life of john picus earl of mirandola - The Center for Thomas More ...

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Picus’ Commentary on Psalm 15
creatures ¬ were not, the other ⌐ that are more perfect ¬ could not be.
For if any part of the whole universe 1 of creatures were destroyed and
fallen to naught, all the whole were subverted. For certainly ⌐ one part
of ¬ that universe perishing, all parties perish, and all creatures be parts
of that universe; of which universe God is no part, but He is the beginning,
nothing thereupon depending. For nothing truly won He by the
creation of this world, nor nothing should He lose if the world were
annihilated 2 and turned to naught again. Then only God is He which
hath no need of our good. Well ought we certainly to be ashamed to
take such thing for God as hath need of us–and such is every creature.
Moreover, we should not accept for God, that is to say, for the chief
goodness, but only that thing which is the most sovereign goodness of
all things–and that is not the goodness of any creature. Only therefore
to our Lord ought we to say, “My God art Thou.”
Sanctis qui sunt in terra ejus mirificavit voluntates suas–“To his saints that
are in the land of Him, He hath made marvellous His wills.” After God
should we specially love them which are nearest joined unto God, as be
the holy angels and blessed saints that are in their country of heaven.
Therefore, after that he had said to our Lord, “My God art Thou,” he
addeth thereunto that our Lord 3 hath made marvellous His wills, that
is to say, He hath made marvellous His loves and His desires towards
His saints that are in the land of Him, that is to wit, in the country of
heaven, which is called the land of God and the land of living people.
And verily if we inwardly consider how great is the felicity of that
country and how much is the misery of this world, how great is the
goodness and charity of those ⌐ blessed ¬ citizens, we shall continually
desire to be hence, that we were there. These things and such other
when we remember, we should ⌐ evermore ¬ take heed that our meditations
be not unfruitful, but that of every meditation we should always
purchase one virtue or other; as, for example, by this meditation of
the goodness of that heavenly country we should win this virtue, that
we should not only strongly suffer death and patiently, when our time
cometh, or if it were put unto us for the faith of Christ, but also we
should willingly and gladly long therefor, desiring to be departed out of
1. university: Here and in the lines that follow, More’s “university” has been changed to “universe.”
2. annihilated: More’s usage, which is in the sense of “reduce to nonexistence,” antedates the
earliest found in OED (s.v. annihilate v. 1a).
3. our Lord: The Latin has dei, “God” (CW 1:364, 365).
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Heaven
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Of every meditation to
purchase a virtue