Caput XXII
The Vision of Ganzlinus and the Blue Cowl
Guido of Solemniaco relates a vision in which the recently deceased Ganzlinus, clothed in a blue cowl, is denied forgiveness by an abbot until he receives the regular monastic garment, revealing God's mercy toward Ganzlinus's good intention at death.
If any faith is to be given to a dream, it won't trouble me to relate the vision that Guido, a monk of Solemniaco, saw. For it seemed to him that he could see Ganzlinus — who had departed this life a little while before in the church, and was being kept in the bier dressed in a blue cowl — prostrated before a certain abbot of venerable grey hair, asking for forgiveness; but the aforesaid abbot looked down on him because of the blue cowl in which he was clothed, saying that he did not recognize him, nor was he going to grant him forgiveness, until he received the regular garment. Then the aforesaid Ganzlinus rose up, and trembling and deeply shaken ran to that same Guido. Nor do we disbelieve it. For Ganzlinus himself had recently been with the brothers of the cell of Dole, and it was from them that he returned with the intention of changing his garment at once and having nothing of his own from then on. It must be believed, therefore, that God — who judges the ends of the earth, that is, the last works of a man — received this man into forgiveness for the good intention in which he died, and wished to show it by such a sign for the purpose of stirring others up.✦
Recent Signs to Stir the Fearful
Odo explains that recent signs are recounted so that those unmoved by ancient examples may at least be awed by contemporary ones, and that present punishments serve to provoke compunction and repentance.
These signs from nearby we have related, so that those who do not fear the ancient ones may at least stand in awe of the recent. For those whom we said were strangled through the flesh, and those whom we said were handed over through the lust of a demon, are punished in the present for this reason: so that those who neglect to consider the punishment that follows them, or who are pierced with compunction over the sin by which they were destroyed, might at last be moved.
Demonic Deception and the Call to Fear
Odo invokes Hosea's image of the senseless dove to rebuke those who would not tremble at the account of a demon using a needle and thread to bring a false charge against a girl's death, and asks whence comes such fearlessness.
For who could hear, without fear, that a demon used a single needle and a single thread to bring a false charge against a girl's death — unless perhaps it was the one to whom the prophet says, "You are a silly dove without sense"?✦ Hosea 7:11. And whence is it said, "They did not fear, nor were they men"?
The Example of Ananias and Sapphira
Odo argues that if Ananias and Sapphira were struck down for greed in the early Church, those who knowingly transgress monastic prescriptions without necessity deserve even greater punishment.
For if Ananias and Sapphira were struck down for greed, at a time when persecutions and countless hardships hemmed in the young Christian community, with what punishment should those be struck who have known the words and examples of the ancients and yet, without any great necessity, have presumed to go beyond what is prescribed?✦
Pride in the Garment of Humility
Odo condemns monks whose pride in clothing is especially detestable because it appears where humility should reign, applying Jeremiah's image of the shameless whore's forehead to those who seek boastfulness in the humble garment.
When it comes to the quality or changing of clothing, the seculars themselves are indignant toward monks — because that pride is always more detestable which shows itself precisely where greater humility ought to reign. To those, therefore, who seek in the garment of humility a boastfulness of color, that prophetic saying fits: "You have become like the forehead of a whore" (Jer.✦ 3:3).
Elijah and John versus the Rich Man and Herod
Odo concludes that it would be better to follow the austere examples of Elijah and John the Baptist rather than the luxurious examples of the rich man in purple and Herod in his shining garment, both of whom were condemned.
For these people, it surely would have been better to do God's will rather than their own — to follow the example of Elijah and John rather than that of the rich man, clothed in purple and fine linen, whom Christ reproved, and of Herod, who dressed in a shining garment and is recorded to have been struck down by an angel and to have perished.✦✦12
Read the original Latin
Si somnio fides adhibenda est, visionem quam Guido monachus de Solemniaco vidit non piget referre. Namque videbatur illi quod Ganzlinum, qui paulo ante migraverat in ecclesia, et blavinea cuculla vestitus in feretro custodiebatur, ante quemdam abbatem veneranda canitie prostratum conspiceret veniam postulantem; sed praedictus abbas dedignabatur propter blavineam cucullam, qua indutus erat, dicens, quia non cognosceret eum, nec veniam illi esset daturus, quousque regularem vestem acciperet. Tunc vero praedictus Ganzlinus surrexit, et ad eumdem Guidonem tremens et valde confusus cucurrit. Nec nos discredimus. Nam ipse Ganzlinus cum fratribus cellae Dolensis nuper fuerat, a quibus ea voluntate rediit, ut vestem protinus mutaret, nihilque proprium exinde haberet. Credendum est igitur, quia Deus, qui judicat fines terrae, id est ultima hominis opera, hunc pro bona voluntate in qua obiit, ad indulgentiam recepisset, talique indicio ad incitandum alios monstrare voluisset. Ista vero signa de proximo retulimus, ut qui prisca non formidant, vel recentia pertimescant. Nam illi quos per carnem strangulatos, et hi quos per luxuriam daemoni traditos diximus, ob hoc in praesenti puniti sunt, ut qui poenam, quae eos sequitur, considerare negligunt, vel de ea qua perempti sunt compungantur.
Nam quis absque metu audiat quod daemon per unam acum et unum filum puellae obitum calumniabatur, nisi forte is cui propheta dicit: Columba seducta, non habens cor? (Ose. VII, 11.) Et unde dicitur, quia non timuerunt, nec homines fuerunt? Si enim Ananias et Saphira propter avaritiam percussi sunt, cum ita persecutiones et innumerae necessitates novellam Christianitatem cingebant, qua poena plectendi sunt, qui dicta et exempla antiquorum noverunt, et absque ingenti necessitate plusquam constitutum est usurpavere? De vestitus autem qualitate vel immutatione ipsi saeculares contra monachos indignantur, quia semper illa superbia detestabilior est, quae ibi se ostendit, ubi major humilitas regnare debuerat. Eis igitur, qui in humilitatis habitu jactantiam coloris quaerunt, illud propheticum congruit: Frons mulieris meretricis facta est tibi (Jer. III, 3).
Quibus nimirum satius fuerat, ut voluntatem Dei magis quam suam facientes, Eliae et Joannis imitarentur exemplum, potius quam divitis, qui purpura indutus et bysso a Christo redarguitur, et Herodis qui in veste fulgenti ab angelo legitur percussus interiisse.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Ps.50.4;Ps.52.4 — He calls to the heavens above and to the earth, to judge his people. Ps.52.4 — You plot destruction; your tongue is like a sharpened razor, you worker of deceit.
- ↩Hos.7.11 — Ephraim has been like a dove, easily deceived and without sense; they called to Egypt; they went to Assyria.
- ↩Acts.5.1-Acts.5.11 — But a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property. Acts.5.2 — And he kept back some of the proceeds, with his wife also knowing it. And he brought a portion and laid it at the apostles' feet. Acts.5.3 — But Peter said, 'Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the land?' Acts.5.4 — While it remained unsold, wasn't it yours? And after it was sold, wasn't it under your own control? Why did you set this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God. Acts.5.5 — But when Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard these things. Acts.5.6 — Then the younger men rose, wrapped his body, carried him out, and buried him. Acts.5.7 — Now about three hours later, his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Acts.5.8 — But Peter said to her, 'Tell me whether you sold the land for this amount.' And she said, 'Yes, for that amount.' Acts.5.9 — But Peter said to her, "Why has it been agreed among you to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out." Acts.5.10 — And immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in, they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. Acts.5.11 — And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard these things.
- ↩Jer.3.3 — So the showers were withheld, and there was no spring rain; yet you had the brazen face of a prostitute — you refused to be ashamed.
- ↩Luke.16.19-Luke.16.31 — Now there was a certain rich man, and he used to dress in purple and fine linen, celebrating every day in splendor. Luke.16.20 — And a certain beggar named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores. Luke.16.21 — and longing to be fed from what fell from the rich man's table; but even the dogs came and kept licking his sores. Luke.16.22 — And it happened that the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. Luke.16.23 — And in Hades, while he was in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus at his side. Luke.16.24 — And he called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.' Luke.16.25 — But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that you received your good things during your life, and Lazarus likewise received bad things. But now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.' Luke.16.26 — And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who wish to cross from here to you are not able, nor can any cross over from there to us. Luke.16.27 — Then he said, 'I ask you, therefore, father, to send him to my father's house— Luke.16.28 — For I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Luke.16.29 — But Abraham says, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to those.' Luke.16.30 — And he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.' Luke.16.31 — But Abraham said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.'
- ↩Acts.12.23 — And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God; and being eaten by worms, he breathed his last.
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