Christus per sponsam comminando reprehendit quandam abbatissam, comparans eam vacce pingui dyaboli, quia proprium habebat et utebatur mollibus et curiosis vestibus cum superbia et epulabatur splendide, prebens sororibus perdicionis exemplum.
The Warning to the Unfaithful Abbess
Christ rebukes an abbess for her vanity, luxury, and failure to uphold the monastic rule, warning her of the consequences of her poor example.
The Son of God says: "That abbess is one of the fat cows, walking in the mud and splashing those around her with her muddy tail." That’s how she splashes the sisters with her own corrupt example. The folds of her clothing bear witness that she is no daughter of my blessed Benedict, nor is she a humble bride, because she has forgotten her vows.12 Her rule says she should wear coarse, cheap clothing, yet she wears things that are softer, finer, and more luxurious. The rule also requires you to eat what is necessary with moderation and fear, and to own nothing of your own; yet she, by holding onto her own possessions, fattens herself like the devil's cow, following her own will. The Rule also says that everything should be in the hands of the abbess. She fails to consider the intention of my blessed Benedict, who placed everything in the abbot's hands for this reason: so that the abbot might be discerning, a model of virtues, and a preeminent follower of the Rule.3 But she takes the title and the word of authority only to her own ruin, failing to consider that she'll have to give an account to me for the souls of all her sisters. Understand this: unless she corrects her own ways and those of her sisters, she will go to hell with the fat cows, and the ravens of hell will tear her apart, because she refused to fly up to heaven with the humble and the abstinent.
The Vision of Purgatorial Justice
A deceased abbess appears to Birgitta to explain the symbolic meaning of her suffering and the hope she finds in the mercy of Christ.
This dead abbess appeared to Lady Birgitta, somewhat white but covered as if in an iron net; her tongue seemed to be made of fire, her hands and feet were like lead, her eyes were entirely full of tears, and she said: You wonder why I look so deformed. This is the retribution of God's justice. For the reason I appear white is that I kept the virginity of my flesh, but the iron net signifies that I did not keep the religious observances and the virtue of patience.4 Just as many loops are joined together in a net, so I am bound to suffer much for the good works I left undone, because I didn't do them when I had the time. As for my tongue appearing fiery, it's deserved, because it was let loose against my religious profession in many vanities and coarse jokes. My hands and feet feel like lead, and rightly so, because my works—which my hands represent and which should have been shining like gold—have been soft and sluggish, like lead. My feet, too—which I was meant to use to walk toward my sisters with good examples and a clean way of life—have slipped into worldly things and grown sluggish toward every spiritual good. My eyes look to you like those of someone who has wept too much, and rightly so, because I spared them from tears when I could have—and should have—washed away all the negligence of my life.5 Nevertheless, I am in a state of mercy and in the expectation of a good hope, because of what is done in the Church of God, and because of the prayers of the saints and the blood of Jesus Christ.
Read the original Latin
Filius Dei loquitur: "Illa abbatissa est de vaccis pinguibus, vadens in ceno et cauda sua lutosa aspergens circumstantes. Sic ipsa aspergit sorores exemplo suo prauo.
Cuius vestimentorum ruge perhibent testimonium, quod non est filia beati Benedicti mei, nec est sponsa humilis, quia immemor est sponsionis sue.
Nam regula sua dicit habere vestem, que rudior et vilior inuenitur, et ipsa habet molliorem, pulchriorem et delectabiliorem.
Regula eciam precipit comedere necessaria cum parcitate et timore nichilque habere proprium, sed ista habens proprium impinguat se sicut vacca dyaboli, sequendo propriam voluntatem.
Regula eciam dicit, quod omnia sint in manu abbatisse. Non attendens intencionem beati Benedicti mei, qui ideo omnia posuit in manu abbatis, vt abbas esset discretus et exemplum virtutum et regule precipuus imitator,
sed ista recipit nomen et verbum potestatis ad dissolucionem suam, non attendens, quod de omnibus animabus sororum suarum redditura est michi racionem.
Propterea scias, quod, nisi correxerit mores suos et sororum, vadet cum vaccis pinguibus in infernum, et laniabunt eam corui inferni, quia noluit cum humilibus et abstinentibus euolare in celum."
Hec abbatissa mortua apparens domine Birgitte aliquantulum alba sed quasi reti ferreo circumtecta, cuius lingua videbatur ignea, manus et pedes plumbei, oculi ex toto lacrimosi, et dixit:
"Miraris de me, cur sic appareo deformis. Hec est retribucio iusticie Dei. Nam quod alba videor, hoc est ideo, quia virginitatem carnis habui, sed rete ferreum denotat, quod regulares obseruancias et paciencie bonum non seruaui.
Sicut enim in reti multe anse combinantur, sic ego pro bonis operibus omissis multa pati teneor, quia bona opera, cum habui tempus, non exercebam.
Quod vero lingua mea apparet ignea, dignum est, quia ipsa contra professionem meam in multis vanitatibus et scurrilitatibus soluebatur.
Manus vero mee et pedes apparent plumbei et merito, quia opera mea, que designantur in manibus, que fuisse debuerant fulgencia quasi aurum, fuerunt mollia et dissoluta vt plumbum.
Pedes quoque mei, quibus ad sorores meas bonis exemplis et conuersacione munda iuisse instituebar, lubricauerunt in mundialibus et desides erant ad omne spirituale bonum.
Oculi mei apparent tibi sicut illius, qui nimium habet fletum, et merito, quia peperci eis a fletu, cum potui diluisse et debuissem omnes negligencias vite mee.
Verumptamen in statu misericordie sum et expectacione bone spei propter illa, que fiunt in Ecclesia Dei et propter preces sanctorum et sanguinem Ihesu Christi."
Notes
- 1 ↩The Latin 'ruge' (folds/wrinkles) here refers to the ostentatious or fashionable cut of her garments, contrasting with the simplicity expected of her order.
- 2 ↩The Latin 'sponsionis' refers to the solemn promise or vow made at profession.
- 3 ↩The Latin text uses 'abbatis' (masculine) here, reflecting the Rule of St. Benedict, even though the context of this specific revelation concerns an abbess.
- 4 ↩The Latin 'paciencie bonum' is rendered as 'the virtue of patience' to capture the sense of a moral good or excellence that was neglected.
- 5 ↩The Latin 'diluisse' (to wash away/dissolve) here refers to the act of washing away sins or negligence through the 'fletus' (tears/weeping) of compunction.
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