Snickers

Do you guys remember my dog Snickers?  You can sometimes hear him barking in the background of my older Nancy Drew videos, because he thought the sound effects were real.

Snickers died on February 28th, at the age of eleven years and three months.

In an odd coincidence, I was reading a British book earlier that day, and the author started talking about how animals are not rational creatures.  Animals don't have intelligence, at least, not in the same way that humans do.  When we say, "good dog" or "bad dog", we don't mean that the dog has somehow learned about morality.  We mean that the dog has been trained to act the way we want it to, which is basic animal psychology.

I really liked that argument, which came complete with the funny story of an old lady who croons over her precious little darling, even though the dog is clearly one of the most annoying creatures alive.  People seem to have a blind spot when their pets are involved.  I think Hagrid said that in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

In any case, Snickers is dead now, so there are no more pets for me, except my boss' cat Julie, who has recently started sleeping on my bed all day long.  She must think the bed belongs to her, because she doesn't like it when I try to use it.

Videogame Music Radio

Someone tipped me off to a website called Videogame Music Radio.  It's basically an online radio station, which plays songs from videogames.

There are no DJs or advertisements; just a program that automatically selects songs from the list of 419 videogame songs.  I thought it was interesting, although there are definitely some songs I'd like to see them add to the list of rotating songs.

Anyway, I just thought I'd share it with you.  I'll have to start listening to it when I'm at the office.

March Newsletter

The March Nancy Drew Newsletter has been released.  Let's see what fun stuff is happening this month.

• They have a new, extensive merchandise store.  Now there are all sorts of t-shirts and things you can buy, which are based off the games.
• The upcoming Nancy Drew: Tomb of the Lost Queen features a new interface.  It looks pretty fancy, and it gets rid of the black border which sometimes appears around the game, depending on which mode you're playing the game in (and your computer monitor).  The inventory is going to be at the bottom of the screen, rather than in an inventory menu.  I wonder what changes will be made to the text boxes.
• The price of many of the older Nancy Drew games has dropped.  The price drop is more apparent if you download the games, rather than purchase the CD versions.
• Her Interactive worked with the Make a Wish Foundation to put one of their fans into the upcoming game. Rachel died recently, but we'll make sure to keep a lookout for her when playing the game.
• Bonus news: the cover art for the upcoming game has been released.

That's a lot of Nancy Drew news this month.  Next month, pre-orders start for Nancy Drew: Tomb of the Lost Queen so charge up your credit cards!  Or save up your allowances, if you don't have credit cards.

The Book of the Three Dwelling-Places, Chapter 6

The Book of Three Dwelling-Places

By Saint Patrick

Chapter Six.

The knowledge of the blessed. Of the threefold vision: physical, spiritual and intellectual.

Therefore, the society of the angels and the saints, and the presence of God himself, in hand and in sight, as we said earlier, incomparably excels the kingdom of the whole world, even if this world were to last forever.

In the vision of God, three types of knowledge are born: that is, the human who discerns, and God who is discerned, and all the others who will see and will understand everything. For it is just like how a threefold vision is brought to us through a glass mirror, because we see us ourselves, and the mirror itself, and whatever is present. Thus, through the mirror of divine clarity, we will see God himself--as much as this is possible for a creature--and we will see us ourselves, and we will know the other truths and certain knowledge.

At that time, by seeing God, we will see the hidden things of creation and Hell itself. Then, it will be manifest to the just ones how God is invisible, unequalled, without beginning and without end, before all things and after all things. They shall understand the Trinity, whatever is different about God being born, which pertains to the Son, and whatever is different about his procession, which pertains to the Holy Spirit, who is one from a single nature, while proceeding from two other persons. And it will be clear how the Father does not come before the Son or the Holy Spirit in time, but in origin; and how all things of God are one in God, receiving that which pertains to the relation of the Trinity. For the wisdom and truth and eternity of God are not spread out among him, but they are one in all respects: for the wisdom of God is not greater than the truth is, and the truth is not greater than the wisdom, the eternity, or all the other things of God; for they are one in God, and not only these things are the same in God, but they are nothing other than God himself. And it will be revealed how goodness was in God, before it existed in itself, not good, but God; and how God is everywhere without location, how God is great without quantity, and how God is good without quality; and how God penetrates everything that is clean and unclean, without becoming polluted. For if light which is visible can illumine all places and even penetrate manure without smell or without being polluted, then how much more God, who is invisible and unchangeable light, can penetrate all things without any change or pollution? God penetrates all things, rules all things, sustains all things, surrounds all things and illumines all things, not only the things of Heaven and of Earth, but of Hell, as well.

Then, there will be a threefold vision of God for the elect, that is: 1) a physical vision, which will be seen by bodies, some of which will have brilliancy like the sun, some like the moon, and others like the stars. 2) And a spiritual vision, in the spirit, which resembles the physical vision and which will not see false ideas. And further, the spirits of the just take delight in this vision today, from behind the barrier of the body. 3) And an intellectual vision, in the spirit, through which the pure eye of the mind sees God, and God's souls, and the most profound virtues, and angelic spirits. Then, they will give double thanks to God, namely, thanks for their liberation from perpetual damnation and thanks for their reward of ineffable good. Then, all the public criminals and the devil's hosts will be damned in the sight of the elect of God; their damnation and intolerable punishment will stand out as a delectable spectacle to the elect. Then, with the most ardent love, they will love the giver of their liberation and of all good things, and without end and without pride, through the cry of the heart, they will praise God the omnipotent, the benign, and the merciful: to whom are the honor and the glory, both now and through all ages. Amen.

The Book of the Three Dwelling-Places, Chapter 5

Book of the Three Dwelling-Places

By Saint Patrick

Chapter Five.

All things are present to God, without any prejudgment against human freedom. The discourse and praise of God. His existence before time. True evil is worse than false evil. The vision of God which is conferred upon the blessed. The eternity of God. The knowledge of God.

From this, we know that God does not see the day of judgment, and he does not see the first day of the ages, but he sees both. God's foreknowledge does not lead anyone towards sinning, as many mistaken people say. For if, they say, God knew ahead of time that Adam would become a sinner, it would have been impossible for Adam to avoid sinning. From this error is born the idea that God is the cause of sin, which is monstrous to say. And those people who say these things are tripped up by their own words. For if the things God has foreknowledge of have to occur, out of necessity, then man sinned by means of his own free will, and not out of any necessity, because in the foreknowledge of God man sinned by a free and voluntary decision, not led by necessity. Therefore, if the foreknowledge of God is unable to avoided, humans are unable to sin through anything other than free will; they are led by no other power, because God foreknows they will sin in this way. Therefore, if the decision to sin is voluntary, it is not forced. For if mankind is not forced to sin, then without a doubt, humans are able to avoid sin if they wish; and for that reason--because they willingly chose to sin--humans have deserved punishment for their sins. Otherwise, the punishment of death would not have been taken up by God.

God's discourse is hidden inspiration, which is how he invisibly shows his will and his love to minds; perceiving this discourse, the Angels obey God through everything. God's praise will be extolled by the elect, and the manifestation by his elect will show forth goodness to all people; therefore, perpetual praise by the elect will honor him; everlasting is his marvelousness. His wonderful measures do not come before the world and time, because there was no space of hours before the world, and in this way, God will always be without beginning. For there was no time before time existed, but rather, time was co-created with the world. If time began to run at the same time as the world, then time was not made before the world. And therefore, as we said earlier, there was no time before time that God existed, and there was no time before the world that God existed, because time and his world are of the same age, for it was through God's motion that they both began to run. Whatever is moved exists before its own motion. And God existed before the world in infallible eternity, not in time. God's time was not before the world.

God's light dispels the darkness of ignorance, and it is through His light that we know that some portion of all these things which we say is true and certain. Through the same light, we see that truth is better than falsehood; and further, we see that evil discourse or true sin is worse than false evil or false sin, not on account of its truth, but on account of the fact that it is evil and sin. For something else cannot be evil or sin, unless it is true evil or sin; for false evil is not evil, just like how false silver is not silver. Some people say that evil or sin comes from truth, and it is done in truth; in this way, they make evil out to be the work of truth, which is entirely false. For all that is true rises from the truth, and all that is true is also good, to the extent that it is true. Consequently, a true thing comes from truth, so that if evil or sin exists, it does not exist in and of itself; in order to exist, that evil depends on another thing, a thing which is good and true. So, whatever is evil is not itself good, but nonetheless, it is true and good, in that it exists. For evil does not exist by itself, without the existence of good; in no way would God allow that to be done. Of course, the All-Powerful One makes many good things out of bad things, such as when he forms good from the adultery of men, and he makes them human again. This and all other things which we know about God are known through some portion of God's light, poured forth as if into a narrow crack in the ground; and if we know these things to be true, how much and what sort of knowledge and wisdom will be brought to light in Heaven, where we will see that sun of truth face to face, that is, where we will know true and certain wisdom? God's presence makes the people who are near him become more like him; God's absence makes the people who are apart from him become less like him in every way. For true wisdom, true beauty and true eternity are close to God; therefore, the person who is also close to God will assuredly be wise and beautiful and eternal.

God's eternity is without beginning and without end (for if there was time when time didn't exist, who created it?); because he himself is the only God, and before him, there was no other god, there is no other god and there will be none other. Not by chance did he create himself, and with nothing, he created himself; for by what power could he have made himself, when all powers besides himself were entirely non-existent? Therefore, the only option left is to say that everything which is made is not God. Therefore, God was made without any means, without beginning, before all things were. For whatever is made has a beginning, and whatever has a beginning, without a doubt, is made, not made by someone other than God, but rather, God makes all things.

God's knowledge is without any variety of thought, and his mind does not wander here and there, as he contemplates the innumerable truth of all creatures: angels, humans, stars (Hebrews 11:12), sands (Genesis 13:16), hair (Matthew 10:30), words (Psalm 139:4), thoughts, all moments. He perceives and understands them all at the same time and at once. Therefore, God is the fount and origin of knowledge; how much a person thirsts for this fountain will be how much he drinks from it (John 4:13-14).

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1) In this chapter, there is a sentence which discusses the fact that true sin is bad, not because it is true (as opposed to false), but because it is sin. The sentence reads:

"Through the same light, we see that truth is better than falsehood; and further, we see that evil discourse or true sin is worse than false evil or false sin, not on account of its truth, but on account of the fact that it is evil and sin."

Some manuscripts add "but then, it is evil and sin, because it is true evil and sin" at the end of this sentence.

2) The section on God's knowledge starts with the sentence "God's knowledge is without any variety of thought." One manuscript does not include the Latin word for "of thought".

3) There are four variations of the sentence which explains that, unlike humans, whose minds tend to wander here and there when thinking about something, God's mind does not wander. The original texts have four variations on that sentence.

1. et sine ullo cursu huc et illuc...
2. et sine usu cursu huc et illuc...
3. et sine visu cursu huc et illuc...
4. et sine nisu cursu huc et illuc...

The literal translation is "and without ____ wandering here and there". In English, the four variants look like this:

1. And without any wandering here and there...
2. And without having to wander here and there...
3. And without sight, wandering here and there...
4. And without effort, wandering here and there...

I translated "cursu" as "wandering", because in English, we say that minds wander. However, in Latin, "cursu" is a more generic term for movement, which can mean wandering, wander, course, path, journey, etc.

The Book of the Three Dwelling-Places, Chapter 4

Book of the Three Dwelling-Places

By Saint Patrick

Chapter Four.

To depart from the broad way to the narrow path. The happiness of the Blessed, their knowledge, the condition of their love. Of the ineffable sweetness of the vision of God.

Therefore, it is braver to resist fleshly desires, and it is better to fight against the deceitful enticements of this world, and to be vigilant against the countless suggestions of Satan. For broad is the way of all those with a fondness for living, and this is the way which leads to death (Matthew 7:13). And truly, the desire of the whole heart is the narrow way that leads to life, which should be longed for and followed. This narrow way is the way of abstinence, and chastity, and humility, and all morality; Christ has set out this way before us, by this way he travelled to his kingdom. Let us also follow in his footsteps, until we arrive after him, into the royal city which he rules. Whatever man has said about this city is like a drop of the ocean, or like a spark in a fireplace. Anyone can see that the just shine forth from this city like the sun (Matthew 13:43), as the Lord said.

In that place, there will be the highest peace, the greatest ease, no work, no sadness, no poverty, and no old age, no death, and no night at all, no desire for food and no burning thirst; but the food and drink of all will be the vision of Christ and the holy Trinity, and the contemplation of that Divinity by the pure eye of the heart, and, let me say it, the perpetual reading of the Book of Life, that is, of eternal truth and highest wisdom, and the Word of God, which is the vision of Jesus Christ. Whereas now, He is hidden from us, there He will be shown most clearly; there, many other things will be made clear: the reason why this man is an elect, and that man is a reprobate; why this man is assumed into the kingdom and that man is reduced to slavery; why one child died in the womb, another in infancy, another in youth and another in old age; why one man is poor and another is rich; why a child born out of adultery is baptized, if another child, born from a legitimate marriage, dies before baptism; why he who starts his life well would ever end his life badly; and why he who starts life badly often finishes well. All these things, and many other things like them, will be made plain and apparent in the Book of Life.

In that city, the reward of a single person becomes the reward of all; and the reward of all, through charity, will become the reward of one. There, every good thing will be open to all. There, all people will know each other's thoughts. There, no proud man will be superior, and no envious man will be inferior. For how can someone be envious of anyone, when he esteems everyone else just as much as he esteems himself? Such a man would be jealous of no one. In Heaven, no one will desire to be better or superior than he already is, for it would be improper for the citizens of heaven to be in any way different from the way they already are. They are how they are, because they deserved to become that way. Therefore, the person who is in heaven will not desire to be something other than what he is, but instead, he will desire to be what he deserves to be; that is to say, he will be excellent, not only by himself alone, but also in the universal body of the Heavenly Church. For in a body, if any part is set higher or lower than where it is by nature, the body becomes monstrous and hideous; doubtless, in the same way, if anyone in the kingdom of God is placed higher than where morality and the will of the all-powerful creator demand he should be placed, it creates hideousness, not only on himself, but on the whole congregation. Further, he who is the least in Heaven, without a doubt, will have greater glory than he who owns the entire Earth, even if he could live forever. For it is very cheap and worthless is to take delight in simple things, to be delighted both by visible and physical things, in comparison to taking delight in and rejoicing in God himself. For such is the beauty of justice, such is the joy of eternal life (which is unchanging truth and wisdom), that even if we were not allowed to remain in Heaven for more than one day, we would scorn a life on Earth, a life full of delights and countless years, and we would scorn in having continual bodily goods and favors. For not with false or with little love was it written: One day within your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere (Psalm 83:11).

Nothing is to be compared to the delight and rejoicing that is born from invisible and incorporeal things, and from the society of the angels and all the just, and from the sound knowledge and contemplation of that divine nature, and the face-to-face vision from God himself. God, whose beauty the angels admire, by whose power the dead are lifted up, whose wisdom is not to be numbered (Psalm 146:5), whose kingdom knows no end, whose glory cannot be told; whose light obscures the sun so much that, in comparison to Him, the sun has no light; whose sweetness so transcends honey that, being compared with Him, honey tastes like the bitterest wormwood. If all those imprisoned in the jail of Hell saw God's face, they would feel no punishment, no grief, and no sadness; if his presence, with the holy ones, appeared in Hell, it would immediately be converted into a pleasant paradise.

God, without whose approval, not even a leaf falls from a tree; whose eyes penetrate the fiery depth of hell; whose ears hear the silent voice of the heart, that is, the thoughts of the heart; whose eyes hear as well as see, and whose ears see as well as hear, because they are not physical body parts, but they are the highest knowledge and certain thought. God, whose delights satisfy the hungry without any distaste: the blessed are found with God's delights, but they still always long for them; God's delights create hunger and thirst without pain, and they always satisfy the burning desire. Seeing God's wonderful secrets, they are always new and marvelous, creating amazement in their discerners, no more than when they start to be seen than after a thousand years, or after a thousand times a thousand years. And with the angels who have been accustomed to see them even from the beginning of the world, they still admire them today no less than they did on the first day; otherwise, the knowledge of the angels seeing God just now would seem cheap, compared to the hearts of the angels who have constantly been seeing God. God, whose knowledge of past and future things, is not in the past and in the future, but is in the present.

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1) There are three different variations of one sentence in this chapter.

1. Ibi omnium bonum omnibus patebit.
2. Ibi omnium bonorum copia omnibus patebit.
3. Ibi omne bonum omnibus patebit.

In English, the three variations mean this:

1. There, all the good will be open to all.
2. There, the abundance of all good things will be open to all.
3. There, every good thing will be open to all.

Sentence #1 is generally agreed to be the correct one, but in the translation, I used sentence #3, because it sounds more natural to English speakers.

2) One sentence near the end of the first paragraph--"For it is very cheap and worthless is to take delight in simple things, in comparison to taking delight in and rejoicing in God himself..."--is taken, almost word-for-word, from St. Augustine's 44th sermon. Some manuscripts do not have this sentence.

3) The final sentence, in Latin, is "Cujus cognitionis præterita et futura, (non præterita et futura, sed) præsentia sunt." Some manuscripts omit the five words in parenthesis. In English, this is equal to "God, whose knowledge of past and future things, (is not in the past and in the future, but) is in the present."

The Book of the Three Dwelling-Places, Chapter 3

Book of the Three Dwelling-Places

By Saint Patrick

Chapter Three.

About those whose love of the world is not deterred by the eternal punishments. The double punishment of Hell. 100 years is no part of eternity.

Therefore, woe to those who deserve to enter under all these unceasing evils, without end, because of one sweet hour of sleep! For truly, all the glory of this world is but a dream, compared to eternal glory. It is better for those people to not have been born, as is said of unhappy Judas (Matthew 26:24), than to suffer the evil afflictions of Hell, due to their merits. What is more foolish, what is more absurd and childish than being ensnared and overcome by the shadow and image and likeness of true glory, instead of seeking and desiring true delight, true beauty, true elegance, true honor? Who would prefer to neglect his own gold, in favor of chasing after a twinkle of gold in water? Wouldn't that man be easily convinced by foolish and silly things? Or who, seeing a copy of the sun, would esteem the shape and materials of the copy more than the sun itself? Wouldn't that man be mocked by everyone? Thus there is laughing, which is lower than crying, at whoever esteems the fragile things of this world, which are prone to fall. This man prizes the useless love of flesh, he seeks it and he strives after it, contemptuous of eternal glory and ignoring the ineffable joys of the kingdom of heaven. This is the business of exceedingly stupid men, of pitiable men, of men who do not possess healthy hearts, even if they have not sought the misfortunes of Hell, which cannot be spoken of or imagined.

Truly, this is a double misfortune: to be apart from the Kingdom of God and to always be in Hell, that is, with the devil; to miss the presence of the angels and to always suffer the terrible presence of demons: no one can adequately describe how much this should be shunned, avoided and feared.

Who, being of sound mind, would choose a hundred years of punishment for the delights of one day? But nevertheless, the pitiable men without any wisdom, following the love of flesh, do no avoid or escape intolerable punishments. These punishments do not last for a hundred years, nor for a thousand years, not even for a thousand times a thousand years, but for all ages without end, and yet people willingly accept these punishments, for the sake of the delights of forty or sixty years, or whatever perishable delight they choose. How much difference is there between one day and hundred years? Obviously, it is less than the difference between eternity and forty or sixty or a hundred years, whether the future is in good places or in bad. For one day is just another part in the space of a hundred years, an exceedingly tiny measure: and truly the space of a hundred years is no part in that eternity. For, to speak freely, if a hundred or a thousand years were part of eternity, we could talk about the extent of eternity, in terms of how many hundredfold or thousandfold years it is. It would then cease to be eternity, because reason does not set an end to eternity, which, if it could be limited by any time or measure, would not be eternity at all.

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Textual variants:

Two mss have voluntatem in place of voluptatem, in the sentence which reads "But nevertheless, the pitiable men without any wisdom, following the love of flesh, do no avoid or escape intolerable punishments". If you use voluntatem, the phrase reads "following the will of the flesh"; if you use voluptatem, the phrase reads "following the love of the flesh".

The Book of the Three Dwelling-Places, Chapter 2

The Book of the Three Dwelling-Places

 By Saint Patrick

Chapter Two.

About the infernal punishments.

There are two principal torments in Hell: unbearable cold and the heat of inextinguishable fire. For this reason, it is said in the Gospel, "In that place, there will be wailing and grinding of teeth" (Matthew 13:51, 22:13 and 25:50). For wailing and melting of the eyes comes from heat, and surely grinding of teeth comes from cold. Hence, also the blessed Job says, "They will pass from the waters of snows into extreme heat" (Job 24:19). Numberless punishments are exacted through these two torments, as you can see: intolerable thirst, the punishment of hunger, the punishment of stench, the punishment of horror, the punishment of fear, the punishment of anguish, the punishment of darkness, the severity of the torturers, the presence of demons, the ferocity of beasts, the barbarity of the rulers, being torn apart by immortal vermin, the worms of conscience, the fire of tears, the sighs, the misery, the grief without a remedy, the unbroken chains, eternal death, punishment without end, the absence of Christ after the vision of him (which is called the greatest thing above all others), and all the other intolerable punishments.

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Textual variants:

Concerning the absence of Christ as a punishment in Hell, some manuscripts have quoad ("inasmuch as", "with respect to") where the word post ("after") appears. In both variants, the punishment is the same: the absence of Christ in general, and the Beatific Vision in particular.

The use of the word "after" indicates that the people in Hell have seen Christ, and they were afterwards thrown into Hell. This could be applied to humans who have seen Christ during his second coming in glory (which is a precursor to the Beatific Vision). Saint Augustine specifically applies this to Satan and his demons, who had the fullness of the Beatific Vision, but still denied God. The author's point is clear: Because the Beatific Vision is the greatest of all things, the loss of the Beatific Vision causes more regret than losing any other thing. However, because humans are more inclined to regret the loss of good things than demons are--demons tend to rejoice at the loss of good things--this punishment has a greater impact on the humans in Hell.

As the author discusses in later chapters, the absence of Christ is a double punishment. It is not the case that the people in Hell have only one regret: having Christ, then losing him. They also regret the fact that--right now--they are separated from Christ. In other words, they regret both their past separation from Christ and their present separation from Christ. Doubtlessly, if they ever think about the future, they regret their future separation from Christ. But they are probably more inclined to regret their past, not their future, because it was in the past that they became separated from God through their sins. Sin separates us from God and God's transforming love; let us never foolishly choose to follow after sin instead of God.

The Book of the Three Dwelling-Places, Chapter 1

In honor of Saint Patrick's Day this year, I thought I would post a short book by Saint Patrick, which I translated from Latin into English.

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The Book of the Three Dwelling-Places

Or

The Joy of the Elect and Punishment of the Damned

By Saint Patrick

Chapter One.

About the three dwelling-places: the Kingdom of God, Earth, and Hell. The Kingdom of God is good and Hell is bad.

There are three dwelling-places under the power of God: the highest, the lowest, and the middle. Of them, the highest is called the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven, the lowest is named hell, and the middle is said to be the present world or the planet earth. The two extremes are completely contrary to each other, and they have nothing in common. For what partnership can light have with darkness, or how can Christ and the Devil agree (2 Corinthians 6:14, 15)? However, the middle has many similarities with both extremes. This is where light and darkness live, cold and warmth, sickness and health, rejoicing and grieving, hate and love, good and bad, just and unjust, masters and slaves, king and subject, famine and abundance, life and death, and countless others of this sort. In all of them, one side bears the likeness of Heaven, and the other side has the image of Hell. For in this world there is a mixture of bad people and good people; however, in Heaven, there are no bad people, but all are good, and in Hell, no one is good, but all are bad. For both places are filled with people from this world; some are raised to Heaven and others are dragged down to Hell. Of course, the like are joined to the like, that is, the good with the good and the bad with the bad; just men are joined to just angels, and transgressor men to transgressor angels, the servants of God are joined to God, and the servants of the devil are joined to the devil. The blessed are called to the kingdom that has been prepared for them from the start of the world, and the wicked are cast into the eternal fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:34, 41).

However good the kingdom of Heaven is said to be, no one clothed in flesh is able to know or understand what it is like, for the things there are much better and greater than what is thought of or understood. For this reason, Scripture says, "Eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, nor has it what on the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love him" (1 Corinthians 2:9). Therefore, the kingdom of God is greater than all the reports, better than all praise, more immense than all knowledge, and more excellent than the glory which is believed. And likewise, no one is able to know or understand the evils of Hell, what they are like; surely they are exceedingly worse than what is thought. And so, the kingdom of God is full of light, and peace, and charity, and wisdom, and glory, and honesty, and sweetness, and love, and melodies, and joy, and eternal blessedness, and all the ineffable good, which no one is able to say or to think. And the place of Hell is full of darkness, disorder, hate, foolishness, misery, foulness, bitterness, offenses, grief, burning, thirst, inextinguishable fire, sadness, eternal punishment, and all the ineffable bad, which no one is able to say or to think. The citizens of heaven are the just men and angels; the all-powerful God is their king. And oppositely, the citizens of Hell are wicked men and demons; the devil is their leader. The sight of all the saints and angels satisfies the just, and the vision of God satisfies above all these. The sight of all the damned men and demons torments the impious and sinners, and the sight of the devil torments them above all these. In the kingdom of God, nothing that is desired goes unfound; and in Hell, nothing that is found is desired. In the kingdom of God, nothing is found unless it pleases, and delights, and satisfies; on the other hand, in the pit, nothing is seen but eternal misery, and nothing is felt unless it displeases, unless it offends, and unless it causes pain. (In the eternal kingdom there will be life without death, truth without error, happiness without disturbance). All good, and no evil, abounds in the kingdom of God; all bad, and no good, abounds in the prison of the devil. No unworthy person is taken up into the kingdom of God; no truly worthy person, no just man, is dragged down to Hell.

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Textual Notes:

This work is sometimes attributed to Saint Augustine, in addition to Saint Patrick. Some people believe it was written by a different Irish Bishop, who was also named Patrick, although he lived some 600 years after the more famous Saint Patrick.

1) In the list of the attributes of Hell, some manuscripts have the word fetoris ("stench" or "foul smell") where the word adustionis ("burning") appears. It is uncertain which word was in the original, and an argument can be made for either one. "Burning", of course, fits perfectly well into a list of the attributes of Hell. The image of fire to represent Hell appears multiple times in the Bible, such as in the parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man (Luke 16:19-31), or the parable of the weeds and the wheat (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43), or the description of Satan's punishment (Revelation 20:10). This work goes on to describe the fires of Hell in greater detail.

However, you could also argue that the author clearly intends to contrast Heaven and Hell. This is why there are many direct opposites on the list of Heaven's attributes and the list of Hell's attributes. Heaven has "light, and peace, and love, and wisdom", whereas Hell has "darkness, and discord, and hate, and foolishness". It seems out of place to use the word "burning" in a list of direct opposites, because "burning" has no clear opposite. "Stench" fits better in this list, because the stenches of Hell can be contrasted with the sweet-smelling incense of Heaven. Revelation 8:3-5 tells of the angels in Heaven burning incense before the altar of God.

2) The sentence "In the eternal kingdom there will be life without death, truth without error, happiness without disturbance", which is set in parenthesis, is possibly a later addition. It does not fit in well with the other sentences in this section, and it is missing in the manuscripts that say Saint Augustine is the author of this work.

Update from Oregon

Hey, everyone. I'm back from my retreat up in Oregon this week. I hope you enjoyed the Nancy Drew stories this week, while I was gone. By complete coincidence, next week is going to be the exact same thing: nothing but stories.

I brought my swimsuit along with me to Oregon--there's a swimming pond in the place where I stayed--and it ended up snowing. Snow. It never snows where I live in California, so I didn't know what to do. The snow was wet and cold, and I couldn't swim because the pond froze over.  I didn't want to take the risk of driving into town--I think you need special snow wheels for that--so I stayed inside.

On a positive note, I now know where the name snow cones comes from.  The shaved ice kind of resembles snow!  I guess that should be obvious, but I never saw snow which looked like snow cones before.

There were some deer who came to the property, in order to eat from the bird feeders.  They can't fit their mouths inside the feeders, but they eat up the spilled birdseed which is left on the feeders.  One deer started smacking the bird feeder with its head, trying to get it to spill more seeds.  I didn't know deer did things like that.