VISIO DECIMA, cap. XXIX
Warning Against Deception
Hildegard urges believers not to be shaken by false rumors, deceptive letters, or spiritual lies that claim the day of the Lord is already near, calling them to guard their hearts with discernment.
And don't be frightened by any spirit, or by any talk, or by any letter supposedly sent by us, as though the day of the Lord were already here. Don't let anyone lead you astray in any way, because unless the rebellion comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed—the son of destruction who opposes and exalts himself above everything called God or worshiped, so that he sits in the temple of God, displaying himself as though he were God— This sentence should be understood in this way: you who belong to God and who believe his words, be on your guard so that your hearts are not shaken by any terror, and not by spiritual deception, or by misleading talk, or by writings supposedly directed to you as though they were truthful, as though that day were already near, when the creator of all things will lay bare the hidden places of the heart.
The Revelation of the Man of Lawlessness
A vivid unfolding of the antichrist figure who will exalt himself as God, oppose all who worship God, and be wholly filled with every sin, yet believers are told not to be deceived into thinking the day of judgment has already arrived.
Also be careful that no one draws you into deception through illusions or imaginary happenings on any occasion, because unless that time comes when the church's high standing will be shattered and true faith will be trampled—which is understood as the rebellion that will occur in the time of the wicked son whose mother is unclean, not knowing by whom she conceived, and the one who will be the man of sin has been revealed, because from its very beginning he will be wholly poured out in sins, and so the sinner will exist rehearsing and gathering up all sins, and as a son of most cruel destruction, because he will remain wholly in destruction—teaching people the things that are against God, whom also the deceiver of the human race will inflame just as he himself first began to rage when he wanted to be like God; therefore he will also oppose all who worship God and will set himself above every creature, calling himself God, and commanding that he be worshiped as though he were God—don't believe it, as though the day of the Lord were already here, the day when he will judge the whole world when the world comes to its end.
The Mystery of Lawlessness at Work
Hildegard interprets Paul's words on the mystery of lawlessness as the secret work of heresy, calling the faithful to hold fast to apostolic faith until the restraining force is removed near the time of the son of destruction.
And again Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, says the same thing: 'For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but only until the one who now restrains it does so, until he is out of the way.' This sentence should be understood in this way: the secret suggestion is already at work in the deeds of heretics, in which the advocate of lawlessness sends forth his javelins, wanting to crush the truth of true faith; and so with right intention and good effort, let this be the only concern in a faithful person: that whoever holds the apostolic and truly Catholic faith now holds it firm and unshaken, until that which stands between its rise and its decline is removed, because around the time of the son of destruction, faith, turning away from its strength, now bent, will be weakened.
Faith as the Great Possession
Those who hold the church's high standing and right faith possess the kingdom of heaven, while those without faith face destruction, for God existed before humanity and endures beyond the body's end.
For whoever has the church's high standing in God and right faith holds something great, because through it he will enter the kingdom of heaven; but whoever has no faith holds nothing, because he will go to destruction; and so also humanity exists in the midst of God's power, because before humanity was formed God was, and after humanity comes to an end in the body, God endures in his power.
The Ancient Enemy's Final Assault
The ancient enemy, conquered through Christ, will pour all his malice into the Antichrist to attack the Catholic faith and destroy Christ's teaching, by God's just permission.
Because the ancient enemy, who conquered the first man by seducing him and was in turn conquered through the man Christ, thinks he can once again conquer through another man — and so, by the just permission of God, he will pour the whole of his malice into the Antichrist, so that he may strive to attack the Catholic faith and destroy the teaching of Christ.✦
Read the original Latin
« Neque terreamini, neque per spiritum neque per sermonem, neque per epistolam tanquam per nos missam, quasi instet dies Domini. Ne quis vos seducat ullo modo, quoniam nisi venerit discessio primum, et revelatus fuerit homo peccati, filius perditionis, qui adversatur, et extollitur supra omne quod dicitur Deus, aut quod colitur, ita ut in templo Dei sedeat, ostendens se tanquam sit Deus . Hujus sententiae intellectus hoc modo accipiendus est: Vos qui Dei estis, et qui verbis ejus creditis, cauti estote ne in cordibus vestris ullo terrore quatiamini, neque spiritali scilicet deceptione, neque verbosa seductione, neque per scripta velut ad vos veraciter sint directa, quasi adsit dies ille, quo conditor cunctorum abscondita cordium denudabit. Cavete etiam ne quis per illusoria et phantastica facta vos inclinet ulla occasione in seductionem, quoniam nisi venerit tempus illud, quo ecclesiastica sublimitas dissipabitur, et quo vera fides conculcabitur, quod discessio intelligitur, quae fiet in tempore scelerati filii cujus mater immunda existit, nesciens a quo conceperit, et manifestus fuerit ille qui homo peccati erit, quia per initium suum totus peccatis infundetur, unde et sic peccator existet, omnia peccata recitando et recolligendo, ac filius crudelissimae perditionis quoniam totus in perditione manebit; ea quae contraria Deo sunt homines docens, quem etiam seductor humani generis ita inflammabit, quemadmodum ipse furere primitus incoepit, cum Deo similis esse voluit; quapropter etiam adversabitur omnibus Deum colentibus, et efferet se ultra omnem creaturam Deum se nominans, et ut quasi Deus colatur praecipiens, non credatis, quasi adsit dies Domini, scilicet quo judicabit orbem terrarum cum mundus finem accipiet. Iterumque idem Paulus Spiritu sancto infusus dicit: « Nam mysterium jam operatur iniquitatis, tantum ut qui tenet nunc teneat, donec de medio fiat » Hujus sententiae intellectus hoc modo accipiendus est: Occulta suggestio jam in operibus haereticorum manifestatur, in quibus persuasor iniquitatis jacula praemittit, veritatem verae fidei opprimere volens; ideoque recta intentione, ac bono conamine studium hoc in fideli homine tantum sit, ut qui fidem apostolicam et vere catholicam tenet, nunc firma stabilitate teneat illam inconvulsam, donec de medio illo quod inter ortum et defectum sui est fiat, quoniam circa tempora filii perditionis fides a fortitudine sua declinans, jam incurvata debilitabitur. Nam qui ecclesiasticam in Deo sublimitatem et fidem rectam habet aliquid magni tenet, quia per illam coeleste regnum intrabit; qui vero fidem non habet nihil tenet, quoniam in perditionem ibit; et sic etiam homo in medio potestatis Dei existit, quia antequam homo formatus fuisset Deus erat, et postquam homo corporaliter finietur Deus in virtute sua perdurat.
Quod antiquus hostis, qui primum hominem seducendo devicit, et per hominem Christum revictus per alium hominem iterum se putans posse vincere Antichristum justo Dei permissione tota malignitate sua infundet, ut ad impugnandam fidem catholicam et doctrinam Christi destruendam innitatur.
Scripture echoes
- ↩2Thess.2.3-2Thess.2.7 — 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. 2Thess.2.5 — Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? 2Thess.2.6 — And now you know what is restraining, so that he may be revealed in his own time. 2Thess.2.7 — For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only the one who now restrains will do so until he is removed.
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