the works may be complete, clothed over with all circumstances, according to what the law of divine charity demands. For charity is the perfective form of all things; and he who has charity has all these six. The sixth work of virtue, therefore, is the formation of charity: which is signified when it says: God made man in his image and likeness. When the work of man is made complete from these six, then man is said to live rightly.”

“There is in the precept something figurative, such as the signification of the seventh day. For the seventh day signifies the rest of souls and the rest of the Lord in the tomb and the cessation from all servile work with leisure and contemplation of God. On the seventh day, however, he rested and called the intellectual creature back to himself, and on the seventh day he led the souls existing in limbo back to the rest of paradise. The signification, therefore, of the seventh day is the figurative rest of souls. Thus in this commandment there is contained something that is purely moral, namely, that God should be loved above all things, and something that is purely ceremonial, such as the signification of the seventh day.”

“There is contained in the precept something that is partly moral and partly ceremonial, such as the cessation from works. And here certain things are to be understood generally, and certain things specifically. If we understand it generally, as the Jews do, who say that there ought to be a universal cessation from every servile work, so it is suggested to the Christian that he ought to abstain from all sin. But if we understand it specifically, that we ought to abstain from some things and not from others, then it is moral, not as in a precept, but as in well-being, and it has remained, as it is commanded in ecclesiastical institution. Now I call servile works mechanical works, which are seven, namely: agriculture, which comprehends every manner of cultivating the earth; wool-working, which consists in every work and kind of garments; fabrication, whether it be in iron material, or metallic, or stone, or wood; hunting, which comprehends every work of bakers and cooks and every manner of preparing food; medicine, which consists in the art of preparing ointments or syrups and things of this kind; navigation, which comprehends every work of sailors on the sea or every work of commerce; and theatrics, which comprehends every manner of play or amusement. Now among all of these there are some things that are of pure servility; some that are of continual necessity; and some that are of pure enjoyment. Those that are of pure servility are prohibited by the Church; but those that are of continual necessity, such as those that pertain to the preservation of life or health, are permitted insofar as they are of necessity, but are prohibited insofar as they are of servility. But those that are of pure enjoyment are permitted, not prohibited, because on account of our inclination they are allowed by the Church.”

“It does not suffice to do the work of virtue unless man guards himself from vicious work; and this is touched upon when it says: You shall do no work in it, that is, no sin. Now man can commit sin in five ways: first, when he perpetrates sin against the commandment; second, when he incites another to sin; third, when he defends the sinner; fourth, when he accepts the sinner; fifth, when he overlooks the sinner and neither rebukes nor punishes, and this is the greatest danger, when someone neglects to correct another. The first sin is touched upon when it says: You shall do no work in it, that is, you shall perpetrate no sin. The second sin is touched upon when it says: nor your son nor your daughter, that is, you shall not be the father of sin by instigating another to sin either by word or deed or example. The third sin is touched upon when it says: nor your manservant nor your maidservant. He who commits sin is the servant of sin: but he who defends sin is the master of sin, by providing harbor to the one committing sin. The fourth sin is when someone accepts the sinner: which is touched upon when it says: nor your beast of burden. A beast of burden, when it was tied, was not led to work except by the acceptance of its master, and this acceptance is a binding. The fifth sin is when someone neglects to correct another: which is touched upon when it says: nor the stranger who is within your gates. One considers a man a stranger when he sees a man sinning and says: what is his sin to me? And thus, when a man does not punish the sin of another, he becomes a partaker of that sin. In many other ways also a man becomes a partaker of the sin of another; and on account of this the Psalm says: From my hidden sins cleanse me, O Lord, and from the sins of others spare your servant.”

“The reason for the precept is added, where it says: In six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all things that are in them, and he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed and sanctified it. But why does he command rest? Certainly, because he blessed and sanctified it. Therefore you also, creature of God, who are an imitator of Christ, ought to do this. For God wrought all things in six days, not because he could not have made them in one day: but it must be understood here that the world has something in the eternal art, namely eternal being, which is the eternity of life and one possession, in which nothing is prior or posterior: and this God impressed upon the angelic minds. Likewise, the world has something in the created intelligence, namely a priority and posteriority by nature, though it exists simultaneously according to duration. But it has a before and after according to duration, not according to nature, insofar as it is in matter, not on account of a defect of the worker, but on account of his condescension, so that he might fit all things together and designate all things in the first works. And just as he produced the roots of all operations in the first works, so also he fully produced the seeds of all works and their rest.”

“But because the neighbor is an image of the Trinity, and to him, insofar as he bears the image of the Father, piety is owed: insofar as he bears the image of the Son, truthfulness is owed, insofar as he bears the image of the Holy Spirit, benignity is owed: hence it is that there are seven commandments which pertain to the second tablet. For with respect to piety there are two: one which commands piety, namely concerning honoring one's father: the other which forbids impiety, namely concerning not killing.”

“The precepts are ordered according to their nobility; and beneficence is better than innocence: therefore the commandment of beneficence is placed before the commandment of innocence; and it was handed down to the Jews synecdochically thus: Honor your father and your mother. And here is set forth first the form of the commandment, when he says: Honor, etc. Second, the promise is added, where it says: That you may be long-lived upon the earth. Understand according to the literal sense that father designates the person of the one who begets, the person of the one who instructs, and the person of the one who rears, because a father, having a son, begets him, instructs and nourishes him, and it belongs to the father to bequeath his goods to his son: and according to these three things, the father in relation to the son holds the character of origin, the character of governance, and the character of benefactor. And accordingly a threefold honor is owed to the father: the honor of reverence, the honor of obedience, and the honor of beneficence. First, I say, to the father, insofar as he holds the character of origin, the honor of reverence is owed; whence in Ecclesiasticus: He who fears God will honor his father and his mother, and will serve as masters those who begot him. Second, by reason of governance, the honor of obedience is owed to the father; whence the Apostle to the Ephesians: Children, obey your parents, for this is just. Honor your father and your mother: which is the first commandment with a promise, that it may be well with you, and that you may be long-lived upon the earth. Third, the honor of beneficence is owed to the father, because he holds the character of benefactor: whence in Ecclesiasticus: Son, support your father in his old age, and do not grieve him in his life. It is therefore commanded that a threefold honor be rendered to parents, namely the honor of reverence, obedience, and beneficence. And this is the first commandment that you must keep on account of the promise, namely that it may be well with you, and that you may be long-lived upon the earth. But is it always true that they live longer? For we see that this sometimes fails: therefore God is deceitful in his promise. I say that long life is considered not only according to the length of passing days, but according to their value. And according as there is a threefold honor which is shown to parents, so there corresponds to this threefold honor a threefold reward: because to the one who honors his father with the honor of reverence is owed a glorious or honorable life; to the one who honors his father with the honor of obedience is owed a joyful life; to the one who honors his father with the honor of beneficence is owed an abundant life. First, I say, to the one who honors his father with the honor of reverence is granted a glorious or honorable life; whence in Ecclesiasticus: The glory of a man is from the honor of his father; likewise in the same place: Glory not in the dishonor of your father, for his shame is not glory to you. For it is natural that a son should love his father most ardently, and that he should be indignant when someone does injury to his father. Second, to the one who honors his father with the honor of obedience is granted a joyful life; whence in Ecclesiasticus: He who honors his father shall find joy in his children, and in the day of his prayer he shall be heard. He who honors his father shall live a longer life; and he who obeys his father shall bring comfort to his mother. The highest joy is that a man not be rebellious toward his superior; because he who is rebellious toward his superior will find his inferior rebellious toward him, and the despiser of higher powers will be despised by those beneath him: just as Adam, when he was disobedient to his superior, found all the lower creatures which had been subject to him turned against him. Third, to the one who honors his father with the honor of beneficence is granted an abundant life; whence in Ecclesiasticus: Honor your father and your mother, and blessing shall come upon you, and your blessing shall remain to the last. This blessing is called the multiplication of goods. Behold, the precept, and behold the promise. We are obliged to obey our parents as long as we make use of their goods; and we ought to comply with them in the exercise of virtuous or salutary acts, in the dispensation of temporal goods, and in the rendering of services: because we ought to live according to their counsel and spend according to their command and, when they require it, render service. If, however, parents should wish, say, or command something that is against the advancement of our salvation, piety is not to be shown to them in such matters. And this is what the Lord says in the Gospel: He who does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers, and even his own soul, cannot be my disciple. The Lord wills that on account of paternal affection a man should not cease to do what pertains to his salvation. And this is what the Lord says: Let the dead bury their dead; but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God. And Jerome says: 'If your father should lie across the threshold, if your mother should bare the breasts with which she nursed you, trample over your father, trample over your mother, and fly to the standard of the cross. For the only kind of piety in this matter is to be cruel.'”

“Beneficence toward every kind of person is commanded. Father names the person in whom there is a preeminent character of authority, seniority, and amiability. In natural being, the son is not coequal with the father. First I say, in the father there is authority: and in this commandment a precept is given that the father be obeyed, because he has authority. Moreover, everyone who presides over public affairs, or political affairs, or monastic affairs has authority. First I say that he who presides over public affairs is called father by reason of authority, such as a prince, baron, count, and the like, and is called father by guardianship or defense; and we ought to honor him as a father. Whence blessed Peter: Fear God, honor the king. Second, he who presides over political or ecclesiastical affairs is called father by reason of authority. And we ought to honor him according to what the ecclesiastical ordering requires, and the people ought to obey him: whence the Apostle to the Hebrews: Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch as those who will render an account for your souls. Third, he who presides over monastic affairs is called father by reason of authority. And we ought to honor him and obey him, according to the rule and the promise that has been made. Whence Jerome: 'Love the superior of the monastery as a father, fear him as a lord, hear him as a master, believe that whatever he says to you is salutary.' It is clear, therefore, that we ought to obey these according to what authority requires. Second, in the father is understood old age and frailty; for the elderly become weakened. And he who honors his father by reason of old age and frailty honors every person who is in need of assistance, or who lacks understanding, or strength, or who is harassed by another. And on account of this we ought to help another through instruction, or through sustenance, or through protection. And for this purpose prelates especially exist: if a person lacks understanding, they ought to help him through instruction: if he lacks strength, they ought to help him through sustenance: if he is harassed by another, they ought to help him through protection. Third, in the father is understood the notion of friendliness: and in this we understand that by reason of origin every person is lovable and ought to be loved, and every person is bound to honor another. Whence the Apostle: In honor anticipating one another; and again: Render to all what is owed; to whom honor, honor. Owe no one anything, except to love one another. For a person ought to love another, willing good to each one with respect to affection, with respect to deed, and with respect to outward expression. Moreover, this love has an order, because we ought to love according to the reason of proximity, according to the reason of likeness, and according to the reason of obligation. First, I say, we ought to love according to the reason of proximity; and according to this we owe greater love to those of our household than to strangers, and ought to serve friends more than enemies. Second, this love has an order according to the reason of likeness, because to some we owe by reason of likeness greater love than to others: thus by reason of likeness in specific form we are bound to love a human being; yet according to likeness by reason of agreement in faith we ought to love a Christian more than a Saracen; likewise by reason of profession in a community a religious is more bound to love a brother of his order, and one canon another canon. Third, we ought to love by reason of obligation: and thus we are more bound to some than to others. For I am bound to love another and to honor him by reason of precept; yet I am more bound by reason of precept and benefit, if I have received a benefit; I am most bound to love another and to honor him by reason of precept and by reason of benefit and by reason of promise, that is, him concerning whom there is a precept for me, and from whom I have received a benefit, and to whom I have made a promise—such a one I ought to love and honor more.”

“So that you may better retain this in mind, I shall tell you two examples: one good, about a man who honored his mother, and another evil and cruel, about a man who did not honor his father. There was a certain great and famous master at Paris, known and beloved by many. His mother, hearing of this, who was a poor woman, resolved to go to her son; she took a staff and in a little tunic of coarse cloth came to Paris and inquired of certain ladies about this master. Those matrons said: what do you want from him? She replied: I am his mother. Then those matrons brought her into their house and refreshed her. Afterward they considered that the good man would be ashamed if he saw her in such a state; and they clothed her well and gave her a mantle and brought her to the master. Then she said: I am your mother. The master replied: I do not believe it, because my mother was a poor woman and was not accustomed to wear anything but a little tunic of coarse cloth. And since the master would not accept her words, the matrons brought her back to their house and returned to her the little tunic and the staff. Then she approached her son in the assembly of many people; and he recognized his mother in such garb, and removing his hood, he embraced her saying: now I know well that you are my mother. This was spread throughout the city and was reckoned to him as a great good. And afterward he was made Bishop of Paris. I saw the man who knew him to whom this happened. There was a certain poor man who through his own industry had acquired many goods, and he had an only son. Certain nobles, seeing this, arranged that the son should contract marriage with the daughter of a certain nobleman. And then she, who was young, beautiful, and noble, began to abhor the father of her husband and prevailed so much upon her husband that the father was driven from the table and from the house; and he had nothing to eat but bad beans. One day he was famished and came to the house of his son and asked for food, and bad beans were given to him, and he was driven from the house. Then she said to her husband: now we can eat in peace. Go to the chest and take out the cooked capon. And when he opened the chest, the capon was changed into a toad. Which, suddenly leaping onto his face, placed two feet on his chin and two on his forehead and covered his entire face, and there was no physician who knew how to remove it. At length a certain smith came who tried to remove it with his pincers. Then the toad looked at him with so horrible a countenance that he fell to the ground and dared do nothing more; and there was no one who knew how to give counsel; but that man died an evil death.”

“In the second tablet are contained seven commandments ordering us toward neighbor, which are signified by two precepts of the natural law, namely: do to another what you wish to be done to you; do not do to another what you do not wish to be done to you. And according to these two precepts of the natural law a twofold justice is received, of which one is of innocence, the other of beneficence. The commandment of beneficence is: "Honor thy father and thy mother." This commandment, however, is not only one of reverence, but is also one of service and obedience; and it pertains not only to one's father, but indeed to all who proceed from one's father.”

“And because the lower portion of the soul is informed by the higher and is given to it as a help, it is necessary that the lower have commandments by which it would be conformed to the higher, so that it behave piously, truly and holily. Piously toward superiors, most of all parents, hence, Honor your father and your mother. Truly and justly toward equals, hence: You shall not kill, which precludes any harm. Holily toward inferiors, hence, You shall not commit adultery, which forbids any act of impudicity.”

“But because the neighbor is an image of the Trinity, and to him, insofar as he bears the image of the Father, piety is owed: insofar as he bears the image of the Son, truthfulness is owed, insofar as he bears the image of the Holy Spirit, benignity is owed: hence it is that there are seven commandments which pertain to the second tablet. For with respect to piety there are two: one which commands piety, namely concerning honoring one's father: the other which forbids impiety, namely concerning not killing.”

“The commandment which pertains to innocence must necessarily be multiplied, because it consists in this: that a man guard against giving offense to his neighbor. Now it happens that one offends his neighbor in three ways, namely in mind, word, and deed. Offense in deed occurs in three ways, because a man can offend his neighbor through an act either against his own person, or against a person joined to him, or against his earthly possessions. And accordingly there are three commandments: "Thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt not steal."”

“In this commandment: "You shall not kill," anger breaking forth into injuries destructive of natural or substantial life and of sound life and of honorable life is prohibited. For nature desires what is better, and therefore it does not suffice for it to have mere existing life; rather, beyond this it desires a healthy and sound and honorable life; and accordingly the Lawgiver in this commandment: "You shall not kill," first prohibits anger breaking forth into injuries destructive of natural life; second, of sound life, namely, when injury is done through beatings or wounds; third, of honorable life, such as the injury done through open or hidden insult, such as that which is done through a gesture. Hence in the Gospel: "You have heard that it was said to the ancients: You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment. And whoever says to his brother: Raca, shall be liable to the council. And whoever says: You fool, shall be liable to the fire of Gehenna." Therefore it is plain that in three ways a man acts against that commandment: "You shall not kill," namely when someone is angry with his brother, or when he says: Raca, or when he says: You fool. And when he does this from deliberation of mind, then he says that he is liable to the fire of Gehenna. And because natural life is the foundation of the others, therefore under this form: "You shall not kill," the Lawgiver expressed the commandment. Now the Manichaeans object to us and say that the Lawgiver contradicts himself. For he says: "You shall not kill," and elsewhere he says: "You shall not suffer sorcerers to live." And this is against rulers in Christian law, who kill others through judicial sentence. Likewise they object that the Lord says: "All who take up the sword shall perish by the sword"; therefore it is not lawful to take up the sword. And similarly they say that it is not lawful for a priest to be a slayer. And this is against the Church and ecclesiastical persons, who by executing judgment and commanding take up the sword. Likewise they object that it is said "But I say to you, not to resist evil," and this is against the Lawgiver. We ought to understand that what is prohibited here is the slaying of man, not of beasts or plants, as the ancient Manichaeans said, who refused to eat from the fruits of trees. Now the slaying of man can be by law, or by man in truth, or interpretively. The slaying of man by man as by man, not as by law, is prohibited: but God, who is the founder of nature and the preserver of nature and of law, can deprive a man of life whenever He wills. Law however slays a man when the minister of the law slays, and this with a just order having been observed, a just cause, and a just intention. It is necessary that there be a just order and a just cause, that is, that one be slain from a just cause, because the law says: "That which is just you shall justly pursue." Likewise, it is necessary to have a just intention, so that the man who is the minister of the law slays a man by law, not from the desire for vengeance, but from the love of justice. Whence the Apostle to the Romans, speaking to rulers, says that "the ruler does not bear the sword without cause. For he is the minister of God, an avenger unto wrath against him who does evil." What therefore the Lord says to Peter: "All who take up the sword shall perish by the sword": this refers only to this, that he who is not a minister of the law ought not to slay. And what is said, that it is not lawful for a priest to be a slayer, this does not refer to rulers. The first thing, therefore, that the Lord says: "You shall not kill," is true, as man, but as minister of the law. The second, that the Lord says: "All who take up the sword shall perish by the sword," is true, if one does not preside over the commonwealth. The third, that the Lord says: "But I say to you, not to resist evil," is true, from the desire for vengeance: but from the love of justice it is well lawful to resist evil. It is now clear how the law slays a man. Likewise, a man is slain by man as by man, and this happens in three ways: either by chance, or by necessity, or by will. If a man slays a man by chance, either he applies his effort to a lawful matter and exercises due diligence; and then he is excused from so much and from the whole. If however the homicide is accidental, and the man applies his effort to an unlawful matter and does not exercise due diligence: then he is excused from so much, not from the whole. If however the homicide was committed out of necessity, this is twofold: either out of avoidable necessity, or unavoidable. The necessity is avoidable if I can flee but refrain on account of shame or some other cause: and in this case the person is excused from so much, not from the whole, because it would have been better for him to flee. If however the necessity is unavoidable, namely such that a man kills another not from the desire for revenge but from the love of preserving life and soul, so that he does not slay him out of cruelty but rather prevents him from destroying his own life and soul, and if this is done with the moderation of blameless self-defense; then it is conceded to imperfect persons, not to perfect ones — and Augustine says this in On Free Will — and such a person is excused both from the whole and from so much. In a third way homicide is committed by a man willfully, and this is twofold: either from the desire for revenge, as when someone kills another's father; or from cruelty of spirit, as when robbers or the wrathful kill others: and both of these are prohibited, and the first is graver than the second. Likewise homicide is committed interpretively, and this occurs in three ways: first, by omitting in deed: whence Ambrose says: "Feed the one dying of hunger: if you have not fed him, you have killed him." In the second way it occurs when someone kills another by counseling, or accusing, or disparaging, when he does this from malice of spirit. In the third way homicide is committed interpretively by hating in the soul: whence in the epistle of John: "He who hates his brother is a murderer." I say therefore that according to the principal meaning, what is prohibited here is killing — not that which is by law, but that which is by man — and that which is done willfully or interpretively: and this is what it says: "You shall not kill."”

“And because the lower portion of the soul is informed by the higher and is given to it as a help, it is necessary that the lower have commandments by which it would be conformed to the higher, so that it behave piously, truly and holily. Piously toward superiors, most of all parents, hence, Honor your father and your mother. Truly and justly toward equals, hence: You shall not kill, which precludes any harm. Holily toward inferiors, hence, You shall not commit adultery, which forbids any act of impudicity.”

“But because the neighbor is an image of the Trinity, and to him, insofar as he bears the image of the Holy Spirit, benignity is owed: with respect to benignity, to which cupidity and concupiscence are opposed, each of which can be in deed or in heart, four are taken, namely thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, thou shalt not steal, and thou shalt not covet another's goods. And these are to be ordered according to greater or lesser injuries by which justice can be violated.”

“The commandment which pertains to innocence must necessarily be multiplied, because it consists in this: that a man guard against giving offense to his neighbor. Now it happens that one offends his neighbor in three ways, namely in mind, word, and deed. Offense in deed occurs in three ways, because a man can offend his neighbor through an act either against his own person, or against a person joined to him, or against his earthly possessions. And accordingly there are three commandments: "Thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt not steal."”

“Here it is commanded that no one violate the wife of his neighbor. And blessed Augustine says that here is prohibited every illicit use of the generative members, which is done for the pursuit of lust with an assault upon chastity. And this occurs in seven ways, namely through adultery, fornication, prostitution, defilement, sacrilege, incest, and the sin against nature. It should be noted that there is conjugal, common, and privileged modesty. Accordingly I say that one can be an assailant of conjugal modesty, and this is called adultery: or one is an assailant of common chastity, and this is done either with an unattached woman simply, and is called fornication, or with an unattached woman who is vagrant and prostituted, and is called prostitution. If however someone is an assailant of privileged modesty, that is, of virginity, this is twofold: either it is done with an attached condition, which is deflowering, and thus it is called defilement: or it is done with a woman consecrated to God, and thus it is called sacrilege, namely when someone violates a woman consecrated to the Lord. But if it is done against the foundation of all these, then it is called sin against nature: and this is done in two ways: either against the dictate of natural reason, namely against that "which nature has taught all animals," and thus it is properly called sin against nature: or it is done against the instinct of nature, and in this way it is incest, namely when someone sins with a person related to him. Sin against nature is the most wicked and is to be fled above all others. And concerning this crime, "Joseph accused his brothers before their father of a most grievous crime." It is clear, first, how here all adultery with a neighbor's wife is prohibited; and according to Augustine, all illicit use of the generative members is prohibited, which is done for the procurement of lust with an assault upon chastity. It is also clear on what basis the seven transgressions of this commandment are understood: "You shall not commit adultery": and that sin against nature is to be fled above all others. Peter Damian relates that two men were together in the desert who performed the harshest penance. One of them was unlearned and, on account of his sins, was deceived by the devil, who told him that the sin of pollution against nature was no greater a sin than blowing mucus from one's nose. And then that wretched man practiced that shameful act. At death the devil carried away his soul. Seeing this, the other was amazed that a man of such great vigils and sufferings should be lost. And then an Angel of the Lord appeared, who related to him that he had defiled everything through such a sin. Every act, therefore, that consists in the experience of lust, in whatever way a man may devise the sin itself, is prohibited, unless it is done in the form of marriage of the Church. In sleep a man sometimes suffers pollutions without fault and without cause. A certain foolish priest said to one confessing to him about nocturnal pollution: can you not give a coin to fulfill your lust? It is now clear how all illicit use of the body and of lust, procured outside the form of marriage, is here prohibited.”

“And because the lower portion of the soul is informed by the higher and is given to it as a help, it is necessary that the lower have commandments by which it would be conformed to the higher, so that it behave piously, truly and holily. Piously toward superiors, most of all parents, hence, Honor your father and your mother. Truly and justly toward equals, hence: You shall not kill, which precludes any harm. Holily toward inferiors, hence, You shall not commit adultery, which forbids any act of impudicity.”

“But because the neighbor is an image of the Trinity, and to him, insofar as he bears the image of the Holy Spirit, benignity is owed: with respect to benignity, to which cupidity and concupiscence are opposed, each of which can be in deed or in heart, four are taken, namely thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, thou shalt not steal, and thou shalt not covet another's goods. And these are to be ordered according to greater or lesser injuries by which justice can be violated.”

“The commandment which pertains to innocence must necessarily be multiplied, because it consists in this: that a man guard against giving offense to his neighbor. Now it happens that one offends his neighbor in three ways, namely in mind, word, and deed. Offense in deed occurs in three ways, because a man can offend his neighbor through an act either against his own person, or against a person joined to him, or against his earthly possessions. And accordingly there are three commandments: "Thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt not steal."”

“Theft is the handling of another's property, against the owner's will, out of greed. If it is done not out of greed, as the children of Israel by the Lord's command carried with them from Egypt vessels of silver and gold, or when someone takes a sword from another lest he do harm, then he is not said to commit theft. Theft, moreover, is divided into parts, because theft is the handling of another's property, against the owner's will: and this is done either through mere fraud, or through violence, or through circumvention. If it is done through mere fraud and furtively, then it is called theft. If it is done through violence, either that violence is open, and thus it is called robbery: or it is hidden, and thus it is called brigandage. If indeed the handling of another's property occurs through circumvention, this can happen with an attached agreement, and this in three ways: either with a fraudulent agreement, or an unjust one, or a profane one. The first way occurs in business transactions, and this happens in three ways, namely either in weight, or in number, or in measure: and from this merchants very rarely escape. If however it is done with an unjust agreement, thus it is usury, in which that which is sold is common, namely time. If however it is done with a profane agreement, in which what is proper to God is sold, thus it is simony. But it is asked: why, if I lend you a garment or a horse or a house for money, is it not usury, as it is with money? I say that in a garment or a horse or a house, the use is drawn from the thing, not from money: and therefore it is not called usury. Some believe that usury is evil because it is prohibited: but certainly it is prohibited because it is evil. In a loan, what is mine becomes yours; and if you acquire something through your own industry from that loan, and I demand something back from it, I sell time, which is common, and which it is not lawful to sell. But in a loan for use, my property does not pass into yours, as in a loan my money becomes yours; and the money is not diminished nor deteriorated, as happens with a house or a garment or a horse, because one must return the money whole and entire. And therefore, when through usury a man seeks something, there is a perversion of order and an appropriation of what is common: and everyone ought to guard himself against this. If however circumvention occurs with a profane agreement, it is called simony, in which he who buys acquires nothing, nor does he who sells possess anything, but they only handle another's property: and this happens when a spiritual thing is sold as though it were a cheap thing. Against whom the Lord says: "Do not make my Father's house a house of trade." But some make it a den of thieves; whence: "Her princes judged for bribes, and her priests taught for hire, and her prophets divined for money."”

“The seventh plague was the destruction of temporal goods, by which thieves are struck, because he who takes what belongs to others deserves to lose what is his own. This was the plague of hail, which destroyed everything. It is remarkable that he who commits fornication, if he repents, can be reconciled to God; but he who seizes what belongs to others cannot be reconciled to God unless he restores what belongs to others.”

“But we cannot possess these three in relation to others unless we have them first in relation to ourselves. Wherefore there are three more commandments: one that straightens all deeds, another that straightens all speech, and yet another that straightens all affective dispositions. That which straightens deeds is as follows: You shall not steal, which not only prohibits stealing from others, but commands to give from one's own goods. And this is how the Apostle understands it: He who was wont to steal, let him steal no longer; but rather let him labor, working with his hands, that he may have something to share with him who suffers need.”

“But because the neighbor is an image of the Trinity, and to him, insofar as he bears the image of the Father, piety is owed: insofar as he bears the image of the Son, truthfulness is owed, insofar as he bears the image of the Holy Spirit, benignity is owed: hence it is that there are seven commandments which pertain to the second tablet. With respect to truthfulness, which principally consists in word, one is taken, namely concerning not bearing false testimony.”

“Here is prohibited the lie that is harmful to one's neighbor. And according to the general understanding, every pernicious lie is here prohibited: and it is to be understood that every lie is evil. Augustine distinguishes and says that there is the officious, jocose, and pernicious lie. A lie is called officious that harms no one and benefits someone. The jocose lie is one that is made not with the will to harm but with the desire to lie, and sometimes it harms, but does not benefit. The pernicious lie is one that is made with the intention of lying, and this in order to harm; and it benefits no one but harms all. And Augustine says that "in the first lie there is minimal fault, in the second moderate, in the third grave." The officious lie occurs in three ways: either for defending someone's temporal goods, or for protecting life, or for preserving chastity. The jocose lie occurs in two ways: either from the sheer desire of lying, or of pleasing. The pernicious lie occurs in three ways: either in the doctrine of religion against sacred Scripture, or in the imputation of a false crime: and in these two ways it benefits no one, but harms all. In the third way, a pernicious lie occurs in the case of someone; and thus it benefits one person and harms another. Thus it is clear that there are eight kinds of lying. And Augustine says that God can make it so that theft is not a sin; but He cannot make it so that lying is not a sin. And this is on account of the nobility of truth: because a lie is a false utterance of speech with the intention of deceiving, and God cannot depart from truth, because He is truth itself; but with theft He can well dispense, so that it is not a sin. Whence it is most necessary for man that he keep faith and have truth in speech, because Seneca says: "He who loses faith has nothing more to lose."”

“But we cannot possess these three in relation to others unless we have them first in relation to ourselves. Wherefore there are three more commandments: one that straightens all deeds, another that straightens all speech, and yet another that straightens all affective dispositions. That which straightens speech is as follows: You shall not bear false witness, which prohibits all falsity either in oneself or in relation to another. Speak truth each one with his neighbor.”

“But because the neighbor is an image of the Trinity, and to him, insofar as he bears the image of the Holy Spirit, benignity is owed: with respect to benignity, to which cupidity and concupiscence are opposed, each of which can be in deed or in heart, four are taken, namely thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, thou shalt not steal, and thou shalt not covet another's goods. And these are to be ordered according to greater or lesser injuries by which justice can be violated. And thus the rules pertaining to the necessity of justice ought to be contained in the ten precepts.”

“Offense in the mind has two roots according to the twofold concupiscence, namely of the flesh and of the eyes. Against the concupiscence of the flesh there is one commandment: "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife." Against the concupiscence of the eyes there is another commandment: "nor his field, nor any other thing."”

“"You shall not covet your neighbor's goods, nor shall you desire his wife;" in which He prohibits the twofold concupiscence, namely of the eyes and of the flesh, which are the kindling of all evils and the root of all sins: because when the concupiscible power is infected and corrupted, it corrupts all the other powers of the soul. In the preceding commandments: "You shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not speak false testimony," every illicit exterior act committed against one's neighbor is prohibited. In these two: "You shall not covet your neighbor's goods, nor shall you desire his wife," the illicit interior act is prohibited, and here the concupiscence of the eyes, or covetousness, is prohibited, which "is the root of all evils"; the concupiscence of the flesh is also prohibited, which is the kindling of all sins. Through this twofold concupiscence occurs the transmission of all evils and sins; and therefore the divine law prohibits it, and in this prohibits all evils and all sins. This is the fever by which all the children of Adam are feverish, and which generates all evils.”

“The ninth plague was of darkness, by which the covetous and avaricious are struck, because nothing so blinds a man as covetousness. Whence the Prophet: "Gifts and presents blind the eyes of the prudent and change the words of the just;" Solomon: "Nothing is more wicked than the avaricious man. For he has even his own soul for sale, because in his life he has cast away his inmost parts."”

“The tenth plague was the death of the firstborn, by which the carnal are struck, like Esau. For the Apostle says: "Lest anyone among you be a fornicator, like Esau, and lose his birthright." Carnal concupiscence took from us our noble generation, by which we would all be born innocent and heirs of paradise, and it makes us be born in death and guilt and the loss of the birthright. This was prefigured in Reuben, who lost the right of the firstborn, because he went up to his father's bed and defiled his couch; and Joseph, on account of his chastity, was made prince over his brothers.”

“That which straightens all affective dispositions is as follows: You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, etc. As Augustine writes, "The law is good, for while prohibiting concupiscence, it also prohibits any evil." But concupiscence is twofold, of the flesh and of cupidity, and the latter is the root of all evil. Hence, in this commandment, the Lawgiver Himself went down to details such as the ass, the slave, the female servant, etc.”

“The Lord spoke that word to Moses, and Moses, having heard the word, ascended the mountain and received two tablets of stone and the Law and the commandments. In this it is signified that if we wish to arrive at an understanding of the commandments of God, we must ascend the mountain, that is, to the eminence of the mind, because according to the impression of the eternal light the law of nature has been given to us, and according to that light we have received the teachings of the divine law. Being of itself first falls upon the soul. Now being is twofold, namely created and uncreated, and accordingly justice is twofold: one, by which we are ordered to uncreated being, and another, by which we are ordered to created being. And according to this twofold justice a twofold tablet was given to Moses, namely the first and the second. In the first tablet are contained the commandments by which we are ordered to uncreated being, that is, God. In the second tablet are contained the commandments by which we are ordered to created being, namely our neighbor.”

“Just as God completed the whole world in six days and rested on the seventh, so the lesser world may be led in most orderly fashion through six stages of successive illuminations to the repose of contemplation. As a figure of this, one ascended by six steps to the throne of Solomon; the Seraphim that Isaiah saw had six wings; after six days the Lord called Moses from the midst of the cloud, and Christ after six days, as is said in Matthew, led the disciples up the mountain and was transfigured before them.”

“For if you are a Cherub contemplating the essential attributes of God, and you wonder that the divine being is at once the first and the last, eternal and most present, most simple and greatest, that is, uncircumscribed, wholly everywhere and nowhere comprehended, most actual and never moved, most perfect and having nothing superfluous nor diminished, and yet immense and infinite without limit, supremely one, and yet all-inclusive, as having all things in itself, as all power, all truth, all good: look upon the mercy seat and wonder that in it the first beginning is joined with the last, God with man formed on the sixth day, the eternal is joined with temporal man, born of the Virgin in the fullness of time, the most simple with the supremely composite, the most actual with one who supremely suffered and died, the most perfect and immense with the small, the supremely one and all-inclusive with a composite individual distinct from all others, namely the man Jesus Christ. But if you are the other Cherub contemplating the proper attributes of the persons, and you wonder that communicability coexists with propriety, consubstantiality with plurality, configurability with personality, coequality with order, coeternity with production, cointimacy with sending forth, because the Son was sent by the Father, and the Holy Spirit by both, who nevertheless is always with them and never departs from them: look upon the mercy seat and wonder that in Christ there stands personal union with a trinity of substances and a duality of natures; there stands complete agreement with a plurality of wills; there stands the co-predication of God and man with a plurality of properties; there stands co-adoration with a plurality of nobilities; there stands co-exaltation above all things with a plurality of dignities; there stands co-dominion with a plurality of powers.”

“As a sign of Him, there are the two Cherubim turned toward each other, but with their faces looking toward the propitiatory. The two Cherubim are the two Testaments whose gaze is directed upon Christ. He opened their minds when they understood the Scriptures, meaning that the book of Scriptures is understood precisely through that key, the Incarnate Word, the one eminently concerned with the works of restoration. For unless you understand the order and origin of restoration, you cannot understand Scriptures.”

“For the Cherubim also designate this, who looked upon one another. Nor is it without mystery that they looked upon one another with their faces turned toward the mercy seat, so that what the Lord says in John may be verified: "This is eternal life, that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." For we ought to admire not only the essential and personal conditions of God in themselves, but also by comparison to the superadmirable union of God and man in the unity of the person of Christ.”

“These six considerations having therefore been traversed, as if they were the six steps of the throne of the true Solomon, by which one arrives at peace, where the true peaceful one rests in a peaceful mind as in an interior Jerusalem; and as if also the six wings of the Cherub, by which the mind of the true contemplative, filled with the illumination of supernal wisdom, may be borne upward; and as if also the first six days, in which the mind must be exercised, so that it may at last arrive at the sabbath of rest; after our mind has contemplated God outside itself through vestiges and in the vestiges, within itself through the image and in the image, above itself through the similitude of the divine light shining upon us and in that light itself, insofar as is possible according to the state of wayfaring and the exercise of our mind; when at last in the sixth step it has arrived at this point, that it contemplates in the first and highest principle and the mediator of God and men, Jesus Christ, those things whose likenesses can in no way be found in creatures, and which exceed all keenness of the human intellect: it remains that, in contemplating these things, it should transcend and pass beyond not only this sensible world, but also itself; in which passing over, Christ is the way and the door, Christ is the ladder and the vehicle, as it were the mercy seat placed upon the ark of God and the mystery hidden from the ages.”

“Whoever looks upon this mercy seat with full turning of the countenance, gazing upon him who hangs upon the cross through faith, hope, and charity, devotion, admiration, exultation, appreciation, praise, and jubilation, makes the Passover, that is, the passing over, with him, so as to pass through the Red Sea by the rod of the cross, entering the desert from Egypt, where he may taste the hidden manna, and may rest with Christ in the tomb as though outwardly dead, yet sensing, insofar as is possible according to the state of wayfaring, what was said on the cross to the thief clinging to Christ: Today you shall be with me in paradise.”

“In so far as the cardinal virtues receive their form from charity, they are represented by the four ornaments of the tabernacle, the four sheets, skins of violet, curtains of goat hair, and rams' skins dyed red. The sheets correspond to temperance, the purple skins to the heavenly colors of prudence, the curtains of goat hair to justice, the rams' skins dyed red to fortitude. Or again, in the ornaments of the Dwelling, there are four colors: linen-white, in which there is temperance; violet revealing prudence; purple, the color of royal clothing, meaning justice; and red, that is, the color of fire, fortitude. And in this manner they adorn the Dwelling on all four sides. Likewise, they stabilize, and lead in through the door, through the four sides of the city, stabilized by hope to an equal rule.”

“As a symbol of this, the High Priest had two stones on his ephod: one on the right side and the other on the left. And on these were written the twelve names of the sons of Israel: six names on one stone and six names on the other—and they were made of lucid and ardent onyx, through which faith in the humanity and divinity is expressed. And they are likewise expressed in the Creed composed by the twelve apostles. And a sacrifice made in such faith as this is pleasing to God.”

“As a symbol of this, the High Priest had two stones on his ephod: one on the right side and the other on the left. And on these were written the twelve names of the sons of Israel: six names on one stone and six names on the other—and they were made of lucid and ardent onyx, through which faith in the humanity and divinity is expressed. And they are likewise expressed in the Creed composed by the twelve apostles. And a sacrifice made in such faith as this is pleasing to God.”

“Again, you can multiply the four cardinal virtues by the three theological, and then there are twelve: for prudence must be faithful, trusting, and loving; and so it is with the others. And they are represented by the twelve springs, the twelve gems in the High Priest's vestment, and the twelve doors of the City. First, the twelve springs, for as they flow into each other, they make the soul clean. Second, the twelve gems, for they adorn the soul with all the virtues carried in the heart, as these gems were carried on the High Priest's chest. Third, the twelve doors, in so far as they lead in: for in the east, there is the sincerity of temperance; in the south, the serenity of prudence; in the north, the stability of constancy; and in the west, the sweetness of justice.”

“Since the rules pertaining to the necessity of justice are contained in the divine precepts, and it belongs to justice to "render to each one his due": it is necessary that certain moral precepts order us toward God: and certain toward our neighbor according to the twofold precept of charity; which the Holy Spirit willed to intimate through the mystery of the two tablets, and therefore they are said to be written by the finger of God.”

“The exercise of the gift of piety consists in the abundance of interior compassion. Of this it is said in Ecclesiasticus: "These are men of mercy, whose acts of piety have not failed; with their seed good things endure." How great was the piety of Moses! Who loved the people provoking the Lord and prayed to the Lord for them saying: "Hear me, Lord, this people has sinned: either forgive this people this offense, or if you do not, blot me out of your book which you have written." Bernard gives the example of a woman who has her little child and is outside the house. If it were said to her: leave your little child outside the house, and you enter the house; she would not want to enter the house, such that the child would remain outside. So Moses willed that the Lord would forgive the people their sin, or that He would blot him from the book of life.”

“Scripture enlightens from outside through extrinsic examples, of which all of Scripture is full. If you seek an example of patience, behold Job and Tobias; of magnanimity, behold David fighting Goliath, and Judas Macchabee. As an example of faith, behold Abraham and the glorious Virgin, whose faith surpasses that of Abraham. For Abraham believed that he could have a son from a sterile old woman, but Mary believed that although a virgin, she would conceive of the Holy Spirit: nor would she have conceived had she not believed. If you seek an example of love, behold Moses who said: "If You would only forgive their sin! If You will not, then strike me out of the book that You have written!"”

“Turning back again, let us say: because therefore the most pure and absolute being, which is simply being, is the first and the last, therefore it is the origin and consummating end of all things. Because eternal and most present, therefore it encompasses and enters all durations, existing as it were simultaneously as their center and circumference. Because most simple and greatest, therefore it is wholly within all things and wholly beyond all things, and therefore "it is an intelligible sphere whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere." Because most actual and most immutable, therefore "remaining stable, it gives motion to all things." Because most perfect and immense, therefore it is within all things, not enclosed; beyond all things, not excluded; above all things, not elevated; below all things, not cast down. Because indeed it is supremely one and all-encompassing, therefore it is all things in all, although all things are many and it itself is nothing but one; and this because through most simple unity, most serene truth, and most sincere goodness there is in it all power, all exemplarity, and all communicability; and therefore from him and through him and in him are all things, and this because he is omnipotent, omniscient, and in every way good, which to see perfectly is to be blessed, as was said to Moses: I will show you all good.”

“Such love divides, puts to sleep, and lifts up. It divides, since it cuts away from any other love because of the single love for the Spouse; it puts to sleep and appeases all the powers and imposes silence; it lifts up, since it leads to God. And so man is as dead, wherefore it is said: "Love is strong as death," because it cuts away from all things. Man, then, must die of this love in order to be lifted up. Hence "no man sees Me and still lives."”

“But if you ask how these things come about, ask grace, not doctrine; desire, not understanding; the groaning of prayer, not the study of reading; the Bridegroom, not the master; God, not man; darkness, not clarity; not light, but the fire that wholly inflames and carries into God through ecstatic anointings and most ardent affections. Which fire is indeed God, and his furnace is in Jerusalem, and Christ kindles this in the fervor of his most ardent passion, which only he truly perceives who says: My soul has chosen hanging, and my bones death. Whoever loves this death can see God, because it is indubitably true: No man shall see me and live. Let us die, therefore, and enter into the darkness; let us impose silence upon our cares, concupiscences, and phantasms; let us pass over with Christ crucified from this world to the Father, so that, when the Father is shown to us, we may say with Philip: It suffices us; let us hear with Paul: My grace suffices for you; let us exult with David, saying: My flesh and my heart have failed, God of my heart and God my portion forever. Blessed be the Lord forever, and let all the people say: So be it, so be it. Amen.”

“This wisdom results from many mysteries of the Scriptures, as out of many mirrors there results a multiplication of light rays and fires. These are the "mirrors of the women" out of which "the bronze laver" was made; this is Scriptures, "with faces unveiled, reflecting as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, being transformed into His very image from glory to glory": from the clarity of allegory to the clarity of anagogy, and again to that of tropology.”

“Gratuitous knowledge is called the knowledge of the Saints, because it has nothing of vice mixed in, nothing of carnality, nothing of curiosity, and nothing of vanity. Whence in Leviticus: "The Lord also said to Aaron: You and your sons shall not drink wine or anything that can intoxicate, so that you may have the knowledge of discerning between the holy and the profane." He who has the knowledge of discerning between the holy and the profane will abstain from everything that can intoxicate, that is, from every superfluous delight in creatures: this is the intoxicating wine. Whether someone on account of vanity, or on account of curiosity, or carnality inclines toward superfluous delight, which is in creatures: he does not have the knowledge of the Saints.”

“Conjugal chastity accords with the written law by reason of the divine statute, Leviticus 18. For the Lord established laws according to which legitimacy is observed in the persons who contract marriage. For He says: I am the Lord your God: keep my laws and judgments, which if a man do, he shall live in them. No man shall approach to her that is near of kin to him, etc. Since therefore the Lord as a benefit promised that He would give offspring to Abraham through the way of marriage, and miraculously made fruitful the dead womb of Sarah, and also gave laws according to which marriage is to be contracted: it is evident that conjugal chastity accords with the written law.”

“We take up the name of God in vain through uttering of blasphemous speech; and this occurs in three ways: first, when someone, speaking of God, uses cursing speech, as when he curses God. The second mode is through mendacious speech, when someone denies what is true of God, or affirms what is false; because Anselm says that the nobler part of every contradiction is to be attributed to God. The third mode is through reproachful speech, such as when someone speaks of the lower members of Christ, he blasphemes most wickedly, even if he speaks the truth, and despises Christ in that He was humble and assumed our nature. And such persons have been destroyed by divine judgment. For Gregory narrates that a certain boy of six years was accustomed to blaspheme the name of the Lord. One day, when he was blaspheming and was in the lap of his father, he was seized by demons and carried into hell. On account of which it is said in Leviticus: "Whoever shall have blasphemed the name of the Lord, let him surely die."”

“The danger of transgression ought to move us to the observance of the commandments, because the transgressor of the commandments falls into many dangers: first, because he loses many goods; second, because he rushes into abominable crimes; third, because he merits eternal punishments. Transgressors lose many goods; whence in Leviticus: "If you will not hear my voice and will not do all my commandments, I will visit you with want and burning heat, which shall consume your eyes and consume your souls." He says: "I will visit you with want": behold, the privation of all goods; "and with burning heat, which shall consume your eyes and consume your souls," because it blinds the intellect of the true and takes away the affection for the good.”

“The purely intellectual vision existed in the minds of the angels and of the Lawmaker. Moses was raised up to this vision more completely than any other prophet, for it is written: Should there be a prophet among you, in visions will I reveal Myself to him, in dreams will I speak to him; not so with my servant Moses! Throughout My house he bears My trust: face to face I speak to him, plainly and not in riddles. The presence of the Lord he beholds.”

“A figure preceded in the rod and flower of Aaron. The history is in the rod of Aaron, which, cut off and dry, in the space of a single night put forth leaves, flowered, and brought forth fruit. Who brought it about that the Virgin conceived? Certainly the Holy Spirit, who is a love fervent, fruitful, undefiled, virile, incorrupt, and deifying. That he is a fruitful love is signified in the rod of Aaron, which in the space of a night put forth leaves, flowered, and brought forth fruit.”

“One is said to be superior to another either with respect to the origin of nature, or with respect to the dominion of power or presidency, or with respect to the governance of providence. The first superiority belongs to nature itself by reason of itself, because "nature is a force implanted in things, producing like from like"; the second by reason of vice, because, as Ambrose says, servitude is the punishment of sin; but the third belongs by reason of remedy, according to that passage in Numbers twenty-seven: Let the God of the spirits of all flesh provide a man who may be over this multitude, lest they be as sheep without a shepherd. To the first superiority is owed filial obedience, to the second servile obedience, and to the third jurisdictional obedience, which regards the dignity of prelacy.”

“The Jews sometimes reproach us and say that we do not properly observe the first commandment. Concerning the first statement, namely: "You shall not have strange gods," they say that the Lord says: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one;" and you posit a Trinity, namely the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. To this objection, that we worship three gods, I say that if we worshipped three persons such that we said there were three gods and a threefold essence, it would necessarily follow that we worshipped three gods. But we worship the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God and one essence, but three persons. Whence, just as we see that in man there is a plurality of natures, namely intellectual and corporeal, and yet there is but one person, so conversely in the divine there is unity of essence and plurality of persons. God the Father has a Word and the Holy Spirit: indeed He has a Word, through which He made all things; and He has the Holy Spirit, through whom He preserves all things. The Word flows forth from the one who speaks and is God from God. Likewise the Holy Spirit is spirated from the Father and the Son and is God and in God. The Holy Spirit alone is the one who searches the depths of hearts, and He is God. Hence the person who wishes to understand these things and to speak about them must have the most elevated thoughts, not earthbound ones: for otherwise he cannot understand the most exalted things concerning God. For when we posit the Trinity, we do not posit Christ as a mere man, but God with man.”

“And these things are so certain that the opposite of them cannot be thought by one understanding being itself, and one of them necessarily implies the other. For because it is simply being, therefore it is simply first: because it is simply first, therefore it is not made by another, nor could it have been made by itself, therefore it is eternal. Likewise, because it is first and eternal; therefore it is not from others, therefore it is most simple. Likewise, because it is first, eternal, and most simple: therefore there is nothing of potentiality mixed with act in it, and therefore it is most actual. Likewise, because it is first, eternal, most simple, most actual; therefore it is most perfect: to such a being absolutely nothing is lacking, nor can any addition be made. Because it is first, eternal, most simple, most actual, most perfect: therefore it is supremely one. For what is said through every manner of superabundance with respect to all things. "What also is said simply through superabundance, it is impossible that it should belong to any but one alone." Whence if God names being primary, eternal, most simple, most actual, most perfect: it is impossible for him to be thought not to be, nor to be anything but one alone. Hear therefore, O Israel, your God is one God. If you see this in the pure simplicity of the mind, you will be in some measure flooded with the illumination of eternal light.”

“To the objection that if we are bound to believe this, it is either because it is true, or because it is a truth falling under a precept, it must be said that it is because it is a truth falling under a precept. And if you ask: under which precept? I say that under the first, in which indeed it is said: Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one God. You shall adore the Lord your God and Him alone shall you serve. In this precept indeed we are obligated expressly to believe that God is one, but implicitly to believe that God is triune. And this is evident as follows: because by this precept we are bound to worship God with the worship of latria, which is there called service. Now to worship in spiritual matters is according to a transumption from material things: in material things, however, to cultivate a field is to bring forth the shoots proceeding originally from the earth itself. In this same manner, to worship God is to profess by heart and mouth and deed that He is the principle, such that He is not perfectly worshipped unless we confess that He is the principiating principle not only effective in creation, but also restorative in redemption and perfective in glorification: nor yet perfectly, if He is believed to be a principle from time, unless He is believed to be a principiating principle from eternity: nor yet, unless He is believed to be a principle principiating one who eternally principiates: which we believe when we believe that the Father eternally generates the Son, who together with Him spirates the Holy Spirit, so that eternally in God there is a principle from a principle, and a principle not from a principle.”

“The authority of the one commanding ought to move us to observe the commandments of God. He is of great authority, because by His munificent benevolence He saves us. "And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you, except that you fear the Lord your God and walk in His ways and love Him and serve the Lord your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul, and keep the commandments of the Lord?" Lord, who created you; God, who governs you; your own, who saves you.”

“And in Deuteronomy it is said: "And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you, except that you fear him and keep all his commandments and walk in his ways?" And Solomon says: "Fear God and observe his commandments: this is the whole man," that is, the perfect man. Therefore if you wish to be perfect, fear God.”

“Now Sacred Scripture is generous in that God conveys His influence to it, producing the most abundant multiplications. Hence, in Deuteronomy: "The land which you are to enter and occupy is not like the land of Egypt," which is irrigated, but "a land... that drinks in rain from the heavens." For it is not like the other sciences, since God visits it.”

“Behold, the wondrous benefit of observance and the wondrous calamity of transgression. Whence the Lord through Moses: "Behold, I set before thee blessing and curse: blessing, if thou shalt keep My commandments: curse, if thou shalt not keep them." The Lord places us in the middle and works with us wonderfully. When someone wishes to demonstrate something to another, he proceeds against him by a twofold way, namely by ostensive reasoning and by reasoning leading to an impossibility. Thus does the Lord: He places man in the middle between heaven and hell: in heaven is eternal glory, in hell are eternal punishments. And when the Lord shows man the glory of paradise, which he can merit by keeping the commandments, then He inclines him to the observance of the commandments by ostensive reasoning. But when He shows him the punishments of hell, into which he will fall if he transgresses the commandments, then He inclines him by reasoning leading to an impossibility.”

“Just as that law, Deuteronomy 15: There shall be no needy person or beggar among you, was not given against the mendicancy of the poor, but against the tightfistedness of the rich — which is clear from the fact that in the same chapter it is added: The poor shall not be wanting in the land of your habitation; therefore I command you to open your hand to your needy and poor brother — so also this law is given to bishops who have abundance for the sustenance of poor clerics, especially those who are not in want voluntarily but by compulsion, lest on account of their indigence they become slack in divine service.”

“Because the written law was a law of rigor, it not only approves this threefold obedience, but also punishes transgressors of this obedience. It punishes the rebellious son, the rebellious servant, and also the disobedient subject, Deuteronomy 17: He who acts proudly, refusing to obey the command of the priest, that man shall die.”

“Deuteronomy 17: If you perceive that the judgment before you is difficult and ambiguous, and you see the words of the judges to vary: arise and go up to the place which the Lord your God has chosen. But the man who acts proudly, refusing to obey the command of the priest, that man shall die: there the Gloss says: "Here he grants the faculty of appeal." From this text and Gloss it is gathered that in the old law there was a supreme Pontiff, to whom recourse was to be had in judgments, and whom all were bound to obey. If therefore this was so in the law of the figure, much more does it seem that it ought to be so in the law of grace. And this for a threefold reason: first, because there is greater unity now than then: therefore much more ought there be one Pontiff. Likewise, the pontificate is now more worthy and lofty: therefore much more ought all now be subject to one Pontiff than in the time of the law of Moses. Finally, because here there ought to be a greater obedience and a more ordered hierarchy. From all of which it is gathered that if one supreme Pontiff was to be obeyed in the time of the law of Moses, much more so in the time of the law of Christ.”

“Because the written law was a law of rigor, it not only approves this threefold obedience, but also punishes transgressors of this obedience. For it punishes the rebellious son, Deuteronomy 21: If a man beget a rebellious and insolent son, who does not heed his father's command, and when corrected scorns to obey: they shall seize him and bring him to the elders, etc.”

“From the second consideration comes forth that fruit of justice which consists in fleeing evil, that is, by means of distinguishing judgments. No one, indeed, wants to reap cockle or tares, for as it is said in Deuteronomy: "According to the measure of the sin shall the measure also of the stripes be." Thus the consideration of the judgments will make one flee from evil.”

“The commandments of God are irreproachable, because they contain nothing impossible. To one having charity the commandments of God are easy and sweet, but to one not having charity they seem difficult. Augustine gives the example of a bird having feathers and a bird without feathers: for a bird having feathers it is easy to fly, but for a bird not having feathers it is difficult. Similarly, to a man of perverse will the commandments seem difficult, which to one having charity are easy. Whence it is said in Deuteronomy: "This commandment which I command you today is not above you nor placed far off nor set in heaven nor placed beyond the sea, but the word is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it."”

“It is now clear that there are ten precepts of the sacred decalogue. In the first three, right ordering toward God is commanded; in the fourth, right ordering and beneficence toward parents; in the other six, right ordering and innocence toward one's neighbor is commanded. Although certain precepts are called affirmative and certain negative, nevertheless all contain both affirmation and negation within themselves. When God prohibits something in a certain commandment, He commands its contrary; and conversely, when He commands something, He prohibits its contrary. For in the first commandment, humble adoration of the divine majesty is commanded, and idolatry is prohibited. In the second, faithful assertion of the divine truth is commanded, and perjury is prohibited. In the third, devout love of the divine goodness is commanded, and lack of devotion is prohibited. In the fourth, piety toward parents is commanded, and dishonor is prohibited. In the fifth, meekness is commanded, and wrath is prohibited. In the sixth, chastity is commanded, and adultery is prohibited. In the seventh, generosity is commanded, and theft is prohibited. In the eighth, truthfulness is commanded, and lying is prohibited. In the ninth, liberality of heart is commanded, and concupiscence for temporal things is prohibited. In the tenth, purity of mind is commanded, and concupiscence of the flesh is prohibited. See that all the precepts contain within themselves affirmation and negation, and that in every precept there is life and good, death and evil. In the observance of the commandments there is life and good, and in transgression there is death and evil. And from the observance of the law follows blessing, and from transgression, cursing. For from the observance of the law a man becomes reverent, faithful, devout, pious, meek, chaste, generous, truthful, content with his own possessions — that is, liberal in heart and undefiled in mind. On the contrary, from the transgression of the law a man becomes an idolater, a blasphemer, undevout, impious, a murderer, an adulterer, a thief, a liar, covetous, and carnal. Therefore the transgressor of the law and the observer are more distant from one another than hell is from paradise, because the one is at the center and the other is at the circumference; nor can the God of heaven do otherwise, because He is just and "cannot deny Himself."”

“"Give ear, O heavens, while I speak; let the earth hearken to the words of my mouth! May my instruction soak in like the rain, and my discourse permeate like the dew, like a downpour upon the grass, like a shower upon the crops." This dew is the influence of the Holy Spirit's grace which visits the Scriptures and in which it is sweetly found.”

“In the first word: You shall not have strange gods before me, all profane pacts with demons are prohibited, whether they be made through incantations of words, or through inscriptions of characters or images, or through immolations of sacrifices. All these Augustine calls pacts with demons, because in such things there is attributed to the creature what ought to be attributed to the Creator; and therefore such persons sin against the first word of the commandment: You shall not have strange gods before me. Concerning such persons it is said in the canticle of Deuteronomy: They provoked him with strange gods, and stirred him to anger with him who was not God. Whence such persons fall into the hands of demons.”

“"It is a nation without counsel and without prudence: would that they were wise and understood and foresaw their last things." He touches upon the three parts of intelligence, namely memory of things past, understanding of things present, and circumspection regarding things future. Whoever does not have this understanding cannot be set right. This understanding is the rule of moral circumspections with desire of heart and pursuit of work, so that a person may consider what is to be avoided, what is to be done, and what is to be awaited. For God gives this understanding, and it is a gift of God.”

“"It is a nation without counsel and without prudence: would that they were wise and understood and foresaw their last things." He touches upon the three parts of intelligence, namely memory of things past, understanding of things present, and circumspection regarding things future. Whoever does not have this understanding cannot be set right. This understanding is the rule of moral circumspections with desire of heart and pursuit of work, so that a person may consider what is to be avoided, what is to be done, and what is to be awaited. For God gives this understanding, and it is a gift of God.”

“Concerning the first, we proceed as follows and it is shown that the divine being is supremely one. And that this is so, faith and divine Scripture sufficiently proclaim, Exodus twenty: Your God is one God; and Deuteronomy thirty-two: See therefore that I alone am, and there is no other God besides me; and David in the Psalm: There shall not be in you a new god, nor shall you adore a foreign god: and divine Scripture sufficiently preaches this.”

“It must be said that this truth, that God is one, is a truth not only believable, but also intelligible: since it is necessary and certain not only from the testimony of Scripture and the illumination of grace, which is found in faith; but it is also certain from itself and from the testimony of creatures. From itself, therefore: because the divine being, on account of its singular sublimity and sublime singularity, possesses unity in every way. For since God has every perfection in himself, and this in the highest degree and most excellently, he is shown to be one not only from the sublimity of nature and wisdom, power and goodness and influence and causality, but indeed from all his conditions and noble properties that are attributed to him in the highest degree. Hence all conditions attest to the unity of the supreme essence. From the testimony of creatures also: because every creature, just as it has natural goodness, so also is shown to have unity. "For nothing can exist unless it is one," as Boethius and Augustine say, and as sense and intellect teach. Therefore, just as every creature by its goodness proclaims that in God there is true and supreme goodness, so by its unity it proclaims that the cause of all things is one in itself. Nor does the diversity of things stand against this testimony. For every diversity of things is comprehended within one universe, which in itself is indeed finite and limited and perfect. But this would not be so unless that plurality were reduced to something in which there would be a stopping point: and therefore it is necessary that all things be reduced to one ultimate end and one first principle, otherwise there would be a regress to infinity. Therefore the very universe of things testifies that God is one: whence, just as it is impossible for one circumference to have, nor can one rationally conceive, any but one center, from which lines flow and to which they are reduced as to a terminus: so in one universe one cannot posit or understand anything but one God alone.”

“Finally, there is the ecstatic taste of sweet contemplation. It is written: "Of the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand sealed." Benjamin, "the son of the right hand, the son of pain," in giving birth to whom Rachel died, and yet, Benjamin, "the best beloved of the Lord, as in a bride chamber shall he abide all the day." And this signifies the ecstatic excess of contemplation. The son of Jacob is not born to anything beyond this. Here is sleep with excess. No one attains this sealing unless he has gone through all the preceding ones.”

“Now, there arises from these twelve enlightenments a threefold fruit. From the first four comes forth the fruit of grace, from the intermediate four, the fruit of righteousness, from the last four, the fruit of wisdom. These fruits are referred to in Deuteronomy: "To Joseph also he said: Of the blessing of the Lord be his land, of the fruits of heaven, and of the dew, and of the deep that lieth beneath. Of the fruits brought forth by the sun and the moon. Of the tops of the ancient mountains, of the fruits of the everlasting hills, and of the fruits of the earth, and of the fullness thereof." And so these fruits come forth from Christ, blessed by Joseph who produced fruit of heaven, and of the dew, and of the deep that lieth beneath, that is, the charismatic gifts of the graces, by means of dew on humble hearts. The fruits of the sun and the moon and the tops of the mountains refer to the exercise of perfect righteousness which consists in this, that man trains himself to fulfill God's commands, according to his condition of being a subject, a prelate, or a contemplative. By the fruits of the everlasting hills, wisdom is understood, or the fruit of wisdom, which consist in the contemplation of eternal reasons and the consideration of lofty heavenly spirits. The fruits of the earth refer to the consideration of the divine condescensions in the orders of the Churches. Their fullness is seen as the conjunction of both Churches, the militant and the triumphant.”

“"Do not turn aside from the law; so that you may understand all that you do." Prudential understanding teaches what is to be carried out, namely every good, according to the way of interior thought and exterior action. God wills that we do all things reasonably. And blessed Ambrose says that we ought neither to do nor to speak anything about that for which we cannot give a reason.”

“Because the Holy Spirit brought together these articles of faith, contained in the depths of the Scriptures, into one through the twelve Apostles as through the most steadfast witnesses: hence it is that the aforesaid articles were collected into the one Creed of the Apostles. And therefore, according to the Apostles who composed it, they can be called twelve articles, because each Apostle, for the building up of the faith, set down one article as one living stone: which the Holy Spirit rightly prefigured in the twelve men who drew twelve stones from the bed of the Jordan for the construction of the altar of the Lord.”

“"God made the two great lights, the smaller light to rule the night," that is, the Old Testament, "and the greater one to rule the day," that is, the New Testament. As the moon receives its light from the sun, so does the Old Testament from the New. And so when the sun stands in the east, and the moon on the opposite side in the west — "Stand still, O sun, at Gabaon, O moon, in the valley of Aialon!" said Josue — then is the Old Testament lighted up: it cannot shine, except by means of the New.”

“A figure preceded in the fleece and dew of Gideon. The history is that Gideon asked of the Lord that the dew falling would be entirely on the fleece, and the threshing floor would remain dry; and he filled a basin with dew. Who brought it about that the Virgin conceived? Certainly the Holy Spirit, who is a love fervent, fruitful, undefiled, virile, incorrupt, and deifying. That he is an undefiled love is signified in the completed fleece, because the dew did not soil the fleece but cleansed it.”

“This was marked in the case of Gedeon where those who were tested by the water, that is, those who lapped it like dogs, fought the battle and won, while those who bent their knee to drink were turned away. And those who had won the test were given trumpets and pitchers and lanterns, and they obtained the victory by means of blaring horns and clanging vessels. These are the preachers of the Church who in their preaching make a blaring of horns. The vessels are the bodies, the lanterns are the miracles. Indeed, every time they died for the sake of truth, they repelled and overcame the enemy by means of miracles. But those who drink by lapping with their tongues like dogs, who draw only a little water with their tongues, are those who take little from philosophy; while those who bent their knee to drink are those who inclined themselves totally to it: and the same are inclined to an infinite number of errors.”

“This was marked in the case of Gedeon where those who were tested by the water, that is, those who lapped it like dogs, fought the battle and won, while those who bent their knee to drink were turned away. And those who had won the test were given trumpets and pitchers and lanterns, and they obtained the victory by means of blaring horns and clanging vessels. These are the preachers of the Church who in their preaching make a blaring of horns. The vessels are the bodies, the lanterns are the miracles. Indeed, every time they died for the sake of truth, they repelled and overcame the enemy by means of miracles. But those who drink by lapping with their tongues like dogs, who draw only a little water with their tongues, are those who take little from philosophy; while those who bent their knee to drink are those who inclined themselves totally to it: and the same are inclined to an infinite number of errors.”

“It is said that Samson, according to the instruction of the Angel, did not permit a razor to come upon his head; but his hair grew, and he became the strongest of men. It was a wondrous thing that with his hair he was strong, and without hair he became weak. Delilah the harlot deceived him: she asked him where his strength lay. Four times she asked him, and the fourth time he told her the truth, but the first three times he concealed the truth from her. The first time he said: "If I am bound with seven cords of sinew," I shall be like other men; and when he was bound and the Philistines came upon him to seize him, he immediately broke the cords. Again she asked him where his strength lay, and he said: "If I am bound with seven new ropes that have not yet been put to use," I shall be like other men. The third time he said to her: "If you fasten seven locks of my hair into the ground with a pin," I shall be like other men. The fourth time he revealed the truth to her and said: "If you shave the seven locks of hair that are on my head, I shall be like other men"; and then the Philistines seized him. What does this mean? — I say that the shaving of the hair signifies the withdrawal of the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit. Concerning all the Saints it is clear that, as long as the grace of the Holy Spirit remained with them, they were strong. — Why did he not tell her where his strength lay? See, in the loss of the Holy Spirit there is this progression; by this path the Holy Spirit is lost. There are four enticements of the senses, namely preoccupation, cogitation, the bending of the interior affections, and the assault upon the divine laws. In the last the Holy Spirit is lost, but in the others a man is disposed toward this. First the devil offers sensory pleasures; and this is to be bound with "seven cords of sinew." Afterward, when a man lingers in thoughts upon the pleasure offered, then he is bound with "seven new ropes that have not yet been put to use." Next follows the bending of the affections: just as from a multitude of rays heat is generated, so when there is manifold cogitation in the soul, the soul is bent toward that thing; and this is signified by the binding of the hair with a pin in the ground. Still the man does not lose the Holy Spirit. But fourthly follows the assault upon the divine laws, when the hair of the head is shaved off, that is, when the grace of the Holy Spirit is withdrawn.”

“It is said that Samson, according to the instruction of the Angel, did not permit a razor to come upon his head; but his hair grew, and he became the strongest of men. It was a wondrous thing that with his hair he was strong, and without hair he became weak. Delilah the harlot deceived him: she asked him where his strength lay. Four times she asked him, and the fourth time he told her the truth, but the first three times he concealed the truth from her. The first time he said: "If I am bound with seven cords of sinew," I shall be like other men; and when he was bound and the Philistines came upon him to seize him, he immediately broke the cords. Again she asked him where his strength lay, and he said: "If I am bound with seven new ropes that have not yet been put to use," I shall be like other men. The third time he said to her: "If you fasten seven locks of my hair into the ground with a pin," I shall be like other men. The fourth time he revealed the truth to her and said: "If you shave the seven locks of hair that are on my head, I shall be like other men"; and then the Philistines seized him. What does this mean? — I say that the shaving of the hair signifies the withdrawal of the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit. Concerning all the Saints it is clear that, as long as the grace of the Holy Spirit remained with them, they were strong. — Why did he not tell her where his strength lay? See, in the loss of the Holy Spirit there is this progression; by this path the Holy Spirit is lost. There are four enticements of the senses, namely preoccupation, cogitation, the bending of the interior affections, and the assault upon the divine laws. In the last the Holy Spirit is lost, but in the others a man is disposed toward this. First the devil offers sensory pleasures; and this is to be bound with "seven cords of sinew." Afterward, when a man lingers in thoughts upon the pleasure offered, then he is bound with "seven new ropes that have not yet been put to use." Next follows the bending of the affections: just as from a multitude of rays heat is generated, so when there is manifold cogitation in the soul, the soul is bent toward that thing; and this is signified by the binding of the hair with a pin in the ground. Still the man does not lose the Holy Spirit. But fourthly follows the assault upon the divine laws, when the hair of the head is shaved off, that is, when the grace of the Holy Spirit is withdrawn.”

“It is said that Samson, according to the instruction of the Angel, did not permit a razor to come upon his head; but his hair grew, and he became the strongest of men. It was a wondrous thing that with his hair he was strong, and without hair he became weak. Delilah the harlot deceived him: she asked him where his strength lay. Four times she asked him, and the fourth time he told her the truth, but the first three times he concealed the truth from her. The first time he said: "If I am bound with seven cords of sinew," I shall be like other men; and when he was bound and the Philistines came upon him to seize him, he immediately broke the cords. Again she asked him where his strength lay, and he said: "If I am bound with seven new ropes that have not yet been put to use," I shall be like other men. The third time he said to her: "If you fasten seven locks of my hair into the ground with a pin," I shall be like other men. The fourth time he revealed the truth to her and said: "If you shave the seven locks of hair that are on my head, I shall be like other men"; and then the Philistines seized him. What does this mean? — I say that the shaving of the hair signifies the withdrawal of the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit. Concerning all the Saints it is clear that, as long as the grace of the Holy Spirit remained with them, they were strong. — Why did he not tell her where his strength lay? See, in the loss of the Holy Spirit there is this progression; by this path the Holy Spirit is lost. There are four enticements of the senses, namely preoccupation, cogitation, the bending of the interior affections, and the assault upon the divine laws. In the last the Holy Spirit is lost, but in the others a man is disposed toward this. First the devil offers sensory pleasures; and this is to be bound with "seven cords of sinew." Afterward, when a man lingers in thoughts upon the pleasure offered, then he is bound with "seven new ropes that have not yet been put to use." Next follows the bending of the affections: just as from a multitude of rays heat is generated, so when there is manifold cogitation in the soul, the soul is bent toward that thing; and this is signified by the binding of the hair with a pin in the ground. Still the man does not lose the Holy Spirit. But fourthly follows the assault upon the divine laws, when the hair of the head is shaved off, that is, when the grace of the Holy Spirit is withdrawn.”

“It is said that Samson, according to the instruction of the Angel, did not permit a razor to come upon his head; but his hair grew, and he became the strongest of men. It was a wondrous thing that with his hair he was strong, and without hair he became weak. Delilah the harlot deceived him: she asked him where his strength lay. Four times she asked him, and the fourth time he told her the truth, but the first three times he concealed the truth from her. The first time he said: "If I am bound with seven cords of sinew," I shall be like other men; and when he was bound and the Philistines came upon him to seize him, he immediately broke the cords. Again she asked him where his strength lay, and he said: "If I am bound with seven new ropes that have not yet been put to use," I shall be like other men. The third time he said to her: "If you fasten seven locks of my hair into the ground with a pin," I shall be like other men. The fourth time he revealed the truth to her and said: "If you shave the seven locks of hair that are on my head, I shall be like other men"; and then the Philistines seized him. What does this mean? — I say that the shaving of the hair signifies the withdrawal of the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit. Concerning all the Saints it is clear that, as long as the grace of the Holy Spirit remained with them, they were strong. — Why did he not tell her where his strength lay? See, in the loss of the Holy Spirit there is this progression; by this path the Holy Spirit is lost. There are four enticements of the senses, namely preoccupation, cogitation, the bending of the interior affections, and the assault upon the divine laws. In the last the Holy Spirit is lost, but in the others a man is disposed toward this. First the devil offers sensory pleasures; and this is to be bound with "seven cords of sinew." Afterward, when a man lingers in thoughts upon the pleasure offered, then he is bound with "seven new ropes that have not yet been put to use." Next follows the bending of the affections: just as from a multitude of rays heat is generated, so when there is manifold cogitation in the soul, the soul is bent toward that thing; and this is signified by the binding of the hair with a pin in the ground. Still the man does not lose the Holy Spirit. But fourthly follows the assault upon the divine laws, when the hair of the head is shaved off, that is, when the grace of the Holy Spirit is withdrawn.”

“After the judgment of binding follows another judgment, namely the judgment of blinding, which is figured in the book of Judges, where it is said that the Philistines, when they had captured Samson, gouged out his eyes and made him grind at the mill. For from sin man has darkness in his mind, such that he considers nothing to be sin; he thinks light to be darkness and darkness to be light, because his spiritual eyes have been blinded.”

“The blessed Virgin is venerative and restorative of the honor taken from God, and a mother consenting that Christ be offered as the price. Therefore "she shall be praised." Anna was praised because she offered Samuel: whence it is said of her: "The woman went her way and ate, and her countenance was no longer changed." She offered her son to serve: but the blessed Virgin offered her son to be sacrificed. Abraham, you wished to offer your son, but you offered a ram! But the glorious Virgin offered her own son.”

“The exercise of the gift of piety consists in the abundance of interior compassion. Of this it is said in Ecclesiasticus: "These are men of mercy, whose acts of piety have not failed." So it was with Samuel, when the people sought a king; afterwards the people recognized that Samuel had governed the people well, and when the people had sinned, they feared that Samuel would not want to pray to the Lord for them. And the people asked him to pray for them, and Samuel said: "Far be it from me that I should cease to pray for you."”

“The exercise of the gift of piety consists in the abundance of interior compassion. Of this it is said in Ecclesiasticus: "These are men of mercy, whose acts of piety have not failed." Of how great piety was David, king of Israel! Saul was seeking to kill him, and David had Saul in his hand: he could have killed him, with God not prohibiting it, because God said to him: "I will deliver him into your hands." He could have killed him, with no man prohibiting it, nor the law prohibiting it; and yet he spared him and his house. These therefore are men of mercy, whose acts of piety did not fail.”

“On 2 Kings 6, upon the text: Michal, the daughter of Saul, looking out, saw King David leaping and dancing, and she despised him in her heart; Gregory says: "Behold, the one whom the Lord singularly preferred above all others despises himself before the Lord by making himself equal to the least and by exhibiting what is abject. The power of kingship is not recalled to memory; he does not fear to become vile in the eyes of his subjects by dancing. What others may think of these deeds, I do not know; I am more amazed at David dancing than at David fighting: by fighting he conquered his enemy, but by dancing before the Lord he conquered himself." If, therefore, to conquer oneself is a work of perfect virtue, and this is accomplished through self-abasement: therefore self-abasement is a work of perfect virtue.”

“A little further on in the same place: I will play and become yet more vile, etc.; upon which Gregory says: "As if he were openly saying: I desire to become vile before men, because I seek to keep myself noble before God through humility." If, therefore, to be noble before God is nothing other than to be perfect, and self-abasement makes one noble before God: therefore it is an act of perfect virtue.”

“Bernard calls this humiliation the vilification of oneself; whence he adds: "I will play and become yet more vile, I will play, that is, so that I may be mocked. A good game, at which Michal grows angry, but God is delighted; a good game, which provides a laughingstock indeed to men, but a spectacle to the Angels; a good game, I say, in which we are made a reproach to the affluent and a contempt to the proud. With this chaste and devout game he was playing who said: We are made a spectacle to this world and to Angels and to men. With this game let us also play in the meantime, that we may be mocked and confounded and humbled, until he comes who casts down the mighty and exalts the humble, who will make us glad, exalt us, and glorify us for eternity."”

“The same is seen also in the example of Solomon who asked, not for gold and silver, but for an understanding heart: and so it was given to him. Hence James: "If any of you is wanting in wisdom, let him ask it of God, who gives abundantly to all men, and does not reproach; and it will be given to him. But let him ask with faith, without hesitation." For one who hesitates is not disciplined.”

“All men want to be wise and knowing. Yet, soon it happens that the woman deceives the man. But wisdom is the higher, being noble, while knowing is the lower: yet she seems beautiful to man, and he seeks to be joined to her, and his spirit tends to the things that can be known and experienced, and he wills to know them, and to experience the things he knows, and consequently to be united to them. And in this way he is weakened like Solomon who sought to know all things, "and he treated about trees from the cedar that is in Libanus, unto hyssop." And he forgets about the most important, and thus turns to the vain. Therefore passing from knowing to wisdom is not assured: a means must be placed in between, that is, holiness.”

“For the beauty of Wisdom is wondrous, and no one looks upon her without admiration and ecstasy, as it is said of Esther and of Solomon, for "all the earth desired to see Solomon's face"; and the Queen of Sheba "came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon"; and when she saw "the order of his ministers, and their apparel, and the cupbearers, and the holocausts, which he offered in the house of the Lord: she had no longer any spirit in her."”

“For the beauty of Wisdom is wondrous, and no one looks upon her without admiration and ecstasy, as it is said of Esther and of Solomon, for "all the earth desired to see Solomon's face"; and the Queen of Sheba "came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon"; and when she saw "the order of his ministers, and their apparel, and the cupbearers, and the holocausts, which he offered in the house of the Lord: she had no longer any spirit in her."”

“There are seven orders arranged by degrees up to the priesthood, in which is the standing of the orders, because it belongs to the priesthood to consecrate the Sacrament of the body of Christ, in which is the fullness of all graces; whence the other six are as it were subordinate and like certain steps by which one ascends to the throne of Solomon; and they are six on account of the perfection of the number, because six is the first perfect number, and because the perfection and sufficiency of the office of ministering so requires. For it is necessary that some minister as if from a more remote position, some from a nearer, and some from the nearest, so that nothing is lacking in the ordered ministry.”

“The seventh and last column of wisdom is simplicity in intention. Concerning this it is said that "King Solomon made a great throne of ivory," and he made in it "six steps." The other columns are round about, but this one is the most principal and at the summit. The Apostle speaks saying: "Seek the things that are above;" and in Ecclesiastes: "What has the wise man more than the fool, and what has the poor man, except to go thither where life is?" Surely, where Christ is, and when Christ shall appear, life shall appear.”

“Just as God completed the whole world in six days and rested on the seventh, so the lesser world may be led in most orderly fashion through six stages of successive illuminations to the repose of contemplation. As a figure of this, one ascended by six steps to the throne of Solomon; the Seraphim that Isaiah saw had six wings; after six days the Lord called Moses from the midst of the cloud, and Christ after six days, as is said in Matthew, led the disciples up the mountain and was transfigured before them.”

“These six considerations having therefore been traversed, as if they were the six steps of the throne of the true Solomon, by which one arrives at peace, where the true peaceful one rests in a peaceful mind as in an interior Jerusalem; and as if also the six wings of the Cherub, by which the mind of the true contemplative, filled with the illumination of supernal wisdom, may be borne upward; and as if also the first six days, in which the mind must be exercised, so that it may at last arrive at the sabbath of rest; after our mind has contemplated God outside itself through vestiges and in the vestiges, within itself through the image and in the image, above itself through the similitude of the divine light shining upon us and in that light itself, insofar as is possible according to the state of wayfaring and the exercise of our mind; when at last in the sixth step it has arrived at this point, that it contemplates in the first and highest principle and the mediator of God and men, Jesus Christ, those things whose likenesses can in no way be found in creatures, and which exceed all keenness of the human intellect: it remains that, in contemplating these things, it should transcend and pass beyond not only this sensible world, but also itself; in which passing over, Christ is the way and the door, Christ is the ladder and the vehicle, as it were the mercy seat placed upon the ark of God and the mystery hidden from the ages.”

“For the beauty of Wisdom is wondrous, and no one looks upon her without admiration and ecstasy, as it is said of Esther and of Solomon, for "all the earth desired to see Solomon's face"; and the Queen of Sheba "came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon"; and when she saw "the order of his ministers, and their apparel, and the cupbearers, and the holocausts, which he offered in the house of the Lord: she had no longer any spirit in her."”

“He affirms that this ascent comes about through the power and the strongest motion of the Holy Spirit, as it is said of Elias: "A great and strong wind overthrowing the mountains, and breaking the rocks in pieces." It is not for us to have this fire within our power; but if God gives it from above, it is the priest's duty to nourish it and to throw wood on it by means of prayer.”

“The second flow from the light of faith is the zeal of truth, so that a man be aroused with indignation against anything evil or false and be immediately attracted to anything good. Let him despise every wickedness, like Elias, who foretold about Achab and Jezabel that hounds would devour them. Achab said: "Hast thou found me thy enemy?" And Elias replied: "I have found thee because thou art sold, to do evil in the sight of the Lord," as if he were saying, "Anyone who is against God is against me."”

“Concerning this oil of piety it is said in the fourth book of Kings that a certain woman came to Elisha and said that her creditors wished to take her children; and she said: "My husband was a man who feared God." And Elisha said that she should bring all the vessels of her neighbors and pour some of that oil into each one, until all were filled. Why did he command her to bring the vessels of her neighbors? Could he not have multiplied the oil and filled a single jar, so that the woman would not have labored so much? I say that the woman holds the type of the Church, and Elisha holds the type of Christ. When the Church is poor in merits and it is necessary that she repay the debt: by what means will she repay? She must fill the vessels of her neighbors. Do you wish the piety of mother Church to descend upon you? Fill the vessels of your neighbors. This oil of piety ought to be possessed by all.”

“Such cupidity must be tamed by munificence, which includes generosity and magnificence. It is the fountain which pours out water: for the fountain does not keep water within. According to the Philosopher, it is hard to be completely cured from cupidity, for cupidity is delightful in that it makes a man imagine himself to be great, and makes others believe that he is. If a man indulges in excesses, his brain suffers: but a man rejoices in riches because they lead to presumption and reputation. And so, such cupidity infected Giezi, and he became a leper because he ran after Naaman. Even today those who practice simony consider it quite the right thing. Simon came to Peter and said to him: "Accept some money: I have enough. Grant that I may give the Holy Spirit through the laying of hands." But Peter did not consider it right, nor did he have any patience: "Thy money," he said, "go to destruction with thee."”

“Scripture enlightens in a circle, as, for instance, when it advises us not to flee, because we have protection all around. For we have the Lord and angels about us, wherefore the Psalm: Mountains are round about Jerusalem; so the Lord is round about His people. To the servant of Eliseus who cried out because of the Syrian robbers who sought to capture him, Eliseus said: "Lord, open his eyes, that he may see." And the Lord opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw. And behold the mountain was full of horses, and chariots of fire round about Eliseus. Jacob too, afraid of his brother, saw the angels and said: "This is the encampment of God." Wherefore the Psalm says: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? And in another passage: Had not the Lord been with us, let Israel say, etc., until the end.”

“In the sixth time, three events came about: the height of victory, of teaching, and of prophecy. The height of victory occurred with Sennacherib who rose against Jerusalem, and "an angel of the Lord slew a hundred and eighty-five thousand." Yet Ezechias was healed in a manner that opposed the laws of nature, and the sun went backwards. Likewise, in the time from Hadrian through that of Charlemagne who miraculously brought about triumphal victories as if he were an angel sent by the Lord, and the sun, to wit, the tide of tribulations, receded, and there came about the peace of the Church which was later to set up archbishops, bishops and the religious way of life.”

“But who will deliver us from these plagues? Certainly there is one alone who came to deliver us, namely Christ, who made ten condescensions against the ten plagues. This is prefigured in the book of Kings, where it is said that the sun went back ten degrees, by which are signified the ten condescensions that the Lord made for the sake of man.”

“In the sixth time, three events came about: the height of victory, of teaching, and of prophecy. The height of victory occurred with Sennacherib who rose against Jerusalem, and "an angel of the Lord slew a hundred and eighty-five thousand." Yet Ezechias was healed in a manner that opposed the laws of nature, and the sun went backwards. Likewise, in the time from Hadrian through that of Charlemagne who miraculously brought about triumphal victories as if he were an angel sent by the Lord, and the sun, to wit, the tide of tribulations, receded, and there came about the peace of the Church which was later to set up archbishops, bishops and the religious way of life.”

“Another particle of the perfection of the fear of the Lord consists in perfect promptitude of obedience. Hence in the book of Chronicles: "Let the fear of the Lord be with you, and do all things with diligence": as if to say: do not be sluggish or negligent, because it is written in Ecclesiastes: "He who fears God neglects nothing." If I believed that a thief was going to enter my chamber and carry off my treasure, I would not leave the window open. You must always fear God, because he who "keeps the whole law but offends in one point has become guilty of all."”

“The third evil counselor is he who leads what is certain into doubt. Whence it is said in Ezra that certain ones who were from across the river came to the Jews and said: 'Who gave you counsel to build this house and restore its walls?' The Jews had the counsels of God and of the prophets; yet those from across the river came to give counsel, though they did not know what was being done in Jerusalem. Some do not know what is done in religious life, and yet they wish to give counsel and say to one wishing to enter: 'What do you wish to do? Attend to the divine good pleasure: It is better to be in the will of God than in the hand of counsel.' By this way, if you wish to wait until the Lord reveals it to you, and you do not wish to do what Holy Scripture and holy men tell you, and what Christ inspires in you, you will always be able to be at a crossroads.”

“The blessed Virgin possesses that price, because she is strong and valiant, sublimely reigning. Whence in Esther it is said that Esther found grace before Ahasuerus above all women, and he placed a diadem upon her head and made her queen. The blessed Virgin on account of her sanctity, piety, and sublimity had a crown of precious stone. Who is this stone? Certainly Christ.”

“In the tropological sense, the sun has four faces. The first is the grace of the Holy Spirit, as in Esther: "The light and the sun rose up: and the humble were exalted," that is, when God lives in us through grace. Hence, as the sun sheds its light continuously, so must the soul continuously receive illuminations from the grace of the Holy Spirit.”

“There is a reading in the Book of Esther: "The little fountain grew into a river, and was turned into a light, and into the sun, and abounded into many waters." Scripture was a "little fountain" at the time of the giving of the Law, for the book containing the commandments of the Law is small; but later it grew into an immense river in the books of Josue, Judges, Kings, Esdras, Judith, Tobias, Esther and the Macchabees. Then, it was "turned into light," that is, the light of the Prophets, for prophecy is light; then again, "into the sun," that is, in the Gospels. And many interpretations were drawn from it, and in that sense, it may be said that it "abounded into many waters."”

“The third middle way is fortitude, which is concerned with fears and acts of valor. A man needs it in order to be neither fainthearted nor rash, but that he be able to bear frightful trials and even death. For some men do fall into cowardice and faintheartedness. Hence, in Job: "Have I the strength of stones, or is my flesh of bronze?" And so, fortitude is in the soul, not in the flesh. Better is the patient spirit than the lofty spirit. And Proverbs say: A patient man is better than a warrior, and he that rules his temper, than he who takes a city. Hence a spiritual man must take great care to avoid dejection.”

“Likewise, Gregory, in the Moralia, on that passage of Job: I have numbered for myself laborious nights: "The elect serve the Creator of all things and are often straitened by want of things; they cling to God through love, and yet they lack the supports of the present life." To lack the supports of the present life, therefore, is fitting to the perfection of the Saints.”

“But if you ask how these things come about, ask grace, not doctrine; desire, not understanding; the groaning of prayer, not the study of reading; the Bridegroom, not the master; God, not man; darkness, not clarity; not light, but the fire that wholly inflames and carries into God through ecstatic anointings and most ardent affections. Which fire is indeed God, and his furnace is in Jerusalem, and Christ kindles this in the fervor of his most ardent passion, which only he truly perceives who says: My soul has chosen hanging, and my bones death. Whoever loves this death can see God, because it is indubitably true: No man shall see me and live. Let us die, therefore, and enter into the darkness; let us impose silence upon our cares, concupiscences, and phantasms; let us pass over with Christ crucified from this world to the Father, so that, when the Father is shown to us, we may say with Philip: It suffices us; let us hear with Paul: My grace suffices for you; let us exult with David, saying: My flesh and my heart have failed, God of my heart and God my portion forever. Blessed be the Lord forever, and let all the people say: So be it, so be it. Amen.”

“Anyone who wishes to obtain advantages from his studies should be holy and should work for a life that is reverent, pure, religious, and edifying. Now the reverent life of the saints consists in this, that in anything they do, they be always in a state of fear, whether going to Mass or to table, whether walking or standing still, for in anything there is a possibility of sin. "Then I am in dread of all my pains; I know that you will not hold me innocent." The best sign is fear, and the worst, temerity, for such is never corrected.”

“The authority of the one commanding ought to move us to observe the commandments of God: because it is God who commands that the precepts be observed. For He is of great authority, which is evident from three things: first, because He Himself by His great power creates us; second, because by His wondrous wisdom He rules and governs us; third, because by His munificent benevolence He saves us. He who commands that the commandments of God be observed is of great authority, because by His great power He creates us. "Your hands have made me and fashioned me wholly round about."”

“The height of faith consists in understanding the eternal God, its depth, in knowing God made man. Of the first, it is written: "It is higher than the heavens; what can you do?" Concerning the second, there is added: "It is deeper than the nether world; what can you know?" The depth of God made man, that is, the humility, is such that reason fails. The height of God is beyond investigation.”

“It is necessary that a judge have clarity of knowledge. How would I judge well concerning an unknown matter? Hence when the friends of Job argued against him that he was not just, saying: A just God does not punish the just, and yet He punishes you, therefore you are not just—they wished to judge concerning hidden things. Job, hearing these things, responded to them saying: "Turn back and come, and I shall not find among you any wise man."”

“The fear of the Lord arises in us from the consideration of the perspicacity of divine wisdom. Whence Job: "For he alone is, and no one can turn away his thoughts. And therefore I am troubled at his presence, and when I consider him, I am made fearful with dread." He alone is, that is, from himself alone he has being, and all other things are from him. And just as all things flow from the first being, so God is the cause of all things. Therefore, if God is the cause of all things, there is no creature that is not naked in his eyes, because he himself sees and beholds the thoughts of men. Therefore Job, in the person of a man considering the divine wisdom that weighs all things, says: "Considering him, I am troubled with fear." Therefore man ought greatly to consider what he thinks, what he speaks, and what he does, because God sees all things.”

“The fear of the Lord arises in us from the consideration of the perspicacity of divine wisdom. "And therefore I am troubled at his presence, and when I consider him, I am made fearful with dread." If God is the cause of all things, there is no creature that is not naked in his eyes, because he himself sees and beholds the thoughts of men. Therefore Job, in the person of a man considering the divine wisdom that weighs all things, says: "Considering him, I am troubled with fear." Therefore man ought greatly to consider what he thinks, what he speaks, and what he does, because God sees all things. Whence Boethius in the book On the Consolation says: "A great necessity of uprightness is imposed upon you, if you are unwilling to dissemble, since you do all things in the sight of a judge who discerns all things."”

“Job raises the question of where wisdom may be found; and he answers negatively, that it is not found by a man living in a merely human manner, saying: 'Man does not know its price, nor is it found in the land of those who live pleasantly.' That last statement gives the reason: this is the cause why the carnal man does not know the price of wisdom, because the carnal man does not perceive the savor of wisdom; nor can a man know wisdom unless he finds its savor; and he does not find savor in it if he lives delicately, because carnal delights cannot coexist with wisdom. Who can say: 'I am more than a man?' It is true that wisdom is drawn from the hidden things of mysteries. It happens that a preacher pours out wisdom to others and tastes it and makes others taste it; but sometimes he is like a channel, making others taste it, and he himself does not know what it is: it profits him little, and those who hear him, unless they are of good disposition.”

“Job raises the question of where wisdom may be found; and he answers negatively, that it is not found by a man living in a merely human manner, saying: 'Man does not know its price, nor is it found in the land of those who live pleasantly.' That last statement gives the reason: this is the cause why the carnal man does not know the price of wisdom, because the carnal man does not perceive the savor of wisdom; nor can a man know wisdom unless he finds its savor; and he does not find savor in it if he lives delicately, because carnal delights cannot coexist with wisdom. Who can say: 'I am more than a man?' It is true that wisdom is drawn from the hidden things of mysteries. It happens that a preacher pours out wisdom to others and tastes it and makes others taste it; but sometimes he is like a channel, making others taste it, and he himself does not know what it is: it profits him little, and those who hear him, unless they are of good disposition.”

“That piety is the worship of God, Job says: "Behold, piety itself is wisdom." Another translation has: "Behold, fear, that itself is wisdom"; but in the Septuagint translation it reads: "Behold, piety itself is wisdom." And Augustine says that piety in Greek is the same as theosebia, which is the same as the worship of God. The worship of God, moreover, consists chiefly in reverence for God, which is not had without fear. For it is necessary for a worshiper of God to think of God most loftily, most devoutly, with reverence and fear. If you think diminishingly of the power of God, namely that he cannot create all things from nothing: you do not think most highly. Similarly, if you think diminishingly of the wisdom of God, namely that through his wisdom he cannot penetrate the innermost things: you do not think most highly. Just as we have the testimony of light, that it not only shines in itself but can illuminate many other bodies, so God sees and illuminates all things, because he himself is light. If you think of God's power and of God's wisdom that he cannot restore bodies, whether badly or well: then you think wrongly of God and do not think most highly. Likewise, if you do not believe in the divine condescensions and mercies, through which God fills the creature serving him with grace, pardon, and beatitude: you are not a worshiper of God. I say therefore that piety is nothing other than a pious sense, pious affection, and pious service toward the pious, first, and highest origin. The highest good cannot be possessed nor worshiped without piety. Naturally every thing tends toward its origin: a stone downward, and fire upward, and rivers run to the sea, a tree is joined to its root, and other things have continuity with their root. The rational creature is deiform, which can return upon its origin through memory, understanding, and will; and it is not pious unless it pours itself back upon its origin. Therefore I said that piety is nothing other than a pious sense, pious affection, and pious service toward the pious, first, and highest origin.”

“"Behold, the fear of the Lord is wisdom, and to depart from evil is prudence." Prudential understanding teaches what is to be avoided, namely every evil. Every person who wishes to be directed toward the good must fear God, so as to avoid every evil. Therefore prudential understanding teaches first what is to be avoided.”

“Fear produces these three things in us, because "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," and "the root of wisdom is to fear God," and "the fullness of wisdom is to fear God": "Behold, the fear of the Lord, that itself is wisdom." He who does not fear God knows nothing. And because the fear of the Lord avails for these three things, namely for obtaining the influx of divine wisdom, for introducing the rectitude of divine justice, and for attaining the illumination of divine wisdom; therefore Ecclesiasticus says: "The fear of the Lord is like a paradise of blessing."”

“Gather together, then, these three considerations, namely the consideration of the sublimity of divine power, the consideration of the perspicacity of divine wisdom, and the consideration of the severity of divine vengeance. And who will there be who will not fear? Whence Job says: "I always feared God as though waves were swelling over me, and I could not bear his weight." If you were in a small ship, when waves were surging over the ship from every side, you could not flee, because the waves would be on every side; you could not hide, because you could not conceal yourself, as a man hides himself against lightning; you could not even resist, because you would have nothing that you could set against the wave. Gather these three together; if it were so for you, you would fear greatly. And Job says: "I always feared God as though waves were swelling over me." And why? I cannot flee on account of the sublimity of divine power, because "if I ascend into heaven, thou art there; if I descend into hell, thou art present; if I take my wings at dawn and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there thy hand shall lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me." Likewise, I cannot hide on account of the perspicacity of divine wisdom, because God sees all things. Likewise, I cannot resist on account of the severity of divine vengeance, because he who sins is punished by eternal judgment.”

“The second mode of generation is by means of expression: as in the case of the species coming out of the object, the imprint out of the seal, the speech out of the speaker, or the concept or thought out of the mind. And in these, there is deficiency. In the first, the reality of the object is lacking, for the species in the eye or in the soul is not the reality of the thing. In the second, simplicity is lacking, for the image or figure does not consist in a point or in something simple, but has parts. In the third, permanence is lacking, for speech passes away and does not remain. In the fourth, substance is lacking, for the concept of the mind is neither a substance nor a hypostasis. Take away such defects, and suppose an expression like the species deriving from the object but having reality, like the imprint produced by the seal but having simplicity, like the word coming forth from the speaker but having permanence, like the concept proceeding from the mind but having substance: and then you have the first part of the mirror. The Psalm refers to the first manner of expression: "My heart overflows with a goodly theme." And there follows: "Fairer in beauty are you than the sons of men." Wisdom refers to the second: "For she is the refulgence of eternal light, the spotless mirror of the power of God, the image of His goodness." And the Apostle: "He is the image of the invisible God." Job refers to the third: "God speaketh once, and repeateth not the selfsame thing the second time." Understand this as meaning "in the Son," in the sense that He always is, and will never cease to be nor even be changed. In the fourth manner of expression, suppose substantiality, for the concept of the eternal mind is a hypostasis, and this mental concept is most noble and perfect. Hence, in Proverbs: "When there were no depths I was brought forth." And so He is sometimes called the Word, the Species, the Image, the Word remaining forever, the Concept—not as existing within a mind, but as being substantial: a hypostasis. And in this way we have the other part of the mirror.”

“"Do you know the paths of the clouds, the great paths and perfect sciences?" He says "great paths," that is, philosophical and theological knowledge, which are called "great paths," because they comprehend many sciences; he says "perfect paths" with respect to gratuitous and glorious knowledge. The "paths of the clouds" are the sciences of perfect men, because, just as clouds are drawn upward by the power of heat, so perfect men are elevated in the abstraction of the mind.”

“Again, there are in angels some virtues related to rational souls through which they govern men. Indeed, they are the conveyors of light and the uplifters of intelligences so that illuminations may be received. And so there is in them a conveying power, because they are a certain light and a certain transparency, and they temper the divine light within themselves for our sake, so that it may be proportioned to us. Secondly, there is in them an uplifting power through which they make us able, by condescending to us and raising us up, to receive this particular radiation, and yet not as achieving it themselves. Finally, there is in them a supreme power through which they turn themselves to God in the act of receiving splendors, and the eternal light they love; and all things lead back to this light in order that they may tend toward God through love and praise. Hence in Job: Where were you while the morning stars sang in chorus and all the sons of God shouted for joy? And all this corresponds with the philosophers' opinions. Again, by this very fact, the angels are to give thanks. When the soul sees all this, it becomes interior to the angels, and it enters their world.”

“Again, there are in angels some virtues related to rational souls through which they govern men. Indeed, they are the conveyors of light and the uplifters of intelligences so that illuminations may be received. And so there is in them a conveying power, because they are a certain light and a certain transparency, and they temper the divine light within themselves for our sake, so that it may be proportioned to us. Secondly, there is in them an uplifting power through which they make us able, by condescending to us and raising us up, to receive this particular radiation, and yet not as achieving it themselves. Finally, there is in them a supreme power through which they turn themselves to God in the act of receiving splendors, and the eternal light they love; and all things lead back to this light in order that they may tend toward God through love and praise. Hence in Job: Where were you while the morning stars sang in chorus and all the sons of God shouted for joy? And all this corresponds with the philosophers' opinions. Again, by this very fact, the angels are to give thanks. When the soul sees all this, it becomes interior to the angels, and it enters their world.”

“When the three virtues of faith, hope and love are included, they rise up to a series of seven symbolized by the seven stars, the seven women, and the seven loaves of the gospel: and this, in so far as they are resplendent, fecund and strengthening. Their luminosity is represented by the seven stars. Hence, in Job: Have you fitted a curb to the Pleiades, or loosened the bonds of Orion? The Pleiades are those seven stars joined together, commonly known as the Hen and its Chicks. These virtues bring about a stable orbit.”

“In the order of hope, concerning what we should expect, there is anagogy, and this in two ways: one in the skies, as in this passage: "Abram, look at the heavens and, if you can, count the stars." And that means the heavenly intelligences. Again, in Job: "Do you know the ordinances of the heavens; can you put into effect their plan on the earth?"”

“The third firmness of faith is found in the writings of the doctors and of those who were wise with the knowledge of things worldly or divine: Dionysius, Gregory Nazianzen, Gregory of Nyssa, the Damascene, Basil, Athanasius, Chrysostom. Among the Latins, Hilarion, Gregory, Augustine, Ambrose, Jerome. The writings of all these are in accord: they say the same thing, they have the same flavor. It is of these that Job says: Who can declare the order of the heavens? Or who can make the harmony of heaven to sleep? Such is the accord between Scriptures, the councils and the doctors.”

“Hence in Job: "Does the eagle fly up at your command to pass the night at his lofty nest?" And later: "Where the slain are, there is he." First, he speaks wonders of the eagle, and then humble things; and so it is with rapture. For the man ravished to the greatest height is also the most humble. And it must be so, for had he been proud, he could have lost grace and fallen into a reprobate sense.”

“Hence in Job: "Does the eagle fly up at your command to pass the night at his lofty nest?" And later: "Where the slain are, there is he." First, he speaks wonders of the eagle, and then humble things; and so it is with rapture. For the man ravished to the greatest height is also the most humble. And it must be so, for had he been proud, he could have lost grace and fallen into a reprobate sense.”

“In the twelfth mystery, the opening of scriptures, the Antichrist is symbolized by the beast from the depth, the one that comes up out of the abyss, who will crush all things. For he will be consummate in every form of malice; he will have seven heads, that is, every kind of temptation and every method, working at times through riches, at other times through false miracles, at others again through fear. Hence in Job: "He carries his tail like a cedar," for in him every form of malice will be inflated. And as Christ enjoyed every charismatic gift in order that He be able to receive the assumed human nature, so also this one possessed every form of malice.”

“The third judgment of God is the judgment of obstinacy, namely when the heart of man can be softened neither by promises nor by threats nor by scourges nor by torments. Of such a one it is said: "His heart shall be hardened as a stone." The wife of Lot was turned into stone. I would rather that my heart were turned into stone than that it should be so hardened.”

“One should consider with fear what Job says of Behemoth-Leviathan: "He shall strew gold under him like mire." Through knowledge, temptation easily leads to ruin. "You will be like God, knowing good and evil." Wherefore some men want to search beyond the way of nature, that is, beyond contingent matters. Concerning the levels of pride, blessed Bernard says that the primary vice is inquisitiveness which brought about the fall of Lucifer. By this, too, Adam fell. The hunger for knowledge must be changed: wisdom and holiness must be preferred to it.”

“Piety avails for avoiding all evils. Praise God and be angry against sin, and do not defend sin, because to defend sin is a twofold sin. It is noteworthy what the Psalm says: "Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the impious," by consenting to sin; "and has not stood in the way of sinners," by persisting in sin; "and has not sat in the chair of pestilence," by defending his sin.”

“Hence, meditation on the Law is supremely necessary. The Psalm reads: Happy the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked, but delights in the Law of the Lord. He is like a tree planted near running water. And Ecclesiasticus: The things that God hath commanded thee, think on them always, and in many of His works be not curious.”

“Hence, meditation on the Law is supremely necessary. The Psalm reads: Happy the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked, but delights in the Law of the Lord. He is like a tree planted near running water. And Ecclesiasticus: The things that God hath commanded thee, think on them always, and in many of His works be not curious.”

“Hence, meditation on the Law is supremely necessary. The Psalm reads: Happy the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked, but delights in the Law of the Lord. He is like a tree planted near running water. And Ecclesiasticus: The things that God hath commanded thee, think on them always, and in many of His works be not curious.”

“The third mode of generation is by means of propagation, and this in a fourfold way: as of a growth coming from a seed, a tree from a root, a conceived offspring from the belly or womb of the mother, or children from a begetting father. In the first mode of generation, formal beauty is lacking, for in the seed the form is vague and hidden. It is not so in the case of the Son. In the second, conformity is lacking, for although there is a single root, it is different in shape from the branches even though they produce a single tree. In the third, actuality is lacking, for although the mother is in a certain sense the active principle of the offspring, yet she is much more of a passive principle. In the fourth, eternal coexistence is lacking. Now, take away these defects and suppose first formal beauty. In this sense, there is Isaiah: "The branch of the Lord will be luster and glory, and the fruit of the earth will be honor and splendor." Second, suppose conformity: The Son conforms to the Father to the point that He is "the tree of life... in the midst of the garden." Hence, in Proverbs: "She is a tree of life to those who grasp her." Third, suppose actuality: in this sense, you have the Psalm: "With Thee is the principality in the day of Thy strength, in the brightness of the saints: from the womb before the day star I begot Thee. From the womb," says the Psalmist, which is in relation to the warmth of the Father's bosom, from which He does not withdraw. Fourth, suppose eternal coexistence. In this sense, there is the Psalm: "This day I have begotten You," that is in eternity, or in My eternal today.”

“The fear of God avails for introducing the rectitude of divine justice. "The fear of the Lord drives out sin. For he who is without fear cannot be justified." Injustice does not enter the soul except through sin: but the first justification of the soul is that it be subject to the divine majesty. "If you do not hold yourself steadfastly in the fear of the Lord, your house will quickly be overturned." Consider David, who says: "Serve the Lord in fear, and rejoice in him with trembling."”

“"O sons of men, how long will you be heavy of heart? Why do you love vanity and seek after falsehood? And know that the Lord has made His Holy One wonderful: the Lord will hear me when I cry to Him. Be angry, and do not sin: for what you say in your hearts, upon your beds be moved to compunction." He who has true knowledge and knows God and sees that he does not walk rightly or perfectly is in continual sorrow, because he sees that his affections and thoughts are scattered. Augustine: "Knowledge begets mourning."”

“Through the first vision, we understand that to which our intelligence reaches by its own power. This corresponds to the first day on which light was made. Hence in the Psalm: "The light of thy countenance, O Lord, is signed upon us." Without this light which is given within, a man has nothing, neither faith nor grace nor the illumination of wisdom. For this reason also light was separated from darkness.”

“Another help for rising to the exemplary principles is that provided by the spiritual creature, which resembles light, a mirror, an image, "a scroll written within." Every spiritual substance is light. Hence, the Psalm: "The light of Thy countenance, O Lord, is signed upon us." At the same time, it is a mirror, for it receives and represents all things; and it has the nature of light, so that it may even pass judgment on things. For the whole world is described in the soul.”

“Since it is possible to contemplate God not only outside us and within us, but also above us: outside through his vestige, within through his image, and above through the light that is sealed upon our mind, which is the light of eternal Truth, since "our mind itself is immediately formed by Truth itself"; those who have been exercised in the first mode have already entered into the court before the tabernacle; those in the second have entered into the holy place: but those in the third enter with the High Priest into the holy of holies; where above the ark are the Cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat; by which we understand two modes or degrees of contemplating the invisible and eternal things of God, of which one is concerned with the essential attributes of God, and the other with what is proper to the persons.”

“Concerning this hierarch, then, and the ecclesiastical hierarchy, the whole of sacred Scripture exists, through which we are taught to be purged, illumined, and perfected, and this according to the threefold law handed down in it, namely of nature, of Scripture, and of grace; or rather according to its threefold principal part, namely the Mosaic law which purges, the prophetic revelation which illumines, and the evangelical teaching which perfects; or most especially according to its threefold spiritual understanding: the tropological, which purges unto uprightness of life; the allegorical, which illumines unto clarity of understanding; the anagogical, which perfects through mental ecstasies and the sweetest perceptions of wisdom, according to the three aforesaid theological virtues and the reformed spiritual senses and the three above-mentioned ecstasies and the hierarchical acts of the mind, by which our mind returns to its interior, so that there it may contemplate God in the splendors of the Saints and in them as in resting-places may sleep in peace and rest, the Bridegroom adjuring that it not be awakened until it proceed of His will.”

“The seventh age runs concurrently with the sixth, that is, the repose of the souls after Christ's passion. After that comes the eighth age, the resurrection, of which the Psalmist says: "At dawn I bring my plea expectantly before You. For You, O God, delight not in wickedness." And it is a return to the first, for after the seventh day, there is a return to the first. These, then, are the seeds scattered throughout for the understanding of Scripture, and they are produced from these trees in so far as they accord with common interpretation, and in this way time is divided into seven ages.”

“Join seven ages, five callings, and three times, and you have fifteen, a number that contains a mystery: through the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the hundred and twenty who believed. In relation to them, the sun goes up fifteen degrees in an hour in our hemisphere; for if the natural day has twenty-four hours and every sign of the Zodiac has thirty degrees, and twelve signs move around each day, it is necessary that each hour the sun rise by fifteen degrees in our hemisphere. And this is the dawn of the resurrection, when we shall be at the end of time, as it is written "At dawn I bring my plea expectantly before You."”

“The impious man is he who defends his own impiety, namely sin. Of such the Psalm says: "Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they acted deceitfully: judge them, O God. Let them fall from their own counsels: according to the multitude of their impieties, cast them out, for they have provoked you, O Lord." Do you wish to be freed from evil? Hear David, who says: "I said: I will confess against myself my injustice to the Lord, and you have forgiven the impiety of my sin." Praise God and be angry against sin, and do not defend sin, because to defend sin is a twofold sin.”

“Where there is no fear, there is neither wisdom nor justice nor grace. "Their throat is an open sepulchre, the poison of asps is under their lips, with their tongues they acted deceitfully, their feet are swift to shed blood: whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness, destruction and unhappiness are in their ways"; "there is no fear of God before their eyes." When a man does not have the fear of God, then his sense is turned to malice and goes forth like the poison of asps. When a man is disordered in affection with respect to thought, in speech with respect to utterance, and in deed with respect to effect; then he has nothing good.”

“The impious man is he who defends his own impiety, namely sin. Of such the Psalm says: "Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they acted deceitfully: judge them, O God. Let them fall from their own counsels: according to the multitude of their impieties, cast them out, for they have provoked you, O Lord." Do you wish to be freed from evil? Hear David, who says: "I said: I will confess against myself my injustice to the Lord, and you have forgiven the impiety of my sin." Praise God and be angry against sin, and do not defend sin, because to defend sin is a twofold sin.”

“Since Scripture conceals a manifold understanding beneath a single letter, the expositor ought to bring hidden things forth into the light and make manifest what has been drawn forth through another, more open passage of Scripture, as if I were to expound that verse of the Psalm: Take hold of arms and shield, and rise up to help me, and wished to explain what the divine arms are; I would say that they are his truth and good will: and that this is so must be proved through open Scripture. For it is also written elsewhere: With the shield of your good will you have crowned us.”

“Scripture enlightens a posteriori through strict judgments. For God always imposes strict judgments upon transgressions of the precepts, as in the cases of Lucifer, Adam and his wife, the depraved upon whom came the flood, the prideful who built the tower of Babel, the Chananeans and Israel. Likewise, the New Testament is full of judgments. Now, the judgment follows the act, while the command precedes it. The judgment is related to the command: if you transgress it, you shall be punished. Unless you follow the guiding light, a sword shall pierce you. Hence the Psalm: Unless they be converted, God will sharpen His sword; He will bend and aim His bow, prepare His deadly weapons against them, and use fiery darts for arrows. The bow is the judgment of Scripture; the hardness of the wood, the Old Testament; the cord that bends the wood, the New Testament; the judgments, light or harsh, are the arrows. Hence again in the Psalm: The Law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul; the decree of the Lord is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple. The ordinances of the Lord are true, all of them just.”

“Scripture enlightens a posteriori through strict judgments. For God always imposes strict judgments upon transgressions of the precepts, as in the cases of Lucifer, Adam and his wife, the depraved upon whom came the flood, the prideful who built the tower of Babel, the Chananeans and Israel. Likewise, the New Testament is full of judgments. Now, the judgment follows the act, while the command precedes it. The judgment is related to the command: if you transgress it, you shall be punished. Unless you follow the guiding light, a sword shall pierce you. Hence the Psalm: Unless they be converted, God will sharpen His sword; He will bend and aim His bow, prepare His deadly weapons against them, and use fiery darts for arrows. The bow is the judgment of Scripture; the hardness of the wood, the Old Testament; the cord that bends the wood, the New Testament; the judgments, light or harsh, are the arrows. Hence again in the Psalm: The Law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul; the decree of the Lord is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple. The ordinances of the Lord are true, all of them just.”

“These are the two knowledges of faith illuminating and inflaming in a threefold manner while being retraced to unity. They are said to cry, out of admiration, because both forms of knowledge are admirable. Wherefore in the Psalm: "O Lord, our Lord, how glorious is Your name over all the earth!" And in truth this name is admirable in so far as it refers to the eternal God, for it implies a true distinction of Persons together with unity of essence, through which they are supremely conforming to each other, supremely in accord, supremely coequal, coeternal, consubstantial, and coessential. Likewise, it is admirable in so far as it refers to God made man, because the three natures are conjoined: the highest with the lowest, without debasement; the first with the last, without alteration; the simple with the composite, without composition.”

“In the New Testament, after the universal scripture and the course of time, Christ was formed, as was man on the sixth day, that He may "have dominion over the fish of the sea," and "the birds of the air." As the Psalm says, "what is man that You should be mindful of him, or the son of man that You should care for him? You have made him little less than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him rule over the works of your hands, putting all things under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yes, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, the fishes of the sea," etc. And in order that it be understood of Christ, the Apostle says: "You have made him little less than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor." And there follows: "But we do see Him who was made 'a little lower than the angels,' namely, Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of His having suffered death." Man was created out of a virgin soil that had never received blood, which signifies Christ born of the Virgin; and as Eve was formed out of Adam's side, so also the Church, out of the side of Christ. But since Christ never sinned, how can Adam's transgression correspond to Him? There must be transference from the head to the body.”

“"O Lord, our Lord, how glorious is Your name over all the earth! You have made him little less than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor." And in truth this name is admirable in so far as it refers to the eternal God, for it implies a true distinction of Persons together with unity of essence. Likewise, it is admirable in so far as it refers to God made man, because the three natures are conjoined: the highest with the lowest, without debasement; the first with the last, without alteration; the simple with the composite, without composition.”

“In the New Testament, after the universal scripture and the course of time, Christ was formed, as was man on the sixth day, that He may "have dominion over the fish of the sea," and "the birds of the air." As the Psalm says, "what is man that You should be mindful of him, or the son of man that You should care for him? You have made him little less than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him rule over the works of your hands, putting all things under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yes, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, the fishes of the sea," etc. And in order that it be understood of Christ, the Apostle says: "You have made him little less than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor." And there follows: "But we do see Him who was made 'a little lower than the angels,' namely, Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of His having suffered death." Man was created out of a virgin soil that had never received blood, which signifies Christ born of the Virgin; and as Eve was formed out of Adam's side, so also the Church, out of the side of Christ. But since Christ never sinned, how can Adam's transgression correspond to Him? There must be transference from the head to the body.”

“In the New Testament, after the universal scripture and the course of time, Christ was formed, as was man on the sixth day, that He may "have dominion over the fish of the sea," and "the birds of the air." As the Psalm says, "what is man that You should be mindful of him, or the son of man that You should care for him? You have made him little less than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him rule over the works of your hands, putting all things under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yes, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, the fishes of the sea," etc. And in order that it be understood of Christ, the Apostle says: "You have made him little less than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor." And there follows: "But we do see Him who was made 'a little lower than the angels,' namely, Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of His having suffered death." Man was created out of a virgin soil that had never received blood, which signifies Christ born of the Virgin; and as Eve was formed out of Adam's side, so also the Church, out of the side of Christ. But since Christ never sinned, how can Adam's transgression correspond to Him? There must be transference from the head to the body.”

“Likewise, Scripture enlightens from below by showing forth the torments of hell. In the Psalm: He rains upon the wicked fiery coals and brimstone; a burning blast is their allotted cup. In the Apocalypse: Their portion shall be in the pool that burns with fire and brimstone. And the smoke of their torments goes up forever and ever. Scripture proposes this from the very beginning where it is said that darkness covered the abyss, until the end. And so Scripture offers internal spectacles, external examples, heavenly promises, and the tortures of hell.”

“The Psalm says: The fool has said in his heart: there is no God; but to say in the heart is to think: therefore that God does not exist can be thought, at least by the fool. To that which is objected to the contrary from the Psalm and from Damascene, the response is already clear: because it proceeds from doubt which comes from a deficiency of reason, of the kind that exists in the foolish intellect, which, darkened by its own dimness, neither sufficiently resolves nor rightly compares nor fully apprehends the meaning of this name God. For the intellect itself has within itself sufficient light from its own condition, by which it could drive this doubt far away and free itself from foolishness. Hence in this defective consideration of the foolish intellect, it falls short voluntarily rather than by compulsion, not on account of a deficiency on the part of the object known, but on account of a deficiency on its own part.”

“The Scripture shut up all things under sin, the first through ignorance, the second through weakness, and the third through malice, so that when Christ came, He could have mercy on them all. And the Apostle wonders at this, and quotes the authority of the Psalm: "All alike have gone astray; they have become perverse; there is not one that does good, not even one."”

“All our merits are rooted in the merit of Christ, whether satisfactory for punishment or meritorious of eternal life, because we are worthy neither to be absolved from offense against the highest good, nor to gain the immensity of the eternal reward, which is God, except through the merit of the God-man, to whom we can and ought to say: "All our works you have wrought in us, O Lord." He, I say, is the Lord, to whom the Prophet says: "I said to the Lord: You are my God, for you have no need of my goods."”

“Grace cannot be given to man unless he first acknowledge his blindness, weakness, and malice. And so, there was a time in which blindness prevailed, as in the period before the Law. At a later point, the illuminating Law was given, and yet "their infirmities were multiplied," and there was an opportunity for a greater transgression of the Law. And therefore man had to be convicted of weakness or impotency.”

“The orders are preceded by a certain distinction in the tonsure and crown, by which is understood the cutting away of temporal desires and the elevation of the mind to eternal things, so that the cleric may be shown to be wholly appointed to divine worship; and therefore he says at the reception of the crown: The Lord is the portion of my inheritance. And because such a one ought to be instructed in the divine praises, which chiefly consist in the Psalms: therefore the psalmistrate, as a preamble, precedes the other orders.”

“This brief word belongs to David himself, who through the Holy Spirit unfolds to us the very gift of understanding given to us by the Holy Spirit, and he unfolds it to us with respect to the humble gratitude of the recipient and with respect to the liberal diffusion of the giver. The humble gratitude of the recipient is noted when he says: "I will bless the Lord"; the liberal diffusion of the giver is noted when he adds: "Who has bestowed upon me understanding." This gift requires that man be grateful to God, and brings it about that man recognizes himself and the gift and the source of the gift: and by understanding the source of the gift man recognizes himself, and so gives thanks. And then he blesses God and pours back the beauty of the gift upon the very author of the gift, and praises him, and does not assail the giver. Moreover, we dispose ourselves to receive this gift through three things: first, through holiness of life; second, through the docility of meekness; and third, through the captivation of the understanding, so that we may bless the author of this gift. All radiance of intelligence comes from that fountain of intelligence. And although the radiance of intelligence is manifold, understanding is the rule of moral circumspections, the gateway of scientific considerations, and the key of heavenly contemplations; and this is a gift.”

“If you take a straight look at the leaders of the city, the foremost chief is Christ. In terms of the fight, although the angels and the saints help, yet the principal contender is Christ. Hence, in the Psalm: "I set the Lord ever before me; with Him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed." And again, in the Acts: "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God."”

“But grace which lifts up is obtained through hope. Therefore "our present light affliction which is for the moment, prepares for us an eternal weight of glory." For the Lord rejoices in the right. "The delights at your right hand forever." At the left are passing riches, glories and consolations. We must indeed adhere to the right. As the Psalm says, "Your right hand upholds me," Lord. Hence the rewards dispose towards the third act of grace.”

“Scripture enlightens from above by means of divine promises, for its teaching is concerned with things above. Hence the Apostle writes: For we know that if the earthly house in which we dwell be destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made by human hands, eternal in the heavens. And: "In My Father's house there are many mansions," says the Lord. In the Psalms, it is said: The children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They have their fill of the prime gifts of Your house; from Your delightful stream You give them to drink. For with You is the fountain of life, and in Your light we see light. And in the Apocalypse: For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them, and will guide them to the fountains of the waters of life. And in a Psalm: The delights at Your right hand forever. And so Scripture offers us the divine promises.”

“In relation to unity, there are two testaments, the one giving birth into slavery and, the other, into freedom; the one of fear and the other of love, the one literal and the other spiritual, the one figurative and the other actual: and so these two times are distinguished as are the night and the day. Hence, in the Psalm: "Day pours out the word to day, and night to night imparts knowledge." During that night, the Law was like the moon, and according to Gregory the Fathers were like the stars. But when the Sun came, the day was light.”

“Concerning the second allegory, about the blessed Virgin Mary, it is said in the Psalm: "He has pitched a tent there for the sun." Wherefore she is "as beautiful as the moon, as resplendent as the sun, as awe-inspiring as bannered troops." Hence she is a vessel able to contain light: "The sun, an admirable instrument, the work of the most High — shining gloriously in the firmament of heaven."”

“Scripture enlightens a posteriori through strict judgments. For God always imposes strict judgments upon transgressions of the precepts, as in the cases of Lucifer, Adam and his wife, the depraved upon whom came the flood, the prideful who built the tower of Babel, the Chananeans and Israel. Likewise, the New Testament is full of judgments. Now, the judgment follows the act, while the command precedes it. The judgment is related to the command: if you transgress it, you shall be punished. Unless you follow the guiding light, a sword shall pierce you. Hence the Psalm: Unless they be converted, God will sharpen His sword; He will bend and aim His bow, prepare His deadly weapons against them, and use fiery darts for arrows. The bow is the judgment of Scripture; the hardness of the wood, the Old Testament; the cord that bends the wood, the New Testament; the judgments, light or harsh, are the arrows. Hence again in the Psalm: The Law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul; the decree of the Lord is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple. The ordinances of the Lord are true, all of them just.”

“Scripture enlightens a posteriori through strict judgments. For God always imposes strict judgments upon transgressions of the precepts, as in the cases of Lucifer, Adam and his wife, the depraved upon whom came the flood, the prideful who built the tower of Babel, the Chananeans and Israel. Likewise, the New Testament is full of judgments. Now, the judgment follows the act, while the command precedes it. The judgment is related to the command: if you transgress it, you shall be punished. Unless you follow the guiding light, a sword shall pierce you. Hence the Psalm: Unless they be converted, God will sharpen His sword; He will bend and aim His bow, prepare His deadly weapons against them, and use fiery darts for arrows. The bow is the judgment of Scripture; the hardness of the wood, the Old Testament; the cord that bends the wood, the New Testament; the judgments, light or harsh, are the arrows. Hence again in the Psalm: The Law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul; the decree of the Lord is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple. The ordinances of the Lord are true, all of them just.”

“The commandments of God are irreproachable, because they contain nothing burdensome, but rather they are sweet. "More to be desired than gold and much precious stone, and sweeter than honey and the honeycomb." But we see that to an infected palate sweet food seems bitter; similarly, to a man of perverse will the commandments of God, which are easy and sweet, seem difficult.”

“The third counsel is that by which we are made ready to pursue what is lawful, what is fitting, and what is expedient according to the exercise of virtuous operation. What you have well conceived in mind, you may bring to completion in deed. The Psalm says: 'May he grant you according to your heart and confirm all your counsel.' That counsel adds over and above readiness for action. There is a threefold operation, namely to discern rightly, to choose well, and to pursue readily.”

“Another evil counselor is one who turns good things into evil. The Psalm says: 'For they turned evils against you; they devised counsels which they were unable to establish; for you shall make them turn their back.' It is evil when someone says something by which the counsel of Christ could be considered evil — as when someone condemns the counsel of entering holy religious life. It is foolish, dangerous, pernicious, and reckless to turn into evil that which Christ declared good.”

“We should speak of the Church of rational men united in harmonious and uniform concelebration of divine praise, according to the Psalm, "with Thee is my praise in a great Church." As a sweet chant results from a great number of voices united in a certain proportion and harmony, so also a spiritual harmony pleasing to the Most High comes forth from the harmony of the love of many.”

“The Psalm says: "Upon the seas he founded it"; and elsewhere: "Who founded the earth upon its own stability." Some mocked David because he said that God founded the earth upon the waters. The earth, since it is dry, unless there were moisture penetrating it, would be reduced to dust; and just as the human body receives moisture through its veins, so it is necessary that fresh waters come from the sea and hold the earth together. He says that he founded the earth upon the waters on account of the mystery. The earth which the Spirit has filled is the ecclesiastical hierarchy; he "who weighs the mass of the earth with three fingers," because he founded the holy Church upon the divine utterances. The sacred utterances are for its stability.”

“He overcame the world, despoiled Hades, and restored Paradise. Hence in the Psalm: "Lift up, O gates, your lintels; reach up, you ancient portals, that the King of Glory may come in! Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty." We want to hear this: "Lift up, O gates, your lintels! Who is this King of Glory? The Lord, strong and mighty!" He, then, is the Strong One.”

“He overcame the world, despoiled Hades, and restored Paradise. Hence in the Psalm: "Lift up, O gates, your lintels; reach up, you ancient portals, that the King of Glory may come in! Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty." We want to hear this: "Lift up, O gates, your lintels! Who is this King of Glory? The Lord, strong and mighty!" He, then, is the Strong One.”

“He overcame the world, despoiled Hades, and restored Paradise. Hence in the Psalm: "Lift up, O gates, your lintels; reach up, you ancient portals, that the King of Glory may come in! Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty." We want to hear this: "Lift up, O gates, your lintels! Who is this King of Glory? The Lord, strong and mighty!" He, then, is the Strong One.”

“He overcame the world, despoiled Hades, and restored Paradise. Hence in the Psalm: "Lift up, O gates, your lintels; reach up, you ancient portals, that the King of Glory may come in! Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty." We want to hear this: "Lift up, O gates, your lintels! Who is this King of Glory? The Lord, strong and mighty!" He, then, is the Strong One.”

“Since the first principle does all things from itself and according to itself and for itself, it is necessary that it be most good and most upright, and thereby most merciful and most just: and hence it is that all his ways are mercy and truth, or judgment. But if God had from the beginning created man in such great miseries, there would be neither mercy nor justice, namely that he would oppress his own work with such great misery, with no preceding fault. If therefore it is most certain that the first principle is most upright and most clement both in producing and in providing: it is necessary that he so made the human race that from the beginning there was in it neither fault nor misery; it is also necessary that he so governs that he does not permit misery to be in us except on account of some preceding fault.”

“Since the remission of sin is accomplished by God through penitential grace within ecclesiastical unity, the differences of the sin against the Holy Spirit are taken according as they directly assail those three things. If in relation to the unity of the Church: since the unity of the Church consists in faith and charity, that is, in grace and truth, there is thus a twofold sin, namely envy of fraternal grace and assailing of acknowledged truth. If in relation to God who gives: since all His ways with respect to justification are especially mercy and truth, there is thus a twofold sin: one which assails mercy, and this is despair; another which assails justice, and this is presumption of impunity.”

“Thoughts about God must be the highest in the order of truth, for He Himself is the Truth ruling all things, illuminating all things, straightening all things, disposing all things. Wherefore, in the Psalm: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? The power of government should not in any way be attributed to the constellations of heaven.”

“Scripture enlightens in a circle, as, for instance, when it advises us not to flee, because we have protection all around. For we have the Lord and angels about us, wherefore the Psalm: Mountains are round about Jerusalem; so the Lord is round about His people. To the servant of Eliseus who cried out because of the Syrian robbers who sought to capture him, Eliseus said: "Lord, open his eyes, that he may see." And the Lord opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw. And behold the mountain was full of horses, and chariots of fire round about Eliseus. Jacob too, afraid of his brother, saw the angels and said: "This is the encampment of God." Wherefore the Psalm says: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? And in another passage: Had not the Lord been with us, let Israel say, etc., until the end.”

“It is good to have the sign of Zabulon, which is "a dwelling of fortitude," which implies the first stability. "Because Thou, O Lord, art my hope." Hence, "the name of the Lord is a strong tower; the just man runs to it and is safe." He alone is at peace who fixes himself upon that "with which there is no change, no shadow of alteration." Hence, "in Thee, O Lord, have I hoped, let me never be confounded."”

“He who does not fear God must fear everywhere; and he who truly fears God has what no one can take from him. But he who fears something other than God has what ought to be taken from him. He who fears God cannot lose God. It is not so with money. If a man has money, he fears lest he lose it, and yet he is certain that he will lose it. But he who fears God is secure everywhere. "How great is the multitude of your sweetness, O Lord, which you have hidden for those who fear you"; there follows: "You have perfected it for those who hope in you." Therefore the fear of God ought to be perfect, because "it shall be well with those who fear God," because they shall come to the blessing of glory.”

“He who fears God cannot lose God. But he who fears something other than God has what ought to be taken from him. But he who fears God is secure everywhere. "How great is the multitude of your sweetness, O Lord, which you have hidden for those who fear you; you have perfected it for those who hope in you." Therefore the fear of God ought to be perfect, because "it shall be well with those who fear God," because they shall come to the blessing of glory.”

“"I will give you understanding and I will instruct you in this way in which you shall walk; I will fix my eyes upon you." The Lord promises us this understanding and shows us how we ought to receive it. "I will fix my eyes upon you": the divine good pleasure accepts what we do, approving in the present and rewarding in the future. If you wish to be regulated according to this rule, take care that you be not bestial but well-ordered: that you be directed not according to the impulse of sense, but according to the judgment of reason; not according to bestial phantasms, but according to intellectual judgments. Otherwise what happened to Adam will happen to you, who, having despised the rule of truth, followed the instinct of the woman, and the woman followed the instinct of the serpent.”

“"Do not become like the horse and the mule, which have no understanding." It is necessary that you be well-ordered in conduct, if you wish to have the gift of understanding. If you wish to be regulated according to the divine rule, take care that you be not bestial but well-ordered: that you be directed not according to the impulse of sense, but according to the judgment of reason; not according to bestial phantasms, but according to intellectual judgments.”

“By the word of the Lord the heavens were established; and all the power of them by the spirit of His mouth. The heavens, that is the heavenly beings, were confirmed through faith by the Word of God; and through this same Word, both the heavenly and the sub-heavenly beings were confirmed, and hence it is said: And all the power of them by the spirit of His mouth.”

“In words, that appears especially efficacious for testifying which David, the most excellent of the Prophets, said in the Psalm: By the Word of the Lord the heavens were established, and by the Spirit of His mouth all their power, where the trinity of persons is simultaneously intimated, such that two persons are named explicitly under the name of Spirit and Word, and one implicitly under the name of Lord. Moreover in many places, indeed in nearly all places of the Old Testament, although implicitly, nevertheless through figures and words testimony is rendered to the eternal Trinity.”

“Concerning the gathering of waters, the Psalm says: "He gathers the waters of the sea as in a flask." He gathers the waters of the sea in a flask when He brings together in the skin of Scriptures the totality of the spiritual meanings. Now there are three reasons why these meanings are compared to waters gathered in a wine-bag — to wit, because of the primitive origination of these spiritual meanings, because of their most profound depth, and because of their abundantly flowing multiformity.”

“And so it is clear that possible things come forth from the most actual, changing things from the most stable, and the lowest things from the most sublime. And as the sun by shining brings forth a variety and number of colors, so out of this Word there comes forth a variety of things. Hence there is no understanding except through the Word. And this is the most noble key of the soul cleansed by faith, and it is needed because "the low sensitivity of our mind is not touched in such outstanding light, except when it is cleansed by the justifying power of faith." Hence all those who lack this faith have their hand cut off. Wherefore the Psalm says: "He spoke, and they were made: He commanded, and they were created."”

“Ecclesiasticus says: 'Before all works let a true word precede you, and before every act a stable counsel.' The true word, which can neither be deceived nor deceive, is the only-begotten Son of God and his doctrine and his life. Let this word precede you and this stable counsel. Stable counsel is none other than that of my God; 'the counsel of the Lord remains forever.'”

“Passing over is an endeavor: the endeavor to pass from the study of the sciences to the study of holiness and from the study of holiness to that of wisdom. It is said of this in the Psalm: "Teach me goodness and discipline and knowledge." The endeavor begins from the top because it wants to "taste and see how good the Lord is." But it is not possible to reach wisdom except through discipline, nor discipline except through knowledge — wherefore the last should not be placed before the first. It would be a poor merchant who would prefer tin to gold. The man who chooses knowledge over holiness will never prosper.”

“By the authority of the Psalm: Fear the Lord, all you his saints, for there is no want to those who fear him: therefore being in want and fearing God do not stand together. To that which is first objected to the contrary, that there is no want to those who fear God — it must be said that want is twofold, namely bodily and spiritual: but that word is understood not of any want whatsoever, but of spiritual want. And that this is true appears from what immediately follows: The rich have wanted and have hungered: it is clear that this is not understood of a lack of material riches; it remains therefore that it is understood of a want of spiritual goods, which although it exists in the rich, nevertheless does not exist in those who fear God, because fear is the beginning of wisdom, of which it is said in Wisdom 7: All good things came to me together with her, etc.”

“"Come, children, hear me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord." These words are of the Prophet David, in which he invites the children of the grace of God and the children of adoption to learn this lesson: and he invites not only the little ones, but also the advanced and the aged and the decrepit. This is a lesson that ought to be taught in youth and never abandoned. This lesson, therefore, is for all. It is true that Sacred Scripture speaks of the fear of the Lord; and the fear of the Lord is handed down in Sacred Scripture. The preacher does as a man who is in a meadow and gathers flowers: he cannot gather them all, but he gathers some and makes from them a garland. I wish to make for you a garland from the flowers that I have gathered, which for the present I wish to set before you. It seems to me that the fear of the Lord is a most beautiful tree planted in the heart of the holy man, which God waters continually: and when the tree is brought to perfection, then the man is worthy of eternal glory. I wish to describe for you the root of this tree and its branching together with its fruit. And what is the root of the fear of the Lord? For it is necessary to go to the original principle, so that we may know by what way the fear of God arises in us. Now the fear of God arises in us first from the consideration of the sublimity of divine power, second, from the consideration of the perspicacity of divine wisdom, third, from the consideration of the severity of divine vengeance.”

“Since Scripture conceals a manifold understanding beneath a single letter, the expositor ought to bring hidden things forth into the light and make manifest what has been drawn forth through another, more open passage of Scripture, as if I were to expound that verse of the Psalm: Take hold of arms and shield, and rise up to help me, and wished to explain what the divine arms are; I would say that they are his truth and good will: and that this is so must be proved through open Scripture. For it is also written elsewhere: With the shield of your good will you have crowned us; and again: His truth shall compass you about with a shield. To this no one can easily attain unless through habitual reading he commits the text and letter of the Bible to memory; otherwise he will never be able to be proficient in the exposition of the Scriptures.”

“Where there is no fear, there is neither wisdom nor justice nor grace. When a man does not have the fear of God, then his sense is turned to malice and goes forth like the poison of asps. When a man is disordered in affection with respect to thought, in speech with respect to utterance, and in deed with respect to effect; then he has nothing good. "Destruction and unhappiness are in their ways, and the way of peace they have not known," namely the way of the grace of the Holy Spirit. And why? Because "there is no fear of God before their eyes." If you wish to strive to have grace, justice, and wisdom, and these cannot be had without fear: therefore the fear of God is necessary for you. Likewise, where there is no fear, there is foolishness, malice, and iniquity, destruction and unhappiness: but these are to be fled as the worst things.”

“Scripture enlightens from above by means of divine promises, for its teaching is concerned with things above. Hence the Apostle writes: For we know that if the earthly house in which we dwell be destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made by human hands, eternal in the heavens. And: "In My Father's house there are many mansions," says the Lord. In the Psalms, it is said: The children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They have their fill of the prime gifts of Your house; from Your delightful stream You give them to drink. For with You is the fountain of life, and in Your light we see light. And in the Apocalypse: For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them, and will guide them to the fountains of the waters of life. And in a Psalm: The delights at Your right hand forever. And so Scripture offers us the divine promises.”

“If fullness: they shall be satisfied, when the glory of God shall appear. If inebriation: they shall be inebriated with the plenty of the house of God. If melody: there the choirs of Angels sing together praising God without end. If any pleasure, not impure but pure: you shall give them to drink of the torrent of your pleasure, O God. If wisdom: the very wisdom of God shall show itself to them. If friendship: they shall love God more than themselves and one another as themselves, and God shall love them more than they love themselves, because they love Him and themselves and one another through Him, and He loves Himself and them through Himself.”

“Scripture enlightens from above by means of divine promises, for its teaching is concerned with things above. Hence the Apostle writes: For we know that if the earthly house in which we dwell be destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made by human hands, eternal in the heavens. And: "In My Father's house there are many mansions," says the Lord. In the Psalms, it is said: The children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They have their fill of the prime gifts of Your house; from Your delightful stream You give them to drink. For with You is the fountain of life, and in Your light we see light. And in the Apocalypse: For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them, and will guide them to the fountains of the waters of life. And in a Psalm: The delights at Your right hand forever. And so Scripture offers us the divine promises.”

“Scripture enlightens from above by means of divine promises, for its teaching is concerned with things above. Hence the Apostle writes: For we know that if the earthly house in which we dwell be destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made by human hands, eternal in the heavens. And: "In My Father's house there are many mansions," says the Lord. In the Psalms, it is said: The children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They have their fill of the prime gifts of Your house; from Your delightful stream You give them to drink. For with You is the fountain of life, and in Your light we see light. And in the Apocalypse: For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them, and will guide them to the fountains of the waters of life. And in a Psalm: The delights at Your right hand forever. And so Scripture offers us the divine promises.”

“This fountainhead, however, is in a certain way the origin of another totality. For since the Father produces the Son, and through the Son and with the Son produces the Holy Spirit, therefore God the Father, through the Son with the Holy Spirit, is the principle of all created things: for unless He produced them from eternity, He could not produce through them in time: and therefore by reason of that production in the Trinity He is rightly said to be the fountain of life. For just as He has life in Himself, so He gives the Son to have life in Himself, etc. Hence it is that eternal life is this alone, that the rational spirit, which flows from the most blessed Trinity and is the image of the Trinity, returns by way of a certain intelligible circle through memory, understanding, and will, through the deiformity of glory into the most blessed Trinity.”

“Isaac, treating that verse of the Psalm, *In your light we shall see light,* says: "Just as from the sun proceeds that by which the sun can be seen, and yet what shows the sun does not leave the sun: so in God the light which proceeds from God irradiates the mind, so that it first sees the very radiance itself, without which it would not see, and in that radiance sees all other things." Therefore according to this, all things are seen in the divine light.”

“Therefore, however much one may be illuminated by the light of nature and acquired knowledge, one cannot enter into oneself so as within oneself to delight in the Lord, except through the mediation of Christ, who says: I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and go out, and shall find pastures. But to this door we do not draw near unless we believe in him, hope in him, and love him. It is necessary, therefore, if we wish to re-enter into the enjoyment of Truth as into paradise, that we enter through faith, hope, and charity in the mediator of God and men, Jesus Christ, who is as the tree of life in the midst of paradise.”

“However much knowledge a man may have of the New and Old Testament, it is still necessary that he consult the Lord. The Psalm says: 'Reveal your way to the Lord, and he himself will give you the petitions of your heart. Be subject to the Lord.' I do not say that he should have a special conversation with him, but it is necessary that the Lord bring forth truth for him as light. In this are reproved certain ones who wish to be governed by their own knowledge.”

“The Psalm: I have not seen the just man forsaken, nor his seed seeking bread: therefore he who seeks bread is neither just nor the seed of the just. To that which is objected from the Psalm: I have not seen the just man forsaken, etc.; it must be said that bread is twofold, namely bodily and spiritual; but that word is not understood of bodily bread, but of spiritual bread. And that this is true appears from the Gloss on the same passage: Nor his seed seeking bread, the Gloss says: "spiritual bread, that is, to lack the bread of the word of God, because the word of God is always with him." The text can also be construed so that it is understood: I have not seen the just man forsaken, nor his seed seeking bread have I seen forsaken: because, according to what is said in the last chapter of Hebrews on that text: I will not leave you nor forsake you, the Gloss says: "He would be forsaken who perished from hunger." The Prophet therefore means to say that he saw neither the just man nor the seed of the just man dead from hunger, and this does not call one back from poverty, but rather invites to it.”

“"The mouth of the just shall meditate wisdom, and his tongue shall speak judgment." A just judge is one who is moved by just zeal, approves all good things and condemns evil things: but he who does not have right zeal cannot judge well. Love and hatred pervert judgment. If you hate me, you cannot judge me rightly: and why? Because it seems to you that all things that are in me are evil.”

“For no one is in any way disposed to divine contemplations, which lead to mental transports, unless with Daniel he be a man of desires. But desires are inflamed in us in a twofold manner, namely through the cry of prayer, which makes one roar from the groaning of the heart, and through the brilliance of speculation, by which the mind turns itself most directly and most intensely toward the rays of light.”

“When the soul does what it can, grace lifts it up easily and God works in it, so that there be a worthy admission of divine matters, corresponding to the Thrones. "O Lord, all my desire is before You; from You my groaning is not hid." Later, when the soul is lifted up, it must not be idle, but should look around. Then, indeed, the soul must be fixed, and standing, and expecting.”

“The danger of transgression ought to move us to keep God's commandments, because transgressors lose many goods. Transgression blinds the intellect of the true and takes away the affection for the good: and on account of this, in the person of the transgressor the Psalmist says: "My strength has forsaken me, and the light of my eyes, and it itself is not with me."”

“Adam passed over from truth to vanity. Hence in the Psalm: "A phantom only, man goes his ways; like vapor only are his restless pursuits; he heaps up stores, and knows not who will use them." For as long as vain, transitory, passing good is loved, man is "passing over." And such passing over Wisdom reproves. This passing over is the cause of every evil.”

“Likewise, this same thing is shown by the example of Christ. Psalm: But I am a beggar and poor: Gloss: "Christ says this of Himself: I am a beggar in the form of a servant. A beggar is one who asks from another, a pauper is one who does not suffice for himself." But it is certain that this is not understood of Christ with respect to spiritual gifts or goods, because He was a comprehensor and full of all grace: therefore it is understood with respect to temporal goods, and thus with respect to those He was a beggar and asked from another.”

“And in these degrees consists the ladder of Jacob, whose summit reaches heaven: and the throne of Solomon, upon which sits the most wise King, truly peaceful and loving as the most beautiful bridegroom and wholly desirable: upon whom the Angels desire to gaze, and toward whom the desire of holy souls sighs, as the hart longs for the fountains of waters. By which most fervent desire, in the manner of fire, our spirit is not only made agile for ascent, but also by a certain learned ignorance is rapt above itself into darkness and ecstasy.”

“The gift of understanding is solid food, like bread which is obtained through much labor. And so it is with the gift of understanding: to prepare understanding is a difficult task in itself. Likewise, wisdom is not obtained except by the man who thirsts. Hence, the Psalm: "My soul hath thirsted after the strong living God."”

“The whole of Scripture is the heart of God, the mouth of God, the tongue of God, the pen of God, "a scroll written within and without." Hence, in the Psalm: "My heart overflows with a goodly theme; as I sing my ode to the King, my tongue is nimble as the pen of a skillful scribe." The heart is of God, the mouth of the Father, the tongue of the Son, the pen of the Holy Spirit. For the Father speaks through the Son or Tongue, but that which fulfills and commits to memory is the Pen of the Scribe.”

“The second mode of generation is by means of expression: as in the case of the species coming out of the object, the imprint out of the seal, the speech out of the speaker, or the concept or thought out of the mind. And in these, there is deficiency. In the first, the reality of the object is lacking, for the species in the eye or in the soul is not the reality of the thing. In the second, simplicity is lacking, for the image or figure does not consist in a point or in something simple, but has parts. In the third, permanence is lacking, for speech passes away and does not remain. In the fourth, substance is lacking, for the concept of the mind is neither a substance nor a hypostasis. Take away such defects, and suppose an expression like the species deriving from the object but having reality, like the imprint produced by the seal but having simplicity, like the word coming forth from the speaker but having permanence, like the concept proceeding from the mind but having substance: and then you have the first part of the mirror. The Psalm refers to the first manner of expression: "My heart overflows with a goodly theme." And there follows: "Fairer in beauty are you than the sons of men." Wisdom refers to the second: "For she is the refulgence of eternal light, the spotless mirror of the power of God, the image of His goodness." And the Apostle: "He is the image of the invisible God." Job refers to the third: "God speaketh once, and repeateth not the selfsame thing the second time." Understand this as meaning "in the Son," in the sense that He always is, and will never cease to be nor even be changed. In the fourth manner of expression, suppose substantiality, for the concept of the eternal mind is a hypostasis, and this mental concept is most noble and perfect. Hence, in Proverbs: "When there were no depths I was brought forth." And so He is sometimes called the Word, the Species, the Image, the Word remaining forever, the Concept—not as existing within a mind, but as being substantial: a hypostasis. And in this way we have the other part of the mirror.”

“"Grace is poured forth upon your lips; therefore God has blessed you forever." This word is directed to our Lord Jesus Christ, as is apparent in the Psalm from the preceding and subsequent text. For in the Psalm where these words are written, there is set before them: "Beautiful in form above the sons of men:" and there follows: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever," etc. Therefore it speaks of Christ, who is blessed, in whom all the nations of the earth are blessed. "In your seed shall all nations be blessed," was said to Abraham; and because Christ is the Word, through whom all things are blessed, and he who is blessed by God the Father is blessed by Christ, therefore all things are blessed through Christ.”

“The second mode of generation is by means of expression: as in the case of the species coming out of the object, the imprint out of the seal, the speech out of the speaker, or the concept or thought out of the mind. And in these, there is deficiency. In the first, the reality of the object is lacking, for the species in the eye or in the soul is not the reality of the thing. In the second, simplicity is lacking, for the image or figure does not consist in a point or in something simple, but has parts. In the third, permanence is lacking, for speech passes away and does not remain. In the fourth, substance is lacking, for the concept of the mind is neither a substance nor a hypostasis. Take away such defects, and suppose an expression like the species deriving from the object but having reality, like the imprint produced by the seal but having simplicity, like the word coming forth from the speaker but having permanence, like the concept proceeding from the mind but having substance: and then you have the first part of the mirror. The Psalm refers to the first manner of expression: "My heart overflows with a goodly theme." And there follows: "Fairer in beauty are you than the sons of men." Wisdom refers to the second: "For she is the refulgence of eternal light, the spotless mirror of the power of God, the image of His goodness." And the Apostle: "He is the image of the invisible God." Job refers to the third: "God speaketh once, and repeateth not the selfsame thing the second time." Understand this as meaning "in the Son," in the sense that He always is, and will never cease to be nor even be changed. In the fourth manner of expression, suppose substantiality, for the concept of the eternal mind is a hypostasis, and this mental concept is most noble and perfect. Hence, in Proverbs: "When there were no depths I was brought forth." And so He is sometimes called the Word, the Species, the Image, the Word remaining forever, the Concept—not as existing within a mind, but as being substantial: a hypostasis. And in this way we have the other part of the mirror.”

“To those who have been forestalled by divine grace — the humble and pious, the contrite and devout, those anointed with the oil of gladness, lovers of divine wisdom and inflamed with desire for it, who wish to devote themselves to magnifying, admiring, and even tasting God — I propose the speculations that follow, suggesting that the mirror set before us externally is of little or no avail unless the mirror of our own mind has been cleansed and polished.”

“Hence, it is fitting that there be contempt for all things. Wherefore there follows: "Of the tribe of Manasses, twelve thousand sealed." Manasses is understood to mean "oblivion." For some men despise earthly things, but do not give them up. Others give them up, but do not despise them. Others again despise them and give them up, but do not forget them. When the soul gives up and forgets, then there is perfection, and this is indicated in the sixth place. "Forget your people and your father's house." As Augustine writes, "He loves you less if, besides You, he loves something else not on account of You."”

“The patriarchs were the ancestors of the apostles according to the flesh and according to the promise. These apostles are the children of them that have been shaken. And, in another place: "The place of your fathers your sons shall have." Wherefore the apostles correspond to the Seraphim, because the apostolic order is conformed to Christ, and before this, there was the illuminative order, that of the prophets, and before that, the stabilizing order, that of the patriarchs.”

“The Psalm: He established them as princes over all the earth: it is established that this was said of the Apostles: therefore all the earth is under the principate of the Apostles: but this principate is a stable principate, according to that word of the Psalm: Their principate has been exceedingly strengthened: but it is not stable unless it is united, because every kingdom divided against itself shall be brought to desolation; nor is it united unless it has one principal prince: therefore according to the prophetic testimony all the earth ought to be subject to one who is the prince of all. Whence Bernard says in the third book to Eugenius: "Your forebears were sent forth, not to subdue certain regions, but the world itself: and indeed their sound went forth into all the earth." And afterwards: "Their principate has been exceedingly strengthened: they have been established as princes over all the earth. You have succeeded to his inheritance, thus you are the heir, and the world is the inheritance."”

“"There is a stream whose runlets gladden the city of God," that is, the one "coming forth from the throne of God and of the Lamb," the Holy Spirit. And there will be no inner defect, since "they shall neither hunger nor thirst" through lack of sustainment by which life is lost; "neither shall the sun strike them" through any external harm.”

“If you wish to be regulated according to the divine rule, take care that you be not bestial but well-ordered: that you be directed not according to the impulse of sense, but according to the judgment of reason; not according to bestial phantasms, but according to intellectual judgments. Otherwise what happened to Adam will happen to you, who, having despised the rule of truth, followed the instinct of the woman, and the woman followed the instinct of the serpent. "Man, when he was in honor, did not understand; he was compared to the senseless beasts and was made like unto them." Man became brutish and subject to the passions.”

“Again, vegetation is generous. Hence in the Psalm: "You have visited the land and watered it; greatly have you enriched it. God's watercourses are filled; you have prepared the grain," and "the valleys are blanketed with grain." This land is alive and awake, it abounds. Now Sacred Scripture is generous in that God conveys His influence to it, producing the most abundant multiplications. For it is not like the other sciences, since God visits it, as shown in the Psalm: "God's watercourses are filled; you have prepared the grain."”

“As a sweet chant results from a great number of voices united in a certain proportion and harmony, so also a spiritual harmony pleasing to the Most High comes forth from the harmony of the love of many. Hence the Psalm: "Bless the Lord, you of Israel's wellspring!" To such observers of divine Law, to such lovers of divine peace, to such singers of divine praise, and to no others, is this speech to be addressed: and such are men of the Church. As for the man who has been snatched away from this Church, this speech does not have to be addressed to him.”

“The honor taken from God through pride and disobedience with respect to a thing to which man was bound is in no way better restored than through humiliation and obedience to that thing to which one was in no way obligated. Since therefore Christ Jesus, insofar as he was God, was equal to the Father in the form of God; insofar as he was an innocent man, he was in no way a debtor of death: when he emptied himself and became obedient unto death, he paid back to God what he had not stolen through the homage of perfect satisfaction, and offered a sacrifice of supreme sweetness for the perfect placation of God.”

“So does the man who sees God in all things, who tastes God in them through his three powers. "Pleasing to Him be my theme; I will be glad in the Lord." And elsewhere: "For you make me glad, O Lord, by Your deeds." Again: "I will glorify Him with thanksgiving." In all things there is taste and restoration for the intellective and the affective powers. Out of all these fruits there arises the fruit of love and charity which covers them all. For all of Scripture is ordained towards charity.”

“To Him are referred all the eloquent sayings of Scriptural wisdom, as for instance those of Solomon and others. And yet the Jews understand as applying to Solomon what is said of Christ in the Psalm: "Fairer in beauty are you than the sons of men; grace is poured out upon your lips." Solomon was not like that. And again, "May his name be blessed forever."”

“But grace which lifts up is obtained through hope. The Psalm reads: "For what have I in heaven? And besides Thee what do I desire upon earth?" And elsewhere: "I say, You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living," so that a man be kept whole in view of this fatherland. Therefore "our present light affliction which is for the moment, prepares for us an eternal weight of glory."”

“But if you ask how these things come about, ask grace, not doctrine; desire, not understanding; the groaning of prayer, not the study of reading; the Bridegroom, not the master; God, not man; darkness, not clarity; not light, but the fire that wholly inflames and carries into God through ecstatic anointings and most ardent affections. Which fire is indeed God, and his furnace is in Jerusalem, and Christ kindles this in the fervor of his most ardent passion, which only he truly perceives who says: My soul has chosen hanging, and my bones death. Whoever loves this death can see God, because it is indubitably true: No man shall see me and live. Let us die, therefore, and enter into the darkness; let us impose silence upon our cares, concupiscences, and phantasms; let us pass over with Christ crucified from this world to the Father, so that, when the Father is shown to us, we may say with Philip: It suffices us; let us hear with Paul: My grace suffices for you; let us exult with David, saying: My flesh and my heart have failed, God of my heart and God my portion forever. Blessed be the Lord forever, and let all the people say: So be it, so be it. Amen.”

“Augustine shows that in this word: "But it is good for me to adhere to God," the whole of what is said is contained: "You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind." For we ought to love God, because this is just, holy, easy, and sweet. Whence Augustine: "Lord, who are you to me? And who am I to you, that you command me to love you, and if I do not love you, you threaten me with immense miseries?"”

“Christ was such a Center in His crucifixion. "God is our king before ages; He has wrought salvation in the midst of the earth." The earth is clearly the center, and hence it is the lowest, and of modest size; and because the lowest and of modest size, it receives all the heavenly influences, and brings forth a marvelous multiplication of beings. Likewise the Son of God, the very small and poor and humble One, assuming our earth, and made of earth, not only came upon the surface of the earth, but indeed to the depth of its center, that is, "He has wrought salvation in the midst of the earth," for after His crucifixion, His soul went down into hell and re-established the heavenly thrones. Such a Center has a saving power: and anyone who draws away from it is condemned, as drawing away from the means of humility. In such a center "He has wrought salvation," that is, in the humility of the cross.”

“Which peace our Lord Jesus Christ proclaimed and gave; of whose preaching our father Francis was a renewer, announcing peace at the beginning and end of every sermon, wishing peace in every greeting, sighing for ecstatic peace in every contemplation, like a citizen of that Jerusalem, of which that man of peace speaks, who was peaceable with those who hated peace: Pray for the things that are for the peace of Jerusalem. For he knew that the throne of Solomon was only in peace, since it is written: In peace is his place made, and his dwelling in Sion.”

“Such art is both one and manifold. How this can occur cannot be seen unless there come about an illumination "from the everlasting mountains," and when "despoiled are the stouthearted," that is, the foolish. For it is fitting to think of God in the highest way. Speculation is also manifold, for it represents many things distinctly and certainly. Hence I will see myself better in God than in myself. And yet it is supremely one.”

“All these sciences, moreover, have certain and infallible rules, like lights and rays descending from the eternal law into our mind. And therefore our mind, irradiated and suffused with such great splendors, unless it be blind, can be led through itself to the contemplation of that eternal light. The irradiation and consideration of this light suspends the wise in admiration, and on the contrary leads the foolish, who do not believe so that they may understand, into perturbation, so that that prophetic word may be fulfilled: Thou dost illumine wondrously from the eternal mountains; all the foolish of heart are troubled.”

“Such art is both one and manifold. How this can occur cannot be seen unless there come about an illumination "from the everlasting mountains," and when "despoiled are the stouthearted," that is, the foolish. For it is fitting to think of God in the highest way. Speculation is also manifold, for it represents many things distinctly and certainly. Hence I will see myself better in God than in myself. And yet it is supremely one.”

“In the second place, a saint's life must be pure, that is, everything must be done out of love for God, and not out of love for something else, since all love is suspect if it is not addressed to God. That is why Augustine — and also Bernard in a letter to a certain monk — write that the apostles' love for the bodily Christ prevented the coming of the Spirit. What of other forms of love addressed to creatures? "My soul refuses comfort."”

“All perverse valuations of worldly natures are prohibited. Now every perverse valuation of creatures proceeds either by reason of sublimity, or by reason of sufficiency, or by reason of delight. In the first way it is the idolatry of the proud; in the second way it is the idolatry of the avaricious; in the third way it is the idolatry of the lascivious. Against the first the Prophet says: There shall be no new god in you, nor shall you adore a strange god.”

“Concerning the first, we proceed as follows and it is shown that the divine being is supremely one. And that this is so, faith and divine Scripture sufficiently proclaim, Exodus twenty: Your God is one God; and Deuteronomy thirty-two: See therefore that I alone am, and there is no other God besides me; and David in the Psalm: There shall not be in you a new god, nor shall you adore a foreign god: and divine Scripture sufficiently preaches this.”

“It must be said that this truth, that God is one, is a truth not only believable, but also intelligible: since it is necessary and certain not only from the testimony of Scripture and the illumination of grace, which is found in faith; but it is also certain from itself and from the testimony of creatures. From itself, therefore: because the divine being, on account of its singular sublimity and sublime singularity, possesses unity in every way. For since God has every perfection in himself, and this in the highest degree and most excellently, he is shown to be one not only from the sublimity of nature and wisdom, power and goodness and influence and causality, but indeed from all his conditions and noble properties that are attributed to him in the highest degree. Hence all conditions attest to the unity of the supreme essence. From the testimony of creatures also: because every creature, just as it has natural goodness, so also is shown to have unity. "For nothing can exist unless it is one," as Boethius and Augustine say, and as sense and intellect teach. Therefore, just as every creature by its goodness proclaims that in God there is true and supreme goodness, so by its unity it proclaims that the cause of all things is one in itself. Nor does the diversity of things stand against this testimony. For every diversity of things is comprehended within one universe, which in itself is indeed finite and limited and perfect. But this would not be so unless that plurality were reduced to something in which there would be a stopping point: and therefore it is necessary that all things be reduced to one ultimate end and one first principle, otherwise there would be a regress to infinity. Therefore the very universe of things testifies that God is one: whence, just as it is impossible for one circumference to have, nor can one rationally conceive, any but one center, from which lines flow and to which they are reduced as to a terminus: so in one universe one cannot posit or understand anything but one God alone.”

“The door to wisdom is a yearning for it and a powerful desire. Hence the Psalm: "Open wide your mouth, and I will fill it." That is the road by which wisdom comes within me, by which I go into wisdom, and wisdom comes into me, and likewise charity. Such wisdom cannot be obtained without supreme mutual pleasure, but where there is supreme mutual pleasure, supreme yearning must have come first.”

“As inducing strength, the seven virtues are represented by the seven loaves of the gospel, from which the whole body of the elect is fed. For the philosophers, these four virtues became stones, but they are actually seven breads of life. Moses' five loaves were made of barley, but the seven loaves of wheat of the evangelical teaching were made out of the fat of the wheat.”

“All true philosophers worshiped a single God. That is why even Socrates was killed: in his reverence for one God, he forbade sacrifices to Apollo. It is true that Plato argued with him to flee. "May it never happen," answered Socrates, "that I deny a truth I have asserted!" And so Plato did not interfere with his execution: he even blushed for having suggested flight. The worship of God is the dutiful expression of faith. Hence Tullius says that propriety consists in the cult of the gods. It is not fitting that he say "of the gods." The angels are not called gods in Scriptures, lest they be venerated as gods, but men are called gods: God hath stood in the congregation of gods, that is, of men, not of angels. Now, the worship of God consists in praise and sacrifice.”

“Where sacred Scripture is lacking, it is necessary that the earth, that is, the Church, be shaken: "They neither knew nor understood, they walk in darkness; all the foundations of the earth shall be moved." Arius, who wished to take away the foundation of the Trinity; Nestorius, who wished to destroy the unity of person; and Eutyches, who wished to confuse the natures in Christ: these men shook the foundations of the Church.”

“Blessed is the man whose help is from You; he has disposed ascents in his heart, in the valley of tears, in the place which he has appointed. Since blessedness is nothing other than the enjoyment of the highest good, and the highest good is above us, no one can be made blessed unless he ascends above himself, not by a bodily ascent, but by one of the heart. But we cannot be raised above ourselves except by a higher power lifting us up. For however much the interior steps may be disposed, nothing is accomplished unless divine help accompanies them. But divine help accompanies those who seek it from a humble and devout heart; and this is to sigh toward Him in this valley of tears, which is done through fervent prayer. Prayer, therefore, is the mother and origin of the upward-lifting. Therefore Dionysius, in his book On Mystical Theology, wishing to instruct us in mental ecstasies, first sets forth prayer. Let us therefore pray and say to the Lord our God: Lead me, O Lord, in Your way, and I shall walk in Your truth; let my heart rejoice, that it may fear Your name.”

“It was fitting for the perfect Leader to show himself when there was opportunity to run toward the prize: and this is in the end of times, yet before the terminus, and in the approach to the final judgment, so that, spurred by the fear of judgment and drawn by the hope of reward and animated by the perfection of his example, we might vigorously and perfectly follow the Leader from virtue to virtue, until we arrive at the prize of eternal happiness.”

“Whoever therefore wishes to ascend to God must, having avoided the fault that deforms nature, exercise the aforementioned natural powers toward reforming grace, and this through prayer; toward purifying justice, and this in conduct of life; toward illuminating knowledge, and this in meditation; toward perfecting wisdom, and this in contemplation. Just as therefore no one comes to wisdom except through grace, justice, and knowledge, so one does not arrive at contemplation except through clear meditation, holy conduct, and devout prayer. Just as therefore grace is the foundation of uprightness of the will and of clear illumination of reason, so first we must pray, then live in holiness, third attend to the spectacles of truth, and by attending ascend step by step, until one arrives at the lofty mountain, where the God of gods is seen in Sion.”

“And so, concerning the fruit of grace, it is written in the Psalm: "For the Lord will give goodness: and our earth shall yield her fruit." And so these fruits come forth from Christ, blessed by Joseph who produced fruit of heaven, and of the dew, and of the deep that lieth beneath, that is, the charismatic gifts of the graces, by means of dew on humble hearts.”

“Lead me, O Lord, in Your way, and I shall walk in Your truth; let my heart rejoice, that it may fear Your name. In praying this prayer, we are illuminated to know the stages of the divine ascent. For since, according to the state of our condition, the universe of things is itself a ladder for ascending into God, and among things some are vestiges, some are images, some are corporeal, some spiritual, some temporal, some aeviternal, and accordingly some are outside us, some within us: in order that we may arrive at the consideration of the First Principle, which is most spiritual and eternal and above us, we must pass through the vestige, which is corporeal and temporal and outside us, and this is to be led in the way of God: we must enter into our own mind, which is the image of God, aeviternal, spiritual and within us, and this is to walk in the truth of God: we must transcend to the eternal, most spiritual, and above us, looking toward the First Principle, and this is to rejoice in the knowledge of God and in the reverence of His majesty.”

“Furthermore, this charity gives to the soul a fire. Hence, in the Canticle, "Set me as a seal on your heart... for stern as death is love," when it loves to such a degree that it is totally carried up to the supremely desirable, and sees prosperity as nothing, and adversity as nothing, since all things are like a single straw in a furnace. "If a man should give all the substance of his house for love, he shall despise it as nothing." Now, the fourth seal consists in this, that the soul perceives an incomprehensible consolation that grows so much within it that it is unable both to comprehend it and to explain it to others. The Canticle says of this: "Eat, friends; drink! Drink freely of love!" And this inebriated soul says: The king "brought me into the cellar of wine." And earlier: "The king hath brought me into his storerooms." This occurs when the soul is beside itself, like a drunken man who does not know what he is doing. Hence, Paul did not know whether he was in the body or out of the body. Of this seal, the Psalm says: "Shew me a token for good, that they who hate me may see, and be confounded."”

“The Church had to be founded: therefore it was necessary to lay the foundations, namely the commandments of God, and it was necessary that they be placed in some person. This could not be except in the glorious Virgin; as the Psalm says: "His foundations are in the holy mountains: a man is born in her, and the Most High himself has founded her."”

“This counsel has been confirmed by the twelve Apostles and by the counsels of the Saints. If you want the testimony of the Saints concerning these counsels, seek Anthony, Paphnutius, and Macarius, who all resolved to observe these counsels. Seek the bishops Basil, Augustine, Martin, and Gregory; all were monks and resolved to observe the counsels and kept them. Seek also Benedict, who was an abbot; seek Dominic, seek Francis, who resolved that all these counsels must be observed. From the Lamb proceed torches, and they are illuminations for manifesting the counsels. It is written: 'God who is glorified in the counsel of the saints.' Therefore we ought to choose a good counselor.”

“The spiritual throne is indicated: that of doctrine, of superiorship, or of judgment. Hence the Psalm: "And his throne shall be like the sun before me; like the moon which remains forever." A superior is the sun as regards the documents of truth, the moon as regards the example of virtue; or he is the sun of wisdom and the moon of knowledge; or again, he is the sun in the act of judgment and the moon in that of mercy.”

“The spiritual throne is indicated: that of doctrine, of superiorship, or of judgment. Hence the Psalm: "And his throne shall be like the sun before me; like the moon which remains forever." A superior is the sun as regards the documents of truth, the moon as regards the example of virtue; or he is the sun of wisdom and the moon of knowledge; or again, he is the sun in the act of judgment and the moon in that of mercy.”

“But if you ask how these things come about, ask grace, not doctrine; desire, not understanding; the groaning of prayer, not the study of reading; the Bridegroom, not the master; God, not man; darkness, not clarity; not light, but the fire that wholly inflames and carries into God through ecstatic anointings and most ardent affections. Which fire is indeed God, and his furnace is in Jerusalem, and Christ kindles this in the fervor of his most ardent passion, which only he truly perceives who says: My soul has chosen hanging, and my bones death. Whoever loves this death can see God, because it is indubitably true: No man shall see me and live. Let us die, therefore, and enter into the darkness; let us impose silence upon our cares, concupiscences, and phantasms; let us pass over with Christ crucified from this world to the Father, so that, when the Father is shown to us, we may say with Philip: It suffices us; let us hear with Paul: My grace suffices for you; let us exult with David, saying: My flesh and my heart have failed, God of my heart and God my portion forever. Blessed be the Lord forever, and let all the people say: So be it, so be it. Amen.”

“Adam passed over from truth to vanity. "A phantom only, man goes his ways; like vapor only are his restless pursuits; he heaps up stores, and knows not who will use them. — The next morning they are like the changing grass, which at dawn springs up anew, but by evening wilts and fades." For as long as vain, transitory, passing good is loved, man is "passing over." And such passing over Wisdom reproves. This passing over is the cause of every evil.”

“Since Scripture conceals a manifold understanding beneath a single letter, the expositor ought to bring hidden things forth into the light and make manifest what has been drawn forth through another, more open passage of Scripture, as if I were to expound that verse of the Psalm: Take hold of arms and shield, and rise up to help me, and wished to explain what the divine arms are; I would say that they are his truth and good will: and that this is so must be proved through open Scripture. For it is also written elsewhere: With the shield of your good will you have crowned us; and again: His truth shall compass you about with a shield.”

“The soul is disposed to the gift of fortitude through the unconquerable shield of faith. The devil draws man to the concupiscence of the flesh, to the concupiscence of the eyes, and to the pride of life. What is the means of resisting these? Through truth. "His truth shall encompass you with a shield," namely through faith dwelling within, "you shall not fear the terror of the night." And blessed Peter said: "Your adversary as a roaring lion goes about seeking whom he may devour: whom resist, strong in faith." If we loved truth, we would not fear the devil, because it is written: "The eyes of the Lord behold the whole earth and give fortitude to those who believe in him with a perfect heart."”

“The third part of the perfection of the fear of the Lord consists in the perfect firmness of confidence: because the fear of the Lord is a tower of firmness and confidence, because it renders a person secure from every other fear. "His truth shall encompass you with a shield; you shall not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor the assault and the noonday devil." He who does not fear God must fear everywhere; and he who truly fears God has what no one can take from him. But he who fears something other than God has what ought to be taken from him.”

“In this garden, there is much walking about, for if one is not happy to remain in the first, he goes to the second, and likewise with the others. And so man is compassed about with apples. Hence, in the Canticle: "Stay me up with flowers, compass me about with apples." And in the Psalm: "His truth shall compass thee with a shield." And so, as the intellect is ordained toward the affective dispositions, and faith is the way to charity, so also these enlightenments must pass over into the affective dispositions, in order that the intellect pass from the speculative to the practical.”

“The third part of the perfection of the fear of the Lord consists in the perfect firmness of confidence: because the fear of the Lord is a tower of firmness and confidence, because it renders a person secure from every other fear. "His truth shall encompass you with a shield; you shall not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor the assault and the noonday devil." He who does not fear God must fear everywhere; and he who truly fears God has what no one can take from him.”

“The soul is disposed to the gift of fortitude through the unconquerable shield of faith. The devil draws man to the concupiscence of the flesh, to the concupiscence of the eyes, and to the pride of life. What is the means of resisting these? Through truth. "His truth shall encompass you with a shield," namely through faith dwelling within, "you shall not fear the terror of the night." If we loved truth, we would not fear the devil.”

“The third part of the perfection of the fear of the Lord consists in the perfect firmness of confidence: because the fear of the Lord is a tower of firmness and confidence, because it renders a person secure from every other fear. "His truth shall encompass you with a shield; you shall not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor the assault and the noonday devil." He who does not fear God must fear everywhere; and he who truly fears God has what no one can take from him.”

“Scripture enlightens from the right by means of dangerous satisfactions. Nor is it without reason that satisfactions are called dangerous and punishments benign, for satisfactions entail serious risk. Behold Adam, Saul, Solomon, the idolater Jeroboam, and the Prince of Angels, to all of whom temporal satisfactions and a state of high eminence were occasions of ruin. For they are occasions of ruin when they please. When they do not please, man is not taken up by them. Wherefore Christ did not want to have any temporal satisfaction, because a thousand fall at your side, ten thousand at your right. And one should always prefer to be on that side on which less are falling.”

“Hence, when one considers brightness as coming from light, the mind must be transferred to the consideration of the eternal generation—and so with the other examples. And in this there is a great pleasure of which it is said in the Psalm: "For You make me glad, O Lord, by Your deeds; at the work of Your hands, I rejoice." Wherefore the Apostle says: "We all, with faces unveiled, reflecting as in a mirror the glory of the Lord."”

“So does the man who sees God in all things, who tastes God in them through his three powers. "Pleasing to Him be my theme; I will be glad in the Lord." And elsewhere: "For you make me glad, O Lord, by Your deeds." Again: "I will glorify Him with thanksgiving." In all things there is taste and restoration for the intellective and the affective powers. Out of all these fruits there arises the fruit of love and charity which covers them all. For all of Scripture is ordained towards charity.”

“He therefore who is not illumined by such great splendors of created things is blind; he who is not awakened by such great cries is deaf; he who does not praise God on account of all these effects is mute; he who from such great signs does not advert to the first principle is a fool. Open therefore your eyes, bring near your spiritual ears, loose your lips, and apply your heart, that in all creatures you may see, hear, praise, love, and worship, magnify and honor your God, lest perchance the whole world rise up against you. For on this account the whole world shall fight against the senseless, and conversely for the wise it shall be matter of glory, who according to the Prophet can say: Thou hast given me delight, O Lord, in thy making, and in the works of thy hands I shall rejoice. How great are thy works, O Lord! Thou hast made all things in wisdom, the earth is filled with thy possession.”

“It is hierarchized also in relation to the Church Militant, in which there is a distinction by reason of processes, of ascents, and of practices, for this is how the Church is seen, and in no other way: in it, there is one head, one body, and one food. Paul speaks much of this, for he was well versed in this consideration. Likewise, the Psalter speaks much of it. And sometimes it speaks in the name of such a person [the Church], and at other times, in the name of another. Hence in the Psalm: "The Lord is King, in splendor robed," it refers to the Church's head and to its four orders.”

“The spiritual meanings are called rivers — and also those men who understand in a spiritual manner — because they have their origin from the Scriptures and are confirmed by the Scriptures, and because, from these spiritual meanings, other meanings are derived. Hence in the Psalm: "The floods lift up, O Lord, the floods lift up their voice; the floods lift up their tumult. More powerful than the roar of many waters." Why? Because "powerful on high is the Lord," God's voice had to be loud.”

“The spiritual meanings are called rivers — and also those men who understand in a spiritual manner — because they have their origin from the Scriptures and are confirmed by the Scriptures, and because, from these spiritual meanings, other meanings are derived. Hence in the Psalm: "The floods lift up, O Lord, the floods lift up their voice; the floods lift up their tumult. More powerful than the roar of many waters." Why? Because "powerful on high is the Lord," God's voice had to be loud.”

“"He who chastises the nations, shall he not rebuke, he who teaches man knowledge?" The Psalm of David says that the great teacher of knowledge is God. You know that if someone must draw water, he more willingly draws it from its original source than from a rivulet. Therefore, if the Lord is the great teacher and giver of the gift about which we intend to speak, it is necessary that we have recourse to that font in order to obtain illumination. Thus did the Psalmist, thus did Solomon, and he became a great scholar. In the beginning it is necessary that we lift up our souls and beseech the bestower of gifts, because we do not seek temporal things, but the benefit and salvation of our soul; and this is pleasing to God, just as Solomon did, who sought wisdom from the Lord. Let us therefore beseech the Lord, that he himself may open the eyes of our mind and grant me the light of knowledge, so that I may be able to say something concerning the gift of knowledge, which may be to the honor of God.”

“We ought to say: Lord, you are the one whom we ought to adore, whom we ought to serve; you are the one who created me; you are the one who redeemed me. Come, let us adore and fall down and weep before the Lord who made us, for he is the Lord our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. These two things, therefore, namely the knowledge of the Creator and the Restorer, are set forth first, without which we can understand nothing, because these are the foundations of our faith.”

“Everything that is adored other than God is either an intellectual creature, such as angels and demons; or a corporeal creature, such as heaven and earth and water and the like; or it is a figment of the human mind. And the Lord prohibits adoring these three. Sacred Scripture places the intellectual creature at the highest level, the figment in the middle, and corporeal nature at the lowest; and accordingly it first prohibits idolatry with respect to the intellectual creature, when it says: You shall not have strange gods. Concerning idolatry with respect to the spiritual creature, it is said in the Psalm: For all the gods of the nations are demons, but the Lord made the heavens.”

“Fire will precede the face of the Judge, by which the face of the earth will be burned up, so that the figure of this world will perish by the conflagration of worldly fires, just as the flood came about by the inundation of waters. Since in the final judgment, on account of the severity of the judge to be displayed, it is necessary that the hearts of all be terrified, and especially of sinners, who despised the Lord of all things, so that every creature may receive divine zeal and be conformed to its Author, and also conformed to its inhabitant: it is necessary that the foundations of the entire world be most horribly shaken. And because nothing more intensely and swiftly and horribly in its action moves the other elements than fire rushing together from here and there on every side: hence it is that fire must precede the face of the judge himself, not from one side only, but from every part of the world, so that there may be a convergence of elemental and terrestrial fire, of purgatorial and also infernal fire, so that by infernal fire the reprobate may be burned, by purgatorial fire the just may be purged, by terrestrial fire these things born of the earth may be consumed, by elemental fire the elements may be refined and disposed toward the face of renewal, and together with this all other things may be disturbed, so that not only men and demons, but even the Angels beholding may be terrified.”

“Why did the Lord place the figment of the human mind among idolatry, since a figment is nothing in reality? An idol is nothing; rather, it is referred to that which exists in estimation. Concerning idolatry with respect to the figment of the human mind, it is said in the Psalm: Let all be confounded who adore graven things, and who glory in their idols. That man is inclined to adore his own figment and thus to glory in adoring it — this is the supreme perversion.”

“The whole Trinity speaks these words: I am the Lord your God. He says therefore I, namely, the one whom you ought to obey and whom you ought to love and adore. Or he says I, who made you in the being of nature and in the being of grace. We ought therefore also to say: Lord, you are the one whom we ought to adore, whom we ought to serve; you are the one who created me; you are the one who redeemed me. Know that the Lord himself is God; He made us, and not we ourselves.”

“That the divine being is immutable is shown by authority. The Psalm: You shall change them, and they shall be changed, but You are the selfsame; the Gloss says: "immutable." For inasmuch as it is simple, it is immutable from itself: for it has nothing that is not its own essential being, which indeed "is not an accident, but a subsistent truth," as Hilary says. Inasmuch as it is immense, it is not mutable in another or by another: for nothing else can transfer it, since it is everywhere whole. Moreover, inasmuch as it is eternal, it is not mutable with another, because it itself remains fixed, while other things succeed one another.”

“Although God possesses all the most noble properties, He is nevertheless most excellent in this property, namely that of piety. He is pious and merciful, because He spares and protects. The Lord says: "As a father has mercy on his children, so have I had mercy on you." Search all the works of God from the beginning to the end, and you will always find operations of mercy that are great, greater, and greatest. The great operations of divine mercy are the operations of nature; the greater operations of divine mercy are the operations of grace; but the greatest operations are the operations of glory.”

“We need divine mercy pardoning our offenses, and divine justice recompensing our merits. But the fear of God makes one find mercy, and the observance of the commandments, justice. The consideration of the magnificence of God leads to fearing; the consideration of the divine law leads to the observance of the commandments. And for this reason it is suggested to us that we should always meditate on the divine law. Whence the Jews on the Sabbath day were accustomed always to dispute concerning the law of God, because this is the work of God.”

“We cannot have the grace of God except through the fear of God, because "the mercy of the Lord is from eternity and unto eternity upon those who fear him." No one receives the grace of God unless he fears God. Bernard says: "In truth I have learned that nothing is equally efficacious for meriting, preserving, and multiplying the grace of God as if at all times you are found before God not to be wise in lofty things, but to fear."”

“From the midst of the rocks they shall give forth their voices. That is, from the midst of the two cherubim of which the Lord speaks, meaning from the space between them, that is, from the midst of the Two Testaments. The third firmness of faith consists in the full accord of the witnesses, and is found in three things: in the words of Scriptures, in the decrees of the councils, and in the writings of the saints.”

“He therefore who is not illumined by such great splendors of created things is blind; he who is not awakened by such great cries is deaf; he who does not praise God on account of all these effects is mute; he who from such great signs does not advert to the first principle is a fool. Open therefore your eyes, bring near your spiritual ears, loose your lips, and apply your heart, that in all creatures you may see, hear, praise, love, and worship, magnify and honor your God, lest perchance the whole world rise up against you. For on this account the whole world shall fight against the senseless, and conversely for the wise it shall be matter of glory, who according to the Prophet can say: Thou hast given me delight, O Lord, in thy making, and in the works of thy hands I shall rejoice. How great are thy works, O Lord! Thou hast made all things in wisdom, the earth is filled with thy possession.”

“On that verse of the Psalm: "He who looks upon the earth and makes it tremble," the Gloss says: "Then God looks upon the earth and makes it tremble, when he illumines the earthly man by the regard of his grace and converts him to his original principle, through which all things are begun and governed. And then man trembles." Therefore man ought greatly to consider what he thinks, what he speaks, and what he does, because God sees all things.”

“For all creatures declare God. What shall I do? I shall sing with them all. The thick cord in the zither does not give forth a pleasant sound if struck alone, but there is harmony in consonance with others. So does the man who sees God in all things, who tastes God in them through his three powers. "Pleasing to Him be my theme; I will be glad in the Lord." And elsewhere: "For you make me glad, O Lord, by Your deeds." Again: "I will glorify Him with thanksgiving." In all things there is taste and restoration for the intellective and the affective powers.”

“But if you ask how these things come about, ask grace, not doctrine; desire, not understanding; the groaning of prayer, not the study of reading; the Bridegroom, not the master; God, not man; darkness, not clarity; not light, but the fire that wholly inflames and carries into God through ecstatic anointings and most ardent affections. Which fire is indeed God, and his furnace is in Jerusalem, and Christ kindles this in the fervor of his most ardent passion, which only he truly perceives who says: My soul has chosen hanging, and my bones death. Whoever loves this death can see God, because it is indubitably true: No man shall see me and live. Let us die, therefore, and enter into the darkness; let us impose silence upon our cares, concupiscences, and phantasms; let us pass over with Christ crucified from this world to the Father, so that, when the Father is shown to us, we may say with Philip: It suffices us; let us hear with Paul: My grace suffices for you; let us exult with David, saying: My flesh and my heart have failed, God of my heart and God my portion forever. Blessed be the Lord forever, and let all the people say: So be it, so be it. Amen.”

“In relation to the most profound depth of spiritual meanings, the Psalm reads: "They who sailed the sea in ships, trading on the deep waters." The man goes down to the sea in ships who approaches the Scriptures in a spirit of extreme reverence in order to explain them. He goes down with ships who takes as support the wood of the cross: for anyone who seeks to enter the sea of Scriptures without this wood is submerged, for he sinks into the greatest errors. Unless he is Peter himself, he founders.”

“The Psalm: Let his children be carried about vagabonds and beg: but nothing that the Psalmist, speaking in the Spirit of God, imprecates as a punishment pertains to evangelical perfection or perfect justice; begging is of this kind: therefore, etc. To that which is objected, that begging is an evil which the Psalmist imprecates, speaking in the Spirit of God: it must be said that there is voluntary begging and compelled begging, which is accompanied by murmuring and impatience. The first is meritorious, the second is demeritorious and afflictive; and the Psalm is understood of the second, not of the first. And that this is true appears from the text, because it says: Let them be carried about wandering and be cast out, and all these things seem to connote compulsion and violence.”

“Likewise, Psalm: He persecuted the needy and begging man: Gloss: "namely Christ. To persecute the poor is sheer cruelty. Others indeed sometimes suffer such things on account of riches and honors." Either, therefore, Christ is called a beggar because He begged from the Father, or because He begged from man. If because He begged from the Father: then all men are beggars, the rich as well as the poor: therefore to persecute Christ in this way would not have been the height of cruelty; if because He begged from men, we have what was proposed: therefore etc.”

“The third mode of generation is by means of propagation, and this in a fourfold way: as of a growth coming from a seed, a tree from a root, a conceived offspring from the belly or womb of the mother, or children from a begetting father. In the first mode of generation, formal beauty is lacking, for in the seed the form is vague and hidden. It is not so in the case of the Son. In the second, conformity is lacking, for although there is a single root, it is different in shape from the branches even though they produce a single tree. In the third, actuality is lacking, for although the mother is in a certain sense the active principle of the offspring, yet she is much more of a passive principle. In the fourth, eternal coexistence is lacking. Now, take away these defects and suppose first formal beauty. In this sense, there is Isaiah: "The branch of the Lord will be luster and glory, and the fruit of the earth will be honor and splendor." Second, suppose conformity: The Son conforms to the Father to the point that He is "the tree of life... in the midst of the garden." Hence, in Proverbs: "She is a tree of life to those who grasp her." Third, suppose actuality: in this sense, you have the Psalm: "With Thee is the principality in the day of Thy strength, in the brightness of the saints: from the womb before the day star I begot Thee. From the womb," says the Psalmist, which is in relation to the warmth of the Father's bosom, from which He does not withdraw. Fourth, suppose eternal coexistence. In this sense, there is the Psalm: "This day I have begotten You," that is in eternity, or in My eternal today.”

“Concerning this hierarch, then, and the ecclesiastical hierarchy, the whole of sacred Scripture exists, through which we are taught to be purged, illumined, and perfected, and this according to the threefold law handed down in it, namely of nature, of Scripture, and of grace; or rather according to its threefold principal part, namely the Mosaic law which purges, the prophetic revelation which illumines, and the evangelical teaching which perfects; or most especially according to its threefold spiritual understanding: the tropological, which purges unto uprightness of life; the allegorical, which illumines unto clarity of understanding; the anagogical, which perfects through mental ecstasies and the sweetest perceptions of wisdom, according to the three aforesaid theological virtues and the reformed spiritual senses and the three above-mentioned ecstasies and the hierarchical acts of the mind, by which our mind returns to its interior, so that there it may contemplate God in the splendors of the Saints and in them as in resting-places may sleep in peace and rest, the Bridegroom adjuring that it not be awakened until it proceed of His will.”

“This counsel has been confirmed by the twelve Apostles and by the counsels of the Saints. From the Lamb proceed torches, and they are illuminations for manifesting the counsels. It is written: 'God who is glorified in the counsel of the saints.' The Psalm says: 'I will confess to you, O Lord, with my whole heart, in the counsel of the just and in the congregation.' Therefore we ought to choose a good counselor.”

“The fear of God avails for obtaining the illumination of divine wisdom, because "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." For the fear of the Lord is the extrinsic principle of wisdom and the intrinsic principle and the complement of wisdom; because there is servile fear, and this is the initiator of wisdom, because, just as the needle introduces the thread and does not remain with the thread, so servile fear introduces wisdom and does not remain with wisdom. Another is the fear of punishment and of offending God; and this is the intrinsic beginning of wisdom and the root of wisdom. The third is the fear of filial reverence: and this is the complement of wisdom, because "the fullness of wisdom is to fear God." Fear produces these three things in us, because "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," and "the root of wisdom is to fear God," and "the fullness of wisdom is to fear God": Job: "Behold, the fear of the Lord, that itself is wisdom." He who does not fear God knows nothing.”

“"Holy and terrible is his name; the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all who practice it." Prudential understanding teaches what is to be avoided, namely every evil. For every person who wishes to be directed toward the good must fear God, so as to avoid every evil. Therefore prudential understanding teaches first what is to be avoided, namely every evil.”

“If, now, it is considered as fulfilling or perfecting, this again is threefold: it may be seen as vital food for the militant and triumphant Church, as the punishment of crimes, and as the final reward. It is fitting that God be first; hence He is credible and understandable, and this in terms of influence by reason of the laws of mercy, justice and peace; in relation to the first, as Virtue; in relation to the second, as Truth; in relation to the third, as Equity. These are the twelve gates that are mentioned in the psalm: "Open to me the gates of justice," for "He who is just lives by faith."”

“Wherefore the Psalm reads: Happy are they whose way is blameless. And: Instruct me, O Lord, in the way of Your statutes, etc. In every verse there is a reference to commands, indicated as law, or witnessing, or declarations, or some other equivalent name. Also, in the Hebrew, every verse of each octave begins with the same letter—which cannot be rendered in our language—so that the twenty-two letters correspond to the twenty-two octaves, and each octave contains eight verses. Augustine was moved by so great a correspondence: that there be here so much knowledge and so great a variety. For Augustine himself once saw a very beautiful tree that had twenty-two branches, and each one had eight twigs, and from these the most sweet drops were running. And he understood that this tree was the Psalm: Happy are they whose way is blameless. Hence, meditation on the Law is supremely necessary.”

“"Then I shall not be confounded, when I shall have regard to all your commandments." Blessed James says: "Whoever shall keep the whole law, yet offend in one point, is become guilty of all": not that for one transgression he is punished with as much punishment of sense as for the transgression of all; but he will be punished with as much punishment of loss, yet not as severely for one as for all. Therefore, if anyone wishes to attain to true life, it is necessary that he have regard to all the commandments of God in heart, mouth, and deed. And therefore he says: "When I shall have regarded," that is, perfectly looked upon and considered and acted accordingly, I shall not fear to be confounded. It is no great thing to be confounded in the present, but to be confounded eternally. Such confusion is greatly to be abhorred. But we cannot escape that confusion unless we have regard to all the commandments of God.”

“In these twelve mysteries is the whole of Scripture. In each of these there are twelve lights of scriptural interpretation, that is, the allegorical, the anagogical, and the tropological. And twelve times twelve are one hundred and forty-four, and this corresponds to the number of those marked with the sign, and to that of the City. Hence in the Psalm: "Open my eyes, that I may consider the wonders of your law."”

“'For your testimonies are my meditation, and your justifications are my counsel'; which counsel is found in the testaments and testimonies. In designation of this it is said in Exodus that when Moses was to enter the oracle, he entered through the midst of the two Cherubim. He went through the midst, because Christ must have regard for both testaments.”

“Together with fear one must also love God. When the heart is enlarged through love, then man easily keeps the commandments of God. I have run the way of thy commandments, when thou didst enlarge my heart. He says that the way of God's commandments is broad, yet to some it seems to be narrow. Certainly to those who love, it is broad; but to those who do not love, it seems to be narrow.”

“Wherefore the Psalm reads: Happy are they whose way is blameless. And: Instruct me, O Lord, in the way of Your statutes, etc. In every verse there is a reference to commands, indicated as law, or witnessing, or declarations, or some other equivalent name. Also, in the Hebrew, every verse of each octave begins with the same letter—which cannot be rendered in our language—so that the twenty-two letters correspond to the twenty-two octaves, and each octave contains eight verses. Augustine was moved by so great a correspondence: that there be here so much knowledge and so great a variety. For Augustine himself once saw a very beautiful tree that had twenty-two branches, and each one had eight twigs, and from these the most sweet drops were running. And he understood that this tree was the Psalm: Happy are they whose way is blameless. Hence, meditation on the Law is supremely necessary.”

“Again, civil war is the temptation of the world. Indeed, every creature is a trap. Hence the saying: Vanity of vanities! All things are vanity! What profit has man from all the labor which he toils at under the sun? Vain and worthless is anything of which nothing remains to man after death: wherefore all things are vanity. The Psalm reads: Turn away my eyes from seeing what is vain.”

“Scholastic discipline without personal discipline is insufficient for wisdom: for a man becomes wise not merely by listening: he must also conform. Hence the Psalm on wisdom reads: "Teach me goodness and discipline and knowledge." For there is no knowledge without precedent discipline, nor discipline without precedent goodness. Hence it is through goodness and discipline that knowledge dwells within us. A sick man is not healed by listening to a physician: he must follow his prescription. But few walk along that way of wisdom, hence few ever reach it.”

“Passing over is an endeavor: the endeavor to pass from the study of the sciences to the study of holiness and from the study of holiness to that of wisdom. It is said of this in the Psalm: "Teach me goodness and discipline and knowledge." The endeavor begins from the top because it wants to "taste and see how good the Lord is." But it is not possible to reach wisdom except through discipline, nor discipline except through knowledge — wherefore the last should not be placed before the first. It would be a poor merchant who would prefer tin to gold. The man who chooses knowledge over holiness will never prosper.”

“Second, we ought to speak of the commandments of God, that we may better know them. For the more frequently a man walks along a certain way, the better he knows it. Whence Gregory says that a man comes to know the way by walking it more frequently. But the way of going to the fatherland is through the observance of the commandments; but a man cannot keep the commandments of God unless he knows them, and he does not know them except by hearing discourse about them. Therefore David says: "Give me understanding, and I shall learn thy commandments."”

“Scriptures, explaining the mystery of the heavenly and sub-heavenly hierarchies, say: Your word, O Lord, endures forever; it is firm as the heavens; that is, the word of the Trinity. Through all generations your truth endures; You have established the earth and it stands firm. The Church, represented by the name "earth," was founded upon this Word.”

“Scriptures, explaining the mystery of the heavenly and sub-heavenly hierarchies, say: Your word, O Lord, endures forever; it is firm as the heavens; that is, the word of the Trinity. Through all generations your truth endures; You have established the earth and it stands firm. The Church, represented by the name "earth," was founded upon this Word.”

“When the heart is enlarged through love, then man easily keeps the commandments of God. I have seen an end of all perfection; thy commandment is exceedingly broad. He says that the way of God's commandments is broad, yet to some it seems to be narrow. Certainly to those who love, it is broad; but to those who do not love, it seems to be narrow.”

“The second benefit of keeping the commandments of God is the understanding of the sacred Scriptures; the Psalm: "I have understood above the ancients, because I have sought your commandments." But how we may arrive at the understanding of the sacred Scriptures, Gregory shows: whence concerning the passage that the disciples, when they saw Jesus, did not understand him, but when they heard him speaking, then they understood him, Gregory says there that "by hearing God's precepts the disciples were not illuminated, but by doing them they were illuminated"; because not the hearers of the law only, but the doers shall be justified.”

“Note that an animal that does not ruminate is impure. Now, rumination consists in this, that an animal has two stomachs. It brings food to its mouth, then ruminates it, then makes it pass into the second stomach. The Psalm reads: "How sweet to my palate are your promises, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" Do not love the harlot and dismiss your wife.”

“It is read that blessed Gregory, who was Pope and Doctor of the Church, had the custom that whenever he went to the study of the divine law, he always spoke these words: Depart from me, ye evildoers, and I will search the commandments of my God. It was asked of him why he did this; and he replied to Peter, to whom he was accustomed to tell his secrets, that he had learned by experience that whenever he wished to meditate on the law of God, he felt demons always opposing him. But in other subtleties the demons do not provoke, because in them they see no harm to themselves: indeed, they expect advantage from them. But when mention is made of the teachings of truth, by which demons are put to flight, then the prince of darkness rushes forth armed, now through earthly occupations, now through phantastic illusions, and strives to call back the minds of men from the study of truth.”

“The third origin of the fear of the Lord is from the consideration of the severity of divine vengeance, because the judgments of God are many. Whence the Psalm: "Pierce my flesh with your fear, for I have feared your judgments." For there are seven judgments of God: six are in the present life, and the seventh is at death, and that one shall be doubled. The first judgment of God is that of binding; the second is that of blinding; the third is that of obstinacy; the fourth is that of abandonment; the fifth is that of scattering; the sixth is that of despair, and the seventh is that of condemnation. All the judgments of God David feared; whence he said: "For I have feared because of thy judgments."”

“The Prophet David shows for what reason we ought to speak of the commandments of God, and this he shows through a threefold reason. The first is that we may be inflamed to the love of the divine commandments; for nothing is so necessary as to love the law of God and his commandments. And on account of this he said: "Therefore I have loved thy commandments above gold and topaz."”

“Third, we ought to speak of the commandments of God, that we may hate iniquity. Therefore it is said in the Psalm: "Therefore I was directed toward all thy commandments; every wicked way I have hated." For when a man begins to know iniquity or sin and the disorders of sin which are against God, then he begins to detest sin. We ought therefore to speak of the commandments, that we may love and understand them and be directed on the way to the fatherland and hate iniquity.”

“That the simple profit by hearing the word of God is clear, because it is said in the Psalm: "The declaration of your words illuminates and gives understanding to the little ones." "Little one" is the name given here to one who on account of the smallness of his knowledge is called a little one, just as one who knows few things is said to have a small soul, and likewise one who knows many things is said to be of great understanding. "Little one" is also said of one who conducts himself humbly, even if he knows many things and is very understanding.”

“On account of which it should be noted that sacred Scripture sets before us a sevenfold septenary for consideration, namely of the capital vices, of the Sacraments, of the virtues, of the gifts, of the beatitudes, of the petitions, and of the glorious endowments, three spiritual and four corporal: the septenary of vices as the first, from which we ought to withdraw; the septenary of the Sacraments as the second, through which we ought to advance; the septenary of the endowments as the last, which we ought to desire; the septenary of the petitions as the penultimate, by which we ought to ask: and the threefold intermediate septenary of the virtues, the gifts, and the beatitudes, through which we ought to pass: so that, praising the name of the Lord and praying seven times a day, we may obtain the sevenfold grace of the virtues, gifts, and beatitudes, by which we may overcome the sevenfold battle of the capital vices and arrive at the sevenfold crown of the glorious endowments, with the aid nonetheless of the sevenfold medicine of the Sacraments divinely established for the restoration of the human race.”

“Which peace our Lord Jesus Christ proclaimed and gave; of whose preaching our father Francis was a renewer, announcing peace at the beginning and end of every sermon, wishing peace in every greeting, sighing for ecstatic peace in every contemplation, like a citizen of that Jerusalem, of which that man of peace speaks, who was peaceable with those who hated peace: Pray for the things that are for the peace of Jerusalem. For he knew that the throne of Solomon was only in peace, since it is written: In peace is his place made, and his dwelling in Sion.”

“Which peace our Lord Jesus Christ proclaimed and gave; of whose preaching our father Francis was a renewer, announcing peace at the beginning and end of every sermon, wishing peace in every greeting, sighing for ecstatic peace in every contemplation, like a citizen of that Jerusalem, of which that man of peace speaks, who was peaceable with those who hated peace: Pray for the things that are for the peace of Jerusalem. For he knew that the throne of Solomon was only in peace, since it is written: In peace is his place made, and his dwelling in Sion.”

“Scripture enlightens in a circle, as, for instance, when it advises us not to flee, because we have protection all around. For we have the Lord and angels about us, wherefore the Psalm: Mountains are round about Jerusalem; so the Lord is round about His people. To the servant of Eliseus who cried out because of the Syrian robbers who sought to capture him, Eliseus said: "Lord, open his eyes, that he may see." And the Lord opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw. And behold the mountain was full of horses, and chariots of fire round about Eliseus. Jacob too, afraid of his brother, saw the angels and said: "This is the encampment of God." Wherefore the Psalm says: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? And in another passage: Had not the Lord been with us, let Israel say, etc., until the end.”

“Scripture enlightens in a circle, as, for instance, when it advises us not to flee, because we have protection all around. For we have the Lord and angels about us, wherefore the Psalm: Mountains are round about Jerusalem; so the Lord is round about His people. To the servant of Eliseus who cried out because of the Syrian robbers who sought to capture him, Eliseus said: "Lord, open his eyes, that he may see." And the Lord opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw. And behold the mountain was full of horses, and chariots of fire round about Eliseus. Jacob too, afraid of his brother, saw the angels and said: "This is the encampment of God." Wherefore the Psalm says: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? And in another passage: Had not the Lord been with us, let Israel say, etc., until the end.”

“These apostles are the children of them that have been shaken. The Psalm reads: "As arrows in the hand of the mighty, so the children of them that have been shaken." The apostolical order corresponds to the Father as He is in the Holy Spirit. In the patriarchs, there was stability of faith, in the prophets, clarity of knowledge, and in the apostles, the warmth of love. If, then, the birth in the New Testament was to be out of the most noble origin, it had to be out of the most noble Principles. Wherefore the apostles correspond to the Seraphim, because the apostolic order is conformed to Christ.”

“As a figure of this it is written in the Psalm: "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. Like ointment upon the head, which descended upon the beard, the beard of Aaron." We have one Father, one sacrifice, one Sacrament, and one reward. First there is the ointment of piety upon the head; afterwards it descends upon all others who draw near to the head. First there ought to be piety in prelates and superiors, and afterwards in the common people; whence he says: "which descended to the hem of his garment."”

“As a figure of this it is written in the Psalm: "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. Like ointment upon the head, which descended upon the beard, the beard of Aaron." We have one Father, one sacrifice, one Sacrament, and one reward. He says: "Like ointment upon the head." First there is the ointment of piety upon the head; afterwards it descends upon all others who draw near to the head. First there ought to be piety in prelates and superiors, and afterwards in the common people; whence he says: "which descended to the hem of his garment." Concerning this oil of piety it is said in the fourth book of Kings that a certain woman came to Elisha and said that her creditors wished to take her children; and she said: "My husband was a man who feared God." And Elisha said that she should bring all the vessels of her neighbors and pour some of that oil into each one, until all were filled. Why did he command her to bring the vessels of her neighbors? Could he not have multiplied the oil and filled a single jar, so that the woman would not have labored so much? I say that the woman holds the type of the Church, and Elisha holds the type of Christ. When the Church is poor in merits and it is necessary that she repay the debt: by what means will she repay? She must fill the vessels of her neighbors. Do you wish the piety of mother Church to descend upon you? Fill the vessels of your neighbors. This oil of piety ought to be possessed by all. Whence in the Song of Songs: "Your name is oil poured out."”

“And this entirely through that one hierarch, Jesus Christ, who by reason of the human nature assumed is not only hierarch in the ecclesiastical hierarchy, but also in the angelic, and the middle Person in that supercelestial hierarchy of the most blessed Trinity; so that through Him from God the supreme head, the grace of anointing descends not only upon the beard, but also upon the hem of the garment, because not only upon the heavenly Jerusalem, but even unto the Church Militant.”

“Since therefore through these four properties the body is made conformed to the spirit and also subject to it, hence it is that in these four it is said to be especially endowed, by reason of which it has the aptitude to follow the spirit and to be placed in the celestial region, which is the region of the Blessed. For in these properties it is made like to the celestial bodies, through which the celestial body is, as it were, gradually distant from the four elements: and thus the fourfold dowry of bodies renders the body both perfect in itself and conformed to the celestial habitation and to the blessed Spirit, through whom from the supreme head, God, even unto the hem of the garment, namely the body, the fullness of sweetness and the inebriation of beatitude overflows and, insofar as is possible, is derived.”

“And so, in descending order, out of charity which is an ointment flowing from the head over the beard upon the collar of the robe, there is the cleaving to God, to self, to the neighbor and to one's body. Hence, as there are twelve fruits in the twelve examples of ascent towards charity, so also there are twelve fruits in the descent. And this is what is said in the Apocalypse: "On both sides of the river, was the tree of life, bearing twelve fruits, yielding its fruit according to each month." On the one side of the river, the intellectual fruits; on the other, the affective; or on the one side the ascending fruits, and on the other the descending.”

“There is a hierarchizing of the soul in the order of descent, that is, by way of going down. For it is fitting that "the ointment upon the head" of the hierarchy on high run down "over the beard" in the intermediate hierarchy, and upon the "robe," that is, the lowest hierarchy. Now, these things come about according to the powers of the soul, and Dionysius says they are three: the powers of receiving, preserving, and distributing, so that a soul may receive abundantly, preserve attentively, and pour out again generously.”

“Do not allow the serpent to enter into your heart through suggestion; for Gregory says that when the head of the serpent has entered into any opening, then the whole body easily enters. For this reason the Psalm says: "Blessed is he who shall seize and dash his little ones against the rock," that is, the first movements against Christ: and then he shall have peace. He who wishes to defend his land fears for himself, lest the enemy enter his land: for he who holds the borders of his land in strength possesses the interior more securely.”

“Sacred Scripture possesses in its progression a sublimity, which consists in the description of hierarchies arranged in graduated order, which are the ecclesiastical, angelic, and divine hierarchy; such that it describes the first openly, the second somewhat more hiddenly, and the third still more hiddenly. From its description of the ecclesiastical hierarchy it is lofty; from its description of the angelic, loftier; from its description of the divine, loftiest, so that we may say that word of the Prophet: Your knowledge is become wonderful to me; it is strengthened, and I cannot reach unto it.”

“Here it must be noted that there is a clarity of philosophical knowledge, of theological knowledge, of gratuitous knowledge, and a clarity of glorious knowledge. The clarity of philosophical knowledge is great according to the opinion of worldly men, yet it is small in comparison to the clarity of Christian knowledge. The clarity of theological knowledge indeed seems small according to the opinion of worldly men, but according to truth it is great. The clarity of gratuitous knowledge is greater, but the clarity of glorious knowledge is the greatest: there lies the final state. "Your knowledge is become wonderful beyond me; it is fortified, and I cannot attain to it," namely in this life.”

“Although the intellect and the affection of the rational soul never rest except in God and in the infinite good, this is not because it comprehends that good, but because nothing suffices for the soul unless it exceeds its capacity. Whence it is true that both the affection and the intellect of the rational soul itself are borne toward the infinite good and true, and toward it as infinite; but to be borne toward it can be in six modes, namely by believing, by reasoning, by wondering, by gazing, by exceeding and by comprehending. The first mode is of imperfection and of the way; the last mode is of the highest perfection and is proper to the eternal and infinite Trinity; the second and third modes pertain to the progress of the way; the fourth and fifth to the consummation of the fatherland. For on the way we can contemplate the divine immensity by reasoning and by wondering: but in the fatherland by gazing, when we shall have been made deiform, and by exceeding, when we shall be wholly inebriated: on account of which inebriation Anselm says at the end of the Proslogion that we shall enter more into the divine joy than the divine joy shall enter into our heart. And since that soul united to the Word is both more made deiform and more inebriated on account of a grace not merely sufficient, but also superexcellent: therefore it gazes upon the divine wisdom and by gazing exceeds into it, although it does not comprehend it. And for this reason wonder has a place not only on the way, but also in the fatherland: not only in the Angels, but also in the soul assumed by God, so that it says: Your knowledge is become wonderful from me; it is strengthened, and I cannot reach unto it, as the Gloss expounds concerning the man assumed by the Word, that "he cannot be made equal to Him in wisdom nor in anything else."”

“Job says: "I always feared God as though waves were swelling over me." And why? I cannot flee on account of the sublimity of divine power, because "if I ascend into heaven, thou art there; if I descend into hell, thou art present; if I take my wings at dawn and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there thy hand shall lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me." Likewise, I cannot hide on account of the perspicacity of divine wisdom, because God sees all things. Likewise, I cannot resist on account of the severity of divine vengeance, because he who sins is punished by eternal judgment. It is necessary, therefore, that we fear God.”

“Job says: "I always feared God as though waves were swelling over me." And why? I cannot flee on account of the sublimity of divine power, because "if I ascend into heaven, thou art there; if I descend into hell, thou art present; if I take my wings at dawn and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there thy hand shall lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me." Likewise, I cannot hide on account of the perspicacity of divine wisdom, because God sees all things. Likewise, I cannot resist on account of the severity of divine vengeance, because he who sins is punished by eternal judgment. It is necessary, therefore, that we fear God.”

“Job says: "I always feared God as though waves were swelling over me." And why? I cannot flee on account of the sublimity of divine power, because "if I ascend into heaven, thou art there; if I descend into hell, thou art present; if I take my wings at dawn and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there thy hand shall lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me." Likewise, I cannot hide on account of the perspicacity of divine wisdom, because God sees all things. Likewise, I cannot resist on account of the severity of divine vengeance, because he who sins is punished by eternal judgment. It is necessary, therefore, that we fear God.”

“By which most fervent desire, in the manner of fire, our spirit is not only made agile for ascent, but also by a certain learned ignorance is rapt above itself into darkness and ecstasy, so that not only does it say with the bride: We will run in the fragrance of your ointments, but also sings with the Prophet: And the night is my illumination in my delights. Which nocturnal and delightful illumination no one knows except he who experiences it, nor does anyone experience it except through grace divinely given, nor is it given to anyone except to him who exercises himself toward it.”