Sermo de missione Spiritus Sancti
by Richard of Saint Victor
Source text: Public Domain. English translation/apparatus/encoding: CC BY-NC 4.0, Wroot Press.
https://migne.app/pl/196/sermo-de-missione-spiritus-sancti/
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## Sermon on the Mission of the Holy Spirit

[1017D] *The Spirit of the Lord hath filled the whole world; and that which containeth all things hath knowledge of the voice [n: (Sap. I)]*. Behold, brethren, what manner of Paraclete we receive from the Lord's promise; behold what manner of comforter we have. Perhaps you desire to know more plainly how great he is, or of what sort. He is everywhere, he can do all things, and altogether, since nothing can lie hidden. Such assuredly he had to be, who could meet all men everywhere — he who had to lead back so many exiles, to gather men so scattered, to strengthen so many that were sorrowful, to restore so many that despaired unto pardon. Such likewise he had to be, who could fill whatever he willed — he who had to heal so many that were sick, [1018D] to protect so many that were oppressed, and to guard them amid so many perils, and to fortify them against so many temptations. Such, finally, as would be ignorant of nothing — he who had none the less to convert so many unbelievers, to teach so many that were incredulous, to instruct so many that were untaught, to school so many that were unknowing. Such a comforter, protector, and teacher as was needful, we have indeed received: a comforter everywhere present, a protector almighty, a teacher knowing all things. And assuredly a comforter everywhere present was required by men consigned to so many miseries; a protector almighty, by men corrupted by so many vices; a teacher knowing all things, by men led astray by so many errors. O sweet comforter! [1019A] O strong protector! O effectual teacher, who is everywhere, who can do all things, who knows all things; and what else do those words set down above seem to propose, if they be weighed worthily, than that our Paraclete, promised and sent, is everywhere, can do all things, and knows all things! The Spirit of the Lord hath filled the whole world, and that which containeth all things hath knowledge of the voice. If this Spirit of the Lord fills the whole world, how much more must he fill the kingdom of the heavens? For who could doubt that he is in the heavens? Scripture therefore made its assertion for that part concerning which perhaps someone could have doubted. We have therefore an argument from the lesser, that this Spirit ought to be believed everywhere present. For if he is everywhere on earth, how much more, as has been said, everywhere in the heavens? He will therefore be in every place. [1019B] But do you wish to know this also, that this Spirit can do all things, of whom it is already established that he is everywhere? But how does he not avail for all things who contains all things? Surely, if anything could subsist without him, this Spirit would in no way be said to contain all things. If therefore nothing can subsist without him, surely everything that is has its being from him. Of him therefore from whom is the being of all things, it is certainly established that he can do all things. It is therefore an argument from the whole that he can do all things, that without him nothing subsists, nothing can subsist. You have heard of his presence, you have heard of his power; do you wish still to know what ought to be thought of his knowledge? Attend therefore to what that is which is asserted of the same in that which is said: "And that which containeth all things hath knowledge of the voice." It is the same as if it were said, [1019C] "of all voices" — save that the former expression is taken more fittingly than the latter for this reason, that the former is aptly accommodated not only to particulars, as the latter also is, but even to generals, which the latter cannot be. This spirit therefore has knowledge not only of voice generally, but also of voice of whatever kind specially, and even of any voice whatsoever singly. But since he has knowledge of voices, has he also of things? So, beyond doubt. For knowledge of things always accompanies a full knowledge of voices, but knowledge of voices does not always accompany knowledge of things. Because we often come to know many things which we think of, whose words nevertheless we do not know or have forgotten. But who would have full acquaintance with this voice [1019D] which is "ox," if he is wholly ignorant of the thing itself? But I think that the angels would have full knowledge of things even if there were no voices. Knowledge of things can therefore naturally exist even where there is no knowledge of voices. Certainly Adam, who imposed names upon things before there were words, had acquaintance with things. Otherwise how would he impose fitting words upon those of which he had no acquaintance? For every thing that Adam called of the living soul [n: (Gen. II)], that is its name. It seems therefore to be more to have knowledge of voices than of things, since knowledge of things, as has been said, always accompanies knowledge of voices.

It is indeed to be noted that it does not say knowledge of speech, [1020A] but of voice. Now every speech is a voice, but it cannot be converted: for not every voice is also a speech. Now certain voices signify by nature, such as the lowing of oxen, the bleating of flocks; but a speech is a voice significant by convention. Every voice therefore signifies something either naturally or accidentally. But I judge there to be nothing which cannot be expressed by speech or signified by voice; since therefore the signification of voice extends more widely than that of speech, it is rightly said of this Spirit that he has knowledge of the voice. But, as has already been said above, knowledge of voices always carries with it knowledge of things. It is therefore an argument that this Spirit knows all things, that he is asserted to have knowledge of the voice. If he knows that which is greater, then much more that [1020B] which is less. But it has been shown that knowledge of voices is more than knowledge of things. It is therefore an argument from the greater, that all things must be known by this Spirit. The first argument therefore is taken from the lesser, the third, as has been said, is taken from the greater, but the middle argumentation has its argument from the whole. Let it be said therefore of this Spirit, let it be said: *The Spirit of the Lord hath filled the whole world, and that which containeth all things hath knowledge of the voice [n: (Gen. II)]*. Let it be said that he fills the whole world, that he may be believed to be everywhere; let it be said that he contains all things, that it may be weighed that he can do all things; let it be said that he has knowledge of the voice, that it may be understood therein that he knows all things.



## Sermon on the Mission of the Holy Spirit (cont.)

It is still to be noted in these words how fittingly and how distinctly both the plurality of persons and [1020C] the unity of substance are commended. For when it had been set down first, "The Spirit of the Lord hath filled the whole world," there is at once subjoined, "and that which containeth all things," not "he who containeth all things" — although in this way too it could indeed have been rightly said. But by a wondrous reasoning Holy Scripture willed, as has been said, to show under so great a brevity of words both the plurality of persons and the unity of substance. The plurality of persons is shown in this, that this spirit is called the Spirit of the Lord. For he himself is one, and another is he whose Spirit he is said to be; but the identity of substance is shown while the same Spirit is said to be that by which all things are contained. This Spirit therefore is that same which he is from whom are all things, that same which he is through whom [1020D] are all things, that same which he is who in the beginning created heaven and earth, that which he is through whom all things were made, and without whom was made nothing. This Spirit therefore will be the same as the Father, the same as the Son, because the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are one God, one substance, one nature, one divinity, one majesty. Rightly therefore is it written of this Spirit: "The Spirit of the Lord hath filled the whole world, and that which containeth all things hath knowledge of the voice." But if this Spirit contains all things and likewise fills them, what is it, I ask, that the Lord's disciples received on this present day, if they were full of that Spirit who fills all things even before this day? What is it that in this festival of Pentecost we call to mind and honor the coming of the Holy Spirit, whom it is established to be everywhere [1021A] and to fill all things? Whence, or whither, should he come, if he is everywhere and can nowhere be absent; or what more would they take in, if even before they were full of this spirit? But it must be known that this Spirit, just as the whole Trinity also, is present in one way through the everywhere-present power of his majesty, and present in another way through inbreathing grace. By the presence of his majesty he is present to all creatures, corporeal and incorporeal, inanimate as well as animate. For the Spirit of wisdom reacheth everywhere by reason of his purity; through illuminating wisdom the same Spirit is present to rational creatures only, yet to all of them, whether good or evil, to the blessed alike and to the wretched. For he enlighteneth every man coming into this world; if every man, then the just and the unjust, those to be blessed [1021B] and those to be damned. Through inspiring grace he is present to all the good, to the perfect and the imperfect, to the blessed and to those to be blessed. For it is he who worketh all things in all, dividing to every one according as he will. He is therefore within all creatures by the diffusion of his substance; he is present to all rational beings by the participation of his wisdom. But to all the good he is present by the co-operation of his grace. By the presence of his majesty therefore he is at hand to every creature whatsoever; he is always present everywhere, so that never at all, just as never, can he be absent. In this manner therefore, he has nowhere to withdraw, nowhere to return, but everywhere at every time to remain unmovingly. But by the participation of his wisdom, just as he is unmovingly absent from certain of his own creatures, [1021C] so also to certain others he is always present; to the former, according to this manner, he can never be present; to the latter, according to the same, he can never be wholly absent. For he cannot be wholly absent from rational creatures, to whom the participation of his wisdom is always communicable. Otherwise how, I ask, would those be rational which could not at all be capable of reason and partakers of wisdom? But the irrational creature, because it is not capable of reason, cannot receive this Spirit according to the participation of wisdom. Otherwise it would not itself be irrational, if it had been capable of reason and wisdom. But according to the infusion of grace he can, to these same ones, both be present after a long absence and again, after a long presence, be absent, [1021D] and be absent yet further. According to this manner therefore this Spirit goes and comes, withdraws and returns. For *the Spirit* indeed *breatheth where he will, and thou hearest his voice, but thou knowest not whence he cometh or whither he goeth [n: (Joan. III)]*. For this Spirit, as has been said, now withdraws the infusion of his grace, now bestows it, and in this manner often goes and comes. But, that you may wonder the more, it often happens that at one and the same time this Spirit in some respect remains and in some respect withdraws. For when this Spirit of manifold grace withdraws one *Some grace from a man out of* those previously had, but permits him at the same time to have another, does he not, to the same man at the same time, as has been distinguished, in some respect go and in some respect come? You see then how differently the Spirit is wont to bear himself toward these [1022A] according to the threefold manner of his infusion, namely, of substance, of wisdom, or of grace. Indeed according to the diffusion of his substance he is believed to be everywhere; but according to the infusion of grace it is established that on this present day he descends into that land, and fills that land with the illumination of his grace, of which it is read: *I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, but that it be kindled? [n: (Luc. XII.)]* What is this land but the primitive Church? What, I say, is this land into which that heavenly fire descended, but the Church of Christ, into which today the Holy Spirit descended in fire and in tongues? This is that land which standeth for ever, in that it is founded upon a firm rock, and therefore neither shall the gates of hell be able to prevail against it. To this land [1022B] belongs whoever remains fixed in the faith and charity of Christ. For he who wavers in faith, or still tosses about through diverse desires, is like a wave of the sea which is moved and carried about by the wind. But he who is of this sort cannot belong to that land or whole world of which it is written: *The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof, the whole world and all they that dwell therein [n: (Psal. XXIV)]*. Nay rather he seems to belong to those seas above which that whole world, by the Lord's working, is founder, of which he also says? *For he hath founded it upon the seas, and hath prepared it upon the rivers [n: (ibid.)]*. But whoever hath not the Spirit of Christ belongs not to this whole world. For he who hath not the Spirit of Christ; [1022C] he is none of his. If therefore truly and beyond doubt the earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof, the whole world and all they that dwell therein, then he must have the Spirit of the Lord who desires to belong to this whole world. Rightly therefore is that understood of this world which on this present day is sung so festally: *The Spirit of the Lord hath filled the whole world.* Was not the land of the Lord steeped, nay rather filled, with this Spirit, when the primitive Church, as has been said, received in fiery tongues that Paraclete who proceedeth from the Father? Does it not seem to you that at that time was fulfilled what is sung in the psalm: *Thou hast visited the earth, and hast inebriated it [n: (Psal. LXIV)]*. For the inhabitants of this land were so inebriated with that spiritual new wine that any one of those who at that time could hear them [1022D] must justly have wondered how they were drunken, seeing that it was already the third hour of the day. For they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with divers tongues, according as the Holy Spirit gave them to speak [n: (Act. II)], this assuredly is what we ought to call to mind yearly, this indeed is what we do call to mind yearly, when we sing: *The Spirit of the Lord hath filled the whole world.*

Do you wish to know this also, how in that land he contained all things in which he had filled all things. Consider therefore, after the filling of this Spirit, how steadfastly he bore himself who before was terrified at a maidservant's voice and denied Christ. So too the rest, who before hid themselves for fear of the Jews, now openly confess Christ before the chief priests. Whence was this to them, save that they had been clothed with power from on high [1023A] in that they had received the Spirit of the Lord: *For all their power is by the spirit of his mouth [n: (Psal. XXXII)]*. Whatever of steadfastness, whatever of patience was in them, was from that Spirit who had filled their hearts. In short, whatever of virtue, whatever of fortitude they had, they had received from that same Spirit who contained all things. Let no one therefore attribute to himself that he stands in the faith or perseveres in good. For no man can say, Lord Jesus, but in the Holy Spirit. If he cannot say anything good without this Spirit, when will he be able to do anything good without him? For it is he who worketh all things in all, dividing to every one according as he will. In him therefore stands everyone who perseveres in good; and let him that standeth take heed lest he fall. But how, you say, can anyone fall — nay, how can anything of good even slip away from anyone, [1023B] if this Spirit contains all things? Or is it perhaps that those things are said to be which this Spirit deigns to contain? For who would deny that he loses true being whom this Spirit has let go? In short, in no way can those things pertain to true being which are not from this Spirit, whom it is established to contain all things. For how are those to be said even to be, which have lost true being? But again these same ones return, as it were, to being, when they receive this Spirit of the Lord, he himself assuredly doing this who calleth unto those things that are not as those that are [n: (Rom. IV)]. For he shall send forth his spirit and they shall be created, and he shall renew the face of the earth [n: (Psal. CIII)]. Every state of rightness, therefore, as it is obtained through him, so none the less is it contained by him. And because that which is deserted by him in a manner ceases to be, [1023C] this Spirit is rightly said to contain all things.



## Sermon on the Mission of the Holy Spirit (cont.)

But I ask likewise how the same Spirit had knowledge of the voice. Or perhaps in this, that he made others to have it, as it was also said to Abraham [n: (Gen. XXII)]. Now I know that thou fearest God in that what would be learned I have made known. But that that knowledge of the voice which that Spirit gave was a thing to be wondered at and astonished at, and how greatly it filled the hearts of the disciples, those Jews bear witness, religious men out of every nation which is under heaven: *Behold, are not all these,* they say, *who speak Galileans. And how have we heard every man our own tongue wherein we were born [n: (Act. II)]*. But, lest it seem to you a small thing that they speak with the tongues of all nations, ask those same Jews further what they speak in those same tongues: [1023D] *We have heard them,* they say, *speaking in our tongues the wonderful works of God [n: (ibid.)]*. O how great a thing it is to speak the wonderful works of God even in one tongue. But although great was that which they sounded forth outwardly by word, yet far greater is believed to be that which they themselves heard within. Great indeed it was to hear that voice by which the disciples of Christ taught the wonderful works of God, but far greater was it to understand that voice of inward inbreathing by which they themselves learned, and yet they had knowledge of both voices, both of that by which they had learned and of that by which they taught. Otherwise they would neither themselves have known the wonderful works of God, nor have made them known to others. That voice which they formed outwardly was a bodily voice, that voice which they heard inwardly was a spiritual voice. The one sounded outwardly with noise, and expressed to the hearers one thing after another in whatever way [1024A] it could and as far as it availed; the other breathed inwardly without any noise, and in a moment, and in the twinkling of an eye, impressed upon minds in what manner it willed and as much as it pleased. O how great a distance there is between voice and voice, between the bodily voice and that spiritual voice! Yet of both he has knowledge, and of both that Spirit who contains all things makes men to have knowledge. For indeed, as you read, that which containeth all things hath knowledge of the voice, let it be a small thing, I beseech you, to you who hear or read these things, to have heard or known that voice alone, and to have knowledge of that which is wont to resound outwardly. Be zealous and take pains to hear and to understand that voice which alone suffices to lead into all truth, and which alone without the noise of words teacheth man knowledge, this [1024B] voice of inward inbreathing the prophet sought after, when he said: *I will hear what the Lord God will speak in me [n: (Psal. CXVIII)]*. Yet what wonder if he panted after that voice, if he sighed toward that whose power, whose sweetness he had been so well taught and had so often experienced? You have heard above of its power; do you wish still to hear of its sweetness? You have heard, I say, how effectual those inward utterances are for teaching; attend now also how sweet they are for hearing. Yet let him say this whom experience had taught: *How sweet,* he says, *are thy words to my jaws, above honey to my mouth [n: (Psal. XCIII)]*. If it is so great a thing, and so delightful, to speak of what I have experienced, to hear spiritual men and to have teachers of truth so learned, how much greater and how much more delightful [1024C] to learn daily from God himself, to have learned daily. Blessed is the man whom thou shalt instruct, O Lord, and shalt teach him out of thy law. This blessedness indeed, and the losing of his Lord's teaching, the prophet feared, when he said in prayer: *O Lord, who shall be like to thee; hold not thy peace, neither be thou still, O God [n: (Psal. LXXXII)]*. It is assuredly a small thing to me if I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, unless I merit at some time to hear and to understand what the Lord God speaketh in me. For what does it profit to have knowledge of the human or the angelic voice, and not to know the voice of him who has knowledge, and, when he wills, makes men to have knowledge, of every voice? O truly blessed apostles, who had such a master, who received the Spirit of truth, who [1024D] had knowledge of all things, who could give knowledge of all things. O truly blessed, whose hearts this Spirit filled with his grace, whose souls he strengthened unto every virtue, whose minds he enlightened unto all knowledge! Rightly in remembrance of this deed do we sing what we have now so often repeated and do not cease to repeat: *The Spirit of the Lord hath filled the whole world; and that which containeth all things hath knowledge of the voice.*

Behold, we have now said in what manner the disciples of Christ could receive the Spirit of the Lord, who nevertheless in some respect could never be lacking to them, whom it is established to be everywhere and to fill all things. For he who according to the presence of his majesty is everywhere, according to the bestowal of his grace, as [1025A] we have already said, can be present and absent. In this therefore did this Spirit show them the abundance of his presence, that he poured into them the abundance of his grace. Truly therefore and beyond doubt they received the Holy Spirit on this present day, who awaited his coming with faith and with desire according to Christ's promise. But again I ask, were they without the Holy Spirit before that coming of the Holy Spirit? Did they not have the grace of the Holy Spirit before that day of Pentecost? If no man can say "Lord Jesus" but in the Holy Spirit, was Peter at that time without him, when so securely as truly he dared to confess before Christ concerning Christ, *that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God? [n: (Matth. XVI.)]* Were the disciples of Christ without the Holy [1025B] Spirit when they cast the unclean spirit out of possessed bodies, and did many other signs in this manner? [n: (Luc. X.)] Certainly we know it was done before that day, nor ought we to doubt of that which we read in the Gospel, that Jesus breathed upon them, saying: *Receive ye the Holy Spirit; whose sins ye shall forgive, they are forgiven them [n: (Joan. XX)]*. But, to be silent about the rest, without the grace of the Holy Spirit they could not so much as believe in Christ. What then did they receive on this present day, if even before this day they had been steeped in the grace of the Holy Spirit? But it is indeed established that droppings of grace of this kind are given, now unto infusion alone, now unto diffusion, and sometimes even unto effusion. [1025C] It is infusion even if less flows in than the vessel could hold. It is diffusion when it is poured out so far that no part of it is left empty. Infusion now passes into effusion when what has been poured out overflows. According to the form of this likeness many receive the grace of the Holy Spirit, some unto infusion alone, some unto diffusion, and some unto effusion. He receives unto infusion alone who indeed perceives grace, yet less than could suffice for him. He receives unto diffusion who perceives as much grace as could suffice for him. He receives unto effusion to whom so much is supplied as could suffice both for himself and for certain others. Infusion is for sustaining, diffusion for satiety, effusion for disbursement. Infusion for refreshment, diffusion for filling, [1025D] effusion for dispensing. Infusion for the beginning of good, diffusion and effusion for the consummation of good. Infusion for the building up of oneself, effusion for the building up of one's neighbor. From this, therefore, a man receives that he may be of profit; from those, that he may make progress. We can therefore both have grace and yet lack its fulness. For it is one thing to have present grace, and another to have sufficient grace. Certainly even before this day the disciples of the Lord were not without grace, but on this day they received the fulness of grace. In short, there was one of them whom Scripture affirms to be full of grace, when it says: *Stephen, full of grace and fortitude, did many signs and wonders among the people [n: (Act. VI)]*.

The apostles therefore at this time received the infusion of the Holy Spirit unto diffusion, because [1026A] they were all filled with the Holy Spirit; and not unto diffusion alone, but even unto effusion, because they began to speak the wonderful works of God with divers tongues. Those therefore who were filled with the Holy Spirit received the fulness of grace. And those who before had present grace now began to have sufficient grace. What the first grace was, the fall of Peter bears witness; what the second was, the steadfastness of Stephen declares. Certainly Peter would not fall if he had the fulness of grace, nor would Stephen stand on so great a summit of virtues if he lacked that fulness. But when we say that they received the fulness of grace, we would indeed have it understood thus, that they received sufficient grace, not that they possessed all grace after that infusion. For to have been able to possess [1026B] or to take in all grace belongs assuredly to him alone of whose fulness we all have received. We therefore say nothing else in saying that any one whatsoever receives the fulness of grace, than that according to the state of the present life and the capacity of each he has sufficient grace. For that fulness of grace which man could have, or rather did have, before sin was indeed one thing; and another is that which he now has or is able to have according to the state of the present misery. For before sin man had sufficient grace both for avoiding every evil and for paying every debt; otherwise he could not have avoided sin. But this fulness of grace, just as no one has it in this life, so beyond doubt neither is anyone able to have it. For to which [1026C] of men was it ever given either to have fulfilled every debt or to have avoided everything unlawful? This is rightly believed of him alone of whom it is truly written: *Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth [n: (I Petr. II)]*. As far therefore as concerns the state of the present life, in saying that some man is full of the Holy Spirit, or has the fulness of grace, we say nothing else than that he has received from the Lord grace sufficient for all those things which the Lord wills to exact of him strictly, though not for all those things which he purposes mercifully to forgive him. Yet many and great things there are, nay, more arduous and more difficult than all the rest: which God exacts from man after he has sinned, which assuredly he would never exact if man had never sinned. For through many tribulations [1026D] must we enter into the kingdom of God. Call to mind, I beseech you, how great things they suffered for Christ who heard from him: *He that will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me [n: (Matth. XXI; Luc. IX)]*. You know well enough by what way Christ entered into life eternal. For it behoved Christ to suffer and to rise again from the dead, and so to enter into his glory [n: (Luc. XXIV)]. In like manner the saints also, having had trial of mockeries and stripes, moreover of bonds and prisons, were stoned, were cut asunder, were tempted, died in the occasion of the sword [n: (Hebr. XI)], that they might run after Christ, and, holding the way of Christ, might enter with Christ into life.



## Sermon on the Mission of the Holy Spirit (cont.)

But would God exact from man the endurance of tribulations and labors, of injuries and reproaches, of suffering and [1027A] death, if man had not sinned. By no means would he exact it. But behold, he now exacts all things of this kind from man, and for all things of this kind he mercifully bestows his grace upon many, and bountifully lays it out. It seems therefore that man can in some respect receive a greater grace in the state of this our mortality, although he cannot fully recover the integrity of that first perfection. And in a wondrous manner indeed, he who is not sufficient for that first way of perfect purity now girds himself for greater contests of the virtues. As therefore we call a little vessel full when it holds as much as it can hold, so we assert a man to be full of grace when he receives such and so great a grace as the capacity of his condition [1027B] is fit for. One therefore receives greater than another, and one less than another; and according as there are divisions of graces, to every man is given the manifestation of the Spirit unto profit. To one indeed by the Spirit is given the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith in the same Spirit, to another the grace of healings in the one Spirit. And in this manner one and the same Spirit worketh many other things, dividing to every one according as he will. Behold, brethren, what manner of Paraclete, behold what manner of comforter they received who merited to hear from the Lord: *I will ask my Father, and he will give you another Paraclete [n: (Joan. XIV)]*. O what a thing it will be to have as comforter him who is able to work all things in all, and to divide to every one [1027C] according as he will! If therefore we wish to have such a comforter, let us be zealous to be such as he may deign to descend upon, and with his grace: *Upon whom,* he says, *doth my Spirit rest, but upon the humble and quiet, and him that feareth my words? [n: (Isa. LXVI.)]* Behold what manner of man he ought to be who awaits the coming of this Spirit. O how willingly, how gladly ought we to cast ourselves down to every subjection, to bend to every humility, that we may merit to receive this Spirit and to have such a comforter! Consider, I beseech you, how sweet it is, and how delightful, to be cherished by his consolation, to be filled with his sweetness, whose pleasantness overcomes all pleasantness, whose sweetness exceeds all sweetness. Hear what he thinks of him from whom this sweetness flows forth: *My spirit,* he says, [1027D] *above me is sweet [n: (Eccle. XXIV)]*. O happy heart, that art filled with this honey! O blessed soul, that art refreshed with this pleasantness! Thou hast found honey, eat what is enough. Taste and see, I beseech you, who are of this sort; taste, I say, and see how pleasant is that Spirit, sweet above honey. I marvel if you will not cry out in the voice of exultation and of confession: O Lord, how pleasant is thy Spirit in us! Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after this inward pleasantness, for they shall be filled when they have tasted it. I boldly affirm that one single drop of this honey can do what the whole world cannot do. The heart which the abundance of the whole world does not satisfy, one drop of this sweetness fully inebriates. Certainly that great Alexander, who was able to subjugate the whole world, [1028A] was not able to satisfy his own desire. For, the world having been subjugated to him, if there were yet another world which he trusted could be subjected to him, with no less greed would he aspire to subject that one to himself. And if, that one likewise subjugated, others and yet others remained over, they could have provoked rather than satisfied the gluttony of that heart. Consider therefore how great is the breadth of that world which is within, which this outward world, however far extended or however often multiplied, cannot satisfy. Do not the philosophers seem to have erred who called man a microcosm, that is, a lesser world? Is not, I beseech you, that human mind deservedly to be called the greater world, which is assuredly greater than the world, which the whole world by no extension of itself, by no [1028B] multiplication of itself, can satisfy? For if this world be compared to the breadth of one heart, what else, in comparison with that heart's incapacity or greed, does it seem to be than a certain little morsel, which [sic: *quiae*], cast into that mouth of the inner man, avails not at all to fill it, nay, scarcely appears at all? But if thou gapest after that inward and supernal sweetness, if thou sighest after true and eternal pleasantness, hear what is divinely enjoined upon thee, and attend to what is at the same time promised thee: *Open wide thy mouth, and I will fill it [n: (Psal. LXXX)]*. Certainly, if thou hungerest after earthly delights, if thou thirstest after carnal pleasures, it is better for thee to draw thy mouth together than to open it wide, to restrain thy desire than to extend it, since nowhere in any place [1028C] wilt thou find whence thou mayest be able to satisfy it and to give it content. What then is that mouth of the inner man but the desire of the heart? For to fill that mouth of the outer man is neither a great thing for God to promise, nor a great thing for man to receive, since one morsel of bread avails and is wont to fill it. But that mouth of the inner man (the desire of the heart, that is) is never satisfied, is never filled save inwardly with spiritual delights, and blessed is the man who has filled his desire from them. Certainly, whoever thou art that hast spiritual delights at hand or canst have them, thou hast wherewith to fill thy mouth, thou hast wherewith to fill thy belly, thou hast also wherewith to fill thy tabernacle. Enlarge therefore the place of thy tent, lengthen thy cords, stretch forth, spare not. The delights of the Spirit suffice [1028D] abundantly and superabound to fill thy mouth, thy belly, thy tabernacle, to fill, in short, that whole world of whose breadth we have already said many things, and yet could not worthily express it.



## Sermon on the Mission of the Holy Spirit (cont.)

When therefore the Spirit of the Lord shall in this manner have filled the whole world with that inward sweetness, and shall have filled thy desire with good things, thou wilt begin to wonder how that land which is not satisfied with water can be sated with that sweetness. Or can that perhaps be sated with honey which cannot be sated with water? Or can that which cannot be satisfied with water even be inebriated with spiritual wine: *Thou hast visited the earth and hast inebriated it [n: (Psal. LXIV)]*. With such wine assuredly were they given drink at whom the Jews wondered how they were drunken, seeing that it was scarcely [1029A] the third hour of the day. You have heard of those inebriated with wine; hear also of those sated with honey: *He fed them with the fat of wheat, and filled them with honey out of the rock. [n: (Psal. LXXX)]*. He knows not at all, he knows not what true and full refreshment is: whom that supercelestial and more than honeyed sweetness does not satisfy: and he who is of this sort can sing to the Lord: *For my soul is as earth without water unto thee [n: (Psal. CXLII)]*. But on the contrary, as often as that spiritual sweetness has satisfied the empty soul, and has satisfied the hungry soul with good things, he ought to sing and to say: *For the Spirit of the Lord hath filled the whole world [n: (Sap. I)]*, in that it is he who has filled his every desire with good things. But as we have already indicated above, not all receive this instilling of inward sweetness in like fashion: for some unto infusion alone, [1029B] some unto diffusion, and some receive it even unto effusion. If thou art still content with infusion alone, it will deservedly be said to thee: *For honey and milk are under thy tongue [n: (Cant. IV)]*. But when thou shalt have filled with a more abundant plenty of such infusion not only the bosom of the mind but also that of the mouth, and shalt have received this instilling of spiritual sweetness unto diffusion, thou wilt think it said to thee: *Grace is poured abroad in thy lips [n: (Psal. XLIV)]*. But when that inundation of spiritual grace shall have begun to swell higher, and to flow forth abundantly through the mouth, and the infusion of sweetness to pass over into effusion, deservedly, as I judge, such an effusion having now been made, it will be said to thee, whoever thou art, a soul steeped with such an effusion: *For thy lips are a dropping honeycomb [n: (Cant. IV)]*. This abundance of inward sweetness [1029C] he had surely experienced who said: *How great is the multitude of thy sweetness, which thou hast hidden for them that fear thee! [n: (Psal. XXX.)]* This beyond doubt he had experienced who refused all other consolation as often as he grieved over the withdrawal of this, whence also he said: *My soul refused to be comforted [n: (Psal. LXXVI)]*. For this alone has fashioned the mind in its inmost parts, and does not suffer it to run through alien desires and to wander abroad. He therefore to whom it is granted to experience these things must marvel how that human mind, a wanderer and a fugitive upon the earth, which fleeth as a shadow and never continueth in the same state, cleaves wholly to one desire of inward pleasantness, and how all that crowd of so many desires binds itself to one wish, or [1029D] how so great a household of such innumerable thoughts remains fixed in one and the same regard of its longing. But whence is this, I ask, save that the Spirit of the Lord who fills all things at the same time also contains all things? For in that very thing wherein he fills, in that same he also contains. For whence he affects our inward parts with his sweetness, thence he turns all the motions of the heart to himself, and fixes them in the desire of that pleasantness which has been experienced. For that running to and fro of wavering desires and of tumultuous thoughts is never checked unless it be sated with inward refreshment. For as long as the mind cannot attain to true and full refreshment, it has always somewhere to hasten by desire; and so it is one and the same spiritual sweetness which alone suffices to satisfy our inmost parts, and to compose them into one [1030A] peace, so that the same Spirit is rightly said both to fill all things and to contain all things. But this spiritual satiety poverty of spirit better claims and more easily procures than abundance of wealth. Truly blessed are the poor in spirit, according to the judgment of the Lord Jesus [n: (Matth. V)]. For the poor shall eat and shall be filled, and shall praise the Lord. On the contrary the rich have wanted and have suffered hunger. Deservedly therefore shall the poor give praise, who have merited to be filled. O how delightful is the praise that follows this satiety! O how inward is the exultation that accompanies this pleasantness! *The memory,* he says, *of the abundance of thy pleasantness they shall utter forth, and shall exult in thy justice [n: (Psal. CXLIV)]*. To this praise assuredly, to such exultation, the Prophet was inviting the guests of that inward pleasantness, [1030B] when he said: *Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, his holy name [n: (Psal. CII)]*. And the cause is subjoined, when it is said: *Who filleth thy desire with good things [n: (ibid.)]*. How great, I ask, is the acclamation; how great, I beseech you, the outcry that rises on high and reaches the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, when that whole inward household acclaims the divine praise together, and resounds with equal concord in the voice of exultation and of confession; when the whole substance of the inner man is dissolved into dancing, and the mind of man, loosened to the very marrow, is turned wholly into jubilation? This is that voice of salvation which is heard in the tabernacles of the just. Truly it is the voice of salvation, the voice of jubilation. For blessed is the people that knoweth jubilation [n: (Psal. CXVII)]. Who therefore could worthily unfold the dignity of this voice, [1030C] who could even worthily estimate it? That Spirit of the Lord alone therefore knows it, and suffices to weigh it worthily, who by his sweetness dissolves the hardness of the heart into dancing of this kind. What other voice, I ask, is more rightly understood in that which is said: *The Spirit of the Lord hath filled the whole world; and that which containeth all things hath knowledge of the voice [n: (Sap. I)]*. What, I say, is this voice which the Spirit of the Lord is said to know, of which above all others he deigns to have knowledge? You see how "voice" is here set down indeterminately, so that whatever that voice may be which is worthier and more excellent than all the rest may rightly be understood by the excellence of its greatness and by the prerogative of its dignity. So assuredly, when "the Prophet" or "the Apostle" is set down without determination, none other than the most distinguished of the prophets and the most eminent of the apostles, David [1030D] and Paul, is consequently understood. What then is this voice of voices, but that which alone avails and is wont to make a people blessed? Blessed is the people that knoweth jubilation. Blessed is he who finds in himself, who feels in his inmost parts, whence he may sing for himself, and as it were out of his own judgment: The Spirit of the Lord hath filled the whole world; and that which containeth all things hath knowledge of the voice. Blessed is that man whose desire shall have been so satisfied and filled with a certain spiritual sweetness that, out of the breadth or the greed of his own heart, he dares truly to confess that the Spirit of the Lord hath filled the whole world. Blessed is that soul whose whole inward heart shall have been so fixed from the inmost part in the desire of divine sweetness alone, and so estranged from every fall of concupiscence, [1031A] that by the testimony of conscience, for its inmost parts, it dares to profess; that the Spirit of the Lord is that which containeth all things. Blessed is that soul which attends within itself to an outcry of such rejoicing and of such giving of thanks, and which worthily ascribes the knowledge of it to him alone who in that soul fills all things and contains all things, so that with confidence it may say, and out of experience may sing: The Spirit of the Lord hath filled the whole world; and that, [1032A] which containeth all things, hath knowledge of the voice. Truly and beyond doubt he seems to me to experience the power of this solemnity whose tongue, by the testimony of conscience, is loosed into this profession, when out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh, so that he truly professes for himself that the Spirit of the Lord hath filled the whole world; and that which containeth all things hath knowledge of the voice.
