Christus per sponsam monet reges, quod exonerent se a peccatis et exemplo angeli, qui precinctus ad viam apparuit tobie, precingat se zona, idest continencia verborum et operum bonorum, antequam exeant de mundo, et quod portent vestes non detruncatas sed honestas et gestus moderatos.
The Girded Traveler
The king is called to imitate the angel of Tobias by girding himself with restraint and good works before his journey.
The Lord spoke to the bride about the king mentioned just above, saying: "It is written that an angel of God appeared to Tobias, girded for his journey." This represents the figure of a righteous person. For anyone who wants to receive forgiveness for their sins must unburden themselves through compunction and confession, and gird themselves with the restraint of their words and with good works. This, then, is what this king must do.
The Beauty of Holiness
The king must abandon worldly frivolities and maintain a dignified, honorable appearance to be ready for God's call.
Before leaving this world, he should correct all his actions, having resolved to cast off all his former frivolities so that he no longer takes delight in them. It is, after all, shameful to vow to follow the most beautiful Lord and His beauty, only to turn back and imitate what is deformed. After all, David’s servants, with their beards shamefully shaved and their clothes cut short, couldn't enter the earthly Jerusalem until their clothes were mended and their beards had grown back; instead, they had to stay in a place of hardship and disgrace. How much more, then, do I—God, who am more beautiful and more powerful than that David—seek beauty in people! I don't want them wearing ragged clothes like jesters, nor adopting the mannerisms of women like effeminate men; rather, I grant people what is useful and honorable, so that they may be dressed for utility, be honorable for my glory, and be ready to give me an account when it pleases me to call them from this world.
Read the original Latin
Dominus loquebatur ad sponsam de supra proximo dicto rege dicens: Scriptum est, quod angelus dei apparuit precinctus tobie volenti peregrinari. Hoc notat figuram hominis iusti.
Nam homo, qui consequi desiderat remissionem peccatorum suorum, debet exonerare se contricione et confessione a peccatis suis et precingere se continencia verborum et operum bonorum. Sic igitur faciat rex iste.
Corrigat enim omnes actus suos, antequam exeat de mundo, habendo propositum sic abicere omnes leuitates priores, quod amplius in eis non delectetur. Turpe quippe est vouere pulcerrimo domino sequi eius pulcritudinem et iterum deformia imitari.
Nam famuli dauid rasi turpiter barba et detruncatis vestibus non poterant intrare hierusalem terrestrem nisi prius emendatis vestibus et renascentibus barbis, sed remanserunt in loco tribulacionis et despeccionis. Quanto magis ego deus, pulcrior et forcior illo dauid, quero pulcra in hominibus!
Non enim volo, quod portent detruncatas vestes more scurrarum, non gestus muliebres more effeminatorum, sed concedo hominibus vtilia et honesta, vt vestiti sint ad vtilitatem et honesti ad honorem meum et parati reddere michi racionem, quando michi placuerit vocare eos de mundo.
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