SR
← Pseudo-Augustine Soliloquia animae ad Deum (Meditations of the Soul to God)/Book 1 · Soliloquia animae ad Deum
Chapter 31PsAug.1.31

Ubi Deus habitet. Quod per sensus non inveniatur Deus. Quid Deum quaerendo quaeramus. Creaturarum de Deo testimonium. Qui ab homine ad Dei notitiam ascendatur. Deus sibi soli notus. Quatenus homini innotescat.

God Dwells Within the Soul

The soul discovers that God dwells within it as His image, yet the outward senses cannot find Him because He transcends all corporeal qualities.

Behold, Lord my God, highest and almighty, I have found the place where you dwell: it is in the soul that you created in your image and likeness (Gen.✦ I, 27), which seeks and desires you alone; because it is not in the soul that does not seek or desire you.✦ I wandered like a lost sheep, seeking you outside myself, when you were within; and I labored much searching for you outside me, yet you dwell in me—if only I desire you.✦ I walked the streets and broad avenues of this world's city searching for you, and I did not find you—because I was searching outside for what was within. I sent all my outward senses as messengers to search for you, and I did not find you—because I was searching badly. I see now—my light, my God, you who enlightened me—that I was searching for you wrongly through them, because you are within, and yet they themselves did not know the way you entered. For the eyes say, 'If he had no color, he did not come in through us.' The ears say, 'If he made no sound, he did not pass through us.' The nose says, 'If he gave no scent, he did not come through me.' Taste says, 'If he had no flavor, he did not enter through me.' And touch adds, 'If he is not a body, don't ask me about this matter at all.' These things are not in you, my God.

Seeking a God Beyond All Sensation

The seeker longs for a super-sensory light, voice, fragrance, sweetness, and embrace, confessing that God was within while the soul wandered outside among created beauties.

For when I seek my God, I am not seeking the appearance of a body, nor the beauty of time, nor the brightness of light or its color, not the sweet songs of melodies and whatever sounds are sweet, not the scents of flowers and ointments or spices, not honey or manna delightful to the taste, not all the other lovely things meant for touching or embracing, nor everything else subjected to these senses. Far be it from me to believe that these things are my God — things that are grasped even by the senses of brute animals. And yet when I seek my God, I'm nonetheless seeking a certain light above every light, which the eye does not perceive; a certain voice above every voice, which the ear does not perceive; a certain fragrance above every fragrance, which the nostril does not perceive; a certain sweetness above every sweetness, which taste does not savor; a certain embrace above every embrace, which the touch of my outer being does not reach.✦ This light shines where no place contains it; this voice sounds where no time snatches it away; this fragrance breathes where no breath scatters it; this flavor is tasted where there is no devouring hunger; this embrace is touched where nothing tears it apart. This is my God, and no other will be compared to him; this is what I seek when I seek my God, this is what I love when I love my God. Too late have I loved you, beauty so ancient and so new; too late have I loved you. You were within me, and I was outside, and there I was seeking you, and among the beautiful things you had made, I — all misshapen — came rushing in. You were with me, and I was not with you. Those things held me far from you — things that could not exist except in you.

Leaving Self to Find God

The soul confesses it wandered through all things seeking God, leaving itself behind in the process.

I was going around through everything, seeking you, and for the sake of everything leaving myself behind.

Creation Bears Witness to Its Maker

The soul interrogates the earth, sea, sky, and all creation, which unanimously testify that God made them, echoing Romans 1:20.

I asked the earth whether it was my God, and it told me it was not; and everything in it confessed the same. I asked the sea and the deep places, and the creatures that move through them, and they answered: We are not your God; look for him beyond us. I asked the rushing winds, and the whole air together with everything in it said: Anaximenes was wrong; I am not your God.1 I asked the sky, the sun, the moon, and the stars: We are not your God either, they said. And I said to everything at the doors of my flesh: You've told me about my God — that you are not he; tell me something about him.2 And they all cried out with one loud voice: He made us.✦ Then I asked the whole mass of the world: Tell me, are you my God or not? And it answered with a powerful voice: I am not, it said; but through him I am what I am. The one you seek in me — he made me. Look beyond me for the one who rules me, who made both me and you.✦3 The questioning of creatures, the deep reflection on them — their answer, their testimony about God — since all of them cry out, God made us. For as the Apostle says, The invisible things of God are perceived through the things that have been made, from the creation of the world, clearly seen (Rom.✦4

Returning into the Self

The soul turns inward, questioning its own nature and origin, and finds that its very being and life come from God alone.

I, 20). And I returned to myself, and I entered into myself; and I say to myself, Who are you? And I answered myself, A rational human, mortal. And I began to examine what this was; and I said, Where does a living being like this come from, my God? Where, if not from you? You made me, and I did not make myself. What are you? You through whom I live, you through whom all things live. What are you?

God as the Fountain of All Being and Life

The soul praises God as almighty, eternal, and the source of all being and life, giving thanks for creation and illumination, and finding that self-knowledge and knowledge of God come together in divine light.

You, Lord, are the true God and the only God — almighty, eternal, beyond all understanding, beyond all measuring. You live always, and nothing in you ever dies. You are immortal, dwelling in eternity, wonderful to the eyes of angels, unspeakable, unsearchable, beyond every name we could give. You are one God, true, awe-inspiring, and mighty, with no beginning and no end — the beginning of all things and their end. You are before the first origins of the ages, and before every beginning the ages have ever known. You are God and Lord of everything you have created. With you the causes of all that is stable stand firm, and with you the origins of all that changes remain unchanging. With you the eternal rational principles of all things — rational and irrational, temporal and beyond time — live forever. Speak to me, your servant who pleads with you, my God. Speak in your mercy to this wretch who belongs to you. Tell me — I beg you, through your compassion — where does such a creature come from, if not from you, God? Could anyone be the craftsman of their own making? Or is being itself and life drawn from anywhere other than from you? Surely you are the highest being, from whom all being comes? Whatever exists comes from you, because without you nothing exists. Surely you are the fountain of life, from which all life flows?✦ Whatever lives, lives through you — for without you, nothing lives. So then, Lord — you made all things. I ask: who made me? You, Lord, made me — and without you nothing was made.5 You are my maker; I am your handiwork. I give you thanks, Lord my God — the one through whom I live, and through whom all things live — because you made me. Thanks to you, my fashioner, because your hands made me and shaped me (Job.✦67 X, 8); thanks to you, my light, because you have enlightened me — and I have found myself.✦8 Where I found myself, there I came to know myself; where I found you, there I came to know you; and where I came to know you, there you enlightened me.9

Thanksgiving for Illumination

The soul gives thanks to God as its light for the gift of illumination.

Thanks to you, my light, because you have enlightened me.

God Dwells in Inaccessible Light

The soul questions how it can claim to know God, who is hidden, unseeable, and known only to Himself, yet confesses Him as most praiseworthy.

What is this I've said — that I know you? Aren't you the God who cannot be grasped or measured, the King of kings and Lord of lords, you alone who possess immortality and dwell in inaccessible light, whom no human being has ever seen or can ever see (1 Tim.✦ 6:16)? Aren't you the hidden God (Isa.✦ 45:15) — inscrutable in majesty, the sole and supreme knower of yourself, the one who beholds yourself in wonder? Who, then, has known what has never been seen? Your Truth has said, 'No one will see me and live' (Exod.✦ 33:20). Your herald has also said, through your truth, 'No one has ever seen God' (John✦ I, 18). Who, then, has ever known what has never been seen? Your Truth has also said, No one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son (Matt.✦10 XI, 27). Your Trinity alone is fully known to itself alone, and it surpasses every sense. What, then, was I thinking when I said — O man, so like vanity itself — that I have known you?11 For who has known you, except you yourself? You alone are God almighty, most praiseworthy, most glorious, and most exalted (Dan.12

The Heaven of Heaven and the Self-Knowing Trinity

The soul contemplates God as beyond all essence and understanding, dwelling in the heaven of heaven, known only to the Trinity itself, and recalls Isaiah's vision of trembling awe before divine holiness.

You are named in the most sacred and most divine utterances as the Most High and the Beyond-Essential One, because you are known to exist beyond every intelligible or intellectual or sensible essence, and beyond every name that is named—not only in this age but also in the age to come—in a manner beyond essence and beyond understanding; because in your essential and hidden divinity you dwell beyond all reason, intellect, and essence, inaccessibly and unfathomably, in yourself, where light is inaccessible, and radiance is unfathomable, incomprehensible, and unspeakable, which no light reaches, since it is believed to be beyond contemplation, invisible, beyond reason, beyond understanding, beyond access, beyond change, and beyond communication—something that no angel or human has ever seen, nor can see.✦ This is your heaven, Lord—the heaven that conceals the most hidden, beyond-understanding, beyond-reason, and beyond-essential light, of which it is said, The heaven of heaven is the Lord's (Ps. CXIII, 16). The heaven of heaven, to which the whole earth is every heaven, because it has been wondrously exalted above every heaven, to which even the empyrean heaven itself belongs as earth—this is the heaven of heaven belonging to the Lord, because to no one except the Lord. No one ascends to it except the one who descended from heaven, because no one knows the Father except the Son and their Spirit; and no one knows the Son except the Father and their Spirit (Matt.✦✦ XI, 27).✦ To you alone, Trinity, you are fully known—holy Trinity, wondrously beyond narration, beyond scrutiny, beyond access, beyond comprehension, beyond understanding, and beyond essence—surpassing in your beyond-essential way every sense, every reason, every intellect, every intelligence, and every essence of the highest heavenly souls: which neither can be spoken, nor thought, nor understood, nor known, even by the eyes of angels. How then have I come to know you, Lord God Most High, above all the earth, above every heaven—whom neither the Cherubim nor the Seraphim know perfectly, but whose face is veiled by the wings of their contemplations as they sit upon the throne, high and lifted up, crying out and saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory—and the prophet was struck with awe and said, Woe is me, for I have kept silent, for I am a man of unclean lips (Isa.✦✦✦

The Prophet's Trembling and the Refusal of Silence

Echoing Isaiah's woe, the soul trembles before God's holiness yet refuses to be silent, because God's enlightenment makes speech possible and necessary.

(Isaiah 6:1–5) And my heart trembled, and I said, "Woe is me, because I did not keep silent — because I am a man of unclean lips." But then I said, "I have known you."✦ And yet, Lord, woe to those who are silent about you — because without you, even the eloquent become mute. And I will not be silent, because you made me and enlightened me. I found myself and I knew myself; I found you and I knew you — because you enlightened me.

Knowing God Through Grace, Not Essence

The soul confesses it knows God not as He is to Himself but as He is to it, through grace and illumination, and pleads for God to declare Himself as salvation.

But how have I come to know you? I have known you in you. I haven't known you as you are to yourself, but I have known you as you are to me—and not apart from you, but in you, because you are the light that has enlightened me. As you are to yourself, you are known to yourself alone; as you are to me, you are known according to your grace, and so you are known to me. But what are you to me? Tell me, merciful one, tell your wretched one through your compassions: what are you to me? Say to my soul, "I am your salvation" (Ps.✦13 XXXIV, 3).

The Soul's Plea and the Thunder of God's Voice

The soul begs God not to hide His face, pleads as dust and ashes for mercy, and then hears God's thundering voice shattering its deafness and blindness, coming to know God as its salvation.

Don't hide your face from me, or I will die.✦ Let me speak before your mercy — me, dust and ashes — let me speak before your mercy, because your mercy is great over me.14 I will speak to my God, when I am dust and ashes (Gen.✦ XVIII, 27). Tell me, your suppliant — merciful one, tell me, your wretch — tell me through your compassions: what are you to me?15 And you thundered from above with a great voice into the innermost ear of my heart, and you shattered my deafness, and I heard your voice; and you lit up my blindness, and I saw your light; and I knew that you are my God.✦16 That is why I said I knew you. I knew you, because you are my God. I knew you, the only true God, and the one you sent, Jesus Christ.✦ For there was a time when I did not know you.

Lament for Wasted Time and Late Love

The soul laments the wasted years of blindness and deafness, recalls how creation held it far from God, and confesses at last the ancient beauty it now loves.

What a waste that time was, when I didn't know you! What a waste that blindness was, when I couldn't see you! What a waste that deafness was, when I couldn't hear you! Blind and deaf, I rushed headlong through the beautiful things you'd made, ugly as I was; you were with me, and I wasn't with you, and those things held me far from you — things that had no existence except in you. You lit me up, light, and I saw you and loved you — for surely no one loves you without seeing you, and no one sees you without loving you. Too late I loved you, beauty so ancient — too late I loved you. What a waste that time was, when I didn't love you!

Read the original Latin

Ecce Domine Deus meus summe, omnipotentissime, inveni locum ubi tu habitas: quia in anima quam creasti ad imaginem et similitudinem tuam (Gen. I, 27), quae te solum quaerit et desiderat; quia non in illa quae te non quaerit nec desiderat. Ego erravi sicut ovis quae periit, quaerens te exterius, qui es interius; et multum laboravi quaerens te extra me, et tu habitas in me, si tamen ego desiderem te. Circuivi vicos et plateas civitatis hujus mundi quaerens te; et non inveni, quia male quaerebam foris, quod erat intus. Misi nuntios meos omnes sensus exteriores, ut quaererem te; et non inveni, quia male quaerebam. Video enim, lux mea Deus qui illuminasti me, quia male te per illos quaerebam; quia tu es intus, et tamen ipsi unde intraveris nesciverunt. Nam oculi dicunt, Si coloratus non fuit, per nos non intravit; aures dicunt, Si sonitum non fecit, per nos non transivit; nasus dicit, Si non oluit, per me non venit; gustus dicit, Si non sapuit, per me non introivit; tactus etiam addit, Si corpulentus non est, nihil me de hac re interroges. Non ista sunt in te, Deus meus.

Non enim speciem corporis, nec decus temporis, nec candorem lucis vel colorem, non dulces melodiarum cantus et quaecumque dulce sonantia, non florum et unguentorum vel aromatum odores, non mella vel manna gustui delectabilia, non caetera quaeque ad tangendum vel amplexandum amabilia, nec omnia alia sensibus his subjecta quaero, cum Deum meum quaero. Absit ut ista crediderim Deum meum quae etiam a brutalium sensibus comprehenduntur. Et tamen cum Deum meum quaero, quaero nihilominus quamdam lucem super omnem lucem, quam non capit oculus; quamdam vocem super omnem vocem, quam non capit auris; quemdam odorem super omnem odorem, quem non capit naris; quemdam dulcorem super omnem dulcorem, quem non sapit gustus; quemdam amplexum super omnem amplexum, quem non tangit tactus exterioris hominis mei. Ista lux fulget, ubi locus non capit; ista vox sonat, ubi tempus non rapit; odor iste redolet, ubi flatus non spargit; sapor iste sapit, ubi non est edacitas; amplexus iste tangitur, ubi non divellitur. Hic est Deus meus, et non aestimabitur alius ad illum; hoc quaero cum Deum meum quaero, istud amo cum Deum meum amo. Sero te amavi, pulchritudo tam antiqua et tam nova; sero te amavi: et tu intus eras, et ego foris; et ibi te quaerebam, et in ista formosa quae fecisti deformis irruebam. Mecum eras, et ego tecum non eram. Ea me tenebant longe a te, quae esse non poterant nisi in te.

Circumibam enim omnia quaerens te, et propter omnia derelinquens me.

Interrogavi terram si esset Deus meus, et dixit mihi quod non; et omnia quae in ea sunt, hoc idem confessa sunt. Interrogavi mare et abyssos, et reptilia quae in eis sunt; et responderunt: Non sumus Deus tuus; quaere super nos eum. Interrogavi flabiles auras; et inquit universus aer cum omnibus incolis suis: Fallitur Anaximenes; non sum ego Deus tuus. Interrogavi coelum, solem, lunam, et stellas: Neque nos sumus Deus tuus, inquiunt. Et dixi omnibus quae circumstant fores carnis meae: Dixistis mihi de Deo meo quod vos non estis; dicite mihi de illo aliquid. Et exclamaverunt omnes voce grandi, Ipse fecit nos. Interrogavi proinde mundi molem, Dic mihi si es Deus meus, annon: et respondit voce forti, Non sum, inquit, ego; sed per ipsum sum ego; quem quaeris in me, ipse fecit me; super me quaere qui regit me, qui fecit et te. Interrogatio creaturarum, profunda consideratio ipsarum: responsio earum, attestatio ipsarum de Deo, quoniam omnia clamant, Deus nos fecit: quoniam, ut ait Apostolus, Invisibilia Dei per ea quae facta sunt, a creatura mundi intellecta conspiciuntur (Rom.

I, 20).

Et redii ad me, et intravi in me; et aio ad me, Tu quis es? Et respondi mihi, Homo rationalis, mortalis. Et incoepi discutere quid hoc esset: et dixi, Unde hoc tale animal, Deus meus? Unde nisi abs te? Tu fecisti me, et non ego ipse me. Quid tu? Tu per quem vivo ego, tu per quem vivunt omnia. Quid tu?

Tu, Domine, Deus verus et solus, omnipotens et aeternus, incomprehensibilis et immensus, qui semper vivis et nihil moritur in te, immortalis, habitans aeternitatem, mirabilis oculis Angelorum, inenarrabilis, imperscrutabilis et innominabilis; Deus unus et verus, terribilis et fortis; nesciens principium neque finem, principium omnium atque finis, qui es ante primordia saeculorum, et ante omnes saeculorum origines. Tu es Deus et Dominus omnium quae creasti; et apud te omnium stabilium stant causae, et omnium mutabilium apud te immutabiles manent origines, et omnium rationabilium et irrationabilium atque temporalium sempiternae vivunt rationes. Dic mihi supplici servo tuo, Deus meus, dic misericors misero tuo, dic, quaeso per miserationes tuas; unde hoc tale animal, nisi abs te, Deus? An quisquam sese faciendi erit artifex? An aliunde quam a te trahitur esse et vivere? Nonne tu es summum esse, a quo est omne esse? Quidquid enim est, a te est, quia sine te nihil est. Nonne tu es fons vitae, a quo fluit omnis vita?

Quidquid enim vivit, per te vivit, quia sine te nihil vivit. Tu ergo, Domine, omnia fecisti. Quaero, quis fecit me? Tu, Domine, fecisti me, sine quo factum est nihil. Tu factor meus, ego opus tuum. Gratias tibi ago, Domine Deus meus, per quem vivo ego, et per quem omnia vivunt, quoniam fecisti me; gratias tibi, plasmator meus, quia manus tuae fecerunt me et plasmaverunt me (Job. X, 8); gratias tibi, lux mea, quoniam illuminasti me, et inveni me. Ubi inveni me, ibi cognovi me; ubi inveni te, ibi cognovi te; ubi autem cognovi te, ibi illuminasti me.

Gratias tibi, lux mea, quoniam illuminasti me.

Quid est quod dixi, cognovi te? Nonne tu es Deus incomprehensibilis et immensus, Rex regum et Dominus dominantium, qui solus habes immortalitatem et lucem habitas inaccessibilem, quem nullus hominum vidit, sed nec videre potest (I Tim. VI, 16)? Nonne tu es Deus absconditus (Isai. XLV, 15) et imperscrutabilis majestatis, solus tui ipsius maximus cognitor et mirabilis contemplator? Quis ergo cognovit quod nunquam vidit? Dixit enim Veritas tua, Non videbit me homo, et vivet (Exod. XXXIII, 20); dixit et praeco tuus per veritatem tuam, Deum nemo vidit unquam (Joan.

I, 18). Quis ergo cognovit quod nunquam vidit? Dixit etiam Veritas tua, Nemo novit Filium nisi Pater, neque Patrem quis novit nisi Filius (Matth. XI, 27). Sola Trinitas tua soli sibi integre nota est, quae exsuperat omnem sensum. Quid est ergo quod dixi, homo vanitati similis, quia cognovi te? Quis enim cognovit te, nisi tu te? Tu quippe solus Deus omnipotens, superlaudabilis, et supergloriosus, et superexaltatus (Dan.

III, 52), et superaltissimus, et superessentialis in sanctissimis et divinissimis eloquiis nominaris; quoniam super omnem essentiam intelligibilem sive intellectualem atque sensibilem, et super omne nomen quod nominatur, non solum in hoc saeculo, sed etiam in futuro, superessentialiter et superintelligibiliter esse dignosceris; quoniam superessentiali et occulta divinitate, super omnem rationem, intellectum et essentiam inaccessibiliter et imperscrutabiliter habitas in te ipso, ubi lux inaccessibilis, et lumen imperscrutabile, et incomprehensibile, et inenarrabile, ad quod non attingit aliquod lumen, quoniam incontemplabile, et invisibile, et superrationale, et superintelligibile, et superinaccessibile, et superincommutabile, et superincommunicabile creditur, quod nullus unquam Angelorum vel hominum vidit, sed nec videre potest. Hoc est coelum tuum, Domine, coelum celans superarcanum, et superintelligibile, et superrationale, et superessentiale lumen, de quo dicitur, Coelum coeli Domino (Psal. CXIII, 16). Coelum coeli, cui terra est omne coelum, quia supermirabiliter superexaltatum est super omne coelum, ad quod terra est etiam ipsum empyreum coelum: hoc est coelum coeli Domino, quia nulli nisi Domino. Ad quod nemo ascendit nisi qui de coelo descendit, quia nemo novit Patrem, nisi Filius et eorum Spiritus: et nemo novit Filium nisi Pater et eorum Spiritus (Matth. XI, 27). Soli quidem tibi soli, Trinitas, integre nota es, Trinitas sancta, Trinitas supermirabilis, et superinenarrabilis, et superinscrutabilis, et superinaccessibilis, et superincomprehensibilis, et superintelligibilis, et superessentialis, superessentialiter exsuperans omnem sensum, omnem rationem, omnem intellectum, omnem intelligentiam, omnem essentiam supercoelestium animorum: quam neque dicere, neque cogitare, neque intelligere, neque cognoscere possibile est, etiam oculis Angelorum. Unde ergo cognovi te, Domine Deus altissimus super omnem terram, super omne coelum, quem neque Cherubim perfecte cognoscunt neque Seraphim; sed alis contemplationum suarum velatur facies sedentis super solium excelsum et elevatum, clamantes et dicentes, Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus Dominus Deus exercituum, plena est omnis terra gloria ejus; et expavit Propheta, et dixit, Vae mihi quia tacui, quia vir pollutus labiis ego sum (Isai.

VI, 1-5): et expavit cor meum, et dixi, Vae mihi quia non tacui, quia vir pollutus labiis ego sum: sed dixi, Cognovi te. Verumtamen, Domine, vae tacentibus de te, quoniam loquaces muti fiunt sine te. Et ego non tacebo, quoniam fecisti me, et illuminasti me; et inveni me, et cognovi me, et inveni te et cognovi te, quoniam illuminasti me.

Sed qualiter cognovi te? Cognovi te in te. Cognovi te non sicut tibi es, sed cognovi te sicut mihi es; et hoc non sine te, sed in te, quia tu es lux quae illuminasti me. Sicut tibi es, soli tibi cognitus es: sicut mihi es, secundum gratiam tuam et mihi cognitus es. Sed quid mihi es? Dic mihi misericors misero tuo, dic mihi per miserationes tuas, quid mihi es? Dic animae meae, Salus tua ego sum (Psal. XXXIV, 3).

Noli abscondere a me faciem tuam, ne moriar. Sine me loqui apud misericordiam tuam, me terram et cinerem, sine me loqui apud misericordiam tuam, quoniam misericordia tua magna est super me. Loquar ad Deum meum, cum sim pulvis et cinis (Gen. XVIII, 27). Dic mihi supplici tuo, dic misericors misero tuo, dic per miserationes tuas, quid mihi es? Et intonasti desuper voce grandi in interiorem aurem cordis mei, et rupisti surditatem meam, et audivi vocem tuam, et illuminasti caecitatem meam, et vidi lucem tuam, et cognovi quoniam Deus meus es. Propterea dixi quod cognovi te; cognovi te, quoniam Deus meus es; cognovi te solum verum Deum, et quem misisti Jesum Christum. Erat enim tempus quando non cognoscebam te.

Vae tempori illi quando non cognoscebam te! vae caecitati illi quando non videbam te! vae surditati illi quando non audiebam te! Caecus et surdus, per formosa quae fecisti deformis irruebam: et mecum eras, et tecum non eram; et ea me tenebant longe a te, quae non essent nisi essent in te. Illuminasti me, lux; et vidi te, et amavi te; nemo quippe te amat, nisi qui te videt; et nemo te videt, nisi qui te amat. Sero te amavi, pulchritudo tam antiqua; sero te amavi. Vae tempori illi quando non amavi te!

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩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.
  2. ↩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.
  3. ↩Ps.119.176 — I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant, for I have not forgotten your commandments.
  4. ↩2Cor.4.16 — Therefore we do not lose heart; even though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.
  5. ↩Ps.96.5;Ps.100.3 — For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the LORD made the heavens. Ps.100.3 — Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; his people and the sheep of his pasture.
  6. ↩Acts.17.28 — For in him we live and move and have our being, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also his offspring.'
  7. ↩Rom.1.20 — For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes have been clearly perceived, being understood through the things that have been made: both his eternal power and divine nature. So they are without excuse.
  8. ↩Ps.36.9 — They drink their fill of the abundance of your house, and from your river of delights you give them drink.
  9. ↩Job.10.8 — Your hands shaped me and made me, all around, and yet you swallow me down.
  10. ↩Ps.18.28 — For you save a humble people, but haughty eyes you bring low.
  11. ↩1Tim.6.16 — He alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no one among human beings has seen or is able to see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.
  12. ↩Isa.45.15 — Truly, you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, the Savior.
  13. ↩Exod.33.20 — And he said, 'You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.'
  14. ↩John.1.18 — No one has ever seen God; the only-begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, that one has made him known.
  15. ↩Matt.11.27 — All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
  16. ↩1Tim.6.16 — He alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no one among human beings has seen or is able to see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.
  17. ↩John.3.13 — And no one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven—the Son of Man.
  18. ↩Matt.11.27 — All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
  19. ↩Matt.11.27 — All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
  20. ↩Isa.6.2 — Seraphim were standing above him; each one had six wings: with two each covered his face, with two each covered his feet, and with two each would fly.
  21. ↩Isa.6.3 — And one called to another and said, 'Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the fullness of the earth is his glory.
  22. ↩Isa.6.5 — And I said, 'Woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.'
  23. ↩Isa.6.5 — And I said, 'Woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.'
  24. ↩Ps.34.3 — Let my soul boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and rejoice.
  25. ↩Ps.143.7;Ps.27.9 — Answer me quickly, LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me, or I will be like those who go down to the pit. Ps.27.9 — Do not hide your face from me; do not turn your servant away in anger. You have been my help; do not forsake me, and do not abandon me, God of my salvation.
  26. ↩Gen.18.27 — Then Abraham answered and said, "Behold, I have now ventured to speak to the Lord, though I am but dust and ashes."
  27. ↩1Sam.3.7-1Sam.3.10;Isa.35.5 — Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, and the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him. 1Sam.3.8 — Then the LORD called Samuel again the third time, and he rose and went to Eli and said, "Here I am, for you called me." And Eli understood that the LORD was calling the boy. 1Sam.3.9 — And Eli said to Samuel, "Go, lie down, and if he calls to you, then say, 'Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 1Sam.3.10 — And the LORD came and stood, and called as at other times, "Samuel, Samuel." And Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening." Isa.35.5 — Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.
  28. ↩John.17.3 — And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and the one you sent, Jesus Christ.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩Anaximenes is the pre-Socratic philosopher who held air to be the divine principle. The passage stages a dramatic refutation: the air itself denies being God, correcting the philosopher's error.
  2. 2 ↩fores carnis ("doors of the flesh") is a metaphor for the bodily senses, which surround and attend the soul.
  3. 3 ↩The world's reply 'sed per ipsum sum ego' ('but through him I am what I am') echoes the language of Exodus 3:14 and Acts 17:28, framing creation's existence as dependent on God.
  4. 4 ↩The citation is Romans 1:20 (Vulgate: 'Invisibilia enim Dei per ea quae facta sunt intellecta conspiciuntur'). The text breaks off with the abbreviated book reference 'Rom.' — the verse number is cut off in the source.
  5. 5 ↩The clause 'sine quo factum est nihil' echoes John 1:3 ('sine ipso factum est nihil'). The allusion is strong but left as a candidate pending Moses resolution.
  6. 6 ↩The parenthetical '(Job' is an abbreviated citation, likely pointing to Job 10:8 ('manus tuae fecerunt me et plasmaverunt me'). The citation is incomplete in the source text; the closing parenthesis and verse number are cut off. Left as candidate pending Moses resolution.
  7. 7 ↩manus tuae fecerunt me et plasmaverunt me closely echoes Job 10:8 (Vulgate). The double verb (fecerunt / plasmaverunt) is preserved in translation to maintain the poetic pairing.
  8. 8 ↩'X, 8)' continues the truncated Job citation from the previous sentence (likely Job 10:8). The chapter numeral 'X' and closing parenthesis are preserved as they appear in the source. The phrase 'gratias tibi, lux mea, quoniam illuminasti me' may echo Psalm 18:28 (Vulgate 17:29) or similar illumination texts, but this remains a candidate.
  9. 9 ↩The threefold 'ubi...ibi' structure creates a progressive ascent: self-knowledge → knowledge of God → divine illumination. The shift to 'autem' in the third clause marks a turning point: knowing God is not the culmination but the moment when God acts to illuminate.
  10. 10 ↩Quotation from Matthew 11:27 (Vulgate). The Latin follows the Vulgate closely: Nemo novit Filium nisi Pater, neque Patrem quis novit nisi Filius.
  11. 11 ↩Vanitati similis rendered as 'so like vanity itself' to preserve the force of the dative of comparison and the biblical resonance of vanitas.
  12. 12 ↩The attribution to Daniel likely echoes Daniel 3:52–53 (Vulgate) or a similar doxological passage. The triple superlative construction (superlaudabilis, supergloriosus, superexaltatus) is characteristic of liturgical praise.
  13. 13 ↩Quotation from Psalm 34:3 (Vulgate 35:3). The speaker addresses God directly, echoing the psalmist's words.
  14. 14 ↩'Apud misericordiam tuam' rendered as 'before your mercy' — the soul addresses God in the posture of a suppliant standing before divine mercy itself.
  15. 15 ↩'Dic per miserationes tuas' rendered 'tell me through your compassions' — the soul asks God to answer by the very acts of compassion through which God has revealed himself.
  16. 16 ↩'In interiorem aurem cordis mei' — 'into the innermost ear of my heart' — an interior, spiritual hearing beyond physical sense.

Pseudo-Augustine Soliloquia animae ad Deum (Meditations of the Soul to God) companion

A meditation like this, every morning

Chosen Portion serves the full 37-chapter work — and dozens like it — as free daily devotionals.

These soliloquies were written for daily private devotion, and the Chosen Portion app restores exactly that rhythm with one portion each morning.

  • 30 ready-to-pray meditations, each readable in about 5 minutes
  • A one-line response prompt per day so you pray it, not just read it
  • The full 37 chapters unlocked in the app when the month ends
Chosen Portion — Daily Prayer (free iOS app) →