VISIO SECUNDA, cap. XIII
The Earth Held in Balance
The earth is set at the center of the elements, equally distant from the bright air, so that all the elements together temper and sustain it.
But the globe, too, in the middle of the sign of the thin air described above, is marked off, and it everywhere in its own circuit, at an equal distance, stands away from the sign of the strong and bright white air, revealing the earth that exists in the middle of the remaining elements, so that it may be tempered by all of them. From this it also, on this side and that, in an equal measure — taken up from them and joined to them — continually receives from them its vitality and strength for its own sustenance.
The Active Life as the Earth
The active life is likened to the earth, moving among desires with equal moderation, and its breadth is measured by the vast space from the highest circle to the clouds and back, so that it cannot be overwhelmed by the forces above it.
The active life, too, as it were designating the earth, and as if moving about in the midst of the directors of desires and running about in every direction, holds itself together by an equal moderation of devotion to the powers of discernment, as it now presses forward through faithful people toward spiritual duties, now toward bodily necessities, because those who love discernment direct all their works to the will of God. And its breadth across is as great as the depth of the space from the height of the highest circle all the way to the edge of the clouds, or from the edge of the clouds all the way to the height of the same globe, because by the supreme Creator the earth is heaped together and strengthened in this mass, so that it cannot be dissolved by the clamor of the upper elements, or by the force of winds, or by a flood of waters.
The Faithful Heart and Paul's Counsel
The faithful person, aware of God's power and human weakness, moderates all actions to keep the right measure, as Paul exhorts, and his words are now shown to fit this meaning.
For also any faithful person, with heart enlarged, considers the greatness of God's power, and examines the instability of mind and the weakness of their own flesh, and so moderates all they do, so as not to fall short of the right measure by going beyond it, whether in higher or in lower necessary causes — just as Paul, too, exhorts the faithful, saying: Paul's words, suited to the same meaning, and how they are to be understood.
Read the original Latin
Sed etiam globus in medio signi praedicti tenuis aeris signatus est, qui ubique in circuitu suo aequali spatio a signo fortis et albi lucidique aeris distat, terram ostendens quae in medio reliquorum elementorum existit, quatenus ab omnibus temperetur. Unde etiam hinc et hinc aequali modo ab illis sublata, illisque conjuncta, viriditatem et fortitudinem ad sustentationem sui ab eis assidue recipit. Activa quoque vita velut terram designans, et quasi in medio rectorum desideriorum conversans, et circumquaque discurrens, aequo moderamine devotionis ad vires discretionis se continet, cum nunc spiritalibus officiis, nunc corporalibus necessitatibus per fideles homines temperate insistit, quoniam qui discretionem amant, omnia opera sua ad voluntatem Dei dirigunt. Et tantae latitudinis quidem in transversum est, quanta profunditas spatii a summitate supremi circuli, usque ad extremitatem nubium, seu ab extremitate nubium usque ad summitatem ejusdem globi existit, quoniam a supremo Creatore terra hac mole conglobata et roborata est, ne a strepitu superiorum elementorum, aut vi ventorum, seu inundatione aquarum dissolvi possit. Nam etiam quilibet fideles dilatato corde magnitudinem potentiae Dei considerant, atque instabilitatem mentis, debilitatemque carnis suae inspiciunt, et sic omnia quae agunt temperant, ne vel in superioribus vel in inferioribus necessariis causis justum modum excedentes deficiant, quemadmodum et Paulus fideles exhortatur, dicens:
Verba Pauli ad eamdem significationem competentia et quomodo intelligenda sint.
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