Con nostro Senyor Deus devallà als inferns
The Hope of the Fathers
Before Christ's coming, the prophets and saints awaited redemption in the shadow of original sin, comforted by the news of the Savior's arrival.
In the time of the prophets and the holy fathers, before the Son of God was made flesh and crucified, all the prophets and the saints who lived before the coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, went down into hell because of original sin.1 So when it pleased the Son of God to be made flesh and born, Saint John the Baptist became the messenger of the Son of God to the saints who were tormented in the pains of hell, and he announced to them the coming of the Son of God; at that news, the saints were glad and consoled.✦✦2
The Harrowing of Hell
Christ descends to liberate the saints from their prison, bringing them into eternal glory and receiving the joyful recognition of Adam.
Know and believe, dear son, that when the soul of our Lord Jesus Christ left his dead body on the cross, he immediately descended into hell, came to Adam, Abraham, and the other prophets and saints, and by his power drew them out of their prison from the demons and placed them in heavenly glory, which will never end.✦3 When Adam saw his Lord come, and his Creator come to free him from the hardship and the pain where he had been for five thousand years, then he said: “These are the hands that created me and formed me, and this is the Lord who has remembered us in his glory.”✦ The great joy that Adam and the other saints had, son, I couldn't recount to you, nor could you measure it; yet you can imagine how great a joy you'd feel if someone pulled you out of a well full of fire, sulfur, serpents, and darkness, and moved you into the glory of heaven.
The Justice and Presence of God
The author reflects on the severity of divine justice regarding sin and explains the mystery of Christ's omnipresence during his descent.
If, because of Adam's one sin, the souls of the prophets who didn't consent to that sin stayed in hell for so long—and would have stayed there forever if the Son of God hadn't come—remember, son, how great God's justice is, which punishes sin so severely; and don't believe, son, that the Son of God will come again to free the sinners who are in hell. Know this, my son: the Son of God remained with the body of Jesus Christ on the cross, and with his soul he descended into hell, while his body stayed in the place where he was crucified. And do you know why?✦✦ So that it might be made clear4 that the Son of God is present in every place that exists, for nothing created is as great as the Son of God.✦
Read the original Latin
En lo temps dels profetes e dels sants pares, ans quel Fill de Deu fos encarnat e crucificat, tots los profetes els sants qui eren ans del aveniment de Jhesu Christ Fill de Deu anaven en infern per rahó del original peccat. On, con plach al Fill de Deu que fo encarnat e nat, Sant Johan Baptista fo missatge del Fill de Deu als sants qui eren en les penes infernals turmentats, e denunciá a aquells laveniment del Fill de Deu: del qual foren los sants alegres e consolats.
Sapies e creegues, amable fill, que con l anima de nostro Senyor Jhesu Christ lexá lo cors mort en la creu, que encontinent devallá als inferns e vene a Adam e Abraam e als altres profetes e sants, e trach aquells, a forsa dels demonis, de lur presó, e mes los en gloria celestial, la qual no aurá fi.
Con Adam viu son Senyor venir e son Creador per ell a deliurar del trebay e de la dolor hon avía estat cinch milia anys, adones dix: — Aqüestes son les mans quim crearen em formaren, e aquest es lo Senyor quins ha remembrats en la sua gloria.
Lo gran goig que Adam e los altres sants agüeren, fill, nol te poria recomtar, ne tu no l te puries aesmar; empero tu pots cogitar con gran goig auríes si hom te treya dun pou ple de foch, de sofre e de serpents e de tenebres, e hom te mudava en la gloria celestial.
Si per un peccat de Adam les animes dels profetes qui no consentiren al peccat estegren tan longament a infern, e tot temps hi estegren si l Fill de Deu no vengués, remembra, fill, con gran cosa es la justicia de Deu qui tan fort ponex peccat; e no creegues, fill, quel Fill de Deu venga altra vegada deliurar los peccadors qui son en los inferns.
Sapies, fill, que lo Fill de Deu romis ab lo cors de Jhesu Christ en la creu; e ab la anima devallá en los inferns, estant lo cors en aquell loch hon fo crucificat: ¿e sabs per que? per so que fos significa! que lo Fill de Deu es per tots los lochs qui son: car tot quant es creat no es tan gran com es lo Fill de Deu,
Scripture echoes
- ↩Mal.3.1 — And See, I am sending my messenger, and he will clear the way before me. Then the Lord you seek will suddenly come to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight will come, says the LORD of Armies.
- ↩1Pet.3.19 — in which also he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison,
- ↩1Pet.3.19;Eph.4.9 — in which also he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, Eph.4.9 — Now "he ascended"—what does it mean except that he also descended into the lower regions, the earth?
- ↩Job.10.8;Ps.119.73 — Your hands shaped me and made me, all around, and yet you swallow me down. Ps.119.73 — Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding, that I may learn your commandments.
- ↩1Pet.3.18-1Pet.3.19 — For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God — put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit. 1Pet.3.19 — in which also he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison,
- ↩1Pet.3.18 — For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God — put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit.
- ↩Eph.4.9-Eph.4.10 — Now "he ascended"—what does it mean except that he also descended into the lower regions, the earth? Eph.4.10 — The one who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.
Notes
- 1 ↩Medieval Catalan infern here means the underworld of the dead (the limbo of the fathers), not the hell of the damned; the next section describes Christ freeing Adam, Abraham, and the saints from that prison.
- 2 ↩Opening On is taken as a narrative connective (so/whereupon), common in medieval Catalan, not the locative 'where'.
- 3 ↩Catalan «a forsa dels demonis» is read as forcible rescue from the demons (Harrowing of Hell), not as force belonging to the demons.
- 4 ↩Source reads «per so que fos significa!»; parallel Doctrina pueril usage is «per so que fos significat que…» (cf. 1.15.3). Translated as intended «significat» (so that it might be signified/made clear), not as present-tense «significa».
Doctrine for Children — Opening companion
Rule yourself daily, not just on retreat
Chosen Portion turns the mirror into a daily practice — a short reading and examining question each morning before you lead anyone.
Chosen Portion makes the mirror daily: the ruler-formation questions this collection preserves become a two-minute morning examination in the app.
- A daily formation reading drawn from centuries of counsel to those in authority
- One pointed examination question a day — two minutes, before the meetings start
- Track your practice over weeks and watch the examined life become a habit