Quid ei Dominus de septem dormientibus spiritualiter revelaverit.
Splendor of the World, Richer Grace of God
Amid royal splendor and feasting, the king inwardly clings to God, and his hidden contemplation is noticed by those around him.
I can't help but wonder what the reason could be that at the very time he appeared more distinguished in royal splendor, more serious surrounded by his nobles' retinue, more lavish at feasts that drew the admiration of those looking on, he still deserved an even richer grace of spiritual revelations; but of course a person sees only the face, while God looks into the heart. He certainly carried a sword, but for the sake of duty; he enjoyed royal fare, but as a sacred obligation; he moved about attended by a large retinue of soldiers, but out of necessity; he sat in honor at the banquet table, but as custom required.1 Happy is the one who used all things in such a way that they were not misused — giving the body to earthly things while mingling the spirit with heavenly ones. And so on the day of the Lord's Resurrection, clothed in the imperial robe, with a scepter in his right hand and a crown adorning his head, now feasted on the flesh of the heavenly Lamb, he approached the royal table to be nourished by spiritual rather than bodily feasts.2 For he was afraid — I imagine — that a richer table, a more festive observance, or a more splendid display might bend even slightly the mind he had set on heaven. So he drew himself more tightly inward than usual, and setting God before his eyes, he counted all these earthly things as dung — when suddenly his face grew more serene than usual, and the joy within loosened his lips into a smile; then, resuming his customary gravity, he wore a more troubled expression.3 The bystanders and those seated at the table were amazed, and though from what had happened they had no doubt that something secret had been divinely revealed to the king, no one dared to ask him what it was. When the banquet was finally over and the tables cleared, the most blessed king retired to his chamber to lay aside his royal adornments. His companion Harold followed him, and after summoning one of the bishops and one of the abbots, they met with the king together to discuss this matter.
The Vision of the Seven Sleepers
The king recounts how, while feasting, his soul was taken in spirit to behold the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus and to receive a prophecy of coming tribulation.
Then he said: "Blessed is the one whose hope is in the name of the Lord, and who has not looked back into vanities and false madnesses."✦ For the more each one withdraws himself from vain things, the more closely he will cling to what is true. Look, as I feasted among rich cups and sumptuous dishes and the gleam of shining metal, I remembered the Lord my God, and I poured out my soul within me; and with the inner eye of my mind opened wide, flooded with a special light, its rays reached with wonderful speed all the way to the city of Ephesus, and advancing even to Mount Celion, it beheld, with the clearest distinctness of their features, the character of their faces, the form of their limbs, the number and quality of their garments, of the seven holy ones resting and sleeping in the cave. While I was beholding these things, my luminous heart signifying inner joy with a smile, suddenly, as I perceived it, from the right side—where they had rested for many years—they turned themselves by divine power to the left, marking for mortals a dreadful omen by this shifting of their sides. From this point on, indeed, as it is written in the Gospel: 'Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be pestilences, and famines, and great earthquakes throughout the lands.'✦ For these saints will rest on the left side for seventy years—for that is the amount of time they will rest there—and then the Lord will visit the iniquity of his people, delivering them into the hands of the nations, so that those who hate them may rule over them.✦ For enemies of the name of Christ will rise up against Christians, servants will rebel against their lords, kings will plot against kings, and princes against princes, and in all lands the avenger of the injury to Christ will rage with the sword.✦ All who heard the word were astonished, and because those placed outside the world had heard nothing about the seven sleepers, the king explained to those inquiring who they were and whence they came, their lives and names, their suffering, and the manner of their sleep.
A Mission to Confirm the Heavenly Word
To verify the vision, legates are sent to Constantinople and Ephesus, where the sleeping saints are found just as the king had said, and the prophecy is fulfilled in the upheavals after his death.
Once they'd heard all this, they came up with a plan to establish credibility for future generations — to verify the truth of what had been said — and so they decided to send a duke, a soldier, a bishop, a cleric, an abbot, and a monk, along with a letter from the king, to the emperor in Constantinople. When they arrived at the royal city, the emperor received them honorably. But when the letters had been read, his spirit rejoiced in gladness, and he was overjoyed that the treasures of Greece had been divinely revealed to the English. They are sent to Ephesus, and on the emperor's orders the bishop with the clergy and people go ahead of the legates; and when they have been led with spices into the cave, he shows them the holy bodies, the faces and garments, and the martyrs themselves resting on their left side. And suddenly a great fear rushed over them as they saw all the signs in the martyrs there in Greece — things the holy king in England had learned through the teaching of God's Spirit. So when prayer had been offered and gifts presented, they return home with the greatest prosperity, while the Greeks rejoice at what they had heard and seen — just as it had been told them — and the messengers, both English and otherwise, report to the king and the people an unprecedented miracle and sure proof of faith. The oracle did not deceive the king: for when he was taken up to the heavenly kingdom, all the kingdoms of the earth were shaken. Syria had been subjected to pagans, monasteries destroyed, churches torn down to their foundations, everything filled with funerals — a death of princes: Greeks, Romans, Franks, English — and the remaining kingdoms thrown into turmoil.
The Spirit of Prophecy
The chapter concludes by declaring that the holy king received the spirit of prophecy, knowing past, present, and future things.
So it's clear that the most holy king was given greater grace through the spirit of prophecy, to whom, at one and the same time, past events were laid bare, present things were not hidden, and future things were revealed as well.45
Read the original Latin
Non satis admirari possum quaenam fuerit causa quod eo tempore quo cultu regio clarior, quo procerum circumfusus comitatu severior, quo lautioribus epulis intuentium aestimatione videbatur effusior, abundantiorem spiritualium revelationum gratiam meruerit; sed nimirum homo in facie, Deus autem videt in corde. Portabat certe gladium, sed pro officio; utebatur regalibus, sed pro sacramento; multo stipatus milite incedebat, sed pro necessitate; sublimis in convivio residebat, sed pro consuetudine. Felix qui his omnibus sic usus est ut non sit abusus, corpus tradens terrenis et coelestibus spiritum miscens. Hinc quod in die Dominicae resurrectionis imperiali stola circumdatus, cum dextram sceptrum, caput ornaret corona, jam coelestis Agni carnibus saginatus regiam accessit ad mensam, spiritualibus magis quam carnalibus epulis reficiendus. Timens enim, ut arbitror, ne forte mensa fertilior, cultus festivior, pompa splendidior, animum coelo intentum sibi vel modicum inclinaret, arctius solito se collegit ad se, et ponens prae oculis Deum, omnia haec terrena arbitrabatur ut stercora, cum subito vultus ei plus solito serenabatur, interiorque laetitia labia solvebat in risum, rursumque solita gravitate resumpta, obscuriorem faciem praeferebat. Mirabantur qui astabant et qui residebant, et licet ex his quae acciderant secretum aliquid regi divinitus revelatum nequaquam ambigerent, nemo tamen audebat eum interrogare quid accidisset. Finito tandem convivio, mensisque sublatis, rex beatissimus thalamum ingreditur, regium depositurus ornatum. Secutus eum comes Haroldus, accitoque uno episcoporum et abbatum uno, simul regem super hoc sermone conveniunt.
Tunc ille: Beatus, inquit, cujus est nomen Domini spes ejus, et non respexit in vanitates et insanias falsas. Quantum enim se quisque vanis subtraxerit, tantum veris arctius inhaerebit. Ecce quidem ego inter fecundos calices et pinguia fercula ac radiantis metalli splendorem recordatus sum Domini Dei mei, et effudi in me animam meam, dilatoque sinu mentis oculus interior speciali perfusus lumine radios usque Ephesiorum civitatem mira celeritate porrexit, et usque in montem Celion progressus, sanctorum septem dormientium quiescientium in spelunca proprietatem vultuum, membrorum quantitatem, qualitatem vestium expressione manifestissima contemplatus est. Haec dum interiorem risu significante laetitiam luminoso corde conspicerem, subito me cernente a latere dextro super quod multis quieverant annis in sinistrum se latus virtute vertentes divina, dirum mortalibus omen hac laterum mutatione suorum signarunt. Exhinc enim, ut in Evangelio scriptum est: Surget gens contra gentem, et regnum adversus regnum, et erunt pestilentiae, et fames, et terrae motus magni erunt per loca. His quippe septuaginta annis, tantum enim temporis in sinistro latere repausabunt, visitabit Dominus iniquitatem plebis suae, tradens eos in manus gentium, ut dominentur eorum qui oderunt eos. Inimici namque nominis Christi in Christianos insurgent, servi dominis rebellabunt, reges insidiabuntur regibus, et principibus principes, et in omnibus terris ultor injuriae Christi mucro desaeviet. Obstupuerunt omnes qui audiebant verbum, et quia extra orbem positi de septem dormientibus nihil audierant, inquirentibus qui essent et unde, rex vitam illorum, et nomina, et passionem, et dormitionis modum exposuit.»
Quibus auditis, inito consilio ut fidem posteris facerent, ad explorandam sermonis veritatem, dux militem, episcopus clericum, abbas monachum, cum regis epistola ad imperatorem Constantinopolitanum dirigendos putant. Qui ubi ad urbem regiam pervenerunt, ab imperatore honorabiliter suscepti sunt. Lectis autem litteris exsultavit in gaudio spiritus ejus, et thesauros Graeciae Anglis divinitus revelatos plurimum gratulabatur. Mittuntur Ephesum, et ex imperatoris mandato, episcopus cum clero et populo praecedunt legatos, introductisque cum aromatibus in speluncam, sanctorum corpora facies et vestes, et ipsos in latere sinistro repausantes ostendit. Et ecce timor magnus irruit super eos videntes omnia signa in martyribus in Graecia, quae rex sanctus in Anglia, Dei Spiritu docente, didicerat. Facta itaque oratione oblatisque muneribus, cum summa prosperitate repatriant, Graecis exsultantibus in his quae audierant et viderant, sicut dictum est ad illos, nuntiis tam Anglorum regi quam plebi inauditum miraculum, et fidei certum reportantibus argumentum. Regem non fefellit oraculum, quoniam ipso ad regnum coeleste translato, cuncta terrarum regna commota sunt. Syria paganis subjecta, destructa monasteria, dirutae a fundamentis ecclesiae, plena funeribus omnia, morte principum Graecorum, Romanorum, Francorum, Anglorum, et regna caetera perturbata.
Liquet igitur regem sanctissimum, spiritu prophetiae gratia ampliore ditatum, cui uno eodemque tempore et patuere praeterita, nec latuere praesentia, futura quoque nihilominus revelantur.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Ps.146.5 — Blessed is the one whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God.
- ↩Luke.21.10-Luke.21.11 — Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. Luke.21.11 — There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.
- ↩Lev.26.33-Lev.26.39;Deut.28.64-Deut.28.68 — And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will draw out the sword after you; and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a ruin. Lev.26.34 — Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths all the days it lies desolate, and you shall be in the land of your enemies. Then the land shall rest and enjoy its sabbaths. Lev.26.35 — All the days that it lies desolate, it shall rest — the rest it did not have on your Sabbaths when you lived upon it. Lev.26.36 — And as for those who survive among you, I will bring a faintness of heart upon them in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a driven leaf will chase them, and they will flee as one flees from the sword, and they will fall though no one is pursuing. Lev.26.37 — They will stumble over one another as though fleeing before a sword, though no one is pursuing you; and you will have no power to stand before your enemies. Lev.26.38 — You will perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies will consume you. Lev.26.39 — And those who remain among you shall rot away in their iniquity in the lands of your enemies; and also in the iniquities of their fathers they shall rot away with them. Deut.28.64 — And the LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other; and there you shall serve other gods, which you and your fathers have not known, wood and stone. Deut.28.65 — And among those nations you will find no rest, and there will be no repose for the sole of your foot; but the LORD will give you there a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a languishing soul. Deut.28.66 — Your life will hang in doubt before you, and you will fear night and day, and you will not believe in your life. Deut.28.67 — In the morning you will say, 'Who would grant evening!' and in the evening you will say, 'Who would grant morning!' — from the fear of your heart that you will fear, and from the sight of your eyes that you will see. Deut.28.68 — And the LORD will bring you back to Egypt in ships, by the way of which I said to you, 'You shall never see it again.' And there you shall offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there will be no buyer.
- ↩Luke.21.10-Luke.21.12 — Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. Luke.21.11 — There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. Luke.21.12 — But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, handing you over to the synagogues and prisons, being brought before kings and governors for the sake of my name.
Notes
- 1 ↩The repeated 'sed pro' construction contrasts outward royal display with the inner spiritual purpose behind it; 'sacramento' here means a sacred duty or solemn obligation, not the sacrament in the narrow Eucharistic sense.
- 2 ↩The Easter setting and the reference to the 'heavenly Lamb' evoke Eucharistic overtones; the passage frames the king's participation in spiritual communion.
- 3 ↩'Stercora' (dung) echoes Philippians 3:8's 'σκύβαλα' (refuse/dung), where Paul counts all things as loss for the sake of Christ.
- 4 ↩gratia ampliore: ablative of attendant circumstance going with spiritu prophetiae — 'with greater grace' rather than a strictly comparative 'more abundant grace,' though both senses overlap.
- 5 ↩spiritu prophetiae: rendered 'spirit of prophecy' as a charismatic gift to the king; not reduced to generic inspiration.
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