Christus loquens sponse de quodam prelato dicit ei, quod anima deuota, que perdidit deuocionis et sancte meditacionis calorem propter superbiam et ambicionem suam et implicaciones mundi, humiliando se perfecte Deo et proximo recuperabit diuinum calorem et lumen et senciet diuinam dulcedinem.
The Stagnant Mill
Christ uses the metaphor of a motionless millstone to describe the prelate's spiritual stagnation caused by worldly distractions.
The Son speaks through the bride to a certain prelate, saying, "You are like a stationary millstone; when it stays fixed and doesn't move, the grain in the mill isn't ground." This wheel represents your will, which shouldn't be moved by your own desires and inclinations, but by mine; you must surrender yourself entirely into my hands. But this wheel is far too still for my will, because the water of worldly thinking is keeping your mind too busy. In fact, the contemplation of my works and my passion is as good as dead in your heart, which is why the food of the soul doesn't taste right to you and isn't felt at all.
Clearing the Obstacles of Pride
The Lord calls the prelate to remove the blockage of pride and ambition so that the grace of the Holy Spirit may flow again.
Break through the blockage holding back the water so it can flow again; as it passes through, the wheel will start to turn, and the grain will be ground with ease. The obstacle holding back the water is the pride of your mind and your ambition, which block the grace of the Holy Spirit and hinder every good thing by which your soul ought to bear fruit. So, embrace true humility in your mind. Through it, the sweetness of my Spirit will flow into your soul, and worldly thinking will drain away. Through this, your fickle will will also become perfect and aligned with my own; then you'll begin to judge your own works as if they were mere grains, and to value my works as something great.
The Path of True Humility
Christ defines true humility as detachment from worldly praise and a return to the simple, forgotten way of the saints.
But what is true humility? It is certainly not caring about the praise or criticism of others, walking in my way—which has been forgotten and neglected—not seeking what is superfluous, and conforming yourself to the simple.1 If you love this way, then spiritual things will taste right to you; then my passion and the way of my saints will be sweet to your mind; then you'll understand how much you owe to the souls you've taken on the responsibility to lead.
The Call to Account
The Lord warns the prelate to descend from his pride and prepare for the coming judgment regarding his own soul and those entrusted to his care.
Because you've already climbed to the top of the wheel on two feet—power and honor—you've developed greed from that power and pride from that honor. So, climb down now by humbling your heart, and ask the humble to pray for you. For I will send my justice upon you like a rushing river, and I will demand from you the very last penny, and an accounting for your every affection, thought, word, and deed. I will also demand an accounting for the souls I entrusted to your care—souls I myself redeemed with my own blood.
Read the original Latin
Filius loquitur per sponsam cuidam prelato dicens ei: "Tu similis est rote molendini, que immobilis est; que cum stat fixa se non mouens, tunc grana in molendino non conteruntur.
Rota itaque hec significat voluntatem tuam, que deberet esse mobilis non ad voluntatem et desiderium tuum sed ad meum, totumque relinquere te debes in manus meas.
Sed hec rota nimis immobilis est secundum velle meum, quia aqua terrene cogitacionis nimis sollicitat mentem tuam. Consideracio vero operum meorum et passio mea quasi mortua est in corde tuo, propter quod cibus anime non sapit tibi nec sentitur.
Et ideo tu irrumpe transitum aque obstructum, ut defluat aqua, qua transeunte rota fiet mobilis et grana faciliter conterentur. Obstaculum autem, quod retentat aquam, superbia mentis et ambicio est, qua gracia Spiritus sancti obstruitur et omne bonum, quo anima fructificare debet, impeditur.
Ideo assume veram humilitatem in mente tua. Per hanc enim influet dulcedo Spiritus mei in animam tuam et defluet terrena cogitacio.
Per hanc eciam voluntas tua mobilis et perfecta erit ad velle meum, et tunc incipies opera tua tanquam grana diiudicare et opera mea pro magno reputare.
Que autem est vera humilitas? Certe non curare fauores et oblocuciones hominum, viam meam que oblita et neglecta est incedere, superflua non querere, simplicioribus te conformare.
Si hanc viam diligis, tunc sapiunt tibi spiritualia, tunc passio mea et via sanctorum meorum dulcis erit menti tue, tunc intelliges, quantum es debitor animabus quas regere suscepisti.
Ergo, quia iam in summitate rote ascendisti duobus pedibus scilicet potencia et honore, ideo ex potencia est tibi cupiditas et ex honore est tibi superbia. Propterea descende nunc humiliando te ipsum mente et humiles rogando pro te orare.
Nam mittam tibi iusticiam meam quasi fluuium rapidissimum et exigam a te nouissimum quadrantem et racionem scilicet pro affectu, cogitatu, pro locucione et pro opere. Exigam quoque animas, quas prouidencie tue commisi, quas ego ipse sanguine meo redemi."
Notes
- 1 ↩The Latin 'viam meam que oblita et neglecta est incedere' is slightly elliptical; the translation assumes the sense of walking the path that others have abandoned.
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