Chapter I. (Sermo VI)
The reader is prepared for a correct understanding of the creation of the sun, and for refuting idolatry in relation to it; therefore, he establishes a comparison between the sun and its creator, and examines the order in which it was created, with an elegant personification of the earth.
When someone gathers the harvest, they are accustomed to cleaning the vessels in which the wine is poured beforehand, so that any stain does not take away from the beauty of the wine. For what benefit is it to plant the vine in rows, to dig it up every year, to draw furrows with plows, to prune, to graft onto elms, and to join in a certain union, if the wines acquired with so much labor are allowed to spoil in the vessel? Also, if someone desires to gaze at the rising of the morning sun, they clean their eyes; so that no dust, no impurity, settles in their eyes, which drink in the sight; and so that no hazy darkness obstructs the bodily sight of the viewer. We must be awakened by the sun in our reading, which was not there before. We have now spent the first day without the sun: the second day we have spent without the sun: the third day we have completed without the sun: on the fourth day God commands the luminaries, the sun, and the moon, and the stars to be made. The sun begins to cleanse the eyes of the mind, O man, and the inner sight of the soul, so that no mote of sin may blind the acuteness of your understanding, and disturb the vision of your pure heart. Cleanse your ear, so that you may receive in a pure vessel the bright streams of the divine Scripture, free from any contamination. The sun proceeds with its great mane, filling the world with great light, and heating with its warmth. Beware, O man, of considering only its magnitude; lest the excessive brightness of its appearance blinds the sight of your mind; just as one who looks directly into its rays, loses sight of everything suddenly due to the reflected light; and unless he turns his face and eyes towards other parts, he thinks he sees nothing and is cheated of the gift of vision; but if he averts his gaze, he continues to perform his complete duty. Therefore, be careful that the rising sun does not confuse your gaze. And for this reason, first behold the firmament of the heavens, which was made before the sun: behold the earth, which before the sun advanced, began to be visible and composed: behold its germs before the light of the sun. The beetle is older than the sun, the grass is older than the moon. Therefore, do not believe in God, to whom you see the gifts of God to be preferred. Three days have passed, and no one has sought the sun, and the brightness of the light has abounded. For it also has its own light, which precedes the sun. Therefore, do not rashly commit yourself to such great splendor of the sun. For it is the eye of the world, the delight of the day, the beauty of the sky, the grace of nature, the excellence of creation.
2. But when you see this, consider its author: when you marvel at this, praise first the creator himself. If the sun, a partner and sharer of creation, is so pleasing, how good is that sun of justice! If this one is so swift, to roam all things with swift courses day and night, how great is he who is everywhere always, and with his majesty fills all things? If the one who is commanded to go forth is admirable, how much more above admiration is he who speaks to the sun, and it does not rise, as we read (Job IX, 7)? If someone is great who travels to different places every day by the hour, what can be said of someone who even when he empties himself so that we can see him, is the true light that enlightens every person coming into this world? If he is the most excellent one, who often suffers setbacks for the sake of the world; how majestic is he who says: 'Once more I will shake the earth' (Haggai 2:6)? The earth hides him; its motion cannot endure unless supported by the substance of his will. If it is a loss for a blind person to not see the grace of the sun; how much more is it a loss for a sinner, deprived of the gift of true light, to endure the darkness of perpetual night?
Therefore, when you see the sun, pay attention to the earth, which was founded before it: pay attention to the grass of the fen, which surpasses by the privilege of its order: pay attention to the trees, which applaud because they began to exist before the luminaries of the sky. Is the worth of the fen greater than that of the sun? Or is the prerogative of the tree more valuable? Far be it from us to prefer the minister to the sensible objects of such a great gift. Therefore, what did the height of the wisdom and knowledge of God foresee, that the trees would begin to exist before those two luminaries of the world and certain heavenly eyes of the firmament; unless it was so that they would know, by the divine testimony of reading, that the earth can be fruitful without the sun? For just as the first seeds of things were able to germinate without the sun, they are certainly able to nourish the seeds they have received and produce offspring with their own sustenance without the heat of the sun.
Therefore, with this certain voice, nature proclaims of its own gifts: the sun is indeed good, but by service, not by command; he is a good helper of my fertility, but not the creator; he is a good nourisher of my fruits, but not the author. Sometimes he himself burns my offspring; frequently he himself is a detriment to me, leaving me destitute in many places. I am not ungrateful for his preservation; he has been given to me for use, he is entrusted to my labor, he is subjected to my vanity, he is subjected to my corruption, and he serves me in slavery. He groans with me, he labors with me, so that the adoption of sons may come, and the redemption of the human race, by which we too may be liberated from servitude. Standing with me, he praises the author, with me he sings a hymn to the Lord our God. Where his greater grace is, there is his shared fellowship with me. Where the sun blesses, there the earth blesses. The fruitful trees bless, the animals bless, the birds bless with me. The sailor accuses him of being placed in the sea, he longs for me: the shepherd turns away from him on the mountains, hastening to my sprouts, to my trees, which are overshadowed by the scorching heat, he runs to my fountains thirsty and tired.