Visio Secunda
The Army of Light and the Pit of Darkness
The vision reveals the contrast between the radiant heavenly spirits who remained faithful and the dark abyss of hell that swallowed the prideful.
Then I saw what looked like a vast multitude of living lamps, possessing great brightness; as they received a fiery glow, they attained a most serene splendor. And look, a lake of great width and depth appeared, having an opening like the mouth of a pit, and belching out fiery smoke with a foul stench; from it, a truly terrible mist exhaled, reaching to the very end of what was almost imperceptible to the eye, and it breathed upon a white cloud in a certain bright region—a cloud that had emerged from a beautiful human form containing many stars—and it cast that same human form out of that region. When this happened, a most brilliant splendor surrounded that region, and so all the elements of the world, which had previously stood in great stillness, were turned into the greatest unrest and showed horrible terrors. And again I heard the one who had spoken to me before, saying: "Those who follow God with faithful devotion, and who burn with worthy love in their affection for Him, are not drawn away from the glory of heavenly beatitude by any impulse of injustice, terrified though they may be; whereas those who attend to God falsely are not only not promoted to greater things, but are even cast down by a just examination from those things they mistakenly think they possess." This also shows what that vast multitude of living lamps, possessing great brightness, signifies: it is the great army of heavenly spirits shining in the blessed life, existing in great beauty and adornment, because when they were created by God, they didn't seize upon proud arrogance, but stood firm in divine love. For they themselves, by receiving that fiery glow, attained such a serene splendor because, when Lucifer and his followers tried to rebel against their heavenly Creator, these spirits, possessing a zeal for God in the face of his fall and the fall of those who consented to him, put on the vigilance of divine love, whereas those others incurred the blindness of ignorance by which they refused to know God. How? In the fall of the devil, great praise arose among those angelic spirits who persevered with God in righteousness, because, enlightened by vision, they perceived with keen insight that God remains immovable in His power, without any change or mutability, so that He can be overcome by no warrior. And so, burning with love for Him and persevering in righteousness, they despised every dwelling place of injustice.
The Fall of Lucifer and the Vanity of Pride
Lucifer's pride led to his ruin, and those who imitate his rebellion share in his dark judgment and eternal punishment.
But Lucifer, who was cast out of heavenly glory because of his pride, was so great and magnificent at his creation that he felt no defect in his beauty or his strength. When he looked at his own beauty and considered his inner strength, he found pride, which promised him that he could start whatever he wanted because he could finish whatever he began. And seeing the place where he thought he could place himself, and wanting to display his beauty and strength there, he said to himself: 'I want to shine there, just as He does here.' All his ranks agreed with him, saying, 'Whatever you want, we want too.' When he was puffed up with pride and tried to carry out his plan, the zeal of the Lord, extending itself in a fiery darkness, cast him down with all his company, so that they became dark, contrary to the brightness they had once possessed. What is this? If God hadn't cast down their presumption, He would be unjust, since He would be fostering those who wanted to divide the integrity of the Godhead. Instead, He cast them down and reduced their wickedness to nothing, just as He removes from the sight of His brightness all who try to oppose Him, as my servant Job shows: 'The lamp of the wicked will be put out, and a flood will come upon them, and He will divide the sorrows of His fury.' They will be like chaff before the face of the wind, and like ash that a whirlwind scatters. What is called the glory of a prideful wickedness—born of a false prosperity, like a light of honor proceeding from the desires of the flesh in those who don't fear God (but who instead scorn Him in their perverse impiety, refusing to know that no one can overcome Him, and wishing to burn up everything that opposes them in the fire of their own ferocity)—this, in the hour of God's vengeance, is trampled like dirt; and from the judgment on high, the rejection of the indignation of all things under heaven will fall upon these same wicked ones, so that they will be a burden to both God and humanity. And because God doesn't let them have what they want, they are tormented by pain on every side and rage against people through the madness of their own insanity, as they burn to possess what God does not permit them to swallow. When they turn away from God in this way, they are compared to nothing but useless things; they have no desire to do anything good in God or in people, having been cut off from the grain of life by the watchful eye of God's inspection. Therefore, those who are scattered in the lukewarm flavor of wicked gossip are handed over to this kind of contrition, since they do not receive the incoming rain of the Holy Spirit. But that lake of great width and depth that appears to you is hell, containing within itself—as you see—the breadth of vices and the depth of perdition; it has an opening like the mouth of a pit, and it emits fiery smoke with a foul stench. Because it holds the drowning of souls in its voracity, it shows them sweetness and delight, leading them by a perverse deception to the perversion of torments, where fire burns with a most foul suffusion of smoke and emanates with a boiling, deadly stench. For these dire torments are prepared for the devil and those who follow him—those who turn themselves away from the highest good and have not cared to know or understand it; and so they are cast down from every good, not because they did not know it, but because they despised it in their great pride. What is this? In the casting down of the devil, these outer darknesses—containing within themselves every kind of punishment—have been set; because these malignant spirits, against the glory that was prepared for them, took on the misery of diverse punishments, and against the brightness they once had, they put on the densest darkness. How so? When the proud angel raised himself up like a serpent, he received the prison of hell, because it could not be that anyone should prevail over God. And just as it wouldn't be fitting for two hearts to exist in one breast, there could not be two gods in heaven. But because that same devil, along with his own, seized upon a proud presumption, he found the lake of perdition prepared for him. Likewise, those who imitate them in their actions share in their punishments according to their own merits.
Repentance and the Deception of Humanity
God offers a path of repentance for the fallen, while warning of the serpent's cunning in deceiving humanity through the weakness of the flesh.
There are some souls who, bearing the full weight of their condemnation, have been cast out from the knowledge of God; and so they will endure the punishments of hell without any hope of rescue. Others, however, are not in a state of forgetting God, but are undergoing the cleansing of their sins in the higher examinations where they have fallen; eventually, they feel the loosening of their bonds and, having been rescued, arrive at rest. What does this mean? Hell is the inevitable path for those who keep God in the oblivion of their hearts without repentance; other torments, however, are for those who, although they commit evil deeds, do not persist in them to the end, but eventually look back toward God in their groaning. Therefore, let the faithful flee from the devil and love God, casting off evil deeds and fulfilling good ones with the beauty of repentance, just as my servant Ezekiel was inspired by me to urge: 'Turn back and repent of all your iniquities, and iniquity will not be your ruin.' This is what is said: 'O you people who have until now lain in your sins, remember your Christian name, turn toward the way of salvation, and perform different works in the fountain of repentance. You who previously committed many crimes in many vices, and who now rise from your evil habits: that iniquity in which you were once defiled will not drag you down into the ruin of death, because you have cast it off on the day of your salvation.' From this, there will even be joy among the angels over you, because you have turned away from the devil and run to God, knowing him better in your good deeds than you knew him when you were caught in the mockery of the ancient deceiver. As for the fact that a foul mist exhaling from that same lake reached even to the end, almost imperceptible to the eye: this means that from the deepest perdition, a diabolical fraud emanated, and a venomous serpent, containing within itself the wickedness of a deceitful intention, secretly invaded man to deceive him. How? For when the devil saw man in paradise, he cried out with great indignation, saying: "Oh, who will overtake me in the dwelling of true beatitude?" And so he knew within himself that the malice he held in his own heart had not yet been fulfilled in any other creature; but seeing Adam and Eve living in the garden of delights in childlike innocence, he puffed himself up with great cunning to deceive them through the serpent. Why? Because he understood that the serpent was more like himself than any other animal; he strove to accomplish secretly through its guile what he could not openly fulfill in his own form. When he saw Adam and Eve turning away from the tree forbidden to them, both in soul and body, he understood within himself that they held a divine commandment there, and that he could most easily bring them down in the very first act they began. He didn't know the tree was forbidden except by what he learned through the trial of his own deceitful questioning and their responses. Therefore, in that bright region, he breathed a white cloud (which had gone forth from the beautiful form of man, containing many stars within itself) through a most foul mist. In that same place of delight, the devil invaded Eve—who possessed an innocent soul and had been taken from innocent Adam, carrying in her body the entire multitude of the human race shining in the preordination of God—to bring about her downfall through the seduction of the serpent. Why this? He knew that a woman's softness is more easily overcome than a man's strength; he also saw that Adam burned with such intense love for Eve that if he could defeat her, Adam would do whatever she told him to do. That’s why the devil cast both her and the form of humanity out of that region; that same ancient deceiver, through his deception, drove Eve and Adam from their seat of bliss and thrust them into the darkness of ruin. How? He seduced Eve first so that she would flatter Adam and lead him to agree with her, because she could lead Adam into disobedience more quickly than any other creature, since she had been made from his rib. Therefore, a woman brings a man down more quickly when he doesn't turn away from her, but easily accepts her words.
The Sacred Bond of Marriage
Marriage is a holy union established by God for procreation and mutual love, which must be guarded against lust and impurity.
Just as a perfect woman was given not to a boy but to a mature man—namely, Adam—so too, when a man is in his prime and fertile, a perfect woman should be joined to him, just as proper care must be given to a tree when it begins to blossom. For Eve was formed from Adam’s rib, with his own vital heat and moisture; and that is why, even now, a woman intends to bring forth offspring into the world from the strength of a man and the heat of his seed. The man is the sower, while the woman is the receiver of the seed; hence, the woman remains under the man’s authority, for just as the hardness of stone is to the softness of earth, so is the strength of a man to the gentleness of a woman. The fact that the first woman was formed from the man signifies the bond of marriage between woman and man. And this is to be understood in this way. This union shouldn't be practiced in vanity or in forgetfulness of God, because He who took the woman from the man established this union well and honorably, forming flesh from flesh. Therefore, just as Adam and Eve were one flesh, so now, too, man and woman become one flesh in the bond of love to multiply the human race. For this reason, perfect love must exist in these two, just as it did in those first ones. For although Adam could have blamed his wife because she brought death upon him through her counsel, he didn't send her away as long as he lived in this world, because he knew that she had been given to him by divine power. Therefore, because of perfect charity, a person should not leave their spouse except for a reasonable cause that the faithful Church sets before them. And there should be no division between them at all, unless both of them wish to look toward my Son with one mind, speaking in the burning love of Him. We want to leave the world and follow Him who suffered for us. But if these two disagree in a single devotion about leaving the world, they shouldn't separate from each other entirely; for just as blood cannot be separated from flesh as long as the spirit remains in it, so neither husband nor wife should divide themselves from each other, but walk together in one will. But if there is a violation of the law through fornication, whether in the husband or the wife, then they will endure the censure of spiritual authority as is just, whether they are called out by themselves or by their priests. A husband may complain about his wife, and a wife about her husband, before the Church and its prelates regarding a violation of their union according to the justice of God; yet not in such a way that the husband or wife seeks another partner. Instead, they will either remain together in the rectitude of their union, or they will abstain from such a union together, according to what is shown to them through the discipline of ecclesiastical institution. They will not tear each other apart with viperous laceration, but will love each other with pure affection, since neither man nor woman can exist unless they are procreated by this union, just as Paul, my friend, testifies, saying: As the woman is from the man, so also is the man through the woman; but all things are from God. The statement—'The woman was created for the man, and the man was made for the woman'—means that just as she is from the man, so also is the man from her, so that one might not learn from the other in the unity of their offspring, because they work as one in a single work, just as the air and the wind intertwine their works with each other. How? The air is moved by the wind, and the wind is intertwined with the air, so that everything green within their reach is subject to them. What does this mean? A woman works with a man, and a man with a woman, in the work of procreation; and so the greatest crimes occur where fornication causes a division during the days of creating children, because there, the man and woman cut off their own blood from the foundation of its proper place and cast it into a foreign place. These people will certainly be abandoned to the devil's deceit and the wrath of God, because they have violated the covenant that God established for them. Therefore, woe to them when their sins are not forgiven. But although a man and a woman work together in their offspring, as has been shown, everything—that is, the man as well as the woman and all other creatures—exists by divine arrangement and command, because God made them according to His own will. Before the incarnation of my Son, some people among the ancient populace had many wives at once according to their own will, because they had not yet heard the prohibition of the clear demonstration that my Son, coming into the world, showed in the most upright order of this union between husband and wife, as long as they breathed in this life, according to the union of Adam and Eve made manifest; for this union is to be exercised not according to the will of man, but according to the fear of God, because it is better to have a proper marriage according to the disposition of ecclesiastical discretion than to crave fornication, even though you humans, neglecting this, exercise your lust not only like humans but even like beasts. Let there be, however, a right faith and pure love of the knowledge of God between husband and wife, so that divine vengeance may not strike them because their seed is polluted by diabolical art, when they tear each other apart by biting one another, and when they inhumanely sow their seed according to the manner of beasts. When envy torments them in the manner of a viper, and when the stained superfluity of their seed is in them without the fear of God and without human discipline, they are frequently, for the correction of this perversity of theirs, deprived by the just judgment of God of the children who are born from them, to the contrariety of their own members, and they are cast down from the prosperity of their life, unless I, receiving their repentance, show myself placable to them. For those who call upon me in the repentance of their sins, I will accept their repentance for the love of my Son; for whoever has lifted his finger to me in repenting—that is, whoever has extended the groan of his heart to me in repentance, saying, 'I have sinned, Lord, before you'—my Son, who is the priest of priests, shows me that repentance, because the repentance that is offered to priests in the love of my Son grants the purgation of sins to those who perform it. Therefore, humans who perform their repentance worthily escape the jaws of the devil, because he, wishing to swallow the hook of divine power, wounded his own, just as even now faithful souls, passing through from perdition, arrive at salvation. How so? Because priests, as they call upon my name at the altar, will receive the confessions of the people, where they will show them the remedy of salvation. Therefore, so that they may have a placable God, let them not contaminate their seed in the diversity of vices, because those who cast out their seed in fornication or in adultery make their children, who are born from them in this way, more negligent. How so? If someone mixes mud or dung into pure clay, do they end up with a stable vessel? In the same way, if someone contaminates their seed through fornication or adultery, do they produce strong children? Yet many of them struggle with the diversity of their own ways and inner depths, while many others among them become prudent, both toward the world and toward God. And the heavenly Jerusalem is filled with these, when they abandon their vices and, loving virtues, imitate my Son in chastity and great labors, bearing His martyrdom in their own bodies according to their capacity for suffering. Where I do not wish for infants to be born of a person, I withhold the virile strength of the seed so that it does not coagulate in the mother's womb; just as I also deny the earth its fruitful strength where I choose to do so by my own just judgment. But why do you wonder, O human, that I permit infants to be born from adulteries and other crimes of this kind? My judgment is just.
Redemption Through the Incarnate Son
Because human nature was broken by the fall, God sent His Son to restore humanity through His pure blood and passion.
Since Adam's fall, I haven't found in human nature the righteousness that should have been there—the righteousness the devil drove away when he tasted the fruit—so I sent my Son into the world, born of a virgin without any sin, so that by his blood, which was free from any stain of the flesh, he might take back from the devil the spoils he had seized from humanity. For neither a human conceived in sin, nor an angel lacking the covering of flesh, could rescue a human lying in sins and laboring under the weight of the body from the devil's power, except for the One who came without sin and, possessing a pure body without sin, freed him by His passion. Therefore, even though humans are born in sin, I still gather them into the heavenly kingdom when they faithfully seek it. No perversity can snatch My chosen ones from Me, as Wisdom testifies: The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and the torment of death shall not touch them. This is what is said. The souls of those who embrace the way of righteousness are, with devout affection, in the works of the heavenly Helper; so that because of the good works by which they look toward heaven in the height of justice, the torment of perdition does not break them, because the true light feeds them in the fear and love of God. But after Adam and Eve were cast out from the place of delight, they knew the work of conceiving and bearing children within themselves, and thus, falling into death through their disobedience, they conceived the sweetness of sin when they knew they could sin. But they, turning My right order into the lust of sin in this way—when they should have known the stirring of their veins not in the sweetness of sin, but in the love of children—gave it over to lust through the devil's suggestion, because, losing the innocence of their procreation, they cast it into sin. Therefore, since this was done not without the devil's persuasion, the same devil also sent out his darts for this work, so that it might not be completed without his suggestion, when he said: My strength is in the conception of humans; therefore, the human is mine. Seeing that man had to share in his punishments because he had agreed with him, he said again to himself: 'All iniquities are contrary to the most powerful God, for he is not at all unjust.' And this same deceiver placed a great seal upon his heart, namely, that man, who had willingly agreed with him, could not be taken away from him. Therefore, it was my secret counsel to send my Son for the redemption of humanity, so that man might be restored to the heavenly Jerusalem. No iniquity could resist this counsel, for when my Son came into the world, he gathered to himself all who wanted to hear him and follow him by abandoning their sins; for I am just and upright, and I desire no iniquity, which you, O man, embrace when you know you can do evil. For Lucifer and man, at the beginning of their creation, tried to rebel against me, and they could not stand; they fell from the good and chose the evil. Lucifer, however, grasped all evil and cast away all good, nor did he taste it at all, but fell into death. Adam, however, tasted the good and received obedience from it; but he coveted evil, and in his concupiscence he carried it out when he stood disobedient to God. Why this happened is not for you, O man, to inquire; nor can mortal man know what was before the foundation of the world, or what will be after the final day, but God alone knows these things, except insofar as God permits his elect to know them.
Discipline, Purity, and the Struggle for Holiness
God calls the faithful to maintain purity and discipline, imitating Christ's suffering to overcome the burning fire of lust.
Furthermore, the fornication that has become common among people is abominable in my sight, because from the beginning I established man and woman in honor, not in filth. Therefore, those hypocrites who say it's permissible for them to fornicate with whomever they want, following the appetites of beasts, are unworthy in my eyes; for they despise the honor and the height of their own rationality, looking instead toward beasts and making themselves like them. Woe to those who live this way and persist in this filth. I also don't want blood ties to mix in marriage where the heat of love within a family line hasn't yet faded, so that shameless love doesn't arise from the memory of that kinship. Instead, let someone from a different family line join in—someone who feels no such blood connection burning within them—provided they live according to human discipline in their actions. Milk doesn't lose its flavor when boiled once or twice, but when it has been curdled and boiled a seventh or eighth time, it loses its strength and no longer tastes pleasant, except in cases of necessity. Just as the knowledge of kinship in one's own spouse must be ignored, so too must the knowledge of a former spouse's kinship be abhorred in a new union. A person shouldn't enter into such a union, just as the Church, through its teachers who have established this with great care and honor, forbids it. The fact that people in the Old Testament were joined in kinship by the command of the law was done because of their hardness of heart, so that they might have peace with one another and maintain a firm charity among themselves, preventing them from mixing with the tribes of the Gentiles and breaking my covenant, until the time came when my Son, bringing the fullness of charity, shifted the bond of carnal kinship to a different lineage with modesty and shame. Since the bride of my Son has now received the bond of my fear and true justice in holy baptism, such a kinship union should now be far from her, because fornication without modesty and without the moderation of desire would ignite a shameful act in the embraces of a man and woman of the same blood more readily than in those of a different blood. I am explaining this work through this person, to whom this was unknown in man, and who received this message not from man but from the knowledge of God. But what now? When a man is in his prime, so that his veins are full of blood and he is fertile in his seed, he should take to himself a wife in a marriage of legitimate institution; she, also being in her prime, should receive his seed with modesty and bear him children in the way of righteousness. A man shouldn't waste his seed in excessive lust before he reaches his full strength, for if he tries to sow his seed through craving before it has properly matured in the heat of passion, it is a temptation to sin prompted by the devil. When a man is at the height of his reproductive strength, he shouldn't exercise his powers however he pleases; if he looks to the devil then, he performs a diabolical act, making his own body contemptible, which is entirely illicit. Instead, a man should seek the right path with his wife according to the dictates of human nature, using his strength and seed with human discipline for the purpose of having children. But I do not want this same work to happen when a woman is experiencing her menstrual flow, which is the opening of the hidden parts of her womb, lest the flow of her blood wash away the seed that has been received and matured, and so the seed that was poured out perishes. For the woman then sees herself placed in pain and in a prison, touching a portion of the pain of her own childbirth; yet I do not condemn this time of pain in a woman, because I gave it to Eve when she conceived sin in the tasting of the fruit. Therefore, a woman in this time should be lifted up by a great support of mercy; she should, however, contain herself in the hiddenness of discipline, not in such a way that she bars herself from the entrance of my temple, but with faithful permission she may enter it in an office of humility for her own salvation. But because the bride of the Son of God is always whole, a man, with open wounds, if the integrity of his members has been divided by the touch of a blow, shall not enter my temple except with the fear of great necessity, lest he be seen like the whole members of Abel, who was the temple of God, whom his brother Cain cruelly broke. But also, when a woman has given birth to a child, with her hidden members broken, she should not enter my temple except according to the law given to her by me, so that the holy sacraments of this same temple of mine may be inviolable from every pollution and pain of man and woman, because the purest virgin gave birth to my Son, who was whole without any wound of sin. For the place that is consecrated in honor of my Only-Begotten must be whole, free from every corruption of bruising and wounding, since that same Only-Begotten of mine knows the integrity of a virginal birth within himself. Therefore, a woman who has corrupted the integrity of her virginity with a man should contain herself from entering my temple in the bruising of her wound by which she was corrupted, until the wound of that injury is healed, according to what ecclesiastical discipline most certainly demonstrates to her for that same cause. For when his bride had been joined to my Son on the wood of the cross, she kept herself in hiding until my Son commanded his disciples to spread the truth of the Gospel throughout the world; only then did she rise up openly and preach the glory of her bridegroom in the generation of spirit and water. In the same way, a woman joined to her husband should act with modest reserve until the time set for her by church discipline; she should remain in private, and once that time has passed, she should move from her seclusion to the love of her Spouse and come forth openly. I also do not want the aforementioned act of a man and woman to be performed once the root of a child has been planted in the woman, so that the forming child is not polluted by superfluous and wasted seed until the birth itself is cleansed; this, however, is not forbidden when done again for the love of children, in righteousness and not in lust. Humanity is meant to procreate according to the honesty of human discipline, and not as the empty talk of foolish people claims, who say it's lawful for them to exercise their lust according to their own will, asking: "How can we contain ourselves so inhumanely?" O human, if you look to the devil, he stirs you toward every evil and kills you with his deadly poison; but if you lift your eyes to God, He offers you help and makes you chaste. In your actions, do you not desire lust more than chastity? A woman is subject to the man in whom he sows his seed, just as he also works the earth so that it may bring forth fruit. Does a man work the earth so that it produces thorns and thistles? Certainly not, but so that it may give worthy fruit. So too, this endeavor of a human being ought to be in the love of children, and not in the lust of passion. So, you people, weep and wail before your God, whom you so often treat with contempt in your sins when you waste your seed in the vilest fornication; in doing so, you aren't just fornicators but also murderers, because you cast aside all regard for God and fulfill your lust according to your own will. This is why the devil always pursues you in this act, knowing that you desire your own lust more than you look toward the joy of children. Listen, therefore, you who are in the towers of the Church. Don't blame me for your fornication, but look at yourselves; for when you run to the devil and treat me with contempt, you commit illicit acts and therefore don't want to be chaste, just as my servant Hosea speaks of the defiled people, saying: They will not set their thoughts to return to their God, for the spirit of fornication is in their midst, and they have not known God. This is what is meant: Wicked people who don't know God hide the face of their heart, not turning it toward the various twists and turns of their own schemes so that they might return to the true light; they don't discern with a sharp eye what belongs to God, but instead nourish evil within themselves. For the breath of wanton impurity, through the devil's suggestion, softens the manly strength they ought to have in themselves, not allowing them to place their good conscience in God, as the adversary turns them away from the life of happiness. But now I will turn to my most loving sheep who are planted in my heart, who are the seed of chastity; for virginity is planted by me, because even my Son was born of a virgin. And therefore, virginity is the most beautiful fruit among all the fruits of the valleys, and a great person among all those who are in the palace of the never-failing King, because it isn't subject to the command of the law, since it brought my only-begotten Son into the world. Therefore, let those who wish to follow the Son of God in the innocence of free chastity and in the separation of mourning widowhood listen; for virginity that has been unpolluted from the beginning is more noble than widowhood burdened by the marriage yoke, even though after the sorrow in which she lost her husband, she follows after virginity. For my Son endured many sorrows in his own body and underwent the death of the cross; therefore, you too will suffer many hardships for the love of him, as you overcome in yourselves what was sown in the lust of sin from the taste of the fruit. Yet, even while you endure the rivulets of lust flowing from the fire of desire in your own seed—since you can't be so chaste that the fragility of human weakness doesn't secretly show itself in you—you must imitate the passion of my Son in that regard. When you resist the burning flame of lust within yourselves, you must extinguish it and restrain other worldly things—namely, anger, pride, luxury, and other such vices—and achieve that victory through a great struggle. From this, those struggles appear before me with great beauty and much fruit—brighter than the sun and sweeter than the fragrance of spices—because you imitate my only-begotten Son in his sufferings when you trample down the burning fire of lust within yourselves with such a strong struggle. And when you persevere in this way, you gain much glory from it in the heavenly kingdom. O most flourishing flowers, my angels, they marvel at your struggle—that you escape death, that you aren't polluted by the poisonous mud of the world even though you carry a mortal body, and that you trample it down by this pact, so that you'll be glorious in their company, because you appear unpolluted, in their likeness. Therefore, rejoice when you persevere in this way, because I am with you then, when you faithfully receive me and fulfill my voice with the joy of your heart, just as I show in the secret vision of John, my beloved, saying: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice, I will enter to him and dine with him, and he with me." This is what is said: You who faithfully love me, your Savior, see that I am waiting at the tabernacle of your heart, wanting to help you; I am considering what your conscience holds in the cabinet of its heart, and with the inspiration of the memory of your mind, I am urging your spirit toward the opening of the reception of a good will. But if a faithful heart then perceives the sound of my fear, I join myself to it, embracing it, and taking it as an unfailing food; when it offers itself to me with a sweet taste in good works, then it too is about to receive the food of life in me, because it loves what brings life to those who desire justice. But, as you see, after Adam and Eve were expelled from paradise, a most brilliant splendor surrounded that same region; for when they left the place of delight because of their transgression, the power of divine majesty separated every stain of all contagion from that same place and fortified it with its own brightness, so that it wouldn't be touched by any opposition from then on, showing also that the transgression which had been committed in it would eventually be wiped away mercifully and with compassion. And so all the elements of the world, which had previously stood in great peace, were turned into the greatest unrest and showed horrible terrors; because that creature which had been created for the service of man, and had not felt any adversity in itself, abandoned its tranquility (as man grasped at disobedience and became disobedient to his Creator) and took on unrest, bringing the greatest and most numerous oppositions upon humans, just as man had bent himself toward worse things; so that he might be restrained by it. What is this?
The Testing of the Image of God
Humanity, created in God's image, must be tested through all creation to be refined and restored to heavenly glory.
Because man was rebellious against God in the place of delights, for that reason the very creature that had been subject to man in service turned against him. And paradise is a place of beauty that flourishes in the greenness of flowers, herbs, and the delights of every spice; it is filled with the finest scents and endowed with the joy of blessed souls, giving the most fertile fruitfulness to the dry earth, because it grants the earth its most powerful strength, just as the soul provides strength to the body, since paradise is not darkened by the shadow and ruin of sinners. Therefore, listen and understand me, you who say in your hearts: What is all this? And why is all this? Oh, why are you so foolish in your hearts, you who were made in the image and likeness of God? How could such great glory and honor, which has been given to you, exist without testing? Even gold, which is nothing and a mere vanity, must be tested in the fire, and precious stones must be polished in purification, and all such things must be searched out in every way. Therefore, you foolish people, how could that which was made in the image and likeness of God exist without testing? For man is to be examined above every creature, and therefore he is to be tested through every creature. How? Spirit is tested by spirit, flesh by flesh, earth by air, fire by water, conflict by peace, good by evil, beauty by deformity, poverty by riches, sweetness by bitterness, health by sickness, the long by the short, the hard by the soft, height by depth, light by darkness, life by death, paradise by punishments, and the heavenly kingdom by hell; earthly things are tested by earthly, and heavenly things by heavenly. In this way, man is tested in every creature—in paradise, on earth, and in hell—before he is placed in heaven. For you clearly see a few things out of the many that are hidden before your eyes. And why do you mock those things which are right, plain, just, and good in all good things before God? Why are you indignant about these things? God is just, but the human race, in its transgression of God’s commandments, is unjust when it claims to be wiser than God. Now tell me, O man, what do you think you were before you existed in soul and body? And yet, you don't even know how you were created. Still, you want to investigate heaven and earth, judge their justice by God's design, and discern the highest things, even though you aren't capable of examining the lowest—because you don't know how you live in your body, or how you'll be stripped from it. The One who created you in the first man foresaw all these things. But the most gentle Father also sent His only Son to die for the people, so that He might free humanity from the devil's power. And so, humanity, once freed, shines in God, and God in humanity; having this fellowship with God, humanity possesses in heaven a brightness more radiant than it would have had before. This wouldn't have been the case if the Son of God hadn't taken on flesh, because if humanity had remained in paradise, the Son would not have suffered on the cross. But when humanity was deceived by the cunning serpent, God, moved by true mercy, willed that His only Son be incarnate in the most pure Virgin; and thus, after the fall of humanity, many virtues were raised up, shining in heaven—such as humility, the queen of virtues, which flourished in the virginal birth, just as do the other virtues that lead God's chosen ones to heavenly things. For when a field is cultivated with much labor, it produces much fruit, as has been shown in the human race; because after the fall of humanity, many virtues arose for its restoration.
The Garden of the Lord and the Triumph of Humility
God, the master gardener, restores the lost sheep of humanity through the humility and charity of His Son, which remain the ultimate weapons against the devil.
But you, O people, weighed down by the burden of the body, do not see that great glory which has been prepared for you in the full justice of God, without stain and without any disdain, and which no one can take away; for before the structure of the world was established, God had foreseen all these things in true justice. Therefore, O human, consider this likeness. When the Lord wants to create a garden with great care, He first chooses a suitable place for it, lays out the space for every planting, and considers the fruit of good trees—their usefulness, their flavor, their scent—as well as the various kinds of spices. And so the Lord, a great and profound craftsman, arranges each of His plantings in it so that they can be clearly distinguished by their usefulness, and then He considers what protection He should surround them with, so that no enemy can destroy His planting. He also appoints gardeners who know how to water that garden, gather its fruit, and prepare various spices from it. Therefore, O human, consider carefully: if that Lord foresees that His garden will produce no fruit and no benefit and must be destroyed, why then does such a great and profound craftsman build, plant, water, and protect that garden with such great care and such great labor? Listen, then, and understand. God, who is the Sun of justice, sent His splendor upon the mud that is human transgression; and that splendor shone with great brightness because that mud was so foul and opaque. For the sun shone in its brightness, and the mud rotted in its foulness; and so the sun was embraced by those who saw it with greater delight than if the mud had not been placed before it. But just as mud is foul in comparison to the sun, so too is human transgression wicked in comparison to the justice of God. Therefore, because justice is beautiful, it is to be loved; and because iniquity is foul, it is to be hated. The sheep of the Lord, who had planted the garden, fell into this foulness. This sheep was taken away from the Lord by its own consent, not by the Lord's neglect; yet the Lord later sought it out with great care and justice. For this reason, the choir of angels was then illuminated with the greatest joy when the angels saw man in heaven. What does this mean? When the innocent Lamb was hung upon the cross, the elements trembled, because the most noble Son of the Virgin was killed in the flesh by the hands of murderers. In His death, the lost sheep was brought back to the pastures of life. For the ancient persecutor, after he saw that he had to lose that sheep because of the blood of the innocent Lamb—which the Lamb had shed for the remission of the sins of men—then for the first time knew who that Lamb was; for before, he could not know how the heavenly Lamb was incarnate of the Virgin in the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit without male seed and without any concupiscence of sin. That same persecutor, in the beginning of his own creation, had lifted himself up in a breath of pride, casting himself into death and casting man down from the glory of paradise; yet God did not wish to resist him in His power, but overcame him in humility through His Son. And because Lucifer despised the justice of God through God's own just judgment, he could not know the incarnation of the only-begotten Son of God. For in this hidden counsel, the lost sheep was brought back to life. Why, then, you rebellious people, are you so hard-hearted? God did not want to abandon man, but sent His Son for his salvation; for in this way God crushed the head of pride in the ancient serpent. For at the rescue of man from death, hell opened its gates, with Satan crying out: 'Woe, woe!' 'Who will help me?' But the entire demonic crowd tore itself apart in a great roar, wondering what this great power could be—a power that it and the prince of malice could not resist when they saw faithful souls being taken away from them. Thus man was raised above the heavens; for God appeared in man, and man in God, through the Son of God. The same Lord who had lost the sheep, but had so gloriously brought it back to life, held a precious pearl in that same likeness, which, once lost, fell into much filth. But He didn't allow it to lie in that filth; He sought it out, and once found, He joyfully pulled it out. After extracting it from the filth where it had been lying, He purified it just as gold is purified in a furnace, and restored it to its former honor with even greater glory. For God created man, but man fell into death through the devil's persuasion; from this, the Son of God rescued him through His own blood and gloriously led him to heavenly honor. How? In humility and love. For humility caused the Son of God to be born of a virgin, where this very humility was not found in the embraces of the world, nor in the curiosity of the flesh, nor in earthly riches, nor in golden ornaments, nor in worldly honors; but the Son of God lay in a manger, because His mother was very poor. And humility always groans, weeps, and destroys all sins: this is its work. Therefore, whoever wants to defeat the devil should fortify and arm himself with humility, because Lucifer flees from it so intensely, hiding from it like a snake in a cave; for where he catches him, he breaks him more quickly than the most fragile thread. Charity is what holds the only-begotten Son of God in the Father's embrace in heaven, and it was charity that brought Him down to earth into the womb of His mother, because it doesn't despise sinners or tax collectors, but intends to save everyone. Therefore, it often draws a fountain of tears from the eyes of the faithful and softens the hardness of the heart. In this, humility and charity are more brilliant than other virtues; for humility and charity are like the soul and the body, which possess stronger powers than the other faculties of the soul and members of the body. How is that? Humility is like the body and charity is like the soul; they can't be separated from one another but work together, just as the soul and body can't be disjoined but cooperate with each other as long as a person lives in the body. And just as the various members of the body are subject to the soul and body according to their own powers, so too do the other virtues cooperate with humility and charity according to their own proper justice. And therefore, O people, pursue humility and charity for the glory of God and for your own salvation; armed with these, you will not fear the devil's traps, but will possess life without end. Therefore, whoever has knowledge in the Holy Spirit and wings in faith shouldn't disregard my warning, but should embrace it and perceive it in the taste of their own soul.
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Deinde vidi velut maximam multitudinem viventium lampadarum, multam claritatem habentium; quae igneum fulgorem accipientes, serenissimum splendorem adeptae sunt. Et ecce lacus multae latitudinis et profunditatis apparuit, os velut os putei habens et igneum fumum cum multo fetore evomens de quo etiam teterrima nebula exhalans ad finem usque quasi visu imperceptibilem attigit, et in quadam clara regione candidam nubem quae de pulchra hominis forma plurimas stellas in se continens exierat, afflavit, et illam ac eamdem hominis formam ex illa regione ejecit. Quo facto, lucidissimus splendor regionem illam circumdedit, et ita omnia elementa mundi, quae prius in magna quiete constiterant, in maximam inquietudinem versa horribiles terrores ostenderunt. Et iterum audivi illum qui mihi prius locutus fuerat, dicente: Deum fideli devotione subsequentes, et in dilectione ejus digno amore ardentes, a gloria supernae beatitudinis nullo impulsu injustitiae territi abstrahuntur, cum illi qui Deum ficte attendunt: non solum ad majora non promoveantur, sed etiam ab iis quae se habere fallaciter putant, justa examinatione dejiciantur. Quod et haec maxima multitudo viventium lampadarum, multam claritatem habentium ostendit: quae est plurimus exercitus supernorum spirituum in beata vita fulgentium, ac in multo decore et ornatu existentium, quoniam cum a Deo creati sunt: non superbam elationem arripuerunt, sed in divino amore fortiter perstiterunt. Nam ipsi igneum fulgorem accipientes, ita serenissimum splendorem adepti sunt, quia cum Lucifer cum suis superno Creatori rebellari conaretur, isti zelum Dei in casu illius et illi consentientium habentes, vigilantiam divinae dilectionis induerunt, cum illi caecitatem ignorantiae qua Deum scire noluerunt, incurrerunt. Quomodo? In casu diaboli in illis angelicis spiritibus qui cum Deo in rectitudine perseveraverunt, maxima laus exorta est, quoniam illuminati visu perspicaciter agnoverunt quod Deus immobilis, sine ulla mutatione ullius mutabilitatis in potentia sua perseverat, ita quod a nullo bellatore superari poterit.
Et ita in amore ejus exardescentes, et in rectitudine perseverantes, omne domicilium injustitiae contempserunt.
Sed Lucifer qui ob superbiam suam de coelesti gloria ejectus est, in initio creationis suae talis ac tantus exstitit, quod nullum defectum nec in decore nec in fortitudine sua sensit. Unde cum decorem suum inspiceret, et cum vim fortitudinis suae in semetipso consideraret, superbiam invenit, quae ipsi promisit ut inciperet quod vellet, quia perficere posset quod incepisset. Et videns locum ubi se collocare posse putavit, ibi decorem et fortitudinem suam ostendere volens, in semetipso sic dicebat: Volo fulgere illic, quemadmodum et iste hic. Cui omnis acies ejus assensum dedit, dicens: Quod tu vis, hoc et nos volumus. Et cum in superbiam elatus illud perficere vellet quod cogitaverat, zelus Domini se extendens in ignea nigredine illum cum omni comitatu suo dejecit, ita quod ipsi opaci contra serenitatem quam habuerant, effecti sunt. Quid est hoc? Quia si Deus praesumptionem illorum non dejecisset, injustus esset, quoniam illos foveret qui integritatem divinitatis dividere volebant; sed eos dejecit et impietatem eorum ad nihilum redegit, sicut etiam et omnes a conspectu claritatis suae aufert qui se ipsi opponere conantur, ut servus meus Job ostendit, dicens: Lucerna impiorum exstinguetur, et superveniet eis inundatio, et dolores dividet furoris sui. Erunt sicut paleae ante faciem venti, et sicut favilla quam turbo dispergit .
Quod dicitur, gloria superbientis nequitiae ex falsa prosperitate, quasi lumen honoris in voluntate carnis illorum procedens qui Deum non timent (sed qui illum in perversa impietate spernunt, contemnentes scire quod nullus eum valeat expugnare, in igne ferocitatis suae volentes exurere quaecunque adversantur): haec in hora ultionis Dei velut terra conculcatur, et de superno judicio super eosdem impios cadet abjectio indignationis omnium quae sub coelo sunt, ita quod et Deo et hominibus molesti erunt. Unde quia Deus non sinit eos habere quod volunt, ideo undique dolore macerati in hominibus bacchantur per rabiem insaniae suae, cum ardent hoc possidere quod Deus non permittit eos deglutire. Et cum hoc modo a Deo recedunt, solis inutilibus rebus comparantur, ita quod nec in Deo nec in hominibus quidquam boni facere vellent, de grano vitae in praevidente oculo inspectionis Dei abscisi. Quapropter et hujusmodi contritioni traduntur, qui in tepido sapore iniqui rumoris dissipantur, cum supervenientem imbrem Spiritus sancti non suscipiunt.
Sed lacus ille multae latitudinis et profunditatis qui tibi apparet, est infernus, latitudinem vitiorum et profunditatem perditionum, ut vides, in se continens; os etiam velut os putei habens, et igneum fumum cum multo fetore emittens; quia in voracitate sua submersionem animarum tenens, cum eis suavitatem et dulcedinem ostendit, eas ad perversionem tormentorum perversa deceptione perducit, ubi ardet ignis cum suffusione teterrima fumi et cum ebulliente mortifero fetore emanat; quoniam haec dira tormenta diabolo et eum subsequentibus (qui se a summo bono avertunt, nec illud scire aut intelligere curaverunt) praeparata sunt; unde et ab omni bono dejecti sunt, non quia illud nescierunt, sed quoniam illud in magna superbia contempserunt. Quid est hoc? In dejectione diaboli hae exteriores tenebrae, omne genus poenarum in se habentes positae sunt; quia hi maligni spiritus, contra gloriam quae ipsis praeparata fuit, miseriam diversarum poenarum susceperunt, et contra claritatem quam habuerunt densissimas tenebras induerunt. Quomodo? Cum superbus angelus ut coluber se sursum erexit, carcerem inferni accepit, quia esse non potuit ut ullus Deo praevaleret. Et quomodo conveniens esset, ut in uno pectore duo corda essent: sic nec in coelo duo dii esse debuerunt. Sed quoniam idem diabolus cum suis superbam praesumptionem arripuit, ideo lacum perditionis sibi paratum invenit. Sic et homines illi qui eos in actibus suis imitantur, participes poenarum eorum secundum merita sua efficiuntur.
Sed quaedam animae sunt quae cumulum damnationis habentes, a scientia Dei projectae sunt: et ideo infernales poenas sine consolatione ereptionis habebunt; quaedam autem in oblivione Dei non existentes, sed in superioribus examinationibus purgationem peccatorum suorum in quibus prolapsae sunt recipientes; tandem absolutionem vinculorum suorum sentiunt, ad requiem ereptae pervenientes. Quid est hoc? Gehenna iis obvia est qui Deum in oblivione cordis sui sine poenitentia habent: caetera vero tormenta iis qui quamvis mala opera faciant, tamen in eis usque ad finem non perseverant, sed tandem ad Deum in gemitibus suis respiciunt. Quapropter fideles diabolum fugiant et Deum diligant, mala opera abjicientes et bona cum decore poenitentiae complentes, ut servus meus Ezechiel per me inspiratus hortatur, dicens: Convertimini et agite poenitentiam ab omnibus iniquitatibus vestris, et non erit vobis in ruinam iniquitas . Quod dicitur: O vos homines qui hactenus in peccatis jacuistis: recordamini Christiani nominis vestri, convertentes vos ad viam salutis, et facite alia opera in fonte poenitentiae: qui prius fecistis multa scelera in multis vitiis, et ita a mala consuetudine vestra surgentes: non deprimet vos in ruinam mortis iniquitas illa in qua sorduistis, quia illam in die salvationis vestrae abjecistis. Unde etiam hoc modo gaudium angelorum super vos erit, quoniam a diabolo recessistis et ad Deum cucurristis, eum sic melius in bonis actibus cognoscentes, quam prius eum sciretis cum in irrisione antiqui seductoris fuistis. Quod vero de eodem lacu teterrima nebula exhalans ad finem usque quasi visu imperceptibilem attigit: hoc est quod de profundissima perditione diabolica fraus emanans serpentem virulentum, nefas fraudulentae intentionis in se continentem ad decipiendum, hominem latenter invasit. Quomodo?
Quia cum diabolus hominem in paradiso vidit, cum magna indignatione exclamavit, dicens: O quis assequetur me in mansione verae beatitudinis? Et ita in semetipso sciebat quod malitiam suam quam in se habuit nondum in alia creatura compleverat, sed Adam et Evam puerili innocentia in horto deliciarum degere videns, cum magno astu extulit se ad eos decipiendum per serpentem. Quare? Quoniam serpentem magis assimilari sibi quam aliud animal intellexit; studuit ut in dolositate illius hoc occulte perficeret quod in forma sua aperte complere non posset. Unde cum Adam et Evam a vetita sibi arbore se avertere et anima et corpore conspexit, in semetipso intellexit eos ibi divinum praeceptum habere, et quod in primo opere quod inciperent, ipsos facillime dejiceret. Nesciebat enim arborem illam vetitam esse nisi quod hoc secundum probationem dolosae interrogationis suae, et secundum responsa eorum agnovit. Quapropter in ipsa clara regione candidam nubem (quae de pulchra forma hominis plurimas stellas in se continens exierat) per nebulam teterrimam afflavit, quoniam in eodem amoenitatis loco Evam innocentem animum habentem (quae de innocente Adam omnem multitudinem humani generis in praeordinatione Dei lucentem in suo corpore gestans sumpta fuerat) per seductionem serpentis ad dejectionem ejus diabolus invasit. Cur hoc?
Quia sciebat mulieris mollitiem facilius vincendam quam viri fortitudinem; videns etiam quod Adam in charitate Evae tam vehementer ardebat, ut si ipse Evam vicisset, quidquid illa Adae diceret, Adam illud perficeret. Unde et diabolus illam et formam hominis ex illa regione ejecit, quin idem antiquus seductor Evam atque Adam de sede beatitudinis sua deceptione expellens in tenebras subversionis detrusit. Quomodo? videlicet Evam primum seduxit, ut ipsa Adae blandiretur quo ei assensum praeberet, quia ipsa citius Adam quam alia creatura ad inobedientiam perducere potuit; quoniam de costa illius facta fuerat. Quapropter mulier virum citius dejicit, cum ille eam non abhorrens, verba ejus facile assumit.
Verum et non puero sed perfecto viro scilicet Adae perfecta mulier data est, ita etiam modo, cum vir in aetate perfecta fertilis est, perfecta ei mulier conjungenda est, velut cum arbor flores incipit emittere, debita cultura ei adhibenda est. Nam de costa insito calore et humore Adae, Eva formata est, ac ideo nunc de fortitudine viri et de calore ejus semine suscepto mulier intendit prolem in mundum producere, vir enim seminator existit, mulier autem susceptrix seminis est, unde et mulier sub potestate viri manet, quoniam ut duritia lapidis ad teneritudinem terrae est, ita etiam et fortitudo viri ad mollitiem mulieris. Quod autem prima mulier de viro formata est, hoc est conjunctio desponsationis mulieris ad virum. Et hoc sic intelligendum est. Conjunctio ista non est vane neque in oblivione Dei exercenda, quia qui mulierem de viro tulit, conjunctionem istam bene et honeste instituit, videlicet carnem de carne formans. Quapropter ut Adam et Eva caro una exstiterunt; sic et nunc vir et mulier caro una in conjunctione charitatis ad multiplicandum genus humanum efficiuntur. Et ideo perfecta charitas in his duobus esse debet, quemadmodum et in illis prioribus. Adam enim uxorem suam culpare posset, quod ei consilio suo mortem intulit, sed tamen eam non dimisit quandiu in hoc saeculo vixit, quoniam illam sibi per divinam potentiam datam esse cognovit.
Unde propter perfectam charitatem non relinquat homo uxorem suam, nisi propter rationabilem causam illam, quam sibi fidelis Ecclesia proponit. Nec omnino divisio in illis fiat: nisi ambo una mente in Filium meum voluerint respicere, sic in ardenti amore illius dicentes. Volumus mundum relinquere et illum sequi, qui pro nobis passus est. Quod si hi duo in una devotione dissentiunt ut mundum relinquant, tunc se omnino ab invicem non separent, quia ut sanguis a carne separari non potest quandiu spiritus in illa manet, ita nec maritus nec uxor se ab invicem dividant, sed simul in una voluntate ambulent. Sed si ibi in fornicatione praevaricatio legis aut in viro aut in muliere est, tunc aut a semetipsis, aut a sacerdotibus suis publicati, censuram spiritalis magisterii secundum quod justum est sustinebunt. Maritus autem de uxore et uxor de marito coram Ecclesia et praelatis ipsius de transgressione conjunctionis suae secundum justitiam Dei conqueretur: non tamen ita ut maritus aut uxor aliam copulam quaerat, sed ipsi aut simul in rectitudine conjunctionis permanebunt, aut se ab hujusmodi conjunctione simul abstinebunt, juxta id quod eis per disciplinam ecclesiasticae institutionis demonstratur, nec se viperea laceratione dilaniabunt, sed pura dilectione diligent, quoniam et vir et mulier esse non possunt nisi ista copulatione procreati, quemadmodum Paulus amicus meus testatur, dicens: Sicut mulier de viro, ita et vir per mulierem: omnia autem ex Deo . Quod dicitur: Mulier propter virum creata est, et vir propter mulierem factus est; quoniam ut illa de viro, ita et vir de illa ne alterum ab altero discebat in unitate natorum suorum, quia in uno opere, unum operantur, quemadmodum aer et ventus opera sua invicem complicant. Quomodo?
Aer a vento movetur, et ventus aeri implicatur, ita quod in ambitu eorum omnia virentia illis subdita sunt. Quid est hoc? Mulier viro et vir mulieri in opere filiorum cooperatur, unde maxima crimina ibi sunt, ubi fornicatio in diebus creationis filiorum divisionem facit, quoniam proprium sanguinem de fundamento loci sui vir et mulier ibi abscindunt, in alienum locum eum abjicientes. His certe fraudulentia diaboli et ira Dei relinquetur; quia foedus illud praevaricati sunt quod ipsis Deus constituit. Quapropter, vae ipsis, quando peccata ipsorum eis non remittuntur. Sed quamvis vir et mulier in natis suis, ut ostensum est, sibi cooperentur, omnia tamen videlicet tam vir quam mulier et caeterae creaturae ex divina dispositione et ordinatione sunt, quoniam Deus ea secundum voluntatem suam fecit.
Ante incarnationem autem Filii mei, quidam in antiquo populo plurimas uxores secundum voluntatem suam simul habebant; quia nondum apertae demonstrationis prohibitionem inde audierant, quam Filius meus in mundum veniens ostendit rectissimo ordine hujus copulationis in marito et uxore quandiu in hac vita spirarent secundum conjunctionem Adae et Evae propalatam, quoniam conjunctio haec non secundum voluntatem hominis sed secundum timorem Dei exercenda est; quia melius est rectum conjugium juxta dispositionem ecclesiasticae discretionis habere quam fornicationem appetere, cum tamen vos homines hoc negligentes, vestram libidinem non solum secundum homines sed etiam secundum pecora exerceatis. Fides autem recta et pura dilectio agnitionis Dei inter maritum et uxorem sit, ne semine eorum diabolica arte polluto divina ultio ipsos percutiat, cum se invicem mordentes dilaniant, et cum semina sua inhumane secundum pertula tiam pecorum seminant. Unde cum invidia vipereo more eos cruciat et cum maculosa superfluitas seminis ipsorum absque timore Dei et absque humana disciplina in ipsis est; frequenter ad castigationem hujus perversitatis ipsorum recto judicio Dei, qui ex ipsis nascuntur ad contrarietatem in membris suis destituuntur et a prosperitate vitae suae dejiciuntur, nisi poenitentiam illorum suscipiens, placabilem me istis ostendam. Nam qui in poenitentia peccatorum suorum me invocaverint, poenitentiam ipsorum propter amorem Filii mei suscipiam; quoniam qui digitum suum ad me poenitendo levaverit, id est qui gemitum cordis sui ad me in poenitentia extenderit, dicens: Peccavi, Domine, coram te; poenitentiam illam mihi Filius meus ostendit, qui sacerdos sacerdotum est, quia poenitentia quae sacerdotibus in amore Filii mei offertur, purgationem peccatorum eam facientibus concedit. Unde poenitentiam suam digne facientes a maxilla diaboli exeunt homines, quoniam ille hamum divinae potentiae deglutire volens, juxta illam, suam fortiter vulneravit, ubi etiam nunc fideles animae a perditione transeuntes ad salvationem perveniunt. Quomodo? Quia sacerdotes in altari invocatores nominis mei existentes, confessionem populorum suscipient, ubi eis remedium salutis demonstrabunt. Quapropter ut Deum placabilem habeant, semen suum in diversitate vitiorum non contaminent, quoniam qui in fornicatione vel in adulterio semen suum ejiciunt, filios suos qui hoc modo ex ipsis nascuntur negligentiores reddunt.
Quomodo? Qui puro limo lutum vel stercus admiscet, nunquid vas stabile facit? Sic qui semen suum in fornicatione vel adulterio contaminat, nunquid filios fortitudinis gignit? Sed multi ex iis in diversitate morum ac medullarum suarum laborant, multi autem ex eis prudentes et ad saeculum et ad Deum efficiuntur. Et cum his coelestis Jerusalem impletur, cum ipsi vitia deserentes et virtutes amantes in castitate ac in magnis laboribus filium meum imitantur, martyrium ipsius in corpore suo secundum passibilitatem suam gestantes. Ubi autem infantes de homine nasci nolo, ibi viriles vires seminis aufero, ne in ventre matris coaguletur; quemadmodum etiam terrae fructiferas vires denego, ubi hoc justo judicio meo facere volo. Sed quid miraris, o homo, quod in adulteriis et in caeteris hujusmodi criminibus infantes nasci permitto? judicium meum justum est.
Nam a lapsu Adae non inveni in humano semine justitiam quae in eo esse debuit, ubi eam diabolus in gustu pomi fugaverat, idcirco misi Filium meum in mundum sine ullo peccato de virgine natum, quatenus in sanguine suo cui nulla pollutio carnis inerat, diabolo spolia illa quae in homine rapuerat auferret.
Nam nec homo conceptus in peccato, nec angelus tegmen carnis non habens hominem in peccatis jacentem et corporali gravedine laborantem, a diabolica potestate eripere potuit, praeter illum qui sine peccato veniens et corpus mundum sine peccato habens, eum sua passione liberavit. Unde homines quamvis in peccatis nati sint, tamen eos ad supernum regnum colligo, cum illud fideliter quaerunt. Electos enim meos nulla perversitas mihi abstrahere potest, ubi Sapientia testatur, dicens: Justorum animae in manu Dei sunt, et non tanget illos tormentum mortis . Quod dicitur. Illorum qui viam rectitudinis complectuntur, animae cum devoto affectu in operibus superni auxiliatoris sunt: ita ut propter bona opera quibus coelum in altitudine justitiae attendunt, non confringat illos cruciamentum perditionis, quia verum lumen eos in timore et in amore Dei pascit. Sed postquam Adam et Eva de loco amoenitatis expulsi sunt, opus concipiendi et pariendi filios in semetipsis cognoverunt, et ita de inobedientia sua in mortem cadentes, dulcedinem peccati conceperunt, cum se posse peccare cognoverunt. Sed ipsi hoc modo rectam constitutionem meam in libidinem peccati vertentes, cum commotionem venarum suarum non in dulcedine peccati, sed in amore filiorum scire deberent eam diabolica suggestione in libidinem dederunt, quia innocentiam geniturae suae perdentes, illam in peccatum miserunt. Unde, quoniam hoc non sine diabolica persuasione peractum est, idcirco et idem diabolus ad hoc opus jacula sua emisit, ne sine suggestione ipsius perficiatur, cum dixit: Mea fortitudo in conceptu hominum est, idcirco homo meus est.
Et videns quod homo particeps poenarum suarum esse debuit, quia ei consenserat, iterum in semetipso dicebat: Fortissimo Deo omnes iniquitates contrariae sunt, quoniam omnino injustus non est. Et hoc idem deceptor in corde suo maximum sigillum posuit, videlicet quod homo qui sibi sponte consenserat, ipsi auferri non posset. Quapropter secretum consilium in me fuit ut Filium meum ad redemptionem hominum mitterem, quatenus coelesti Jerusalem redderetur homo. Et huic consilio nulla iniquitas resistere potuit, cum Fillius meus in mundum veniens, omnes ad se collegit qui ipsum audire et imitari peccata deserendo volebant Ego enim justus et rectus sum nullam volens iniquitatem, quam tu, o homo, amplecteris cum te malum posse facere cognoscis. Nam Lucifer et homo, in initio creationis suae, mihi rebellare tentaverunt, et stare non potuerunt; de bono cadentes et malum eligentes. Lucifer autem totum malum comprehendit et omne bonum abjecit, nec illud omnino gustavit sed in morte cecidit. Adam vero bonum gustavit eum obedientiam suscepit; sed malum concupivit, et in concupiscentia sua illud perfecit, cum inobediens Deo exstitit. Quod quare factum sit: non est a te, o homo, perquirendum, vel quid ante constitutionem saeculi fuerit, vel quid post novissimum diem futurum mortalis homo scire non potest, sed solus Deus hec novit: nisi quantum illud electos suos Deus scire permittit.
Sed et fornicatio illa quae se communem hominibus facit, abominabilis coram me est, quia ab initio masculum et feminam in honestate, et non in turpitudine constitui. Unde illi hypocritae qui dicunt sibi licitum esse secundum appetitum pecorum fornicari cum quocunque voluerint, indigni oculis meis sunt, quoniam honorem et altitudinem rationalitatis suae despicientes in pecora respiciunt, et se illis similes faciunt: vae illis qui sic viventes, in hac turpitudine perseverant.
Nec etiam volo ut notitia sanguinis in conjugio se commisceat, ubi ardor amoris in consanguinitate nondum attenuatus est; ne impudens amor in recordatione consanguinitatis ibi oriatur, sed sanguis alienae stirpis conveniat: qui jam nullam notitiam consanguinitatis in se ardere sentit, quatenus humana disciplina in opere suo sit. Quia lac semel vel bis coctum saporem suum non perdidit, cum septima vel octava vice coagulatum et coctum vires suas deferens jam delectabilem saporem non nisi in necessitate habeat. Et ut notitia consanguinitatis in propria conjuge nescienda est, ita etiam et notitia consanguinitatis prioris conjugis in aliena copula abhorrenda est; nec se homo ad hujusmodi copulam conjungat, sicut et Ecclesia per doctores suos prohibet qui ipsam in multa sollicitudine et honore stabilierunt. Quod autem in Veteri Testamento homines in consanguinitate sanguinis sui praecepto legis conjuncti sunt, hoc propter duritiam illorum factum est, ut invicem pacem haberent, et ut tam firma charitas in eis esset: ne tribus divisae conjunctioni gentilium se miscentes foedus meum infringerent, usque dum illud tempus venit in quo Filius meus plenitudinem charitatis afferens, conjunctionem consanguinitatis carnalis copulae in alienam prosapiam cum pudore verecundiae transtulit. Unde quoniam sponsa ejusdem Filii mei vinculum timoris mei et rectam justitiam in sancto baptismate modo suscepit, idcirco etiam hujusmodi consanguinitatis conjunctio nunc a se longe sit, quia fornicatio sine verecundia et sine moderatione libidinis in amplexibus viri et mulieris in noto sanguine magis quam in alieno ad turpe opus accenderetur. Ego enim opus istud per hunc hominem edissero: cui illud in homine ignotum est, et qui sermonem istum non ab homine sed a scientia Dei accepit. Sed quid nunc? Cum autem masculus in forti aetate est, ita quod venae illius sanguine plenae sunt, tunc fertilis in semine suo est, tunc mulierem in desponsatione legitimae institutionis sibi accipiat, quae etiam in ferventi aetate existens semen illius cum verecundia suscipiat, et illi prolem in via rectitudinis gignat.
Sed vir ante annos fortitudinis suae semen suum in superfluitate libidinis non ejiciat, quia hoc probatio peccati suggerente diabolo est, si semen suum in concupiscentia libidinis seminare tantaverit, antequam ipsum semen rectam coagulationem in fervente calore habere possit. Et cum vir jam fortissimus in generationis opere est, tunc vires suas secundum quod potest in illo tempore non exerceat, quoniam, si tunc ad diabolum respicit, opus diabolicum operatur, corpus etiam suum contemptibile faciens, quod omnino illicitum est. Vir autem secundum quod eum humana natura docet, in fortitudine caloris et in abundantia seminis sui rectum iter in uxore sua quaerat; et hoc cum humana disciplina ob studium filiorum faciat. Sed nolo ut idem opus fiat in separatione mulieris cum jam fluxum sanguinis sui patitur: quod est apertio occultorum membrorum uteri ejus, ne fluxus sanguinis ejus susceptum semen maturum effundat, et ita semen effusum pereat; se enim tunc mulier in dolore et in carcere positam videt: portionem scilicet doloris partus sui tangens, sed hoc tempus doloris in muliere non damno; quoniam illud Evae dedi quando in gustu pomi peccatum concepit, unde et mulier in hoc tempore in magno misericordiae subsidio levanda est; ipsa autem se contineat in absconso disciplinae; non autem ita ut in abcessu templi mei se arceat, sed fideli permissione ipsum in officio humilitatis pro salute sua ingrediatur. Quia autem sponsa Filii Dei semper integra est, vir, apertis vulneribus, si integritas membrorum ejus in tactu percussionis divisa est, templum meum nisi cum timore magnae necessitatis non intrabit ne videatur, sicut integra membra Abel, qui templum Dei fuit, Cain frater suus crudeliter fregit. Sed et mulier cum prolem pepererit, fractis occultis membris suis, templum meum non nisi secundum legem per me sibi datam ingrediatur; quatenus sancta sacramenta ejusdem templi mei ab omni pollutione et dolore viri et mulieris inviolabilia sint, quia Filium meum purissima virgo genuit: quae integra absque ullo vulnere peccati fuit. Locus enim qui in honore Unigeniti mei consecratus est, integra omni corruptione livoris ac vulneris esse debet, quoniam idem unigenitus meus integritatem virginei partus in se novit; unde et mulier quae integritatem virginitatis suae cum viro corrupit, in livore plagae suae qua corrupta est ab ingressu templi mei se contineat, usque dum plaga vulneris ipsius sanetur, secundum quod ecclesiastica disciplina ipsi de eadem causa certissime demonstrat. Nam cum Filio meo in ligno crucis sponsa ipsius conjuncta fuisset, ipsa, usque dum Filius meus discipulis suis praecepit ut veritate Evangelii per totum mundum disseminarent, in occulto se continuit, ac deinde aperte surrexit et gloriam sponsi sui in generatione spiritus et aquae palam praedicavit.
Sic et virgo, quae viro conjungitur, faciat cum pudica scilicet verecundia usque ad tempus illud quod sibi ecclesiastica censura proponit; in occulto maneat, et hoc peracto de occultatione sua se transferens ad dilectionem sponsi sui, aperte procedat.
Nolo etiam ut praedictum opus viri ac mulieris exerceatur cum jam radix infantuli in muliere posita est, ne coagulatio infantuli superfluo et perdito semine polluatur usque ad purgationem partus ipsius, quod iterum ob amorem filiorum in rectitudine et non in petulantia fieri non prohibetur. Sic genus humanum in procreatione sua in honestate humanae disciplinae procedere positum est: et non sicut vaniloquium stultorum hominum clamat dicentium sibi licitum esse libidinem suam secundum voluntatem suam exercere, dicentes: Quomodo possumus nos tam inhumane continere? O homo, si respicis ad diabolum, ipse te ad omne malum excitat et mortifero veneno suo interficit; si autem ad Deum oculos levas, ipse tibi adjutorium praebet et te castum facit. Nonne in opere tuo magis libidinem quam castitatem appetis? Mulier viro subjecta est in qua ipse semen suum seminet, sic etiam terram operatur ut fructum afferat. Nunquid vir terram operatur, ut spinas et tribulos gignat? Nequaquam, sed ut dignum fructum det. Ita etiam hoc studium hominis in amore filiorum et non in petulantia libidinis esse debet.
Ergo, o homines, plorate et ululate ad Deum vestrum quem tam frequenter in peccatis vestris contemnitis, cum in pessima fornicatione semen vestrum ejicitis; ibi non solum fornicatores, sed etiam et homicidae existentes, quia respectum Dei abjicitis et libidinem vestram secundum voluntatem vestram completis. Unde etiam diabolus in hoc opere semper persequitur vos, sciens quod magis concupiscentiam vestram appetitis quam gaudium filiorum inspiciatis. Audite ergo qui in turribus ecclesiae estis. In fornicatione vestra nolite me accusare, sed vosmetipsos inspicite; quoniam, cum ad diabolum curritis me contemnentes, illicita opera facitis, et ideo casti esse non vultis, ut servus meus Osee de contaminato populo loquitur, dicens: Non dabunt cogitationes suas ut revertantur ad Deum suum, quia spiritus fornicationis in medio eorum, et Deum non cognoverunt . Quod dicitur: Maligni homines Deum non cognoscentes faciem cordis sui abscondunt, non convertentes eam in diversis involutionibus machinationis suae ut redeant ad veram claritatem, perspicaci scilicet oculo non discernentes quae Dei sunt, sed malum in semetipsis nutriunt; quoniam afflatio petulantis immunditiae per diabolicam suggestionem virilem fortitudinem quam in se habere deberent emollit, non sinens eos ut in Deum bonam conscientiam suam ponant, cum adversarius ipsos a vita felicitatis avertit. Sed nunc ad amantissimas oves meas quae in corde meo plantatae sunt me convertam, semen castitatis existentes; virginitas enim per me plantata est, quia etiam Filius meus de virgine natus est. Et ideo virginitas est pulcherrimum pomum inter omnia poma convallium, et magna persona in omnibus personis quae in palatio indeficientis regis sunt, quoniam ipsa praecepto legis subdita non est, quia unigenitum meum mundo edidit. Quapropter audiant qui Filium Dei sequi volunt in innocentia liberae castitatis et in separatione moerentis viduitatis; quoniam nobilior est virginitas non polluta ab initio quam viduitas oppressa virili jugo, cum tamen post dolorem suum in quo virum suum perdidit, virginitatem subsequitur: Filius enim meus plurimos dolores in corpore suo pertulit et mortem crucis subiit; unde et vos in amore ipsius multas angustias patiemini, cum in vobismetipsis superabitis quod in libidine peccati ex gustu pomi seminatum est; sed tamen ibi ab incendio libidinis effluentes rivulos in semine vestro sustinentes, cum tam casti esse non potestis quin fragilitas humanae debilitatis se latenter ostendat in vobis; in illo habere passionem Filii mei imitari debetis, cum vobismetipsis resistitis ardentem flammam libidinis, videlicet in vobis exstinguentes et alia saecularia quae mundi sunt, scilicet iram, superbiam, luxuriam, et caetera hujusmodi vitia cohibentes, atque victoriam istam magno certamine perficientes.
Unde tunc praelia ista magno decore et multo fructu clariora super solem et dulciora super aromatum suavitatem coram me apparent; quia unigenitum meum in doloribus ejus imitamini cum ardentem libidinem tam forti certamine in vobis conculcatis. Et cum sic perseveratis, multam gloriam inde in coelesti regno consequimini. O vernantissimi flores, angeli mei, in vestro certamine admirantur quod mortem evaditis, quod in venenoso luto mundi polluti non estis cum tamen carnale corpus geratis, illud hoc pacto conculcantes, quod gloriosi in consortio eorum eritis, quoniam secundum similitudinem ipsorum impolluti apparetis, ideo gaudete cum sic perseveratis, quia tunc vobiscum sum, cum me fideliter suscipitis et vocem meam cum gaudio cordis vestri adimpletis, quemadmodum in secreta visione Joannis dilecti mei ostendo, dicens: Ecce sto ad ostium et pulso: si quis audierit vocem meam, intrabo ad illum et coenabo cum illo, et ipse mecum . Quod dicitur: Vos qui me salvatorem vestrum fideliter amatis, videte quia vobis succurrere volens exspecto ad tabernaculum cordis vestri, considerans quid conscientia vestra in scrinio cordis sui contineat, et cum inspiratione recordationis mentis vestrae spiritum vestrum ad apertionem susceptionis bonae voluntatis commoneo. Quod si tunc fidele cor percipit sonitum timoris mei, conjungo me ad ipsum amplectens eum, indeficientemque cibum capiens eum illo, cum ipse suavem gustum in bonis operibus semetipsum mihi praebet, ita et ipse cibum vitae in meipso percepturus est, quoniam illud amat: quod justitiam desiderantibus vitam affert. Sed, ut vides, Adam et Eva de paradiso expulsis, lucidissimus splendor eamdem regionem circumdedit; quoniam illis ob transgressionem suam locum amoenitatis exeuntibus, potentia divinae majestatis omnem maculam totius contagionis ab eodem loco sequestrans eum ita sua claritate munivit, ne amodo ulla contrarietate tangeretur, ostendens etiam quod transgressio illa quae in eo facta fuerat quandoque clementer et misericorditer abolenda esset. Et ita omnia elementia mundi quae prius in magna quiete constiterant, in maximam inquietudinem versa, horribiles terrores ostenderunt; quia creatura illa quae ad servitutem hominis creata fuerat, nec ullam adversitatem in se senserat (homine inobedientiam capescente et Creatori suo facto inobediente) tranquillitatem suam reliquit, et inquietudinem suscepit, maximas et plurimas contrarietates hominibus inferens ut homo seipsum ad deteriora flexerat; per illam coerceretur. Quid hoc?
Quia homo in loco deliciarum Deo rebellis exstitit, idcirco et creatura illa quae homini in servitio subjecta fuit, se homini opposuit. Et paradisus est locus amoenitatis, qui floret, in viriditate florum, et herbarum, et deliciis omnium aromatum, repletus optimis odoribus, dotatusque in gaudio beatarum animarum, dans fertilissimam fecunditatem aridae terrae, quia fortissimam vim terrae tribuit, velut anima corpori vires praebet, quoniam paradisus in umbra et in perditione peccatorum non obscuratur. Quapropter audite et intelligite me vos qui in cordibus vestris dicitis: Quid sunt haec? et cur sunt haec? O cur tam stulti estis in cordibus vestris qui ad imaginem et similitudinem Dei facti estis? Quomodo tam magna gloria et tantus honor qui vobis datus est, posset esse sine probatione: cum tamen aurum quod quasi nihil est et aliquid inane, debeat in igne probari, et pretiosi lapides in purgatione poliri, et hujusmodi omnia in omnibus perquiri? Ergo, o stulti homines, hoc quod ad imaginem et similitudinem Dei factum est, quomodo sine probatione posset subsistere? Nam homo super omnem creaturam examinandus est, et ideo per omnem creaturam probandus est.
Quomodo? Spiritus per spiritum probandus est, caro per carnem, terra per aerem, ignis per aquam, pugna per pacem, bonum per malum, pulchritudo per deformitatem, paupertas per divitias, dulcedo per amaritudinem, sanitas per infirmitatem, longum per brevem, durum per molle, altitudo per profunditatem, lux per tenebras, vita per mortem, paradisus per poenas, coeleste regnum per gehennam, et terrena cum terrenis, coelestia cum coelestibus. Sic homo in omni creatura probatus est, videlicet in paradiso, in terra et in inferno: postea collocatus est in coelo. Aperte enim videtis pauca de multis, quae ante oculos vestros abscondita sunt. Et cur deridetis ea quae recta, plana, et justa, ac bona in omnibus bonis coram Deo sunt? Quare his indignamini? Deus justus est; sed genus hominum in praevaricatione praeceptorum Dei injustum est, cum sapientius Deo esse contendit. Nunc dic mihi, o homo, quid putas te fuisse cum nondum eras in anima et corpore?
Tu vero nescis quomodo creatus sis. Sed nunc, o homo, coelum et terram vis perscrutari, et justitiam eorum in constitutionem Dei dijudicare, et summa dignoscere; cum nec infima valeas examinare, quia nescis quomodo vivas in corpore, vel quomodo exuaris a corpore. Qui te in primo homine creavit, ille haec omnia praevidit. Sed item mitissimus Pater misit Unigenitum suum mori pro populo, ut hominem a diabolica potestate liberaret. Et sic homo liberatus fulget in Deo, et Deus in homine; consortium homo cum Deo habens, fulgentiorem claritatem quam prius haberet, possidet in coelo. Quod non fuisset, si Filius Dei carnem non induisset, quoniam, si homo in paradiso permansisset, Filius in cruce passus non fuisset. Sed cum homo per callidum serpentem deceptus est, Deus in vera misericordia tactus, Unigenitum suum in purissima virgine incarnari voluit, atque ita post ruinam hominis elevatae sunt plurimae virtutes in coelo fulgentes, veluti est humilitas regina virtutum, quae in virgineo partu floruit, ut etiam caeterae virtutes quae electos Dei ad coelestia perducunt. Nam cum ager multo labore colitur, multum fructum profert, ut in humano genere ostensum est; quia post ruinam hominis, plurimae virtutes ad sublevationem ejus surrexerunt.
Sed, o homines, vos gravati corporali pondere, non videtis illam magnam gloriam quae vobis sine macula et sine ulla dedignatione in plena justitia Dei praeparata est, quam nullus auferre potest; prius enim quam fabrica mundi constituta fuisset, haec omnia Deus in vera justitia praeviderat. Unde, o homo, similitudinem hanc considera.
Dominus qui in multo studio hortum facere vult, primitus aptum locum horti ponit, ac deinde locum cujusque plantationis disponens, fructum bonarum arborum utilitatem, saporem, odorem habentium et diversorum generum aromata considerat. Et sic Dominus magnus et profundus artifex quamque plantationem suam in eo disponit, ut bene discerni in utilitate sua possit, ac deinde cogitat quanta munitione eum circumdet, ut nullus inimicorum plantationem ejus dissipare valeat. Tunc etiam pigmentarios suos constituit, qui eumdem hortum rigare sciant et qui fructum ejus colligant, et exinde diversa pigmenta conficiant. Quapropter, o homo, diligenter considera, quia, si Dominus ille praevidet quod hortus suus nullum fructum nec ullam utilitatem proferens destruendus est, quare tunc tantus et tam profundus artifex hortum illum tam magno studio et tam magnis laboribus exstruit, plantat, rigat et munit? Audi igitur et intellige. Deus qui sol justitiae est, splendorem suum super lutum quod praevaricatio hominis est misit; et splendor ille in multa claritate resplenduit, quoniam lutum illud valde foedum et opacum fuit. Sol enim in sua claritate effulsit, et lutum in sua foeditate putruit; unde sol majori delectatione a videntibus amplectebatur, quam si lutum ei appositum non esset. Sed sicut lutum ad similitudinem solis foedum est, sic etiam transgressio hominis ad justitiam Dei iniqua est.
Unde justitia, quia pulchra est, diligenda est; et iniquitas, quoniam foeda est, odienda. In hanc foeditatem cecidit ovis Domini qui hortum plantaverat. Et hujusmodi ovis per consensum suum, non per Domini ignaviam a Domino sublata est; quam postea Dominus multo studio et justitia requisivit. Quapropter tunc chorus angelorum in maximo gaudio illuminatus est, cum hominem angeli in coelo viderunt. Quid hoc? Cum innocens agnus in crucem suspensus est, elementa tremuerunt, quia nobilissimus virginis filius de manibus homicidarum corporaliter occisus est. In cujus morte perdita ovis ad pascua vitae reportata est. Nam antiquus persecutor, postquam vidit quod ovem illam propter sanguinem innocentis agni quem agnus in remissionem peccatorum hominum effuderat perdere debuit, tunc primum cognovit quis agnus ille esset, quoniam prius scire non potuit, quomodo coelestis agnus sine virili semine et sine ulla concupiscentia peccati de virgine in obumbratione Spiritus sancti incarnatus est; idem enim persecutor in initio creationis suae in flatu superbiae erexit se, in mortem seipsum praecipitans, et hominem de gloria paradisi dejiciens, cui Deus in potestate sua resistere noluit, sed eum in humilitate per filium suum superavit.
Et quia Lucifer justitiam Dei contempsit justo judicio Dei, incarnationem unigeniti Filii Dei scire non potuit. Nam in hoc abscondito consilio perdita ovis ad vitam reportata est. Unde, o rebelles homines, cur tantam duritiam assumitis? Deus hominem deserere noluit, sed Filium suum ad salvationem ejus misit; quoniam sic Deus caput superbiae in antiquo serpente contrivit. In ereptione enim hominis de morte infernus claustrum suum aperuit, Satana clamante: Vae, vae! quis me adjuvabit? Sed et omnis diabolica turba in fremitu magno seipsam decerpsit, admirans quae tanta potestas esset, cui ipsa cum principe malitiae resistere non posset, cum sibi fideles animas auferri videret. Sic homo super coelos elevatus est; quia Deus in homine, et homo in Deo per Filium Dei apparuit.
Idem etiam Dominus qui ovem perdiderat, sed eam tam gloriose ad vitam reduxerat, pretiosam margaritam in eamdem similitudinem habuit, quae perdita in multas sordes incidit. Sed ipse eam ita in sorde jacere non permittens eam quaesivit, et inventam gaudenter extraxit, et de sorde in qua jacuerat, extractam ita expurgavit: ut aurum in fornace purgari solet et eam in pristinum honorem majori gloria reparavit. Nam Deus hominem creavit, sed ipse diabolica persuasione in mortem corruit; de qua eum Filius Dei per sanguinem suum eripuit, et eum ad coelestem honorem gloriose perduxit. Quomodo? In humilitate et charitate. Humilitas enim Flium Dei de virgine nasci fecit, ubi ipsa humilitas nec in maris amplexibus, nec in curiositate carnis, nec in divitiis terrenis, nec in aureis ornamentis, nec in saecularibus honoribus inventa est, sed Filius Dei in praesepio jacuit, quia mater ejus paupercula fuit. Et humilitas semper gemit, plorat et omnia crimina interimit: quod opus ipsius est. Unde quisquis diabolum vult expugnare, se muniat et armet humilitate, quoniam Lucifer tam valde fugit, et velut coluber se coram ea in cavernam abscondit, quia ubi ipse illum apprehenderit, eum quasi fragillimum filum citius frangit.
Charitas quoque unigenitum Dei Filium in sinu Patris in coelo continet et eum in uterum matris in terram demisit, quoniam ipsa nec peccatores nec publicanos spernit, sed omnes salvare intendit. Quapropter et fontem lacrymarum ab oculis fidelium saepius educens duritiam cordis emollit. In hoc humilitas et charitas clariores caeteris virtutibus sunt; quoniam humilitas et charitas sunt velut anima et corpus, quae fortiores vires caeteris viribus animae et membris corporis habent. Quomodo? Humilitas est quasi corpus et charitas velut anima nec ab invicem separari possunt sed simul operantur, sicut nec anima nec corpus disjungi valent ed sibi cooperantur, quandiu homo in corpore vivit. Et sicut animae et corpori diversa membra corporis secundum vires suas subjecta sunt, ita etiam humilitati et charitati caeterae virtutes secundum justitiam suam cooperantur. Et ideo, o homines, ad gloriam Dei et pro salute vestra humilitatem et charitatem sectamini: cum quibus armati diabolicas insidias non timebitis, sed indeficientem vitam possidebitis. Unde quicunque scientiam in Spiritu sancto et pennas in fide habet, admonitionem meam non transgrediatur sed eam in gustu animae suae amplectendo percipiat.
Scivias (Know the Ways of the Lord) companion
Keep Hildegard in your mornings
Get the free 14-day Scivias reading plan, then continue with daily historic devotionals in the Chosen Portion app.
Hildegard's visions were meant to be read and prayed over daily by her community; Chosen Portion continues that pattern with a curated historic devotional reading each morning.
- Read all three parts of Scivias in curated excerpts — about 15 minutes a day for 14 days
- One reflection question and one short prayer per day, so you never wonder what to do next
- A day-15 handoff into a daily prayer rhythm you can sustain in the free Chosen Portion app