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Chapter 12ViaRegia.1.12

Ut operibus Dominus honoretur

The Royal Duty of Honor

Kings are called to honor God through works of mercy, sacrifice, and praise, acknowledging their role as representatives of the people.

For the Lord is shown to be honored by works of mercy, as it is written: Whoever wrongs the needy insults his Maker; but the one who has mercy on the poor honors him.✦ Solomon also says: Son, honor God, and you’ll prosper. Jesus son of Sirach says: Honor God with your whole soul, and honor the priests, and cleanse yourself with the offerings of your arms.1 Give them their share, as you’ve been commanded—of firstfruits and of purification—and cleanse yourself of your negligence with a little.2 You shall offer to the Lord the gift of your arms and the sacrifice of sanctification and the firstfruits of holy things; and stretch out your hand to the poor, so that your atonement and your blessing may be made complete.3 Because this virtue is undoubtedly a royal one, the Lord cries out to King David—and through him urges other kings to honor him—saying: A sacrifice of praise will honor me; and there is the path by which I will show him my salvation. For King David himself says of himself: I will praise you, Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever, for it is good. For it is right and just that kings should honor God on behalf of all people, because they are honored by him on behalf of all people.

Wisdom as the Source of Rule

Divine Wisdom is the true source of royal authority, counsel, and prosperity for those who seek it.

Honor God, O kings, because He honored you first. For His voice cries out through Solomon, saying: I, Wisdom, dwell in counsel, and I take part in the deliberations of the learned. Counsel and equity are mine; prudence is mine; strength is mine. Through me kings reign, and lawmakers decree what is just. Through me princes govern, and the powerful decree justice. I love those who love me, and those who watch for me early in the morning will find me. With me are riches and glory.✦

The Promise of Eternal Reward

The king is encouraged to serve God faithfully, contrasting the fleeting gifts of earthly kingship with the eternal riches of the heavenly kingdom.

So then, king, you must honor the Lord your God with all your strength—he who has already given you such great renown, and has still promised you such great honor.✦ Here he has already granted you the training for kingship, and prudence and strength as well; but there he has promised the immortality of eternal life.4 Here, He has raised you into an earthly kingdom; there, He has promised you a heavenly empire.5 Here, He has granted you temporal joy; there, He has promised you eternal joy. Here he has given a wide inheritance of the kingdom; there he has promised the fullest possession of paradise. Here, He provides an abundance of riches; there, He prepares the abundance you will receive later.6 Here, He has already clothed you in royal purple; there, He will yet clothe you in the robe of immortality. Here he has already set royal crowns on your head, but there he will still set on you the crown of eternity.✦ Here He has already granted flourishing kingdoms; there He will give great joys beyond all telling. Here He has bestowed many gifts; there He has promised pure and everlasting kingdoms.7 Here He has granted you to pass your days without sorrow; there He will grant you to live with life that is everlasting and without end.8 Here He has given you strength in the camp; there He will give you happy fellowship with the angels.9 Here He has conferred earthly riches in abundance; there He has promised heavenly riches, shared with all the saints—those eternal riches, that is, of which the Apostle says: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love Him.✦

Read the original Latin

Operibus enim misericordiae honorari Dominus comprobatur, sicut scriptum est: Qui calumniatur egentem, exprobrat factori ejus: honorat autem eum qui miseretur pauperis. Item Salomon ait: Fili, honora Deum, et valebis. Jesus filius Sirach ait: Honora Deum ex tota anima tua, et honorifica sacerdotes, et propurga te cum brachiis. Da illis partem, sicut mandatum est tibi, primitiarum et purgationis; et de negligentia tua purga te cum paucis. Datum brachiorum tuorum, et sacrificium sanctificationis offeres Domino, et initia sanctorum, et pauperi porrige manum tuam, ut perficiatur propitiatio et benedictio tua. Nam, quod et haec virtus sine dubio virtus regia sit, regi David Dominus clamat, et per eum ad honorificandum se alios reges provocat, dicens: Sacrificium laudis honorificabit me: et illic iter, quo ostendam illi salutare meum. Nam ipse David rex de se ipso dicit: Confitebor tibi, Domine Deus meus, in toto corde meo, et glorificabo nomen tuum in aeternum, quoniam bonum est. Dignum enim et justum est ut pro omnibus hominibus reges honorificent Deum, quia pro omnibus hominibus honorificantur ab eo.

Honorificate, o reges, Deum, quia ille prior honorificavit vos. Illius etenim vox per Salomonem clamat et dicit: Ego sapientia habito in consilio, et eruditis intersum cogitationibus. Meum est consilium et aequitas, mea est prudentia, mea est fortitudo. Per me reges regnant, et legum conditores justa decernunt. Per me principes imperant, et potentes decernunt justitiam. Ego diligentes me diligo, et qui de mane vigilant ad me, invenient me. Mecum sunt divitiae et gloria.

Honorificare ergo, rex, debes totis viribus Dominum Deum tuum, qui tantam jam tibi contulit laudem, et tantum adhuc promisit honorem. Hic jam tibi regni eruditionem, prudentiam pariter concessit et fortitudinem; illic vero aeternae vitae promisit immortalitatem. Hic te terrenum evexit in regnum; illic tibi coeleste promisit imperium. Hic tibi gaudium temporale concessit, illic gaudium aeternum promisit. Hic amplam regni dedit haereditatem, illic amplissimam paradisi promisit possessionem. Hic affluentiam in divitiis subministrat, illic postea accipiendam praeparat. Hic te jam regali vestivit purpura, illic vestiet adhuc immortalitatis stola. Hic jam capiti tuo posuit diademata regia, sed illic adhuc aeternitatis ponet coronam.

Hic jam concessit florentia regna, illic dabit grandia et inenarrabilia gaudia. Hic contulit multiplicia munera, illic promisit candida et perpetua regna. Hic sine tristitia dedit deducere tempora, illic perenni et sine fine dabit vivere vita. Hic dedit habere virtutem in castris, illic dabit societatem felicem cum angelis. Hic terrenas multiplicesque contulit divitias, illic coelestes communesque cum sanctis omnibus promisit, aeternas illas videlicet, de quibus ait Apostolus: Quia oculus non vidit, nec auris audivit, nec in cor hominis ascendit, quae praeparavit Deus iis qui diligunt illum.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Prov.14.31 — Whoever oppresses the poor insults their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors him.
  2. ↩Prov.8.18 — Riches and honor are with me—enduring wealth and righteousness.
  3. ↩Deut.6.5 — And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
  4. ↩1Cor.9.25;2Tim.4.8;Jas.1.12;1Pet.5.4 — Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. 2Tim.4.8 — From now on, there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that day — and not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing. Jas.1.12 — Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love him. 1Pet.5.4 — And when the Chief Shepherd is revealed, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
  5. ↩1Cor.2.9 — But as it is written: What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived—all that God has prepared for those who love him.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩cum brachiis is the Vulgate Sirach image of armfuls/produce from one's strength (offerings from labor), not literal washing with the arms; rendered as offerings of your arms to keep the image and fit the next sentences.
  2. 2 ↩cum paucis is spare: a little/a few offerings; rendered with a little to keep Sirach's sense of modest reparation for neglect.
  3. 3 ↩propitiatio rendered as atonement for modern readability; sacrificial-appeasement sense remains available if a later stage prefers propitiation.
  4. 4 ↩regni eruditionem rendered as 'training for kingship' (formation in the craft of rule); could also be read more abstractly as 'instruction belonging to the realm'.
  5. 5 ↩terrenum taken with regnum ('earthly kingdom') by parallel with coeleste imperium; less likely as predicate of te ('you, an earthly man').
  6. 6 ↩accipiendam is elliptical; taken as referring back to affluentiam (the abundance prepared to be received afterward).
  7. 7 ↩candida: pure/bright/white; rendered 'pure' for heavenly kingdoms rather than literal color.
  8. 8 ↩deducere tempora: to lead/spend one's times (days of life). perenni et sine fine ... vivere vita read as dabit vivere vita perenni et sine fine (grant living by everlasting, endless life).
  9. 9 ↩virtutem in castris: military power/valor in the camps (royal force), not abstract moral virtue alone.

Via Regia (The Royal Road) companion

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