Verba qualiter Deus capitulum superius immediate dictum declarat et de sentencia contra tales illata et qualiter Deus ad tempus propter bonos sustinet malos.
The Greed of the World
The Church has replaced the sword of justice with a bottomless bag of greed.
I told you before that the sword of the Church has been cast aside, and in its place a money bag has been taken up—a bag that is open at one end and so deep at the other that whatever goes in never hits the bottom, nor is it ever filled. This bag is greed, which exceeds all limit and measure, and has grown so strong that, with the Lord held in contempt, nothing is desired but money and one's own will.
The Patience of the Judge
God acts as a patient Father and Judge, delaying punishment to allow for repentance.
Yet I am like a master who is both a father and a judge. As he was on his way to pass judgment, the people around him said, "Master, hurry up and pass judgment!" The Lord replied to them, "Wait a little while until tomorrow, for perhaps my son will still amend his ways in the meantime." When he returned the next day, the people said to him, "Lord, step forward and pass judgment!" How long will you delay judgment and refuse to judge the guilty?" The Lord answered, "Wait a little longer to see if my son will correct himself." And then, if he doesn't come to his senses, I will do what is just." I patiently endure humanity right up to the final moment, because I am both Father and Judge. However, because my justice is unchangeable, even though it may be delayed for a long time, I will still either punish sinners if they don't amend themselves, or I will show mercy to those who turn back.
The Threefold Corruption
The clergy, the courtiers, and the common people have all abandoned God for worldly gain.
I told you before that I divided the people into three groups: judges, defenders, and workers. For who do these judges represent, if not the clergy, who have turned divine wisdom into a twisted and vain wisdom? Just as clerics often take many words and condense them into a few, even though those few mean the same thing as the many, so the clerics of this time have taken my ten commandments and condensed them into one word. What is this one word? “Reach out your hand and give me money!” This is their wisdom: to speak beautifully while acting badly, and to pretend they are mine while acting wickedly against me. Finally, they gladly tolerate those who sin for bribes, and by their own example, they lead the simple to ruin. Furthermore, they hate those who walk in my way. Second, the Church’s defenders—the courtiers—are faithless. They’ve broken their word and their oaths, and they willingly tolerate those who sin against the faith of my holy Church and its laws. Third, the laborers—that is, the common people—are like untamed bulls, because they have three things. For they dig up the earth with their feet, second, they fill themselves to the point of satiety, and third, they fulfill their own pleasure according to their own desire. In this way, the common people now reach out with all their affections toward temporal things. They fill themselves with excessive gluttony and the vanity of the world. They satisfy the pleasure of their flesh without any reason.
The Hidden Friends
God preserves a remnant of faithful friends who weep for the world and carry His warning.
But even though many are my enemies, I still have many friends among them, though they are hidden. Just as it was said to Elijah, who thought no friend of mine remained except himself—'I have,' he said, 'seven thousand men who have not bent their knees before Baal'—so too, even though many are my enemies, I have hidden friends among them who weep daily because my enemies have prevailed and because my name is despised. Because of their prayers, just as a kind and good king who knows the city's deeds are evil still patiently tolerates its inhabitants and sends letters to his friends to warn them of their danger, so I send my words to my friends—words that aren't as obscure as the Apocalypse I showed to John in mystery, but which, when it pleases me, are explained by my Spirit in their own time. They aren't so hidden that they can't be announced—unlike the mysteries Paul saw, which he wasn't allowed to speak of—but they are so open that everyone, small and great alike, can understand them; they are so simple that everyone who wants to can grasp them. So, let my friends bring my words to my enemies, so that perhaps they might be converted, and the danger and judgment awaiting them might be made known to them, so that they may be moved to compunction for their deeds.
The Certainty of Judgment
The specific punishments for each class are described, revealing the severity of divine justice.
Otherwise, the judgment of the city will come; and just as a wall is torn down until not one stone is left upon another, and not even two stones in the foundation remain together, so it will be for the city—that is, for the world. Judges, however, will burn in a most intense fire. Yet no fire is hotter than one fed by fat. These judges were fat because they had more opportunity to satisfy their own will; they surpassed others in honor and worldly abundance, and they exceeded others in malice and iniquity. Therefore, they will burn in a most fervent frying pan. But those who defend them will be hung on the highest gallows. For the gallows consists of two upright beams and a third placed across them like a lintel. This gallows, with its two beams, is their most severe punishment, made up as it is of those two pieces of wood. First, because they did not hope for my eternal reward, nor did they labor in their works for its sake. The second piece of wood is that they lacked trust in my power and goodness, doubting that I could or would provide them with everything they needed. The crossbeam is their corrupt conscience, specifically because they understood what was right and did what was evil, and felt no shame in acting against their own conscience. The rope of this gallows is eternal fire, which cannot be extinguished by water, nor cut by shears, nor will it ever end or break with age. On this gallows, where the punishment is most severe and the fire unquenchable, they will hang and suffer shame like traitors. They'll feel misery because they were unfaithful. They'll hear insults because my words were displeasing to them. Woe will be on their lips because their own praise and honor were sweet to them. On this rack, living crows—demons who are never satisfied—will tear them apart. Yet they won't be consumed by this tearing; they will live on in torment without end, and their tormentors will live on without end as well. There will be endless woe, a misery that will never be eased. Woe to them that they were ever born!✦ Woe to them that their lives were prolonged! Third, the justice for those who labor is like that of bulls. Bulls have flesh and skin that are incredibly tough. Therefore, their judgment is a very sharp iron. This very sharp iron is the death of hell, which will torment those who have despised me and preferred their own will to my command.
A Final Call to Conversion
God swears by His divinity and humanity that His words are true and that judgment is imminent.
The letter, therefore—that is, my words—has been written. Let my friends work to approach my enemies wisely and with discretion, in case they might be willing to listen and come to their senses. But if anyone, having heard my words, says, 'Let's wait a little longer; the time hasn't come yet, it's not yet the time for it,' I swear by my divinity—the same that drove Adam from paradise and sent the ten plagues upon Pharaoh—that I am coming to them sooner than they believe. I swear by my humanity—which I took from the Virgin without sin for the salvation of humanity, in which I bore tribulation in my heart, suffered pain in my flesh, and endured death for the life of humanity, and in which I rose again, ascended, and sit at the right hand of the Father as true God and man in one person—that I will fulfill my words. I swear by my Spirit, who was sent upon the apostles on the day of Pentecost and set them on fire so they could speak in the languages of all nations, that unless they return to me as servants and fragile beings with a change of heart, I will take vengeance upon them in my wrath. Then there will be woe for them, in both body and soul. Woe to them, because they came into the world alive and lived in the world. Woe to them, because their pleasure was brief and, what's more, it was vanity; and their torment will be everlasting. Then they'll feel what they now refuse to believe: that my words were words of love. Then they'll understand that I warned them like a father, and they refused to listen to me. Look, if they refuse to believe my words of goodwill, they'll believe the works when they come.1
Read the original Latin
"Dixi tibi prius, quia gladius Ecclesie abiectus est et pro eo assumptus saccus pecunie, qui ex una parte apertus est et ex alia sic profundus, quod, quidquid ingreditur, numquam capit fundum nec umquam impletur.
Hic saccus est cupiditas, que omnem modum et mensuram excedit et in tantum inualuit, quod contempto Domino nichil desideratur nisi pecunia et propria voluntas.
Attamen ego sum sicut dominus, qui et pater et iudex est. Cui eunti ad iudicium dicunt circumstantes: 'Domine, procede cicius et fac iudicium!' Quibus respondit dominus: 'Expectate modicum usque cras, quia forte filius meus adhuc interim emendabit se.'
Veniente autem eo altero die, dicunt ei populi: 'Procede et fac iudicium, domine! Usquequo protrahis iudicium et non iudicas nocentes?'
Respondit dominus: 'Adhuc modicum expectate, si filius meus emendet se! Et tunc, si non resipiscet, faciam, quod iustum est.'
Sic ego pacienter suffero hominem usque ad nouissimum punctum, quia et pater et iudex sum. Verumptamen, quia iusticia mea incommutabilis est et quamuis diu protrahitur, tamen aut puniam, si non emendauerint se peccatores, aut misericordiam faciam in conuersos.
Dixi eciam tibi prius, quod populum diuisi in tres partes, scilicet in iudices, in defensores et laboratores. Quos enim significant isti iudices nisi clericos, qui diuinam sapienciam verterunt in prauam sapienciam et vanam?
Sicut illi clerici solent facere, qui recipiunt multa verba et componunt in pauca - et illa pauca verba sonant idem, quod illa multa -, sic clerici huius temporis receperunt decem mandata mea et composuerunt in unum verbum.
Quid est hoc unum verbum? 'Porrige manum et da pecuniam!' Hec est sapiencia eorum, loqui pulchre et agere male, simulare se meum et agere nequiter contra me.
Ipsi denique pro muneribus peccantes libenter paciuntur in peccatis, simplices exemplo suo precipitant. Insuper euntes per viam meam odiunt.
Secundo defensores Ecclesie, idest curiales, sunt infideles. Qui fregerunt promissionem suam et iuramentum et peccantes contra fidem sancte Ecclesie mee et constitucionem libenter tolerant.
Tercio laboratores, idest communitas, sunt sicut tauri indomiti, quia habent tria. Effodiunt enim terram pedibus, secundo implent se ad sacietatem, tercio complent voluptatem suam iuxta desiderium suum.
Sic communitas nunc totis affeccionibus inhiat temporalibus. Implet se immoderata gula et vanitate mundi. Complet absque racione carnis sue delectacionem.
Sed licet multi sint inimici mei, tamen inter eos multos habeo amicos, quamuis occultos. Sicut dicebatur ad Heliam, qui nullum putabat superesse amicum meum nisi se solum: 'Habeo', inquit, 'septem milia virorum, qui non flectebant genua sua ante Baal', sic ego, licet multi sint inimici, habeo tamen occultos amicos inter eos, qui cotidie plorant, quod inimici mei preualuerunt et quod nomen meum despicitur.
Propterea propter preces eorum, sicut rex caritatiuus et bonus, sciens opera ciuitatis mala, pacienter tolerat inhabitantes et mittit litteras amicis suis, faciens eos cautos de periculo suo, sic ego verba mea mitto amicis meis, que non sic obscura sunt ut Apocalipsis, quem Iohanni ostendi sub obscuritate, ut a spiritu meo in suo tempore, cum michi placeret, explanarentur.
Nec ita occulta sunt, ut non annuncientur - sicut Paulus videbat de misteriis meis, que non licebat loqui -, sed sic aperta sunt, quod omnes tam parui quam magni intelligant, tam leuia, ut omnes, qui velint, possint capere.
Ergo amici mei verba mea venire faciant ad inimicos meos, si forte conuertantur, et innotescat eis periculum et iudicium eorum, ut compungantur de factis suis!
Alioquin iudicium erit ciuitatis, et sicut interrumpitur murus, ubi non relinquitur lapis super lapidem nec in fundamento duo lapides sibi mutuo adherebunt, sic ciuitati, idest mundo, fiet.
Iudices vero ardebunt igne ardentissimo. Nullus autem ignis ardencior est quam qui nutritur aliqua pinguedine.
Isti iudices pingues fuerunt, quia plus occasionem habuerunt complendi voluntatem suam, plus aliis excedebant honore et habundancia temporalium, plus aliis habundabant malicia et iniquitate. Ideo in sartagine feruentissima ardebunt.
Defensores vero suspendentur in altissimo patibulo. Patibulum enim constat ex duobus lignis erectis et tercio posito ex transuerso ut superliminare.
Hoc patibulum cum duobus lignis est pena eorum seuissima, que constat quasi ex duobus lignis. Primo, quod non sperabant premium meum eternum nec pro eo operibus laborabant.
Secundum lignum est, quod diffidebant de potencia et bonitate mea, quod non omnia possem nec vellem dare eis ad sufficienciam.
Lignum autem ex transuerso est consciencia eorum praua, ex eo videlicet, quod intelligebant bene et faciebant mala nec verecundabantur facere contra conscienciam suam.
Funiculus autem patibuli est ignis eternus, qui non extinguitur aqua nec rescinditur forpicibus nec finietur vel rumpetur vetustate.
In hoc patibulo, ubi est pena seuissima et ignis inextinguibilis, pendebunt et habebunt confusionem sicut proditores.
Sencient miserias, quia fuerunt infideles. Audient obprobria, quia displicuerunt eis verba mea. Erit ve in ore eorum, quia laus et honor proprius dulcis fuit eis.
In hoc patibulo lacerabunt eos corui viui, idest demones, qui numquam saciantur. Sed nec lacerati consumentur: sine fine viuent cruciati et sine fine viuent cruciatores.
Ibi erit ve, quod numquam finietur, miseria, qua numquam mitigabitur. Ve eis, quod umquam nati fuerunt! Ve eis, quod vita eorum prolongata fuerat!
Tercio iusticia laboratorum est qualis taurorum. Tauri habent carnem et pellem nimis duram. Ideo iudicium eorum est ferrum acutissimum. Hoc ferrum acutissimum est mors inferni, que cruciabit eos, qui me contempserunt et propriam voluntatem pro mandato meo dilexerunt.
Littera igitur, idest verba mea, scripta est. Laborent amici mei, ut ad inimicos meos sapienter et discrete veniant, si forte audire velint et resipiscere.
Si autem aliqui auditis verbis meis dixerint: 'Expectemus adhuc modicum, tempus nondum veniet, nondum est tempus eius', ego iuro in deitate mea, que Adam expulit de paradiso, Pharaoni decem plagas immisit, quod venio eis cicius, quam credunt;
ego iuro in humanitate mea, quam de virgine assumpsi sine peccato pro salute hominum, in qua tribulacionem habui in corde, penam sum passus in carne, mortem pro vita hominum, in qua resurrexi et ascendi et sedeo ad dexteram Patris verus Deus et homo in una persona, quod complebo verba mea;
ego iuro in Spiritu meo, qui super apostolos in die pentecostes est missus et inflammauit eos, ut omnium gencium linguis loquerentur, quod, nisi cum emendacione ad me quasi serui et fragiles redierint, vindicabor in eos in ira mea.
Tunc ve erit eis in corpore et in anima. Ve, quia viui in mundum venerunt et in mundo vixerunt. Ve, quia modica fuit eorum voluptas et adhuc illa vana, et cruciatus eorum erit perpetuus.
Tunc sencient, quod nunc credere contempnunt, quod verba mea fuerunt caritatis. Tunc intelligent, quod quasi pater monui eos et me noluerunt audire.
Ecce, si verbis noluerint credere beniuolencie, credent operibus, cum venerint."
Scripture echoes
- ↩Matt.26.24 — The Son of Man goes as it has been written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.
Notes
- 1 ↩The Latin 'beniuolencie' (benevolence/goodwill) is rendered here as 'goodwill' to maintain the natural, direct tone requested.
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