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← Isteni Igazságra Vezérlő Kalauz (Guide to Divine Truth)/Book 1 · Isteni igazságra vezérlő kalaúz (Guide to Divine Truth)
Chapter 6PazmanyKalauz.1.6

1. Hasznai a teremtett állatokrúl való elmélkedésnek

Creation as a Ladder to God

Through the contemplation of created things, the wise ascend to knowledge of God's power, wisdom, and goodness, as the world serves as a book and mirror of the Creator.

According to the wise man's saying, created things are mousetrap snares for the foolish: "They have been made a snare for the feet of the unwise." But for the wise person, they are steps and ladders by which he draws closer to God.1 Therefore, deeper reflection on created things brings three kinds of benefit to a person. First: the knowledge of God. When Pythagoras saw Hercules's footprint in the sand, he worked out the size of every other part of his body from that single footprint.2 Apelles put a thin stroke on the painting Protogenes had begun, and from it the shrewd man knew that Apelles had been at his house. We too, from the beautiful and orderly state of the world's parts, from the turning of the heavens, and from the steady, well-fitted changes of the seasons, can clearly know the providence of the God of infinite power and wisdom.✦ The greatness of created things lets us understand our God's infinity; their adornment, His beauty; their strength, His power; their radiance, His glory; and their sweetness, His goodness, which abounds with many consolations. For whatever flows from the spring, the spring itself must abound with that.3 And no one can give another what he does not have in himself—either in its own kind, or eminently, in a higher and more excellent state.4 That is why the Wise Man says that those who, for their beauty, took the sun and the moon to be gods acted foolishly: for from these creatures' beauty they should have learned how much more beautiful God is, who made them: "How much more beautiful, then, is the Lord of these, for the author of beauty created them all." St. Basil is right, then, when he writes that this world is nothing other than a beautifully written book that proclaims God's glory and majesty: "For this whole world too is, as it were, a written volume, preaching the glory of God."✦ St. Anthony said the same thing to a pagan philosopher who asked him how he could live in the desert without books. "O philosopher, my book is the nature of created things." Elsewhere this same Basil writes that the world is like a school in which created things teach the knowledge of God: "The world is truly a workshop of learning and a place of instruction for the knowledge of God, offering the mind a guided path through visible things to the contemplation of invisible ones, as the Apostle says."✦ For, he says, the beauty and greatness of visible creatures set God's power and beauty before our eyes, so that although we can grasp only the smallest part of the secrets of created things, even what we see with our eyes is so wonderful that no mind, however sharp, can marvel enough at God's wisdom shining in them: "From the beauty of the things we see, let us conceive in our minds the One who surpasses all beauty; and from the greatness of these sensible things, let us reckon Him infinite, surpassing all magnitude, and exceeding every understanding in the abundance of His power." For even if we do not know the nature of the things that have been made, still what lies open to our senses holds such wonder that even the most attentive mind appears smaller than the least thing in the world — too small either to describe it as it deserves, or to give the Creator the praise that is His due.5 So just as, in heavenly bliss, God is the mirror of the blessed, in which they contemplate created things, we on earth should look at created things as mirrors: they make known God's goodness, power, and wisdom, and like a flight of steps they lift us up to the knowledge of God. For every creature cries out, Ipse fecit nos, et non ipsi nos — that God made them, and they did not come into being of themselves. So just as that famous artist Phidias worked his own likeness into the image of Minerva with such skill that people could not wipe it out without destroying the whole image, God has left in every created thing such marks of His wise power and mighty divinity that these can be hidden only by the ruin of this whole natural order.6

From Beauty to Love and Gratitude

The second benefit of creation is that it kindles divine love and thanksgiving, as we see God's extravagant provision and delight for us, but must guard against being ensnared by created beauty rather than rising to the Creator.

A second benefit of knowing the created things is that through them divine love is kindled in us, and we are moved to thanksgiving. That is why Saint Basil says that when we see even a little blade of grass, we are stirred to divine love if we consider that God did not make it for Himself, nor for the angels or the irrational animals, but—Herbam servituti hominis—created the grass greening on the mountaintops for the service of human beings.7 For human beings need the irrational animals: to be fed with their flesh, clothed with their hide and wool, to plow their land with their strength, carry their loads, and be spared from going on foot. And these irrational animals, for their part, are fed on grass; the grasses do not grow unless the earth is watered with rain; rain cannot come about except when vapor is drawn up from the sea and the rivers, and steaming fumes rise from the earth and stir up wind, which spreads the clouds over the face of the earth; and these vapors and fumes do not rise up except by the power of the sun and the stars.8 For that reason both the heavens with their beautiful turning, and the rains and the field flowers, were created for human service, use, and fitting consolation. So this holy Doctor wants us, whenever we take a beautiful flower in our hand or look at a green branch that gives shade, to lift the eyes of our soul to God and glorify Him who adorned the fading flower with so much beauty so that it might delight our eyes; who blessed it with such a lovely scent so that its fragrance might comfort us; and who gave so many good fruits of different flavors, suited to the seasons, so that they might please our taste. In short, God hasn't treated us the way we treat our hired hands, for whom we set out plenty of coarse, filling food and never train them on delicacies and dainties; instead, beyond what we need, for the delight of our senses, he created a great deal of beauty. For as Saint Ambrose says: you can't tell whether the beauty of the flowers delights more, or the power of their fragrance; the scent and adornment of flowers serve human delight.9 On this point Seneca writes that God created many things for our sake: things that soothe the eyes, the ears, and the mind.10 Nor has provision been made for our needs alone: we are loved even into delights — things meant not for necessity, but for pleasure.11 From this Saint Augustine concludes how much good God has stored up for his faithful in blessedness, if he pours out so many of his blessings even on the lost on this earth: What will he give to those he predestined for life, he who gave these things even to those he predestined for death?12 Once we understand these things, it isn't right for us to be like those brute animals: when the shepherd knocks acorns or hawthorn berries down from the tree for them, they gobble greedily and shove one another with their snouts, but they never lift their eyes to thank the shepherds for their kindness.13 Nor should we liken ourselves to children who, when given a book written in beautiful golden letters, do delight in the pleasing beauty of the letters, yet don't understand what lies beneath them, and make no effort toward the deep knowledge held within.14 Instead, let's make it our aim that through this worldly beauty we should be moved to love of God and to thanksgiving for his kindnesses; and let's remember the wise saying: that when we receive good from God, we should return thanksgiving to His Holy Majesty. For, as Saint Augustine writes, it would be folly if those beauties were to draw us away from God—beauties that would not even exist if they did not exist in God: "Late have I loved you, Beauty so ancient and so new; late have I loved you." Into those beautiful things which you made, I, deformed, rushed headlong. They held me far from you—things that, if they were not in you, would not be at all. When I cling to you with my whole self, nowhere will there be pain and toil for me, and my life will be truly alive, entirely filled with you. But now, since you lift up the one you fill—and because I am not full of you—I am a burden to myself.15

Memento Mori from the Vanity of Creation

The third benefit begins with creatures reminding us of our mortality and the fleeting nature of worldly glory, as flowers, grass, and human pomp all wither in a moment.

The third benefit of examining the animals of this world is that their example reminds us of our office and our duty; and with mute tongues they spur and guide our morals toward perfection. This is why Scripture sometimes points to ants, sometimes to hawks, even to oxen and donkeys: so that from them we may learn how we ought to walk in our office. That is why Saint Basil and Saint Ambrose say that when we look at a beautiful flower, we should not merely gaze at it the way cattle do; rather, let us remember the frailty of our life, its brief joy, and its fleeting delight. For just as a beautiful flower soon withers—and though it was dressed more freshly than Solomon, it still loses its beauty very quickly and dries up—so you too, whatever strength, beauty, and power you may boast of, will wither and rot in a short time: I want the Creator's wonder to sink more firmly into you, wherever you find yourself; and whichever kind of thing born of the earth you stand before, keep a clear memory of the Maker, and take a warning from it itself.16 So when you see the grass in bloom, turn to meditation on human nature; call to mind Isaiah's image: All flesh is grass, and all its glory like a flower.17 For the brevity of life, and the joy of human prosperity in so short a time, has found in the Prophet its most fitting image. Today blooming in body, with a flower-like complexion, strong and lively in the vigor of youth: tomorrow this same man is here, miserable—either withered by time or wasted by disease.18 That man is conspicuous in wealth—a throng of flatterers around him; of false friends hunting his favor; a throng of kin, and of false kin too; add to his riches some political power, or honor from kings, command of an army, government of a people: And what then?19 One night—or a single fever—carries off the man people thought no human power could snatch away, stripping bare the whole show around him; and that majesty, exposed like a dream, vanishes.

Moral Examples from Creatures

Animals and plants teach us spiritual virtues: the vine shows our need to abide in Christ and endure pruning, the stork instructs filial piety, and the sunflower turns our eyes constantly toward God.

Likewise, the holy doctors teach elsewhere that when we see a vine shoot, we should be reminded of our own condition: though God has hedged us in, ditched around us, pruned us, and staked us like a fine vine with the strengthening supports of his grace and holy example, he still asks that we remain in the vine-stock, grow, and bear fruit. And when we are earthed up—packed in and thrust under the soil—we should endure it with joy. The vine itself, carefully looked upon by your eye, is enough to instruct you about nature.20 For you remember that the Lord calls himself the Vine and us the branches, urging us to be fruitful, so that we won't be condemned as useless and thrown into the fire. That is, he calls human souls a vineyard; around them he has set a hedge—protection from the commandments and the guardianship of the angels.21 Then, like stakes, he fastened to us those set in the Church—first the Apostles, then the Prophets and the Teachers. And by the examples of the ancients, lifting our minds on high, he did not leave them lying on the ground, fit only to be trampled.✦22 But he wants us, as if wrapped in tendrils, to embrace our neighbors with the arms of love, so that, always pressing upward, we may raise ourselves to the highest summits.23 Moreover, he requires that we endure when we are earthed up. The soul is earthed up in the laying aside of the world's cares, which are a burden on our hearts.24 Therefore whoever lays aside fleshly love, and love of money, or considers contemptible any attachment to this wretched glory, is as if earthed up.✦25 Elsewhere they teach that when we see how unreasoning animals look after themselves, we should remember to care for our own souls with careful diligence as well. For our damnation will be greater if, in our own affairs, we are found more senseless than the beasts: If we carefully consider how much care the beasts take for their own lives, without any teaching, either we will be reminded to provide for the salvation of our souls, or we will be condemned all the more when we are found inferior to the beasts.26 With the example of the storks, Saint Basil teaches children how they ought to honor their aged and elderly parents.27 For the storks, he says, when their parent grows old, warm its cold body with feathers, carry food to it, and help it in flight by lifting it with their wings: The storks, surrounding their father who is worn down by old age and by the shedding of his feathers, warm him with their own plumes; and, supplying food in abundance, they also give what help they can in flying, lightly supporting his wings on either side. And that was enough to stir children, if they would pay attention, to love for their parents. For there is truly no one so mad as not to judge it shameful to fall short of the most unreasoning birds in virtue.28 Finally, when we see many kinds of flowers that open with the sunrise and close at sunset, or that turn their open blossoms toward the sun and turn with it, as if they recognized their Master who feeds and forms them, and wanted to serve him as best they can.29 Let us also take care never to take our eyes off God, but follow him as the fountain of all our goods, and please him with thankful service.

Read the original Hungarian

A bölcs mondása szerént a teremtett állatok egérfogó kelepcék a balgatagoknak: Factae sunt in muscipulam pedibus insipientium. De az okos embernek garádicsok és lajtorják, melyeken Istenhez járul. Azért a teremtett állatokrúl való mélyebb gondolatból három rendbéli haszon származik az emberben.

Első: Az Isten isméreti. A Hercules lába nyomdokát fövenyben látván Pitágoras, minden egyéb tagjainak öregségét feltalálá az egy lábhelyből. Apelles egy vékony vonítást tén a Protógenes elkezdett képén, melyből megisméré az okos ember, hogy Apelles volt házánál. Mi is, a világ részeinek szép, rendes állapatjából, az egek forgásának, az esztendők részeinek állhatatos és alkalmatos változásiból nyilván ismérhetjük a végetlen hatalmú és bölcsességű Istennek gondviselését.

A teremtett állatok nagy volta, Istenünk végetlenségét; ékessége, szépségét; erőssége, hatalmát; fényessége, dücsőségét; édessége, sok vigasztalásokkal bévelkedő jóvoltát adja értenünk: mivel valami a kútfőből származik, azzal bévelkedni kell a kútnak. És senki azt másnak nem adhatja, ami magában nincsen, vagy tulajdon neme szerént, vagy eminenter, felsőbb és méltóságosb állapatban. Azért mondja a bölcs; hogy akik a napot és holdat szépségekért isteneknek alították, bolondul cselekedtek: mert ezeknek szépségéből azt kellett volna tanulni: mentül szebb Isten, aki ezeket alkotta: Quanto his dominator eorum speciosior est: speciei enim generator, haec omnia constituit. Méltán írja tehát Szent Basilius, hogy e világ nem egyéb szép írott könyvnél, mely az Isten dücsőségét és felségét hirdeti: Nam et totus hic mundus, quasi conscriptum quoddam volumen est, praedicans gloriam Dei. Ugyanezent mondá Szent Antal egy pogány bölcsnek, ki azon tudakozék tőle: Mint lakhatik a pusztában könyvek nélkül? O Philosophe, meus codex natura Creaturarum est. Másutt ezen Basilius azt írja, hogy e világ olyan, mint egy iskola, melyben a teremtett állatok Isten isméretire tanítanak: Mundus revera officina est discendi et locus erudiendi ad cognitionem Dei, per visibilia manuductionem menti exhibens ad invisibilium speculationem, quemadmodum Apostolus ait. Mert, úgymond, a látható állatok szépsége és nagysága az Isten erejét és szépségét szemünk előtt hordozza: úgyhogy, noha legkisebb részét érthetjük a teremtett állatok titkainak; de azok is, amiket szemünkkel látunk, oly csudálatosok, hogy akármely éles elme sem álmélkodhatik elégségesen az Istennek ezekben tündöklő bölcsességén: Ex pulchritudine eorum quae videmus, eum, qui omnem pulchritudinem excedit, mente concipiamus; et ex magnitudine sensibilium horum, infinitum illum et omnem magnitudinem superantem, omnemque intelligentiam in multitudine potentiae suae excedentem reputemus.

Etenim, etiamsi naturam eorum quae facta sunt, ignoremus: tamen id, quod senruri nostro subjacet, tantum miraculum habet, ut etiam attentissima mens, minor appareat eo, quod minimum est in mundo, ut aut pro dignitate ipsum enarrare valeat, aut Creatori debitam laudem referre. Miképpen azért a mennyei boldogságban Isten a dücsőültek tüköre, melyben a teremtett állatokat szemlélik: úgy a világon a teremtett állatokat tükörök gyanánt kell néznünk; melyek az Isten jóvoltát, hatalmát, bölcsességét ismértetik; és mint garádicsok, Isten isméretire emelnek. Mivel minden állatok azt kiáltják: Ipse fecit nos, et non ipsi nos; hogy Isten teremtette őket, és nem magoktúl lettek. Azért miképpen ama nevezetes képíró, Fídias, oly mesterséggel béírá a Minerva képébe maga ábrázatját, hogy ezt különben le nem törölhették, hanem az egész képet egyberontván: úgy az Isten minden teremtett állatban oly jelenségit hagyta bölcs hatalmának és hatalmas istenségének, hogy nem különben, hanem ez egész természet romlásával lehet ezeknek titkolása.

Második haszna a teremtett állatok isméretinek az, hogy ezek által gerjed bennünk az isteni szeretet, és hálaadásra indíttatunk. Azért mondja Szent Basilius, hogy mikor egy füvecskét látunk, isteni szeretetre indíttatunk, ha meggondoljuk, hogy ezt Isten nem magáért; sem az angyalokért vagy oktalan állatokért, hanem: Herbam servituti hominis; a hegyek tetején zöldellő füvet emberek szolgálatjára teremtette. Mert az ember szűkölködik az oktalan állatok nélkül, hogy húsával tápláltassék, bőrével és gyapjával ruháztassék, erejével földét szántsa, terhét hordozza, gyalog járástúl megmentse. Ezek pedig az oktalan állatok fűvel tápláltatnak: a füvek nem nőnek különben, hanem ha esővel öntöztetik a föld: az esők másképpen nem lehetnek, hanem ha a tengerből és folyóvizekből pára emeltetik, a földből pedig gőzölgő füstök támadnak, és szelet indítnak, mely a felhőket elterjeszti a föld kerekségére: ezek a párák és füstök különben fel nem emelkednek, hanem a nap és csillagok erejével. Annak okáért mind az egek az ő szép forgásival, mind az esők és mezei virágok az ember szolgálatjára, hasznára és tisztességes vigasztalására teremtettek. Azt kívánja azért ez a Szent Doktor; hogy midőn egy szép virágot kezünkbe veszünk, egy árnyéktartó zöld ágat megtekintünk, Istenhez emeljük lelki szemeinket; és dücsőítsük őtet, ki ennyi szépséggel ékesítette az elhervadó virágot, hogy a mi szemünket gyönyörűségesen legeltesse; ily szép illattal megáldotta, hogy jó szagával minket vigasztaljon; ennyi különb ízű jó gyümölcsöket adott, az üdők állapotjához képest, hogy torkunknak kedveskedjék.

Egyszóval, nem úgy bánt velünk Isten, mint mi béresinkkel, kiknek temérdek és vastagító eledelt rendelünk; csemegére és nyalánkságra nem szoktatjuk őket: hanem szükségünk felett, érzékenységink gyönyörködtetésére, sok szépséget teremtett. Mivel a Szent Ambrus szavaként: Nescias, utrum species amplius florum, an vis odora delectat; a virágok szaga és ékessége, gyönyörűségére szolgál az embernek. Erre nézve írja Seneca, hogy Isten miérettünk sokat teremtett: Oculos, Aures, animum mulcentia. Neque necessitatibus tantum nostris provisum est: usque in delicias amamur; melyek nem szükségre, hanem gyönyörűségre valók. Melyből ítíletet tészen Szent Ágoston, mennyi jót tartott Isten híveinek a boldogságban, ha ennyi áldomásit terjeszti e földön az elveszendőkre is: Quid dabit eis quos praedestinavit ad vitam, qui haec dedit etiam eis quos praedestinavit ad mortem?

Ezeket megértvén, nem illik, hogy hasonlók légyünk amaz oktalan állatokhoz: melyeknek midőn a pásztor makkot vagy galagonyát vér a fárúl, mohón zabállanak; egymást orrokkal taszigálják; de szemeket fel nem emelik, hogy megköszönjék pásztorok jótéteményét. A gyermekekhez se hasonlítsuk magunkat, kiknek ha szép aranybötűkkel írt könyvet adnak, gyönyörködnek ugyan a bötűk tettetes ékességében, de nem értik mi fekszik azok alatt, és a benne való mélységes tudományra nem igyekeznek. Hanem azon legyünk, hogy e világi szépség által, Istennek szerelmére; jótéteményiért hálaadásra induljunk: és megemlékezzünk a bölcs mondásárúl; hogy midőn Istentűl jót vészünk, hálaadást térítsünk vissza ő Szent Felségének. Ugyanis, amint Szent Ágoston írja, bolondság volna, ha azok a szépségek elvonnának Istentűl; melyek nem is vólnának, ha Istenben nem vólnának; Sero; te amavi, pulchritudo tam antiqua, et tam nova; sero; te amavi. In ista formosa, quae fecisti, deformis irruebam. Ea me tenebant longe; a; te: quae si in te non essent, non essent. Cu;m inhaesero tibi ex omni me, nusquam erit mihi dolor et labor, et viva erit vita mea, tota plena te: Nunc autem, quoniam quem tu imples, sublevas eum; quia tui plenus non sum, oneri mihi sun.

Harmadik haszna a világi állatok vizsgálásának az, hogy ezek példája hivatalunkrúl és kötelességünkrűl emlékeztet; és néma nyelvekkel erkölcsünket tekéletességre izgatja és igazgatja. Ez az oka, hogy a Szentírás néha hangyákra, néha héjákra, sőt ökrökre és szamárokra mutat, hogy ezektűl tanuljuk, mint kell hivatalunkban járnunk. Azt mondja azért Szent Basilius és Szent Ambrus; hogy midőn egy szép virágot megtekintünk, ne csak úgy nézzünk erre, mint a barmok; hanem eszünkbe jusson életünk gyarlósága, rövid öröme, múlandó vigassága. Mert miképpen a szép virág hamar meghervad; és noha Salamonnál frissebben öltözött, de nagy gyorsan elveszti ékességét, és elszárad: azonképpen te is, akármely erőben, szépségben és hatalomban dicsekedjél, rövid üdő alatt meghervadsz és megrothadsz: Volo, ut tibi Creatoris miraculum firmius insideat, ubicunque reperiaris: et cuicumque generi terra nascentium adstiteris, evidentem Conditoris memoriam conserves, et capias de ipso admonitionem. Cu;m igitur videris herbam fiorentem, ad meditationem venias de hundana natura: in memoriam revoces imaginem Isaiae; Omnis caro foenum et omnis gloria ejus út flos. Brevitas enim vitae et in modico tempore gaudium humanae prosperitatis, aptissimam apud Prophetam imaginem adepta est. Hodie floridus corpore, florulentum habens colorem, aetatis vigore validus et concitatus: cras idem hic, miserabilis, aut templore marcidus, aut morbo dissolutus. Ille conspicuus in divitiis, multitudo circa ipsum adulatorum; amicorum fictorum, gratiam ipsius venantium; multitudo cognationis, ejusque fictae; adde divitiis, politicam aliquam potestatem, aut ex Regibus honorem, exerctus imperium, gentis gubernationem: Ecquid postea;?

Una nox, aut una febris hominem, non rapi ab hominibus posse putatum, aufert, omnem scenam circa ipsum denudans; et majestas illa, velut insomnium, redarguta evanescit.

Hasonlóképpen más helyen ezen szent doktorok arra tanítanak; hogy midőn a szőlővesszőt látjuk, eszünkbe jusson állapotunk: hogy noha minket Isten, mint szép szőlőt bégyepelt, béárkolt, megmetszett, megkarózott malasztjának és szent példájának vastagító támaszival: de viszontag azt kívánja tőlünk, hogy a szőlőtőben maradjunk, nevekedjünk, gyümölcsözzünk; és midőn homlítás által bévermeltetünk, föld alá bújtatunk, örömmel szenvedjük: Sufficit Vitis ipsa, visui tuo diligenter aspecta, ut te de Natura admoneat. Meministi enim, quod Dominus Vitem se appellat, et nos palmites: provocans ad fertilitatem; ut ne ob inutilitatem damnati, in ignem mittamur. Humanas scilicet animas, Vineam dicit; quibus sepem circumdedit, munimentum ex praeceptis et custodiam Angelorum. Deinde, velut perticas nobis affixit, positos in Ecclesia, primu;m Apostolos, deinde Prophetas, et Doctores: et antiquorum Exemplis, mentes nostras in altum evehens, non dimisit ipsas humi prostratas, et conculcatu dignas. Vult autem nos, velut pampinis quibusdam circumvolutos, dilectionis amplexibus propinquos amplecti; quo; semper sursum versus impetum habentes, altissimis apicibus nosipsos adaequemus. Exigit insuper a; nobis, ut sustineamus, dum defodiemur: defoditur autem anima, in depositione curarum mundi, quae oneri sunt cordibus nostris. Quare, qui carnalem dilectionem deponit, et amorem erga pecunias, aut, erga miseram hanc gloriam affectum, contemtibilem ducit; velut defossus est.

Másutt arra tanítanak, hogy mikor látjuk az oktalan állatoknak magokra való gondviselését, megemlékezzünk, hogy lelkünkre mi is szorgalmatos vigyázással gondot viseljünk. Mert nagyobb kárhozatunk lészen, ha a barmoknál oktalanbnak találtatunk magunk dolgaiban: Si percurramus, quanta sit brutis super vita ipsorum cura, citra doctrinam: aut ad salutis animarum providentiam commonebimur, aut amplius condemnabimur, cum inventi fuerimus brutis inferiores. A fiakat a gólyák példájával tanítja Szent Basilius, mint kell tisztelni koros megért szüléjeket. Mert a gólyák, úgymond, midőn elvénhedik szüléjek; melegítik hideg tetemit tollokkal; eledelt hordanak néki; röpülésében, szárnyokkal felemelvén, segílik: Ciconiae, patrem, prae senio defluvio laborantem pennarum, circumstantes, propriis pennis confovent; et alimentum abunde; suppeditantes, etiam volandi auxilium quantum valent praebent, utrinque alas leviter allevantes. Quod sufficiebat, ut pueros, si advertere vellent, ad Parentum amorem excitarent. Omnino enim nullus adeo; insanus est, ut non pudore dignum judicet, brutissimis volucribus virtute posteriorem esse. Végezetre, midőn sokféle virágokat látunk, melyek napkelettel kinyílnak, napnyugattal egybemennek; vagy a napra fordítván virágok kinyílt kebelét, véle együtt forognak, mintha ismérnék legeltető és alkotó mestereket, és szolgálni akarnának néki, tehetségek szerént. Mi is azon legyünk, hogy szemeinket Istenrűl el ne vegyük, hanem őtet, mint javaink kútfejét, kövessük, és hálaadó szolgálattal kedveskedjünk néki.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Rom.1.20 — For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes have been clearly perceived, being understood through the things that have been made: both his eternal power and divine nature. So they are without excuse.
  2. ↩Ps.19.1 — To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
  3. ↩Rom.1.20 — For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes have been clearly perceived, being understood through the things that have been made: both his eternal power and divine nature. So they are without excuse.
  4. ↩1Cor.12.28;Eph.4.11 — And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, gifts of helping, gifts of administration, and various kinds of tongues. Eph.4.11 — And he gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers.
  5. ↩1Tim.6.10;John.12.43 — For the root of all evils is the love of money, which some, reaching for it, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. John.12.43 — For they loved the glory of men more than the glory of God.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩garádicsok és lajtorják: early modern Hungarian pairs stairs/steps (garádics) with ladders (lajtorja); rendered as steps and ladders to keep the ascent image.
  2. 2 ↩Source öregségét most naturally means chronological old age in modern Hungarian; the classical Pythagoras–Hercules footprint anecdote, and the parallel with inferring a whole from a part, require size/stature of the limbs. Rendered accordingly.
  3. 3 ↩Hungarian állatok here means created things/creatures in the broad scholastic sense, not animals alone.
  4. 4 ↩eminenter is left as the source's scholastic term (Latin eminenter): possession of a quality in a higher, more excellent mode, not merely in the same kind.
  5. 5 ↩Source has senruri nostro subjacet; translated as the plausible reading sensui nostro subjacet ("what lies open to our senses").
  6. 6 ↩Hungarian képíró is 'painter/image-maker'; the classical anecdote concerns Phidias as sculptor of Athena (Minerva). Rendered as 'artist' to stay natural while preserving the analogy.
  7. 7 ↩Latin insert Herbam servituti hominis is left as Pázmány cites it; the following Hungarian clause glosses it as grass made for human service.
  8. 8 ↩gőzölgő füstök rendered as "steaming fumes" (rising earth-vapors in early modern natural philosophy), not smoke from fire.
  9. 9 ↩Embedded Latin from Ambrose: 'Nescias, utrum species amplius florum, an vis odora delectat' — rendered in sense as the open comparison of floral beauty vs. fragrance.
  10. 10 ↩Latin tag 'Oculos, Aures, animum mulcentia' rendered as 'things that soothe the eyes, the ears, and the mind'; animum may mean mind or spirit.
  11. 11 ↩Latin 'usque in delicias amamur' kept as 'loved even into delights' to preserve the force of divine love going beyond bare necessity.
  12. 12 ↩Augustine's Latin is translated in full: 'Quid dabit eis quos praedestinavit ad vitam, qui haec dedit etiam eis quos praedestinavit ad mortem?' 'Elveszendőkre' rendered as 'the lost' (those perishing / reprobate), matching the Latin ad mortem.
  13. 13 ↩Source reading «vér a fárúl» is treated as the intended «ver a fáról» (knocks/beats down from the tree); «zabállanak» as «zabálnak» (gobble).
  14. 14 ↩Source «tettetes» is read as «tetszetes» (pleasing/attractive).
  15. 15 ↩Source «Cu;m» read as «Cum»; closing «oneri mihi sun» read as Augustine's «oneri mihi sum» (I am a burden to myself).
  16. 16 ↩Closing Latin counsel rendered continuously: Creatoris miraculum / Conditoris memoriam / admonitionem as Creator's wonder, Maker's memory, and warning.
  17. 17 ↩Normalized corruptions for sense: Cu;m→Cum; fiorentem→florentem; hundana→humana; út→ut. Translated the corrected reading.
  18. 18 ↩templore almost certainly tempore ('by time'); translated as 'withered by time'.
  19. 19 ↩exerctus read as exercitus ('army'); Ecquid postea? rendered as the rhetorical 'And what then?'
  20. 20 ↩Hungarian malaszt is rendered as grace. Homlítás is the vineyard practice of earthing up (banking soil around the vine); bévermeltetünk and föld alá bújtatunk continue that burial/covering image.
  21. 21 ↩munimentum ex praeceptis is rendered as protection from the commandments (the precepts as a defensive enclosure), matching the hedge image rather than mere moral advice.
  22. 22 ↩Normalized reading takes primu;m as primum (first).
  23. 23 ↩pampinis are vine-shoots/tendrils; dilectionis amplexibus keeps theological love rather than mere affection. Source quo; is read as purpose quo (so that).
  24. 24 ↩defodiemur / defoditur continues the vineyard image of being banked under soil (homlítás), applied spiritually to burying worldly cares.
  25. 25 ↩contemtibilem is the source spelling of contemptibilem. affectum erga miseram hanc gloriam is attachment to empty worldly glory, not glory in a theological sense.
  26. 26 ↩Source reading oktalanbnak treated as oktalanabbnak ('more senseless/unreasoning'); sense is clear from context and the following Latin.
  27. 27 ↩koros megért: both words mark advanced age; rendered 'aged and elderly' rather than 'wise,' since megért here is 'advanced in years,' not 'understanding.'
  28. 28 ↩Normalized Latin has adeo; insanus with a likely spurious semicolon; read as adeo insanus ('so mad').
  29. 29 ↩legeltető és alkotó mestereket: literally plural 'masters who pasture/feed and create'; rendered as the one Master who nourishes and forms them, which fits the solar/creation allegory.

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