Caput XXXV. Rursus de quadam inani gloria.
The Poverty of the Bridegroom
The recluse is confronted with Christ's voluntary poverty and humble birth, exposing all boasting about riches or noble status as hollow.
With what face can you boast about riches or noble birth, you who want to be seen as the bride of the One who became poor though he was rich — who chose a poor mother, a poor household, a humble home, and the lowliness of a manger?✦1
The Exchange of All for Christ
The recluse's choice to prefer the Son of God over earthly sons, virginity over fleshly desire, and heavenly riches over worldly comfort is presented as the true exchange.
Is this something to boast about — that you preferred the Son of God to the sons of men, that you scorned foul flesh in place of the beauty of virginity, that you exchanged the eternal riches and delights of heaven for the martyrdoms of the saints?23
The Question of Exchange
Manuscript sigla and the final rhetorical fragment 'Have you exchanged?' close the chapter with an open, searching question.
Read the original Latin
Qua enim fronte de divitiis vel natalibus gloriaris, quae illius vis sponsa videri, qui pauper factus est, cum esset dives, pauperem matrem, pauperem familiam, domum etiam pauperculam et praesepii vilitatem elegit? Itane gloriandum tibi est, quod Dei Filium hominum filiis praetulisti, quod foedam carnem pro virginitatis decore sprevisti, quod aeternas coeli divitias atque delicias martyriis sanctorum (al posto di "martyriis sanctorum" altri manoscritti hanno "materiis stercorum". N. d. r.) commutasti?
Scripture echoes
- ↩2Cor.8.9 — For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.
Notes
- 1 ↩The Latin carries a compressed argument: the recluse who glories in worldly status is shamed by Christ's voluntary poverty. The string of 'pauperem... pauperem... pauperculam... vilitatem' piles up the contrast between the reader's pretension and Christ's chosen lowliness.
- 2 ↩The source text includes a parenthetical note that some manuscripts read 'materiis stercorum' (matters of filth/dung) instead of 'martyriis sanctorum' (martyrdoms of the saints). The normalized text follows 'martyriis sanctorum'; the variant is noted here for transparency.
- 3 ↩foedam carnem pro virginitatis decore sprevisti: the sense is that the reader has renounced bodily ('foul') existence for the higher beauty of virginity — a strong ascetical claim, not a statement about the body being inherently evil.
- 4 ↩This appears to be a manuscript sigla or abbreviation marker, not a translatable sentence. Preserved as-is.
- 5 ↩This appears to be a manuscript sigla or abbreviation marker, not a translatable sentence. Preserved as-is.
- 6 ↩This appears to be a manuscript sigla or abbreviation marker, not a translatable sentence. Preserved as-is.
- 7 ↩The single-word question 'commutasti?' is abrupt and elliptical — the object of exchange is left implicit, to be supplied from the preceding context (eternas coeli divitias atque delicias). The rhetorical force is: 'Is this what you gave up heaven for?'
De institutione inclusarum (A Rule of Life for a Recluse) companion
A rule only lives if you keep it daily
Chosen Portion gives your new rule its anchor: one free devotional portion every day.
Aelred built his sister's day around fixed times of prayer and meditation; Chosen Portion supplies the fixed daily portion that makes a modern rule of life keepable.
- Anchor your rule with a fixed 10-minute daily portion
- Practice Aelred's threefold meditation with guided daily prompts
- Review and adjust your one-page rule after 30 days of tracked practice