Chapter 10

Description of the Last Judgment

One night, perhaps four days after these visions, I felt a need for solitude, to flee society, to explore celestial and earthly wonders and escape the traps laid by those infernal spirits that bring about the corruption of humanity. I walked through the countryside. The roads were beautiful, but the land was barren, nature had deprived the earth of its abundance. The sky was dark and cloudy, everything seemed to foreshadow the last days of our mortal race. 

I arrived at the foot of a mountain. My road was blocked, I could go no further. In this dark image of the vault of heaven, I suddenly saw a glorious arch, but could not make out what it contained. A series of images followed, one after another: I heard heavenly trumpets, saw four angels turn away from me to form a square, sounding their trumpets to the four corners of the earth. From the shining arch I saw God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit come forth on glorious clouds, then seated on thrones at the foot of the mountain I now kneeled before. 

And now the mountain seemed covered with men, the earth churning with motion. A great many coffins emerged from the earth, and the people inside them seemed fresh and healthy, as if they had never ceased to live. Even those that had been buried without coffins seemed fresh and lifelike. They opened their eyes, nodded, and bowed before the Supreme Being as he spoke, words of comfort for the just, terrible proclamations for the wicked. I turned away, fearing to see the judgment of the damned, their being carried to hell by the demons and devils that teemed in the air. I thanked God, and went home, still hearing the trumpet, still hearing the cries of the people spread across the mountain.