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Chapter 16Ansl.1.16

ORATIO XVI. AD CHRISTUM. Pro gratia lacrymarum obtinenda ex peccatorum recordatione.

A Sinner's Plea for Healing

The soul opens by begging Christ to reform its life, acknowledging that only God can cleanse what is unclean, and laying bare both its health and its weakness before the Lord.

Christ my Lord, Word of the Father, who came into this world to save sinners — I ask you, through the most tender mercies of your compassion, to amend my life, improve my deeds, reform my character, and take from me whatever harms me and displeases you, and to give me what you know pleases you and benefits me.✦ Who can make a clean thing from an unclean seed, unless you alone?✦ You are God almighty, of infinite mercy, who justify the wicked and give life to those dead through sin, who transform sinners so that they are no longer what they were.✦ So take away from me whatever displeases you in me. For your eyes see my many imperfections. Reach out, I beg you, your merciful hand into me, and remove from me whatever offends the eyes of your mercy in me. Before you, Lord, my health and my weakness alike are laid bare. Him I beg you to keep safe; this, I beg you to heal.

Preparing the Heart for Grace

Citing Jeremiah, the speaker prays for healing and salvation, then asks that Christ first tear out the thorns of vice from the heart before sowing good seed there.

Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me, and I will be safe — you who heal what is weak, and preserve what has been healed, you who by your mere nod restore what is ruined and collapsed.✦1 For if you deign to sow good seed in your field — my heart — then it is necessary that the hand of your compassion first pluck out the thorns of my vices.✦234

Writing God's Name Upon the Heart

Through a cascade of tender vocatives, the soul asks Christ to inscribe His name and will upon the heart, to kindle the fire of divine love, and to grant the sacrifice of tears and a contrite spirit.

Sweetest, most kind, most loving, dearest, most longed-for, most lovable, most beautiful — pour into my heart, I beg you, the fullness of your sweetness and your love, so that I may desire nothing earthly, nothing carnal, neither wish nor think on it, but love you alone, hold you alone in my heart and on my lips. Write with your finger on my heart the sweet memory of your honey-flowing name — a memory that no oblivion should ever destroy.✦✦ Write on the tablets of my heart your will and your justifications, so that I may always and everywhere have before my eyes you — O Lord of boundless sweetness — and your precepts.✦✦ Kindle my mind with that fire of yours which you sent into the earth and willed to burn hot, so that — with tears welling up daily — I may offer you the sacrifice of a broken spirit and a contrite heart.✦✦

The Fountain of Tears and the Example of Anna

The speaker longs for chaste love and a fountain of tears as proof of that love, then measures himself against Anna's persevering prayer and weeps at his own inadequacy.

Sweet Christ, good Jesus, just as I long for it, just as I seek it with my whole mind, give me your holy and chaste love — a love that may fill me, hold me, and possess me entirely. And give me a clear sign of your love — a fountain of tears, watered by your love, flowing without ceasing — so that my very tears may also bear witness to your love within me, may reveal it, may speak of how much my soul loves you, since it cannot hold itself back from weeping because of the overwhelming sweetness of your love.5 I remember, merciful Lord, that good woman Anna, who came to the tabernacle to pray for her son — of whom Scripture tells us that after her tears and prayers, her countenance was no longer changed by grief.✦67 But mindful of such great virtue and such steadfast constancy, I am tormented with grief and confounded with shame — because I see that I, wretched as I am, lie too far below. For if that woman wept as she did, and stood firm in her resolve — she who was seeking a son — how much more should my soul weep and persist in lamentation, since it seeks and loves God, and longs to reach him?8 How such a soul ought to groan and weep — a soul that seeks God day and night, that wants to love nothing except Christ! Indeed, it would be remarkable if her tears have not already become her bread day and night.✦9 Look upon me, then, and have mercy on me, because the sorrows of my heart have multiplied.10

Tears Among the Devout

The soul asks for heavenly consolation and deep interior tears, humbly content to find a place in God's kingdom alongside devout women if it cannot stand among the perfect.

Give me your heavenly consolation, and do not despise this sinful soul for which you died. Grant me, I beg you, tears that come from deep within — tears that can loosen the chains of my sins and fill my soul always with heavenly joy. If I cannot stand among the true and perfect monks, whose footsteps I am unable to follow, then at least let me deserve to obtain some small place in your kingdom alongside devout women.11

Mary Magdalene Weeping at the Tomb

The speaker recalls Mary Magdalene's relentless weeping and searching at the tomb, her reward as the first to see the Risen Lord, and draws from her example a challenge to weep all the more for the Christ who now reigns in heaven.

There also comes to my mind the wonderful devotion of another woman, who sought you lying in the tomb with pious love; who did not withdraw from the tomb when the disciples departed; who sat there sad and mourning, and wept long and much; and rising again, with many tears searched again and again the caves of the deserted tomb with watchful eyes, so that perhaps somewhere she might be able to see you, whom she sought with burning desire.✦ She had already gone into the tomb more than once and seen it, but for someone who loves too much, that wasn't enough. The strength of a good work lies in perseverance.12 And because she loved before the rest, and in loving wept, and in weeping sought, and in seeking persevered, therefore she deserved to be the first of all to find you, to see you, to speak with you.✦ And not only this, but she also stood forth as herald of your glorious resurrection to the very disciples, with you commanding and mercifully warning: Go, tell my brothers to go into Galilee; there they will see me.✦ If, therefore, the woman who sought the living among the dead wept thus and persevered in her weeping, who touched you by the hand of faith — how ought the soul to lament and persist in lamentation, which now believes you, its Redeemer, presiding in heaven and reigning everywhere, in its heart, and confesses you with its mouth?✦13 How, then, ought such a soul to groan and weep — a soul that loves you with its whole heart and longs to see you with its whole desire?

Christ Our Model of Holy Mourning

The soul asks that tears rise in every act of devotion, recalls Christ's own tears for Lazarus and Jerusalem, invokes the Holy Spirit as the source of compunction, and offers itself as a sacrifice washed clean by a flowing fountain.

You are my only refuge, Lord, and the one hope of us who suffer — you who are never appealed to for mercy without hope. Grant me this grace, for your own sake and for your holy name: that whenever I think of you, speak of you, write of you, read of you, or converse about you, whenever I remember you and stand before you to offer praise, prayers, and sacrifice, tears may rise abundantly in your presence, and I may weep fully and tenderly, so that my tears become my bread day and night. You yourself, King of glory and teacher of all the virtues, have taught us by word and example to grieve and to weep, saying: Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. You wept for your dead friend, and you shed many tears over the city that was about to be destroyed. I ask you, good Jesus, through those most precious tears of yours, and through all the acts of mercy by which you graciously deigned to come to the aid of us who were lost — grant me the grace of tears, which my soul deeply desires and longs for, because without your gift I cannot have it, but only through your Holy Spirit, who softens the hard hearts of sinners and moves them to weeping. Grant me the grace of tears, just as you granted it to our forebears, whose example I am bound to follow, so that I may lament my life at every moment, just as they lamented day and night. Through the merits and prayers of those who pleased you and served you most devoutly, have mercy on me, your most wretched and unworthy servant, and grant me the grace of tears. Give me the upper spring and the lower spring, so that my tears may be my bread day and night, and so that in your sight, my God, I may become through the fire of compunction a rich and marrowed offering; let me be wholly crushed on the altar of my heart, that like a most abundant sacrifice I may be taken up by you as a sweet fragrance. Give me, most gentle one, a flowing spring and a clear fountain, in which this stained sacrifice may be continually washed clean.

The Gift of Tears at God's Table

Acknowledging daily frailty, the speaker asks for the gift of tears drawn from the sweetness of God's love, prays that God prepare a table and an intoxicating cup, and closes with a final petition through the intercession of Mary and all the saints.

Although I have given my whole self to you — with your grace helping me — I still stumble every day in many things, because of my own great frailty. Grant me, then, the gift of tears, blessed and beloved God — especially from the great sweetness of your love and from the remembrance of your mercies. Prepare this table for your servant in your presence, and put this grace at my disposal so that whenever I wish to be filled from it, you will bestow it in your tender goodness: that your cup, intoxicating and glorious, may satisfy my thirst, that my spirit may long for you, and that my soul may burn with love for you, forgetting vanity and wretchedness.✦ Hear me, my God — hear me, light of my eyes — hear what I ask, and grant that I may ask what you will answer.✦ Merciful and easily entreated Lord, do not become unyielding toward me because of my sins, but because of your goodness receive the prayers of your servant. Grant me the fulfillment of my petition and my longing — through the prayers and merits of the glorious Virgin Mary, my lady, and of all the saints. Amen.

Read the original Latin

Christe Domine, Verbum Patris, qui venisti in hunc mundum peccatores salvos facere, rogo te per indulgentissima misericordiae tuae viscera, emenda vitam meam, meliora actus, compone mores, tolle de me quod mihi nocet et tibi displicet, et da quod nosti tibi placere et mihi prodesse. Quis potest facere mundum de immundo conceptum semine, nisi tu solus? Tu es Deus omnipotens infinitae pietatis, qui justificas impios, et vivificas mortuos propter peccatum, qui mutas peccatores, et non sunt. Tolle ergo de me quidquid tibi displicet in me. Imperfecta enim mea plurima vident oculi tui. Mitte, quaeso, manum pietatis tuae in me, et tolle de me quidquid offendit oculos pietatis tuae in me. Coram te, Domine, est sanitas et infirmitas mea. Illum, precor, serva, istam sana.

Sana me, Domine, et sanabor; salvum me fac, et salvus ero; tu qui infirma sanas, et sanata conservas, tu qui solo nutu tuo restauras diruta et collapsa. Si enim dignaris in agro tuo corde meo serere bonum semen, necesse est ut manu pietatis tuae spinas prius evellas vitiorum meorum.

Dulcissime, benignissime, amantissime, charissime, desideratissime, amabilissime, pulcherrime, infunde, obsecro, multitudinem dulcedinis tuae et charitatis tuae pectori meo, ut nihil terrenum, nihil carnale desiderem vel cogitem, sed te solum amem, te solum habeam in corde et in ore meo. Scribe digito tuo in pectore meo dulcem memoriam tui melliflui nominis, nulla unquam oblivione delendam. Scribe in tabulis cordis mei voluntatem tuam, et justificationes tuas, ut te immensae dulcedinis Domi num, et praecepta tua semper et ubique habeam prae oculis meis. Succende mentem meam igne illo tuo quem misisti in terram, et voluisti vehementer accendi, ut sacrificium spiritus contribulati, et cordis contriti, obortis lacrymis quotidie of feram tibi.

Dulcis Christe, bone Jesu, sicut desidero, sicut tota mente mea peto, da mihi amorem tuum sanctum et castum, qui me repleat, teneat, totumque possideat. Et da mihi evidens signum amoris tui, irriguum lacrymarum fontem jugiter manantem, ut ipsae quoque lacrymae tui in me testentur amorem, ipsae prodant, ipsae loquantur quantum te diligit anima mea, dum prae nimia dulcedine amoris tui nequit se a lacrymis continere. Reminiscor, pie Domine, illius bonae mulieris Annae, quae ad tabernaculum rogatura pro filio venit, de qua Scriptura refert quod vultus ejus post lacrymas et preces non sunt amplius in diversa mutati. Sed memor tantae virtutis tantaeque constantiae, dolore torqueor, et verecundia confundor; quia me miserum nimis deorsum jacere intueor. Si enim ita flevit, et in stetu perseveravit mulier, quae quaerebat filium, quomodo plangere, et in planctu persistere debet anima mea, quae quaerit et amat Deum, et ad eum pervenire desiderat? Quomodo gemere ac flere debet talis anima, quae quaerit Deum die ac nocte, quae praeter Christum nihil vult amare? Mirum quippe est, si jam non factae sunt ei lacrymae suae panes die ac nocte. Respice ergo, et miserere mei, quia dolores cordis mei multiplicati sunt.

Da mihi consolationem tuam coelestem, et noli spernere peccatricem animam, pro qua mortuus es. Da mihi, quaeso, lacrymas ex toto affectu internas, quae peccatorum meorum possint solvere vincula, et coelesti jucunditate semper repleant animam meam; si non cum veris et perfectis monachis, quorum vestigia nequeo imitari, saltem cum devotis mulieribus quantulamcunque portionem in regno tuo merear adipisci.

Venit quoque mihi in mentem alterius mulieris devotio mira, quae te in sepulcro jacentem pio amore quaerebat, quae recedentibus discipulis de sepulcro non recedebat, quae sedebat ibi tristis et moerens, et diu multumque flebat; et resurgens multis lacrymis iterum iterumque antra deserti sepulcri vigilantibus oculis explorabat, si forte alicubi te videre posset, quem ferventi desiderio quaerebat. Jam certe semel et iterum ingressa sepulcrum viderat, sed nimium amanti non satis erat, virtus enim boni operis perseverantia est. Et quia prae caeteris dilexit, et diligendo flevit, et flendo quaesivit, et quaerendo perseveravit, ideo prima omnium te invenire, te videre, te alloqui meruit. Et non solum haec, sed etiam ipsis discipulis gloriosae resurrectionis tuae praenuntia exstitit, te praecipiente, et clementer monente: Vade, dic fratribus meis ut eant in Galilaeam, ibi me videbunt. Si ergo ita flevit, et in fletu perseveravit mulier, quae viventem cum mortuis quaerebat, quae te manu fidei tangebat, quomodo plangere et in planctu persistere debet anima, quae te Redemptorem suum jam coelo praesidentem et ubique regnantem corde credit, ore confitetur? Quomodo ergo gemere et flere debet talis anima, quae te toto corde diligit teque toto desiderio videre concupiscit?

Solum confugium, et unica spes miserorum, Domine, cui nunquam sine spe misericordiae supplicatur, praesta mihi hanc gratiam propter te, et propter nomen sanctum tuum, ut quoties de te cogito, de te loquor, de te scribo, de te lego, de te confero, quoties tu reminiscor, tibi assisto, laudes, preces, et sacrificium offero, toties obortis lacrymis in conspectu tuo copiose et dulciter fleam, ita ut efficiantur mihi lacrymae meae panes die ac nocte. Tu quidem, Rex gloriae et omnium virtutum magister, docuisti nos verbo et exemplo gemere et flere, dicens: Beati qui lugent, quoniam ipsi consolabuntur. Tu flevisti defunctum amicum, et lacrymatus es valde super perituram civitatem. Rogo te, bone Jesu, per illas pretiosissimas lacrymas tuas, et per omnes miserationes tuas, quibus mirabiliter nobis perditis subvenire dignatus es, da mihi gratiam lacrymarum, quam multum desiderat et appetit anima mea, quia sine dono tuo non possum habere eam, sed per Spiritum sanctum tuum, qui dura corda peccatorum mollit, et ad fletum compungit. Da mihi gratiam lacrymarum, sicut dedisti patribus nostris, quorum vestigia debeo imitari, ut plangam me in omni vita mea, sicut ipsi se planxerunt nocte ac die. Propter merita et orationes eorum qui tibi placuerunt et devotissime servierunt, miserere mei miserrimi et indigni servi tui, et da mihi gratiam lacrymarum. Da mihi irriguum superius, et irriguum inferius, ut sint mihi lacrymae meae panes die ac nocte, efficiarque in conspectu tuo, Deus meus, per ignem compunctionis, holocaustum pingue et medullatum; macter totus in ara cordis mei, tanquam pinguissimum holocaustum assumar tibi in odorem suavitatis. Da mihi, dulcissime, fontem irriguum fontemque perspicuum, in quo lavetur assidue istud inquinatum holocaustum.

Licet enim me totum tibi obtulerim opitulante gratia tua, in multis tamen quotidie offendo propter nimiam fragilitatem meam. Da ergo mihi gratiam lacrymarum, benedicte et amabilis Deus, praecipue ex multa dulcedine amoris tui, et commemoratione misericordiarum tuarum, praepara hanc mensam famulo tuo in conspectu tuo; et da mihi eam in potestatem, ut quoties volo satier ex ea, tribue pro pietate et bonitate tua, ut iste calix tuus inebrians et praeclarus satiet sitim meam, ut inhiet tibi spiritus meus, et ardeat mens mea in amore tui, oblitus vanitatis et miseriae. Audi, Deus meus, audi, lumen oculorum meorum, audi quae peto, et da ut petam quod audias. Pie et exorabilis Domine, ne efficiaris mihi inexorabilis propter peccata mea, sed propter bonitatem tuam suscipe preces servi tui, et da mihi effectum petitionis meae et desiderii mei, precibus et meritis gloriosae Virginis Mariae dominae meae et omnium sanctorum. Amen.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩John.1.1;John.3.17 — In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John.3.17 — For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
  2. ↩Job.14.4 — Who can bring what is clean out of what is unclean? Not one.
  3. ↩Rom.4.5 — But to the one who does not work, but believes in the One who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.
  4. ↩Jer.17.14 — Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; save me, and I will be saved, for you are my praise.
  5. ↩Matt.13.3-Matt.13.23 — And he spoke to them many things in parables, saying, "Look, the sower went out to sow." Matt.13.4 — And as he sowed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Matt.13.5 — but other seed fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly because it had no depth of soil. Matt.13.6 — But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered. Matt.13.7 — But some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Matt.13.8 — But other seed fell on good soil and produced grain—some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Matt.13.9 — Whoever has ears, let him hear. Matt.13.10 — And the disciples came and said to him, 'Why do you speak to them in parables?' Matt.13.11 — He answered them, 'To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.' Matt.13.12 — For whoever has, to him it will be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. Matt.13.13 — This is why I speak to them in parables: because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. Matt.13.14 — And in them Isaiah's prophecy is fulfilled: "You will keep hearing, but never understand; you will keep seeing, but never know." Matt.13.15 — For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they have heard heavily, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them. Matt.13.16 — But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. Matt.13.17 — Truly, for I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and they did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and they did not hear it. Matt.13.18 — So then, hear the parable of the sower. Matt.13.19 — When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one who was sown along the roadside. Matt.13.20 — The one sown on rocky ground—this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; Matt.13.21 — yet he has no root in himself, but is temporary; and when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. Matt.13.22 — And the one sown among thorns—this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the age and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. Matt.13.23 — But the one sown on good soil — this is the one who hears the word and understands it; indeed, this one bears fruit and yields, one a hundredfold, another sixty, another thirty.
  6. ↩Jer.31.33 — But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
  7. ↩Prov.3.3 — Let steadfast love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.
  8. ↩Exod.31.18 — And when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, God gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, stone tablets written with the finger of God.
  9. ↩Ps.119.33-Ps.119.40 — Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes, and I will keep it to the end. Ps.119.34 — Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and observe it with all my heart. Ps.119.35 — Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. Ps.119.36 — Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to unjust gain. Ps.119.37 — Turn my eyes from looking at what is worthless; in your ways, give me life. Ps.119.38 — Establish for your servant your promise, which is for your fear. Ps.119.39 — Turn away my reproach, which I dread, for your judgments are good. Ps.119.40 — See, I have longed for your precepts; in your righteousness give me life.
  10. ↩Luke.12.49 — I came to cast fire upon the earth, and what do I wish? If only it were already kindled!
  11. ↩Ps.51.17 — Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
  12. ↩1Sam.1.18 — And she said, 'Let your servant find favor in your eyes.' Then the woman went on her way and ate, and her face was no longer downcast.
  13. ↩Ps.41.4 — The LORD sustains him on his bed of illness; you turn all his lying down in his sickness.
  14. ↩John.20.11-John.20.18 — But Mary stood outside at the tomb, weeping. And as she wept, she bent down and looked into the tomb. John.20.12 — and she sees two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. John.20.13 — And they say to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping?' She says to them, 'Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.' John.20.14 — Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and she did not know that it was Jesus. John.20.15 — Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" She, thinking that he was the gardener, said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." John.20.16 — Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabboni" (which means "Teacher"). John.20.17 — Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, and my God and your God.'" John.20.18 — Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord," and she told them these things that he had said to her.
  15. ↩John.20.16-John.20.17 — Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabboni" (which means "Teacher"). John.20.17 — Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, and my God and your God.'"
  16. ↩Matt.28.10 — Then Jesus said to them, 'Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.'
  17. ↩Luke.8.52;Mark.5.41 — All were weeping and mourning for her, but he said, "Do not weep, for she has not died but is sleeping." Mark.5.41 — And taking hold of the child's hand, he said to her, 'Talitha koum,' which is translated, 'Little girl, I say to you, arise.'
  18. ↩Ps.23.5 — You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
  19. ↩Ps.13.4 — Look at me, answer me, O LORD my God; give light to my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩The opening clause echoes Jeremiah 17:14 (Sana me, Domine, et sanabor; salvum me fac, et salvus ero), a prayer for divine healing. Status: candidate, pending Moses resolution.
  2. 2 ↩enim is rendered as 'For' to carry its explanatory force, grounding the request in the logic of the preceding prayer.
  3. 3 ↩ut after necesse est is rendered as 'that' with result force: the plucking of thorns is the necessary consequence of God sowing good seed.
  4. 4 ↩The field/seed/thorns imagery evokes the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:3–23), though the specific language here is not a direct quotation. Status: candidate allusion, pending Moses resolution.
  5. 5 ↩irriguum (watering/irrigated) rendered as 'watered by your love' to capture the participial force of the adjective modifying fontem; the image is of a fountain made to flow by the love of God.
  6. 6 ↩Allusion to 1 Kings (1 Samuel) 1: the story of Hannah/Anna praying for a son at the tabernacle. The detail about her countenance no longer being changed echoes 1 Sam 1:18. Moses resolution pending.
  7. 7 ↩rogatura (ablative of purpose, rare) rendered as 'to pray' to capture the intended sense of coming for the purpose of asking.
  8. 8 ↩stetu (variant of statu) rendered as 'in her resolve' to capture the ablative of state/condition.
  9. 9 ↩The phrase 'tears become bread day and night' echoes Ps 41:4 (Vulgate) / Ps 42:3 (Hebrew): 'Fuerunt mihi lacrimae meae panes die ac nocte.' Moses resolution pending.
  10. 10 ↩Echoes Ps 24:16 (Vulgate) / Ps 25:16 (Hebrew): 'Respice in me, et miserere mei.' Moses resolution pending.
  11. 11 ↩The contrast between 'true and perfect monks' and 'devout women' reflects the speaker's humility topos — placing herself below even the least of the devout — rather than a doctrinal statement about women's standing before God.
  12. 12 ↩virtus boni operis perseverantia est — proverbial maxim; 'virtus' rendered as 'strength' to capture both moral force and efficacy.
  13. 13 ↩manu fidei tangebat — 'touched you by the hand of faith' preserves the instrumental ablative; could also imply the woman's act of faith reaching toward Christ.

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