TO THE REVEREND FATHER OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS,

PRIEST, AND A MAN MOST POLISHED IN LETTERS,

PETER LANSSELIUS, preparing the

edition of the works of St. Dionysius the Areopagite,

Bishop of the Parisians.

FAVENTIA.

Ornate woodcut drop cap 'S' featuring floral motifs and a central figure.ONLY the Phoeban queen of birds, pugnacious, is able to strain the orbs of her eyes into the orb of the lamp [of the sun]: thus the high-speaking DIONYSIUS was once strong enough to brandish the flashing light of his swift mind toward the heavens, into the glowing lights, the Angelic minds, and the titles of GOD, and the sacredly varied NAMES in many ways, and the MYSTERIA of the highest Divinity, which transcend the great numbers of diverse nature, and which no notion of the mind can reach, if it does not fly outside the boundaries of the world. Nearest to you, O DIONYSIUS, is your LANSSELIUS, the skillful interpreter of your lofty mantle, keen to hold forth the light of his mind by his sharp-sightedness toward your sun, O radiant one; his winged pen uncovering beforehand those things which your style, like a cloud, veiled the eagle while it climbed the arduous Olympus, looking down from on high upon the sea and the lying lands. Hail to you, LANSSELIUS; let the CHURCH triumph, joyful in your praises and your work.

BY THEODORE MARCILIUS, Royal Professor of Eloquence.

UPON THE DIVINE AND SECRET BOOKS OF ST. DIONYSIUS

THE AREOPAGITE, MOST HAPPILY AND ERUDITELY

EMENDED AND ILLUSTRATED BY THE MOST RENOWNED MAN,

R. P. PETER LANSSELIUS, PRIEST OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS,

a poem by Dionysius Guerin, Doctor of Medicine of Paris.

A P O E M.

Ornate woodcut drop cap 'V' featuring foliage and a small figure.HE WHO was debased by the force of errors, despised in a narrow garment, little known as though a guest of a dark prison: now by the aid of LANSSELIUS, and by the study of piety, Dionysius shows forth his pleasant countenance far more brightly than the star of Phoebus, and hastens to come forth into the divine regions of light in his own adornment. All night is exiled;