How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Line). We used the line numbering found on Librarius's online edition.
Quote #7
'By word and by myracel Goddes Sone,
Whan he was in this world, declared heere
That ther was oother lyf ther men may wone.'
Again Cecilia backs up her statements with the revelations of Christ. The fact that Christ was incarnated in human form to live on earth is important to Christians for many reasons, but to Cecilia the most important thing about Christ is that he enables humans to have access to knowledge of the afterlife.
Quote #8
To whom answerde Tiburce, 'O suster deere,
Ne seydestow right now in this manere,
Ther nys but o God, lord in soothfastnesse,
And now of thre how maystow bere witnesse?'
(333 – 336)
The idea of three persons in one god was one that not just Tiburtius, but many medieval Christians, struggled with. In fact, numerous heresies disputing the existence of the Christian Trinity sprung up throughout the medieval period, and medieval scholars busied themselves with complicated proofs of the real possibility of its existence.
Quote #9
'Right as a man hath sapiences thre,
Memorie, engyn, and intellect also,
So, in o beynge of divinitee
Thre persones may ther right wel bee.'
Cecilia's explanation of the Christian Trinity comes from the late classical philosopher Augustine, who compared the Trinity to the three powers of the human mind: memory, will, and intellect (or reason). Cecilia's knowledge of this explanation implies that she is highly educated.