f. Biblical Metaphors
13. But faith, brushing away these obscurities, indicates the disease, its cause, Physician, and medicine; it heals the soul by placing the roots of merits in God who must be satisfied. And so the soul goes forth through faith into assured hope by means of the merits of Christ, and not in a presumptuous fashion. And so faith heals, straightens and ordains: in this manner the soul may be changed, straightened and ordained. The philosophers did not know these roots. Faith alone, then, divides the light from the darkness. Hence, the Apostle says: You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. For faith, that has hope and charity together with good works, heals the soul, and once it has been healed, cleanses and lifts it up and makes it into the likeness of God. Now we are in the true light: not like those who sleep and take the false for the true, an idol for God. 13. Fides igitur, purgans has tenebras, docet morbum, causam, medicum, medicinam; sanat animam, ponendo meritorum radices in Deo. cui placeat; et sic proficit per fidem in spem certam per meritum Christi, non praesumptuose. Sanat ergo, rectificat et ordinat; hoc modo anima potest modificari, rectificari et ordinari. Has radices ignoraverunt philosophi. Fides ergo sola divisit lucem a tenebris. Unde Apostolus: Eratis enim aliquando tenebrae, nunc autem lux in Domino . Fides enim, habens spem et caritatem cum operibus, sanat animam et ipsam sanatam purificat, elevat et deiformat. Modo sumus in vera luce; non sic illi qui somniant, qui accipiunt falsa pro veris, ut idolum pro Deo.
14. It should be noted that charity alone heals the affective dispositions. For, according to Augustine in "The City of God," love is the root of all affections. Wherefore love must be healed, otherwise all affections are distorted; but it can be healed only by divine love, which divine love is pure, provident, devoted, and perpetual: pure in regard to temperance, provident in regard to prudence, devoted in regard to justice, and perpetual in regard to fortitude. Charity, then, is the end and form of all the virtues and is from a pure heart and a good conscience and faith unfeigned. 14. Notandum autem, quod sola caritas sanat affectum. Amor enim, secundum Augustinum, De civitate Dei , radix est omnium affectionum. Ergo necesse est, ut amor sit sanatus, alioquin omnes affectus sunt obliqui; non sanatur autem nisi per divinum amorem, qui amor divinus est purus, providus, pius et perpetuus: purus respectu temperantiae, providus respectu prudentiae, pius respectu iustitiae et perpetuus respectu fortitudinis. Caritas ergo est finis et forma omnium virtutum et fundatur super spem de corde puro et fide non ficta .
15. And so, these virtues without form or clothing are those of the philosophers, while ours are clothed. But they must be clothed with the gold of love, for all the walls of the temple were covered with gold. Also, with the oil of unction, because all the vessels were sanctified by the oil of unction. And so, they are not divided. The night is far advanced; the day is at hand. Let us therefore... put on the armor of light, that is, the four virtues originated by faith, lifted up by hope, and fulfilled by charity. These four virtues, clothed in such a manner, are symbolized by the four rivers of paradise, the four sides of the city, and the four ornaments of the tabernacle, in so far as they are originated, endowed with form, and stabilized. 15. Hae ergo virtutes informes et nudae sunt philosophorum, vestitae autem sunt nostrae. Vestiri autem debent auro amoris, quia omnes parietes templi vestiti erant auro ; similiter oleo unctionis, quia omnia vasa oleo unctionis sanctificata erant . Et sic non dividuntur. -- Nox praecessit, dies autem appropinquavit etc. Induamur ergo arma lucis , scilicet quatuor virtutes fide originatas, spe sublevatas et caritate completas. -- Hae quatuor virtutes sic vestitae designantur per quatuor flumina paradisi , per quatuor latera civitatis, per quatuor ornamenta tabernaculi, et hoc ut sunt originatae, informatae et stabilitae.
16. They are symbolized by the four rivers of paradise, in so far as they are originated by faith. A river stands for the grace of the Holy Spirit poured out into these four virtues: Phison corresponds to temperance, Gehon to prudence, Tigris to fortitude, and Euphrates to justice. Phison represents the rational power, Gehon the concupiscible, Tigris the irascible, and Euphrates the whole soul. 16. Per quatuor flumina paradisi, in quantum originantur a fide. Flumen est gratia Spiritus sancti diffusi in has quatuor virtutes: Phison respondet temperantiae, Gehon prudentiae, Tigris fortitudini, Euphrates iustitiae. Phison respondet rationali, Gehon concupiscibili, Tigris irascibili, Euphrates toti animae.
17. Again, in so far as they receive their form from charity, they are represented by the four ornaments of the tabernacle, the four sheets, skins of violet, curtains of goat hair, and rams' skins dyed red. The sheets correspond to temperance, the purple skins to the heavenly colors of prudence, the curtains of goat hair to justice, the rams' skins dyed red to fortitude. Or again, in the ornaments of the Dwelling, there are four colors: linen-white, in which there is temperance; violet revealing prudence; purple, the color of royal clothing, meaning justice; and red, that is, the color of fire, fortitude. And in this manner they adorn the Dwelling on all four sides. Likewise, they stabilize, and lead in through the door, through the four sides of the city, stabilized by hope to an equal rule. 17. Item, in quantum informantur caritate, designantur per quatuor ornamenta tabernaculi, quae erant quatuor cortinae, pelles hyacinthinae, saga cilicina et pelles arietum rubricatae . Cortina respondet temperantiae, pelles hyacinthinae caelestis coloris prudentiae, saga cilicina iustitiae, pelles arietum rubricatae fortitudini. -- Vel sic: in ornamento templi fuerunt quatuor colores: byssinus, in quo temperantia; hyacinthinis, in quo prudentia; purpureus, indumentum regale, iustitia; coccineus, hoc est flammeus, fortitudo. Ornant ergo domum per quatuor latera. -- Item, stabiliunt et introducunt per portam, per quatuor latera civitatis , stabilitae per spem ad normam aequalem.
18. When the three virtues of faith, hope and love are included, they rise up to a series of seven symbolized by the seven stars, the seven women, and the seven loaves of the gospel: and this, in so far as they are resplendent, fecund and strengthening. Their luminosity is represented by the seven stars. Hence, in Job: Have you fitted a curb to the Pleiades, or loosened the bonds of Orion? The Pleiades are those seven stars joined together, commonly known as the Hen and its Chicks. These virtues bring about a stable orbit. 18. Adiunctis ergo tribus virtutibus, scilicet fide, spe et caritate, consurgunt in septenarium designatum per septem stellas , per septem mulieres et per septem panes evangelicos ; et hoc in quantum sunt fulgidae, fecundae, vigorosae. In quantum sunt fulgidae, per septem stellas. Unde in Iob: Nunquid coniungere valebis micantes stellas Pleiadas, aut gyrum arcturi dissipare? ®. Pleiades sunt illae septem stellae coniunctae, quas vulgus gallinam cum pullis vocat. Hae virtutes faciunt gyrum imperturbabilem.
19. Second, their fecundity is represented by the seven women in Isaiah: Seven women will take hold of one man on that day, saying, etc. A man, because these virtues produce virility; and one, because they do not divide him, but make him stable and fruitful. 19. Secundo, ut fecundae, per septem mulieres. Isaias : Apprehendent septem mulieres virum unum in die illa, dicentes etc. Virum, quia faciunt hominem virilem; et unum, quia non dividunt eum, sed stabilem faciunt et fecundum.
20. Third, as inducing strength, they are represented by the seven loaves of the gospel, from which the whole body of the elect is fed. For the philosophers, these four virtues became stones, but they are actually seven breads of life. Moses' five loaves were made of barley, but the seven loaves of wheat of the evangelical teaching were made out of the fat of the wheat. 20. Tertio, in quantum vigorosae designantur per septem panes evangelicos, ex quibus pascitur universitas electorum. In philosophis hae quatuor virtutes fuerunt lapides, sed modo sunt septem panes vitae. Panes Moysi quinque fuerunt hordeacei , sed septem panes frumenti in doctrina evangelica ex adipe frumenti .
21. Again, you can multiply the four cardinal virtues by the three theological, and then there are twelve: for prudence must be faithful, trusting, and loving; and so it is with the others. And they are represented by the twelve springs, the twelve gems in the High Priest's vestment, and the twelve doors of the City. First, the twelve springs, for as they flow into each other, they make the soul clean. Second, the twelve gems, for they adorn the soul with all the virtues carried in the heart, as these gems were carried on the High Priest's chest. Third, the twelve doors, in so far as they lead in: for in the east, there is the sincerity of temperance; in the south, the serenity of prudence; in the north, the stability of constancy; and in the west, the sweetness of justice. 21. Item, quatuor cardinales ducas in tres theologicas, et sic sunt duodecim, quia prudentia debet esse fidelis, fidens, et amans; et sic de aliis. Et designantur per duodecim fontes , per duodecim lapides pretiosos in vestimento Pontificis , per duodecim portas civitatis : et hoc, in quantum inchoant, promovent et perducunt. -- Primo, per duodecim fontes, quia ut se circumincedunt, faciunt animam mundam. -- Secundo, per duodecim lapides, quia ornant animam in omnibus virtutibus in pectore, sicut illi lapides in pectore Pontificis. -- Tertio, per duodecim portas, in quantum introducunt: nam ad orientem sinceritas temperantiae, ad meridiem serenitas prudentiae, ad aquilonem stabilitas constantiae, ad occidentem suavitas iustitiae.
22. Furthermore, these twelve virtues, doubled in prosperity and adversity, are represented by the twenty-four hours, twelve in the night of adversity and twelve in the day of prosperity. Likewise, they are doubled in the active and the contemplative life: in that sense they are represented by the twenty-four elders who turned sometimes to action and at other times to contemplation, for they do what is sensible and mature. Once more, the twelve virtues are doubled through practical and speculative contemplation: and in this they are revealed by the twenty-four wings of the four animals, each one of which had six wings. And here ends the First Vision and the work of the First Day. 22. Ulterius, istae virtutes duodecim, geminatae in prosperis et in adversis, designantur per viginti quatuor horas, duodecim in nocte adversitatis, et duodecim in die prosperitatis. -- Item, geminatae per activam et contemplativam; et sic per viginti quatuor seniores , qui modo volvuntur ad actionem, modo ad contemplationem, quia faciunt sensatum et maturum. -- Item, per contemplativam practicam et speculativam; et sic per viginti quatuor alas quatuor animalium, quorum quodlibet senas alas habet. -- Et in hoc terminatur prima visio et opus primae diei.