2) Nature
18. the second center is in the order of nature: it is most strong because of the diffusion of power, which is the concern of the physical scientist who studies motion and generation in relation to the influence of heavenly bodies on the elements, and the ordering of elements in combined forms, and of combined forms in complex forms, and of complex forms in the principles of plant-life, and of these in the principles of sensitive beings, and of these finally in the principles of rational beings, and this is the end. 18. Secundum medium est naturae virtuali diffusione pervalidum, quod est dé consideratione physici, qui considerat mobile et generationem secundum influentiam corporum caelestium in elementa, et ordinationem elementorum ad formam mixtionis, et formae mixtionis ad formam complexionis, et formae complexionis ad animam vegetabilem, et illius ad sensibilem, et illius ad rationalem, et ibi est finis.
19. The physical world offers also a twofold center, that of the large world and that of the small world. The center of the large world is the sun, that of the small world, the heart. For the sun stands in the center of the planets, and generations come about in accord with its elongated orbit by which physical nature regulates birth. For of all the planets, the sun has the greatest diffusion. There is a similar diffusion from the heart, as all physicians say. For the vital spirit is diffused by it through the arteries, and the animal spirit through the nerves, supplemented by the brain. The natural spirit is diffused by the same heart through the veins, but completed in the liver. 19. Considerat autem physicus duplex medium, scilicet maioris mundi et minoris mundi. Medium maioris mundi est sol, medium minoris est cor. Sol enim est in medio planetarum, secundum cuius delationem in obliquo circulo fiunt generationes, et regulat physicus generationem. Inter omnes autem planetas maioris diffusionis est sol. A corde similiter est diffusio, quidquid dicant medici. Nam spiritus vitalis ab eo diffunditur per arterias; spiritus autem animalis per nervos, licet complementum recipiat in cerebro; spiritus vero naturalis ab eodem diffunditur per venas, licet compleatur in hepate.
20. Christ was such a Center in His incarnation. Hence, it is written in John: "In the midst of you there has stood One whom you do not know." And later: "He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He upon whom thou wilt see the Spirit descending, and abiding upon Him, He it is who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' " The Scriptures call Christ sometimes the Center, sometimes the Head. He is called the Head because all the senses and spiritual motions and charismatic graces flow from Him. This He pours in as being united to the members. For the head of Christ is God, that is, in so far as He is God; but the head of every man is Christ, in so far as He is God and man. Hence He pours the Holy Spirit into the members of the Church united to Him, not separated from Him. And since in the human body there is no diffusion from the head to the members unless the members are united to the head, so it is with the Mystical Body. And so Christ is the center of the two animating spirits, as is the heart. Hence Habacuc: In the midst of the two animals Thou shalt make it known. And according to a different translation, in the midst of the years, as is the Sun: for the sum total of time runs on according to the ten steps in the dial of Achaz. According to the Septuagint, Christ was in between the animated beings that preceded Him and those that followed Him. 20. Hoc medium fuit Christus in incarnatione; unde dicitur in Ioanne: Medius vestrum stetit, quem vos nescitis ; et sequitur: Qui misit me baptizare in aqua, ille mihi dixit: Super quem videris Spiritum sanctum descendentem et manentem super eum, hic est qui baptizat in Spiritu sancto *. -- Scriptura quandoque dicit Christum medium, quandoque caput. Caput dicitur, quia ab eo fluunt omnes sensus et motus spirituales et charismata gratiarum. Hoc autem influit, secundum quod est unitum membris. Caput enim Christi Deus est, secundum quod. scilicet Deus est; sed viri caput Christus , secundum quod Deus et homo. Diffundit ergo Spiritum sanctum in membra Ecclesiae sibi unita, non separata. Unde sicut in corpore humano non est diffusio a capite in membra, nisi sibi unita; sic in corpore mystico. Ipse est ergo medium duorum animalium ut cor; unde in Habacuc: In medio duorum animalium cognoscens ; et secundum aliam translationem: In medio annorum , scilicet ut sol; quia totum tempus decurrit, secundum quod iste sol descendit per decem gradus in horologio Achaz . Ipse est ergo secundum Septuaginta in medio animalium , quae praeibant et quae sequebantur.
3) Distance
21. the third center is in the order of distance. It is most deep because of the centrality of position. It is related to the mathematician: for although his first concern is the measuring of the earth, he further considers the motion of the higher bodies in so far as they act by their influence upon the lower earthly bodies. 21. Tertium medium est distantiae centrali positione profundum, de quo mathematicus, cuius licet prima consideratio sit circa mensuram terrae, est tamen ulterius circa motus corporum superiorum, ut habent disponere haec inferiora secundum influentiam eorum.
22. Christ was such a Center in His crucifixion. God is our king before ages; He has wrought salvation in the midst of the earth. The earth is clearly the center, and hence it is the lowest, and of modest size; and because the lowest and of modest size, it receives all the heavenly influences, and brings forth a marvelous multiplication of beings. Likewise the Son of God, the very small and poor and humble One, assuming our earth, and made of earth, not only came upon the surface of the earth, but indeed to the depth of its center, that is, He has wrought salvation in the midst of the earth, for after His crucifixion, His soul went down into hell and re-established the heavenly thrones. 22. Hoc medium fuit Christus in crucifixione. In Psalmo: Rex noster ante saecula operatus est salutem in medio terrae . Terra enim plane centrum est, et ideo infima et ideo modica; et quia infima et modica, ideo suscipit omnes influentias caelestes, et ideo facit mirabiles pullulationes. Sic Filius Dei infimus, pauperculus, modicus, humum nostram suscipiens, de humo factus, non solum venit ad superficiem terrae, verum etiam in profundum centri, scilicet operatus est salutem in medio terrae , quia post crucifixionem anima sua in infernum descendit et restauravit caelestes sedes.
23. Such a Center has a saving power: and anyone who draws away from it is condemned, as drawing away from the means of humility. And the Saviour proves it: "I am in your midst as He who serves"; and in Matthew: "Unless you turn and become like little children, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven." In such a center He has wrought salvation, that is, in the humility of the cross. 23. Hoc medium est salvativum; a quo recedens damnatur, scilicet a medio humilitatis. Et hoc ostendit Salvator: Ego in medio vestrum sum9 sicut qui ministrat ; et in Matthaeo: Nisi conversi fueritis et efficiamini sicut parvuli, non intrabitis in regnum caelorum . In hoc medio operatus est salutem , scilicet in humilitate crucis.
24. But darkness has crept in, for Christians reject this central place in which Christ has saved mankind. In so doing, man opposes his own salvation, being unable to measure himself. What is the use of being able to measure other things if he is unable to measure himself? If he exalts himself a little more than he should, there is danger for him. As Bernard says: "The man who lifts up his head as he comes through the door will be hurt; the man who bows will not be hurt." Hence it was answered to blessed Anthony that only the humble could escape from the devil's snares. But how is it that humility is lacking, and also the light of wisdom? Because the fire is not banked in cinders, but our lantern is exposed to every wind, and before long the light goes out. As soon as there is something good in us, we want to show it off. By contrast, how marvelous is divine wisdom, for it brought forth salvation through the cinders of humility. For the center is lost in the circle, and it cannot be found except by two lines crossing each other at right angle. 24. Sed caligo subintravit, quia Christiani hunc medium locum dimittunt in quo Christus hominem salvavit. Unde homo impugnat suam salutem nesciens se metiri. Quid enim prodest, quod sciat metiri alia, cum se metiri nesciat? Si enim aliquantulum se plus quam debet, exaltat, periculum sibi est; sic dicit beatus Bernardus, quod «si quis intrans per portam, caput erigat, laeditur; qui autem se inclinaverit, non laeditur». Unde responsum fuit beato Antonio, quod solus humilis evadere poterat laqueos diaboli. -- Sed unde est, quod humilitas non habetur nec lumina sapientiae? Quia ignis non custoditur in medio cinerum, sed lucerna nostra exponitur omni vento, et cito extinguitur lucerna. Statim enim ostendere volumus, si quid boni in nobis est. Sed mirabilis fuit sapientia divina, quae per cinerem humilitatis operata est salutem. Medium enim, cum amissum est in circulo, inveniri non potest nisi per duas lineas se orthogonaliter intersecantes.
4) Doctrine
25. the fourth center is in the order of doctrine. It is most clear by rational proof. Every form of rational speech pertains to it, so that it is by means of it that we express what is with us. For speech is ordered to simple expression, expression to argumentation according to the four species of reasoning, argumentation to syllogism, and syllogism to persuasion. The intermediate term (center), therefore, by its evidence and manifestation and fittingness, forces the mind to give assent to the extremes, so that while the proper relationship between the extremes was not manifest at first, now by virtue of the intermediate term's fittingness to both, this relationship is made manifest. 25. Quartum medium est doctrinae rationali manifestatione praeclarum. Ad hoc est omnis sermo rationalis, ut per ipsum tanquam per medium exprimamus quod est apud nos. Sermo enim est ad simplicem orationem; oratio ad argumentationem secundum quatuor species argu- mentationis; argumentatio ad syllogismum; syllogismus ad persuadendum. Medium ergo per suam evidentiam et manifestationem et convenientiam cum extremis compellit rationem ad assentiendum, ut, quia extrema prius non conveniebant inter se manifeste, per virtutem medii cum utroque extremo convenientis inter se manifeste conveniant.
26. Christ was such a Center in His resurrection. For there is a reasoning of Christ and a reasoning of the devil. The reasoning of the devil leads to hell: it is a fallacy, a sophistic and destructive reasoning; the reasoning of Christ is constructive and restoring. For the devil deceived the first man and assumed the existence in the heart of man of a kind of self-evident proposition such as this: the rational creature must needs desire to be the same as its Creator since He is its likeness —hence in the damned there will be this highest punishment: that as such likeness is essential to the soul, so this desire will be essential in the damned —and, said he, "When you eat... you will be like God." Hence it is good to eat of the forbidden fruit in order to become like Him. And by this syllogism all men sin, for as Dionysius says, "No one commits evil with evil as a goal: every man intends good and desires good. But he is deceived because he takes for true what is only a likeness of good." By means of this same fallacy, the devil made man fall into the sufferings of nature, the needs of indigence, and mortality of life. 26. Hoc medium fuit Christus in resurrectione. Est autem argumentum Christi et argumentum diaboli. Argumentum diaboli ducit ad infernum et est paralogismus et sophisticum argumentum et destructivum; argumentum Christi constructam et reparativum. Diabolus enim paralogizavit primum hominem et supposuit quandam propositionem in corde hominis quasi per se notam, quae est: creatura rationalis debet appetere similitudinem sui Creatoris, quia scilicet est imago -- unde in damnatis est maxima poena, quia, cum imago sit animae essentialis, similiter et talis appetitus erit essentialis in damnatis -- sed si comederis, assimileris : ergo bonum est comedere de vetito, ut assimileris. Et per istum syllogismum omnes peccant, quia, ut dicit Dionysius, «nullus malus fit, ad malum aspiciens, sed omnis intendit bonum et appetit bonum; sed fallitur, quia similitudinem boni accipit pro vero». Per istum paralogismum induxit diabolus hominem in passibilitatem naturae, in necessitatem indigentiae, in mortalitatem vitae.
27. On the contrary, the reasoning of Christ brought about salvation and destroyed the devil's argument. Because the devil had made man differ from God while promising to make him similar to Him, Christ had to make Himself similar to man in order to make man similar to Himself, that is, to God. Hence, Christ as God enjoyed conformity of nature with the Father, equality of power and immortality of life. By these three perfections, He was united to the Father. But it was necessary that He be united to man in the three opposite qualifications. He assumed therefore the sufferings of nature, the needs of indigence, and mortality of life. And so He possessed the three [perfections] through His essence and assumed the three [imperfections] through His mercy. It was necessary also that the three [imperfections] be overcome by the three [perfections]. But by its very essence life could not be dominated by death, nor power by need, nor impassibility by suffering: and so it was necessary that man pass from mortality to immortality, from poverty to opulence, from suffering to the crown of glory. 27. Econtra argumentum Christi fuit salvativum et destructivum argumenti diaboli. Ex quo enim diabolus fecerat hominem dissimilem Deo, cum tamen promisisset, similem se facturum; necesse fuit, Christum esse similem homini, ut faceret hominem similem sibi sive Deo. Christus ergo habuit conformitatem naturae in quantum Deus cum Patre, aequalitatem potentiae, immortalitatem vitae. In his tribus coniunctus fuit Patri. Necesse ergo fuit, ipsum in aliis tribus oppositis coniungi homini. Assumpsit ergo passibilitatem naturae, necessitatem indigentiae, mortalitatem vitae. Tria ergo habuit per essentiam et tria assumpsit per misericordiam. Necesse ergo fuit, ut tria vinceretur a tribus. Sed vita per essentiam superari non potuit a morte, nec potentia a penuria, nec impassibilitas a passibilitate. Necesse ergo fuit, ut homo transiret a mortalitate ad immortalitatem, a defectu ad opulentiam, de passibilitate ad coronam.
28. The major proposition existed from all eternity, the minor came about on the cross, and the conclusion appeared in the resurrection. The Jews believed they had confounded Christ, and they taunted Him: "If Thou art the Son of God, come down from the cross!" For Christ did not say: "Allow Me to live," but "Allow Me to take on death, to be joined with the opposite extreme, to suffer and to die." The conclusion follows from that. And so He Himself made a fool of the devil. 28. Maior propositio fuit ab aeterno; sed assumptio in cruce; conclusio vero in resurrectione. Iudaei credebant Christum confudisse et improperabant ei: Si Filius Dei es, descende de cruce . Nam Christus non dicebat: sinite me vivere, sed dicebat: sinite me mortem assu- mere et alteri extremitati copulari, pati, mori; et tunc sequitur conclusio. Unde ipse illusit diabolo.
29. And this is the reasoning Christ used, during forty days appearing to them. "Did not the Christ have to suffer these things before entering into His glory?" Concerning this central position, John writes: When it was late ... Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be to you!" He is showing two things here, the loftiness of the state of glory, in that, being impassible and immortal, He entered as God while the doors were closed; later, He showed them His hands and side and forced Thomas to confess: "My Lord and my God!" Consider the progression. First He entered as God while the doors were closed: this is the major proposition. Then He proposed the minor by showing them His hands and His side. Finally, He wrested out the conclusion so that Thomas confessed: "My Lord and my God!" 29. Et ista sunt argumenta, quibus Christus utebatur, per quadraginta dies apparens eis . Nonne, inquit, oportuit Christum pati, et ita intrare in gloriam suam? . De hoc medio Ioannes: Cum sero esset die illo, stetit Iesus in medio discipulorum et ait illis: Pax vobis . Et duo ibi ostendit, scilicet gloriae sublimitatem, eo quod impassibilis et immortalis, clausis ianuis, intravit tanquam Deus; postea ostendit eis manus et latus et confessionem extorsit a Thoma, ut diceret: Dominus meus et Deus meus / . Vide processum! Primo intravit ut Deus, ianuis clausis ; haec fuit maior; deinde minorem propositionem assumit, cum ostendit eis manus et latus ; tertio conclusionem extorsit, ut confiteretur Thomas: Dominus meus et Deus meus.
30. It is not without reason that the scroll was sealed with seven seals. "Behold," said one of the Elders, "the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, has overcome to open the scroll and its seven seals." These are the seven Centers. By their significance, Christ opened the tomb, and this represents the opening of the scroll, and He removed the shroud, and this represents the manifestation of mysteries. This is our logic, this is our reasoning which must be used against the devil who constantly argues with us. But in assuming the minor proposition, we must do it with all our strength; often in fact we refuse to suffer, we refuse to be crucified. And yet the whole reasoning tends to this one point: that we resemble God. When the devil saw Christ suffering, he believed His argument had little weight. But Christ ridiculed him. Can you play with him as with a bird? Can you put him in leash for your maidens Christ considered the argument most powerful: "And 1, if 1 be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to Myself 30. Non sine causa signatur liber septem sigillis. Ecce , inquit, vicit leo de tribu Iuda, radix David, aperire librum et solvere septem signacula eius . Ista sunt septem media. In huius significationem Christus sepulcrum reseravit, et significat apertionem libri, et linteamina removit, et significat manifestationem mysteriorum. -- Haec est logica nostra, haec est ratiocinatio nostra, quae habenda est contra diabolum, qui continuo contra nos disputat. Sed in assumptione minoris est tota vis facienda; quia nolumus pati, nolumus crucifigi. Tamen ad hoc est tota ratiocinatio nostra, ut simus similes Deo. -- Diabolus vero parum reputabat argumentum Christi, cum vidit eum patientem. Sed Christus illusit ei; Iob: Numquid illudes ei quasi avi, aut ligabis eum ancillis tuis ? . Christus reputavit argumentum fortissimum, Ioannis duodecimo: Ego si exaltatus fuero a terra, omnia traham ad me ipsum .
5) Moderation
31. the fifth center is in the order of moderation. It is most important because of the choice of moral good. For moderation is a virtue; and a virtue consists in the middle way. This is considered by the moralist. 31. Quintum est medium modestiae morali electione praecipuum. Modestia enim virtus est; virtus autem in medio consistit; hoc medium considerat ethicus.
32. Christ was such a Center in His ascension. It is written in Exodus: Moses passed into the midst of the cloud ... and there he stayed for forty days and forty nights. And this is what Christ was in His ascension. Hence it is written in Acts: A cloud took Him out of their sight . Likewise the Christian must rise from strength to strength, and not stand still at the terminal point of virtue, for by so doing he would cease to be virtuous. 32. Hoc medium fuit Christus in ascensione. Dicitur in Exodo:. Ingressus Moyses medium nebulae, fuit ibi quadraginta diebus et quadraginta noctibus . Et hoc fuit Christus in ascensione; unde in Actibus dicitur: Nubes suscepit eum ab oculis eorum . Sic Christianus debet ascendere de virtute in virtutem, non statuendo terminum virtutis, quia ex hoc facto desineret esse virtuosus.
33. The foundation of virtue is faith, and we place it as a center. At this point the moralist says that the center is "that which determines right reason." And such is faith. Faith is as the morning star in the midst of a cloud. To this star the Christian rises after being lifted up from the waters of baptism. He enters darkness, and this darkness of faith is accompanied by a mysterious light. Now this foundation is that by which Christ is established in us. Through it faith goes forward by rising to the practical virtues, as if reaching the foot of the mountain where Moses offered twelve sacrifices; then it proceeds to the cleansing virtues as if at mid-slope, and finally to the virtues of the cleansed soul as at the mountain's top, a place well suited to the contemplation of the exemplary virtues. It is said [collectively] of these virtues in the Book of Wisdom: For she is an aura of the might of God and a pure effusion of the glory of the Almighty. Later, she is the refulgence of eternal light, referring to purity or moderation; the mirror, referring to prudence; she reaches from end to end mightily, referring to fortitude; and governs all things well, referring to justice. 33. Fundamentum autem virtutis fides est, et nos ponimus eam sicut medium. Hic dicit ethicus, quod medium est, «ut ratio recta determinat». Ista autem fides est; fides est sicut stella matutina in medio nebulae . Ad istam ascendit Christianus assumptus de aquis baptismi et intrat in caliginem, quae quidem caligo fides est cum lumine in ae- nigmate. Hoc fundamentum est, per quod fundatur in nobis Christus; per hanc fidem proficit anima ascendendo ad virtutes politicas, quasi ad radicem montis, ubi Moyses fecit duodecim holocausta ; deinde ad virtutes purgativas, quasi ad medium montis; deinde ad virtutes animi iam purgati quasi ad supremum montis, ubi aptus est locus ad contemplandas virtutes exemplares. De quibus in Sapientia: Vapor est enim virtutis Dei et emanatio quaedam est claritatis Dei sincera ; sequitur: candor est lucis aeternae quantum ad munditiam vel temperantiam; et speculum , quantum ad prudentiam; attingit a fine usque ad finem fortiter , quantum ad fortitudinem; et disponit omnia suaviter , quantum ad iustitiam.
6) Justice
34. the sixth center is in the order of justice. It is outstandingly beautiful and important because of the retribution of justice. Christ will be such a Center in the final judgment. It is considered by the jurist or the civil ruler, in order that repayment be made according to merit. Justice embellishes the whole world: it makes beautiful what had been deformed, it makes more beautiful what was already beautiful, and most beautiful what had been improved. In this sense Augustine writes that the damned are most beautifully placed in hell. 34. Sextum medium est iustitiae iudiciali recompensatione perpulcrum seu praecelsum. Quod medium erit Christus in iudicio. Hoc considerat iurista sive politicus, ut fiat retributio secundum merita. -- Hoc totum mundum purificat, quia deformia facit pulcra, pulcra pulcriora et pulcriora pulcherrima. Unde Augustinus dicit, quod damnati pulcherrime locantur in inferno.
35. As I looked, a stormwind came from the North, a huge cloud with flashing fire, enveloped in brightness, from the midst of which, the midst of the fire, something gleamed like electrum. Within it were figures resembling four living creatures. Ezechiel is describing the judgment, first, as to the disturbance of natural powers shown by the stormwind; second, as to the conflagration of fires shown by the flashing fire; third, as to the examination of consciences or merits shown by the word brightness, for then the consciences will be clear; fourth, as to the assistants to the judges shown by the word enveloped. Christ in His twofold nature is referred to by the word electrum, and the four orders are designated by the four living creatures: the order of pontiffs by the lion, that of martyrs by the ox, that of confessors by the man, that of virgins by the eagle, by reason of contemplation. Thus the separation of the pure from the impure, of the sheep from the goats, will be brought about by Christ. 35. Ezechielis primo: Vidi, et ecce, ventus turbinis veniebat ab aquilone et nubes magna et ignis involvens; et splendor in circuitu eius, et de medio eius quasi species electri, scilicet de medio ignis. Et in medio eius similitudo quatuor animalium Describitur iudicium, primo quantum ad commotionem naturarum, per ventum turbinis et per nubem ; secundo, quantum ad conflagrationem ignis, per ignem involventem; tertio, quantum ad examinationem mentium vel meritorum, per splendorem , tunc enim conscientiae clarae erunt; quarto, quantum ad assistentiam iudicantium, per circuitum ; per electrum , Christus in duplici natura; per quatuor animalia , quatuor ordines: pontificum in leone , martyrum in bove, confessorum in homine , virginum in aquila, propter contemplationem. Unde fiet segregatio puri ab impuro per Christum, agnorum ab hoedis .
36. Jurists are concerned with judgments of money, we with the judgment of ourselves. Hence, before you are judged, seek merit for yourself. 36. Agant ergo iuristae de iudiciis pecuniarum, nos agamus de iudicio nostro. Unde ante iudicium para iustitiam tibi .
7) Concord