Augustine: CONFESSIONES

invoco te, deus meus, misericordia mea, qui fecisti me et oblitum tui non oblitus es. invoco te in animam meam, quam praeparas ad capiendum te ex desiderio quod inspirasti ei. nunc invocantem te ne deseras, qui priusquam invocarem praevenisti et institisti crebrescens multimodis vocibus, ut audirem de longinquo et converterer et vocantem me invocarem te. tu enim, domine, delevisti omnia mala merita mea, ne retribueres manibus meis, in quibus a te defeci, et praevenisti omnia bona merita mea, ut retribueres manibus tuis, quibus me fecisti, quia et priusquam essem tu eras, nec eram cui praestares ut essem, et tamen ecce sum ex bonitate tua praeveniente totum hoc quod me fecisti et unde me fecisti. neque enim eguisti me aut ego tale bonum sum quo tu adiuveris, dominus meus et deus meus, non ut tibi sic serviam quasi ne fatigeris in agendo, aut ne minor sit potestas tua carens obsequio meo, neque ut sic te colam quasi terram, ut sis incultus si non te colam, sed ut serviam tibi et colam te, ut de te mihi bene sit, a quo mihi est ut sim cui bene sit.

I invoke you, my God, my mercy, who made me and, though I forgot you, did not forget me. I invoke you into my soul, which you prepare to take hold of you by the desire which you have inspired in it. Do not now forsake me as I invoke you, you who, before I invoked, went before and pressed upon me, growing frequent with manifold voices, so that I might hear from afar and be converted, and, you calling me, I might invoke you. For you, Lord, blotted out all my evil merits, lest you should repay to my hands, in which I fell away from you, and you anticipated all my good merits, that you might repay by your hands, with which you made me, because even before I was, you were, and I was not for whom you might grant to be, and yet, behold, I am, from your prevenient goodness, all this that you made me, and that whence you made me. For you had no need of me, nor am I such a good as that I should have aided you, my lord and my god, not that I should thus serve you as though you might be wearied in doing, or as though your power would be less, lacking my obedience, nor that I should thus cultivate you as the earth, so that you would be uncultivated if I did not cultivate you, but that I may serve you and worship you, that it may be well for me from you, from whom it is for me that I am one for whom it may be well.

13.2.2

ex plenitudine quippe bonitatis tuae creatura tua substitit, ut bonum quod tibi nihil prodesset nec de te aequale tibi esset, tamen quia ex te fieri potuit, non deesset. quid enim te promeruit caelum et terra, quas fecisti in principio? dicant quid te promeruerunt spiritalis corporalisque natura, quas fecisti in sapientia tua, ut inde penderent etiam inchoata et informia quaeque in genere suo vel spiritali vel corporali, euntia in immoderationem et in longinquam dissimilitudinem tuam, spiritale informe praestantius quam si formatum corpus esset, corporale autem informe praestantius quam si omnino nihil esset, atque ita penderent in tuo verbo informia, nisi per idem verbum revocarentur ad unitatem tuam et formarentur et essent ab uno te summo bono universa bona valde.

from the plenitude of your goodness indeed your creature stood forth, so that a good which would profit you nothing nor be from you equal to you, yet because it could be made from you, should not be lacking. For what did heaven and earth deserve from you, which you made in the beginning? Let them say what the spiritual and the corporal nature deserved from you, which you made in your Wisdom, so that from it there should depend even the things begun and unformed, each in its own genus either spiritual or corporal, going into immoderation and into a far dissimilarity from you—the unformed spiritual more excellent than if it were a formed body, but the unformed corporal more excellent than if it were utterly nothing—and thus the unformed things would hang upon your Word, unless by that same Word they were called back to your unity and were formed, and from you alone, the Highest Good, there should be all things very good.

quid te promeruerant, ut essent saltem informia, quae neque hoc essent nisi ex te?

What had they merited from you, that they should at least exist as formless things, which would not be even this except from you?

13.2.3

quid te promeruit materies corporalis, ut esset saltem invisibilis et incomposita, quia neque hoc esset nisi quia fecisti? ideoque te, quia non erat, promereri ut esset non poterat. aut quid te promeruit inchoatio creaturae spiritalis, ut saltem tenebrosa fluitaret similis abysso, tui dissimilis, nisi per idem verbum converteretur ad idem a quo facta est atque ab eo inluminata lux fieret, quamvis non aequaliter tamen conformis formae aequali tibi?

What did corporeal matter merit from you, that it should be at least invisible and uncomposed, since neither would it be this unless because you made it? And therefore, since it did not exist, it could not merit you that it should exist. Or what did the inchoation of the spiritual creature merit from you, that it should at least float darksome, like the abyss, dissimilar to you, unless through the same Word it were converted to the Same by whom it was made and, illuminated by him, might become light, although not equally, yet conformed to the Form equal to you?

sicut enim corpori non hoc est esse quod pulchrum esse (alioquin deforme esse non posset), ita etiam creato spiritui non id est vivere quod sapienter vivere: alioquin incommutabiliter saperet. bonum autem illi est haerere tibi semper, ne quod adeptus est conversione aversione lumen amittat et relabatur in vitam tenebrosae abysso similem. nam et nos, qui secundum animam creatura spiritalis sumus, aversi a te, nostro lumine, in ea vita fuimus aliquando tenebrae et in reliquiis obscuritatis nostrae laboramus, donec simus iustitia tua in unico tuo sicut montes dei.

For just as for a body, to be is not the same as to be beautiful (otherwise it could not be deformed), so also for a created spirit, to live is not the same as to live wisely; otherwise it would be wise unchangeably. But its good is to cleave to you always, lest by a turning-away from what it has attained it lose the light by conversion into aversion and slip back into a life like a tenebrous abyss. For we too, who according to the soul are a spiritual creature, turned away from you, our light, were at one time darkness in that life, and we labor in the remnants of our obscurity, until we may be your righteousness in your Only One, like the mountains of God.

nam iudicia tua fuimus sicut multa abyssus.

for we were your judgments, like a great abyss.

13.3.4

quod autem in primis conditionibus dixisti, 'fiat lux, et facta est lux,' non incongruenter hoc intellego in creatura spiritali, quia erat iam qualiscumque vita quam inluminares. sed sicut non te promeruerat ut esset talis vita quae inluminari posset, ita nec cum iam esset promeruit te ut inluminaretur. neque enim eius informitas placeret tibi si non lux fieret, non existendo sed intuendo inluminantem lucem eique cohaerendo, ut et quod utcumque vivit et quod beate vivit non deberet nisi gratiae tuae, conversa per commutationem meliorem ad id quod neque in melius neque in deterius mutari potest.

but as for what you said in the first conditions, "let there be light, and light was made," I understand this not incongruently of the spiritual creature, because there already was some kind of life which you would illumine. But just as it had not merited from you that there should be such a life as could be illumined, so neither, when it already existed, did it merit from you to be illumined. For its formlessness would not please you if light were not made—not by coming into existence but by beholding the illuminating Light and by cohering to it—so that both the fact that it lives in some fashion and that it lives blessedly should owe nothing except to your grace, turned through a better commutation to that which can be changed neither into better nor into worse.

quod tu solus es, quia solus simpliciter es, cui non est aliud vivere, aliud beate vivere, quia tua beatitudo es.

for you alone are, because you alone are simply, for whom it is not one thing to live, another to live blessedly, because you are your beatitude.

13.4.5

quid ergo tibi deesset ad bonum, quod tu tibi es, etiamsi ista vel omnino nulla essent vel informia remanerent quae non ex indigentia fecisti sed ex plenitudine bonitatis tuae, cohibens atque convertens ad formam, non ut tamquam tuum gaudium compleatur ex eis? perfecto enim tibi displicet eorum imperfectio, ut ex te perficiantur et tibi placeant, non autem imperfecto, tamquam et tu eorum perfectione perficiendus sis. spiritus enim tuus bonus superferebatur super aquas, non ferebatur ab eis tamquam in eis requiesceret.

What, then, would be lacking to you for the Good—which you are to yourself—even if these things either were altogether nothing or remained formless, things which you made not out of indigence but out of the plenitude of your goodness, restraining and converting them to form, not so that, as though, your joy should be completed from them? For their imperfection is displeasing to you, the Perfect, in order that by you they may be perfected and be pleasing to you, not to one imperfect, as though you too were to be perfected by their perfection. For your good Spirit was borne over the waters, he was not borne by them, as though he were resting in them.

in quibus enim requiescere dicitur spiritus tuus, hos in se requiescere facit. sed superferebatur incorruptibilis et incommutabilis voluntas tua, ipsa in se sibi sufficiens, super eam quam feceras vitam. cui non hoc est vivere quod beate vivere, quia vivit etiam fluitans in obscuritate sua; cui restat converti ad eum a quo facta est, et magis magisque vivere apud fontem vitae, et in lumine eius videre lumen, et perfici et inlustrari et beari.

For in those in whom your Spirit is said to rest, he makes them rest in himself. But your incorruptible and incommutable will—self-sufficient in itself—was being borne above that life which you had made, for whom living is not the same as living blessedly, since it lives even while floating in its own obscurity; for whom it remains to be converted to him by whom it was made, and to live more and more beside the fountain of life, and in his light to see light, and to be perfected and illumined and beatified.

13.5.6

ecce apparet mihi in aenigmate trinitas quod es, deus meus, quoniam tu, pater, in principio sapientiae nostrae, quod est tua sapientia de te nata, aequalis tibi et coaeterna, id est in filio tuo, fecisti caelum et terram. et multa diximus de caelo caeli et de terra invisibili et incomposita et de abysso tenebrosa secundum spiritalis informitatis vagabunda deliquia, nisi converteretur ad eum a quo erat qualiscumque vita et inluminatione fieret speciosa vita et esset caelum caeli eius, quod inter aquam et aquam postea factum est. et tenebam iam patrem in dei nomine, qui fecit haec, et filium in principii nomine, in quo fecit haec, et trinitatem credens deum meum, sicut credebam, quaerebam in eloquiis sanctis eius, et ecce spiritus tuus superferebatur super aquas.

Behold, there appears to me, in an enigma, the Trinity which you are, my God, since you, Father, in the beginning of our wisdom—which is your Wisdom born from you, equal to you and coeternal, that is, in your Son—made heaven and earth. And we have said many things about the heaven of heaven, and about the invisible and uncomposed earth, and about the dark abyss according to the wandering lapses of spiritual formlessness, unless it were turned back to him by whom it had whatever sort of life it had, and by illumination might become a beautiful life and be the heaven of his heaven, which was afterward made between water and water. And I was already holding the Father in the name of God, who made these things, and the Son in the name of the Beginning, in whom he made these things; and believing the Trinity to be my God, as I believed, I was seeking in his holy utterances, and behold, your Spirit was being borne over the waters.

ecce trinitas deus meus, pater et filius et spiritus sanctus, creator universae creaturae.

Behold the Trinity, my God: the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, creator of the whole creation.

13.6.7

sed quae causa fuerat -- o lumen veridicum, tibi admoveo cor meum, ne me vana doceat; discute tenebras eius et dic mihi, obsecro te per matrem caritatem, obsecro te, dic mihi, quae causa fuerat, ut post nominatum caelum et terram invisibilem et incompositam et tenebras super abyssum tum demum scriptura tua nominaret spiritum tuum? an quia oportebat sic eum insinuari, ut diceretur superferre? non posset hoc dici nisi prius illud commemoraretur cui superferri spiritus tuus posset intellegi.

but what had been the cause -- O veridical light, I bring my heart near to you, lest it teach me vanities; dispel its darkness and tell me, I beseech you by motherly charity, I beseech you, tell me, what had been the cause, that after heaven had been named, and “earth invisible and uncomposed,” and “darkness over the abyss,” then at length your scripture should name your spirit? or was it because it was fitting that he be insinuated thus, that he should be said to be “borne over”? this could not be said unless first that were commemorated over which your spirit could be understood to be borne above.

nec patri enim nec filio superferebatur nec superferri recte diceretur, si nulli rei superferretur. prius ergo dicendum erat cui superferretur, et deinde ille quem non oportebat aliter commemorari nisi ut superferri diceretur. cur ergo aliter eum insinuari non oportebat, nisi ut superferri diceretur?

for he was being borne over neither the Father nor the Son, nor would it be rightly said that he was borne over, if he were borne over no thing. therefore it had first to be said over what he was borne, and then that one who ought not to be commemorated otherwise except as being said to be borne over. why therefore ought he not to be insinuated otherwise, except as being said to be borne over?

13.7.8

iam hinc sequatur qui potest intellectu apostolum tuum dicentem quia caritas tua diffusa est in cordibus nostris per spiritum sanctum, qui datus est nobis, et de spiritalibus docentem et demonstrantem supereminentem viam caritatis et flectentem genua pro nobis ad te, ut cognoscamus supereminentem scientiam caritatis Christi. ideoque ab initio supereminens superferebatur super aquas. cui dicam, quomodo dicam de pondere cupiditatis in abruptam abyssum et de sublevatione caritatis per spiritum tuum, qui superferebatur super aquas?

now from here let him follow, whoever can, with understanding, your apostle saying that your charity has been diffused in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us, and teaching about spiritual things and demonstrating the supereminent way of charity, and bending the knees on our behalf to you, that we may know the supereminent knowledge of the charity of Christ. and therefore from the beginning the supereminent was borne over the waters. to whom shall I speak, how shall I speak of the weight of cupidity into the precipitous abyss and of the uplifting of charity through your Spirit, who was being borne over the waters?

cui dicam? quomodo dicam? neque enim loca sunt quibus mergimur et emergimus.

To whom shall I say it? How shall I say it? For there are not places into which we are submerged and from which we emerge.

quid similius et quid dissimilius? affectus sunt, amores sunt, immunditia spiritus nostri defluens inferius amore curarum et sanctitas tui attollens nos superius amore securitatis, ut sursum cor habeamus ad te, ubi spiritus tuus superfertur super aquas, et veniamus ad supereminentem requiem, cum pertransierit anima nostra aquas quae sunt sine substantia.

What is more similar and what more dissimilar? There are affections, there are loves: the uncleanness of our spirit flowing downward by a love of cares, and your sanctity lifting us upward by a love of security, so that we may have our heart up above to you, where your Spirit is borne above over the waters, and we may come to the supereminent rest, when our soul shall have passed through the waters which are without substance.

13.8.9

defluxit angelus, defluxit anima hominis et indicaverunt abyssum universae spiritalis creaturae in profundo tenebroso, nisi dixisses ab initio, 'fiat lux,' et facta esset lux, et inhaereret tibi omnis oboediens intellegentia caelestis civitatis tuae et requiesceret in spiritu tuo, qui superfertur incommutabiliter super omne mutabile. alioquin et ipsum caelum caeli tenebrosa abyssus esset in se; nunc autem lux est in domino. nam et in ipsa misera inquietudine defluentium spirituum et indicantium tenebras suas nudatas veste luminis tui, satis ostendis quam magnam rationalem creaturam feceris, cui nullo modo sufficit ad beatam requiem quidquid te minus est, ac per hoc nec ipsa sibi.

The angel flowed down, the soul of man flowed down, and they indicated the abyss of the whole spiritual creation in the gloomy deep, unless you had said from the beginning, 'let there be light,' and light had been made, and all obedient intelligence of your celestial city cleaved to you and rested in your Spirit, who is borne above unchangeably over all that is mutable. Otherwise even the very heaven of heaven would be a dark abyss in itself; but now it is light in the Lord. For even in that wretched disquiet of spirits flowing down and displaying their darkness stripped of the vesture of your light, you show sufficiently how great a rational creature you have made, for which in no way does anything that is less than you suffice for blessed rest, and therefore not even itself for itself.

tu enim, deus noster, inluminabis tenebras nostras: ex te oriuntur vestimenta nostra, et tenebrae nostrae sicut meridies erunt. da mihi te, deus meus, redde mihi te. en amo et, si parum est, amem validius. non possum metiri, ut sciam quantum desit mihi amoris ad id quod sat est, ut currat vita mea in amplexus tuos, nec avertatur donec abscondatur in abscondito vultus tui.

For you, our God, will illuminate our darkness: from you our vestments arise, and our darkness will be as the noonday. Give me yourself, my God; render to me yourself. Lo, I love, and, if it is too little, may I love more mightily. I cannot measure, to know how much of love is lacking to me unto that which suffices, that my life may run into your embraces, nor be averted until it is hidden in the secret of your countenance.

hoc tantum scio, quia male mihi est praeter te non solum extra me sed et in me ipso, et omnis mihi copia quae deus meus non est egestas est.

this only I know, that it is ill with me apart from you not only outside me but also in my very self, and every abundance for me which is not my God is indigence.

13.9.10

numquid aut pater aut filius non superferebatur super aquas? si tamquam loco sicut corpus, nec spiritus sanctus; si autem incommutabilis divinitatis eminentia super omne mutabile, et pater et filius et spiritus sanctus superferebatur super aquas. cur ergo tantum de spiritu tuo dictum est hoc?

Was either the Father or the Son not being borne over the waters? If it was as by location, like a body, then not even the Holy Spirit; but if by the eminence of incommutable divinity above all that is mutable, both the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit were being borne over the waters. Why, then, has this been said only of your Spirit?

cur de illo tantum dictum est quasi locus ubi esset, qui non est locus, de quo solo dictum est quod sit donum tuum? in dono tuo requiescimus: ibi te fruimur. requies nostra locus noster.

why was it said of him alone as though a place where he was—who is not a place—of whom alone it was said that he is your gift? in your gift we find rest: there we enjoy you. our rest is our place.

amor illuc attollit nos et spiritus tuus bonus exaltat humilitatem nostram de portis mortis. in bona voluntate pax nobis est. corpus pondere suo nititur ad locum suum.

love uplifts us thither, and your good Spirit exalts our humility from the gates of death. In good will there is peace for us. The body, by its own weight, strives toward its place.

pondus non ad ima tantum est, sed ad locum suum. ignis sursum tendit, deorsum lapis; ponderibus suis aguntur, loca sua petunt. oleum infra aquam fusum super aquam attollitur, aqua supra oleum fusa infra oleum demergitur; ponderibus suis aguntur, loca sua petunt.

weight is not only toward the depths, but toward its own place. fire tends upward, a stone downward; by their weights they are driven, they seek their places. oil poured beneath water is lifted above the water, water poured above oil is submerged beneath the oil; by their weights they are driven, they seek their places.

minus ordinata inquieta sunt; ordinantur et quiescunt. pondus meum amor meus; eo feror, quocumque feror. dono tuo accendimur et sursum ferimur; inardescimus et imus.

the less-ordered things are unquiet; they are ordered and come to rest. my weight is my love; by it I am borne, wherever I am borne. by your gift we are kindled and are borne upward; we are inflamed and we go.

ascendimus ascensiones in corde et cantamus canticum graduum. igne tuo, igne tuo bono inardescimus et imus, quoniam sursum imus ad pacem Hierusalem, quoniam iucundatus sum in his qui dixerunt mihi, 'in domum domini ibimus.' ibi nos conlocabit voluntas bona, ut nihil velimus aliud quam permanere illic in aeternum.

we ascend ascents in the heart and we sing the song of degrees. by your fire, by your good fire we are enflamed and we go, for upward we go to the peace of Jerusalem, for I rejoiced in those who said to me, 'into the house of the Lord we shall go.' there a good will shall settle us, so that we will nothing else than to remain there forever.

13.10.11

beata creatura quae non novit aliud, cum esset ipsa aliud, nisi dono tuo, quod superfertur super omne mutabile, mox ut facta est attolleretur nullo intervallo temporis in ea vocatione qua dixisti, 'fiat lux,' et fieret lux. in nobis enim distinguitur tempore, quod tenebrae fuimus et lux efficimur; in illa vero dictum est quid esset; nisi inluminaretur, et ita dictum est, quasi prius fuerit fluxa et tenebrosa, ut appareret causa qua factum est ut aliter esset, id est ut ad lumen indeficiens conversa lux esset. qui potest intellegat, a te petat.

blessed the creature which does not know anything else—though it itself was something else—except by your gift, which is borne above every mutable thing, that, as soon as it was made, it should be lifted up with no interval of time in that vocation wherein you said, 'let there be light,' and there was light. For in us it is distinguished in time, that we were darkness and are made light; but in it there was said what it would be if it were not illuminated; and it was said thus as if previously it had been flux and tenebrous, so that the cause might appear whereby it came to pass that it should be otherwise, that is, that, turned toward the unfailing light, it should be light. He who can, let him understand; let him ask it of you.

ut quid mihi molestus est, quasi ego inluminem ullum hominem venientem in hunc mundum?

why is he troublesome to me, as if I illuminate any human coming into this world?

13.11.12

trinitatem omnipotentem quis intelleget? et quis non loquitur eam, si tamen eam? rara anima quae, cum de illa loquitur, scit quod loquitur.

who will understand the omnipotent Trinity? and who does not speak of it, if indeed it is it he speaks of? rare is the soul which, when it speaks about it, knows what it is speaking.

et contendunt et dimicant, et nemo sine pace videt istam visionem. vellem ut haec tria cogitarent homines in se ipsis: longe aliud sunt ista tria quam illa trinitas, sed dico ubi se exerceant et probent et sentiant quam longe sunt. dico autem haec tria: esse, nosse, velle.

and they contend and they do battle, and no one sees that vision without peace. i would that men consider these three things in themselves: these three are something far other than that Trinity, but i point out where they may exercise themselves and test themselves and sense how far off they are. i mean these three: to be, to know, to will.

sum enim et scio et volo. sum sciens et volens, et scio esse me et velle, et volo esse et scire. in his igitur tribus quam sit inseparabilis vita et una vita et una mens et una essentia, quam denique inseparabilis distinctio et tamen distinctio, videat qui potest.

For I am, and I know, and I will. I am knowing and willing, and I know that I am and that I will, and I will to be and to know. In these three, then, how inseparable life is and one life and one mind and one essence, how, finally, an inseparable distinction and yet a distinction—let him see who can.

certe coram se est; attendat in se et videat et dicat mihi. sed cum invenerit in his aliquid et dixerit, non iam se putet invenisse illud quod supra ista est incommutabile, quod est incommutabiliter et scit incommutabiliter et vult incommutabiliter. et utrum propter tria haec et ibi trinitas, an in singulis haec tria, ut terna singulorum sint, an utrumque miris modis simpliciter et multipliciter infinito in se sibi fine, quo est et sibi notum est et sibi sufficit incommutabiliter idipsum copiosa unitatis magnitudine, quis facile cogitaverit?

certainly it is before him; let him attend to himself and see and tell me. But when he has found something in these and has said it, let him not now think that he has found that which is above these, the incommutable, which is incommutably and knows incommutably and wills incommutably. And whether on account of these three there too is a Trinity, or whether in each there are these three, so that there be threefolds of each, or both in wondrous ways simply and multiply, with an infinite end in itself for itself—whereby it is and is known to itself and suffices to itself incommutably, the selfsame, by the copious magnitude of unity—who has easily thought this through?

quis ullo modo dixerit? quis quolibet modo temere pronuntiaverit?

who would say it in any way? who would rashly pronounce it in any manner whatsoever?

13.12.13

procede in confessione, fides mea; dic domino deo tuo, 'sancte, sancte, sancte, domine deus meus, in nomine tuo baptizati sumus, pater et fili et spiritus sancte, in nomine tuo baptizamus, pater et fili et spiritus sancte,' quia et apud nos in Christo suo fecit deus caelum et terram, spiritales et carnales ecclesiae suae. et terra nostra antequam acciperet formam doctrinae invisibilis erat et incomposita, et ignorantiae tenebris tegebamur, quoniam pro iniquitate erudisti hominem, et iudicia tua sicut multa abyssus. sed quia spiritus tuus superferebatur super aquam, non reliquit miseriam nostram misericordia tua, et dixisti, 'fiat lux'; 'paenitentiam agite, appropinquavit enim regnum caelorum.' 'paenitentiam agite'; 'fiat lux.' et quoniam conturbata erat ad nos ipsos anima nostra, commemorati sumus tui, domine, de terra Iordanis et de monte aequali tibi sed parvo propter nos, et displicuerunt nobis tenebrae nostrae, et conversi sumus ad te, et facta est lux.

advance in confession, my faith; say to the lord your god, 'holy, holy, holy, lord my god, in your name we were baptized, father and son and holy spirit, in your name we baptize, father and son and holy spirit,' because also among us in his christ god made heaven and earth, the spiritual and the carnal of his church. and our earth, before it received the form of doctrine, was invisible and uncomposed, and we were covered by the darkness of ignorance, since for iniquity you have instructed man, and your judgments are like a great abyss. but because your spirit was borne over the water, your mercy did not leave our misery, and you said, 'let there be light'; 'do penance, for the kingdom of heaven has drawn near.' 'do penance'; 'let there be light.' and since our soul was troubled with regard to ourselves, we remembered you, lord, from the land of the jordan and from the mountain equal to you but small on account of us, and our darkness displeased us, and we turned to you, and there was light.

et ecce fuimus aliquando tenebrae, nunc autem lux in domino.

and behold, we were once darkness, but now light in the lord.

13.13.14

et tamen adhuc per fidem, nondum per speciem: spe enim salvi facti sumus. spes autem quae videtur non est spes. adhuc abyssus abyssum invocat, sed iam in voce cataractarum tuarum.

and yet still through faith, not yet through sight: for by hope we have been saved. but hope which is seen is not hope. still the deep calls to the deep, but now at the voice of your cataracts.

adhuc et ille qui dicit, 'non potui vobis loqui quasi spiritalibus, sed quasi carnalibus,' etiam ipse nondum se arbitratur comprehendisse, et quae retro oblitus, in ea quae ante sunt extenditur et ingemescit gravatus, et sitit anima eius ad deum vivum, quemadmodum cervi ad fontes aquarum, et dicit, 'quando veniam?', habitaculum suum, quod de caelo est, superindui cupiens, et vocat inferiorem abyssum dicens, 'nolite conformari huic saeculo, sed reformamini in novitate mentis vestrae,' et, 'nolite pueri effici mentibus, sed malitia parvuli estote, ut mentibus perfecti sitis,' et, 'o stulti Galatae, quis vos fascinavit?' sed iam non in voce sua; in tua enim, qui misisti spiritum tuum de excelsis per eum qui ascendit in altum et aperuit cataractas donorum suorum, ut fluminis impetus laetificarent civitatem tuam. illi enim suspirat sponsi amicus, habens iam spiritus primitias penes eum, sed adhuc in semet ipso ingemescens, adoptionem expectans, redemptionem corporis sui. illi suspirat (membrum est enim sponsae) et illi zelat (amicus est enim sponsi); illi zelat non sibi, quia in voce cataractarum tuarum, non in voce sua, invocat alteram abyssum, cui zelans timet ne sicut serpens Evam decepit astutia sua, sic et eorum sensus corrumpantur a castitate quae est in sponso nostro, unico tuo.

and yet even he who says, 'I was not able to speak to you as to spiritual, but as to carnal,' even he himself does not yet think that he has comprehended, and, forgetting the things behind, he stretches out to the things that are before and groans, weighed down, and his soul thirsts for the living God, just as stags to the fountains of waters, and he says, 'When shall I come?', desiring to be clothed over with his dwelling which is from heaven, and he calls the lower deep, saying, 'do not be conformed to this age, but be reformed in the newness of your mind,' and, 'do not become children in minds, but in malice be little ones, so that in minds you may be perfect,' and, 'O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you?' but now not in his own voice; rather in yours, you who sent your Spirit from the heights through him who ascended on high and opened the cataracts of his gifts, so that the rush of the river might gladden your city. for to that One the friend of the bridegroom sighs, having already the firstfruits of the Spirit with him, yet still groaning in himself, awaiting adoption, the redemption of his body. for that One he sighs (for he is a member of the bride) and for that One he is zealous (for he is the friend of the bridegroom); for that One he is zealous, not for himself, because in the voice of your cataracts, not in his own voice, he calls upon the other deep, for whom, being zealous, he fears lest, just as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so also their senses be corrupted from the chastity which is in our bridegroom, your Only One.

quae est illa speciei lux? cum videbimus eum sicuti est, et transierint lacrimae, quae mihi factae sunt panis die ac nocte, dum dicitur mihi cotidie, 'ubi est deus tuus?'

what is that light of appearance? when we shall see him just as he is, and the tears have passed away, which have become my bread day and night, while it is said to me every day, 'where is your god?'

13.14.15

et ego dico, 'deus meus ubi es?' ecce ubi es. respiro in te paululum, cum effundo super me animam meam in voce exultationis et confessionis, soni festivitatem celebrantis. et adhuc tristis est, quia relabitur et fit abyssus, vel potius sentit adhuc se esse abyssum. dicit ei fides mea, quam accendisti in nocte ante pedes meos, 'quare tristis es, anima, et quare conturbas me? spera in domino.' lucerna pedibus tuis verbum eius.

and I say, 'my God, where are you?' lo, where you are. I breathe again in you a little, when I pour out over me my soul in the voice of exultation and confession, the sound of one celebrating festivity. and it is still sad, because it slips back and becomes an abyss, or rather it still feels itself to be an abyss. my faith says to it, which you have kindled in the night before my feet, 'why are you sad, O soul, and why do you disturb me? hope in the Lord.' his word is a lamp to your feet.

spera et persevera, donec transeat nox, mater iniquorum, donec transeat ira domini, cuius filii et nos fuimus aliquando tenebrae, quarum residua trahimus in corpore propter peccatum mortuo, donec aspiret dies et removeantur umbrae. spera in domino; mane astabo et contemplabor; semper confitebor illi. mane astabo et videbo salutare vultus mei, deum meum, qui vivificabit et mortalia corpora nostra propter spiritum, qui habitat in nobis, quia super interius nostrum tenebrosum et fluvidum misericorditer superferebatur.

hope and persevere, until the night passes, mother of the iniquitous, until the wrath of the lord passes, of which we too were sons—once darkness, the remnants of which we drag in the body dead because of sin—until the day breathe and the shadows be removed. hope in the lord; in the morning i shall stand and contemplate; i shall always confess to him. in the morning i shall stand and i shall see the salvation of my countenance, my god, who will quicken also our mortal bodies because of the spirit who dwells in us, because over our inner self, dark and fluid, he was mercifully borne above.

unde in hac peregrinatione pignus accepimus, ut iam simus lux, dum adhuc spe salvi facti sumus et filii lucis et filii diei, non filii noctis neque tenebrarum, quod tamen fuimus. inter quos et nos in isto adhuc incerto humanae notitiae tu solus dividis, qui probas corda nostra, et vocas lucem diem et tenebras noctem. quis enim nos discernit nisi tu? quid autem habemus quod non accepimus a te, ex eadem massa vasa in honorem ex qua sunt et alia facta in contumeliam?

whence in this peregrination we have received a pledge, that already we may be light, while as yet by hope we have been saved, and sons of light and sons of day, not sons of night nor of darkness, which nevertheless we were. among whom even us, in this still uncertain state of human knowledge, you alone divide, you who prove our hearts, and call the light “day” and the darkness “night.” for who discerns us except you? and what do we have that we have not received from you—from the same mass vessels for honor, from which also others have been made into contumely (dishonor)?

13.15.16

aut quis nisi tu, deus noster, fecisti nobis firmamentum auctoritatis super nos in scriptura tua divina? caelum enim plicabitur ut liber et nunc sicut pellis extenditur super nos. sublimioris enim auctoritatis est tua divina scriptura, cum iam obierunt istam mortem illi mortales per quos eam dispensasti nobis.

or who except you, our god, made for us a firmament of authority over us in your divine scripture? for the heaven will be folded like a book, and even now like a hide it is stretched out over us. for your divine scripture is of loftier authority, since those mortals through whom you dispensed it to us have already undergone this death.

et tu scis, domine, tu scis, quemadmodum pellibus indueris homines, cum peccato mortales fierent. unde sicut pellem extendisti firmamentum libri tui, concordes utique sermones tuos, quos per mortalium ministerium superposuisti nobis. namque ipsa eorum morte solidamentum auctoritatis in eloquiis tuis per eos editis sublimiter extenditur super omnia quae subter sunt, quod, cum hic viverent, non ita sublimiter extentum erat.

and you know, Lord, you know, how you clothed men with skins, when through sin they became mortal. whence, as with a skin, you stretched out the firmament of your book—your harmonious discourses, to be sure—which through the ministry of mortals you have placed over us. for by their very death the foundation of authority in your utterances issued through them is loftily extended above all things that are beneath, which, when they were living here, was not so loftily extended.

nondum sicut pellem caelum extenderas, nondum mortis eorum famam usquequaque dilataveras.

Not yet had you stretched out the heaven like a skin, not yet had you spread everywhere the report of their death.

13.15.17

videamus, domine, caelos, opera digitorum tuorum; disserena oculis nostris nubilum quo subtexisti eos. ibi est testimonium tuum sapientiam praestans parvulis. perfice, deus meus, laudem tuam ex ore infantium et lactantium.

let us see, lord, the heavens, the works of your fingers; make clear for our eyes the cloudiness with which you have underwoven them. there is your testimony, bestowing wisdom upon the little ones. perfect, my god, your praise from the mouth of infants and sucklings.

neque enim novimus alios libros ita destruentes superbiam, ita destruentes inimicum et defensorem resistentem reconciliationi tuae defendendo peccata sua. non novi, domine, non novi alia tam casta eloquia, quae sic mihi persuaderent confessionem et lenirent cervicem meam iugo tuo et invitarent colere te gratis. intellegam ea, pater bone, da mihi hoc subterposito, quia subterpositis solidasti ea.

for we do not know other books so destroying pride, so destroying the enemy and the defender resisting your reconciliation by defending his sins. I do not know, Lord, I do not know other so chaste utterances, which thus would persuade me to confession and would soften my neck to your yoke and would invite me to worship you freely. Let me understand them, good Father; grant me this with a foundation laid beneath, since by foundations laid beneath you have solidified them.

13.15.18

sunt aliae aquae super hoc firmamentum, credo, immortales et a terrena corruptione secretae. laudent nomen tuum, laudent te supercaelestes populi angelorum tuorum, qui non opus habent suspicere firmamentum hoc et legendo cognoscere verbum tuum. vident enim faciem tuam semper, et ibi legunt sine syllabis temporum quid velit aeterna voluntas tua.

there are other waters above this firmament, I believe, immortal and separated from earthly corruption. let them praise your name, let the supercelestial peoples of your angels praise you, who have no need to look up at this firmament and by reading to come to know your Word. for they see your face always, and there they read, without the syllables of times, what your eternal will wills.

legunt eligunt et diligunt; semper legunt et numquam praeterit quod legunt. eligendo enim et diligendo legunt ipsam incommutabilitatem consilii tui. non clauditur codex eorum nec plicatur liber eorum, quia tu ipse illis hoc es et es in aeternum, quia super hoc firmamentum ordinasti eos, quod firmasti super infirmitatem inferiorum populorum, ubi suspicerent et cognoscerent misericordiam tuam temporaliter enuntiantem te, qui fecisti tempora.

They read, they choose, and they love; they always read, and what they read never passes away. For by choosing and loving they read the very immutability of your counsel. Their codex is not closed, nor is their book folded, because you yourself are this for them and you are for eternity; for upon this firmament you have ordained them, which you have made firm above the infirmity of the lower peoples, where they might look up and come to know your mercy, temporally proclaiming you, you who made the times.

in caelo enim, domine, misericordia tua et veritas tua usque ad nubes. transeunt nubes, caelum autem manet. transeunt praedicatores verbi tui ex hac vita in aliam vitam, scriptura vero tua usque in finem saeculi super populos extenditur.

For in heaven, Lord, is your mercy, and your truth unto the clouds. The clouds pass, but the heaven remains. The preachers of your word pass from this life into another life, but your Scripture extends over the peoples unto the end of the age.

sed et caelum et terra transibunt, sermones autem tui non transibunt, quoniam et pellis plicabitur et faenum super quod extendebatur cum claritate sua praeteriet, verbum autem tuum manet in aeternum. quod nunc in aenigmate nubium et per speculum caeli, non sicuti est, apparet nobis, quia et nos quamvis filio tuo dilecti sumus, nondum apparuit quod erimus. attendit per retia carnis et blanditus est et inflammavit, et currimus post odorem eius.

but both heaven and earth will pass away, but your words will not pass away, since even the parchment will be folded up and the hay upon which it had been stretched, along with its brightness, will pass away; but your Word remains forever. What now, in the enigma of the clouds and through the mirror of heaven, not as it is, appears to us, because we too, although beloved in your Son, it has not yet appeared what we shall be. He reached through the nets of flesh and coaxed and inflamed, and we run after his fragrance.

sed cum apparuerit, similes ei erimus, quoniam videbimus eum sicuti est. sicuti est, domine, videre nostrum, quod nondum est nobis.

but when he shall have appeared, we shall be like him, since we shall see him just as he is. Just as he is, Lord, our vision, which we do not yet have.

13.16.19

nam sicut omnino tu es, tu scis solus, qui es incommutabiliter et scis incommutabiliter et vis incommutabiliter, et essentia tua scit et vult incommutabiliter, et scientia tua est et vult incommutabiliter, et voluntas tua est et scit incommutabiliter, nec videtur iustum esse coram te ut, quemadmodum se scit lumen incommutabile, ita sciatur ab inluminato commutabili. ideoque anima mea tamquam terra sine aqua tibi, quia sicut se inluminare de se non potest, ita se satiare de se non potest. sic enim apud te fons vitae, quomodo in lumine tuo videbimus lumen.

for just as altogether you are, you alone know, who are immutably and know immutably and will immutably; and your essence knows and wills immutably, and your knowledge is and wills immutably, and your will is and knows immutably; nor does it seem just before you that, just as the incommutable light knows itself, so it should be known by an illuminated, changeable one. and therefore my soul is to you like land without water, because just as it cannot illumine itself from itself, so it cannot satiate itself from itself. for thus with you is the fountain of life, inasmuch as in your light we shall see light.

13.17.20

quis congregavit amaricantes in societatem unam? idem namque illis finis est temporalis et terrenae felicitatis, propter quam faciunt omnia, quamvis innumerabili varietate curarum fluctuent. quis, domine, nisi tu, qui dixisti ut congregarentur aquae in congregationem unam et appareret arida sitiens tibi, quoniam tuum est et mare et tu fecisti illud, et aridam terram manus tuae formaverunt?

Who has congregated the embittered into one society? For the same end is theirs—temporal and terrestrial felicity—for the sake of which they do all things, although they fluctuate with an innumerable variety of cares. Who, Lord, but you, who said that the waters be congregated into one congregation and that the dry land should appear, thirsting for you, since yours is the sea and you made it, and the arid earth your hands have fashioned?

neque enim amaritudo voluntatum sed congregatio aquarum vocatur mare. tu enim coherces etiam malas cupiditates animarum et figis limites, quousque progredi sinantur aquae ut in se comminuantur fluctus earum, atque ita facis mare ordine imperii tui super omnia.

for neither is the bitterness of wills called the sea, but the gathering of waters is called the sea. for you restrain even the evil cupidities of souls and fix limits, how far the waters are allowed to go forward, so that their waves are broken upon themselves, and thus you make the sea by the order of your command over all things.

13.17.21

at animas sitientes tibi et apparentes tibi alio fine distinctas a societate maris occulto et dulci fonte inrigas, ut et terra det fructum suum. et dat fructum suum et te iubente, domino deo suo, germinat anima nostra opera misericordiae secundum genus, diligens proximum in subsidiis necessitatum carnalium, habens in se semen secundum similitudinem, quoniam ex nostra infirmitate compatimur ad subveniendum indigentibus similiter opitulantes, quemadmodum nobis vellemus opem ferri, si eodem modo indigeremus, non tantum in facilibus tamquam in herba seminali, sed etiam in protectione adiutorii forti robore, sicut lignum fructiferum, id est beneficum ad eripiendum eum qui iniuriam patitur de manu potentis et praebendo protectionis umbraculum valido robore iusti iudicii.

but the souls thirsting for you and appearing to you, distinguished by another end from the society of the sea, you irrigate with a hidden and sweet fountain, so that the earth also may give its fruit. And it gives its fruit, and at your bidding, its Lord God, our soul germinates works of mercy according to kind, loving the neighbor in subsidies for carnal necessities, having in itself seed according to the likeness, since out of our infirmity we commiserate so as to subvene the needy, likewise giving help, just as we would wish help to be brought to us, if we were in need in the same way, not only in easy things, as in seed-bearing grass, but also in the protection of aid with strong strength, like a fruit-bearing tree, that is, beneficent for snatching away him who suffers injury from the hand of the powerful and by providing the canopy of protection with the sturdy strength of just judgment.

13.18.22

ita, domine, ita, oro te, oriatur, sicuti facis, sicuti das hilaritatem et facultatem, oriatur de terra veritas, et iustitia de caelo respiciat, et fiant in firmamento luminaria. frangamus esurienti panem nostrum et egenum sine tecto inducamus in domum nostram, nudum vestiamus et domesticos seminis nostri non despiciamus. quibus in terra natis fructibus, vide quia bonum est, et erumpat temporanea lux nostra, et de ista inferiore fruge actionis in delicias contemplationis verbum vitae superius obtinentes appareamus sicut luminaria in mundo, cohaerentes firmamento scripturae tuae.

so, Lord, so, I beg you, let it arise, just as you do, just as you give cheerfulness and ability, let truth spring up from the earth, and let justice look down from heaven, and let there be luminaries in the firmament. let us break our bread to the hungry and bring the houseless needy into our house, let us clothe the naked and let us not despise the domestics of our seed. with these fruits born in the earth, see that it is good, and let our temporary light burst forth, and from this lower fruit of action, obtaining the higher word of life into the delights of contemplation, let us appear like luminaries in the world, cohering to the firmament of your Scripture.

ibi enim nobiscum disputas, ut dividamus inter intellegibilia et sensibilia tamquam inter diem et noctem vel inter animas alias intellegibilibus, alias sensibilibus deditas, ut iam non tu solus in abdito diiudicationis, sicut antequam fieret firmamentum, dividas inter lucem et tenebras, sed etiam spiritales tui in eodem firmamento positi atque distincti manifestata per orbem gratia tua luceant super terram et dividant inter diem et noctem et significent tempora, quia vetera transierunt, ecce facta sunt nova, et quia propior est nostra salus quam cum credidimus, et quia nox praecessit, dies autem appropinquavit, et quia benedicis coronam anni tui, mittens operarios in messem tuam, in qua seminanda alii laboraverunt, mittens etiam in aliam sementem, cuius messis in fine est. ita das vota optanti et benedicis annos iusti, tu autem idem ipse es et in annis tuis, qui non deficiunt, horreum praeparas annis transeuntibus. aeterno quippe consilio propriis temporibus bona caelestia das super

for there you indeed dispute with us, that we may divide between intelligible things and sensible things, as between day and night, or between souls, some devoted to intelligibles, others to sensibles, so that now not you alone in the hidden place of adjudication, as before the firmament was made, divide between light and darkness, but even your spiritual ones, set and distinguished in the same firmament, may shine over the earth with your grace manifested through the orb, and may divide between day and night and signify the times, because the old things have passed away, behold, new things have been made, and because nearer is our salvation than when we believed, and because the night has gone before, but the day has drawn near, and because you bless the crown of your year, sending laborers into your harvest, in which for sowing others have labored, sending also into another sowing, whose harvest is at the end. thus you grant the vows to the one desiring and you bless the years of the just, but you are the selfsame, and in your years, which do not fail, you prepare a granary for passing years. for by an eternal counsel you give heavenly goods at their proper times upon

13.18.23

sapientiae tamquam luminare maius propter eos qui perspicuae veritatis luce delectantur tamquam in principio diei, alii autem sermo scientiae secundum eundem spiritum tamquam luminare minus, alii fides, alii donatio curationum, alii operationes virtutum, alii prophetia, alii diiudicatio spirituum, alteri genera linguarum, et haec omnia tamquam stellae. omnia enim haec operatur unus atque idem spiritus, dividens propria unicuique prout vult et faciens apparere sidera in manifestatione ad utilitatem. sermo autem scientiae, qua continentur omnia sacramenta quae variantur temporibus tamquam luna, et ceterae notitiae donorum, quae deinceps tamquam stellae commemorata sunt, quantum differunt ab illo candore sapientiae quo gaudet praedictus dies, tantum in principio noctis sunt.

of wisdom as if a greater luminary for those who delight in the light of perspicuous truth as if at the beginning of day, but to others the discourse of knowledge according to the same Spirit as if a lesser luminary, to others faith, to others the donation of healings, to others operations of virtues, to others prophecy, to others discernment of spirits, to another kinds of tongues, and all these things as if stars. For all these things one and the same Spirit works, dividing proper things to each as he wills and making the constellations appear in a manifestation for utility. But the discourse of knowledge, in which are contained all the sacraments that are varied by times as the moon, and the other knowledges of gifts, which afterwards have been mentioned as stars, by as much as they differ from that brightness of wisdom in which the aforesaid day rejoices, by so much are at the beginning of the night.

his enim sunt necessaria, quibus ille prudentissimus servus tuus non potuit loqui quasi spiritalibus, sed quasi carnalibus, ille qui sapientiam loquitur inter perfectos. animalis autem homo tamquam parvulus in Christo lactisque potator, donec roboretur ad solidum cibum et aciem firmet ad solis aspectum, non habeat desertam noctem suam, sed luce lunae stellarumque contentus sit. haec nobiscum disputas sapientissime, deus noster, in libro tuo, firmamento tuo, ut discernamus omnia contemplatione mirabili, quamvis adhuc in signis et in temporibus et in diebus et in annis.

For these are necessary for those to whom that most prudent servant of yours could not speak as to spiritual persons, but as to carnal—the one who speaks wisdom among the perfect. But the natural man, as a little child in Christ and a drinker of milk, until he is strengthened for solid food and firms the acumen of his sight for the aspect of the sun, should not have his night left desolate, but be content with the light of the moon and of the stars. These things you debate with us, most wise, our God, in your Book, your firmament, so that we may discern all things by a marvelous contemplation, although as yet in signs and in seasons and in days and in years.

13.19.24

'sed prius lavamini, mundi estote, auferte nequitiam ab animis vestris atque a conspectu oculorum meorum, ut appareat arida. discite bonum facere, iudicate pupillo et iustificate viduam, ut germinet terra herbam pabuli et lignum fructiferum. et venite, disputemus,' dicit dominus, 'ut fiant luminaria in firmamento caeli, et luceant super terram.' quaerebat dives ille a magistro bono quid faceret ut vitam aeternam consequeretur; dicat ei magister bonus, quem putabat hominem et nihil amplius (bonus est autem, quia deus est), dicat ei ut, si vult venire ad vitam, servet mandata, separet a se amaritudinem malitiae atque nequitiae, non occidat, non moechetur, non furetur, non falsum testimonium dicat, ut appareat arida et germinet honorem matris et patris et dilectionem proximi.

'but first wash yourselves, be clean, remove iniquity from your souls and from the conspect of my eyes, that the dry land may appear. learn to do good, judge for the orphan and do justice for the widow, that the earth may germinate the herb of fodder and the fruit-bearing tree. and come, let us dispute,' says the Lord, 'that luminaries may be made in the firmament of heaven, and let them shine over the earth.' that rich man was seeking from the good teacher what he should do that he might attain eternal life; let the good teacher say to him, whom he supposed to be a man and nothing more (he is good, however, because he is God), let him say to him that, if he wishes to come into life, he should keep the commandments, separate from himself the bitterness of malice and iniquity, let him not kill, not commit adultery, not steal, not speak false testimony, that the dry land may appear and may germinate the honor of mother and father and the love of neighbor.

'feci,' inquit, 'haec omnia.' unde ergo tantae spinae, si terra fructifera est? vade, extirpa silvosa dumeta avaritiae, vende quae possides et implere frugibus dando pauperibus, et habebis thesaurum in caelis, et sequere dominum si vis esse perfectus, eis sociatus inter quos loquitur sapientiam ille qui novit quid distribuat diei et nocti, ut noris et tu, ut fiant et tibi luminaria in firmamento caeli. quod non fiet, nisi fuerit illic cor tuum; quod item non fiet, nisi fuerit illi thesaurus tuus, sicut audisti a magistro bono.

'I have done,' he says, 'all these things.' Whence then such great thorns, if the land is fruit-bearing? Go, extirpate the sylvan thickets of avarice, sell what you possess and fill it with fruits by giving to the poor, and you will have treasure in the heavens, and follow the Lord if you wish to be perfect, being associated with those among whom He speaks wisdom, He who knows what to distribute to day and to night, that you too may know, that there may also be for you luminaries in the firmament of heaven. Which will not come to pass, unless your heart is there; which likewise will not come to pass, unless your treasure is there, as you have heard from the good Teacher.

sed contristata est terra sterilis, et spinae offocaverunt verbum.

but the sterile earth was saddened, and the thorns choked the word.

13.19.25

vos autem genus electum, infirma mundi, qui dimisistis omnia ut sequeremini dominum: ite post eum et confundite fortia, ite post eum, speciosi pedes, et lucete in firmamento, ut caeli enarrent gloriam eius, dividentes inter lucem perfectorum, sed nondum sicut angelorum, et tenebras parvulorum, sed non desperatorum. lucete super omnem terram, et dies sole candens eructet diei verbum sapientiae et nox luna lucens annuntiet nocti verbum scientiae. luna et stellae nocti lucent, sed nox non obscurat eas, quoniam ipsae inluminant eam pro modulo eius.

you, however, a chosen race, the weak things of the world, you who have dismissed all things that you might follow the lord: go after him and confound the strong things, go after him, beautiful feet, and shine in the firmament, that the heavens may declare his glory, dividing between the light of the perfect, yet not yet as of the angels, and the darkness of the little ones, yet not of the despairing. shine over all the earth, and let the day, white with the sun, pour forth to the day the word of wisdom, and let the night, the moon shining, announce to the night the word of knowledge. the moon and the stars shine to the night, but the night does not darken them, since they themselves illuminate it according to its measure.

ecce enim tamquam deo dicente, 'fiant luminaria in firmamento caeli,' factus est subito de caelo sonus, quasi ferretur flatus vehemens, et visae sunt linguae divisae quasi ignis, qui et insedit super unumquemque illorum, et facta sunt luminaria in firmamento caeli verbum vitae habentia. ubique discurrite, ignes sancti, ignes decori. vos enim estis lumen mundi nec estis sub modio.

behold, for as if god were saying, 'let there be luminaries in the firmament of heaven,' there was suddenly made a sound from heaven, as if a vehement blast were being borne, and there were seen tongues divided as if of fire, which also sat upon each one of them, and there were made luminaries in the firmament of heaven, having the word of life. run everywhere, holy fires, decorous fires. for you are the light of the world, nor are you under a bushel.

exaltatus est cui adhaesistis, et exaltavit vos. discurrite et innotescite omnibus gentibus.

He to whom you have adhered has been exalted, and he has exalted you. Run about and make yourselves known to all the nations.

13.20.26

concipiat et mare et pariat opera vestra, et producant aquae reptilia animarum vivarum. separantes enim pretiosum a vili facti estis os dei, per quod diceret, 'producant aquae' non animam vivam, quam terra producet, sed 'reptilia animarum vivarum et volatilia volantia super terram.' repserunt enim sacramenta tua, deus, per opera sanctorum tuorum inter medios fluctus temptationum saeculi ad imbuendas gentes nomine tuo in baptismo tuo. et inter haec facta sunt magnalia mirabilia tamquam ceti grandes et voces nuntiorum tuorum volantes super terram iuxta firmamentum libri tui, praeposito illo sibi ad auctoritatem, sub quo volitarent quocumque irent.

let the sea too conceive and bear your works, and let the waters produce reptiles of living souls. for in separating the precious from the vile you have been made the mouth of god, through which he would say, ‘let the waters produce’ not the living soul, which the earth will produce, but ‘reptiles of living souls and winged things flying over the earth.’ for your sacraments, god, have crept through the works of your saints amid the very waves of the temptations of the age to imbue the nations with your name in your baptism. and among these there were wrought marvelous great deeds like great whales, and the voices of your heralds flying over the earth according to the firmament of your book, with that set over them for authority, under which they might flutter wherever they went.

neque enim sunt loquellae neque sermones quorum non audiantur voces eorum, quando in omnem terram exiit sonus eorum et in fines orbis terrae verba eorum, quoniam tu, domine, benedicendo multiplicasti haec.

for neither are there speeches nor discourses whose voices are not heard, since into all the earth their sound has gone out and to the ends of the orb of the earth their words, because you, Lord, by blessing have multiplied these things.

13.20.27

numquid mentior aut mixtione misceo neque distinguo lucidas cognitiones harum rerum in firmamento caeli et opera corporalia in undoso mari et sub firmamento caeli? quarum enim rerum notitiae sunt solidae et terminatae sine incrementis generationum tamquam lumina sapientiae et scientiae, earundem rerum sunt operationes corporales multae ac variae, et aliud ex alio crescendo multiplicantur in benedictione tua, deus, qui consolatus es fastidia sensuum mortalium, ut in cognitione animi res una multis modis per corporis motiones figuretur atque dicatur. aquae produxerunt haec, sed in verbo tuo.

Am I perhaps lying, or by a mixing do I mix and fail to distinguish the lucid cognitions of these things in the firmament of heaven, and the corporeal works in the wave-tossed sea and under the firmament of heaven? For the knowledges of these things are solid and bounded without increments of generations, like luminaries of wisdom and knowledge; but the corporeal operations of the same things are many and various, and one from another, by growing, they are multiplied in your benediction, O God, you who have consoled the fastidiousness of mortal senses, so that in the cognition of the mind the one reality may be figured and spoken in many ways through the motions of the body. The waters brought forth these things, but in your Word.

necessitates alienatorum ab aeternitate veritatis tuae populorum produxerunt haec, sed in evangelio tuo, quoniam ipsae aquae ista eiecerunt, quarum amarus languor fuit causa ut in tuo verbo ista procederent.

the necessities of peoples alienated from the eternity of your truth produced these things, yet in your Gospel, since the waters themselves cast these out, whose bitter languor was the cause that in your Word these things should proceed.

13.20.28

et pulchra sunt omnia faciente te, et ecce tu inenarrabiliter pulchrior, qui fecisti omnia. a quo si non esset lapsus Adam, non diffunderetur ex utero eius salsugo maris, genus humanum profunde curiosum et procellose tumidum et instabiliter fluvidum, atque ita non opus esset ut in aquis multis corporaliter et sensibiliter operarentur dispensatores tui mystica facta et dicta (sic enim mihi nunc occurrerunt reptilia et volatilia), quibus imbuti et initiati homines corporalibus sacramentis subditi non ultra proficerent, nisi spiritaliter vivesceret anima gradu alio et post initii verbum in consummationem respiceret.

and all things are beautiful with you making them, and behold, you are ineffably more beautiful, you who made all things. From whom, if Adam had not fallen, there would not be diffused from his womb the salinity of the sea—the human race, profoundly curious and tempestously swollen and unstably fluid—and thus there would be no need that in many waters your dispensers should work bodily and sensibly the mystic deeds and sayings (for thus there now occurred to me the reptiles and the birds), with which, having been imbued and initiated, men, subjected to bodily sacraments, would not make further progress, unless the soul should come alive spiritually by another degree and, after the word of initiation, should look toward consummation.

13.21.29

ac per hoc in verbo tuo non maris profunditas, sed ab aquarum amaritudine terra discreta eicit non reptilia animarum vivarum et volatilia, sed animam vivam. neque enim iam opus habet baptismo, quo gentibus opus est, sicut opus habebat cum aquis tegeretur. non enim intratur aliter in regnum caelorum ex illo quo instituisti ut sic intretur, nec magnalia mirabilium quaerit quibus fiat fides.

and through this, in your Word, it is not the profundity of the sea, but the land separated from the bitterness of the waters that brings forth—not reptiles of living souls and fliers, but a living soul. for it no longer has need of baptism, which the nations have need of, just as it had need when it was covered by the waters. for one does not enter otherwise into the kingdom of heaven than by that which you instituted that thus one should enter, nor does it seek the magnalia of wonders by which faith may be wrought.

neque enim nisi signa et prodigia viderit, non credit, cum iam distincta sit terra fidelis ab aquis maris infidelitate amaris, et linguae in signo sunt non fidelibus sed infidelibus. nec isto igitur genere volatili, quod verbo tuo produxerunt aquae, opus habet terra quam fundasti super aquas. immitte in eam verbum tuum per nuntios tuos, opera enim eorum narramus.

for he does not believe unless he sees signs and prodigies, since now the faithful land has been separated from the waters of the sea in their bitter infidelity, and tongues are for a sign not for the faithful but for the unfaithful. nor therefore does the land which you founded upon the waters have need of that flying kind which the waters brought forth by your word. send into it your word through your messengers, for we narrate their works.

sed tu es qui operaris in eis, et operentur animam vivam. terra producit eam, quia terra causa est ut haec agant in ea, sicut mare fuit causa ut agerent reptilia animarum vivarum et volatilia sub firmamento caeli, quibus iam terra non indiget, quamvis piscem manducet levatum de profundo in ea mensa quam parasti in conspectu credentium; ideo enim de profundo levatus est, ut alat aridam. et aves marina progenies, sed tamen super terram multiplicantur.

but you are the one who operates in them, and that they may effect a living soul. the earth brings it forth, because the earth is the cause that these act in it, just as the sea was the cause that the creeping things of living souls and the birds under the firmament of heaven should act, which the earth now no longer needs, although it eats fish lifted from the deep on that table which you have prepared in the sight of believers; for for this reason it was lifted from the deep, that it might feed the dry land. and the birds are a sea-begotten progeny, yet nevertheless upon the land they are multiplied.

primarum enim vocum evangelizantium infidelitas hominum causa extitit, sed et fideles exhortantur et benedicuntur eis multipliciter de die in diem. at vero anima viva de terra sumit exordium, quia non prodest nisi iam fidelibus continere se ab amore huius saeculi, ut anima eorum tibi vivat, quae mortua erat in deliciis vivens, deliciis, domine, mortiferis, nam tu puri cordis vitales deliciae.

for the unbelief of men was the cause for the first voices of evangelizing, but the faithful too are exhorted and are blessed by them manifoldly from day to day. but indeed the living soul takes its beginning from the earth, because it profits none save those already faithful to restrain themselves from the love of this age, that their soul may live to you, which was dead while living in delights—delights, O Lord, deadly; for you are the vital delights of the pure heart.

13.21.30

operentur ergo iam in terra ministri tui, non sicut in aquis infidelitatis annuntiando et loquendo per miracula et sacramenta et voces mysticas, ubi intenta fit ignorantia mater admirationis in timore occultorum signorum (talis enim est introitus ad fidem filiis Adam oblitis tui, dum se abscondunt a facie tua et fiunt abyssus), sed operentur etiam sicut in arida discreta a gurgitibus abyssi et sint forma fidelibus vivendo coram eis et excitando ad imitationem. sic enim non tantum ad audiendum sed etiam ad faciendum audiunt, 'quaerite deum et vivet anima vestra, ut producat terra animam viventem; nolite conformari huic saeculo, continete vos ab eo.' evitando vivit anima, quae appetendo moritur. continete vos ab immani feritate superbiae, ab inerti voluptate luxuriae, et a fallaci nomine scientiae, ut sint bestiae mansuetae et pecora edomita et innoxii serpentes.

Let then your ministers now work upon the earth, not as upon the waters of infidelity, by announcing and speaking through miracles and sacraments and mystical voices, where intent ignorance becomes the mother of admiration in fear of hidden signs (for such is the entrance into faith for the sons of Adam forgetful of you, while they hide themselves from your face and become an abyss), but let them work also as upon the dry land separated from the whirlpools of the abyss, and let them be a form for the faithful by living before them and stirring to imitation. For thus they hear not only for hearing but also for doing, 'seek God and your soul shall live, that the earth may bring forth a living soul; do not be conformed to this age; hold yourselves back from it.' By shunning the soul lives, which by desiring dies. Hold yourselves back from the monstrous savagery of pride, from the idle pleasure of luxury, and from the fallacious name of knowledge, that there may be meek beasts and tamed cattle and harmless serpents.

motus enim animae sunt isti in allegoria; sed fastus elationis et delectatio libidinis et venenum curiositatis motus sunt animae mortuae, quia non ita moritur ut omni motu careat, quoniam discedendo a fonte vitae moritur atque ita suscipitur a praetereunte saeculo et conformatur ei.

for these are motions of the soul in allegory; but the haughtiness of elation and the delectation of libido and the venom of curiosity are motions of a dead soul, because it does not so die as to be without every motion, since by departing from the fountain of life it dies, and thus is taken up by the passing age and conformed to it.

13.21.31

verbum autem tuum, deus, fons vitae aeternae est et non praeterit. ideoque in verbo tuo cohibetur ille discessus, dum dicitur nobis, 'nolite conformari huic saeculo,' ut producat terra in fonte vitae animam viventem, in verbo tuo per evangelistas tuos animam continentem imitando imitatores Christi tui. hoc est enim secundum genus, quoniam aemulatio viri ab amico est: 'estote', inquit, 'sicut ego, quia et ego sicut vos.' ita erunt in anima viva bestiae bonae in mansuetudine actionis.

But your Word, O God, is the Fountain of eternal life and does not pass away. And so in your Word that departure is restrained, while it is said to us, 'be not conformed to this age,' so that the earth may bring forth, in the Fountain of Life, a living soul, in your Word through your evangelists a continent soul, by imitating the imitators of your Christ. For this is according to kind, since the emulation of a man is from his friend: 'be,' he says, 'as I am, because I also am as you are.' Thus there will be in the living soul good beasts in the mansuetude of action.

mandasti enim dicens, 'in mansuetudine opera tua perfice et ab omni homine diligeris.' et pecora bona neque si manducaverint, abundantia, neque si non manducaverint, egentia, et serpentes boni non perniciosi ad nocendum, sed astuti ad cavendum et tantum explorantes temporalem naturam, quantum sufficit, ut per ea quae facta sunt intellecta conspiciatur aeternitas. serviunt enim rationi haec animalia, cum a progressu mortifero cohibita vivunt et bona sunt.

for you commanded, saying, 'with meekness perfect your works, and you will be loved by every man.' and the good cattle are neither, if they have eaten, in abundance, nor, if they have not eaten, in need; and the good serpents are not pernicious for harming, but astute for avoiding, and they explore the temporal nature only so far as is sufficient, so that through the things that have been made, understood, eternity may be beheld. for these animals serve reason, when, restrained from a mortiferous advance, they live and are good.

13.22.32

ecce enim, domine deus noster, creator noster, cum cohibitae fuerint affectiones ab amore saeculi, quibus moriebamur male vivendo, et coeperit esse anima vivens bene vivendo, completumque fuerit verbum tuum quo per apostolum tuum dixisti, 'nolite conformari huic saeculo,' consequetur et illud quod adiunxisti statim et dixisti, 'sed reformamini in novitate mentis vestrae,' non iam secundum genus, tamquam imitantes praecedentem proximum nec ex hominis melioris auctoritate viventes. neque enim dixisti, 'fiat homo secundum genus,' sed, 'faciamus hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem nostram,' ut nos probemus quae sit voluntas tua. ad hoc enim dispensator ille tuus generans per evangelium filios, ne semper parvulos haberet quos lacte nutriret et tamquam nutrix foveret, 'reformamini,' inquit, 'in novitate mentis vestrae ad probandum vos quae sit voluntas dei, quod bonum et beneplacitum et perfectum.' ideoque non dicis, 'fiat homo,' sed, 'faciamus,' nec dicis, 'secundum genus,' sed, 'ad imaginem et similitudinem nostram.' mente quippe renovatus et conspiciens intellectam veritatem tuam homine demonstratore non indiget ut suum genus imitetur, sed te demonstrante probat ipse quae sit voluntas tua, quod bonum et beneplacitum et perfectum, et doces eum iam capacem videre trinitatem unitatis vel unitatem trinitatis.

Behold, indeed, Lord our God, our Creator, when the affections have been restrained from love of the age, by which we were dying by living badly, and the soul has begun to be a living soul by living well, and your word has been fulfilled whereby through your apostle you said, 'do not be conformed to this age,' that also will follow which you added straightway and said, 'but be re-formed in the newness of your mind,' no longer according to kind, as though imitating a preceding neighbor nor living by the authority of a better man. For you did not say, 'let man come to be according to kind,' but, 'let us make man to our image and likeness,' that we may prove what your will is. For to this end that dispenser of yours, generating sons through the gospel, lest he should always have little ones whom he would nourish with milk and, as a nurse, cherish, said, 'be re-formed in the newness of your mind, for you to prove what the will of God is, what is good and good-pleasure and perfect.' And therefore you do not say, 'let man be made,' but, 'let us make,' nor do you say, 'according to kind,' but, 'to our image and likeness.' For the mind, having been renewed and beholding your understood truth, does not need a human demonstrator so that it should imitate its own kind, but with you demonstrating it itself proves what your will is, what is good and good-pleasure and perfect, and you teach him, now capable, to see the Trinity of unity or the unity of Trinity.

ideoque pluraliter dicto 'faciamus hominem,' singulariter tamen infertur, 'et fecit deus hominem,' et pluraliter dicto 'ad imaginem nostram,' singulariter infertur, 'ad imaginem dei.' ita homo renovatur in agnitione dei secundum imaginem eius, qui creavit eum, et spiritalis effectus iudicat omnia, quae utique iudicanda sunt, ipse autem a nemine iudicatur.

And therefore, with 'let us make man' said in the plural, nevertheless it is subjoined in the singular, 'and God made man'; and with 'according to our image' said in the plural, it is subjoined in the singular, 'according to the image of God.' Thus man is renewed in the recognition of God according to the image of Him who created him, and, having been made spiritual, he judges all things—which indeed are to be judged—while he himself is judged by no one.

13.23.33

quod autem iudicat omnia, hoc est, quod habet potestatem piscium maris et volatilium caeli et omnium pecorum et ferarum et omnis terrae et omnium repentium quae repunt super terram. hoc enim agit per mentis intellectum, per quem percipit quae sunt spiritus dei. alioquin homo in honore positus non intellexit; comparatus est iumentis insensatis et similis factus est eis.

But that which judges all things, that is, that which has authority over the fishes of the sea and the birds of the heaven and all the cattle and wild beasts and all the earth and all the creeping things that creep upon the earth. For this it does through the intellect of the mind, through which it perceives the things that are of the Spirit of God. Otherwise, man set in honor did not understand; he has been compared to insensate beasts of burden and has been made like to them.

ergo in ecclesia tua, deus noster, secundum gratiam tuam, quam dedisti ei, quoniam tuum sumus figmentum creati in operibus bonis, non solum qui spiritaliter praesunt sed etiam hi qui spiritaliter subduntur eis qui praesunt (masculum enim et feminam fecisti hominem hoc modo in gratia tua spiritali, ubi secundum sexum corporis non est masculus et femina, quia nec Iudaeus neque graecus neque servus neque liber) -- spiritales ergo, sive qui praesunt sive qui obtemperant, spiritaliter iudicant, non de cognitionibus spiritalibus, quae lucent in firmamento (non enim oportet de tam sublimi auctoritate iudicare); neque de ipso libro tuo, etiam si quid ibi non lucet, quoniam summittimus ei nostrum intellectum certumque habemus etiam quod clausum est aspectibus nostris recte veraciterque dictum esse (sic enim homo, licet iam spiritalis et renovatus in agnitione dei secundum imaginem eius qui creavit eum, factor tamen legis debet esse, non iudex); neque de illa distinctione iudicat, spiritalium videlicet atque carnalium hominum, qui tuis, deus noster, oculis noti sunt et nullis adhuc nobis apparuerunt operibus ut ex fructibus eorum cognoscamus eos, sed tu, domine, iam scis eos et divisisti et vocasti in occulto, antequam fieret firmamentum; neque de turbidis huius saeculi populis quamquam spiritalis homo iudicat -- quid enim ei de his qui foris sunt iudicare, ignoranti quis inde venturus sit in dulcedinem gratiae tuae et quis in perpetua impietatis amaritudine remansurus?

therefore in your Church, our God, according to your grace which you have given to it, since we are your workmanship, created for good works, not only those who preside spiritually but also those who are spiritually subjected to those who preside (for male and female you made the human in this way in your spiritual grace, where, according to the sex of the body, there is not male and female, because neither Jew nor Greek nor slave nor free) -- therefore the spiritual, whether those who preside or those who obey, judge spiritually, not concerning spiritual cognitions which shine in the firmament (for it is not fitting to judge concerning so sublime an authority); nor concerning your very book, even if something there does not shine, since we submit our intellect to it and we are certain that even what is closed to our sight has been said rightly and veraciously (for thus the human, although already spiritual and renewed in the recognition of God according to the image of him who created him, ought nevertheless to be a doer of the law, not a judge); nor does he judge concerning that distinction, namely of spiritual and of carnal humans, who are known to your eyes, our God, and have not yet appeared to us by any works so that from their fruits we may know them, but you, Lord, already know them and have separated and called them in secret, before the firmament was made; nor does the spiritual man judge concerning the turbulent peoples of this age -- for what is it to him to judge those who are outside, when he does not know who from there is going to come into the sweetness of your grace and who is going to remain in the perpetual bitterness of impiety?

13.23.34

ideoque homo, quem fecisti ad imaginem tuam, non accepit potestatem luminarium caeli neque ipsius occulti caeli neque diei et noctis, quae ante caeli constitutionem vocasti, neque congregationis aquarum, quod est mare, sed accepit potestatem piscium maris et volatilium caeli et omnium pecorum et omnis terrae et omnium repentium quae repunt super terram. iudicat enim et approbat quod recte, improbat autem quod perperam invenerit, sive in ea sollemnitate sacramentorum quibus initiantur quos pervestigat in aquis multis misericordia tua, sive in ea qua ille piscis exhibetur quem levatum de profundo terra pia comedit, sive in verborum signis vocibusque subiectis auctoritati libri tui tamquam sub firmamento volitantibus, interpretando, exponendo, disserendo, disputando, benedicendo atque invocando te, ore erumpentibus atque sonantibus signis, ut respondeat populus, 'amen.' quibus omnibus vocibus corporaliter enuntiandis causa est abyssus saeculi et caecitas carnis, qua cogitata non possunt videri, ut opus sit instrepere in auribus. ita, quamvis multiplicentur volatilia super terram, ex aquis tamen originem ducunt.

and therefore the human, whom you made to your image, did not receive authority over the luminaries of heaven nor over the very hidden heaven nor over day and night, which you named before the constitution of heaven, nor over the congregation of the waters, which is the sea, but received authority over the fishes of the sea and the birds of heaven and all cattle and all the earth and all creeping things that creep upon the earth. for he judges and approves what is right, but disapproves what he has found amiss, whether in that solemnity of the sacraments by which those are initiated whom your mercy searches out in many waters, or in that in which that fish is exhibited whom, lifted from the deep, the pious earth eats, or in the signs of words and the voices subjected to the authority of your book, as though flying under the firmament, by interpreting, expounding, discoursing, disputing, blessing and invoking you, with signs bursting forth from the mouth and sounding, so that the people may answer, 'amen.' and the reason why all these voices must be corporally enunciated is the abyss of the age and the blindness of the flesh, by which things thought cannot be seen, so that there is need to make a noise in the ears. thus, although the winged things are multiplied upon the earth, yet they draw their origin from the waters.

iudicat etiam spiritalis approbando quod rectum, improbando autem quod perperam invenerit in operibus moribusque fidelium, elemosynis tamquam terra fructifera et de anima viva mansuefactis affectionibus, in castitate, in ieiuniis, in cogitationibus piis de his quae per sensum corporis percipiuntur. de his enim iudicare nunc dicitur, in quibus et potestatem corrigendi habet.

The spiritual man also judges by approving what is straight, but by disapproving what he has found done amiss in the works and mores of the faithful: in alms, as it were a fruitful earth, and in the affections of a living soul made gentle; in chastity, in fastings, in pious cogitations about those things which are perceived through the sense of the body. For he is now said to judge of these things, in which also he has the power of correcting.

13.24.35

sed quid est hoc et quale mysterium est? ecce benedicis homines, o domine, ut crescant et multiplicentur et impleant terram. nihilne nobis ex hoc innuis, ut intellegamus aliquid?

But what is this and what sort of mystery is it? Behold, you bless human beings, O Lord, that they may grow and be multiplied and fill the earth. Do you intimate nothing to us from this, that we may understand something?

cur non ita benedixeris lucem quam vocasti diem nec firmamentum caeli nec luminaria nec sidera nec terram nec mare? dicerem te, deus noster, qui nos ad imaginem tuam creasti, dicerem te hoc donum benedictionis homini proprie voluisse largiri, nisi hoc modo benedixisses pisces et cetos, ut crescerent et multiplicarentur et implerent aquas maris, et volatilia multiplicarentur super terram. item dicerem ad ea rerum genera pertinere benedictionem hanc quae gignendo ex semet ipsis propagantur, si eam reperirem in arbustis et frutectis et in pecoribus terrae.

why have you not thus blessed the light which you called day, nor the firmament of heaven, nor the luminaries nor the stars nor the earth nor the sea? I would say that you, our God, who created us after your image, I would say that you wished to bestow this gift of blessing specifically upon the human being, unless you had in this manner blessed the fishes and the cetaceans, that they might grow and be multiplied and fill the waters of the sea, and that the winged creatures might be multiplied over the earth. likewise I would say that this blessing pertains to those kinds of things which, by begetting from themselves, are propagated, if I found it among trees and shrubs and among the cattle of the earth.

nunc autem nec herbis et lignis dictum est nec bestiis et serpentibus, 'crescite et multiplicamini,' cum haec quoque omnia sicut pisces et aves et homines gignendo augeantur genusque custodiant.

but now neither to the herbs and the trees was it said, nor to the beasts and the serpents, 'increase and be multiplied,' although these too, all of them, like the fishes and the birds and humans, are augmented by begetting and preserve their kind.

13.24.36

quid igitur dicam, lumen meum, veritas? quia vacat hoc, quia inaniter ita dictum est? nequaquam, pater pietatis; absit ut hoc dicat servus verbi tui.

What, then, shall I say, my light, Truth? That this is void, that it was said thus inanely? By no means, Father of piety; far be it that the servant of your word should say this.

et si ego non intellego quid hoc eloquio significes, utantur eo melius meliores, id est intellegentiores quam ego sum, unicuique quantum sapere dedisti. placeat autem et confessio mea coram oculis tuis, qua tibi confiteor credere me, domine, non incassum te ita locutum, neque silebo quod mihi lectionis huius occasio suggerit. verum est enim, nec video quid impediat ita me sentire dicta figurata librorum tuorum.

and if I do not understand what you signify by this eloquence, let the better make better use of it—that is, those more intelligent than I am—each one according to how much to be wise you have given. but let my confession also be pleasing before your eyes, wherein I confess to you that I believe, Lord, that you have not spoken thus in vain; nor will I be silent about what the occasion of this reading suggests to me. for it is true, nor do I see what impedes me to think thus about the figurative sayings (dicta figurata) of your books.

novi enim multipliciter significari per corpus, quod uno modo mente intellegitur, et multipliciter mente intellegi, quod uno modo per corpus significatur. ecce simplex dilectio dei et proximi, quam multiplicibus sacramentis et innumerabilibus linguis et in unaquaque lingua innumerabilibus locutionum modis corporaliter enuntiatur! ita crescunt et multiplicantur fetus aquarum.

For I know that, in multiple ways, that which is understood by the mind in one way is signified through the body; and, in multiple ways, that which is signified through the body in one way is understood by the mind. Behold the simple dilection of God and neighbor, which is bodily enunciated by manifold sacraments and innumerable tongues, and in each tongue by innumerable modes of locution! Thus the progeny of the waters grow and are multiplied.

attende iterum quisquis haec legis: ecce quod uno modo scriptura offert et vox personat, 'in principio deus fecit caelum et terram,' nonne multipliciter intellegitur, non errorum fallacia, sed verarum intellegentiarum generibus? ita crescunt et multiplicantur fetus hominum.

Attend again, whoever reads these things: behold, that which in one way the scripture offers and the voice resounds, 'in the beginning God made heaven and earth,' is it not understood in manifold ways, not by the deceit of errors, but by the kinds of true understandings? thus the offspring of human beings grow and are multiplied.

13.24.37

itaque si naturas ipsas rerum non allegorice sed proprie cogitemus, ad omnia quae de seminibus gignuntur convenit verbum 'crescite et multiplicamini.' si autem figurate posita ista tractemus (quod potius arbitror intendisse scripturam, quae utique non supervacue solis aquatilium et hominum fetibus istam benedictionem attribuit), invenimus quidem multitudines et in creaturis spiritalibus atque corporalibus tamquam in caelo et terra, et in animis iustis et iniquis tamquam in luce et tenebris, et in sanctis auctoribus per quos lex ministrata est tamquam in firmamento quod solidatum est inter aquam et aquam, et in societate amaricantium populorum tamquam in mari, et in studio piarum animarum tamquam in arida, et in operibus misericordiae secundum praesentem vitam tamquam in herbis seminalibus et lignis fructiferis, et in spiritalibus donis manifestatis ad utilitatem sicut in luminaribus caeli, et in affectibus formatis ad temperantiam tamquam in anima viva: in his omnibus nanciscimur multitudines et ubertates et incrementa. sed quod ita crescat et multiplicetur, ut una res multis modis enuntietur et una enuntiatio multis modis intellegatur, non invenimus nisi in signis corporaliter editis et rebus intellegibiliter excogitatis. signa corporaliter edita generationes aquarum propter necessarias causas carnalis profunditatis, res autem intellegibiliter excogitatas generationes humanas propter rationis fecunditatem intelleximus.

and so, if we think of the very natures of things not allegorically but properly, the word ‘Grow and be multiplied’ is fitting for all things that are generated from seeds. But if we treat these things as set figuratively (which I rather judge Scripture intended, since assuredly not without purpose did it attribute that benediction to the births of aquatic creatures alone and of humans), we do indeed find multitudes both in spiritual and in corporeal creatures as it were in heaven and earth, and in just and unjust souls as it were in light and darkness, and in the holy authors through whom the law was ministered as it were in the firmament which was solidified between water and water, and in the society of embittering peoples as it were in the sea, and in the zeal of pious souls as it were in the dry land, and in works of mercy according to the present life as it were in seed-bearing grasses and fruit-bearing trees, and in spiritual gifts manifested for utility as in the luminaries of heaven, and in affections formed unto temperance as it were in the living soul: in all these we come upon multitudes and abundances and increases. But that it should so grow and be multiplied that one thing be enunciated in many ways and one enunciation be understood in many ways, we do not find except in signs produced corporally and in things devised intelligibly. The signs produced corporally we have understood as the generations of the waters on account of the necessary causes of carnal profundity, but the things devised intelligibly as human generations on account of the fecundity of reason.

et ideo credidimus utrique horum generi dictum esse abs te, domine, 'crescite et multiplicamini.' in hac enim benedictione concessam nobis a te facultatem ac potestatem accipio et multis modis enuntiare quod uno modo intellectum tenuerimus, et multis modis intellegere quod obscure uno modo enuntiatum legerimus. sic implentur aquae maris, quae non moventur nisi variis significationibus, sic et fetibus humanis impletur et terra, cuius ariditas apparet in studio, et dominatur ei ratio.

and therefore we have believed that to each of these kinds it was said by you, Lord, 'grow and multiply.' For in this blessing I receive as granted to us by you the faculty and the power both to enunciate in many ways what we have held understood in one way, and to understand in many ways what we have read as obscurely enunciated in one way. Thus the waters of the sea are filled, which are not moved except by various significations; thus too the earth is filled with human offspring, whose dryness appears in zeal, and reason dominates it.

13.25.38

volo etiam dicere, domine deus meus, quod me consequens tua scriptura commonet, et dicam nec verebor. vera enim dicam te mihi inspirante quod ex eis verbis voluisti ut dicerem. neque enim alio praeter te inspirante credo me verum dicere, cum tu sis veritas, omnis autem homo mendax, et ideo qui loquitur mendacium, de suo loquitur.

I also wish to say, Lord my God, what your Scripture, following me, admonishes me of; and I will say it, nor will I fear. For I will speak true things, with you inspiring me, what from those words you have willed that I should say. For I do not believe that I speak truth with any other inspiring me than you, since you are Truth, but every man a liar; and therefore he who speaks a lie speaks from his own.

ergo ut verum loquar, de tuo loquor. ecce dedisti nobis in escam omne faenum sativum seminans semen quod est super omnem terram, et omne lignum quod habet in se fructum seminis sativi. nec nobis solis sed et omnibus avibus caeli et bestiis terrae atque serpentibus; piscibus autem et cetis magnis non dedisti haec.

Therefore, that I may speak true, I speak from what is yours. Behold, you have given to us for food every sown herb, sowing seed, which is over all the earth, and every tree that has in itself the fruit of sown seed. And not to us alone, but also to all the birds of heaven and the beasts of the earth and the serpents; but to the fishes and to the great whales you did not give these.

dicebamus enim eis terrae fructibus significari et in allegoria figurari opera misericordiae, quae huius vitae necessitatibus exhibentur ex terra fructifera. talis terra erat pius Onesiphorus, cuius domui dedisti misericordiam, quia frequenter Paulum tuum refrigeravit et catenam eius non erubuit. hoc fecerunt et fratres et tali fruge fructificaverunt qui quod ei deerat suppleverunt ex Macedonia.

for we were saying that by those fruits of the earth are signified and in allegory are figured the works of mercy, which are exhibited to the necessities of this life from the fruitful earth. such a land was the pious Onesiphorus, to whose household you gave mercy, because he often refreshed your Paul and was not ashamed of his chain. this the brothers also did, and with such produce they bore fruit, who supplied from Macedonia what was lacking to him.

quomodo autem dolet quaedam ligna quae fructum ei debitum non dederunt, ubi ait, 'in prima mea defensione nemo mihi adfuit, sed omnes me dereliquerunt: non illis imputetur.' esca enim debetur eis qui ministrant doctrinam rationalem per intellegentias divinorum mysteriorum, et ita eis debetur tamquam hominibus. debetur autem eis (sicut animae vivae) praebentibus se ad imitandum in omni continentia. item debetur eis tamquam volatilibus propter benedictiones eorum, quae multiplicantur super terram, quoniam in omnem terram exiit sonus eorum.

but how he grieves over certain trees which did not give him the fruit owed, where he says, 'at my first defense no one stood by me, but all deserted me: may it not be imputed to them.' for food is owed to those who minister rational doctrine through the intelligences of divine mysteries, and thus it is owed to them as to human beings. moreover, it is owed to them (as to a living soul) when they present themselves to be imitated in all continence. likewise it is owed to them as to winged creatures on account of their blessings, which are multiplied upon the earth, since into all the earth their sound has gone out.

13.26.39

pascuntur autem his escis qui laetantur eis, nec illi laetantur eis, quorum deus venter. neque enim et in illis qui praebent ista, ea quae dant fructus est, sed quo animo dant. itaque ille qui deo serviebat non suo ventri, video plane unde gaudeat, video et congratulor ei valde.

But those are fed by these foods who rejoice in them, nor do those rejoice in them whose god is the belly. For neither, even in those who proffer these things, is what they give the fruit, but with what spirit they give. Therefore that man who was serving God, not his own belly, I plainly see whence he rejoices; I see it and I congratulate him greatly.

acceperat enim a Philippensibus quae per Epaphroditum miserant; sed tamen unde gaudeat, video. unde autem gaudet, inde pascitur, quia in veritate loquens 'gavisus sum,' inquit, 'magnifice in domino, quia tandem aliquando repullulastis sapere pro me, in quo sapiebatis; taedium autem habuistis.' isti ergo diuturno taedio marcuerant et quasi exaruerant ab isto fructu boni operis, et gaudet eis, quia repullularunt, non sibi, quia eius indigentiae subvenerunt. ideo secutus ait, 'non quod desit aliquid dico; ego enim didici in quibus sum sufficiens esse.

for he had received from the Philippians the things they had sent through Epaphroditus; but yet I see whence he rejoices. and whence he rejoices, thence he is nourished, because, speaking in truth, 'I rejoiced,' he says, 'magnificently in the Lord, because at length you have re-budded to be wise on my behalf, in which you were being wise; but you had tedium.' therefore they had, through long-continued tedium, grown limp and as it were dried up from that fruit of good work, and he rejoices for them, because they have re-budded, not for himself, because they brought succor to his indigence. therefore he went on to say, 'not that I say there is any lack; for I have learned in the things I am to be sufficient.'

scio et minus habere, scio et abundare; in omnibus et in omni imbutus sum, et satiari et esurire et abundare et penuriam pati: omnia possum in eo qui me confortat.'

I know both to have less, I know also to abound; in all things and in every respect I have been imbued, both to be sated and to hunger and to abound and to suffer penury: I can do all things in him who strengthens me.'

13.26.40

unde ergo gaudes, o Paule magne? unde gaudes, unde pasceris, homo renovate in agnitione dei secundum imaginem eius qui creavit te, et anima viva tanta continentia et lingua volatilis loquens mysteria? talibus quippe animantibus ista esca debetur.

Whence then do you rejoice, O great Paul? Whence do you rejoice, whence are you fed, O man renewed in the recognition of God according to the image of him who created you, and O living soul with such great continence and a winged tongue speaking mysteries? For to such living beings this food is owed.

quid est quod te pascit? laetitia. quod sequitur audiam: 'verum tamen,' inquit, 'bene fecistis communicantes tribulationi meae.' hinc gaudet, hinc pascitur, quia illi bene fecerunt, non quia eius angustia relaxata est, qui dicit tibi, 'in tribulatione dilatasti mihi,' quia et abundare et penuriam pati novit in te, qui confortas eum.

What is it that feeds you? Joy. Let me hear what follows: 'Nevertheless, indeed,' he says, 'you did well in sharing in my tribulation.' From this he rejoices, from this he is fed, because they did well, not because his anguish was relaxed, he who says to you, 'in tribulation you enlarged me,' because he knows both to abound and to suffer penury in you, you who comfort him.

'scitis enim,' inquit, 'etiam vos, Philippenses, quoniam in principio evangelii, cum ex Macedonia sum profectus, nulla mihi ecclesia communicavit in ratione dati et accepti nisi vos soli, quia et Thessalonicam et semel et iterum usibus meis misistis.' ad haec bona opera eos redisse nunc gaudet et repullulasse laetatur tamquam revivescente fertilitate agri.

'for you know,' he says, 'you also, Philippians, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, no church communicated with me in the reckoning of giving and receiving except you alone, because even to Thessalonica both once and again you sent for my needs.' To these good works he now rejoices that they have returned, and he is glad that they have sprouted again, as with the fertility of a field reviving.

13.26.41

numquid propter usus suos, quia dixit, 'usibus meis misistis,' numquid propterea gaudet? non propterea. et hoc unde scimus?

Is it perhaps on account of his own uses, because he said, 'you sent to my uses'? Is it for that reason that he rejoices? Not for that reason. And whence do we know this?

quoniam ipse sequitur dicens, 'non quia quaero datum, sed requiro fructum.' didici a te, deus meus, inter datum et fructum discernere. datum est res ipsa quam dat qui impertitur haec necessaria, veluti est nummus, cibus, potus, vestimentum, tectum, adiutorium. fructus autem bona et recta voluntas datoris est.

since he himself goes on, saying, 'not because I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit.' I have learned from you, my God, to discern between gift and fruit. a gift is the thing itself which the one who imparts gives—these necessities—as, for example, a coin, food, drink, clothing, a roof, assistance. but the fruit is the good and right will of the giver.

non enim ait magister bonus 'qui susceperit prophetam' tantum, sed addidit 'in nomine prophetae'; neque ait tantum 'qui susceperit iustum', sed addidit 'in nomine iusti'; ita quippe ille mercedem prophetae, iste mercedem iusti accipiet. nec solum ait 'qui calicem aquae frigidae potum dederit uni ex minimis meis', sed addidit 'tantum in nomine discipuli,' et sic adiunxit, 'amen dico vobis, non perdet mercedem suam.' datum est suscipere prophetam, suscipere iustum, porrigere calicem aquae frigidae discipulo; fructus autem in nomine prophetae, in nomine iusti, in nomine discipuli hoc facere. fructu pascitur Helias a vidua sciente quod hominem dei pasceret et propter hoc pasceret; per corvum autem dato pascebatur.

for the good Teacher did not say 'who shall receive a prophet' only, but added 'in the name of a prophet'; nor did he say only 'who shall receive a just man', but added 'in the name of a just man'; thus indeed the former will receive the reward of a prophet, the latter the reward of a just man. nor did he say only 'whoever shall have given a cup of cold water to drink to one of the least of mine', but added 'only in the name of a disciple,' and so he subjoined, 'amen I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.' the given is to receive a prophet, to receive a just man, to extend a cup of cold water to a disciple; the fruit, however, is to do this in the name of a prophet, in the name of a just man, in the name of a disciple. by the fruit Elijah is fed by a widow who knew that she was feeding a man of God and for this reason fed him; but through a raven he was fed by the given.

nec interior Helias sed exterior pascebatur, qui posset etiam talis cibi egestate corrumpi.

nor was the inner Helias, but the outer, being fed, who could even be corrupted by the want of such food.

13.27.42

ideoque dicam quod verum est coram te, domine, cum homines idiotae atque infideles, quibus initiandis atque lucrandis necessaria sunt sacramenta initiorum et magnalia miraculorum, quae nomine piscium et cetorum significari credidimus, suscipiunt corporaliter reficiendos aut in aliquo usu praesentis vitae adiuvandos pueros tuos, cum id quare faciendum sit et quo pertineat ignorent, nec illi istos pascunt nec isti ab illis pascuntur, quia nec illi haec sancta et recta voluntate operantur nec isti eorum datis, ubi fructum nondum vident, laetantur. inde quippe animus pascitur, unde laetatur. et ideo pisces et ceti non vescuntur escis quas non germinat nisi iam terra ab amaritudine marinorum fluctuum distincta atque discreta.

and therefore I will say what is true before you, Lord, when unlettered and unfaithful men, for whose being initiated and being won the sacraments of initiations and the magnalia of miracles are necessary, which we have believed to be signified by the name of fishes and whales, take up your children to be refreshed bodily or to be helped in some use of the present life, while they do not know why this ought to be done and to what it pertains, neither do those feed these nor are these fed by those, because neither do those perform these things with a holy and right will, nor do these rejoice in their gifts, where they do not yet see fruit. For from that, indeed, is the mind fed, whence it rejoices. And therefore fishes and whales do not feed on foods which are not produced unless the earth, now distinguished and separated from the bitterness of the sea-waves, brings them forth.

13.28.43

et vidisti, deus, omnia quae fecisti, et ecce bona valde, quia et nos videmus ea, et ecce omnia bona valde. in singulis generibus operum tuorum, cum dixisses ut fierent, et facta essent, illud atque illud vidisti quia bonum est. septies numeravi scriptum esse te vidisse quia bonum est quod fecisti; et hoc octavum est quia vidisti omnia quae fecisti, et ecce non solum bona sed etiam valde bona tamquam simul omnia.

and you saw, God, all the things that you made, and behold, very good, because we too see them, and behold, all things very good. in each genus of your works, when you had said that they should be made, and they had been made, this and that you saw that it was good. seven times I have numbered it written that you saw that what you made is good; and this is the eighth, that you saw all the things that you made, and behold, not only good but also very good, as if all at once.

nam singula tantum bona erant, simul autem omnia et bona et valde. hoc dicunt etiam quaeque pulchra corpora, quia longe multo pulchrius est corpus quod ex membris pulchris omnibus constat quam ipsa membra singula quorum ordinatissimo conventu completur universum, quamvis et illa etiam singillatim pulchra sunt.

for the individual things were only good; but together all are both good and very good. this is what each fair body also says: for a body which consists of all fair members is by far much fairer than the individual members themselves, by whose most orderly convening the universe is completed, although those too are fair severally.

13.29.44

et attendi, ut invenirem utrum septies vel octies videris quia bona sunt opera tua, cum tibi placuerunt, et in tua visione non inveni tempora per quae intellegerem quod totiens videris quae fecisti, et dixi, 'o domine, nonne ista scriptura tua vera est, quoniam tu verax et veritas edidisti eam? cur ergo tu mihi dicis non esse in tua visione tempora, et ista scriptura tua mihi dicit per singulos dies ea quae fecisti te vidisse quia bona sunt, et cum ea numerarem, inveni quotiens?' ad haec tu dicis mihi, quoniam tu es deus meus et dicis voce forti in aure interiore servo tuo, perrumpens meam surditatem et clamans: 'o homo, nempe quod scriptura mea dicit, ego dico. et tamen illa temporaliter dicit, verbo autem meo tempus non accedit, quia aequali mecum aeternitate consistit.

and I attended, that I might find whether seven times or eight times you saw that your works are good, when they pleased you; and in your vision I did not find times by which I might understand that so often you saw the things which you made, and I said, ‘o lord, is not this your scripture true, since you, veracious and Truth, have issued it? why then do you tell me that there are not times in your vision, and this your scripture tells me that on each day the things which you made you saw to be good, and when I counted them, I found how many times?’ to these things you say to me, since you are my god, and you say with a strong voice in the inner ear to your servant, breaking through my deafness and crying: ‘o man, assuredly what my scripture says, I say. and yet that speaks temporally, but to my Word time does not accrue, because it consists with me in equal eternity.’

sic ea quae vos per spiritum meum videtis ego video, sicut ea quae vos per spiritum meum dicitis ego dico. atque ita cum vos temporaliter ea videatis, non ego temporaliter video, quemadmodum, cum vos temporaliter ea dicatis, non ego temporaliter dico.'

Thus the things which you see through my Spirit, I see, just as the things which you speak through my Spirit, I speak. And so, when you see them temporally, I do not see temporally, just as, when you speak them temporally, I do not speak temporally.'

13.30.45

et audivi, domine deus meus, et elinxi stillam dulcedinis ex tua veritate, et intellexi quoniam sunt quidam quibus displicent opera tua, et multa eorum dicunt te fecisse necessitate compulsum, sicut fabricas caelorum et compositiones siderum, et hoc non de tuo, sed iam fuisse alibi creata et aliunde, quae tu contraheres et compaginares atque contexeres, cum de hostibus victis mundana moenia molireris, ut ea constructione devincti adversus te iterum rebellare non possent; alia vero nec fecisse te nec omnino compegisse, sicut omnes carnes et minutissima quaeque animantia et quidquid radicibus terram tenet, sed hostilem mentem naturamque aliam non abs te conditam tibique contrariam in inferioribus mundi locis ista gignere atque formare. insani dicunt haec, quoniam non per spiritum tuum vident opera tua nec te cognoscunt in eis.

and I heard, Lord my God, and I licked a drop of sweetness from your truth, and I understood that there are some to whom your works are displeasing, and they say that you made many of them, forced by necessity—such as the fabriques of the heavens and the compositions of the stars—and that not from your own, but that they had already been created elsewhere and from another source, which you would contract and compact and weave together, when you were engineering the mundane walls from vanquished enemies, so that, bound by that construction, they could not rebel against you again; but that other things you neither made nor at all fitted together—such as all fleshes and every tiniest living creature and whatever holds the earth by roots—but that a hostile mind and another nature, not created by you and contrary to you, in the lower places of the world begets and forms these things. Madmen say these things, because they do not see your works through your Spirit nor recognize you in them.

13.31.46

qui autem per spiritum tuum vident ea, tu vides in eis. ergo cum vident quia bona sunt, tu vides quia bona sunt, et quaecumque propter te placent, tu in eis places, et quae per spiritum tuum placent nobis, tibi placent in nobis. quis enim scit hominum quae sunt hominis, nisi spiritus hominis qui in ipso est?

But those who see those things through your Spirit, you see in them. Therefore when they see that they are good, you see that they are good; and whatever are pleasing on account of you, you please in them; and the things which through your Spirit are pleasing to us, are pleasing to you in us. For who among men knows the things of a man, except the spirit of the man which is in him?

sic et quae dei sunt nemo scit nisi spiritus dei. 'nos autem,' inquit, 'non spiritum huius mundi accepimus, sed spiritum, qui ex deo est, ut sciamus quae a deo donata sunt nobis.' et admoneor ut dicam, 'certe nemo scit quae dei sunt, nisi spiritus dei. quomodo ergo scimus et nos quae a deo donata sunt nobis?' respondetur mihi quoniam quae per eius spiritum scimus etiam sic nemo scit nisi spiritus dei.

So too the things of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. 'But we,' he says, 'did not receive the spirit of this world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we might know the things that have been donated to us by God.' And I am admonished to say, 'Surely no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. How then do we also know the things that have been donated to us by God?' It is answered me that the things which we know through His Spirit even so no one knows except the Spirit of God.

sicut enim recte dictum est, 'non enim vos estis, qui loquimini,' eis qui in dei spiritu loquerentur, sic recte dicitur, 'non vos estis, qui scitis,' eis qui in dei spiritu sciunt. nihilo minus igitur recte dicitur, 'non vos estis, qui videtis,' eis qui in spiritu dei vident. ita quidquid in spiritu dei vident quia bonum est, non ipsi sed deus videt, quia bonum est.

For just as it has been rightly said, ‘for it is not you who speak,’ to those who speak in the Spirit of God, so it is rightly said, ‘it is not you who know,’ to those who know in the Spirit of God. None the less, therefore, it is rightly said, ‘it is not you who see,’ to those who see in the Spirit of God. Thus whatever they see in the Spirit of God that it is good, not they themselves but God sees, that it is good.

aliud ergo est ut putet quisque malum esse quod bonum est, quales supra dicti sunt; aliud ut quod bonum est videat homo quia bonum est, sicut multis tua creatura placet, quia bona est, quibus tamen non tu places in ea, unde frui magis ipsa quam te volunt; aliud autem ut, cum aliquid videt homo quia bonum est, deus in illo videat quia bonum est, ut scilicet ille ametur in eo quod fecit, qui non amaretur nisi per spiritum quem dedit, quoniam caritas dei diffusa est in cordibus nostris per spiritum sanctum, qui datus est nobis, per quem videmus quia bonum est, quidquid aliquo modo est: ab illo enim est qui non aliquo modo est, sed est est.

Therefore, one thing is that each one think that to be evil which is good, such as those mentioned above; another, that a man see that what is good is good, as your creature pleases many because it is good, yet you do not please them in it, whence they wish to enjoy it rather than you; but another thing, that, when a man sees that something is good, God see in him that it is good, to wit, that He be loved in that which He made—who would not be loved except through the Spirit which He gave—since the charity of God is diffused in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us, through whom we see that, whatever in some way is, is good: for it is from Him who is not in some way, but is He Who Is.

13.32.47

gratias tibi, domine! videmus caelum et terram, sive corporalem partem superiorem atque inferiorem sive spiritalem corporalemque creaturam, atque in ornatu harum partium, quibus constat vel universa mundi moles vel universa omnino creatura, videmus lucem factam divisamque a tenebris. videmus firmamentum caeli, sive inter spiritales aquas superiores et corporales inferiores, primarium corpus mundi, sive hoc spatium aeris, quia et hoc vocatur caelum, per quod vagantur volatilia caeli inter aquas, quae vaporaliter ei superferuntur et serenis etiam noctibus rorant, et has quae in terris graves fluitant.

Thanks be to you, Lord! We see heaven and earth, whether the corporeal part, upper and lower, or the spiritual and the corporeal creature; and in the adornment of these parts, by which either the whole mass of the world or absolutely the whole creation consists, we see light made and divided from the darkness. We see the firmament of heaven, whether between the spiritual waters above and the corporeal below, the primary body of the world, or this expanse of air—for this too is called heaven—through which the birds of heaven wander, between the waters which are borne above it in vaporous form and even on clear nights distill as dew, and those which, heavy, flow upon the earth.

videmus congregatarum aquarum speciem per campos maris et aridam terram vel nudatam vel formatam, ut esset visibilis et composita, herbarumque atque arborum materiem. videmus luminaria fulgere desuper, solem sufficere diei, lunam et stellas consolari noctem atque his omnibus notari et significari tempora. videmus umidam usquequaque naturam piscibus et beluis et alitibus fecundatam, quod aeris corpulentia, quae volatus avium portat, aquarum exhalatione concrescit.

we see the appearance of the gathered waters across the plains of the sea, and the dry land either laid bare or shaped, so that it might be visible and composed, and the matter of grasses and of trees. we see the luminaries shine from above, the sun suffice for the day, the moon and the stars console the night, and by all these the times are marked and signified. we see the moist nature everywhere made fecund with fishes and beasts and birds, because the corpulence of the air, which carries the flights of birds, coalesces from the exhalation of the waters.

videmus terrenis animalibus faciem terrae decorari hominemque ad imaginem et similitudinem tuam cunctis inrationabilibus animantibus ipsa tua imagine ac similitudine, hoc est rationis et intellegentiae virtute, praeponi, et quemadmodum in eius anima aliud est quod consulendo dominatur, aliud quod subditur ut obtemperet, sic viro factam esse etiam corporaliter feminam, quae haberet quidem in mente rationalis intellegentiae parem naturam, sexu tamen corporis ita masculino sexui subiceretur, quemadmodum subicitur appetitus actionis ad concipiendam de ratione mentis recte agendi sollertiam. videmus haec et singula bona et omnia bona valde.

we see the face of the earth adorned by terrestrial animals, and man, made to your image and likeness, set over all irrational living beings by that very your image and likeness, that is, by the virtue of reason and intelligence; and just as in his soul there is one part which, by consulting, rules, and another which is subjected so that it may obey, so also for the man the woman was made even corporally, who indeed should have in the mind of rational intelligence an equal nature, yet by the sex of the body should in this way be subjected to the male sex, just as the appetite of action is subjected to conceive from the reason of the mind the skillfulness of acting rightly. we see these things, and each is good, and all are very good.

13.33.48

laudant te opera tua ut amemus te, et amamus te ut laudent te opera tua. habent initium et finem ex tempore, ortum et occasum, profectum et defectum, speciem et privationem. habent ergo consequentia mane et vesperam, partim latenter partim evidenter.

your works praise you that we may love you, and we love you that your works may praise you. they have a beginning and an end from time, a rising and a setting, progress and defect, appearance and privation. they have, therefore, as consequents, morning and evening, partly latently, partly evidently.

de nihilo enim a te, non de te facta sunt, non de aliqua non tua vel quae antea fuerit, sed de concreata, id est simul a te creata materia, quia eius informitatem sine ulla temporis interpositione formasti. nam cum aliud sit caeli et terrae materies, aliud caeli et terrae species, materiem quidem de omnino nihilo, mundi autem speciem de informi materia, simul tamen utrumque fecisti, ut materiam forma nulla morae intercapedine sequeretur.

for out of nothing by you, not out of you, were they made, not out of anything not yours or which had previously been, but out of co-created—that is, matter created by you at the same time—because you formed its formlessness without any interposition of time. for whereas the matter of heaven and earth is one thing, the species (form/appearance) of heaven and earth another, the matter indeed from utterly nothing, but the world’s species from formless matter—yet you made both at once, so that form would follow matter with no intervening interval of delay.

13.34.49

inspeximus etiam propter quorum figurationem ista vel tali ordine fieri vel tali ordine scribi voluisti, et vidimus quia bona sunt singula et omnia bona valde in verbo tuo, in unico tuo, caelum et terra, caput et corpus ecclesiae, in praedestinatione ante omnia tempora sine mane et vespera. ubi autem coepisti praedestinata temporaliter exequi, ut occulta manifestares et incomposita nostra componeres (quoniam super nos erant peccata nostra et in profundum tenebrosum abieramus abs te, et spiritus tuus bonus superferebatur ad subveniendum nobis in tempore opportuno), et iustificasti impios et distinxisti eos ab iniquis et solidasti auctoritatem libri tui inter superiores, qui tibi dociles essent, et inferiores, qui ei subderentur, et congregasti societatem infidelium in unam conspirationem, ut apparerent studia fidelium, ut tibi opera misericordiae parerent, distribuentes etiam pauperibus terrenas facultates ad adquirenda caelestia. et inde accendisti quaedam luminaria in firmamento, verbum vitae habentes sanctos tuos et spiritalibus donis praelata sublimi auctoritate fulgentes; et inde ad imbuendas infideles gentes sacramenta et miracula visibilia vocesque verborum secundum firmamentum libri tui, quibus etiam fideles benedicerentur, ex materia corporali produxisti; et deinde fidelium animam vivam per affectus ordinatos continentiae vigore formasti, atque inde tibi soli mentem subditam et nullius auctoritatis humanae ad imitandum indigentem renovasti ad imaginem et similitudinem tuam, praestantique intellectui rationabilem actionem tamquam viro feminam subdidisti, omnibusque tuis ministeriis ad perficiendos fideles in hac vita necessariis ab eisdem fidelibus ad usus temporales fructuosa in futurum opera praeberi voluisti.

we have also looked into those on account of whose figuration you willed that these things either be done in such an order or be written in such an order, and we have seen that the individual things are good and that all things are very good in your Word, in your Only One: heaven and earth, the head and body of the Church, in predestination before all times without morning and evening. but when you began to execute temporally the things predestined, so as to make the hidden things manifest and to compose our uncomposed things (since our sins were over us and we had gone away from you into a dark deep, and your good Spirit was borne above to come to our aid at the opportune time), you justified the impious and distinguished them from the iniquitous, and you made firm the authority of your book among the higher, who would be teachable to you, and the lower, who would be subjected to it; and you gathered the fellowship of the unfaithful into one conspiracy, so that the pursuits of the faithful might appear, so that works of mercy might bring forth fruit for you, even distributing to the poor earthly resources to acquire heavenly things. and thence you lit certain luminaries in the firmament, your saints having the word of life and, preferred by spiritual gifts, shining with sublime authority; and thence, for the imbueing of the unbelieving nations, you brought forth from corporeal matter the sacraments and visible miracles and the voices of words according to the firmament of your book, by which even the faithful would be blessed; and then you formed the living soul of the faithful through ordered affections by the vigor of continence, and thence you renewed, after your image and likeness, a mind subject to you alone and needing the authority of no human to imitate, and to the preeminent intellect you subjected reasonable action as a woman to a man; and you willed that, by those same faithful, all your ministries necessary for the perfecting of the faithful in this life be furnished for temporal uses as works fruitful for the future.

haec omnia videmus et bona sunt valde, quoniam tu ea vides in nobis, qui spiritum quo ea videremus et in eis te amaremus dedisti nobis.

we see all these things, and they are very good, because you see them in us, you who gave to us the spirit whereby we might see them and in them love you.

13.35.50

domine deus, pacem da nobis (omnia enim praestitisti nobis), pacem quietis, pacem sabbati, pacem sine vespera. omnis quippe iste ordo pulcherrimus rerum valde bonarum modis suis peractis transiturus

Lord God, give peace to us (for you have bestowed all things upon us), the peace of quiet, the peace of the sabbath, the peace without evening. For this whole most beautiful order of things very good, its modes accomplished, is about to pass over.

13.36.51

autem septimus sine vespera est nec habet occasum, quia sanctificasti eum ad permansionem sempiternam, ut id, quod tu post opera tua bona valde, quamvis ea quietus feceris, requievisti septimo die, hoc praeloquatur nobis vox libri tui, quod et nos post opera nostra ideo bona valde, quia tu nobis ea donasti, sabbato vitae aeternae requiescamus in te.

but the seventh is without evening and has no setting, because you sanctified it for everlasting abiding, so that what you—after your works, very good, although you made them in quiet—rested on the seventh day, this the voice of your book may foretell to us: that we too, after our works, therefore very good because you have given them to us, may on the sabbath of eternal life rest in you.

13.37.52

etiam tunc enim sic requiesces in nobis, quemadmodum nunc operaris in nobis, et ita erit illa requies tua per nos, quemadmodum sunt ista opera tua per nos. tu autem, domine, semper operaris et semper requiescis, nec vides ad tempus nec moveris ad tempus nec quiescis ad tempus, et tamen facis et visiones temporales et ipsa tempora et quietem ex tempore.

for even then you will rest thus in us, just as now you work in us, and thus that rest of yours will be through us, just as these works of yours are through us. but you, Lord, always work and always rest, and you neither see according to time nor are moved according to time nor rest according to time, and yet you make both temporal visions and the times themselves and rest from time.

13.38.53

nos itaque ista quae fecisti videmus, quia sunt, tu autem quia vides ea, sunt. et nos foris videmus quia sunt, et intus quia bona sunt; tu autem ibi vidisti facta, ubi vidisti facienda. et nos alio tempore moti sumus ad bene faciendum, posteaquam concepit de spiritu tuo cor nostrum; priore autem tempore ad male faciendum movebamur deserentes te: tu vero, deus une bone, numquam cessasti bene facere.

We, therefore, see these things which you have made, because they are; but you—because you see them, they are. And we see on the outside that they are, and on the inside that they are good; but you saw them as made there where you saw them as to be made. And we at another time were moved to do well, after our heart conceived from your Spirit; but at the former time we were being moved to do ill, deserting you: but you, O God, only Good One, have never ceased to do good.

et sunt quaedam bona opera nostra ex munere quidem tuo, sed non sempiterna: post illa nos requieturos in tua grandi sanctificatione speramus. tu autem bonum nullo indigens bono semper quietus es, quoniam tua quies tu ipse es. et hoc intellegere quis hominum dabit homini? quis angelus angelo?

And there are certain good works of ours indeed from your gift, but not sempiternal; after them we hope that we shall find rest in your grand sanctification. But you, the Good, needing no good, are always quiet, since your quiet is yourself. And to understand this, who among men will give it to a man? which angel to an angel?

quis angelus homini? a te petatur, in te quaeratur, ad te pulsetur: sic, sic accipietur, sic invenietur, sic aperietur.

what angel to man? let it be asked of you, let it be sought in you, let it be knocked at to you: thus, thus it will be received, thus it will be found, thus it will be opened.

Submitted by James J. O'Donnell (Univ. of Pennsylvania) from his new edition. Prof.

O'Donnell's introduction and commentary may be found at the original site: The Confessions of Augustine: An Electronic Edition