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← Speculum caritatis (The Mirror of Charity)/Book 2 · Speculum caritatis — Liber II
Chapter 17SpCar.2.17

Interrogationes cujusdam novitii, et suae responsiones inseruntur.

The Novice's Question: Why Was Love Sweeter Before?

A newly professed brother asks why he experienced greater sweetness of divine love in his former secular life than he now feels under monastic discipline.

When, not long before, a certain brother, renouncing the world, had entered our monastery and been entrusted by our most reverend abbot to my humble self to be instructed in the regular disciplines, he began at times to wonder and to ask me what reason there seemed to be why, while still living in his secular habit and manner of life, he had so often been pierced with compunction and melted into a certain affection of divine love, and had enjoyed so great a sweetness of spirit — a sweetness that, he said, he could not now retain for any longer, nor even rarely taste enough. Then I said: 'Do you think that former way of yours was holier, and more acceptable to God?' 'Not at all,' he said. 'I would not say that — especially since I now do many things that, if I had done even one of them then, I would be considered not only holy but, so to speak, worthy of veneration by everyone.' 'I ask you,' I said, 'in what sort of trials you were experiencing that apostolic saying: we must enter the kingdom of God through many tribulations (Acts 14).'✦ 'And that saying of blessed Job: If I were just, I would not lift up my head, filled as I am with affliction and misery (Job 10).'✦ (Job 10.) 'None of that,' he said. 'I don't remember feeling any of those things. But for the most part I felt myself loving Christ more vividly and more sweetly.' 'And I said: How much would you have suffered for Christ then, compared to how much you suffer now?'

The Hardness of Monastic Life Compared with Worldly Freedom

The novice confesses he could not endure monastic austerity for even one hour, and contrasts his former life of ease, laughter, feasting, and self-indulgence with the rigors of silence, plain food, rough clothing, and interrupted sleep.

"Not for one hour," he says, "could I endure what I bear here without a break." For to pass over everything else, there is no way I would let myself be crushed by silence for even one day, or hold myself back from idle and pointless talk for any reason at all.'1 In fact, after those tears I just described, I'd go right back to laughing and telling stories, and carried along by the impulse of my mind, I'd run restlessly here and there — enjoying the freedom to do as I pleased. I relished being around my parents, I smiled at my friends' conversations, I showed up at prepared feasts, I didn't shy away from drinking bouts, I grabbed morning naps whenever I felt like it, and I stuffed myself with food and drink beyond all need.'2 I'll say nothing of the stings of anger that sometimes drove me, the quarrels, the arguments, and the cravings for worldly things — which I pursued as best I could.' "But now," I said, "what are your habits, your life, your conduct?" And he smiled: "It's easy to say," he replied. "They don't exactly hide themselves."3 The food is certainly plainer, the clothing rougher; drink comes from the spring, and sleep is generally on a book.'4 And when our limbs are worn out, a thin mat is barely spread beneath us; and just when sleep has grown sweetest, the bell strikes and we're forced to get up.'5

The Monastic Life as Fulfillment of Scripture

The novice describes how the monastic life fulfills scriptural commands—eating bread in the sweat of one's face, putting to death earthly members, becoming like a beast of burden—and notes both its austerities and its consolations.

I'll say nothing of the fact that we eat our bread in the sweat of our faces, that we speak to only three men — and that very rarely, and scarcely even about what's necessary. Isn't that apostolic command most clearly fulfilled in us: 'Put to death your members that are on earth' (Coloss.✦✦ 3). And that word of the Psalmist: 'I have become like a beast of burden before you'? (Psalm 72.) Truly we have become like beasts of burden. Wherever we are led, we go without contradiction; whatever is laid upon us, we bear without reluctance. There's no room for self-will, no time for idleness or slackness. I don't think we should pass over certain things that delight us no less than these austerities weary us.

The Peace and Unity of the Brotherhood

The novice extols the monastery's freedom from worldly strife, the harmony and common ownership among brothers, the absence of favoritism, the authority of the abbot's will, and the conformity of the whole life to Gospel and apostolic perfection.

There are no quarrels here, no disputes, no bitter complaints from peasants crushed under harsh oppression, no pitiful cries from the poor who've been wronged — no lawsuits, no secular courts at all. Everywhere there is peace, everywhere calm, and a remarkable freedom from the upheavals of the world. Among the brothers there is such unity and such harmony that what belongs to one seems to belong to all, and everything held in common feels like each person's own.✦6 And what delights me in a remarkable way: there is no favoritism, no regard for a person's birth or social standing. Only genuine need creates any difference between us; only real weakness calls for special treatment. Whatever is produced by the common labor of all is distributed to each person — not as though dictated by personal attachment or private affection, but according to each one's actual need. And this too is something to wonder at: that among three hundred men, as I reckon it, the will of one man serves as law — so much so that whatever has once fallen from his mouth is guarded with such care by everyone, as though all had conspired together to uphold it, or as if they had heard it from the very mouth of God. And to sum up much in a few words: I find nothing of perfection in the Gospel and apostolic precepts, nothing in the writings of the holy Fathers, nothing in the sayings of the ancient monks, that does not harmonize with this order and this way of life.

The Teacher's First Correction: Tears Versus Obedience

The teacher cautions the novice against boasting and asks whether his former tears of compunction compare favorably with his present obedience, offering a parable of two servants to test whether love is proved by feeling or by deeds.

Then I said: "You are a novice; for this reason I wouldn't call this boasting, but rather fervor." I want you, nevertheless, to be on guard, lest you think that any religious profession at all in this life is free of pretense — and lest, if perhaps you should notice anyone exceeding you in speech or in deed, you be troubled, as if something new beyond your understanding had happened.7 And yet all these things that you enumerate so fervently — do you think they are to be compared with those tears of yours? "Far be it," he says, "that that outpouring of tears has ever rendered my conscience secure, that it has ever stripped away the fear of death!" But now I don't care much about that — indeed, I very much hope that after a little while my Maker will take me away. And although it may perhaps be a sign of timidity — as you are accustomed to reproach me — that I would prefer to be freed from these labors, yet I could not do so without a certain hope of divine mercy.8 For which reason I wonder enough: why I used to love God with greater love when I enjoyed less security. "I ask you," I said, "if you had two servants, one of whom obeyed your precepts not only most obediently but even endured some labors for your sake, while the other was a daily transgressor of your instructions and would not have consented to bear anything adverse for you — and both of them said, 'I love my Lord' — which one would you rather believe?"

The Novice Confesses: He Chose the World, Not Christ

Pressed by the teacher's reasoning, the novice admits that if he preferred his former state it would have been for worldly pleasure and avoidance of labor, not for Christ or greater perfection.

"Who," he says, "would not see that this one should be rewarded most abundantly, and that the other should be accused not only of transgression but also of excessive shamelessness?" "In the same way," I say, "you yourself must judge between these two states of yours." "But how," he says, "could I properly refuse to trust experience — who will be able to persuade me by reason?"9 "If someone were to ask you," I say, "which is better — the one who loves God more or the one who loves him less — surely you would declare without any hesitation that the one more diligently moved by love is the better?"10 "Only a madman," he says, "would hesitate on this point, at least." "Now I ask you," I say, "set aside anything that, as a novice, still flatters you with worldly pleasantness, or any remembered delight that still tempts you; and don't pay attention to what the flesh suggests, but to what reason dictates — and answer me according to the standards of truth and the testimony of your conscience: would you prefer to be in that former state right now rather than in this one, in which you now are?"1112 "Truly," he says, "if I don't want to deceive myself, nor act so that the saying applies to me — 'The mouth of the sinner is oil, anointing my head' — I must confess that if I had chosen that former state, it would clearly have been not for Christ but for the world, not out of desire for greater perfection but out of disgust with present labor, or at least out of appetite for greater pleasure."✦1314 "Now then," I say, "as if I were aware of your fervor, I don't hesitate to affirm that you don't wish to be in that state now."15

The Dilemma: Loving More Then, Obeying More Now

The novice finds himself caught between two truths: he cannot deny that he loved God more fervently with tears in his former life, yet he cannot deny that greater obedience means greater goodness, since Scripture, reason, and conscience all affirm the monastic way.

"You're not wrong," he says. "But if, in that state, I say, you loved God more, you were certainly better off." "If you were better then, why are you more at ease now?" "Or would you rather be more at ease than better?" "But even if someone were to say that the one who has applied himself more — rather than less — to fulfilling the Lord's commands is the better one, I don't think you'd deny it." "I'm hemmed in on every side," he says, "and dashed like a rock against a rock by the force of reason, and I can find no way out." "For that I loved God more then, and more often breathed forth sweet tears into his love — having experienced this, I surely ought not to doubt; but that the one who has been more fervent in the love of God is the better one — I don't dare deny that." "Moreover, lest I set that life above this way of life, the full authority of the holy Scriptures opposes it, reason itself stands against it, and our own conscience cries out against it."

Scripture Decides: Love Is Keeping the Commandments

The teacher resolves the dilemma by appealing to Christ's own words—'If anyone loves me, he will keep my commandments'—and to the warning that experience can be deceptive, showing that obedience, not feeling, is the measure of love.

So I consider it the most foolish thing to doubt which person is better, when the character of the one agrees more with the authority of Scripture. But since there is no small conflict between these things, I must consider where it is less dangerous to doubt: about the truth of the Scriptures, or about the most evident reason, or rather about the guesswork of one's own experience. But against Scripture, I say, no Catholic, and against plain reason, no peaceful person; yet in one's own self-judgment, who is not easily crept upon by deception? In the end, experience is deceptive, and, as it is written: 'Do not believe every spirit, and sometimes Satan transforms himself into an angel of light' (2 Cor. 11:14).✦ 11. Nevertheless, he says, even if at that time I perhaps loved God more, yet now I obey his will more, I press harder toward fulfilling his precepts, I afflict myself more for his name: hence my mind is more secure, my conscience more cheerful, and my soul, conscious of so many labors, is more ready to undergo death itself, in the hope of reward. You are claiming two things that are thoroughly at odds with each other: that you loved God more, and obeyed his will less. Your own opinion is refuted by the teaching of the Savior himself, who says: 'If anyone loves me, he will keep my commandments' (John 14:15).✦

The Full Weight of Scripture on Love and Obedience

The teacher piles up further scriptural testimony—Christ's repeated words in John 14, the beloved disciple's teaching in 1 John 5, and a saint's saying—to prove that love of God is inseparable from keeping the commandments in word, deed, and thought.

14. But again: "Whoever has my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves me" (ibid.).✦ . And again: "Whoever does not love me does not keep my words" (ibid.).✦ . From this, that disciple whom Jesus loved, whose resting place for his head became that sacred breast — "In this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments" (1 John 5:3).✦✦ 5. Accordingly, as a certain saint says: "Whoever, by word or deed or even by thought, has violated the commandments of God — they believe in vain that they love God."

Gregory's Maxim: Love Is Never Idle

The teacher cites Gregory the Great's dictum that love is never idle—if it exists it works great things—and explains that divine love must not be judged by passing feelings, using the analogy of tears shed over fictional tragedies.

Hence blessed Gregory also says: 'The love of God is never idle; for if it exists, it works great things, or if it refuses to work, it is not love.'16 Proof of love, therefore, is the showing forth of work (Hom.17 30).' » «What then? he says. Are we to believe that this most tender feeling was empty, and shall we judge those tears to be deceptive? —Not at all, I say. On the contrary, their fruit is greatest—if only you understand. Know first, then, that the love of God is by no means to be weighed by that passing feeling—that momentary affection, as I would call it—for this is clear to observe from contrasting examples.18

The Shame of Mistaking Feeling for Holiness

The teacher argues that it is madness to judge God's love by mere compunction, just as absurd as being moved to tears by fictional tales; the novice is ashamed, confessing he has congratulated himself on tears stirred by holy things just as he once wept over pagan stories.

Because when, in tragedies or empty poems, someone is portrayed as wronged or oppressed — someone whose beauty is praised as lovable, whose strength as marvelous, whose charm as graceful — if a person hearing these things sung, or watching them performed, is moved to the point of tears by some feeling, isn't it utterly absurd to draw from this hollow sort of piety a conclusion about the quality of that person's love, so that from this we're supposed to affirm that some fictional character loves, for whose rescue — even if all these things were truly happening before our eyes — the person wouldn't suffer even the smallest portion of their own substance to be spent? Truly, it is a similar foolishness — no, a far greater madness — if some self-indulgent or lukewarm person, pricked by hidden stirrings of compunction through God's secret providence, passes judgment on God's love, so that from this God is believed to love more the one who has so thoroughly submitted to divine service that whatever he knows to be contrary to God's will he detests with utter horror, and whatever burden of labor has been laid upon him he embraces with all fervor for God's sake. At these words he was flushed with a certain shame, head bowed, eyes fixed on the ground. "Truly," he said, "truly." For I remember that even in the tales commonly told about some Arcturus or other, I was sometimes moved to the shedding of tears. So I am not a little ashamed of my own vanity: if by chance I manage to squeeze out a tear at things that are piously read, sung, or preached about the Lord, I immediately congratulate myself on my holiness, as though some great and extraordinary miracle had happened to me. And truly it is the judgment of a most empty mind to let oneself be puffed up with vainglory over feelings that happen to arise from piety — the very same feelings with which one used to be moved to compunction by fables and lies. But because you said a moment ago that these feelings contain no small fruit, I ask you to continue with what you had begun. "Gladly," I said.

The Better Path: Confessing Weakness Rather Than Excusing Sin

The teacher exhorts the novice to embrace truth rather than excuse sloth, citing the psalmist's cry for mercy and Christ's rebuke of the lukewarm church at Laodicea, before returning to the main argument.

And you must not be denied knowledge of the truth, for which you don't think you should spare yourself either. For many people, if they happen to hear certain things argued against sloth, cook up some sophistical little arguments — even with their conscience protesting — to resist the truth, and turning their hearts toward words of malice, they love to make excuses for their sins. Surely it is better to confess to the Lord and say: Have mercy on me, for I am weak (Ps. vi), than to say: I am rich, and wealthy, and need nothing — when in fact he may be wretched, miserable, blind, and poor, and naked (Apoc.✦ iii). But let's return to our purpose.

Read the original Latin

Cum ante non multum tempus frater quidam abrenuntians mundo, nostro se monasterio contulisset, traditus a reverendissimo abbate nostro meae parvitati disciplinis regularibus instituendus, coepit aliquando admirans quaerere, quaenam mihi causa videretur, quod in saeculari adhuc habitu ac conversatione positus ita saepius compungebatur, ac in quemdam divini amoris resolvebatur affectum tantaque spiritus suavitate frueretur, quantam, inquit, modo non dicam diutius retinere, sed ne raro quidem degustare sufficiam. Tum ego: « Sanctioremne, inquam, illam tuam conversationem, Deoque acceptiorem fuisse existimas? — Nequaquam, inquit, id dixerim; praesertim cum multa jam agam, quorum si unum aliquid tunc egissem, non modo sanctus, imo ab omnibus crederer, ut ita dixerim, adorandus. — Rogo, inquam, in quantis illud apostolicum experiebaris, quia per multas tribulationes oportet nos introire in regnum Dei (Act. xiv); illudque beati Job: Si justus fuero, non levabo caput meum, saturatus afflictione et miseria? (Job x.) » — « Nihil, inquit, horum sensisse me memini, sed plerumque expressius ac dulcius me Christum amare persensi. » Et ego: « Tantane tunc patereris pro Christo, quanta nunc pateris?

— Ne una, inquit, hora, quanta hic sine cessatione sustineo. Nam ut caetera taceam, nullo modo saltem una die tanto me sinerer premi silentio, aut me ulla ratione ab otiosis et vanis sermonibus continerem. Quinimo post illas, quas praefatus sum lacrymas, statim ad cachinnos redibam et fabulas, ac pro impetu animi huc atque illuc mobili discursione ferebar, ac meae voluntatis possidens libertatem, parentum praesentia gratulabar, sociorum confabulationibus arridebam; conviviis apparatis intereram, potationes non abhorrebam; matutinos somnos pro libito carpebam, cibo ac potu supra metas etiam necessitatis distendebar. Taceo ira stimulos, quibus nonnunquam urgebar, lites, contentiones, ac mundialium rerum cupiditates, quibus pro posse intendebam. — At nunc, inquam, qui mores tui, quae vita, qui actus? » Et ille subridens: « In promptu, inquit, est dicere: non enim ignorari se sinunt. Est quidem cibus parcior, vestis asperior; potus e fonte, somnus plerumque in codice. Denique fatigatis membris male mollis matta substernitur; dum somnus suavior fuerit, surgere campana pulsante compellimur.

Taceo quod in sudore vultus nostri vescimur pane nostro, quod tribus solum hominibus, et hoc rarissime, et vix de necessariis loquimur: Nonne istud apostolicum manifestissime impletur in nobis: Mortificate membra vestra, quae sunt super terram (Coloss. iii). Et illud Psalmistae: Ut jumentum factus sum apud te? (Psal. lxxii.) Vere ut jumentum facti sumus; quocunque ducimur sine contradictione euntes, quodcunque imponitur sine reluctatione ferentes. Propriae voluntati nullus locus; otio aut dissolutioni nullum tempus. Praetereunda non aestimo quaedam, quae non minus delectant quam ista fatigant.

Nusquam lites; nusquam contentio; nusquam rusticorum ob diram oppressionem querulus planctus; nusquam pauperum injuriatorum miserandus clamor, placita nulla; saecularia judicia nulla. Ubique pax, ubique tranquillitas, et a mundialium tumultuum mira libertas. Inter fratres tanta unitas, tantaque concordia, ut singula videantur omnium, et omnia singulorum. Et quod me miro modo delectat, nulla est personarum acceptio: nulla natalium consideratio. Sola necessitas parit diversitatem, sola infirmitas disparilitatem. Quod enim in communi laboratur ab omnibus distribuitur singulis, non ut carnalis affectus, aut privatus amor dictaverit, sed prout cuique opus fuerit. Quam illud quoque mirandum, quod trecentis, ut reor, hominibus unius hominis voluntas est lex, adeo ut quod semel ex ejus ore elapsum fuerit, tanta cura servetur ab omnibus, ac si in id omnes conjuraverint, vel ab ipsius Dei ore audierint. Et ut breviter multa comprehendam, nihil prorsus perfectionis in evangelicis et apostolicis praeceptis; nihil in litteris sanctorum Patrum invenio; nihil in antiquorum monachorum dictis intelligo: quod non huic ordini, et huic consonet professioni.

» Tum ego: « Novitius, inquam, es: ideo non hoc jactantiae, sed fervori potius assignarim. Volo te tamen cautum esse, ne ullam omnino professionem esse existimes in hac vita, quae fictos non habeat, ne si forte quemquam perspexeris aut sermone aut actu excedere; quasi praeter aestimationem tuam novi aliquid accidere conturberis. Attamen haec omnia, quae tam ferventer enumeras, illisne lacrymis tuis aestimas comparanda? — Absit, inquit, ut securam mihi conscientiam nunquam illa lacrymarum profusio reddiderit, nunquam metu mortis exuerit! At nunc non multum curo, imo et opto plurimum, ut post modicum tollat me factor meus. Quod licet forte pusillanimitatis sit, ut exprobrare mihi soles, quod videlicet malim his laboribus eximi, nullo modo tamen sine certa spe divinae miserationis id possem. Unde satis miror, cur ampliori amore Deum amabam, quando minori securitate fruebar. — Rogo, inquam, si duo tibi essent servi, quorum alter praeceptis tuis non solum obedientissime pareret, imo nonnullos labores tui causa sustineret; alter praeceptorum tuorum quotidianus transgressor, nihil prorsus adversi pro te ferre consensisset, dicentibus utrisque: 'Diligo Dominum meum,' cui potius credere deligeres?

» « Quis, inquit, non videat hunc copiosissime munerandum, illum non modo transgressionis, sed et nimiae impudentiae arguendum? — Sic te, inquam, inter hos duos status tuos oportet te judicare. — Sed ut proprie, inquit, experientiae non credam, qui mihi ratio persuadere poterit? — Si quis, inquam, quaerat abs te, quisnam sit melior, qui amplius, an qui minus Deum diligis, nonne sine omni cunctatione eum pronuntiabis meliorem, quem plus moveris diligentem? — Insani capitis est, inquit, saltem hinc haesitare. — Quaeso nunc, inquam, removeas, si quid tibi adhuc, utpote novitio, de saeculari suavitate blanditur, si quid expertae delectationis alludit; nec attendas quid caro suggerat, sed quid ratio dictet, respondeasque mihi secundum regulas veritatis, ac conscientiae tuae testimonium, utrum malles te in illo statu nunc esse, quam in isto, quo nunc es. — Prorsus, inquit, si non velim fallere me ipsum, nec agere, ut sit mihi proprium os oleum peccatoris, ad impinguandum caput meum, necesse habeo confiteri, quia si illum statum praelegissem, esset plane hoc non propter Christum, sed propter mundum, nec desiderio majoris perfectionis, sed fastidio praesentis laboris, vel certe appetitu majoris delectationis. — Jam nunc, inquam, quasi fervoris tui conscius, non cunctor affirmare, nolle te nunc in eo esse statu.

— Non falleris, inquit. — Sed si in eo, inquam, statu Deum magis amabas, profecto melior eras. Si tunc melior, quare nunc securior? An eligis securior esse quam melior? Sed et si quis dixerit meliorem illum, qui amplius, quam qui minus praeceptis Domini adimplendis institerit, puto quia non abnues. — Coarctor, inquit, undique, et quasi de scopulo ad scopulum impulsu rationis allidor, nec invenio exitum. Nam quod tunc Deum magis amaverim et dulcibus quibusdam lacrymis in ejus amorem saepius respiraverim, quasi de re experta dubitare non debeo; at quin is melior sit, qui in Dei amore fuerit ferventior, negare non audeo. Porro ne vitam illam huic conversationi praeponam, omnis sanctarum Scripturarum repugnat auctoritas, obsistit ratio, ipsa conscientia nostra reclamat.

Unde cui dubitare meliorem, cujus moribus magis Scripturae concordat auctoritas, insanissimum judico. Sed cum in his non parva repugnantia sit, considerandum mihi est, unde dubitare minus sit periculosum, de Scripturarum veritate, an de manifestissima ratione, an potius de conjectura propriae experientiae. — Sed contra Scripturam, inquam, nemo Catholicus, contra manifestam rationem nemo pacificus; verum in sui aestimatione cui non facile subrepat fallacia? Denique experimentum fallax, et, sicut scriptum est: 'Non omni spiritui credendum est, et aliquando Satanas transfigurat se in angelum lucis' (II Cor. xi). — Verumtamen licet, inquit, tunc forte Deum magis amaverim, quia tamen nunc ejus voluntati magis obtempero, magis praeceptis ejus adimplendis insisto, amplius pro ejus nomine memetipsum affligo: hinc mens securior, hilarior conscientia, et tot laborum conscius animus, ad ipsam subeundam mortem, spe praemiorum promptior. — Duo, inquam, valde sibi contraria asseris, quod scilicet amplius Deum amaveris, et minus ejus voluntati paruereris. Quam opinionem tuam, sententia ipsius Salvatoris evacuat, ita dicentis: Si quis diligit me, mandata mea servabit (Joan.

xiv). Sed et iterum: Qui habet mandata mea, et servat ea, hic est qui diligit me (ibid.) . Et iterum: Qui non diligit me sermones meos non servat (ibid.) . Hinc discipulus ille, quem diligebat Jesus, cujus reclinatorium capitis sacrum illud pectus factum est: In hoc est charitas Dei, ut mandata illius custodiamus (I Joan. v). Proinde ut ait quidam sanctus: 'Quicunque dictu, vel actu, vel etiam cogitatu improbo Dei mandata violaverint, frustra se Deum diligere credunt.'

Unde etiam beatus Gregorius: 'Amor Dei nunquam est otiosus; aut enim operatur magna, si est; aut si operari contemnit, amor non est. Probatio ergo dilectionis exhibitio est operis (Hom. 30).' » « Quid ergo, inquit? Vanusne fuisse dulcissimus ille affectus credendus est, deceptoriasque illas lacrymas judicabimus? — Minime, inquam. Imo maximus earum fructus, si tamen intelligas. Noveris ergo primo quod nequaquam secundum momentaneum illum, et, ut ita dicam, horarium affectum, Dei pensandus sit amor: quod ex contrariis exemplis perspicuum est intueri.

Cum enim in tragoediis vanisve carminibus quisquam injuriatus fingitur, vel oppressus, cujus amabilis pulchritudo, fortitudo mirabilis, gratiosus praedicetur affectus; si quis haec vel cum canuntur audiens, vel cernens si recitentur, usque ad expressionem lacrymarum quodam moveatur affectu, nonne perabsurdum est, ex hac vanissima pietate de amoris ejus qualitate capere conjecturam, ut hinc fabulosum illum nescio quem affirmetur amare, pro cujus ereptione, etiamsi haec omnia vere prae oculis gererentur, ne modicam quidem substantiae suae portionem pateretur expendi? Similis profecto ineptiae est, imo multo majoris insaniae; si quisquam luxuriosus aut tepidus, occulta Dei dispensatione ob quosdam internos compungatur affectus, de ejus dilectione ferre sententiam, ut hinc Deum plus illo credatur amare, qui adeo se divinae servituti subjecit, ut quidquid ejus voluntati noverit esse contrarium, omni detestetur horrore, quidquid fuerit laboris impositum, pro ejus nomine omni amplectatur fervore. » Ad haec verba quodam ille pudore perfusus, demisso capite, fixisque in terram luminibus: « Verissime, inquit, verissime. Nam et in fabulis, quae vulgo de nescio quo finguntur Arcturo, memini me nonnunquam usque ad effusionem lacrymarum fuisse permotum. Unde non modicum pudet propriae vanitatis, qui si forte ad ea quae de Domino pie leguntur, vel cantantur, vel certe publico sermone dicuntur, aliquam mihi lacrymam valuero extorquere, ita mihi statim de sanctitate applaudo, ut si magnum aliquid ac inusitatum mihi miraculum contigisset. Et revera vanissimae mentis judicium est, pro his affectibus, si forte pro pietate contingant, vana gloria ventilari: quibus in fabulis et mendaciis solebat compungi. Sed quia non modicum fructum his inesse affectibus paulo ante dixisti: rogo, ut et quae coeperas, prosequaris. — Libentissime, inquam.

Neque enim tibi deneganda est cognitio veritatis, pro qua nec tibi ipsi existimas esse parcendum. Nam plerique, si forte audiant aliqua contra inertiam disputari, sophisticas quasdam ratiunculas, quibus veritati resistant, reclamante etiam conscientia, moliuntur, ac declinantes cor suum in verba malitiae, amant excusationes in peccatis. Melius est profecto confiteri Domino, et dicere: Miserere mei, quoniam infirmus sum (Psal. vi), quam dicere: Dives ego sum, et locuples, et nullius egeo, cum sit miser, miserabilis, caecus, et pauper, et nudus (Apoc. iii). » Sed ad propositum veniamus.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Acts.14.22 — strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to remain in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.
  2. ↩Job.10.15 — If I am wicked, woe to me; and if I am righteous, I will not lift up my head, being full of disgrace, and see my affliction.
  3. ↩Gen.3.19 — By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread, until you return to the ground, for from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
  4. ↩Col.3.5 — Put to death, therefore, the parts of you that belong to the earth: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry.
  5. ↩Acts.4.32 — Now the great number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and not one of them claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but everything they had was held in common.
  6. ↩Ps.140.5 — Keep me safe, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; guard me from the violent, who have plotted to make me stumble.
  7. ↩2Cor.11.14 — And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
  8. ↩John.14.15 — If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
  9. ↩John.14.21 — The one who has my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves me. And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal myself to him.
  10. ↩John.14.24 — The one who does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but the Father's — the one who sent me.
  11. ↩1John.5.3 — For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.
  12. ↩John.13.23-John.13.25 — One of his disciples—the one whom Jesus loved—was reclining at Jesus' side. John.13.24 — So Simon Peter motioned to him and said to him, 'Tell us who it is he is speaking about.' John.13.25 — So after reclining back against Jesus' chest, that one says to him, 'Lord, who is it?'
  13. ↩Rev.3.17 — Because you say, 'I am rich and have become wealthy and have need of nothing, and you do not know that you are the wretched one, and pitiable, and poor, and blind, and naked—

Notes

  1. 1 ↩Nam rendered as "For" (explanatory); ut as "to" (purpose/result); aut as "or" (alternative); et as "and" (additive).
  2. 2 ↩Multiple et/ac/atque connectives rendered as natural English coordination ("and," commas, or asyndeton) to preserve the breathless, accumulative force of the Latin listing.
  3. 3 ↩enim rendered as explanatory force in "They don't exactly hide themselves" (i.e., "for they do not allow themselves to be unknown").
  4. 4 ↩in codice rendered literally as "on a book" — the novice sleeps propped over a codex, a vivid monastic image of exhaustion during study or prayer.
  5. 5 ↩male mollis rendered as "barely" + "thin" to capture the double emphasis on discomfort.
  6. 6 ↩The ut clause expresses result: the concord is so complete that individual goods appear to be everyone's, and shared goods feel personal — an echo of the Acts 4:32 ideal of the early Church.
  7. 7 ↩professionem here refers to a religious profession or way of life; fictos implies feigned or insincere elements, not necessarily people.
  8. 8 ↩pusillanimitatis (timidity/faint-heartedness) is acknowledged as possibly a weakness, but the speaker insists his desire for release is grounded in hope of divine mercy, not mere avoidance of suffering.
  9. 9 ↩ut as interrogative complementizer introducing an indirect question; rendered as 'how' to capture the deliberative force.
  10. 10 ↩nonne expects an affirmative answer; rendered with 'surely' to capture the rhetorical force.
  11. 11 ↩nec attendas...sed quid ratio dictet: the nec...sed contrast is rendered as 'don't...but' to preserve the adversative force.
  12. 12 ↩utrum introduces an indirect alternative question; rendered as 'would you prefer...rather than.'
  13. 13 ↩os oleum peccatoris, ad impinguandum caput meum — likely an allusion to Psalm 140:5 (Vulg. 139:5) or a proverbial expression. Candidate scripture allusion; final resolution deferred.
  14. 14 ↩nec...nec...sed...sed...vel: multiple adversative and alternative connectives preserved in rendering.
  15. 15 ↩quasi fervoris tui conscius: 'as if aware of your fervor' — the speaker adopts a knowing tone, gently pressing the novice's own self-knowledge.
  16. 16 ↩Attributed to Gregory the Great; source citation not resolved here.
  17. 17 ↩Homily reference incomplete in source; citation left as-is pending resolution.
  18. 18 ↩ut ita dicam rendered parenthetically to preserve the speaker's self-aware hedging.

Speculum caritatis (The Mirror of Charity) companion

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