E.
(Hain. Nr 15722).
(Colonie)

Devout contemplations begun by the most reverend Lord John of Torquemada, formerly Cardinal of Saint Sixtus, and described and depicted most ornately in the surroundings of Saint Mary of Minerva, not only with the characters of letters but also with the figures of images.

The first contemplation is concerning the creation of the world

Admirable and praiseworthy is the grace of your dispensation, O most omnipotent Lord God. Because you could not be seen by man in your nature, you performed a work in order to make man a participant in your knowledge. In this work, because you were incomparable and immense, you appeared intelligible. For the invisible things of yours, from the creation of the world, are understood by being contemplated through the things that have been made, namely your power, wisdom, and goodness. From these three, all things proceed; in these three, all things consist; and through these three, all things are ruled. Power creates, wisdom governs, goodness preserves. Yet these three in you, the true God, are ineffably one, and so they cannot be separated in operation. Power creates wisely through goodness. Wisdom governs benignly through power. Goodness preserves powerfully through wisdom. The immensity of

creatures manifests your power; the decor manifests your wisdom; utility manifests your goodness. O how sweet and pleasant it is to meditate frequently on these works of your majesty, where the senses are instructed by reason, the soul is delighted by sweetness, and the spirit is excited by emulation, so that with the psalmist, we cry out in amazement and wonder: "How magnificent are your works, O Lord! You have made all things in wisdom." I have taken delight in your workmanship, and I will exult in the works of your hands. Indeed, this entire sensible world is like a book written by your finger, and individual creatures are like certain figures, instituted not by human whim but by the judgment of your divinity to manifest and signify, in a certain way, your invisible wisdom. It is therefore good for you, O faithful soul, to contemplate and order the works of divinity assiduously. If you have known how to turn the beauties of corporeal things into spiritual understanding, consider then how great are the wonderful works of God, and through the invisible decor of created things, seek that which is beautiful, the most beautiful of all beautiful things, which is so wonderful and ineffable that all transitory beauty, even if it were true, cannot be compared to it.

The second, concerning the creation of Adam

Ineffable and incomprehensible is the immensity of your goodness, O Lord God.

Carthusian Basel