Prologus, caput III
The Bride Called as Foundress
Christ calls the bride to become the vine of a new religious life and urges her to despise earthly bitterness with steadfast virtue.
Christ, speaking to the bride, declares in the chapter immediately following, telling the bride that she herself ought to be the vine of his aforementioned vineyard — that is, the foundress of the said most holy new religious life, from which fruit-bearing branches will go forth.✦✦ And so he admonishes her to be virtuous, steadfast, and watchful, and to look down on earthly things — which are as bitter as poison.
The Ruined Vineyards and the New Plantation
Christ declares his sovereign dignity, laments humanity's unique capacity to provoke divine anger, and contrasts the ruined old religious vineyards with his promise to plant a new one sustained by grace.
"I am the creator of all things, and I was created by no one. Among all the things I made, I made nothing into so great a dignity as the human being, whom I established as lord over all the things that were created on earth. I also gave them understanding, so that they could use these things for their own necessity and benefit, and so that they might greatly praise me for the grace given to them. But among all things, nothing provokes me to anger so much as a human being, and besides them, everything stands according to my command. I told you before that I was like a king who planted fine vineyards, which yielded good fruit for a long time. What were these vineyards if not the religious lives and the institutions of the holy fathers, from which the thirsty were refreshed, the cold grew warm, the swollen were humbled, and the blind were given light? Now, though, I complain, because the wall of the vineyards has been torn down, the guards are asleep and thieves break in, the roots are dug up by moles, the branches are parched with dryness, and the clusters are thrown down by the wind and trampled. So then, lest the wine fail completely, I will plant a new vineyard for myself, in which you will carry the branches of my words; my friend will set them in place, and I myself, God, will add the richness of my grace.
Guardians, Branches, and the Call to Vigor
Christ promises vigilant guardians and divine protection for the new vineyard, then instructs the bride and her guide to be strong, watchful, and prudent in their spiritual roles.
Into this vineyard, however, I will send guardians who will not sleep through the night; I will put up a wall through divine love; I will establish roots in it with good resolve, roots that the devil's temptations will not undermine; I will spread the branches of its work, and I will make the clusters of its reputation and its devotion sweet to many.12 So you, who ought to bear branches, ought to be strong and firm for bearing, ready and watchful for receiving, faithful and cautious for guarding, so that the devil does not deceive you. But the one who is about to place the branches ought to be thoughtful, so that he may place them in the proper place, anxious and diligent in fortifying against cold or heat.3
Stand Firm and Love with Your Whole Heart
Christ directly commands the bride to stand firm in love, embrace humility, guard every limb for his honor, obey his teaching, examine her conscience continually, and renounce the world's empty honors.
Therefore stand firm and love me with your whole heart; flee all pride and take up all humility; keep your mouth and all my limbs to my honor; obey, as I had instructed you; examine your conscience every hour, how much you go beyond and how; rise up immediately to me if you fall; do not care about the world's honors or its friends, because when you have me, all things become sweet to you, and when you have loved me perfectly, all things besides me that are of the world will become bitter to you as if poison!45
Read the original Latin
Christus loquens sponse declarat supra proximum capitulum dicens sponse, quod ipsa debet esse vitis predicte vinee sue, idest fundatrix dicte noue religionis sanctissime, a qua procedent palmites fructiferi. Et ideo monet eam, vt sit virtuosa, constans et vigilans despiciatque terrena, que amara sunt quasi venenum.
"Ego sum creator omnium rerum et a nullo creatus. Inter omnia, que feci, nichil in tantam dignitatem feci sicut hominem, quem constitui dominum super omnia, que creata sunt in terra. Eciam dedi ei intelligenciam, vt eis ad necessitatem et commodum suum vteretur et me de data sibi gracia collaudaret. Sed inter omnia me nichil ad iram tantum prouocat sicut homo et preter eum omnia stant ad preceptum meum. Dixi tibi prius, quod eram similis regi, qui plantauit vineas bonas, que dederunt fructum bonum longo tempore. Que fuerunt vinee iste nisi religiones et instituta sanctorum patrum, de quibus sicientes refocillabantur, frigidi incaluerunt, turgidi humiliabantur, ceci illuminabantur? Nunc autem conqueror, quia maceria vinearum dissipata est, custodes dormiunt et ingrediuntur fures, radices suffodiuntur a talpis, palmites siccitate aridi sunt et racemi a vento prostrati conculcantur. Propterea, ne omnino vinum deficiat, plantabo michi de nouo vineam, in quam tu portabis palmites verborum meorum, amicus meus ponet eos, ego vero ipse Deus apponam pinguedinem gracie mee.
In hanc autem vineam mittam custodes, qui non dormient in nocte; statuam maceriam per diuinam caritatem; stabiliam radices in ea bone voluntatis, que non suffodientur dyaboli temptacionibus; dilatabo palmites operacionis eius, dulces faciam racemos opinionis eius et deuocionis eius multis. Ideo tu, que debes palmites portare, debes esse fortis et stabilis ad portandum, parata et vigilans ad recipiendum, fidelis et cauta ad custodiendum, ne dyabolus decipiat te. Ille vero, qui locaturus est palmites, debet esse consideratiuus, vt ponat eos in loco debito, sollicitus et diligens in muniendo pro frigore vel ardore. Ideo sta firmiter et dilige me toto corde; fuge omnem superbiam et assume omnem humilitatem; serua os tuum et omnia membra tua ad honorem meum; obedi, sicut tibi preceperam; discute omni hora conscienciam tuam, quantum excedis et quomodo; consurge statim ad me, si cadis; non cures mundi honores nec eius amicos, quia, cum me habueris, omnia dulcescunt tibi et, cum tu me perfecte dilexeris, omnia preter me, que mundi sunt, amara fient tibi quasi venenum!"
Scripture echoes
- ↩John.15.1-John.15.5 — I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. John.15.2 — Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, so that it may bear more fruit. John.15.3 — Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. John.15.4 — Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it remains in the vine, neither can you, unless you remain in me. John.15.5 — I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who abides in me, and I in him, this one bears much fruit; for apart from me you can do nothing.
- ↩Isa.5.1-Isa.5.7 — Let me sing for my beloved a song of my beloved concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. Isa.5.2 — He dug it up and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines. He built a watchtower in its midst, and also hewed out a wine vat in it. He waited for it to produce grapes, but it produced wild grapes. Isa.5.3 — And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, I pray, between me and my vineyard. Isa.5.4 — What more was there to do for my vineyard, and I did not do it in it? Why did I expect it to produce grapes, and it produced wild grapes? Isa.5.5 — And now I will make known to you what I am doing to my vineyard: I will remove its hedge, and it will be for burning; I will break down its wall, and it will be for trampling. Isa.5.6 — I will make it a wasteland; it will not be pruned or hoed, and thorns and briers will grow up. And I will command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. Isa.5.7 — For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the man of Judah is his delightful planting. He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.
Notes
- 1 ↩caritatem rendered 'love' per lexeme policy (charitas → love); could also bear the theological-virtue sense 'charity.'
- 2 ↩opinionis: here in the sense of reputation or esteem, not intellectual opinion.
- 3 ↩consideratiuus: rare or hapax term; rendered 'thoughtful' in the sense of prudent, reflective care.
- 4 ↩membra tua: rendered 'my limbs' following the address of Christ; the sense is that the hearer's whole body is to be kept in service to Christ's honor.
- 5 ↩quantum excedis: 'how much you go beyond' — sense context-dependent; possibly 'how far you stray' or 'how much you exceed proper measure.'
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