VISIO NONA, cap. II
God's Wisdom Distributes Gifts to All Creation
God reveals his marvelous works through wisdom and leads humanity to blessedness by showing heavenly, earthly, and underworldly realities in wondrous figures.
Almighty God, who created all things through wisdom, reveals his wonderful works through various meanings, and, being marvelous in his gifts, distributes them to each creature as he wills. Willing to lead mankind as well to the blessedness of heavenly things, he fittingly shows them, in wonderful figures, the things that are in the heavens, the things that are on earth, and the things that are in the dwellings below — just as he wills.
The Radiant Image of Divine Wisdom
A brilliant image shines from head to foot, revealing the wisdom of true blessedness whose beginning and end surpass human understanding, known only to God's foreknowledge.
So toward the near side of the northern corner that faces east, you see an image whose face and feet shine with such brilliance that the same brilliance strikes your sight — because where folly ends and justice rises, the wisdom of true blessedness is revealed, whose beginning and end surpass human understanding, since by the same light of foreknowledge with which he looked upon the beginning of his work, he also foresaw its end.1
The White Garment of Love and the Mystery of the Incarnation
The figure is clothed in white silk, signifying God's pure love embracing humanity and clothing the Son of God in virgin beauty through the incarnation, a mystery known to God alone.
But he is clothed in a garment as it were of white silk, because embracing mankind in the purity and gentleness of love, he also shows the Son of God clothed in the beauty of virginity by becoming flesh — yet how this came about is unknown to man; God alone knows it.2
The Green Tunic: Wisdom Sustaining All Creatures
The green tunic adorned with pearls represents wisdom's care for all creatures — birds, beasts, and fish — who live, serve humanity, and adorn divine wisdom so long as they remain within their nature.
And he has over him a tunic of green color, adorned everywhere with various pearls, because wisdom does not cast away even the outer creatures — those that fly in the air, those that walk on the earth or creep, and those that swim in the waters, whose spirits fail along with their flesh — but gives them life and sustains them, since they render service to man and he is nourished by them; and they themselves exist as a kind of ornament set in the pearls of that same wisdom, so long as they do not exceed their nature, even when man, time and again, transgresses the straight path set for him.3
Golden Adornments: Creation's Obedience and the Fullness of All Things
Golden earrings, necklace, and bracelets adorned with precious stones signify all creatures' obedience to God's commands, and through wisdom's fullness every creature possesses complete perfection and usefulness, shining with brilliant splendor.
And he wears, as it were, earrings in his ears, a necklace on his chest, and bracelets on his arms — all of them like the purest gold, adorned with precious stones, because all creatures obey him and remember his commands. So his works are fortified by the embrace of fullness, that no creature is so imperfect as to lack anything in its nature, but each possesses within itself the fullness of all perfection and usefulness; and so all things that came forth through wisdom exist in that fullness as in a most pure and elegant adornment, shining with the most brilliant splendor of its essence.
The Faithful Soul as Wisdom's Living Garment
The person who fulfills God's commands becomes wisdom's white garment of purity, green garment of good works, and golden adornment of faith — bringing the holy gifts of the Spirit to completion through virtuous living.
And the person who fulfills the commands of God's law is himself a white and pleasing garment of wisdom, and a green garment through good intention and the greenness of works adorned in many ways with various virtues — the beauty of his ears, when he turns away from hearing evil whispers; the fortification of his heart, when he disregards unlawful desires; and the honor of his arms, which gives him strength when he defends himself against sin — because all these things arise from the purity of faith, adorned with the deepest holy gifts of the Spirit and with the most righteous writings of the doctors, where the faithful person brings those gifts to completion through good works.4
The Second Image: Almighty God Revealed
A second image represents almighty God, with a brightness at its head, a human face in its belly, and lion-like feet, each element carrying deep symbolic meaning.
That the other image represents almighty God — and what the brightness in place of the head signifies, and what the human head appearing in the middle of its belly means, and what its feet, having the likeness of a lion's feet, also express.
Read the original Latin
Omnipotens Deus, qui per sapientiam omnia condidit, mirifica opera sua diversis significationibus aperit, atque in donis suis mirabilis existens, ea unicuique creaturae secundum quod vult dividit. Hominem quoque ad beatitudinem supernorum reducere volens, ei in mirabilibus figuris haec quae in coelestibus, et quae in terrestribus, et quae in infernalibus mansionibus sunt, prout vult congrue demonstrat. Unde prope septentrionalem angulum, qui versus orientem respicit, vides imaginem cujus facies et pedes tanto fulgore radiant, ut idem fulgor visum tuum reverberet, quoniam ubi stultitia finitur et justitia oritur, sapientia verae beatitudis manifestatur, cujus initium et finis humanum intellectum superant, quia eadem luce praescientiae qua principium operis sui inspexit, eadem et finem ejus praevidit. Vestem autem quasi ex albo serico induit, quoniam hominem in candore et suavitate dilectionis amplectens, etiam Filium Dei in decore virginitatis incarnatum ostendit et quomodo hoc fieret homini ignotum est, sed sola divinitas hoc novit. Et viridis coloris desuper tunicam habet, quae diversis margaritis ubique ornata apparet, quia etiam exteriores creaturas, scilicet in aere volantes, et in terra ambulantes, seu reptantes, ac in aquis natantes, quorum spiritus cum carne deficiunt, sapientia non abjicit, sed eas vegetat et retinet, quoniam servitium homini impendunt, et ab eis pascitur, et etiam ipse velut ornatus in margaritis ejusdem sapientiae existunt, cum naturam suam non excedunt ut homine multoties rectam sibi institutam viam transgrediente. Atque velut in auribus inaures, in pectore monilia, in brachiis vero armillas portat, quae omnia velut ex purissimo auro sunt, pretiosis lapidibus ornata, quoniam omnes creaturae illi obediunt, praeceptorumque ipsius recordantur. Unde etiam opera ejus comprehensione plenitudinis ita muniuntur, ut nulla creatura ita imperfecta sit, quod ei quidquam in natura sua desit, quin plenitudinem totius perfectionis et utilitatis in se habeat; et sic omnia quae per sapientiam processerunt in illa quemadmodum purissimus et elegantissimus decor sunt, splendidissimo quoque fulgore essentiae suae lucentia. Homo etiam complens praecepta mandatorum Dei, vestis candida et suavis sapientiae est, virideque indumentum per bonam intentationem et viriditatem operum multimodis virtutibus ornatorum, auriumque illius decor, cum se ab auditu malarum susurrationum, avertit, pectoris ejus munitio, cum illicita desideria negligit, brachiorum quoque ipsius honor fortitudinis est, cum a peccato defendit, quia omnia haec ex puritate fidei oriuntur, profundissimis donis sanctis Spiritus, justisimisque scripturis doctorum decorata, ubi fidelis homo bonis operibus illa perfecit.
Quod altera imaginum omnipotentem Deum designet, et quid claritas in loco capitis, quid hominis caput in medio ventris ejus apparens, quid etiam pedes ejus similitudinem pedum leonis habentes exprimant.
Notes
- 1 ↩The image described is visionary and symbolic; 'you see' renders the second-person singular (vides) as the visionary address to the beholder.
- 2 ↩dilectio rendered as 'love' per lexeme policy; context is the tender, pure embrace of humanity by divine wisdom.
- 3 ↩The final participial/ablative absolute clause (ut...transgrediente) is rendered as a concessive/temporal qualification; the Latin syntax is compressed and the precise logical force is open to interpretation.
- 4 ↩The extended metaphor of the person as garment and adorned limbs is rendered to preserve the symbolic visionary register while keeping the moral application clear.
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