Epilogus totius operis, et auctoris excusatio sui
The Mirror of Charity Named
The author presents his meditations on charity and accepts the title Mirror of Charity if any true image of love's excellence shines through.
These, most loving Father, are my meditations on charity. If in them some image of charity's excellence, its fruit, and the fitting way it shows itself is set before the eye, then the book itself may well be called, as you have written, the Mirror of Charity.12
A Plea Against Public Exposure
The author humbly asks that the mirror not be displayed publicly, lest it reflect the author's own tarnished image rather than charity.
I ask you, though: do not carry that mirror out into public, lest perhaps it is not charity that shines in it, but rather the author's image, stained and tarnished.34
The Motives of Obedience and Love
The author defends himself against the charge of presumption, explaining that paternal authority, fraternal charity, and the need to discipline his restless mind compelled him to write.
But if you have published it to my shame, as I fear you may have, I implore the reader by that sweet name of Jesus: do not think I undertook this work out of presumption. What drove me to it was paternal authority, fraternal charity, and my own necessity.56 For it would have been dangerous not to obey my superior, since my dearest companion was absent; and it was sweet and pleasant to talk with him in spirit about these things. So I thought it necessary to bind up the wandering and useless excursions of my restless mind within the chains of these meditations.78
A Request for the Reader's Prayers
The author asks any reader who has benefited from the work to repay him by interceding for his sins before the merciful Judge.
If anyone, however, has gained something from reading these pages — whether in devotion, affection, or understanding — let them repay me for my labor by interceding before the merciful and compassionate Judge for my innumerable sins.910
Read the original Latin
Hae sunt, amantissime Pater, de charitate meditationes meae; in quibus si excellentia ejus, si fructus ejus, si competens modus exhibitionis ejus, quasi imago quaedam illius ostenditur, liber ipse, ut scripsistis, charitatis speculum nominetur. Obsecro tamen ne speculum illud efferatis in publicum, ne forte in eo non charitas luceat, sed potius auctoris imago sordescat. Quod si illud in meam, ut vereor, confusionem emiseritis, per illud dulce nomen Jesu obtestor lectorem, ne me ex praesumptione ad hoc opus aestimet accessisse, ad quod et paterna auctoritas, et fraterna charitas, et propria me coegit necessitas. Nam superiori non obedire, periculosum, cum absente charissimo meo de hujusmodi in spiritu fabulari, dulce ac jucundum; vagos et inutiles luxuriantis animi mei excursus harum meditationum vinculis alligare necessarium duxi. Si quis autem horum lectione aut affectu, aut cognitione profecerit, sudoribus meis hanc vicem rependat, ut pro innumerabilibus peccatis meis, apud pium et misericordem judicem intercedat.
Notes
- 1 ↩charitate/charitatis rendered 'charity' throughout, preserving the theological-virtue sense.
- 2 ↩The ut clause (token 28) is purpose/result: the book is to be called a mirror so that the title reflects what it contains.
- 3 ↩speculum rendered 'mirror' (continuing the title image from s1).
- 4 ↩sordescat ('become dirty') carries the sense of being stained or tarnished — the author fears his own unworthiness will obscure the charity the book is meant to reflect.
- 5 ↩Quod si introduces a conditional with causal overtone ('but if indeed'); ut vereor is parenthetical ('as I fear').
- 6 ↩paterna auctoritas, fraterna charitas, propria necessitas — a rhetorical tricolon rendered with parallel English structure.
- 7 ↩Nam is explanatory ('for'), introducing the reason for writing. cum absente charissimo meo is causal ('since my dearest companion was absent').
- 8 ↩luxuriantis animi mei — 'of my luxuriant/restless mind'; luxurians here suggests unruly, wandering mental energy, not sensual indulgence.
- 9 ↩lectione aut affectu aut cognitione — 'reading…devotion…understanding'; affectu rendered 'devotion/affection' to capture both emotional and spiritual engagement.
- 10 ↩pium et misericordem judicem — 'merciful and compassionate Judge'; the double epithet emphasizes God's clemency, fitting the author's plea for intercession.
Speculum caritatis (The Mirror of Charity) companion
Reorder one love at a time, daily
Use the study map with the free Chosen Portion app's daily readings to work through Aelred at a sustainable pace.
Aelred wrote the Mirror as a rule for daily interior discipline in community, and Chosen Portion carries that discipline forward as a short ordered reading each day.
- All 3 books and 102 chapters mapped into 4 weekly themes with page-level pointers
- Aelred's choice-motion-fruit test, turned into a one-page self-examination worksheet
- 16 discussion questions ready for personal journaling or a 4-session small group