VISIO SECUNDA, cap. XXXVIII
The Mouth of Hades Opens
Hades opens its insatiable throat to swallow the mighty, the exalted, and the glorious, while the proud are brought low.
Therefore Hades has opened wide its throat and stretched its mouth without limit, and into it will go the mighty, the exalted, and the glorious; and the human will be bowed low, the strong one humbled, and the eyes of the proud will be brought low.✦
The Waning Moon and Grace
The soul in sin is like the waning moon, darkened yet stirred by God's grace and rekindled by the Holy Spirit to behold the true light.
This is what it means for the understanding: the person who remains in sin is like the waning moon, which has a dark phase when it is fully dark and then is rekindled — because when it sees that it is dark, it is stirred again and again by God's grace to seek grace as it deserves; and when it has called on God's grace as it deserves, the Holy Spirit rekindles it to behold the true light, just as the moon is rekindled by the sun.
The Pride That Makes a God of Self
One strengthened by good works must not ascribe them to oneself, lest like Satan one make oneself a god and bring one's glory to ruin.
But once a person has been so strengthened by good works that they can't get enough of them, let them take every care not to ascribe these things to themselves — as though they came from themselves and not from God — making themselves into a god in this regard, and counting on being able to do whatever they want, just as Satan thought when he wanted to be God in his own domain, and so brought his glory to ruin.
Hades Devours the Glory-Seekers
Hades opens its greedy throat without ceasing, devouring the mighty who fight against God, the unjustly exalted, and those who seek their own glory rather than God's.
So Hades too has opened its throat wide — that is, the punishments it holds within itself — and has opened its greed without ceasing, since it is without all joy; and so it is never satisfied in its desire to consume, because just as unclean birds long to devour the carcasses of animals, so Hades in its wickedness draws to itself and devours the mighty who fight against God, the exalted who unjustly raise themselves up, and the glory-seekers who seek their own glory and not the glory of God.✦
The Fall of the Proud and the Hope of Repentance
The proud are bowed low, humbled, and brought to nothing for seeking human glory, yet if they repent they are received in the blood of the calf.
And so the person who consents to the evils just mentioned will be bowed low, just as the unhappy spirits mentioned above were bowed low with their prince; and the one who ought to have manly strength will be humbled when he turns from good to evil; and the eyes — that is, the knowledge of those who think themselves wise in the height of their pride — will be brought to nothing, because they lose the reward of glory that belongs to humility, since they seek glory from people for their good works without repenting of it. For if they repent from that state, they will be received in the blood of the calf, as those who repent.
The Sixteen Stars of the Firmament
Sixteen principal stars are set with equal spacing in a circle of shining fire to strengthen the firmament and moderate its winds.
Regarding the sixteen principal stars in the circle of shining fire, set in place with equal spacing to strengthen the firmament and to moderate the winds around the circuit of that same firmament.
Read the original Latin
« Propterea infernus dilatavit animam suam, et aperuit os suum absque ullo termino, et descendent fortes ejus, et sublimes ejus, gloriosique ejus ad eum, et incurvabitur homo et humiliabitur vir, et oculi sublimium deprimentur . » Quod sic intellectui patet: Deficienti lunae, quae obscurum circulum habet, cum tota deficit, et reaccenditur, homo in peccatis manens assimilatur, quia cum se tenebrosum videt, per gratiam Dei saepius excitatur, ut digne gratiam Dei quaerat; et cum digne gratiam Dei invocaverit, Spiritus sanctus ad intuendum verum lumen ipsum accendit, velut luna a sole reaccenditur. Sed postquam bonis operibus ita confortatus fuerit, ut illis saturari non possit, omni studio caveat ne haec sibimetipsi ascribat; velut a se et non a Deo sint, in hoc etiam quasi Deum se faciens, et se posse facere quae voluerit computans, sicut et Satan putabat, qui in proprietate sua ut Deus esse voluit, unde et claritatem suam in oblivionem duxit. Propterea quoque infernus dilatavit animam suam, id est poenas quas in se habet, et aperuit voracitatem suam indesinenter, quoniam absque omni gaudio est, et ideo etiam in cupiditate absorbitionis suae non saturatur, quia ut immunda volatilia animalium cadavera vorare cupiunt, ita infernus in nequitia sua fortes qui contra Deum pugnant, et sublimes qui se injuste exaltant, atque gloriosos qui gloriam suam et non gloriam Dei quaerunt ad se trahit ac devorat. Unde etiam incurvabitur homo qui praefatis malis consentit, sicut et supradicti infelices spiritus cum principe suo incurvati sunt; et humiliabitur ille, qui virilem fortitudinem habere deberet, cum de bono ad malum declinat, atque oculi, id est scientia illorum qui in sublimitate superbiae se sapientes esse putant ad nihilum deducetur, quoniam mercedem gloriae humilitatis amittunt, quia gloriam a populo pro bonis operibus impoenitentes quaerunt. Nam si exinde poenituerint, in sanguine vituli velut poenitentes suscipientur.
De sedecim principalibus stellis, in circulo lucidi ignis ad solidandum firmamentum et temperandos ventos in circuitu ipsius firmamenti aequa distinctione constitutis.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Isa.5.14 — Therefore Sheol has enlarged its throat and opened its mouth beyond measure; and down go her splendor, her multitude, her tumult, and the one who exults in her.
- ↩Isa.5.14 — Therefore Sheol has enlarged its throat and opened its mouth beyond measure; and down go her splendor, her multitude, her tumult, and the one who exults in her.
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