source_edition: Migne, Patrologia Latina, vol. 196, coll. 523B–528A

source_text:
## Quomodo Christus ponitur in signum populorum

[0523B] *Radix Jesse qui stat in signum populorum [n: (Isa. XI)]*. Quis sit iste qui stat in signum populorum, quem gentes deprecabuntur, cujus jam quidem sepulcrum est gloriosum, nemo vestrum ignorat. Quis enim alius est cujus sepulcrum est gloriosum, nisi quem oportuit pati et resurgere a mortuis, et ita intrare in gloriam suam [n: (Luc. XXIV)], ut in hunc modum fieret sepulcrum ejus gloriosum? Quia mortuus mortis auctorem spoliavit, quod mors ejus mortem superavit, quod resurgens ex mortuis jam non moritur, mors illi ultra non dominabitur [n: (Rom. VI)], fecit sepulcrum ejus gloriosum. Tanta enim gloria sepulti sepulcrum ejus gloriosum reddidit, vel quis alius est quem gentes deprecantur, nisi ille de quo scriptum est: *Et adorabunt cum omnes reges, [0523C] omnes gentes servient ei [n: (Psal. LXXI)]*. Qui habet scriptum in vestimento et in femore: Rex regum et Dominus dominantium! [n: (Apoc. XVI.)] Et juste quidem ei omnes gentes deserviunt vel deprecantur, cui data est omnis potestas in coelo et in terra [n: (Matth. XXVIII)], in tantum ut merito ei flectatur omne genu coelestium, terrestrium et infernorum [n: (Philip. II)]. Et quem alium dicimus stare in signum populorum, nisi qui positus est in ruinam et in resurrectionem multorum, et in signum cui contradicetur? [n: (Luc. II.)] De hoc signo iterum scribitur:

*Levabit signum in nationes, et congregabit profugos Israel, et dispersos Juda colliget, ex quatuor plagis terrae [n: (Isa. XI)]*. Modum levationis audis, cum legis: *Sicut Moyses exaltavit serpentem in deserto, [0523D] sic oportet exaltari Filium hominis [n: (Joan. III)]*. Audis modum; attende et fructum. Levatur serpens in altum qui daret aspicientibus remedium. Levatur serpens aeneus qui venenum non haberet, sed destrueret; qui venenum non inferret, sed auferret. Tali profecto signo primi parentes nostri, tali profecto omnes eorum posteri signo opus habebant, ut esset ad quod per devotionem aspicerent, et sententiam mortis evaderent quam ex veneno serpentinae sibilationis ab antiquo contraxerant, et quotidie contrahere non cessant. Utinam Judaei, utinam Judaizantes nostri attendant et intelligant, retractent et recogitent hoc signum quale, quam sublime, quam insigne oporteat esse, si in hoc positum est ut possit profugos Israel, et dispersos [0524B] Juda a quatuor plagis terrae colligere! Vere oportet esse sublime, ut possit omnium aspectibus patere, alioquin nec scire poterunt quo debeant currere. Vere oportet esse insigne, et omnino mirabile, quo possit cujusdam quasi miraculi novitate omnium aspectus in seipsum convertere, et omnium undique concursus in sui admirationem attrahere. Nunquid forte levabitur hoc signum in montem magnum et altum, ut sic pateat aspectibus omnium? Sed ubi, quaeso, poterit ejus magnitudinis mons inveniri qui possit ab omnibus, et ab omni parte terrarum videri? An forte mons domus Domini in hoc ipsum elevabitur supra verticem montium? Sed si sic est, oportet ut mons iste quisquis est tangat, imo transcendat altitudinem nubium. [0524C] Si omnino sic est, merito quaerit Propheta, et dicit: *Quis ascendet in montem Domini, aut quis stabit in loco sancto ejus? [n: (Psal. XXIII.)]* Sed si hoc de quo loquimur signum elevetur usque in coelum, nunquid vel sic poterit patere aspectibus omnium, nisi fuerit praecipua quadam mirandae claritatis novitate perspicuum? Audeo et dico, nisi hoc signum sit solis hujus luce insignius, praecelsius atque praeclarius, nulla ratione videbitur posse concursus omnium, ut dictum est, in sui admirationem provocare. Nunquid ergo faciet Dominus novum super terram? Nunquid solem novum qui possit illuminare omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum, ita ut veraciter dicere possit ille qui stat in signum populorum: [0524D] *Ego sum lux mundi? [n: (Joan VIII.)]* Vide ne forte haec lux sit lux illa quam designare voluit qui dixit: *Habitantibus in regione umbrae mortis lux orta est eis [n: (Isa. IX)]*. Bona lux, et vere desiderabilis, si veraciter expellit, non dicam tenebras noctis, non dicam umbram caliginis, sed umbram mortis. Certe lux ista visibilis claritatis hujus solis nihil tale facere solet, nil simile facere valet. Vere necessarium erat eis qui in tenebris et in umbra mortis sedebant tale signum accipere; vere fuit dignum Patrem misericordiarum tale signum dare quod etiam umbram mortis de finibus nostris paulatim exterminaret, ita ut nullum tandem aliquando mortis vestigium apud nos remaneret, in tantum ut ille qui stat in signum populorum veraciter dicere posset: [0525A] *O mors, ero mors tua! [n: (Ose. XIII.)]* Sed quae, quaeso, erit lux ista quae tenebras mortis expellere possit, nisi illa quam Propheta describit, cum dicit: *Exortum est in tenebris lumen rectis: misericors, et miserator, et justus [n: (Psal. CXI)]*. De ortu hujus luminis alio loco legis: *Veritas de terra orta est [n: (Psal. LXXXIV)]*. De terra sane nostrae humanitatis, de illius propagatione cui dictum est: *Terra es et in terram ibis [n: (Gen. III)]*, nascitur lumen rectis, verbum et sapientia Patris. Nascitur, inquam, veritas de terra Christus Dei virtus, Christus Dei sapientia, etc., sapientia de carne humana. Deus Dei Filius de Virgine Maria, ut fieret nobis Emmanuel, et esset nobiscum Deus: *Ecce,* inquit, *virgo concipiet, et pariet filium, et vocabitur nomen ejus Emmanuel [n: (Isa. VII)]*, hoc est [0525B] illud signum quod Dominus promisit et exhibuit. O signum singulare, o signum desiderabile, et ad quod digne debeant omnes pari voto concurrere, signum sane mirabile, et quale decuit Dominum majestatis dare! *Propter hoc,* inquit, *dabit Dominus ipse vobis signum [n: (ibid.)]*: hoc utique est signum, hoc absque ulla contradictione quod veraciter possit veros Israelitas a quatuor plagis terrae colligere et veros Dei filios qui dispersi erant in unum congregare. Ad hoc sane signum datur, et ad hoc sane signum hoc elevatur, prius in patibulum, postmodum in coelum, prius in patibulum crucis, postea ad dexteram Patris, et hujus rei testis fidelis: *Ecce,* inquit, *video coelos apertos, et Jesum stantem [0525C] a dextris virtutis Dei [n: (Act. VII)]*. Ecce ubi usque hodie Emmanuel noster, radix Jesse, erectus est in signum, et stat in signum populorum. Sed quale, inquiunt, signum, vel cujus rei signum? Audi, Judaee, hoc ne tibi videtur signum satis grande, satisque mirabile, quod virgo concipiet, virgo pariet, et talem filium qui sit nobiscum Deus, et quid hoc signo mirabilius? Sed cujus rei, inquis? Certe magnae illius promissionis quam propheta paulo superius mystice designabat, cum de ea quae in medio terrae derelicta erat prophetando dicebat: *Semen sanctum erit id quod steterit in ea [n: (Isa VI)]*. Vere magnae, vere mirandae rei signum esse debuit et potuit semen quod virgo concepit, quod virgo peperit. Merito signum sanctitatis fuit semen quod [0525D] virginis sanctitatem non abstulit, sed auxit, quod matris integritatem non minuit, sed sacravit: *Semen,* inquit, *sanctum erit quod steterit in ea.* Hujus sane futurae sanctitatis modum exprimit nobis qui stat in signum populorum: *In resurrectione,* inquit, *non nubent neque nubentur, sed erunt sicut angeli Dei [n: (Matth. XXII)]*. Si ergo futuri sunt angelicae sanctitatis, cur non et angelicae felicitatis? Sed quomodo sicut angeli in coelo, si similes in uno, dissimiles in altero. Sed aequitatis ratio non sinit similes in sanctimonia, dissimiles fore in gloria. Si tales futuri sunt, merito in ostensionem erunt. Et erunt in ostensionem sicut terebinthus, et sicut quercus quae expandit ramos suos. Scimus quia ejusmodi arbores gratiam foliorum et viriditatis quam perdunt [0526A] in hieme, recuperare solent, superveniente aestate. Datur ergo nobis spes integrae reparationis in omnibus quae perdidimus sub tempore hujus hiemis. Quidquid tulit flatus aquilonis, totum recuperabimus sub aestate futurae regenerationis. Quidquid infecit sibilus serpentis, totum reformabit semen mulieris. De quo Dominus ad serpentem: *Inimicitias,* inquit, *ponam inter te et mulierem, inter semen tuum et semen illius [n: (Gen. III)]*. Denique quidquid amisimus ex suggestione diaboli, totum reintegrabit nobis gratia Mediatoris nostri, in tantum ut sit omnibus mirabile quomodo de tanta miseria potuerit homo ad tantam gloriam assurgere: *Erit,* inquit, *in ostensionem, sicut terebinthus, et sicut quercus quae expandit ramos suos [n: (Isa. VI)]*. Erit itaque homo [0526B] angelis utique in ostensionem, angelorum Domino in ostentationem. Gloriabitur enim apud Patrem suum coram angelis suis de meritis nostris, et fructu sui laboris. Vis modum ostensionis audire? *Omnis qui confitebitur me coram hominibus, confitebor et ego eum coram Patre meo [n: (Matth. X)]*. Grandis honor. Et erit in ostensionem sicut quercus quae expandit ramos suos. Ecce unde ostensio. De expansione ramorum. Expansio ramorum dilatatio meritorum. Dilatemini, fratres, in charitate, ut et digna sit quae debeat esse in ostensione. Magna dilatatio charitatis, quae se usque ad inimicos extendit, quae latitudinis suae sinu omnes includit. Magna dilatatio charitatis, omnia arbitrari ut stercora, ut [0526C] Christum lucrifacias. Magna dilatatio charitatis, quemlibet nostrum abnegare seipsum, tollere crucem suam et Christum sequi. Haec profecto, haec utique sunt quae non immerito in ostensionem erunt. Multum ergo dilatemur in opere, ut multum dilatari debeamus in retributione. Sane secundum dilatationem meritorum, erit et dilatatio praemiorum. Quid homo non facere debeat, ut illud recuperare valeat quod jam in paradiso perdiderat? Sed quid illud dicimus quod accedente aestatis tempore quercus solent ramos suos longius extendere, multiplicius dilatare, firmius roborare, ita ut sint et numero plures et proceritate majores et robore fortiores. Nunquid et nos ex hac Domini promissione debemus tale aliquid exspectare? Absque [0526D] dubio. Peramplius enim atque perfectius erit multo quod recuperabimus in coelo, quam quod perdidimus in paradiso. In paradiso erat posse peccare et posse non peccare; in coelo erit omnino peccare non posse. In paradiso erat posse mori et posse non mori; in coelo erit nunquam posse mori. In paradiso erat posse impugnari, et posse non expugnari; in coelo erit nec posse impugnari. Ecce quomodo tandem aliquando homo ramos totius honoris et gratiae supra primae possibilitatis modum extendit. Quid ultra antiquae conditionis jura dignitatis suae magnitudine excrescit. Quis hoc unquam crederet? Quis credere potuisset quod putredo et vermis de tanta ignominia ad tantam gloriam quandoque assurgeret, nisi signum acciperet et tale quidem [0527A] quod ad tantae dignationis mysterium digne sufficeret. Ad tantae igitur promissionis certitudinem [0528A] propheta signum supponit, et quod vere ad fidei nostrae securitatem sufficere possit.

english:
## How Christ Is Set as a Sign to the Peoples

[0523B] *The root of Jesse, who stands as a sign to the peoples [n: (Isa. XI)]*. Who this is that stands as a sign to the peoples, whom the nations shall entreat, and whose sepulchre is indeed already glorious, none of you is ignorant. For who else is there whose sepulchre is glorious, save him who had to suffer and to rise again from the dead, and so to enter into his glory [n: (Luc. XXIV)], that in this manner his sepulchre might be made glorious? Because in dying he despoiled the author of death, because his death overcame death, because rising from the dead he dies no more, and death shall no longer have dominion over him [n: (Rom. VI)] — this made his sepulchre glorious. For so great a glory of the buried One rendered his sepulchre glorious. Or who else is there whom the nations entreat, save him of whom it is written: *And all kings shall adore him, [0523C] all nations shall serve him [n: (Psal. LXXI)]*. Who has written upon his garment and upon his thigh: King of kings and Lord of lords! [n: (Apoc. XVI.)] And justly indeed do all nations serve him or entreat him, to whom is given all power in heaven and on earth [n: (Matth. XXVIII)], so much so that deservedly every knee is bowed to him, of things heavenly, earthly, and infernal [n: (Philip. II)]. And what other do we say stands as a sign to the peoples, save him who is set for the ruin and for the resurrection of many, and for a sign that shall be contradicted? [n: (Luc. II.)] Of this sign it is again written:

*He will lift up a sign to the nations, and will gather the fugitives of Israel, and will collect the dispersed of Judah from the four quarters of the earth [n: (Isa. XI)]*. You hear the manner of the lifting up when you read: *As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, [0523D] so must the Son of man be lifted up [n: (Joan. III)]*. You hear the manner; attend also to the fruit. The serpent is lifted on high, to give a remedy to those who look upon it. A serpent of bronze is lifted up, which would have no venom, but would destroy it; which would not bring in venom, but take it away. By such a sign, in truth, our first parents, and by such a sign, in truth, all their posterity had need, that there might be something upon which they might look with devotion, and might escape the sentence of death which from of old they had contracted from the venom of the serpent's hissing, and which they cease not daily to contract. Would that the Jews, would that our Judaizers, might attend and understand, might reconsider and think again what this sign is, how sublime, how notable it must be, if it is set for this: that it may be able to gather the fugitives of Israel and the dispersed [0524B] of Judah from the four quarters of the earth! Truly it must be sublime, that it may be able to lie open to the sight of all; otherwise they will not even be able to know whither they ought to run. Truly it must be notable, and altogether wonderful, whereby it may be able, by the novelty of a kind of miracle, to turn the gaze of all upon itself, and to draw the concourse of all from every side into admiration of it. Will this sign perhaps be lifted up upon a great and high mountain, that so it may lie open to the sight of all? But where, I ask, can a mountain of such magnitude be found that could be seen by all, and from every part of the earth? Or will perhaps the mountain of the house of the Lord be raised for this very purpose above the top of the mountains? But if it is so, then that mountain, whatever it is, must reach — nay, must transcend — the height of the clouds. [0524C] If it is altogether so, deservedly does the Prophet ask, and say: *Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord, or who shall stand in his holy place? [n: (Psal. XXIII.)]* But if this sign of which we speak be raised even unto heaven, will it even so be able to lie open to the sight of all, unless it be conspicuous by some singular novelty of wondrous brightness? I dare to say it: unless this sign be more notable, more lofty, and more resplendent than the light of this sun, in no way will it seem able, as has been said, to provoke the concourse of all into admiration of it. Will the Lord, then, make something new upon the earth? A new sun, perhaps, which might be able to enlighten every man coming into this world, so that he who stands as a sign to the peoples might truly be able to say: [0524D] *I am the light of the world? [n: (Joan VIII.)]* See whether perhaps this light be that light which he wished to designate who said: *To those dwelling in the region of the shadow of death, a light has arisen for them [n: (Isa. IX)]*. A good light, and truly to be desired, if it truly drives out — I will not say the darkness of night, I will not say the shadow of gloom, but the shadow of death. Certainly that visible light of this sun's brightness is not wont to do any such thing, nor is it able to do anything like it. Truly it was necessary for those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death to receive such a sign; truly it was worthy of the Father of mercies to give such a sign as might even, little by little, drive out the shadow of death from our borders, so that at length no trace of death should remain among us, so much so that he who stands as a sign to the peoples might truly be able to say: [0525A] *O death, I will be thy death! [n: (Ose. XIII.)]* But what, I ask, will that light be which can drive out the darkness of death, save that which the Prophet describes when he says: *There has arisen in darkness a light for the upright: the merciful, and the compassionate, and the just [n: (Psal. CXI)]*. Of the rising of this light you read in another place: *Truth has arisen from the earth [n: (Psal. LXXXIV)]*. From the earth, indeed, of our humanity, from the propagation of him to whom it was said: *Earth thou art, and unto earth thou shalt go [n: (Gen. III)]*, is born the light for the upright, the Word and the Wisdom of the Father. There is born, I say, truth from the earth: Christ the power of God, Christ the wisdom of God, and so forth — wisdom from human flesh. God, the Son of God, from the Virgin Mary, that he might be made Emmanuel for us, and be God with us: *Behold,* he says, *a virgin shall conceive, and shall bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel [n: (Isa. VII)]* — this is [0525B] that sign which the Lord promised and displayed. O singular sign, O desirable sign, and to which all ought worthily to run together with equal desire — a sign truly wonderful, and such as it befitted the Lord of majesty to give! *Therefore,* he says, *the Lord himself will give you a sign [n: (ibid.)]*: this assuredly is the sign, this without any contradiction, which can truly gather the true Israelites from the four quarters of the earth, and can gather into one the true sons of God who were dispersed. For this, indeed, the sign is given, and for this, indeed, this sign is raised up — first upon the gibbet, afterward into heaven; first upon the gibbet of the cross, afterward to the right hand of the Father — and there is a faithful witness of this thing: *Behold,* he says, *I see the heavens opened, and Jesus standing [0525C] at the right hand of the power of God [n: (Act. VII)]*. Behold where, even to this day, our Emmanuel, the root of Jesse, is set up as a sign, and stands as a sign to the peoples. But of what sort, they say, is the sign, or a sign of what thing? Hear, O Jew: does this not seem to you a sign great enough, and wonderful enough — that a virgin shall conceive, a virgin shall bear, and such a son as shall be God with us? And what is more wonderful than this sign? But of what thing, you say? Certainly of that great promise which the prophet a little above mystically designated, when, prophesying of her who had been left in the midst of the land, he said: *A holy seed shall be that which shall stand in her [n: (Isa VI)]*. Truly the sign of a great, truly of a wondrous thing the seed which the virgin conceived, which the virgin bore, ought to have been and could be. Deservedly was that a sign of holiness — the seed which [0525D] took not away the virgin's holiness, but increased it, which diminished not the mother's integrity, but consecrated it: *A holy seed,* he says, *shall be that which shall stand in her.* Of this future holiness, indeed, the manner is expressed to us by him who stands as a sign to the peoples: *In the resurrection,* he says, *they shall neither marry nor be given in marriage, but shall be as the angels of God [n: (Matth. XXII)]*. If, then, they are to be of angelic holiness, why not also of angelic happiness? But how are they like the angels in heaven, if like in the one, unlike in the other? But the principle of equity does not allow those who are alike in sanctity to be unlike in glory. If they are to be such, deservedly will they be for a showing forth. And they shall be for a showing forth like the terebinth, and like the oak that spreads out its branches. We know that trees of this kind are wont to recover the grace of the leaves and of the greenness which they lose [0526A] in winter, when summer comes on. There is given to us, then, a hope of entire restoration in all the things we have lost during the time of this winter. Whatever the blast of the north wind has carried off, we shall wholly recover in the summer of the regeneration to come. Whatever the hissing of the serpent has infected, the seed of the woman will wholly reform. Of which the Lord said to the serpent: *I will put enmities,* he says, *between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed [n: (Gen. III)]*. In short, whatever we have lost through the prompting of the devil, the grace of our Mediator will wholly restore to us, so much so that it is a wonder to all how out of so great misery man could rise up to so great glory: *He shall be,* he says, *for a showing forth, like the terebinth, and like the oak that spreads out its branches [n: (Isa. VI)]*. And so man shall be [0526B] for a showing forth to the angels, and for a display before the Lord of the angels. For he will glory before his Father, in the presence of his angels, in our merits and in the fruit of his labor. Do you wish to hear the manner of the showing forth? *Everyone who shall confess me before men, I too will confess him before my Father [n: (Matth. X)]*. A great honor. And he shall be for a showing forth like the oak that spreads out its branches. Behold whence the showing forth: from the spreading of the branches. The spreading of branches is the enlargement of merits. Be enlarged, brethren, in charity, that she may be worthy who ought to be in the showing forth. Great is the enlargement of charity, which extends itself even to enemies, which encloses all in the bosom of its breadth. Great is the enlargement of charity: to count all things as dung, that [0526C] you may gain Christ. Great is the enlargement of charity: that each of us deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Christ. These, in truth, these assuredly are the things which not undeservedly will be for a showing forth. Let us, then, be much enlarged in work, that we may deserve to be much enlarged in reward. Indeed, according to the enlargement of merits, there will be also the enlargement of rewards. What ought man not to do, that he may be able to recover that which he had already lost in paradise? But what do we say of this, that when the summer season draws on, oaks are wont to extend their branches farther, to spread them more manifoldly, to strengthen them more firmly, so that they are both more in number and greater in height and stronger in strength? Ought not we too, from this promise of the Lord, to expect something of the sort? Without [0526D] doubt. For far more ample and more perfect will be what we shall recover in heaven than what we lost in paradise. In paradise there was the power to sin and the power not to sin; in heaven it will be to be wholly unable to sin. In paradise there was the power to die and the power not to die; in heaven it will be never to be able to die. In paradise there was the power to be assailed, and the power not to be overcome; in heaven it will be not even to be able to be assailed. Behold how man at length, at some time, extends the branches of all honor and grace beyond the measure of his first possibility. How he grows beyond the rights of his ancient condition by the magnitude of his dignity. Who would ever believe this? Who could have believed that rottenness and a worm would one day rise up from so great ignominy to so great glory, unless it received a sign, and one indeed [0527A] such as might worthily suffice for the mystery of so great a condescension? For the certainty, then, of so great a promise [0528A] the prophet sets under it a sign, and one that can truly suffice for the assurance of our faith.


site: migne

author: Richard of Saint Victor

languages: en la

source_edition: Migne, Patrologia Latina, vol. 196, coll. 1011A–1012C

source_text:
## Quomodo Spiritus Sanctus est amor Patris et Filii

[1011A]Quaeris scire quomodo verum sit quod Augustinus dicit. Dicit enim quod Pater Spiritu sancto diligit Filium et Filius eodem Spiritu diligit Patrem suum. Quod tamen Pater ea sapientia qua Filius sapiat, omnino contradicit, et hujusmodi ratione convincit. Nam, si ea sapientia quae Filius est saperet, non tam Filius a Patre quam Pater a Filio esset, quibus est idem esse quod sapere. Hinc est quod quidam in hunc modum opponunt et dicunt. Cum idem ibi sit diligere quod esse, quomodo dicitur Pater vel Filius non esse ea dilectione qua alter alterum diligit? Cum igitur Pater negetur sapere sapientia quam genuit ne ea esse intelligatur, hoc illi quantum mihi videtur multum est inter facere et fieri, inter erudire et erudiri, inter sapientem facere et sapiens [1011B] fieri. Certe Pater, si ea sapientia quae Filius est saperet et sapiens fieret, ab ipso procul dubio esset cui idem est esse quod sapere quod sapientem esse. Quando autem per Filium Pater aliquem erudit, ea sapientia quae Filius est aliquid facit, nec tamen sequitur ut a Filio sit. Sicut itaque Pater Filio erudit, nec tamen sequitur ut a Filio sit, sic Spiritu sancto diligit: nec tamen sequitur ut a Spiritu sancto sit. Quod tamen Pater, vel Filius dicitur Spiritu sancto diligere, possumus et recte, et prave intelligere, et ad verum vel falsum sensum derivare. Sed fortassis a me quaeris hoc ipsum distingui, et qualiter modo juxta verum sensum, modo juxta falsum possit intelligi. Procul dubio quod Filius [1011C] agit Pater agit a quo Filius accipit ut agat et agere possit. Hinc est illud beati Hilarii: « Intellige Filium agentem. Similiter dico intellige Spiritum sanctum agentem, et per eum non modo Patrem, sed et Filium agentem. Filius erudit, Spiritus sanctus diligit, et utrobique Pater agit, quia ab ipso uterque accipit ut idipsum possit quod agit. Quod autem Pater per Filium operari dicitur, non sic intelligitur [1012A] quasi Filius sit auctor et origo potentiae quae Pater est, et quae vult operatur, sed quod Pater auctor et origo sit potentiae quae Filius est, et pro beneplacito agit quod agit. Similiter quod Pater Spiritu sancto diligere dicitur non sic intelligitur quasi Spiritus sanctus auctor et origo existat dilectionis quae Pater est, et pro arbitrio amat, quod amat, sed quod Pater eam dilectionem qua Filius diligitur et Spiritus sanctus est spirat, et illius auctor et origo existat. Dicitur ergo Pater Spiritu sancto diligere, non quod per eum amorem habeat, sed exhibeat, non quod amorem ab eo accipiat, sed per eum impendat. » Dicit Augustinus de Filio: « Filius dicebat et Pater docebat, et Filius de seipso: Mea doctrina non est mea. Cur et Spiritus sanctus [1012B] non aequa ratione dicit: Mea dilectio non est mea, sed Patris de quo procedit, sed Filii qui eam spiravit. Si Spiritus sanctus est amor utriusque, cur Pater non dicatur recte Spiritu sancto: hoc est suo amore diligere? cur non et Filius dicatur recte Spiritu sancto, hoc est sua dilectione amare? » Animus humanus amor non est, sed ab pso amor procedit, et ideo seipso non diligit, sed amore qui a seipso procedit. Pater vero amor est, et Spiritus sanctus ejus amor est, et ideo Pater diligit seipso, diligit Spiritu sancto. Diligit seipso amore, diligit suo amore. Quis nesciat quod Filius beatae Mariae et filius Nave Jesus dicantur aequivoce? Similiter aequivoce dicerentur amor tuus et amor divinus, si Spiritus sanctus diceretur amor cordis tui, sicut Spiritus [1012C] sanctus dicitur amor Patris et Filii. Quis, quaeso, posset negare te Spiritu sancto (hoc est amore tuo) diligere? Si recte diligere diceris amore qui de te procedit, cur Pater et Filius non recte dicantur diligere amore qui ex ipsis procedit? Haeccine frater est illa quaestio quam insolubilem putant, insolubilem et dicunt, et scribunt?

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## How the Holy Spirit Is the Love of the Father and the Son

[1011A]You seek to know how that is true which Augustine says. For he says that the Father loves the Son by the Holy Spirit, and the Son by the same Spirit loves his Father. Yet that the Father is wise by that wisdom which the Son is — this he altogether denies, and refutes with a reasoning of this kind. For if he were wise by that wisdom which the Son is, then not so much would the Son be from the Father as the Father from the Son — for in them to be is the same as to be wise. Hence it is that some object in this manner and say: Since there to love is the same as to be, how is it said that the Father or the Son is not by that love with which the one loves the other? Since therefore the Father is denied to be wise by the wisdom which he begot, lest he be understood to be by it, there is in this, as it seems to me, a great difference for him between making and being made, between instructing and being instructed, between making wise and [1011B] becoming wise. Certainly the Father, if he were wise by that wisdom which the Son is and became wise, would beyond doubt be from him — he for whom to be is the same as to be wise, the same as to be wise. But when the Father instructs someone through the Son, that wisdom which the Son is does something, and yet it does not follow that the Father is from the Son. Just as, then, the Father instructs by the Son, and yet it does not follow that he is from the Son, so he loves by the Holy Spirit — and yet it does not follow that he is from the Holy Spirit. That the Father, however, or the Son, is said to love by the Holy Spirit, we can understand both rightly and wrongly, and draw toward a true or a false sense. But perhaps you ask me to have this very thing distinguished, and how it can be understood now according to the true sense, now according to the false. Beyond doubt, what the Son [1011C] does, the Father does, from whom the Son receives that he may act and be able to act. Hence that saying of blessed Hilary: « Understand the Son as acting. Likewise I say, understand the Holy Spirit as acting, and through him not only the Father but also the Son as acting. The Son instructs, the Holy Spirit loves, and in both the Father acts, because from him each receives the power to do the very thing it does. But that the Father is said to work through the Son is not so understood [1012A] as though the Son were the author and origin of the power which the Father is, and which works what it wills, but that the Father is the author and origin of the power which the Son is, and does what he does according to his good pleasure. Likewise, that the Father is said to love by the Holy Spirit is not so understood as though the Holy Spirit were the author and origin of the love which the Father is, and loved at his own discretion what he loves, but that the Father breathes forth that love by which the Son is loved and which the Holy Spirit is, and is its author and origin. The Father, then, is said to love by the Holy Spirit, not that through him he has love, but that he shows it forth; not that he receives love from him, but that through him he bestows it. » Augustine says of the Son: « The Son spoke and the Father taught, and the Son said of himself: My doctrine is not mine. Why does not the Holy Spirit also [1012B] by equal reasoning say: My love is not mine, but the Father's from whom it proceeds, and the Son's who breathed it forth? If the Holy Spirit is the love of both, why should not the Father rightly be said to love by the Holy Spirit — that is, by his own love? Why should not the Son too rightly be said to love by the Holy Spirit — that is, by his own love? » The human mind is not love, but love proceeds from it, and therefore it does not love by itself, but by the love which proceeds from itself. But the Father is love, and the Holy Spirit is his love, and therefore the Father loves by himself, loves by the Holy Spirit. He loves by himself, who is love; he loves by his own love. Who does not know that the Son of blessed Mary and Jesus the son of Nave are named equivocally? Likewise your love and the divine love would be said equivocally, if the Holy Spirit were called the love of your heart, just as the Holy [1012C] Spirit is called the love of the Father and the Son. Who, I ask, could deny that you love by the Holy Spirit (that is, by your love)? If you are rightly said to love by the love which proceeds from you, why should not the Father and the Son be rightly said to love by the love which proceeds from them? Is this, brother, that question which they think insoluble, and both call and write of as insoluble?

license_source: Public Domain Mark 1.0

license_translation: CC BY-NC 4.0

license_apparatus: CC BY-NC 4.0