De visione quae apparuit cuidam incluso de ipse rege.
The Hermit and the Heavenly Visitor
A heavenly oracle comes to a holy hermit enclosed in an underground cave, who is unaware of the king's messengers at Rome.
Regarding the king's betrothal and the letter from the pope, a heavenly oracle accompanied it, which was heard by a certain holy man who had no idea what the messengers were doing at Rome — not far off now — while the prince of the apostles appeared to him. This man was beloved by God and by others. He had been enclosed in an underground cave for many years, and he was now close to receiving the reward of his merits.
Peter's Charge to the King
Peter appears to the hermit and commands King Edward to be released from his vow and to build a monastery in the apostle's honor.
To this man, most blessed Peter appeared in a night vision. Once he had put aside the fear caused by the voice and the gentleness of the vision's expression, he said: 'King Edward, for the vow by which he had bound himself when he was still in exile, for the peace of the kingdom and the welfare of the people, and also out of anxious concern for the needs of the poor and for prayer, believed the Roman Church should be consulted about everything.' Let him know, therefore, that by my authority he is released from this obligation, and that he has received from the supreme pontiff a salutary command to build a monastery for the honor of my name. Without delay, then, let him put his faith in apostolic letters, obey precepts, and assent to counsels. For from me has gone out the word that once chose me as its patron, me as its companion, me as the giver of grace.
The Chosen Place of Thorney
Peter identifies his beloved place in western London, once consecrated by his own hands and later humbled under barbarian conquest.
And there is a place for me in the western part of London, chosen by me, beloved to me, which I once consecrated with my own hands, honored with my presence, and further made famous by divine miracles. Thorney is the name of the place that was once handed over to the power of the barbarians because of the people's sins — the poorest made from the richest, the lowly made from the loathsome, the noble made contemptible.
The House of God and the Gate of Heaven
Peter promises that the restored monastery will become God's house and heaven's gate, with angels carrying prayers up and grace flowing down.
At my command, let the king receive this place as a dwelling for monks, to be restored, raised higher with buildings, and enlarged with possessions. It will be nothing less than the house of God and the gate of heaven.✦ A ladder is to be set up there, on which angels, descending and ascending, may carry the prayers and vows of people up to God, and bring grace back down. From there I will open the door of paradise for those who are ascending, so that — as the task my Lord and Savior has entrusted to me requires — I may absolve those who are bound, receive those who are absolved, and open the gate of the heavenly homeland to the justified, which their sin had barred against them.
The Letter Sent to the King
The hermit entrusts the vision to writing and sends it to the royal court, where it is read alongside the pope's letter at the council.
As for you, pass on in writing everything you have heard and learned from me, sending someone to carry it to the king so that, with God's gift doubled over, he may be more confident about absolution, more devoted in carrying out the precept, and more inclined toward love and service of me. When he had said these things, the light vanished as he was speaking. He lost no time, and at once entrusted everything he had seen and heard to a notary, writing it on a small sheet; then, handing the letter to a messenger, he sent it to the court, which was many miles away at that time, as he had been directed. So on that same day, in the same place, at the same council where the legates returning from the apostolic city had reported the mandate, the letter of the man of God was also presented to the king and brought forward into their midst; and after the rescript of blessed Pope Leo had been read, the words of the holy old man were read in the next place.
The King's Joy and Generosity
All praise God as the king joyfully gives his pilgrimage money to the poor and remits the Danegeld, fulfilling the scriptural portrait of the blameless man.
With outward voice and inward rejoicing, God is blessed in his gifts and praised in all his works. Everyone marvels at the king's holiness, embraces the apostle's glory, is strengthened in faith and hope, raised from earthly things to heavenly ones, and more sincerely set ablaze with love of God. There could be no doubt about the truth of the oracle, since in the province of Worcester that man, shut off from human company, could not have known what they did at Rome, what instructions they received, or when they returned, unless God had revealed it. Then the king, joyful and eager, as had been decided for him, scattered and gave to the poor the money he had obtained for the relief of his pilgrimage, and directing his mind to the work enjoined upon him, poured out his treasures. Furthermore, that heaviest tribute which in his father's time was first paid to the Danish fleet, and afterward was paid year by year into the royal treasury, he remitted by royal generosity, and freed England forever from this unbearable burden. And so not unfittingly there is applied to this holy king what is written: "Blessed is the man who was found without stain, who did not go after gold, nor placed his hope in the treasures of money." Indeed, he was found without stain by the privilege of chastity. He did not go after gold, which he instead scattered; nor did he place his hope in treasures, which in the work of God he didn't so much diminish as consume entirely.
The King's Wondrous Healings
The chapter closes by praising Edward's miracles of healing and noting that some are chosen for inclusion in this work.
Who is this, that we should praise him? For he has done wondrous things in his own life: restoring sight to the blind, making the lame walk, putting fevers to flight, healing the paralyzed, and curing various human ailments. From these things, we consider some worthy of being included in this work.
Read the original Latin
De sponsalibus regis litterisque pontificis oraculum coeleste concurrit, quod non longe agentibus nuntiis viro cuidam sancto quid Romae egissent nescienti, apostolorum principe sibi apparente, personuit. Erat vir iste dilectus Deo et hominibus, qui specu subterraneo multis annis inclusus, suorum erat meritorum stipendiis jam vicinus. Huic Petrus beatissimus in visione noctis assistens, cum metum vocis ac vultus lenitate depulisset: «Rex, inquit, Edwardus pro voto quo se cum adhuc exsularet astrinxerat, pro regni etiam pace plebisque consilio, pro pauperum quoque necessitate preceque sollicitus, Romanam Ecclesiam de omnibus credidit consulendam. Noverit ergo se mea auctoritate ab hac alligatione solutum, et de coenobio ad mei honorem nominis construendo a summo pontifice suscepisse salutare mandatum. Incunctanter itaque litteris apostolicis fidem habeat, praeceptis obediat, consiliis acquiescat. A me enim egressus est sermo, quem sibi quondam patronum elegit, me comitem, gratiae largitorem. Est autem mihi locus in occidentali parte Londoniarum, a me electus, mihi dilectus, quem quondam mihi propriis manibus consecravi, mea nobilitavi praesentia, divinis insuper miraculis illustravi. Thorneia nomen est loci, qui quondam ob peccata populi barbarorum traditus potestati, pauperrimus ex divite, humilis ex sublimi, ex nobili factus est contemptibilis.
Hunc rex me praecipiente in habitaculum monachorum suscipiat reparandum, sublimandum aedificiis, possessionibus ampliandum. Non erit ibi illud, nisi domus Dei et porta coeli. Ibi erigenda est scala, per quam descendentes et ascendentes angeli, preces et vota hominum Deo perferant, et referant gratiam. Inde ascendentibus reserabo januam paradisi, ut ex officio quod meus mihi injunxit Dominus ac Salvator, et ligatos absolvam, et absolutos suscipiam et quam eis delictum obcluserat, justificatis patriae portam coelestis aperiam. Tu autem omnia quae a me audisti et didicisti litteris tradens, mitte qui perferat regi, ut Dei munere duplicato, et de absolutione securior, et in praecepti exsecutione devotior, in mei autem dilectione et obsequio reperiatur propensior.» His dictis, lux cum loquente disparuit. Ille nihil moratus, ac cito notario, quae viderat vel quae audierat, schedulae litterisque commisit, et tradens epistolam bajulo, ad curiam quae multis tunc millibus aberat, ut ei fuerat imperatum direxit. Ea igitur die, loco eodem, in eodem concilio quo legati redeuntes ab urbe apostolicum retulere mandatum, epistola etiam viri Dei regi praesentata profertur in medium, lectoque sancti papae Leonis rescripto, loco sequenti beati senis apices recitantur.
Voce exteriori ac jubilo interiori benedicitur Deus in donis suis et laudatur in omnibus operibus suis. Mirantur omnes regis sanctitatem, amplectuntur apostoli gloriam, confirmantur in fide, spe a terrenis ad coelestia attolluntur, in Dei amore sincerius accenduntur. De oraculi veritate nulla potuit esse cunctatio, cum in Wigornensi provincia vir ille ab hominum conversatione seclusus, quid Romae egerint, quid in mandatis acceperint, quandove redierint, scire non nisi Deo revelante potuit. Tunc rex laetus et alacer, ut ei fuerat constitutum, pecuniam quam in peregrinationis suae solatium procuraverat dispersit et dedit pauperibus, operique injuncto intendens animum thesauros effudit. Insuper et tributum illud gravissimum quod tempore patris sui primo classi Danicae pendebatur, postmodum vero fisco regio annis singulis inferebatur, regia liberalitate remisit, et ab onere hoc importabili in perpetuum Angliam absolvit. Unde sancto huic regi non inconvenienter aptatur quod scriptum est: Beatus vir qui inventus est sine macula, et qui post aurum non abiit, nec speravit in pecuniae thesauris. Inventus sane sine macula ob privilegium castitatis. Post aurum non abiit, quod potius dispersit; nec speravit in thesauris, quos in Dei opere non tam minuit quam consumpsit.
Quis est hic, et laudabimus eum? Fecit enim mirabilia in vita sua, reddens caecis visum, et claudis gressum, fugans febres, et paralyticos sanans et diversas hominum valitudines curans. Ex quibus aliqua huic operi dignum ducimus inserenda.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Gen.28.17 — He was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."
Aelred of Rievaulx, Vita Sancti Edwardi Regis et Confessoris companion
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