MEDITATIO VI. Ad roborandum spiritum ne desperemus; quia si veram poenitentiam agimus, veram misericordiam sine dubio de omnibus peccatis nostris inveniemus.
The Weight of Sin and the Search for Consolation
The soul, overwhelmed by the awareness of its sins and the just punishments they deserve, searches desperately for consolation but finds none, as both Creator and conscience condemn it from every side.
When I look back at the sins I've done, and understand the punishments and torments I ought to suffer for them, I'm filled with no small fear. And so, deeply anxious and deeply afraid for my own destruction, I search to see if perhaps somewhere I might find some consolation. But alas, wretched me! I find none, because I'm certain that not only my Creator, but also him — and every creature of his — have been offended by me.1 Therefore my Creator, grievously offended by my sins along with all his creation, condemns me; my conscience, certain about his evil works, accuses me from every side.2 And so I find no consolation, nor do I think I can easily have it from anyone. What then shall I do? Where shall I turn, so desolate, so enveloped in the wickedness of my sins?
A Glimmer of Hope in God's Continued Mercy
Though afraid to approach God lest his anger be provoked further, the soul finds unexpected hope in the fact that God still sustains its life and showers it with blessings despite its iniquities, proving his mercy endures.
If I want to return to him who made me upright, and I pray that he may have mercy on me because of his ineffable compassion, I am not a little afraid — lest through such great recklessness I provoke him all the more to anger against me, and for this reason he punish me more severely for my sins, by which I did not fear to provoke his gentleness. What then? Shall I remain as though I've despaired, without counsel, without help? My Creator still lets me live; still he does not stop providing me the things necessary to sustain this life. And, as I experience from the facts themselves, my sins cannot overcome his goodness — so that he still chooses, even though I have already deserved it, not to bring me to ruin and utterly destroy me. It is therefore most certain that he is merciful toward me — he who bestows so many great blessings on me and still does not seek to punish me for my iniquities.
The Fountain of Mercy from Adam Onward
The soul recalls that the fountain of mercy has flowed since the beginning of the world, recalling how God dealt patiently with Adam after the Fall, sending angels to call humanity to repentance—yet humanity responded by adding sin to sin and descending to beastlike behavior.
I have heard — and those who have experienced it themselves confirm — that what I heard is true: the fountain of mercy itself, which began to flow from the beginning of the world, is still flowing. He was, it seems, exceedingly merciful and devoted toward our first parent Adam when he committed that sin of eating the forbidden fruit: he did not immediately condemn him to eternal destruction as he had deserved, but patiently waited for his amendment, and mercifully helped him so that he could return to the grace of the one he had offended. Indeed, for this purpose he sent his angels — often — to him and to all those who had sprung from him, warning them to return and do penance for their iniquities; because he himself would still gladly receive them if they repented of their sins with their whole heart. But they, persisting still in his sins and despising his warnings, added sin to sin, and — like madmen, abominable in their iniquities — though they had been made in honor on account of the likeness of God, they began to imitate the ways of beasts against nature.
God's Persistent Mercy through Patriarchs, Prophets, and Christ
Despite sending patriarchs and prophets whom the people killed and tortured, God continued to discipline them as a merciful father; finally, the fountain of piety himself became incarnate, lived among sinners, offered them the sacrament of confession, and assured them that no sin is too grave to be wiped out through penance.
He sent patriarchs, and then prophets; but even so they were not willing to abandon their crooked and perverse ways: instead, they killed some of those who offered them warnings of salvation, and tortured others with various and unheard-of torments. Yet he disciplined them at times like a merciful father — not as one provoked by their evil deeds to avenge himself for the insults they heaped on him — but so that, corrected, they might return to the mercy of the One who in no way wills the destruction of those he created by his own goodness. But when, though frequently visited by him with neither admonition nor correction, they still would not return, the fountain of piety could no longer restrain himself: instead, coming down from the Father's embrace, taking on true humanity and the likeness of sin, he began to gently warn them so that they would then do salutary penance for their sins and recognize that he himself is the Son of God. For he had come for their salvation, and for this reason: that they might not despair, but believe with full confidence that they could still have forgiveness for all their sins, if only they would let those sins go and do penance. For there is no sin so grave that it cannot be wiped out through penance — so much so that not even the devil himself can any longer call it to mind. Seeing, therefore, such great sweetness in their Creator, sinners themselves began eagerly to run to the fountain of mercy, to the fountain of piety, and to wash their sins in it. Moreover, the fountain of piety himself began to eat with sinners; he began to open to them the sacraments of holy confession, through which every burden of sin is lightened, because in true confession every stain of sin is cleansed.
Christ's Forgiveness Even from the Cross
Even as the Jews crucified Christ out of envy, he prayed for their forgiveness, embodying the prophetic truth that God does not will the death of the sinner but desires conversion and life, and through the prophet he calls even the most unfaithful soul to return and find mercy.
After this, when the time was approaching for him to suffer for the redemption of sins, the Jews—those from whose lineage he had been born in the flesh—were led by envy and crucified him, because he was pious and merciful. Yet even in death itself he did not forget his own devotion, and he was asking his Father to forgive his killers this sin: "For they do not know," he says, "what they are doing."✦3 The most tender devotion of the Lord makes excuses for them: he does not will the death of the sinner, but that he be converted and live.✦ Whose heart, then, is so hard and so stony that the great gentleness of our Creator cannot soften it? When his creature—which he created from nothing in his own image and likeness—dishonored him in many ways, he did not avenge himself; but dishonored and provoked by their many evil deeds, he bore it patiently, and gently warned them to return to him without hesitation. So our pious and gentle Lord Jesus Christ, as it is said through the prophet, does not will the death of the sinner, but that he abandon his evil ways, and so doing penance for his iniquities, return to the grace of his Creator.✦ How merciful he is also toward a sinful soul, he says through another prophet, urging her to return to him even after sin, and she will find mercy. But you—who have played the harlot with many lovers, that is, you who in baptism had promised me faith, yet have violated your chastity by defiling yourself with many lovers—nevertheless, do penance and return to me, and I will receive you.✦
No Sinner Excluded from the Inexhaustible Fountain
The soul declares that the fountain of mercy is never drained by anyone's sins, and that Christ allowed himself to be crucified so that all sinners, seeing the price paid for their redemption, might never despair of forgiveness.
Therefore, no sinner should despair — not even a woman who has prostituted herself with many lovers — when she is received back, because the fount of piety and mercy, Jesus Christ, is not drained dry by anyone's iniquities, and stained by no one's crimes, but remains always pure, overflowing with the grace of sweetness, and receives all who turn back to him, the weak and the sinful alike, and washes away whatever sins they are stained by. And so that all sinners and the wicked might be certain that they will receive forgiveness of their own sins, if they take care to put away those very sins and do penance, the fount of piety himself, for the love he bore them, allowed the same flesh he had taken on for their sake — as I explained above — to be crucified, so that those who were dead through sin and could not otherwise return to life unless redeemed by the price of his blood might in no way despair, seeing the price that was given for their sins.
The Soul's Struggle: Confidence and Self-Accusation
Though the soul believes Christ can wash it clean, it is crushed by the awareness that it has sinned more grievously than others—never ceasing from sin, heaping sin upon sin, and plunging willingly into ruin—and fears its stench will make it unwelcome at the fountain of mercy.
Since I see such great tenderness in my Lord Jesus Christ, and so many sinners and wrongdoers rushing to the fountain of tenderness — with none shut out and all welcomed — why should I alone despair? I, for whom this very fountain of tenderness, which washes others clean, cannot wash away my sins? I know — I know for certain, and I truly believe — that the one who washes others clean can wash me too, and if he wills it, because he is all-powerful, he can forgive every one of my sins. But there is a great difference between one sinner and another — that is, between the one who sins more and the one who sins less. And so, considering how greatly I have sinned, and with what great iniquities my unhappy soul has been stained, I realize that I am not merely equal to other sinners, but a greater sinner than any — beyond all sinners. Many have sinned and then stopped; some, even though they sinned often, still eventually put an end to their wickedness. Still others, even though they did many evil things, did not neglect to do many good things as well — by which they either fully deserved to have their evil forgiven, or at least gained for themselves a more bearable punishment in hell. But I — wretched, and more wretched than all the wretched, a sinner and more sinful than all sinners — understanding and knowing to what ruin sin was dragging me, and how delight in sin held me fast, never tried to stop sinning and doing wrong, but always heaped sin upon sin, and so, willingly and willingly, plunged myself entirely into sin's ruin; and unless the immeasurable goodness of the Lord still endured me, it would have been long since that hell itself had swallowed me up. Having lived as I have, having committed such great evils, having been wrapped in such great iniquities — how dare I run to the fountain of mercy alongside other sinners who have not committed such things — lest, because of the stench of my crimes, he refuse to wash me clean as he washes other sinners, whose stench is more bearable?
A Cry for Help against Despair
The soul cries out to Christ for help, begging that the enormity of its sins not drive it to despair, since no crime is too great for God to overcome so long as hope in his mercy is not abandoned.
Help me, then, Lord Jesus Christ—help your creature. Even if she is overwhelmed by the sheer weight of her sins, yet seeing that she was created by you, help her so she does not despair. For as we believe, no enormity of crime is too great for you to overcome, so long as the sinner does not give up hope in your mercy.456
The Cross as Ground of Unshakeable Hope
The soul contemplates Christ's entire work of redemption—his incarnation, his call to repentance, his crucifixion, and the example of the thief saved in his final hour—and finds in these the assurance that, with true repentance and amendment, no sinner need fear the judgment.
Let me, then — Lord Jesus Christ — let me look upon your unfathomable mercy, and declare how kind and good you are to sinners and the wretched. I've said this before, but it delights me greatly, whenever the right occasion presents itself, to call to mind how great the grace of your sweetness is toward sinners. For for the love and redemption of sinners — not only of those who sin less or more, but also of those who sin beyond all measure, if only they repent — you came down from the Father's embrace, entered the Virgin's womb, took true flesh from her, lived in the world calling all sinners to repentance, and at the last, endured the torment of the cross for them, and so died in the flesh, restoring the life they had justly forfeited through their own sins. So when I look at the evil deeds I've done, if you choose to judge me as I deserve, I'm certain of my ruin; but when I look at your death, which you suffered for the redemption of sinners, I do not lose hope in your mercy. That thief, who was crucified with you for his crimes, was steeped in sin right up to the moment of his dying breath; yet in that very hour of his death, because he confessed his wickedness and cried out in guilt, he found mercy, and was with you in paradise that same day. Seeing you, then, dead for the redemption of sinners — your hands and feet pierced with nails, your side opened by the soldier's lance, the stream of blood and water flowing from that side of yours — how could I possibly despair? There is only one thing required, without which no sinner can be saved: that we repent of our wickedness and, as far as we are able, set about making amends. If we do this, we are secure — because if the last day finds us living this way (and we have the example of the thief, who in his final hour deserved to be saved), trusting in the unfathomable mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, we can fear the accuser's charges either very little or not at all.
Running with Confidence to the Fountain
The soul resolves to run confidently to the fountain of piety, acknowledging its dependence on God's grace to abstain from evil and do good, and prays that God would grant constant compunction in this life so that it may at last reach him in eternal joy with the saints and angels.
So, with the price of our redemption before our eyes—namely, the death and blood of our Redeemer, which was poured out for the forgiveness of our sins—and with the example of the thief, and of many who were wrapped up in many and great sins, whom Jesus Christ himself, the source of piety, mercifully absolved, let us not despair, but let us run with confidence toward the forgiveness of sins, to that same source of piety, in which we now see and recognize and know for certain that so many and so great sinners have been washed, and let us be confident that we too will be washed from the same source of mercy, if we hold back from evil deeds and from our sins, and, as far as we can, take care from now on to do good. Indeed, in order to abstain from evil and do good, we cannot accomplish this by our own strength without his help. So, then, let us implore his ineffable mercy—the one whose care brought us into being when we did not yet exist—that he would grant us, in this life before we depart from here, to amend our sins and so cleanse them through constant compunction, in order that, with these things finished, on a straight course and with nothing to hinder us, we may be able to reach him, so that we may be with him in perpetual brightness, joined to the angel choirs and all the saints, who now rejoice in those things without end.
Read the original Latin
Cum ad peccata quae feci respicio, et poenas et tormenta intelligo, quae pro iis pati debeo, non parvum timorem habeo. Itaque multum anxius et multum timidus de perditione mea, si forte alicubi aliquam consolationem inveniam requiro. Sed heu miser! nullam invenio; quia non solum Creatorem meum, sed et illum, et omnem creaturam ejus a me offensam esse certus existo. Creator itaque meus cum omni creatura sua, peccatis meis graviter offensus, me damnat; mea conscientia certa de suis malis operibus, ex omni parte me accusat. Et ita nullam consolationem invenio, nec ab ullo facile me puto habere. Quid ergo faciam? quo me convertam sic desolatus, sic peccatorum meorum malitiis involutus?
Si ad illum, qui me rectum fecit, redire volo, ejusque ineffabilem pietatem, ut de me misericordiam habeat, deprecor; non parum timeo ne pro tanta temeritate magis eum moveam ad iracundiam adversum me, et pro hoc gravius se vindicet de sceleribus meis, quibus non timui ejus mansuetudinem exasperare. Quid ergo? Remanebo quasi desperatus sine consilio, sine adjutorio? Adhuc Creator meus me patitur vivere: adhuc non dimittit mihi ea, quae sunt necessaria ad sustentationem hujus vitae, ministrare. Et, sicut rebus ipsis experior, peccata mea non possunt ejus bonitatem vincere, ut adhuc velit, sicut jam promerui, confundere, et ex toto destruere. Certissimum est ergo illum esse pium erga me, qui tanta bona mihi largitur, nec adhuc de meis iniquitatibus se quaerit vindicare.
Audivi, et sicut ipsi attestantur qui experti sunt, verum est quod audivi, quia ipse fons misericordiae, qui ab initio mundi currere coepit, adhuc currit. Fuit autem multum (ut aiunt) misericors et pius erga primum parentem nostrum Adam, quando illud peccatum de fructu vetito commisit, quod non statim eum, sicut promeruerat, aeterna perditione damnavit; sed emendationem ejus patienter exspectavit, et ut ad gratiam ejus quem offenderat redire posset, misericorditer adjuvit. Misit vero ad hoc opus illi, et omnibus illis qui ex illo exorti sunt, saepius suos angelos, monens ut redirent, et poenitentiam pro suis iniquitatibus agerent; quia ipse eos adhuc libenter reciperet, si de peccatis suis ex toto corde poeniterent. Sed ipsi adhuc in peccatis suis perdurantes, ejusque monita spernentes, addiderunt peccata peccatis, et quasi insani et abominabiles in suis iniquitatibus facti, cum in honore facti essent propter similitudinem Dei, coeperunt mores bestiarum contra naturam imitari.
Misit praeterea patriarchas, misit prophetas; sed nec sic illi voluerunt relinquere vias suas tortas et perversas: sed quosdam illorum, qui eis monita salutis dabant, interficiebant; alios variis et inauditis tormentis cruciabant. Castigabat tamen eos aliquando, ut misericors pater, non ut irritatus malis operibus illorum se de contumeliis, quas ei faciebant, vindicaret; sed ut correcti ad illius misericordiam redirent, qui nullo modo vult illorum, quos bonitate sua creavit, perditionem. Sed cum nec admonitione, nec correctione saepius ab eo visitati reverterentur, non se potuit fons pietatis ultra retinere; sed de sinu Patris descendens, assumpta vera humanitate, assumpta peccatorum similitudine, coepit eos dulciter monere, ut salutarem tunc de peccatis suis poenitentiam agerent, et ipsum esse Filium Dei cognoscerent. Pro illorum enim salute venerat, et propter hoc, non desperarent: sed certissime adhuc de omnibus peccatis suis veniam habere se crederent, si tantum illa dimitterent, et poenitentiam agerent. Nullum est enim tam grave peccatum, quod non possit per poenitentiam aboleri; ita ut nec jam amplius vel ipse diabolus de eo valeat reminisci. Cernentes ergo peccatores tantam dulcedinem Creatoris sui, coeperunt et ipsi certatim ad fontem currere misericordiae, ad fontem pietatis, et peccata sua in eo lavare. Coepit autem et ipse fons pietatis cum peccatoribus convesci, coepit eis aperire sacramenta confessionis sanctae, per quam alleviatur omne onus peccati; quia in vera confessione mundatur omnis macula delicti.
Post haec appropinquante tempore, quo pati deberet pro redemptione peccatorum, Judaei, ex quorum stirpe secundum carnem ortus est, ducti invidia, illum, pro eo quia erat pius et misericors, crucifixerunt. Qui tamen et in ipsa morte non immemor pietatis suae, pro interfectoribus suis Patrem suum rogabat, ut dimitteret illis hoc peccatum: Non enim sciunt, inquit, quid faciunt. Excusat illos dulcissima Domini pietas, qui non vult mortem peccatoris, sed ut convertatur, et vivat. Cujus ergo cor tam durum, tamque lapideum non emollire possit tanta mansuetudo Creatoris nostri? Quem cum in multis creatura sua, quam ad imaginem et similitudinem suam de nihilo creavit, dehonestaret, non se vindicavit, sed dehonestatus, et multis malis operibus illorum irritatus, patienter tulit, et ut ad illum sine haesitatione redirent, dulciter admonuit. Pius ergo et dulcis Dominus noster Jesus Christus, sicut per prophetam dicitur, non vult mortem peccatoris, sed ut relinquat vias suas malas, et sic poenitentiam agens de iniquitatibus suis, revertatur ad gratiam sui Creatoris. Quam misericors etiam sit erga peccatricem animam, dicit per alium prophetam, exhortans eam ut etiam post peccatum revertatur ad eum, et invenient misericordiam. Tu autem, inquiens, fornicata es cum amatoribus multis, id est, tu quae in baptismate mihi fidem promiseras, tuam castitatem cum amatoribus multis commaculans violasti, tamen poenitentiam age, et revertere ad me, et suscipiam te.
Nullus ergo peccator desperet, quando fornicata cum multis amatoribus recipitur, quia fons pietatis et misericordiae Jesus Christus nullius iniquitatibus exhauritur, nullius sceleribus polluitur, sed semper purus, et abundans gratia dulcedinis, omnes ad se revertentes infirmos et peccatores recipit, et quibuscunque peccatis sint maculati, abluit. Et ut certi sint omnes peccatores et iniqui se veniam peccatorum suorum accipere, si ipsa peccata sua curant dimittere, et poenitentiam agere, ipse fons pietatis, pro amore quem erga eos habebat, eamdem carnem quam pro eis sumpsit, sicut superius exposui, pertulit crucifigi, ut qui erant peccatis mortui, nec aliter ad vitam redire poterant, nisi pretio sanguinis ejus redempti, nullo modo desperent, cernentes pretium quod est datum pro peccatis suis.
Cum itaque videam tantam pietatem Domini mei Jesu Christi, totque peccatores et iniquos currere ad fontem pietatis, nullum excludi omnesque recipi, debeo ego solus desperare quod ipse fons pietatis, qui alios abluit, mea peccata non possit abluere? Scio, certo scio, et vere credo quia qui alios abluit, me quoque potest abluere, et mihi, si vult, quia potentissimus est, omnia peccata mea dimittere. Sed inter peccatorem et peccatorem est magna differentia, id est inter illum qui plus peccat, et eum qui minus peccat. Unde ego considerans quantum peccavi, quantisque iniquitatibus infelix anima mea polluta sit, intelligo me non solum aequalem cum aliis peccatoribus, sed plus quam ullum peccatorem, et ultra omnes peccatores, esse peccatorem. Plures enim peccaverunt, et tunc cessaverunt; quidam, etsi saepius peccaverint, tamen aliquando suis malitiis finem imposuerunt. Item alii et si multa mala fecerunt, multa etiam bona facere non omiserunt, quibus vel ut ex toto ipsa mala dimitterentur, promeruerunt, vel ut tolerabiliorem ipsam poenam gehennae haberent sibi acquisierunt. Ego autem miser, et super omnes miseros et peccatores peccator et miser, intelligens et sciens ad quantam perditionem me traheret peccatum, et peccati delectatio, a peccatis et malefactis nunquam cessare curavi, sed semper auxi peccata peccatis, et ita totum libens et volens in perditionem peccati me infelix immersi, et nisi immensa Domini bonitas me adhuc pateretur, jam diu est quod ab ipsa gehenna debuissem esse devoratus. Qui ergo taliter vixi, qui tanta mala commisi, qui tantis iniquitatibus me involvi, quomodo audebo cum aliis peccatoribus qui tanta mala non fecerunt, currere ad fontem misericordiae; ne propter fetorem, scelerum meorum me nolit, sicut alios peccatores, quorum fetor tolerabilior est, abluere?
Adjuva ergo, Domine Jesu Christe, adjuva creaturam tuam, et si magnitudine peccatorum obrutam; a te tamen videns creatam, adjuva ne desperet, quia, sicut credimus, nulla enormitas scelerum te vincere potest, si tantum peccator de tua misericordia non desperet.
Patere ergo me, Domine Jesu Christe, patere tuam ineffabilem pietatem inspicere, et quam dulcis et bonus sis erga peccatores et miseros, enarrare. Hoc idem superius dixi, sed multum me delectat, quoties occasio apta se offert, reminisci quanta sit erga peccatores gratia tuae dulcedinis. Pro amore enim et redemptione peccatorum, non solum illorum qui minus vel plus peccant, sed etiam illorum qui ultra modum peccant, si tantum modo poeniteant, de sinu Patris descendisti, Virginis uterum intrasti, carnem ex ea veram assumpsisti, in mundo conversans omnes peccatores ad poenitentiam vocasti, ad ultimum, crucis patibulum pro illis pertulisti, et sic mortuus secundum carnem, vitam quam juste pro suis peccatis perdiderant, illis reddidisti. Itaque cum respicio ad mala opera quae operatus sum, si me judicare vis secundum quod merui, certus sum de perditione mea, cum vero respicio ad mortem tuam, quam pro redemptione peccatorum passus es, non despero de misericordia tua. Latro vero ille, qui pro suis sceleribus tecum crucifixus est, usque ad ipsius animae exitum semper in peccatis fuit, sed tamen in ipsa hora suae expirationis, quia sua mala confessus est, et culpam clamavit, misericordiam invenit, et tecum ipso die in paradiso fuit. Cernens ergo te pro redemptione peccatorum esse mortuum, manus tuas et pedes clavis confixos, latus tuum lancea militis apertum, undam sanguinis et aquae de eodem tuo latere currentem, desperare debeo? Unum tantummodo est quod vis, sine quo nullus peccator potest salvari, scilicet, ut de malis nostris poeniteamus, et, in quantum possumus, emendare curemus. Hoc si fecerimus, securi sumus quia, si nos sic facientes invenerit dies ultimus (quandoquidem et exemplum latronis, qui sic in ultima hora meruit salvari, habemus), confidentes de ineffabili pietate Domini nostri Jesu Christi, accusationem inimici aut parum, aut nihil omnino timere possumus.
Habentes ergo ante oculos nostros pretium nostrae redemptionis, mortem videlicet et sanguinem Redemptoris nostri, qui in remissionem effusus est pro peccatis nostris, habentes etiam exemplum latronis, et multorum qui in multis et magnis peccatis erant involuti, quos ipse fons pietatis Jesus Christus misericorditer absolvit, non desperemus, sed curramus securi de remissione peccatorum ad ipsum fontem pietatis, in quo jam tot, et tam magnos peccatores ablutos et videmus, et agnoscimus, et certi simus nos similiter abluendos ab eodem fonte misericordiae, si abstineamus a malitiis et a peccatis nostris, et, in quantum possumus, curemus deinceps bona operari. Ut vero a malis abstineamus, et bona faciamus, hoc nostra virtute sine illius adjutorio facere non possumus. Illius ergo ineffabilem misericordiam deprecemur, cui cura fuit nos facere, cum non essemus, ut nobis sic concedat in hac vita, antequam hinc exeamus, nostra peccata emendare, et sic assiduis compunctionibus mundare, quatenus ista finita, recto cursu, nullo impediente, ad eum valeamus pervenire, ut cum illo simus in perpetua claritate juncti angelicis choris, et omnibus sanctis, qui jam illa fruuntur gaudentes sine fine.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Luke.23.34 — Jesus was saying, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided his garments by casting lots.
- ↩Ezek.18.23 — Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Lord God. Is it not rather that he should turn from his ways and live?
- ↩Ezek.18.23 — Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Lord God. Is it not rather that he should turn from his ways and live?
- ↩Hos.2.13-Hos.2.19 — and I will put an end to all her celebration—her festival, her new moon, her Sabbath, and all her appointed feasts. Hos.2.14 — And I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees, which she said, "These are my wages, which my lovers gave me"; and I will make them a forest, and the wild beasts will devour them. Hos.2.15 — And I will punish her for the days of the Baals, to whom she burned incense, and she put on her ring and her jewelry, and went after her lovers, and forgot me, declares the LORD. Hos.2.16 — Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak to her heart. Hos.2.17 — And I will give her vineyards from there, and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; and she shall answer there as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt. Hos.2.18 — And it shall be in that day — declares the LORD — you will call me 'my husband,' and no longer will you call me 'my master.' Hos.2.19 — And I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall no more be mentioned by their name.
Notes
- 1 ↩The referent of 'illum' after 'Creatorem meum' is ambiguous in the Latin — it may refer back to the Creator under a different aspect, or to another person offended. The translation preserves this ambiguity with 'him,' as the text does not resolve it.
- 2 ↩'suis malis operibus' — the referent of 'suis' is ambiguous: it could mean 'his [the Creator's] evil works' or 'my [the speaker's] evil works.' The context of self-accusation favors reading it as 'my evil works,' but the Latin surface is genuinely ambiguous. The translation follows the more natural reading in context.
- 3 ↩Quoted words echo Luke 23:34.
- 4 ↩The ergo ('therefore') carries inferential force, drawing on the preceding meditation's reasoning about the font of mercy.
- 5 ↩Obrutam ('overwhelmed/buried') rendered as 'overwhelmed by the sheer weight' to capture the force of magnitudine peccatorum.
- 6 ↩The si…tamen construction ('even if…nevertheless') is concessive: the greatness of sin is acknowledged but does not override the plea for help.
Orationes sive Meditationes — Collection for Princess Adeliza of Normandy companion
There are 90 more prayers where these came from
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