Panibagong Simula!

Mga kaibigan,

Ang nilalaman po ng blog na ito ay akin na pong ililipat sa panibagong blog na may titulong "liwanagnicristo.blogspot". Halos wala rin pong ganung mababago sa disensyo nito, subalit may mga karagdagang nilalaman po ang maidadagdag dito kabilang na ang mga libreng librong tumatalakay sa paniniwalang Katoliko, maging mga serye ng katuruan at pananalita na ibinigay ng mga kilalang Katoliko't hindi na naglalayong maituro ang tungkol sa paniniwalang Kristyano. Umaasa po ako na inyo rin pong susubaybayan ang naturang blog. Muli, nakasalin po ito sa Tagalog at hindi pa po ito ganun masyadong kumpleto pero akin pong susubukang tapusin ito at paglaanan na din ng sapat na panahon. Ang inyo pong lingkod ay humihingi lamang ng suporta na sanay inyo rin pong suportahan ako sa pamamagitan ng pagclick sa mga google adsense na nakalagay sa naturang bagong blog, dito ang akin pong malilikom na pera ay akin din pong gagamitin para pambili ng karadagang libro at iba pangbabasahin na makakatulong para mapalawak pa ang saklaw ng reperensya na aking pong mailalagay dito na magiging batayan ng mga diskursyong ibibigay dito. Nawa'y maging maayos at maganda ang atin pong magiging panimulain. Salamat at pagpalain nawa tayo ng buong Maykapal. 

Ang katotohanan sa likod ng siping iniuugnay kay Pope Leo X tungkol sa pagiging "katha" ni Kristo

 Pahayag

Pope Leo X: you are right about the translation but it has still the same implication with this one [The Pageant of the Popes in 1574: ]"For on a time when a cardinall Bembus did move a question out of the Gospell, the Pope gave him a very contemptuous answer saying: All ages can testifie enough how profitable that fable of Christe hath ben to us and our companie." The Pope in this case being Leo X.

*Ang naturang pahayag ay pinanatili sa wikang Ingles at atin pong bibigyang tugon sa Tagalog

(Unang Larawan)
Ang larawan pong ito ay ang pabalat ng librong The Complete Plays of John Bale
(Ang papa na nasa larawan ay si Pope Leo X).

Ang siping iyo pong tinutukoy ay nagmula kay John Bale at hindi direktang nanggaling kay Pope Leo X (Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici). Batay po ito sa librong The Pageant of the Popes, containing the lyves of all the Bishops of Rome from the beginning to the yeare 1555 na maituturing na parang isang Shakespearean’s play, dahil sa totoo lamang siya’y isang playwright, at ang kanyang Acta Romanorum Pontificum, usque ad tempora Pauli IV o mas kilala sa saling Ingles na The Pageant of the Popes ay maihahalintulad po sa ganitong klase ng literatura. Ang tungkol po dito ay kinumpirma ng librong The Complete Plays of John Bale (tignan ang unang larawan), kung saan mababasa sa naturang tala kay John Bale nasa kanyang palabas-dulaan, “[he], introduced a variety of matter satirise the Roman Church and parody its rises and customs.”[1] Ayon naman kay Mandenll Creighton[2], si Bale daw po’y

“... a man of great theological and historical learning, and of an active mind. But he was a coarse and bitter controversialist and awakened equal bitterness amongst his opponents (Catholic Church). None of the writers of the reformation time in England equalled Bale in acerbity. He was known as 'Bilious Bale.' His controversial spirit was a hindrance to his learning, as he was led away by his prejudices into frequent misstatements.” (Ang empasismo at ang salitang Catholic Church ay aking idinagdag)

Samakatuwid, ang ilan sa mga sinulat ni Bale hal. New Comedy or Enterlude concerning the three lawes of Nature, Moises and Christe, corrupted by the Sodomytes, Pharyses and Papistes, The Pageant of the Popes, containing the lyves of all the Bishops of Rome from the beginning to the yeare 1555, ay nakasentro hindi po para makapagbigay ng mabuting impresyon patungkol sa Simbahang Katolika, partikular na sa mga namuno dito, kundi para ito siraan at bigyan ng hindi magandang pakahulugan, dahil sa ito ay kanya ding itinuturing na ‘sang kaaway.

Dito makikita po natin ang klaripikasyon sa intensyon ni Bale para sabihing sinabi ni Pope Leo X ang tungkol sa maling sipi, at ito’y para sirain ang kanyang reputasyon bilang papa ng Roma. Ngayon, karamihan po sa mga reperensyang nagtuturo sa naturang pabula ay nagsasabing ang pinanggalingan nito’y si Bale lamang at wala ng iba. Nariyan ang Pierre de LaPrimaudaye’s The FrenchAcademie[3] (1586), John McCabe's A Rationalist Encyclopædia[4] at Pope Leo X. Ang iba namang reperensya ay walang pagkakakitaan ng pinagkuhanang reperensya bagkus maituturing pong mga sariling opinyon lamang. Ayon sa ilan pong naniniwala sa nasabing pabola, ang nasabing sipi ay nagmula daw kay Paulo Giovio sa kanyang Vita de Leonis X, bagama’t ang tungkol po dito ay matagal narin pong nasagot at napabulaan. Narito po ang ilang reperensya sumagot nito: una at ikalawa.

Kung masusi rin pong titignan ang nasabing librong The Pageants of the Popes, makikita po dito ang hindi pagiging “historical” nito kundi ang kanyang pagiging “fictional”. Ang isang halimbawa dito ay ang mababasa sa ibaba

“But to returne to Pope Leo: he made xxxi. cardinals in one day, wherby he got greate bribes and muche treasure, but the same day appeared manye horrible fightes and great tempestes arose, with vehement windes, thonders and lightninges, vehementlye runshinge upon the Churche where the Pope and his Cardinals were with such force, y it shooke downe an idol made for the picture of Christ like a childe in the lappe of the virgine Marye: also it broke S. Peters keyes out of his hand. These things were enterpreted to prognosticate the decay of the Popes kingdome, and thereupon many wrote bitter verses.” (Ang empasismo ay aking idinagdag)

Marahil ang sino man pong makakabasa nito ay hindi ito ituturing na katotohanan. Katulad po sa aking mga naging pahayag, katulad din po nito ang ibinigay na detalye ng Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance sa artikulo nitong More Christian Urban Legends. Ayon po sa kanilang inilabas

“These quotes appear fraudulent, and unrelated to any actual statement by Pope Leo X. They have the flavor of folktales. One evidence of this is than they have appeared in so many different versions with slightly altered wordings. Their origin appears to have been in a fictional work by John Bale.” (Ang empasismo ay aking idinagdag)

Sumatutal po, ang magiging tanong po ngayon dito ay dapat po ba natin itong paniwalaan kung ito po’y hindi naman totoo at hindi nararapat gawing basihan? Ang desisyon ay nasasainyo po.

________________________________

1 John Bale, The Complete Plays of John Bale (ed. Peter Happé), D.S. Brewer, 1986.
2 The Dictionary of National Biography Vol. III (ed. Leslie Stephen), London: Smith, Elder, & Co., 1885. pp. 41-42.

3 Narito naman po ang sinabi ni William Roscoe sa kanyang librong The life and pontificate of Leo X (p.328) patungkol dito,

“John Bale, in his satirical work, entitled, The Pageant of Popes, in which, in his animosity against the church of Rome, he professes it to be his intention to give her double accourding to her works, has informed us, that when Bembo quoted to Leo X. on some occassion, a passage from one of the evangelists, the pope replied, It is well known to all ages how profitable this fable of Christ has been to us; (b) a story, which it has justly been remarked, has been repeated by three or four hundred writers, without any authority whatsoever, except that of the author above referred to.”

Tignan din ang James Patrick Holding, Shattering the Christ Myth, Xulon Press, 2008, pp. 173-75.

4 A Rationalist Encyclopædia: A Book of Reference, On Religion, Philosophy, Ethics, and Science, London: Watts & Co., 1948.

5 Ang siping ito’y nagmula sa Encyclopaedia Britannica, 14th Ed., vol. xix, pg. 217, ngunit sa mismong artikulo walang reperensyang ginamit si Symonds kung saan wala itong tinukoy na pinanggaling.

Ang Tatlong Hari: Ang pagbisita ng mga "mago" (Mt 2:1ff) sa sanggol na si HesuKristo.

Tanong

Sa Mt 2:1f ang bumisita sa sanggol na si HesuKristo ay (mga) mago/pantas, paano pong natawag na tatlong-hari ang mga ito kung wala pong sinabi na sila'y mga hari? Ngayon, papaano po ba naging tatlo ang bilang nila kung sa saling Ingles ay wala namang binanggit na bilang?

Ang patawag po sa mga pantas/mago (μάγοι, magoi) bilang mga hari ay base po sa katuparan ng teksto sa Is 60:3 kung saan sinabing, "And the Gentiles shall walk in thy light, and kings in the brightness of thy rising." Ang mga hari po dito ay tumutukoy sa mga magong bumisita kay HesuKristo sa sabsaban. (Mt 2:1ff) Ang ganitong interpretasyon po ng nasabing teksto ay sinang-ayunan ng mga sinaunang Kristyano (Tertullian, Adv. Marc. 3. 13, vol. 2, p. 339; Adv. Judæos, 9, vol. 2, p. 619; S. Hilary, Pict. de Trinit. 4. 38, vol. 2, p.123; S. Jerome, in Dan. 2. 2, vol. 5, p. 498).[1] Maliban po dito, ang teksto sa Ps 72:10 ay nagpapahiwatig rin po sa pagdating ng mga mago bilang simbolikong representasyon ng mga hari, "The kings of Tarshish, and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba shall offer gifts."

Ngayon, papaano po ba naging tatlo ang bilang nila kung sa saling Ingles ay wala namang binanggit na bilang? Ang dami ng bilang ng regalong ibinigay kay Hesus ay tumutukoy rin, ayon kay F. H. Dunwell[2] sa bilang ng taong nagbigay nito. Ang konklusyong ito ay batay narin sa plurality ng salitang ginamit, ang Greek μάγοι (magoi), na isang noun, plural masculine. Ibig sabihin, dahil ang ginamit po rito na indikasyon na pantukoy ay ang plural μάγοι, malabo pong tumukoy lamang ito sa iisang tao. Ang mga larawang ebidensya ng arkeolohiya na natagpuan sa mga sinaunang libingang Kristyano, ang nagpapatotoo po ng bilang tatlo nito

Three shadowy figures (shown here, compare with photo of the Catacomb of Priscilla) approach the Virgin and child, 

seated at right. Dating to the mid-third century C.E., this fresco from the 

Catacomb of Priscilla is the earliest known image of the magi, which later became 

the most common scene of Jesus’ birth and childhood in early Christian art. 

Photos by Scala/Art Resource

(Jensen, R. M., Witnessing the Divine: The Magi in Art and Literature, BAS)

In this fresco, the three magi appear almost identical to the three youths. 

These fourth-century paintings appear together in the Catacomb of Marcus and 

Marcellianus in Rome. According to the second-century church father Justin Martyr,

the magi were pagan sorcerers and astrologers from the East. When they saw the babe,

they renounced their pagan ways. Like the three youths, they recognized the true God 

and refused to commit idolatry. 

Photo by Pontificia Commissione di Archeologia Sacra

The parallel between the three youths and the three magi is made sharper 

in a fourth-century sarcophagus relief from St. Gilles, in Arles, France.

Here, three eastern men turn away from a Persian official standing beside 

an idol and point toward the Star of Bethlehem. 

Sarcophages Chretiens de la Gaule

Ang pangalan ng mga mago ay mababasang nakaukit sa mago ng Ravenna mosaic at ito'y alinsunod narin po sa tawag rito ng Simbahan: Balthassar, Melchior at Gaspar (Excerpta Latina Barbari, p. 51B). Halos kaparehas din nito ang nakalagay sa ikalimang siglong Armenian infancy gospel kung saan inilista sila bilang Melkon, Gaspar at Baldassar.

_________________________________

1 Tignan din ang mga sumusunod na pananaw nila SS. Cyprian, Basil, Chrysostom, Isidore, Ven. Bede, Idacius sa sipi nila Maldonatus at Baronius.

2 Dunwell, F. H., The Four Gospels, An Interpreted by The Early Church: A Commentary on the Authorized English Version of the Gospel according to S. Matthew, S. Mark, S. Luke. & S. John, 1876.

Pope Benedict XVI has announced his resignation

Basahin ang ilang artikulo mula sa BBC na may kaugnayan dito.

 

Dear Brothers,

I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonisations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church. 

After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. 

I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. 

However, in today's world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to steer the ship of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognise my incapacity to adequately fulfil the ministry entrusted to me. 

For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.

Dear Brothers, I thank you most sincerely for all the love and work with which you have supported me in my ministry and I ask pardon for all my defects. 

And now, let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff. 

With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer.

"Conversation with Oneself"

Conversation with Oneself

excerpt from The Three Ages of the Interior Life

by Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P.

As soon as a man ceases to be outwardly occupied, to talk with his fellow men, as soon as he is alone, even in the noisy streets of a great city, he begins to carry on a conversation with himself. If he is young, he often thinks of his future; if he is old, he thinks of the past and his happy or unhappy experience of life makes him usually judge persons and events very differently.. . . .

If a man is fundamentally egotistical, his intimate conversation with himself is inspired by sensuality or pride. He converses with himself about the object of his cupidity, of his envy; finding therein sadness and death, he tries to flee from himself, to live outside of himself, to divert himself in order to forget the emptiness and the nothingness of his life. In this intimate conversation of the egoist with himself there is a certain very inferior self-knowledge and a no less inferior self-love.

He is acquainted especially with the sensitive part of his soul, that part which is common to man and to the animal. Thus he has sensible joys, sensible sorrows, according as the weather is pleasant or unpleasant, as he wins money or loses it. He has desires and aversions of the same sensible order; and when he is opposed, he has moments of impatience and anger prompted by inordinate self-love. But the egoist knows little about the spiritual part of his soul, that which is common to the angel and to man. Even if he believes in the spirituality of the soul and of the higher faculties, intellect and will, he does not live in this spiritual order. He does not, so to speak, know experimentally this higher part of himself and he does not love it sufficiently. If he knew it, he would find in it the image of God and he would begin to love himself, not in an egotistical manner for himself, but for God. His thoughts almost always fall back on what is inferior in him, and though he often shows intelligence and cleverness which may even become craftiness and cunning; his intellect, instead of rising, always inclines toward what is inferior to it. It is made to contemplate God, the supreme truth, and it often dallies in error, sometimes obstinately defending the error by every means. It has been said that, if life is not on a level with thought, thought ends by descending to the level of life. All declines, and one's highest convictions gradually grow weaker.

The intimate conversation of the egoist with himself proceeds thus to death and is therefore not an interior life. His self-love leads himI to wish to make himself the center of everything, to draw everything to himself, both persons and things. Since this is impossible, he frequently ends in disillusionment and disgust; he becomes unbearable to himself and to others, and ends by hating himself because he wished to love himself excessively. At times he ends by hating life because he desired too greatly what is inferior in it.(1)

If a man who is not in the state of grace begins to seek goodness, his intimate conversation with himself is already quite different. He converses with himself, for example, about what is necessary to live becomingly and to support his family. This at times preoccupies him greatly; he feels his weakness and the need of placing his confidence no longer in himself alone, but in God.

While still in the state of mortal sin, this man may have Christian faith and hope, which subsist in us even after the loss of charity as long as we have not sinned mortally by incredulity, despair, or presumption. When this is so, this man's intimate conversation with himself is occasionally illumined by the supernatural light of faith; now and then he thinks of eternal life and desires it, although this desire remains weak. He is sometimes led by a special inspiration to enter a church to pray.

Finally, if this man has at least attrition for his sins and receives absolution for them, he recovers the state of grace and charity, the love of God and neighbor. Thenceforth when he is alone, his intimate conversation with himself changes. He begins to love himself in a holy manner, not for himself but for God, and to love his own for God; he begins to understand that he must pardon his enemies and love them, and to wish eternal life for them as he does for himself. Often, however, the intimate conversation of a man in the state of grace continues to be tainted with egoism, self-love, sensuality, and pride. These sins are no longer mortal in him, they are venial; but if they are repeated, they incline him to fall into a serious sin, that is, to fall back into spiritual death. Should this happen, this man tends again to flee from himself because what he finds in himself is no longer life but death. Instead of making a salutary reflection on this subject, he may hurl himself back farther into death by casting himself into pleasure, into the satisfactions of sensuality or of pride.

In a man's hours of solitude, this intimate conversation begins again in spite of everything, as if to prove to him that it cannot stop. He would like to interrupt it, yet he cannot do so. The center of the soul has an irrestrainable need which demands satisfaction. In reality, God alone can answer this need, and the only solution is straightway to take the road leading to Him. The soul must converse with someone other than itself. Why? Because it is not its own last end; because its end is the living God, and it cannot rest entirely except in Him. As St. Augustine puts it: "Our heart is restless, until it repose in Thee." (2)

________________________

1. See IIa IIae, q.25, a.7: Whether Sinners Love Themselves. "Since the wicked do not know themselves aright, they do not love themselves aright, but love what they think themselves to be. But the good know themselves truly, and therefore truly love themselves. . . as to the inward man. . . and they take pleasure in entering into their own hearts. . . . On the other hand, the wicked have no wish to be preserved in the integrity of the inward man, nor do they desire spiritual goods for him, nor do they work for that end, nor do they take pleasure in their own company by entering into their own hearts, because whatever they find there, present, past, and future, is evil and horrible; nor do they agree with themselves, on account of the gnawings of conscience."

2. The Confessions, Bk. I, chap. I. "Our heart is restless, until it repose in Thee." This is the proof for the existence of God through natural desire for true and lasting happiness, which can be found only in the Sovereign Good, known at least imperfectly and loved above all, and more than ourselves. We develop this proof in La Providence et la confiance en Dieu, pp. 50-64.

"How Lovely God Is"

 How Lovely God Is

excerpt from  A Little Book of Eternal Wisdom 

by Blessed Henry Suso

 (1295 - 1366)

 

The Servant.--Lord, let me reflect on that divine passage, where Thou speakest of Thyself in the Book of Wisdom: "Come over to Me, all ye that desire Me, and be filled with My fruits. I am the Mother of fair love; My Spirit is sweet above honey and the honeycomb. Wine and music rejoice the heart, but the love of wisdom is above them both.[3]

Ah, Lord! Thou canst show Thyself so lovely and so tender, that all hearts must needs languish for Thee and endure, for Thy sake, all the misery of tender desire; Thy words of love flow so sweetly out of Thy sweet mouth, and so powerfully affect many hearts in their days of youthful bloom, that perishable love is wholly extinguished in them. O my dear Lord, this it is for which my soul sighs, this it is which makes my spirit sad, this it is about which I would gladly hear Thee speak. Now, then, my only elected Comforter, speak one little word to my soul, to Thy poor handmaid; for, lo! I am fallen softly asleep beneath Thy shadow, and my heart watcheth.

Eternal Wisdom.--Listen, then, my son, and see, incline to Me thy ears, enter wholly into thy interior, and forget thyself and all things. I am in Myself the incomprehensible good, which always was and always is, which never was and never will be uttered. I may indeed give Myself to men's hearts to be felt by them, but no tongue can truly express Me in words. And yet, when I, the Supernatural, immutable good, present Myself to every creature according to its capacity to be susceptible of Me, I bind the sun's splendour, as it were, in a cloth, and give thee spiritual perceptions of Me and of My sweet love in bodily words thus: I set Myself tenderly before the eyes of thy heart; now adorn and clothe thou Me in spiritual perceptions and represent Me as delicate and as comely as thy very heart could wish, and bestow on Me all those things that can move the heart to especial love and entire delight of soul. 

Lo! all and everything that thou and all men can possibly imagine of form, of elegance, and grace, is in Me far more ravishing than any one can express, and in words like these do I choose to make Myself known. Now, listen further: I am of high birth, of noble race; I am the Eternal Word of the Fatherly Heart, in which, according to the love-abounding abyss of My natural Sonship in His sole paternity, I possess a gratefulness before His tender eyes in the sweet and bright-flaming love of the Holy Ghost. 

I am the throne of delight, I am the crown of salvation, My eyes are so clear, My mouth so tender, My cheeks so radiant and blooming, and all My figure so fair and ravishing, yea, and so delicately formed, that if a man were to lie in the glowing furnace till the day of judgment, only to have one single glance at My beauty, he would not deserve it. See, I am so deliciously adorned in garments of light, I am so exquisitely set off with all the blooming colours of living flowers, that all May-blossoms, all the beautiful shrubs of all dewy fields, all the tender buds of the sunny meads, are but as rough thistles compared to My adornment.

In the Godhead I play the game of bliss,
Such joy the angels find in this,
That unto them a thousand years
But as one little hour appears.

All the heavenly host follow Me entranced by new wonders, and behold Me; their eyes are fixed on Mine; their hearts are inclined to Me, their minds bent on Me without intermission. Happy is he who, in joyous security, shall take Me by My beautiful hand, and join in My sweet diversions, and dance for ever the dance of joy amid the ravishing delights of the kingdom of heaven! 

One little word there spoken by My sweet mouth will far surpass the singing of all angels, the music of all harps, the harmony of all sweet strings. My faithfulness is so made to be loved, so lovely am I to be embraced, and so tender for pure languishing souls to kiss, that all hearts ought to break for My possession. I am condescending and full of sympathy and always present to the pure soul. I abide with her in secret, at  table, in bed, in the streets, in the fields. Turn Myself whichever way I will, in Me there is nothing that can displease, in Me is everything that can delight the utmost wishes of thy heart and desires of the soul. 

Lo! I am a good so pure, that he who in his day only gets one drop of Me regards all the pleasures and delights of this world as nothing but bitterness; all its possessions and honours as worthless, and only fit to be cast away; My beloved ones are encompassed by My love, and are absorbed into the One Thing alone without imaged love and without spoken words, and are taken and infused into that good out of which they flowed. My love can also relieve regenerate hearts from the heavy load of sin, and can give a free, pure, and gentle heart, and create a clean conscience. 

Tell Me, what is there in all this world able to outweigh this one thing? For he who gives his heart wholly to Me lives joyfully, dies securely, and obtains the kingdom of heaven here as well as hereafter.

Now, observe, I have assuredly given thee many words, and yet My beauty has been as little touched by them as the firmament by thy little finger, because no eye has ever seen My beauty, nor ear heard it, neither has it ever entered any heart. Still let what I have said to thee be as a device to show thee the difference between My sweet love and false, perishable love.

The Servant.--Ah! Thou tender, delicious, wild flower, Thou delight of the heart in the embracing arms of the pure loving soul, how familiar is all this to him who has even once really felt Thee; but how strange is it to that man who knows Thee not, whose heart and mind are still in the body! O, Thou most heart-felt incomprehensible good this is a precious hour, this is a sweet moment, in which I must open to Thee a secret wound which my heart still bears from Thy sweet love. 

Lord, plurality in love is like water in the fire. Lord, Thou knowest that real fervent love cannot bear duality. Alas! Thou only Lord of my heart and soul, my heart desires that Thou shouldst have a particular love for me, and that I should be particularly pleasing to Thy divine eyes. O Lord, Thou hast so many hearts that ardently love Thee, and are of much account with Thee. Alas! my sweet and tender Lord, how stands it with me in this matter?

Eternal Wisdom.--My love is of that sort which is not diminished in unity, nor confounded in multiplicity. I am as entirely concerned and occupied with thee alone, with the thought how I may at all times love thee alone, and fulfill everything that appertains to thee, as though I were wholly disengaged from all other things.

The Servant.--O rare! O wonderful! whither am I borne, how am I gone astray! how is my soul utterly dissolved by the sweet friendly words of my beloved! Oh, turn away Thy bright eyes from me, for they have overcome me.[4] Wherever was there a heart so hard, a soul so lukewarm, so cold as, when it heard Thy sweet living words, so exceedingly fiery as they are, was not fain to melt and kindle in Thy sweet love! 

O wonder of wonders! that he who thus sees Thee with the eyes of his soul, should not feel his very heart dissolve in love. How right blessed is he who bears the name of Thy Spouse, and is so! What sweet consolations and secret tokens of Thy love must not he eternally receive from Thee! O thou sweet virgin St. Agnes, thou fair wooer of Eternal Wisdom! how well couldst thou console thyself with thy dear Bridegroom, when thou didst say, "His blood has adorned my cheeks as with roses." O gentle Lord, that my soul were but worthy to be called Thy wooer! 

And were it indeed possible that all delights, all joy and love, that this world can afford, might be found united in one man, how gladly would I renounce him for the sake of that name! How blessed is that man, that ever he was born into the world who is named Thy friend, and is so! Oh, if a man had even a thousand lives, he ought to stake them at once for the sake of acquiring Thy love. Oh, all ye friends of God, all ye heavenly host, and thou dear virgin St. Agnes, help me to pray to Him: for never did I rightly know what His love was.

Alas! thou heart of mine, lay aside, put away all sloth, and see if, before thy death, thou mayest advance so far as to feel His sweet love. O thou tender beautiful Wisdom! O my elected One! What a truly right gracious love Thou canst be above all loves else in the world! How very different is Thy love and the love of creatures! How false is everything that appears lovely in this world and gives itself out to be something, as soon as one really begins to know it. 

Lord, wherever I might cast my eyes I always found something to disgust me; for, if it was a fair image, it was void of grace; if it was fair and lovely, it had not the true way; or if it had indeed this, still, I always found something either inwardly or outwardly, to which the entire inclination of my heart was secretly opposed. But Thou art beauty with infinite affability, Thou art grace in shape and form, the word with the way, nobility with virtue, riches with power, interior freedom and exterior brightness, and one thing Thou art which I have never found in time, namely, a power and faculty of perfectly satiating every wish and every ardent desire of a truly loving heart. 

The more one knows Thee, the more one loves Thee; the more acquainted one is with Thee, the more friendly one finds Thee. Ah me! what an unfathomable, entirely pure, good Thou art! See how deceived all those hearts are that fix their affections on anything else! Ah! ye false lovers, flee far from me, never come near me more. I have chosen for my heart that one only love in which my heart, my soul, my desire, and all my powers can alone be satiated with a love that never dissolves away. 

Oh Lord, could I but trace Thee on my heart! could I but melt Thee with characters of gold into the innermost core of my heart and soul, so that Thou mightest never be eradicated out of me! Oh, misery and desolation! that ever I should have troubled my heart with such things! What have I gained with all my lovers, but time lost, forfeited words, an empty hand, few good works, and a conscience burdened with infirmity? Slay me, rather, in Thy love, O Lord, for from Thy feet I will never more be separated.

Eternal Wisdom.--I go forth to meet those who seek Me, and I receive with affectionate joy such as desire My love. All that thou canst ever experience of My sweet love in time, is but as a little drop to the ocean of My love in eternity.

___________________

3.	Ecclesiasticus xxiv. 24, 26, 27; xl. 20
4.	Cant. vi. 5

"Of Compassion"

Of Compassion

excerpt from The Adornment of Spiritual Marriage 

 by Blessed John of Ruysbroeck

(1293-1381)

 

 

 

 

 

Out of kindliness springs compassion, which is a fellow-feeling with all men; for none can share the griefs of all, save him who is kind.

Compassion is an inward movement of the heart, stirred by pity for the bodily and ghostly griefs of all men. This compassion makes a man suffer with Christ in His passion; for he who is compassionate marks the wherefore of His pains and the way of His resignation; of His love, His wounds, His tenderness; of His grief and His nobleness; of the disgrace, the misery, and the shame He endured; of the way in which He was despised; of His crown; of the nails; of His mercifulness; of His destruction and dying in patience. These manifold and unheard-of sorrows of Christ, our Saviour and our Bridegroom, move all kindly men to pity and compassion with Christ.

Compassion makes a man look into himself, and recognize his faults, his feebleness in virtues and in the worship of God, his lukewarmness, his laziness, his many failings, the time he has wasted and his present imperfection in moral and other virtues; all this makes a man feel true pity and compassion for himself. Further, compassion marks the errors and disorders of our fellow-creatures, how little they care for their God and their eternal blessedness, their ingratitude for all the good things which God has done for them, and the pains He suffered for their sake; how they are strangers to virtue, unskilled and unpractised in it, but skilful and cunning in every wickedness; how attentive they are to the loss and gain of earthly goods, how careless and reckless they are of God, of eternal things, and their eternal bliss. When he marks this, a good man is moved to compassion for the salvation of all men.

Such a man will also regard with pity the bodily needs of his neighbours, and the manifold sufferings of human nature; seeing men hungry, thirsty, cold, naked, sick, poor, and abject; the manifold oppressions of the poor, the grief caused by loss of kinsmen, friends, goods, honour, peace; all the countless sorrows which befall the nature of man. These things move the just to compassion, so that they share the sorrows of all. But their greatest pain springs from this: that men are so impatient of this suffering, that they lose their reward, and may often earn hell for themselves. Such is the work of compassion and of pity.

This work of compassion and of common neighbourly love overcomes and casts out the third mortal sin, that is hatred or Envy. For compassion is a wound in the heart, whence flows a common love to all mankind and which cannot be healed so long as any suffering lives in man; for God has ordained grief and sorrow of heart before all the virtues. And this is why Christ says: Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. And that shall come to pass when they reap in joy that which now, through compassion and pity, they sow in tears.

"The Love of Solitude and Silence"

The Love of Solitude and Silence 

excerpt from the Imitation of Christ by Thomas A. Kempis

Seek a suitable time for leisure and meditate often on the favors of God. Leave curiosities alone. Read such matters as bring sorrow to the heart rather than occupation to the mind. If you withdraw yourself from unnecessary talking and idle running about, from listening to gossip and rumors, you will find enough time that is suitable for holy meditation.

Very many great saints avoided the company of men wherever possible and chose to serve God in retirement. "As often as I have been among men," said one writer, "I have returned less a man." We often find this to be true when we take part in long conversations. It is easier to be silent altogether than not to speak too much. To stay at home is easier than to be sufficiently on guard while away. Anyone, then, who aims to live the inner and spiritual life must go apart, with Jesus, from the crowd.

No man appears in safety before the public eye unless he first relishes obscurity. No man is safe in speaking unless he loves to be silent. No man rules safely unless he is willing to be ruled. No man commands safely unless he has learned well how to obey. No man rejoices safely unless he has within him the testimony of a good conscience.

More than this, the security of the saints was always enveloped in the fear of God, nor were they less cautious and humble because they were conspicuous for great virtues and graces. The security of the wicked, on the contrary, springs from pride and presumption, and will end in their own deception.

Never promise yourself security in this life, even though you seem to be a good religious, or a devout hermit. It happens very often that those whom men esteem highly are more seriously endangered by their own excessive confidence. Hence, for many it is better not to be too free from temptations, but often to be tried lest they become too secure, too filled with pride, or even too eager to fall back upon external comforts.

If only a man would never seek passing joys or entangle himself with worldly affairs, what a good conscience he would have. What great peace and tranquillity would be his, if he cut himself off from all empty care and thought only of things divine, things helpful to his soul, and put all his trust in God.

No man deserves the consolation of heaven unless he persistently arouses himself to holy contrition. If you desire true sorrow of heart, seek the privacy of your cell and shut out the uproar of the world, as it is written: "In your chamber bewail your sins." There you will find what too often you lose abroad.

Your cell will become dear to you if you remain in it, but if you do not, it will become wearisome. If in the beginning of your religious life, you live within your cell and keep to it, it will soon become a special friend and a very great comfort.

In silence and quiet the devout soul advances in virtue and learns the hidden truths of Scripture. There she finds a flood of tears with which to bathe and cleanse herself nightly, that she may become the more intimate with her Creator the farther she withdraws from all the tumult of the world. For God and His holy angels will draw near to him who withdraws from friends and acquaintances.

It is better for a man to be obscure and to attend to his salvation than to neglect it and work miracles. It is praiseworthy for a religious seldom to go abroad, to flee the sight of men and have no wish to see them.

Why wish to see what you are not permitted to have? "The world passes away and the concupiscence thereof." Sensual craving sometimes entices you to wander around, but when the moment is past, what do you bring back with you save a disturbed conscience and heavy heart? A happy going often leads to a sad return, a merry evening to a mournful dawn. Thus, all carnal joy begins sweetly but in the end brings remorse and death.

What can you find elsewhere that you cannot find here in your cell? Behold heaven and earth and all the elements, for of these all things are made. What can you see anywhere under the sun that will remain long? Perhaps you think you will completely satisfy yourself, but you cannot do so, for if you should see all existing things, what would they be but an empty vision?

Raise your eyes to God in heaven and pray because of your sins and shortcomings. Leave vanity to the vain. Set yourself to the things which God has commanded you to do. Close the door upon yourself and call to you Jesus, your Beloved. Remain with Him in your cell, for nowhere else will you find such peace. If you had not left it, and had not listened to idle gossip, you would have remained in greater peace. But since you love, sometimes, to hear news, it is only right that you should suffer sorrow of heart from it.

"On purity of heart which is to be sought above all things"

On purity of heart which is to be sought above all things

excerpt from "On Cleaving to God" by St. Albert the Great

 

 

If your desire and aim is to reach the destination of the path and home of true happiness, of grace and glory, by a straight and safe way then earnestly apply your mind to seek constant purity of heart, clarity of mind and calm of the senses. Gather up your heart's desire and fix it continually on the Lord God above. To do so you must withdraw yourself so far as you can from friends and from everyone else, and from the activities that hinder you from such a purpose. Grasp every opportunity when you can find the place, time and means to devote yourself to silence and contemplation, and gathering the secret fruits of silence, so that you can escape the shipwreck of this present age and avoid the restless agitation of the noisy world. For this reason apply yourself at all times to purity, clarity and peace of heart above all things, so that, so far as possible, you can keep the doors of your heart resolutely barred to the forms and images of the physical senses and worldly imaginations by shutting off the doors of the physical senses and turning within yourself. After all, purity of heart is recognised as the most important thing among all spiritual practices, as its final aim, and the reward for all the labours that a spiritual-minded person and true religious may undertake in this life.

For this reason you should with all care, intelligence and effort free your heart, senses and desires from everything that can hinder their liberty, and above all from everything in the world that could possibly bind and overcome you. So struggle in this way to draw together all the distractions of your heart and desires of your mind into one true, simple and supreme good, to keep them gathered within yourself in one place, and by this means to remain always joined to things divine and to God in your mind, to abandon the unreliable things of earth, and be able to translate your mind continually to the things above within yourself in Jesus Christ.

To which end, if you have begun to strip and purify yourself of images and imaginations and to simplify and still your heart and mind in the Lord God so that you can draw and taste the well of divine grace in everything within yourself, and so that you are united to God in your mind by a good will, then this itself is enough for you in place of all study and reading of holy scripture, and as demonstration of love of God and neighbour, as devotion itself testifies.

So simplify your heart with all care, diligence and effort so that still and at peace from the products of the imagination you can turn round and remain always in the Lord within yourself, as if your mind were already in the now of eternity, that is of the godhead. In this way you will be able to renounce yourself through love of Jesus Christ, with a pure heart, clean conscience and unfeigned faith, and commit yourself completely and fully to God in all difficulties and eventualities, and be willing to submit yourself patiently to his will and good pleasure at all times.

For this to come about you must repeatedly retreat into your heart and remain there, keeping yourself free from everything, so far as is possible. You must always keep the eye of your mind clear and still. You must guard your understanding from daydreams and thoughts of earthly things. You must completely free the inclination of your will from worldly cares and cling will all your being to the supreme true good with fervent love. You must keep your memory always lifted up and firmly anchored in that same true supreme good and only uncreated reality. In just this way your whole mind gathered up with all its powers and faculties in God, may become one spirit with him, in whom the supreme perfection of life is known to consist.

This is the true union of spirit and love by which a man is made compliant to all the impulses of the supreme and eternal will, so that he becomes by grace what God is by nature.

At the same time it should be noted that in the very moment in which one is able, by God's help, to overcome one's own will, that is to cast away from oneself inordinate love or strong feeling, in other words so as to dare simply to trust God completely in all one's needs, by this very fact one becomes so pleasing to God that his grace is imparted to one, and through that very grace one experiences that true love and devotion which drives out all uncertainty and fear and has full confidence in God. What is more, there can be no greater happiness than to place one's all in him who lacks nothing.

So why do you still remain in yourself where you cannot stay. Cast yourself, all of yourself, with confidence into God and he will sustain you, heal you and make you safe. If you dwell on these things faithfully within, they will do more to confer a happy life on you than all riches, pleasures and honours, and above all the wisdom and knowledge of this present deceitful world and its life, even if you were to excel in them all that ever lived. 

"The Evil Tongues"

 The Evil Tongues

excerpt from the Sermon of Curé of Ars

There are some who, through envy, for that is what it amounts to, belittle and slander others, especially those in the same business or profession as their own, in order to draw business to themselves. They will say such evil things as "their merchandise is worthless" or "they cheat"; that they have nothing at home and that it would be impossible to give goods away at such a price; that there have been many complaints about these goods; that they will give no value or wear or whatever it is, or even that it is short weight, or not the right length, and so on. A workman will say that another man is not a good worker, that he is always changing his job, that people are not satisfied with him, or that he does no work, that he only puts in his time, or perhaps that he does not know how to work. 

"What I was telling you there," they will then add, "it would be better to say nothing about it. He might lose by it, you know." 

"Is that so?" you answer." It would have been better if you yourself had said nothing. That would have been the thing to do." 

A farmer will observe that his neighbour's property is doing better than his own. This makes him very angry so he will speak evil of him. There are others who slander their neighbours from motives of vengeance. If you do or say something to help someone, even through reasons of duty or of charity, they will then look for opportunities to decry you, to think up things which will harm you, in order to revenge themselves. If their neighbour is well spoken of, they will be very annoyed and will tell you: "He is just like everyone else. He has his own faults. He has done this, he has said that. You didn't know that? Ah, that is because you have never had anything to do with him." 

A great many people slander others because of pride. They think that by depreciating others they will increase their own worth. They want to make the most of their own alleged good qualities. Everything they say and do will be good, and everything that others say and do will be wrong. 

But the great bulk of malicious talk is done by people who are simply irresponsible, who have an itch to chatter about others without feeling any need to discover whether what they are saying is true or false. They just have to talk. Yet, although these latter are less guilty than the others -- that is to say, than those who slander and backbite through hatred or envy or revenge -- yet they are not free from sin. Whatever the motive that prompts them, they should not sully the reputation of their neighbour. 

It is my belief that the sin of scandalmongering includes all that is most evil and wicked. Yes, my dear brethren, this sin includes the poison of all the vices -- the meanness of vanity, the venom of jealousy, the bitterness of anger, the malice of hatred, and the flightiness and irresponsibility so unworthy of a Christian.... Is it not, in fact, scandalmongering which sows almost all discord and disunity, which breaks up friendships and hinders enemies from reconciling their quarrels, which disturbs the peace of homes, which turns brother against brother, husband against wife, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law and son-in-law against father-in-law? How many united households have been turned upside down by one evil tongue, so that their members could not bear to see or to speak to one another? And one malicious tongue, belonging to a neighbour, man or woman, can be the cause of all this misery.... 

Yes, my dear brethren, the evil tongue of one scandalmonger poisons all the virtues and engenders all the vices. It is from that malicious tongue that a stain is spread so many times through a whole family, a stain which passes from fathers to children, from one generation to the next, and which perhaps is never effaced. The malicious tongue will follow the dead into the grave; it will disturb the remains of these unfortunates by making live again the faults which were buried with them in that resting place. What a foul crime, my dear brethren! Would you not be filled with fiery indignation if you were to see some vindictive wretch rounding upon a corpse and tearing it into a thousand pieces? Such a sight would make you cry out in horror and compassion. And yet the crime of continuing to talk of the faults of the dead is much greater. A great many people habitually speak of someone who has died something after this fashion: "Ah, he did very well in his time! He was a seasoned drinker. 

He was as cute as a fox. He was no better than he should have been." 

But perhaps, my friend, you are mistaken, and although everything may have been exactly as you have said, perhaps he is already in Heaven, perhaps God has pardoned him. But, in the meantime, where is your charity?

Letter to all the Faithful

Letter to all the Faithful

by St. Francis of Assisi
(c. 1182 – October 3, 1226)

from The Writings of St. Francis of Assisi  

(tr. by Father Pascal Robinson), 1905

To all Christians, religious, clerics, and laics, men and women, to all who dwell in the whole world, Brother Francis, their servant and subject, presents reverent homage, wishing true peace from heaven and sincere charity in the Lord. 

Being the servant of all, I am bound to serve all and to administer the balm-bearing words of my Lord. Wherefore, considering in my mind that, because of the infirmity and weakness of my body, I cannot visit each one personally, I propose by this present letter and message  to offer you the words of our Lord Jesus Christ who is the Word of the Father and the words of the Holy Ghost which are "spirit and life." 

This Word of the Father, so worthy, so holy and glorious, whose coming the most High Father announced from heaven by His holy archangel Gabriel to the holy and glorious Virgin Mary  in whose womb He received the true flesh of our humanity and frailty, He, being rich  above all, willed, nevertheless, with His most Blessed Mother, to choose poverty.

 And when His Passion was nigh, He celebrated the Pasch with His disciples and, taking bread, He gave thanks and blessed and broke saying: Take ye and eat: this is My Body. And, taking the chalice, He said: This is My Blood of the New Testament, which shall be shed for you and for many unto remission of sins.  After that He prayed to the Father, saying: "Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from Me."  "And His sweat became as drops of blood, trickling down upon the ground."  But withal, He gave up His will to the will of the Father, saying: Father, Thy will be done: not as I will, but as Thou wilt.  Such was the will of the Father that His Son, Blessed and Glorious, whom He gave to us, and who was born for us,  should by His own Blood, sacrifice, and oblation, offer Himself on the altar of the Cross, not for Himself, by whom "all things were made,"  but for our sins, leaving us an example that we should follow His steps. And He wishes that we should all be saved by Him  and that we should receive Him with a pure heart and a chaste body. But there are few who wish to receive Him and to be saved by Him, although His yoke is sweet and His burden light. 

 Those who will not taste how sweet the Lord is  and who love darkness rather than the light,  not wishing to fulfil the commandments of God are cursed: of them it is said by the prophet: "They are cursed who decline from Thy commandments."  

 But, O how happy and blessed are those who love the Lord, who do as the Lord Himself says in the Gospel: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart and with thy whole soul and . . . thy neighbor as thyself."  Let us therefore love God and adore Him with a pure heart and a pure mind because He Himself, seeking that above all, says: "The true adorers shall adore the Father in spirit and in truth."  For all who "adore Him, must adore Him in spirit and in truth."  And let us offer Him praises and prayers day and night, saying: "Our Father who art in heaven," for "we ought always to pray, and not to faint." 

We ought indeed to confess all our sins to a priest and receive from him the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He who does not eat His Flesh and does not drink His Blood cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.  Let him, however, eat and drink worthily, because he who receives unworthily "eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, not discerning the Body of the Lord," —that is, not discerning it from other foods.

Let us, moreover, "bring forth fruits worthy of penance."  And let us love our neighbors as ourselves, and, if any one does not wish to love them as himself or cannot, let him at least do them not harm, but let him do good to them.

Let those who have received the power of judging others, exercise judgment with mercy,  as they hope to obtain mercy from the Lord. For let judgment without mercy be shown to him that doth not mercy. Let us then have charity and humility and let us give alms because they wash souls from the foulness of sins. For men lose all which they leave in this world; they carry with them, however, the reward of charity and alms which they have given, for which they shall receive a recompense and worthy remuneration from the Lord.

We ought also to fast and to abstain from vices and sins and from superfluity of food and drink, and to be Catholics. We ought also to visit Churches frequently and to reverence clerics not only for themselves, if they are sinners, but on account of their office and administration of the most holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which they sacrifice on the altar and receive and administer to others. And let us all know for certain that no one can be saved except by the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the holy words of the Lord which clerics say and announce and distribute and they alone administer and not others. But religious especially, who have renounced the world, are bound to do more and greater things, but "not to leave the other undone." 

We ought to hate our bodies with [their] vices and sins, because the Lord says in the Gospel that all vices and sins come forth from the heart.  We ought to love our enemies and do good to them that hate us.  We ought to observe the precepts and counsels of our Lord Jesus Christ. We ought also to deny ourselves and to put our bodies beneath the yoke of servitude and holy obedience as each one has promised to the Lord. And let no man be bound by obedience to obey any one in that where sin or offence is committed.

But let him to whom obedience has been entrusted and who is considered greater become as the lesser and the servant of the other brothers, and let him show and have the mercy toward each of his brothers that he would wish to be shown to himself if he were in the like situation. And let him not be angry with a brother on account of his offence, but let him advise him kindly and encourage him with all patience and humility.

We ought not to be "wise according to the flesh" and prudent, but we ought rather to be simple, humble, 

and pure. And let us hold our bodies in dishonor and contempt because through our fault we are all wretched and corrupt, foul and worms, as the Lord says by the prophet: "I am a worm and no man, the reproach of men and the outcast of the people." We should never desire to be above others, but ought rather to be servants and subject "to every human creature for God's sake."  And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon all those who do these things and who shall persevere to the end, and He shall make His abode and dwelling in them,  and they shall be children of the heavenly Father whose works they do, and they are the spouses, brothers and mothers of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are spouses when by the Holy Ghost the faithful soul is united to Jesus Christ. We are His brothers when we do the will of His Father who is in heaven. We are His mothers when we bear Him in our heart and in our body through pure love and a clean conscience and we bring Him forth by holy work which ought to shine as an example to others.

O how glorious and holy and great to have a Father in heaven! O how holy, fair, and lovable to have a spouse in heaven! O how holy and how beloved, well pleasing and humble, peaceful and sweet and desirable above all to have such a brother who has laid down His life for His sheep, and who has prayed for us to the Father, saying: Father, keep them in Thy Name whom Thou hast given Me. Father, all those whom Thou hast given Me in the world were Thine, and Thou hast given them to Me. And the words which Thou gayest Me I have given to them; and they have received them, and have known in very deed that I came forth from Thee, and they have believed that Thou didst send Me. I pray for them: not for the world: bless and sanctify them. And for them I sanctify Myself that they may be sanctified in one as We also are. And I will, Father, that where I am, they also may be with Me, that they may see My glory in My kingdom. 

And since He has suffered so many things for us and has done and will do so much good to us, let every creature which is in heaven and on earth and in the sea and in the abysses render praise to God and glory and honor and benediction; for He is our strength and power who alone is good,  alone most high, alone almighty and admirable, glorious and alone holy, praiseworthy and blessed without end forever and ever. Amen.

But all those who do not do penance and who do not receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, but who give themselves to vices and sins and walk after evil concupiscence and bad desires and who do not observe what they have promised, corporally they serve the world and its fleshly desires and cares and solicitudes for this life, but mentally they serve the devil, deceived by him whose sons they are and whose works they do; blind they are because they see not the true light,—our Lord Jesus Christ. They have no spiritual wisdom, for they have not in them the Son of God who is the true wisdom of the Father: of these it is said: "their wisdom was swallowed up."  They know, understand, and do evil and wittingly lose their souls. Beware, ye blind, deceived by your enemies—to wit, by the world, the flesh and by the devil—for it is sweet to the body to commit sin and bitter to serve God because all vices and sins come forth and proceed from the heart of man, as it is said in the Gospel.

And you have nothing of good in this world or in the future. You think to possess for long the vanities of this world, but you are deceived; for a day and an hour will come of which you think not and do not know and are ignorant of. The body grows feeble, death approaches, neighbors and friends come saying: "Put your affairs in order." And his wife and his children, neighbors and friends, make believe to weep. And looking, he sees them weeping and is moved by a bad emotion, and thinking within himself he says: "Behold, I place my soul and body and my all in your hands." Verily, that man is cursed who confides and exposes his soul and body and his all in such hands. Wherefore, the Lord says by the prophet: "Cursed be the man that trusteth in man." And at once they cause a priest to come and the priest says to him: "Wilt thou do penance for all thy sins? " He answers: "I will." "Wilt thou from thy substance, as far as thou canst, satisfy for what thou hast done and for the things in which thou hast defrauded and deceived men." He answers: "No."—And the priest says: "Why not?"—"Because I have put everything into the hands of my relatives and friends." And he begins to lose the power of speech and thus this miserable man dies a bitter death. 

But let all know that wheresoever or howsoever a man may die in criminal sin, without satisfaction—when he could satisfy and did not satisfy—the devil snatches his soul from his body with such violence and anguish as no one can know except him who suffers it. And all talent and power, learning and wisdom that he thought to possess are taken from him. And his relatives and friends take to themselves his substance and divide it and say afterwards: "Cursed be his soul because he could have acquired and given us more than he did, and did not acquire it." But the worms eat his body. And thus he loses soul and body in this short life and goes into hell, where he shall be tormented without end.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. All to whom this letter may come, I, Brother Francis, your little servant, pray and conjure you by the charity which God is, and with the will to kiss your feet, to receive these balm-bearing words f our Lord Jesus Christ with humility and charity and to put them in practice kindly and to observe them perfectly. And let those who do not know how to read have them read often and let them keep them by them with holy operation unto the end, for they are spirit and life. And those who do not do this shall render an account on the day of Judgment before the tribunal of Christ. And all those who shall receive them kindly and understand them and send them to others as example, if they persevere in them unto the end, may the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost bless them. Amen.