Quomodo super altare Jesum Christum in sacramento cum quodam comite vidit.
The King and His Companion at the Altar
King Edward stands before the altar at Westminster with Count Lefricus and his wife Godgiva, as Lefricus is singled out as a worthy witness to the miracle to come.
In the monastery of the blessed apostle Peter, which he had undertaken to build and enlarge, before the altar consecrated in honor of the divine Trinity, the most Christian king stood attending the sacred mysteries of our redemption. There was with him, with all reverence and sweetness of spirit, the renowned count Lefricus—a man whose memory is in blessing—together with his wife Godgiva, whose name was magnified by the splendid fulfillment of its meaning: for it means 'a good gift,' either because Christ had brought her as it were as a good gift to profit his church, or because she herself continually offered to God the most welcome gift of faith and devotion. With such a companion at his side, then, the most saintly count, always intent on God's work, stood as founder of many monasteries, and living soberly, justly, and piously in all things, he made Christ the heir of his possessions and treasures. This man, then, stood a little apart from the king's side, yet worthy in every respect to be the witness and sharer of so great and remarkable a miracle.
Christ Appears Upon the Altar
During the Mass, Christ Jesus appears visibly upon the altar in bodily form, blesses the king with the sign of the cross, and the king humbly adores Him.
The heavenly mystery is enacted at the altar; the divine sacraments are handled by the priest's hands. And behold, that one, beautiful in form beyond the sons of men.✦ Christ Jesus, standing upon the altar, appeared visibly in bodily sight to both of them, and extending his sacred hand over the king, he traced the sign of the holy cross, blessing him. But the king, with head bowed, adored the presence of the divine majesty, and with his body humbled, showed reverence for so great a blessing.
The Shared Vision and the Charge of Silence
Lefricus moves to join the king, who assures him they share the same vision; afterward they pray and weep, and the king binds his companion to secrecy, citing Christ's command after the Transfiguration.
The companion, then, unaware of what was going on in the king's mind, and wanting the king to share in so great a vision, began to move toward him. But the king, understanding what was turning over in his companion's mind, said: 'Stand still, Lefric, stand still. What you see, I see also.' From there they turned to prayer and tears, and were drunk from the abundance of God's house and from the torrent of his delight. After the service ended they spoke about the heavenly vision, and nourished by heavenly food, day after day pours forth the word — with sighs frequently breaking in on their talk. 'You now, my Lefric,' the king said, 'I entreat you by the majesty of the one we saw: as long as we live, let this conversation not be made public, lest elation over popular favor strike us down to our ruin, or the envy of unbelievers detract from the faith by their words.' In this he followed the example of his Lord, who, after being transfigured before his disciples, as they were coming down from the mountain, said: 'Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man rises from the dead.'✦
The Secret Preserved and Revealed by Providence
Lefricus later confesses the vision under oath at Worcester, where it is written and hidden with relics; after the king's death, the case is found open and the scroll is publicly read, revealing God's providence in testing humility and confirming faith.
But the companion, leaving the court, taught — as it is believed — by divine inspiration, kept the lord's command in such a way that the sublimity of so great a virtue would not lie hidden from those who came after. Coming then to the monastery at Worcester, he revealed the matter in confession to a certain religious man, bound by the same oath by which the king had bound himself, asking him to commit to writing the secret of so great a vision and store it in a place where it would be hidden from those present yet not lost to the knowledge of future generations. That holy man granted the petitioner's desire, and placed the written record of the vision's sequence and command, along with relics of the saints, stored away in a case. And by now much time had passed since the holy king's death, when — by a divine nod, as we believe — and by no human action, the case is found open. And when the brothers were carefully searching for the relics of the saints, they found a small scroll and unrolled it; and not wanting such a treasure to remain hidden, they read everything aloud to the people. So what the king had wanted kept hidden was, through God's providence, brought to light—so that the king's humility might be tested and, with the miracle nonetheless made known, the faith of believers might be confirmed.1
Read the original Latin
In monasterio namque beati Petri apostoli quod construendum ampliandumque susceperat, ante altare in honore Trinitatis deificae consecratum, sacrosanctis redemptionis nostrae mysteriis rex Christianissimus assistebat. Adfuit cum omni reverentia spiritusque dulcedine nominandus comes Lefricus, cujus memoria in benedictione est, cum uxore Godgiva interpretationem sui nominis magnifice rerum exsecutione complente, interpretatur enim bonum donum, vel quod ipsam quasi bonum donum ecclesiae suae profuturam Christus attulerat, vel quod ipsa fidei ac devotionis Deo munus acceptissimum continue offerebat. Cum tali ergo sui lateris socia comes sanctissimus in Dei opere semper intentus, multorum coenobiorum fundator exstitit, et sobrie et juste et pie in omnibus vivens, possessionum suarum et thesaurorum Christum fecit haeredem. Hic ergo a latere regis paululum tamen semotus astabat, dignus per omnia qui tanti talisque miraculi conscius et testis existeret. Agitur in altari coeleste mysterium, manibus sacerdotis divina sacramenta tractantur. Et ecce speciosus ille forma prae filiis hominum. Christus Jesus in ara consistens, oculis utriusque visibiliter corporalibus apparuit, sacraque dextera super regem extensa, signum sanctae crucis eum benedicendo depinxit. At rex, demisso capite, divinae adorabat praesentiam majestatis, humiliatoque corpore tantae benedictioni reverentiam exhibebat.
Comes vero quid in animo regis ageretur ignorans, volensque regem tantae visionis esse participem, coepit velle ad illum usque procedere. Verum rex quid in mente comitis volvebatur intelligens: «Sta, inquit, Lefrice, sta, quod tu vides video et ego.» Inde ad preces lacrymasque conversi, inebriebantur ab ubertate domus Dei, et torrente voluptatis ejus potabantur. Post finem officii conferunt de coelesti visione sermonem, et coelesti pabulo saginati, dies diei eructat verbum, suspiriisque crebro sermonem interrumpentibus: «Te nunc, ait rex, mi Lefrice, per ejus quem vidimus majestatem obtestor, ne quoadusque vixerimus sermo iste proferatur in publicum, ne vel nos in perniciem nostram ob favorem vulgi pulset elatio, vel fidem deroget dictis infidelium aemulatio;» Domini sui in his secutus exemplum, qui coram discipulis transfiguratus, descedentibus illis de monte: Nemini, ait, dixeritis visionem, donec Filius hominis a mortuis resurgat. At comes discedens a curia, divina, ut creditur, inspiratione edoctus, ita domini sui servavit imperium, ut tantae virtutis sublimitas posteros non lateret. Veniens itaque monasterium Wigornense, viro cuidam religioso eadem qua se rex obligaverat adjuratione constricto reserat in confessione sermonem, rogans ut litteris tradat tantae visionis arcanum, talique recondat in loco, ut et praesentes lateat, et futurorum notitiae non depereat. Annuit vir ille sanctus petentis affectui, schedulaeque mandatum ordinem visionis cum sanctorum reliquiis in theca recondidit. Et jam a sancti regis obitu multum temporis fluxerat, cum divino ut credimus nutu, nullo hominis actu theca reperitur aperta.
Cumque fratres de sanctorum reliquiis diligenter disquirerent, reperiunt schedulam et evolvunt; nolentesque tantum latere thesaurum, in auribus populi cuncta legerunt. Ita, quod rex voluit esse celatum, Dei est providentia propalatum, ut et regis humilitas probaretur, et nihilominus prodito miraculo fides credentium confirmaretur.
Scripture echoes
Notes
- 1 ↩prodito miraculo is rendered with 'betrayed' in the sense of being divulged or brought to light; the ablative absolute could also be read as an instrumental ('by the miracle once revealed'), but the surrounding contrast with celatum/propalatum favors the sense of the secret being broken open.
Aelred of Rievaulx, Vita Sancti Edwardi Regis et Confessoris companion
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