XLIV. O rubor sanguinis (De undecim milibus virginibus)
The Blood-Stained Flower
The blood of the virgins, flowing from the height touched by divinity, is celebrated as a flower untouched by the serpent's winter.
Antiphon: O blush of blood, that flowed down from that high place which divinity touched — you are the flower that winter, from the serpent's blast, never harmed.
Ursula's Zeal and Pilgrimage
Ursula and her company are given the kiss of peace through zeal for divinity, journey from all directions with heavenly joy, and are guarded by religious men in virginal custody.
Praises. Antiphon: The zeal for divinity in highest praises gave the kiss of peace to Ursula the virgin, with her own company, among all peoples. Antiphon: Whence, coming from every direction, they set out and were received as with the joy of heavenly paradise, because in their religious conduct of morals they appeared honorably. Antiphon: From their homeland also and from other regions, religious and wise men joined themselves to them, who guarded them in virginal custody and who ministered to them in all things.
Woman Guarded by Man
God pre-signified in the first woman that woman should be nourished by the guardianship of man.
Antiphon: For God pre-signified in the first woman, so that woman might be nourished by the guardianship of man.
Sustained by the Highest Man
As the air is sustained by the firmament, so the virginal girls are sustained through the highest man, on whom God sends dew that becomes food for all peoples.
Antiphon: For the air flies and, with all creatures, performs its own duties; and the firmament sustains it, and the air is fed by the powers of that firmament. Antiphon: And so these girls, veiled in royal offspring of virginal nature, were sustained through the highest man. Antiphon: For God sent dew upon them, from which manifold fame grew, so that all peoples, from this honorable fame, tasted it like food.✦
The Devil's Envy
The devil mocked the virgins in envy, yet he left no work of God untouched.
Antiphon: But the devil, in his envy, mocked this — yet he left no work of God untouched.
Read the original Latin
Antiphona: O rubor sanguinis, qui de excelso illo fluxisti, quod divinitas tetigit, tu flos es, quem hyemps de flatu serpentis numquam lesit. Laudes Antiphona: Studium divinitatis in laudibus excelsis osculum pacis Ursule virgini cum turba sua in omnibus populis dedit. Antiphona: Unde quocumque venientes perrexerunt, velut cum gaudio celestis paradysi suscepte sunt, quia in religione morum honorifice apparuerunt. Antiphona: De patria etiam earum et de aliis regionibus viri religiosi et sapientes ipsis adiuncti sunt, qui eas in virginea custodia servabant et qui eis in omnibus ministrabant. Antiphona: Deus enim in prima muliere presignavit, ut mulier a viri custodia nutriretur. Antiphona: Aer enim volat et cum omnibus creaturis officia sua exercet, et firmamentum eum sustinet, ac aer in viribus istius pascitur. Antiphona: Et ideo puelle iste per summum virum sustentabantur vexillate in regali prole virginee nature Antiphona: Deus enim rorem in illas misit, de quo multiplex fama crevit, ita quod omnes populi ex hac honorabili fama velut cibum gustabant. Antiphona: Sed diabolus in invidia sua istud irrisit, qua nullum opus dei intactum dimisit.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Ps.72.6 — May he come down like rain upon the mown grass, like showers that water the earth.
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