Bonaventure

The numbered footnotes below correspond to markers in both the Latin body above and the English translation; Quaracchi restart their numbering on every printed page, so the labels are qualified by page.

COLLATIO III.

De plenitudine intellectus, quatenus est clavis contemplationis per intellectum Verbi increati, incarnati et inspirati.

Summarium

Donum intellectus est regula circumspectionum moralium, ianua considerationum scientialium, clavis contemplationum caelestium, 1. — Clavis contemplationis est triplex intellectus, scilicet Verbi increati, incarnati, inspirati, 2. — Pars I. De intellectu Verbi increati, per quod omnia producuntur. Hoc cognoscitur per effectum ut causa omnium; errores philosophorum, 3. — Est clavis ad intelligendum, quod ab uno sint multa, 4-5. — Item, quod ab aeterno sint temporalia, 6. — Item, quod ab actualissimo sint possibilia, 7-8. — Item, quod a stabilissimo mutabilia, a sublimissimo infima. Haec autem clavis non est nisi animae purgatae per fidem, 9. — Pars II. De intellectu Verbi incarnati, per quod omnia reparantur. Quis sit reparator, 10. — Praefiguratio in duobus Cherubim super arcam, 11. — Reparavit duas hierarchias; habuit quinque proprietates, 12. — Fuit praecelsus, 13. — Item, sensatus, 14-15-16. — Deo acceptus, 17. — Victoriosissimus, 18. — Largifluus, 19-20. — Summe iustus, 21. — Pars III. De intellectu Verbi inspirati, per quod omnia revelantur. Intellectus requiritur in visione, 22. — Visio triplex, 23. — Sex modi visionum secundum sex dies creationis, 24. — Prima est visio intelligentiae per naturam inditae, 25. — Secunda, intelligentiae per fidem sublevatae, 26. — Tertia, per Scripturam eruditae, 27. — Quarta, per contemplationem suspensae, 28. — Quinta, per prophetiam illustratae, 29. — Sexta, per raptum absorptae, 30. — Dies septima et octava, 31. — Epilogus de clavi David, 32.

1. In medio Ecclesiae aperiet os eius, et adimplebit eum Dominus spiritu sapientiae et intellectus¹. Dicto de sapientia, dicendum est de intellectu, de quo dicebatur in Collatione donorum², quod intellectus est regula circumspectionum moralium, ianua considerationum scientialium, clavis contemplationum caelestium. Et iste intellectus proprie est donum. — Ab intellectu inchoandum est, et perveniendum ad sapientiam. Cibavit illum Dominus pane vitae et intellectus, et aqua sapientiae salutaris potavit illum³. A cibo incipiendum est, non a potu. Nisi enim homo exerceatur in dono intellectus, non proficit in potu-sapientiae, quae effundit flumina in animam, potata ab ipsa, et fit ei fons aquae salientis in vitam aeternam. Donum intellectus est solidus cibus, ut panis, qui, ut dicebat beatus Franciscus, multis laboribus habetur. Primo semen seminatur, deinde crescit, deinde colligitur, deinde ad molendinum portatur, deinde coquitur, et multa talia. Et sic de dono intellectus; intellectum comparare difficile est per se. Sapientia similiter non habetur nisi a sitiente; unde in Psalmo⁴: Sitivit anima mea ad Deum fortem vivum; et: Quemadmodum desiderat cervus ad fontes aquarum, ita desiderat anima mea ad te Deus.

2. Clavis ergo contemplationis est intellectus triplex, scilicet intellectus Verbi increati, per quod omnia producuntur; intellectus Verbi incarnati, per quod omnia reparantur; intellectus Verbi inspirati, per quod omnia revelantur. Nisi enim quis possit considerare de rebus, qualiter originantur, qualiter in finem reducuntur, et qualiter in eis refulget Deus; intelligentiam habere non potest.

3. De primo ad Romanos⁵: Invisibilia Dei a creatura mundi per ea quae facta sunt intellecta conspiciuntur, sempiterna quoque virtus eius et Divinitas. Sempiterna virtus et Divinitas per effectum intelliguntur, quia Deus est causa omnium, et per virtutem eius omnia sunt facta; quod est contra philosophos, qui negant, quod ab uno et eodem, semper manente eodem, sint multiformia, ab aeterno temporalia, ab actualissimo manent possibilia, a stabilissimo mutabilia, a simplicissimo composita, a sublimissimo infima; cum effectus sit similis causae, et causa haec sit contraria in his conditionibus.

4. Horum ostium est intellectus Verbi increati, qui est radix intelligentiae omnium; unde qui non habet hoc ostium, intrare non potest. Philosophi autem habent pro impossibili quae sunt summe vera, quia ostium est eis clausum. — Quomodo autem haec intelligantur, dicitur ad Hebraeos⁶: Fide intelligimus, aptata esse saecula Verbo Dei, ut ex invisibilibus visibilia fierent. Summum autem spiritum impossibile est se non intelligere; et cum intellectum aequetur intelligenti, intelligit quidquid est et quidquid potest: ergo et ratio intelligendi aequatur intellectui, quae similitudo eius est. Haec autem similitudo Verbum est, quia, secundum Augustinum⁷ et Anselmum, similitudo mentis convertentis se super se, quae in acie mentis est, verbum est. Si ergo haec similitudo aequalis est, ergo Deus est, et a Deo originata repraesentat originantem et quidquid Pater potest: ergo repraesentat multa. — Item, cum virtutem Patris repraesentet, repraesentat virtutem unitissimam; sed «virtus, quanto magis unita, tanto magis infinita»⁸: ergo illa similitudo

infinita repraesentare habet; et ita necesse est, ut ab uno sint multa. Si igitur intelligis Verbum, intelligis omnia scibilia. Iudaeus autem hoc intelligere non potest; et tamen Scriptura¹ dicit: Dixit Deus: fiat lux; et iterum: Dixit Deus, hoc est Verbum genuit, in «quo omnia disposuit» et disponendo omnia facit. Unde Augustinus in libro Confessionum: «Verbo tuo tibi coaeterno facis quaecumque facis, nec alio modo quam dicendo facis; non tamen sempiterne facis quae sempiterne dicis».

5. Si enim unitas posset cognoscere totum posse suum, videret et cognosceret omnes numeros; et si punctus cognosceret totum posse suum, cognosceret omnes lineas in centro; unitas tamen magis est principium quam punctus, quia unitas est pars essentialis numeri, punctus autem principium et non pars²; nec aliquod istorum est principium activum. Igitur cum primus intellectus sit principium activum, necesse est, ut in similitudine sua omnia disponat, omnia exprimat.

6. Item, ab aeterno sunt omnia temporalia. Quae enim a Patre procedunt ordinate procedunt, et unum est causa alterius, ordine naturae et ordine temporis: ergo Verbum sic repraesentat res, ut in esse producuntur. Sicut enim in providentia mea vel memoria possunt esse multa futura, et unum futurum magis distans quam aliud; nec propter hoc sequitur, quod cum eveniunt, sit mutatio in memoria mea; sic in Verbo non est mutatio. Cum enim creat animam hanc, non mutatur, quia ab aeterno dixit, animam hanc nunc creandam. Unde eodem dicto, quo ab aeterno dixit, nunc creat; sicut, si velle meum esset posse meum; si vellem modo, cras fieri rem, non esset mutatio in me, si fieret; sed esset, si de non volente fierem volens³.

7. Item, ab actualissimo fiunt possibilia sive materialia. Pater enim intelligitur principium principians de se, principium principians de nihilo, principium principians de aliquo materiali. Et Verbum exprimit Patrem ut principium principians de se, et sic est explicans et repraesentans productionem Spiritus sancti et suam sive aeternorum. — Exprimit etiam Patrem ut principiantem aliquid de nihilo, et sic repraesentat productionem aeviternorum, ut Angelorum et animarum. — Repraesentat etiam ut principiantem aliquid de aliquo ut materiali; sed quod fit de aliquo prius est in potentia, quam fiat⁴; necesse ergo est, ut repraesentet possibilia. Necessario ergo ab actualissimo fiunt possibilia.

8. Et haec similitudo sive Verbum est veritas. Quid est veritas secundum definitionem? «Adaequatio intellectus et rei intellectae»⁵, illius intellectus, dico, qui est causa rei, non intellectus mei, qui non est causa rei. — Haec adaequatio vera est, quando res est tanta, talis, ordinem habens, agens, patiens, tunc, ubi, cum situm habet, secundum differentias praedicamentorum. Tunc enim res sunt verae, quando sunt in re vel in universo, sicut sunt in arte aeterna, vel sicut ibi exprimuntur. Res autem vera est, secundum quod adaequatur intellectui causanti. Quia vero perfecte non adaequatur rationi, quae exprimit eam vel repraesentat; ideo omnis creatura mendacium est, secundum Augustinum⁶. Res autem adaequata non est sua adaequatio: ergo necessario est, ut Verbum vel similitudo vel ratio sit veritas; et ibi est veritas creaturae, et repraesentantur per Verbum ita infima, sicut suprema. Unde licet Angelus magis participet cum Verbo in conditionibus nobilibus, puta quoad imaginem Dei, quam vermiculus; in ratione tamen exemplaritatis non est nobilior ratio Angeli quam vermiculi; ita ratio vermiculi exprimit vel repraesentat vermiculum, ut ratio Angeli Angelum, nec secundum hoc nobilior Angelus vermiculo. Quaelibet autem creatura umbra est respectu Creatoris.

9. Et sic patet, quod ab actualissimo sunt possibilia, a stabilissimo mutabilia, et a sublimissimo infima. Et sicut sol lucens facit varietatem et multi-

formitatem colorum; sic ab illo Verbo est varietas rerum. Unde non contingit intelligere nisi per Verbum. — Et haec est clavis nobilissima animae purgatae per fidem, quae est necessaria, quia «mentis nostrae acies invalida in tam excellenti luce non figitur, nisi per iustitiam fidei emundetur»¹. Unde omnes, qui non habent hanc fidem, manum habent amputatam. Inde in Psalmo: Quia ipse dixit, et facta sunt; ipse mandavit, et creata sunt etc.

10. Secunda clavis est intellectus Verbi incarnati, per quod omnia reparantur. Unde Lucae ultimo²: Haec sunt verba, quae locutus sum vobis, cum adhuc essem vobiscum; quoniam oportet impleri quae scripta sunt in Lege et Prophetis et Psalmis de me. Tunc aperuit illis sensum, ut intelligerent Scripturas. Quis loquitur? Verbum Dei, de quo Ioannis primo: Verbum caro factum est et habitavit in nobis, ubi ostendit duas naturas in una persona. Sequitur: Oportet Scripturas impleri de me; unde ad Romanos³: Finis Legis est Christus ad iustitiam omni credenti.

11. In designationem huius duo Cherubim, versis vultibus in propitiatorium, mutuo se respiciebant⁴. Duo Cherubim duo testamenta sunt, quorum aspectus in Christum. Tunc aperuit illis sensum, quando intellexerunt Scripturas, id est, per hanc clavem Verbi incarnati liber Scripturae habet intelligi, eo quod est principaliter de operibus reparationis. Nisi enim intelligas ordinem et originem reparationis, Scripturam intelligere non potes. Nomen autem reparatoris est Verbum Dei; in Apocalypsi⁵: Vestitus erat veste aspersa sanguine, et vocabatur nomen eius Verbum Dei. — Sed vellem scire, quomodo Verbum Dei ut Reparator sit. De hoc Isaias: Parvulus natus est nobis, et filius datus est nobis, cuius imperium super humerum eius, et vocabitur nomen eius: admirabilis, consiliarius, Deus, fortis, pater futuri saeculi, princeps pacis.

12. Iste reparavit hierarchiam caelestem et subcaelestem, quae tota corruerat. Ergo necesse fuit, ut tangeret caelum et terram. Iste hierarcha debuit esse praecelsus, sensatus, Deo acceptus, victoriosus, largifluus, iustus.

13. Debuit primo esse praecelsus potentia, qui solus posset salvare. Unde ad Hebraeos⁶: Multifariam multisque modis olim Deus loquens patribus in Prophetis, novissime diebus istis locutus est nobis in Filio, quem constituit heredem universorum, per quem fecit et saecula; usque: Tanto melior Angelis effectus, quanto differentius prae illis nomen hereditavit. — Ab ipso enim procedunt miracula; et ideo necesse fuit, in ipso ostendi miraculum miraculorum, scilicet multiformitatem naturarum. Habet enim naturam corpoream, naturam spiritualem, naturam divinam; naturam temporalem, aeviternam, aeternam. Unde habet ligare infima supremis. In Ecclesiastico⁷: Vide arcum et benedic qui fecit illum. Arcus multiformitatem naturarum et colorum habet. Sicut enim sol descendit per decem gradus in horologio Achaz, sic Verbum incarnatum per novem ordines Angelorum usque ad hominem, qui decimus computatur. Hoc est maximum miraculum, ut quod Deus sit homo, primus sit novissimus; et ideo omnia miracula ad hoc miraculum respiciunt; unde omnia clamant: Hosanna filio David⁸. — In hoc miraculo fides accipit vires suas. Unde Moyses, postquam minavit gregem ad interiora deserti, vidit rubum, qui ardebat et non comburebatur; vadam, inquit, et videbo visionem hanc magnam etc.; ubi fuit illustratus. Rubus spinosa est passibilitas carnis; flamma, anima Christi plena luminibus et igne caritatis; lux, Divinitas; lux coniuncta rubo mediante flamma, Divinitas coniuncta carni mediante spiritu seu anima. Ut ergo possit de mortuis facere vivos, de hominibus filios Dei⁹, necesse est, ut sit praecelsus; et hoc est quod dicit admirabilis.

14. Item, necesse est, ut hierarcha noster sit sensatus iuxta triplicem sapientiam in eo, innatam scilicet, sicut fuit Angelis et primo homini, infusam, aeternam. Per primam scit omnia, quae nos possumus per habitum scire; per secundam comprehendit gloriose et infinite, quia sapientiae eius non est numerus¹⁰; per tertiam omnia. Qui enim reparare debuit totum mundum, necesse erat, ut sciret conditiones totius mundi; unde ad Hebraeos quarto: Vivus est sermo Dei et efficax; sequitur: Omnia nuda et aperta sunt oculis eius, ad quem nobis sermo. Unde oportebat, non solum quod esset potens, sed etiam quod esset sensatus.

15. Sed si dicas: quae necessitas fuit, ut haberet sapientiam aliam praeter divinam? respondeo: ut experiri posset; ad Hebraeos¹¹: Non habemus pontificem, qui non possit compati infirmitatibus nostris; tentatum autem per omnia pro similitudine,

absque peccato. Iste autem advocatus est pro nobis, et iudicat contra nos. Iste fuit optimus consiliarius et sapientissimus; unde omnes alii sapientes non fuerunt nisi quaedam figurae et simulacra istius sapientis. — Ab isto procedunt documenta certissima et praeclara, quibus indigemus erudiri; ideo dicitur consiliarius.

16. Ad hunc referuntur omnia eloquia sapientiae Scripturae, ut Salomonis et aliorum. Tamen Iudaei accipiunt de Salomone quod de Christo dicitur in Psalmo¹: Speciosus forma prae filiis hominum, diffusa est gratia in labiis tuis; non fuit Salomon talis; et: Sit nomen eius benedictum in saecula.

17. Item, hierarcha iste est Deo acceptus; quia indigemus sacratissimo reconciliatore. Ad Hebraeos²: Talis decebat, ut esset nobis pontifex, sanctus, innocens, impollutus, segregatus a peccatoribus et excelsior caelis factus, ut esset totus deiformis; unde in Ioanne: Vidimus gloriam eius, gloriam quasi unigeniti a Patre, plenum gratiae et veritatis, propter multitudinem gratiarum. Habuit enim gratiam singularis personae, gratiam capitis, per quam influit in membra, gratiam unionis, et haec est infinita ex una parte. Unde Deo fuit acceptus non solum, quia deiformis, sed quia Deus. Quia Deus est, non potest esse non acceptus. Et ideo dicitur Deus; et sic ab ipso sunt exempla sanctissima. — Unde ubicumque in Scripturis³ fit mentio de emanationibus, de fluminibus paradisi, de scaturiginibus fontium, ad hunc referuntur.

18. Item oportet, quod hierarcha sit victoriosissimus propter multitudinem triumphi et victoriae. Unde ad Colossenses⁴: Et vos cum mortui essetis in delictis et praeputio carnis vestrae; et sequitur: Exspolians principatus et potestates, traduxit confidenter, palam triumphans illos in semetipso. Vicit enim mundum, spoliavit infernum, restauravit paradisum. Unde in Psalmo: Attollite portas principes vestras, et elevamini portae aeternales, et introibit Rex gloriae. Quis est iste Rex gloriae? Dominus fortis et potens. Adhuc volumus audire: Attollite portas principes vestras. Quis est iste Rex gloriae? Dominus virtutum. Iste est ergo fortis. Unde necesse est, ut in nomine Iesu omne genu flectatur caelestium, terrestrium et infernorum⁵. Isaias: Quis est iste, qui venit de Edom tinctis vestibus de Bosra? Ego, qui loquor iustitiam et propugnator sum ad salvandum. — Et ideo dicitur fortis. Ab hoc manant fortia praesidia. Unde⁶: montes in circuitu eius. Unde omnia bella Scripturae referuntur ad victoriam Christi.

19. Item oportet, quod hierarcha noster sit largifluus propter magnitudinem influentiae. Ad Ephesios⁷: Unicuique nostrum data est gratia secundum mensuram donationis Christi. Propter quod dicit: Ascendens in altum captivam duxit captivitatem, dedit dona hominibus. Sicut enim nubes ascendit in altum, ut postmodum pluat; sic ascendit Christus, ut dona sua daret; cum elevatus est sol, et luna stetit in ordine suo. Primo enim Spiritum sanctum in terra occulte dederat, sed postquam ascendit, tunc manifeste, quia ipse Spiritus sanctus fuit hierarcha purgans, illuminans, perficiens, et descendit Spiritus sanctus in hierarchiam caelestem et subcaelestem. Unde factus est repente de caelo sonus tanquam advenientis Spiritus⁸. Descendit Spiritus sanctus ut purgans; unde dicitur advenientis Spiritus; ut instruens: apparuerunt illis linguae dispertitae tanquam ignis; in virtute perficiente: seditque super singulos eorum. Ab hoc manant dona gratuita. — Quidquid ergo in Scriptura invenitur diffusionis in sole et aliis et conviviis referuntur ad largitionem eius. Unde in Psalmo⁹: Speciei domus dividere spolia; et in Isaia: Laetabuntur coram te, sicut exsultant victores, capta praeda, quando dividunt spolia. Haec sunt dona largitatis Christi. — Unde dicitur pater futuri saeculi; quia ipse est principium influentiarum, per quas vivemus in futuro saeculo; Iacobus¹⁰: Omne datum optimum et omne donum perfectum desursum est, descendens a Patre luminum. Sequitur: Voluntarie genuit nos verbo veritatis, ut simus initium aliquod creaturae eius. Modo sumus initium creaturae, sed tunc erimus simpliciter creatura.

20. Iste est largissimus, quia dat nobis quidquid petimus: Amen, amen dico vobis: si quid petieritis Patrem in nomine meo¹¹ etc. Iurat et in veritate asserit. Unde in Psalmis: Aperis tu manum tuam et imples omne animal benedictione; et: Homines et iumenta salvabis, Domine. Inebriabuntur ab ubertate domus tuae.

21. Item, debet esse summe iustus propter multitudinem iustitiae infallibiliter inquirentis, irreprehensibiliter discutientis, irrevocabiliter sententiantis, ut retribuat unicuique secundum opera sua. Isaias¹²:

Egredietur de radice Iesse, et erit iustitia cingulum lumborum eius; non secundum visionem oculorum iudicabit neque secundum auditum aurium arguet. Ergo talis est Deus, quia, si esset purus homo, non posset iudicare nisi per testes. — Ad istud iudicium referuntur omnia iudicia Scripturae; et ideo dicitur princeps pacis. Unde ab eo manant praemia iusta. — Iste ergo David habet clavem, qui aperit, et nemo claudit; claudit, et nemo aperit¹. Et clavis ista est mysterium unionis.

22. Tertia clavis est intellectus Verbi inspirati, per quod omnia revelantur; non enim fit revelatio nisi per Verbum inspiratum. Daniel intellexit sermonem. Intelligentia enim opus est in visione. Nisi enim verbum sonet in aure cordis, splendor luceat in oculo, vapor et emanatio omnipotentis sit in olfacto, suavitas in gustu, sempiternitas impleat animam; non est homo aptus ad intelligendas visiones. Sed Danieli dedit Deus intelligentiam omnium visionum et somniorum². Per quid? Per Verbum inspiratum.

23. Visio autem est triplex, ut communiter dicitur³: corporalis, imaginaria, intellectualis. Duae primae nihil valent sine tertia. Unde parum valuit Balthasari visio corporalis in visione manus, et Nabuchodonosor visio imaginaria statuae aureae, et Pharaoni visio in spicis et bobus, sed Danieli et Ioseph. Ioseph respondet Ioanni, Daniel Paulo.

24. Praeter has est visio sextuplex, quae respondet operibus sex dierum; quibus minor mundus fit perfectus, sicut maior mundus sex diebus⁴. Est visio intelligentiae per naturam inditae, et visio intelligentiae per fidem sublevatae, per Scripturam eruditae, per contemplationem suspensae, per prophetiam illustratae, per raptum in Deum absorptae. Ad has sequitur visio septima animae glorificatae, quas omnes habuit Paulus. — Primae duae sunt multorum, duae aliae paucorum, hae ultimae duae paucissimorum⁵.

25. Per primam intelligitur, ad quid potest extendi nostra intelligentia de se. Haec intelligitur per primam diem, in qua facta est lux⁶; unde in Psalmo: Signatum est super nos lumen vultus tui, Domine. Sine isto lumine indito nihil habet homo, nec fidem nec gratiam nec lumen sapientiae; et ideo divisa est etiam lux a tenebris.

26. Secunda intelligitur per secundam diem, ubi factum est firmamentum in medio⁷. Hoc firmamentum est fides et dividit aquas ab aquis. Fides est origo sapientiae et origo scientiae, sive sit de aeternis, sive de temporalibus, sive scientia, sive sapientia non discordant a fide.

27. Tertia intelligitur per tertiam diem, ubi congregatae sunt aquae, et apparuit arida⁸. Terra est Scriptura habens intelligentias spirituales, hierarchias angelicas et divinas, quae mirabiliter expositae a Sanctis pullulant; et in his producitur herba virens et ligna paradisi. Caveat tamen quisque a ligno curiositatis scientiae.

28. Quarta intelligitur in opere quartae diei, ubi dicitur: Fiant luminaria⁹, scilicet sol et luna et stellae. Qui non habet contemplationem adhuc non habet ornamentum solis et lunae et stellarum. Apparere autem debet mulier amicta sole, et luna sub pedibus eius, et in capite eius corona duodecim stellarum, ut sit contemplatio supercaelestis hierarchiae in sole, subcaelestis in luna, caelestis in stellis. Tunc videbis et afflues, et mirabitur et dilatabitur cor tuum¹⁰, quia in contemplatione admiratio, dilatatio, alienatio, refectio; unde: Comederunt et viderunt Deum Israel.

29. Quinta est per prophetiam illustratae intelligentiae, adhuc altior praemissis, ut videat contingentia infallibiliter, quod fit quodam visionis modo speciali in speculo aeterno. Certum est enim, quod cum contingens sit mutabile et variabile, quod si Propheta videt infallibiliter et certitudinaliter, quod non videt nisi in veritate infallibili. — Unde difficile est determinare de istis; et per idem solvitur, sicut de praescientia Dei: hoc videt Propheta futurum: ergo eveniet; hoc videt Deus: ergo eveniet: quia visio Dei non cadit in praeteritum, sed praesentiam divinae visionis cum connotato temporali dicit, quod quidem connotatum contingens est vel connotatur. — Haec intelligitur in opere quintae diei, in qua facti sunt pisces de aquis et aves¹¹. Per pennas enim et multitudinem plumarum et spiritus fertur anima in Deum.

30. Sexta est visio intelligentiae per raptum in Deum absorptae. Ad Corinthios¹²: Scio hominem ante annos quatuordecim, sive in corpore, sive extra corpus, nescio, Deus scit, raptum huiusmodi.

Haec enim sublevatio facit animam Deo simillimam, quantum potest in statu viae — nec est idem ecstasis et raptus — unde, ut dicunt, non habent habitum gloriae, sed actum; et sicut illa visio est in confinio viae et patriae, sic illa est in confinio unionis et separationis a corpore. Ideo dicit Apostolus: Sive in corpore, sive extra corpus, nescio. Unde ergo homo praesumit determinare quod Paulus nescivit? — Huic respondet opus sextae diei: Faciamus, inquit, hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem nostram; quia talis dignus est, ut praesit volatilibus et piscibus maris et reptilibus¹. — Quanto enim quis elevatior, tanto humilior, ut Paulus, qui etiam ad coniugium determinandum descendebat per humilitatem. Unde dicitur in Iob²: Nunquid ad praeceptum tuum elevabitur aquila et in arduis ponet nidum suum? Et sequitur: Ubicumque fuerit cadaver, statim adest. Mirabilia primo dixerat de aquila, et postea humilia; sic est de raptu. Ille enim, qui in raptu fuit maior, magis est humilis. Et sic necesse est, quia, si superbiret, posset amittere gratiam et cadere in reprobum sensum; et vix unquam surgeret, quia quanto magis novit, tanto magis sciret solvere omnia, quae dicerentur sibi; et ideo non sine causa datus fuit Apostolo stimulus carnis, ne magnitudo, inquit, revelationum extollat me. — Ille, inquam, qui ad illum statum pervenit, potest alios ordinare et regere, ut Paulus³ fecit, et Dionysius, qui ordinavit Ecclesiam secundum exemplar, quod sibi monstrabatur.

31. Septimus dies est absolutio a corpore; hodie mecum eris in paradiso⁴; qui dies non habet vesperam. — Et post sequitur octava dies, qui non est alius a praecedentibus, sed est reiteratio primae diei, quando anima resumet corpus suum.

32. Haec est ergo clavis David, quae docet Verbum inspiratum; illud Verbum, quod est in sinu Patris⁵ increatum, incarnatum in utero Virginis, inspiratum in corde tuo per fidem; illabitur mentes angelicas et humanas, intrans in eis facit intelligere has visiones, quia est intellectus et spiritus purus; sed alio et alio modo, quia sunt maiores profundationes, secundum quod anima intime inducitur in se. Et hoc fit per divinum radium, ut dicit Dionysius de Angelica Hierarchia⁶: «Ergo Iesum, inquit, invocantes, qui est paternum lumen» etc.; et sicut dicit Dionysius de Ecclesiastica Hierarchia, «lex Divinitatis est infima per media ad suprema reducere». Ille thearchicus radius, descendens in caelestem hierarchiam, illam illuminat et per illam ecclesiasticam sive subcaelestem. — Totum tamen facit ille radius, quia Angeli ibi nihil faciunt nisi occasionaliter; sicut, si quis vellet, quod radius illuminaret multas domus, aperiret fenestras, et tunc radius omnes domus illuminaret⁷; et sicut, si quis praepararet multa specula ad recipiendum lumen. Deinde ordine resolutorio ille radius nos reducit in contemplationem caelestium et deinde supercaelestium.

---

COLLATION III.

On the fulness of understanding, insofar as it is the key of contemplation through the understanding of the Word uncreated, incarnate and inspired.

Summarium

The gift of understanding is the rule of moral circumspections, the door of scientific considerations, the key of heavenly contemplations, 1. — The key of contemplation is a threefold understanding, namely of the Word uncreated, incarnate, inspired, 2. — Part I. On the understanding of the Word uncreated, through which all things are produced. This is known through its effect as the cause of all; the errors of the philosophers, 3. — It is the key to understanding that from one there are many, 4–5. — Likewise, that from the eternal there are temporal things, 6. — Likewise, that from the most actual there are possible things, 7–8. — Likewise, that from the most stable there are changeable things, from the most sublime the lowest. But this key belongs only to a soul purged through faith, 9. — Part II. On the understanding of the Word incarnate, through which all things are repaired. Who the repairer is, 10. — The prefiguring in the two Cherubim over the ark, 11. — He repaired two hierarchies; he had five properties, 12. — He was most exalted, 13. — Likewise, of sound sense, 14-15-16. — Acceptable to God, 17. — Most victorious, 18. — Bountiful, 19–20. — Supremely just, 21. — Part III. On the understanding of the Word inspired, through which all things are revealed. Understanding is required in a vision, 22. — A threefold vision, 23. — Six modes of vision according to the six days of creation, 24. — The first is the vision of the understanding implanted by nature, 25. — The second, of the understanding lifted up by faith, 26. — The third, instructed by Scripture, 27. — The fourth, suspended by contemplation, 28. — The fifth, illumined by prophecy, 29. — The sixth, absorbed by rapture, 30. — The seventh and eighth day, 31. — Epilogue on the key of David, 32.

1. In the midst of the Church he shall open his mouth, and the Lord shall fill him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding¹. Wisdom having been spoken of, we must speak of understanding, of which it was said in the Collation on the gifts² that understanding is the rule of moral circumspections, the door of scientific considerations, the key of heavenly contemplations. And this understanding is properly a gift. — One must begin from understanding and come through to wisdom. The Lord fed him with the bread of life and understanding, and gave him the water of wholesome wisdom to drink³. One must begin from food, not from drink. For unless a man is exercised in the gift of understanding, he does not profit in the drink-of-wisdom, which pours rivers into the soul when it is drunk by it, and becomes for it a fountain of water springing up into life everlasting. The gift of understanding is solid food, like bread, which, as blessed Francis used to say, is had by many labours. First the seed is sown, then it grows, then it is gathered, then it is carried to the mill, then it is baked, and many such things. And so it is with the gift of understanding; to procure understanding is difficult in itself. Wisdom likewise is not had except by one who thirsts; whence in the Psalm⁴: My soul hath thirsted after the strong living God; and: As the hart panteth after the fountains of waters, so my soul panteth after thee, O God.

2. The key therefore of contemplation is a threefold understanding: namely the understanding of the Word uncreated, through which all things are produced; the understanding of the Word incarnate, through which all things are repaired; the understanding of the Word inspired, through which all things are revealed. For unless a man can consider concerning things how they take their origin, how they are led back to their end, and how God shines forth in them, he cannot have understanding.

3. Of the first, to the Romans⁵: The invisible things of God, from the creation of the world, being understood by the things that are made, are clearly seen, his eternal power also and Divinity. His eternal power and Divinity are understood through the effect, because God is the cause of all things, and by his power all things were made; which is against the philosophers, who deny that from one and the same, always remaining the same, there are things of many forms, from the eternal temporal things, from the most actual there remain possible things, from the most stable changeable things, from the most simple composite things, from the most sublime the lowest; since the effect is like the cause, and this cause is contrary in these conditions.

4. The door of these things is the understanding of the Word uncreated, which is the root of the understanding of all things; whence he who does not have this door cannot enter. But the philosophers hold for impossible the things that are supremely true, because the door is closed to them. — But how these things are to be understood is said to the Hebrews⁶: By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, that from invisible things visible things might be made. Now it is impossible that the highest spirit should not understand itself; and since the thing understood is made equal to the one understanding, he understands whatever is and whatever he can: therefore the ground of understanding also is made equal to the understanding, and it is his likeness. And this likeness is the Word, because, according to Augustine⁷ and Anselm, the likeness of the mind turning itself upon itself, which is in the mind's gaze, is a word. If therefore this likeness is equal, then it is God, and, taking its origin from God, it represents the one originating and whatever the Father can: therefore it represents many things. — Again, since it represents the power of the Father, it represents a most united power; but «power, the more united, the more infinite»⁸: therefore that likeness

has to represent infinite things; and so it is necessary that from one there should be many. If therefore thou understandest the Word, thou understandest all things knowable. But the Jew cannot understand this; and yet Scripture¹ says: God said: Be light made; and again: God said — that is, he begot the Word, in «whom he disposed all things», and in disposing he makes all things. Whence Augustine in the book of the Confessions: «By thy Word coeternal with thee thou makest whatever thou makest, nor in any other way than by speaking dost thou make; yet not everlastingly dost thou make what thou everlastingly sayest».

5. For if unity could know the whole of its own power, it would see and know all numbers; and if a point knew the whole of its own power, it would know all the lines in the centre; unity, however, is more a principle than a point, because unity is an essential part of number, whereas the point is a principle and not a part²; nor is either of these an active principle. Therefore, since the first understanding is an active principle, it is necessary that in its own likeness it should dispose all things, express all things.

6. Again, from the eternal are all temporal things. For the things that proceed from the Father proceed in order, and one is the cause of another, in the order of nature and in the order of time: therefore the Word so represents things as they are produced in being. For just as in my foresight or memory there can be many future things, and one future thing more distant than another; nor does it follow on that account that when they come to pass there is a change in my memory; so in the Word there is no change. For when he creates this soul, he is not changed, because from eternity he said that this soul was now to be created. Whence by the same saying by which he said it from eternity, he now creates; just as, if my willing were my power: if I willed now that a thing should come to be tomorrow, there would be no change in me if it came to be; but there would be, if from not willing I became willing³.

7. Again, from the most actual are made possible or material things. For the Father is understood as a principle principiating from himself, a principle principiating from nothing, a principle principiating from something material. And the Word expresses the Father as a principle principiating from himself, and so is explaining and representing the production of the Holy Spirit and his own, that is, of the eternal. — He expresses the Father also as principiating something from nothing, and so represents the production of the aeviternal, as of the Angels and of souls. — He represents him also as principiating something from something as material; but what comes to be from something is first in potency before it comes to be⁴; it is necessary therefore that he should represent possible things. Necessarily therefore from the most actual are made possible things.

8. And this likeness or Word is truth. What is truth according to its definition? «The adequation of the understanding and the thing understood»⁵ — of that understanding, I say, which is the cause of the thing, not of my understanding, which is not the cause of the thing. — This adequation is true when a thing is of such size, of such a kind, having its order, acting, undergoing, when, where, having its position, according to the differences of the categories. For then things are true when they are in the thing or in the universe as they are in the eternal art, or as they are expressed there. And a thing is true according as it is made adequate to the causing understanding. But because it is not perfectly made adequate to the ground which expresses or represents it, therefore every creature is a lie, according to Augustine⁶. But a thing made adequate is not its own adequation: therefore it is necessary that the Word or likeness or ground should be truth; and there is the truth of the creature, and the lowest things are represented through the Word as much as the highest. Whence, although an Angel shares more with the Word in noble conditions — for instance as to the image of God — than a little worm does; yet in respect of exemplarity the ground of the Angel is not nobler than the ground of the little worm; the ground of the little worm expresses or represents the little worm just as the ground of the Angel does the Angel, nor in this respect is the Angel nobler than the little worm. But every creature is a shadow in respect of the Creator.

9. And thus it is clear that from the most actual are possible things, from the most stable changeable things, and from the most sublime the lowest. And as the shining sun makes the variety and

manifoldness of colours, so from that Word is the variety of things. Whence it does not happen that one understands except through the Word. — And this is the most noble key of a soul purged through faith, which is necessary, because «the gaze of our mind, being too weak, is not fixed on so excellent a light unless it be cleansed by the justice of faith»¹. Whence all who do not have this faith have a hand cut off. Hence in the Psalm: For he spoke, and they were made; he commanded, and they were created, etc.

10. The second key is the understanding of the Word incarnate, through which all things are repaired. Whence in the last chapter of Luke²: These are the words which I spoke to you while I was yet with you; for all things must be fulfilled which are written in the Law and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning me. Then he opened their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures. Who speaks? The Word of God, of whom in the first chapter of John: The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, where he shows two natures in one person. There follows: The Scriptures must be fulfilled concerning me; whence to the Romans³: The end of the Law is Christ, unto justice to everyone that believeth.

11. In designation of this, the two Cherubim with their faces turned toward the propitiatory looked one toward the other⁴. The two Cherubim are the two testaments, whose gaze is upon Christ. Then he opened their understanding, when they understood the Scriptures — that is, through this key of the Word incarnate the book of Scripture is to be understood, since it is principally about the works of reparation. For unless thou understandest the order and origin of reparation, thou canst not understand Scripture. And the name of the repairer is the Word of God; in the Apocalypse⁵: He was clothed with a garment sprinkled with blood, and his name was called the Word of God. — But I should like to know how the Word of God is Repairer. Of this Isaiah: A child is born to us, and a son is given to us, whose government is upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called: Wonderful, Counsellor, God, the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of peace.

12. He repaired the heavenly and the subcelestial hierarchy, which had wholly fallen. Therefore it was necessary that he should touch heaven and earth. This hierarch had to be most exalted, of sound sense, acceptable to God, victorious, bountiful, just.

13. He had first to be most exalted in power, who alone could save. Whence to the Hebrews⁶: God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in times past to the fathers by the Prophets, last of all in these days hath spoken to us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; as far as: Being made so much better than the Angels, as he hath inherited a more excellent name than they. — For from him proceed miracles; and therefore it was necessary that in him should be shown the miracle of miracles, namely the manifoldness of natures. For he has a bodily nature, a spiritual nature, a divine nature; a temporal, an aeviternal, an eternal nature. Whence he has it to bind the lowest to the highest. In Ecclesiasticus⁷: Look upon the rainbow and bless him that made it. The rainbow has manifoldness of natures and of colours. For as the sun went down by ten degrees on the dial of Achaz, so the Word incarnate came down through the nine orders of Angels as far as man, who is reckoned the tenth. This is the greatest miracle, that God should be man, that the first should be the last; and therefore all miracles look to this miracle; whence all cry out: Hosanna to the son of David⁸. — In this miracle faith takes its strength. Whence Moses, after he had driven the flock to the inner parts of the desert, saw the bush which burned and was not consumed; I will go, he said, and see this great vision, etc.; where he was illumined. The bush, thorny, is the passibility of the flesh; the flame, the soul of Christ full of lights and of the fire of charity; the light, the Godhead; the light joined to the bush by the mediation of the flame, the Godhead joined to the flesh by the mediation of the spirit or soul. In order therefore that he might be able to make the dead living, and of men the sons of God⁹, it is necessary that he be most exalted; and this is what is meant by Wonderful.

14. Again, it is necessary that our hierarch be of sound sense according to the threefold wisdom in him, namely the innate, such as the Angels and the first man had, the infused, and the eternal. By the first he knows all that we can know by a habit; by the second he comprehends gloriously and infinitely, because of his wisdom there is no number¹⁰; by the third, all things. For he who had to repair the whole world, it was necessary that he should know the conditions of the whole world; whence to the Hebrews, the fourth chapter: The word of God is living and effectual; there follows: All things are naked and open to his eyes, to whom our speech is. Whence it behoved that he should be not only powerful, but also of sound sense.

15. But if thou sayest: what necessity was there that he should have another wisdom besides the divine? I answer: that he might be able to experience; to the Hebrews¹¹: We have not a high priest who cannot have compassion on our infirmities; but one tempted in all things like as we are,

without sin. And this one is our advocate for us, and judges against us. He was the best counsellor and the wisest; whence all other wise men were only certain figures and images of this wise one. — From him proceed teachings most certain and most illustrious, in which we need to be instructed; therefore he is called Counsellor.

16. To him are referred all the utterances of the wisdom of Scripture, as of Solomon and of others. Yet the Jews take of Solomon what is said of Christ in the Psalm¹: Thou art beautiful above the sons of men, grace is poured abroad in thy lips; Solomon was not such; and: Let his name be blessed for evermore.

17. Again, this hierarch is acceptable to God; because we need a most holy reconciler. To the Hebrews²: It was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and made higher than the heavens, so that he might be wholly deiform; whence in John: We saw his glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, on account of the multitude of graces. For he had the grace of his singular person, the grace of the head, by which he flows into the members, and the grace of the union, and this is infinite on one side. Whence he was acceptable to God not only because deiform, but because God. Since he is God, he cannot be unacceptable. And therefore he is called God; and so from him come the most holy examples. — Whence wherever in the Scriptures³ mention is made of emanations, of the rivers of paradise, of the welling up of fountains, they are referred to him.

18. Again it behoves that the hierarch be most victorious on account of the multitude of his triumph and victory. Whence to the Colossians⁴: And you, when you were dead in your offences and the uncircumcision of your flesh; and there follows: Despoiling the principalities and powers, he hath led them away confidently, openly triumphing over them in himself. For he conquered the world, despoiled hell, restored paradise. Whence in the Psalm: Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates, and the King of glory shall enter in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord who is strong and mighty. Still we wish to hear: Lift up your gates, O ye princes. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts. This one therefore is the Mighty. Whence it is necessary that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth and under the earth⁵. Isaiah: Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bosra? I, that speak justice, and am a defender to save. — And therefore he is called the Mighty. From him flow strong defences. Whence⁶: mountains are round about it. Whence all the wars of Scripture are referred to the victory of Christ.

19. Again it behoves that our hierarch be bountiful on account of the greatness of his inflowing. To the Ephesians⁷: To every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the giving of Christ. On which account he says: Ascending on high, he led captivity captive, he gave gifts to men. For as a cloud goes up on high in order that afterwards it may rain, so Christ ascended in order to give his gifts; when the sun was lifted up, and the moon stood in her order. For at first he had given the Holy Spirit on earth in a hidden way, but after he ascended, then openly, because the Holy Spirit himself was the hierarch purging, illuminating, perfecting, and the Holy Spirit came down into the heavenly and the subcelestial hierarchy. Whence there came suddenly a sound from heaven as of a Spirit coming⁸. The Holy Spirit came down as purging; whence it is said of a Spirit coming; as instructing: there appeared to them parted tongues as it were of fire; in perfecting power: and it sat upon every one of them. From him flow the gratuitous gifts. — Whatever therefore is found in Scripture of the pouring out in the sun and in other things and in banquets is referred to his largess. Whence in the Psalm⁹: The beauty of the house shall divide spoils; and in Isaiah: They shall rejoice before thee, as they that rejoice as conquerors when the prey is taken, when they divide the spoils. These are the gifts of Christ's bounty. — Whence he is called the Father of the world to come; because he is the principle of the inflowings by which we shall live in the world to come; James¹⁰: Every best gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights. There follows: Of his own will hath he begotten us by the word of truth, that we might be some beginning of his creature. Now we are the beginning of the creature, but then we shall be simply the creature.

20. He is most bountiful, because he gives us whatever we ask: Amen, amen, I say to you: if you ask the Father anything in my name¹¹, etc. He swears and asserts it in truth. Whence in the Psalms: Thou openest thy hand and fillest with blessing every living creature; and: Men and beasts thou wilt save, O Lord. They shall be inebriated with the plenty of thy house.

21. Again, he must be supremely just on account of the multitude of a justice infallibly inquiring, irreprehensibly examining, irrevocably sentencing, that he may render to every man according to his works. Isaiah¹²:

There shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and justice shall be the girdle of his loins; he shall not judge according to the sight of the eyes, nor reprove according to the hearing of the ears. Therefore God is such; because if he were a mere man, he could not judge except through witnesses. — To this judgement are referred all the judgements of Scripture; and therefore he is called the Prince of peace. Whence from him flow just rewards. — This David therefore has the key, who openeth and no man shutteth; shutteth and no man openeth¹. And this key is the mystery of the union.

22. The third key is the understanding of the Word inspired, through which all things are revealed; for revelation does not come about except through the Word inspired. Daniel understood the discourse. For understanding is needful in a vision. For unless the word sound in the ear of the heart, and splendour shine in the eye, and the vapour and emanation of the Almighty be in the smell, and sweetness in the taste, and everlastingness fill the soul, a man is not fit to understand visions. But to Daniel God gave understanding of all visions and dreams². By what? By the Word inspired.

23. Now a vision is threefold, as is commonly said³: bodily, imaginary, intellectual. The first two are worth nothing without the third. Whence the bodily vision of the hand availed Balthasar little, and the imaginary vision of the golden statue Nabuchodonosor, and to Pharaoh the vision in the ears of corn and the oxen — but they availed Daniel and Joseph. Joseph answers to John, Daniel to Paul.

24. Besides these there is a sixfold vision, which answers to the works of the six days; by which the lesser world is made perfect, as the greater world was in six days⁴. There is the vision of the understanding implanted by nature, and the vision of the understanding lifted up by faith, instructed by Scripture, suspended by contemplation, illumined by prophecy, absorbed by rapture into God. To these there follows the seventh vision, of the glorified soul; all of which Paul had. — The first two belong to many, the next two to few, these last two to very few⁵.

25. By the first is understood how far our understanding can be extended of itself. This is understood by the first day, on which light was made⁶; whence in the Psalm: The light of thy countenance, O Lord, is signed upon us. Without this implanted light a man has nothing, neither faith nor grace nor the light of wisdom; and therefore also the light was divided from the darkness.

26. The second is understood by the second day, where the firmament was made in the midst⁷. This firmament is faith, and it divides the waters from the waters. Faith is the origin of wisdom and the origin of knowledge; whether it be of eternal or of temporal things, whether knowledge or wisdom, they do not disagree with faith.

27. The third is understood by the third day, where the waters were gathered together, and the dry land appeared⁸. The earth is Scripture, having spiritual understandings, the angelic and divine hierarchies, which, wonderfully expounded by the Saints, spring up; and in these are produced the green herb and the trees of paradise. Yet let each beware of the tree of the curiosity of knowledge.

28. The fourth is understood in the work of the fourth day, where it is said: Let there be lights⁹, namely the sun and the moon and the stars. He who does not have contemplation does not yet have the adornment of the sun and the moon and the stars. And there ought to appear a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars, so that there be a contemplation of the supercelestial hierarchy in the sun, of the subcelestial in the moon, of the heavenly in the stars. Then shalt thou see and abound, and thy heart shall wonder and be enlarged¹⁰; because in contemplation there is wonder, enlargement, alienation, refreshment; whence: They ate and saw the God of Israel.

29. The fifth is by the understanding illumined through prophecy, higher still than the foregoing, so that it may see contingent things infallibly, which comes about by a certain special mode of vision in the eternal mirror. For it is certain that, since the contingent is changeable and variable, if the Prophet sees infallibly and with certitude, he does not see it except in the infallible truth. — Whence it is difficult to determine about these things; and it is solved by the same means as the foreknowledge of God: the Prophet sees this as future: therefore it will come to pass; God sees this: therefore it will come to pass — because God's vision does not fall into the past, but states the presence of the divine vision with a temporal connotation, which connotation indeed is contingent, or is connoted. — This is understood in the work of the fifth day, in which the fishes were made from the waters, and the birds¹¹. For by wings and by the multitude of feathers and by breath the soul is borne into God.

30. The sixth is the vision of the understanding absorbed by rapture into God. To the Corinthians¹²: I know a man above fourteen years ago, whether in the body or out of the body I know not, God knoweth, such a one caught up.

For this lifting up makes the soul most like to God, as far as is possible in the state of the way — nor is ecstasy the same as rapture — whence, as they say, they do not have the habit of glory, but the act; and just as that vision is on the border of the way and the fatherland, so this is on the border of union with the body and separation from it. Therefore the Apostle says: Whether in the body or out of the body, I know not. Whence then does a man presume to determine what Paul did not know? — To this answers the work of the sixth day: Let us make, he says, man to our image and likeness; because such a one is worthy that he should rule over the fowls and the fishes of the sea and the creeping things¹. — For the more exalted a man is, the more humble, as Paul, who even came down to determining about marriage through humility. Whence it is said in Job²: Will the eagle mount up at thy command and make her nest in high places? And there follows: Wheresoever the carcase shall be, she is immediately there. He had first said wonderful things of the eagle, and afterwards lowly things; so it is with rapture. For he who was greater in rapture is the more humble. And this is necessary, because if he grew proud, he could lose grace and fall into a reprobate sense; and he would hardly ever rise again, because the more he knows, the more he would know how to unravel everything that might be said to him; and therefore not without cause was there given to the Apostle a sting of the flesh, lest the greatness, he says, of the revelations should exalt me. — He, I say, who has come to that state can order and govern others, as Paul³ did, and Dionysius, who ordered the Church according to the exemplar that was shown to him.

31. The seventh day is release from the body: this day thou shalt be with me in paradise⁴; which day has no evening. — And afterwards there follows the eighth day, which is not other than the preceding, but is a repetition of the first day, when the soul shall take up its body again.

32. This then is the key of David, which teaches the Word inspired; that Word which is in the bosom of the Father⁵ uncreated, incarnate in the womb of the Virgin, inspired in thy heart through faith; it glides into angelic and human minds, and entering into them makes them understand these visions, because it is understanding and pure spirit; but in one way and another, because there are greater deepenings according as the soul is inwardly led into itself. And this comes about through the divine ray, as Dionysius says On the Angelic Hierarchy⁶: «Therefore, calling upon Jesus», he says, «who is the paternal light», etc.; and as Dionysius says On the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, «it is the law of the Godhead to lead back the lowest through the middle to the highest». That thearchic ray, descending into the heavenly hierarchy, illumines it, and through it the ecclesiastical or subcelestial. — Yet that ray does the whole, because the Angels do nothing there except occasionally; just as, if a man wished that a ray should illumine many houses, he would open the windows, and then the ray would illumine all the houses⁷; and as if a man were to prepare many mirrors to receive the light. Then, in the order of resolution, that ray leads us back into the contemplation of heavenly things and then of supercelestial.

---