THE MYSTIC PROPERTIES OF NUMBERS. 545 



has pleased God, the Creator, to be trine in persons. To wit, Father, 

 Son, and Holy Ghost. It has pleased him to create three hierarchies ; 

 and in each hierarchy three orders of angels. There are three things 

 in Jesus Christ, to wit : deity, the soul, and humanity. The priest 

 makes three parts of the precious body of Jesus Christ in the mass. 

 Three holy orders sing the mass, to wit : the priest, the deacon, and 

 the sub-deacon. Three times are sung the Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus; 

 and the Agmcs Dei qui tollis peccata in the mass. By three nails was 

 fastened the Blessed Redeemer Jesus Christ on the cross. There are 

 three degrees of penitence, to wit : contrition, confession, and satis- 

 faction. There are three parts of satisfaction, to wit : fasting, alms, 

 and prayer. There are three divine virtues, to wit : faith, hope, and 

 charity. There are three enemies of the soul, to wit : the world, the 

 flesh, and the devil. Man sins in three ways, to wit : with heart, with 

 word, and with deed. Man may offend three things, to wit : God, 

 himself, and his neighbor. God has disposed all things by number, by 

 weight, and by measure. Tria erant in arclia ; s. e.g. Virga ; manna 

 et lex Mosayca (there were three things in the ark : the rod, the 

 manna, and the Mosaic law). Three places are deputed for man after 

 his death, to wit : paradise, purgatory, and hell. Three vows do the 

 minor friars vow when they make profession, to wit : poverty, obedi- 

 ence, and chastity. There are three natural principles, to wit : form, 

 matter, and privation ; or, potentia (power) ; ohjectum (object) ; et 

 actus (and act). There are three souls, to wit : vegetative, sensitive, 

 and rational. There are three powers in the rational soul, to wit : 

 will, memory, and understanding. Bodies have three dimensions, to 

 wit : length, breadth, and thickness. The world is divided into three 

 parts, to wit : into Asia, Europe, and Africa. And thus appears the 

 excellence and magnificence of this worthy number three. 



" Four is the first square number, and is of great esteem and neces- 

 sity. And first, God, the Creator, has created four elements, to wit : 

 fire, air, water, and earth. Whence proceed four qualities, to wit : 

 warmth, frigidity, dryness, and moisture. From which arise four 

 humors, to wit : blood, bile, phlegm, and melancholy ; by which are 

 caused four complexions, to wit : sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic, and 

 melancholic. There are four seasons in the year, to wit : spring, sum- 

 mer, autumn, and winter. And four quarters in the sky and the world, 

 to wit : eastern, western, northern, and southern. And to each quar- 

 ter one principal wind, to wit : the morning or east-wind, the traverse 

 or west-wind, the north-wind or transmontane, and the sea or south- 

 wind. And, according to the philosophers, there are four causes in all 

 things, to wit : the efiicient, formal, material, and final causes. There 

 are four cardinal virtues, to wit : prudence, temperance, strength, and 

 justice. The glorified body in paradise has four endowments, to wit : 

 brightness, subtilty, agility, and impassibility. There are four evan- 

 gelists to certify the faith of Jesus Christ. And four principal doctorii 



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