Page:Aelfric's Lives of Saints Vol 1.djvu/35

 Will, when it willeth anything ; nevertheless all these names are one soul. Every soul is a spirit, but nevertheless every spirit is not a soul. The Apostle Paul distinguished between these names of spirit and mind, thus saying—Psallam spiritu, psallam et mente. That is, in English, 'I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the mind.' He singeth with the spirit who uttereth the words with his mouth and understandeth not the signification of their meaning; and he sings with the mind who understandeth the signification of their meaning. The soul is the mistress of the body, and governeth the five senses of the body, as out of a royal throne. These senses are thus named : Visus, that is, Sight; Auditus, Hearing ; Gustus, Taste with the mouth ; Odoratus, Smelling with the nose; Tactus, Touching or feeling with all the limbs, but most usually with the hands.

The Soul directeth these five senses according to its will, and it behoveth it that, as à mistress, it should carefully consider what it will command each limb to do, or what it permitteth to each limb as regards its natural desire, that nothing unseemly should befal by means of any limb's service.

Like as God Almighty excelleth all creatures, so excelleth the soul all created bodies by the dignity of its nature, and no bodily creature may be compared with it. We said before that the soul was without colour, because it is incorporeal. A body hath colour, and the soul will be adorned according as it hath merited on earth ; of this spake Christ in His Gospel, Tunc justi fulgebunt sicut sol in regno patris eorum. That is, in English, Then shall the righteous shine as the sun in their Father's kingdom.' Verily the wicked shall be like their own evil deeds. It is not our breath [spiritus] or our soul that we blow out and draw in, but air, in which all bodily things live, except only fishes that live in the waters. The soul is often so busy about one thing or one thought, that it heedeth not who may be near at hand, though it may be looking at him; and though it hear a voice, it understandeth it not; though any touch it, it feeleth him not. Sometimes it sorroweth for its body's pains, sometimes it rejoiceth in good fortune ; sometimes it thinketh of things that it knew before;