Liber Quintus, Caput VIII. Personarum pluralitem in Deo consurgere ex proprietatibus; essentiam tamen unam et simplicem esse.
Persons and Properties in the One God
The divine persons and their properties are inseparable from the one simple substance, a mystery held by faith rather than penetrated by reason.
The properties of the persons are nothing other than the persons themselves; and the persons themselves are nothing other than one God, one divine substance, one divine nature, one divine and highest majesty—this is what the Catholic faith confesses. So, try to count if you can—either count persons apart from substance, which are themselves the substance; or count properties apart from persons, which are themselves the persons. If someone tries to separate either the persons from the substance or the properties from the persons, I don't see how someone who has strayed into such a great multiplicity of things could claim to be a worshipper of the Trinity. Let's say three—but not to the detriment of the Unity; let's say one—but not to the confusion of the Trinity. For the names are not empty, nor are the words hollow and without meaning. Someone asks how that which we say is Catholic can actually be so. Let it be enough for that person to hold that it is so. This is not something reason can see clearly, nor is it something opinion leaves uncertain—it is something faith has been convinced of.
The Greatness of the Sacrament and the Call to Contemplate Unity
The plurality-in-unity of God is a mystery to be venerated and believed, prompting Eugene to contemplate the singular divine Oneness.
This Sacrament is great, and indeed to be venerated, not to be examined. How can there be plurality in unity, and this unity itself in plurality? To examine this is rashness; to believe it is piety; to know it is life, and life eternal. So if you think it worth the effort, Eugene, let your consideration now dwell at length on the One, so that the eminence of this singular One may become more evident.
A Ladder of Created Unities
Bernard catalogs various degrees of unity found in creation—from heaps and bodies to virtue, charity, and the Incarnation—to prepare a contrast with the divine unity.
There is a unity that can be called collective, as, for example, many stones make a single heap. And there is a constitutive unity, when many members form one body, or many parts constitute each single whole. And there is a conjugative unity, by which it comes about that two are now no longer two, but one flesh. And there is a native unity, by which soul and flesh are born as one human being. There is a unity of power by which a man of virtue strives to be found as one, not unstable or dissimilar to himself. It is harmonious when, through the charity of many people, there is one heart and one soul. It is also votive when the soul, cleaving to God with all its vows, is one spirit. And there is a dignified unity by which our clay has been taken up into one person by the Word of God.
The Supreme Unity of the Trinity
All created unities merely imitate the highest, simple unity of the Trinity, where asserting 'Three' does not divide the essence and confessing 'One' does not confuse the persons.
But what do all these things matter in relation to that highest One — and, so to speak, uniquely One — where consubstantiality produces unity? To this One, if you liken any of those other unities, it will in some way be one; if you compare them, in no way. Therefore, among all the things that are rightly called one, the unity of the Trinity holds the citadel, by which three persons are one substance. In the second place excels that unity by which, conversely, three substances are one person in Christ. Furthermore, these and whatever other things can be called one derive their name from an imitation of that highest unity, not from a comparison with it — a careful consideration proves that the one true unity is to be so named. Nor are we led away from this profession of unity by the assertion of the Three: since in this Trinity we accept neither multiplicity, nor solitude in the unity. Therefore, when I say 'One,' the number of the Trinity does not disturb me, because it does not multiply, vary, or divide the essence. Again, when I say 'Three,' the contemplation of unity does not accuse me, because it does not drive those three, or those three persons, into confusion or reduce them to singularity.
Read the original Latin
Personarum proprietates non aliud quam personas; ipsasque non aliud quam unum Deum, unam divinam substantiam, unam divinam naturam, unam divinam et summam majestatem, fides catholica confitetur. Numera ergo, si potes, aut sine substantia personas, quae ipsa sunt: aut sine personis proprietates, quae ipsae sunt. Aut si dividere quis conetur vel personas a substantia, vel proprietates a personis, nescio quomodo Trinitatis se profiteri cultorem possit, qui in tantam rerum numerositatem excesserit. Dicamus itaque tres, sed non ad praejudicium Unitatis: dicamus unum, sed non ad confusionem Trinitatis. Neque enim nomina vacua sunt, nec absque significantia cassae voces. Quaerit quis quomodo illud quod catholicum esse dicimus, possit esse? Sufficiat ei tenere sic esse. Atque hoc non rationi perspicuum, nec tamen opinioni ambiguum, sed fidei persuasum.
Sacramentum hoc magnum est, et quidem venerandum, non scrutandum. Quomodo pluralitas in unitate, et hac unitate, aut ipsa in pluralitate? Scrutari hoc temeritas est, credere pietas est; nosse vita, et vita aeterna est. Unde si operae pretium censes, o Eugeni, percurrat nunc consideratio multa Una, quo eminentia hujus singularis Unius fiat evidentior. Est unitas, quae collectiva potest dici, cum, verbi causa, multi lapides faciunt acervum unum. Est et unitas constitutiva, cum multa membra unum corpus, vel multae partes unumquodcumque totum constituunt. Est et conjugativa, qua fit ut duo jam non duo sint, sed una caro. Et est nativa, qua anima et caro unus nascitur homo.
Est unitas potestativa, qua homo virtutis non instabilis, non dissimilis, sed unus sibimet semper nititur inveniri. Est consentanea, cum per charitatem multorum hominum est cor unum, et anima una. Est et votiva, cum anima votis omnibus adhaerens Deo, unus spiritus est. Et est dignativa unitas, qua limus noster a Dei Verbo in unam assumptus est personam.
Verum haec omnia quid ad illud summum, atque, ut ita dicam, unice Unum, ubi unitatem consubstantialitas facit? Huic Uni quodvis illorum si assimiles, erit quoquo modo unum: si compares, nullo. Igitur inter omnia quae recte unum dicuntur, arcem tenet Unitas Trinitatis, qua tres personae una subtantia sunt. Secundo loco illa praecellit, qua e converso tres substantiae una in Christo persona sunt. Porro haec et quaecumque alia dici una possunt, summae illius unitatis imitatione, non comparatione, Una appellari vera sobriaque probat consideratio. Nec abducimur ab hac unitatis professione assertione Trium: cum in hac Trinitate non recipiamus multiplicitatem, sicut nec solitudinem in unitate. Quamobrem cum dico Unum, non me Trinitatis turbat numerus, qui essentiam non multiplicat, non variat, nec partitur. Rursum cum dico Tria, non me arguit intuitus unitatis, quae illa quaecumque tria, seu illos tres, nec in confusionem cogit, nec in singularitatem redigit.
De consideratione (On Consideration) companion
Make consideration a daily appointment
Bernard told Eugene to set aside time every day. Chosen Portion holds that time for you, free.
Bernard's core prescription — a fixed daily time reserved for examining the soul — is exactly the habit Chosen Portion installs with its daily devotional portion.
- One 10-minute daily portion for self-examination and prayer
- Reflection prompts drawn from historic texts, not improvised journaling
- A visible streak that protects the daily interval Bernard insisted on