Paradiso

Canto XXIX

Beatrice's Discourse of the Creation of the Angels, and of the Fall of Lucifer. Her Reproof of Foolish Preachers.

At the moment when both children of Latona—

the sun crowned by the Ram, the moon by the Scales—

together form a belt across the horizon,

For as long as the scales of heaven hold the sun and moon

in perfect balance at the zenith,

until both shift hemispheres and tip the equilibrium—

that's how long Beatrice kept silent,

her face lit with a smile,

gazing steadily at the point of light that had overwhelmed me.

Then she began: "I will tell you what I know you long to hear,

though you haven't asked.

I have seen it all where every When and Where converges.

Not to gain anything for himself—impossible—

but so his splendor might declare through its radiance: 'I exist.'

In his eternity beyond time,

beyond all boundaries, as it pleased him,

Eternal Love opened into new loves.

He was not lying dormant before this moment—

there was no 'before' or 'after'

when God moved upon these waters.

Matter and Form, separate yet joined,

came into being without flaw,

like three arrows released simultaneously

from a three-stringed bow.

And just as sunlight flashes through glass,

amber, or crystal with no delay

between its arrival and full presence,

so this threefold creation

blazed forth from its Lord all at once,

with no sequence of beginning.

Order was created alongside the substances themselves.

At the summit of the world

were placed those beings of pure action—the angels.

At the bottom, pure potential—raw matter.

In between, potential bound to action

by a bond that can never be broken.

Jerome wrote that angels were created

long ages before the material world,

but this truth appears in many places

written by the Holy Spirit's scribes—

you'll find it if you look carefully.

Even reason glimpses this,

for it makes no sense that the movers of the spheres

would lack their perfection for so long.

Now you know where and when and how

these Loves were created—

three fires of curiosity extinguished in your desire.

Before you could count to twenty,

some of these angels

disrupted the foundation of your elements.

The rest remained and began this art

you see before you, circling with such joy

they never cease their dance.

The fall came through the cursed pride

of that one you saw

crushed beneath the weight of all the world.

But those you see here were humble,

recognizing themselves as made from that goodness

which fitted them for such understanding.

Their vision was lifted higher

by enlightening grace and their own merit,

so their will is complete and unwavering.

Don't doubt this—be certain:

it is worthy to receive this grace

in proportion to how the heart opens to it.

Now in this assembly you can contemplate much

if you gather up my words

without needing further help.

But since on earth, in your schools,

they teach that angels possess

hearing, memory, and will,

I'll say more, so you can see

the pure truth that's muddled down there

by equivocation in such lessons.

These beings, joyful in God's presence,

never turn their gaze away

from the one from whom nothing is hidden.

So their vision is never blocked by new objects,

nor do they need to remember

through interrupted thought.

Yet below, people dream while awake,

some believing they speak truth, others not—

the latter bear greater sin and shame.

You don't follow one path in philosophy;

love of appearances and thinking about them

carries you away.

Even this is tolerated here with less scorn

than when Holy Scripture is set aside

or twisted from its meaning.

They don't consider how much blood it costs

to plant it in the world,

or how much it pleases the one

who stays humbly close to it.

Each strives for show, making up his own ideas,

and preachers expound on these

while the Gospel falls silent.

One claims the moon reversed course

during Christ's Passion, blocking the sun

so light couldn't reach below—

a lie, for the light hid itself willingly,

and this eclipse reached Spaniards and Indians

as well as Jews.

Florence doesn't have as many men named Lapi and Bindi

as there are fables like this

shouted from pulpits year after year.

The lambs who don't know better

return from pasture fed on wind,

and ignorance doesn't excuse the harm.

Christ didn't tell his first followers

'Go preach idle tales to the world,'

but gave them a true foundation.

This rang so clearly from their voices

that in the battle to kindle faith,

they made the Gospel their shields and spears.

Now people go forth with jokes and entertainment to preach,

and if they make the crowd laugh,

their hood swells with pride—nothing more required.

But such a creature nests in that cowl

that if ordinary people saw it,

they'd understand what pardons they trust in—

the source of such great folly on earth

that without proof or testimony

they flock to every indulgence.

This is how Saint Anthony fattens his pig,

along with many others worse than pigs,

paying with counterfeit coin.

But since we've wandered far enough,

turn your eyes back to the straight path

so we can shorten the journey.

This angelic nature multiplies itself

in such numbers that no speech

or mortal imagination can reach so far.

If you note what Daniel revealed,

you'll see that in his thousands

a definite number lies concealed.

The primal light that illuminates all

is received in as many ways

as there are splendors joined with it.

Since affection follows the act of understanding,

love's sweetness burns with varying intensity—

some tepid, others blazing.

Now behold the height and breadth

of eternal power, which has made

so many mirrors of itself where it is broken,

while remaining one as before."