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diff --git a/old/66025-h/66025-h.htm b/old/66025-h/66025-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 1b678b1..0000000 --- a/old/66025-h/66025-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5354 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Lady Poverty, translated by Montgomery Carmichael—A Project Gutenberg eBook - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - <style type="text/css"> - -body { - margin: auto; - max-width: 30em; -} - -h1,h2,h3 { - text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ - clear: both; -} - -p { - margin-top: .51em; - text-align: justify; - margin-bottom: .49em; -} - -.red {color: #bf4436; } -.art {text-align: center; padding-top: 1em;} -.art img{width: 9em;} -.label {font-size:.9em;} - -hr { - width: 33%; - margin-top: 2em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - margin-left: 33.5%; - margin-right: 33.5%; - clear: both; -} - -hr.tb {width: 45%; margin-left: 27.5%; margin-right: 27.5%;} -hr.chap {width: 65%; margin-left: 17.5%; margin-right: 17.5%;} -@media print { hr.chap {display: none; visibility: hidden;} } - -div.chapter {page-break-before: always;} -.nobreak {page-break-before: avoid;} - -table { - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; -} -table.autotable { border-collapse: collapse; } -table.autotable td, -table.autotable th { padding: 4px; } - -.tdl {text-align: left;} -.tdr {text-align: right; vertical-align:top;} -.tdp {text-align: right; vertical-align:bottom;} -.tdc {text-align: center;} - -.linenum { - position: absolute; - top: auto; - left: 50%; - margin-left: 20em; - text-align: right; - font-size: .9em; - font-style: normal; - font-weight: normal; - font-variant: normal; -} -.x-ebookmaker .linenum {position:static; margin-left:1em;} - -.blockquot { - margin-left: 5%; - margin-right: 10%; -} - -.sni { - position: absolute; - left: 50%; - margin-left: 24em; - text-align: left; - float: right; - clear: both; - font-size: 0.7em; - background: #eeeeee; - border: 1px dashed; - min-width: 9em; - max-width: 17em; -} -.sne {visibility: hidden;} - -.x-ebookmaker .sni { position: static; float: right; margin-left: 5em; } - -.center {text-align: center;} -.right {text-align: right;} -.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} -.allsmcap {font-variant: small-caps; text-transform: lowercase;} -.u {text-decoration: underline;} -.bold {font-weight: bold;} -.f15 {font-size: 1.5em;} -.f13 {font-size: 1.3em;} -.f12 {font-size: 1.2em;} -.f08 {font-size: 0.8em;} -.fs {font-size: smaller;} -.p2 {padding-top: 2em;} -.p1 {padding-top: 1em;} -.blk {display: block} - -/* Images */ -img { - height: auto; -} - -.figcenter { - margin: auto; - text-align: center; - page-break-inside: avoid; -} - -/* Footnotes */ -.footnotes {border: 1px dashed;} -.footnote {margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%; font-size: 0.9em;} - -.fnanchor { - vertical-align: super; - font-size: .8em; - text-decoration: - none; -} - -/* Poetry */ -.poetry-container {text-align: center;} -.poetry {text-align: left; margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%;} -/* uncomment the next line for centered poetry in browsers */ -/* .poetry {display: inline-block;} */ -.poetry .stanza {margin: 1em auto;} -.poetry .verse {text-indent: -3em; padding-left: 3em;} -/* large inline blocks don't split well on paged devices */ -@media print { .poetry {display: block;} } -.x-ebookmaker .poetry {display: block;} - -/* Poetry indents */ -.poetry .indent0 {text-indent: -3em;} -.poetry .indent2 {text-indent: -2em;} - - - </style> - </head> -<body> - -<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Lady Poverty, by Giovanni da Parma</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Lady Poverty</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:0;'>A XIII. Century Allegory</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Giovanni da Parma</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Translator: Montgomery Carmichael</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: August 9, 2021 [eBook #66025]</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Benjamin Fluehr, Turgut Dincer and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)</div> - -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LADY POVERTY ***</div> - - - - -<h1>THE LADY POVERTY</h1> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter center"> -<img src="images/cross.png" alt="" style="width: 1.2em" /> -</div> - -<p class="center">“Sacrum Commercium Beati Francisci -cum Domina Paupertate”</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter figcenter"> -<img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" alt="" style="width:50em; margin-left:-10em; margin-right:-10em;" /> -<div class="bold"> -<p class="right"><i>Giotto.</i></p> -<p><i>The Espousals of S<sup>t</sup>. Francis to the Lady Poverty.</i></p> -</div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p>The frontispiece of this volume is reproduced -by permission from a photograph by Messrs -<span class="smcap">Alinari</span> of Florence.</p> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - - -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="center red f15 bold">THE LADY POVERTY</p> -<p class="center f13">A XIII. CENTURY ALLEGORY<br /> -TRANSLATED & EDITED BY<br /> -MONTGOMERY CARMICHAEL<br /></p> -<p class="center f08" style="width: 60%; margin: auto;">WITH A CHAPTER ON THE SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE -OF EVANGELICAL POVERTY BY FATHER CUTHBERT O. S. F. G.</p> - -<div class="center"> -<img src="images/title.png" alt="" style="width: 3em; padding-top: 1em; padding-bottom: 1em;" /> -</div> -<p class="center f12"> -London<br /> -<span class="red">John Murray, Albemarle Street</span><br /> -1901<br /> -</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS</h2> -</div> - - -<table class="autotable" summary=""> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="3"><span class="smcap">Introduction</span>—</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr allsmcap" colspan="3">PAGE</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#EDITIONS">(<i>a</i>)</a></td> -<td class="tdl">Editions</td> -<td class="tdp">xvii</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#AUTHORSHIP_AND_DATE">(<i>b</i>)</a></td> -<td class="tdl">Authorship and Date</td> -<td class="tdp">xxviii</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#TRANSLATION_AND_SCRIPTURE">(<i>c</i>)</a></td> -<td class="tdl">Translation and Scripture References</td> -<td class="tdp">xlii</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdc" colspan="3"><span class="smcap p1 blk">The Lady Poverty.</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#I">I.</a></td> -<td class="tdl">In Praise of Poverty</td> -<td class="tdp">3</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#II">II.</a></td> -<td class="tdl">How the Blessed Francis made diligent search for the Lady Poverty</td> -<td class="tdp">8</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#III">III.</a></td> -<td class="tdl">How two old men showed the Blessed Francis where he might find the Lady Poverty</td> -<td class="tdp">14</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#IV">IV.</a></td> -<td class="tdl">Of the First Companions of the Blessed Francis</td> -<td class="tdp">20</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#V">V.</a></td> -<td class="tdl">How the Blessed Francis and his Companions found the Lady Poverty on the Mountain</td> -<td class="tdp">24</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#VI">VI.</a></td> -<td class="tdl">The Blessed Francis and his Companions, exalting her virtues in divers ways, beseech the Lady Poverty to abide with them forever</td> -<td class="tdp">28</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#VII">VII.</a></td> -<td class="tdl">The Answer of My Lady Poverty</td> -<td class="tdp">41</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#VIII">VIII.</a></td> -<td class="tdl">Of the Apostles</td> -<td class="tdp">56</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#IX">IX.</a></td> -<td class="tdl">Of the Successors of the Apostles</td> -<td class="tdp">59</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#X">X.</a></td> -<td class="tdl">That Times of Peace are unpropitious to Poverty</td> -<td class="tdp">62</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#XI">XI.</a></td> -<td class="tdl">Of Persecution</td> -<td class="tdp">65</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#XII">XII.</a></td> -<td class="tdl">Of the followers of a spurious Poverty</td> -<td class="tdp">70</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#XIII">XIII.</a></td> -<td class="tdl">Of Avarice</td> -<td class="tdp">73</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#XIV">XIV.</a></td> -<td class="tdl">How the Lady Poverty spoke of good Religious</td> -<td class="tdp">77</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#XV">XV.</a></td> -<td class="tdl">How Avarice took the Name of Discretion</td> -<td class="tdp">80</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#XVI">XVI.</a></td> -<td class="tdl">How Avarice took the Name of Prudence</td> -<td class="tdp">84</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#XVII">XVII.</a></td> -<td class="tdl">How Avarice called in the aid of Sloth</td> -<td class="tdp">89</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#XVIII">XVIII.</a></td> -<td class="tdl">Of the Religious who were conquered by Sloth</td> -<td class="tdp">92</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#XIX">XIX.</a></td> -<td class="tdl">How the Lady Poverty sorrowed over certain Religious who were poor in the World, and yet more prone than others to Self-indulgence in Religion</td> -<td class="tdp">99</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#XX">XX.</a></td> -<td class="tdl">How the Lady Poverty showed the Blessed Francis the Perfect Walk in the Religious Life</td> -<td class="tdp">107</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#XXI">XXI.</a></td> -<td class="tdl">How the Blessed Francis made answer to the Lady Poverty</td> -<td class="tdp">114</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#XXII">XXII.</a></td> -<td class="tdl">How the Lady Poverty gave her consent</td> -<td class="tdp">118</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#XXIII">XXIII.</a></td> -<td class="tdl">How the Blessed Francis thanked God for the consent of the Lady Poverty</td> -<td class="tdp">119</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#XXIV">XXIV.</a></td> -<td class="tdl">Of the Sojourn of My Lady Poverty with the Brothers</td> -<td class="tdp">121</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#XXV">XXV.</a></td> -<td class="tdl">How My Lady Poverty blessed the Brothers, exhorting them to persevere in the Grace which they had received</td> -<td class="tdp">130</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap p1 blk">On the Spiritual Significance of Evangelical Poverty, by Father Cuthbert, O.S.F.C</span></td> -<td class="tdp">141</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdl" colspan="3"><span class="smcap p1 blk">Appendices—</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#APPENDIX_I">I.</a></td> -<td class="tdl">A Prayer of the Blessed Francis to obtain Holy Poverty</td> -<td class="tdp">183</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr"><a href="#APPENDIX_II">II.</a></td> -<td class="tdl">Paradiso. Canto XI. (lines 28-123)</td> -<td class="tdp">200</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="INTRODUCTION">INTRODUCTION</h2> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="EDITIONS">EDITIONS</h3> -</div> - - -<p>The “Sacrum Commercium” -is an Allegory, -simple in form and charming -in conception, telling how St -Francis wooed and won that -most difficult of all Brides, my -Lady Poverty. It was written -some time in the thirteenth -century (most probably in the -year 1227) by an unknown -Franciscan, and has been -six times printed, thrice in -Latin, and thrice in Italian.</p> - -<p><span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>The Latin Editions.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -The first Latin edition was -printed at Milan in 1539. It -is of exceeding rarity, and has -escaped the vigilance of Brunet -and Græsse. Père François -Van Ortroy, the noted -Bollandist (whom few things -escape), was the first to call -attention to a copy in the -Ambrosian Library, and it is -the only copy known to exist. -(See “Analecta Bollandiana,” -xix. 460.)</p> - -<p>The second Latin edition -was published nearly 400 -years later, in 1894, under the -editorship of Professor Edoardo -Alvisi, in the “Collezione di -Opuscoli Danteschi inediti o -rari diretta da G. L. Passerini.”<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> -Professor Alvisi’s edition has -no pretensions to being critical: -his sole object in publishing it -was to supply an illustration -to part of Canto XI. of the -“Paradiso.” This edition has, -perhaps justly, been decried -for its entire want of critical -apparatus, but it at least served -to call attention to a gem that -had hitherto slumbered uncared-for -in parchment Codexes.</p> - -<p>The third Latin edition is -exceptional from every point -of view. It was published -only last year by Père -Edouard d’Alençon, the learned -Archivist General of the Friars -Minor Capuchins. Père -Edouard has taken his version -from a Codex (No. 3560) in -the Casanatese Library in -Rome, which he has carefully -collated with three other -Codexes (of Milan, Vincenza -and Ravenna), noting all the -variants at foot. There is but -one fault to find with this -scholarly edition: it does not -attempt to give the numerous -Scripture references.<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> - -<p><span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>The Italian Editions.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -The first Italian edition<a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> appeared -in 1847 under the title -“Meditazione sulla Povertà -di Santo Francesco.”<a id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> It is -taken from a Fourteenth-Century -Codex in the Franciscan -Convent of Giaccherino, near -Pistoia. Its editors were the -Lexicographer, Pietro Fanfani, -and a Canon of Pistoia, Enrico -Bindi. It has been quoted in -the great “Vocabolario” of the -Academicians of the Crusca, -and has therefore become a -“Testo di Lingua” or Italian -classic.<a id="FNanchor_5" href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> The “Meditazione” -is a very free translation indeed -from the original Latin. The -translator adds beauties and -leaves out obscurities at will. -It is curious to us in these -days, when Franciscan studies -are being pursued with such -avidity all the world over (if I -except England), to reflect -that the editors, Fanfani and -Bindi, did not know whether -the “Meditazione” was a -translation or an original -work. The Fourteenth-Century -translator is unknown.</p> - -<p>The next Italian edition -(1900) is the one given in -parallel columns with the -Latin version of Père Edouard -d’Alençon’s work above -quoted. It is taken from -Codex B. 131 in the Vallicellian -Library, and is probably -a Fourteenth-Century work, -but, if interesting, it has little -or no merit as an example of -fine Tuscan.</p> - -<p>The third Italian edition is a -much-needed and very welcome -work.<a id="FNanchor_6" href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> It is a reprint of -the “Meditazione,” which has -for long been so scarce as to -be almost unprocurable. The -editor, Don Salvatore Minocchi, -a Florentine priest, and one of -the foremost authorities on -matters Franciscan, than whom -there could be no one more -fitted for the task, has carefully -collated the original edition of -the “Meditazione” with the -Codex from which it was taken, -and has removed quite a host -of erroneous readings. We -may therefore now be said to -have, for the first time, a correct -version of this little Italian -classic. It was only printed in -the last days of May, and I -have to thank the learned -editor for courteously permitting -me to see his proof sheets.</p> - -<div class="art"><img src="images/i_p079.jpg" alt="" /></div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="AUTHORSHIP_AND_DATE">AUTHORSHIP AND DATE</h3> -</div> - - -<p>The authorship of the -“Sacrum Commercium” -has been freely ascribed to the -Blessed Giovanni da Parma, -seventh Minister General of -the Friars Minor in succession -to Saint Francis. I would -with all my heart that he were -the author, for Giovanni is one -of the brightest lights of the -Order, and both by his love -and practice of Poverty, and -by his great endowments, is -the ideal author for so exquisite -an allegory. The -“Chronica xxiv. Generalium,” -which was completed in 1379, -and begun perhaps twenty -years earlier, distinctly states -that Giovanni is the author -(“quendam libellum devotum -composuit quem intitulavit -Commercium Paupertatis”),<a id="FNanchor_7" href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> -and this opinion was followed -by all succeeding old writers -(except Fra Bartolommeo da -Pisa, who makes no attempt -to assign authorship), and most -moderns, including Professor -Alvisi, M. Sabatier,<a id="FNanchor_8" href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> Professor -Umberto Cosmo,<a id="FNanchor_9" href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> and the -latest biographer of the Blessed, -Fra Luigi da Parma.<a id="FNanchor_10" href="#Footnote_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> But all -the Codexes which Père -Edouard d’Alençon cites, as -also a Codex in the Bodleian -and another in the Communal -library at Siena, give the date -of composition as the month -of July after the death of -Saint Francis, that is to say -July, 1227. (<i>Actum est hoc -opus mense Julii post obitum -Beatissimi Francisci, anno -Millesimo ducentesimo vigesimo -septimo ab Incarnatione -Domini Salvatoris Nostri Jesu -Christi.</i>) If this date be correct, -then the Blessed Giovanni -could not have been its author, -for he was only born in 1208, -and did not enter the Order -until after 1230. There is the -point that Mediæval scribes -were given (like other mortals) -to making errors in dates, more -especially when they were in -Roman figures, and these -errors would have been propagated -from Codex to Codex. -We have the well-known -instance of the Mazarin -Codex No. 1743, where the -erroneous date of 1228 led -a distinguished French critic -to look upon the “Speculum -Perfectionis” as the oldest -biography of St Francis. -The date was probably 1318, -and it will be seen how easily -a slip might be made between -MCCXXVIII and -MCCCXVIII.<a id="FNanchor_11" href="#Footnote_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> But in favour -of the date of 1227 for the -“Sacrum Commercium” we -have not only the fact that -the date is written in words -and not in figures, but -that the “explicit” distinctly -states that it was finished in -the July after the death of -St Francis. Such extreme -precision does not leave much -room for error. Moreover, -there is practically no serious -internal evidence against -the date 1227. It is true -that the Casanatese Codex, -at the beginning of Chap. iv. -speaks of “<i>Sanctum</i> Franciscum,” -whereas St Francis was -not canonized until 1228. But -this, even if some refuse to -translate it simply “the holy -Francis,” and insist upon “<i>St</i> -Francis,” I think it is fair to -regard as the slip of a scribe, -more especially as the Vincenzian -Codex gives “beatum” -in the same place, and both -Italian versions have “beato.” -There is, therefore, no substantial -reason why we may -not regard the “Sacrum Commercium” -as written in 1227, -and it is interesting to note -that this little allegory is thus -the first book ever written -on St Francis, for Thomas of -Celano’s “Legenda Prima,” -was not completed until the -following year.<a id="FNanchor_12" href="#Footnote_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a></p> - -<p>There are, to my mind, two -conclusive arguments, both -adduced by Père Edouard,<a id="FNanchor_13" href="#Footnote_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> -against attributing the authorship -to Giovanni da Parma. -Fra Ubertino da Casale in a -famous work<a id="FNanchor_14" href="#Footnote_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> (“too famous,” -it might justly be called), -finished in 1305, is the first -writer who expressly mentions -the “Sacrum Commercium,” -and he ascribes it merely to -“a certain holy doctor,” giving -no name. Now Ubertino -well knew Giovanni (<i>ob.</i> 1289), -and it seems impossible that -he should not also have known -and celebrated the Blessed as -the author of the “Sacrum -Commercium” had he really -been so. Again Fra Salimbene -da Parma (<i>ob.</i> 1287 or 1290) -knew the Blessed Giovanni -intimately, and alludes to him -frequently in his Chronicle.<a id="FNanchor_15" href="#Footnote_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> -He even refers to writings of -Giovanni’s, but there is never -a hint of the “Sacrum Commercium.” -The only theory -on which it is possible to ascribe -the authorship to Fra -Giovanni is so wild as scarcely -to be worthy of mention. We -should have to suppose, seeing -the unpopularity of the -extremes of Poverty in a certain -section of the Order, that -he was afraid to acknowledge -his work, and that he deliberately, -and with much circumstance, -falsified the date -to secure his anonymity. But -the Blessed Giovanni was not -made of such poor stuff! He -who endured hatred, persecution -and imprisonment, to some -extent by reason of his zeal for -the Lady Poverty, was not the -man to resort to so trivial a -ruse. His deeds were far more -unpopular (with some) than -ever this little allegory could -have made him.</p> - -<p>Père Edouard d’Alençon, -with much ingenuity, seeks -to credit Giovanni Parenti, St -Francis’ immediate successor -as Minister General (1227-1233), -with the authorship. -He gives an instance tending -to show that there was a tradition -that a Minister General -had written the work, and -then he points to the similarity -between “Joannes Parenti” -and “Joannes Parmensis.” -All this proves his acumen -and ingenuity, but he is too -severely scientific a scholar to -advance a clever theory as -proof positive. For the present -it is safest to admit frankly -that the author of the “Sacrum -Commercium” is unknown, and -to conclude with Fra Ubertino -da Casale that he was “quidam -sanctus doctor hujus Sanctæ -Paupertatis professor et zelator -strenuus.”</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="TRANSLATION_AND_SCRIPTURE">TRANSLATION AND SCRIPTURE -REFERENCES</h3> -</div> - - -<p>I have translated from -Père Edouard d’Alençon’s -version of the Codex Casanatensis.<a id="FNanchor_16" href="#Footnote_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> -But I have not -slavishly adhered to this, -using, when they seemed more -apt, the variants which he has -so diligently noted at foot. -I have also, now and again, -used the Italian version of the -Codex Vallicellianus, and, -though very rarely, even the -classic “Meditazione.” In my -translation I have been no -bondsman, but have rendered -freely, while seeking to convey -accurately the spirit and meaning -of the work, and to preserve, -as far as that might be, -the elemental simplicity of its -language.</p> - -<p>The “Sacrum Commercium” -is a tissue of the words and -phrases of St Jerome’s beautiful -Latin version of Holy -Scripture. Where so much is -Biblical, I have had to a certain -extent to adopt Biblical -language, but I have striven -earnestly to avoid those excesses -of Archaism which irritate -even the most equable -nerves. With the help of -Cardinal Hugo’s “Concordantiæ -Sacrorum Bibliorum” -(may his name live for ever!) -I have endeavoured to give -references to the principal -quotations from Holy Writ. -Some will assuredly have escaped -me, and I shall be grateful -to him who points out to -me any omissions.</p> - -<p>The reader must not forget -that it was the Latin Vulgate -which was used by the author -of the “Sacrum Commercium.” -To be faithful, therefore, I -could not take my quotations -straight from the “Authorised -Version.” I have translated -sometimes after my own -fashion, sometimes with the -help of the “Douay” version, -but when the sense has allowed -of it, I have gladly adopted -the noble English of King -James’ Bible.<a id="FNanchor_17" href="#Footnote_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a></p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>And now, <i>lector humanissime</i>, -I am glad to have done with -all these dry details, necessary -perchance to a right understanding -of the subject, and to -leave thee free to hasten onward -to the green Pastures -and still Waters of one of the -fairest of Mediæval Idylls. -Feed in those fresh Pastures, -dip in the restoring Waters: -thou canst not but gather -therefrom health and strength, -life, and the Life to come; -together with a right knowledge -of the Past, a loving -pity for the Present, and a -valorous good resolution for -the Future.</p> - -<p class="center p2">VALE!</p> -<p class="right f13 p2">M. C.</p> -<p class="p2"><span class="smcap">Livorno</span>, <i>13th June 1901</i>.<br /> -</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_LADY_POVERTY">THE LADY POVERTY</h2> -</div> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="poetry-container chapter"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“O amor di Povertade</div> - <div class="verse indent0">La tua gran nobilitade</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Chi potrìa gia mai narrare?”</div> - </div> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">—<i>Jacopone da Todi.</i></div> - </div> -</div> -</div> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>HERE BEGINNETH THE -HOLY COMMERCE OF THE -BLESSED FRANCIS WITH -THE LADY POVERTY:</p> -</div> - - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="I">I</h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>IN PRAISE OF POVERTY<a id="FNanchor_18" href="#Footnote_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a></p> -</div> - -<p>Among the cardinal excelling -virtues which -prepare a place and mansion -for God in the Soul of Man, -and show a more excellent and -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>1 Cor. xii. 31.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -a speedier way of approaching -and attaining unto Him, Holy -Poverty shines resplendent in -her authority, and excels all -others by her peculiar Grace. -For she is the Foundation and -Guardian of all the Virtues, -and holds the Primacy among -the Evangelical Counsels. -Wherefore let not the other -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Matt. vii. 25.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Virtues fear should the rain -descend, and the floods come, -and the winds blow, threatening -destruction, if only they -have been founded upon the -Rock of Poverty. And justly; -for the Son of God, the Lord -of Hosts and King of Glory, -loved this Virtue with a special -love, sought this Virtue, found -her, and by her wrought Salvation -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Ps. lxxiii. 12.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -in the midst of the Earth. -Her, in the beginning of His -preaching, He placed as a -Beacon to lighten those entering -the Haven of the Faith, -and as chief corner-stone of -His House. The Kingdom of -Heaven which He promised -hereafter to all the Virtues, He -openeth to Poverty even in -this life. For “Blessed,” He -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Matt. v. 3.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -has said, “are the Poor in -Spirit, for theirs <i>is</i> the Kingdom -of Heaven.”<a id="FNanchor_19" href="#Footnote_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> They are -worthy of the Kingdom of -Heaven who have freely renounced -all Earthly Things -out of Love and Desire for -Heavenly Things. He must -needs live by Heavenly Things -who takes no thought of -Earthly Things, and counts -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Phil. iii. 8.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -them but as dung: even in -this our Exile shall he feed on -the honied crumbs which fall -from the table of the Holy -Angels, that he may taste and -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Ps. xxxiii. 8.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -see how sweet the Lord is. -This is truly to find the Kingdom -of Heaven; ’tis the Pledge -of an Eternal Mansion therein, -and, as it were, a foretaste of -the Blessedness to come.</p> - -<div class="art"><img src="images/i_p007.jpg" alt="" /></div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="II">II</h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>HOW THE BLESSED FRANCIS -MADE DILIGENT SEARCH FOR -THE LADY POVERTY</p> -</div> - - -<p>Wherefore the -Blessed Francis, as a -true Follower and Disciple of -the Saviour, gave himself up -from the beginning of his -Conversion with all his Heart, -with all his Strength, and with -all his Mind, to seek and to -find, to have and to hold the -Lady Poverty, dreading no -Adversity, fearing no Evil, -sparing no labour, shunning no -suffering of the body, so only -that he might come unto her -to whom the Lord had given -the Keys of the Kingdom of -Heaven. Like an eager explorer -he began to go about -the highways and by-ways of -the City, diligently seeking -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Cant. iii. 2.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -her whom his Soul did love. -He asked of those who stood -about, he questioned those who -met him, saying: Saw ye her -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Cant. iii. 3.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -whom my Soul loveth? But -his speech was dark to them -as an alien tongue, and, not -understanding him, they -answered: We know not what -thou sayest: speak to us in -our own tongue, and we will -answer thee. For there was -not at that time any word or -sign in the language, by which -the Children of Adam could -discourse together of Poverty. -They hated her then as they -hate her now, nor could they -speak with patience to one -who sought her. So they -answered him that this thing -was unknown to them, and -that they had no knowledge -of what he sought. Then, -said the Blessed Francis, I will -go unto the Great and the -Wise, and ask them, for they -know the Ways of the Lord -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Jer. v. 5.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -and the Judgments of God. -But these only answered him -yet more roughly, saying: -What is this new doctrine -which thou bringest to our -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Acts xvii. 20.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -ears? May that Poverty which -thou seekest always abide with -thee, and with thy children, -and with thy seed after thee. -As for us, we had rather enjoy -the delights of life and abound -in riches, for the span of our -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Wisdom ii. 1.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Life is short and tedious, and -in the end of a man there is no -remedy. Therefore we know -nothing better than to eat and -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Luke xii. 19.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -drink and be merry while there -is still time.</p> - -<p>But the Blessed Francis, -hearing these things, marvelled -in his Heart and gave Thanks -to God, saying: Blessed art -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Matt. xi. 25.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Thou, O Lord God, Who -hast hid these things from the -Wise and Prudent, and revealed -them unto Babes. Even -so, Father, for so it hath -seemed good in Thy Sight. -O God, the Author and Ruler -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Eccli. xxiii. 1.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -of my being, deliver me not -over to their Counsels, nor -suffer me to fall into their -iniquity, but give me Thy -Grace, so that I may find what -I seek, for I am Thy servant, -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Ps. cxv. 16.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -and the Son of Thy Handmaid.</p> - -<div class="art"><img src="images/i_p091.jpg" alt="" /></div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="III">III</h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>HOW TWO OLD MEN SHOWED -THE BLESSED FRANCIS WHERE -THE MIGHT FIND THE LADY -POVERTY</p> -</div> - - -<p>And the Blessed Francis, -being come out of the -City, made haste to reach a -certain field, in which, from -afar off, he saw two old men -sitting, full of a heavy sorrow, -the one of whom was saying: -To whom shall I look save to -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Isa. lxvi. 2.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -some Poor Little Man, contrite -of Heart, and who fears -my Words? And the other: -For we brought nothing into -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>1 Tim. vi. 7, 8.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -this World, and it is certain -we can carry nothing out of it. -But having food and a covering -to our Bodies, let us be -therewith content.</p> - -<p>And when the Blessed Francis -had come up with them, -he said unto them: Tell me, I -beseech you, where the Lady -Poverty dwells, where she -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Cant. i. 6.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -feeds her flock, where she -takes her rest at noon, for I -languish for the Love of her. -But they answered him, saying: -O good Brother, we have -sat here for a Time, and Times, -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Dan. xii. 7.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -and half a Time, and have -often seen her pass this way, -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Apoc. xii. 14.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -and many were they who -sought her. Many were they, -once upon a time, who walked -in her train, but oft she would -return alone and desolate, unadorned -by jewels or fine raiment, -unescorted by any -following. And she would -weep bitterly, saying: The -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Cant. i. 5.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Sons of my Mother have -fought against me. But we -did answer and say: Have -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Cant. i. 3.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -patience, for the Righteous -love thee. And now, O -Brother, ascend the great and -high Mountain whereon the -Lord hath placed her. For -she dwelleth in the Holy -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Ps. lxxxvi. 1, 2.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Mountains, because God hath -loved her more than all the -tents of Jacob. Giants have -failed to follow her footsteps, -and the Eagle to fly to the -summit of her Hill. Poverty -is the one thing despised of all -men, for it is not found in the -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Job xxviii. 13.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -land of them that live in delights. -Wherefore she is hid -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Job xxviii. 21, 23.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -from the eyes of the Living, -and the fowls of the air know -her not. But God understandeth -her way; He knoweth -her Dwelling-place. If -therefore, O Brother, thou -wouldst ascend unto her, put -off the Garments of thy Pleasures, -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Heb. xii. 1.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -and lay aside every -weight and the Sin which besets -thee, for unless thou art -free from these trammels, thou -canst not attain unto her who -is placed at so great a height. -But because My Lady is -gracious, she is easily seen by -those who love her, and found -by those who seek her. To -meditate upon her, Brother, is -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Wisdom vi. 16.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -perfect Understanding, and -whoso watcheth for her shall -speedily be secure. Take with -thee trusty Companions that -thou may’st profit by their -Counsel, and be sustained by -their Help in the way, for woe -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Eccl. iv. 10.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -to him that is alone; when he -falleth he shall have none to -raise him up. But do you -uphold one another.</p> - -<div class="art"><img src="images/i_p083.jpg" alt="" /></div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="IV">IV</h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>OF THE FIRST COMPANIONS OF -THE BLESSED FRANCIS</p> -</div> - -<p>And when he had heard -these Counsels, the -Blessed Francis chose unto -himself a few faithful Companions, -with whom he set out -for the Mountain. And he -said unto his brothers: Come -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Isa. ii. 3.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -ye, let us go up to the Mountain -of the Lord, to the House -of the Lady Poverty, that she -may teach us her Ways, and -we will walk in her Paths. -And when they beheld the -Ascent from every side, and -saw how exceeding high and -steep it was, they began to say -one to another: Who shall -ascend this Mountain, and who -shall reach unto the Mountain’s -top? The which, when Blessed -Francis heard, he said unto -them: Strait is the Way, and -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Matt. vii. 14.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -narrow the Gate, which leadeth -unto Life, and few there be -that find it. Be strong in the -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Eph. vi. 10.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Lord, and in the power of -His Might, and all things -difficult will become easy unto -us. Lay down the Burden of -your own Will, cast away the -heavy Weight of your Sins, -and gird yourselves like Strong -Men. Forget those things -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Phil. iii. 13.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -which are behind, and reach -forth to those which are before. -I say unto you that every -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Deut. xi. 24.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -place that your foot shall tread -upon shall be yours. For as a -Spirit before our face is Christ -the Lord, drawing us to the -Mountain’s summit by the -Bonds of Charity. Wonderful, -O Brethren, are the Espousals -of Poverty, but we -may hope to enjoy her embraces, -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Lament. i. 1.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> for the Mistress of -Nations is become as a Widow, -the Queen of all Virtues is -become contemptible. There -is none in all the Land who -dares call upon her, none who -will stand over against us, -none who by right can forbid -this Blessed Union. All her -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Lament. i. 2.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Friends have despised her, and -are become her Enemies.</p> - -<div class="art"><img src="images/i_p023.jpg" alt="" /></div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="V">V</h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>HOW THE BLESSED FRANCIS -AND HIS COMPANIONS FOUND -THE LADY POVERTY ON THE -MOUNTAIN</p> -</div> - - -<p>And when he had thus -spoken, they followed -after the Blessed Francis. -And as with light feet they -hastened to the summit of the -Mountain, they beheld my -Lady Poverty on the topmost -Pinnacle gazing down the -Mountain. And when she -saw them climbing thus -valiantly, nay, as it were, -rather flying towards her, she -marvelled exceedingly, and said -to herself: Who are these that -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Isa. lx. 8.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -fly like the Clouds and as -Doves to their windows? It -is long since I saw such as -these, or looked upon men so -free from trammels. Therefore -will I speak to them of the -things which I ponder in my -Heart, lest, like the rest, they -should repent them of their -hardy ascent when they behold -the dizzying abyss below. I -know they cannot possess me -without my consent, but I -shall find Favour before -my Heavenly Father if I -give them the Counsels of -Salvation. And behold a -Voice spoke unto her, saying: -Fear not, Daughter of Sion, -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>John xii. 15.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -for these are of the Seed which -the Lord hath blessed. He -hath elected them in Charity -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>2 Cor. vi. 6.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -unfeigned. So from the Throne -of her Neediness, the Lady -Poverty presented them with -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Ps. xx. 4.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Blessings of Sweetness, and -said unto them: Tell me the -cause of your Advent, my -Brothers, and why you hasten -thus speedily from the Valley -of Tears to the Mountain of -Light. Can it indeed be that -you seek me who am poor and -needy, tossed by the tempest, -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Isa. liv. 11.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -and bereft of all consolation?</p> - -<div class="art"><img src="images/i_p027.jpg" alt="" /></div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="VI">VI</h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>THE BLESSED FRANCIS AND -HIS COMPANIONS, EXALTING -HER VIRTUES IN DIVERS -WAYS, BESEECH THE LADY -POVERTY TO ABIDE WITH -THEM FOREVER</p> -</div> - - -<p>And the Blessed Francis -and his Companions -answered her, saying: Yea, -we have indeed come out to -seek thee, Lady, and we beseech -thee to receive us in -Peace. We desire to become -the Servants of the Lord of -the Virtues,<a id="FNanchor_20" href="#Footnote_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> for He is the -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Ps. xxiii. 10.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -King of Glory. We have -heard that thou art the Queen -of the Virtues, and we have -proved it by experience. -Wherefore, prostrate at thy -Feet, we humbly beseech thee -to abide with us, and to light -our Way to the King of Glory, -as thou wast unto Him the -Way, when, a Day-Spring -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Luke i. 78, 79.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -from on High, He humbled -Himself to visit them that sat -in Darkness and the Shadow -of Death. For we know that -thine is the Power, thine the -Kingdom, that thou art constituted -Mistress and Queen -of the Virtues by the King of -Kings Himself. Therefore, -we entreat thee, make Peace -with us and we shall be saved, -and He will receive us through -thee, Who through thee did -redeem us. Do but elect to -save us, and we shall be made -free. For the King of Kings -and Lord of Lords Himself, -the Creator of Heaven and -Earth, desired thy Comeliness -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Ps. xliv. 11.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -and thy Beauty. When the -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Cant. i. 11.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -King was at His Rest, rich -and glorious in His Kingdom, -He left His House, and forsook -His inheritance, the Glory -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Jer. xii. 7.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -and Riches of His House, and -His Royal Seat, and sought -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Ps. cxi. 3.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -thee with gracious words. -Great therefore is thy Dignity, -and there is none so exalted as -thee, since He could leave all -Angelic Delights and the great -Abundance of Celestial Virtues, -to seek thee in the nethermost -parts of the Earth, in the miry -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Ps. xxxix. 3.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Clay, in the Darkness and the -Shadow of Death. Thou -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Ps. lxxxvii. 7.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -wast hated by all the Children -of Men, and all fled at thy -Coming, or strove, as they -could, to drive thee from them. -And though some could not -fly thee altogether, yet not for -that reason wert thou less -hated and loathed by them.</p> - -<p>But then came the Lord, -the Lord God, and took thee -for Himself, and lifted up thy -Head among the Tribes of the -people, crowning thee His -Bride, and exalting thee above -the Highest Heavens. And -although, of a surety, many -still hate thee, not knowing -thy Virtue and thy Glory, yet -hast thou nothing lost thereby, -for thou dwellest in Freedom -in thy holy Mountains, in the -most firm habitation of the -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Exod. xv. 17.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Glory of Christ. Thus the -Son of the Most High, having -become a Lover of thy Beauty, -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Wisdom viii. 2.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -dwelt only with thee in the -World, and found thee most -faithful in all Things. Even -before He left His bright -Realms for the Earth, thou -hadst prepared Him a fitting -place, a Throne on which to -sit, a Couch in which to rest, -a most poor Virgin from whom -He sprung, and shone upon -the World. At His Nativity -thou didst run to meet Him, -so that He might find comfort -in thee, and not in soft places. -Thou didst lay Him in a -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Luke ii. 7.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Manger, as saith the Evangelist, -for there was no room in -the Inn. And thus didst thou -always inseparably accompany -Him, so that during His whole -Life, while He dwelt among -Men, though the Foxes had -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Matt. viii. 20.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Caves, and the Birds of the -Air Nests, He had no place to -lay His Head. And when -He Who in the Past had -opened the lips of the Prophets -opened His own Lips to preach, -among the many things which -He spake, He first praised, -first exalted thee, saying: -Blessed are the Poor in Spirit, -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Matt. v. 3.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -for theirs is the Kingdom of -Heaven. And when He chose -Witnesses to His Holy Preaching -and to His glorious Work -for the Salvation of Man, He -did not take rich Merchants, -but poor Fisherfolk, that by -this choice He might show -forth that thou wert to be -loved by All. And finally -that thy Goodness, thy Greatness, -thy Power, might be -made manifest to All, and how -thou art above all the Virtues, -and how without thee there is -no Virtue, and how thy Kingdom -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>John xviii. 36.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -is not of this World but -from Heaven, thou alone didst -remain with the King of Glory -when all His Elect and Beloved -had fled from Him in -Affright.</p> - -<p>Like unto a most dear -Mistress and faithful Spouse, -thou didst not leave Him for -an instant. The more He was -despised by All, the more -didst thou cleave to Him. -For if thou hadst not been -with Him, He could never -have been so despised by All. -Thou wast with Him when -the Jews reviled, the Pharisees -scoffed, and the High Priests -reproached Him. Thou wast -with Him when He was -struck, when He was spat -upon, when He was scourged. -He Who should have been -reverenced by All, was derided -by all, and thou alone didst -minister unto Him. Thou -wast with Him unto Death, -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Phil. ii. 8.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -even the Death of the Cross. -And on the Cross itself, His -Body being stripped, His -Arms extended, His Hands -and Feet pierced, thou didst -suffer with Him, so that -nothing did seem more -glorious in Him than thou.</p> - -<p>When He ascended into -Heaven, He left to thee the -Seal of the Kingdom of Heaven, -that thou might’st seal the -Elect, that whosoever should -aspire to Eternal Life might -come to thee, pray to thee, -and enter by thee, for if he be -not sealed with thy Seal, no -man may enter the Kingdom -of Heaven. Therefore, O -Lady, have compassion upon -us, and seal us with the Seal -of thy Grace. For who is -there so craven-spirited and -foolish as not to love thee -with all his Heart, thee who -hast been chosen by the Most -High, and prepared from all -Eternity? Who is there that -does not reverence and honour -thee, when He Whom all the -Heavenly Host adore hath -clothed thee with such Honour? -Who would not readily -adore thy Footsteps, to whom -the Lord of Majesty so humbly -inclined, whom He so intimately -embraced, to whom he -was joined in so great a Love? -We therefore beseech thee, O -Lady, by Him and through -Him, despise not our petitions -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Antiphon at Compline in the Office of the B.V.M.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -in our Necessities, but deliver -us at all Times from all -Dangers, O Glorious and ever -blessed Lady!</p> - -<div class="art"><img src="images/i_p040.jpg" alt="" /></div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="VII">VII</h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>THE ANSWER OF MY LADY -POVERTY</p></div> - - -<p>To these Words my Lady -Poverty, with joyful -Heart, and cheerful Mien, and -most sweet Voice, made -answer, saying: I confess to -you, my Brothers and most -dear Friends, that from the -moment you began to speak, -I was filled with Gladness and -exceeding great Joy, for I -acknowledge your Fervour, -and already know your Holy -Intent; your words are dearer -to me than Gold and Precious -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Ps. xviii. 11.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Stones, and sweeter far than -Honey and the Honeycomb. -For it is not you that speak, -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Mark xiii. 11.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -but the Holy Ghost that -speaketh in you, and it is His -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>1 John ii. 27.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Unction that inspires you in -all the things which you have -spoken concerning the Most -High King, Who by His -Grace alone chose me as His -Beloved, taking away my Reproach -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Luke i. 25.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -among Men, and -glorifying me among the -Highest in Heaven. Therefore -I desire, if it will not -weary you, to tell you the -story of my Estate. It is a -long Story, but not less useful, -and will teach you how to -walk with God and please -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Gen. v. 22.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Him, giving heed that you -who wish to put your hands -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Luke ix. 62.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -to the plough in no wise look -back.</p> - -<p>I am not new,<a id="FNanchor_21" href="#Footnote_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> as many -think, but old and full of -years, knowing the nature of -Things, the Varieties of Creatures, -the mutability of Time. -I know the vacillations of the -Heart of Man, in part by the -experience of Ages, in part by -subtlety of Nature, in part by -the Merit of Grace. In the -beginning I dwelt in the -Paradise of God, where Man -was naked. Or rather, I was -in Man, and of his Essence -when he was naked, walking -with him in that spacious -Paradise, fearing nothing, -doubting nothing, thinking -no Evil. I thought to have -stayed with him forever, for -he had been created by the -Most High, just, good, and -wise, and placed in a most -beautiful and delectable Place. -I was joyful exceeding, entertaining -him at all Times, for -possessing Nothing, he belonged -wholly to God. But, -woe is me, he succumbed to -Evil, which had been unknown -from the beginning of the -Creation, and the unhappy -Spirit of Evil, who, through -Vainglory, had lost Wisdom, -entered the body of a Serpent -because he could not inhabit -Heaven, and treacherously assailed -Man, that like himself -he might become a transgressor -of the Divine Law. Unhappy -Man, giving ear unto his evil -Counsellor, acquiesced and -consented, and having forgotten -God, his Creator, -followed the Example of the -first Transgressor. In the -beginning, says Holy Writ, -Man was naked but not -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Gen. ii. 25.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -ashamed, for he was perfect -in innocence. But having -sinned, he knew that he -was naked, and being -ashamed, he hastily made -himself an apron of the leaves -of the fig-tree.<a id="FNanchor_22" href="#Footnote_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a></p> - -<p>When, therefore, I saw that -my Companion had sinned, -and was dressed in leaves (for -he had nothing else), I left -him. And standing afar off, -I beheld him through my -Tears, and waited for Him -Who should save me from -Faintness of Spirit in so great -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Ps. liv. 9.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -a Storm. And suddenly there -came a Sound from Heaven -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Acts ii. 2.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -that shook the whole of Paradise, -and a most bright Light -shone from Heaven. And I -looked and beheld the Lord of -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Gen. iii. 8.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Majesty walking in Paradise in -the cool of the day, resplendent -in ineffable Glory. A mighty -Host of Angels was in His -Train, crying with a loud -Voice: Holy, Holy, Holy, -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Isa. vi. 3.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Lord God of Sabaoth, the -Earth is full of the Majesty -of Thy Glory. Thousands of -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Dan. vii. 10.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Thousands ministered unto -Him, and ten thousand times -a hundred thousand<a id="FNanchor_23" href="#Footnote_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> stood -before Him. Then in Fear -and Trembling, overcome with -Dread and Amazement, my -Body chill, my Heart fast beating, -I cried out of the Depths: -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Ps. cxxix. 1.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Mercy, Lord—have Mercy! -Enter not into Judgment with -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Ps. cxlii. 2.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Thy Servant, for in Thy Sight -shall no Man living be justified. -But He said unto me: Go, -hide thyself for a while, until -Mine Anger be overpast. And -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Isa. xxvi. 20.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -straightway He called my -Companion, saying: Adam, -where art thou? Who -answered: I heard Thy Voice, -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Gen. iii. 9, 10.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -and was afraid, because I was -naked, and I hid myself. -Naked indeed! The man who -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Luke x. 30.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -went down from Jerusalem to -Jericho and fell among Thieves -was stripped of this World’s -Goods, but Adam had been -robbed of the Likeness of God. -But that King Who is Most -High and yet most Gracious, -awaited his Repentance, and -gave him the Opportunity of -returning to Him. Yet in his -wretchedness he inclined his -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Ps. cxl. 4.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Heart to evil Words, and to -making excuses for Sin. And -thus he increased his guilt, and -heaped up punishment, treasuring -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Rom. ii. 5.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -up unto himself Wrath -against the day of Wrath and -Revelation of the just Judgment -of God. For he spared -not himself nor his seed after -him, delivering up All to the -terrible Curse of Death.</p> - -<p>And all the Angels that -were present condemned him, -and the Lord cast him forth -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Gen. iii. 23.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -from Paradise by a just but -not less merciful Judgment, -and bade him return to the -Earth from whence he was -taken, greatly tempering the -Curse He had laid upon him. -And being stripped of his robe -of Innocence, God made him -garments of skins, therein signifying -that Death had come -into the World. And when I -saw my Companion clothed -with the skins of dead beasts, -I left him altogether, for he -had been cast forth to multiply -his labours, whereby he might -become rich. I went forth a -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Gen. iv. 12.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -fugitive and wanderer upon the -Earth, weeping and mourning -exceedingly, and I found not -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Gen. viii. 9.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -where to rest the sole of my -Foot. When Abraham, Isaac, -Jacob, and the other Patriarchs, -received in promise Riches and -a Land flowing with Milk and -Honey, I sought Rest among -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Eccli. xxiv. 11.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -them, but found none. A -Cherub with a Flaming Sword -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Gen. iii. 24.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -stood before the Gates of Paradise -until the Most High came -down from the Bosom of the -Father, Who sought me out -most graciously. And when -He had fulfilled all those -Things of which you have -spoken, and desired to return -to the Father Who had sent -Him, He made me a Testament -to His Elect, and confirmed -it by irrefragable Decrees: -Lay not up Gold nor -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Matt. x. 9.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Silver, nor Money. Carry -neither Purse, nor Scrip, nor -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Matt. x. 10 and Luke x. 4.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Bread, nor a Staff, nor Shoes, -nor two Coats. And if any -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Matt. v. 40.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Man will contend with thee -and take away thy Coat, let -go thy Cloak also. And whoever -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Matt. v. 41.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -shall compel thee to go a -Mile, go with him other twain. -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Matt. vi. 19.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Lay not up unto yourselves -Treasures upon Earth, where -Rust and Moth doth corrupt, -and where Thieves break -through and steal. Take no -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Matt. vi. 31.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -thought, saying: What shall -we eat, or what shall we drink, -or wherewithal shall we be -clothed? And take no -Thought of the Morrow, for -the Morrow will take Thought -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Matt. vi. 34.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -for itself. Sufficient unto the -Day is the Evil thereof. -Whosoever doth not renounce -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Luke xiv. 33.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -all that he hath, cannot be my -disciple.... And many the -like sayings, which are all to -be found in the Gospels.</p> - -<div class="art"><img src="images/i_p079.jpg" alt="" /></div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="VIII">VIII</h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>OF THE APOSTLES</p> -</div> - -<p>All which Things the -Apostles and all the -Disciples most diligently observed, -nor did they ever fail -to fulfil the Things they had -heard from the Master. They -bore themselves as most valiant -Knights and Judges of the -Earth, carrying the Message -of Salvation everywhere, the -Lord working with them, and -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Mark xvi. 20.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -confirming the Word with -Signs that followed. They -glowed in Charity, abounded -in Piety, and endured every -Want, taking care that it -should not be said of them: -These men preach but do not -practise. Hence one of them -speaketh boldly, saying: For -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Rom. xv. 18, 19.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -I will not dare to speak of any -of those Things which Christ -hath not wrought by me by -Word and Deed, and by the -Power of the Holy Ghost. -And yet another speaketh -thus: Silver and Gold have I -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Acts iii. 6.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -none. Thus did they, one and -all, in Life and in Death, -exalt me by the highest Praises. -And those who heard these -Masters, gave heed to their -Preaching, selling all their -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Acts ii. 45.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -goods and substance, and -dividing them according as -every man had need. And -they were all together and had -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Acts ii. 44.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -all things in common, praising -God and having favour with -all the People. -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Acts ii. 47.<span class="sne">♦</span></span></p> - -<div class="art"><img src="images/i_p083.jpg" alt="" /></div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="IX">IX</h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>OF THE SUCCESSORS OF THE -APOSTLES</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Acts ii. 47.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Wherefore the -Lord increased daily -such as should be saved. -Indeed for long the Truth of -their Words remained among -many, more especially while -the Blood of the Crucified -Poor One, Jesus Christ, was -warm in their memory, and -the Noble Chalice of His -Passion inebriated their Hearts. -For if any of them sought to -leave me at any time because -of my too great Rigours, they -would remember the Wounds -of the Lord by which He -made manifest His loving -Compassion, and bitterly repent -of the Temptation, clinging -to me more closely, and -embracing me more eagerly -than ever. And I abode in -them all, ever striving to impress -upon their Memory the -Dolours of the Passion of the -Eternal King. So strengthened -by my Words, they -cheerfully encountered the -cruel Sword which shed their -holy Blood. And this Triumph -continued and endured a long -while, so that daily a thousand -thousand were sealed with the -Seal of the Most High King.</p> - -<div class="art"><img src="images/i_p129.jpg" alt="" /></div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="X">X</h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>THAT TIMES OF PEACE ARE -UNPROPITIOUS TO POVERTY</p> -</div> - -<p>But alas! after a while -Peace was made, a -Peace more hurtful than any -War. In the beginning of -that long Peace but few were -sealed, in the middle of it yet -fewer, at the end fewer still. -And behold! of a surety in -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Isa. xxxviii. 17.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -this Peace is my Bitterness -most bitter; for All fly from -me or drive me from them; -by none am I sought, by All -forsaken. This Peace was the -work of Enemies, not of -Friends; of Strangers, not of -my Sons. I indeed nourished -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Isa. i. 2.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -and raised up Sons, but they -contemned me. In that Time -when the Lamp of the Lord -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Job xxix. 3.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -shone upon my Head, and I -walked by His Light through -the Darkness, Satan was -raging in many who were with -me, the World was enticing -them, and the Concupiscence -of the Flesh, so that many of -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>1 John ii. 15.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -them ended by loving the -World and the Things of the -World.</p> - -<div class="art"><img src="images/i_p091.jpg" alt="" /></div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="XI">XI</h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>OF PERSECUTION</p> -</div> - -<p>But the Crown of all the -Virtues, and that is the -Lady Persecution, to whom -the Lord, equally with me, -delivered the Kingdom of -Heaven, was by my side, and -in all things a faithful Helper, -a strong Champion, and a prudent -Counsellor. She, when -she saw any grow lukewarm in -Heavenly Charity, or forgetting -it a while, or fixing their -Hearts on Earthly Things, -she straightway sounded the -Trump and moved her Armies, -and made their faces to be -ashamed, that they might seek -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Ps. lxxxii. 17.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -the Name of the Lord. But -now my Sister has left me, -the Light of my Eyes is not -with me, for while my Sons -are at rest from the Persecutors, -they are most cruelly -torn by civil and intestine -War, envying each other, and -struggling for the acquisition -of Wealth and an abundance -of luxuries.</p> - -<p>After a while some began -to breathe again, and wished -of their own accord to walk in -the right Road, which once -they had walked in of necessity. -All these came to me -with prayers and tears, and -entreated me to make a perpetual -League of Peace with -them, and to abide with them -as I formerly did in the days -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Job xxix. 4.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -of my Youth, when the Lord -was with me, and my Children -were round about me. These -were men of virtue, peaceful -men, without Rebuke before -the Lord, constant in brotherly -Love, so long as they remained -in the Flesh, poor in -Spirit, poor in this World’s -Goods, rich in Holiness, -abounding in the Gifts of -Heavenly Grace, fervent in -Spirit, rejoicing in Hope, -patient in Tribulation, meek -and humble of Heart, and -keeping Peace in their Souls, -Harmony in their Ways, -Steadfastness in their Hearts, -and a joyful Unity in their -Walk through Life. These -men were indeed devoted to -God, pleasing to the Angels, -beloved of Men, unsparing to -themselves, merciful to Others, -devout in Deed, modest in -Demeanour, cheerful of Countenance, -earnest of Heart, -humble in Prosperity, high-minded -in Adversity, temperate -of Life, sober in Dress, sparing -of Sleep, modest and devout, -shining before all Men in the -Light of their Good Works. -My Soul was joined unto -these my Sons, and there was -one Faith and one Spirit within -us.<a id="FNanchor_24" href="#Footnote_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="XII">XII</h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>OF THE FOLLOWERS OF A -SPURIOUS POVERTY</p> -</div> - -<p><span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>1 John ii. 19.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Finally there rose up -among us Men who -were not of us, certain Sons of -Belial speaking Vain Things, -working Iniquity, calling themselves -Poor Men when they -were not Poor, despising and -dishonouring me who had been -loved with Whole-heartedness -by those glorious Men of -whom I have spoken, following -the Way of Balaam, the Son -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>2 Pet. ii. 15.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -of Bosor, who loved the Wages -of Sin, Men of a corrupt -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>1 Tim. vi. 5.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Mind, devoid of Truth, supposing -Gain to be Godliness, -Men who in assuming the -Habit of Holy Religion, did -not put on the New Man, but -sought to hide the Old. They -derided their Elders, and in -secret scoffed at the Life and -Character of those who had -begun the Way of Holy Conversation, -saying that they -were imprudent, merciless, and -cruel, and that I, whom these -holy ones had taken into their -Company, was idle, empty, -base, rude, lifeless, and feeble. -’Twas my great Rival who -zealously worked all this, -hiding under a Sheep’s Clothing -the Cunning of a Fox and -the Fierceness of a Wolf.</p> - -<div class="art"><img src="images/i_p007.jpg" alt="" /></div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="XIII">XIII</h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>OF AVARICE</p> -</div> - - -<p>Avarice was this Rival’s -name, and she is the -Immoderate Desire of acquiring -and holding Riches. But -they called her by a holier -Name, so that it might not -seem that they had abandoned -me, by whose Gift they had -been raised from the Dust and -lifted up out of the Mire. So -they spake gently of her to -me, but there was Craft and -Anger in their Hearts. And -though the Desolation of a -City which is set upon a Hill -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Matt. v. 14.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -cannot be hid, yet they gave -her the Name of Discretion or -Foresight, though such Discretion -were better named Confusion, -and such Foresight a -pernicious Forgetfulness of all -Good Works. And they said -unto me: Thine is the Power; -thine the Kingdom: fear not. -It is good to use Charity and -labour for Good Ends, to -succour the Needy and give -to the Poor. But I answered: -What you say is just, Brothers, -but I beseech you, consider -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>1 Cor. i. 26.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -your Calling. Do not look -back. Do not come down -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Matt. xxiv. 17.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -from the house-top to take -anything out of your Houses, -neither return back from the -fields to take your Clothes. -Do not be busied about this -World’s Affairs, nor be entangled -again in its Pollution, -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>2 Pet. ii. 20, 21.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -which you have escaped through -the Knowledge of the Saviour. -For those who are entangled -therein a second time must -needs be overcome, and the -latter End is worse with them -than the Beginning, if by a -Pretence of Piety they turn -from the Holy Commandment -which has been delivered unto -them. And after I had thus -spoken, there arose a Dissension -among them, for some -said that I was good and spoke -the Truth, but others that I -desired to seduce them into -following me, in that I was -wretched, and wished to make -them wretched with me.</p> - -<div class="art"><img src="images/i_p023.jpg" alt="" /></div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="XIV">XIV</h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>HOW THE LADY POVERTY -SPOKE OF GOOD RELIGIOUS</p> -</div> - - -<p>My Rival could not yet -drive me out of their -Land, for there were still many -Men among them in all the -great Zeal and Charity of their -First Fervour, who assailed -Heaven by their Cries, and -penetrated to the Throne of -God by their Perseverance in -Prayer, rapt in Contemplation -and despising all Things which -were of the Earth. Then the -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Eccli. xxiv. 12.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Creator of All Things commanded -me, and He Who -created me said: Let thy -Dwelling be in Jacob, and -thine inheritance in Israel, and -take thou Root in My Elect. -All which Things I most diligently -obeyed. And while I -abode with them, and we -walked together on the Royal -Road, they became, on my -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Wisdom viii. 10, 11.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -account, of good Repute -among the People, and admirable -in the Sight of the -Mighty. They were honoured -by all Men, and reputed as -Saints, though they could -not endure to be thus called, -remembering what the Son of -God had said: I seek no -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>John viii. 50.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Glory from Man; therefore -they refused all Honour offered -them by Men.</p> - -<div class="art"><img src="images/i_p079.jpg" alt="" /></div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="XV">XV</h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>HOW AVARICE TOOK THE NAME -OF DISCRETION</p> -</div> - - -<p>But whilst my Disciples -were thus walking in so -great Fervour of the Love of -Christ, Avarice, taking to -herself the Name of Discretion, -spake and said unto -them: Do not show yourselves -so severe to Mankind, nor -thus contemn their Honours, -but have a kindly Countenance -for them, and do not outwardly -reject the Honours offered to -you: be content to do so -inwardly. It is a good thing -to have the Friendship of -Kings, the Acquaintance of -Princes, the Intimacy of the -Great, for if they honour and -venerate you, if they rise up to -meet you, many seeing this -shall follow their Example, -and be the more easily turned -to God. And my Friends, -acknowledging these advantages, -but not guarding themselves -from the Snare which -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Ps. cxlii. 4.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -had been set in the Way, in -the End embraced Honours -and Glory with all their Heart. -They thought themselves to -be inwardly such as they -seemed outwardly, but they -gloried in the Praises they -received, and were like the -Foolish Virgins without Oil, -profitless servants upon the -Earth. And Men who believed -them to be interiorly -that which they seemed exteriorly, -freely offered them -their Goods in Remission of -their Sins. In the beginning -they had counted all these -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Phil. iii. 8.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Things as dung, saying: We -are Poor Men and always desire -to be Poor; we do not -desire your goods but you. -We have Food and wherewithal -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>1 Tim. vi. 8.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -to cover ourselves and -desire no more, for Vanity of -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Eccl. i. 2.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Vanities and All is Vanity. -Wherefore the devotion of -Men towards them increased -still more, so that many held -in small Regard the Goods -which they saw thus despised -of the Saints.</p> - -<div class="art"><img src="images/i_p083.jpg" alt="" /></div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="XVI">XVI</h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>HOW AVARICE TOOK THE -NAME OF PRUDENCE</p> -</div> - - -<p>That cruel Enemy of -mine, Avarice, seeing -this, began to grow exceeding -angry, and to gnash her teeth, -and in vexation of Spirit said -to herself: What shall I do? -For all the World is going -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>John xii. 19.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -after her! I will take, said -she, the Name of Prudence, -and will speak in their Hearts, -and perchance they shall hear -and consent. And she did as -she had said, speaking unto -them humble words, and saying: -What do you here all -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Matt, xx. 6.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -the Day idle and making no -Provision for the Morrow? -In what could it hurt you to -have the necessaries of Life, -so long as you lack all Superfluities? -For in Peace and -Quietness could you work out -your Salvation and the Salvation -of Mankind, if you were -supplied with all Things Needful -to you. Therefore, while -you have Time, provide for -yourselves and those who shall -come after you, for Men may -not always be so generous to -you, nor give you the customary -Gifts. It would be good -for you to be always as you -are, but that is impossible, for -God causes you daily to increase -and multiply. Would -God reject you because you -had Wherewith to give to the -Needy, and could remember -the Poor, when He Himself -has said: It is more blessed to -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Acts xx. 35.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -give than to receive? Why, -therefore, do you not receive -the Goods which are offered -you, and not defraud the -Givers of their Eternal Reward? -You need fear no harm from -the possession of Riches, so -long as you account them as -Nought. There is no Evil in -Things themselves, but only -in the Soul of Man, for God -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Gen. i. 31.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -saw All Things and they were -good. To the Good, all -Things are good, all Things -serviceable, for them All -Things were made. O how -many having possessions use -them evilly, which had they -been yours, would have been -put to a good use, for holy is -your Purpose, holy your Desire. -You do not wish to -enrich your Relations who are -already rich enough, but simply -to have All Things necessary, -so that your Conversation may -be the more honest and -orderly. These, and similar -things, she said unto them, -and some having already a -corrupt Conscience, gave a -ready Assent. But others -turned a deaf ear to her Sayings, -and by shrewd Answers -refuted her Reasoning, alleging, -as did also their opponents, -Arguments from Holy Writ.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="XVII">XVII</h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>HOW AVARICE CALLED IN THE -AID OF SLOTH</p> -</div> - - -<p>But Avarice, seeing that -she could not, unaided, -attain her ends upon my Disciples, -changed her plan, that -she might better fulfil her -Purpose. So she called in -Sloth, who neglects to begin -good Works, or to finish those -begun. And Avarice made a -Treaty with Sloth, and entered -into a Compact with her -against the Religious. They -were not intimate, these two, -nor closely affined, but they -readily made Common Cause -in Evil-doing, as formerly did -Pilate with Herod against the -Messiah. And when their -Plan was laid, Sloth began -her Ravages, and having given -Assault with her Satellites, she -entered the Domain of the -Religious, and by sheer Force -carried off their Arms and -extinguished their Charity, -reducing them to Tepidity and -Sluggishness. And so, a little -also by Pusillanimity of Spirit, -they became altogether dead -of Heart.</p> - -<div class="art"><img src="images/i_p091.jpg" alt="" /></div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="XVIII">XVIII</h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>OF THE RELIGIOUS WHO WERE -CONQUERED BY SLOTH<a id="FNanchor_25" href="#Footnote_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a></p> -</div> - - -<p>After a While some of -the Religious began to -sigh most lamentably for the -Flesh-pots of Egypt which -they had left behind, and -ignobly to seek what with -noble Heart they had abandoned. -They fretted at having -to walk in the Ways of -God’s Commandments, and -followed His Injunctions with -a barren Heart. They grew -faint under their Burden, and -for Want of the Spirit could -scarcely breathe. Compunction -they rarely felt, and never -Contrition; at Obedience they -murmured; their Thoughts -were Earthy, their Joy carnal, -paltry their Sorrow and their -Speech imprudent, their -Laughter easily provoked. -Mirthful of Visage, their -Carriage full of Vanity, their -Garments soft and delicate, -carefully cut, and still more -carefully fashioned, they slept -inordinately, ate overmuch, and -drank intemperately. Their -talk was full of Jests, and -Railleries, and Idle Words. -They engaged in Story-telling, -changed the Rule, disposed -of Patronage, and were busily -occupied about the Affairs of -the World. Of Spiritual Exercises -there was no Care or -Thought; but rarely Exhortations -to save the Soul; they -had become lukewarm in -Celestial Things. In the -Hardness of their Hearts they -began to envy one another, to -provoke one another, to domineer -over one another, one -Brother eagerly bringing the -vilest Accusations against -another. They shunned Gravity, -and sought false Sources -of Joy, seeing that they could -not have the true. Nevertheless -they kept up some show -of Sanctity, so that they might -not be utterly despised, and -by holy Talk they sought to -hide their wretched way of -Life from the Simple. But -so great was the Ruin of the -Interior Man, that, unable to -contain themselves, their evil -Life burst forth in exterior -Manifestations. In short they -began to fawn upon the -World, striking bargains with -Worldlings that they might -empty their Purses, and they -enlarged their Buildings and -multiplied those Things which -they had forever renounced. -They bartered their Words to -the Rich, and their Courtesies -to Noble Ladies. They eagerly -frequented the Courts of -Kings and Princes, that they -might join House to House -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Isa. v. 8.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -and lay field to field. And -now they have become great -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Jer. v. 27.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -and rich, and have waxed -strong, because they have -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Jer. ix. 3.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -proceeded from Evil to Evil -and have not known God. -They were cast down when -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Ps. lxxii. 18.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -they were lifted up; they fell -to the Earth before their -Birth, and yet they say unto -me: We are thy Friends.</p> - -<div class="art"><img src="images/i_p091.jpg" alt="" /></div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="XIX">XIX</h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>HOW THE LADY POVERTY -SORROWED OVER CERTAIN -RELIGIOUS WHO WERE POOR -IN THE WORLD, AND YET -MORE PRONE THAN OTHERS -TO SELF-INDULGENCE IN -RELIGION</p> -</div> - - -<p>In my Sorrow I sorrowed -all the more over certain -Religious who had been poor -and contemptible in the World, -and yet grew rich after they -had come to me. And when -they had waxed fat and gross -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Deut. xxxii. 15.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -beyond the rest, they spurned -and derided me. They in the -World were thought unworthy -of Life, being destitute through -Need and Hunger. Once -they ate Grass and the Bark -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Job xxx. 4.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -of trees, they were disfigured -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Job xxx. 31.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -by their Calamity and Misery, -and now they are not content -with the Community Life, but -separate themselves without -shame, eating of special Meats. -Their Example in this is hurtful -to the rest, and, moreover, -they aspire to Honour among -the Disciples of Christ, who in -this World were held most -worthy of Contempt. They -who often wanted for Barley-bread -and Water, and were -glad to lie under the Hedges, -were the Sons of the Ignorant -and Mean and Unknown, on a -level with my own Wretchedness. -Now they hate me and -fly far from me, and are not -ashamed to spit in my face. -I have suffered Contumely -and Terrors at their Hands, -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Jer. xx. 10.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -and those who were my -Friends and stood by my side -have insulted me. They grew -ashamed of me, and cast me -off all the more that they knew -they had been enriched by my -Favours, so much so that they -even scorned to hear my -Name.</p> - -<p><span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Jer. iii. 22.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -In my Sorrow I sorrowed -and said unto them: Return, -ye rebellious Children, and I -will heal your Backslidings. -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Luke xii. 15, and Ephes. v. 5.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Take heed and beware of -Avarice, which is the Service -of Idols, for the Avaricious -Man shall not be satisfied with -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Eccl. v. 9.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Silver. Call to Mind your -former Days in which, being -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Heb. x. 32.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -illuminated, you endured a -great Fight of Afflictions. -Do not be of them who draw -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Heb. x. 39.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -back unto Perdition, but of -them that believe to the Saving -of the Soul. He who made -void the Law of Moses died -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Heb. x. 28.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -without Mercy under two or -three Witnesses. How much -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Heb. x. 29.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -more, think you, doth he deserve -sorer Punishment, who -hath trodden under Foot the -Son of God, and hath accounted -the Blood of the Covenant, by -which he was sanctified, an -unclean thing, and hath done -despite to the Spirit of Grace? -Return, then, ye Transgressors, -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Isa. xlvi. 8.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -search your Hearts, for a -Man’s life consisteth not in -the abundance of Things which -he possesseth.</p> - -<p><span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Job xix. 21, 22.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -But they were angered, and -said: Go to, depart from us, -thou miserable thing. We -desire not the knowledge of -thy Ways. And I answered -and said unto them: Have -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Luke xii. 15.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -pity upon me, have pity upon -me, at least, O ye, my Friends. -Why do you persecute me -without a Cause? Did I not -tell you that your Ways and -mine would not agree? It -repenteth me that I have ever -seen you.</p> - -<p><span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Cant. vi. 12.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -And the Word of the Lord -came to me, saying: Return, -return, O Shulamite, return, -return, that we may look upon -thee. These are the Children -of Wrath; they will not hear -thee, because they will not -hear Me. Their Hearts have -become stubborn and unbelieving; -they have departed -and gone away, but they have -not rejected thee without rejecting -Me. For thou hast -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Jer. xiii. 21.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -taught them against thee, and -instructed them against thine -own Head, for if they had -never received thee, they would -never have been made rich. -They pretended to love thee, -so that having received thy -Benefits, they might depart -from thee. Wherefore under -adverse Temptation they have -turned away, and having laid -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Jer. viii. 5.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -hold on Lying, they would not -return. Do not again believe -those that speak thee fair, for -they despise thee and seek thy -Life. Do not offer Prayers -or Hymns for them, for I will -not hear thee: I have cast -them off because they have -despised Me.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="XX">XX</h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>HOW THE LADY POVERTY -SHOWED THE BLESSED FRANCIS -THE PERFECT WALK IN -THE RELIGIOUS LIFE.</p> -</div> - - -<p><span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Prov. iv. 25.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Lo! then, dear Brothers, I -have told you a long -story, so that your eyes may -behold where you go, and -that you may see what you -should do. It is perilous to -look back and attempt to -deceive God. Remember -Lot’s wife, and do not believe -every Spirit. But I have -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Luke xvii. 32, and 1 John iv. 1.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -confidence in you, dearest -Brothers, for I see better -Things in you than in any -others, and you are nearer to -Salvation. You seem to have -abandoned Everything, and to -have freed yourselves from all -Burdens. And the best proof -is this, that you have ascended -this Mountain, which it is -given to so few to do. But -I tell you, dear Friends, that -the Wickedness of many -others hath made me suspicious -of the Virtues of the -Good, for I have too oft had -experience of ravening Wolves -in Sheeps’ Clothing.</p> - -<p>I desire that each one of -you should become a Follower -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Heb. vi. 12.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -of the Saints, who by Faith -and Patience have come into -my Inheritance. But because -I dread lest the Fate of others -should overtake you, I give -you this salutary Counsel: -that you should not in the -Beginning aim at the Higher -and more Hidden Things, but -that, setting Christ before -you, you should little by little -come to the Highest. Take -heed lest, when the dung of -Poverty has been laid about -your Roots, you should after -all be found barren, for then -there will remain nothing but -the Axe. Do not trust entirely -to the Love which you -now have, for Man is more -prone to Evil than to Good, -and the Soul easily returns to -former Habits, even though it -may long have been separated -from them. I know that with -your great Fervour all Things -seem easy to you. But remember -what is written: -Behold they that serve Him -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Job iv. 18.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -are not steadfast, and in His -Angels He found Wickedness. -At first it will seem sweet to -you to bear Anything, but -after awhile, lulled in Security, -you will become careless of the -Blessings you have received. -You will imagine that you can -return to Him whenever you -wish, and find the old consolation. -But the Spirit of Negligence, -once admitted, is not -so easily got rid of. Your -Heart will turn after other -Things, but Reason will call -you to return to the Former -Things. Lapsed into Sloth -and Idleness, Words of Excuse -will rise easily to your Lips: -We cannot be strong as we -were in the Beginning, and -now the Times are changed; -not knowing that it is written: -When a Man hath come to -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Eccli. xvii. 6.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -his End then would he make a -Beginning. For a voice will -always dwell in your Hearts, -saying: To-morrow, and To-morrow, -we will return to the -former Man, for it was better -with us then than it is now. -Behold, I have foretold you -many Things, my Brothers, -and many other things have I -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>John xvi. 12.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -to say unto you, which ye -cannot bear now. But the -Hour cometh when I shall -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>John xvi. 25.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -speak to you plainly of All -Things.</p> - -<div class="art"><img src="images/i_p027.jpg" alt="" /></div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="XXI">XXI</h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>HOW THE BLESSED FRANCIS -MADE ANSWER TO THE -LADY POVERTY</p> -</div> - - -<p>And when my Lady had -made an end of speaking, -the Blessed Francis, with -his Companions, fell upon his -Face, giving Thanks to God, -and said: Thy Sayings, O -Lady, are well-pleasing unto -us, nor in ought that thou -hast said can we find any -Fault. All that we have -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>3 Kings x. 6.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -heard in our Land concerning -thy Words and thy Wisdom, -is most true; nay, far greater -is thy Wisdom than the Fame -thereof. Blessed are thy -Servants and Disciples, who -dwell forever with thee and -hear thy Words of Wisdom. -May the Lord thy God, to -Whom thou wast pleasing -from all Eternity, be forever -blessed, Who loved thee and -made thee Queen, that thou -mightest execute Judgment -and Mercy on thy Servants. -O how good and how sweet is -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Wisdom xii. 1.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -thy Spirit, chastising the Erring, -and admonishing Sinners. -Behold, O Lady, by the Love -wherewith the Eternal King -did love thee, by the Love -wherewith thou didst love -Him, we beseech thee do not -despise our petition, but deal -with us according to thy Mercy -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Wisdom xvii. 1.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -and Loving-kindness. Great -are thy Works, and beyond -the Tongue of man to tell, -wherefore undisciplined Souls -fly from thee, for thou walkest -alone in rocky Places, terrible -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Cant. vi. 3.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -as an Army set in Array,<a id="FNanchor_26" href="#Footnote_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> and -Fools cannot dwell with thee. -But we are thy servants and -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Ps. xcix. 2.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -the Sheep of thy Pasture -Forever, and Forever and -Ever, have we sworn and -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Ps. cxviii. 106.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -determined to keep the Judgments -of thy Justice.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="XXII">XXII</h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<p>HOW THE LADY POVERTY -GAVE HER CONSENT</p> -</div> - -<p>At these Words my Lady -Poverty was deeply -moved, and as her Property is -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Collect from the Litany of the Saints.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -to have Mercy and spare, she -could restrain herself no longer, -but having speedily embraced -them, and given to each the -Kiss of Peace, she said: Behold, -my Brothers and my -Sons, I will come with you, -because I know that through -you I shall win many more.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="XXIII">XXIII</h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>HOW THE BLESSED FRANCIS -THANKED GOD FOR THE -CONSENT OF THE LADY -POVERTY</p> -</div> - - -<p>But the Blessed Francis, -beside himself for joy, -began to praise Almighty -God with a loud Voice, for -that He had not abandoned -those who trusted in Him, -saying: Bless the Lord, all ye -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Tob. xiii. 10.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -His Elect, keep Days of -Rejoicing, and give Glory -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Ps. cv. 1.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -unto Him, for He is Good and -His Mercy endureth Forever. -And coming down from the -Mountain they brought my -Lady Poverty to the Place -where they dwelt. And it -was about the Sixth Hour.</p> - -<div class="art"><img src="images/i_p079.jpg" alt="" /></div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="XXIV">XXIV</h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>OF THE SOJOURN OF MY LADY -POVERTY WITH THE BROTHERS</p> -</div> - - -<p>And when the Brothers -had made all Things -ready, they urged the Lady -Poverty to eat with them. -But she said unto them: Show -me first your Oratory, the -Cloister and Chapter House, -the Refectory, Kitchen, Dormitory, -and Stables, your fine -Seats and polished Tables and -noble Houses. For I see -none of these Things, and yet -I do see that you are blithe -and cheerful, abounding in -Joy, filled with Consolation, as -if you expected all these -Things to be supplied to you -at will. But they made answer -and said: O Lady and Queen, -we thy Servants are weary -with the long Journey, and -thou in coming with us hast -endured not a little. Therefore, -if it please thee, let us -eat first, and thus refreshed, -we will do thy Bidding. And -my Lady answered: It pleaseth -me well. But first bring -Water that we may wash our -Hands, and a Cloth wherewith -to dry them. And they -brought forth a broken earthenware -Vessel—for they had -no sound one—full of Water. -And having poured the Water -on her hands they searched -on all sides for a Cloth. But -when none could be found, -one of the Brethren offered -the Habit he wore, that therewith -my Lady might wipe her -Hands. And giving Thanks -she took it, magnifying God -with all her Heart Who had -given her such Men as Companions.</p> - -<p>And after this they led her -to the Place where the Table -was made ready. But she -looked round about, and seeing -Nothing save three or four -Crusts of Barley-bread laid -upon the Grass, she marvelled -exceedingly within herself, -saying: Who ever saw the -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Wisdom xii. 13, 18, 19.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Like in the Generations of -Old? Blessed art Thou, O -Lord God, Who hast care of -All, for Thy Power is at hand -when Thou wilt, and Thou -hast taught Thy People, that -by such Works they may -please Thee. And thus they -sat a while giving Thanks to -God for all His Gifts. Then -my Lady Poverty commanded -them to bring in Dishes the -Food which they had cooked. -But they fetched a Basin full -of cold Water, that all might -dip their Bread therein, for -here was there no abundance -of Dishes or superfluity of -Cooks. My Lady Poverty -then begged that she might -at least have some uncooked -savoury Herbs, but having -neither Garden nor Gardener, -the Brethren gathered some -wild Herbs in the Wood, and -placed them before her. Who -said: Bring me a little Salt, -that I may savour these Herbs, -for they are bitter. But they -answered her: Then must thou -tarry a while, Lady, until we -go into the City to obtain it, -if haply there should be any -one who would give us some. -Then she asked them, saying: -Fetch hither a Knife that I -may trim these Herbs, and cut -the Bread, which verily is hard -and dry. Who answered: O -Lady, we have no Smith to -make us knives. For the -present, use thy Teeth in the -place of a Knife, and afterwards -we will provide. Whereupon -she said: Have you a -little Wine? To which they -answered: No, Lady, we have -no Wine, for the necessaries of -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Eccli. xxix. 28.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Man’s Life are Bread and -Water, and it is not good for -thee to drink Wine, for the -Spouse of Christ should shun -Wine as Poison.</p> - -<p>And when they were satisfied, -rejoicing more in the -Nobility of Want than if they -had had an Abundance of All -Things, they blessed the Lord, -in Whose Sight they had -found such Favour, and led -my Lady Poverty to a Place -where she might sleep, for she -was weary. And she lay down -upon the bare ground. And -when she asked for a Pillow, -they straightway brought her -a Stone, and laid it under her -Head. So after she had slept -for a brief space in Peace, she -arose and asked the Brothers -to show her their Cloister. -And they, leading her to the -Summit of a Hill, showed her -the wide World, saying: This -is our Cloister, O Lady -Poverty. Thereupon she bade -them all sit down together, -and opening her Mouth she -began to speak unto them -Words of Life, saying:</p> - -<div class="art"><img src="images/i_p129.jpg" alt="" /></div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="XXV">XXV</h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>HOW MY LADY POVERTY -BLESSED THE BROTHERS, -EXHORTING THEM TO PERSEVERE -IN THE GRACE -WHICH THEY HAD RECEIVED</p> -</div> - - -<p>Blessed are you, my -Sons, of the Lord who -made Heaven and Earth, who -have received me into your -House with such Fulness of -Charity that it seems to me as -if, being with you, I had to-day -been in Paradise. Wherefore -I am full of Joy and abound -in Consolation, and I ask -pardon of you for having so -long delayed my Coming. -Verily the Lord is with you, -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Gen. xxviii. 16.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -and I knew it not. Behold, -what I longed for I see, what -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Antiphon at the Benedictus in the Feast of St Agnes.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -I desired I hold, for I am joined -to them that are a type upon -Earth of Him to Whom I -am espoused in Heaven. The -Lord bless your Fortitude, -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Deut. xxxiii. 11.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -and receive the Work of your -Hands. I pray and most -earnestly beseech you, as -most dear Sons, to persevere -in those Things which you -have begun by the Inspiration -of the Holy Ghost, not abandoning -your Perfection as is -the Custom with some, but -avoiding all the Snares of -Darkness, strive ever after -Things more Perfect. Most -high is your Perfection, above -Man and the Strength of Man, -and it excels in its Brightness -the Perfection of your Forefathers. -Have no Doubt or -Fear concerning the Kingdom -of Heaven, for you already -hold the Earnest of Future -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Eph. i. 14.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Inheritance and a Pledge of -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>2 Cor. v. 5.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -the Spirit, being sealed with -the Seal of the Glory of Christ, -and are like in all things, by -His Grace, to that first Company -of Disciples which He -gathered about Him when He -came into the World. For -that which they did when He -was with them, you have done -not seeing Him, and you need -not fear to say: Behold we -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Matt. xix. 27.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -have left all Things and have -followed Thee.</p> - -<p>Let not the Greatness of the -Fight, nor the Magnitude of -the Labour hinder you, for -Great shall be your Reward. -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Heb. x. 35.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Looking unto the Author and -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Heb. xii. 2.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Finisher of All Good Things, -Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who -having Joy set before Him, -endured the Cross, despising -the Shame, hold fast to the -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Heb. x. 23.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Confession of your Hope, -without wavering. Run with -Charity to the Fight that is -before you; run, too, with -Patience which is most -necessary to you, that by so -doing the Will of God you -may receive the Promise. For -God is able by His Holy -Grace to bring to a happy -Consummation, the Work -which is above your Strength, -because He is faithful to His -Promises. Let nothing be -found in you pleasing to the -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Eph. ii. 2.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Spirit of the Children of Unbelief, -let there be no Doubt -or Hesitation, lest in working -their Wickedness against you, -they convict you of Consent. -For it is a proud Spirit, but -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Isa. xvi. 6.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -its Pride and Arrogancy are -greater than its Strength. This -Spirit is exceeding wrath with -you, and it will turn against -you all the Arms of its -Cunning. It will seek to -pour out the Venom of its -Malice upon you, like one who -in fighting had thought all -his Enemies vanquished, and -now rages to see you looking -down upon him. All the -Inhabitants of Heaven, O -dearest Brothers, rejoice exceedingly -in your Conversion, -and have sung a new Song -before the Face of the Eternal -King. The Angels rejoice -because of you, for through -you many shall continue -Virgins, they shall be resplendent -in Chastity, and shall fill -the empty places in the City -on High, where Virgins are -established in especial Glory, -for those that neither marry -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Matt. xxii. 30.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -nor are given in Marriage are -like the Angels in Heaven. -The Apostles exult at seeing -their Life renewed, and their -Doctrine preached, and because -you show an Example -of the Highest Sanctity. And -the Martyrs exult, waiting to -see their Constancy in the -Shedding of Blood made manifest -in you also. The Confessors -dance before the Lord, -knowing that their Victory in -the Face of the Enemy is often -to be repeated in you. The -Virgins who follow the Lamb -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Rev. xiv. 4.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -whithersoever He goeth, likewise -rejoice, knowing that by -you many will be daily added -to their Number. The Whole -Court of Heaven is filled with -Joy, for daily shall they keep -the Festival of some new -Inhabitant, and because they -shall be continually incensed -with the Odour of Holy -Prayers ascending from this -Valley of Tears.</p> - -<p><span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Rom. xii. 1.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -Therefore, I beseech you, -dear Brothers, by the Mercy -of God, for which you have -made yourselves thus Poor, -carry out that which you have -come to do, for which you left -the Rivers of Babylon. Receive -in all Humility the Grace -which has been given you, use -it worthily in All Things, and -always for the Praise, Honour, -and Glory of Him Who died -for you, Our Lord Jesus Christ, -Who with the Father and the -Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth, -Victorious and Glorious, -Eternal God, World without -End,</p> - - -<p class="center p2">AMEN</p> - - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p class="p2">HERE ENDETH THE TREATISE -CONCERNING THE LADY -POVERTY AND OUR SERAPHIC -FATHER, THE BLESSED -FRANCIS.</p> -</div> - -<p class="p2">This Work was done in the Month -of July, after the Death of the Blessed -Francis, in the Year One thousand -two hundred and twenty-seven after the -Incarnation of OUR LORD and -SAVIOUR, JESUS CHRIST.</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="ON_THE_SPIRITUAL">ON THE SPIRITUAL -SIGNIFICANCE -OF EVANGELICAL -POVERTY</h2> -</div> - -<p class="center fs">BY</p> - -<p class="center">FATHER CUTHBERT, O.S.F.C.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="blockquot chapter"> -<p>THE SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE -OF EVANGELICAL -POVERTY</p> -</div> - - -<p>“This is the sublimity of -most high Poverty -which has made you, beloved -brethren, heirs and kings of -the Kingdom of Heaven.”<a id="FNanchor_27" href="#Footnote_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> -Thus wrote St Francis of -Assisi when he gave his disciples -the Rule which obliged -them to “serve the Lord in -poverty and humility.” It is -easy to recognise in these -words the note of exultation -and achievement which made -St Francis the most inspiring -personality in Mediæval -Christendom, and which gives -to his name, even to-day, a singular -power over the imagination -of the Christian World. -Clad in his peasant’s dress, -and with no possessions of his -own in the world save his soul -and body,<a id="FNanchor_28" href="#Footnote_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> he is nevertheless -the man rich in all things that -are of vital interest, the clear -spiritual vision, the perfect joy, -the encompassing sympathy, -which gathers all palpitating -life into its own. Francis -<i>lived</i>, if ever a man lived. His -was the liberty of soul which -finds the joy of life in all Creation.</p> - -<p>Artificial stimulus and transient -excitement could add -nought to the Joy that was -his. To him the sky and the -earth, the sun and the flowers, -the fields and all living things, -spoke with articulate speech of -the life that is in them. -As for his fellow-men, their -life was his life. He had come -to pass beyond the bounds of -his own personality, and to -enter into that spiritual communion -with all living things, -whereby man escapes from his -own limitations, and the world -lives in him as he in the world. -And above all, and yet in all, -he beheld the ever blessed -God, the Author of all life -that is. To Francis, God was -ever present in the Creation, -the Life behind all life. “The -Heavens show forth the Glory -of God, and the Firmament -declareth the Work of His -Hands.” The intimate relationship -binding creation to its -Creator was to him an abiding -perception; he could not think -of Earth apart from Heaven, -nor of finite man apart from -the Infinite God. Whatever -was good and beautiful was to -him an indication of the Divine -Goodness and Beauty, a portal -of the Eternal Kingdom; and -with keen spiritual intuition he -discovered the good and the -beautiful, where men of lesser -sensibility would only find the -commonplace and the material. -“To them that love God, all -things work together unto -Good;”<a id="FNanchor_29" href="#Footnote_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> the truly spiritual -man discovers the imprint of -the Divine Life along all the -highways and byways of -Creation: just as the poet’s -eye discovers beauty in the -woodland through which the -ordinary wayfarer passes unheeding.</p> - -<p>Thus the whole creation -poured into the Soul of Francis -an unceasing stream of spiritual -life, and with the inflowing -life came joy—joy unutterable; -and sorrow too. For life as it -is, has no joy altogether separate -from pain. There is tragedy -in the purest romance, death -even where there is life. And -so the “joyous troubadour of -God” sorrowed much because -of the shadow that lay across -the sunshine. To him personally -life was joy, such was -his liberty of spirit; but it was -not so to all men. Many are -they to whom life is sorrow; -they walk as in a dark valley -with but the twilight around -them; nay, at times with no -light at all, but only darkness, -and their souls are starved for -lack of light and warmth; even -when in their ignorance or -despair they seek pleasure in -the immediate objects of sense -around them. For these he -sorrowed with the sorrow of -Christ weeping over Jerusalem. -It was a sorrow which kept him -at long vigils when the world -lay asleep, praying for mercy -for the souls of men. Yet this -sorrow could not destroy the -essential joy of life which was -his in a super-eminent degree. -He sorrowed as many a man -and woman sorrows over a -friend who is deprived of the -happiness which is their own.</p> - -<p>Truly was Francis a “King -and heir of the Kingdom,” if -Kingship means sovereign possession; -for he found what is -best in life and had it as his -own, nought else than the very -joy of life. Francis himself -has told us how this joy of -life came to him with the absolute -renunciation of what -the world at large holds most -dear—wealth, place, and -power. In renunciation he -found spiritual freedom, and -with it joy. No man is truly -joyous whose joy does not -spring from his own soul, or -from that inalienable possession -of the world which comes -of spiritual communion with -what is good and true in it, -and therefore Eternal.</p> - -<p>The joy which is dependent -upon the possession of the -merely visible and material -can never reach the inmost -spirit of man, even were such -possession not, at best, uncertain -and of its nature -transitory. Nay, the joy of -life, which springs from man’s -own spirit, is impossible to him -whose heart is set upon the -merely external world. For -the spiritual and the material -are in the immediate aspect a -simple antithesis; so that where -the one is, the other cannot be. -“You cannot serve God and -mammon.” You cannot satisfy -your nature with the transitory, -and yet retain an appetite for -the Eternal. Consequently, he -who would be free and retain -a relish for the life of the -Spirit, must beware of the lust -of the earth, and keep a detached -heart towards what is -of its nature unspiritual.</p> - -<p>To St Francis, a man -amongst men, the lust of the -earth was radically allied with -pride of class, an inordinate -ambitiousness of glory, and a -love of luxury. Poverty, as -Francis understood it, meant -the antithesis of all this. The -Lady Poverty (to borrow the -Saint’s own imagery) was an -outcast; she was the despised -of men; and she walked amid -the rough ways of the earth -with threadbare garments and -bruised feet.</p> - -<p>The story how Francis found -his ideal bride and came to -love her with chivalric devotion, -is too well known to need -repetition. The final act in -the drama came when one day, -riding in the plain before -Assisi, he was met by a leper -who besought an alms, and, -filled with disgust, he at first -thought to pass on, but, moved -by a nobler impulse, cast himself -from his horse, and not -only gave the alms, but folded -the leper to his breast and -embraced him. From that -moment he himself has told -us that “what had seemed -bitter was changed into sweetness -of soul and body, and not -long afterwards I left the -world.”<a id="FNanchor_30" href="#Footnote_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a></p> - -<p>The embrace of the leper -marked the final abandonment -in Francis’ soul of the sense -of separation between himself, -the son of the wealthy Bernardone, -and the outcasts of -society. Henceforth to Francis, -the poor and the outcast were -human brethren, worthy of a -brother’s intimate love and -care. In the same moment he -cast aside, once for all, his -youthful dream of entering -the ranks of chivalry, and -seeking renown in battle and -tournament. Henceforth he -would be the servant of his -brothers the poor, and “serve -the Lord in Poverty and -Humility.”</p> - -<p>The path of renunciation -was further determined for -him when his new ideal of -life clashed with the commercial -interests of his family. -In the newly-awakened consciousness -of his kinship with -the poor, he considered his -share in the family business as -their share, and freely parted -with what he had a right to -consider his own. Pietro -Bernardone, his father, foresaw -commercial ruin from such a -course, and when he found -that Francis was indissolubly -wedded to his ideal, promptly -disinherited him. Henceforth -Francis was without house or -property of his own. With -the keenness of a soul set free, -he at once recognised in his -father’s act of disinheritance -the charter of his spiritual -freedom. “Now in truth can -I say: Our Father Who art -in Heaven!” Heaven and -earth became his when in -the moment of abandonment -he called God his Father. -Thus he cast from himself -forever the three dominant -tyrannies which in his own age -and since, have oppressed the -souls of men—wealth, place, -and power. He had become -in very truth the Poor Man of -Assisi, and yet who was -richer than he?</p> - -<p>Never did Francis regret his -renunciation, but ever did the -thought of it fill him with -gratitude and joy. One day, -some years after his disinheritance, -the Saint and one of his -disciples, Brother Masseo, -were eating a scanty meal of -broken bread, begged by the -way; they ate near a fountain, -and a large stone was their -table. “O Brother Masseo,” -said Francis, his soul bubbling -with joy, “we are not worthy -of so great a treasure;” and he -repeated these words several -times. Brother Masseo answered: -“Father, how canst -thou talk of a treasure where -there is so much poverty -and indeed a lack of all -things? for we have neither -cloth, nor knife nor dish, -nor table, nor house; neither -have we servant nor maid -to wait upon us.” Then -said the Saint: “And this is -the very reason why I look -upon it as a great treasure, -because man has no hand in it, -but all has been given us by -Divine Providence, as we -clearly see in this bread of -charity, in this beautiful table -of stone, and in this clear -fountain.”<a id="FNanchor_31" href="#Footnote_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> Surely here we -find the very apotheosis of -poverty; of the poverty which, -discarding the artificial, is -happy in the simple realities -and in the bounties of nature, -and feels no barrier between -itself and the spiritual -possession of the very earth -itself.</p> - -<p>Here it may be as well to -take note how alien is the -poverty of Francis from the -vulgarity and squalor, the -idleness and discontent, which -mark too frequently the life -of the poor. No greater misconception -of Franciscan -poverty could there be than -to conceive it as sanctioning -or condoning any condition -that detracts from the proper -native dignity of man. The -“Lady Poverty” of Francis -went with bare and bruised -feet, her garment was coarse, -and she ate but the bread of -the peasant; but she retained -her native dignity of soul, -and bore herself as a Queen -wherever she went. She -delighted in the pure air, -and the flowers, and the -running stream, was honest -and self-revering, simple and -joyous.</p> - -<p>The poverty of our city -slums where hearts break in -discontent, and souls are -starved for lack of spiritual -intelligence—such was not the -poverty of Francis’ dream. -To use again his own manner -of speech, this is poverty in -slavery, degraded and dishonoured -by the vice and -selfishness of man. With a -full heart would he have set -himself to rescue his Ideal -from her modern degradation -and restore her to her place -of honour upon the earth. -Knight-errant as he was, he -would not have rested until -poverty was made honourable -amongst men. To rescue the -poor from the conditions which -have so effectually demoralised -them during the past two or -three centuries of unheeding -individualism, would undoubtedly -have been to Francis -a first and urgent duty were -he with us to-day. Even in -his own time he regarded with -anxiety the conditions which -debased the poor; even then -he considered himself the -knight-errant sent to rescue -the comely maiden Poverty -from the neglect and heartless -scorn of the world.<a id="FNanchor_32" href="#Footnote_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> But was -ever Italian peasant so utterly -degraded as are many of the -victims of modern industrialism? -Poverty with Francis -was the mother of spiritual -freedom; poverty in the -London slum is synonymous -with hard materialism and -irreligion. Was ever contrast -greater? And yet Francis -has made evident to us that -beneath the squalor and degradation -of the modern city, -there is a spiritual possibility, -if only it can be recovered. -But will it ever be that poverty -shall again regain amongst the -hungry multitude the honourable -estate with which the -Saint of Assisi had endowed -it? Will it ever be rescued -from its present inhuman conditions? -The future only can -tell; and they who strive that -it shall be so can only work -in the strength of their faith; -but faith verily can accomplish -the apparently impossible, if -faith itself be strong. Meanwhile -the ideal of Francis has -assuredly a prophetic message -for the multitude which is not -hungry.</p> - -<p>Poverty, as Francis preached -it, is an integral element in the -Christian life. Christianity -imperatively demands of all -its followers an acceptance of -the truth which Francis embodied -so wonderfully in himself. -No one can enter the -Kingdom of Heaven unless he -be as Francis was, a lover of -Poverty. Such is the Gospel. -“Blessed are the poor in spirit, -for theirs is the Kingdom of -Heaven.”<a id="FNanchor_33" href="#Footnote_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> There are those -who so interpret this beatitude -as to empty it of all significance -concerning material -possessions. The meaning of -Christ, however, is made clear, -by His own earthly life and by -the lives of His early disciples. -“Poverty of Spirit” means -nothing less than detachment -of heart from the possession or -achievement of material gain, -and from its attendant -pleasures. No man can be a -disciple of Christ who is not -free from the moral slavery -which wealth and temporal -possessions so easily set upon -the soul. To no man is given -the spiritual insight and vision -which alone can bring rest -eternal to man’s spirit, unless -he have first put from him -the lust of the earth. And -according to the measure -of his detachment is spiritual -achievement possible.</p> - -<p>Is then every man to imitate -St Francis of Assisi, -and cast off all wealth and -become dependent upon the -labour of his hands or the -charity of his neighbour? No -such claim is made by Francis, -for it was not made by Christ. -If Christ demanded of the -young man that he should “go -and sell what he had and give -it to the poor” in order to -follow Him, He also acquiesced -in the rich Zacchæus -keeping his wealth so long as -he did not neglect his duty to -those in need. Francis, too, -following the Divine Model, -gave no injunction to the -Lord of Chiusi or to the Lady -Giacoma to renounce their -property, and he expressly -forbade his friars, who like -himself gave up all right of -possession, to judge those who -have possessions. No, it is not -the holding of property, but -the selfish misuse of it and the -inordinate desire of material -gain and its pleasures, which -is opposed to the virtue of -evangelical poverty. In few -words may the Christian precept -of poverty be set forth: -Let no man set his heart on -any material possession for its -own sake, or for the mere -holding of it; if a man is lacking -in this world’s goods, let -him not fret nor complain, -but seek rather the life of the -spirit. If, on the other hand, -he is endowed with this world’s -goods, either by inheritance or -as the result of honest labour, -let him bear in mind that such -goods are not absolutely his -own; they belong, in the first -instance, to God, the Master of -all, and may rightfully be used -and distributed only subject to -the Divine laws of justice and -charity. No man has an -absolute ownership before -God, so that he may satisfy -his own whim or pleasure -without consideration for what -is due by Divine Law to his -fellow-men. Possession in the -sphere of conscience is stewardship. -The rich are God’s -stewards, appointed to “give -to every man his just measure -in due season.” Such briefly -is the precept of Evangelical -Poverty—a precept which has -no direct connection with any -theory of social economics, but -is based upon the fundamental -law of religion, that only the -poor in spirit are spiritually -free and capable of citizenship -in the realm of eternal life.</p> - -<p>Assuredly to us who live our -lives upon the pulse of a great -industrial empire, this message -of the Poverello comes with a -distinctness not to be passed -unheeded. As a race we are -a prosperous people, and -money-making is our first -preoccupation. Luxuries are -easily within our grasp; cheap -luxuries, perhaps, which is all -the worse, for that very cheapness -is a snare blinding us to -the fact that what we indulge -in is a luxury. In money-making -and luxury lie the -elemental dangers to our -spiritual life. “Money,” says -Cardinal Newman, “is a sort -of creation, and gives the -acquirer, even more than the -possessor, an imagination of -his own power, and tends to -make him idolise himself. -Again, what we have hardly -won we are unwilling to part -with; so that a man who has -himself made his wealth will -commonly be penurious, or, at -least, will not part with it except -in exchange for what will -reflect credit on himself or increase -his importance. Even -when his conduct is most disinterested -and amiable (as in -spending for the comfort of -those who depend on him), -still this indulgence of self, -of pride, and worldliness insinuates -itself.” And he adds: -“If such be the effect of the -pursuit of gain on an individual, -doubtless it will be -the same on a nation; and if -the peril be so great in the one -case, why should it be less in -the other?”<a id="FNanchor_34" href="#Footnote_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> The enduring -strength of a nation, as of an -individual, depends upon moral -fibre and spiritual vision. If -these be destroyed no nation -can long remain save as a warning -to the nations that shall -come. Undoubtedly there are -strong tendencies amongst us -towards the worship of wealth -and its attendant luxuries and -towards a selfish accumulation -of wealth beyond all possible -needs, tendencies which acquire -strength with the growth of -empire and trade. Well for -us is it that at this time -Francis of Assisi is becoming -widely known. To all who -revolt against the vulgar -materialism which dominates -so much of our present life, -Francis of Assisi is as a -prophet sent by God. Standing -against the dark background -of Avarice and Luxury -which had already infested the -growing commercial centres of -the mediæval world, he throws -the light of his own clear personality -into the dark corners -of our own life.</p> - -<p>We yearn, many of us, for -a deeper spiritual life; we -sorrow because the joy of -life seems flitting ever further -and further away from this -complex social organism of -ours. We seek direction, and -the Poverello is here to lead us; -and the way he leads is that -of detachment and renunciation. -But his own personality -and life are an assurance to us -that the renunciation he -preaches, leads to richer gain; -he leads us through death, -only that we may find life -even here, in some measure, -upon the earth, and in the -fulness of the spirit hereafter. -Thus and not otherwise does -he interpret to us the Poverty -of Christ.</p> - - -<p> -FATHER CUTHBERT, O.S.F.C.<br /> -<br /> -<span class="smcap">Crawley, Feast of St Anthony<br /> -of Padua</span>, 1901.<br /> -</p> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="APPENDICES">APPENDICES</h2> -</div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="APPENDIX_I">APPENDIX I</h3> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p>A PRAYER OF THE BLESSED -FRANCIS TO OBTAIN HOLY -POVERTY.</p> -</div> - - -<p>O Lord Jesus! Show -me the ways of Thy -dearly-loved Poverty. I know -that the Old Testament was but -a Figure of the New. In the -Old, Thou hast promised that -“every place that your foot -shall tread upon, shall be -<span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Deut. xi. 24.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -yours.” To tread under foot -is to despise; Poverty treads -all Things under foot, therefore -she is the Queen of all -Things. But, O my dear -Lord Jesus, have pity upon me -and upon my Lady Poverty, -for I am consumed with Love -for her, and can know no rest -without her. Thou knowest -all this, my Lord, Thou who -didst fill me with the Love of -her. But she sitteth in sadness, -rejected of all; she, the Mistress -of Nations, is become as a -Widow; the Queen of all -Virtues is become contemptible; <span class="sni"><span class="sne">♦</span>Lament. i. 1.<span class="sne">♦</span></span> -and sitting upon a dunghill -she lamenteth that all her -friends have despised her and -have become her enemies; for -long now she knows them to -be wantons and no Spouses of -hers.</p> - -<p>Remember, O Lord Jesus, -that Poverty is so much the -Queen of the Virtues, that -Thou, forsaking the dwelling-place -of the Angels, didst -descend upon Earth in order -to espouse her in Love Everlasting, -and so as to bring forth -in her, and by her, and through -her, all the Children of Perfection. -And she clung to Thee -with such Fidelity, that even -within Thy Mother’s womb -she paid Thee homage, for Thy -Infant Body was, it is thought, -the smallest of all. And at -Thy Birth she received Thee -in a Holy Manger and Stable; -and in Thy Life upon Earth -she so deprived Thee of all -things, that Thou hadst no -place where to lay Thy Head. -And as a faithful Helpmeet -she followed Thee loyally when -Thou didst go forth to do -battle for our Redemption, -and in the Agony of the -Passion she was Thy only -Armour-bearer. When Thy -Disciples denied Thee and fled, -she alone did not leave Thee, -but was Thy faithful Companion -with all the host of -her Princes.</p> - -<p>Even Thy own Mother (who -alone did faithfully honour -Thee, and with grievous -Sorrow share Thy Passion), -even she, I say, could not by -reason of the height of the -Cross, reach up unto Thee, -but the Lady Poverty in all -her Penury, like a most dear -Servitor, did there hold Thee -in an ever closer embrace, and -join herself more and more -nearly to Thy Sufferings. For -the which reason she did not -wait to smooth Thy Cross, nor -to give It even the rudest -preparation; nor, it is thought, -did she even make sufficient -Nails for Thy Wounds, nor -sharpen or polish them, but -furnished three only, all rough -and jagged and blunted, to -support Thee in Thy Martyrdom. -And when Thou wast -dying of a burning Thirst, Thy -faithful Spouse was careful -lest Thou shouldst have one -drop of Water even, and by -the hands of the impious -Soldiery, prepared Thee a Cup -of such bitterness, that Thou -couldst only taste, but not -drink of it. And in the close -Embrace of this Thy Spouse, -Thou didst yield up the Ghost.</p> - -<p>But so faithful a Spouse was -not absent at Thy Burial and -would not suffer Thee to have -anything of Thy own, either -Sepulchre or Ointments or -Linen, for these were all -borrowed from others. Nor -did she fail to be present at -Thy Resurrection; for rising -gloriously in her Embrace, -Thou didst leave behind in the -Sepulchre all those things -which had been borrowed. -And then Thou didst take -her up into Heaven with Thee, -abandoning all earthly things -to those that are of the Earth, -and bequeathing unto the -Lady Poverty the Seal of the -Kingdom of Heaven, wherewith -she might seal the Elect -who desire to walk in the Way -of Perfection.</p> - -<p>O who would not love the -Lady Poverty above all things! -Of Thee, O Jesus, I ask to be -signed with this Privilege; I -long to be enriched with this -Treasure; I beseech Thee, O -most poor Jesus, that, for Thy -sake, it may be the Mark of -me and mine to all Eternity, -to possess no thing of our own -under the Sun, but to live in -penury upon the goods of -others, so long as this vile -body lasts.</p> - - -<p class="center">AMEN.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="center">NOTE</p> -</div> - -<p>This remarkable prayer figures -as the composition of St -Francis in all the editions of -his works from Wadding -(Antwerp, 1623) to Fra -Bernardo da Fivizzano -(Florence, 1880). But we -have (unfortunately) no satisfactory -or scientific proof that -the prayer was really the -composition of the Seraphic -Patriarch. Wadding took it -from Ubertino da Casale -“Arbor Vitæ Crucifixi Jesu” -(Venice, 1485). Ubertino -wrote his redoubtable book in -1305, and though he puts this -prayer into the mouth of St -Francis, the context points to -the fact that he is rather attempting -to reproduce the -sentiments of the Saint, than -giving a prayer literally written -by him. And his indebtedness -to the “Sacrum Commercium” -is obvious. But whether written -by St Francis or not, there -can be no doubt that when he -prayed, he often prayed after -this fashion. It most faithfully -reflects his spirit and -ideas, and is admirably illustrative -of the “Sacrum Commercium.” -For this reason we -have given it a place in the -Appendix. It is also interesting -as being the probable -source whence Dante drew -his beautiful idea that the -Lady Poverty was more privileged -than the Blessed Virgin, -insomuch as she followed the -Lord up on to the very Cross -itself:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">“<i>Si che, dove Maria rimase giuso,</i></div> - <div class="verse indent2"><i>Ella con Cristo salse<a id="FNanchor_35" href="#Footnote_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> in su la croce.</i>”</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The naïve sublimity of the -concluding petition of the -prayer “et alienis rebus semper -cum usus penuria, dum vivit -caro misera, sustentari,” is most -characteristic of the Saint, not -only in its sentiment but in -its Franciscan directness. It -strikes strangely upon modern -ears to hear a Divine petition -that certain men may ever -be known as men who lived -upon others. But it is logical, -as Francis always was. There -can be no evangelical poverty -with possessions, and yet man -must keep body and soul together; -hence mendicancy is -the only resource of the real -lovers of my Lady Poverty. -This sentiment recalls the -famous saying of St Francis -in the Fifth of his “Collationes -Monasticæ”: “There is a compact -between the World and -my Brothers. They owe it a -good example, and the World -in return must provide them -with all necessities. But if the -Brothers, breaking faith, cease -to give their good example, -the World will, with justice, -withdraw its helping hand.”</p> - -<p>Very interesting, and of considerable -importance, is the -fact that this Prayer speaks of -Christ being crucified with -three nails only. Whether -St Francis wrote the prayer or -not, we may take this to have -been his opinion, for it seems -to have been the common -opinion of the thirteenth century. -And bearing in mind -this opinion of his, it becomes -impossible to attribute the -phenomena of his Stigmata to -subjective causes, or to that -which is loosely called hysteria. -The Stigmata of St Francis -were not merely open wounds, -but showed nails of a black -fleshy substance, one in each -hand and one in each foot. If -these Stigmata had been the -result of intense meditation on -the Passion, then, seeing what -his opinion was, the singular -phenomena which were developed -in him, would have -shown one nail only for the -feet, and not a nail in either -foot. The point is of capital -importance to investigators of -a remarkable occurrence which, -while proved beyond a doubt -as a matter of fact, has hitherto -found no scientific explanation.</p> - -<div class="art"><img src="images/i_p091.jpg" alt="" /></div> - - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h3 class="nobreak" id="APPENDIX_II">APPENDIX II.</h3> -</div> - -<p class="center">PARADISE—CANTO XI.</p> -<p class="center">LINES 28-123</p> -<p class="center"><i>Dean Plumptre’s Translation</i></p> - -<p>It is probable that Dante -knew the “Sacrum -Commercium”; it is certain -that he knew the Prayer -to obtain Poverty. Therefore -it may be convenient to give -<i>in extenso</i> that part of the -Divine Canto which sings of -the Mystic loves of Francis -and the Lady Poverty.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> - <div class="stanza"> - <div class="verse indent0">The Providence,—which all things doth dispose <span class="linenum">28</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">With such deep counsels that all mortal gaze</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Is baffled ere to that great depth it goes—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That unto Him she loves might bend her ways, <span class="linenum">31</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">The Bride of Him Who, with a bitter cry,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Espoused her with the blood we bless and praise,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">In fuller peace, more steadfast loyalty, <span class="linenum">34</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">Her, for her good, with two high chiefs endowed,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That they on either side her guides might be.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The soul of one with love seraphic glowed; <span class="linenum">37</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">The other by his wisdom on our earth</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A splendour of cherubic glory showed.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of one I’ll speak; for, if we tell the worth <span class="linenum">40</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of one, ’tis true of both, whiche’er we take,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For to one end each laboured from his birth.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Between Tupino and the streams that break <span class="linenum">43</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">From the hill chosen by Ubaldo blest,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">A lofty mount a fertile slope doth make;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Perugia’s Sun-gate from that lofty crest <span class="linenum">46</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">Feels heat and cold; Nocer’ and Gualdo pine</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Behind it, by their heavy yoke opprest.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On this slope, where less steeply doth incline <span class="linenum">49</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">The hill, was born into this world a sun,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Bright as this orb doth oft o’er Ganges shine.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Whence, naming this spot, let not any one <span class="linenum">52</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">Call it Ascesi—that were tame in sense—</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As Orient doth its proper title run.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Such was his rise, nor was he far from thence, <span class="linenum">55</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">When he began to make the wide earth share</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Some comfort from his glorious excellence;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">For he, a youth, his father’s wrath did dare <span class="linenum">58</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">For maid, for whom not one of all the crowd,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">As she were death, would pleasure’s gates unbar.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And then before court spiritual he vowed <span class="linenum">61</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0"><i>Et coram patre</i>—marriage-pledge to her,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And day by day more fervent love he showed.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Of her first spouse bereaved, a thousand were, <span class="linenum">64</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">And more, the years she lived, despised, obscure,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And, till he came, none did his suit prefer.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nought it availed that she was found secure <span class="linenum">67</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">With that Amyclas when the voice was heard</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Which made the world great terror-pangs endure;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nought it availed that she nor shrank nor feared, <span class="linenum">70</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">So that, when Mary tarried yet below,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">She on the Cross above with Christ appeared.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But lest I tell it too obscurely so, <span class="linenum">73</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">By these two lovers, in my speech diffuse,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Thou Poverty and Francis now mayst know.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Their concord and their looks of joy profuse, <span class="linenum">76</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">The love, the wonder, and the aspect sweet,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Made men in holy meditation muse,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">So that the holy Bernard bared his feet, <span class="linenum">79</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">The first to start, and for such peace so tried,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">That slow he thought his pace, though it was fleet.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">O wealth unknown, true good that doth abide! <span class="linenum">82</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">Ægidius bared his feet, Sylvester too,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Following the Bridegroom, so they loved the Bride.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then went that Father and that Master true <span class="linenum">85</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">With that his Bride and that his family,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Who round their loins the lowly girdle drew;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor was faint heart betrayed in downcast eye, <span class="linenum">88</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">As being Pietro Bernardone’s son,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor yet as one despised wondrously;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">But like a king his stern intention <span class="linenum">91</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">To Innocent he opened, who did give</div> - <div class="verse indent0">The first seal to that new religion.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then, when the race content as poor to live <span class="linenum">94</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">Grew behind him, whose life, so high renowned,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Would, in Heaven’s glory, higher songs receive,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">With a new diadem once more was crowned <span class="linenum">97</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">By Pope Honorius, from on high inspired,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">This Archimandrite’s purpose, holy found.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And after that, with martyr zeal untired, <span class="linenum">100</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">He, in the presence of the Soldan proud</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Preached Christ, and those whom His example fired;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And finding that that race no ripeness showed <span class="linenum">103</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">For their conversion, not to toil in vain,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">He to Italia’s fields his labours vowed.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On the rough rock ’twixt Tiber’s, Arno’s, plain, <span class="linenum">106</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">From Christ received he the last seal’s impress,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Which he two years did in his limbs sustain.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">When it pleased Him, Who chose him thus to bless, <span class="linenum">109</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">To lead him up the high reward to share</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Which he had merited by lowliness,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Then to his brothers, each as rightful heir, <span class="linenum">112</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">He gave in charge his lady-love most dear,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And bade them love her with a steadfast care;</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And from her breast that soul so high and clear <span class="linenum">115</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">Would fain depart and to its kingdom turn,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Nor for his body sought another bier.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Think now what he was who the fame did earn <span class="linenum">118</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">To be his comrade, and for Peter’s barque</div> - <div class="verse indent0">On the high seas the true path to discern.</div> - <div class="verse indent0">And such was he, our honoured Patriarch; <span class="linenum">121</span></div> - <div class="verse indent0">Wherefore, who follows him as he commands,</div> - <div class="verse indent0">Him laden with rich treasures thou mayest mark.</div> - </div> -</div> -</div> - -<div class="art"><img src="images/i_p027.jpg" alt="" /></div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="nobreak center" id="By_M_CARMICHAEL"><span class="u"><span class="smcap">By</span> M. CARMICHAEL.</span></p> -</div> - -<p class="center f15">IN TUSCANY.</p> -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Tuscan Towns—Tuscan Types—The Tuscan Tongue, etc.</span></p> -<p class="center"><i>With numerous Illustrations.</i></p> -<p class="center">SECOND EDITION.</p> -<p class="center">Crown 8vo. 9s. nett.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> -<div class="chapter"> -<p class="center"> -Printed at<br /> -The Edinburgh Press,<br /> -9 & 11 Young Street.<br /> -</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="footnotes"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="FOOTNOTES">FOOTNOTES:</h2> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> “Nota al Canto XI. (versi 43-75) del -‘Paradiso’ di Dante Alighieri,” Città di -Castello, Lapi, 1894, pp. 54.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="label">[2]</a> “Sacrum Commercium Beati Francisci -cum Domina Paupertate, Opus Anno -Domini 1227 conscriptum ad fidem -Variorum Codicum MS. Adjuncta -versione Italica inedita, curante P. -Eduardo Alinconiensi, Ord. Min. Capuccinorum -Archivo Generali Præposito.” -Rome, Kleinbub, 1900, 4to, pp. xviii-52.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="label">[3]</a> The Italian edition of the Chronicle -of Mark of Lisbon (Venice, 1590, voi. ii. -pp. 82-92) contains a compendium of the -“Sacrum Commercium” which, however, -does not merit the name of an -edition.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4" class="label">[4]</a> “Meditazione sulla Povertà di Santo -Francesco” Scrittura inedita del Secolo -XIV. Pistoia, Tip. Cino., 1847, 18mo. pp. -72.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_5" href="#FNanchor_5" class="label">[5]</a> See “Bibliografia dei Testi di Lingua -a Stampa citati dagli Accademici della -Crusca, opera di Luigi Razzolini ed -Alberto Bacchi della Lega,” 4th Edition. -Bologna, 1890.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_6" href="#FNanchor_6" class="label">[6]</a> “Le Mistiche Nozze di San Francesco -e Madonna Povertà. Allegoria Francescana -del Secolo, xiii.” Florence, 1901, -12mo. pp. xxiv-70. I cannot help regretting -that Don Minocchi has given -the work a title of his own choosing, -though I recognise the superiority of his -title as title. As the “Meditazione” it -was christened by the original translator, -as the “Meditazione” first published by -Fanfani and Bindi, and as the “Meditazione” -it has become a Tuscan classic -under the ægis of the Crusca.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_7" href="#FNanchor_7" class="label">[7]</a> “Analecta Francescana,” vol. iii. p. 283. -Ad Claras Aquas (Quaracchi) 1897, 4to.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_8" href="#FNanchor_8" class="label">[8]</a> “Speculum Perfectionis,” p. vi., Paris, -1898. But then he is only following -Alvisi.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_9" href="#FNanchor_9" class="label">[9]</a> “Le Mistiche Nozze di Frate Francesco -con Madonna Povertà,” Florence, -Olschki, 1898, pp. 58. I have since seen -his <i>Noterelle Francescane</i>, in the “Giornale -Dantesco” (An. ix., Quad, iii.) in -which he modifies his opinion.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_10" href="#FNanchor_10" class="label">[10]</a> “Vita del Beato Giovanni da Parma,” -2nd Edition. Quaracchi, 1900, pp. 186.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_11" href="#FNanchor_11" class="label">[11]</a> <i>Cf.</i> the “Miscellanea Francescana,” -vol. vii. p. 182.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_12" href="#FNanchor_12" class="label">[12]</a> Add to all this that the “Sacrum Commercium” -contains not a single citation -from the Office of St Francis—which it is -natural to suppose that the imaginative -writer would have here and there availed -himself of—and it seems to me that the -date of 1227 is proved with something -like certainty, and the date of 1247 -excluded beyond a doubt.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_13" href="#FNanchor_13" class="label">[13]</a> <i>Op. cit.</i> p. xii. and p. 41 et ss.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_14" href="#FNanchor_14" class="label">[14]</a> The “Arbor Vitæ Crucifixi Jesu,” -Venice, 1485, fol.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_15" href="#FNanchor_15" class="label">[15]</a> “Chronica Fratris Salimbene Parmensis.” -Parma, 1857, 4to, pp. xiv.-424.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_16" href="#FNanchor_16" class="label">[16]</a> Let me here render him public thanks -for his courteous permission to do so, and -make due public acknowledgment of my -indebtedness to his critical preface. Had -it not been for this scholarly work I -must needs have spent months in puzzling -out for myself the crabbed hands -and crooked abbreviations of three or -four fourteenth-century scribes.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_17" href="#FNanchor_17" class="label">[17]</a> My references to the Psalms are according -to the notation of the Vulgate. -Perhaps it may be necessary to state for -the benefit of readers not well acquainted -with the Vulgate, that “Eccli.” is a reference -to Ecclesiasticus or the Wisdom of -Jesus the Son of Sirach, and not to -Ecclesiastes (Eccl.) or the Wisdom of -the Preacher.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_18" href="#FNanchor_18" class="label">[18]</a> This chapter is wanting a title in all -the Codexes. I have taken the liberty of -styling it “In Praise of Poverty.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_19" href="#FNanchor_19" class="label">[19]</a> In contradistinction, <i>e.g.</i> to the Meek -who <i>shall</i> possess the Land (Matt. v. 4). -Only the persecuted for Justice’s sake -have the same immediate privilege as the -Poor in Spirit (Matt. v. 10). We shall -see later on that Persecution is the -noblest and most helpful of all the Lady -Poverty’s sisters.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_20" href="#FNanchor_20" class="label">[20]</a> Though the Author here quotes -Psalm xxiii. 10, “Dominus Virtutum,” he -is, from the context which follows, -obviously not referring to the Lord of -Hosts or Sabaoth, nor to the Virtues as -one of the Orders of Angels, but to God -as the Lord of the Moral Perfections.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_21" href="#FNanchor_21" class="label">[21]</a> “Non sum rudis,” I am not raw or -new, says the Writer, quoting Matt. ix. -16: “Nemo autem immittit commissuram -panni rudis in vestimentum vetus”: -No man putteth a piece of new or raw -cloth into an old garment.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_22" href="#FNanchor_22" class="label">[22]</a> So that Man’s first transgression -after his original Sin, was, by this, his -first acquisition of property, a Sin against -the High Doctrine of the Lady Poverty.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_23" href="#FNanchor_23" class="label">[23]</a> King James’ Bible has “ten thousand -times ten thousand.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_24" href="#FNanchor_24" class="label">[24]</a> There is in a part of this Chapter -so intricate an interweaving of Pauline -phrases, that I make no attempt to -indicate them by references.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_25" href="#FNanchor_25" class="label">[25]</a> In this terrible picture of Religious -life at its lowest ebb, some allowance -must be made for the fervid imagination -and righteous wrath of the holy writer -(“<i>quidam sanctus doctor hujus sanctae Paupertatis -professor et zelator strenuus</i>”). But even -with sloth, gluttony, intemperance, greed -of gain, hypocrisy, and ungodliness -running riot in a whole Community, it -is profitable to the historian to note that -there is not a hint of unchastity, the -truth being that a Community wholly -unchaste is one of those rarities of history -sought in the past, and desired, I fear, by -certain historians, but scarcely existing -outside the cruel inventions of interested -despoilers. And lest any be amazed that -the Religious life should ever have fallen -even half as low as is here portrayed, let -them remember that the higher the ideal, -the further the fall when it comes, and -that the Lady Poverty has ever punished -her betrayers by the completest degradation.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_26" href="#FNanchor_26" class="label">[26]</a> “Terribilis ut castrorum acies ordinata.” -This occurs in the Chapter at -Prime in the Office of Our Lady, and -hence it is here used in connection with -that other Lady, Madonna Povertà. The -translator of the “Meditazione,” finding -it would have no associations in Italian -(as of course it has none in English), -quietly drops it, but I cannot take so -great a liberty, nor allow myself to hide -the vivid and touching imagination -which the pious author thus betrays. -Throughout the whole allegory the -influence of the Liturgy is conspicuous.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_27" href="#FNanchor_27" class="label">[27]</a> Regula S. Francisci, Cap. vi.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_28" href="#FNanchor_28" class="label">[28]</a> “Non habebat aliud Christi pauper -nisi duo minuta, corpus scilicet, et animam, -quod posset liberali charitate -largiri.” Leg. Maj. S. Bonav., Cap. ix.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_29" href="#FNanchor_29" class="label">[29]</a> Romans viii. 28.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_30" href="#FNanchor_30" class="label">[30]</a> Testament of St Francis.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_31" href="#FNanchor_31" class="label">[31]</a> “Fioretti,” chap. xiii.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_32" href="#FNanchor_32" class="label">[32]</a> <i>Vide</i> “The Parable of Poverty,” Legenda -III. Soc. Cap. xii., Bollandist -Edition.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_33" href="#FNanchor_33" class="label">[33]</a> Matthew v. 3.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_34" href="#FNanchor_34" class="label">[34]</a> “Parochial Sermons”: <i>The Danger of -Riches</i>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_35" href="#FNanchor_35" class="label">[35]</a> Scartazzini rejects the reading -“salse” (“lezione priva di autorità”), -and adopts “pianse.” I hope, for the -sake of Dante’s great imagination, that -he may be in the wrong. So competent -an authority as Mr Wicksteed adheres to -“salse,” basing his reason on this very -prayer. See the “Paradise” of Dante -Alighieri, translated by Philip H. 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