Verba creatoris ad sponsam, qualiter eius iusticia malos tripliciter sustinet et eius misericordia malis tripliciter parcit.
The Threefold Patience of Divine Justice
God explains that He endures the wicked to allow their malice to be revealed, to reward their small good deeds, and to manifest His own divine honor.
I am the Creator of heaven and earth. You wonder, my bride, why I am so patient with the wicked. It's because I am merciful. For my justice endures them in three ways, and my mercy spares them in three ways. First, my justice endures them so that their time may be fully completed. Just as a just king with prisoners might reply when asked why they haven't been executed, 'Because the general court hasn't arrived yet, where they can be heard for the greater caution of those listening,' so I endure the wicked until their time comes, so that their malice may be made known to others as well. Didn't I predict Saul's rejection long before it was known to people? I put up with him for a long time so that his malice would be made clear to others. Second, because the wicked have done some good works that must be rewarded down to the last detail, they receive their reward here so that not even the smallest good they've done for me goes unrewarded. Third, I have put up with Pilate, Herod, and Judas—even though they were already condemned—so that the honor of God and His patience might be made manifest. Therefore, if anyone asks why I put up with this person or that one, let them consider Judas and Pilate.
The Threefold Mercy of Divine Love
God reveals how His mercy spares the wicked to delay their eternal punishment, to allow their nature to be tempered, and to provide an opportunity for the conversion of others.
My mercy also spares the wicked in three ways. First, because of my immense love. For eternal punishment is long. That is why, out of my immense love, I endure them until the very last moment, so that their punishment, through the long delay of time, might begin for them as late as possible. Second, so that their nature may be worn down by their vices. For nature is worn away through sin, so that they wouldn't experience a more bitter temporal death if their nature were fresher. A fresh nature makes death longer and more bitter. Third, for the progress of the good and the conversion of some of the wicked. For when good and just people are troubled by the wicked, it serves those good and just people either to restrain their sin or to help them gain greater merit.1 In the same way, the wicked sometimes live through the evil they do for a good purpose. For when the wicked consider the downfall and wickedness of others, they think to themselves, 'What good does it do us to follow them?' And they add, 'Since the Lord is so patient, it's better to turn back.' And so, sometimes those who have turned away return to me, because they are repulsed by the things those wicked people do, as their conscience tells them such things shouldn't be done. This is why it's said that if someone stung by a scorpion is anointed with oil in which another snake has died, they are healed. Sometimes, a wicked person sees the downfall of another and is moved to compunction; by considering the other's wickedness and vanity, they are healed.2
Read the original Latin
"Ego sum creator celi et terre. Mirabaris tu, sponsa mea, quare sic paciens sum in malos. Hoc est, quia misericors sum. Nam tripliciter patitur eos iusticia mea et tripliciter parcit eis misericordia mea.
Primo eos iusticia mea patitur, ut tempus eorum compleatur ex toto. Sicut enim rex iustus, habens incarceratos aliquos, si ab eo queritur, cur non occiduntur, respondet, 'quia nondum venit placitum generale, ubi ad maiorem cautelam audiencium audiri possunt', sic ego supporto malos, donec venerit tempus eorum, ut innotescat eciam aliis malicia eorum.
Numquid non longe ante predixi de reprobacione Saulis, antequam innotuit hominibus? Quem, ut aliis malicia eius ostenderetur, diu supportaui. Secundo, quia mali aliqua bona opera fecerunt, pro quibus usque ad ultimum punctum remunerari debent, ut non sit aliquod minimum bonum, quod pro me fecerunt, pro quo non remunerentur, ut hic recipiant mercedem suam.
Tercio, ut honor Dei et eius paciencia manifestetur, ideo supportaui Pilatum, Herodem et Iudam, cum tamen dampnati essent. Ideo, si quis querit, quare illum et illum supporto, consideret Iudam et Pilatum.
Tripliciter eciam parcit malis hominibus misericordia mea. Primo propter nimiam caritatem. Longa enim est pena eterna. Ideo propter maximam caritatem supporto eos usque ad ultimum punctum, ut pena ex longa temporis protraccione tardius eis inchoetur.
Secundo, ut consumatur natura eorum in viciis. Per peccatum enim natura consumitur, ne mortem temporalem amariorem sentirent, si natura eorum esset recencior. Recens enim natura mortem prolixiorem et amariorem facit.
Tercio ad profectum bonorum et conuersionem aliquorum malorum. Cum enim boni homines et iusti per malos tribulantur, vel proficit ipsis bonis et iustis ad referenacionem peccati vel ad maius meritum acquirendum.
Similiter et mali viuunt malis ad bonum quandoque. Nam mali, cum aliquorum malorum casum et nequiciam considerant, cogitant secum dicentes: 'Quid prodest nobis sequi eos?' et 'Cum sic paciens est Dominus, melius est conuerti.'
Et sic quandoque redeunt ad me auersi, quia abhorrent talia facere, sicut illi mali faciunt, dicente eis consciencia eorum talia non facienda. Unde dicitur, quod aliquis percussus a scorpione, si perungitur oleo, in quo mortuus est alius serpens, sanatur.
Sic quandoque malus, videns alterius casum, compungitur et, considerata alterius iniquitate et vanitate, sanatur.
Notes
Revelationes (Heavenly Revelations) companion
Keep going — one revelation a day
The full 496-chapter Revelationes lives in the Chosen Portion app, served as free daily portions.
Birgitta's revelations arrived over three decades of daily attentiveness, and the Chosen Portion app lets readers receive them the same way — one portion per day.
- Finish the guided path in 8 weeks at roughly 15 minutes a day
- All 8 books, 496 chapters, in modern English — the complete transmitted text
- Daily delivery so a 30-year masterwork becomes a sustainable habit