VISIO QUINTA, cap. VII
The Four Corners and Their Purgations
The four corners of the earth serve as sites of purgation, where different sins are cleansed according to the sinner's orientation toward or away from God.
But these judgments that come upon the earth and upon people proceed from the aforementioned corners, so that very many evils are poured out from them; yet against the horrible darkness of infernal punishments, the highest and hardest mountains, which cannot be split by any storm, are set in place, resisting the darkness and defending the earth, just as walls hold a house together so it doesn't collapse. Because a person, consisting in the five senses, always sins, therefore in the aforementioned five parts of the earth they suffer purgation; but those endure small punishments in the above-mentioned darkness of the western part, for whom the present earth, while they were in their bodies, was like a prison on account of their love for heavenly things. Those who serve the pleasure of the flesh are purified in other purgatorial punishments, which are also in the parts of the south and north, as was mentioned above, because although they sinned, they nevertheless didn't cast away God and right faith. For mortal man doesn't inhabit these above-mentioned four corners of the earth, namely the two principal parts of the earth's roundness, east and west, and also south and north, as was stated before, because on account of the unchanging heat or cold, or because of other discomforts of those regions, one couldn't live in them, just as, if a person exalts himself beyond measure, or falls into despair, or neglecting the right turns aside to the left, the Holy Spirit doesn't receive into the dwelling place of his own heart.
The Vision of the Four Horsemen
The judgments over the four corners are confirmed by John's Apocalypse, where four horses symbolize the four ages of the world from beginning to end.
Therefore God often exercises his judgments over the four corners of the earth, as John my chosen one saw in the Apocalypse, just as he speaks, saying:✦ Words from the Revelation to John, in keeping with this, where four horses — white, red, black, and pale — subtly depict four ages and their qualities, from the beginning right up to the end of the world.✦
Read the original Latin
Judicia autem haec quae super terram et super homines veniunt, de praedictis angulis procedunt, ita ut plurima mala ab eis effundantur; sed tamen contra horribiles tenebras infernalium poenarum altissimi durissimique montes, qui per nullam tempestatem scindi possunt, positi sunt, tenebris resistentes, terramque defendentes, velut parietes domum ne labatur continent. Quia autem homo in quinque sensibus consistens semper peccat, idcirco in praefatis quinque partibus terrae purgationem patitur; sed parvas poenas in supradicta tenebrositate occidentalis partis illi sustinent, quibus praesens terra dum in corporibus suis essent quasi carcer ob amorem coelestium fuit. Qui autem voluptati carnis serviunt, in aliis purgatoriis poenis, qui et in partibus austri et septentrionis sunt, ut praedictum est, purgantur, quia quamvis peccaverint, Deum tamen et justam fidem non abjecerunt. Has etenim supradictas, orientis et occidentis scilicet, duas rotunditatis terrae principales partes, necnon et austri et septentrionis, ut praefatum est, quatuor angulares fines mortalis homo non inhabitat, quoniam pro immutabilitate caloris seu frigoris, seu pro aliis incommoditatibus illarum in eis vivere non posset, quemadmodum etiam si homo supra modum se exaltaverit, aut si in desperationem ceciderit, vel si dextram negligens ad sinistram declinaverit, Spiritum sanctum in habitaculum cordis sui non recipit. Itaque Deus judicia sua multoties super quatuor angulos terrae exercet, ut Joannes electus meus in Apocalypsi vidit, quemadmodum loquitur dicens:
Verba de Apocalypsi Joannis apostoli ad hoc consona, in quibus per quatuor equos album, rufum, nigrum et pallidum quatuor tempora et qualitates eorum ab exordio usque ad finem mundi significatae subtiliter describuntur.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Rev.7.1 — After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, so that no wind would blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.
- ↩Rev.6.1-Rev.6.8 — And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying, as with a voice of thunder, "Come!" Rev.6.2 — And I looked, and behold, a white horse, and the one sitting on it had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. Rev.6.3 — And when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, "Come." Rev.6.4 — And another horse came out, fiery red. To the one sitting on it was given power to take peace from the earth, so that they would slaughter one another. And a great sword was given to him. Rev.6.5 — And when he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, 'Come!' And I looked, and behold, a black horse, and the one sitting on it had a balance scale in his hand. Rev.6.6 — And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and the wine." Rev.6.7 — And when he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, "Come." Rev.6.8 — And I looked, and behold, a pale horse, and the one sitting on it — his name was Death, and Hades was following with him. And authority was given to them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with death and by the wild beasts of the earth.
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