VISIO QUINTA, cap. VI
The Four Corners of Judgment
The eastern quarter shines with the delight of blessed souls, while punitive places are set in the earth's four corners and the western quarter darkens with punishments for lesser sins.
And the aforementioned eastern section shines with great clarity, because within it is the place of delight and pleasure, holding within itself the refreshment of blessed souls, and so that the soul may fix its inner gaze on the sight of true light, urging it on. Against the vices, however, of the many sinners by whom justice is transgressed, punitive and temporary places are set in the four corners of the earth, where the souls of those who are to be saved, once stripped of their bodies, are examined as their faults demand. And so the western section, covered by a certain darkness, grows dark, containing within this darkness the punishments of lesser and minor sins — namely, of those people who sin out of ignorance, and in them it shows how people's hearing is turned away from the outcry of truth.
The Southern Torments
The southern section's three divisions contain fiery punishments for grave sinners, extreme torments for the worst offenders, and a middle zone of monstrous terrors that threatens earthly life.
The southern section, however, which is divided into three parts, has two of those parts, which are bounded, full of certain punishments, where the grave sins of those souls are punished who, while they were in their bodies, neglected the fragrance of the virtues. For in the part of this section that lies between east and south, there are the most severe punishments of fiery and turbulent air, and of other torments, where the worst deeds of murderers, plunderers, thieves, and certain other people are investigated, because the judgments of God are always prepared against impiety and unbelief, and against the sins and dreadful purposes that strive to set themselves against God. In the part, however, of that section which lies between south and west, the worst punishments abound, so that there, in summer there is bitter cold, in winter indeed scorching heat, and other punishments as well, through which the souls of those who with difficulty repent of their many and great sins, even at the very end, are cleansed once stripped of their bodies; and because they lack the fragrance of the virtues, they will scarcely be saved. The third part, which appears to be the middle one of these, shows itself to be dreadful not indeed by punishments, but by certain monstrous terrors, because if this part, like the other two, were also to abound in punishments, those same punishments, boiling over with their own excess, would make the dwelling of people on earth uninhabitable, since even now, because of the many horrors that are in it, it often inflicts pestilence on people and animals and injury to the fruits of the earth, because people do not bring the fragrance of the virtues to their own souls.
The Northern Cleansing
The northern section's outer divisions punish unbelievers and the fleshly, while its middle region is filled with horrors but no punishments, lest it destroy earthly habitation.
And the northern section also, having three parts, shows in its two outer parts, which abound in various punishments, the souls of those being cleansed who, putting the taste of life aside, followed the desires of their own flesh. In the division of that corner lying between east and north, there are the most severe punishments of cold and of winds and of other torments, in which the unbelief of certain unbelieving people is tested, who, while they remained in the world, imitating unbelief, neglected the taste of true faith, and only in the hour of their death, through penance, returning to the Catholic faith, at last received the taste of righteousness. And in the division of this corner lying between north and west, the most foul punishments of muddy moisture, death-bringing stench, and smoke, and also of other torments abound, in which the works of adulterers, the gluttonous, and the drunken are sought out, who held the taste of life as something foreign to them. But the middle region, as was said above, is shown to be horrendous with very many horrors but without punishments, because, since it holds so many horrors within itself, if it also abounded with punishments, the blasts of those would infect the dwelling place of humanity, with the horrors that are in it at times bringing dangers to people and to other creatures, when they lead the taste of life into foolishness.
The Stench of Sin and Its Effects
Punishments rise from the stench of sinners like worms from filth, and the resulting smoke often brings pestilence upon humans and animals on earth.
And just as worms swarm up in the stench of filth, so also from the stench of sinners punishments rise up in the aforementioned corners. And so, often from those same punishments, smoke spreading into the earth where people dwell prepares great pestilence among humans and among animals.
The Shield of Divine Judgment
God's judgments flow from these penal places, and high mountains stand as barriers so that the underworld's punishments do not overwhelm the world, as souls are examined according to their deeds.
God's judgments that fall on the earth or on people pour out from the penal places of those same regions, and against the punishments or darkness of the underworld, so that they don't overwhelm the world, certain very high and very hard mountains stand opposed, and in those places of the regions, souls are appointed to be examined according to the quality of what they have committed.1
Read the original Latin
Et praedicta pars orientalis multa claritate lucet, quoniam in ipsa locus voluptatis et deliciarum est, refrigerium beatarum animarum in se habens, et ut anima interiorem visum ad aspectum veri luminis figat monens. Contra vitia autem multorum peccatorum, quibus homines justitiam praevaricantur, poenalia et transitoria loca in quatuor angulis terrae posita sunt, quibus animae salvandorum, secundum quod culpae eorum exigunt, corporibus exutae examinantur. Unde occidentalis pars quadam tenebrositate obtecta tenebrescit, his tenebris poenas levium minorumque peccatorum in se continens, scilicet hominum illorum qui ignorantia delinquunt, et in eis auditum hominum a clamore veritatis aversum ostendens. Australis vero pars, quae in tribus distinctionibus divisa est, duas distinctiones, quae finetenus sunt, plenas quibusdam poenis habet, in quibus fortia peccata animarum illarum puniuntur, quae, dum in corporibus suis essent odorem virtutum neglexerunt. Nam in distinctione anguli hujus, qui inter orientem et austrum est, acerrimae poenae ignei et ventosi aeris, aliorumque cruciatuum sunt, in quibus pessima opera homicidarum, raptorum, furum, atque quorumdam aliorum hominum exquiruntur, quoniam judicia Dei semper parata sunt super impietatem et infidelitatem, et super peccata et horribiles sensus qui se Deo opponere nituntur. In distinctione autem anguli illius qui inter austrum et occidentem est, pessimae poenae abundant, ita ut ibi in aestate frigus, in hieme vero ardor, aliaeque poenae existant, per quas illorum animae corporibus exutae purgantur, qui de multis et magnis peccatis suis vix vel in fine suo poenitentiam habent; unde et odore virtutum carentes vix salvabuntur. Tertia autem, quae media istarum esse videtur, non quidem poenis, sed aliis quibusdam monstruosis terroribus demonstrat se horrendam, quia si etiam ista quemadmodum et aliae duae poenis abundaret, eaedem poenae superfluitate sua ebullientes, habitationem hominum in terris inhabitabilem redderent, cum nunc pro multis horroribus qui in ipsa sunt pestilentiam hominibus et animalibus laesionemque fructibus multoties immittat, quoniam homines odorem virtutum animabus suis non inferunt. Quod et septentrionalis pars tres etiam separationes habens, in duabus extremis separationibus diversis poenis abundantibus ostendit, in quibus animae illorum purgantur, qui gustum vitae postponentes, concupiscentias carnis suae secuti sunt.
In separatione enim anguli istius, qui inter orientem et septentrionem est, durissimae poenae frigoris et ventorum aliorumque cruciatuum sunt, in quibus infidelitas quorumdam incredulorum hominum examinatur, qui, dum in saeculo manerent, incredulitatem imitantes gustum verae fidei neglexerunt, in hora tantum mortis suae per poenitentiam ad fidem catholicam redeuntes, gustum rectitudinis tandem receperunt. Et in separatione anguli hujus, qui inter septentrionem et occidentem est, immundissimae poenae lutulentae humiditatis, mortiferique fetoris et fumi, necnon et aliorum cruciatuum abundant, in quibus opera adulterorum, voracium et ebriosorum exquiruntur, qui gustum vitae velut alienum habuerunt. Sed media quamplurimis horroribus sine poenis horrenda ostenditur, ut praedictum est, quia ista multos horrores in se habens si poenis etiam abundaret, flatibus illarum habitatio hominum inficeretur, horroribus tantum qui in ea sunt hominibus, et aliis creaturis pericula interdum inferentibus, cum homines saporem vitae in insipientiam ducunt. Et quemadmodum in fetore sordium vermes ebulliunt, ita etiam ex fetore peccatorum poenae in praefatis angulis ascendunt. Unde et multoties ex eisdem poenis fumus in terram ubi homines habitant se dilatans, magnam pestilentiam in hominibus, et in animalibus parat.
Quod judicia Dei quae super terram vel homines veniunt, de poenalibus locis earumdem partium effundantur, quodque contra poenas vel tenebras inferni ne mundum occupent, altissimi quidam et durissimi montes oppositi sunt, et in quarum locis partium animae pro suorum qualitate commissorum examinandae constituantur.
Notes
- 1 ↩The Latin reads 'ne mundum occupent' — 'lest they occupy the world.' Rendered as 'so that they do not overwhelm the world' to capture the destructive force of the penal darkness spreading unchecked, while preserving the negative-purpose construction of ne + subjunctive.
Liber Divinorum Operum (Book of Divine Works) companion
Don't stop at Day 30
All 317 chapters live in the free Chosen Portion app, paced for daily reading
Hildegard's practice of daily attention to God's work in creation becomes a paced daily devotional through all ten visions in the Chosen Portion app
- One vision passage a day, readable in under 10 minutes
- The complete Book of Divine Works plus Hildegard's other major works, free
- Progress tracking so a 317-chapter classic actually gets finished