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.

TRACTATUS

de plantatione Paradisi⁸

Summarium

Introductio. Invisibilis Dei sapientia non cognoscitur, nisi oculus mentis manuducatur visibilibus similitudinibus, numero 1. — Ita plantatio paradisi terrestris symbolum est paradisi caelestis, 2. — Uterque paradisus in sensu tropologico est in anima: caelestis per sublimem et excessivam contemplationem, terrestris per humilis devotionis meditationem suavem, 3. — Primo, de mente contemplativa, quatenus est paradisus caelestis, id est caelesti conformis per veritatis lumina et caritatis solatia. Ipsa designatur per mulierem amictam sole, cui luna sub pedibus, et in capite corona duodecim stellarum, 4. — Duodecim stellae significant duodecim rerum creatarum lumina, 5. — Singula enumerantur, 6. — Cautela in his adhibenda, ne duplex malum incurratur, 7. — Secundo, de paradiso terrestri, cui anima fit conformis per devotionis humilitatem. Influentiae a caelesti hierarchia in subcaelestem; Christus incarnatus est lignum vitae in anima plantatum per Spiritum veritatis et gratiae, 8. — Prima plantula paradisi interni est Verbum incarnatum et crucifixum, afferens iugiter duodecim fructus; tamen sunt in eo plantatae aliae arbores praebentes meditationum et devotionis materias, 9. — Exhortatio, ut meditando gustentur sapores fructuum harum arborum, 10. — Dei sapientia in anima plantavit duodecim radices arborum, id est duodecim materias meditationum, 11. — Modum et cautelam in his oportet adhibere, 12. — Opportuna est consideratio infernalium tormentorum et hostilium pugnarum, 13. — Illarum duodecim considerationum sex principales explicantur, 14. — Item, sex aliae ex adverso oppositae; post senas illustrationes anima collocari potest in paradisi quiete, 15. — Illae duodecim illuminationes non solum sunt arbores obumbrantes, sed etiam armaturae defendentes lectulum pacifici Salomonis, id est cubiculum animae contemplantis; conclusio, 16.

1. Plantaverat autem Dominus Deus paradisum voluptatis a principio, in quo posuit hominem, quem formaverat⁹. — Sicut in Christum pie intendentibus aspectus carnis, qui patebat, via erat

ad agnitionem Divinitatis, quae latebat; sic ad intelligendam divinae sapientiae veritatem aenigmaticis ac mysticis figuris intelligentiae rationalis manuducitur oculus. Aliter enim nobis innotescere non potuit invisibilis Dei sapientia, nisi se his quae novimus visibilium rerum formis ad similitudinem conformaret et¹ per eas nobis sua invisibilia, quae non novimus, significando exprimeret; sicut etiam contestatur Apostolus ad Romanos²: Invisibilia Dei a creatura mundi per ea quae facta sunt, intellecta conspiciuntur. Et beatus Dionysius, in libro de Angelica Hierarchia³: « Neque possibile, inquit, aliter supersplendere thearchicum radium⁴ nisi varietate sacrorum velaminum anagogice circumvelatum et his quae secundum nos, providentia paterna connaturaliter et familiariter praeparatum ». Sacra autem velamina sunt mysticae in sacro Eloquio descriptiones⁵, quibus divinus radius circumvelatur et obumbratur, ut nostris contemperetur aspectibus, quatenus ipsa obumbratio nostra sit illuminatio⁶, et sua circumvelatio nostra sit elevatio ac supermundialium revelatio arcanorum.

2. Inter haec autem sacra velamina et similitudinaria symbola circa primordia sacrae Scripturae plantatio paradisi nobis consideranda proponitur. Sicut enim in machina mundiali duae sunt partes, caelum videlicet et terra; sic et duplex eius mansio, duplex etiam ornatus⁷ hierarchicus, duplex nihilominus paradisus, caelestis videlicet et terrestris. De caelesti quidem dicit Apostolus⁸: Scio hominem in Christo ante annos quatuordecim, sive in corpore sive extra corpus, nescio, Deus scit, raptum huiusmodi usque ad tertium caelum. Et scio huiusmodi hominem, sive in corpore sive extra corpus, nescio, Deus scit, quoniam raptus est in paradisum et audivit arcana verba, quae non licet homini loqui. De paradiso vero terrestri oportet intelligi quod in Ecclesiastico dicitur: Henoch placuit Deo et translatus est in paradisum, ut det gentibus sapientiam.

3. Iuxta duplicem hanc litteralem intelligentiam paradisi duplex est etiam ipsius secundum moralitatem spiritualis et tropologicus intellectus; ut videlicet caelestis paradisus in anima dicatur sublimis contemplationis excessiva satietas, terrestris vero humilis devotionis refocillativa suavitas. Ratione quorum duorum ad animam devotam dicitur a sponso in Cantico canticorum⁹: Hortus conclusus, soror mea sponsa, hortus conclusus, fons signatus. Emissiones tuae paradisus malorum punicorum cum pomorum fructibus. — Veritatis siquidem Spiritus, qui nihil in Scriptura ponit superfluum, id ipsum iterando bis replicat, ut manifeste declaret, quod anima, quae sponsa vocari meretur, similiter et terrestris paradisi designatur nomine ac caelestis: terrestris quidem propter sapientialium¹⁰ irrigationum exuberantiam ac fecundarum pullulationum viriditatem, suavium pariter et pulcrarum; caelestis vero ratione supersplendentium illuminationum ac supermentalium et arcanorum excessuum¹¹; ratione quorum Apostolus primo se dicit raptum usque ad tertium caelum et deinde raptum in paradisum; quia prius erigitur animus ad contuendam caelestium luminum claritatem, quam in suavissimae refectionis rapiatur excessum.

4. Et quoniam veritatis lumina splendida praeambula sunt ad caritatis solatia excessiva, ideo mens contemplativa, caelestium luminum adornata fulgoribus, per illam designatur mulierem perfulgidam, de qua in Apocalypsi¹² magnus ille contemplator Ioannes signantissime loquitur. Signum, inquit, magnum apparuit in caelo, mulier amicta sole, et luna sub pedibus eius, et in capite eius corona duodecim stellarum. Haec, inquam, mulier, mens scilicet charismatibus repleta divinis sacrisque fecundata virtutibus, amicta dicitur sole propter contemplationem

beatissimae Trinitatis vigentis, splendentis et calentis¹ ipsamque se contemplantem animam, eius vigorando memoriam, illustrando intelligentiam, inflammando voluntatem, in se rapientis et transformantis ac per hoc vestientis et adornantis; ut sic, soli aeterno effecta consimilis, veraciter sub solari specie describatur, Ecclesiastico attestante, qui ait: Sicut sol oriens in mundo in altissimis Dei, sic mulieris bonae species in ornamentum domus suae. Haec, inquam, mulier lunam describitur habere sub pedibus, propterea quia mundanam atque animalem² sapientiam velut vanam et stultam despicit et conculcat. Quae recte designatur per lunam propter sui mutabilitatem admixtamque caliginem, iuxta illud Ecclesiastici: Homo sanctus in sapientia manet sicut sol, nam stultus ut luna mutatur.

5. Recte autem huiusmodi mens corona stellarum duodecim adornata signatur, quia, licet sit ei summe delectabile atque desiderabile, intellectualibus oculis solem illum aeternum incessanter conspicere; quamdiu tamen carni corruptibili³ iungitur, ratione scilicet alternantium affectionum atque phantasmatum⁴, temporalibus transmutationibus omnino carere non potest. Ideo, sicut sol iste visibilis non semper est in eodem signo stellarum, sed in circulo anni duodecim signa stellifera circulariter peragrat; sic necesse est huiusmodi animae contemplanti, ne a splendoribus lucis aeternae procul abscedat, universitatis luminum creatorum circumlustrari fulgoribus. Quae instar stellarum duodecim ad duodenarium reducuntur et quasi coronam efficiunt⁵, ut sic revelata facie gloriam Domini contemplans et speculans, a claritate in claritatem transformetur tanquam a Domini spiritu.

6. Et quasi prima stella sit clara consideratio corporalium naturarum; secunda vero, spiritualium substantiarum; tertia, intellectualium scientiarum; quarta, affectualium virtutum; quinta, institutarum divinitus legum; sexta, infusarum caelitus gratiarum; septima, irreprehensibilium iudiciorum; octava, incomprehensibilium misericordiarum; nona, remunerabilium⁶ meritorum; decima, remunerantium praemiorum; undecima, militantium ordinum; duodecima, triumphantium exercituum, tam Angelorum quam hominum beatorum. Sicque tam varia luminum multiformitate facta, mirabiliter a filiabus Ierusalem non immerito commendatur; in quarum persona dicit Spiritus sanctus in Cantico canticorum: Quae est ista, quae progreditur quasi aurora consurgens, pulcra ut luna, electa ut sol, terribilis ut castrorum acies ordinata?

7. Cavendum autem⁷ summopere animae sic fulgenti, ne in huiusmodi circulationibus luminum mundanae sapientiae obscurans opacitas, per curiositatem instar lunae in zodiaco vagando se gyrans in capite vel cauda draconis⁸ — hoc est in praesumtionis elationem, quae spiritualis draconis est caput, vel in erroris fraudem, quae ipsius est cauda, degenerans — inter solis aeterni praefulgidos radios ac mentalis aciei perspicaces interponatur obtutus. Sic enim spiritualem eclipsim rationalis intelligentia patitur et ad modum praevaricantis luciferi a caelesti luce in infernales tenebras corruit, dum ab aeternitate in tempus, a veritate in mendacium, a caritate in amorem privatum, ac per hoc a sapientia in insipientiam cadit; quemadmodum illis alta⁹ sapientibus accidit, de quibus scribit Apostolus ad Romanos: Quia cum cognovissent Deum, non sicut Deum glorificaverunt, aut gratias egerunt, sed evanuerunt in cogitationibus suis, et obscuratum est insipiens cor eorum; dicentes enim, se esse sapientes, stulti facti sunt; qui commutaverunt veritatem Dei in mendacium et coluerunt et servierunt creaturae potius quam Creatori, qui est benedictus in saecula, Deus. Amen.

8. Quoniam autem praesentis est operis non sapientes et prudentes instruere, sed tantum eis occasionem cogitandi praebere¹⁰; praecipue vero ad id fertur intentio, ut detur parvulis intellectus, vel potius, ut in eis excitetur affectus: ideo ab illustrationibus caeli descendendum est ad plantulas paradisi. Sicut enim contemplationis sublimitas suaviter delectans reddit animam paradiso caelesti conformem; sic et paradiso terrestri devotionis humilitas salubriter refocillans. Et quemadmodum caelestium luminarium influentiae multiformes causae sunt pullulationum terrestrium; sic et spiritualiter a caelesti hierarchia in subcaelestem et notitiarum splendores et deliciarum suavitates miro modo descendunt, non solum per ministerium Angelorum, verum etiam per Verbum incar-

natum et ligno crucis affixum. Quod cum sit ut¹ increatum et Patri consubstantiale fons sapientiae in excelsis; est tamen ut carni unitum et natum de Virgine in ipsum veraciter credentibus, sperantibus et amantibus lignum vitae². Ipsumque in nobis plantat et nos illi complantat³ Spiritus veritatis et gratiae, iuxta illud Ecclesiastici: Ego quasi fluvius Dorix et quasi aquaeductus exivi de paradiso; dixi: rigabo hortum plantationum mearum et inebriabo prati mei fructum. Spiritus enim sanctus primo quidem nos rigat per gratiam⁴, deinde inebriabit per gloriam. Et sicut nunc per gratiae donum nos illi complantat⁵, sic per donum gloriae transplantabit, secundum illud Apostoli: Si complantati facti sumus similitudini mortis eius, simul et resurrectionis erimus.

9. Prima igitur atque praecipua planta in paradiso mentis humanae Verbum est incarnatum ac crucifixum, Iesus Christus videlicet, Filius Dei vivi, qui latroni sibi complantato, utpote in ipsum credenti, ipsum confitenti, ipsi etiam in cruce commorienti liberaliter dixit: Hodie mecum eris in paradiso⁶. In cuius mysticam designationem post verbum prius propositum signanter adiungitur: Produxitque Dominus Deus de humo omne lignum pulcrum visu et ad vescendum suave: lignum etiam vitae in medio paradisi, lignum quoque scientiae boni et mali. Licet enim huius ligni vitae fructus vivificus principaliter proponeretur homini ad edendum tanquam restaurativus radicalis humoris⁷; nihilominus tamen ad ipsius solatium producta sunt et alia ligna in circuitu ligni vitae; quatenus varietate fructuum, multiformium pulcritudinum et saporum vitaret homo fastidium, quod accidere solet per conversionem ad unum, et haberet oblectamentum, quod ex varietate atque innovatione consurgit in spiritualium notitia sensuum per experientiam multiformium obiectorum. Per hunc etiam modum, licet animae devotae sufficere possit Christus Iesus, et hic crucifixus, secundum duodecim fructus, quos illud beatissimum lignum vitae iugiter affert, sicut ex praecedentibus liquet; ad vitandum tamen fastidium et dandum solatium huiusmodi animae, proposuit Deus et alias meditationum materias⁸ tanquam arbores fructuosas, quibus refocilletur humanae mentis devotio et his multis multiformiter exerceatur; ut tandem in illo uno illius ligni fructu finaliter conquiescat et eo feliciter perfruatur.

10. Propterea quicumque devotus es animus, si non vales velut vir angelicus atque hierarchicus⁹ more contemplantis supra dictarum irradiationum caelestium irreverberatis oculis contueri fulgores; saltem sicut adhuc animalis et parvulus pedetentim recogitando mediteris, meditando mastices, masticando degustes sapores varios fructuum ex his lignis procedentium, quae Dei sapientia multiformis in corde tuo plantavit tanquam in hortulo paradisi, ut merito tibi illud sponsae possit aptari: Hortus conclusus, soror mea sponsa, emissiones tuae paradisus malorum punicorum cum pomorum fructibus.

11. Attende, inquam, quoniam ipsa Dei sapientia multiformis, circumquaque irradians quasi duodecim distinctionibus spiritualium illustrationum duodecim in te plantat radices arborum, hoc est duodecim materias salutarium considerationum, illustrans te ab intra per interna spectacula, illustrans te ab extra externa per vestigia, illustrans te a supra superna per promissa, illustrans te ab infra aeterna per tormenta, illustrans te antrorsum directa per praecepta, illustrans te retrorsum districta per iudicia, illustrans te dextrorsum benigna per solatia, illustrans sinistrorsum severa per flagella, illustrans e vicino per civium praesidia, illustrans¹⁰ e longinquo per hostium certamina, illustrans in propatulo per gratiarum dona, illustrans in occulto per figurarum signa¹¹.

12. Quae omnia si cum fide recogites et cum devotione pertractes et rumines, vere efficieris hortus voluptatis, multiformium pullulationum germinationibus iugiter vernans, ab ipsa videlicet Dei sapientia plantatus pariter et rigatus; si¹² cum his omnibus anteponatur fructus ligni vitae, et caveatur esus scientiae boni et mali; hoc est curiositas cognoscendi cum ambitione excellendi¹³ et appetentia oblectandi, quae suggestione serpentis antiqui inter praedictas speculationes per inferiorem rationis por-

tionem superiori, quasi per mulierem viro, ingeritur, studiosius evitetur. Nam si serpenti promittenti divinam scientiam assentiat quis incautus, ut in his magis appetat scire quam sapere, magis reputari quam refici, magisque fastu gloriari quam fructu gaudere; statim innascitur libido verenda, deordinans et denudans, per quam sententia mortis incurritur et divinae similitudinis amisso decore, praevaricatrix anima, bestialis effecta, tanquam indigna ligni vitae fructu salvifico refici, a paradisi deliciis propulsatur¹.

13. Nec cuiquam videatur absurdum, quod considerationem infernalium tormentorum et pugnarum hostilium inter ligna paradisi praediximus collocanda; quasi quis infernum aut infernales cives introducat intra² limites paradisi. Licet enim malum culpae vel poenae nullatenus, nec in caelo nec in terra, paradisi status admittat; considerationes tamen eorum ad degustandam ineffabilium miserationum dulcedinem et inscrutabilium iudiciorum suavitatem non modicum conferunt tam viatoribus quam Beatis. Iudicia enim Domini vera et iustificata in semetipsa, desiderabilia sunt super aurum et lapidem pretiosum multum et dulciora super mel et favum. Quid est autem, quod animabus devotis magis faciat sapere Christum Iesum, et hunc crucifixum, quam quod per eum liberatas se credunt et se cernunt ab immanium tyrannide hostium et infernalium aeternitate poenarum? Iuxta quod Propheta decantat³: Confitebor tibi, Domine Deus meus, in toto corde meo et glorificabo nomen tuum in aeternum; quia misericordia tua magna est super me, et eruisti animam meam ex inferno inferiori.

14. Harum igitur considerationum duodecim per quaedam antitheta seu contrapositiones dispositarum sex sunt principales, quibus scilicet anima convertitur ad interiora, superiora, anteriora, dextra, propinqua pariter et aperta, ut videlicet primo cognoscat semetipsam; deinde gloriam, ad quam facta est; tertio vero⁴ viam, per quam ad illam perveniat; quarto solatia, per quae fovetur; quinto praesidia, per quae defenditur; sexto charismata, per quae adornatur. — Inter quas primam inter omnes ponimus considerationem sui ipsius; nam intellectualis oculus⁵ primo natus est inspicere semetipsum. Quod insinuat Sponsus in Cantico, cum animam volentem contemplari sublimia increpat et reflectit considerationem ipsius in semetipsam. Nam cum desiderio requirenti: Indica mihi, quem diligit anima mea, ubi pascas, ubi cubes in meridie, cum increpatione respondet: Si ignoras te, o pulcherrima inter mulieres, egredere et abi post vestigia gregum et pasce hoedos tuos iuxta tabernacula pastorum; quasi diceret: si vis cognoscere me, prius incipias a te ipsa, quae facta es ad imaginem et similitudinem Trinitatis⁶. Sicque a consideratione sui erigitur ad divina, et per promissa praemia inducitur ad praecepta, a quibus ne declinet, ostenduntur ei solatia, praesidia et dona sibi caelitus inspiranda.

15. Verum quia mens frequenter a phantasmatibus⁷ praepedita non valet in his mentales oculos pro voto iugiter figere; ideo proponuntur sex considerationes aliae ex adverso, ut qui non potest interius commorari, ad exteriora se conferat; et qui non valet ad superiora conscendere, descendat ad ima; et qui non praevalet in anteriora protendi, posteriora formidet; et cui solatia divina non sapiunt, saltem flagella pavescat; et qui civium non attendit praesidia, hostium perpendat insultus; et qui charismata spiritualia contueri tanquam animalis non potest, saltem horum speculetur sensibilia signa tanquam exterius sibi proposita sacramenta⁸. Sicque fiant vicissitudines luminarium matutinorum et vespertinorum in hemisphaerio mentis nostrae⁹, quatenus, sicut Deus sex diebus mundum hunc sensibilem condidit et ornavit, sic spiritum rationalem senis vicissitudinibus illustrationum illuminet et adornet; ut post sextam diem collocetur in paradiso, in quo per contemplationem quiescens et dormiens, ad spiritualis connubii perducatur arcanum, ubi vere absconduntur, tanquam thesauri sapientiae et scientiae, copiae multiformes atque spirituales et inaestimabiles deliciae paradisi¹⁰.

16. Porro, ut in intimis Christi Iesu crucifixi conquiescat securius, supra dictae illuminationes duodecim¹¹ non solum proponuntur sicut arbores obumbrantes, verum etiam sicut armaturae defensantes ac munientes lectulum pacifici Salomonis. Nam si

praedictae illuminationes duodecim per quinque sensus spirituales ducantur, ad sexagenarium perveniunt numerum¹. Quo quidem numero fortium circumcingi oportet cubiculum animae contemplantis², quae iam post inventionem sponsi cum ipso in intimis conquiescit, iuxta illud Cantici: Inveni quem diligit anima mea, tenui eum nec dimittam, donec introducam illum in domum matris meae et in cubiculum genitricis meae. Adiuro vos, filiae Ierusalem, per capreas cervosque camporum, ne suscitetis neque evigilare faciatis dilectam, donec ipsa velit. Et quoniam tranquillitatem concomitatur suavitas³, ideo subditur: Quae est ista, quae ascendit per desertum sicut virgula fumi ex aromatibus myrrhae et thuris et universi pulveris pigmentarii? Insuper, quia hanc animi tranquillitatem et gaudii suavitatem concomitari debet custodiae firma securitas, propterea sequitur: En, lectulum Salomonis sexaginta fortes ambiunt ex fortissimis Israel, omnes tenentes gladios et ad bella doctissimi.

Abiectis itaque operibus tenebrarum, induamur arma lucis, ut sicut in die honeste ambulemus⁴ et in noctibus internarum quietudinum suaviter ac secure pausare⁵ possimus. Amen.

EXPLICIUNT SERMONES SELECTI.

Treatise

On the planting of Paradise⁸

Summarium

Introduction. The invisible wisdom of God is not known unless the eye of the mind is led by the hand through visible likenesses, number 1. — Thus the planting of the earthly paradise is a symbol of the heavenly paradise, 2. — Each paradise is, in the tropological sense, in the soul: the heavenly through sublime and transporting contemplation, the earthly through the sweet meditation of humble devotion, 3. — First, on the contemplative mind, inasmuch as it is the heavenly paradise, that is, conformed to the heavenly through the lumina^tr. of truth and the solaces of charity. It is designated by the woman clothed with the sun, who has the moon under her feet and on her head a crown of twelve stars, 4. — The twelve stars signify the twelve lumina of created things, 5. — They are enumerated one by one, 6. — The caution to be used in these, lest a twofold evil be incurred, 7. — Second, on the earthly paradise, to which the soul is made conformable through the humility of devotion. The influences from the heavenly hierarchy into the subheavenly; Christ incarnate is the tree of life planted in the soul through the Spirit of truth and of grace, 8. — The first little plant of the inner paradise is the Word incarnate and crucified, bearing twelve fruits continually; yet there are planted in it other trees affording matters of meditation and of devotion, 9. — An exhortation, that by meditating the savours of the fruits of these trees be tasted, 10. — The wisdom of God has planted in the soul twelve roots of trees, that is, twelve matters of meditation, 11. — It is fitting to use measure and caution in these, 12. — The consideration of infernal torments and of the battles with enemies is opportune, 13. — Of those twelve considerations the six principal ones are explained, 14. — Likewise, six others set over against them; after the six illuminations the soul can be placed in the rest of paradise, 15. — Those twelve illuminations are not only overshadowing trees, but also armour defending the little bed of the peaceable Solomon, that is, the chamber of the contemplating soul; conclusion, 16.

1. And the Lord God had planted a paradise of pleasure from the beginning, wherein he placed man whom he had formed⁹. — Just as, for those who look piously upon Christ, the sight of the flesh, which lay open, was the way

to the recognition of the Divinity, which lay hidden; so to the understanding of the truth of divine wisdom the eye of rational intelligence is led by the hand through enigmatic and mystical figures. For otherwise the invisible wisdom of God could not have become known to us, unless it conformed itself, by a likeness, to these forms of visible things which we know, and¹ through them expressed to us by signifying its own invisible things, which we do not know; as the Apostle also attests to the Romans²: The invisible things of God, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made. And blessed Dionysius, in the book On the Angelic Hierarchy³: "Neither is it possible, he says, that the thearchic ray should shine forth above⁴ otherwise than as veiled about anagogically by the variety of sacred veilings, and, by those things which are according to us, prepared connaturally and familiarly by the paternal providence." Now the sacred veilings are the mystical descriptions in the sacred Eloquium⁵, by which the divine ray is veiled about and overshadowed, so that it may be tempered to our sight, so that that very overshadowing may be our illumination⁶, and its veiling about may be our elevation and the revelation of supermundane secrets.

2. Among these sacred veilings and symbols by likeness, at the very beginnings of sacred Scripture the planting of paradise is set before us to be considered. For just as in the fabric of the world there are two parts, namely heaven and earth; so also its dwelling is twofold, twofold likewise its hierarchic adornment⁷, and no less twofold the paradise, the heavenly namely and the earthly. Of the heavenly indeed the Apostle says⁸: I know a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, whether in the body or out of the body, I know not, God knoweth, such a one caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man, whether in the body or out of the body, I know not, God knoweth, that he was caught up into paradise and heard secret words which it is not granted to man to utter. But of the earthly paradise there must be understood what is said in Ecclesiasticus: Henoch pleased God and was translated into paradise, that he might give wisdom to the nations.

3. According to this twofold literal understanding of paradise there is also a twofold spiritual and tropological understanding of it according to morality; namely, that the heavenly paradise be called in the soul the transporting satiety of sublime contemplation, and the earthly the refreshing sweetness of humble devotion. By reason of which two it is said by the Bridegroom to the devout soul in the Canticle of Canticles⁹: A garden enclosed, my sister, my spouse, a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed up. Thy plants are a paradise of pomegranates with the fruits of the orchard. — For the Spirit of truth, who puts nothing superfluous in Scripture, by repeating replicates the same thing twice, in order to declare manifestly that the soul which deserves to be called spouse is designated by the name of the earthly paradise as well as of the heavenly: of the earthly indeed on account of the exuberance of the sapiential¹⁰ irrigations and the verdure of the fruitful sproutings, sweet alike and beautiful; of the heavenly on the other hand by reason of the supershining illuminations and of the supermental and hidden transports¹¹; by reason of which the Apostle first says that he was caught up to the third heaven and then caught up into paradise; because the mind is first raised to gaze upon the clarity of the heavenly lumina, before it is caught up into the transport of a most sweet refreshment.

4. And since the splendid lumina of truth are the forerunners of the transporting solaces of charity, therefore the contemplative mind, adorned with the brightnesses of the heavenly lumina, is designated by that resplendent woman of whom, in the Apocalypse¹², that great contemplative John speaks most significantly. A great sign, he says, appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. This woman, I say, that is, the mind filled with divine charisms and made fruitful with sacred virtues, is said to be clothed with the sun on account of the contemplation

of the most blessed Trinity, which is vigorous, splendid and warm¹, and which snatches into itself and transforms the very soul that contemplates it — by giving vigour to its memory, illumining its intelligence, enkindling its will — and through this clothes and adorns it; so that thus, made wholly like the eternal sun, it may truly be described under the appearance of the sun, Ecclesiasticus attesting, who says: As the sun rising in the world in the highest places of God, so is the beauty of a good wife in the ornament of her house. This woman, I say, is described as having the moon under her feet, for this reason, that she despises and treads underfoot worldly and animal² wisdom as vain and foolish. Which is rightly designated by the moon on account of its mutability and the darkness mixed in it, according to that of Ecclesiasticus: A holy man continueth in wisdom as the sun, but a fool is changed as the moon.

5. And rightly is such a mind signified as adorned with a crown of twelve stars, because, although it be to it supremely delightful and desirable to gaze incessantly with intellectual eyes upon that eternal sun; yet as long as it is joined to corruptible³ flesh, by reason namely of the alternating affections and of the phantasms⁴, it cannot be wholly free of temporal changes. Therefore, just as this visible sun is not always in the same sign of the stars, but in the circle of the year traverses in a circle the twelve starry signs; so it is necessary for such a contemplating soul, lest it withdraw far from the splendours of the eternal light, to be illumined round about by the brightnesses of the whole company of created lumina. These, after the likeness of the twelve stars, are reduced to a duodenary and as it were make up a crown⁵, so that thus, beholding the glory of the Lord with open face and looking upon it as in a glass, it may be transformed from clarity to clarity as by the Spirit of the Lord.

6. And let the first star, as it were, be the clear consideration of bodily natures; the second, of spiritual substances; the third, of intellectual sciences; the fourth, of affectual virtues; the fifth, of laws divinely instituted; the sixth, of graces infused from heaven; the seventh, of irreprehensible judgments; the eighth, of incomprehensible mercies; the ninth, of remunerable⁶ merits; the tenth, of remunerating rewards; the eleventh, of militant orders; the twelfth, of triumphant armies, of Angels as well as of beatified men. And thus made up of so varied a multiformity of lumina, it is wondrously and not undeservedly commended by the daughters of Jerusalem; in whose person the Holy Spirit says in the Canticle of Canticles: Who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in array?

7. But such a resplendent soul must beware⁷ most of all, lest in these circlings of the lumina the darkening opacity of worldly wisdom — through curiosity wandering after the manner of the moon in the zodiac and circling itself in the head or the tail of the dragon⁸, that is, degenerating into the elation of presumption, which is the head of the spiritual dragon, or into the deceit of error, which is its tail — be interposed between the most brilliant rays of the eternal sun and the piercing gaze of the mind's edge. For thus rational intelligence suffers a spiritual eclipse and, after the manner of the prevaricating light-bearer, falls from the heavenly light into infernal darkness, while it falls from eternity into time, from truth into falsehood, from charity into private love, and through this from wisdom into folly; just as happened to those lofty⁹ wise men of whom the Apostle writes to the Romans: Because that, when they knew God, they have not glorified him as God, or given thanks, but became vain in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened; for professing themselves to be wise, they became fools; who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever, God. Amen.

8. But since it is of the present work not to instruct the wise and the prudent, but only to afford them an occasion of thinking¹⁰; and since its intention is especially borne to this, that understanding may be given to little ones, or rather, that affection may be stirred up in them: therefore from the illuminations of heaven one must descend to the little plants of paradise. For just as the sublimity of contemplation, sweetly delighting, renders the soul conformable to the heavenly paradise; so too the humility of devotion, healthfully refreshing, renders it conformable to the earthly. And just as the influences of the heavenly luminaries are the multiform causes of earthly sproutings; so too spiritually there descend in a wondrous manner from the heavenly hierarchy into the subheavenly both the splendours of knowledge and the sweetnesses of delight, not only through the ministry of the Angels, but also through the Word in-

carnate and affixed to the wood of the cross. Which, although as¹ uncreated and consubstantial with the Father it is the fountain of wisdom on high, is nevertheless, as united to flesh and born of the Virgin, the tree of life² for those who truly believe in it, hope in it and love it. And it is the Spirit of truth and of grace who plants it in us and plants us together with it³, according to that of Ecclesiasticus: I as the river Dorix and as an aqueduct came out of paradise; I said: I will water my garden of plants and I will water abundantly the fruit of my meadow. For the Holy Spirit first waters us through grace⁴, and afterwards will water us abundantly through glory. And just as now through the gift of grace he plants us together with it⁵, so through the gift of glory he will transplant us, according to that of the Apostle: If we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.

9. The first therefore and chief plant in the paradise of the human mind is the Word incarnate and crucified, namely Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, who to the thief planted together with himself — inasmuch as he believed in him, confessed him, and was dying together with him on the cross — liberally said: This day thou shalt be with me in paradise⁶. In mystical designation of which, after the word first proposed, there is significantly added: And the Lord God brought forth of the ground all manner of trees, fair to behold and pleasant to eat of: the tree of life also in the midst of paradise, and the tree likewise of knowledge of good and evil. For although the life-giving fruit of this tree of life was set before man principally to be eaten as the restorative of the radical humour⁷; nevertheless for his solace other trees also were brought forth round about the tree of life, so that by the variety of the fruits, of the multiform beauties and savours, man might avoid weariness, which is wont to happen through being turned to one thing only, and might have that delight which arises from variety and renewal in the knowledge of spiritual senses through the experience of multiform objects. In this way too, although Christ Jesus, and him crucified, can suffice for the devout soul according to the twelve fruits which that most blessed tree of life continually bears, as is clear from what precedes; yet to avoid weariness and to give solace to such a soul, God has set forth other matters of meditation⁸ as well, like fruitful trees, by which the devotion of the human mind may be refreshed and by these many things be exercised in manifold ways; so that at last it may rest finally in that one fruit of that tree and happily enjoy it to the full.

10. Therefore, whoever thou art that art a devout mind, if thou art not able, like an angelic and hierarchic man⁹, after the manner of one contemplating, to gaze with unblinking eyes upon the brightnesses of the aforesaid heavenly irradiations; at least, as still animal and a little one, meditate step by step by thinking them over again, chew them by meditating, and by chewing taste the various savours of the fruits proceeding from these trees, which the multiform wisdom of God has planted in thy heart as in a little garden of paradise, so that deservedly that word of the spouse may be applied to thee: A garden enclosed, my sister, my spouse, thy plants are a paradise of pomegranates with the fruits of the orchard.

11. Attend, I say, since the multiform wisdom of God itself, irradiating on every side as it were by twelve distinctions of spiritual illuminations, plants in thee twelve roots of trees, that is, twelve matters of salutary considerations: illumining thee from within by interior spectacles, illumining thee from without by external vestiges, illumining thee from above by heavenly promises, illumining thee from below by eternal torments, illumining thee forwards by direct precepts, illumining thee backwards by strict judgments, illumining thee on the right by kindly solaces, illumining on the left by severe scourges, illumining thee from near at hand by the protections of the citizens, illumining¹⁰ thee from afar by the contests with enemies, illumining in the open by the gifts of graces, illumining in secret by the signs of figures¹¹.

12. If thou think all these over again with faith and treat and ruminate them with devotion, thou wilt truly become a garden of pleasure, continually greening with the germinations of multiform sproutings, planted and watered alike by the very wisdom of God; if¹² with all these the fruit of the tree of life be preferred, and the eating of the knowledge of good and evil be guarded against; that is, the curiosity of knowing together with the ambition of excelling¹³ and the appetite of enjoying, which by the suggestion of the ancient serpent is brought in among the aforesaid speculations through the lower portion

of reason into the higher, as by the woman into the man — let it be more studiously avoided. For if anyone incautious assents to the serpent promising divine knowledge, so that in these things he desire rather to know than to be wise, rather to be reputed than to be refreshed, and rather to glory in pride than to rejoice in fruit; at once there is born a shameful lust, disordering and stripping bare, through which the sentence of death is incurred; and, the beauty of the divine likeness being lost, the prevaricating soul, made bestial, as unworthy to be refreshed by the saving fruit of the tree of life, is driven out from the delights of paradise¹.

13. Nor let it seem absurd to anyone that we said above that the consideration of infernal torments and of the battles with enemies was to be placed among the trees of paradise; as though someone were bringing hell or the infernal citizens within² the bounds of paradise. For although the state of paradise in no way admits the evil of fault or of punishment, neither in heaven nor on earth; nevertheless the considerations of them confer not a little, on wayfarers as well as on the Blessed, towards tasting the sweetness of ineffable mercies and the pleasantness of inscrutable judgments. For the judgments of the Lord are true, justified in themselves, more to be desired than gold and many precious stones, and sweeter than honey and the honeycomb. And what is there that makes devout souls savour Christ Jesus, and him crucified, more than that through him they believe themselves freed, and perceive themselves freed, from the tyranny of monstrous enemies and from the eternity of infernal punishments? According to which the Prophet sings³: I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify thy name for ever; for thy mercy is great towards me, and thou hast delivered my soul out of the lower hell.

14. Of these twelve considerations, therefore, disposed by certain antitheses or contrapositions, six are principal, by which namely the soul is turned to the interior, the higher, the forward, the right, the near and likewise the open, so that it may first know itself; then the glory for which it was made; third⁴ the way by which it may come to that glory; fourth the solaces by which it is cherished; fifth the protections by which it is defended; sixth the charisms by which it is adorned. — Among which we set first of all the consideration of one's own self; for the intellectual eye⁵ is by nature first fitted to look upon itself. Which the Bridegroom intimates in the Canticle, when he rebukes the soul that wishes to contemplate sublime things and turns back its consideration upon itself. For when to the soul asking with desire: Shew me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou liest in the midday, he answers with a rebuke: If thou know not thyself, O fairest among women, go forth and follow after the steps of the flocks and feed thy kids beside the tents of the shepherds; as though he should say: if thou wouldst know me, begin first from thyself, who wast made to the image and likeness of the Trinity⁶. And thus from the consideration of itself it is raised to divine things, and through the promised rewards it is led to the precepts, from which, lest it turn aside, there are shown to it the solaces, protections and gifts to be inspired into it from heaven.

15. But because the mind, frequently hindered by phantasms⁷, is not able to fix its mental eyes upon these things continually at will; therefore six other considerations are set forth over against them, so that he who cannot dwell within may betake himself to things without; and he who is not able to climb to things above may descend to things below; and he who does not prevail to be stretched out to things before may dread the things behind; and he to whom divine solaces have no savour may at least fear the scourges; and he who does not attend to the protections of the citizens may weigh the assaults of the enemies; and he who, as animal, cannot gaze upon spiritual charisms may at least look upon their sensible signs as sacraments set outwardly before him⁸. And thus let there be made the alternations of morning and evening luminaries in the hemisphere of our mind⁹, so that, just as God in six days founded and adorned this sensible world, so he may illumine and adorn the rational spirit by six alternations of illuminations; that after the sixth day it may be placed in paradise, in which, resting and sleeping through contemplation, it may be led through to the secret of the spiritual marriage, where there are truly hidden, as treasures of wisdom and knowledge, the multiform and spiritual abundances and the inestimable delights of paradise¹⁰.

16. Further, that it may rest more securely in the inmost parts of Christ Jesus crucified, the aforesaid twelve illuminations¹¹ are set forth not only as overshadowing trees, but also as armour defending and fortifying the little bed of the peaceable Solomon. For if

the aforesaid twelve illuminations be led through the five spiritual senses, they come to the number of sixty¹. With which number indeed the chamber of the contemplating soul must be girt about with strong men² — the soul which, after finding the bridegroom, now rests with him in her inmost parts, according to that of the Canticle: I have found him whom my soul loveth; I held him and I will not let him go, till I bring him into my mother's house and into the chamber of her that bore me. I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes and the harts of the fields, that you stir not up nor awake my beloved till she please. And since sweetness accompanies tranquillity³, therefore there is added: Who is she that goeth up by the desert as a pillar of smoke of aromatical spices, of myrrh and frankincense and of all the powders of the perfumer? Moreover, because a firm security of keeping ought to accompany this tranquillity of mind and sweetness of joy, therefore there follows: Behold, threescore valiant ones of the most valiant of Israel surround the bed of Solomon, all holding swords and most expert in war.

Casting off therefore the works of darkness, let us put on the armour of light, that we may walk honestly as in the day⁴ and may in the nights of inward quietudes rest⁵ sweetly and securely. Amen.

EXPLICIUNT SERMONES SELECTI.