Caput XXXIX. Imago Crucifixi, et assistentis hinc inde Mariae ac Joannis sat esse debet in sanctimonialium oratorio.
The Crucified Savior as the Heart of the Altar
The image of the crucified Savior should stand at the center of the recluse's altar, inviting her to imitate his Passion, embrace his love, and be consoled by his sweetness.
Let it be enough for you to have on your altar the image of the Savior hanging on the cross, which can represent his Passion to you — a Passion you are to imitate; with outstretched arms let it invite you into his embraces, in which you may delight; with bared breasts let it pour out the milk of sweetness, so that you may be consoled.
Mary and John at the Cross: Virginity Honored
The Virgin Mother and the virgin disciple John should be depicted near the cross, reflecting Christ's special honor toward virginity in both sexes.
And if it pleases you, to commend to you the excellence of virginity, let the Virgin Mother in her own image and the virgin disciple in his own image be depicted bending near the cross, so that you may reflect on how pleasing to Christ is the virginity of each sex — the virginity which he consecrated in his mother and, before all others, in his beloved disciple.✦
The Testament of Love: Mary and John Entrusted
From the cross, Christ joined Mary and John in a sacred covenant, entrusting them to one another as mother and son, and John receives a magnificent catalog of honorific titles as the one to whom the Mother of the Lord is commended.
From the cross, then, he joined them together in so great a covenant, hanging there, that he might entrust her to the disciple as a mother, and him to the mother as a son.✦ O most blessed John, to whom by this testimony is entrusted the glory of the whole human race, the riches of the world, the glory of heaven, the refuge of the wretched, the comfort of the afflicted, the consolation of the poor, the uplifting of the desperate, the reconciliation of sinners, and finally — by the authority of the testament — the mistress of the world, the queen of heaven!✦
Images as Incentive to Love, Not Vanity
Devotional images should stir the recluse to love rather than serve as empty display, since all such things must lead her toward the one necessary thing.
Let these things offer you an incentive to love, not a spectacle of vanity: for in all these things it is necessary that you strive toward the one thing, since the one thing is necessary.✦
The One Necessary Thing: Clinging to the Unchanging God
The one necessary thing is found only in union with the unchangeable God; whoever clings to him becomes one spirit with him, and this clinging of love is the crowning ornament of the spiritual life.
That one thing is not found except in one, with one, alongside one — the one with whom there is no change, nor any shadow of alteration.✦ Whoever clings to him is made one spirit with him, passing into that one thing which is always the same, and whose years do not fail.✦✦ This clinging of love is, as it were, the special ornament and finishing edge of the goal.✦
Read the original Latin
Sufficiat tibi in altari tuo Salvatoris in cruce pendentis imago, quae passionem suam tibi repraesentet, quam imiteris; expansis brachiis ad suos te invitet amplexus in quibus delecteris; nudatis uberibus lac suavitatis infundat, quo consoleris. Et si hoc placet, ad commendandam tibi virginitatis excellentiam, virgo mater in sua, et virgo discipulus in sua, juxta crucem curventur imagine; ut cogites quam grata sit Christo utriusque sexus virginitas, quam in matre et prae caeteris sibi dilecto discipulo consecravit. Unde eos pendens in cruce tanto foedere copulavit, ut illam discipulo matrem, illum matri filium delegaret. O beatissimum hoc testimonio Joannem cui totius humani generis decus, opes mundi, gloria coeli, miserorum refugium, afflictorum solatium, pauperum consolatio, desperatorum erectio, peccatorum reconciliatio, postremo orbis domina, coeli regina, testamenti auctoritate committitur! Haec tibi praebeant incentivum charitatis, non spectaculum vanitatis: his enim omnibus ad unum necesse est ut contendas; quoniam unum est necessarium. Illud est unum, quod non invenitur nisi in uno, apud unum, cum uno, apud quem non est transmutatio, nec vicissitudinis obumbratio. Qui adhaeret ei, unus cum eo spiritus efficitur, transiens in illud unum, quod semper idem est, et cujus anni non deficiunt. Adhaesio ista charitatis quasi specialis est ornatus finis et fimbria.
Scripture echoes
- ↩John.19.26-John.19.27 — When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son." John.19.27 — Then he said to the disciple, 'Behold, your mother.' And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.
- ↩John.19.26-John.19.27 — When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son." John.19.27 — Then he said to the disciple, 'Behold, your mother.' And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.
- ↩John.19.26-John.19.27 — When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son." John.19.27 — Then he said to the disciple, 'Behold, your mother.' And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.
- ↩Luke.10.42 — Few things are needed, or only one. For Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.
- ↩Jas.1.17 — Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
- ↩1Cor.6.17 — But the one who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.
- ↩Ps.102.27 — They will perish, but you will stand; they will all wear out like a garment; like clothing you will change them, and they will be changed.
- ↩Num.15.38-Num.15.39 — Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and they shall put on the tassel of the corner a cord of blue. Num.15.39 — And it shall be to you as a tassel, and you shall see it and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and you shall do them, and you shall not follow after your own heart and after your own eyes, after which you go astray.
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
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