SB_CSD

COLLATIONS ON THE SIX DAYS

100. FIRST COLLATION On the Qualities Required of Hearers of the Divine Word, and on Christ as the Center of All Knowledge

COLLATIO IDE QUALITATIBUS IN AUDITORIBUS DIVINI VERBI REQUISITIS ET DE CHRISTO OMNIUM SCIENTIARUM MEDIO

1. IN THE midst of the Church the Lord shall open his mouth, and shall fill him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding and shall clothe him with a robe of glory. In these words the Holy Spirit teaches the prudent man to whom he should address his speech, from where he should begin it, and finally where he should end it. First, to whom he should address it, that is, to the Church: for what is holy should not be given to dogs nor should pearls be thrown to the swine. Second, from where to begin, that is, from the center (medium), which is Christ: for if this Medium is overlooked, no result is obtained. Third, where he should end, that is, in fullness, in the complete fulfilling of the spirit of wisdom and understanding.

1. In medio Ecclesiae aperiet os eius et adimplebit eum Dominus spiritu sapientiae et intellectus et stola gloriae vestiet illum, Ecclesiastici decimo quinto =|1|= . In verbis istis docet Spiritus sanctus prudentem, quibus debet sermonem depromere, unde incipere, ubi terminare.$Primo, quibus debet loqui: quia Ecclesiae; non enim dandum est sanctum canibus, nec margaritae spargendae sunt ante porcos =|2|= .$Secundo docet ubi debet incipere: quia a medio, quod est Christus; quod medium si negligatur, nihil habetur.$Tertio ubi terminare: quia in plenitudine sive adimpletione spiritus sapientiae et intellectus.

2. But first, we must speak of ourselves and consider what qualities we must possess. For a ray of light offered to a weak eye blinds it instead of enlightening it. Hence we should speak of the Church which is the assembly of rational men, while the synagogue is the gathering of herds and of men living animal lives. =|1|= We should speak of the Church which is a union of rational men living in harmony and uniformity through harmonious and uniform observance of divine Law, harmonious and uniform adherence to divine peace, harmonious and uniform concelebration of divine praise. Now these three are in logical order, for there can be no praise without peace, nor divine peace without observance of divine Law.

2. Sed primo loquendum est de nobis ipsis et videndum, quales esse debemus. Si enim oculo infirmo apponatur radius, potius excaecatur quam illuminetur. Loquendum est igitur Ecclesiae, quae quidem est convocatio rationalium; synagoga autem est congregatio gregum et hominum brutaliter viventium. Ecclesiae loquendum est, quae quidem est unio rationalium concorditer et uniformiter viventium per concordem et uniformem observantiam divinae legis, per concordem et uniformem cohaerentiam divinae pacis, per concordem et uniformem consonantiam divinae laudis. Haec autem ordinata sunt: quia laus esse non potest, ubi non est pax, nec divina pax, ubi non est observantia divinae legis.

3. Concerning the first item, let us quote St. Paul: "I write these things to thee, my son Timothy,... in order that thou mayest know ... how to conduct thyself in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and mainstay of the truth. The Church is called pillar and mainstay because it both enlightens the mind and strengthens virtue. Those who come to it are enlightened by faith and strengthened by the constancy of virtue. And divine Law brings about these two effects. Hence it is the column of the sons of Israel, whose motion indicated clearly how they were to act and how to rest. For on this point all Churches are in agreement, on how to observe God's Law, as in olden days the whole people kept their eyes on the moving column. He who does not look upon it does not belong to the unity of the Church, for instance if he does not understand this Law, or understanding it, refuses to obey it.

3. De primo in prima ad Timotheum: Haec tibi scribo > fili Timothee, ut scias, quomodo oporteat te conversari in domo Dei, quae est Ecclesia Dei vivi, columna et firmamentum veritatis =|3|= . Ecclesia dicitur columna et firmamentum, quia mentis illustrativa, et quia virtutis stabilitum. Venientes autem ad eam illustrantur per fidem et stabiliuntur per virtutis constantiam. Et haec duo facit lex divina. Unde est columna filiorum Israel =|4|= , ad cuius motum apparet omnino, quomodo agendum et quomodo quiescendum. In hoc enim omnes Ecclesiae concordant, ut custodiant legem Dei, sicut olim totus populus motum columnae aspiciebat. Qui ad hanc non aspicit semper non est de unitate Ecclesiae, ut si eam non intelligas, vel si intelligis, eam non sequaris.

4. Now we should speak of the Church of rational men united in harmonious and uniform adherence to divine peace. Of this it is said in Ecclesiasticus: The sons of wisdom are the Church of the just: and their generation, obedience and love. For the Church in return loves itself. And love is born of obedience to the Law. And the Law itself commands love: Now the purpose of this charge is charity, or love, from a pure heart and a good conscience and faith unfeigned. And again, he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the Law. And this can be proved in the Saviour's own words: "On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets." And so it is fitting that those who obey the Law be loving also. "By this will all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." And the Apostle writes: For God is a God of peace, not of disorder.

4. Item loquendum est Ecclesiae rationalium unitorum per concordem et uniformem cohaerentiam divinae pacis. Unde dicitur in Ecclesiastico: Filii sapientiae ecclesia iustorum, et natio illorum obedientia et dilectioEcclesia enim mutuo se diligens est. Dilectio autem nascitur ex legis impletione. Lex enim praecipit dilectionem, in prima ad Timotheum: Finis praecepti est dilectio seu caritas de corde puro et conscientia bona et fide non ficta =|6|= . Et idem Apostolus: Qui diligit proximum legem implevit =|1|= . Et probat per verbum Salvatoris: In his, inquit, duobus universa lex pendet et Prophetae =|8|= . Oportet ergo, ut legis Observatores sint amatores, Ioannis decimo tertio: In hoc cognoscent omnes, quia discipuli mei estis, si dilectionem habueritis ad invicem =|9|= \ et Apostolus: Non est Deus dissensionis, sed pacis =|10|= .

5. Finally, 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. 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.

5. Item loquendum est Ecclesiae rationalium unitorum per concordem et uniformem consonantiam divinae laudis; in Psalmo: Apud te laus mea in ecclesia magna =|11|= . Sicut enim ex multitudine vocum unitarum secundum quandam proportionem et harmoniam dulcedo cantus fit; sic ex multorum affectione harmonia spiritualis, placens Altissimo; unde in Psalmo: In ecclesiis benedicite Deo domino de fontibus Israel =|12|= . -- Talibus igitur observatoribus divinae legis, amatoribus divinae pacis, persolutoribus divinae laudis, et non aliis, debet fieri sermo; et tales sunt viri ecclesiastici. Qui autem rapitur extra hanc Ecclesiam =|13|= , illi non debet fieri.

6. For a man is snatched away by the spirit of carnality and cupidity which oppose the first perfection. For these are the two vices that turn man away from God's Law. Indeed, this Law of God prescribes the common good and the spiritual good and recoils from impure love which is carnality and from exclusive love which is cupidity. For the Law is hateful to carnal and covetous men: never do they want to listen to it. They are like the dog and the swine. The dog is always covetous and never wants to share, and the swine always wants to live in the mire.

6. Rapitur autem homo per spiritum carnalitatis et cupiditatis, contra primum. Hi duo sunt, qui avertunt hominem a lege Dei et excaecant duos oculos mentis. Lex enim Dei praecipit bonum commune et bonum spirituale et retrahit ab amore foedo, qui est carnalitatis, et ab amore privato, qui est cupiditatis. Lex enim odiosa est carnali et cupido; nec unquam eam audire volunt. Sunt enim sicut canis et porcus. Canis enim semper est cupidus et nunquam communicare volens, porcus autem semper in luto esse vult.

7. Opposing adherence to peace, we have the spirit of malice and cruelty, of hatred and anger, and these two lead to complete perversion: the malicious man turns every good into evil, while the angry man turns every evil into good and considers good the actual rendering of evil. Hence they change darkness into light, and light into darkness. Such as these are unqualified to listen to God's Law.

7. Item, contra cohaerentiam pacis est spiritus malignitatis et crudelitatis, invidus et iracundus; et hi duo totum pervertunt: invidus omne bonum convertit in malum, iracundus omne malum in bonum et ipsam redditionem mali reputat bonum. Et ideo ponunt tenebras lucem et lucem tenebras, Isaiae quinto =|14|= . Unde tales non sunt idonei ad audiendum legem Dei.

8. Again, opposing the concelebration of divine praise, we have the spirit of presumption and curiosity, in the sense that the presumptuous does not glorify God but praises himself, while the curious is lacking in devotion. There are many men of this kind, empty of praise and devotion although filled with the splendors of knowledge. They build wasps' nests without honeycombs, while the bees make honey.

8. Item, contra consonantiam divinae laudis spiritus praesumptionis et curiositatis, ita quod praesumptuosus Deum non magnificat,$sed sese laudat; curiosus autem devotionem non habet, Unde multi sunt tales, qui vacui sunt laude et devotione, etsi habeant splendorem scientiarum. Faciunt enim casas vesparum, quae non habent favum mellis, sicut apes, quae mellificant.

9. To such as these this speech is not to be addressed, for they are a rebellious house; and sometimes, because of the inadequate disposition of the listeners, the Lord makes the tongue stick to the palate. But the brothers should be spoken to, hence, the Psalm: I will proclaim your name to my brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will praise you; and spiritual men also, in order that they may be drawn from worldly knowledge to Christian knowledge. For theologians have attacked the life of Christ as related to morals, and the teachers of the School of Art have attacked the doctrine of Christ by their false statements. That is no sufficient reason to return to Egypt by seeking vile food, garlic, scallions and pumpkins, while rejecting heavenly food. And so the first point is made clear.

9. Talibus itaque iam dictis non est faciendus sermo, quia sunt domus exasperans =|15|= ; et aliquando propter indispositionem auditorum facit Dominus linguam adhaerere palato =|1|= **-, sed loquendum est fratribus, unde in Psalmo: Narrabo nomen tuum fratribus meis, in medio, ecclesiae laudabo te =|17|= , et viris spiritualibus, ut a sapientia mundana trahantur ad sapientiam christianam. Praecessit enim impugnatio vitae Christi in moribus per theologos, et impugnatio doctrinae Christi per falsas positiones per artistas. Non itaque redeundum est in Aegyptum per desiderium vilium ciborum, alliorom, porrorum et peponum =|18|= , nec dimittendus cibus caelestis. -- Et sic patet primum.

10. As regards the second point, note that a beginning should be made from the center (medium), that is, from Christ. For He Himself is the Mediator between God and men, holding the central position in all things, as shall be seen. Hence it is necessary to start from Him if a man wants to reach Christian wisdom, as it is proved in Matthew: for no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and him to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him. It is also 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, =|2|= 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.

10. Circa secundum nota, quod incipiendum est a medio, quod est Christus. Ipse enim mediator Dei et hominum =|19|= est, tenens medium in omnibus, ut patebit. Unde ab illo incipiendum necessario, si quis vult venire ad sapientiam christianam, ut probatur in Matthaeo, quia nemo novit Filium nisi Pater, neque Patrem quis novit nisi Vilius, et cui voluerit Filius revelare =|20|= . -- Manifestum est etiam, quod ab illo incipiendum, a quo duo maxime sapientes inceperunt, scilicet Moyses, inchoator sapientiae Dei, et Ioannes, terminator. Alter dixit: In principio creavit Deus caelum et terram =|21|= , id est in Filio, secundum Augustinum; et Ioannes: In principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum. Hoc erat in principio apud Deum. Omnia per ipsum facta sunt =|12|= . Si ergo ad notitiam creaturae perveniri non potest nisi per id, per quod facta est; necesse est, ut verbum verax praecedat te, in Ecclesiastico =|23|= .

11. Our intent, then, is to show that in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and that He Himself is the central point of all understanding. He is the central point in a sevenfold sense, in terms of essence, nature, distance, doctrine, moderation, justice and concord. The first is in the metaphysical order, the second in the physical, the third in the mathematical, the fourth in the logical, the fifth in the ethical, the sixth in the political or juridical, and the seventh in the theological. The first Center is first by eternal origin, the second is most strong through the diffusion of power, the third is most deep because of the centrality of position, the fourth is most clear by rational proof, the fifth is most important because of the choice of moral good, the sixth is outstanding because of the retribution of justice, the seventh is at peace through universal conciliation. Christ was the first center by His eternal generation, the second by His incarnation, the third by His passion, the fourth by His resurrection, the fifth by His ascension, the sixth by the judgment to come, the seventh by the eternal retribution or beatification.

11. Propositum igitur nostrum est ostendere, quod in Christo sunt omnes thesauri sapientiae et scientiae Dei absconditi =|24|= , et ipse est medium omnium scientiarum. Est autem septiforme medium, scilicet essentiae, naturae, distantiae, doctrinae, modestiae, iustitiae, concordiae. Primum est de consideratione metaphysici, secundum physici, tertium mathematici, quartum logici, quintum ethici, sextum politici seu iuristarum, septimum theologi. -- Primum medium est aeternali origine primarium; secundum virtuali diffusione pervalidum; tertium centrali positione profundum; quartum rationali manifestatione praeclarum;$quintum morali electione praecipuum; sextum iudiciali compensatione praecelsum; septimum universali conciliatione pacatum. -- Primum medium Christus fuit in aeterna generatione; secundum in incarnatione; tertium in passione; quartum in resurrectione; quintum in ascensione; sextum in futuro examine; septimum in sempiterna retributione sive beatificatione.

12. And so, the first center is in the order of essence. It is first by reason of eternal generation. Being can exist in only two ways: either as subsistent, self- modeled and self-intended, or as contingent, modeled on another and tending to another. Also, a subsistent being must necessarily be self-modeled and self-intended. Subsistent being is in the order of originating, self-modeled being in the order of exemplating, and self-intended being in the order of ending or terminating; that is, they are related to the origin, the center, and the end or terminal point. The Father is in the order of the originating principle, the Son in the order of the exemplating center, the Holy Spirit in the order of the fulfilling end. These three Persons are equal and of equal nobility: for it is of equal nobility for the Holy Spirit to complete the divine Persons as it is for the Father to originate them and for the Son to represent them all. =|3|=

12. Primum ergo medium est essentiae aeternali generatione primarium. Esse enim non est nisi dupliciter: vel esse, quod est ex se et secundum se et propter se, vel esse, quod est ex alio et secundum aliud et propter aliud. Necesse etiam est, ut esse, quod est ex se, sit secundum se et propter se. Esse ex se est in ratione originantis; esse secundum se in ratione exemplantis, et esse propter se in ratione timentis vel terminantis; id est in ratione principii, medii et finis seu termini. Pater in ratione originantis principii; Filius in ratione exemplaris medii; Spiritus sanctus in ratione terminantis complementi. Hae tres personae sunt aequales et aeque nobiles, quia aequae nobilitatis est Spiritui sancto divinas personas terminare, sicut Patri originare, vel Filio omnia repraesentare.

13. Although the metaphysician is able to rise from the consideration of created and particular substance to that of the universal and uncreated and to the very notion of being, so that he reaches the ideas of beginning, center and final end, yet he does not attain the notions of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. For the metaphysician rises to the notion of this being by seeing it in the light of the original principle of all things, and in this he meets physical science that studies the origin of things. He also rises to the notion of this being in the light of the final end, and in this he meets moral philosophy, or ethics, which leads all things back to the one Supreme Good as to the final end by considering either practical or speculative happiness. But when he considers this being in the light of that principle which is the exemplary of all things, he meets no other science, but is a true metaphysician. For from all eternity the Father begets a Son similar to Himself and expresses Himself and a likeness similar to Himself, and in so doing He expresses the sum total of His [active] potency; He expresses what He can do, and most of all, what He wills to do, and He expresses everything in Him, that is, in the Son or in that very Center, which so to speak is His Art. Hence this Center is Truth; and it is proved by Augustine =|4|= and other saints that "Christ having His chair in heaven teaches inwardly"; nor can any truth be known in any way whatsoever except through this Truth. For the same is the principle both of being and of knowing. If, then, as the Philosopher says, =|5|= the knowable is eternal as such, it necessarily follows that nothing can be known except through a truth that is immutable, undisturbed, and unconfined.

13. Metaphysicus autem, licet assurgat ex consideratione principiorum substantiae creatae et particularis ad universalem et increatam et ad illud esse, ut habet rationem principii, medii et finis ultimi, non tamen in ratione Patris et Filii et Spiritus sancti. Metaphysicus enim assurgit ad illud esse considerandum in ratione principii omnia originantis; et in hoc convenit cum physico, qui origines rerum considerat. Assurgit etiam ad considerandum illud esse in ratione ultimi finis; et in hoc convenit cum morali sive ethico, qui reducit omnia ad unum summum bonum ut ad finem ultimum, considerando felicitatem, sive practicam, sive speculativam. Sed ut considerat illud esse in ratione omnia exemplantis, cum nullo communicat et est verus metaphysicus. Pater enim ab aeterno genuit Filium similem sibi et dixit se et similitudinem suam similem sibi et cum hoc totum posse suum; dixit quae posset facere, et maxime quae voluit facere, et omnia in eo expressit, scilicet in Filio seu in isto medio tanquam in sua arte. Unde illud medium veritas est; et constat secundum Augustinum et alios sanctos, quod «Christus habens cathedram in caelo docet interius»; nec aliquo modo aliqua veritas sciri potest nisi per illam veritatem. Nam idem est principium essendi et cognoscendi. Si enim scibile in quantum scibile$secundum Philosophum aeternum est; necesse est, ut nihil sciatur nisi per veritatem immutabilem, inconcussam, incoangustatam.

14. This, by necessity, must be the central one of the Persons: for if there is one who produces and is not produced and another who is produced and does not produce, there must necessarily be a central one who is produced and produces. Such is a truth accessible to the mind alone, =|6 |= and in which angels, prophets and philosophers learn the truths they express.

14. Istud est medium personarum necessario: quia, si persona est, quae producit et non producitur, et persona, quae producitur et non producit, necessario est media quae producitur et producit. Haec est ergo veritas sola mente perceptibilis, in qua addiscunt Angeli, Prophetae, philosophi vera, quae dicunt.

15. 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.

15. De isto medio dicitur in Genesi: Produxit Dominus Deus de humo omne lignum pulcrum visu et ad vescendum suave, lignum etiam vitae in medio paradisi =|23|= . Secundum quod dicit Augustinus, de omnibus productis dictum est: Fiat; fecit, et factum est, praeterquam de luce, de qua dixit: Fiat lux, et facta est lux; quia primo producta sunt ab aeterno in arte aeterna, secundo in creatura intellectuali, tertio in mundo visibili.

16. And this is opposed to the errors of those who believe the world to have been created in eternity. =|7|= For arguing that our minds were born together with eternal lights, they believe that as things were brought forth or described by Eternal Art in all eternity, so also they were created in this world from all eternity; and as the world is written out from all eternity in the Eternal Art, so do they believe it to have been written out in matter. But this passage from Genesis concerning the earthly paradise is understood to refer to angelical, human, and eternal intelligence. For, as it has been said, the Father begot His own Likeness, that is, the Word coeternal with Himself, and expressed a similitude of Himself, and in so doing He expressed all that He could.

16. Et hoc est contra errores eorum qui credunt mundum ab aeterno creatum. Quia autem mentes nostrae cognatae sunt aeternis luminibus, putant, quod sicut res productae sunt seu descriptae in arte aeterna ab aeterno, sic ab aeterno in isto mundo creatae sunt; et sicut mundus ab aeterno descriptus est in arte aeterna, sic descriptum putant in materia. Hoc autem verbum Genesis de paradiso terrestri intelligitur de intellectu Angelico, humano et aeterno. Pater enim, ut dictum est, similem sibi genuit, scilicet Verbum sibi coaeternum, et dixit similitudinem suam, et per consequens expressit omnia, quae potuit.

17. Hence 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. Through the first Truth, all come back, as the Son expresses it: "I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again 1 leave the world and go to the Father." Likewise let anyone say: "Lord, I came out of You, the Supreme Being: I will return to You and through You, the Supreme Being." Such is the metaphysical Center that leads us back, and this is the sum total of our metaphysics: concerned with emanation, exemplarity, and consummation, that is, illumination through spiritual radiations and return to the Supreme Being. And in this you will be a true metaphysician.

17. Verbum ergo exprimit Patrem et res, quae per ipsum factae sunt, et principaliter ducit nos ad Patris congregantis unitatem; et secundum hoc est lignum vitae, quia per hoc medium redimus et vivificamur in ipso fonte vitae. Si vero decipiamur ad notitiam rerum in experientia, investigantes amplius quam nobis conceditur; cadimus a vera contemplatione et gustamus de ligno vetito scientiae boni et mali, sicut fecit lucifer. Si enim lucifer, contemplando illam veritatem, de notitia creaturae reductus fuisset ad Patris unitatem, fecisset de vespere mane diemque habuisset; sed quia cecidit in delectationem et appetitum excellentiae, diem amisit. Sic Adam similiter. -- Illud est medium faciens scire, scilicet veritas, et haec est lignum vitae; alia veritas est occasio mortis, cum quis ceciderit in amorem pulcritudinis creaturae. Per$primariam veritatem omnes redire debent, ut, sicut Filius dixit: Exivi a Patre et veni in mundum; iterum relinquo mundum et vado ad Patrem =|26|= ; sic dicat quilibet: Domine, exivi a te summo, venio ad te summum et per te summum. -- Hoc est medium metaphysicum reducens, et haec est tota nostra metaphysica: de emanatione, de exemplaritate, de consummatione, scilicet illuminari per radios spirituales et reduci ad summum. Et sic eris verus metaphysicus.

18. the second center is in the order of nature: it is most strong because of the diffusion of power, which is the concern of the physical scientist who studies motion and generation in relation to the influence of heavenly bodies on the elements, and the ordering of elements in combined forms, and of combined forms in complex forms, and of complex forms in the principles of plant-life, and of these in the principles of sensitive beings, and of these finally in the principles of rational beings, and this is the end.

18. Secundum medium est naturae virtuali diffusione pervalidum, quod est dé consideratione physici, qui considerat mobile et generationem secundum influentiam corporum caelestium in elementa, et ordinationem elementorum ad formam mixtionis, et formae mixtionis ad formam complexionis, et formae complexionis ad animam vegetabilem, et illius ad sensibilem, et illius ad rationalem, et ibi est finis.

19. The physical world offers also a twofold center, that of the large world and that of the small world. The center of the large world is the sun, that of the small world, the heart. For the sun stands in the center of the planets, and generations come about in accord with its elongated orbit =|8|= ")" by which physical nature regulates birth. For of all the planets, the sun has the greatest diffusion. There is a similar diffusion from the heart, as all physicians say. For the vital spirit is diffused by it through the arteries, and the animal spirit through the nerves, supplemented by the brain. The natural spirit is diffused by the same heart through the veins, but completed in the liver.

19. Considerat autem physicus duplex medium, scilicet maioris mundi et minoris mundi. Medium maioris mundi est sol, medium minoris est cor. Sol enim est in medio planetarum, secundum cuius delationem in obliquo circulo fiunt generationes, et regulat physicus generationem. Inter omnes autem planetas maioris diffusionis est sol. A corde similiter est diffusio, quidquid dicant medici. Nam spiritus vitalis ab eo diffunditur per arterias; spiritus autem animalis per nervos, licet complementum recipiat in cerebro; spiritus vero naturalis ab eodem diffunditur per venas, licet compleatur in hepate.

20. Christ was such a Center in His incarnation. Hence, it is written in John: "In the midst of you there has stood One whom you do not know." And later: "He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He upon whom thou wilt see the Spirit descending, and abiding upon Him, He it is who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' " The Scriptures call Christ sometimes the Center, sometimes the Head. He is called the Head because all the senses and spiritual motions and charismatic graces flow from Him. This He pours in as being united to the members. For the head of Christ is God, that is, in so far as He is God; but the head of every man is Christ, in so far as He is God and man. Hence He pours the Holy Spirit into the members of the Church united to Him, not separated from Him. And since in the human body there is no diffusion from the head to the members unless the members are united to the head, so it is with the Mystical Body. And so Christ is the center of the two animating spirits, as is the heart. Hence Habacuc: In the midst of the two animals Thou shalt make it known. And according to a different translation, in the midst of the years, as is the Sun: for the sum total of time runs on according to the ten steps in the dial of Achaz. According to the Septuagint, Christ was in between the animated beings that preceded Him and those that followed Him. =|9|=

20. Hoc medium fuit Christus in incarnatione; unde dicitur in Ioanne: Medius vestrum stetit, quem vos nescitis =|27|= ; et sequitur: Qui misit me baptizare in aqua, ille mihi dixit: Super quem videris Spiritum sanctum descendentem et manentem super eum, hic est qui baptizat in Spiritu sancto =|2|= *. -- Scriptura quandoque dicit Christum medium, quandoque caput. Caput dicitur, quia ab eo fluunt omnes sensus et motus spirituales et charismata gratiarum. Hoc autem influit, secundum quod est unitum membris. Caput enim Christi Deus est, secundum quod. scilicet Deus est; sed viri caput Christus =|29|= , secundum quod Deus et homo. Diffundit ergo Spiritum sanctum in membra Ecclesiae sibi unita, non separata. Unde sicut in corpore humano non est diffusio a capite in membra, nisi sibi unita; sic in corpore mystico. Ipse est ergo medium duorum animalium ut cor; unde in Habacuc: In medio duorum animalium cognoscens =|30|= ; et secundum aliam translationem: In medio annorum, scilicet ut sol; quia totum tempus decurrit, secundum quod$iste sol descendit per decem gradus in horologio Achaz =|31|= . Ipse est ergo secundum Septuaginta in medio animalium, quae praeibant et quae sequebantur.

21. the third center is in the order of distance. It is most deep because of the centrality of position. It is related to the mathematician: for although his first concern is the measuring of the earth, he further considers the motion of the higher bodies in so far as they act by their influence upon the lower earthly bodies. =|10|=

21. Tertium medium est distantiae centrali positione profundum, de quo mathematicus, cuius licet prima consideratio sit circa mensuram terrae, est tamen ulterius circa motus corporum superiorum, ut habent disponere haec inferiora secundum influentiam eorum.

22. 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.

22. Hoc medium fuit Christus in crucifixione. In Psalmo: Rex noster ante saecula operatus est salutem in medio terrae =|32|= . Terra enim plane centrum est, et ideo infima et ideo modica; et quia infima et modica, ideo suscipit omnes influentias caelestes, et ideo facit mirabiles pullulationes. Sic Filius Dei infimus, pauperculus, modicus, humum nostram suscipiens, de humo factus, non solum venit ad superficiem terrae, verum etiam in profundum centri, scilicet operatus est salutem in medio terrae, quia post crucifixionem anima sua in infernum descendit et restauravit caelestes sedes.

23. Such a Center has a saving power: and anyone who draws away from it is condemned, as drawing away from the means of humility. And the Saviour proves it: "I am in your midst as He who serves"; and in Matthew: "Unless you turn and become like little children, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven." In such a center He has wrought salvation, that is, in the humility of the cross.

23. Hoc medium est salvativum; a quo recedens damnatur, scilicet a medio humilitatis. Et hoc ostendit Salvator: Ego in medio vestrum sum9 sicut qui ministrat =|33|= ; et in Matthaeo: Nisi conversi fueritis et efficiamini sicut parvuli, non intrabitis in regnum caelorum =|34|= . In hoc medio operatus est salutem, scilicet in humilitate crucis.

24. But darkness has crept in, for Christians reject this central place in which Christ has saved mankind. In so doing, man opposes his own salvation, being unable to measure himself. What is the use of being able to measure other things if he is unable to measure himself? If he exalts himself a little more than he should, there is danger for him. As Bernard says: "The man who lifts up his head as he comes through the door will be hurt; the man who bows will not be hurt." =|11|= Hence it was answered to blessed Anthony that only the humble could escape from the devil's snares. =|12|= But how is it that humility is lacking, and also the light of wisdom? Because the fire is not banked in cinders, but our lantern is exposed to every wind, and before long the light goes out. As soon as there is something good in us, we want to show it off. By contrast, how marvelous is divine wisdom, for it brought forth salvation through the cinders of humility. For the center is lost in the circle, and it cannot be found except by two lines crossing each other at right angle.

24. Sed caligo subintravit, quia Christiani hunc medium locum dimittunt in quo Christus hominem salvavit. Unde homo impugnat suam salutem nesciens se metiri. Quid enim prodest, quod sciat metiri alia, cum se metiri nesciat? Si enim aliquantulum se plus quam debet, exaltat, periculum sibi est; sic dicit beatus Bernardus, quod «si quis intrans per portam, caput erigat, laeditur; qui autem se inclinaverit, non laeditur». Unde responsum fuit beato Antonio, quod solus humilis evadere poterat laqueos diaboli. -- Sed unde est, quod humilitas non habetur nec lumina sapientiae? Quia ignis non custoditur in medio cinerum, sed lucerna nostra exponitur omni vento, et cito extinguitur lucerna. Statim enim ostendere volumus, si quid boni in nobis est. Sed mirabilis fuit sapientia divina, quae per cinerem humilitatis operata est salutem. Medium enim, cum amissum est in circulo, inveniri non potest nisi per duas lineas se orthogonaliter intersecantes.

25. the fourth center is in the order of doctrine. It is most clear by rational proof. Every form of rational speech pertains to it, so that it is by means of it that we express what is with us. For speech is ordered to simple expression, expression to argumentation according to the four species of reasoning, argumentation to syllogism, and syllogism to persuasion. The intermediate term (center), therefore, by its evidence and manifestation and fittingness, forces the mind to give assent to the extremes, so that while the proper relationship between the extremes was not manifest at first, now by virtue of the intermediate term's fittingness to both, this relationship is made manifest. =|13|=

25. Quartum medium est doctrinae rationali manifestatione praeclarum. Ad hoc est omnis sermo rationalis, ut per ipsum tanquam per medium exprimamus quod est apud nos. Sermo enim est ad simplicem orationem; oratio ad argumentationem secundum quatuor species argu-$mentationis; argumentatio ad syllogismum; syllogismus ad persuadendum. Medium ergo per suam evidentiam et manifestationem et convenientiam cum extremis compellit rationem ad assentiendum, ut, quia extrema prius non conveniebant inter se manifeste, per virtutem medii cum utroque extremo convenientis inter se manifeste conveniant.

26. Christ was such a Center in His resurrection. For there is a reasoning of Christ and a reasoning of the devil. The reasoning of the devil leads to hell: it is a fallacy, a sophistic and destructive reasoning; the reasoning of Christ is constructive and restoring. 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 —hence in the damned there will be this highest punishment: that as such likeness is essential to the soul, so this desire will be essential in the damned —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." =|14 |= By means of this same fallacy, the devil made man fall into the sufferings of nature, the needs of indigence, and mortality of life.

26. Hoc medium fuit Christus in resurrectione. Est autem argumentum Christi et argumentum diaboli. Argumentum diaboli ducit ad infernum et est paralogismus et sophisticum argumentum et destructivum; argumentum Christi constructam et reparativum. Diabolus enim paralogizavit primum hominem et supposuit quandam propositionem in corde hominis quasi per se notam, quae est: creatura rationalis debet appetere similitudinem sui Creatoris, quia scilicet est imago -- unde in damnatis est maxima poena, quia, cum imago sit animae essentialis, similiter et talis appetitus erit essentialis in damnatis -- sed si comederis, assimileris =|35|= : ergo bonum est comedere de vetito, ut assimileris. Et per istum syllogismum omnes peccant, quia, ut dicit Dionysius, «nullus malus fit, ad malum aspiciens, sed omnis intendit bonum et appetit bonum; sed fallitur, quia similitudinem boni accipit pro vero». Per istum paralogismum induxit diabolus hominem in passibilitatem naturae, in necessitatem indigentiae, in mortalitatem vitae.

27. On the contrary, the reasoning of Christ brought about salvation and destroyed the devil's argument. Because the devil had made man differ from God while promising to make him similar to Him, Christ had to make Himself similar to man in order to make man similar to Himself, that is, to God. Hence, Christ as God enjoyed conformity of nature with the Father, equality of power and immortality of life. By these three perfections, He was united to the Father. But it was necessary that He be united to man in the three opposite qualifications. He assumed therefore the sufferings of nature, the needs of indigence, and mortality of life. And so He possessed the three [perfections] through His essence and assumed the three [imperfections] through His mercy. It was necessary also that the three [imperfections] be overcome by the three [perfections]. But by its very essence life could not be dominated by death, nor power by need, nor impassibility by suffering: and so it was necessary that man pass from mortality to immortality, from poverty to opulence, from suffering to the crown of glory. =|15|=

27. Econtra argumentum Christi fuit salvativum et destructivum argumenti diaboli. Ex quo enim diabolus fecerat hominem dissimilem Deo, cum tamen promisisset, similem se facturum; necesse fuit, Christum esse similem homini, ut faceret hominem similem sibi sive Deo. Christus ergo habuit conformitatem naturae in quantum Deus cum Patre, aequalitatem potentiae, immortalitatem vitae. In his tribus coniunctus fuit Patri. Necesse ergo fuit, ipsum in aliis tribus oppositis coniungi homini. Assumpsit ergo passibilitatem naturae, necessitatem indigentiae, mortalitatem vitae. Tria ergo habuit per essentiam et tria assumpsit per misericordiam. Necesse ergo fuit, ut tria vinceretur a tribus. Sed vita per essentiam superari non potuit a morte, nec potentia a penuria, nec impassibilitas a passibilitate. Necesse ergo fuit, ut homo transiret a mortalitate ad immortalitatem, a defectu ad opulentiam, de passibilitate ad coronam.

28. The major proposition existed from all eternity, the minor came about on the cross, and the conclusion appeared in the resurrection. The Jews believed they had confounded Christ, and they taunted Him: "If Thou art the Son of God, come down from the cross!" For Christ did not say: "Allow Me to live," but "Allow Me to take on death, to be joined with the opposite extreme, to suffer and to die." The conclusion follows from that. And so He Himself made a fool of the devil.

28. Maior propositio fuit ab aeterno; sed assumptio in cruce; conclusio vero in resurrectione. Iudaei credebant Christum confudisse et improperabant ei: Si Filius Dei es, descende de cruce =|}6|= . Nam Christus non dicebat: sinite me vivere, sed dicebat: sinite me mortem assu-$mere et alteri extremitati copulari, pati, mori; et tunc sequitur conclusio. Unde ipse illusit diabolo.

29. And this is the reasoning Christ used, during forty days appearing to them. "Did not the Christ have to suffer these things before entering into His glory?" Concerning this central position, John writes: When it was late ... Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be to you!" He is showing two things here, the loftiness of the state of glory, in that, being impassible and immortal, He entered as God while the doors were closed; later, He showed them His hands and side and forced Thomas to confess: "My Lord and my God!" Consider the progression. First He entered as God while the doors were closed: this is the major proposition. Then He proposed the minor by showing them His hands and His side. Finally, He wrested out the conclusion so that Thomas confessed: "My Lord and my God!"

29. Et ista sunt argumenta, quibus Christus utebatur, per quadraginta dies apparens eis =|37|= . Nonne, inquit, oportuit Christum pati, et ita intrare in gloriam suam? =|}S|= . De hoc medio Ioannes: Cum sero esset die illo, stetit Iesus in medio discipulorum et ait illis: Pax vobis =|39|= . Et duo ibi ostendit, scilicet gloriae sublimitatem, eo quod impassibilis et immortalis, clausis ianuis, intravit tanquam Deus; postea ostendit eis manus et latus =|40|= et confessionem extorsit a Thoma, ut diceret: Dominus meus et Deus meus/ =|41|= . Vide processum! Primo intravit ut Deus, ianuis clausis; haec fuit maior; deinde minorem propositionem assumit, cum ostendit eis manus et latus; tertio conclusionem extorsit, ut confiteretur Thomas: Dominus meus et Deus meus.

30. It is not without reason that the scroll was sealed with seven seals. "Behold," said one of the Elders, "the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, has overcome to open the scroll and its seven seals." These are the seven Centers. By their significance, Christ opened the tomb, and this represents the opening of the scroll, and He removed the shroud, and this represents the manifestation of mysteries. This is our logic, this is our reasoning which must be used against the devil who constantly argues with us. But in assuming the minor proposition, we must do it with all our strength; often in fact we refuse to suffer, we refuse to be crucified. And yet the whole reasoning tends to this one point: that we resemble God. When the devil saw Christ suffering, he believed His argument had little weight. But Christ ridiculed him. Can you play with him as with a bird? Can you put him in leash for your maidens Christ considered the argument most powerful: "And 1, if 1 be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to Myself

30. Non sine causa signatur liber septem sigillis. Ecce, inquit, vicit leo de tribu Iuda, radix David, aperire librum et solvere septem signacula eius =|42|= . Ista sunt septem media. In huius significationem Christus sepulcrum reseravit, et significat apertionem libri, et linteamina removit, et significat manifestationem mysteriorum. -- Haec est logica nostra, haec est ratiocinatio nostra, quae habenda est contra diabolum, qui continuo contra nos disputat. Sed in assumptione minoris est tota vis facienda; quia nolumus pati, nolumus crucifigi. Tamen ad hoc est tota ratiocinatio nostra, ut simus similes Deo. -- Diabolus vero parum reputabat argumentum Christi, cum vidit eum patientem. Sed Christus illusit ei; Iob: Numquid illudes ei quasi avi, aut ligabis eum ancillis tuis? =|43|= . Christus reputavit argumentum fortissimum, Ioannis duodecimo: Ego si exaltatus fuero a terra, omnia traham ad me ipsum =|44|= .

31. the fifth center is in the order of moderation. It is most important because of the choice of moral good. For moderation is a virtue; and a virtue consists in the middle way. =|16|= This is considered by the moralist.

31. Quintum est medium modestiae morali electione praecipuum. Modestia enim virtus est; virtus autem in medio consistit; hoc medium considerat ethicus.

32. Christ was such a Center in His ascension. It is written in Exodus: Moses passed into the midst of the cloud ... and there he stayed for forty days and forty nights. And this is what Christ was in His ascension. Hence it is written in Acts: A cloud took Him out of their sight. Likewise the Christian must rise from strength to strength, and not stand still at the terminal point of virtue, for by so doing he would cease to be virtuous.

32. Hoc medium fuit Christus in ascensione. Dicitur in Exodo:. Ingressus Moyses medium nebulae, fuit ibi quadraginta diebus et quadraginta noctibus =|45|= . Et hoc fuit Christus in ascensione; unde in Actibus dicitur: Nubes suscepit eum ab oculis eorum =|46|= . Sic Christianus debet ascendere de virtute in virtutem, non statuendo terminum virtutis, quia ex hoc facto desineret esse virtuosus.

33. The foundation of virtue is faith, and we place it as a center. At this point the moralist says that the center is "that which determines right reason." =|17|= And such is faith. Faith is as the morning star in the midst of a cloud. To this star the Christian rises after being lifted up from the waters of baptism. He enters darkness, and this darkness of faith is accompanied by a mysterious light. Now this foundation is that by which Christ is established in us. Through it faith goes forward by rising to the practical virtues, as if reaching the foot of the mountain where Moses offered twelve sacrifices; then it proceeds to the cleansing virtues as if at mid-slope, and finally to the virtues of the cleansed soul as at the mountain's top, a place well suited to the contemplation of the exemplary virtues. =|18|= It is said [collectively] of these virtues in the Book of Wisdom: For she is an aura of the might of God and a pure effusion of the glory of the Almighty. Later, she is the refulgence of eternal light, referring to purity or moderation; the mirror, referring to prudence; she reaches from end to end mightily, referring to fortitude; and governs all things well, referring to justice.

33. Fundamentum autem virtutis fides est, et nos ponimus eam sicut medium. Hic dicit ethicus, quod medium est, «ut ratio recta determinat». Ista autem fides est; fides est sicut stella matutina in medio nebulae =|41|= . Ad istam ascendit Christianus assumptus de aquis baptismi et intrat in caliginem, quae quidem caligo fides est cum lumine in ae-$nigmate. Hoc fundamentum est, per quod fundatur in nobis Christus; per hanc fidem proficit anima ascendendo ad virtutes politicas, quasi ad radicem montis, ubi Moyses fecit duodecim holocausta =|48|= ; deinde ad virtutes purgativas, quasi ad medium montis; deinde ad virtutes animi iam purgati quasi ad supremum montis, ubi aptus est locus ad contemplandas virtutes exemplares. De quibus in Sapientia: Vapor est enim virtutis Dei et emanatio quaedam est claritatis Dei sincera =|49|= ; sequitur: candor est lucis aeternae quantum ad munditiam vel temperantiam; et speculum =|50|= , quantum ad prudentiam; attingit a fine usque ad finem fortiter, quantum ad fortitudinem; et disponit omnia suaviter =|51|= , quantum ad iustitiam.

34. the sixth center is in the order of justice. It is outstandingly beautiful and important because of the retribution of justice. Christ will be such a Center in the final judgment. It is considered by the jurist or the civil ruler, in order that repayment be made according to merit. Justice embellishes the whole world: it makes beautiful what had been deformed, it makes more beautiful what was already beautiful, and most beautiful what had been improved. In this sense Augustine writes that the damned are most beautifully placed in hell. =|19|=

34. Sextum medium est iustitiae iudiciali recompensatione perpulcrum seu praecelsum. Quod medium erit Christus in iudicio. Hoc considerat iurista sive politicus, ut fiat retributio secundum merita. -- Hoc totum mundum purificat, quia deformia facit pulcra, pulcra pulcriora et pulcriora pulcherrima. Unde Augustinus dicit, quod damnati pulcherrime locantur in inferno.

35. As I looked, a stormwind came from the North, a huge cloud with flashing fire, enveloped in brightness, from the midst of which, the midst of the fire, something gleamed like electrum. Within it were figures resembling four living creatures. Ezechiel is describing the judgment, first, as to the disturbance of natural powers shown by the stormwind; second, as to the conflagration of fires shown by the flashing fire; third, as to the examination of consciences or merits shown by the word brightness, for then the consciences will be clear; fourth, as to the assistants to the judges shown by the word enveloped. Christ in His twofold nature is referred to by the word electrum, and the four orders are designated by the four living creatures: the order of pontiffs by the lion, that of martyrs by the ox, that of confessors by the man, that of virgins by the eagle, by reason of contemplation. Thus the separation of the pure from the impure, of the sheep from the goats, will be brought about by Christ.

35. Ezechielis primo: Vidi, et ecce, ventus turbinis veniebat ab aquilone et nubes magna et ignis involvens; et splendor in circuitu eius, et de medio eius quasi species electri, scilicet de medio ignis. Et in medio eius similitudo quatuor animaliumDescribitur iudicium, primo quantum ad commotionem naturarum, per ventum turbinis et per nubem; secundo, quantum ad conflagrationem ignis, per ignem involventem; tertio, quantum ad examinationem mentium vel meritorum, per splendorem, tunc enim conscientiae clarae erunt; quarto, quantum ad assistentiam iudicantium, per circuitum; per electrum, Christus in duplici natura; per quatuor animalia, quatuor ordines: pontificum in leone, martyrum in bove, confessorum in homine, virginum in aquila, propter contemplationem. Unde fiet segregatio puri ab impuro per Christum, agnorum ab hoedis =|53|= .

36. Jurists are concerned with judgments of money, we with the judgment of ourselves. Hence, before you are judged, seek merit for yourself.

36. Agant ergo iuristae de iudiciis pecuniarum, nos agamus de iudicio nostro. Unde ante iudicium para iustitiam tibi =|54|= .

37. the seventh center is in the order of concord. It concerns peace through universal conciliation. It is the field of the theologian who considers how the world made by God can be returned to Him. Although it deals with the works of creation, it is principally concerned with the works of reconciliation. =|20|=

37. Septimum medium est concordiae universali conciliatione pacatum. De quo theologus agit, qui considerat quomodo mundus factus a Deo reducatur ad Deum. Licet enim agat de operibus conditionis, principaliter agit tamen de operibus reconciliationis.

38. Christ is this Center in eternal beatitude. The theologian deals with the salvation of the soul, how it starts with faith, moves forward through the virtues, and is consummated in the gifts. Hence in the Apocalypse: They shall neither hunger nor thirst any more, neither shall the sun strike them nor any heat. 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. The Lamb in the midst of the waters is the Son of God, the Son I mean who is the central Person, and from whom all happiness comes forth. John, indeed, beheld a river... in the midst of the city streets... coming forth from the throne of God and of the Lamb. For the Lamb of God leads us, so that seeing the body and the soul and the divinity, we may find pastures either by going in or by going out. Here the beatifying Center sheds its light on body and soul. 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.

38. Hoc medium est Christus in sempiterna beatificatione. Agit enim theologus de salute animae, quomodo inchoatur in fide, promo-$vetur in virtutibus, consummatur in dotibus. Unde in Apocalypsi: Non esurient neque sitient amplius, nec cadet super illos sol neque ullus aestus; quoniam Agnus, qui in medio throni est, reget illos et deducet eos ad vitae fontes aquarum =|55|= . Agnus in medio aquarum est Filius Dei, Filius, dico, qui est media persona, a qua omnis beatitudo. Vidit enim Ioannes fluvium in medio platearum procedentem a sede Dei et Agni =|56|= . Agnus enim Dei deducet nos, ut, videntes corpus et animam et Divinitatem, pascua inveniamus sive ingrediendo, sive egrediendo. Hic lucet super corpus et animam, medium beatificans. In Psalmo: Fluminis impetus laetificat civitatem Dei =|51|= , scilicet procedens a sede Dei et Agni, Spiritus sanctus. Et nullus defectus interior erit, quia non esurient neque sitient per defectum pabuli, per quod deficit vita; neque cadet super illos sol, per extrinsecam perturbationem.

39. These Centers are the seven golden lamp-stands, and Christ in the midst of the seven lamp-stands, which are the seven illuminations of wisdom described above, that is, the metaphysical, the natural, and so forth. These are the seven eyes of the Lamb, and the seven facets of the stone mentioned by Zachary, and the seven days that followed upon the first light.

39. Ista media sunt septem candelabra aurea, sive Christus in medio candelabrorum =|58|= , quae sunt septem illuminationes sapientia^ praedictae, scilicet metaphysica, naturalis etc. Isti sunt septem oculi Agni et septem oculi super unum lapidem =|59|= , ut dicit Zacharias, et septem dies, quos fecit prima lux =|60|= .

200 On the Fullness of Wisdom in Which Speech Must End, That Is: On the Door of Wisdom and Its Beauty

COLLATIO II$DE PLENITUDINE SAPIENTIAE, IN QUA SERMO TERMINANDUS EST, SCILICET DE SAPIENTIAE PORTA ET FORMA

1. IN THE midst of the Church she shall open his mouth, and shall fill him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding, and shall clothe him with a robe of glory. It has been shown above to whom a doctor should direct his speech and whence he should begin. It remains now to see where he must end it: and that is in the fullness of wisdom and understanding. =|1|= Concerning wisdom, four points are to be noted: its origin, its dwelling, its door, and its beauty. The first two have been covered in the Collations on the Seven Gifts where (as to the origin) it was said that wisdom was a light coming down from the Father of Lights within the soul, and that by radiating through it, made it in the form of God, and the house of God. =|2|= This descending light makes the intellective power beautiful, the affective power delightful, and the operative power strong. This dwelling is built with seven columns which blessed James clearly touched upon: But, he wrote, the wisdom that is from above is first of all chaste, then peaceable, moderate, docile, in harmony with good things, full of mercy and good fruits, without dissimulation. It is of this house that Matthew writes: "Everyone therefore who hears these My words and acts upon them, shall be likened to a wise man who built his house on rock."

1. In medio Ecclesiae aperiet os eius et adimplebit illum spiritu sapientiae et intellectus et stola gloriae vestiet illum =|1|= , Ecclesiastici decimo quinto. Ostensum est supra, quibus debet doctor sermonem depromere, et unde debet incipere. Modo ostendendum est, ubi debet terminare: quia in plenitudine sapientiae et intellectus.$De sapientia autem nota quatuor: quis ortus, quae domus, quae porta, quae forma. De duobus primis dictum est in Collationibus septem donorum, ubi dicebatur, quod sapientia est lux descendens a Patre luminum =|2|= in animam et radians in eam facit animam deiformem et domum Dei. Ista lux descendens facit intellectivam speciosam, affectivam amoenam, operativam robustam. -- Haec domus septem columnis aedificatur, quas beatus Iacobus manifeste tangit. Quae desursum est, inquit, sapientia primum quidem pudica est, deinde pacifica, modesta, suadibilis, bonis consentiens, plena misericordia et fructibus bonis, non iudicans, sine aemulatione =|3|= . De ista domo dicitur Matthaei septimo: Omnis, qui audit verba mea haec et facit ea, assimilabitur viro sapienti, qui aedificavit domum suam supra petram =|4|= .

2. 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. Hence God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. Such wisdom cannot be obtained without supreme mutual pleasure, but where there is supreme mutual pleasure, supreme yearning must have come first. "Son, if thou desire wisdom, keep justice: and God will give her to thee." Observing justice helps to obtain it, as the tendency of matter inclines to the form and makes it able to be joined to the form through the medium of dispositions. Not that these dispositions perish, or even less, that they are fulfilled either in the human bodies or in others. And so keeping justice brings forth wisdom. Hence, she is the refulgence of the eternal light, the spotless mirror of the power of God, the image of His goodness. And she, who is one, can do all things, and renews everything while herself perduring; and passing into holy souls from age to age.

2. Porta sapientiae est concupiscentia eius et vehemens desiderium; unde in Psalmo: Aperi os tuum, et ego adimplebo illud =|5|= . Haec est via, per quam sapientia venit in me, per quam ego intro ad sapientiam, et sapientia intrat in me, sicut caritas similiter. Unde Deus caritas est, et qui manet in caritate in Deo manet et Deus in eo =|6|= . Haec autem sapientia non habetur nisi cum summa complacentia; ubi autem summa complacentia est, praecedit summa concupiscentia; in Ecclesiastico: Fili, concupiscens sapientiam conserva iustitiam, et Deus praebebit illam tibi =|1|= . -- Observatio iustitiae disponit ad eam habendam, sicut appetitus materiae inclinat ad formam et facit eam habilem, ut coniungatur formae mediantibus dispositionibus; non quod illae dispositiones perimentur, immo magis complentur sive in corpore humano, sive in aliis. Observatio igitur iustitiae introducit sapientiam. Unde Sapientiae septimo: Candor est lucis aeternae et speculum sine macula Dei maiestatis et imago bonitatis illius. Et cum sit una, omnia potest, et in se permanens omnia innovat et per nationes in animas sanctas se transfert =|8|= .

3. The manner in which such wisdom is obtained is clearly seen from authority and through examples. As to the former, the Book of Wisdom reads: For the first step toward discipline is a very earnest desire for her; then, care for discipline is love of her; love means the keeping of her laws; to observe her laws is the basis for incorruptibility; and incorruptibility makes one close to God; thus the desire for Wisdom leads up to a kingdom. If, then, you find pleasure in throne and scepter, you princes of the peoples, honor Wisdom, that you may reign forever. But discipline is twofold: scholastic and personal, the latter concerning ethics. And 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 as the Philosopher says in Book Two of "Ethics." =|3|= But few walk along that way of wisdom, hence few ever reach it.

3. Quomodo autem habetur haec sapientia, patet ex auctoritate et exemplo. De primo Sapientiae sexto: Initium enim illius verissima est disciplinae concupiscentia. Cura ergo disciplinae dilectio est, et dilectio custodia legum illius est; custoditio autem legum consummatio incorruptionis est; incorruptio autem facit esse proximum Deo. Concupiscentia itaque sapientiae deducit ad regnum perpetuum =|9|= . Concupiscentia ergo sapientiae generat concupiscentiam disciplinae. -- Disciplina autem duplex est: scholastica et monastica sive morum; et non sufficit ad habendam sapientiam scholastica sine monastica; quia non audiendo solum, sed observando fit homo sapiens. Unde in Psalmo de sapientia: bonitatem et disciplinam et scientiam doce me =|10|= . Scientia enim non habetur nisi praecedat disciplina; nec disciplina, nisi praecedat bonitas; et sic per bonitatem et disciplinam inest nobis scientia. -- Aegrotus enim audiendo medicum nunquam sanatur, nisi praecepta eius observet, sicut dicit Philosophus in secundo Ethicorum. Per istam autem viam sapientiae pauci vadunt, et ideo pauci veniunt ad veram sapientiam.

4. The eager desire for discipline gives birth to love. Hence the proper attention to discipline is love. For if you love discipline, you love virtue in yourself and in others and in its very Source. Discipline, however, does not have to be servile: it may be free, so that it loves the one who imposes it, and acts out of love, not out of fear. If you are poor as a result of discipline, you must love poverty. And the same applies to the other perfections. But love is observance of the laws. If, then, you love what is good, you keep the law, because the purpose of this charge is charity, from a pure heart. When you keep the law, you are sanctified and filled with the Holy Spirit; and in this you are drawn away from any love that is not God.

4. Concupiscentia disciplinae parit dilectionem. Cura ergo disciplinae est dilectio. Si enim habes disciplinae dilectionem, eris amator virtutis in te et in aliis et in suo fonte. Disciplina autem non debet esse servilis, sed liberalis, ut diligat disciplinantem, ut ex amore faciat, non ex timore. Si autem propter disciplinam es pauper, oportet, ut diligas paupertatem; et sic de aliis. Dilectio autem custodia legum est. Si enim diligis bonum, observas legem, quia finis praecepti est caritas de corde puro =|n|= . Quando autem custodis legem, sanctificans et efficeris plenus Spiritu sancto; et tunc abstraheris ab omni amore, qui non est Deus.

5. Such is the holiness Dionysius describes in the twelfth chapter of the "Divine Names": "Holiness," he writes, "is free of every impurity: it is perfect and entirely immaculate in its purity." =|4|= To be sanctified, then, is to be drawn away from any love that sullies and corrupts and may lead the soul to ruin. In this must the creature resemble the Creator: "You shall be holy," He said, "because I am holy." This holiness makes one God-conformed. That is why the Seraphic spirits cried out: "Holy, holy, holy."

5. Haec enim sanctitas est, quam describit Dionysius De divinis Nominibus, capitulo duodecimo: «Sanctitas, inquit, est ab omni immunditia libera et perfecta et omnino immaculata munditia». Sanctificari ergo est abstrahi ab omni amore inquinativo et corruptivo, qui potest animam corrumpere. In hoc debet creatura assimilari Creatori: Sancti, inquit, estote, quoniam ego sanctus sum =|11|= . Haec sanctitas facit deiformem; et ideo illi Spiritus seraphici dicebant: Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus =|13|= .

6. But as soon as the soul has been made to resemble God, it enters into that Wisdom, because She is the refulgence of eternal light, the spotless mirror of the power of God. And consequently, she passes into holy souls from age to age. Without holiness, a man cannot be wise. A holy man continueth in wisdom as the sun: but a fool is changed as the moon. Holiness is an immediate disposition toward wisdom: hence a yearning and a strong desire are the door to wisdom. Therefore I prayed, and prudence was given me; 1 pleaded, and the spirit of Wisdom came to me. I preferred her to scepter and throne, and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her. Nor did I liken any priceless gem to her; because all gold, in view of her, is a little sand, and before her, silver is to be accounted mire. Beyond health and comeliness I loved her, and I chose to have her rather than the light, because the splendor of her never yields to sleep. And I rejoiced in them all, because Wisdom is their leader, though I had not known that she is the mother of these. But the author says that he came to this Wisdom through prayer and pleading. For if She is the supreme good, She must be loved supremely; and if She is all good, She must be desired universally and above anything else. 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. This, then is the door. Such a desire extinguishes all others, and makes man to be lifted up from the world. Hence he [the author of the Book of Wisdom] writes: Her I loved and sought after from my youth; I sought to take her for my bride and was enamored of her beauty.

6. Cum autem anima deiformis facta est, statim intrat in eam Sapientia, quia candor est lucis aeternae et speculum sine macula Dei maiestatis; et sequitur: per nationes in animas sanctas se transfert, Sapientiae septimo =|14|= . Sine sanctitate non est homo sapiens. Unde in Ecclesiastico: Homo sanctus in sapientia manet sicut sol; nam stultus sicut luna mutatur =|15|= . Sanctitas dispositio immediata est ad sapientiam: ergo concupiscentia et vehemens desiderium porta est sapientiae; Sapientiae$septimo: Optavi, et datus est mihi sensus, et invocavi, et venit in me spiritus sapientiae. Et praeposui illam regnis et sedibus, et divitias nihil duxi in comparatione illius, usque ibi: Laetatus sum in omnibus, quoniam antecedebat me ista sapientia, et ignorabam, quoniam omnium horum mater est =|16|= . -- Sed dicit, quod habuit illam optando et invocando. Si enim summum bonum est, summe amanda est; si autem omne bonum est, universaliter appetenda est et super omnia. -- Similiter patet exemplo Salomonis, quia non petivit aurum et argentum, sed cor docile =|17|= ; ideo venit in eum. Unde Iacobus: Si quis vestrum indiget sapientia, postulet a Deo, qui dat omnibus affluenter et non improperat, et dabitur ei. Postulet autem in fide nihil haesitans =|18|= . Qui enim haesitat non est disciplinatus. Haec est ergo porta. Huiusmodi autem concupiscentia extinguit omnes concupiscentias et hominem sublevatum facit a mundo. Unde dicit: Hanc amavi et exquisivi a iuventute mea, et quaesivi sponsam mihi eam assumere, et amator factus sum formae illius =|19|= .

7. 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. But we should be afraid of what the Lord says in the Gospel: "The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and will condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, a greater than Solomon is here." The Jews refused to listen to wisdom from the mouth of Wisdom; and we who possess Christ within ourselves refuse to listen to His wisdom. This is the supreme abomination: that the most beautiful daughter of the king is offered to us as a bride, and we choose to be coupled with the filthiest servant and to deal with harlots; and we want to go back to Egypt, to the lowliest food, since we reject the food from heaven.

7. Forma autem sapientiae est mirabilis, et nullus eam aspicit sine admiratione et ecstasi, ut dicitur de Esther =|20|= et de Salomone, cuius vultum desiderabat videre universa terra =|21|= ; et regina Saba venit a finibus terrae audire sapientiam Salomonis =|22|= ; et cum videret ordines ministrantium vestesque eorum et pincernas et holocausta, quae offerebat in domo Domini, non habebat ultra spiritum =|23|= . -- Sed timendum quod dicit Dominus in Evangelio: Regina austri resurget in iudicio cum generatione ista et condemnabit eam, quia venit a finibus terrae audire sapientiam Salomonis, et plus quam Salomon hic =|24|= . Iudaei nolebant audire sapientiam de ore Sapientiae; et nos habemus Christum intra nos, et nolumus audire sapientiam eius. Abominatio maxima est, quod filia regis pulcherrima offertur nobis in sponsam, et potius volumus copulari ancillae turpissimae et meretricari; et volumus reverti in Aegyptum ad cibum vilissimum, et nolumus refici cibo caelesti.

8. That beauty (of Wisdom) is wondrous, for at times it is uniform and at others manifold; at times it assumes every form, and at others none. Light clothes itself in four different ways. For it is seen as uniform in the rules of divine Law, as manifold in the mysteries of divine Scriptures, as assuming every form in the traces of the divine works, and as without any form in the elevations of divine raptures.

8. Ista forma est mirabilis, quia modo est uniformis, modo est multiformis, modo omniformis, modo nulliformis. Quadriformi igitur se vestit lumine. Apparet autem uniformis in regulis divinarum legum, multiformis in mysteriis divinarum Scripturarum, omniformis in vestigiis divinorum operum, nulliformis in suspendis divinorum excessuum.

9. The first is referred to in the sixth chapter of Wisdom: Resplendent and unfading is wisdom—with whom there is no change, no shadow of alteration—and she is readily perceived by those who love her, and found by those who seek her. She hastens to make herself known in anticipation of man's desire. And so, she appears unchanging in the rules of divine Law that bind us. These rules filling the rational mind with splendid light are all the ways by which the mind knows and judges that which could not be otherwise, the fact that the supreme Principle must be supremely venerated, that the supreme Truth must be supremely believed in and assented to, and that the supreme Good must be supremely desired and loved. And such are the rules of the first tablet; =|5|= and in these wisdom is seen, for they are so certain that they could not be otherwise.

9. De primo, Sapientiae sexto: Clara est quae nunquam marcescit sapientia =|25|= -- quia apud illam non est transmutatio nec vicissitudinis obumbratio =|26|= -- et facile videtur ab his qui diligunt eam, et invenitur ab his qui quaerunt illam. Praeoccupat qui se concupiscunt, ut illis se prior ostendat =|21|= . Haec igitur apparet immutabilis in regulis divinarum legum, quae nos ligant. Regulae istae mentibus rationalibus ^splendentes sunt omnes illi modi, per quos mens cognoscit et iudicat id$quod aliter esse non potest, utpote quod summum principium summe venerandum; quod summo vero summe credendum et assentiendum; quod summum bonum summe desiderandum et diligendum. -- Et haec sunt in prima tabula; et in his apparet sapientia, quod ita certa sunt, quod aliter esse non possunt.

10. These rules are beyond error, doubt, and judgment, for judgment is by them, and not of them. Hence such wisdom is clear. They are also beyond change, restriction, and cancellation; hence such wisdom never wastes away. For these rules are so certain that they cannot be contradicted in any way, except as regards exterior reason, =|6|= as the Philosopher writes in the First Book of "Analytica Posteriora." For they are rooted in Eternal Light and lead to it, but this does not make such light visible. Nor should it be said that they are founded on any created light, as for instance in a certain Intelligence^: that enlightens the minds. For since these rules are unrestricted in that they offer themselves to the minds of all, it would follow that a created light could be unrestricted and would be pure act, which is impossible. And anyone who holds such an opinion weakens the fountain of wisdom and creates an idol, making a god out of an angel, which is worse than if a man were to make a god out of a stone. For indeed such wisdom irradiates the soul: sitting by his gate, she hastens to make herself known by anticipation.

10. Hae regulae sunt infallibiles, indubitabiles, iniudicabiles, quia per illas est iudicium, et non est de illis. Et ideo clara est haec sapientia. -- Sunt etiam incommutabiles, incoarctabiles, interminabiles; et ideo nunquam marcescit. Sic enim certae sunt, ut nullo modo sit eis contradicere «nisi ad exterius-rationem», secundum Philosophum, in libro primo Posteriorum. Hae enim radicantur in luce aeterna et ducunt in eam, sed non propter hoc ipsa videtur. Nec est dicendum, quod fundantur in aliqua luce creata, utpote in aliqua Intelligentia, quae illuminet mentes; quia, cum illae regulae sint incoarctabiles, quia mentibus omnium se offerunt, tunc sequeretur, quod lux creata esset incoarctabilis et esset actus purus, quod absit; et qui hoc dicit enervat fontem sapientiae et facit idolum, ut Angelum, Deum, et plus quam qui lapidem Deum facit. Haec enim sapientia radiat super animam, quia assistit prae foribus, ut se, inquit, prior illis ostendat =|2|= *.

11. Again, wisdom appears as manifold in the mysteries of divine Scriptures. This multiformity of the mysteries is shown in the Apostle's letter to the Ephesians: To me, the very least of all saints, there was given this grace, to announce among the Gentiles the good tidings of the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to enlighten all men as to what is the dispensation of the mystery which has been hidden from all eternity in God, who created all things; in order that through the Church there he made known to the Principalities and the Powers in the heavens the manifold wisdom of God7 It should not be understood that Paul is teaching the angels: they are made to know, in the sense that they are made to know through their ministry, as if it were said that the Law is given by the angels, meaning through their ministry. =|8|=

11. Item, apparet sapientia ut multiformis in mysteriis divinarum Scripturarum. Hanc multiformitatem mysteriorum ostendit Apostolus ad Ephesios: Mihi omnium Sanctorum minimo data est haec gratia in gentibus, evangelizare investigabiles divitias gratiae Christi et illuminare omnes, quae sit dispensatio sacramenti absconditi a saeculis in Deo, qui omnia creavit, ut innotescat Principatibus et Potestatibus in caelestibus per Ecclesiam multiformis sapientia Dei =|29|= . Non est intelligendum quod Paulus doceat Angelos, sed dicitur innotescere, quia ministerio ipsorum innotescunt, sicut dicitur, quod Lex per Angelos data est, hoc est per ministerium Angelorum.

12. And so this wisdom is called manifold because there are many ways of expressing it. Hence it was necessary that wisdom be shown under many figures, many sacraments, many signs, in order also that it be hidden to the proud and revealed to the humble. These veils cover Christ, hiding wisdom from the wise and impure. Hence in Matthew: "1 praise Thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and prudent, and didst reveal them to little ones." Well did the Apostle write: To me, the very least of all saints, etc.

12. Haec igitur sapientia dicitur multiformis, quia multi sunt modi exprimendi; et ideo necesse fuit, ut ostendatur sapientia in multis figuris, multis Sacramentis, multis signis, ut etiam veletur superbis, aperiatur humilibus. Haec velamina claudunt Christum, occultant sapientiam sapientibus et immundis. Unde in Matthaeo: Confiteor tibi, Pater, domine caeli et terrae, quia abscondisti haec a sapientibus et prudentibus et revelasti ea parvulis =|30|= . Et ideo bene ait Apostolus: Mihi omnium Sanctorum minimo =|31|= etc.

13. But how does Paul announce.. .the good tidings of the unfathomable riches of Christ? This is how: So, he writes, there abide faith, hope and charity, these three. There shines forth a threefold signification in Scriptures, =|9 |= teaching what to believe, what to expect, and what to do. What to believe, in terms of faith; what to expect, in terms of hope; what to do, in terms of charity, which consists in action, and not only in affective dispositions. "If anyone love Me, he will keep My word." And certain of these points are subdivided.

13. Sed quomodo Paulus evangelizat investigabiles divitias gratiae Christi? Sic: Nunc, inquit, manent fides, spes, caritas, tria haec =|02|= . --$Triplex refulget intelligentia in Scriptura, quae docet, quid credendum, quid exspectandum, quid operandum: quid credendum quantum ad fidem ; quid exspectandum quantum ad spem ; quid operandum quantum ad caritatem, quae consistit in operatione, non solum in affectione, Ioannis decimo quarto: Si quis diligit me, sermonem meum servabit =|33|= . Et quaelibet istarum est biforcata.

14. Faith, indeed, is a union of the Head with the body. The shining of light as related to faith is called allegory, and it is twofold, one directed to the Head and the other to the body. For there is one directed to the crucified Head, that was born, etc., and another directed to the body, that is, the Church, primitive, intermediate, and final4 And Solomon praises the Church in this manner, according to its threefold state: Who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, etc.?— Who is she that goeth up by the desert, as a pillar of smoke of aromatic spices, of myrrh and frankincense, etc.?—Who is this that cometh up from the desert, flowing with delights, leaning upon her beloved? =|10|=

14. Fides enim est in iunctura capitis et corporis. Refulgentia quantum ad fidem est allegoria, et haec duplex: una ad caput, alia ad corpus. Est enim una, quae fertur ad caput crucifixum, natum etc.; alia, quae fertur ad corpus, ad Ecclesiam primam, mediam et ultimam; et hoc modo laudat Ecclesiam Salomon in Cantico secundum triplicem illum statum. Quae est ista, inquit, quae ascendit, quasi aurora consurgens, pulcra ut luna, electa ut sol =|34|= etc. -- Quae est ista quae ascendit per desertum sicut virgula fumi ex aromatibus myrrhae et thuris =|35|= etc. -- Quae est ista, quae ascendit de deserto deliciis affluens et innixa super dilectum suum? =|36|= .

15. Concerning the allegory of the Head, Paul writes: I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized in Moses, in the cloud and in the sea. And all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink (for they drank from the spiritual rock which followed them, and the rock was Christ). And concerning the allegory of the body: It is written that Abraham had two sons, the one by a slave-girl and the other by a free woman. And the son of the slave-girl was born according to the flesh, but the son of the free woman in virtue of the promise. This is said by way of allegory. For these are the two covenants. There is no need for further explanations, for two peoples are understood here.

15. De allegoria capitis dicit Paulus: Nolo, vos ignorare, fratres, quoniam patres nostri omnes sub nube fuerunt, et omnes mare transierunt, et omnes in Moyse baptizati sunt in nube et mari, et omnes eandem escam spiritualem manducaverunt, et omnes eundem potum spiritualem biberunt. Bibebant autem de spirituali consequente eos petra; petra autem erat Christus =|37|= . -- De allegoria corporis: Scriptum est quod Abraham duos filios habuit, unum de ancilla et unum de libera; sed qui de ancilla, secundum carnem natus est; qui autem de libera, per repromissionem, quae sunt per allegoriam dicta. Haec autem sunt duo testamenta =|38|= . Non oportuit, ut amplius explanaret, quia per illa intelliguntur duo populi.

16. In another sense, in the order of hope, concerning, that is, 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 other way 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. =|11|= Hugh of St. Victor uses these expressions: heavenly hierarchy, superheavenly hierarchy, and subheavenly hierarchy. =|12|= Some say this is not properly said, but they are wrong, for in each case there is a holy primacy.

16. Iuxta aliam intelligentiam quae est per spem, quid scilicet est exspectandum, sumitur anagogia, et haec est duplex, scilicet caelestis, ut ibi: Abraham, suspice caelum et numera stellas, si potes =|09|= , scilicet caelestes Intelligentias; et in Iob: Nunquid nosti ordinem caeli, aut rationem eius pones in terra? =|40|= . -- Alia supercaelestis, ut in Abraham, qui «tres vidit et unum adoravit» =|41|= , quia in illis Trinitas apparuit; et in duobus Angelis qui missi sunt Sodomam =|42|= , Filius et Spiritus sanctus, qui mittuntur a Patre; et ideo, quia Pater nunquam missus est, ibi non apparuit, sed apparuit in illis tribus, quia Pater apparuit, sed nunquam missus est. -- Hugo dicit ista vocabula: hierarchia caelestis,$supercaelestis, subcaelestis. Quidam dicunt, quod improprie dicantur; sed falsum est, quia utrobique est sacer principatus.

17. Thirdly, there is tropology in the third sense. It teaches us what to do. It is of two kinds. One pertains to the active life: it teaches us how to act. The other pertains to the contemplative life: it teaches us how to contemplate, how the soul can be carried to God. It is not anagogy, since it is a mere preparation of the soul, and thus, starting from the lowest point, it tends to the highest. Hence this wisdom is hidden and veiled to the wise who cannot understand Scriptures. For neither Scriptures nor the mysteries can be understood without knowing the world's course and the position of the hierarchies. =|13|=

17. Tertia est tropologia iuxta tertiam intelligentiam, quae docet, quid agendum. Haec duplex: quaedam pertinet ad activam, ubi docetur quid agendum; quaedam ad contemplativam, ubi docetur quomodo contemplandum, quomodo anima feratur in Deum; nec tamen est anagogia, cum sit praeparatio animae, et sic ab infimo tendit ad supremum. -- Haec ergo sapientia est abscondita et velata superbis, qui non sunt potentes Scripturas intelligere. Scripturae intelligi non possunt nec mysteria, nisi sciatur decursus mundi et dispositio hierarchica.

18. God's wisdom appears most beautifully in these mysteries, even more than in the first manner. For if, so to speak, I wish to praise the bride in that she is pretty and truthful: if I simply say that she is pretty and truthful, my heart is not affected very deeply. But if I say: "Thy cheeks are beautiful as the turtle dove's, thy neck as jewels," I praise her marvelously, if only I understand. I praise her not only as being chaste and good, but as being chaste and loving because of her love for her spouse. For the turtle dove is a chaste and loving bird, since out of love for its mate, as long as the mate lives, it consorts with no other, but only after it dies. Hence the bride is good, not merely because she is chaste, but because she is chaste out of love for her spouse. Hence the cheeks are beautiful, for they are prominent and beauty appears in them. Thy neck as jewels: the neck, through which the voice is emitted, stands for truth; the jewels, that adorn the breast and bind it, stand for discretion, for if one tells the truth at the wrong time, for the wrong reason, in the wrong place or to the wrong people, this is not beautiful truth.

18. In his ergo mysteriis pucherrime apparet Dei sapientia, plus etiam quam primo modo. Sicut, verbi gratia, volo laudare sponsam, quod sit pulcra, quod sit verax; si dicam simpliciter: pulcra est, verax est; non afficitur multum cor meum; sed cum dico: Pulcrae sunt genae tuae sicut turturis, collum tuum sicut monilia =|4|= *; mirabiliter eam commendo, dum intelligo. Commendo enim eam non solum ut castam et honestam, sed quod propter amorem sponsi casta est et amorosa. Turtur enim avis casta est et amorosa, quia propter amorem comparis, ipso vivente, nulli coniungitur nec post eius mortem. Sponsa igitur honesta non est, quia casta, sed quia casta propter amorem sponsi. Pulcrae igitur sunt genae, quae sunt prominentes, in quibus apparet pulcritudo. Collum tuum sicut monilia; collum, per quod vox emittitur, veritas; monilia, quae ornant pectus et stringunt, discretio, quia, si quis dicat veritatem et non, quando debet, vel ut non debet, vel ubi non debet, vel quibus non debet; non est pulcra veritas.

19. 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. This wisdom is given according to the measure of faith, according as God has apportioned to each one the measure of faith. For in the measure in which a man seizes the mind, in that measure does he become wiser —and faith is obtained through humility. Paul claims that he professes such wisdom. Moses established the rules and the laws, therefore his face was horned, but that of the Apostle was unveiled.

19. Haec sapientia resultat ex multis mysteriis Scripturae, sicut ex multis speculis fiunt multiplicationes radiorum et ignium; haec sunt specula mulierum, de quibus fit labrum aeneum =|44|= ; haec est Scriptura, ut revelata facie gloriam Domini speculantes, in eandem imaginem transformemur a claritate in claritatem =|45|= : a claritate allegoriae in claritatem anagogiae, et rursus tropologiae. Haec sapientia datur secundum mensuram fidei et unicuique, sicut Deus divisit mensuram fidei =|46|= ; quia, secundum quod homo magis intellectum captivat, secundum hoc sapientior efficitur, et fides habetur per humilitatem. Huiusmodi sapientiae Paulus dicit se professorem. Moyses autem posuit regulas et leges, ideo habuit faciem cornutam, sed Apostolus revelatam.

20. Again, the third face of wisdom has every form in the traces of divine works. Hence in Ecclesiasticus: To whom hath the root of wisdom been revealed; and who hath known her wise counsels? To whom hath the discipline of wisdom been revealed and made manifest? And who hath understood the multiplicity of her steps? There is one most high Creator, Almighty. And below: He created her in the Holy Ghost, and saw her, and numbered her, and measured her. And He poured her out upon all His works. This wisdom has been made manifest, hence wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the open squares she raises her voice. And yet we do not find her, resembling the unlettered man who owns a book and has no concern for it. And so with us: the Scriptures were given to us in Greek, in the vernacular and in Hebrew, and yet they are unknown as a source.

20. Item, tertia facies sapientiae est omniformis in vestigiis divinorum operum. Unde in Ecclesiastico: Radix sapientiae cui revelata est, et astutias illius quis agnovit? Disciplina sapientiae cui revelata est et manifestata, et multiplicationem ingressus illius quis intellexit? Unus est altissimus Creator omnium omnipotens. Sequitur: Ipse creavit illam in$Spiritu sancto et vidit et dinumeravit et dimensus est et effudit illam super omnia opera sua =|47|= . Haec sapientia manifestata est; unde: Sapientia foris clamitat, in plateis dat vocem suam =|4S|= . Et tamen nos non invenimus eam, sicut laicus nesciens litteras et tenens librum non curat de eo; sic nos; unde haec scriptura facta est nobis Graeca, barbara et Hebraea et penitus ignota in suo fonte.

21. This wisdom is spread out among all things. For everything possesses a rule of wisdom and displays divine wisdom by reason of some characteristic; and the man who would know all characteristics would clearly see this wisdom. And it is to this study that the philosophers gave themselves, and Solomon himself. And so he speaks to himself, saying: "I will acquire wisdom"; but it was beyond me. For when anyone, out of idle curiosity over creatures, gives himself to the search for this wisdom, it eludes him more than ever.

21. Ista sapientia diffusa est in omni re, quia quaelibet res secundum quamlibet proprietatem habet regulam sapientiae et ostendit sapientiam divinam; et qui sciret omnes proprietates manifeste videret sapientiam istam. Et ad hoc considerandum dederunt se philosophi et etiam ipse Salomon; unde ipsemet se redarguit dicens: Dixi: sapiens efficiar; et ipsa longius recessit a me =|49|= . Quando enim per curiosam perscrutationem creaturarum dat se quis ad investigandam istam sapientiam; tunc longius recedit.

22. The work of God may be expressed in three ways: first in terms of essence, concerning whatever a thing is, and in whatever genus, be it substance or accident; second, in terms of actuated essence, and this applies to substance alone; third, in terms of essence made in the likeness of God, and such is the spiritual creature. Over all these the wisdom of God is spread out in so far as they are His work.

22. Opus autem Dei tripliciter dicitur: primo modo essentia, quodcumque illud sit et in quocumque genere sive substantiae, sive accidentis; alio modo essentia completa, scilicet sola substantia; tertio modo essentia ad imaginem Dei facta, ut spiritualis creatura, -- Super has effusa est sapientia Dei, sicut super opera sua.

23. There is a certain order in these things. For God creates all essences by measure and number and weight. And by giving these, He gives mode, species, and order. =|l4|= Mode is that by which a thing exists; species, that by which it is distinct; order, that by which it is fitting. For there is no creature that is not endowed with measure, quantity, and inclination. And in this a trace may be seen, and wisdom is manifested, as the foot is shown by the trace. And this trace leads to that Wisdom in whom there is mode without qualification, number without quantity, and order without ordination. =|15|= Now, in substance there is a higher trace that represents the divine essence. For every created substance has matter, form, and composition: the original principle or foundation, the formal complement, and the bond. =|16|= It has substantial existence, power, and operation. And in these the mystery of the Trinity is represented: the Father as the origin, the Son as the image, and the Holy Spirit as the bond.

23. Est autem ordo in his. Deus enim creat quamcumque essentiam in mensura et numero et pondere^\ et dando haec, dat modum, speciem et ordinem; modus est, quo constat; species, qua discernitur; ordo, quo congruit. Non est enim aliqua creatura quae non habeat mensuram, numerum et inclinationem; et in his attenditur vestigium, et manifestatur sapientia, sicut pes in vestigio; et hoc vestigium in illam sapientiam ducit, in qua est modus sine modo, numerus sine numero; ordo sine ordine. -- In substantia autem est altius vestigium, quod repraesentat divinam essentiam. Habet enim omnis creata substantia materiam, formam, compositionem: originale principium seu fundamentum, formale complementum et glutinum; habet substantiam, virtutem et operationem. -- Et in his repraesentatur mysterium Trinitatis: Pater, origo; Filius, imago; Spiritus sanctus, compago.

24. In creatures, there is a distinction between the original principle and the formal complement: not a hypostatic distinction as in the Godhead, nor an accidental distinction, but a distinction as between principles, one of which is active and the other passive. And to deny this to the creature is to deny that it represents the Trinity: as if it were said, for instance, that the creature is pure act, and not a composite.

24. Ratio autem originalis principii a formali complemento habet distinctionem in creatura, non quidem hypostaticam, ut est in divinis, nec accidentalem, sed sicut principiorum, quorum unum activum, alterum passivum. Et hoc tollere a creatura est tollere ab ea repraesentationem Trinitatis; ut dicere, quod creatura sit purus actus et non habeat compositionem.

25. Nor is it correct to say that it is a composite because it receives its existence from another, because contingent existence does not [necessarily] produce composition, for then the Son would be composite since He is contingent upon the Father, and the Holy Spirit upon both. The divine being alone is simple, for in it, there is no difference between being, being such, and being fittingly. Hence "To Be" is called a name of God, for "To Be" in the case of God is that which God is.

25. Nec valet id quod dicitur, quod composita est, pro eo quod est ab alio, quia esse ab alio compositionem non dicit; quia tunc Filius esset compositus, cum sit a Patre, et Spiritus sanctus ab utroque. Solum enim esse divinum simplex est; nec differt in eo esse et sic esse et bene esse. Et ideo esse dicitur nomen Dei =|51|= , quia esse in Deo est id quod est Deus. In creatura autem differt esse et bene esse et sic esse.

26. Another trace of this Wisdom is found in substance, power and operation, since power depends upon substance, and operation upon both substance and power. A thing receives its being from substance, its survival from power, and its efficacy from operation. Power, also, is not accidental to substance, although the Philosopher says that natural power is a quality. =|17|= For he is speaking as expressing a modality of being that follows upon substance: as it is clear that hard or soft express a modality consequent upon substance.

26. Vestigium aliud huius sapientiae est substantia, virtus et operatio; virtus est a substantia, operatio a substantia et virtute; res a substantia habet esse, a virtute vigere, ab operatione efficere. Virtus etiam non est substantiae accidentalis, licet Philosophus dicat, quod naturalis potentia est qualitas. Ipse enim loquitur, prout dicit modum consequentem substantiam; sicut patet, quia durum et molle dicunt modum substantiam consequentem.

27. Again, the creature is made in God's likeness. This may be according to a likeness of nature or a likeness of grace. The former is memory, intelligence, and will in which the Trinity shines forth. The latter signs the soul, and in this signing, it receives immortality, understanding and joy: immortality, in that memory implies eternity; wisdom,! in that truth shines forth in understanding; joy, in that goodness gives pleasure to the will. Now these things are found in reformed intelligences or substances. And so it appears that the whole world is like a single mirror, full of luminaries that stand before divine Wisdom, shedding light as would live coals.

27. Item, est creatura ad imaginem Dei facta; et hoc vel secundum imaginem naturalem, vel gratuitam; illa est memoria, intelligentia et voluntas, in quibus relucet Trinitas; et hac sigillatur anima, et in hac sigillatione recipit immortalitatem, intelligentiam, iucunditatem; immortalitatem, secundum quod in memoria tenetur aeternitas; sapientiam, secundum quod in intelligentia refulget veritas; iucunditatem, secundum quod in voluntate delectat bonitas. Haec quidem sunt in intelligentiis, vel substantiis reformatis. -- Et sic patet, quod totus mundus est sicut unum speculum plenum luminibus praesentantibus divinam sapientiam, et sicut carbo effundens lucem.

28. The fourth face of wisdom is the most difficult, for it is without form. Thus would it seem to destroy the preceding faces, and yet it does not. The Apostle speaks of it in the First Epistle to the Corinthians: "Wisdom, however, we speak among those who are mature, yet not a wisdom of this world.... But we speak the wisdom of God, mysterious, hidden . . . which ... eye has not seen nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man.... But to us God has revealed [it] through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. Paul taught this wisdom to Dionysius =|18|= and Timothy and other perfect men, but he kept it hidden from others. It is up to us, then, to be perfect in order to reach it. Forgetting what is behind, 1 strain forward to what is before, hoping that I may understand.

28. Quarta facies sapientiae est difficillima, quia est nulliformis, quod videtur destructivum praecedentium, non tamen est. De hac enim dicit Apostolus primae ad Corinthios secundo: Sapientiam loquimur inter perfectos, sapientiam non huius saeculi; sed loquimur sapientiam in mysterio absconditam, quam nec oculus vidit, nec auris audivit, nec in cor hominis ascendit; nobis autem revelavit Deus per Spiritum suum. Spiritus autem omnia scrutatur, etiam profunda Dei =|32|= . Hanc sapientiam docuit Paulus Dionysium et Timotheum et ceteros perfectos et ab aliis abscondit. Oportet ergo, nos esse perfectos, ut ad hanc sapientiam veniamus. Quae retro sunty inquit, obliviscens, ad anteriora me extendo, si quo modo comprehendam =|50|= .

29. This wisdom is veiled in mystery, but how? If it has not entered into the heart of man, how can it be understood, since it is without form? Note that this is the highest state of achievement of Christian wisdom. While Dionysius wrote many books, it is here that he stopped, that is, in Mystical Theology. Hence it is necessary that a man be instructed in many things and in everything that comes before. Concerning Mystical Theology, Dionysius writes: "As for you, then, my friend Timothy, concerning mystical visions, through strong action and contrition give up the senses," etc. =|19|= What he means is that a man must be free of all the things he enumerates there, and that he reject them all, as if he were saying: "The One I want to love is above any substance or knowledge." And here is an operation that transcends every intellect: a most secret action, which no one knows unless he experiences it. For in the soul there are several apprehensive powers: the sensitive, the imaginative, the estimative, the intellective; and all must be rejected, and at the summit, there is union of love which transcends them all. Hence it is clear that total beatitude is not attained through the intellective power alone. =|20|=

29. Haec sapientia abscondita est in mysterio =|54|= . Sed quomodo? Si in cor hominis non ascendit =|55|= , quomodo comprehendetur, cum sit nulliformis? -- Nota, quod hic est status sapientiae cristianae; unde cum$Dionysius multos libros fecisset, hic consummavit, scilicet in Mystica Theologia. Unde oportet, quod homo sit instructus multis et omnibus praecedentibus. De Mystica Theologia Dionysius: «Tu autem, inquit, o Timothee amice, circa mysticas visiones forti actione et contritione, sensus derelinque» etc.; vult enim dicere, quod oportet, quod sit solutus ab omnibus, quae ibi numerat, et quod omnia dimittat; quasi diceret: super omnem substantiam et cognitionem est ille quem volo intelligere. Et ibi est operatio transcendens omnem intellectum, secretissima; quod nemo scit, nisi qui experitur. In anima enim sunt virtutes multae apprehensivae: sensitiva, imaginativa, aestimativa, intellectiva; et omnes oportet relinquere, et in vertice est Unitio amoris, et haec omnes transcendit. -- Unde patet, quod non est tota beatitudo in intellectiva.

30. Now this contemplation comes about through grace, and yet personal effort is helpful, for it separates self from anything that is not God, and if possible, from itself. And that is the supreme union of love. And the Apostle says that it comes about through love alone: So that, being rooted and grounded in love, you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth. Such love transcends every intellect and every science. But if it transcends every science, how can this wisdom be seen? That is why the Apostle continues: Now, to him who is able to accomplish all things in a measure far beyond what we ask or conceive, etc. For it does not belong to anyone, but to the man to whom God reveals it. Hence the same Apostle writes: But to us God has revealed it through His spirit. Hence, in this union the mind is joined to God, wherefore in a certain sense it sleeps, while in another it keeps vigil: I was sleeping, but my heart kept vigil. Only the affective power keeps vigil and imposes silence upon all the other powers; then man becomes foreign to his senses: he is in ecstasy and hears secret words that man may not repeat, because they are only in the heart. Hence, because nothing can be expressed unless it is conceived, or conceived unless it is understood, and [here] the intelligence does not speak: it follows that a man can hardly speak or explain anything. And that is a fact. And because this wisdom is attained only through grace, a wise writer attributes all hidden and unforeseeable things to the Holy Spirit and to the Word Himself, as having to be revealed by them. Hence he says: And all such things as are hid and not foreseen, I have learned: for Wisdom, which is the worker of all things, taught me. And he says the same as Paul. For in her is a spirit intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle, etc. This spirit lifts up the soul and teaches unforeseen things. This is the finger of God which the Pharaoh's magician cannot touch, that is, our mind. Many wise men possess the first faces of wisdom, but only a few have this one.

30. Haec autem Contemplatio fit per gratiam, et tamen iuvat industria, scilicet ut separet se ab omni eo, quod Deus non est, et a se ipso, si possibile esset. Et haec est suprema Unitio per amorem. Et quod solum per amorem fiat, dicit Apostolus: In caritate, radicati et fundati, ut possitis comprehendere cum omnibus Sanctis, quae sit longitudo, latitudo, sublimitas et profundumIste amor transcendit omnem intellectum et scientiam. -- Sed si scientiam transcendit, quomodo videri potest sapientia ista? Propter hoc addit Apostolus: Ei autem, qui potens est omnia facere superabundanter, quam petimus, aut intelligimus =|57|= etc.; quia non est cuiuslibet, nisi cui Deus revelat. Propter quod dicit Apostolus: Nobis autem revelavit Deus per Spiritum suum =|58|= . Unde cum mens in illa unione coniuncta est Deo, dormit quodam modo, et quodam modo vigilat: Ego dormio, et cor meum vigilat =|59|= . Sola affectiva vigilat et silentium omnibus aliis potentiis imponit; et tunc homo alienatus est a sensibus et in ecstasi positus et audit arcana verba, quae non licet homini loqui =|60|= , quia tantum sunt in affectu. Unde cum exprimi non possit nisi quod concipitur, nec concipitur nisi quod intelligitur, et intellectus silet; sequitur, quod quasi nihil possit loqui et explicare. -- Et ita est; et quia ad istam sapientiam non pervenitur nisi per gratiam, ideo auctor sapiens quaecumque sunt absconsa et improvisa sancto Spiritui et ipsi Verbo attribuit revelanda; et ideo dicit: Quaecumque sunt absconsa et improvisa didici; omnium enim artifex docuit me sapientia =|61|= . Et idem dicit, quod Paulus. Est enim in illa spiritus intelligentiae sanctus, unicus, multiplex, subtilis =|62|= , etc. Iste spiritus levat animam et docet improvisa. Et hic est digitus Dei =|63|= , ad quem magus Pharaonis non potest attingere, scilicet intellectus noster. -- De primis sapientes multi habent, de hac autem pauci.$ritus subvertens montes et conterens petras =|70|= etc. Hunc ignem non est in postestate nostra habere; sed si Deus dat desuper, sacerdotis est nutrire et ligna subiicere =|71|= per orationem.

31. Now 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. Then, in this union, the power of the soul is recollected, and it becomes more unified, and enters in its intimate self, and consequently it rises up to its summit: for according to Augustine, the intimate self and the summit are the same. =|21|= It is of this summit that the Canticle speaks: I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,... that you stir not up nor awake my beloved, till she please.

$ Iste autem amor est sequestrativi, soporativus, sursumactivus. Sequestrat enim ab omni affectu alio propter sponsi affectum unicum; soporat et quietat omnes potentias et silentium imponit; sursum agit, quia ducit in Deum. Et sic est homo quasi mortuus; et ideo dicitur: Fortis ut mors dilectio =|64|= > quia separat ab omnibus. Oportet enim, hominem mori per illum amorem, ut sursum agatur. Unde non videbit me homo et vivet =|65|= . Et tunc in tali unione virtus animae in unum colligitur et magis unita fit et intrat in suum intimum et per consequens in summum suum ascendit; quia idem intimum et summum, secundum Augustinum. De illo summo dicitur in Cantico: Adiuro vos, filiae Ierusalem, ne suscitetis neque evigilare faciatis dilectam, donec ipsa velit =|66|= .

34. This sleep signifies the death of Christ, the burial of Christ, the passage of the Red Sea, the entrance into the Promised Land. That the Holy Spirit once more prompted such a move may be seen in Moses, whom the fire led to the inner parts of the desert, where he received enlightenment. The inner parts are the form of wisdom; the enlightenment is mental ecstasy. 32. But in order to reach such a summit, it is good for us to be carried above every sense, every rational operation related to the imagination, even to dismiss the angelical intelligences, so that it may be said: The watchmen came upon me as they made their rounds of the city:... I had hardly left them when I found Him whom my heart loves. And this is what Dionysius teaches, to dismiss sensible and intellectual things, beings and non-beings—and by non- beings, he means temporal things because they are in a constant state of flux—thus to enter into the radiance of darkness. =|22|= It is called darkness because it does not bear upon the intelligence, and yet the soul is supremely flooded with light. And because this cannot be had without prayer, Dionysius begins with prayer, saying: "Supersubstantial Trinity, super-divine and super-good." =|23|= And understand that it is said, not in regard to God, but in regard to our intellect, for the Trinity is substance to a greater degree than our intelligence can perceive, and so is it God, and so also the other attributes. And later, "turning away the eyes of the mind," for the mind cannot see it with intellectual eyes, and so they must be turned away. Hence it is said in the Canticle: Turn away thy eyes from me, for they have made me flee away. For Christ goes away when the mind attempts to behold this wisdom through intellectual eyes; since it is not the intellect that can go in there, but the heart. Hence again in the Canticle: You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride; you have ravished my heart with one glance of your eyes — for the heart reaches down into the depths of Christ — with one hair of thy neck — for the hair refers to the height of mental thoughts. And Dionysius continues: "As for you, then, my friend Timothy, concerning mystical visions, through strong action and contrition, give up ... intellectual operations," etc. And 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.33. But this ascent comes about by affirmation and negation. =|24|= By affirmation, by going from the summit to the depth; by negation, by going from the depth to the summit: and the latter mode is the best, for instance, He is not this, He is not that. In so doing I do not deprive God of what is His or within Him, but I attribute it in a higher and better manner than I am able to understand. Love is always preceded by negation (removal). Hence, Moses was first separated from the elders, then he went up the mountain, and finally entered the cloud. Another example: a sculptor never adds anything, on the contrary, he removes matter," leaving the noble and beautiful form in the stone. Likewise, the notion of God obtained through removal (negation) leaves in us the most noble disposition.

$ Iuvat autem nos ad veniendum ad illum somnum superferri omnibus sensibus, omnibus operationibus intellectualibus, quae sunt cum phantasmatibus annexis, dimittere etiam Angelicas Intelligentias, ut dicatur: Invenerunt me vigiles, qui custodiunt civitatem; paululum cum pertransissem eos, inveni quem diligit anima mea®. Et hoc docet Dionysius, dimittere sensibilia, intellectualia, entia, non entia; et vocat temporalia non entia, quia sunt in continua variatione; et sic intrare in tenebrarum radium. Dicitur tenebra, quia intellectus non capit; et tamen anima summe illustratur. Et quia hoc non habetur nisi per orationem, ideo Dionysius incipit ab oratione dicens: «Trinitas supersubstantialis, superdea, superbona»; et intellige quod hoc dicitur non respectu Dei, sed respectu intellectus nostri; quia magis est substantia, quam intellectus noster capiat, et magis Deus; et sic de aliis. Et post: «amoventes oculos mentis», quia mens oculis intellectualibus aspicere non potest, et ideo amovendi sunt. Et ideo dicitur in Cantico: Averte oculos tuos a me, ipsi me avolare fecerunt =|68|= . Tunc Christus recedit, quando mens oculis intellectualibus nititur illam sapientiam videre, quia ibi non intrat intellectus, sed affectus. Unde in Cantico: Vulnerasti cor meum, soror mea, sponsa; vulnerasti cor meum in uno oculorum tuorum =|69|= y quia affectus vadit usque ad profundum Christi; et in uno crine colli tui; crinis significat elevationem mentalium considerationum. -- Et post Dionysius: «Tu autem, amice Timothee, circa mysticas visiones, forti contritione et actione sensus derelinque et intellectuales operationes» etc. Et innuit, quod iste ascensus fit per vigorem et commotionem fortissimam Spiritus sancti; sicut dicitur de Elia: Ecce, spi-33. Iste autem ascensus fit per affirmationem et ablationem: per affirmationem, a summo usque ad infimum; per ablationem, ab infimo usque ad summum; et iste modus est conveniens magis, ut: non est hoc, non est aliud; nec privo ego a Deo quod suum est, vel in ipso est, sed attribuo meliori modo et altiori, quam ego intelligo. -- Ablationem sequitur amor semper. Unde Moyses primo a senioribus sequestratus secundo ascendit in montem, tertio intrat caliginem. Aliud exemplum: qui sculpit figuram nihil ponit, immo removet et in ipso lapide relinquit formam nobilem et pulcram. Sic notitia Divinitatis per ablationem relinquit in nobis nobilissimam dispositionem.34. Istud somnium significat mors Christi, sepultura Christi, transitus maris rubri, transitus in terram promissionis. -- Quod iterum Spiritus sanctus commoveat ad hoc, nota de Moyse, quem duxit ignis ad interiora deserti =|72|= , ubi accepit illustrationes. Ista ergo est sapientiae forma; isti sunt excessus mentales.

300 On the Fullness of Understanding, Considered as the Key to Contemplation through the Understanding of the Uncreated, Incarnate and Inspired Word

COLLATIO III$DE PLENITUDINE INTELLECTUS, QUATENUS EST CLAVIS CONTEMPLATIONIS PER INTELLECTUM VERBI INCREATI, INCARNATI ET INSPIRATI

1. IN THE midst of the Church the Lord shall open his mouth, and shall fill him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding. Whatever is said of wisdom, must be said of understanding of which it was explained in the Collations on the Gifts =|1|= that it is the rule of moral definition, the door to learned thought, and the key to heavenly contemplation. And such understanding is indeed a gift. A beginning must be made from understanding in order to reach wisdom. With the bread of life and understanding, the Lord shall feed him: and give him the water of wholesome wisdom to drink. First there must be food, not drink. Unless man is trained in the gift of understanding, he cannot proceed to the drink of wisdom, which makes a river flow in the soul, a river which the soul itself drinks, that shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up unto life everlasting. The gift of understanding is solid food, like bread which, as Blessed Francis used to say, is obtained through much labor. First the seed is sown, then it grows, then the grain is collected, then brought to the mill, then baked. There are many such steps. 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; and: As the hind longs for the running waters, so my soul longs for You, O God.

1. In medio Ecclesiae aperiet os eius, et adimplebit eum Dominus spiritu sapientiae et intellectus =|1|= Dicto de sapientia, dicendum est de intellectu, de quo dicebatur in Collatione donorum, quod intellectus est regula circumspectionum moralium, ianua considerationum scientialium, clavis contemplationum caelestium. Et iste intellectus proprie est donum. -- Ab intellectu inchoandum est, et perveniendum ad sapientiam. Cibavit illum Dominus pane vitae et intellectus, et aqua sapientiae salutaris potavit illum =|2|= . A cibo incipiendum est, non a potu. Nisi enim homo exerceatur in dono intellectus, non proficit in potu sapientiae, quae effundit flumina in animam, potata ab ipsa, et fit ei fons aquae salientis in vitam aeternam =|3|= . Donum intellectus est solidus cibus, ut panis, qui, ut dicebat beatus Franciscus, multis laboribus habetur. Primo semen seminatur, deinde crescit, deinde colligitur, deinde ad molendinum portatur, deinde coquitur, et multa talia. Et sic de dono intellectus; intellectum comparare difficile est per se. Sapientia similiter non habetur nisi a sitiente; unde in Psalmo: Sitivit anima mea ad Deum fortem vivum =|4|= ; et: Quemadmodum desiderat cervus ad fontes aquarum, ita desiderat anima mea ad te Deus =|5|=

2. And so, the key to contemplation is a threefold understanding: of the Uncreated Word by whom all things are brought forth; of the Incarnate Word by whom all things are restored; and of the Inspired Word by whom all things are revealed. For no one can have understanding unless he considers where things come from, how they are led back to their end, and how God shines forth in them.

2. Clavis ergo contemplationis est intellectus triplex, scilicet intellectus Verbi increati, per quod omnia producuntur; intellectus Verbi incarnati, per quod omnia reparantur; intellectus Verbi inspirati, per quod omnia revelantur. Nisi enim quis possit considerare de rebus, qualiter originantur, qualiter in finem reducuntur, et qualiter in eis refulget Deus; intelligentiam habere non potest.

3. Concerning a text from the Epistle to the Romans: For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen—His everlasting power also and divinity— being understood through the things that are made: God's everlasting power and His divinity are understood through their effect, since God is the Cause of all things, and all things are made by this power of His. And this is contrary to the theory of the philosophers who deny that things endowed with many forms can proceed from one and the same Being, that temporal things can proceed from the Eternal, possible things from the most Actual, changing things from the most Stable, composite things from the most Simple, lowly things from the supremely High: since the effect reflects the cause, and the opposite is true in these cases. =|2|=

3. De primo ad Romanos: Invisibilia Dei a creatura mundi per ea quae facta sunt intellecta conspiciuntur, sempiterna quoque Virtus eius et Divinitas =|6|= . Sempiterna virtus et Divinitas per effectum intelliguntur, quia Deus est causa omnium, et per virtutem eius omnia sunt facta =|7|= ; quod est contra philosophos, qui negant, quod ab uno et eodem, semper manente eodem, sint multiformia, ab aeterno temporalia, ab actualissimo manent possibilia, a stabilissimo mutabilia, a simplicissimo$composita, a sublimissimo infima; cum effectus sit similis causae, et causa haec sit contraria in his conditionibus.

4. The door to all this is the understanding of the Uncreated Word who is the root of the understanding of all things; hence a man who does not have this door cannot go in. But philosophers consider impossible some things that are supremely true, for the door is closed to them. How these matters are to be understood is explained in the Epistle to the Hebrews: By faith we understand that the world was fashioned by the Word of God; and thus things visible were made out of things invisible. For it is impossible for the supreme Spirit not to understand itself; and since the understanding is equated with the one who understands, He understands whatever is and whatever can be: hence also the reason of understanding is equated to understanding itself, for it is its likeness. Now this likeness is the Word because, according to Augustine and Anselm, =|3|= the likeness of the mind returning upon itself, which is at the fine point of intelligence, is the word. If then this likeness is equal, it follows that it is God, and, having originated from God, it represents the Originating One and whatever the Father is able to do: hence it represents many things. Again, since it represents the Father's power, it represents a power that is absolutely one; but "the more a power is one, the more it is infinite." =|4|= Hence this likeness properly represents infinite things; and therefore it is necessary that many things proceed from one. If, then, you understand the Word, you understand all understandable things. But the Jew cannot understand this. 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." =|5|=

4. Horum ostium est intellectus Verbi increati, qui est radix intelligentiae omnium; unde qui non habet hoc ostium, intrare non potest. Philosophi autem habent pro impossibili quae sunt summe vera, quia ostium est eis clausum. -- Quomodo autem haec intelligantur, dicitur ad Hebraeos: Fide intelligimus, aptata esse saecula Verbo Dei, ut ex invisibilibus visibilia fierent =|8|= . Summum autem spiritum impossibile est se non intelligere; et cum intellectum aequetur intelligenti, intelligit quidquid est et quidquid potest: ergo et ratio intelligendi aequatur intellectui, quae similitudo eius est. Haec autem similitudo Verbum est, quia, secundum Augustinum et Anselmum, similitudo mentis convertentis se super se, quae in acie mentis est, verbum est. Si ergo haec similitudo aequalis est, ergo Deus est, et a Deo originata repraesentat originantem et quidquid Pater potest: ergo repraesentat multa. -- Item, cum virtutem Patris repraesentat, repraesentat virtutem mitissimam; sed «virtus, quanto magis unita, tanto magis infinita»: ergo illa similitudo infinita repraesentare habet; et ita necesse est, ut ab uno sint multa. Si igitur intelligis Verbum, intelligis omnia scibilia. Iudaeus hoc intelligere non potest; et tamen Scriptura dicit: Dixit Deus: fiat lux =|9|= ; et iterum: Dixit Deus, hoc est Verbum genuit, in «quo omnia disposuit» et disponendo omnia facit. Unde Augustinus in libro Confessionum: «Verbo tuo tibi coaeterno facis quaecumque facis, nec alio modo quam dicendo facis, non tamen sempiterne facis quae sempiterne dicis».

5. Indeed, if oneness were able to know the sum total of its potencies, it would see and know all the numbers; and if the mathematical point were able to know the sum total of its potencies, it would know all the lines passing through the center. Oneness, however, is more of a principle than the mathematical point, for oneness is an essential part of number, while the point is a principle but not a part. =|6|= And neither of these is an active principle. Hence, because the first intellect is an active principle, it is necessary that it dispose and express all things in the likeness of itself.

5. Si enim unitas posset cognoscere totum posse suum, videret et cognosceret omnes numeros; et si punctus cognosceret totum posse suum, cognosceret omnes lineas in centro; unitas tamen magis est principium quam punctus, quia unitas est pars essentialis numeri; punctus autem principium et non pars; nec aliquod istorum est principium activum. Igitur cum primus intellectus sit principium activum; necesse est, ut in similitudine sua omnia disponat, omnia exprimat.

6. Again, all temporal things proceed from an Eternal Being. For whatever proceeds from the Father does so in order, the one is the cause of the other, in nature and in time: therefore the Word so represents things that they are made to be. For as in my foresight or memory! there may be many future things, some more remote than others, and yet it does not follow that there is any change in me when these things occur: likewise there is no change in the Word. For when He creates a soul, He is not changed: in eternity He is saying that this soul is to be created now. By the very word He speaks in eternity, He creates now. If my will and my power coincided and I wanted a thing to occur only tomorrow, when it did occur, there would be no change in me; but there would be a change were I to pass from not wanting it to wanting it. =|7|=

6. Item, ab aeterno sunt omnia temporalia. Quae enim a Patre procedunt ordinate procedunt, et unum est causa alterius, ordine naturae et ordine temporis; ergo Verbum sic repraesentat res, ut in esse producuntur. Sicut enim in providentia mea vel memoria possunt esse$multa futura, et unum futurum magis distans quam aliud; nec propter hoc sequitur, quod cum eveniunt, sit mutatio in memoria mea; sic in Verbo non est mutatio. Cum enim creat animam hanc, non mutatur, quia ab aeterno dixit, animam hanc nunc creandam. Unde eodem dicto, quo ab aeterno dixit, nunc creat; sicut, si velle meum esset posse meum; si vellem modo, cras fieri rem, non esset mutatio in me, si fieret; sed esset, si de non volente fierem volens.

7. Once more, possible or material things are made by the most Actual. For the Father is understood to be the Principle producing from itself, the Principle producing from nothing, and the Principle producing from something material. And the Word expresses the Father as Principle producing from itself, and so He explains and represents the production of the Holy Spirit and His own, that is, the production of eternal things. He also expresses the Father as the Principle producing from nothing, and so He represents the production of aeviternal things, such as the angels and souls. He finally represents the Father as producing something out of something else, as is the case with material objects. But whatever comes from something else exists first in potency before it comes to being: hence the Word necessarily represents possible things. And so, possible things come about through the most actual, by necessity.

7. Item, ab actualissimo fiunt possibilia sive materialia. Pater enim intelligitur principium principians de se, principium principians de nihilo, principium principians de aliquo materiali. Et Verbum exprimit Patrem ut principium principians de se, et sic est explicans et repraesentans productionem Spiritus sancti et suam sive aeternorum. -- Exprimit etiam Patrem ut principiantem aliquid de nihilo, et sic repraesentat productionem aeviternorum, ut Angelorum et animarum. -- Repraesentat etiam ut principiantem aliquid de aliquo materiali; sed quod fit de aliquo prius est in potentia, quam fiat; necesse ergo est, ut repraesentet possibilia. Necessario ergo ab actualissimo fiunt possibilia.

8. Furthermore, the Likeness or Word is Truth. What is truth by definition? "An adequation of the intellect with the object understood." =|8|= I am speaking of that intellect which is the cause of the object, and not of my own intellect which is not its cause. This adequation is true when the object has quantity, quality, order, action, passion, time, place, and habit, according to the differences of the categories. For things are true when they exist either in fact or as universals, as they exist in Eternal Art or are expressed in it. A thing, then, is true in so far as it is adequated to the causing intellect. But because it is not perfectly adequated to the reason that expresses or represents it, every creature is a lie, as Augustine says. =|9|= For the adequated thing is not its own adequation: hence it is necessary that the Word or Likeness or Reason be the Truth. And the truth of the creature consists in that, and both the highest and the lowest things are represented by the Word. And although an angel, in so far as he is a likeness of God and possesses nobler attributes, partakes in the Word in a larger measure than a worm, yet in the order of exemplarity, the principle "angel" is not nobler than the principle "worm": hence the principle "worm" expresses or represents the worm in the same way as the principle "angel" expresses and represents the angel, nor is there in this regard any superiority of the angel over the worm. For any creature is a mere shadow in regard to the Creator.

8. Et haec similitudo sive Verbum est veritas. Quid est veritas secundum definitionem? «Adaequatio intellectus et rei intellectae», illius intellectus, dico, qui est causa rei, non intellectus mei, quia non sum causa rei. -- Haec adaequatio vera est, quando res est tanta, talis, ordinem habens, agens, patiens, tunc, ubi, cum situm habet, secundum differentias praedicamentorum. Tunc enim res sunt verae, quando sunt in re vel in universo, sicut sunt in arte aeterna, vel sicut ibi exprimuntur. Res autem vera est, secundum quod adaequatur intellectui causanti. Quia vero perfecte non adaequatur rationi, quae exprimit eam vel repraesentat; ideo omnis creatura mendacium est, secundum Augustinum. Res autem adaequata non est sua adaequatio: ergo necessario est, ut Verbum vel similitudo vel ratio sit veritas; et ibi est veritas creaturae, et repraesentantur per Verbum ita infima, sicut suprema. Unde licet Angelus magis participet cum Verbo in conditionibus nobilibus, puta quoad imaginem Dei, quam vermiculus; in ratione tamen exemplaritatis non est nobilior ratio Angeli quam vermiculi; ita ratio vermiculi exprimit vel repraesentat vermiculum, ut ratio Angeli Angelum, nec secundum hoc nobilior Angelus vermiculo. Quaelibet autem creatura umbra est respectu Creatoris.

9. 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." =|10|= 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, etc.

9. Et sic patet, quod ab actualissimo sunt possibilia, a stabilissimo mutabilia, et a sublimissimo infima. Et sicut sol lucens facit varietatem et multiformitatem colorum, sic ab illo Verbo est varietas rerum. Unde non contingit intelligere nisi per Verbum. -- Et haec est clavis nobilissima animae purgatae per fidem, quae est necessaria, quia «mentis nostrae acies invalida in tam excellenti luce non figitur, nisi per iustitiam fidei emundetur». Unde omnes, qui non habent hanc fidem, manum habent amputatam. Unde in Psalmo: Quia ipse dixit, et facta sunt; ipse mandavit, et creata sunt =|10|= , etc.

10. The second key is the understanding of the Incarnate Word, through whom all things are restored. Hence in the last chapter of Luke: "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled that are written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me." Then He opened their minds, that they might understand the Scriptures. Who is speaking? The Word of God, of whom John writes in his first chapter: The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, where He displayed two natures within a single Person. It follows that all things must be fulfilled that are written ... concerning Me. Hence, in the Epistle to the Romans: Christ is the consummation of the Law unto justice for everyone who believes.

10. Secunda clavis est intellectus Verbi incarnati, per quod omnia reparantur. Unde Lucae ultimo: Haec sunt verba quae locutus sum vobis, cum adhuc essem vobiscum; quoniam oportet impleri quae scripta sunt in Lege et Prophetis et Psalmis de me. Tunc aperuit illis sensum, ut intelligerent Scripturas =|11|= . Quis loquitur? Verbum Dei, de quo Ioannis primo: Verbum caro factum est et habitavit in nobis =|12|= , ubi ostendit duas naturas in una persona. Sequitur: Oportet Scripturas impleri de me =|10|= ; unde ad Romanos: Finis Legis est Christus ad iustitiam omni credenti =|14|= .

11. As a sign of Him, there are the two Cherubim =|11|= ... 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. Then 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. Now, in the Apocalypse the name of the Restorer is the Word of God: And He is clothed in a garment sprinkled with blood, and His name is called the Word of God. Supposing I wanted to know how the Word of God can be the Restorer: Isaiah speaks of it: A child is bom to us, a son is given us; upon His shoulder dominion rests. They name Him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.

11. In designationem huius duo Cherubim, versis vultibus in propitiatorium, mutuo se respiciebant =|15|= . Duo Cherubim duo testamenta sunt, quorum aspectus in Christum. Tunc aperuit illis sensum =|16|= , quando intellexerunt Scripturas, id est, per hanc clavem Verbi incarnati liber Scripturae habet intelligi, eo quod est principaliter de operibus reparationis. Nisi enim intelligas ordinem et originem reparationis, Scripturam intelligere non potes. Nomen autem reparatoris est Verbum Dei; in Apocalypsi: Vestitus erat veste aspersa sanguine, et vocabatur nomen eius Verbum Dei =|11|= . -- Sed vellem scire, quomodo Verbum Dei ut Reparator sit. De hoc Isaias: Parvulus natus est nobis, et filius datus est nobis, cuius imperium super humerum eius, et vocabitur nomen eius: admirabilis, consiliarius, Deus, fortis, pater futuri saeculi, princeps pacis =|18|= .

12. He it is who restored the hierarchy of heaven, and that below heaven which had totally fallen. Hence He must needs have touched both heaven and earth. This Hierarch had to be preeminent, endowed with awareness, acceptable to God, victorious, most generous, and just.

12. Iste reparavit hierarchiam caelestem et subcaelestem, quae tota corruerat. Ergo necesse fuit, ut tangeret caelum et terram. Iste hierarcha debuit esse praecelsus, sensatus, Deo acceptus, victoriosus, largifluus, iustus.

13. First, then, the only being able to save would have to be preeminent in power. Hence, in the Epistle to the Hebrews: God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, last of all in these days has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the world; who, being the brightness of His glory and the image of His substance, and upholding all things by the Word of His power, has effected man's purgation from sin and taken His seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much superior to the angels as He has inherited a more excellent name than they. From Him, indeed, miracles come forth, and hence it was necessary that He show the miracle of miracles in His own Person, that is, the plurality of natures: for He possesses corporeal, spiritual, and divine natures—the temporal, the aeviternal, and the eternal. Hence again it belongs to Him to bind the lowest with the highest. Sirach says: Behold the rainbow! Then bless its Maker. The rainbow has several natures and colors. As the sun goes down according to the ten divisions of the clock of Achaz, so does the Incarnate Word through the nine choirs of angels down to man, who is counted tenth. This is the greatest miracle, that God be man, that the first be the last; wherefore all miracles are related to this one; and all cry out: "Hosanna to the Son of David!" In this miracle, faith receives its strength. 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 =|12|= out of mere men, He had to be preeminent, and that is what the word Wonder means.

13. Debuit primo esse praecelsus potentia, qui solus posset salvare. Unde ad Hebraeos: Multifariam multisque modis olim Deus loquens patribus in Prophetis, novissime diebus istis locutus est nobis in Filio, quem constituit heredem universorum, per quem fecit et saecula;$usque: Tanto melior Angelis effectus, quanto differentius prae illis nomen hereditavit =|19|= . -- Ab ipso enim procedunt miracula; et ideo necesse fuit, in ipso ostendi miraculum miraculorum, scilicet multiformitatem naturarum. Habet enim naturam corpoream, naturam spiritualem, naturam divinam; naturam temporalem, aeviternam, aeternam. Unde habet ligare infima supremis. In Ecclesiastico: Vide arcum et benedic qui fecit illum*. Arcus multiformitatem naturarum et colorum habet. Sicut enim sol descendit per decem gradus in horologio Achaz, sic Verbum incarnatum per novem ordines Angelorum usque ad hominem, qui decimus computatur. Hoc est maximum miraculum, ut quod Deus sit homo, primus sit novissimus; et ideo omnia miracula ad hoc miraculum respiciunt; unde omnia clamant: Hosanna Filio David =|21|= . -- In hoc miraculo fides accipit vires suas. Unde Moyses, postquam minavit gregem ad interiora deserti, vidit rubum qui ardebat et non comburebatur; vadam, inquit, et videbo visionem hanc magnam =|22|= etc.; ubi fuit illustratus. Rubus spinosa est passibilitas carnis; flamma, anima Christi plena luminibus et igne caritatis; lux, Divinitas; lux coniuncta rubo mediante flamma, Divinitas coniuncta carni mediante spiritu seu anima. Ut ergo possit de mortuis facere vivos, de hominibus filios Dei =|23|= ; necesse est, ut sit praecisus; et hoc est quod dicit admirabilis.

14. Next, it was necessary that our Hierarch be endowed with awareness, in regard to the threefold wisdom within Him: the innate, that is, the wisdom of angels and of the first man, the infused, and the eternal. Through the first, He knows all things which we are able to know by means of the proper disposition; through the second, He comprehends gloriously and infinitely, because to His wisdom there is no limit; =|13|= through the third, He comprehends all things. For the One who was to restore the whole universe had to know the conditions of the whole universe. Hence, in the fourth chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews: The Word of God is living and efficient. And later: All things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we have to give account. Hence, it was necessary not only that He be powerful, but also that He be aware.

14. Item, necesse est, ut hierarcha noster sit sensatus iuxta triplicem sapientiam in eo, innatam scilicet, sicut fuit Angelis et primo homini, infusam, aeternam. Per primam scit omnia, quae nos possumus per habitum scire; per secundam comprehendit gloriose et infinite, quia sapientiae eius non est numerus =|2|= *\ per tertiam omnia. Qui enim reparare debuit totum mundum, necesse erat, ut sciret conditiones totius mundi; unde ad Hebraeos quarto: Vivus est sermo Dei et efficax; sequitur: Omnia nuda et aperta sunt oculis eius, ad quem nobis sermo =|25|= . Unde oportebat, non solum quod esset potens, sed etiam quod esset sensatus.

15. But if you ask, "What need was there for Him to have wisdom besides the divine?" I will answer: in order that He might have experience. As it is written in the Epistle to the Hebrews, we have not a High Priest that cannot have compassion on our infirmities, but one tried as we are in all things except sin. For He stands both as our Advocate and our Judge; and He it is who was the best Counselor and the most wise: hence all other sages were nothing but figures and imitations of this Wise One. From Him come forth documents of the greatest certainty and celebrity by which we need to be taught; and that is why He is called Counselor.

15. Sed si dicas: quae necessitas fuit, ut haberet sapientiam aliam praeter divinam? respondeo: ut experiri posset; ad Hebraeos: Non habemus Pontificem, qui non possit compati infirmitatibus nostris; tentatum autem per omnia pro similitudine, absque peccato =|26|= . Iste autem advocatus =|27|= est pro nobis, et iudicat contra nos. Iste fuit optimus consiliarius et sapientissimus; unde omnes alii sapientes non fuerunt nisi quaedam figurae et simulacra istius sapientis. -- Ab isto procedunt documenta certissima et praeclara, quibus indigemus erudiri; ideo dicitur consiliarius.

16. 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.

16. Ad hunc referuntur omnia eloquia sapientiae Scripturae, ut Salomonis et aliorum. Tamen Iudaei accipiunt de Salomone quod de Christo dicitur in Psalmo: Speciosus forma prae filiis hominum, diffusa est gratia in labiis tuis =|26|= ; non fuit Salomon talis; et: Sit nomen eius benedictum in saecula =|29|= .

17. Again, this Hierarch is acceptable to god, for we need a most sacred Reconciler. Hence the Epistle to the Hebrews: It was fitting that we should have such a High Priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, set apart from sinners, and become higher than the heavens, in order that He be entirely in the form of God. And so John writes: We saw His glory—glory as of the only-begotten of the Father— full of grace and of truth, because of the great number of graces. =|14|= He enjoyed, indeed, the grace of an individual Person, the grace of the Head by which He influenced the members, and the grace of union which is infinite and flowing from a single source. For this reason He was acceptable to God, not only because in the form of God, but as God. Because He is God, He cannot be unacceptable. Hence He is called God, and the holiest examples come from Him. Hence, wherever in the Scriptures there is a reference to emanations, to the rivers of paradise, to gushing fountains, they apply to Him.

17. Item, Hierarcha iste est Deo acceptus; quia indigemus sacratissimo reconciliatore. Ad Hebraeos: Talis decebat, ut esset nobis pontifex, sanctus, innocens, impollutus, segregatus a peccatoribus et excelsior caelis factus =|30|= , ut esset totus deiformis; unde in Ioanne: Vidimus gloriam eius, gloriam quasi unigeniti a Patre, plenum gratiae et veritatis =|31|= , propter multitudinem gratiarum. Habuit enim gratiam singularis personae, gratiam capitis, per quam influit in membra, gratiam unionis, et haec est infinita ex una parte. Unde Deo fuit acceptus non solum, quia deiformis, sed quia Deus. Quia Deus est, non potest esse non acceptus. Et ideo dicitur Deus; et sic ab ipso sunt exempla sanctissima. -- Unde ubicumque in Scripturis =|32|= fit mentio de emanationibus, de fluminibus paradisi, de scaturigines fontium, ad hunc referuntur.

18. Once more, the Hierarch must be totally victorious by the number of His triumphs and victories. Hence, in the Epistle to the Colossians: And you, when you were dead by reason of your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh; and later: Disarming the Principalities and Powers, He displayed them openly, leading them away in triumph by force of it. Indeed, 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. That is why at the name of Jesus every knee should bend of those in heaven, on earth and under the earth. Isaiah asks: Who is this that comes from Edom, in crimson garments, from Bosra?. . . "It is I who announce vindication, 1 who am mighty to save." For that reason, He is called Strong, and from Him come strong defenses. Hence, mountains are round about Him. And so all the wars of Scripture refer to the victory of Christ.

18. Item oportet, quod hierarcha sit victoriosissimus propter multitudinem triumphi et victoriae. Unde ad Colossenses: Et vos cum mortui essetis in delictis et praeputio carnis vestrae =|33|= ; et sequitur: Exspolians principatus et potestates, traduxit confidenter, palam triumphans illos in semetipso =|34|= . Vicit enim mundum, spoliavit infernum, restauravit paradisum. Unde in Psalmo: Attolite portas principes vestras, et elevamini portae aeternales, et introibit Rex gloriae. Quis est iste Rex gloriae? Dominus fortis et potens. Adhuc volumus audire: Attollite portas principes vestras. Quis est iste Rex gloriae? Dominus virtutum =|35|= . Iste est ergo fortis. Unde necesse est, ut in nomine Iesu omne genu flectatur caelestium, terrestrium et infernorum =|36|= . Isaias: Quis est iste, qui venit de Edom tinctis vestibus de Bosra? Ego qui loquor iustitiam et propugnator sum ad salvandum =|37|= . -- Et ideo dicitur fortis. Ab hoc manant fortia praesidia. Unde montes in circuitu eius =|38|= . Unde omnia bella Scripturae referuntur ad victoriam Christi.

19. Again, our Hierarch must be most generous in the amount of what He gives out. As written in the Epistle to the Ephesians, to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's bestowal Thus it says, "Ascending on high, He led away captives; He gave gifts to men." As indeed a cloud rises aloft in order that it may rain down, so does Christ ascend in order that He may grant His gifts. The sun has been lifted up, and the moon remained in its shelter. For at first He had given the Holy Spirit to the world in a secret way, but He did it manifestly after He had ascended on high, for this Holy Spirit was the cleansing, enlightening, and perfecting Hierarch, and the Holy Spirit came down into the heavenly and sub-heavenly hierarchies. And so, suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a violent wind. The Holy Spirit came down as a means of cleansing: hence, the violent wind; as a means of instruction, hence there appeared to them parted tongues as of fire; as a means of perfection, hence the tongues of fire settled upon each of them. From Him come forth the free gifts of grace. Whatever is said in the Bible of the sun shedding light, or of other diffusions, or of banquets, is said of His bounty. Hence, in the Psalm: The household shall divide the spoils. And in Isaiah: They rejoice before You... as men make merry when dividing spoils. These are the gifts of Christ's lavishness. Hence He is called the Father of the age to come, for He Himself is the Principle of those influences by which we will live in the future. As James writes: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights. And later: Of His own will He has begotten us by the word of truth, that we might be, as it were, the first-fruits of His creatures. We are now the beginning of creatures, but then we shall be creatures in full.

19. Item oportet, quod hierarcha noster sit largiflue propter magnitudinem influentiae. Ad Ephesios: Unicuique nostrum data est gratia secundum mensuram donationis Christi. Propter quod dicit: Ascendens in altum captivam duxit captivitatem, dedit dona hominibus =|}9|= . Sicut enim nubes ascendit in altum, ut postmodum pluat; sic ascendit Christus, ut dona sua daret; cum elevatus est sol; et luna stetit in ordine suo =|40|= . Primo enim Spiritum sanctum in terra occulte dederat, sed postquam ascendit, tunc manifeste, quia ipse Spiritus sanctus fuit hierarcha purgans, illuminans, perficiens, et descendit Spiritus sanctus in hierarchiam$caelestem et subcaelestem. Unde factus est repente de caelo sonus tanquam advenientis Spiritus =|41|= , Descendit Spiritus sanctus ut purgans; unde dicitur advenientis Spiritus; ut instruens: apparuerunt illis linguae dispertitae tanquam ignis; in virtute perficiente: seditque super singulos eorum =|42|= . Ab hoc manant dona gratuita. -- Quidquid ergo in Scriptura invenitur diffusionis in sole et aliis et conviviis referuntur ad largitionem eius. Unde in Psalmo: Speciei domus dividere spolia =|40|= ; et in Isaia: Laetabuntur coram te, sicut exsultant victores, capta praeda, quando dividunt spolia =|44|= . Haec sunt dona largitatis Christi. -- Unde dicitur pater futuri saeculi; quia ipse est principium influentiam!!!, per quas vivemus in futuro saeculo; Iacobus: Omne datum optimum et omne donum perfectum desursum est, descendens a Patre luminum. Sequitur: Voluntarie genuit nos verbo veritatis, ut simus initium aliquod creaturae eius =|45|= . Modo sumus initium creaturae, sed tunc erimus simpliciter creatura.

20. This [our Hierarch] is the most generous because He gives us whatever we ask. Amen, amen, I say to you, if you ask the Father anything in My name, etc. He swears to it and asserts it with complete truthfulness. Hence in the Psalm: You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. And again: Man and beast You save, O Lord. — They shall be inebriated with the plenty of Thy house.

20. Iste est largissimus, quia dat nobis quidquid petimus: Amen, amen dico vobis: si quid petieritis Patrem in nomine meo =|46|= etc. Iurat et in veritate asserit. Unde in Psalmis: Aperis tu manum tuam et imples omne animal benedictione =|47|= ; et: Homines et iumenta salvabis, Domine. Inebriabuntur ab ubertate domus tuae =|4|= *.

21. Finally, He [our Hierarch] must be supremely just, because of the manifold character of a justice making infallible inquiries, irreproachable distinctions, and irrevocable judgments, handing out retribution to each one according to his deeds. Isaiah writes: A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse.—Justice shall be the band around his waist.—-Not by appearance shall He judge nor by hearsay shall He decide. Such, then, is God: for if He were mere man, He could not judge otherwise than through witnesses. All the judgments of Scriptures refer to this one judgment; hence, He [our Hierarch] is called the Prince of Peace. Wherefore just rewards come forth from Him. He, then, has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts. And such a key is the mystery of union.

21. Item, debet esse summe iustus propter multitudinem iustitiae infallibiliter inquirentis, irreprehensibiliter discutientis, irrevocabiliter sententiantis, ut retribuat unicuique secundum opera sua. Isaias: Egredietur de radice Iesse =|49|= , et erit iustitia cingulum lumborum eius =|50|= ; non secundum visionem oculorum iudicabit neque secundum auditum aurium arguet =|51|= . Ergo talis est Deus, quia, si esset purus homo, non posset iudicare nisi per testes. -- Ad istud iudicium referuntur omnia iudicia Scripturae; et ideo dicitur princeps pacis. Unde ab eo manant praemia iusta. -- Iste ergo David habet clavem, qui aperit, et nemo claudit; claudit, et nemo aperit =|52|= . Et clavis ista est mysterium unionis.

22. The third key is the understanding of the Inspired Word by whom all things are revealed; for there is no revelation except through this Inspired Word. Daniel understood the words: understanding is needed in the case of a vision. For unless the word resound in the ear of the heart, the splendor shine in the eye, the vapor and emanation of the Almighty be perceived as smell and His sweetness as taste, and unless eternity fill the soul, man is not fit to understand visions. God gave. . . to Daniel the understanding of all visions and dreams. By what means? Through the Inspired Word.

22. Tertia clavis est intellectus Verbi inspirati, per quod omnia revelantur; non enim fit revelatio nisi per Verbum inspiratum. Daniel intellexit sermonem. Intelligentia enim opus est in visione. Nisi enim verbum sonet in aure cordis, splendor luceat in oculo, vapor et emanatio =|53|= omnipotentis sit in olfacto, suavitas in gustu, sempiternitas impleat animam; non est homo aptus ad intelligendas visiones. Sed Danieli dedit Deus intelligentiam omnium visionum et somniorum =|54|= . Per quid? Per Verbum inspiratum.

23. Generally speaking, there are three kinds of vision: the bodily, the imaginary, and the intellectual. =|15|= The first two are worthless without the third. Hence, in the vision of the hand, mere bodily sight was of little use to Belsassar, likewise, to Nabuchodonosor in the imaginary vision of the golden statue, and to Pharaoh in the vision of the cows and the ears of grain: but these visions were meaningful both to Daniel and to Joseph. Joseph corresponds to John and Daniel to Paul.

23. Visio autem est triplex, ut communiter dicitur: corporalis, imaginaria, intellectualis. Duae primae nihil valent sine tertia. Unde parum valuit Balthasar! visio corporalis in visione manus, et Nabuchodonosor visio imaginaria statuae aureae, et Pharaoni visio in spicis et bobus, sed Danieli et Ioseph. Ioseph respondet Ioanni, Daniel Paulo.

24. Besides these visions, there is one that is sixfold and corresponds to the works of the six days: through these, the lesser world is made perfect, as was the greater one, in six days. =|16|= 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. And after these, there is a seventh vision of the glorified soul: and Paul had all of them. The first two belong to many, the next two to a few, the last two to an extremely small number.

24. Praeter has est visio sextuplex, quae respondet operibus sex dierum; quibus minor mundus fit perfectus, sicut maior mundus sex diebus. Est visio intelligentiae per naturam inditae, et visio intelligentiae per fidem sublevatae, per Scripturam eruditae, per contemplationem suspensae, per prophetiam illustratae, per raptum in Deum absorptae. Ad has sequitur visio septima animae glorificatae, quas omnes habuit Paulus. -- Primae duae sunt multorum, duae aliae paucorum, hae ultimae duae paucissimorum.

25. Through the first, 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.

25. Per primam intelligitur, ad quid potest extendi nostra intelligentia de se. Haec intelligitur per primam diem, in qua facta est lux =|55|= ; unde in Psalmo: Signatum est super nos lumen vultus tui, Domine Sine isto lumine indito, nihil habet homo, nec fidem nec gratiam nec lumen sapientiae; et ideo divisa est etiam lux a tenebris =|57|= .

26. The second is understood of the second day, when a firmament was made in the midst, and this firmament is faith which divides the waters. Faith is the origin of wisdom and the origin of knowledge, whether of eternal or of temporal things, in so far as neither knowledge nor wisdom disagrees with faith. =|17|=

26. Secunda intelligitur per secundam diem, ubi factum est firmamentum in medio =|58|= . Hoc firmamentum est fides et dividit aquas ab aquis. Fides est origo sapientiae et origo scientiae, sive sit de aeternis, sive de temporalibus, sive scientia, sive sapientia non discordant a fide.

I. Collations on the Six Days

A. Contents

II. First Collation

1. On the Qualities Required of Hearers of the Divine Word, and on Christ as the Center of All Knowledge

a. Evils That Dispose Badly

b. Begin with Christ the Medium and Mediator

c. 7 Dim of Px: Essence, Nature, Distance, Doctrine, Moderation, Justice, Concord

1) Essence

2) Nature

3) Distance

4) Doctrine

5) Moderation

6) Justice

7) Concord

III. Second Collation

A. On the Fullness of Wisdom in Which Speech Must End, That Is: on the Door of Wisdom and its Beauty

IV. Third Collation

A. Keys: Understanding the Word

1. First Key & Door: Uncreated Word

a. Word Creates a Soul, is Not Changed, But in Eternity He is Saying It is to Be Created Now

b. Word is Truth

2. Second Key: Incarnate Word

a. Preeminent

b. Awareness

c. Acceptable

d. Victorious

e. Generous

f. Just

3. Third Key: Inspired Word - Vision

V. Fourth Collation

A. First Treatise on the First Vision, Which is by Means of Understanding Naturally Given

1. God Said to See Because Because He Makes Us See

2. Truth is the Light of the Soul

3. Six Ways of Dividing

a. Substance and Accident

b. Universal and Particular

c. Potency and Act

d. One and the Many

e. Simple and Composite

f. Cause and Caused

VI. Fifth Collation

A. Second Treatise on the First Vision, Concerning the Third Radiation, That is the Moral Truth, and Concerning the Truth of Contemplation

B. Good Habits

1. Temperance

2. Munificence

3. Fortitude

4. Kindness

5. Magnanimity

C. Acts of Righteousness

1. Form of Common Life

2. Proper Rule of Leadership

D. Light Separated from Darkness

1. Animal Potency

VII. Sixth Collation

A. Third Treatise on the First Vision, Concerning the First Exemplary Cause of the Virtues, and the Exemplary and Cardinal Virtues Flowing from It

1. Philosophers Following Darkness

2. Eternal Light, Examplar of All Things

3. Cardinal Virtues

a. Temperance

b. Prudence

c. Fortitude

d. Justice

4. Virtues Correspond To:

a. Four Principal Effects of Light

b. Four Properties of the Elements

c. Four Actions of the Causes

d. Four Conditions of a Healthy Life

5. Plotinus: 4 Categories

a. Political Virtues

b. Cleansing

c. Simply and Purely Washed of Every Stain of This World

d. Exemplary

VIII. Seventh Collation

A. Fourth Treatise on the First Vision, Concerning the Threefold Defect of Virtues Among Philosophers, And, Later, Concerning Healing, Rectifying and Ordinating Faith

B. Some Philosophers Attacked Ideas

1. Aristotle

2. Presupposed the Existence of the Cardinal Virtues

3. These Virtues First Have Three Operations

a. Assured Eternity

b. Perfect Peace