VISIO QUARTA, cap. LIV
The Soul's Penetrating Vitality
Just as the earth possesses both yielding and impenetrable parts, the rational soul possesses a vital power that penetrates the softness of the flesh and the hardness of the bones to fulfill the body's works.
But the middle part of the earth — that is, its upper portion — is soft, yielding, and easily pierced, while the other half, namely the lower part, is tough, hard, and impenetrable, so much so that its very hardness and strength surpass the hardness and strength of steel. In the same way, the rational soul has a certain vitality within its powers, by which it penetrates the softness of the flesh and the hardness of the bones and every vein — much as weapons that cut through the hardness of steel take on greater solidity in whatever they sever; and just as loaves are baked by the fire of a furnace, so the works of the body are fulfilled by the burning zeal of the soul.
The Inseparable Union of Soul and Flesh
Through love, the soul sustains the body and works inseparably with it, clinging to it like a wife to her husband so that the two become one flesh.
For the soul itself, through love, sustains the body — as the hard part of earth supports the soft part — and works all its works inseparably with it, clinging to it as a wife clings to her husband, from whom she cannot be separated, since the two are one flesh.✦✦
The Proportions of the Inner Person
The proportional measurements of the human body from shoulders to fingertips correspond to the winds and reveal the inner qualities of a person.
What the measure of the shoulders, elbows, hands, and feet — up to the tip of the longest finger — might signify when it corresponds in some proportion to the winds, and what it might reveal about the inner qualities of a person.
Read the original Latin
Media autem pars terrae, id est superior pars ipsius, tenera, mollis et perforabilis est; altera vero medietas, scilicet inferior pars illius, tenax, dura et impenetrabilis existit, ita ut etiam duritia et fortitudo ipsius duritiam et fortitudinem chalybis exsuperet. Hoc modo etiam anima rationalis quamdam viriditatem in viribus suis habet, qua mollitiem carnis et duritiam ossium omnesque venas penetrat, velut arma quae per duritiam chalybis secandi quaslibet res majorem soliditatem capiunt; et ut panes igne fornacis coquuntur, ita opera corporis ardenti studio animae complentur. Ipsa enim corpus amore, ut dura pars terrae mollem partem terrae sustentat, et omnia opera sua cum ipso inseparabiliter operatur, cui etiam ut mulier viro suo, a quo separari non potest, quoniam duo in carne una sunt, adhaeret.
Quid mensura humerorum, cubitorum, manuum quoque et pedum, usque ad finem majoris digiti, ventis in aliqua proportione similis, in interioris hominis qualitatibus demonstret.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Gen.2.24;Matt.19.5;Eph.5.31 — Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. Matt.19.5 — and he said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' Eph.5.31 — For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.
- ↩Gen.2.24 — Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
Liber Divinorum Operum (Book of Divine Works) companion
Don't stop at Day 30
All 317 chapters live in the free Chosen Portion app, paced for daily reading
Hildegard's practice of daily attention to God's work in creation becomes a paced daily devotional through all ten visions in the Chosen Portion app
- One vision passage a day, readable in under 10 minutes
- The complete Book of Divine Works plus Hildegard's other major works, free
- Progress tracking so a 317-chapter classic actually gets finished