The Book of the Rewards of Life by Hildegard of Bingen

Author:Hildegard of Bingen [Bingen, Hildegard of]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780195113716
Amazon: 0195113713
Barnesnoble: 0195113713
Goodreads: 448004
Published: 2020-07-25T18:12:38+00:00

The Third Part

1 4 1

33

SEVEN FA ULTS OPPOSED TO THE SEVEN GIFTS OF

THE HOLY SPIRIT

4 1 . But the fact that in the fog which I mentioned earlier, there were various other faults, seven of whose images you now see in the following way. This is the fact that in the thickness of wicked unfaithfulness in which there are many forms and various kinds of evil and unclean faults, there are as many faults with their wicked deeds as there are gifts of the Holy Spirit. These faults try to resist these gifts in every way possible, but they will not nevertheless prevail because God’s goodness completely overcomes the devil ‘ s perversity.

34

CONCERNING PRIDE

42. The first image stands for pride, which is the source of all faults and material and mother of all other evils since pride caused the first angel to be cast out of heaven and drove man from paradise. Regarding souls who want to return to life by doing good, pride places snares in the purpose of their work and prevents them from receiving the highest reward. For when man is praised often for his good actions, he becomes proud and this cancels out his blessed reward. Pride has , as it were, a woman’ s face since it turned the thoughts of the first angel who fell from heaven around to foolish ones. With foolishness it also caused the first woman to be cast from paradise; even now it leads men beyond themselves with twisted softness. Her eyes are fire since her intention burns with foolishness. Her nose is sprinkled with dirt since lacking discretion it is filthy with foolishness. And her mouth is closed since she has no fondness for righteous words but in her heart denies God and everything else that is good. She does not have, however, any arms and hands because her strength and works do not have any life but are dead.

But instead on each shoulder she has a wing like the wing of a bat because both in heavenly and earthly things she prepares falsely, like the defenses of an empire, since she has no righteous justice but only deceptive and darkened confidence. So that the right wing reaches to the East and the left to the West; this means she is opposed to God in heavenly things and she truly rushes to the devil in earthly things. This image has a chest like a man because its heart is always swelled up with empty greatness. Its shins and feet are formed like the legs and feet of a locust because in its swelled up heart it tolerates its own ways with vain glory

142

Liber Vitae Meritorum

and gives out empty and unstable examples. It does not have a stomach or a back since it does not offer any pasture land that can be used, nor does it give anyone any strong support with which that person could persevere in doing good. The fact that, however, you see that its head and

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