VISIO QUINTA, cap. XI
The Red Arch of Judgment
A red arch of divine zeal stretches from south to north across the west, condemning those who abandon good works and true faith to punishment.
From that same middle section, a red circle extends outward in the shape of an arch, covering the entire outer western region and even certain divisions that lie beyond its roundness — because from that perfection by which God mercifully cherishes those who worship him, the fire of his own zeal, through the vengeance of an outstretched hand, rightly judges and condemns to places of punishment those who walk outside the bounds of good works and those who stand outside the wholeness of true faith, turning from the edge of the aforementioned southern wing all the way around the western edge to the limit of the northern wing, casting out from the prosperity of the present life the guilty deeds that it hurls into the harshness of its own scourges, because they have not held fast to the truth of justice.✦✦
The City of Living Stones
A city built of living stones rises eastward between the wings, representing the faithful who turn from earthly things and direct their gaze toward God's judgment seat.
What appears from that very roundness toward the east, between the aforementioned wings, like a building rising upward all the way to the above-mentioned globe — this is that city built from living stones, which turns away from earthly causes through the rising of justice, within the shelter of God, and directs its gaze toward the judgment seat of God, glorifying him, because faithful souls praise God constantly, since he administers all things rightly.✦✦✦
The Heavenly Architecture of the Church
The structures above the earth — the street, the star, the globe, and the flashing rays — are related to the Church, Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the guardian angels who protect the saints.
Concerning the structure appearing above the roundness of the earth, and the street and the star shining above it, and the other globe and the rays of stars flashing between those same wings, and the distances at which all these things stood apart — how they are related to the city of God, which is the Church, and to Christ, and to the Holy Spirit and his gifts, and to the angels, by whose protection the saints are fortified.
Read the original Latin
Et ab eadem medietate rubeus circulus in modum arcus se extendens, totam exteriorem partem occidentis, nec non et quasdam distinctiones quae extra rotunditatem illius sunt, comprehendit, quia a perfectione illa qua Deus ipsum colentes misericorditer fovet, ignis zeli sui per vindictam justae extensionis eos qui extra ambitum bonorum operum incedunt, illosque qui extra integritatem verae fidei sunt juste dijudicat, atque ad loca poenalia damnat, scilicet a termino praefatae australis alae circa occidentem usque ad terminum septentrionalis alae se retorquendo, cum a prosperitate praesentis vitae culpabilia facta projiciens, ea in asperitatem flagellorum suorum mittit, quoniam veritatem justitiae non tenuerint. Quod autem ab ipsa rotunditate versus orientem inter praefatas alas quasi aedificium sursum usque ad supradictum globum ascendens apparet, hoc est quod a terrenis causis se avertens per ortum justitiae inter protectionem Dei civitas vivis ex lapidibus constructa, ad judicium Dei aspectum suum dirigit, ipsum glorificans, quia fideles animae Deum assidue laudant, quoniam omnia recte dispensat.
De aedificio supra rotunditatem terrae apparente, de platea et stella super eam radiante, et de alio globo et radiis stellarum inter easdem alas micantibus, et de spatiis quibus haec omnia distabant, quomodo ad civitatem Dei, quae est Ecclesia, et Christum, et ad Spiritum sanctum, et munera ejus et ad angelos, quorum custodia sancti muniuntur, referantur.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Deut.32.22;Song.8.6 — For a fire is kindled in my anger, and it burns to the depths of Sheol; it devours the earth and its produce, and sets ablaze the foundations of the mountains. Song.8.6 — Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is strong as death, passion is fierce as Sheol. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a flame of Yah.
- ↩Rom.1.18;2Thess.2.10 — For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth by unrighteousness. 2Thess.2.10 — and with all the deception of unrighteousness among those who are perishing, in return for which they did not receive the love of the truth so that they might be saved
- ↩1Pet.2.5 — and you yourselves, as living stones, are being built into a spiritual house, for a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
- ↩2Cor.5.10;Rom.14.10 — For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what has been done through the body, whether good or evil. Rom.14.10 — But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.
- ↩Ps.33.2;1Thess.5.17 — Praise the LORD with the lyre; with the ten-stringed harp make music to him. 1Thess.5.17 — Pray without ceasing.
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