Christus loquens sponse dicit, quod tres sancti pre ceteris ei placuerunt scilicet virgo Maria, beatus Iohannes Baptista et Maria Magdalena; laudat quoque discrecionem abstinencie, quam isti tenuerunt in cibo et sompno et vestimento.
The Three Saints and the Demons' Fear
Christ identifies Mary, John the Baptist, and Mary Magdalene as his most beloved saints, whose holiness and detachment provoked the fear and frustration of the demons.
The Son says, "There are three saints who have pleased me above all others: my mother Mary, John the Baptist, and Mary Magdalene." My mother, then, was so beautiful from the moment she was born and ever after, that there was no stain in her. The demons knew this well and were so bitter about it that they spoke in a kind of parable, as if a voice from hell had sounded at that moment, saying: 'One virgin is advancing so virtuously and miraculously that she surpasses everyone on earth and in heaven, and has reached all the way to the throne of God.' But even when we set all our traps for her, she breaks them all; they snap like flax and fall apart like old rope. If, however, we approach her with all our malice and impurity, she cuts everything away, just as a scythe mows down hay. But if we bring pleasure and worldly delight to her, everything is extinguished more easily than a spark by a torrent of water. When John the Baptist was born, he also displeased the demons so much that a voice seemed to ring out from hell, saying, 'A wondrous child is born.' What are we to do? If we approach him with pride, he refuses to listen to us and is less willing to obey our suggestions; if we offer him riches, he turns his back on us and refuses to look; if we offer him pleasure, he is like a dead man and cannot feel a thing.1 But when Mary Magdalene was converted, the demons said, "How are we going to get her back?" For we have lost a rich prize. She washes herself so thoroughly in the waters of her tears that we don't dare look at her. She covers herself so thoroughly with good works that no stain can come near her. She is so fervent and passionate in the service of God and in holiness that we don't dare approach her.
The Discipline of Body and Soul
The saints treated their souls as masters and their bodies as servants, practicing moderate, discerning care for their physical needs rather than extreme self-mortification.
And so, these three treated their soul like a master and their body like a servant. Their soul possessed three things: first, it loved nothing but Me, its God; second, it wanted to do nothing against Me; third, they refused to lose anything that belonged to God. Even though they kept their souls in such a state, they didn't despise their bodies; they didn't feed them poison instead of food, clothe them in thorns, or sleep on a bed of ants. Instead, they kept their meals moderate for my honor and the good of their souls, wore clothing to cover their bodies rather than for vanity, and used sleep for rest and their beds for relief. Yet, if they had known it pleased me, and if I had given them the grace, they would have gladly accepted the most bitter things as food, worn thorns instead of clothing, and lain in a bed of ants. But because they considered me just and merciful in all things, they were just toward their bodies by restraining illicit impulses, and yet they were also merciful and reasonable in how they cared for their bodies, so that their bodies wouldn't collapse from the violence of their labors or be worn down by the intensity of their work.
The Wisdom of Moderation
Christ explains the purpose of extreme asceticism in the early fathers and justifies his own use of physical necessities as a model for human self-control.
You might ask: since those holy hermits and the ancient fathers had such great grace that some of them ate only once a week, while others lived on food and the ministry of angels, why didn't I give that same grace to these people? I answer: Those holy fathers achieved such fasting for three reasons. First, to manifest my grace and power, so that people may know that just as I sustain the soul without physical food, so too, if it pleased me, I have the power to sustain the body without food. Second, to provide an example, so that people might learn from them that physical labor and hardship draw the soul toward heaven. Third, to avoid sin, because the desires of the flesh, when left unchecked, drag a person toward punishment. So, to teach people self-control and a way of living, I myself—God and man—used food and physical necessities, even though I could have lived in the world without them. I did this so that man might thank me, his God, for everything, find moderate comfort in this world, and have perfect freedom with the saints in heaven."
Read the original Latin
Filius loquitur: "Tres sancti sunt, qui michi pre ceteris placuerunt, scilicet Maria mater mea, Iohannes Baptista et Maria Magdalena. Mater igitur mea, quando et postquam nata fuit, sic erat pulchra, quod nulla erat in ea macula.
Quod bene cognoscentes demones sic egre tulerunt per similitudinem loquendo, quasi quod quedam vox demonum tunc sonuisset de inferno dicens: 'Vna virgo tam virtuose et mirabiliter procedit, quod omnes superat in terra et in celo et peruenit usque ad sedem Dei.
Sed et nos, si procedimus contra eam cum omnibus laqueis nostris, omnes ipsa dissoluit, et sicut stuppe rumpuntur et sicut funes veteres dissoluuntur.
Si vero venimus contra eam cum omni malicia nostra et immundicia, omnia rescindit, sicut fenum rescinditur a falcastro. Si autem immittimus ei voluptatem et mundi delectacionem, facilius omnia extinguuntur quam scintilla a torrente aquarum.'
Nato vero Iohanne Baptista, eciam ipse displicuit demonibus in tantum, quod quasi vox quedam tunc sonuit de inferno dicens: 'Natus est puer mirabilis.
Quid faciemus? Si procedimus contra eum cum superbia, contempnit audire nos et minus vult suggestioni nostre obedire; si pretendimus ei diuicias, vertit ad nos occiput et renuit videre, si voluptatem, quasi mortuus est et non potest sentire.'
Quando vero Maria Magdalena conuersa est, dixerunt demones: 'Quomodo reducemus eam? Pinguem enim predam perdidimus. Ipsa quippe in tantum se aquis lachrimarum lauat, quod non audemus aspectum nostrum in eam infigere.
Sic tegit se bonis operibus, quod nichil accedit ad eam de macula. Sic feruens est et calida in Dei seruicio et sanctitate, quod non audemus ei appropinquare.'
Itaque isti tres sic habuerunt animam suam quasi dominum, corpus vero suum quasi seruum. Quorum anima tria habuit: primo nichil dilexit nisi me, Deum suum; secundo nichil facere voluit contra me; tercio nichil amittere voluerunt, que erant Dei.
Ergo quamuis isti talem habuerunt animam, non tamen spreuerunt corpus suum nec dederunt ei venenum pro cibo nec spinas pro vestimento nec iacuerunt in cumulo formicarum,
sed habuerunt moderatam refeccionem ad honorem mei et anime utilitatem vestimentumque ad corporis operimentum non ad superbiam, sompnum vero ad quietem et lectum ad alleuiacionem.
Verumptamen, si ipsi sciuissent michi placuisse et ego dedissem eis graciam, libenter omnia amarissima recepissent in cibum et spinas pro veste et in cumulo formicarum iacuissent.
Sed quia considerabant me in omnibus iustum et misericordem, ideo sicut ad corpus fuerunt iusti per refrenacionem motuum illicitorum, sic et misericordes et racionabiles fuerunt ad indulgendum corpori, ne violencia laboris corpus rueret et ne laboris vehemencia solueretur.
Nunc igitur poteris querere: Cum sancti heremite et antiqui illi patres tantam graciam habuerunt, quod quidam illorum non comederunt nisi semel in septimana, alii usi sunt cibo et ministerio angelorum, quare istis non dedi graciam talem?
Respondeo: Illi sancti patres tale ieiunium obtinuerunt triplici de causa. Primo ad manifestandam graciam et potenciam meam, ut sciant homines, quod sicut animam sine corporali cibo sustento, sic eciam corpus sine cibo, si michi placeret, valeo sustentare.
Secundo propter exemplum ostendendum, ut ex eorum discant homines, quod corporalis labor et tribulacio trahit animam in celum. Tercio propter peccati vitacionem, quia voluptas carnis non refrenata trahit hominem ad penam.
Ergo ut homines addiscerent continenciam et modum viuendi, ego ipse Deus et homo, quamuis sine cibo viuere potuissem in mundo, tamen cibo et necessariis corporalibus usus sum, ut homo in omnibus regracietur michi Deo suo et solacium moderatum habeat in mundo et perfectam libertatem cum sanctis in celo."
Notes
- 1 ↩The Latin 'occiput' literally means the back of the head; 'turns his back' captures the idiomatic sense of rejection.
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