The sixteenth letter is Ain, whose interpretation is "Eye" or "Fountain." The eye is used for the function of seeing, but often we see things that please us and often things that displease us. However, the eye is neither to blame nor praised for the quality of the things it sees. The eye's duty is to convey what it sees. It can be either offended or pleased by sweet or adverse things. Therefore, the eye is often called the eye of punishment, the eye of temptation, the eye of the goat, the eye of the calf, the eye of generation, or the fountain of generation.
We read in the Gospel that John was baptizing at Ennon (John 3:23). Ennon is interpreted as the eye of punishments. Therefore, no one comes to baptism unless they desire their own sins to be forgiven, and they dread the punishments of those sins in their prudent heart. Therefore, although it is called the eye of punishments, it is the punishments of the foreseeing, not of the enduring: although it has some tolerance of the reception of punishments in the baptism of penance. The function of the eyes is to serve for looking: it is your job to take care of what you see.
3. Finally, the eye is said to be a temptation, because we are often tempted through the eyes. The eye is the snare of the prostitute, the trap of the lover. But the eye does not commit any sin; therefore the statement of the Savior is full of justice, saying: Whoever looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matthew 5:28). He did not say: Whoever looks at a woman, but looks at her to lust after her. The eye is absolved, the mind is bound. He did not say: He has committed adultery with her in his eye, but in his heart. In the eye it is seen, in the heart sin.
The eye of the shepherd is on the left; so that he may not see the things on the right, which are sinful. But the holy one says: I always see the Lord in front of me, because He is on my right, so that I may not be moved (Psalm XV, 8). And to the holy apostle Peter, when he had caught nothing all night, as we read in the Gospel, the Savior said: Cast the nets to the right side of the boat (John XXI, 6). Therefore, trusting in heavenly commands, he cast the nets and gathered a great number of fish. On the left was the night: on the right, the brightness of divine discourse shone like day.
5. And there is also the eye of a calf: which is equally attributed to sinners; because just as with a constant yoke, calves draw iniquities, not breaking or cutting off their own, but pulling sin with a long rope. For an untamed calf eventually becomes tame, and pulls the yoke, but does not bear it; because it is impatient to be held: and the longer it pulls, the more it is hindered.
The eye is also called the source of generation or the fountain of generation because either good or bad things are generated from the sight of the eyes. You have seen the beauty of a woman, praised the work of the artist, the charm of nature: the generation of faith, devotion is the offspring. You were content with the beauty of her form, not motivated by wealth, you took her as your wife, and you begot children of a more generous grace: the eye was the source of prosperity for you. You contempltated the sacred girl, your eyes were pressed with the august reverence of chastity: you preached the Lord Jesus, who gave an old man the gravitas of youth in his young age, and infused an immaculate life amidst the seductions of this frail flesh with human desires: he is the fountain of good things. You have seen the possessions of orphans, not to invade them, but to protect them; and you have groaned with paternal compassion, if you noticed any neglect regarding the welfare of the minor. You have repelled those who wanted to invade their boundaries; you have judged on behalf of the orphan. Your eye has been the source and origin of justice. You have judged the widow (for just as a counterfeit coin is not a real coin, so a corrupt judgement is not truly a judgement). Therefore, you have judged as a just and good judge. You have seen the wicked usurper, who thought a defenseless woman was his plunder. You have not tolerated injustice; you have provided assistance to the vulnerable, so that with your support she could carry out her chaste works without being compelled to seek marital aid. The Lord says to you: Come, let us reason together (Isaiah 1:18). Because you judged the widow, your eye became a fountain of grace for you. You saw the naked body of a poor man lying dead, and you did not pass by like the priest and the Levite in the Gospel (Luke 10:31-32), but immediately had compassion and entrusted him to the consolation of burial: your eye has become the source of redemption.
7. Against a field gaze where widow planted vineyards, happy with crops, shady with woods, or running with rivers, or bursting with springs, or pleasant with grassy banks, and inflamed by the torches of avarice you moved the boundaries of the fathers and wickedly rushed into defenseless possession: your eye has created for you the bitter fruit of perpetual death. You have violated the rights of a nearby widow: you have compelled her, who ought to cherish her sorrow or shame within closed walls, to burst into public view, to litigate more shamelessly than unjustly: your eye has become the offspring of injustice. You saw the needy with a proud eye and an insatiable heart: you despised the prayer of the poor and passed over the one whom you should have had mercy on with disdain: your eye was a source and origin of sin.
Therefore let your eyes not be eyes of a wolf, and do not lie in wait for prey, but as it is said of the Bride: Your eyes are like pools in Heshbon, by the gates of the daughter of many: your nostrils are like the tower of Lebanon (Song of Songs 7:4). What is pools in Heshbon, if not the abundance in rational thoughts, which is in the gates of the Church, to which the multitude of teaching is rightly attributed? For the daughter of many has become the offspring of many teachings, and her nostrils excel with the fragrance of all sacrifices. For what is more sublime than the fragrance of Christ, who abolished the burning of incense? Therefore, let that eye foresee what is to come: and if it foresees adversities approaching, let it not cease to soften and mitigate with weeping and tears.
Therefore, Jeremiah, placed in captivity by the Judean people, foreseeing the future torment of perpetual captivity, which the people of Judah held to be paid by their treachery, said in Lamentations under this same letter: In this, I weep, my eyes have grown dim from weeping; because the one who used to console me has been taken far away from me (Lam. 1:15-16). Therefore, he was not grieving being taken away from his land, but rather being abandoned by Christ and losing the consolation of future life. This is truly a lamentable captivity, which seemed to have been deprived of eternal hope. In another place, under the same letter, he repeated in the Lamentations, saying: The Lord has accomplished what He has planned, His word that He commanded from ancient days. He has destroyed and has not spared, and He has made the enemy rejoice over you, and has exalted the horn of your oppressor (Lam. II, 17). Is it not clearly announcing the future judgment of Christ, as it is certain to be declared in the present psalm as well? Therefore, the eye should foresee what is to come, and either divert it with a lavish flow of tears or correct it with retribution. Finally, Jeremiah wept; because he had taken up the wicked cause of the impious people, who, with the stubbornness of treachery, denied their own author.
10. (Verse 121.) But David, foreseeing the judgment of Christ by the prophetic spirit, in which no innocent person will be endangered; no wicked person will escape, relying on a good conscience, says: I have done judgment and justice: do not hand me over to the wicked. He does not praise himself in a boastful or insolent manner, since as a skilled expert in the law, he was well aware that each person should be praised by the words of others rather than by their own. I say, there is no boasting here of the virtues preached, but rather an assertion of an innocent life by right; lest he be deemed worthy to be abandoned by the Lord because of serious sins, and handed over to the power of the wicked. Therefore, defense is not arrogance, when not any degree of honor is assumed, but formidable hardship is repelled. Lastly, Peter uses this kind of defense, saying: Behold, we have left everything and followed you: what therefore shall be for us? (Matthew 19:27). In which if any blemish of arrogant speech had been present, not only would he have attributed the sentence of grace from the Lord and Savior, but also he himself would not be subjected to judgment, but would also proclaim judgment concerning the merits of others. For indeed in a trial, if someone were to disclose what they had done for the sake of defending their innocence, it would be considered as boasting rather than a defense of their case. It is one thing to declare something worthy of reward, and another thing to declare something deserving of injury.
And yet that very same philosopher, as they say, when he was accused, was asked what punishment he deemed himself worthy of, and is said to have responded that he should be welcomed to a daily feast at the public banquets. He claimed the honor, while avoiding the hardship. He arrogated the glory, while maintaining humility. For what greater humility can there be than to fear being handed over to the power of the devil, being conscious of one's own judgment and reserved justice? He knew himself to be a man, unequal to the war against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places: He knows Enoch to have been raptured, lest his heart be changed by malice: Noah intoxicated, Lot defiled, the first priest Aaron tempted with his own sister Mary, Mary sprinkled with leprous spots first, then cured: Moses nearly destroyed, if not for the circumcision of his son and the casting of his wife's blood, Sephora, which averted all danger from him. Therefore, having been warned by these examples, he does not at all trust in his own strength: but cautious humility, by praying, appropriates divine help to himself, seeking not to be handed over to the wicked.
12. For he knows that the prince is the author of all the sins of the world. He himself divides the affections of individuals driven by the stimulus of their neighbors' anger: he himself kindles the flame of desire: he himself fuels the desires of greed, so that the more we seize, the more we desire: he himself suggests and supplies the fuel for luxury: he himself exacerbates hatred and inflames excessive ambition. This vice, which is gentle at the beginning, becomes cruel in its progress and cannot be recalled by contemplating brotherly harmony. While he grieves that divine grace is preferred to him, he goes from sacrifice to parricide. Therefore, the Apostle teaches that the instigator of this is the devil: Lest he tempt you by reason of your incontinence (I Cor. VII, 5). Likewise, we read that he is the instigator of covetousness, with Paul saying: They that will become rich, fall into temptation, and into the snare of the devil (I Tim. VI, 9). And elsewhere: Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanliness, lust, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry (Coloss. III, 5). For we carry out the will of the devil, and we exercise his power, who works through the desires of this flesh as the stimulus of his deceit.
Therefore, whoever finds someone in possession of his vices, he claims them as subject to his authority. He commits adultery, engages in excess, and steals from others; he belongs to the devil. But the chaste, self-controlled, and merciful belong to Christ. Therefore, one cannot claim a servant of Christ for oneself, unless perhaps he has been caught in vices. Even then, he does not claim him, but rather requests that he be handed over to himself. Therefore, David says: I have done judgment and justice, not to arrogate, but to excuse; so that a sinner may not be deserted by Christ. Let an example be given to us from the apostolic reading for this reason. For I have delivered to Satan the man who has had his father's wife, because he has acted in this way, says the Apostle (I Cor. V, 4 and 5): therefore, he would not have been delivered unless he had done the works of the devil. Hence, it is not undeservedly that the prophet refuses to be delivered to the guilty, who alleges that he has not done the works of the devil, but of Christ; for Christ says: Judge the orphan, and justify the widow (Esai. I, 17). Therefore this is what I did: I executed judgment and justice, I did not despise the poor in their cause, I did not oppress the widow, I did not receive bribes from the rich, I preserved justice in all my works.
14. The end of judgment is justice. In one, the custody of truth; in the other, the fruit of equity. Both are virtues not for private benefit, but for the public good. For to preserve an unpolluted body from sexual mixing and to carry the palm of chastity, unsoiled, in the body until the conversation of angels is the custody of integrity, private benefit, public praise: to be frugal and modest, and to keep the measure of sober parsimony, is proven by many, but profits only oneself. Fortitude excels in battles, but grows cold in peace: its work is necessary in times of need, but undesirable in times of preference; for people prefer not to fight rather than to conquer. Only justice is the one that, at all times, protects the interests of others more than its own, through daily use and public benefit, at its own expense: it provides no utility, but earns the most praise. This is the virtue that the Prophet presents to commend his merit, saying: I have done judgment and justice: do not deliver me to the wicked. Where there is justice, there is mercy. Mercy delivers from sin. So how am I delivered to sinners? Similar to that in the Song of Songs: I have taken off my tunic, how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet, how shall I defile them? (Song of Songs 5:3-4) I have taken off the tunic of the sinner and the veil of the earthly: why am I judged as a sinner and worldly? I have washed my feet, so that no lot of wrongdoing could adhere to the footprints: why do you give power to those who sin against me?
15. (Verse 122.) It follows: Receive your servant in good: let not the proud slander me. As one conscious of judgment and justice, he proceeds with prophetic authority; so that he does not hesitate to call himself a servant of the Lord: for a servant of the Lord owes nothing to others. This is a precious servitude, which is based on the expenses of virtues. But why does he fear being handed over to the wicked? He clearly exposes it; because they are slanderers, who hate the truth: they attack innocence, because they are proud. For what proud enemy can there be against the servants of God, who exalts himself against God and says: I will ascend into heaven, I will place my seat above the stars of heaven: I will sit on a lofty mount, above the high mountains that are from the north: I will ascend above the clouds, and I will be like the Most High (Isaiah 14:13-14)? Therefore, it is not surprising if he can burden men, who with obstinate spirit do not yield to God. How then will he preserve the measure of truth and faith in man, who promises himself to be equal to the Almighty Lord with blasphemous and shameless falsehood? How he falsely accuses individuals, who has amazed the whole earth, shaken kings, laid waste the entire world, and destroyed cities: he did not release those who were in captivity.
Let us beware, therefore, lest he destroy the walls of our soul, lest he demolish the defenses of our mind, lest he set his throne above the stars. He sets it above the stars when he deceives the chosen, when he circumvents the just, whose works shine like stars in the sky. Did not even Judas the betrayer hear among the others: You are the light of the world (Matt. 5:14)? Did not the devil extinguish his light? Moreover, those whom he could not deceive, he slanders, envying the glory of the heavenly kingdom; so that those whom he could not separate from Christ with his enticements, he may try to defraud of the fruit of their deserved honor with his slanders. Let us therefore flee from wicked slanderers, who commit sin against us, and themselves compose the most harmful accusations, reproaching us for what they themselves have done. Look, the hand of the Lord is ready, which will protect and defend you as you flee from your adversaries. Pharaoh held you captive in pride and cruelty, but you escaped from him; the hand of the Lord took you in and delivered you from danger. Pharaoh would not have released you unless you had fled to the Lord. Pharaoh said: 'I do not know the Lord, and I do not let Israel go.' (Exodus 5:2). You see how proud he is? Therefore, he is rightly received in good, who avoids evil. Therefore, God does not tolerate us being in evil: He receives us in good; nor does He allow His people to be subjected to slander.
17. (Verse 123.) My eyes have failed in your salvation, and in the word of your justice. Consider who these eyes are, who fail in Christ while awaiting his coming, namely, the eyes of the soul, not of the body, fixed with complete faithfulness; for we are preoccupied with the one we love, with our whole being, and nothing else brings us delight. Only someone who turns away all the intention of their mind from worldly anxieties and secular pleasures can say this. For how does he say this, who is occupied with theatrical deceptions? But he says this, who said above: Turn away my eyes, that they may not see vanity (Sermon 5, verse 37). But who are the eyes that fail in speaking of God, if not the eyes of the inner man, the gaze of the soul, which strive to see the word of God, and by excessive attention and expectation fail in embracing the salvation of God, patiently enduring their own deficiency, so that they may receive what belongs to the word?
18. And because the word of God can move many people, He added: the word of righteousness; so that it should not fail to move. However, it was able to move, because it is written: The greater will serve the lesser (Gen. XXV, 23). For unless you understand the mystery, it is an injury to nature. And, I gave you precepts that were not good (Ezech. XX, 25). Therefore, God gives evil precepts. And, I am the Lord who creates evil (Esai. XLV, 7). But the solution to the precepts is this: because He should not have given perfect precepts to the weak, who could not endure them. When the Jew heard: 'Go, sell what you possess... and follow me' (Matt. XIX, 21)? When the Jew heard: 'Whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me' (Matt. X, 38)? But these more perfect precepts have been reserved for the Gospel. And God did not create evil, but those things which seem harsh to us, such as hardships, beatings, death, and other things that are prescribed for the correction of the wicked. For the just, indeed, no law is imposed, but for the unjust. For if guilty people feared nothing, innocent people would always be afraid.
Therefore, who are these eyes that fail in the salvation of God? We have said that it is the eye of punishment, which foresees the future punishments of sinners and announces the need for repentance. John the Baptist demonstrated this eye, saying: 'You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Therefore, produce fruit worthy of repentance' (Luke 3:7-8). People came to John's baptism, who had the eye of punishment; but they came to Christ's baptism, who sees grace. For this is the eye which gazes upon and protects the shadow of the Lord's passion. Therefore, one thing is Ennon, another is Ain. In Ennon, one who is conscious of grave sins is baptized; but one who has a pure eye receives spiritual grace. And perhaps the eye of an imperfect soul is one of punishments; but the eye of a perfect soul is purer and more sincere, which is signified by this letter to which it is directed in the proper form; for the imperfect desires only to avoid the judgment of sin, but the perfect desires to acquire the reward of the heavenly kingdom. However, we presume that each soul has both an eye of punishment and an eye of grace: the left eye of punishment and the right eye of grace; because humans cannot be perfect from the beginning, but they ascend through the process of virtue. Therefore, before each soul comes, as it were, to the baptism of John, in order to precede the repentance of sins; and gradually, in the process, when it has wept for its sins, having been cleansed by the spiritual baptism, it receives the sacrament of Christ. And it seems to be preached in the Song of Songs that the Church, to whom it is said: You have captured our heart, my sister, my Spouse, you have captured our heart with one of your eyes (Cant. IV, 9); so that this eye of grace may be, which has acquired a fuller charity of Christ to itself.
However, most people understand in this place that the Church has two eyes: one that sees the mystical things and another that sees the moral things; because the holy Church holds not only the discipline of morals, but also teaches the secret mysteries of heaven. Therefore, it has been said of her: Your eyes are like doves, outside of your silence, which means that she both sees spiritually and knows the time to be silent and the time to speak; so that in due time she may speak her word, lest by being too importunate in speaking, she may incur the sin of impertinence in speech.
Therefore, the dove has eyes like Christ, because it is said of Him: Your eyes are like doves beside the streams of water, bathed in milk, sitting beside a full pool (Cant. V, 12). The Lord baptizes in milk, that is, in sincerity. And these are the ones who are truly baptized in milk, who believe without deceit and bring pure faith, that they may receive spotless grace. Therefore, the pure bride ascends to Christ, because she was baptized in milk. Therefore the Virtues and Powers marvel at her, saying: Who is this that rises up white (Cant. VIII, 7)? Just a little while ago she said, I am black (Cant. I, 4): now she is seen as white and rises up to heaven, and supported by the Word of God, she reaches great heights. Not undeservedly is there an abundance of waters there, where Christ is; so that the human soul may desire to be filled. The deer thirsts for these waters, and when it drinks them, it cannot thirst anymore. The Prophet thirsted for these waters when he said: My soul thirsts for you (Psal. XLI, 3). Therefore Christ sits upon an abundance of waters, and upon fullness. And for this reason, he who is baptized in milk says: And we have all received from his fullness (John 1:16). Hence, the eye of punishments is not separate from the Church; for although John was baptizing in Ennon, he was baptizing near Salim, where there was an abundance of waters, twelve fountains, and seventy palm trees (John 3:25).
The Church has these fountains, that is, in the Old Testament, the twelve patriarchs, and in the new, the twelve apostles. Therefore it is said: In the Church let us bless the Lord God from the fountains of Israel (Psalm 67:27). Whoever attains the holy mysteries of Christ is washed before these fountains; for these fountains flow from the eternal fountain throughout the whole world. Where these fountains are, there is the ascent of souls. Finally, Salim is interpreted as 'He who ascends.' For he truly ascends who lays aside his own sins. Therefore, with this word, the use of purification and sanctification is expressed. Hence, Christ also says well in the Song of Songs to the Church: Your teeth are like a flock of shorn ewes that have come up from the washing, all of whom bear twins, and none is barren among them (Song of Songs 4:2). This is said in appearance about goats, but mystically about the flock of the Church.
23. And let those animals not seem cheap to you. Finally, listen to what the Holy Spirit says about them: Your hair is like a flock of goats, which have appeared from Mount Gilead. Your teeth are like a flock of shorn sheep, which have come up from the washing (Song of Solomon 6:4 and 6:7). You see that this flock grazes on high places, fearless on the mountain. So where others have danger, there is no danger for the goats: where others have danger, there is nourishment for this flock, there is sweeter food, there are choicer fruits. They are seen hanging from the bushy rock by their shepherds: there the attacks of wolves cannot happen, there fruitful trees provide abundant fruit. It is possible to see them, full with rich milk, caring tenderly for their young with maternal affection. Therefore, the Holy Spirit chose them to prepare the assembly of the venerable Church.
24. And so that you may hear mystically: the crown of the Word is the height and excellence of righteous souls, for the understanding of the wise is in their head. For it is certain that wisdom is in the height of human thought. And just as goats are shorn to remove what is unnecessary, so too the holy Church has a flock of shorn souls, that is, the virtues of many souls, in which flock you cannot find anything insensitive, nothing excessive; for faith has made the wise, and spiritual grace has cleansed them from all excess.
25. Therefore, the souls of the righteous have been rightly revealed, and revealed from the mount of Gilead, that is, from the transmigration of testimony; because the heavenly testimony migrated from the Synagogue to the Church. On this mountain, therefore, thyme, resin, and other fragrances are born, which those merchants, the Ishmaelites, brought as you have in the first book of the Old Testament. The Church has these fragrances, which the merchants gathered from the nations, carried with faith and devotion. Therefore, just as goats, having been nourished by good food and thriving in the warmth of the sun, are washed in the river, and joyfully emerge clean from the water: so too, the souls of the righteous ascend from the spiritual cleansing.