Presence of God – O my God, infinite Wisdom, enlighten my mind and teach me the secret of true wisdom.
MEDITATION
God is infinite wisdom who knows Himself and all things perfectly.
In God, wisdom is not distinct from being as it is in us, but it is the very Being of God. Therefore, God’s Being is supreme wisdom; it is a luminous, resplendent, eternally subsistent ray of intelligence which embraces and penetrates all the divine essence, and at the same time sees in it, as in their cause, all things which have existed or ever can exist.
Divine wisdom, says Holy Scripture, “reacheth everywhere by reason of her purity…. She is a vapor of the power of God, and a certain pure emanation of the glory of the almighty God…. She is the brightness of eternal light, the unspotted mirror of God’s majesty, and the image of His goodness” (cf Wisdom 7:24-26).
Divine wisdom is, before all, perfect knowledge of God. No creature, not even the angels or the blessed in heaven, can know God to the point of exhausting the depths of the infinite greatness of His Being: God alone knows Himself perfectly. Divine wisdom alone can exhaust the infinite profundity of His essence and of His mysteries. Although we are incapable of knowing God as He really is, it is an immense joy for us to contemplate the infinite wisdom which penetrates all the divine mysteries, and an immense comfort to invoke this infinite wisdom and entrust ourselves to it, that it may be our light and guide in the knowledge of God.
Divine wisdom is, therefore, a perfect knowledge of everything that exists; there can be no error in it, since it is eternal, immutable truth. Nothing is hidden from it nor can anything be a mystery to it: because it has created all things and it penetrates their inmost essence. There is nothing new which it can learn because from all eternity it sees everything in an eternal present; nothing, however minute, can escape its most brilliant light. “The very hairs of your head are numbered” (Matthew 10:30), Jesus has said. God knows us much better than we know ourselves; the most secret movements of our hearts, even those which escape our control, are perfectly manifest to Him. Let us ask Him for the grace to know ourselves in His light, in His eternal truth.
COLLOQUY
“O divine Wisdom, in you is the spirit of understanding: holy, one, manifold, subtle, eloquent, active, undefiled, sure, sweet, loving that which is good, quick, which nothing hindereth, beneficent, gentle, kind, steadfast, assured, secure, having all power, overseeing all things, and containing all spirits, intelligible, pure. You are more active than all active things: and reach everywhere and penetrate everything by reason of your purity. You are a vapor of the power of God, and a certain pure emanation of the glory of Almighty God, and therefore, no defiled thing comes into you. You are the brightness of eternal light and the unspotted mirror of God’s majesty and the image of His goodness. And being but one, you can do all things; and remaining in yourself the same, you renew all things, and through nations you convey yourself into holy souls, and make friends of God and the prophets…. You are more beautiful than the sun, and above all the order of the stars; being compared with the light, you are found before it. For after this comes night, but you are never overcome by evil. You reach, therefore, from end to end mightily, and order all things sweetly.
“God of my Fathers and Lord of mercy … with You is Your Wisdom who knows Your works, who also was present when You made the world, and knew what was agreeable to Your eyes, and what was right in Your commandments…. Send her out of Your holy heaven and from the throne of Your Majesty, that she may be with me and may labor with me, that I may know what is acceptable to You. She knows and understands all things, and shall lead me soberly in my works, and shall preserve me by her power…. O Lord … hardly do we guess aright at things that are upon earth; and with labor do we find the things that are before us. But the things that are in heaven, who shall search out? And who shall know Your thought, except You give wisdom, and send Your Holy Spirit from above?” (cf. Wisdom 7:22-30, 9:1-17).
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Art for this post on infinite wisdom: modified Holy Wisdom, anonymous Russian icon painter [writer], mid 17th century, photographed by Shakko (cc Photo: Wikipedia / Shakko), 1 August 2015, PD-US author’s life plus 70 years or less, Wikimedia Commons. Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, mirror from open source material.
This article, “Infinity Wisdom,” first appeared on SpiritualDirection.com. It appears courtesy of our friends at SpiritualDirection.com.
