Caput II
The Book of Lamentations, Song, and Woe
Odo interprets Ezekiel's vision of a book containing lamentations, song, and woe as a figure of divine Scripture, whose threefold message announces present suffering, future joy for the patient, and eternal condemnation for the incorrigible, and he reads the prophet's wheels as a sign of this life's alternating adversity and prosperity.
Therefore, on account of these three things that this same Scripture especially announces — namely the hardships we suffer here, the joy that follows for those who are corrected, and the condemnation that the incorrigible will incur — Ezekiel bears witness that he saw a book in which lamentations, a song, and woe were written. In this book, namely, all divine utterances are figured, and the things which enjoin tears and mourning upon us — the lamentations written in it are reported. But what does the very order of the words signify — that after lamentations comes song and woe? Since after the miseries of this life, either eternal joy will follow for the good and the patient, or eternal damnation for the wicked and the murmuring. From this the Savior was saying to the disciples: In me you may have peace, and in the world you will have tribulation (John✦ 16, 33). As if he were saying: There will be for you on the outside, from the world, what weighs down by raging; but let there be on the inside, from me, what restores by consoling. On account of these same three things, it is also said that the wheels shown to the same Ezekiel — in figure of the two testaments — had both height for loftiness and a terrible appearance. The height of these wheels, namely, signifies the quality of this life alternating between adverse and prosperous things.
The Height of Persecution and of Glory
Drawing on 2 Timothy 3:12, John 1:12, Matthew 25:46, and Mark 9:48, Odo contrasts the persecution that awaits all who live devoutly in Christ with the sublime dignity of becoming children of God, and sets against both the terrible prospect of eternal punishment for the reprobate.
For this same Scripture says — showing the quality of that same state, as it were, in terms of stature — "All who want to live devoutly in Christ will suffer persecution" (2 Tim.✦ 3:12). And Scripture, setting forth the height of heavenly rewards, says: "All who received him, he gave them the power to become children of God" (John✦ 1:12). What could be higher than to become children of God? It presents a terrible sight when it speaks of the reprobate: "These will go into eternal punishment" (Matt.✦ 25:46). And likewise: "Their worm will not die" (Mark✦
The Worm That Does Not Die
Odo turns to the specific fate of the lustful, citing Job 24:20 and Mark 9:48 to meditate on the horror of eternal punishment as worms that never cease gnawing, a torment without end.
IX, 45). And what awaits the lustful is what Job says: 'All their sweetness is their worm' (Job 24:20).✦ What could be more horrible than to suffer the pains of worms gnawing forever, and for those pains never to end?✦
Read the original Latin
Igitur propter haec tria, quae maxime haec eadem Scriptura denuntiat, angustias videlicet quas hic patimur, et laetitiam quae succedit correctis, et damnationem quam incorrigibiles incurrent, Ezechiel librum se vidisse testatur, in quo scriptae erant lamentationes, et carmen, et vae. Quo videlicet libro cuncta divina eloquia figurantur, quaeque nobis lacrymas luctusque praecipiunt, lamentationes in eo scriptae referuntur. Sed quid ipse verborum ordo designat post lamentationes, carmen, et vae continetur: quoniam post vitae hujus miserias, aut aeterna laetitia succedet bonis et patientibus, aut aeterna damnatio malis et murmurantibus. Hinc discipulis Salvator dicebat: In me pacem habeatis, et in mundo pressuram habebitis (Joan. XVI, 33). Ac si diceret: Erit vobis exterius de mundo, quod saeviendo gravet; sed sit interius de me, quod consolando reficiat. Propter haec quoque tria dicitur, quod rotae quae eidem Ezechieli monstratae in figura duorum testamentorum sunt, et staturam pro altitudine et horribilem aspectum habuerint. Quarum videlicet statura hujus vitae qualitatem adversis vel prosperis alternantem significat.
Ait enim haec eadem Scriptura, ejusdem status qualitatem quasi staturam demonstrans: Omnes qui volunt pie vivere in Christo persecutionem patiuntur (II Tim. III, 12). Quae et altitudinem coelestium praemiorum proferens dicit: Quotquot autem receperunt eum, dedit eis potestatem filios Dei fieri (Joan. I, 12). Quid altius quam filios Dei fieri? horribilem aspectum exhibet, cum de reprobis dicit: Ibunt hi in supplicium aeternum (Matth. XXV, 46). Et item: vermis eorum non morietur (Marc.
IX, 45). Et quod proprie luxuriosis manet, illud Job: Omnis dulcedo eorum vermis (Job XXIV, 20). Quid horribilius quam semper morsibus vermium dolores suscipere, nec eos unquam finiri?
Scripture echoes
- ↩John.16.33 — I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have trouble. But take heart — I have overcome the world.
- ↩2Tim.3.12 — Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
- ↩John.1.12 — But to all who received him, he gave the right to become children of God—to those who believed in his name.
- ↩Matt.25.46 — And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
- ↩Mark.9.48 — where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.
- ↩Job.24.20 — The womb will forget him; the worm will feed sweetly on him. He will be remembered no more, and wickedness will be broken like a tree.
- ↩Mark.9.48 — where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.
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