XLVIII. De torporis poenitentia

XLVIII. De torporis poenitentia

And again, I heard a voice speaking to me from the living light, saying: "What you see is true." But if people strive to shake off their sluggishness by encouraging their spirit, and they try to escape the penalties of their torpor by fasting and scourging themselves, and by shaking off the weariness of torpor through the purest prayers, they will serve God with the sharpness of integrity. On the vice of sloth. Torpor has a certain association with some animals, which neither have agility for good nor for evil, but instead lie in sluggishness. For he neither fears God nor loves Him, because he does not taste Him in fear, nor does he harmonize with Him in love, nor does he work as a man in the labors of reason, nor does he call upon God in the breath of his soul. For just as useless air is, which dries up the fruits of the earth. Therefore, he says of himself: If God exists, let God be, for he himself is not in need of my labor. For I desire nothing more than to live. And so, sloth postpones doing good. But it's a great folly for that person who does not seek to honor or love God, who created everything, and whose kingdom will have no end. But wisdom is in the one who continually gazes at the source from which he has his body and soul, as if in a mirror of his own heart. These things have been said about the souls of the penitent, to be purified and saved, and they are faithful; let the faithful pay attention to these and keep them in mind for the good of their knowledge. But I also saw other spirits of the same multitude, who were all shouting loudly, saying: "Let us go, let us go, and let us hurry to go there, where we must go." These people lead others into forgetfulness of God, and they persuade them not to remember their Creator or His works. About the pains of oblivion in purgatory, 65. And I saw a great valley, having much length and breadth, filled with a great fire and an extremely foul stench, in which many horrible worms of a frightful shape were crawling. In this state, the souls of those who lived in the world were punished, because they had surrendered the fear of God to forgetfulness, and they neither wanted to know nor understand what they should do. Because they had harbored infidelity in their hearts, they were in this valley; and because they had loved impiety, they burned in this fire; and because they had attempted to resist God, they felt this stench; and because they had gathered many adversities of deceit within themselves, they were tormented by the aforementioned worms. And I saw and understood these things.