Letter 1136: A teacher must live what he teaches.
The most divine Son and Word of the Father, the maker of all things visible and invisible, when he assumed human nature, did not cease to be what he was, but remained God while becoming man. He did not convert his divinity into humanity, nor did he absorb his humanity into his divinity, but preserved both natures in a single person, without confusion and without separation. This is the mystery that surpasses all understanding, that the infinite should be contained in the finite, that the eternal should enter time, that the immortal should taste death. Yet it was fitting, for only God could save humanity, and only a human being could represent humanity. The Word therefore became flesh, not by any change of the divine nature, but by the assumption of the human. He who was proclaimed by the prophets, longed for by the patriarchs, and prefigured in the sacrifices of the Law — he at last appeared in the fullness of time, born of a woman, born under the Law, to redeem those under the Law. The precise examination of his kinship reveals that through his mother he was truly human, while through his Father he was truly God. For the soul that has been illuminated by divine grace sees things as they truly are, not as they appear to the deceived eye of the worldly. And the person who acts upon this vision, ordering his life according to the truth rather than according to the appearance, has already begun to taste the blessedness that awaits the faithful in the world to come. Let us therefore strive with all our might to lay hold of the truth, knowing that the truth alone can set us free from the bondage of error and the tyranny of passion.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
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