XLVIIII. De Immoderatione.

XLVIIII. De Immoderatione.

The seventh image represents immoderation, which here accompanies unfortunate circumstances; because when a person is rebellious against God's goodness, immoderation immediately springs up in whatever area they think they stand firm. It is urged. — 3) but the breadth W. For whoever is against God will not stand, but will go to destruction. This other thing is like a wolf, because it is in the frenzy of deceit and in the harsh changes of all evils without discretion. She lies on her knees, looking around everywhere to swallow whatever she can seize, because, leaning on her own strength, she will incur worse things on the worst paths of her own will, and she considers all vanities, so that she can gather them to herself, in order to disturb the whole honest moderation of what is right and lead herself to nothing, and so that she may remain in the pleasure of her own desires; this is demonstrated above in her words. To whom true discretion is given; and so that they may see the things that are fitting in the heavens, they will be led. About the destruction of souls. But the eighth marks the ruin of souls, which follows after immoderation, because it openly opposes God through excess, incurring the ruin of the soul, which refuses to be with God and gnashes against Him, where it shows itself to be a mountain of salvation, while it is in fact a complete ruin, in which the proud angel built his ruin and those following him. A tower is likened to one that has a strong foundation at its peak, where three windows are present, for great and unshakeable strength is like a tower in destruction, where pride, as if at its highest point, prepares a false security like a foundation that does not lead to God but tends toward the sorrow of despair; here, through sense, intellect, and knowledge, it looks out as if through three windows, to lead souls to destruction; in these, it also denies the true faith of the Holy Trinity, since it does not believe that one God exists in three persons. But under them, two arms appear like branches, whose ends extend above the roof, which means that under the outlook of destruction, there is no regard for strength toward God, but rather toward the Devil, where a person, through infidelity, raises himself to evil, so that his wicked deeds extend over a deadly security, directing his hope not toward God, but toward empty vanity. And those same arms are shrouded in darkness like rags, and their nakedness is fiery; for strength and wickedness of destruction lie in obscurity and in the hidden lair of thieves, where the desires of the soul secretly kill themselves, and where the deeds of wicked men are bare, devoid of any holiness; but the burning desires in the fire of bitterness are without any hope of salvation; for this destruction seeks nothing else, desires nothing else, but to lead souls there, where it itself is, as it even shows in its speech, as has been demonstrated. But the loss of salvation rebukes the soul, and it warns that no one should be led astray, because destruction has no salvation, as if it were nothing. But destruction itself is in ruin, and it has no hope of salvation, because it is against God, since it chose to cling to the one who has no light, but remains in darkness; as the prophet Jeremiah, inspired by the Holy Spirit, says. Jeremiah speaks to this very matter. What are you, Israel, that you are in the land of your enemies? You've become entrenched in a foreign land, defiled with the dead, and cast aside with those who are in hell; you've abandoned the source of wisdom. For if you had truly walked in the way of God, you would have certainly found peace. the land. Its meaning is such. So what’s this evil, that you, who are the manifestation of God’s miracles and who are said to be in heaven with all its lights, should see God; yet in that part where your mind is earthly, you find yourself in the dwelling place of all your enemies? For evil desires spring up in your flesh, which are hostile to your soul. Your earth begins to play in its first greenness. And then it begins to indulge in lust, and afterward it goes into the depths of the sea; these are filthy and tepid works, with which your mind has become entrenched in a foreign land, so that you are in sins that are contrary to holiness. You don't even know God, in the state of slumber you've fallen into with dead works, which stink before God and all His saints because of your unbelief. Therefore, you are also destined for destruction along with those who dwell in infernal torment, who do not see the day of faith, nor behold the sun of mercy, and who have forsaken the moon of holiness along with all the stars of virtue; because they have rejected the light of all God's grace. And so you've abandoned the fountain of wisdom, which is the infinite life that is in God, a life that no one among men can exhaust by knowing, understanding, or seeing. For if you had walked in the way of God's commandments, imitating the footsteps of Christ, happiness would shine upon you, and the honor of the Lord of Hosts would lead you to life, so that you would dwell in the understanding of peaceful love; and God would reveal you on earth before people and in heaven to His angels, showing you the light of clarity in the sound of the most holy works, and producing in you a sweet sound like that of a harp. But because you've neglected all these things, you're in the midst of great ruin. But you, O Israel, who desire to see the works of God in the holy places, do not imitate the lost sons of Jacob, who should have resisted the devil but did not; instead, complete those works which God proposed to Adam in paradise, which He later adorned in the heavens, and which He manifested in the circumcision of Abraham as a revelation of the true Trinity, and which He showed to Moses in the burning bush, and which He later revealed to the children of Israel as wicked works. And as you ascend the ladder of virtues that Jacob was shown, imitate Christ, who revealed the glorious virtues of God the Father, and who generously offers mercy to all who seek it; just as He declared this in Himself when He was in the world, as it pleased Him. For he himself rested like a unicorn in the womb of the Virgin, and afterward, like a Capricorn, ascended the mountain of virtues and miracles, through which he completely overcame the Devil and crushed his power.