Visio Quinta
The Zeal of the Lord
A vision of a fiery, human-faced head in the northern corner reveals the inflexible zeal and judgment of God against iniquity.
After this, I saw—and look—in the northern corner where the two forms of the wall of that building met, there appeared something like the head of a wondrous form, fixed immovably to that corner from the neck, as high from the ground as the height of the corner itself, though it didn't rise above it, but was just equal to it in height at the top. That head was the color of fire, glowing like a flame, and it had the terrible face of a man, looking toward the north in great anger. From the neck down, I saw no form of it, because the rest of its body was entirely hidden and obscured, tucked away in that corner. I saw the head itself as if it were the bare form of a human head, not covered by hair like a man's, nor by a veil in the manner of a woman; yet it appeared more masculine than feminine, and was very terrible to look upon. It had three wings of wondrous width and length, white like a bright cloud, not raised high but extended straight out separately from one another, though in such a way that the head itself rose slightly above them in height. The first wing, rising from the right jaw, stretched toward the north; the second, which was the middle one, was directed from its throat toward the north; the third, from the left jaw, stretched toward the west. Sometimes they moved with great terror, striking toward those directions, and sometimes they ceased their striking. I did not hear that head utter any words; it remained immobile in itself, only striking here and there with its wings in the direction they were stretched, as has been said. And again I heard the One sitting on the throne saying to me: 'God, who in the old people exercised His zeal severely, shows Himself mild and gentle in the new because of the love of His Son. This isn't because He now carelessly overlooks the sins of those who do wrong, but because He mercifully waits for the intimate and true repentance of a pure heart; yet He doesn't tolerate the wickedness of the hardened, but punishes it with His just judgment.' Therefore, you see this head appearing in the northern corner where the two forms of the wall of that building meet: it shows, in its meaning, the zeal of the Lord, which is the inflexible vengeance against iniquity that seeks no medicine. It rises openly, as the mystery of the Word of God is insinuated through the figures and the voices of the patriarchs and prophets, foretold in their meanings. His zeal is seen in the form of a head; for it is known to be beyond all fear in the severity of its vengeance, just as a person is known by their face. It burns against the northern part because, in God, it is most swift and sharp in striking down the devil and all evil, even as in Abraham and Moses the two parts of the defense of those who work—that is, the speculative knowledge of the two options, the two paths of good and evil—and the human race are joined in the work of God; for a person ought to work most strongly against the devil in the knowledge of good and evil in all things through the goodness of the Father. The zeal of the Lord, however, punishes the transgression that occurs through speculative knowledge in the works of those who violate God's commands, where there is no room for indulgence. Where is this? It is precisely where there is neither the fear of the Lord nor the fear of man in the acknowledgment of God. And a heart that is so hardened and dead in the filth of iniquity that it fears neither the judgment of God nor the face of man—this, the zeal of the Lord in the law of God confuses and crushes with its vengeance through a just judgment. How?
The Path of Repentance
God explains that His zeal is tempered by mercy, offering the path of repentance and interior transformation to those who acknowledge their sins.
Once a commandment is established, where a violation of the law occurs, there is a zeal that draws out injustice with the most upright judgment. This injustice was drawn out in the Old Testament with the severity of retribution in the outer man, when the transgression of the law was punished physically in him. And after the grace of the Gospel, the same zeal exists through repentance, and after the death of men, it exists through the punishments and torments of hell. I examine the iniquities of men—conceived, brought forth, and twisted in those who commit them—in such a way that I punish them either physically in the body of the man, or in the punishment of the age to come, or the man himself will purge them through the repentance of remission while living in soul and body, with which he also committed them, as my servant Job says in my spirit: "I change my face, and I am tormented by pain." I used to fear all my works, knowing that you wouldn't spare the one who sins. But if I am still wicked, why have I labored in vain? (Job IX.) This is what it means: I will change my inner outlook. How? I will overturn the fact that I am changeable and overflowing with the blood of my veins, having within me at times pleasure, at times even anger, and at times a crushing sadness, which I look upon in myself as if I were seeing a delightful face, when I would gladly carry this out myself. And I will change that against my own will, turning myself toward the work of good action. And when I have done this, I am tormented by this heavy lash: that I constrain myself, pulling away from my own recognizable face—which is the work of my will in contrary pleasure—and instead attach myself to contemplative speculation, seeing God in a good conscience and not in the lust of the flesh, through which I do not attend to Him. And for these two reasons, I fear all my works. How so? When I do a good work, I fear it isn't perfect before God because I don't see it clearly, but obscurely, as if in a mirror; sometimes I know it in the spirit, and sometimes I am ignorant of it because of the burden of my body. But when I do an evil work, I am confused by the conscience of my spirit, because in my interior intellect I know that God will not spare those who have knowledge of their sins—that is, when a person understands what in their work is contrary to God. They must be purged, either by punishment in the body, by the penalty of penance, or by the penalty of torments in the other life. And therefore He does not spare the offender if they are not repentant; because they are not given the power to sin so that they may sin, but they must be chastised, either here or there. Why, then, if I am so wicked and of such obduracy that I am unwilling to be softened to the point of turning away from my own affairs—which are my sins—so that I do not look into that great struggle which resists me, that I am in fragility, but rather that I exist as always contrary to God in my known causes, because I was conceived in sins, always desiring to work iniquity, and not fearing to be judged by the Lord; why then, if I am constrained in such vain labor, do I frequently, with the knowledge by which I acknowledge God, contradict iniquity within myself? Yet I am not so powerless that I am ignorant of good and evil. So if I push away my understanding and say, "I don't know God," I'm a liar, because that very knowledge convicts me of being blameworthy, since I am a debtor to God the moment I begin to do evil. But I don't labor in vain when I resist evil with a clear conscience, because I am God's work; so I turn back to Him and receive a good reward for it. Therefore, I, the Lord of all, testify that a person must wash away their sins through the pain of groaning, the contrition of repentance, or fitting retribution—whether in this life or the next, as has been said. How is that? Those who sin with the fear and sorrow of repentance, dreading their own sins, deserve through the grace of God to rise often from their transgressions through the purgation of them; although they do not find that purgation fully in this life, they find it in the life to come, unto life. But those who are of such hardness of heart that they neither desire nor wish to know their sins in the fear and sorrow of repentance, but remain in such wickedness as if God were not to be held in fear by them—these will not attain the purgation of sins in this life or in the next, but will have punishments without the consolation of purgation unto life; because, regarding their own rationality as they were created by Me, they refused to render an account of their disobedience. How is that?
The Two Paths of the Intellect
The human intellect is shown to possess two paths—good and evil—requiring constant discernment and resistance against diabolical seduction.
The intellect within a person's rationality has two paths in the knowledge of good and evil, to which two responses pertain: namely, good and evil. How so? Good responds to evil when it resists it in the Lord. Evil, however, responds to good when it fights against it alongside the devil. But those who restrain themselves always in evil, so that they might not take pleasure in their own selfish delights, respond to evil with good. These, however, respond to good with evil; they in no way pull themselves back from wicked acts, but instead take pleasure in their own cravings, refusing to answer the call of what is good. How so? A person has two callings within themselves: the desire for fruit, and the craving for failure. How so? Through a desire for fruit, one is called to life; through a craving for defect, one is called to death. But in the desire for fruit, when a person longs to do good, saying to themselves, 'Do good works,' this is a response against evil, so that they might avoid it and produce useful fruit. In the craving for defect, however, when they long to commit evil, they also urge themselves on, saying, 'Do the work of your own pleasure.' This is also a response against the good, when they refuse to resist their own wickedness but instead delight in arriving at defect, despising me in this response and holding me in contempt by failing to show me the honor they owe. And because they turn away from the good—not grieving or afflicting themselves out of fear of me—they turn toward an illusion in heavenly things, as the Psalmist says regarding my manifestation: 'They have set their mouth against heaven, and their tongue has passed through the earth.'✦ It is like this: many people are foolish in their reasoning, unwilling to understand the immeasurable fear of the Lord, and they pull away from themselves the good desires by which they ought to be panting after me and knowing the true God. They refuse to give their assent to the good knowledge that always stands by a person so that they might perform good works in God; instead, they frequently embrace bitterness in their opposition to the good, stripping themselves bare and hoarding for themselves a good treasure of diverse wickedness. In these things, they set the wandering of their minds in heavenly places like a mouth poorly covered, despising those things within themselves through the madness of mockery, saying in their hearts: 'We can perform these works of our own will just as freely as those things called heavenly, which the ancients established according to their own pleasure, while we were ignorant.' And in such a way they mock the words and institutions of the ancient Fathers, which were placed in me through a heavenly work. Hence, even in the taste of an evil work, they stir themselves up as if in their own language, and they pass over into the audacity of their own capability, so that they stubbornly fulfill their own wills, unwilling to have any restraint of their body against vices; instead, without any labor of their spirit, they wallow in the desires of their flesh as if in the earth, which is a diabolical seduction.
The Mystery of Divine Judgment
The vision's details—the wings, the height, and the fiery color—are interpreted as the inexplicable and equitable nature of God's judgment throughout history.
And the fact that you see the aforementioned head of marvelous form means that in the zeal of the Lord are the marvelous and admirable judgments of God, which cannot be known by any person weighed down by sins. As for it being placed immovably on the outside of that same corner by the neck, this means that My zeal against the devil—as was shown in the Old Testament through Abraham and Moses—appears outwardly in speculative knowledge and human practice in the sight of the nations, so that they might fear Me, feeling My terror eye to eye, when My justice also threatens the most cruel wickedness of Satan toward the north. It remains immovable because God cannot be moved or softened at all by deceptive or flattering words from the rectitude of His judgment regarding uncorrected crimes; it is like a law established by God through the neck of His strength, fixed for people to act upon, rendering to everyone who does not observe the precepts of the law the penalties they have earned, according to the evil works in which they have withered away in filth, while He also resists with His most excellent strength, as if in the power of His neck, opposing the devil and those who follow him by standing against their injustice. It is also as high from the earth as the height of that corner itself; for God, in the supreme justice of His vengeance, surpasses all earthly things, and since that same vengeance is of this height, the works of men were marked out in the prefiguration of Abraham and Moses through the Law, because divine judgment is at the summit of speculative knowledge and of the actions of peoples, to strike down their ignorance when they refuse to know God. Yet it does not exceed that corner, but is merely made equal to it in height by an equal balance, for heavenly vengeance does not exceed the actions of men by punishing evils in them more heavily or more severely than their merits deserve, but judges all things rightly in the excellence of His justice by an equal and just judgment, as David knew again in the spirit when he said: "I have known, O Lord, that your judgments are equity, and in your truth you have humbled me." This is how it is: through your goodness, I have known in myself, O Lord, that when you didn't kill me for my sins, and didn't take away my effectiveness in soul and body, you don't judge those who know or those who are ignorant more than their merits deserve, neither because of your power nor your anger. For I do good by struggling against myself, but I do evil through the concupiscence of the flesh. And therefore you give a reward to the good and judgment to the evil, yet you don't judge otherwise than what is equitable and just. How so? If you were to press more sharply than the works of men are in a completed action, there would be no equity of judgment. If, however, you were to neglect this tepidly, so that you didn't provoke repentance, and if there were no searching in the purging of iniquity, then you, O just God, would be softening and fostering injustice. Death was once a most bitter judgment in the death of Adam; but now, grace has been restored through repentance, calling humanity back to life—a thing that would have been impossible to achieve through anyone except you, O God. And this is your most just and equitable judgment: a cleansing, that is, toward life with grace, since your judgments will measure every work by a righteous standard. For everything you do is in truth, so that you exercise no excess beyond measure in a deceptive way; for it is deceptive to have more in excess or less in deficiency than what is just. Yet you spare us in the many mercies of your power, not killing anyone through the capacity of your most brilliant virtue; you count it to yourself that you spare us through repentance. Therefore, because of your mercy, I have humbled myself, giving glory to your name, even while I am sometimes troubled by my own deserved faults in the face of your judgment. The fact that you see the head glowing with a fiery color like a flame of fire means that in the Lord's zeal there is a fiery obstacle to evil, glowing with the intense heat of His vengeance and having the terrible face of a man; for the eyes of the Lord see every injustice face to face, so that the faults of various crimes are not left neglected before God, but He looks upon them with terror, examining them with His just judgment; and because the wicked works of man are also monstrous and horrible, they show a human face in the acts of carnal desires. He looks toward the north in great anger because God, in His vengeance, disdains every evil that arises from diabolical suggestion. But the fact that you do not see any form of Him from the neck down, because the rest of His body is entirely hidden and obscured in that corner, means that in the zeal of God there are righteous judgments that powerfully scatter the wicked works of various men, which no human sense can fully investigate, because they are hidden and covered in the corner of speculative knowledge and human works; so that they can neither be seen nor grasped by any investigation, except that they are sometimes known when the deed is revealed in the cause of God's vengeance, just as the face of a man is seen according to the desires of his own will. Therefore, even in that vengeance, there is no pretense of leniency, but always a just judgment according to the sins of men. Their crimes are not left unexamined, as has been said, because the zeal of the Lord is His examination. The fact that you see the head as a bare human head means that the Lord’s zeal is not subject to mortality; it remains stripped of any weakness or subjection, judging the works of men with justice. It isn't covered by hair like a man's head, nor by a veil like a woman's, because it has no anxious sensory concern to overcome anyone with masculine strength, nor does it have the feminine softness of a timid spirit that cannot overcome what opposes it. Yet it is more masculine than feminine, because the most powerful virtue of God is more in masculine vigor than it is in the softness of feminine negligence; and it is a terrifying thing to behold, for the zeal of the Lord is terrible and to be feared by every creature when it feels Him in the given cause of His vengeance. But the fact that it has three wings of wondrous breadth and length, white as a bright cloud, is the expansion of the inexplicable virtue of the Holy Trinity, which no human can fully grasp in the breadth of His glory or the length of His power, shining in the great sweetness and clarity of the divinity, and subjecting the minds of men to Himself through righteous vengeance, in great diversity like clouds moving to and fro. These wings are not raised on high but are extended straight out from themselves, yet in such a way that the head itself surpasses them slightly in height; for the vengeance of the Lord is not lifted up by any arrogance, but adapts itself to every cause according to its merits, in a most righteous standard extended by the just judgment of His correction. It is so ordered, however, that the potential of God’s power—as if in the head of this same vengeance—precedes human works (which the true Trinity does not leave unexamined) in the height of His strength, yet without punishing and crushing them as severely as the potential of His power could. The first wing rises from the right jaw and stretches toward the north, because God, in His just judgment, first defeated the devil and all evil from the right side of salvation in His Son. The second wing, which is also the middle one, is directed from His throat toward the north; for after the salvation that was accomplished in the Son of God—once faith was already strengthened as if in the middle, and the sweetness of the elect had been tasted—He used them to put the roaring enemy to flight, rescuing them from his jaws. The third wing extends from the left jaw toward the west, because once Satan has been put to flight by God’s elect, he will be utterly crushed—even from the left side of perdition—in the son of perdition, as the world now tends toward the sunset of its own end. Sometimes they move with great terror and strike into those parts, because the zeal of the Lord moves in vengeance as a judgment that is terrible and formidable to every creature, exercising the judgments of His striking there, wherever it pleases the divine majesty in its just judgment. For where fear, love, and honor for God are faithfully held in reverence, there God shows Himself mild and gentle and doesn't exercise His vengeance, though He punishes the hard and rebellious both terribly and justly. Thus, the first wing of My vengeance strikes and casts those people into the abyss of perdition who are so hardened beyond the hardness of stone that, with their inner eyes, they always disdainfully despise My justice, looking backward through the knowledge of their own intellect, and consenting more to carnal desires and diabolical suggestions than they are willing to know true justice, or to be turned back by any consent of theirs—whether through My admonition or through the exhortation of a person—thus tormenting the spirit of their own knowledge, because they love and do the injustice of the devil more than My justice. These people pour into their own hearts what is like molten lead—that is, the dissolute desires of a depraved softness—sending it as if to stabilize the hardness of iron, namely the forgetfulness of God, so hardened as if they were made of iron: so that they spare no iniquity, whether it be the cause of God or of man, for themselves or for anyone else.
The Temple and the Tithe
God calls for reverence toward sacred spaces and established ordinances, warning against the sacrilege of those who despise the justice of the Church.
The elements, along with the rest of creation, cry out and complain against these people because human nature—so lowly—is so rebellious against God during its brief time, while they themselves always fulfill the Lord's commands in fear and reverence. And why do they cry out so terribly against man? How so? It isn't that the elements cry out with a voice or complain with the understanding of a rational creature; rather, they cry out in their own way through the noise of their sounds, and they bring their complaints forward in the fear of terrors, so that when they or some other creature bring God's just judgment upon these very people who are rebels, they stand and act in themselves in no other way than that in which the divine power turns them by its command. This is why those hardened people so cruelly imitate Satan, who in the hardness of his iniquity refuses to submit to God his Creator. Because he has perished from all blessedness, they too will perish with him as they follow his lead. The middle wing of my zeal strikes down insane people and every presumptuous evil that they commit knowingly and recklessly; this evil first rose up in man in the blood of Abel, whom his brother hated for this reason—because he was dear to God on account of the offering of his substance which he distributed with a good will; and it also rose up in Pharaoh, who was warned by my wonders, so that, terrified by my fear, he unwillingly let my people Israel go, whom he then wanted to drag back through his own madness, for which my zeal consumed him; and it also rose up in that people of mine who, knowing me and seeing my wonders, worshipped an idol at Oreb, from which the crown fell from their head, so that the law of God became corruptible to them on two stone tablets, and others like them, because of those who fell from their glory and happiness, all of which my vengeance avenges. This is why Moses, my servant, also carried out vengeance according to my will against that contrary people who so frequently opposed me in this zeal of mine. He effectively told my chosen ones that each should kill his brother, friend, and neighbor; and again, he ardently told the judges of that same people that each should kill his neighbors who had been initiated into Beelphegor, where I avenged myself by killing that iniquity which was fighting against me. But the justice of God first arose in Abel, and after him, many other chosen ones were found among all those evil and perverse generations who gathered and cherished my more subtle precepts, like the children of Israel, among whom sorrow and mourning also arose as they longed for the humanity of my Son. Once the manifestation of that same Son of mine, whom I sent born of the Virgin, was completed, all the justice of the Law was cooked and seasoned, becoming a sweet and pleasant food for every people who believe in me, while the apostles of truth made that very truth manifest. Therefore, this zeal of mine punished and continues to punish those who knowingly transgressed my justice in all those aforementioned generations; for God, who was then, is now, and will always remain, and my zeal, which was then, is now, and will always stand until tribes and peoples are finished, while the justice of God, which does not end, clears away all the rust of injustice. For this reason, I also remove this wickedness with that same zeal of mine—referring to the person who, like a dog, detests the Church that flourishes in me, or who, through the madness of his own wickedness, destroys the dedication I have established, or other established justices pertaining to my temple, which rose up strongly in the prefiguration of my servant Jacob, just as this Scripture holds: 'Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had laid at his head, and set it up for a monument, pouring oil upon the top of it, and he called the name of the city Bethel.' This is what it means: Jacob rose early because he was a timely lover of true justice in the established temple, to which he gave a fitting name, because from him was to arise the most righteous temple—the Virgin Mary, from whom the Sun of justice shone forth. And taking the stone which he had placed at his head as a figure of an altar—that is, Christ—so that it might be sanctified in the name of Him who is the true rock, and be called sanctified, because every sanctification of an altar is placed under the power of the almighty God, the head of all the faithful, he raised it up as a monument of the book of life and as a person of the special fragrance of the heavenly Jerusalem; because just as Christ is the head of His members in the heavenly Jerusalem, so is every sanctified altar a more excellent part of His temple, with oil poured out upon it in the sanctification of chrism, which is the grace of almighty God poured out in holy baptism. And he called that sanctified place a house and temple of God, according to the name of the city of the heavenly Jerusalem, which is the living temple of the living God. Through this example and its meaning, a stone is to be set up in the temple in my name, and the temple itself is marked by that stone, because I am the firm rock to whom all the justice and law of Christians belong. For wherever a place has been sanctified where the Body of my Son is to be offered, there I want a stone to be set up in my name; for I am the most truthful strength, even if, due to some impossibility, a temple cannot be there, since my servant Jacob set up a stone in his prefiguration in my name, as has been said, because my Son was also incarnate from his lineage. Yet a temple dedicated to me in this way should not be empty of this business, but must demand the cause of its own constitution, which clings to it from the labor of the people serving it, just as the heavenly Jerusalem, with its head Christ, does not wish to lack its own justice, always looking upon the labors of its children, which it is to receive in God. How so? So that they may withdraw from diabolical servitude, restraining themselves from the voluntary desires of their own flesh, and afflicting themselves by cutting away their own possessions for the love of heavenly things—not using them all, but withholding some for themselves and offering them to God for his honor—just as my servant Jacob, going before, instituted a tenth of all his substance when he said, as it is written again: 'Of all that you give me, I will offer you a tenth.' This is what it means: 'Of all that you give me, I will offer you a tenth part,' because this is your law: first, in my soul, O my God, cutting away my own will from it, offering you my justice against myself, and afterwards, a tenth part of all the substance I possess on earth. What is this? Every faithful person who is included in the tenth order of the heavenly citizens ought always to give a tenth part of their substance to my temple, because of that restoration by which they are counted in the tenth number of those who are numbered—that is, in the knowledge of those existing in God—and who belong to the true temple, namely, the heavenly Jerusalem. But as for those who, forgetting my fear, destroy temples dedicated in my name through the cruelty of their own wickedness, or who remove their dedications according to the example that arose from Jacob—polluting sanctified places, whether by the blood of murder or by the pollution of seed, bringing it forth in adultery or fornication—or those who, in the heavenly sacrifice, neglect the dedication established by the ancient fathers without the marked stone that Jacob raised in his prefiguration, or who abandon the justice I established regarding tithes or the resources of my temple: Oh, woe to those miserable people, oh, woe to those miserable people, oh, woe to those miserable people who so shamefully deceive themselves and stand so perverse before the eyes of my majesty! They are, as has been said, neglecting my ordinances, all of which were carried over from the old law, because the new law was brought forth from the Old Testament in my Son according to the mercy of grace; and because, regarding all the justice of the law and the prophets, what was less has been made greater in that same Son of mine, who clearly showed in himself, in all justice, all the signs of the earlier fathers that they themselves spoke of obscurely in shadow. As for those who abandon all these things—who treat the bread of life, made from both Testaments, with such disdain that they trample it like mud, and who divide it among dogs, pigs, and other beasts (that is, among depraved people), giving it over to pagan ways and empty ignorance rather than to me, the almighty God, and who instead prepare it for their own use according to their own will—I will abandon them and their offspring, casting them down from the highest rank to the lowest, and from riches into poverty, in vengeance for this zeal of mine.
The Call to Interior Holiness
The chapter concludes with a final exhortation to live in the grace of Christ, urging the faithful to write these divine truths into the conscience of their souls.
The third wing of my vengeance strikes both the believers and the unbelievers in their wicked and unjust deeds. It strikes those believers who do not act according to their good and just will; those who see the faith clearly and know the justice of God, yet still sit in the darkness of evil deeds, groaning and ignored behind the shadows of iniquity, wanting to revel in perversity. God does not allow them to carry out this perversity according to their own will, but cuts it off from them with his vengeance, while they are so darkened that they have forgotten him, to the point that they would most willingly turn away from him. It strikes the unbelievers in their infidelity, so that their iniquity is even taken away from them along with the retribution of vengeance, since they are not permitted to carry out the evil they would gladly do. Thus, the wicked devil, overcome by the blessedness of the faithful who shine before the eyes of God, would like to drag them into the shadows of death according to his own malice, but he cannot grasp them any further, except in the way that their own works allow. But there is another measure of people on earth who have prosperity in the form of a sensible spirit, in that they are wise in remembering God, inflamed according to their own will with the knowledge of the senses. Consequently, they presumptuously want to possess the knowledge of wisdom in themselves, doing whatever they think of and mixing justice with iniquity; yet they are foolish in their wisdom, since they consider themselves as if they were full and perfect, capable of having, understanding, and acquiring the fullness of their own will according to their own judgment in whatever they think. And while they want to lift their wings through their own power in provinces, cities, and other places, and in other matters in which they are then occupied with authority—in which they do not want to have an intelligible measure by looking to God to see what they should do—they are then poured out and cast down before the eyes of God because of their impious and unjust judgments, which they previously judged themselves, and in which they refused to knowingly hold the fear of the Lord. And so, through this zeal of mine, they will be brought to great lamentation and tearful cries before all the people who will see and hear the time of the judgment of their iniquity—some of them, indeed, while still in this life, living through many miseries and many of their own failures, and some even through a most wretched death, taken away in various sufferings. In such diverse changes, my zeal avenges and burns up all injustice, because it is against me. The fact that you don't hear that head I mentioned speaking, but instead it remains motionless, occasionally striking here and there with its wings in the direction they are pointed, means that in the zeal of the Lord, there is no clamor of a threatening voice, nor any pride rising up. Rather, it remains motionless in the power of its own strength and righteous judgments, using its vengeance to confound and crush those deeds done without the fear of the Lord, following the madness of those works, and it executes this vengeance according to the extent of the judgment of its own justice, just as it has been clearly shown to you, O human. And because God is just, every injustice must be examined by the Just One, since God himself knows well the discerning examination that exists within human knowledge. For knowledge in a human is like a mirror in which the desire of the will lies hidden, whether it be good or evil. Therefore, a human, placed between these two sides, inclines himself by his own will toward the side he desires. The person who turns toward the good, embracing it through faithful work with the help of God, will laudably receive the reward of blessed recompense because he spurned evil and did good. But whoever inclines toward evil, swallowing it through perverse action and diabolical suggestion, will miserably incur the penalties of just retribution because he neglected the good and committed evil. For this reason, a human, subjecting himself to God in great devotion and humility, should faithfully work out his own salvation, which flows from the highest Good, so that his soul is intoxicated with interior holiness, because he serves his Creator in well-disposed and rightly ordered discussion and fear. How so? Because fear—that is, the beginning of distress—creates awe; and awe, in turn, stirs up trembling, through which a human ought to work out what is just. How? That a person begins to be troubled by fear comes from the gift of the Holy Spirit working through their rational sense; because of this, it's impossible for them not to know God, and that knowledge they have of God creates in them a fear—in that they begin to fear according to the things that are of God. And if they hold to this with diligence, knowing God, then the fiery grace in Christ stirs them again, warning them to tremble, so that through compunction they may be struck with awe and faithfully carry out the justice of God.1 Now then, you people, understand and learn where these things come from. What is this? It is God who works in you whatever is good. How so? He has fashioned you so that, through your rational sense, you may perceive Him in the works you perform wisely and with discernment. An irrational animal performs all its actions without intellect, wisdom, discernment, or modesty; it doesn't know God because it is irrational, but only senses Him, since it is His creature. The rational animal, however—which is man—possesses intellect, wisdom, discernment, and modesty in his works, which he performs rationally; this is the primary root that the grace of God planted in every human being when He stirred the soul to life. These things, therefore, flourish in rationality, because in all of them people are those who know God, so that they may desire what is just. The work that bubbles up and is perfected—and that prospers in a person's good will, which they embrace in their Savior, the Son of God, through whom the Father works all things in the Holy Spirit—is rekindled and prompted by the fiery grace given in Christ Jesus. Therefore, let a person perform works of justice in the joy of the Holy Spirit, without doubting in a perverse way. They shouldn't say they lack anything, whether in the primary root placed in humanity from the beginning by the gift of God, or in the fiery grace of the Holy Spirit that touches that root again in admonition. This way, they won't fall perversely and become distressed by things they did out of a reprehensible impulse, as if they had less in their interior root; that is, so that after they have fallen and are in need, they don't murmur, saying to themselves, 'Alas, alas!' 'What have I done, that I couldn't foresee my works in God?' Let them also walk without the burden of faithlessness, so they don't distrust God in their works, but rather remain secure without the tearful complaint of a wicked work. For God himself, existing as both God and man, isn't divided into two, but is one Christ. This isn't through a change of divinity into flesh, but through the assumption of flesh which the divinity joined to itself, and which it permeated with its own brightness so that the ray of the sun shines in the sun. Yet, because of this, the substance of divinity and the substance of flesh aren't confused with one another; in the true unity of person, Christ is one, the true Son of God. Just as in a rational soul there is no change through the flesh of a person, but rather the rational breath itself is from God, which permeates the whole body and moves all the works of the acting person so that soul and flesh are one human being, so also, without any doubt, the Son of God—born before the ages and fully clothed in the flesh assumed from the Virgin as was foretold, existing as God and man—is one Christ, called Christ precisely through the anointing of the grace of God. He who was wounded in his holy humanity by the piercing of nails and the lance, on account of the one wound of the first man which he had inflicted upon his whole race, did so to heal that wound by the bruise of his own blood, to permeate it with the anointing of the oil of grace, and to bind it up through repentance when a person grieves that they have sinned. Wounded, however, the Spirit descended into the pit of the infernal deep, and there drew many to himself; he took the first man from hell, along with all those who had never touched God in the ways of human honor, and he placed them in the place of delights and joys which they had lost in their first parent. But the fact that on the third day he rose from the death of his sleeping body designated in this the three persons of the Godhead, and with that same body he ascended to the heavens, where he reigns and sits at the right hand of the Father. This is the salvation of the believing people, bestowing life upon those whom he redeemed with his blood. All of this was foreseen before the beginning of time, because the Word of the Father, through whom all things were made, took on flesh to redeem the man he had formed. But anyone with the sharp ears of an interior understanding should long for these words in the burning love of my mirror, and write them into the conscience of their own soul.
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Post haec vidi et ecce in septentrionali angulo conjunctionis duarum formarum muri dicti aedificii apparebat tanquam caput mirabilis formae illi angulo exterius immobiliter a collo impositum tantae altitudinis a terra quanta erat altitudo ipsius anguli, non tamen eum excellens, sed tantum pari aequalitate ei in summitate coadaequantum. Et caput illud erat ignei coloris, rutilans ut flamma ignis, terribilemque habens faciem hominis, atque in ira magna respiciens ad aquilonem. A collo autem et deorsum non vidi ullam formam ejus, quoniam reliquum corpus ipsius omnino absconsum et obstrusum latuit in praedicto angulo. Caput vero ipsum vidi quasi nudam formam humani capitis, nec crinibus obtectum instar virilis formae, nec velamine more muliebri, plus tamen virile quod muliebre apparuit multumque terribile ad intuendum. Habebat autem tres alas mirae latitudinis et longitudinis albas, ut est candida nubes non in altum erectas, sed solummodo a se separatim directum extentas, ita tamen ut ipsum caput eas aliquantulum altitudine praecelleret, quarum prima a dextra maxilla surgens tendebatur ad aquilonem; secunda vero quae et media erat, a gutture ipsius dirigebatur ad septentrionem, tertia autem a sinistra maxilla tendebatur ad occidentem; aliquando magno terrore se moventes, atque in illas partes percutientes; aliquando autem a percussione cessantes. Et non audivi caput illud ulla verba proferre; sed tantum in se ipso immobile manens, alis suis interdum illuc percutiebat quo et ipse alae tendebantur, ut dictum est. Et iterum audivi sedentem in throno mihi dicentem: Deus qui in veteri populo zelum suum graviter exercuit, in novo propter amorem Filii sui mitem et suavem se ostendit; non quod nunc peccata delinquentium dissimulans negligenter parvipendat, sed quod misericorditer, puri cordis intimam et veram poenitentiam exspectet, indurati autem nequitiam non tolerans, justo judicio suo puniat. Unde et caput hoc quoddam vides in septentrionali angulo conjunctionis biformis muri dicti aedificii apparens: ostendit in significatione zelum Domini, qui est vindicta inflexibilis iniquitatis, nec ullam medicinam desiderantis, aperte surgens insinuato mysterio Verbi Dei per figuras et per sonum patriarcharum et prophetarum, in significationibus eorum praenuntiati.
Sic et zelus ejus in forma videtur capitis; quoniam super omnem timorem cognitus est in severitate ultionis suae, ut homo in facie sua cognoscitur, ardetque contra septentrionalem partem quia ipse in Deo velocissimus et acer occidit diabolum et omne malum, cum etiam in Abraham et in Mose duae partes defensionis operantium, speculativa scilicet scientia duarum optionis causarum, id est duarum viarum boni scilicet et mali, et genus humanum in opere Dei conjungunt, quoniam fortissime adversus diabolum in scientia boni et mali debet homo operari in omnibus causis per bonitatem Patris. Praevaricationem autem quae fit per speculativam scientiam in operibus hominum praecepta Dei transgredientium ulciscitur zelus Domini, ubi locus non est indulgentiae. Ubi est hoc? Ibi videlicet ubi nec est timor Domini, nec hominis in agnitione Dei. Et tale cor quod ita in sorde iniquitatis obduratum et emortuum est, quod nec veretur judicium Dei, nec vultum hominis: hoc justo judicio confundit et deprimit ultione sua zelus Domini in lege Dei. Quomodo?
Post constitutum praeceptum ubi fit praevaricatio legis est zelus qui abstrahit injustitiam cum rectissimo judicio, ipsa injustitia abstracta in Veteri Testamento cum austeritate repensionis in exteriore homine: cum transgressio legis corporaliter ulciscebatur in ipso, et post gratiam Evangelii est idem zelus per poenitentiam, atque post mortem hominum est ipse per poenas et per tormenta gehennae, qui iniquitates hominum conceptas et prolatas atque contortas in operantibus, ita examino quod eas ulciscor aut corporaliter in corpore hominis, aut in poena futuri saeculi, aut ipse homo purgabit illas per poenitentiam remissionis vivens in anima et corpore, cum quibus etiam operatus est eas, ut dicit in spiritu meo servus meus Job: Commuto faciem meam, et dolore torqueor. Verebar omnia opera mea, sciens quod non parceres delinquenti. Si autem et sic impius sum, quare frustra laboravi? (Job IX.) Hoc tale est: Immutabo aspectum meum interiorem. Quomodo? Evertam scilicet hoc quod sum mutabilis et inundans in sanguine venarum mearum, habens in me aliquando delectationem, aliquando etiam iracundiam et aliquando conterentem tristitiam, quod in me aspicio quasi videam delectabilem faciem cum hoc ipsum libenter perficerem. Et illud mutabo contra voluntatem meam convertens me ad opus bonae operationis.
Cumque hoc fecero, graviter in hoc flagello torqueor, quod me ipsum constringo, abstrahens me a cognoscibili facie mea, quod est opus voluntatis meae in contraria delectatione, adjungens me contemplativae speculationi Deum videns in bona conscientia, et non in concupiscentia carnis, per quam illum non attendo. Et ab his duabus causis timeo omnia opera mea. Quomodo? Cum bonum opus facio, vereor illud non esse perfectum coram Deo, quia illud perspicue non inspicio sed obscure quasi in speculo: aliquando illud cognoscens in spiritu, aliquando etiam ignorans ab onere corporis mei. Malum autem opus cum facio, sum in confusione per conscientiam spiritus mei, quoniam in interiori intellectu cognosco quod Deus non parcet scientiam habentibus in peccatis, quod est quando homo intelligit, quid in opere suo contrarium sit Deo, sed eum oportet purgari, vel ultione in corpore, vel poena poenitentiae vel poena tormentorum in alia vita. Et ideo non parcit delinquenti si eum non poenitet; quia non datur ei potestas peccandi ut peccet, sed eum oportet castigari aut hic aut illic. Quapropter si sic impius sum, tantaeque obdurationis ut ad hoc non velim molliri quae declinem a propriis rebus meis quae sunt peccata mea, ita ut non aspiciam in magnum certamen illud mihiipsi repugnans, quod ego in fragilitate sum, sed quod Deo semper contrarius existo in notis causis meis, quia conceptus sum in peccatis semper cupiens operari iniquitatem, nec metuens judicari a Domino; quare tunc si constrictus sum in tam vano labore quod frequenter cum scientia qua Deum agnosco, in meipso iniquitati contradico? Non autem tam impotens sum ut ignorem bonum et malum.
Unde si intelligibilem sensum a me repello sic dicens: Ignoro Deum, mendax sum, quia ipsa scientia arguit me reprehensibilem, quod debitor sum Deo, cum incipio iniquitatem operari. Sed non in vanum laboro, cum in bona conscientia contradico malo, quoniam opus Dei sum; unde et me converto ad ipsum, ex hoc bonam mercedem recipiens.
Itaque ego Dominus omnium testificor, quia oportet hominem cum dolore gemitus, aut cum contritione poenitentiae, seu cum digna ultione peccata sua diluere, sive in hoc saeculo sive in futuro, ut dictum est. Quomodo? Qui peccant cum timore et dolore poenitentiae metuentes peccata sua, merentur per gratiam Dei quod saepe surgunt a commissis suis in purgatione eorum; cum tamen eam purgationem plenius non inveniunt in hoc saeculo, inveniunt eam in futuro ad vitam. Qui vero sunt tanta duritia cordis, ut nec desiderent, nec velint scire in timore et dolore poenitentiae peccata sua, sed in tanta nequitia permanet, quasi non sit eis Deus in timore habendus: hi non consequentur purgationem peccatorum nec in hac vita nec in futura, sed habebunt poenas sine consolatione purgationis ad vitam; quia de rationalitate sua ut creati sunt per me, noluerunt rationem reddere inobedientiae. Quomodo?
Intellectus in rationalitate hominis habet duas semitas in scientia boni et mali, ad quas pertinent duo responsus bonum scilicet et malum. Quomodo? Bonum respondet malo, cum resistit ei in Domino. Malum vero respondet bono, cum repugnat illi cum diabolo. Sed hi in bono respondent malo, qui se refrenant semper in malo, ne delectentur in propriis delectationibus suis. Hi autem in malo respondent bono; qui nullatenus se abstrahunt a pravis actibus quin delicientur cum concupiscentiis suis, nolentes respondere vocationi mali. Quomodo? Homo habet in se duas vocationes, desiderium videlicet fructus et concupiscentiam defectus.
Quomodo? Per desiderium fructus vocatur ad vitam, et per concupiscentiam defectus vocatur ad mortem. Sed in desiderio fructus, cum homo desiderat bonum operari sic dicens in seipso, fac bona opera: hic est responsus contra malum ut devitet illud, et faciat utilem fructum; in concupiscentia vero defectus, cum concupiscit perpetrare malum, sic etiam adhortans semetipsum: Fac opus delectationis tuae: hic etiam est responsus adversus bonum, cum ille non vult resistere iniquitati suae, sed delectatur pervenire ad defectum, despiciens me in hoc responso, et habens me quasi ludibrio debitum honorem mihi non exhibendo. Et quia avertit se a bono, non dolens affligendo se propter timorem meum, convertit se ad illusionem in coelestibus, ut per manifestationem meam dicit Psalmista: Posuerunt in coelum os suum, et lingua eorum transivit in terra . Hoc tale est: Multi homines sunt insipientes in rationalitate, nolentes intelligere innumerabilem timorem Domini, et abstrahentes sibi ipsis bona desideria in quibus deberent anhelare ad me, et cognoscere verum Deum; recusantes assensum praebere bonae scientiae, quae semper homini assistit ut bona opera operetur in Deo, sed frequenter amplectuntur amaritudinem in contradictione boni, cum se ipsos despoliant, sibi ipsis auferentes bonum thesaurum diversae iniquitatis sibi thesaurizando. Et in his ponunt in coelestibus circuitionem mentis suae quasi os suum male opertum, despicientes illa in se ipsis per rabiem subsannationis, sic dicentes in corde suo: Haec opera voluntatis nostrae tam licenter facere possumus quam illa quae dicuntur coelestia, quae antiqui (nobis ignorantibus) secundum quod eis placuit instituerunt. Atque tali modo subsannant verba et institutiones antiquorum Patrum, quae per coeleste opus in me positae sunt. Unde etiam in gustu pravi operis velut in lingua sua commovent se et transeunt in audacia possibilitatis suae se ipsos: ita quod pertinaciter adimplent voluntates suas, nolentes habere constrictionem corporis sui contra vitia, sed absque labore sui spiritus volutantur in desideriis carnis suae quasi in terra, quae est diabolica seductio.
Et quod vides praedictum caput mirabilis formae, hoc est quod in zelo Domini sunt mirabilia et admiranda judicia Dei, quae a nullo homine peccatis gravato sciri possunt. Quod vero eidem angulo exterius immobiliter a collo impositum est, hoc est quod zelus meus adversus diabolum, ut in Veteri Testamento per Abraham et Mosem ostensum est, in speculativa scientia et humana exercitatione exterius apparet in visione populorum, ut me timeant, oculo ad oculum terrorem meum sentientes, cum etiam justitia mea minatur ad aquilonem crudelissimae iniquitati Satanae. Atque immobile manet, quia Deus nec fallacibus nec adulatoriis sermonibus omnino moveri aut molliri potest a rectitudine judicii sui non emendatis criminibus, velut per collum fortitudinis suae a Deo constitutae legi ad operandum hominibus infixum, reddens scilicet unicuique non observanti praecepta legis emeritas poenas, secundum mala opera ipsius in quibus sordens emarcuit, repugnans etiam excellentissima fortitudine sua, quasi in virtute colli sui diabolo et sequentibus illum, se opponendo injustitiae eorum.
Est quoque tantae altitudinis a terra, quanta est altitudo ipsius anguli; quoniam Deus in summa justitia ultionis suae cuncta terrena superat, eadem ultione hujus altitudinis existente, ut in praefiguratione Abrahae et Mosi per legem designata sunt opera hominum, quia divinum judicium est in summitate speculativae scientiae et actuum populorum, ut prosternat ignorantiam ipsorum, cum nolunt scire Deum. Non tamen ipsum angulum excedit sed tantum pari aequalitate ei in summitate coadaequatur, quoniam superna ultio actus hominum non excedit, plus et gravius in eis mala ulciscendo quam sint merita eorum solummodo aequo et justo judicio in excellentia justitiae suae omnia recte dijudicans, ut iterum in spiritu novit David cum diceret: Cognovi, Domine, quia aequitas judicia tua, et in veritate tua humiliasti me . Hoc tale est: Per bonitatem tuam in me ipso cognovi, Domine, cum pro peccatis meis non occidisti me, non auferens mihi in anima et corpore efficaciam operandi, quod nec propter potentiam, nec propter iram tuam plus judicas in scientibus aut ignorantibus quam sint merita eorum. Bonum enim operor luctando contra me, malum vero facio per concupiscentiam carnis. Et ideo das bono mercedem et malo judicium, non tamen aliter judicans quam quod aequum et justum est. Quomodo? Si acrius instares quam sunt opera hominum in peracta actione, non esset aequitas judicii. Si vero tepide negligeres ita ut non provocares ad poenitentiam, et quod non esset exquisitio in purgatione iniquitatis, tunc tu justus Deus delinires et confoveres injustitiam.
Mors enim erat quondam amarissimum judicium in morte Adae: nunc autem reddita gratia in poenitentia, revocans hominem ad vitam, quod impossibile esset fieri per ullum, nisi per te Deum. Et hoc est justissimum et aequissimum judicium tuum, purgatio scilicet ad vitam cum gratia, quoniam unicuique operi in recta mensura metientur judicia tua. Nam in veritate sunt omnia quae facis, ita quod nullam nimietatem exerces supra modum fallaciter; quia fallax est quod plus in nimio, vel minus in parvo quam quod justum est. Sed tamen parcis in multis miserationibus potentiae tuae, non occidens ullum per possibilitatem clarissimae virtutis tuae: hoc deputans in te ipso quod parcis per poenitentiam; ideoque de misericordia tua humiliavi me, dans gloriam nomini tuo: interdum etiam turbatus in promeritis culpis meis, de tuo judicio.
Quod autem caput vides ignei coloris rutilans ut flammam ignis, hoc est quod in zelo Domini est igneum malis obstaculum, rubens in fortissimo ardore ultionis suae, terribilem habens faciem hominis; quoniam oculi Domini facie ad faciem vident unamquamque injustitiam, ita quod culpae diversorum criminum non relinquuntur neglectae ante Deum, quas non terribiliter inspiciat, eas examinando justo judicio suo; et quia etiam monstruosa et horrenda sunt iniqua opera hominis, humanam faciem ostendentia in actibus carnalium desideriorum. Atque in ira magna respicit ad aquilonem, quia Deus in ultione sua dedignatur omne malum quod oritur de suggestione diabolica. Sed quod a collo et deorsum non vides ullam formam ejus, quoniam reliquum corpus ipsius omnino absconsum et obstrusum est in praedicto angulo, hoc est quod in zelo Dei recta judicia quae potenter dispergunt prava opera diversorum hominum nullus humanus sensus quasi ad finem perscrutari potest, quoniam occulantur et conteguntur in angulo speculativae scientiae et operis hominum; ita quod nec videri nec comprehendi ulla scrutatione valent, nisi quod aliquando cognoscuntur cum ostenditur res gesta in causa ultionis Dei, ut facies hominis videtur secundum desideria voluntatis ipsius. Unde etiam in ipsa ultione non est ulla simulatio alicujus facilitatis nisi semper justum judicium secundum peccata hominum, quoniam crimina eorum non negliguntur indiscussa, ut dictum est, quia zelus Domini examinatio ejus est.
Quod vero caput ipsum vides quasi nudam formam humani capitis, hoc est quod idem zelus Domini nulli mortalitati subjectus est, permanens videlicet nudus ab omni subjectione debilitatis, juste dijudicans opera hominum. Nec est crinibus obtectum instar virilis formae, nec velamine more muliebri, quoniam ipsi non est aliqua sollicitudo sensus se quemquam superiorem ulla virili fortitudine, debellare, nec ei inest ulla feminea mollities timidi animi sibi adversa non posse superare. Est plus tamen virile quam muliebre; quia fortissima virtus Dei magis est in virili vigore quam sit in mollitie femineae negligentiae, multumque terribile ad intuendum, quoniam zelus terribilis et metuendus est omni creaturae, cum ipsa est eum sentiens in data causa ultionis ejus. Sed quod habet tres alas mirae latitudinis et longitudinis albas ut est candida nubes, hoc est inexplicabilis virtutis sanctae Trinitatis expansio, quam nullus hominum comprehendere praevalet in latitudine gloriae ejus, nec in longitudine potestatis ejus, in multa suavitate et claritate divinitatis fulgens, rectaque ultione sibi subjiciens mentes hominum, in magna diversitate ut nubes discurrentium. Quae non sunt in altum erectae sed solummodo a se separatum in directum extentae, ita tamen ut ipsum caput eas aliquantulum altitudine praecellat; quia ultio Domini non elevatur ulla arrogantia, sed coaptat se unicuique causae secundum merita ipsius, in rectissima scilicet norma extenta, justo judicio correctionis suae; sic tamen ut possibilitas potentiae Dei quasi in capite ejusdem ultionis suae: humana opera quae vera Trinitas non tolerat indiscussa, in altitudine fortitudinis suae praecedat, non tamen ea tam acriter ulciscens et conterens ut posset ipsa possibilitas potestatis ejus.
Et ala prima a dextra maxilla surgens tenditur ad aquilonem; quoniam Deus justo judicio primum a dextra salvationis parte in Filio suo devicit diabolum, et omne malum. Secunda vero quae et media est a gutture ipsius dirigitur ad septentrionem; quia post salvationem quae in Filio Dei facta est, quasi in medio jam roborata fide, gustataque dulcedine electorum, per ipsos etiam fugavit rugientem inimicum, eos eruens de faucibus illius. Tertia autem a sinistra maxilla extenditur ad occidentem; quoniam ab electis Dei, Satana fugato, etiam a sinistra perditionis parte in filio perditionis omnino conteretur, mundo jam in occasum termini sui tendente. Et aliquando magno terrore se movent atque in illas partes percutiunt, quia terribile atque performidabile judicium omni creaturae zelus Domini in ultionem movetur, ibi exercens judicia percussionis suae ubicunque justo judicio placuerit divinae majestati. Ubi enim timor et amor atque honor Dei in reverentia fideliter habentur; ibi Deus mitem et suavem se ostendens, ultionem suam non exercet, duros autem et rebelles terribiliter et juste castigans. Unde prima ala ultionis meae percutit et abjicit homines illos in abyssum perditionis; qui ita indurati sunt super duritiam lapidum, ut interioribus oculis dedignando semper despiciant justitiam meam, retro respicientes per scientiam intellectus sui, plusque consentientes carnalibus desideriis atque diabolicis suasionibus quam volentes scire veram justitiam, et quam ullo consensu suo aut per admonitionem meam, aut per hominis exhortationem reverti, veluti de sua iniquitate sic cruciantes spiritum scientiae suae, quia magis amant et faciunt injustitiam diaboli quam justitiam meam. Hi infundunt in corda sua quasi resolutum plumbum, id est dissoluta desideria pravae mollitiei, mittentes illud velut ad stabiliendam duritiam ferri, videlicet oblivionis Dei, sic indurati quasi sint ferrei: ita quod nec causa Dei nec hominis, sibimet aut ulli parcant iniquitati.
Super istos clamant et conqueruntur elementa cum reliqua creatura, quod tam vilis natura hominis, brevissimo tempore suo tam rebellis est Deo, cum ipsa semper in timore et reverentia praecepta Domini perficiant. Unde et super hominem terribiliter vociferantur? Quomodo? Non sic quod elementa clament in voce, aut conquerantur in scientia rationalis creaturae; sed quod secundum modum suum vociferantur in strepitu sonituum, et quod querimonias proferunt in timore terrorum, ut cum ea aut aliam creaturam justum Dei judicium inducit super homines ipsos rebelles existentes; illa non aliter stant nec aliter se in seipsis imitantur quam ea jussione sua vertit divina potestas. Unde tam crudeliter illi indurati homines imitantur Satanam, qui in duritia iniquitatis suae nolunt subdi Deo Creatori suo, propter id quod periit ab omni beatitudine et ipsi cum eo peribunt sequentes illum. Media autem ala zeli mei caedit insanos homines et unumquodque praesumptuosum malum quod scienter ac temere faciunt; quod se primum erexit in homine in sanguine Abel, quem frater suus ob hoc odio habebat, quia propter oblationem substantiae ejus quam in bona voluntate distribuit, Deo charus erat; et quod ac etiam erexit in Pharaone, qui in mirabilibus meis admonitus est; ita quod exterritus in terrore meo, invitus dimisit populum meum Israel, quem iterum per dementiam suam retrahere voluit, propter quod illum zelus meus absorpsit, et quod se etiam in illo populo meo erexit, qui me cognoscens atque mirabilia mea videns, idolum in Oreb adoravit, unde corona de capite illius cecidit, ita quod eis lex Dei facta est corruptibilis in duabus lapideis tabulis, aliis his similibus propter eas quae de gloria sua et felicitate ceciderunt haec omnia ulciscente ultione mea. Unde etiam Moses famulus meus de contraria illa plebe mihi tam frequenter adversante in isto zelo meo fecit vindictam ex voluntate mea; cum efficaciter diceret electis meis, ut occideret unusquisque fratrem et amicum et proximum suum; et iterum cum ardenter judicibus ejusdem populi ait, quod occideret unusquisque proximos suos, qui initiati essent Beelphegor, ubi ultus sum me, occisa iniquitate illa pugnante contra me.
Sed in Abel primum orta justitia Dei, post ipsum inventi sunt multi alii electi, ex omnibus his malis et perversis generationibus, qui collegerunt et coluerunt subtiliora praecepta mea, ut filii Israel, inter quos etiam ortus est luctus et moeror, desiderantes humanitatem Filii mei. Peracta autem ejusdem Filii mei manifestatione quem misi natum ex Virgine: coquebatur, et condiebatur omnis justitia legis, dulcis et suavis cibus facta omni populo credenti in me, apostolis veritatis ipsam veritatem manifestantibus. Itaque in omnibus istis praedictis generationibus scienter transgressam justitiam meam, ulciscebatur et ulciscitur hic zelus meus; quia Deus qui erat tunc, est et nunc, ac semper manebit, atque zelus meus qui tunc erat, est et nunc, et semper stabit, usque dum finiantur tribus et populi, non finiente justitia Dei, omnem rubiginem injustitiae discutiente.
Propter quod etiam in hoc eodem zelo meo hanc iniquitatem aufero, illum videlicet dicens, qui canino more abominatur florentem in me Ecclesiam, aut qui per insaniam iniquitatis suae destruit constitutam per me dedicationem, vel alias constitutas justitias ad templum meum pertinentes, quae fortiter surrexerunt in praesignificatione servi mei Jacob; ut haec Scriptura habet; Surgens ergo Jacob mane tulit lapidem quem supposuerat capiti suo, et erexit in titulum fundens oleum desuper, appellavitque nomen urbis Bethel . Hoc tale est: Jacob surrexit mane, quia ipse ortus est tempestivus amator veracis justitiae in constituto templo, cui ipso conveniens nomen imposuit, quoniam de illo debuit oriri rectissimum templum, virgo scilicet Maria, de qua Sol justitiae effulsit. Et tollens lapidem quem in figura altaris supposuerat superiori capiti suo, id est Christo, ut in nomine ipsius qui est vera petra, sanctificaretur, et sanctificatus nominaretur, quia unaquaeque sanctificatio altaris supposita est potestati omnipotentis Dei, capiti omnium fidelium, erexitque illum in titulum libri vitae, et in personam praecipui odoris coelestis Jerusalem, quia ut Christus est caput membrorum suorum in superna Jerusalem, sic est unumquodque sanctificatum altare excellentior pars templi sui, effuso desuper oleo in sanctificatione chrismatis quod est effusa gratia Dei omnipotentis in sancto baptismo. Et appellavit sanctificatum locum illum, domum et templum Dei secundum nomen civitatis coelestis Jerusalem, quod est vivens templum Dei viventis.
Hoc itaque exemplo et significatione, erigendus est lapis in templo in nomine meo ordinando, ipsum videlicet templum idcirco signatum cum lapide, quia ego firma petra sum, ad quem omnis justitia et lex Christianorum pertinet. Ubicunque enim fuerit sanctificatus locus, ubi corpus Filii mei immolandum est, ibi volo esse lapidem in nomine meo signatum; quia ego veracissima fortitudo sum, etiam si ibi ex aliqua impossibilitate non poterit esse templum, quoniam servus meus Jacob erexit lapidem in sua praefiguratione in nomine meo ut dictum est, quia et Filius meus de stirpe illius incarnatus est. Templum autem tale mihi dedicatum, non debet esse vacuum hujus negotii quin postulet causam constitutionis suae, quae adhaeret sibi de labore ministrantis ei populi, sicut etiam coelestis Jerusalem cum capite suo Christo, non vult carere justitia sua semper, aspiciens in labores filiorum suorum, quos susceptura est in Deo. Quomodo? Ut se abstrahant a diabolica servitute, se constringentes a voluntariis desideriis carnis suae, et se affligentes contra se ipsos in abscisione propriarum rerum ob amorem coelestium; non eis omnibus utentes, sed sibi ipsis aliquas subtrahentes, atque Deo offerentes ad honorem ipsius, sic etiam praecurrens servus meus Jacob instituit decimam omnis substantiae suae cum dicebat, ut iterum scriptum est: Cunctarumque quae dederis mihi, decimas offeram tibi . Hoc tale est: Ex omni quod dederis mihi, offeram tibi decimam partem, quia hoc lex tua est: primum scilicet in anima mea, o Deus meus, abscindens ab ea propriam voluntatem meam, offerens tibi contra me justitiam meam, et postea decimam partem omnis substantiae meae quam possideo super terram. Quid hoc? Omnis scilicet fidelis homo qui comprehensus est in decimum ordinem supernorum civium, debet semper ad templum meum decimam partem dare substantiae suae, propter restitutionem illam qua computatus est in decimum numerum numeratorum, id est in scientia Dei existentium, et ad verum templum videlicet coelestis Jerusalem pertinentium.
Qui autem obliti timoris mei templa in nomine meo dedicata, per saevitiam iniquitatis suae destruunt, vel qui dedicationes eorum secundum exemplum a Jacob ortum demunt, sanctificata loca scilicet polluendo, seu cum sanguine homicidii, seu cum pollutione seminis illud educendo in adulterio aut fornicatione, vel qui in superno sacrificio negligunt institutam dedicationem antiquorum patrum absque signato lapide quem Jacob erexit in sua praesignificatione, vel qui destituunt constitutam per me justitiam in decimis, aut in substantiis templi mei: O vae miseris, o vae miseris, o vae miseris hominibus illis qui se tam turpiter seducunt, et tam perversi ante oculos majestatis meae existunt, videlicet, ut dictum est, instituta mea negligentes quae omnia de veteri lege translata sunt, quia de Veteri Testamento prolata sunt nova lex in Filio meo secundum misericordiam gratiae; et quia de omni justitia legis et prophetarum, quod erat minus factum est majus in eodem Filio meo, qui omnia signa priorum patrum quae ipsi absconse in umbra dixerunt, manifeste ostendit in se ipso in omni justitia.
Et qui haec omnia destituunt ita quod ipsi cibum vitae qui de utroque Testamento factus est dedignando, sicut lutum conculcant, et canibus et porcis ac aliis pecoribus, id est pravis hominibus dividunt, eum magis dantes paganicis moribus et vanae ignorantiae quam mihi omnipotenti Deo, atque in usum suum secundum voluntatem suam eum parantes: hos et semen eorum ego destituam, eos projiciens de summo gradu usque ad infimum, et de divitiis in paupertatem, in ultione hujus zeli mei.
Tertia vero ala ultionis meae caedit et credulos et incredulos in suis impiis et injustis operibus. Ipsa percutit credulos non operantes in voluntate sua bona et justa opera; qui bene vident fidem, et quibus nota est justitia Dei, et tamen sedent in tenebrositate malorum operum, gementes ignorantur post tenebras iniquitatis, volentes bacchari in perversitate, quod tamen eis non permittit Deus secundum voluntatem ipsorum perficere, hoc idem abscindens illis ultione sua, dum sic sunt obscurati quod obliti sunt ejus, ita ut ab eo libentissime recederent. Incredulos autem caedit in infidelitate eorum, ita quod etiam eis abstrahitur iniquitas ipsorum cum retributione ultionis, cum non permittantur malum hoc perficere quod libenter facerent, unde et malignus diabolus superatus in beatitudine fidelium hominum ante oculos Dei scintillantium; vellet illos trahere in tenebras mortis secundum nequitiam suam, sed eos amplius comprehendere non potest, nisi ut sunt opera illorum. Sed quaedam alia mensura hominum est super terram, qui habent prosperitatem in forma sensati spiritus, ita quod sapientes sunt ad recordationem Dei, secundum voluntatem suam accensi cum scientia sensus; unde tunc in seipsis praesumptuose habere volunt scientiam sapientiae facientes quidquid cogitaverint, et miscentes justitiam cum iniquitate, sed stulu sunt in sapientia, quoniam reputant se ipsos quasi pleni et perfecti sint ad habendum et comprehendendum, atque ad acquirendum plenitudinem voluntatis suae secundum arbitrium suum quidquid cogitaverint. Et dum alas suas levare volunt per potestatem suam in provinciis et civitatibus ac in aliis locis atque in aliis causis in quibus tunc occupati sunt cum imperio, in quo nolunt habere intelligibilem mensuram in Deum aspiciendo quid faciant, tunc effunduntur et abjiciuntur ante oculos Dei, propter impia et injusta judicia illorum quae ipsi prius dijudicabant, in quibus nolebant timorem Domini scienter habere. Et sic per istum zelum meum facti erunt in planctum magnum, et in flebiles voces coram omni populo qui viderit et audierit tempus judicii iniquitatis eorum, quibusdam videlicet ex ipsis adhuc in hac vita in multis miseriis multi defectus ipsorum viventibus, quibusdam etiam pessima morte, in diversis passionibus sublatis. In tam diversa vicissitudine ulciscitur et exurit zelus meus omnem injustitiam, quia illa est contra me.
Tunc autem quod non audis praedictum caput ulla verba proferre, sed tantum in seipso immobile permanens alis suis interdum illuc percutere quo et ipse alae tenduntur: hoc est quod in zelo Domini non est clamor minantis vocis, et in superbiam se erigentis, sed in potestate fortitudinis suae et in rectis judiciis suis immobilis persistens, ultione sua post insaniam operum demeritas absque timore Domini res gestas confundendo, et conterendo eas secundum extensionem ultionis judicii sui ulciscitur, ut tibi, o homo, veracissima manifestatione praemonstratum est. Et quia Deus justus est, omnem injustitiam examinari oportet per justum, quoniam ipse Deus bene novit discretam examinationem, quae est in scientia hominis. Nam scientia in homine est quasi speculum, in quo latet desiderium sive bonum sive malum voluntatis. Unde homo inter has duas partes positus, inclinat se voluntate sua ad partem illam quam desiderat. Sed homo qui convertit se ad bonum, illud fideli opere amplectens per adjutorium Dei; mercedem beatae remunerationis laudabiliter accipiet, quia malum sprevit et bonum fecit; qui vero se inclinat ad malum, hoc perversa actione deglutiens per suggestionem diabolicam, poenas justae retributionis inde miserabiliter incurret, quoniam bonum neglexit et malum perpetravit. Idcirco in multa devotione et humilitate se homo subjiciens Deo, fideliter operetur salutem suam, quae de summo bono emanat, ita ut anima ipsius interiori sanctitate inebriatur, quia in bene disposita et recte ordinata discussione et timore servit Creatori suo. Quomodo? Quoniam metus, id est inceptio angustiae facit timorem; timor autem concutit tremorem, per quae debet homo operari quod justum est.
Quomodo? Quod homo metu angustiari incipit hoc per donum Spiritus sancti de rationali sensu habet, propter quod etiam nullo modo evenire potest quin Deum sciat, illaque scientia quam habet in Deum facit in ipso timorem, in hoc quod incipit timere secundum ea quae Dei sunt. Et si haec habet cum studio sciens Deum, tunc concutit eum iterum ignea gratia in Christo, admonens ut deinde incipiat tremere, quatenus per compunctionem terreatur, ut justitiam Dei fideliter operetur.
Nunc ergo, o homines, intelligite et discite unde sint haec. Quid hoc? Deus est qui in vobis quod bonum est operatur. Quomodo? Ipse vos ita constituit, ut per rationalem sensum in operibus vestris eum sentiatis, quae sapienter cum discretione facitis. Irrationale enim animal facit omnia opera sine intellectu et sapientia, ac sine discretione atque verecundia, nec scit Deum quia irrationale est, sed tantum eum sentit, quoniam illius creatura est. Rationale vero animal qui homo est, habet intellectum et sapientiam, discretionem et verecundiam in operibus suis, quae rationabiliter operatur, quae est prima radix quam gratia Dei fixit in omnem hominem, cum animam ad vivendum excitavit. Haec ergo praedicta vigent in rationalitate, quia in his omnibus homines Deum scientes sunt, ut ea quae justa sint velint.
Unde ebulliens et perfectum opus atque prosperum in bona voluntate hominis quod ipse homo amplectitur in Salvatore suo, in Filio videlicet Dei, per quem Pater omnia opera in Spiritu sancto operatur: hoc denuo incendit et admonet ignea gratia data in Christo Jesu. Ideoque in gaudio Spiritus sancti faciat homo opera justitiae, non dubitans in perversa inusitatione, id est ne dicat quod aliquid sibi desit in omnibus his, aut in prima scilicet radice per donum Dei homini primitus imposita, aut in ignea gratia Spiritus sancti radicem illam iterum in admonitione tangentis, ita ne perverse corruens deinde angustietur in his quae propter reprehensibilem impetum fecit, quasi interiori sua radice quidquam minus habuerit, scilicet ne postquam ceciderit in necessitate positus murmuret, sic dicens in se ipso: Heu, heu! quid feci quod opera mea non potui praevidere in Deo? Et etiam sine pondere infidelitatis incedat, ita ut non diffidat Deo in operibus suis, sed ut sit securus sine lacrymabili querela pravi operis; ipse enim Deus et homo existens non in duos divisus est, sed unus est Christus; non tamen per commutationem divinitatis in carnem, sed per assumptionem carnis quam divinitas sibi adjunxit, et quam claritate sua sic perfudit, ut radius solis in sole lucet, nec ob hoc ulla confusione substantia divinitatis seu substantia carnis in invicem confusae sunt, sed in vera unitate personae unus est Christus verus Dei Filius. Sicut enim in rationali anima nulla commutatio per carnem hominis est, quin ipsa rationalis spiratio sit a Deo quae totum corpus hominis perfundit, et quae cuncta opera operantis hominis movet ut sit anima et caro unus homo, ita etiam absque omni dubio Dei Filius ante saecula natus carne ex Virgine assumpta pleniter ut praedictum est indutus, Deus et homo existens unus est Christus, per unctionem utique gratiae Dei Christus dictus. Qui in sancta humanitate sua per fixuram clavorum et lanceae vulneratus est, propter vulnus unum primi hominis quod cuncto generi suo ille inflixerat, quatenus livore sanguinis sui illud sanaret, et unctione olei gratiae illud perfunderet, ac per poenitentiam illud ligaret cum homo se peccasse doleret. Vulneratus autem descendit spiritus in puteum infernalis profundi, illicque quamplurimos sibi attraxit, scilicet ab inferno primum hominem abstulit, et omnes qui Deum in moribus humanae honorificentiae nunquam tetigerant, et eos in locum deliciarum et gaudiorum quem in primo parente perdiderant locavit. Sed quod die tertia surrexit a morte dormientis corporis in hoc tres personas Deitatis designavit, atque cum eodem corpore ascendens ad coelos ivit, ibique dominando sedet ad dextram Patris quae salvatio credentis populi est, illis vitam tribuens quos sanguine suo redemit.
Et hi omnes ante tempora omnium principiorum praesciti sunt, quoniam Verbum Patris per quod omnia facta sunt carnem induit, ut hominem quem formaverat redimeret. Qui autem acutas aures interioris intellectus habet, hic in ardente amore speculi mei ad verba haec anhelet, et ea in conscientia animi sui conscribat.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Ps.73.9 — They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth.
Notes
- 1 ↩The term 'compunction' is used here to denote a sorrow for sin that is pierced and enlivened by divine grace.
Scivias (Know the Ways of the Lord) companion
Keep Hildegard in your mornings
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