Caput XL
The Burden of the Senses
Those who are weighed down by the five bodily senses love God less the more they cling to created things.
There is yet another kind of good, but one belonging to the less perfect — those who, unable to penetrate spiritual things, are weighed down by the five bodily senses. These five senses — which the army of Christians under the leadership of Jesus ought to restrain within their own body — are well represented by Joshua, who killed five kings previously reigning in the land of promise as they fled to a cave, as if to the cavern of the body.✦1 But the imperfect, while they still yield to those same senses, love the One who made all things all the less the more they are bound to the things that have been made.2
The Hidden Victory of Joshua
The imperfect who restrain their senses bear injury, live humbly, and show mercy to the poor alongside their household cares.
They do not seek what belongs to others, and they bear the injury inflicted on them, even if unwillingly. They are content with what is their own, and they live humbly; but they nonetheless take care of their own household, think about their children, and preserve an inheritance for them. Those among them who are more diligent, being mindful of divine judgment, bestow mercy on the poor; and if they cannot relinquish everything, they become merciful at least in the area where they have the ability, and they share the care of the flesh together with the care of the soul.3
Consolation for the Imperfect
Even those who cannot attain the highest virtues have their own consolation ready at hand.
But what will become of them, if no one will reach the kingdom unless endowed with the highest virtues? They too have their own consolation ready at hand.
Paved with Love for the Daughters
Solomon's banquet is a figure of the Church, and its center is paved with love for the daughters of Jerusalem, signifying the weakness of minds.
When the banquet of King Solomon was described as a figure of the Church — with the woods of Lebanon, the silver pillars, the golden couch, and the purple ascent, all of which clearly signify the more excellent members serving in that same Church — it was added that he paved its center with love for the daughters of Jerusalem.✦ But because this is said with our weakness in mind, it's plainly clear from this that love is said to be present not for the sake of the sons, but for the sake of the daughters of Jerusalem. For what else is figured by the female sex but the weakness of minds?
Love Admits the Weak to the Banquet
The weak who love God and neighbor belong to His banquet and are set within the building up of holy Church, for whoever finds the fruits of love in their heart should not doubt that God is present.
Whoever is weak in mind, then, should have love, should love God and neighbor as much as possible, and should do good things wholeheartedly with love — because even though one may be entangled in outward affairs, still, if one has love, one will belong to God's banquet, as the Psalmist says: He blessed all the little ones together with the greater (Psal. CXIII, 13), since those who are imperfect and little ones, if insofar as they are able to know it they love God and neighbor, they too — though in a lesser place — are nevertheless to be set within the building up of holy Church. Let each of the faithful, then, examine themselves, and if they find anything stored in their heart from the fruits of love, let them not doubt that God is present with them.✦
Read the original Latin
Est et aliud genus bonorum, sed minus perfectorum, qui penetrare spiritalia non valentes, quinque sensibus corporeis deprimuntur. Quos videlicet quinque sensus qui Christianorum exercitus duce Jesu debet in corpus suum reprimere, bene Josue designat, qui reges quinque in repromissionis terra dudum regnantes ad speluncam velut antrum corporis fugientes interfecit. Sed imperfecti quique dum eisdem sensibus adhuc succumbunt, tanto minus amant eum qui fecit omnia, quanto in his amplius quae facta sunt illigantur. Aliena quidem non quaerunt, illatam injuriam vel nolentes portant. Rebus propriis contenti sunt, et humiliter vivunt; sed tamen curam propriae domus gerunt, de filiis cogitant, eisque haereditatem servant. Qui tamen inter eos sollicitiores sunt, divini judicii memores, misericordiam pauperibus impendunt; et si omnia relinquere non possunt, vel ex parte qua praevalent misericordes fiunt, et curam carnis cum animae cura partiuntur. Sed quid de eis erit, si nullus ad regnum nisi qui summis virtutibus praeditus est perveniet? Adest quippe et his consolatio sua.
Nam cum ferculum regis Salomonis in typo Ecclesiae describeretur, inter ligna Libani et columnas argenteas, et inter reclinatorium aureum ascensumque purpureum per quae videlicet excellentiores quique in eadem Ecclesia militantes designantur, additum est quia media charitate constravit propter filias Hierusalem. Verum quia hoc pro nostra infirmitate dicitur, ex hoc aperte claret, quod non propter filios, sed propter filias Hierusalem inesse charitas perhibetur. Quid enim aliud per sexum femineum, nisi infirmitas mentium figuratur? Quisquis igitur mente infirmus est, charitatem habeat, diligat Deum et proximum quantum potest, et quae bona sunt valde cum charitate faciat, quia licet exterioribus implicetur, tamen si charitatem habuerit, ad Dei ferculum pertinebit, sicut Psalmista ait: Benedixit omnibus pusillis cum majoribus (Psal. CXIII, 13), quoniam qui imperfecti sunt et pusilli, si in quantum cognoscere valent Deum ac proximum diligunt, ipsi quoque licet minori loco, in sanctae Ecclesiae aedificatione tamen sunt ponendi. Discutiant ergo se quisque fideles, et si repositum aliquid in corde suo de fructibus charitatis invenerint, Deum sibi interesse non dubitent.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Josh.10.16-Josh.10.26 — These five kings fled and hid in the cave at Makkedah. Josh.10.17 — And it was told to Joshua, saying, "The five kings have been found, hidden in the cave at Makkedah." Josh.10.18 — And Joshua said, "Roll large stones over the mouth of the cave, and appoint men to guard them." Josh.10.19 — But as for you, do not stand still; pursue your enemies and strike them down. Do not let them enter their cities, for the LORD your God has given them into your hand. Josh.10.20 — And it came to pass, when Joshua and the sons of Israel had finished striking them with a very great blow, until they were consumed, that the survivors who remained from them entered the fortified cities. Josh.10.21 — Then all the people returned to the camp, to Joshua, at Makkedah, in peace; no one sharpened his tongue against the children of Israel. Josh.10.22 — Then Joshua said, "Open the mouth of the cave, and bring these five kings out of the cave to me." Josh.10.23 — And they did so, and they brought out to him these five kings from the cave: the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon. Josh.10.24 — And it came to pass, when they brought out those kings to Joshua, that Joshua called to all the men of Israel, and said to the officers of the army who had gone with him, 'Come near; put your feet on the necks of these kings.' And they came near and put their feet on their necks. Josh.10.25 — And Joshua said to them, "Do not fear, and do not be dismayed. Be strong and be courageous, for thus the LORD will do to all your enemies against whom you fight." Josh.10.26 — Afterward Joshua struck them down and killed them, and he hung them on five trees, and they remained hanging on the trees until evening.
- ↩Song.3.9-Song.3.10 — King Solomon made himself a palanquin from the wood of Lebanon. Song.3.10 — Its pillars he made of silver, its backrest of gold, its seat of purple; its interior was inlaid with love by the daughters of Jerusalem.
- ↩Gal.5.22 — But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Notes
- 1 ↩The allegory Joshua = the Christian's governing of the five senses against the five kings (carnal senses) draws on Joshua 10:16–26. The cave/spelunca as body/antrum corporis is a typological reading.
- 2 ↩The tanto…quanto correlative structure expresses an inverse proportion: the more one is attached to creatures, the less one loves the Creator.
- 3 ↩Curam carnis cum animae cura partiuntur: the 'care of the flesh' refers to bodily and temporal necessities, not to carnal indulgence. The sharing (partiuntur) implies balancing both concerns.
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