creation of the world.

"And God said, Let there be light." The first word uttered by God
created the nature of light; it made darkness vanish, dispelled gloom,
illuminated the world, and gave to all being at the same time a sweet
and gracious aspect. The heavens, until then enveloped in darkness,
appeared with that beauty which they still present to our eyes. The air
was lighted up, or rather made the light circulate mixed with its
substance, and, distributing its splendor rapidly in every direction, so
dispersed itself to its extreme limits. Up it sprang to the very ether
and heaven. In an instant it lighted up the whole extent of the world,
the north and the south, the east and the west. For the ether also is
such a subtle substance and so transparent that it needs not the space
of a moment for light to pass through it. Just as it carries our sight
instantaneously to the object of vision, so without the least interval,
with a rapidity that thought can not conceive, it receives these rays of
light in its uttermost limits. With light the ether becomes more
pleasing and the waters more limpid. These last, not content with
receiving its splendor, return it by the reflection of light and in all
directions send forth quivering flashes. The divine word gives every
object a more cheerful and a more attractive appearance, just as when
men pour in oil into the deep sea they make the place about them smooth.
So, with a single word and in one instant the Creator of all things gave
the boon of light to the world.

"Let there be light." The order was itself an operation, and a state of
things was brought into being than which man's mind can not even imagine
a pleasanter one for our enjoyment It must be well understood that when
we speak of the voice, of the word, of the command of God, this divine
language does not mean to us a sound which escapes from the organs of