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Chapter 2MedVC.1.2

De contentione inter misericordiam et justitiam, veritatem et pacem

The Controversy Begins

Mercy and Truth, accompanied by Peace and Justice, enter a great controversy before God over the fate of fallen humanity, with the narrator drawing on Bernard of Clairvaux.

At these words, Mercy struck the Father's heart, so that she might come to the rescue, bringing Peace with her; but Truth was contradicting her, bringing Justice with her.1 And a great controversy arose between them, as blessed Bernard relates in beautiful, flowing prose.2 But I'll briefly recount the substance, as best I can. For I often intend to bring forth his honey-flowing words, but for the most part with some exception, to avoid getting too close to the difficulty.3 So in this passage the substance of what he says is this. Mercy was saying to the Lord: Will you cast me away forever, Lord, or will you refuse to show mercy?4 And she had been whispering this to him for a long time. The Lord answered: Let your sisters be called, those whom you see arrayed against you, and let us hear them together.5

Mercy Pleads, Truth Resists

Mercy appeals for compassion on wretched humanity, while Truth insists that God's word about the death of Adam must be fulfilled.

When they had been called, Mercy began: The rational creature stands in need of divine compassion, for she has been made wretched and utterly miserable; the time for showing mercy has come, and now it has passed. From the other side, Truth: It is necessary, Lord, to fulfill the word that you have spoken. Let all of Adam die, together with all who were in him, when by transgressing he tasted the fruit. Mercy said: Why, then, Lord, did you make me? For Truth herself knows that I have perished if you never have mercy. From the contrary side, Truth herself: If the transgressor escapes your aforementioned sentence, both your truth has perished and it will not remain forever. This question, then, was sent to the Son. Truth and Mercy themselves were saying the same things before him, and Truth added: I confess, Lord, that Mercy is moved by a good zeal; but not according to justice, for she wishes to spare the transgressor rather than the sister.

Peace Intervenes and Wisdom Speaks

Peace calls for harmony, but the dispute seems irresolvable until Wisdom proposes that Adam must die so that mercy may be preserved.

But Mercy: you spare neither, and with such great fury you rage against the transgressor that you equally ensnare the sister as well. But Truth, nevertheless, argues most forcefully: Lord, this dispute is directed against you, and care must be taken that the word of the Father is not emptied of its force.6 Peace spoke: Hold yourselves back from these words; a quarrel between virtues is not fitting. You see a great dispute, and arguments that are strong and effective. It didn't seem possible, concerning a human being, that both mercy and truth could be preserved. The King, however, wrote down a sentence — which one of Job. He gave it to Peace — to the one standing nearest to her, according to the seventy-two — to be read, containing these words: She says: I am lost, if Adam does not die.7 And she says: I am lost, if mercy does not obtain its end.

A Good Death Is Decreed

Wisdom's sentence is accepted: a death of love by one not liable to death will open the gate of life for the fallen.

Let there be a good death, and let each side have what it asks for. Everyone was astonished at the word of Wisdom, and they agreed that Adam should die, thereby obtaining mercy.8 But they ask how death can be made good, since it's horrible even to hear spoken of.9 The King answered: The death of sinners is the worst, but the death of the saints is precious, and the gate of life.10 Let someone be found who would die out of love, one not liable to death: and so death will not be able to hold the innocent one, but will make in itself an opening through which the freed may pass through.1112 The speech was pleasing. But where will such a one be found? They answered.

Mercy Searches Heaven and Earth

Mercy remains in heaven while Truth descends to earth, but no human being is found with sufficient love to lay down his soul for others.

Truth therefore returned to earth, and Mercy remained in heaven. For according to the Prophecy: Lord, your mercy in heaven reaches even to the clouds.✦1314 It encircles the whole world, and no one is clean from stain, not even an infant of one day.✦1516 But heaven is searched by mercy, and it finds no one who has sufficient love for this.1718 For we are all servants, and even when we have done well, we ought to say that word of Luke: We are useless servants.✦1920 And since no one could be found who had greater love, so as to lay down his soul for useless servants, they return to the appointed day, deeply anxious.✦2122 Not in the wind that they desired, said Peace: You do not know anything, nor do you consider: There is no one who does good, not even one.✦2324 But the one who gave the counsel will bring the aid.2526

The Son Is Chosen as Mediator

God regrets humanity's plight and sends Gabriel to announce the coming King, while the virtues agree that the Son, as mediator, will bring the remedy.

The King understood this and said: 'I regret that I made humanity.' I must show repentance on behalf of the human being I created. And when Gabriel was summoned, he said: 'Go, say to the son of Zion: Look, your King is coming.' Up to this point, Bernard. You see, then, how dangerous sin is and how great the difficulty is of finding a remedy.27 In this, then, the aforementioned virtues agreed, especially in the person of the Son: for the person of the Father seems in some way fearsome and powerful, and so Peace and Mercy could, in a manner of speaking, have suspected it.28 The person of the Spirit, however, is most gentle; and so Truth and Justice could have suspected it.29 Hence the person of the Son, as if mediating, was accepted to bring about this remedy: but you should understand this not in the strict sense, but in a figurative one.

Mercy and Truth Meet at Last

The prophecy is fulfilled as Mercy meets Truth and Justice kisses Peace, inviting meditation on this heavenly reconciliation.

Then that prophecy was fulfilled: Mercy and truth have met each other, and justice and peace have kissed.✦ anxiously. peace have kissed.✦ And we can meditate on these things concerning what could happen in the heavens.

Read the original Latin

His dictis, Misericordia pulsabat viscera Patris, ut subveniret, secum Pacem habens; sed contradicebat Veritas, habens secum Justiliam. Et inter eas magna controversia facta est, prout narrat beatus Bernardus pulchro etlongostylo*. Sed ego succincte, ut potero, referam summam. Frequenter enim ipsius dicta melliflua intendo adducere; sed plerumqne cum exceptione, propter prohxitatem vitandam. In hoc ergo loco est dicti sui summa. Dicebat Domino Misericordia: Numquid in aeternum projicies, Domine, aut obUvisceris misereri? Et hoc ei longo tempore susurrabat. Respondit Dominus: Vocentur sorores vestrse, quas coutra vos paratas videtis, et easpariter audiamus.

Quibus vocatis, incoepit Misericordia: Eget miseratione divina creatura rationahs, quoniam misera facta est, et miserabihs valde; venit tempus miserendi, et jam preeteriit. E contra Veritas: Oportet, Domine, implere sermonem quem locutus es. Totus moriatur Adam, cum omnibus qui in eo erant, quando praevaricando pomum gustavit. Dixit Misericordia: Ut quid ergo, Domine, me fecisti? Scit enim ipsa Veritas, quod ego perii, si nunquam niisereberis. E contrario ipsa Veritas: Si praedictam tuam sententiam prasvaricator evaserit, periit et veritas tua^ et non permanetin eeternum. Fuit ergo haec quajstio missa ad Fihum. Ipsa autem Veritas et Misericordia coram eo eadem dicebant, et addebat Veritas Fateor, Domine, quod bono zelo movetur Misericordia; sed non secundum justitiam, quae potius praevaricatori vult parcere quam sorori.

At Misericordia: Tu neutro parcis, et tanta indignatione saevis contra prsevaricatorem, ut involvas pariter et sororem. Sed nihilominus Veritas fortissime allegat: Domine, contra te ista qusestio intorquetur, et est cavendum, ne verbum Patris evacuetur. Dixit Pax: Parcite vobis a verbis istis; virtutum non est honesta contentio. Vides controversiam magnam, et rationes fortes et efficaces. Non videbatur quomodo circa hominem possent et misericordia et veritas conservari. Scripsit autem Rex sententiam, quam Job. , XIV, 4, juxta septuaginta duo Paci, quae propiaquius ei stabat, dedit legendam, sic continentem: Haec dicit: Perii, si Adam non moriatur. Et haec dicit: Perii, si non misericordiam consequatur.

Fiat mors bona, et habeant utraeque quod petunt. Obstupuerunt omnes in verbo sapientiae, et consenserunt quod moriatur Adam, misericordiam consequendo. Sed quaerunt quomodo mors potest fieri bona, cum horribihs sit ipsi auditui. Respondit Rex: Mors peccatorum pessima, sed mors sanctorum pretiosa, et janua vitae. Inveniatur, qui ex charitate moriatur, non obnoxius morti: et sic mors non poterit tenere innoxium, sed faciat in ea foramen, per quod transeant liberati. Placuit sermo. Sed ubi talis poterit inveniri? responderunt.

Rediit ergo Veritas ad terram, et Misericordia remansit in coelo. Nam juxta Prophetiam ^: Domine, in coslo misericordia tua usque ad nubes. Et circuit orbem terrarum: Et * nemo m,undus a sorde, nec infans unius diei. Sed a misericordia perlustratur coelum, et neminem invenit, qui sufiicientem ad hoc habeat charitatem. Omnes enim servi sumus, et qui cum bene fecerimus, dicere debemus illud Lucae *: Quia inutiles servi sumus. Et cum nullus inveniretur, qui majorem charitatem haberet, ut animam suam pro servis inutilibus poneret, redeunt ad constitutam diem anxiae plurimum. Non in~ vento quod desiderabant, dixit Pax: Vos nescitis quidquam, nec cogitatis ^: Non est qui faciat bonum, non est usque ad unum. Sed qui dedit consihum, feret auxilium.

Intellexit hoc Rex, et ait®: Pcenitet me fecisse hominem. Poenitentiam me agere oportet pro homine quem creavi. Et vocato Gabriele, dixit: Vade'', dic filioB Sion: Ecce Rex tuus venit. Hucusque Bernardus. Vides ergo, quam magnipericulifuit etest peccatum, et quam magna difficultas est remedium invenire. In hoc ergo consenserunt praedictae virtutes praecipue in persona Filu: nam persona Patris aliqualiter videtur terribilis et potensj et sic suspicari quodammodo potuissent Pax et Misericordia. Persona vero Spiritus benignissima est; et sic suspicari poterant Veritas et Justitia. Unde persona FiUi tanquam media accepta est ad hoc remedium faciendum: hoc autem non proprie, sed appropriate intelligas.

Tunc ergo impletum est illud propheticum *: Misericordia et veritas obviavemnt sibi, justitia et edtt. anxie. pax osculatce sunt. Et haec de his qufB in coelis contingere potuenmt, possumus meditari

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Ps.36.5 — Iniquity is plotted upon his bed; he stations himself on a way that is not good; evil he does not reject.
  2. ↩Job.14.4 — Who can bring what is clean out of what is unclean? Not one.
  3. ↩Luke.17.10 — So also you, when you have done all that was commanded you, say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done what we were obligated to do.'
  4. ↩John.15.13 — No one has greater love than this: that someone lay down his life for his friends.
  5. ↩Ps.14.1-Ps.14.3;Rom.3.12 — To the choirmaster. Of David. The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they have done abominable deeds; there is none who does good. Ps.14.2 — The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of man, to see if there is anyone who understands, who seeks after God. Ps.14.3 — Everyone has turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. Rom.3.12 — All have turned aside; together they have become worthless. There is no one who does good—not even one.
  6. ↩Ps.84.11 — For better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
  7. ↩Ps.84.11 — For better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩Viscera Patris rendered 'the Father's heart' rather than 'bowels of the Father' to keep the emotional force without archaic physicality; secum ... habens rendered 'bringing X with her' to keep the personified virtues concrete.
  2. 2 ↩etlongostylo is a manuscript corruption (possibly et longo stylo); translated on the most plausible intended sense 'in flowing/long style'. The asterisk in the source marks the corruption.
  3. 3 ↩plerumqne (manuscript spelling for plerumque) and prohxitatem (uncertain, possibly proximitatem) are translated on the most plausible intended sense; 'vitandam' taken as 'to be avoided' governing an implied difficulty.
  4. 4 ↩obUvisceris is a manuscript corruption (possibly obtundes or a form of misereri-related verb); translated on the most plausible intended sense 'will you refuse/dull yourself to show mercy'.
  5. 5 ↩vestrse (vestras) and coutra (contra) and easpariter (eas pariter) are manuscript corruptions; translated on the most plausible intended senses.
  6. 6 ↩verbum Patris evacuetur: 'emptied of its force' or 'rendered void' — the divine word's efficacy is at stake, not merely its verbal content.
  7. 7 ↩Reference 'XIV, 4, juxta septuaginta duo' appears to cite Psalm 72 (LXX numbering) or a related passage; Moses resolution pending.
  8. 8 ↩consequendo: ablative of the gerund, rendered as 'thereby obtaining' to capture the instrumental/result sense; could also mean 'by obtaining' or 'in obtaining.'
  9. 9 ↩horribihs: manuscript form normalized to horribilis ('horrible/dreadful'). The cum clause is taken as causal ('since') rather than concessive ('although'), as the context suggests the horror of death is the reason for the difficulty, not a conceded point.
  10. 10 ↩janua vitae ('gate of life'): echoes Psalm 107:16 (Vulgate) and possibly Christological imagery of death as passage; rendered literally to preserve the metaphor.
  11. 11 ↩ex charitate moriatur: 'die out of love/charity' — the theological sense is self-sacrificial love, pointing toward Christ's voluntary death. Rendered 'out of love' to keep it natural while preserving the theological weight.
  12. 12 ↩foramen ('opening/hole'): a striking image of death itself being pierced to create a passage. Rendered 'opening' to avoid the overly physical connotation of 'hole' while keeping the concrete metaphor.
  13. 13 ↩The quotation appears to echo Psalm 36:5 (Vulgate 35:6) or Psalm 108:4 (Vulgate 107:4–5), where God's mercy is said to reach to the heavens/clouds. The exact source span is unresolved and flagged for tx-08 Moses resolution.
  14. 14 ↩The source reads 'coslo' — a variant spelling of 'caelo' (ablative of caelum). Normalized reading used for translation.
  15. 15 ↩The source reads 'nemo m,undus a sorde' — a corrupted form of 'nemo mundus a sorde' (no one clean from stain). The normalized reading is translated.
  16. 16 ↩The clause 'nemo mundus a sorde, nec infans unius diei' echoes Job 14:4 (Vulgate): 'Quis potest facere mundum de immundo conceptum semine, nisi tu qui solus es?' and possibly Isaiah 6:5 or related passages on universal sinfulness. Flagged for tx-08 resolution.
  17. 17 ↩'a misericordia perlustratur coelum' — the ablative of agent with a passive verb. Rendered as 'heaven is searched by mercy' to preserve the personified agency of Mercy scanning heaven for a worthy candidate.
  18. 18 ↩'charitatem' rendered as 'love' per default lexeme policy for charitas/caritas. The theological-virtue sense is clear from context (sufficient love to lay down one's life).
  19. 19 ↩The quotation 'inutiles servi sumus' is from Luke 17:10 (Vulgate). The source text marks this with an asterisk. Confirmed allusion.
  20. 20 ↩'qui cum bene fecerimus' — 'qui' here functions as a relative pronoun resumptive of 'et' ('and who/and those who'), while 'cum' is concessive or temporal ('even when/although we have done well'). Rendered as 'even when' to capture the concessive force.
  21. 21 ↩The phrase 'ut animam suam pro servis inutilibus poneret' echoes John 15:13: 'Majorem hac dilectionem nemo habet, ut animam suam ponat quis pro amicis suis.' The substitution of 'servis inutilibus' for 'amicis' is a deliberate theological adaptation. Flagged for tx-08 resolution.
  22. 22 ↩'cum' here is causal/temporal ('since/when'), and 'ut' expresses purpose ('so that/in order to'). Both rendered to preserve the logical flow.
  23. 23 ↩The quotation 'Non est qui faciat bonum, non est usque ad unum' is from Psalm 14:1–3 (Vulgate 13:1–3), also cited in Romans 3:12. The source text marks this with a caret. Confirmed allusion.
  24. 24 ↩The source reads 'in~ vento' with a tilde, likely abbreviating 'in' with a following mark. Normalized as 'in vento' for translation.
  25. 25 ↩The source reads 'consihum' — a corrupted spelling of 'consilium' (counsel). Normalized reading used for translation.
  26. 26 ↩The referent of 'qui dedit consilium' (the one who gave the counsel) is ambiguous — it could refer to God the Father, who counseled the plan of redemption, or to the Holy Spirit as the counselor (John 14:16, 'Paracletus'). The translation preserves the ambiguity of the Latin.
  27. 27 ↩The manuscript reads 'magnipericulifuit etest peccatum', a fused/corrupted form. The translation follows the most plausible intended reading: 'magna pericula fuit et est peccatum' (or similar), yielding 'how dangerous sin is'. The manuscript corruption is normalized in the source text but the underlying reading remains uncertain.
  28. 28 ↩The Latin 'suspicari' (to suspect, to mistrust, to have a misgiving about) is theologically loaded here: the sense appears to be that Peace and Mercy, as attributes associated with the Father's awesome and powerful nature, could have had misgivings about the plan of redemption. The translation preserves this ambiguity rather than resolving it.
  29. 29 ↩Parallel to the previous sentence: 'suspicari poterant' again carries the sense that Truth and Justice could have had misgivings, this time about the person of the Spirit. The allegory explores how each divine virtue relates to the work of redemption through the different persons of the Trinity.

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