De regia potestate non tam opibus et fiducia fortitudinis quam sapientia cultuque pietatis perornanda.
The True Adornment of Kings
Royal authority is to be adorned with wisdom and devotion rather than earthly wealth, and the ruler who seeks wisdom above all will shine with every virtue, as Solomon did when he asked for a wise heart and surpassed all kings.
All royal authority, which has been established by God for the good of the commonwealth, is to be adorned not so much with fleeting earthly wealth and military strength as with wisdom and the worship of God, since there is no doubt that a people will then be guided by the skilled art of wise counsel, enemies will be crushed by the Lord's favor, and provinces and the kingdom will be kept safe, if royal greatness is adorned with religious devotion and wisdom. For God willed that human nature be such that a person would be eager and longing for two things: religious devotion and wisdom. Devout wisdom is a most wholesome adornment, the light of devoted souls, a heavenly gift, and a joy that will last forever. So whoever wants to rule gloriously, govern people wisely, and show strength in counsel should ask the Lord for wisdom, who gives generously to all and doesn't rebuke. Let that person seek wisdom itself with dedicated effort as well as love, so that the written word may apply to them: 'Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who is rich in understanding,' and everything else that is described in wisdom's praises. That ruler, then, is truly blessed and worthy of celebration who is illuminated by the splendor of wisdom, which is the source of counsel, the source of sacred devotion, the crown of princes, and the origin of virtues. Compared to it, all the brilliant gleams of precious stones grow dim. Wisdom is most cautious in counsel, wonderful in speech, magnificent in deeds, strong in adversity, temperate in prosperity, and discerning in judgment. It adorns those who love it with heavenly grace and, like the starry firmament, makes them shine, as it is written: 'The righteous will shine like the stars, and those who have understanding like the firmament.' It exalted Solomon above all the kings of the earth because he loved it from his youth and became a lover of its beauty. As it is read in the Books of Kings, the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night and said: 'Ask what you wish, so that I may give it to you.' When Solomon was a boy with a teachable heart, he asked that he might be able to judge the Lord's people and discern between good and evil. This is the answer he received from the Lord: 'Because you asked for this word, and did not ask for long life for yourself, or riches, or the lives of your enemies, but asked for wisdom to discern judgment, see, I have done according to your words. I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that no one before you was like you, and no one after you will rise to equal you.'
The Double Grace of a Pure Request
Because Solomon asked for wisdom alone, God added riches and glory, revealing that divine grace gives more than is asked and teaching rulers to seek spiritual gifts so that their reign may endure peacefully under God's hand.
But I have also given you these things you did not ask for — namely, riches and glory — so that no king in all the days past has been your equal. "If, however, you walk in my ways and keep my precepts and commandments, as your father David walked, I will make your days long." O how ineffable is the gift of divine grace! When it is sought with an upright heart and a pious intention, it gives more than what is asked. Look at King Solomon: he asked the Lord not for gold, not for silver, not for any other earthly wealth, but for the treasures of wisdom. And because he had asked rightly for what was simple, he received a double measure — for he was not only enriched with wisdom but also exalted with the renowned glory of his kingdom. So an excellent example is given to the kings of the earth, so that with a devout desire they may seek spiritual gifts from the Almighty more than fleshly ones, if they wish to reign long and prosperously in this age. It is fitting, therefore, for a ruler who is pleasing to God to have the will and desire to learn heavenly things; for in this way he truly has his heart in God's hand, and with the Lord's favor he will govern his kingdom peacefully through the many years ahead.
Christ the Wisdom and Crown of Rulers
A ruler who desires true justice must ask the Father of lights for wisdom's illumination, learning from Solomon's purified mind and prayer, since no outward splendor profits a dull mind; therefore the ruler's honor is to love Christ, the wise light who crowns the humble and exalts the wealthy.
Whoever wants to be an upright ruler and a judge who delights in the scales of justice, who is eager to pierce through what is false with the sharp point of truth, let him ask the Father of lights — the creator of the ruddy sun and the moon and the shining cosmos — to make the senses of the mind shine with wisdom's light.✦ Let him learn the vows of Solomon the just, which suddenly flew through the air and pierced the golden roofs of the Lord of hosts.✦ He himself received a teachable mind when his understanding was purified; made wise besides, he governs as the pillar of the kingdom over the Hebrew nation. What good is all the gleam of gold, what use are the purple dyes of rosy beauty, what are Scythian gems to glory, what use is a crown, if the mind's sharpness grows dull so it can no longer look upon what is true — and so cannot distinguish good from evil, right from wrong, what is lawful from what is forbidden? So then, the ruler's honor is to love you, Christ — the Father's word and wise light — who rule the world and lofty kingdoms with your scepters, in whose right hand blessed rest stands firm, and in whose left, rich treasure.✦✦ Prince of glory, crowning the humble, you raise the wealthy on high.✦
Read the original Latin
Omnis autem regia potestas, quae ad utilitatem rei publicae divinitus est constituta, non tam caducis opibus ac terrestri fortitudine, quam sapientia cultuque divino est exornanda, quoniam procul dubio tunc populus providi arte consilii gubernabitur, adversarii Domino propitiante profligabuntur, provinciae regnumque conservabitur, si regia sublimitas religione et sapientia perornetur. Namque hominis naturam Deus hanc esse voluit, ut duarum rerum ipse homo cupidus et appetens esset, religionis et sapientiae. Est autem religiosa sapientia saluberrimum decus, devotarum lumen animarum, caeleste donum et gaudium sine fine mansurum. Qui ergo vult gloriose regere ac sapienter populum gubernare et vehemens in consiliis esse, a Domino postulet sapientiam, qui dat omnibus affluenter et non inproperat, ipsamque sapientiam studioso labore simul et amore perquirat, quatinus ei congruat illud quod scriptum est: "beatus est qui invenit sapientiam, et qui affluit prudentia," ceteraque quae in laudibus sapientiae describuntur. Ille itaque rector vere beatus est celebrandus, qui splendore illuminatur sapientiae, quae est fons consiliorum, fons sacrae religionis, Corona principum, origo virtutum, in cuius comparatione omnes pretiosarum claritates gemmarum vilescunt. Haec cautissima est in consiliis, mirabilis in eloquiis, magnifica in operibus, fortis in adversis, temperans in prosperis, oculosa in iudiciis; haec suos amatores caelesti gratia venustat et tamquam sidereum firmamentum eosdem clarificat, sicut scriptum est: "iusti fulgebunt quasi stellae, et intelligentes quasi firmamentum"; haec Salemon prae cunctis terrarum regibus sublimavit, quia illam dilexit ab adolescentia sua, et amator factus est decoris eius. Unde, sicut in Regnorum libris legitur, ipsi apparuit Dominus Salemoni per somnium nocte, dicens: "postula quod vis, ut dem tibi". A quo cum Salemon, cum esset puer, cor docile postularet, ut iudicare posset populum Domini et discernere inter malum et bonum, tale responsum a Domino percepit: "quia postulasti verbum, et non petisti tibi dies multos nec divitias aut animas inimicorum tuorum, sed postulasti tibi sapientiam ad discernendum iudicium, ecce feci tibi secundum sermones tuos, et dedi tibi cor sapiens et intelligens in tantum, ut nullus ante te similis tibi fuerit nec post te surrecturus sit.
Sed et haec quae non postulasti dedi tibi, divitias scilicet et gloriam, ut nemo fuerit similis tui in regibus cunctis retro diebus. Si autem ambulaveris in viis meis, et custodieris praecepta mea et mandata mea, sicut ambulavit David pater tuus, longos faciam dies tuos". O quam ineffabile est divinae largimentum gratiae! Quae si recto corde et pia intentione poscitur, plus donat quam quod rogatur. Ecce rex Salemon non aurum, non argentum, non alias opes terrenas, sed sapientiae gazas poposcit a Domino; at qui simplum recte postulaverat, duplum accepit, nam non solum ditatus est sapientia, sed et sublimatus est inclita regni gloria. Unde regibus terrae egregium datur exemplum, quatinus spiritualia dona plus quam carnalia pio desiderio ab Omnipotenti exposcant, si diu et feliciter in hoc saeculo regnare desiderant. Decet igitur amabilem Deo principem discendi habere voluntatem desideriumque caelestium; sic enim vere et cor habet in manu Dei et regnum cum pace multis annorum curriculis favente Domino gubernabit.
Qui cupit rector probus esse iudex, Lance qui iusti trutinaque gaudet Inhians pulchri terebrare falsa Cuspide veri, Luminum patrem rutili creantem Solis ac lunae nitidique cosmi Poscat, ut sensis niteat coruscis Luce sophiae. Vota cognoscat Salemonis aequi, Quae volaverunt subito per aethram Ac penetrarunt domini Sabaoth Aurea tecta. Ipse percepit docilemne sensum Mente lustratus, sapiensne factus Insuper regni columen gubernat Gentis Hebraeae? Quid valet flavi nitor omnis auri, Ostra quid prosunt rosei decoris, Gloriae quid sunt Scythicaeque gemmae, Quid diadema, Orba si mentis acies hebescat, Lumen ut verum nequeat tueri, Unde discernat bona, prava, iusta, Fasque nefasque? Ergo rectori decus est amare Te, patris verbum sapiensque lumen, Christe, qui sceptris dominaris orbem Celsaque regna, Cuius in dextra requies beata Constat, in laeva locuplesque gaza. Gloriae princeps, humiles coronans Tollis opimos.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Jas.1.17 — Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
- ↩Isa.6.1-Isa.6.3 — In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Isa.6.2 — Seraphim were standing above him; each one had six wings: with two each covered his face, with two each covered his feet, and with two each would fly. Isa.6.3 — And one called to another and said, 'Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the fullness of the earth is his glory.
- ↩John.1.1-John.1.4 — In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John.1.2 — He was in the beginning with God. John.1.3 — All things came into being through him, and apart from him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. John.1.4 — In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
- ↩Mark.16.19;Heb.1.3 — So then, after the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. Heb.1.3 — He is the radiance of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's own being, and he upholds all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
- ↩Luke.1.52 — He has brought down rulers from their thrones and lifted up the lowly.
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