← Liber Divinorum Operum (Book of Divine Works)/Book 1 · Liber Divinorum Operum — Pars 1

Chapter 188LDO.1.188

VISIO QUARTA, cap. CV

The Eternal Word Before All Things

The Ancient of Days reveals Himself as the unoriginate source of all beginnings, the eternal Word, the reason within all reason, who created the angelic hosts, cast down the proud, and fashioned humanity in His image endowed with rationality.

In the beginning was the Word.^✦ This is clear to the understanding: I am the one who has no beginning, and from whom all beginnings proceed, and — I who am Ancient of Days — I say: I am a day that never advanced from the sun, but the sun was kindled from me.^✦¹ I am also the reason that didn't sound forth from another, but from which every rationality draws its breath. Therefore, for the contemplation of my face I made mirrors in which I consider all the wonders of my ancient days — wonders that will never fade — and I've prepared those same mirrors to join together in praise, because I have a voice like thunder by which I stir the whole world of the living with the sounds all creatures make.² I, the Ancient of Days, do these things: for through my Word, which without beginning has always been and is in me, I commanded a great, shining light to go forth — and with it countless sparks, namely angels — who, that they might awaken in their own light, forgot me, and wanted to be, as I am.^✦³ And so, in the great thunder of my jealous vengeance, in their presumption — because they contradicted me — I cast them down, because there is one God alone, and no other can be.⁴ So the small work that is a human being I shaped within myself, and I made it in my image and likeness, so that it might in some way act according to me, since my Son was to be clothed in the garment of human flesh.^✦ I also endowed that work with rationality from my own rational nature, and in it I stamped my capacity, just as human reason grasps everything in its own craft through names and through number, because a person discerns nothing except through names, nor can they recognize the multiplicity of things except through number.

The Angel of Strength and the Royal Garment

God is the angel of strength who reveals Himself through the angelic hosts, and human nature is the royal garment in which the Son clothed Himself as God of all creation and life of all life, before whose blessed presence the innumerable angels dwell.

I am also the angel of strength, since through the angelic hosts I announce myself by my miracles, and because in faith I show myself to all creatures, where they know me to be their creator; yet no one can perfectly proclaim me. For man is that garment with which my Son, clothed in royal power, showed himself as the God of all creation and the life of life. But the host of angels who are specially present to that royal power — no one but God can count them — nor can anyone bring to completion the number of those who individually profess him as the God of all creation, nor is any tongue sufficient to define those who are specially proclaimed as the life of all life. So blessed are those who dwell with him.

The Human Body as Mirror of Divine Mysteries

God designed the whole work in human form, and in the brain, hairs, eyebrows, eyes, hearing, nostrils, and sense of smell He signifies His dominion, strength, foreknowledge, revelation, wisdom, and discernment.

God, however, designed all his own work in the form of a human being, as was said, and this is also shown through certain examples in what follows. For in the circle of a person's brain he shows his dominion, because the brain holds and governs the whole body; and in the hairs of his head it designates its own capacity, which is its adornment, just as the hairs adorn the head.⁵ In the eyebrows of his eyes, too, it demonstrates its own strength, since the eyebrows are a protection for a person's eyes, so that they turn away every harmful thing from them and display the beauty of the face, and are like the feathers of the winds by which those winds are lifted up and sustained, just like a bird that sometimes flies with its own feathers and sometimes rests from flying, because the wind blows from the strength of God, and the blast of the wind is its feathers.⁶ But in a person's eyes it declares its own knowledge, through which it foresees and foreknows all things, because very many things show themselves in the eyes, since they are bright and moist, just as the shadow of other creatures appears in water.⁷ For a person knows and discerns all things through sight, and if they lacked sight, they would be like dead in these respects. In his hearing as well it opens all the sounds of praises, secrets, mysteries, and angelic hosts, in which God himself is praised, since it would be unfitting if it were known only through itself, because a person is known by a person through hearing, where the person also understands all things in themselves, and would be like empty nothing if they lacked hearing.⁸ In the nostrils, however, it shows the wisdom which is a fragrant ordering in all the arts, so that a person may recognize by smell what wisdom arranges.⁹ The sense of smell, for its part, extends through all things by drawing it in, insofar as it may know what things are and of what sort they are.¹⁰

The Mouth of the Word and the Beginning

Through the human mouth God designates His eternal Word by which all things were created; the cheeks and chin of the body figure the beginning of every creature when the Word sounded, and the Word is inseparable from God because with a sounding voice He raised and called all creatures to Himself.

But through the human mouth God designates his Word, by which he created all things — just as, by the mouth, all things are brought forth in the sound of rationality — because a person brings forth many things by sounding them, in the way that the Word of God, by creating in the embrace of love, made them, so that nothing necessary is lacking to his work. And just as the cheeks and chin are set around the mouth, so to that same Word, when it sounded, there belongs the beginning of every creature — when all things were created — and so: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word."^✦ » This becomes clear to the intellect as follows: At the beginning of that inception, when the will of God opened itself to bring forth the form of creatures — which was in him without beginning, insofar as, had he not opened himself, there was the Word without the beginning of that inception — « and the Word was with God, » just as a word exists in rationality; for rationality holds a word within itself, and in rationality there is a word, and these two are not divided from each other.^✦ For without a beginning, before the beginning of creatures, and also at their beginning, the Word existed; and that same Word, before the beginning and at the very beginning of creatures, was with God, and was in no way divided from God, because God, in his word, willed that his Word should create all things, just as he had preordained before the ages. And why is it called the Word? Because, with a sounding voice, he raised up all creatures and called them to himself. For what God dictated in the Word, the Word commanded by sounding; and what the Word commanded, God dictated in the Word. And so God was the Word.^✦

The Word Sounding in Every Creature

The Word and God are one, for when the Word sounded it called every preordained creature to life and appeared in all things; so the human soul operates by that same sound, moving the flesh as all creatures are present to the Word, and God created man in the Father's will because He alone is life without beginning.

For the Word was in God, and God secretly dictated every will of his own in it, and the Word sounded, and brought forth all creatures, and so the Word and God are one. But when the Word of God sounded, it called to itself every creature that had been preordained and disposed in God before the age, and through its voice all things have been raised to life, just as it also designated in man, who secretly dictates the Word in his heart before he sends it forth, which in its sending is with itself, and so the word dictated is in the Word. For when the Word of God sounded, the same Word appeared in every creature, and the same sound was life in every creature. Whence also from the same Word the rationality of man operates its works, and from the same sound it brings forth its works by sounding, crying out, and singing, because through the keenness of its art in creatures it makes lyres and drums, by sounding, to sound, since man through a living soul is rational according to God, and its soul with its own heat draws the flesh to itself, in which the first figure of the finger of God that he had formed in Adam appears, and which same soul, giving life and filling with its fullness in growth, passes through. For flesh does without a rational soul; the soul, however, moves the flesh and makes it live. For flesh is present to a rational soul, just as all creatures are present to the Word. Therefore he created man in the will of the Father. But just as man would not be man without the connections of veins, so also he could not live without creatures; and because he is mortal, he does not supply life to his work, since he himself, the beginning life, is from God; God, however, gives life to his work, because he himself is life without a beginning of life.

All Things Made Through the Word

The Word was in the beginning with God, and all visible and invisible things were made through Him; the human arms and hands figure the firmament's strength and the winds that bound creation, and without Him nothing was made except evil, which comes from the devil and is reduced to nothing.

"This was in the beginning with God" — namely, in that beginning of which Moses, my servant, speaks, inspired by me, saying: "In the beginning God created heaven and earth" — because the Word that sounded "Let there be" was also already in that same beginning, as it is written there as well: "And God said: Let there be light" — since when creation received its beginning from the Creator, the Word was with God, that is, in the one equality of the Godhead, because this Word that is with God is equal to him in divinity, seeing that the Word that is in God is inseparable from God and is of one being with him.^✦^✦^✦ So all things were made through him, since all creatures were made through the Word of God, as the Father willed, because there is no Creator except God alone.^✦ For all useful things that are formed and alive were made through him. He too, in the arms of the human being and in the joints that cling to them, shows the firmament's strength, along with the signs that uphold and govern that firmament — just as the arms, together with the joints of their limbs, make visible the rule and working of the whole body. For the right hand is as the south wind, and the left as the north wind — those who are the firmament, so that it does not advance beyond what was set, as it is written. And in all these things, between us and you, there is a great chaos — a firmament, namely, so that darkness does not extinguish the light, and so that light does not drive out the darkness. "And without him nothing was made," since no creature was made without the Word of God, because every creature — visible as well as invisible — was made through the Word of God, and in that essence, namely of the living Spirit, or of vitality, or of power, it subsists; and without him nothing was made, except evil, which comes from the devil, and so it was cast out from the eyes of God and reduced to nothing, because there is only one God, and there is no other.^✦ The rational human being too, in whom the ability to act was placed by God, committed sin, which is reduced to nothing, because it was not created by God; and for this nothingness God set inextinguishable darkness, since by fleeing the light it refused him.

Life in the Creator and the Two Peoples

What was made in Him was life, because all creatures lived in God's foreknowledge before time; God is complete life without beginning or end, and just as the Word gave bodily life in creation, so in the Incarnation He gave spiritual life, holding both peoples in His hand as God and man.

But 'what was made in him was life,' because all things that were created appeared in the reason of the Creator himself, since they were in his foreknowledge — yet not co-eternal with him, but foreknown and foreseen and pre-ordered by him.^✦ For God is the one life that never received its beginning from any life that has a beginning. Therefore, whatever 'was made in him was life,' because it was foreknown by it; and it lived for God, in such a way that God never began to hold a memory of it, because it had never handed that over to forgetfulness, since it was in his foreknowledge, even though it had not yet existed in temporal form.^✦ For just as there is no way God could not exist, so there is no way those works would not proceed through him in creatures — works that had been foreknown and pre-ordered in his wisdom. And just as what was done in creation was life in God without extinction, because it was yet to be created — where created things lacked nothing to possess the fullness of their growth as they increased — so too the things a person brings about are life for that person, rushing to their aid toward life, because in those very things the person subsists and is brought to completion. But also, because God is complete life without beginning or end, his work too is life in him — something that can in no way be mocked — just as God also designed it in the breast of a person, where a person gathers each thing, whether good or evil, in their thoughts by desiring, composing, and ascending, considering what pleases or displeases them, because what pleases them they keep with joy so as to hold onto their life, and what displeases them they cast out in indignation so as not to harm their life. So everything God made is life in him, because it is alive by its nature from God. And so just as the Word of the Father gave a bodily life to people when he created them, so too, when he put on his tunic, he showed them a spiritual life, so that through a life not their own, and not walking according to the flesh, they might expand into the crowds of spiritual people, and so he holds both peoples in his hand, because he himself, the Son of God, is both God and a human being.^✦

The Light of Humanity in the Heart

The Son embraces spiritual people in love as Son of God and holds secular people in justice as Son of Man by the command to increase and multiply; the life was the light of humanity, shining in darkness through knowledge of good and evil, and this light is figured in the human heart where thought and will are ordered.

He embraces the spiritual people in love, because he is the Son of God; but he holds the secular people according to justice, by that word that was spoken: "Increase and multiply," because he is the Son of Man.^✦ "And the life was the light of humanity," because the life that had brought the creatures to life was the life of the human being's life, since it is through this life that the human being lives; existing as it does, it gave people light through reason and knowledge, a light in which they might look upon God in faith, recognizing him as their Creator, and so filled with that light, just as the light of day illuminates the world.^✦ For a human being, by the wings of knowledge, understands through the heavens that it produces the sun and the moon, because day shows forth good knowledge, night shows forth evil, just as the sun manifests day and the moon manifests night. And so that a human being among creatures without these lights would be, as it were, blind in the duties of their life, and so that their body without a spirit could not live, so also a human being without the wings of knowledge would not understand what it is. So 'the light shines in the darkness,' just as the light of day shines through the moon at night, so that a person in good works may recognize the evil works that are separated from the light, because good knowledge, as a reason not supported by it, condemns evil and drives it out from itself.^✦ "And the darkness did not overcome it," just as night cannot obscure the day, because evil does not wish to know or understand that which is good — this other thing — but flees from it.^✦ God declares these things in the human heart: that it is the life and firmament of the whole body, and that it sustains the whole body, because in the heart a person's thinking is ordered and their will is nourished. And so the will, too, is like the light of humanity, because just as light penetrates all things, so the will abounds in what it desires, and in that same desire of its own — which it counts as light to itself — it often walks into the darkness of the evil works it wants to carry out. But 'the darkness' does not 'overcome' that same will, in such a way that they could draw the knowledge of the good away from that person, so that they do not know the good — even though they may not do it.^✦

John the Baptist Sent from God

A man was sent from God, born of parents made green by the Word's warmth yet without sin's freshness; an angel named him John, and the grace of God strengthened him with stability amid the shifting ways of sinners, while hidden mysteries of God lie concealed in all creatures beyond natural knowledge.

"There was a man sent from God," who had no taste of the earth, because he had been sent by the heavenly Creator and not by man, since the warmth of the Word of God had made the dryness of the flesh of those who begot him green, so that even his own flesh, in many works, was as if by a foreign custom in the sins of those being born.^✦ For those who begot him, touched by the grace of God, procreated him, and so, by the grace of God, he went forth, sent as a witness to the Son of God. And so an angel named him John. "His name was John," because the works he did agreed with his name, since the grace of God, going before him and following after, had strengthened him.^✦ For the grace of the Word, which is God, sent John — having cleansed him, by the motion of the shifting manners of those who are born in the shifting ways of men in sins — and because of this he had a certain stability according to the uprightness of spirits, who neither have the shifting manners of men nor desire to sin. But God, who is wonderful, conforms the miracles he worked in John to the womb of man. For the womb requires the powers of the creatures it receives and emits, that it be fed from their juice, as God established. But nevertheless, in all creatures — in animals, in reptiles, in birds, and in fish, in herbs and in fruit-bearing plants — certain hidden mysteries of God lie concealed, which neither man nor any other creature knows or perceives, except as much as has been given to them from God.

John's Witness and the Body's Testimony

John was wondrously sent and nourished, a pure messenger before the hidden Son through whom the world was made; he came to bear witness to the light so that all might believe, for he was not the light but a witness, and true testimony is also declared in the human body, which is God's miracle and light, mortal yet bearing witness to the eternal God.

John, then, was wondrously sent to the elements and wondrously nourished by them; and just as he had been, in a certain way, withdrawn from the habit of sin, so too he lived wondrously on the elements through abstinence. And he himself, a pure man, was worthily and praiseworthily a messenger before the hidden Son of God, through whom the world was established with innumerable number, and all creatures were created. This is also signified through the belly, because just as the world takes in all things, so too the belly takes other creatures into itself in the act of eating. But just as every creature proceeded from God, so Adam carried all human beings in his own form, to whom the Son of God provided true pastures when he carried humanity in his own human nature. 'He came to bear witness, so that he might offer testimony about the light, so that everyone might believe through him,' because John, in his wonderful works, through the habit of carnal birth was wondrously made a man and, as a wondrous man, came by divine dispensation to bear witness to the mysteries of God, so that through the mighty works wrought in him he might offer testimony about the light — that is, about God, from whom all lights are kindled — so that all who are made fiery through the Holy Spirit might believe in God through his testimonies, which he wondrously set forth.^✦ He came, therefore, by bearing witness to the divinity clothed in human form. And just as he was born in a dry nature — in relation to that nature itself, without the freshness of greenness — so he said that my Son was born of the Virgin Mary without sin. 'This is what I intended, so that through this miracle which I worked in John, people might believe in the miracles of my Son.' And just as this testimony appeared in John, so also was true testimony declared in the thighs of man, which are the testimony of all who are born, and the offspring of its whole body, which sees, feels, thinks, and desires, and in its own knowledge reckons all the things it does. For man is a miracle of God, and so it is right that he should give testimony to the wonders of God. "He was not that light, but was to bear witness to the light," because John was not that light which is never divided, nor changed — namely, that light which is God. But he came sent by God, so that he might bear witness to the one who, being the true light, kindles all lights, because God is without any need of necessity in himself and through himself, since he was about to make all things in all. And so he is in every work of his making. For this reason too John announced the testimony about Christ, because just as a fruit is witness to the root as to what kind it is, so John himself rose up among the wonders of God. And so he testified to his wonders. But man is a designated work and light from God, which begins to live, and will at some point fail in the flesh, and from there bears witness to God, because God is not like that.

The True Light Enlightening Every Person

The true light, never overshadowed or diminished, enlightens every person coming into this world; God raised the first human from clay through the fiery spark of the soul, which makes flesh and blood as bread is made through fire, and the person becomes as a light to creatures on earth.

"It was the true light," which was never overshadowed by any shadow, and to which was never given any time of serving or ruling, of diminishing or increasing; but which is the ordering of every order and the light of every light, and shines from itself.^✦ For God never rose up in any morning, in any dawn, but was always before all time. "Which enlightens every person coming into this world," since this light, with the breath of life, fills every person who has flesh and bones, coming into this present world of mutability that grows and passes away through the rise of its beginning, so that when the sun with its luminaries has received him, he may behold and know the creatures.^✦ For God, through the living spark of the soul, raised up the first person, whom he had formed from clay, so that through that same spark of the soul, he might become flesh and blood from the clay.^✦ And so in his descendants, when the foam has been softened through human nature, through the fiery spark of the soul, flesh and blood are completely made; because if it were not raised up in this way through the warmth of the soul, flesh and blood would not be fully made, just as the matter of the first human, the clay, would have remained if it had not been changed through the soul. For just as bread is made from flour through water and fire, so also flesh and blood are made through the fire of the soul. For a person is, as it were, the light of the other creatures dwelling on earth, which often run to him, and which embrace him with great love. And so also a person, by a creature in whose love he burns, wants it, and diligently seeks it out very often.

The World That Knew Him Not

He was in the world when He put on the Virgin's flesh, and after the resurrection the elect will be raised; the world was made through Him yet did not know Him, for unbelievers are like infants unable to walk without the Holy Spirit's fire; He came to His own who did not receive Him, and human youth figures the foolish vanity of Jews and pagans who loved the age rather than the Creator.

But the creature that doesn't love humanity flees from it, trampling and destroying everything that pertains to it, because, terrified by its fear, it can barely stand for it to exist, and so it often attacks it in order to tear its life away. “He was in the world,” when he put on the royal garment of the Virgin's flesh, where the holy Divinity laid itself in her womb, because he became human in a nature not his own, and not like any other human, since his flesh was set ablaze by the holy divinity.^✦ Therefore, after the last day, when any human has been transfigured, the souls of the elect will raise their bodies through faith into heaven—bodies that previously were in the world. God will do these things by himself in his own power, which no creature can destroy, because then the human, as has been said, will be clothed in flesh, and his bones will be filled with marrow, but abundantly. . . . . . . If food and drink and life would not fail, then it will proceed in the powers of divinity without every vicissitude of diversity, because in the good one is a member of Christ, who endured many sufferings and very many reproaches in the world, although he was the Son of God. What the devil, the inventor of every deceit, could not know — who had a beginning, and he hastened to deny him and, with all his members, those who reject God — but nevertheless, that man should be raised up into unfailing life, he could not prevent. "And the world was made through him" — so the world came from him, not he from the world, since creation came forth through the Word of God: that is, everything that exists among creatures, both invisible and visible, because some things can neither be seen nor touched, while others can both be seen and touched.^✦ But a human being has both within himself — soul and body — since he was made in the image and likeness of God.^✦ From this it follows that a person commands with the word and works with the hands. Thus God ordered the human being according to himself, because he willed his Son to become incarnate from a human being. "And the world did not know him," because the children of the world — that is, those who follow the world — did not recognize him as he came, nor did they recognize him at work, on account of the blindness of their ignorance, just as an infant has no knowledge or skill.^✦ Therefore, here too, in the thigh and knees of the human figure, God shows the ignorant infancy of the unbelievers: just as an infant cannot walk, because its marrow and bones are not yet firm — since it is nourished on milk and soft food — and because an adult cannot walk without legs and feet, relying only on thigh and knee, so, when the knowledge and perception of the unbelievers were empty of the fire of the Holy Spirit, through which they ought to have recognized God, they could not walk in the way of uprightness. "He came to what was his own," because he had created the world, and because he had taken on human flesh.^✦ And all creatures showed him to be their lord, just as a coin shows its own lord. For God created the world, which he wished to prepare as a dwelling place for man; and because he wished to clothe man, therefore he made him in his own image and likeness. Therefore all things that were his own existed for him. "But his own did not receive him" — that is, those who were his own because he had created them, because he had specially made them in his own image; yet they neglected him, since they did not know that he was their maker, and did not understand that they had been created by him alone.^✦ For unbelievers did not receive his humanity, nor did they recognize God in human form because of the blinding of their own unbelief. And so in the legs of man his youth is designated, which is foolish and useless, where it attends to green growths and flowers and another creature, and where it considers itself wiser than others, because its marrow and bones are then fully strengthened. This is what Jews and pagans did: in love with the vanity of the age, they thought they knew what they did not know, and claimed to be what they were not, and they did not attend in faith to the one who had given them flesh and spirit.

The Power to Become Children of God

God gathered a world living in vanity to Himself; to all who received Him He gave power to become children of God, co-heirs with Christ, believing in His name; the name is worshipped by every creature, and faith together with wonders both seen and unseen upholds the name of God, though no one in this world can know Him as He truly is.

For just as youth, deceived by created things, takes delight in them, so the world at that time was living in vanity; and therefore it was necessary for God to show himself to them and to gather them to himself—just as he also ordered the donkey and her colt to be loosed and brought to him—where he placed himself upon them with the law of truth.^✦¹¹ But all who received him, he gave the power to become children of God — since to all people of both sexes who received him, believing him to be God and man (because God is first grasped by faith, and then the truth that God was made man is received), he gave by his power the might, in this way, that by their own will they should become children of his Father in the heavenly kingdom; that is, that made co-heirs with him, they should share in the participation in his kingdom and in his inheritance, and this by that power by which the Son exists as heir of his Father.^✦ For because they recognized him as God and their Creator, and embraced him with love and kissed him with faith, and diligently and carefully sought to know all things from him, the dew of the Holy Spirit fell upon them, so that the whole Church began to spring up from them and to bear the fruit of heavenly joys. Therefore it was given to them that through the power of true faith they should be children of God. "To those who believe in his name" — to those who hold this faith by believing that in his name they may be saved through baptism, the participation in the heavenly kingdom is given, since they do all works in burning love as though seeing God, and do not worship the name of God without works in the shadow of faith, where they cast away foreign gods, who cannot make themselves and are not from themselves, but who are companions of men.^✦ But this name, in which true belief exists, is such that it has no beginning, and that through it all creatures rose up, and that it is the life through which every life breathes.^✦ And so it is worshipped by every creature of his. But according to these three powers that are in this name, every creature that has a name subsists by three powers. But even dry and rotten creatures lack a name, since they are not alive. Now a living creature's name carries three powers: one is visible, another is known, and the third remains unseen. The body of a living thing is visible, and its works are known; but the source that gives it life is neither recognized nor seen. In the same way, God revealed great wonders through the feet of man, for just as the feet support the whole body and carry it wherever it wishes, so too faith—together with wonders that can be both seen and unseen, known and yet unknown—steadfastly upholds the name of God and bears it magnificently everywhere. The body of man and his works are visible; but there is far more within him that is neither seen nor known. But if there is such great obscurity within man, how could the one who created him be clearly known? For no one living in this world can know him as he truly is.

Born Not of Blood but of God

Those born not from blood or fleshly will but from God become children of God through baptism and the Holy Spirit, for flesh is born of flesh and spirit of God; Adam was made for eternal life but fell through disobedience, and mortality reigns until the unchangeable life rises again in Christ.

"Those who are born not from blood, nor from the will of the flesh, nor from the will of man, but from God."^✦ "For the Son of God said: 'What is born from the flesh is flesh, and what is born from the spirit is spirit,'" since the flesh is conceived and born from the flesh in sins; but because God is spirit, all spirits are born through him. Neither spirit turns into flesh, nor flesh into spirit; but through both flesh and spirit a person is brought to completion — otherwise a person would neither exist nor be named as one.^✦ God, after all, fashioned Adam to live eternally and unchangeably; but he, through disobedience, transgressed by listening to the serpent's counsel. And so the same serpent thought he would perish completely — yet God did not will it. God had prepared the exile of the world for him, in whom he conceived and begot his sons in sins. And so, having become mortal along with his whole kind, through the conceived scum of sin he is turned to rot, until the last day when God will renew humanity — so that afterward he may live the unchangeable life that Adam had when he was first created. This life, however, could not exist at all in the children who are conceived and born in sins; but it arose in the humanity of the Son of God, through whom the heavenly Father remembered to liberate the human being who had perished. For those who, through the power of good works, are made children of God — this authority by which they become children of God does not come from the clotting of their parents' blood, by which they are blood-born, nor from the will of the weaker flesh that sprouts toward birth, nor from the will of the stronger part that is robust for begetting. Rather, from the reward of divine revelation in the washing of baptism and in the fiery outpouring of the Holy Spirit, they receive this: that now they are born from God and are made heirs of his kingdom. For God had foreseen all his works before they were formed; and the forms that were later shaped in creation did not remain empty in themselves, but were made alive.

The Breath of Life and the New Creation

The fiery breath God sent into Adam made the red mud into blood, and all men yet unborn are present in His foreknowledge; when a person yearns toward the Father's name, God sends the sweet milk of grace and then the rain of His Spirit, causing the soul to ascend from virtue to virtue.

For flesh without life wouldn't be flesh at all — once life withdraws from it, it fails and falls into decay. But the breath that God sent into Adam was fiery, intelligent, and alive.¹² And so through its heat the red mud of the earth was made into blood. And just as every creature existed in the foreknowledge of God before all ages, so also all men yet to be born are even now present in his foreknowledge. But man is both intelligent and sensible: intelligent because he understands all things, sensible because he perceives the things that are present to him, since God fills the whole flesh of man with life when he breathes the breath of life into it. Therefore he chooses the foreknowledge both of good and of evil, and rejects what displeases him.¹³ But God considers what a man purposes for himself. But if a man purposes for himself things that are not from God, God withdraws himself from him, and soon those who first began evil meet him — namely, those who wanted to destroy heaven, which did not touch God, since it would be unfitting that God should destroy himself.¹⁴ But if a man yearns toward the name of his Father and calls on him with a good desire, angelic protections will be present with him, so that he is not hindered by enemies, and God, through the delight of his desire for good works, first sends into him as if sweetly like milk, and then pours in for him the rain of his grace, through which he may strongly ascend from virtue to virtue.¹⁵

The Sign of God's Honor

The devil seeks only to lead souls to death, while God acts with measured discernment; a human being is the sign of God's honor, in whom good knowledge points to the angels and evil knowledge makes God's power known, for God created humanity with all attachments under the sun so as not to be alone.

And in this way someone who has these qualities is always new, right up to his final death. But the person who can do only a little, and not much, is always rushing forward so that he can finish what he's capable of; the one who is capable of doing a great deal exercises moderation in those things, with restraint. The devil wants one thing only—to lead souls to death. He seeks nothing else and is capable of nothing else, and he can barely hold back until he accomplishes what he's capable of. God, on the other hand, because he is powerful in all things and through all things, exercises moderation in all his works, and acts with the measured restraint of discernment, so that a person may become stronger and more ready in persevering in good. For everyone who rushes ahead often puts himself in the path of ruin. But a human being is the sign of God's entire honor: the good knowledge within him points to the angelic hosts that serve God praiseworthily, while the bad knowledge he has makes God's power known, because God conquered it when he first drove the first human out of paradise. So it happens in every person: in the one who works good by choosing it through right knowledge, God's goodness is shown, and in the one who seizes evil and carries it out, God's power is made clear, because God sometimes judges that evil and sometimes pardons it. So a human being, in the way described, is life, and everything that clings to him through that life is living, because God created the human being with all his attachments under the sun, so that he would not be alone on earth, just as God himself is not alone in heaven, but is glorified in all the heavenly harmonies.

The Resurrection and the Word Made Flesh

After the resurrection the blessed will be clothed in unchanging brightness and behold the Eternal One with new songs of praise, for flesh lives through the life; and the Word became flesh, taking flesh from the Virgin's womb through the Holy Spirit's ardor, so that Word and flesh are one in the unity of the person, as soul and body are one in man made in God's image.

The things of this earth that surround a person stay with them here on earth, until the number is fulfilled that God has ordained to be fulfilled. But after the future resurrection, a blessed person will have no need to grow or to be nourished by anything, because they will then be in that brightness which will never pass away and never be changed. For with this brightness, through the holy Trinity, a blessed person will then be clothed, and will behold the one who never had a beginning or an end; and because of this they will never be touched by old age or weariness, because they will also always be playing the harp with new songs of praise. Therefore, as was foretold, the flesh lives through the life, and unless through the life, the flesh would not fully be; and so the flesh with the life, and the life with the flesh, are one. God had regard for this when, in Adam, through the breath which he sent into him, he strengthened the flesh and the blood, because he then looked upon that flesh with which he was to be clothed, and he held it in burning love. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.^✦ For the Word, which was eternally with God before all time, and which was God, through the ardor of the Holy Spirit took flesh from the womb of the Virgin, and clothed himself with it just as the veins and framework of the flesh are, and so that they themselves carry blood yet are not the blood. For God had created man in such a way that every creature would serve him. For this reason it was also fitting that God receive the garment of flesh in man. In this way the Word clothed himself with flesh—namely, that the Word and the flesh are one, yet not as though the one were changed into the other, but they are one in the unity of the person. But the body is the garment of the soul, and the soul has duties of working together with the flesh. The body without the soul would be nothing, and the soul without the body would not work; hence the two are one in man, and man allows it, and so the work of God—namely, man—is made in the image and likeness of God. For when the breath of man is sent from God, the same breath and the flesh become one human being.

The Word Dwelt Among Us

The Word took flesh from the untilled Virgin without sin's heat, remaining what He was; He dwelt among us so that we, made in His image, dwell in Him, and we saw His glory as of the only-begotten from the Father, for the Virgin conceived through the Holy Spirit without man's work; the Word assumed a royal garment of flesh and rational soul, loving the soul as its delightful ornament.

But the Word of God took on flesh from the untilled flesh of the Virgin, without any heat of burning, so that the Word would be the Word, and flesh would be flesh, and the two would be one — because the Word that existed outside of time, before all times, in the Father, did not change itself; it only put on flesh.^✦ "And he dwelt among us," because humanity was made without sin so that he might dwell in us, not neglecting our humanity, where we too, with the breath of human life, are made to his image and likeness.^✦ And so we too dwell in him, because we are his handiwork, and because in his foreknowledge he has always held us and has not forgotten us. "And we saw his glory," because we who were with him saw him come in wondrous nature without all sin.^✦ "And the glory as of the only-begotten from the Father," manifesting that the only-begotten, wondrously born from the Father before the ages, shows his glory coming wondrously from the Father, where the Virgin conceived him through the ardor of the Holy Spirit, and had no need of the work of man, since every other man is sown from a man, namely from a father, with sin.^✦ For God had formed man from the mud, and into him he had sent the breath of life.^✦ Whence also the Word of God assumed in man a royal garment with a rational soul, and drew the whole of it to himself, and remained in it. For the breath that is called soul in man pervades the flesh, and has it as a delightful garment and a becoming ornament. And so he loves him, and consents to him, and yet cannot be seen in her.

Full of Grace and Truth

The Word is full of grace and truth, creating in divinity and redeeming in humanity, without any touch of sin; God is round like a wheel, perfecting all things, and therefore let everyone who fears and love God open their heart in devotion, knowing these things come not from man but from the One who is.

By nature too, and from the soul's longing, a person asks for the garment of life, and since God created no creature empty and without powers, therefore a person always works wonders. And the same Word is 'full of grace and truth,' because in full grace he was all in divinity in creating, and in humanity in redeeming; and he stood forth in full truth, since no lie of iniquity and sin touched him, nor did he associate himself with it, because the Lord is the one who conquered evils by his battle, and without him they are nothing.^✦ For the Word himself—that is, the true Son of God—is full of grace, giving and forgiving according to his mercy; he did not empty himself in his divinity, but put on humanity; and his humanity is full, since no wrinkle of sin in human nature touched him.^✦^✦ He is also full of truth, because he gives, forgives, and judges as is just—which a person does not do, since he is conceived and born in the wrinkle of sinners.^✦ Thus God is round, like a wheel, creating all things and willing good things, and perfecting good things.^✦ For the will of God prepared all things that the Word of God created. Therefore, let everyone who fears and loves God open the devotion of their heart with these words, and let them know that these things, brought forth for the salvation of people's bodies and souls, come not indeed from a human being, but through me who am.^✦

Read the original Latin

« In principio erat Verbum. » Quod sic intellectui patet: Qui sine initio sum, et a quo omnia initia procedunt, et qui Antiquus dierum sum dico: Ego per memetipsum dies sum qui a sole nunquam processi, sed de quo sol accensus est. Ego etiam ratio sum quae ab alio non sonuit, sed ex qua omnis rationalitas spirat. Ad intuitum igitur faciei meae specula feci, in quibus omnia miracula antiquitatis meae quae nunquam deficient considero, ac eadem specula in laudibus concinentia paravi, quia vocem ut tonitruum habeo cum qua totum orbem terrarum viventibus sonis omnium creaturarum moveo. Haec ego Antiquus dierum facio, quoniam per Verbum meum, quod sine initio semper in me fuit et est, quemdam magnum lucidum, et cum eo innumerabiles scintillas, scilicet angelos, prodire jussi, qui ut in lumine suo evigilaverunt, mei obliti sunt, et sicut ego sum esse voluerunt. Et ideo in magno tonitru ultio zeli mei, in praesumptione quia mihi contradixerunt, illos dejecit, quia solummodo unus Deus est, et alius esse non potest. Unde parvum opus, quod homo est, in me dictavi, et illud ad imaginem et similitudinem meam feci, ita ut in aliquo secundum me operaretur, quoniam Filius meus in homine indumento carnis operiendus erat. Illud quoque de rationalitate mea rationale institui, et in eo possibilitatem meam signavi, sicut rationalitas hominis in arte sua per nomina et per numerum omnia comprehendit, quia homo nullam rem alio modo nisi per nomina discernit, nec multiplicitatem rerum nisi per numerum cognoscit.

Angelus etiam fortitudinis sum, quoniam angelicis agminibus per miracula me annuntio, et quia omnibus creaturis in fide me ostendo, ubi me creatorem esse cognoscunt, sed tamen a nullis perfecte pronuntiari possum. Homo quippe vestimentum illud est, quo Filius meus circumamictus in regali potentia, se Deum omnis creaturae et vitam vitae ostendit. Sed agmen angelorum qui regali potentiae illius specialiter adsunt, nemo praeter Deum dinumerare potest, nec illos qui eum Deum omnis creaturae singulariter profitentur, ullus ad finem producere valet, nec eos qui ipsum vitam omnis vitae specialiter vociferantur, ulla lingua sufficit determinare. Unde beati sunt qui cum illo habitant.

Deus autem omne opus suum in forma hominis designavit, ut praedictum est, sicut etiam hic per quaedam exempla in ipso demonstratur. Nam in circulo cerebri hominis dominationem suam ostendit, quia cerebrum corpus totum tenet et regit; et in crinibus capitis ejus possibilitatem suam, quae ornamentum ipsius est, designat, quemadmodum crines caput ornant. In superciliis quoque oculorum illius fortitudinem suam demonstrat, quoniam supercilia tutamen oculorum hominis sunt, ita ut quaeque nociva ab eis avertant, et decorem faciei ostendant et ut pennae ventorum sunt, quibus illi sublevantur et sustentantur, velut avis quae pennis suis interdum volat, interdum a volatu cessat, quoniam de fortitudine Dei ventus flat, et flatus venti pennae ipsius sunt. Sed et in oculis hominis scientiam suam, per quam omnia praevidet et praescit, declarat, quia plurima in se ostendunt, quia lucidi et aquosi sunt, quemadmodum umbra aliarum creaturarum in aqua apparet. Homo enim in visu omnia cognoscit et discernit, et si visu careret, in his velut mortuus esset. In auditu etiam ejus omnes sonos laudum secretorum mysteriorum et angelicorum agminum, in quibus ipse Deus laudatur, aperit, quoniam indignum esset si nonnisi per se cognosceretur, cum homo ab homine in auditu cognoscatur, ubi etiam in semetipso omnia intelligit, et velut inanis esset, si auditu careret. In naribus autem sapientiam, quae odorifera ordinatio in omnibus artibus est, ostendit, ita ut homo per odorem cognoscat quid sapientia ordinet. Odoratus enim in omnibus dilatatur illa trahendo quatenus sciat quae et qualia ea sint.

Sed per os hominis Deus Verbum suum, per quod omnia creavit, designat, sicut etiam ore omnia sono rationalitatis proferuntur, quia homo plurima profert sonando, quemadmodum Verbum Dei creando in amplexione charitatis fecit, ita ut operi suo nihil necessarium desit. Et sicut genae et mentum ori circumposita sunt, sic eidem Verbo cum sonuit illud principium omnis creaturae afficit, cum omnia creata sunt, et sic: « In principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum. » Quod sic intellectui patet: In principio incoeptionis illius, cum voluntas Dei ad pariendum facturam creaturarum se jam aperuit, quae sine initio in ipso fuit, quatenus se non aperuisset, erat Verbum absque principio illius incoeptionis, « et Verbum erat apud Deum, » sicut verbum in rationalitate est, quoniam rationalitas verbum in se habet, et in rationalitate est verbum, et haec a se divisa non sunt. Nam sine principio ante principium creaturarum, et etiam in principio ipsarum erat Verbum, et idem Verbum ante principium, et in ipso principio creaturarum erat apud Deum, et nullo modo Deo divisum, quoniam Deus in verbo suo voluit ut Verbum suum omnia crearet, sicut ante saecula praeordinaverat. Et quare dicitur Verbum? Quia cum sonante voce omnes creaturas suscitavit, et eas ad se vocavit. Nam quod Deus in verbo dictavit, hoc Verbum sonando jussit, et quod Verbum jussit, hoc Deus in verbo dictavit. Et ita Deus erat Verbum.

Verbum enim in Deo fuit, et Deus in illo omnem voluntatem suam secreto dictavit, et verbum sonuit, et omnes creaturas produxit et sic Verbum et Deus unum sunt. Cum autem verbum Dei sonuit, omnem creaturam quae ante aevum in Deo praeordinata et disposita fuit ad se vocavit, et per vocem ejus omnia ad vitam suscitata sunt, sicut etiam in homine designavit, qui Verbum in corde suo occulte dictat antequam illud emittat, quod in emissione secum est, et sic dictatus verbi in verbo est. Quando enim verbum Dei sonuit, idem verbum in omni creatura apparuit, et idem sonus in omni creatura vita fuit. Unde etiam de eodem verbo rationalitas hominis opera sua operatur, et de eodem sono opera sua sonando, clamando et cantando profert, quia per acumen artis suae in creaturis citharas, et tympana sonando sonare facit, quoniam homo secundum Deum per viventem animam rationalis est, et anima ejus cum calore suo carnem ad se trahit, in qua prima figura digiti Dei quam in Adam formaverat apparet, et quam eadem anima vivificando, et plenitudine sua in incremento replendo pertransit. Caro enim sine rationali anima se non movet, anima autem carnem movet et vivere facit. Nam caro rationali animae adest, quemadmodum omnes creaturae Verbo adsunt. Quapropter hominem in voluntate Patris creavit. Sed quemadmodum homo sine connexionibus venarum homo non esset, sic etiam sine creaturis vivere non posset; et quia mortalis est, operi suo vitam non praestat, quoniam ipse incipiens vita a Deo est; Deus autem operi suo vitam dat, quia ipse vita sine incoeptione vitae est.

« Hoc erat in principio apud Deum, » scilicet in principio illo de quo Moyses servus meus per me inspiratus loquitur dicens: « In principio creavit Deus coelum et terram , » quia Verbum quod sonuit fiat, sicut etiam ibidem scriptum est, « Dixitque Deus: Fiat lux, » erat in eodem in principio cum creatura a Creatore initium acciperet apud Deum, id est in una aequalitate divinitatis, quoniam istud Verbum quod apud Deum est, illi aequale in divinitate est, videlicet quia Verbum quod in Deo est, a Deo inseparabile est et consubstantiale illi existit. Sic omnia per ipsum facta sunt, quoniam cunctae creaturae per Verbum Dei, ut Pater voluit, factae sunt, quia nullus Creator est nisi solus Deus. Omnia enim utilia quae res formatae et vitales sunt, per ipsum factae sunt. Ipse etiam in brachiis hominis et in juncturis illis adhaerentibus fortitudinem firmamenti cum signis suis, quae ipsum firmamentum sufferunt et regunt, ostendunt, quemadmodum brachia cum juncturis articulorum suorum dominationem et operationem totius corporis manifestant. Nam etiam dextra ut auster, et sinistra ut aquilo sunt, qui firmamentum sunt ne procedat ultra quam positum est, ut scriptum est. Et in his omnibus inter nos et vos chaos magnum firmamentum est, scilicet ne tenebrae lucem exstinguant, et ne lux tenebras expellat. « Et sine ipso factum est nihil, » quoniam sine Verbo Dei facta est nulla creatura, quia per Verbum Dei omnis creatura, tam visibilis quam invisibilis, facta est, quae in illa essentia, videlicet viventis Spiritus, aut viriditatis aut virtutis subsistit; et sine ipso non factum est aliquid, praeter malum quod a diabolo est, et ideo ab oculis Dei projectum ad nihilum deductum est, quoniam solummodo unus Deus est, et alius non est. Rationalis quoque homo, in quem possibilitas operandi a Deo posita est, peccatum fecit, quod in nihilum ducitur, quia a Deo creatum non est, et huic nihilo Deus inexterminabiles tenebras posuit, quoniam fugiendo lumen recusavit.

Sed « quod factum est in ipso vita erat, » quia omnia quae creata sunt, in ipsius Creatoris ratione apparuerunt, quoniam in praescientia ejus fuerunt, non tamen illi coaeterna, sed ab ipso praescita et praevisa ac praeordinata. Deus enim unica vita est, quae non accepit initium vitae illius, quae initium habet. Quapropter omne « quod factum est in ipso vita erat, » quia ab eo praescitum fuit; et Deo vivebat, ita ut Deus nunquam recordationem illius habere coeperit, quoniam illud nunquam oblivioni tradiderat, quia in praescientia ejus erat, quamvis in formis suis nondum temporaliter fuisset. Nam sicut non est quin Deus sit, sic non est quin per ipsum opera illa in creaturis procederent, quae in sapientia ejus praescita et praeordinata fuerant. Et sicut hoc quod in creatione factum est, in Deo vita sine exstinctione fuit, quia creandum erat, ubi factae creaturae nihil deerat, quin plenitudinem profectus sui in crescendo haberet, ita etiam quae homo operatur, ipsi vita sunt ei ad vitam succurrendo, quia in ipsis subsistit et perficitur. Sed et quoniam Deus sine initio et sine fine plena vita est, ideo etiam opus suum in ipso vita est, quod in hoc nullo modo illudetur, quemadmodum et Deus in pectorali loco hominis designavit, ubi homo desiderando, componendo et ascendendo unamquamque rem, scilicet bonam et malam, in cogitationibus suis congregat, considerans quid sibi placeat vel displiceat, quia quod sibi placet cum gaudio conservat, quatenus ei vitam retineat, et quod sibi displicet indignando a se projicit, ne vitam ejus laedat. Sic omne quod Deus fecit, in ipso vita est, quoniam illud a Deo vitale in natura sua est. Unde et sicut Verbum Patris carnalem vitam hominibus dedit cum eos creavit, ita etiam cum tunicam suam induit, spiritalem vitam eis ostendit, quatenus per alienam vitam, et non secundum carnem incedendo in turbas spiritalium se dilatarent, et ita utrumque populum in manu sua tenet, quoniam ipse Filius Dei, Deus et homo est.

Spiritalem quippe populum in amore complectitur, quia Filius Dei est; saecularem autem secundum justitiam habet qua dictum est: « Crescite et multiplicamini , » quoniam Filius hominis est.

« Et vita erat lux hominum, » quoniam vita quae creaturas suscitaverat, vita vitae hominis, quia per eam vivit, existens, ratione et scientia lucem hominibus dabat, in qua Deum fide aspicerent, eum Creatorem suum agnoscentes, et ipsa luce ita perfusi, quemadmodum lux diei mundum illuminat. Homo enim alas scientiae per coelum intelligit, quod solem et lunam producit, quia dies scientiam bonam, nox malam demonstrat, velut sol diem, luna noctem manifestat. Et ut homo cum creaturis sine luminibus istis in officio vitae suae velut caecus esset, et ut corpus ejus sine spiritu vivere non posset, sic etiam homo sine alis scientiae quid esset non intelligeret. Unde « lux in tenebris lucet, » quemadmodum lux diei per lunam in nocte lucet, quatenus homo in bonis operibus mala opera cognoscat, quae a luce separata sunt, quoniam bona scientia ratio ne suffulta malam reprehendit, et eam a se expellit. « Et tenebrae eam non comprehenderunt, » velut nox diem obnubilare non potest, quia malum hoc illud quod bonum est nec scire nec intelligere vult, sed illud fugit. Haec Deus in corde hominis declarat, quod vita et firmamentum totius corporis est, et totum corpus sustentat, quia in corde cogitatio hominis ordinatur et voluntas pascitur. Unde et voluntas quasi lux hominum est, quoniam sicut lux omnia penetrat, sic et voluntas in eo quod desiderat abundat, atque in eodem desiderio suo, quod pro luce sibi computat, in tenebras malorum operum quae perficere vult saepe ambulat. Sed « tenebrae » eamdem voluntatem ita « non comprehendunt, » ut illi scientiam boni abstrahere possint, quin bonum sciat, quamvis hoc non faciat.

« Fuit homo missus a Deo, » qui gustum humi non habebat, quia missus a superno Creatore et non ab homine fuerat, quoniam calor Verbi Dei ariditatem carnis illorum qui eum genuerunt, viridem fecerat, ita ut etiam caro ipsius in plurimis operibus velut aliena consuetudine in peccatis nascentium esset. Nam qui eum genuerunt per gratiam Dei attacti, ipsum procrearunt, et ita per gratiam Dei processit in testimonium Filii Dei missus. Unde et angelus Joannem eum nominavit. « Cui nomen Joannes erat, » quia opera quae fecit nomini ipsius concordabant, quoniam gratia Dei ipsum praeveniendo et subsequendo confortaverat. Gratia enim Verbi, quod Deus est, Joannem misit motione vicissitudinum morum illorum, qui in vicissitudinibus hominum in peccatis nascentium mundavit, et ob hoc quamdam stabilitatem secundum rectitudinem spirituum habuit, qui nec vicissitudinem morum hominum habent, nec peccare desiderant. Deus autem, qui mirabilis existit, ad ventrem hominis miracula quae in Joanne fecit, conformat. Venter enim vires creaturarum quas recipit et emittit postulat, ut de succo earum sicut Deus constituit pascatur. Sed tamen in omnibus creaturis, scilicet in animalibus, in reptilibus, in volatilibus, et in piscibus, in herbis et in pomiferis quaedam occulta mysteria Dei latent, quae nec homo, nec alia ulla creatura scit aut sentit, nisi quantum eis a Deo datum est.

Joannes autem mirabiliter ad elementa missus est, et mirabiliter ab eis pastus est, et sicut quodam modo a consuetudine peccati abstractus erat, sic quoque per abstinentiam mirabiliter de elementis vixit. Et ipse purus homo digne et laudabiliter nuntius ante occultum Filium Dei fuit, per quem mundus cum innumerabili numero positus est, et omnes creaturae creatae sunt. Quod etiam per ventrem designatur, quia sicut mundus omnia capit, ita et venter alias creaturas in comestione in se recipit. Sed et quemadmodum omnis creatura a Deo processit, sic et Adam omnes homines in forma sua portavit, quibus Dei Filius vera pascua subministravit, cum hominem in humanitate sua portavit. « Hic venit in testimonium ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine, ut omnes crederent per illum, » quoniam Joannes in mirabilibus rebus per consuetudinem carnalis nativitatis mirifice homo factus et mirabilis homo existens, venit divina dispensatione in testimonium mysteriorum Dei, ut testimonium per virtutes quae in ipso operabantur perhiberet de lumine, scilicet de Deo, de quo omnia lumina accenduntur, ut omnes qui per Spiritum sanctum ignei sunt crederent Deo per testificationes illius, quas mirabiliter proferebat. Venit itaque testando divinitatem, humana forma indutam. Et sicut ipse in arida natura quantum ad ipsam sine viriditate natus est, sic Filium meum ex Virgine Maria sine peccato natum dixit. « Hoc ideo volui, quatenus per miraculum istud quod in Joanne operatus sum, homines miraculis Filii mei crederent.

» Et sicut in Joanne testimonium hoc apparuit, sic etiam in femoribus hominis verum testimonium declaratum est, quae testimonium omnium nascentium sunt, et propago totius corporis sui quod videt, palpat, cogitat et optat, et in scientia sua omnia computat quae operatur. Nam homo miraculum Dei est, et ideo justum est ut mirabilibus Dei testimonium det. « Non erat ille lux, sed ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine, » quia Joannes non fuit illa lux quae nunquam dividitur, nec mutatur, videlicet quae Deus est. Sed venit a Deo missus, quatenus testimonium daret de illo qui verum lumen existens, omnia lumina accendit, quoniam Deus absque omni indigentia necessitatis ullius in se et per se est, quia ipse omnia in omnibus facturus erat. Unde et in omni factura operis sui est. Hinc etiam Joannes testificatum testimonium de Christo nuntiavit, quoniam ut pomum testis est radicis qualis sit, sic ipse in mirabilibus Dei surrexit. Quapropter et mirabilia ejus testificatus est. Homo autem designatum opus et lumen a Deo est, quod vivere incipit, et in carne quandoque deficiet, et exinde Deo testimonium perhibet, quia Deus sic non est.

« Erat lux vera, » quae nunquam umbra ulla obumbrata est, et cui nunquam tempus serviendi vel dominandi, minuendi seu augendi datum est; sed quae ordinatio omnis ordinationis et lux omnis luminis est, et ex se lucens. Deus enim nunquam in aliquo mane, in ulla aurora surrexit, sed ante aevum semper fuit. « Quae illuminat omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum, » quoniam haec lux cum spiraculo vitae perfundit omnem hominem carnem et ossa habentem, et in praesentem mundum crescentis et deficientis mutabilitatis per ortum incoeptionis venientem, ut quando sol cum luminaribus suis eum susceperit, creaturas aspiciat et cognoscat. Deus enim per viventem scintillam animae primum hominem suscitavit, quem de limo formavit, ita ut ille per eamdem animae scintillam de limo caro et sanguis factus sit. Unde et in posteris ipsius cum spuma per naturam hominis mulsa fuerit, per igneam scintillam animae caro et sanguis pleniter efficitur, quia, si hoc modo per calorem animae non suscitaretur, caro et sanguis pleniter non efficeretur, quemadmodum materia primi hominis limus permansisset si per animam mutatus non fuisset. Nam sicut per aquam et ignem panis ex farina efficitur, sic etiam per ignem animae caro et sanguis fit. Homo enim quasi lux aliarum creaturarum in terra commorantium est, quae multoties ad ipsum currunt, et qui eum multo amore lambunt. Unde etiam et homo a creatura in cujus amore ardet, ea vult, diligenter saepius inquirit.

Creatura autem quae hominem non diligit ipsum fugit, et omnia quae ad eum respiciunt conculcat et dissipat, quoniam timore ejus perterrita, ipsum esse moleste fert, et ideo multoties eum invadit quatenus ei vitam excutiat. « In mundo erat, » cum regale indumentum de carne Virginis induit, ubi sancta Divinitas in uterum illius se reclinavit, quia in aliena natura homo factus est, et non sicut alius homo, quoniam caro ipsius per sanctam divinitatem inflammata est. Quapropter post novissimum diem, cum quilibet homo transfiguratus fuerit, animae electorum corpora sua per fidem in coelum levabunt, quae prius in mundo erant. Haec Deus per semetipsum in virtute sua faciet, quam nulla creatura exterminare potest, quia tunc homo, ut praedictum est, carne induetur, et ossa ipsius medulla implebuntur, sed ampli . . . . .

. . si cibi et potus et vita non deficiet, quoniam tunc in viribus divinitatis sine omni vicissitudine diversitatis procedet, quia in bono membrum Christi est, qui in mundo multas passiones et plurima opprobria sustinuit, quamvis Filius Dei esset. Quod diabolus omnis fallaciae inventor scire non potuit, qui initium habuit, et illum cum omnibus membris suis, quae Deum respuunt, negare festinavit; sed tamen quin homo in indeficientem vitam elevaretur impedire non potuit.

« Et mundus per ipsum factus est, » ita ut mundus ab ipso, non ipse a mundo exortus sit, quoniam creatura per Verbum Dei processit, scilicet quidquid creaturarum, tam invisibilium quam visibilium, est, quia quaedam sunt quae nec videri nec tangi possunt, quaedam autem et videntur et tanguntur. Sed homo utrumque in se habet, animam scilicet et corpus, quoniam ad imaginem et similitudinem Dei factus est. Unde et verbo jubet, ac manibus operatur. Sic Deus hominem secundum se ordinavit, quia Filium suum de homine incarnari voluit. « Et mundus eum non cognovit, » quoniam filii mundi, videlicet qui mundum sequuntur, propter caecitatem ignorantiae suae ipsum venientem nescierunt, nec eum operantem cognoverunt, quemadmodum infans scientiae et operationis nescius est. Quapropter et hic in femore ac in genibus hominis Deus ignorantem infantiam incredulorum demonstrat, quia sicut infans incedere non potest, quoniam et medullae et ossa ejus nondum firmata sunt, eo quod per lac et per mollem cibum alatur; et quoniam sine cruribus et sine pedibus per femur ac per genua adultus homo incedere non valet, ita cum scientia et sensus incredulorum ab igne sancti Spiritus vacui erant, per quem Deum agnoscere debuerant, in via rectitudinis ambulare non poterunt.

« In propria venit, » quia mundum creaverat, et quoniam humanam carnem induerat. Unde et omnes creaturae ipsum ostenderunt, ut nummus dominum suum ostendit. Nam Deus mundum creavit, quem homini tabernaculam praeparare voluit; et quia hominem induere voluit, idcirco eum ad imaginem et similitudinem suam fecit. Quapropter omnia ipsius propria erant. « Et sui eum non receperunt, » scilicet qui sui erant quoniam eos creaverat, quia eos specialiter ad imaginem suam fecerat; sed tamen eum neglexerunt, ubi eum Factorem suum esse non cognoverunt, et ab ipso solo se creatos non intellexerunt. Increduli namque humanitatem illius non receperunt, nec propter obcaecationem incredulitatis suae Deum in humana forma cognoverunt. Unde et in cruribus hominis juventus ipsius designatur, quae stulta et inutilis est, ubi viriditates et flores et aliam creaturam attendit, et ubi sapientiorem se aliis existimat, quia medulla et ossa ejus tunc pleniter firmata sunt. Sic Judaei et pagani fecerunt, qui vanitatem saeculi diligentes, se putabant scire quod nesciebant, et esse quod non erant, et illum qui eis carnem et spiritum dederat, per fidem non attenderunt.

Quemadmodum enim juventus in creaturis decepta delectatur, ita mundus tunc in vanitate conversabatur; et ideo necessarium fuit ut Deus illis se ipsum ostenderet, et eos ad se colligeret, sicut etiam asinam et pullum ejus absolvi et sibi adduci jussit, ubi se ipsum cum lege veritatis super eos posuit.

« Quotquot autem receperunt eum, dedit eis potestatem filios Dei fieri, » quoniam omnibus hominibus utriusque sexus qui eum receperunt credendo eum esse Deum et hominem, quia Deus primum fide capitur, deinde quod Deus homo factus est recipitur, dedit potentia sua potentialiter potestatem hanc, ut propria voluntate sua filii Patris sui in coelesti regno fiant, id est ut participationem regni sui haeredes haereditatis ejus facti secum habeant, et hoc ea potestate qua filius haeres patris sui existit. Nam quia eum Deum et Creatorem suum cognoverunt, et eum charitate amplexi et fide osculati sunt, et omnia sua ab eo diligenter et caute sciscitati sunt, ros Spiritus sancti in eos cecidit, ita ut tota Ecclesia ab eis germinare et fructum supernorum gaudiorum proferre incoeperit. Quapropter datum est eis ut per virtutem verae fidei filii Dei sint. « His qui credunt in nomine ejus, » istis qui fidem hanc credendo habent, quod in nomine ipsius per baptismum salvi fiant, participatio coelestis regni datur, quoniam omnia opera sua in ardenti amore quasi Deum videant faciunt, et non in umbra fidei nomen Dei sine operibus colendo ubi deos alienos abjiciunt, qui se ipsos facere non possunt, et a se ipsis non sunt, sed qui socii hominum sunt. Nomen autem hoc, in quo vera credulitas est, tale est, quod initio caret, et quod per ipsum omnes creaturae surrexerunt, et quod vita est, per quam omnis vita spirat. Unde et ab omni creatura sua adoratur. Secundum autem has tres vires quae in hoc nomine sunt, omnis creatura quae nomen habet ex tribus viribus subsistit. Sed et arida et putrida creatura nomine caret, quoniam vitalis non est.

Nomini autem vitalis creaturae tres vires adsunt, quarum altera videtur et altera scitur, sed tertia non videtur. Corpus enim vitalis rei videtur, et quod gignit scitur; sed unde vitalis fit, nec cognoscitur nec videtur. Sic et Deus magna mirabilia per pedes hominis manifestavit, quia sicut pedes totum corpus sustentant, et quo vult illud portant, sic etiam fides nomen Dei cum mirabilibus quae et videri et non videri, et quae cognosci et non cognosci possunt, fortiter sustinet, ac ubique magnifice fert. Et corpus hominis et opera ejus videntur; sed multo plus in ipso est id quod nec videtur nec cognoscitur. Sed cum tanta obscuritas in homine sit, quomodo manifestus ille esset qui eum creavit? Nam hunc nullus hominum in saeculo vivens scire potest sicuti est.

« Qui non ex sanguinibus, neque ex voluntate carnis, neque ex voluntate viri, sed ex Deo nati sunt. » Filius enim Dei dixit: « Quod natum est ex carne, caro est; et quod natum est ex spiritu, spiritus est , » quoniam caro de carne in peccatis concepta nata est; sed quia Deus spiritus est, per ipsum omnes spiritus orti sunt, nec spiritus in carnem, nec caro in spiritum vertitur; sed per carnem et spiritum homo perficitur, alioquin homo nec esset nec nominaretur. Deus quippe Adam plasmavit, ut aeternaliter immutabilis viveret; sed ille inobedientia praevaricatus est consilium serpentis audiendo. Quapropter et idem serpens eum omnino periturum existimavit, quod tamen Deus noluit, qui mundi exsilium illi praeparavit, in quo filios suos in peccatis concepit et genuit. Sicque cum omni genere suo mortalis factus, per conceptam spumam peccati in putredinem vertitur, usque ad novissimum diem cum Deus hominem renovabit, ita ut postea immutabili vita, ut Adam creatus fuit, vivat. Haec autem vita in filiis qui in peccatis concepti et nati sunt nequaquam esse potuit; sed in humanitate Filii Dei exorta est, per quem supernus Pater recordatus est ut hominem liberaret qui perierat. Isti enim qui per virtutem bonorum operum filii Dei efficiuntur, hanc potestatem ut filii Dei sint non habent ex coagulatione sanguinis parentum, in qua sanguinei sunt, nec ex voluntate infirmioris carnis quae ad partum pullulat, nec ex voluntate fortioris partis illius quae ad gignendum robusta est; sed ex remuneratione divinae revelationis in ablutione baptismi, et in ignea effusione Spiritus sancti hoc accipiunt quod modo ex Deo nascuntur, et haeredes regni ejus efficiuntur. Deus enim omnia opera sua priusquam formarentur, praeviderat, quae postea in creatione formatae formae in se vacuae non remanserunt, sed vitalia facta sunt.

Caro enim sine vita caro non esset, quoniam cum vita ab ea recesserit, in defectu deficit. Spiraculum autem quod Deus in Adam misit igneum et intelligibile ac vita fuit. Unde et per calorem ejus limus terrae rubicundus in sanguine factus est Et sicut omnis creatura in praescientia Dei ante aevum fuit, sic etiam et adhuc omnes nascituri homines in praescientia ipsius sunt. Sed homo intelligibilis et sensibilis est; intelligibilis scilicet quia omnia intelligit, sensibilis quoniam ea quae sibi adsunt sentit, quia Deus totam carnem hominis vita implet, cum in eam spiraculum vitae mittit. Quapropter et praescientiam boni et mali eligit quod sibi placet, et reprobat quod sibi displicet. Deus autem considerat quid sibi homo proponat. Quod si homo sibi illa proposuerit quae a Deo non sunt, Deus ab eo se subtrahit, et mox illi occurrunt qui primum malum incoeperunt, videlicet qui coelum destruere voluerunt, quod Deum non tetigit, quoniam indecens esset, ut Deus seipsum destrueret. Si autem homo ad nomen Patris sui anhelaverit, et illum bono desiderio vocaverit, angelica praesidia illi aderunt, ne per inimicos impediatur, et Deus per delectationem desiderii bonorum operum quasi lac illi suaviter primum immittit, ac deinde pluviam gratiae suae illi infundit, per quam de virtute in virtutem fortiter ascendat.

Et hoc modo ille in hujusmodi virtutibus usque ad obitum suum semper novus est. Sed qui modicum quid et non magnum facere potest, semper in impetu vadit, ut idem quod potest perficiat; qui vero multa et magna facere valet, moderationem in eis cum temperamento habet. Diabolus enim unum vult, scilicet, ut animas in mortem seducat, nec aliud facere quaerit nec facere potest, et vix sustinet donec illud perficiat quod facere valet. Deus autem quia in omnibus et per omnia potens est, in cunctis operibus suis moderationem habet, et cum temperamento discretionis facit quatenus homo fortior et promptior in stabilitate bonorum fiat. Nam unusquisque qui in impetu vadit, multoties in ruinam se ponit. Sed homo significatio totius honoris Dei est, quoniam bona scientia quae in ipso est angelica agmina quae Deo laudabiliter serviunt demonstrat; mala vero scientia quam habet, potestatem Dei manifestat, quia Deus illam vicit cum primum hominem de paradiso expulit. Sic in omni homine fit, quoniam in illo qui per bonam scientiam bonum eligendo operatur, bonitas Dei ostenditur; et in illo qui malum arripiendo illud perficit, potestas Dei declaratur, quia Deus illud quandoque dijudicat, quandoque remittit. Homo itaque hoc modo, ut praedictum est, vita est, et omnia quae ipsi adhaerent per ipsum vitalia sunt, quoniam Deus hominem cum omnibus appendiciis suis sub sole creavit, quatenus in terra solus non sit, quemadmodum ipse Deus in coelo solus non est, sed in omnibus coelestibus harmoniis glorificatur.

Haec autem quae in terra circa hominem sunt, cum eo in terra perdurant, quousque numerus ille impleatur quem Deus impleri constituit. Post futuram autem resurrectionem beatus homo non indiget ut crescat aut ab ullo pascatur, quia in claritate illa tunc erit quae nunquam transibit nec mutabitur. Hac namque claritate per sanctam Trinitatem beatus homo tunc induetur, et illum inspiciet, qui terminum initii et finis nunquam habuit; et ob hoc senio et taedio nunquam afficietur, quia etiam semper et nova psallendo citharizabit. Itaque, ut praedictum est, per vitam caro vivit, et nisi per vitam caro plene non esset; et ita caro cum vita, et vita cum carne unum sunt. Haec Deus attendit quando in Adam per spiraculum quod in illum misit carnem et sanguinem roboravit, quoniam carnem illam tunc inspexit qua induendus erat, et illam in ardenti amore habuit.

« Et Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis. » Verbum enim quod apud Deum aeternaliter ante aevum erat, et quod Deus erat, per ardorem Spiritus sancti carnem de utero Virginis assumpsit, quem ita induit, quemadmodum venae compago carnis sunt, et ut ipsae sanguinem portant, et tamen sanguis non sunt. Deus enim hominem ita creaverat, ut omnis creatura ei serviret. Unde etiam Deum decuit quatenus indumentum carnis in homine acciperet. Sic etenim Verbum carnem induit, scilicet quod Verbum et caro unum sunt, non tamen sicut alterum in alterum transmutatum sit, sed unum in unitate personae sint. Sed et corpus indumentum animae est, et anima cum carne officia operandi habet. Corpus autem sine anima nihil esset, et anima sine corpore non operaretur, unde unum in homine sunt, et homo sinit, et sic opus Dei, videlicet homo, ad imaginem et similitudinem Dei factus est. Cum enim spiraculum hominis a Deo mittitur, idem spiraculum et caro unus homo efficitur.

Verbum autem Dei ex inarata carne Virginis absque omni calore incendii carnem assumpsit, ita ut Verbum Verbum sit, et caro caro, et unum sint, quia Verbum quod sine tempore ante tempora in Patre fuit, se non immutavit, sed tantum carnem induit.

« Et habitavit in nobis, » quoniam homo factus sine peccato ut homo habitat in nobis, humanitatem nostram non negligens ubi et nos cum spiraculo vitae hominis sumus ad imaginem et similitudinem ejus facti. Quapropter et nos in ipso habitamus, quoniam opus ipsius sumus, et quia in praescientia sua nos semper habuit, nec nostri oblitus est. « Et vidimus gloriam ejus, » quia nos qui cum ipso eramus, specialiter vidimus eum in mirabili natura absque omni peccato venientem. « Et gloriam quasi Unigeniti a Patre, » manifestante, quia mirabiliter ante saecula a Patre natus Unigenitus, gloriam suam mirabiliter a Patre veniens ostendit, ubi eum Virgo de ardore Spiritus sancti concepit, nec operis viri indiguit, cum alius quilibet homo a viro, scilicet ex patre, cum peccato seminetur. Deus enim hominem de limo formaverat, et in illum spiraculum vitae miserat. Unde et Verbum Dei in homine regale vestimentum cum rationali anima assumpsit, et illud totum ad se traxit et in eo permansit. Nam et spiraculum quod in homine anima nominatur carnem perfundit, et illam pro delectabili vestimento et decoro ornamento habet. Quapropter et eum amat, et ipsi consentit, nec tamen in ea videri potest.

Ex natura quoque et ex desiderio animae homo vestem vitae postulat, et quoniam Deus nullam creaturam sine viribus vacuam creavit, ideo homo mirabilia semper operatur. Et idem Verbum « plenum gratiae et veritatis » est, quia in plena gratia erat omnis in divinitate creando, et in humanitate redimendo; et in plena veritate exstitit, quoniam nullum mendacium iniquitatis et peccati ipsum tetigit, nec se ipsi associavit, quia Dominus est qui praelio suo mala vicit, quae sine ipso nihil sunt. Nam ipsum Verbum, scilicet verus Dei Filius, plenum est gratia, dando et remittendo secundum suam misericordiam, qui se ipsum in divinitate non exinanivit, sed humanitatem induit; et humanitas ipsius plena est, quoniam nulla ruga peccati humanae naturae eum tetigit. Plenus etiam veritatis est, quia dat, remittit et judicat ut justum est; quod homo non facit, quoniam in ruga peccatorum conceptus et natus est. Sic Deus rotundus, rotae similis est, omnia creando et bona volendo, ac bona perficiendo. Voluntas enim Dei omnia praeparavit quae Verbum Dei creavit. Omnis itaque homo qui Deum timet et diligit, verbis istis devotionem cordis sui aperiat, ac ea et ad salutem corporum et animarum hominum non quidem ab homine, sed per me qui sum prolata sciat.

Scripture echoes

↩John.1.1 — In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
↩Dan.7.9 — I kept watching until thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head was like pure wool. His throne was flames of fire, its wheels a burning fire.
↩Dan.7.9 — I kept watching until thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head was like pure wool. His throne was flames of fire, its wheels a burning fire.
↩Gen.1.26 — Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
↩John.1.1 — In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
↩John.1.1 — In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
↩John.1.1 — In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
↩John.1.1 — In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
↩Gen.1.1 — In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
↩Gen.1.3 — And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.
↩John.1.3 — All things came into being through him, and apart from him not even one thing came into being that has come into being.
↩John.1.3 — All things came into being through him, and apart from him not even one thing came into being that has come into being.
↩John.1.3-John.1.4 — All things came into being through him, and apart from him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. John.1.4 — In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
↩John.1.3-John.1.4 — All things came into being through him, and apart from him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. John.1.4 — In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
↩John.1.14;John.1.3-John.1.4 — And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John.1.3 — All things came into being through him, and apart from him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. John.1.4 — In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
↩Gen.1.28 — And God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.'
↩John.1.4 — In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
↩John.1.5 — And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
↩John.1.5 — And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
↩John.1.5 — And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
↩John.1.6 — There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
↩Luke.1.63 — And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, saying, "John is his name." And they all marveled.
↩John.1.7 — He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him.
↩John.1.9 — The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
↩John.1.9 — The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
↩Gen.2.7 — Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
↩John.1.10 — He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, yet the world did not know him.
↩John.1.10 — He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, yet the world did not know him.
↩Gen.1.26-Gen.1.27 — Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." Gen.1.27 — So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
↩John.1.10 — He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, yet the world did not know him.
↩John.1.11 — He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
↩John.1.11 — He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
↩Matt.21.2 — saying to them, "Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me.
↩John.1.12 — But to all who received him, he gave the right to become children of God—to those who believed in his name.
↩John.1.12 — But to all who received him, he gave the right to become children of God—to those who believed in his name.
↩John.1.1-John.1.3;Col.1.16-Col.1.17 — In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John.1.2 — He was in the beginning with God. John.1.3 — All things came into being through him, and apart from him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. Col.1.16 — For in him all things were created, in the heavens and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through him and for him. Col.1.17 — And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
↩John.1.13 — who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
↩John.3.6 — What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.
↩John.1.14 — And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
↩John.1.14 — And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
↩John.1.14 — And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
↩John.1.14 — And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
↩John.1.14 — And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
↩Gen.2.7 — Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
↩John.1.14 — And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
↩Phil.2.7 — but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness, and appearing as a human being.
↩Eph.5.27 — so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, so that she might be holy and blameless.
↩Ps.51.5 — For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
↩Ezek.1.15-Ezek.1.21 — As I looked at the living creatures, behold, one wheel was on the earth beside the living creatures, for each of their four faces. Ezek.1.16 — The appearance of the wheels and their construction was like the gleam of beryl, and the likeness of them was one for all four, and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel within a wheel. Ezek.1.17 — Upon their four sides, when they went, they went; they did not turn when they went. Ezek.1.18 — And their rims were tall and terrifying, and their rims were full of eyes all around the four of them. Ezek.1.19 — And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose. Ezek.1.20 — Wherever the spirit would be present, there they would go — the spirit directed their going — and the wheels rose alongside them, for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. Ezek.1.21 — When they went, they went; and when they stood, they stood; and when they were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up with them, for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.
↩Exod.3.14 — And God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM.' And he said, 'Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you.'

Notes

1 ↩The self-predication 'dies sum qui a sole nunquam processi, sed de quo sol accensus est' plays on 'day' and 'sun' to assert the speaker's priority over created light; the point is ontological dependence, not temporal sequence.
2 ↩'Specula' (mirrors) functions as a metaphor for the created order as a reflective medium; the sense is that creation mirrors the divine face and joins in praise.
3 ↩The clause 'ut in lumine suo evigilaverunt, mei obliti sunt' is paradoxical: the angels' awakening in their own light coincides with forgetting the source of that light; the passage describes the origin of angelic presumption.
4 ↩'In magno tonitru ultio zeli mei, in praesumptione quia mihi contradixerunt, illos dejecit': the Latin is compressed and grammatically harsh (singular 'dejecit' with no explicit subject); the sense is that the thunder of divine jealousy cast the presumptuous angels down.
5 ↩possibilitas rendered 'capacity' in a medieval philosophical sense (potentiality/power); could also be 'potential' or 'capability'.
6 ↩The simile structure is compressed: 'pennae ventorum' (feathers/wings of the winds) are the means by which winds are raised and sustained; the referent of 'illi' (those) is the winds, not the eyebrows. The final clause 'ventus flat ... et flatus venti pennae ipsius sunt' is difficult: 'flat' is ambiguous between passive indicative and participle; the sense intended is that the wind's blast and the wind's blast are its (God's) feathers — i.e., all motion of air manifests divine power.
7 ↩scientia rendered 'knowledge' in a medieval philosophical sense (intellectual habitus); could also be 'cognition' or 'awareness'.
8 ↩The clause 'cum homo ab homine in auditu cognoscatur' is difficult: the sense intended is that a person is recognized by another person through hearing (i.e., by the voice), so God, too, makes himself known through audible revelation. 'inanis' rendered 'empty nothing' or 'void' — the sense is that without hearing the person would be incomplete/empty.
9 ↩odorifera ordinatio ('fragrant ordering') is a striking phrase: wisdom is likened to a sweet-smelling arrangement or disposition that pervades all crafts/arts. 'ars' here covers crafts, skills, and practical arts.
10 ↩illa is ambiguous in case (nom. or abl.); the sense intended is that the sense of smell extends through all things by drawing in the air/quality, so far as it can know what and what kind of things they are. 'sciat' is subjunctive in an indirect question/result clause.
11 ↩The donkey and colt allude to Christ’s entry into Jerusalem (Matt 21:2). Hildegard’s vision applies the image to God mounting and directing the wayward world.
12 ↩The three predicates igneum, intelligibile, vita are loosely coordinated; vita may be predicate nominative in apposition to spiraculum, construing the breath as fiery, intelligent, and life-giving.
13 ↩The clause praescientiam boni et mali eligit is compressed: the sense is that man, by choosing what pleases him, effectively aligns himself with the foreknowledge of good and of evil — i.e., he orients himself toward one or the other.
14 ↩The clause quod Deum non tetigit is compressed: the sense is that the rebellious ones did not reach or harm God, since it would be unfitting for God to destroy himself.
15 ↩The image of milk and rain is drawn from the spiritual tradition of divine sweetness and grace; the phrase quasi lac conveys the gentle, nourishing quality of God's initial interior gift.

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