From the book
Centuries of Meditations
Thomas Traherne · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordA comprehensor holds or apprehends things within understanding.
- In TraherneTraherne calls the living soul a temple and comprehensor because things possess their fullest inward presence when known, prized, and enjoyed.
- In this editionThe scholastic distinction is supplied by the 2026 note to I.100.
- A place to beginThe soul comprehends Christ, angels, and divine eternity in living apprehension.
Meaning
A comprehensor holds or apprehends things within understanding. The word also had a theological use for one who has attained the beatific vision, as distinguished from a wayfarer still approaching it.
Use in the book
Traherne calls the living soul a temple and comprehensor because things possess their fullest inward presence when known, prized, and enjoyed. This is more than remembering a list of objects. Their excellencies awaken proportionate pleasure, love of their giver, and thanksgiving. In the Fifth Century the plural joins comprehensors to enjoyers as eternity becomes a stable object in which ages are apprehended together. Intellectual inclusion and blessed enjoyment therefore reinforce one another; the technical theological resonance enriches, but does not replace, the ordinary action of comprehending.
Places to read
In this edition
The scholastic distinction is supplied by the 2026 note to I.100. Do not assume every occurrence names only souls already in the afterlife.
Source note
Primary text: I.100, V.6; theological background: 2026 edition note to I.100.