Caput LXXII. De confusione et poena malorum.
The Horrors of Judgment
A series of rhetorical questions evoking the terror, fear, stench, and pain of the coming judgment.
What horror is there? What fear? What stench? What pain?
The Wretched Condemned
The damned stand exposed in shame and bodily disgrace, unable to hide or flee.
The wretched stand there, grinding their teeth, trembling on their bare side, horrible in appearance, deformed in countenance, cast down with shame; confused by the disgrace and nakedness of their bodies, they want to hide — and they can't; they try to flee — and they're not allowed to.
No Escape from Above or Below
Whether they look up or down, the damned face only the fury of the Judge or the horror of the pit.
If they lift their eyes, the fury of the Judge threatens from above; if they lower them, the horror of the infernal pit is thrust upon them.
The Accusing Conscience
No excuse or pretext remains, for each conscience sees the justice of its condemnation.
No excuse for their crimes is available, nor will any pretext regarding unjust judgment be possible: since whatever has been decreed, their own conscience will not fail to see that it is just.
Read the original Latin
Qualis ibi horror? quis timor? quis foetor? quis dolor? Stant miseri, et infelices stridentes dentibus, nudo latere palpitantes, aspectu horribiles, vultu deformes, dejecti prae pudore; prae corporis turpitudine et nuditate confusi latere volunt, et non datur; fugere tentant, et non permittuntur. Si levant oculos, desuper judicis imminet furor; si deponunt, infernalis putei eis ingeritur horror. Non suppetit criminum excusatio, nec de iniquo judicio aliqua poterit esse causatio: cum quidquid decretum fuerit, justum esse ipsam eorum conscientiam non latebit.
De institutione inclusarum (A Rule of Life for a Recluse) companion
A rule only lives if you keep it daily
Chosen Portion gives your new rule its anchor: one free devotional portion every day.
Aelred built his sister's day around fixed times of prayer and meditation; Chosen Portion supplies the fixed daily portion that makes a modern rule of life keepable.
- Anchor your rule with a fixed 10-minute daily portion
- Practice Aelred's threefold meditation with guided daily prompts
- Review and adjust your one-page rule after 30 days of tracked practice