SR
← The Imitation of Christ/Book 3 · On Inward Consolation
Chapter 52Imit.3.52

Quod homo non reputet se consolatione dignum, sed magis verberibus dignum.

Unworthy of Consolation

The soul confesses its utter unworthiness of any divine consolation, weighed down by repeated and grievous sin.

Lord, I am not worthy of your consolation or of any spiritual visitation, and so you deal justly with me when you leave me destitute and desolate. Even if I could pour out tears like the sea itself, I still would not be worthy of your consolation. So there is nothing I deserve except to be scourged and punished, because I have grievously and often offended you and have sinned greatly in many things. Therefore, weighed by true reason, I am not worthy of even the least consolation.

Mercy Beyond Merit

God's mercy shines beyond human desert, revealing consolations that surpass all earthly comfort.

But you are merciful and compassionate, because you do not want your works to perish; and so, to show the riches of your goodness in the vessels of your mercy, you deign to console your servant beyond all human measure — and this not on account of any merit of my own.✦1 For your consolations are not like the consolations of this world.2

The Accused Soul Pleads for Mercy

The penitent questions any claim to goodness, acknowledges deserved judgment, and chooses self-accusation as the path to mercy.

What have I done, Lord, that you should grant me any heavenly consolation? I do not recall having done anything good, but only that I have always been prone to vice and sluggish toward amendment. It is true, and I cannot deny it. If I said otherwise, you would stand against me, and there would be no one to defend me. What have I deserved for my sins except hell and eternal fire? In truth I confess it, because I deserve every mockery and contempt; nor is it fitting that I should dwell among your devout ones. And though I hear this with difficulty, still, for truth's sake I will accuse myself of my sins, so that I may more easily obtain your mercy.3

Crushed and Humble for Pardon

Stripped of words, the sinner can only cry 'I have sinned,' and in true contrition finds reconciliation, restored grace, and union with God.

What can I say — I who stand accused and am filled with utter shame? I have no words to speak, except this one thing only: I have sinned, Lord, I have sinned — have mercy on me, forgive me.✦ "Let me be a little while, that I may lament my sorrow, before I go to the dark land, covered with the shadow of death's darkness."✦4 What do you seek so especially from one who stands accused and from a wretched sinner, except that he be crushed and humble himself for his offenses? In true contrition and humiliation of heart, hope of pardon is born, a troubled conscience is reconciled, grace that was lost is recovered, the person is kept safe from wrath to come — and God and the penitent soul meet each other in a holy kiss.✦✦5

The Sweet Fragrance of Contrition

Humble contrition is a pleasing sacrifice to God, a refuge from wrath, and a place where sin is cleansed.

A humble contrition for sins is an acceptable sacrifice to you, Lord, giving off a fragrance far sweeter in your sight than the burning of incense.✦6 This too is a pleasing ointment, which you wished to be poured out upon your holy feet, because 'a broken and humbled heart you have never despised.'✦78 There is a place of refuge there from the face of the enemy's wrath; there whatever stain has been contracted from elsewhere is corrected and washed away.✦910

Read the original Latin

Domine, non sum dignus consolatione tua, nec aliqua spirituali visitatione: et ideo juste mecum agis, quando me inopem et desolatum relinquis. Si enim ad instar maris lacrymas fundere possem, adhuc consolatione tua dignus non essem. Unde nihil dignus sum quam flagellari et puniri, quia graviter et sæpe te offendi, et in multis valde deliqui. Ergo vera pensata ratione, nec minima sum dignus consolatione. Sed tu clemens et misericors, quia non vis perire opera tua, ad ostendendum divitias bonitatis tuæ in vasa misericordiæ tuæ, etiam propter omne proprium meritum dignaris consolari servum tuum supra humanum modum. Tuæ enim consolationes non sunt sicut humanæ confabulationes.

Quid egi, Domine, ut mihi conferres aliquam cælestem consolationem? Ego nihil boni egisse recolo me, sed semper ad vitia pronum, et ad emendationem pigrum fuisse. Verum est, et abnegare non possum; si aliter dicerem, tu stares contra me, et non esset qui defenderet. Quid merui pro peccatis meis, nisi infernum, et ignem æternum? In veritate confiteor, quoniam dignus sum omni ludibrio et contemtu; nec decet me inter devotos tuos commorari. Et licet hoc ægre audiam, tamen adversum me pro veritate peccata mea arguam, ut facilius misericordiam tuam valeam impetrare.

Quid dicam reus, et omni confusione plenus? Non habeo os loquendi, nisi hoc tantum verbum: Peccavi, Domine, peccavi: miserere mei, ignosce mihi. Sine me paululum, ut plangam dolorem meum, antequam vadam ad terram tenebrosam, et opertam mortis caligine. Quid tam maxime a reo et misero peccatore requiris nisi ut conteratur et humiliet se pro delictis suis? In vera contritione, et cordis humiliatione nascitur spes veniæ, reconciliatur perturbata conscientia, recuperatur gratia perdita, tuetur homo a futura ira, et occurrunt sibi mutuo in osculo sancto Deus et pœnitens anima.

Humilis peccatorum contritio acceptabile tibi est, Domine, sacrificium, longe suavius odorans in conspectu tuo, quam thuris incensum. Hoc est gratum etiam unguentum, quod sacris pedibus tuis infundi voluisti, quia cor contritum, et humiliatum nunquam despexisti. Ibi est locus refugii a facie iræ inimici; ibi emendatur et abluitur quidquid aliunde contractum est in inquinatum.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Rom.9.23 — and in order that he might make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he had prepared beforehand for glory
  2. ↩Ps.51.4 — Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
  3. ↩Job.10.20-Job.10.21 — Are not my days few? Then let him cease, and let him leave me alone, that I may find a little comfort Job.10.21 — before I go—and do not return—to the land of darkness and deep gloom
  4. ↩Luke.15.20 — And he got up and went to his own father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.
  5. ↩Ps.51.17 — Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
  6. ↩Ps.51.17 — Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
  7. ↩Ps.51.17 — Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
  8. ↩Ps.31.10;Ps.7.1 — Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eye wastes away with grief, my soul and my belly with groaning. Ps.7.1 — A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the LORD concerning the words of Cush, a Benjamite.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩The phrase 'in vasa misericordiæ tuæ' (in the vessels of your mercy) echoes Romans 9:23. The translation preserves the allusion without resolving it as a direct quotation.
  2. 2 ↩The Latin contrasts 'consolationes' (consolations) with 'confabulationes' (literally, familiar talk or conversation). The translation renders the contrast as 'consolations of this world' to capture the sense of human comfort as shallow or merely conversational compared to divine consolation.
  3. 3 ↩The logic is penitential: self-accusation before God opens the way to mercy.
  4. 4 ↩The quoted span echoes Job 10:20–21: 'Sine me paululum… antequam vadam, et non revertar, ad terram tenebrosam et opertam mortis caligine.' This is a direct quotation from the Vulgate Job, marked as a source span in the input.
  5. 5 ↩Osculum sanctum ('holy kiss') is a traditional image of reconciliation between God and the penitent, echoing the kiss of peace in the liturgy and the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:20).
  6. 6 ↩Humilis peccatorum contritio: the phrase joins humility and contrition as a single offering — lowly sorrow for sin, not a generic feeling of guilt.
  7. 7 ↩The quoted span 'cor contritum, et humiliatum nunquam despexisti' is a direct echo of Psalm 51:17 (Vulgate 50:19). Final quotation-mark resolution and verse attribution await Moses-stage confirmation.
  8. 8 ↩Unguentum rendered as 'ointment' preserves the anointing imagery; the connection to the woman who anointed Christ's feet (Luke 7:38, John 12:3) is evoked but not explicit in the Latin.
  9. 9 ↩Locus refugii a facie iræ inimici: 'the enemy' likely refers to the devil or to the accusing power of sin, not to a human adversary. The 'place of refuge' is God's mercy accessed through contrition.
  10. 10 ↩Contractum … in inquinatum rendered as 'stain … contracted' preserves the language of spiritual contamination without over-translating into modern therapeutic vocabulary.