Christus loquens sponse dicit, quod amici eius sunt sicut brachium eius ex eo, quod ipse sicut bonus medicus abscidit ab eis carnem putridam et omnia nociua et coniungit carnem bonam eis transformando eos in se.
The Divine Physician
Christ describes himself as a doctor who heals his friends by removing their corruption and preparing them for union.
The Son says, "My friends are like my own arm." In an arm there are five things: skin or hide, flesh, blood, bones, and marrow. But I am like a doctor who first cuts away everything useless, then joins flesh to flesh and bone to bone, and finally applies the medicine of healing. This is what I have done for these same friends of mine.
The Anatomy of Grace
Christ details how he infuses his own divine attributes—marrow, strength, will, patience, and love—into the lives of his friends.
First, I stripped away every worldly craving and illicit desire of the flesh from them. Then, I joined my marrow to theirs. What is my marrow, if not the power of my divinity? For just as anyone is dead without marrow, so anyone who doesn't share in my divinity dies. I join this to their weakness when my wisdom tastes sweet to them and bears fruit in them, and when their soul understands what must be done and what must be left undone.1 The bones represent my strength. I join this to their strength whenever I make them strong enough to do good. Blood, however, represents the will. I have joined this to their will when their will aligns with my own, and when they desire and seek nothing but me alone. The flesh represents my patience. I have joined this to their patience whenever they are patient, just as I was—I, who from the sole of my foot to the crown of my head had no soundness.✦2 The skin, however, represents love. I have joined this to myself when they love nothing as much as me, and with my help, they're even willing to die for me.
Read the original Latin
Filius loquitur: "Amici mei sunt quasi brachium meum. In brachio sunt quinque, scilicet pellis seu cutis, caro, sanguis, ossa et medulla.
Sed ego sum sicut medicus, qui primo abscidit omnia inutilia, postea unit carnem carni et os ossi, inde apponit medicamentum sanitatis.
Sic ego feci eisdem amicis meis. Primo abstuli ab eis omnem cupiditatem mundi et illicita desideria carnis. Inde coniunxi medullam meam medulle eorum.
Que est medulla mea nisi potencia deitatis mee? Sicut enim sine medulla omnis homo mortuus est, sic qui non communicat deitate moritur.
Hanc igitur ego coniunxi tunc infirmitati eorum, quando sapiencia mea sapit eis et fructificat in eis, quando anima eorum intelligit facienda et omittenda.
Ossa vero significant fortitudinem meam. Hanc ego coniunxi fortitudini eorum, quando facio eos fortes ad agendum bona.
Sanguis vero significat voluntatem. Hanc ego coniunxi voluntati eorum, quando voluntas eorum est secundum velle meum et quando nichil desiderant nec querunt nisi me solum.
Caro significat pacienciam meam. Hanc ego coniunxi paciencie eorum, quando pacientes sunt, sicut ego fui, qui a planta pedis usque ad verticem non habui sanitatem.
Pellis vero significat dileccionem. Hanc ego michi coniunxi, quando nichil tantum diligunt sicut me, et libenter cum adiutorio meo eciam volunt mori pro me."
Scripture echoes
- ↩Isa.1.6 — From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it—only wounds, welts, and raw sores; they have not been pressed out, nor bandaged, nor softened with oil.
Notes
- 1 ↩The Latin 'sapit' carries a double sense of 'tastes' (to the subject) and 'is wise/sensible' (to the object). 'Tastes sweet' captures the experiential, interior quality of this wisdom.
- 2 ↩The phrase 'from the sole of my foot to the crown of my head had no soundness' is a clear allusion to Isaiah 1:6 (or Psalm 38:7 in the Vulgate).
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