Caput 3. Hominis miseriaet fragilitas.
The Invisible Light of the Patriarchs
The soul invokes the invisible light that enlightened Tobias, Isaac, and Jacob to see inwardly and speak prophecy.
O light that Tobias saw when, with his eyes shut, he taught his son the way of life (Tob. 4:2–20);1 the light that Isaac saw inwardly when, though his outward eyes were dim, he told his son the things to come (Gen. 27:28);2 the light, I say, that is invisible, to which every depth of the human heart is visible; the light Jacob saw when, as you taught him within, he outwardly foretold to his sons the things that were to come (Id. 49:1–28).3
Darkness and the Creative Word
Acknowledging the darkness of the mind, the soul calls upon the divine Word, who commanded light at creation, to bring light now.
See: darkness lies over the face of the deep of my mind—you are the light; see: a dark fog over the waters of my heart—you are the truth.✦✦4 O Word, through whom all things were made, without whom nothing was made; Word, who are before all things, before whom there is nothing; Word, creating all things, without whom all things are nothing (John 1:3);✦56 Word governing all things, without whom all things do not exist; Word that you spoke in the beginning, "Let there be light," and light was made (Gen. 1:3)—7 speak even now: "Let there be light," and let light be made; and let me see the light, and know whatever is not light; because without you, darkness is put before me as light, and light as darkness.8
Without Light, Only Error
The soul concludes that without divine light there is only falsehood, confusion, blindness, and death.
And so without your light there is no truth—error is present; vanity is present, there is no truth; there is no discernment—confusion is present; ignorance is present, there is no knowledge; blindness is present, there is no sight; a trackless waste is present, there is no way; death is present, there is no life.9
Read the original Latin
O lux quam videbat Tobias, quando oculis clausis docebat filium viam vitae (Tob. IV, 2-20); lux quam videbat Isaac interius, quando caligantibus oculis exterius filio futura narrabat (Gen. XXVII, 28); lux, inquam, invisibilis, cui omnis abyssus humani cordis est visibilis; lux quam Jacob videbat, quando, sicut tu intus docebas, filiis exterius ventura praedicebat (Id. XLIX, 1-28); ecce tenebrae sunt super faciem abyssi mentis meae, tu es lumen: ecce caligo tenebrosa super aquas cordis mei, tu es veritas. O Verbum per quod facta sunt omnia, sine quo factum est nihil; Verbum quod es ante omnia, ante quod nihil; Verbum creans omnia, sine quo nihil omnia (Joan. I, 3); Verbum regens omnia, sine quo non sunt omnia; Verbum quod dixisti in principio, Fiat lux, et facta est lux (Gen. I, 3), dic etiam nunc, Fiat lux, et facta sit lux: et videam lumen, et cognoscam quidquid non est lumen; quia sine te mihi tenebrae lumen, et lumen tenebrae ponuntur. Et sic sine tua luce non est veritas, adest error; adest vanitas, non est veritas; non est discretio, adest confusio; adest ignorantia, non est scientia; adest caecitas, non est visio; adest invium, non est via; adest mors, non est vita.
Scripture echoes
- ↩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.1.2 — 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.
- ↩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.
Notes
- 1 ↩Printed sentence ends mid-parenthesis; Tobit citation closes in s2 as IV, 2-20.
- 2 ↩Begins by closing the Tobit citation from s1 and ends mid-parenthesis; Genesis citation closes in s3 as XXVII, 28.
- 3 ↩Begins by closing the Genesis citation from s2 and ends mid-parenthesis; 'Id. XLIX, 1-28' closes in s4 (same book, Genesis 49).
- 4 ↩Opens by closing the Genesis 49 citation begun in s3; the following ecce-clauses adapt Genesis 1:2 creation imagery to the speaker's mind and heart.
- 5 ↩sine quo nihil omnia is terse Latin; rendered 'without whom all things are nothing', matching the section's nihil/omnia contrasts and the next sentence's sine quo non sunt omnia.
- 6 ↩Printed sentence ends mid-parenthesis; John citation closes in s6 as I, 3.
- 7 ↩Begins by closing the John 1:3 citation from s5 and ends mid-parenthesis; Genesis citation closes in s7 as I, 3.
- 8 ↩Opens by closing the Genesis 1:3 citation begun in s6; the petition reuses Fiat lux, then turns to the speaker's confusion of light and darkness.
- 9 ↩invium rendered as 'a trackless waste' (pathless ground), the contrary of via in this chapter's light/way imagery.
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