VISIO SECUNDA, cap. XLVII
The Divine Searcher of Hearts
God declares that He searches the heart and rewards deeds, while those who truly love Him reject false pretexts and fleshly cravings, even though human nature often pursues its own desires.
"I am the Lord, searching the heart and testing the kidneys, who gives to each one according to their way and according to the fruit of their deeds." This is clear to the understanding: those who love God seek no other behind any false pretext, nor do they choose to entertain the whispered cravings of the flesh with anyone else; and yet a person often carries out their own desires, just as Adam tested what they could do.
The Inner Struggle of Flesh and Spirit
The soul and flesh are locked in a bitter struggle, as the flesh pulls toward sin and the soul strives for righteousness, making every good work a laborious effort of submission.
But a person cannot serve God and the devil at the same time, since what God loves, the devil hates, and what the devil loves, God disregards — just as it is in a person, because the flesh delights in sins while the soul thirsts for righteousness, and in these two there is a great struggle, because one part stands opposed to the other. And yet the work a person begins is brought forward in this way with great struggle, just as a servant is compelled to serve their master: because the flesh, with the soul subjected to it, sets out to sin, while the soul, with the flesh lying under it, works the good deed.
The Way of Abel and Renunciation
The just renounce fleshly cravings for God's love, following Abel's example, and the Lord searches their disciplined hearts to reward them according to the fruit of their thoughts.
But when a person runs according to the soul's desires, for the love of God they renounce themselves and become a stranger in the cravings of the flesh — which is what the just and the holy do, and what Abel did, who looked toward God; and at the shedding of whose blood the whole earth trembled, so that afterward she was called 'widow,' that is, bereft of the integrity of holiness through Cain's murder, like a woman deprived of her husband's comfort in widowhood. For I too, the Lord of all, search the bruised hearts that neglect sins, and test the kidneys that restrain themselves from the taste of cravings, who give to a person their reward according to the labor of the steps of their ways, and according to what fruit their deliberation of thoughts produces — because I have all the fruits of a person written before me.
Healing, Praise, and Devout Prayer
Whoever turns from cravings is healed by the Lamb's blood, prompting heavenly praise, and all who fear God should pray these divinely given words for their salvation.
For a person who abandons their cravings is just; one who follows every desire into those cravings cannot be called just; but if they turn to good, their wounds are washed in the blood of the Lamb, and then too the heavenly host, seeing those wounds healed, is stirred up to the wonderful praise of God. So then, everyone who fears and loves God should open the devotion of their heart with these words, and know that these words are for the salvation of people's bodies and souls — not indeed from a human being, but through me, who am the one through whom they were uttered.
Read the original Latin
« Ego Dominus scrutans cor et probans renes, qui do unicuique juxta viam suam, et juxta fructum adinventionum suarum . » Quod sic intellectui patet: Qui Deum diligunt, per nullam clausuram falsae occasionis alium quam ipsum quaerunt, nec ullas susurrationes concupiscentiarum carnis suae cum alio habere volunt; cum tamen homo voluntates suas multoties perficiat, sicut et Adam tentavit quid facere posset. Homo autem Deo et diabolo simul servire non potest, quoniam quod Deus diligit, diabolus odit, et quod diabolus diligit, Deus negligit, quemadmodum in homine est, quia caro in peccatis delectatur, et anima justitiam sitit, atque in his duobus pugna magna est, quoniam pars altera parti alteri contraria existit. Sed tamen opus quod homo incipit, hoc modo in magna contentione perficitur, sicut et servus domino suo servire cogitur, quoniam caro cum anima sibi subjecta peccatum aggreditur, animaque cum carne illi substrata opus bonum operatur. Cum autem homo secundum desideria animae currit, se ipsum propter amorem Dei repudiat, atque peregrinum in concupiscentiis carnis se facit, quod justi et sancti faciunt, et etiam Abel fecit, qui in Deum aspexit; et in cujus sanguinis effusione tota terra contremuit, ita ut postmodum vidua nominata sit, scilicet integritate sanctitatis per homicidium Cain privata, velut mulier solatio viri in viduitate destituitur. Nam et ego Dominus cunctorum scrutor corda contrita, quae peccata negligunt, proboque renes, qui de gustu concupiscentiarum se continent, qui reddo homini mercedem secundum laborem gressuum viarum suarum, et secundum quod fructus in deliberatione cogitationum suarum profert, quia omnes fructus hominis coram me scriptos habeo. Homo enim qui voluntates suas concupiscentiarum suarum deserit, justus est; qui vero omnem voluntatem suam in concupiscentiis sequitur, justus nominari non poterit; sed tamen si ad bonum conversus fuerit, cicatrices ejus in sanguine Agni abluuntur, et tunc etiam coelestis exercitus illas curatas videns in admirabilem laudem Dei excitatur. Omnis itaque homo qui Deum timet et diligit, verbis istis devotionem cordis sui aperiat, eaque et ad salutem corporum et animarum hominum, non quidem ab homine, sed per me qui sum prolata sciat.
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