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PL 38 · cols. 354–363

Augustine, Sermones 52-58 (Classis I, de Scripturis: de Evangelio Matthaei)

Sermon LII

PL 38:354
SERMO LII. De verbis Evangelii Matthaei, cap. III, 13-17, Venit Jesus a Galilaea in Jordanem ad Joannem, ut baptizaretur ab eo, etc., de Trinitate.
Sermon LII. On the words of the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 3:13-17, Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him, etc., on the Trinity.
CAPUT PRIMUM. — 1. Deus Trinitas in baptismo Christi commendatur. Evangelica lectio proposuit nobis unde loquamur ad Charitatem vestram, tanquam Domini imperio, et vere Domini imperio. Ab illo enim exspectavit cor meum tanquam jussionem proferendi sermonis, ut hinc eum intelligerem loqui me velle, quod recitari ipse voluisset. Audiat ergo studium et devotio vestra, et adjuvet apud ipsum Dominum Deum nostrum laborem meum. Videmus enim et tanquam proposito divino spectaculo contuemur, apud flumen Jordanis commendari nobis Deum nostrum in Trinitate. Cum enim veniret Jesus, et baptizatus esset a Joanne, Dominus a servo (quod fecit ad humilitatis exemplum; in ipsa quippe humilitate ostendit impleri justitiam, quando dicente sibi Joanne, Ego debeo a te baptizari, et tu venis ad me;
Chapter I. — 1. God the Trinity is set forth in the baptism of Christ. The Gospel reading has put before us the subject on which we are to speak to Your Charity, as if by the command of the Lord, and truly by the command of the Lord. For my heart awaited from Him, as it were, the order to deliver a sermon, so that I might understand from this that He wished me to speak on what He Himself had wished to be read. Let your zeal and devotion, then, listen, and help my labour before the Lord our God Himself. For we see, and as though a divine spectacle were set before us we behold, our God set forth to us in Trinity at the river Jordan. For when Jesus came and was baptized by John, the Lord by the servant (which He did as an example of humility; for in that very humility He showed that righteousness is fulfilled, when, John saying to Him, I ought to be baptized by Thee, and Thou comest to me;
Editors' notes and page, col. 354

Footnotes

(*) ‹anchor: SERMO LII› · call in col 354 Castigatus est ad tres bn. ad quatuor cl. ad a. cb. f. fl. fs. g. lr. m. pr. rm. vd. Am. Er. Par. Lov.

Corrected against three bn., four cl., and a. cb. f. fl. fs. g. lr. m. pr. rm. vd. Am. Er. Par. Lov.

(printed under page 183)

(a) ‹anchor: SERMO LII› · call in col 354

Alias, 63 de Verbis Domini.

Formerly, 63 on the Words of the Lord.

(printed under page 183)

(b) ‹anchor: de Trinitate› · call in col 354

Citatur a Floro ad Galat. IV, titulo sermonis «De Trinitate.» Plerisque autem Mss. inscribitur, «De una Trinitate trinaque unitate;» eaque inscriptio ante Hincmari aetatem obtinebat, ut Hincmarus ipse fateri coactus est, libro de non trina Trinitate, pag. 455. Hic obiter observare juvat Hincmarum eumdem in eodem libro totam fere paginam 544 tresque subsequentes implere excerptis sermonis quem vocat Augustini «de Unitate Patris et Filii et Spiritus sancti contra Arianos;» qui tamen inter Augustinianos modo non comparet.

It is cited by Florus on Galatians 4 under the sermon title "On the Trinity." In most manuscripts, however, it is headed "On the one Trinity and the threefold unity;" and that heading was current before the time of Hincmar, as Hincmar himself was forced to admit, in his book on the not threefold Trinity, p. 455. Here it is worth noting in passing that the same Hincmar in the same book fills nearly the whole of page 544 and the three following with excerpts from a sermon he calls Augustine's "On the Unity of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, against the Arians;" which, however, is not now to be found among Augustine's sermons.

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respondit, Sine modo, ut impleatur omnis justitia) : cum ergo baptizatus esset, aperti sunt coeli, et descendit super eum Spiritus sanctus in specie columbae; deinde vox desuper consecuta est, Hic est Filius meus dilectus, in quo bene sensi. Habemus ergo distinctam quodam modo Trinitatem : in voce Patrem, in homine Filium, in columba Spiritum sanctum. Hoc quidem commemorare opus erat; nam videre facillimum est. Evidenter enim, nec ullo dubitationis scrupulo commendatur haec Trinitas. Nam ipse Dominus Christus in forma servi veniens ad Joannem, utique Filius est : non enim dici potest quod Pater est, aut dici potest quod Spiritus sanctus est. Venit, inquit, Jesus : utique Filius Dei. De columba quis dubitet; aut quis dicat, Quid est columba cum ipsum Evangelium testetur apertissime, Descendit super eum Spiritus sanctus in specie columbae? De voce autem illa similiter nulla dubitatio quod Patris sit, cum dicit, Tu es Filius meus (Marc. I, 11). Habemus ergo distinctam Trinitatem.
answered, Suffer it now, that all justice may be fulfilled): when therefore He had been baptized, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove; then a voice from above followed, This is My beloved Son, in whom I have been well pleased. We have therefore, in a certain manner, the Trinity distinct: the Father in the voice, the Son in the man, the Holy Spirit in the dove. This indeed it was needful to recall; for to see it is very easy. For clearly, and with no scruple of doubt, this Trinity is set before us. For the Lord Christ Himself, coming in the form of a servant to John, is assuredly the Son: for it cannot be said that He is the Father, nor can it be said that He is the Holy Spirit. Jesus came, it says: assuredly the Son of God. Concerning the dove who would doubt; or who would say, What is the dove? when the Gospel itself testifies most openly, The Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove? Likewise concerning that voice there is no doubt that it is the Father's, when it says, Thou art My Son (Mark 1:11). We have therefore the Trinity distinct.
CAPUT II. — 2. De Trinitate inseparabili difficultas. Et si consideremus loca, audeo dicere (quamvis timide id dicam, tamen audeo) quasi separabilem Trinitatem. Cum Jesus venit ad fluvium, ex alio loco in alium locum; columba de coelo descendit ad terram, de alio loco ad alium locum; vox ipsa Patris, nec de terra, nec de aqua sonuit, sed de coelo : tria haec quasi separantur locis, separantur officiis, separantur operibus. Dicat mihi aliquis : Ostende inseparabilem Trinitatem. Memento catholicum te loqui, catholicis loqui. Fides enim nostra, id est, fides vera, fides recta, fides catholica, non opinione praesumptionis, sed testimonio lectionis collecta, nec haeretica temeritate incerta, sed apostolica veritate fundata, hoc insinuat; hoc novimus, hoc credimus. Hoc etsi non videmus oculis, nec adhuc corde quamdiu fide mundamur; ipsa tamen fide rectissime, ac robustissime retinemus Patrem, Filium, Spiritum sanctum, inseparabilem esse Trinitatem, unum Deum, non tres deos. Ita tamen unum Deum, ut Filius non sit Pater, ut Pater non sit Filius, ut Spiritus sanctus nec Pater sit, nec Filius, sed Patris et Filii Spiritus. Hanc ineffabilem divinitatem apud se ipsam manentem, omnia innovantem, creantem, recreantem, mittentem, revocantem, judicantem, liberantem; hanc ergo Trinitatem ineffabilem simul novimus et inseparabilem.
Chapter II. — 2. A difficulty concerning the inseparable Trinity. And if we consider the places, I dare to say (though I say it timidly, yet I dare) that the Trinity is as it were separable. When Jesus came to the river, [He came] from one place into another place; the dove descended from heaven to earth, from one place to another place; the very voice of the Father sounded neither from the earth nor from the water, but from heaven: these three are as it were separated by places, separated by functions, separated by works. Let someone say to me: Show the Trinity inseparable. Remember that you are a catholic speaking, and speaking to catholics. For our faith, that is, the true faith, the right faith, the catholic faith, gathered not by the opinion of presumption but by the testimony of the reading, not uncertain through heretical rashness but founded on apostolic truth, makes this known; this we know, this we believe. Although we do not see this with the eyes, nor yet with the heart so long as we are being cleansed by faith, yet by that very faith we hold most rightly and most firmly that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are an inseparable Trinity, one God, not three gods. Yet one God in such a way that the Son is not the Father, that the Father is not the Son, that the Holy Spirit is neither the Father nor the Son, but the Spirit of the Father and of the Son. This ineffable Godhead, abiding in itself, renewing all things, creating, re-creating, sending, recalling, judging, delivering; this Trinity, therefore, we know to be at once ineffable and inseparable.
3. Auxilii divini necessitas ad solvendum nodum difficultatis. Quid ergo agimus? Ecce seorsum venit Filius in homine, seorsum Spiritus sanctus de coelo descendit in specie columbae, seorsum vox Patris de coelo sonuit, Hic est Filius meus. Ubi est inseparabilis Trinitas? Fecit vos per me Deus intentos. Orate pro nobis, et quasi aperientes sinum, donet ipse unde quod aperuistis impleatur. Collaborate nobis. Videtis enim quid susceperimus; non solum quid, verum etiam qui; unde volumus dicere, ubi positi, quomodo positi in corpore quod corrumpitur et aggravat animam, et deprimit terrena inhabitatio sensum multa cogitantem (Sap. IX, 15). Quando ergo
3. The need of divine help for untying the knot of the difficulty. What then are we to do? Behold, separately the Son came in the man, separately the Holy Spirit descended from heaven in the form of a dove, separately the voice of the Father sounded from heaven, This is My Son. Where is the inseparable Trinity? God has made you attentive through me. Pray for us, and, as if opening your bosom, may He Himself grant that whereby what you have opened may be filled. Labour together with us. For you see what we have undertaken; not only what, but also who [we are]; whence we wish to speak, where placed, how placed in a body which is corrupted and weighs down the soul, and the earthly dwelling presses down the mind that thinks many things (Wis. 9:15). When therefore
Editors' notes and page, col. 355

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: aperientes sinum› · call in col 355

Sex Mss., aperite sinum vestrum.

Six manuscripts: "open your bosom."

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istum sensum a multis extraho, et ad unum Deum Trinitatem inseparabilem colligo, ut aliquid videam quod dicam; putasne in hoc corpore quod aggravat animam, ut aliquid vobis digne loquar, potero dicere, Quoniam ad te, Domine, animam meam levavi (Psalm. LXXXV, 4)? Adjuvet me, levet eam mecum. Nam infirmus sum illi, et gravis est mihi.
I draw this sense away from many things, and gather it towards the one God, the inseparable Trinity, so that I may see something to say; do you suppose that in this body, which weighs down the soul, I shall be able to say, so as to speak worthily to you, For to Thee, O Lord, have I lifted up my soul (Ps. 85:4)? Let Him help me, let Him lift it up with me. For I am weak for it, and it is heavy upon me.
CAPUT III. — 4. Opera Patris et Filii inseparabilia. Solet haec quaestio ab studiosissimis fratribus proponi, solet in amatorum verbi Dei sermone versari, solet pro hac multum pulsari ad Deum, dicentibus hominibus: Facit aliquid Pater, quod non facit Filius; aut facit aliquid Filius quod non facit Pater? Interim de Patre et Filio dicamus. Cum autem hinc expedierit conatum nostrum, cui dicimus, Adjutor meus esto, ne derelinquas me (Psal. XXVI, 9); intelligitur etiam Spiritus sanctus ab operatione Patris et Filii nequaquam discedere. De Patre ergo et Filio, fratres, audite. Facit aliquid Pater sine Filio? Respondemus, Non. An dubitatis? Quid enim facit sine illo, per quem facta sunt omnia? Omnia, inquit, per ipsum facta sunt. Et satiate inculcans tardis, duris, litigiosis, addidit, Et sine ipso factum est nihil (Joan. I, 3).
Chapter III. — 4. The works of the Father and of the Son are inseparable. This question is customarily put forward by the most studious brethren, it is customarily turned over in the conversation of lovers of the word of God, on its account there is customarily much knocking at God's door, as people say: Does the Father do something which the Son does not do; or does the Son do something which the Father does not do? Meanwhile let us speak of the Father and the Son. And when He to Whom we say, Be my helper, forsake me not (Ps. 26:9), has carried our effort through from this point, it is understood that the Holy Spirit too in no way departs from the operation of the Father and the Son. Hear then, brethren, concerning the Father and the Son. Does the Father do anything without the Son? We answer, No. Do you doubt it? For what does He do without Him, through Whom all things were made? All things, it says, were made through Him. And, driving it home to the full for the slow, the hard, the contentious, it added, And without Him nothing was made (John 1:3).
5. Pater omnia per Filium et fecit et regit. Quid igitur, fratres? Omnia per ipsum facta sunt; intelligimus utique universam creaturam factam per Filium, fecisse Patrem per Verbum suum, Deum per Virtutem et Sapientiam suam: numquid dicturi sumus, Omnia quidem, quando creata sunt, per ipsum facta sunt, sed nunc non omnia per ipsum facit Pater? Absit. Recedat haec cogitatio a fidelium cordibus, abigatur a sensu devotorum, ab intellectu piorum. Fieri non potest ut per ipsum creaverit, et non per ipsum gubernet. Absit ut sine ipso regatur quod est, quando per ipsum factum est ut esset. Sed et hoc testimonio Scripturae doceamus, non solum per ipsum facta et creata omnia, sicut ex Evangelio commemoravimus, Omnia per ipsum facta sunt, et sine ipso factum est nihil: sed per ipsum etiam regi et disponi quae facta sunt. Agnoscitis ergo Christum Dei Virtutem et Dei Sapientiam: agnoscite dictum et de Sapientia, Attingit a fine usque ad finem fortiter, et disponit omnia suaviter (Sap. VIII, 1). Non ergo dubitemus per ipsum regi omnia, per quem facta sunt omnia. Nihil itaque Pater sine Filio, nihil Filius sine Patre facit.
5. The Father both made and rules all things through the Son. What then, brethren? All things were made through Him; we understand, surely, that the whole creation was made through the Son, that the Father made it through His Word, God through His Power and Wisdom: are we going to say, All things indeed, when they were created, were made through Him, but now the Father does not do all things through Him? Far from it. Let this thought depart from the hearts of the faithful, let it be driven from the mind of the devout, from the understanding of the godly. It cannot be that He created through Him and does not govern through Him. Far be it that what exists should be ruled without Him, when it was through Him that it came to be. But let us show this too by the testimony of Scripture: that not only were all things made and created through Him, as we have recalled from the Gospel, All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made; but that through Him also the things that were made are ruled and ordered. You acknowledge, then, Christ the Power of God and the Wisdom of God: acknowledge what is said of Wisdom too, She reaches from end to end mightily, and orders all things sweetly (Wis. 8:1). Let us not doubt, then, that all things are ruled through Him through Whom all things were made. Therefore the Father does nothing without the Son, the Son nothing without the Father.
6. Difficultas: an Filii nativitas et passio sit etiam Patris. Patripassianorum haeresis. Occurrit itaque quaestio, quam in nomine Domini et ejus voluntate solvendam suscepimus. Si nihil facit Pater sine Filio, et nihil Filius sine Patre; nonne quasi consequens erit ut et Patrem dicamus natum de virgine Maria, Patrem passum sub Pontio Pilato, Patrem resurrexisse et in coelum ascendisse? Absit. Non hoc dicimus, quia non hoc credimus. Credidi enim propter quod locutus sum: et nos credimus propter quod et loquimur (Psal. CXV, 10, et II Cor. IV, 13). Quid est in fide? Quia Filius de Virgine natus est, non Pater.
6. A difficulty: whether the birth and passion of the Son are also the Father's. The heresy of the Patripassians. So the question arises which, in the name of the Lord and by His will, we have undertaken to resolve. If the Father does nothing without the Son, and the Son nothing without the Father, will it not seem to follow that we should say that the Father too was born of the virgin Mary, that the Father suffered under Pontius Pilate, that the Father rose again and ascended into heaven? Far from it. We do not say this, because we do not believe this. For I believed, and therefore I have spoken: and we believe, and therefore we also speak (Ps. 115:10, and 2 Cor. 4:13). What is in the faith? That the Son was born of the Virgin, not the Father.
Editors' notes and page, col. 356

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 356

Omnes prope Mss., Et societatem inculcans tardis.

Nearly all the manuscripts: "And impressing the fellowship upon the slow."

(printed under page 184)

(a) ‹anchor: Quid est in fide› · call in col 356

Id est, symbolo fidei.

That is, in the creed of the faith.

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Quid est in fide? Quia Filius passus est sub Pontio Pilato, et mortuus, non Pater. Excidit nobis, quosdam male intelligentes vocari Patripassianos, qui dicunt ipsum Patrem natum ex femina, ipsum Patrem passum, ipsum esse Patrem qui est Filius, duo esse nomina, non res duas. Et removit istos Ecclesia catholica a communione sanctorum, ne aliquem deciperent, ut separati litigarent.
What is in the faith? That the Son suffered under Pontius Pilate, and died, not the Father. It slipped our mind [to mention] that certain people who understand wrongly are called Patripassians, who say that the Father Himself was born of a woman, that the Father Himself suffered, that the Father Himself is the one who is the Son, that there are two names, not two realities. And the Catholic Church removed these people from the communion of the saints, so that they might not deceive anyone, and so that, being separated, they might wrangle [by themselves].
7. Difficultatis nodus. Revocemus ergo difficultatem quaestionis sensibus vestris. Dicat aliquis mihi: Tu dixisti, nihil Patrem facere sine Filio, neque Filium sine Patre; et testimonia de Scripturis adhibuisti, nihil facere Patrem sine Filio, quia omnia per ipsum facta sunt; nec quod factum est regi sine Filio, quia ipse est Sapientia Patris, attingens a fine usque ad finem fortiter, et disponens omnia suaviter. Modo mihi dicis quasi contra te ipsum loquens: Filius natus est de virgine, non Pater; Filius passus est, non Pater; Filius resurrexit, non Pater. Ecce teneo aliquid facere Filium, quod non facit Pater. Aut ergo confitere, facere aliquid Filium sine Patre; aut confitere etiam Patrem natum, passum, mortuum, resurrexisse. Aut illud, aut illud dic: elige unum de duobus. Ego neutrum eligo, nec hoc, nec illud dico. Nec aliquid facere Filium sine Patre dico; quia mentior, si hoc dixero: nec Patrem natum, passum, mortuum, resurrexisse dico; quia nihilominus mentior, si hoc dixero. Quomodo, inquit, explicaberis ab his angustiis?
7. The knot of the difficulty. Let us therefore recall the difficulty of the question to your minds. Someone may say to me: You said that the Father does nothing without the Son, nor the Son without the Father; and you brought forward testimonies from the Scriptures that the Father does nothing without the Son, because all things were made through Him; nor is what has been made governed without the Son, because He is the Wisdom of the Father, reaching from end to end mightily, and ordering all things sweetly. Now you tell me, as though speaking against yourself: The Son was born of the virgin, not the Father; the Son suffered, not the Father; the Son rose again, not the Father. Look, I hold that the Son does something which the Father does not do. Either, then, confess that the Son does something without the Father; or confess that the Father too was born, suffered, died, and rose again. Say either the one or the other: choose one of the two. I choose neither; I say neither this nor that. I do not say that the Son does anything without the Father, because I lie if I say this; nor do I say that the Father was born, suffered, died, and rose again, because I lie no less if I say this. How, he says, will you extricate yourself from these straits?
CAPUT IV. — 8. Filii solius est nativitas ex virgine, sed facta est a Patre et Filio. Placet vobis quaestio proposita: Deus adjuvet, ut placeat et soluta. Ecce quod dico, ut liberet et me et vos. In una enim fide stamus in nomine Christi, et in una domo sub uno Domino vivimus, et in uno corpore membra sub uno capite sumus, et uno spiritu vegetamur. Ut ergo Dominus ab his angustiis molestissimae quaestionis liberet, et me qui loquor, et vos qui auditis, hoc dico: Filius quidem, non Pater, natus est de virgine Maria; sed ipsam nativitatem Filii, non Patris, de virgine Maria, et Pater et F⟨i⟩lius operatus est. Non est quidem passus Pater, sed Filius: passionem tamen Filii et Pater et Filius operatus est. Non resurrexit Pater, sed Filius: resurrectionem tamen Filii et Pater et Filius operatus est. De quaestione ista videmur jam expediti; sed forte verbis meis, videamus etiam utrum verbis divinis. Pertinet ergo ad me sanctorum Librorum testimoniis demonstrare, nativitatem Filii et Patrem operatum et Filium; ita passionem; ita resurrectionem: ut cum Filii tantum sit et nativitas et passio et resurrectio; haec tamen tria quae ad Filium solum pertinent, nec a Patre solo facta sint, nec a solo Filio, sed a Patre utique et Filio. Probemus singula, judices auditis, causa proposita est, testes procedant. Dicat mihi judicium vestrum, quod solet causas agentibus dici: Doce quod promittis. Doceo plane adjuvante Domino, et coelestis juris recito
Chapter IV. — 8. The birth from the virgin belongs to the Son alone, but it was brought about by the Father and the Son. The question as proposed pleases you: may God help, so that it may please you when solved as well. Here is what I say, that He may free both me and you. For we stand in one faith in the name of Christ, and we live in one house under one Lord, and we are members in one body under one head, and we are quickened by one spirit. So, that the Lord may free from these straits of a most troublesome question both me who speak and you who listen, I say this: the Son indeed, not the Father, was born of the virgin Mary; but this very birth of the Son, not of the Father, from the virgin Mary, both the Father and the Son brought about. The Father indeed did not suffer, but the Son: yet the passion of the Son both the Father and the Son brought about. The Father did not rise again, but the Son: yet the resurrection of the Son both the Father and the Son brought about. On this question we seem already to be clear; but perhaps by my words; let us see whether also by divine words. It falls to me, therefore, to show by the testimonies of the holy Books that both the Father and the Son brought about the birth of the Son; likewise the passion; likewise the resurrection: so that, although the birth and the passion and the resurrection belong to the Son only, yet these three things which pertain to the Son alone were done neither by the Father alone nor by the Son alone, but by the Father and the Son together. Let us prove each point; you are listening as judges, the case has been set out, let the witnesses come forward. Let your court say to me what is usually said to those pleading cases: Show what you promise. I show it plainly, with the Lord's help, and of the heavenly law I recite
Editors' notes and page, col. 357

Footnotes

(a) ‹anchor: Doce quod promittis› · call in col 357

Cujacius ad oram sui libri annotavit legendum, Doce quod promis.

Cujas noted in the margin of his copy that the reading should be "Prove what you bring forward."

(printed under page 185)

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lectionem. Intente audistis proponentem, audite intentius jam probantem.
the reading. You listened attentively as I set it forth; listen more attentively now as I prove it.
9. Filii nativitatem esse factam a Patre. Paulus juris divini consultus. De Christi nativitate mihi primo docendum est, quomodo eam et Pater fecerit, et Filius fecerit, quamvis nonnisi ad Filium pertineat quod fecit Pater et Filius. Paulum recito, idoneum juris divini consultum. Nam et causidici habent hodie Paulum dictantem jura litigatorum, non Christianorum. Recito, inquam, Paulum dictantem pacis jura, non litis. Ostendat nobis sanctus Apostolus, quomodo nativitatem Filii Pater operatus sit. Cum autem veni⟨t⟩, inquit, plenitudo temporis, misit Deus Filium suum factum ex muliere, factum sub Lege, ut eos qui sub Lege erant redimeret (Galat. IV, 4 et 5). Audistis, et quia pl⟨a⟩num et apertum est, intellexistis. Ecce Pater fecit Filium nasci de virgine. Cum enim venisset plenitudo temporis, misit Deus Filium suum, utique Pater Christum. Quomodo eum misit? Factum ex muliere, factum sub Lege. Fecit ergo eum Pater ex muliere sub Lege.
9. That the birth of the Son was brought about by the Father. Paul, an expert in divine law. Concerning the birth of Christ I must first teach how both the Father brought it about and the Son brought it about, although what the Father and the Son brought about pertains to the Son alone. I cite Paul, a competent expert in divine law. For even advocates today have a Paul laying down the laws of litigants, not of Christians. I cite, I say, Paul laying down the laws of peace, not of strife. Let the holy Apostle show us how the Father wrought the birth of the Son. But when there came, he says, the fullness of time, God sent His Son, made of a woman, made under the Law, that He might redeem those who were under the Law (Gal. 4:4–5). You have heard, and because it is plain and clear, you have understood. Behold, the Father caused the Son to be born of a virgin. For when the fullness of time had come, God sent His Son; that is, the Father sent Christ. How did He send Him? Made of a woman, made under the Law. The Father therefore made Him of a woman, under the Law.
10. Locus Apostoli quo dicitur Christus de muliere natus. An forte hoc movet, quia de virgine dixi, et Paulus dicit ex muliere? Non moveat, non immoremur: neque enim rudibus loquor. Utrumque Scriptura dicit, et ex virgine, et ex muliere. Ex virgine quomodo? Ecce virgo in utero accipet, et pariet Filium (Isai. VII, 14). Ex muliere autem, sicut audistis: non est contrarium. Proprietas enim locutionis hebraeae mulieres, non corruptas virginitate, sed feminas appellat. Habes evidentem Scripturam Geneseos, quando ipsa primo Eva facta est: Formavit eam in mulierem (Gen. II, 22). Dicit etiam alio loco Scriptura, jubere Deum separari mulieres, quae non cognoverunt cubile viri (Num. XXXI, 17, 18, et Judicum XXI, 11). Hoc ergo jam notum esse debet; nec teneat nos, ut alia, quae merito tenebunt, Domino adjuvante, explicare possimus.
10. The passage of the Apostle in which Christ is said to have been born of a woman. Or perhaps this troubles you, that I said "of a virgin", and Paul says "of a woman"? Let it not trouble you, let us not dwell on it: for I am not speaking to the untaught. Scripture says both, both "of a virgin" and "of a woman". "Of a virgin" how? Behold, a virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bear a Son (Isa. 7:14). And "of a woman", as you have heard: it is not contradictory. For the idiom of Hebrew speech calls "women" not those corrupted in their virginity, but females. You have a clear Scripture of Genesis, when Eve herself was first made: He formed her into a woman (Gen. 2:22). Scripture also says in another place that God commanded the women to be set apart who had not known the bed of a man (Num. 31:17–18, and Judg. 21:11). This therefore ought now to be known; and let it not detain us, so that, with the Lord's help, we may be able to explain other things, which will rightly detain [us].
11. Factam a Filio quoque nativitatem Filii. Probavimus ergo nativitatem Filii a Patre factam, probemus et a Filio factam. Quid est nativitas Filii de virgine Maria? Certe assumptio formae servi in virginis utero. Numquidnam est aliud nasci Filio, nisi accipere formam servi in virginis utero? Audi quia hoc et Filius fecit: Qui cum in forma Dei esset, non rapinam arbitratus est esse aequalis Deo; sed semetipsum exinanivit, formam servi accipiens (Philipp. II, 6 et 7). Cum venit plenitudo temporis, misit Deus Filium suum factum ex muliere; qui factus est ei ex semine David secundum carnem (Rom. I, 3): videmus ergo nativitatem Filii a Patre factam; sed quia ipse Filius semetipsum exinanivit, formam servi accipiens, videmus nativitatem Filii et ab ipso Filio factam. Probatum est hoc; transeamus hinc: intenti aliud accipite, quod ex ordine sequitur.
11. That the birth of the Son was brought about by the Son also. We have proved, then, that the birth of the Son was brought about by the Father; let us prove that it was also brought about by the Son. What is the birth of the Son from the Virgin Mary? Surely the taking up of the form of a servant in the virgin's womb. Is being born anything else for the Son than receiving the form of a servant in the virgin's womb? Hear that the Son too did this: Who, though He was in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal to God; but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant (Phil. 2:6–7). When the fullness of time came, God sent His Son, made of a woman; Who was made for Him of the seed of David according to the flesh (Rom. 1:3): we see, then, that the birth of the Son was brought about by the Father; but because the Son Himself emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, we see that the birth of the Son was also brought about by the Son Himself. This has been proved; let us pass on from here: attentively receive another point, which follows in order.
12. Passio etiam Filii a Patre et Filio. Probemus et passionem Filii, et a Patre factam, et a Filio factam. Faciat Pater passionem Filii: Qui proprio Fitio non pepercit, sed pro nobis omnibus tradidit illum (Id. VIII, 32). Faciat et Filius passionem suam: Qui me dilexit, et tradidit semetipsum pro me (Galat. VIII, 2,
12. The passion of the Son also [brought about] by the Father and the Son. Let us prove that the passion of the Son too was brought about both by the Father and by the Son. Let the Father bring about the passion of the Son: Who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all (ibid. 8:32). Let the Son also bring about His own passion: Who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me (Gal. 2:20).
Editors' notes and page, col. 358

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20). Tradidit Pater Filium, tradidit Filius se ipsum. Passio haec uni facta est, sed ab utroque facta est. Sicut ergo nativitatem, ita passionem Christi nec Pater sine Filio fecit, nec Filius sine Patre. Tradidit Pater Filium, tradidit Filius se ipsum. Quid hic fecit Judas, nisi peccatum? Transeamus, et hinc veniamus ad resurrectionem.
The Father handed over the Son, the Son handed over Himself. This passion was undergone by one, but it was brought about by both. Therefore, just as with the nativity, so with the passion of Christ: neither did the Father bring it about without the Son, nor the Son without the Father. The Father handed over the Son, the Son handed over Himself. What did Judas do here, except sin? Let us pass on, and from here let us come to the resurrection.
13. Idem de Christi resurrectione probatur. Videamus Filium quidem, non Patrem, resurgentem, sed resurrectionem Filii et Patrem et Filium facientem. Operetur Pater resurrectionem Filii. Propter hoc enim exaltavit eum, et donavit ei nomen quod est super omne nomen (Philipp. II, 9). Resuscitavit ergo Pater Filium, exaltando eum et excitando eum a mortuis. Numquid et Filius resuscitavit semetipsum? Resuscitavit plane. In figura sui corporis de templo dixit: Solvite templum hoc, et in triduo resuscitabo illud (Joan. II, 19). Postremo sicut ad passionem pertinet animam ponere, sic ad resurrectionem animam iterum sumere: videamus si Filius quidem animam suam posuit, et ei animam suam Pater reddid⟨i⟩t, non ipse sibi. Pater enim quia reddidit, manifestum est. Inde enim Psalmus dicit, Et resuscita me, et reddam illis (Psal. XL, 11). Sed quia et Filius animam suam sibi reddidit, quid a nobis exspectatis? Ipse dicat: Potestatem habeo ponendi animam meam. Nondum dixi quod promisi. Ponendi dixi: sed jam clamatis, quia praevolatis. Eruditi quippe in schola magistri coelestis, tanquam lectiones intente audientes, pie reddentes, quid sequatur non ignoratis. Potestatem, inquit, habeo ponendi animam meam, et potestatem habeo iterum sumendi eam. Nemo tollit eam a me: sed ego pono eam a me, et iterum sumo eam (Joan. X, 18).
13. The same is proved concerning the resurrection of Christ. Let us see the Son, not the Father, rising again, but both the Father and the Son bringing about the resurrection of the Son. Let the Father bring about the resurrection of the Son. For on this account He exalted Him, and gave Him the name which is above every name (Phil. 2:9). So the Father raised up the Son, exalting Him and awakening Him from the dead. Did the Son also raise Himself up? Plainly He did. In a figure of His body He said of the temple: Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up (John 2:19). Finally, just as laying down one's life belongs to the passion, so taking up one's life again belongs to the resurrection: let us see whether the Son indeed laid down His life and the Father gave His life back to Him, not He to Himself. For that the Father gave it back is manifest. For hence the Psalm says, And raise me up, and I will repay them (Ps. 40:11). But since the Son also gave His life back to Himself, what do you expect from me? Let Him say it Himself: I have power to lay down my life. I have not yet said what I promised. I said "to lay down": but already you are calling out, because you are flying on ahead. For, taught in the school of the heavenly Master, as people who listen attentively to the readings and recite them devoutly, you are not unaware of what follows. I have power, He says, to lay down my life, and I have power to take it up again. No one takes it from me: but I lay it down of myself, and I take it up again (John 10:18).
CAPUT V. — 14. Replicatio doctrinae explicatae. Exsolvimus quae promisimus: propositiones nostras firmissimis, ut arbitror, testimoniorum documentis probavimus. Tenete quod audistis. Breviter replico, et rem utilissimam, quantum existimo, mentibus vestris collocandam commendo. Pater non est natus de virgine: nativitatem tamèn istam Filii et Pater et Filius operatus est ex virgine. Pater non est passus in cruce: passionem tamen Filii et Pater et Filius operatus est. Non resurrexit Pater a mortuis: resurrectionem tamen Filii et Pater et Filius operatus est. Habetis personarum distinctionem, et operationis inseparabilitatem. Non ergo dicamus aliquid Patrem operari sine Filio, aliquid Filium sine Patre. An forte miracula quae fecit Jesus, movent vos, ne forte aliqua ipse fecerit, quae non fecit Pater? Et ubi est, Pater autem in me manens, ipse facit opera (Joan. XIV, 10)? Haec quae diximus plana erant, tantum dicenda erant: non laborandum ut intelligerentur, sed curandum ut commemorarentur.
Chapter V. — 14. A recapitulation of the doctrine set out. We have discharged what we promised: we have proved our propositions, as I think, by the firmest proofs from testimonies. Hold fast to what you have heard. I briefly repeat it, and I commend to you a most useful matter, as far as I judge, to be stored in your minds. The Father was not born of the virgin: yet both the Father and the Son brought about this nativity of the Son from the virgin. The Father did not suffer on the cross: yet both the Father and the Son brought about the passion of the Son. The Father did not rise from the dead: yet both the Father and the Son brought about the resurrection of the Son. You have the distinction of the persons, and the inseparability of the operation. Let us not therefore say that the Father works anything without the Son, or the Son anything without the Father. Or perhaps the miracles which Jesus did trouble you, lest perhaps He did some things which the Father did not do? And where then is, But the Father abiding in me, He does the works (John 14:10)? These things which we have said were plain; they needed only to be said: no labour was needed for them to be understood, only care that they be remembered.
15. Deus ad modum corporis in spatio non cogitandus. Aliquid adhuc volo dicere, ubi vere et acriorem intentionem vestram requiro, et devotionem apud Deum. Etenim locis corporalibus non tenentur nec
15. God is not to be thought of after the manner of a body in space. I wish to say something further, for which I truly require of you keener attention, and devotion before God. For nothing is held in bodily places, nor
Editors' notes and page, col. 359

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: sed jam clamatis› · call in col 359

Am. Er., clamastis. Sic etiam Mss. et ex his nonnulli, praevolastis.

Am. Er.: "you have cried out." So also the manuscripts, and some of them: "you have flown ahead."

(printed under page 186)

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occupantur nisi corpora. Ultra locos corporales est divinitas: nemo eam tanquam in spatio requirat. Ubique invisibilis et inseparabiliter adest: non in parte major, in parte minor; sed ubique tota, nusquam divisa. Quis videt hoc? quis capit hoc? Compescamus nos: meminerimus qui, unde loquamur. Illud et illud, quidquid est quod Deus est, pie credatur, sancte cogitetur; et quantum datur, quantum potest, ineffabiliter intelligatur. Quiescant verba, cesset lingua; cor excitetur, cor illuc levetur. Non enim est illud tale, quod in cor hominis ascendat, sed quo cor hominis ascendat. Attendamus creaturam: Invisibilia enim ejus, a creatura mundi, per ea quae facta sunt, intelleeta conspiciuntur (Rom. I, 20): ne forte in his quae fecit Deus, in quibus habemus quamdam consuetudinis familiaritatem, inveniamus aliquam similitudinem, unde probemus esse aliqua tria, quae tria separabiliter proferantur, inseparabiliter operentur.
occupied by them, except bodies. Beyond corporeal places is the Godhead: let no one seek it as if in space. Everywhere it is present invisibly and inseparably: not greater in part, lesser in part; but everywhere whole, nowhere divided. Who sees this? Who grasps this? Let us restrain ourselves: let us remember who we are and of what we speak. This and that, whatever it is that God is, let it be piously believed, holily thought upon; and as far as is granted, as far as is possible, let it be ineffably understood. Let words be still, let the tongue cease; let the heart be roused, let the heart be lifted up thither. For that is not such as to ascend into the heart of man, but such that the heart of man ascends to it. Let us attend to creation: For His invisible things, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood through the things that are made (Rom. 1:20): to see whether perhaps in the things which God has made, with which we have a certain familiarity of custom, we may find some likeness whereby we may prove that there are some three things which, three as they are, are uttered separably [yet] operate inseparably.
CAPUT VI. — 16. Deus incomprehensibilis. Eia, fratres, adestote toto animo. Videte prius quid promittam; ne forte in creatura inveniam, quia Creator a nobis excelsus est. Et forte verba quisquam nostrum, cui fulgor veritatis aliqua mentem quasi coruscatione perstringit, potest dicere verba illa: Ego dixi in ecstasi mea. In ecstasi tua quid dixisti? Projectus sum a facie oculorum tuorum (Psal. XXX, 23). Etenim videtur mihi iste qui hoc dixit, levasse ad Deum animam suam, et effudisse super se animam suam, cum ei diceretur quotidie, Ubi est Deus tuus (Psal. XLI, 4, 11)? pervenisse spirituali quodam contactu ad illam incommutabilem lucem, eamque infirmitate conspectus ferre non valuisse; et in suam quasi aegritudinem atque languorem iterum recidisse, et comparasse se illi, et sensisse adhuc contemperari non posse aciem mentis suae luci sapientiae Dei. Et quia hoc in ecstasi fecerat, abreptus a sensibus corporis et subreptus in Deum; ubi quodam modo a Deo ad hominem revocatus est, ait, Ego dixi in ecstasi mea. Vidi enim nescio quid in ecstasi, quod diu ferre non potui; et redditus mortalibus membris, et multis mortalium cogitationibus a corpore quod aggravat animam, dixi. Quid? Projectus sum a facie oculorum tuorum. Longe sursum es, longe deorsum sum. Quid ergo dicamus, fratres, de Deo? Si enim quod vis dicere, si cepisti, non est Deus: si comprehendere potuisti, aliud pro Deo comprehendisti. Si quasi comprehendere potuisti, cogitation⟨e⟩ tua te decepisti. Hoc ergo non est, si comprehendisti: si autem hoc est, non comprehendisti. Quid ergo vis loqui, quod comprehendere non potuisti?
Chapter VI. — 16. God is incomprehensible. Come now, brothers, be present with your whole mind. See first what I am promising: to see whether perhaps I may find [it] in creation, since the Creator is high above us. And perhaps any one of us whose mind some flash of truth grazes, as with a gleam of lightning, can say those words: I said in my ecstasy. In your ecstasy what did you say? I am cast out from the sight of Thy eyes (Ps. 30:23). For it seems to me that this man who said this had lifted up his soul to God, and had poured out his soul above himself, when it was said to him daily, Where is your God (Ps. 41:4, 11)? that he had attained by a certain spiritual touch to that unchangeable light, and through the weakness of his sight had not been able to bear it; and had fallen back again into his sickness, as it were, and languor, and had compared himself with it, and had felt that the eye of his mind could not yet be attuned to the light of the wisdom of God. And because he had done this in ecstasy, snatched away from the senses of the body and caught up into God, when he was in some manner called back from God to man, he says, I said in my ecstasy. For I saw I know not what in ecstasy, which I could not bear for long; and, restored to mortal limbs and to the many thoughts of mortals that come from the body which weighs down the soul, I said. What? I am cast out from the sight of Thy eyes. Thou art far above, I am far below. What then are we to say, brothers, about God? For if what you wish to say, if you have grasped it, it is not God: if you have been able to comprehend it, you have comprehended something else in place of God. If you have been able as it were to comprehend it, you have deceived yourself by your thinking. So this is not [He], if you have comprehended it: but if it is this, you have not comprehended it. Why then do you wish to speak of what you have not been able to comprehend?
17. In nobis quaerenda Dei similitudo. Videamus ergo, ne forte in creatura inveniamus aliquid, ubi probemus aliqua tria et separabiliter demonstrari, et inseparabiliter operari. Quo ibimus? Ad coelum ut de sole et luna et sideribus disputemus? Ad terram, ut forte de frutetis, de arboribus, de animalibus terram implentibus? An de ipso coelo, an de ipsa terra, quae
17. The likeness of God is to be sought in us. Let us see, then, whether perhaps we may find something in creation where we may prove that some three things are both shown separably and operate inseparably. Where shall we go? To the heaven, to discuss the sun and moon and stars? To the earth, perhaps to discuss shrubs, trees, the animals filling the earth? Or about the heaven itself, or about the earth itself, which
Editors' notes and page, col. 360

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: contemperari non posse› · call in col 360

Plures Mss., et sensu adhuc puerili contemperari, etc. Ex iisdem unus, non potuisse.

Several manuscripts: "and with a mind still childish be attuned," etc. One of the same: "had not been able."

(printed under page 186)

(2) ‹anchor: si cepisti› · call in col 360

Plures Mss., suscepisti.

Several manuscripts: "you have taken up."

(printed under page 186)

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continent omnia quae sunt in coelo et in terra? Quamdiu homo circuis creaturam? Ad te redi, te vide, te inspice, te discute. In creatura quaeris aliqua tria et separatim demonstranda, et inseparabiliter operantia: si in creatura quaeris, in te prius quaere. Non enim tu non es creatura. Similitudinem quaeris. Quaesiturus es in pecore? De Deo enim loquebaris, cum quaereres quamdam similitudinem. De Trinitate ineffabilis Majestatis loquebaris; et quia defecisti in divinis, tuamque infirmitatem debita humilitate confessus es, ad humana venisti; ibi discute. Quaeris in pecore, quaeris in sole, in stella? Quid enim horum factum est a⟨d⟩ imaginem et similitudinem Dei? Prorsus familiarius et melius aliquid horum quaeris in te. Hominem enim Deus fecit ad imaginem et similitudinem su⟨a⟩m. In te quaere, ne forte imago Trinitatis habeat aliquod vestigium Trinitatis. Et quae? Imago facta longe distans: similitudo tamen et imago longe distans, non quomodo imago Filius hoc quod Pater. Aliter enim imago in filio, aliter in speculo. Multum distat. In filio imago tua, tu ipse es. Hoc est enim filius quod tu natura. Substantia hoc quod tu, persona alius quam tu. Non ergo homo imago tanquam unigenitus Filius, sed ad imaginem quamdam et quamdam similitudinem factus. Quaerat in se aliquid, si possit invenire, et tria quaedam quae separabiliter pronuntientur, inseparabiliter operentur. Quaeram, quaerite mecum. Non ego in vobis, sed vos in vobis, et ego in me. Quaeramus communiter, et communem naturam atque substantiam communiter pertractemus.
contain all things that are in heaven and on earth? How long, man, do you go round about creation? Return to yourself, look at yourself, inspect yourself, examine yourself. In the creature you seek some three things which are both to be shown separately and work inseparably: if you seek in the creature, seek first in yourself. For you are not something other than a creature. You seek a likeness. Are you going to seek it in a beast? For you were speaking of God when you were seeking some likeness. You were speaking of the Trinity of ineffable Majesty; and because you failed in things divine and confessed your weakness with due humility, you came to things human; examine there. Do you seek in a beast, do you seek in the sun, in a star? For which of these was made to the image and likeness of God? Something altogether more familiar and better than these you seek in yourself. For God made man to His own image and likeness. Seek in yourself, whether perhaps the image of the Trinity may have some trace of the Trinity. And what sort [of image]? An image made far distant: a likeness nevertheless and an image, far distant, not in the way that the Son is an image, being that which the Father is. For an image in a son is one thing, an image in a mirror another. The difference is great. In your son your image is you yourself. For a son is by nature what you are. In substance he is what you are, in person he is other than you. Man, then, is not an image as the only-begotten Son is, but made to a certain image and a certain likeness. Let him seek something in himself, if he can find it, even three things that are named separably and work inseparably. I will seek; seek with me. Not I in you, but you in yourselves, and I in myself. Let us seek together, and together let us examine our common nature and substance.
CAPUT VII. — 18. Anima nostra ad imaginem Dei facta. Vide, o homo, adverte si verum est quod dico. Habesne corpus, habes carnem? Habeo, inquis. Nam unde est, unde in loco sum, unde de loco in locum moveor? Unde verba loquentis audio, nisi per aurem carnis? Unde os loquentis video, nisi per oculos carnis? Habes, constat, nec diu satagendum est de re manifesta. Vide aliquid aliud, vide quod operatur per carnem. Audis enim aure, sed non ab aure audis. Alius est intus qui audit per aurem. Vides per oculum, ipsum intuere. An domum agnovisti, habitatorem neglexisti? Numquidnam videt oculus per se ipsum? Nonne alius est qui videt per oculum? Non dico, Non videt oculus mortui, de quo constat corpore habitatorem abscessisse: sed oculus de re alia cogitantis, non videt faciem praesentis. Respice ergo interiorem hominem tuum. Ibi enim magis aliqua similitudo quaerenda est quorumdam trium separatim demonstratorum, inseparabiliter operantium. Qaid habet mens tua? Forte si quaeram, multa invenio: sed aliquid proximum est, quod facilius intelligitur. Quid habet anima tua? Intus commemora, recole. Non enim quod dicturus sum, id posco ut credatur mihi: noli acceptare, si in te non inveneris. Intuere ergo, sed primo quod exciderat,
Chapter VII. — 18. Our soul made to the image of God. See, O man, consider whether what I say is true. Have you a body, have you flesh? I have, you say. For how else is it, how else am I in a place, how else do I move from place to place? How else do I hear the words of one speaking, except through the ear of the flesh? How else do I see the mouth of one speaking, except through the eyes of the flesh? You have it, it is agreed, and there is no need to labour long over a plain matter. See something else, see what works through the flesh. For you hear with the ear, but it is not the ear that hears. There is another within who hears through the ear. You see through the eye; look at him himself. Have you recognized the house and neglected the dweller? Does the eye see by itself? Is there not another who sees through the eye? I do not say, The eye of a dead man does not see, from whose body it is plain the dweller has departed: but the eye of one thinking of something else does not see the face of one present. Look back, then, at your inner man. For there rather is some likeness to be sought of certain three things shown separately and working inseparably. What does your mind have? Perhaps, if I were to seek, I find many things: but there is something close at hand, which is more easily understood. What does your soul have? Call it to mind within, recollect it. For what I am about to say, I do not ask that it be believed on my word: do not accept it if you do not find it in yourself. Look within, then; but first, what had slipped from mind,
Editors' notes and page, col. 361

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: separabiliter pronuntientur› · call in col 361

Duo Mss., quae separabiliter demonstrentur.

Two manuscripts: "which may be shown separately."

(printed under page 187)

(2) ‹anchor: ego in vobis› · call in col 361

Hic apud Lov. additur, et vos in me; quod ab aliis libris abest.

Here in Lov. there is added "and you in me;" which is absent from the other books.

(printed under page 187)

(3) ‹anchor: commemora, recole› · call in col 361

Am. Er. et aliquot Mss., commemoro, recole. Fossatensis Ms., recole, commemoro.

Am. Er. and some manuscripts: "I call to mind; recollect." The Fossatensis manuscript: "recollect; I call to mind."

(printed under page 187)

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  • running head: 361 SERMO LII.
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videamus, si homo non Filii tantum imago est, aut Patris tantum imago est, sed Patris et Filii; et utique jam consequenter et Spiritus sancti. Genesis loquitur: Faciamus, inquit, hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem nostram (Gen. I, 26). Non ergo facit Pater sine Filio, nec Filius sine Patre. Faciamus hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem nostram. Faciamus; non, Faciam; aut, fac; aut, faciat ille: sed, faciamus ad imaginem; non, Tuam; aut, meam; sed, ad nostram.
let us see whether man is the image not of the Son alone, nor of the Father alone, but of the Father and the Son; and certainly then, as a consequence, of the Holy Spirit too. Genesis speaks: Let Us make, it says, man to Our image and likeness (Gen. 1:26). Therefore the Father does not make without the Son, nor the Son without the Father. Let Us make man to Our image and likeness. Let Us make; not, I will make; or, Make; or, Let Him make: but, Let Us make to the image; not, Thine; or, Mine; but, to Ours.
19. Trinitatis similitudo in homine. Ergo interrogo, dissimilem rem dico. Nemo dicat: Ecce quod comparavit Deo. Jam locutus sum, et praelocutus, et cautos reddidi, et cautus fui. Longe ista distant, a summis ima, ab incommutabilibus mutabilia, a creantibus creata, a divinis humana. Ecce primo hoc commendo, quia quod dicturus sum longe distat, nemo mihi calumnietur. Ne forte ergo et ego aures quaeram, et ille dentes paret, hoc me promisi exhibiturum, aliqua tria demonstrata separatim, operata inseparabiliter. Quam sint ista similia vel dissimilia Trinitati omnipotenti, non nunc ago: sed in ipsa creatura ima et mutabili invenimus aliqua tria, quae possint separabiliter demonstrari, et inseparabiliter operari. O carnalis cogitatio, et conscientia pertinax atque infidelis! Quid de illa Majestate ineffabili in ea re dubitas, quam in te invenire potuisti? Ecce dico, ecce interrogo: Homo, habes memoriam? Si non habes, quod dixi quomodo tenuisti? Sed forte jam, quod paulo ante dixi, oblitus es. Hoc ipsum quod dico, Dixi; duas istas syllabas non teneres, nisi per memoriam. Unde enim scires duas esse, si sonante secunda oblitus esses primam? Quid ergo diutius immoror? quare sic urgeor? quare sic cogor convincere? Manifestum est, habes memoriam. Quaero aliud: Habes intellectum? Habeo, inquis. Si enim non haberes memoriam, non teneres quod dixi: si non haberes intellectum, non agnosceres quod tenuisti. Habes et hoc. Intellectum tuum ad id quod intus tenes, revocas, et vides, et videndo formaris, ut sciens dicaris. Tertium quaero: Habes memoriam, qua teneas quod dicitur; habes intellectum, quo intelligas quod tenetur; de his duobus requiro abs te, volens tenuisti et intellexisti? Volens plane, inquis. Habes ergo voluntatem. Haec sunt tria, quae me dicturum esse promiseram auribus et mentibus vestris. Tria haec sunt in te, quae potes numerare, et non potes separare. Haec ergo tria, memoriam, intellectum, et voluntatem; haec, inquam, tria animadverte separatim pronuntiari, inseparabiliter operari.
19. A likeness of the Trinity in man. So I ask; I am speaking of an unlike thing. Let no one say: See what he has compared to God. I have already spoken, and spoken beforehand, and I have made you cautious, and I have been cautious myself. These things are far apart: the lowest from the highest, the changeable from the unchangeable, the created from the creating, the human from the divine. See, I first commend this point, that what I am about to say is far distant, so that no one may slander me. Lest perhaps, then, I should seek ears and another should make ready his teeth, I promised that I would present this: some three things shown separately, working inseparably. How like or unlike these things are to the almighty Trinity, I am not treating now: but in the very creature, low and changeable, we find some three things which can be shown separably and work inseparably. O carnal thinking, and conscience obstinate and faithless! Why do you doubt concerning that ineffable Majesty in a matter which you have been able to find in yourself? See, I say, see, I ask: Man, have you memory? If you have not, how have you retained what I said? But perhaps you have already forgotten what I said a little before. This very thing that I say, "I said": you would not retain these two syllables except through memory. For how would you know that they are two, if, while the second was sounding, you had forgotten the first? Why then do I dwell on it longer? Why am I so pressed? Why am I so compelled to prove it? It is manifest: you have memory. I ask another thing: Have you understanding? I have, you say. For if you had not memory, you would not retain what I said: if you had not understanding, you would not recognize what you have retained. You have this too. You recall your understanding to that which you hold within, and you see, and by seeing you are formed, so that you may be called knowing. I ask a third thing: You have memory, by which you retain what is said; you have understanding, by which you understand what is retained; concerning these two I ask of you: did you retain and understand willingly? Willingly, certainly, you say. You have, then, will. These are the three things which I had promised to your ears and minds that I would speak of. These three are in you, which you can count and cannot separate. These three, then, memory, understanding, and will; these three, I say, observe that they are pronounced separately, and work inseparably.
CAPUT VIII.—20. Memoria, intellectus et voluntas, et separabiliter demonstrantur, et inseparabiliter operantur. Aderit Dominus, et video quod adsit: ex intellectu vestro intelligo eum adesse. Ex his enim vocibus vestris, quemadmodum intellexeritis, adverto; praesumo eum adjuturum, ut omnia intelligatis. Tria promisi separabiliter demonstrari, inseparabiliter operari. Ecce nesciebam quid esset in animo tuo demonstrasti mihi dicendo, Memoria. Hoc verbum, sonus iste, vox ista processit ad aures meas ab animo
Chapter VIII.—20. Memory, understanding and will are both shown separably and work inseparably. The Lord will be present, and I see that He is present: from your understanding I understand that He is present. For from these cries of yours I perceive how you have understood; I trust that He will help, so that you may understand everything. I promised that three things would be shown separably and work inseparably. See, I did not know what was in your mind; you showed it to me by saying, Memory. This word, this sound, this utterance came forth to my ears from that mind
Editors' notes and page, col. 362

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  • running head: SERMO LII. 362
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  • other: column begins mid-sentence with "videamus"; scripture reference printed like "(Gen. 1,26)", set as small-capital I; "in animo tuo" partly blurred in the scan (looks like "anime"), set as animo, UNSURE; "Ergo interrogo" set as printed; right edge of the preceding column (361) visible at left, not set; printer's signature "(Douze.)" and Google digitization mark at foot not set
PL 38:363
tuo. Hoc enim quod est memoria, tacite cogitabas, et non dicebas. Erat in te, et nondum venerat ad me. Ut autem quod erat in te proferretur ad me, dixisti ipsum nomen, id est, Memoria. Audivi: quatuor has syllabas in nomine memoriae audivi. Quatuor syllabarum nomen est, vox est, sonuit, ad aurem meam processit, menti aliquid insinuavit. Quod sonuit transiit, unde insinuatum et quod insinuatum est manet. Sed hoc quaero, quando dixisti hoc nomen Memoria, vides certe quia hoc nomen non pertinet nisi ad memoriam. Caetera enim duo habent nomina sua. Namque aliud vocatur intellectus, aliud voluntas, non memoria: illud autem unum vocatur memoria. Sed ut hoc diceres, ut quatuor istas syllabas operareris, unde operatus es? Hoc nomen quod pertinet ad solam memoriam, operata est in te et memoria, ut teneres quod dicebas; et intellectus, ut scires quod tenebas; et voluntas, ut proferres quod sciebas. Gratias Domino Deo nostro. Adjuvit nos, et in vobis et in nobis. Vere dico Charitati vestrae, hoc discutiendum et insinuandum trepidissime aggressus eram. Metuebam enim ne forte laetificarem capacium ingenium, et facerem grave tardioribus taedium. Nunc autem video vos et attentione audiendi, et celeritate intelligendi, non solum percepisse dictum, sed praevolasse dicturum: Gratias Domino.
of yours. For this which is memory, you were thinking silently, and were not saying it. It was in you, and had not yet come to me. But so that what was in you might be brought forth to me, you said the name itself, that is, Memory. I heard: I heard these four syllables in the name of memory. It is a name of four syllables, it is a sound, it sounded, it went forth to my ear, it conveyed something to the mind. What sounded has passed away; that from which it was conveyed and what was conveyed remains. But this I ask: when you said this name Memory, you certainly see that this name pertains only to memory. For the other two have their own names. For the one is called understanding, the other will, not memory: but that one alone is called memory. But in order that you might say this, that you might produce these four syllables, by what did you produce them? This name, which pertains to memory alone, was produced in you both by memory, so that you might hold what you were saying; and by understanding, so that you might know what you were holding; and by will, so that you might bring forth what you knew. Thanks be to the Lord our God. He has helped us, both in you and in us. Truly I tell your Charity, I had undertaken to examine and convey this with the greatest trepidation. For I was afraid lest perhaps I should gladden the capable minds and cause heavy weariness to the slower. But now I see that you, both by attentiveness in hearing and by quickness in understanding, have not only grasped what was said, but have flown ahead of the one about to say it: thanks be to the Lord.
CAPUT IX. — 21. Ex his tribus illustratur Trinitatis mysterium. Videte ergo, jam securus commendo quod intellexistis; non inculco incognitum, sed repetens commendo perceptum. Ecce de tribus illis una res nominata est, unius rei nomen dictum est: Memoria nomen est unius ex illis tribus, et tamen nomen unius ex illis tribus tria ipsa operata sunt. Non potuit dici sola memoria, nisi operante voluntate, intellectu et memoria. Non potest dici solus intellectus, nisi operante memoria, voluntate et intellectu: nec potest dici sola voluntas, nisi operante memoria et intellectu et voluntate. Explicata sunt, ut arbitror, quae promissa sunt: quod separatim pronuntiavi, inseparabiliter cogitavi. Unum horum omnium tria fecerunt: sed tamen hoc unum quod tria fecerunt, non ad tria pertinet, sed ad unum. Tria fecerunt nomen memoriae: sed hoc non pertinet nisi ad solam memoriam. Tria fecerunt nomen intellectus: sed non pertinet nisi ad solum intellectum. Tria fecerunt nomen voluntatis: sed non pertinet nisi ad solam voluntatem. Ita Trinitas fecit carnem Christi: sed non pertinet nisi ad solum Christum. Trinitas fecit de coelo columbam: sed non pertinet nisi ad solum Spiritum sanctum. Trinitas fecit de coelo vocem: sed non pertinet vox nisi ad solum Patrem.
Chapter IX. — 21. By these three the mystery of the Trinity is illustrated. See then: now I commend without anxiety what you have understood; I do not press upon you something unknown, but by repeating it I commend what has been grasped. Behold, of those three one thing has been named, the name of one thing has been spoken: Memory is the name of one of those three, and yet the three themselves have produced the name of one of those three. Memory alone could not be said except by the working of will, understanding and memory. Understanding alone cannot be said except by the working of memory, will and understanding: nor can will alone be said except by the working of memory and understanding and will. What was promised has been explained, as I think: what I pronounced separately, I thought inseparably. The three have made each one of all these: but nevertheless this one thing which the three have made pertains not to the three, but to one. The three have made the name of memory: but this pertains only to memory alone. The three have made the name of understanding: but it pertains only to understanding alone. The three have made the name of will: but it pertains only to will alone. So the Trinity made the flesh of Christ: but it pertains only to Christ alone. The Trinity made the dove from heaven: but it pertains only to the Holy Spirit alone. The Trinity made the voice from heaven: but the voice pertains only to the Father alone.
22. Quid ex illis ad Patrem, quid ad Filium et Spiritum sanctum pertineat, cogitandum relinquitur. Nemo ergo dicat mihi, nemo calumniosus me infirmum urgere conetur. Quid ergo in his tribus quae in mente nostra vel in anima esse ostendisti, quid ex his tribus pertinet ad Patrem, id est, quasi ad similitudinem Patris, quid horum ad Filii, quid horum ad Spiritus sancti? Non possum dicere, non possum explicare.
22. What of these pertains to the Father, what to the Son and the Holy Spirit, is left to be considered. Let no one therefore say to me, let no slanderer try to press me, weak as I am: What then, in these three which you have shown to be in our mind or in the soul, what of these three pertains to the Father, that is, as it were to the likeness of the Father, what of them to that of the Son, what of them to that of the Holy Spirit? I cannot say, I cannot explain.
Editors' notes and page, col. 363

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