185

XXXV.

That all the saints, being illumined, are enlightened and behold the glory of God, insofar as it is permitted for human nature to see God. (278)

Look down from on high, my God, and be pleased to appear and to converse with a poor man. Reveal your light, opening the heavens to me, open my mind rather, enter even now within me. Speak, just as of old, through my defiled tongue, concerning what some are saying, that now there is no one who has seen God with knowledge, nor has there been any before this time except for the apostles. But they say that not even those themselves clearly saw your God and Father, but they dogmatically assert that He exists unknown to all, and likewise unseen, (279) putting forward the saying of your exceedingly beloved disciple John, who says: No man has ever seen God. Yes, my Christ, speak quickly, so that I may not seem to be talking nonsense to the foolish. Write, He said, what I say, write and do not hesitate. I was God before all days, hours and times, but also of all ages and of all visible and intelligible created things. I was beyond mind and reason, and beyond every concept

185

ΛΕ'.

Ὅτι πάντες οἱ ἅγιοι ἐλλαμπόμενοι αὐγάζονται καί τήν δόξαν τοῦ Θεοῦ καθορῶσιν, ὡς θεμιτόν ἀνθρωπίνῃ φύσει Θεόν ὁρᾶν. (278)

Βλέψον ἄνωθεν, Θεέ μου, καί εὐδόκησον φανῆναι καί πτωχῷ προσομιλῆσαι. Ἀποκάλυψον τό φῶς σου διανοίξας οὐρανούς μοι, ἄνοιξον τόν νοῦν μου μᾶλλον, εἴσελθε καί νῦν ἐντός μου. Λάλησον, καθάπερ πάλαι, διά ῥυπαρᾶς μου γλώσσης, περί ὧν τινες λαλοῦσιν, ὅτι νῦν οὐδείς ὑπάρχει, ὅς Θεόν γνωστῶς κατεῖδεν, οὐδέ γέγονε πρό τούτου παρεκτός τῶν ἀποστόλων. Ἀλλ᾿ οὐδέ αὐτούς ἐκείνους λέγουσι τρανῶς ἰδέσθαι τόν Θεόν σου καί Πατέρα, ἀλλά ἄγνωστον τοῖς πᾶσιν, ἀθεώρητον ὡσαύτως δογματίζουσιν ὑπάρχειν, (279) προβαλλόμενοι τό ῥῆμα τοῦ ὑπερηγαπημένου μαθητοῦ σου Ἰωάννου λέγοντος˙ Θεόν οὐδέπω ἑωράκει τις ἀνθρώπων. Ναί, Χριστέ μου, λέξον τάχος, ἵνα μή τοῖς ἀσυνέτοις ἔγωγε δόξω ληρεῖν. Γράφε, εἶπεν, ἅπερ λέγω, γράφε καί μή κατοκνήσῃς. Ἦ Θεός ἐγώ πρό πάντων ἡμερῶν, ὡρῶν καί χρόνων, ἀλλά καί αἰώνων πάντων καί τῶν ὁρωμένων πάντων νοουμένων τε κτισμάτων. Ἤμην ὑπέρ νοῦν καί λόγον, ὑπέρ ἔννοιάν τε πᾶσαν