Vita Sancti Emerici
A Father's Reverent Gesture
King Stephen brings his son Henry to the church of Saint Martin and, out of reverence, sends the boy ahead to greet the monks.
At one point, then, blessed King Stephen came to the church of blessed Martin, which he himself had begun on the Holy Mount in Pannonia and adorned with an excellent community of monks, and he arrived with his son for the sake of prayer; and the king, knowing the boy's outstanding merit, bestowed on his son the honor that was fitting for him. For when the aforementioned brothers had approached the king to greet him, after the procession had been completed, he sent his own son ahead to offer the greeting, on account of reverence.
Kisses Given by the Spirit
Filled with the Holy Spirit, young Henry distributes an unequal number of kisses to the monks according to the hidden merit of each.
But the boy Henry, filled with the Holy Spirit — just as divine grace was revealing to him the merits of each individual — had come to know them; he distributed kisses to each one unequally: to some indeed one, to others three, but to others five, and finally to one he gave seven kisses.
The Father Asks, the Son Explains
Stephen marvels silently and then questions Henry, who explains that the number of kisses corresponded to each monk's years of continence, with seven kisses given to one who had lived a virginal life.
While the others looked on, blessed King Stephen silently marveled at this; and after Mass had been concluded, in a familiar conversation he carefully asked his son why he had distributed the kisses unequally among them. So blessed Henry, examining the merits of each one before his father — namely, for how long a span of time each had persevered in the virtue of continence — explained that under that consideration he had given more kisses to some and fewer to others; and he asserted that the one to whom he had given seven kisses had lived a virginal life.
Grace Teaches the Little Ones
The narrator breaks into praise of divine grace, which surpasses human nature and revealed hidden mysteries to blessed Henry, confirming the truth of the inner revelation.
O grace, awakener of all virtues, who abundantly surpass the narrowness of our nature, who reveal deep mysteries to the little ones — you were present as teacher to blessed Henry; you bestowed on him a free understanding concerning the hidden things of others.1 The truth of this inner revelation was found out in him in this way.
Read the original Latin
Quodam itaque tempore cum beatus rex Stephanus ad ecclesiam beati Martini, quam ipse in Sancto Monte Pannoniae incohaverat et egregia monachorum congregatione decoraverat, una cum filio causa orationis advenisset, rex sciens pueri praecellens meritum, honorem, qui eum decuit, impendit filio. Nam cum praedicti fratres, peracta processione, salutaturi regem accessissent, propter reverentiam filium suum praemisit ad salutandum. Puer autem Henricus Spiritu sancto repletus, prout divina revelante sibi gratia singulorum merita noverat, singulis inaequaliter oscula distribuit; alii siquidem unum, alii tria, alii vero quinque, postremo uni septem oscula continuavit. Quam rem, ceteris intuentibus, beatus rex Stephanus tacite admirabatur; familiarique colloquio, finita missa, cur illis inaequaliter oscula distribuisset, diligenter ab eo sciscitatus est. Beatus itaque Henricus singulorum merita coram patre pertractans, videlicet quanto temporis spatio singuli in virtute continentiae perstitissent, sub ea consideratione se plura aliis et pauciora aliis oscula dedisse edocuit, eumque, cui septena multiplicaverat oscula, virginalem vitam perduxisse asseruit. O excitatrix omnium virtutum gratia, quae nostrae angustias naturae abundanter excedis, quae profunda mysteria revelas parvulis; tu beato Henrico magistra adfuisti, tu ei liberam de occultis aliorum intellegentiam contulisti. Huius autem internae revelationis veritas in eo hoc modo comperta est.
Notes
- 1 ↩The address to 'gracia' as 'excitatrix omnium virtutum' is a personified apostrophe to grace as the stirring force behind all virtues; rendered to preserve the devotional weight.
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