All men of high and excellent minds who, having despised the cares of temporal goods, employed their understandings and their life in the study and knowledge of divine and human things, in nothing kept themselves more awake than in inquiring what might be the end of man, and his last and highest good. For without this knowledge life cannot be ruled or directed by fitting steps and ways, since it is evident to us that the rule of the means must be taken from the end. And given the case that in this there were many and diverse opinions, yet in the end the gravest philosophers came to determine that the last and highest good of man consisted in the exercise and use of the most excellent work of man, which is the knowledge and contemplation of God. And I say in the exercise, because (according to Aristotle) as “one swallow does not make summer,” but many do, so one consideration of these does not make man blessed, but the exercise and use of them.
This was the study and occupation of some distinguished philosophers, and thus it is written of Seneca that, in order to employ in this a part of life, he went out from Rome, so that with greater quiet and repose he might be free for the contemplation of divine things. And because in this exercise the philosophers agree with the Christians, it seemed to me to insert here the manner in which this great philosopher exercised himself in this office. Which will serve for the confusion of many Christians, who neither have eyes to know how to look at the marvels that God has wrought in this world, nor does there pass through their thought what this gentile philosopher was always doing. Therefore, in conformity with this, he writes to a friend of his that a wise man does nothing better than when he lifts his heart to the consideration of divine things. And in another epistle
he writes to the same man that, if man were not to occupy himself in this office, there was no reason why he should have been born. For of what did it serve me to rejoice that I am placed in the number of the living? Perhaps in order to eat and drink, and to sustain this slippery and perishable body, if at every hour we do not fill it with foods, and in order to live subject to illnesses, and to fear death, for which we all are born? This inestimable good being taken aside, I do not esteem this life so much that for it I must sweat and labor. Oh, how low a thing man is, if he does not lift himself above human things! When we fight with our passions, what great thing do we do? Although we may be victors in this struggle, we do no more than conquer monsters. You escaped from vices; you are not a two-faced man; you do not speak according to the taste of the palate of others; you are free from avarice, which denies to itself what it takes away from others; nor does ambition fatigue you, which seeks dignities by doing unworthy things: with all this, what you have attained is not much: you have been freed from many evils, but not yet from yourself, because the virtue that we seek is great and magnificent. The blessedness of man is not in lacking vices, but this serves to enlarge the heart, and to dispose it for the knowledge of celestial things, and to make it worthy of the company of God. Then our good is finished and perfect when, all vices having been placed beneath the feet, we climb to the height, and come to penetrate the secrets of nature. Then man takes pleasure, walking among the stars, in laughing at the buildings and beautiful houses of the rich, and at all the earth, with all the gold that has been unearthed, and at that which is kept for the avarice of those to come. Nor can the spirit despise the rich portals, and the ivory ceilings, and the tables of myrtle, cut with shears, and the water-pipes brought to the houses of the rich, if it has not encircled the whole world, and looked within from the height at the roundness of the earth, so narrow, and in great part covered with water, so that then it may say to itself: “Is this the point that with fire and blood is divided among the nations?” Oh, how worthy of laughter are the boundaries of mortals! This is a point in which you navigate, and battle, and order kingdoms and provinces. On high there are great spaces, into which the spirit is admitted, but not that of all, but of those who carry little of the body with themselves, and have sent away from themselves all uncleanness, who, unencumbered and lightened of these burdens, and content with little, rise to the height. And when such a spirit touches sovereign things, then it is recreated and grows and, free from the prisons of the flesh, returns to its origin and principle. And it takes this as an argument of its divinity: to see that divine things delight it, and that it occupies itself in them, not as in things alien, but as in its own proper things. Then it securely considers the birth of the stars, and their falling, and the concord that they keep in such diverse movements and paths, and with curiosity examines each one of these things, and seeks the reason for it. Why will it not seek, since it understands that all this belongs to it? Then it despises the narrowness of this world, because all the space that there is from the furthest borders of Spain to the Indies, a ship runs, if the weather is fair for it, in a few days; but that celestial region a very swift star scarcely traverses in the space of thirty years. Then man learns what he long before desired, which is to know God. What is God? Mind and reason of the universe. What is God? All that we see, because in all things we see his wisdom and assistance, and in this manner we confess his greatness, which is so great that no other greater can be thought. And if he alone is all things, he is the one who within and without sustains this great work that he made. Therefore what difference is there between the divine nature and ours? The difference, among others, is that the best part of ours is the spirit, but he is all spirit, all
reason and all understanding. In which is seen how great is the error of those madmen who, though this world is such a work that no other can be found either more beautiful, or better ordered, or more constant and regulated, came to say that it had been made by chance, not considering that they confess that they have a soul, which orders and directs their affairs and those of others, and this they deny to this universe, in which all things are done with highest harmony. The aforesaid in substance is from Seneca, who, in the book that he wrote, On the Blessed Life, says that nature herself created us not only to act, but to contemplate. And for this reason he says that she impressed in our spirits a natural desire to know secret things, for which many sail and go wandering through very remote regions, for only this interest of knowing hidden things. Nature gave us, he says, a curious understanding, and as she knew the artifice and beauty of her works, she wished us to be contemplators of them, it seeming to her that she would lose the fruit of her labors if she created things so great, so clear, so subtly ordered, and so resplendent, and beautiful in so many ways, for solitude. And so that you may know that she wished not only to be looked at, but also contemplated, consider the place in which she placed us, which was in the midst of the world, where she gave us sight toward all parts, so that from there we might see the stars when they rise and when they set, and beyond this she placed our head in the highest part of the body upon a flexible neck, so that it might turn the face to the part that it wished. And of the twelve signs of the heaven, through which the sun travels, she uncovered for us six by day, and the other six by night, so that with the taste of these things that are seen, she might kindle in us the desire to know those that are not seen, so that by this way we might proceed from clear things to obscure ones, and thus might come to find a thing more ancient than the world, from which those stars came forth. In such manner that our thought must break the walls of heaven, and pass onward, and not content itself with knowing only what it sees, but also what is not seen. Therefore, since the wise man understands that he was born for this, he does not think that he has too much of the time of life for this study; rather he knows that, however avaricious he may be of it, and no part of it may be lost to him through negligence, it is very brief for attaining such great things, and that the life of man is very mortal for the knowledge of immortal things.
And the same philosopher, in an epistle written to a friend of his, shows how much reason he has to occupy himself in the consideration of natural things, in order to come to the knowledge of their Maker. And thus he says: “Shall I not endeavor to know what are the principles from which all things were made, who the Maker of them, who the artificer of this world, by what way so great a thing was put into order and law, who gathered things so scattered, and separated things confused, and gave new figure to those that were disfigured and hidden, whence proceeds this so great light, whether it is fire or some other thing more resplendent than it? Therefore shall I not labor to know these things, and to understand whence I came to this world, and where I must go when life is ended, and what is the place that is deputed for souls after they are free from the laws of this servitude? Do you wish me not to rise to the things of heaven, but to live with head bowed down, like a dumb beast? Greater am I, and for greater things was I born, than to be a slave of my body.”
By all that this great philosopher has taught us in all these words, we see how through the knowledge of the creatures our understanding rises to the knowledge of the
Creator, just as through the knowledge of effects we come into knowledge of the causes from which they proceed. Therefore, since this visible world is effect and work of the hands of God, it gives us knowledge of its Maker, that is, of the greatness of him who made things so great, and of the beauty of him who formed things so beautiful, and of the omnipotence of him who created them from nothing, and of the wisdom with which he so perfectly ordered them, and of the goodness with which he so magnificently provided them with all that was necessary, and of the providence with which he rules and governs all. This was the book in which the great philosophers studied, and in the study and contemplation of these things so high and divine they placed the happiness of man.
I.
But we Christians, besides these works of nature, have those of grace, which are higher, and give us greater knowledge of what is more glorious in God, which is of his goodness and mercy. And although those of grace are more excellent, because they have a higher end, which is the sanctification and deification of man, yet since the works of nature are daughters of the same father, and effects of the same cause, they also give us knowledge of the principle from which they proceed. This the last four chapters of the Book of Job declare to us, in which, God speaking with this saint, he gives him knowledge of his omnipotence and wisdom and providence, representing to him the marvels of the works that he has made in this visible world. For which, beginning with the greater parts of the universe, and declaring their greatness, which are heavens, earth, and sea, he then discourses through all the other lesser ones, that is, through the rains, snows, frosts, winds, thunders, and lightnings, which are engendered in the middle region of the air. After which he descends to treat of the animals of the earth, and of the birds of the air, of the greatness and strength of the great fishes of the sea. And by these things in which divine wisdom and omnipotence shines forth, he makes himself known to that holy man, teaching him to philosophize in this great book of the creatures, which, each one in its manner, preach the glory of the artificer who created them.
In this book the great Anthony said that he studied, because when a philosopher asked him in what book he read, the saint answered: “The book, O philosopher, in which I read, is all this world.” In this same book that divine Singer also studied, who in many of his Psalms recreates and feeds his spirit with the consideration both of the works of nature and of grace. And thus in that Psalm that begins “The heavens preach the glory of God,” he spends half the Psalm in contemplating these works of nature, and the other in one of the principal works of grace, which is in the purity and the beauty of the law of God. And in Psalm 135 he asks us to praise God because with his understanding he created the heavens, and seated the earth upon the waters, and created two great luminaries, the sun to give light to the day, and the moon for the night. And in Psalm 146 he commands that we praise him, because he covers the heaven with clouds, and with them sends rain water upon the earth, and produces in the mountains hay and grass for the service of men, and because he provides sustenance for all the beasts, and for the little offspring of the ravens, when they call upon him. And in the Psalm that follows he asks us to praise him because he gives us bread in abundance, and for the snows that he sends us from on high, and the mists, and for the colds, and for the winds, and for the rains. In such manner that in all these Psalms he joins the works of nature with those of
grace, and by the one and by the other he sings the divine praises. But in Psalm 103, which begins “Benedic, anima mea,” the second discourses through the beauty and fabric and order of all things created in heaven, and on earth, and in the sea, and by all of them he praises God. And at the beginning of it he says that God is clothed with praise and beauty, signifying by these words how all creatures declare how great his beauty is, and how worthy of being praised for it. But at the end of the Psalm, as if amazed at so many marvels, he exclaims, saying: “How magnified are your works, Lord! All are made with highest wisdom, and the earth is full of your riches.” This admiration of the works of God always goes accompanied with a great joy and sweetness, which the same Prophet declared in another Psalm, saying: “You have gladdened, Lord, my soul with the things that you have made, and with the consideration of the works of your hands I shall rejoice.” This spiritual joy is received when man, looking at the beauty of the creatures, does not stop at them, but climbs by them to the knowledge of the beauty, of the goodness, and of the charity of God, who created such and so many things not only for the use, but also for the recreation of man. For just as a rich garment appears more beautiful dressed on a lovely body than looking at it apart from him, so creatures appear more beautiful by applying them to the end for which they were created, which is to see God in them, because just as the garment was made for ornament of the body, so the creature for knowing the Creator by it. And for this reason, not only with greater fruit, but also with greater taste, spiritual persons look at these created things, as are heaven, sun, moon, stars, fields, rivers, fountains, flowers and groves, and other similar things.
II.
And although Aristotle was not a spiritual person, he did not fail to understand the great taste and sweetness that there was in this manner of philosophizing, climbing by the ladder of the creatures to the contemplation of the wisdom and beauty of the Maker. And thus he says in the book of his Ethics that the delights that are enjoyed in the work of Wisdom are very great, which is in the exercise of this contemplation. For which I marvel much both at Pliny and at so many men who give themselves to his reading, who draw no other fruit from so many marvels as this author writes, except only to bait the natural appetite of curiosity that men have to know extraordinary and admirable things, which it would be better to mortify than to bait, when they could at one single cast arrive by this means at the knowledge of that infinite goodness and wisdom of the worker of so many marvels, in which they would find not only very great fruit, but also very great delight, which is what men commonly seek. Of this lineage of philosophers the Apostle says that, having known God by the works of nature, they did not honor him as God, because, content with understanding the artifice of the things that they saw, they did not pass onward to see and honor the author who had made them.
Therefore, let the Christian make use of the creatures as of mirrors in order to see in them the glory of their Maker, since, as we already said, for this they were created. And for this reason, when here, or outside here, he reads so many kinds of skills as the Creator gave to all animals in order to maintain themselves, and in order to cure themselves, and in order to defend themselves, and in order to raise their offspring, let him not stop in this alone, but climb through this to the knowledge of the Maker, and from there descend to himself. Which the Apostle briefly taught us when he said: “Does God perhaps have care of oxen?”
The Apostle well knew the skills that God had given both to this animal and to all the rest, for the things aforesaid, but taught by the Holy Spirit he understood that God did not stop there, but aimed principally at man, for whose service they were created. For by this means he intended to show him the greatness of his goodness, which so copiously provides his creatures with all that is necessary for their conservation, and the loftiness of his wisdom, which invented so many and so admirable skills for this, and the greatness of his omnipotence, since all that he wished and invented, with only his word he most perfectly finished, and together with this his most perfect providence, which comprehends and includes these three most high divine perfections in itself. But this for what end? So that men, considering this, might love that infinite goodness, and marvel at that so great wisdom, and obey and reverence that supreme omnipotence, and place the hope of remedy for all their necessities in that most perfect providence, because to this he provokes us when he proposes to us the example of the birds, which without sowing, or gathering, or storing, are maintained by their eternal Father.
And the more vile and despised things are, so much the more efficaciously do they strengthen our confidence. For he who considers the strange skills that the Creator gave to an ant in order to maintain itself, of which we shall treat below, how will he not quicken his hope with this example? How will he not say with all his heart: Lord, if you gave so many skills to this little animal in order to maintain itself, which serves for nothing in this world except to steal the labors of the farmer, what care will you have for man, whom you created in your image and likeness, and made capable of your glory, and redeemed with the blood of your Son, if he does not do that by which he unmerits your favor and protection? I do not know what heart there may be so weak that it is not strengthened and takes courage with this example. Therefore all these providences and marvels of the Creator aim at this mark, who in all his works has for his end his glory and the profit of man.
In this manner the Saints considered these works of God, because, as they had eyes to know how to look at his works, so in them they found him, praised him, and recognized him. And to this purpose Saint Augustine declares that verse of Psalm 62, where the Prophet says: “I went about surrounding and looking at the works of God, and I offered him in his tabernacle a sacrifice of praise,” or of jubilation, as this saint reads. Upon which he says thus: “If your spirit went about surrounding this world, and looking at the works of God, you will find that all of them, with the marvelous artifice with which they are fabricated, are saying: God made me. Everything that delights you in art preaches the praise of the artificer. Do you see the heavens? Look how great this work of God is. Do you see the earth, and in it so great a diversity of seeds, so great a variety of plants, so great a multitude of animals? Surround as many things as there are from heaven to earth, and you will see that all sing and preach their Creator, because all the species of creatures are voices that sing his praises. But who will explain all that is seen in them? Who will worthily praise the heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and all that is in them? But these are visible things. Who will worthily praise the angels, the thrones, the dominations, the principalities and powers? Who will worthily praise this that lives within us, that moves the members of the body, that knows so many things through the senses, that remembers so many with the memory, that attains so many things with the understanding? Therefore, if human words remain so low for praising the creatures,
how much more will they remain so for praising the Creator? Therefore then, what remains here except that, words failing, and going about with the Prophet through all the creatures, we offer in his temple a sacrifice of jubilation?” Up to here are words of Saint Augustine.
By these words and by all the rest that until here we have said, one will be able to understand the fruit that is drawn from the consideration of the creatures, both for the knowledge and for the love and reverence of the Creator. For which many of the Saints gave themselves much to this kind of contemplation, among whom Saint Ambrose and Saint Basil, both most holy, most learned, and most eloquent pontiffs, enamored of the beauty and wisdom of God, which shone forth in the creatures, each wrote his Hexaemeron, which means the work of the six days in which God created all things. And beginning with the heavens, they descended to treat of all things, down to the smallest, showing in them the artifice and wisdom with which they were created, and the goodness and providence with which they are maintained and governed. After whom Theodoret, also a Greek author no less learned and eloquent, treated a good part of this argument in the Sermons that he wrote On Divine Providence, from which I took the best morsels that I found in order to present them in this spiritual banquet to the pious reader. And so that he may read this with greater devotion, I wished to set at the beginning the following meditation.