Chapter 27
THE THIRTEENTH REVELATION
The 13th Revelation
Often I wondered why by the great foreseeing wisdom of God the beginning of sin was not hindered: for then, methought, all should have been well." "Sin is behovable—[playeth a needful part]—; but all shall be well"
I often wondered why God, in his great wisdom and foresight, did not prevent sin from beginning. I thought that then all would have been well." "Sin plays a necessary part, but all shall be well."
After this the Lord brought to my mind the longing that I had to Him afore. And I saw that nothing letted me but sin. And so I looked, generally, upon us all, and methought: If sin had not been, we should all have been clean and like to our Lord, as He made us.
After this, the Lord reminded me of the longing I had felt for him before. And I saw that nothing held me back except sin. So I considered all of us and thought: If there had been no sin, we would all have been pure and like our Lord, as he made us.
And thus, in my folly, afore this time often I wondered why by the great foreseeing wisdom of God the beginning of sin was not letted: for then, methought, all should have been well. This stirring [of mind] was much to be forsaken, but nevertheless mourning and sorrow I made therefor, without reason and discretion.
And so, in my folly, I had often wondered why God, in his great wisdom and foresight, had not prevented sin from beginning. For I thought that then all would have been well. I should have put this thought aside, but I mourned and grieved over it, without reason or judgment.
But Jesus, who in this Vision informed me of all that is needful to me, answered by this word and said: It behoved that there should be sin; but all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.
But in this vision, Jesus taught me everything I needed to know. He answered and said: Sin had to exist, but all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.
"Sin is necessary, but all will be well, and all will be well, and all kinds of things will be well."
In this naked word sin, our Lord brought to my mind, generally, all that is not good, and the shameful despite and the utter noughting that He bare for us in this life, and His dying; and all the pains and passions of all His creatures, ghostly and bodily; (for we be all partly noughted, and we shall be noughted following our Master, Jesus, till we be full purged, that is to say, till we be fully noughted of our deadly flesh and of all our inward affections which are not very good;) and the beholding of this, with all pains that ever were or ever shall be,—and with all these I understand the Passion of Christ for most pain, and overpassing. All this was shewed in a touch and quickly passed over into comfort: for our good Lord would not that the soul were affeared of this terrible sight.
In the bare word sin, our Lord brought to my mind, in general, all that is not good. He brought to mind the shameful scorn and utter humiliation he bore for us in this life, and his death. He also brought to mind all the pains and sufferings of all his creatures, spiritual and bodily. (For we are all partly brought to nothing, and we shall be brought to nothing as we follow our Master, Jesus. This will continue until we are fully purified, that is, until our mortal flesh and all our inward desires that are not truly good are brought to nothing.) He also brought to mind the sight of all this, along with all the pains that ever were or ever shall be. Among all these pains, I understand Christ’s Passion to be the greatest, surpassing all others. All this was shown in an instant and quickly gave way to comfort. For our good Lord did not want the soul to be frightened by this terrible sight.
Made as if nothing, treated as worthless.
But I saw not sin: for I believe it hath no manner of substance nor no part of being, nor could it be known but by the pain it is cause of.
But I did not see sin. For I believe it has no substance or existence, and can only be known by the pain it causes.
And thus pain, it is something, as to my sight, for a time; for it purgeth, and maketh us to know ourselves and to ask mercy. For the Passion of our Lord is comfort to us against all this, and so is His blessed will. And for the tender love that our good Lord hath to all that shall be saved, He comforteth readily and sweetly, signifying thus: It is sooth that sin is cause of all this pain; but all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner [of] thing shall be well.
And so, as I see it, pain is something that lasts for a time. For it purifies us, helps us know ourselves, and leads us to ask for mercy. For our Lord’s Passion and his blessed will comfort us against all this pain. And because of his tender love for all who will be saved, our good Lord comforts us readily and gently, showing us this: It is true that sin is the cause of all this pain. But all shall be well, and all shall be well, and every kind of thing shall be well.
S. de Cressy has "this" instead of thus.
i.e. truth, something real. See lxxxii.
These words were said full tenderly, showing no manner of blame to me nor to any that shall be saved. Then were it a great unkindness to blame or wonder on God for my sin, since He blameth not me for sin.
These words were spoken very tenderly, showing no blame toward me or anyone who will be saved. So it would be deeply ungrateful of me to blame or question God for my sin, since he does not blame me for it.
As if it were an unreasonable denial of a child's natural trust.
And in these words I saw a marvellous high mystery hid in God, which mystery He shall openly make known to us in Heaven: in which knowing we shall verily see the cause why He suffered sin to come. In which sight we shall endlessly joy in our Lord God.
In these words, I saw a wonderful and profound mystery hidden in God. He will reveal this mystery to us in Heaven. When we understand it, we will truly see why he allowed sin to enter the world. In seeing this, we will rejoice in our Lord God forever.
See also chapter lxi. From the Enchiridion of Saint Augustine: "All things that exist, therefore, seeing that the Creator of them all is supremely good, are themselves good. But because they are not like their Creator, supremely and unchangeably good, their good may be diminished and increased. But for good to be diminished is an evil, although, however much it may be diminished, it is necessary, if the being is to continue, that some good should remain to constitute the being. For however small or of whatever kind the being may be, the good which makes it a being cannot be destroyed without destroying the being itself.... So long as a being is in process of corruption, there is in it some good of which it is being deprived; and if a part of the being should remain which cannot be corrupted, this will certainly be an incorruptible being, and accordingly the process of corruption will result in the manifestation of this great good. But if it do not cease to be corrupted, neither can it cease to possess good of which corruption may deprive it. But if it should be thoroughly and completely consumed by corruption, there will then be no good left, because there will be no being. Wherefore corruption can consume the good only by consuming the being. Every being, therefore, is a good; a great good, if it cannot be corrupted; a little good, if it can: but in any case, only the foolish or ignorant will deny that it is a good. And if it be wholly consumed by corruption, then the corruption itself must cease to exist, as there is no being left in which it can dwell."