Verba matris ad filiam sub figura in qua anima in anulo, corpus in panno designantur, et qualiter anima per discretionem debet purificari et corpus per abstinentiam debet mundari et non interfici.
The False Counsel of Destruction
The Mother of God contrasts the destructive advice of an enemy with the constructive wisdom of a friend regarding the care of a ring and a cloth.
The Mother of God says: "If someone is given a ring that's too tight for their finger and they ask an enemy for advice on what to do, he'll answer: 'Cut off the finger, and then the ring will fit.'" But a friend replies, 'Not at all; instead, let the ring be stretched with a hammer.' But if someone tries to strain a powerful lord's drink through a dirty cloth and asks an enemy for advice, the enemy will answer: 'Cut away the dirty parts of the cloth, and wherever you find a clean spot, strain your lord's drink there.'1 To this, the friend replies: 'That must not happen in any way; rather, the cloth must first be cleansed and made worthy, and only then should the drink be poured through it!'
The Discipline of Soul and Body
The analogies are applied to the spiritual life, teaching that the soul requires the hammer of discernment while the body requires cleansing rather than destruction.
It's the same in spiritual matters. The soul is represented by the ring, and the body by the cloth. Therefore, the soul, which ought to be on the finger of God, must be stretched by the hammer of discernment and purification. The body, however, isn't to be destroyed, but cleansed through abstinence, so that the words of God may be spread through it.
Read the original Latin
Mater Dei loquitur: "Si datur alicui anulus qui nimis strictus est digito et queritur ab inimico consilium, quid faciendum sit, respondit: 'Perscindatur digitus et sic anulus ei adaptabitur.' Cui amicus: 'Nequaquam', inquit, 'sed magis anulus cum malleo extendatur.'
Si vero aliquis velit potum potentis domini per immundum panniculum trahicere et colare et quereret consilium ab inimico, ille respondet: 'Prescinde de panno omne, quod immundum est, et ubi aliquid mundum inueneris, ibi trahice potum domini tui.'
Cui amicus: 'Nullo modo sic fiat sed magis prius mundificandus et laudandus est pannus et postea potus trahiciendus!' Sic est eciam in spiritualibus. In anulo itaque intelligitur anima, in panno vero corpus.
Ergo anima, que in digito Dei esse debet, extendi debet malleo discretionis et purificationis. Corpus vero non interfici sed mundari per abstinentiam, ut verba Dei per illud diffundantur."
Notes
- 1 ↩The Latin 'trahicere' and 'colare' refer to the process of straining or filtering liquids through a cloth, a common domestic task used here as an analogy for spiritual purification.
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