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← Pseudo-Augustine Soliloquia animae ad Deum (Meditations of the Soul to God)/Book 1 · Soliloquia animae ad Deum
Chapter 32PsAug.1.32

Confessio fidei de summa Trinitate. De Dei Filio. De incarnationis mysterio. De judicio et resurrectione. De Spiritu sancto. Iterum de sancta Trinitate.

The Soul Awakens to the One True God

The soul gives thanks for divine illumination and confesses the one true God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—as Creator of all things visible and invisible, eternal and almighty, in a Trinitarian confession grounded in Romans 10:10.

Thanks be to you, my light, who enlightened me, and I have come to know you. How have I come to know you? I have come to know you as the one true God, living and real, my creator; I have known you as creator of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible — the true God, almighty, immortal, invisible, boundless, limitless, eternal and inaccessible, incomprehensible and unfathomable, unchangeable, immense and infinite — the beginning of all creatures visible and invisible, through whom all things were made, through whom all the elements subsist; whose majesty, just as it never had a beginning, so it never ceases, world without end.✦✦1 I have known you as the one true God, eternal — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: three persons, yet one essence, wholly simple and indivisible in nature; the Father from no one, the Son from the Father alone, and the Holy Spirit equally from both — without beginning, always and without end: God three-in-one, the one true God, almighty, the single source of all things, creator of all that is visible and invisible, spiritual and bodily, who by your almighty power founded at the same instant, from the beginning of time, both creatures from nothing — the spiritual and the corporeal, that is, the angelic and the earthly — and then the human creature, as it were a common nature constituted from body and spirit.✦✦23 I have known you, and I confess you: God the Father, unbegotten; you, the only-begotten Son; you, the Holy Spirit, the Advocate — neither begotten nor unbegotten — the holy and indivisible Trinity, in three co-equal, consubstantial, and co-eternal persons: the Trinity in unity, and the unity in the Trinity; believing with the heart unto righteousness, and confessing with the mouth unto salvation (Rom.✦45 10:10).✦

Christ's Saving Work: Incarnation, Passion, Resurrection, and Judgment

The soul confesses the full mystery of Christ—from his eternal begetting and incarnation through Mary, through his passion, death, descent to the dead, resurrection, and ascension, to his coming judgment of the living and the dead and the general resurrection.

I have come to know you, God and Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, my creator, savior, and redeemer, and the redeemer of all humankind. I confess that you were begotten of the Father before all ages: God from God, light from light, true God from true God—not made, but begotten, consubstantial and coeternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Through you all things were made from the beginning. I firmly believe and truly confess you, the only-begotten God, Jesus Christ: for the salvation of humankind you were incarnate by the common will of the whole Trinity, conceived from the ever-virgin Mary through the power of the Holy Spirit, made truly human, consisting of a rational soul and human flesh.✦ Although in your divinity, only-begotten of God, you are impassible and immortal, that same Son of God, for the sake of your surpassing love with which you loved us, became passible and mortal in his humanity.✦ For the salvation of the human race, beloved Son of God, you deigned to suffer passion and death on the wood of the cross, to set us free from everlasting death. You, the author of light, descended to the realm of the dead, where our fathers sat in darkness, and on the third day rose in glorious victory from the dead to the living. You took up again the sacred body that had lain dead in the tomb for our sins, and, giving it life again according to the Scriptures on the third day, you placed it at the right hand of the Father.✦ Having taken with you from the realm of the dead the captivity that the ancient enemy of the human race had held, the true Son of God, with the substance of our flesh—that is, with the soul and human flesh assumed from the Virgin—you ascended above all the heavens, transcending every order of angels. There you sit at the right hand of God the Father, where is the fountain of life, the light that no one can approach, and the peace of God that surpasses all understanding.✦✦ There we adore you, true God and man, Jesus Christ, and we believe and confess you to have God as your Father. We look for you to come as judge at the end of the age, to judge the living and the dead, and to render to all—to the good and to the evil—according to their works, which they have done in this life: to each one reward or punishment, as each is found worthy of rest or of misery.✦✦ For on that day all human beings will rise at the voice of your power—everyone who has received a human soul, in the flesh they had in this life—so that the whole person, according to their merits, will receive either glory or damnation.✦✦ You yourself are our life and our resurrection. We look for you as Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of his glory.✦✦ Philippians 3:20–21.✦

The Holy Spirit: Light, Teacher, and Advocate

The soul confesses the Holy Spirit as consubstantial and coeternal with the Father and Son, who descended upon Christ in the form of a dove and upon the apostles as tongues of fire, who inspired the prophets, and who teaches all truth as the Spirit of truth.

I have come to know you as the true and living God, the Holy Spirit of the Father and the Son, proceeding equally from both, consubstantial and coeternal with the Father and the Son, our Paraclete and Advocate, who descended upon that same God and Lord of ours, Jesus Christ, in the appearance of a dove (Matt.6 III, 16), and upon the apostles you appeared in tongues of fire (Acts II, 3): who by the gift of your grace taught all the holy and chosen ones of God from the beginning, and opened the mouths of the prophets so that they might proclaim the wonders of the kingdom of God — whom it is right to be adored and glorified together with the Father and the Son by all the saints of God.7 Among whom I too, a son of your handmaid, glorify your name with my whole heart, because you have enlightened me.8 For you are the true light, the truthful lamp, the fire of God and teacher of spirits, who by your anointing teach us all truth — the Spirit of truth, without whom it is impossible to please God, because you yourself are God from God, and light from light, proceeding from the Father of lights and from his Son our Lord Jesus Christ, being consubstantial and coequal and coeternal with them, and in the essence of the one Trinity you are superessentially glorified together and reign together.✦✦910

The One God: Incomparable Creator and Sustainer of All

The soul confesses the one true God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—as the sole Creator, Sustainer, and Lord of all, who alone is worthy of worship, and contrasts the living God with the lifeless idols of the nations.

I have known you as one God, living and true — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — three indeed in persons, but one in essence. You I confess, you I adore, and you I glorify with my whole heart: the one true God, the only holy one, immortal, invisible, unchangeable, inaccessible, beyond all searching out; the one light, the one sun, the one bread, the one life, the one good, the one beginning, the one end, the one Creator of heaven and earth. Through you all things live, through you all things hold together, through you all things are governed, ruled, and given life — all that is in the heavens, all that is on the earth, and all that lies beneath the earth. Apart from you there is no God in heaven or on earth.✦ So I have known you, my Knower — so I have known you. I have known you through your faith, which you have breathed into me — my light, the lamp of my eyes, Lord my God, the hope of all the ends of the earth; a joy that gladdens my youth, and a good that sustains my old age.✦✦ In you, Lord, all my bones rejoice, saying, 'Lord, who is like you?' (Psalm✦ 34:10). Who is like you among the gods, Lord? (Psalm✦ 85:8) — not what human hands have made, but you who made human hands?✦✦ The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands (Psalm✦

Idols Shall Perish; The Creator Shall Be Blessed

The soul declares that all the gods of the nations are demons and idols made of silver and gold, and pronounces the prophetic judgment that those who did not make heaven and earth shall perish, while the heavens and the earth bless the God who created them.

(Psalm 113:4): Not so is the Maker of men.✦ All the gods of the nations are demons; but the Lord made the heavens (Psalm✦ 95:5), the Lord himself is God.✦ The gods who did not make heaven and earth—let them perish from heaven and from earth (Jeremiah✦ 10:11): God who created heaven and earth—let the heavens and the earth bless him.

Read the original Latin

Gratias tibi, lux mea, quae illuminasti me, et cognovi te. Qualiter cognovi te? Cognovi te solum Deum vivum et verum creatorem meum; cognovi te creatorem coeli et terrae, visibilium omnium et invisibilium, Deum verum, omnipotentem, immortalem, invisibilem, incircumscriptibilem, interminabilem, aeternum et inaccessibilem, incomprehensibilem et imperscrutabilem, incommutabilem, immensum et infinitum, principium omnium visibilium et invisibilium creaturarum, per quem omnia facta sunt, per quem cuncta subsistunt elementa; cujus majestas sicut principium nunquam habuit, sic nec desinit in aeternum. Cognovi te unum solum verum Deum aeternum Patrem et Filium et Spiritum sanctum, tres quidem personas, sed unam essentiam omnino simplicem, indivisamque naturam; et Patrem a nullo, Filium a Patre solo, et Spiritum sanctum pariter ab utroque, absque initio, semper et sine fine Deum trinum et unum solum verum Deum omnipotentem, unum universorum principium, creatorem omnium visibilium et invisibilium, spiritualium et corporalium, qui tua omnipotenti virtute simul ab initio temporis utramque de nihilo condidisti creaturam spiritualem et corporalem, angelicam videlicet et mundanam, ac deinde humanam quasi communem ex corpore et spiritu constitutam. Cognovi te, et confiteor te Deum Patrem ingenitum, te Filium unigenitum, te Spiritum sanctum paracletum neque genitum neque ingenitum, sanctam et individuam Trinitatem in tribus coaequalibus personis consubstantialibus et coaeternis, Trinitatem in unitate, et unitatem in Trinitate, corde credens ad justitiam, et ore confitens ad salutem (Rom. X, 10).

Cognovi te Deum et Dominum Jesum Christum Filium Dei unigenitum, creatorem, salvatorem et redemptorem meum, et totius humani generis, quem confiteor ex Patre genitum ante saecula, Deum de Deo, lumen de lumine, Deum verum de Deo vero, non factum, sed genitum, consubstantialem et coaeternum Patri et Spiritui sancto, per quem omnia facta sunt a principio; firmiter credens, et veraciter confitens te Deum unigenitum Jesum Christum, propter salutem hominum a tota Trinitate communiter incarnatum, et ex Maria perpetua virgine Spiritus sancti cooperatione conceptum, verum hominem factum, ex anima rationali et humana carne subsistentem. Qui cum secundum divinitatem, Unigenite Dei, impassibilis sis pariter et immortalis, propter nimiam dilectionem tuam qua dilexisti nos, idem ipse Dei Filius secundum humanitatem factus es passibilis et mortalis. Qui propter salutem humani generis, unice Fili Dei, in ligno crucis pati dignatus es passionem et mortem, ut nos a morte perpetua liberares: atque ad inferos, ubi sedebant in tenebris patres nostri, auctor luminis descendisti, et die tertia gloriosus victor ab inferis ad superos resurrexisti, resumens sacrum corpus, quod pro peccatis nostris mortuum jacuerat in sepulcro, et vivificans secundum Scripturas die tertia, ut ipsum in Patris dextera collocares. Assumpta namque tecum ex inferis captivitate, quam captivaverat antiquus humani generis inimicus, verus Dei Filius cum nostrae carnis substantia, id est, cum anima et carne humana ex virgine assumpta, super omnes coelos ascendisti, transcendens omnes ordines Angelorum; ubi sedes ad dexteram Dei Patris, ubi est fons vitae, et lumen inaccessibile, et pax Dei quae exsuperat omnem sensum. Ibi te Deum verum et hominem Jesum Christum adoramus et credimus, confitentes te Patrem habere Deum; indeque venturum judicem in fine saeculi exspectamus, ut judices vivos et mortuos, et reddas omnibus, bonis et malis, secundum opera sua, quae operati sunt in hac vita, vel praemium vel supplicium, prout unusquisque dignus fuerit requie vel aerumna. Resurgent enim in illa die a voce virtutis tuae omnes homines, quotquot humanam animam acceperunt, in carne sua quam hic habuerunt, ut totus homo pro meritis, vel gloriam suscipiat vel gehennam. Tu es ipse vita et resurrectio nostra, quem Salvatorem exspectamus Dominum Jesum Christum, qui reformabit corpus humilitatis nostrae configuratum corpori claritatis suae (Philipp. III, 20 et 21).

Cognovi te Deum verum et vivum Spiritum sanctum Patris et Filii, ab utroque pariter procedentem, consubstantialem et coaeternum Patri et Filio, paracletum et advocatum nostrum, qui super eumdem Deum et Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum in columbae specie descendisti (Matth. III, 16), et super Apostolos in linguis igneis apparuisti (Act. II, 3): qui et omnes sanctos et electos Dei a principio tuae gratiae munere docuisti, et ora Prophetarum, ut enarrarent mirabilia regni Dei aperuisti, quem cum Patre et Filio simul adorari et glorificari oportet ab omnibus sanctis Dei. Inter quos et ego filius ancillae tuae toto corde meo glorifico nomen tuum, quoniam illuminasti me. Tu es enim vera lux, lumen veridicum, ignis Dei et magister spirituum, qui unctione tua doces nos omnem veritatem, spiritus veritatis, sine quo impossibile est placere Deo, quoniam tu ipse Deus es ex Deo, et lux de luce, procedens a Patre luminum, et a suo Filio Domino nostro Jesu Christo, quibus consubstantialis et coaequalis et coaeternus existens, in unius Trinitatis essentia superessentialiter congloriaris et conregnas.

Cognovi te unum Deum vivum et verum Patrem, et Filium, et Spiritum sanctum, trinum quidem in personis, sed unum in essentia: quem confiteor, adoro et glorifico toto corde meo verum Deum, solum sanctum, immortalem, invisibilem, incommutabilem, inaccessibilem, imperscrutabilem, unum lumen, unum solem, unum panem, unam vitam, unum bonum, unum principium, unum finem, unum creatorem coeli et terrae; per quem omnia vivunt, per quem omnia subsistunt, per quem omnia gubernantur, reguntur et vivificantur, quae in coelis sunt, et quae in terris, et quae subtus terram; praeter quem non est Deus in coelo et in terra. Sic cognovi te, cognitor meus, sic cognovi te. Cognovi te per fidem tuam quam inspirasti mihi, lux mea, lumen oculorum meorum, Domine Deus meus, spes omnium finium terrae, gaudium laetificans juventutem meam, et bonum sustentans senectutem meam. In te, Domine, jubilant omnia ossa mea dicentia, Domine, quis similis tui (Psal. XXXIV, 10)? Quis similis tui in diis, Domine (Psal. LXXXV, 8), non quem fecit manus hominum, sed qui fecisti manus hominum? Simulacra gentium argentum et aurum, opera manuum hominum (Psal.

CXIII, 4): non sic operator hominum. Omnes dii gentium daemonia; Dominus autem coelos fecit (Psal. XCV, 5), Dominus ipse est Deus. Dii qui non fecerunt coelum et terram, pereant de coelo et de terra (Jerem. X, 11): Deus qui creavit coelum et terram, benedicant eum coeli et terra.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩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.
  2. ↩Rom.11.36 — For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.
  3. ↩Gen.1.1-Gen.2.7 — In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Gen.1.2 — And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Gen.1.3 — And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. Gen.1.4 — And God saw the light, that it was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. Gen.1.5 — And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening, and there was morning: the first day. Gen.1.6 — And God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate waters from waters." Gen.1.7 — And God made the expanse, and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. Gen.1.8 — And God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning — a second day. Gen.1.9 — And God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered to one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so. Gen.1.10 — And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good. Gen.1.11 — And God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation—plants yielding seed, fruit trees bearing fruit according to their kinds, whose seed is in them, upon the earth." And it was so. Gen.1.12 — And the earth brought forth vegetation—plants yielding seed according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Gen.1.13 — And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day. Gen.1.14 — And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years." Gen.1.15 — and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth — and it was so. Gen.1.16 — And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. Gen.1.17 — And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth, Gen.1.18 — and to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. Gen.1.19 — And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day. Gen.1.20 — And God said, "Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens." Gen.1.21 — And God created the great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters swarmed, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Gen.1.22 — And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth." Gen.1.23 — And there was evening, and there was morning — the fifth day. Gen.1.24 — And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creeping things, and wild animals of the earth, each according to its kind." And it was so. Gen.1.25 — And God made the living creatures of the earth according to their kinds, and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 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." 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. 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.' Gen.1.29 — And God said, "See, I have given you every seed-bearing plant that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit; they shall be yours for food." Gen.1.30 — And to every living creature of the earth, and to every bird of the heavens, and to everything that creeps on the earth in which there is a living soul—every green plant for food. And it was so. Gen.1.31 — And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Gen.2.1 — Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their host. Gen.2.2 — And God finished on the seventh day His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. Gen.2.3 — And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it He rested from all His work which God created to do. Gen.2.4 — These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made earth and heavens. Gen.2.5 — No bush of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted; for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to till the ground. Gen.2.6 — But a mist would rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground. 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.
  4. ↩John.1.1-John.1.3 — 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.
  5. ↩Rom.10.10 — For with the heart one believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses, resulting in salvation.
  6. ↩Rom.10.10 — For with the heart one believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses, resulting in salvation.
  7. ↩John.1.1-John.1.3 — 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.
  8. ↩Phil.2.6-Phil.2.8 — who, existing in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to exploit, Phil.2.7 — but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness, and appearing as a human being. Phil.2.8 — And he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
  9. ↩1Pet.3.18-1Pet.3.19 — For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God — put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit. 1Pet.3.19 — in which also he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison,
  10. ↩Phil.4.7 — And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
  11. ↩Eph.4.8-Eph.4.10 — Therefore it says, 'When he ascended on high he led captivity captive, and he gave gifts to men.' Eph.4.9 — Now "he ascended"—what does it mean except that he also descended into the lower regions, the earth? Eph.4.10 — The one who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.
  12. ↩2Tim.4.1 — I charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is about to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:
  13. ↩Rom.2.6 — who will render to each one according to that person's works
  14. ↩1Thess.4.16 — For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
  15. ↩Matt.25.46 — And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
  16. ↩Phil.3.21 — who will transform the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the power that enables him to subject all things to himself.
  17. ↩John.11.25 — Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live."
  18. ↩Phil.3.20-Phil.3.21 — For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Phil.3.21 — who will transform the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the power that enables him to subject all things to himself.
  19. ↩John.14.16-John.14.17 — And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. John.14.17 — the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he abides with you and will be in you.
  20. ↩Jas.1.17 — Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
  21. ↩Col.1.17 — And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
  22. ↩Ps.65.5 — Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, to dwell in your courts. We are satisfied with the goodness of your house, your holy temple.
  23. ↩Ps.19.8 — The instruction of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
  24. ↩Ps.35.9-Ps.35.10 — Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD; it will exult in his salvation. Ps.35.10 — All my bones shall say, 'LORD, who is like You, delivering the poor from the one too strong for him—the poor and the needy from the one who robs him?'
  25. ↩Ps.86.8 — There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, and there are no works like yours.
  26. ↩Ps.86.8 — There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, and there are no works like yours.
  27. ↩Isa.45.9-Isa.45.12 — Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker—a piece of clay among the clay pots of the earth! Shall the clay say to its maker, "What are you making?" Or your work say to him, "He has no hands"? Isa.45.10 — Woe to the one who says to a father, 'What are you begetting?' and to a woman, 'What are you giving birth to?' Isa.45.11 — Thus says the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: 'Ask me about the signs concerning my children, and concerning the work of my hands, command me.' Isa.45.12 — I made the earth, and I created humankind upon it; my hands stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host.
  28. ↩Ps.135.15 — The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands.
  29. ↩Ps.113.4 — The LORD is high above all nations; his glory is above the heavens.
  30. ↩Ps.95.5 — The sea is his, and he made it; and the dry land, his hands formed it.
  31. ↩Ps.95.5 — The sea is his, and he made it; and the dry land, his hands formed it.
  32. ↩Jer.10.11 — This is what you shall say to them: The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩The long string of divine attributes (incircumscriptibilem, interminabilem, inaccessibilem, incomprehensibilem, imperscrutabilem, incommutabilem, immensum, infinitum) draws on patristic and conciliar theology. Each is rendered with its closest natural English equivalent to preserve the doctrinal weight without archaizing.
  2. 2 ↩The Trinitarian and creedal language (tres personas, unam essentiam, simplicem, indivisamque naturam, a nullo, a Patre solo, pariter ab utroque, absque initio, sine fine) follows the Athanasian and Nicene pattern. Rendered to preserve doctrinal precision while remaining readable.
  3. 3 ↩quasi communem: 'as it were common' — the human creature is presented as a kind of bridge or meeting point between the spiritual and corporeal orders.
  4. 4 ↩neque genitum neque ingenitum: the Spirit is neither begotten (like the Son) nor unbegotten (like the Father) — a standard patristic distinction regarding the Spirit's procession.
  5. 5 ↩corde credens ad justitiam, et ore confitens ad salutem is a direct echo of Romans 10:10. Citation anchor noted; final resolution deferred to tx-08.
  6. 6 ↩Paraclete: the Latin paracletus renders the Greek παράκλητος (Advocate/Comforter/Helper); the theological weight is preserved here without paraphrase.
  7. 7 ↩The relative quem refers to the Holy Spirit as the one to be adored and glorified together with the Father and the Son — a doxological claim about the Spirit's full divinity.
  8. 8 ↩Son of your handmaid echoes the Marian title ancilla Domini (Luke 1:38, 48); the speaker places himself among the saints as a humble servant.
  9. 9 ↩Superessentialiter (superessentially) is a technical theological term pointing to the divine essence as beyond all categories; it is preserved here without simplification.
  10. 10 ↩The string of Nicene predicates — consubstantialis, coaequalis, coaeternus — is rendered in full to preserve the confessional weight of the passage.

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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) →