Bonaventure

In his own words on Sirach

• Sirach 1:1

  It is objected that the soul of Christ was wise by uncreated wisdom only, thus: Sirach 1: All wisdom is from the Lord God and was always with Him and is before all time; but everything that is before all time is eternal: therefore all wisdom is eternal: therefore if the soul of Christ is not wise except by some wisdom, it is not wise except by eternal wisdom. If you say that wisdom is said to have been with God as in its cause: by the same reasoning this could be said of any creature, and this does not greatly render wisdom itself praiseworthy. If you say that all wisdom, that is, perfect wisdom: the following text does not agree with this, because it speaks of that wisdom to the acquisition of which it invites, as is clearly gathered from what follows. To the first objection, that all wisdom is from the Lord God, it must be said that wisdom there is not taken as the habit by which the soul of the wise is informed and by which it is disposed for knowing, but as the unchangeable ground of knowing. Now every such ground is in the divine art, because it is sempiternal, and without it there cannot be created wisdom, as was shown above. Hence from that authority it cannot be concluded that created wisdom ought not to be posited.

  Quaestiones Disputatae, De Scientia Christi, Question 5

• Sirach 1:3

  The loftiness of faith consists in two things: the extreme of altitude and the extreme of depth. Concerning the first, Ecclesiasticus says: "Heaven's height, earth's breadth, the depth of the abyss: who can explore these?" As if he were saying, above all human reason there is the understanding of this: faith's loftiness, love's expansion, and the veneration brought about by the fear of God.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 8

• Sirach 1:6

  The third face of wisdom has every form in the traces of divine works. Hence in Ecclesiasticus: "To whom hath the root of wisdom been revealed; and who hath known her wise counsels? To whom hath the discipline of wisdom been revealed and made manifest? And who hath understood the multiplicity of her steps? There is one most high Creator, Almighty." And below: "He created her in the Holy Ghost, and saw her, and numbered her, and measured her. And He poured her out upon all His works." This wisdom has been made manifest, hence "wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the open squares she raises her voice." And yet we do not find her, resembling the unlettered man who owns a book and has no concern for it.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 2

• Sirach 1:9

  "To whom hath the root of wisdom been revealed; and who hath known her wise counsels? There is one most high Creator, Almighty. He created her in the Holy Ghost, and saw her, and numbered her, and measured her. And He poured her out upon all His works." This wisdom is spread out among all things. For everything possesses a rule of wisdom and displays divine wisdom by reason of some characteristic; and the man who would know all characteristics would clearly see this wisdom.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 2

• Sirach 1:13

  Therefore the fear of God ought to be perfect, because "it shall be well with those who fear God," because they shall come to the blessing of glory.

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 2

• Sirach 1:14

  The fear of God avails for obtaining the illumination of divine wisdom, because "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." For the fear of the Lord is the extrinsic principle of wisdom and the intrinsic principle and the complement of wisdom; because there is servile fear, and this is the initiator of wisdom, because, just as the needle introduces the thread and does not remain with the thread, so servile fear introduces wisdom and does not remain with wisdom.

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 2

• Sirach 1:16

  The fear of the Lord is the extrinsic principle of wisdom and the intrinsic principle and the complement of wisdom. The third is the fear of filial reverence: and this is the complement of wisdom, because "the fullness of wisdom is to fear God." Fear produces these three things in us, because "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," and "the root of wisdom is to fear God," and "the fullness of wisdom is to fear God."

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 2

• Sirach 1:18

  The preacher does as a man who is in a meadow and gathers flowers: he cannot gather them all, but he gathers some and makes from them a garland. It is said in Ecclesiasticus: "The crown of wisdom is to fear the Lord." I wish to make for you a garland from the flowers that I have gathered. It seems to me that the fear of the Lord is a most beautiful tree planted in the heart of the holy man, which God waters continually: and when the tree is brought to perfection, then the man is worthy of eternal glory.

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 2

• Sirach 1:20

  Another is the fear of punishment and of offending God; and this is the intrinsic beginning of wisdom and "the root of wisdom." Fear produces these three things in us, because "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," and "the root of wisdom is to fear God," and "the fullness of wisdom is to fear God": Job: "Behold, the fear of the Lord, that itself is wisdom." He who does not fear God knows nothing.

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 2

• Sirach 1:21

  The fear of God avails for introducing the rectitude of divine justice. Whence Ecclesiasticus: "The fear of the Lord drives out sin. For he who is without fear cannot be justified." Injustice does not enter the soul except through sin: but the first justification of the soul is that it be subject to the divine majesty. Once this fear is destroyed, it is necessary that what follows be destroyed.

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 2

• Sirach 1:25

  "In the treasures of wisdom is understanding." This is to say that the hidden treasures of knowledge either consist in the knowledge of the highest causes, or of conclusions, or of principles. And one must dig through the study of truth so that a person may arrive at this treasure. This understanding, which is the gateway of scientific considerations, is partly from the dictate of nature, that is, from the interior light; partly from the frequency of experience, as from the exterior light; and partly from the illumination of the eternal light, as from the superior light.

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 8

• Sirach 1:33

  "Son, if thou desire wisdom, keep justice: and God will give her to thee." Observing justice helps to obtain wisdom, as the tendency of matter inclines to the form and makes it able to be joined to the form through the medium of dispositions. Not that these dispositions perish, or even less, that they are fulfilled either in the human bodies or in others. And so keeping justice brings forth wisdom.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 2

• Sirach 1:33

  "Son, desiring wisdom, preserve justice, and God will bestow it upon you." This gift is from God; but if you wish to have it, you must desire wisdom, because wisdom does not enter a soul unless it is borne toward it with great affection, nor is it denied to a soul that desires it. Along with the desire for wisdom, justice must be preserved, because wisdom does not accord with iniquity. Among other things, this is the highest justice, that a man not be ungrateful to God, but pour back the gifts conferred upon him to the Giver.

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 9

• Sirach 2:1

  The first justification of the soul is that it be subject to the divine majesty. Once this fear is destroyed, it is necessary that what follows be destroyed. On account of this it is said in Ecclesiasticus: "Son, coming to the service of God, stand in justice and fear, and prepare your soul for temptation."

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 2

• Sirach 2:11

  The gift of piety arises first from the uncreated Trinity, namely from God the Father. Although God possesses all the most noble properties, He is nevertheless most excellent in this property, namely that of piety; whence it is said in the prayer: "O God, whose property it is always to have mercy and to spare." And in Ecclesiasticus: "Pious and merciful is God, and in the time of tribulation He forgives sins and is a protector to all who seek Him in truth."

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 3

• Sirach 2:17

  And how shall we perfect sanctification? It is said in Ecclesiasticus: "Those who fear the Lord will prepare their hearts, and in his sight will sanctify their souls, saying: if we do not do penance, we shall fall into the hands of the Lord and not into the hands of men." "Those who fear the Lord will prepare their hearts," that is, they will abstain and cease from sins. Let us therefore approach the cleansing of conscience. It is a wonder how a man can remain in mortal sin. When a man enters his dwelling, he enters a tomb. I have seen of spiritual men that when they had a slight venial sin, they could scarcely sleep. If I had a lion bound with me, how could I sleep? The enemy holds you bound if you are in mortal sin. Rise therefore and sanctify your soul. Do not halve your confession, but confess most perfectly and most completely. Let the fear of the Lord lead you to this.

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 2

• Sirach 3:5

  To the one who honors his father with the honor of obedience is granted a joyful life; whence in Ecclesiasticus: He who honors his father shall find joy in his children, and in the day of his prayer he shall be heard. He who honors his father shall live a longer life; and he who obeys his father shall bring comfort to his mother. The highest joy is that a man not be rebellious toward his superior; because he who is rebellious toward his superior will find his inferior rebellious toward him, and the despiser of higher powers will be despised by those beneath him: just as Adam, when he was disobedient to his superior, found all the lower creatures which had been subject to him turned against him.

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 5

• Sirach 3:6

  To the one who honors his father with the honor of obedience is granted a joyful life; whence in Ecclesiasticus: He who honors his father shall find joy in his children, and in the day of his prayer he shall be heard. He who honors his father shall live a longer life; and he who obeys his father shall bring comfort to his mother. The highest joy is that a man not be rebellious toward his superior; because he who is rebellious toward his superior will find his inferior rebellious toward him, and the despiser of higher powers will be despised by those beneath him: just as Adam, when he was disobedient to his superior, found all the lower creatures which had been subject to him turned against him.

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 5

• Sirach 3:7

  To the father, insofar as he holds the character of origin, the honor of reverence is owed; whence in Ecclesiasticus: He who fears God will honor his father and his mother, and will serve as masters those who begot him.

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 5

• Sirach 3:8

  To the one who honors his father with the honor of beneficence is granted an abundant life; whence in Ecclesiasticus: Honor your father and your mother, and blessing shall come upon you, and your blessing shall remain to the last. This blessing is called the multiplication of goods.

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 5

• Sirach 3:10

  To the one who honors his father with the honor of reverence is granted a glorious or honorable life; whence in Ecclesiasticus: The glory of a man is from the honor of his father; likewise in the same place: Glory not in the dishonor of your father, for his shame is not glory to you. For it is natural that a son should love his father most ardently, and that he should be indignant when someone does injury to his father.

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 5

• Sirach 3:11

  To the one who honors his father with the honor of reverence is granted a glorious or honorable life; whence in Ecclesiasticus: The glory of a man is from the honor of his father; likewise in the same place: Glory not in the dishonor of your father, for his shame is not glory to you. For it is natural that a son should love his father most ardently, and that he should be indignant when someone does injury to his father.

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 5

• Sirach 3:12

  The honor of beneficence is owed to the father, because he holds the character of benefactor: whence in Ecclesiasticus: Son, support your father in his old age, and do not grieve him in his life.

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 5

• Sirach 3:18

  For this reason it is said in Ecclesiasticus: "The greater you are, humble yourself in all things." You are an archbishop or a bishop: do you wish to find grace? Humble yourself. Otherwise we are thieves, unless we humble ourselves. If a king had enriched someone, and that person refused to acknowledge that he had received his goods from him, he would be most unfaithful and would deserve to be stoned.

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 1

• Sirach 3:18

  From Christ, indeed, is the fruit of grace. This fruit of grace is fourfold: it consists in steadying the soul through faith, blessing it through divine love, lifting it up through hope, curbing it through divine fear. The fourth is indicated in Ecclesiasticus: "The greater thou art, the more humble thyself in all things."

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 18

• Sirach 3:20

  It belongs to justice to "render to each one what is his own," both to God and to oneself and to one's neighbor. But to God is principally owed honor and reverence; and humility especially disposes one to render this, according to that passage in Ecclesiasticus three: How great is the power of God alone, and He is honored by the humble. Since, therefore, the beginning of all justice is the worship and honor of God, and this is rendered to God by the humble: hence it is that the root and foundation of all justice is humility.

  Disputed Questions on Evangelical Perfection, Question 1

• Sirach 3:22

  Hence, meditation on the Law is supremely necessary. The Psalm reads: Happy the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked, but delights in the Law of the Lord. He is like a tree planted near running water. And Ecclesiasticus: The things that God hath commanded thee, think on them always, and in many of His works be not curious.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 17

• Sirach 3:22

  What God hath commanded thee, think upon always, and in many of his works be not curious. These last words are spoken especially to the learned; in which Ecclesiasticus teaches to think on useful things and to avoid curious things. Useful things indeed direct us in the way of salvation; but curious things distract us from the way of salvation and dissipate our understanding. A great part of understanding is lost on account of curiosity; and yet nothing in us is more precious than understanding. We grieve greatly when we lose gold; we ought to grieve much more if we lose understanding, because nothing is so dear as the act of understanding.

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 5

• Sirach 3:23

  What God hath commanded thee, think upon always, and in many of his works be not curious. These last words are spoken especially to the learned; in which Ecclesiasticus teaches to think on useful things and to avoid curious things. Useful things indeed direct us in the way of salvation; but curious things distract us from the way of salvation and dissipate our understanding. A great part of understanding is lost on account of curiosity; and yet nothing in us is more precious than understanding. We grieve greatly when we lose gold; we ought to grieve much more if we lose understanding, because nothing is so dear as the act of understanding.

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 5

• Sirach 4:10

  You are the image of God; and image is called, as it were, imitage: therefore, if you are truly the image of God, you ought to conform yourself to God in piety. Whence in Ecclesiasticus: "In judging, be merciful to orphans as a father, and as a husband to their mother; and you will be as an obedient son of the Most High, and He will have mercy on you." "In judging," that is, in fostering justice, "be merciful to orphans," namely so that you may truly be a son of the Most High. When the glorious God has compassion on the wretched, why do you not imitate Him? If there were some fountain that caused withered plants to grow green, it would be greatly prized. The soul without piety has withered plants. The river of divine mercy pours itself out most abundantly and causes dead plants to grow green. Is it not necessary that you introduce that river into your soul? But you cannot introduce it except through piety. The first original influence of piety, therefore, is from the uncreated Trinity.

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 3

• Sirach 4:28

  In the same manner, there are four acts of justice: to do good, to flee evil, to beware of prosperity, and to withstand misfortune. The fourth is referred to in Proverbs: "The just man, like a lion, feels sure of himself." There is also this: "Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice' sake." And again: "Strive for justice for thy soul, and even unto death fight for justice."

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 18

• Sirach 5:11

  "Be meek to hear the word, that you may understand." A man is disposed to receive the gift of understanding through the docility of meekness. Concupiscence clouds the understanding, and fury impedes intelligence, "because anger impedes the mind, so that it cannot discern the truth." The Philosopher says that "by being at rest the soul becomes prudent and knowing." When water is still, then a man sees his face well in it; but when it is disturbed, then he can see nothing in it. So, when a man is in anger, then he does not see the truth. The contentious impede understanding in themselves and in others. The angry man also pertinaciously defends what is false. A tractable man learns and becomes gentle.

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 8

• Sirach 5:12

  "If you have understanding, answer your neighbor; if not, let your hand be over your mouth." Prudential understanding teaches what is to be carried out, namely every good, according to the way of interior thought and exterior action. God wills that we do all things reasonably. And blessed Ambrose says that we ought neither to do nor to speak anything about that for which we cannot give a reason.

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 8

• Sirach 6:6

  But who is the good counselor? Certainly that one of whom Ecclesiasticus says: 'Let many be at peace with you, but let one out of a thousand be your counselor.' One counselor, that is, Christ, of whom Isaiah says: 'His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, God, the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace.' He is the Angel of great counsel: this is he to whom we ought to attend with a pure heart.

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 7

• Sirach 6:24

  Hence in Ecclesiasticus: 'Put your foot into her fetters and your neck into her chains. And her shackles shall be to you a protection of strength and a foundation of virtue, and her chains a robe of glory. For the beauty of life is in her, and her bonds are a binding of salvation.' You will say: 'To give a purgative medicine without a preparatory one is foolish.' I say that religious life has both purgative and preparatory medicine, because it tempers itself according to the capacity of those who receive it.

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 7

• Sirach 6:30

  Hence in Ecclesiasticus: 'Put your foot into her fetters and your neck into her chains. And her shackles shall be to you a protection of strength and a foundation of virtue, and her chains a robe of glory. For the beauty of life is in her, and her bonds are a binding of salvation.' I say that religious life has both purgative and preparatory medicine, because it tempers itself according to the capacity of those who receive it. Hence Augustine says: 'Let food and clothing be distributed to each of you by your superior, not equally to all, because you are not all equally well, but rather to each one as he shall have need.'

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 7

• Sirach 7:3

  From the second consideration comes forth that fruit of justice which consists in fleeing evil, that is, by means of distinguishing judgments. As Ecclesiasticus says: "Sow not in the furrows of injustice, lest you harvest it sevenfold." No one, indeed, wants to reap cockle or tares, for as it is said in Deuteronomy: "According to the measure of the sin shall the measure also of the stripes be." Thus the consideration of the judgments will make one flee from evil.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 18

• Sirach 9:9

  She is a net to those who lust and consent. Whence in Ecclesiasticus: "On account of the beauty of a woman many have perished." It is difficult "to carry fire in one's bosom without one's garments being burned."

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 6

• Sirach 9:10

  Do you know what happens through sin? The most precious becomes the most worthless. Whence in Ecclesiasticus: "A fornicating woman shall be trodden underfoot as dung in the road." What then is a fornicating cleric and priest? Certainly an abomination to the Lord. Flee therefore from lusts and follow the Virgin, who believed the Archangel Gabriel, not the woman who believed the serpent.

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 6

• Sirach 9:11

  She is a snare to those who look upon her; whence it is written: "Many, having admired the beauty of a strange woman, have become reprobate." It is read of blessed Bernard that his sister came to see him, adorned with the most beautiful finery; he spat in her face and fled from her. She, indignant, asked why he did this; he answered: "because you come in the adornment of a harlot to capture souls and carry the devil with you." Therefore he says: "She is the snare of hunters," that is, of the devil, who through her captures souls.

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 6

• Sirach 10:1

  The sixth column of the house of wisdom is maturity in judgment. Maturity is in judgment when a man does not judge rashly. "A wise judge shall judge his people," namely, over whom he has authority. But if he exceeds his authority, he is not a wise judge, but his judgment is rash. If he judges without authority, what is it? Certainly nothing. It is also necessary that the judgment of a wise man have rectitude of zeal and clarity of knowledge.

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 9

• Sirach 10:9

  The ninth plague was of darkness, by which the covetous and avaricious are struck, because nothing so blinds a man as covetousness. Solomon: "Nothing is more wicked than the avaricious man. For he has even his own soul for sale, because in his life he has cast away his inmost parts."

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 7

• Sirach 10:13

  Of actual sins there is one beginning, a twofold root, a threefold fuel, and a sevenfold head or capital sin. There is one beginning, namely pride, according to what is written: The beginning of all sin is pride. Since mortal sin is an actual departure from the First Principle, and departure from the First Principle cannot occur except through contempt of Him, either in Himself or in His commandment, and contempt of the First Principle is pride: it is therefore necessary that every mortal fault or offense take its beginning from pride. But because no one despises the Supreme Principle, or His commandment in itself, except by reason of something else that he either wishes to acquire or fears to lose: hence it is necessary that every actual sin draw its origin from a twofold root, namely fear and love; which are roots of evils, though not equally primary. For every fear has its origin from love: for no one fears to lose something unless he loves to have it; and therefore fear is nourished by those things by which love too is nourished. Now disordered love regards a changeable good: and since that is threefold—interior, namely excellence; exterior, money; inferior, carnal wantonness—hence it is necessary that there be three radical fuels of actual sins, toward which when the soul is carried in a disordered manner, all actual sins arise. And because this happens according to a sevenfold manner, therefore there are seven capital sins, from which the universality of vices is generated. For our will is either disordered because it desires what is not to be desired, or because it shuns what is not to be shunned. If one desires what is not to be desired, namely a good as of now, or a changeable or apparent good: it is either interior, and thus it is private excellence, which pride loves; or it is exterior, and thus it is sufficiency, which avarice loves; or inferior, and thus either delectable because it serves the conservation of the individual, and thus it is nourishment, which is delectable according to taste and is desired by gluttony; or because it serves the conservation of the species, and thus it is sexual union, which is delectable according to touch and is desired by lust. If, however, the will is disordered because it flees what is not to be fled, this can occur in three ways: for it either flees according to the perverse instinct of the rational power, and thus it is envy; or according to the instinct of the irascible power, and thus it is wrath; or according to the instinct of the concupiscible power, and thus it is sloth. Whence, because there are four principal objects of desire and three powers according to whose instinct there is flight, therefore the capital sins are seven in number.

  Breviloquium, Part 3, Chapter 9

• Sirach 15:3

  First there must be food, not drink. Unless man is trained in the gift of understanding, he cannot proceed to the drink of wisdom, which makes a river flow in the soul. The gift of understanding is solid food, like bread which, as Blessed Francis used to say, is obtained through much labor. First the seed is sown, then it grows, then the grain is collected, then brought to the mill, then baked. There are many such steps. And so it is with the gift of understanding: to prepare understanding is a difficult task in itself. Likewise, wisdom is not obtained except by the man who thirsts.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 3

• Sirach 15:5

  "In the midst of the Church she shall open his mouth, and shall fill him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding, and shall clothe him with a robe of glory." It has been shown above to whom a doctor should direct his speech and whence he should begin. It remains now to see where he must end it: and that is in the fullness of wisdom and understanding. Concerning wisdom, four points are to be noted: its origin, its dwelling, its door, and its beauty.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 2

• Sirach 15:5

  "In the midst of the Church the Lord shall open his mouth, and shall fill him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding and shall clothe him with a robe of glory." In these words the Holy Spirit teaches the prudent man to whom he should address his speech, from where he should begin it, and finally where he should end it. First, to whom he should address it, that is, to the Church: for what is holy should not be given to dogs nor should pearls be thrown to the swine. Second, from where to begin, that is, from the center, which is Christ: for if this Medium is overlooked, no result is obtained. Third, where he should end, that is, in fullness, in the complete fulfilling of the spirit of wisdom and understanding.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 1

• Sirach 15:5

  Whatever is said of wisdom, must be said of understanding of which it was explained in the Collations on the Gifts that it is the rule of moral definition, the door to learned thought, and the key to heavenly contemplation. And such understanding is indeed a gift. A beginning must be made from understanding in order to reach wisdom. First there must be food, not drink. Unless man is trained in the gift of understanding, he cannot proceed to the drink of wisdom, which makes a river flow in the soul. The gift of understanding is solid food, like bread which, as Blessed Francis used to say, is obtained through much labor. First the seed is sown, then it grows, then the grain is collected, then brought to the mill, then baked. There are many such steps. And so it is with the gift of understanding: to prepare understanding is a difficult task in itself.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 3

• Sirach 17:1

  "God created man from the earth," namely as regards the body, "and made him according to His own image," namely as regards the soul. He gives us to understand that the human soul has three operations, according to its power and operation. "Every noble soul has three operations," by which it turns itself upon its own body, upon itself, and toward divine things. Sometimes it turns itself upon the body: it has the tongue for speaking, ears for hearing; sometimes it turns itself upon itself; sometimes toward understanding and knowing God. And this is according to the threefold consideration of the soul; for the soul is considered as the form and perfection of the body, as a this-something, and as an image.

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 8

• Sirach 17:5

  "Counsel and a tongue and eyes and ears and a heart He gave them for thinking, and He filled them with the discipline of understanding." He gives us to understand that the human soul has three operations, by which it turns itself upon its own body, upon itself, and toward divine things. That this understanding is partly from the dictate of nature is evident in Adam, because he imposed names upon all things. But that God "filled him with the discipline of understanding," this was his privilege; hence it is not in us. But our soul has signed upon it a certain light of nature, through which it is apt for knowing first principles; but that alone does not suffice, because, according to the Philosopher, "we know principles insofar as we know terms." For when I know what a whole is, what a part is, I immediately know that "every whole is greater than its part."

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 8

• Sirach 18:1

  Thus is to be understood that which is said: "He who lives forever created all things simultaneously": not because He created them in a chaos of every kind of confusion, as the poets imagined, since He brought forth this threefold nature, the highest in the highest place, the middle in the middle, and the lowest in the lowest: nor indeed into a being of every kind of distinction, since heaven was perfect, and the earth unformed, and the middle nature, as it were holding a middle position, had not yet been brought to perfect distinction.

  Breviloquium, Part 2, Chapter 5

• Sirach 18:1

  All things, although God could have made them in an instant, He nevertheless preferred to make them through a succession of times: partly for the sake of a distinct and clear representation of power, wisdom, and goodness; partly for the sake of a fitting correspondence of days or times and works; and partly also so that, just as in the first creation of the world there were to be made the seminal principles of works yet to be done, so also there would be made prefigurations of future times. If, however, it were said in another manner, that all things were made simultaneously, then all these seven days are referred to angelic contemplation. Nevertheless, the first manner of speaking is more consonant with Scripture and with the authorities of the Saints, both those who preceded and also those who followed the blessed Augustine.

  Breviloquium, Part 2, Chapter 2

• Sirach 18:19

  Jurists are concerned with judgments of money, we with the judgment of ourselves. Hence, "before you are judged, seek merit for yourself."

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 1

• Sirach 19:2

  "Wine and women make the wise to fall away and will reprove the sensible." You have a ready example in that Solomon, who fell away on account of women even to the worship of idolatry, who nevertheless was filled with wisdom like a river. I believe that the eternal God, by the most high dispensation of his counsel, permitted Solomon to fall, so that he might teach all men to flee from women.

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 9

• Sirach 20:7

  The third column of the house of wisdom is moderation in speech. Above all things, moderation is required in speech: "A wise man will be silent until the time, but the wanton and imprudent will not observe the time. For every matter there is a time and opportunity." Is it not the height of foolishness that a man should pierce both himself and his neighbor with the same sword? An evil word kills both the hearer and the speaker. You cannot detract from your neighbor without slaying yourself with the same sword.

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 9

• Sirach 21:2

  The grace of God therefore descends to us through the Word incarnate, through the Word crucified, and through the Word inspired. Man assails this most noble influence through sin. For all the things in the world, man ought not to commit sin. It is said in Ecclesiasticus: "Flee from sin as from the face of a serpent." As a serpent pouring out venom kills, so sin kills the life of grace.

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 1

• Sirach 21:23

  The third aspect of the zeal of wisdom is the ordaining of thoughts. "A fool will peep through the window into the house." And in this regard, there is great difficulty in containing our imagination so well that in church we think of nothing but the office, and likewise in other circumstances. And it is necessary to ordain such thoughts so that the Holy Spirit be able to enter in the form of wisdom, "for the holy spirit of discipline flees deceit and withdraws from senseless counsel." Hence, there is need for us to use clearly defined materials with which we can be properly concerned.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 19

• Sirach 23:9

  A promissory oath is made for entering into mutual peace: and in this is understood the restraint of all mortal sins; because "every true oath is dangerous, a false one is pernicious, and no oath is safe." And for this reason it is said in Ecclesiasticus: "Let not your mouth become accustomed to swearing."

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 3

• Sirach 23:27

  The commandments of God are irreproachable, because they contain nothing burdensome, but rather they are sweet. Whence it is said in Ecclesiasticus: "Nothing is better than the fear of God, and nothing is sweeter than to look upon the commandments of the Lord."

  Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 1

• Sirach 24:4

  "I dwelt in the highest places, and My throne is in a pillar of a cloud. I alone have compassed the circuit of heaven, and have penetrated into the bottom of the deep, and have walked in the waves of the sea." This is what incarnate Wisdom says: "I dwelt in the highest heavens," in the creation; "My throne is in a pillar of cloud," in the incarnation; "I have walked in the waves of the sea," in the passion; "I have penetrated into the bottom of the deep," in the penetration of Scriptures, for after He arose, "He opened their minds, that they might understand the Scriptures." By faith in the cross, Peter walked on the sea.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 13

• Sirach 24:4

  Concerning the height and depth of faith, Ecclesiasticus says: "In the highest heavens did I dwell, my throne on a pillar of cloud." The height of faith consists in understanding the eternal God, its depth, in knowing God made man. The words "in the highest heavens" indicate the teaching of faith that God is eternal. The words, God's "throne on a pillar of clouds," refer to the teaching about God made man.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 8