PL 38 · cols. 671–675

Augustine, Sermones 113-120 (Classis I, de Scripturis)

Sermons CXVIII–CXIX

contextum. Quod est, non corrupit, non commutavit, ut per habitum tuum tibi loqueretur, non in hominem transmutatus atque conversus Inconvertibilis enim. et incommutabilis, et omnino inviolabilis manens, factus est quod tu ad te, quod ipse ad Patrem.

woven together. What He is, He did not corrupt, He did not change, so that He might speak to you through your own garment, not transmuted and converted into a man. For, remaining inconvertible and unchangeable and wholly inviolable, He was made what you are, towards you, [remaining] what He Himself is, towards the Father.

17. Humilitas a Verbo incarnato discenda. Ipse enim infirmis quid dicit, ut possint recuperato illo visu Verbum ex aliqua parte attingere, per quod facta sunt omnia? Venite ad me, omnes qui laboratis et onerati estis, et ego reficiam vos. Tollite jugum meum super vos, et discite a me quia mitis sum et humilis corde (Matth. XI, 28 et 29). Quid magister Filius Dei, Sapientia Dei, per quem facta sunt omnia, concionatur? Vocat humanum genus, et dicit, Venite ad me, omnes qui laboratis, et discite a me. Putabas forte dicturam Sapientiam Dei, Discite quomodo coelos feci et astra: omnia etiam in me, antequam fierent, numerata erant; quomodo in virtute rationum incommutabilium etiam capilli vestri numerati sunt (Id. X, 30). Haec putabas et talia esse dicturam? Non. Sed prius illud, Quoniam mitis sum et humilis corde. Ecce quod capiatis, videte, fratres, certe parvum est. Ad magna nos tendimus, parva capiamus, et magni erimus. Vis capere celsitudinem Dei? Cape prius humilitatem Dei. Dignare esse humilis propter te, quia Deus dignatus est humilis esse propter eumdem te: non enim propter se. Cape ergo humilitatem Christi, disce humilis esse, noli superbire. Confitere infirmitatem tuam, jace patienter ante medicum. Cum ceperis humilitatem ejus, surgis cum illo: non quasi et ipse surgat secundum quod Verbum est; sed tu potius, ut magis magisque a te capiatur. Intelligebas primo titubanter atque haesitanter; intelligis postea certius et clarius. Non ille crescit, sed tu proficis, et quasi tecum videtur surgere. Sic est, fratres. Credite praeceptis Dei, et facite illa, et donabit vobis robur intelligentiae. Non praesumatis, et quasi anteponatis scientiam praecepto Dei; ne inferiores, non solidiores remaneatis. Arborem attendite: ima petit prius, ut sursum excrescat; figit radicem in humili, ut verticem tendat ad coelum. Numquid nititur nisi ab humilitate? Tu autem sine charitate vis excelsa comprehendere; sine radice auras petis? Ruina est ista, non incrementum. Habitante Christo per fidem in cordibus vestris, in charitate radicamini atque fundamini, ut impleamini in omnem plenitudinem Dei (Ephes. III, 17, 19).

17. Humility is to be learned from the incarnate Word. For what does He say to the weak, so that, with that sight recovered, they may in some measure attain to the Word through which all things were made? Come to Me, all you who labour and are burdened, and I will refresh you. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am meek and humble of heart (Matt. 11:28–29). What does the Teacher, the Son of God, the Wisdom of God, through Whom all things were made, proclaim? He calls the human race, and says: Come to Me, all you who labour, and learn from Me. Perhaps you thought the Wisdom of God would say: Learn how I made the heavens and the stars: all things were numbered in Me even before they came to be; how by the power of unchangeable reasons even the hairs of your head are numbered (Matt. 10:30). Did you think He would say these and such things? No. But first this: Because I am meek and humble of heart. See, what you are to grasp (look, brothers) is certainly small. We are tending towards great things; let us grasp small things, and we shall be great. Do you wish to grasp the loftiness of God? First grasp the humility of God. Deign to be humble for your own sake, since God deigned to be humble for the sake of that same you: for not for His own sake. Grasp then the humility of Christ, learn to be humble, do not be proud. Confess your weakness, lie patiently before the physician. When you have grasped His humility, you rise with Him: not as though He Himself rises, inasmuch as He is the Word; but rather you, so that He may be grasped by you more and more. At first you understood falteringly and hesitantly; afterwards you understand more certainly and more clearly. He does not grow, but you advance, and He seems as it were to rise with you. So it is, brothers. Believe the precepts of God, and do them, and He will give you strength of understanding. Do not presume, and as it were put knowledge before the precept of God, lest you remain lower, not firmer. Consider a tree: it first seeks the depths, so that it may grow upwards; it fixes its root in the lowly ground, so that it may stretch its top towards heaven. Does it strive upwards except from lowliness? But you wish to comprehend lofty things without charity; do you seek the breezes without a root? That is a collapse, not growth. With Christ dwelling through faith in your hearts, be rooted and grounded in charity, so that you may be filled unto all the fullness of God (Eph. 3:17, 19).

SERMO CXVIII. De eisdem verbis Evangelii Joannis, In principio erat Verbum, etc., cap. I, ℣. 1-3.

Sermon 118. On the same words of the Gospel of John, In the beginning was the Word, etc., chap. 1, vv. 1-3.

1. Verbum Dei aeternum, genitum, non factum. Omnes qui multa verba quaeritis hominis, intelligite unum Verbum Dei: In principio erat Verbum. In principio autem fecit Deus caelum et terram (Gen. I, 1).

1. The Word of God is eternal, begotten, not made. All of you who seek the many words of man, understand the one Word of God: In the beginning was the Word. But in the beginning God made heaven and earth (Gen. 1:1).

Editors' notes and page, col. 671

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: non solidiores remaneatis› · call in col 671

Fossatensis Ms., ne inflatiores, non solidiores remaneatis.

The manuscript of Fossés: "lest you remain more puffed up, not more solid."

(*) ‹anchor: SERMO CXVIII› · call in col 671 Recensitus ad v. et Sirm.

Revised against v. and Sirmond.

(printed under page 342)

(a) ‹anchor: SERMO CXVIII› · call in col 671

Alias, ex Sirmondianis 13.

Formerly, the 13th of the Sirmondian sermons.

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Sed erat Verbum, quando audivimus, In principio fecit Deus. Agnoscamus Creatorem: Creator est enim qui fecit; creatura autem quod fecit. Non erat enim creatura quae facta est, sicut semper erat Verbum Deus, per quem facta est. Quando autem audivimus, Erat Verbum, apud quem erat? Intelligimus Patrem, qui non fecit, nec creavit idem Verbum, sed genuit. In principio enim fecit Deus coelum et terram. Per quid fecit? Erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum: sed quale Verbum? Sonabat et transibat? Numquid cogitabatur et volvebatur? Non. Recordabatur, et proferebatur? Non. Ergo quale Verbum? Quid a me quaeris multa? Deus erat Verbum. Quando audimus, Deus erat Verbum, non duplicamus Deum; sed intelligimus Filium. Verbum enim Dei Filius est. Ecce Filius, et quod nisi Deus? Nam Deus erat Verbum. Quid Pater? Utique Deus. Si pater Deus, et Filius Deus, duplicamus Deum? Absit. Pater Deus, Filius Deus: sed Pater et Filius unus Deus. Non est enim unicus Filius factus, sed natus. In principio fecit Deus coelum et terram: sed erat Verbum a Patre. Ergo factum est Verbum a Patre? Non. Omnia per ipsum facta sunt. Si per ipsum omnia facta sunt, numquid et ipse per se ipsum factus est? Per quem audis facta esse omnia, noli putare factum esse inter omnia. Nam si et ipse factus est, non per illum facta sunt omnia, sed inter caetera factus est ipse. Dicis, Factus est: numquid per se? Quis est qui faciat se? Si ergo factus est, quomodo per ipsum facta sunt omnia? Ecce et ipse factus est, sicut tu dicis, non ego, quia genitum non nego. Si ergo dicis factum esse, quaero per quid, quaero per quem. Per se ipsum? Ergo erat, antequam fieret, ut faceret se ipsum. Si autem omnia per ipsum facta sunt, intellige quia non est factus ipse. Si non potes intelligere, crede ut intelligas. Praecedit fides, sequitur intellectus: quoniam propheta dicit, Nisi credideritis, non intelligetis (Isai. VII, 9, sec. LXX). Erat Verbum. Noli ergo quaerere tempus ei, per quem facta sunt tempora. Erat Verbum. Sed tu dicis: Aliquando non erat Verbum. Mentiris, nusquam legis. Ego autem lego tibi, In principio erat Verbum. Quid quaeris ante principium? Si autem aliquid invenire potueris ante principium, ipsum erit principium. Insanit qui aliquid quaerit ante principium. Quid ergo dicit quia fuit ante principium? In principio erat Verbum.

But the Word was, when we heard, In the beginning God made. Let us acknowledge the Creator: for the Creator is He Who made; the creature, however, is what He made. For the creature which was made did not exist, as the Word, God, always existed, through Whom it was made. But when we have heard, The Word was, with whom was He? We understand the Father, Who did not make nor create that same Word, but begot [Him]. For in the beginning God made heaven and earth. Through what did He make [them]? The Word was, and the Word was with God: but what kind of Word? Did it sound and pass away? Was it thought over and turned about? No. Was it recalled to mind and uttered? No. What kind of Word, then? Why do you ask many things of me? The Word was God. When we hear, The Word was God, we do not double God; but we understand the Son. For the Word of God is the Son. Behold the Son, and what [is He] but God? For the Word was God. What is the Father? God, certainly. If the Father is God, and the Son is God, do we double God? Far from it. The Father is God, the Son is God: but the Father and the Son are one God. For the only Son was not made, but born. In the beginning God made heaven and earth: but the Word was from the Father. Was the Word then made by the Father? No. All things were made through Him. If all things were made through Him, was He too made through Himself? He through Whom you hear that all things were made, do not suppose that He was made among all things. For if He too was made, all things were not made through Him, but He Himself was made among the rest. You say, He was made: surely not through Himself? Who is there that makes himself? If then He was made, how were all things made through Him? See, He too was made, as you say, not I, for I do not deny that He was begotten. If then you say that He was made, I ask through what, I ask through whom. Through Himself? Then He was before He came to be, so as to make Himself. But if all things were made through Him, understand that He Himself was not made. If you cannot understand, believe that you may understand. Faith goes before, understanding follows: for the prophet says, Unless you believe, you will not understand (Isa. 7:9, according to the LXX). The Word was. Do not then seek a time for Him through Whom times were made. The Word was. But you say: There was a time when the Word was not. You lie; nowhere do you read it. But I read to you, In the beginning was the Word. What do you seek before the beginning? But if you are able to find anything before the beginning, that itself will be the beginning. He is mad who seeks anything before the beginning. What then does he say existed before the beginning? In the beginning was the Word.

2. Similitudine ostenditur coaeternum esse Deo Patri Filium. Sed dicis: Et erat Pater; et ante Verbum? Quid quaeris? In principio erat Verbum. Quod invenis intellige: noli quaerere quod non potes invenire. Nihil est ante principium. In principio erat Verbum. Splendor Patris Filius est. De sapientia Patris, quod est Filius, dictum est, Candor est enim lucis aeternae (Sap. VII, 26). Quaeris Filium sine Patre? Da mihi lucem sine candore. Si aliquando non erat Filius, Pater lux obscura erat. Quomodo enim non obscura lux erat, si candorem non habebat? Ergo semper Pater, semper Filius. Si semper Pater, semper Filius. Quaeris a me utrum natus sit Filius? Respondeo, Natus.

2. By a likeness the Son is shown to be coeternal with God the Father. But you say: And the Father was; [was He] also before the Word? What are you asking? In the beginning was the Word. Understand what you find: do not seek what you cannot find. There is nothing before the beginning. In the beginning was the Word. The Son is the splendour of the Father. Of the wisdom of the Father, which is the Son, it is said, For she is the brightness of eternal light (Wisd. 7:26). Do you seek the Son without the Father? Give me light without brightness. If at some time the Son was not, the Father was a dark light. For how was the light not dark, if it did not have brightness? Therefore always the Father, always the Son. If always the Father, always the Son. Do you ask me whether the Son was born? I answer, Born.

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Non enim esset Filius, si non natus. Sed cum dico, Semper Filius; hoc dico, Semper est natus. Et quis intelligit, Semper est natus? Da mihi sempiternum ignem, et do tibi sempiternum splendorem. Benedicimus Deum, qui dedit nobis sacras Scripturas. In splendore lucis nolite esse caeci. Candor de luce gignitur, et tamen gignenti coaeternus est candor. Semper lux, semper candor ejus. Genuit candorem suum: sed numquid fuit sine candore suo? Generare sempiternnm liceat Deo. Rogo, audite de quo loquimur: audite, advertite, credite, intelligite. De Deo loquimur. Filium Patri coaeternum fatemur et credimus. Sed homo, inquit, quando generat filium, major est qui generat, et minor qui generatur. Ecce verum est: in hominibus major est qui generat, et minor qui generatur, et pervenit ad robur patris sui. Sed quare, nisi quia cum ille crescit, ille senescit? Stet pater in tempore, et crescendo eum sequitur filius, et videbis aequalem. Sed ecce do tibi unde intelligas. Ignis generat splendorem coaevum. Non invenis in hominibus nisi minores filios, majores patres; non invenis coaevos: sed do tibi, sicut dixi, splendorem coaevum igni patri suo. Generat enim ignis splendorem, sed nunquam sine splendore. Cum ergo videas splendorem igni esse coaevum, permitte Deum generare coaeternum. Qui intelligit, gaudeat: qui autem non intelligit, credat. Quoniam verbum Prophetae evacuari nou potest: Nisi credideritis, non intelligetis.

For He would not be the Son if He were not born. But when I say, Always the Son, I am saying this: He is always born. And who understands, He is always born? Give me an everlasting fire, and I give you an everlasting brightness. We bless God, Who has given us the holy Scriptures. In the brightness of light, do not be blind. Radiance is begotten from light, and yet the radiance is coeternal with that which begets it. Always the light, always its radiance. It begot its radiance: but was it ever without its radiance? Let God be allowed to beget [One] everlasting. I beg you, hear of Whom we are speaking: hear, attend, believe, understand. We are speaking of God. We confess and believe the Son coeternal with the Father. But, someone says, when a man begets a son, he who begets is greater, and he who is begotten is lesser. See, it is true: among men he who begets is greater, and he who is begotten is lesser, and he attains to the strength of his father. But why, unless because while the one grows, the other grows old? Let the father stand still in time, and the son by growing follows him, and you will see him equal. But see, I give you something from which you may understand. Fire begets a brightness of equal age. Among men you find nothing but lesser sons and greater fathers; you do not find them of equal age: but I give you, as I said, a brightness of equal age with the fire, its father. For fire begets brightness, but it is never without brightness. Since, then, you see that brightness is of equal age with fire, allow God to beget [One] coeternal. Let him who understands rejoice; but let him who does not understand believe. For the word of the Prophet cannot be made void: Unless you believe, you will not understand.

SERMO CXIX. De eisdem verbis Joannis, In principio erat Verbum, etc., cap. 1, ℣. 1-14.

Sermon 119. On the same words of John, In the beginning was the Word, etc., chapter 1, verses 1-14.

CAPUT PRIMUM. — 1. Verbum aeternum apud Deum. Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum factum esse hominem quaerendo perditum hominem, neque unquam tacuit praedicatio nostra, et semper habuit fides vestra: hunc autem Dominum nostrum, qui homo factus est propter nos, Deum semper fuisse apud Patrem, et semper futurum esse, imo semper esse; quia ubi tempus non praeterit, non est ibi Fuit et Erit. Quod enim dicitur Fuit, jam non est; quod dicitur Erit, nondum est: sed semper est, quia vere est, hoc est, incommutabilis est. Modo nos admonuit evangelicum capitulum, magnum divinumque secretum. Hoc enim principium Evangelii sanctus Joannes ructuavit, quia de pectore Domini bibit. Recordamini enim, et lectum est vobis nuperrime, quomodo ipse sanctus Joannes evangelista in sinu Domini discumbebat. Quod aperte exponere volens, ait, Super pectus Domini (Joan. XIII, 23, 25): ut intelligeremus quid dixerit, in sinu Domini. Ille enim

Chapter I. — 1. The eternal Word with God. That our Lord Jesus Christ was made man in seeking lost man, neither has our preaching ever been silent about it, and your faith has always held it: but that this our Lord, Who was made man for our sake, was always God with the Father, and always will be, nay rather always is; for where time does not pass away, there is no Was and Will be. For what is said to have been, already is not; what is said to be going to be, is not yet: but He always is, because He truly is, that is, He is unchangeable. Just now the passage of the Gospel has reminded us of a great and divine secret. For holy John belched forth this beginning of the Gospel, because he drank from the breast of the Lord. For remember, and it was read to you very recently, how the holy John the evangelist himself was reclining in the bosom of the Lord. Wishing to explain this openly, he says, On the breast of the Lord (John 13:23, 25): so that we might understand what he meant by in the bosom of the Lord. For he

Editors' notes and page, col. 673

Footnotes

(*) ‹anchor: SERMO CXIX› · call in col 673 Recensitus ad d. gr. r. v. et ad Ulim. Par. Lov. et Vign.

Revised against d. gr. r. v., and against Ulimmerius, the Paris edition, the Louvain editors and Vignier.

(printed under page 343)

(a) ‹anchor: SERMO CXIX› · call in col 673

Alias, de Diversis 24.

Formerly, On Various Subjects 24.

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(b) ‹anchor: cap. I, ℣. 1-14› · call in col 673

Tres qui subsequuntur in Joannis exordium sermones, apud veteres libros inscribuntur habiti in die Paschae. Ex iis haud dubie sunt, quos Possidius in Indiculo, cap. 10, notat, « Per vigilias Paschae tractatus viginti tres. » Ei namque tempori congruenter et quam opportune dicebatur de capite primo Evangelii Joannis, unde filios Dei se factos esse intelligerent recens baptizati, quod ipsis collatum beneficium hic, capp. 4 et 5, manifestius commendatur.

The three sermons that follow on the opening of John are headed in the old books as delivered on Easter day. They are without doubt among those which Possidius notes in the Indiculus, ch. 10: "Through the vigils of Easter, twenty-three treatises." For it suited that season, and was most timely, to speak on the first chapter of John's Gospel, from which the newly baptized might understand that they had been made sons of God; and this benefit conferred on them is more plainly commended here in chs. 4 and 5.

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qui super pectus Domini discumbebat, putamus quid bibebat? Non putemus, sed potemus: modo enim et nos audivimus quod bibamus.

who was reclining on the Lord's breast, are we to ponder what he was drinking? Let us not ponder, but let us drink: for just now we too have heard what we may drink.

CAPUT II. — Verbum Dei non est factum. — In principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum. O praedicare! o saginam Dominici pectoris eructuare! In principio erat Verbum. Quid quaeris quid ante erat? In principio erat Verbum. Si factum esset Verbum: non est enim factum per quod facta sunt omnia: si factum esset Verbum, Scriptura diceret, In principio fecit Deus Verbum; quomodo dixit in Genesi, In principio fecit Deus coelum et terram (Gen. I, 1). Non ergo in principio fecit Deus Verbum: quia, In principio erat Verbum. Hoc Verbum quod in principio erat, ubi erat? Sequere: Et Verbum erat apud Deum. Sed solemus, audiendo quotidie humana verba, vile habere nomen hoc Verbi. Hic noli habere vile nomen verbi: Deus erat Verbum. Hoc, id est Verbum, erat in principio apud Deum. Omnia per ipsum facta sunt: et sine ipso factum est nihil.

Chapter II. — The Word of God was not made. — In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. O to preach! O to belch forth the rich fare of the Lord's breast! In the beginning was the Word. Why do you ask what was before? In the beginning was the Word. If the Word had been made (for that through which all things were made was not made), if the Word had been made, Scripture would say, In the beginning God made the Word; as it said in Genesis, In the beginning God made heaven and earth (Gen. 1:1). Therefore God did not make the Word in the beginning: because, In the beginning was the Word. This Word which was in the beginning, where was it? Follow on: And the Word was with God. But, from hearing human words every day, we are accustomed to hold this name of Word cheap. Here do not hold the name of word cheap: the Word was God. This, that is, the Word, was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made.

CAPUT III. — 3. Verbum Dei incomprehensibile. Extendite corda vestra, adjuvate paupertatem sermonis nostri. Quod dicere potuero, audite: quod non potuero, cogitate. Quis comprehendat Verbum manens? Omnia verba nostra sonant et transeunt. Quis comprehendat Verbum manens, nisi qui in ipso manet? Vis comprehendere Verbum maneus? Noli sequi flumen carnis. Caro quippe ista fluvius est: non enim manet. Tanquam de fonte quodam secreto naturae nascuntur homines, vivunt homines, moriuntur homines: nec unde veniant novimus, nec quo eant novimus. Latet aqua, donec progrediatur ex fonte: currit, et apparet in flumine: sed rursus latet in mari. Contemnamus fluvium istum manantem, currentem, desinentem, contemnamus. Omnis caro fenum, et omnis honor carnis sicut flos feni. Fenum aruit, flos decidit. Vis manere? Verbum autem Domini manet in aeternum (Isai. XL, 6-8).

Chapter III. — 3. The Word of God is incomprehensible. Stretch out your hearts, help the poverty of our speech. What I am able to say, hear; what I am not able, think upon. Who may comprehend the abiding Word? All our words sound and pass away. Who may comprehend the abiding Word, except one who abides in Him? Do you wish to comprehend the abiding Word? Do not follow the river of the flesh. For this flesh is a river: for it does not abide. As if from some hidden spring of nature men are born, men live, men die: we know neither whence they come nor whither they go. The water lies hidden until it comes forth from the spring; it runs, and appears in the river; but again it lies hidden in the sea. Let us despise this river, flowing, running, ceasing; let us despise it. All flesh is hay, and all the honour of the flesh as the flower of hay. The hay has withered, the flower has fallen. Do you wish to abide? But the Word of the Lord abides for ever (Isa. 40:6–8).

CAPUT IV. — 4. Verbum caro factum. Sed ut subveniret nobis, Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis. Quid est, Verbum caro factum est? Aurum fenum factum est. Fenum factum est ad succendendum: succensum est fenum, sed mansit aurum: et in feno non periit, et fenum mutavit. Quomodo mutavit? Resuscitavit, vivificavit, in coelum levavit, ad Patris dexteram collocavit. Ut autem diceretur, Et Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis, quid praecessit recolamus paululum. In sua propria venit, et sui eum non receperunt. Quotquot autem receperunt eum, dedit eis potestatem filios Dei fieri. Fieri, quia non erant: ipse autem in principio erat. Dedit ergo eis potestatem filios Dei fieri, credentibus in nomiue ejus: qui non ex sanguinibus, neque ex voluntate carnis, neque ex voluntate viri, sed ex Deo nati sunt. Ecce sunt, in quacumque sint aetate carnis: videtis infantes: videte et gaudete. Ecce sunt: sed ex Deo nati sunt. Vulva matris, aqua Baptismatis.

Chapter IV. — 4. The Word made flesh. But that He might come to our aid, the Word was made flesh, and dwelt in us. What is, The Word was made flesh? Gold was made hay. Hay was made to be set on fire: the hay was set on fire, but the gold remained; and in the hay it did not perish, and it changed the hay. How did it change it? It raised it again, gave it life, lifted it into heaven, placed it at the Father's right hand. But in order that it might be said, And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt in us, let us recall a little what went before. He came unto His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave power to become sons of God. To become, because they were not: but He was in the beginning. He gave them therefore power to become sons of God, to those believing in His name: who were born not of bloods, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Behold, they are here, of whatever age of the flesh they may be: you see the infants: see and rejoice. Behold, they are here: but they are born of God. The mother's womb, the water of Baptism.

Editors' notes and page, col. 674

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: ex Deo nati sunt› · call in col 674

Regius et Victorinus Mss., Videtis infantes, videtis et gaudetis. Ecce sunt. Numquid non filii Dei sunt? non ex (continues)

The Royal and the Saint-Victor manuscripts: "You see the infants, you see and rejoice. Behold, they are. Are they not sons of God? not of (continues)

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CAPUT V. — 5. Incarnationis mysterium suadetur. Nemo pauperculo animo sentiat, et volvat apud se ipsum mendicissimas cogitationes, et dicat sibi: Quomodo in principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum; omnia per ipsum facta sunt: et ecce Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis? Audite unde factum est. Certe credentibus in nomine ejus dedit potestatem filios Dei fieri. Nec ipsi quibus dedit potestatem filios Dei fieri, putent impossibile esse filios Dei fieri. Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis Nolite putare multum esse ad vos, fieri filii Dei: propter vos filius hominis factus est, qui erat filius Dei. Si factus est ipse, ut minus esset qui plus erat; non potest facere ex eo quod minus eramus, ut aliquid plus esse possimus? Descendit ad nos, et non ad illum ascendemus? Accepit pro nobis mortem nostram, et non nobis daturus est vitam suam? Passus est propter te mala tua, et non tibi daturus est bona sua?

Chapter V. — 5. The mystery of the Incarnation is commended. Let no one think with a poor little mind, and turn over within himself most beggarly thoughts, and say to himself: How can it be that In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; all things were made through Him: and behold, the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us? Hear how it came about. Certainly, to those who believe in His name He gave power to become sons of God. Let not those very ones to whom He gave power to become sons of God think it impossible to become sons of God. The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. Do not think it too great a thing for you to become sons of God: for your sake He Who was the Son of God became a son of man. If He Himself was made such that He Who was more should be less, can He not bring it about, from our being less, that we may be something more? He came down to us, and shall we not ascend to Him? He accepted our death for us, and will He not give us His life? He suffered your evils for your sake, and will He not give you His goods?

CAPUT VI. — 6. Incarnatio opus omnipotentis Verbi. Sed quomodo, inquit, fieri potuit ut Verbum Dei, quo gubernatur mundus, per quod et creata sunt et creantur universa, coarctaret se in virginis carnem; dimitteret mundum, et desereret Angelos, in utero unius feminae includeretur? Nec nosti divina cogitare. Verbum Dei (tibi loquor, o homo, de omnipotentia Dei Verbi tibi loquor) prorsus totum potuit, quia et Verbum Dei omnipotens est, et manere apud Patrem, et venire ad nos; et in carne procedere ad nos, et apud ipsum latere. Neque enim, si natus ex carne non esset, non esset. Erat ante carnem suam: ipse creavit matrem suam. Elegit in qua conciperetur, creavit de qua crearetur. Quid miraris? Deum tibi loquor: Deus erat Verbum.

Chapter VI. — 6. The Incarnation is the work of the omnipotent Word. But how, someone says, could it come about that the Word of God, by Whom the world is governed, through Whom all things both were created and are created, should confine Himself in the flesh of a virgin; should leave the world, and desert the angels, and be enclosed in the womb of one woman? You do not know how to think about divine things. The Word of God (I am speaking to you, O man, I am speaking to you of the omnipotence of God the Word) could do absolutely everything, because the Word of God is indeed omnipotent, both to remain with the Father and to come to us; both to come forth to us in the flesh and to lie hidden with Him. For it is not the case that, had He not been born of flesh, He would not have existed. He was before His flesh: He Himself created His mother. He chose her in whom He would be conceived, He created her of whom He would be created. Why do you marvel? I am speaking to you of God: the Word was God.

CAPUT VII. — 7. Similitudine explicatur incarnatio Verbi. De Verbo aliquid ago, et Verbum humanum forte aliquid simile potest; quamvis longe impar, longe discretum, ex nulla particula comparandum, tamen vobis aliqua similitudine insinuandum. Ecce ego verbum quod vobis loquor, in corde meo prius habui; processit ad te, nec recessit a me: coepit esse in te, quod non erat in te; mansit apud me, cum exiret ad te. Sicut ergo verbum meum prolatum est sensui tuo, nec recessit a corde meo: sic illud Verbum prolatum est sensui nostro, nec recessit a Patre suo. Verbum meum erat apud me, et processit in vocem: Verbum Dei erat apud Patrem, et processit in carnem. Sed numquid ego possum id facere de voce mea, quod potuit ille de carne sua? Ego enim volantem vocem meam tenere non possum: ille carnem suam non solum tenuit, ut nasceretur, viveret, ageret; sed etiam mortuam suscitavit, et vehiculum quoddam in quo processit ad nos, ad Patrem levavit. Vestem dicas carnem Christi, vehiculum dicas, et quomodo forte ipse significare

Chapter VII. — 7. The incarnation of the Word is explained by a likeness. I am treating of the Word, and a human word can perhaps [offer] something similar; although far unequal, far different, comparable in no particle, yet it is to be conveyed to you by some likeness. See, the word that I speak to you I first had in my heart; it went forth to you, and did not depart from me: it began to be in you, which was not in you; it remained with me, when it went out to you. Just as, therefore, my word has been brought forth to your sense, and has not departed from my heart: so that Word was brought forth to our sense, and did not depart from His Father. My word was with me, and went forth into voice: the Word of God was with the Father, and went forth into flesh. But can I do with my voice what He could do with His flesh? For I cannot hold back my flying voice: He not only held His flesh, so as to be born, to live, to act; but He even raised it when it was dead, and lifted up to the Father a kind of vehicle in which He came forth to us. You may call the flesh of Christ a garment, you may call it a vehicle, and, as perhaps He Himself deigned

Editors' notes and page, col. 675

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 675

Editi, mendacissimas. At optimae notae Germanensis Ms., mendicissimas. Refer ad superiora verba, pauperculo animo.

The printed editions: "most lying." But the manuscript of Saint-Germain, of the best mark: "most beggarly." Refer it to the words above, "with a poor little mind."

(*) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 676 Recensitus est ad d. r. t. v. Lov

Revised against d. r. t. v. and the Louvain editors.

(printed under page 344)