Qualiter beatus Nicolaus in Baro ad sepulchrum eius apparuit sponse vnctus oleo, declarans ei de oleo manante de corpore eius et alia de suis virtutibus, dum viuebat, et de largiflua bonitate Dei ad suos electos.
The Anointing of Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas appears to the bride in a vision, explaining that the oil from his body symbolizes the spiritual pliability and virtues he cultivated during his life.
When the bride visited the relics of Saint Nicholas at his tomb in Bari, she began to think about the liquid oil flowing from his body. Then, caught up out of herself in spirit, she saw a person anointed with oil and giving off a most fragrant scent, who said to her, "I am Nicholas the bishop, and I appear to you in this form just as I was disposed in my soul while I lived." My limbs were so prepared and flexible for the service of God, just like an anointed object that is pliable for its owner's work.1 And so, the praise of exultation was always in my soul, divine preaching was on my lips, and patience was in my work, for the sake of the virtues of chastity and humility, which I loved above all else.
The Moisture of Divine Grace
The saint contrasts the dry, vain lives of the worldly with the grace-filled fruitfulness of God's chosen ones, exemplified by the oil flowing from his relics.
But now, because the bones of many in the world are dry of divine moisture, they give off only the sound of vanity and the grating noise of mutual conflict; they are incapable of bearing the fruit of justice and are an abomination for God to look upon. You should know, however, that just as a rose gives off its scent and a grape its sweetness, so God has given my body the unique blessing of exuding oil, because He doesn't just honor His chosen ones in heaven, but also brings them joy and lifts them up on earth, so that many may be built up and share in the grace that has been given.
Read the original Latin
Cum visitaret sponsa reliquias sancti Nicolai in Baro ad sepulchrum eius, cepit cogitare de illo liquore olei manante de corpore eius.
Et tunc rapta extra se in spiritu vidit quandam personam vnctam oleo et flagrantissime odorantem, que dixit ei: "Ego sum Nicolaus episcopus, qui appareo tibi in tali specie, sicut dispositus eram in anima, dum viuebam.
Nam omnia membra mea ita habilitata et flexibilia erant ad seruicium Dei sicut res vncta, que flexibilis est ad opus possidentis.
Et ideo laus exultacionis semper erat in anima mea et in ore meo predicacio diuina et in opere paciencia propter virtutes castitatis et humilitatis, quas precipue dilexi.
Sed nunc, quia in mundo multorum ossa arida sunt ab humore diuino, ideo dant sonum vanitatis et stridorem ex collisione mutua, et inhabilia sunt ad fructificandum fructum iusticie et abhominabilia Deo ad intuendum.
Tu vero scias, quod, sicut rosa profert odorem et vua dulcedinem, sic Deus corpori meo emanandi oleum singularem dedit benediccionem, quia ipse non solum honorat electos suos in celis sed et letificat et exaltat in terris, vt plures edificentur et participentur de gracia data."
Notes
- 1 ↩The Latin 'habilitata' conveys a sense of being made fit, ready, or capable; 'pliable' captures the sense of 'flexibilis' in the context of an object being worked by an owner.
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