Visio Sexta
The Vision of the Arched Wall
Hildegard describes a vision of a solid, arched wall representing the transition from the Old Law to the New, populated by symbolic figures.
After this, I saw the wall of the building's partition between the northern and western corners; on its inner side, it was fully arched like a lattice, though it wasn't open like one, but solid, and each arch contained what looked like a painting of people. On the outer side of that same wall, I saw two other smaller walls, spanning the distance from the northern corner to the western corner, and they were joined to those corners on both sides like a vault. Those two smaller walls were three cubits high. The width between the inner arched wall and the middle one was one cubit, and between the outer one and that same middle one, the width was one palm, like a child's hand. Inside that same building, I also saw six figures standing before the aforementioned arched wall on the building's floor: three, specifically, side-by-side in front of that wall near the corner facing north, and three others together at the end of that same partition, near the corner stretching toward the west, all of them looking at the painting in the arches of that wall. At the very end of that partition, I saw another figure inside the building sitting on a stone placed on the floor like a seat, leaning its right side toward the wall and turning its face toward the column of the true Trinity. But at that same end, I saw another figure standing on that same wall in a higher place, also turned toward the aforementioned column of the true Trinity. In these figures, therefore, I saw such a likeness. Like the previous figures, they were dressed in what looked like silk garments and white shoes, with two exceptions: the one to the right of the middle figure—whom I had seen at the far end of that same wall—was of such purity and brightness that her overwhelming radiance made it impossible to see her form clearly; and the one who stood on the wall, as I mentioned, wore black shoes. None of them wore cloaks, except for the middle figure of the three standing on the first part of the wall. Two of the three upper figures—those standing to the right and left of the middle one—and two of the three lower ones—the middle figure and the one to her left—did not wear women's veils, but stood with their bare, white hair exposed. The middle figure of the first three, along with the one sitting on the stone by the wall, wore white head-coverings, as is customary for women. The middle figure of the three upper ones and the one standing to her right were dressed in white tunics. But I saw such a difference between them. The figure standing in the middle of the three upper ones wore a saffron-colored circular crown on her head, with the words 'always kindle' inscribed on the right side. I also saw a dove flying from the right side of that same figure, breathing from its mouth onto the inscription.
The Virtues and Their Voices
Various personified virtues speak of their roles in the divine economy, their opposition to the devil, and their reliance on the Son of God.
And that figure said: “I am filled with an interior mercy, from which flows a stream that has no desire to hide money, gold, precious stones, or pearls from the needy—those who lack the substance necessary for their needs and, because of this, are weeping.” “Now I will comfort them, and I will always restore their poverty for the love of the Son of God, who is gentle and humble, and who distributes his own goods into the souls of the just, touching the wounds of their sins because of their repentance.” Another figure, standing at her right, had on her breast something like a lion, as if it were a clear mirror, and from her neck, like a pale-colored serpent, hung a twisted, rod-like shape reaching down to her breast. And she said: “I look upon the clear lion, and for love of him, I give.” “But I flee from the burning serpent, yet I love the serpent hanging on the wood.” The third figure, on her left, wore a reddish-blue tunic. An angel appeared at her breast with a wing on each side, so that the right wing reached her right shoulder and the left wing reached her left shoulder. The figure herself said, 'I have the company of angels, and I don't walk with hypocrites who hide their true selves, but I feast with the just.' The figure in the middle of the three lower ones also wore a saffron-colored tunic. A pure white dove stood above her right shoulder, breathing from its mouth into her right ear. On her breast, however, appeared a monstrous and shapeless human head. Lying under her feet were what looked like the forms of people trampled and crushed by her. In her hands, she held a scroll spread out, inscribed on the side facing heaven with seven lines that I wanted to read but couldn't; she said, 'I want to be the rod of bitter correction and the lash against that liar who is the son of the devil, because the devil himself is the persecutor of the ineffable justice of God.' That is why I am a source of opposition and trouble to him, since I have never been found in his mouth; in fact, I spit him out of my own mouth like deadly, lethal poison, because he has never found me in his cunning. He is, in fact, the worst and most troublesome of all evils to me, since every evil originates in him. Therefore, I cast him off and trample him underfoot in the lovely justice of God, which is unceasingly and infinitely lovely to me, and of which I am both the supporter and the guide; for upon me will be established and will stand the entire building of God's virtues, which are built in the heights. O most strong and most noble God, pay attention. The other image, which was at his right, had an angelic face and a single wing on each side for flight, yet it appeared in human form, just like the other virtues. And it says: "I resist the devilish struggle that stubbornly rises up against me, saying: 'I can't endure any tribulation, but I want to pull away from me everything that is contrary to me.'" I will fear no one. Whom should I fear? I want to fear no one. But those who say this evil thing will be cast away by me, because I am set to always rejoice and always be glad in all good things, since the Lord Jesus is the forgiver and comforter of every sorrow, for He Himself also endured sorrow in His own body. And because He Himself is also just correction, for that reason I also want to join myself to Him and always carry Him, casting away from me hatred, envy, and all evils. I also want to always have a joyful face in Your justice, O God. But the third figure, standing to her left, wore a white tunic accented with green. She held in her hands a small vessel of pale splendor, casting out much light like a lightning bolt, so that the same light shone upon the face and around the neck of the figure herself. And she said, "I am happy." For the Lord Christ Jesus makes me beautiful and white when I escape that deadly counsel of the devil, which always ruminates on that misery: namely, that God should be cast aside and the devil drawn in through evil works. I flee from Satan, I cast him aside, and I always find him troublesome, because I desire that Lover whom I may constantly embrace, and whom I may have with joy in all things and above all things. The figure sitting on a stone at the end of the wall, however, wore a dark tunic. On her right shoulder, however, she had a small cross placed upon the image of Jesus Christ, which moved back and forth. And as if from the clouds, a certain splendor of wondrous brightness shone forth onto her breast: divided from itself into many rays, just as the sun's splendor is divided from itself when it shines through the many small openings of some object. In her right hand, she also held a small wooden object shaped like a fan, from the top of which three tiny branches had sprouted in a marvelous way, along with a flower. She also held in her lap the tiniest pebbles of every kind of gemstone, which she examined with great care and diligence, just as a merchant is accustomed to examine his goods, and she said: 'I am the mother of virtues, and I always hold the justice of God in all things.' For in spiritual warfare and in the clamor of the world, I always wait for my God within my own conscience. I don't condemn, I don't trample, and I don't scorn kings, leaders, and governors, or the other secular authorities ordained by the Author of all things. How could it be right for ash to scorn ash? The crucified Son of God turns toward everyone, moving them according to His justice and His mercy. I also wish to hold every one of His ordinances and institutions according to His own will. But that figure who stood on the wall at the same end had a bare head, black and curly hair, and a dark face. She was also wearing a multi-colored tunic woven with many hues. And I saw her take off her tunic and her shoes, standing there naked. Suddenly, her hair and face shone with the beauty of whiteness and newness, like that of a newborn infant, and her whole body glowed with a pure, clear radiance, just as light shines in brightness. Then I also saw on her chest a most splendid cross with an image of Christ Jesus, placed upon a small tree standing between two flowers—a lily and a rose—which were bending slightly upward toward that cross. I saw that she was vigorously shaking out the tunic and shoes she had taken off, so that a great deal of dust was shaken from them. And she said, "I am putting off the Old Testament and putting on the noble Son of God, with his righteousness in holiness and truth." Because of this, I have been restored in goodness and changed from my vices. Therefore, you too, my God, do not remember the sins of my youth and my ignorances, nor take vengeance for my offenses.
The Interpretation of the Wall
The voice from the throne explains the theological significance of the wall, the distinction between spiritual and secular authority, and the prefiguration of Christ.
As I looked at these things more closely, the one sitting on the throne said to me again: "No believer who wants to obey God humbly should hesitate to submit to human teaching, because this order was established among the people by the Holy Spirit for the effective benefit of the living, and it was prefigured in the ancient people through ecclesiastical observances that were to come and were to be held faithfully and firmly." From this, you also see that the wall of the aforementioned building, between the northern and western corners, is entirely arched on its inner side like a screen—not open, but solid. This means that from the time of Abraham and Moses, as they resisted the devil in a corner looking toward the north, up to the true Trinity—which was clearly declared in the true and Catholic faith when the Son of God was sent by God the Father into the world and abundantly poured out his teaching at the end of time—there was a wall, as it were, in a corner looking toward the west. This wall was the Israelite people, established in the law of God's justice, working in the construction of the Almighty Father's goodness, restrained and convicted by the Old Testament; for after the display of severity that was stirred up by the zeal of the Lord through the institutions of the ancient leaders, the governance of the new dignities was prefigured. For the Old Testament reached toward the New, sprouting from itself far greater precepts of the law of the New Testament than had first appeared within it. Thus, the greater was made from the lesser—the greater and broader teaching of the new precepts from the lesser teaching of the old—since the Old Testament was merely a foundation laid at the beginning, upon which the profoundest wisdom of all teaching was built, manifested in the incarnation of the Son of God, extending from the old law of circumcision to the new rule of baptism, which is adorned with greater precepts. That wall—the Jewish people, in the inner part of their understanding where the human soul knows God—is surrounded everywhere by arches; that is, it is enclosed on all sides by the meaning of the teaching of their precursors, who proclaimed the precepts of God’s law and showed them to be fenced in, just as those who are lesser are accustomed to be ordered by those who are greater, as if by men who excel them, according to the structure of the screens, which is a typical prefiguration of the Holy Spirit piercing through the hard letter at the incarnation of the Son of God, who most fully demonstrated the screens of His mercy to those who ask. Yet it isn't opened by the piercing of the doorkeeper, the Holy Spirit—who doesn't reveal the spiritual understanding in the Old Law as was later done in the screens of mercy in the Son of the Most High manifested in the flesh—but remains whole in the hardness of the legal precepts, which were later clarified by the Holy Spirit in the fountain of living water. In each of the arches, there is also something like a picture of people; for just as this picture shows the image of people, so in the triumphal arch—that is, in the dignity of the office of teacher—a person is placed in God's stead. How so? Because the deepest and most fundamental wisdom has been placed by the grace of God into the mouth of human reason, so that a person, in the name of God, might exercise the office of authority through the strictness of justice and the mercy of the Most High Himself. As for the fact that you see two other smaller walls on the outer part of that same wall, it means that in external affairs, beyond the spiritual magisterium, there is an established order for people of higher and lower status, who are set in place by God’s command like two walls. The outer ones are the elders, established by the strength of secular power according to my design, and the middle ones are the lesser people who stand under the authority of both spiritual and secular persons, as if between the arch of the aforementioned inner wall, which is the spiritual magisterium, and the outer wall, which is secular power, as has been said. These two walls are placed outside the circuit of the inner arched wall because secular people are involved in earthly matters, focusing more on external things than on internal ones, yet they still remain within the boundaries of my established order. How? The exterior is understood through the interior, for just as a person learns from the visible and noble character of a human being how that person ought to be feared, prayed to, and loved, so too, with that same understanding, one should grasp how the invisible and most high God ought to be feared, revered, and loved above all things. For through exterior and secular authority, a person is reminded of the interior and spiritual power of the divine majesty, which is so hidden and veiled from humanity that it cannot be seen by carnal eyes except to the extent that it is grasped by faith. And since God is invisible to mortal creatures, let a person at least learn through visible instruction how to fear and revere Him, the most high founder of his own struggle. How so? Divine inspiration gave people the capacity, through their own reason, to establish a proper order among nations where great figures hold authority, to be feared and honored by them. God allowed one group to excel and another to be subject so that people would be divided, preventing them from destroying and killing one another. Otherwise, they would have remained idle, unable to move toward the knowledge of God, had they not foreseen this through the fear and honor shown to those in authority. The Holy Spirit then proceeded, leading people toward the interior law of the spirit, by which a person is governed both inwardly and outwardly, until the fountain of life sprang forth and appeared to the world in the fullness of justice—the one who governs both body and soul. Hence, the care of secular power was established for the use of earthly things, so that the body might seek the nourishment it needs to keep from failing, while the spiritual magisterium was established for the interior longing to reach the service of God, so that the soul might pant for heavenly things. These things, therefore, were established by my decree, just as Isaac said to his son Jacob: 'Be lord over your brothers, and let your mother's sons bow down before you.' This means you must be lord over your brothers, powerful over them in honors and blessings, and blessed with the blessings given to me by God; let all the sons of your mother bow down before you, subject to you because of the preeminent cause of your blessing. For from you will come a great lineage, from which a most strong and powerful man will arise. His brothers will pursue him and drive him away, but he, with the greatest speed and his own immense strength—like a lion breaking free—will rule over them with supreme authority and press them down in the name of his power, a power that will never be uprooted by the vilest tail, once his brothers have been turned into that tail. In this same way, I, the heavenly Father, said to my incarnate Son: 'Be Lord of all who are born and begotten from the seed of man, whom I created through you, because you were born miraculously from a Virgin, not conceived by human seed, but came forth from me through a burning fire, appearing on earth as true man, with the seal of the most pure and chaste Virgin remaining closed.' You are, therefore, the Lord of them in the heavenly brightness of the Godhead, for they are your brothers because of your incarnation, in which you are human. And let an inclination—that is, a submission—be shown to you by the children of your mother, namely your incarnation; and let people born of humans be subject to you in the service of most holy devotion. And because the Son of God is thus the Lord of all creatures, the arrangement of various powers in the world was established through him, in the will of the Father and by the touch of the Holy Spirit. How so? It is this: God took away that excess and arrogance that would have kept people from honoring one another, so that everyone would just do whatever they pleased. If God, in the inestimable wisdom of his counsel, had not struck that down, he himself distinguished one person from another: the lesser is to be subject to their superior with the service of obedience, while the greater is to help the lesser skillfully and devotedly in every useful way, just as it was also given to Jacob by his father in the ascent of the Holy Spirit that he should be lord of his brothers, as it has been said. But in what has been shown—that He is Lord—it is demonstrated that secular business involves the authority to rule over the freedom of others; yet, because of the fear of the honor they pay Him, one should spare them through that power, not oppressing them with the weight of servitude, but holding them as if in the love of brothers. The fact that it was said a bowing down before Him should take place implies the service of ministry for those who, through the bond of serving their masters, have been withdrawn as children of the flesh, having a carnal concern. But after Jacob himself seized this lordship from his brother through his father's blessing, he established a heavenly celebration through the stone he raised as a monument and the tithe he vowed to give. This prefigured a principal person in the spiritual militia, because every faithful person ought to ascend from the lowest rank to the highest: namely, through secular power, to learn the higher mastery of a clearer light—the spiritual life—in which the office of the helmsman is fulfilled according to the path of the immaculate Lamb, who lifted up man with the fullness and goodness of all justice, raising up the man who had been struck down by the snares of the perverse thief.
The Order of Divine Governance
God explains the necessity of order in both secular and spiritual realms, warning against the corruption of offices through greed and pride.
From this, these two institutions—proceeding toward earthly things, clearly, and toward heavenly things—are divided into four and four parts, because God gave humans a great power of rational knowledge, so that in the ascension of the Holy Spirit they might examine these things within themselves in the figure of the four elements, adding more to the two aforementioned ways, which I do not despise or cast aside, since whoever multiplies what is less in my name is worthy of reward and not of rejection, which are also the four parts in both secular burdens and spiritual institutions. How so? In secular affairs, there are nobles and those of higher nobility, just as there are servants and those who obey. In spiritual sacraments, however, there are those who excel and are superior, and there are also those who are obedient and those who correct. I, however, do not want those causes of offices, established by my ordination, to be seized at all by the furtive gift of purchase in a sale, but I want them to be assisted by a reasonable cause, so that those who take them on may be useful before God and men. But certain poisoned scorpions violate my justice, stealing these positions with the deadly venom of greed and pride—not only in secular positions of authority, but even in spiritual arrangements. The seizure of secular dignities—earthly things acquired through earthly means—must indeed be examined most severely in the anger of my zeal; but the seizure of spiritual things carries greater weight and requires even more rigorous examination. For secular people are, in outward matters, flesh of flesh; but spiritual people are, in inward matters, joined to the Spirit. Even though people living in the world are busy with external things and earthly cares, they should still, beneath that outward appearance, long for the interior things of the spirit in their own way of life. Those in the religious life, however—placed in the appearance of religion and the rejection of worldly things, and ordered interiorly in the heart of the almighty Father—should much more, under their spiritual title, ardently imitate his Son in his high priesthood. For just as the Son of God came forth from the heart of his Father, so the Father established within himself, in his Son, the persons of those teachers who are placed in such an excellent order for the benefit of the Church, and who are joined to God in righteous work. How so? Those who live in compunction and heart-searching, and in mature judgment—which is entirely clear to me, as they possess a good conscience—don't crave authority in a perverse or contrary way. They don't seek it through diabolical arts, acquire it through money or worldly power, or look for fleeting human praise, but accept it in humility through my true election and that of the people. These are my dearest and most proven guardians, and my most certain friends. But those who walk backward, and acquire it in another way—in darkness, that is, by secretly snatching at the mysteries of heaven through worldly and earthly means—flee from my face and cruelly kill their own souls; in this they mock me, because they deny me in this way and kick against my will. How so? Because they despise me, not desiring to attain the power of authority through me so that they might lift the interior eyes of their heart toward me, asking: Does this please God or not? Instead, each of them says to himself: Even if this is evil before God, I will take it anyway, trusting in the Lord that while I still live in this body, I will eventually repent. In this way, they acquire authority without me, the living God, neither asking it of me nor trusting that they have reached it by my will. In this heat, they flee from my face, snatching at authority and shipwrecking themselves away from my mercy. These are not within the heart of the highest Father, but are outside in the north, where their prince is in these matters. They refuse to seek me, the Creator of all, but follow their own will, which they hold in place of God, and abandon me. For they don't want to know me, and I don't want to know them. Their own desire suggests to them whatever they want. And because they refuse to hold me in awe, I, for my part, won't hold back the terror of my wrath when that day comes, so they'll be met with opposition on the day when they can no longer prevail in anything. They are left to themselves in this life, only to answer in the future at that terrifying judgment for the things they do—for they know me in faith, yet in the things they commit, they refuse to look toward me.
The Meaning of the Virtues
Detailed allegorical explanations are provided for each of the six virtues, their attributes, and their roles in the salvation of souls.
Now, as you see that the aforementioned two smaller walls are the length of the space from the stated northern corner to the western corner, this means that in the ordering of the greater and lesser peoples—along with the extension of human time from Abraham and Moses, as if from the north, down to the manifestation of the Catholic faith in the true Trinity, which faith my Son, sent by me into the world, taught as far as the west—there have existed in my law peoples and their principal teachers. These teachers, as the burgeoning and example of the people of the new covenant, have reached out from their zeal all the way to my Son born in the flesh, just as there have been, are, and always will be distinct differences among people, between the interior and the exterior, that is, between the spiritual and the secular, the greater and the lesser. They are joined to these corners on both sides according to the manner of an arch, because both the Old and New Testaments are declared to be peoples united on both sides of their beginning in honor and governance; and this is in the likeness of an arch, which is composed well and worthily by the authority of divine providence for the state of the building of the heavenly Jerusalem. The fact that those two smaller walls are three cubits high means that, in the uprightness of the two secular conditions—the greater and the lesser—there are three parts of humanity: the prominent leaders, those free from servitude to others, and the common people who are subject to their superiors. From this, the width between the inner arched wall and the middle one is one cubit; this is the breadth of dignity between the superior persons of spiritual authority and the lesser ranks of earthly service, established in the unity of faith according to God for the correction of those subject to them. And between the outer wall and that same middle one, there is a width of one palm, like a child's hand, because there is also an extension of just consideration between the lower power of secular rule and the subjection of secular service, so that they may touch one another in a simple, childlike devotion, joined together in the hand of their shared work. But the fact that you see six images standing inside the same building before the aforementioned arched wall on the floor of the building itself means that six virtues are extended in the work of God’s goodness, prefiguring other virtues, just as God created His creatures in six days; these virtues appear in the figure of things to come before the wall—that is, before the Israelite people, who were restrained by divine law and surrounded by the authority and defense of their forerunners—while they also trample the floor of earthly cares in this same construction of the supreme Father, so that the Christian militia may oppose the devil through them. That is why three of them stand together at the front of the wall, near the corner that faces north; for the Holy Trinity, inseparable in the power of its majesty, was revealed at the beginning of the Old Testament through various hidden figures, set against the devil by Abraham and Moses. And three more stand together at the end of that same wall, near the corner that points west, because the same Trinity, reigning in the unity of the Godhead, was proclaimed by its own name at the end of that same passing law, when the Son of God was born in the flesh for the redemption of humanity, which was tending toward its sunset. All of these look at the painting in the arches of that wall because they always watch with equal devotion as the teaching of God’s order is revealed in humanity through His power in the law of both the New and Old Testaments, considering how it’s fulfilled in them. But the fact that you see another image at the very end of that wall, sitting inside the building on a single stone placed on the floor like a seat, means that in the very restoration of the old law of the ancient people, and at the beginning of the new faith started in the true Trinity—when God built all the constant virtues in the Church—this virtue also appeared fittingly in the work of the supreme Father, working in it through humanity until the end of the world. That’s why it also sits upon the most solid rock, upon the one and only Son of God, who is the seat and rest of all the faithful who despise fleeting things and believe in Him with pure faith. It leans its right side toward the wall because it clings to the rectitude of rest and the side of salvation for this people who have been placed under the teaching and arrangement of God, so that even the greater among them, along with the lesser, may cultivate it in their own works. It turns its face, however, toward the column of the true Trinity, because in every matter it directs its intention toward that same Trinity with the sharpest vision of just consideration, so that just as the eternal Trinity must be considered inviolably in three persons, so all who worship God should consider it most diligently in their own deeds, and in considering it, never let it go. But the fact that you see another image at that same end, standing on the same wall in a higher place, means that even in the transition from the shadow of the old law, as the true light of justice shines in the faith of the holy Trinity, this virtue has been raised up, standing in the principal teaching and among the faithful people at the summit of the desire for heavenly salvation, fighting against vices, erected in the Son of God, because it began from Him and will remain with Him in the heavenly Jerusalem after the end of the world. She also turns toward that column of the true Trinity, because, strengthened by the holy and ineffable Trinity, she leads souls back to their true home. The fact that you see a likeness in these images means that the same virtues are united in the diversity of God's gifts. They are also clothed like the earlier images, as if in silk garments; these surround them like the most pleasant works that God’s servants show forth in the divine law, performing them in the justice of truth and with white sandals. This is because their fervor also includes the brightness of following the example of good deeds among people. But the one on the right, in the middle of these three that you see on the far side of the same wall, exists in such purity and brightness that, because of its great splendor, you cannot perfectly gaze upon its form. That virtue—rising at the end of holy ancient austerity with the salvation of true strengthening through the gift of the holy Trinity—is entirely clear and pure, lacking any diabolical indignation in the brightness of the joyful unanimity of people. Because of the multitude of glory and honor it has in the heavens, its immeasurable unanimity, as if it were its form, cannot be considered by any mortal human, except as much as God has deigned to reveal. The one that stands on the wall is shod with black sandals, because it was a sign and trace of death among people in both higher and lower dignity before the incarnation of my Son. That they are all without cloaks means they have equally cast aside earthly observances and the outward text of legal institution, looking inward at true justice. The exception is the middle one of those three that stood in the first part of the same wall, which is clothed with a cloak; she, laboring under the defense of God at the beginning of the prescribed austerity, is surrounded by the comprehension of the love of God, in which she hides the heavenly treasure, having cast aside the desire for carnal things. Two of the three higher ones that stand to the right and left of the middle image, and two of the three lower ones—the middle one and the one to its left—do not have women's veils on their bare heads, standing only with white hair. This is because the law and the prophets, emanating through the power of the supreme majesty and showing life and death by their strength, with the two precepts of twofold love following through the same divine power and having the constancy of inward circumspection in contrary things, and the joy of sweetness in divine things, are faithfully freed from all subjection to any pain or snare of death, in the head, namely in Christ my Son, yet shining with bare hair in the brightness of virginity, because the divinity greatly loved the virginal nature in the Virgin Mary. The middle one of the three earlier ones, and the one that sits on the stone next to the wall, have their heads covered with a white head-covering, as is the custom of women. This means they are gently and sweetly bound by the strong bond of subjection in the help of supreme height and in the stability of the conversation of blessed quiet, venerating God, the head of all the faithful, in the whiteness of pious devotion, just as a husband ought to be honored by his wife with sincere love. The middle one of the three higher ones and the one that stands to its right are clothed in white tunics, because through the same power of the divine majesty, their most clear and most white works, established among people under the law of the Lord to whom they are joined, emanate in the most pleasant beatitude. But the fact that you see differences among them means they possess diverse virtues in God, while still worshiping Him in harmony. Because of this, the image standing in the middle of the three above represents abstinence, since it is like a city, a foundation, and an ornament for the virtues that cling to it in the first struggle, keeping itself from sin through the gravity of its character. It is such that it examines and rejects everything childish in evil, holding no petulance within itself, and appearing like a mother in the midst of those virtues that signify the glory of the Trinity at the beginning of the law given to the ancient people. It has a saffron-colored circle on its head in the shape of a crown, carved on the right side and always glowing, because it is crowned at its highest point by the saffron ray of the most brilliant sun—that is, the Son of God—in whose brightness it is entirely held, desiring nothing but Him who also always ignites it on the right side of the soul's salvation. Hence, as you see, a dove flies from the right side of this same image, breathing with its mouth onto the same Scripture, since in the right hand of heavenly prosperity there is the gift of true simplicity—namely, the Holy Spirit, who in abstinence ignites every good thing through heavenly inspiration for the salvation of souls, just as that virtue also demonstrates in the aforementioned words of its admonition. The other image, which is on her right, signifies generosity, existing in childlike simplicity, having no trace of cunning or hardness toward the sufferings of others; with this, abstinence always removes itself from all harshness in the right-hand works of goodness, thus reaching toward God, because generosity is the beginning of her work when abstinence first undertakes its task. She has something like a lion on her breast, serving as a clear mirror. This is my Son, Christ Jesus, who is in her heart—the strongest lion, like a mirror of pure and splendid love enclosed within. As for the fact that she wears around her neck something like a pale-colored serpent in the twisted curve of a rod, hanging down to her breast: this means that my same Son, most prudent, endured the twisted suffering of the cross in the pallor of his anguished flesh, as if it were the strongest neck—that is, patience—in the remedy for all wounds, which generosity impresses upon her breast through heavenly love, frequently looking upon it in the minds of men, just as he also declares in the aforementioned words of his exhortation. The third image, on his left, represents kindness—a kindness that holds no hatred, envy, or human foulness, but always rejoices in and embraces the prosperity of all people. Through its freshness and the anointing of generosity, abstinence resists the devil's breath on the left side, for kindness is the full work of abstinence in the banner-bearing battle through which it always emerges victorious. This is why she is also clothed in a tunic of a similar reddish-blue color, because she is surrounded by a most splendid work—one that hides the beautiful support of bloody contradictions, namely, the endurance of all injuries—following the example of my Son's passion. As for the angel that appears at her breast with one wing on each side, this means that a person should always imitate the angelic order by loving every one of God's ordinances. When, on both sides of himself—in both prosperous and difficult times—he uses his two wings (that is, in the one God, through a twofold virtue), he isn't puffed up beyond measure in good times, nor completely crushed in bad times, but lifts himself up to fly, which is to gaze upon God in purity of heart, reaching upward rather than casting himself down to the earth. For this reason, the right wing also extends to the right shoulder of that same image, because the prosperity of a person in the right hand of the salvation of souls is offered for the aid of kindness, when my Son brought humanity back into the homeland. The left wing reaches toward her left shoulder because, in the face of contrary diabolical snares, the faithful person extends the volatile feather upward—by which he casts off the works of darkness—toward the refuge of my Son. Through Him, he stands strong against every adversity, imitating the life of the just, just as this virtue also declares in its own words, as has been shown above. The figure that is the middle of the three lower ones represents truth, because truth arises in all matters after abstinence and the virtues that go with it; it stands like a tower and a protection for the images beside it, signifying a strong defense, as if it were the Holy Trinity in the midst of the virtues, prefiguring the end of Jewish custom and the dawn of the true faith. Above its right shoulder stands a most white dove, breathing from its mouth into the figure's right ear; this represents the admirable power of the Holy Spirit appearing in the upper part of the right side—that is, the blessed return to life through the incarnation of the Son of God—who breathed with His touch into the right ear, that is, into the hearts of believers, so that they might understand what God is in His divine power. The fact that a monstrous, shapeless human head appears on its chest means that God permits miseries and the persecutions of rulers to exist in the hearts of His chosen ones, just as His Son willed to suffer at the hands of the chief priests. And because God is in the heart of the faithful person, that person must also, for the love of God, patiently endure God's persecution; and because death was raised up in the fall of the devil, the faithful person must therefore endure many struggles in various hardships against diabolical wickedness, which are often laborious and contrary to their own body, because it clings to the person: that the same ancient serpent is always pursuing. What is this? The desire of the flesh, against which that wicked enemy, positioned in ambush, lies in wait. But the fact that they lie under its feet like a species of people trampled and crushed by it means that under the footsteps of truth, all diabolical falsehoods that occur in the works of men are brought to nothing, while it holds the love of building up the Church, when all virtues appear clearly and are proven in the truth, which, hidden in the heart of the Father before the ages, was invisible, but at the end of time appeared visible in the true flesh of the Son of God. Hence, it also holds in its hands a scroll spread out and inscribed on one side, namely toward heaven, with seven lines, because in all works of truth there is a texture spread out by the grace of God for the Christian people of the established law, to be held in open worship on the side of heavenly desires, and to be feared on the side of carnal desires, showing in itself the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, namely an impregnable fortress against the diabolical snares of death. You want to read it, but you can't; for although a person may long to know the mysteries and hidden things in the gifts of God, it's impossible for them to understand or grasp what God intends to happen in His wonders while they are weighed down by a mortal body. Instead, a person should embrace and comprehend these things in truth—that is, by following the commandments of God, just as this same virtue shows in its own words mentioned above. The other image is the one to his right. It signifies peace, bearing a heavenly sign and an angelic fellowship, because it brings forth truth in full vitality; for this same truth is surrounded by excellent and heavenly gifts on the right side of the salvation of souls, holding peace through the Son of God. How so? As it is written in the angelic song: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will." This is what it means: in the most high God, humanity shines, and God shines in humanity, because the Son of God was miraculously incarnate. And therefore God is praiseworthy and glorious in heaven, by all his creation. Hence, even on earth, the peace of salvation comes to those who receive the will of the Father with devotion and faith, because the peace of good will is also the will of the Father's entire goodness, which is his Son, who is God and man. And how is he himself peace? He is the peace of humanity, defending them from the traps of the ancient serpent—the first to fall into sin, who lost the light of life when he was cast into darkness. This light, which is true peace, is the true Son of God, who brought it to humanity so that they might share in the kingdom of God in the blessed place that the devil lost. And as you can see, this virtue has an angelic face, because it flees from all evil with a holy intention, as if looking upon God in its own face with angelic longing. That is why it has a wing on each side; in both states—the calm and the turbulent—it reaches upward toward God. It creates no terror or bitterness, but remains always in a peaceful prosperity, grasping the one God in the unity of its two wings. It is never overturned by any storm of instability, whether in good times or bad, but persists only in tranquility. It appears in human form just like the other virtues, because it shone forth marvelously through the Son of God, and all virtues are tested in humanity through it. It seeks no contention or strife, but remains always in gentleness, opposing the devil's battle in such a way that this is made manifest, as mentioned above, in its own words. The third figure, standing to her left, represents the eternal blessedness that longs for life. Through its faithfulness and deep gentleness, the Truth contradicts those who deceive humanity—those who consent to every deceptive persuasion of the serpent from the left—because blessedness is the invincible security of true light, in which it doesn't fear the misery of death. For this reason, she is also clothed in a white tunic, distinguished by a green color, because she is surrounded by faithful works that grow white in heavenly desire and are adorned with manifold gifts, flourishing in the greenness of the Holy Spirit. As for the small vessel of pale splendor she holds in her hands, this shows in her work how a person, in a small sanctuary—that is, in the contrite secret of their heart—grasps God through faith, even in the pallor of the frailty of human flesh; for faith must be cultivated purely even in this mortal life, so that the misery of man does not desert him. Hence, she also gives off much light like lightning, which shines on her face and around her neck, because the knowledge of the eternal light is poured out in both the fear and the love of God. It extends from the interior heart of man up to the face—the beginning of a right work, manifesting its intention in a good example—and around the neck, which afterwards prudently grasps strength everywhere in the completed work, when that work shines in man before God more brightly than the sun through blessedness, as is also declared in the aforementioned manifestation of the same virgin. The figure sitting on the stone at the end of the wall represents discernment, for it appeared fully in the completion of the ancient observance, resting in Christ. It is the most skillful sifter of all things, holding fast to what must be held, cutting away what must be cut, and separating the wheat from the weeds. It is dressed in a dark tunic because it is surrounded by the mortification of the flesh, casting off the lightness of all vanity. The fact that it has a small cross on its right shoulder, with an image of Jesus Christ placed upon it, means that this same virtue planted its root in the right side of the power of God’s strength when the almighty God sent His Son to be miraculously incarnate and to suffer humbly; discernment is joined to His love, for it was revealed by Him so that through it all justice might be discerned. And just as God is the dispenser of man's appropriate stature, so discernment imitates Him in its office, fulfilling its work in the crucified Son of God, the dispenser, since it exists in both dignities—that is, of divinity and humanity. It moves here and there, because in its grasp of breadth, through the sign of the holy cross, it has a circuit between the good and the bad. The fact that a certain splendor of wondrous brightness shines from the clouds onto its chest means that from the mercy of God, as if from a most clear cloud, the kindling of divine piety is breathed into the minds of men, creating discernment in them and illuminating them. Hence, it is divided from itself into many rays, just as the splendor of the sun is divided from itself when it shines through the small and many openings of some object; for the Holy Spirit, in His heavenly power, divides the various rays of His gifts to men—making them brighter than the sun and ineffably discerning in the humble caverns, that is, in the sharp-sighted vision of the souls of His faithful—spreading them out and illuminating their senses and minds, so that they may understand most acutely in any situation what they ought to do appropriately in God. The fact that it holds a small piece of wood in its right hand like a fan means that discernment, in the right part of the salvation of souls, always considers its work through the gift of the Holy Spirit in men as if in the wood of the fragile flesh. Yet it holds this sign within itself so that, through divine aid, it may drive away the various flies—that is, the diabolical persuasions—so that it is not scattered by them into various vanities. Because of this, three small branches also sprout from its summit in a marvelous way, along with a flower, so that the faithful may firmly believe that the holy Trinity—always flourishing in its wonders—reigns in the unity of the most glorious divinity. They shouldn't rashly examine heavenly secrets within themselves; instead, just as God justly and wisely arranges all his works in his various creatures, they should also, through the power of discernment, manage all their own deeds well and rightly. As for the fact that it holds in its lap tiny stones of every kind of gem, which it considers with great care and diligence—just as a merchant is accustomed to examine his goods carefully—this means that it holds within the human heart everything that is fitting and appropriate in even the smallest plans and actions. It holds these as if they were gems of virtue, seeking out every justice established by God with cautious and diligent examination, so that it may proceed appropriately and justly in all things within the hearts of people. It considers most acutely the reward of the work, where the recompense is in God, and as has been shown before, it makes this manifest even in its words. The image standing at the end on the wall signifies the salvation of souls, for it shone forth at the sunset of old hardness on the summit of the authority of new grace. It exists as a kind of foundation of that grace, with which and upon which the same salvation of souls appears, having arisen in the Son of God when He was born of the Virgin for the salvation of humanity. It has a bare head and black, curly hair because it is stripped of the servitude of subjection, remaining in the freedom of its dignity, since it openly clings to the Son of God, by whom it was also mercifully raised up. Yet it suffers the blackness of hair, because it appeared darkened among the Jewish people, who did not possess the true light but a manifold diversity, like the curly hair of various observances. It also has a dark face, because before the incarnation of the Son of God, it was not seen to hold the happiness of eternal salvation in the shadow of death. For this reason, it is also clothed in a varied tunic, woven with many colors, because among the old people it was surrounded in many ways by a variety of works, mixed with the diversity of many vices. But the fact that you see it take off its tunic and shoes, standing bare, means that in the passion of my Son, with death wiped away—even after the coming of the Holy Spirit, when the sound and words of the apostles were sent out into the world—it was awakened in the salvation of souls. Thus, spurning evil works and casting off contrary traces, it was stripped, forcefully denuded of diabolical rule within itself, saying: 'O you, most foul devil, you would never leave me if I had not been redeemed in the blood of the Lamb.' For you wanted to keep me in the lake of hell, but now I am freed by the grace of God. And so its hair and face shine with the beauty of whiteness and newness, like that of a newborn infant, because after the incarnation of my Son, a great people grew in the likeness of His wounds, well-illuminated in the interior face of the soul, clinging to true and splendid justice, so that it sought eternal happiness, trusting in the whiteness of life and in the liberation of the faithful members who cling to Christ their head through new regeneration and through the true innocence of infancy, salutary in the heavenly life. And through its whole body it shines, as a pure and clear splendor glows into the light, because it has been made pure through all its members—that is, through the faithful people subject to it through my Son—in dove-like simplicity, clear in the most lucid beauty of the justice of God. But the fact that you see on its chest a most splendid cross with the image of Christ Jesus, placed upon a small tree standing between two flowers of lily and rose, which bend themselves upward slightly toward that same cross: this is because the same virtue became the strong heart of the believing peoples in the passion of Jesus the Savior, who by His martyrdom, in the footsteps of His good and right example, pressed down and crushed the tree of death and the perdition of Adam, against which the two Testaments also stand. The Old, in its whiteness, and the New, in its redness, proceeded in opposition to one another by the arrangement of God, reflecting themselves in the height of spiritual understanding toward the passion of that same kind and most noble Redeemer, and toward all His justice, away from the ruin of death. This is why you see that she shakes off her discarded tunic and sandals so vigorously that much dust is shaken from them; for the salvation of souls shows, in the new and righteous works of men, the tunic of former habit and all the vices of old sins stripped away, and the evil example of Adam's transgression cast off. She examines and rejects these with the strongest scrutiny, throwing off the dust of vainglory and other sins, just as she confesses about herself in her discourse above. Whoever has the sharp ears of interior understanding, however, should long for these words in the burning love of my mirror, and write them into the conscience of his own soul.
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Et post haec vidi inter angulum septentrionalem et angulum occidentalem murum parietis praefati aedificii in interiore ejus parte totum arcuatum secundum modum cancellorum, non tamen apertum ut cancellos; sed integrum habentemque in singulis arcubus quasi picturam hominum. In exteriore autem parte ejusdem muri vidi alios duos minores muros, longitudinis spatii quod fuit a praedicto angulo septentrionali usque ad angulum occidentalem ipsisque angulis ex utraque parte sui conjunctos juxta modum testudinis. Altitudo vero eorumdem duorum minorum murorum, erat cubitorum trium. Latitudo autem inter interiorem arcuatum murum et medium erat cubiti unius, atque inter exteriorem et eumdem medium, fuit latitudo unius palmi quasi puerilis manus. Intra idem quoque aedificium vidi sex imagines ante praedictum arcuatum murum super pavimentum ipsius aedificii stantes, tres scilicet juxta se in fronte illius muri prope angulum qui respiciebat ad septentrionem, et tres etiam simul in fine parietis ejusdem, secus angulum qui tendebatur ad occidentem, omnes picturam in arcubus ipsius muri inspicientes. In ipso autem fine ejusdem parietis vidi aliam imaginem intra ipsum aedificium super lapidem unum in modum sedis in pavimento positum sedentem, et latus dexterum ad murum inclinantem, faciem vero suam ad columnam verae Trinitatis vertentem. Sed in eodem fine vidi alteram imaginem super eumdem murum in altiori loco stantem, et etiam ad praedictam columnam verae Trinitatis versam. In his ergo imaginibus conspexi similitudinem talem.
Indutae erant ut priores imagines quasi sericinis indumentis et candidis calceamentis, excepta illa quae a dextris mediae harum trium erat, quas in extrema parte ejusdem parietis videram, quae tota tantae puritatis tantaeque claritatis exstitit, ut prae nimio splendore nullam ejus formam, perfecte intueri possem, et excepta illa quae super murum stabat, ut dictum est, quae nigris calceamentis, calceata fuerat. Sed omnes sine palliis erant, praeter mediam illarum trium quae in prima parte muri stabant, quae pallio induebatur. Duae quoque trium superiorum quae ad dexteram scilicet et ad sinistram mediae imaginis stabant, et duae trium inferiorum, media videlicet et quae ad sinistram ejus erat non habebant muliebria velamina in capitibus suis, nudis tantum albis crinibus stantes. Media autem trium priorum, et illa quae super lapidem juxta murum sedebat, erant velato capite candida velatura capitis, ut mos est mulierum. Eadem quoque media trium superiorum et quae ad dextram ejus stabant vestitae erant tunicis candidis. Sed vidi talem dissimilitudinem earum. Imago quae stabat in medio trium superiorum habebat in capite suo in modum coronae circulum crocci coloris, dextra parte insculptum semper accende. Et vidi quod a dextra ejusdem imaginis columba advolabat ore suo spirans in eamdem sculpturam.
Atque illa imago dicebat: Ego perfusa sum per interiorem misericordiam, ex qua oritur rivulus qui nullatenus abscondere vult pecuniam, nec aurum, nec pretiosos lapides, nec margaritas coram egenis et in necessitatibus eorum necessariam substantiam non habentibus, ac propterea plorantibus. Nunc consolabor illos et semper reficiam paupertatem ipsorum propter amorem Filii Dei, qui suavis et mitis est ac qui bona sua distribuit in animas justorum, tangens vulnera peccatorum eorum propter poenitentiam. Alia vero imago quae stabat a dextris ejus habebat in pectore suo quasi leonem tanquam speculum lucidum, et a collo suo velut serpentem pallidi coloris in torta flexura virgulae ad pectus etiam suum dependentem. Et ait: Lucidum leonem inspicio, et propter amorem ejus do. Ignitum autem serpentem fugio, sed serpentem in ligno pendentem diligo.
Tertia autem imago quae a sinistris ejus erat tunica simili hyacintho rubri coloris induebatur. Et ad pectus ejus apparuit angelus ex utroque latere suo alam unam habens, ita ut ala dextra ad dextrum humerum illius imaginis extenderetur, et ala sinistra ad sinistrum humerum illius. Et ipsa imago dicebat: Angelicum habeo consortium, nec cum dissimulantibus se hypocritis ambulo, sed epulor cum justis. Imago quoque quae fuit media trium inferiorum induta erat tunica crocei coloris. Et super dextrum humerum ejus candidissima columba stabat, spirans ore suo, in dextram aurem illius. In pectore vero ipsius monstruosum et informe caput hominis apparuit. Jacebant quoque sub pedibus ejus quasi species hominum conculcatorum et contritorum ab ipsa. In manibus autem suis habebat chartam expansam et ex una parte videlicet versus coelum septem lineis inscriptam, quam legere volui, sed non potui, et dixit: Virga amarae correptionis et flagelli esse volo contra illum mendacem qui filius diaboli est, quia etiam ipse diabolus persecutor ineffabilis justitiae Dei est.
Unde illi contraria et molesta causa sum, quoniam nunquam inventa sum in ore ipsius, ita quod et ego eum de ore meo sicut mortiferum et lethale venenum expuo, quia ipse me nunquam in astutia sua invenit. Ipse est etiam mihi pessimum ac molestissimum malum omnium malorum, quoniam omne malum ab ipso ortum est. Propterea abjicio et conculco eum in amabili justitia Dei, quae mihi incessabiliter sine fine amabilis est, cujus etiam sustentatrix et ductrix ego sum, quia super me solidabitur et constabit omne aedificium virtutum Dei, quae aedificant in altitudine. O fortissime et nobilissime Deus, attende.
Altera autem imago quae ad dextram ejus erat faciem habebat angelicam, et ex utroque latere suo volatilem alam unam, in specie tamen hominis ut caeterae virtutes apparens. Et ait: Ego repugno diabolico certamini quod se erigit contra me pertinaciter, dicens: Non possum sufferre ullam tribulationem, sed omnia mihi contraria volo abstrahere a me. Nullum timebo. Quem timerem? Neminem timore volo. Sed qui hoc malum dicunt, abjicientur per me, quia posita sum semper laetari semperque gaudere in omnibus bonis, quia Dominus Jesus est remissor et consolator omnis doloris, quoniam et ipse dolorem pertulit in corpore suo. Et quia ipse etiam est justa correctio, idcirco et ego volo me illi conjungere, semperque ipsum portare, abjiciens de me odium et invidiam, ac omnia mala. Volo quoque semper faciem laetam in tua justitia habere, o Deus.
Sed tertia imago quae stabat ad sinistram ejus, induebatur tunica alba, viridi colore distincta. Habebat autem in manibus suis modicum vasculum pallidi splendoris, multam lucem ut fulgur ex se reddens, ita quod eadem lux in faciem, et circa collum ipsius imaginis luceret. Et dicebat: Ego felix sum. Dominus enim Christus Jesus facit et parat me pulchram et albam, cum illud mortiferum consilium diaboli effugio, quod semper ruminat infelicitatem illam scilicet quod Deus abjiciatur et diabolus malis operibus attrahatur. Hunc Satanam fugio, hunc abjicio, ipsumque mihi semper molestum habeo, quia amatorem illum desidero, quem assidue amplectar, et quem cum gaudio habeam in omnibus et super omnia. Imago vero quae in fine hujus parietis super lapidem sedebat, induta erat tunica subnigra. In dextro autem humero suo habebat modicam crucem impositam imagine Jesu Christi, quae hac et illac versabatur. Et quasi ex nubibus effulsit in pectus ejus quidam splendor mirae claritatis: a se in multos radios divisus, ut splendor solis a se dividitur, cum per parva et multa foramina alicujus rei fulget.
In dextra quoque manu modicum lignum in modum flabelli habebat, ex cujus summitate tres ramusculi miro modo cum flore pullulaverant. Habebat etiam in gremio suo minutissimos lapillos omnium gemmarum, quos multa sollicitudine et diligentia considerabat, veluti mercator res suas diligenter considerare solet, et dixit: Ego mater virtutum, justitiam Dei in omnibus rebus semper habeo. Nam in spirituali militia et in saeculari strepitu, intra conscientiam meam Deum meum semper exspecto. Non damno, non conculco, non sperno reges, duces et praesides, ac caetera saecularia magisteria, quae ab auctore omnium rerum ordinata sunt. Quomodo licitum esset, ut cinis cinerem sperneret? Crucifixus Dei Filius convertit se ad omnes, eos secundum justitiam et misericordiam suam movens. Ego etiam unamquamque ordinationem et institutionem ejus secundum voluntatem ipsius habere volo. Illa autem imago quae in eodem fine super murum stabat nudum caput et nigros ac crispos crines habebat, faciemque obscuram.
Induta quoque erat varia tunica plurimo colore intexta. Et vidi quod tunicam et calceamenta sua exuit stans nuda. Et subito crines ac facies ejus resplenduerunt in pulchritudinem albedinis et novitatis, ut jam nati infantis, atque per totum corpus suum effulsit ut purus et lucidus splendor illucet in claritate. Tunc etiam vidi in pectore ejus splendidissimam crucem cum imagine Christi Jesu, super arbusculam inter duos flores lilii et rosae stantem positam, qui se sursum ad illam crucem aliquantulum recurvabant. Vidique quod exutam tunicam atque calceamenta sua fortiter excutiebat, ita quod pulvis multus ab eis excuteretur. Et ait: Exuo Vetus Testamentum et induo nobilem Filium Dei cum justitiis ejus in sanctitate et veritate. Propter quod reparata sum in bonis et mutata de vitiis. Unde et tu, Deus meus, delicta juventutis meae et ignorantias meas ne memineris, neque vindictam sumas de peccatis meis.
Et cum haec attentius inspicerem, iterum qui sedebat in throno dixit ad me: Nullus fidelium qui humiliter vult Deo obedire dubitet recusare humano magisterio subjacere, quia per Spiritum sanctum regimen in populo, propter efficaciam utilitatis viventium dispositum est, illudque in ecclesiasticis observationibus futurum, et fideliter firmiterque habendum in antiquo populo praefiguratum est. Hinc etiam quod vides inter angulum septentrionalem et angulum occidentalem murum parietis praefati aedificii in interiore ejus parte totum arcuatum, secundum modum cancellorum, non tamen apertum ut cancellos, sed integrum: hoc est quod ab Abraham et Mose diabolo repugnantibus, quasi in angulo respiciente septentrionem usque ad veram Trinitatem quae aperte declarata est in vera et catholica fide, cum a Deo Patre Filius Dei missus in mundum doctrinam suam abundanter emisit in fine temporum, quasi ad angulum respicientem ad occidentem erat murus, id est Israeliticus populus in lege justitiae Dei constitutus, operans in constructione bonitatis Patris omnipotentis, scilicet in Veteri Testamento frenatus, et ei convictus, quia post ostensionem asperitatis quae in zelo Domini excitata est per institutiones veterum praelationum, praesignata sunt regimina novarum dignitatum. Nam Vetus Testamentum tendebatur usque ad Novum, ex se germinans multo majora praecepta legis Novi Testamenti, quam primum orta essent in ipso; itaque de minore factum est majus, de minore videlicet doctrina veterum praeceptorum major et latior doctrina novorum, cum Vetus Testamentum solummodo esset quasi fundamentum primitus positum: super quod aedificata est profundissima sapientia omnis doctrinae, manifestata in incarnatione Filii Dei, tendens a veteri lege circumcisionem usque ad novam regulam baptismi majoribus praeceptis ornatam.
Et ille murus plebs scilicet Judaica in interiore parte intellectus sui, in quo anima hominis Deum cognoscit, est ubique arcubus circumdata, id est circumquaque per significationem magisterii praecursorum suorum, praecepta legis Dei clamantium, et sibi ostendentium vallata, ut minores per majores quasi per praecellentes sibi homines ordinari solent, juxta constructionem cancellorum, quae est typica praefiguratio Spiritus sancti, duras litteras perforantis in incarnatione Filii Dei, qui cancellos misericordiae suae petentibus plenissime demonstravit. Non tamen apertus est in perforatione ostiarii Spiritus sancti videlicet spiritualem intellectum in veteri lege non denudantis ut postmodum factum est in cancellis misericordiae in carne manifestati Filii Altissimi, sed integer manet in duritia legalium praeceptorum, quae postea per Spiritum sanctum in fonte aquae vivae elucidata sunt.
Habet quoque in singulis arcubus quasi picturam hominum, quia ut haec pictura ostendit imaginem hominum, sic in triumphali arcu scilicet in dignitate magisterii positus est homo, in vice Dei. Quomodo? Quoniam profundissima et capitalis sapientia per gratiam Dei posita est in os rationalitatis hominis, ut homo in nomine Dei exerceat officium magistrationis, per districtionem justitiae et misericordiae ipsius Altissimi.
Quod, autem in exteriori parte ejusdem muri vides alios duos minores muros, hoc est quod in exterioribus negotiis praeter spirituale magisterium est intercepta constitutio populorum majorum et minorum, qui constituti sunt praecepto Dei, quasi duo muri, quoniam exterior sunt majores natu ex fortitudine saecularis potentiae in mea ordinatione, et medius sunt minores qui consistunt sub potestate et spiritualium et saecularium personarum, quasi inter interioris praefati muri arcus qui est spirituale magisterium, et exteriorem murum qui est saecularis potentia, ut dictum est. Unde duo muri positi extra ambitum interioris arcuati, quia saec lares personae sunt in terrenis causis, magis videlicet exteriora quam interiora habentes, ita quod tamen sunt in linea constitutionis meae. Quomodo?
Per exterius intelligitur interius, quoniam ut homo cognoscit ex visibili et alta persona hominis, quomodo homo timendus ac orandus et amandus sit, sic etiam in eodem intellectu intelligat qualiter invisibilis et altissimus Deus metuendus ac venerandus et diligendus sit super omnia. Nam per exteriorem et saecularem dominationem admonetur homo interioris et spiritualis potestatis divinae majestatis, quae ita clausa et abscondita est homini, ut non possit carnalibus oculis ejus videri nisi quantum fide illius capitur. Et quandoquidem mortali creaturae Deus invisibilis est, saltem per visibile magisterium discat homo timere et venerari ipsum altissimum praeliationis ejus institutorem. Quomodo?
Inspiratio divina dedit in sensus hominum per rationalitatem eorum, ut in recta constitutione inter populos magnae personae dominentur, quae ab illis timeantur ac honorentur. Nam Deus idcirco permisit genus unum excellere et aliud subjacere, ut ita homines dividerentur ne invicem per semetipsos interficerentur et perirent: alioquin otiosi essent nescientes procedere ad agnitionem Dei, nisi hoc praeviderent per timorem et honorem in hominibus. Et ita processit Spiritus sanctus, ducendo populum ad interiorem legem spiritus, qua homo intus et exterius regeretur, donec fons saliens exivit apparens mundo in plenitudine justitiae, qui regit utrumque corpus scilicet et animam. Unde etiam cura saecularis potentiae sic constituta est ad usum terrenarum rerum, ut corpus requirat refectionem ne deficiat et spirituale magisterium ad interiorem suspirationem perveniendi ad servitutem Dei, ut anima ad coelestia anhelet. Haec itaque constituta sunt mea ordinatione secundum quod etiam Isaac dixit filio suo Jacob: Esto dominus fratrum tuorum et incurventur ante te filii matris tuae . Hoc tale est: Dominus esse debes fratrum tuorum pollens super eos in honoribus et in beatitudinibus, benedictus in benedictionibus quae mihi a Deo datae sunt, et inclinentur ante te omnes nati filiorum matris tuae subjecti tibi, propter precellentem causam benedictionis tuae. Ex te enim exiet magnum genus de quo fortissimus et potentissimus vir exsurget, quem fratres ejus ipsum fugando persequentur; sed ipse velocissime in maximis viribus suis, quasi leo se illis eripiens, excellentissima dominatione illis dominabitur, et premet eos in nomine potestatis suae, quae nunquam in vilissima cauda eradicabitur, fratribus suis in caudam effectis. Sic et ego Pater coelestis dixi Filio meo incarnato: Esto Dominus omnium nascentium procreatorum de concepto semine humano quos creavi per te, quia tu mirabiliter natus ex Virgine non conceptus hominis semine, sed existi de me per flagrantem ignem apparens in terra, verus homo clauso sigillo integerrimae et castissimae Virginis.
Tu ergo es Dominus illorum in superna claritate divinitatis, qui fratres tui sunt propter incarnationem tuam in qua homo est. Et inclinatio, id est subjectio exhibeatur tibi a filiis matris tuae scilicet tuae incarnationis, atque in obsequio piissimae devotionis subjiciantur tibi homines nati ex hominibus. Et quoniam Filius Dei sic est Dominus omnium creaturarum, per ipsum etiam in voluntate Patris et in tactu Spiritus sancti instituta est dispositio diversarum potestatum in mundo. Quomodo? Sic videlicet quod Deus abstulit nimietatem et jactantiam illam quam populus populum non honoraret; ita quod unusquisque faceret quod fieri placeret si hoc Deus inaestimabili sapientia consilii sui non prostravisset, sed ipse discrevit populum inter populum, minorem scilicet cum ministratione obedientiae majori suo subjacere, majorem vero in omni utilitatis regimine solerter et devote minori subvenire, sicut etiam in ascensione Spiritus sancti datum est Jacob per patrem suum, quod esset dominus fratrum suorum, ut et dictum est.
Sed in hoc quod ostensum est, quod esset Dominus, demonstratum est quod saeculare negotium habet personam dominandi super libertatem aliorum, quibus propter timorem honoris sibi ab eis impensi per potestatem suam parcat, non eos opprimens jure servitiorum, sed illos habens quasi in dilectione fratrum. In hoc autem quod dictum est quod incurvatio ante ipsum fieret, innuitur servitium ministrationis illorum, qui per vinculum famulantium dominis suis substracti sunt, ut filii carnis curam carnalem habentes. Sed postquam ipse Jacob hoc dominium per paternam benedictionem fratri suo subripuit; deinde coelestem celebritatem per lapidem quem erexit in titulum, et per decimam quam se vovit daturum constituit, ut praesignatum est, significans principalem personam in spirituali militia, quia quisque fidelis de minimo gradu ascendere debet ad summum: per saecularem videlicet potentiam discere superius magisterium clarioris lucis, spiritualis vitae, in quo adimpletur officium naucleri secundum iter immaculati Agni, qui sursum levavit hominem cum plenitudine et bonitate omnis justitiae, scilicet crigens hominem prostratum insidiis perversi raptoris.
Unde etiam haec duo instituta ad terrena videlicet et ad coelestia procedentia in quatuor et quatuor partes dividuntur, quia Deus magnam vim scientiae rationalitatis hominibus dedit, ita ut in ascensione Spiritus sancti haec in semetipsis scrutarentur in figura quatuor clementorum, plus praedictis duobus modis addentes, quod non aspernor nec abjicio, quoniam qui in nomine meo multiplicat quod minus, dignus est mercedis et non abjectionis, quae etiam quatuor partes tam in saecularibus gravaminibus quam in spiritualibus institutis sunt. Quomodo? Quia in saecularibus causis sunt nobiles et nobiliores, sunt et famulantes atque obsequentes. In spiritualibus vero sacramentis sunt praecellentes et superiores, sunt et obedientes atque corripientes. Ego autem illas officiorum causas ordinatione mea constitutas omnino rapi nolo furtivo munere emptionis in venundatione, sed volo ut eis rationabili causa assistatur, ita ut qui ipsas suscipiunt utiles sint coram Deo et hominibus. Sed, quidam venenati scorpiones justitiam meam transgrediuntur, et eas mortifero veneno avaritiae et superbiae subripiunt, non solum in saecularibus praeposituris, sed etiam in dispositionibus spiritualibus. Rapina autem saecularium dignitatum, terrena scilicet per terrena comparata est quidem, severissime in iracundia zeli mei examinanda; sed tamen majoris ponderis et examinationis est rapina spiritualium. Nam saeculares sunt in exterioribus caro de carne; spirituales autem in interioribus spiritui conjuncti.
Sed quamvis saeculares in exterioribus occupentur curam terrenam habentes, tamen sub illa specie ad interiora spiritus in regimine suo deberent anhelare; spirituales vero in specie religionis et in contemptu mundialium positi, interius in corde Patris omnipotentis ordinati, multo magis sub spirituali nomine deberent Filium ejus in summo sacerdotio ardenter imitari; quia, sicut Filius Dei exivit de corde Patris sui, ita constituit Pater apud semetipsum in Filio suo personas magistrorum qui in tam egregiam ordinationem positi sunt propter utilitatem Ecclesiae, et in recto opere Deo conjuncti. Quomodo?
Qui in compunctione et probatione cordis atque in maturo sensu sunt, quod mihi omnino perspicuum est bonam videlicet conscientiam habentes, ita ut perverse et contrarie magisterium non appetant, illud nec diabolica arte sciscitantes, nec per pecuniam aut per saecularem potentiam acquirentes, nec inde volantia verba laudis humanae quaerentes, sed illud vera electione mea et populi, in humilitate suscipientes; hi charissimi et probatissimi custodes, atque certissimi amici mei sunt. Sed qui retro incedunt, et illud alio modo in tenebris acquirunt videlicet per saecularia terrenorum furtim mysteria coelestium diripientes, faciem meam fugiunt, atque animas suas acriter occidunt; in hoc me deridentes, quia sic me denegant et contra voluntatem meam calcitrant. Quomodo? Quia ipsi despiciunt me non desiderantes potestatem magisterii adipisci per me; ita ut interiores oculos cordis sui ad me elevent sic dicentes: Placet hoc Deo an non? sed unusquisque eorum dicit in semetipso: Etiamsi hoc malum est apud Deum, ego tamen hoc accipiam confidens in Domino, quod quandoque vivens adhuc in corpore poeniteam, et tali modo acquirunt magisterium absque me Deo vivo; ita quod nec hoc a me postulent, nec se ad hoc mea voluntate pervenire confidant; sed in hoc ardore a facie mea fugiant sic rapientes magisterium, a misericordia mea naufragantes. Isti non sunt intra in corde summi Patris, sed sunt extra in parte aquilonis, qui in his causis est princeps eorum, nolentes quaerere me Creatorem omnium, sed propriam voluntatem suam quam pro Deo habent sequentes et me derelinquentes. Nam nolunt scire me, nec ego eos. Concupiscentia ipsorum suggerit eis quod volunt.
Et quia timorem meum habere recusant, idcirco et ego nolo eis tunc resistere in terrore irae meae, ut eis repugnetur in die illa in qua nihil amplius praevalere possunt; ipsi autem per me dimissi in hac vita, responsuri in futuro tremendo judicio de his quae faciunt; me videlicet scientes in fide, sed in his quae perpetrant ad me respicere nolentes.
Nunc autem ut vides quod praefati duo minores muri sunt longitudinis spatii, quod est a praedicto angulo septentrionali usque ad angulum occidentalem: hoc est quod in constitutione populorum majorum et minorum cum extensione longitudinis humani temporis ab Abraham scilicet et Mose, quasi a septentrione usque ad manifestationem catholicae fidei in veram Trinitatem, quam fidem Filius meus a me missus in mundum ut ad occidentem, edocuit exstiterunt in lege mea populi et principales eorum magistri praecurrens videlicet germen et exemplum populi novi testimonii a zelo usque ad Filium meum in carne natum tendentes, ut fuerunt et sunt et semper erunt interpositae differentiae in hominibus interiorum et exteriorum, id est spiritualium et saecularium, majorum atque minorum. Qui sunt ipsis angulis ex utraque parte sui conjuncti juxta modum testudinis, quoniam tam Veteri quam Novo Testamento ex utroque latere initii sui, in honore et magistratione coadunati declarantur populi, et hoc in similitudinem testudinis, quod est in auctoritate divinae providentiae bene et digne compositi ad statum aedificationis coelestis Jerusalem.
Quod vero altitudo eorumdem duorum minorum murorum est cubitorum trium: hoc est quod in sublevatione rectitudinis duarum saecularium, conditionis scilicet majorum et minorum, tres partes sunt hominum, id est praecellentiores rectores et alii a vinculo servitutis famulantium liberi, atque communis populus praelatis suis in subjectione substratus. Unde etiam latitudo inter interiorem arcuatum murum et medium est unius cubiti, quae est amplitudo dignitatis inter superiores personas spiritualis magisterii et inter minora vocabula terrenae servitutis, in unitate fidei secundum Deum ad corripiendum subditos suos constituta. Atque inter exteriorem et eumdem medium est latitudo unius palmi quasi puerilis manus, quia est etiam inter inferiorem potestatem saecularis regiminis, et inter subjectionem saecularis ministrationis extensio justae considerationis, ita ut hae unanimi et simplici devotione puerilis innocentiae se invicem tangant in manu conjunctae operationis suae. Sed quod intra idem aedificium vides sex imagines ante praedictum arcuatum murum super pavimentum ipsius aedificii stantes, hoc est quod in opere bonitatis Dei sex virtutes extenduntur, caeteras virtutes praefigurantes, ut Deus in sex diebus creaturas suas creavit; ipse videlicet virtutes in figura futurorum ante murum, id est ante Israeliticum populum divina lege frenatum, et magisterio ac defensione praecursorum suorum circumvallatum apparentes, cum etiam pavimentum terrenarum curarum in eadem constructione summi Patris in hac significatione conculcant, ut Christiana militia per ipsas se diabolo opponat.
Quapropter tres stant juxta se in fronte ipsius muri prope angulum qui respicit ad septentrionem; quia sancta Trinitas inseparabilis in virtute majestatis suae, in initio Veteris Testamenti ab Abraham et Mose diabolo oppositis inchoati per diversas et secretas figuras designata est. Et tres etiam simul in fine parietis ejusdem secus angulum qui tendit ad occidentem, quoniam eadem Trinitas in unitate divinitatis regnans, in fine ejusdem defluentis legis aperto nomine suo praedicata est, nato in carne Filio Dei ob redemptionem hominis ad occasum tendentis. Quae omnes picturam in arcubus ejusdem muri inspiciunt, quia semper pari devotionis studio in hominibus magisterium ordinationis Dei per potentiam ejus in lege tam Novi quam Antiqui Testamenti designatum attendunt considerantes qualiter in ipsis perficiatur. Quod autem in ipso fine ejusdem parietis vides aliam imaginem intra idem aedificium super lapidem unum in modum sedis in pavimento positum sedentem, hoc est quod in ipsa repositione veteris legis antiqui populi, et in initio novae fidei inchoata in vera Trinitate, cum Deus omnes constantes virtutes in Ecclesia construxit, decenter etiam apparuit virtus haec in opere summi Patris, operans in eo per hominem usque ad consummationem mundi. Unde sedet etiam super fotissimam petram, super unicum, scilicet Dei Filium, qui sedes et quies est omnium fidelium caduca despicientium, et in se pura fide credentium. Et latus dextrum ad murum inclinat, quia in quietis rectitudine et in salvationis parte huic populo qui sub magisterio dispositione Dei positus est, adhaeret; ita ut et ipsi majores cum minoribus eam in operibus suis excolant. Faciem vero suam ad columnam verae Trinitatis vertit, quoniam in omni re intentionem suam ipsi Trinitati acutissimo visu justae considerationis intendit, ut sicut perpetua Trinitas in tribus personis inviolabiliter consideranda est: ita omnes Deum colentes, eam in factis suis diligentissime considerent, et considerando non relinquant. Sed quod in eodem fine vides alteram imaginem super eumdem murum in altiori loco stantem: hoc est quod etiam in translatione umbrae legis antiquae, in fide sanctae Trinitatis clarescente vera luce justitiae, haec virtus in principali magisterio et fideli populo in cacumine salvationis coelestis desiderii elevata est stans, pugnans contra vitia in Filio Dei erecta, quia ab ipso incepit, et cum ipso in coelesti Jerusalem post finem saeculi permanebit.
Quae etiam ad praedictam columnam verae Trinitatis versa est, quoniam per sanctam et ineffabilem Trinitatem confortata, reducit animas ad patriam.
Quod vero in ipsis imaginibus conspicis similitudinem, hoc est quod eaedem virtutes unanimes sunt in diversitate donorum Dei. Quapropter indutae sunt etiam ut priores imagines quasi sericinis indumentis; quae sunt circa eas, ut circa reliquas virtutes suavissima opera, quae in divina lege cultores Dei ipsi exhibent: facientes ea in justitia veritatis, et candidis calceamentis; quia in ardore earum est etiam candor sequendi exemplum bonorum actuum in hominibus. Sed illa quae a dextris media harum trium est quas in extrema parte ejusdem parietis vides, tota tantae puritatis tantaeque claritatis existit, ut prae multo splendore nullam ejus formam perfecte intueri possis, quoniam virtus illa cum salute verae confortationis per donum sanctae Trinitatis, in fine sanctae veteris austeritatis exsurgens, omnis perlucida et pura est, carens cuncta indignatione diabolica in claritate laeti guadii unanimitatis hominum, ita ut prae multitudine gloriae et honoris quem habet in coelestibus; nulla ratione inaestimabilis unanimitas ipsius, quasi forma ejus, ab ullo mortali homine valeat considerari, nisi quantum Deus revelare dignatus fuerit. Et illa quae super murum stat nigris calceamentis calceata est, quia tam in altiore dignitate quam in minore ante incarnationem Filii mei mortis signum et vestigium fuit in hominibus. Sed quod omnes sine palliis sunt, hoc est quod pariter terrenos cultus et exteriorem textum legalis institutionis abjecerunt intrinsecus veram justitiam inspicientes, praeter mediam illarum trium quae in prima parte ejusdem muri stabant, quae pallio induitur, quoniam ipsa sub defensione Dei in initio praeceptae austeritatis desudans circumdata est comprehensione amoris Dei, in qua coelestem thesaurum abscondit, abjecto desiderio carnalium. Et duae trium superiorum quae ad dexteram scilicet et ad sinistram mediae imaginis stant, et duae trium inferiorum, media videlicet et quae ad sinistram ejus est, non habent muliebria velamina in capitibus suis nudis, tantum albis crinibus stantes, quia lex et prophetae per virtutem supernae majestatis emanantes et vitam ac mortem sua fortitudine ostendentes, cum duobus praeceptis geminae dilectionis per eamdem divinam potentiam subsequentibus atque constantiam intimae circumspectionis habentibus in contrariis, et gaudium suavitatis in divinis fideliter soluti sunt ab omni subjectione ullius doloris seu laquei mortis, in capite in Christo videlicet Filio meo, nuda tamen coma fulgentes in candore virginitatis, quia divinitas virgineam naturam in Virgine Maria valde dilexit. Sed quod media trium priorum, et illa quae super lapidem juxta murum sedet sunt, velato capite candida velatura capitis, ut mos est mulierum: hoc est quod ipsae in auxilio supernae altitudinis et in stabilitate conversationis beatae quietis, blande ac dulciter ligatae sunt forti ligatura subjectionis, Deum caput omnium fidelium in albedine piae devotionis venerando, ut maritus ab uxore sincera charitate honorari debet. Et media trium superiorum et quae ad dexteram ejus stant vestitae sunt tunicis candidis, quia per eamdem virtutem divinae majestatis in suavissima beatitudine emanant lucidissima et candidissima opera earum in hominibus stabilita sub lege Domini cui conjunctae sunt.
Sed quod etiam vides dissimilitudinem in eis, hoc est quod diversas vires habent in Deo, concorditer ipsum tamen colentes.
Propter quod imago quae stat in medio trium superiorum praefigurat abstinentiam, quoniam ipsa in primo certamine est quasi civitas et firmamentum, atque ornamentum sibi adhaerentium virtutum, continens se a peccato in gravitate morum. Ita quod perserutatrix et recusatrix est cunctorum puerilium in malis, nullam petulantiam habens in se, et apparens quasi mater in medio earum virtutum quae Trinitatis gloriam in initio datae legis antiqui populi designant. Et habet in capite suo in modum coronae circulum crocei coloris dextra parte insculptum, semper accensae, quia ipsa per summum caput coronata est croceo radio splendidissimi solis, scilicet Filii Dei in cujus claritate tota comprehensa est et nullum appetens nisi illum qui etiam in dextra parte salvationis animae eam semper accendit. Unde ut vides a dextra ejusdem imaginis columba advolat, ore suo spirans in eamdem Scripturam, quoniam in dextera coelestis prosperitatis adest donum verae simplicitatis, videlicet Spiritus sancti in abstinentia quaeque bona per supernam inspirationem in salvatione animarum accendentis, ut etiam illa virtus demonstrat in supradictis verbis suae admonitionis.
Alia vero imago quae est a dextris ejus, significat largitatem, puerilis simplicitatis existentem, nec omnino astutiam aut duritiam adversus dolores hominum habentes, cum qua abstinentia se semper aufert ab omni asperitate in dextris bonorum operum, sic tendens ad Deum, quia largitas initium operationis ejus est, cum primum abstinentia opus suum aggreditur. Quae habet in pectore suo quasi leonem tanquam speculum lucidum, qui est in corde illius Filius meus Christus Jesus, leo fortissimus, veluti speculum piae et splendidae dilectionis conclusum. Quod autem a collo suo gestat velut serpentem pallidi coloris in torta flexura virgulae ad pectus etiam ipsius dependentem: hoc est quod quasi colla fortissima scilicet patientiam idem Filius meus prudentissimus in pallore angustiatae carnis sustinuit flexuram poenarum cum exaltatione crucis in medicamento videlicet omnium vulnerum quod largitas per coelestem amorem pectori suo imprimit illud frequenter inspiciens in mentibus hominum, sicut etiam in praedictis verbis exhortationis suae fatetur.
Tertia autem imago quae a sinistris ejus est, declarat pietatem nullo modo habentem odium aut invidiam, aut ullam foeditatem hominis, sed semper gaudentem et amplectentem prosperitatem omnium hominum, cujus viriditate et largitatis unctione abstinentia, sinistrae parti diabolicae sufflationis resistit, quoniam pietas est plenum opus abstinentiae in signifera pugna per quam semper victrix existit. Unde etiam tunica simili hyacintho rubri coloris induitur, quia splendidissimo opere sub quo pulcherrima sustentatione sanguineae contrarietates latent, omnes scilicet injurias pati, post passionem Filii mei per ipsius exemplum circumdata est. Quod vero ad pectus ipsius apparet angelus ex utroque latere suo alam unam habens, hoc est ut homo in cognitione sua semper angelicum ordinem imitetur, unamquamque Dei ordinationem diligendo, cum ex utraque parte sui tam prosperarum quam contrariarum rerum in singulis et geminis alis videlicet in uno Deo per geminam virtutem non elatus supra modum in bonis, nec omnino prostratus in malis se elevat ad volandum quod est Deum in puritate cordis aspicere, sic sursum tendendo et non ad terram se dijiciendo. Quapropter etiam ala dextera ad dexterum humerum ejusdem imaginis extenditur, quoniam prosperitas hominis in dextra salvationis animarum ad auxilium pietatis porrigitur, cum Filius meus hominem reportavit in patriam. Et ala sinistra tendit ad sinistrum humerum illius, quia in sinistra contrarietatis diabolicarum insidiarum fidelis homo volatilem pennam, per quam abjiciat opera tenebrarum sursum extendit ad refugium Filii mei, per quem fortis contra omnem adversitatem existit, imitans vitam justorum, ut etiam virtus haec in dictis suis declarat, quomodo supra ostensum est.
Imago quoque quae est media trium inferiorum praetendit veritatem, quia post abstinentiam et illi cohaerentes virtutes surgit veritas in omnibus causis, cum sibi astantibus imaginibus, veluti turris et tutamen earum existens, videlicet forte praesidium designans, quasi in medio virtutum sanctam Trinitatem in occasu Judaicae consuetudinis et in ortu verae fidei praefigurantium. Super cujus dextrum humerum candidissima columba stat spirans ore suo in dextram aurem illius: quod est in superiore parte dextrae, scilicet beati reditus per incarnationem Filii Dei ad vitam apparens admirabilis virtus Spiritus sancti, qui spiravit tactu suo in dextrum auditum, id est in corda credulorum hominum ut intelligant quid Deus in sua divina potentia sit. Quod autem in pectore ipsius monstruosum et informe caput hominis apparet: hoc est quod Deus in cordibus electorum suorum miserias et persecutiones principum esse permittit, sicut et Filius ejus pati voluit a principibus sacerdotum. Et quoniam Deus est in corde fidelis hominis, ideo debet et ipse homo pro Dei amore patienter sufferre Dei persecutionem, atque quia mors in casu diaboli erecta est, idcirco oportet et fidelem hominem adversus diabolicas nequitias multa certamina in diversis aerumnis sustinere, quae saepe ipsius corpori laboriosae et contrariae sunt, quoniam homini adhaeret: quod idem antiquus serpens semper persequitur. Quid est hoc? Carnis concupiscentia, cui ille malignus hostis in insidiis positus insidiatur. Quod vero jacent sub pedibus ejus quasi species hominum conculcatorum et contritorum ab ipsa: hoc est quod sub vestigiis veritatis, omnes diabolicae falsitates quae in operibus hominum fiunt, ad nihilum deducuntur, ipsa amorem habente aedificationis Ecclesiae cum omnes virtutes manifeste apparent et probantur in veritate, quae ante tempora saeculorum in corde Patris latens, fuit invisibilis, sed in fine temporum visibilis apparens in vera carne Filii Dei. Unde etiam in manibus suis habet chartam expansam et ex una parte, videlicet versus coelum septem lineis inscriptam, quia in omnibus operibus veritatis, est textura expansa per gratiam Dei Christiano populo constitutae legis, et ex parte coelestium desideriorum aperto cultu tenenda et ex parte carnalium cupiditatum metuenda, ostendens in se septem dona Spiritus sancti, videlicet inexpugnabile firmamentum contra diabolicas mortis insidias.
Et illam legere vis sed non potes, quoniam, quamvis homo multum desideret scire mysteria et occulta in donis Dei tamen non est ei possibile dum est gravatus mortali corpore intelligere, aut capere quid Deus in mirabilibus suis fieri velit, sed ipse homo amplectatur et comprehendat ea in veritate: videlicet sequendo praecepta Dei, sicut etiam haec eadem virtus in praedictis verbis suis ostendit.
Altera autem imago quae ad dextram ejus est. designat pacem, supernum signum et angelicum consortium habentem, quia in plena viriditate veritatem germinat, quoniam eadem veritas circumdata est eximiis et supernis donis in dextra parte salvationis animarum habens pacem per Filium Dei. Quomodo? Ut scriptum est in angelico carmine, ubi dicitur: Gloria in excelsis Deo et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis . Hoc tale est: In altissimo Deo fulget homo et Deus in homine, quia Filius Dei mirabiliter incarnatus est. Ideoque laudabilis et gloriosus est in coelo Deus, ab omni creatura sua. Unde etiam in terra fit pax salvationis illis hominibus, qui voluntatem Patris cum devotione et fide suscipiunt, quia etiam pax bonae voluntatis est voluntas totius bonitatis Patris, quae Filius ejus est, qui est Deus et homo. Et quomodo est ipse pax?
Ipse est pax hominum, defendens eos ab insidiis antiqui serpentis, qui primus praevaricator exstitit, qui lumen vitae perdidit dejectus in tenebras, quod lumen pax vera, id est verus Dei Filius attulit hominibus: ita quod ipsi facti sunt participes regni Dei in beato loco quem perdidit diabolus. Et ut vides praedicta virtus faciem habet angelicam, quoniam ipsa fugit ab omni malo in intentione sancta, quasi in facie sua Deum aspiciens cum angelico desiderio. Unde etiam ex utroque latere suo volatilem alam unam habet, quoniam in utraque parte tranquillae, scilicet et turbidae ostensionis, sursum ad Deum tendit non faciens terrorem nec amaritudinem, sed semper in prosperitate placida existens unum Deum in unanimitate duarum alarum comprehendit, quia nulla tempestate instabilitatis nec in bono nec in malo eversa, tantum in tranquillitate persistit. Et in specie hominis ut caeterae virtutes apparet, quia per Filium Dei mirifice claruit, cum etiam omnes virtutes per illam in hominibus probantur, ita quod nullo modo contentionem aut rixam quaerit, sed semper in lenitate, sic se diabolicae pugnae opponens ut etiam supra in verbis locutionis ejus manifestatur.
Sed tertia imago quae stat ad sinistram ejus, indicat beatitudinem aeternam vitam appetentem, per cujus fidelitatem et intimam lenitatem, veritas a sinistris omni fallaciae serpentinae persuasionis hominem decipientes ipsi consentientem contradicit, quia beatitudo est invicta securitas verae claritatis in qua ipsa infelicitatem mortis non timet. Propter quod etiam induitur tunica alba, viridi colore distincta, quoniam circumdata est fidelibus operibus in coelesti desiderio albescentibus, atque multimodis donis in viriditate Spiritus sancti virentibus decoratis. Quod autem habet in manibus suis modicum vasculum palli splendoris: hoc est quod in opere suo demonstrat qualiter in parvo retentaculo, id est in contrito secreto cordis sui, homo Deum per fidem apprehendat, in pallore tamen fragilitatis humanae carnis, quia fides etiam in ipsa mortali vita pure colenda est, ut miseria hominis non deserit. Unde etiam multam lucem ut fulgur ex se reddit, ita quod illa lux in faciem et circa collum ipsius imaginis luceat, quoniam cognitio aeterni luminis et in timore et in dilectione Dei diffunditur, videlicet tendens de interiori corde hominis usque ad faciem, id est usque ad inceptionem recti operis, in bono exemplo intentionem suam manifestantis, et circa collum quod est postea ubique prudenter fortitudinem comprehendentis in completo opere, cum illud in homine ante Deum praeclarius sole fulget per beatitudinem, sicut etiam in praedicta manifestatione ejusdem virginis declaratur.
Imago vero quae in fine muri super lapidem sedet, praetendit discretionem, quia ipsa in consummatione antiquae observationis in Christo requiescens, pleniter apparuit, solertissima existens cribratrix omnium rerum, tenens scilicet quod tenendum est et abscindens quod abscindendum est, et triticum a lolio separetur. Et induta est tunica subnigra, quoniam circumdata est mortificatione carnis, abjiciens levitatem totius vanitatis. Quod autem in dextro humero suo habet modicam crucem imposita imagine Jesu Christi: hoc est quod eadem virtus radicem posuit in dextra parte potentiae fortitudinis Dei, cum Deus omnipotens misit Filium suum mirabiliter incarnari et humiliter pati cujus dilectioni conjuncta est discretio, quoniam ab ipsa manifestata est, ut per eam omnis justitia discernatur. Et ut Deus est dispensator convenientis staturae hominis, ita est discretio imitatrix illius in officio suo, opera sua videlicet adimplens in dispensatore cruxifixo Filio Dei, cum ipsa in utraque dignitate est divinitatis scilicet et humanitatis. Quae hac et illac versatur, quia in comprehensione latitudinis per significationem sanctae crucis circuitum inter bonos et malos habet. Quod vero quasi ex nubibus effulget in pectus ejus quidam splendor mirae claritatis: hoc est quod de misericordia Dei quasi de nube clarissima, accensio divinae pietatis aspiratur in mentes hominum, discretionem in eis faciens, eosque illuminans. Unde etiam a se in multos radios divisus est ut splendor solis a se dividitur, cum per parva et multa foramina alicujus rei fulget, quoniam Spiritus sanctus in superna virtute diversos radios donorum suorum dividens hominibus, eos scilicet lucidiores sole et ineffabiliter discretos in humilibus cavernis, id est in perspicacibus visibus animarum fidelium suorum diffundit, illustrans sensus et mentes eorum, ita ut acutissime in quibusque causis intelligant quod eis apte in Deo faciendum sit. Sed quod in dextera manu modicum lignum in modum flabelli habet: hoc est quod discretio in dextra parte salvationis animarum, opus suum per donum Spiritus sancti in hominibus quasi in ligno fragilis carnis semper considerat, hoc signum tamen in se habentis, ut a se per divinum auxilium diversas muscas diabolicarum videlicet persuasionum abigat, ne per eas in diversas vanitates dispergatur.
Propter quod etiam ex ejus summitate tres ramusculi miro modo cum flore pullulant, ut fideles homines super omnia et in omnibus sanctam Trinitatem in mirabilibus suis semper florentem, fideliter credant in unitate divinitatis gloriosissimae regnante, non temere in se ipsis coelestia secreta examinantes; sed sicut Deus omnia opera sua in diversis creaturis suis juste discrete disponit; sic etiam ipsi homines per vim discretionis cuncta facta sua bene et recte dispensent. Quod autem habet in gremio suo minutissimos lapillos omnium gemmarum, quos multa sollicitudine et diligentia considerat veluti mercator res suas diligenter considerare solet: hoc est quod ipsa in sinu mentium hominum, omne quod aptum et conveniens est in minutissimis consiliis et artibus eorum, continet quasi in gemmis virtutum unamquamque justitiam a Deo constitutam cauta et diligenti examinatione perquirens, ut congrue et juste in omnibus rebus procedat in cordibus hominum propter mercedem operis acutissime considerans, ubi est remuneratio in Deo, ut etiam in verbis suis quomodo praemonstratum est propalat.
Illa autem imago quae in fine stat super murum, significat salvationem animarum, quoniam ipsa in occasu veteris duritiae effulsit in culmine auctoritatis novae gratiae: ita quod quasi fundamentum ejus existat discretio, cum qua et super quam apparet eadem salvatio animarum, orta in Filio Dei cum natus est ex Virgine pro salute hominum. Et nudum caput et nigros ac crispos crines habet, quia nuda est a servitute subjectionis liberae scilicet dignitatis manens, quoniam Filio Dei aperte adhaeret, a quo etiam clementer suscitata est, nigredinem tamen patiens capillorum, quoniam in Judaica plebe offuscata apparebat, non habente veram claritatem, sed multiplicem diversitatem, quasi crispam comam diversarum observationum. Habet quoque faciem obscuram; quoniam ante incarnationem Filii Dei, in umbra mortis non visa est retinere felicitatem aeternae salutis. Unde etiam induta est varia tunica, plurimo colore intexta, quoniam in veteri populo multis modis cricumdabatur varietate operum, immista diversitate multorum vitiorum. Sed quod vides quomodo tunicam et calceamenta sua exuit stans nuda: hoc est quod in passione Filii mei, morte abstersa cum etiam post adventum Spiritus sancti sonus et verba apostolorum emissa sunt in mundum, excitata est in salvatione animarum, ita quod ipsa spernens mala opera, et abjiciens contraria vestigia exuta est, fortiter denudata diabolica magistratione intra se ipsam sic dicens: O tu, turpissime diabole, nunquam relinqueres me, si non redempta essem in sanguine Agni. Nam in lacu inferni voluisti retinere me, sed nunc gratia Dei liberata sum. Et sic crines ac facies ejus resplendent in pulchritudine albedinis et novitatis, ut jam nati infantis, quia post incarnationem Filii mei crevit multus populus in figura criminum illius, bene illuminatus in interiore facie animae, adhaerens verae et splendidae justitiae, ita quod exquirebat felicitatem aeternam, confidens in albedine vitae et in liberatione fidelium membrorum Christo capiti suo adhaerentium per novam regenerationem, et per veram infantiae innocentiam salutari in vita coelesti, atque per totum corpus suum effulget ut purus et lucidus splendor illucet in claritatem, quoniam ipsa quasi per omnia sua membra per fidelem scilicet populum sibi per Filium meum subjectum facta est pura, in columbina simplicitate, clara in lucidissima pulchritudine justitiae Dei. Quod autem vides in pectore ejus splendidissimam crucem cum imagine Christi Jesu, super arbusculam inter duos flores lilii et rosae stantem positam, qui se sursum ad eamdem crucem aliquantulum incurvant: hoc est quod eadem virtus facta est credentium populorum forte praecordium in passione Jesu Salvatoris, qui martyrio suo in vestigiis boni et recti exempli sui, arborem mortis et perditionis Adae depressit atque contrivit, adversus quam etiam duo Testamenta.
scilicet Vetus in candore et Novum in rubore illi repugnantia per dispositionem Dei procedebant, se in altitudine spiritualis intellectus ad passionem ejusdem pii et nobilissimi Redemptoris, atque ad omnem justitiam ejus a perditione mortis reflectentia. Unde vides etiam quod exutam tunicam atque calceamenta sua fortiter excutit, ita quod pulvis multus ab eis excutiatur, quia salvatio animarum ostendit in novis et justis operibus hominum, abstractam tunicam prioris consuetudinis et omnium vitiorum veterum delictorum, atque abjectum malum exemplum transgressionis Adae, fortissima examinatione ea discutiens atque contemnens, et pulverem vanae gloriae aliorumque peccatorum a se projiciens, sicut etiam superius in prolocutione sua de se ipso confitetur. Qui autem acutas aures interioris intellectus habet: hic in ardenti amore speculi mei ad verba haec anhelet, et ea in conscientia animi sui conscribat.
Scivias (Know the Ways of the Lord) companion
Keep Hildegard in your mornings
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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.
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