The Complete Works of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola

THE LIFE OF GIOVANNI PICO OF MIRANDOLA

...had spoken of eternal things: He would have believed concerning the first and temporal things. But if anyone should say that this man Referring to Savonarola. had either lied out of hypocrisy, or was deceived by phantasms, or circumvented by the trickery of demons, such a person—unless they are either ill-disposed toward the faith or of a deranged mind—must necessarily admit that God has revealed, and can still reveal, in various ways to the living the happiness or misery of those who have poured out their souls. And in that same span of time, God makes those to whom these things are made manifest more certain that they are not being deluded by ghosts or specters, but that the things they perceive and see, whether with the mind or the eyes, are true.

Praise of the learning and integrity of Brother Girolamo

Indeed, no one except a malevolent person would deny that a man of such great learning and authority, and of such integrity and prudence, would have announced these things as true and held them as unshakable before so many thousands of people in the principal temple of so celebrated a city. For his short theorems on Aristotelian philosophy, his public warnings, his most excellent interpretations of the sacred word, and his predictions of future events—which almost all of Italy knows have happened exactly to the letter—have long since established a most well-attested faith in him. To this I add that, while I was inquiring no further into the matter, I heard from a man who had been present at the sermon that the preacher Savonarola. had reported more: that the deceased Pico. had appeared to him surrounded by fire, confessing that he was still paying the penalties for his ingratitude.

Furthermore, a certain nun, famous for many excellent prophecies and who predicted many future things during her life that happened precisely, uttered this one thing two years before she departed from life: that at the "time of the lilies," by the work and encouragement of Brother Girolamo (whom we have mentioned), Pico would be dedicated to the college of the Order of Preachers The Dominicans.. At that same time, she predicted that a certain Florentine family (which they call the Pazzi) A prominent noble family that had been exiled after the Pazzi Conspiracy of 1478., then in exile, would return to their homeland. Many to whom this report came wondered at this nomenclature of the "lilies," thinking she spoke of the springtime when lilies bloom.

But it was discovered that this "Lily" was the King of the Gauls King Charles VIII of France, whose royal emblem was the fleur-de-lis (the lily). who used such insignias. On the day before Pico took his religious vows—for he had so vowed before he died—and four days after that exiled family betook themselves into their home city, the King entered Florence with a great retinue, making his way through Tuscany to claim the Kingdom of Naples by force of arms.

But before I make an end, I think it not useless to preface a few more things at the conclusion of this work. For I seem to see "Molossian hounds" original: "moloſſos"; Molossian dogs were a famous breed of large guard dogs in antiquity, here used metaphorically for aggressive critics. barking at these revelations as if at the shadow of the moon. Perhaps bones should be thrown to them (since they are not content with the previous ones) lest they beat the air with their barking in vain. I see also that laughter is forced from the senseless; I see the sport of those who think themselves scholars being set aside. For perhaps they will contend that souls ought not to be tortured by fire for not setting aside the world to enter religion, and that in our time men inspired by the divine spirit are not to be found who enjoy conversations with Christ.

But if they considered that sins worthy not of death but of pardon are to be punished by the fire of Purgatory, they would not wonder that even the just pay penalties. Likewise, if they were not ignorant that the servant who knows the master's will and does not fulfill it shall, by the witness of the Truth, be beaten with many stripes A reference to the Gospel of Luke 12:47., they would not be surprised that this man—who knew the will of God but delayed in fulfilling it—should suffer punishments, even if he were immune from all other faults.

On the other hand, I cannot sufficiently marvel at the crude and dull cleverness of those who, while they believe that Christ died for men, do not believe that those same men can easily speak with Him. By a more forceful argument, it should be noticed by them that mortal men can indeed become partakers of the speech of the Virgin Mother, angels, or the spirits of blessed men. For all lower things are governed by higher things, according to the witness of Dionysius in his book On the Celestial Hierarchy.

Dionysius the Areopagite

Through the higher minds, the divine mysteries are drawn either from the supreme ranks or from God Himself, and thus minds of a lower grade and nature (to whom the care of men is entrusted) are illuminated. In this way, men inspired by the divine spirit receive and accept these same revelations...