Verba virginis Marie ad filiam, utilem doctrinam, qualiter viuere debeat, ponencia et multa mirabilia Christi passionis declarancia.
The Virgin's Early Devotion
The Virgin Mary recounts her early life of prayer, detachment, and intense longing for the coming of the Savior.
"I am the Queen of Heaven, the Mother of God." I told you that you should keep a jewel in your heart. Now I will show you more fully that from the beginning, when I first heard and understood that God exists, I was always anxious and fearful regarding my own salvation and my observance of Him. But when I had heard more fully that God Himself was my Creator and the judge of all my actions, I loved Him deeply, and at every hour I was afraid and careful not to offend Him in word or deed. Once I heard that He had given the law and His commandments to the people and performed such great wonders among them, I firmly resolved in my heart to love nothing but Him, and worldly things became intensely bitter to me. After this, having also heard that this same God was to redeem the world and be born of a virgin, I was moved with such great love for Him that I thought of nothing but God, and wanted nothing but Him. I distanced myself as much as I could from the conversations and presence of parents and friends, and I gave everything I could possess to those in need. I kept nothing for myself except simple food and clothing. Nothing pleased me but God. I always longed in my heart to live until the time of His birth, if by chance I might deserve to become an unworthy handmaid to the Mother of God. I also vowed in my heart, if it were acceptable to Him, to keep my virginity and never to possess anything in the world. But if God wanted something else, His will would be done, not mine, because I believed that He could do all things and would desire nothing but what was useful for me. That’s why I entrusted my entire will to Him. When the time came for the virgins to be presented in the temple of the Lord according to the established rule, I was there among them out of obedience to my parents, thinking to myself that nothing is impossible for God. And because He knew that I desired nothing and wanted nothing but Him, He could keep me in virginity if it pleased Him; but if not, His will would be done. Once I had heard everything commanded in the temple, I returned home burning with a greater love for God than before, and each day I was inflamed with new fervor and longings of love. Because of this, I withdrew from everyone more than usual and was alone night and day, fearing intensely that my mouth might speak or my ears might hear anything against my God, or that my eyes might see anything delightful. I was also timid in my silence and very anxious, lest I might accidentally keep silent about things that I should have spoken of instead.
The Annunciation and the Incarnation
Mary describes the angelic visitation, her humble acceptance of God's will, and the miraculous, painless conception and birth of Christ.
As I was troubled in my heart, alone with myself, and committing all my hope to God, it immediately came to my mind to reflect on God’s great power: how the angels and all created things serve Him, and what His glory is like—which is ineffable and endless. And as I pondered these things, I saw three wonders. I saw a star, but not like the ones that shine in the sky. I saw a light, but not like the light that shines in this world. I sensed a fragrance, not like that of herbs or anything of that sort, but something most sweet and truly ineffable, by which I was completely filled and exulted with joy. Then, immediately, I heard a voice, but not from a human mouth. And after hearing it, I was quite afraid, thinking that perhaps it might be an illusion. And immediately an angel of God appeared before me, looking like a very beautiful man, but not clothed in flesh, and he said to me, 'Hail, full of grace!' Et cetera. When I heard this, I wondered what it meant or why he would offer such a greeting. For I knew and believed myself unworthy of such a thing or of any good, yet I knew that for God, nothing is impossible, and that He will do whatever He wills. Then the angel said a second time: "What will be born in you is holy and will be called the Son of God, and as it pleases Him, so it will be." Yet I didn't believe I was worthy, nor did I ask the angel, "Why?" or "When will this happen?" Instead, I asked: "How will this happen, since I am an unworthy mother of God, and I do not know a man?" The angel answered me, as I mentioned, that nothing is impossible for God, but that "whatever He wills to do, it will be done," and so on. When I heard the angel’s words, I felt a most fervent desire to be the Mother of God, and my soul spoke out of love: 'I am the Lord’s servant; may your will be done in me!' At that word, my Son was immediately conceived in my womb with an ineffable exultation of my soul and all my members. And while I carried him in my womb, I bore him without pain, without any heaviness or weariness of the body. I humbled myself in all things, knowing that the one I carried was the Almighty. When I gave birth to him, I did so without pain or sin, just as I had conceived him, with such joy of soul and body that my feet, in their exultation, didn't even feel the ground where they stood. And just as he entered into all my members with the joy of my whole soul, so he departed with the joy of all my members, my soul exulting in ineffable joy, without any harm to my virginity.
The Sorrow of the Passion
Mary details the suffering of Christ during His passion, her own profound grief as a mother, and the final burial of her Son.
And as I looked upon him and considered his beauty, my soul would drip like dew for joy, knowing that I was unworthy of such a son. But when I considered the places of the nails in his hands and feet—which I had heard from the prophets would be crucified—my eyes would fill with tears, and my heart would feel as if it were being torn apart with sadness. Then my son would look into my tear-filled eyes and be saddened, as if unto death. But when I considered the power of His divinity, I was comforted again, knowing that He willed it so and that it was for the best, and I conformed my entire will to His. And so, my joy was always mixed with sorrow. As the time of My Son's passion drew near, His enemies seized Him, striking Him on the jaw and neck, and mocking Him by spitting on Him. Then, led to the pillar, He personally took off His clothes and personally placed His hands against the pillar, which His enemies bound without mercy. Bound and completely uncovered, he stood just as he was born, enduring the shame of his nakedness. His enemies, however, who stood all around while his friends fled, rose up and scourged his body, which was clean of every stain and sin. At the first blow, I—who was standing nearby—fell down as if dead; when I caught my breath again, I saw his body beaten and whipped down to the ribs, so that they were exposed. And what was even more bitter was that when the whips were pulled back, his flesh was torn by them. And when my Son stood there, all bloody and so completely torn that there was no health left in him, nor any place left to scourge, one of them, stirred in his spirit, asked, 'Are you really going to kill him like this, without a trial?' And he immediately cut his bonds. Then my Son put on his clothes. I saw the place where my Son’s feet had stood, completely soaked in blood, and I could trace his path by his footprints. Everywhere he had walked, the ground was stained with blood. They didn't even let him get dressed, but forced and dragged him along to make him hurry. But as he was being led away like a common criminal, my son wiped the blood from his own eyes. Once he was sentenced, they laid the cross on him to carry. After he had carried it for a little while, someone came along and took it to carry it for him. As my Son was on his way to the place of his passion, some struck him on the neck, while others beat him in the face. He was struck with such violence that, even though I didn't see the person hitting him, I clearly heard the sound of the blows. When I arrived with him at the place of his passion, I saw all the instruments of his death already prepared there. My Son himself came there and took off his clothes, while the guards said among themselves, 'These clothes are ours, and he won't get them back, because he's been sentenced to death.' As my Son stood there, naked just as He was born, someone ran up and brought Him a cloth, with which He, feeling a deep sense of relief, covered His private parts. Afterward, the cruel executioners grabbed Him and stretched Him out on the cross, first fastening His right hand to the beam, which had already been pierced for the nails. They pierced the hand itself through the part where the bone was most solid. Then, pulling His other hand toward the beam with a rope, they fastened it the same way. Then they crucified his right foot, and over it his left, with two nails, in such a way that all his nerves and veins were stretched and torn. Once that was done, they fitted a crown of thorns onto his head, which pierced the venerable head of my son so violently that blood flowed down, filling his eyes, blocking his ears, and staining his entire beard as it ran down. And as he stood there, bloodied and pierced, feeling compassion for me as I stood by weeping, he looked at my kinsman John with his blood-filled eyes and entrusted me to him. At that time, I heard some people saying my Son was a thief, others that he was a liar, and others that no one deserved death more than my Son. Hearing this renewed my grief. But, as I said, when the first nail was driven into him, I was so shaken by that first blow that I fell down as if dead; my eyes darkened, my hands trembled, and my feet were unsteady. And because of the bitterness, I couldn't look up until he was completely nailed to the cross. Rising, I saw my Son hanging there in misery, and I, His most sorrowful mother, utterly overwhelmed, could barely stand for the pain. But my Son, seeing me and His friends weeping inconsolably, cried out to His Father in a loud and mournful voice: 'Father, why have You forsaken Me?' It was as if He were saying: 'There is no one to have mercy on Me but You, Father.' His eyes looked half-dead, his cheeks sunken, and his face mournful; his mouth hung open and his tongue was bloodied, his stomach pulled against his spine as if he had no insides, his whole body pale and weak from the flow and loss of blood. His hands and feet were stretched out most rigidly, and pulled and shaped to the cross in the form of a cross. His beard and hair were completely splattered with blood. So, when my Son stood there so torn and bruised, only his heart remained fresh, because his nature was of the highest and strongest quality. For he took his most pure and perfectly formed body from my own flesh. His skin was so tender and delicate that he couldn't be whipped, even lightly, without blood immediately appearing. His blood, too, was so fresh that it could be seen through his clean skin. And because he was of such an excellent nature, life struggled against death within his pierced body. Sometimes the pain from his pierced limbs and nerves would rise to his heart—which was so fresh and uncorrupted—and torment him with incredible agony and suffering. At other times, the pain would descend from his heart into his torn limbs, and in this way, it prolonged his death with bitterness. When my Son, surrounded by these torments, looked upon his weeping friends—who would have preferred to bear that punishment themselves with his help, or to burn in hell forever rather than see him tortured so—that pain, born from the suffering of his friends, exceeded every bitterness and tribulation he endured in body or in heart, because he loved them so tenderly. Then, because of the extreme agony of his body, he cried out to the Father from his human nature: "O Father, into your hands I commend my spirit." When I, his most sorrowful mother, heard this voice, every limb in my body trembled with the bitter pain in my heart. And as often as I thought of this voice afterward, it was as present and fresh as if it were in my ear. As death approached, when his heart was breaking from the violence of his suffering, all his limbs trembled, his head lifted slightly and then slumped, his mouth appeared open, and his whole tongue was bloodied. His hands pulled back slightly from the place of the piercing, and his feet could no longer support the weight of his body. His fingers and arms stretched out in a certain way, and his back was pressed firmly against the wood. Then some said to me, "Mary, your son is dead." Others, however, said, "He is dead, but he will rise again." As everyone was leaving, a man came up and drove a lance into his side so forcefully that it nearly went through to the other side. And when the spear was pulled out, the tip appeared red with blood. Then it felt as if my own heart were being pierced, when I saw the heart of my dearest son pierced. Then he was taken down from the cross. I received him onto my lap; he looked like a leper, all bruised and discolored. For his eyes were dead and filled with blood, his mouth was cold as snow, his beard was like a rope, and his face was drawn. His hands, too, had stiffened so much that they couldn't be lowered any further than his waist. Just as he had hung on the cross, so I held him on my lap, like a man whose every limb was contracted. Afterward, they laid him in a clean linen cloth, and with my own linen cloth, I wiped his wounds and his limbs, and I closed his eyes and his mouth, which had been left open in death. Then they laid him in the tomb. Oh, how gladly I would have been laid there alive with my Son, if it had been his will! When these things were finished, that good John came and led me into the house. Look, my daughter, these are the things my Son endured for you!
Read the original Latin
"Ego sum regina celi, mater Dei. Ego dixi tibi, quod habere debeas monile in pectore tuo. Nunc plenius monstrabo tibi, quod ego a principio, cum audirem et intelligerem Deum esse, semper sollicita et timorata fui de salute et obseruancia mea. Cum autem audissem plenius ipsum Deum esse creatorem meum et iudicem de omnibus actibus meis, intime dilexi eum et omni hora timui et cogitaui, ne eum verbo vel facto offenderem.
Deinde cum audissem eum dedisse legem populo et precepta sua et fecisse cum eis tanta mirabilia, proposui firmiter in animo meo nichil nisi ipsum diligere, et amara michi erant mundana vehementer. Post hec audito eciam, quod ille idem Deus redempturus esset mundum et nasciturus de virgine, tanta circa eum caritate affecta fui, quod nichil nisi Deum cogitabam, nichil volebam nisi ipsum.
Ego elongaui me, quantum potui, a colloquiis et presencia parentum et amicorum et omnia, que habere potui, dedi indigentibus. Nichil nisi victum tenuem et vestitum reseruaui. Nulla michi nisi Deus placuerunt. Ego semper in corde meo optaui, ut viuerem ad tempus natiuitatis eius, si forte fieri mererer ancilla indigna matris Dei. Voui eciam in corde meo, si esset ei acceptabile, obseruare virginitatem, nichil umquam possidere in mundo.
Si autem aliter vellet Deus, fieret voluntas eius, non mea, quia credebam eum omnia posse et velle nichil nisi michi utile. Ideo ei omnem voluntatem meam commisi.
Instante vero tempore, quo secundum constitucionem virgines presentabantur in templo Domini, affui et ego inter eas propter obedienciam parentum meorum, cogitans mecum Deo nichil esse impossibile. Et quia ipse sciebat me nichil desiderare, nichil velle nisi se, posset me seruare in virginitate, si ei placeret; sin autem, fieret voluntas eius.
Auditis autem omnibus, que mandata erant in templo, regressa domum ampliori quam prius ardebam amore Dei et nouis cotidie inflammabar estibus et desideriis amoris. Propterea plus solito ab omnibus me elongaui et fui sola noctibus ac diebus, timens vehementissime, ne os loqueretur vel auris audiret aliqua contra Deum meum, vel ne oculi mei viderent aliqua delectabilia. Timida quoque fui in silencio et multum anxia, ne forte silerem ea, que magis loqui debuissem.
Cumque sic turbarer in corde sola mecum spemque omnem meam committerem Deo, illico venit in mentem meam cogitare Dei magnam potenciam, quomodo ei seruiunt angeli et omnia creata, qualis gloria eius est, que est ineffabilis et interminabilis.
Et cum hec mirarer, vidi tria mirabilia. Vidi namque sydus, sed non quale fulget de celo. Vidi lumen, sed non quale lucet in mundo. Sensi odorem, sed non qualis herbarum vel aliquid tale, sed suauissimum et vere ineffabilem, quo tota replebar et pre gaudio exultabam. Inde statim audiui unam vocem, sed non de ore humano. Et ea audita satis timui, reputans, ne forte esset illusio.
Et statim apparuit ante me angelus Dei quasi homo pulcherrimus, sed non carne vestitus, qui dixit ad me: 'Aue, gracia plena!' etcetera. Quod cum audissem, mirabar, quid significaret hoc, vel cur talem proferret salutacionem. Sciebam enim me et credebam indignam ad aliquid tale vel ad aliquid boni, Deo tamen non esse impossibile facere, quidquid vellet.
Tunc secundo angelus ait: 'Quod nascetur in te, sanctum est, et vocabitur filius Dei, et sicut ei placuerit, sic fiet.' Nec tamen credebam me dignam nec quesiui ab angelo: 'Quare' vel 'Quando fiet?' , sed quesiui: 'Quomodo fiet, quod ego indigna sim mater Dei, que et virum non cognosco?' Et respondit michi angelus, sicut dixi, Deo nichil esse impossibile sed 'Quidquid ipse vult facere, fiet' etcetera.
Quo verbo angeli audito, feruentissimum affectum habui esse mater Dei, et loquebatur anima mea pre amore: 'Ecce ego, fiat voluntas tua in me!' Ad quod verbum illico concipiebatur filius meus in utero meo cum ineffabili exultacione anime mee et omnium membrorum.
Cumque haberem eum in utero, portabam eum sine dolore, sine grauedine et tedio ventris. Humiliabam me in omnibus, sciens eum esse omnipotentem, quem portabam. Quando vero peperi eum, sine dolore et peccato peperi eum, sicut et concepi, cum tanta anime et corporis exultacione, quod pedes mei pre exultacione non senciebant terram, ubi stabant. Et sicut in omnia membra mea cum gaudio tocius anime mee intrauit, sic cum gaudio omnium membrorum exultante anima ineffabili gaudio sine lesione virginitatis mee exiuit.
Cumque conspicerem et considerarem pulchritudinem eius, anima mea quasi rorem pre gaudio stillabat, sciens me indignam ad talem filium. Quando vero considerabam loca clauorum in manibus et pedibus, quos secundum prophetas crucifigendos audiui, tunc oculi mei replebantur lacrimis et cor meum quasi scindebatur pre tristicia. Et tunc filius meus inspexit oculos meos lacrimantes et tristabatur quasi ad mortem.
Cum vero considerarem potenciam deitatis eius, consolabar iterum, sciens, quod ipse sic vellet et sic expediret, et omnem voluntatem meam conformaui voluntati eius. Et sic semper erat leticia mea mixta cum dolore.
Instante tempore passionis filii mei, rapuerunt eum inimici eius, percucientes eum in maxilla et collo et conspuentes illuserunt ei. Deinde ductus ad columpnam, personaliter se vestibus exuit et personaliter manus ad columpnam applicuit, quas inimici sine misericordia ligauerunt.
Alligatus autem nichil omnino operimenti habebat sed, sicut natus est, sic stabat et paciebatur erubescenciam nuditatis sue. Consurrexerunt autem inimici eius, qui, fugientibus amicis suis, undique astabant et flagellabant corpus eius, ab omni macula et peccato mundum.
Ad primum igitur ictum ego, que astabam propinquius, cecidi quasi mortua et resumpto spiritu vidi corpus eius verberatum et flagellatum usque ad costas, ita ut eius coste viderentur. Et, quod amarius erat, cum retraherentur flagella, carnes ipsius flagellis sulcabantur.
Cumque filius meus totus sanguinolentus, totus sic laceratus stabat, ut in eo non inueniretur sanitas nec quid flagellaretur, tunc unus concitato in se spiritu quesiuit: 'Numquid interficietis eum sic iniudicatum?' Et statim secuit vincula eius.
Inde filius meus induit se vestibus suis. Tunc locum, ubi stabant pedes filii mei, totum repletum vidi sanguine, et ex vestigiis filii mei cognoscebam incessum eius. Quo enim procedebat, apparebat terra infusa sanguine.
Nec ipsi paciebantur, ut se indueret, sed compulerunt et traxerunt eum, ut acceleraret. Cum autem duceretur quasi latro, ipse filius meus extersit sanguinem ab oculis suis. Cumque iudicatus esset, imposuerunt sibi crucem portandam. Quam cum ad modicum portasset, veniens unus assumpsit eam sibi portandam.
Interim eunte filio meo ad locum passionis, alii percusserunt eum in collo, alii in faciem cederunt. Et tam fortiter et valenter percussus est, ut, licet ego non viderem percucientem, audiui tamen clare sonitum percussionis. Cumque venissem cum eo ad locum passionis, omnia instrumenta vidi ibi preparata ad mortem suam. Et ipse filius meus veniens ibi exuit se personaliter vestibus suis, ministris inter se dicentibus: 'Hec vestimenta nostra sunt nec ea rehabebit, quia dampnatus est ad mortem.'
Stante autem filio meo, sicut natus erat, nudo corpore, unus tunc accurrens apportauit sibi velamen, quo ipse exultans intime velabat verecundiora sua. Postea rapuerunt eum seui tortores et extenderunt in cruce, primo dexteram manum eius affigentes stipiti, qui pro clauis perforatus erat. Et manum ipsam ex ea parte perforabant, qua os solidius erat. Inde trahentes cum fune aliam manum eius, ad stipitem eam simili modo affixerunt.
Deinde dexterum pedem crucifixerunt et super hunc sinistrum duobus clauis ita, ut omnes nerui et vene extenderentur et rumperentur. Quo facto aptauerunt coronam de spinis capiti eius, que tam vehementer reuerendum caput filii mei pupugit, ut ex sanguine fluente replerentur oculi eius, obstruerentur aures et barba tota decurrente sanguine deturparetur. Cumque sic sanguinolentus et perforatus staret, condolens michi astanti et gementi, respexit sanguinolentis oculis ad Iohannem, sororium meum, et me commendabat ei.
In tempore illo audiui alios dicentes, quod filius meus latro erat, alios, quia mendax, alios, quod nullus dignior esset morte quam filius meus. Ex quorum auditu dolor meus renouabatur. Sed, sicut dictum est, cum primus clauus infigeretur ei, ego ad primum ictum conturbata cecidi quasi mortua, oculis obscuratis, manibus trementibus, pedibus nutantibus. Et non respexi pre amaritudine, antequam ex toto affixus erat.
Surgens vero vidi filium meum miserabiliter pendentem, et ego, mater eius mestissima, undique consternata, pre dolore vix stare potui. Filius autem meus, videns me et amicos suos inconsolabiliter flentes, flebili voce et alta clamabat ad Patrem suum, dicens: 'Pater, quare me dereliquisti?' quasi diceret: 'Nullus est, qui misereatur mei nisi tu, Pater.'
Tunc oculi eius apparuerunt semimortui, maxille eius submerse et vultus lugubris, os eius apertum et lingua sanguinolenta, venter dorso inherens consumpto humore, quasi non haberet viscera, omne corpus pallidum et languidum ex fluxu et egressione sanguinis. Manus et pedes eius rigidissime extenti erant et iuxta formam crucis cruci attracti et conformati. Barba et crines ex toto respersi sanguine.
Itaque cum filius meus sic laceratus et liuidus staret, solum cor recens erat, quia optime et fortissime nature erat. De mea enim carne corpus mundissimum et optime complexionatum sumpsit.
Cutis eius sic tenera et gracilis erat, quod numquam sic leuiter flagellabatur, quin statim exiret sanguis. Ipse quoque sanguis eius tam recens erat, ut in cute munda videri posset. Et quia optime nature erat, vita cum morte in corpore eius perforato certabat.
Nam quandoque dolor de membris et nerius corporis perforatis ad cor ascendebat, quod recentissimum erat et incorruptum, et incredibili dolore et passione vexabat ipsum. Et quandoque dolor a corde in membra lacerata descendebat et sic mortem prolongabat cum amaritudine.
Cumque filius meus hiis doloribus circumseptus respexisset ad amicos suos flentes, qui maluissent illam penam in se cum auxilio eius pertulisse vel in eternum in inferno ardere quam eum sic videre cruciari, dolor ille ex amicorum dolore omnem amaritudinem et tribulacionem, quam vel in corpore vel in corde sustinuit, excedebat, quia tenere diligebat eos. Tunc pre nimia corporis angustia ex parte humanitatis clamabat ad Patrem: 'O Pater, in manus tuas commendo spiritum meum.'
Hanc igitur vocem cum audissem ego, eius mestissima mater, contremuerunt omnia membra mea cum amaro cordis mei dolore. Et quociens postea hanc vocem cogitabam, quasi in aure mea presens et recens erat. Appropinquante autem morte, cum cor pre violencia dolorum rumperetur, tunc omnia membra contremuerunt et caput eius quasi modicum se erigens inclinabatur, os eius apertum videbatur et lingua tota sanguinolenta.
Manus eius retraxerunt se modicum de loco perforacionis et pondus corporis pedes amplius sustentabant. Digiti et brachia quodammodo extendebant se et dorsum fortiter stringebatur ad stipitem.
Tunc quidam dixerunt ad me: 'Maria, filius tuus mortuus est.' Alii autem dixerunt: 'Mortuus est sed resurget.' Omnibus itaque discedentibus, unus adueniens affixit lanceam in latus eius tam valide, ut pene per aliud latus eius transiret. Et cum extraheretur hasta, apparuit cuspis rubea sanguine. Tunc michi videbatur, quod quasi cor meum perforaretur, cum vidissem cor filii mei carissimi perforatum.
Deinde depositus est de cruce. Quem ego recepi in genu meum quasi leprosum et totum liuidum. Nam oculi eius erant mortui et sanguine pleni, os frigidum quasi nix, barba quasi restis, facies contracta. Manus quoque sic diriguerant, quod non possent deponi nisi circa umbilicum. Sicut stetit in cruce, sic habui eum in genu quasi hominem contractum in omnibus membris.
Postea posuerunt eum in linteo mundo, et ego cum linteo meo extersi vulnera et membra eius et clausi oculos et os eius, que in morte fuerant aperta.
Deinde posuerunt eum in sepulchro. O quam libenter tunc posita fuissem viua cum filio meo, si fuisset voluntas eius!
Hiis completis venit ille bonus Iohannes et duxit me in domum. Ecce, filia mea, talia sustinuit filius meus pro te!"
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