After the earth, it follows that we treat more in particular of its fertility and fruits. And this is already to begin to treat of the things that have life, because those that until here we have referred to, which are heavens, stars, elements, with all the other imperfect mixtures, do not have it. And because the things that have life are more perfect than those that lack it, the wisdom and providence of the Creator shines forth more in these, and when the life shall be more perfect, so much clearer testimony does it give us of the artificer who made it, as will be seen in the process. For God is not, as they are accustomed to say, a gatherer of ashes and a scatterer of flour, but rather, the more perfect things are, so much greater care and providence he has of them, and so much more he discovers in them the greatness of his wisdom, and so that we might know that to him alone we owed this so general benefit of the fruits of the earth, he created them on the third day, which was before he created the sun and the moon and the other planets, with whose power and influences the plants are born and raised, and before there were seeds from which they might be born, as now they are born. In such manner that the power alone of his omnipotent word supplied the material and efficient cause of all the plants and trees of the earth. All this variety of innumerable species cost him no more than only these words: “Let the earth produce green herb, which has within itself its seed, and fruit-bearing trees according to their species, etc.” This commandment being heard, then, the earth at once gave birth, and dressed itself in greenery, and received power to fructify, and adorned and beautified itself with diverse flowers. But who will be able to declare the beauty of the fields, the odor, the sweetness, and the delight of the farmers? What will our words be able to say of this beauty? But we have testimony of Sacred Scripture, in which the holy Patriarch compared the odor of the fertile fields with the blessing and grace of the saints. “The odor,” he said, “of my son is like that of a full field.” Who will be able to declare the beauty of the purple violets, of the white lilies, of the resplendent roses, and the grace of the meadows, painted with diverse colors of flowers, some of the color of gold, and others of scarlet, others variegated and painted with diverse colors, in which you will not know what pleases you more, either the color of the flower, or the grace of the figure, or the sweetness of the odor? The eyes are fed with this beautiful spectacle, and the sweetness of the odor that is poured through the air delights the sense of smell. Such is this grace that the Creator himself applies it to himself, saying: “The beauty of the field is in me”: For what other artificer would be sufficient to create so much variety of things so beautiful? Set your eyes on the lily, and look how great is the whiteness of this flower, and the manner in which its foot climbs to the height accompanied with its little small leaves, and afterward comes to make on high a form of a cup, and within it has some grains as of gold, enclosed in such manner that they can receive harm from no one. If someone picked this flower, and took away its leaves, what hand of craftsman could make another that equaled it, since the Creator himself praised them, when he said that neither Solomon in all his glory was clothed so richly as one of these flowers?
Do we marvel that the earth has engendered so quickly? How much greater marvel it is if we consider how the seeds scattered in the earth do not give fruit, if they do not first die: in such manner that the more they lose what they are, so much greater fruit they give. Saint Ambrose takes delight in this place contemplating and painting with words the manner in which a grain of wheat grows, in order to teach by his example to contemplate and find God in all things, and thus he says: “The earth receives the grain of wheat and, after being covered, she as mother gathers it into her lap, and afterward that grain is resolved and converted into
grass, which, after having grown, produces an ear with some small pods, within which the grain is formed, so that with this defense neither the cold may harm it, nor the ardor of the sun burn it, nor the force of the winds nor of the many waters mistreat the newly born fruit. And that same ear defends itself from the little birds, not only with the pods in which the grain is enclosed, but much more with the awns that in the manner of pikes are aimed against the injury of these little birds. And because the slender stalk could not suffer the weight of the ear, it is strengthened with the shirts of the leaves with which it is clothed, and much more with the knots that it has distributed at intervals, which are like brick courses in walls of rammed earth, to secure them. Of which the oat lacks, because, as it does not have a load on high, it had no need of this fortification. For that most wise artificer, just as he does not fail in what is necessary, so he does not make superfluous things.” The aforesaid is from Saint Ambrose.
Under this name of herb are understood not only the harvests, of which we have now finished treating, but also many differences of legumes created for help of our sustenance, of which some are kept dry for the whole year, and others, of which we then make use, when they have grown. And of these, some are raised beneath the earth, and others above it. And among these enter those that raise within themselves kernels, which afterward serve as seed in order to be born again, among which are counted those for which the children of Israel sighed in the desert. And in this is seen the providence of the sovereign Governor, who, just as he created fresh fruits accommodated to the time of summer, for refreshment of our bodies, so also he created legumes proportioned to the quality of this same time. So that, not content with the provision of so many meats of animals, of fishes, of birds, of fruit trees and of abundant harvests, he also increased this providence of legumes, so that no lineage of sustenance might be lacking to men, who know so badly how to thank it, since making use of the benefit, they do not know how to lift the eyes to look at the hands of him who gives it, not only to the good, but also to the bad for love of the good, just as in providing for men he did not forget the animals for love of men. Which the Prophet did not leave silent when he said that the Lord “produced in the mountains hay and grass for the service of men.” And he says “of men,” because although this is not their sustenance, it is that of the servants that are deputed for their service, which are the brute animals. Therefore by what has been said it will be understood that not only are those men barbarous who go naked like savages beneath the equinoctial line, but also many of those who drag silks and velvets, which will be understood by this example. If a gentleman, going on the road, came to stop at the house of a rich farmer, and this man, without having any obligation to him, lodged him with all the humanity and apparatus that was possible to him, and set for him a table full of all the best foods and birds that he had in his house, and if, the meal finished, the gentleman departed without taking leave or giving thanks to his host, nor speaking to him a single word of humanity or of thanksgiving, what would we say of this man? We would say that he was more than barbarous, and proud, and inhuman, and scarcely would we hold him for a man. Therefore according to this, in what predicament shall we place many rich and powerful men who, seating themselves each day at the table, and seeing it full of precious and diverse foods, which God created not for himself nor for the angels, but only for refreshment and sustenance of men, neither give thanks to him who thus provided and hosted them in this his great house of the world, without having any obligation to them,
and nor does it pass through their thought, seeing each day the table full of his benefits, to remember so liberal and magnificent a benefactor and provider? Therefore who will deny me that those who live with this so great forgetfulness are more than barbarous? Such was that avaricious rich man of the Gospel who, eating each day splendidly, neither remembered God, nor poor Lazarus whom he had before him.
I
And no less were infinite medicinal herbs created for man, of which medicine today makes use, some that purge choler, others phlegm, others melancholy, others that purify the blood, others that heal wounds, others that serve to give heat to the stomach, others to temper that of the liver, and others that distilled serve to clear the sight, and others for a thousand manners of illnesses. Therefore how admirable is the providence of the Creator in the powers that he placed in all these herbs! Let us put an example in only the root of rhubarb, which has special power to purge the choleric humor, in such manner that, being drunk, the power of it reaches the liver, where is the fountain of all the veins, which are spread through the whole body. And since in them is the mass of all four humors, the power of this root principally attracts and calls to itself the choleric humor, leaving the others, which by its call comes, and by the same goes out of the house, and leaves its body clean and healthy. So that, just as the Creator gave to the magnet stone this power, that having beside itself diverse metals, it attracts only iron to itself, leaving the others, so he placed power in this root to call and attract this humor in the manner that has been said.
And not only in herbs, but in precious stones he placed medicinal powers, as in the stone that they call bezoar, which avails for many things, and even in sticks and wood he placed this curative power, as we see in the wood that they call of China and of India, to which he gave power to heal illnesses, which most times are acquired with offenses of his Majesty, notwithstanding which he wished to provide remedy for it; so great and so magnificent is that sovereign Goodness. In all which even the blind will see how great is the love of the Creator toward men, and the care that he has for their health, since so many manners of medicines as are already discovered and as are discovered each day, he created for him. For the root of what they call mechoacan was known in Spain in our days.
All this so great provision and abundance of things that the earth gives declares the providence that our Lord, as a father of a family, has for his house, to sustain, cure, and provide for his servants. But what shall we say of so many differences of flowers so beautiful, which do not serve for sustenance, but for the sole recreation of man? For for what other office do the pinks, the carnations, the lilies, the white lilies and wallflowers, the clumps of basil, and other innumerable differences of flowers serve (with which the gardens, the mountains, and the fields and the meadows are full), some white, some red, some yellow, some purple, and of many other colors, together with the skill and artifice with which they are worked, and with the order and harmony of the leaves that encircle them, and with the most sweet odor that many of them have? For what, then, does all this serve except for the recreation of man, so that he might have in what to feed the sight of the eyes of the body, and much more those of the soul, contemplating here the beauty of the Creator and the care that he had, not only of our sustenance, as father of a family for his
servants, but as true father toward his children, and cherished children? And as such he is not content to provide them with what is necessary for their conservation, but also with things fabricated for their recreation. And thus he wished that not only the splendor of the stars that in serene nights we see in the heaven, but also the abundant valleys and the green meadows, painted with diverse flowers, should be for us as another starry heaven, which on one part might recreate our sight with sweetness and beauty, and on another might awaken us to praise the Creator, who traced and created all this, not for himself, nor for the angels, nor for the brutes, but for the taste alone and honest recreation of man.
Let us now put this into practice, and looking among other flowers at a beautiful clump of carnations, let us take one in the hand, and begin to philosophize in this manner. For what end did the Maker create this flower so beautiful and odorous, since he does nothing without some end? Certainly not for the sustenance of man, nor either for medicine or a similar thing. Therefore what other end could he intend here except to recreate our sight with the beauty of this flower, and the sense of smell with the sweetness of its odor? And let him not stop only here, but proceed further, considering how many other differences of flowers he created for the same, and above all this how many of most precious stones that no less, but much more, gladden this sense. And beyond this, how many other things he made to recreate the senses! How many musics of birds for the sense of hearing! How many aromatic spices for that of smell! How great an infinity of flavors for that of taste! Therefore how much is declared in this benignity and sweetness of that sovereign Lord, who, at the time that he created things, had so much account of man, that not only did he create for him so great a multitude of foods and of all the rest that was necessary to him, since all this visible world serves him, but he also had special care to create so many differences of things for his honest recreation, and this so abundantly that none of the bodily senses lacks its proper objects in which it may delight! Therefore what thing is more proper to a loving father toward his children, and even children (as I said) cherished?
And not content with this, he also created trees for this effect alone, as is the laurel, the myrtle, the cypress, the odorous cedars, and the poplars, and the ivy, which dresses the walls of gardens with greenery, and serves them as hangings for arming, and other trees of this quality, which (since they lack fruit) seem to have been created for the sole recreation of our sight, which is such, that Ecclesiasticus could say: “The eyes take pleasure in the grace of beauty, but the greenery of the sowings has advantage over this.”
But to wish to count the multitude of the herbs, and the powers and properties of them, is a thing that was reserved to Solomon, of whom Scripture says that he treated of all the plants, from the cedar of Mount Lebanon to the hyssop that is born in the wall. But this is evident to us, that the earth is no less populated with plants than the sea with fishes; rather many seas are found without fishes, and scarcely will a palm of earth be found that is not clothed with clothing in its time, without there being one who sows or tills it, it obeying the commandment that in the beginning was placed upon it by the Creator.
II
After the herb the Creator also commanded the earth to produce every kind of trees, whose differences and species also cannot be explained, as those of the other plants. Of which some are fruitful, others sterile, some that give sustenance for men, others for beasts, some that never dismiss the leaf, others that each year change it, some that (as we said) serve for no more than freshness and shade, and others that serve for other uses, and thus there are other similar differences.
And among those that are fruitful, some give fruit for the time of summer, others of winter, and others for all time. And in the one and in the other there is much to consider the trace and order of divine providence, which distributes these trees by diverse genera, and beneath each genus places diverse species, which are comprehended beneath them, both so that there may be abundance of sustenance for men, and so that it may take away from them weariness with the variety of the fruits. Let us put examples: beneath the plum tree, how many species there are of plums, some early, some late, some of one color and of one figure, some of diverse colors and figures! Beneath the genus of grapes, how many differences there are of grapes! Beneath the pear tree, how many differences of pears! Beneath the fig tree, how many differences and colors of figs! Beneath the pero and the apple tree, how many species of peros and of apples! Beneath the lemon, how many species of limes and of lemons! In this manner that most wise Governor distributed things by their lineages and castes, as we see here. Which (as we said) serves so that this lineage of sustenance may never be lacking to us, because in this manner some fruits succeed others, which are the late to the early, and for this cause in the same tree not all the fruit comes together in one same time, as is seen in fig trees, but little by little: after one part of the fruit of the same tree ripens, the other goes ripening, so that thus its fruit may last more days.
And the gift of this providence is seen more clearly in the fruits of summer. For with the heat and dryness of the time bodies naturally desire refreshment from cold and moist fruits, for which the Creator attended with so many differences, not only of fruits, but also of legumes accommodated to the quality of this time. Therefore why will unknowing man not have account with him who thus had it with his refreshment and gift? Nor does it make against this that many become ill with fruit, because this is not the fault of the fruit, but of distempered man, who makes bad use of the divine benefits, just as it is not the fault of wine that many become drunk from it, but of the abuse of men.
Nor does divine wisdom shine forth less in the fabric of any tree. For first, as the one who wishes to make a house first opens the foundations upon which the building is to be sustained, so the Creator ordered that the first thing that the plant or the seed should do before it climbs to the height should be to put forth roots in the low part, and these proportioned to the height of the tree, so that, when the tree climbs more to the height, it always puts forth so much deeper roots in the low part. This done, from there then comes forth the trunk, which is as a column of the whole building, from which proceeds the crown of the tree with its branches extended to all parts, recreating the sight with its flowers and leaves, and afterward liberally offering us the fruits already seasoned and mature. Where it is also a thing to note what Seneca very well noticed, that the differences of these leaves being as many as are those of the trees and shrubs and herbs (which are innumerable), none altogether resemble others, but always, either in greatness, or in figure, or in color, or in other such things, we see some differ from others. And the same he noted in the diversity of the faces of men, that being innumerable scarcely is there one that resembles
the other: so great is the power of that sovereign painter, who in so many things discovers to us the greatness of his art and wisdom.
Nor is the manner in which these trees and all the plants are maintained less to be considered. For in the roots they have some little beards, through which they attract the moisture of the earth, which with the heat of the sun climbs to the height through the heart and bark of the trunk, and through all the pores of the tree, for whose conservation these same barks serve, which are like shirts or garments that shelter and dress it. The leaves also have, in the manner of the human body, their veins, through which this juice runs and is distributed, traced in such manner that in the middle is the greater vein, which divides the leaf into two equal parts, and from this all the veins branch, becoming thinner more and more until they remain like hairs, through which the nourishment is communicated to the whole leaf, which I noted in some leaves of a pear tree, from which some little worms maintain themselves that ate the most delicate part of the upper surface of the leaf, and thus that marvelous net and weaving of very tiny veins that were discovered there remained clear. Therefore in this manner not only is the tree maintained, but it also grows by means of the power of the vegetative soul, and grows more than any of the animals that have the same soul. And among other causes of this growth, one is that the brutes not only are occupied in sustaining the body, but also in the works that are called animal, of the senses, of which office the plants lack, and for that reason, as more unoccupied, they grow more. And from here it proceeds that studious men, or those given to contemplation, have weaker bodies, because they exercise more these animal operations, not of the exterior senses, but of the interior ones, and power divided is weaker than that which is joined.
III
Nor either did providence forget the guard of the fruits already mature, because for this it first provided that the trees should have leaves, not only for beauty and shade, but to defend the fruit from the ardors of the sun, which in a brief space would dry it. And when the fruit of these trees is more tender, as is that of the fig trees and vines, so much did he provide that the leaves should be larger, as we see in these. But he did not wish that the leaves should be round, but jagged and open in some parts, so that in such manner they might defend from the sun, that they should also leave these wickets open, in order to enjoy temperately the airs and it.
But still more is this providence discovered in the guard of other fruits that are in greater danger, such as those of very high and windy trees, of which some are born on the summit of the mountains, as are the pines, whose fruit would not be achieved if the Creator did not put upon it so faithful a guard as is the pinecone, where with so marvelous an artifice the fruit is lodged and guarded in its little vaulted houses so well, that all the fury of the winds is not sufficient to knock it down. Walnut trees also are large and high trees, and no less are chestnut trees (which are sustenance of poor people, when bread is lacking to them), which at times are planted in mountainous places, and thus very subject to the impetus and coldness of the winds. For which the Creator clothed and sheltered them with that hedgehog-like burr that we see outside, and afterward with two tunics, one harder and another softer, that dress the fruit, which are like the dura mater and pia mater that encircle and guard the brains of our brain. And almost the same we can say of walnuts, which also are born well wrapped and guarded from the injuries of suns and airs.
And because some bear notably large and heavy fruit (as are quinces and citrons), the author provided that the branches or rods from which this fruit hangs should be very strong, as are those of quinces, with which the holy martyrs were cruelly whipped. And because citrons are even greater, he provided that the branches from which they hang should not only be strong and thick, but that they should also be straight, so that they could better support the load, because even in this it may be seen how in no created thing did that sovereign providence and wisdom of the Creator sleep or lose a point.
Therefore the beauty of some trees, when they are very loaded with fruit already ripe, who does not see it? What thing so joyful to the sight as an apple tree or camueso with its branches loaded on all sides with apples, painted with such diverse colors, and casting from itself so sweet an odor? What is it to see an arbor, and to see among the green leaves so many and so great and so beautiful clusters of grapes of diverse casts and colors hanging? What are these except as beautiful jewels, which hang from this tree? Therefore the artifice of a beautiful pomegranate, how much it declares to us the beauty and artifice of the Creator! Which, because it is so artful, I cannot fail to represent in this place. Therefore first he clothed it outside with a garment made to its measure, which encircles it all, and defends it from the intemperance of the suns and airs, which on the outside is somewhat stiff and hard, but within softer, so that it may not roughen the fruit that is enclosed in it, which is very tender; but within it the grains are distributed and seated in such order that no place, however small it may be, remains unoccupied and empty. It is all distributed into diverse shells, and between shell and shell there extends a cloth more delicate than sendal, which divides them among themselves. For since these grains are so tender, they are better conserved divided with this cloth than if all were together. And beyond this, if one of these shells rots, this cloth defends its neighbor, so that part of its harm may not reach it. For for this cause the Creator distributed the brains of our head into two bosoms or bags, divided with their cloths, so that the blow or harm that one part of the brain received might not reach the other. Each one of these grains has within itself a little white bone, so that thus the soft may be better sustained upon the hard, and at the foot it has a little stem as thin as a thread, through which the power and juice climbs from the low part of the root to the high part of the grain, because by this little stem it feeds, and grows, and is maintained, just as the child in the entrails of the mother by the little navel. And all these grains are seated in a soft bed, made of the same matter as the interior of the bag that dresses the whole pomegranate. And so that nothing should be lacking to the grace of this fruit, it is all finished on high with a royal crown, from which it seems that kings took the form of theirs. In which the Creator seems to have wished to show that this was queen of the fruits. At least in the color of its grains, as living as that of some corals, and in the flavor and healthfulness of this fruit, none has advantage over it. For it is joyful to the sight, sweet to the palate, savory to the healthy and healthful to the sick, and of a quality that it can be kept the whole year. Therefore
why do men, who are so acute in philosophizing in human things, not be so in philosophizing in the artifice of this fruit, and recognizing by it the wisdom and providence of him who from a little moisture of earth and water creates a thing so profitable and beautiful? The Spouse understood this better in her Canticles, in which she invites the Spouse to the juice of her pomegranates, and asks him to go with her to the field to see if the vines have flowered and she.
And because here mention is made of the vines, it will not be reason to pass in silence the fertility of the vines, because though the vine is so small a tree, the fruit that it gives is not small, because it gives grapes almost for the whole year, gives wine that maintains, strengthens, and gladdens the heart of man, gives vinegar, gives boiled must, gives raisins, which is savory and healthful sustenance for healthy and sick. For that reason it is not much that that eternal Wisdom compares the fruits that proceed from it to those of this little tree so fertile. And the Savior in the Gospel also compares himself with it, speaking with his disciples and saying: “I am vine, and you the branches.” Wherefore, just as the branch cannot fructify if it is not united with the vine, so neither can you if you are not in me. And although this tree is so small, and cannot by itself climb to the height, remedy did not lack for it for that, because from it proceed some twisted little branches, with which it grasps the branches of the trees, and climbs as much as they climb, especially when they are joined with a very high tree. In which the image of our Redemption appears to be expressed, because in this manner we men climb (though we are creatures so low, if we compare ourselves with the angels), leaning upon that high cedar of Mount Lebanon, which is Christ our Redeemer, uniting ourselves with him, not with the tendrils of the vine, but with bonds of love, with which (according to what the Apostle says) we rise again with him, and climb to heaven with him. Which Saint Gregory declares by these words: “That divine height could not be seen by us, and for this reason it lowered and prostrated itself on the earth, and took us upon its shoulders and, he rising, we all rose together with him, since by the mystery of his Incarnation human nature remained, as to this debt and kinship, sublimated and ennobled above the angels themselves.”
IV
And because in the division of the trees that above we made, the sterile and wild trees enter, it is also reason to declare in this the care of divine providence, which (seeing how men had need of sustenance to sustain themselves, so also they had it of houses to lodge themselves and defend themselves from the injuries of the times) created trees very accommodated for this end, because just as he ordered that the fruitful ones should be for the most part low and sprawling (so that the fruit of them might more easily be gathered), so he wished that those that he created for buildings should be high and very straight, as are the royal pines, the high oaks, the white poplars, and other similar ones, because such it was fitting that they be for the great timberworks. But the other infinite rabble of wild trees serves for pasture of many animals that are maintained from the branches and barks of them, and also serve for fire, which is greatly necessary to us, not only for our shelter, but also for our sustenance and for many other offices. In which is seen that there is nothing so vile and low in the fields that it is not
necessary for the provision of our life, which, as it is so weak, has need of all that is seen in this world, so that it may be conserved.
And because nothing should be lacking to the necessities and use of human life, that most liberal hand created another kind of trees for other uses different from the past ones, because he created aromatic trees, as is that of cinnamon and the one that they call eagle wood, which is of most sweet and very healthful odor, and others also, from whose tears proceeds the balsam in the parts of the East and amber in Africa and Egypt, which being the tear of a tree, comes to be as hard as a stone, within which are seen little pieces of leaves of trees, or little animals that fell into it when it was tender.
He also wished that wild trees could be domesticated and made fruitful with the art of grafting, as we see that from wild olive trees fruitful olive trees are made with this benefit, and likewise that those that had some defect should be capable of remedy and medicine. In this manner Saint Ambrose says that if, bruising the root of the bitter almond tree, they inserted into it a little piece of pine, it comes to be made sweet.
Another thing we see in trees that, according to this same Saint, is worthy of admiration, and it is that there are in some trees male and female, as in the palm, which being near the palm that they call male, naturally inclines its branches toward it, and from it the dates receive the ripeness and sweetness that they have, for which the farmers, when the male is far, gather from its fruits, and put them on the female, and with this manner of remedy the fruit is seasoned. And much more common and more notorious is this in fig trees, which in many parts receive from the wild figs, which are the males, the sweetness and honey of the fruit that they produce, without which the figs come out useless and diminished. And for this the gardeners use a similar artifice to the past one, making some strings of these male figs and putting them on the branches of the fig tree, which they call caprification, where there are two things of admiration: the one, that from this fruit of the wild figs there come out some very small little flies, which, touching the little eye that the fig has on high, give it all the ripeness and honey that it has, in so much abundance that at times a little thread of the honey that is inside comes out through that little eye. The other is that, there being in a fig tree thousands of figs, they surround it all in such manner that they leave no fig untouched and without doing it this benefit. Therefore who will not marvel at the omnipotence and providence of the Creator, who to an animal so small gave such power that it sufficed to mature and season this fruit only by touching it, and such industry and providence that it left none untouched? In which the Creator wished to teach us that all things have need of one another, and that there is none that by itself alone has it all, and likewise that there is none so small that it does not have its power and property. For which in all things may the Creator be forever praised, who made all things in number, weight, and measure, and in all wished to give himself to be known to us.
But at the end of this matter it is not reason to cast into oblivion the care that divine providence had for the conservation of the species of all corruptible things, and especially
of plants. For which he provided two things: the one, that the abundance of seed that each one of the plants produced should be so great that seed could never be lacking from which such a plant might again be produced. The other was to have placed so marvelous a power in each seed of these that, from a grain or very small kernel, there should be born a great plant, which also should produce this so great abundance of seeds for its repair. The one and the other we shall see in a mustard plant, of which the Savior makes mention in the Gospel, which bears little grains of mustard in such abundance as we see, and each little grain of these, after being sown, produces another plant loaded with thousands of them. Likewise, from a melon seed is born a melon plant, and in each melon so great an abundance of seeds to repair and conserve this species. Therefore what shall I say of the seed of the orange tree sown? How many other oranges and seeds it bears, and this each year! Therefore in this manner, how must the species of plants be lacking in the world, having so copious a matter for repairing themselves, as many grains of seeds as each one bears? In which we see how well God knows how to provide what he wishes to provide. And with this example we can very well philosophize and understand how copious the Redemption has been that he sent us, by means of the mystery of the Incarnation of his only-begotten Son. For if so copious was the remedy that he provided to conserve the species of the plants, how copious would be the one that he provided to repair and sanctify the species of men? Which the Apostle did not leave silent when he said that “the riches of grace that the Son of God brought to the world were incomprehensible.” Nor did the same Lord leave it silent, when he said: “I came into the world to give men life, and very abundant and copious life.”
But here we shall give an end to the work of the third day, when the Creator commanded the earth to fructify, but not to the praises and thanks that for this benefit we must always give him, hearing the common voice of all the creatures, which with the artifice of their composition and with the benefit of their fruit are always saying to us: “God made me, and for you he made me.”