| Ista est fides quia 'Christus est dei filius' et sempiternus ex patre et natus ex virgine... cum deus semper esset aeternus, incarnationis sacramenta suscepit, non divisus, sed unus, quia utrumque unus et unus in utroque, hoc est vel divinitate vel corpore. Non enim alter ex patre et alter ex virgine, sed idem aliter ex patre, aliter ex virgine.
| The faith of the Church is that Christ is the Son of God, eternally from the Father, and born of the Virgin... He has a divine and a human nature, but is one in both. He is not one person from the Father, and another from the Virgin, but the same person, one way from the Father, and another way from the Virgin.
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| Generatio generationi non praeiudicat nec caro divinitati, quia nec pignus patri nec voluntas passioni nec passio voluntati. Idem enim patiebatur et non patiebatur, moriebatur et non moriebatur, sepeliebatur et non sepeliebatur, resurgebat et non resurgebat, qui corpus proprium suscitabat, quia quod cecidit, hoc resurgit, quod non cecidit, non resurgit. Resurgebat igitur secundum carnem, quae mortua resurrexit, non resurgebat secundum verbum, quod non resolutum fuerat in terram, sed apud deum semper manebat.
| The one generation is not opposed to the other, nor is flesh opposed to divinity, just as Christ's will was not opposed to his suffering, nor his suffering to his will. He both suffered and did not suffer, he died and did not die, he was buried and was not buried, he rose and did not rise. He raised his own body, because what fell is what rises; what did not fall does not rise. The rose according to the flesh, which died and rose. He did not rise according to the Word, which was not consigned to the earth, but always remained with God.
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| Ergo et moriebatur secundum susceptionem nostrae naturae et non moriebatur secundum aeternae substantiam vitae, et patiebatur secundum corporis passionem, ut suscepti corporis veritas crederetur, et non patiebatur secundum verbi inpassibilem divinitatem, quod totius exsors doloris est. Denique idem dicebat: Deus deus meus, respice in me, quare me dereliquisti, quia secundum carnem relictus est, qui secundum divinitatem nec deseri potuit nec relinqui.
| Therefore he died according to our nature which he had taken, and did not die according to his substance of eternal life. He suffered according to his body, so that the reality of the body he had taken might be acknowledged. He did not suffer according to his impassible divinity, which is exempt from all pain. Near the end he said, "God, my God, look at me. Why did you abandon me?" (Mt 27:46 = Ps 22). He was abandoned according to the flesh, but according to his divinity he could never be abandoned.
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| Idem etiam dicit: Longe a salute mea verba delictorum meorum. Hoc est: 'Non capiatur, qui audit quare me dereliquisti, sed intellegat quod secundum carnem ista dicantur, quae longe a 'plenitudine divinitatis' aliena sunt. Aliena sunt enim a deo verba delictorum, quia aliena sunt et delicta verborum. Sed quoniam delicta aliena suscepi, etiam delictorum alienorum verba suscepi, ut derelictum me a patre deo esse dicam, qui apud deum sum semper.
| He continued: "Far from my salvation is my state of sin" [Vulgate translation]. These words were spoken with reference to his flesh, and are far from the fulness of his divinity. A state of sin is alien from God, but because Jesus took on the sins of others, he also took on the plea of sinners, calling himself abandoned, even though he was always with God.
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| Erat igitur inmortalis in morte, inpassibilis in passione. Etenim quasi deum non cepit mortis aerumna et eundem quasi hominem inferna viderunt. Denique emisit spiritum et tamen quasi arbiter exuendi suscipiendi que corporis emisit spiritum, non amisit. Pendebat in cruce et omnia commovebat; tremebat in ligno, quem totus tremebat hic mundus; erat inter supplicia, excipiebat vulnera et regnum caeleste donabat; peccatum omnium factus peccata generis abluebat humani. Postremo mortuus est - et secundo et tertio exsultans adque ovans dico 'mortuus est' -, ut illius mors vita fieret mortuorum.
| So he was undying in death, and non-suffering in his suffering. For, as God, the pains of death did not reach him, but as man, he was exposed to hell. Finally, he gave up his spirit, but, as the master of laying down his body and taking it up again, he did not lose his spirit. He hung on the cross, yet kept everything in motion. He trembled on the cross, yet before him the whole world trembles. He experienced torture and wounds, but offered a heavenly kingdom. The guilt of all was upon him, yet he washed away the sins of the human race. At last he dieddied, I repeat with joy, because his death became the life of the dead.
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| Sed ne sepultura quidem eius miraculo caret. Nam cum esset unctus a Ioseph et in eius monumento sepultus, novo opere quodam ipse defunctus defunctorum sepulchra reserabat. Et corpus quidem eius iacebat in tumulo, ipse autem inter mortuos liber remissionem in inferno positis soluta mortis lege donabat. Erat ergo caro eius in monumento, sed virtus eius operabatur e caelo. Ostendebatur omnibus per corporis veritatem, quia non caro erat verbum, sed caro erat verbi. Caro quidem 'gustavit mortem', sed inpassibilis dei virtus; etsi exuit corpus, nullum tamen de corpore deo damnum.
| A miracle occurred even in his burial. When he was anointed by Joseph and placed in the tomb, in death he acted again, by opening tombs of the dead (Mt 27:52-53). And while his body was lying in the tomb, he went freely among the dead (Ps 87:6 Vulgate), gave forgiveness to those in the underworld and did away with the law of death. His flesh was in the tomb, but his power operated from heaven. It was made clear to all by the reality of his body, that his flesh was not the Word, but belonged to the Word. His flesh tasted death, but God's power suffers nothing. Although his body was gone, no harm came to God from the body.
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| Cur divinitati adtribuis aerumnas corporis et infirmum doloris humani divinae conectis naturae? Nunc anima mea, inquit, turbata est: Anima turbata est, non sapientia. Inmutabilis enim manebat sapientia, etsi circumdaretur amictu carnis. Nam in illa 'servi forma' erat veri 'luminis plenitudo', et cum se 'exinaniret', 'lumen' erat; denique dicebat: Ambulate, dum lucem habetis.
| Why attribute bodily pain to the divinity, or link the weakness of human sorrow to the divine nature? "Now my soul is troubled," he said. His soul was troubled, not Wisdom. Wisdom remained unaffected, even though it was garbed in flesh. For in that "form of a slave" was the fulness of light, and when he emptied himself (Phil 2:7), he was light, as he said: "Walk while you have the light" (Jn 12:35).
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| Et quando in morte fuit, in umbra non erat; denique etiam in inferno positis vitae lumen fundebat aeternae. Radiabat etiam illic lux vera sapientiae, inluminabat infernum, sed inferno non claudebatur...
| And when he was in death, he was not in darkenss. He even shed the light of eternal life to those waiting in the underworld. The true light of Wisdom shone there, illuminated the underworld, but was not shut in by the underworld...
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| Recte igitur secundum naturam suam et caro passa est, nec ea corporis passione verbi natura mutata est. In veritate enim nostra est resurrectio, et ideo in veritate Christi passio praedicatur.
| He truly suffered in the body according to its nature, but the nature of the Word was not affected by the suffering of the body. Because our resurrection is real, the reality of Christ's suffering is preached.
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