De Matinas
The Unity of God and the Lady
The chapter opens by establishing the singular importance of God and the Virgin Mary in the order of creation.
Of one God. There is one God and one lady who is good above all others; from these two comes the whole world in length, depth, breadth, and roundness. The lady is Holy Mary, who has a Son without a man's pairing, and he is one Son, man and God; and anyone who wants to be entirely his should not fear death— that the evil spirit might carry him off— for God wants to have him in heaven, since he has given himself wholly to his will.12
The Father and the Mother
This section explores the divine nature of the Father and the compassionate role of the Mother as the source of mercy.
About God the Father. In the divine nature, there is a Father without measure; in human nature, there is a woman people call upon: Our Lady, Mother of God, who is the daughter of her own Son—and from the Father and the Mother came mercy, compassion, and forgiveness.34 Both are in that harbor where no one dies a bad death. May the Father and the Mother both be father and mother to us.5
The Son and the Savior
The text describes Christ as the Son of the Virgin, emphasizing his power to save through his mother's intercession.
Concerning God the Son. He is a Son, God in the Godhead, named Christ, the Son of his own daughter, who was sent by his Father to be our Savior.✦6 That Son has such great power that without him no one has salvation; and through his mother he grants pardon, and he never says no to anyone asking any forgiveness if that person puts trust in his mother. May such a Son be known throughout the whole world and held dear.✦7
The Holy Spirit and the Maiden
The Holy Spirit is presented as the bond of love who honors the Virgin Mary as the refuge for sinners.
Concerning the Holy Spirit. From God the Father and the loving Son there comes forth a Spirit who is holy, and he is Creator and Lord, and he loves the maiden of love more than all he has created here below, and has raised her above everything except Jesus; and when someone prays to the maiden to help him, she counsels him that she ask her Son for whatever he is praying her for, since He has made her a mother of honor and a refuge for the sinner.8
The Creator and the Re-creator
The world is framed as a creation and re-creation designed to honor the Virgin Mary and ensure the salvation of humanity.
On the Creator. The world has only one Creator, who made it to honor the maiden, his mother—the guide of sinners when they are in trouble. And they pray her to give them counsel, comfort, joy, and love, so that they may serve our Lord with all that is in their power, and have sorrow for their sins. That maiden is the sum of everything love is worth.9 On the Re-creator. A re-creator of all that is made himself man in a virgin, under this condition: that the human race, which was lost, should come to salvation, and that the virgin should be the salvation of all who will love her; and that the Creator, being so, should fulfill her request, since his mother commands it—so that every sinner may take comfort if he loves the best of ladies.1011
The Glorification in Heaven
The chapter concludes with a vision of the Virgin Mary's glory in heaven among the saints and her desire for the salvation of her kin.
On the Glorifier. Our Lady has glory in heaven with the holy angel Gabriel and with all the saints who are there with her; they long to see her Son, who gives them such great glory in remembering, understanding, and loving, and with such a gaze that no living person could speak it or even think it. "Son," said the Virgin, "since little of such glorification can be given in this place, come where I know all our kin are."✦1213
Read the original Latin
De un Deu. Es un Deu éuna dona Qui sobre totas es bona; De aquests dos es trastot lo mon En lonch, pregon, ample é redon; La dona es Sancta María Qui á fill sens d'hom paria, E es un fill home é Deu; E çell qui tot vol esser seu No hage pahor á la mort, Que lo mal esperit l'emport; Car Deus lo vol al cel haver Pus tot s'es dat á son voler.
De Deu pare. En la divina natura Es un payre sens mesura; En la natura humana Una dona es qu'hom reclama; Nostra dona mayre de Deu Qui es filla de l'hom fill seu, E del payre é la mayre fó Mercé, pietat é perdó. Amdos están en aquel port On hom no mor á mala mort; Lo payre é la mayre amdos Sien payre é mayre de nos.
De Deu fill. Es un fill Deu en Deitat Fill de sa filla Christ nomenat, Qui es trames per son payre Per esser nostre Salvayre. Aquel fill ha tan gran virtut Que sens ell hom no ha salut; E té per sa mayre perdó E no diu á null hom de no De neguna perdonança Si en sa mayre ha fiança; Aytal fill sia conegut Per tot lo mon é car tengut.
De Sant esperit. De Deu payre é fill amant Hix un esperit qui es sant, E es creayre é senyor, E vol la puella d'amor Mays que quant ha creat sajus E l'ha sus enfora Jesus; E quant prega hom la puella Que li ajut li consella, Que á son fill ella deman Só de que hom la vá pregan, Puys l'ha fayta mayre d'honor E refugi de peccador.
De creador. Lo mon ha sol un creador Qui l'ha creat per far honor A la puella sa mayre De los peccadors guiayre Com son en tribulació, E pregon ella que lur do Conçell, confort, gaug é amor, Com servesquen nostre Senyor Ab tot quant han á lur poder E de lurs peccats dol haver; Aquella puella es cabal De tot ço perque amor val.
De recreador. Un recreador de quant es En una verge home se fes, Ab una tal condició Que vengués á salvació L'humá genre qu'era perdut, E que la verge fos salut De tots aquells que l'amarán, E qu'el creayre en istán Complesca sua demanda, pus sa mayre ho comanda, Perque's confort tot peccador Si ama la dona meyllor.
De glorificador. Gloria nostra dona'l cel Ab l'ángel Sant Gabriel E ab tots los sants que la y son En veser son fill desiron, Qui'els dona gloria tan gran En membrant, entenent é aman, E ab un tal sguardament Que no es nengun hom vivent Qui la pogués dir ni pensar: -Fill, dix la Verge, pus poch dar En est loch tal gloriament Veng'on say tuyt nostro'n parent.
Scripture echoes
- ↩John.3.17 — For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
- ↩Acts.4.12;John.14.6 — And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. John.14.6 — Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'
- ↩Luke.1.26-Luke.1.38 — In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee whose name was Nazareth, Luke.1.27 — to a virgin pledged in marriage to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. Luke.1.28 — And coming to her, he said, 'Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.' Luke.1.29 — But she was troubled at his message, and she kept pondering what sort of greeting this might be. Luke.1.30 — And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Luke.1.31 — And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. Luke.1.32 — He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David. Luke.1.33 — And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. Luke.1.34 — But Mary said to the angel, "How will this be, since I have not known a man?" Luke.1.35 — And the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore also the one to be born will be called Son of God." Luke.1.36 — And behold, Elizabeth your kinswoman—she too has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren. Luke.1.37 — For nothing will be impossible with God. Luke.1.38 — And Mary said, 'Behold, the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.' And the angel departed from her.
Notes
- 1 ↩sens d'hom paria: rendered as 'without a man's pairing' (virgin conception without a human male partner); paria is Old Catalan for peer/pair/match.
- 2 ↩Que lo mal esperit l'emport taken as a fear-clause dependent on 'no hage pahor á la mort' (fear death lest the evil spirit carry him off), not as an independent statement.
- 3 ↩«filla de l'hom fill seu» is the medieval Marian paradox (Mary as daughter of the man who is her Son): she is mother of Christ in the flesh and, as creature, daughter of God—and so of the Son as God.
- 4 ↩«qu'hom reclama» may mean «whom one calls upon/invokes» or «whom one claims as one's own»; the rendering favors the invocatory sense natural to Marian devotion.
- 5 ↩«port» is taken as the safe harbor of salvation; «mala mort» is a bad/wretched death (death in sin or damnation), kept as plain «bad death».
- 6 ↩Catalan Fill de sa filla ("Son of his own daughter") is the Marian paradox already set up in the previous section: Mary is God's daughter, and Christ is her son, so the Son is also the son of his daughter.
- 7 ↩virtut rendered as "power" (efficacious strength); could also be read as "virtue." té per sa mayre perdó taken as pardon granted through/for the sake of his mother, fitting the following Marian intercession lines.
- 8 ↩Rendered as the Spirit's exaltation of Mary above all creatures save Jesus (classic Marian ranking). Alternative parses are possible: e.g. that the Spirit has brought Jesus forth from her, or that Jesus is the agent of her exaltation. The exceptive sense of 'enfora Jesus' fits the surrounding Marian praise best.
- 9 ↩Medieval Catalan cabal can mean sum, capital, complete measure, or just account. Rendered as "sum" for the claim that Mary holds the full worth of love; alternatives: "perfect measure," "capital," "complete account."
- 10 ↩Catalan recreador (re-creator) names Christ as the one who remakes the fallen world through the Incarnation; kept as re-creator rather than flattened to redeemer alone.
- 11 ↩salut rendered as salvation (also health/safety); dona meyllor as the best of ladies (Our Lady). en istán taken as en estant, being so / thus situated after becoming man.
- 12 ↩"membrant, entenent é aman" tracks the classical triad of memory, understanding, and love (the powers of the soul); kept as remembering, understanding, and loving.
- 13 ↩Closing triplet is dense Old Catalan: "pus poch dar / En est loch tal gloriament / Veng'on say tuyt nostro'n parent." Rendered as causal "since little of such glorification can be given in this place" plus invitation "come where I know all our kin are"; "parent" taken as kin/kindred, not a single parent.
Hores de Nostra Dona Santa Maria (Hours of Our Lady Saint Mary) companion
Never lose the rhythm again
Chosen Portion delivers your morning, midday and night office to your phone — the Hours, without the bells.
Chosen Portion is a modern Book of Hours: it turns the fixed-hour structure this collection preserves into scheduled, tappable daily prayer on your phone.
- Three daily prayer moments scheduled around your real calendar, not a monastery's
- Psalms and historic prayers sequenced for you — no page-flipping or decision fatigue
- A visible streak of completed offices, so the rhythm compounds instead of collapsing