Visio sponse de penis diuersis, que preparabantur cuidam anime adhuc in corpore existenti; et qualiter omnia illa genera penarum, si conuersa esset anima ante mortem, conuerti deberent in maximum honorem et gloriam.
The Vision of Impending Judgment
The visionary is shown instruments of torture being prepared for a soul, representing the spiritual consequences of sin.
It seemed to me that I was watching people standing there preparing ropes; others were standing by preparing horses, some were crafting iron tongs, and others were building a gallows. As I watched this, a young woman appeared looking troubled and asked if I understood what it meant. When I replied that I didn't, she said, "Everything you've seen is a spiritual punishment being prepared for the soul of the person you know." The ropes are for binding the horse that is to drag the soul. The pincers are for tearing at the nose, eyes, ears, and lips; the gallows are for hanging.
The Power of Conversion and Grace
The virgin reveals that through repentance and love, these instruments of punishment can be transformed into signs of divine honor and glory.
As I was troubled by these things, the virgin answered me again, "Don't be troubled." For there is still time; if the soul is willing, it can break the ropes, overturn the horses, melt the pincers like wax, and remove the gallows.1 Furthermore, she can have such an ardent love for God that these signs of punishment will become for her a source of the greatest honor, to the point that the ropes with which she was meant to be contemptuously bound will be turned into golden belts for her. Instead of the horses meant to drag the soul through the streets, angels will be sent to lead it into the presence of God. And instead of the iron claws meant to tear the soul apart in contempt, it will be given a better fragrance for its nose, a better taste for its mouth, the most beautiful vision for its eyes, and the most delightful melody for its ears.
A Soul Rescued by Mercy
The account of a repentant marshal illustrates how God's mercy and a soul's good will can snatch a person from destruction.
He was a royal marshal who, upon arriving in Rome, was so humbled and pierced with compunction that he would frequently walk the stations bareheaded, begging God—and asking others to pray for him—that he might not return to his homeland if it meant he would fall back into his former sins. God heard his voice. After he left Rome and arrived in Montefiascone, he fell ill and died there. Another revelation was given about him: "See, daughter, what the mercy of God does, and what a good will does." This soul was in the jaws of the lion, but a good will snatched it from the lion's teeth; now it's on the way to its true home and will share in all the good things done in the Church of God.
Read the original Latin
Videbatur michi, quod quasi viderem homines stantes et preparantes funes, alii vero stabant et preparabant equos, alii fabricabant forpices, alii autem patibulum edificabant.
Cumque hec viderem, apparuit virgo quedam quasi turbata, querens si hec intelligerem; et me respondente non intelligere respondit: "Hec omnia," inquit, "que vidisti, pena est spiritualis, que paratur anime illius quem tu noscis.
Funes sunt ad ligandum equum, qui animam est trahiturus. Forpices vero ad discerpendum nares, oculos, aures et labia; patibulumque ad suspendendum."
Cumque ego de hiis turbarer, respondit iterum virgo: "Noli turbari. Adhuc enim est tempus, quod si velit, poterit disrumpere funes, subuertere equos, forpices sicut ceram liquescere potestque patibulum remouere.
Insuper et sic ardentem caritatem potest habere ad Deum, quod ista signa penarum erunt ei ad maximum honorem, in tantum quod funes, quibus contemptibiliter ligari teneretur, vertentur ei in zonas aureas.
Pro equis vero, quibus per plateas trahi deberet, mittentur ei angeli ducentes eum ante conspectum Dei. Pro forpicibus vero, quibus contemptibiliter deberet discerpi, dabitur naribus melior odoratus, ori melior sapor, oculis pulcherrima visio, auribus delectabilissima melodia."
Hic fuit marscalcus regis, qui veniens Romam tantum humiliatus et compunctus est, quod discooperto capite circuiret frequencius staciones rogans Deum et rogari faciens, ut non rediret ad patriam, si contingeret eum relabi in peccata priora.
Cuius vocem exaudiuit Deus. Nam exiens de Roma cum venisset in monte Flasconis, ibi infirmatus est et mortuus. De quo facta est alia reuelacio:
"Vide, filia, quid facit misericordia Dei, quid facit voluntas bona. Ista anima fuit in faucibus leonis, sed voluntas bona eripuit eam de dentibus leonis, et iam est in via ad patriam et particeps erit omnium bonorum, que fiunt in Ecclesia Dei."
Notes
- 1 ↩The Latin 'equos' (horses) appears in the source text, likely referring to the agents or forces of the punishment mentioned in the previous section.
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