VISIO QUARTA, cap. XXIV
The Soul Governs the Body in Strength
The soul, strengthened by the spirit of fortitude, governs the body in holiness and humility.
So too the soul, knowingly, in its own strength, governs the human body, since it understands and perceives in goodness and perfection and holiness, and knows the things that belong to God, worshiping the true God in the Trinity, and not seeking another God in delusion, just as these same powers of the soul also join themselves together into one, working at the same time. When it is touched by the spirit of fortitude in such a way that it everywhere contemplates the beginning of works and their perfection together with their end, it turns away from the things that are evil, and so it leads the body in which it dwells toward the sweetness of heavenly gifts, through which it draws all its members toward what is honorable, because its strengths are gathered into one through the power of God's might. But when this same fortitude strengthens the soul in this way, it makes the whole human body serve under its rule, so that it often draws tears and groans to that place, and then holds the person themselves in such great humility and stillness that, rightly instructed in all good things, they are able to govern themselves in both worldly and spiritual matters.
Day and Night in the Soul's Struggle
The soul rises in devotion like day and falls in sluggishness like night, with mixed works like moonlight.
Therefore through earnest devotion the soul of that person, as if in a good day, rises on high by doing good works; but while it is overcome by yielding to the desires of the flesh, it is as though brought low in the night by sleep, at one time fortifying itself, at another joining sluggishness to itself. For through earnest devotion, as if it were day, all things are considered; but through sluggishness, as if it were night, nothing is foreseen; yet just as night is sometimes illuminated by the moon, and when the moon is taken away is darkened again, so the works of the person are mixed, so that at one time they stand clear, at other times obscure.
Repentance and the Fear of the Lord
When the soul sins with the body, it repents, chastises the flesh, and leads it to desire heavenly things.
For when the soul, compelled by the body, does evil along with it, then its strength, lacking the light of truth, is darkened; but when afterward it feels itself burdened in sins against the will of the flesh, it lifts itself up by afflicting the body, and reproaching every evil work to itself. And so the light of blessedness rises, having overcome the night of sins, so that through the soul an evil knowledge is overcome along with the flesh, and the flesh is then chastised in repentance and amendment of wrongful works. And when the flesh is restrained in this way, the soul also makes it desire the heavenly things along with itself, because it has been strengthened by the spirit of fortitude, it also quickly subjects it to the fear of the Lord.
Soul and Flesh Helping One Another
The soul and flesh cooperate in good works, with the soul making allowances for the flesh's weakness.
The soul helps the flesh, and the flesh the soul, because through the soul and through the flesh each work is accomplished, and so the soul, too, comes alive again as it does good and holy works alongside the flesh. But the flesh often grows weary when it works with the soul; and so the soul then makes allowances for the flesh and lets it take some delight in a certain task, just as a mother makes a weeping infant laugh. And in this way the flesh works with the soul at certain good works — though they are interspersed with some sins — which the soul tolerates so the flesh isn't overwhelmed, since just as the flesh lives through the soul, so too the soul comes alive again as it works well alongside the flesh, because it is placed in the work of the hands of the Lord.12
The Sun, the Moon, and the Soul
The soul's moral ascent and decline mirror the sun's course, and soul-flesh harmony mirrors cosmic order.
For just as the sun, overcoming the night, climbs upward toward midday, so too a person, avoiding wicked works, advances upward; and just as the sun declines after midday, so the soul yields to the flesh; and so that it doesn't fail — as the moon is rekindled by the sun — the flesh of a person is sustained by the strength of the soul so that it doesn't fall into ruin.3 Just as all the veins of the body supply heat to the brain as it draws moisture from the internal organs, so too the higher spheres assist the sun when it sometimes pours out dew and rain, so that they do not fail from heat by their own fires; and in the same way, harmonies or dissonances between the soul and the flesh are found in accordance with these things.
Read the original Latin
Sic quoque anima scienter in viribus suis corpus hominis regit, cum ille in bonitate et perfectione et sanctitate intelligit et sentit, et scit ea quae ad Deum pertinent, verum Deum in Trinitate colens, nec alium Deum in fallacia quaerens, sicut etiam eaedem vires animae se in unum conjungunt simul operantes. Quae cum spiritu fortitudinis ita tangitur, ut initium operum perfectionemque eorum cum fine ipsorum ubique contempletur, ab illis quae mala sunt declinat, et sic corpori in quo habitat suavitatem supernorum donorum inducit, per quae omnia membra illius ad honestatem inducit, quoniam vires ejus per fortitudinem potestatis Dei in unum coadunatae sunt. Sed cum eadem fortitudo animam hoc modo roborat, dominio illius totum corpus hominis servire facit, ita ut illuc lacrymas cum gemitibus multoties educat, et tunc ipsum hominem in tanta humilitate et quiete continet, ut et in saecularibus et in spiritualibus se regere valeat, in omnibus bonis decenter instructus. Unde etiam anima ipsius per bonum studium velut in die bona operando in altum ascendit; sed dum concupiscentiae carnis consentiendo superatur, quasi in nocte sopore deprimitur, nunc quidem fortitudine se muniens, nunc autem desidiam sibi conjungens. Per bonum namque studium, velut dies est omnia considerando, per desidiam vero quasi nox nihil praevidendo; sed sicut nox per lunam aliquando illuminatur, eaque subtracta iterum obtenebratur, sic opera hominis permista sunt, ita ut nunc lucida, nunc obscura existant. Cum enim anima per corpus coacta malum cum ipso operatur, tunc virtus ipsius luce veritatis carens obtenebratur; sed cum deinde in peccatis se gravari senserit, contra voluntatem carnis se sursum tollit carnem affligendo, et quaeque mala opera ipsi improperando. Sicque lux beatitudinis nocte peccatorum superata exoritur, ita ut per animam mala scientia cum carne superetur, et caro in poenitentia et emendatione pravorum operum deinde castigetur. Et cum caro hoc modo constringitur, anima quoque illam secum coelestia appetere facit, quia spiritu fortitudinis tecum roboratam, timori Domini etiam celeriter illam subjicit.
Anima quippe carnem adjuvat, et caro animam, quia per animam et per carnem unumquodque opus perficitur, unde etiam anima cum carne bona et sancta opera faciendo reviviscit. Sed caro multoties taedium patitur, quando cum anima operatur; quapropter anima tunc carni condescendit, illamque in aliquo opere delectari permittit, quemadmodum mater flentem infantem ridere facit. Atque hoc modo caro cum anima aliqua bona opera, quibusdam tamen peccatis intermista, operatur, quod anima tolerat, ne caro obruatur, quoniam sicut caro per animam vivit, ita etiam anima cum carne bona operando reviviscit, quia in opere manuum Domini collocata est. Sicut enim sol noctem superando usque ad mediam diem ascendit, ita quoque homo prava opera vitando sursum incedit; et quemadmodum sol post mediam diem inclinatur, sic et anima carni consentit; et ut luna per solem reaccenditur ne deficiat, ita et viribus animae caro hominis sustentatur ne in interitum eat.
Quod sicut cerebro, humiditatem a visceribus trahenti, omnes corporis venae calorem administrant, ita et soli rorem et pluviam interdum diffundenti superiores circuli ne a calore deficiant ignibus suis assistunt, et quod secundum ista concordiae vel dissonantiae inter animam et carnem inveniantur.
Notes
- 1 ↩intermista: rare form rendered 'interspersed'; the sense is that the good works the flesh and soul do together are still mixed with sins, which the soul bears patiently.
- 2 ↩in opere manuum Domini collocata est: rendered 'it is placed in the work of the hands of the Lord'; the subject is the soul, and the phrase locates the soul's activity within God's own working.
- 3 ↩The final clause shifts imagery: the moon rekindled by the sun is the picture, but the sense is that the flesh is sustained by the soul's God-given strength so it doesn't collapse into destruction.
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