On God's Essence
II. On God's Essence
1. O Essence, Who art eternal and infinite,
and Who art perfect in every goodness!
You are my comfort, my joy and my life.
2. O paternal, filial and spiritual essence!
You are triune in threefold number [1]
and numerically one in terms of substance.
3. You, O Essence, exist without idleness
with respect to goodness, infinity and eternity,
by virtue of essencer, essencing and essenced.
4. If You, Essence, were to exist without essencing,
You would be great and good in terms of Your loving,
though not good and great in terms of <Your> substancing.
5. Were essence not remote from minority
by virtue of <the> essencer, essencing and <the> essenced,
it would be in proximity to non-being by virtue of idleness.
6. O divine essence! You exist as infinitely
by virtue of infinite infinitising and infinition
as You do by virtue of <the> lover, <the> beloved and loving.
7. You, O Essence, are indistinct in Trinity,
which is distinct by virtue of property
from You, O Essence, in terms of personhood.
8. Were You, O Essence, not to consist in essencing,
neither could you consist in concordance or concording,
nor could equality and equalling abide in You.
9. O Being, Who art Lord of all other beings!
My own being has become that of a sinner,
which is why I remind You that You are forgiving!
10. O infinite Being, so remote from sin
that sin as such cannot enjoy existence,
for the very reason that it bears no resemblance to You whatsoever!
[1] MS. Vatican, BAV Ott. Lat. 845, base manuscript for the forthcoming critical edition of the text, reads “trina en nombre ternal”: lit. “triune in ternary number.”