Caput XLVIII. De Magorum adoratione, fuga Christi in Aegyptum, et de latrone ad Christi dextram crucifixo.
The Gifts of the Magi and the Flight into Egypt
The reader is urged not to pass over the Magi's gifts in meditation and not to leave Christ unaccompanied as he flees into Egypt.
Don't pass over the gifts of the Magi in your meditation, and don't leave the one fleeing into Egypt unaccompanied.
The Robbers and the Child of Splendor
A pious tradition recounts that the Holy Family was seized by robbers on the way to Egypt, and that the robber chief's son, overwhelmed by the divine majesty shining in the Christ child's face, embraced him and blessed him.
Take as true what is said—that he was seized by robbers on the way and rescued by the kindness of a certain young man. This young man was, as they say, the son of a chief of robbers, who, having seized his plunder, discovered the child in his mother's arms; and such great majesty of splendor appeared to him in that most beautiful face that, burning with love and doubting no more that the child was more than human, he embraced him.1 And he said, 'O most blessed of little ones!'
A Covenant of Mercy Remembered
The young robber pleads with the Christ child to remember him when he comes into his kingdom, echoing the good thief's words on the cross.
If ever the time should come for me to receive your mercy, then remember me, and do not forget this moment.
The Good Thief Crucified at Christ's Right Hand
The tradition identifies the young robber as the penitent thief crucified at Christ's right hand, who rebuked his fellow thief and turned to the Lord with the words, 'Remember me when you come into your kingdom' (Luke XXIII, 40–42).
They say this man was the robber who was crucified at Christ's right hand, who, when he had rebuked the other one for blaspheming, said, 'Don't you fear God, who are under the same condemnation?' And we, to be sure, justly receive the punishments our deeds deserve; but this man did nothing wrong. Turning to the Lord, gazing upon the majesty that had appeared in the child, and not forgetting the covenant he had made, he said, 'Remember me when you come into your kingdom' (Luke2 XXIII, 40–42).
A Spur to Love
The author concludes that holding this devotional opinion is a useful spur to love, so long as one avoids rash assertion.
And so, as a spur to love, I don't think it's useless to hold this opinion — setting aside any rashness in asserting it.3
Read the original Latin
Noli in tua meditatione Magorum munera praeterire; nec fugientem in Aegyptum incomitatum relinque. Opinare verum esse quod dicitur, eum a latronibus deprehensum in via, et adolescentuli cujusdam beneficio ereptum. Erat is, ut dicunt, principis latronum filius, qui praeda potitus, cum parvulum in matris gremio comperisset, tanta ei in ejus speciosissimo vultu splendoris majestas apparuit, ut eum supra hominem esse non ambigens, incalescens amore amplexatus sit eum. Et, o, inquit, beatissime parvulorum! si aliquando se tempus obtulerit mihi miserendi, tunc memento mei, et hujus temporis noli oblivisci. Ferunt hunc esse latronem, qui ad Christi dexteram crucifixus, cum alterum blasphemantem corripuisset, dicens, Neque tu times Deum, qui in eadem damnatione es? Et nos quidem juste; nam digna damna factis recipimus: hic autem nihil mali fecit: conversus ad Dominum eum in illa quae in puerulo apparuerat, intuens majestate, pacti sui non immemor, Memento, inquit, mei cum veneris in regnum tuum (Luc. XXIII, 40-42).
Itaque ad incentivum amoris, non inutile arbitror hac uti opinione, remota omni affirmandi temeritate.
Notes
- 1 ↩The Latin presents this as pious opinion (ut dicunt), not doctrinal assertion. The translation preserves that distance.
- 2 ↩pacti sui ('the covenant/pact of his own') — the Latin suggests the robber remembered a prior bond or promise, likely referring to the legendary childhood encounter. The translation preserves this ambiguity.
- 3 ↩The Latin ablative absolute remota omni affirmandi temeritate ('with all rashness of assertion removed') is rendered as a participial phrase to keep the sentence flowing naturally in modern English.
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