Quidam nobilis princeps et iustus nolebat acceptare vnam magnam dignitatem regiminis regni ex bona intencione. Quem Dei mater per sponsam reprehendit precipiens, quod illam acceptet habendo in ore semper verba veritatis et in manu gladium iusticie sine aliqua accepcione personarum.
The Burden of Just Leadership
The Mother of God instructs a reluctant nobleman to accept his duty of leadership with justice and truth, rather than seeking his own path.
When a certain great nobleman of the kingdom of Sweden, who was called Lord Israel, was repeatedly urged by the king with many pleas to accept a higher position of government in the kingdom, he—having a desire to go against the pagans and die there in the service of God for the holy faith—was in no way inclined to accept the position; then, while his wife was praying, the Mother of God spoke to him, saying: "If," she said, "those who know justice, desire it, and have the power to act on it, refuse to take on the burden and the labor for God's sake, how will the kingdom stand in its strength?" That isn't truly a kingdom, but a den of thieves and a cave of tyrants, where the wicked rule and the just are trampled underfoot. So, a just and good person ought to be drawn by the love of God and a holy zeal to offer themselves for leadership, so that they might be of benefit to many. People who seek positions of power and authority for the sake of worldly honor aren't true leaders; they're the worst kind of tyrants. Therefore, let this friend of mine, Israel, accept the position of leadership for the honor of God, keeping the words of truth on his lips and the sword of justice in his hand, without looking to or swaying toward the favors of men or his own relatives, and without showing any partiality.✦ I tell you, people will still say this about him: 'He left his homeland with courage, honored the Mother of God with sincerity, and served God with faithfulness.' So, know that I will lead him to my kingdom by a different path. And truly, everything happened just as it was predicted. For some years later, this lord went out against the infidels and came to Germany, to the city of Riga, where he fell ill.1
A Faithful Departure
Lord Israel fulfills his devotion to the Virgin Mary in his final days, and she confirms that his heart's intention was accepted as a holy sacrifice.
Sensing that his death was near, he went with some others into the cathedral, and there, on the finger of the image of the most blessed Virgin Mary—which is held in great reverence there—he placed a precious ring and left it, saying openly: You are my Lady, and you've always been the sweetest; I call upon you as my witness to this. Therefore, I entrust myself and my soul to your providence and mercy. Then, having received the Sacraments with the deepest devotion, he died. After this, however, as his bride was praying for him, the Mother of God spoke of him, saying: "He gave me the ring of his love, desiring me as his bride."2 Truly, daughter, you should know that when he lived, he didn't love me with half a heart, but with his whole heart; and in all his works and judgments, he feared my Son. So, with my Son working through me, I led him along the path that was most necessary and useful for him, and I presented him to the heavenly host of saints and angels—by whom he was already loved—so that if he had died in his parents' hands, he wouldn't be hindered by worldly comfort. His good intention was so pleasing to God that it was as if he had died in pagan lands, fighting against the faithless for the sake of the holy Catholic faith.3
Read the original Latin
Cum quidam magnus nobilis regni Suecie, qui dominus Israhel vocabatur, multis precibus ad dignitatem maiorem regiminis regni vocaretur multociens a rege et ille habens desiderium eundi contra paganos et ibi in seruicio Dei pro fide sancta moriendi nullo modo ad suscipiendam dictam dignitatem inclinaretur, tunc orante sponsa loquebatur ei mater Dei dicens:
"Si", inquit, "illi, qui iusticiam sciunt et eam desiderant et facere possunt, recusant pro Deo suscipere onus et laborem, quomodo stabit regnum in vigore suo?
Vere illud non est regnum sed latrocinium et spelunca tyrannorum, vbi iniqui dominantur et iusti conculcantur. Et ideo homo iustus et bonus trahi debet caritate Dei et zelo bono offerre se ad regimen, vt proficiat multis.
Qui autem dignitates et regimina ambiunt propter honorem mundi, non sunt principes veri sed tyranni pessimi.
Ergo iste amicus meus Israhel accipiat regimen propter honorem Dei, habendo in ore verba veritatis et in manu gladium iusticie, non respiciendo nec inclinando se ad fauores hominum nec ad cognatos, nec faciendo personarum accepcionem.
Nam dico tibi, quod adhuc dicetur de isto ab ore hominum: 'Iste exiuit de patria viriliter, honorauit matrem Dei sinceriter, seruiuit Deo fideliter.' Propterea scias, quod per aliam viam cum magis ducam eum ad regionem meam."
Sic vere postea omnia hec euenerunt. Nam transactis aliquibus annis iste dominus exiuit contra infideles et venit in Alemaniam in ciuitatem Rigensem, vbi infirmatus est.
Et senciens mortem vicinam ascendit cum aliquibus in ecclesiam cathedralem et ibi digito ymaginis beatissime Marie virginis, que ibi in maxima reuerencia colitur, impressit anulum preciosum et reliquit ibi dicens aperte:
"Tu michi domina es et semper fuisti dulcissima, super quo te testem inuoco. Ideo me et animam meam tue prouidencie et misericordie relinquo." Deinde sumptis sacramentis deuotissime mortuus est.
Post hec autem orante pro eo sponsa mater Dei loquebatur de eo sic dicens: "Ipse dedit michi anulum caritatis sue desiderans me sponsam meam.
Vere, filia, scias, quod ipse, cum vixit, non dilexit me dimidio corde suo sed toto, et in omnibus operibus suis et iudiciis timuit filium meum.
Ideo ego duxi eum operante Deo, filio meo, per viam sibi magis necessariam et vtilem et presentaui eum celesti exercitui sanctorum et angelorum, a quibus ipse dilectus erat, ne, si in manibus parentum mortuus fuisset, consolacione temporali impediretur.
Eius quippe bona voluntas sic placuit Deo, ac si in paganismo moreretur contra infideles pugnando pro fide sancta catholica."
Scripture echoes
- ↩Acts.10.34 — Then Peter opened his mouth and said, "Truly I understand that God is not one who shows partiality.
Notes
- 1 ↩The Latin 'Alemaniam' is used here in the medieval sense, often encompassing broader Germanic territories, while 'Rigensem' refers to Riga.
- 2 ↩The Latin 'sponsam meam' at the end of the sentence is grammatically unusual in this context, as it appears to refer to the speaker (the Mother of God) calling herself the bride, or perhaps a scribal repetition. I have translated it as 'desiring me as his bride' to capture the intended meaning of the mystical union described.
- 3 ↩The Latin 'paganismo' here refers to the context of being among non-believers or in a non-Christian territory, rather than the abstract state of paganism.
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