Chapter IV — Marvels of the Goodness and Mercy of Eternal Wisdom Before Her Incarnation

41. Eternal Wisdom is deeply moved by the misfortune of poor Adam and all his descendants. She sees, with great displeasure, her vessel of honor shattered, her portrait torn, her masterpiece destroyed, her viceroy on earth overthrown.

She tenderly lends her ear to his groaning voice and his cries. She looks with compassion upon the sweat of his brow, the tears of his eyes, the toil of his arms, the grief of his heart, and the affliction of his soul.

1. The Decree of the Incarnation

42. It seems to me that I see this loving Sovereign calling together and assembling, so to speak, a second time the Holy Trinity to restore man, as she had done to form him. It seems to me that in this great council, a kind of combat takes place between Eternal Wisdom and the Justice of God.

43. It seems to me that I hear this Wisdom who, pleading man's cause, says that man indeed deserves, for his sin, together with his posterity, to be forever damned with the rebel angels; but that it is fitting to have pity on him, because he sinned more out of weakness and ignorance than out of malice. She represents, on the one hand, that it is a great loss for so perfect a masterpiece to remain forever the slave of his enemy, and for millions upon millions of men to be forever lost because of the sin of one alone. She shows, on the other hand, the places in heaven left vacant by the fall of the apostate angels, which it is fitting to fill, and the great glory that God will receive in time and eternity if man is saved.

44. It seems to me that I hear Justice reply that the sentence of death and eternal damnation has been pronounced against man and his descendants, and that it must be carried out without delay and without mercy, just as against Lucifer and his followers; that man is ungrateful for the blessings he has received; that he followed the devil in his disobedience and in his pride, and that he must follow him in his punishments, because sin must necessarily be punished.

45. Eternal Wisdom, seeing that there was nothing in the universe capable of expiating man's sin, of satisfying justice, and of appeasing the wrath of God, and yet wishing to save poor man whom she loved by inclination, finds an admirable means.

An astonishing thing, an incomprehensible love that goes to excess! This loving and sovereign Princess offers herself in sacrifice to her Father to satisfy his justice, to calm his wrath, and to deliver us from the slavery of the devil and the flames of hell, and to merit for us an eternity of happiness.

46. Her offer is accepted; the plan is decided and settled: Eternal Wisdom, or the Son of God, will become man at the appointed time and in the circumstances marked out. During the roughly four thousand years that elapsed from the creation of the world and the sin of Adam until the incarnation of divine Wisdom, Adam and his descendants died according to the law of God pronounced against them; but, in view of the incarnation of the Son of God, they received graces to obey his commandments and to do worthy penance after having transgressed them; and, if they died in the grace and friendship of God, their souls descended to limbo to await their Savior and Deliverer, who would open for them the gate of heaven.

47. Eternal Wisdom, during all the time that passed before her incarnation, showed men in a thousand ways the friendship she bore them and the great desire she had to share her favors with them and to converse with them: "My delights," she said, "are to be with the children of men. Deliciae meae esse cum filiis hominum." [Prov 8:31] She herself went about on every side seeking those who were worthy of her: quoniam dignos seipsa circuit quaerens, that is, persons worthy of her friendship, worthy of her treasures, worthy of her very self. She poured herself out among the different nations, into holy souls, to form there friends of God and prophets; and she alone formed all the holy patriarchs, the friends of God, the prophets, and the saints of the Old and New Testaments: Et per nationes in animas sanctas se transfert, amicos Dei et prophetas constituit. Wis 7.

It is this Eternal Wisdom who inspired the men of God and who spoke through the mouths of the prophets, and she directed them in their ways, enlightened them in their doubts, sustained them in their weaknesses, and delivered them from all evils.

48. Here is how the Holy Spirit himself has told it, in the tenth chapter of the Book of Wisdom, in these words:

[1] "It is Wisdom who preserved him whom God had formed first to be the father of mankind, having been created alone at the beginning, that is, Adam.

[2] It is she who drew him out of his sin and gave him the strength to contain and govern all things.

[3] When the unjust one, Cain, departed from her in his anger, he perished miserably through the fury that made him the murderer of his brother.

4. And when the flood covered the earth because of him, Wisdom again saved the world, having guided the just man, Noah, by means of a piece of wood that seemed contemptible.

5. And when the nations conspired together to abandon themselves to evil, it is she who recognized the just man, Abraham, who kept him blameless before God, and who gave him the strength to overcome the tenderness he felt for his son Isaac.

6. It is she who delivered the just man, Lot, when he was fleeing from the midst of the wicked who perished by the fire that fell upon the five cities.

7. Whose corruption is marked by that land which still smokes and remains all desolate, where the trees bear fruit that never ripens and where one sees a pillar of salt, which is the monument of an unbelieving soul.

8. For those who did not trouble themselves to acquire wisdom not only fell into ignorance of good, but they also left to men marks of their follies, so that their faults could not remain hidden.

49. 9. But Wisdom has delivered from all evils those who have taken care to revere her.

10. It is she who led the just man, Jacob, by straight paths when he was fleeing the wrath of Esau, his brother; who showed him the kingdom of God, who gave him the knowledge of the saints; who enriched him in his labors and made him reap their fruit.

11. It is she who helped him against those who tried to deceive him by their treachery, and who made him rich.

12. She protected him against his enemies, she defended him from seducers, and she engaged him in a hard combat, so that he might remain victorious, and so that he might know that Wisdom is more powerful than all things.

13. It is she who did not abandon Joseph the just when he was sold; but she delivered him from the hands of sinners; she descended with him into the pit.

14. And she did not leave him in his chains, until she placed the royal scepter in his hands, and made him master over those who had treated him so unjustly. She convicted of falsehood those who had dishonored him, and she gave him an eternal name.

15. It is she who delivered the just people, the Hebrews, and the blameless race from the nation that oppressed them.

16. She entered the soul of the servant of God, Moses, and she rose up with signs and wonders against the formidable kings.

17. She rendered to the just the reward of their labors, she led them by an admirable way, and she served them as a shelter during the day and as light during the night.

18. She led them across the Red Sea and made them pass through the deep waters.

19. She buried their enemies in the sea and drew her own out of the depths of the abyss. Thus the just carried off the spoils of the wicked.

20. They honored by their canticles, O Lord, your holy name, and they praised with one voice your victorious hand.

21. Because Wisdom opened the mouths of the mute and made eloquent the tongues of children."

50. In the following chapter of the Book of Wisdom, the Holy Spirit describes the different evils from which Wisdom delivered Moses and the Israelites while they were in the desert. To this may be added that all those who have been delivered from great dangers, in the Old and New Testaments — Daniel from the lions' den, Susanna from the false crime of which she was accused, the three young men from the furnace of Babylon, St. Peter from prison, St. John from the cauldron of boiling oil, and an infinity of martyrs and confessors from the torments inflicted on their bodies and the calumnies that blackened their reputation — we may add, I say, that they were all delivered and healed by Eternal Wisdom: Nam per Sapientiam sanati sunt quicumque placuerit tibi, Domine, a principio. [Wis 9:19]

Conclusion

51. Let us therefore cry out: "Happy a thousand times is the soul in whom Wisdom has entered to make her dwelling! Whatever battles are waged against her, she will remain victorious; whatever dangers threaten her, she will be delivered; whatever sorrows overwhelm her, she will be gladdened and consoled; and whatever humiliations she has fallen into, she will be raised up and glorified in time and in eternity."