Gregory the Dialogist

In his own words on Wisdom of Solomon

• Wisdom of Solomon 1:1

  "Think of the Lord with uprightness, and seek him with sincerity of heart." Sincerity of heart is like a day not dimmed by fraud, not obscured by lies, not darkened by envy, not clouded by deception; it is a day illuminated by the light of truth, made resplendent by the dawning of the divine presence. As it is written, "He speaks with the sincere." For God, to speak is to reveal to human minds, by the illumination of his presence, the mysteries of his will. This is why it is said that God speaks with the sincere, because, by the light of his inspiration, he enlightens with his heavenly mysteries the minds of those who are not darkened by even a shadow of duplicity.

  ON THE SEVEN PENITENTIAL PSALMS 5:4

• Wisdom of Solomon 1:5

  But the spirit is said to be directed, so that, turned away from the proud king, it may be perceived. Therefore the spirit directs itself into another, when the grace of the same spirit flees the proud and the deceitful. Whence it is also written: "The Spirit of the Lord of discipline will flee from the deceitful" (Wis. 1:5). Hence also He says through Himself in the Gospel: "The Spirit breathes where He wills, and you hear His voice, and you do not know whence He comes or where He goes" (John 3:8). The Spirit indeed comes and goes, because He abandons the reprobate and takes up the elect. And because the judgment of almighty God is inscrutable, man does not know whence He comes and where He goes: because it cannot be known whether anyone ought to persevere forever in the grace which he receives. The spirit is therefore said to come from him who has fallen away, and to go to him who will persevere: because He abandons some in time, takes up others, and yet does not abandon them.

  Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 6

• Wisdom of Solomon 2:24

  For it is written of him: But by the envy of the Devil, death entered into the world (Wis. 2:24). Because he himself lost heaven, he envied the man who was created, and, ruined, he increased his own damnation by ruining others. The envious must be admonished to recognize the many falls to which the growing ruin subjects them, because, while they do not cast envy out of their hearts, they are led into open wickedness of deeds. For if Cain had not envied his brother's accepted offering, he would not have come to extinguish his life. Therefore it is written: And the Lord looked upon Abel and his gifts; but to Cain and his gifts He did not look. And Cain was very angry, and his face fell (Gen. 4:4).

  The Book of Pastoral Rule, Part 3, Chapter 10

• Wisdom of Solomon 3:7

  Again, through the pen or reed, the pursuit of temporal glory is expressed, as it is said of the just through Wisdom: The just will shine, and run to and fro like sparks among stubble (Wis. 3:7). For indeed, he calls the life of worldly people stubble, who, like stubble, advance outwardly through temporal glory as if to lofty heights, but inwardly become empty of the solidity of truth. Therefore, the kingdom of the Jews is also compared to stubble, when, through the prophet, it is said of the Lord appearing in the truth of the flesh: A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoking flax he will not quench (Isa. 42:3).

  Morals on Job, PL 75-76

• Wisdom of Solomon 5:6

  Readers must exercise great discernment, so that when any single word is used in sacred Scripture, it is not believed to always signify one and the same thing—just as sometimes "sun" is taken in a good sense, and sometimes in a bad sense. For by the name of sun, sometimes our Redeemer Himself is signified, and sometimes persecution. For as the Book of Wisdom attests, the impious in hell will say: "We have erred from the way of truth, and the sun of justice has not shone upon us." And concerning the seeds that were cast, the Lord says: "When the sun rose, they withered"—because, that is, when persecution arose, the words of preaching dried up in the hearts of the reprobate.

  Homilies on Ezekiel, Book 2, Homily 7

• Wisdom of Solomon 5:20

  In all these things, it is clearly seen what a certain wise man testifies about the Lord, saying: and creation shall fight with him against the foolish (Wis. 5:20). Indeed, the world fights with the Lord against the senseless when, in the punishment of sinners, the adversity of the elements takes part. Yet pain does not come forth from the earth, because every insensible thing is stirred to our affliction by the impulse of our own actions.

  Morals on Job, PL 75-76, 2.14

• Wisdom of Solomon 6:6

  In Holy Scripture, when the sun is presented figuratively, sometimes the Lord is signified by it, as is stated in the book of Wisdom, where it is said that all the wicked, upon recognizing their own condemnation at the final judgment, will say: We have strayed from the path of truth, and the light of justice did not shine for us; and the sun did not rise for us (Wis. 5:6). As if they were openly saying: The ray of inner light did not shine upon us. Therefore, John also says: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet. For in the sun is understood the illumination of truth, but in the moon, which wanes with its monthly cycles, is understood the mutability of temporality.

  Exposition of the New Testament, 24.38

• Wisdom of Solomon 6:16

  The paths of life lead to the Creator. Through visible things we have departed from God; through the same things we ought to return to God. For the paths to the Creator are the works of creation considered. When we observe what has been made, we marvel at the power of the Maker. In these paths, all wisdom meets us with providence, because the power of the Maker is set before us to be sought in everything that appears to be wonderfully made; and wherever the soul turns, if it pays careful attention, in these very things it finds God, through which it had departed; and it recognizes His power again from the consideration of those things, for the love of which it had abandoned Him; and through those things by which it fell perversely, by these things turned rightly it is recalled. For where we have fallen, there we must strive to rise; and as if by rising there, we fix the hand of consideration where, by the foot of careless love, we had fallen and lay neglected. For since we have fallen from the invisible through the visible, it is fitting that we should lean again on the visible to return to the invisible, so that by the same way by which the soul descended to the lowest, by that same step it may return to the highest; and by the same steps by which it fell, it may rise, while, as has been said, those things well considered call us back to God, which, badly chosen, separated us from Him.

  Morals on Job, PL 75-76

• Wisdom of Solomon 7:15

  And it often happens that they speak boldly, but nevertheless do not know how to live according to what they say. Therefore a certain wise man rightly said: But may God grant me to speak these things with understanding (Wis. 7:15). For understanding is indeed derived from perception. And he who desires not only to speak from knowledge, but also from understanding, wishes to experience what he says by feeling, not merely by knowing. But the mind of the arrogant does not penetrate the sense of their own words, because it is repelled from inward taste and right judgment toward those outward favors which it loves. True knowledge, however, affects, it does not exalt; nor does it make those it fills proud, but rather causes them to lament. When anyone is filled with this knowledge, he first desires to know himself; and now, being conscious of himself, he becomes wiser through it the more he truly recognizes his own weakness in it; and humility itself opens to him a wider path to this knowledge; and while he observes his own frailty, the very knowledge of sublime secrets reveals to him hidden depths, and being pressed by this knowledge, he becomes more subtle, so that he may be drawn to hidden things. Therefore Elihu, in the afflictions of blessed Job, does not find true reason, because he does not know how to seek it humbly; and being more ready to rebuke than to console, he says: This, therefore, is where you are not justified. (Job 33:12)

  Morals on Job, PL 75-76, 5.17.31

• Wisdom of Solomon 7:22

  Spirit indeed is God eternal before all ages, coeternal with the Father and the Son, we must ask why He is said to run about. For everyone who runs about approaches a place where he was not, and leaves the place where he was. By what reasoning, then, shall we say that the Spirit runs about, since all things are within Him, and there is nowhere a place where He is not? As it is written: "The Spirit of the Lord has filled the whole world." And yet, when the praise of wisdom was being described, it was added: "For in her there is a spirit of understanding, a spirit unique, manifold, subtle, mobile." And shortly after: "Steadfast yet humane." In these words again a great question arises for us: why is this spirit who fills all things said to be both mobile and stable at the same time? But if we return to the custom of human usage, we more quickly find the meaning of the speaker. For a man who runs about everywhere in the region where he is, without doubt comes upon everyone everywhere, and is suddenly found where he was not expected. Therefore the Almighty Spirit, to signify his presence everywhere, is said to be both mobile and stable at the same time. Stable, because by nature he contains all things; but he is called mobile because he meets even those who are unaware of him everywhere. Therefore holding all things he is called stable; showing himself present to all he is called mobile. Therefore the brightness of fire, and the lightning going forth from the fire, runs among the winged creatures, because the Holy Spirit is present to individuals and to all at the same time, and sets on fire those whom he touches, and illuminates those whom he sets on fire, so that after their former coldness those who have been kindled may burn, and through the fire of love which they have received may give back flames of examples.

  Homilies on Ezekiel, Book 1, Homily 5

• Wisdom of Solomon 16:20

  As a certain wise man says about the sweetness of manna: You provided them with ready bread from heaven without labor, containing every delight and all the sweetness of taste (Wis. 16:20). For manna indeed contained every delight and all sweetness of taste, because, in the mouths of the spiritual, it gave flavor according to the will of those who ate, since the divine word is both suitable for all and not inconsistent with itself, adapting to the capacity of the hearers; and when each chosen person profitably understands it according to his own measure, he transforms the manna received into a flavor of his own choosing.

  Morals on Job, PL 75-76, 2.2.22

• Wisdom of Solomon 17:10

  Therefore, it is well said by a certain wise man: Since wickedness is fearful, it bears witness to its own condemnation (Wis. 17:10). For while fear, striking the conscience because of the deed, reproves, it gives itself damning testimony for the case it commits. On the contrary, it is said by John: If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God (1 Jn. 3:21). Therefore, let the wicked flee from human eyes, but they certainly cannot flee from themselves. For since they know the evil they do, they have conscience as a witness, and their own reason as a judge. Therefore, in the sin they commit, they first encounter the judgment of their own reason against themselves. And this is perhaps what is said by the Psalmist: Deep calls to deep at the sound of your waterfalls (Ps. 42:8). For, by a wondrous order of hidden arrangement, the evil that is done is not permitted to be unknown, and the sinner already condemns himself in his conscience by his own judgment, and after his own condemnation hastens to the sentence of the eternal Judge. Therefore, for deep to call to deep is to pass from judgment to judgment.

  Gregory the Great, Morals on Job, PL 75-76. 2.27.25