De caeco a nativitate illuminato
The Healing of the Man Born Blind
Jesus heals a man blind from birth by anointing his eyes with mud and sending him to the pool of Siloam, and the narrator invites the reader to contemplate the Gospel account.
As the Lord Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, he saw a man blind from birth whose name is said to have been Caelidonius. The Lord, bending down in humility, made mud from his own spit and smeared it on the man's eyes, then sent him to the pool of Siloam to wash.✦ The blind man went and washed his eyes, and received his sight.✦ That miracle was carefully examined by those malicious people — and to their own confusion.✦ Look at the Gospel account, for it is clear enough and beautiful.
Gratitude of the Healed Man
The narrator praises the blind man's courageous gratitude in defending Jesus before the Jewish leaders and commends the virtue of gratitude, citing Bernard's teaching on giving thanks for every gift.
In what was just said, look at the Lord Jesus, handed down to you according to the general tradition, and consider how great this blind man's gratitude was — how bravely and steadfastly he defended the cause of the Lord Jesus before the very leaders and elders of the Jews, not sparing them a single word, even though he had not yet seen the Lord Jesus.✦ The virtue of gratitude is highly commendable and welcome to God, and the vice of ingratitude is detestable. On this subject Bernard says: 'Learn to give thanks — thanks for each individual gift.' Consider carefully, he says, what is set before you, so that none of God's gifts — not great ones, not ordinary ones, not small ones — are denied the thanks they are owed.
The Peril of Ingratitude
The narrator warns that ingratitude destroys merits and virtues, urging the faithful to gather up even the smallest kindnesses, and concludes with a Pseudo-Bernardine image of ingratitude as a flame that dries up mercy and grace.
Finally, we are told to gather up the fragments so that they are not lost — that is, not to forget even the smallest kindnesses.✦ Doesn't what is given to an ungrateful person truly perish? Ingratitude is the soul's enemy — an emptying out of merits, a scattering of virtues, a destruction of good things. Ingratitude — the things set before you. Add. A. Chapter 64–66. Ingratitude is a burning flame that dries up the very fount of piety, the dews of mercy, the flowing streams of grace — thus far Bernard.
Read the original Latin
Cum iret Dominus Jesus Hierusalem ", vidit ccecum a nativitate, cujus nomen dicitur fuisse Caelidonius; et inclinans se humilis Dominus, fecit lutum de sputo, et linivit oculos ejus, mittens eum ad natatoriam Siloe, ut lavaret. Ivit ille caecus, et oculos lavit^ et lumen recepit. Quod miraculum fuit solemniter examinatum ab illis malevolis, et in confusionem ipsorum. Vide historiam Evangelii, quia satis plana et pulchra est. In prcedictis autem conspice Dominum Jesum juxta generalem traditionem tibi datum, et considera quam magna fuit hujus caeci gratitudo, quia ita viriliter et constanter defendit partem Domini Jesu ante ipsos principes et majores Judaeorum, et nec in uno verbo pepercit eis, cum tamen adhuc non vidisset Dominum Jesum. Multum commendabihs est virtus gratitudinis> et Deo accepta, et detestubile vitium ingratitudinis. De qua materia sic dicit Bernardus *: " Disce ad singula dona gratias gratias agere. Diligenter, inquit ^, considera quae tibi apponuntur ut nulla videlicel Dei dona debita gratiarum actione frustrentur, non grandia, non raediocria, non pusilla.
Denique jubemur colligere fragmenta, ne pereant, id est, nec minima beneficia oblivisci. Numquid non perit, quod donatur ingrato? Ingratitudo inimica est animae, exinanitio meritorum, virtutum dispersio, bonorum perditio. Ingratitudo quce apposita sunt tibi. add. a. CAP. LXIV-LXVI.
tudo est venlus urens, siccans sibi fontem pietatis, '""'■ rorera misericordice, fluenta gratite " Hucusquo Bernardus
Scripture echoes
- ↩John.9.1-John.9.7 — And as he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. John.9.2 — And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" John.9.3 — Jesus answered, "Neither this man sinned, nor his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him." John.9.4 — We must work the works of the One who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. John.9.5 — While I am in the world, I am the light of the world. John.9.6 — Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud from the spit, and he anointed the mud on the eyes of the blind man. John.9.7 — and said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.
- ↩John.9.7 — and said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.
- ↩John.9.13-John.9.34 — They bring to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. John.9.14 — Now it was the Sabbath on the day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. John.9.15 — So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, 'He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see.' John.9.16 — Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, because he does not keep the Sabbath." But others said, "How can a sinful man do such signs?" And there was a division among them. John.9.17 — So they said to the blind man again, "What do you say about him, since he opened your eyes?" And he said, "He is a prophet." John.9.18 — The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight. John.9.19 — And they asked them, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?" John.9.20 — His parents answered them and said, 'We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind.' John.9.21 — how he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself. John.9.22 — His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed him to be the Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. John.9.23 — That is why his parents said, "He is old enough; ask him yourself." John.9.24 — So they called the man who had been blind a second time and said to him, "Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner." John.9.25 — Then that man answered, 'Whether he is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I know: though I was blind, now I see.' John.9.26 — So they said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" John.9.27 — He answered them, "I have already told you, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You do not also want to become his disciples, do you?" John.9.28 — Then they reviled him and said, "You are his disciples, but we are disciples of Moses." John.9.29 — We know that God spoke to Moses, but we do not know where this man is from. John.9.30 — The man answered them, "Here is the amazing thing — you do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes." John.9.31 — We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is devout and does his will, he listens to him. John.9.32 — From the beginning of the age it has not been heard that anyone opened the eyes of one born blind. John.9.33 — If this man were not from God, he could do nothing. John.9.34 — They answered him, "You were born in sin through and through, and you presume to teach us?" And they threw him out.
- ↩John.9.15-John.9.28 — So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, 'He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see.' John.9.16 — Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, because he does not keep the Sabbath." But others said, "How can a sinful man do such signs?" And there was a division among them. John.9.17 — So they said to the blind man again, "What do you say about him, since he opened your eyes?" And he said, "He is a prophet." John.9.18 — The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight. John.9.19 — And they asked them, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?" John.9.20 — His parents answered them and said, 'We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind.' John.9.21 — how he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself. John.9.22 — His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed him to be the Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. John.9.23 — That is why his parents said, "He is old enough; ask him yourself." John.9.24 — So they called the man who had been blind a second time and said to him, "Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner." John.9.25 — Then that man answered, 'Whether he is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I know: though I was blind, now I see.' John.9.26 — So they said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?" John.9.27 — He answered them, "I have already told you, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You do not also want to become his disciples, do you?" John.9.28 — Then they reviled him and said, "You are his disciples, but we are disciples of Moses."
- ↩John.6.12 — When they had eaten their fill, he said to his disciples, "Gather up the leftover pieces, so that nothing may be lost."
Meditationes Vitae Christi (Pseudo-Bonaventure), Castilian court context companion
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