Verba Matris ad Filium de sponsa; et de responsione Christi ad Matrem. Iterum verba Matris, quid designatur per leonem et per agnum; et qualiter Deus permittit propter ingratitudinem et impacienciam hominum euenire que eis aliter non euenirent.
The Lamb and the Lion
The Mother and Son discuss the metaphorical relationship between the lamb and the lion, identifying Christ as both.
The Mother speaks to her Son Jesus, saying: "Our daughter is like a lamb that places its head into the lion's mouth." The Son answered her, "It's better for the lamb to place its head in the lion's mouth, so that it becomes one flesh and one blood with the lion, than for the lamb to suck blood from the lion's flesh; for that would make the lion angry, and the lamb—whose food is grass—would grow weak." Nevertheless, dearest Mother, because you carried all wisdom and the fullness of all prudence in your womb, help her to understand what the lion is and what the lamb is. The Mother answered: "Blessed are you, my Son, who, while remaining eternally with the Father, descended to me, yet never separated yourself from the Father." You are, in the end, the Lion, but from the tribe of Judah. You are the Lamb without blemish, whom John pointed out with his finger.
Surrender and Impatience
The Mother explains the difference between surrendering one's will to God and the dangers of impatient, self-willed desire.
That person, therefore, places their head in the lion's mouth who commits their entire will to God and would not want to carry it out, even if they could, unless they knew it was pleasing to you. But that person drinks the blood of the lion who, impatient with your justice and your arrangement, desires and strives to obtain things other than what you have appointed for them, and who would rather exist in a state other than what pleases you and is best for themselves. For God isn't appeased by such people, but is provoked to anger. Just as hay is the food of a lamb, so a person ought to be content with humble things and their own station. Because of people's ingratitude and impatience, God permits many things to happen that would not have occurred for their own well-being had they remained patient.
The Path of Penance
A final exhortation to surrender the will to God and use penance and contrition to cleanse the soul.
Therefore, daughter, surrender your will to God, and if you're ever less than patient, rise up through penance; for penance is like a good washer of stains, while contrition is a good whitener.1
Read the original Latin
Mater loquitur ad Filium Ihesum dicens: "Filia nostra est quasi agnus, qui ponit caput suum in os leonis."
Cui respondit Filius: "Melius est, quod ponat agnus caput in os leonis, ut fiat cum leone una caro et unus sanguis, quam quod agnus sugat sanguinem de carne leonis, unde et leo indignaretur et agnus, cuius cibus est fenum, infirmaretur.
Verumptamen, mater carissima, quia omnem sapienciam et plenitudinem tocius prudencie portasti in utero tuo, fac istam intelligere, quid sit leo et quid sit agnus."
Respondit Mater: "Benedictus sis tu, fili mi, qui eternaliter manens cum Patre descendisti ad me et tamen te a Patre nunquam separasti. Tu denique es leo, sed de tribu Iuda. Tu agnus sine macula, quem Iohannes digito demonstrauit.
Ille ergo ponit caput in os leonis, qui omnem voluntatem suam committit Deo nec eam, eciam si posset, perficere vellet, nisi tibi sciret complacere.
Ille vero sugit sanguinem leonis, qui de iusticia et disposicione tua impaciens optat et nititur ad alia obtinenda quam tu ei constitueras, velletque in alio statu existere quam tibi placeret et sibi ipsi expediret. De talibus enim non placatur Deus sed ad iram prouocatur.
Sicut enim agni cibus est fenum, sic homo de humilibus rebus et statu contentari debet. Et ideo propter ingratitudinem et impacienciam hominum multa permittit Deus, que saluti hominum, si pacientes essent, non euenirent.
Ideo, filia, da voluntatem tuam Deo, et si minus quandoque fueris paciens, surge per penitenciam, quia penitencia est sicut bona lotrix macularum, contricio vero est bona candidatrix."
Notes
- 1 ↩The Latin 'lotrix' (washer/laundress) and 'candidatrix' (whitener/bleacher) are feminine agent nouns, here used metaphorically to describe the cleansing power of penance and the brightening, purifying effect of contrition on the soul.
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