Hab 3:4

“What does the psalm have to say of the Savior? "As the beloved Son of unicorns." Our beloved Lord and Savior is the Son of the unicorns, the Son of the cross, of whom Habakkuk sings, "Rays shine forth from beside him, where his power is concealed." After this beloved Son was crucified, then, was fulfilled the prophecy of the psalm: "The voice of the Lord strikes fiery flames." For when Christ had been baptized and the entire universe had been purified in his cleansing, the fire of hell was extinguished.”

“(Verse 4.) He covered the heavens with his glory, and the earth is full of his praise. His splendor is like light: horns are in his hands. There his strength is hidden. LXX: His power covered the heavens, and the earth is full of his praise, and his splendor shall be like light: horns are in his hands, and he set strong love of his strength. Because the Seventy have interpreted, and he set strong love of his strength: and we have said, there his strength is hidden: Aquila translated, and he set a hiding of his strength: Symmachus, and he set his hidden strength; only Theodotion agrees with our translation, he says: and there is a hiding of his strength. For the word 'ibi' in this sentence, it is understood and placed there for the sake of the quality of the place. More accurately, it should be read as 'ibi' in the present location, rather than 'posuit,' in order to make sense and maintain the order of the sentence. 'Cornua in manibus ejus' should be understood as 'ibi,' meaning that his strength is hidden in the horns. It is clear, according to the Hebrew, that all things are filled with glory in the coming of Christ, as it is said in the Gospel: 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men' (Luke 2:14). And elsewhere: He made peace in heaven and on earth through the blood of the cross, and he sits at the right hand of greatness: for his word runs swiftly. And elsewhere: O Lord, our Lord, how admirable is your name in all the earth (Ps. CXLVII, 1)! And again in the eighteenth Psalm: Their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world (Ps. XVIII, 5). And his splendor, like the sun of righteousness, shone with clear light; and in his hands are horns, the banners and trophies of the cross, and in these horns is hidden his strength: For though he was in the form of God, he did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped; but he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant: he became obedient to the Father unto death, even death on a cross (Phil. II, 6 seqq). Therefore, for a little while, His strength was hidden on the cross, when He said to the Father: My soul is sorrowful even unto death (Matt. XXVI, 38, 39): And: Father, if it is possible, let this chalice pass from me (Luke XXIII, 13). And on the cross itself: Father, into your hands I commend my spirit. Furthermore, according to the Septuagint, in that which is said: His power covered the heavens, we should understand that what is covered is less than the one covering: if, however, the whole is covered and not just a part, then what is covered. Therefore, when the power of God covers the heavens, His power is greater than the heavens themselves, which are covered by it. The heavens, moreover, are those who bear the image of the heavenly, and who proclaim the glory of God, as we often read. The apostle also proves the power of God the Lord Savior: Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:30). This power is like the mother of all special (or spiritual) virtues, for example, it is called virtue, wisdom, fortitude, justice, temperance, truth, holiness, redemption. But Christ has become for us from God wisdom, justice, sanctification, and redemption. Therefore, these special virtues, in which Christ is manifested (according to the progress of those who receive him either in wisdom, or in fortitude, or in justice, and other such attributes), are contained in the general virtue of God, that is, in the Lord Savior: and in this way we understand the earth, that those who were first called earth because of the image of the earthly, and it was said to them: You are earth, and to earth you shall return (Gen. 3:19), may be filled with the praise of the Lord in the coming of the Savior. But when the heavens, by the power of God, will have been covered (indeed protected and clothed on every side), and the whole earth will be filled with the praise of God, then His splendor will be like light. However, the apostle does not remain silent about the image of God and the splendor of His glory, which is the God Savior: After the splendor of the glory of God appeared to us, He returned to His original majesty (Hebrews 1). For although we knew Christ according to the flesh, now we no longer know Him according to the flesh, but rather according to the Spirit; because, In Him was life, and the life was the light of men (John 1:3, 4). And what is shown even more clearly in the Gospel of the Savior, he says: Father, glorify me with the glory that I had with you before the world was made (John 17:5); so that after his ascension to heaven, there may be a radiance that is light, that is, the Son begins to be what the Father is. And what follows, 'Horns in his hands,' is a customary expression in the Scriptures, that horns are always set for kingdoms. For even what Anna speaks in the first book of Kings, 'He has exalted the horn of his Christ' (1 Samuel 2:10), signifies the magnificence of the Savior's kingdom. And in Daniel, ten horns symbolize ten kingdoms (Dan. VII). However, it is now said: Horns in his hands, as we also read elsewhere: The heart of the king is in the hand of God (Prov. XXI, 1): because it is the mind and the principal of the holy heart (which goes towards the kingdoms of heaven, but still located on earth, reigns over the body without sins) does not wander externally; but is situated under the protection of God. However, since in Hebrew and in other editions it does not have written: Horns in his hands, but in his hand, which is called Jado (), let us understand the strong and robust hand of God as His Son. And let us say that in this hand are all the kingdoms of heaven and those who strive to ascend to heaven: which Isaiah also signifies, saying: A vineyard is made for the beloved in a fertile place, for it is in the kingdom. For this reason, I think no horned animal is considered unclean in Leviticus, and it also signifies the unicorn in the Psalms (Psalm 49 and 91), or ῥινοκερότα; and that: In you we will scatter our enemies with a horn (Psalm 44, 7). But as we read in the Septuagint: and he placed the love of his strong power, this also must be understood of Christ, that God the Father therefore covered the heavens with his power, and filled the earth with praise, and made his splendor to be as light, and placed his kingdom in the hand of his Son, that he might make his beloved to be loved by men, and to be loved not lightly, but vehemently and strongly, so that those who loved him strongly, and remained in his love, no one would take them out of his hand. On the contrary, the devil makes us love the world, and, out of a love for virtue, to love vices, and not lightly, but strongly, so that it can be said of us: And the devil placed strong love in his vices.”

“His brightness will be like the light. The brightness of the virtues and the doctrine of the Lord and Savior will enlighten the believers; from which he is called the Sun of Righteousness in the Scriptures; but because the same brightness could not shine perfectly in the world unless he, having tasted death for a time, destroyed the kingdom of death, and rising from the dead granted the hope and faith of rising to the world, it is rightly added:”

“Horns are in His hands. There the power of His glory was confirmed. He calls the transverse wood of the cross horns, which He held fixed by the hands, so that by overcoming all death in this manner of death, He might thus confirm the power of His glory in the hearts of the chosen, so that they are not retarded from His love by any terrors or blandishments; also promising them the glory of future incorruption, through which the last enemy, death, will be destroyed (1 Cor. 15:26). Finally, on the holy mountain, with Peter, James, and John present, His splendor shone like light; and they were indeed delighted by the sight of this splendor, but nonetheless, it was proven how fragile and weak they still were at the time of His passion: but after He accepted the horns of the cross in His hands, there the power of His glory was confirmed: so that it could not be driven away from the hearts of the faithful by terrors, nor wounds, nor even death itself. The kingdoms of this world can be suggested in the horns, as is the custom of the prophets. (The sublimity of the human mind, whether good or reprobate, can be designated by the term horns). And horns are in the hands of Christ, because He Himself is the King of kings and the Lord of lords (1 Tim. 6:15). Horns are in His hands, to humble one, and exalt another, He breaks all the horns of sinners, which are foolishly exalted, and the horns of the just are exalted, namely desires devoted to God, by which they strive to overcome all contests of the impious and vices.”

“And He placed the love firm in the strength of His fortitude. The saints indeed loved the fortitude of Christ with intimate love, even before His passion; but this very love was not firm until, having completed His passion and resurrection, He more fully gave them the grace of the Holy Spirit. Then indeed it was made so firm that not even the horns of kings themselves, namely the power of the insolent, could break it.”