Vultis Deum contemplari? Unus ille est; o avròs: Trinus est; Deus Pater, Dominus, Spiritus: Trinunus est; Spiritus, Dominus, Deus ó avròs.

Vultis Hominem intueri? Non unum hunc conspicietis, sed vix finitâ diversitate discriminatum; non nudum, sed donis instructum; non superfluum, sed destinatum ministerio; non otiosum, sed operationibus occupatissimum: neque istæ operationes, ministeria, dona, uniformia sunt; sed multiplicitèr distincta ac variegata.

Unde verò huic tam multijuges gratiæ, munera tam diversa, nisi ab uno eodemque Deo; Patre, Domino, Spiritu? Quorsum denique ista; nisi ut hæc opera, ministeria, dona, ab uno Deo, Domino, Spiritu profecta, in unum, in unitatem dirigantur?

O miram planèque inexplicabilem rerum divinarum humanarumque συζυγίαν ! συγκοινωνίαν cœli ac terræ! qua Deus sibi per quoovoiav, Deus homini per munificentiam, homo Deo per gratitudinem, homines sibi invicem per charitatem, dona ministeriis, ministeria operationibus sive intimè uniri sive consociari perhibentur.

Nolo jam, neque verò expedit, hodierno die in tam verendâ Theologorum coronâ, Catecheticis, de Sacro-sanctæ Trinunitatis mysterio, disquisitionibus immorari: quanquam dignus vobis alibi labor iste, Fratres; quemque, si me audietis, exantlabitis domi strenuè. Nimium profectò, obsolevit familiare illud docendi genus τῆς ἀρχῆς λόγος. Ἐπὶ τὴν τελειότητα φερόμεθα, ambitiosi oratores, spretâ populari hâc operâ. Cernitis ut altissimè volare norint ardeæ, quæ tamen imâ, plerumque, valle victitare solent; nidos in abiete, in palude pastum quæritant: ita et vos facite, Cooperarii mei; non tam soliciti vosmet probare doctos, quàm præstare vestros.

Illud modò obiter. Qualis est Deus, talem se nobis exhibet; qualemque se nobis exhibet, tales nos sibi efformat: uti sol, nubem ritè dispositam intuens, imaginem sui aliquam imprimit humido illi speculo; ita et Deus Ecclesiæ. Sublunaris, ergo, quædam Trinitas, ab illâ Cœlesti deduci istic cernitur; Donorum, Ministeriorum, Operationum: à Spiritu, Dona; à Filio, Ministeria; Operationes, à Patre, fluunt affatim ac dimanant: Distinctiones sunt Donorum, sed idem Spiritus, &c.

Apage Pythagoricos calculatores. Pariter se mihi habent numeri omnes, nisi quos præiverit Deus; præivit autem hîc

Will ye look up to God? He is one in essence, o avròs: Three in person; the Father, Lord, Spirit: he is Three in One, and One in Three; the Father, Lord, Spirit, one and the same God.

Will ye cast your eyes to Man? ye shall see him not single, but branched into infinite diversity; not bare and naked, but furnished with gifts; not superfluous, but destined to due services; not idle, but busy in meet operations: neither are these operations, services, gifts, all of one kind; but diversely distinguished and varied.

And whence are these so manifold graces, so diverse employments, but from one God; the Father, Lord, Spirit? And, wherefore are all these; but that these operations, ministries, gifts, proceeding from one God, Lord, Spirit, may be directed to one, and may end, as they began, in a perfect unity?

O marvellous conjunction of divine and human things! O unutterable communion of heaven and earth! wherein is laid forth unto us, the entire respects and union of God to himself by consubstantiality, of God to man by munificence, of man to God by the bond of thankfulness, of men to each other by the bond of charity, of gifts to ministries, of ministries to operations, of all to all.

I shall not now need, neither indeed would it befit me, in so awful an assembly of Divines, to dwell upon Catechetical points, concerning the mystery of the Sacred Trinity: although this labour is well worthy of you elsewhere, my Brethren; and such as, if I may persuade you, you shall carefully bestow at home. This familiar kind of teaching the word of the beginnings of Christ is grown out of fashion. Like ambitious orators, we overlook this popular strain, and are carried to an affectation of perfection. You see how the heron can soar high, yet lives, for the most part, in the lowest valley; builds in the tallest trees, yet feeds in the humble marshes: so do ye, my dear Fellow Labourers; not so much caring to shew yourselves learned, as to make your people so.

This by the way. Such as God is, such he expresses himself to us; and such as he expresses himself to us, such he forms us to himself: as the sun, looking upon a cloud fitly disposed for that purpose, imprints in that moist glass a certain bright image of himself; so doth God to his Church. From that Celestial and Divine Trinity, therefore, is here apparently deduced another Trinity, sublunary and human; of Gifts, Ministries, Operations: from the Spirit are derived Gifts; Ministries, from the Son; Operations, from the Father: There are diversities of Gifts, but the same Spirit; of Ministries, but the same Lord; of Operation, but the same God.

Away with all niceties of Pythagorean calculations. All numbers are alike to me, save those which God himself hatb

10

COLUMBA NOE.

apertissimè. Verbo dicam, Monade ac Triade absolvitur aurea hæc clausula. In Monade, Trias est; in Triade, Monas: Trias perfecta, id est, Trina est; est Trias Distinctionum, est Trias Munerum, est Trias Largitorum; tot sunt diapéσeis quot munera, tot munera quot largitores. Munera tria; Dona, Ministeria Operationes: tres Largitores; Pater, Filius, Spiritus, qui tamen Patri, unâ Monade, T auT@, concluduntur. Sed et in illâ Monade sua diaípeois est, dum Spiritui, Dona; Filio, Ministeria; Operationes, quasi singulatim ascribuntur.

Ne spinosior paulò videatur oratio, nos, Apostolum secuti, DISTINCTIONES MUNERIBUS, MUNERA LARGITORIBUS, Triada Monadi, quanta possumus cum facilitate, APPLICABIMUS; et, dein, brevi perorabimus.

I. Triplex 4IAIPEXIΣ multiplicitatem innuit.

1. Quid sibi tres Charites somniant Veteres? Mille istic Xápires sunt; XAPIEMATA infinita. Intuere omnes, quotquot χάριτες uspiam fuerunt, Adæ nepotes: inter tot millenas mille capitum myriadas, aliquam in vultu varietatem facilè observabis. Immane quantum à se differt diversiformis pulchritudo. Nec ipsi ridem menæchmi non aliqua sibi tenus dissimiles. Non est mysterio, credite, facierum, quanta animorum diversitas: ut alibi labor isteyimis charismata: singulis aliqua, omnibus pludomi strenuè. Ninnutigerunt: Ecce diaipéσeis xaρioμáтwv. cendi genus τῆς ἀρχῆς λυ

ambitiosi oratores, spretâ pot, Caietanum secutus, Salmeron; altissimè volare norint ardeæ, quandi favores; et quæ gratum victitare solent; nidos in abiete, in pacensentur meritissimè. ita et vos facite, Cooperarii mei; non tamine dona; naturæ, bare doctos, quàm præstare vestros.

ines sumus; per 'eati. Dona

us brutis:

Illud modò obiter. Qualis est Deus, talem se nobiseramus: qualemque se nobis exhibet, tales nos sibi efformat: 7eritas, nubem ritè dispositam intuens, imaginem sui aliquam imlonis humido illi speculo; ita et Deus Ecclesiæ. Sublunaris, uæquædam Trinitas, ab illâ Cœlesti deduci istic cernitur; Doris rum, Ministeriorum, Operationum: à Spiritu, Dona; à Fris, Ministeria; Operationes, à Patre, fluunt affatim ac dimanar Distinctiones sunt Donorum, sed idem Spiritus, &c.

Apage Pythagoricos calculatores. Pariter se mihi habent numeri omnes, nisi quos præiverit Deus; præivit autem hîc

chalked out unto us; as here, he hath manifestly done. In one word, an Unity and a Trinity make up this golden sentence. There is a Trinity, in this Unity; there is a Unity, in this Trinity: first, here is a perfect, that is, a triple, Trinity; a Trinity of Diversities, a Trinity of Faculties, a Trinity of Givers; for there are so many diversities as faculties, and so many faculties as givers. The Faculties are three; Gifts, Ministries, Operations: the Givers three; the Father, the Son, the Spirit, which all are included in one Unity, To avτ, the same God. And yet even that Unity hath his distinction, while Gifts are, as it were, by a specialty ascribed to the Spirit; Ministries, to the Son; to the Father, Operations.

That our discourse may not seem too perplexed, we will follow the footsteps of the Apostle; and, with all possible perspicuity, will APPLY THE DIVERSITIES TO THE FACULTIES; THE FACULTIES TO THE GIVERS; these Trinities to their Unity; and, this done, draw to a brief conclusion.

I. A threefold DIVERSITY argues multiplicity.

1. What meant the Ancients to dream but of three Graces? There are a thousand graces; GIFTS infinite. Look upon all the grand-children of Adam, that ever were: amongst so many thousand millions of faces, ye shall easily observe some variety of favours. It is a wonder to see what diversity of forms there is in that which we call beauty. No twins are so like as not to bewray some dissimilitude. Certainly, there is not so great variety of faces, as of minds: as features are to the countenance, so are gifts to the mind: each one hath some, all have many, none have all: There are diversities of gifts.

Salmeron, with Cajetan, understands here those gifts, which we call gratias gratis datas, "graces freely given;" wherein he says true, but not enough: for, as the old word is," Favours must be enlarged;" and those gifts, which make us gracious, are best worthy of this name. It is not amiss that Hugo reckons up three sorts of God's gifts to man; gifts of nature, of grace, of glory: by the gifts of nature, we are men; by the gifts of grace, we are holy; by the gifts of glory, we shall be blessed. The gifts of nature, are memory, reason, will; wherein we excel the brute creatures: the gifts of grace, are faith, hope, charity; wherein we go beyond the devils: the gifts of glory, eternal and true blessedness, blessed and eternal truth, true and blessed eternity; wherein we are equal to the angels. Amongst the gifts of nature, [and grace. EDITOR. See the original.] the same author reckons some to be of the lowest rank; some, of the mean; some, of the highest: in the lowest, he accounts beauty and health of body; in the mean, he accounts the faculties of the mind; in the highest, the virtues of the soul: Thus There are diversities of gifts.

There are some gifts of Regeneration; there are some gifts

illis, renascimur, ut nobis benè sit; his, instruimur, ut prodesse possimus aliis: hæc hominibus singulis singula; illa Sanctis omnibus omnia, communi quâdam proprietate, tributa. Ut, enim, in sapientissimâ hâc universi dispositione, optima quæque ac vitæ sustentandæ necessaria, veluti aer, lux, ignis, aqua, cessere omnibus abundè; quæ verò ornatui voluptatique inserviunt, ut aurum, teretes gemmæ, lapidesque pretiosi, parciùs quibusdam indulgentur: ita, gratiæ quæque salutares Sanctis omnibus suppetunt ubertim, ab illâ largâ Dei manu; linguæ verò, prophetia, potestas miraculorum, sed et eloquentia, scientia, honoris apices, et ejusdem classis reliqua, paucioribus adservari solent. Quanta autem istorum diversitas! Differunt illa scilicet, ratione sui; naturâ quippe alia atque alia: differunt, ratione subjecti; aliis atque aliis concessа; oν yар πаνта Deol Tâσiv, cæcus vates verissime: differunt, ratione gradûs; magis minusve indulta: Verè διαιρέσεις χαρισμάτων.

Naturæ illa è trivio vox est, Idem, manens idem, aptum non esse facere nisi idem; sed, ubi de Naturæ Deo sermo est, veriùs Bonaventura, Ab unissimo Deo manant multiforma; ab æterno, temporalia. In te variatur, qui in se non mutatur, pulchrè Hugo. Creasset unum modò divina potestas, dignum Deo fuisset solitarium illud opus; quodque à solâ potuisset omnipotentiâ proficisci: atqui creavit multa; creavit innumera. Creasset Deus multa hæc omnimodò uniformia, soloque numero distincta, majus fuisset hoc longèque adhuc mirabilius, quàm unius cujuscunque opificium: sed jam, ubi multa hæc, hæc innumera, æquè etiam varia effinxerat, formarumque discrimen cum numero concertet, & Bábos oopías! O stupendum artificium omnipotentiæ! Neque tamen est, ubi æquè se exerat divina virtus et providentia, atque in unius hominis variformi oikovoμía. Fallor, nisi in hoc minore mundo, mundus occurrat Siaipéoewv. Miramini vosmetipsos, mei Fratres; et obstupescite. Sive oris formam intueamur, sive partium ovμperpíav, sive colorem cutis, sive corporis staturam, sive dotes animæ, facultatum gradus, indolem naturæ, mensuram gra