VISIO DECIMA, cap. XXVIII
The Unclean Son Conceived
The ancient serpent fills an unclean son with wickedness, who is raised in hidden places and steeped in diabolical arts until his perversity overflows.
An unclean woman too, at that same time, will conceive an unclean son, because the ancient serpent, who swallowed Adam, will puff him up with all his crowd in this way, so that nothing good can enter into him, nor be able to exist in him. For he will be nourished in hidden places and in various locations, so that he won't be recognized by people, and he will be steeped in every diabolical art, and he will be concealed until the full days of his life are complete, nor will he reveal the perversities that are in him, until he knows himself to be full and overflowing with every wickedness.
Justice Darkened and Love Extinguished
Conflicts erupt, justice is darkened, love among people dies, heresies multiply, cosmic portents appear, and sorrow becomes so great that death is regarded as nothing.
But from the very beginning of his rise, many conflicts and many things contrary to right order will burst forth, and burning justice will be darkened from its own uprightness, and love among people will be extinguished. In them too bitterness and harshness will arise, and so many heresies will develop that even heretics will preach their errors openly and without hesitation; and there will be such great doubt and uncertainty in the Catholic faith of Christians that people will be at a loss which God to call upon; and many signs will appear in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars, and in the waters, and in the other elements and creatures, so that they will foretell future evils, as if in a picture, through their portents. As a result, such great sorrow will seize people at that time that they will regard dying as practically nothing.
The Faithful Wait in Contrition
Those mature in the Catholic faith wait in deep contrition to see what God intends.
Those who at that time are mature in the Catholic faith will wait, in deep contrition, to see what God intends to bring about.
The Son of Perdition Speaks and Heaven Trembles
Tribulations continue until the son of perdition opens his mouth with contrary doctrine, at which point heaven and earth tremble and the chain of justice is shaken for the first time.
And these tribulations will proceed in this manner, until the son of perdition opens his mouth to teach a contrary doctrine. But when he has brought forth his words of falsehood and his deceptions, heaven and earth will tremble, and the chain of the necklace of justice, which Paul made to descend even to the feet of that same power, as was said above, will then be shaken for the first time, as if struck by a great blast of wind, because until that same time it will remain unshaken and unshaken.
Paul's Teaching and the Chain of Justice
Paul's teaching, confirmed by miracles and adorned with deep words, endures to the end of the world like the chain of justice, and he spoke to believers about the second coming and the son of perdition.
Paul himself confirmed his teaching so powerfully with many miracles, and adorned it so honorably with the deepest words, that it will endure even to the end of the world — just as this same chain, descending to the feet of that very justice as if to the end of the world, makes clear.1 He himself also has spoken to those who believe, through truth in the elevation of his spirit, about the second coming of the Son of God and about the deadly onslaught of the son of perdition, saying:✦2
Paul's Letter to the Thessalonians on the End
The testimonies from Paul's letter to the Thessalonians proclaim the end of the world, the coming, the works, and the judgment of the Antichrist, and how they are to be understood.
The testimonies from Paul's letter to the Thessalonians that proclaim the end of the world, the coming, the works, and the judgment of the Antichrist — and how they are to be understood.3
Read the original Latin
Immunda quoque mulier in eodem tempore immundum filium concipiet, quoniam antiquus serpens, qui Adam absorbuit, illum hoc modo cum omni turba sua inflabit, ut nec aliquid boni in ipsum intret, nec in eo esse possit. In abditis enim et in diversis locis nutrietur, ne ab hominibus cognoscatur, omnibusque diabolicis artibus imbuetur, et usque ad plenos dies aetatis suae occultabitur, nec perversitates, quae in se erunt, manifestabit, usquedum se plenum et superabundantem in cunctis iniquitatibus cognoverit. Ab initio autem ortus illius multa certamina multaque contraria rectarum ordinationum ebullient, et ardens justitia a rectitudine sua obtenebrabitur, et charitas in hominibus exstinguetur. In eis quoque amaritudo et asperitas orietur, ac tantae haereses fient, ut etiam haeretici errores suos aperte et indubitanter praedicent; tantaque dubietas et incertitudo in catholica fide Christianorum erit, ut homines in dubio habeant quem Deum invocent; atque plurima signa in sole, et luna, et in stellis, et in aquis, et in caeteris elementis et creaturis apparebunt, ita ut etiam velut in pictura in portentis suis futura mala praenuntient. Unde etiam tanta tristitia illo tempore homines occupabit, ut mori quasi pro nihilo ducant. Qui autem in catholica fide tunc perfecti erunt, in magna contritione exspectabunt quid Deus ordinare velit. Et hae tribulationes hoc modo procedent: usquedum filius perditionis os suum ad contrariam doctrinam aperiat. Sed cum ille verba falsitatis, et deceptionum suarum protulerit, coelum et terra contremiscent, catenaque monilis justitiae quam Paulus usque ad pedes ejusdem virtutis descendentem fecit, ut supra dictum est, velut magno flatu venti tacta tunc primum movebitur, quoniam usque ad idem tempus inconcussa et inconvulsa permanebit.
Paulus quippe doctrinam suam multis miraculis tam fortiter corroboravit, ac illam profundissimis verbis tam honeste decoravit, ut etiam usque in finem mundi sic perduret, quemadmodum et haec eadem catena ad pedes ejusdem justitiae quasi ad finem mundi descendens demonstrat. Ipse quoque per veritatem in elevatione spiritus sui de secundo adventu Filii Dei, ac de mortifero incursu filii perditionis credentibus locutus est dicens:
Testimonia Epistotae Pauli ad Thessalonicenses finem mundi et adventum et opera et judicium Antichristi denuntiantia, et quomodo intelligi debeant.
Scripture echoes
- ↩2Thess.2.3-2Thess.2.4 — Let no one deceive you in any way, because the rebellion must come first, and the man of lawlessness must be revealed—the son of destruction. 2Thess.2.4 — He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, setting himself up as God.
Notes
- 1 ↩The metaphor of the 'chain of justice' (catena justitiae) descending to the feet draws on the apocalyptic imagery of the binding/smiting chain in 2 Pet 2:4 and Rev 20:1–3; the precise sense is debated and is preserved here as a vision-image rather than dogmatically resolved.
- 2 ↩'Elevation of his spirit' (elevatione spiritus sui) may refer to an ecstatic or prophetic state; rendered plainly without resolving the precise phenomenological sense.
- 3 ↩Epistotae is an unusual form (expected epistulae); likely a medieval variant or corruption. The sense is secure: 'of the letter/epistle.' The rare form denuntiantia is taken as a substantivized noun agreeing with testimonia, yielding 'that proclaim/announce.'
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