XXXVI. De Actibus apostolorum ad eamdem rem.

XXXVI. De Actibus apostolorum ad eamdem rem.

The multitude of believers was of one heart and one soul. No one claimed that anything they owned was their own, but everything was shared among them. Its meaning is such. The multitude that is in the Catholic faith, multiplied and assigned by the fire of the Holy Spirit, which so sprinkles the minds of believers that they see God in the unity of the true faith, must have one heart in the unity of the true Trinity, in which they should burn so that they look to no one else but to God alone. But there must also be one soul among them, in the most fervent love by which they disregard all the kingdoms of the world and consider any punishments that come their way as nothing, because when the flesh is elevated to the highest duties of the soul, the flesh is afflicted; and for this reason, they should rejoice in all these things, because they want to be poor, not rich. And since they scorn the riches that are dead through greed, like ashes, no one among them should have anything according to their own will, but may possess all that they have through the gift of God, and may not claim that anything is theirs by their own strength, but rather by God, who gives all good things to the good. What are those? Truth and justice are the foundations of all good things. These people don’t want to have a mutual relationship with God, who reject all good things and attract all bad things to themselves. And here will be those who love God and who want to have life; all things will be common to them, since the property of human will seeks other gods, and it repels all holiness from itself, because it wants to exist by itself. But God created man and subjected all creatures to him; however, man has no power over them, except as God permits him, because what man has today, God will take away from him tomorrow by His just judgment, whether man wants it or not; for all things subsist from God, and all things are in God, who arranges everything rightly. Therefore, discord has a head like a leopard, because it leads every wicked person's will to a double madness, making them rage and revel in word and deed, and with everyone, both the calm and the restless, both in secret and in public, it instills horror and terror of restlessness through the snares of its fury; it imitates the Devil, from whom it proceeds, who disturbs and unsettles everyone with his wicked suggestions. But the remaining body is like a scorpion, because everything it does is filled with the poison of death, since it deals only with the dangers of misfortune and moral decay. What turns against the South and the West is that it opposes the virtues that are fervent in the love of heavenly things, and it assists the diabolical arts, subverting everything it can, just as it declares in its own words, as has been shown. But harmony is essential! It gives an answer, and it shows that she is cast into hell.