The inner vision: some notes on mysticism

I will pass over the amethyst, "from which red roses seem to flow out," and as a closing passage from this work, I shall translate the last three symbols: those of the chrysolite, the emerald, and the jasper.

First of all, the chrysolite:

"The communion of saints and the forgiveness of sins are obtained by the waves of the night—that is to say, by two sacraments of the Holy Church: baptism and penance. These are the waves which, through faith, wash away that night of darkness and sin. God has sworn, even from the time of Abraham, that He would give Himself to us and would become our close friend; because of His all-embracing and overflowing love, He has willed to wash us in His blood. In order that we might believe without doubting the oath which He swore by Himself, He has sealed it with His own death for all people in the Holy Church for the forgiveness of sins, and for the saints, to adorn their glory. That precious stone, the chrysolite, symbolizes for us that article of the creed, 'the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,' for it is like the waves of the sea, translucent and green, and it also has gleams of gold. Likewise, all saints and righteous people are translucent by grace or by glory; they are green through their holy lives, and they gleam with the gold of divine love which shines through them. These three adornments are common to all saints and all righteous persons, for they are the treasure of the holy churches, both here and in eternal life. All who, through penance, have put away the color of the Red Sea—that is, a sinful life—are like the chrysolite.

"You must know that this sea is red because of its location and the color of its bed. It is between Jericho and Zoar; Jericho signifies 'the moon,' and Zoar the beast which blinds the reason. Between the moon of instability and the inclination of reason toward the beast, there is always the Red Sea, and whatever does not live in it sinks to the bottom. That is why it is called the Dead Sea, because there is no movement in it; it is like tar or pitch because it seizes and kills whatever enters it. In this way, it very closely resembles sin, which seizes a person and puts them to spiritual death in the sight of God, plunging them into hell."

Let us see, finally, how he applies the emerald and the jasper to the third and sixth articles of the Apostles' Creed:

"In this article, we compare the Son of God to that beautiful stone called the emerald, which is so green that neither leaves nor grass nor any other green thing can compare with its greenness. It fills and feeds the eyes of those who behold it with its greenness. When the eternal Word of the Father was made human, the greenest color ever known on earth was seen. That union of natures is so green and so lovely..."