[Meditationes seu Contemplationes devotissimae]

Attend well, I pray you, O faithful soul, that although the sacrament of the highest and uncreated Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is ineffable and incomprehensible—whence the holy prophet, speaking of the generation of the Son, says: "Who shall declare His generation?" Isaiah 53:8—nevertheless, through divine piety it has been so healthfully arranged that many things are given to you through which you may be led to some knowledge of that most holy Trinity.

The first is the very universe of creatures, in which the footprint of the holy Trinity shines forth clearly. For they were made by divine art, and they show in themselves a certain unity, and species, and order. For in each of these created things, something is eternal in the sense of permanent existence or essential being, and it is formed by some species, and it holds some order; and thus, in individual creatures, the footprint of the Trinity shines forth. In it, the supreme origin is understood as God the Father, from whom are all things, and from whom is the Son and the Holy Spirit; the most perfect beauty is understood as the Son; the most blessed delight is understood as the Holy Spirit.

In the second place occurs the rational creature, which, since it is formed in the likeness of the Deity, undoubtedly leads us more excellently to know that same holy Trinity. See how the rational creature

remembers itself, understands itself, and loves itself; and if we perceive this, we perceive a Trinity—not indeed God, but the image of God. For here a certain trinity appears: namely, of memory, intelligence, and love. These three are not three lives, but one life, one essence. The mind itself is the parent, and the knowledge of it is as if it were the offspring. For when the mind knows itself, it begets knowledge of itself, and it is the sole parent of its own knowledge. The third is love, which proceeds from the mind itself and its knowledge. Considering this, the faithful soul extends itself to the contemplation of the Creator, and sees the unity in the Trinity, and the Trinity in the unity. In this contemplation, through divine illumination, it grasps that in that holy Trinity there is one God the Father, who alone essentially begat of Himself one only Son; and one Son, who is alone essentially from one Father; and a third, the Holy Spirit, who alone essentially proceeds from the Father and the Son.

In the third place, we are led to the knowledge of the holy Trinity by the divine scriptures, through the expression of the terms themselves. For the Holy Scripture says: "There are three who bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one." 1 John 5:7 By which we are led through the figures of the scriptures, as through the present...