[N.B. — See spurious Epistle to Philippians, cap. 4, infra. This concealment from Satan of the mystery of the incarnation is the expla- nation, according to the Fathers, ol his tempting the Messiah, and prompting His crucifixion. Also, Christ the more profoundly humbled himself, " tie subtilis ille diaholiocithis magnum hoc pietatis depre- henderet sacramentuni" (St. Bernard, opp. ii. 1944). Bernard also uses this opinion very strikingly (opp. ii. 1953) in one of his sermons, supposing that Satan discovered the secret too late for his own pur- pose, and then prompted the outcry, Come down from, the cross, to defeat the tiiumph of the second Adam. (Comp. St. Mark i. 24 and St. Luke iv. 34, where, after the first defeat of the tempter, this demon suspects the second Adam, and tries to extort the secret).]