De ministerio Marthae et Mariae; item de ordine contemplationis, et quod duas habet partes
Martha and Mary Receive the Lord
Jesus is joyfully welcomed at Bethany, where Martha serves and Mary listens, and the Lord affirms Mary’s contemplative choice.
On one occasion, when the Lord Jesus was going to Bethany, to the house of Martha and Mary, they themselves, devoted to him with their whole heart, received him reverently and with great eagerness.✦ ii. They welcomed him with joy. And Martha, Mary's sister, immediately set about preparing a fitting meal for him and the disciples. But Mary placed herself at the Lord's feet.✦ And since the Lord did not want to be idle, in his own way he was speaking words of eternal life. Mary, her eyes and ears fixed on him, delighted in his words beyond anything that could be said, and thought of nothing else. Martha, however, was annoyed by this, and she asked the Lord to compel her sister to work alongside her in serving. But she received the opposite reply, and heard that Mary had chosen the better part.✦ As for Mary, who was resting in the words of God, she was troubled at her sister's distress, as if waking from sleep, and with her face bowed to the ground, she fell silent. But after the Lord's reply, she sat there more at ease and with greater joy.
The Two Sisters and the Twofold Life
Martha’s devoted service is held up for contemplative reflection, and the two sisters are interpreted as symbols of the active and contemplative lives.
Once the meal was ready and the Lord had finished speaking, Martha immediately got up, prepared water for his hands, and then, standing by him the whole time, served him most faithfully. Look closely at the Lord entering, and at the two sisters receiving him with the greatest joy, and then at everything else in their actions described above — because these things are most beautiful. You should know, however, that through these two sisters the Saints say the double life is to be understood — the active and the contemplative.✦ . concerning the active and the contemplative life. To treat this at length would require a long discussion. But because it is expected of you — I don't think a long treatise is needed, yet I will write you some things on the subject. First, because blessed Bernard treats it most fully in various places; and second, because it is most useful, most spiritual, and very necessary.
The Active Life and Its Two Parts
Drawing on Bernard, the author explains the active life as first concerned with personal amendment and then with serving and guiding the neighbor.
For we continually live according to the twofold life described above, yet how we ought to live, we frequently fail to understand — and that is a great danger and no small loss, especially for those leading a religious life. The active life, then, is the one signified by Martha.✦ But the active life, as I can gather from the words of Bernard, has two parts. The first part is that in which a person exercises himself primarily for his own benefit — correcting himself, amending his vices, and forming himself in the virtues. And the same is done secondarily for the benefit of the neighbor as well — through works of justice and the duties of piety and love. The second part of it is how a person directs his practice principally toward the benefit of his neighbor — though this also brings greater merit to himself — so as to guide others by teaching and helping them toward the salvation of souls, as preachers and those like Bernard do. [Concerning the Assumption.] [Uncertain reading.]
The Order of Spiritual Progress
The chapter concludes by outlining the proper order: purify oneself in active virtue, rest in contemplation, and then go out to help others.
… serin. Five, court… seeing. In this way. And between these two parts of the active life there is the contemplative life, so that this may be the order: first, you should train yourself and labor in prayer, in the study of sacred writings, and in good works and acts of service in daily life, as it were correcting yourself from your faults and acquiring virtues. Second, you should rest in contemplation, seeking solitude of mind, and alone, completely available to God with all your strength. Third, through those two exercises already mentioned, once you have been filled with virtues and true wisdom, illumined and fervent, you should direct your aim toward the salvation of your forebears. Therefore first, as I touched upon, it is necessary that in the first part of active life the mind be purified, cleansed, and strengthened through the practice of the virtues; then in the contemplative part it be formed, illuminated, and instructed; afterward it can confidently go out to the progress of others, so that it may be able to help them. That this is the right order is proved by these authorities, and first, that the active part should precede the contemplative.
Read the original Latin
Cum quadam vice Dominus Jesus iret Bethaniam * ad domum Marlhae et Mariae, ipsae toto affectu diligentes eum, reverenter ac multum xLix, u. ii. alacriter susceperunt eumdem. Et Martha quidem soror MarifB se incontinenti paravit ad refectionem honorabilem ei et discipulis procurandam; Maria vero ad pedes Domini se posuit. Et cum Dominus, nolens existere otiosus, more suo loqueretur verba vitse aeternag, ipsa oculis et auribusin eum intenta, jucundabatur in verbis suis, ultra quam dici possit, nec quidquam aliud cogitabat. Martha vero moleste hoc tulit, et eam compelli a Domino ad laborandum secum in ministerio postulavit, sed contrariam sententiam reoortavit, et Mariam optimam partem elegisse audivit. Maria vero quse verbis Dei quiescebat, ad claraorem sororis, quasi a somno evigilans, de quiete sua timuit, et facie inclinata in terram siluit. Sed post Domini responsionem securius et jucundius sedit.
Deinde parata refectione, et Doraino cessante loqui, continuo surgit, aquam manibus ejus parat, et deinceps eidem semper assistens, fidelissime servit. Conspice bene Dominum ingredientem, et illas ipsum laetissime suscipientes, et deinceps alia in praedictis eorum actibus, quia pulcherrima sunt. Per Scire autem debes, quod per istas duas soroMartham j,gg dicunt Saucti dupUcem vitam intelligi, sciet Ma- *^,. , ° '. , riamdua licct activani, et contemplativam: de quibus vita! in- traclare longa materia est. Sed quia tibi expetur. dire credo non longum tractatum habere, tamen tibi aliqua inde scribam, tum quia beatus Bernardus in diversis locis ipsum copiosissime tractat; tum quia ulilissimus, spiritualissimus, ac valde necessarius est.
Nam secundum praedictam dupUcem vitam continue vivimus, et quaUter nos vivere oportet, ignoramus frequenter, quod est magnum periculum, et jactura non levis, praecipue reUgiosam vitam gerentibus. Est igitur vita activa, quae designatur per Martham. Sed acUvse vitae, sicut ex dicUs Bernardi coUigere possum, duae sunt partes. Priraa pars qua quis se exercet ad suam priucipaliter utilitatem corrigendo se, emendando a vitiis, et informando virtutibus. Et idem secundario fit ad utiUtatem etiam proximi per opera justitiae, et obsequia pietatis et charitatis. Secunda pars ejus est, quomodo quis principaliter suum exercitium confert in utiUtatem proximi, quamvis ad suum eUam majus meritum, ut alios regendoj docendo, et adjuvando in animarum salutem, ut faciunt praelaU, et praedicatores, et hu' Beru. , de Assumpt. Viry.
, serin. v, aule uied. jusmodi. Et inter has duas partes vitte activae, est vita contemplaUva, ut iste sit ordo, quod primo quis se exerceat, et laboret in oratione, et sacrarum studio Utterarum, et aUis operibus bonis, et obsequiis in conversatione, quasi corrigendo se a viUis et acquirendo virtutes. Secundo quiescat in contemplatione, soUtudinem mentis quaerens, et soU Deo vacans toto posse. Tertio per praedicta duo exercitia, virtutibus et vera sapientia imbutus et iUuminatus, et fervidus eflectus, ad aUorum salutem intendat. Primo igitur, ut tetigi, oportet, quod in prima activae parte, mens expurgetur, depuretur et roboretur per exercitia virtutum; deinde in contemplaUva informetur, illuminetur et instruatur; postea confidenter potest ad aUorum profectus exire, ut eos possit adjuvare. Quod autem iste sit ordo rectus, istis auctoritaUbus probatur, et primo, quod prima pars activae praecedat contemplativam
Scripture echoes
- ↩Luke.10.38-Luke.10.42 — Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. Luke.10.39 — She had a sister called Mary, who also sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his word. Luke.10.40 — But Martha was distracted by much service. She came up and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." Luke.10.41 — But the Lord answered her, 'Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.' Luke.10.42 — Few things are needed, or only one. For Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.
- ↩Luke.10.39-Luke.10.40 — She had a sister called Mary, who also sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his word. Luke.10.40 — But Martha was distracted by much service. She came up and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me."
- ↩Luke.10.40-Luke.10.42 — But Martha was distracted by much service. She came up and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." Luke.10.41 — But the Lord answered her, 'Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.' Luke.10.42 — Few things are needed, or only one. For Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.
- ↩Luke.10.38-Luke.10.42 — Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. Luke.10.39 — She had a sister called Mary, who also sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his word. Luke.10.40 — But Martha was distracted by much service. She came up and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." Luke.10.41 — But the Lord answered her, 'Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.' Luke.10.42 — Few things are needed, or only one. For Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.
- ↩Luke.10.38-Luke.10.42 — Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. Luke.10.39 — She had a sister called Mary, who also sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his word. Luke.10.40 — But Martha was distracted by much service. She came up and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." Luke.10.41 — But the Lord answered her, 'Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.' Luke.10.42 — Few things are needed, or only one. For Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.
Meditationes Vitae Christi (Pseudo-Bonaventure), Castilian court context companion
A scene a day, for life
Chosen Portion continues this rhythm: one short reading and prayer every morning, free on iOS
The Meditationes portioned Christ's life into daily scenes for lay meditation — the exact daily-portion model Chosen Portion delivers to your phone.
- Keep the one-scene-a-day habit going after day 30, automatically
- 10 minutes each morning: reading, meditation prompt, closing prayer
- Free iOS install; your day-31 portion is ready when the plan ends