over it. For it is written, Tlty judgments are a great deep. Ps.36,6. Let no one then seek to investigate, why, when one is rejected, another is chosen, or, why, when one is chosen, another is rejected, because the surface of the deep is congealed, and as Paul witnesses, His judgments are inscrutablefUom.il, and His ways unsearchable.
58. But by that which is said, (ver. 29.) Out of whose womb Myst. came the ice, and the frost from heaven,who hath gendered it? nothing prevents Satan being understood by the frost and ice. For he came forth as if ice from the womb of God, because the teacher of iniquity came forth, frozen with the torpor of sin, from the warmth of His mysteries. He was gendered as frost from heaven, because he was suffered to fall from the highest to the lowest condition, and to go and bind the hearts of the reprobate. And having been fashioned rightly in heaven, when he fell, he bound as frost the hearts of his followers, in the coldness of sin. And what he did amongst men, on coming to the earth, is fully stated, when it is added. The waters are hardened after tlie likeness of a stone. For by ' waters' peoples are designated, but by a * stone' the hardness of this very Satan. The waters therefore were hardened after the likeness of a stone, when he came on earth, because men, imitating his wickedness, lost the soft bowels of charity. And because his crafty designs cannot be detected by men who have been led astray, it is rightly subjoined; And the surface of the deep is congealed. For one thing lies concealed within him, and another he presents without. For he transforms himself as an angel of 344 Comer is, yroiviiKj proud, (jo Jorth U6 ice.
JoB38,li^ht, and with his cunning art of (lccej)tion frequently prp--^^- poses laudable objects, in order to lead on to unlawful. The surface of the (le(q) is therefore congealed; for while the fair appearance of his persuasion appears, as it were, hke solid ice on the surface, his wickedness, lurking in the dejith, is not observed. Mob. 59. But we can understand all these in another sense also, if we enquire into them, in their moral meaning. For whilst Ahnighty God fashions the niinds of men in His fear, lie conceives them, as it were, and brings them forth to open virtues, when He advances them onwards. But il they are elated by the virtues they have received, He abandons them. And we often know persons to be smitten by consideration of their sins, to glow with fear of the Divine dread, and, commencing in fear, attain to the highest virtues. But when they are elated by these virtues which they receive, being bound with the snare of vain glory, they return to their former torpqr. When God therefore casts off such persons.
He rightly says, Out of whose womb came the ice? For the ice comes forth, as it were, from the womb of God, when those who had before been warm within, become cold, by reason of the gift of virtue, and, being torpid, seek after outward glory, for the very reason by which they ought to glow with greater warmth to love things within. And whilst one man is powerful in signs, another in knowledge, another in prophecy, and another in mighty works, and seeks by these gifts to -please men, he turns all his former inward warmth into torpidity, from loving outward praises. He comes forth therefore as ice from the womb, when, after the favours of gifts, he is separated from the bowels of heavenly compassion. Are not they ' ice,' who in the virtues they receive seek praise from men? And yet they say to the Judge on His Matt. 7, coming, when recalling His own gifts to His mind; Lord^ ^^' Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name have done many mighty works? But He shews how the Lord casts out ib. 23. this ice, saying, / know you not whence ye are. Depart from Me, all ye workers of iniquity. The Lord now bears this ice in His womb, because He tolerates it within the bosom of the Church. But He then openly casts it out, I Men\s growing cold of God hg just permission. 345 ivhen He banislies such from tlic secret abodes of heaven by Book XXIX, the last and ])ublic judgment. What is then the plain object ^ — — ^ of these words, except that Job should be brought down from his lofty virlu(;s, that he should not, in consequence of his former warmth in good living, grow cold through pride, and be repelled and go forth from th j womb of the Godhead, by being swollen up within the bosom of his own heart?
60. And because by a righteous judgment He pennits haughty minds to go forth to commit sin, from the virtue they have received, it is rightly added, still farther; And the frost from hiaven, uho hath gendered it? For He frequently vouchsafes the knowledge of Holy Scripture, but when he who receives it is elated by this knowledge, he is, by the anger of the strict Judge, so blinded in the Scripture itself, that he no longer sees its inward meaning, from seeking thereby for outward applause; and that, though he could be warm by reuiaining within, he goes forth and becomes frozen, and that he who before, when easily led to the knowledge of God, remained unfrozen at the top, becomes hardened, and sinks to the bottom. Is not Holy Scripture ' heaven,' which opening to us the day of understandmg, illuminates us with the Sun of righteousness, and which, while the night of the present life surrounds us, shines for us with the stars of the commandments. But since there must be heresies, that ihey which are approved may be made i Cor. manifest, when the proud mind is kept back from a sound ' ' understanding of Scripture, frost is generated from heaven by the judgment of the strict Judge; in order that, when Holy Scripture itself glows in the hearts of the Elect, it may cast forth from itself in a frozen condition, those who proudly seek to know it. For they err in the very point, in which thev should have corrected their faults; and while they fall away from the heavenly understanding of the resplendent Word, both hardened themselves, and about to deceive others, they sink to the bottom, as ice, and bind others also. But yet the Lord says that He Himself genders this frost, not because He Himself fashions the minds of the wicked to sin, but because He does not liberate them from sin. As it is written; I ivill harden the heart of Pharaoh. For because Exod.
340 Falsa sur/dcc. Jtalu and Ice. la a (jood acuHC.
Job 38, ij(j lef'uscd lo softer) il in His mercy, He plainly announced -]y£yY that lie had hardened it in I lis severity.
()]. ]5ut, because the image of virtue is retained for the sake of human ])raise, when the virtue of Divine fear, which has begun, is itself lost, it is rightly subjoined; The watera are hardened after the likeness nf a stone, and the surface of the deep is congealed. For waters are hardened by ice at the surface, but remain fluid underneath. And what do we understand by waters but the unstable hearts of the reprobate.^ For when they are deliberately forsaking virtue, they shew themselves forth, in their hypocrisy, as resolute in good works, and whilst they are inwardly gliding down into sins, they outwardly feign themselves imitators of the holy and resolute. The waters are hardened after the likeness of a stone, and the surface of the abyss is hound together, because their weak and unstable conscience is concealed from men, by a superinduced appearance of sanctity. For when they are inwardly foul in their own sight, they are arrayed before the eyes of others with a kind of comeliness of living.
62. But, lest any one should wish these words of the Lord to be understood in a good sense, we ought to add it, for 1 per- those also who thus look for it, provided we are not* con-P^'f°sidered to have neelected points which needed to be exnot.' amined. For it is said in the former verse, Who is the rnodo) f<^ther of rain ^ or who hatli begotten the drops of dew? And it is immediately added. Out of whose womb came the ice? and the frost from heaven who hath gendered it? If therefore the following sentence is connected with the preceding words with a similar sense, its meaning is clearly laid open without any obstacle of difficulty even in a good sense. For when the earth is watered by rain, the seeds which have been cast in are pressed down more productively. But again, if the rain waters it too immoderately, it changes the richness and virtue of the corn in the stalk. But if the seed which has been thrown in, is after rain checked by the frost, the more it is kept from appearing too quickly above ground, the more productively does it root itself beneath: and the more it is forbidden to grow, the more it is compelled to multiply: because, when it is kept from too early a growth.
God checks His grofchtg corn ullh who! eso)}ie frost. 347 being expaudecl by the slowness of its conception, it is filled Book more abundantly for fruit. Wliat is meant then by the Lord ^~- ' first speaking of Himself as the father of the rain, but afterwards saying that the ice comes forth from His womb, and declaring that He genders the frost from heaven? Except tiiat He first waters in a wondrous manner the soil of our hearts for the reception of the seeds of the word, by the secret rain of His grace, and that Ho afterwards keeps it down by the discipline of His secret dispensation, lest it should bring forth too luxuriantly with the virtues it has conceived, in order that the rigor of discipline may likewise bind that which the rain of grace received irrigates, lest it turn its fruit into grass, if it produce its virtues, either before it ought, or more than is necessary. For, frequently, when a good work is displayed before it ought by beginners, it is emptied of the grain of perfection, and while virtues are more exuberant than is necessary, they frequently dry up. Whence the Lord either refuses the desires even of His Elect, before the fit time, or again restrains at the fit time their unlimited progress, lest, if they advance either sooner, or farther, than they ought, they should fall into the defect of pride by the greatness of their proficiency. For when the heart is pricked with compunction after sin, the earth, which had been dry, is watered by the pouring of rain upon it; and when it proposes to abandon its iniquities and to follow after good works, it receives, as it were, seed after the rain. And many persons, when they conceive holy desires, are burning to exercise themselves at once in the sublimest virtues, so that sin may not only not infect their doings, but may not even assail their thoughts. They are still indeed living in the body, but they wish to suffer no further from their connexion with the present life. They seek to aim at inward stability of mind in their intention, but are driven back by interrupting temptations, in order, namely, that they may remember their own infirmity, and may not be elated at the virtues which they receive. And when this is effected by the wonderful constraint of discipline, what else but frost is gendered from heaven over the watered earth? What but ice is produced from the womb of God, when the dispcnsa- 348 Frost of dijjicaiiy and advcrsUy U8ffful.
Job38, tion comes forth IVoni its secret place within, and our wills ~MoRr are restrained even in their ^ood desires?
08. Let us see with what ice of" discipline Paul (that is, the Rom. 7, watered earth) is weighed down, when he says, To irnll is present with me, but to perform what is fjood I find not. For he who asserts that he has the will, makes known what seeds are even now concealed within him by the pouring of grace upon him. But whilst he finds not to do good, he certainly points out how much ice of the heavenly dispensation weighs on him. Had not this ice pressed their hearts, Oal. 5, to whom he was saying, So that ye cannot do the thirifjs that ye woidd? As if he were plainly saying, The secret seeds of your heart are now seeking to break forth into fruit, but they are kept down by the ice of the heavenly dispensation, in order that they may afterwards shoot forth more productively, the more patiently they bear the weight of the Divine judgment pressing on them.
64. And because the hearts of men, since they are unable to break out into those virtues which they desire, are frequently harassed with the stings of temptation, so far as they shrink back from carrying out their intention, but yet repress these same temptations of their thoughts, and fashion themselves, by the habit of discipline in a kind of strictness of living, it is well subjoined; The loaters are hardened after the likeness of a stone. Because, though unstable thoughts harass within, yet they do not at all lead to consent in wicked doings. But the mind conceals, under an habitual custom of good living, as if under a kind of exterior hardness, whatever is softened within by the assault of temptation. Whence it is well subjoined; And the surface of the deep is congealed. Because, even if an evil thought conies as far as to suggestion, it does not break out into consent, because the superinduced rigour of holy discipline suppresses the fluctuating motions of the mind.
Qb. But by ' frost' or ' ice' can also be designated the adversity of this present life, which while it keeps down the holy by its asperity, makes them stronger. For while Almighty God permits us to be exercised with annoyances, and carries us on to the condition of a better life bv the Good men frozen over with cautious self-restraint. 349 intervention of son'ow, He crenders with wonderful wisdom Book...XXIX. the frost and ice over the coming fruit; in order that each '- of the Elect may endure in this present life, as if in winter, the adversities of winds and frosts, and may exhibit afterwards, as in the serenity of summer, the fruits which he has here conceived. Whence it is said by the voice of the Bridegroom to every soul which is hastening after the whirlwind of this life to those joys of eternity, Arise, hasten, My^'^^-beloved, My fair one, and come. For the winter has already \o^ n.' jiassed, the shower has departed and gone. But because we are relaxed, if prosperity alone attends us, but are the better strengthened for virtues by means of adversities, it is rightly subjoined, Hie waters are hardened after the likeness of a stone. For minds, which had softly melted away through prosperities, become firm when hard pressed by adversities. And water is brought to the likeness of a stone, whenever any one who is weak imitates the sufferings of his Redeemer by endurance received from above. For water had, in truth, hardened after the fashion of stone, when Paul, that former impatient persecutor, was saying, I Jill up those things ^^^-^^ wJncJi are tvanting of the sufferings of Christ in my flesh.
QQ. And because persons, when depressed by adversities, guard more carefully their inward gifts, it is rightly added; And the surface of the deep is congealed. For joy is wont to lay open the secrets of the mind, and, by laying open, to lose them. But when adversities depress us outwardly, they make us more careful within. After frost then or ice, the surface of the deep is congealed, because our mind is strengthened by adversities, to preserve those dee]) gifts which it has received. For Isaiah had congealed the surface of his abyss, when he was saying; My secret to myself, my Is. 24, secret to myself. Paul had congealed the surface of his ' marer.
abyss, who labouring under so many dangers and adversities, under cover of some one else, speaks of himself, saying; / hare heard secret words, which it is not lawful for a man'^ Cor. to utler. And again. But I forbear, lest any man s]iould\\^'Q[ think of me above that which he seeth in me, or heareth any tiling of me. What then had he done, who, when enduring adversity without, was afraid to open the secrets of ^ -s lieart, lest he should perchance vent himself in praises; I 350 Pleiades and Arctiiriis. The Sevenfold Spirit, Jon 38, what, but covered tljc abyss of his inward secrets by a coji- Vcr. 3 ). Will thou be ahle to Join tor/ether the shininr/ stays, the Pleiades, or wilt thou be able to break up the circuit of Arc turns?
xxxi. 07. The stars Pleiades, are so called from TrArVrrroj, that is, ^''^* from plurality. But they were made so near to each other, and yet so distinct, that they can be near together, and yet cannot possibly be united, since they are united in nearness, but disunited as to contact. But Arcturus so illuminates the seasons of night, as placed in tlje axis of heaven, to turn itself in divers ways, and yet never to set. For it does not revolve out of its orbit, but placed in its own position, it inclines to all quarters of the world, though it will never set. What then is it, that man, who was formed from the earth, and placed upon the earth, is questioned as to the government of heaven, that he cannot join together the Pleiades, which he sees were made close to each other and almost united, and that he cannot break up the circuit of Arcturus, though he can behold it almost dissipated by its own rapidity of motion? Is it not, that considering in those His servants, the power of their Creator, he should remember his own weakness, and consider how beyond our comprehension is He, in the very government of His heavenly ministers. Whom he cannot as yet behold in His own majesty?
Myst. 68. But why do we say these things, who are urged by the stimulus of reason, to learn the sense of these words pregnant with mystical meaning? For what else do the shining Pleiades, which are also seven in number, indicate, but all the Saints, who amid the darkness of this present life, illumine us with the light of the Spirit of sevenfold grace, who, from the first beginning of the world, even to its end, sent at divers times to prophesy, are in some degree united, and in some degree separate from each other? For the stars the Pleiades, as was before said, are united to each other in their contiguity, and disunited as to contact. They are situated indeed together, and yet pour forth separately the rays of their light. In like manner all the Saints appearing at different times for the purpose of preaching, are both Saittts united, yet distinct. 351 disunited in our sijjjht of their person, and united in their nooK . XXIX intention of mind. They sliine together, because they preach ^, — — * One; but they toucli not each other, because they are divided by dift'erent times.
69. At what difierent times did Abel, Isaiah, and John appear! They were separated indeed in time, but not in the subject of tlieir preaching. For Abel ottered up a lamb in sacrifice, typifying the passion of our Redeemer; of Whose passion Isaiah says; As a lamb before its shearer Ho ivill ^^is.53,7. dumb, and ivill not open His nioutJi. Of whom John also says; Behold the Lamb of God; behold, Who takeih away John i^ the sins of the ivorld. Behold they were sent at different ' times indeed, and yet agreeing in their thought of the innoceucy of our Redeemer, they spake of the same Lamb, John by pointing to Him, Isaiah by foreseeing, and Abel by offering; and Him, Whom John set forth by pointing to Him, and Isaiah set forth in his words, Abel held, in significalion, in his hands.
70. Because then we have said how the Pleiades accord together concerning the Humanity of our Redeemer, let us now point out how they shine in concord in setting forth the Unity of the Trinity. For David, Isaiah, and Paul appeared at different periods of the world. But yet none of them thought differently fiHDm another; because, though they knew not each other in face, yet they had learned one and the same thing by Divine knowledge. For David, in order to set forth God in Trinity as the Creator of all things, said, Let God bless us, our God, let God bless us. And for fear Ps. 67; he should be considered to have spoken of three Gods, from * * his mentioning God three times, he immediately added, teaching thereby the Unity of the same Trinity; And let all the ends of the earth fear Him, For by adding not ' them,' but ' Him,' He intimated that the Three whom He had named were One. When Isaiah also was uttering praises of the Unity of the Trinity, he says, in describing the words of the Seraphim, Holy, Holy, Holy. But lest he should seemis. 6, 3. by mentioning * Holy' thrice, to sever the unity of the Divine Substance, he added, Loi'd God of hosts. Because then he added not ^ Lords,' ' Gods,' but ' Lord God,' he pointed out that that Being, Whom he had thrice called Holy, existed as 352 Divers fur tns of sdnctltf/. Arcturu.^, the Church.
Jon 38, One. Paul also, to sel forth llic operation of the Holy j^- ' Trinity, says; Of Ilun, and thr<ni(j1t Him, and in Ilim (ire llom.w, all Ihinns. And in order to leaeh the Unity of this same Trinity, he innnediately added; 7o Ilim he glory for ever and ever. Amen. By adding then not * to them,' but to IJim, he made Him known as One in nature, Three in Persons, Whom he had thrice addressed by the same word. The Pleiades therefore are both situated as it were in one place, because they think alike concerning God; and yet they touch not each other, because, as has been said, they are distributed through different periods of this world.
71. Which the Prophet Ezekiel well and briefly describes, who, when saying that he had beheld living creatures of Ez. 1,9. different kinds, added; Tlieir ivings were joined one to anotJier. For the wings of living creatures are joined one to another; because though the things which they do are different, yet the voices and the virtues of the Saints are united together in one and the same sense. And though one may be a man, from doing all things rationally, another, who is bold in suffering, may be a lion, from not feai'ing the adversities of the world; another, from offering himself through abstinence as a living victim, may be a calf; another, from soaring on high on the wing of contemplation, may be an eagle; yet do they touch each other with their wings, whilst they fly, because they are united to each other by the confession of their words, and the accordance of their virtues. But because it belongs to the power of God alone both to join together in the preaching of the faith those who were sent at different times, and to unite in brightness of intention those that were endued with dissimilar virtues, it is rightly said; Wilt thou be able to join together the shining stars., the Pleiades'^ As if He said. As I, Who alone fill all things, and Who by filling the minds of the Elect join them in a sense of unity.
72. But by Arcturus, which illumines the night season in its orbit, and never sets, is designated, not the doings of the Saints separately manifested, but the whole Church together, which suffers indeed weariness, but yet does not incline to fall from its own proper position, which endures a circle of toils, but hastens not to set together with time. For Arc- Three stars and four^ above by lunts, Faith and Works. 353 turns comes not with the niglit season to tlie lowest part of Book the heavens, but even wliile it is revolving itself, night is ^^^^r brought to a close. Because doubtless, while Holy Church is shaken with numberless tribulations, the shade of the present life comes to an end; and the rfight passes by, as it continues stationary, because while the Church remains in her own original condition, the lift) of this mortal state passes away. There is in Arcturus a point for us to observe more carefully. For it revolves with seven stars, and at one time raises three to the highest point, and depresses four to the lowest; at one time raises four on high, and depresses three below. Ploly Church also, when she preaches at one time to unbelievers the knowledge of the Trinity, and at another the four virtues, that is, prudence, fortitude, temperance, justice, to believers, changes, as it were, by a kind of rotation in its preaching, the appearance of its position. For when she strips of confidence in their own doings those who boast of their own works, and exalts faith in the Trinity, what else does Arcturus, but elevate three stars, and depress four? And when she forbids some, who have no good works, to presume on their faith, and orders them to work out more earnestly the things which are commanded, what else does Arcturus do, but raise up four stars, and bring down three?
Let us see how it elevates three, and depresses four. Behold it is said by Paul to those who were priding themselves on their works in opposition to faith; If Abraham were justified Rom. 4, by works he hath glory, but not before God. For what saitJi the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Let us see how it elevates four and depresses three. Behold it is said by James to those that were boasiinsr of faith in oi^position to works; As theJ^mes body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is ' dead also, Arcturus therefore revolves, because Holy Church turns herself on different sides with skill in preaching, according to the minds of her hearers. Arcturus revolves, because she is whirled round in the tribulations of this night. But the Lord breaks up at last this circuit of Arcturus, because He turns the labours of the Church into rest. Then does He also more entirely join the Pleiades, when He destroys the orbit of Arcturus, because all the Saints are then doubtless joined to each other even in outward appearance, VOL. HI. A a 354 North risuxj stars the Law, Eastern the Gospel. Job38, wlion Holy Cliuicli at llie cud of lljis world is released from Myst those labours which she now endures. Let Ilirn say then; IVllt thou be able to join lofjether the shining stars the Pleiades, or wilt thou be able to break up the circuit of Arcturus? Thou understandcst As 1, Myself, Who tlicn unite the life of the Saints even in outward ai)])earance, when 1 bodily dissolve the circuit of the Church Universal. And what man is ignorant that this is the act of Divine power alone? But let man, in order that he may know what he. is himself, be constantly reminded what it is that God alone can effect. 73. We have still some other meaning to give of the stars the Pleiades, and Arcturus. For the Pleiades rise from the East, but Arcturus on the side of the North. But wherever Arcturus turns itself in its circle, it presents to view the Pleiades; and when the light of the day is now approaching, the order of its stars is extended. By Arcturus, then, which rises in the quarter of the cold, can be designated the Law; but by the Pleiades, which rise from the East, the grace ol the New Testament. For the Law had, as it were, come from the North, which used to alarm those subject to it with such asperity of rigor. For while it was ordering some to be stoned for their faults, others to be punished by the death of the sword, it was, like a frozen region, far removed, as it were, from the light of charity, rather nipping the seeds of its precepts with cold, than nourishing them with warmth, Peter had shuddered at the weight of this oppression, when Acts 15, saying; WJty tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck oj the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able tc hear? Nor is it any wonder that the Old Testament is sel forth by the seven stars of xA.rcturus, because both the seventh day was held in veneration under the Law, and the vows of the appointed sacrifice were extended through the whole week. But the Pleiades, which themselves are also seven, as we have before said, point out the more plainly the grace of the New Testament, the more clearly we all see, that by it the Holy Spirit enlightens His faithful ones with the light of the sevenfold gift. Wherever therefore Arcturus turns, it presents the Pleiades to view", because by every thing the Old Testament says, the works of the New Testament are announced. For under the text of the letter it conceals the mystery of prophecy. And Arcturus The seven Gijls joined in C/irisf, the Law relaxed. 355 inclines itself, as it were, and points them out, because while Book it bends itself to the spiritual sense, the light of sevenfold ' grace, which is signified thereby, is laid open. And as the light of day approaches, the order of its stars is extended, because after the Truth became known to us by Itself, It released the precepts of the letter from carnal observance.
74. But our Redeemer, coming in the flesh, joined together the Pleiades; because lie possessed the operations of the sevenfold Spirit all at once, and abiding in Himself. Of Whom it is said by Isaiah: Tliere shall come forth a rod out ^^- ^^» of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall grow up from his roof, and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understandinff, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge, aiid of godliness, and the Spirit of the fear of the Lord shall fill Him. Of Whom Zechariah says; Upon one stone are seven eyes. And again, Zech. 3, And on the golden candlestick seveti lamps. But no man ever i^^ 4 2.
possessed all the operations of the Holy Spirit at once, except the sole Mediator between God and man. Whose 1 Tim.
is the same Spirit, W^ho proceedeth from the Father^ before i 'see all ages. It is well said, therefore. Upon one stone are^,^^^^\ seven eyes. For, for this Stone to have seven eyes, is to of the possess at once in operation every virtue of the Spirit of 3^^ sevenfold grace. For one receives prophecy, another knowledge, another virtues, another kinds of tongues, another the interpretation of tongues, according to the distribution of the Holy vSpirit. But no one attains to the possession of all the gifts of the same Spirit. But our Creator, in taking our weakness, because He taught us that by the power of His Godhead He possessed all the virtues of the Holy Spirit at once, doubtless joined together the shining Pleiades. But whilst He joins the Pleiades, He breaks up the circuit of Arcturus. Because, when He made it known that He, having become Man, possessed all the operations of the Holy Spirit, He loosened in the Old Testament the burden of the letter, that each of the faithful may now understand that in the liberty of the Spirit, which he used, amid so many dangers, to serve with fear. Let blessed Job therefore hear; Wilt thou be able to Join together the shining stars the Pleiades? As if it were openly said. Thou canst indeed possess the light of certain virtues, but art thou able to exercise at once all the operations of the Holy Spirit? Behold Me, therefore, uniting 3.5(> AnIichrisI f/ieir shir lluil rcfus(* tlie Morning Star. J(ji{38,i])c Pluiades in all Nirtiics, and bo kt'|)t from boasting lliyself Myst.
-— of'a few only. Hear w hal is said, Or uilt f/toii be able to break tlie circuit of Arcturus^ As if it were openly said to liim; Even if thou tliysclf now understandest what is riglit, canst thou do away by thy power, even in the hearts of others, the labour of grosser understanding? Consider Me therefore, who correcl the follies of the carnal, whilst I manifest myself in the foolishness of ihe flesh, that thou mayest the more bring down these, vvliich thou countest the mightinesses of thy virtues, the more thou canst not apprehend even the footsteps of My weakness. But, because, in the very mystery of the Lord's Incarnation, the light of truth is manifested to some, but the hearts of others are darkened by an offence; it is lightly subjoined;