Moralitates
The Well of Living Water
Mary, as the dwelling place of the Word, is the well from which human nature draws the living water of eternal life.
O Mary, dwelling place of the Word made flesh, you are the well from which human nature drew the living water, springing up into eternal life.✦
The Sun of Purity and the Eagle of Humility
Mary's virginity reflects the divine sun to illuminate and warm hearts, and her humility lifts her like an eagle above the angels to renew and rebirth the human race.
You are the brightest gem of virginity, in whose purity the sun of divinity poured out its rays, and by the reflection of those rays our darkness was illuminated and human hearts were set ablaze with its warmth, so that they might burn with the love of God.1 You are the true image of the eagle that outflies other birds on wings of a humbler color; so too, by the power of humility, you have soared above all the choirs of angels. From those wings of the eagle that were given to the woman in labor, as John called them in Revelation, you, raised high in the love of the Sun, burning like the eagle, renewed the old age of the whole human race, washing away the old self in the bath of rebirth.✦23
Mother of Grace and True Light
Mary, the mother of grace, reverses Eve's blinding sin with loving wisdom, and like an eagle spreading her young to the sun, she presents us to the true light.
You are the true mother of grace, changing the name of Eve, the mother of guilt, who blinded us with her sin; you, with your loving wisdom, enlightened us.4 For just as an eagle spreads its young to face the rays of the sun, so you, having driven away the gloom of the old cloud, set us before the true sun, so that our mortal eyes might be illuminated by its blazing heat.✦5
The Eagle of John at the Cross
John, Mary's adopted son from the cross, bears the eagle's image as a sign of her humility and victory, and carries the palm of her virginity.
Therefore your adopted son, to whom your Son commended you on the cross, bears the image of the eagle before you as a sign of humility and victory, and he was also the bearer [REDACTED] the palm of your virginity.✦6
Read the original Latin
O Maria, cella Verbi incarnati, tu puteus, in quo hausit humana natura aquam vivam, salientem in eternum. Tu clarissimus virginitatis berillus, in cuius puritate sol divinitatis suos radios effudit, ex quorum reverberacione illuminate sunt tenebre nostre et eorum calore incensa sunt humana corda, ut urantur in caritate Dei. Tu vera figura aquillaris, que in pennis humilioris coloris alia animalia prevolat; sic tu virtute humilitatis supervolasti omnes choros angelorum. De quibus alis aquille, que date sunt mulieri parturienti, Iohannes in Apocalipsi vocavit, tu ergo sic exaltata in caritate solis fervendo ad instar aquille renovasti senectutem tocius generis humani abluendo vetustatem lavacro regeneracionis. Tu vera mater gracie mutans nomen Eve, matris culpe, que nos peccato suo excecavit, tu nos tua prudencia caritativa illuminasti. Nam sicut aquilla opponit radiis solis pullos suos, sic nos tu fugata nubis veteris caligine vero soli opposuisti, ut fervore ipsius mortales nostri oculi illuminarentur. Quapropter filius tuus adoptivus, cui te Filius tuus in cruce conmendavit, typum aquile coram te fert in signum humilitatis ac victorie, qui et palme virginitatis tue fuit lator.
Scripture echoes
- ↩John.4.14 — but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst forever; rather, the water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life
- ↩Rev.12.14 — And the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she might fly into the wilderness, to her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, away from the presence of the serpent.
- ↩Deut.32.11 — Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that hovers over its young, He spread His wings, caught them, carried them on His pinions.
- ↩John.19.26-John.19.27 — When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son." John.19.27 — Then he said to the disciple, 'Behold, your mother.' And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.
Notes
- 1 ↩Caritate rendered 'love of God' per lexeme policy (charitas → love/charity); context favors the theological virtue of love.
- 2 ↩Allusion to Revelation 12:14 (wings of the eagle given to the woman); candidate status, final resolution deferred.
- 3 ↩Lavacro regeneracionis rendered 'bath of rebirth' — sacramental overtones (baptismal regeneration) preserved.
- 4 ↩Prudencia caritativa rendered 'loving wisdom' — the compound notion of charity-informed prudence is compressed for readability.
- 5 ↩Veteris caligine rendered 'gloom of the old cloud' — the 'old' likely refers to the old sin/age; compressed for natural English.
- 6 ↩Filius tuus adoptivus likely refers to the beloved disciple John (commended to Mary at the cross, John 19:26-27); 'typum aquile' connects back to the eagle imagery threading the passage.
Moralitates of Charles IV companion
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