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Chapter 32PsAugSoliloquia.1.32

Caput 32. Confessio fidei de summa Trinitate. De Dei Filio. De incarnationis mysterio. De judicio et resurrectione. De Spiritu sancto. Iterum de sancta Trinitate.

I Have Come to Know You: The Trinity

The soul thanks God for illumination and confesses the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—as the one true God, Creator of all.

I thank you, my light, who have illuminated me, and I have come to know you. How have I come to know you? I have come to know you as the only living and true God, my Creator. I have come to know you as the Creator of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible—the true God, almighty, immortal, invisible, unbounded, endless, eternal, and inaccessible, incomprehensible and unsearchable, unchangeable, immense and infinite. You are the beginning of all visible and invisible creatures, through whom all things were made and through whom all the elements subsist; your majesty, just as it never had a beginning, will never end.1 I have come to know you as the one, only, true, eternal God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—three persons, yet one entirely simple essence and one undivided nature. The Father is from no one, the Son is from the Father alone, and the Holy Spirit is equally from both; without beginning, always, and without end, you are God, three and one, the only true almighty God. You are the one beginning of all things, Creator of all things visible and invisible, spiritual and bodily. By your almighty power, at the very beginning of time, you created both kinds of creature at once from nothing—the spiritual and the bodily, namely the angelic and the worldly—and then the human, as a kind of shared nature made of body and spirit.2 I have come to know you, and I confess you as God the Father unbegotten, you as the only-begotten Son, and you as the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, neither begotten nor unbegotten—the holy and undivided Trinity in three coequal persons, consubstantial and coeternal, Trinity in unity and unity in Trinity—believing with the heart for righteousness, and confessing with the mouth for salvation (Rom.✦ 10:10).

The Son: Incarnation, Passion, and Return

The soul confesses Jesus Christ as the only-begotten Son, who became incarnate, suffered, descended to the dead, rose, ascended, and will return as judge.

I have come to know you as God and Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, my creator, savior, and redeemer, and of the whole human race, whom I confess to have been begotten from the Father before the 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 whom all things were made from the beginning; firmly believing and truly confessing you, God the only-begotten, Jesus Christ, incarnate for the salvation of humankind by the common action of the whole Trinity, conceived from Mary the perpetual virgin by the cooperation of the Holy Spirit, made a true human being, subsisting of a rational soul and human flesh.3 And although, Only-begotten of God, you are incapable of suffering and likewise immortal in your divinity, because of the overflowing love with which you loved us, you yourself, the same Son of God, became capable of suffering and mortal in your humanity. You who, for the salvation of the human race, only Son of God, deigned to suffer the passion and death on the wood of the cross, so that you might free us from everlasting death; and you descended to the underworld, where our fathers sat in darkness, as the author of light, and on the third day you rose, a glorious victor, from the underworld to the world above, taking up again the sacred body that for our sins had lain dead in the tomb, and giving it life on the third day according to the Scriptures, so that you might set it at the Father's right hand. For when you had taken up with you from the underworld the captivity that the ancient enemy of the human race had taken captive, you, the true Son of God, with the substance of our flesh—that is, with the human soul and flesh assumed from the virgin—ascended above all the heavens, surpassing all the orders of angels; and there you sit at the right hand of God the Father, where the fountain of life is, and the light no one can approach, and the peace of God that surpasses all understanding. There we adore and believe you, true God and man, Jesus Christ, confessing that you have God as your Father; and from there we await you as the judge who will come at the end of the age, so that you may judge the living and the dead and render to all, the good and the wicked, according to the works they have done in this life—either reward or punishment, as each one will have been worthy of rest or of misery.4 For on that day, at the voice of your power, all human beings will rise—as many as have received a human soul—in the flesh they had here, so that the whole person may receive, according to what is deserved, either glory or hell.5 You yourself are our life and resurrection, the Savior we await, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform the body of our humility and fashion it like the body of his glory (Phil.✦ 3:20-21).

The Holy Spirit: Light and Teacher

The soul confesses the Holy Spirit as the true light and teacher, proceeding from the Father and the Son, who enlightens and sanctifies.

I have come to know you as the true and living God, the Holy Spirit of the Father and of 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 our Lord Jesus Christ in the form of a dove (Matt. 3:16), and appeared over the Apostles in tongues of fire (Acts 2:3): you who from the beginning have also taught all the saints and elect of God by the gift of your grace, and have opened the mouths of the Prophets so that they might tell the wonders of the kingdom of God—whom all God's holy ones ought to adore and glorify together with the Father and the Son. Among them I too, the son of your handmaid, glorify your name with my whole heart, because you have enlightened me. For you are the true light, the light that tells the truth, the fire of God and the teacher of spirits, who by your anointing teach us all truth, 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, with whom, being consubstantial and coequal and coeternal, you share glory and reign beyond essence in the essence of the one Trinity.6

The One True God: Creator and Joy

The soul confesses the one triune God as Creator, light, and joy, and contrasts him with idols made by human hands.

I have come to know you, the one living and true God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — three in persons, but one in essence: whom I confess, adore, and glorify with my whole heart as the true God, the only Holy One, immortal, invisible, unchangeable, inaccessible, unsearchable — one light, one sun, one bread, one life, one good, one beginning, one end, one Creator of heaven and earth; through whom all things live, through whom all things subsist, through whom all things are governed, ruled, and given life — those in the heavens, and those on earth, and those beneath the earth; apart from whom there is no God in heaven and on earth.✦ So I have come to know you, my Knower; so I have come to know you.7 I have come to know you through the faith you inspired in me, my light, the light of my eyes, Lord my God, hope of all the ends of the earth, joy that gladdens my youth, and the good that sustains my old age.✦✦ In you, Lord, all my bones shout for joy, saying, Lord, who is like you (Ps. XXXIV, 10)? Who is like you among the gods, Lord (Ps. LXXXV, 8), not one whom human hands made, but you who made human hands? The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands (Ps.

The Maker of All: A Final Acclamation

The soul concludes by declaring that the Lord alone is God, the Maker of heaven and earth, who alone is worthy of blessing.

The Maker of human beings is not like that.8 All the gods of the nations are demons, but the Lord made the heavens (Psalm).✦ Psalm 95:5. The Lord Himself is God.✦✦ Let the gods who did not make heaven and earth perish from heaven and from earth (Jeremiah).✦ Jeremiah 10:11. God, who created heaven and earth, let heaven and earth bless Him.✦9

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. ↩Rom.10.10 — For with the heart one believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses, resulting in salvation.
  2. ↩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.
  3. ↩Deut.6.4 — Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
  4. ↩Ps.38.11;Ps.39.10 — My heart pounds, my strength has left me; even the light in my eyes — it is no longer with me. Ps.39.10 — I am silent; I will not open my mouth, for you have done this.
  5. ↩Ps.65.6;Ps.66.5 — With awesome deeds in righteousness you answer us, O God of our salvation, the confidence of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas. Ps.66.5 — Come and see the works of God, awesome in deed toward the children of man.
  6. ↩Ps.95.5;Ps.97.5 — The sea is his, and he made it; and the dry land, his hands formed it. Ps.97.5 — The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth.
  7. ↩Ps.95.5;Ps.97.5 — The sea is his, and he made it; and the dry land, his hands formed it. Ps.97.5 — The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth.
  8. ↩Deut.4.35;1Kgs.18.39 — You have been shown, so that you may know that Yahweh is God; there is no other besides him. 1Kgs.18.39 — When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, "The LORD — he is God! The LORD — he is God!"
  9. ↩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.
  10. ↩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 ↩incircumscriptibilem rendered as "unbounded" (not spatially limited); interminabilem as "endless."
  2. 2 ↩pariter ab utroque preserves the Western double-procession claim (from Father and Son). quasi communem rendered as "a kind of shared nature" (humanity as common to body and spirit).
  3. 3 ↩"a tota Trinitate communiter incarnatum": rendered as incarnation by the common action of the whole Trinity.
  4. 4 ↩"confitentes te Patrem habere Deum": rendered as confessing that you have God as Father (the Father–Son relation), not that the Son is the Father.
  5. 5 ↩"gehennam" rendered as "hell" for modern readability; the Latin specifies Gehenna as final punishment, distinct from earlier "inferos" (the underworld).
  6. 6 ↩Latin superessentialiter is a technical term (beyond/above essence). Rendered as 'beyond essence' to keep the metaphysical force without archaic diction.
  7. 7 ↩Renders cognitor as Knower: God as the one who knows the praying soul.
  8. 8 ↩Read as an agent noun playing against the preceding opera manuum hominum: idols are the works of human hands; God is the Maker of human beings, and is not like those idols.
  9. 9 ↩After the Jeremiah citation closes, the speaker turns from the judgment of false gods to a blessing of the true Creator; this second clause is not part of Jer. 10:11.

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