Orante virgine Maria pro quodam defuncto suo deuoto dicit Christus, quod beneficia successorum illius exhibita pro anima eius modicum ei prosunt, quia fiebant pocius ad superbiam et honorem mundi quam ex deuota caritate ad Deum. Propter preces tamen virginis alleuiatur pena eius.
The Virgin's Intercession
Mary prays to her Son for the soul of a deceased devotee, offering the merit of Christ's consecrated body.
Mary says: "Blessed be your name, my Son!" You are the King of glory and a powerful Lord, holding justice together with mercy. Your body, so dear to me, which was conceived and nourished in my womb without sin, has today been consecrated for the soul of this deceased person. I ask you, therefore, my dearest Son, that it may benefit their soul, and have mercy on them!
The Vanity of Worldly Works
Christ explains that the works of the deceased's successors are tainted by pride and vanity, failing to truly benefit the soul.
The Son replied: "Blessed are you, blessed Mother, by every creature, for your mercy is beyond measure." I am like a man who buys a tiny five-foot field for a great price, because the finest gold was hidden within it.✦ This field is the person of five senses, whom I bought and redeemed with my most precious blood. In it was precious gold—that is, the soul created from my divinity—which has now been taken from the body, leaving only the earth behind. His successors are like a powerful man who, on his way to judgment, shouts to the executioner, 'Sever his head from his body with a sword!' Don't let him live long, and don't spare his blood! That is how they act. They act as if they are heading to judgment when they work properly for the salvation of their father's soul, yet they cry out to the executioner, 'Separate his head from his body!'1 Who is this executioner but the devil, who separates the soul that consents to him from its God? They cry out to him, "Separate!" This happens when they despise humility and perform those good works for the sake of pride and worldly honor, rather than out of divine charity. For through pride the Head—that is, God—is separated from a person, and through humility, one is joined to Him. They themselves also cry out that they won't live long, when they don't care about his death, so that they might obtain his goods. They cry out, yet they don't spare His blood, for they don't care about His bitter suffering, nor how long He remains in it, if only they can satisfy their own will. Their thoughts are entirely on the world, and they consider My suffering to be of little account.
Mercy Granted Through Prayer
Mary pleads for mercy based on the deceased's devotion, and Christ grants a threefold relief to the soul.
Then the Virgin answered: "I see your justice, my Son, is severe." I'm not speaking of that, but of your most loving mercy. Therefore, because of my prayers, have mercy on him, for he used to read my Hours daily in my honor. Don't hold him responsible for the pride of his successors, which they act out on his behalf. For they are rejoicing, while he is weeping and suffering inconsolably. The Son answered her, "Blessed are you, dearest Mother!" Your words are full of sweetness—sweeter than honey. They come from a heart overflowing with mercy, and so your words ring with mercy. Because of you, the person you are praying for will receive a threefold mercy. First, he will be saved from the hands of the demons who torment him insatiably, like ravens. Just as birds, when they hear some terrifying noise, drop the prey they're holding in their claws out of fear of the sound and fly away, so too, because of you, the demons will release his soul and will no longer touch or harass it. Second, he will be moved from a more intense burning to a lighter one. Third, the holy angels will comfort him. Yet he still isn't entirely freed, and he still needs help. You know and see all justice in me, for no one can enter into blessedness unless they've been cleansed like gold purified by fire. Therefore, because of your prayers, when the time of mercy and justice arrives, he'll be completely set free.
Read the original Latin
Maria loquitur: "Benedictum sit nomen tuum, fili mi! Tu es rex glorie et Dominus potens, habens iusticiam cum misericordia.
Corpus tuum michi carissimum, quod in ventre meo generabatur et nutriebatur sine peccato, hodie pro anima istius defuncti consecratum est. Rogo igitur te, fili carissime, vt prosit anime eius, et miserere ei!"
Respondit Filius: "Benedicta sis tu, mater benedicta, ab omni creatura, quia misericordia tua innumerabilis est. Ego sum similis homini, qui emit paruulum agrum quasi quinque pedum pro maximo precio, in quo aurum optimum erat absconditum.
Hic ager homo iste est quinque sensuum, quem preciosissimo sanguine meo comparaui et redemi. In quo erat aurum preciosum, idest anima de deitate mea creata, que nunc a corpore sublata est et terra sola remanet.
Eius successores sunt similes homini potenti, qui vadens ad iudicium clamat lictori: 'Separa cum gladio caput eius a corpore eius! Non permittas eum diu viuere nec parcas sanguini eius!'
Sic faciunt illi. Ipsi enim quasi ad iudicium vadunt, cum pro salute anime patris decenter laborant, sed lictori clamant: 'Separa caput eius a corpore!'
Quis est iste lictor nisi dyabolus, separans animam consencientem sibi a Deo suo? Huic clamant: 'Separa!' , quando contempta humilitate illa bona, que agunt, faciunt pro superbia et honore mundi plus quam ex diuina caritate.
Per superbiam enim caput, idest Deus, separatur ab homine et coniungitur ei per humilitatem. Ipsi eciam clamant non diu viuere, quando non curant de morte eius, vt optineant bona.
Clamant et non parcere sanguini, quando non curant de amara pena eius nec quamdiu in ea fuerit, si voluntatem suam perficere possint. Eorum quippe cogitacio tota est ad mundum et pro modico est eis passio mea."
Tunc respondit virgo: "Vidi iusticiam tuam, fili mi, seueram. Ad quam non loquor sed ad misericordiam tuam piissimam. Ideo propter preces meas miserere isti, quia cottidie legebat horas meas in honore meo.
Nec imputes ei superbiam successorum eius, quam pro eo exercent. Ipsi enim gaudent et iste plorat et punitur inconsolabiliter."
Cui respondit Filius: "Benedicta sis tu, mater carissima! Verba tua plena sunt dulcedine et dulciora melle, verba tua procedunt de corde, quod misericordia plenum est, et ideo misericordiam sonant verba tua.
Iste, pro quo tu oras, triplicem misericordiam propter te habebit. Primo saluabitur de manibus demonum, qui tamquam corui insaciabiliter affligunt eum.
Sicut enim aues, cum aliquem terribilem sonum audiunt, predam, quam vnguibus tenent, pre timore sonitus relinquunt et fugiunt, sic propter te demones relinquent animam eius nec vlterius tangent aut infestabunt.
Secundo transferetur de grauiori ardore in leuiorem. Tercio consolabuntur eum angeli sancti. Adhuc tamen ex toto non est liberatus et adhuc auxilio indiget.
Scis enim et vides omnem iusticiam in me, quod nullus ad beatitudinem ingredi potest, nisi tamquam aurum per ignem purgatum mundatus fuerit. Ideo propter preces tuas adueniente tempore misericordie et iusticie liberabitur ex toto."
Scripture echoes
- ↩Matt.13.44 — The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid again; and in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Notes
- 1 ↩The Latin 'decenter' here likely carries the sense of 'seemingly' or 'outwardly proper' rather than 'decently' in the modern sense, highlighting the hypocrisy of their actions.
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