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| Vision Fourth. Concerning the Trial and Tribulation that are to Come Upon Men.
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Vision Fourth.
Concerning the Trial and Tribulation that are to
Come Upon Men.
Chap. I.
Twenty days after the former vision I saw another
vision, brethren129
| 129 [This
address to “brethren” sustains the form of the primitive
prophesyings, in the congregation.] | —a
representation of the tribulation130
| 130 [One of the tribulations spoken of in the Apocalypse
is probably intended. This Vision is full of the imagery of the Book of
Revelation.] | that is to come. I was going to a country house
along the Campanian road. Now the house lay about ten furlongs from the
public road. The district is one rarely131
traversed. And as I walked alone, I prayed the Lord to
complete the revelations which He had made to me through His holy Church,
that He might strengthen me,132
| 132
He might strengthen me, omitted in Vat. | and give
repentance to all His servants who were going astray, that His great
and glorious name might be glorified because He vouchsafed to show me
His marvels.133
| 133 For …
marvels. This clause is connected with the subsequent sentence in
Vat. | And while I was glorifying Him and giving Him thanks,
a voice, as it were, answered me, “Doubt not, Hermas;”
and I began to think with myself, and to say, “What reason have
I to doubt—I who have been established by the Lord, and who have
seen such glorious sights?” I advanced a little, brethren, and,
lo! I see dust rising even to the heavens. I began to say to myself,
“Are cattle approaching and raising the dust?” It was about
a furlong’s distance from me. And,
lo! I see the dust rising more and
more, so that I imagined that it was something sent from God. But
the sun now shone out a little, and, lo! I see a mighty beast like a
whale, and out of its mouth fiery locusts134
proceeded. But the size of
that beast was about a hundred feet, and it had a head like an urn.135
| 135 Comp. Rev. xi. 7, xii. 3, 4,
xiii. 1, xvii. 8, xxii. 2. [The beast was “like a whale”
in size and proportion. It was not a sea-monster. This whole passage is
Dantesque. See Inferno, canto xxxi., and, for the colours,
canto xvii. 15.] | I began to weep, and to call on the Lord
to rescue me from it. Then I remembered the word which I had heard,
“Doubt not, O Hermas.” Clothed, therefore, my brethren,
with faith in the Lord136
and remembering the great
things which He had taught me, I boldly faced the beast. Now that beast
came on with such noise and force, that it could itself have destroyed
a city.137
| 137 The Vat. adds:
with a stroke. | I came near it, and the monstrous beast
stretched itself out on the ground, and showed nothing but its tongue,
and did not stir at all until I had passed by it. Now the beast had four
colours on its head—black, then fiery and bloody, then golden,
and lastly white.
Chap. II.
Now after I had passed by the wild beast, and had moved
forward about thirty feet, lo! a virgin meets me, adorned as if she were
proceeding from the bridal chamber, clothed entirely in white, and with
white sandals, and veiled up to her forehead, and her head was covered by
a hood.138
| 138 [Those who remember the
Vatican collection and other antiques, will recall the exquisite
figure and veiling of the Pudicitia.] | And she had white
hair. I knew from my former visions that this was the Church, and I became
more joyful. She saluted me, and said, “Hail, O man!” And
I returned her salutation, and said, “Lady, hail!” And she
answered, and said to me, “Has nothing crossed your path?”
I say, “I was met by a beast of such a size that it could destroy
peoples, but through the power of the Lord139
and
His great mercy I escaped from it.” “Well did you escape
from it,” says she, “because you cast your care140
on God,141
and opened your heart to the Lord, believing that you can be
saved by no other than by His great and glorious name.142
On this account the Lord has sent His angel, who has rule over
the beasts, and whose name is Thegri,143
| 143 [Perhaps compounded from θὴρ
and ἀγρεύω.]
The name of this angel is variously written,
Hegrin [Query. Quasi ἐγρηγορεῖν,
or corrupted from (Sept.) εἲρ
καὶ ἃγιος;
Hir in Daniel’s Chaldee], Tegri. Some have
supposed the word to be for ἄγριον, the
wild; some have taken it to mean “the watchful,” as
in Dan. iv. 10; 23: and some take it to be the name of a fabulous
lion. [See, also, Dan. vi. 22.] | and has shut up its
mouth, so that it cannot tear you. You have escaped from great
tribulation on account of your faith, and because you did not doubt
in the presence of such a beast. Go, therefore, and tell the elect of
the Lord144
His mighty deeds, and say to them that
this beast is a type of the great tribulation that is coming. If then
ye prepare yourselves, and repent with all your heart, and turn to the
Lord, it will be possible for you to escape it, if your heart be pure
and spotless, and ye spend the rest of the days of your life in serving
the Lord blamelessly. Cast your cares upon the Lord, and He will direct
them. Trust the Lord, ye who doubt, for He is all-powerful, and can turn
His anger away from you, and send scourges145
| 145 Send scourges. Send you help. But woe to the
doubters who.—Vat. | on the doubters. Woe to
those who hear these words, and despise them:146
better were it for them
not to have been born.”147
Chap. III.
I asked her about the four colours which the beast
had on his head. And she answered, and said to me, “Again
you are inquisitive in regard to such matters.” “Yea,
Lady,” said I, “make known to me what they are.”
“Listen,” said she: “the black is the world in which
we dwell: but the fiery and bloody points out that the world must perish
through blood and fire: but the golden part are you who have escaped from
this world. For as gold is tested by fire, and thus becomes useful,
so are you tested who dwell in it. Those, therefore, who continue
stedfast, and are put through the fire, will be purified by means of
it. For as gold casts away its dross, so also will ye cast away all
sadness and straitness, and will be made pure so as to fit into the
building of the tower. But the white part is the age that is to come,
in which the elect of God will dwell, since those elected by God to
eternal life will be spotless and pure. Wherefore cease not speaking
these things into the ears of the saints. This then is the type of the
great tribulation that is to come. If ye wish it, it will be nothing.
Remember those things which were written down before.” And saying
this, she departed. But I saw not into what place she retired. There
was a noise, however, and I turned round in alarm, thinking that
that beast was coming.148
| 148
[Very much resembling Dante, again, in many passages. Inferno,
xxi. “Allor mi volsi,” etc.] | E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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