Tractatus Prior, Pars Altera, Cap. 20. De direptione et divisione vestimentomm s

Tractatus Prior, Pars Altera, Cap. 20. De direptione et divisione vestimentomm s

Christ, I thank you, Lord Jesus Christ, creator of all things and distributor of all good, for that violent stripping and deceptive distraction of your garments, when immediately after the dreadful affixion to the cross you were violently stripped of all your clothes and so thoroughly deprived even to the last piece, that you retained not even the slightest garment to cover your own nakedness, nor did you have a modest cloth left to wrap yourself in when dead or to be buried with honor. For if you shouldn't be buried naked, you must buy a shroud from others and have it given to you out of compassion, as if you were a poor and needy person. O, how greedy is the desire of soldiers, not soldiers, but of lowly scoundrels! O shameless greed of the wicked soldiers, who did not hesitate to seize a small piece of Jesus' garment with sacrilegious desire, but even in the presence of the Crucified, they filled their insatiable avarice with the poor's clothing! For they were dividing the garments among themselves, assigning each soldier his share, while only the seamless tunic remained untouched. They were therefore seizing it by lot, because they couldn't divide it without damaging its fabric. Alas, the most unfortunate plunderers and the most hostile extortionists, who showed no mercy to the poor and naked Jesus hanging there, did not even leave him a small piece to restore or a fringe of his garment as a memorial for his grieving mother. But they did none of these things, since the devil instigated them to commit the greatest sacrilege without fear of the judgment to come. O my dearest Jesus, you say nothing contrary to this, nor do you act, but you endure everything in silence. Surely in this loss of your possessions, you clearly show what I should do when something necessary is taken away from me. I want to be more prepared to endure temporary losses than to demand what is rightfully owed to me. But I believe these garments were not made with fine craftsmanship or decorated with any color, but were plain and simple, more like those of the poor of the earth, or fashioned humbly according to the customs of the Nazarenes and the ancient prophets, which no curious tailor's invention complicated, but rather were woven by the sacred virgin's hands and the needle of the Holy Spirit's art, or perhaps prepared by the mother of the virgin for her son from the labor of the inhabitants of the earth during his childhood. O supreme creator of heaven, true God and man, you had scarcely any rags to wear at your birth, and now, as you die, you have lost all your clothes. Then, in a narrow manger, He carried tender limbs of infancy; now, stripped of all good things, He has nothing in the whole world, where He created the one whose head He reclines upon gently, except on the cross. For just as a poor and needy person comes into the world, so also a naked and exiled one wished to depart. Born, he is tightly bound with a cloth; dying, he is pierced with a nail and a spear. The consideration of such great misfortune demands compassion; the display of such great tolerance requires imitation. So be patient from now on, when some necessary things are taken from you, or even when desired things are denied. Learn to make do with what is modest and less valuable, and you'll be free from complaints, very calm in your mind, and accepted by God Almighty. O, who will give me even a single piece of those sacred garments of my Lord Jesus, or allow me to touch them in devotion, or kiss them with my lips, from which such great power has often gone out to heal the sick! Oh, how sacred are the remnants of those garments, and how much reverence they deserve to be held in, wherever they may be found. If those soldiers had truly known the dignity of what they were handling, they would never have greedily torn it apart or sold it for a low price. Instead, they would have preserved it with the utmost care and due honor, even in silver cases, since it was far more precious than all the robes of kings and the vestments of priests, and no desirable metal was worthy to be compared to it. But the wicked were unaware of its holiness and reverence, as they, driven by their own greed, failed to recognize the virtue of its fragrance. It's a painful thing to see how such a noble garment was so cheaply torn apart and taken by those who were playing games. I think that if someone powerful and wealthy were present among the living faithful of Christ, he would gladly have offered a large sum of money for the redemption of those holy relics or secured some part of it for himself, and thus, enriched by such a noble gift, would have returned joyfully to his own. And now, O sweetest Jesus, patient bearer [REDACTED] many injustices, grant me with a pious mind to recount to you the greatness of your glory and praise, which the lowly soldiers have hurled at you in confusion. Blessed be the holy and immaculate garment, with which your virgin body, born of the Virgin Mary, was honorably covered for many years. Blessed is the fringe of your garment, at whose touch all who are suffering and approach with faithful devotion are quickly healed. Blessed is your seamless garment, which is not to be used by any human for common purposes, but is worthy to be dedicated to the sacred service of God alone. Indeed, it was fitting to keep this intact because of its unique reverence and for the unity of the holy mother Church, which is to be commended throughout the whole world. Although it may be divided by regions, languages, and dwellings, and distinguished by various orders and merits of life, the whole body of the Church lives, is governed, and is nourished under one head and one supreme shepherd, maintaining one faith, receiving one baptism, believing in one God in perfect Trinity, having one spouse, Jesus Christ, reigning in heaven, from whom it cannot be separated by any impulses of temptation. For indeed, Lord, you have given your bride, the holy Church, an unassailable shield against all errors: the word of truth, the light of knowledge, and the fervor of love to obtain the imperishable crown of eternal life. O Jesus, poorest and richest King of kings, Lord, you were the poorest in the stripping of your garments and the loss of friends, yet the richest in the fullness of spiritual gifts. Grant me, your poor servant, at least one virtue from the abundance of your virtues, so that I may not be found naked and ashamed before you, like that man who was discovered at the feast without a wedding garment and was soon cast out from the company of the saints because of his disgrace. May my heart be torn with a healing compunction in remembrance of your garment, which was divided in four ways, so that I may be pierced with either the fear of hell, the hope of future glory, the pain of past iniquity, or the love of grace already received. Grant me, Lord, the sign of your seamless garment, that I may maintain the unity of brotherly love in the bond of peace, casting aside all matters of dissension, avoiding the tumult of this world, abstaining from distractions and foolish talk for the sake of the love of inner peace, desiring to lead a poor and hidden life with you, wanting nothing of happiness in this world, loving nothing of ownership, just as you possessed nothing earthly in this world, except for a little of whatever was necessary, which you seemed to use in your need, allowing even that to be taken away and scattered by robbers, providing an example of patience through this for all who suffer injustice, so that they may not be overly saddened by the loss of their possessions.