VISIO DECIMA, cap. X
The Radiant Accuser and the Decline of the Church
The radiant figure cries out to the heavenly Judge, showing her garments stained by the wicked, and laments that the Church's institutions have fallen from their apostolic glory into weakness and decline.
But her face shines with a splendor like that of the sun, because before God she is always radiant and unchanging; with a strong cry she calls upon the heavenly Judge, and she shows that her garments have been stained by wicked people, as was foretold. For these days have no place for womanly weakness, with no strength of manhood at all, so that all the Church's institutions, whether they belong to the world or to the spirit, are on the decline; and now they are maintained in a way different from the one in which the apostles and the other ancient Fathers first established them, through which everything once shone in the Church like the sun, and she was crowned with justice, just as a king is so called because of his royal authority, and is honored for his crown and royal robes.
God's Justice Crowns and Sustains the Church
God's justice is crowned and adorned through the Church's arrangements, established by almighty God and set ablaze by the Holy Spirit, like a house raised up by its inhabitants.
For God's justice, through the Church's arrangements and through everything connected with them, is crowned and adorned; and it is itself the matter of all lawful justifications, which have been established by almighty God and set ablaze by the fire of the Holy Spirit, just as a house is raised high by those who live in it.
The Righteousness of God's Judgment
A scriptural quotation about God's justice is unpacked: God's justice is never clouded by injustice, shows itself like a banner before a leader, encompasses all creation, and tramples falsehood like foul mud.
Hence it is written: 'You are just, O Lord, and your judgment is right.' The meaning of this sentence should be taken this way: 'You are just in all your judgments, O Lord, you who rule over everything; for you are that justice which is never clouded by any injustice: but it shows its work, just as an appointed banner goes before its leader.' The work of justice is also heaven and earth with the rest of creation, and justice is God, who shows himself in the good reputation of holy works, which are fixed in that justice like branches in a tree. Therefore God's judgment is right and fair, because it has no shadow of falsehood; for it tramples down like the foulest mud that stinks with rot.
Justice Cries Out from the Ruined Mountain
God's justice cries out over the mountains, its voice rising to heaven in lament that the Church's mountain of holiness now lies destroyed, and justice itself speaks with a mournful voice.
The justice of God, therefore, cries out over the mountains, and its voice heals as it rises to heaven, and it laments that what was first made a mountain of holiness in the Church now lies destroyed on the mountain of holiness. For I, the justice of God, speak with a mournful voice:
The Outcry of Justice Against the Wicked
Justice raises its complaint to God the Judge against the wicked and godless who reject the ancient institutions of the fathers and strip justice of its rightful glory.
The complaint — or rather the outcry — of justice to God the judge against the wicked and the godless, who are stained with various crimes: they reject the ancient institutions of the fathers, and by despoiling justice of the glory that belongs to it, they abandon it stripped bare.12
Read the original Latin
Sed ipsa faciem velut solis splendorem fulgentem habens, quoniam semper coram Deo splendida et immutabilis est, forti clamore supernum judicem invocat, vestesque suas a sceleratis hominibus pollutas esse, ut praefatum est, demonstrat. Nam dies isti muliebris debilitatis virilem fortitudinem non habent, ita scilicet ut omnia ecclesiastica instituta, sive saecularia sive spiritalia sint, in deterius descendant, et nunc in alio modo quam apostoli seu caeteri antiqui Patres ea constituerint, consistant, per quae omnia primitus Ecclesia velut sol lucebat, et justitia coronata erat, quemadmodum propter dominationem regni rex nominatur, et ut propter diadema et regales vestes suas honoratur. Justitia enim Dei per ecclesiasticas dispositiones et per omnia ad illas spectantia coronata et ornata est; ipsaque materia est omnium legalium justificationum, quae ab omnipotente Deo constitutae, et igne Spiritus sancti accensae sunt, quemadmodum domus per inhabitantes eam sublimatur. Unde scriptum est: « Justus es, Domine, et rectum judicium tuum . » Hujus sententiae intellectus hoc modo accipiendus est: Justus es in omnibus judiciis tuis, o Domine, qui omnibus dominaris; quoniam tu justitia illa es quae nunquam ab ulla iniquitate obnubilatur: sed quae opus suum ostendit, sicut vexillum constitutum ducem praecedit. Opus quoque justitiae coelum et terra cum reliqua creatura est, et justitia Deus est, qui veritatem ostendit, cum bonis rumoribus sanctorum operum, quae eidem justitiae, velut rami arbori infixa sunt. Quapropter et rectum in aequitate judicium Dei est, quia nullam obscuritatem falsitatis habet; quoniam illa velut immundissimum lutum conculcat, quod in putredine fetet. Justitia itaque Dei super montes clamat, et vox ipsius ad coelum sanat, atque conqueritur, quod primum facta mons sanctitatis in ecclesia, modo in monte sanctitatis destructa jacet.
Nam ego justitia Dei lugubri voce dico:
Querimonia sive clamor justitiae ad Deum judicem adversus sceleratos et impios, et diversis criminibus contaminatos, qui antiquis Patrum institutionibus repudiantes, ornamentis gloriae suae eam despoliando destituunt
Notes
- 1 ↩The referent of eam (23) is uncertain in the source; it most likely refers back to justitiam (justice), yielding 'despoiling justice of its glory.' Alternative: eam could refer to some implied noun from the vision's imagery.
- 2 ↩despoliando (24) is rendered as a modal gerund ('by despoiling'), the most natural medieval Latin reading; the gerundive reading ('despoiled by') would shift the syntax and is less well supported.
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