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Liber Divinorum Operum (Book of Divine Works)/Book 1 · Liber Divinorum Operum — Pars 1
Chapter 183LDO.1.183

VISIO QUARTA, cap. C

The Dignity of the Human Vocation

God delights in the human being made in His image, the full work through whom He is known and praised.

When God looked at the human being, it pleased him greatly, because he had created that person according to the garment of his own image and according to his own likeness, so that through the trumpet of a rational voice he might proclaim all his wonders. For the human being is the full work of God, because God is known through him, and because God created all creatures for his sake, and granted him, in the kiss of true love, through rational nature, to proclaim and praise him.

Woman Given as Contemplative Help

Humanity lacked its fitting likeness, so God gave woman as a contemplative form in whom the whole race lay hidden.

But he lacked the help of his own likeness. And so God gave him the help that was the contemplative form of woman, in which the whole human race lay hidden, which was to be brought forth in the power of God's strength, just as he had brought forth the first human being in his own power and strength.

Man and Woman Made for One Another

Man and woman are joined so that neither can be called by name without the other, each being the other's work and consolation.

And so man and woman are joined together in this way, each through the other, so that the work of one is through the other, because a man without a woman would not be called a man, and a woman without a man would not be called a woman. For woman is man's work, and man is the sight and consolation of woman, and neither of them could exist without the other.

The Mystery of Christ and His Humanity

Man signifies divinity and woman the humanity of the Son of God, and so the human being rules over all creatures, as David declares.

And man signifies divinity, and woman the humanity of the Son of God. And so the human being sits above the tribunal of the earth and rules over every creature, and that creature, existing under his discipline, is subject to him, and he himself is over all creatures, as David speaks through my inspiration, saying:

David's Psalm and the Power of Christ

David's words from Psalm 109 are explained as concerning Christ's Incarnation, power, and the subjection of His enemies.

These are David's words from Psalm 109, along with an explanation of how those same words are to be understood concerning the Incarnation and power of Christ, and concerning the subjection of his enemies.

Read the original Latin

Cum autem Deus hominem inspexit, valde bene ei placuit, quoniam secundum tunicam imaginis suae, et secundum similitudinem suam illum creaverat, quatenus per tubam vocis rationalis omnia miracula ejus pronuntiaret. Homo enim plenum opus Dei est, quia Deus per eum cognoscitur, et quoniam Deus omnes creaturas propter illum creavit, eique in osculo veri amoris per rationalitatem ipsum praedicare et laudare concessit. Sed ipsi adjutorium similitudinis suae defuit. Unde et Deus illi adjutorium, quod speculativa forma mulieris fuit, in qua omne humanum genus latuit, quod in vi fortitudinis Dei producendum erat, sicut et primum hominem in vi fortitudinis suae profecerat. Vir itaque et femina sic ad invicem admisti sunt, ut opus alterum per alterum est, quia vir sine femina vir non vocaretur, nec femina sine viro femina nominaretur. Femina enim opus viri est, et vir aspectus consolationis feminae est, et neuter eorum absque altero esse posset. Et vir divinitatem, femina vero humanitatem Filii Dei significat. Homo itaque super tribunal terrae sedet, omnique creaturae imperat, illaque in disciplinatu illius existens ei subdita est, et ipse super omnes creaturas est, sicut David inspiratione mea loquitur dicens:

Verba David in psalmo CIX, et expositio eorumdem verborum quomodo de Incarnatione et potestate Christi, et in subjectione inimicorum ejus intelligenda sint.

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