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Hexaemeron

St Ambrose of Milan, tr. Savage, 1961

6. Hexameron, Book VI: The Sixth Day

The Ninth Homily: Chapter 1

THIS IS THE SIXTH DAY, which brings to a close the account of the origin of created things and at the same time terminates the discourse which we have undertaken on the genesis of matter.¹ This day calls for even greater expenditure of toil, because we have reached a critical point: the culmination of the whole debate. We must realize that during the preliminary stages of contests in music, song, or sport, however numerous and important they may be, there is no award of a wreath of victory. This presentation of a wreath for victory is assigned to the last day. On that occasion the expectant decision is reached, together with the shame or the reward which either defeat or victory brings. In such a mighty contest of wisdom as this in which every man, not just a few, acts as judge, how much more is there occasion for anxiety lest we fritter away the toils of the preceding days and suffer mortification in the present. The praetor does not face the same conditions as the singer or the athlete. In the latter case there is a sporting chance of misadventure,² in the former, an error may have serious results. If, in one instance, you make an error the spectators are censorious; in the other, the audience.

Stand by me, therefore, as judges of the prize of victory. Enter with me into this mighty and wonderful theater of the whole visible creation. Not slight is the service rendered to strangers by one who watches for their arrival with the intent to conduct them on a tour around the city and to point out to them the more notable monuments. How much more ought you to welcome one who, as I do, conducts you in this assembly by the guiding hand of my discourse through your own native land and who points out to you each and every species and genus, with the desire to show you from all these examples how the Creator of the universe has conferred more abundant benefits on you than on all the rest of His creatures. It is for you, therefore, that the wreath is designed. It is my wish, with your express consent, to award to you today the crown of victory. We do not demand merely the garlands that athletes win which are destined at length to fade, but the lasting judgment of your probity, by which you are able to discern the truth that Divine Providence permeates all creatures. While you share with the rest of creatures your corporeal weakness, you possess above and beyond all other creatures a faculty of the soul which in itself has nothing in common with the rest of created things.

Chapter 2

Now let us turn our discussion to the origin of beasts and to the generation of men. I already hear some who murmur and say: how much time are we to spend discussing matters alien to us, while knowing nothing of what really concerns us? How long are we to learn of other living creatures while we do not know ourselves? Let him tell me what is to be for my benefit, that I may know myself. That is a just complaint. The order which Scripture laid down must, however, be retained. We cannot fully know ourselves without first knowing the nature of all living creatures.

‘Let the earth,’ says Scripture, ‘bring forth all kinds of living creatures, quadrupeds and crawling creatures and beasts of the earth and cattle and all manner of reptiles according to their kind. And God made the beasts of the earth and every kind of cattle and every kind of creature that crawls on the ground. And God saw that it was good and God said: let us make man.’³ I am not unaware of the fact that certain men treat of the race of beasts and cattle and crawling creatures as symbolical of the heinousness of sin, the stupidity of sinners, and the wickedness of their designs. I adhere, however, to the belief that each and every species is uncompounded by nature.

I am not afraid that someone may in his mind compare me to a presumptuous but poor host who, in his eagerness to be kind, invites many people to dinner. He sets before them nothing but the most common and ordinary food, so that he provokes criticism from his guests for the meanness of his service instead of being the recipient of gratitude for his generosity.

The friends of Eliseus did not accuse him of being a poor host when he placed wild herbs before them.⁴ There exists that luxurious and delicately prepared banquet, hardly worthy of our notice, in which pheasants and a species of turtle are placed on the table, while chicken is actually what is served. A chicken is offered, stuffed with oysters or shell-fish. Wine is drunk which from its bouquet seems to be of one kind, but from its taste seems to be of another. Food derived from the sea is stuffed with products of the land and those of the land with what is derived from the sea. We call into question in this way the providence of the Creator who has granted all these things for our sustenance without, however, mingling them one with another. At first sight, such a mixture seems pleasing. Afterward, it turns out to be bitter, for the more luxurious is our mode of living, the more ruinous and intemperate it becomes. Eliseus served bitter herbs which afterwards became sweet. Hence, those who thought that the food was of a deadly nature found it later to be sweet and life-giving.

Again, there is no occasion for concern that I might have invited more people than I can possibly provide with food and that the bread of my discourse may not be sufficient for you all. We cannot attain to the perfection of faith exemplified in the case of Eliseus, who was not disturbed by the small amount of bread in his possession. It was his wish and intention to distribute it among all in sufficient amount. Accordingly, he instructed his servant to divide among the people the ten barley loaves. And his servant said: ‘How much is this to set before a hundred men?’ Eliseus replied: ‘Give that they may eat for thus said the Lord; they shall eat and there shall be left.’⁵ And I do not fear that your situation may make you ravenous. You have had your fill, yet you are returning home both hungry and empty, for it is written: ‘The Lord strengtheneth the just and in the days of famine they shall be filled.’⁶

To be unashamed to offer loaves of barley and to give what you have rather than to withhold hospitality is a much more commendable act. While he gave to the people in abundance, Eliseus left nothing for himself. Eliseus, therefore, was not ashamed to serve barley bread, whereas we find it shameful to have understanding of simple created things, which are called by their simple and customary names. When we read of ‘heaven,’ we should understand this to mean what it says. When we read of ‘earth,’ we should understand the fruit-bearing earth.

What concern has the measurement of the circumference of the earth for me? Geometers estimate it to be 180 stadia. I gladly admit that I do not know that of which I am ignorant or, rather, that I am aware knowledge of this sort would not be of profit to me. Better than knowledge about the extent of the earth is knowledge about the concrete things in it. How can we grasp the dimensions of that which is surrounded by a sea, which is broken up by regions inhabited by barbarians, and by the many areas where the soil is marshy and impossible to traverse?

Scripture points out what is impossible for men, for God declares: ‘Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and weighed the heavens with his palm and the bulk of the earth in his hand? Who hath weighed the mountains in scales and the rocks and the groves in a balance?’ And further on: ‘Who sitteth upon the globe of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as locusts, who stretcheth out the heavens as an arch?’⁷ Who, then, ventures to put his knowledge in the same plane with that of God? Does man presume to offer that in the way of knowledge what God has sealed with his own oracular and majestic pronouncements?

Surely, Moses was skilled in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. Yet he welcomed the Spirit of God. As His minister he preferred the way of truth to that vain and self-styled philosophical system. He laid down for us what he considered suited to our hopes, namely, that God made the earth, that the earth, produced plant life and all kinds of animal life at the command of almighty God and by the operation of the Lord Jesus.

But he did not think that he should discuss how much atmospheric space is occupied by the shadow of the earth, when the sun recedes from us and takes away the light of day that illuminates the lower regions of the world. He did not discuss how the lunar orb is brought into eclipse in this part of the world, since in his account these phenomena were passed over as of no significance to us. Moses saw that there was no place in the words of the Holy Spirit for the vanity of this perishable knowledge which deceives and deludes us in our attempt to explain the unexplainable. He believed that only those things should be recorded which tend to our salvation.

Chapter 3

Let us keep close to the meaning of the prophetical words. Let us not hold in disdain as unworthy of our consideration the language of the Holy Spirit, who says: ‘Let the earth bring forth alive cattle, beasts and crawling creatures.’ What is the need of further argument, since it is evident that the natural origin of terrestrial creatures is in question? The Word of God permeates every creature in the constitution of the world. Hence, as God had ordained, all kinds of living creatures were quickly produced from the earth. In compliance with a fixed law they all succeed each other from age to age according to their aspect and kind. The lion generates a lion; the tiger, a tiger; the ox, an ox; the swan, a swan; and the eagle, an eagle. What was once enjoined became in nature a habit for all time. Hence the earth has not ceased to offer the homage of her service. The original species of living creatures is reproduced for future ages by successive generations of its kind.

Do you wish to turn the creatures that have been generated to the profit of man? You will all the more accommodate creatures to man’s pleasure if you will not deny to all creatures what is appropriate to their natures. In the first place, nature has designed that every species of cattle, beast, and fish has its belly extended, so that some crawl on their stomachs. You may observe that even those animals that need the support of legs are, by reason of their four-footed motion, part and parcel of the earth and thus lack freedom of action. They have, in fact, no ability to stand erect. They therefore seek their sustenance in the earth, solely pursuing the pleasures of the stomach toward which they incline.

Take care not to be bent over like cattle. See that you do not incline—not so much physically as they do, but morally. Have regard for the conformation of your body and assume in accordance with it the appearance of loftiness and strength. Leave to animals the sole privilege of feeding in a prone position. Why, contrary to your nature, do you bend over unduly in the act of eating? Why do you find delight in what is a violation of nature? Why do you feed on the things of the earth like cattle, intent on food both day and night? Why do you dishonor yourself by surrendering to the allurements of the body, a slave to the whims of appetite? Why do you deprive yourself of the intelligence with which the Creator has endowed you? Why do you put yourself on the level of the beasts? To dissociate yourself from these was the will of God, when He said: ‘Do not become like the horse and the mule who have no understanding.’⁸

If the voracity and intemperance of the horse and his whinny of pleasure directed toward the mare give you delight, you should also find pleasure ‘with bit and bridle to bind fast your jaws.’⁹ If you revel in ferocity, the dominant trait of savage beasts for which reason they are slain, see that you, too, may not become a victim of your own atrocious cruelty.

The donkey is a slothful and stupid animal, an easy prey to all mischance. What is the lesson that this animal conveys? Is it not that we should become more alert and not grow dull from physical and mental inactivity? Why not, rather, take refuge in a faith which tends to lighten our heavy burdens?

The wily fox hides away in pits and caves. Is not this proof that the animal has no purpose? Because of his habit of plundering he deserves our hatred and warrants our aversion for his total lack of caution while laying snares for his victims.

The partridge is cunning in that she steals the eggs of another partridge and fosters them with her own body. But she is unable to profit from this, because she loses the brood as soon as she has hatched it. When these hear the voice of the partridge who has laid the eggs, they leave their adopted nest and, following a natural instinct, go to her whom they recognize as their true and natural mother. In this way they indicate that the function of a nurse is totally different from that of a mother. Thus, she performs her own proper labors in vain and pays the penalty of her own deceit. Hence Jeremias says: ‘The partridge uttered a cry and gathered what she did not lay,’¹⁰ that is, she gathered the eggs and gave forth a cry as if rejoicing at the effect of her own deceit. But she spends her labor in vain. Her prolonged period of brooding benefits another and not herself.

The Devil imitates this bird in his endeavor to lay claim to the generations of the eternal Creator. If he succeeds in bringing together a group lacking in wisdom and devoid of sound sense, he allures them with corporeal enticements. As soon as the voice of Christ reaches the hearts of the little ones, they depart and take themselves to their mother, who embraces her young with an endearing mother’s love.¹¹ The Devil did not create the Gentiles, but he gathered them in. When Christ in His Gospel sent forth His message, they eagerly fled so as to be under the protection of the shadow of His wings. He consigned them to the fostering care of Mother Church.¹²

The lion, proud in the fierceness of his nature, will not brook mingling with other wild animals. Like a king, he disdains association with them. He scorns the food of the previous day. He turns away even from the fragmentary remains of his meal. What wild beast would venture to associate with him whose roar of itself inspires such terror that many animals who could outrun him will quail on hearing it, as if struck dumb by some strange force.

Scripture is also not silent about the nature of the leopard. By the varied character of his coat he betrays the variety of his emotions. Jeremias says: ‘If the Ethiopian can change his skin or the leopard his spots.’¹³ This is not said merely of what is external. It refers, also, to changes in the fierce nature of the animal. The Jewish people, whose characters were spoiled because of the gloomy and uneasy fluctuations of their hearts and minds, could not attain the grace of good purpose. Once they had acquired the fierce character of a wild beast, they were unable to return to a better and improved mode of life.

Chapter 4

There is in the nature of quadrupeds something which the language of the prophetical books exhorts us to imitate. We should follow their example and avoid slothfulness. Neither because of size nor bodily weakness should we desist from our eagerness to carry into effect the lofty aims of a virtuous life.

The ant is a tiny animal, yet she ventures to achieve things beyond her strength. She is not driven to labor as a slave is. Rather, without compulsion and with freedom of foresight, she lays up provision for a future day. Scripture admonishes us to imitate the industry of the ant: ‘Go to the ant, thou sluggard, and consider her ways and be wiser than she.’¹⁴ She has no land under cultivation. Yet, without a taskmaster to urge her on as she looks after her stock of food, what a harvest has she in store for herself—a harvest gathered from the results of your labors! While you may frequently be in need, she wants for nothing. There are no granaries closed to the ant, no guards impassable, no stores of grain untouchable! The guard sees and dares not prohibit the theft. The owner gazes on his loss and exacts no punishment! Over the plain moves the dark column. The paths are aglow with the concourse of voyagers and particles of grain which cannot be seized by their narrow jaws are heaved along by their shoulders!¹⁵ The owner of the crop beholds all this and blushes to refuse such trifles to co-operative industry such as this!

What shall I say about dogs who have a natural instinct to show gratitude and to serve as watchful guardians of their masters’ safety? Hence Scripture cries out to the ungrateful, the slothful, and the craven: ‘Dumb dogs, not able to bark.’¹⁶ To dogs, therefore, is given the ability to bark in defense of their masters and their homes. Thus you should learn to use your voice for the sake of Christ, when ravening wolves attack His sheepfold. Have the word ready on your lips, lest, like a silent watch-dog, you may appear because of your unfaithfulness to abandon the post entrusted to you. Such a dog was the friend and companion of an angel. Not without reason did Raphael in the prophetic book cause this dog to accompany the son of Tobias when he went on a journey, in order to drive out Asmodeus and thereby confirm the marriage. The demon is driven out as the result of a grateful recognition and the union is stabilized.¹⁷

And so, under the symbolism of a dumb animal, the angel Raphael, as director of the young man Tobias whom he had agreed to protect, was able to arouse sentiments of gratitude in him. Who would not feel shame if he did not return thanks to those who are well deserving of it, when he sees that even beasts shun the sin of ingratitude? These animals hold in grateful memory the sustenance they have acquired. Are you not mindful of the salvation you have received?

Although ‘a bear lies in wait,’ as Scripture says¹⁸—for she is a wild beast full of deceit—when she finds her young at the moment of birth to be formless, she immediately proceeds to lick them with her tongue until they become like her in form and shape. Do you not marvel that a wild animal should show such devotion with her tongue, an animal whose inherent nature is manifested by love for her young? The bear, therefore, forms her young into the likeness of herself. Are you not competent to train your sons, so that they, too, may become like yourselves?

What shall we say about the bear and the art of medicine? She knows, in fact, how to heal herself when suffering from the effects of a serious wound. She lies under a plant called by the Greeks ‘flomus’¹⁹ and touches it with her open sores, which are thereby healed.

Serpents, too, are able to rid themselves of blindness by eating the fennel plant. Accordingly, when they feel their eyesight becoming weaker, they search for their familiar remedy and are not disappointed in its results.

When tortoises, after eating the entrails of a serpent, feel the poison circulating through their bodies, they have recourse to a plant called marjoram in an effort to find a cure. Even when they lie concealed in their lairs in the marshes, they instinctively seek for a curative antidote. By this assured cure they attest that they know the efficacy of plants. You may observe that foxes, too, heal themselves with resin from a pine tree. By making use of such a remedy they postpone the time of imminent death.

The Lord gave utterance to these words in the book of Jeremias: ‘The turtle and the swallow and the sparrows of the field observed the time of their coming, but my people have not known the judgments of the Lord.’²⁰ Swallows know the time of their coming and of their return. These dutiful birds know how to announce the signs of spring by the testimony of their arrival.

Ants also keep watch for the coming of sunny weather. When they notice that their store of food remains soggy because of rain storms, a careful exploration is made of atmospheric conditions to determine when a series of warm days should arrive. Then they release the food supply, which is carried out of their hiding places to be dried by prolonged exposure to the sun. For that reason you will never experience stormy weather during that whole period of time, except when it should, in the interval, happen that the ants have changed their minds and decided to restore their supply of food to their granaries.

Sheep, at the approach of winter, browse on grass with an appetite that is insatiable. They have a presentiment of the coming of inclement weather. For this reason they proceed to fill themselves to satiety before vegetation dies from the effects of bitter frost.

Hedgehogs, commonly called iricei, on sensing the approach of danger, ‘gather themselves behind their shields’²¹ so that anyone who has in mind to harm them may be wounded by their prickly armor. In anticipation of eventualities, these animals are provided with two organs of respiration. For example, then they sense the coming of northerly winds, they close the aperture open to the north. When they note that ‘the clouds have been cleared away by the south wind,’²² they turn toward the north so as to avoid the harmful breezes coming from the opposite direction.

Hence, the Prophet rendered praise worthy of the Lord when he said: ‘How great are thy works, O Lord. Thou hast made all things in wisdom.’²³ The divine wisdom penetrates and fills all things. Far more conviction is gained form the observation of irrational creatures than from the arguments of rational beings. Of more value is the testimony given by nature than is the proof presented by doctrine. What animal does not know how to look after his own safety—by offering resistance where force is necessary, by flight or by watchfulness where speed or cunning is called for? Who has instructed them on the curative powers of herbs? Human beings are often deceived by the appearance of herbs. Frequently, we discover those to be noxious which we had considered to be salutary. How often has death crept into repasts that were delicious! How frequently has death-dealing food penetrated even past the watchers and servants of the palace halls to bring death to kings! Wild beasts, merely by the sense of smell, are able to discern what is beneficial and what is harmful. They feed on the plant without the intervention of lackeys or food-tasters and receive no harm! Nature is a better guide and teacher of what is actual and true. She inspires into our senses the perception of what is sweet and health-giving and needs no director. She, too, instructs us how to avoid the bitterness of that which brings ultimate pain. The sweetness of life is set against the harshness of death.

Nature entrusts to the lioness the care of her whelps. Maternal affection makes gentle the savagery of the beast. Nature checks for the moment the ferocity of the tigress and turns her aside as she is on the point of seizing her prey. The minute she discovers that her young have been taken, she sets out on the track of the despoiler. Although he may have the advantage of a fast horse, he is aware that he may be outdone in speed by the wild beast. In a situation where there is available no means of escape he has to resort to the following stratagem. When he perceives that he is being overtaken, he lets fall a glass ball. The lioness is deceived by her reflection, thinking that she sees there her young. After being retarded by the deceitful image, she once more expends all her strength in her effort to seize the horseman. Spurred on by rage, she comes closer and closer to her fleeing victim. Again he throws out the glass ball, thus slowing down his pursuer. Yet her remembrance of past deceits does not prevent her from complying with her maternal instincts. She keeps turning over the reflected image that deludes her and settles down on it as if to nurse her young. Thus, deceived by her own maternal solicitude, she suffers at once the forfeiture of her vengeance and the loss of her offspring.²⁴

We have here the message of the Scriptures which declares: ‘Children, love your fathers; parents, do not provoke your children to anger.’²⁵ Nature has implanted in beasts the instinct to love their own brood and hold dear their own progeny. They know nothing of relations-in-law. Here, parents do not become estranged from their offspring by the act of changing their consorts. They know nothing of preferences given to children of a later union to the neglect of those of a former marriage. They are conscious of the value of their pledges and are unacquainted with distinctions in respect to love, to incentives due to hate, and to discriminations in acts that involve wrong-doing. Wild creatures have a nature that is simple and one which has no concern in the perversion of truth. And so the Lord has ordained that those creatures to whom He has bestowed a minimum of reason are endowed with the maximum of feeling.

What wild animal would not willingly face death in defense of her young? What wild beast, although exposed to countless armed men advancing ‘in wedge formation,’²⁶ would not protect with her own life’s blood her own progeny? With her body she sets up a wall of stout defense around her little ones, so that they are immune from peril in the midst of ‘a harvest of spears’?²⁷ What has man to offer—he who pays no heed to what is enjoined on him and is oblivious to the dictates of nature? A son despises his father; a father disinherits his son. An occasion when a man’s own progeny is condemned to death is regarded as an act of justice. A father actually passes judgment on himself by treating his own child as something without real substance. An act in which nature is punished with sterility is considered to have the sanction of authority.

That dogs are devoid of reason is beyond all doubt. Nevertheless, if you consider the keenness of their senses, you can well believe that their sagacity of sense perception has taken on the trappings of reason. Hence, one can easily perceive that they are able to understand, by the training given by nature, what it has taken a few individuals a long period of time to achieve with the aid of the refinements of syllogistic argumentation acquired in the advanced schools of rhetoric. When they discover the tracks of a hare or of a stag at a point where there is a side path or a crossroad leading in several directions, they proceed to make note of the starting point of each of these trails. In silence, they weigh the problems one with the other. By applying their keenness of scent they seem to make the following observation: ‘Our quarry has gone either in this direction or in that,’ they say, ‘or surely he has fled into this clearing. Yet he has not taken this route or that. One direction remains. There is no reason, therefore, to doubt that he has taken this route.’ What men, with the aid of prolonged discussion and meditation, achieve with difficulty nature readily supplies to dogs, who weigh first the false hypothesis and when that is repudiated finally discover what is true.

Is it not true that philosophers spend whole days setting forth problems on sand, ‘tracing with a rod’²⁸ each proposition one by one? Since it must be that of three propositions only one is true, these men first eliminate two of these as not in conformity with truth. And so they conclude that the essence of truth is found in the proposition that remains.

Who is as mindful of benefits and as grateful for kindness as the dog? For their masters’ sake they go so far as to leap on robbers and to keep off strangers prowling at night. They are prepared, too, to die in defense of their masters and even to die with them! Dogs have often been the means of convicting people accused of homicide by showing clear evidence of the crime committed. Reliance is made in many cases on their testimony.

It is related that in the early morning in a remote part of the city of Antioch a man who had a dog as a companion was found slain. The killer was a certain soldier bent on robbery. In the dusk of the morning hours he was able to find refuge in another region. The body lay unburied and attracted a crowd of bystanders. The dog bewailed with mournful cries the loss of his master. It happened that the man who committed the murder, in order to assure his innocence and make himself secure by his presence—such is human astuteness—joined the circle of people and with the air of displaying sympathy approached the corpse. At that moment the dog relinquished his whine of distress and assumed the role of avenger. He attacked him and held him prisoner. Raising a pitiful cry after the manner of an epilogue in a speech, the dog brought tears in the eyes of everyone present and inspired trust in his testimony. This man alone of all the men present was seized and held fast. The man thereupon became alarmed. He was unable any longer to deny his guilt. Such a clear indication of his offense could not be made void by pleas of hate, enmity, ill-will, or of injury inflicted. Since he had not succeeded in his master’s defense, the dog in this case undertook a more difficult role, that of avenging him.

What meritorious act do we do for our Creator, on whose bounty we live? We close our eyes to insults against God Himself. Often, too, we set before the enemies of God food which we have received from His very hands.

What animal is more innocent than the lamb? We are accustomed to make an analogy between lambs and our own little children. It often happens that in a large flock a lamb decides to wander over the whole sheepfold, roaming in search of his mother. When she on her part is unable to find her lamb, she attempts to discover his whereabouts by bleating frequently. By this means she hopes to cause him to give an answering cry whereby he could direct back ‘his truant footsteps.’²⁹ Although he has wound his way among thousands of sheep, he still recognizes the voice of his parent. He hastens to his mother and finds his way to the familiar sources of his mother’s milk. Notwithstanding the lamb’s eager desire for milk, he passes by other udders heavy with milk. These udders, in fact, may overflow with milk, yet he persists in searching for his mother. The depleted store of his mother’s udders means just full abundance. She, too, can distinguish her offspring among the many thousands of lambs. In outward appearance they are the same. One can find no differences in the sound of their bleating. The mother picks out her own progeny from the rest of the flock. She recognizes her brood by the sole testimony of parental love. Whereas the shepherd may err in making his selection, the lamb cannot make a mistake in recognizing his mother. The shepherd is deceived by appearances, but a sheep is guided by natural affection. To all appearances, each one has the same odor, yet nature provides for them the power of distinguishing a scent which their own progeny, by I know not what peculiar potency, alone gives forth.

Nature has her own customs and her own innate instincts. Scarcely has the infant got his first teeth when he is able to test his own arms. The puppy does not yet have his teeth, yet in defense he acts as if he had. The deer is not yet provided with horns, yet he practices and butts with his head, threatening with weapons with which he is not furnished. A wolf takes away a man’s power of speech by first staring at him. The wolf despises this man over whom he is victorious by reason of his loss of speech. On the other hand, if a wolf perceives that he has been seen first, he loses his fierce character and is unable to run away. A lion is in dread of a cock, especially of one white in color. A she-goat when wounded searches for a plant called dittany and by this means rids herself of arrows. Wild animals, too, have instinctive knowledge of suitable remedies. A sick lion searches for an ape which, when devoured, restores him to health. To a leopard the blood of a wild she-goat serves as an antidote against physical weakness. A sick bear devours ants. A deer chews the branches of an olive tree.³⁰

Wild animals know, therefore, what is beneficial to them, whereas you, man, have no knowledge of your remedies. You do not know how to snatch power away from your adversary, so that he, like a wolf taken by surprise, is unable to escape. You are unable by the eye of your mind to outwit his treacherous designs, to obstruct his flow of speech, and dull the edge of his impudent display of rhetoric. If he comes on you by surprise, he will deprive you of your power of speech. If dumbness comes upon you, loosen your foot-gear in order to loosen your tongue. If a wolf should attack you, pick up a rock—and he turns in flight! Christ is your rock. If you find refuge with Christ, the wolf will take flight and not terrify you. This is the rock which Peter, when he hesitated on the water, sought for and found, because he held on to the right hand of Christ.³¹

Why do I need to mention the fact that men are fond of garlic and use as a food a substance which the leopard avoids? Hence, as soon as a person gets ready to prepare garlic, a leopard, who is unable to tolerate it, is apt to leap forth from that region. To think that you use for food and infuse into your vitals a substance³² whose very odor a ferocious wild beast cannot endure! But it serves as medicine for those in pain. Let it be used as medicine, then, for invalids and not as food for banqueters. You have in mind to procure a drug, but you shun fasting as a restorative, as if you could find another remedy as efficacious as that! A serpent suffers death after tasting the sputum of a man who is fasting. You see, then, what potency there is in fasting, when a man can kill a serpent with his own sputum. If this is true of an earthly being, how much more true is it of the realm of spirit!

How great is the wisdom which the Lord has infused even into little creatures! The turtle-dove covers her nest with onion sprouts to prevent wolves from attacking her fledglings. She knows that wolves usually shun these sprouts. The fox knows how to protect her own young, whereas you are ignorant of the means to do so. Why are you heedless in not making provision against the onslaughts of the iniquitous wolves of the spirit by providing greater security for the life which will follow this?

Chapter 5

But let us return to the creation of different species and reflect on the reason why the Lord formed some beasts, such as lions, tigers, and bears, with shorter necks, whereas other animals, such as elephants and camels, were created with longer necks. Do we not find clear reason for this in the fact that animals which are carnivorous do not need long necks? They bend down their necks and jaws to the earth in the act of feeding. They use them for waylaying a deer or for dismembering an ox or a sheep. On the other hand, the camel, a taller animal, would be unable to feed on the smallest plants unless in the process of feeding he was able to extend his long neck to the ground. Accordingly, to the camel there has been allotted a neck that is longer in proportion to his stature. This is true, also, in the case of such herbivorous animals as the horse and the ox.

The elephant, too, has a prominent trunk; otherwise he would be unable, because of his surpassing size, to reach the ground in order to find pasturage. He therefore makes use of this trunk in his search for food. Through it this monstrous beast imbibes huge quantities of water. This trunk is hollow and capacious. In the effort to satisfy his thirst this huge beast empties entire troughs. Thus he inundates himself within with rivers of water. In fact, his neck is smaller than the massive size of his body demands, so that it may serve a useful function and not be an encumbrance.³³ For the same reason the animal does not bend his knees. In order that such a mighty contrivance be held in balance, there is need that his legs be like columns of a more than ordinary rigid character. The extremities of his feet are slightly curved, but the remaining parts of his legs are rigid throughout from top to bottom. Such a huge beast cannot bend his knees as we do. Naturally, therefore, he does not share with the rest of animals the ability to bend over or lie down. In order that without danger to himself he may sway a little in his sleep, he is supported on both sides by what may be called huge beams, inasmuch as he has no articulated joints in his limbs. For elephants that are tame a type of support has been contrived by men who are expert in this work. For the wild and untamed there is certainly an element of danger in the fact that no provision has been made for such supports.

Elephants actually make use of trees either for scratching their sides or for relaxation in sleep. These trees are sometimes bent or broken by the weight of such a body, which causes the animals to fall headlong. Being unable to raise himself up, he lies there and dies. He may be discovered by his cries of pain, as he exposes the softer parts of his body to wounds and death. Weapons cannot easily penetrate his back and the other harder parts of his body. Hunters in search for ivory prepare the following scheme to trap these animals. From the trees which the elephant makes use of they cut away a small section on the sides opposite those which generally served his purpose. The trees subjected to this pressure cannot sustain the weight of the elephant’s limbs and become the immediate cause of his downfall.

To find fault with these facts is like finding fault with the height of buildings which often threaten to fall headlong and are with difficulty restored. But if we frequently raise these aloft for the sake of artistic beauty or to serve as watch-towers, we ought to approve of this, too, in the case of elephants, because they perform a useful service in time of war. The Persians, for example, a race of fierce warriors, are noted for their expertness in archery and in similar arts. They advance in battle array surrounded by what appear to be moving towers, from which they shoot their weapons. When shot from a higher position these do more execution against the enemy below. In the center of the battlefield the combat seems to be concentrated around a rampart, citadel, or watch-tower, where the entrenched warriors appear to be spectators of the war rather than participants in it. They seem to be so remote from danger behind the protective bastion of the beasts. Who would venture to approach them, when he could be hit by a weapon from above or be annihilated by the onrush of the elephants from below? As a result, the battle line with its battalions drawn up in wedge formation gives way before them. The camping grounds which were laid out in blocks of squares have completely vanished. The elephants attack the enemy with a force that is irresistible. They cannot be held back by any embattled array of soldiers with massed shields. They take on the appearance of mountains moving in the midst of the battle. Conspicuous with their high crests and emitting a loud trumpet sound, they inspire fear in everyone.

What avail are feet or strength of muscles or manual dexterity to those who have to face a moving battlement packed with armed men? What use is his steed to the horseman? Driven by fear at the hugeness of this beast, his horse flees in panic! What can the bowman do against such an onslaught, although the armored soldier may not be affected by a rain of arrows directed from above? Moreover, the beasts’ hides, even when unprotected, are not easily penetrated by a weapon. Protected by this armor, they cut their way through and overwhelm the opposing masses of men without any risk of danger to themselves.

As in the case of huge buildings, we see that elephants, too, are supported by foundations of unusual strength. Otherwise, they would totter in a brief space of time because of lack of comparable sustaining power in their extremities. We are told nowadays that elephants live 300 years or more—a fact that corresponds to the hugeness of their bodies. And so their limbs are all the more sturdy because they are compact, not disjointed as ours are. How frequently it happens that our knees and feet cause us suffering, if we have been standing a long time or have been running at too high speed or after prolonged walking. Limbs that are jointed and articulated are more subject to pain than those which are compact and solid.

And no wonder that elephants, when equipped with arms, are an object of fear. Actually, they always present an armored front, with their tusks acting as a natural spear! Whatever they take hold of they break into pieces with their trunks and whatever they trample on they annihilate—such is the force of their onrush! To provide themselves with food they take possession of whole groves. Like huge dragons they involve with their serpentine folds whatever they waylay. Often, their trunks take on a circular form when in the act of eating or drinking. We have here a proof that nothing created is superfluous. Yet this huge beast is subject to us and complies with our commands.

Chapter 6

Inasmuch as we propose to discuss the nature of man, it is fitting that, by way of preface, something be said that reflects credit on him.

There appears to be no creature which has more physical strength or by its size inspires more terror than an elephant. No animals are as fierce as the lion and the tiger. Yet these beasts serve the interests of man and as the result of man’s training lay aside their natural instincts. They forget their innate propensities and assume those which are imposed on them by command. Why need I say more? They are taught as if they were children. They cringe like weaklings and are lashed like timid creatures. They are corrected as are those subject to us and assume our habits since they have lost their own peculiar impulses.

Wonderful, therefore, is the work of nature in both great and little things, for ‘wonderful is the Lord on high.’³⁴ Just as we admire the level plains no less than we do the high mountains, so we marvel no more at the height of the cedar than we do at the fruitfulness of the vine or of the modest olive tree. In like manner, I admire the elephant for his hugeness no less than the mouse for the fact that he inspires the same elephant with terror.

Nature, therefore, has the power of causing fear in certain aspects and of being fearful in others. Each and every creature is endowed with certain characteristics which are their special mainstay. The elephant is a formidable object to a bull, but is fearful of a mouse. The lion, king of beasts, is disturbed by the slight sting of a scorpion and dies from the bite of poisonous serpent. The lion has extraordinary beauty as he shakes his mighty mane and raises his head on high. Yet, who does not marvel at the fact that huge bodies are subject to death from a scorpion’s slight sting—so slight as to be without substance?

Let no one impugn the work of the Creator of serpents. He has, in fact, exposed His creatures to all other kinds of poisons, either animal or vegetable. These have come into being for our correction, not for our destruction. As a matter of fact, that which is an object of terror either to the cowardly, the weak, or the godless is a source of usefulness for others. A tutor, for example, seems severe, harsh, and unyielding toward his charges. He is unsparing with the whip, tames their boisterousness, and exacts their obedience. He surrounds them with fear, so that he may curb their boyish spirits. As a result of this severe treatment they turn out to be virtuous, temperate, and restrained, more eager for commendation than for sport. Do you not see how these fear-inspiring whippings are able to serve a good purpose?

Thus, serpents act as scourges for those whose pronounced character is immature and infantile, whereas no harm can come to the robust. The following words were meant for him who trusted in the Lord: ‘You shall tread upon the asp and the viper; you shall trample down the lion and the dragon.’³⁵ Paul was bitten by a viper. It was believed that he, being a sinful man scarce rescued from shipwreck, would soon die of poison. Because he shook off the viper from the fire and still suffered no harm, the onlookers regarded him with more veneration.³⁶ Addressing all men, the Lord says:³⁷ ‘He who believes and is baptized shall be saved, but he who does not believe shall be condemned.’ And He said these signs shall attend those who believe: they shall fondle serpents, yet cannot suffer harm from these nor from the drinking of any deadly thing. A man’s lack of faith is more to be feared than poisonous serpents. Have fear of these, therefore, so that the occasion of your dread may at least lead you to faith. But, if you have no fear of God, then beware of the avenging poison of perfidy.

Now, since you behold both lions and elephants subject to you, recall to mind, man, that the saying ‘know thyself’ is not something emanating from Pythian Apollo, but from Solomon, who says: ‘If thou know not thyself, fairest among women.’ Furthermore, long before this time Moses wrote in Deuteronomy: ‘Keep thyself.’³⁸ The Law says: ‘Man, keep thyself.’ And the Prophet says: ‘If you know not thyself.’ To whom does he say these words? He adds: ‘Fairest among women.’

What constitutes the beautiful among women if not the soul, an outstanding attribute in both sexes? Not without reason is the soul comely, since it longs, not for the things of earth, but for those of heaven; not for the corruptible, but for the incorruptible, the beauty of which is not liable to perish. All corporeal things, on the other hand, suffer decay either in the march of time or because of the inroads of disease. ‘Keep thyself,’ says Moses, in that in which you form a totality—that in which the better part of you consists. Hence, the Lord explained your nature when He said: ‘Beware of false prophets,’³⁹ for they cause your soul to weaken and your mind to totter. Thus, you are not flesh alone. What is flesh without the guidance of the soul and the vigor of the mind? We put on the garment of flesh today and tomorrow it is laid aside. The flesh is temporal, whereas the soul is lasting. Like a garment for the body, such is flesh for the soul. You are not, therefore, a garment, but one who puts on a garment for use. And so you are told to ‘strip off the old man with his deeds and put on the new’⁴⁰—you who are renewed not in the quality of the body, but in the spirit and affirmation of the mind.

Flesh you are not, I repeat. It is not said of the flesh: ‘For holy is the temple of God and this temple you are.’ And elsewhere: ‘You are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you,’⁴¹ that is to say, in those who have had a new birth and in the faithful in whom the Spirit of God dwells. It does not dwell among the carnal, for it is written: ‘My spirit shall not remain in these men forever, because they are flesh.’⁴²

Chapter 7

But let us consider the precise order of our creation: ‘Let us make mankind,’ He said, ‘in our image and likeness.’⁴³

Who says this? Was it not God who made you? What is God: flesh or spirit? Surely not flesh, but spirit, which has no similarity to flesh. This is material, whereas the spirit is incorporeal and invisible.

To whom does He speak? Surely not to Himself, because He does not say: ‘I shall make,’ but ‘let us make.’ He does not speak to the angels, because they are servers, and servants cannot have a part in a work along with their Master and Creator. He speaks, rather, to the Son, although the Jews are unwilling to accept this and the Arians object to it. But let the Jews preserve silence and let the Arians with their progenitors be mute, who, while they exclude One from sharing in the divine work, introduce more participants and grant to underlings a privilege which they deny to the Son.

But suppose that God appears to you to have need of the assistance of servants in His work. If God operates in conjunction with the angels, have God and the angels a common ‘image’? Would He say to the angels: ‘Let us make mankind in our image and likeness’? Listen to the Apostle who tells us who is the image of God: ‘Who has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His majesty in whom we have our redemption and the redemption of our sins, who is the image of the invisible God and the first-born of every creature.’⁴⁴ He is the ‘image’ of His Father who always is and was from the beginning. Hence it is the ‘image’ who says: ‘Philip, he who sees me sees also the Father.’ And again, although you behold the living ‘image’ of the living Father: ‘How canst thou say, show us the Father? Dost thou not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me?’⁴⁵

The ‘image’ of God is virtue, not infirmity. The ‘image’ of God is wisdom. The ‘image’ of God is He alone who has said: ‘I and the Father are one,’⁴⁶ thus possessing the likeness of the Father so as to have a unity of divinity and of plenitude.

When He says ‘let us make,’ how can there be inequality? When, again, He says ‘to our likeness,’ where is the dissimilitude? So, when He says in the Gospel: ‘I and the Father.’ there is no reference to one sole person. But when He says: ‘We are one,’ there is no distinction either in divinity or in operation. Both, therefore, do not have one person, but one substance. Well did He add: ‘We are,’ because the divine essence is eternal. So, then, He whom you would consider unlike the Father is co-eternal with Him! He is eternal of whom Moses spoke: ‘I AM WHO AM.’⁴⁷ Fittingly, too, there preceded the words: ‘I and the Father.’⁴⁸ If He had mentioned the Father first, you would consider the Son to be lesser. But He mentioned the Son first, then—as it is not fitting that the Son be above the Father—He added the Father, so that you may note that between the Father and Son there is no precedence of rank.

‘Attend to thyself alone,’⁴⁹ says Scripture. In fact, we must distinguish between ‘ourselves,’ ‘ours,’ and ‘what surrounds us.’ ‘Ourselves’ refers to body and soul. ‘Ours’ are the members of our bodies and our senses. ‘What surrounds us’ consists of our money, our slaves, and all that belongs to this life. ‘Attend to thyself,’ therefore, ‘know thyself,’ that is to say—not what muscular arms you have, not how strong you are physically, or how many possessions or power you have. Attend, rather, to your soul and mind, whence all our deliberations emanate and to which the profit of your works is referred. Here only is the fullness of wisdom, the plenitude of piety and justice of which God speaks—for all virtue comes from God: ‘Behold, Jerusalem, I have painted thy walls.’⁵⁰ That soul of yours is painted by God, who holds in Himself the flashing beauty of virtue and the splendor of piety. That soul is well painted in which shines the imprint of divine operation. That soul is well painted in which resides the splendor of grace and the reflection of its paternal nature. Precious is that picture which in its brilliance is in accord with that divine reflection.

Adam before he sinned conformed to this image. But after his fall he lost that celestial image and took on one that is terrestrial. Let us flee from this image which cannot enter the city of God, for it is written: ‘In thy city, O Lord, thou shall bring their image to nothing.’⁵¹ An unworthy image does not enter there; no sooner does it enter than it is excluded, because we read: ‘There shall not enter into it anything common nor he who practices abomination and falsehood.’⁵² He in whose forehead is written the name of the Lamb will find entrance there.

Our soul, therefore, is made to the image of God. In this is man’s entire essence, because without it man is nothing but earth and into earth he shall return.⁵³ Hence, in order to convince you that without the soul the flesh is nothing, Scripture says: ‘Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.’⁵⁴

Why, then, do you presume in the flesh, you who lose nothing when you lose the flesh? Rather, be fearful lest you be deprived of the aid of your soul. ‘What will a man give in exchange for his own soul?’⁵⁵ In this is no slight part of himself—in fact, it is the substantial part of the entire human race. This is the means by which men lord it over other living things, wild beasts, and birds. Your soul is made to the image of God, whereas your body is related to the beasts. In one there is the holy seal of imitation of the divine. In the other there is found base association with beasts and wild animals.

Chapter 8

But let us define more accurately the meaning of the phrase, ‘to the image of God.’ Is it true that the flesh is made ‘to the image of God’? In that case, is there earth in God, since flesh is of earth? Is God corporeal, that is to say, weak and subject like the flesh to the passions? Perhaps the head may seem to you to be made in the likeness of God because it stands aloft, or the eyes because they observe, or the ears because they hear? As to the question of height, are we to consider ourselves to be tall just because we tower a little over the earth? Are we not ashamed to be thought of as like to God merely because we are taller than serpents or other creeping creatures or even than deer, sheep, or wolves? In that respect, how much taller are elephants and camels in comparison with us! Sight is important to us in order to enable us to behold the things of the world and to have knowledge of what is not reported by any person, but is grasped by our sense of sight. How significant, in fact, is this power of sight! Because of it we may be said to have the likeness of God, who sees all, observes all, comprehends our hidden emotions, and searches into the secrets of our hearts!’⁵⁶

Am I not ashamed to admit that it is not in my power to see parts of my body? What is in front of me I can see, but I am unable to see what is behind me. I have no view of my neck or of the back of my head and I cannot see my loins. In like manner, what avail is our sense of hearing if we cannot either see or hear what is only a short distance away? If walls should intervene, both sight and hearing are impeded. Furthermore, our bodies are fixed and enclosed in a narrow space, whereas all wild animals have a wider range and are also swifter than men.

The flesh, therefore, cannot be made to the image of God. This is true, however, of our souls, which are free to wander far and wide in acts of reflection and of counsel. Our souls are able to envisage and reflect on all things. We who are now in Italy have in mind what seems to pertain to affairs in the East or in the West. We seem to have dealings with men who dwell in Persia. We envision those who have their homes in Africa, if there happen to be acquaintances of ours who enjoy the hospitality of that land. We accompany these people on their departure and draw near to them in their voyage abroad. We are one with them in their absence. Those who are separated far from us engage us in conversation. We arouse the dead even to mutual interchange of thoughts and embrace them as if they were still living. We even go to the point of conferring on these people the usages and customs of our daily life.

That, therefore, is made to the image of God which is perceived, not by the power of the body, but by that of the mind. It is that power which beholds the absent and embraces in its vision countries beyond the horizon. Its vision crosses boundaries and gazes intently on what is hidden.⁵⁷ In one moment the utmost bounds of the world and its remote secret places are under its ken. God is attained and Christ is approached. There is a descent into hell, and aloft in the sky there is an ascent into heaven. Hear, then, what Scripture says: ‘But our citizenship is in heaven.’⁵⁸ Is not that, therefore, in which God is ever-present made to the likeness of God? Listen to what the Apostle says in that regard: ‘We all, therefore, with faces unveiled, reflecting as in a mirror the glory of God, are being transformed into his very image from glory to glory, as through the Spirit of the Lord.’⁵⁹

Now that we are convinced that the soul is made to the likeness of God, let us take up the question as to whether the statement ‘let us make man’ can be said of the soul. Give ear to the words of Scripture, where in Genesis the word ‘soul’ is used for man: ‘And the sons of Joseph that were born to him in the land of Egypt, two souls. All the souls of the house of Jacob that entered into Egypt were seventy.’⁶⁰ Appropriately enough, the soul is called homo in Latin and ἄνθρωπος in Greek, the former being derived from ‘humanity’ and the latter from a word associated with the lively faculty of ‘seeing,’⁶¹ a faculty which has more kinship with the soul than with the body. This agrees well with what is said in the Lamentations of Jeremias: ‘The Lord is good to them that support him, to the soul that seeketh him.’⁶² He made reference to men and thought it necessary to add ‘soul.’ God preferably seeks after the soul when it is alone, thus dissociating Himself from the slime of the body and from the cupidity of the flesh.

The soul, then, is made to the image of God, in form like the Lord Jesus. Those men are saints who are conformed to the Son of God. So we read in the Apostle Paul: ‘Now we know that for those who love God all things work together unto good, for those who, according to His purpose, are saints through his call. For those whom he has foreknown he has also predestined to become conformed to the image of his Son, that he should be the first-born among many brethren. And those whom he has predestined, them has he also called and those whom he has called, them he has also justified, and those whom he has justified, them he has also glorified.’⁶³ I request a reply to the question: Is justification bestowed on you in terms of the body or of the soul? But there can be no doubt about the answer, since justice, from which justification is derived, is naturally a mental, not a physical, quality.

Man has been depicted by the Lord God, his artist. He is fortunate in having a craftsman and a painter of distinction. He should not erase that painting, one that is the product of truth, not of semblance, a picture, expressed not in mere wax, but in the grace of God. I speak, also, of women. They erase that painting by smearing on their complexion a color of material whiteness or by applying an artificial rouge. The result is a work not of beauty, but of ugliness; not of simplicity, but of deceit. It is a temporal creation, a prey to perspiration or to rain. It is a snare and a deception which displeases the person you aim to please, for he realizes that all this is an alien thing and not your own. This is also displeasing to your Creator, who sees His own work obliterated. Tell me, if you were to invite an artist of inferior ability to work over a painting of another of superior talent, would not the latter be grieved to see his own work falsified? Do not displace the artistic creation of God by one of meretricious worth, for it is written: ‘Shall I take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot?’⁶⁴ By no means!

He commits a serious offense who adulterates the work of God. It is a serious charge to suppose that man is to be preferred to God as an artist! It is serious, indeed, when God has to say this about you: ‘I do not recognize My colors or My image, not even the countenance which I have made. What is not Mine I reject. Take up your abode with him who has painted you. Seek your favors from him to whom you have given payment.’ What will be your reply?

If it is a serious matter to adulterate the work of God, what shall we say of those who slay the work of God, who shed human blood and take away the life that God has granted? They say: ‘Let us take away the just because he is useless to us.’⁶⁵ Hence we read today in the Gospel: ‘The foxes have dens and the birds of the air have nests wherein to rest; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’⁶⁶ So the fox hides himself in a den and the birds protect themselves in their nests. Man, however, does not hide himself in a den—rather, he is beguiled. The mouth of man is a den, and a deep den, too, is the heart of man where injurious and deceptive counsels and thoughts of evil reside.

You make preparations to take a walk while another man is setting a trap for you. ‘You are going in the midst of snares’⁶⁷ which your enemies have planted secretly in your way. Make careful observations, therefore, so as not to be trapped in a net like a deer or in a snare like a bird. The deer avoids the net by the keenness of his vision. The bird escapes the snares by surveying the territory from a point aloft. No one plants his net or conceals his snare up there. And so, one whose ‘citizenship is in heaven’⁶⁸ is not likely to be captured like a bird of prey.

And why do you wonder at man’s deception of man when the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head? In fact, He has purposely made man to be such that He could find therein a place to rest His head. But when our neighbors find no repose in our hearts, but traps and snares therein for our fellow men, to whom we ought to give help, then Christ turns His head away from us—this head which He was so willing to offer on our behalf even to the point of death! Do not expose yourself, therefore, to deceitfulness, cruelty and unkindness, so that there may be occasion for Christ to rest His head on you.

Moreover, He did not find rest when He had created such irrational creatures as fish and the various species of wild beasts. He found rest, however, after He had made man to His own image. Give ear to Him as He states on whom He finds rest: ‘Or on whom shall I rest but on him that is humble and gentle and that trembleth at my words?’⁶⁹ Therefore, be humble and gentle, so that God may find rest in your affection.

He who does not find his rest in the beasts of the field will much less find repose in his bestial heart. There exist minds of bestial nature and wild beasts, too, in the form of men, concerning whom the Lord says: ‘Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravening wolves.’⁷⁰ God does not find repose in these, but in the actions of man whom He has made to His image and likeness and who ought not to veil his head, since ‘he is the image and glory of God.’⁷¹

To the soul of such a man He says: ‘Behold, Jerusalem, I have painted thy walls.’⁷² He did not say ‘I have painted thy belly’ or ‘thy lower parts,’ but ‘I have painted thy walls,’ thus proclaiming that the strong protection of walls was granted to man. In this way, by keeping careful watch on the walls, man can ward off the dangers involved in a siege. He says, therefore: ‘I have given you neither delights nor the allurements of desire, neither incentives to luxurious living nor eagerness to possess another’s dignities. You have been granted a substantial basis for erecting walls and lofty turrets by means of which you can banish fear of an enemy’s assault and the dread of terrifying raids from legions of soldiers.’

In fact, you have in Isaias the speech made by the soul of a just man or of the Church: ‘I am a fortified city, I am a city besieged,’⁷³ defended by Christ and besieged by the Devil. But he whom Christ aids ought not to be fearful of a siege. He is defended by spiritual grace and is besieged by the perils of this world. Hence, also, it is said in the Canticles: ‘I am a wall and my breasts are as a tower.’⁷⁴ The wall is the Church and the towers are her priests, who have full power to teach both the natural and the moral sciences.

Be fully aware, O beautiful soul, of the fact that you are the image of God. And, man, be aware that you are the glory of God. Hear the words of the Prophet on the question of glory: ‘Thy knowledge is become wonderful to me.’⁷⁵ That is to say, in my work your majesty, O God, has become more wonderful; in the counsels of men Your wisdom is exalted. When I contemplate myself such as I am known to You in my secret thoughts and deepest emotions, the mysteries of Your knowledge are disclosed to me.

Know then, man, your greatness and see to it that you never on any occasion become entrapped in the snares of the Devil, so as not to fall, perchance, into the jaws of that dread beast ‘who as a roaring lion goes about seeking someone to devour.’⁷⁶ Take heed of what goes into you and what comes out. I do not refer to food which is absorbed and ejected,⁷⁷ but to words and thoughts. Do not allow yourself to be led into concupiscence in regard to a neighbor’s wife or let your eye be captivated by the beauty of a woman who passes by. Your mind and your conversation should shun being involved in the crafty ways of seduction. Deceit should be far from your thoughts and you should not indulge in slander against your neighbor.

God has made you a hunter, not a harrier, for He says: ‘Behold I will send you many hunters’⁷⁸—hunters, not of crime, but of absolution therefrom; hunters, certainly not of sin, but of grace. You are a fisher of Christ, for whom it is said: ‘Henceforth thou shalt make men live.’⁷⁹ Spread your nets, direct your eyes, and control your tongue in such a manner that you destroy no one, but bring rescue to those who struggle in the waters. He has declared: ‘Let him so stand so as to take heed lest he fall’ and ‘So run as to obtain the prize.’⁸⁰ So struggle that you may often discover that the crown is awarded only to him who has competed according to the rules.⁸¹

You are a soldier. Then take stock of the enemy, lest at night he may creep upon you. You are an athlete. Come to grips with your enemy, not with your head, but with your arms, lest he strike you in the eye. Let your vision be unobstructed and your offense be cautious so as to parry the attack; take advantage of his weaknesses, ‘shunning blows on the body with watchful eyes’⁸² and repelling the assault by aggressive action.

If you should suffer a wound, take heed and run to a physician, to seek a remedy in repentance. Take heed, because you are made of weak and stumbling flesh. May the good physician of souls, the Divine Word, come to your assistance. May the oracles of the Lord be to you like health-giving medicines. Take heed that no unrighteous word lie hidden in your heart, for it creeps through your body like poison, bringing with it deadly infection. Take heed, lest you forget the God who made you, and do not take His name in vain.

When you have eaten your fill, build a home for your habitation, abounding in flocks and in gold and silver, together with all that you possess in plentiful abundance. Then ‘take heed that thine heart be lifted up and thou remember not the Lord,’⁸³ as the Law states.

For ‘what hast thou that thou hast not received?’⁸⁴ Do not these things pass like a shadow?⁸⁵ Is not this home of yours but dust and desolation? Are not all these things false? Are not the treasures of the world mere vanities? Are you not yourself just ashes? Look into the sepulchers of men and take note that nothing will remain of you but bones and ashes. Look inside, I repeat, and tell me who in there is rich and who is poor? Distinguish now between the needy and the powerful. Naked we come into this world and naked we leave it. There are no distinctions discoverable among the bodies of the dead, unless, perchance, it may well be that those of the wealthy give forth a stronger odor because they were bloated with luxurious living. Who ever heard of a poor man dying of indigestion? His impoverished condition is beneficial to him. He exercises his body and does not overload it. ‘I have not heard of the just man forsaken nor his descendants begging bread,’⁸⁶ because the man who labors well in his own land has a plentiful supply of food. Take heed, therefore, man of wealth, because you, like the poor man, bear your burden of flesh.

Because your soul is a priceless thing, poor man, be on your guard. The soul is everlasting, although the flesh is mortal. Although you may lack money, you are not therefore devoid of grace. Although your house is not commodious, your possessions are not scattered. The sky is open and the expanse of the world is free. The elements have been granted to all for their common use. Rich and poor alike enjoy the splendid ornaments of the universe.

Are the paneled ceilings decked with gold⁸⁷ in the homes of the very wealthy more beautiful than the face of the heavens decorated with glistening stars? Are the estates of the rich more extensive than the surface of the world? Hence it was said of those who join house to house and estate to estate: ‘Shall you alone dwell in the midst of the earth?’⁸⁸ You have actually a larger house, you man of low estate—a house wherein your call is heard and heeded. ‘O Israel,’ said the Prophet, ‘how great is the house of God and how vast is the place of his possession! It is great and hath no end: it is high and immense.’⁸⁹ The house of God is common to rich and poor. However, ‘with difficulty will a rich man enter the kingdom of heaven.’⁹⁰

Perhaps you resent the fact that ‘the light of golden lamps’⁹¹ do not shine in your home. But how much more brilliant is the suffused light of the moon! In winter you find a cause for complaint that you do not possess a room-heater with its ‘breathing vapors.’⁹² But you possess the heat of the sun, which tempers the surface of the earth and protects you from the cold of winter. Do you really consider those people happy ‘who are attended by a mighty throng’⁹³ of obsequious servants? But those who rely on the feet of others lose by disuse the power of using their own. Hence, only a few of the servitors act as outriders; most of them are needed as bearers.

You may gaze in admiration on their abundance of money: gold and silver. You see how much they have in abundance, but you do not see how much they need. To be able to recline in litters in ivory is, to your mind, the height of luxury. But you do not realize how luxurious a possession is the earth, which spreads its couch of grass for the humble man. Here are sweet repose and gentle sleep—such sleep as the restless owner of a golden bed seeks in vain to attain. How much happier does he consider you to be as you lie there so peacefully! So hard is it for him to invite sleep.

Besides, there is, of course, another aspect which is much more important. I refer to the fact that the just man who is in want here will find abundance yonder and that he who has endured toil here will find elsewhere his consolation. Moreover, whoever has acquired goods here cannot hope to receive there a return for his investment. The poor man saves up his interest, whereas the rich man squanders it.

The poor man and the rich man should therefore take heed, because there are temptations for the man of poverty as well as for the man of wealth. And so the wise man says:⁹⁴ ‘Give me neither beggary nor riches.’ He tells you how this can be attained. Man has enough when he has a sufficiency, because a wealthy man tends to distend his mind with cares and anxieties, just as he gorges his stomach with rich food. For that reason the wise man prays that he may have what is necessary and adequate, saying: ‘Lest perhaps being filled I should be tempted to deny and say, who sees me? Or being compelled by poverty I should steal and forswear the name of the Lord.’

Shun and avoid, therefore, the temptations of the world, so that the poor may not despair and the rich may not grow proud. For it is written, when you have expelled the heathen and have begun to make use of their land: ‘Lest thou shouldst say, my own might and the strength of my own hand have achieved all these things for me.’⁹⁵ Such a one is he who ascribes all his success to his own merits, and hence, feeling self-assured, does not recognize his own errors which drag him with their extended rope afar.⁹⁶ For, if he believes that his acquisition of property is due either to mere chance or to shrewd cunning, there is no occasion for him to feel undue pride in matters to which there is no glory attached, or where the labor results in naught, or where there is evidence of shameless cupidity, which prescribes no limits in its pursuit of pleasure.

Chapter 9

But something must be said on the subject of the human body. Who can deny that it excels all things in grace and beauty? Although it seems in substance to be one and the same with all earthly things, certain wild animals have superiority in strength and size. Yet the form of the human body, by reason of its erectness and stature, is such that it lacks massive hugeness as well as abject lowliness. Moreover, the very appearance of the body is gentle and pleasing without those extremes of size and of insignificance which might lead either to dread or to indifference.

First, let us make note of the fact that the body of man is constructed like the world itself. As the sky is pre-eminent over air, earth, and sea, which serve as members of the world, so we observe that the head has a position above the other members of our body. In the same way, the sky stands supreme among the other elements, just as a citadel amid the other outposts in a city’s defense. In this citadel dwells what might be called regal Wisdom, as stated in the words of the Prophet: ‘The eyes of a wise man are in his head.’⁹⁷ That is to say, this position is better protected than the others and from it strength and prevision are brought to bear on all the rest.

What avail are the strength and vigor of our muscles or the swiftness of our feet without the direction and assistance of the head, its commander-in-chief? From this source comes real support for all the members or their complete abandonment.

To what avail is courage in combat without the aid of the eyes? To what avail is flight, if sight be lacking? The body as a whole may be likened to a dark and filthy prison unless it is illuminated by the visual power of the eye. The eyes in man correspond to the sun and moon in the heavens. The sun and moon are the ‘twin lights of the firmament.’⁹⁸ Our eyes are in our heads like stars which shine aloft and with their bright lights illuminate objects below, thus permitting us to avoid being involved, as it were, in nocturnal darkness. They are our sentries which keep watch day and night. They are aroused from slumber quicker than our other members and on awakening take stock of everything. They are nearer to the brain, the seat of our ability to see.

In answer to those who think that I have made a too hasty descent from the rest of the head in order to praise the eyes, I maintain that it is not unfitting to commend in part that which is most significant in itself. It is clear that the eyes constitute a part of the head. And so with the aid of the eyes the head examines all things. With the ears it lays bare what is secret, obtains knowledge of what is hidden, and hears of events that occur in remote lands.

How gentle and pleasing is the sight of the top of the head, how attractive are its locks of hair, an object of regard for our elders, of reverence for our priests! For warriors, how fear-inspiring, for the young, how pleasing can these locks be, whether arranged becomingly as in the case of women or with the soft sheen of youth! Long hair is unbecoming to one sex; shorn locks do not become the other.

One can learn from trees how charming a human head can be. In the treetop everything stands for fruit, for beauty. The tree’s hair-like foliage shields us from rain storms or protects us from the sun. Take away the tree’s leafy locks and the tree is wholly devoid of beauty. How precious, therefore, is this adornment for the human head! It protects and invests with hair the very center and source of all our senses, the brain, so that it may not be unduly affected by cold or heat! Therein is found the primary source of all our feelings. It is natural that beauty should be the attribute of that which is most sensitive to ill.

What is man without his head, since the totality of man is in his head? When you see a head you recognize a man. If the head is lacking, no recognition is possible. He lies an ignoble trunk, without honor, ‘a nameless corpse.’⁹⁹ Men pay reverence merely to the heads of princes cast in bronze or to their features carved in bronze or marble.¹⁰⁰

Not without reason, therefore, do the other members pay their respects to the head as to their director. They surround it like servants bearing a litter and carry it aloft as something divine. Hence, it has the power of a censor, whereby directions and orders are given to the servants and special instructions are relayed to each individual. You have there a picture of each man willingly and without pay serving his commander-in-chief. Some serve as porters; others take care of the provisions. Some act as bodyguards; others as orderlies. They obey his orders as chief and minister to him as their master. Before him there seems to precede what may be termed the countersign or standing order, whereby the feet are directed to approach a certain region, enjoining what military service the hands should initiate and complete, and what disciplinary orders should be imposed on the stomach in the way of indulgence or abstention from food.

A forehead free, open and with bare temples, adorns the head. According to its appearance one may judge a person’s state of mind, now joyful or sad, now frowning in moments of seriousness or smooth in moments of relaxation, answering in forensic fashion to one’s inmost wish or will. Here we have a image of a mind giving, as it were, expression to words. Here is a foundation for belief, on which daily the name of the Lord is inscribed and preserved.

A two-fold hedge, the eyebrows, are next in order. These serve as a line of defense for the eyes and have a charm to lighten a beautiful smile and at the same time are attentive to their protective function. If any speck of sand or dirt, drops of misty vapor or of streaming sweat should fall down, the eyebrow serves to check it, so that no obstruction can disturb the delicately formed organs of vision.¹⁰¹

Close to these mountain-like eyebrows are arranged the eyes, which are made safer by this bulwark of protection. From their high position they are enabled to perceive all things as if from a loftier stage. A position of less eminence, such as that of the ears, mouth, or cavernous nose, would ill befit the eyes. Watch towers are always placed on high, so that the approach of hostile bands can be detected—bands which are ready to take by surprise a city in the midst of a celebration, together with its people and its proud imperial army.

In this way, too, attacks from robbers may be anticipated, if scouts are placed on walls, towers, or on the brows of a high mountain. From these points the level regions below can be observed where raiding parties can find no hiding place. It happens also at sea that, when the nearness of land is suspected, a lookout eagerly climbs the topmost mast or the high yard arms and announces the sight of a distant land still invisible to the rest of the navigators.

Perhaps you may say that if a watch must necessarily be placed in a high position, why are not the eyes not set in the very top of the head, as in the case of crabs and beetles who have no apparent head, but whose necks and backs are higher than the rest of the body? But these have a tough shell, whereas human beings have a tender covering of skin which can easily be cut and torn by briers and brambles. Moreover, other animals are so constituted that they either can guard their eyes by bending their heads toward their shoulders, as in the case of horses, oxen, and nearly all wild beasts, or turn them, as birds do, toward their wings for complete repose and protection.

It is right that the eyes should be set in the highest part of the body in a sort of citadel, there to defend themselves from all, even from the slightest attacking force.¹⁰² Here we are faced with what appears to be a contradiction. If the eyes were placed in a lower position for reasons of safety, they would be unable to function; if in a higher, they would be exposed to injury. Wherefore, lest anything detract from their usefulness or lest any precaution against injury be not available, God has placed the eyes in a position where the eyebrows above provide no little defense and where the cheeks below contribute their mite of protecting embankment. In addition, the nose offers a covering for the interior position, while the exterior seems to be surrounded by a bulwark of defense in the protuberant masses of forehead and jaw—a structure, notwithstanding its connecting joints, arranged with due evenness and balance.

In the midst of these are found the orbs of the eyes. They are in a secure position for defense. They are free to make observation and, crystal-like, give forth beauty. In their midst are the pupils, which are the organs of sight. To provide for any possible injury, they are encircled with a rampart composed of an orderly arrangement of filaments of hair.

Hence, in requesting help and safety for himself the Prophet says: ‘Keep me, O Lord, as the apple of your eye.’¹⁰³ He asks for the necessary custody and the protection of Him who has deigned to fortify the pupil of the eye with natural palisades. Because innocence and purity may be violated by the intrusion of a slight speck of dust and thus be deprived of the gift of grace, we must for that reason be on our guard lest the dust of error may cloud it or that any speck of sin cause it pain. It is written: ‘First cast out the beam from thy own eye and then wilt thou see clearly to cast out the speck from thy brother’s eye.’¹⁰⁴

Those skilled in the art of medicine maintain, in fact, that the brain is placed in a man’s head for the sake of the eyes and that the other senses of our bodies are housed close together on account of the brain. The brain is the source of our nervous system and of all the sensations of voluntary movement. From it emanates the cause of all that we have discussed. It is the starting point of the arteries and of that natural heat which gives life and warmth to the vital parts. Many are of the opinion that this starting point is the heart. The nerves serve as organs of each of the senses. These proceed from the brain like cords and musical strings. They fulfill their individual functions throughout the various parts of the body.

Hence, the brain, because it is the gathering point of all the senses, is softer than the other organs. From it emanate the nerves which report everything; for example, what the eye sees and what the ear hears, what odor has been perceived, and what sound the tongue has given forth or what taste the mouth has experienced. That which is softer is more susceptible to impressions. The harder quality of the nervous system, which results in a certain tautness, makes for more efficacy in action.

The sense of hearing has also a highly important function, nearly on a par with that of sight. The ears are rather prominent for this and for several other reasons. They serve a decorative purpose and, secondly, are in the way of anything, moist or otherwise, which may fall from the top of the head. Again, their commodiousness makes it possible for them to receive in their recesses repercussions of sound without the danger of injuring the interior structure. If this were not the case how astonished we would be at the intrusion of any sound or of a voice stronger than usual! Even with our present organs of hearing are we not often benumbed by an unexpected burst of sound? You may note the fact however that they present a bulwark against bitter cold and burning heat. The open passage ways are impenetrable to these same attacks, whether from severity of cold or excess of heat.

The sinuous quality of the interior part of the ear furnishes a basis for training in modulation, since a certain rhythmic movement follows from the natural windings of the ear. The entry of a sound of a voice results, too, in specific tonal modifications. Again, our own experience tells us that such a sinuous character of the ear tends to better receptivity of the spoken word. We see that the voice is rendered gentler and sweeter in situations where we hear an echo in the mountain hollows, in rocky caves, or along winding streams.¹⁰⁵ Not without its usefulness, too, is the wax in the ear. It helps to keep the voice intact, a result which at one and the same time aids the memory and is a source of pleasure.

What shall I say of the form of the nose, which offers for the perception of odors a cave-like structure with its two distended openings? The odor does not pass through in indifferent fashion, but stays long within, so that by this procedure it is able to satisfy fully the brain and the senses. It frequently happens that a transient aroma may continue to stay with you for an entire day. Through the nose, too, flow purgaments issuing from the head in such a way that the body is not adversely affected in the process.

The sense of touch is not without its significance. It represents the keenest sort of pleasure and gives as well an honest report of facts. Frequently, we are able to prove by touch what we cannot do with the aid of the eyes.

Finally, there remain the functions of the mouth and tongue, which furnish strength to all the others. The eyes would not have the power of vision without the substantial basis of physical force provided by food and drink. The ears, nose, and hands would not be capable of hearing, smelling and touching, if the whole body were not sustained by nourishment. Our strength declines unless it is restored by continued absorption of adequate food. For that reason, those exhausted by hunger have no sensation of pleasure in the use of the senses. Not being, as it were, participants,¹⁰⁶ they have no part in the predilections of these senses.

What shall I say of the rampart of teeth built for the mastication of food and for the full expression of the human voice? Without teeth, what pleasure would our daily sustenance give us? Hence we note that in this respect there is often a clear indication that old age has been reached. Because of the loss of teeth, really nourishing food cannot be assimilated.

The tongue, too, fulfills a most important function in eating as well as in speaking. It acts like a plectrum or quill¹⁰⁷ in the production of speech. It might be compared to a hand in the process of bringing to the action of the teeth the food particles that otherwise would tend to fall. Speech has its special function. It is carried through the void on the wings of the air which is affected by this impulsive force, at once stirring and calming the emotions of the hearer, pacifying the angry, lifting up the down-hearted, and consoling the grief-stricken. Granted that man shares his vocal powers with the birds,¹⁰⁸ there is, nevertheless, nothing in the irrational animals which can be equated with the sound of the human voice, provided, as it is, with rational powers.

We share, in fact, with the rest of living beings the ordinary sense channels, but they do not make use of them in the same way we do. The heifer raises her eyes to the sky, but she is unaware of what she sees. This is true, also, of wild animals and birds. All living things have the same liberty to see, but man alone has the will to interpret what he perceives. He gazes at the rising and the setting of the celestial signs. He sees the glory of the sky and marvels at the starry orbs. He is aware of the diverse aspect of each star. He knows when the evening and the morning star arise and why they appear at these times. The movements of Orion, as well as the phases of the moon, are well known to him. He understands how ‘the sun knows the hour of its setting’¹⁰⁹ and how it preserves its allotted course with due regularity.

Other living beings also have the power of hearing, but who other than man acquires knowledge by the sense of hearing? Man alone of all terrestrial beings is able by listening, reflection, and wisdom to gather the secrets of knowledge. He is able to say: ‘I will hear what the Lord God will speak to me.’¹¹⁰ The most important of all things is this: Man becomes the organ of the voice of God and gives utterance with his corporeal lips to the oracular words from heaven, such as: ‘Cry. What shall I cry? All flesh is grass.’¹¹¹ He heard what he ought to say and he cried aloud.

Let those who mark out with a compass the regions of the sky and of the earth keep their wisdom for themselves. Let them have that knowledge of which the Lord speaks: ‘The wisdom of the prudent I will reject.’¹¹² Neither the rhythm of a speech nor the tones and notes of musical science will enter into my discussion at this point. I shall confine myself to that wisdom of which the Prophet speaks: ‘The uncertain and hidden things of thy wisdom thou hast made manifest to me.’¹¹³

What shall I say of the kiss which is a symbol of affection and love? Doves exchange kisses, but what is this compared to the charm of a kiss of a human being in which the note of friendliness and kindliness is conspicuous, and where is expressed the indubitable sense of our sincerest affection?

Hence the Lord, condemning His betrayer as a species of monstrosity, says: ‘Judas, dost thou betray the Son of Man with a kiss?’¹¹⁴ That is to say, changing the emblem of love into a sign of betrayal and to a revelation of unfaithfulness, are you employing this pledge of peace for the purpose of cruelty? And thus by the oracular voice of God reproof is given to him who by the bestial conjunction of lips bestows a sentence of death rather than a covenant of love.

It is worthy of note, too, that it is given to men alone to express with their lips what they feel in their hearts. Hence we make evident our tacit mental reflections with the speech that flows from our lips. What is the mouth of man but an avenue for discourse, a fount of disputation, a reception hall for words, a repository of the will?

We have now completed our general discussion of the human body. It can be compared to a royal palace, which, though it has a number of adjoining halls, still preserves the appearance of a unified whole.

To come down to particulars, there is the throat or neck through which vital contacts are made with the whole body and through which, too, the coursing flow of this breath of ours is poured.

Next we have the arms, and the strong fore-arm muscles, together with the hands strong for action and adaptable for holding objects by reason of their prolonged fingers. Hence that greater aptitude for work, that elegance in writing, and that ‘pen of the scrivener that writeth swiftly,’¹¹⁵ whereby the oracles of God are set down in writing. It is the hand that serves the mouth with food. Great are the deeds for which the hand is eminent. The hand is placed on the holy altars as conciliator of divine grace. Through it we offer as well as partake in the celestial sacraments. It is the hand which performs and at the same time dispenses the divine mysteries. The Son of God did not disdain to declare by the mouth of David: ‘The right hand of the Lord hath wrought strength: the right hand of the Lord hath exalted me.’¹¹⁶ It is the hand which has created all things, as the omnipotent God has said: ‘Did not my hand make all these things?’¹¹⁷ The hand is the outpost of the entire body, as well as the defender of the head. Although it is lower in position, the hand serves to decorate and beautify the top of the head with becoming adornments.

Who can worthily describe the wicker-work of the chest¹¹⁸ or the tenderness of the stomach? If it were not for these, the more delicate internal organs could not be protected and the folds of the intestines would undoubtedly be injured by the hard structure of bone. What is more conducive to health than that the lungs should hold a position contiguous to the heart? When the heart flares up with anger and indignation, it can soon be moderated by the action of the blood and vapor in the lungs. Again, the lungs are tender because they are ever filled with moisture so as to offset immediately the rigidity induced by indignation.

We have set forth these matters in a fashion so brief and succinct that we seem, in the manner of the unskilled, just to touch on the merely obvious. Our purpose is not to probe deeply like a physician nor is it our design to search into what is hidden far in the haunts of nature.

The close association of the spleen and the liver leads to good results. The spleen absorbs what it feeds on, eliminates whatever refuse is found there. The result is that whatever food is left is able in its liquified condition to pass through the very fine fibers of the liver and is then transformed into blood. This serves to produce vital strength and is not evacuated with the excrements of the body.

The construction of the intestines with their involved folds, woven without entanglement one with the other, indicates nothing else but the divine providence of the Creator, inasmuch as food particles neither pass quickly through the stomach nor are they immediately evacuated. If this were to happen, men would have an incessant hunger and continuous craving for food. For, when the interior is emptied and drained at the moment when the food is being immediately evacuated, an inordinate and insatiable desire for food and drink must necessarily follow—a result which without question may lead to an early death.

It is providentially designed, therefore, that the food be first digested in the upper ventricle and next be liquified in the exhalation of the liver. The resulting fluid is then transfused into the rest of the body. Our limbs are nourished by this substance, providing growth for the young and endurance for the old. The superfluous residue is carried through the intestines and finds its exit by the customary ‘door in the side.’¹¹⁹

In Genesis it is fittingly stated that the ark of Noe, was formed in the fashion of the human body. Of the ark God said: ‘Make thee an ark of timber planks. Thou shalt make little rooms and thou shalt pitch it within and without.’ The outward appearance was as follows: ‘The door in the ark thou shalt set in the side with lower, middle chambers and third stories shalt thou make it.’¹²⁰ By this the Lord meant that ‘the door set in the side’ was to be the place through which superfluous food was to be ejected. It is fitting, also, that the channel for refuse was placed by the Creator remote from man’s countenance, so that, when we bend over, our countenance may not be contaminated. At the same time, take note of the fact that the shameful parts of the body are placed there where they cannot cause us shame when they are suitably covered with clothing.

The pulsation of the veins is a messenger either of infirmity or of health. Although the veins are spread throughout the entire body, they are neither exposed nor uncovered. They are sheathed in such a slight coating of flesh that one can easily find then and as readily feel them. There is no thick covering of flesh which can conceal them from view. The bones, too, are all covered with a thin coating of flesh and are bound with the tendons. Those on the top of the head have the advantage of being covered with a thin skin. They are clothed, also, with a thick growth of hair, the better to provide protection against rain and cold.

What shall I say of the genitals, which from the veins in the region of the neck through the reins and loins receive the generating seed destined for the function and satisfaction of procreation?

What shall I say of the purpose of the legs, which, without suffering any ill effects, are sufficient to sustain the weight of the whole body? The knee has a certain flexibility, by reason of which the offended master is especially appeased, his ire softened, and his favors induced. This is the gift of the most high Father to His Son: ‘That in the name of the Lord every knee should bend of those in heaven, on earth and under the earth and every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus is in the glory of God the Father.’¹²¹

There are two things which above all others give delight to God: humility and faith. The leg expresses the emotion of humility and the submission of constant service. Faith makes the Son equal to the Father and makes evident that the same glory belongs to each.

That man should have two legs and not more is altogether fitting. Wild animals and beasts have four legs, while birds possess two. Hence man has kinship with the winged flock in that with his vision he aims at what is high. He flies as if ‘on the oarage of wings’¹²² by reason of the sagacity of his sublime senses. Hence it was said of him: ‘Your youth is renewed like the eagle’s,’¹²³ because he is near what is celestial and is higher than the eagle, as one who can say: ‘But our citizenship is in heaven.’¹²⁴

Chapter 10

But now we seem to have reached the end of our discourse, since the sixth day is completed and the sum total of the work of the world has been concluded. There has taken place, in fact, the creation of man himself, who holds the principate over every living thing and is what might be called the summation of the universe and the delight of every creature in the world.

Surely we should now make our contribution of silence, since God has rested from the work of the world.¹²⁵ He found repose in the deep recesses of man, in man’s mind and purpose, for He had made man with the power of reasoning, an imitator of Himself, a striver after virtue, and one eager for heavenly grace. God finds comfort in these traits, as His own testimony declares: ‘Or on whom shall I find repose but on him who is humble and peaceful and who trembles at my words?’¹²⁶

I give thanks to our Lord God, who made a work of such a nature that He could find rest therein. He made the heavens. I do not read that He rested. He made the earth. I do not read that He rested. He made the sun, moon, and stars. I do not read that He found rest there. But I do read that He made man and then found rest in one whose sins He would remit.

It may well be that He had given a symbolic picture then of the future Passion of the Lord, thus revealing that in man one day Christ would find repose. He anticipated for Himself repose [of death] in the body for the redemption of mankind, as He declares in His own words: ‘I have slept and taken my rest and I have risen up, because the Lord hath protected me.’¹²⁷ He, the Creator, rested. To Him be honor, praise, and glory everlasting from the beginning of time, now, always, and for ever. Amen.

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