Page:SermonsFromTheLatins.djvu/98

 His soul  adorned  with  every  possible  virtue. This is the  teaching  of  the  Scriptures. " Behold,"  says  Jeremias,  prophesying  the  coming  of  the  Messias,  "  Behold, the  Lord  hath  created  a  new  thing  on  earth, a  woman  shall  encompass  a  man." The prodigy  was that the  Virgin  Mary  bore  in  her  womb  the  body, indeed, of  a  babe,  but  the  mind  and  soul  of  a  fully developed man. Elsewhere the  prophet  speaks  of the  Word  made  flesh  as  the  flower  from  the  root  of Jesse,  upon  which,  as  dew,  should  descend  the  spirit of the  Lord — the  spirit  of  wisdom  and  understanding; the spirit  of  counsel  and  fortitude;  the  spirit  of knowledge  and  piety;  and  He  shall  be  filled  with  the spirit of  the  fear  of  the  Lord. "The Word  was made  flesh,"  says  St.  John,  "  and  we  saw  Him  full  of grace  and  truth." " In  Him,"  says  St.  Paul,  "  were hidden  all  the  treasures  of  wisdom." With the  exception of  Origen  and  St.  Ambrose,  all  the  great  Doctors of the  Church — St. Augustine, St. Epiphanius, St. Jerome  and  St.  Bernard — all  unite  in  teaching  that Christ, during  His  mortal  life,  acquired  neither knowledge nor  virtue,  because  there  was  none  He  had not already  possessed  from  the  beginning. How then, I  ask,  are  we  to  explain  St.  Luke's  words  that " Jesus  increased  in  wisdom  and  grace  before  God  and men  "? We must  distinguish  between  infused  knowledge and  knowledge  acquired — between  revelation and science. Infused knowledge  comes  directly  from God without  any  effort  on  our  part  to  attain  it;  acquired knowledge  is  the  result  of  our  own  industry. Now, all  the  knowledge  and  sanctity  of  Christ's