The Mind’s Ascent to God by a Ladder of Created ThingsSeventh step. CONSIDERATION OF THE HEAVENS, THAT IS OF THE SUN, MOON, AND STARS

We will not here labour to raise for ourselves a step towards the consideration of God by means of consideration of the heavens: for we have a leader in the royal prophet who sings in the Psalms, ‘The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork.’! And since there are two seasons in which we may rise on the wings of contemplation from the heavens to God, namely the day and night, he writes of the former in the same Psalm, ‘In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun: which cometh forth as a bridegroom out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a giant to run his course. It goeth forth from the uttermost part of heaven, and runneth about unto the end of it again: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.’ Of the latter he writes in another Psalm, ‘I will consider thy heavens, even the works of thy fingers: the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained.’ 3

Let us begin with the former season. The Holy Spirit by the mouth of David proclaims four praises of the sun: first that it is the tabernacle of God; second that it is exceeding beautiful; third that it runs its course always most swiftly and without becoming weary; fourth that it shows its power chiefly in bestowing light and heat. It is on account of all these properties that Ecclesiasticus hath written, “A marvellous instrument, the work of the Most High... . Great is the Lord that made it.’ !

First, then, God, the Creator of all things, places his tabernacle in the sun, as being a most noble creature, that is, amongst all corporeal things God chose the sun a royal palace and divine sanctuary, to dwell in. God does indeed ‘fill heaven and earth,’? and “the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him’;3 yet he is said to dwell more in that place where by working marvels he manifests greater signs of his presence.

But since in the Hebrew text it is said that ‘he placed his tabernacle in them,’ that is in the heavens, we gather from this place in the Psalm a second excellence of the sun which does not contradict the former. The sun is a great thing, for which God hath prepared a most spacious, beautiful, and noble palace: for he willed that the heaven itself should be the palace of the sun in which it might freely take its course and work, and that the sun itself should be the palace of himself, the most high King. And so just as we learn the greatness and dignity of the sun from the fact that its tabernacle is the heaven, so we learn the greatness and splendour of God from this, that his tabernacle is the sun, doubtless a wonderful instrument, and than which nothing more wonderful is to be found among things created.

Moreover David, when he would point out the remarkable beauty of the sun from things known to us, compared it with a bridegroom going forth out of his chamber: for never do men adorn themselves more, or desire to display their comeliness and their beauty more, than when they are bridegrooms: for then it is that they desire beyond measure to please the eyes of the bride whom they so ardently love. But if we could steadfastly behold the sun and if we could approach so near to it as to discern its size and beauty, we should not then need the similitude of a bridegroom to understand its incredible magnificence. It is certain that all the beauty of colours depends on light, and that when there is no light the beauty of colours vanishes; hence nothing is more beautiful than light; and God himself who is Beauty itself was pleased to be called light. ‘God,’ says Saint John, is light, and in him is no darkness at all,’ and in corporeal things nothing is more lightsome than the sun and therefore there is nothing more beautiful. Add to which, that the beauty of lower things, and particularly the beauty of man, soon fades, while the beauty of the sun is never destroyed, is never lessened, and continually makes all things glad with its unchanging splendour. Do we not perceive, how at sunrise everything as it were rejoices? Not alone are men made joyful, but winds blow sweetly, flowers open, grass springs up, birds make the air sweet with their song. Hence that aged blind man Tobit when the angel said to him, ‘Joy be ever with thee,’ answered, ‘What joy shall I have, who sit in darkness and see not the light of heaven ?’ 2

Then, my soul, come, think with thyself: if the created sun at his-rising doth so rejoice all things, what will the uncreated Sun do, who is beyond comparison more beautiful and bright, when to the pure of heart he shall arise to be seen and contemplated not for a short season but for ever? And how sad and unhappy will that hour be to the wicked when they shall be sent away to everlasting darkness, where the rays of neither created nor uncreated sun will ever penetrate! And what will be the greatness of the joy of that soul to whom the Father of lights will say, “Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.’ !

After this the same prophet celebrates the most wonderful course of the sun: ‘It rejoiceth,’ saith he, ‘as a giant to run his course.’2 A mighty giant surely, if he steps out according to the size of his body and runs swiftly according to his strength, covers an immense distance in a short space of time. And as the prophet, in order to explain in such fashion as he was able, the beauty of the sun, had compared it to a bridegroom, so he afterwards compared it to a giant, in order that, in the same resemblance, he might explain in such manner _as was possible the swiftness of its course.

But if he had not compared it with a man, however great and strong he may be, but to flying birds, arrows, winds, lightning, we should yet be very far from arriving at the truth: for if that be true which we perceive with our eyes, namely that the sun runs in four-and-twenty hours through the whole compass of its orbit, and if the compass of the sun’s orbit surpasses almost by an infinite degree the course of the earth, and if the orbit of the earth includes about twenty thousand miles, which is absolutely true—then without doubt it must follow that each hour the sun runneth many thousands of miles: and if I say every hour, I may say it also of every quarter of an hour, or of almost every minute.

If any one will take notice of the sunrise or sunset, particularly in a clear horizon, such as one finds at sea or in a plain, he will perceive that the whole body of the sun rises above the horizon in a short space of time, as it were in less than the eighth part of an hour: and yet the diameter of the sun is much greater than the diameter of the earth, which notwithstanding contains seven thousand miles.

I myself was once desirous of learning what space of time the sun would take in setting. At the beginning of its setting I began to read the Psalm Miserere mei Deus: and I had scarce read it twice through when the whole sun had set.

And so in the short space of time during which the Psalm Miserere can be twice read, the sun must traverse in his course a distance much greater than seven thousand miles. Who would believe this, unless reasoning certainly proved it? And if we add, that the body which moves so quickly is a mass greater than the whole earth, and accomplishes this swift movement without break or fatigue, and, should God command, could continue thus for ever: certainly every one but he who is stupid or a dunce must admire the infinite power of the Creator.

Truly therefore writes the Wise Man, ‘This is a marvellous instrument, the work of the Most High,’ and truly, ‘Great is the Lord that made it.’

There remains the property of light and heat, of which David says, “There is nothing hid from the heat thereof.” ‘This one luminous body placed in the midst of the universe gives light to all the stars, to the whole atmosphere, to all the sea and the whole land, and with its life-giving heat makes all the plants of the earth, all

the seeds and trees, live and blossom, to bring fruit to perfection, and puts forth its power even beneath the earth, producing all kinds of metals.

Wherefore Saint James in the beginning of his Epistle compares God himself with the sun: ‘Every good gift and every perfect giving cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.’! As the sun is the parent of corporeal lights, God is the Father of spiritual lights, but in three respects there is great unlikeness between God and the sun. For first, the sun, as it fills the whole earth with its light and heat, has need of constant change, but God, being whole in all places, needs no change: and therefore Saint James saith, ‘with whom is no variableness.’ In the second place the sun, because it is always changing its place, makes, by turns, day for some and night for others, shines upon some and shadows others: but God never moves and is always present to all: and so Saint James adds, ‘with whom is no shadow of turning.’ And lastly, what is greatest of all, all gifts and benefits which come from the earth are produced by the sun as the father of corporeal lights. These are indeed good, but they are not the best, nor are they perfect: indeed they are limited, temporal, failing, and do not make a man good: and those who will may use them amiss, and many men use them to their hurt: but from the Father of spiritual lights all the most excellent and perfect gifts descend, making him who possesses them very good and perfect, and no man can misuse them: but they lead him who perseveres to the state of true happiness which is the sum of all good things.

Wherefore, my soul, inquire what are those best and perfect gifts which come down from above from the Father of lights, and when thou hast found them, eager for them and with all thy strength strive to obtain them.

But there is no need to seek far, for the sun itself will show them sufficiently. The sun accomplishes all by light and heat, and these, namely light and heat, are gifts bestowed by the Father of corporeal lights: so also the best gifts and perfect givings which are from above and descend from God, the true Father of lights, are the light of wisdom and the disposing of charity.

The light of wisdom, which makes a man truly wise and which no one can misuse, and which leads one to the fountain of wisdom in the heavenly country, is that which teaches a man to despise temporal things and to esteem heavenly things; it teaches a man ‘not to trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God’;! it teaches him not to make this place of exile into his fatherland, and not to love this pilgrimage, but rather to endure it: and lastly it teaches him to pass this present life in patience, since it is full of dangers and temptations, and that death is to be an object of desire, for * blessed are the dead that die in the Lord.’ 2

The ordering of true charity, what is it, but to love God without limit and without measure, who is the end of all desires: and other things which are but means to an end, to love with measure and only to such a degree as is necessary to the end, that is to the attainment of blessedness.

For certainly there is not one among the children of men who in respect-of the care of his body will so overturn this order as to love health moderately and a bitter draught immoderately, when he knows that the one is the end and the other but the means. How does it happen that many who desire to be considered wise persons, keep no measure in heaping up riches, in seeking after carnal pleasures and in pursuing honours, as if in these good things consisted the end of the heart’s desire: but in loving God and in seeking eternal happiness they are satisfied with so little as if it were the means to an end and not the end of all other things? ‘The reason is this, that they have the wisdom of this world and not the wisdom that is from above which cometh down from the Father of lights, and because they have not ordered charity and so have not true charity, which cannot but be ordered; for they are filled with covetousness, which is not of the Father but of the world. Thou therefore, my soul, while thou art wandering as a pilgrim away from thy native land and amongst enemies, who make a pretence of true wisdom and true charity, and for wisdom offer craftiness and for charity, covetousness: pour forth thy groans with all thy heart before the Father of lights, that he will cause the best and perfect gifts, namely the light of wisdom and the ardour of ordered charity, to descend into thy heart: that, filled therewith, thou mayst with sure foot run the way of God’s commandments: and reach that native land where thou wilt drink of the very fountain of wisdom and live by the pure milk of charity.

I come now to the night, in which the heaven by means of moon and stars maketh a step to ascend unto God, for thus saith David, ‘I will consider the heavens, even the works of thy fingers: the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained.’

If we were able to see the heaven itself, the prophet would not have said, as though explaining what had gone before, ‘the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained’: and indeed if our senses could reach out to heaven itself or if we could search out its nature and properties by certain reasoning, doubtless there we should have an excellent ladder by which to find God.

We know that there were some who by the movement of the stars defined the nature of the sky as a fifth element, simple, incorruptible, and continually moving in a circle: and we know that there have been others also who would have heaven to be the element of fire, which does not move circularly and which is in some parts incorruptible.

We do not seek opinions, but certain knowledge or teaching of faith, that of this we may build a firm ladder towards the knowledge of God. Therefore we will content ourselves with raising a ladder as the prophet does, of the moon and stars which we see, as a short while ago we made a step of the sun, which is the light and the chief light of all the luminaries.

‘The moon has two properties which may help us to ascend and to reach to God. First, the nearer it approaches the sun, so much the more does it shine in the upper part next to the sky and the darker it is in the lower part next to earth, and when it is altogether beneath the sun and entirely joined with it, then is it wholly light toward heaven and dark toward earth. Again, when it is opposite the sun, to those who dwell on the earth the whole appears to be shining, and the upper part towards heaven hath no light.

This property of the moon may teach men to understand how careful they ought to be of their nearness to, and subjection to, and union with God, the true Father of lights. The moon signifies man, the sun signifies God. When the moon is opposite the sun, then with light borrowed from the sun it looks upon the earth alone, and as it were turns its back to the sky: whence it appears then most beautiful to those

Consideration OF THE HEAVENS Io! who dwell on the earth, but to the dwellers in heaven it appears misshapen.

Thus mortal men, when like the prodigal son they have gone away from their father and departed to a far country, abusing the light of reason which they received from the Father of lights, looking only upon the earth and forgetting God, think only of earth, love only the earth, and are wholly occupied in amassing its good things: by the children of this world they are considered wise and happy, but by those who dwell in heaven are judged poor and naked and blind and crippled and wretched and miserable.t

But, on the contrary, the moon in conjunction with the sun is completely subjected to it, and the whole shines from the upper part and looks at heaven only, while it turns as it were its back to the earth and vanishes from the eyes of men.

Thus when a wicked man begins to turn to piety and by a perfect conversion is by humility made subject to God the true sun of souls, and united to him by charity, then he fulfils the admonition of the Apostle, that he should seek the things that are above, where Christ is at the right hand of God, and set the mind on things above, not on things on the earth; 2 and then by fools he is despised and reckoned as dead. For truly such a man is dead to the world and his life is hid with Christ in God: but when Christ, who is his life, shall appear, then will he also appear with him in glory, as the same Apostle adds in the same place.

And this is the reason (as Saint Augustine notes in his epistle to Januarius) why the Lord’s Passover, both under the old and under the new law, cannot be rightly kept except after the full moon, that is when the moon, which at the full is opposite, begins, by turning, to return towards conjunction with the sun: for by this heavenly sign God willed to show that it was by

® Apoc. iii. 17. 2 Col. iii. 1, 2.

the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord that man, by reason of his sin opposed to God, began to return to him and by the merits of Jesus Christ attained to his favour and to union with him.

But, my soul, if by the inspiration of the grace of God thou findest thyself, perchance, subject by a true humility to the Father of lights and happily made one with him by ardent charity, do not imitate those foolish persons who change like the moon, but strive to be like the wise who remain as the sun, as the Wise Man testifies, ‘A fool changeth as the moon.’ !

For while the moon quickly approaches conjunction, it just as quickly turns back again: but if thou wilt be wise, do not waste the grace once received, do not depart, do not retire, for in no place wilt thou find anything better, and thou dost not know if a return will be granted thee, if thou departest of thine own accord: for he who promised pardon to the penitent and grace to those who return, hath not promised thee a long life nor the gift of penitence. Therefore be safe and turn thy back to the earth and gaze upon thy sun, rest in him and delight thyself in him, abide in him: say with the Apostle Peter, ‘It is good for us to be here’; and with the martyr Ignatius, ‘It is better for me to die for the sake of Jesus Christ than to reign over the boundaries of the earth.’3 And likewise let it be with thee, that those who savour of the earth judge concerning thee, ‘For he is not approved whom the world commendeth, but whom God commendeth.’ 4

There is another property of the moon, which God also makes to serve his chosen. The moon rules the night as the sun rules the day, as says Moses! and David in the Psalms;2 but the sun rules the whole day with continuous splendour, while the moon enlightens the night now with much light, now with a little, and sometimes the darkness of night is not relieved by any light at all. So God, as Sun, enlightens with eternal brightness the holy angels and the souls of the blessed, with whom is perpetual day: ‘And there shall be no night there,’ says Saint John,3 but the night of this our pilgrimage and exile in which we walk ‘by faith and not by sight’; 4 and where we are guided by the Holy Scriptures as a ‘light shining in a dark place,’ as Saint Peter speaks in his second Epistle,5 is visited by God, who illumines our hearts and by turns sometimes leaves them in the darkness of desolation. And, my soul, thou shouldst not be overmuch saddened, if thou enjoy no light of consolation, nor shouldst thou be too greatly exhilarated if after a short space thou breathest once more in the light and consolation of devotion. For God shows himself in the night of this world not as a sun, but as a moon, and to us puny and insignificant creatures he appears now as the full moon with a light of consolation and now as bereft of all light he leaves us in the horror and thick darkness of night: for as Paul the Apostle, the chosen vessel, and who when caught up to the third heaven heard ‘unspeakable words which it is not lawful for a man to utter,’ 6 at one time said, ‘I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation’;7 and at another time when mourning and lamenting said, ‘But I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death ?’ ;8 and in the second Epistle to the Corinthians he writes, ‘For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life.’⁸ And it is this which Saint John Chrysostom teaches,8 that God works thus in all his saints, that he never allows them to have either tribulations or consolations uninterrupted: but both by adversity and by prosperity he as it were weaves the life of the righteous. Thus far concerning the moon.

For the ornaments of the sky there remain the stars, concerning which the Wise Man says, ‘The beauty of heaven, the glory of the stars,’ but he adds at once, ‘giving light in the highest places of the Lord.’ 3 For whatever is the splendour of the stars, as also that of the sun and the moon, is entirely an illumination from the Father, and it is not the sun which enlightens the world by day nor is it the moon or the stars that enlighten the world by night, but it is the Lord who dwelleth on high, who illumines the world by means of the sun and moon and stars. For it is he himself who, as the prophet Baruch says, ‘sendeth forth light and it goeth, calleth it again and it obeyeth him with fear. The stars shined in their watches and rejoiced: when he calleth them, they say, Here we be; and so with cheerfulness they showed light unto him that made them.’4 In these words there is signified the infinite power of God, which with incredible ease in one moment produces bodies so immense and magnificent, and adorns them and causes them to work. Our expression ‘to call’ is, with God, ‘to create’: ‘God calleth those things which be not as though they were,’ * and by his call he maketh them to be what they are: and for the stars to say “Here we be,’ is nothing else than continually to exist and to work according to the voice of their ruler; and ‘to show light with cheerfulness unto him that made them,’ is promptly and eagerly to obey their Maker and in obedience to fulfil their task with great pleasure and joy.

But an exceeding wonderful thing in regard to the stars is this, that though they move very swiftly and never pause in that most rapid course, some moving slowly and others quickly in their orbits, yet they always so maintain their distance and proportion in regard to others, that there arises thence a melodious and most sweet harmony. Concerning this symphony God saith, in the book of Job,2 ‘Who can tell the method of the heavens, and who can still the symphony of the skies?’ This is not a symphony of voices or of sounds which is perceived by the bodily ear, but the harmony of proportion in the movements of the stars, which is felt by the ear of the heart. If indeed all the stars of the firmament traverse the whole circuit of the sky with the same speed once in twenty-four hours, yet the seven stars which are called planets or wandering stars are spurred on in different motions, some swifter, some slower, so that the stars of the firmament may be said to imitate the bass notes (to use ordinary expressions) and the planets make a constant and charming counterpoint.

But these matters are beyond us, and only those who dwell in heaven understand the order of those movements and hear that harmony. And since the stars, keeping their order and always turning in the orbit, are not wearied, they seem to resemble noble virgins, skilled in the dance, continually performing most delightful movements.

But, my soul, rise thou a little higher, if thou canst, and as thou observest the great splendour of the sun, the beauty of the moon, the number and variety of other luminaries, the wonderful harmony of the heavens and the delightful movements of the stars, consider: what it will be to see God above the heavens, as it were a sun, " dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto’;! to gaze upon that Virgin, the Queen of heaven, who, ‘fair as the moon,’? maketh joyful the whole city of God; to look upon the bands and ranks of many thousands of angels, who more in number than the stars and brighter than they, adorn the heaven of heavens; to perceive the souls of holy men, amongst the choirs of angels, as planets mingled with the stars of the firmament; and what it will be to hear the songs of praise and that endless Alleluia burst forth most sweetly from united voices in the streets of that city.

Thus it will come to pass that the beauty of the heavens will not appear so very great, and the things that are beneath the sky will seem altogether insignificant, indeed almost nothing, and to be considered despicable and worthy of contempt.

x 1 Tim. vi. 16. 2 Cant. vi. 10.