Diabolus
The Deception of Desire
Diabolus accuses the soul of being so captivated by bodily desire that it mistakes its object of worship and loses self-knowledge.
You don't know what you're worshiping, because your belly is empty — taken by the beauty of the man — where you cross the commandment that God commanded in a sweet union; so you don't know what you are!12
Read the original Latin
Tu nescis quid colis, quia venter tuus vacuus est pulchra forma de viro sumpta – ubi transis preceptum quod deus in suavi copula precepit; unde nescis quid sis!
Notes
- 1 ↩The phrase 'pulchra forma de viro sumpta' is grammatically difficult: sumpta (nominative feminine) disagrees with forma (ablative), suggesting possible corruption or loose participial syntax. The rendering 'taken by the beauty of the man' follows the most plausible sense, but the construction remains uncertain.
- 2 ↩'suavi copula' (sweet union/bond) is ambiguous in context — it may refer to the marital bond, the union of body and soul, or the bond of love in which God's commandment was given. The translation preserves this ambiguity.
Ordo Virtutum (Order of the Virtues) companion
Let a different Virtue meet you each morning
Chosen Portion walks you through the whole Ordo Virtutum — and Hildegard's Scivias — as free daily devotionals.
The Ordo was performed scene by scene by Hildegard's nuns, and Chosen Portion restores that rhythm — one scene of the Virtues' drama as each day's devotional.
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