De fraterno onere invicem portando
The Unity of the Redeemed
We are called to bear one another's burdens because we share a common origin, redemption, and eternal hope in Christ.
Bear one another's burdens. Since we are all one in Christ, we must hold to brotherly love in the bond of peace and always agree on what is good. We are all members of Christ, reborn in baptism through the grace of the Holy Spirit; we are redeemed by Christ’s passion, cleansed by Christ’s blood, refreshed by Christ’s body, taught by Christ’s words, confirmed by Christ’s miracles, and built up by Christ’s examples. Why, then, do you harm one another, my brothers? Whoever harms another by word or deed offends Christ. Christ will take vengeance; Christ will punish, unless he quickly amends his ways. We have one God and Father in heaven; we are all brothers in Christ, gathered here from whatever city or country, and born into whatever noble or humble family. One God created us all, one God feeds and governs us; one God has called us to the end of one beatitude and calls us daily—by a voice from without, and by compunction from within—who promised that we would see Him as our eternal reward in the sight of the angels, with the unanimous joy of all the citizens of heaven.
The Law of Mutual Compassion
We must practice active mercy and charity, treating others with the same grace we desire for ourselves.
If we have been called by God as one, redeemed by the same price, and all given the same Spirit to drink, let's make it our goal to love and serve one another. If we want to please Christ, then for Christ’s sake let's carry one another’s burdens and pray for each other out of love, because that is how God is in us and we are in God. Whatever imperfection or awkwardness we see or hear in others, we must interpret it charitably for the best, just as we would want others to do for us. O beloved brother, bear and you'll be borne; excuse and you'll be excused. Have compassion on the one who sins, and compassion will be shown to you. Comfort the one who mourns, and you'll be comforted by the one who rejoices. Lift up the one who is falling, and you'll be lifted up with the Lord’s help. As you do to another, so it will be done to you, for God judges and avenges with justice.
Humility in the Face of Human Frailty
Recognizing our own fragility prevents us from judging others and encourages us to offer prayer instead of reproach.
Don't be surprised or indignant if a fragile human falls in this world, for an angel fell in heaven, and Adam fell in paradise, overcome by a small apple. Often it's a very small thing that causes a person to be severely tempted within themselves, or even harassed by someone else. God justly allows this to happen so that you might truly realize that if you can't overcome small things, you won't be able to overcome greater ones. Be kind to a brother who is being tempted, and pray for the one in distress just as you would for yourself. Make your neighbor's good your own through rejoicing, and their evil your own through compassion. For we are all fragile humans; therefore, we are bound to pray for one another out of love. No one can reproach another for their faults while ignoring their own, because if someone looks down on a flawed person, it's like a blind person mocking the blind, a deaf person cursing the deaf, or a fool ridiculing a fool. Stop speaking ill of another person's business that isn't your concern, but rather look to yourself and correct what you have done wrong.
The Physician of the Soul
True correction of a neighbor must be rooted in prayer and love, lest we become thorns rather than roses to one another.
If you judge correctly and intend to correct your neighbor, start with yourself. Then proceed, not in a rush, but modestly and with discretion. If you love me sincerely and fraternally, have compassion on me just as you do for yourself, and pray for me. Anyone who corrects another but doesn't pray for them or feel for them is a cruel enemy, not a godly physician; they're a burdensome gossip. Whoever prays for another just as they do for themselves performs a double good. The more someone possesses the good of fraternal charity, the more willingly they pray for others, so that they might correct themselves more perfectly and not offend the eyes of the weak. Therefore, they are all the more saddened if they refuse to listen and grow indignant at the one who warns them. Everyone is to another either a fragrant rose or a stinging thorn.
Read the original Latin
Alter alterius onera portate. Quoniam quidem omnes Christo unum sumus; ideo fraternam caritatem tenere debemus in vinculo pacis: et in bono semper concordare. Omnes Christi membra sumus, renati in baptismo per gratiam Spiritus sancti: passione Christi redempti, sanguine Christi mundati; corpore Christi refecti, verbis Christi eruditi: miraculis Christi confirmati, exemplis Christi aedificati. Quid ergo alterutrum nocetis fratres mei? Qui alium verbo vel facto laedit: Christum offendit. Christus vindicabit; Christus puniet: nisi cito se emendaverit. Vnum Deum patrem habemus in caelis: omnes Christi fratres sumus, de quacumque civitate vel patria hic congregati: aut quantalibet parentela nobili vel ignobili generati. Vnus Deus nos omnes creavit, unus pascit et gubernat; unus ad unius beatitudinis finem nos vocavit et cotidie vocat: per vocem foris, per contritionem intus; qui se nobis videndum promisit in praemium aeternum in conspectu angelorum: cum unanimi felicitate omnium civium supernorum.
Si ergo a Deo unanimiter vocati sumus, uno pretio redempti, uno spiritu omnes potati: studeamus invicem diligere et servire. Si Christo placere cupimus tunc propter Christum invicem onera nostra portemus; et ex caritate pro invicem oremus: quia sic Deus in nobis est et nos in Deo sumus. Quidquid soimperfectionis et ineptitudinis videmus vel audimus; hoc pie in bonum interpretari debemus: sicut de nobis fieri optamus. O frater amande porta et portaberis: excusa et excusaberis. Compatere peccanti: et compatietur tibi. Consolare lugentem: et consolaberis a gaudente. Erige cadentem: et erigeris Domino auxiliante. , Sicut feceris alteri, sic fiet etiam tibi: Deo iuste iudicante et vindicante.
Non mireris nec indigneris si cadit homo fragilis in mundo; quia angelus cecidit in caelo: et Adam in paradiso victus a modico pomo. Saepe valde parva res est unde homo valde graviter temptatur in se ipso: vel etiam vexatur ab alio. Hoc Deus iuste permittit contingere; ut veraciter cognoscas, quia si non potes parva vincere: non poteris graviora superare. Esto ‘benignus in fratrem temptatum: et ora pro tribulato sicut pro temet ipso. Bonum tuum bonum meum per congratulationem: et malum tuum malum meum per compassionem. Nam omnes fragiles homines sumus: idcirco pro invicem orare ex caritate tenemur. Nemo alteri improperare potest defectum suum se neglecto; quia si quis aliquem defectuosum despicit: quasi caecus caecum illudit; et surdus surdo maledicit: et stultus stultum deridet. Tace de alio tibi non commisso male loqui: sed te ipsum magis respice et corrige quod forefecisti.
Si recte iudicas et proximum emendare intendis: a te ipso incipe. Et tunc procede non commote: sed modeste et disscrete. Si diligis me sincere et fraterne; compatere mihi sicut tibi: et ora pro me. Qui alium corripit et pro eo non orat nec condolet; crudelis est hostis non medicus pius: sed onerosus fabulator. Qui pro alio sicut pro se ipso orat: duplex bonum facit. Quanto quis plus habet de bono fraternae caritatis; tanto libentius pro eo orat ut perfectius se emendet: et oculos infirmorum non offendat. Ideo amplius contristatur si audire noluerit: et admonenti indignatur. Quilibet est alteri aut rosa redolens: aut spina pungens.
The Little Garden of Roses & The Valley of Lilies companion
Fourteen readings down. The other 39 chapters are waiting.
Chosen Portion serves the complete Little Garden and Valley of Lilies — plus the Imitation — as daily portions.
These treatises were composed as brief daily counsels for a community's rhythm of reading, and Chosen Portion delivers them the same way: one short chapter each morning.
- All 53 chapters of both treatises in modern readable English
- A new short reading delivered every morning, no deciding what's next
- Complete both treatises in under two months at one chapter a day