A Declaration to His Superior

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⊕Introduction to this work from the Opera Omnia, vol. 41.Behold, good reader, the final product of a most fruitful pen, which the pious author brought forth in the year 1469 as a conclusion to his many great labors. For, having finished his work On Meditation in that same year, he intended to move on "to a harbor of untroubled silence," in order to prepare himself for a "safe departure."⊕cf. On Meditation, art. 14. From then on he stopped writing and composed nothing else, except perhaps certain letters and this declaration which we include below. We decided to place it at the end of this vast work as a swan song, even though it was already printed in the prologues.

On his motivation for writing commentaries on both Testaments, and his other works.

I, Brother Denis, declare with all my heart that the task of explaining the Holy Scriptures completely transcends my insignificance, by reason of my profession and the degree of my knowledge (for I am a monk, whose role is to mourn and to be enlightened, rather than to teach or to enlighten others); and also by reason of my life, which is so wretched and imperfect. Yet trusting in the goodness and grace of the Holy Spirit—who tends to choose base and contemptible things, things that are not, and even the weak and foolish things of the world⊕1 Corinthians 1:27-28.—I have continued that practice until now. And I am prepared to continue it to the best of my ability, provided it would be pleasing to the judgment of your wisdom. But I pray the goodness of the Holy Spirit would see fit to incline your mind to that which is for his greater glory and for the benefit of myself and others.

In addition, as far as I can tell by examining myself to the best of my ability, I am not aware that I have taken up this practice or desired to pursue it out of any vanity, or for the sake of a worthless end—namely for fame, or for any other such personal or wordly advantage. Rather, I do it to occupy myself daily in the Scriptures, so that I might be able to live according to them, coming to true humility, mildness, and patience, which I greatly need. And if it is otherwise, or if I do these things for another end, then I am rightly and most exceedingly wretched, as one who so vainly and foolishly wastes the lessons of Sacred Scripture.

Yet I give thanks to God with all my heart that I entered the religious life so young, being twenty-one years old. By the grace of God I have remained in it now for forty-six years, in which, praise be to God, I have been been studious and read many authors. Namely commentators on the SentencesPeter Lombard's medieval theology textbook.: Thomas Aquinas, Albert the Great, Alexander of Hales, Bonaventure, Peter of Tarentaise,Later became Pope Innocent V. Giles of Rome, Richard of Middleton, Durandus of Saint-Pourçain, and others. Also books of the saints: Jerome's commentaries on all the Prophets and many of his other works, Augustine, Ambrose, Gregory the Great, Dionysius the Areopagite (my most excellent teacher), Gregory Nazianzen, Cyril, Basil, Chrysostom, Damascene, Boethius, Anselm, Bernard, Bede, Hugo, Gerson, and William of Paris. In addition: all the commonly known Summas and Chronicles, the entirety of canon and civil law (as far as it was appropriate for me), many commentators on both Testaments, and anything of the natural philosophers I could obtain—Plato, Proclus, Aristotle, Avicenna, Al-Ghazali, Anaxagoras, Averroes, Alexander, Al-Farabi, Abubather, Avempace, Theophrastus, Themistius, and others. In truth, the more this practice is spiritual, laborious, and full of work and study, the more beneficial it seems to me, or suitable for the mortification of the bodily senses and carnal desires. It also made me more willing to remain in solitude.

Furthermore, as much as Scripture has been clearly and richly explained by the great Doctors and holy Fathers—nevertheless (as Gerson writes), just as the outward sense of taste varies according to people and times, now taking pleasure in this food and now in that, sometimes even preferring cheaper fare—so it is with the palate of interior taste. Thus it is supposed at the end of the second book of Maccabees that it is pleasant to use sometimes the one, and sometimes the other,⊕2 Maccabees 15:40. now water delights and now wine. Finally, Gerson teaches that new dishes should always be set at the table of wisdom. Yet far be it from me, most worthless and lowly, to think that I can set fresh dishes at the table of wisdom. But as St. Jerome says, in the house of God each person offers what he can, and the riches of some cannot be spoiled by the poverty of others—on the contrary, they are more honored, because opposites placed next to each other shine more brightly. Likewise, according to Augustine in his book On the Trinity,See Book 1, chapter 3. it is useful that many books are written on the same subject, because not all writings reach all people. And similarly, new things are of more profit and pleasure to some people.

And there are also other motives stirring me, which I omit for the sake of brevity, and lest I should seem to be excessively arming myself to obtain permission. Nor have I mentioned these things with the intention of arming myself and the like, but so that I may write according to your authority as Prior and show you what I bear in my heart in this practice. Therefore, these things are written under your correction as Prior, because you trusted me to write these things.