Canto XXIV

“O company elect to the great supper¹Of the Lamb benedight, who feedeth youSo that forever full is your desire,If by the grace of God this man foretasteSomething of that which falleth from your table,Or ever death prescribe to him the time,Direct your mind to his immense desire,And him somewhat bedew; ye drinking areForever at the fount whence comes his thought.”Thus Beatrice; and those souls beatifiedTransformed themselves to spheres on steadfast poles,Flaming intensely in the guise of comets.And as the wheels in works of horologesRevolve so that the first to the beholderMotionless seems, and the last one to fly,So in like manner did those carols, dancing²In different measure, of their affluence³Give me the gauge, as they were swift or slow.From that one which I noted of most beauty⁴Beheld I issue forth a fire so happy⁵That none it left there of a greater brightness;And around Beatrice three several times⁶It whirled itself with so divine a song,My fantasy repeats it not to me;Therefore the pen skips, and I write it not,Since our imagination for such folds,Much more our speech, is of a tint too glaring.⁷“O holy sister mine, who us implorest⁸With such devotion, by thine ardent loveThou dost unbind me from that beautiful sphere!”Thereafter, having stopped, the blessed fireUnto my Lady did direct its breath,Which spake in fashion as I here have said.And she: “O light eterne of the great manTo whom our Lord delivered up the keysHe carried down of this miraculous joy,This one examine on points light and grave,As good beseemeth thee, about the FaithBy means of which thou on the sea didst walk.If he love well, and hope well, and believe,From thee ’tis hid not; for thou hast thy sight⁹There where depicted everything is seen.But since this kingdom has made citizensBy means of the true Faith, to glorify it’Tis well he have the chance to speak thereof.”As baccalaureate arms himself, and speaks notUntil the master doth propose the question,To argue it, and not to terminate it,So did I arm myself with every reason,While she was speaking, that I might be readyFor such a questioner and such profession.“Say, thou good Christian; manifest thyself;What is the Faith?” Whereat I raised my browUnto that light wherefrom was this breathed forth.Then turned I round to Beatrice, and shePrompt signals made to me that I should pourThe water forth from my internal fountain.“May grace, that suffers me to make confession,”Began I, “to the great centurion,¹⁰Cause my conceptions all to be explicit!”And I continued: “As the truthful pen,Father, of thy dear brother wrote of it,¹¹Who put with thee Rome into the good way,Faith is the substance of the things we hope for,¹²And evidence of those that are not seen;And this appears to me its quiddity.”¹³Then heard I: “Very rightly thou perceivest,If well thou understandest why he placed itWith substances and then with evidences.”And I thereafterward: “The things profound,That here vouchsafe to me their apparition,Unto all eyes below are so concealed,That they exist there only in belief,Upon the which is founded the high hope,And hence it takes the nature of a substance.And it behoveth us from this beliefTo reason without having other sight,And hence it has the nature of evidence.”¹⁴Then heard I: “If whatever is acquiredBelow by doctrine were thus understood,No sophist’s subtlety would there find place.”Thus was breathed forth from that enkindled love;Then added: “Very well has been gone overAlready of this coin the alloy and weight;But tell me if thou hast it in thy purse?”And I: “Yes, both so shining and so roundThat in its stamp there is no peradventure.”¹⁵Thereafter issued from the light profoundThat there resplendent was: “This precious jewel,Upon the which is every virtue founded,Whence hadst thou it?” And I: “The large outpouringOf Holy Spirit, which has been diffusedUpon the ancient parchments and the new,¹⁶A syllogism is, which proved it to meWith such acuteness, that, compared therewith,All demonstration seems to me obtuse.”And then I heard: “The ancient and the newPostulates, that to thee are so conclusive,Why dost thou take them for the word divine?”And I: “The proofs, which show the truth to me,Are the works subsequent, whereunto NatureNe’er heated iron yet, nor anvil beat.”’Twas answered me: “Say, who assureth theeThat those works ever were? the thing itselfThat must be proved, nought else to thee affirms it.”“Were the world to Christianity converted,”I said, “withouten miracles, this oneIs such, the rest are not its hundredth part;Because that poor and fasting thou didst enterInto the field to sow there the good plant,Which was a vine and has become a thorn!”This being finished, the high, holy CourtResounded through the spheres, “One God we praise!”In melody that there above is chanted.And then that Baron, who from branch to branch,¹⁷Examining, had thus conducted me,Till the extremest leaves we were approaching,Again began: “The Grace that dallying¹⁸Plays with thine intellect thy mouth has opened,Up to this point, as it should opened be,So that I do approve what forth emerged;But now thou must express what thou believest,And whence to thy belief it was presented.”“O holy father, spirit who beholdestWhat thou believedst so that thou o’ercamest,Towards the sepulchre, more youthful feet,”¹⁹Began I, “thou dost wish me in this placeThe form to manifest of my prompt belief,And likewise thou the cause thereof demandest.And I respond: In one God I believe,Sole and eterne, who moveth all the heavensWith love and with desire, himself unmoved;²⁰And of such faith not only have I proofsPhysical and metaphysical, but gives themLikewise the truth that from this place rains downThrough Moses, through the Prophets and the Psalms,Through the Evangel, and through you, who wrote²¹After the fiery Spirit sanctified you;In Persons three eterne believe, and theseOne essence I believe, so one and trineThey bear conjunction both with sunt and est.²²With the profound condition and divineWhich now I touch upon, doth stamp my mindOfttimes the doctrine evangelical.This the beginning is, this is the sparkWhich afterwards dilates to vivid flame,And, like a star in heaven, is sparkling in me.”Even as a lord who hears what pleaseth himHis servant straight embraces, gratulatingFor the good news as soon as he is silent;So, giving me its benediction, singing,Three times encircled me, when I was silent,²³The apostolic light, at whose commandI spoken had, in speaking I so pleased him.