Christus dat cuidam regi duos consiliarios optimos habentes diuinam caritatem et zelum iusticie, ostendens per hoc regibus, quod tales consiliarios recipiant et non negligentes et mundum amantes. Et declarat quare amicos suos deus exponit tribulacionibus.
The King's Counselors
God promises to provide two virtuous counselors to a king who seeks the conversion of souls, while acknowledging the mystery of why the faithful suffer.
The Son of God speaks to his bride, who is praying for a certain king, saying: "If this king is willing to work for the conversion of souls, I will appoint two counselors for him to govern the kingdom." The first loves me more than himself and his own possessions, and he's even prepared to die for me. The second has already taken up the horns of the Lamb, ready to obey me and to follow not the flesh, but the Spirit. But you might ask why I expose my friends to trials.
The Parable of the Forest and the Sheep
Through a parable of a master, his servants, and a dangerous forest, God illustrates the necessity of vigilance and active defense of the innocent.
I'll answer you with an example: imagine a master who has a forest or wilderness enclosed by a wall, with wild animals inside and sheep outside, where the wall has many openings, two spaces beside each opening, and three hidden holes next to each space. The master, concerned for his sheep, said to his servants, "My servants, you know that my sheep are simple, and those beasts are fierce and predatory." So, stand your ground and guard the openings and gaps, so that fierce beasts coming from the perimeter don't harm the sheep. Don't let labor wear you out, and don't let laziness dull your watchfulness; let your voice be like a trumpet, and keep your staff in your hands at all times, so that the predatory beasts approaching the sheep may be driven away. The servants, therefore, having received the Lord's command, obeyed willingly. Finally, the Lord called his huntsman and said, "Go out into my forest with the hounds, make the animals hear the sound of the trumpet, and startle them with your shouting." When the servants heard the sound of the trumpet, they said, "Look, that's the voice of our Lord the hunter." Let's get up and go, quickly! Let's stop being timid or negligent; let our hands be quicker to strike, our voices louder in calling out, and our eyes more watchful in keeping guard, and where we once placed others to defend the sheep, let us now place ourselves.
The World as a Wilderness
God interprets the parable, identifying the world as a dangerous wilderness filled with vice, stubbornness, and the corruption of those who prioritize worldly gain.
Therefore, I myself, God, am like that lord. This world is a wilderness or a forest, teeming with the most ferocious and untamed animals—that is, with people who have no law, no charity, and no sense of God, and who are ready for every kind of evil. A wall of excessive presumption and stubbornness surrounds this world, because people abuse the patience of God and, as they grow in their wickedness, they only become more hardened. Beyond this wall, however, are my friends, because, set on fire by my love, they follow in my footsteps and seek my pastures. Inside the wall, however, are those whose greed knows no bounds, who prefer the creature to the Creator, who love the body but not the soul, and who yearn for present things rather than for future blessings. The openings in this wall are fraud, simony, and malice—vices that spare neither father nor son; yet these things now dominate many people, and it's considered the highest happiness to obtain worldly things and not care about eternal glory. There are two paths near these openings that are abuses in the world, or rather, two evils. The first is spiritual, while the second is physical. The first is giving others an example of sinning through word or action; the second, which is physical, is twofold. The first is overlooking a sin that needs correcting because of gifts, favor, and honor, or because of worldly fear. The second is to refuse to punish a manifest sin for the sake of one's own advantage or for some worldly gain. These three hidden openings are the three impulses of those who do evil. For they either seek to harm the lives of their neighbors, to disparage their honor, or to inflict loss upon their possessions and their friends.
The Justice of the Hunter
God explains that divine justice uses even the wicked to purify the faithful, calling his true friends to act as courageous guardians who uphold truth and justice.
The hunter represents the justice of God that must be made manifest, whose voice will be this: Give hard things to the hard, and give soft things to the soft. The dogs that follow are men of iniquity whom God uses for good, even though they are evil—not for their own sake, but for the sake of those being purified. They are truly like insatiable dogs, who make a habit of hating the sheep, goring them with the horns of pride, tearing off their wool, and trampling them underfoot. And so, because this king's realm is from this wilderness and forest, containing more fierce and untamed beasts than sheep, I therefore appoint my friends as guardians of my sheep, so that they may be ready to show mercy to the humble, but justice to the hardened, and to deal fairly with everyone. However, these friends of mine should be on their guard against those guardians who stand by the openings, holding spears in their hands, only to hang them up when beasts and enemies pass by; once those have escaped, they strike the ground with a loud clamor, so that they might appear to have acted bravely. These are the kind of guardians who don't look for souls, but for the fleece; they overlook sins or offer only mild correction just to be liked, and they are too lazy to investigate wrongdoing.✦ But these friends of mine must work diligently so that justice is observed and upheld, the community is loved, the honor of God is increased, and the rebellious and the wicked are punished. Whether the voice of my justice will come in these people's days or not isn't for them to know; instead, they must stand firm and cry out courageously. For I, God, who am Truth, will give them the reward of truth.
Read the original Latin
Filius dei loquitur sponse oranti pro quodam regi dicens: Si rex iste laborare voluerit pro conuertendis animabus, duos consiliarios ei constituo, qui regnum regent.
Primus diligit me plus quam se et sua, paratus est eciam mori pro me. Secundus iam assumpsit cornua agni, paratus obedire michi et non carni sed spiritui obedire. Sed querere poteris, cur amicos meos expono tribulacionibus.
Respondeo tibi per exemplum, quasi si aliquis dominus esset, qui haberet aliquam siluam vel heremum vallatam muro, intra vero murum essent animalia indomita, extra vero murum oues, et murus haberet aperturas multas et iuxta quamlibet aperturam duo spacia et iuxta quodlibet spacium essent tria foramina occulta.
Dominus itaque ille sollicitus de ouibus ait seruis suis: O serui mei, vos scitis, quod oues mee simplices sunt et bestie ille fere rapaces.
Ideo state et custodite foramina et et aperturas, ne bestie feroces exeuntes de ambitu noceant ouibus.
Non sit vobis tedium in laborando, non accidia in vigilando, vox vestra sit quasi tuba, baculus sit continue in manibus, quo bestie rapaces appropinquantes ouibus deterreantur.
Serui igitur accepto mandato domini libenter obedierunt.
Tandem dominus vocato venatore suo ait ad eum: Egredere in siluam meam cum canibus et fac animalia audire sonum tube et deterre ea clamore tuo.
Serui igitur audientes sonum tube dixerunt: Ecce hec est vox venatoris nostri domini. Surgamus ergo festinanter!
Non simus iam timidi nec negligentes, manus nostra sit prompcior iam in percuciendo, vox alcior in clamando, oculus vigilancior in speculando, et vbi prius statuimus alios pro defensione ouium, ibi modo ponamus nos ipsos.
Igitur ego ipse deus similis sum isti domino. Heremus seu silua illa mundus est abundans animalibus ferocissimis et indomitis, idest viris sine lege, sine caritate, sine sensu dei ad omnia mala preparatis.
Hunc mundum murus nimie presumpcionis et obstinacionis circumdat, quia homines paciencia dei abutuntur et proficientes in malis obdurantur.
Extra vero hunc murum sunt amici mei, quia caritate mea succensi imitantur vestigia mea et querunt pascua mea.
Intra vero murum sunt illi, quorum cupiditas non habet modum, qui creaturam preferunt creatori, corpus diligunt et non animam, ad presencia aspirant et non ad futura bona.
Aperture vero huius muri sunt fraus et symonia et malicia, que nec patri parcunt nec filio, sed ista dominantur iam apud multos et reputatur summa felicitas obtinere temporalia et non curare de eterna gloria.
Duo vero spacia iuxta aperturas due sunt abusiones in mundo seu duo mala. Prima est spiritualis, secunda vero corporalis. Prima est dare aliis exemplum peccandi verbo aut operacione, secunda scilicet corporalis duplex est.
Prima est dissimulare peccatum, quod corrigendum est, propter munera, propter fauorem et honorem seu propter mundanum timorem. Secunda est nolle punire peccatum manifestum propter suam vtilitatem vel propter mundiale bonum.
Tria vero foramina occulta sunt tres affectus malignancium. Aut enim appetunt nocere vite proximorum, aut derogare honori, aut damna inferre in bonis suis et amicis.
Venator vero significat iusticiam dei manifestandam, cuius vox erit talis: Da duris dura et da mollibus mollia. Canes autem sequentes sunt viri iniquitatis, quibus deus, quamuis sunt mali, vtitur ad bonum, non sibi ipsis sed purgandis.
Hii vtique sunt quasi canes insaciabiles, qui consuescunt odire oues, impingere eas superbie cornibus, diripere eas vellere et pedibus conculcare.
Et ideo, quia regnum istius regis est de heremo et silua ista, habens bestias feroces et indomitas plures quam oues, propter hoc constituo amicos meos custodes ouium mearum, qui parati sint misericordiam dare humilibus, induratis vero iusticiam et omnibus facere equitatem.
Ceterum amici isti caueant sibi a custodibus illis, qui stantes iuxta foramina et lanceas tenentes in manibus suspendunt eas transeuntibus bestiis et hostibus, quibus euasis percuciunt terram cum clamore valido, vt videantur fortiter egisse.
Hii enim sunt custodes, qui animas non querunt sed vellera, qui peccata dissimulant aut leniter reprehendunt, vt placeant, accidia inquisicionis de peccatis dormitant.
Sed isti amici mei laborent sollicite, vt iusticia obseruetur et teneatur, communitas diligatur, honor dei augeatur et rebelles et impii puniantur.
Vtrum autem vox iusticie mee veniet in diebus istorum an non, licitum non est eis scire, sed ipsi stent firmiter et viriliter clament. Ego enim deus veritas dabo eis mercedem veritatis.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Ezek.34.3 — You eat the fat and wear the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but the flock you do not tend.
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