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Chapter 85SermC.1.85

Sermo 85

Why the Soul Seeks the Word

Bernard introduces the soul’s search for the Word and lists the many reasons the soul needs the Word for correction, light, strength, wisdom, beauty, fruitfulness, and joy.

On my bed I searched for the one my soul loves.✦ For what purpose? It has been said, and to repeat it would be superfluous; nevertheless, for the sake of some who were not present when it was being treated, I will say something briefly — and perhaps even those who were present will not be reluctant to hear it. For the whole of it could not be said at that time. The soul seeks the Word, to which it may give its assent for correction, by which it may be enlightened for understanding, upon which it may lean for strength, by which it may be reshaped for wisdom, to which it may be conformed for beauty, to which it may be united for fruitfulness, and in which it may delight for joy. Right here are all the reasons the soul seeks the Word. I don't doubt that there are many others as well, but these present themselves right now. But if this is important to you, you can easily turn from one to another within yourself.

Consent to Correction and the Struggle with Habit

The soul is urged to consent to the Word’s correction, resist its own desires, and seek the Word’s help because no one can overcome long-standing habit by personal strength alone.

Indeed, our turnings away are many, and the needs of the soul are many and endless, and there is no counting our anxieties. But the Word overflows more richly and more fully in what is good, being Wisdom that conquers wickedness and overcomes evil with good.✦ And now, receive the reasoning behind the points I have set down. And first, as the first matter, see how it consents to correction. We read the Word speaking in the Gospels: 'Be agreeable,' he says, 'to your opponent while you are with them on the way, lest they hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the jailer.'✦ What could be more sound advice? The counsel of the Word, unless I am mistaken, is to stand as an opponent that protests against our fleshly desires when it says: 'These always go astray in their hearts.'✦ So you who hear this: if you begin, trembling, to want to flee from the coming wrath, I believe you'll be anxious about how you can come to terms with this opponent who seems to threaten you so terribly with it. But that's impossible unless you disagree with yourself, unless you set yourself against yourself, unless you fight against yourself with a heavy and watchful struggle, untiringly; and finally, unless you grow strong against your long-standing habit and inborn attachment. That's indeed hard. If you've applied your strength to this, it'll be like trying to stop the force of a torrent with one of your fingers, or to turn the Jordan backward again. What will you do? Seek the Word to whom he himself is making it possible for you to consent. Flee to the one who opposes you, through whom you become such that he no longer opposes you, so that the one who threatened may now flatter you, and grace poured in may be more effective for your transformation than intense anger.

Seeking the Word for Light and Understanding

The soul must also seek the Word for knowledge and illumination, since zeal without knowledge is dangerous and the Word gives life to the will and sight to the understanding.

This, I think, is the first necessity that moves the soul to seek the Word. But if you don't know what he wants — the one you're already consenting to by your own will — won't it also be said of you that you have zeal for God, but not according to knowledge?1 . And don't take this lightly: remember what is written — that whoever is ignorant will be ignored.2 Do you want to know what my counsel is in this necessity? What is found in the first.3 By my counsel you will now go to the Word too, and he will teach you his ways — so that while you're running, even if you don't will the good but only ignore it, it may happen that you run off course and wander in trackless country, and not on the path.4 For the Word is light. A clear statement of what's been said sheds light, and it gives understanding to the simple. You are blessed if you too can say, 'Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my paths.' Your soul has gained little whose will is changed but whose enlightened reason does not both will and know what is good.5 In the one it has received life, in the other sight. For it was dead to evil by willing it, and blind to good by ignoring it.

Standing Only by the Word’s Strength

The soul can stand only by the Word’s lifting and support; all human instability, temptation, and self-deception show that security comes not from self-confidence but from leaning on the Word.

Now the soul is alive, now it sees, now it stands firm in the good — but by the help and work of the Word.6 It stands, as it were, lifted by the hand of the Word over the two feet — devotion and knowledge.7 It stands, I say — but let the one who thinks he stands consider this: whoever imagines himself to be standing firm, let him take care not to fall.✦8 Do you think it can stand by itself, when it wasn't even able to rise by itself? I don't think so. Why not? By the Word of the Lord the heavens were established — so can the earth stand without the Word?✦9 So if the man could stand by himself, why did he pray from the earth, 'Strengthen me in your words'?✦10 . In short, he had been tested. It was the voice of that very one himself: I was driven, overthrown, ready to fall, and the Lord caught me. You ask: who was that instigator? It wasn't just one. The devil is an instigator; the world is an instigator; a person is an instigator. You ask: which person was it? Each person of themselves. Don't be surprised. A person is, to the highest degree, the very instigator of himself and the one who plunges himself headlong, so that there's nothing you need to dread from any other instigator, if only you keep your own hands off yourself. For who, he says, can harm you, if you have been good rivals?✦ . Your hand, your consent. If the devil suggests, or the world persuades, what you shouldn't agree to, and you hold fast to your consent, and don't make your members weapons of wickedness, and don't let sin reign in your mortal body — you've proved yourself a good rival, one whom wickedness has done no harm at all. Just see to it that it doesn't end up profiting it more.✦ For it is written: Do good, and you'll have praise from it.✦ Those who sought your soul are confounded, but you will sing: If my own are not dominated, then I will be unspotted.

The Forces That Press Against the Soul

Three forces attack the standing soul—devil, world, and self—but the greatest danger is one’s own consent; true strength is a mind ruled by reason and clothed in virtue from on high.

You've given a clear sign of a good emulator: if you show mercy to your own soul by following the counsel of the wise, if you guard your heart with every vigilance, if you keep yourself chaste according to the Apostle.1112 Otherwise, even if you gain the whole world, yet suffer loss for your soul, we clearly don't judge you a good emulator — because not even the Savior did that.1314 Since, then, three forces press in on anyone who stands firm: the devil drives with the envy of malice, the world with the wind of vanity, and the person themselves with the weight of their own corruption. The devil drives, but he won't overthrow you, if you've denied him your help or your consent. In fact, you have the word: Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.✦ He is the one who, envious, drove and overthrew those standing in paradise—but only those who consented, not those who resisted. He is the one who, proud, hurled himself down from heaven with no one driving him—so you should know all the more that a person lies at the mercy of their own fall, since the weight of their own nature drags them down.✦ The world too is a driving force, because it is set in what is evil. It drives everyone, but it overthrows only its own friends—that is, those who agree with it. I don't want to be a friend of the world, so that I don't fall the same way.✦ For whoever wants to be a friend of this world is made an enemy of God — and surely there is no fall more devastating than that.✦ From all this it's clear enough how uniquely a person is his own worst impulse: he can fall by himself without any outside push, but he cannot fall from outside help without his own consent. So which of these must we resist above all? Clearly the one who is all the more troublesome the more inward he is, since he alone is enough to cast you down — for without him, others can do nothing. Not without reason did the Wise One prefer the person who rules his own mind to the conqueror of cities.✦15 This matters greatly for you: you have work to do by virtue — and not just any virtue, but the kind you are clothed with from on high.✦ For if it is perfect, it easily makes the mind victorious over itself, and so renders it unconquerable in all things. It is indeed the mark of a vigorous mind to refuse to yield when reason must be defended. Or, if you prefer, it's the soul's strength, standing immovably in accordance with reason — or rather, on behalf of reason. Or put this way: the soul's strength, insofar as it belongs to the soul, compelling or directing everything toward reason.

Leaning on the Word to Be Unconquerable

The soul that leans on the Word climbs toward virtue, finds strength in divine omnipotence, and learns that without the Word it can neither rise nor remain in the good.

Who will ascend the mountain of the Lord? Whoever strives to reach the summit of this mountain — that is, the perfection of virtue — will certainly learn how steep the climb is, and how hollow all effort is without the help of the Word. Happy is the soul that, as the angels looked on, offered a cause for both joy and wonder at itself, so that it might hear them speak of her: "Who is this who rises from the wilderness, overflowing with delights, leaning upon her beloved?" . Otherwise, it strives in vain if it does not lean upon him. Truly, the soul that leans against its own will also grow strong, and made stronger in itself, it will compel all things to serve reason: anger, fear, desire, and joy — like a chariot of the mind — a good charioteer will guide them, and will reduce every fleshly passion and every bodily feeling to the bidding of reason, into the service of virtue. Why shouldn't all things be possible for the one leaning upon him who can do all things? What a voice of trust: "I can do all things in him who strengthens me!" Nothing makes the omnipotence of the Word clearer than the fact that it makes all who hope in him omnipotent. Finally, all things are possible for the one who believes.✦ Is he not the Almighty, to whom all things are possible?✦ So the mind, if it doesn't presume upon itself but is strengthened by the Word, will certainly be able to master itself, so that no injustice will master it. So then, leaning on the Word and clothed with strength from on high, no force, no deceit, no temptation will be able to cast down the one who stands, or subjugate the one who rules.✦ Do you want to stop being afraid of the one who pushes you? Don't let the foot of pride come near you, and the hand of the one who pushes you won't move you. That's where those who practice wickedness fell. That's where the devil and his angels fell — they weren't driven by an outside force, yet they were cast out, and they couldn't stand. In the end, whoever hasn't leaned on the Word hasn't stood firm in the truth — that is, whoever has put his trust in his own strength. And so perhaps he wanted to sit down because he wasn't strong enough to stand. He was saying, you see — I will sit on the mountain of the covenant. But God judged otherwise. He neither stood nor sat — he fell, as the Lord said: I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.✦ So if you stand and don't want to fall, don't trust yourself — lean on the Word. The Word says: Without me you can do nothing.✦ That's the truth: we can neither rise up to what is good nor remain in it without the Word. So you who stand, give glory to the Word, and say: He set my feet upon a rock and made my steps firm.✦ You were lifted up by his hand — you must be held steady by his strength. I've said these things because we need the Word, the one we lean on for strength.

Reformed to Wisdom and the Taste of Good

The Word not only strengthens virtue but also reforms the soul to wisdom, restoring the lost taste of the good so that the soul delights in what is honorable and shines with inner modesty and steadfastness.

Now we must look at what I mentioned before: that we are likewise reformed through the Word to wisdom. The Word is virtue; the Word is wisdom. Therefore let the soul take virtue from virtue and wisdom from wisdom, and ascribe both gifts to the one Word. Otherwise, if she claims either or both from elsewhere for herself, let her also deny at once that a stream comes from a spring, or wine from a vine, or that light arises from light. Trustworthy saying: 'If anyone needs wisdom,' he says, 'let him ask from God, who gives to all abundantly and does not reproach; and it will be given to him.' He said these things. I myself would think no differently about virtue. Virtue is kindred to wisdom. The house of God is virtue, counted among the best gifts, and it too comes down from above, from the Father of the Word. And if anyone should suppose that virtue is the same as wisdom in every respect, I don't — but it's in the Word, not in the soul. For those things that are one in the Word by reason of the singular simplicity of its divine nature don't produce a single effect in the soul; rather, as if they were diverse, they adapt themselves to be received according to the soul's various and differing needs.16 According to this principle, it is certainly one thing for the soul to be driven by virtue and another for it to be guided by wisdom; one thing to exercise dominion in virtue and another to delight in sweetness. Granted that wisdom is powerful and virtue is gentle, still, so that we may render to each its own proper meaning in our words, vigor demonstrates virtue, and a calm soul demonstrates wisdom with a certain spiritual sweetness.17 I think this is what the Apostle had in mind when, after many exhortations concerning virtue, he added what belongs to wisdom: 'In sweetness, in the Holy Spirit.'18 Therefore to stand, to resist, to drive back force by force — which are certainly counted among the parts of virtue — is indeed an honor, but it's a labor. For it's not the same thing to defend your honor laboriously and to possess it in peace. Being moved by virtue and taking delight in virtue are not the same thing. Whatever virtue labors over, wisdom takes pleasure in; and what wisdom arranges, deliberates, and directs, virtue carries out. Write about wisdom in your leisure time, says the Wise One. So the leisures of wisdom are real occupations, and the more leisurely wisdom is, the more actively it's exercised in its own sphere. Virtue, once put into practice, grows more renowned from region to region, and the more dutiful it becomes, the more it's approved. And if anyone should define the wisdom of virtue as love, that wouldn't seem to me to stray from the truth. But where love is, there's no labor — only flavor. And perhaps wisdom takes its name from flavor, because when it joins virtue, it seasons what by itself would seem tasteless, giving it a certain palatability and harshness that was otherwise lacking. Nor would I consider it blameworthy if anyone were to define wisdom as the flavor of what is good. We lost this flavor almost from the very origin of our race. From the moment the palate of the heart, ruled by the senses of the flesh, was infected by the venom of the ancient serpent, the soul lost the ability to taste what is good, and a harmful flavor crept in. In short, from youth onward the senses and thoughts of the human being are inclined toward evil — that is, toward the foolishness of the first woman. In this way the woman's foolishness shut out the taste of the good, because the serpent's malice surrounded the woman's foolishness. But the very place where malice seemed to triumph for a time is the place where it now grieves, conquered for eternity. For look: once again the woman's wisdom has filled heart and body, so that those of us who were deformed into foolishness through a woman might be reformed to wisdom through a woman.✦✦ And now, continually, wisdom conquers malice in the minds it has entered, driving out the taste of evil — which that woman brought in — by replacing it with a better flavor. Once wisdom enters, while it makes the sense of the flesh foolish, it purifies the understanding, and heals and restores the palate of the heart. With a healthy palate one now tastes what is good — wisdom herself tastes good — and in all good things there is nothing better. How many good things are done, yet have no savor for those who do them! Since they are driven toward good things not by the savor of the good, but by calculation, or by some occasion of whatever kind, or by necessity; and on the other hand, the many evil things they do hold no savor for them, but they are drawn to these by fear, or by desire for some advantage rather than by any savor of evil.19 But those who have crossed over into the deep affection of the heart are either wise and delight in the very savor of the good, or they are wicked and please themselves in wickedness itself, even when no hope of any other advantageices them.20 But what is wickedness, truly, if not the savor of evil? Blessed is the mind that has claimed the whole savor of the good for itself, and with it, a hatred of evil.21 To be reformed toward wisdom is one thing; to experience the victory of wisdom is another.22 For in what way is wisdom shown to conquer wickedness more clearly than when, with the savor of evil excluded — which is nothing other than wickedness itself — a certain deepest savor of the good is perceived, filling the innermost parts of the mind with all its sweetness?23 And so enduring tribulations bravely pertains to virtue; rejoicing in tribulations pertains to wisdom. Take courage, heart, and hold fast to the Lord — that's a matter of virtue; to taste and see that the Lord is sweet — that's a matter of wisdom.✦ And so that both goods may shine forth more clearly from the native goodness of our nature: a modest spirit proves the wise person, and steadfastness reveals the person of virtue. And rightly does wisdom follow after virtue, because virtue is a kind of stable foundation upon which wisdom builds itself a house.✦ Now knowledge of the good had to come first, because there is no fellowship between the light of wisdom and the darkness of ignorance.✦ And a good will was necessary too, because wisdom will not enter a malevolent soul.

The Soul’s Beauty and the Light of Conscience

The kingly Word desires the soul’s beauty, which is chiefly the brightness of a chaste, honorable conscience that shines outward in modest conduct and likeness to the eternal Word.

Now, if in the changing of the will life has been restored to the soul, wholesomeness in learning, firmness in virtue, and finally maturity in wisdom; what remains is for us to find that beauty without which the soul cannot please by its splendor beyond the children of men.✦ In fact, we hear it said: 'The king shall desire your beauty.'✦ How many goods of the soul we have listed — the gifts of the Word, a good will, knowledge, virtue, and wisdom — and yet none of these is what the Word, the king, is recorded as desiring; but only this: 'The king shall desire your beauty.'✦ The Prophet says: 'The Lord has reigned; he has clothed himself with beauty.'✦ Why should it not desire for its image, and likewise for its bride, a similar garment? Surely, the more that beauty becomes like itself, the dearer it will be to the soul. Then what does the soul's beauty consist in? Could it be in what is called moral goodness? For now, let's hold this thought, if nothing better comes to mind. But as for what is outwardly honorable, let conduct be questioned: not because honor springs from it, but because it's made visible through it. For in the conscience is both its dwelling place and its origin. Indeed, its brightness is the testimony of conscience. Nothing is brighter than this light, nothing more glorious than this testimony, when truth shines in the mind and the mind sees itself in truth. But what kind? Chaste, modest, reverent, watchful, admitting nothing at all that would empty out the glory of a conscience that bears witness: conscious to itself of nothing that would make it blush before the presence of truth, nothing that would compel it to turn its face away as if confused and struck back by the light of God. This plainly, this is that beauty which, above all the goods of the soul, delights the divine gaze; and we name and define it as what is honorable. But when love of this beauty has filled the innermost parts of the heart more fully, it has to come outward—like a lamp hidden under a bushel, or rather a light shining in the darkness, not knowing how to hide itself. What's more, the image of the mind, shining forth and breaking out as if with rays of its own, is taken up by the body and spread through the members and senses, so that every action, word, look, walk, and even laughter—if there is laughter—may shine with it, mixed with gravity and full of what is honorable. When the movement and bearing of these and other faculties and senses appears serious, pure, modest, entirely free from insolence and wantonness, removed from frivolity and sloth, alien to them but suited to fairness and dutiful to godliness, then the beauty of the soul will be manifest, provided there is no deceit in its spirit. For it is possible for all these qualities to be imitated and not to arise from the fullness of the heart. And so that this beauty of the soul may shine more clearly, if what we have decided is honorable is pleasing in itself. It is defined as: the nobility of a mind that is careful to safeguard the integrity of reputation with a good conscience. Or, according to the Apostle: to provide what is good, not only before God, but also before people.✦ Blessed is the mind that puts on this beauty of chastity, as a kind of candidate for heavenly innocence, through which it claims a glorious likeness for itself—not the world's, but the Word's, of which it is written that it is the brightness of eternal life, and the radiance and figure of the substance of God.✦

The Soul Espoused to the Word

Beautiful, chaste soul becomes a bride of the Word, daring to embrace spiritual marriage, leaving all things to cling to the Word, and bearing fruit both by saving others and by contemplative enjoyment of God.

From this step now, a soul of this kind dares to think about marriage. Why shouldn't it dare, seeing itself as marriageable for that to which it is being made like? Its loftiness doesn't frighten it, because love unites it, devotion reconciles it, and its profession espouses it to that likeness. The form of profession is this: I have sworn and resolved to keep the judgments of your justice. The apostles, having followed this, said: Look, we have left everything and followed you.✦ That saying spoken in a carnal marriage, between Christ and the Church, has also marked a spiritual marriage: For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother and will hold fast to his wife, and the two will be one in flesh; and in the Prophet, the boast of the married woman, But for me, holding fast to God is good, placing my hope in the Lord God.✦ Therefore, when you see a soul that, having left all things, clings to the Word with all its vows, lives by the Word, governs itself by the Word, and conceives from the Word that which it may bring forth for the Word — one who can say, For me to live is Christ and to die is gain — consider her a spouse, married to the Word.✦ Her husband's heart relies on her, knowing she is faithful — the one who has rejected everything else as worthless, who counts it all as so much refuse, in order to gain everything for herself. He knew such a one, of whom he said: 'This is my chosen instrument.' Truly, the soul of Paul was a devoted mother, faithful to her husband, when he said: 'My children, I am in labor for you again, until Christ is formed in you.' But notice that in a spiritual marriage there are two kinds of bringing forth, and that from this come different kinds of offspring too, but not opposed ones: since holy mothers bring forth souls by preaching, or spiritual understandings by meditating. In this last kind, a person sometimes goes out and even withdraws from bodily senses, so that they don't perceive themselves perceiving what the Word perceives. This happens when the mind, enticed by the ineffable sweetness of the Word, is in a certain way stolen away from itself — no, rather it is seized and slips away from itself — so that it may enjoy the Word. The mind that bears fruit through the Word is affected one way; the mind that enjoys the Word, another. There, the need of a neighbor stirs us; here, the sweetness of the Word invites us. A mother is joyful in her children; but a bride is more joyful in her embraces. The pledges of sons are dear; but kisses delight more. It is good to save many; but to go beyond and be with the Word is far more delightful.

Enjoying the Word and the Grace of Humility

The soul’s delight in the Word is sweet but rare and ineffable; true contemplative enjoyment is taught by grace to the humble, who receive what cannot be fully spoken or learned by human power.

But when will this be—or how long will this go on? It's a sweet exchange—but the moment is brief, and the experience rare.2425 This is what I remember saying earlier, among other things: that the soul must, above all, seek the Word so as to find its delight in him.2627 Perhaps someone would even go on to ask me: what does it mean to enjoy the Word? I answer: let them ask instead someone who has experienced it, from whom they may seek understanding. Or if it were even granted to me as one who has experienced it, do you think I could speak of what is ineffable? Listen to the one who has experienced it: when we go beyond ourselves in mind, it is to God; when we are sober, it is for your sake. This is what I mean: I have one thing with God, with God alone as witness; I have another with you. It was granted to experience this, but by no means to speak of it — so, in coming down to you, I do this so that I may speak and you may be able to receive. O you who are so curious to know what it is to enjoy the Word — prepare for it not a thing, but a mind. This is not what the tongue teaches; it is what grace teaches. It is hidden from the wise and the prudent, and revealed to the little ones.✦ Humility, brothers, is a great and sublime virtue: it is won by what is not taught, it lays hold of what cannot be learned, and from the Word and through the Word it conceives what it cannot explain in its own words.28 Why is this so? Not because merit works this way, but because this is what pleases the Father of the Word, the bridegroom of the soul: Jesus Christ our Lord, who is God over all, blessed forever.29 Amen.

Read the original Latin

In lectulo meo quaesivi quem diligit anima mea. Ad quid? Dictum est, et iterare superfluum: propter quosdam tamen, qui non interfuerunt cum tractaretur, dico aliquid breviter, et quod fortasse ne hos quidem qui interfuerunt, audire pigebit. Nec enim totum dici tunc potuit. Quaerit anima Verbum, cui consentiat ad correptionem, quo illuminetur ad cognitionem, cui innitatur ad virtutem, quo reformetur ad sapientiam, cui conformetur ad decorem, cui maritetur ad fecunditatem, quo fruatur ad iucunditatem. Proper has omnes causas quaerit anima Verbum. Non ambigo esse quamplures et alias: sed hae interim occurrunt. Poterit autem, si cui cordi fuerit, facile alias atque alias advertere in semetipso.

Siquidem multae sunt aversiones nostrae, multae et infinitae animae necessitates, et anxietatum non est numerus. At Verbum ditius pleniusque superabundat in bonis, utpote Sapientia vincens malitiam, vincens in bonis mala. Et nunc harum, quas posui, accipite rationem. Et primo, quod primum est, videte quemadmodum consentiat ad correptionem. Legimus Verbum in Evangeliis loquens: Esto consentiens, inquit, adversario tuo, dum es cum illo in via, ne forte tradat te iudici, et iudex tortori. Quid consultius? Verbi consilium est, ni fallor, se adversarium protestantis, quod adversetur carnalibus desideriis nostris dum dicit: Semper hi errant corde. Tu ergo qui haec audis, si pavens coeperis velle fugere a ventura ira, credo sollicitus eris, quomodo huic consentias adversario, qui tibi illam tam terribiliter intentare videtur.

At istud impossibile, nisi dissentias tecum, nisi tibimet adverseris, nisi gravi et vigili lucta tu ipse contra te ipsum infatigabiliter praelieris; postremo, nisi valefacias inveteratae consuetudini, innataeque affectioni. Id quidem durum. Si tuis attentaveris viribus, tale erit, ac si in uno digitorum tuorum torrentis impetum sistere, ant ipsum denuo coneris Iordanem convertere retrorsum. Quid facies? Quaere verbum cui consentias, ipso faciente ut consentias. Fuge ad illum qui adversatur, per quem talis fias cui iam non adversatur, ut blandiatur qui minabatur, et sit ad immutandum efficacior infusa gratia, quam intensa ira.

Haec prima, ut opinor, necessitas, ob quam anima incipit quaerere verbum. Sed si ignoras quid ille velit cui iam voluntate consentis, nonne et de te dicetur quia zelum Dei habes, sed non secundum scientiam? . Et ne hoc leve existimes, memineris scriptum, quia ignorans ignorabitur. Scire vis quid consulam et in hac necessitate? Quod in prima. Meo consilio nunc quoque ibis ad Verbum, et docebit te vias suas, ne volendo quidem, sed ignorando bonum, dum curris, contingat excurrere, et errare in invio, et non in via. Lux est enim verbum.

Declaratio denique sermonum illuminat, et intellectum dat parvulis. Beatus es, si dicas et tu: Lucerna pedibus meis verbum tuum, et lumen semitis meis. Nec parum profecit anima tua, cuius immutata voluntas, cuius illuminata ratio est, ut bonum et velit, et noverit. In altero vitam, in altero visum recepit. Nam et malum volendo mortua erat, et bonum ignorando caeca.

Iam vivit, iam videt, iam stat in bono, sed ope et opere Verbi. Stat manu Verbi levata veluti super pedes duos, devotionem et agnitionem. Stat, inquam, sed sibi putet dictum: Qui se existimat stare, videat ne cadat. Putasne stare per se possit, quae surgere per se non potuit? Non opinor. Quid enim? Verbo Domini coeli firmati sunt, et terra stabit sine Verbo? Cur ergo si stare per se poterat, orabat homo de terra: Confirma me, inquiens, in verbis tuis?

. Denique et probarat. Eius ipsius illa vox fuit: Impulsus eversus sum ut caderem, et Dominus suscepit me. Quaeris quis ille impulsor? Non est unus. Impulsor diabolus est, impulsor mundus, impulsor homo. Quis iste homo sit quaeris? Quisque sui.

Noli mirari. Usque adeo homo impulsor sibi est, et suimet praecipitator, ut non sit quod ab altero impulsore formides, si ipse a te proprias contineas manus. Quis enim, inquit, vobis nocere poterit, si boni aemulatores fueritis? . Manus tua, consensus tuus. Si diabolo suggerente, vel saeculo suadente quod non oportet, assensum tuum tenueris, et non dederis membra tua arma iniquitati, nec permiseris regnare peccatum in tuo mortali corpore; bonum te aemulatorem probasti, cui malitia omnino nil nocuit: vide ne magis profuerit. Scriptum est enim: Bonum fac, et habebis laudem ex illa. Confusi sunt qui quaerebant animam tuam, tu vero cantabis: Si mei non fuerint dominati, tunc immaculatus ero.

Boni plane aemulatoris insigne dedisti, si consilio Sapientis misereris animae tuae, si omni custodia servas cor tuum, si iuxta Apostolum te ipsum castum custodis. Alioquin, etsi universum mundum lucreris, animae autem tuae detrimentum patiaris, non plane bonum te censemus aemulatorem, quoniam quidem nec Salvator.

Cum igitur tres sint stanti imminentes; horum diabolus livore malitiae, mundus vento vanitatis, homo semetipsum pondere suae corruptionis impellit. Impellit diabolus, sed non evertit, si quidem tuum auxilium, tuum illi negaveris vel assensum. Denique habes: Resistite diabolo, et fugiet a vobis. Iste est qui stantes in paradiso impulit invidus et evertit, sed consentientes, non resistentes. Iste est qui se ipsum de coelo superbus nullo impellente praecipitavit: ut scias multo magis hominem suo ipsius casui imminere, quem propriae substantiae pondus gravat. Est et mundus impulsor, quia in maligno positus est. Impellit omnes, sed solos evertit amicos suos, id est consentaneos sibi. Nolo esse amicus mundi, ne eadam.

Nam qui vult esse huius mundi amicus, inimicus Dei constituitur, quo utique nullus gravior casus. Ex quibus satis claret, quam sit homo praecipuus impulsor sui, qui suo sine alieno impulsu cadere potest, alieno absque suo cadere non potest. Cuinam horum praecipue resistendum? Nempe huic, qui eo molestior, quo interior, solus deiicere sufficit, cum sine ipso alii possint facere nihil. Non sine causa Sapiens expugnatori praetulit urbium, virum qui animo dominatur. Multum hoc ad te: Opus virtute habes, et non quacunque, sed qua induaris ex alto. Ipsa enim, si perfecta sit, facile facit animum victorem sui, et sic invictum reddit ad omnia. Est quippe vigor animi cedere nescius pro tuenda ratione.

Aut, si magis probas, vigor animi immobiliter stantis cum ratione vel pro ratione. Vel sic: Vigor animi, quod in se est, omnia ad rationem cogens vel dirigens.

Quis ascendet in montem Domini? Huius ad verticem montis, id est ad virtutis perfectionem, quisque contendere adorietur, sciet profecto quam sit ascensus arduus, et cassus conatus absque Verbi adiutorio. Felix anima, quae angelis spectantibus praebuit gaudium pariter et miraculum sui, ut audiret de se loquentes: Quae est ista, quae ascendit de deserto, deliciis affluens, innixa super dilectum suum? . Alioquin frustra nititur, si non innititur. Sane etiam contra se innitens invalescet, et facta se ipsa validior coget pro ratione universa: iram, metum, cupiditatem, et gaudium, veluti quemdam animi currum, bonus auriga reget; et in captivitatem rediget omnem carnalem affectum, et carnis sensum ad nutum rationis in obsequium virtutis. Quidni omnia possibilia sint innitenti super eum, qui omnia potest? Quantae fiduciae vox: Omnia possum in eo qui me confortat!

Nil omnipotentiam Verbi clariorem reddit, quam quod omnipotentes facit omnes qui in se sperant. Denique omnia possibilia sunt credenti. Annon Omnipotens, cui omnia possibilia sunt? Ita animus, si non praesumat de se, sed si confortetur a Verbo, poterit utique dominari sui, ut non dominetur ei omnis iniustitia. Ita, inquam, Verbo innixum, et indutum virtute ex alto, nulla vis, nulla fraus, nulla iam illecebra poterit vel stantem deiicere, vel subiicere dominantem.

Vis non timere impulsorem? Non veniat tibi pes superbiae, et manus impellentis non movebit te. Ibi ceciderunt qui operantur iniquitatem. Ibi diabolus et angeli eius corruerunt, qui licet non impulsi extrinsecus, expulsi sunt tamen, nec potuerunt stare. Denique in veritate non stetit, qui non innixus est Verbo, qui in sua virtute confisus est. Et ideo fortassis sedere voluit, quia stare non valuit. Dicebat enim: Sedebo in monte testamenti. Caeterum, Deo aliter iudicante, nec stetit, nec sedit, sed cecidit, dicente Domino: Videbam Satanam sicut fulgur de coelo cadentem.

Ergo qui stat, si non vult cadere, non fidat sibi, sed nitatur Verbo. Verbum loquitur: Sine me nihil potestis facere. Ita est: Nec surgere ad bonum, nec stare in bono possumus sine Verbo. Tu ergo qui stas, da gloriam Verbo,, et dic: Statuit supra petram pedes meos, et direxit gressus meos. Cuius manu erigeris, ipsius necesse est virtute tenearis. Haec pro eo quod dixi, opus nos habere Verbo, cui innitamur ad virtutem.

Nunc iam videndum est de eo quod item memoravi, per Verbum scilicet nihilominus nos reformari ad sapientiam. Verbum virtus, Verbum sapientia est. Sumat ergo anima de virtute virtutem, ac de sapientia sapientiam, et uni Verbo munus utrumque ascribat. Alioquin si aliunde aut utramque, aut alterutram arroget sibi; neget etiam simul vel de fonte rivum, vel de vite vinum, vel lumen oriri de lumine. Fidelis sermo: Si quis, inquit, indiget sapientia, postulet a Deo, qui dat omnibus affluenter, et non improperat; et dabitur ei. Haec ille. Ego vero haud secus de virtute senserim. Cognata virtus sapientiae est.

Domum Dei virtus est, deputanda in donis optimis, descendens et ipsa desursum a Patre Verbi. Et si quis existimet id per omnia eam quod sapientiam esse, non inficior, sed in Verbo, non in anima. Quae enim in Verbo pro eius singulari divinae naturae simplicitate unum sunt, unum tamen effectum in anima non habent, sed ad illius varias et diversas necessitates, veluti diversa, sese participanda accommodant. Iuxta quam rationem profecto aliud est animo virtute agi, et aliud sapientia regi; aliud dominari in virtute, aliud in suavitate deliciari. Licet namque et sapientia potens, et virtus suavis existat; ut tamen proprias quibusque reddamus vocabulis significantias, vigor virtutem, sapientiam placiditas animi cum spirituali quadam suavitate demonstrat. Hanc puto ab Apostolo designatam, ubi post multa hortamenta pertinentia ad virtutem, adiecit quod sapientiae est: In suavitate, in Spiritu sancto. Igitur stare, resistere, vim vi repellere, quae utique in partibus virtutis deputantur, honor quidem, sed labor est. Non est enim id ipsum honorem tuum laboriose defendere, et quiete possidere.

Non est idem virtute agi, et virtute frui. Quidquid virtus elaborat, sapientia fruitur; et quod sapientia ordinat, deliberat, moderatur; virtus exsequitur.

Sapientiam scribe in otio, ait Sapiens. Ergo sapientiae otia negotia sunt, et quo otiosior sapientia, eo exercitatior in genere suo. E regione virtus exercitata clarior est, eoque probatior, quo officiosior. Et si quis sapientiam virtutis amorem definierit, non mihi a vero deviare videtur. Ubi autem amor est, labor non est, sed sapor. Et forte sapientia a sapore denominatur, quod virtuti accedens, quoddam veluti condimentum, sapidam reddat, quae per se insulsa quodam modo et aspera sentiebatur. Nec duxerim reprehendendum, si quis sapientiam saporem boni definiat. Hunc saporem perdidimus ab ipso pene exortu generis nostri.

Ex quo cordis palatum sensu carnis praevalente infecit virus serpentis antiqui, coepit animae non sapere bonum, ac sapor noxius subintrare. Denique proni sunt sensus hominis et cogitationes in malum ab adolescentia, hoc est, ab insipientia primae mulieris. Ita insipientia mulieris saporem boni exclusit, quia serpentis malitia mulieris insipientiam circumvenit. Sed unde malitia visa est vicisse ad tempus, inde se victam dolet in aeternum. Nam ecce denuo sapientia mulieris cor et corpus implevit, ut qui per feminam deformati in insipientiam sumus, per feminam reformemur ad sapientiam. Et nunc assidue sapientia vincit malitiam in mentibus ad quas intraverit, saporem mali, quem illa invexit, sapore exterminans meliori. Intrans sapientia, dum sensum carnis infatuat, purificat intellectum, cordis palatum sanat et reparat. Sano palato sapit iam bonum, sapit ipsa sapientia, qua in bonis nullum melius.

Quam multa fiunt bona, et non sapiunt facientibus! siquidem non sapore boni ad illa, sed aut ratione, aut qualicunque occasione, seu necessitate impelluntur: et econtrario multis, quae faciunt, non sapiunt mala, sed ad haec inducuntur, aut metu, aut cupiditate rei cuiuspiam potius, quam sapore mali. Qui autem transierunt in affectum cordis, aut sapientes sunt, et ipso delectantur sapore boni; aut maligni sunt, et in ipsa complacent sibi malitia, etiam nulla spe alterius commodi blandiente. Malitia vero quid, nisi sapor est mali? Beata mens, quam sibi totam vindicavit sapor boni, et odium mali. Hoc reformari ad sapientiam est, hoc sapientiae victoriam feliciter experiri. Nam in quo evidentius sapientia vincere malitiam comprobatur, quam cum excluso sapore mali, qui non aliud quam ipsa malitia est, boni quidam intimus sapor mentis intima occupare tota suavitate sentitur? Itaque ad virtutem spectat tribulationes fortiter sustinere: ad sapientiam, gaudere in tribulationibus.

Confortare cor tuum, et sustinere Dominum, virtutis est; gustare et videre quoniam suavis est Dominus, sapientiae est. Et ut magis ex propriae bono naturae bonum utrumque clarescat; modestia animi probat sapientem, constantia virum virtutis ostendit. Et bene post virtutem sapientia; quod virtus sit quoddam quasi stabile fundamentum, super quod sapientia aedificet sibi domum. Oportuit autem praecedere notitiam boni; quia non est societas luci sapientiae, et tenebris ignorantiae. Oportuit et bonam voluntatem; quia in malevolam animam non introibit sapientia.

Iam, si in voluntatis mutatione reddita innotuit animae vita, in eruditione sanitas, in virtute stabilitas, in sapientia postremo maturitas; superest ut decorem illi inveniamus, sine quo specioso forma prae filiis hominum placere non potest. Denique audit quia concupiscet rex decorem tuum. Quanta enumeravimus animae bona, dona Verbi, voluntatem bonam, scientiam, virtutem, sapientiam, et nihil horum Verbum rex concupiscere legitur, sed tantum: Concupiscet, inquit, rex decorem tuum. Ait Propheta: Dominus regnavit, decorem induit. Quidni imagini suae pariter et sponsae simile cupiat indumentum? Tanto profecto sibi charior illa, quanto similior erit sibi. In quo ergo animae decor? An forte in eo quod honestum dicitur?

Hoc interim sentiamus, si melius non occurrit. De honesto autem exterior interrogetur conversatio: non quod ex ea honestum prodeat, sed per eam. Nam in conscientia et habitatio eius, et origo. Si quidem claritas eius, testimonium conscientiae. Nihil hac luce clarius, nihil hoc gloriosius testimonio, cum veritas in mente fulget, et mens in veritate se videt. Sed qualem? Pudicam, verecundam, pavidam, circumspectam, nihil penitus admittentem quod evacuet gloriam conscientiae attestantis: in nullo consciam sibi, quo erubescat praesentiam veritatis, quo cogatur avertere faciem quasi confusam et repercussam a lumine Dei. Hoc plane, hoc illud decorum est, quod super omnia bona animae divinos oblectat aspectus; et nos nominamus ac definimus honestum.

Cum autem decoris huius charitas abundantius intima cordis repleverit, prodeat foras necesse est, tanquam lucerna latens sub modio, imo lux in tenebris lucens, latere nescia. Porro effulgentem, et veluti quibusdam suis radiis erumpentem, mentis simulacrum corpus excipit, et diffundit per membra et sensus, quatenus omnis inde reluceat actio, sermo, aspectus, incessus, risus (si tamen risus) mistus gravitate, et plenus honesti. Horum et aliorum profecto artuum sensuumque motus, gestus et usus, cum apparuerit serius, purus, modestus, totius expers insolentiae atque lasciviae, tum levitatis, tum ignaviae alienus, aequitati autem accommodus, pietati officiosus; pulchritudo animae palam erit, si tamen non sit in spiritu eius dolus. Potest enim fieri ut simulentur omnia haec, et non ex abundantia cordis taliter moveantur. Et ut magis eluceat is animae decor, ipsum, si placet, honestum, in quo hunc locandum censuimus. definiatur: Mentis ingenuitas, sollicita servare cum conscientia bona famae integritatem. Vel, iuxta Apostolum: Providere bona, non tantum coram Deo, sed etiam coram hominibus. Beata mens, quae hoc se induit castimoniae decus, et quemdam veluti coelestis innocentiae candidatum, per quem sibi vindicet gloriosam conformitatem, non mundi, sed Verbi, de quo legitur, quod sit candor vitae aeternae; splendor et figura substantiae Dei.

Ex hoc iam gradu audet quae huiusmodi est, cogitare de nuptiis. Quidni audeat, eo se nubilem, quo similem cernens? Non terret celsitudo, quam sociat similitudo, amor conciliat, professio maritat. Professionis forma haec est: Iuravi et statui custodire iudicia iustitiae tuae. Hanc secuti apostoli aiebant. Ecce nos reliquimus omnia et secuti sumus te. Simile est illud quod in carnali quidem connubio dictum, Christi et Ecclesiae connubium spirituale signavit: Propter hoc relinquet homo patrem suum, et matrem suam, et adhaerebit uxori suae; et erunt duo in carne una : et apud Prophetam gloriatio maritatae, Mihi autem ad haerere Deo bonum est, ponere in Domino Deo spem meam. Ergo quam videris animam relictis omnibus Verbo votis omnibus adhaerere, Verbo vivere, Verbo se regere, de Verbo concipere quod pariat Verbo; quae possit dicere: Mihi vivere Christus est, et mori lucrum : puta coniugem, Verboque maritatam.

Confidit in ea cor viri sui, sciens fidelem, quae prae se omnia spreverit, omnia arbitretur ut stercora, ut sibi ipsum lucrifaciat. Talem noverat, de quo dicebat: Vas electionis est mihi isti. Prorsus pia mater et fidelis viro suo anima Pauli, cum diceret: Filioli mei, quos iterum parturio, donec formetur Christus in vobis.

Sed attende in spirituali matrimonio duo esse genera pariendi, et ex hoc etiam diversas soboles, sed non adversas: cum sanctae matres aut praedicando animas, aut meditando intelligentias pariunt spirituales. In hoc ultimo genere interdum exceditur, et seceditur etiam a corporeis sensibus, ut sese non sentiat quae Verbum sentit. Hoc fit, cum mens ineffabilis Verbi illecta dulcedine, quodam modo se sibi furatur, imo rapitur atque elabitur a seipsa, ut Verbo fruatur. Aliter sane afficitur mens fructificans Verbo, aliter fruens Verbo. Illic sollicitat necessitas proximi, hic invitat suavitas Verbi. Et quidem laeta in prole mater; sed in amplexibus sponsa laetior. Chara pignora filiorum; sed oscula plus delectant. Bonum est salvare multos; excedere autem et cum Verbo esse, multo iucundius.

At quando hoc, aut quandiu hoc? Dulce commercium; sed breve momentum, et experimentum rarum. Hoc est quod supra post alia memini me dixisse, quaerere utique animam Verbum, quo fruatur ad iucunditatem.

Pergat quis forsitan quaerere a me etiam, Verbo frui quid sit? Respondeo: Quaerat potius expertum a quo id quaerat. Aut si et mihi expertri daretur, putas me posse eloqui quod ineffabile est? Audi expertum: Sive, inquit, mente excedimus, Deo; sive sobrii sumus vobis. Hoc est: Aliud mihi cum Deo, solo arbitro Deo; aliud vobiscum mihi. Illud licuit experiri, sed minime loqui: ita hoc ita condescendo vobis, ut et ego dicere, et vos capere valeatis. O quisquis curiosus es scire quid sit hoc, Verbo frui; para illi non an rem, sed mentem. Non docet hoc lingua, sed docet gratia.

Absconditur a sapientibus et prudentibus, et revelatur parvulis. Magna, fratres, magna et sublimis virtus humilitas, quae promeretur quod non docetur, digna adipisci quod non valet addisci, digna a Verbo, et de Verbo concipere, quod suis ipsa verbis explicare non potest. Cur hoc? Non quia sic meritum, sed quia sic placitum coram Patre Verbi sponsi animae, Iesu Christi Domini nostri, qui est super omnia Deus benedictus in saecula. Amen.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Song.3.1 — On my bed, night after night, I sought the one my soul loves; I sought him, but I did not find him.
  2. ↩Rom.12.21 — Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.
  3. ↩Matt.5.25 — Be quick to settle with your accuser while you are on the way together, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.
  4. ↩Ps.78.8;Ps.14.3 — and they would not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not set its heart aright, and whose spirit was not faithful to God. Ps.14.3 — Everyone has turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.
  5. ↩1Cor.10.12 — So let the one who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
  6. ↩Ps.32.6 — Because of this, let every faithful one pray to you, at a time of finding; surely when the floodwaters rise, they shall not reach him.
  7. ↩Ps.118.28 — You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you.
  8. ↩Rom.8.31;Heb.13.6 — What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? Heb.13.6 — So we say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?'
  9. ↩Rom.6.12-Rom.6.13 — Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires. Rom.6.13 — And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
  10. ↩Ps.127.5 — Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; they will not be put to shame when they speak with enemies in the gate.
  11. ↩Jas.4.7 — Therefore submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
  12. ↩Isa.14.12-Isa.14.15 — How you have fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, you who laid low the nations! Isa.14.13 — And you said in your heart, 'I will ascend to the heavens; above the stars of God I will raise my throne, and I will sit on the mount of assembly, in the far reaches of the north." Keep the quotation open into v.14 for continuity. Isa.14.14 — I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.'" Close the quotation here so the transition to v.15 lands clearly. Isa.14.15 — But you are brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the pit.
  13. ↩Jas.4.4 — Adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity toward God? Whoever therefore chooses to be a friend of the world is constituted an enemy of God.
  14. ↩Jas.4.4 — Adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity toward God? Whoever therefore chooses to be a friend of the world is constituted an enemy of God.
  15. ↩Prov.16.32 — Better a patient person than a warrior, one who controls their spirit than one who captures a city.
  16. ↩Luke.21.15;Col.3.12 — For I will give you a mouth and wisdom that all your adversaries will not be able to resist or contradict. Col.3.12 — Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
  17. ↩Mark.9.23 — And Jesus said to him, 'If you can? All things are possible for the one who believes.'" This better captures Jesus' echo of the father's words.
  18. ↩Mark.14.36 — And he was saying, 'Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Take this cup away from me. But not what I want; what you want.'
  19. ↩Luke.24.49 — And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but remain in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.
  20. ↩Luke.10.18 — He said to them, "I watched Satan fall from heaven like lightning."
  21. ↩John.15.5 — I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who abides in me, and I in him, this one bears much fruit; for apart from me you can do nothing.
  22. ↩Ps.40.2 — I waited patiently for the LORD, and he inclined to me and heard my cry.
  23. ↩Gen.3.15 — I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.
  24. ↩Gal.4.4 — But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
  25. ↩Ps.27.14 — Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD.
  26. ↩Matt.7.24-Matt.7.25 — Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. Matt.7.25 — And the rain came down, and the rivers rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.
  27. ↩2Cor.6.14 — Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?
  28. ↩Ps.44.3 — For it was not by their own sword that they took the land, nor did their own arm save them; but it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, for you delighted in them.
  29. ↩Ps.44.3 — For it was not by their own sword that they took the land, nor did their own arm save them; but it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, for you delighted in them.
  30. ↩Ps.44.3 — For it was not by their own sword that they took the land, nor did their own arm save them; but it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, for you delighted in them.
  31. ↩Ps.92.1 — A Psalm. A song for the day of the Sabbath.
  32. ↩Rom.12.17 — Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is good in the sight of all people.
  33. ↩Heb.1.3 — He is the radiance of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's own being, and he upholds all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
  34. ↩Matt.19.29;Mark.10.28 — And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my name's sake will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. Mark.10.28 — Peter began to say to him, 'Look, we have left everything and followed you.'
  35. ↩Gen.2.24 — Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
  36. ↩Phil.1.21 — For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
  37. ↩Matt.11.25;Luke.10.21 — At that time Jesus answered and said, 'I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and have revealed them to infants.'" Use "for" to strengthen the prayer's causal movement and reduce repetition with v.26. Luke.10.21 — In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will before you."

Notes

  1. 1 ↩The Latin nonne expects an affirmative answer ('won't it?'), sharpening the rebuke: zeal without knowledge echoes Romans 10:2.
  2. 2 ↩The clause 'ignorans ignorabitur' does not correspond to a clear Moses-candidate source; it may echo a proverbial or patristic sentiment rather than a direct scriptural quotation.
  3. 3 ↩The phrase 'Quod in prima' is compressed and ambiguous — 'prima' may refer back to 'prima necessitas' (the first necessity) or to a feminine noun not explicitly stated. The translation preserves the reference to the first necessity.
  4. 4 ↩The clause 'ne volendo quidem, sed ignorando bonum' is compressed: the warning is that ignoring the good while pursuing zeal leads to going astray. The subjunctive 'contingat' carries a sense of 'it may come about that' — a warning, not a wish.
  5. 5 ↩The ut-clause is ambiguous between purpose and result; rendered as result ('so that it does not...'), but the sense may be final ('in order that it may both will and know').
  6. 6 ↩The triple 'iam' is rendered with 'now...now...now' to keep the rhetorical momentum without archaism.
  7. 7 ↩'Pedes duos...devotionem et agnitionem' reads as an allegory: the soul's two 'feet' are devotion and knowledge, lifted and directed by the Word's hand.
  8. 8 ↩The Latin is compressed: 'sibi putet dictum' means roughly 'let him take it to heart' or 'let him consider it said to himself.' The warning that follows echoes 1 Cor 10:12.
  9. 9 ↩'Verbo Domini coeli firmati sunt' echoes Ps 32:6 (Vulgate 33:6). Candidate resolution deferred to scripture-allusion stage.
  10. 10 ↩'Confirma me...in verbis tuis' echoes a psalm prayer (likely Ps 118:28, Vulg. 119:28: confirma me in verbis tuis). Candidate resolution deferred.
  11. 11 ↩aemulator rendered 'emulator' in the sense of a zealot or imitator of the good; the phrase boni aemulatoris insigne dedisti is read as 'you have given a clear sign of a good emulator' rather than 'you have given the emblem of a good rival'.
  12. 12 ↩si consilio Sapientis misereris animae tuae echoes the language of Proverbs 23:16 and Sirach, but the exact source anchor is unresolved.
  13. 13 ↩nec Salvator is compressed: the Savior did not pursue worldly gain at the soul's expense; the clause is elliptical and the full sense depends on the contrast with the preceding line.
  14. 14 ↩aemulatorem rendered 'emulator' to preserve the imitation-of-good sense established in s1; 'rival' or 'zealot' would distort the devotional register.
  15. 15 ↩The 'Wise One' (Sapiens) likely refers to Solomon or the voice of Wisdom literature; the exact source of the comparison is uncertain.
  16. 16 ↩The singular simplicity (simplicitas) of the divine nature in the Word is the ground for the unity of virtue and wisdom there; the diversity of effects in the soul reflects the soul's manifold needs. The participial phrase 'sese participanda accommodant' is rendered dynamically ('adapt themselves to be received') to capture the sense of active accommodation.
  17. 17 ↩The hapax 'significantia' is rendered as 'meaning' in the sense of the proper signification each word carries. 'Placiditas animi' is rendered 'calm soul' to capture the interior tranquility that, for the author, manifests wisdom.
  18. 18 ↩The Apostle's phrase 'In suavitate, in Spiritu sancto' appears to echo a Pauline exhortation (cf. Eph 5:18-15:22-23), but the exact citation anchor is not resolved here. Final resolution belongs to a later stage.
  19. 19 ↩sapiunt carries a double sense of 'taste' and 'be wise'; rendered 'hold no savor' to preserve the sensory metaphor that runs through the passage
  20. 20 ↩affectus cordis rendered 'deep affection of the heart' to capture the interior disposition; transierunt as 'crossed over' preserves the movement metaphor
  21. 21 ↩vindicavit rendered 'has claimed' — the mind takes full possession of the savor of the good as its own
  22. 22 ↩The parallel hoc...hoc structure contrasts reformation toward wisdom with the experience of wisdom's victory; rendered as two distinct things to preserve the distinction
  23. 23 ↩The rhetorical question asks where wisdom's victory over wickedness is most evident; intimus sapor mentis rendered 'deepest savor of the good' and intima as 'innermost parts'
  24. 24 ↩Commercium carries the sense of a mutual exchange or commerce between the soul and the Word; rendered 'exchange' to keep the relational and reciprocal sense without the commercial overtones of 'commerce' in contemporary English.
  25. 25 ↩Experimentum here means a lived experience or tasting, not a scientific experiment; rendered 'experience' to preserve the devotional sense of something personally known and tasted.
  26. 26 ↩Urique is rendered 'above all' / 'surely' as an emphatic particle; it intensifies the infinitive quaerere, stressing the urgency of the soul's seeking.
  27. 27 ↩The relative clause quo fruatur ad iucunditatem is read as a purpose clause ('so as to find its delight in him') rather than a purely characteristic relative; the ablative quo is instrumental/means ('by which / in whom').
  28. 28 ↩promeretur rendered 'is won' (sense of being obtained/merited through experience rather than instruction); mood is uncertain in the source.
  29. 29 ↩meritum and placitum rendered 'merit' and 'pleases' to preserve the contrast between earned worth and gracious good pleasure before the Father.

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