De memoria dominicae passionis contra dissolutos
The Incompatibility of Frivolity and the Passion
The author contrasts the worldly laughter of the dissolute with the solemnity required to contemplate the physical suffering of Christ.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. From whom? Certainly from Christ, in the secret of your heart—not from this world, in vain things. Light, joking words and frequent laughter don't fit the sacred passion of Christ and His most bitter wounds. If you had a sharp thorn from Christ’s crown driven into your head or your back, would you be laughing? Certainly not. Instead, because of the pain, I would rather weep and cry out aloud. If you even had one nail from the cross in your foot, where would you go or run?
The Medicine of Holy Sorrow
A call to use meditation on the Passion as a protective shield and a source of healing for the soul against temptation.
I wouldn't go anywhere or run around; instead, I'd sit and grieve, and through the experience of my own sorrows, I'd learn to suffer with Christ. If only I could weep most bitterly for the forgiveness of all my sins. Oh, what a holy sorrow and sweet weeping, poured out abundantly from compassion for the sacred wounds of our Lord Jesus Christ. When, therefore, you are burdened, tempted, or weak, run quickly to the shield of prayer and the banner of the holy cross; and in the marks of Christ's sacred wounds, seek the healing medicine for your vices through devout prayer and serious reflection on His passion. Ponder the magnitude, length, and height of the holy cross, upon which Jesus Christ hung naked, pierced for you by cruel nails. Count carefully how many sharp thorns were in the Lord's crown, which pierced the holy head of the Son of God so sharply and made it bleed so profusely. Keep these and the other weapons of the passion of Jesus Christ near you as a good guard for your day and night, so that the envious enemy, the devil, does not find you empty of divine images and stain your heart with filthy pictures and nettles.
Resting in the Mystery of the Tomb
The author encourages the reader to adopt a life of simplicity and detachment, mirroring the poverty of Christ's birth and the stillness of His tomb.
Let your bed, therefore, be without feathers, in memory of the holy birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, like a narrow and poor manger full of virtues, in which the child Jesus cried in a cradle, wrapped in swaddling clothes, covered with a little hay instead of a silk cloak, and nourished by the little milk of the Virgin Mother. Let the hardness and simplicity of your bed be a reminder of the hard, stone tomb of our Lord Jesus Christ, who was crucified for you, truly died, was buried in the heart of the earth, and was sealed behind a great stone. Rest here, then, in the peace of Christ, forgetting everything in the world; consider everything that seems great and pleasant to be worthless and nothing, so that you may rise with Him now in virtue and grace, and on the last day, with His chosen ones, in eternal glory. Amen.
Read the original Latin
Beati qui lugent: quoniam ipsi consolabuntur. A quo? Certe a Christo in secreto cordis: non de hoc mundo in vanis rebus. Levia enim et iocosa verba et frequens risus non congruunt sacrae passioni Christi et amarissimis vulneribus eius. Si enim haberes unam acutam spinam de corona Iesu in capite tuo aut in dorso tuo transfixam; numquid rideres? Minime. Sed prae dolore magis flerem et alte clamarem. Si etiam unum clavum crucis in pede haberes; ubi ires et curreres?
Nusquam utique irem nec currerem; sed magis sederem et dolerem: et per experientiam dolorum meorum Christo compati discerem. Et utinam amarissime possem flere; in remissionem omnium peccatorum meorum. O quam sanctus dolor et dulcis fletus: ex compassione sanctorum vulnerum Domini nostri Iesu Christi largiter effusus. Quando ergo gravaris aut temptaris aut infirmaris: recurre cito ad orationis scutum et sanctae crucis vexillum; et in sanctorum vulnerum Christi fixuris quaere vitiorum tuorum salutiferam medicinam: per devotam orationem et seriosam passionis eius recordationem. Pondera sanctae crucis magnitudinem longitudinem et altitudisnem: in qua Iesus Christus pependit nudus diris clavis pro te confixus. Numera attente quam multae acutae spinae in corona Domini fuerunt: quae sanctum verticem capitis Filii Dei tam acriter punxerunt iet largissime cruentare fecerunt. Pone haec et cetera arma passionis Iesu Christi iuxta te pro bona custodia diei ac noctis; ne invidus hostis diabolus inveniat te vacuum a divinis imaginibus: et inquinet iscor tuum sordidis picturis et urticis. Sit tibi proinde lectulus tuus sine plumis in memoriam sanctae nativitatis Domini nostri Iesu Christi, quasi angustum et pauperculum praesepe virtutibus plenum; in quo puer Iesus vagiebat in cunabulo pannis involutus: modico faeno pro serico pallio tectus, parvoque lacte matris virginis refectus.
Sit duritia et vilitas culcitrae tuae recordatio quaedam duri et lapidei sepulchri Domini nostri Iesu Christi pro te crucifixi: et vere mortui, et in corde terrae sepulti ac grandi lapide clausi. Hic ergo in pace Christi quiesce omnibus oblitis quae sunt in mundo: omnia reputans vilia et pro nihilo quae magna videntur et iucunda; ut cum eo resurgas nunc in virtutibus et gratia: et in novissimo die cum electis in gloria sempiterna. Amen.
The Little Garden of Roses & The Valley of Lilies companion
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