MEDITATIO XI. De redemptione humana.
Awakening to Redemption
The soul is roused to remember its redemption and liberation by Christ, the good Samaritan, and is invited to meditate on the power of salvation.
Christian soul, soul raised from a grievous death, soul ransomed and set free from wretched slavery by the blood of God—rouse your mind, remember your resurrection: reflect on your redemption and your liberation. Consider again where and what the power of your salvation is; dwell on its meditation, take delight in its contemplation, shake off your weariness, force your heart, direct your mind to this; taste the goodness of your Redeemer, and let yourself be set ablaze with love for your Savior. Chew the honeycomb of words, suck out a flavor more than honey-sweet, swallow a wholesome sweetness. Chew by thinking, suck by understanding, swallow by loving and by rejoicing. Rejoice by chewing, give thanks by sucking, be delighted by swallowing. Where then, and what is the power and strength of your salvation? Surely Christ raised you. That good Samaritan healed you; that good friend redeemed you and freed you with his own life—Christ, I say.
The Power Hidden in the Cross
The power of salvation is located in Christ's crucified hands, where divine strength is paradoxically hidden in weakness, humility, and contempt.
So the power of your salvation is the power of Christ. Where is this power of Christ? Surely the horns are in his hands; there his strength is hidden. The horns are in his hands, because his hands are fastened to the arms of the cross. Yet what strength is there in such weakness? What height is there in such humility? What is so venerable in such contempt? But it is certainly hidden for this reason: because it is in weakness; concealed for this reason: because it is in humility; and secret for this reason: because it is in contempt.
The Paradox of Weakness and Power
A series of exclamations marvels at the hidden strength, veiled power, and secret virtue of Christ's cross, where a dying man saves multitudes and destroys death itself.
O hidden strength! A man hanging on the cross, to suspend the eternal death that was crushing the human race; a man pierced with wood, to nail fast the world affixed to everlasting death.✦ O veiled power! To save a man condemned with thieves — men condemned with demons!✦ A man stretched out on the cross, to draw all things to himself!✦ O hidden virtue! One soul sent forth in torment, to draw innumerable souls out of hell; a man to undergo the death of the body, and to destroy the death of souls.✦✦
Why Did God Conceal His Strength?
The soul asks why God veiled such great power under humility, and the meditation answers that truth deceives no one; God revealed himself as unknown to draw seekers to him.
Why, good Lord, loving Redeemer, mighty Savior, did you cover such great power with such humility? Was it to deceive the devil, who by deceiving man cast him down from paradise? But surely truth deceives no one. Whoever is ignorant, whoever does not believe the truth, deceives himself; whoever sees the truth and hates or despises it, deceives himself. Truth, therefore, deceives no one. Was it so that the devil himself might deceive himself? But surely, just as truth deceives no one, so it does not intend that anyone deceive himself — even though it is said to do this when it permits it. For you did not take on man in order to conceal yourself as one who is known, but in order to reveal yourself as one who is unknown.
Truth Does Not Deceive
God's works were hidden by their nature, not by design to deceive; truth refuses itself to no one, and any self-deception lies with the deceiver, not with God.
You said you were true God and true human, and you showed it through your works. What happened through you was hidden in its own nature, not hidden by effort or design; it wasn't done so that it might be concealed, but so that it might be accomplished in its own proper order; nor so that it might deceive anyone, but so that it might happen in the way it was fitting to happen. And if it is called hidden, that amounts to nothing other than that it hasn't been revealed to everyone. For even though truth doesn't reveal itself to everyone, it still refuses itself to no one. So then, Lord, you did what you did neither to deceive nor to let anyone deceive themselves, but so that you might do what was to be done and how it was to be done — through all things you stood firm in truth. So whoever deceives themselves in your truth — the fault lies not with you, but with their own falsehood.
The Devil Had No Just Claim
The meditation examines whether the devil had any just claim that required God to act through hidden means, concluding that neither God nor man owed the devil anything, and God was not compelled to conceal his strength.
Did the devil have any just claim against God, or against man, on account of which God should have acted against him on man's behalf in this way rather than with open force — so that while the devil unjustly killed a righteous man, he would justly lose the power he had over the unjust? But certainly God owed the devil nothing except punishment, and man owed him nothing except retribution. So just as man had easily allowed himself to be conquered by the devil through sinning, so man would conquer the devil — all the way to the hardship of death — by preserving justice whole and entire. But even this man owed to God alone. For man did not sin against the devil, but against God; nor was man the devil's possession — rather, both man and the devil belonged to God. And the fact that the devil harassed man — he did this not out of zeal for justice but out of wickedness. God did not command it but permitted it — not by the devil's authority, but by God's justice demanding it. There was therefore nothing in the devil on account of which God should have needed to conceal his strength against him, or to delay it, in order to save man.
No Necessity Compelled the Cross
God was under no necessity to humble himself; his will is sovereign and always good, and while human nature needed to make satisfaction, God himself did not need to suffer.
Was any necessity compelling the Most High to humble himself in this way, and the Almighty to toil so hard to accomplish something? But every necessity — and whatever is impossible — is subject to his will.1 Surely whatever he wills must be; and whatever he does not will cannot be. By will alone, then — and since his will is always good, he did this by goodness alone. For God was not acting in order to save man in this way; but human nature needed to make satisfaction to God in this way. God did not need to suffer such hard things; but man needed to be reconciled to God in this way. Nor did God need to be humbled in this way; but man needed to be rescued from the depths of hell. Divine nature had no need to be humbled or to toil — nor could it. All these things human nature had to do in order to be restored to that for which it was made; but neither those things, nor whatever is not God, could suffice for this.
The Logic of Satisfaction
Human nature needed to be restored to angelic likeness through full satisfaction for sin, which required a God-human whose life and death surpassed all debt, freely given on behalf of sinners.
For a person is not restored to the purpose for which they were made unless they are brought into the likeness of the angels, among whom there is no sin — and this cannot happen unless every sin that has been committed is forgiven, which does not happen unless full satisfaction has gone before. And this satisfaction must be such that the sinner, or someone on their behalf, gives God something from their own that is not owed, something that surpasses everything that is not God. For if sinning is dishonoring God — and a person must not do this, even if everything that is not God had to perish — then unchanging truth and clear reason itself demand that whoever sins give back to God something greater for the honor that was taken away, than the thing for which they ought not to have dishonored him. Since human nature on its own did not have this, and could not be reconciled without the required satisfaction. Lest God's justice leave sin unaddressed in his kingdom, God's goodness came to the rescue. The Son of God took human nature to himself in his own person, so that in that person there would be a God-human who possessed what surpassed not only every being that is not God, but also every debt that sinners owe — and this, though he owed nothing for himself, he would pay on behalf of others, who did not have what they were required to give back. For the life of that human being is more precious than everything that is not God, and it surpasses every debt that sinners owe in satisfaction. For if his death surpasses the whole number and magnitude of sins that can be conceived apart from God's person, it is clear that his life is more good than all sins are evil, which exist apart from God's person. This human being, since he did not owe it to die — for he was not a sinner — gave his life freely from his own resources to the honor of the Father. He allowed it to be taken from him because of justice, to set an example for all others that God's justice must not be abandoned because of the death they must at some time pay by necessity. And though he did not owe this death, and could have avoided it while still preserving justice, he freely endured it when it was inflicted on him because of justice. So human nature gave to God in that human being freely, and not out of obligation, what was its own — so that it might redeem itself in others, in whom what was demanded by obligation was not available to be given back.
Human Nature Exalted, Not Divine Nature Diminished
In the work of redemption, human nature is exalted and mercifully helped, while divine nature is neither humbled nor diminished.
In all these things, the divine nature is not humbled but the human nature is exalted; the divine is not diminished but the human is mercifully helped.2
Christ's Free Obedience
Christ suffered not from necessity or compulsion but by free will, willingly doing what pleased the Father, showing perfect and free obedience even to death.
And yet the human nature in this man did not suffer anything out of necessity, but only by free will. He did not yield to anyone's violence, but bore with praiseworthy goodness and mercy what was inflicted on him by evil will, for the honor of God and the benefit of others — and that with no obedience that compelled him, but with a wisdom that powerfully disposed all things. For the Father did not command that man to die by compelling him; but he willingly did what he understood would please the Father and benefit others. For the Father could not compel him to do what he had no right to demand from him; nor could so great an honor fail to please the Father, which the Son willingly offered with such good will. And so he showed the Father free obedience, since he willingly chose to do what he knew would please the Father. Finally, since the Father gave him this good will, although it is free, it is not without reason that it is said he received it as if it were the Father's command. In this way, then, he was obedient to the Father even to death. And just as the Father gave him a command, so he acted.
The Cup of Obedience and the Price of Redemption
Christ drinks the cup the Father gives, embodying perfect obedience; through his spontaneous gift of himself, he redeems all who approach this grace worthily, while those who despise it are justly condemned.
And he drinks the cup that the Father gave him.3 This is the perfect and most free obedience of human nature: when a person willingly subordinates their own free will to the will of God, and when, having embraced that good will without any compulsion, they carry it out in deed through willing freedom.4 In this way that man redeems all others, since what he willingly gave to God, he counts as the debt they owed.5 By this price a person is redeemed not only once from their faults, but also whenever they return with worthy penitence, they are received — though that penitence is not promised to the sinner.6 And since this was accomplished on the cross, through the cross our Christ redeemed us. Those who wish to approach this grace with a worthy disposition are saved; but those who despise it are justly condemned, because they do not repay the debt they owe.7
Behold the Power of Your Salvation
The soul is called to behold the power, cause, and price of its salvation, to receive Christ daily in the Eucharist, and to wrestle with the paradox of rejoicing in freedom that comes only from Christ's suffering.
Behold, Christian soul: this is the power of your salvation, this is the cause of your freedom, this is the price of your redemption. You were a captive, but this is how you've been redeemed. You were a servant, and so you've been set free. So you are brought back as an exile, restored from being lost, and raised from the dead. This he commands, O man — let your heart chew on this, suck it in, swallow it whole — when your mouth receives the flesh and blood of that same Redeemer of yours. Make this your daily bread and sustenance in this life, and your provision for the journey — because through this, and only through this, you will remain in Christ and Christ in you; and in the life to come your joy will be full.✦ But, O Lord — you who took up death so that I might live — how can I rejoice in my freedom, which comes only from your chains? How can I boast of my salvation, since it comes only from your sorrows?
The Paradox of Joy and Sorrow
The soul wrestles with how to rejoice in salvation that comes only from Christ's death, and how to detest the cruelty of his killers while giving thanks for the good that God brought through their wickedness.
How can I rejoice in my life, which came only from your death? Or can I rejoice over the things you suffered, and over the cruelty of those men, since they did those things to you? For if those men had not done these things, you would not have suffered: and if you had not suffered, all these good things would not exist. Or if I grieve over those men, how can I rejoice over the things on account of which their cruelty came to be — things that would not exist unless that cruelty had been? But surely the wickedness of those men could accomplish nothing except because you willingly allowed it, nor did you suffer except because you piously willed it. Therefore I ought to detest the cruelty of those men, to imitate your death and labors by suffering alongside you, to love your pious will by giving thanks, and so to exult with confidence in the good things bestowed on me.
Remembering Your Former State
The soul is urged to consider its former misery—dragged down by sin, burdened by judgment, and driven toward hell—before the Lord shone upon it with unmerited grace.
So then, little one, leave the cruelty of those people to God's judgment, and turn your attention to what you owe your Savior. Consider what you once were, and what has been done for you, and weigh who it was who did this for you, and how worthy of love he is. Look at your own need, and at his goodness, and see what thanks you should give, and how much you owe to his love. You were in darkness, on slippery ground, sliding down toward the irretrievable chaos of the underworld; an immense, almost leaden weight hung from your neck and dragged you downward, an unbearable burden pressed down on you from above, and invisible enemies drove you on with all their force. That is how you were, without any help, and you did not know it, because that is how you were conceived and born. O what a state you were in then! And where those forces were dragging you — tremble as you remember it, shudder as you think of it. O good Lord Jesus Christ, to one so placed, not asking, not expecting — you shone on me like the sun, and showed me what I was like.8
What Christ Did for Me
Christ cast off the weight of sin, removed the burden of judgment, drove back enemies, gave the soul a new name, and promised eternal glory, even though the soul has not yet fully followed him.
You cast away the lead that was dragging me downward; you removed the burden that was pressing down on me from above; you drove back those who were pushing me, and you set yourself against them on my behalf. You called me by a new name, which you gave me from your own name, and you raised me up as I bowed down before your gaze, saying: Trust me — I have redeemed you; I gave my life for you. If you hold fast to me, you will escape the evils you were trapped in, and you will not fall into the abyss you were rushing toward; instead, I will lead you into my kingdom and make you an heir of God and a co-heir with me. From that moment you took me under your protection, so that nothing could harm my soul against its will. And look — even though I haven't yet held fast to you as you advised, you still haven't let me fall into hell; you are still waiting for me to cling to you, and to do what you promised. Truly, Lord, this is what I was, and this is what you did for me. I was in darkness, because I knew nothing — not even myself; I was on slippery ground, because I was weak and fragile, ready to fall into sin; I was on a descent over the chaos of hell, because in my first parents I had descended from justice to injustice — the road that leads down to hell — and from happiness to temporary misery, the kind that plunges a person into eternal ruin. The weight of original sin was dragging me downward, and the unbearable burden of God's judgment was pressing down on me, and my enemies — the demons — were fiercely pressing in on me, to make me more damnable still with further sins, as far as it lay in their power.
The Soul's Darkness and Christ's Light
The soul reflects on its ignorance, weakness, and descent into hell, and on how Christ removed original sin, kept away evil spirits, made the soul Christian, and still waits for fuller obedience.
So when I was abandoned by every help, you shone your light on me and showed me how I was. Because even when I couldn't yet know this myself, you taught others who were on my behalf, and afterward taught me as well, before I even asked — all these things.9 You cast off the lead dragging me down, the burden weighing me down, and the enemies driving me on — because you removed the sin I was born and conceived in, and its condemnation, and you kept away the evil spirits from doing violence to my soul.10 You made me to be called Christian by your name, through which both I confess and you acknowledge me among those you redeemed; you raised me up and lifted me to the knowledge and love of you; you made me trust in the salvation of my soul, for which you gave your soul, and promised me your glory if I would follow you.11 And look: even though I don't yet follow you as you counseled, and on top of that I've committed many sins you forbade, still you wait for me to follow you, and to give what you promised.
The Whole Self Owed to Love
The soul considers how much it owes to God for creation, redemption, and promise, and prays to be drawn wholly into God's love, since it cannot give enough by itself.
Consider, my soul — pay attention, all my inmost parts — at how much my whole being owes to him. Certainly, Lord, because you made me, I owe my whole self to your love; because you redeemed me, I owe my whole self; because you promise so much, I owe my whole self — indeed, I owe your love so much more than myself, by how much greater you are than I am, for whom you gave yourself, and to whom you promise yourself. Grant, I pray, Lord, that I may taste through love what I taste through knowledge; that I may feel through affection what I perceive through understanding. I owe more than my whole self; but I have no more, and I cannot, by myself, render even this much in full. Draw me, Lord, into your love — or rather, draw me wholly into it. All that I am is yours by condition; make it wholly yours by love. Look, Lord — my heart is before you. It strives, but by itself it cannot. Do you what it cannot do on its own. Admit me into the inner chamber of your love — I seek, I ask, I knock.✦ You who make me seek — grant me also to receive.
Seek, Ask, Knock
A prayer series based on Christ's invitation to seek, ask, and knock, pleading that God who inspires the desire to pray would also grant what is sought.
You give us the desire to seek; grant us the grace to find.✦ You teach us to knock; open to the one who knocks.✦ To whom do you give, if you deny the one who asks?✦ Who finds, if the one who seeks is turned away? To whom do you open, if you shut the door on the one who knocks? What do you give to the one who doesn't pray, if you deny your love to the one who does? From you I have the desire to long for you; from you may I have the grace to obtain what I ask. Cling to him, cling persistently — my soul.
A Final Plea for Love
The meditation closes with a fervent prayer that the soul faint with hunger for God's love would be satisfied, filled, and wholly possessed by the blessed Trinity.
Good, good Lord, do not cast her away; she grows faint with hunger for your love. Rekindle her. Let your love satisfy her, let your affection enrich her, let your love fill her, and let it seize me wholly and possess me wholly—because you, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, are the one blessed God forever and ever. Amen.
Read the original Latin
Anima Christiana, anima de gravi morte resuscitata, anima de misera servitute sanguine Dei redempta et liberata, excita mentem tuam, memento resuscitationis tuae: recogita redemptionem et liberationem tuam. Retracta ubi et quae sit virtus salvationis tuae, versare in meditatione ejus, delectare in contemplatione ejus, excute fastidium tuum, fac vim cordi tuo, intende in hoc mentem tuam; gusta bonitatem Redemptoris tui; accendere in amorem Salvatoris tui. Mande favum verborum, suge plusquam mellitum saporem, gluti salubrem dulcorem. Mande cogitando, suge intelligendo, gluti amando et gaudendo. Laetare mandendo, gratulare sugendo, jucundare glutiendo. Ubi ergo, et quae est virtus et fortitudo salvationis tuae? Certe Christus te resuscitavit. Ille bonus Samaritanus te sanavit; ille bonus amicus anima sua te redemit et liberavit: Christus, inquam.
Ergo virtus salvationis tuae, virtus est Christi. Ubi est haec virtus Christi? Utique cornua in manibus ejus: ibi abscondita est fortitudo ejus. Cornua quidem in manibus ejus; quia brachiis crucis confixae sunt manus ejus. Quae autem fortitudo in tanta infirmitate? Quae altitudo in tanta humilitate? Quid venerabile in tanto contemptu? Sed certe ideo absconditum, quia in infirmitate; ideo celatum, quia in humilitate; et ideo occultum, quia in contemptu.
O fortitudo abscondita! hominem in cruce pendentem, suspendere mortem aeternam genus humanum prementem, hominem ligno confixum, defigere mundum perpetuae morti affixum. O celata potestas! hominem damnatum cum latronibus salvare homines damnatos cum daemonibus! Hominem in patibulo extensum omnia trahere ad seipsum! O virtus occulta! unam animam emissam in tormento, innumerabiles extrahere de inferno, hominem mortem corporis suscipere, et mortem animarum perimere.
Cur, bone Domine, pie Redemptor, potens Salvator, cur tantam virtutem operuisti tanta humilitate? An ut falleres diabolum, qui fallendo hominem dejecit de paradiso? Sed utique veritas nullum fallit. Qui ignorat, qui non credit veritatem, ipse se fallit: qui videt veritatem, et odit vel contemnit, ipse se fallit. Veritas itaque nullum fallit. An ideo, ut ipse diabolus se falleret? Sed utique sicut veritas nullum fallit, ita non intendit ut aliquis se fallat, quamvis hoc dicatur facere, cum permittit. Non enim assumpsisti hominem ut te notum operires, sed ut ignotum aperires.
Verum Deum, verum hominem te dixisti, et operibus ostendisti. Res per se occulta fuit, non studio occultata; non sic est facta ut absconderetur, sed ut suo ordine perficeretur; nec ut aliquem deciperet, sed ut quemadmodum oportebat fieret. Et si dicitur occulta; non est aliud quam non est omnibus revelata. Nam, etsi veritas non omnibus se manifestat, nulli tamen se negat. Ergo, Domine, nec ut falleres, nec ut aliquis se falleret, sic fecisti; sed ut faceres quod et quomodo faciendum erat, per omnia in veritate perstitisti. Qui ergo se fefellit in tua veritate; non de te, sed de propria queratur falsitate.
An diabolus habebat juste aliquid adversus Deum, vel adversus hominem, propter quod Deus prius deberet adversus eum pro homine hoc modo agere, quam aperta fortitudine: ut dum ille justum hominem injuste occideret, juste potestatem, quam super injustos habebat, perderet? Sed certe diabolo nec Deus debebat aliquid, nisi poenam; nec homo, nisi vicem: ut quemadmodum ab illo se facile permisit vinci peccando, ita illum vinceret usque ad difficultatem mortis, justitiam integram servando. Sed et hoc nonnisi Deo debebat homo. Nam non peccavit adversus diabolum, sed adversus Deum; nec homo diaboli erat, sed et homo et diabolus Dei erant. Sed et quod diabolus vexabat hominem, non hoc faciebat zelo justitiae, sed nequitiae; nec jubente Deo, sed permittente: non diaboli, sed Dei justitia exigente. Nihil ergo erat in diabolo cur Deus adversus eum ad salvandum hominem fortitudinem suam celare aut differre deberet.
An aliqua necessitas coegit ut Altissimus sic se humiliaret, et Omnipotens ad faciendum aliquid tantum laboraret? Sed omnis necessi as et impossibilitas ejus subjacet voluntati. Quippe quod vult necesse est esse; et quod non vult, impossibile est esse. Sola ergo voluntate: et quoniam voluntas ejus semper bona est, sola fecit hoc bonitate. Non enim Deus agebat ut hoc modo hominem salvum faceret; sed humana natura indigebat ut hoc modo Deo satisfaceret. Non egebat Deus ut tam laboriosa pateretur; sed indigebat homo ut sic Deo reconciliaretur; nec egebat Deus ut sic humiliaretur, sed indigebat homo ut sic de profundo inferni erueretur. Divina natura humiliari aut laborare non eguit, nec potuit. Haec omnia humanam naturam, ut ad hoc restitueretur propter quod facta erat, necesse erat facere; sed nec illa, nec quidquid Deus non est, poterat ad hoc sufficere.
Nam homo ad hoc quod institutus est, non restituitur: si non ad similitudinem angelorum, in quibus nullum est peccatum, provehitur, quod est impossibile fieri, nisi omnium percepta peccatorum remissione, quae non fit, nisi praecedente integra satisfactione: quam satisfactionem talem oportet esse, ut peccator, aut aliquis pro illo det aliquid Deo de suo, quod debitum non sit, quod superet omne quod Deus non est. Si enim peccare est Deum exhonorare; et hoc homo facere non debet, etiamsi necesse esset quidquid est, quod Deus non est, perire: utique veritas immutabilis, et aperta ratio exigit, ut qui peccat reddat aliquid Deo pro honore ablato majus, quam sit hoc, pro quo illum exhonorare non debuit. Quod quoniam humana natura sola non habebat, nec sine debita satisfactione reconciliari poterat. Ne justitia Dei in regno suo peccatum inordinatum relinqueret, subvenit bonitas Dei, et eam in suam personam assumpsit Filius Dei ut in ea persona esset homo Deus, qui haberet quod superaret non solum omnem essentiam, quae Deus non est; sed etiam omne debitum, quod peccatores solvere debent: et hoc, cum nihil pro se deberet, solveret pro aliis, qui quod debebant redd re non habebant. Pretiosior namque est vita hominis illius, quam omne quod Deus non est; et superat omne debitum, quod debent peccatores pro satisfactione. Si enim interfectio illius superat omnem multitudinem et magnitudinem peccatorum, quae cogitari possunt extra personam Dei; palam est quia vita ejus magis est bona quam omnia peccata sint mala, quae extra personam Dei sunt. Hanc vitam homo iste, cum ex debito mori non deberet, quoniam peccator non erat, sponte dedit de suo ad honorem Patris: cum eam sibi auferri propter justitiam permisit, ut exemplum omnibus aliis daret, justitiam Dei ab illis non esse deserendam propter mortem, quam ex necessitate aliquando solvere debent: cum iste, qui eam non debebat, et servata justitia vitare posset, eam sibi illatam propter justitiam sponte sustineret. Dedit itaque humana natura Deo in illo homine sponte et non ex debito quod suum erat, ut redimeret se in aliis, in quibus quod ex debito exigebatur, reddere non habebat.
In omnibus his divina natura non est humiliata, sed humana est exaltata: nec est illa imminuta, sed ista est misericorditer adjuta.
Nec humana natura in isto homine passa est aliquid ulla necessitate, sed sola libera voluntate. Nec alicui violentiae succubuit, sed spontanea bonitate ad honorem Dei et utilitatem aliorum hominum, quae illi mala voluntate sunt illata, laudabiliter et misericorditer sustinuit; nec ulla cogente obedientia, sed potenti disponente sapientia. Non enim illi homini Pater ut moreretur cogendo praecepit; sed ille quod Patri placiturum et hominibus profuturum intellexit, hoc sponte fecit. Non enim ad hoc eum cogere potuit Pater, quod ab eo exigere non debuit; nec Patri tantus honor potuit non placere, quem tam bona voluntate Filius sponte obtulit. Sic itaque Patri liberam obedientiam exhibuit, cum hoc, quod Patri placiturum scivit, sponte facere voluit. Denique quoniam Pater illi hanc bonam voluntatem dedit, quamvis liberam, non immerito dicitur, qui eam ille velut praeceptum Patris accepit. Hoc itaque modo obediens fuit Patri usque ad mortem. Et sicut mandatum dedit illi Pater, sic fecit.
Et calicem, quem dedit illi Pater, bibit. Haec est enim perfecta et liberrima humanae naturae obedientia, cum voluntatem suam liberam sponte voluntati Dei subdit, et cum acceptam bonam voluntatem sine omni exactione, spontanea libertate opere perficit. Sic homo ille redimit omnes alios, cum hoc, quod sponte dedit Deo, computat pro debito quod illi debebant. Quo pretio non semel tantum a culpis homo redimitur, sed etiam quoties cum digna poenitentia redierit, recipitur: quae tamen poenitentia peccanti non promittitur. Quod quoniam in cruce factum est, per crucem noster Christus nos redemit. Qui ergo ad hanc gratiam volunt cum digno affectu accedere, salvantur; qui vero illam contemnunt, quia debitum quod debent non reddunt, juste damnantur.
Ecce, anima Christiana, haec est virtus salvationis tuae, haec est causa libertatis tuae, hoc est pretium redemptionis tuae. Captiva eras; sed hoc modo es redempta. Ancilla eras, et sic es liberata. Sic es exsul, reducta; perdita, restituta, et mortua, resuscitata. Hoc mandat, o homo, hoc ruminet, hoc sugat, hoc glutiat cor tuum cum ejusdem Redemptoris tui carnem et sanguinem accipit os tuum. Hoc fac in hac vita quotidianum panem et victum, et viaticum tuum; quia per hoc, et nonnisi per hoc, et tu manebis in Christo, et Christus in te: et in futura vita erit plenum gaudium tuum. Sed, o Domine, tu qui ut ego viverem, mortem suscepisti quomodo laetabor de libertate mea, quae non est nisi de vinculis tuis? Qualiter gratulabor de salute mea, cum non sit nisi de doloribus tuis?
Quomodo gaudebo de vita mea, quae non est nisi de morte tua? An gaudebo de his quae passus es, et de crudelitate illorum, quia ea tibi fecerunt? Quoniam nisi illi ea fecissent, tu passus non esses: et si tu passus non esses, haec omnia bona non essent. Aut si de illis dolebo, quomodo de istis, propter quae illa fuerunt, et quae non essent, nisi illa fuissent, gaudebo? Sed certe illorum nequitia nihil facere potuit, nisi quia tu sponte permisisti, nec tu passus es, nisi quia pie voluisti. Illorum itaque debeo crudelitatem exsecrari, mortem et labores tuos compatiendo imitari, piam voluntatem tuam gratias agendo amare, ac sic secure de bonis mihi collatis exsultare.
Ergo, homuncio, illorum crudelitatem dimitte Dei judicio, et tracta de his quae debes Salvatori tuo. Considera quid tibi erat, et quid tibi factum sit, et pensa qui hoc tibi fecit, quo amore dignus sit. Intuere necessitatem tuam, et bonitatem ejus, et vide quas gratias reddas, et quantum debeas amori ejus. In tenebris, in lubrico, in descensu super irremeabile chaos inferni eras; immensum, et quasi plumbeum pondus pendens a collo tuo te deorsum trahebat, onus importabile desuper te premebat, hostes invisibiles te toto conatu impellebant. Sic eras sine omni auxilio; et nesciebas, quia sic conceptus et natus eras. O quid tibi tunc erat! et quo te ista rapiebant; expavesce memorando, contremisce cogitando. O bone, o Domine Jesu Christe, sic posito nec petenti, nec opinanti, ut sol mihi illuxisti, et mihi quomodo eram ostendisti.
Abjecisti plumbum, quod deorsam me trahebat; removisti onus quod desuper me premebat; impellentes me repulisti, ac illis te pro me opposuisti. Vocasti me nomine novo, quod mihi de tuo nomine dedisti, et incurvatum ad aspectum tuum erexisti, dicens: Confide, ego te redemi, animam meam pro te dedi. Si adhaeres mihi, et mala, in quibus eras, evades et in profundum, quo properabas, non cades, sed perducam te ad regnum meum, et faciam te haeredem Dei et cohaeredem meum. Exinde accepisti me in tuitionem tuam, ut nihil noceret animae meae contra voluntatem suam. Et ecce, cum nondum adhaeserim tibi, sicut consuluisti, nondum tamen in infernum me cadere permisisti, sed adhuc exspectas, ut adhaeream, et facias quod promisisti. Certe, Domine, sic eram, et haec fecisti mihi. In tenebris eram, quia nihil nec meipsum sciebam; in lubrico, quia imbecillis et fragilis ad lapsum peccati eram; in descensu super chaos inferni, quia in primis parentibus descenderam de justitia ad injustitiam, per quam descenditur ad infernum, et de beatitudine ad temporalem miseriam, de qua caditur in aeternam. Pondus originalis peccati deorsum me trahebat, et onus importabile judicii Dei me premebat, et inimici mei daemones, ut me aliis peccatis damnabiliorem facerent, quantum in ipsis erat, vehementer insistebant.
Sic destituto omni auxilio illuxisti mihi, et quomodo eram ostendisti. Quia et cum ego nondum hoc nosse poteram, alios, qui pro me essent, et postea meipsum, antequam postularem, haec omnia docuisti. Plumbum trahens, et onus gravans et hostes impellentes rejecisti, quia peccatum, in quo natus et conceptus eram, et damnationem ejus amovisti, et malignos spiritus, ne vim animae meae facerent, prohibuisti. Christianum me fecisti vocari de nomine tuo, per quod et ego confiteor, et tu cognoscis me inter redemptos tuos, et erexisti et levasti me ad notitiam et amorem tuum; fecisti me confidere de salute animae meae, pro qua dedisti animam tuam, et mihi, si te sequerer, promisisti gloriam tuam. Et ecce, cum nondum sequar te, sicut consuluisti, sed insuper multa peccata fecerim quae tu prohibuisti, adhuc exspectas ut te sequar, et dones quod promisisti.
Considera, anima mea, intendite, omnia intima mea, quantum illi debeat substantia mea tota. Certe, Domine, quia me fecisti, debeo amori tuo meipsum totum; quia me redemisti, debeo meipsum totum; quia tantum promittis, debeo meipsum totum, imo tantum debeo amori tuo plusquam meipsum, quantum tu es major me, pro quo dedisti teipsum, et cui promittis teipsum. Fac, precor, Domine, me gustare per amorem quod gusto per cognitionem; sentiam per affectum quod sentio per intellectum; plus debeo quam meipsum totum; sed nec plus habeo, nec hoc ipsum possum per me reddere totum. Trahe me, Domine, in amorem tuum, vel hoc ipsum totum. Totum, quod sum, tuum est conditione; fac totum tuum dilectione. Ecce, Domine, coram te est cor meum; conatur, sed per se non potest; fac tu quod ipsum non potest. Admitte me intra cubiculum amoris tui, peto, quaero, pulso. Qui me facis petere, fac et accipere.
Das quaerere, da invenire. Doces pulsare, aperi pulsanti. Cui das, si negas petenti? Quis invenit, si quaerens frustratur? Cui aperis, si pulsanti claudis? Quid das non oranti, si amorem tuum negas oranti? A te habeo desiderare, a te habeam impetrare. Adhaere illi, adhaere importune, anima mea.
Bone, bone Domine, ne rejicias eam; fame amoris tui languet, refocilla eam, satiet eam dilectio tua, impinguet eam affectus tuus, impleat eam amor tuus, occupet me totum, et possideat totum, quia tu es, cum Patre et Spiritu sancto, Deus solus benedictus in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
Scripture echoes
- ↩John.12.32 — And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.
- ↩Luke.23.32-Luke.23.43 — Two others also, criminals, were led away with him to be executed. Luke.23.33 — And when they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals—one on his right and one on his left. 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. Luke.23.35 — And the people stood watching, and the rulers also were mocking him, saying, "He saved others; let him save himself, if this is the Christ of God, the Chosen One." Luke.23.36 — The soldiers also mocked him, coming to him and offering him sour wine, Luke.23.37 — and saying, 'If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!' Luke.23.38 — There was also an inscription over him: 'This is the King of the Jews.' Luke.23.39 — One of the criminals who were hanged there kept heaping insults on him, saying, "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!" Luke.23.40 — But the other one answered, rebuking him: 'Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same judgment?' Luke.23.41 — And we indeed justly, for we are receiving what we have earned; but this man has done nothing wrong. Luke.23.42 — And he was saying, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Luke.23.43 — And he said to him, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise."
- ↩John.12.32 — And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.
- ↩1Pet.3.19 — in which also he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison,
- ↩Hos.13.14;1Cor.15.55 — From the hand of Sheol I will ransom them; from death I will redeem them. Where are your plagues, O Death? Where is your sting, O Sheol? Repentance shall be hidden from my eyes. 1Cor.15.55 — Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?
- ↩John.6.56 — The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.
- ↩Matt.7.7;Luke.11.9 — Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. Luke.11.9 — And I tell you: ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
- ↩Matt.7.7;Luke.11.9 — Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. Luke.11.9 — And I tell you: ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
- ↩Matt.7.7;Luke.11.9 — Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. Luke.11.9 — And I tell you: ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
- ↩Matt.7.8;Luke.11.10 — For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, it will be opened. Luke.11.10 — For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, it will be opened.
Notes
- 1 ↩The source reads 'necessi as' which appears to be a variant or corruption of 'necessitas'. The normalized text preserves the uncertain form; the translation renders the most plausible intended sense: 'necessitas'.
- 2 ↩The parallel antithetical structure (sed…sed, nec…sed) contrasts divine and human natures in the person of Christ: the divine is neither lowered nor lessened, while the human is raised up and aided by mercy. This reflects the communicatio idiomatum logic of the surrounding meditation on redemption.
- 3 ↩Likely echoing the Gethsemane cup tradition (cf. Matthew 26:39, Mark 14:36); Moses resolution pending.
- 4 ↩liberrima rendered 'most free' to capture the superlative force — the obedience is not constrained but is the fullest expression of liberty.
- 5 ↩computat pro debito — 'counts as the debt': Christ's voluntary self-offering is reckoned in place of the debt humanity could not pay.
- 6 ↩quae tamen poenitentia peccanti non promittitur — the final clause is striking: the author notes that even worthy penitence is not something the sinner can claim as a right; it remains a gift.
- 7 ↩debitum quod debent — 'the debt they owe': the language of debt underscores that salvation responds to an obligation humanity incurred and cannot satisfy on its own.
- 8 ↩The simile ut sol ('like/as the sun') is rendered with 'like the sun' to preserve the natural comparative force.
- 9 ↩Initial quia may be causal ('because') or explanatory; rendered as causal given the logic of the passage: God's prior teaching is the reason the speaker now understands.
- 10 ↩The three participial phrases (plumbum trahens, onus gravans, hostes impellentes) are objects of rejecisti; they describe what God cast off. The lead and burden are metaphors for sin's weight and the enemies for demonic forces.
- 11 ↩The phrase 'de nomine tuo' is ambiguous: it could mean 'by your name' (the name of Christ) or 'from your name' (derived from Christ's name). Rendered as 'by your name' to capture the instrumental sense of Christian identity.
Orationes sive Meditationes — Collection for Princess Adeliza of Normandy companion
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