Visio Octava
The Shadowed Column of the Incarnation
The visionary sees a shadowed column representing the humanity of the incarnate Son of God, accompanied by seven virtues that labor to build the Church.
Then, in the southern part of the stone wall of the building I had been shown, beyond the aforementioned column of the true Trinity, I saw another column, large and shadowed, appearing both inside and outside the building; it looked so dark to my eyes that I couldn't make out its size or its height. Between this column and the column of the true Trinity, there was a gap three cubits long, empty and without a wall, as I had shown before, with only the foundation laid there. This shadowed column stood in that same building, in the place where I had previously seen from above—in the heavenly mysteries before God—that great, square, and brilliantly white splendor. It was revealed to me in a great mystery as a sign of the secret of the heavenly Creator, and within it another splendor shone like the dawn, holding the airy brightness of a purple light in the heights, through which the mystery of the incarnate Son of God had been shown to me in a mystical revelation. On this column, there was a way up like a ladder from the bottom to the top, where I saw all the virtues of God going up and down, burdened with stones to do their work, intently focused on finishing that same task. And I heard that bright one who sat on the throne saying, "These are the strongest workers of God." But among these virtues, I saw seven in particular, and I studied their forms and habits most diligently. There was such a likeness among them that all of them, like the other virtues I mentioned above, were dressed as if in silk garments. Yet they all walked with white hair, their heads uncovered, and without cloaks, except for the first, who was veiled on her head in the manner of a woman and dressed in something like a chasuble as clear as crystal, and except for the second, who had black hair, and except for the third, who appeared unlike a human form. The first, fourth, and fifth were also dressed in white tunics. They all wore white shoes, except for the third, who didn't appear in human form as mentioned, and the fourth, who wore crystal shoes that shone marvelously. This, however, was the difference among them. The first image wore a golden crown on its head with three tall branches, and it shone with a rich display of green and red precious stones, along with white berries. On its chest, however, it held a perfectly clear mirror, in which the image of the incarnate Son of God appeared with wondrous clarity. And it said: "I am the pillar of humble minds and the destroyer of proud hearts." I began in the lowest place and ascended to the heights of heaven; Lucifer lifted himself up above himself, and he fell down beneath himself. Whoever wants to imitate me and desires to be my child—if they long to embrace me as their mother and have my work perfected in them—let them touch the foundation and gently ascend upward to the heights. What does this mean? One should first look at the worthlessness of one's own flesh; then, with a gentle and calm spirit, progress step by step from virtue to virtue, because whoever first grabs for the highest branch of the tree to climb it most often falls in a sudden tumble. But for the one who wants to ascend and begins from the root, it isn't so easy to fall, provided they walk carefully. But the second one looked entirely like a sky-blue hyacinth, both in its form and its tunic. Two sashes, wonderfully woven and adorned with gold and gems in an inestimable way, were attached to that same tunic, so that one sash hung down over each shoulder of the figure, reaching all the way to its feet, both in front and behind. And it said: 'I was provoked to indignation in heaven when Lucifer consumed himself with hatred and pride.' But oh, the humility! It refused to tolerate this. Because of this, he was cast down in a great ruin; but once man was formed, the Son of God—that most noble grain and most sweet sprout—was born as a man for the sake of humanity at the end of time. And because Lucifer wanted to tear my garment and my integrity, I appeared as the most brilliant splendor in God and in man. But now the blind and the dead call my equals 'brothels,' 'prostitutes,' and 'incestuous.' But just as it's impossible for mud to touch the heavens, it's just as impossible for this filth to touch my will. I'll therefore fashion wings for myself out of other virtues, with which I can cast off these useless things that Lucifer has scattered throughout the world. O virtues, where is Lucifer? He is in hell. Let us all rise, then, drawing near to the true light, and let us build the greatest and strongest towers in our provinces, so that when the final day comes, we may bring forth abundant fruit in both spiritual and carnal matters. And when the fullness of the nations has entered in, then we too will be perfected on earth and in heaven. O most foul Lucifer, what good did your sudden rashness do you? In your original splendor, when you were created by God, you wanted to trample me and cast me down from heaven through your madness and revelry; but you fell into the abyss, while I remained in heaven, later descending to earth in the incarnate Son of God. Through me, the multitude of the faithful is perfected, armed with a thousand just and good skills—skills that you would have most gladly snatched away from them long ago, if you could.
The Seven Virtues and the Call to Humility
The vision details the specific forms and messages of the seven virtues, emphasizing humility, fear of God, and the purity of the soul.
O Humility, you lift up those who are crushed and broken, as if from the dust, to the very stars! O Humility, you are the most glorious queen of virtues; what a strong and invincible protection you are everywhere for your own. No one falls who loves you with a pure heart. Just as I am a very useful and highly desirable defense for my own, so are you with me; for being so slender and subtle, I seek out the tiniest openings of those who cherish me, and I pass through them with the greatest precision. I saw a third figure in the same form as I had seen in the previous vision, though it was taller and longer in stature than the other virtues; it was unlike any human shape, covered all over with many eyes, living entirely in wisdom, and clothed in a kind of shadowy garment through which its eyes were looking out, while it trembled with great fear before the aforementioned shining one who sat upon the throne. And it said: 'Woe to those miserable sinners who do not fear God, but treat Him as if He were a deceiver. Who can escape the fear of an incomprehensible God, when He allows the guilty to perish who do not cast away their evil from themselves?' Therefore, I will fear the Lord God greatly, and more than greatly. Who will help me before the true God? Who will deliver me in His terrible judgment? No one at all, except that same just God. Him, therefore, I will seek; to Him I will always flee. The fourth figure wore a snowy band around its neck, and its hands and feet were bound with a white cord. And it said: "I can't run according to my own will along the way of the world, nor through the contagions of human will; so I want to return to God, the Father of all, whom the devil rejected and whom he refused to obey." The fifth also wore a red collar around her neck and said: "God is one in three persons, to be worshipped as having one essence and equal glory; therefore, I will place my faith and trust in the Lord, and I will never erase his name from my heart." The sixth was wearing a pale-colored tunic. The cross of the passion of the crucified Son of God appeared before her in the air; she lifted her eyes and hands toward it with great devotion and said, "O merciful Father, spare those who sin, for you haven't abandoned the exiles, but have lifted them onto your shoulders." Therefore, we no longer perish, for we have hope in you. But she was clothed in a seventh tunic, clearer and purer than crystal; it shone with such brightness that it sparkled like water when the sun pours down upon it. Above her head, a dove stood with its wings spread as if ready to fly, turned toward her face. Also, as if in a mirror within her own womb, a most radiant child appeared, upon whose forehead was inscribed: Innocence. She held a royal scepter in her right hand, while her left hand rested against her breast. And she said: I am free and unbound. I have passed through the purest fountain—that is, the most sweet and most loving Son of God. I have passed through him, and from him I have gone forth. But I trample upon the most arrogant devil, who has no power to bind me.
The Grace of God and the Struggle for Repentance
The vision reveals the image of Grace, which calls sinners to repentance and warns against the pride that leads to despair.
He is cut off from me, because I always remain in the Father above. But on the top of the aforementioned shadowed column, I saw another most beautiful image, standing bareheaded, with curly, dark hair, and a manly face of such burning brightness that I could not look at it clearly, as one would look at a human face. It was wearing a tunic of purple and dark color, and over both shoulders of this same image, a single sash of reddish-saffron had been woven, extending in front and behind all the way to its feet. Around its neck, however, it wore an episcopal pallium, adorned in a wonderful way with gold and most precious gems. A most brilliant splendor had surrounded it everywhere, so that I could not see it anywhere except from the front—that is, from the head down to its feet. Its arms, hands, and feet, however, were hidden from my sight. But that same splendor which had surrounded it was full of eyes on every side, and it was entirely alive, spreading itself here and there just as a cloud is wont to drift, so that it made itself now wider and now more constricted. And the same image cried out with a loud voice into the world, saying to humanity: 'I am the grace of God, my little children; therefore listen and understand me, because I give the light of the soul to those who understand me in this admonition; and I keep them in this same blessedness, so that they do not return to iniquity.' And because they haven't looked down on me, I want to touch them with my warning so they might begin to do good; I speak directly to those who seek me in simplicity and purity of heart. And while I offer the pearls of goodness, warning and exhorting the person—that is, while a person's intellect is touched by me, I am the beginning for them; that is, while a person's senses understand my warning through hearing, so that the same sense is led to consent to my touch in their soul—then I am in them the beginning of the good they must begin, with me as their helper. Right then and there, a struggle begins over whether what I give is carried out or not. How? I want it understood this way: because when I warn a person in such a way that they begin to groan and weep over their sins, then if their will agrees to the warning I gave them, since the person feels the change of their soul in their own sense—just as they lift their eyes to see, and their ears to hear, and their mouth to speak, and their hands to touch, and their feet to walk according to the desire that is in their soul—if the will then accepts my warning, it immediately lifts itself up, presses down, and overcomes the senses, so that the sense learns things unknown in its own habit. How? It changes itself, because whoever it is must follow the will that is above them. It is subject to the will in service because it is inferior, and it will follow it whether it wants to or not. For I provide the good at the beginning, I warm it within the soul, and I grant the will the work to carry it out; I do this through admonition, exhortation, and the warmth of the gift of the Holy Spirit's inspiration. But if the will resists these gifts, then what I have mentioned comes to nothing. Therefore, at the very time when a person can receive the fire of these gifts in the signs of the proclamation that arises from me, they should hasten toward it, and the will should come even more quickly into the good and complete this work in clarity. A person has the knowledge of good and evil for this reason: so that they may understand God all the better in all their works by avoiding evil and doing good; in this way they worship God with fear, embracing Him in perfect charity. How? It happens when they open the interior eyes of the spirit to the good, and when they deny and cast off the evil in their outward life that they were capable of committing. For this reason, the earthly creature is also placed under their authority, so that they may understand and love God all the more, and perform the task of their own knowledge with the intellect, by which they fear and love the Almighty, who has assigned to them the great honor of serving many creatures. So, for these reasons, a person pours out what they knowingly grasp in their intellect: discernment among creatures, so that they know what is lovable and what is hateful, what is useful and what is useless. And because even after this, all their works are contained within the faith by which they understand God—so that they are pleasing to God and His angels—I sometimes touch the person in their soul and urge them to begin to do justice and avoid evil. But they disdain me, thinking they can do whatever they want, and they set aside a time for repentance until the moment when their body, in the simplicity of a cold old age, agrees with them, and when, because of their advanced years, it is a burden to them to sin any longer. Then I admonish and urge him again toward the good, and that he should resist his own spirit. While he neglects me, he is often led through many adversities—such as in wealth and other similar things he suffers—to the point where he must do good almost against his will and against himself; and he finds little pleasure in that exasperated state of mind in fulfilling what he had previously proposed to accomplish in a prosperous time, when it seemed to him that nothing could stand against him, according to how he had planned for so long to do things just as he pleased. If this person receives me with doubt, I still don't want to abandon him, because even though he receives me this way, he hasn't entirely despised me. And so, I haven't labored in vain within him. It is no weariness to me to touch ulcerous wounds surrounded by countless worms of vice, the stench of evil rumors and infamy, and the languor of long-standing, wicked sins. I won't despise them; rather, I will gently handle them when I begin to draw out the consuming bruise of malice—that is, when I look upon and touch those wounds with the gentle warmth of the Holy Spirit's inspiration. But often, when such pain is made chronic by old habits, the sin begins to burn hotly in the person's mind; and when wounds of sin arise in this pain, they become a congealed mass of filth, like a ball and heap rising from the great stench of worms and the fermentation of matted mud, from which are born the deadly poisons of scorpions, serpents, frogs, and other similar venomous vermin; and when they are hardened like stone into such a hardness that no one thinks to break it—which are the unbearable burdens of crimes in those people who are weighed down by heavier burdens—what then of these? Then, truly, people cannot trust, because of their own lack of faith, that it is possible for this person to turn to God from his wickedness, because they see him as being like food for the devil. Yet I do not want to desert that person, but I want to be there for him in the struggle with my help and battle, where I first gently begin to touch the hardness of that stone of sin; for it is difficult to break him in such great stench of horrible crimes, which are the aforementioned causes of great filth and wickedness, and which are like a rotting corpse and food for the devil, which he has most certainly swallowed into his own belly. How? Scripture speaks of the Son of God saying, "My food is to do the will of my Father," and conversely, it is the devil's food to drag a person down into death, through which he breathes such poisons—as has been said—into those who consent to him in their own will and turn away after him. This is the devil's constant desire and pursuit, because all evil arises from this filth. Yet many of these people understand me. How? When I first touch them, a person says to himself, "What is happening to me?" "I don't know, and I don't know how to think of anything good." And again, in his ignorance, he sighs and says, "Woe to me, a sinner." But he feels nothing more, because he’s weighed down by the burden of his sins, and because the darkness of iniquity has troubled him. Then I touch his wounds again. And because he was previously warned by me, he understands me better now, and looking into himself, he says again: Woe to me, what shall I do? I don’t know, nor can I figure out what will become of me because of my many sins. Ah! Where shall I turn, or to whom shall I run for help, so that I might cover my most shameful crimes and wash them away in penance? So he looks into himself again with the same struggle he once had in his zeal for sinning; and he turns himself toward true penance with the same desire he once had for his sins. And because that man has now awakened from the sleep of death—which he had chosen for himself instead of life—because of my warning, he no longer wants to sin in thought, word, or deed as he once ardently did, but instead he most diligently lifts himself up to me in the strongest penance. Because of this, I soon take him in completely, and from then on I let him go as if he were free, so he won't have to endure such heavy harassment from those cravings I mentioned—the kind my dearest children suffer, whom I warn with the many miseries of the fiery arrows of diabolical suggestions—because he has no need of those things at that point. For he will always feel sorrow for his past sins, to the point that, angry with himself, he will perform such sharp penance that he will even consider himself unworthy to be called a human being. But this victory is found in the stench of the filth of those people whom I do not wish to cast away, since, after their sins, they finally sought me out. For those who do not reject me, but instead accept my warning and seek me out with devotion, I am ready to do whatever they wish; but those who despise and reject me are dead, and I do not know them. Many people, even when they feel my presence and realize their minds have been touched by my warning, still run from me because of the bad habits of the sins they’ve swallowed through their own will, consent, and actions. Because of this, they are considered nothing and empty before God, since they refuse to acknowledge what they are capable of doing when they are touched by me. But I do not want to be involved in the filth of those sinners who refuse to accept my warning; they don't want to cleanse themselves through that exhortation so they might turn away from their sins, nor do they desire to eat the food that is the Scripture of the Gospel—by which all the faithful ought to be satisfied—nor do they want to taste its flavor as it has been given to them. Instead, they rush to flee from the grace of God, because they refuse to see, hear, or even think about what they must do when they are called by the warning of the good. They flee from good advice like a worm that crawls into the earth, hiding itself from all the beauty of this world. These most wicked people do the same thing: they flee the commandments of God and pollute themselves in the muck they wallow in, leading to death, as they hide in their own malice, refusing to come out of the stench of their wickedness into the light. Those who are like this do not belong to me. For I do not want to be divided here and there in the pollution of mud. How? I want to be with those who understand me through pure repentance; I even join myself to human corruptibility there, because I want to purify it. But I cast away those who refuse to accept me, for I don't want to be with them. I have no part in them because they remain in the realm of foolish ignorance, refusing to understand me, and because I don't want to be involved in work that belongs to the hardening of perversity—which leads to death. Those who despise me in this way imitate the fallen angel who, while he could see God, refused to look upon Him so that he might humbly acknowledge Him. For that reason, he suddenly fled from all heavenly glory and fell into death, because he wanted to be made equal to God in honor. These people despise me because they do evil work, pursuing the illicit desires of the flesh for their own pleasure. And because they despise me, they do what they wrongly desire. They scorn God, and so they also neglect His command. Therefore, in my indignation, they are very often permitted to follow their own minds and do whatever they want. The life of eternal happiness flees from them as if they were nothing, and they often fail in both the prosperity of this present life and the future one, because they are hard and unmoved toward the happiness of the good. I abandon the stubborn sinner who persists in his evil ways, but I give life to the one who looks into himself and, in fear of me, turns back to me with pure repentance. For I am a pillar of firm stability, and I never abandon those who seek me, since whoever grasps me and joins themselves to me intimately and faithfully will never fall into ruin. But those who keep me out of their minds and, in their pride, exalt themselves above me—that is, those who trust more in themselves than in me and therefore refuse to place their trust in me because they count the grace of God as nothing—because I am in their hearts like a whirlwind, they hold me in negligent contempt and, with arrogant pride, fall into despair. They do this not because of the weight of the sins they have committed, but because of the pride with which they mock me, saying, 'What is the grace of God?' I will strike such a person down, and in my judgment, I refuse to lift them up, because they are dead to eternal happiness. Yet even those who don't trust that they can rise from the weight of their sins, and who thus reject the almighty God and his grace—despairing in their excessive sadness as if they couldn't be saved from the enormity of their crimes—they fail, are cast away from me, and fall bitterly into death, dying in the lower hell in the torment of eternal death.
The Beloved Children and the Path of Virtue
God addresses the faithful, encouraging them to embrace the life of virtue and warning against the vanity of the world.
Now I will also speak of my beloved children who receive me with an open mind, a willing heart, and a sharp intellect, and who touch me with their groaning and weeping, welcoming me with joy and embracing me with their whole intention. O my flowers, who, when they feel me present, suddenly rejoice in me, and I in them. They are sweeter and more delightful to me than the love of the most precious stone, and more than the shining, precious pearls in the minds of those who embrace them with ardent desire. They are also, to me, most noble squared stones; because they are always lovable in my sight, and I want to constantly polish and purify them so they may be rightly and fittingly placed in the heavenly Jerusalem, because they always feast with me in their minds with a good will, and they cannot be satisfied by my justice alone. For as soon as they feel my touch, they hasten to me, like a deer to a spring of water. But I often leave them, so that it seems to them as if they are without help; I do this so that their outer self isn't puffed up with pride. Then they weep and mourn, thinking that I am offended with them; but this is how I test their faith. Yet I hold them with a strong hand, thus taking away pride from them, and not allowing them to know what they are in their hidden good deeds, because I want to produce manifold fruits in them: through their grieving souls and their hearts wounded in sorrow. I often allow the devil's suggestions to attack them with fiery arrows—the breath of impurity, the heat of burning lust—which wound their bodies in the weakness of their fragile nature. I allow this so that they might be so strongly imbued with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that they become remarkable heralds and burn with virtue. They will indeed be in the testing-fire like gold in a furnace—proven through mockery and indignation—to the point that they are counted as nothing, often have their possessions stripped away by predators, and are torn apart by the strife of the crowd in times of adversity, just as lambs are by wolves. And just as sheep, while a wolf scatters and disperses them, do not actually die, so it is with these people: they do not die in the death of the soul, but rather live all the more, purified in their adversities. For a good tree is watered, pruned, and dug around so that it may bear fruit; and caterpillars are removed from it so they don't eat away at its fruit. What does this mean? A good person shouldn't be hard—that is, ill-willed toward God's justice—but gentle and flexible toward every good, cutting away evil from himself, examining his own deeds, and removing from himself the harassment of the enemies who hurt him. Yet, even before a person senses me in his thoughts or his intellect understands me within him, I am his head and the root of his fruitfulness, and the strength and fortitude of the firm city that is built upon the solid rock. Let every faithful person, therefore, hear me saying to him: O man, is it fitting and proper for a rational human to be without intellect, like an irrational beast that acts only according to what its own lust craves? How miserable are those people who refuse to acknowledge the great glory that God has given them, created in his own image. But it’s impossible that they are free to do whatever evil they desire, as if they had a right to it by inheritance or by the very nature of their bodies, all while refusing to consider the honor they actually possess: the capacity to perform good works. God has established all things justly in his own order. And who can oppose him? What does this mean? It refers to the comparison where someone might be likened to God’s order through a similar example, whether in wisdom or in discernment regarding his affairs. And why is it that they refuse to cast off the power given to them—the power, that is, to do both good and evil? How so? For when I prompt them with my touch, those who then grasp me as soon as they feel I am present are able, with my help, to bring the good work they desire to completion. But those who despise me fall into their own weakness and into evil. Yet perverse people try to excuse themselves, claiming they cannot do good works, and they do this because their exterior self is exercising its own will in the name of freedom. Now, my dearest children—you who are sweeter to me in fragrance than all spices—listen to me as I warn you. While you have time to do good and avoid evil, worship your God with sincere devotion. O you again, my sweetest children, who rise like the dawn—you who ought to burn in charity like the sun in its rays—run and hurry, my dearest ones, along the way of truth, which is the light of the world, which is Jesus Christ the Son of God, who redeemed us with his blood at the end of time, so that after your passing you may be able to reach him with joy. And again I heard him who sat on the throne saying to me: 'Those who desire heavenly things must believe faithfully and not stubbornly examine how the Son of God, sent into the world by the Father, was born of a virgin; for human reason, weighed down by a fragile and mortal body and the heavy burden of sins, will not be able to discern the secrets of God any more than the Holy Spirit chooses to reveal to whom he wills.'
Theological Interpretation of the Vision
The vision concludes with a detailed mystical and theological explanation of the symbols, including the column, the virtues, and the nature of divine grace.
Therefore, through a mystical mystery, this column you see in the south—on the stone wall of the building shown to you, beyond the previously mentioned column of the true Trinity—signifies the humanity of the Savior. Conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the most sweet Virgin, He is the Son of the Most High, existing as a most strong column of holiness that sustains the entire building of the Church. His humanity appears in the burning faith of the faithful—those living stones who work most strongly in the goodness of the heavenly Father—and is made manifest after the declaration of the Trinity. For once the Trinity has been confirmed to the faithful in one God, it is also believed that the incarnate Word of God is to be worshipped as true God, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, in the unity of the Godhead in one and true God. This is a great column, appearing shadowed both inside and outside the same building; for the holiness of the true Incarnation is so great and beyond all estimation that it is shadowed to human minds, such that it cannot be considered except to the extent that it is possible to look upon it through faith, to be known by those who labor inwardly in divine worship through faith and works, and to be made manifest to those who are free from outward concerns through report and voice. It appears so shadowed to your sight that you cannot know its greatness or its height, because my Son appeared among men in the mortality of the flesh—since He was to undergo death for the people—existing as a mortal who was, so to speak, shadowed, yet without any stain of sin. Nevertheless, His true Incarnation, in the mystical greatness of the secrets of God, is incomprehensible, and in the excellence of divine power, it is beyond estimation, exceeding all the understanding of the human intellect. But the fact that there is a gap three cubits long between this column and the column of the true Trinity—a gap that is empty and without a wall, as was shown to you earlier—means that the incarnate Son of God, who is true God with the Father and the Holy Spirit, still lies hidden in His members, who are the faithful people destined to be born until the end of the world, having become members of their Head through living works, just as you were taught earlier in a wonderful and symbolic way. As for how many they will be and what they will be like in the long stretch of coming ages—that is, in the mystery of the ineffable Trinity, they will worship that same Trinity in the unity of the Godhead with faithful devotion—their place (as those who are yet to be born) is empty, since it is without the built wall of good works. Yet the foundation is already laid there because they are in the presence of God, and because their faith in the salvation they are to receive stands firm. Therefore, a person shouldn't place hope and trust in anything other than God; don't doubt His mercy, but trust in Him, for He is the most solid foundation of the faithful soul. The fact that this shadowy column stands in this very building, in the place where you previously saw that great, square, and most brilliant splendor of whiteness before God in the heavenly mysteries—which was revealed to you in a great mystery, signifying the secret of the supreme Creator—means that the incarnate Son of God fulfilled all his works, which he performed in the world while suffering many injuries, according to the secret will of the Father. What else does that splendor signify—that great one, clearly, in the meaning of the mysteries of God and the four corners? It means that many of those who are born throughout the four corners of the world are destined to come to the knowledge of Christ, and it signifies exceptional whiteness; for no darkness can obscure the most brilliant divinity, where the same secret of the supreme and glorious majesty is typically revealed there in the great depth and mystery of the knowledge of the Creator of all things who created everything, in such a way that no one could assist the Creator in this, nor could anyone resist him by opposing him in this, as he created all things solely by the will of his own goodness through his Word. Hence, another splendor shines within it like the dawn, holding within itself an airy brightness of purple light on high, through which the mystery of the incarnate Son of God was demonstrated to you in a mystical revelation. For in the secret of the most high God, the whiteness of the dawn—that is, of the Virgin Mary—is declared; she carried in her womb the Son of the heavenly and most high Father, who poured out his purple blood, shining with the most brilliant light of salvation, just as the incarnation of that same Son showed you in this secret vision through a mystical overshadowing. The fact that this column is built like a ladder, with steps from the bottom to the very top, means that all virtues were fully at work in the incarnate Son of God. He left behind in himself the footprints of salvation, so that both the small and the great among the faithful can find a place in him that fits them; in him they may set their feet on the ladder of virtues, so they can reach the best places where they must work with virtue. How is that? In the best places of good hearts, virtues gather for their most holy work, so that they may bring the Son of God to perfection in his members, which is what happens in the chosen. And so, he is the example of perfection for all the faithful who are busy with the law of God, so that they may move from good to better, knowing the manifestation of the true incarnation, where the Son of God was truly shown in the flesh, in whom the most faithful ascent to heavenly things is found; this is why you see all the virtues of God going here, descending and ascending, burdened with stones for their work, because in the only-begotten Son of God, the most luminous virtues descend as if through his humanity, and tend upward as if through his divinity. They also descend through him to the hearts of the faithful, who, with a good heart, leave behind their own will and make themselves flexible for right actions, just as a worker bends down to lift a stone that he might carry to the building. In him they also ascend, when they offer to God with joy the heavenly works perfected in men, so that the Body of Christ may be brought to completion in his faithful members as quickly as possible. Thus they also carry stones, as it were, to higher places; these are the winged and luminous works that men perform with them for their own protection. Every action offers its wings to God, through which it may lift itself from the filth of the human mind, having also a shining splendor through which it may shine before God, because what flows from the fountain of eternal life cannot be blocked or hidden. For just as a fountain should not be kept hidden, but in the open so that every man who is thirsty may come to it and draw and drink, so the Son of God is not blocked or hidden from his chosen ones. He is manifest, preparing himself for the reward of works, so that he may manifest them with just recompense, which are performed by men for the sake of his will. Therefore, let the faithful person walk in faith toward God and seek His mercy, and it will be given to them. It won't be found by someone who doesn't seek it, just as a spring doesn't flow toward people who merely know about it but don't want to come to it; rather, they must approach it if they desire to draw its water—that is how a person should act. Let them approach God through the law He has established for them, and they will find Him; the bread of life and the water of salvation will be given to them, so that they will no longer suffer hunger or thirst. This is why the aforementioned virtues are intently focused on completing this same work; for they run as eagerly as mountain streams toward the divine work, so that the members of Christ, shining brighter than the sun, may be most nobly and perfectly joined to their Head in clear, luminous achievements. This is also why, as you've heard, they're called the strong workers of God, because they're always energetically engaged in the good works of faithful people. But the fact that you see seven virtues in particular among these, whose forms and habits you also consider as far as you are permitted—this means that among these diligent works, these seven most excellent virtues signify the seven most ardent gifts of the Holy Spirit; for in the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, the most radiant Virgin conceived the Son of God without sin, in the sanctification, that is, of holy virtues, which were openly manifested in that same Only-Begotten of God, illuminating the hearts of the faithful as if in their own form, and expanding themselves in the unity of faith as if in their own habit, just as my servant Isaiah testifies, saying: A shoot shall come out from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise from his root, and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and piety, and the spirit of the fear of the Lord shall fill him. It is like this: the Virgin Mary departed from the constraints of worldly oppression into the sweetness of honest character, just as someone leaves the house where they were confined—not lifting themselves above the house, but walking straight ahead—or just as a stream of wine is pressed from the winepress, not exalting itself above the press, but flowing down steadily into its place. And why a shoot? Because it is not thorny in its character, nor knotted with earthly desires, but smooth—that is, not joined to carnal concupiscence—having risen, that is, from the root of Jesse, which is from him who was as the foundation of the royal lineage from which that undefiled mother was born and proceeded. Hence, from the root of that same shoot, a most sweet fragrance also ascends, which was the complete purity of that same Virgin, reaching toward the highest peak, with the Holy Spirit so irrigating her that from her the nourishing flower was born. How so? Just as a flower is born in a field where no seed has been sown, so the heavenly bread rose in her without the root of male union and without any human burden. It was born only in the sweetness of divinity, untouched by any stain of sin, coming while the twisting serpent knew nothing of it and never even touched it. Hence that flower also secretly deceived him, so that he ascended on high and lifted the human race—conceived in sin—to the heights; the very race that the serpent had previously deceived with fraud and dragged down into perdition with himself. And because this flower was the Son of God, the Spirit of the Lord rested upon him—that is, the spirit of eternal divinity. How so? When humility was exalted in the rising of that flower, pride—which the first woman heeded when she wanted to know more than she should—was struck down in mockery; meanwhile, the second woman submitted herself to the service of God, acknowledging her own smallness and confessing her God in humility. The Holy Spirit rested ardently upon him, in whom lay hidden the chosen charity that saved the lost people, wiping away the crimes and sins of humanity. For the fullness of time was in him, because the living light shone within him; in him, the harmful fruit and the wickedness that followed it withered away, as the medicine for the dead rose up in him, raising the banner that overcame and crushed death. For holiness in him lacked no possibility, since he was conceived without any mixture of sin, unlike what is so often found in those born of men, who come into the world in a variety of many sins. But when that flower gave every inspiration of justice through his works and teaching, he already brought forth fruit in the fullness of the Holy Spirit; for the Son of God himself, clothed in flesh, openly demonstrated in his work what the Holy Spirit had previously moved mystically and, as it were, in secret through his inspiration. This Holy Spirit is described as resting sevenfold upon that flower, because when God created all things through his Word in the Holy Spirit, he rested on the seventh day from all his work. But these same gifts are also doubled in their sign; for body and soul, joined together, must work simultaneously in a twofold love through the anointing of the Holy Spirit, with the fear of the Lord as the only foundation. For he himself, revering charity as if in trembling, designates that the One must be adored above all things. From this, the Spirit of the Lord also rules over the most powerful virtues that shine forth from Him, just as branches grow from a root, since there is one God from whom all good things come, and through whom all good things are wisely arranged. And because the Spirit of the Lord rested upon that flower, the spirit of wisdom also remained upon Him; for great wisdom appeared when God created all things through His Word, and wisdom was poured out into Him, because that same Word was wisdom. But that Word, not yet incarnate, was invisible. Once incarnate, however, it became visible; for the Word that was in the heart of the Father before every creature—through whom all things were made, and without whom nothing was made—shone forth as a flower in time, gleaming in humanity and offering a good understanding to people through its testimonies. What does this mean? Understanding is fittingly joined to wisdom, for since man was created by God in wisdom, he was meant to understand his Creator worthily. Therefore, before the virginal birth, God was to be understood without any doubt. But after the birth, as that flower previously mentioned was brought forth in the flesh, the same flower was to be understood as God and man, though not without wonder. And that understanding, previously invisible, was seen to be visible in the flower, when the flower itself brought forth this intelligible cause: that man, in fact, wisely understands God in His works. How is that? Wisdom is the source of good works when a person worships their God with wisdom. The intellect clings to this, because when a person does good through wisdom, it spreads to others, so they joyfully perceive the good fragrance and sweet taste radiating from it in that person. In this virginal flower, counsel also follows intellect; for a person who possesses intellect needed to be set free by divine counsel. Hence the spirit of counsel and fortitude rested upon Him; for this counsel existed timelessly with the Father, that He would incarnate His Word, fulfilling all His works in time according to the Father's will, and offering obedience through Himself, so that it might shine forth from Him to humanity, so they might learn to imitate Him in their own deeds. While this appeared in the most powerful virtue, rising entirely from divinity, fortitude hid itself within Him, so that He might defeat the devil all the more strongly, the more secretly He had hidden Himself from him through counsel. How is that? Strength is fittingly joined to counsel, since God’s counsel destroyed the devil’s kingdom through the strength of His Son. Hence the same Son of God—that strongest lion—crushed the death of infidelity through the most brilliant light that is faith, because it is a great strength for a person to believe by counsel those things which they cannot see with the eyes of the body. What does this mean? Counsel, through the strength joined to it, pierces the hardness of stony hearts that have become hardened in the habit of wicked ways, passing through such foolish hardness so that the carnal work is cast aside and the work of God is most fittingly accomplished. For this reason, knowledge also accompanies strength in the aforementioned flower, since people arrive at the knowledge of God through His strength, so that they may know Him. This is why the spirit of knowledge and piety also found rest in Him through heavenly sweetness, as He knowingly felt compassion for human misery; He is also the hope through which one enters into salvation, having knowingly wiped away the sin of the world through His death in great piety. What does this mean? Piety is rightly joined to knowledge, because the Son of God knowingly fulfilled His Father’s will in great piety. For the Son alone, born of a virgin, poured out among the peoples the seed of heavenly virtue, so that they might follow the company of the angels, which is the purity of chastity; for this virtue arose in supreme mercy. It happened, in fact, that in the rod coming forth from Jesse, the virtues of this flower might sprout—virtues which the first woman had driven away when she consented to the serpent's counsel, so that in her the whole human race fell, lacking the joy of heavenly brightness, except that the flowering of that rod knowingly lifted it up through mercy into the holiness of salvation. How so? The Holy Spirit inspires the knowledge that clings to the strength that conquers the devil, when God is recognized by faithful people most devoutly in ardent desires and is embraced by the intimate touch of a faithful soul with the deepest longing. But the fear of the Lord also follows mercy in the virginal flower; for when mercy is present in faithful people, they acquire the fear of the Lord to fulfill His commandments. Hence, the fear of the Lord filled that same flower. He had such a fullness of virtues within Him that no empty place was found where deadly pride, the delight of honor, or the violation of the law could have found a seat. Instead, He was entirely full of the fear of the Lord, not seeking another's glory as the first angel and Adam sought, but honoring His Father in every work of His and offering Him worthy obedience. Therefore, the fear of the Lord also holds the beginning of all justice; for He Himself is the end and the beginning of the other virtues, just as the seventh day of rest shows the completion and the origin of created things. How so? Fear shakes and stirs up the trembling that is the root of sprouting, so that fruitful virtues may proceed. And so, this flower is full of the fear of the Lord, because all the seeds of good works cling to it, since it is their very substance; this same flower sprouts the greenness of every virtue, and its fruit is more abundant than all others, so that it might bring all good things to completion, just as Scripture says of him: "As an apple tree among the trees of the woods, so is my beloved among the sons." "I sat down under the shadow of him whom I desired, and his fruit was sweet to my throat." This is what it means: the Son of the Virgin, the sweetest lover of chaste love, whom the faithful soul grasps, desiring to crown her integrity through his most sweet embrace, leaving behind the carnal man and joining herself to Christ, loving him with a most certain bond and looking upon him in the mirror of faith, is the most beautiful fruit of the fruitful tree—that is, the Son of the Virgin coming forth from virginal purity, like an apple from a fruitful blossom, offering food of refreshment to the hungry and the juice of sweetness to the thirsty, and in this way excelling the wild trees, that is, the sons of men who are conceived in sin and live in it, not bearing such fruit as he brought, since he came forth from God bringing the full fruit of the sweetness of life, while others have neither greenness nor fruit from themselves, but only from him. How so? Through his incarnation, he gave salvation to the world, the beloved Son of God appearing among the sons of men who were flourishing and bearing fruit through his fervor, yet they were not as fruitful in such fullness as he was filled, because he was entirely holy, coming forth from God and born of the Virgin. And why beloved? Because he tramples down whatever opposes the faithful soul as she hastens toward heavenly things. And so the holy soul, with the most righteous judgment, calls him beloved: because through the faith of love she leaves herself behind, and in the great struggle against carnal desires she breathes toward him with good will. In the ardor of tearful longing, she rejects herself and clings to him, like a woman to her husband, to whom she is joined with the joy of her own will. And so, when she begins to sigh for Him at the start of preserving her chastity, she says to herself: "I want to strike down carnal pleasure and join myself to Him, under the shadow of whose love I sit, by which He has overshadowed me against the opposing fire in the heat of His own burning desire." How? By keeping an intoxicated zeal for His love, while I suppress the subject of fiery carnal love in the consent of my soul. And for this reason, His sweetest fruit, which I tasted in my soul while sighing for God, is sweeter to me in her than all the sweetness of the flesh that I used to feel in its cravings. And why is it sweet? Because He who was born of a virgin possesses the sweetest flavor and the most powerful ointment, dripping like balsam; He is the resurrection to life in whom the dead have been raised, and He contains the greatest medicine that wiped away the wounds of sins through His incarnation, which is full of holiness and sweetness in every kind of virtue along with virginity. Therefore, O virginity, you who consist of fiery intensity, you most robust sprout that, shining forth from the Star of the Sea, always fights against the most savage darts of the devil and tramples down all the filth of impurity—rejoice in the heavenly harmony, in the hope of the fellowship of the angels. How? The Holy Spirit makes music in the tabernacle of virginity, for she is always pondering the Word of God, burning with love and wondering how she might embrace Christ with every devotion; she forgets the fragile, burning heat of carnal desire in man, clinging instead to the one Man whom sin never touched, and joined to Him without any carnal desire, she flourishes forever with Him in the joy of the royal wedding. Now, since you see a likeness in these virtues—that all of them, like the other virtues shown to you above, are clothed as if in silk garments—this means that in their own order, those lights prepare a holy unanimity in the minds of men; and it also shows how the remaining virtues in God possess the softness of clothing, that is, the gentleness of devotion in the regard of holy souls, while lacking the thorns in the hardness of vices. As for the fact that some walk with white hair, their heads uncovered and without the cloak of mantles, this means that in the bond of the whiteness of innocence, they have no knot of the joining of wicked habits in the members of faithful people, and that they are not surrounded by worldly pursuits, entirely fleeing the shifting nature of vices. But the first is veiled on the head like a woman, and clothed as if in a chasuble, clear as crystal. She bears the bond of subjection, humbly subject to God, crushing every diabolical exaltation through heavenly care, and clinging to the holy head—that is, Christ. She also incites the most humble priest, who is pure and free from all dust of sin, in the most lucid purity of heart, since constrained, humble, and pure priests ought to be supreme priests. The second, however, has black hair, clearly showing that in her head, Christ, she wipes away the blackness of sins in men. The third, however, does not appear in human form, because her ministry is to shake a person so that they are terrified and tremble at the judgment of God. Hence she also lacks a human appearance, because a person often puts God aside and forgets His fear, which she herself refuses to do entirely. The first, fourth, and fifth also are clothed in white tunics, because they are surrounded by the garment of innocence which Adam lost by transgressing the holy command; afterwards, however, in the most white lily of the most flourishing virginity, with the work of simple subjection to God put on, it is recovered for salvation, which shines before God like a brightest star and glows to human eyes. All also have white shoes, except for the third, who does not appear in the likeness of a human; for they themselves are a most beautiful work in people who bring the desires of the flesh to nothing within themselves, following the example of their Savior, who is the most splendid radiance; one of them does not pretend to be human, because she has no regard for any boldness, always anxious and not negligent so that a person who often forgets himself through stubbornness may be reminded, she herself being a dispenser of just admonition so that every faithful person may cautiously look upon the judgment of God, and except for the fourth, who is shod with crystal shoes shining in a wondrous way; for she, constraining herself in her own will, follows the most lucid path of Christ, thus suffocating death even within herself through the fiery ardor of the Holy Spirit. As for the difference between these virtues, it means that although they share a single, unified purpose, they still produce different effects in people. For this reason, the first image also represents humility, which first revealed the Son of God, since God—who holds heaven and earth in His power—did not disdain to send His Son to the earth. Hence, it also wears a golden crown placed upon its head, having three branches rising high; for it excels the other virtues and, gently leading the way, is crowned with a golden crown—that is, the most precious and radiant incarnation of the Savior, who adorned it as if on the head, meaning in this mystery when He was incarnate. It is triangular because the Trinity is in unity and unity is in the Trinity—the Son, that is, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one and true. God, who excels all things in the height of divinity. It shines with a rich adornment of precious stones of green and red color, and white berries; for this same humanity of the Savior shows in itself the highest and deepest goodness of His work, which the same Son of God accomplished in that greenness when virtues flourished in His teaching, and in the redness of His own blood when He suffered death on the cross, saving man, and in the most radiant whiteness of His resurrection and ascension, with all of which the Church is illuminated and adorned, just as that object is brightened and decorated upon which precious stones are set. But the fact that it has a most lucid mirror on its breast, in which the image of the incarnate Son of God appears with wondrous clarity, means that in the humility which is in the heart of the sacred temple, the very Only-Begotten of God shone forth in the most blessed and splendid knowledge, piously, humbly, and brilliantly, and most firmly, in all the works He performed in the flesh, in which He manifested Himself especially to the world. Hence, it also marks the hearts of the faithful elect in their most illustrious part, placing its tribunal within them, ruling and directing all their actions; for it is the most solid foundation of all good things in men, just as it also shows in the aforementioned maternal admonition of His. But the second signifies charity; for after that humility by which the Son of God deigned to be incarnate, the true and most ardent lamp of charity was also shown, when God so loved humanity that for the sake of its love He sent His only Son to be incarnate. This whole figure appears as a hyacinth of a deep, airy color, both in its form and in its tunic; because the incarnate Son of God, through His humanity, enlightened faithful and heavenly people—just as an object is illuminated by the hyacinth placed upon it—and in the same way, He also inflames them with charity, so that they might faithfully help every person in need. Just as this virtue is clothed in the tunic of God’s sweetness, it has this duty: to shine for all people in the right light through devotion, action, and practice. For this reason, two sashes are also woven into that same tunic in an inestimable way, wonderfully adorned with gold and gems; these are the twin commandments of charity in the sweetness of God, composed of a good and noble will—like gold—and of just works—like the brightest gems—by the wonderful gift of the supreme Giver. It is arranged so that a single sash descends over both shoulders of the same figure, down to the feet, both in front and behind; for it carries these same commandments with great care, one in God—as on the right shoulder—and the other in one's neighbor—as on the left shoulder—just as it is written: 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.' This is what it means: You must love the Lord your God, who is your Lord, with the honor by which He rules over every creature; and He is your God because He has no beginning, but is the Creator of all things. You must love Him so that, for the sake of His love, you first overcome and subdue the flesh of your body in your heart—which is very hard for you—because once the flesh is conquered, your spirit will then reign within you. Then you will understand God in your soul in such a way that you will knowingly keep His commandments and fulfill them with an active, not sluggish, spirit. And then, in this way, all the powers of your body and soul are subjected to God; for this first victory is achieved in your body, so that you may then grasp the most powerful God in your mind in all these proposed matters. This serves as a firm fortress for you against the snares of your enemies, so that no enemy can overcome His strength in the aforementioned matters, because your mind ought to contain all these things, confirming and strengthening in itself everything you do. Therefore, you will do this with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind, so that nothing is lacking in your faith, and you do not consent to anything that opposes God, dividing yourself into alien things; rather, you will gather yourself to the sweetness of His love, loving even yourself. How? If you love God, you love your own salvation. And just as you love yourself in all these things, you must also love your neighbor, because every faithful person is your neighbor, existing in the name of Christ and in the faith. You should rejoice in their true prosperity and heavenly salvation, and desire that they be faithfully preserved in the faith, just as you rejoice in your own salvation. Therefore, let this twofold work of charity exist in you, reaching down even to your feet—that is, to the final end of completion. It appears before you in the law of God, and behind you in the help you provide to others, so that you may pursue charity in such a way that, having cast off death, you arrive at the perfection of life, just as that same charity declares above in its own words. The third image signifies the fear of the Lord, which arose in the minds of the faithful after the charity that God manifested to humanity when He willed for His Son to suffer death for them, so that they might understand the heavenly precepts more fully and fulfill them more perfectly than before. You see it now in the same form as in the previous vision; for the unchangeable God is to be held in consistent honor and reverence across all His creatures and works, just as was declared to you earlier. It is also taller and longer than the other virtues and unlike the human form; for more than the others, it brings distress and trembling to people. By constantly considering the magnitude of His supreme majesty and the height of His divinity with sharp eyes, they may tremble, for God is to be feared by all with great veneration, as they were created by Him and no other. This virtue does not look human because it casts aside the contradiction of resisting God through evil deeds, as mentioned before, focusing its knowledge solely on the fear of God and walking the most direct paths of His will. Therefore, it has many eyes all around it, living entirely in wisdom; for through the eyes of good understanding, it looks everywhere, beholding God in all His wonders, so that it may have a straight path in His good works, and in evil, may flee the confusion of the devil through the knowledge of God; it shines in wisdom in this way, because it despises all things that are deadly and harmful to the spirit, fleeing death and leaving behind iniquity, and wisely building a home for itself in life. It is also clothed in a garment like a shadow, through which its eyes look out. It is surrounded by a very strong constriction that breaks the desires of the flesh in people, and by looking through that same abstinence into the light of life, a person shines wondrously in blessedness. It trembles before Me with great fear, placing distress and trembling in the hearts of those who are on fire, so they may always dread the turbulence and fragility of their flesh, lest they fall into sin or place their trust in themselves or others, rather than in Him who reigns forever, just as it showed in its own complaint, as seen above. The fourth virtue is obedience; for after the fear shown to me in reverence, my commands are also fittingly obeyed. That is why it wears a snow-white bond around its neck; for it makes the minds of men most pure—those who, through the submission of faithful obedience, everywhere abandon the stubbornness of their own will and cling to the innocent Lamb, that is, to my Son. It also has its hands and feet bound with a white cord, because it is bound to the work of Christ and to the life of truth in the brightness of true faith, neither acting nor walking according to itself, but according to the voice of God who presides over it, as it also demonstrates in its own aforementioned words. The fifth signifies faith; because after the obedience by which a person obeys my commands in hearing, they also become a believer in faith, faithfully fulfilling in action what they have carefully grasped in instruction. And she wears a red collar around her neck, because by faithfully persevering everywhere in her strength, she is adorned with the martyrdom of blood, placing her trust not in deceptive vanities, but in God, just as she herself declares about herself, as has been shown above. The sixth figure represents hope, which rises after the end of believing in God toward a life not lived on earth, but hidden in the heavens until the time of eternal reward—a life toward which hope itself yearns with all its desire, just as a laborer yearns for his wages, and a child for the inheritance owed to him. This is why she is also clothed in a pale tunic; for the confidence of her work is surrounded, as it were, by a pallor, since it isn't yet rewarded in the present, but she waits with great weariness for that future reward for which she always sighs with groans. As for the cross of the passion of my crucified Son appearing before her in the air, toward which she lifts her eyes and hands with great devotion: this means that, through the heavenly desire for the martyrdom of my same Only-Begotten, she prepares a great confidence in the minds of the faithful, as if in the air; so that they may lift their interior gaze of faith and the clearest works of their labor toward Him with a humble and sincere intention, just as this virtue also shows above in her prayer. The seventh represents chastity, because once people have placed their hope fully in God, a perfect work grows within them. It means they begin to restrain themselves from carnal desires in a chastity that feels the abstinence of the flesh at its most intense bloom; just as a young girl feels the heat of desire, yet refuses to look toward a man. Thus, chastity casts off all filth in its most beautiful desires, longing for its sweetest lover—the most fragrant and loving scent of all good things—amid the delights of every virtue, to be looked upon by those who love him in the fear and beauty of the soul. Therefore, it is clothed in a tunic clearer and purer than crystal, which shines with such whiteness that it sparkles like water bathed in sunlight. Having been wonderfully strengthened by the Holy Spirit in a simple intention and a purity free from every dust of burning, lustful desire, it is surrounded by a robe of innocence that shines in the brilliant whiteness of the fountain of living water, which is the most splendid sun of eternal light. The fact that a dove stands above its head with wings spread as if to fly, turned toward its face, means that chastity is strengthened at its beginning—as if at its head—by the spreading and overshadowing of the dove's wings. This is the protection of the Holy Spirit, which enables it to fly over the shifting snares of the devil as it directs itself toward the place where chastity reveals the face of its own sweetness through the fiery love of holy inspiration. For this reason, a most white infant also appears as if in its belly, like a reflection in a mirror, with 'innocence' inscribed on its forehead. In the depths of this most pure and evident virtue, there is an inviolable, beautiful, and certain integrity, possessing a simple form because of the integrity of a simple childhood; just as its forehead—that is, its knowledge—shows not arrogance and puffed-up pride, but simple innocence. And the fact that it holds a royal scepter in its right hand while placing its left hand against its breast means that in the right hand of salvation through the Son of God, the King of all, life is manifested in chastity, while the left hand of lust is confounded and reduced to nothing by the same defender in the hearts of those who love him. How? Because it refuses to grant any freedom to lust, but rather—just as a bird of prey seizes a rotting carcass, grips it, and reduces it to nothing—so too does it cast away and utterly crush that very lust, which reeks before God, until it cannot even draw breath beneath it, just as this virtue also makes clear in its own words above. As for the tall, beautiful image you see at the top of that shadowed pillar, it means that through the supreme and most excellent mercy of the Almighty, the most brilliant power—namely, the grace of God—was revealed in the very incarnation of the Savior, existing as a most powerful fullness in God, urging people to repent so that through it they might be released from the wickedness they have committed. She stands with her head bare because her dignity and radiance are open to all who seek her; she has curly, dark hair because the only-begotten Son of God took on human nature in a virgin's flesh, without the stain of sin, for the Jewish people who were caught in the twisted and tangled darkness of their own faithlessness. She has a masculine face of such burning brightness that you cannot look at it clearly as you would a human face. This is because the Lord of life appeared in life through the grace of God and the powerful strength of the Almighty, burning so brightly in His most clear divinity that it exceeds every human sight, both inner and outer, while one is still weighed down by the heaviness of the body. She does not appear so openly in her secrets that she would seem naked to human judgment, but rather hidden; for the judgments of divine grace are hidden. As for her being clothed in a tunic of purple and dark color, this means that the work of God’s grace, burning with love, leans down toward the darkness of sinners, as if it were the clothing of humanity. How so? It is because she urges them toward salvation, lifting them from the mud of sin to the spectacle of light through repentance; for just as the day chases away the shadows, so she takes away their sins, rebuilding sinners in repentance toward life. Woven onto both shoulders of this same image is a single belt of reddish-yellow color, extending before and behind down to her feet. This is because the grace of God, leaning down toward faithful people, lifts them up toward heavenly things in its strength and mercy—but how? It means this: through these two paths of the belts, she touches the anxiety of the fragile flesh struggling in the bloody battle, and the strength of the soul’s power in a lukewarm body, drawing them into the red and yellow splendor of the humanity and divinity of the Son of God—that is, the most serene sun—toward the love of heavenly things, so that the faithful person may resist his own desire for sin in the integrity of the grace he has touched. This means looking forward to virtues and backward to the mortification of vices, so that he may manfully finish his work with a good and true end, clothed in that desirable and delightful texture. But the fact that it wears an episcopal pallium around its neck, adorned in a wonderful way with gold and precious gems, means that Christ, the Son of God, being the High Priest of the Father, holds the priestly office everywhere in the strength of His power; and this office ought to be decorated by His imitators—in the members of His own faithful people—through the grace of God, with the gold of wisdom and the gems of virtues. This is why a most brilliant radiance surrounds it everywhere, so that you can see it only from the front—that is, from the head down to its feet; for His grace is surrounded by the most serene brightness of the Almighty’s mercy. In the mystery of the Godhead, this grace lay hidden in past times, invisible and less apparent before the humanity of the Savior, but from the incarnation of that same Savior down to the last of His members who will exist near the end of the age, it is declared and manifested in His works as clearly as is possible for the human intellect. However, its arms, hands, and feet are hidden from your view, because the strength, the work, and the final goal of God’s grace in human beings are not fully apparent to anyone burdened by a body. As for the fact that the radiance surrounding it is full of eyes on every side and is entirely living, this means that the divine mercy, joined to the grace of God, shows the many compassions of its eyes—of its many mercies—looking upon the sorrows of those who desire to follow God; and it is entirely living, for in the consolation and salvation of their souls, it in no way prepares destruction for them, but life. It spreads itself here and there, just as a cloud is accustomed to drift; for it goes before the just so they may provide for themselves and not fall, and it follows sinners so they may repent and rise again, manifesting itself to all who seek it as a heavenly gift, in such a way that it renders itself now broader, now more constrained. This is because in the miseries and lamenting hearts of the faithful, it sometimes overflows with great fruitfulness, while at other times it draws back even in the shameful and hardened minds of sinners, because of their dryness. For this reason, it also goes before and follows, touches and warns human beings, as has been said, so that those who desire to be children of God may joyfully receive His words and, having received them, fulfill them—despising what is fleeting and embracing what endures—just as the same virtue addresses the children of God in its previous exhortation. Whoever has the sharp ears of interior understanding, let him pant for these words in the ardent love of my mirror, and let him write them down in the conscience of his own soul.
Read the original Latin
Et deinde in plaga meridiana in praefato lapideo muro demonstrati aedificii ultra praedictam columnam verae Trinitatis, iterum vidi quasi columnam magnam et obumbratam intra et extra aedificium apparentem, quae scilicet visui meo tam umbrosa apparuit, ut nec magnitudinem, nec altitudinem ejus cognoscere valerem. Et inter columnam hanc atque columnam verae Trinitatis erat interruptus locus longitudinis trium cubitorum, vacuusque absque muro, ut superius ostensum est, fundamento ibi tantum posito. Haec ergo umbrosa columna in hoc ipso aedificio in illo loco stabat, ubi desuper in coelestibus mysteriis coram Deo illum magnum et quadratum lucidissimique candoris splendorem prius videram, qui secretum superni Creatoris designans in maximo mysterio mihi manifestatus est, in quo etiam alius splendor velut aurora in se aeream in alto purpureae lucis claritatem habens fulgebat; per quem mihi in mystica ostensione mysterium incarnati Filii Dei demonstratum fuerat. In columna autem ista ab imo usque ad summum ejus in modum scalae ascensus erat, ubi omnes virtutes Dei descendentes et ascendentes oneratas lapidibus ad opus suum ire videbam, intentum studium idem opus perficiendi habentes. Et audivi lucidum illum qui sedebat in throno dicentem: Isti fortissimi operarii Dei sunt. Sed inter has virtutes, praecipue septem videbam; quarum etiam formas et habitus diligentissime considerabam. Talis igitur similitudo in eis erat, omnes ut aliae virtutes quae supra memoratae sunt, veluti vestibus ex serice induebantur. Sed et omnes albis crinibus retecto capite, et absque amictu palliorum incedebant, praeter primam more femineo in capite velatam, atque quasi casula tanquam crystallus perlucida indutam, et praeter secundam nigros capillos habentem, atque praeter tertiam quae dissimilis humanae formae videbatur.
Prima quoque et quarta atque quinta, albis tunicis vestiebantur. Omnes etiam alba calceamenta habebant, excepta tertia secundum speciem hominis non apparente, ut dictum est, et excepta quarta quae crystallinis calceamentis miro modo lucentibus calceabatur. Haec autem in eis fuit dissimilitudo.
Prima imago portabat coronam auream capiti suo impositam, tres ramos altius exstantes habentem, atque pretiosissimis lapidibus viridis et rubei coloris et albis baccis multo fulgentem ornatu. In pectore vero suo habebat speculum lucidissimum, in quo mira claritate imago incarnati Filii Dei apparebat. Et ait: Ego sum columna humilium mentium, et interfectrix superborum cordium. In minimo incepi et ad ardua coelorum ascendi; Lucifer erexit se sursum super se, et corruit sub se deorsum. Quisquis me vult imitari Filius meus esse desiderans, si me matrem sitit amplecti opus meum in me perficiendo, hic tangat fundamentum, et leniter ad alta sursum ascendat. Quid hoc? Ipse primum carnis suae vilitatem inspiciat; et sic sursum de virtute in virtutem suavi et leni animo gradatim proficiat, quia qui summum ramum arboris primum apprehendit ad ascendendum, repentino casu saepissime cadit. Qui autem volens ascendere a radice incipit, huic non est tam facile cadendum, si caute incedit.
Sed secunda tota videbatur ut hyacinthus aerei in alto coloris videlicet tam forma quam tunica ipsius. Et eidem tunicae duae zonae inaestimabili modo auro et gemmis ornatae mirabiliter intextae erant; ita ut super utrumque humerum ejusdem imaginis zona una usque ad pedes ipsius, ante et retro descenderet. Dixitque: Ego ad indignationem in coelo provocabar, cum Lucifer se ipsum odio et superbia momordit. Sed OOO humilitas! hoc tolerare noluit. Propter quod etiam ille ruina magna dejectus est; formato autem homine, OOO nobilissimum granum et OOO dulcissimum germen, Filius Dei propter hominem in fine temporum natus est homo. Et quoniam Lucifer voluit et tentavit vestem et integritatem meam scindere, idcirco lucidissimus splendor apparui in Deo et in homine. Nunc autem caeci et mortui, lupanaria et meretrices atque incestas appellant aequivocas meas.
Sed quantum impossibile est lutum contingere coelum, tantum impossibile est hanc spurcitiam tangere voluntatem meam. Pennas igitur in aliis virtutibus mihi faciam, cum quibus haec inutilia quae Lucifer per mundum sparsit abjiciam. O virtutes, ubi est Lucifer? In inferno est. Surgamus ergo omnes, ad veram lucem propinquantes, atque aedificemus maximas et fortissimas turres in provinciis; ut cum venerit dies novissimus, plurimum fructum et in spiritualibus et in carnalibus apportemus. Cumque plenitudo gentium introierit, tunc et nos in terra et in coelo perficiemus. O turpissime Lucifer, quid tibi profuit repentina temeritas tua? In primo splendore tuo, cum creatus es a Deo, voluisti me insaniendo et bacchando conculcare et a coelo dejicere; sed tu in abyssum cecidisti, et ego in coelo permansi, postea descendens ad terras in incarnato Filio Dei.
Et per me perfecta est multitudo fidelium mille justis et bonis artibus armatorum; quas ipsis, si posses, jamdudum libentissime diripuisses. O humilitas quae quasi terram calcatos et contritos usque ad sidera elevas: o humilitas quae es gloriosissima regina virtutum, quam forte et invictum es tuis ubique praesidium, nullo cadente qui puro corde diligit te, sicut et ego tecum valde utilis multumque exoptabilis defensio meis sum, quia valde gracilis et subtilis existens parvissima foramina me colentium exquiro, et ea acutissime pertranseo.
Tertiam autem imaginem vidi in eodem schemate ut in priori visione eam videram, majoris scilicet et longioris staturae quam caeteras virtutes, dissimilemque formae humanae et plurimos oculos undique in se habentem, totamque in sapientia viventem, atque indutam quasi umbroso indumento per quod quidem oculi prospiciebant, multoque timore trementem coram praedicto lucido sedente in hrono. Et ait: O vae miseris peccatoribus Deum non timentibus sed eum quasi illusorem habentibus Quis potest incomprehensibilis Dei timorem effugere quem ipse culpabilem sinit perire non abjicientem a se mala? Propterea ego valde et valde Dominum Deum timebo. Quis me adjuvabit coram Deo vero? Quis me liberabit in tremendo ejus judicio? Nullus omnino nisi idem justus Deus. Illum ergo quaeram, ad illum semper fugiam.
Quarta vero niveum vinculum circa collum portabat, atque manus et pedes candido religamine habebat ligatos. Et dixit: Non possum currere secundum voluntatem meam per viam saecularem, nec per contagia humanae voluntatis: et ideo volo redire ad Deum patrem omnium, quem diabolus recusavit, et quem obaudire noluit.
Quinta quoque circa collum rubeum torquem habebat, et ait: Unus est Deus in tribus personis, unius essentiae, et aequalis gloriae colendus; fidem ergo et fiduciam habebo in Domino, et non delebo in aeternum nomen ejus de corde meo.
Sexta autem tunica pallidi coloris induebatur. Et crux passionis crucifixi Filii Dei ante eam in aere apparuit; ad quam ipsa oculos et manus cum multa devotione erigebat, dixitque: O pie Pater, parce peccantibus, qui non dereliquisti exsules, sed elevasti in humeros tuos. Unde etiam jam non perimus spem habentes in te.
Sed septima lucidiore et puriore crystallo tunica induebatur; quae ita in candore relucebat, ut aqua resplendet cum sole perfunditur. Et super caput ejus expansis quasi ad volandum alis columba stabat, versa secundum faciem illius. Apparuit autem et quasi in ventre ipsius veluti in speculo candidissimus infans; cujus fronti inscriptum erat innocentia. Habebat quoque in dextra manu regale sceptrum, sinistram autem ad pectus suum apposuerat. Et dicebat: Ego libera sum et non ligata. Purissimum fontem pertransivi, dulcissimum scilicet et amantissimum Filium Dei. Pertransivi eum, ab eoque exivi. Superbissimum autem diabolum conculco non praevalentem ligare me.
Ipse abcissus est a me, quia semper maneo in superno Patre. Sed in summitate praefatae obumbratae columnae vidi aliam pulcherrimam imaginem, nudo capite stantem, et crispos ac subnigros capillos habentem, faciemque virilem tantae ardentis claritatis, ut eam perspicue considerare non possem, ut faciem hominis. Erat quoque purpurei et subnigri coloris tunica indata; cui super utrumque humerum ejusdem imaginis zona una coloris rubicundi croci, ante et retro usque ad pedes ejus se extendens intexta fuerat. Habebat autem circa collum episcopale pallium, mirabili modo auro et pretiosissimis gemmis adornatum. Splendor vero candidissimus ita eum ubique circumdederat, ut nusquam nisi ante a capite videlicet et deorsum usque ad pedes ejus ipsam inspicere possem. Brachia autem et manus atque pedes ipsius mihi ad videndum obumbrati erant. Sed splendor idem qui eam circumdederat, oculis undique plenus erat, totusque vivens, atque hac et illac se diffundens, ut nubes diffluere solet, ita ut nunc latiorem nunc autem constrictiorem se redderet. Et eadem imago voce magna clamavit in mundum, dicens hominibus: Gratia Dei sum, filioli mei: ideo audite et intelligite me, quia illis do lumen animae, qui me intelligunt in admonitione; quos etiam in eadem beatitudine contineo, ne revertantur ad iniquitatem.
Et quoniam ipsi me non despexerunt, ob hoc etiam volo eos tangere mea admonitione, quatenus incipiant bona operari, et me illis dico qui me requirunt in simplicitate et cordis puritate. Et dum tribuo margaritas boni admonens et exhortans hominem; ita scilicet dum intellectus hominis tangitur per me sum ei initium, hoc est dum sensus hominis intelligit admonitionem meam auditu, ita quod etiam idem sensus ducitur ad consensum tactus mei in animo suo, tunc sum in ipso initium boni quod eum oportet incipere, me sic illi adjutrice. Tunc et ibi colluctatio est; ut vel perficiatur quod do vel non. Quomodo? Hoc sic volo intelligi; quia dum hominem admoneo tali modo quod incipit gemere ac flere peccata sua, tunc si voluntas illius acquiescit admonitioni qua illum admonui, quoniam homo in sensu suo taliter sentit mutationem animi sui, qualiter oculos suos levat ad videndum, et aures ad audiendum, et os ad loquendum, et manus ad palpandum, et pedes ad ambulandum secundum desiderium illud ut sibi in animo est; si tunc voluntas suscepit admonitionem meam, mox ipsa elevat se et deprimit ac superat sensum, ita quod sensus discit ignota in sua consuetudine. Quomodo? Ipse mutat se, quoniam eum oportet quisquis invitum sequi voluntatem quae super eum est. Ipse enim subjectus est illi in servitio; quia ei inferior est, eamque sequetur sive velit sive nolit.
Nam ego do bonum in initio, et calefacio illud in mente tribuoque opus voluntati ad perficiendum, et hoc facio admonitione, exhortatione atque calore doni inspirationis Spiritus sancti. Si autem voluntas his donis repugnat, tunc ad nihilum deducuntur haec quae memoravi. Unde in eodem tempore dum homo potest recipere in incendio donorum in signis praeconii quod de me oritur; tunc ad illud properet, ac etiam citius veniat voluntas in bonis, et perficiat opus hoc in claritate. Nam scientiam boni et mali ob hoc habet homo ut ipse in omnibus operibus suis Deum tanto melius intelligat, devitando malum et operando bonum; quia sic Deum colit cum timore, eum amplectens in perfecta charitate. Quomodo? Ita scilicet si aperit interiores oculos spiritus ad bonum, et si negat et abjicit in exteriori homine malum quod facere potuit. Idcirco etiam subjecta est terrena creatura sub potestate ipsius; ut eo amplius Deum intelligat et diligat, ac operetur in eo opus scientiae suae cum intellectu, quo ipse timeat et amet omnipotentem, qui ipsi deputavit magnum honorem servitutis plurimarum creaturarum. Unde et ob has causas effundit homo, hoc quod ipse in intellectu suo scienter comprehendit: discretionem in creaturis, ita quod novit quae sint amabiles et odibiles, et quae utiles atque inutiles, et quod etiam post haec in fide qua ipse Deum intelligit concluduntur omnia opera ipsius; ita quod et Deo et angelis ejus placent, aliquando etiam tango hominem in animo ipsius, et moneo eum ut incipiat operari justitiam et devitare malum; sed dedignatur me, et putat quod possibile sibi sit quidquid facere voluit, ac spatium poenitendi sibi ipsi constituit usque ad tempus illud dum corpus ejus in simplicitate frigidae aetatis sibi consentiat, et dum etiam propter senectutem sibi fastidio sit amplius peccare.
Tunc iterum admoneo atque hortor eum ad bonum, et ut animo suo resistat. Qui dum me negligit: saepe per multas adversitates ut in divitiis et caeteris his similibus quae patitur, ad hoc perducitur, quod eum quasi invitum et adversus se ipsum oportet facere bonum, et quod eum in tam exasperato animo non multum delectat ea adimplere quae prius proposuerat perficere in prospero tempore; in quo ei videbatur nihil contrarium ipsi posse obesse, secundum quod ipse in se ipso ordinaverat tanto tempore illa agere ut sibi placuisset. Hic homo si dubie susceperit me, nolo tamen eum relinquere; quia, quamvis sic susceperit me, tamen non omnino despexit me. Unde et ego non laboravi frustra in ipso. Taedio enim mihi non est tangere ulcerosa vulnera quae circumdata sunt circumrodentium vermium in innumerositate vitiorum, et fetore mali rumoris et infamiae, et languore inveteratae iniquitatis peccatorum; nec despiciam quin leniter illa contractem: eo tempore dum incipio extrahere edacem livorem malitiae, hoc est cum intueor et tango illa vulnera blando calore inspirationis Spiritus sancti. Sed saepe cum hujusmodi dolor veteri fomento inveteratur, ita quod peccatum incipit calere ardens in animo hominis, et cum etiam sic oriuntur in dolore vulnera peccatorum, ita quod erunt in coagulatum opus hujus immunditiae quasi globus et acervus se erigens de magna sorde vermium et fomentatione involuti luti de quo nascuntur mortifera venena scorpionum, serpentum, ranarum et aliorum similium venenosorum vermium, et cum etiam tunc ita indurantur ut lapis in talem scilicet duritiam quam nullus cogitat effringere, quae sunt importabilia onera scelerum in illis hominibus qui gravati sunt gravioribus on eribus; quid tunc ad haec? Tunc sane homines propter infidelitatem suam non possunt confidere, ut possibile sit huic homini se ad Deum convertere de sua iniquitate; propterea quia vident eum quasi escam esse diaboli. Ego tamen nolo illum hominem deserere, sed medio adjutorio et praelio volo esse pro ipso in certamine, ubi suaviter primum incipio tangere quasi duritiam lapidis illius peccati, quoniam quasi difficile est eum confringi in tam maximo fetore horribilium scelerum, quae sibi sunt praedictae causae magnae sordis et nequitiae, et quae sunt veluti cadaver putredinis, et esca diaboli, quam ipse certissime absorbuit in ventrem suum.
Quomodo? Scriptura habet de Filio Dei dicente: Meus cibus est ut faciam voluntatem Patris mei , et contra, cibus est diaboli ut hominem deprimat in mortem, per quam illos talibus venenis, ut praedictum est, afflat, qui ei in voluntate sua consentiunt, et post eum declinant. Et id ipsum est diaboli desiderium et continuum studium, quia de hac sorde oritur omne malum. Sed de istis hominibus plures me intelligunt. Quomodo? Dum eos primum tango, dicit homo ille intra se: Quid mihi est? Ego nescio nec cogitare scio quidquid boni. Et iterum nesciens suspirat et dicit: Heu me peccatorem.
Nihil autem amplius sentit; quia mole peccatorum gravatus est, et quoniam tenebrae iniquitatis conturbaverunt eum. Tunc iterum tango vulnera illius. Et quoniam prius per me admonitus erat, tunc eo melius intelligit me, et respiciens in se ipsum iterum dicit: Vae mihi, quid faciam? Nescio, nec excogitare valeo quid fiat de me, propter multiplicia peccata mea. Ah! quo me vertam vel ad quem properabo qui me adjuvet, ut turpissima scelera in me contegam et deleam in poenitentia. Unde iterum respicit in se ipsum ea colluctatione quam prius habuit in studio peccandi; ac eodem desiderio ad veram poenitentiam se convertit, ut ante studebat in peccatis. Et quia tunc ille homo mea admonitione sic evigilavit de somno mortis, quam sibi pro vita elegerat: idcirco tunc nec cogitatione, nec verbo, nec facto quae prius ardenter habuit ad scelera, vult amplius peccare, sed studiosissime in fortissima poenitentia se elevat ad me.
Quapropter mox et ego suscipio eum totum: et deinceps dimitto cum quasi liberum: ita quod in praedictis concupiscentiis gravem infestationem ultra non habebit; ut charissimi filii mei sustinent, quos moneo multiplici miseria ignitis sagittis diabolicarum persuasionum, quia ipse harum tunc non indiget. Nam ipse semper dolebit propter transacta peccata sua, ita ut etiam sibi ipsi iratus tam acrem poenitentiam agat quod se etiam indignum aestimet hominem vocari. Sed haec victoria est in fetore sordis illorum hominum quos abjicere nolo, quoniam post peccata sua me tandem quaesierunt. Nam qui me non spernunt, sed admonitionem meam suscipiunt, et me devote quaerunt, illis parata sum facere quidquid volunt; qui autem me contemnentes abjiciunt, illi mortui sunt, nec eos scio.
Sunt enim multi homines qui dum me adesse sentiunt intelligentes suam mentem tactam esse admonitione mea, fugiunt me per malam consuetudinem conceptorum peccatorum, quae in se deglutiebant voluntate atque consensu et opere. Unde etiam et ipsi sunt coram Deo quasi nihilum et inane reputati; quia nolunt esse conscii quod possint facere, tacti per me. Ego autem nolo esse in pollutione horum peccatorum qui nolunt suscipere admonitionem meam; nec se volunt purgare per exhortationem illam quatenus se avertant a peccatis suis, nec desiderant comedere cibum illum qui est Scriptura Evangelii, quo satiari debent omnes fideles, nec gustare saporem ejus secundum quod eis datum est; sed festinant fugere gratiam Dei; quia nec videre, nec audire, nec cogitare volunt quid eis faciendum sit, dum vocantur admonitione boni. Ipsi fugiunt admonitionem bonam, ut vermis qui terram intrat se abscondens ab omni decore hujus saeculi. Hoc faciunt et isti nequissimi homines fugientes praecepta Dei, seque polluentes in faece qua se involutant in mortem, cum se abscondunt in malitia sua, nolentes de fetore nequitiae ad lucem prodire. Qui tales sunt, non pertinent ad me. Nam ego nolo hac et illac dividi in pollutione luti. Quomodo?
Cum his esse volo, qui me pura poenitentia intelligunt; ubi me etiam adjungo humanae corruptibilitati, quia eam volo purgare. Qui autem me nolunt suscipere, illos a me abjicio, nolens esse cum eis; quia nulla pars mihi cum illis est, quia sunt in parte stultae ignorantiae me intelligere nolentes, et quoniam nolo esse in opere quod pertinet ad conglutinationem obduratae perversitatis: quod est ad mortem. Et qui hoc modo spernunt me, imitantur perditum angelum, qui dum Deum videre potuit, eum inspicere noluit, ita ut eum humiliter agnosceret; et propterea subito effugit omnem gloriam coelestem, cadens in mortem; dum Deo voluit assimilari simili honore. Isti despiciunt me, quoniam operantur opus malignum, ut exigunt illicita desideria carnis in voluptatibus ipsorum. Et quoniam me despiciunt, idcirco faciunt quod male volunt. Ipsi contemnunt Deum, sic etiam negligunt illius praeceptum. Unde et perfrequenter in indignatione mea permittuntur ad plenitudinem mentis suae facere quod voluerint; quia vita aeternae felicitatis eos fugit quasi nihilum sint, frequenter etiam deficientes tam in prosperitate praesentis vitae quam futurae, quoniam duri et immobiles ad felicitatem boni sunt. Contumacem enim peccatorem, in malis suis perseverantem desero: vivificans eum qui in se respicit et a peccatis suis in timore meo cum pura poenitentia se ad me convertit.
Nam ego sum columna firmae stabilitatis, quae nunquam desero quaerentem me, quoniam qui me apprehendit et se mihi intime ac fideliter conjungit, nunquam decidet in perditionem. Qui vero me habet in oblivione mentis suae, et superbiendo se elevat super me, id est qui in se ipsum magis confidit quam in me, ac ideo fiduciam in me contemnit habere quoniam pro nihilo computat gratiam Dei, quia in animo ejus sum et ventus turbinis, ipse habens me negligenter in irrisione et superbe cum elatione in desperatione, non propter gravedinem peccatorum quae perpetraverit, sed propter superbiam me deridendo sic dicens, quid est gratia Dei? Hunc ego dejiciendo occidam, et in electione mea eum erigere nolo; quia mortuus est ab aeterna felicitate. Sed et hi homines qui non habent fiduciam se posse surgere de gravioribus culpis peccatorum suorum sic abjicientes omnipotentem Deum et gratiam ipsius, desperantes scilicet in nimia tristitia quasi non possint salvari de enormitate criminum suorum, deficiunt projecti a me, et acerbe corruunt in mortem, morientes in inferno inferiori cruciatu mortis aeternae.
Nunc etiam loquar de dilectis filiis meis qui me suscipiunt aperto sensu et voluntario animo atque acuto intellectu, et qui me gemitu et fletu tangunt, me excipientes cum gaudio atque omni amplectentes intentione. O flores mei, qui dum me adesse sentiunt subito gaudent in me, et ego in illis. Ipsi dulciores suavioresque mihi sunt super amorem lapidis pretiosissimi, et super fulgentes pretiosas margaritas in mente hominum, qui eas amplectuntur ardenti desiderio. Ipsi etiam sunt mihi nobilissimi quadrati lapides; quia in conspectu meo, mihi semper sunt amabiles, hos assidue volo limare et purgare: quatenus recte ac decenter ponantur in coelesti Jerusalem, quia semper in mentibus suis bona voluntate mecum epulantur, nec mea justitia possunt satiari. Nam mox cum tactum meum sentiunt properant ad me, tanquam cervus ad fontem aquae. Sed ego saepe relinquo eos, ita quod ipsis videtur quasi sint sine adjutorio: quod idcirco facio, ut exterior homo in eis non infletur per superbiam. Tunc plorant ac lugent aestimantes me ipsis esse offensam; sed ego sic perscrutor fidem eorum. Attamen forti manu teneo eos: sic auferens ab ipsis elationem, nec permittens eos cognoscere quid sint in occultis bonis suis, quia multiplices fructus in eis facere volo: animis ipsorum dolentibus ac cordibus eorum vulneratis in doloribus.
Permitto enim frequenter diabolicas persuasiones ipsos invadere in igneis sagittis de flatu immunditiae incendii ardentis spiritus fornicationis, quae vulnerant corpora eorum in infirmitate fragilis naturae; et hoc idcirco permitto quatenus hoc modo tam fortiter imbuantur inspiratione Spiritus sancti, quod praeterea fiant isignes praecones et flagrantes in virtutibus. Ipsi quippe erunt in probatione quasi aurum in fornace, id est probati in irrisione et in indignatione, ita quod nihilum computabuntur, et quod saepissime per raptores substantia sua denudabuntur, ac per dissensionem plebis in adversitatibus sicut agni a lupis dilacerabuntur. Et ut oves, dum eas lupus dispergens dissipat, tamen non moriuntur; ita sunt et isti homines in morte animae non morientes, sed eo magis viventes purgati in adversis. Nam bona arbor ut fructum ferat irrigatur, putatur, atque circumfoditur; et ab ea erucae ne fructum ejus corrodant abstrahuntur. Quid hoc? Bonus scilicet homo non sit durus, hoc malevolus ad justitiam Dei, sed lenis ac flexibilis ad quodque bonum, a se abscindens malum, seque considerans in scrutatione operum suorum, atque auferens a se infestationem laedentium se inimicorum. Sed tamen antequam homo sentiat me in cogitatione sua aut intellectus ipsius intelligat me intra se; sum ei caput et radix fructuositatis, et virtus fortitudoque firmae civitatis, quae aedificata est supra firmam petram. Omnis ergo fidelis homo audiat me sibi dicentem: O homo, estne conveniens et congruum ut homo rationalis sine intellectu sit, ut irrationale pecus quod non aliter facit nisi secundum quod expetit libido ipsius?
O miseri homines, qui nolunt scire magnam gloriam illam, quam Deus ipsis dedit ad similitudinem sui. Sed non potest esse ut volunt quod libere et quasi haereditario jure omnia mala faciant quae desiderant; quasi hoc ex natura corporis sui possideant, nolentes considerare se habere honorem illum, quod bona opera operari valeant. Deus in sua ordinatione omnia juste constituit. Et quis potest ei repugnare? Quid hoc? In hujusmodi videlicet comparatione quod aliquis ordinationi Dei simili exemplo possit comparari, aut sapientia aut discretione in illius rebus. Et cur est hoc quod efficaciam illam quae eis data est sibi ipsis auferre nolunt: quod bene scilicet et male facere possunt? Quomodo?
Nam ego cum eos tactu meo admoneo, qui tunc me apprehendunt mox ut me adesse sentiunt, hi bonum opus quod volunt ad effectum meo adjutorio perducere possunt. Qui vero me contemnunt, in imbecillitatem sui et in malum corruunt. Sed pravi homines excusare se nituntur: ita quod bona opera operari non possunt, et hoc propterea faciunt quod exterior homo in eis voluntatem suam exerceat in libertatem. Nunc, o charissimi filii mei, qui mihi dulciores in odore super omnia aromata estis, audite me vos admonentem. Dum tempus habetis facere bonum et malum, sincera devotione colite Deum vestrum. O vos iterum dulcissimi filii mei, qui ascenditis sicut aurora, vos qui ardere debetis in charitate ut sol in radio suo, currite et properate, charissimi mei, in via veritatis quae lux mundi est, quae est Jesus Christus Filius Dei, qui nos redemit sanguine suo in fine temporum, ut cum gaudio post transitum vestrum pervenire possitis ad ipsum. Et iterum audivi eum qui sedebat in throno dicentem ad me: Desiderantibus coelestia fideliter credendum et non pertinaciter examinandum est, quomodo Filius Dei missus in mundum a Patre natus sit ex virgine; quia humanus sensus fragili et mortali corpore gravissimo peccatorum onere gravatus, secreta Dei plus dignoscere non poterit, quam Spiritus sanctus cui vult revelaverit.
Quapropter per mysticum mysterium, haec etiam columna quam vides in plaga meridiana, in praefato lapideo muro demonstrati aedificii, ultra praedictam columnam verae Trinitatis, significat humanitatem Salvatoris, qui conceptus de Spiritu sancto, natusque ex suavissima virgine, filius est Altissimi, fortissima sanctitatis columna existens, omnem videlicet ecclesiasticam aedificationem sustentans. Cujus humanitas apparet in ardente fide lapidum fidelium populorum, in bonitate superni Patris fortissime operantium, post declarationem Trinitatis manifestata; quia Trinitate in uno Deo certificata credenti populo, creditum est etiam incarnatum Dei Verbum, verum Deum cum Patre et sancto Spiritu in unitate divinitatis in uno et vero Deo colendum.
Quae columna magna est, et obumbrata intra et extra idem aedificium apparens; quoniam sanctitudo verae incarnationis magna et inaestimabilis, ita humanis mentibus est obumbrata ut non possit considerari, nisi quantum possibile est per fidem intueri, et interioribus divino cultu laborantibus fide et opere cognosci, et exterioribus otio vacantibus fama et voce manifestari. Visuique tuo tam umbrosa apparet, ut nec magnitudinem nec altitudinem ejus cognoscere valeas; quia Filius meus inter homines in mortalitate carnis, quoniam pro populo mortem subiturus erat, quasi obumbratus mortalis scilicet existens sine omni macula peccati apparuit; ita tamen quae vera ejus incarnatio in mystica magnitudine secretorum Dei incomprehensibilis, et in excellentia divinae potentiae inaestimabilis, omnem cognitionem humani intellectus excedat.
Sed quod inter columnam hanc atque columnam verae Trinitatis est interruptus locus longitudinis trium cubitorum, vacuusque absque muro ut tibi superius ostensum est: hoc est quod incarnatus Dei Filius, Deus verus cum Patre et Spiritu sancto existens, adhuc latet in membris suis qui fideles homines sunt, qui usque ad finem mundi nascituri sunt, per viventia opera membra capitis sui effecti, ut supra mirabiliter et typice edocta es. Qui quot et quales futuri sint in prolixitate supervenientium temporum, hoc est in mysterio ineffabilis Trinitatis eamdem Trinitatem in unitate divinitatis fideli cultura adoraturi: locus eorum (ut qui adhuc nascituri sunt) vacuus est, cum sine aedificato muro bonorum operum sit. Ubi tamen fundamentum positum est, quoniam in praesentia Dei sunt, et quia etiam fide salvationis eorum quam habituri sunt jam posita fortiter consistit: ita ut homo spem et fiduciam non habeat in alio quam in Deo, non differens de misericordia ejus, sed confidens in eum quod fortissimum fundamentum fidelis animae est.
Quod autem haec umbrosa columna in hoc ipso aedificio in illo loco stat ubi desuper in coelestibus mysteriis coram Deo illum magnum et quadratum lucidissimumque candoris splendorem prius vidisti, qui secretum superni Creatoris designans in maximo mysterio tibi manifestatus est: hoc est quod incarnatus Dei Filius, omnia opera sua quae corporaliter in mundo multas injurias passus operatus est, ea secundum secretam voluntatem Patris adimplevit. Quid etiam ille splendor designat, magnus videlicet in significatione mysteriorum Dei, quatuorque angulorum; quoniam ad cognitionem Christi multi ex iis qui per quatuor partes mundi nascuntur perventuri sunt, atque eximii candoris; quia lucidissimam divinitatem nulla tenebrositas offuscare potest, ubi idem secretum supernae et gloriosae majestatis in magna profunditate et mysterio scientiae Creatoris omnium qui cuncta creavit typice ibi aperitur; ita ut ipsi Creatori nullus ad hoc in auxilio succurreret, nec ullus ipsi resistendo in hoc repugnaret, ea tantum in voluntate bonitatis suae per verbum suum creans. Unde in eo alius splendor velut aurora in se aeriam in alto purpureae lucis claritatem habens fulget, per quem tibi in mystica ostensione mysterium incarnati Filii Dei demonstratum est; quoniam in secreto summi Dei, candor aurorae virginis scilicet Mariae declaratur, quae in utero suo Filium coelestis et altissimi Patris portavit, qui purpureum sanguinem suum clarissima luce salvationis fulgentem effudit, secundum quod tibi in hac secreta visione incarnatio ejusdem Filii mystica obumbratione ostendit.
Sed quod in praedicta columna ab imo usque ad summum ejus in modum scalae ascensus est: hoc est quod in incarnato Filio Dei omnes virtutes pleniter operabantur, qui in se vestigia salvationis reliquit, ita ut tam pusillus quam magnus fidelium sibi competenter gradum in ipso reperiant; in quo pedem in ascensum virtutum ponant, ut ad optima loca perveniant ubi virtutibus operandum est. Quomodo? In optimis locis bonorum cordium aggregantur virtutes ad sanctissimum opus suum: quatenus Filium Dei in membris suis perficiant, quod est in electis hominibus. Unde et in ipso est exemplum perfectionis omnibus fidelibus qui in lege Dei occupati sunt; ut se de bono recipiant ad melius, scientes manifestationem verae incarnationis, ubi Filius Dei veraciter in carne demonstratus est, in quo fidelissimus ascensus ad coelestia reperitur, Propter quod etiam omnes virtutes Dei descendentes et ascendentes oneratas lapidibus ad opus suum hic ire vides; quia in Unigenito Dei lucidissimae virtutes quasi per humanitatem ejus descendunt, et quasi per divinitatem ipsius sursum tendunt. Descendunt etiam per ipsum ad corda fidelium hominum; qui bono corde voluntatem suam relinquentes, ad recta opera flexibiles se reddunt secundum quod operarius ad levandum lapidem se inclinat quem ad aedificium deferat. In ipso etiam sursum ascendunt, cum coelestia opera in hominibus perfecta Deo gratulabunde offerunt, ut corpus Christi in fidelibus membris ipsius quam citissime perficiatur. Unde etiam quasi lapides ad altiora portant; qui sunt pennata et lucida opera, quae cum ipsis homines ad tutelam suam operantur, quoniam unaquaeque actio Deo offert alas suas, per quas se de faece humanae mentis elevet, fulgentem etiam splendorem habens, per quem ante Deum luceat; quia obstrui et abscondi non potest, quod fluit de fonte vitae aeternae. Nam ut fons non debet esse in absconso, sed in manifesto ut omnis homo qui sitit ad ipsum veniat et hauriat atque bibat, sic Filius Dei non est obstrusus nec absconsus electis suis, sed manifestus praeparans se ad retributionem operum, ut ea manifestet justa remuneratione, quae propter ipsius voluntatem ab hominibus perficiuntur.
Idcirco fidelis homo ambulet in fide ad Deum quaeratque misericordiam ejus, et dabitur illi. A non quaerente autem non invenietur, veluti fons non fluit ad homines ipsum solummodo scientes nec ad eum venire volentes; sed illos oportet ad eum accedere, si aquam ejus haurire desiderant, sic homo faciat. Ad Deum accedat per legem sibi ab ipso constitutam, et inveniet eum, dabiturque illi cibus vitae et aqua salutaris ita ut amplius nec esuriem nec sitim sustineat. Unde et praedictae virtutes intentum studium idem opus perficiendi habent; quoniam studiosissime sicut torrentes aquae ad opus divinum currunt, quatenus fulgentiores sole Christi membra capiti suo in lucidis acquisitionibus nobilissime perfecta conjungantur. Propter quod etiam ut audisti fortes operarii Dei appellantur, quia strenue in bonis operibus fidelium hominum semper conversantur.
Sed quod inter has virtutes praecipue septem vides, quarum etiam formas et habitus secundum quod tibi permittitur consideras: hoc est quod inter studiosa opera hae septem virtutes praestantissimae, septem ardentissima dona Spiritus sancti designant, quia in obumbratione Spiritus sancti virgo clarissima Filium Dei sine peccato concepit in sanctificatione scilicet sanctarum virtutum, quae aperte in eodem Unigenito Dei manifestatae sunt; quasi in forma sua illuminantes corda fidelium, et quasi in habitu suo in unitate fidei se dilatantes, ut Isaias servus meus testatur, dicens: Egredietur virga de radice Jesse, et flos de radice ejus ascendet, et requiescet super eum spiritus Domini, spiritus sapientiae et intellectus, spiritus consilii et fortitudinis, spiritus scientiae et pietatis, et replebit eum spiritus timoris Domini . Hoc tale est: Virgo Maria egressa est de angustiis saecularium oppressionum in dulcedinem honestatis morum, ut aliquis de domo egreditur in qua inclusus continebatur, qui se non elevat supra ipsam domum, sed recto itinere coram se graditur, et ut rivulus vini de torculari exprimitur non se exaltans supra torcular, sed moderate defluens in locum suum. Et quare virga? Quia non spinosa moribus, nec nodosa terrenis cupiditatibus, sed plana, id est carnali concupiscentia non copulata, orta scilicet de radice Jesse, id est de illo qui quasi fundamentum erat regalis prolis, de qua illa illibata mater nata processit. Unde et de radice ejusdem virgae ascendit suavissimus odor, qui fuit integra puritas ejusdem virginis, volens in altissimum cacumen, Spiritu sancto ita eam irrigante, quod ex ipsa almus flos natus est. Quomodo? Ut flos nascitur in agro non seminato semine; sic surrexit in ea coelestis panis sine radice virilis commistionis, et absque omni humano onere, sed tantum natus in suavitate divinitatis, non tactus ulla indignatione peccati, veniens, tortuoso serpente nesciente, nec eum propius tangente. Unde et ille flos latenter illum decepit; ita quod sursum ascendit, et genus humanum in peccato conceptum ad alta sustulit, quod ille serpens prius fraudulenter deceperat, et in perditionem secum detraxerat.
Et quoniam hic flos Filius Dei erat, requievit super eum Spiritus Domini, id est spiritus aeternae divinitatis. Quomodo? Quando humilitas exaltata est in ascensu illius floris; ubi in irrisione prostrata est superbia, quam prima mulier attendit, cum plus quam deberet sapere voluit, secunda muliere servitio Dei se subdente, dum se recognovit parvam, in humilitate confessa Deum suum; Spiritus sanctus ardenter in ipso requievit: in quo electa charitas latuit, quae salvavit perditam plebem abstergens crimina et scelera hominum. Nam plenitudo temporis erat in eo; quia vivens lumen in ipso radiavit, in quo noxium pomum cum sequentibus se nequitiis aruit, surgente in illo medicina mortuorum, quae vexillum illud elevavit quod mortem superavit et contrivit. Sanctitas enim in eo non caruit ulla possibilitate, ipso concepto absque omni peccati commistione, sicut saepius offenditur in natis hominum qui nascuntur in multiplicium criminum varietate. Sed et cum flos ille dedit operando et docendo omnem inspirationem justitiae; jam fructum in plenitudine Spiritus sancti protulit, quoniam ipse Filius Dei indutus carne, aperte in opere suo demonstravit, quod antea Spiritus sanctus mystice et quasi in occulto, inspiratione sua commovit. Qui Spiritus sanctus super illum florem septempliciter requiescere designatur; quia cum Deus omnia per Verbum suum in Spiritu sancto crearet, septima die ab omni opere suo requievit. Sed et eadem dona in signatione sua geminantur; quoniam corpus et anima sibi conjuncta simul in gemina dilectione per unctionem Spiritus sancti debent operari timore Domini solo posito; quia ipse quasi in tremore charitatem venerans, unum super omnia adorari designat.
Unde etiam et Spiritus Domini dominatur fortissimis virtutibus ab eo clarescentibus, ut a radice rami procedunt, quoniam unus Deus est a quo omnia bona veniunt, et per quem omnia bona sapienter disposita sunt. Et quia Spiritus Domini super ipsum florem requievit; spiritus etiam sapientiae super ipsum mansit, quoniam magna sapientia apparuit, cum Deus omnia per Verbum suum creavit, sapientia sic diffusa est in illo: quod idem Verbum erat sapientia. Sed ipsum Verbum nondum incarnatum invisibile fuit: id autem incarnatum visibile apparuit, quoniam Verbum quod ante omnem creaturam erat in corde Patris per quod omnia facta sunt, et sine quo factum est nihil: ipsum enituit flos sub tempore scilicet emicans in humanitate, bonum intellectum hominibus proferens suis testificationibus. Quid hoc? Sapientiae intellectus congrue adjungitur; quia cum homo a Deo in sapientia creatus sit, Creatorem suum digne intelligere debuit. Ergo ante partum virginalem Deus intelligendus erat absque ulla dubitatione. Sed post partum, virginalem praedictum florem in carne proferentem, idem flos intelligendus erat Deus et homo, sed non sine admiratione. Et ille intellectus prius invisibilis, visus est visibilis in flore: cum ipse flos hanc intelligibilem causam protulit, quod homo scilicet sapienter intelligit Deum in factis suis.
Quomodo? Sapientia est origo bonorum operum, cum homo sapienter veneratur Deum suum. Cui intellectus adhaeret, quoniam cum homo per sapientiam bonum operatur, jam illud dilatatur ad alios, ita ut bonum odorem et dulcem gustum ab ipso emicantem cum gaudio intelligant in eo. In virgineo quoque isto flore intellectum subsequitur consilium; quia homo intellectum habens, divino consilio liberandus erat. Inde spiritus consilii et fortitudinis super eum requievit; quoniam hoc consilium apud Patrem sine tempore fuit, ut Verbum suum incarnaretur, sub tempore perficiens omnia opera sua secundum voluntatem Patris, et offendens obedientiam per se ipsum, ita ut ipsa ab eo ad homines fulgeret, quatenus eum ita in factis suis imitari discerent. Quod dum ita apparuit in fortissima virtute totum surgens de divinitate: fortitudo se in ipso occuluit, quatenus diabolum tanto fortius debellaret quanto secretius illi se per consilium abscondisset. Quomodo?
Consilio apte fortitudo adhaeret; quoniam consilium Dei per fortitudinem Filii ipsius regnum diaboli destruxit. Unde idem Filius Dei, fortissimus videlicet leo, contrivit infidelitatis mortem per splendidissimum lumen quod fides est, quia magna fortitudo est hominem ea per consilium credere quae corporali visu non valet videre. Quid hoc? Consilium per conjunctam sibi fortitudinem perforat duritiam lapideorum cordium, quae obdurata sunt in consuetudine pravorum morum ita ineptam duritiam transiens quod carnale opus abjicitur, et Dei opus aptissime perficitur. Quapropter et in praedicto flore fortitudinem scientia comitatur, quoniam homines per fortitudinem Dei ad scientiam ipsius ita ut eum cognoscant perveniunt. Hinc est quod et spiritus scientiae et pietatis in eo etiam per supernam dulcedinem requiem habuit, quoniam ipse scienter miseriis hominum condoluit; spes etiam existens per quam intratur ad salvationem, cum scelus mundi scienter per mortem suam abstersit in magna pietate. Quid hoc? Scientiae pietas recte adjungitur, quia Filius Dei scienter in magna pietate adimplevit voluntatem Patris sui.
Ipse enim Filius solus natus ex virgine, transfudit inter populos germen coelestis virtutis; ut sequantur consortium angelorum quod pudicitia castitatis est, quia virtus haec surrexit in superna pietate: sic videlicet quod in egrediente virga de Jesse, virtutes floris hujus germinarent, quas prima mulier fugaverat dum consensit audiens consilium serpentis, ita quod in ea cecidit omne genus humanum, carens gaudio supernae claritatis, nisi quod floriditas virgae illius scienter illud elevavit per pietatem in sanctitate salvationis. Quomodo? Fortitudini quae diabolum devincit, adhaerentem illi scientiam, Spiritus sanctus inspirat; cum Deus per fideles homines dovotissime in ardentibus desideriis agnoscitur, et intimo tactu fidelis animae desiderantissime amplexatur. Sed et in virgineo flore pietatem timor Domini subsequitur; quia cum pietas inest fidelibus hominibus, timorem Domini acquirunt, ad explenda praecepta ipsius. Unde timor Domini eumdem florem replevit; quia ipse tantam plenitudinem virtutum in se habuit, quod in eo nullus vacuus locus inventus est, ubi aut mortifera superbia, aut delectatio honoris, aut praevaricatio legis sedem invenire potuisset; sed totus plenus erat timoris Domini: non quaerens alienam gloriam ut primus angelus et Adam quaesierunt, sed honorans Patrem suum in omni opere suo, dignam ei praebens obedientiam. Ideo et timor Domini initium habet omnis justitiae; quia ipse est finis et initium caeterarum virtutum, ut requiei septima dies, ostendit completionem et ortum creaturarum. Quomodo? Timor excutit et movet tremorem, qui radix est germinandi ut fructuosae virtutes procedant.
Unde et flos iste plenus timoris Domini est; quia omnia germina bonorum operum adhaerent ei, quoniam ipse materia eorum est; flore eodem germinante viriditatem quarumcunque virtutum, fructu earum prae caeteris repleto quatenus omnia bona perficiat, ut etiam de ipso Scriptura habet: Sicut malum inter ligna silvarum, sic dilectus meus inter filios. Sub umbra illius quem desideravi sedi, et fructus ejus dulcis gutturi meo . Hoc tale est: Filius virginis, dulcissimus amator castae dilectionis, quem apprehendit fidelis anima desiderans dulcissima ejus amplexione integritatem suam coronare, relicto carnali viro, et se copulans Christo, eumque certissimo foedere amans et in speculo fidei aspiciens, est pulcherrimus fructus fructiferae arboris, id est Filius virginis exiens de virginali candore, sicut pomum de fructuosa floriditate praebensque escam refectionis esurientibus, et succum dulcedinis sitientibus, et hoc modo ligna silvestria praecellens, id est filios hominum qui in peccatis concipiuntur, et in ipsis converantur, nec talem fructum afferentes qualem ipse attulit, quoniam a Deo exivit plenum fructum suavitatis vitae afferens, aliis quidem nec viriditatem nec fructum a se ipsis habentibus sed ab ipso. Quomodo? Ipse per incarnationem suam mundo salvationem dedit, dilectus Dei Filius inter filios hominum apparens qui per fervorem ipsius virebant et fructum afferebant, sed non tanta plenitudine fecundi quanta ipse repletus erat, quia totus sanctus a Deo exiens de virgine natus est. Et quare dilectus? Quia ipse hoc conculcat, quod fideli animae ad coelestia properanti obsistit. Unde et sancta anima aequissimo judicio eum dilectum nuncupat: quoniam per fidem dilectionis se ipsam relinquens, et in magno certamine carnalium voluptatum ad illum benevole anhelans, atque in ardore lacrymabilis desiderii se ipsam reprobans, ei adhaeret, ut mulier viro, cui cum gaudio voluntatis suae associata est.
Et ideo cum in exordio conservandae castitatis ad eum incipit suspirare, ad se ipsam dicit: Volo prosternere carnalem voluptatem et me conjungere illi sub cujus dilectionis umbra qua me in ardore ardentis desiderii sui a contrario igne obumbravit sedeo. Quomodo? Dum inebriatum studium in ejus amore habens, subjectum in igneum carnis amorem in consensu animae meae premo. Et ob hoc dulcissimus fructus ejus quem gustabam in anima mea suspirans ad Deum, dulcior mihi est in ea super omnem dulcedinem carnis, quam sentiebam in concupiscentiis ejus. Et quare dulcis? Quoniam ipse ex virgine natus habet dulcissimum saporem, et fortissimum unguentum stillans ut balsamum: quod est resurrectio ad vitam in qua mortui erecti sunt, ac continens maximam medicinam quae tersit vulnera peccatorum per incarnationem ipsius, quae plenissima sanctitatis et dulcedinis in omni genere virtutum cum virginitate est. Unde, o virginitas, quae de ignea accensione consistis, robustissimum germen quod de stella maris emicans omnem spurcitiam turpitudinis contra saevissima jacula diaboli semper dimicans conculcat, gaude in coelesti harmonia, in spe consortii angelorum. Quomodo?
Spiritus sanctus symphonizat in tabernaculo virginitatis; quoniam ipsa Verbum Dei semper ruminat, quomodo possit Christum amplexari cum omni devotione ardens in ejus amore, hoc habens in oblivione quod in concupiscentia carnis in ardore incendii fragile in homine est, uni viro quem nunquam peccatum tetigit adhaerens, cui et sine omni concupiscentia carnis conjuncta est, semper cum illo florens in gaudio regalium nuptiarum.
Nunc autem quod similitudinem in praedictis virtutibus vides, ita quod omnes ut et aliae virtutes quae supra tibi demonstratae sunt veluti vestibus ex serico induuntur: hoc est quod in ordine suo piam unanimitatem illa luminaria in mentibus hominum parant, etiam quomodo reliquae virtutes in Deo mollitiem indumentorum, id est lenitatem devotionis in respectione sanctarum animarum, vepribus in duritia vitiorum carentium, habentia. Quod autem quaedam albis crinibus retecto capite et absque amictu palliorum incedunt: hoc est quod illae in copula candoris innocentiae, ligaturam juncturae pravorum morum in membris fidelium hominum non habent, et quod etiam saecularibus studiis circumdatae non sunt, omnino fugientes vicissitudinem vitiorum. Sed prima more femineo est capite velata, itaque quasi casula tanquam crystallus perlucida induta, quia vinculum subjectionis humiliter Deo subjecta portat, superna scilicet sollicitudine omnem exaltationem diabolicam prosternens, pioque capiti, id est Christo adhaerens, humillimum quoque sacerdotem et absque omni pulvere peccati purissimum in lucidissima cordis puritate incitans, quoniam constricti et humiles purique sacerdotes summi sacerdotes esse debent. Secunda autem nigros capillos habet, manifeste ostendens quod in capite suo Christo abstergit nigredinem peccatorum in hominibus. Tertia vero dissimilis humanae formae videtur; quoniam hoc ministerium habet, ut hominem ita concutiat quatenus terreatur et tremiscat de Dei judicio. Unde et specie caret hominis, quia homo saepe Deum postponens, timoris ejus obliviscitur, quod ipsa omnino facere recusat. Prima quoque et quarta atque quinta albis tunicis vestiuntur; quia circumdatae sunt veste innocentiae quam Adam perdidit transgrediens piam jussionem, postmodum autem in candidissimo lilio floridissimae virginitatis cum induto opere simplicis in Deo subjectionis recuperata in salvationem, quod ante Deum lucet sicut clarissima stella humanis oculis ignescit. Omnes etiam alba calceamenta habent, excepta tertia secundum speciem hominis non apparente; quoniam ipsae pulcherrimum opus sunt in hominibus qui desideria carnis in se ad nihilum deducunt, juxta exemplum sui Salvatoris, quod est splendor splendidissimus; una earum hominem non simulante, quia non habet respectum ullius audaciae, semper sollicita et non negligens ut homo qui saepius sui ipsius per contumaciam obliviscitur, ipsa dispensatrix existens justae admonitionis ut quisque fidelis judicium Dei caute intueatur, et excepta quarta quae crystallinis calceamentis miro modo lucentibus calceatur; quoniam illa in voluntate sua se constringens, pergit lucidissimum iter Christi, ita mortem etiam in se ipsa per igneum ardorem Spiritus sancti suffocans.
Quod autem in eisdem virtutibus est dissimilitudo: hoc est quod quamvis unius studii unanimitatem habeant, tamen diversa opera in hominibus operantur.
Propter quod et prima imago praetendit humilitatem: quae primitus Filium Dei manifestavit, cum Deus qui coelum et terram in sua habet potestate Filium suum mittere ad terras non dedignatus est. Unde etiam portat coronam auream capiti suo impositam, tres ramos altius exstantes habentem; quoniam ipsa caeteras virtutes praecellens, et suaviter antecedens coronata est corona aurea, scilicet pretiosissima et fulgentissima incarnatione Salvatoris, qui eam quasi in capite, id est in hoc mysterio cum incarnatus est decoravit. Quae triangularis existit; quia Trinitas est in unitate et unitas in Trinitate, Filius scilicet cum Patre et Spiritu sancto, unus et verus. Deus omnia excellens in altitudine divinitatis. Et pretiosissimis lapidibus viridis et rubei coloris et albis baccis multo fulget ornatu; quoniam eadem humanitas Salvatoris ostendit in se altissimam et profundissimam bonitatem sui operis, quod idem Filius Dei operatus est in viriditate illa cum virtutes in doctrina ejus virebant, et in rubore sanguinis ipsius: cum mortem passus est in cruce, salvans hominem, atque in clarissima albedine resurrectionis et ascensionis ejus, cum quibus omnibus illuminata et ornata est Ecclesia, ut res illa illustratur et decoratur cui pretiosi lapides imponuntur. Quod autem in pectore suo habet speculum lucidissimum, in quo mira claritate imago incarnati Filii Dei apparet: hoc est quod in humilitate quae in corde sacrati templi est, in beatissima et splendidissima scientia pie et humillime ac splendide firmissimeque effulsit ipse Unigenitus Dei, in omnibus operibus suis quae corporaliter gessit, in quibus se mundo praecipue manifestavit. Unde etiam et ipsa in illustriori parte corda electorum fidelium consignat, in eis tribunal suum ponens, omnes actus ipsorum videlicet regens et dirigens; quia solidissimum fundamentum omnium bonorum in hominibus est, veluti etiam in supradicta materna admonitione sua ostendit.
Sed secunda designat charitatem; quoniam post humilitatem illam qua Filius Dei incarnari dignatus est, ostensa est etiam vera et ardentissima lampas charitatis, cum Deus ita dilexit hominem ut propter ipsius amorem Unigenitum suum mitteret incarnandum. Quae tota videtur ut hyacinthus aerii in alto coloris, videlicet tam forma quam tunica ipsius; quia incarnatus Dei Filius per humanitatem suam illustravit fideles et coelestes homines, ut res illa per hyacinthum illustratur cui imponitur, ita eos etiam incendens charitate; ut unicuique homini indigenti fideliter subveniant: sicut et virtus haec induitur tunica dulcedinis Dei, hoc habens officium quatenus devotione, actu et usu omnibus hominibus in recto lumine luceat. Propter quod etiam eidem tunicae duae zonae inaestimabili modo, auro et gemmis ornatae mirabiliter intextae sunt; quae sunt in dulcedine Dei gemina praecepta charitatis, bona scilicet et praecipua voluntate quasi auro et justis operibus veluti clarissimis gemmis, mirabili dono summi datoris composita. Ita ut super utrumque humerum ejusdem imaginis zona una usque ad pedes ipsius ante et retro descendat; quoniam eadem praecepta in multa sollicitudine portat unum scilicet in Deo ut in humero dextro, et alterum in proximo ut in humero sinistro, sicut scriptum est: Diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo, et ex tota anima tua, et ex omnibus viribus tuis, et ex omni mente tua, et proximum tuum sicut te ipsum . Hoc tale est: Sic debes diligere Dominum Deum tuum, qui Dominus tuus est, videlicet hoc honore quo dominatur omni creaturae, et Deus tuus quia ipse non habens initium, sed creator omnium existens, ita ut propter amorem ejus in corde tuo primum exsuperes et prosternas carnem corporis tui, quod tibi valde durum est, quia primum devicta carne postmodum regnabit spiritus tuus in te, et tunc Deum in anima tua sic intelliges ut mandata ejus scienter custodias, atque ea non pigro opere compleas. Et deinde hoc modo omnes vires corporis et animae tuae Deo subjiciuntur; quoniam haec prima victoria in corpore tuo facta est, ita ut tunc in omnibus his propositis causis Deum fortissimum in tua mente comprehendas: quod tibi tanquam firmum propugnaculum est contra insidias inimicorum tuorum, ita ut fortitudinem ejus in praedictis rebus nullus superare valeat inimicus, quia mens tua omnia haec continere debet, in se confirmans et consolidans cuncta quae agis. Haec ergo facies toto corde, tota anima, et omnibus viribus, et omni mente tua: ita ut nihil deficiat tibi in fide, quatenus non consentias ulli rei quae repugnat Deo, te dividens in aliena; sed ut colligas te ad dulcedinem dilectionis ejus, diligens et te ipsum. Quomodo?
Si diligis Deum, diligis salutem tuam. Et sicut tunc in his omnibus te diligis, sic diliges et proximum tuum, quia quisque fidelis homo est tibi proximus, existens in Christiano nomine ac in fide: ita ut sic gaudeas in ejus recta prosperitate, et superna salvatione ut fideliter in fide conservetur, sicut etiam laetaris de tua salute. Hoc ergo geminum opus charitatis sit in homine, descendens usque ad pedes ejus, id est ad finem consummationis; ante ipsum, scilicet apparens in lege Dei; et retro, in hominis videlicet subventione, ut et homo sic charitatem sectetur, quatenus rejecta morte perveniat ad perfectionem vitae, sicut etiam eadem charitas superius in verbis suis declarat.
Tertia autem imago significat timorem Domini, qui post hanc charitatem quam Deus hominibus manifestavit, cum Filium suum pro ipsis mortem subire voluit in mentibus fidelium surrexit, ita ut coelestia praecepta plenius intelligerent et perfectius quam prius adimplerent. Quam nunc vides in eodem schemate ut in priori visione eam vidisti; quoniam incommutabilis Deus, simili et non dissimili honore et reverentia habendus est in omni creatura et factura ejus, ut et tibi superius declaratum est. Est quoque majoris et longioris staturae quam caeterae virtutes, dissimilisque humanae formae; quia ipsa prae caeteris angustiam et tremorem infert hominibus, ita ut magnitudinem summae majestatis et altitudinem divinitatis ipsius perspicacibus oculis semper considerando pavescant; quoniam Deus omnibus hominibus multa veneratione metuendus est, quia ab ipso et non ab alio creati sunt. Unde etiam eadem virtus speciem hominis non habet, quia contradictionem illam qua Deo in malefactis resistitur (ut supra dictum est) abjicit figens tantum in timorem cognitionem suam in Deum, pergensque rectissima itinera voluntatis ejus. Ideo et plurimos oculos undique in se habet, tota in sapientia vivens; quia per oculos boni intellectus, ubique se circumspicit, Deum intuendo in omnibus mirabilibus ejus, ita ut in bonis operibus ejus rectum iter habeat, et in malis confusionem diaboli per cognitionem Dei diffugiat; omnis tali modo in sapientia fulgens, quia omnia mortifera spiritui nocentia contemnit, mortem fugiens et iniquitatem relinquens, atque sapienter domum sibi in vita aedificans. Induta est quoque quasi umbroso indumento, per quod ipsi oculi prospiciunt; quia circumdata est validissima constrictione, frangens desideria carnis in hominibus, et aspiciens per eamdem abstinentiam in lumine vitae, in quo mirifice fulget homo in beatitudine. Multoque timore tremit coram me; quoniam angustiam et tremorem ponit in cordibus ignitorum hominum, ita ut turbinem et fragilitatem carnis suae semper habeant in pavore, ne labantur in peccatis, et ne fiduciam suam in se ipsis aut in aliis hominibus ponant, sed in eum qui regnat in aevum, veluti etiam ipsa ut supra visum est in querimonia sua ostendit.
Quarta vero declarat obedientiam; quoniam post timorem illum, qui mihi in reverentia exhibetur, praeceptis etiam meis congrue obeditur. Unde et niveum vinculum circa collum portat; quia candidissimas facit mentes hominum, qui per subjectionem fidelis subjectionis ubique fortitudinem colli voluntatis suae deserunt et innocenti Agno, scilicet Filio meo adhaerent. Atque manus et pedes candido ligamine habet ligatas; quoniam ad opus Christi et ad vitam veritatis in albedine verae fidei ligata est, non faciens neque vadens secundum se, sed secundum vocem praesidentis Dei, ut etiam in praedictis verbis suis demonstrat.
Quinta autem designat fidem; quia post obedientiam qua populus praeceptis meis obedit in auditu, fit etiam credulus in fide, ea fideliter complens in opere, quae solerter percepit in admonitione. Et haec circa collum rubeum torquem habet; quoniam undique in fortitudine sua fideliter perseverans, martyrio sanguinis decoratur, fiduciam suam non in fallaces vanitates ponens, sed in Deo secundum quod et ipsa de se, ut supra ostensum est, declarat.
Sexta vero praefigurat spem; quae post finem credendi in Deum surgit ad vitam in terra non habita, sed in coelestibus usque ad tempus perpetuae remunerationis celata, ad quam ipsa spes toto desiderio anhelat ut mercenarius ad mercedem suam, et ut puer ad debitam sibi haereditatem. Unde etiam tunica pallidi induitur coloris; quia fiducia operis sui quasi in pallore circumdatur, cum nondum in praesenti remunerata est, sed ad quod semper gemitibus suspirat, hoc futurum multa fatigatione exspectat. Quod autem crux passionis crucifixi Filii mei ante eam in aere apparet, ad quam ipsa oculos et manus cum multa devotione erigit: hoc est quod ad martyrium ejusdem Unigeniti mei, coelesti desiderio quasi in aere plurimam fiduciam in mentibus fidelium parat; ita ut ad eum interiorem visum fidei et clarissima opera sui laboris humili et sincera intentione erigant, sicut et haec virtus superius ostendit in oratione sua.
Sed septima praetendit castitatem; quoniam postquam homines spem suam pleniter posuerint in Deum, crescit in eis perfectum opus. Ita quod se incipiunt a carnalibus desideriis constringere in castitate, quae in flore carnis acutissimae sentit abstinentiam; ut juvencula scilicet sentit ardorem concupiscentiae nolens tamen in virum respicere. Sic castitas abjicit omnem spurcitiam in pulcherrimis desideriis: anhelans ad dulcissimum amatorem suum, qui est suavissimus et amantissimus odor omnium bonorum, in deliciis cunctarum virtutum, virtutis constantiae ab amatoribus suis aspiciendus in timore et pulchritudine animae. Unde et ipso lucidiore et puriore crystallo tunica vestitur, quae ita in candore relucet ut aqua resplendet cum sole perfunditur; quia lucidissima in simplici intentione et purissima absque omni pulvere ardentis libidinis concupiscentiarum mirabiliter confortata per Spiritum sanctum, circumdata est veste innocentiae lucente in clarissima albedine fontis aquae vivae, qui est splendidissimus sol aeternae claritatis. Quod vero super caput ejus expansis quasi ad volandum alis columba stat, versa secundum faciem illius: hoc est quod castitas in initio suo velut in capite suo per expansionem et obumbrationem alarum columbae, id est per protectionem Spiritus sancti confortata est, facientis eam diabolicarum insidiarum vicissitudinem transvolare, cum per igneum amorem sanctae inspirationis illuc se dirigens aspicit, ubi castitas vultum dulcedinis suae manifestat. Propter quod apparet etiam quasi in ventre ejus veluti in speculo candidissimus infans, cujus fronti inscriptum est innocentia; quoniam in visceribus purissimae et evidentissimae virtutis hujus, est inviolabilis et pulcherrima certissimaque integritas, habens rudem formam propter integritatem simplicis infantiae, sicut et frons, id est cognitio ejus non arrogantiam et elatam superbiam, sed simplicem ostendit innocentiam. Et quod in dextra manu regale sceptrum habet, sinistram ad pectus suum ponens: hoc est quod in dextra salvationis per Filium Dei regem cunctorum, vita manifestata est in castitate, sinistram libidinis per eumdem propugnatorem confundentem et ad nihilum redigentem, in cordibus eum diligentium. Quomodo?
Quia non vult libidini ullam dimittere libertatem; sed ut rapax volucris putridum cadaver rapiens constringit, et ad nihilum deducit, sic ipsam libidinem coram Deo fetentem abjicit et omnino conterit, ita ut nec sub ea spirare valeat, secundum quod etiam in verbis suis haec virtus supra manifestat.
Sed quod in summitate praefatae obumbratae columnae altam pulcherrimam imaginem vides; hoc est quod summa et praecellentissima pietate omnipotentis, in ipsa incarnatione Salvatoris splendidissima virtus scilicet gratia Dei manifestata est, quae fortissima plenitudo existit in Deo: monens homines poenitentiam agere, ut per eam relaxentur ab ipsis perpetratae nequitiae. Quae nudo capite stat; quia omnibus eam quaerentibus aperta est dignitas et claritas ejus; crispos et subnigros capillos habens, quoniam Unigenitus Dei sub tortuoso et implexo in nigredine infidelitatis suae Judaico populo, humanitate absque macula peccati in virginea carne se induit. Et faciem virilem habet tantae ardentis claritatis, ut eam perspicue considerare non possis, ut faciem hominis; quia in gratia Dei in potenti virtute omnipotentis, Dominus vitae in vita apparuit, ita ardens in clarissima divinitate ut omnem visum tam inferiorem quam exteriorem hominis excedat, dum adhuc gravedine corporali gravatur, nec ita aperta in secretis suis apparens ut judicio hominum nuda appareat, sed absconsa; quia judicia divinae gratiae occulta sunt. Quod autem est purpurei et subnigri coloris tunica induta; hoc est quod opus gratiae Dei ardens in charitate se inclinat ad nigredinem peccatorum, quasi ad indumentum hominum. Quomodo? Ita quod monet illos ad salutem eos levans de luto peccati ad spectaculum luminis per poenitentiam, quoniam ut dies fugat tenebras, sic ipsa aufert facinora reaedificando in poenitentia peccatores ad vitam. Cui etiam super utrumque humerum ejusdem imaginis zona una coloris rubicundi croci, ante et retro usque ad pedes ejus se extendens intexta est; quia gratia Dei se inclinans ad fideles homines, in fortitudine et pietate sua levat eos sursum ad coelestia quomodo? Hoc est: his duobus itineribus zonarum tangens videlicet anxietatem fragilis carnis in sanguinea pugna desudantis, et virtutem roboris animae in corpore tepentis et trahens eos in rubeo et in croceo splendore humanitatis et divinitatis Filii Dei, scilicet serenissimi solis ad amorem supernorum, ita ut sibi ipsi in concupiscentia peccati fidelis homo resistat in integritate gratiae tactus; videlicet coram se ad virtutes et post se ad mortificationem vitiorum, quatenus viriliter bono et vero fine consumet opera sua, indutus in eis exoptabili et delectabili textura.
Sed quod circa collum habet episcopale pallium mirabili modo auro et pretiosissimis gemmis adornatum: hoc est quod Christus Filius Dei summus sacerdos Patris existens, ubique in fortissima virtute sacerdotale habet officium, quod auro sapientiae et gemmis virtutum ab imitatoribus ipsius in membris eorumdem fidelium suorum per gratiam Dei debet decorari. Unde et splendor candidissimus ita eam ubique circumdat, ut nusquam nisi ante a capite videlicet et deorsum usque ad pedes ejus ipsam inspicere possis; quoniam serenissimo candore misericordiae Omnipotentis gratia ipsius circumdata est, quae in mysterio divinitatis in retro actis temporibus, ante humanitatem Salvatoris invisibilis et minus grata latuit, tantum ab ejusdem Salvatoris incarnatione usque ad ultimum membrorum ipsius qui circa finem saeculi futurus est quantum humano intellectui possibile est apertius in operibus suis manifestata declaratur. Sed brachia et manus atque pedes ipsius tibi ad videndum obumbrati sunt; quia fortitudo et opus atque finis itineris gratiae Dei in hominibus, nulli gravato corpore ad cognoscendum plene apparent. Quod vero splendor qui eam circumdat oculis undique plenus est, totusque vivens: hoc est quod divina misericordia gratiae Dei adjuncta multas miserationes oculorum plurimarum misericordiarum suarum ostendit, in dolores hominum aspicientes qui Deum sequi desiderant, omnisque vivens est, in consolatione et in salvatione animarum ipsorum nullo modo parans in eis perditionem sed vitam. Atque hac et illac se diffundit ut nubes diffluere solet; quoniam praecedit justos ut sibi provideant ne cadant, subsequens peccatores ut poeniteant et resurgant, omnibus ipsam quaerentibus coelesti dono se manifestans, ita ut nunc latiorem nunc autem constrictiorem se reddat; quia in miseriis et plangentibus cordibus fidelium, aliquando multa fructuositate exuberat, aliquando etiam in flagitiosis et duris mentibus peccatorum se contrahens, propter ariditatem illorum. Propter quod etiam ipsa praecedit et subsequitur, tangit et monet homines, ut praedictum est; ut qui filii Dei esse desiderant, verba ejus gaudenter suscipiant et suscipientes compleant, caduca scilicet contemnentes, et mansura complectentes, sicut et eadem virtus in superiore exhortatione sua filios Dei alloquitur. Qui autem acutas aures interioris intellectus habet: hic in ardente 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
Get the free 14-day Scivias reading plan, then continue with daily historic devotionals in the Chosen Portion app.
Hildegard's visions were meant to be read and prayed over daily by her community; Chosen Portion continues that pattern with a curated historic devotional reading each morning.
- Read all three parts of Scivias in curated excerpts — about 15 minutes a day for 14 days
- One reflection question and one short prayer per day, so you never wonder what to do next
- A day-15 handoff into a daily prayer rhythm you can sustain in the free Chosen Portion app