Mater Dei monet sponsam, quod semper recordetur de dolorosa passione Christi, quia in illa hora passionis Christi omnia quasi conturbabantur, scilicet deitas et humanitas et ipsa mater eius, angeli et omnia elementa et omnes anime viuencium et mortuorum et eciam demones.
The Universal Shaking of the Passion
The Mother of God describes how the entire cosmos, from the Godhead and angels to the elements and the souls of the dead, was profoundly moved by the suffering of Christ.
The Mother of God speaks to the bride, saying: "At the death of my Son, everything was shaken." The Godhead, which handed the Son over to death and was never separated from Him—not even in death—appeared in that brief hour of His dying as if suffering with Him, even though the Godhead cannot experience any pain or punishment, because it is impassible and unchangeable. The Son himself suffered pain in every limb and even in his heart, though in his divinity he remained immortal. His soul, too, which was immortal, suffered because it departed from his body. The angels, too, seemed gathered together and troubled as they watched God suffering on earth in his humanity. But how can angels be troubled, since they are immortal? Just as a righteous person, seeing their friend suffer things through which they would gain the greatest glory, would certainly rejoice in the glory to be attained, yet would still feel a kind of sorrow because of the suffering, In the same way, the angels were, in a sense, saddened by his suffering—even though they are incapable of suffering themselves—but they rejoiced in his future glory and the benefit that would come from his passion.1 All the elements were also in turmoil: the sun and moon dimmed their light, the earth shook, rocks split, and graves opened at the hour of my Son’s death. The Gentiles were troubled everywhere, as a piercing pain struck their hearts, even though they didn't know its source. The hearts of those who were crucifying Him were also troubled in that hour, but not to their own glory. Even the unclean spirits were troubled at that hour, and they gathered together as if into one, all of them in turmoil. But those who were in the bosom of Abraham were so deeply troubled that they would have preferred to be in hell forever than to see such suffering in their Lord.
A Mother's Sorrow and the Call to Detachment
Mary shares the depth of her own maternal grief and exhorts the bride to anchor her life in the memory of the Passion rather than the fleeting vanities of the world.
But no one can fathom the kind of pain I, His virgin mother, suffered as I stood by my Son in that hour. Therefore, my daughter, remember the passion of my Son and flee from the instability of the world, which is nothing but a fleeting vision and a flower that quickly withers.
Read the original Latin
Mater Dei loquitur ad sponsam dicens: "In morte filii mei omnia conturbabantur.
Nam deitas, que Filium tradidit in mortem et numquam ab eo separabatur, nec in morte, in illa horula mortis tamquam compaciens videbatur, licet nullum dolorem vel penam deitas pati possit, quia impassibilis et immutabilis est.
Filius ipse paciebatur dolorem in omnibus membris et eciam in corde, qui tamen secundum deitatem erat immortalis. Anima eciam eius, que immortalis erat, paciebatur, quia exiuit de corpore.
Congregati angeli eciam quasi turbati videbantur, cum viderent Deum in humanitate pati in terra. Sed quomodo turbari possunt angeli, qui immortales sunt?
Vtique, sicut iustus, cum videret amicum suum pati aliqua, de quibus consequeretur maximam gloriam, et gauderet quidem de gloria eius adipiscenda sed tamen propter passionem quasi quodammodo contristaretur,
sic angeli quasi contristabantur de pena eius, cum tamen sunt impassibiles, sed gaudebant de gloria eius futura et vtilitate ex passione eius ventura.
Omnia quoque elementa turbabantur: et sol et luna dimiserunt splendorem suum, terra tremuit, lapides scindebantur et sepulchra aperiebantur in hora mortis filii mei.
Omnes gentiles turbabantur, vbicumque erant, quia in corde eorum venit quasi quedam punctura doloris, licet nescierunt, vnde esset. Tribulabatur eciam cor crucifigencium eum in illa hora sed non ad gloriam eorum.
Adhuc eciam immundi spiritus turbabantur in illa hora et quasi in vnum congregati turbabantur. Illi autem, qui erant in sinu Abrahe, multum turbabantur, in tantum quod mallent in eternum esse in inferno quam talem penam in suo Domino videre.
Ego autem, que tunc eidem filio meo astabam, virgo et mater eius, qualem dolorem tunc paciebar, nullus potest considerare.
Ideo, filia mea, recordare passionem filii mei, fuge instabilitatem mundi, qui non est nisi quidam visus et flos cito arescens."
Notes
- 1 ↩The Latin 'impassibiles' refers to the angels' nature as spirits, which cannot be physically or emotionally wounded as humans are; 'incapable of suffering' captures this theological distinction.
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