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Chapter 15DoctPuer.1.15

De colre

The Meaning of the Sabbath

The author explains the origins of the Sabbath as a divine command for rest and prayer, rooted in the creation narrative.

To worship is to keep a feast in which remembrance is made of God, of prayer, and of the works a person has done during the week.1 At that time, son, when God had created the world in✦2 seven3 days, He rested on the✦4 seventh day to signify that man✦5 should rest physically on the seventh day, and that he should give reverence and honor to our Lord God in both spirit and body.✦67 So, for this reason, when the God of glory gave the old law to Moses, he commanded that the whole people of Israel keep Saturday, so that on that day they would not labor at temporal things, and that on that day they would pray to God.✦✦89

From Sabbath to Sunday

The transition from the Saturday Sabbath to the Sunday feast signifies the recreation of humanity through the Son of God.

When it pleased the Son of God, who became incarnate and had given the new law to the Christian people, the feast of Saturday was then transferred to Sunday, so that it would signify that just as God—blessed be he!— began to create the world on Sunday, so it was fitting that the feast be kept on Sunday, once through re-creation the Son of God had recreated the human race.10 Know, son, that when someone begins a task, they intend to see it through to completion. For this reason, it was fitting, according to divine ordinance, that on the day man was first begun and created, a feast should be kept where people would thank God for both the beginning and the completion of the work.11

Observing the Holy Day

A guide to the proper conduct on feast days, emphasizing church attendance, confession, and meditation on eternal realities.

It's a feast day, son, so that you'll go to church, obey and honor the priest in God's place, hear the words he'll recount about God, confess your sins to the priest, offer him your body and your soul, and give him some of this world's goods that God has given and entrusted to you. That feast day, my son, is a day of prayer and of contrition and of weeping for the sins one has committed; and on that day especially one should remember the vanities of this world, the glory of paradise, and the pains of hell.

The True Purpose of Rest

A warning against the corruption of holy days through vanity, contrasted with the ultimate sign of the eternal feast in God's presence.

Son, faults and errors have multiplied in the world, and the roads along which people go and bear endless labors are full; and because of this, on feast days banquets and gatherings of sin are held more heavily than on other days: and on that holy day that God has reserved for himself in the week so that people would do him more honor than on other days, on that day, son, people practice more vanities in eating and drinking and talking and going about, and in other things like these.✦12 Dear son, it is a commandment in the Law that your servant and your ox keep feast one day a week, so that it may be signified that your servant and your ox keep feast on your feast day; and so, in the feast of this world is signified the great feast that is in the other world, in the presence of our Lord God.✦13

Read the original Latin

Colre es fer festa en la qual sia fet remembrament de Deu e de oracio e de les obres que hom ha fetes en la setmana.

En aquell temps, fill, que Deus hach creat lo mon en . vij. jorns, Deus reposá en lo . vije dia, a significar que home al . vije dia dega reposar corporalment, e que spiritualment e corporal fassa reverencia e honor a nostro Senyor Deu. On, per assó lo Deus de gloria con doná la lig vella a Moyses, feu manament que tot lo póbol de Israel colgués lo dissapte, per tal que en aquell jorn no trebayassen en les coses temporals, e que en aquell dia faessen oracio a Deu.

Con plac al Fill de Deu que fo encarnat e hach donada la ley nova al poblé dels crestians, adonchs fo feta transmutacio de la festa del dissapte en digmenge, per so que fos significat que enaxí com Deu ¡beneyt sia ell! comensá a crear lo mon en digmenge, enaxi covenc que la festa fos feta en digmenge, adoncs con per recreacio lo Fill de Deu hach recreat lumanal linatge.

Sapies, fill, que al comensament que hom comensa a fer alguna obra, ha hom entencio de donar compliment a aquella obra. On per assó se covenc, segons la divinal ordinacio, que en aquell dia quel hom fo comensat e creat, fos feta la festa en la qual hom agués grat a Deu del comensament e de la perfeccio de la obra.

Festa es, fill, per assó que vages a lesgleya, obeyr e honrar lo prevere en loch de Deu, e que oyes les paraules que recomterá de Deu, e quet confesses al prevere, de tos peccats, e que li offires ton cors e ta anima, e que li dons dels bens daquest mon, los quals Deus ta donats e comanats.

Aquell dia festival es, fill, dia d oracio e de contricio e de plorar los peccats que hom ha fets, e en aquell dia mayorment deu hom remembrar les vanitats daquest mon e la gloria de paradis e les infernals penes.

Creegudes son, fill, en lo mon culpes e errors, e umplides son, fill, les carreres per les quals los homens van sostenir treballs infinits; e per assó en les festes son fets convits e ajustaments de peccats pus fortment que en los altres dies: e en aquell sant dia que Deus sa retengut en la setmana per so que hom li fassa més donrament que en los altres dies, en aquell dia, fill, fan les gents més de vanitats en menjar e en boure e en parlar e en anar, e en les altres coses semblants a aqüestes.

Amable fill, manament es en la lig que ton serv e ton bou fassen festa un jorn la setmana, per so que sia significat que ton serv e ton bou fan festa en la tua festa, e enaxi en la festa daquest mon es significada la gran festa qui es en l altre segle en la presencia de nostro Senyor Deu.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Gen.1.1-Gen.2.3 — In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Gen.1.2 — And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Gen.1.3 — And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. Gen.1.4 — And God saw the light, that it was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. Gen.1.5 — And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening, and there was morning: the first day. Gen.1.6 — And God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate waters from waters." Gen.1.7 — And God made the expanse, and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. Gen.1.8 — And God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning — a second day. Gen.1.9 — And God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered to one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so. Gen.1.10 — And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good. Gen.1.11 — And God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation—plants yielding seed, fruit trees bearing fruit according to their kinds, whose seed is in them, upon the earth." And it was so. Gen.1.12 — And the earth brought forth vegetation—plants yielding seed according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Gen.1.13 — And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day. Gen.1.14 — And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years." Gen.1.15 — and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth — and it was so. Gen.1.16 — And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. Gen.1.17 — And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth, Gen.1.18 — and to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. Gen.1.19 — And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day. Gen.1.20 — And God said, "Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens." Gen.1.21 — And God created the great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters swarmed, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Gen.1.22 — And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth." Gen.1.23 — And there was evening, and there was morning — the fifth day. Gen.1.24 — And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creeping things, and wild animals of the earth, each according to its kind." And it was so. Gen.1.25 — And God made the living creatures of the earth according to their kinds, and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Gen.1.26 — Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." Gen.1.27 — So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Gen.1.28 — And God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.' Gen.1.29 — And God said, "See, I have given you every seed-bearing plant that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit; they shall be yours for food." Gen.1.30 — And to every living creature of the earth, and to every bird of the heavens, and to everything that creeps on the earth in which there is a living soul—every green plant for food. And it was so. Gen.1.31 — And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Gen.2.1 — Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their host. Gen.2.2 — And God finished on the seventh day His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. Gen.2.3 — And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it He rested from all His work which God created to do.
  2. ↩Gen.2.2-Gen.2.3 — And God finished on the seventh day His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. Gen.2.3 — And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it He rested from all His work which God created to do.
  3. ↩Gen.2.2-Gen.2.3;Exod.20.8-Exod.20.11 — And God finished on the seventh day His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. Gen.2.3 — And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it He rested from all His work which God created to do. Exod.20.8 — Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Exod.20.9 — Six days you shall labor and do all your work. Exod.20.10 — but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God; on it you shall not do any work—you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. Exod.20.11 — For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the day of the Sabbath and made it holy.
  4. ↩Exod.20.8-Exod.20.11;Gen.2.2-Gen.2.3 — Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Exod.20.9 — Six days you shall labor and do all your work. Exod.20.10 — but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God; on it you shall not do any work—you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. Exod.20.11 — For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the day of the Sabbath and made it holy. Gen.2.2 — And God finished on the seventh day His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. Gen.2.3 — And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it He rested from all His work which God created to do.
  5. ↩Exod.20.8-Exod.20.11;Deut.5.12-Deut.5.15 — Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Exod.20.9 — Six days you shall labor and do all your work. Exod.20.10 — but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God; on it you shall not do any work—you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. Exod.20.11 — For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the day of the Sabbath and made it holy. Deut.5.12 — Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. Deut.5.13 — Six days you shall labor and do all your work, Deut.5.14 — But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work—you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, your ox, your donkey, any of your livestock, or the foreigner within your gates—so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as you do. Deut.5.15 — Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.
  6. ↩Exod.20.9-Exod.20.10;Exod.31.14-Exod.31.15 — Six days you shall labor and do all your work. Exod.20.10 — but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God; on it you shall not do any work—you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. Exod.31.14 — You shall keep the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Whoever profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among its people. Exod.31.15 — Six days work shall be done, but on the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does work on the sabbath day shall surely be put to death.
  7. ↩Exod.20.8-Exod.20.11;Deut.5.12-Deut.5.15 — Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Exod.20.9 — Six days you shall labor and do all your work. Exod.20.10 — but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God; on it you shall not do any work—you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. Exod.20.11 — For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the day of the Sabbath and made it holy. Deut.5.12 — Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. Deut.5.13 — Six days you shall labor and do all your work, Deut.5.14 — But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work—you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, your ox, your donkey, any of your livestock, or the foreigner within your gates—so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as you do. Deut.5.15 — Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.
  8. ↩Exod.20.10;Deut.5.14 — but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God; on it you shall not do any work—you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. Deut.5.14 — But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work—you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, your ox, your donkey, any of your livestock, or the foreigner within your gates—so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as you do.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩Old Catalan colre (Lat. colere) here means religious worship/observance, not anger (còlera); confirmed by chapter content on feast days, Sabbath, and Sunday.
  2. 2 ↩Segment ends mid-phrase at 'en .'; the following Roman numeral 'vij.' (seven) was split onto s2 by period segmentation. Rendered as the opening of the continuous reading '…en vij. jorns…' so s1–s5 read in order as one sentence.
  3. 3 ↩Source segment is only the Roman numeral 'vij.' (7), split from 'en vij. jorns' by the period after the numeral. Restored as cardinal 'seven' for the continuous clause.
  4. 4 ↩Segment begins after the split numeral and ends mid-phrase at 'en lo .'; the following 'vije' (seventh) belongs with the next segment. Continuous reading: '…vij. jorns, Deus reposá en lo vije dia…'.
  5. 5 ↩'vije' = seventh (ordinal). Segment ends mid-phrase at 'al .'; continuous reading carries into s5 'al vije dia dega…'.
  6. 6 ↩Continues 'al vije dia…' from the broken split in s4. 'dega' read as deure (ought/should); 'fassa' as subjunctive of fer (should give/do).
  7. 7 ↩'spiritualment e corporal' pairs the adverb with bare 'corporal' (likely adverbial, parallel to 'corporalment' earlier). Rendered 'spiritually and bodily' rather than inventing a fuller form.
  8. 8 ↩'colgués lo dissapte': colre = keep/observe as feast (cf. chapter title and 1.15.1). Rendered 'keep Saturday' to preserve the calendar day later contrasted with Sunday (1.15.3); religious force is Sabbath observance under the old law.
  9. 9 ↩'On, per assó': Old Catalan inferential pair (≈ 'wherefore / so, for this'). Both kept: 'So, for this reason'.
  10. 10 ↩Catalan recreacio / recreat plays on re-creation (redeeming remaking of humanity) rather than leisure; English keeps re-creation / recreated to preserve that force.
  11. 11 ↩Medieval Catalan perfeccio covers both finished completeness and moral/divine perfection; rendered as 'perfection' to keep the creation-to-completion pairing with comensament.
  12. 12 ↩Reading donrament as d'onrament ('honor'), the expected medieval Catalan sense in this Sabbath-purpose clause; alternatives (adoration/devotion) are close in force but less secure orthographically.
  13. 13 ↩Catalan «fer festa» means to keep a holy day / rest from labor as on a feast, not merely to celebrate. «L altre segle» is the world/age to come (eschatological), not another century.

Doctrine for Children — Opening companion

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