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Chapter 40Ansl.1.40

ORATIO XLI. AD CRUCEM DOMINI.

Adoration of the Holy Cross

The soul addresses the cross with exalted praise, hailing it as the instrument of salvation, life, freedom, and the only ground for Christian boasting.

Holy cross, through which that cross is brought back to our memory — the cross on which our Lord Jesus Christ raised us, through his own death, from the eternal death toward which we were all miserably heading, and into the eternal life we had lost by sinning: I adore you, I venerate you, and I glorify in you that cross which you represent to us, and in it our same merciful Lord, and all that he has mercifully accomplished through it. O lovely cross, in which our salvation, life, and resurrection are found! O precious wood, through which we are saved and set free! O venerable sign, through which we are sealed to God! O glorious cross, in which alone we ought to glory!

The Cross Seen Through Christ's Willing Sacrifice

The meditation turns from praise to theological reflection, contrasting the cruel intent of those who raised the cross with Christ's merciful purpose, and concludes that the cross must be judged by its fruit in divine wisdom.

You are not, then, to be understood from the standpoint of the cruel, who prepared you with the most foolish impiety, but from the standpoint of the one who willingly took you up with the most wise piety. For those men could do nothing except by his wise allowance, nor did he himself endure anything except by his own merciful consent. They chose you so that through you they might carry out the crime of their own impiety; he chose you so that through you he might complete the work of his own piety. They, so that through you they might hand the righteous one over to death; he, so that through you he might rescue sinners from death. They, so that they might kill life; he, so that he might destroy death. They, so that they might condemn the Savior; he, so that he might save the condemned. They, so that they might put the life-giver to death; he, so that he might give life to the dead. They acted foolishly and cruelly; he acted wisely and mercifully. So then, O wonderful cross, you are not to be judged by the intent of cruel foolishness, but by the outcome of merciful wisdom.

The Triumphs of the Cross

Rhetorical questions give way to a catalogue of the cross's cosmic victories: hell despoiled, demons vanquished, the world renewed, and human nature justified and raised to life.

How, then, shall I praise you? How shall I exalt you? With what devotion shall I pray to you?1 With what joy shall I glory in you? Through you hell is despoiled, and through you it is shut fast against all the redeemed.✦2 Through you demons are terrified, restrained, conquered, and trampled down. Through you the world is made new, and as truth shines in it and justice reigns, it is adorned.✦3 Through you our sinful human nature is justified — the condemned are saved, the slave of sin and of hell set free, the dead raised to life.✦✦4

The Cross and the Restoration of All Things

The cross restores the heavenly city, accomplishes Christ's obedient self-emptying unto death, and establishes his eternal throne and kingdom.

Through you that blessed city in the heavens is restored and brought to perfection. Through you, the Son of God willed to be obedient to the Father for our sake, even unto death; because of this, having been exalted, he received the name that is above every name.✦5 Through you he prepared his throne and restored his kingdom.

Boasting Only in the Cross

The soul confesses that apart from the cross there is no good, no glory, and no escape from hell, and renounces all boasting except in the cross alone.

O cross, chosen and prepared for such unspeakable blessings — no human or angelic mind or tongue can praise and exalt you as the works accomplished through you do! O you, in whom and through whom my salvation and my life are found! O you, in whom and through whom my whole and every good is found — far be it from me to glory in anything except in you!✦ What good would it do me to be conceived, to be born, to live, and to enjoy every blessing of this life — only to descend into hell afterward? If that were my lot, it would have been better never to have been conceived at all. And surely that is exactly where I would be, had I not been redeemed through you.

Joy and Gratitude for the Exchange of Salvation

The soul asks with what heart it can glory in the cross, through which hell's slavery is exchanged for heaven's inheritance, and resolves to serve God in hopeful certainty of eternal joy.

With what heart, then, can I glory in you, without whom I would have no glory at all — but instead, infernal grief and misery would possess me for eternity? With what delight will I rejoice in you, through whom, in exchange for the slavery of the underworld, the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven has been given to me? With what joy will I give thanks in you, without whom I would have had reason to shudder at myself — or even at the thought of existing for a single moment — and through whom I await, knowing that I will rejoice in being well forever? For even though I still serve God between hope and fear, I am nevertheless certain that I will attain these blessings — if I give thanks, love, and live in you, I will glory through you, and through you I will arrive.

Prayer for Cleansing and Final Doxology

The prayer concludes by asking that through the cross the soul's sins be destroyed, the old self die, the new self rise, and post-baptismal sins be cleansed, ending with a Christological doxology and Amen.

So let my glory be through you and in you; let my true hope be through you and in you. Through you, let my sins be destroyed; through you, let my soul be put to death to the old life and raised up into a new life of justice.67 Do this, I beg you — do this — so that just as you cleansed me in baptism from the sins in which I was conceived and born, so you would cleanse me again from those I've contracted since I was reborn: so that through you I may come to those good things for which man was created, with the same Lord our Jesus Christ making it possible — may he be blessed forever.8910 Amen.

Read the original Latin

Sancta crux, per quam nobis ad memoriam crux illa reducitur, in qua Dominus noster Jesus Christus nos per mortem suam a morte aeterna in quam omnes misere tendebamus, ad vitam aeternam quam peccando perdideramus, resuscitavit; adoro, veneror et glorifico in te crucem illam quam nobis repraesentas, et in illa eumdem miseratorem Dominum nostrum, et quae per illam misericorditer operatus est. O crux amabilis in qua est salus, vita et resurrectio nostra! O lignum pretiosum, per quod salvati et liberati sumus! o signum venerandum, per quod Deo signati sumus! O crux gloriosa, in qua sola gloriari nos oportet!

Non enim es suscipienda secundum crudelium, qui te mitissimo paraverunt, insipientissimam impietatem; sed secundum ejus qui te sponte suscepit sapientissimam pietatem. Nam illi non potuerunt aliquid, nisi illo sapienter permittente; nec ipse quidquam sustinuit, nisi se misericorditer volente. Illi te elegerunt, ut per te scelus impietatis suae perpetrarent; ille te elegit, ut per te opus pietatis suae consummaret. Illi, ut per te justum morti traderent; ille, ut per te peccatores a morte erueret. Illi, ut vitam interficerent; ille, ut mortem perimeret. Illi, ut Salvatorem damnarent; ille, ut damnatos salvaret. Illi, ut vivificantem mortificarent; ille, ut mortuos vivificaret. Illi insipienter et crudeliter; ille sapienter et misericorditer.

Non ergo es, o crux admirabilis, aestimanda secundum intentionem crudelis insipientiae, sed secundum effectum misericordis sapientiae.

Quomodo igitur te laudabo? Qualiter te exaltabo? Quo affectu te orabo? Qua jucunditate in te gloriabor? Per te infernus spoliatur, et omnibus per te redemptis obturatur. Per te daemones terrentur, comprimuntur, vincuntur et conculcantur. Per te mundus renovatur, atque veritate in eo lucente et justitia regnante decoratur. Per te humana natura peccatrix est justificata, damnata salvata, ancilla peccati et tartari liberata, mortua resuscitata.

Per te civitas illa beata in coelis restauratur et perficitur. Per te Deus Dei Filius pro nobis voluit obediens esse Patri usque ad mortem; propter quod exaltatus accepit nomen, quod est super omne nomen. Per te paravit thronum suum, et instauravit regnum suum.

O crux, quae ad tam ineffabililia bona es electa et praeparata, laudant et exaltant te non tam humana sive angelica mens et lingua, quam opera quae per te sunt facta! O tu, in qua et per quam est salus et vita mea! O tu, in qua et per quam est totum et omne bonum meum, absit mihi gloriari nisi in te! Nam quid mihi concipi, nasci, vivere et omnibus hujus vitae bonis perfrui prodest, et postea in infernum descendere? Utique si sic mihi esset, melius mihi erat si nec conceptus fuissem. Et certe sic essem, si per te redemptus non essem.

Quo ergo affectu gloriabor in te, sine qua non solum mihi nulla esset gloria, sed insuper aeterne me possideret infernalis luctus et miseria? Qua delectatione jucundabor in te, per quam pro servitute tartarorum, haereditas mihi data est regni coelorum? Quo gaudio gratulabor in te, sine qua futurum erat ut horrerem me vel ad momentum esse, et per quam exspecto quia gaudebo me in aeternum bene esse? Nam etsi adhuc inter spem et metum Deo serviam; certus tamen sum quia ad haec bona, si gratias agendo, amando, vivendo in te gloriabor, per te perveniam.

Sit itaque per te et in te gloria mea, sit per te et in te vera spes mea. Per te peccata mea deleantur, per te anima mea a vita veteri mortificetur, et in novam vitam justitiae resuscitetur. Fac, obsecro, fac ut sicut me in baptismo mundasti a peccatis, in quibus fui conceptus et natus, ita me remundes ab eis quae contraxi postquam sum renatus: ut per te ad ea bona perveniam ad quae homo est creatus, praestante eodem Domino nostro Jesu Christo, qui sit benedictus in saecula. Amen.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Col.2.15 — He disarmed the rulers and the authorities, made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
  2. ↩Rev.21.5 — And the One seated on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new.' And He said, 'Write, for these words are trustworthy and true.'
  3. ↩Rom.6.6-Rom.6.7 — We know this: our old self was crucified with him, so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we might no longer be enslaved to sin. Rom.6.7 — For the one who has died has been justified from sin.
  4. ↩1Cor.15.54-1Cor.15.55 — But when this perishable puts on imperishability, and this mortal puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: 'Death has been swallowed up in victory.' 1Cor.15.55 — Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?
  5. ↩Phil.2.8-Phil.2.9 — And he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Phil.2.9 — Therefore God also exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name above every name,
  6. ↩Gal.6.14 — But may it never be that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩affectu rendered as devotion to capture the interior disposition of prayerful feeling; the Latin affectus can range from emotion to disposition.
  2. 2 ↩obturatur (is closed up / is shut fast) rendered to convey the sealing of hell's power against those redeemed by the Cross; the image is of a door barred.
  3. 3 ↩decoratur (is adorned / is beautified) rendered as is adorned to capture the sense of the world being graced and set in order by truth and justice.
  4. 4 ↩The series of participles (justificata, damnata salvata, ancilla peccati et tartari liberata, mortua resuscitata) is rendered with parallel English clauses to preserve the rhetorical accumulation. damnata salvata is compressed as 'the condemned are saved' to avoid redundancy while keeping the paradox.
  5. 5 ↩The closing clause echoes Philippians 2:9 — the name above every name — embedded within a broader allusion to the Philippians 2:8–9 hymn of Christ's obedience unto death and subsequent exaltation.
  6. 6 ↩'Vita veteri' as 'the old life' captures the Pauline sense of the former way of existence (cf. Rom. 6:6 'old self / old man'), not merely an aged life. 'Mortificetur' carries the sense of being put to death to, not simply dying.
  7. 7 ↩'Vitam justitiae' rendered as 'a new life of justice' — 'justice' here in the sense of righteousness or right-standing before God, not merely moral rectitude.
  8. 8 ↩'Remundes' (from candidate lemma 'remundo') rendered as 'cleanse me again' to parallel 'mundasti' earlier in the sentence. The form is a candidate and less common; the sense is clearly a renewed cleansing.
  9. 9 ↩'Praestante eodem Domino nostro Jesu Christo' — the ablative absolute 'praestante' rendered as 'with the same Lord our Jesus Christ making it possible' to convey the instrumental sense: Christ is the one through whom these goods are bestowed and the renewal accomplished.
  10. 10 ↩'Qui sit benedictus in saecula' — a doxological closing. Rendered with the jussive/subjunctive force: 'may he be blessed forever.' This is a liturgical formula, not a statement of fact.

Orationes sive Meditationes — Collection for Princess Adeliza of Normandy companion

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