DEDICATION

-aries original: "visiones," completing the word from the previous page, I read of heavenly consolations, which are granted indeed to few mortals in this life. I understood with what vehement grief you are afflicted because of the countless abominations and unheard-of blasphemies which are continually committed by the most wicked men—who are Christians in name only christicolis: literally "Christ-worshippers," though the author implies they do not live up to the name—to the greatest injury of the Creator and Redeemer. On account of this, you burn with the zeal of the most ardent charity; and due to the magnitude of your grief and the anxiety of your heart, unable to bear it, you cry out to the Lord with the prophet referring to the biblical prophet Habakkuk, saying:

How long, O Lord, shall I cry out, and you will not hear? Shall I cry out to you while suffering violence? Why do you look upon despisers, and remain silent when the wicked man tramples one more righteous than himself? Because of this, the law is torn apart, and judgment does not reach its end; for the wicked prevails against the just, and it goes well for all who transgress and act iniquity. original: Habakkuk 1:2–4. The author uses this lament to mirror Paul Angelus's distress over the state of the Church.

Congre- catchword for "Congregasti" on the following page