A foolishly reasoning within myself, both regarding the things which my mind suggested to me and what I had learned from Scripture concerning man, was clearly in doubt: how can man be a great thing, a mortal creature, subject to countless sufferings, drawing out from birth to old age a swarm of evils exceeding all number? Concerning whom it is written: "Lord, what is man, that you have made yourself known to him?" And the Psalmist indeed looks down upon man as a base creature, but Proverbs magnifies and extols man as something great. But the history of the birth and creation of man that was read has solved for me this kind of doubt. For we heard just now that God took dust from the earth, and formed man. I found, therefore, from this statement both things: that man is nothing, and man is a great thing. If you gaze only toward his nature, he is nothing, and worth nothing; but if toward the honor with which he has been honored, man is something great. B
1. Who is he? Compare the origin of man with all other things. God said, "Let there be light, and there was light." "Let there be a firmament," and the great heaven was stretched out above us, brought into being by the word of God. The stars, the sun, and the moon, and the other things which we perceive with the eye, and those which we grasp with the mind, had their existence by a word. The sea and the earth, and the adornment that is in them, the all-various kinds of animals, the diverse and varied species of plants; all have been created by a command. But man is not so. For it was not said, "Let there be man," as "Let there be a firmament"; rather, you see something more in man than in light, than in heaven, than in the luminaries. The creation of man excels all. For, he says, God took dust from the earth, and formed man. He deigns to form our body with His own hand. No angel C ministered in the forming. The earth did not bring forth man spontaneously as it does cicadas. He did not command administrative powers to do this or that; but He fashions His work with His own hand, having taken dust from the earth. When you turn your eyes to that which was taken, you will rightly say, "What is man?" But when you add consideration of mind to the Former, and to His own craftsmanship, having changed your opinion again, you will pronounce, "Man is a great thing." The one is because of the matter from which he is fashioned, as that which is reckoned as nothing by its own nature; the other is because of the honor with which he has been gifted, since he exists in truth as something great, in that he is judged to be according to the image and likeness. "And God took dust." How is it that there, in the preceding, it is said: "And God made man according to His own image," while here the origin of man D is told again from the beginning, as if we had not yet learned anything concerning the formation of man? For it says: "And God took dust from the earth, and formed man." And if some have said,
A that "He formed" refers to the body, and "He made" refers to the soul, perhaps this statement would not be far from the truth. For where it is said, "And God made man," it continues, "in the image of God He made him"; but where it narrates our bodily substance and formation, it says "He formed." The Psalmist also taught the distinction between "making" and "forming," saying: "Thy hands have made me and formed me" (Ps. cxviii, 73). They made the inner man, they formed the outer man; for indeed, "forming" is proper to clay, but "making" is proper to that which is according to the image; so that the flesh was formed, but the soul was made. Having spoken above concerning the substance of the soul, He now discourses to us concerning the formation of the body.
Keep also this thought. And what is this? That Scripture speaks in part summarily, but in part delivers to us the manner in which each thing has come to be. Above, then, it stated that He made man, but it did not dwell upon the manner of the making; here, however, it tells also how He made him. For if He said simply that He made him, one might suppose that He made him as He made the cattle, the beasts, the plants, and the grass. In order, therefore, that you might avoid that kinship with the more savage and senseless, the Word has delivered the craftsmanship of God that is peculiar to you. B "God took dust from the earth." There He said that He made him; here, however, how He made him: He took dust from the earth, and formed him with His own hands. Think upon how you were formed; consider the workshop of nature: it is the hand of God that constructed you. Therefore, do not let that which was formed by God be defiled by wickedness, do not let it be altered by sin; do not fall away from the power of the hand of God that sustains you. You are a vessel formed divinely, made by God; glorify Him who made you. For you were not created for any other cause than that you should be an instrument suitable for the glory of God. For indeed, this whole world is to you as it were a written book, preaching the glory of God; one that declares to you, who have understanding, the hidden and invisible greatness of God, for the comprehension of God who is Truth. By all means, therefore, remember the things that have been said.
2. "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth" (Gen. i, 28). For the increase is twofold: one of the body, the other of the soul. But the increase of the soul is the addition unto perfection through learning; the increase of the body, however, is the restoration from small bulk to the proper measure. C This, therefore, which is spoken universally—"Be fruitful"—to the irrational animals, it has been said according to the perfection of the body and the completion of nature; to us, however, and to the rational, the "Be fruitful" is commanded according to the inner man, according to the progress that leads to God; such as Paul was, stretching forth himself to those things which are before, and forgetting those which are behind (Phil. iii, 13). This is the increase, the acquisition of the contemplations of piety,
A a continuous forward-stretching towards that which is above us; to leave behind that which has already accrued, and to seek with all one's might, as if it were lacking, that which remains of piety. Such was Isaac, concerning whom that testimony is recorded in the Holy Scriptures: *And he went forward, and grew, until he became very great* (Gen. xxvi, 13). For he did not stand still, nor did he remain where he was after having increased but a little; but he always went forward with great strides, ascending toward virtue. With a great stride he passed through temperance; he stepped upon justice; from there he ascended to fortitude. Thus stepping forward, the righteous man is crowned at the summit of the height of the good. "Increase, therefore," with an increase according to God, a perfection in the inner man. "Multiply." This is the blessing of the Church. Let not the knowledge of the Deity be circumscribed by one or two, but let the preaching of the Gospel of salvation be proclaimed to the whole earth. "Multiply," you who? You who are born according to the principles of the Gospel. "Replenish the earth." Replenish the flesh given to you for service with good works. Let the eye be full of the sight of those things which are a duty; let the hands be full of good works; let the feet walk for the visitation of the infirm, being quick to follow after what is proper; let the whole disposition of our members be full of the observance of the commandments of God. This is what is meant by the word to man, "Replenish the earth." For the voices are common even to mute animals; but they become peculiar to man when we unceasingly employ that [faculty] according to which we were made in the image, and by the honor of which we have been promoted. For they grow corporally, but we spiritually; and they, by their multitude, replenish the earth; but we replenish the earth joined to us—that is to say, the bodily frame—with good works. "Behold, I have given you," He says, "every tree which has in itself fruit of its own kind, it shall be yours for food" (Gen. i, 29). Let the Church let nothing pass by; all things are lawful. He did not say: "I have given you the fishes of the sea for food; I have given you the cattle, the reptiles, the winged creatures, the quadrupeds." For He says that they were not created for this use; but the first law granted the enjoyment of fruits. For we were still deemed worthy of paradise and of the manner of life which is in it. And what is that mystery which lies hidden within? That it was not only for us, but for all mute animals as well, that the same food from the fruits of the earth and the seeds was ordained at that time. For "Behold," He says, "I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is upon the face of the earth, and every tree which has in itself fruit of its own kind, it shall be yours for food, and to all the beasts of the earth, and to all the birds of the air, and to every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth" (Gen. i, 29, 30). D 3. But some may say: "We see most of the beasts not feeding on fruits. For what fruit can a panther endure to be nourished by? Or what fruit can...
a lion eat?" Know, however, that even these, being subject to the law of nature, were once nourished by fruits; but when man lived wantonly and transgressed the limits appointed to him, the Lord, seeing after the flood that men were squandering themselves in luxuries and were not restricted by any temperance, granted them the faculty of eating everything. "All these things," he said, "you shall eat as green herbs" (Gen. ix, 3). With this permission, the rest of the animals also immediately received the license to eat flesh.
4. From that time on, the lion became flesh-eating; and from that time, vultures expected carcasses with voracious greed. For surely B vultures did not, as soon as animals were born, prowl about the earth; for nothing of what had been created by God had yet died so that vultures might be fed. For nature did not render them to death; since it was vigorous and flourishing, nor did hunters destroy them; for there was not yet the craft of hunting, nor were there beasts that tore them apart; for there were no carnivorous animals: it is the nature of vultures to feed on carcasses. Therefore, there were not yet carcasses; there was not yet a stench; there was not yet such food for vultures; but all lived in the manner of swans, and all grazed in the meadows. And just as we see dogs, for the sake of cure, often grazing on grass, not because that food is truly natural to them, but because by a certain untaught instinct of nature, brute animals are moved toward what is conducive to their state; think that of such a kind at that time were the animals that are now carnivorous, which sought for themselves green grass as food, nor did they lay traps for one another: but as the restoration is to be after these things, such was the first creation. C
Man returns to his former state, freed from wickedness, and from the misery surrounding this wretched life on earth, and from the anxieties and cares concerning these worldly things that cloud the soul. Having cast aside all these things, he returns to that life in paradise, the one unenslaved to the passions of the flesh, the free one, the companion of God, the peer of angels. These things, then, have been said by us, not because we wish to bar the use of foods granted to us by God, but so that we might praise the happiness of that former time; what that life then was, how free from trouble, how frugal; how the things conducive to human life were very few and easily procured, and how the diversity of our diet was introduced by the cause of sin. For since we fell from the true luxury D of paradise, we have devised for ourselves adulterated luxuries; and since we no longer behold the tree of life, nor do we pride ourselves in that beauty, cooks and bakers and varieties of pastries and spices have been given to us for our enjoyment, and such things console us for our fall from thence.
5. Just as those who are ill, when they are struck down by severe sickness, being unable to partake of their accustomed pleasures, receive certain fragrant restorative signs from the physicians. Since...
they have fallen away from the enjoyment of more solid things, those who flatter their senses contrive a remedy proportionate to their weakness. Yet, even now, we who desire to lead ourselves in imitation of the life in Paradise, shunning this varied enjoyment of foods, raise ourselves to that life as far as is possible, using for our sustenance fruits, seeds, and the produce of orchard trees; the surplus of these, as being unnecessary, we discard. It is not that they are abominable—since all things have been created by God as Author—but that they are harmful, due to the softness of the flesh.
6. *And God rested from all his works on the seventh day.* Let the arithmeticians, then, and those who occupy themselves with such studies and put forward this sort of wisdom as a great achievement, say that the number six is related to the creation of the world, because it is far more fertile, engendering many species of numbers from itself, and is itself complete in its own parts—and all the things that arithmeticians chatter about the six in their academic discourses. If there is time, let the six be discussed on its own account. But let them also speak concerning the seven, that there is a kind of sterility in the seventh; for the number seven neither generates another of itself, nor is it generated by another. And that I may not draw out the discourse into prolixity, passing over the argument directed to you, let us proceed B to more reasonable and necessary matters. If anyone is versed in these things, let him know that a store of them is laid up with us also; so that, if arithmetic is a great thing, the seeds of arithmetic are situated here. But we do not consider ourselves great in these things, because they originate from the wisdom of the world, or because of the wisdom that is of the world’s use, which we are commanded rather to despise as trivial and not conducive to virtue, than to display. For those who devote their efforts to these things, having C furtively stolen small parts from here—from our doctrine, I mean—and having mixed them into their own lucubrations, thus vaunt themselves magnificently. So that it may be clear to them that those things which are highly esteemed among them are of little regard to us, let us pass over the discourse about them in silence; and, at the same time, because the consideration of such matters is not so easy and accessible to the common, uneducated crowd, and the gathered assembly is not one that is prepared to hear those artificial and sophisticated discourses, but one that seeks to have questions that make for edification resolved and explained to it.
7. The seventh day, therefore, is honored, that is, the Sabbath; D and thence the septenary number is venerable among the Hebrews: in which occurs the feast of Tabernacles, of Trumpets, and the day of Atonement. The seventh year also is venerable among them, which they called the year of Remission. For it was permitted to them to till the land for six years; but in the
A seventh year they were to be content with those things which the land produced of its own accord, once they were in possession of the promised land. A Hebrew would serve for six years; in the seventh year he was released from servitude. In the seventieth year captivity was dissolved among them. Next, let us speak also of our own things. "Seven times," he says, "the just man shall fall and shall rise again." Thus we claim the week for ourselves. The seventh from Adam, Enoch, did not see death—this is a mystery of the Church. The seventh from Abraham, Moses, received the law—this is a change of life, the subversion of iniquity, the entry of justice, the advent of God, the order of the world, and the legislation of those things which must be done. In the seventy-seventh generation from Adam, Christ appeared. Peter knows the mystery of the week: "How often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" He knew the mystery but a little; he had not yet learned what is perfect, for he was still a student. But neither did the Teacher depart from the seven; rather, He spoke, not according to what the student knew, but according to how the Master surpassed him in such great abundance. "How often shall he sin, and I forgive?" Why did He not say "up to six times" or "up to eight times," but "up to seven times"? And why did the Lord not say "up to a hundred times a hundred," but multiplied the number seven? Neither did Peter ask for a different number, nor did the Lord depart from the rule of the week. Peter observed that there was an ancient rule of tradition, and that in the week there was a certain impression of the remission of sins, and of perfect rest, the sign of which is the Sabbath—the seventh day from creation. Peter says "seven times"; the Lord says "up to seventy times seven." But sins also, by ancient rite, C are punished according to the account of this number. "Not so," says God; "everyone who kills Cain shall pay seven fold." Not even there eight, but seven. And Lamech himself, passing judgment upon himself, did not depart from the seven. For he says: "By Cain it has been avenged seven times, but by Lamech seventy times seven." Why so? Wait a little while and you will find the mystery. The first sin is avenged seven times, but the second homicide performed by Lamech seventy times seven. Because from Cain it shall be avenged seven times, but from Lamech seventy times seven. We think, therefore, that the forgiveness requested by Peter D brings in the absolution of Cain, but that which is from the Lord, seventy times seven, grants forgiveness to Lamech seventy times seven. For as is the transgression, so also is the grace; where the sin is small, the forgiveness or pardon is small. "For to whom little is forgiven, he loves little." Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.
8. What then is the mystery? The seventh day is said to be this age being fulfilled, and after this the day of judgment is to stand over us, the eighth, in which the sinner seven times, and he who is a sinner beyond measure, seventy-eight
A times, shall be punished. And conversely, the just man seven times, and he who is exceedingly just, seventy-seven times, shall be rewarded. For the kindness of God, for now, indeed, signifies the future to us through enigmas; but then, at His second coming, He will present clear and manifest truth: for He will then show who is worthy of what rewards. The Lord will forgive, in this life, the sevenfold retribution which is owed to us sinners, provided He is propitiated by us through repentance and confession. Wherefore, knowing that tremendous day in which is stored up for those who have sinned here the retribution and balancing of sins according to their desert, let us, by occupying ourselves with the wages of repentance while we live, wash away our sins, that we may be able to escape the manifold measure of painful and grievous retribution there.
9. Let us therefore consider this seventh day to correspond to the figure of the consummation of this age. Let us say, then, *And God rested on the seventh day from all His works*; but just so, in that day, there shall no longer be any works of this world. There will no longer be marriages, no longer contracts, no longer commerce: as for agriculture, if there is anything remaining of studies and business, it is not permitted even to think of it there; but all creation will stand astonished and trembling; and sweat will be irrepressible from all, and all will be perplexed with fear; even the righteous among us will be anxious then with dread wondering which sentence is to be pronounced upon them. And Abraham will then be anxious and solicitous, not as one who expects that he will be cast into hell, but regarding in which class of the just B he is to be placed: the first, the second, or the third. The Lord arrives from heaven: the heavenly powers are revealed, the heavens being rent; all creation will be drawn together in trembling and fear; because perhaps even the angels themselves will stand by struck with fear and terror, not for the reason that they fear for their own sins, but because the glorious and all-powerful appearance of the Judge will strike his own fear into all creatures alike. Do you not hear Isaiah saying, *If Thou shouldst open heaven, trembling will seize the mountains from Thee* (Isa. LXIV, 1), by which he indicates that day; from His sight the sea freezes, all things are struck dumb, nature dies, all rhetorical art and the faculty of words is voided, on account of the advent of God from the heavens. For then the just shall be snatched away, and their chariots shall be the clouds, and the angels shall conduct them. Then the just, like stars, shall be received from earth into heaven; but sinners, bound, impeded by the proper weight of their own sins, C falling downward, shall lie there, confounded by the very judgment of their conscience.
10. This eighth day, therefore, is not fashioned thus. *And God rested on the seventh day from all His works.* There are no longer the things of this life, nor the wishes that attend upon carnal desires here. On that day, youthful desires and lusts will have fallen asleep. There will no longer be the frantic and insane lust of the marriage bond, or the desire for procreation, and no care for the hoarding of gold; the miser has forgotten D
A the purse and the chest; the unjust plunderer, the violence of grasping and injury; the wealthy man, his possessions; the ambitious, the insane longing for glory and renown. Whatever be the affairs of this world, they fall away from the mind. Extinguished in those who are suspended, from whatever quarter, in fear of these earthly advantages, is that vain, contemptible, and execrable thing—glory. Anger no longer troubles one to take vengeance on the one who caused the trouble. All those things at that time depart from the reasoning faculty; the soul is intent upon that which causes fear, upon the expectation of the impending evils: which fear of God, if any man were able to plant it unfailingly in his own soul during this life, he would either not sin at all, or perhaps sin but little.
"And God formed man, taking dust from the earth." B One must not think this account regarding the creation of man is a repetition, even if to some it seems so; rather, it is an uninterrupted sequence of the previous discussion on this subject, and a completion of the narrative, as it were, joined and linked to what was set forth before. For having said that God made man, and the subsequent things concerning him, and having shown that in the creation of man God brought to an end all the works of the world, he continues again with the narrative regarding man, connectedly and without interval, dealing with and, as it were, explaining in greater detail the manner of his creation. For he said at first simply: "God made man"; but now he adds also how He made him: by taking dust from the earth. When, therefore, you hear "dust," learn to be modest; do not think C great things of yourself. When thoughts assail you, puffing up your heart and, like an inflammation, swelling it with vainglory—whether from mere fortune or from certain superior qualities and successes—let there immediately be brought before you a reminder of your formation, and understand how you were created, and that you are in your entirety dust, and a descendant of the earth which you tread under your feet. If, therefore, while dwelling upon it, you accomplish some work, whether great or small, you have at hand a reminder of your own lowliness. If anger troubles you, perhaps because you have been insulted by someone having called you base-born, and it excites you to return the insult and to speak more harshly than what you heard from the one who insulted you, cast your gaze down toward the earth and reflect on whence you came, and the anger is immediately extinguished; the mind quickly understands that the one who called you base-born did not so much insult you by that word, but rather honored you. For that base-born person D is a living man, even if he happens to be a slave; but you have been born and exist properly from the soulless and senseless earth. So that what was said against you is not an insult, but a greater honor.
11. Again, when any carnal desire takes hold of your mind, and persuades you to practice the fulfillment of its craving, look quickly toward the earth. Remember that just as you came forth from it, so also into it you will not long hence be dissolved; and these members that now pulsate, and the irrational desire, and the titillation of the flesh
will not exist on the morrow, the members being deadened and the desire having flown away with a swift flight. And thus, that we should look down and recognize the earth as our mother creates the cause A for our abstaining from and being freed from all the grievous and difficult-to-cure passions that daily molest us. "Taking," he says, "dust from the earth." If we had been fashioned from heaven, because we could not always look upon it, we would not incessantly be mindful of our own nature; but now, it is ready at hand for us, a continuous monument of our own vileness and weakness, from which we walk, from which we touch, from which we see, from which we are nourished, and with which we are continually defiled. What is more abominable and more to be rejected than the earth and the mire from which you have been formed? What greater reason is there for us to think modestly and to consider ourselves worthy of nothing? B
12. When, therefore, you see someone thinking himself great, clothed in flowery raiment, his hand made to shine by a ring, wearing a signet of great value, dragging along an excessive crowd of servants, his hair made long and let loose—and this yellow and curled, and scattered to the winds by the trickery of art—wearing gold necklaces, seated on a golden chair, full of majesty in his countenance and speech, puffing up spirits by the multitude of those who lead, accompany, flatter, and serve him, the crowd clearing the way for him, parasites gaping for his sumptuous and splendid tables; when you see the crowds that offer him joyful acclamations and salutations in the forum, some rising from their seats, others going to meet him, others escorting him, and others showing one thing or another for the sake of his honor and praise; when you see these magistrates and presiding officers going forth, preceded by a herald in a loud voice, and one clearing the way, another striking, another confiscating property, another consigning to death: do not think the things you see are great, do not let your spirit fall, nor let the spectacle dismay you. C Reflect within yourself that God made man by taking dust from the earth. And if, indeed, there is something else that is perceived in man, fear it, and account what is done as a miracle; but if he who displays these things is dust from the earth, despise him. "And God formed man." The word itself, "formed," immediately intimates a certain artificial operation of God concerning man. But did He then fashion our formation with such art, as those who mold pottery, or prepare plaster figures, or cast statues in bronze, or effect some other work of craftsmanship, in which the image is circumscribed only so far as the surface; D as we often see a man formed such that he displays an outward appearance and character—perhaps of anger and courage, or of fear and cowardice—or again a woman, either frenzied with love or appearing modest, or whatever other passion accompanying her nature the skilled molder has wrought? For God’s formation is not of such a kind; but rather His...
creative power A reaching into the depths, organized each thing within, perfecting in a single instant a mixture and temperament of many and various and diverse passions and dispositions. Would that I had enough leisure to show you, in detail and with precision, the construction of man; for then you would have learned from yourself the wisdom and providence of God regarding you. For in truth, man is a little world, and those who honored him with this name conjectured rightly. How many treatises, indeed, and by how many people, have been consumed since ancient times on this wondrous creature! The physiologies of the philosophers, the technical studies of the physicians, the observations of the gymnasts, those concerning proportion, those concerning the symmetry of the limbs toward one another, those concerning the fleshiness of the body—all these findings enter into the question of man's formation. And whence could I have such power of speech to be able to recount with precision all that is encompassed in that one utterance, "He formed"? But the obvious things, even if I do not say them, you yourself know. For God formed you, as you see, upright, and granted you this formation B unique in comparison with all other animals. Why? Because He was about to grant you an exceptional, owed, and necessary power of action.
13. Now, brute animals are merely livestock, and they possess a body structure for that to which they are born; such is the case also for the sheep and cattle. For because they were born to graze, they have their head bowed downward, so that they look toward the belly and the parts beneath the belly; for the end of their well-being is the filling of the belly and the enjoyment of pleasure. But for man, the head has grown upward from the very beginning of his formation, in order that he may look upon his affinity for what is above, and it has been set higher than all other parts of the body. Do not, therefore, change yourself into what is contrary to nature, nor, by bowing down, look narrowly at earthly things; C but continuously gaze upon and observe the heavenly things, where your citizenship has also been prepared for you. In this way your body has been formed, and the formation is a school for the end for which you were made. For you were not created upright so that your life might be dragged upon the earth like that of serpents, but so that you might look up to heaven and the God who is in it; nor so that you might pursue bestial pleasure, but so that you might pursue the heavenly way of life with the mind granted to you. For this reason, "The eyes of the wise man are in his head," the wise Ecclesiastes says. But for what reason are the eyes not in some lower part of the body, but in the head? So that they may observe what is on high; but he who does not look at the high things, but D looketh down at earthly things, has brought his eyes down to the nature of a serpent, crawling upon the earth just as they do.
A 14. The head, therefore, rising above the whole body, rests upon the shoulders, not sunken into them, so that it might not be hidden, but resting upon a worthy support, and as it were upon a pedestal, upon the neck that stands upright. In this are fixed the twin gleams of the eyes. For one was not enough, but two were created to assist each other, so that if by chance one should fail, the consolation of the other, which is unharmed, might not be lacking. Moreover, sight proceeding from only one of them would be altogether weaker, whereas a stream flowing from a double source issues forth more powerfully. For the faculty of sight, proceeding from one and the other side of the nose, rests there for a moment, and at the same time, projecting forward, the one unites with the other, as from two channels flowing out from each power of sight like a spring, and, mingling after a short space, a single river is formed, which then becomes stronger, or rather more B effective. And the proof of this is found in elderly men; for those things which are very near they see least clearly, but they perceive more distinctly those things which are at a greater distance from the eyes. This is because, when the visual ray has proceeded from the beginning in divided parts, the sight of each is weaker; but after the union and confluence of both, as if multiplied by a certain abundance and flood, it rises up stronger and more effective for perceiving things that fall into view. Nor are the provisions for the safety of the eyes few. There is the inner tunic, and even this does not suffice; for the matter did not allow it to be constructed thicker, as otherwise it would have hindered the sight, and it was necessary that the covering be transparent and light. Therefore, one is clear and one is porous; the one is crystalline, the other corneal; the one which covers the outside is firmer and harder; the inner one is rarer and thinner, so that it may not hinder the passage; and the third, again, resembles a crystal, so that in it both the others may have the power of representing and the clarity. C
15. The eyelid is a projection; for this is a covering for the eye, and as it were a dwelling-place. Indeed, the hand could also protect it, but while it was being moved there, the eye would often be injured beforehand. Now, however, a protection lies ready at hand; for as soon as they perceive a danger, they draw the covering over it. This is the cause why the pupil of the eye is, for the most part, inviolable by harms coming from without, as it rests beneath the cover of the eyelids, and is almost the only one of all the members in us that is preserved untouched. And the tips of the hairs are projected onto the eyelids. Why? So that their interlacing may be more precise, the upper one being fitted D to the lower through such hairs. For the hairs serve as bands interweaving and locking with each other; furthermore, they ward off even the small animals from a distance, and do not allow downy particles to approach the pupil, which is sensitive and can be dimmed by anything that happens to come in its way.
A situated above each eye through the hairs, bestowing at once grace by its contour and providing safety; this is the eyebrow, cast over from above so as to direct the faculty of sight. And the proof of this is when you wish to observe something from afar, you hollow your hand and extend it over your eyebrows. For why do you do this? It is so that the visual faculty, dispersed upward, might not be scattered in vain, pouring into the breadth of the air, but rather, directed by the shelter of the hand from above and the projection of the eyebrows from above, it might obtain a more accurate perception of the object of sight. For this reason, the eyebrows, while directing the optical faculty of the eyes and at the same time holding back the sweat flowing down from above, and not allowing it to pour over the sensory organs and hinder the vision, serve as a kind of partition sufficient for keeping off injury arriving from the exterior.
17. What husbandman can so securely enclose his own vineyard, and fashion such a fence around it that the place becomes entirely inaccessible, as God fashioned the covering of the eyes, the protective covering of the eyebrows, to guard the eyes, tracing them for us in a crescent shape, extending from a single junction at the nose toward either side? This is so that the sweat, flowing here and there, might cause no trouble to the man laboring at his set task, and his hand might not need to rise constantly to his eyes and wipe away the flowing droplets, but instead, while it flows down of its own accord to the sides on either hand, being carried through its own channels above the eyebrows, the eyes might perform their own operation B undisturbed. If, then, we wished to reason part by part about the remaining members of the body, and to demonstrate clearly and praise the wisdom of God in each one, the day would certainly fail us. But you, even from one single member, and that a small one, consider thoroughly the infinite power of divine providence and technical design regarding man; and as for us, who hasten on a necessary journey, send us forth with prayers, that having returned safely with all speed, we may pay the debt of what remains; by the grace of the Lord who manages all things for us, who created us by His own grace; for to Him be glory and power unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Of the same, On Paradise, Oratory III
D 1. And God planted a paradise in Eden toward the east, and put there the man whom He had formed. Let us contemplate, hearers, a plantation worthy of God, and a paradise becoming the love of beauty of such and so great a Creator. In the preceding [discourse]