In isto Evangelio, iusta materiam tactam, volo colligere fructum, et hic erit videre duplex questio:

• prima est utrum timor quod habebant sit a natura;
• secunda si in nobis est alica virtus que nobis securitatem dare posset.

In this Gospel, based on the matter touched upon, I want to gather the fruit, and here there will be two questions to consider:

• the first is whether the fear they had is natural;
• the second is whether there is any virtue in us that can give us security.

The anonymous author resumes the Virgilian narrative with the Sibyl's response to Aeneas's prayers, predicting a bloody and perilous future for him. The Sibyl is identified as divine wisdom, while Aeneas represents Christ in the biblical episode of the thema, where He - after praying on the mountain - sees the dangers the disciples face at sea and goes to their aid. Two questions are analyzed on the pericope: the first is whether the fear that the apostles felt [upon seeing Christ coming toward them walking on the water] is natural, the second is whether there is any virtue in us that can give us security. On the first question, there are four reasons why the apostles were afraid, namely:

• It was evening: the demon
• They were in the middle of the sea: the world
• They had the wind against them: fate
• Christ was not with them: divine judgment

On the second question, the response is formulated based on the time when Christ came to their aid, namely during the quarta vigilia noctis: as the night is divided into four periods of three hours each, so there are four vigiliae within the soul (Aristotle): The first vigilia is in the senses (in sensu comunis), where knowledge (apprehensio) is found The second vigilia is in the heart (in corde), where appetite (appetitus) is found The third vigilia is in cognition (in cognitione), where thought (cogitatio) resides The fourth vigilia is in the will (in voluntate), where love (amor) resides Since Christ arrived at the fourth vigilia, it is through free will that we can resist fear, by fleeing the three impediments of the will: the heart/appetite, the carnal thoughts, and the senses.

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