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Chapter 34LDO.2.34

VISIO QUINTA, cap. XXXIV

Gathering the Waters of the Body

God commands the scattered necessities of the body to be gathered into a single, useful purpose through compunction and discernment, so that the soul may walk rightly.

"Let the waters under the sky be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear."✦ And so it was done.✦ This is how it's to be understood: God, in the compunction of the human heart, commands that all the body's necessities, which are subject to discernment, be gathered into the calm place of a single, useful purpose. How so? So that a person isn't excessive in feasting, or in drunkenness, or in the alluring adornments of clothing, or in a twisted mind — seeking glory for themselves in all these things — but so that only the body's necessity shows itself there. How so? So that the body is fed only moderately, and once it's properly restored, the soul can have its joy; and so that the soul may walk its right paths with the body, in such a way that it isn't cast down into ruin through excessive abstinence, and isn't crushed either by the excess of that same immoderation mentioned before. And so all these things come about in a person through the admonition of the Holy Spirit, which the person has received with a glad mind.

Dry Land and the Greening of Humility

The soul, seeing itself as dry and restless earth, is urged by God to sprout in the greenness of virtues through holy humility and compunction.

"And God called the dry land earth, and the gatherings of waters he called seas."✦ And God, with that same admonition, urges the man through holy humility, so that he calls himself a wretched and dry land on account of his body's various necessities; and so, on account of the worldly things that lie hidden within those necessities, he sighs, considering himself like the tossing of the sea, and on this account also humbles himself in humility, as if he were unworthy of spiritual joy. "And God saw that it was good, and he said: Let the earth sprout green herb, and herb producing seed, and fruit-bearing tree, producing fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself upon the earth."✦ And it was done so.✦ God, in the embrace of sweet and profound humility, seeing that he now despises himself on account of earthly things, which cannot exist from their own fragility without contagion, says through the admonition of the Holy Spirit: "Because the man has received compunction of heart and discernment of good and evil, and, knowing himself to be earth, has submitted himself prostrate to holy humility, let him now diligently sprout in the greenness of virtues, so that he does not succumb to carnal desires in his thoughts and works, because he himself has in his body the moisture that always entices him to this, so that he begins to sin in his works."

Seed, Soil, and the Word of God

Good works become seed through obedience to teachers, taking root in the heart by the Word of God, while hard and fruitless ground lacks the moisture of gentleness.

And let these good works, once they become habit, produce seed — that is, let a person correct themselves according to the words of their teachers, withdraw from the desires I've mentioned, and then move on to stronger virtues that bear fruit according to the teaching of their masters. How? A person ought to examine, with the help of their teachers, what is good and what is evil, and act according to their teaching — so that the virtues they've begun may have within themselves the instruments of this seed of the Word of God, and that seed may rest upon the earth, that is, upon the person. And so it will come about that what they ardently received from God's admonition is brought to completion in them through the love of God.✦ And the earth brought forth green vegetation, yielding seed according to its kind, and the tree bearing fruit, each having its own seed according to its form.✦ A person taught inwardly by the Holy Spirit then brings forth from their heart the greenness of self-restraint by restraining the pleasures of the flesh, and produces the word of correction — for when, within themselves, they strain toward God by the mastery with which they hold themselves in check, they're always longing for God. For every virtue is dry if it doesn't take root in a person through the word of correction, as the Savior says in the Gospel: 'Other seed fell on the ground, and once it had sprouted, it withered because it had no moisture.'✦ This is what you should consider: the seed of the words of the Holy Spirit's teaching is sown in the earth so that a person may be nourished in soul through it. But since those manifold gifts of the Holy Spirit are another matter: some fall on the hard ground of unbelieving people, so that they sometimes seem to receive it, almost groaning, yet they produce no fruit of piety because they lack the moisture of gentleness — just as earth without moisture is barren when it comes to bearing fruit, and yields nothing of any use.✦

Fertile Ground and the Root of Virtue

The person who knows good becomes fertile soil watered by the Holy Spirit, advancing in virtue through self-restraint, obedience, and correction, so that God sees this restoration as very good.

God created creatures for human understanding, so that through them people might choose what is useful and reject what is useless — just as the earth, where it is softened by moisture, produces fruit, but where it is hard and stony without moisture, it cannot bear fruit. For a person in the knowledge of good is signified as good and fertile soil, but in the knowledge of evil is understood as hard and stony ground — so that the dew of the Holy Spirit is poured out in abundance upon those who perform good works with the delight of the spiritual life, while those who gather to themselves every sin of pleasure through the lure of the flesh remain unfruitful, like rocky ground, because the sap of a good will has dried up within them. And how will virtue take root in a person through the word of correction? By the word of his own heart he must restrain himself — the same word with which he ought to fight against vices. And so he will advance in the higher virtues with which he instructs himself through the teaching of the elders — that is, he will understand how he must restrain himself with reverence and withdraw from evil through abstinence, because a person who abstains from wicked deeds while still finding pleasure in them is of greater virtue than one who avoids the works of the flesh without being tempted by them. And so a person, wisely bringing to completion through the words of the teachers everything he has learned, will bear fruit in himself according to the example by which he was taught, and he will hold their words against himself with correction of his own words. "And God saw that it was good."✦ These aforementioned realities touch God in such a way that by accepting them he knows and sees that a person, restoring himself from the instability that arose in him through the fall of Adam — which he knows to be evil — has risen up humbly, and this is a very good thing, because a person then comes alive to God while he desires to reach God.

The Third Day and the Dawn of the Fourth

The third day's evening comes when a person restrains evil through humility, and the chapter closes by pointing ahead to the fourth day's lights in the firmament.

"And there was evening and morning, the third day." And so this evening will come — that is, a good end — when the third day begins well, as was foretold, in that a person restrains himself from evil works by the third power of good work, which is humility.✦ How the following is to be understood according to the literal sense: "God said: Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven," and everything else up to this point, "and there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day."✦

Read the original Latin

« Congregentur aquae quae sub coelo sunt in locum unum, et appareat arida. Factumque est ita . » Hoc considerandum sic est: Deus in compunctione cordis hominis dicit ut omnes necessitates corporis quae discretioni subjacent, in placidum locum unius usus congregentur. Quomodo? Ut homo in epulis, aut in ebrietate, aut in illecebrosis ornamentis vestimentorum, aut in tortuosa mente superfluus non sit, in omnibus his gloriam sibimetipsi requirens; sed necessitas corporis ibi tantummodo appareat. Quomodo? Ut corpus ita modice pascatur, ut eo recte refecto, anima gaudium habere possit; et ut justa itinera cum illo habeat, ita ut de nimia abstinentia in praecipitium non prosternatur, et ne etiam de superfluitate praedictae immoderationis prematur. Et sic in homine omnia haec per admonitionem Spiritus sancti fiunt, quam ipse in hilaritate mentis suscepit.

« Et vocavit Deus aridam terram, congregationesque aquarum appellavit maria. » Et Deus cum eadem admonitione homini illi per sanctam humilitatem insistit, ita ut se ipsum miseram aridamque terram propter diversas necessitates corporis sui nominet; unde etiam propter saeculares res, quae in ipsis necessitatibus latent, suspiria habet, se ipsum ut fluctuationem maris existimans, et ob hoc etiam in humilitate se deprimens, quasi spiritali gaudio indignus sit. « Et vidit Deus quod esset bonum et ait: Germinet terra herbam virentem, et facientem semen, et lignum pomiferum, faciens fructum juxta genus suum, cujus semen in semetipso sit super terram. Et factum est ita (Ibid). » Deus in amplexione dulcis ac profundae humilitatis videns quod modo seipsum propter terrena despiciat, quae de fragilitate sua sine contagione esse non possunt per admonitionem Spiritus sancti ait: « Quia homo compunctionem cordis et discretionem boni et mali suscepit, et seipsum terram esse cognoscens sanctae humilitati prostratum subjecit, nunc in viriditate virtutum diligenter germinet, ita ut in cogitationibus et operibus suis carnalibus desideriis non succumbat, quia ipse in corpore suo succum habet, qui eum ad hoc semper allicit, ut in operibus suis peccare incipiat.

Et haec bona opera in consuetudine habens, semen faciat, videlicet ut secundum verba doctorum se corrigens a praedictis desideriis, se abstrahat, et deinde ad fortiores virtutes fructus facientes, secundum doctrinam magistrorum ascendat. Quomodo? Homo a doctoribus quid bonum, quidve malum sit scrutari debet, et secundum doctrinam eorum faciat, ita ut instrumenta virtutum illarum quas incoepit, hoc semen Verbi Dei in semetipsis habeant, et illud super terram, scilicet super hominem sit; sicque fiet ut quod de admonitione Dei ardenter suscepit, ex amore Dei in ipso perficiatur. « Et protulit terra herbam virentem et afferentem semen juxta genus suum, lignumque faciens fructum, et habens unumquodque sementem secundum speciem suam . » Homo a Spiritu sancto interius doctus, tunc de corde suo viriditatem abstinentiae, delectationes carnis coercendo, et verbum correctionis profert, quando in se secundum magistrationem qua se ipsum constringit, ad Deum semper anhelat. Nam unaquaeque virtus arida est, si verbo correctionis intra hominem non radicat, ut Salvator in Evangelio ait: « Aliud cecidit supra terram, et natum aruit, quia non habebat humorem . » Hoc considerandum sic est: Semen verborum doctrinae Spiritus sancti in terra seminatur, quatenus homo per illud in anima pascatur. sed quoniam illud multimoda dona Spiritus sancti sunt, aliud cadit supra dura incredulorum hominum, ita ut illi hoc interdum quasi gementes percipiant, sed tamen fructum pietatis non proferunt, quia humore lenitatis carent, quemadmodum nec terra sine humore infecunda ad fructus existit, fructum utilitatis non affert.

Deus enim creaturas ad intellectum hominis creavit, quatenus in illis utilia eligerent et inutilia reprobarent, sicut et terra ubi humore perfusa mollis est, fructum facit, ubi vero absque humore dura et lapidea existit, fructum afferre non potest. Nam homo in scientia boni terra bona et delicata notatur, in scientia autem mali terra dura et lapidea intelligitur, ita ut ros Spiritus sancti super illos qui cum delectatione spiritalis vitae bona opera operantur, ad plurimum fructum fundatur, et illi qui per gustum carnis quaeque peccata voluptatis ad se colligunt, per duritiam cordis ut petrosa terra infructuosi permaneant, quoniam succus bonae voluntatis in ipsis exaruit. Et quomodo virtus intra hominem verbo correctionis radicabit? Ut ipse verbo cordis sui se constringat, cum quo contra vitia pugnare debet. Et sic altas virtutes quibus se per doctrinam majorum instruit proficiet, ita scilicet ut intelligat qualiter cum timore se constringere, et a malo per abstinentiam recedere debeat, quia homo qui in delectatione a pravis operibus se abstinet, majoris virtutis est quam ille qui non delectatur, opera carnis suae devitat. Et sic homo per verba dictorum quaeque sapienter perficiens, in semetipso fructum secundum exemplum quo doctus est proferet, et verba eorum contra se cum correctione verborum suorum habebit. « Et vidit Deus quod esse bonum . » Praedictae causae Deum ita tangunt, ut eas acceptando sciat et videat quia homo se ipsum restaurans, de instabilitate quae sibi in ruina Adae orta est, et quam malam esse novit humiliter surrexit, et hoc valde bonum est, quia Deo tunc reviviscit, dum ad Deum pervenire desiderat.

« Factumque est vespere et mane dies tertius » Et ita fiet hoc vespere, scilicet bonus finis, cum initio bonum incipientis dies tertius, ut praedictum est, in hoc quod homo se ipsum a malis operibus constringit, facta tertia virtute boni operis, quae humilitas est.

Quomodo ad litteram accipiendum sit quod scriptum est: « Dixit Deus: Fiant luminaria in firmamento coeli, » et caetera usque ad id, « et factum est vespere et mane dies quartus.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Gen.1.9 — And God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered to one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so.
  2. ↩Gen.1.9 — And God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered to one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so.
  3. ↩Gen.1.10 — And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
  4. ↩Gen.1.11-Gen.1.12 — And God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation—plants yielding seed, fruit trees bearing fruit according to their kinds, whose seed is in them, upon the earth." And it was so. Gen.1.12 — And the earth brought forth vegetation—plants yielding seed according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
  5. ↩Gen.1.12 — And the earth brought forth vegetation—plants yielding seed according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
  6. ↩Matt.13.3-Matt.13.9;Mark.4.3-Mark.4.9;Luke.8.4-Luke.8.8 — And he spoke to them many things in parables, saying, "Look, the sower went out to sow." Matt.13.4 — And as he sowed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Matt.13.5 — but other seed fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly because it had no depth of soil. Matt.13.6 — But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered. Matt.13.7 — But some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Matt.13.8 — But other seed fell on good soil and produced grain—some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Matt.13.9 — Whoever has ears, let him hear. Mark.4.3 — Listen! Behold, the sower went out to sow. Mark.4.4 — And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Mark.4.5 — Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of soil. Mark.4.6 — And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and because it had no root, it withered away. Mark.4.7 — and some fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. Mark.4.8 — But other seed fell on good soil, and it produced fruit, rising and growing, and yielded thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold. Mark.4.9 — And he said, "Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear." Luke.8.4 — And as a great crowd was gathering, and people from town after town were coming to him, he spoke in a parable: Luke.8.5 — The sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the road, and it was trampled down, and the birds of the sky devoured it. Luke.8.6 — And some fell on the rock, and when it grew up, it withered because it had no moisture. Luke.8.7 — Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. Luke.8.8 — And other seed fell on good soil, and when it grew, it produced fruit a hundredfold. As he said these things, he called out, 'Let anyone with ears to hear, listen!'
  7. ↩Gen.1.12;Gen.1.12 — And the earth brought forth vegetation—plants yielding seed according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Gen.1.12 — And the earth brought forth vegetation—plants yielding seed according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
  8. ↩Matt.13.5-Matt.13.6;Mark.4.5-Mark.4.6;Luke.8.6 — but other seed fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly because it had no depth of soil. Matt.13.6 — But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered. Mark.4.5 — Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of soil. Mark.4.6 — And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and because it had no root, it withered away. Luke.8.6 — And some fell on the rock, and when it grew up, it withered because it had no moisture.
  9. ↩Matt.13.4-Matt.13.7;Mark.4.3-Mark.4.7;Luke.8.4-Luke.8.7 — And as he sowed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Matt.13.5 — but other seed fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly because it had no depth of soil. Matt.13.6 — But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered. Matt.13.7 — But some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Mark.4.3 — Listen! Behold, the sower went out to sow. Mark.4.4 — And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Mark.4.5 — Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of soil. Mark.4.6 — And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and because it had no root, it withered away. Mark.4.7 — and some fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. Luke.8.4 — And as a great crowd was gathering, and people from town after town were coming to him, he spoke in a parable: Luke.8.5 — The sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the road, and it was trampled down, and the birds of the sky devoured it. Luke.8.6 — And some fell on the rock, and when it grew up, it withered because it had no moisture. Luke.8.7 — Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it.
  10. ↩Gen.1.12 — And the earth brought forth vegetation—plants yielding seed according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
  11. ↩Gen.1.13 — And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.
  12. ↩Gen.1.14-Gen.1.16 — And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years." Gen.1.15 — and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth — and it was so. Gen.1.16 — And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars.

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