Loquitur sponsa Christo preces effundendo pro supradicto episcopo et de responsionibus Christi et Virginis et sancte Agnetis sponse factis.
The Bishop's Spiritual Crossroads
The bride intercedes for a struggling bishop, prompting divine revelations regarding his divided heart and the dangers of delaying repentance.
O my Lord, I know that no one enters heaven unless the Father draws him. Therefore, most loving Father, draw this weak bishop to yourself. And you, Son of God, help him in his struggle. You too, Holy Spirit, fill this cold and empty bishop with your charity. The Father replied: "If the one drawing is strong, but the thing being drawn is too heavy, the work will be broken and brought to nothing all the sooner." But if the one being drawn is bound, they can't help themselves or the one drawing them; and if the one being drawn is unclean, they are abominable to draw or to touch. This bishop is like someone standing at an inn, weighing within himself which path he ought to take. The bride replied, "O my Lord, isn't it written that no one stands still in this life, but is always moving either toward better things or toward worse?" The Father answered, "Both can be said." For he stands, as it were, between two paths: that of joy and that of sorrow. He is troubled by the horror of eternal punishment. He longs to obtain heavenly joy, yet the path that leads to perfect joy seems harsh to him. He moves, however, toward whichever one he desires more strongly." Blessed Agnes speaks again: "This bishop is positioned like someone standing between two paths." He knows one path is narrow at the start but joyful in the end; he knows the other is pleasant for a time, but in the end, it holds an insatiable and painful abyss. As the traveler thought about these paths, he enjoyed walking the one that was pleasant at the start, yet he feared the bottomless pit; then this thought occurred to him: 'There is,' he said, 'a shortcut on this pleasant path.' 'If I find it, I can walk securely for a long time, and when I approach the end and the pit, if I find that shortcut, it won't do me any harm.' And so, walking securely on the path, when he reached the deep, he fell miserably, because he did not find the shortcut he had imagined. Many people today have thoughts like these, thinking to themselves: "It's burdensome," they say, "to walk the narrow way." "It's hard to give up your own will and honors." That’s why they place their hope in something false and dangerous. "Our life is long," they say. "God's mercy is immense." "This world is delightful and was created for our enjoyment." So it doesn't do any harm if I use the world for a time according to my own will, because at the end of my life I intend to follow God. For there is a kind of shortcut through this world's life, namely, compunction and confession. If I obtain this, I'll be saved. This kind of thinking—intending to sin right up until the end and then confessing—is a very weak hope, because people don't know what will happen before they fall. For some, such intense pain and a sudden end are sometimes inspired at the very last moment, so that they are in no way able to find fruitful contrition. And they deserve it; for they refused to foresee future evils when they could have, but instead set the time for God's mercy according to their own will and limitations. Nor did they intend to put an end to their sin until sin could no longer give them pleasure. In the same way, this bishop also stood between these two paths. Now, however, he is approaching a more delightful path of the flesh, and he has before him, as it were, three leaves that he is reading through. He reads the first leaf sweetly and continuously. He reads the second sometimes, but not with delight. He reads the third leaf rarely, and even then, with pain. The first, in truth, are riches and honors, in which he takes delight. The second is the fear of hell and the coming judgment, which troubles him. The third is the love of God and filial fear, which he rarely turns over in his mind. For if he were to consider what God has done for him, and what He has bestowed upon him, the love of God would never be extinguished in his heart.
Cooperation with Divine Grace
The Mother of God instructs the bishop on the necessity of personal cooperation with grace through repentance, humility, and charity.
The bride replied, "O Lady, pray for him." Then blessed Agnes said, "What does justice do but judge, and what does mercy do but draw us in?"1 The Mother of God speaks: "This is what shall be said to the bishop: God, although He can do all things, nevertheless requires a person to cooperate personally so that sin may be avoided and divine love obtained." There are three things that lead to avoiding sin, and three that lead to obtaining love. The three things by which sin is avoided are: perfect repentance; the intention not to commit the same sins again; and third, amending oneself according to the counsel of those whom one sees have despised the world. Humility, mercy, and the labor of charity are three things that work together to obtain charity. For whoever were to pray nothing but a single Our Father to obtain charity would arrive at the effect of charity all the sooner. Regarding the other bishop I mentioned earlier, I’ll conclude with this: the moats seem too wide for him to jump, the walls too high to climb, and the locks too strong to break.
The Three Crowds and the Call to Rest
Christ reveals the bishop's distraction by worldly vanities and promises maternal support if he chooses to break his spiritual locks.
That’s why I’m standing here waiting for him, but he has turned his head toward the works of three crowds, which he watches with delight.2 The first of them is dancing. To this one, He says: 'It pleases Me to hear you; wait for Me.' The second stands to watch. To this one, He says: 'It pleases Me to see what you see, because those things delight Me greatly.' The third rejoices and rests, and with this one, He seeks rest and honor. But what is this 'dancing' in the world, if not moving from one temporary joy to another, and from one craving for honors to the next?3 What, in truth, is standing around and worrying, if not pulling the soul away from divine contemplation and thinking instead about the gathering and spending of worldly things? And what, in truth, is resting, if not having comfort for the flesh? Having considered these three crowds, he has now ascended the high mountain, yet he cares nothing for the words I have sent him, nor does he care about that clause of my words: 'If he keeps his promise, I will keep mine.'4 The bride replied, "O most kind Mother, don't leave him!" To which the Mother said, "I won't leave until the earth receives the earth." On the contrary, if he breaks the locks, I'll meet him like a servant and help him like a mother." And the mother added, "You're wondering, my daughter, what the reward would have been for that canon from Orléans if his bishop had been converted?" I answer you: just as you see the earth bring forth herbs and flowers of different species and kinds, so if every person had stood praiseworthily in their original state from the beginning of the world, all would have obtained an excellent reward; for everyone who is in God passes from one joy to another, not because there is any weariness in any of them, but because a more delightful pleasure is continually increased and an ineffable joy is continually renewed.
Prophetic Signs and Healing
The bishop experiences the truth of prophetic warnings and receives physical healing through the intercession of the bride.
This was the Bishop of Växjö, who was very anxious about his return while he was in Rome; it was heard in the spirit: "Tell the bishop," it said, "that his delay is more useful than his haste." Those who went ahead of his company will follow him, too. So, when he returns home, he'll find my words to be true. And that is exactly how everything turned out. For upon his return, he found the king captured and the entire kingdom in turmoil. Those who had gone ahead of him from his group were delayed along the way and followed him at a distance. Know also that the lady in the bishop's company will return in good health, but she won't die in her homeland; and that is exactly what happened. For she went to Rome a second time, and there she died and was buried. Also, regarding that same bishop: After Lady Birgitta traveled down from Mount Gargano to the city of Manfredonia in the kingdom of Sicily, the bishop who was traveling with her fell from his horse on the mountain and broke two of his ribs in the accident. When she was about to set out in the morning with the Lady for Saint Nicholas of Bari, he called her to him and said, "O Lady, it is very hard for me to remain here without your presence." And it’s also a burden for you to be delayed on my account, especially because of these people who keep intruding." "I ask you," she said, "for the love of Jesus Christ, that you pray to God for me, and touch the side where I feel this pain!" "I hope, you see, that through the touch of your hand my pain will be eased." Then, overcome with compassion and moved to tears, she said, "O my Lord, I consider myself as nothing." For I am the greatest of sinners in the sight of God. Nevertheless, let us all pray to God, and He will answer your faith. After the prayer was finished, she rose, touched the bishop's side, and said, "May the Lord Jesus Christ heal you." And the pain left him immediately. The bishop then rose and followed the Lady the entire way until he returned to Rome.
Read the original Latin
O, Domine mi, scio, quod nemo ingreditur celum nisi pater traxerit eum. Ideo, o, pater pijssime, trahe istum infirmum episcopum ad te. Tu vero, fili Dei, adiuua conantem. Tu quoque, sancte spiritus, imple caritate tua episcopum frigidum et exinanitum.
Respondit pater: "Si trahens est fortis, res vero, que trahitur, ponderosa nimis citius dissipabitur opus et adnichilatur. Si vero, qui trahitur, ligatus est, non potest adiuuare nec seipsum nec trahentem, et si immundus est, qui trahitur, abhominabilis est ad trahendum et tangendum.
Sic episcopus iste dispositus est, sicut qui stat in diuersorio deliberans secum, que via sit tenenda."
Respondit sponsa: "O, Domine mi, numquid non scriptum est, quod nemo stabiliter stat in hac vita sed aut ad meliora vadit aut ad peiora."
Respondit pater: "Utrumque dici potest. Nam stat quasi inter duas vias, gaudij scilicet et doloris. Turbatur de horrore supplicij eterni. Assectat obtinere celeste gaudium sed tamen asperum sibi videtur viam, que tendit ad gaudia perfecte ambulare. Vadit vero, quoniam illa sequitur, ad que feruentiorem habet voluntatem."
Item loquitur beata Agnes: "Iste episcopus est dispositus sicut ille, qui staret inter duas vias. Unam earum sciret artam in principio sed in fine gaudiosam; aliam sciret delectabilem ad tempus sed in fine habentem profundum insatiabile et dolorosum.
Cumque viator cogitans de istis vijs delectaretur in eundo viam in principio delectabilem timens tamen de insatiabili profundo incidit talis cogitatio: 'Est', inquit, 'compendium quoddam in via ista delectabili. Si inuenero illud, diu ambulare possum securus et cum appropinquauero fini et profundo, si inuenero compendium, nichil michi nocebit.'
Et ita ambulans securus in via, cum venisset ad profundum, cecidit miserabiliter, quia compendium ut cogitauit non inuenit. Talium cogitationum viri inueniuntur hodie multi, qui cogitantes taliter secum:
'Onerosum est', inquiunt, 'ire viam artam. Durum est relinquere voluntatem propriam et honores'. Propterea ponunt sibi spem falsam et periculosam. 'Longa', inquiunt, 'est vita nostra. Misericordia Dei est maxima. Delectabilis est mundus iste et ad delectationem creatus.
Ideo nil obest, si ad tempus utar mundo secundum velle meum, quia in fine vite sequi volo Deum. Est enim compendium quoddam vie huius mundi; idest contritio et confessio. Hanc, si obtinuero, saluus ero.'
Talis cogitatio, velle scilicet peccare usque in finem et tunc confiteri, est valde debilis spes, quia nesciunt antequam cadunt. Quibus et in extremis inspiratur quandoque tantus dolor et subitus finis, quod nullomodo fructuosam inuenire poterunt contritionem.
Et merito; noluerunt enim preuidere futura mala cum potuerunt sed in arbitrio et limitatione sua posuerunt tempus misericordie Dei. Nec proponebant finem facere peccato, antequam peccatum non poterat eos delectare. Similiter et episcopus iste stetit inter duas istas vias.
Nunc autem appropinquat vie delectabiliori carnis et habet ante se quasi tria folia, que perlegit. Primum folium legit dulciter et continue. Secundum quandoque sed non cum delectatione. Tercium folium raro et hoc cum dolore. Primum vero sunt diuitie et honores, quibus delectatur.
Secundum est timor Iehenne et futuri iudicij, quo conturbatur. Tercium est amor Dei et timor filialis, qui raro reuoluitur. Si enim attenderet, quid pro eo fecit Deus, quidue ei impendit, numquam amor Dei extingueretur in corde eius".
Respondit sponsa: "O, domina, roga pro illo." Et tunc beata Agnes ait: Quid facit iusticia nisi iudicium, quidve misericordia nisi quod alliciat?" Mater Dei loquitur: "Sic dicetur episcopo: Deus, licet omnia potest facere, tamen homo personaliter cooperari debet, ut peccatum fugiatur et caritas diuina obtineatur.
Nam tria sunt, que inducunt ad fugiendum peccatum et tria inductiua sunt ad obtinendum caritatem. Tria quibus fugitur peccatum sunt: penitentia perfecta, secundum intentio nolle ea iterato committere, tercium emendare se iuxta consilia illorum, quos videt contempsisse mundum.
Tria vero cooperantia ad obtinendam caritatem sunt humilitas, misericordia et labor caritatis. Nam quicumque non legeret nisi unum pater noster pro obtinenda caritate citius appropinquaret illi effectus caritatis.
De altero episcopo, de quo tibi prius dixi, tibi concludo nunc, quod fosse videntur ei nimis late ad saltandum, muri nimis alti ad scandendum, sere fortes ad confringendum.
Ideo sto ego et expecto eum, sed ipse verterat caput suum ad opera trium turbarum, quas delectabiliter videndo considerat. Prima earum corizat.
Huic ipse dicit: 'Placet michi audire vos, expectate me!' Secunda stat ad speculandum. Huic ipse dicit: 'Placet michi videre, que videtis, quia delectant me multum.' Tercia letatur et quiescit et cum hac querit ipse quietem et honorem. Sed quid est corizare in mundo nisi ab una temporali leticia transire in aliam, ab uno appetitu honorum in alium?
Quid vero est stare et cogitare nisi a contemplatione diuina subtrahere animum et de congregatione et erogatione temporalium cogitare? Quid vero est quiescere nisi carnis habere quietem?
Has itaque tres turbas considerando iam ascendit in montem altum sed de transmissis sibi verbis meis nichil curat, nec de illa clausula verborum curat, scilicet, si tenet ipse promissionem suam, tenebo et ego meam."
Respondit sponsa: "O, benignissima mater, noli discedere ab eo! " Cui mater: "Non discedo, donec terra suscipit terram. Imo magis, si confregerit seras, obuiabo ei sicut ancilla et adiuuabo sicut mater?"
Et addidit mater: "Tu, filia, cogitas, que fuisset remuneratio canonico illi Aurelianensi, si episcopus suus fuisset conuersus?
Respondeo tibi: Sicut tu vides, quod terra profert herbas et flores diuerse speciei et diuersi generis, sic si omnis homo laudabiliter stetisset ab origine mundi in institutione sua, omnes obtinuissent excellentem mercedem, quia omnis, qui in Deo est, transit ab una leticia in aliam, non quod tedium in aliqua fit, sed quia continue augetur delectatio delectabilior et gaudium ineffabile continue innouatur."
Hic fuit episcopus Vexionensis qui, cum esset Rome, multum de suo reditu angustiaretur, auditum est in spiritu: "Dic", inquit, "episcopo, quod mora sua utilior est quam acceleratio. Hij quoque, qui de comitiua sua precesserunt, subsequentur eum.
Ideo cum ad patriam redierit, verba mea inueniet vera." Sic itaque omnia euenerunt. Nam rediens inuenit regem captum et totum regnum turbatum.
Hij quoque qui precesserunt eum de comitiua impediti in via longe subsequebantur eum. Scito eciam, quod domina illa, que est in comitiua episcopi, sana reuertetur sed non in patria morietur et ita euenit. Nam secunda vice iuit Romam et ibi mortua est et sepulta. Item de eodem episcopo
Cum domina Birgitta descendisset de Monte Gargano ad ciuitatem Mafredoniam in regno Cecilie, idem episcopus existens in comitiua domine casu accidente in monte cecidit de equo ita grauiter, quod due coste fracte sunt.
Qui de mane cum domina profectura esset ad sanctum Nicolaum de Baro vocauit eam ad se dicens: "O, Domina, grauissimum est michi hic sine vestra presentia manere. Et onerosum est eciam vobis moram trahere propter me maxime propter incursantes istos homines."
'Rogo', inquit, 'vos per amorem Ihesu Christi, ut rogetis Deum pro me, et tangite latus doloris mei! Spero enim per tactum manus vestre dolorem meum mitigari', que pre compassione resoluta in lacrimas ait: "O, Domine mi, ego reputor, quod non sum.
Nam ego sum peccatrix maxima in conspectu Dei. Verumtamen omnes rogemus Deum et ipse respondebit fidei vestre." Facta itaque oratione cum surrexisset tetigit latus episcopi dicens: "Sanet te Dominus Ihesus Christus". Et statim dolor discessit. Et surgens episcopus secutus est dominam per totam viam usque rediret Romam.
Notes
- 1 ↩The Latin 'alliciat' carries the sense of drawing, enticing, or attracting; in this context, it refers to the way mercy draws the soul toward God.
- 2 ↩The Latin 'corizare' (appearing in the next sentence) and the context of 'three crowds' suggest a specific, perhaps allegorical, reference to worldly distractions or 'dances' of vanity.
- 3 ↩The term 'corizare' (from the Greek choros) is used here to describe a restless, worldly movement or 'dancing' from one vanity to another.
- 4 ↩The 'three crowds' (tres turbas) likely refer to the distractions mentioned in the preceding section: the distraction of the mind from divine contemplation, the distraction of managing communal affairs, and the distraction of managing temporal resources.
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