Christus conqueritur de hominibus, qui delectantur in temporalibus deliciis despicientes futuram gloriam et beneficia passionis eius. Quorum oracio assimilatur voci canne et voci collisorum lapidum et tales dampnabuntur. Et tunc videbunt gloriam Dei intra celum et supra et infra et extra et in omni loco ad confusionem suam.
The Three Voices of the Heart
Christ describes the discordant, worldly cries of the human heart that mask a rejection of divine truth.
The one you know is singing: 'Rescue me, Lord, from the evil man!' This voice in my ears sounds like a pipe and like the noise of a reed. The sound of their lips is like the clatter of two stones being struck together. Who can respond to its sound, when what it represents is unknown? Because their heart cries out to me as if with three voices. The first says: 'I want to have my own way; I'll sleep and wake up whenever I please.' Pleasant words will be on my lips. Whatever delights me and is sweet will enter my mouth. I don't care about living simply; I want the satisfaction of my nature, and I'll give it whatever it craves, in full measure. I want money in my pocket and soft clothes on my back. When I have these things, I have my joy and what I desire, for I consider this to be happiness. A second voice of his cries out and says: 'Death isn't as harsh as they say, and judgment isn't as severe as it's written.' Preachers threaten many and harsher things for the sake of caution, but they will be rendered smaller on account of mercy. Therefore, if I have my own way right now, it feels delightful and best for me; as for the soul, let it go wherever it can. A third voice cries out, 'God wouldn't have created me if He didn't intend to give me the heavenly kingdom; He wouldn't have suffered if He didn't intend to bring me into my true home.' And why did He choose to suffer such bitter pain? Who forced Him, or what was the point of it? How can I possibly know the kingdom of heaven? I don't understand it, except by hearsay. I don't see His goodness; I don't know whether it's something to be believed or not. If I had my own way, I know I'd choose this pleasure and take it in place of the kingdom of heaven. Look, that’s what their thinking and their will are like. That’s why the sound of their crying rings in my ears like the clatter of stones.
The Divine Response to Human Neglect
The Lord directly addresses the three voices, exposing the coldness of heart and the rejection of His passion.
But to the first cry of their heart, I answer them: Friend, your path doesn't lead to heaven, and the thought of my passion has no sweetness for you. That is why hell is open to you, because your life loves what is lowest and your path leads toward the depths. To your second voice, I answer: 'My child, a harsh death will come to you, and the judgment will be unbearable.' You won't be able to escape; you'll face bitter punishment unless you amend your life.' To the third voice of your heart, I answer you: 'Brother, everything I did, I did out of love for you, so that you might be like me and, having turned away from your sins, return to me.' But now, my love has grown cold in you; my works are a burden to you, my words seem foolish to you, and my way is difficult. Therefore, bitter punishment and the company of demons await you, unless you change your heart for the better. In the end, you turn your back on me—your most loving Lord and Creator—instead of your face. You love my enemy just to spite me, you trample my signs under your feet, and you boldly raise up the signs of the enemy. Look at how those who seem to be mine stand before me! Look at how they have turned away! I see all this and bear it patiently, yet because of their hardness of heart, they still refuse to consider what I have done for them and how I have stood before them.
The Passion of the Mother-God
Christ reveals the depth of His suffering, comparing His love for humanity to a mother's sacrificial care.
I stood before them in three ways. First, like a man whose eyes were being pierced by a razor-sharp blade; second, like a man whose heart was being run through with a sword; third, like a man whose every limb had stiffened from the bitterness of the passion that was coming upon him. That is how I stood before them. And what does the eye signify, if not my body? To it, the passion was as bitter as the pain and piercing of an eye; yet, I endured it out of love. And what does the sword signify, if not the sorrow of my mother? It afflicted my heart more than my own pain. Third, my entire inner being and my very limbs trembled during the Passion. I stood before them and suffered these things for their sake, yet they despise them all; they neglect them entirely, just like a son who neglects his own mother. Haven't I been like a mother to them? A woman carrying a child in her womb hopes, at the hour of birth, that the infant will come forth from her womb alive; if she secures baptism for it, she doesn't care about her own death. This is how I have acted toward humanity. Like a mother, I brought humanity out of the darkness of hell through my own passion, for the sake of an eternal day. I carried humanity as if in a womb with great difficulty, fulfilling everything that had been prophesied. I nourished him with my own milk, showing him good words and giving him the precepts of life, yet he, like a bad son who ignores his mother's pain, scorns me instead of showing love and provokes me. Instead of the sorrow of a mother, he gives me weeping; he adds weakness to my wounds; he offers me stones for my hunger, and for my thirst, he satisfies me with mud.
The Weight of Knowledge and Judgment
The Lord explains the gravity of sin committed against knowledge and warns of the inevitable, inescapable glory of His judgment.
But what is this pain that a person causes me, when I am God, remaining forever undisturbed and beyond suffering? Truly, a person does cause me a kind of pain when they separate themselves from me through sin—not that any pain can actually touch me, but just as one person is accustomed to feel pain at another's downfall. Yet humanity caused me pain back then, when they didn't know what sin was or how serious it was, when they had no prophets or law, and hadn't yet heard the words from my own mouth. Even so, people cause me a kind of sorrow on top of my pain—though I am unchanging—when, after coming to know my love and my will, they act against my commands and boldly sin against the reason of their own conscience. Because of this, they now descend more deeply into hell through their knowledge of my will than they would have if they had never known my commands. In a sense, man was inflicting wounds upon me—even though I, as God, cannot be wounded—whenever he added sin upon sin. Now, however, they add a harmful infirmity to my wounds, since they don't just multiply their sins, but even boast about them and feel no compunction for them. Furthermore, people give me stones instead of bread, and mud instead of drink. What is the bread I desire, if not the progress of souls, compunction of heart, divine longing, and humility burning with love? For in return for these things, man offers me stones through the hardness of his heart, and satisfies me with mud through his impenitence and vain confidence. They despise returning to me through warnings and afflictions, and they disdain to look toward me or to weigh my love. I have every reason to complain, because like a mother I brought them into the light through the pain of my Passion, yet they prefer to remain in the darkness. I have fed them with the milk of my sweetness and I continue to feed them, yet they neglect me. So, they boldly add the mud of malice to the pain of their ignorance. They fill me with sin, when they should be refreshing me with the tears of virtue. They offer me stones, when they should be offering me the sweetness of a good life. And so, as a just judge—holding patience in justice, and in justice mercy, and in mercy wisdom—I will rise up in my own time against them according to their merits. They will see my glory in heaven, above, below, outside, and in every place—on every hill and in every valley; even those who are condemned will see it and be confounded with a fitting shame.
The Example of the Unfaithful Monk
A specific vision of a dissolute monk illustrates the consequences of choosing worldly pleasure over the life of the spirit.
This monk from the monastery of Saint Lawrence had lived a dissolute life, was killed by his enemies, and was buried in the church of Saint Lawrence. Saint Lawrence was seen speaking to the Judge: "What is this wanderer doing with your chosen ones?" "While their bodies shed their blood for you, this man—a monk in name only—loved his own pleasure."1 And at once, his body was seen being cast out of the grave, amidst a foul stench and horror. Then the Judge said to the soul that seemed to be standing there, "Go, you wretch, to the uncircumcised and the aborted—those you followed—because you refused to listen to the voice of your Father!"
Read the original Latin
"Ille, quem tu nosti, cantat: 'Eripe me, Domine, ab homine malo!' Hec vox est in auribus meis quasi vox de fistula et quasi sonus canne. Vox labiorum eius est quasi sonus duorum lapidum collisorum.
Quis poterit respondere ad sonitum eius, cum, quid figurat, ignoratur? Eius enim cor quasi cum tribus vocibus clamat ad me. Prima dicit:
'Ego volo habere voluntatem meam, dormiam et surgam, cum michi placet. Verba placita erunt in labiis meis. Quod delectat et dulce est, intrabit in os meum.
Parsimoniam habere non curo sed quero sacietatem nature, et quod appetit, sufficienter dabo ei. Pecuniam desidero in bursa, molliciem vestium in dorso. Cum hec habuero, tunc habeo gaudium meum et quod desidero; hoc enim reputo felicitatem.'
Secunda vox eius clamat et dicit: 'Mors non est sic dura, vt dicitur, iudicium non est tam seuerum, vt scribitur.
Minantur enim predicatores plura et duriora propter cautelam sed reddentur minora propter misericordiam. Ideo, si habeo voluntatem meam in presenti, delectabile est michi et optimum; anima autem vadat, vbi possit.'
Tercia autem vox clamat et dicit: 'Deus non me creasset, nisi vellet michi dare celeste regnum; non passus fuisset, nisi vellet introducere me in patriam.
Et quare tam amaram penam pati voluit? Quis compulit eum aut que inde vtilitas? Quomodo scire possim celeste regnum? Non intelligo nisi ex quodam auditu.
Bonitatem eius non video; vtrum credendum sit an non, nescio. Si haberem voluntatem meam, hoc gaudium scio et hoc haberem pro celesti regno.'
Ecce talis est cogitacio eius et voluntas. Propterea quasi sonus lapidum vox clamoris eius sonat in auribus meis. Sed ad primam vocem cordis eius respondeo ei:
'Amice, via tua non est ad celum nec cogitacio passionis mee sapit tibi. Ideo apertus est tibi infernus, quia vita tua diligit infima et via tua tendit ad inferiora.'
Ad secundam vocem respondeo tibi: 'Fili, mors veniet tibi dura, iudicium erit intollerabile. Impossibile erit tibi fugere; penam amaram habebis, nisi te emendaueris.'
Ad terciam vocem cordis tui respondeo tibi: 'Frater, omnia, que ego feci, ex caritate feci pro te, vt esses michi similis et auersus redires ad me.
Nunc autem caritas mea extincta est in te, opera mea onerosa sunt tibi, verba mea videntur tibi fatua, via mea difficilis. Ideo restat tibi supplicium amarum et societas demonum, nisi cor tuum mutaueris ad meliora.
Tu denique vertis ad me, piissimum Dominum et creatorem tuum, dorsum et non faciem. Diligis inimicum meum in contemptum meum, calcas sub pedibus signa mea et erigis audacter signa inimici.'
Ecce, qui videntur esse mei, quomodo stant coram me! Ecce, quomodo auersi sunt! Hec autem ego video et pacienter tollero, sed tamen ex duricia adhuc nolunt attendere, quid feci pro eis et quomodo steti ante eos.
Ego quippe steti ante eos tripliciter. Primo quasi homo, cuius ocellos acutissimus cultellus penetrabat; secundo quasi homo, cuius cor gladio perforabatur; tercio quasi homo, cuius membra omnia diriguerunt pre amaritudine instantis passionis. Sic steti ante eos.
Quid autem significat ocellus nisi corpus meum? Cui sic amara erat passio quasi dolor et punctura ocelli; nichilominus tamen eam ex caritate paciebar. Quid vero significat gladius nisi dolorem matris mee? Qui plus afflixit cor meum quam dolor proprius.
Tercio omnia interiora mea et membra contremuerunt in passione. Sic steti ante eos et talia passus sum pro eis, sed hec omnia contempnunt, hec omnia negligunt sicut filius negligens matrem suam.
Numquid ego sicut mater fui eis? Que habens in vtero filium optat in hora partus, vt procedat infans viuus de vtero; si consequitur baptisma, non curat de morte sua.
Sic ego feci homini. Ego quasi mater peperi hominem de tenebris inferni passione mea ad diem perpetuum. Ego portaui eum quasi in vtero cum magna difficultate, cum omnia, que prophetata erant, compleui.
Ego paui eum cum lacte meo, cum verba bona ostendi et vite precepta dedi, sed ipse homo sicut malus filius negligens dolorem matris contempnit me pro caritate et exasperat,
facit michi pro dolore vteri ploratum, superaddit vulneribus meis infirmitatem, porrigit michi pro esurie lapides, pro siti saciat me luto.
Quis autem est dolor iste, quem facit michi homo, cum imperturbabilis et impassibilis sim in eternum manens Deus? Vere tunc facit michi homo quasi dolorem, quando se per peccatum separat a me, non quod aliquis dolor in me cadere possit, sed sicut alius pro alterius casu dolore solet.
Faciebat autem homo tunc michi dolorem, quando nesciebat, quid erat peccatum et quam graue, quando non habuit prophetas nec legem nec adhuc audierat verba oris mei.
Nunc autem facit michi super dolorem quasi quendam ploratum, licet immutabilis sim, quando cognita caritate mea et voluntate mea facit contra mandata mea et audacter peccat contra racionem consciencie sue.
Ex quo nunc profundius descendunt in infernum per cognicionem voluntatis mee, quam si mandata non optinuissent. Faciebat eciam michi homo quasi quedam vulnera, licet ego Deus vulnerari non possem, quando peccatum super peccatum addebat.
Nunc autem super vulnera mea quasi quandam addunt infirmitatem nociuam, cum non solum multiplicant peccata sed et gloriantur et non compunguntur de eis.
Dat insuper michi homo lapides pro pane et lutum pro siti. Quid est panis, quem desidero, nisi profectus animarum, contricio cordis, desiderium diuinum, humilitas in caritate feruens?
Pro hiis enim prestat homo michi lapides per cordis duriciam, saciat me luto per impenitenciam et vanam confidenciam. Contempnunt ad me reuerti per moniciones et flagella, dedignantur ad me respicere et caritatem meam perpendere.
Propterea bene conqueri possum, quod quasi mater peperi eos cum dolore passionis mee in lucem, sed ipsi magis volunt esse in tenebris.
Paui eos lacte dulcedinis mee et pasco, et negligunt. Propterea audacter ad dolorem ignorancie addunt lutum malicie.
Saciant me peccato, quem lacrimis virtutum deberent reficere. Protendunt michi lapides, cui morum protendere deberent dulcedinem.
Ideo quasi iustus iudex, pacienciam habens in iusticia et in iusticia misericordiam et in misericordia sapienciam, exurgam tempore suo contra eos iuxta merita eorum,
et videbunt gloriam meam intra celum et supra et infra et extra et in omni loco et in omnibus collibus et vallibus; et eciam qui dampnantur, videbunt et confundentur confusione digna."
Hic monachus monasterii Sancti Laurencii dissolutus ab inimicis occisus mortuus est et in ecclesia Sancti Laurencii sepultus. Sanctus Laurencius visus est loqui ad iudicem:
"Quid agit girouagus iste cum electis tuis? Quorum corpora sanguinem fuderunt pro te, iste vero monachus nomine dilexit voluptatem suam." Et statim visum est corpus suum proici de sepulchro cum fetore pessimo et horrore.
Deinde iudex dixit ad animam, que astare videbatur: "Vade, misera, ad incircumcisos et abortiuos, quos sequebaris, quia noluisti audire vocem Patris tui!"
Notes
- 1 ↩The Latin 'monachus nomine' implies a monk in name but not in reality.
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