Verba Filii ad sponsam, quomodo a Dyaboli temptacionibus debeamus precauere; et qualiter Dyabolus per hostem, Deus per gallinam, eius potencia et sapiencia per alas, eius misericordia per pennas et homines per pullos designantur.
The Temptations of the Enemy
The Son warns against reacting to the Devil's temptations with pride and agitation, urging instead a posture of humble silence and patience.
The Son says: "If the enemy knocks at the door, don't act like goats running toward a wall, or like rams rearing up on their front legs to butt each other with their horns." Instead, be like chicks who, when they see a bird in the air wanting to harm them, flee under their mother’s wings to be hidden; and even if they can only manage to grab hold of a single feather of their mother and hide themselves beneath it, they are content. And who is your enemy but the Devil, who envies every good act, and whose way of knocking is to stir up the human heart with temptations? He strikes, in fact, sometimes with anger and detraction, and sometimes with impatience and the judging of God’s judgments—which happens, of course, when things don't go according to your own wishes. In fact, he strikes and disturbs you even more often with countless thoughts, so that you might be drawn away from serving God and your good works might be obscured in God's sight. So, no matter your temptations, don't abandon your place, and don't be like goats running toward a wall—which means having a hardened heart—or judge others' actions in your own hearts, because someone who is bad today is often good tomorrow. Instead, lower your horns, stand still, and listen—that is, humble yourselves, live in fear, maintain patience, and pray to God that what has been poorly begun may be turned into something better. You shouldn't be like rams butting with their horns—that is, trading word for word and insult for insult—but rather, you must stand firmly on your feet and be silent, which means to forcefully rebuke the desires of the flesh.1 Be thoughtful in how you speak and respond, exercising restraint and patience. It’s the mark of a righteous person to conquer themselves and to abstain even from permissible conversation, so they can avoid excessive talk and the risk of giving offense. Anyone who, in a state of emotional agitation, blurts out too much of what they’re feeling seems to have taken revenge on themselves and revealed the instability of their own mind. Because of this, they’ll be left without a crown, since they refused to have patience for a time—a patience through which they could have won over the brother who offended them and prepared themselves for a greater crown.
Shelter Under Divine Wings
The Son uses the metaphor of a hen and her chicks to illustrate how His power, wisdom, and mercy provide a secure refuge for those who trust in Him.
What, in truth, are the wings of the hen if not divine power and wisdom? I am, in fact, like a hen who defends her chicks—those who run to my voice, that is, those who long for the shelter of my wings—powerfully from the snares of the Devil, and wisely stirs them toward salvation through my inspirations. And what is a feather, really, but my mercy? Anyone who finds it can be as secure as a chick being warmed under its mother's wings. So, be like chicks running toward my will, and in every temptation and hardship, say through your words and actions: "May God’s will be done!" . For I defend those who trust in me with my power, I restore them with my mercy, I sustain them with my patience, I visit them with my consolation, I enlighten them with my wisdom, and I reward them a hundredfold with my love.
Read the original Latin
Filius loquitur: "Si hostis pulsat ad ianuam, non debetis esse sicut capree currentes ad murum nec sicut arietes, qui eleuantes se pedibus anterioribus mutuo se impingunt cornibus;
sed estote sicut pulli, qui videntes in aere auem volentem nocere eis fugiunt sub alas matris, ut abscondantur; qui eciam, si non plus quam unam pennam matris valent apprehendere et sub illa se contegere, gaudent.
Quis autem est hostis vester nisi Dyabolus, qui omnibus bonis actibus inuidet, cuius pulsare est mentem hominis temptacionibus commouere?
Pulsat quippe quandoque ira et detraccione, quandoque impaciencia et diiudicacione iudiciorum Dei, quando scilicet omnia non succedunt ad votum suum.
Ymo eciam frequencius pulsat et inquietat vos innumeris cogitacionibus, ut a seruicio Dei abstrahamini et ut opera vestra bona apud Deum offuscentur.
Ideo, qualescumque fuerint temptaciones vestre, non debetis dimittere locum vestrum nec esse sicut capree currentes ad murum, id est habere duriciam cordis, aut iudicare opera aliena in cordibus vestris, quia sepius qui hodie est malus, cras bonus est.
Sed debetis submittere cornua vestra et stare et auscultare, id est humiliare vos et timere habendo pacienciam et rogando Deum, ut male incepta in meliora conuertantur.
Nec eciam esse debetis sicut arietes ventilantes cornibus, id est verba dare pro verbis et improperia iungere improperiis, sed stare debetis constanter supra pedes et silere, id est fortiter reprehendere affecciones carnis,
ut in loquendo et respondendo habeatis premeditacionem et violenciam quandam cum paciencia, quia viri iusti est vincere se ipsum et a licitis eciam locucionibus propter vitandum multiloquium et offensam abstinere.
Nam qui in commocione animi effundit nimis quod sentit videtur quodammodo vindicasse se ipsum et indicasse leuitatem animi sui; et ideo vacuus erit a corona, quia noluit habere pacienciam ad tempus, propter quam pacienciam et fratrem offendentem lucratus fuisset et se ipsum ad maiorem coronam preparasset.
Quid vero sunt ale galline nisi potencia et sapiencia diuina? Ego quippe sum quasi gallina, qui pullos currentes ad vocem meam, id est desiderantes obumbracionem alarum mearum, et potenter defendo a Dyaboli laqueis et sapienter inspiracionibus meis prouoco ad salutem.
Quid vero est penna nisi misericordia mea. Quam qui obtinuerit ita securus esse potest sicut pullus, qui sub alis matris refouetur.
Ergo estote sicut pulli currentes ad voluntatem meam, et in omnibus temptacionibus et contrariis dicite voce et operibus: Fiat voluntas Dei! .
Quia ego confidentes in me defendo potencia mea, reficio misericordia mea, teneo paciencia mea, visito consolacione mea, illumino sapiencia mea, remunero in centuplum caritate mea."
Notes
- 1 ↩The Latin 'silere' (to be silent) is here interpreted as the active, interior discipline of restraining one's own impulses, as clarified by the subsequent 'reprehendere' (to rebuke/repress).
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