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

Caput 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 That Seeks Him

The soul recognizes that God dwells in the depths of the soul created in His image, and that the outward senses cannot perceive Him.

Look, Lord my God, most high, most almighty—I have found the place where you dwell: for it is in the soul you created in your image and likeness (Gen. 1:27), which seeks and longs for you alone; for you do not dwell in the one that neither seeks nor longs for you.1 I wandered like a sheep that was lost, seeking you outwardly, you who are within; and I worked hard seeking you outside myself, and you dwell in me—if only I long for you. I went around the streets and squares of this world's city seeking you; and I did not find you, because I was searching badly outside for what was within. I sent out my messengers—all my outward senses—to seek you; and I did not find you, because I was searching the wrong way. For I see, my Light, God who enlightened me, that I was seeking you wrongly through them; for you are within, and yet they themselves did not know by what way you entered. For the eyes say, "If he had no color, he did not enter through us"; the ears say, "If he made no sound, he did not pass through us"; the nose says, "If he had no scent, he did not come through me"; taste says, "If he had no savor, he did not enter through me"; touch even adds, "If he has no bodily bulk, ask me nothing about this."2 These things are not in you, my God.

Seeking God Beyond All Creatures

The soul declares that when seeking God it does not seek any sensible beauty but a transcendent light, voice, scent, sweetness, and embrace; then the whole creation gives testimony that it is not God but points to its Maker.

For when I seek my God, I am not seeking physical beauty, nor the glory of the seasons, nor the brightness of light or color; not the sweet songs of melodies and whatever sounds pleasant; not the scents of flowers, ointments, or spices; not honey or manna that delights the taste; not everything else lovely to touch or hold; nor anything else that falls under these senses. God forbid that I would ever have believed these things to be my God—things that even the senses of animals can grasp. And yet when I seek my God, I am seeking nonetheless a light beyond every light, which the eye cannot perceive; a voice beyond every voice, which the ear cannot hear; a scent beyond every scent, which the nose cannot smell; a sweetness beyond every sweetness, which taste cannot savor; an embrace beyond every embrace, which my physical touch cannot feel.3 This light shines where no place can hold it; this voice sounds where no time can snatch it away; this scent is fragrant where no breeze scatters it; this taste is savored where there is no greed for eating; this embrace is felt where it is never torn away.4 This is my God, and no other will be counted equal to him. This is what I seek when I seek my God; this is what I love when I love my God. Late have I loved you, Beauty so ancient and so new; late have I loved you. And you were within, and I was outside; and there I was seeking you, and into those beautiful things you made I rushed, myself misshapen.5 You were with me, and I was not with you. Those things were holding me far from you—things that could not even exist except in you. I went looking for you in everything, and in doing so, I was abandoning myself. I asked the earth if it was my God, and it told me it wasn't; and everything in it said the same. I asked the sea and the deeps, and the creeping things that live in them; and they answered: We are not your God; seek him above us. I asked the breezes that blow; and the whole air, with everything that lives in it, said: Anaximenes is mistaken; I am not your God.6 I asked the sky, the sun, the moon, and the stars: We are not your God either, they say. And I said to everything that stands around the gates of my flesh: You have told me about my God that you yourselves are not he; tell me something about him.7 And they all cried out with a loud voice: He himself made us. So then I asked the mass of the world: Tell me whether you are my God, or not. And it answered with a strong voice: I am not, it said; but I exist through him. The one you seek in me—he made me. Seek above me the one who rules me, who made you too. To question the creatures is to consider them deeply; their answer is their testimony about God, because everything cries out, God made us—because, as the Apostle says, The invisible things of God are clearly seen, understood through the things that have been made, from the creation of the world (Rom.8 1:20).✦9

Ascent to the Creator Through Self-Knowledge

Returning to himself, the soul questions its own origin and recognizes God as the supreme Being, fountain of life, and Creator of all that exists.

And I returned to myself, and I entered into myself; and I say to myself, "Who are you?" And I answered myself, "A rational, mortal human being." And I began to examine what this was, and I said, "Where does such a living being come from, my God?"10 Where, if not from you? You made me, and I didn't make myself.✦ What are you?11 You, through whom I live; you, through whom all things live.✦ What are you?12 You, Lord, true and only God, almighty and eternal, incomprehensible and immeasurable, who always live and in whom nothing dies — immortal, dwelling in eternity, wonderful to the eyes of the angels, beyond telling, beyond searching out, and beyond naming; one and true God, fearsome and mighty; knowing neither beginning nor end, the beginning of all things and their end, who are before the first beginnings of the ages, and before every origin of the ages. You are God and Lord of all that you have created; and with you the causes of all that is stable stand firm, and with you the origins of all that changes remain unchanging, and the everlasting reasons of all things rational and irrational, and of temporal things, live on.13 Tell me, your pleading servant, my God; speak, merciful One, to your wretched one; tell me, I beg you by your mercies: where does a living being like this come from, if not from you, God?14 Or could anyone be the craftsman of his own making? Or is being and living drawn from anywhere but you? Aren't you the supreme Being, from whom every being comes? For whatever exists comes from you, because without you nothing exists. Aren't you the fountain of life, from which all life flows?✦

Gratitude and Awe Before the Hidden God

The soul gives thanks for being made and enlightened, but immediately confronts the mystery of God’s incomprehensibility—God, who is hidden, unapproachable, and known only to the Trinity.

For whatever lives lives through you, because without you nothing lives. So you, Lord, made all things. I ask: who made me? You, Lord, made me—without whom nothing was made. You are my Maker; I am your work. I give you thanks, Lord my God, 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 fashioned me.✦15 Thanks to you, my light, because you have enlightened me, and I have found myself.16 Where I found myself, there I came to know myself; where I found you, there I came to know you; but where I came to know you, there you enlightened me. Thank you, my light, for you have enlightened me. What did I mean when I said, 'I know you'? Are you not the incomprehensible and boundless God, King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone have immortality and dwell in unapproachable light, whom no human being has seen, nor can anyone see (1 Tim.✦ 6:16)?✦ Are you not the hidden God (Isa.✦ 45:15) and of unsearchable majesty, alone the greatest knower of yourself and wondrous contemplator of yourself?✦ Who, then, has known what he has never seen? For your Truth has said, 'No human being will see me and live' (Exod.✦ 33:20); and your herald also said through your truth, 'No one has ever seen God' (John.✦✦ 1:18).✦ So who has known what he has never seen? Your Truth also said, No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son (Matt.✦ 11:27).✦ Your Trinity alone is fully known only to itself, and it surpasses every sense.17 So what did I mean when I said — I, a man like vanity — that I have known you? For who has known you, except you yourself? Indeed, you alone are God almighty, beyond all praise, and supremely glorious, and exalted above all (Dan. 3:52), and you are named Most High above all, and beyond essence, in the holiest and most divine utterances; for you are known to be, beyond essence and beyond understanding, above every essence—intelligible or intellectual and sensible—and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come; for in your beyond-essential and hidden divinity you dwell in yourself, inaccessible and unsearchable, above every reason, intellect, and essence, where there is inaccessible light, and unsearchable, incomprehensible, and untellable radiance, which no light reaches, because it is held to be beyond contemplation, invisible, beyond reason, beyond understanding, beyond access, beyond change, and beyond communication—which no angel or human being has ever seen, nor can anyone see. This is your heaven, Lord: the heaven that hides the light beyond all mystery, beyond understanding, beyond reason, and beyond essence, of which it is said, The heaven of heavens belongs to the Lord (Ps. 113:16). The heaven of heavens, to which every heaven is earth, because it is raised beyond wonder above every heaven—and next to it even the empyrean heaven itself is earth: this is the heaven of heavens for the Lord, because it belongs to none but the Lord.18 No one ascends to it except the one who came down 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. 11:27). Indeed, you alone, O Trinity, are wholly known to yourself alone—Holy Trinity, Trinity beyond wonder, beyond telling, beyond searching out, beyond access, beyond comprehension, beyond understanding, and beyond essence—surpassing, beyond essence, every sense, every reason, every intellect, every intelligence, every essence of the heavenly spirits: whom it is possible neither to speak, nor to think, nor to understand, nor to know, even with the eyes of angels. How, then, have I known you, Lord God Most High above all the earth, above every heaven—whom neither the Cherubim know perfectly, nor the Seraphim; but with the wings of their contemplations the face of the One seated on the high and lifted-up throne is veiled, as they cry out and say, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory; and the prophet was struck with dread, and said, Woe is me, because I have kept silent, for I am a man of unclean lips (Isa.19

The Grace of Knowing God as He Is to Us

Despite the prophet’s fear, the soul dares to speak of God, having learned that it knows God not as God is to Himself but as God reveals Himself by grace; it then pleads for mercy and hears God’s voice within.

VI, 1–5)—and my heart trembled with fear, and I said, "Woe to me, because I did not keep silent, because I am a man of unclean lips." But I said, "I have come to know you."20 And yet, Lord, woe to those who keep silent about you, because the talkative become mute without you. And I will not keep silent, because you made me and enlightened me; and I found myself and came to know myself, and I found you and came to know you, because you enlightened me. But how did I come to know you? I came to know you in you. I didn't come to know you as you are to yourself, but I came to know you as you are to me; and this was not without you, but in you, because you are the light that enlightened me. As you are to yourself, you are known only to yourself; as you are to me, according to your grace you are known to me also. But what are you to me? Tell me, merciful One, to your wretched one; tell me through your mercies: what are you to me? Say to my soul, "I am your salvation" (Ps.✦ 34:3).✦ Do not 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.21 I will speak to my God, though I am dust and ashes (Gen. 18:27). Tell me, your suppliant; tell me, merciful One, to your wretched one; tell me through your mercies: what are you to me? And from above you thundered with a great voice into the inner ear of my heart, and you broke 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. That is why I said that I have come to know you; I have come to know you, because you are my God; I have come to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you sent. For there was a time when I did not know you.

Late Have I Loved You

The soul laments the time when it was ignorant, blind, and deaf to God, and rejoices that now it sees and loves, having been enlightened by the eternal Beauty.

Woe to that time when I did not know you! Woe to that blindness when I did not see you! Woe to that deafness when I did not hear you! Blind and deaf, I plunged, misshapen, through the beautiful things you made: and you were with me, and I was not with you; and those things held me far from you that would not exist unless they existed in you.22 You enlightened me, Light; and I saw you, and I loved you; for no one loves you except the one who sees you, and no one sees you except the one who loves you. I loved you late, Beauty so ancient; I loved you late.23 Woe to that time when I did not 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. ↩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.
  2. ↩Ps.100.3;Ps.101.3 — Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; his people and the sheep of his pasture. Ps.101.3 — I will not set before my eyes any worthless thing. I hate the practice of those who turn aside; it will not cling to me.
  3. ↩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.'
  4. ↩Ps.36.10 — For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.
  5. ↩Job.10.8 — Your hands shaped me and made me, all around, and yet you swallow me down.
  6. ↩1Tim.6.15-1Tim.6.16 — which he will display in his own time—the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of those who reign and Lord of those who rule. 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.
  7. ↩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.
  8. ↩Isa.45.15 — Truly, you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, the Savior.
  9. ↩Isa.45.15 — Truly, you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, the Savior.
  10. ↩Exod.33.20 — And he said, 'You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.'
  11. ↩Exod.33.20 — And he said, 'You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.'
  12. ↩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.
  13. ↩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.
  14. ↩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.
  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. ↩Ps.35.3 — Draw the spear, and close ranks against my pursuers; say to my soul, "I am your salvation."
  17. ↩Ps.35.3 — Draw the spear, and close ranks against my pursuers; say to my soul, "I am your salvation."

Notes

  1. 1 ↩Latin is elliptical after the second quia (quia non in illa…): habitas is understood from the preceding clause.
  2. 2 ↩corpulentus rendered as 'bodily bulk' (corporeal mass), not mere stoutness.
  3. 3 ↩quamdam / quemdam rendered as indefinite 'a' rather than 'a certain,' to keep the mystical sensory metaphors natural without sounding pedantic.
  4. 4 ↩edacitas rendered as 'greed of eating' (voraciousness) rather than bare 'eating,' to keep the contrast with unconsumed spiritual savor.
  5. 5 ↩deformis taken with the speaker ('myself misshapen'), not with the created beauties; irruebam governs in ista formosa.
  6. 6 ↩Anaximenes of Miletus taught that air is the first principle; the air here denies that claim.
  7. 7 ↩fores carnis meae: the body's gateways, i.e. the senses through which the outer world meets the soul.
  8. 8 ↩Citation is truncated mid-parenthesis at (Rom.; neighboring section continues I, 20).
  9. 9 ↩Citation fragment completing the previous section’s parenthetical ‘(Rom.’ — together Romans 1:20 (Vulgate Rom. I, 20).
  10. 10 ↩animal rendered as "living being" in the philosophical sense of a rational creature, not a nonhuman beast.
  11. 11 ↩Elliptical Quid tu? taken as a turn from self-definition toward asking what God is, which the following praise answers.
  12. 12 ↩Repeated elliptical Quid tu? after naming God as the source of life; intensifies the unanswered question that the next section begins to answer.
  13. 13 ↩rationes here likely means the everlasting ideas/reasons in God (Augustinian rationes aeternae), not merely explanatory 'reasons' in a modern sense.
  14. 14 ↩animal continues the prior section's 'tale animal' for the rational mortal human; rendered 'living being' rather than modern 'animal'.
  15. 15 ↩Source ends mid-citation with '(Job.'; the intended reference is completed in the next sentence as Job 10:8 (manus tuae fecerunt me et plasmaverunt me).
  16. 16 ↩Leading 'X, 8);' is bibliographic debris completing the Job 10:8 citation begun in s6; omitted from the modern sentence.
  17. 17 ↩Rendered sensum as 'sense' to keep the later mystical triad of sense / reason / intellect available; the same Latin often means 'understanding' in the Philippians 4:7 cadence.
  18. 18 ↩'cui terra est omne coelum' and 'ad quod terra est etiam ipsum empyreum coelum' treat lower heavens as earth relative to the highest heaven; rendered comparatively rather than as a claim that the skies are literal soil.
  19. 19 ↩Latin has 'Vae mihi quia tacui' ('because I have kept silent'), the Vulgate reading of Isa 6:5 in this witness; the next section continues the Isaiah scene with a 'non tacui' variant. Rendered from this section's text only.
  20. 20 ↩The speaker deliberately inverts the preceding Isaiah citation (Vae mihi quia tacui) to quia non tacui: woe not for having kept silent, but for having dared to speak of God while unclean of lips.
  21. 21 ↩me terram et cinerem taken as apposition (me, who am earth and ash), anticipating the Gen 18:27 citation in s3–s4.
  22. 22 ↩deformis is taken predicatively with irruebam: the speaker, spiritually misshapen, rushes among created beauties (formosa), not that the creatures themselves are deformed.
  23. 23 ↩Clear verbal echo of Augustine, Confessions 10.27 (Sero te amavi, pulchritudo tam antiqua...); not a biblical quotation. Source here lacks the familiar et tam nova half.

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