Through pious fasting man makes satisfaction for sin, Causing the sinful flesh to suffer, Justly punishing that part in which He has sinned. He seeks forgiveness, trodding down the flesh, So prone to sin. Thus the whole man becomes A burnt offering sacrificed wholly to the Lord.
But reason must hold tight the reins, lest Fasting too intense or long endure, Killing the spirit, impeding meditation. No good comes from fasting two Or three days, if thereafter you gorge yourself. Fast every day instead, Eat not to satiety, but only When hungry, ceasing before surfeit. Supporting nature with a moderate repast, You tear up vice at its root.
So fast in flesh, that mind may brim with virtue. For our Lord does not desire that such fasts Be a sort of torture. To him the work of piety Is more pleasing, for bodily exercise is Profitable to little, but piety is profitable to all things.1 Kept within these bounds fasts dissolve the debt Our body owes and curbs its inner pestilence, Making man fit for all the virtues.
We read how Daniel unlocked God’s hidden mysteries Through fasts and tamed the proud lions; John the Baptist our Lord praised for his fasts. They are, moreover, sure remedies for bodily disease: Books tell how many have been healed by them: To those whose bellies are swollen by excess liquid And to those whose knotty limbs are bound by gout, The physician declares abstinence the surest remedy.
On the Church’s Fasts
Hence it pleased the Church to set certain Times for fasting, lest the continuous fasts Of apostolic custom should entirely die out.
On Lent
Therefore blessed Telesphorus, seventh from Peter, Orders us to fast forty days before the holy Pasch, Thus duly to return the tithe of days To him who tithes the whole world,2 And to cleanse the year’s sins of omission,3 And thus come more worthily to the sacred feast. These days are called by their number, Quadragesima.4 Whosoever violates a single day in Lent Is guilty of marring its entirety.5
He also bade the clergy to abstain beginning in Quinquagesima,6 But this custom has not been retained For we read Moses was the first to fast For forty days, that he might become the lawgiver. Elias kept forty days, that he might reach the Lord’s mountain And eventually be carried to heaven in flame. Jesus himself consecrated these forty days with his own fasting.
We, too, to whom each of Christ’s deeds is a teaching, And to follow our Lord is a great glory, let us follow him By keeping these days, hallowed by such weighty reason. During these, let us eat but once a day, And no fleshmeat or animal products, Such as milk, cheese, or eggs. For flesh feeds flesh. If you so feed it, you often Fuel its vices; but if you restrain it, you also Curb its deeds. It is good to abstain not only from fleshmeat, But from all things which Supply the flesh with nourishment. Let us therefore Be sparing with food and drink, and with sleep, chatter, and play. During these days, law permits eating fish, So long as eating them does not lead to excess. During them, we may also drink wine.
From Pastorale nouellum III, 10 (lines 589–654), by Rudolph of Liebegg (c. 1275–1332), canon of Constance.
Be at agreement with thy adversary betimes, whilst thou art in the way with him.[1] This life we live, dearly beloved, is like a way by which we press on to the fatherland, and each day we dwell here is, as it were, a stage of our journey. Our adversary in this way is the divine speech. For when we begin to burn with wrath or hatred, he says to us: Thou shalt not kill.[2] When we lust to drink our fill of the flesh’s impurity, he says: Thou shalt not commit adultery.[3] When we covet another’s property, he says: Thou shalt not steal.[4] When we work wickedness against our neighbors, he says: Thou shalt not bear false witness.[5] So he stands athwart us in all our desires, accompanying us on the way like an adversary. Let us be in agreement with him betimes, lest perchance he accuse us before Christ the Judge, and the Judge hand us over to the bailiff, that is, the devil, that he might put us in jail, that is, in hell, for we shall not go out from thence until we pay the last farthing,[6] that is, until we have been punished for the least of our sins. Since we are composed of four elements, we must pay God four farthings. From fire we owe the fervor of charity, from air clarity of thought, from water the cleansing that comes from baptism and tears, and from earth the devotion of our bound service. But this last farthing perverts the other senses with carnal impulses and leads them astray into unlawful deeds. Earth, forsooth, brings anger from fire, pride from air, the flood of lust from water, and attachment to worldly pleasures from itself. We are bound to pay back this farthing in prison, when we are made to atone for our worldly deeds through everlasting punishments.
And so, dearly beloved, it behoves you during these days to come together frequently in church, to hear salutary admonitions with an attentive ear, to pray for yourselves and for the entire people, and to refrain from gossiping and empty chatter, especially in church, since for every idle word that men shall speak, they shall render an account for it in the day of judgment.[7]For many frequent churches—’tis with pain that I am bound to say it—who would have done much better to remain at home.
When Our Lord was preaching, crowds flocked together to him with divers intentions. Some for the doctrine of heavenly life which sweetly flowed from his mouth. Others for the sake of healing, since he cured all infirmities. Others because of want, since he easily sated five thousand men with five loaves of bread. Others because of the grandeur of his miracles, since he gave sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, walking to the lame, and life to the dead. Others because of envy, that they might mock his words and twist his deeds to appear evil. Likewise today many come to church, some to hear the divine office and the words of life, other to confess their sins and pour forth their prayers to God, others to chatter with their friends, others to ambush their enemies, others to be seen in glamorous garments, others to parley with pretty girls, others to mock God’s words and disrupt the divine service. These come at the devil’s bidding, for while he is otherwise occupied he sends forth these men to impede God’s work. But just as Christ did not halt his preaching of heavenly things to Peter and the apostles, even though he knew that it tormented Judas and the Pharisees, so we must needs preach eternal joys to the sons of God who yearn for their fatherland, even though we know that this will harrow the heralds, nay, the sons of the devil.
There was a commandment under the Law that little bells should be woven into the priestly garment,[8] so that as the priest entered the tabernacle a sound should be heard and he should not die. The garment adorned with bells is the life of priests, dedicated to preaching. For if they proclaim God’s kingdom and his justice to the people, they save their souls. But if they should conceal his justice, and the people should perish in their iniquity, their blood shall be required at the priests’ hand, as if they had killed them.[9]
There is a beautiful, multicolored beast called the panther.[10] It enters the woods and feeds on divers herbs. Then it stands upon a rock and cries out, and the entire throng of beasts gathers hastily around it, except the dragon who alone takes flight. Then the panther belches out a sweet smell that heals every infirmity. This beast signifies the priests, particolored with many virtues, who ought to enter the forest of Scripture and each their fill of various verses like so many herbs. Then they should stand upon the Rock that is Christ through their good works, summon the people from all parts with their preaching, and then breathe out the healthful odor of Scripture, curing the sick of their diseases with the medicine of their tongue and driving the dragon, which is the devil, away from them.
The Panther as depicted in a 13th-century English bestiary (Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS. 764, fol. 7v).
During these days, dearly beloved, we omit the Alleluia, which is a joyful strain, and sing the Tract, a song of sadness, since it behoves us here below to be saddened on account of our sins so that we might be permitted someday to rejoice with the angels. Hence, too, a veil is now suspended in the churches which hides the secrets of the sanctuary from the people, since heavenly things are concealed from us on account of our sins, but they shall be disclosed to us through penance.
We read that Jerusalem was surrounded by a triple wall. Nabuchodosonor assaulted and seized it with the help of six kings, killing some of the inhabitants and hauling the others off to Babylon. Some who fled to the tower in the midst of the city were saved.
Jerusalem is the faithful people, surrounded by a triple wall, to wit, by faith, hope, and charity. Nabuchodonosor—that is, pride, the chief vice—attacks it with the other six vices—that is, envy, hate, vainglory, avarice, gluttony, and lust—and destroys its walls—that is, faith, hope, and charity. He kills the inhabitants when he crushes the faithful with mortal sins. He hauls the others off to Babylon when he carries off to the underworld those who are dead in their sins. Let each of the faithful, then, when once the walls of virtue have been destroyed, flee forthwith to the tower of confession, lest the Chaldeans—that is, the demons—slay them.
We also read today[11] that when our Lord withdrew into the parts of Tyre, a woman of Canaan cried out to him for the sake of her daughter, who was grievously troubled by a demon, and begged him insistently for her health. Tyre is this world, into whose parts our Lord retired when he put on our flesh. The woman who came out of those coasts is the Church, gathered from the Gentiles. Her daughter, troubled by a demon, is what soul soever has been seized by vices. She is cured at her mother’s entreaties when the soul, converted by the Church’s prayers, is cleansed of her vices. For the merciful Lord comes to seek the sheep that are lost of the house of Israel, that is, of the assembly of the angels, and, having found them, to restore them to their company.
Christ and the Canaanite woman, with the Second Sunday of Lent’s Introit. From the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, 1410.
Wherefore, dearly beloved, sanctify ye a fast[12] in order that you might merit to rejoice in the eternal banquet with the angels in the pastures of life. Honor your prelates and elders, support your parents in their old age or poverty out of your own resources.
The examples of the birds admonish us to carry out these good works. We read that when the eagle grows old, its chicks feed it until it is reborn and its youth restored. Likewise, too, it is said that the bee-eater, when it grows old, is nourished by its chicks.[13] And when the stork is weighed down by old age and bereft of its feathers, its chicks envelop it with their wings and restore it with plentiful food.[14] If the birds do such things, how much more meet is it that men do the same?
Redeem yourselves with alms from the peril of punishment for your sins, for almsgiving is good with fasting.[15] It delivereth from death and purgeth away sins,[16] and does not suffer the soul to go into darkness,[17] but obtains for it life everlasting. Yea verily, Tabitha, full of good works and almsdeeds,[18] was raised back to life amidst the weeping of widows and orphans, for when they showed Peter the garments she had made for them, he forthwith restored life to her. Dearly beloved, behold the value of almsgiving. Not only does it free souls from death, but it even raises bodies from death. Tobias, too, who lost the light of his eyes for four years, received it again when an angel visited him thanks to his almsdeeds and fasts.[19]
St. Peter raises Tabitha (13th century French psalter, Morgan Library & Museum, MS M.729, fol. 303r).
We read about a certain toller who never gave alms to any poor beggar.[20] One day, the beggars were comparing their haul of goods which various people had given them and noted how the toller, although exceedingly rich, never gave them anything. Then one of the beggars said that he would get alms from him presently. After each of the other beggars promised to give him their shares of alms if he could wring even a penny from the toller, he ran forthwith to his house and begged for alms with importunate cries. At that moment, the stewards were placing bread on the table. The toller, full of wrath, looked around to see if mayhap any wood or stone offered itself to him to throw in the face of the yeller. Finally out of anger he grabbed a loaf of bread and cast it into the mouth of the beggar as he cried out. Taking it, he returned happily to his companions and showed them the loaf which he told them he received from the toller.
Not much later the same toller was struck by a serious illness and was near his end. Demons immediately gathered around him, reviewing before him all his evil deeds. Angels then arrived and required of the toller’s guardian angel his good deeds, but he replied that the toller had never wished to assent to his encouragements to do good, except that one day he wrathfully threw a loaf of bread at a beggar which he had brought with him now. The angels took the loaf from him and broke it into tiny crumbs, and as the demons put the heavy weights of the toller’s sins on the scales, the angels placed a crumb, which proved heavier. They continued doing so until the crumbs were heavier than the devil’s weights. But the demons roared that an injury had been done to them, crying out that they would drag their servant away with them by force. The matter was given over to God’s judgment, but at the angel’s prayers the toller was permitted to return to life. As soon as he recovered from his illness, he gave thanks to the immense clemency of God, and thenceforth distributed countless alms to all the destitute.
One day, he met a beggar on the road and forthwith dressed him with the precious garment he was warning. The beggar, however, wished to sell it. When the toller saw the garment hanging in a market, he was saddened, and returned home weeping and thus fell asleep on account of his sorrow. Our Lord Jesus appeared to him clad in that same garment and asked him why he wept. He replied, “Because what I, all unworthy, give your servants, they scorn to wear.” But Jesus showed him the garment and said, “Behold, I am wearing the garment you gave me.” The toller awoke and declared that blessed are the poor, among whose number the Lord counts himself. He immediately sold all his belongings and distributed them to the needy. Moreover, he commanded his servant to sell him and pay out the money he made among the poor. With difficulty he compelled the servant to do so, but the servant finally sold the toller to traders and bestowed the money on the destitute, as he had asked. After being sold, the toller served his lord faithfully and daily gave his lunch to the indigent, contenting himself with bread and water. At last he merited the starry kingdom and shone with glorious miracles.
Therefore, dearly beloved, since alms thus free us from every evil and so powerfully exalt man to the heavens, distribute them frequently according to your means, and hasten to stow away your belongings as heavenly treasures. Let no one say that he has nothing to give, since the Judge promises a reward for a cup of cold water.[21] And he who has no possessions to give can offer good will. Make, therefore, paupers to be your friends of the mammon of iniquity, that when you shall fail, they may receive you into everlasting dwellings,[22]where there are joys which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, &c.[23]
St. Laurence distributing alms.
Esto consentiens aduersario tuo cito, dum es cum illo in uia. Vita ista, karissimi, qua uiuimus est quędam uia qua ad patriam tendimus. Quot enim dies hic ducimus, quasi tot dietas currimus. In uia hac noster aduersarius est sermo diuinus. Cum enim iram uel odium perficere exardescimus, dicit nobis: Non occides. Cum carnis inmundiciam explere concupiscimus, dicit: Non mechaberis. Cum alienis rebus inhiamus, dicit: Non furaberis. Cum proximis[24] mala molimur, dicit: Non falsum testimonium dices. Ergo quia in omnibus desideriis nostris nobis aduersatur, quasi aduersarius in uia nos comitatur. Huic aduersario consentiamus cito, ne forte accusando tradat nos iudici xpo, iudex uero ministro, id est diabolo, qui mittat nos in carcerem, id est in infernum, quia inde non exibimus donec nouissimum quadrantem reddamus, id est pro minimo peccato penas recipiamus. Ex iiii.or namque qualitatibus subsistimus, et ideo iiii.or quadrantes Deo persoluere debemus. Ex igne enim caritatis feruorem, ex aere ingenii perspicacitatem, ex aqua baptismi et lacrimarum abolitionem, ex terra debitę seruitutis debemus deuotionem. Sed hic quadrans nouissimus peruertit cęteros sensus per carnales impetus, et pertrahit eos ad illicitos actus. Et de igne quidem furorem, de aere elationem, de aqua libidinis fluxum, terra de se reddit mundanorum desideriorum appetitum. Hunc quadrantem cogimur in carcere persoluere, dum terrena opera in ęternis pęnis compellimur luere.
Vnde, karissimi, decet uos frequenter istis diebus ad ęcclesiam conuenire, monita salutaria intenta aure audire, pro vobis et pro omni populo orare, fabulas et inania colloquia ubique, sed maxime in ęcclesia declinare, quia de omni uerbo ocioso quod locuti fuerint homines reddent Deo racionem in die iudicii. Multi etenim[25] frequentant ęcclesias, quod cum gemitu cogor dicere, quibus multo melius esset domi residere.
Predicante Domino, turbę ad eum diuersa mente confluxere. Quidam ob celestis uitę doctrinam, quę dulcis de ore ipsius manabat; quidam ob medelam, quia omnem languorem curabat; quidam ob inopiam, quia facile quinque panibus v. milia hominum saciabat; quidam ob signorum magnitudinem, quia cecis uisum, surdis auditum, claudis gressum, mortuis uitam dabat; quidam ob inuidiam, ut uerba ejus irriderent et opera eius ad malum peruerterent. Ita hodie plurimi ad ęcclesiam confluunt, quidam ut diuinum officium et uitę uerba audiant, quidam ut peccata sua confiteantur et preces Domino fundant, aliqui ut amicis confabulentur, alii ut inimicis insidientur, quidam ut preciose vestiti uideantur, alii ut mulierculis colloquantur, alii ut uerba Dei irrideant et operi[26] Dei impedimento fiant. Hii ueniunt missi a diabolo, quia dum ipse alias occupatur, premittit hos ut opus Dei per eos impediatur.[27]Sed sicut xpc non cessauit Petro et apostolis celestia nunciare, quamuis sciret hoc[28] Iudam et Phariseos cruciare, ita oportet nos filiis Dei patriam suam desiderantibus gaudia sempiterna preloqui, quamuis nouerimus nuncios, immo filios diaboli inde torqueri.
Erat namque preceptum in lege, ut tintinnabula essent intexta in sacerdotali ueste, ut ingrediens[29] tabernaculum sonitus audiretur, et non moreretur. Vestis tintinnabulis intexta, est uita sacerdotum predicatione subnixa. Si enim populo regnum Dei et iusticiam eius annuntiant, animas suas saluant.Si autemiusticiam absconderint, et populus iniquitate mortuus fuerit, sanguis eius de manu sacerdotum requiritur, quasi eum occiderit.
Est bestia nomine panthera, uariis coloribus decora. Hęc siluam ingreditur, diuersis herbis uescitur, et deinde in petra stans uocem emittit, et omnis turba bestiarum[30] in circuitu accurrit, solus draco fugit. Tunc suauem odorem eructat, et omnes languores sanat. Per hanc bestiam significantur sacerdotes multis uirtutibus discolores, quos conuenit siluam Scripturę ingredi, uariis sententiis ut herbis repleri, deinde in petra xpo bonis operibus stare, populum undique predicando[31] conuocare, et tunc salubrem Scripturę odorem efflare, et egros morbis linguę medicamine curare, draconem diabolum ab eis effugare.
Istis diebus, karissimi, Alleluia quod est melos laeticię intermittimus, et Tractum, cantum tristicię, canimus, quia pro peccatis nostris oportet nos hic tristari, ut liceat nobis quandoque cum angelis letari. Ideo etiam nunc uela in ecclesiis suspenduntur, quo populo secreta sanctuarii absconduntur, quia cęlestia nobis ob peccata celantur quę ob penitentiam nobis reserantur.
Legitur quod Ierusalem[32] triplici muro circumdata fuerit, quam Nabuchodonosor auxilio vi. regum expugnando cepit, inhabitantes quosdam occidit, quosdam in Babylonem duxit. Aliqui qui in turrim in medio ciuitatis sitam fugerunt, saluati sunt.
Ierusalem[33] sunt fidelium populi, triplici muro scilicet fide, spe, caritate circumdati. Quos Nabuchodonosor, id est superbia, principale uicium, cum aliis vi. uiciis, id est inuidia, odio, uanagloria, auaricia, crapula, luxuria, pugnans inuadit, muros, id est fidem, spem, caritatem destruit. Inhabitantes occidit dum fideles peccatis mortis obruit. Alios in Babylonem duxit, dum in peccatis mortuos ad tartara rapit. Turris uero civitatis, est protectio confessionis. Quisque ergo fidelium, destructis muris uirtutum, ad turrim[34] confessionis festinanter fugiat, ne a Chaldeis, id est a demonibus, pereat.
Legitur etiam hodie, cum Dominus in partes Tyri secederet, quod mulier Chananea ad eum pro filia sua clamaret, quam demonium male uexabat, et protinus salutem filię impetrabat. Tyrus est hic mundus, in cuius partes Dominus secessit, dum carnem nostram induit. Mulier, a finibus illis egressa, est Ecclesia de gentibus congregata. Cuius filia quę a demonio uexatur est quęlibet anima quę a uiciis occupatur. Hęc matre orante curatur, dum conuersa anima per orationem Ęcclesię[35] a uiciis purgatur. Venit enim pius Dominus ut querat oues[36]quę perierunt domus Israel, id est cetus angelorum, et inuentas reducat ad societatem eorum.
Vnde, karissimi, sanctificate ieiunium, ut pascuis uitę[37] mereamini cum angelis habere ęternarum epularum gaudium. Prelatos uestros et omnes maiores honorate, parentes uestros in senectute uel egestate consumptos rebus uestris sustentate. Ad hec enim exercenda, monent nos auium exempla. Nam legitur quod aquila senescens a pullis suis pascatur, usque dum in pristinam iuventutem renascatur. Similiter etenim[38] fertur quod merops senescens, a pullis suis nutriatur. Cyconia quoque, senectute grauata et plumis nudata, a pullis alis circumuelatur et cibo assiduo recreatur. Et si talia exercent uolucres, quanto magis decet ut ea expleant homines?
Elemosinis redimite uos a peccatorum[39] penarum periculo, quia bona est ęlemosina cum ieiunio. Hęc a morte liberat et hęcpeccata purgat, et in tenebras ire non patitur, sed uitam ęternam per eam dabitur. Thabita quippe, plena operibus bonis et ęlemosinis, ad uitam resuscitatur, uiduis et orphanis flentibus. Cum enim uestes ostenderent quas illis faciebat, mox eam Petrus uitę restituebat. En, karissimi, quantum ęlemosinę ualent. Non solum enim a morte animę[40] liberant, sed etiam a morte corporis suscitant. Tobyas quoque, qui quadriennio lumen oculorum amiserat, per ęlemosinas et ieiunia angelo uisitante receperat.
Legitur de quodam theloneario, quod nunquam ęlemosinam prebuerit alicui pauperculo. Quadam die dum pauperes inter se conferrent[41] quanta bona illi et illi eis impendissent, ille uero thelonearius, quamvis ditissimus, nunquam aliquid boni eis exhibuisset, unus illorum intulit quod ad presens elemosinam ab eo accepturus sit. Cui dum unusquisque prout habuit deposuisset, si ab eo saltim[42] minimum quid acciperet, ille protinus ad domum thelonearii cucurrit, elemosinam importunis uocibus petiit. Ea uero hora panis a ministris mensę inponebatur. Cumque thelonearius furore repletus circumspiceret, si forte lignum uel lapis se furenti offerret, quod in faciem uociferantis iactaretur, pre ira cuneum arripuit, in ora clamantis pauperis proiecit. Quem ille amplectitur, letus ad socios regreditur, cuneum demonstrat, quem se ab eo accepisse memorat.
Non multo post idem thelonearius est graui infirmitate tactus, et ad extrema perductus. Ad quem mox demones convenerunt, cuncta eius male gesta eo uidente recensuerunt. Cumque et[43] angeli adessent, et ab eius custode bona eius requirerent, dixit quod nunquam sibi assensum ad bonum prebere uoluerit, nisi quod quadam die cuneum iratus in pauperem iactauerit, quem ipse nunc secum adtulerit. Angeli uero cuneum ab eo acceperunt, et in minimas micas diuiserunt. Et cum demones grauia pondera peccatorum in statera ponerent, angeli micam imponebant, quę preponderabat. Hoc tamdiu fecerunt usque dum micę ponderibus demonum preponderabant. Demones uero iniuriam sibi factam uociferabant, proprium suum seruum per uim sibi tolli clamitabant. Res in iudicium Dei differtur, sed angelis orantibus ad uitam redire permittitur. Qui mox de infirmitate conualuit, gratias immensę clementię Dei retulit, infinitas elemosinas omnibus egenis deinde cottidie exhibuit.
Quodam die pauperem obuium habuit, quem protinus ueste preciosa, qua ipse utebatur, induit, pauper uero eam uendere uoluit. Postquam ille uestem in uenalium rerum loco pendentem uidit, mestus factus, domum rediens fleuit, et ita pre tristicia obdormiuit. Cui Dominus ihc eadem ueste indutus apparuit, cur fleret inquisiuit. At ille: « Quia inquit, quod tuis famulis a nobis indignis datur, portare dedignatur. » Ille uero uestem pretulit. « En, inquit, quam dedisti uestis me tegit. » At ille euigilans, pauperes beatos predicat, de quorum numero se Dominus affirmat. Protinus omnem substantiam suam uendidit, egenis cuncta distribuit. Insuper seruo suo precepit ut se uenderet et acceptam pro eo pecuniam pauperibus erogaret. Quem vix ad hoc compulit quod eum negociatoribus uendidit et pecuniam, ut petiit, miseris impertiit. Ipse uero uenditus domino suo fideliter seruiuit, annonam suam cottidie indigentibus tribuit, ipse pane et aqua contentus fuit. Tandem gloriosis miraculis claruit, qui iam syderea regna promeruit.
Igitur, karissimi, dum ęlemosina ita ab omni malo liberet et sic potenter ad celestia hominem exaltet, hanc omnes pro modulo vestro frequentate, res uestras in cęlestes thesauros recondere festinate. Nemo dicat quod quid det non habeat,[44] cum iudex pro calice aquę frigide premium repromittat. Et cui deest substantia quę detur, ab eo bona uoluntas accipitur. Facite ergo uobis pauperes amicos de iniquitatis mammona, ut cum defeceritis, recipiant uos in ęterna tabernacula, ubi sunt gaudia quę oculus non uidit, nec auris, &c.
[9] Cf. Ezechiel 3:18–21. Gregory makes use of this and the next biblical passage in his discussion of a pastor’s burden in Letter 34 (PL 77:488).
[10] See Physiologus (CPL 1154), “On the Panther.” Eng. trans. by Michael Curley (Austin, 1979), 42–45. Honorius draws the connection between the panther, the virtues, and priestly vestments most explicitly in a passage from the Sacramentarium 29 (PL 172:762–763): “The panther is a beast of seven colors: black, white, gray, gold, green, bronze, red. The panther feeds on various herbs and, perched on a rock, cures with its breath the sick animals who come to it. The panther stands for the priest, who has seven vestments and seven virtues. The color black signifies humility, white chastity, gray prudence, gold wisdom, green faith, bronze hope, and red charity. The various herbs are the various verses of Scripture; the rock is Christ, and the sick beasts are men sick with sin. The priest cures them when he recites them verses from Scripture. When the priest vests, he as it were begins a duel with the devil on the Church’s behalf. He puts the amice, i.e. hope, on his head for a helmet; he dons the alb, i.e. faith, as a breastplate; the cingulum, i.e. chastity, for a swordbelt; the subcingulum, i.e. the witness of Scripture or the examples of the saints, as a bow and arrows; the stole, i.e. obedience or justice, for a lance or sling; the maniple on his hand, i.e. good works, for a war-club; the chasuble, i.e. charity, for a shield; the Gospel book, i.e. God’s word, for a sword; sandals, i.e. preaching, for his knightly shoes.” See also Gemma animae 1.83, on the priest’s armor. On the history of color interpretation from early Latin sources through the medieval encyclopedic tradition, see the exhaustive study of Christel Meier and Rudolf Suntrup, Lexikon der Farbenbedeutungen im Mittelalter: Pictura et Poesis (Cologne, 2011).
[11] The Gospel pericope Honorius expounds here is Matthew 15:21–28, which was read in a number of medieval Transalpine uses. The Tridentine pericope, however, is the account of the Transfiguration in Matthew 17:1–9.
[20] The story of Peter the Toller, famously recorded in the Golden Legend in the entry of St. John the Almsgiver, is told in Leontius’ life of this saint (ch. 31), translated into Latin by Anastasius Bibliothecarius in the 9th century (PL 73:356–359).
Seek ye the Lord, while he may be found: call upon him, while he is near.[1] Dearly beloved, in this life we must seek God, in this life we must call upon him. Those who seek him through faith and good works in this life will find him in the life to come, and will rejoice and be glad. But he is not found there by anyone who does not seek him in this life through holy living. In this life he is night unto all that call upon him in truth;[2] there he will be far from all who walk in vanity.[3] How we are to seek him, the Lord himself teaches through the prophet: Let the wicked forsake his way, namely an evil life, and the unjust man his thoughts, namely his evil intentions, and let him return to the Lord, by confessing and doing penance, and he will have mercy on him, by absolving him, and to our God, by living a better life, for he is bountiful to forgive, exempting us from punishment and giving the reward of eternal life. To seek the Lord is to forsake evil designs and do good works. To persevere in good works unto the end is to find God, who is eternal life.[4]
How we are to call upon him, the Lord also teaches through the same prophet: Deal thy bread to the hungry, bring the needy and the harbourless into thy house, cover the naked,[5] and forgive those who sin against you. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall hear: thou shalt cry, and he shall say, ‘Here I am’.[6] Dearly beloved, seek the Lord at all times, but especially in the coming days, by living well, and your soul shall live.[7] Call upon him by frequent prayer, and he will grant you eternal joys.
How we are to call upon him, the Lord also teaches through the same prophet: Deal thy bread to the hungry, bring the needy and the harbourless into thy house, cover the naked,[8] and forgive those who sin against you. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall hear: thou shalt cry, and he shall say, ‘Here I am’.[9] Dearly beloved, seek the Lord at all times, but especially in the coming days, by living well, and your soul shall live.[10] Call upon him by frequent prayer, and he will grant you eternal joys.
Missal of Eberhard von Greiffenklau, fol. 28r
Scripture cries out, spurring us to future goods: Be mindful from whence thou art fallen, and do penance.[11] In paradise we were amidst all manner of delights, but, alas! through the devil’s cunning we fell into this pit of misery.[12] Soon we were hit by the sad sentence, which—oh, the pain!—compelled us to undergo death and return to dust. So today, humbled by penance, we impose ashes on our heads, grieving that we have been reduced to the dust of death. And since we earned death for ourselves by tasting forbidden food, now we afflict ourselves with fasts so that abstinence might open up a way for us to the tree of life, which has been closed off because of our coveting for the prohibited tree. Yea, miserable is the human heart, plagued by many miseries, and in its misery it became numb, hardened, insensible to pain. Therefore our merciful and gracious God,[13] the Father of mercies,[14] had compassion on our wretched heart, and nursed it with the many remedies of the Scriptures. Even today he comforts our benumbed heart and soothes it with this admonition:
Be converted to me with all your heart, in fasting, and in weeping, and in mourning, and turn to the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, patient and rich in mercy, and ready to repent of evil.[15] Now let us hear him teach us how we ought to be converted: Sanctify a fast.[16] How? You must abstain from not only others’ but also your own wives and from meats; be free of hatred and envy; distribute what surplus food and drink you have among the poor; persevere in continual prayer; do not take revenge for injuries but pray for your enemies instead; obey all God’s precepts; and do not go against his commands by any evil action. However, one who fasts from wrangling and bickering, then after lunch gives himself to drunkenness and lechery imitates the devil as one of his members, who eats no physical food but ever grazes on malice and iniquity. For as it is written in Tobias: Fasting and alms are worth much,[17] for fasting casts out the devil from the soul, but almsgiving redeems the soul from death.[18] For a kind of demon can go out by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.[19] And as water quencheth a flaming fire, so alms sins.[20] It also delivers the soul from death, and will not suffer it to go into darkness.[21]
St. Louis distributing alms, Luis Tristán, 1615
Once man had gone out from paradise he fell into the pit of death. Therefore, the Son of God left his palace in heaven and suffered exile for his sake, waking us from the sleep of indifference with signs and miracles, and then restored us to life by his death. Thus it is written: Thy eyes shall see thy teacher, and thy ears shall hear the word of one admonishing thee behind thy back.[22] Our teacher was Christ, who gave us the teachings of life. The blessed eyes of the apostles saw this teacher and heard with their ears the words of life that were made known in those days through his preaching, and in our days in the Scriptures. But we lazy and useless servants turn our backs on our Lord’s face when by our scorn and neglect we trample upon his teachings. Though we rebel he warns us behind our backs, calling to us as we rush to our destruction, coaxing us when we do not want to return, holding out the promise of eternal life, grasping those who return in a loving embrace, and forgiving us as his sons. And so, dearly beloved, as he is our Father and Lord and we are mud, let us return to him as servants to a most indulgent master, let us return as children to a most affectionate father.
Therefore, dearly beloved, fast diligently throughout these days, so that you might overcome the devil when he tempts you with vices and concupiscence. Redeem your sins with almsgiving, merit the reward of eternal life with your prayers. Wash the stains of sin from your baptismal garment with your tears, and stay clean by holy works. Cease at last to do perversely, learn to do well, namely relieve the oppressed, judge for the fatherless justly in court, defend the widow and the stranger,[23]rescue the poor and needy from the hand of their oppressor.[24]And you shall be the Lord’s people: and he will be your God.[25]
When we were cast out of paradise, we were told: Dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return.[26] So that we might go back, we do penance today in sackcloth and ashes. For we are dust and ashes, man is rottenness and the son of man is a worm.[27] As we hasten to go back to our fatherland, we know that the demons lie in wait for us along the way of salvation, and so we take up the spiritual weapons of prayer, humiliation, and affliction, that we might fight against the spiritual forces of evil and quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one.[28] Today when we process with crosses, we go out as it were armed to meet our enemies in battle. That is why in the Litany we call the saints to our aid, so that we have the strength to fight manfully and hold our triumph in the palace of heaven.[29]
In the world’s fourth age, Solomon built the Lord a temple in the space of seven years.[30] When it was destroyed by the Babylonians it was rebuilt by the priest Jesus in forty-six years. Solomon is Christ, the temple the Church. Solomon’s temple took seven years to build because Christ edifies the Church with the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. The Babylonians destroy it because the demons undermine the Church with various vices. But it is rebuilt by Jesus in forty-six years because throughout these forty-six days the Church is built up into God’s temple. From this day, indeed, until Easter there are forty-six days. The temple of Christ’s body, to which the Church is joined, is also built in forty-six years. For Mary was twelve years old when she gave birth to Christ,[31] and Christ was thirty-four years old when he collapsed, undone by death. These years when added together give forty-six, the same as the number of days from Ash Wednesday to Easter, when Christ restored the temple of his body which the Jews had broken up with their attack. Now we begin the fast on Wednesday because we believe that Christ began his fast on a Wednesday after being baptized on a Monday. [32] We desire to be joined to him through our fasting and we imitate Solomon who built a temple in the world’s fourth age as a figure of the Church, in which we now yearn to be built up by Christ. We fast for the next four days because the Church is gathered from the four corners of the world into the structure of God’s Temple. Then we fast for another forty days because through the four Gospels and the Ten Commandments of the Law this temple is brought to completion in Christ, who did not come to destroy the Law, but to fulfill it.[33] The letter X, the first in Christ’s name, signifies ten, and stands for the Decalogue, and expresses the form of the Cross, by hanging on which Christ paid all our debts to God the Father.
The building of Solomon’s temple, from Petrus Comestor’s Historia Scholastica (MS Den Haag, MMW, 10 B 23.)
Therefore, dearly beloved, let us imitate Christ like cherished sons. Let us follow his footsteps, that we might see him in glory. Because Scripture says, Man storeth up, and he knoweth not for whom he shall gather these things;[34] because the senseless and the fool shall perish together, and they shall leave their riches to strangers, and their sepulchers shall be their houses for ever;[35] and because he shall inherit serpents, and beasts, and worms,[36] let us spurn all earthly things and seek the heavenly; disciplining our flesh with fasts, vigils, and prayers now, that in the coming resurrection we might reign forever with the Lord of glory, where eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, what things God hath prepared for them that love him. [37]
In capite jejunii
Querite Dominum, dum inueniri potest, inuocate eum, dum prope est. Karissimi, in hac uita est Deus querendus, in hac uita inuocandus. Qui in hac uita querunt eum fide et operatione, post hanc uitam inuenient eum in leticia et exultatione. A nullo autem ibi inuenitur, a quo hic sancta conuersatione non queritur. Hic prope[38] estomnibus inuocantibus eum in ueritate; ibi longe erit omnibus qui hic ambulant in uanitate. Qualiter autem sit querendus per prophetam[39] docet ipse Dominus: Derelinquat impius uiamsuam, id est malam uitam, et uir iniquus cogitationes suas, id est malas uoluntates, et reuertatur ad Dominum, per confessionem et penitentiam, et miserebitur eius, per indulgentiam, et ad Dominum nostrum per melioris uitę inmutationem, quoniam multus est ad ignoscendum,[40] liberans a penis, dans uitę ęternę remunerationem. Mala incepta derelinquere, et bona opera facere, est Dominum querere. In bono opere usque in finem perseuerare, est Deum qui est uita ęterna inuenire.
Qualiter autem sit inuocandus, docet per eundem prophetam idem Dominus: Frange[41] esurienti panem tuum, egenos induc in domum tuam, nudum operi, dimitte in te peccanti. Et tunc inuocabis et Dominus exaudiet. Clamabis, et dicet, Ecce assum.[42]Omni tempore, karissimi,[43] sed maxime istis diebus, querite Dominum bene uiuendo, et uiuet anima vestra. Inuocate eum assidue orando, et dabit uobis ęterna gaudia.
Clamat Scriptura, excitans nos ad bona futura: Memento unde excideris et age penitentiam. In paradyso in omnibus deliciis fuimus; sed, heu! astucia diaboli inde in hunc lacum miserię excidimus. Moxque[44] tristis sententia perculit nos, quę omnes—proh dolor!—mortem subire et in puluerem reuerti compulit. Vnde penitentia hodie afflicti, cinerem nostris capitibus imponimus, quia nos in puluerem mortis redigi gemimus. Et quia per gustum uetiti cibi mortem incidimus, ideo nunc ieiuniis nos affligimus, quatenus abstinentia nobis aditum ligni uitę aperiat, quę concupiscentia interdictę arboris clauserat. Miserum quippe humanum cor, multis miseriis infectum, in miseria[45] obstupuit, obduruit,[46] sensum doloris amisit. Idcirco misericors et miserator Dominus, pater misericordiarum, misero condoluit, multis medicaminibus Scripturarum[47] ei consuluit. E quibus hodie medicamento penitentię stupidum cor demulcet, sicque blandiens admonet:
Conuertimini ad me in toto corde uestro, in ieiunio et fletu et planctu, et conuertimini ad Dominum Deum uestrum, quia benignus et misericors est, paciens et multum misericors, et prestabilis super malicia. Sed qualiter conuerti debeamus, ipsum docentem audiamus: Sanctificate ieiunium. Qualiter? Non solum ab extraneis, sed[48] a propriis uxoribus et a carnibus[49] debetis istis abstinere diebus; odio et inuidia carere; quę uobis in cibo et potu superfuerint pauperibus distribuere; orationi iugiter insistere; illatam iniuriam non uindicare, sed potius pro inimicis orare; preceptis Dei in omnibus obedire, nulla praua actione eius monitis contraire. Porro qui ad lites et contentiones ieiunat, et post prandium ebrietati et luxui uacat, diabolum ut puta[50] membrum ipsius similat,[51] qui nullo corporali cibo uescitur, sed malicia et nequicia semper pascitur. Vt autem scribitur in Tobya: Multum valet ieiunium cum elemosina, quia per ieiunium diabolus[52] ab anima expellitur; per elemosinam uero anima a morte redimitur. Genus enim demoniorum in nullo potest exire nisi cum ieiunio et oratione. Et sicut aqua extinguit ignem, ita elemosina peccatum, et hanc liberat a morte, et non patitur ire in tenebras.
Ideo, karissimi, hos dies cum omni diligentia ieiunate, ut possitis diabolum uicia et concupiscentias persuadentem superare. Elemosinis peccata redimite, orationibus ęternę uitę premia acquirite. A sordibus peccatorum uestem baptismatis lacrimis lauate; in sanctis operibus mundi estote. Quiescite iam aliquando peruerse agere, discite nunc benefacere, scilicet oppresso subuenite, pupillo iuste in iudicio iudicate, uiduam et aduenam defendite, egenum et pauperem de manu tribulantis eripite. Et[53]eritis Domino in populum, et ipse erit uobis in Deum.
Quia enim homo de paradyso exiens in lacum mortis corruit, Filius Dei de aula celi egrediens pro eo exilium subiit, signis et miraculis nos de somno desidię excitauit, demum morte sua ad uitam reparauit. Vnde scriptum est: Erunt oculi tui uidentes preceptorem tuum, et aures tuę audientes uocem post tergum monentis. Preceptor noster xpc erat, qui nos precepta uitę docuerat. Hunc preceptorem beati oculi apostolorum uiderunt, et auribus suis uerba uitę audierunt, quę tunc mundo predicationibus, nobis autem scriptis innotuerunt. Sed nos pigri et inutiles serui terga in faciem Domini nostri damus, cum precepta ejus contempnendo calcamus. Ipse autem nos rebelles post tergum monet, ut ad interitum properantes reuocet; reuerti nolentibus blanditur, uitam pollicetur, reuersos benigne amplectitur, ut filiis miseretur. Vnde, karissimi, quia ipse Pater et Dominus noster est et nos lutum, reuertamur ut serui ad dominum clementissimum, reuertamur ut filii ad patrem piissimum.
Cum de paradyso expulsi sumus, dictum est nobis: Puluis es et in puluerem reuerteris. Vt ergo redire possimus, penitentiam hodie in cinere et cilicio agimus. Puluis quippe sumus et cinis, uermis etputredo filius hominis. Et quia repatriare contendimus, hostes id est demones iter salutis nobis obsidere nouimus; ideo arma spiritualia quae sunt oratio humiliatio afflictio sustollimus, ut contra spiritualia nequicię[54] pugnare et omnia tela ignea nequissimi hostis extinguere possimus.[55] Cum enim hodie processionem cum crucibus facimus, quasi hostibus armati ad pugnam obuiam imus. Vnde et per letaniam sanctos in adiutorium nostrum inuocamus, quatenus uiriliter decertare et in aula celesti triumphare ualeamus.
Quarta etate mundi ędificauit Salomon Domino templum, vii. annis, quod destructum a Babyloniis reedificatum est a ihu sacerdote xl.vi annis. Salomon est xpc, templum Ęcclesia. Hoc templum vii. annis a Salomone edificatur, quia Ęcclesia vii. donis Spiritus sancti a xpo informatur. A Babyloniis destruitur, quia a demonibus uariis uiciis subruitur. Sed iterum ab ihu xl. et vi. annis reedificatur, quia his xl. et vi. diebus Ęcclesia in templum Dei coedificatur. Ab hodierna quippe die usque in Pascha xl. et vi. dies computantur. Templum quoque corporis xpi xl. et vi. annis edificatur, cui Ęcclesia incorporatur. MARIA quippe xii. annorum extitit, quando xpm genuit. Xpc uero[56] xxx. et iiii.or annorum fuit, dum morte solutus corruit. Qui anni simul iuncti xl. et vi. fiunt; totque dies a capite ieiunii usque in Pascha existunt. Qua die xpc corporis sui templum restituit, quod prius impulsio Iudeorum soluit. Ideo ergo iiii. feria ieiunium inchoamus, quia xpm suum ieiunium iiii. feria inchoasse predicamus; quem ii. feria baptizatum non ignoramus, cui per ieiunium incorporari desideramus, et Salomonem qui quarta etate mundi templum in figura Ęcclesię construxit similamus, in qua nunc coedificari a xpo optamus. Ideo istis iiii.or diebus ieiunatur, quia Ęcclesia a quatuor plagis mundi in edificium templi Dei congregatur. Deinde xl. diebus ieiunatur, quia per iiii.or Ęuangelia et decem legis precepta hoc templum in xpo consummatur, qui non uenit soluere legem, sed implere. Ideo x. littera quę prima est in nomine xpi decem significat, et decalogum legis insinuat, et formam crucis exprimit, in qua xpc pendens cuncta debita nostra pro nobis Deo Patri soluit.
Ergo dilectissimi, imitemur xpm ut filii karissimi. Sequamur eius uestigia, ut uideamus illum[57] in gloria. Et quia Scriptura dicit: Thesaurizat homo et ignorat cui congregabit ea, quia insipiens et stultus peribunt et relinquent alienis diuicias suaset sepulchra eorum, domus illorum in ęternum, quia hereditabit homo uermes, bestias, serpentes, cuncta terrena despiciamus, celestia appetamus; ieiuniis, uigiliis, orationibus corpus nostrum nunc maceremus, ut in resurrectione futura cum Domino glorię perenniter regnemus, ubi oculus non uidit nec auris audiuit quę preparauit Deus diligentibus se.
[29] Cf. the oration at the conclusion of the imposition of ashes on Ash Wednesday, Concede nobis…praesidia militiae.
[30] The most important precedents for the elaborate allegories of this passage are Augustine, Enarratio in Psalmos 95, Tractatus in Ioannem 9.14 and 10:10–13. Cf. Elucidarium (PL 172:945). The observation that Mary’s age at Christ’s conception and Christ’s at his death also equal thirty-six may be Honorius’s own creation. Christ died in the course of his thirty-fourth year, making him thirty-four at death if counting inclusively.
[31] The Protoevangelium of James tells how Mary dwelt in the Temple at Jerusalem until her twelfth year, when she left to marry Joseph.
Midway through the rigors of Lent, Honorius tantalizes his audience with a sermon abounding in allegories related to food.
Rejoice, Jerusalem, and celebrate a feast, all you that love her. The allusion to a “feast” in this alternate textual tradition of the Introit verse from Isaiah 66:10 allows him to direct the minds of the faithful, wearied by fasting, to the feast that awaits them in the Heavenly Jerusalem. Keep your eyes fixed on our mother above, where joy awaits!
Meanwhile, he reminds us that Holy Mother Church offers them the milk of consolation in this life, expressed through the teaching of the two Testaments, where we are promised a “land flowing with milk and honey” “a paradise of delight,” “a river of peace,” and bodies that “shine like the sun” in glory that “eye hath not seen.” They are refreshed also by the teaching and example of the Holy Fathers, as if by bread.
The faithful should therefore “praise the Lord for the benefits they have received” of holy doctrine and exempla, and for the rest of Lent “prepare themselves for this heavenly repast by cultivating cleanliness of heart and body, for chastity alone frees those who are in peril and reconciles the penitent with God.”
Several exempla serve to strengthen us for this task. The stories of the monk Malchus and the persecuted patriarchs are calculated to encourage laity to keep their obligation of marital continence (chastity) during the Lenten season, so that with the saints we might show marvelously “how much chastity can do.”
Lest we depart with minds too much inebriated with the milk of consolation, Honorius closes with a rendition of the Dantesque Vision of Dryhthelm, a dire warning to sinners to repent before it is too late!
Rejoice, Jerusalem, and celebrate a feast, all you that love her.[1] The divine office[2] we have sung today, dearly beloved, warns us not to covet worldly and perishable things unduly, without betimes directing our minds to our mother, the heavenly Jerusalem. For it says, Rejoice, Jerusalem. Jerusalem, which means “vision of peace,”[3] is the Church, who shall see in heaven the everlasting peace that is Christ. The prophet urges her to rejoice, because she shall be made joyful in gladness with the Lord’s countenance.[4]All that love her, too, are called to celebrate a feast, because in the feast of angels they shall see the Lord’s face with joy.[5] They, also are told to rejoice for joy with her,[6] who were heretofore in sadness on account of their sins, that they might exult in their forgiveness and be sated with the breasts of her consolations.
Marco Zoppo, Maria lactans, 15th century
The Church’s breasts represent the two testaments, by which her children are fed with the milk of the letter and of allegory.[7] The Jewish people sucked one, the Christian people suck the other; the former the letter, we allegory. One gives milk when it consoles us in the Law: Hear, O Israel, the commandments of the Lord and write them in your heart as if in a book, and I will give you a land flowing with milk and honey,[8] that is, a paradise of delight[9]overflowing with all sweetness. The other feeds us milk when the New Law thus promises: When Christ shall appear, we shall be like to him, because we shall see God as he is.[10] The prophet presses milk from the old breast when he promises us thus: They shall not hunger nor thirst any longer, neither shall the heat nor the sun strike them, for he that is merciful to them at the fountains of waters shall give them drink.[11] The evangelist draws milk from the new breast when he tells us the Lord’s promise: The just shall shine as the sun[12]and shall be equal to the angels.[13] We suck one: They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.[14] We drink from the other: The eye hath not seen, the ear hath not heard, it hath not entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love him.[15] Hasten to these joys, dearly beloved, with all your strength, so that you may flow with delights, from the abundance of her glory; the abundant glory here is that of the Church, when, establishedin theplace of the pasture[16] of eternal life, she lacks nothing. The prophet gives a picture of this glory when he says: Behold I bring upon her as it were a river of peace, and glory as an overflowing torrent. O how blessed are those upon whom the Lord brings down an abundance of peace as a river, and in whom perfect glory is poured as an overflowing torrent!
Giovanni Pisano, Ecclesia lactans, from the pulpit of the Cathedral of Pisa, ca. 1302-1310
Today’s reading [17] tells us who shall be granted this glory on account of a gracious gift, and to whom it shall be denied on account of their lack of merit. Abraham, it says, had two sons, the one by a bondwoman, and the other by a free woman. But the bondwoman and her son are cast out, while the free woman and her son receive the inheritance. Abraham represents God the Father, Agar the Old Law, and Ismael the carnal people; Sara betokens the New Law, and Isaac the Christian people. And so the Law kept in a carnal manner is deprived of the inheritance along with the Jewish people; the Church, on the other hand, established by grace, comes into the riches of God’s kingdom along with the Christian people. Abraham also designates our spirit, the bondwoman our flesh, and her son carnal works; the free woman is a figure of our soul, and her son of spiritual works. Therefore, just as Sara harassed Agar for disdaining her and ordered Ismael to be cast out for nearly killing Isaac,[18] so let the soul, which is the mistress, afflict the flesh, which as her bondwoman contemns her, with fasts and vigils. Let the soul cast out the flesh’s son who persecutes her own son, that is, the carnal work which impedes the spiritual. Let her beget a lordly son, that is, a good work, who might seize the joy of the Lord’s inheritance.
Abraham expels Agar and Ismael at Sara’s petition. From the Bible Moralisée (1235–1245), Oxford, Bodleian Library 270b fol. 13v
We also read[19] that the Lord went over the sea and went up into a mountain, and a great multitude from the whole area round about came unto him. Taking the boy’s five loaves of bread he handed them out to the crowd, feeding five thousand men, not counting women and children. He then ordered the fragments that remained to be gathered up, and they filled twelve baskets. The crowd gave thanks to God when they saw these things. The sea represents this world, which is ever battered by countless tempests of adversity. The Lord went over it, for while he lived here he committed no sin. He went up a mountain, when he ascended into heaven to the right hand of the Father. A crowd flocked to him from the whole area round about when the apostles’ preaching drew people from every part of the globe to believe in him. They make a repast on five loaves of bread because the five books of Moses instruct them how to obtain eternal life. The additional two fishes are the psalms and the prophets which are given to the faithful. It is written that the loaves were of barley, because as barley-corn is covered by a husk, so the books of the Law are shrouded in many mysteries[20]. The boy who brought the loaves but did not eat them is the Jewish people, whose childish understanding does not comprehend the sense of the Law. Now, Jesus broke the loaves and distributed them to the crowd when he opened the faithful’s minds to understand the Scripture. They eat their fill stretched out on the grass, because only the humble are judged worthy of the Lord’s refreshment. The five loaves also represent the writings and examples of the Fathers who lived during the five ages, on which the faithful feed abundantly every day.
The multiplication of the loaves, from the Lenten veil of Millstatt Abbey (Austria), Oswalt Kreusel, 1591
In the first age, Enoch feeds us with bread of his writing when he writes that the Lord shall come to judge with a thousand saints.[21] He fills us with the bread of example when, as Scripture recalls, he pleased God on account of his justice and was snatched up to paradise. In the second age, Abraham supplies us with bread when, as it is told, he invented Hebrew letters,[22] wrote down what had occurred from the beginning,[23] taught astronomy in Egypt,[24] and obeyed God in all things. In the third age, Moses copiously restores us when his writings teach us the ten commandments and when he is described as having been exceeding meek above all men[25] and having shone with many signs. In the fourth age, David, Solomon, and most of the prophets fill us with sweet bread when they instruct us by their mystical writings and deeds. In the fifth age, Esdras sates us with bread when he renews the Law that had been burned[26] and rebuilds the temple that had been destroyed. These loaves of bread are distributed to the crowd when the doctors expound the allegorical sense of these men’s writings and deeds to the faithful.
Moreover, the two fishes represent the only two persons, who were anointed with holy oil in the Old Testament, to wit kings and the priests. Christ, for his part, used his fishermen, the apostles, to catch the faithful, who were dwelling like fish in the sea of the world, with the net of faith, and had them all anointed with the oil of chrism as kings and priests. Indeed, the alb received at baptism represents the priesthood, and the miter placed on the head represents the diadem of kings. Five thousand men are fed, because those who lived out the Trinitarian faith through the two works of charity in the five senses are restored with Christ’s body, for three plus two make five. Three signifies Trinitarian faith, and two the performance of the twin works of charity. Those whom this number consecrates Christ refects in his banquet. Further, the women and children denote heretics, who participate in the Lord’s sacraments, but since they are not counted in his number, they are not admitted into the Lord’s inheritance. The apostles filled twelve baskets with the fragments left over by those who ate, when in the sixth age they explained the earlier writings in their teaching. A basket is woven from plain wicker, and the order of apostles was chosen from humble stock. They collect the leftovers of those who ate when they give out the literal meaning to the vulgar, reserving the mystical meaning for the wise.
And so, dearly beloved, join the sated crowds in praising God for the benefits you have received. Prepare yourselves for this repast by cultivating cleanliness of heart and body, for chastity alone frees those who are in peril and reconciles the penitent with God.
Joseph, when he does not give into lust, is freed from prison and is even raised as a prince over all Egypt. Daniel, since he loves chastity, is not harmed by the ferocious lions in the den he was twice cast into, and mighty kings elevated him above the princes. Susanna too, when out of love for chastity she did not sully her husband’s bed, not only escaped from the accusations of the wicked cabal, but even had the false accusers delivered up to a meet punishment once they were convicted by Daniel’s just sentence. The holy widow Judith rescued God’s people from the danger of imminent destruction by cherishing chastity, when she spurned the honors and riches of the generous prince. Moreover, she killed the tyrant and revels in her victory, and even today triumphant she receives due praise from the lips of all men.
Joseph and Potiphar’s wife, Duomo of Milan
A certain monk named Malchus was part of a large group captured by the Saracens.[27] Along with the captured wife of another man, he was handed off by lot to a man who set him to pasture his flocks of grazing sheep and gave the women to him in marriage. But though his master coerced him, for his love of chastity he never lay with her. Eventually, he escaped with the slave woman, but his master and another slave pursued them on camels. Taking flight, the pair sought out a cave in which a lioness was caring for her cubs. Catching up with them, the master orders the slave to drag them from the cave and kill them, while he waits outside with the camels, holding his unsheathed sword. The slave enters the cave with his blade drawn, but instantly the lioness pounced and tore him to shreds before Malchus and the woman’s terrified eyes. Impatient at the slave’s delay, the master goes inside but forthwith meets the same fate. After this, the lioness brings out her cubs, giving the fearful fugitives a chance to slip out. Mounting the camels they went away and made it known everywhere how much chastity can do.
St. Malchus of Syria praying, engraving by Jan Sadeler, ca. 1550, in the book Solitudo, sive, Vitae patrum eremicolarum
There was a certain woman caught in adultery who was brought before our Lord for judgment, but her accusers were confounded and she allowed to go without harm. Dearest, serve the Lord in holiness and justness, and he will set you free from every rage of your enemies.
My beloved, I desire to make something known to you, to put fear into the sluggishness of the indolent, and gladden the minds of those who devoutly serve God.
There passed away a certain well-born and wealthy man.[28] His family and a large crowd of his neighbors stayed up the whole night mournfully performing his obsequies, when at first light the dead man returned to his body. All there present turned tail and ran in fright and wonder. But he sped immediately to the church, where he lay prostrate in prayer until nearly midday. Upon returning from the church he divided all his property into three parts. One part he gave to his wife and children, one he gave out to the poor, and the last he bestowed on the brethren of a monastery in which he became a monk. When the brethren asked him what he had seen, he told the following story:
“Bright were the dress and countenance of the one who led me. As we headed toward a northern country, on our left ran a vale of colossal depth, exceeding breadth, and boundless length. On one of its slopes an immense fire was raging, while the other was frozen by a horrible chill. On both sides, wretched souls languished in torments, leaping now from the fire into the chill, now from the frost into the flames. Observing this, I thought to myself that this must be hell, about whose unspeakable torments I had often heard tell. My guide answered my thoughts, saying that this was not hell. As we walked along further, everything before us began to darken, and through shadows black as night, we wended our way into the regions below. And lo! a great pit loomed before us, which vomited out sulphurous eddies from its volcanic maw and then greedily guzzled them back down again. Yea more, an unbearable fetor wafted up from that furnace, making the air all around heavy with its stench. Then all of a sudden, my guide vanished, leaving me standing alone before this horrible sight. As I stood there frightened and adread, not knowing where to turn my step or what end awaited me, a pitiful clamor rose abruptly behind me, where the demons were hauling along a throng of souls. The souls wailed dolefully, while the demons cruelly mocked them and cast them into that chasm, cackling all the while. Meanwhile, loathsome spirits emerged from that abyss, breathing out fulsome fire from their mouths and noses, and tried to seize me with fiery tongs. But anon, my guide returned, and the spirits dove back into the pit bellowing frightfully.
Hellmouth, St. George’s Church, Haguenau, Alsace, painted wood, 1496.
“Free now from the terror of the gloom, I was immediately led by him into the serene light of an eastern country, where another wall with no entrance appeared before us, rising up to heaven. When we had reached it, we found an exceedingly vast field, wonderful in all its delights, more splendid than the light of day, planted with fragrant flowers, in which white-clad bands made merry, resounding a sweet hymn. I therefore began to think that this was the kingdom of heaven, about whose indescribable joys I had often been told. But my guide answered my heart, and said that this was not the kingdom of heaven. As we passed by those fields of the blessed, even more splendid things appeared before us, and lo! an immense light shone before us with the greatest radiance, emitting a marvelously sweet scent, and moreover resounding with the most sweetly tuneful harmony.
“This glory was so great that everything I had considered excellent before then seemed aspaltry by comparison. Although I hoped we would enter this light, my guide turned back and coming up to the merry-makers told me, “Dost thou know what the things thou hast seen signify?” When I answered that I did not, he said: “That vale, dreadful for its flames and frost, is the place prepared for those who delay repenting of their mortal sins until the very end. Since they take refuge in penance at the time of their deaths, they escape the woes of hell, but since they did not make sufficient satisfaction for their sins in this world, they are cleansed with these torments and are freed hence by the masses, alms, and prayers offered by the faithful, until they join these thou seest here. Those, however, who die without repenting are forthwith plunged into hell, whence they shall never escape for all eternity. That volcanic pit thou sawest is Hellmouth. Now, those who lead a good manner of life come hither after their death. Those who are found perfect, however, are forthwith admitted into the kingdom of heaven, whose entry is that bright place thou sawest. Now thou shalt return to thy body: if thou livest well, thou shalt join these here.”
Immediately the man returned to this life, and thenceforth he led such a holy life that even if his tongue had not revealed what he saw the manner of his life would have made it manifest.
Therefore, my beloved, if you live soberly, justly, and piously in this life,[29] at last you will arrive in those joys where you may exult for everlasting ages and God shall be pleased to make his dwelling within you, whom eye has not seen, etc.[30]
[1] Isaias 66:10. The version of the text Honorius quotes is not the same as that of the Vulgate or the Introit Laetare Jerusalem (Cantus ID g00776), but does appear in the third canticle sung at Mattins on Christmas in a number of monastic breviaries written between the 10th to the 13th centuries. The monastic breviary issued after the Tridentine reform by Pope Paul V imposed the Vulgate reading. See James Mearns, The Canticles of the Christian Church, pp. 81-86.
[7] The following meditation is probably inspired by Bede’s allegorical reading of the beloved’s breasts praised in Song of Songs 4:5, in his commentary In Cantica Canticorum 3 (CCSL 119B, p. 251, lines 268-70).
[8] From a responsory sung at Matins on Laetare Sunday (Cantus ID 6143), itself a free adaptation of Deuteronomy 4:1 and 27:3.
[17] The epistle of the mass, viz. Galatians 4:22-31.
[18] In Genesis 21, Sarah asks Abram to cast out Hagar and Ishmael after seeing him “playing” with Isaac (21:9). To clarify this rather abrupt dismissal, Jewish tradition (recorded by St. Jerome in a gloss from his Questions on the Old Testament) suggested that Sarah caught Ishmael teaching Isaac to play with idols (cf. Exodus 32), or that the older boy was playing roughly in order to harm his half-brother and so steal the inheritance, as hinted by Saint Paul’s use of the word persequere in Galatians 4:25. Some Christian commentators insisted that Sarah acted thus because she was seized by a prophetic foresight of the typological significance of the moment (mysterio prophetiae compulsa, Isidore). In any case, as Bruno of Asti points out (Commentary on Genesis 21, PL 164:196), as a type of the synagogue, it was natural that Ishmael sought to harm Isaac, a type of the Church.
[20] This interpretation is drawn from St. Augustine (De diversis quaestionibus LXXXIII, 61, 1 [PL 40:48-49]).
[21] The verse from the Letter of Jude 1:14 paraphrased here refers to the extensive Jewish and Christian apocryphal traditions around Enoch, especially the Book of Enoch. It is not clear that Honorius would have had access to any Enochic texts.
[22]This unusual claim was made by the Hellenistic Jewish writer Eupolemus, fragments of whose writings were transmitted in Eusebius’ Preparation for the Gospel. Both Jewish and Christian tradition usually associated the invention of the alphabet with Moses.
[27] The story is taken from Jerome’s Life of Malchus the Captive Monk.
[28] The following story is a retelling of Bede’s Vision of Dryhthelm (Ecclesiastical Histories 5.12.), part of a long tradition of vision literature ultimately stemming from the late antique Visio Sancti Pauli. See also his descriptions of Hell in the Sermo Generalis and in Elucidarium.
Honorii Augustodunensis Sermo in Dominica in media Quadragesima
Letare, Ierusalem, et diem festum agite omnes qui diligitis eam. Diuinum officium karissimi quod hodie cantauimus,[1] monet nos ne tantum terrenis et caducis[2] inhiemus,[3] nisi aliquando etiam[4] ad matrem nostram cęlestem Ierusalem[5] mentem[6] dirigamus. Ait enim, Letare Ierusalem.[7] Ierusalem,[8] quod dicitur “uisio pacis,” est Ęcclesia quę ęternam pacem xpm uisura est in cęlis. Hęc[9] a propheta letari hortatur, quia in gaudio cum uultu Domini[10] habet letificari. Diem quoque agere festum iubentur omnes qui eam diligunt, quia in festo angelorum faciem Domini in[11] iubilo uidebunt. Gaudere etiam admonentur[12]cum[13] leticia, qui hactenus propter peccata fuerunt in tristicia, ut de uenia exultent et ab uberibus consolationis eius se satient.
Per ubera Ęcclesię[14] duo testamenta accipiuntur, per quę filii[15] eius lacte litterę et allegorię nutriuntur. Vnum[16] suxit populus Iudaicus, aliud sugit populus xpianus. Ille litteram, nos allegoriam. De uno lac datur,[17] cum nos[18] in lege sic consolatur: Audi, Israel, precepta[19] Domini et ea in corde tuo quasi in libro scribe, et dabo tibi terram lacte et melle manantem,[20] id est paradysum uoluptatisomni dulcedine exuberantem. De alio nobis lac mulgetur, cum lex noua sic nobis pollicetur: Cum xpc apparuerit, similes ei erimus quoniam Deum sicuti est uidebimus. Propheta nobis lac de ueteri ubere premit,[21] cum nobis sic promittit: Non esurient neque sitient amplius, et non percutiet eos sol et estus, quoniam miserator eorum reget eos, et ad uitę fontes aquarum potabit illos.[22] De nouo nobis ęuangelista[23] lac elicit, dum Dominum hęc nobis spondere dicit: Iusti ut sol fulgebuntet angelis equales erunt. De uno sugimus: Obtinebunt gaudium et leticiam, et fugiet dolor et gemitus. De alio haurimus: Oculus non uidit, auris non audiuit, in cor hominis non ascendit[24] quę Deus se diligentibus preparauit. Ad hęc gaudia festinate, karissimi, totis uiribus, ut deliciis affluatis ab omnimoda gloria eius, Ęcclesię gloria quę[25] tunc omnimoda erit, cum in loco pascuę uitę collocata, nichil ei deerit. Hęc gloria exprimitur cum per prophetam dicitur: ecce ego declino in eos ut flumen pacis et ut torrens inundans gloriam.[26] O quam beati in quos Dominus habundantiam pacis ut flumen declinat, et in quos omnimoda gloria ut torrens inundans[27] riuulat!
Legitur hodie quibus hęc gloria ob gratiam detur, et quibus ob meritum denegetur. Abraham, inquiens, habuit duos filios, unum de ancilla, et unum de libera. Sed ancilla cum filio suo eicitur,[28] libera cum filio suo hereditate[29] potitur.[30] Per Abraham Deus Pater[31] intelligitur, per Agar uetus lex,[32] per Ismahel carnalis populus;[33] per Saram noua lex, per Ysaac xpianus populus accipitur. Lex ergo[34] carnaliter obseruata, cum Iudaico populo hereditate Domini priuatur; Ęcclesia uero sub gratia constituta, cum xpiano populo regno[35] Dei ditatur. Per Abraham quoque noster spiritus, per ancillam nostra caro, per filium eius carnalia opera designantur; per liberam anima, per filium eius spiritualia opera figurantur.[36] Sicut ergo[37] Sara despicientem se Agar afflixit, et Ismahel ad mortis periculum Ysaac impellentem eici iussit, sic anima, quę est domina, carnem, ancillam suam se contempnentem, ieiuniis et uigiliis affligat;[38] filium eius persequentem filium suum,[39] id est carnale opus impediens spirituale eiciat;[40] herilem[41] filium, id est bonum opus, pariat, qui gaudium hereditatis Domini[42] capiat.
Legitur etiam quod Dominus trans mare abiit[43]montemque[44]subiit, et maxima multitudo eum undique adiit. Qui V panes et duos pisces a puero acceptos turbę distribuit, et V milia uirorum, exceptis[45] paruulis et mulieribus, satiauit. Iussit uero[46] colligere fragmenta quę manducantibus superfuerunt, et XII cophinos impleuerunt; quod turbę uidentes Deo grates[47] retulerunt.[48] Per mare hoc seculum intellegitur quod innumeris aduersitatum[49] procellis iugiter colliditur. Super hoc Dominus transiit, quia hic uiuens[50]peccatum non fecit. Montem subiit, dum in cęlum ad dexteram Patris conscendit. Turba ad eum undique circumfluxit, dum predicatio apostolorum populum ex omni orbis parte[51] ad fidem eius contraxit. Qui V panibus reficiuntur quia V libris Moysi ad uitam[52]instruuntur. Duo pisces adduntur, dum psalmodia[53] et prophetia fidelibus traduntur. Panes ordeacei scribuntur, quia sicut ordeum folliculis, ita libri legis multis mysteriis inuoluuntur. Puer qui eos portauit nec comedit, est Iudaicus populus pueriliter sapiens qui[54]sensum legis non intellexit. Ihc uero[55] panes fregit, turbis distribuit, dum fidelibus sensum ad intellegendum Scripturas aperuit. Super fenum discumbentes saturantur, quia humiles tantum refectione Domini digni iudicantur. Per quinque panes etiam Scriptura et exempla patrum in quinque etatibus degentium intelliguntur, quibus cottidie fideles habunde reficiuntur.
In prima etate Enoch pane scripti nos reficit, dum Dominum cum milibus sanctorum ad iudicium uenturum[56] scribit. Pane exempli nos saciat, dum eum ob iusticiam Deo[57] placuisse et in paradysum raptum fuisse Scriptura memorat.[58] In secunda etate panis nobis per Abraham ministratur, dum litteras Hebreas reperisse, transacta ab inicio scripsisse, astronomiam in Egypto docuisse, ac Deo in omnibus obedisse narratur. In tercia etate per Moysen copiose reficimur, dum X preceptis per eius scripta instruimur, et ipse super[59]omnes homines mansuetissimus fuisse[60][61] et multis signis fulsisse[62] describitur. In IIIIta etate, Dauid, Salomon et omnes pene prophetę nos dulci pane saciant, dum nos mysticis scriptis et factis informant. In V etate Esdras nos pane saturat, dum legem incensam reiterat, et templum destructum reedificat.[63] Hii[64] panes turbis distribuuntur, dum horum scripta et facta a doctoribus mystice fidelibus exponuntur.[65]
Per duos quoque pisces duę personę, regis uidelicet et sacerdotis, designantur, quę solę in Veteri Testamento oleo sancto unguebantur. Xpc autem[66] fideles in salo seculi ut pisces latentes per piscatores apostolos rete fidei cepit,[67] et cunctos oleo chrismatis in reges et in sacerdotes unguere fecit.[68] Per albam namque in baptismate acceptam sacerdotium;[69] per mitram uero[70] capiti inpositam designatur diadema regium. Quinque milia uirorum pascuntur, quia qui fidem sanctę Trinitatis per duo opera caritatis V sensibus uiriliter impleuerunt, xpi corpore reficiuntur, quinque enim in tria et duo diuiduntur. Per tria fides Trinitatis, per duo operatio intelligitur geminę caritatis. Quos hic numerus consecrat, hos xpc suo conuiuio recreat. Porro per paruulos et mulieres heretici[71] denotantur,[72]qui in Dominicis sacramentis nobiscum participantur, sed quia ab hoc numero excluduntur, in hereditatem Domini non admittuntur.[73] Apostoli XII cophinos de fragmentis manducantium impleuerunt, dum in VI etate[74] scripta priorum sua doctrina disseruerunt. Cophinus de gracili uimine contexitur, et ordo apostolicus de humili styrpe eligitur. Hic reliquias edentium congregat, qui litteram popularibus erogat, mystica sapientibus reseruat.
Cum refectis ergo turbis, karissimi, Deum pro collatis beneficiis laudate.[75] Ad ipsius refectionem tota[76] cordis et corporis[77]mundicia uos[78] preparate, quia sola castitas homines in periculis liberat, penitentes Deo conciliat.[79]
Ioseph namque dum a libidine non subiugatur,[80] a carcere liberatur, insuper totius Egypti princeps eleuatur. Daniel, dum castitatem diligit, feritas leonum in caueam bis[81] eum missum non ledit, sed et regum[82] potentia super principes eum extulit. Susanna quoque, dum amore castitatis mariti thorum non uiolauit, non solum manus iniquorum iudicum euasit, sed etiam ipsos falsos accusatores iusta sententia Danielis conuictos debitę penę mancipauit. Iudith sancta uidua, castitatem diligendo, dum honorem et diuitias magnanimi principis spernit, populum Dei ab imminentis[83] mortis periculo eripit. Insuper ipsa, occiso tyranno, de uictoria tripudiat, et omnium ore usque hodie laude digna triumphat.
Malchus quidam monachus, dum cum multis aliis a[84] Sarracenis capitur, cum uxore alterius uiri capta, uni pro sorte traditur, a quo ei grex pecudum pascendus commendatur, et mulier ei in coniugium datur.[85] Sed ipse[86] amore castitatis a domino suo etiam coactus, numquam ei copulatur. Transacto tempore aliquo,[87] cum eadem muliercula in fugam uertitur, sed dominus cum seruo in[88] camelis insequitur.[89] Illi ob timorem speluncam petebant, qua interius leena catulos fouebat. Dominus insecutus seruum eos de spelunca occidendos extrahere iubet, ipse foris camelos, euaginato tenet gladio. Seruus nudato ense ingreditur, sed ilico ab leena arripitur, ante oculos pauentium discerpitur. Quem tardantem dominus iratus insequitur, sed similem finem protinus sortitur. Hoc facto leena catulos effert, locum abscedendi[90] trepidis[91] offert. Illi ascensis camelis abierunt et quantum castitas ualeat ubique notum fecerunt.
Quędam mulier in adulterio deprehensa, Domini iudicio sistitur, sed accusatoribus eius confutatis, illesa abire sinitur.[92][93] Huic,[94]karissimi, seruite Domino in sanctitate et iusticia, et liberabit uos ab omni inimicorum seuicia. Volo, dilectissimi, ut res dilectioni uestrę innotescat, unde neglegentium ignauia perhorrescat, et Deo[95] deuote seruientium mens hylarescat.
Quidam genere et opibus preditus obiit, cuius exequiis frequens propinquorum[96] turba et lugens familia tota nocte interfuit, sed primo diluculo defunctus ad corpus rediit. Cuncti qui affuerunt in stuporem et admirationem conuersi fugerunt. Ille uero[97] concitus ad ęcclesiam cucurrit, usque ad mediam fere diem in oratione procubuit. Inde[98] reuersus cunctam substantiam suam[99] in tria diuisit, unam partem uxori et filiis dedit, unam pauperibus distribuit, unam fratribus in monasterio contulit in quo se monachum fecit. Sciscitantibus fratribus[100] quid uiderit hoc retulit:
«Veste et facie lucidus erat, qui me ducebat. Euntibus nobis ad plagam aquilonis, erat a leua uallis immensę profunditatis, nimię latitudinis, infinitę longitudinis, cuius unum latus maximo incendio estuabat, aliud horribili frigore congelabat. In utraque parte miserę[101] animę penis deficiebant, quę nunc de igne in frigus, nunc de gelu in flammas resiliebant. Hoc uiso cogitare cepi hoc infernum esse, de cuius ineffabilibus penis me sepius contigit audire. Ductor[102] meus respondit cogitationi meę[103] dicens hoc infernum non esse. Vltra nobis[104] progredientibus ceperunt omnia ante nos obscurari, et nos per tetras tenebras quasi descendendo ad ulteriora dilabi. Et ecce magnus puteus ante nos apparuit, qui sulphurea uolumina de flammiuomo ore euomuit, et rursus eadem retracta absorbuit. Intolerabilis etiam fetor de illa fornace ascendebat,[105] qui omnia in circuitu replebat. Tunc repente ductor meus disparuit, et me in hoc horrido spectaculo solum statuit. Cumque ibi pauidus ac perterritus[106] starem, et quo gressum uerterem, uel quis finis me[107] expectaret ignorarem, subito post me miserabilis clamor exoritur, ubi turba animarum a demonibus trahitur, animę[108]flebiliter eiulantes, demones crudeliter insultantes, et eas in illud baratrum cum cachinno[109] precipitantes. Interea teterrimi spiritus ab illa[110] abysso emergebant,[111] putidum[112] ignem de ore et naribus efflantes, igneis forcipibus me capere[113] querebant;[114]sed[115] mox ductore meo adueniente in eundem puteum cum diro mugitu se precipites dabant. Qui statim me timore ex tenebris exemptum in serenam lucem orientalis plagę duxit, ubi ante nos alius murus nullum introitum habens ad cęlum usque surrexit.[116]Quo cum peruenissemus, erat campus latissimus,[117] omni amenitate conspicuus, pre diei luce splendidus, odoriferis floribus consitus, suaui odore[118] plenus, in quo letabantur albatorum[119] agmina, dulcem ymnum resonantia. Cepi itaque[120] cogitare hoc esse regnum cęlorum, de cuius inenarrabilibus gaudiis sepius michi est relatum. Ille uero cordi meo respondit, hoc regnum cęlorum non esse dixit.[121] Pretergredientes[122] illa beatorum loca, apparuerunt ante nos omnia[123] splendidiora, et ecce immensa lux ante nos maximo iubare radiabat, de qua miri odoris suauitas fraglabat,[124] insuper dulcissimi concentus armonia resonabat. Et talis erat hęc gloria, ut omnia quę prius uideram conspicua uiderentur esse permodica. Quo[125] cum nos sperarem intraturos, ductor meus reflexit et ad locum letantium perueniens, michi dixit: “Scis quod significant[126] quę uidisti?” Cui cum responderem me ignorare, dixit:[127]“Vallis ardore et algore horrida est locus his[128] preparatus qui usque ad finem[129] differunt penitere sua crimina. Hii quia in morte ad penitentiam confugiunt, inferni supplicia euadunt. Sed quia hic ad satisfactionem non emendantur, in his penis purgantur et inde per missas et elemosinas et orationes fidelium liberantur et his quos uides associantur. Qui autem sine penitentia moriuntur, mox in infernum dimerguntur, unde numquam in euum[130] liberabuntur,[131] cuius introitus erat ille puteus flammiuomus. Porro qui in bona conuersatione uitam ducunt, post obitum huc ueniunt. Qui uero perfecti inueniuntur mox in cęleste regnum introducuntur. Cuius ingressus ille est quem uidisti locus lucidus. Nunc[132] ad corpus reuerteris: si bene uixeris, his associeris.»[133] Protinus ad hanc uitam rediit, tam sanctam deinceps[134] uitam duxit ut lingua tacente uita loqueretur quid uiderit.
Igitur, karissimi si hic sobrie, iuste et pie[135]uixeritis,[136] ad illa gaudia quandoque peruenietis ubi licet in ęternum exultare, et Deo[137] placebit in uobis habitare, quem oculus non vidit&c.
Folded chasubles are the vestments used by the deacon and subdeacon during penitential seasons instead of the dalmatic and tunicle. Their use dates back to the earliest years of the Church, when all the clergy used the chasuble.
HISTORY. The chasuble was originally a civil garment used already by the Etruscans, and became widespread in the Roman Empire beginning in the first century of our era, to the point that it became an elegant article of clothing in common use. It was a round garment with a hole in its centre to pass the head through, and covered the upper body down to the knees. It is known under different names, the principal ones being: pænula, the most common name in ancient Rome; casula, literally “little house” because it was a sort of little tent (this term has resulted in the English “chasuble”); planeta, the term later used by the Roman liturgical books, whereas the rest of Western Europe has always preferred to use casula; and amphibalus, mainly employed by the Fathers of the Church of Gaul.
Etruscan pænula (particularly rolled up over the arms), 4th century B. C.
The chasuble then tended, at the start of our era, to replace the old toga, which was too heavy and less practical, to the point where Roman orators began to insist on using them instead of togas when pleading cases, in order to have more freedom in for oratorical gestures [1]. Under the Emperor Trajan (98-117), the tribunes of the people wore chasubles, and Commodus (180-192) ordered that those assisting public spectacles should do so in a chasuble and no longer in a toga. The chasuble became the senatorial vestment in 382.
Christians naturally used this garment [2] and at the start of the 3rd century Tertullian chastised the faithful who took off their chasubles during liturgical prayers for reasons that he labelled superstitious [3]. As the chasuble became a vestment of honour for high officers of the Empire, Christians sought to give their own tribunes and senators—bishops, priests, and deacons—a similar mark of honour.
In Christian writings, the first mention of the chasuble as a properly liturgical vestment is relatively late: it is found in the second of the two letters written by St Germain of Paris († 576), which contains a famous description of the mass according to the ancient Gallican rite:
Casula quam amphibalum vocant, quod sacerdos induetur, tota unita per Moysem legiferum instituta primitus demonstratur. Jussit ergo Dominus fieri dissimilatum vestimentum, ut talem sacerdos induerit, quale indui populus non auderetur. Ideo sine manicas, quia sacerdos potius benedicit quam ministrat. Ideo unita prinsecus, non scissa, non aperta ; quia multae sunt Scripturae sacrae secreta mysteria, quae quasi sub sigillo sacerdoti doctus debet abscondere, et unitatem fidei custodire, non in haerese vel schismata declinare.
The chasuble, which is known as amphibalus and which the priest wears, shows the original unity of all that was instituted by Moses the Lawgiver. Now, the Lord commanded that diverse vestments be made, so that the people might not dare wear what the priest wears. Hence it has no sleeves, since the priest’s duty is to bless rather than to minister. Hence from the start it has been of one piece, and not split or opened, since many are the hidden mysteries of Holy Scripture, which the learned priest must conceal under a seal, as it were, and preserve the unity of the faith, nor to fall into heresy or schism.
Nevertheless, well before this first mention, numerous frescoes, mosaics, and miniatures from the 4th century onward show beyond doubt the chasuble was largely adopted during this era as a liturgical vestment, in the East as well as the West.
St Ambrose of Milan wearing a chasuble. Note the cut that facilitates the movements of the right arm. Mosaic dated 375 from the chapel of San Vittore in Ciel d’Oro in the basilica of St Ambrose.
At this time, the chasuble was the general vestment of all the clergy, not only that of bishops and priests, but also of deacons, subdeacons, and—according to Alcuin (c. 730-804)—in certain circumstances even of acolytes! Amalarius of Metz (775-850) tells us that the chasuble was still worn in his time by all clerics without distinction. He calls it the generale indumentum sacrorum ducum [4]. t was still employed by acolytes in certain regions into the 11th century [5].
For the celebrating bishop or priest, this vestment did not create any discomfort in carrying out the sacred ceremonies, as St Germain of Paris notes: “Hence it has no sleeves, since the duty of the priest is to bless rather than to minister”. But the ministers—deacons and subdeacons—had to adapt the chasuble for their purposes: they rolled back the front part of the vestment, so that the arms of the ministers would be free to handle the sacred vessels. And thus they were dubbed “folded chasubles”, or planetæ plicatæ ante pectus, as the Latin liturgical books say.
In order to better understand the form taken by this folding, below are some photographs taken from the journal L’Art d’Église (n. 4, 1948), which show a very successful attempt to recreate the ancient shape of the folded chasuble by the monks of the St Andrew’s Abbey in Belgium:
The subdeacon’s folded chasuble.
From the singing of the Gospel until the end of the Mass, the deacon, in order to be freer in his movements, rolled up his chasuble and slung it across his shoulders over his stole:
The deacon’s chasuble: rolled and slung over the shoulder or simply folded, depending on the different moments of the Mass.
The celebrant’s chasuble did not need to be folded [6] precisely because the deacon and subdeacon would help him by lifting up its edges at certain times during the incensings and at the elevations. This beautiful gesture was faithfully kept by the Roman liturgy, even when it ceased to be necessary after celebrants’ chasubles began to be clipped and reduced in shape.
In fact, the folded chasubles worn by deacons and subdeacons were a clear symbol of their proper function as sacred ministers, i.e. of their role as servants of the celebrant.
Deacons’ and subdeacons’ folded chasubles were later replaced, beginning in the 5th century, by two new vestments: the dalmatic and the tunicle, vestments endowed with sleeves that it more manageable to carry out their liturgical and ministerial functions.
Still, Rome took a long time to adopt this novelty, and the Ordines Romani that describe the Roman liturgy at the time of St Gregory the Great and a bit thereafter (7th century) still name the chasuble as the vestment worn by the pope, the deacons, and the subdeacons. Moreover, John the Deacon (c. 825-880), the biographer of St Gregory the Great (c. 540-604), in his Vita Gregorii Magni, designates the rest of the clergy that accompanied the Pope on processions with the term planeti (“those wearing planetæ“, i.e. chasubles).
When Rome finally accepted the use of dalmatics and tunicles, she nevertheless kept the use of folded chasubles for the deacon and subdeacon during Lent and penitential seasons, following the generally observed liturgical principle that the seasons considered the most holy are also those that are spared from liturgical innovations.
Furthermore, the dalmatic and tunicle are sumptuous vestments that symbolize joy and innocence. For a long time, their colour had to be white, and ancient dalmatics were also adorned with the two bright purple vertical bands (lati claves) that adorned the senatorial garb of old. During the ordination of a deacon, the bishop imposes the dalmatic upon him with these words: “May the Lord attire thee in the garment of salvation, and the vestment of joy (indumento lætitiæ), and ever surround thee with the dalmatic of justice”. The equivalent prayer for clothing the subdeacon with the tunicle also speaks of a vestimento lætitiæ. The use of the dalmatic and tunicle was consequently entirely inappropriate for penitential seasons, during which the old folded chasuble was hence preserved.
The distribution of candles during the Feast of the Purification.
RULES FOR LITURGICAL USE. Folded chasubles are therefore used in the Roman liturgy during penitential seasons. The exact extent of these seasons is described in chapter XIX, §§ 6 and 7 of the rubrics of the Roman Missal of St Pius V (De qualitate paramentorum) [7]:
“In cathedrals and major churches, chasubles are used folded before the breast on fasting days (except on the vigils of the saints), and on the Sundays and ferias of Advent and Lent, and on the Vigil of Pentecost before Mass (except on
Gaudete Sunday, and when its Mass is repeated during the week,
on Lætare Sunday,
on the Vigil of Christmas,
on Holy Saturday during the blessing of the candle and during Mass, and
on the Ember Days of Pentecost)
also during the blessing of candles and procession on the day of the Purification of Our Lady, and during the blessing of ashes and the blessing of palms and the procession.
“In smaller churches, however, on the aforesaid fasting days (the deacon and subdeacon) minister only with the alb; the subdeacon with the maniple, and the deacon also with the stole hanging from his left shoulder under his right.”
Ordinations on Ember Saturday: the deacon and subdeacon, ministers of the bishop, wear folded chasubles.
We shall here explain certain aspects of this rubric in greater detail. Despite its apparent complexity, it follows some simple and logical principles:
1. Folded chasubles were only used on penitential seasons, and hence only in violet or black. They were not used (even if the above rubric does not make it explicit) for the Mass on Maundy Thursday, celebrated in white, but were for the Mass of the Presanctified on Good Friday, celebrated in black. Before the reforms of the 1950s, the Vigil of Pentecost was like a second Paschal Vigil, and comprised six prophecies before the beginning of the Mass. This fore-mass was celebrated in violet and hence folded chasubles were used. The subsequent Mass was in red. Likewise, on Holy Saturday, the deacon blessed the Paschal candle in a white dalmatic, then put on the folded chasuble again for the Fore-Mass in violet (which comprised twelve prophecies and the blessing of the font). The Mass following this Fore-Mass was in white vestments.
2. Sundays of Advent and Lent are not fasting days (one never fasts on Sundays, which always celebrates Christ’s resurrection) but are still included as part of penitential seasons because they are celebrated in violet. Nonetheless, the rubric of the Roman Missal does not mention Sundays of Septuagesima, which are also celebrated in violet. With some exceptions, medieval commentators did not recommend the use of violet chasubles during the season of Fore-Lent. (To follow the rubric rigorously, one should not use them on Sundays during Septuagesima, but one could consider using them on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays on the three weeks of this season, since they were formerly fasting days).
3. The two Sundays of Gaudete and Lætare are breaks in the middle of Advent and of Lent, days of joy when the Church gives the faithful a foretaste of the rejoicing that awaits them at the end of these two penitential seasons: the vestments are rose-coloured instead of violet, altars are adorned with flowers, and the organ and other musical instruments are played. The Mass of Gaudete Sunday can be celebrated again during the week that follows, and is endowed with the same privileges (the Mass of Lætare Sunday cannot be repeated during the following week, since each feria of Lent is provided with a proper mass).
4. The Ember Days of Pentecost are the sole Ember Days without fasting, because they are included in the Octave of Pentecost. Hence, unlike the Ember Days of September, Advent, and Lent, folded chasubles are not used during these masses.
5. By “major churches”, the rubric means cathedrals, collegiate churches, and also parish churches. This was confirmed by a decision of the Sacred Congregation of Rites dated 11 September 1847 addressed to Nicholas Wiseman, bishop of London, who was then reestablishing the Catholic hierarchy in England and whose entirely new parishes were still often bereft of vestments. The same decision counseled him to celebrate Mass in his cathedral without sacred ministers rather than have deacons and subdeacons without folded chasubles. This decision must have seemed a bit inflexible because it was suppressed in later collections of decrees of the S. C. R.: a major church lacking folded chasubles can always have ministers serve without folded chasubles, wearing only with alb, stole, and maniple.
6. Smaller churches seems to have been dispensed from using folded chasubles not so much because they lacked them but because it was more difficult to have three perfectly matching chasubles, two of which were folded.
7. Another response by the Sacred Congregation of Rites (n. 5385, 31 August 1867) specifies that folded chasubles must be used before the exposed Blessed Sacrament during the Forty Hours Prayer taking place in Advent or Lent.
8. The use of folded chasubles was linked to an idea of liturgical time, for they were not used during Requiem masses, which are not tied to any particular season: black dalmatic and tunicle are used instead.
LITURGICAL USE. For the ministers to assist the celebrant, it suffices that the front of their chasubles be folded; but when the deacon or subdeacon must carry out those tasks proper to them, they entirely remove this vestment or fold it still further.
Thus, the subdeacon takes off his folded chasuble before singing the epistle, and puts it on again immediately thereafter [8].
The proper office of the deacon begins with the singing of the Gospel and continues until the end of communion; during this time, he does not remove his folded chasuble entirely, but wears it folded and strung over his left shoulder, attached under the right arm with thin cords (or even by making a knot), over his stole. After communion, he unrolls the fabric and wears the chasuble folded as before.
Deacon wearing his chasuble rolled up for the singing of the Gospel.
To simplify this procedure, the custom arose of folding another chasuble in advance, which the deacon put over his shoulder at the appropriate time. Later on, this folded chasuble was often replaced by a simple band of the same fabric, commonly dubbed a broad stole [9].
Evolution of the transversed chasuble to the broad stole: on the left, a rolled chasuble on a mediæval stature of Wells Cathedral in England; on the right, the broad stole in its modern shape: a simple band of fabric without trims on the edges.
During Pontifical Mass, the assistant deacons put on their vestments—viz. a chasuble folded in front, over a cotta or rochet—towards the end of Terce, before the bishop sings the collect [10].
The cross-bearer subdeacon also wears a folded chasuble [11].
Folded chasuble and broad stole from the basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Rome.
EVOLUTION OF THE SHAPE. From the folded chasuble to the cut chasuble.
The use of actually folding the front part of the chasuble and keeping it folded with cords or hooks has persisted to our days.
In the 17th century, Pisacara Castaldo notes that folded chasubles must not be different from that of the celebrant [12]. In the 18th century, Merato, commenting on Gavantus, further specified that the hooks that keep them folded must be removed between ceremonies lest the chasubles be damaged, and in order that priests might comfortably use them in low masses [13].
A folded chasuble is therefore exactly what its name suggests: a chasuble like any other, worn with the front part folded from within up to the level of the elbows, and often held in place by two steel clips.
Mater Ecclesiæ Church, New Jersey, USA
Nevertheless, over the centuries, as chasubles for celebrants became clipped on the edges for convenience’s sake, the folds of chasubles for deacons and subdeacons became definitively stitched up, and finally the excess fabric was entirely cut off (one might therefore speak of “cut chasubles”, but common use has kept the term “folded chasubles.)
Classical Roman shapes: deacon’s broad stole, celebrant’s chasuble, and subdeacon’s folded chasuble. Juventutem London.
Notes
Cf. De Oratoribus chap. XXXIX, attributed to Tacitus (58 – c. 120)
There are many chasubles that are said to have belonged to St Paul.
Tertullian, De Oratione, chap. XV.
Amalarius of Metz, De ecclesiasticis officiis, II, 19 (PL 105, 1095).
A. King, Liturgy of the Roman Church, London-New York-Toronto, Longmans, 1957, p. 130.
Even if some celebrants’ chasubles sometimes have folds or cords; this was the use in the cathedral of Rheims.
De qualitate paramentorum tit. XIX, n. 6, 7. “In diebus vero ieiuniorum (præterquam in vigiliis Sanctorum) et in Dominicis et feriis Adventus et Quadragesimæ ac in vigilia Pentecostes ante Missam (exceptis Domi‐ nica Gaudete, si eius Missa infra hebdomadam repetatur, et Dominica Lætare, Vigilia Nativitatis Domini, Sabbato Sancto in benedictione Cerei et in Missa, ac quatuor temporibus Pentecostes) item in benedictione Candelarum et Processione in die Purificationis Beatæ Mariæ, et in benedictione Cinerum ac benedictione Palmarum et Processione, in Cathedralibus et præcipuis Ecclesiis utuntur Planetis plicatis ante pectus ; quam planetam Diaconus dimittit, etc. In minoribus autem Ecclesiis, prædictis diebus ieiuniorum Alba tantum induti ministrant : Subdiaconus cum manipulo, Diaconus etiam cum stola ab humero sinistro pendente sub dextrum.”
“If the ministers are wearing the folded chasuble, the first acolyte rises during the last collect before the Epistle and takes the folded chasuble from the sub-deacon, then the latter takes the book, chants the Epistle, and kisses the hand of the celebrant. After returning the book, he revests again in the folded chasuble—either by the altar or at the credence—and transfers the Missal from the Gospel side with its cushion or book-stand.” Pio Martinucci, Manuale sacrarum Caerimoniarum, chap. VI, n. 14.
“After the celebrant has begin reading the Gospel [in a low voice], the deacon descends from the altar by the side, as has been said. At the credence he deposits the folded chasuble and puts on the broad stole; then he takes the Gospel book, carries it to the altar, and completes the rest of his functions.” Pio Martinucci, Manuale sacrarum Caerimoniarum, chap. VI, n. 15.
Caerimoniale Episcoporum, Book II, chap. XIII, n. 3.
Pierre Jean Baptiste de Herdt, Pratique de la liturgie selon le rite romain, p. 213.
A. Pisacara Castaldo, Praxis caeremoniarum, Neapoli, Scoriggium, 1645, p. 178.
B. Gavantus—G.M. Merato, Thesaurus Sacrorum Rituum, Venetiis, Balleoniana, 1792, I, p. 48.
Canticum Salomonis 