VISIO QUINTA, cap. XV
Paradise Lost and Mercy Given
Humanity is created in unfading light, falls through disobedience into nakedness and exile, and the whole creation is darkened while the devil is barred from paradise.
Then God made the human being in the light of his power and placed him in the unfading light of paradise, which remains incorruptible with its fruits; but the human being seized upon disobedience and so knew himself to be naked; and this pleased the devil greatly, since he had stripped him, because he too had lost the beauty of his glory. But God appeared in a pale cloud like a flame, as if a stranger to him, just as he later showed himself with his face veiled to Moses and his other beloved ones, and he did not want him to be naked, because he willed that his Son would someday be clothed in the garment of humanity; and therefore he also gave him a garment of air, through which the living being breathes, since Adam and Eve had heard the living voice where they had abandoned God's command.✦ And so, driven out into a wretched exile, along with the other fruits of the earth they became rotten, and at their fall and departure every creature of the world was darkened, as if a ray of the sun were to shine through a thick cloud, just as even the entrance to paradise was darkened to the ancient deceiver, so that from then on he could not enter there.
Fire, Water, and the Garment of Humanity
God orders creation through fire and water, joins humanity to divinity in mercy, and forms the human body from these same elements so that it lives, burns, and flows with vital light.
Then the human being began to work with the rest of creation, because just as fire ignites and perfects everything else, so too the human being exists with the rest of creation, and creation lies hidden in fire, which pervades and tests all things; and water too is present, which cleanses all things; and fire burns with such great force that it would spare no one unless it were tempered by water. And just as water is present to spare fire, so too humanity is joined to divinity, so that it may spare, since it would not profit the human being to lie in darkness and give no light. For it is indeed coagulated by fire and pervaded by water, so that it may have form, and therefore it also perfects every clay form that it makes with fire and water. God is indeed the living light from which all lights shine, and therefore the human being abides in vital light through him, and he is also fire. Therefore he both burns the human being with fire and pervades him with water, and so water reddens and flows from excessive heat in human flesh.
The Working Life of the Enlightened Soul
A person enlightened by God's living fire cannot remain idle or empty but must work within the created world, which is the dwelling God prepared for him.
And how could it be fitting that a dark person should remain, when he grows bright from the light, and not move, when he lives from fire? Because if a person were without work and had no dwelling, he would be empty. For God, being fire and light, gives life to a person through the soul and moves him through reason; so also in the sound of the word he created the whole world, which is the dwelling of man — that is, the person who works with all these things, just as God made him perfect in all things.
Rescue from the Dragon's Hatred
Only God can rescue humanity from ruin and overcome the devil, as shown in Revelation's vision of the dragon persecuting the woman and her offspring and of her being helped from the earth.
No one could rescue a person from ruin—or overcome the devil, that deceiver—except God alone; and the words of the book of Revelation by the apostle John, and the sense in which they should be understood, concern the dragon's hatred and persecution directed at the woman and her offspring, and how she was helped from the earth.✦
Read the original Latin
Tunc Deus in lumine virtutis suae hominem fecit, illumque in inexstinguibilem lucem paradisi posuit, quae imputribilis cum fructibus suis manet; sed homo inobedientiam arripuit, ac sic nudum se esse cognovit; quod diabolo multum placuit, qui eum denudaverat, quoniam et ipse pulchritudinem gloriae suae perdiderat. At Deus in pallida nube sicut flamma, quasi illi alienus, apparuit, velut etiam obtecta facie postmodum Moysi et caeteris charis suis se ostendit, eumque nudum esse noluit, quia ut filius suus vestimento humanitatis quandoque indueretur voluit, et ideo etiam vestem de aere per quem animal vivit illi dedit, quoniam ipse Adam et Eva animal audierant, ubi praeceptum Dei deseruerant. Et sic in miseram peregrinationem expulsi cum aliis fructibus terrae putribiles effecti sunt, atque in casu et egressu eorum omnis creatura mundi obnubilata est, velut si radius solis per densam nubem fulgeat, quemadmodum etiam ingressus paradisi antiquo deceptori obnubilatus est, ita ut deinceps illuc non introeat. Deinde homo cum creatura operari coepit, quia sicut ignis alia quaeque accendit et perficit, ita et homo cum reliqua creatura est, atque creatura in igne latet, qui omnia perfundit et probat; ipsique aqua adest, quae omnia mundat; et ignis in tanta vi ardet, ut nulli parceret nisi per aquam temperaretur. Et ut aqua igni parcendo adest, sic etiam humanitas divinitati adjuncta est, ut parcat, quoniam homini non prodesset, quod in tenebris jaceret, nec ullum lumen daret. Ipse enim igne coagulatur et aqua perfunditur, ut forma esse possit, et propterea etiam omnem formam luteam quam facit, igne et aqua perficit. Deus utique vivens lumen est, a quo omnia lumina clarescunt, unde et homo per ipsum vitale lumen manet, et ipse etiam ignis est. Quapropter et hominem igne coquit et aqua perfundit, ideoque etiam aqua ex nimio calore in carne hominis rubet et manat.
Et quomodo conveniens esset ut homo tenebrosus maneret, qui de lumine clarescit, et se non moveret cum de igne vivat? Quod si homo absque opere esset, et si habitaculum non haberet, vacuus foret. Nam Deus ignis et lux existens per animam hominem vivificat, et per rationalitatem eum movet, sic etiam in sono verbi totum mundum creavit, qui habitaculum hominis est, qui scilicet homo cum omnibus his operatur, sicut et Deus eum in omnibus perfectum fecit.
Quod hominem a perditione nullus posset eruere; ne que deceptorem ejus diabolum revincere nisi solus Deus; et verba libri Apocalypsis Joannis apostoli, et quo sensu accipienda sint; de odio et persecutione draconis in mulierem et semen ejus, et quomodo a terra adjuta sit.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Exod.34.29-Exod.34.35 — And it came to pass when Moses came down from Mount Sinai—with the two tablets of the testimony in Moses' hand as he came down from the mountain—that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he spoke with Him. Exod.34.30 — When Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him. Exod.34.31 — Then Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke to them. Exod.34.32 — Afterward all the sons of Israel drew near, and he commanded them all that the LORD had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. Exod.34.33 — When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face. Exod.34.34 — Whenever Moses went before the LORD to speak with him, he would remove the veil until he came out. Then he would go out and speak to the Israelites what he was commanded. Exod.34.35 — The Israelites would see Moses' face, that the skin of Moses' face was shining; and Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with him.
- ↩Rev.12.13-Rev.12.17 — And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. Rev.12.14 — And the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she might fly into the wilderness, to her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, away from the presence of the serpent. Rev.12.15 — And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so as to sweep her away in the torrent. Rev.12.16 — And the earth came to the aid of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had spewed from his mouth. Rev.12.17 — And the dragon became angry with the woman and went away to make war with the rest of her offspring, those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.
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