The Knowledge Of The Father And The Son

De die autem illa et hora nemo scit neque angeli in coelo, neque Filius, nisi Pater solus. Sed quaerendum est quare ille dicat Filium nescire ista, et solum Patrem scire, cum ipse dicat: Omnia tradita sunt a Patre meo, et item: Omnia quae habet Pater mea sunt, et illud: Ego et Pater unum sumus. Si enim ipse et Pater unum sunt, quomodo nescit Filius quod scit Pater? Sed ut locus iste sobrie intelligatur videndum est quod sit scire, vel quod nescire. Scire Dei est approbare, unde ait Moysi: Novi te ex nomine, id est approbavit. Aliter scire Dei est alios scientes facere, unde Moyses dixit filiis Israel: Tentat vos Dominus Deus vester ut sciat si diligitis eum, quod non ita accipiendum est quasi ait aliquid quod Deus nesciat; sed sciat dicit, id est scire vos faciat quantum in ejus dilectione profeceritis, quod aliter cognosci non poterat, nisi tentationibus probaretur. Si ergo scire Dei est approbare, nescire illius reprobare est, unde in fine saeculi dicturus est impiis: Nescio vos, id est in doctrina et disciplina mea non vos invenio, non vos approbo. Rursus si scire Dei est alios scientes facere, nescire illius est alios utiliter nescientes facere. Et ideo beatus Marcus dicit Filium nescire, quia ipse utiliter facit alios nescire diem judicii, quod non prodest illis scire; si enim homo diem judicii, vel diem mortis cognosceret, aliud tempus deputaret volupataibus, et aliud poenitentiae; voluit quippe Dominus diem judicii omnibus esse occultum, quatenus semper sit suspectus; voluit esse ignotum, ut omnes sint parati et pervigiles. Remigius Antissiodorensis, Homilia I Source: Migne PL 131.870b-d

Regarding that day and hour no one knows, not the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 1 But it must be asked why He says the the Son does not know this and the Father alone knows, when He says: 'Everything has been given to me by the Father,' and 'Everything which the Father has is mine,' and 'The Father and I are one.' 2 For if He and the Father are one, how does the Son not know what the Father knows? But that this line may be understood correctly it is necessary to look into what 'to know' and  what 'not to know' means. God's knowing is approval, whence He says to Moses 'I know you by name,' 3 that is, I approve of you. Along with this God's knowing is to make others know, whence Moses said to the sons of Israel: 'The Lord your God is testing you that He might know if you love Him.' 4 Which must not be understood as if he speaks of something that God does not understand, but saying 'He might know' is a making you know how much you have advanced in the love of Him, which otherwise would not be known, for such a thing is proved by trials. If then God's knowing is approval, His not knowing is reproval, whence at the end of the world it is said to the wicked: 'I do not know you,' 5 that is, 'I do not find you in my teaching and discipline. I do not approve of you.' Again if God's knowing is to make others know, His not knowing is the useful making of the not knowing of others. And therefore the blessed Mark says the Son does not know, because He usefully makes others not know the day of judgement, for that would be of no benefit to them. If a man knew the day of judgement or the day of his death, he could give a part of his time to indulgence, and another part to penitence. But since the Lord wishes that the day of judgement should be hidden to all, to that extent it must always be expected. Thus He wished it to be unknown so that everyone would be prepared and watchful. Remigius of Auxerre, from Homily 1 1 Mt 24.36 2 Mt 11.27, Lk 10.22, Jn 16.15, Jn 10.30 3 Exod 33.12 4 Deut 13.3 5 Mt 25.12, Lk 13.25

The Trinity And Virtue

Perfectio namque hujus vitae non alia est quam per fidem, spem et charitatem, perfecte quae retro sunt oblivisci, et in ea extendi quae ante sunt. Nam et Apostolus hoc dicit: Quotquot, inquit, perfecti sumus, hoc sapiamus. Quicunque ergo vere quaerunt Deum Trinitatem, trium virtutum harum affectent in semetipsis habere trinitatem, et conformare se studeant ad earum disciplinam. Conscientia earum paradisus voluptatis est, pollens affluentia gratiarum, et castis sanctarum deliciis virtutum; ubi homo incola paradisi ipsius cum Deo conversatur; et saepe eum videt, semper ab eo videtur, saepe cum eo loquitur. Tres autem cardinales istae virtutes ubi sunt, ad aliquam similudinem Trinitatis Dei sic sibi invicem connexae sunt et conjunctae, ut sint singulae in omnibus, et omnes in singulis; ut quod, et quantum, et quomodo, quid credit; hoc etiam, et tantum, et eo modo speret et amet: sic etiam speret, quod credit et amat; et amet, quod credit et sperat. Fides enim nomen virtutis est, et magnae et eximiae virtutis. Sed fides quae spem et charitatem non habet, virtus est. Sic enim et daemones credunt, et homines, qui sicut daemones credunt, nisi quod pejores esse videntur ipsis daemonibus homines quidam, in eo quod homines nec timent, ubi daemones contremiscunt. Certamque esse fidem oportet, ut certa sit spes, certa charitatis. Sicut enim recte credi non potest sine spe, nec sperari nisi praecedente fide, sic nec alterius formae spes esse potest quam fides. Creditum quipper bonum suum spei format appetitum, cum credita bonitas crediti dat fiduciam sperandi. Ad similitudinem ergo summae Trinitatis sicut fides spem gignit, sic charitatis ab utroque, hoc est a fide et spe procedit, cum non potest non amari quod creditur et speratur; et eodem utique modo amari, quo creditur et speratur. Sicut enim ibi tres personae coaeternae sibi sunt et consubstantiales, ita et hic fides, spes, charitas, non tempore alia prior, alia posterior est, quantum ad virtutis substantiam quodammmodo consubstantiales licet videantur habere secundum formam differentis affectius, quasi differentias quasdam personales. Guillelmus S Theodorici Abbas, Speculum Fidei Source: Migne PG 180.367b-368a

The perfection of this life is nothing other than by faith, hope and charity, the things behind being completely forgotten in reaching for those things ahead. For as the Apostle says, 'However many of us are perfect, this we shall know. ' 1 Whoever, then, seeks the Divine Trinity desires to have in himself this trinity of virtues, and he is eager to conform himself to their discipline. The awareness of them is the paradise of joys, strong with the abundance of grace and with the chaste delights of the holy virtues, where man placed in paradise dwelt with God, and often he sees Him, and he is always seen by Him, and he often speaks to Him. Now as the three cardinal virtues have a certain similitude to the divine Trinity, so it is that they are in themselves connected and joined, each one being in all, and all in each, so that as much and how someone believes, with this and only with this, is the way he hopes and loves. For faith is the name of a virtue, and it is a great and wonderful virtue, but the faith which does not have hope and charity is no virtue. As demons believe, so even men who are like demons believe, unless they seem to be worse than demons and thus are men who have no fear, whereas demons tremble. 1 It is necessary that faith be certain, that hope be certain, and love be certain. For as one cannot believe rightly without hope, nor can one hope unless faith precedes, and so there is no other way for there to be hope but with faith. Certainly a believed good forms the appetite of hope, for the good that is believed gives confidence to hope in the believing. In the likeness, then, of the Holy Trinity faith begets hope, and love comes from both, that is, it proceeds from faith and hope, since it is impossible not to love what we believe in and hope for, whence in the same way one loves what is believed in and is hoped for. So as there are three coeternal and consubstantial persons, so it is with faith and hope and charity, one is not earlier or later in time, but as much as the substance of the virtue is consubstantial yet they have a difference of form, just as it is with the differences of the Divine persons. William of St Thierry, The Mirror of Faith 1 1 Cor 13.13, Phil 3.13-15 2 James 2.19

The Trinity And Plato

Πορφύριος γάρ φησι, Πλάτωνος ἐκτιθέμενος δόξαν, ἄχρι τριῶν ὑποστάσεων τὴν τοῦ θείου προελθεῖν οὐσίαν, εἶναι δὲ τὸν μὲν ἀνωτάτω θεὸν τἀγαθόν, μετ' αὐτὸν δὲ καὶ δεύτερον τὸν δημιουργόν, τρίτον δὲ καὶ τὴν τοῦ κόσμου ψυχήν· ἄχρι γὰρ ψυχῆς τὴν θειότητα προελθεῖν. Ἰδοὺ δὴ σαφῶς ἐν τούτοις ἄχρι τριῶν ὑποστάσεων τὴν τοῦ θείου προελθεῖν οὐσίαν ἰσχυρίζεται· εἷς μὲν γάρ ἐστιν ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεός, κατευρύνεται δὲ ὥσπερ ἡ περὶ αὐτοῦ γνῶσις εἰς ἁγίαν τε καὶ ὁμοούσιον Τριάδα, εἴς τε Πατέρα φημὶ καὶ Υἱὸν καὶ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα, ὃ καὶ ψυχὴν τοῦ κόσμου φησὶν ὁ Πλάτων· ζωοποιεῖ δὲ τὸ Πνεῦμα, καὶ πρόεισιν ἐκ ζῶντος Πατρὸς δι' Υἱοῦ, καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ ζῶμεν καὶ κινούμεθα καὶ ἐσμέν. Ἀληθεύει γὰρ ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς Χριστός· Τὸ Πνεῦμά ἐστι τὸ ζωοποιοῦν. Καὶ πάλιν ὁ αὐτὸς Πορφύριος περὶ Πλάτωνος· ∆ιὸ ἐν ἀπορρήτοις περὶ τούτων αἰνιττόμενός φησι· Περὶ τὸν βασιλέα πάντα ἐστί, καὶ ἐκείνου ἕνεκα πάντα, καὶ ἐκεῖνο αἴτιον πάντων καλῶν, δεύτερον δὲ περὶ τὰ δεύτερα, καὶ τρίτον περὶ τὰ τρίτα. Ὡς γὰρ πάντων μὲν περὶ τοὺς τρεῖς ὄντων θεούς, ἀλλ' ἤδη πρώτως μὲν περὶ τὸν πάντων βασιλέα, δευτέρως δὲ περὶ τὸν ἀπ' ἐκείνου θεόν, καὶ τρίτως περὶ τὸν ἀπὸ τούτου. ∆εδήλωκε δὲ ἐμφαίνων καὶ τὴν ἐξ ἀλλήλων ὑπόστασιν, ἀρχομένην ἀπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως, καὶ τὴν ὑπόβασιν καὶ ὕφεσιν τῶν μετὰ τὸν πρῶτον, διὰ τοῦ πρώτως καὶ δευτέρως καὶ τρίτως εἰπεῖν, καὶ ὅτι ἐξ ἑνὸς τὰ πάντα καὶ δι' αὐτοῦ σῴζεται. Τεθεώρηκε μὲν οὖν οὐχ ὑγιῶς εἰσάπαν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς τὰ Ἀρείου πεφρονηκόσιν ἐν ἴσῳ, διαιρεῖ καὶ ὑφίστησιν, ὑποκαθημένας τε ἀλλήλαις τὰς ὑποστάσεις εἰσφέρει, καὶ τρεῖς οἴεται θεοὺς εἶναι διῃρημένως τὴν ἁγίαν καὶ ὁμοούσιον Τριάδα. Πλὴν οὐκ ἠγνόηκεν ὁλοτρόπως τὸ ἀληθές, οἶμαι δὲ ὅτι κἂν ὑγιῶς ἔφη τε καὶ πεφρόνηκεν, ἐξήνεγκε δὲ καὶ εἰς τοὺς ἄλλους ἅπαντας τῆς περὶ Θεοῦ δόξης τὸ ἀρτίως ἔχον, εἰ μὴ τάχα που τὴν Ἀνύτου καὶ Μελήτου γραφὴν ἐδεδίει καὶ τὸ Σωκράτους κώνειον. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Προς Τα Του Ἐν Ἀθεοις Ιὀυλιανου, Λογος B' Source: Migne PG 76.556a

Expounding an opinion of Plato, Porphyry says, 'The divine substance extends even to three persons, the highest and best God, and after Him there is a second maker, and the third is the soul of the universe, for divinity extends even to soul.' And behold in these things it is manifest that he contends that the three Divine hypostases proceed from the Divine substance, since certainly the God of all things is one, but extended, according to his own understanding, into the holy and consubstantial Trinity, into the Father, I say, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, whom Plato calls the soul of the world, for the Spirit gives life and proceeds from the living Father through the Son, and 'in Him we live and move and have our being.' 1 For our truthful Lord, Jesus Christ, says 'The Spirit is He who gives life,' 2 And again the same Porphyry says of Plato: 'Where secretly intimating these things and speaking obscurely and in a mystery, he says: 'To the king everything is related, and all things are caused by him, and he is the cause of all beautiful things, and related to the second are second things, and third things are related to the third, 3 so that everything exists in relation to three gods, but firstly to the king of all things, and secondly to the god from him, and thirdly to the one who is from that one.' He declares here what the hypostases have from themselves, and that it begins from the king, and there is a declension and descent of things after the first, through the first and the second and the third, he says, for everything is from one, and through him they are preserved. Certainly not everything was seen correctly here, for thinking of these things in the same way of Arius, he divides and imposes inferiority, and he introduces subordination among those subsisting, and he thinks the holy and consubstantial Trinity is three distinct gods. But I think Plato was not ignorant of the whole truth, and would have thought of it and spoken of it rightly, and also published the real and genuine truths about God publicly and openly, but he perhaps feared the accusations of Anytus and Melitus and the hemlock of Socrates. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Against Julian, Book 2 1 Acts 17.28 2 Jn 6.63 3 Plato Letter 2 312e

The Good One

Et ecce unus accedens, ait illi: Magister bone, quid boni faciam ut habeam vitam æternam? Qui dixit ei: Quid me dicis bonum? Nemo bonus nisi unus Deus. Arguta responsio: non quod non esset bonus ipse, cum esset Filius Dei, et ipse Deus. Sed ita Judaeos revocat per istum, ut intelligant et ipsum Deum, cum sit ipse Deus, boni Dei Filius, et nihil aliud quam bonus Deus. Quia bonus Deus Pater, bonus Deus Filius, bonus Deus et Spiritus Sanctus. Et non tres dii, sed unus bonus Deus. Ac per hoc non dixit, nemo bonus nisi solus Pater, sed nemo bonus , nisi solus Deus; et quod istae tres personae non sunt nisi unus Deus. Verumtamen Judaicus populus unius Dei habens cognitionem, nec Filium Dei, nec Deum trinum in personis, unquam intelligere voluit. Hac ratione Christus laudem sibi oblatam ab eo repulit, quia non quasi Deum bonum veneratus est, sed quasi hominem, bonum eum dicebat. Unde quantum ad Judaeos spectat, qui unum Deum coeli colebant, et Christum Dei Filium non cognoscebant, nemo erat bonus nisi unus Deus. Apud fideles autem sicut unus Deus Pater est bonus, sic et Unigenitus Deus bonus, atque Spiritus sanctus unus Deus bonus, non tres siquidem boni, sed unus Deus bonus, sanctus et justus, et omnia illa quae de Deo essentialiter dicuntur. Idcirco non a deitatis se natura exclusit, sed ipsam naturam bonam Dei utique laudavit. Bonitas ergo in natura est, et non in vitio mendacii; quia omnis homo mendax. Natura vero Dei ipse Filius est, quia ex Deo Patre natus est, et hoc est quod Pater. Et ideo quod ille non credebat adolescens, Christus adjunxit, ut se Dei Filium, non solum bonum ex parte Magistrum, verum etiam Dominum bonum crederet ex toto. Sanctus Paschasius Radbertus Corbeiensis, Expositio In Evangelium Matthaei, Lib IX, Cap XIX Source: Migne PL 120.659a-d

And behold a man came to Him and said, 'Good teacher, what good must I do to have eternal life? He said to him, 'Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.' 1 A wise answer, and not because He is not God, when He is the Son of God and He is God. But He speaks to the Jews through this, that they might understand that He is God when He is God, the Son of the good God and nothing else than the good God. Because God the Father is good, and God the Son is good, and God the Holy Spirit is good, and there are not three gods, but the good God is one. And here He did not say, 'No one is good but the Father alone,' but 'No one is good but God alone.'  And there are not three persons unless they are one God. However though the Jewish people had the knowledge of the one God, they were never willing to understand the Son of God, nor the persons of the triune God. For this reason Christ rejects the praise that is offered by the man, because when he called Him good he did not honour Him as the good God but as a man. Whence that no one was good unless the one God very much refers to the the Jews who worshipped the one God of heaven and did not know Christ the Son of God. But with the faithful, just as the one God the Father is good, so even the Only Begotten is good, and the Holy Spirit is the one good God, not as if there are three gods, but it is the one God who is good, holy and righteous, and everything which it is proper to say about God. Therefore He did not exclude Himself from the nature of the Deity here but He praised that same good nature of God. Therefore goodness is in His nature, and not in the defect of a lie, because 'every man is a liar.' 2 But the nature of God is the Son, because He is born from God the Father, and this is what the Father is. Therefore what the young man did not believe, Christ added, that He is the Son of God, so that he should not think Him good by the office of teaching only, but that he should deem Him the good Lord in full. Saint Paschasius Radbertus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 9, Chapter 19 1 Mt 19.16-17 2 Ps 115.11

Baptism And The Trinity

Ἔοικάς μοι βούλεσθαι τῷ Κυρίῳ πείθεσθαι, καὶ τὰς Γραφὰς ἐρευνᾷν. Ἀνάγκη τοίνυν καὶ ἀποκρίνεσθαι πρὸς τὰς πεύσεις σου. Οὕτος ἐστιν ὁ Υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητὸς, ὁ Θεὸς καὶ Πατὴρ ἐξ οὐρανῶν βαπτιζομνένῳ τῷ Υἱῷ ἐπεβόησεν, ἵνα καὶ τὸν γνήσιον δείξῃ καὶ φυσικὸν Υἱὸν, μεταξὺ τῶν θέσει καὶ ἀξίᾳ χρητματιζόντων υἱῶν ἀμφιβαλλόμενον, καὶ τὴν θείαν καὶ προσκυνητὴν τῆς θεότητος Τριάδα φανέρώσῃ, ἐν ἰδίαις ὑποστάσεσι γνωριζομένην· καὶ Μοντανῷ καὶ Σαβελλίῳ ἀποκλείσῃ τὴν κακόνουν ἀσέβειαν. Τοῡ γὰρ Υἱοῦ βαπτιζομένου ὁ Πατὴρ ἐμαρτύρησε, καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον καταπτὰν ὁμοούσιον ἑαυτῷ καὶ τῷ Πατρὶ ὑπεδείκνυ τὸν βαπτιζόμενον Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΞΖ’ Τιμοθεῳ Ἀναγηωστῃ Source: Migne PG 78.228a

It seems to me you are scrutinising the Scriptures in order to be persuaded about something regarding the Lord. Thus concerning this about which you enquire it is necessary for me to reply. 'This is my beloved Son,' 1 says God the Father from heaven with a loud voice, giving witness to His Son and showing that He is the true and natural Son among those who are called sons through adoption and dignity, 2 and this also declares the holy and worshipful Trinity of Divinity, with each one being known as their own person, which is denied to the depraved impiety of Montanus and Sabellius. For with the Father bearing witness to the baptised Son, and the Holy Spirit coming down, this reveals that the one baptised is of the same substance as the Father. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 67, to Timotheus the Lector 1 Mt 3.17 2 Jn 1.12, Rom 8.15, Galat 4.7, Ephes 1.5

Sealed With Light

Ἐσημειώθη ἐφ' ἡμᾶς τὸ φῶς τοῦ προσώπου σου, Kύριε... Κρυφιωδέστερον δὲ καὶ μυστικώτερον, πρόσωπον μὲν τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς, ὀ Υἱὸς, φῶς δὲ τὸ ἐξ αὐτοῦ πεμπόμενον Πνεῦμα εἰς ἡμᾶς· δι' οὗ κατεφραγίσμεθα, εἰς εἰκόνα τὴν πρώτην ἀναμορφούμενοι· δι' οὗ καὶ δεδιδάγμεθα τὰ ὄντως ἀγαθὰ, δι' ἃ καὶ τὴν νοητὴν εὐφροσύνην ἐσχήκαμεν τὴν εἰς νοῦν καὶ καρδίαν, βεβαιούμενοι πρὸς ἐλπίδα τὴν ἐπὶ τοῖς ἐσομένοις ἀγαθοῖς. Οἱ μὲν ἄγγελοι βλέπουσι διὰ παντὸς· τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ Θεοῦ, οἱ δὲ ἄνθρωποι τὸ φῶς τοῦ προσώπου αὐτοῦ. Πρόσωπον δὲ Κυρίου ἐστὶ θεωρία πνευματικὴ πάντων τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς· φῶς δὲ προσώπου ἐστὶν ἡ μερικὴ γνῶσις τούτων αὐτῶν· εἶπερ, κατὰ τὴν σοφὴν Θεκωῗτιδα, ὡς ἄγγελος Θεοῦ ἦν ὁ Δαβὶδ εἰδὼς τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς πάντα. Και ποῖον ἄρα ἐστὶν τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς, οὗ τὸ φῶς ἐφ' ἡμᾶς σεσημείωται; Ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Υἱος, ἡ ἀπαράλλακτος εἰκων· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο λέγων· Ὁ ἑωρακὼς ἐμὲ, ἐωρακε τὸν Πατέρα μου. Ἐσημάνθη δὲ ἡμῖν, συμμόρφους ἡμᾶς ἀποδείχας ἑαυτῷ, καὶ τὸν διὰ πνεύματος τοῦ ἰδίου φωτισμὸν ἐγχαράξας ὡς θείαν εἰκόνα τοῖς πιστεύουσιν εἰς αὐτὸν. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Εἰς Τους Ψαλμους, Ψαλμός Δ’ Souce: Migne PG 69.739b-c

Sealed on us is the light of your face, O Lord. 1 In a more hidden and mystical sense the face of God the Father is the Son, and the light from Him to us is the sending of the Spirit, with which we were sealed, refashioned to image of the first man, through which we have received good things, and by which we receive spiritual joy in the heart and mind, being confirmed in the hope of future goods. Certainly angels always gaze on the face of God, 2 but men see the light of His face. And the face of the Lord is spiritual insight into all the things on the earth, and the light of his face is a partial knowledge of these things, since according to the wise woman from Thecua, David was like an angel of God because he knew all the things on earth. 3 Now what is the face of God the Father that is sealed on us? It is the Son of God, the unchangeable image, because of which He says: 'He who sees me, sees my Father.' 4 And thus He has been sealed on us so that he may make us conform to Himself, and by the enlightenment of His Spirit He has impressed the Divine image on those faithful to Him. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Psalms, from Psalm 4 1 Ps 4.7 2 Mt 18.10 3 2 Kings 14.20 4 Jn 14.9

The Father And The Son

Affert plerisque obscuritatem sermo Domini, cum dicit: Ego in Patre, et Pater in me, et non immerito; natura enim intelligentiae humanae rationem dicti istius non capit. Videtur namque non posse effici, ut quod in altero sit, aeque id ipsum extra alterum sit; et cum necesse sit ea, de quibus agitur, non solitaria sibi esse, numerum ac statum tamen suum, in quo sint, conservantia, non posse se invicem continere, ut qui aliquid aliud intra se habeat, atque ita maneat manensque semper exterior, ei vicissim, quem intra se habeat, maneat aeque semper interior. Haec quidem sensus hominum non consequetur, nec exemplum aliquod rebus divinis comparatio humana praestabit: sed quod inintelligibile est homini, Deo esse possibile est. Hoc non a me ita dictum sit, ut ad rationem dicti ea tantum sufficiat auctoritas, quod a Deo dictum sit. Cognoscendum itaque atque intelligendum est quid sit illud: Ego in Patre, et Pater in me; si tamen comprehendere hoc ita ut est valebimus: ut quod natura rerum pati non posse existimatur, id divinae veritatis ratio consequatur. Atque ut facilius intelligentiam difficillimae istius quaestionis consequi possimus, prius Patrem et Filium secundum divinarum Scripturarum doctrinam cognosci a nobis oportet, ut de cognitis ac familiaribus absolutior sermo sit. Aeternitas Patris, ut libro anteriore tractavimus, locos, tempora, speciem, et quidquid illud humano sensu concipi poterit, excedit. Ipse extra omnia et in omnibus, capiens universa et capiendus a nemine, non accessu decessuve mutabilis; sed invisibilis est, incomprehensibilis, plenus, perfectus, aeternus, non aliunde quid sumens, sed ad id quod ita manet sibi ipse sufficiens. Hic ergo ingenitus ante omne tempus ex se filium genuit, non ex aliqua subjacente materia, quia per Filium omnia; non ex nihilo, quia ex se filium: non ut partum, quia nihil in Deo demutabile aut vacuum est; non partem sui vel divisam vel discissam vel extensam; quia impassibilis et incorporeus Deus est, haec autem passionis et carnis sunt, et, secundum Apostolum, in Christo inhabitat omnis plenitudo divinitatis corporaliter. Sed incomprehensibiliter, inenarrabiliter, ante omne tempus et saecula, Unigenitum ex his quae ingenita in se erant procreavit, omne quod Deus est per charitatem atque virtutem nativitati ejus impertiens: ac sic ab ingenito, perfecto, aeternoque Patre, unigenitus et perfectus et aeternus est Filius. Ea autem, quae ei sunt secundum corpus quod assumpsit, bonitatis ejus ad salutem nostram voluntas est. Invisibilis enim et incorporeus et incomprehensibilis, utpote a Deo genitus, tantum in se et materiae et humilitatis recepit, quantum in nobis erat virtutis ad intelligendum se et sentiendum et contuendum; imbecillitati nostrae potius obtemperans, quam de his in quibus erat ipse deficiens.Igitur perfecti patris perfectus filius, et ingeniti Dei unigenita progenies, qui ab eo qui habet omnia accepit omnia, Deus a Deo, spiritus a spiritu, lumen a lumine, confidenter ait: Pater in me, et ego in Patre: quia ut spiritus Pater, ita et Filius Spiritus; ut Deus Pater, ita et Filius Deus; ut lumen Pater, ita et Filius lumen. Ex iis ergo, quae in Patre, sunt ea in quibus est Filius, id est, ex toto Patre totus Filius natus est; non aliunde, quia nihil ante quam Filius; non ex nihilo, quia ex Deo Filius; non in parte, quia plenitudo deitatis in filio; neque in aliquibus, quia in omnibus: sed ut voluit qui potuit, ut scit qui genuit. Quod in Patre est, hoc et in Filio est; quod in ingenito, hoc et in unigenito; alter ab altero, et uterque unum; non duo unus, sed alius in alio, quia non aliud in utroque; Pater in Filio, quia ex eo Filius; Filius in Patre, quia non aliunde quod Filius; unigenitus in ingenito, quia ab ingenito unigenitus. Ita in se invicem; quia ut omnia in ingenito patre perfecta sunt, ita omnia in filio unigenito perfecta sunt. Haec in Filio et Patre unitas, haec virtus, haec charitas, haec spes, haec fides, haec veritas, via, vita, non calumniari de virtutibus suis Deo, nec per secretum ac potestatem nativitatis obtrectare Filio; Patri ingenito nihil comparare, Unigenitum ab eo nec tempore nec virtute discernere, Deum filium quia ex Deo est confiteri. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, De Trinitate, Liber Tertius Source: Migne PL 10.76a-78a

The words of the Lord bear much obscurity when He says, 'I in the Father, and the Father in Me,' 1 and with merit, because the nature of the human intellect cannot grasp the meaning of what has been said. It does not seem possible that one thing should be both within another and also outside that other, or, since they do not dwell apart but retain their separate existence and condition and number, that they can reciprocally contain one another, so that the one who has the other within Himself, because of which He is always on the outside, is also enclosed by the one whom He has, and always remains within. This is something that the mind of man cannot follow, nor will any human comparison find an example for this condition of Divinity, but what is unintelligible to man is possible for God. 2 I do not mean that this which is said, because it was said by God, is thus reasonable because of its authority. One must think and try to understand what this might be, 'I in the Father and the Father in me,' if however we shall be able to comprehend this at all, since what the universe does not allow to be possible, the reason of Divine truth may establish. That we might more easily understand this difficult question, it is necessary that we first come to know the Father and Son according to the teaching of the Divine Scriptures, which knowledge will thus allow us to speak of known and familiar matters. The eternity of the Father, as we wrote toward the end of the last book, transcends space and time and appearance and whatever can be conceived by the human mind. He is outside everything and inside everything, He contains the universe and is contained by nothing, He does not change by increase or loss, and is invisible and incomprehensible, and full, perfect, eternal, not taking anything else from another, but if anything should be derived from Him, He remains self-sufficing. He, therefore, who is the Unbegotten, before time begot a Son from Himself, not from any underlying matter, for all things are through the Son, and not from nothing, for the Son is from the Father, and not by childbirth, for there is nothing changeable or empty in God, and not as a part of Himself cut or torn off or extended, because God is passionless and bodiless, and such things are of passion and of the flesh, and according to the Apostle, 'In Christ dwells all the fullness of Divinity bodily.' 3 But incomprehensibly, ineffably, before all time and the ages, He begot the Only Begotten from His own unbegotteness, through love and power imparting upon that birth everything which is God, and so He who is from the only unbegotten and perfect and eternal Father is the Only Begotten, the perfect and eternal Son. But these things which He took up according to the body are on account of His benevolence for our salvation. For He who is invisible and bodiless and incomprehensible, as the Son of God, took upon Himself only that matter and humility which was needed to make Him intelligible and perceivable and open to contemplation according to the power that is in us, this being rather a stooping to our weakness rather than a failing of those things that are His. Therefore the perfect Son of the perfect Father, and the only begotten offspring of the unbegotten God, who from Him who has everything has received everything, God from God, spirit from spirit, light from light, says confidently: 'The Father in me and I in the Father,' 4 because as the Father is spirit, so the Son is spirit, as the Father is God, so the Son is God, and as the Father is light so the Son is light. Therefore those things which are in the Father, those are the things in which the Son is, that is, the whole Son is born from the whole Father, not from somewhere else, because there was nothing before the Son, and not from nothing because the Son is from God, and not in part, since the fullness of the deity is in the Son, and not in some things, but in all, things, as He wished who was able, as He knows who begot. What is in the Father is in the Son also, what is in the Unbegotten is in the Only Begotten. One is from the other and the two are one, not as two made one, but as one in the other, for there is not something else in both. The Father is in the Son because the Son is from Him, and the Son is in the Father because the Father is His only source. The Only Begotten is in the Unbegotten, because He is the Only Begotten from the Unbegotten. Thus they are each in each other, for as everything in the Unbegotten Father is perfect, so everything in the Only Begotten Son is perfect. This is the unity of the Son and the Father, this the power, the love, the hope, the faith, the truth, the way, the life, not to dispute with God concerning His own powers, nor disparage the mystery and power of His nativity, but to compare nothing to the Unbegotten Father and to grasp the Only Begotten as differing neither in time or power, and to confess God the Son because He is from God. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, On The Trinity, Book 3 1 Jn 14.11 2 cf Mt 19.26 3 Colos 2.9 4 Jn 10.38

The Trinity And The Waters

Dominus diluvium inhabitat, et sedebit Dominus rex in aeternum. Dominus virtutem populo suo dabit, et benedicet populum suum in pace. Decursis virtutibus Spiritus septiformis, in tertio ordine ad Trinitatis complexionem mirabili dispositione pervenit. Dicendo enim in his duobus versiculis tertio Dominus, ostendit sanctam Trinitatem diluvium, id est aquas baptismatis inhabitare; sicut in Evangelio dictum est: Euntes baptizate omnes gentes in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus sancti. Sed quaeramus cur hic diluvium pro sacris fontibus positum est? Merito, quoniam illud quod factum est sub Noe, baptismatis sacri gerebat imaginem. Nam sicut istud purgat animas sordibus peccatorum, ita et illud diluvium mundi crimina probrosa delevit. Merito ergo pro baptismate diluvium positum est, ad cuius similitudinem constat effectum. Nam quod tertio Dominus repetiit, sine distinctione personarum, licet intelligi primum dictum de Spiritu sancto, Dominus diluvium inhabitat. Sequitur, et sedebit Dominus Rex in aeternum; hoc autem de Filio recte intelligimus. Dominus virtutem populo suo dabit, de Patre competenter advertimus. Populo suo, significat Christiano, quem de sacri baptismatis munere conquisivit. Subiunxit etiam: Et benedicet populum suum in pace. Non dixit benedicent, sed benedicet, quia unus est Dominus Deus noster. In pace, propter illud Evangelii: Pacem meam do vobis, pacem meam relinquo vobis. Una est enim pax et Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus sancti. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalmus XXVIII Source: Migne PL 70.201d-202b

The Lord makes a dwelling place of the flood, and the Lord shall sit as king in eternity. The Lord shall give virtue to His people, and He shall bless His people with peace. 1 For the pouring forth of the virtues, the seven formed Spirit, third in the order of the complex of the Trinity, comes by a wondrous arrangement. For in speaking of the Lord three times in these two lines, he reveals the flood is the Holy Trinity, that is, that it dwells in the baptismal waters, like He said in the Gospel, 'Go and baptise all the nations in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.' 2 But shall we not ask why the flood is set down here for the holy waters? Rightly, because what was done with Noah bears the image of baptism. For as baptisms purge the souls of sinners of defilement, so even the flood removed shameful wickedness from the world. Rightly, then, is the flood set down for baptism, for they have a similarity of effect. And in his calling on the Lord three times, without distinction of person, one may understand the first to be be the Holy Spirit, 'The Lord makes a dwelling place of the flood.' And then what follows, 'The Lord shall sit as king in eternity,' we understand to about the Son.  And 'The Lord shall give virtue to His people,' aptly refers to the Father. 'To his people,' signifies Christians, whom He has sought out with the gift of holy baptism. After this it is written, 'And He shall bless His people in peace.' It does not say, 'They shall bless,' but 'He shall bless,' because the Lord our God is one. 'With peace,' according to the Gospel: 'My peace I give to you, my peace I leave to you.' 3 For the peace of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit is one. Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, from Psalm 28 1 Ps 28.10 2 Mt 28.10 3 Jn 14.27

The Spirit's Way

Ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τὸ προκείμενον ἐπανίωμεν. Ὅτι διάνοια ἡ δυνηθεῖσα τῶν τε ὑλικῶν καθαρεῦσαι παθῶν, καὶ τὴν νοητὴν κτίσιν πᾶσαν καταλιπεῖν, καὶ οἷόν τις ἰχθὺς ἀπὸ τοῦ βυθοῦ πρὸς τὴν ἄνω ἐπιφάνειαν ἀνανήξασθαι, ἐν τῷ καθαρῷ τῆς κτίσεως γενομένη, ἐκεῖ ὄψεται τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, ὅπου Υἱὸς, καὶ ὅπου Πατὴρ, πάντα ἔχον καὶ αὐτὸ συνουσιωμένως κατὰ τὴν φύσιν, τὴν ἀγαθότητα, τὴν εὐ θύτητα, τὸν ἁγιασμὸν, τὴν ζωήν. Τὸ Πνεῦμα γάρ σου, φησὶν, τὸ ἀγαθόν· καὶ πάλιν, Πνεῦμα εὐθές· καὶ πάλιν, Τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον. Καὶ ὁ Ἀπόστολος· Ὁ νόμος τοῦ Πνεύματος τῆς ζωῆς. Τού των οὐδὲν ἐπίκτητον αὐτῷ, οὐδὲ ὕστερον ἐπιγενόμενον πρόσεστιν· ἀλλ' ὥσπερ ἀχώριστον τῷ πυρὶ τὸ θερμαίνειν, καὶ τῷ φωτὶ τὸ λάμπειν· οὕτω καὶ τῷ Πνεύματι τὸ ἁγιάζειν, τὸ ζωοποιεῖν, ἡ ἀγαθότης, ἡ εὐθύτης. Ἐκεῖ τοίνυν ἕστηκε τὸ Πνεῦμα, ἐκεῖ, ἐν τῇ μακαρίᾳ φύσει, οὐ μετὰ πλήθους ἀριθμούμενον, ἀλλ' ἐν τῇ Τριάδι θεωρούμενον· μοναδικῶς ἐξαγγελλόμενον, οὐκ ἐμπεριειλημμένον τοῖς συστήμασιν. Ὡς γὰρ Πατὴρ εἷς, καὶ Υἱὸς εἷς· οὕτως ἓν καὶ τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα. Τὰ δὲ λειτουργικὰ πνεύματα καθ' ἕκαστον τάγμα πλῆθος ἡμῖν ὑποφαίνει δυσεξαρίθμητον. Μὴ τοίνυν ζήτει ἐν τῇ κτίσει τὸ ὑπὲρ τὴν κτίσιν· μὴ καταγάγῃς τὸ ἁγιάζον μετὰ τῶν ἁγιαζομένων. Τοῦτο πληροῖ ἀγγέλους, πληροῖ ἀρχαγγέλους, ἁγιάζει δυνάμεις, ζωοποιεῖ τὰ σύμπαντα. Τοῦτο εἰς πᾶσαν κτίσινμεριζόμενον, καὶ ἄλλως ὑπ' ἄλλου μετεχόμενον, οὐδὲν ἐλαττοῦται παρὰ τῶν μετεχόντων. Πᾶσι μὲν τὴν παρ' ἑαυτοῦ χάριν δίδωσιν· οὐκ ἀναλίσκεται δὲ εἰς τοὺς μετέχοντας· ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ λαβόντες πληροῦνται, καὶ αὐτό ἐστιν ἀνενδεές. Καὶ ὥσπερ ὁ ἥλιος ἐπιλάμπων τοῖς σώμασι, καὶ ποικίλως ὑπ' αὐτῶν μετεχόμενος, οὐδὲν ἐλαττοῦται παρὰ τῶν μετεχόντων· οὕτω καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα πᾶσι τὴν παρ' ἑαυτοῦ χάρινπαρέχον, ἀμείωτον μένει καὶ ἀδιαίρετον. Πάντας φωτίζει πρὸς τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ κατανόησιν, ἐμπνεῖ τοῖς προφήταις, νομοθέτας σοφίζει, ἱερέας τελειοῖ, ἐνισχύει βασιλεῖς, καταρτίζει δικαίους, σεμνύνει σώφρονας, ἐνεργεῖ χαρίσματα ἰαμάτων, ζωοποιεῖ τοὺς νεκροὺς, λύει τοὺς πεπεδημένους, υἱοθετεῖ τοὺς ἠλλοτριωμένους.Ταῦτα διὰ τῆς ἄνωθεν γεννήσεως ἐνεργεῖ. Ἐὰν τελώνην λάβῃ πιστεύοντα, εὐαγγελιστὴν ἀποδείκνυσιν· ἐὰν ἐν ἁλιεῖ γένηται, θεολόγον ἀποτελεῖ· ἐὰν διώκτην εὕρῃ μετανοοῦντα, ἀπόστολον ἐθνῶν ἀπεργάζεται, κήρυκα πίστεως, σκεῦος ἐκλογῆς. ∆ι' αὐτοῦ οἱ ἀσθενεῖς ἰσχυροί· οἱ πτωχοὶ πλουτίζουσιν· οἱ ἰδιῶται τῷ λόγῳσοφώτεροί εἰσι τῶν σοφῶν. Παῦλος ἀσθενὴς, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν παρουσίαν τοῦ Πνεύματος τὰ σουδάρια τοῦ χρωτὸς αὐτοῦ ἴασιν παρεῖχε τοῖς ὑποδεχομένοις. Πέτρος καὶ αὐτὸς σῶμα περικείμενος ἀσθενείας, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν ἐνοικοῦσαν χάριν τοῦ Πνεύματος ἡ ἐκπίπτουσα τοῦ σώματος σκιὰ ἀπεδίωκε τὰς νόσους τῶν καταπονουμένων. Πτωχὸς Πέτρος καὶ Ἰωάννης· οὐ γὰρ εἶχον ἀργύριον, οὐδὲ χρυσίον· ἀλλ' ἐχαρίζοντο ὑγίειαν πολλῶν χρυσίων τιμιωτέραν. Παρὰ πολλῶν γὰρ λαβὼν χρυσίον ὁ χωλὸς, ἔτι προσαίτης ἦν· παρὰ δὲ Πέτρου δεξάμενος τὴν χάριν, ἐπαύσατο προσαιτῶν, ἁλλόμενος ὥσπερ ἔλαφος, καὶ αἰνῶν τὸν Θεόν. Οὐκ ᾔδει Ἰωάννης τὴν τοῦ κόσμου σοφίαν, ἀλλ' ἐφθέγξατο ῥήματα τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ Πνεύματος, οἷς οὐδεμία σοφία προσβλέψαι δύναται.Τοῦτο καὶ ἐν οὐρανῷ ἕστηκε, καὶ τὴν γῆν πεπλήρωκε, καὶ πανταχοῦ πάρεστι, καὶ οὐδαμοῦ περιέχεται. Ὅλον ἑκάστῳ ἐνοικεῖ, καὶ ὅλον ἐστὶ μετὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ. Οὐ λειτουργικῶς διακονεῖ τὰς δωρεὰς, ἀλλ' αὐθεντικῶς διαιρεῖ τὰ χαρίσματα. ∆ιαιρεῖ γὰρ, φησὶν, ἰδίᾳ ἑκάστῳ, καθὼς βούλεται. Ἀποστέλλεται μὲν οἰκονομικῶς, ἐνεργεῖ δὲ αὐτεξουσίως. Τοῦτο παρεῖναι ταῖς ψυχαῖς ἡμῶν εὐξώμεθα, καὶ μηδένα καιρὸν ἡμᾶς ἀπολιμπάνειν ἐν χάριτι τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ· ᾧ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν. Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας,Ὁμολία ΙΕ', Περὶ Πίστεως Source: Migne PG 31.468c-472a

But let us return to what was proposed. The mind which has been able to purify itself of the passions of material things and has withdrawn thought from every created thing, and has swum like a fish from the depths to the apparent heights, now established in the purity of creation, there shall see the Holy Spirit, where the Son is, and where the Father is, being coessential according to His nature, in goodness, rectitude, holiness, and life. 'For your spirit,' he says, 'is good,' and again, 'a right Spirit,' and again, a 'Holy Spirit' 1 And the Apostle says 'The Law of the Spirit of life.' 2 None of which things are added to Him, nor is anything endowed after, but as heat cannot be separated from fire, nor brightness from light, so neither can sanctification or vivification or goodness or rightness from the Spirit. Here, then, is the Spirit established, here in a blessed nature, where there is no multitude by number, but in the Trinity He is beheld, being enunciated alone, but not understood as a separated part of a group. Thus as the Father is one and the Son is one, so the Holy Spirit is one. And yet each one of the multitude of spiritual services He shows to us can scarely be counted. Do not, then, seek in created things what is above created things, nor suppress what has been sanctified to holiness. 3 He fills angels, and archangels, and makes powers holy, and gives life to all things. He is in every created thing, but His participation is such that he is not diminished at all by his participants. Certainly His grace is bestowed on all, but He is not used up by those who participate, and they who receive are filled and He lacks nothing. As when the sun illuminates bodies and by these he is received variously, so He is not diminished by those who receive Him. Thus it is with the grace of the Holy Spirit given to everything, He remains whole and undivided. He enlightens all for the gaining of the knowledge of God, He inspires the prophet, and teaches law makers wisdom, and consecrates priests, and strengthens kings, and perfects the righteous, and gives honour to the wise, and works gifts of healing, and raises the dead, and breaks chains, and adopts strangers as sons.This He works through a birthing from above. 4 If he receives a believing tax collector, He makes Him an Evangelist, if He comes upon a fisherman, He makes him a theogloian, if He drives a persecutor to penance, He makes him an Apostle of the nations, a preacher of the faith, a vase of election. 5 Through Him the weak become strong, the poor are enriched, and fools and poor speakers shine forth with the wisdom of the wise. Paul was weak and yet by the presence of the Holy Spirit they took rags damp with the sweat of his body for healing. Peter was clothed with an infirm body, by by the indwelling of the grace of the Holy Spirit, the sickness of those whom illness had laid low fled from the shadow of his body. Peter and John were poor men, for they had neither silver nor gold, but they were able to give the health that is more precious than many coins of gold. For He who had been lame for many years, who despite the receipt of much gold was yet a beggar, on receiving Peter's blessing, stopped begging and leapt up like a stag, and praised God. 6 John did not know the wisdom of the world, but by the power of the Holy Spirit he brought forth words which no wisdom can look upon. The Holy Spirit set in heaven fills the earth, and He is everywhere, but nothing contains him. He dwells wholly in each one and He is wholly with God. He does not give gifts in the manner of a servant, but by his own authority He allocates them. He apportions, it is said, to each one as He wills. 7 He is sent forth according to the way of the dispensation, but He acts on His own power. Let us pray to Him that He be in our souls, that He not forsake us at any time, through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom glory and rule to forver and ever. Amen. Saint Basil of Caesarea, from Homily 15, On Faith 1 Ps 142.10, Ps 50.12, 13 2 Rom 8.2 3 1 Thes 5.19 4 Jn 3.3 5 Mt 9.9, Mt 4.21-22, Acts 9.15 6 Acts 19.12, Acts 5.15, Acts 3.1-11 7 1 Cor 12.11

Blasphemy And The Son And The Holy Spirit

Πολυδύναμον καὶ πολυθύλλητον ἐπεζήτηας ζήτημα, πολλοῖς μὲν ἐρευνηθὲν, μόνοις δὲ τοῖς θεοπνεύστοις καταληφθὲν, Ὃς ἂν εἴποι λόγον κατὰ τοῦ Υἰοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, ἀφεθήσεται αὐτῷ· ὃς δ' ἂν εἴπῃ κατὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου, οὐκ ἀφεθήσεται αὐτῷ, οὔτε ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τούτῳ, οὔτε ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι. Καὶ τί, ὅτι μιᾶς οὐσης τῆς οὐσίας τῆς θεῖκῆς Τριάδος, ἡ κατὰ τοῦ Υἱοῦ βλασφημία, ἔφης, οὐκ ἐκδικεῖται, ἀλλ' ἡ κατὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος μόνη; Ἄκουε τοίνυν· Ὅς ἂν εἴποι κατὰ τοῦ Υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου βλάσφημον λόγον, οὐ κρίνεται, εἶπεν ὁ Κύριος· ἐπειδὴ τοῖς λημῶσι τὸν τῆς τῆς διανοίας ὄφθαλμὸν, δυσκατάληπτος καὶ δυσθεώρητος ὁ ἠνωμένος ἀῥῥήτως Θεὸς τῇ εὐτελείᾳ τῆς φαινομένης σαρκὸς, ἀγνοουμένης τῆς κρυπτομένης θεότητος. Τοῖς δὲ καθαροῖς τὴν διάνοιαν, οἶς ἐπεφάνη ἡ σαρκωθεῖσα θεότης, οὐδε ἀπιστία ὅλως ἐγγέγονεν, οὐδὲ ἡ τῆς κρίσεως ἠπείληται ἀνταπόδοσις. Ἡ δὲ κατὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου βλασφημία διὰ τοῦτο ὑπάρχει ἀσύγγνεσωος, ἐπειδὴ αὔτὰ τὰ ἔργα φαινόμενα, ἀγνώμονας καὶ ἀχαρίστους ἐλέγχει τοὺς βλασφημοῦντας. Τῶν γὰρ παθῶν ἔκκοπτομένων, καὶ τῶν δαιμόνων ἐλαυνομένων ἐν τῇ δυνάμει τῆς θεότητος, ἐν τῷ βεελζεβοὺλ ταύτας γίνεσθαι τὰς θεοσημείας οἱ γογγυσταὶ Ἰουδαῖοι ἐσυκοφάντησαν. Ταύτην οὖν τὴν βλασφημίαν τὴν κατὰ τῆς θείας τρανῶς οὖσαν οὐσίας, ἀσυγχώρητον εἶναι ὁ Κύριος ἀπεφήνατο. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΙΘ' Γοργονιῳ Source: Migne PG 78.220c-221b

You have asked a very powerful and weighty question, which many others have enquired into, and only those inspired with the Divine spirit have grasped it, 'He who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him, but he who speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, not in this age, nor in the age to come.' 1 And why, since they are of one substance of the Divine Trinity, does He say that blasphemies against the Son of Man will not be punished, but only those against the Holy Spirit? Hear, then, that he who shall speak blasphemously against the Son of Man shall not be judged, says the Lord, because those who have the eye of the mind blinded to the secret God so hard to grasp and perceive united with the inferior and more overt flesh, do so in ignorance of the hidden Divinity. Understanding is for the pure, to whom the Divinity in the flesh has appeared, not for the faithless to whom it has never happened, and that is not denounced with a judgement of punishment. But he who speaks against the Holy Spirit lacks hope of forgiveness because its overt works refute the ignorance and unthankfulness of blasphemers. For when the power of Divinity casts out sickness and drives out demons, the Jews asserted that these Divine signs were done through Beelzebub. Whence the Lord proclaimed that this blasphemy, which opposes the revelation of the Divine essence, is without any forgiveness. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 59, To Gorgonius 1 Mt 16.16

Resurrection And Revelation

Qui praedestinatus est Filius Dei in virtute secundum spiritum sanctificationis ex resurrectione mortuorum Jesu Christi Domini nostri. Filium Dei dicens, Patrem signficavit Deum; addito autem spiritu sanctificaitonis, ostendit mysterium Trinitatis. Hic ergo qui incarnatus, quid esset, latebat; tunc praedestinatus est secundum spiritum sanctificationis in virtute manifestari Filius Dei, cum resurgit a mortuis, sicut scriptum est in psalmo octogesimo quarto: Veritas terra orta est. Omnis enim ambiguitas et diffidentia resurrectione ejus calcata est, et compressa; siquidem adhuc in cruce positum, centurio videns magnali, Dei Filium confitetur. Nam et discipuli in morte ejus dubitaverunt, dicente Cleopha in Emmaus: Nos putabamus quia ipse erat, qui incipiebat liberare Israel. Et ipse Dominus ait: Cum exaltaveritis Filium hominis, tunc cognoscetis quia ipse ego sum; et iterum: Cum exaltatus fuero a terra, omnia traham ad me, id est, tunc cognsocar ominum esse Dominus. Ideo autem non dixit ex resurrectione Jesu Christi, sed ex resurrectione mortuorum; quia resurrectio Christi generalem tribuit resurrectionem. Haec enim major videtur virtus in Christo et victoria, ut ea potestate operaretur mortuus, qua operatus fuerat et vivus. Quo facto apparuit illusisse mortem, ut redimeret nos; unde Dominum nostrum hunc vocat. Ambrosiaster, In Epistolam ad Romanos, Caput I Source: Migne PL 17.49a-c

Who was predestined the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of sanctification by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 Saying 'the Son of God,' he signified God the Father and adding 'the Spirit of sanctification,' he revealed the mystery of the Trinity. Thus, He who was incarnated, hid what He was, and then predestined according to the Spirit of sanctification, He is revealed in power as the Son of God, when He rose from the dead, as it is written in the eighty fourth Psalm: 'Truth has risen from the earth,' 2 All uncertainty and hestitation by His resurrection was crushed and suppressed, even if while yet on the cross the centurion, seeing great deeds, confesses Him to be the son of God. 3 For even the disciples doubted because of His death, with Cleopas on the way to Emmaus saying: 'We thought that He was the one who was to begin the liberation of Israel.' 4 But the Lord Himself says, 'When you shall lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He.' 5 And again: 'When I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all things to me.' 6 That is, then I will be recognised to be the Lord of all. Therefore the Apostle does not say, 'by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,' but, 'by the resurrection from the dead' because the resurrection of Christ sets forth the general resurrection, since in Christ appears this greater power and victory, that when He was dead He worked that same power He had worked when He was alive. From which is it made apparent that He made a fool of death to redeem us, whence the Apostle calls him our Lord. Ambrosiaster, Commentary On The Letter of Saint Paul To The Romans, Chapter 1 1 Rom 1.4 2 Ps 84.12 3 Mt 27.54 4 Lk 24.21 5 Jn 8.28 6 Jn 12.32

Eucharist And Unity

Sed Dominus nihil fidelium conscientiae incertum relinquens, ipsum illum naturalis efficientiae docuit effectum, dicens, Ut sint unum, sicut nos unum sumus, ego in his, et tu in me; ut sint perfecti in unum. Eos nunc, qui inter Patrem et Filium voluntatis ingerunt unitatem, interrogo utrumne per naturae veritatem hodie Christus in nobis sit, an per concordiam voluntatis? Si enim vere Verbum caro factum est, et vere nos Verbum carnem cibo dominico sumimus; quomodo non naturaliter manere in nobis existimandus est, qui et naturam carnis nostrae jam inseparabilem sibi homo natus assumpsit, et naturam carnis suae ad naturam aeternitatis sub sacramento nobis communicandae carnis admiscuit? Ita enim omnes unum sumus, quia et in Christo Pater est, et Christus in nobis est. Quisquis ergo naturaliter Patrem in Christo negabit, neget prius non naturaliter vel se in Christo, vel Christum sibi inesse; quia in Christo Pater, et Christus in nobis, unum in his esse nos faciunt. Si vere igitur carnem corporis nostri Christus assumpsit, et vere homo ille, qui ex Maria natus fuit, Christus est, nosque vere sub mysterio carnem corporis sui sumimus, et per hoc unum erimus, quia Pater in eo est, et ille in nobis; quomodo voluntatis unitas asseritur, cum naturalis per sacramentum proprietas, perfectae sacramentum sit unitatis. Non est humano aut saeculi sensu in Dei rebus loquendum: neque per violentam atque imprudentem praedicationem; coelestium dictorum sanitati, alienae atque impiae intelligentiae extorquenda perversitas est. Quae scripta sunt legamus, et quae legerimus intelligamus: et tum perfectae fidei officio fungemur. De naturali enim in nobis Christi veritate quae dicimus, nisi ab eo didicimus, stulte atque impie dicimus. Ipse enim ait, Caro mea vere est esca, et sanguis meus vere est potus. Qui edit carnem meam, et bibit sanguinem meum, in me manet, et ego in eo. De veritate carnis et sanguinis non relictus est ambigendi locus. Nunc enim et ipsius Domini professione, et fide nostra vere caro est, et vere sanguis est. Et haec accepta atque hausta id efficiunt, ut et nos in Christo, et Christus in nobis sit. Anne hoc veritas non est? Contingat plane his verum non esse, qui Christum Jesum verum esse Deum denegant. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, De Trinitate, Lib VIII Source: Migne PL 10.245b-247b

But the Lord leaves no doubt in the minds of the faithful, He has taught the effect of the operation of His nature , saying, 'That they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be perfected in one.' 1 Now I ask those who bring forward a unity of will between the Father and the Son, whether Christ is in us today by truth of nature or by agreement of will. For if truly the Word has been made flesh and we truly receive the Word made flesh as food from the Lord, must we not believe that He abides in us naturally, He who, born as a man, took up the nature of our flesh now inseparable from Himself, and has joined the nature of His own flesh to the nature of the eternal Godhead in the sacrament by which His flesh is communicated to us? So we are all one, because the Father is in Christ and Christ is in us. Whoever then shall deny that the Father is in Christ naturally must first deny that either he is naturally in Christ or Christ in him, because the Father in Christ and Christ in us make us one in them. Therefore if Christ truly took to Himself the flesh of our body, and truly that man who was born from Mary is Christ, and we truly receive in a mystery the flesh of His body, and by this we shall be one, because the Father is in Him and He in us, how is a unity of will asserted when the property of nature received through the sacrament is the sacrament of perfect unity? One must not speak of the things of God in a human or worldly sense, nor by a violent and foolish preaching must an impious and perverse understanding be extorted from the soundness of the heavenly words. Let us read what has been written, let us understand what we read, and then fulfil the duties of perfect faith. Now concerning what we say about the truth of Christ's nature within us, unless we have been taught by Him, we speak foolishly and impiously. For He Himself says, 'My flesh is meat indeed and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him.' 2 Regarding the truth of the flesh and blood there is no room left for doubt. For now by both the proclamation of the Lord Himself and our own faith it is true flesh and true blood. And these eaten and drunk make it so that both we are in Christ and Christ in us. Is this not the truth? Certainly it may happen that these things are not true to those who deny that Christ Jesus is truly God. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, On The Trinity, Book 8 1 Jn 17.22-23 2 Jn 6.55-56

The Spirit And The Trinity

Nobis autem Deus revelavit per Spiritum suum. Spiritus enim omnia scrutatur, etiam altitudines Dei. Quis enim hominum novit quae in homine sunt, nisi spiritus hominis qui in ipso est? Sic et quae in Deo nemo novit, nisi Spiritus Dei.. Rogo suppliciter, locum istum, ut pote illuminati a Deo arbitri, judicate; et utrum aequalis sit Patri vel Filio Spiritus sanctus, ex ipsa scientiae suae profunditate perpendite. Nemo novit Filium, nisi Pater, neque Patrem quis novit nisi Filius. Sed quia nec Pater, nec Filius, sine Spiritu aliquid novit, ideo quae in Deo sunt nemo scit, nisi Spiritus Dei; quia nec Spiritus scire aliquid sine Patre vel Filio potest. Quid est, nemo novit praeter Patrem, nemo praeter Filium, nemo praeter Spiritum sanctum, nisi quia in Trinitate praeter unitatem nihil possumus invenire? Legimus alio loco, Qui Filium non habet, nec Patrem habet. Itemque alio loco, Si quis Spiritum Christi non habet, hic non est ejus. Quod non potest non simul totum haberi, quomodo poterit dividi? Sancti Aviti Viennensis, ex libris contra Arianos Source: Migne PL 59.305c-d

God gives revelation to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit scrutanises everything, even the depths of God. What man knows what is in a man, unless the spirit of man which is in him? So what is in God no one knows but the Spirit. 1 I entreat here, as it is possible, that you judge illuminated by the will of God, even whether the Holy Spirit is equal to the Father or the Son, considering the depths of its knowledge. No one knows the Son but the Father, nor the Father but the Son. 2 But because neither the Father nor the Son know without the Spirit, therefore what is in God no one knows unless with the Spirit of God, because neither does the Spirit know without the Father or the Son. And why is it that no one knows beside the Father, no one beside the Son, no one beside the Holy Spirit, unless only in the Trinity in unity we find them? We read in another place: 'He who does not have the Son, does not have the Father.' 3 And again elsewhere: 'If a man does not have the spirit of Christ, he is not His.' 4 And if it is not possible but to have them all at the same time, how would it be possible to divide them? Saint Avitus of Vienne, from a work against the Arians 1 1 Cor 2.10-11 2 Mt 11.27 3 1 Jn 2.23 4 Rom 8.9

The Psalms And The Trinity

Ὅτι παρὰ σοὶ πηγὴ ζωῆς. Ἐνταῦθα δὲ σαφῶς ἡμῖν ἀποκαλύπτει τὸ τῆς ἁγίας Τριάδος μυστήριον. Πηγὴν γὰρ ζωῆς τὸν μονγενῆ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγον ὠνόμασεν. Οὕτω γὰρ καὶ αὐτὸς ἑαυτὸν διὰ Ἰερεμίου τοῦ προφήτου καλεῖ. Ἐμὲ ἐγκατέλιπον πηγὴν ὕδατος ζωῆς, καὶ ἐπορεύθησαν, καὶ ὤρυξαν ἑαυτοῖς λάκκους συντετριμμένους, οἵ οὐ δυνήσονται ὕδωρ συσχεῖν. Λέγει τοίνυν τὴν πηγὴν ταύτην παρὰ τῷ Πατρὶ εἶναι, κατὰ τὴν εὐαγγελικὴν διδασκαλίαν τὴν λέγουσαν· Ἐγὼ ἐν τῷ Πατρὶ, καὶ ὁ Πατὴρ ἐν ἐμοί. Ἐν τῷ φωτί σου ὀψόμεθα φῶς. Ὑπὸ γὰρ τοῦ παναγίου Πνεύματος φωτιζόμενοι τὰς τοῦ Μονογενοῦς σου θεωροῦμεν ἀκτῖνας. Οὐδεὶς γὰρ, φησὶ, δύναται εἰπεῖν Κύριον Ἰησοῦν, εἰ μὴ ἐν Πνεύματι ἁγίῳ. Καὶ· Ἡμῖν ὁ Θεὸς ἀπεκάλυψε διὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος αὐτοῦ. Μεμαθήκαμεν τοίνυν ἀκριβῶς διὰ τῶν προητικῶν λόγῶν τὰς τρεῖς τῆς μιᾶς θεότητος ἰδιότητας. Θεοδώρητος Ἐπίσκοπος Κύρρος, Ἑρμηνεία εἰς Τους Ψαλμούς, Ψαλμός ΛΕ´ Source: Migne PG 80.1124c

Because with you is the fount of life. 1 Here is openly revealed to us the mystery of the Holy Trinity. For with the fount of life he names the only Begotten Word of God. For so He announced Himself through the prophet Jeremiah: 'You have forsaken me, the fount of living waters, and gone off and dug for yourself broken cisterns, which are not able to hold water.' 2 He says, then, that this fount is with the Father, according to the teaching of the Gospel, 'I am in the Father and the Father is in me.' 3 'In your light we see light.' For illuminated by the Holy Spirit we look on the rays of the Only Begotten. 'No one is able to say 'Lord Jesus' unless in the Holy Spirit.' 4 And: 'God has been made manifest to us by His Spirit.' 5 Therefore we learn exactly through the prophetic words the three persons of the Divine union. Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Interpretation of the Psalms, from Psalm 35 1 Ps 35.9 2 Jerem 2.13 3 Jn 14.10 4 1 Cor 12.3 5 1 Cor 2.10

Words And Trinity

Ἐπεὶ καὶ τὸν χρυσόν φαμεν, κἂν εἰς πολλοὺς διακερματίζηται τύπους, ἕνα καὶ εἶναι καὶ λέγεσθαι· πολλὰ δὲ νομίσματα καὶ πολλοὺς στατῆρας ὀνομάζομεν, οὐδένα τῆς φύσεως τοῦ χρυσοῦ πλεονασμὸν ἐν τῷ πλήθει τῶν στατήρων εὑρίσκοντες. Διὸ καὶ πολὺς ὁ χρυσὸς λέγεται, ὅταν ὄγκῳ πλείονι, ἢ σκεύεσιν ἢ νομίσμασι θεωρῆται, πολλοὶ δὲ οἱ χρυσοὶ διὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῆς ὕλης οὐκ ὀνομάζονται· εἰ μή τις οὕτω λέγοι, χρυσοὺς πολλούς, ὡς τοὺς Δαρεικοὺς ἢ τοὺς στατῆρας, ἐφ' ὧν οὐχ ἡ ὕλη, ἀλλὰ τὰ κέρματα τὴν τοῦ πλήθους σημασίαν ἐδέξατο. Κυρίως γὰρ ἔστιν οὐχὶ χρυσοὺς ἀλλὰ χρυσέους τούτους εἰπεῖν. Ὥσπερ τοίνυν πολλοὶ μὲν οἱ χρύσεοι στατῆρες, χρυσὸς δὲ εἷς, οὕτω καὶ πολλοὶ μὲν οἱ καθ' ἕκαστον ἐν τῇ φύσει τοῦ ἀνθρώπου δεικνύμενοι, οἷον Πέτρος καὶ Ἰάκωβος καὶ Ἰωάννης, εἷς δὲ ἐν τούτοις ὁ ἄνθρωπος. Κἂν ἡ Γραφὴ πλατύνῃ τὸ ὄνομα κατὰ πληθυντικὴν σημασίαν ἐν τῷ λέγειν Ἄνθρωποι κατὰ τοῦ μείζονος ὀμνύουσι καὶ Υἱοὶ ἀνθρώπων, καὶ ὅσα τοιαῦτα, γνωστέον ὅτι τῇ συνηθείᾳ τῆς ἐπικρατούσης διαλέκτου κεχρημένη, οὐχὶ νομοθετεῖ τὸ δεῖν οὕτως ἢ ὡς ἑτέρως κεχρῆσθαι τοῖς ῥήμασιν· οὐδέ τινα τεχνικὴν περὶ ῥημάτων διδασκαλίαν ποιουμένη ταῦτα διέξεισιν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὴν ἐπικρατοῦσαν συνήθειαν χρῆται τῷ λόγῳ, πρὸς τοῦτο βλέπουσα μόνον, ὅπως ἂν ἐπωφελὴς γένοιτο τοῖς δεχομένοις ὁ λόγος, οὐδὲν ἀκριβολογουμένη κατὰ τὴν λέξιν, ἐν οἷς οὐδεμία βλάβη κατὰ διάνοιαν ἐκ τῶν ῥημάτων συνίσταται. Καὶ μακρὸν ἂν εἴη τὰς σολοικοφανεῖς τοῦ λόγου συντάξεις ἐκ τῆς Γραφῆς καταλέγειν εἰς τὴν τῶν εἰρημένων ἀπόδειξιν· ἐν οἷς δὲ κίνδυνός ἐστι βλαβῆναί τι τῆς ἀληθείας, οὐκέτι τὸ ἀβασάνιστόν τε καὶ ἀδιάφορον ἐν τοῖς γραφικοῖς εὑρίσκεται ῥήμασιν. Διὰ τοῦτο ἀνθρώπους συγχωρεῖ πληθυντικῶς ὀνομάζειν διὰ τὸ μηδένα τῷ τοιούτῳ σχήματι τῆς φωνῆς εἰς πλῆθος ἀνθρωποτήτων ταῖς ὑπονοίαις ἐκπίπτειν, μηδὲ νομίζειν πολλὰς ἀνθρωπίνας φύσεις σημαίνεσθαι, διὰ τὸ πληθυντικῶς ἐξαγγελθῆναι τὸ τῆς φύσεως ὄνομα· Τὸ δὲ θεὸς φωνὴν παρατετηρημένως κατὰ τὸν ἑνικὸν ἐξαγγέλλει τύπον, τοῦτο προμηθουμένη, τὸ μὴ διαφόρους φύσεις ἐπὶ τῆς θείας οὐσίας ἐν τῇ πληθυντικῇ σημασίᾳ τῶν θεῶν παρεισάγεσθαι. Διό, φησι Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς, Κύριος εἷς ἐστιν· ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν μονογενῆ Θεὸν τῇ τῆς θεότητος ἀνακηρύσσει φωνῇ, καὶ οὐ διαλύει τὸ ἓν εἰς δυϊκὴν σημασίαν, ὥστε δύο θεοὺς τὸν Πατέρα καὶ τὸν Υἱὸν ὀνομάσαι, κἂν ἑκάτερος θεὸς παρὰ τῶν ἁγίων κηρύσσηται. Ἀλλὰ Θεὸς μὲν ὁ Πατήρ, Θεὸς δὲ ὁ Υἱός, εἷς δὲ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ κηρύγματι ὁ Θεὸς· διὰ τὸ μήτε φύσεως μήτε ἐνεργείας ἐνθεωρεῖσθαί τινα διαφορὰν τῇ θεότητι. Εἰ γὰρ παρήλλακτο κατὰ τὴν τῶν ἠπατημένων ὑπόνοιαν ἐπὶ τῆς ἁγίας Τριάδος ἡ φύσις, ἀκολούθως ἂν εἰς πλῆθος θεῶν ὁ ἀριθμὸς ἐπλατύνετο, τῇ ἑτερότητι τῆς οὐσίας τῶν ὑποκειμένων συνδιαιρούμενος. Ἐπεὶ δὲ πᾶσαν ἀπωθεῖται τὴν κατ' οὐσίαν ἑτερότητα ἡ θεία τε καὶ ἁπλῆ καὶ ἀναλλοίωτος φύσις, ὡς ἂν μία ᾖ, πλήθους σημασίαν ἐφ' ἑαυτῆς οὐ προσίεται. Ἀλλ' ὥσπερ μία λέγεται φύσις, οὕτω καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πάντα ἑνικῶς ὀνομάζεται, Θεός, ἀγαθός, ἅγιος, σωτήρ, δίκαιος, κριτής, καὶ εἴ τι ἄλλο τῶν θεοπρεπῶν ὀνομάτων νοεῖται. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Περὶ Του Μὴ Εἴναι Τρεις Θεούς, Προς Ἀβλαβιον Source: Migne PG 44.132a-133a

Now we say that gold, even when it has been cut into many types of coins, is one, and to be spoken of so, but we speak of many coins and many staters, finding no multiplication of the nature of gold by the number of staters. For this reason we speak of 'much' gold when it is seen in greater bulk, either in objects or in coin, but we do not say 'many golds' because of the plurality of the matter, except if someone says 'many gold pieces,' as darics or staters, which is not on account of the matter, but the meaning applies to the pieces. For more properly one should not say gold but golden. As, then, the golden staters are many but the gold is one, so they are many who in the nature of man are each shown, as Peter and James and John, but the man in them is one. And though Scripture extends the name according to the plural meaning, as where it says, 'Men swear by the greater,' 1 and 'sons of men' and things like this, it must be recognised that in making use of the prevailing usage of speech, it does not legislate for the necessity of using words in one way or the other, nor does it set these things forth as giving teaching about the use of such things, but it employs the word according to the prevailing custom, with a view to this only, that the word may profit those who receive it, there being no excessive accuracy of speech about things where there could be no injury from the words in the way they are understood. It would take too long to arrange in detail those expressions in Scripture which are inexactly expressed so as to confirm what has been said, but where there is some risk of harm, there is no longer found in Scriptural phrases any inexactitude or indifference. Because of this it allows the use of 'men' in the plural because no one by this figure of speech is misled into thoughts of a plurality of humanities, or thinks that many human natures are meant by the name expressing that nature which is used in the plural. But the word 'God' it employs with great care in the singular form, by this showing forethought, so that by the plural meaning of 'gods' there is no introduction of the idea of different natures in the Divine substance. Therefore it says, 'The Lord your God is one Lord,' 2 and announces the only begotten God by the name of Godhead, not dividing the one with dual signification, so as to name the Father and the Son as two gods, though each by the holy is proclaimed as God. For the Father is God and the Son is God, and by the same proclamation God is one, because there is no thought of difference in the operations of the Godhead. For if according to the thought of those in error the nature of the Holy Trinity were diverse, then in consequence the number would be extended to a plurality of gods, being divided by the difference of substance in the subjects. But since every difference in substance is rejected by the one and changeless Divine nature so that it may be one, it does not permit the signification of plurality for itself. For as it is called one nature, so it is singular in all its other names, such as 'God', 'Good', 'Saviour', Just', 'Judge', and whatever other name may be thought appropriate for the Divine. Saint Gregory of Nyssa, On Not Three Gods, To Ablabius 1 Heb 6.16 2 Deut 6.4

The Son's Place

Ego, inquit, et pater tuus dolentes quaerebamus te. Cui ait Jesus: Nesciebatis quod in his quae Partis mei sunt oportet me esse? Ecce ubi habet quaeri Filius, utique in his quae Patris sunt. Ecce ubi non vult nesciri Filius esse se. Ideo cuidam eum inter mortuos quaerenti dictum est: Noli me tangere, nondum in corde tuo ascendi ad Patrem, nondum in his quae Patris mei sunt me quaeris: nondum in his quae ejus sunt, qui omnia sua est, scis me esse oprtere: tanquam non ipsum, sed ipsius, nec tamen aliud ab ipso. Excepta tamen hac unitate naturae, et naturali unitate Patris et Filii, a qua non recessit nec Pater, nec Filius: etiam in sua minoratione non recessit Filius a Patre, dum in ejus semper mansit obedientia et voluntate. Unde et quosdam increpans ait: Vos ex patre diabolo estis, et desideria patris vestri facitis. Ac si diceret: In his quae patris vestri sunt manentis, et estis. Isaac, Cisterciensis Abbas, Sermo VIII Source: Migne PL 194.1717c-d

'I and your father,' she says, 'have been seeking you in grief.' To which Jesus says: 'Did you not know that I must be among those things which are my Father's?' 1 Behold, you have where the Son desires to be sought, that is, 'in those things which are of the Father'. Behold, then, where the Son does not wish to be known. It was said to her who was seeking Him among the dead: 'Do not touch me' in your heart, 'I have not yet ascended to the Father,' 2 you do not yet seek me in things which are of my Father, not yet in the things which are His, which are all His, where you know that it is necessary for me to be. I am not He but His, but not only something from Him. Now excepting this unity of nature, and the natural unity of the Father and the Son, from which neither the Father withdraws, nor the Son, even in His diminishment the Son did not withdraw from the Father, but in His will remained ever obedient and pleasing. Whence He cried out against certain folk saying: 'You are from your Father the devil, and you act according to his desires.' 3 As if He said 'Being in the things of your father, so you are.' Isaac of Stella, from Sermon 8 1 Lk 2.47 2 Jn 20.17 3 Jn 8.44

The Holy Spirit And The Trinity

Εἰ δέχεται ὁ πρὸς σὲ διενεχθεὶς αἱρετικὸς, καθὼς γέγραφας, τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ Υἱὸν δογματιστὴν ἀξιόπιστον, αὐτὸς διδάσκει τὴν οὐσίαν τοῦ προσκυνητοῦ τῆς ἐνότητος Πνεύματος, ἕν ὄνομα τῆς θείας Τριάδος ἀποφηνάμενος, τῆς μιᾶς οὐσίας σημαίνων τὴν ἕνωσιν. Εἰ δὲ αὐτῷ μὴ πιστεύει, τὴν ἀκρίβειαν τοῦ συγγενοῦς συνμαίνοντι Πνεύματος, καὶ τὰ ὑπὲρ νοῦν ἀνθρώπινον ἐκδιδάσκοντι, περιττὴ τυγχάνει τῶν ἡμετέρων λόγων ἡ σύστασις· ἐπειδὴ τὸ γεῶδες σκῆνος μόλις εὑρίσκει τὰ ἐν ποσί. Τὰ δὲ ἐν οὐρανῷ ἀπόκρυφα, καὶ τὴν ἡμετέραν αἴσθησιν ὑπερβαίνοντα, αὐτὸς καὶ ἀποκαλύπτει, καὶ ἐπίσταται ὁ κατοικῶν τὸν οὐρανόν. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλίον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ Κ´ Ἱερακι Λαμπροτατῳ Source: Migne PG 78.196a

If that dissentient heretic who is with you, as you write, receives the Son of God's teaching as worthy of belief, it is He who teaches the essence of the Spirit in the adorable union, pronouncing with one name the Holy Trinity, 1 which signifies the the union of the one substance. And if he does not believe in it, that with certitude the cognate nature of the Spirit is signified there, it is beyond the rigour of our words to teach those things which are beyond the human mind, which can scarcely know the things of this terrestrial tabernacle before our feet. Heavenly secrets, which exceed our senses, He well knows how to reveal and teach who dwells in heaven. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 20, To The Illustrious Hierax 1 Mt 28.19

Baptism And The Trinity

Et ecce vox de coelis dicens: Hic est Filius meus, in quo mihi complacui Ac si diceretur: In te placitum meum constitui, hoc est qui mihi placet, salutem generis humani. Sanctae vero Trinitatis in baptismo declaratur mysterium, dum Filius Dei baptizatur in homine, Spiritus Dei descendit in columba, Pater Deus sonat in voce; ut ostenderetur in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus sancti, credentes esse baptizandos. Sanctus Beda, In Matthaei Evangelium Expositio, Lib I, Caput III Source: Migne PL 92.18c

And behold a voice from heaven saying: This is my Son in whom I am well pleased. 1 As if it were said, 'In you my joy is established, this is He who pleases me, the salvation of the human race.' The mystery of the Holy Trinity is also declared in the baptism, for while the Son is baptised as a man, the Spirit of God descends as a dove, and God the Father speaks with the voice, that it be shown believers are baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Saint Bede, Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, Book 1, Chap 3 1 Mt 3.17

Thinking Of The Trinity

Cum igitur ad confitendum Patrem, et Filium, et Spiritum sanctum aciem mentis intendimus, procul ab animo formas visibilium rerum et aetates temporalium naturarum, procul corpora locorum et loca corporum repellamus. Discedat a corde quod spatio extenditur, quod fine concluditur, et quidquid nec semper ubique, nec totum est. Cogitatio de Deitate Trinitatis concepta nihil per distantiam intelligat, nihil per gradus quaerat: ac si quid dignum de Deo senserit, nulli hoc ibi audeat negare personae, tamquam honorificentius Patri ascribat, quod Filio Spirituique non tribuat. Non est pietas Unigenito praeferre Genitorem; Filii contumelia Patris injuria est; quod uni demitur utrique detrahitur. Nam cum illis et sempiternitas sit communis et Deitas, nec omnipotens Pater, nec incommutabilis et Deitas, nec omnipotens Pater, nec incummutabilis aetimatur, si aut minorem se genuit, aut quem non habuit, habendo profecit. Sanctus Leo Magnus, Sermo LXXVII Cap IV Source: Migne PL 54.413b-c

When, therefore, we turn our minds to confessing the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, let us thrust far from the soul the forms of visible things and the spans of temporal natures, and all material bodies and places. Let that which is extended in space, that which is bound by limit, and whatever is not always everywhere and entire, be cut off from the heart. Thought of the Divine Trinity must understand nothing by separation; and if someone thinks something worthy of God, let him not dare to deny it to any of the Persons, like ascribing more honour to the Father, which he does not give to the Son and Spirit. It is not pious to put the Father before the Only Begotten. A slight to the Son is an insult to the Father; what is denied to one is refused both. For when their Eternity and Divinity are common, the Father is accounted neither omnipotent nor Divinity unchangeable if He begot One less than Himself, or gained by having One whom before He did not. Pope Leo the Great, from Sermon 77 Chap 4

Trinity And Scripture

Ergo sunt tria quaedam coaeterna, consubstantialia, coessentialia. Sed cum quaereretur a Patribus, et diceretur: Quid tria? Nec essentias, nec substantias, nec naturas dicere ausi sunt; ne aliqua forte diversitas crederetur essentiarum, aut naturarum, aut substantiarum: sed dixerunt tres personas, unam essentiam: uti una essentia declareret Deum unum, tres autem personae sanctam Trinitatem ostenderent. Nec hoc dicimus, quod tantummodo Deus Trinitas sit, et non unaquaeque persona. Nam et Pater solus Deus est, et Filius solus Deus est, et Spiritus sanctus solus Deus est. Solus dico, quia Pater non est Filius, et Filius non est Pater, et Spiritus Sanctus non est Pater aut Filius. Caetereum Trinitas inseparabilis, incommutabilis, infinita non recipit tres deos, sicut non recipit tres essentias, aut subtantias, aut naturas, et idcirco nullatenus dicendus est Filius in id quod aequalis est Patri, aut creatus ex aliquo, aut de nihil substitutus: quis quod est Pater hoc genuit, Deus Deum, lux lucem, incommutabilis incommuntabilem , infinitus infinitum, aeternus coaeternum. Similiter et de Spiritu Sancto credimus quia hoc est quod ille a quo procedit. Videamus igitur deinceps utrum haec quae diximus sanctarum Scripturarum testimoniis approbemus. Primum etiam quaerendum est si Deus Trinitas sit. Faciamus, iniquit, hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem nostram. Et rursum. Venite, descendamus, inquit, et confundamus ibi linguas eorum. Nostram, vero, et descendamus, pluralitatem personarum, non deorum insinuat. Similiterque Abrahae visio trium virorum et unius Domini deprecatio. Et: Pluit Dominus a Domino super Sodomam et Gomorrham sulphur et ignem a Domino. Et: Dixit Dominus Domino meo: Sede a dextris meis. Et: Verbo Domini coeli firmati sunt, et Spiritu oris ejus omnis virtus eorum. Quid aliquid haec quam Trinitatem ostendunt? Apertiusque sane Dominus in Evangelio: Ite, baptizate omnes gentes in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Et rursum: Facta est vox de coelo dicens: Hic est Filius meus dilectus: ipsum audite. Identidemque ait, Vidi Spiritum Dei descedentem, et manentem sicut columbam in ipso. Sanctus Fulgentius Ruspensis, Ad Felicem Notarium, De Trinitate, Caput III Source: Migne 65.499d-500b

Therefore the three are co-eternal, consubstantial, coessential. But when it was considered by the Fathers and it was said, 'What are the three?' They did not dare to speak of essences, nor substances, nor natures, lest perhaps there be thought to be a difference in essences or natures or substances, but they said three persons, one essence, so to declare the one essence of the one God, and to show the three persons of the Trinity. Nor do we say that God alone is the Trinity and not any of the persons. For the Father alone is God, and the Son alone is God and the Holy Spirit alone is God. I say 'alone' because the Father is not the Son and the Son is not the Father and the Holy Spirit is not the Father nor is He the Son. For the Trinity is inseparable, and unchangeable and infinite, and does not allow three gods, as it does not allow three essences, or substances, or natures, and therefore it should not be said of the Son, that because He is equal to the Father, either he was created from something, or established from nothing, because He is whom the Father generated, God from God, light from light, the unchangeable from the unchangeable, the infinite from the infinite, the eternal from the coeternal. We believe likewise concerning the Holy Spirit because He proceeds from Him. Let us see, then, whether these things which we have said we may confirm from the testimonies of Holy Scripture. First we must seek if God is a Trinity. He says: 'Let us make man after our image and likeness.' 1 And again He says, 'Come, let us descend and confound their tongues.' 2 'Our' and 'let us descend' intimate a plurality of persons, not gods. Likewise Abraham's vision of the three men, and his petition of the one Lord. 3 And: 'The Lord over Sodom and Gomorrha rained sulphur and fire from the Lord.' 4 And 'The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand' 5 And: 'By the word of the Lord the heavens were made firm, and the spirit of His mouth is all their power.' 6 And what do these show but the Trinity? And most openly the Lord says in the Gospel: 'Go, baptise all the peoples in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.' 7 And again: 'There was a voice from heaven saying: This is my beloved Son: listen to Him.' 8 And in the same manner it says: 'I saw the Spirit of God descending and remaining on Him like a dove.' 9 Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe, On The Trinity, To Felix The Notary, Chapter 3 1 Gen 1.26 2 Gen 11.7 3 Gen 18.1-3 4 Gen 19.24 5 Ps 109.1 6 Ps 32.6 7 Mt 28.19 8 Mt 17.5 9 Jn 1.32