Verba Virginis ad sponsam de suiipsius perfectione et excellentia et de inordinato magistrorum modernorum appetitu et de eorum falsa responsione ad Virginis gloriose questionem sibi per ipsam factam.
The Purity of the Mother
The Blessed Virgin describes her own immaculate nature and her perfect obedience in receiving the Word of God.
The Mother says, "I am she who has existed in the love of God from eternity, and from my very infancy, the Holy Spirit was perfectly with me." And just as you can take a nut as an example—where, as it grows, the outer shell expands and the kernel inside grows along with it, so that the nut is always full and there is no empty space inside that could hold anything else—so it was with me. In the same way, I was filled with the Holy Spirit from infancy, and as I grew in age and body, the Holy Spirit filled me so completely that He left no room for any sin to enter. That is why I am the one who never committed any sin, whether venial or mortal. In fact, I was so burning with the love of God that nothing pleased me except the perfection of God's will. For the fire of divine love was burning in my heart. God, too, who is blessed above all things—who created me by His power and filled me with the virtue of the Holy Spirit—had an ardent love for me. And from the fervor of this love, He sent His messenger to me, making me understand His will, so that I might become the Mother of God. Once I knew this was the divine will, immediately, from the fire of love I held in my heart for God, a word of true obedience came from my lips, with which I answered the messenger: I said, "Let it be done to me according to your word." In that same moment, the Word was made flesh within me, and the Son of God became my son; so we both had one Son, who is both God and man, and I, in the same way, am both mother and virgin.
The Discernment of Hearts
The Virgin challenges a teacher to examine his motives regarding worldly influence, wealth, and pride.
When my Son, Jesus Christ—the true God and the wisest of all—lay in my womb, I received such wisdom from Him that I can not only understand the wisdom of teachers, but I can also discern in their hearts whether their words come from divine love or merely from the cleverness of their learning. So you, who hear these words, tell that teacher that I am asking him three things: first, whether he has a greater desire to gain the favor and friendship of the bishop on a worldly level, or if he desires more to present the bishop's soul to God on a spiritual level. Second, ask whether he finds more delight in personally possessing a great many florins, or in having none at all. Third, ask him which of these two he finds more pleasing: to be called 'Master' and to sit among the honored in the front row for the sake of worldly glory, or to be called a simple brother and to sit among the last. He should examine these three things diligently. For if he loves a bishop more in a worldly way than in a spiritual way, it follows that he's more likely to tell him what he enjoys hearing than to forbid the sinful things he enjoys doing. If, however, someone takes more pleasure in owning many florins than in owning none, they love riches more than poverty, and it seems they would advise their friends to hold onto whatever they can acquire rather than let go of what they could have more happily done without. If, however, you take pleasure in the title of teacher for the sake of worldly honor and want to be ranked among the honored, then you love pride more than humility, and in God's eyes, you appear more like a donkey than a teacher. For then he is chewing on empty straw, which is what literary knowledge without charity is compared to; he lacks the finest wheat, which is compared to charity, because divine charity can never be established in a proud heart.
The Truth of the Spirit
The Virgin exposes the teacher's false excuses and warns of the vanity of worldly attachments compared to the humility required for heaven.
But after the master’s excuse—in which he defended himself, claiming that his greater desire was to present the bishop’s soul to God spiritually, and that he took more delight in having no florins— Third, regarding the fact that she doesn't care about the master's reputation, the Mother replied again: "I am the one who heard the Truth from the mouth of Gabriel and believed without a doubt; and so, the Truth took flesh and blood for Himself from my body and remained within me." I gave birth to that same Truth from myself, who is both God and man in his own right. And because the Truth—who is the Son of God—chose to come to me, to dwell within me, and to be born of me, I understand most fully whether there is truth in the mouths of men or not. Actually, I asked the teacher three things, and I would have accepted that he answered me well if there had been truth in his words. Because that truth wasn't in them, I'm on my guard against him regarding three other things. The first is that there are some things he loves and desires in a worldly way, and he will never obtain them. The second point is that whatever a person currently possesses along with worldly joy, they'll lose all the sooner. The third is that the little ones will enter heaven. But the great will stand outside, because the gate is narrow.
Read the original Latin
Mater loquitur: "Ego sum illa, que ab eterno in caritate Dei fui et ab infantia mea spiritussanctus perfecte erat mecum. Et sicut de nuce exemplum habere poteris, que cum crescit dilatante se testa, que extrinsecus est, dilatatur et crescit eciam nucleus, qui intrinsecus est, ita ut nux semper sit plena et nichil in ea vacuum, quod capax sit alicuius rei exterioris.
Similiter et ego ab infantia mea plena eram spiritusancto et iuxta corporis et etatis mee accrescentiam tam affluenter me totam repleuit spiritussanctus, quod nichil in me vacuum reliquit ad peccati alicuius introitum.
Et ideo ego illa sum, que numquam peccatum commisi veniale nec mortale. Ego quippe in caritate Dei tam ardens eram, quod nichil michi placuit nisi perfectio voluntatis Dei.
Feruebat enim in corde meo ignis diuine caritatis. Deus quoque super omnia benedictus, qui me sua potentia creauit et spiritussancti virtute repleuit, ad me ardentem caritatem habuit.
Et ex huius caritatis feruore misit nuncium suum ad me faciens me voluntatem suam intelligere, ut videlicet fierem mater Dei. Quod dum noui esse voluntatis diuine, statim ex igne caritatis, quam in corde ad Deum habui, per os meum exiuit vere obedientie verbum, per quod nuncio respondi:
'Fiat', inquiens, 'michi secundum verbum tuum. Et in eodem puncto verbum caro factum est in me et Dei filius factus est filius meus et sic ambo habebamus unum filium, qui utrumque Deus est et homo et ego similiter mater atque virgo.
Cumque hic filius meus, qui est vir sapientissimus et Deus verus Ihesus Christus, iaceret in utero meo, tantam ab ipso adepta sum sapientiam, quod non solum magistrorum intelligere valeam sapientiam, verum eciam in cordibus eorum cerno, utrum verba ipsorum ex diuina caritate aut ex solius litterature astutia procedunt.
Ergo tu, que verba audis, nuncia magistro illi, quod ego tria ab ipso interrogo: Primum est, utrum maius est sibi desiderium ad habendum fauorem et amicitiam episcopi corporaliter, vel an desiderat plus animam eius presentare Deo spiritualiter.
Secundo, utrum ex plurimorum florenorum propria et singulari possessione in animo plus delectatur vel an ex nullorum. Tercio, quid sibi de hijs duobus videtur magis placere, vocari scilicet magister et inter honoratos cum primis pro mundana gloria residere aut simplex frater vocari et inter ultimos residere.
Hec tria diligenter perscrutetur. Si enim episcopum corporaliter plus quam spiritualiter diligit, tunc sequitur, quod magis dicit ei illa, que delectant eum audire, quam omnia peccaminosa prohibet, que delectant eum agere.
Si vero de plurimorum florenorum proprietate plus gratulatur quam nullorum, tunc diuitias plus paupertate diligit et videtur tunc amicis suis consulere, quod magis teneant quidquid possunt acquirere, quam dimittant quo carere libentius potuissent.
Si vero delectatur nomine magistri propter honorem mundi et inter honoratos locari, tunc superbiam plus humilitate diligit et ex hoc similior coram Deo apparet asino quam magistro.
Tunc enim vacua stramina masticat, que litterature scientie sine caritate comparantur et deest optimum triticum, quod caritati comparatur, quia caritas diuina in superbo corde firmari numquam potest."
Post excusationem autem magistri excusantis se et dicentis, quod maius esset sibi desiderium presentare animam episcopi Deo spiritualiter et quod plus delectatur in nullis florenis,
tercio, quod nichil curat de nomine magistri, respondit iterum mater: "Ego sum, que veritatem de ore Gabrielis audiui et indubitanter credidi, unde et veritatis de meo corpore sibi carnem sumpsit et sanguinem et mansit in me.
Illam eandem veritatem genui de me, qui utrumque Deus et homo est ex se. Et quia veritas, que Dei filius est ad me venire et in me habitare ex meque nasci voluit, ideo plenissime intelligo, utrum in ore hominum sit veritas an non.
Verum ego tria a magistro quesiui, quem michi bene respondisse probarem, si in verbis suis fuisset veritas. Que quia in eis non erat, ideo de alijs tribus ipsum precaueo. Primum est, quod aliqua sunt, que corporaliter diligit et desiderat et illa nullo modo obtinebit.
Secundum est, quod illud, quod nunc habet cum mundana leticia citius amittet. Tercium est, quod pusilli intrabunt celum. Magni autem stabunt foris, quoniam porta est angusta."
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