SR
← De institutione inclusarum (A Rule of Life for a Recluse)/Book 1 · De institutione inclusarum
Chapter 53InclA.1.53

Caput LII. De muliere lacrymis pedes ejus rigante.

At the Feet of Christ

The recluse is invited to approach Christ at table as the sinful woman did, washing his feet with tears, hair, kisses, and ointment.

Now go into the Pharisee's house, and pay attention to your Lord as he reclines there at table.✦ Go to that most blessed sinner at his feet; wash them with your tears, wipe them with your hair, caress them with your kisses, and anoint them with ointments.✦1 Are you not already soaked with the fragrance of that sacred ointment?✦2

Wrestle Like Jacob

If Christ seems to withhold himself, the recluse must persist in prayer and wrestle with God as Jacob did, until God is glad to be overcome.

If he still refuses you his feet, persist, pray, and lift up eyes heavy with tears, and with deepest sighs and unspeakable longings wrest from him what you seek.3 Wrestle with God like Jacob, so that he himself may be glad to be overcome.✦4

The Hidden Face

Even when God seems to turn away, the recluse must cry out with the psalmist, 'How long will you turn your face from me?'

In time it will seem that he turns his eyes away, that he stops his ears, and that he hides his longed-for feet. Nevertheless, persist — in season and out of season; cry out, How long will you turn your face away from me?✦5 How long shall I cry out, and you will not hear? (Psalm.✦ XII, 1)?

The Face I Will Seek

The recluse prays for the joy of Christ's salvation, echoing the psalmist's declaration: 'Your face I will seek.'

Give me back, good Jesus, the joy of your salvation, because my heart said to you: I have sought your face; your face I will seek (Psal.✦ XXVI, 8).

He Will Not Refuse the Virgin

An argument from the greater to the lesser: if Christ offered his feet to a sinful woman, he will surely not refuse them to a virgin.

Surely he will not refuse his feet to the virgin, when he offered them to be kissed by the sinful woman.✦

Read the original Latin

Jam nunc domum ingredere Pharisaei, et recumbentem ibi Dominum tuum attende. Accede cum illa beatissima peccatrice ad pedes ejus; lava lacrymis, terge capillis, demulce osculis, et fove unguentis. Nonne jam sacri illius liquoris odore perfunderis? Si tibi adhuc suos negat pedes, insta, ora, et gravidos lacrymis oculos attolle, imisque suspiriis et inenarrabilibus extorque quod petis. Luctare cum Deo sicut Jacob, ut ipse se gaudeat superari. Videbitur tibi aliquando, quod avertat oculos, quod aures claudat, quod desideratos pedes abscondat. Tu nihilominus insta opportune, importune; clama, Usquequo faciem tuam avertis a me? Usquequo clamabo, et non exaudies (Psal.

XII, 1)? Redde mihi, Jesu bone, laetitiam salutaris tui, quia tibi dixit cor meum: Quaesivi faciem tuam, faciem tuam requiram (Psal. XXVI, 8). Certe non negabit pedes suos virgini, quos osculandos praebuit peccatrici.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Luke.7.36 — Now one of the Pharisees kept asking him to eat with him, and when Jesus entered the Pharisee's house, he reclined at table.
  2. ↩Luke.7.37-Luke.7.38 — And behold, a woman who was in the city, a sinner, having learned that he was reclining in the house of the Pharisee, brought an alabaster flask of ointment Luke.7.38 — and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.
  3. ↩Luke.7.37 — And behold, a woman who was in the city, a sinner, having learned that he was reclining in the house of the Pharisee, brought an alabaster flask of ointment
  4. ↩Gen.32.24-Gen.32.29 — And he took them and sent them across the stream, and he sent across what was his. Gen.32.25 — And Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of dawn. Gen.32.26 — And he saw that he could not prevail against him, and he touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was dislocated as he wrestled with him. Gen.32.27 — He said, 'Let me go, for the dawn has risen.' But he said, 'I will not let you go unless you bless me.' Gen.32.28 — And he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." Gen.32.29 — And he said, 'No longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.'
  5. ↩Ps.13.1 — To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
  6. ↩Ps.13.1-Ps.13.2 — To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. Ps.13.2 — How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
  7. ↩Ps.26.8 — LORD, I love the dwelling place of your house, and the place where your glory dwells.
  8. ↩Luke.7.36-Luke.7.50 — Now one of the Pharisees kept asking him to eat with him, and when Jesus entered the Pharisee's house, he reclined at table. Luke.7.37 — And behold, a woman who was in the city, a sinner, having learned that he was reclining in the house of the Pharisee, brought an alabaster flask of ointment Luke.7.38 — and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Luke.7.39 — Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, 'If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is: that she is a sinner.' Luke.7.40 — And Jesus answered him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." And he said, "Teacher, speak." Luke.7.41 — There were two debtors to a certain lender; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Luke.7.42 — Since neither of them had the means to repay him, he graciously canceled the debt for both. Which of them, therefore, will love him more? Luke.7.43 — Simon answered and said, 'I suppose the one to whom the more was forgiven.' And he said to him, 'You have judged correctly.' Luke.7.44 — Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house. You gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. Luke.7.45 — You gave me no kiss, but she has not stopped kissing my feet since I arrived. Luke.7.46 — You did not anoint my head with oil, but this woman has anointed my feet with ointment. Luke.7.47 — Therefore I tell you, her many sins are forgiven, as her great love shows. But the one who is forgiven little loves little. Luke.7.48 — And he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." Luke.7.49 — And those who were reclining with him began to say among themselves, 'Who is this who even forgives sins?' Luke.7.50 — But he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

Notes

  1. 1 ↩peccatrix rendered 'sinner' while beatissima ('most blessed') is preserved; the paradox honors the Gospel figure whose sins were forgiven because she loved much.
  2. 2 ↩sacri ... liquoris ('sacred ointment/liquid') refers to the perfume poured on Christ's feet; odore perfunderis conveys being thoroughly suffused with its scent.
  3. 3 ↩extorque ... quod petis: 'wrest what you ask for' — bold devotional language of holy persistence in prayer, echoing Jacob wrestling with God.
  4. 4 ↩ut ipse se gaudeat superari: the paradox that God delights when the persistent soul 'prevails' in faithful struggle (cf. Genesis 32:24-29).
  5. 5 ↩opportune, importune: 'in season and out of season' — echoing 2 Timothy 4:2; the believer is urged to persevere in prayer regardless of apparent welcome.

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
Chosen Portion — Daily Prayer (free iOS app) →