dixit omnipotens Filius. Ibi est enim et Spiritus sanctus pariter aeternus, pariter Deus, Spiritus unus duorum, et substantia voluntatis amborum. Nam illud quod dixisse legitur propinquante passione, Verum non quod ego volo, sed quod tu vis, Pater (Matth. XXVI, 39), quasi alia Patris, alia Filii sit voluntas aut fuerit, sonus est nostrae infirmitatis, quamvis fidelis, quam in se caput nostrum transfiguravit, quando etiam peccata nostra portavit. Unam vero esse Patris et Filii voluntatem, quorum etiam Spiritus unus est, quo adjuncto cognoscimus Trinitatem, etsi intelligere nondum permittit infirmitas, credat pietas.
wills. For there too is the Holy Spirit, equally eternal, equally God, the one Spirit of the two, and the substance of the will of both. For that which He is read to have said as His passion drew near, Nevertheless not what I will, but what Thou willest, Father (Matt. 26:39), as if the will of the Father were one and that of the Son another, or had been, is the voice of our weakness, though a faithful weakness, which our Head transfigured in Himself when He also bore our sins. But that the will of the Father and of the Son is one, Whose Spirit also is one, by the addition of Whom we come to know the Trinity, let piety believe, even if weakness does not yet permit it to understand.
2. Sed quoniam quibus promiserit et quam firma sit ipsa promissio, pro sermonis brevitate jam diximus; hoc ipsum quantum valemus, quid sit quod dignatus est promittere videamus, quos dedisti mihi, inquit, volo ut ubi ego sum, et ipsi sint mecum. Quantum attinet ad creaturam in qua factus est ex semine David secundum carnem (Rom. I, 3), nec ipse adhuc erat ubi futurus erat: sed eo modo dicere potuit, ubi ego sum, quo intelligeremus quod cito fuerat ascensurus in coelum, ut jam ibi esse se diceret ubi fuerat mox futurus. Potuit et in illo modo, quo ante jam dixerat loquens ad Nicodemum, Nemo ascendit in coelum, nisi qui descendit de coelo, Filius hominis, qui in coelo est (Joan. III, 13). Nam et ibi non dixit, Erit; sed, est, propter unitatem personae, in qua et Deus homo est, et homo Deus. In coelo ergo nos futuros esse promisit: illo enim forma servi levata est, quam sumpsit ex Virgine, et ad Patris dexteram collocata. Propter spem tanti hujus boni et Apostolus ait: Deus autem qui dives est in misericordia, propter multam dilectionem qua dilexit nos, et cum essemus mortui peccatis, convivificavit nos Christo, cujus gratia sumus salvi facti; et simul excitavit, et simul sedere fecit in coelestibus in Christo Jesu (Ephes. II, 4-6). Hoc ergo potest intelligi dixisse Dominus, Ut ubi ego sum, et illi sint mecum. Et ipse quidem de se dixit quod ibi jam esset; de nobis autem velle se dixit ut essemus ibi cum illo, non quod jam essemus ostendit. Apostolus autem quod Dominus velle se dixit ut fieret, tanquam factum fuerit est locutus. Non enim ait, Excitaturus est, et in coelestibus sedere facturus; sed, excitavit, et sedere in coelestibus fecit: quia non inaniter sed fideliter jam deputat factum quod futurum esse non dubitat. Quod vero attinet ad formam Dei in qua aequalis est Patri, si secundum eam velimus intelligere quod dictum est, Volo ut ubi ego sum, et illi sint mecum; abscedat ab animo omnis imaginum corporalium cogitatio: quidquid menti occurrerit longum, latum, crassum, qualibet luce corporea coloratum, per quaelibet locorum spatia vel finita, vel infinita diffusum, ab his omnibus, quantum potest, aciem suae contemplationis vel intentionis avertat. Et non inquiratur aequalis Patri Filius ubi sit, quoniam nemo invenit ubi non sit. Sed qui vult quaerere, quaerat potius ut cum illo sit; non ubique sicut ille, sed ubicumque esse potuerit. Qui enim homini poenaliter pendenti, et salubriter confitenti ait, Hodie mecum eris in paradiso (Luc. XXIII, 43);
2. But since we have already said, as far as the brevity of the sermon allowed, to whom He made the promise and how firm the promise itself is, let us see, as far as we are able, what this very thing is which He deigned to promise: those whom Thou hast given me, He says, I will that where I am, they also may be with me. As regards the creature in which He was made of the seed of David according to the flesh (Rom. 1:3), He Himself was not yet where He was to be; but He could say, where I am, in such a way that we would understand that He was soon to ascend into heaven, so that He would say He was already there where He was presently to be. He could also [have said it] in that manner in which He had already said earlier, speaking to Nicodemus, No one has ascended into heaven, except He Who descended from heaven, the Son of man, Who is in heaven (John 3:13). For there too He did not say, Will be; but, is, because of the unity of the person, in which God is also man, and man God. He promised, then, that we shall be in heaven: for thither the form of a servant, which He took from the Virgin, has been raised, and placed at the right hand of the Father. On account of the hope of so great a good the Apostle too says: But God, Who is rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, made us alive together with Christ, by Whose grace we have been saved; and He raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:4–6). This, then, can be understood to be what the Lord said, That where I am, they too may be with me. And He indeed said of Himself that He was already there; but of us He said that He willed that we should be there with Him, not that He showed that we were already there. But what the Lord said He willed should come about, the Apostle spoke of as though it had been done. For he does not say, He will raise us, and will make us sit in the heavenly places; but, He raised us, and made us sit in the heavenly places: because not idly but faithfully he already reckons as done what he does not doubt will be. But as regards the form of God, in which He is equal to the Father, if we wish to understand according to it what was said, I will that where I am, they too may be with me, let every thought of bodily images depart from the mind: whatever occurs to the mind as long, broad, thick, coloured by any bodily light, spread through any spaces of places whether finite or infinite, from all these let it turn away, as far as it can, the gaze of its contemplation or attention. And let it not be asked where the Son, equal to the Father, is, since no one finds where He is not. But let him who wishes to seek, seek rather that he may be with Him; not everywhere as He is, but wherever he is able to be. For He Who said to the man hanging in punishment and confessing unto salvation, Today you will be with me in paradise (Luke 23:43);