Caput XLI. De exemplo Mariae et Marthae, deque vita activa et contemplativa.
Martha's Busyness, Mary's Rest
The recluse is called to recognize her contemplative vocation, modeled by Mary who sat at Jesus' feet while Martha served.
Recognize your condition, dearest one. There were two sisters, Martha and Mary: the one was busy, the other was at rest; the one was spending, the other was asking; the one was offering service, the other was nurturing love.✦ In a word: not walking or running here and there, not anxious about welcoming guests, not stretched thin by concern for the household, not distracted by the cries of the poor — she sat at the feet of Jesus and listened to his word.✦
Dead to the World, Stretched Toward God
The recluse must be deaf and mute to worldly allurements, not pulled in every direction but wholly stretched out and filled up.
This is your calling, dearest one — dead and buried to the world, you must be deaf to every allurement the world has to offer, mute when it comes to speaking; you must not be pulled in every direction, but stretched out; filled up, not drained dry.
Mary's Part Is the Better
Martha's active service is good, but Mary's contemplative choice is the better part, and the worldly should emulate the recluse rather than the reverse.
Let Martha carry out her own part — it cannot be denied that it is good — but Mary's is proclaimed the better. Did Mary envy Martha? No — Martha was the one who envied Mary. So it is: even those who seem the best in the world should emulate your life — not you theirs.
Alms and the Steward's Office
Giving alms belongs to those who hold earthly possessions or stewardship of church affairs.
The giving of alms is the concern of those whose earthly possessions are their own, or to whom the stewardship of church affairs has been entrusted.
Read the original Latin
Agnosce conditionem tuam, charissima. Duae sorores erant Martha et Maria: laborabat illa, vacabat ista; illa erogabat, ista petebat; illa praestabat obsequium, ista nutriebat affectum. Denique non ambulans, vel discurrens huc atque illuc, non de suscipiendis hospitibus sollicita, non cura rei familiaris distenta, non pauperum clamoribus intenta sedebat ad pedes Jesu, et audiebat verbum illius. Haec pars tua, charissima, quae saeculo mortua atque sepulta, surda debes esse ad omnia saeculi blandimenta audienda, ad loquendum muta: nec debes distendi, sed extendi; impleri, non exhauriri. Exsequatur partem suam Martha: quae licet non negetur bona, Maria tamen melior praedicatur. Numquid invidit Marthae Maria? illa potius isti. Ita etiam quaequae optimae videntur in saeculo, tuam vitam aemulentur, non illarum tu.
Ad illos spectat eleemosynarum largitio, quorum est terrena possessio, vel quibus credita est rerum ecclesiasticarum dispensatio.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Luke.10.38-Luke.10.42 — Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. Luke.10.39 — She had a sister called Mary, who also sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his word. Luke.10.40 — But Martha was distracted by much service. She came up and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." Luke.10.41 — But the Lord answered her, 'Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.' 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.
- ↩Luke.10.40-Luke.10.42 — But Martha was distracted by much service. She came up and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." Luke.10.41 — But the Lord answered her, 'Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.' 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.
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