VISIO QUARTA, cap. LXXX
The Earth as a Figure of the Soul
The earth, set in the air like a honeycomb in honey and fortified by hills, is presented as an image of the soul dwelling in the body, working with all creatures and choosing between good and evil works.
The earth is set in the middle of the air like a honeycomb set in the middle of honey, raised up with various hills, so that in one part the hills are scorched by unbearable heat, in another part they are made uninhabitable by unbearable cold, but in yet another part the hills are tempered by both heat and cold. It is strengthened by these hills, like a city fortified with towers and battlements. And so the hills shelter the valleys, and the mountains defend the land against a variety of storms; for this reason the earth itself, surrounded and fortified by mountains and hills as if by a wall, This signifies that the soul, which by God's command is wholly fixed in the body, knows in it that it must work together with every creature, heavenly and earthly tasks. It understands also that God, who judges every evil deed in a person's good works, is praised by all his angels and saints, because he himself, the king and ruler of all in the heavens and the liberator in the lowest depths, having taken on human mortality in the flesh, set humanity free, and because this wondrous God works very many miracles in his saints. For when a person has sinned according to the cravings of the flesh, through the soul they are often called back to repentance; but in the case of someone who by never turning away from sin has overcome the soul, the soul mourns with a tearful voice, because the hunger of their nature is never satisfied while they can scarcely have any hope of salvation before God. But God's grace, by bringing that same person in bitter repentance finally to recognize their sins, strengthens them to leave the world, through which the soul rejoices greatly; and so the works of the person on earth, which the air holds above and below on every side, are made like it, and the soul with the body is like the air with the earth, and like a honeycomb set in the middle of honey. For just as the earth has hills tempered by heat and cold for dwelling on, and also has some that are untempered and uninhabitable, so too a person performs good works, by which they are led to the heavenly homeland, and evil works, by which they are led to places of punishment.
The Soul's Victory Through Humility
When the soul overcomes the flesh, serves God like the angels, and climbs by humility, it is defended from pride and the devil's deceit and brought safely toward the heavenly homeland.
But when the soul herself has overcome the will of the flesh and emerged as victor, she delights in good works by her very nature, because she is spirit, and she serves God just as the angels do who behold his face, in the love of faith.✦ The body too, to which the desires of the flesh are opposed to good works, thinks on what is good and holy; and when the soul has conquered it through the fiercest battles of noble deeds, that same body is adorned and strengthened by its good works like a city with towers and battlements.✦ For the soul herself is humble, and through the most lowly nature of the flesh by which she is weighed down, she has a lamentable voice by which she never allows the person who lifts up his neck in pride to have full joy.✦ The soul also, by the very nature of that same spirit, cannot rejoice on account of the trouble of sins in the penitence of those who repent; and so the soul, in the true ascent of humility, constrains the person so that he cannot wander in the empty paths of pride.✦ For the soul, which climbs by the ladder of humility to the high mountain that is the dwelling of the heavenly Jerusalem, always warns the person to turn away from pride and to bow down to humility, so that he may not be swallowed up through the deceit of the ancient serpent; because just as valleys are shielded from unseasonable rain by hills, so people are defended from evils through humility.✦✦✦ And just as the earth is defended and strengthened from various storms by mountains and hills, which serve it as a wall, so the soul, through the holy works that are fortified by humility like a wall, will arrive at the heavenly homeland, safe from the confusion of the devil.✦✦
Illumined by Wisdom's Light
As the earth is tempered by the sun from every side, so a soul submitted to God is to be illuminated and strengthened by the light of wisdom's discernment.
Because just as the earth is so placed that it's tempered by the sun from every side, so also a soul that has submitted to God is to be illuminated by the light of wisdom's discernment and suffused with its power.
Read the original Latin
Terra enim in medio aeris ut favus in medio mellis est, diversis collibus elata, ita ut in quadam parte colles nimio aestu, in quadam nimio frigore inhabitabiles habeat, in quadam autem parte colles aestu et frigore temperatos. Per colles quippe firmata est, ut urbs cum turribus et propugnaculis. Colles itaque valles obtegunt, et montes terram contra varias tempestates defendunt; quapropter et ipsa montibus et collibus velut muro circumdata et firmata est. Hoc designat quod anima, quae ex praecepto Dei tota corpori infixa est, in illo se cum omni creatura operaturam coelestia et terrena opera cognoscit. Intelligit etiam quia Deus, qui omnia mala opera judicat in bonis operibus hominis, ab omnibus angelis et sanctis suis laudatur, quoniam ipse rex et imperator omnium in coelestibus et liberator in infimis existens, hominem mortalitate carnis assumpta liberavit, et quod ipse mirabilis Deus plurima miracula in sanctis suis operatur. Cum enim homo secundum gustum carnis suae peccaverit, per animam in poenitentia saepe revocatur: sed qui a peccatis nunquam cessando animam superaverit, in illo anima lacrymabili voce plangit, eo quod esuries naturae suae nunquam reficiatur, dum pene nullam spem salvationis ad Deum habere possit. Sed gratia Dei eumdem hominem in amara poenitentia peccata sua tandem cognoscere faciens, eum ad relinquendum saeculum confortat, per quod anima multum laetatur; sicque opera hominis terrae, quam aer super et subtus undique tenet, assimilantur, et anima cum corpore ut aer cum terra, et ut favus in medio mellis est. Sicut enim terra colles ad habitandum aestu et frigore temperatos; et quosdam intemperatos et inhabitabiles habet, sic etiam homo bona opera quibus ad coelestem patriam, et mala quibus ad poenalia loca ducitur exercet.
Cum autem ipsa voluntatem carnis superando victrix exstiterit, bonis operibus ex natura sua quoniam spiritus est delectatur, Deoque quemadmodum angeli, qui faciem ejus inspiciunt, in amore fidei famulatur. Corpus quoque, cui desideria carnis contraria sunt, ad bona opera et sancta cogit; et cum illud per fortissima bella bonorum operum devicerit, ejusdem bonis operibus velut urbs cum turribus et propugnaculis ornatur et firmatur. Ipsa enim humilis est, et per vilissimam naturam carnis qua opprimitur lamentabilem vocem habet, per quam hominem, qui collum suum in superbiam erigit, nunquam plenum gaudium habere permittit. Qui etiam ex natura ejusdem animae propter molestiam peccatorum in poenitentia illorum gaudere non potest, et sic anima in vera ascensione humilitatis, hominem ne in vanis viis superbiae vagari possit constringit. Anima quippe quae per scalam humilitatis ad altum montem, qui habitatio coelestis Jerusalem est, ascendit, hominem a superbia discedere, et ad humilitatem se inclinare, ne per dolum antiqui serpentis dimergatur semper monet, quoniam sicut valles de incongrua pluvia per colles, sic homines per humilitatem a malis defenduntur. Et sicut terra per montes et colles, quibus velut muro defensa et firmata est, a variis tempestatibus defenditur, sic anima per sancta opera quae humilitate velut muro muniuntur, ad coelestem patriam a confusione diaboli perveniet.
Quia sicut terra sic posita est, ut undique a sole temperetur, ita et anima Deo subjecta a luce sapientiae discretionis virtute illuminanda perfundatur.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Matt.22.30;Mark.12.25 — For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. Mark.12.25 — For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in the heavens.
- ↩Ps.122.7;Ps.48.12-Ps.48.13 — May there be peace within your walls, and prosperity within your citadels. Ps.48.12 — Let Mount Zion rejoice, and let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of your judgments. Ps.48.13 — Walk around Zion, go around her, count her towers.
- ↩Ps.131.1;Prov.16.18 — O LORD, my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. Prov.16.18 — Before destruction comes pride, and before a fall, a haughty spirit.
- ↩Ps.119.104;Jer.6.16 — Through your precepts I gain understanding; therefore I hate every false way. Jer.6.16 — Thus says the LORD: Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'
- ↩Gen.28.12 — And he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
- ↩Rev.12.9;Gen.3.1 — And the great dragon was thrown down—the ancient serpent, the one called the Devil and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. Gen.3.1 — Now the serpent was more crafty than any other animal that the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?"
- ↩Jas.4.6;1Pet.5.5 — But he gives greater grace. Therefore it says, 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.' 1Pet.5.5 — Likewise, younger people, submit to the elders. And all of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
- ↩Ps.125.2;Isa.26.1 — As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people, from this time forth and forever. Isa.26.1 — In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: 'A strong city is ours; God will appoint salvation as walls and ramparts.'
- ↩Phil.3.20;Heb.11.14-Heb.11.16 — For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Heb.11.14 — For those who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. Heb.11.15 — And if they had been remembering that country from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. Heb.11.16 — But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
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