LETTER XLIV. [A.D.389.]

S.Ambrose here first dwells on the distinction between God and the Universe which is His work. He then speaks of the six days of Creation, and of the mystical meaning of the numbers seven and eight, applying various passages of Scripture in which they occur, and bringing forward analogies from nature.

AMBROSE TO HORONTIANUS.

1. You have done well to mark the prophet's distinction between the Creator and His works, or rather, God's own distinction, for Moses wrote not of himself, but by inspiration and revelation, particularly in what relates to the formation of the world. For the One being impassible, the other liable to suffering, he has referred that which was impassible to God the Creator, but the passible part, without life or motion of its own, but receiving life and motion and form from its Creator, he has assigned to the world; and as this world, after its creation, ought not to be left without a ruler, or unprotected by any father, he therefore plainly describes the invisible God as the Ruler and Governor of this visible world.  For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 

 2. He therefore states the creation of the world to have taken place in six days, not that God required time to form it in, for He can do in a moment what He wills, for  He spake the word, and they were created, but because things which are made, need some certain order, and order requires both time and number. And especially for the purpose of giving us a model for our works has He observed a certain number of days and certain seasons; for we also require time wherein to do aught perfectly, so as not to be precipitate in our counsels and works; nor to neglect their proper order. For when we read that God, as Scripture tells us, has  made all things in wisdom, and by a certain counsel disposition and order, it is agreeable to reason that He should first have made the heavens which are the most beautiful; it is fitting also that we should first raise our eyes thither and conceive that it behoves us to aim at arriving thither, and that we should consider that it is to be preferred to all earthly habitations.

3. Wherefore in six days He created the world, on the seventh day He rested from His works. The number seven is good, and we treat it not according to the manner of Pythagoras and other philosophers, but according to the form and divisions of spiritual grace, for the prophet Isaiah has set forth the seven principal virtues of the Holy Spirit. This sacred seven, like the venerable Trinity of the Father Son and Holy Ghost, knows neither time nor order, and is the origin of number, not bound by any of its laws. Wherefore as the heaven the earth and the sea were formed in honour of the eternal Trinity, and also the sun moon and stars, so in like manner we observe that it is according to this sevenfold circle of spiritual virtues, and this swiftly revolving orbit of Divine operation, that a certain sevenfold ministry of planets, whereby this world is illuminated, has been created. And their service is said to agree with the number of these stars, which are fixed, or, as they are called in Greek, ἀπλανεῖς  ^{05-15 15. a This title seems here to be applied especially to the constellations of the Pleiades and Hyades, each of which consisted of seven stars.} . The North has likewise received its Latin name (Septemtrio) from being irradiated by seven stars, upon the brightness of which as their guide pilots are said specially to fix their gaze.

4. And this peculiar property has come down from heaven to earth; for not to speak of the sevenfold fashion of the head, in the two eyes, the two ears and nostrils, and the mouth whereby we enjoy the taste of great sweetness, how wonderful is it that in the seventh month most men are conceived, and he that is afterwards born receives at that time the commencement of his vital course. But in the eighth month we perceive that by a natural law the season of bringing forth is suspended, and if some fatal compulsion has opened the barriers of the womb, the danger both of the mother and her offspring is nigh at hand.

5. But he who is born on the seventh day, although he be born well, is born to labour, but he who on the eighth day, obtains the mysteries of regeneration, is consecrated by grace, and called to the inheritance of the celestial kingdom. Great in the virtues of the Spirit is the grace of the holy number seven, but the same grace answers to the number seven, and consecrates the number eight. In the first we have the name, but in the latter the fruit, and therefore the grace of the Spirit, conferred on the eighth day, restored to Paradise those whom their own fault had banished.

6. The Old Testament too knew this number eight which in Latin we call the Octave, for the preacher says,  give a portion to seven and also to eight. The number seven belongs to the Old Testament, the number eight to the New, for then Christ rose, and the day of new salvation shone upon all. This is the day whereof the Prophet says,  This is the day which the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad in it: for on that day the brightness of full and perfect circumcision was infused into the hearts of men. On this account the Old Testament also gave a part to eight in the solemnity of circumcision. But this still lay in darkness: then came  the Sun of righteousness, and by the consummation of His passion revealed His rays of light; these He unfolded to all, and opened the brightness of eternal life.

7. These then are that seven and eight whereof Hosea says that by that number he purchased to himself, and acquired the fulness of faith, for thus it is written,  So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley, and a measure of wine   ^{05-16 16. b See note on Letter xxvi. 9.} . But in the former verses God had commanded him to hire to himself an harlot, and it is manifest that he did so, in that he has mentioned the price of her hiring. Now the fifteen pieces of silver are made up of the numbers seven and eight, wherefore they represent these numbers. And by the price of the two Testaments, that is, of perfect faith, the prophecy hath received the consummation of its faith and the Church her fulness. For by the first Testament the people of Israel were gained, by the second the heathen and Gentiles. And so by a perfect faith the harlot is hired, seeking herself a consort either among the Gentiles, or from the adulterous people of the Jews, who had deserted their Lord, the Author of their virgin faith, and spread their congregations over the breadth of the whole world.

8. With regard to the words,  an homer of barley, and half an homer of barley, in the homer we have a full measure, in the half homer the measure is but partly full; thus we read in our Lord's own words, I  am not come to destroy the law, but to fulfil the law. And in another place the Lord says by the prophet Micah,  Then shall there be peace in the land of Israel, when the Assyrian shall come into his land; and there arose against him seven shepherds, and eight bites   ^{05-17 17. 1 morsus hominum. E.V. 'principal men.'}  of men. For the faithful people will then enjoy perfect peace and be freed from all temptations and vanities, when peace and grace shall have shut out the vanity of this world from our hearts, the peace, that is, of the Old, the grace of the New Testament.

9. The  seven shepherds are the precepts of the law, whereby the flock not yet endued with reason are led through the wilderness by the rod of Moses, and governed. The  eight bites of man are the commandments of the Gospel, and the words of the Lord's mouth.  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Those  bites are good whereby we have tasted the gift of eternal life, and in the Body of Christ have received the remission of sins. In the Old Testament the bite of death is bitter, wherefore it is said,  Prevailing death has devoured  ^{05-18 18. c Devoravit mors praevalens. The E. V. is, 'He will swallow up death in victory.' The Vulg. has, 'Praecipitabit mortem in sempiternum.'}  . In the New Testament sweet is the taste of life, which has swallowed up death, wherefore the Apostle says,  Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sling, O grave, where is thy victory? 

10. Moreover, to use the testimony of the Apostles, when God made man,  He rested from all His works on the seventh day. But when the Jews wilfully disobeyed the commands of their God, the Lord said,  If they shall enter into My rest. And therefore the Lord appointed another day, whereof He says,  To-day if ye will hear My voice. For in general Scripture speaks of two days, yesterday and to-day, of which it is said,  Jesus Christ the same, yesterday to-day and for ever. On the first day the promise is made, on the second it is fulfilled. But since on the former day neither Moses nor Joshua brought the people into their rest, Christ, to Whom the Father said,  This day have I begotten Thee, has brought them in to-day, for by His Resurrection Jesus has obtained peace for His people. The Lord Jesus is our rest; Who says,  To-day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise. For rest is in heaven, not on earth.

11. Why then need I watch the rising and setting of the stars, at whose rising the fallows should be ploughed up and pierced by the hard plough-shares, and at whose setting the fruitful crop should be cut down by the sickle? One star suffices for me in the place of all others,  the bright and morning Star, at Whose rising was sown the seed not of corn but of martyrs; when Rachel wept for her children, and offered in the stead of Christ her children washed in her own tears. The setting of this Star raised from the tomb not the senseless relics of the funeral pile, but the triumphant bands of the re-animated dead.

12. Let then this number seven be observed by us, seeing that the life of man passes through seven stages to old age, as Hippocrates the teacher of medicine has explained in his writings. The first age is infancy, the second boyhood, the third youth, the fourth adult age, the fifth manhood, the sixth fulness of years, the seventh old age. Thus we have the infant, the boy, the youth, the young man, the man, the elder, the aged.

13. Solon however made ten periods of life, each of seven years; so that the first period, or infancy, should extend to the growth of the teeth, to chew its food, and utter articulate words so as to seem intelligible; boyhood again extends to the time of puberty and of carnal temptation; youth to the growth of the beard; adult age lasts until virtue has attained its perfection; the fifth is the age of manhood, fitted, during its whole course, for marriage; the sixth belongs also to manhood, in that it is adapted to the combat of prudence, and is strenuous in action; the seventh and eighth period also exhibit man ripe in years, vigourous in faculties, and his discourse endowed with a grace of utterance not unpleasing; the ninth period has still some strength remaining, and it speech and wisdom are of a chastened kind; the tenth period fills up the measure, and he who has strength to reach it, will after a full period of years knock late at the gate of death.

14. Thus Hippocrates and Solon recognized either seven ages, or periods of age consisting of seven years. In this then let the number seven prevail; but the octave introduces one uninterrupted period during which we grow up into a perfect man, in the knowledge of God, in the fulness of faith, wherein the measure of a legitimate period of life is completed.

15. In our inward parts also the virtue of the seventh number is manifested; for it is said that we have within us seven organs, the stomach, heart, lungs, spleen, liver. and the two kidneys, and outwardly seven also, the head, the hinder parts, the belly, two hands and two feet.

16. Very excellent are these members, but subject to pain. Who then can doubt that the office of the Octave, which has renewed the whole man, so as not to be susceptible of pain, is more exalted? Wherefore the seventh age of the world being completed, the grace of the Octave has shone upon us, that grace which has made man to be no longer of this world, but above the world. But now we live not according to our own life but to that of Christ. For to us  to live is Christ, and to die is gain, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God. So says the Apostle, whence we gather that the day of the world is come to a close. Again, at the last hour the Lord Jesus came, and died for us,  and we are all dead in Him, that we may live to God. It is not then our former selves that now live,  but Christ liveth in us. 

17. The number seven is passed away, the octave is arrived. Yesterday is gone, to-day is come, that promised day wherein we are admonished to hear and follow the word of God. That day of the Old Testament is passed away, that new day is come, wherein the New Testament is perfected, whereof it is said,  Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made ivith their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt.  He adds too the reason why the Testament was changed,  Because they continued not in My covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. 

18. The priests of the Law, the tribunals of the Law have passed away; let us draw nigh to  our new High Priest, to the throne of grace, to the guest of our souls, to the Priest,  Who is not made after the law of the carnal commandment, but elected  after the power of an endless life  ^{05-19 19. d The word 'vitae' is here inserted as necessary to the sense, and to the accuracy of the quotation.} . For  He took not this honour to himself, but was chosen by the Father, as the Father Himself saith,  Thou art a Priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedech. Other priests offered for themselves and for their people; this Man, not having sin, that He should offer for Himself, offered Himself for the whole world, and by His own blood entered into the Sanctuary.

19. He then is the new Priest and the new Victim, not of the law but above the law, the universal Mediator, the Light of the world, Who said,  Lo I come, and came. To Him then let us draw near in the fulness of faith, adoring and beseeching and hoping in Him, Whom with our eyes we see not, but Whom we embrace with our hearts, to Whom be glory and honour for ever, Farewell, my son; love me, for I love you,

EPISTOLA XLIV.

 Moysen, quae inter Deum ac mundum distinctio sit,   1136A   recte indicasse; eum illum impassibilem atque invisibilem, hunc corruptibilem corporeumque significavit. Sex dies orbis creationi non eo attribui, quod tempore Deus indigeat, sed ut dispositio exprimeretur. Declaratur septenarii dignitas, cui tamen octonarius antefertur, ut pote qui sit novi testamenti numerus, ut ille veteris. Exponitur in hanc rem Oseae locus, et continuata ejusdem ogdoadis commendatione, in laudes foederis novi desinit epistola. 

AMBROSIUS HORONTIANO.

 1136A 

1. Divisionem egregie advertisti propheticam, vel potius divinam; non enim sua Moyses, sed infusa et revelata sibi scripsit, ea praecipue quae sunt de constitutione mundi: quae divisio operatorem atque opera distinxit (Gen. I, 1 et seq.). Nam cum aliud  1136B impassibile esset, aliud passionis receptabile; quod erat impassibile, ad Deum operatorem retulit: quod autem passibile sine anima, sine motu proprio, motum et animam et figuram a creatore accipiens suo, deputavit huic mundo. Quem factum non oportuit sine gubernatore, et quodam patre indefensum relinqui. Et ideo invisibilem Deum visibilis hujus mundi rectorem esse et quasi tutorem, apertissime describit. Quod ergo invisibile, sempiternum: quod autem videtur, temporale (II Cor. IV, 18).

2. Sex itaque diebus factum mundum exprimit, non quod Deus tempore indiguerit ad constitutionem ejus, cui intra momentum suppetit facere, quae velit (  dixit enim (Psal. CXLVIII, 5),  et facta sunt ); sed quia ea quae fiunt, ordinem quaerunt: ordo autem  1136C et tempus et numerum plerumque exigit. Illud quoque praecipue, quoniam nobis ad operandum formam daturus, numerum dierum servavit et tempora: nos enim tempore indigemus, ut aliquid maturius agamus; ne praecipitemus consilia atque opera nostra, ne ordinem praetermittamus. Cum enim Deum legimus, ut Scriptura ostendit (Psal. CIII, 24), cum sapientia et quodam consilio et dispositione omnia fecisse et ordine; consentaneum est rationi, ut primo coelum faceret, quod est pulcherrimum; oportet ut eo primum oculos erigamus, illo nobis contendendum esse arbitremur, illam sedem terrenis omnibus praeferendam putemus.

3. Sex itaque diebus mundum creavit, septimo die requievit ab operibus suis (Gen. II, 2). Bonus  1136D septimus numerus, quem non Pythagorico et caeterorum philosophorum more tractamus, sed secundum formam, et divisiones gratiae spiritalis; septem  1137A enim virtutes principales sancti Spiritus propheta Esaias complexus est (Esai. XI, 2). Haec hebdomas, 977 sicut ipsa Patris et Filii et Spiritus sancti venerabilis Trinitas, sine tempore, sine ordine, auctor numeri, non sub numeri lege devincta. Itaque sicut ad aeternae Trinitatis gratiam coelum, terra, maria formata, sicut sol, luna et stellae: ita etiam ad illum septenarium virtutum spiritalium circuitum atque orbem operationis divinae vigore praestantem, septenarium quoddam ministerium planetarum creatum advertimus, quo hic mundus illuminatur. Quarum concurrere fertur militia ad earum numerum, quas inerrabiles ferunt stellas, et, ut Graeci dicunt, ἀπλανεῖς. Septentrio quoque inde latine nomen accepit, quod septem in eo fulgor stellarum irradiet, in  1137B quem maxime gubernatores, quasi ducem feruntur intendere.

4. Descendit haec de coelo in terras praerogativa: nam ut transeam septiformem capitis nostri gratiam, in oculis duobus, auribus et naribus binis, ore quoque per quod magnam suavitatem percipimus; quantum istud miraculi, quod septimo mense in plerisque origo legitima formatur, et qui fuerit editus, vitalis generationis curricula sortitur? Octavo autem mense interdicta naturali lege pariendi cernimus tempora, ac si forte lethalis necessitas partus claustra laxaverit, periculum pariter generantis properetur et pignoris.

3. Sed tamen ille septimanus, etsi bene nascatur, ad labores nascitur: qui autem octavo die regenerationis  1137C sortitur mysteria, consecratur per gratiam, et ad haereditatem regni coelestis vocatur. Magna in virtutibus Spiritus sancti hebdomadis gratia, eadem tamen hebdomadam sonat, ogdoaden consecrat. In illa sonus, in ista fructus est; ideoque octavo die soluta paradiso reddidit Spiritus gratia, quos extorres sua fecerat culpa.

4. Novit ogdoaden istam, quam octavam Latine dicimus, vetus Testamentum; siquidem ait Ecclesiastes:  Da partem illis septem, et illis quidem octo (Eccles. XI, 2). Hebdomas veteris Testamenti est octava novi, quando Christus resurrexit, et dies omnibus novae salutis illuxit. Ille dies, de quo ait propheta:  Hic dies, quem fecit Dominus, exsultemus et laetemur in eo (Psal. CXVII, 24); quo die se fulgor  1137D plenae atque perfectae circumcisionis humanis peccatoribus infudit. Propterea et vetus Testamentum dedit partem octavae in circumcisionis solemnitate. Sed illa adhuc in umbra latebat: venit sol  1138A justitiae (Malac. IV, 2), et consummatione passionis propriae revelavit sui luminis radios: quos retexit omnibus, et vitae claritatem aperuit aeternae.

5. Isti ergo sunt septem et octo, de quibus et Osee dicit quod eo numero conduxerit sibi, et acquisierit fidei plenitudinem; sic enim habes:  Et abii, et conduxi mihi quindecim argenteis, et coro hordei, et semicoro hordei,   et nevel vini (Ose. III, 2). 978 Conducendam autem ei meretricem Dominus praeceperat in superioribus: itaque manifestum est quod conduxit eam, qui etiam mercedis quantitatem expressit. Quindecim autem argentei ex septem et octo constant: hebdomadam itaque et octavam significant. Duorum igitur Testamentorum, id est, plenae fidei pretio Prophetia consummationem accepit  1138B fidei, Ecclesia plenitudinem; primo enim Testamento Israel acquisitus est populus, secundo nationum et gentium. Fide ergo plena conducitur meretrix, vel ex gentibus copulam sui quaerens, vel ex adultero Judaeorum populo, qui dominum suum et auctorem virginalis fidei dereliquerat, conventus suos totius orbis spatio diffundens.

6. Quod autem dixit:  In coro et in semicoro hordei; in coro mensurae plenitudo est, in semicoro semiplena mensura. Plenitudo in Evangelio, semiperfectio in lege; sicut legimus, dicente Domino:  Non veni legem solvere, sed implere (Matth. V, 17). Et alibi, habemus, dicente Domino per Michaeam prophetam, quia  tunc pax erit in terra Israel, cum venerit Assyrius in terram ejus, et insurrexerunt in eum septem   1138C   pastores, et octo morsus hominum (Mich. V, 5). Tunc enim plena pax est fideli populo ab omnibus tentationibus et vanitatibus absoluto, cum mundi hujus vanitatem excluserint de cordibus nostris pax et gratia: pax veteris, gratia novi Testamenti.

7. Septem pastores praecepta legis sunt, quibus grex adhuc quasi irrationabilis in virga Moysi per desertum ductus et gubernatus est (Exod. IV, 20). Octo morsus hominum mandata Evangelii et Dominici oris alloquia:  Corde enim creditur ad justitiam, ore autem confessio fit ad salutem (Rom. X, 10). Boni morsus, per quos vitae aeternae munus gustavimus, peccatorum remissionem in Christi corpore devorantes. In veteri Testamento amarus morsus est  1138D mortis, propterea dictum est:  Devoravit mors praevalens (Esai. XXV, 8). In novo Testamento suavis morsus est vitae, quae mortem absorbuit, propterea apostulus ait:  Devorata est mors in victoria sua. Ubi   1139A   est, mors, victoria tua? ubi est, mors, aculeus tuus (I Cor. XV, 54, 55)?

8. Atque ut apostolicis utamur testimoniis, ubi hominem fecit Deus, requievit ab omnibus operibus suis in die septima (Gen. II, 2). Sed quia populus Judaeorum per contumaciam contempsit mandata Dei sui, ait Dominus:  Si introibunt in requiem meam (Hebr. IV, 3). Et ideo altam Deus praefinivit diem, de qua dicit:  Hodie si vocem meam audieritis (Psal. XCIV, 8). Duos enim dies comprehendit Scriptura generales, heri et hodie; de quibus dicit:  Imitamini fidem Jesu Christi. Heri et hodie ipse est, et in saecula (Hebr. XIII, 7, 8). In superiore die promissio est, in consequenti solutio. Sed quia hesterna die neque Moyses, neque Jesus Nave populum induxit in requiem, hodierna die Christus induxit, cui 979  1139B dixit Pater:  Ego hodie genui te (Psal. II, 7); per suam enim resurrectionem Jesus populo requiem comparavit. Requies nostra Dominus est Jesus, qui ait:  Hodie mecum eris in paradiso (Luc. XXIII, 43). Requies enim in coelo, non in terra est.

9. Quid igitur opus est ut explorem ortus signorum atque obitus, quorum ad exortum duris inaratae vomeribus findantur novales, vel ad occasum laeta messis recumbat (Apoc. XXII, 16)? Una mihi stella abundat pro omnibus, stella splendida et matutina: cujus ad exortum seminata est non frugum, sed martyrum seges; quando Rachel ploravit filios suos (Jerem. XXXI, 15), ut lacrymis ablutos suis, pro Christo offerret infantulos. Cujus stellae obitus non cremiorum insensibilium, sed spirantium  1139C defunctorum triumphales manipulos de tumulis resuscitavit.

10. Celebretur itaque hebdomas, eo quod per septem aetatum cursus vita hominum usque ad senectutem transcurritur, sicut Hippocrates, medicinae magister, scriptis explicuit suis. Prima aetas infantia est, secunda pueritia, tertia adolescentia, quarta juventus, quinta virilis aetas, sexta aevi maturitas,  1140A septima senectus. Est ergo infans, puer, adolescens, juvenis, vir, veteranus, senex.

11. Solon autem decem fecit aetatum ordines per annos septenos; ita ut prima aetas infantiae usque ad emissionem sit dentium, quibus conficiat cibum, sermonemque distinguat, ut possit effabilis videri: pueritia quoque usque ad annos pubertatis procedit, et genitalia tentamenta: adolescentia usque ad barbae lanuginem: juventus usque ad perfectae virtutis processum: quinta aetas virilis est, apta copulis conjugalibus per totam hebdomadam: sexta quoque hebdomas virili deputatur aetati, et ad prudentiae processum habili, et ad agendum strenuae: septima quoque hebdomas, et octava aevi maturum, et sensu vigentem, et sermonem item non insuavis alloquii gratia praeditum produnt: nona hebdomas  1140B reliquias adhuc habet aliquas virium, lingua ac sapientia mollior: decima vero hebdomas mensuram implet, ad quam is qui pervenire potuerit, non immaturo temporum cursu pulsabit mortis sera vestibula.

12. Ergo Hippocrates et Solon vel septem aetates, vel hebdomadas aetatum norunt. In illis se hebdomas praeferat: octava autem unam et 980 perpetuam aetatem invehit, qua excrescimus in virum perfectum, in agnitione Dei, fidei plenitudine, in qua legitimae aetatis mensura impletur (Ephes. IV, 13).

13. Est etiam in visceribus nostris hebdomadis explorata gratia; ferunt enim septem quoque esse in nobis interiora viscera, stomachum, cor, pulmonem, lien, hepar, renes duos. Septem quoque exteriora,  1140C caput, posteriora, ventrem, binas manus, et binos pedes.

14. Praestantissima haec, sed obnoxia dolori. Quis autem dubitet majus esse octavae munus, quae totum renovavit hominem, ut jam nihil possit dolere? Itaque septima mundi aetas conclusa est; octava illuxit gratia, quae fecit hominem jam non hujus mundi esse, sed supra mundum. Jam enim non  1141A vitam nostram, sed Christum vivimus:  Nobis enim vivere Christus, et   mori lucrum. Itaque jam non in carne, sed in fide vivimus Christi (Philip. I, 21). Apostolus dicit:  Unde colligimus quia conclusus est mundi dies (Galat. II, 2). Denique novissima hora venit Dominus Jesus, et pro nobis mortuus est, et omnes in illo mortui sumus, ut vivamus Deo (I Joan. II, 18). Non ergo nos qui eramus, vivimus: sed vivit Christus in nobis (II Cor. V, 15).

15. Abiit ergo hebdomas, venit octava. Abiit heri, venit hodie: illud hodie quod promissum est, quo admoniti sumus vocem Dei audiendam et sequendam. Abiit ergo ille dies Testamenti veteris, venit dies novus, quo Testamentum consummatum est novum, de quo dicit:  Ecce dies veniunt, dicit Dominus,   et   1141B   confirmabo domui Israel et domui Juda Testamentum novum: non secundum Testamentum, quod feci patribus illorum in die, qua apprehendi manum ipsorum educere illos de terra Aegypti  (Hebr. VIII, 8). Et qua ratione mutatum sit Testamentum adjicit:  Quoniam ipsi non manserunt, inquit,  in Testamento meo. et ego neglexi eos, dicit Dominus (Ibid., 9).

16. Abierunt sacerdotes Legis, Legis tribunalia: accedamus ad sacerdotem novum (Hebr. IV, 14), ad sedem gratiae, visitatorem animarum nostrarum, sacerdotem non secundum Legem mandati carnalis creatum, sed secundum virtutem infatigabilis electum (Hebr. VII, 16). Non enim ipse sibi honorem praeripuit, sed electus a Patre est (Hebr. V, 4), sicut ipse Pater ait:  Tu es sacerdos in aeternum secundum   1141C   ordinem Melchisedech (Psal. CIX, 4). Novus ergo sacerdos videmus quid obtulerit. Alii sacerdotes pro se offerebant, 981 et pro populo suo: hic quia non habuit peccatum, ut pro se offerret, pro universo mundo se obtulit, et per sanguinem suum intravit in sancta.

17. Hic est ergo sacerdos novus, et nova hostia non ex Lege, sed supra Legem; advocatus mundi, lux saeculi, qui dixit: Ecce venio, et venit (Apoc. XXII, 7). Ad quem accedamus in abundantia fidei adorantes et obsecrantes et sperantes in eum, quem non videmus oculis, sed affectu tenemus: cui est omnis honor semper et gloria. Vale, fili, et nos dilige; quia nos te diligimus.