De ruina Ecclesiae

The Lost Glory of the Bride

The speaker laments the loss of the Church's original fervor and beauty, invoking apocalyptic imagery to describe her current desolation.

Chaste Virgin, though I'm an unworthy son, I'm still one of the members of the eternal Bridegroom. So it grieves me deeply that the loving age of old, and its sweet peril, is now lost for good; and there seems no counsel left that can restore it, or that would even dare. The burning voice of former days no longer knows the Greeks or the Romans; the light of the first years has returned to heaven with the queen, and toward us—alas for me—it no longer bends down.¹² Where are they, alas—the gems and the fine diamonds? Where are the burning lamps and the beautiful sapphires?^✦^✦³ O great pity, O tears, O sighs! Where are the white robes and the sweet songs?^✦^✦⁴ Where now are the horns and the holy eyes, the golden sashes, and the pure white steeds—the three, the four, and the five exalted ones—and the great wings, the eagle, and the lion?^✦^✦^✦⁵ You can barely find a coal still warm among the burning ink.^✦⁶ Show me, I beg you, your weeping!

The Mother's Sorrow

The speaker encounters the personified Church, who reveals the extent of her suffering and the corruption that has despoiled her.

So I said to the devout ancient Mother, out of the great desire I have always had to weep. And she—who seems never to dry her eyes—with bowed face and a modest soul took my hand and, weeping, led me to her poor cave; and there she said: “When I saw that proud one enter Rome, the one who walks without a care among the flowers and the grass, I drew back somewhat into the place where I lead my life in tears.”⁷⁸⁹ "Then look, my son," she said, "at this cruelty!" And here she uncovered what could make stones weep. I saw no hyacinths or chrysoprases there—not even a single pure crystal.¹⁰ Oh, what pity! O Sulla, O Marius—where are your swords?¹¹ "Why doesn't wicked Nero rise?" I asked.¹² Earth, air, and sky cry out for vengeance for her just blood. I see the milk burned dry, and the breast torn into a thousand pieces, far from her humble first holy appearance.¹³

The Desolation of the Earth

The Church describes the external forces attacking her, leading to a cosmic call for all creation to weep for her ruin.

She goes poor with her limbs bare, her hair loose, and her garlands broken; she finds no bees, but turns, alas, greedily to the ancient acorns.¹⁴ A scorpion stings her and the serpent corrupts her, and the locusts seize her roots: and so she goes along the ground—the crowned one and her holy hands—blasphemed by dogs who go swindling Sabbaths and kalends; some plant nothing, and others don't understand.¹⁵ Weep now, you twenty-four white-haired ones, four living creatures and seven holy trumpets; weep now, my zealous keeper of the stable; weep, you blood-stained pilgrim waters, O living stones, most high and divine!^✦¹⁶¹⁷ Now let every planet and every star weep, if the news has reached up there, where each of you is happy. I firmly believe, if I may say so, that you feel deep sorrow for such ruin: the temple is thrown down, and the pure building with it.¹⁸

The Silence of the Faithful

The speaker asks for the cause of the Church's ruin and is instructed to respond with silence and tears rather than futile resistance.

Then I said, Madonna: If it pleases you, my soul is content to weep with you. What force has so extinguished your kingdom? What arrogant power is breaking your peace?¹⁹ She answered, sighing: A deceitful, proud harlot—Babylon. And I: Ah, for God's sake, Lady—if only those great wings could be broken!²⁰ And she: A mortal tongue cannot do it, nor is it allowed—let alone taking up arms.²¹ You—weep and keep silent: that seems best to me. Song, I don't care if a scorpion stings me; don't take on the task if you won't be understood.^✦²² Perhaps it's better to just be content with the quia, since it has to be this way.²³

Read the original Latin

Vergene casta, ben che indegno figlio, Pur son di membri de l’eterno Sposo: Però mi duol asai che l’amoroso Antiquo tempo, e il dolce suo periglio Or mai sia perso; e non par più consiglio Che ristorar il possa, on forsi ardisca: L’ardente voce prisca Più non cognosce i Greci nè’ Romani; El lume de’ primi ani È ritornato in ciel cum la regina, Et a noi, lasso me, più non se inchina.

U’ son, oimè, le gemme e i fin diamanti? U’ son le lampe ardente e i bei xafiri? O gran pietade, o lacrime, o sospiri! U’ son le bianche stole e i dolci canti? U’ son or mai le corna e gli occhi santi, Le zone d’oro, e i candidi destrieri, Tri, quatro e cinque altieri, E le grande ale, l’aquila, e ’l leone? A pena che ’l carbone Si trova caldo fra lo ignito inchiostro. Mostratime, vi prego, il pianto vostro!

Così dissi io a la pia Madre antica, Per gran desio ch’io ho di pianger sempre: E lei, che par che gli ochi mai non tempre, Col viso chino e l’anima pudica, La man mi prese, et a la soa mendica Spelonca mi condusse lacrimando; E quivi disse: Quando Io vidi a Roma intrar quella superba, Che va tra’ fiori e l’erba Securamente, mi ristrinsi alquanto Ove io conduco la mia vita in pianto.

Poi mira (disse), figlio, crudeltade! E qui scoperse da far pianger sassi. Iacinti ivi io non vidi, o crisopassi; Nè pur un vetro mondo. O che pietade! O Silla, o Mario, u’ son le vostre spade? Perchè non sorge, dissi, Neron felo? La terra, l’aria e ’l cielo Vendetta grida del suo sangue iusto. El latte io vedo esusto, E lacerato in mille parte il petto, Fuor de l’umil suo primo santo aspetto.

Povra va con le membra discoperte, I capei sparsi e rotte le girlande; Ape non trova, ma a le antique giande Avidamente, lasso, si converte. Scorpio la punge e l’angue la perverte, E le locuste le radice afferra: E così va per terra La coronata e le soe sante mani, Biastemata da cani, Che van truffando sabbati e kalende; Altri non pono, et altri non intende.

Piangete or quatro sei canute crine Quatro animali e sette tube sante; Or piangi stabulario mio zelante; Piangete sanguigne aque pelegrine, O pietre vive, altissime e divine! Or pianga ogne pianeta et ogne stella, Se gionta è la novella Là su, dove è ciascun di voi felice. Ben credo, se dir lice, Che avete doglia assai di tanto guasto: Prostrato è il tempio e lo edificio casto.

Do poi Madona, dissi: Se ’l ve piace, Di pianger con voi l’alma si contenta. Qual forza ve ha così del regno spenta? Qual’arrogante rompe vostra pace? Rispose sospirando: Una fallace Superba meretrice, Babilona. Et io: Dhe, per Dio, Dona, Se romper se potria quelle grande ale! E lei: Lingua mortale Non pò, nè lice, non che mover l’arme. Tu, piangi e taci: e questo meglio parme.

Canzione, io non fo stima Di scorpio ponto: non pigliar impresa, Se non serai intesa. Forsi è meglio: sta’ pur contenta al quia, Do poi che fa mestier che così sia.

Scripture echoes

↩Rev.1.12-Rev.1.13 — And I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. Rev.1.13 — and in the midst of the lampstands, one like a son of man, clothed in a long robe and girded across the chest with a golden sash
↩Rev.21.19 — The foundations of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald,
↩Rev.7.9 — After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.
↩Rev.5.9 — And they sing a new song, saying: 'You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed for God people from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.'
↩Rev.5.6 — And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
↩Rev.1.13 — and in the midst of the lampstands, one like a son of man, clothed in a long robe and girded across the chest with a golden sash
↩Rev.6.2 — And I looked, and behold, a white horse, and the one sitting on it had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.
↩Isa.6.6-Isa.6.7 — Then one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a live coal, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. Isa.6.7 — and he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is removed, and your sin is atoned for."
↩1Pet.2.5 — and you yourselves, as living stones, are being built into a spiritual house, for a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
↩Luke.10.19;Rev.9.3-Rev.9.10 — Look, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing at all will harm you. Rev.9.3 — And out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and they were given authority, like the scorpions of the earth have authority. Rev.9.4 — And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. Rev.9.5 — And they were given authority not to kill them, but to torment them for five months. And their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a person. Rev.9.6 — And in those days people will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death flees from them. Rev.9.7 — And the locusts were like horses prepared for battle; and on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold, and their faces were like human faces. Rev.9.8 — and they had hair like the hair of women, and their teeth were like those of lions. Rev.9.9 — and they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of many horses rushing into battle Rev.9.10 — They have tails like scorpions, and stingers, and in their tails is their power to harm people for five months.

Notes

1 ↩periglio is the sweet danger/peril of that early loving age (likely the hazard of fervent devotion and persecution), not mere worldly risk.
2 ↩Most naturally Mary, Queen of Heaven, addressed in the opening; less likely the Church personified as queen/bride.
3 ↩xafiri = zaffiri (sapphires). lampe ardente keeps the source's singular-form adjective with a plural noun; rendered as burning lamps.
4 ↩bianche stole rendered as white robes (apocalyptic/heavenly garments), not clerical stoles alone.
5 ↩Dense Apocalypse-style inventory of lost ecclesial/heavenly glory. corna e occhi santi, zone d'oro, candidi destrieri, ale, aquila, and leone likely draw on living-creature and throne imagery; tri/quatro/cinque altieri is opaque (orders, ranks, or visionary multiples) and left as 'the three, the four, and the five exalted ones.'
6 ↩Metaphor of nearly cold coal amid ignited ink: likely true spiritual fire almost extinguished, while only written words still blaze. A pena che taken as 'scarcely/barely.'
7 ↩Likely the Church personified as the ancient Mother mourning her ruin (chapter: De ruina Ecclesiae), not the Virgin as primary sense here.
8 ↩Feminine personification: Pride, or a proud worldly power entering Rome. Kept as “that proud one” to preserve the Italian gender and personification without over-specifying.
9 ↩Early Italian temperare gli occhi = dry/rest the eyes from weeping; rendered as never drying her eyes (perpetual tears).
10 ↩"vetro mondo" rendered as pure crystal; could also be clean/clear glass.
11 ↩Silla/Mario = the Roman civil-war leaders Sulla and Marius, invoked as agents of bloody judgment.
12 ↩"felo" taken as wicked/criminal (cf. felon); alternative older sense "cruel/fierce."
13 ↩Maternal milk and breast figure the Church's nurturing life; "esusto" = burned up/consumed dry.
14 ↩Personified Church (feminine subject of the chapter's ruin): 'ape' kept as bees (not honey by metonymy); 'antique giande' as ancient acorns—primitive/degraded sustenance after the loss of ordered fruitfulness.
15 ↩'Altri non pono, et altri non intende': 'pono' read as pongono (plant/set/put in place); rendered as agricultural-moral 'plant nothing' after the locust-root image. Alternative: 'set nothing forward / do nothing.' Closing antithesis is compressed and slightly elliptical.
16 ↩quatro sei is read as 4×6 = 24, the white-haired elders of Revelation, in parallel with the four living creatures and seven trumpets that follow; a looser reading would keep the bare numerals.
17 ↩stabulario is a stable-keeper or innkeeper (from stabulum); kept as keeper of the stable for the nativity/house-of-God image rather than modernized away.
18 ↩casto keeps the moral purity of the Church-building (chaste/undefiled), not merely architectural cleanliness; rendered pure.
19 ↩Qual'arrogante can mean 'what arrogant one' (personified agent) or 'what arrogance'; rendered as agentive force to match the following answer naming Babylon.
20 ↩quelle grande ale ('those great wings') is left as wings; likely the overweening power of Babylon (apocalyptic bird/beast imagery), not explained in the source.
21 ↩non che rendered as 'let alone' (escalation from speech/capacity to armed action); nè lice as 'nor is it allowed/lawful'.
22 ↩«scorpio ponto» (scorpion’s sting) is figurative for hostile wounding—likely censure or danger for speaking against Babylon/the Church’s ruin; rendered as literal image with that force intact.
23 ↩«al quia» keeps the scholastic tag (know *that* it is so without the full *why*/propter quid). Dante’s Purg. 3.37 («state contenti… al quia») is the nearest register; not flattened to a generic «because».

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