Caput XXXVI. Peroratio operis
A Mirror for Daily Living
Alcius presents the entire work as a daily handbook for self-examination, assuring his son Wido that lay status is no barrier to attaining perfection and the kingdom of God is equally open to all according to their merits.
I've set these things down for you in a brief account, dearest son Wido, just as you asked, so that you can keep them daily like a handbook before you, and in it examine yourself—what you should avoid, or what you should do—and be encouraged through each of this life's prosperities or adversities how you should rise to the summit of perfection. Nor let the quality of your lay state or secular way of life terrify you, as if in that state you weren't able to enter the gates of heavenly life. Therefore, just as the blessedness of the kingdom of God has been preached equally to all, so the entrance to the kingdom of God lies equally open to every sex, age, and person according to the worthiness of their merits. Where there is no distinction over who might be in the world—layperson or cleric, rich or poor, younger or older, slave or master—but each one will be crowned with perpetual glory according to the merit of a good work. Amen.
On Choosing and Keeping Faithful Friends
A chain of wisdom sayings from Solomon and Sirach warns that many who seem like friends will fail in adversity, but a faithful friend is an incomparable treasure and a strong shelter.
Solomon said: "A kind word multiplies friends and softens enemies, and a gracious tongue will abound in a good person.✦ Let many who seek peace be close to you, and let your counselors be one in a thousand. If you have a friend, hold on to him through testing, and don't put quick trust in him. There is a friend who is so only for the moment, and he won't stand by you in the day of trouble. There is a friend who turns into a companion. But there is the friend who shares your table, and won't stay when hardship comes. If a friend has held firm, he'll be like your equal, but watch closely how he acts within your own household. A faithful friend is a strong shelter; and whoever finds him finds a treasure.
The Medicine of True Friendship
True friendship is extolled as the medicine of life and immortality, found by those who fear the Lord, and the chapter closes with counsel to receive wisdom from youth.
There is no comparison for a faithful friend, and no weighing of gold and silver is worth anything against the goodness of that one's faith. A faithful friend is the medicine of life and of immortality, and those who fear the Lord find that friend. Whoever fears the Lord will likewise have a good friendship, because that person's friend will be shaped by the Lord himself. My son, from your youth receive instruction, and even to gray hairs you will find wisdom. Approach her as one who plows and sows, and bear her good fruits; for in her work you will labor but little. »
Read the original Latin
Haec tibi, dulcissime fili Wido, brevi sermone, sicut petisti, dictavi; ut habeas ea quotidie quasi manualem in conspectu tuo libellum, et in quo possis teipsum considerare, quid cavere, vel quid agere debeas, atque per singulas vitae hujus prosperitates vel adversitates exhortari, quomodo ad culmen perfectionis ascendere debeas. Nec te laici habitus vel conversationis saecularis terreat qualitas, quasi in eo habitu vitae coelestis januas intrare non valeas. Igitur sicut omnibus aequaliter regni Dei praedicata est beatitudo, ita omni sexui, aetati, et personae aequaliter secundum meritorum dignitatem regni Dei patet introitus. Ubi non est distinctio, quis esset in saeculo laicus vel clericus, dives vel pauper, junior vel senior, servus vel dominus: sed unusquisque secundum meritum boni operis perpetua coronabitur gloria. Amen.
Salomon dixit: « Verbum dulce multiplicat amicos, et mitigat inimicos: et lingua eucharis in bono homine abundabit. Multi pacifici sint tibi, et consiliarii tibi sint unus de mille. Si possides amicum, in tentatione posside eum, et non facile credas illi. Est enim amicus secundum tempus suum, et non permanebit in die tribulationis. Est amicus, qui egreditur ad amicitiam. Est autem amicus socius mensae, et non permanet in die necessitatis. Amicus si permanserit fixus, erit tibi coaequalis, et in domesticis tuis attende. Amicus fidelis, protectio fortis: qui autem invenit illum, invenit thesaurum.
Amico fideli nulla est comparatio, et non est digna ponderatio auri et argenti contra bonitatem fidei illius. Amicus fidelis medicamentum vitae et immortalitatis; et qui metuunt Dominum, inveniunt illum. Qui timet Dominum, aeque habebit amicitiam bonam, quoniam secundum illum erit amicus illius. Fili, a juventute tua excipe doctrinam, et usque ad canos invenies sapientiam: et quasi is, qui arat et seminat, accede ad illam, et sustine bonos fructus illius; in opere enim ipsius exiguum laborabis. »
Scripture echoes
- ↩Prov.16.24 — Gracious words are honey—sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
On Virtues and Vices (De virtutibus et vitiis) companion
Read the plan one portion at a time — delivered daily
The Chosen Portion app serves each day's Alcuin chapter as a morning devotional, free.
Alcuin designed this book for daily use by a layman with no spare time, and Chosen Portion restores that use: one chapter-length portion per morning until the mirror is complete.
- All 30 days of the plan delivered automatically — no bookmark-keeping or lost PDFs
- Each chapter arrives as a 3-5 minute modern-readable portion with its Scripture references linked
- When day 30 ends, keep going: dozens more royal-house devotional works in the same format