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2014-01-13 PM 3:41 |PROLOGUE - AMONG the books which afford us an insight into he | popular religious thought | of the middle ages, none holds a more important place than the Legenda Aurea or| Golden Legend. The book | was compiled and put into form about the year 1275 by Jacobus de Voragine,| Archbishop of Genoa, who | laid under contribution for his purpose the Lives of the Fathers by S. Jerome, the| Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius, | and other books of a like kind; while for the lives of the saints more nearly| approaching his own age |he appears to have industriously collected such legends as he could meet | with, whether in manuscript | or handed down by oral tradition. All persons living in later times have been| deeply indebted to the man | who thus embodied for their benefit and instruction a picture of the mental attitude| of the age in which he |lived. If the study of it be not absolutely essential, it may safely be averred that it will | be most helpful and profitable, |o all those who care to realise to themselves the faith of their forefathers, and | in no small degree will |it enable them more fully to understand the inspiration of the men whose faith | found its expression in |the glories and mysteries of Gothic ecclesiastical architecture. To those who can | pace the aisles of a great |cathedral or priory or abbey church, or even tread the humbler stones of an ancient | parish church, without being |touched with a sense of reverent wonder, the pages of The Golden Legend will | appeal in vain. Its perusal |will strike no responsive chord in their hearts. But to those who, whatever may | be their creed, never set |foot in those stone-written records of the past without a feeling of awe and | veneration, mingled with |an earnest longing to understand something of the spirit which breathes forth | from them, and a desire |to know what it was that so wrought in the minds of their makers as to produce the | Music Gallery at Exeter, |the South Porch at Lincoln, the Galilee at Durham, the stained glass at York, the | East Window at Wells, |and a thousand other marvels, to say nothing of the greater glories that await us in the | magnificent churches of France, |which even after centuries of destruction, neglect, and ill-usage still | | | impress us with wonder and |admiration,-the histories of The Golden Legend will be a new revelation of | inestimable value. The corbels | of roof and cloister vaulting which look down on us with quaint and tender| beauty, and the strange and |sometimes monstrous or demoniacal gargoyles of the exteriors, will have a newer | and fuller meaning if we |allow ourselves thoroughly to enter into the spirit of the book before us. | We shall seem to hear the majestic | roll of the solemn chants of Advent and the rejoicings of Christmas, the| penitential pleadings of the |Lenten season and the triumphal songs of Easter, as we read the eloquent | passages devoted to those |sacred seasons, even though the style be such as modern ears are little accustomed | to, and therefore may sometimes |appear, especially on a first reading, as more or less rugged and obscure. | Lovers of the picturesque |can scarcely fail to be charmed with such wonderful tales as those of the | childhood of Moses and the |history of Pontius Pilate, which the author frankly sets down as 'apocriphum'; | while the folk-lorist will |find a rich field to interest him in a territory hitherto but little explored. | In such histories as that of | S. Brandon we dwell for a while in a veritable wonderland. The lives of S. Jerome,| S. Macarius, S. Anthony, | and S. Mary of Egypt, and other saints of the desert, read like the echoes of | another world, so far |removed are they from modern habits of thought, faith, and practice; while those of S. | Francis, S. Dominic, and S |Thomas of Canterbury bring before our eyes the life of the middle ages hardly | less vividly than the tales |of the Gesta Romanorum or the everliving creations of Geoffrey Chaucer. Verily | there is a plentiful harvest |for those who care to reap. Having read every page very carefully six times, with | unabated interest, in the course |of editing two editions, I can testify to the attraction the book has for one who | loves the wondrous records of old days. |Though it does not appear to have been among the earliest of printed books, the Legenda Aturea | was no sooner in type |than edition after edition appeared with surprising rapidity. Probably no other book was more | frequently reprinted between |the years 1470 and 1530 than the compilation of Jacobus de Voragine. And while | almost innumerable editions | appeared in Latin, it was also translated into the vulgar tongue of most of the| nations of Europe, usually | with alterations and additions in accordance with the hagiological | preferences of the different |nationalities. It is with an early French translation that we are chiefly concerned | of which Caxton's version | is a close rendering. The French book in question is a large folio volume of four| hundred and forty-three |leaves, printed in double columns, with forty-four lines to the page. Two copies | of it only are known in this | country, one in the British Museum, and the other in Cambridge University | Library. There may of course |be copies lurking in foreign libraries, but I have not been able to hear of any. | It is without any indication |of place of printing, date, or printer, and until quite lately these particulars had | baffled the researches and | conjectures of bibliographers; but latterly Mr. R. Proctor of the British| Museum has succeeded in | identifying the type as proceeding from the press of Peter Keyser, a rival of| Anthony Vernard at Paris. | It contains the lives of many French saints who are not included in the work of | Voragine, notably those |of S. Genevieve and S. Louis. Convincing proof that this is the book referred to by | Convincing proof that this |is the book referred to by Caxton in his preface as 'a legende in frensshe,' is | afforded by the fact that |where the printer has left gross misprints uncorrected in his text, the translator has | blindly followed him without | any attempt to make sense of them. The most curious instance of this occurs| in the explanation of the | supposed etymology of the name of S. Stephen. The French printer has turned the| Old French which should |have read 'fames venues,' (femmes veuves) into 'seine venues,' which Caxton | attempts to translate by 'hole | comen' (whole come), regardless of the fact that it has no meaning whatever. It| has rarely been attempted | to clear the present text of obscurities by any alteration, on principle; but in this| instance, for the meaningless |words 'hole comen,' those of 'widow women' have been substituted in accordance | with the Latin, which Caxton |seems never to have troubled himself to refer to. Again, in the life of S. | Genevieve the French version |has the typographical error of "a name' for 'a navire,' which the translator | simply renders 'at name,' |and this in later editions becomes 'at none' without making any better sense. This | has been altered to 'by ship' |as being the obvious meaning. The text has been amended in one or two| | | other instances where a slight | alteration made a passage intelligible; but, as I have said, there has been no | attempt to clear obscurities | generally or to interfere with the translator's language.| The observant reader can |scarcely fail to note the difference between the style of the Bible histories, | which I take it come from | the 'Legend in English,' which Caxton mentions in his preface, and that of the| translator's work, greatly to | the advantage of the former. The summary is in truth done with a master's hand. The| life of S. Thomas of Canterbury | is again a specimen of vigorous English clearly written, and is probably also| taken from the 'Legend in English.' |Though Caxton speaks of himself as the translator, and we have personal glimpses of him in the anecdotes | he relates in 'The | Circumcision of our Lord, 'The History of David,' and 'The Life of S. Austin,' it is hardly| to be supposed that |he could have been at the labour of translating the whole book. He appears indeed to have | employed some one whose |knowledge of French must have been considerably less than that we are willing to | credit him with, considering | his long residence in French Flanders. Colour is also given to the suggestion| that he availed himself |of extraneous help in the work of translation by his special assertion at the end of the | life of S. Roch: 'which lyfe | is trans- lated oute of latyn into Englysshe by me, William Caxton.'| It may be remarked as a curious | bibliographical and historical coincidence, that while Wynken de Worde| was engaged in printing the |last of the Old English editions of The Golden Legend in London, William | Tyndale was busily occupied | at Cologne trying to get into type the first of the unnumbered editions of the| English New Testament. The old |order giveth place to the new. THE GOLDEN LEGEND | THE holy and blessed | Doctor S. Jerome saith this authority: Do alway some good work, to the end that| the devil find thee |not idle. And the holy Doctor S. Austin saith in the book of the labour of monks that, no | man strong or mighty to |labour ought to be idle. For which cause, when I had performed and accomplished| divers works and histories |translated out of French into English at the request of certain lords, ladies, and | gentlemen, as the story |of the Recuyel of Troy, the Book of the Chess, the History of Jason, the History of | the Mirror of the World, |the fifteen books of the Metamorphoses, in which be contained the Fables of | Ovid, and the History |of Godfrey of Boulogne in the Conquest of Jerusalem, with other divers works and | books, I ne nyste what |work to begin and put forth after the said works tofore made; and forasmuch as idleness | is so much blamed, as |saith S. Bernard the mellifluous Doctor, that, she is mother of lies and stepdame of | virtues, and that it is she | that overthroweth strong men into sin, quencheth virtue, nourisheth pride, and maketh| the way ready to go | to hell. And John Cassiodorus saith that the thought of him that is idle, thinketh on none| other thing but on lickerous | meats and viands for his belly. And the holy S. Bernard, aforesaid, saith in an| epistle: When the time shall |come that it shall behove us to render and give account of our idle time, what | reason may we render, or what | answer shall we give when in idlenesse is none excuse? And Prosper saith| that, whosoever liveth in idleness, |liveth in manner of a dumb beast. And because I have seen the authorities | that blame and despise |so much idleness, and also know well that it is one of the capital and deadly sins, | much hateful unto God, |therefore I have concluded and firmly purposed in myself no more to be idle, but will | apply myself to labour and |such occupation as I have been accustomed to do. And forasmuch as S. Austin, | aforesaid, saith upon a psalm |that, good work ought not to be done for fear of pain, but for the love of | righteousness, and that it |be of very and sovereign franchise, and because me seemeth to be a sovereign | weal to incite and exhort |men and women to keep them from sloth and idleness, and to let to be understood to | such people as be not lettered, |the nativities, the lives, the passions, the miracles, and the death of the holy | saints, and also some other |notory deeds and acts of times past, I have submised myself to translate into | English the legend of saints | which is called Legenda Aurea in Latin, that is to say the Golden Legend. For in| like wise as gold is most |noble above all other metals, in like wise is this Legend holden most noble above all | other works. Against me, | here might some persons say that, this legend hath been translated tofore, and truth it| is. But forasmuch as I | had by me a legend in French, another in Latin, and the third in English, which varied| in many and divers places, | and also many histories were comprised in the other two books which were not in the| English hook, and therefore | I have written one out of the said three books, which I have ordered otherwise| than the said English Iegend | is, which was before made, beseeching all them that shall see or hear it read, to| pardon me where I have erred |or made fault, which, if any be, is of ignorance and against my will, and submit | it wholly of such as can |and may, to correct it, humbly beseeching them so to do, and in so doing they shall | deserve a singular laud and |merit, and I shall pray for them unto Almighty God, that he of his benign grace | reward them, etc., and | that it profit to all them that shall read or hear it read, and may increase in them virtue,| and expel vice and sin, |that by the example of the holy saints they amend their living here in this short life, that | by their merits they and |I may come to everlasting life and bliss in heaven. Amen. | And forasmuch as this said |work was great and over chargeable to me to accomplish, I feared me in the | | | beginning of the translation | to have continued it because of the long time of the translation, and also in| the imprinting of the same, | and in manner half desperate to have accomplished it, was in purpose to| have left it after that I |had begun to translate it, and to have laid it apart, ne had it been at the instance and | request of the puissant, noble, | and virtuous Earl, my lord William, Earl of Arundel, which desired me to| proceed and continue the said |work, and promised me to take a reasonable quantity of them when they were | achieved and accomplished, |and sent to me a worshipful gentleman, a servant of his, named John | Stanney which solicited me, | in my lord's name, that I should in no wise leave it, but accomplish it, promising| that my said lord should |during my life give and grant to me a yearly fee, that is to wit, a buck in summer and| a doe in winter, with which |fee I hold me well content. Then at contemplation and reverence of my said lord I | William Caxton, his poor |servant, and that it like him to remember my fee. And I shall pray unto Almighty | | | God for his long life and | welfare, and after this short and transitory life to come into everlasting joy in| heaven; the which he send |to him and me and unto all them that shall read and hear this said book, that for the | love and faith of whom all |these holy saints have suffered death and passion. Amen. | And to the end each history, |life and passion may be shortly found, I have ordered this table following, | where and in what leaf |he shall find such as shall be desired, and have set the number of every leaf in the margin: | OF THE ADVENT OF OUR LORD | The time of the Advent or coming of our Lord into this world is hallowed in Holy Church the| time of four weeks, in |betokening of four divers comings. The first was when he came and appeared in human nature and | flesh. The second is | in the heart and conscience. The third is at death. The fourth is at the Last Judgment. The| last week may unnethe be |accomplished: for the glory of the saints which shall be given at the last coming | shall never end nor finish. |And to this signifiance the first response of the first week of Advent hath four | verses to reckon. Gloria patri | et filio, for one, to the report of the four weeks, and how it be that there be | four comings of our Lord, |yet the Church maketh mention in especial but of twain, that is to wit, of that | | | he came in human nature to the |world, and of that he cometh to the Judgment and Doom, as it appeareth in | the office of the Church |of this time. And therefore the fastings that be in this time, be of gladness and of joy | in one part, and that other part |is in bitterness of heart. Because of the coming of our Lord in our nature | human, they be of joy | and gladness. And because of the coming at the Day of Judgment, they be of bitterness| and heaviness. As touching |the coming of our Lord in our bodily flesh, we may consider three things of this coming, that is to | wit, the opportunity, the |necessity and the utility. The opportunity of coming is taken by the reason of the man | that first was vanquished |in the law of nature of the default of the knowledge of God, by which he fell into | evil errors, and therefore | he was constrained to cry to God: Illumina oculos meos, that is to say, Lord, give | light to mine eyes. After, |came the law of God, which hath given commandment in which he hath been | overcome of impuissance, as |first he hath cried: There is none that fulfilleth but that commandeth. For there | he is only taught, but not |delivered from sin, ne holpen by grace, and therefore he was constrained to cry: There | lacketh none to command, | but there is none that accomplished the commandment. Then came the Son of| God in time when man | was vanquished of ignorance and impuissance. To that if he had so come tofore,| peradventure man might | say that by his own merits he might have been saved, and thus he had not been bound| to yield thanks to God. | The second thing that is shown us of this coming is the necessity by reason of the time,| | | of which the apostle Paul |speaketh, ad Galatas the fourth chapter: At ubi venit plenitudo temporis, when | the plentitude or full time |of the grace of God was ordained, then he sent his Son that was God and Son of | the virgin and wife which |was made subject to the law. To that, that they be subject to the law he bought them | again, and were received |sons of God by grace of adoption. Now saith S. Austin that many demand why | he came not rather. He answered |that it was because that the plentitude of time was not come, which should | come by him, that all |things were ordained and made, and after when this plentitude of time came, he came | that of time past hath delivered |us, to that we shall bedelivered of time, we shall come to him whereas no | time passeth, but is perpetuity. |The third thing that is showed to us of this coming is the utility and profit that | cometh for the cause of |the hurt and sickness general. For sith the malady was general, the medicine must be | general, whereof saith S. | Austin that: Then came the great medicine, when the great malady was through all| the world. Whereof | the holy Church remembereth in the seven anthems that be sung before the nativity of our| Lord, where the malady | is showed in divers manners, and for each demandeth remedy of his malady of| prisoner out of the prison |that sitteth in darkness and shadow of death. For they that have been long in prison | and dark places may not |see clearly, but have their eyes dim. Therefore, after we be delivered from prison, it | behoveth that our eyes be made |clear and our sight illumined for to see whither we should go, and | therefore we cry in the fifth | anthem: O Oriens splendor lucis eterne, veni et illumina sedentes in tenebris et| umbra mortis, O Orient |that art the resplendour of the eternal light, come and illumine them that sit in | darkness and shadow of death, | and if we were taught, lighted, unbound, and bought, what should it avail to us| but if we should be saved? | And, therefore, we require to be saved, and therefore we say in the two last anthems,| the sixth and the seventh; | when we cry: O Rex gentium, veni et salva hominem quem de limo formasti, O thou | King of peoples come |and save the man that thou hast formed of the slime of the earth; and in the seventh: O | Emmanuel rex et legifer |noster veni ad saluandum nos, domine deus noster, O Emmanuel that art our King, and | bearer of our law, our | Lord, our God, come and save us. The profit of his coming is assigned of many saints in| many manners, for Luke |saith in the fourth chapter that our Lord was sent and came to us for seven profits, | where he saith: The |Spirit of our Lord is on me, which he rehearseth by order; he was sent for the comfort of | the poor, to heal them that |were sick in sin, to deliver them that were in prison, to teach them that were | uncunning. To forgive sins, |to buy again all mankind. And for to give reward to them that deserve it. And S. | | | Austin putteth here three |profits of his coming and saith: In this wretched world what aboundeth but to be | born to labour and to die. | These be the merchandise of our region, and to these merchandises the noble| merchant Jesus descended. | And because all merchants give and take, they give that they have and take that| they have not; Jesu Christ |in this merchandise gave and took, he took that which in this world aboundeth, that | is to wit, to be born to | labour and to die, he gave again to us to be born spiritually, to rise and reign perdurably.| And he himself came |to us to take villanies and to give to us honour, to suffer death and to give us life, to take | poverty and to give us glory. |S. Gregory putteth four causes of the profit of his coming: Studebant omnes | superbi de eadem stirpe progeniti, | prospera vitæ præsentis appetere, adversa devitare, opprobria fugere, | gloriam sequi: They of |the world, in their pride descended of the same lineage, studied to desire the | prosperity of this present | life, to eschew the adversities, to flee the reproofs and shames and to ensue the glory| of the world. And our Lord |came incarnate among them, asking and seeking the adversities, despiting the | prosperities, embracing villanies, |fleeing all vain glory. And he himself which descended from glory, came, and | he being come, taught new | things, and in showing marvels suffered many evils. S. Bernard putteth other| causes, and saith that, we | travail in this world for three manner of maladies or sickness, for we be lightly| deceived, feeble to do well, | and frail to resist against evil. If we entend to do well we fail, it we do pain to| resist the evil, we be | surmounted and overcome; and for this the coming of Jesu Christ was to us necessary. To| that he inhabiteth in us, |by faith he illumineth our eyes of the heart, and in abiding with us he helpeth us in our | malady, and in being with us |he defendeth our frailty against our enemies. Of the second coming which | shall be at the last Judgment |two things be to be seen, that is to wit, that which cometh before the Judgment, and that which | shall be at the Judgment. |As for the first, three things shall be tofore the Judgment. First, the terrible | confusion of signs and tokens. |Secondly, the malice and deceit of Antichrist, and the third, of vehement and | marvellous operation of the fire. |As touching the signs, S. Luke saith in the twenty-fifth chapter: Erunt signa in | sole, luna et stellis, etc. |There shall be great signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars, and in the earth | oppression of people anguishous |for the confusion of the sound of the sea and of the waves. The three first | signs be determined in the Book | of the Apocalypse in the sixth chapter. Sol factus est niger tanquam saccus| cilicinus: et luna facta est sicut | sanguis, et stellæ ceciderunt super terraim. Then shall be the time that the| sun shall be black as a sack, |gross and rude, and the moon shall be as blood, and the stars shall fall on the | earth. The sun is said dark, |forasmuch as he is deprived of his light, as though he wept for the dying of men. | For S. Austin saith that, |the vengeance of God shall be so cruel at the day of doom, that the sun shall not dare | behold it. Or as for to speak |of the proper signification spiritually to be understood, is that, the Son of Justice, | Jesu Christ, shall be then |so dark that no man shall dare know him. The heaven is here taken for the air, and the | star judge in great fear. | The sixth sign, the edifices and buildings shall fall down: and in this sixth day thunders| and tempests full of fire |shall grow in the west, where the sun goeth down against the firmament, in running to | the east. The seventh sign, |the stones shall smite and hurtle together and shall cleave in four parts, and each | part shall smite other, | ne none. The eighth sign shall be the moving and general trembling of the earth, which| shall be so. The ninth sign, |all the earth shall be even and plain, and all the mountains and valleys shall be | brought into powder and be |all like. The tenth day, the men shall issue out of the caves and shall go by the | ways and fields as men |aliened and out of their wit, and shall not con speak one to another. The eleventh day the | bones of dead men shall |issue out of their burials and places and shall hold them upon their sepulchres, and | from the sun rising unto | it go down, the sepulchres shall be open, to the end that the dead bodies may all| issue. The twelfth sign |all the stars shall fall from the heaven and shall spread out rays of fire, and then great | quantity shall grow. In this |twelfth day it is said that all the beasts shall come to the field howling, and shall not | eat ne drink. The thirteenth |sign, all living shall die, to the end that they should arise with the dead bodies. The | fourteenth day the heaven | and the earth shall burn. The fifteenth day shall be a new heaven and a new earth,| and all things and all | dead men shall arise. The second thing that shall be afore judgment, shall be| the folly and malice |of Antichrist; he shall pain him to deceive all men by four manners. The first manner shall | be by suasion and false |exposition of Scripture. Forasmuch as he may, he shall give them to understand | Christ, and he shall destroy |the law of Jesu Christ, and shall ordain his law in alleging David the Prophet that | saith: Constitue domine legislatorem |super eos. Thus shall he say, that it was said for him as he that was | ordained of God for to |set law upon his place, after this that is said in the scripture of Daniel, Daniel xi.: | Dabunt abominationem et | desolationem templi, etc. Antichrist and his complices shall give abomination| and desolation to the temple |of God in this time, as saith the gloss: Antichrist shall be in the temple of God, | as God, for that he shall |destroy the law of God. The second manner shall be by marvellous operation of | miracles, whereof saith | the apostle S. Paul in his second Epistle ad Thessalonicenses in the second | chapter, where he saith: |Cujus adventus erit secundum operationem Sathanae in omnibus verbis et prodigiis | mendacibus. Of Antichrist |it is said that, the coming shall be after the operation of Satan in all his signs, in | all his marvels, and false | Iying deeds, whereof S. John maketh mention in the Apocalypse, the thirteenth| chapter: Fecit signa ut | etiam ignem facerit de celo in terram descendere. Antichrist shall make such signs, | that is to say, he shall |make such tokens that he shall make the fire descend from heaven. The gloss saith that, | like as the Holy Ghost descended |in likeness of fire, in likewise shall Antichrist give the evil spirit in likeness | of fire. The third manner |that he shall do for to deceive, shall be in giving of gifts, of which is written in the | book of Daniel the Prophet | in his eleventh chapter: Dabit eis potestatem in multis et terram divides| gratuito: Antichrist shall give |puissance to his servants in many things, and shall depart the earth to them after | his will. The gloss |saith that, Antichrist shall give many gifts to them that he shall deceive. And to his disciples | he shall divide the earth, |and them that and make them thereby to obey him. The fourth manner for to deceive | them shall be by torments |that he shall give to them, whereof Daniel saith in his eighth chapter: Supra quod | credi potest universe vastabit; |no man shall believe how he shall destroy and torment them that will not believe | in him, for to draw |them to him by force. And S. Gregory saith of him: Robustos quippe interficiet, et | cetera; he shall slay the |great and strong men; when he may not win nor overcome them by heart ne will, he | shall overcome them by | torment. The third thing that shall go before the judgment shall be the right vehement| fire, the which shall |go tofore the face of the judge. And God shall send this fire for four causes. First for the | renewing of the world, |for he shall purge and renew the elements. And, like to the form of the deluge it shall be | forty cubits higher than |all the mountains, like as it is written in the history scholastic; for the works of the | people may mount so high. |Secondly for the purgation of the people; for then that fire shall be instead of the | fire of purgatory to them |that then shall be on live. Thirdly for to give more greater torment to them that be | damned. Fourthly for to give |more clearness and light unto the saints. For after the saying of S. Basil: Our | Lord God when shall make | the purgation of the w others should see them. And it ought not to be believed| that within that little valley |all might be enclosed, after that which S. Jerome saith, but many shall be there, and | the others there about. |Nevertheless, in a little space of land may be men without number by divine puissance | and ordinance, and, if |it be of necessity, the chosen people shall be in the air for the agility and lightness of | their bodies, and also in soul. | And then the judge shall dispute and reprove the wicked men of the works of| mercy which he ordained | to us. And they shall not mow reply, but shall then weep upon themselves and upon| their deeds; like as S. John | Chrysostom saith upon the gospel of S. Matthew, in saying that, the Jews shall| weep their life when they |shall see their judge and him that giveth life to all men, whom they esteemed and | trowed a dead man, and | shall blame themselves for his body hurt and wounded by them. And they may not | deny their cruelty but | shall weep in great distress. The paynims, which by the vain disputations of the| philosophers were deceived |and supposed it to have been folly to worship God crucified. The Christian | men, sinners, shall weep | that have more loved the world than God. The heretics shall weep because they holden| false opinions against the |Faith of Jesu Christ whom then they shall see the sovereign judge, whom the Jews| crucified. And so shall all | the lineages of the world weep, for they shall have no force ne power ne strength| against him, nor they may |not flee before his face, nor they shall have no time of space to do penance for their | sins nor to make satisfaction |of the great anguish that they shall have of all things: there shall nothing abide | to them but weeping. |The second thing that shall follow at the judgment is the difference of the orders. For thus, | as S. Gregory saith: |at the day of judgment shall be four things, two on the party reproved, and two on the party | chosen. The first shall be |damned and perished, to whom he shall say, Esurivi et non dedistis mihi | manducare; I had hunger |and ye have given to me no meat. The other shall not be judged and perish, of | whom it is written, Qui non |credit jam judicatus est; he that believeth not is now judged. For they shall not | perceive the words of the judge, |which would not keep the words of God. The other of the party of the good | shall be judged and shall | reign, as they to whom shall be said: I have had hunger and ye have given me meat.| The other shall not be judged | and yet shall reign. That is to wit, the perfect men that shall judge others; not| that they shall give the sentence |of the judgment; for the sovereign judge shall only give the sentence, but | they be said judges, because |they be present approving the judgment. And this assistance shall be first to the | honour of saints. For it shall |be great honour to them to have their seats and sit with the judge, like as Jesu | Christ promised to them, |that they should be sitting upon twelve seats judging the twelve lineages of Israel. | Secondly, to the confirmation |of the sentence; for they shall approve the sentence given of the judge, as do the | assistants in judgment which | approve the sentence of the judge that is good and just. And with their hands| they set-to their names in witness; |like as David saith: Ut faciant in eis judicium conscriptum, etc. To the end | that they make upon the damned, |judgment written with the judge. Thirdly, that shall be to condemnation of the | evil people whom they shall |condemn by the works of their good life. The third thing that followeth the | Judgment, that shall be the signs and | tokens of the passion of Jesu Christ. That is to wit, the cross, the nails and the wounds. The| which signs shall be first |for to shew his glorious victory. And by that they shall appear in the excellence | of his glory, whereof saith |S. John Chrysostom that, the cross and the wounds shall be more shining than any | rays of the sun; now then, |saith he, consider ye what the virtue is of the cross The sun then shall be dark and | the moon shall give no |light, hereby then may ye understand how much the cross is more shining than | the moon and more clear | than the sun. Secondly, for to shew his mercy, by which he shall save the good.| Thirdly, for to shew his justice, | how justly he hath damned them that be evil, because they have despised| so noble price as his blood, |and set not thereby. And therefore as saith S. John Chrysostom: he shall say to | them hard words by manner |of reproof: For your sake I made myself a man, f what good then we should have | done. And he shall say |to the judge: Right true judge deme and judge this sinner to be mine for his trespass, | which would be shine by grace. |He is thine by nature, he is mine by his misery, he is thine by the passion, he | is mine by monition. | To thee he hath been inobedient, to me he hath been obedient. He hath received of thee| the vesture of immortality; |of me he hath taken this penible coat with which he is clad. He hath left thy | vesture and is come to mine. | Right just deemer, judge him to be mine for to be damned with me. to God, but| from God may no man appeal, | for he hath none above him. Secondly, for the crime. For all trespass and sins| shall be there openly showed, | whereof saith S. Jerome that: In this day all our deeds shall be showed, like as| they were written in a table |and noted. Thirdly, for the thing which may not suffer dilation. For all things that | shall be done at the judgment | shall be done in the twinkling of an eye. Then let us pray that we may in| this holy time so receive | him, that at the day of judgment we may be received into his everlasting bliss. Amen.| Here followeth the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ. | When the world had endured five thousand and nine hundred years, after Eusebius the holy saint, Octavian| the Emperor commanded |that all the world should be described, so that he might know how many cities, how | many towns, and how many | persons he had in all the universal world. Then was so great peace in the earth| that all the world was obedient |to him. And therefore our Lord would be born in that time, that it should be | known that he brought |peace from heaven. And this Emperor commanded that every man should go into the | towns, cities or villages from |whence they were of, and should bring with him a penny in acknowledgment that | he was subject to the Empire |of Rome. And by so many pence as should be found received, should be known | the number of the persons. |Joseph which then was of the lineage of David, and dwelled in Nazareth, went | into the city of Bethlehem, | and led with him the Virgin Mary his wife. And when they were come thither,| because the hostelries were |all taken up, they were constrained to be without in a common place where all | people went. And there was |a stable for an ass that he brought with him, and for an ox. In that night our | Blessed Lady and Mother |of God was delivered of our Blessed Saviour upon the hay that lay in the rack. At | which nativity our Lord shewed |many marvels. For because that the world was in so great peace, the | Romans had done made a temple |which was named the Temple of Peace, in which they counselled with Apollo | to know how long it should |stand and endure. Apollo answered to them that, it should stand as long till a | maid had brought forth | and borne a child. And therefore they did do write on the portal of the Temple: Lo! this| is the temple of peace that |ever shall endure. For they supposed well that a maid might never bear Bethlehem, | there may ye find him wrapt |in clouts. And anon, as the angel had said this, a areas multitude of angels | appeared with him, and |began to sing. Honour, glory and health be to God on high, and in the earth peace to | men of goodwill. Then |said the shepherds, let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing. And when they came they | found like as the angel had |said. And it happed this night that all the sodomites that did sin against nature | were dead and extinct; for |God hated so much this sin, that he might not suffer that nature human, which he | had taken, were delivered |to so great shame. Whereof S. Austin saith that, it lacked but little that God would not | become man for that sin. | In this time Octavian made to cut and enlarge the ways and quitted the Romans of all | the debts that they owed to him. | This feast of Nativity of our Lord is one of the greatest feasts of all the year,| and for to tell all the miracles |that our Lord hath showed, it should contain a whole book; but at this | time I shall leave and | pass over save one thing that I have heard once preached of a worshipful doctor, that| what person being in clean |life desire on this day a boon of God, as far as it is rightful and good for him, | our Lord at the reverence |of this blessed high feast of his Nativity will grant it to him. Then let us always | make us in clean life at |this feast that we may so please him, that after this short life we may come unto his | bliss. Amen. And here followeth |His Circumcision. The day of the circumcision of our Lord there be four things that make and show it to | be holy and solemn. The first is |the utas of the Nativity. The second the imposition of a new name bearing health. The third the | effusion of his precious blood. |The fourth the signs of the circumcision. As for the first it appeareth, for the | utas of saints be solemn, |by much more reason ought it to be of him that is the saint of all saints. Now it | seemeth that the Nativity |of our Lord ought not to have none utas. For the nativity tendeth to the death. And the | decease of saints have their | utas because they be born of the nativity that stretcheth to life perdurable, for to | be after glorified in body. |And by the same way it seemeth that the nativity of the glorious Virgin Mary | and of S. John Baptist, and |of the Resurrection of our Lord ought not to have utas, for the resurrection was | then done. Hereto we ought |to consider, like as saith a doctor, that, in this we should fulfil such things as we | accomplished not in the |principal day that our Lord was born in. Of which of ancient time men were wont to | sing at the Mass: | Vultum tuum domine, etc. to the honour of our Lady S. Mary. The other octaves or| utases as of Paske, |Whitsuntide, the nativity of our Lady and S. John Baptist be of devotion, as of other | | | saints that men will honour | for singular cause or affection. And they may be said the octaves of| figuration, for they signify |and figure the octave of the last resurrection perpetual, which is the eighth age. And | as to the second, this | day was his name imposed to him, and was named with the new name that the mouth of| God named. This is the name | of which there is none other under heaven by which we may be saved, that is| Jesus. After S. Bernard: |This is the name which in the mouth is honey, in the ear melody, and in the heart joy; | this is the name after |that he saith, it lighteth and shineth like oil. When it is preached it feedeth the soul, | when it is in the mind of the |heart it is sweet, and it anointeth when it is called. And as the evangelist saith, | he had three names, that is |to wit the Son of God, Jesus, and Christus. He is called the Son of God | insomuch as he is God of | God the Father; Christ insomuch as he is a man taken of a person divine and | nature human, and Jesus |inasmuch as he is God united to our humanity. And of this three manner of names, | saith S. Bernard: Ye that | lie in dust and powder arise out of your sleep and awake ye and give praising to| God. Lo here that our Lord |shall come unto your health, he cometh with unction, he cometh with glory. Jesus | cometh not without health, |nor Christ cometh not without unction, nor the Son of God without glory. For | he is our health, our unction |and our joy. And as touching this treble name; before his passion, he was | not perfectly known. As touching |the first he was somewhat known by conjecting, as of his enemies, | | | which said Jesu Christ to be |the Son of God. And as to the second, of less or fewer he was known for Jesu | Christ. And as to the third, |vocally, for as much as by the voice he was called Jesus. But as to the reason of | the name, he was not known. | For Jesus is as much to say as Saviour, and this understood not they. After the| resurrection, this treble |was clarified and declared. The first to the certainty, the second to the publication, the | third to the reason of the name. |The first name is Son of God. And that these names be appropriate to him, Saint | Hilary in his book that he | made of the Trinity saith thus: Vere filium Dei unigenitum. In divers manners | this name, Son of God, |is known, as it is witnessed of God. God the Father witnesseth it that he is his son. | Apostles preach it, the religious | believe it, the fiends our enemies confess it. And therefore we know our| -
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2014-01-13 PM 4:05 > |in the battle against the devil whom he overcame, a priest in reconciling the | human lineage to God |the Father, and a king in distributing and rewarding every man. Of this second | name we be all named, |for of this name Christ we be called christian men. Of which name S. Austin saith | | | thus: Every christian man |ought to be c puissance or might is to him perdurable, the second, of might of | habitation, is to him sith |the beginning of his conception, like as the angel showed, and after that he | hath puissance of deed and |work. was imposed to him of Joseph, because of his passion that was to against | original sin, the devil weened |that he that received it were a sinner, and had need of the remedy of | circumcision. And for this | cause Jesu Christ would that his mother being alway a virgin should be married, | because that by the sacrament | of matrimony his Incarnati purpose is for to leave sin and take the good, | the which is showed us by | the son that dispended his good follily, and when he had perceived that he had | done evil and foolishly, |he advertised himself and said: I shall depart and return to my father, and shall pray | that I may serve him, | and that he may receive me to mercy, and make me as one of his servants. The third is| shame of sin, whereof |saith S. Paul to them that for their sins be in pain and in torment: What fruit have ye | founder in those sins in your life | of which now ye be ashamed? The fourth is dread of the coming judgment | and doom, whereof Job saith: |I have feared and doubted God as men dread the waves of the sea in their great | rage and tempest. And S. Jerome |saith thus: Sive comedam sive bibam, etc. As oft as I eat or drink or that | I do any other thing, alway | me seemeth that I hear the sound and the voice crying: Arise, ye dead men, and| come to the doom and the |judgment. The fifth is contrition, whereof S. Jerome saith: Give thy weeping| | | and bitterness of that | which thou hast angered thy God by thy sin. The sixth is confession, whereof David| saith: Dixi confitebor, etc.: | I have said and purposed in my heart that I shall confess me to God and make | knowledge of my sin. |The seventh is hope of pardon, for if Judas had had very repentance and hope, and had | confessed his sin, he had |had forgiveness and pardon. The eighth is satisfaction and sacrifice, and then is the | man verily circumcised, | not only from the sin, but also from pain. Where the two first days be for the sorrow of| sin that hath been done and |the will for to amend it, the third day we should confess the evil that we have done | and the good deeds that | we have left. The other four days be orison, effusion of tears, affliction of body, and| alms given. Or otherwise | by these eight days may be understood eight things, of which the considerati the | nativity of Jesu Christ | that is called the day of circumcision, we find that Jesu Christ said by the| mouth of his saints: | Non veni legem solvere sed adimplere; I came not, said Jesu Christ, to break the| law, but to fulfil it. | And he was that day circumcised and named Jesus, which is as much to say as Saviour.| And at the circumcision |must he cut a little of the skin at the end of the member or yard, and that is signified | and shewed that we ought |to be circumcised, and cut and taken away from us the sins and evil vices, that is | to wit pride, wrath, envy, |covetousness, sloth, gluttony, and lechery, and all sins, and purge us by confession, | by contrition, by satisfaction, |by almsdeeds, and by prayers, and to give for God's sake of the goods that he | hath lent us. For |we have nothing proper, but Jesu Christ hath lent to us all that we have. Then it is well | reason that we do give for him | to the poor of such goods as be his, for we be but servants, and we ought to| give to the hungry meat, |to the thirsty drink, to the naked clothing, visit the sick, and tofore all things to | love God, and after, our | neighbour as ourself; and despoil ourself from sin, and clothe us with good works| and virtues, and follow the | commandment of Jesu Christ. And in this manner we shall fulfil the will of our| father Jesu Christ, if we |been so purged and thus circumcised. Then let us pray unto the Lord of heaven | that saith that he came not |to break the law but to fulfil it, that he give us grace in such manner to fulfil the law | and his will in this world, |hat we may come into his holy bliss in heaven. Amen. Here followeth the Feast of | the Epiphany of our Lord and | of the three kings. The Feast of the Epiphany of our Lord is adorned of| four miracles, and after |them it hath four names. On this day the kings worshipped Jesu Christ, and S. John | Baptist baptized him. And |Jesu Christ changed this day water into wine, and he fed five thousand men with five | loaves of bread. When Jesu | Christ was in the age of thirteen days the three kings came to him the way like | as the star led them, and |therefore this day is called Epiphany, or the thiephanye in common language. And | is said of this term epi, |which is as much as to say as above, and of this term phanes which is as much to say | as apparition. For then the |star appeared above them in the air, where the same Jesus by the star that was seen | above them showed him to | the kings. And that day twenty-nine years passed, that was at the entry of thirty| years, for he had twenty-nine | years and thirteen days, and began the thirtieth year as saith S. Luke. Or after| this that Bede saith, he had |thirty years complete, as the Church of Rome holdeth. And then he was baptized in | the flood or river of Jordan, | and therefore it is called the thiephanie said of Theos, which is as much to say as| God, and phanes apparition. |For then God, that is the Trinity, appeared, God the Father in voice, God the Son | in flesh human, God the Holy |Ghost in likeness of a dove. After this, that same day a year, when he was | | | thirty-one year old and |thirteen days, he turned water into wine, and therefore it is called Bethania, said of | beth, that is to say an | house, and phanes, that is apparition. And this miracle was done of the wine in an| house by which he showed |him very God. And this same day a year after that was thirty-two years, he fed | five thousand men with |five loaves, like as Bede saith. And is also sung in an hymn which beginneth: | Illuminans altissimus. And therefore |it is called phagiphania, of phage, that is to say meat. And of this | fourth miracle some doubt | if it were done on this day, for it is not written of Bede expressly, and because that| in the gospel of S. John |is read that it was done nigh unto Pasque. Therefore the four apparitions were set on | this day. The first by the |star unto the crib or racke; the second by the voice of the Father on flom Jordan; the | third of the water into |wine at the house of Archedeclyn; the fourth by the multiplication of five | loaves in desert. Of the first |apparition we make solemnity on this day principally, and therefore pursue | we the history such as it is. |When our Lord was born, the three kings came into Jerusalem, of whom the names be written in | Hebrew, that is to wit |Galgalath, Magalath, and Tharath. And in Greek Appelius, Amerius, and Damascus. And in Latin | Jaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar. |And it is to wit that this name Magus hath three significations. It is said | illuser or deceiver, enchanter, | and wise. They been illusers or deceivers because they deceived Herod. For| they returned not by him |when they departed from the place where they had honoured and offered to Jesus, | | | but returned by another way |into their country. Magus also is said enchanter. And hereof be said the | enchanters of Pharaoh, Magi, |which by their malefice made their marvels by the enchanting of the craft of the | devil. And S. John Chrysostom | calleth these kings Magos, as wicked and evil-doers. For first they were| full of malefices, but after |they were converted. To whom God would show his Nativity, and bring them to | him to the end that to sinners | he would do pardon. Item, Magus in same wise. For Magus in Hebrew is said| doctor, in Greek, philosopher, |and in Latin, wise, whereof they be said Magi, that is to say great in | wisdom. And these three |came into Jerusalem with a great company and great estate. But wherefore came | they to Jerusalem when |the child was not born there? S. Remigius assigneth four reasons. The first reason is | that, the kings had knowledge | of the nativity of the Child that was born of the Virgin Mary, but not of the| place. And because that Jerusalem |was the most city royal and there was the see of the sovereign priest, they | thought that so noble a child, |so nobly showed ought to be born in the most noble city that was royal. The | second cause was, for in |Jerusalem were the doctors and the wise men by whom they might know where the | said child was born. The third |cause was to the end that the Jews should have none excusation. For they might | have said that they had knowledge | of the place where he should be born, but the time knew they not, and| therefore they might say, | we believe it not. And the kings showed to them the time, and the Jews showed| the place. The fourth to the doubt |of the Jews and their curiosity, for these kings believed one only prophet, | and the Jews believed |not many. They sought a strange king, and the Jews sought not their own king. These | | | kings came from far countries, |and the Jews were neighbours fast by. These kings were successors of | Balaam, and came at the | vision and sight of the star, by the prophecy of their father, which said that a star shall| be born or spring out of | Jacob, and a man shall arise of the lineage of Israel. That other cause that moveth them| to come to Jerusalem putteth |S. John Chrysostom, which saith that there were some that affirmed for truth | that, there were great clerks |ethat curiously studied to know the secrets of heaven; and after, they chose twelv | of them to take heed. | And if any of them died, his son or next kinsman shall be set in his place. And these| twelve every year ascended |upon a mountain which was called Victorial, and three days they abode there, and | washed them clean, and prayed | our Lord that he would show to them the star that Balaam had said and prophesied before.| Now it happened on a time that |they were there the day of the Nativity of Jesu Christ, and a star came over them | upon this mountain which |had the form of a right fair child, and under his head was a shining cross, which | spake to these three kings | saying: Go ye hastily into the land of Judea, and there ye shall find the king that ye| seek, which is born of a virgin. | Another cause putteth S. Austin; for it might well be that the angel of heaven| appeared to them which said: | the star that ye see is Jesu Christ, go ye anon and worship him. Another cause | putteth S. Leo, that by |the star which appeared to them, which was more resplendent and shining than the other, | that it showed the sovereign |king to be born on the earth. Then anon departed they for to come to that | | | place. Now may it be demanded |how, in so little space of thirteen days they might come from so far as from the | East unto Jerusalem, which |is in the middle of the world, which is a great space and a long way. Thereto | answereth S. Remigius the | doctor, and saith that, the child to whom they went, might well make them to go| so much way in that while. |Or after this that S. Jerome saith, that they came upon dromedaries, which be | beasts that may go as |much in one day as an horse in three days. And when they came into Jerusalem, they | demanded in what place | the King of Jews was born. And they demanded not if he was born, for they| believed it firmly that he |was born. And if any had demanded of them: Whereby know ye that he is born? | They would have answered: |We have seen his star in the Orient, and therefore we come to worship him. This is | to understand, we being in the |Orient saw his star that showed that he was born in Judea, and we be come to | worship him. And therefore |saith this doctor Remigius, that they confessed this child very man, very King, and | very God. Very man when |they said where is he that is born? very King when they said King of Jews; very God | when they said we be come |to worship him. For there was a commandment that none should be worshipped | but God. And thus as saith S. |John Chrysostom: They confessed the child very God by word, by deed, and by | gifts of their treasures that | they offered to him. And when Herod had heard this he was much troubled, and| all Jerusalem with him. |Herod was troubled for three causes, first, because he dreaded that the Jews would | | | receive the child born for | their King, and refuse he would worship also him, and thought that he would go| slay him. And it is to |wit that as soon as they were entered into Jerusalem, the sight of the star was taken | from them and for three causes: |First, that they should be constrained to seek that place of his nativity like as | they were certified by the |appearing of the star and by the prophecy of the place of his birth, and so it was | done. Secondly, that they that | sought the help and the world, had deserved to lose the aid divine. The third| because that the signs |be given to miscreants, and prophecies to them that believe well like, as the apostle | saith. And therefore the sign |which was given to the three kings, which yet were paynims ought not to | appear to them as long as |they were with the Jews. And when they were issued of Jerusalem, the star appeared | to them, which went before | them, and brought them till it came above the place where the Child was. And ye | ought to know that there be |three opinions of this star, which Remigius the doctor putteth, saying that: Some | say that it was the Holy Ghost |which appeared to the three kings in the form of a star, which after appeared | upon the head of Jesu Christ |in the likeness of a dove. Others say, like to S. John Chrysostom, that it was an | angel that appeared to the |shepherds, and after appeared to the kings, but to the shepherds, Jews, as to them that | use reason in form of a reasonable |creature, and to the paynims as unreasonable, that is to say of a star. Others | say more reasonably and | more veritably that it was a star new created, and made of God, the which when he| had done his office was brought |again into the matter whereof it was first formed. And this star was this that | Fulgentius saith: It differenced |from the other stars in three things. First, in situation, for it was not fixed in | the firmament, but it hung |in the air nigh to the earth. Secondly, in clearness, for it was shining more than the | | | others. It appeared so that |the clearness of the sun might not hurt nor appale her light, but at plain mid-day | it had right great light |and clearness. Thirdly, in moving, for it went alway before the kings in manner of | one going in the way, ne |it had none turning as a circle turneth, but in such manner as a person goeth in the | | | way. And when the kings | were issued out of Jerusalem, and set in their way, they saw the star whereof they had| lost the sight, and were greatly enjoyed. |And we ought to note that there be five manners of stars that these kings saw. The first is material, | the second spiritual, the | third intellectual, the fourth reasonable, the fifth substantial. The first, that is material, they saw| in the East; the second, that |is spiritual, they saw in heart, and that is in the faith. For if this faith had not | been in their hearts that had |lighted them, they had never seen the star material. They had faith of the | humanity when they said: |Where is he that is born? and of his royal dignity when they called him King of Jews, | and of his deity when they | said they went to worship him. The third intellectual, which is, that the angel that| they saw in vision, when |it was by the angel showed to them that they should not return by Herod, how be it | that after one gloss it was |our Lord that warned them. The fourth, that was reasonable, that was the Virgin | Mary whom they saw in |the stable holding her child. The fifth, that is substantial, that is to say that he had | | | substance above all other singular. |And that was Jesu Christ whom they saw in the crib. And hereof is it said | in the gospel that they entered | into the house and found the child with Mary his mother, and then they| worshipped him. And when |they were entered into the house secretly and had found the child, they kneeled | and offered to him these |three gifts, that is to wit gold, incense, and myrrh. And this saith S. Austin: O infantia, | cui astra subduntur, etc. | O infancy or childhood, to whom the stars be subject, to whose clothes angels| | | bow, the stars give virtue, |the kings joy, and the followers of wisdom bow their knees. O blessed tigury | or little house, O holy | seat of God. And S. Jerome saith: This is an heaven where is no light but the star. O| palace celestial in which |thou dwellest, not as King adorned with precious stones, but incorporate. To | whom, for a soft bed was | duresse and hard crib, for curtains of gold and silk, the fume and stench of dung, | but the star of heaven |was clearly embellished. I am abashed when I behold these clothes and see the | heaven. The heart burneth |me for hete when I see him in the crib, a poor mendicant, and over him the stars. I see | him right clear, right noble, | and right rich. O ye kings, what do ye? Ye worship the child in a little foul house| wrapped in foul clouts. Is he |then not God? Ye offer to him gold, and whereof is he King, and where is his | royal hall? Where is |his throne? Where is his court royal, frequented and used with nobles? The stable is | that not his hall? And |his throne the rack or crib? They that frequent this court, is it not Joseph and Mary? they | be as unwitting, to the end |that they become wise. Of whom saith Hilary in his second book that he made of | the Trinity: The Virgin | hath borne a child, but this that she hath childed is of God; the child is Iying in the| rack, and the angels be heard |singing and praising him, the clothes be foul, and God is worshipped. The dignity | | | of his puissance is not taken |away though the humility of his flesh is declared. Lo, how in this child Jesus | were not only the humble |and small things, but also the rich, and the noble, and the high things. And hereof | saith S. Jerome upon the Epistle | ad Hebreos: Thou beholdest the rack of Jesu Christ; see also the heaven.| Thou seest also the child Iying | in the crib, but take heed also how the angels sing and praise God. Herod is| persecuted and the kings | worship the child. The pharisees knew him not, but the star showed him. He is| baptized of his servant, but the |voice of the Father is heard above thundering. He is plunged in the water, but | the Holy Ghost The descended |upon him in likeness of a dove. And of the cause wherefore these kings offered these | gifts, many reasons be assigned. |One of the causes is, as saith Remigius the doctor, that the ancient ordinance | was that no man should come |to God ne to the king with a void hand, but that he brought him some gift. | | | And they of Chaldea were |accustomed to offer such gifts. They, as Scholastica Historia saith, came from the | | | end of Persia, from the |Chaldeans whereas is the flood of Saba, of which flood the region of Saba is named. | The second reason is |of S. Bernard: For they offered to Mary, the mother of the child, gold for to relieve her | poverty, incense against the |stench of the stable and evil air, myrrh for to comfort the tender members of the | child and to put away vermin. |The third reason was that they offered gold for to pay the tribute, the incense for | to make sacrifice, the myrrh | for the sepulture of dead men. The fourth for the gold signifieth dilection or| love; the incense, orison |or prayer; the myrrh, of the flesh mortification. And these three things ought we | offer to God. The fifth because | by these three be signified three things that be in Jesu Christ: The| precious deity, the soul full |of holiness, and the entire flesh all pure and without corruption. And these three | things be signified that |were in the ark of Moses. The rod which flourished, that was the flesh of Jesu Christ | that rose from death to life; | the tables wherein the commandments were written, that is the soul, wherein| be all the treasures of sapience |and science of godhead. The manna signifieth the godhead, which hath all | sweetness of suavity. By |the gold which is most precious of all metals is understood the Deity; by the | incense the soul right devout, |for the incense signifieth devotion and orison; by the myrrh which preserveth | from corruption, is understood |the flesh which was without corruption. And the kings when they were | | | admonished and warned by | revelation in their sleep that they should not return by Herod, and by another way| they should return into their country, |lo hear then how they came and went in their journey. For they came to | adore and worship the King | of kings in their proper persons, by the star that led them, and by the prophet| that enseigned and taught | them. And by the warning of the angel returned and rested at their death in Jesu| Christ. Of whom the bodies | were brought to Milan, where as now is the convent of the friars preachers, and| now be at Cologne in S. Peter's |Church, which is the Cathedral and See of the Archbishop. Then let us pray | unto Almighty God that this | day showed him to these kings and at his baptism, where the voice of the Father | was heard and the Holy Ghost | seen, and at the feast turned water into wine, and fed five thousand men, | besides women and children, |with five loaves and two fishes, that at the reverence of this high and great feast | he forgive us our trespasses |and sins, and after this short life we may come to his everlasting bliss in heaven. Amen. | Here beginneth Septuagesima. |At Septuagesima beginneth the time of deviation or going out of the way, of the whole world, which | began at Adam and dured |unto Moses. And in this time is read the Book of Genesis. The time of Septuagesima | representeth the time of | deviation, that is of transgression. The Sexagesima signifieth the time of| revocation. The Quinquagesima | signifieth the time of remission. The Quadragesima signifieth of penance and| satisfaction. The Septuagesima beginneth |when the Church singeth in the office of the mass: | Circumdederunt me, and endureth |unto the Saturday after Easter-day. The Septuagesima was instituted for | three reasons; like as Master | John Beleth putteth in the office of the Church. The first reason was for the| redemption. For the holy fathers |some time ordained that for the honour of the Ascension of Jesu Christ, in | the which our nature ascended |into heaven and was above the angels, that this day should be hallowed | solemnly, and should be kept |from fasting, and at the beginning of the Church also solemnly, as the Sunday. | And procession was made |in representing the procession of the apostles, which they made on that | | | day, or of the angels that |came to meet him and therefore commonly the proverb was that, the Thursday | and the Sunday were cousins, |for then that one was as solemn as that other. But because that the feasts of | saints came, and be multiplied, |which were grievous to hallow so many feasts, therefore the feast of the | Thursday ceased. And for to |recompense that, there is a week of abstinence ordained like to Lent and is called | Septuagesima. That other reason |is for the signification of the time, for by this time is signified to us the time of | deviation, of going out of the way |of exile, and of tribulation of the human lineage, from sith Adam unto | the end of the world. Which |exile is hallowed upon the revolution of seven days and of seven thousand years, | understood by seventy days |or by seventy hundred years. For from the beginning of the world unto the | ascension we account six hundred | years, and of the rest, that we reckon it for the seventh thousand, of | which God knoweth only |the term. Now it is so that Jesu Christ brought us out of this exile in the sixth age, | in hope of perpetual life |of all them that be revested with the vesture of innocence. By baptism we be | regenerate, and when we | shall have passed the time of this exile, he shall clothe us of double vesture, that is to| wit of body and soul in glory. |And in the time of deviation and of exile we leave the song of gladness, that is alleluia, but the | Saturday of Easter we |sing one alleluia, in enjoying us and thanking God of the vesture perpetual which by hope we abide | | | for to recover in the sixth age. |And in the mass we set a tract, in figuring the labour that yet we ought to do, and | in fulfilling the commandments |of God. And the double alleluia that we sing after Easter, signifieth the double | vesture that we shall have |in body and in soul. The third reason is for representation. For the Septuagesima | representeth seventy years |in which the children of Israel were in Babylon in servitude. And in such manner | that they cast away and left | their usage of song of gladness, saying: Quomodo cantabimus canticum| domini, etc. Thus leave | we the song of praising and of gladness. After, licence was given to them to return in| | | the time of Sexagesima, and |they began them to joy, and so we do the Saturday of Easter. As in the year of | Sexagesima we sing alleluia |in representing their joy and gladness, how well in the returning they had pain | and sorrow to take their things |and bear with them, therefore we sing anon after the tract which followeth | the alleluia. And in the Saturday |after Easter in which Septuagesima is complete, we sing double alleluia, in | figuring the plain gladness | that they had when they were returned into their country. And this time thus of | the servitude of the children |of Israel representeth the time of our pilgrimage of the life of this world. For thus| | | as they were delivered in |the sixtieth year, so were we in the sixth age. And as they had pain gathering and | assembling their things for |to bear with them, so have we in fulfilling the commandments of God. And like as | they were in rest when they | came into their country, and in gladness and in joy, in like wise we sing double| alleluia, that betokeneth double |joy that we shall have as well in body as in soul. In this time then of exile of | the Church, full of many |tribulations, and as thrown out into the deepness of desperation almost and despair, | she sigheth for sorrow in saying |the office of the mass: Circumdederunt me gemitus mortis, etc., and showeth | many demonstrations that she |suffereth, as well as for the misery that she had deserved by sin, as for the | double pain that she is run |in, and as for the trespass to her neighbour. But alway, for as much as she fall not in | despair, is purposed to her in |the Gospel and Epistle three manner of remedies. The first is that if she will | issue of these tribulations, |that she labour in the vineyard of her soul in cutting and pulling out the vices | and the sins, and after in |a way of this present life, she seek the works of penance. And after that in doing | spiritual battle, she defend her | strongly against the temptations of the enemy. And if she do these three| things she shall have threefold | reward. For in labouring God shall give her the penny, and in well running the| prize, and in well fighting |the crown. And because that Septuagesima signifieth the time of our captivity, the | remedy is proposed to us |by which we may be, delivered, in flying the misery by running, by victory in | fighting, and by the penny |in us ayenbyeng. Of Sexagesima. The Sexagesima beginneth when is sung in the Church, | at office of the mass: Exsurge |domine, and this endeth the Wednesday after Easter day; and was instituted for | redemption, for signification, and |for representation. For redemption it was instituted. For Melchiades the | Pope and Silvester instituted |that men should eat twice on the Saturday, to the end that they that had fasted the | Friday, which should always |be fasted, were not grieved. And in rechaet then of the Saturdays of this | time, they adjousted and joined | a week of the Lent thereto, and called it Sexagesima. That other reason is| for signification; for that time | signifieth the time of widowhood of the Church, and the wailing of the same| for the absence of her spouse |which was vanished into heaven. There be two wings given to the Church. The | first is the exercitation of six | works of mercy, and the fulfilment of the ten commandments of the law, for| sixty make six sithes ten. |And by six be understood the six works of mercy, and by ten the ten commandments | of the law. The third reason |is for representation. For the Sexagesima representeth also the mystery of | worshipping the king | of Israel. Hear ye therefore, my sons, me your father, serve ye God in truth and seek ye| redemption. For by ten is |understood the man, which is the tenth penny which is made and formed to that he be | the reparation of nine orders |of angels, or for that he is formed of four qualities to the body. And to the soul he | | | hath three powers, that is |to wit memory, understanding, and will, which be made that he serve | the Blessed Trinity, to the |end that we believe firmly in him and love him ardently, and diligently we have and | hold him in our mind. |By six be understood six mysteries, by the which the man is redeemed by Jesu | Christ, the which be the |Incarnation, the Nativity, the Passion, his descension into hell, his resurrection, and | his ascension into heaven. |And because that the Sexagesima stretcheth unto the Wednesday after Easter, | that day is sung: Venite benedicti, |etc. For they that fulfil the works of mercy shall hear in the end: Venite, | as Jesu Christ witnesseth. And | then shall the door be opened to the spouse, and embrace God her spouse.| And it is warned in an epistle, |that she should bear patiently tribulation, as S. Paul did, in the absence of | her spouse. And in the gospel| that she be always ententive to sow good works, and that she that had sung| | as despaired: Circumdederunt me |gemitus mortis, now return for to demand that she be holpen in her | tribulations, and require to | be delivered in saying Exsurge domine adjuva, etc., which is the beginning of| | | the office of the mass. |And this doth holy Church in three manners. For some be in holy Church that be oppressed of | adversity, but they be not | out. And some that be not oppressed ne cast out. And some that be oppressed and cast out. And| because that they may |not bear adversities, it is to dread and great peril lest the prosperities all to-break them. | Wherefore holy Church crieth | that he arise as to the first in comforting them, for it seemeth that he sleepeth| when he delivereth them not. | She crieth also as to the second, that he arise in converting them from whom it| seemeth that he turneth | his face from them in putting them from him. She crieth also as to the third, that he| arise in helping them | in prosperity, and in delivering them. Of Quinquagesima. The Quinquagesima dureth from| the Sunday in which is sung |in the Church in the office of the mass, Esto mihi, etc. And that endeth on Easter day, and is | instituted for supplication and |fulfilling, for signification, and for representation. For fulfilling and accomplishing | because that we should fast |forty days after the form of Jesu Christ. And there be but thirty-six days to fast, but | men fast not the Sundays, | for the gladness and the reverence of the resurrection, and also for the ensample| of Jesu Christ, which ate |two times with his disciples on the day of his resurrection, when he entered in | where his disciples were, | and the doors or gates shut, and they brought him part of a roasted fish and of a| honey-comb. And after that, |with his two disciples which went to Emmaus, he ate also, as some say. And | therefore be four days put to, |for accomplishing of the Sundays which be not fasted. And after because the | clergy go before the common |people, so should they go in devotion and holiness, therefore they begin to fast | two days before, and abstain |them from eating flesh. And thus is one week put, which is called the | Quinquagesima, after this that | S. Ambrose saith. That other reason is for the signification, for the| Quinquagesima signifieth the time |of remission and of penance, in which the sins be pardoned and forgiven. |
| The fiftieth year was the year of remission, for then the debts were quitted, and the bondmen | were franchised and let go free, | and every one came again to his heritage. By which is understood that by penance our | sins be forgiven, and from the | servitude and bondage of our enemy we be delivered, and so we be returned to | the mansion of our heritage | of heaven. The third reason is for representation. For the Quinquagesima | | | representeth not to us only | the time of remission, but also the state of the beatitude of heaven which is to us | represented. For in the fiftieth | year servants were made free, and in the fiftieth day that the lamb was sacrificed | the law of Moses was given. | And the fiftieth day after Paske the Holy Ghost was given. And therefore this | name fifty, representeth the | beatitude of heaven, whereas was taken the possession of liberty, the | knowledge of verity, and perfection | of charity. Now it is to wit that three things be necessary which be contained | and set in the Epistle and | in the Gospel, that is that penance, that is to say the works of penance be perfect. | That is to wit charity, which | is purposed in the Epistle; and the memory of the passion of Jesu Christ; and faith | which is understood by | the sight given to the blind man which be contained in the gospel. For faith maketh the | works acceptable to God. | For without faith no man may please God, and the mind of the passion of God maketh | the works light. Whereof saith | egory: If the passion of Jesu Christ be well had in mind, there is | nothing but it may be borne |and suffered easily, for the love of God may not be idle. This saith S. Gregory: If it | work, it is great, and if it | refuse, it is no love. And thus as the Church at the beginning, as despaired, had cried: | Circumderunt me gemitus mortis, | and after returning to him demanded to be holpen, thus now when she hath | taken affiance and hope of pardon, | for hope of penance she prayeth and saith: Esto mihi in Deum protectorem. | Or she demandeth four things, | that it is to wit protection, confirmation, refuge and conduct. All the | | | children of the Church or they | be in grace or they be in sin, or in adversity, or in prosperity. They that be in | grace demand for to be confirmed, | hat be in sin demand refuge, they in adversity demand protection, | that they from their tribulations | may be defended, and they in prosperity demand conduct that they may be of | God led and conducted. | And thus as it is said Quinquagesima termineth and endeth at Easter, because | that penance maketh them | to rise to new life. And in signification hereof the psalm of Miserere mei Deus, | which is the fiftieth psalm | and the psalm of penance, is in the time of Lent oft used and said. Of Quadragesima. | The Quadragesima, which we | call now in English Lent, beginneth the Sunday in which is sung in the office of | the mass: Invocavit me, etc. | And the Church which was much troubled tofore by so many tribulations and had | cried: Circumdederunt me, and | r, in respiring and sighing had asked help in saying: Exsurge domini, now | she showeth that she is heard, | when she saith: He hath called me and I have heard. Now it is to understand that | the Quadragesima containeth forty-two | days for to account the Sundays. And if they be not reckoned there | be but thirty-six days for to | fast, which be the tenth part of the days of the year. But the four days tofore be put | to, because the number sacred | by the Quadragesima be accomplished, the which our saviour Jesu Christ | hallowed by his holy fasting. | And because we fast in this number of forty, there may be assigned three | | | reasons. The first reason putteth | S. Austin, which saith that S. Matthew setteth forty generations to the end, | then, that our Lord by his | holy Quadragesima descended to us, we should ascend to him by our | Quadragesima. That other assigneth | the same, saying, to that we may have the Quinquagesima we must put to | forty ten; for unto that, | hat we may come to the blessed glory and rest in heaven, it behoveth us to labour all the | time of this present life. | And therefore our Lord abode forty days with his disciples after his resurrection, and | after the tenth day, he sent | to them the Holy Ghost. The third reason assigneth Master Prepositivus in the sum | of the office of the Church, | which saith: The world is divided into four parts, and the year into four times, and | the man of four elements | and four complexions is composed. And we have the new law which is ordained | of four evangelists, and the | ten commandments that we have broken. It behoveth then that the number of ten by | the number of four be multiplied, |that thus we make the Quadragesima, that we fulfil the commandments of the| old law and new. Our | body, as said is, is composed of four elements, like as they had four seats in our body. | That is to wit, the fire which | is in the eyes, the air in the tongue and ears, the water in the natural members | named genitals, and the earth | hath domination in the hands and other members. Then in the eyes is curiosity, | in the tongue and ears is | scurrility, in the natural members, that is to say genitals, voluptuousness, and in | the hands and other members | cruelty. And these four things confessed the publican when he prayed God. He | | | held him afar in confessing | his luxury which is stinking, like thus as he said: Sire, I dare not approach | to thee, for I might stink | in thy nose. And because he durst not lift up his eyes he confessed curiosity. And in | that he smote himself on |the breast he confessed cruelty. And when he said: Deus propitius esto mihi | peccatori, he confessed the | crime and gluttony which he ought to repress. S. Gregory in his homilies putteth also | three reasons wherefore in | abstinence is holden the number of forty. For the virtue of the ten | commandments in the law, and | for the accomplishing of the four books of the evangelists. And also in this world | we that be in mortal body | be composed of the four elements, and by the will of the mortal body we gainsay | the commandments of God. | Therefore then, we that have disobeyed the commandments of God by the | desire of the flesh, it is according | that the same flesh by four times ten we put to penance and affliction from | this present day unto Easter | six weeks coming, that be forty-two days. If the Sundays be taken away, there | abide in the abstinence but | thirty-six days. And the year is demened by three hundred sixty and five days, we | give the tithe of them to God | when we fast. And this saith S. Gregory: Wherefore keep we not this fasting in | the time that Jesu Christ fasted, | which was anon after his baptism, but we begin so that we continue until | Easter. Hereof be assigned four | reasons in the sum of the office of Master John Beleth in the office of the | Church. The first is that we will | Church. The first is that we will | The second is to that we should | follow the children of Israel which first issued out of Egypt, and in this time | issued also out Babylon, |the which thing appeareth, for as well that one as that other, anon as they were | returned hallowed the solemnity | of Easter. And thus we for to ensue them in this time, we fast to the end that, | from Egypt and from Babylon, | that is to understand from this mortal world into the country of our heritage | of heaven, we may enter. | The third reason is because that in the printemps the heat of the flesh moveth and | boileth, to the end that we may | refrain us therein, this time we fast. The fourth is forasmuch as anon after our | fasting we ought to receive the | Body of Jesu Christ, for in likewise as the children of Israel, tofore they had | eaten the lamb, they put them | in affliction by penance in eating wild lettuce and bitter, right so we ought to | withdraw and put us in affliction | by penance, to the end that the more worthily we may take and receive the | Lamb of life. Amen. The | Ember Days. The fasting of the Quatretemps, called in English Ember days, the Pope Calixtus | ordained them. And this fast | is kept four times in the year, and for divers reasons. For the first time, which is in March, is hot | and moist. The second, in | summer, is hot and dry. The third, in harvest, is cold and dry. The fourth in winter is | cold and moist. Then let us | fast in March which is printemps for to repress the heat of the flesh boiling, | -
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2014-01-13 PM 5:10 | fast in March which is printemps for to repress the heat of the flesh boiling, | and to quench luxury or | to temper it. In summer we ought to fast to the end that we chastise the burning | and ardour of avarice. In | harvest for to repress the drought of pride, and in winter for to chastise the | coldness of untruth and of | malice. The second reason why we fast four times; for these fastings here begin in | March in the first week | of the Lent, to the end that vices wax dry in us, for they may not all be quenched; | or because that we cast | them away, and the boughs and herbs of virtues may grow in us. And in summer also, | in the Whitsun week, for | then cometh the Holy Ghost, and therefore we ought to be fervent and esprised in | the love of the Holy Ghost. | They be fasted also in September tofore Michaelmas, and these be the third | fastings, because that in this | time the fruits be gathered and we should render to God the fruits of good works. | In December they be also, | and they be the fourth fastings, and in this time the herbs die, and we ought to | be mortified to the world. | The third reason is for to ensue the Jews. For the Jews fasted four times in the | | | year, that is to wit, tofore | Easter, tofore Whitsunside, tofore the setting of the tabernacle in the temple in | September, and tofore the | dedication of the temple in December. The fourth reason is because the man is | composed of four elements | touching the body, and of three virtues or powers in his soul: that is to wit, the | understanding, the will, and | the mind. To this then that this fasting may attemper in us four times in the year, | at each time we fast three | days, to the end that the number of four may be reported to the body, and the | number of three to the soul. | These be the reasons of Master Beleth. The fifth reason, as saith John | Damascenus: in March and in | printemps the blood groweth and augmenteth, and in summer coler, in | September melancholy, and in | winter phlegm. Then we fast in March for to attemper and depress the blood of | concupiscence disordinate, for sanguine | of his nature is full of fleshly concupiscence. In summer we fast | because that coler should be | lessened and refrained, of which cometh wrath. And then is he full naturally of | ire. In harvest we fast for | to refrain melancholy. The melancholious man naturally is cold, covetous and | heavy. In winter we fast | for to daunt and to make feeble the phlegm of lightness and forgetting, for such | is he that is phlegmatic. The | sixth reason is for the printemps is likened to the air, the summer to fire, | harvest to the earth, and the | winter to water. Then we fast in March to the end that the air of pride be | attempered to us. In summer | the fire of concupiscence and of avarice. In September the earth of coldness and | | | of the darkness of ignorance. | In winter the water of lightness and inconstancy. The seventh reason is | because that March is reported | to infancy, summer to youth, September to steadfast age and virtuous, and | winter to ancienty or old age. | We fast then in March that we may be in the infancy of innocency. In summer | for to be young by virtue | and constancy. In harvest that we may be ripe by attemperance. In winter that we | may be ancient and old | by prudence and honest life, or at least that we may be satisfied to God of that which | in these four seasons we | have offended him. The eighth reason is of Master William of Auxerre. We | fast, saith he, in these four | times of the year to the end that we make amends for all that we have failed in all | these four times, and they | be done in three days each time, to the end that we satisfy in one day that which | we have failed in a month; | and that which is the fourth day, that is Wednesday, is the day in which our Lord | was betrayed of Judas; | and the Friday because our Lord was crucified; and the Saturday because he lay in | the sepulchre, and the apostles | were sore of heart and in great sorrow. The Passion of our Lord. | The passion of our Lord was | bitter for the sorrow that he suffered in derisions despitous and of many filths | fructuous. The sorrow was cause | of five things. The first, because it was shameful, for the place of the | Mount of Calvary, whereas malefactors | and criminal persons were put to execution, and he was there put to | death right foul. The cross | was the torment of thieves, and if the cross was then of shame and of villainy, she | is now of glory and of honour. |Wherefore saith S. Austin: Crux latronum qui erat supplicium, etc. The | cross which was the justice | of thieves is now become the sign of glory in the foreheads or fronts of | | | emperors. And if he had such | honour at his torment, what did he to his servant for the shameful fellowships | that he did to him? For he was | set with malefactors, but the one of them was converted, which was called | Dismas, like as it said in the | gospel of Nicodemus. And he was on the right side of our Lord, and that other on the left side | was damned, which was | called Gesmas. So that one then he gave the realm of heaven, and to that other hell. | Whereof saith S. Ambrose: | Auctor pietatis in cruce, etc. He saith the author of pity hanging on the cross divided | offices of pity in secular | errands; that is to say, the persecution to the apostles, peace to his disciples, his | body to the Jews, his spirit | to the Father, to the Virgin the messages of the wedding of the sovereign spouse, to | the thief paradise, to sinners | hell, and to christian penitent he commanded the cross. Lo! this is the | testament that Jesu Christ | made hanging on the cross. Secondly, the sorrow was caused unjustly, for none | iniquity was found in him. | And principally, unjustly they accused him of three things. The first was they said | that he defended to pay | the trewage; and for he said that he was a king; and he said him to be the Son of God. | And against these three |accusations we say on the Good Friday three excusations in the person of Jesu Christ | when we sing: Popule meus, | where Jesu Christ reproved them of three benefits that he did and gave to | them, that is to wit the | deliverance of them from Egypt, the sustentation and governance in the desert, and the | plantation of the vine in | a land propice. Like as Jesu Christ would say: Thou I accuses me because that I | | | defend to pay thy trewage, | and thou oughtest more to thank me of that I have delivered thee from the trewage | and from the servitude | of Pharaoh and of Egypt; thou accusest me that I call myself King, and thou oughtest | better to yield me thankings | of that which I governed thee in the desert with meat royal; thou accusest me of | this that I say me to be the | Son of God, and thou oughtest more to thank me that I have chosen thee to be | in my vineyard, and in a | right good place I have planted thee. The third cause is because he was despised and | forsaken of his friends, which | seemed a thing more tolerable to be suffered of his enemies than of them | whom he held to be his friends. | And alway he suffered death for his friends and neighbours, that is of them of | whose lineage he was born. | This said he by the mouth of David: Amici mei et proximi, etc.: My friends and | my neighbours have approached | against me and so have continued. Whereof said Job, capitulo xix.; Noti mei | quasi alieni recesserunt a me: | My neighbours that knew me, as strangers have left me. Item, he suffered of them | to whom he had done much good. | Like as S. John recordeth, Johannis viii.: I have wrought many good | things to you. And hereto saith | S. Bernard: O good Jesus, how sweetly hast thou conversed with men, and | how great things in the most | abundant wise hast thou granted to them. How hard and sharp things hast thou | suffered for them, hard words, | harder strokes and beatings, and most hard torments of the cross, | nevertheless they render and | yield to thee contrary. The fourth cause is for the tenderness of his body. Whereof | | | David saith in figure of | him in the second book of Kings: He is like as that most tender worm of the wood. | Whereof saith S. Bernard: O | ye Jews, ye be stones, but ye smite a better stone, whereof resoundeth the sound | of pity and boileth the oil | of charity. And S. Jerome saith: He is delivered to knights for to be beaten, and | their beatings have cruelly | wounded and torn the most precious body, in whose breast the Godhead was hid. | The fifth cause was because it | was general, for it was over all, that is to say over all his body, and in all the | natural wits of his body. | And first the sorrow was in his eyes, for he wept tenderly as S. Paul saith in his Epistle | ad Hebreos. Twice he ascended | on high that he might be far heard. He cried strongly because none should be | excused. He added thereto | weeping that we should have compassion, and to tender our hearts, and he had wept | tofore two times also. One | time when he raised Lazarus, and that other time when he approached Jerusalem he | wept. The first tears were | of love, whereof is said in the Gospel: Behold how he loved him ! The second were of | compassion upon Jerusalem. | But in this third weeping the tears were of sorrow. Secondly, the sorrow was in | hearing with his ears the reproofs | and villanies that was said to him and blasphemed. Jesu Christ in especial had | four things in which he | heard blasphemy and reproofs, for he had right excellent noblesse. As to the nature | divine, he was son of the King, | perpetual sovereign, and as to the nature human he was born of the lineage royal. | And as to this he was also | King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He was also sovereign truth. For he is the way, | | | the life, and the truth. | Whereof he said himself: Thy word is truth. The Son of God, that is the word of God | the Father, he hath also | sovereign power above all other. For none may surmount him, for all things been | made by him and nought is made | without him. He hath also singular bounty, for there is none good of himself | but God only. And in | these four things here, Jesu Christ had opprobriums and blasphemies. First as to his | noblesse, whereof is sa persevered | not; for he made his question saying: What is truth? But he abode not the | solution, nor he was not worthy | to hear it. S. Austin saith that he abode not the solution, because that so | soon as he had made the question | it came in his thought that the custom was of the Jews that one should be | delivered to them at Paske. | And there fore he went out anon and abode not the solution. The third cause is | after S. John Chrysostom: | For the question was so great, difficulty, that he had need of long time to advise | and to discuss it. And he laboured | for the deliverance of Jesu Christ, and therefore he issued out anon. | Nevertheless it is read in the gospel | of Nicodemus that Jesu Christ answered: Veritas de celo est. And Pilate | said: In earth is no truth. | And Jesus said to him: How may be truth in earth which in earth is judged of them | that have power in earth? | Fourthly, he suffered blasphemy as to his bounty and goodness. For they said | that he was a man sinner | and deceiver in his words, Luke xxiii.: He hath moved the common people with | his doctrine, in beginning | from Galilee, hither, and hath broken the commandments of the law, for he keepeth | | | not the Sabbath day, | Johannis nono. Thirdly, the sorrow was in smelling of ordure and filth. For he might smell | great stench on the mount | of Calvary whereas were the bodies of dead men stinking, whereof is said in | Scholastica Historia that | Calvary is the bone of the head all bare. And because that many were there | | | beheaded, and many skulls | of heads were there sparteled all openly, they said that it was the place of | Calvary. Fourthly the sorrow in | tasting, whereof he cried: Sitio! I am athirst! There was given to him | vinegar meddled with myrrh | and gall, to the end that he should the sooner die, and the keepers might the sooner | depart and go thence. For | it is said by vinegar men die much soone. And with this also they gave to him myrrh | for to have the more pain, | for the bitterness of the myrrh and of the gall. Whereof saith S. Austin: His | purity was fulfilled with | vinegar instead of wine, his sweetness with gall; the innocent is set for guilty, and | the life dieth for death. | Fifthly, the sorrow was in touching, for in all the parts of his body he was touched | and wounded, from the plant | of his foot unto the top of his head was none whole place. And how he suffered | sorrow in all his natural | wits S. Bernard telleth, that saith: The head that made angels to tremble is pierced | and pricked with the quality | of sharp thorns. The visage which was most fair of all other members is fouled by | spit, and hurt with the thorns | of the Jews. The eyes more shining than the sun be extinct in the death. The | ears hear not the song of | the angels but the assaults of the sinners. The mouth that teacheth and enseigneth the | angels, is made drink vinegar | and gall. The feet, of whom the steps be worshipped, be attached with nails | to the cross. The hands | that formed the heavens be stretched on the cross, and nailed with nails. The body | is beaten, the side is pierced | with a spear, and what more may be said? There abode nothing save the tongue | | | for to pray for the sinners, | and for to recommend his mother to his disciple. Secondly, his passion was | despised of mockeries and | derisions of the Jews. For four times he was mocked. First, at the house of | Ananias where he received | spittings, buffets and blindfolding, of the Jews. Whereof S. Bernard saith: | Right sweet and good Jesus | thy desirous visage which angels desire to see, the Jews with their spittings have | defiled, with their hands | have smitten, with a veil fortorn they have covered, nor they have not spared to | hurt it with bitter wounds. | Secondly, he was mocked in the house of Herod, which reputed him for a fool, and | aliened from his wit, because | he might have of him none answer. And by derision he was clad with a white | vesture, whereof saith S. Bernard: | Tu es homo, etc.- He saith thus: Thou art a man and hast a chaplet of flowers, | and I am God and have a | chaplet of thorns. Thou hast gloves on thine hands, and I have the nails fixed in my | hands. Thou dancest in white | vestures, and I God am mocked and vilipended, and in the house of Herod had | received a white vesture. | Thou dancest and playest with thy feet, and I with my feet have laboured in great pain. | Thou liftest up thine arms | in joy, and I have stretched them in great reproof. Thou stretchest out thine arms | across in caroling and gladness, | and I stretch mine in the cross in great opprobrium and villainy. Thou hast | thy side and thy breast | open in sign of vain glory, and I have mine opened with a spear. Nevertheless return to | me and I shall receive thee. | But why and wherefore Jesus in the time of his passion before Herod Pilate and the Jews was | | | thus still and spake not, | there be three reasons and causes. The first was because they were not worthy to hear his answer. | The second was because | Eve sinned by speaking, and Jesus would make satisfaction by being still and not | speaking. The third is because | that all that ever he answered, they perverted it. Thirdly, Jesus was mocked | in the house of Pilate. For | they clad him with a red mantle, and in his hand they took him a reed, and set | upon his head a crown of thorns, | and kneeled on their knees before him saying: Hail, King of the Jews. This | crown was of jonkes of | the sea. And we hold and say that the blood sprang out of his head. Whereof saith S. | the sea. And we hold and say that the blood sprang out of his head. Whereof saith S. | etc. The head precious and divine was pierced with thorns unto the brain of the | soul. There be three opinions | in what place principally the soul hath her place; or in the heart, for the scripture | saith, out of the heart come | the evil thoughts; or in the blood, because the scripture saith, the soul of every one | is in the blood; or in the head, | because the Evangelist saith: When he inclineth his head he rendered his spirit. | And this treble opinion it seemeth | that the Jews had known, for when they would make the soul issue out of | the body, they sought it in | the head, when they thrust the thorns to the brain. They sought it in the blood | when they opened his veins | in the feet and hands. And they sought it in the heart when they pierced his side. | Against these three illusions, | on Good Friday, before the cross is showed, we make three adorations in | saying: Agios, O Theos, | Yskyros, etc., in honouring him three times, like as he was for us mocked and | | | scorned on the cross. Fourthly, | he was scorned on the cross. The princes of the priests with the old men and | masters of the law, clerks and |doctors, said to him: If he be King of Israel, let him descend from the cross now to | the end that we believe in | him. Whereof saith S. Bernard: In that Jesus showed the more great virtue of | patience, he commanded humility, | he accomplished obedience, he performed charity. And in sign of these | four virtues the four corners | of the cross be adorned with precious gems and stones. And in the most | apparent place is charity, | and on the right side is obedience, and on the left side is patience, and beneath | is humility, the root of all | virtues. And all these things that Jesu Christ suffered, S. Bernard gathereth together | saying: I shall, said he, | as long as I shall live remember the labours that he had in preaching, of the travails that | he had in going from one place | to another by land, and from city to city, of his wakings in praying, of his | temptations in fasting, of his | weepings and tears in having compassion, of the awaitings on him in | speaking, in assaying him | and tempting. And at last of the villanies of the spittings, of the mockeries, of the | opprobriums and of the nails. | Thirdly, his passion was profitable and fructuous: the which may be profitable in | three manners. That is to wit | in remission of sin, in gifts of grace, and in demonstration of glory. And these three | things be showed in the title | of the cross. The first is Jesus, the second Nazarenus, and the third Rex | Judeorum, for there shall | we all be kings. Of the profit speaketh S. Austin, saying: Our Lord Jesu Christ hath | put away the sins past, present, | and to come. The sins past in pardoning them; the present in withdrawing men | from them; them to come | in giving grace to eschew the sins. Yet the same doctor saith thus: We ought to praise | and to thank, to love and to | honour him; for by the death of our Saviour and Redeemer we be brought to | life, from corruption to | incorruption, from exile unto our country, from weeping to joy we be called again. | And how well the manner | of our redemption was profitable it appeareth by five reasons. That is to wit, | because it was right acceptable | to appease God, right helping to save us, right effectual to draw to him the | human lineage, right wise | to fight against the enemy of human lineage, and to reconcile us to God. For after | this that S. Anselm saith: | There is nothing more sharp ne more strong that a man may suffer by his proper will, | without it be of God, | than to suffer death with his own proper will for the honour of God. Ne no man may | better give to God to his | honour than give himself to death for him. And this is that the apostle saith ad | Ephesios v. Our Lord hath | given himself in to oblation and sacrifice for us in to the odour of sweetness to God | the Father. And how he | was sacrificed that was in us appeasing God, S. Austin in the book of the Trinity | saith thus: What thing may | be more graciously and pleasantly received than the flesh of our sacrifice, | which was made the precious | body of our priest. Therefore four things ought to be considered in all | sacrifice: First, him to whom | it is offered, that which is offered, him that offereth, and him for who the offering | is offered. He himself is | the moyen of both two; or that is to say God and man, he was himself that did offer, | and he was himself that | was offered. And the same doctor saith yet of this sacrifice, how we be to God | reconciled: Jesu Christ is the | priest and the sacrifice, he is God and also he is the temple, he is the priest by | whom we be reconciled, | God, to whom we be reconciled, and the temple in whom we be reconciled, | the sacrifice of whom we be | reconciled. And S. Austin saith, considering them that despise this reconciliation, | and set nought thereby, he | saith in the person of Jesu Christ in reproving them: When thou wert enemy to my | Father I have reconciled thee; | when thou wert far I bought thee again; when thou wert taken I came for to | redeem thee; when among | the mountains and the forests thou wert out of the way, I sought thee, to the end that | | | of the wolves nor of the evil | beasts thou wert not eaten nor all to-torn; I gathered thee and bare thee in mine | arms and delivered thee | to my Father. I laboured, I sweat, I put mine head against the thorns, stretched | mine hands unto the nails, | opened my side to the spear, have shed my blood, and have given over my soul and | life for to join thee to me, | and thou hast departed thyself from me. Secondly, Jesu Christ was right | convenable and necessary for | to save us, and to heal and cure us of our malady and sickness, for because of | the time and of the place and | of the manner of the time, as it appeareth. For Adam was made and sinned in the | month of March, and on | the Friday, which is the sixth day of the week, and therefore God in the month of | March, and on the Friday | would suffer death, and at midday which is the sixth hour. Secondly, for the place | of his passion, the which might | be considered in three manners. For one place either it is common or especial | or singular. The place common | where he suffered was the land of promise. The place especial the mount of | Calvary. The place singular the | cross. In the was in a field about or nigh Damascus. Where it is said, in a | place special, he was there | buried. For right in the place where Jesu Christ suffered death, it is said that Adam | was buried. How well that | this is not authentic, for S. Jerome saith that Adam was buried in Hebron. And also | in the book of Josuah is written | the xiv. chapter: In a place singular he was deceived, that is to wit in the tree, | not in this on which Jesus | suffered death, but in another tree. Thirdly, he was right convenable because | | | of the curing, the which | by manner was semblable to the prevarication by like and contrary. For thus as saith | S. Austin in the book, | e doctrina christiana: By a woman he was deceived, and by a woman he was born a | man, and the man delivered | the men. One mortal delivered the mortal, and the death by his death. And S. | Ambrose saith: Adam was of | the earth a virgin; Jesu Christ was born of the virgin; Adam was made to the | image of God; Jesus was the | image of God; by a woman folly was showed; by a woman wisdom was born. Adam | was naked; Jesu Christ naked. | The death came by the tree, the life by the cross. Adam in desert, and Jesus in | desert, but by the contrary. | For after S. Gregory: Adam sinned by pride, by disobedience and by gluttony, for | he coveted the highness of God. | For the serpent said to them, ye shall be semblable to God, he brake the | covenant of God, and desired | and coveted the sweetness of the fruit by gluttony. And because the manner of the | Saviour ought to be by | the contrary, therefore this manner was right convenable by the humiliation, by the | fulfilling and affliction, or | of the divine volenty. And hereof saith the apostle ad Philippenses; Humiliavit se | ipsum. Thirdly, Jesus was | right profitable to draw to him the human lineage. For one of the world, his free | will saved, might never have | drawn mankind to his love. And how he draweth us to his love S. Bernard saith: | Above all things O good | Jesu give me grace to love thee. And by this thing he drew us most to his love. | That is the chalice good Lord | that thou hast drunken, which was the work our of redemption. This chalice is | thy passion, which lightly | may appropre our love to thee. This is that draweth most pleasantly our devotion, | and justly raiseth it, and soonest | straineth and most vehemently taketh our affection. And where thou | | | lamentest, and thereas thou | despoilest thee of thy rays natural, there shineth most thy pity; there is most clear | thy charity, and there aboundeth | most thy grace. And how also we ought to return to the affiance of him S. | Paul saith, ad Romanos viii.: | He spared not his own Son, but for us all he delivered him. Therefore S. | Bernard saith: Who is he that | is not ravished to hope of affiance which taketh none heed to the disposition of | his body? He hath his head | inclined to be kissed, the arms stretched to embrace us, his hands pierced to give | to us, the side open | to love us, the feet fixed with nails for to abide with us, and the body stretched all for | to give to us. | Fourthly, he was right wise and well advised for to fight against the enemy of the human lineage. Job | xxvi.: His wisdom hath | smitten the proud man, and after, may ye not take the fiend with an hook? Jesu | Christ hath hid the hook | of his divinity under the meat of our humanity, and the fiend would take the meat of | the flesh, and was taken | with the hook of the Godhead. Of this wise taking, saith S. Austin, our Redemption is | come and the deceiver is vanquished. | And what did our Redemptor? He laid out his bait to our deceiver and | adversary; he hath set forth | his cross; and within he hath set his meat, that is his blood. For he would shed | his blood not as a debtor, | and therefore, he departed from the debtors. And this debt here the apostle calleth | chirographe or obligation, the | which Jesu Christ bare and attached it to the Cross. Of which Saint Austin | saith: Eve took of the fiend | sin by borrowing by usury, and wrote an obligation. She laid it for pledge, and the | | | usury is augmented, and | grew unto all the remnant of the lineage. Then took Eve of the fiend sin, when | against the commandment she consented | to him. She wrote the obligation when she put her hand to the tree | against the defence of God. | She delivered pledge when she made Adam to consent to the sin, and thus the | usury grew and augmented | unto the remainder of all the lineage. Against them that reck nothing of this | redemption Saint Bernard saith | in the person of Jesu Christ: My people, saith Jesu, what might I have done | for thee that I have not done | to thee? What cause is there that ye serve sooner the devil, our adversary, than | me? For he hath not created | ne hath nourished you. But this seemeth a little thing to them that be full of | ingratitude. I have redeemed | you and not he, and for what price? Not with gold ne silver, ne of the sun, ne of | the moon, ne with any of the | angels, but with my proper blood. And after consider, if of right for so many | benefits ye ought to choose | to have my company. And if ye will all leave me, at the least come with me for to | win a penny a day. And because | they delivered Jesu Christ to death, that is to wit Judas for avarice, the Jews | for envy, and Pilate for dread. | And therefore it is to see what pain was delivered to them of God for this sin. | But of the pain and of the birth | of Judas thou shalt find in the legend of S. Matthew, of the pain and ruin of the | Jews, in the legend of S. James | the Less, and of the pain of Pilate and his birth thou shalt find in one | apocryphum whereas it is | said in this manner. There was a king called Tyrus which knew carnally a | | | maid called Pilam, which | was daughter of a miller named Atus. And of this daughter he engendered a son. | She took her name and the | name of her father, which was called Atus, and composed thus of their names one | name to her son, and named | him Pilatus. And when he was three years old she sent him to the king. And the | king had a son of the queen, | which seemed to be of the age of Pilate. And these two sons when they were of age | of discretion, oft they fought | together, and with the sling they played oft. And the king's son also, which | was legitimate, was more | noble, and in all feats he knew more, and more was set by because of his birth. | And Pilate seeing this was | moved of envy and wrath and privily slew his brother. The which thing the king | heard say, and was much | angry, and demanded of his council what he might do and make of this trespass and | homicide. The which all with | one voice said that he was worthy to suffer death. And the king would not double | the pain and punition, | but because he owed to the Romans yearly a tribute, he sent him in hostage to the | Romans, as well for to be | quit of the death of his son, and that he should not be constrained to put him to | death, as well as for to be quit | of the tribute that he owed to Rome. And this time was at Rome one of the | sons of the king of France, | which was also sent for trewage. And when Pilate saw him, he anon | accompanied with him, and | saw that he was praised before him for the wit and for the manners that were in | him. Pilate slew him also. | And when the Romans demanded what should be done in this matter, they | | | answered that he which had | slain his brother and estranged him that was in hostage, if he might live | should be yet much profitable | to the common weal, and should daunt the necks of them that were cruel and | wood. And then said the | Romans, that sith he was worthy to die he should be sent into an isle of the sea | named Ponthus, to them | that will suffer no judge over them, to the end that his wickedness may overcome and | judge them or else that | he suffer of them like as he hath deserved. Then was Pilate sent to this cruel people and | wild, which before had | slain their judge. And it was told to him to what people he was sent, and that he | should consider how his | life was hanging, and in great jeopardy. He went considering his life and thought to | keep it, and did so much | that by menaces and promises to torment as by gifts, that he subdued them all and put | them in subjection. And |because he had victory of this cruel people, he was named of this Isle of Pontus, | Pontius Pilate. And when | Herod heard his iniquities and his frauds he had great joy thereof. And because he | was wicked himself, he | would have wicked with him, and sent for him by messengers and by promise of gifts | that he came to him, and | gave him the power upon the realm of Judæa and Jerusalem. And when he had | assembled and gathered together | much money, he went to Rome without knowing of Herod, and offered right | great sums of money to the | Emperor for to get to himself that which Herod so held. And so he got it. And | for this cause Herod and | Pilate were enemies unto the time of the passion of Jesu Christ, whom Pilate sent to | | | Herod. Another cause of | enmity is assigned in Scholastica Historia: There was one that said himself to | be God, and had deceived | many of Galilee, and brought the people into Garizim where he said that he would go | up to heaven. And Pilate | came upon them, and when he had knowledge of the deed he slew him and all his | | | people, because he doubted | that he would have deceived them of Judæa. And therefore were they | enemies together, for Herod | reigned in Galilee. And when Pilate had delivered Jesu Christ to the Jews | for to be crucified he doubted | the Emperor that he should be reproved of that which he had judged an | innocent, and sent a friend | of his for to excuse him. And in this while Tiberius the Emperor fell into a | grievous malady. And it | was told to him that there was one in Jerusalem that cured all manner maladies. And | he knew not that Pilate | and the Jews had slain him. He said to Volusian, which was secret with him: Go into | the parts over sea, and say | to Pilate that he send to me the leech or master in medicine for to heal me of my | malady. And when he | was come to Pilate and had said his message, Pilate was much abashed, and demanded | fourteen days of dilation, | in which time Volusian found an old woman named Veronica which had been familiar | and devout with Jesu Christ. | He demanded of her where he might find him that he sought. She then escried and | said: alas! Lord God, | my Lord, my God was he that ye ask for, whom Pilate damned to death, and whom the | Jews delivered to Pilate | for envy, and commanded that he should be crucified. Then he complained him | sorrowfully, and said: I | am sorry because he may not accomplish that which my lord the Emperor hath | charged me. To whom Veronica | said: My lord and my master when he went preaching, I absented me oft from | him, I did do paint his image, | for to have alway with me his presence, because that the figure of his image | | | should give me some solace. | And thus as I bare a linen kerchief in my bosom, our Lord met me, and demanded | whither I went, and when I told | him whither I went and the cause, he demanded my kerchief, and anon he | emprinted his face and figured | it therein. And if my lord had beholden the figure of Jesu Christ devoutly he | should be anon guerished | and healed. And Volusian asked: Is there neither gold ne silver that this figure | may be bought with? She | answered: Nay, but strong of courage, devout and of great affection, I shall go with | thee and shall bear it to | the Emperor for to see it, and after I shall return hither again. Then went Volusian | with Veronica to Rome and | said to the Emperor: Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou hast long desired, Pilate and | the Jews by envy and with | wrong, have put to death, and have hanged him on the cross. And a matron, a | widow, is come with me | which bringeth the image of Jesus, the which if thou with good heart and devoutly | wilt behold, and have therein | contemplation, thou shalt anon be whole. And when the Emperor had heard this, | he did anon make ready the | way with cloths of silk, and made the image of Jesus to be brought before him. And | anon as he had seen it and | worshipped it he was all guerished and whole. Then he commanded that Pilate | should be taken and brought | to Rome. And when the Emperor heard that Pilate was come to Rome, he was | much wroth, and inflamed | against him, and bade that he should be brought tofore him. Pilate ware always the | garment of our Lord which | was without seam, wherewith he was clad when he came before the | | | Emperor. And as soon as | the Emperor saw him all his wrath was gone, and the ire out of his heart; he could | not say an evil word to him. | And in his absence he was sore cruel towards him, and in his presence he was | always sweet, and debonair | to him, and gave him licence and departed. And anon as he was departed he | was as angry and as sore | moved as he was before, and more because he had not showed to him his fury. Then | he made him to be called | again, and sware he should be dead. And anon as he saw him his cruelty was all gone, | whereof was great marvel. | Now was there one by the inspiration of God, or at the persuasion of some | Christian man, caused the Emperor | to despoil him of that coat. And anon as he had put it off, the Emperor | had in his heart as great | ire and fury as he had before, wherefore the Emperor marvelled of this coat, and it | was told to him that it |was the coat of Jesus. Then the Emperor made Pilate to be set in prison till he had | counselled what he should | do with him. And sentence was given that he should die a villain's death. And when | Pilate heard the sentence, | he took a knife and slew himself. And when the Emperor heard how he was | dead, he said: Certainly he | is dead of a right villainous death and foul, for his own proper hand hath not spared | him. Then his body was taken | and bounden to a millstone and cast in the river of Tiber for to be sunken | in to the bottom. And the | ill spirits in the air began to move great tempests and marvellous waves in the water, | and horrible thunder and lightning | whereof the people was sore afraid and in great doubt. And therefore the | | | Romans drew out the body | and in derision sent it to Vienne and cast it in to the river named Rhone. Vienne | is as much to say as hell, | which is said Gehenna, for then it was a cursed place, and so there is his body in | the place of malediction. | And the evil spirits be as well there as in other places, and made such tempests as they | did before, insomuch that | they of that place might not suffer it. And therefore they took the vessel wherein the | body was, and sent it for | to bury it in the territory of the city of Lausanne. The which also was tempested as the | other. And it was taken thence | and thrown into a deep pit all environed with mountains. In which place, after | the relation of some, be | seen illusions, and machinations of fiends be seen grow and boil. And | hitherto is this story called | apocryphum read. They that have read this, let them say and believe as it shall please | them. Nevertheless in Scholastica | Historia is read that Pilate was accused before the Emperor Tiberius because he | did put to death by violence | them that were innocent, by his might; and that maugre the Jews he did images of | paynims in the Temple, | and that the money put in corbanam he took, and did withal his profit, and was | proved in his visage that | he made in his house alleys and conduits for water to run in. And for these things | he was sent to Lyons in exile | for to die among the people of whom he was born. And this may be well | supposed that this history | be true. For tofore was the edict given that he should be put in exile to Lyons, and | that he was exiled ere | Volusian returned to the Emperor. But when the Emperor heard how he had made our | Lord Jesu to die he made him | from his exile to come to Rome. Eusebius and Bede in their chronicles say not | that he was imprisoned | and put in exile, but because that he fell in many miseries by despair he slew himself | with his own hand. | Here beginneth the Resurrection. Heretofore we have made mention of deviation of the | human lineage, which dureth | from Septuagesima unto Easter. Hereafter we shall make mention of the time of reconciliation. | The resurrection of our Lord Jesu | Christ was the third day after his death. And of this blessed resurrection | seven things be to be considered. | First, of the time that he was in the sepulchre, that be three days and three | nights he was in the sepulchre, | and the third day he arose. Secondly, wherefore he arose not anon when he | was dead, but abode unto | the third day. Thirdly, how he arose. Fourthly, wherefore his resurrection tarried not | until the general resurrection. | Fifthly, wherefore he arose. Sixthly, how ofttimes he appeared in his | resurrection. And the seventh, | how the holy fathers which were enclosed in a part of hell he delivered, and | what he did, etc. As to | the first point, it ought to be known that Jesus was in the sepulchre three days and | three nights. But, after S. | Austin, the first day is taken by synechdoche, that is that the last part of the day is | taken which dureth from | Easter unto the utas of Whitsuntide, like as holy Church hath ordained. The | second day is taken all | whole. The third is taken after the first part of the day. Thus there be three days, and | every day hath his night going | before. And after Bede the order of the day was changed, and the course | ordained, for before, the | days went before and the nights followed, after the time of the passion that order | was changed, for the nights | go before, and this is by mystery. For man first overthrew in the day and fell into | the night of sin. And by the passion | nd resurrection of Jesu Christ he came again from the night of sin unto the |
| day of grace. As touching the second consideration, it ought to be known that it is according | to reason that anon after | his death he ought not to arise, but ought to abide unto the third day, and for five reasons. The first | for the signification to that | that the light of his death should cure our double death, and therefore one day | whole and two nights, he | lay in the sepulchre, that by the day we understand the light of his death, and by the | | | two nights our double death. | And this reason assigneth the gloss upon S. Luke, Luce vicesimo upon this text. | Oportebat Christum pati, etc. | The second for certain probation. For right so as in the mouth of twain or of | three is the witness established, | right so in three days is proved all deed and fait veritable. And to the end to | -
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2014-01-13 PM 6:12 > | right so in three days is proved all deed and fait veritable. And to the end to | prove that his death was | veritable, he would lie therein three days. The third for to show his puissance; for if he | had arisen anon, it should | seem that he had not such might for to give him life as he had to raise him. And | this reason toucheth the | Apostle ad Corinthios xv. Therefore is there first made mention of his death. Like | as his death was verily showed | so his very resurrection is showed and declared. Fourthly, for to figure the | restoration. And this reason | assigneth Petrus Ravenensis: Jesu Christ would be three days in his | sepulchre in figure, in | benefit doing. That is to wit, to restore them that be fallen, to repair them that be in the | earth, and to redeem them |that were in hell. The fifth, for the representing of treble estate of rightful men. And | this reason assigneth S. Gregory | upon Ezechiel saying: The sixth day of the week Jesus suffered death, the | Saturday he lay in the sepulchre, | the Sunday he arose. The present life is yet to us the sixth day, for in | anguishes and sorrows we | be tormented. The Saturday also is that we rest us in our sepulchre, for after the | death we shall find the rest | for our souls. The Sunday is the eighth day. That day we shall be free of the death | and of all sorrow in body | and in soul in glory. Then the sixth day is to us sorrow, the seventh rest, and the | | | eighth glory. As to the third | consideration, how he arose, it appeareth verily that he arose mightily. For by his | proper might he arose, Johannis | nono: Potestatem habeo, etc. I have said I have power to deliver my soul | and I have power to resume | it again. That is to say to die when I will. Secondly, he arose joyously, for he | took away all misery, all | infirmity, and all servitude. Whereof he saith the gospel of John, Johannis xxvi., he | said: When I shall arise again | I shall advance me and go tofore you into Galilee, where ye shall see me free and | delivered. Galilee is as | much to say as transmigration, that is to say dying. Jesu Christ then, when he arose, | went before us, for he | went from misery to glory, and from corruption to incorruption. Whereof S. Leo the | Pope saith: After the passion | of Jesu Christ, the bonds of death broken, he was transported from infirmity to | virtue, from mortality to | perpetuity, and from villainy to glory. Thirdly, he rose profitably, for he carried with | him his prey. Whereof | saith Jeremy the fourth chapter, Ascendit leo de cubili, etc. The lion is risen out of his | bed. Jesus ascended on | high upon the cross, and the robber of the people enhanced himself. Jesu Christ | robbed hell, wherein was | the human lineage. As he had said: Cum exaltatus fuero, etc. When I shall ascend on | high I shall draw to me | all mine of whom hell hath holden and kept the souls, which were enclosed in | darkness and the bodies in |sepulture. Fourthly, he arose marvellously. For he arose without opening of the | sepulchre which abode fast | closed. For like as he issued out of his mother's belly, and to his disciples, the | | | doors closed and shut, | so he issued out of his sepulchre. Whereof is read in Scholastica Historia, of a | monk of S. Laurence without | the walls, in the year of the Incarnation of our Lord one thousand one hundred | and eleven, which marvelled | of a girdle with which he was girt, that without undoing or opening it was cast | tofore him. Whereof when | he saw it he marvelled, and he heard a voice in the air saying: Thus may Jesu Christ | issue out of his sepulchre, | and the sepulchre all closed. Fifthly, he arose truly, for he arose in his proper body, | and by six manners he showed | that he was verily risen. First, by the angel which lied not. Secondly, by many | and ofttimes appearing. Thirdly, | by eating openly and by no art fantastic. Fourthly, by palpation of his very | body. Fifthly, by ostention | of his wounds, by which he showed that it was the proper body in which he had | verily suffered death. Sixthly, | by his presence in coming into the house, the gates shut, when he entered | suddenly and invisibly, by | which he showed that his body was glorified. Seventhly, he arose immortally, for | he shall never die, Johannis vi.: | Christus resurgens, etc. And S. Denis in an epistle that he made to Demophilus | saith that Jesu Christ after | his ascension said to an holy man named Carpo, I am all ready yet to suffer for to | save man; by which it seemeth | that if it were need, that yet he were ready to suffer death as it is contained in | the same epistle. This holy | man, Carpo, told to S. Denis that a paynim perverted a Christian man and brought | him out of the faith. And | this Carpo took such anger therefore in his heart that he was sick. And this Carpo | | | was of so great holiness | that as oft as he sang mass an heavenly vision appeared to him. But when he should | pray for the conversion of | them both daily, he prayed God that both twain might be burnt in a fire. And on a | time about midnight he | made this prayer unto God, and suddenly the house in which he was in, was divided in | two parts, and a right great | furnace appeared there. And he looked up and beheld the heaven, and saw it open, | and Jesu Christ which | was environed with a great multitude of angels, and beside the furnace these two | men were trembling for great | dread that they had; the which men were bitten of serpents that issued out of the | furnace, which drew them by | force into the furnace; and also of other men they were reproved and villained. And | this holy man Carpo in | beholding them had great delight, and took pleasaunce in their punition; in such | wise that he left the vision | of heaven and set not thereby, but was angry that they fell not suddenly into | the furnace. And then as | he looked up into heaven, he saw the vision that he had before seen. And Jesu Christ | which had pity of these two | men arose up out of his throne, and came unto them with a great multitude of | angels, and put forth his | hand and delivered them. And Jesus said to Carpo: Smite me, from henceforth I am | ready to suffer for to save | man. This ensample reciteth S. Denis. As to the fourth article, wherefore he abode | not until the general resurrection, | three reasons be assigned. The first for the dignity of his body, for he | was deified and came from | the Deity, and therefore it was no reason that his body should so long lie in the | earth. Whereof David saith, | Non dabis sanctum tuum videre corruptionem: Thou shalt not suffer thine holy | body to see corruption. The | second reason is for the steadfastness of the faith. For if he had not then arisen, | the faith had perished, | men would not have believed that he had been very God. And that appeareth well, for | in his passion, save our Lady, | all lost faith. But when they had knowledge of his resurrection they recovered | it again, as saith S. Paul, | Si Christus non surrexerit vane est fides nostra: If Jesu Christ had not risen our | faith had been vain or none. | The third cause for the exemplar of our resurrection: there should be but few | that should believe the resurrection | to come if Jesu Christ had not risen. And this is our example and our | hope. And therefore say | the apostles, Jesu Christ is arisen and we shall arise, for his resurrection is cause of | ours. Whereof saith S. Gregory: | Our Lord by example hath showed that he promised in reward, as that we | should know him to have risen. | Thus in ourself we should have hope of the reward of his resurrection, and | we ought to know that Jesu | Christ would not prolong his resurrection above three days, to the end that | desperation should not be |in the world. As to the fifth article, it is wherefore he arose. He arose for four things | much profitable to us; | for his resurrection made the justification of our sins. She enseigneth new life of | manners, she engendereth the | hope of reward, and ordaineth the resurrection of all. Of the first saith S. | Paul ad Romanos: Jesu Christ | died for our sins and arose for to justify us. Of the second: Like as Jesu | Christ arose by the glory | of the Father, which is a new glorious life, so ought we in spiritual life to take new | manners. Of the third: By |his great mercy God hath raised us in hope of life by the resurrection of Jesu | Christ. Of the fourth it is | said to us in Scripture: Jesu Christ arose from death, for by man is death come to | men, and by man, that is Jesu | Christ, the life is come to men. Thus be they the first of dead men. Adam of them | that died, and Jesu Christ | of them that be alive by his resurrection. And thus it appeareth that Jesu Christ had | four properties in his resurrection. | The first is, that our resurrection is deferred unto the last resurrection, and | Jesu Christ arose the third day. | As saith the gloss upon this psalm: Ad vesperum demorabitur fletus, etc.: At | evensong time shall be | weeping, and on the morn gladness and joy. The gloss saith that the resurrection | | | of Jesu Christ is cause | sufficient of the resurrection of souls in this present time, and of the bodies in time to | come. The second property | is, that we rise by him, and he arose by himself. Whereof saith S. Ambrose: How | might he seek help to raise | his body, which raised other? The third property is, that we become dust or | ashes, and his body might | not be turned into ashes. The fourth property is, that his resurrection is cause | sacramental of our resurrection. | As touching the sixth article, how oft he appeared the day of his resurrection. | He appeared five times. | First to Mary Magdalene, Marci ultimo. After his resurrection he appeared first to | Mary Magdalene, which is figure | of penitents. And for five reasons he appeared to her. First, for she loved him | most ardently. Because she | loved so much, God forgave and pardoned her many sins. Secondly, for to show that | he died for sinners, Matthew ix.: | Non vend vocare, etc.: I came not for to call rightful men but sinners to | penance. Thirdly, for to verify | his word, Matthew xxi.: Amen dico quia meretrices, etc.: To the hypocrites and | pharisees he saith that common | women and the publicans should go before them to the kingdom of | heaven. Fourthly, for because | that like as a woman was messenger of death, so a woman should be messenger | of life, after the gloss. | Fifthly, like as sin abounded, so should grace more abound, like as the apostle saith ad | Romanos v. The second | time he appeared to the three Maries which returned from the monument, when he | said to them: Avete, God | greet you; and then then approached him and held his feet. And that is the figure | | | of humble prayers. To | whom our Lord appeared, as well for the reason of the nature as for the reason of the | affection. For they held | his feet, which signifieth the affection of the heart. Thirdly he appeared to S. Peter, | but when or in what place | it is not known, but if it were by adventure when he returned from the monument with | S. John. For it might well | be that S. Peter in some place turned from S. John, where God appeared to him, or by | adventure when he was alone | in the monument. Like as it is said in Scholastica Historia, or peradventure in a | cave or a fosse. For it is read | in the histories, when he renied and forsook our Lord, that he fled into a cave | where as the mountain is | which is called the mountain of the cock; or else after that it is said that he wept | three days continually after | that he had renied God, and there Jesus appeared to him and comforted him, saying: | Peter bear the virtue of obedience, | to whom our Lord showeth him. Fourthly he appeared to his disciples | which went to Emaus, | which is as much as to say as desire of counsel, and signifieth to visit the poor | members of Jesu Christ and | to help them. As it is said in the gospel: Go and sell all that thou hast, and give it | to poor people. Fifthly | he appeared to his disciples which were together in a place closed. And this | signifieth religious men that | be in the world with the gates of their five wits closed. These five apparitions | were the day of his resurrection. | And these five representeth the priest in his mass when he turneth him five times to the people. | But the third turning is in silence, | which signifieth the apparition made to S. Peter, which is not known when it was made | ne in what place. | Sixthly he appeared the eighth day to his disciples when S. Thomas was there, which had said | that he would not believe | it till he had seen the wounds, the nails, and that he had put his hands in his side. The | | | seventh time he appeared | fishing, Johannis ultimo, and that signifieth preachers which be fishers of men. The | eighth time he appeared | to his disciples in the Mount Tabor, Matthew ultimo, and that signifieth them that | been contemplative, for in | the said hill was our Lord transfigured. The ninth time he appeared to eleven | disciples where they sat | at table, whereat he reproved their incredulity and hardness of heart; by which we | understand the sinners in | the eleven number of transgression set, whom our Lord by his mercy | sometime visiteth. The tenth | time he appeared to his disciples in the Mount of Olives by which is signified | them that be full of mercy | and that love compassion, to whom our Lord appeareth, which is Father of mercy | and of pity. From this place | he ascended up into heaven. There be three other manner of apparitions of | which is made mention, which | were made the day of the resurrection, but they be not had in the text of the | gospel. The first was that he | appeared to S. James the Less, which is named James Alphei, of which thou shalt | find in his legend. | The second that he appeared was to Joseph, as it is read in the gospel of Nicodemus. For when the | Jews had heard that | Joseph had demanded the body of Jesus of Pilate, and that he had put it in his monument, they | were angry and had indignation | on him, and took him and put him in a secret place, where diligently they | closed him and kept him, | and would have slain him after their sabbath day. And Jesus the night of his | resurrection entered into the | house where he was in, and overlift up the four corners of the house, and wiped | | | and cleansed his visage and | kissed him. And without breaking of any lock or seal he brought him into his | house in Arimathea. The third | is after that it is believed he appeared unto his mother Mary, the glorious Virgin, | and how be it that the holy | Evangelists speak nothing thereof, the Church of Rome approveth it. For the same | day is made station at our Lady | the major. And if we should not believe because the Evangelists make no | mention thereof, it should | follow that after his resurrection he appeared not to her; but that ought not | to be believed that such | a son should not leave his mother without visiting, and do to her so little honour. | And peradventure the Evangelists | speak no word of her because it appeareth not to them but to set witness of | the resurrection. And the | Virgin Mary ought not to be set in for no witness. For if the words of strange women | were reputed for leasings, | much more should the mother be because of the love that she had to him that | was her son. And though | the Evangelists have not written it, yet they knew well for certain that it is right | that first he should enhance | and comfort her that had most pain and sorrow for his death. And that witnesseth | S. Ambrose in the third book | of Virgins: Vidit Maria, etc.: Mary saw the resurrection and she believed it | perfectly. Mary Magdalene | saw it and yet she doubted it. Of the seventh, how Jesu Christ drew the holy | fathers out of hell, and what | he made there, the Evangelist telleth not clearly. Nevertheless Saint Austin | in a sermon, and Nicodemus | in his gospels, show it somewhat. And Saint Austin saith: Anon as Jesu Christ | | | had rendered the spirit, the | the soul that was united to his Godhead was quick and living in the deepness of hell | descended. And when he | was at deepest of the darkness, like as a robber shining and terrible to the | tyrants of hell, they beheld | him and began to demand and enquire: Who is he that is so strong, so terrible, so | clear and so shining ? | The world, which is to us subject, sent to us never such one dead, ne he sent to us | never such gifts into hell. | Who is he then that is so constant that is entered into the furthest end of our | parts, and he doubteth not | only of our torments, but yet he hath unbound them of their bonds whom we held | and kept? And they that were | wont to wail and weep under our torments, assail us now by their health. And | now not only they fear us, | but now threaten and menace us. And they said to their prince: What prince art thou? | All thy gladness is perished | and all thy joys be converted into weepings. When thou hangedst him in | the cross thou knewest not | what damage thou shouldst suffer in hell. After these cruel words of them of hell, at | the commandment of our | Lord all the locks, all the bars and shuttings been broken, and to-frushed. And lo! the | people of saints that come | kneeling tofore him in crying with piteous voice, saying: Our Redeemer! Thou art | come for to redeem the world, | we have abided thee every day; thou art descended into hell for us, and leave | us not, but that we be with | thee when thou shalt return to thy brethren. Lord sweet God, show that thou hast | despoiled hell, and bind | the author of death with his bonds, render to the world now gladness, and quench | | | the pains; and for thy pity | unbind the caitiffs from servitude whiles thou art here, and assoil the sinners | when thou descendest into hell, | them of thy party. This said Saint Austin. And it is read in the gospel of Nicodemus | that Carinus and Leucius, | sons of old Simeon, arose with Jesu Christ. And they were adjured and sworn of Ananias, of | Caiaphas, of Nicodemus, of | Joseph, and of Gamaliel, that they should tell and say what Jesus did in hell. And | they rehearsed and said: | When we were with our fathers in the place of obscurity and darkness, suddenly it was | all so light and clear as | the colour of the sun, like purple, gold, and light royal, which illumined all the | habitation upon us. And anon | Adam the father of the human lineage began to enjoy, saying: This light is the | light of the creator of the light | sempiternal, which promised to send to us his light perpetual. And Isaiah | cried: This is the light of God | the Father, like as I said living in the earth: The people that were in darkness | saw a great light. Then came | our Father Simeon, and in joying said: Glorify ye our Lord, for I received Christ, a | child born in the world, in to | mine hands in the Temple, and I was constrained by the Holy Ghost to say, Nunc | viderunt oculi mei salutare | tuum: I have now seen with mine eyen thine health which bringeth and hath made it | ready before the face of | all thy people. After, came one which seemed to be an hermit, and when we demanded | him what he was, he answered | that he was John that baptized Christ, and he that am gone before him for to | make ready his way, and | showed him with my finger when I said: Ecce agnus Dei, and am descended for to | | | show to you that he cometh | soon to visit you. Then said Seth: When I came to the gate of Paradise for to pray | our Lord to send me his angel, | and that he would give to me of the oil of mercy for to anoint the body of | Adam my father, which | was sick, the angel Michael appeared to me and said: Labour not in praying by | | | weeping for t things here, | anon they were transfigured and were no more seen. And hereof speaketh Gregory | Nyssen and S. Austin, like | as is found in some books. Anon as Jesu Christ descended into hell, the night | began to wax clear. And | anon the porter black and horrible among them in silence began to murmur, | saying: Who is he that is | so terrible and of clearness so shining? Our master received never none such into hell, | ne the world cast never | none such into our cavern. This is an assailer, and not debtor, a breaker and destroyer, | and no sinner but a despoiler, | we see him a judge but no beseecher, he comes for to fight and not to be | overcome, a caster out and | not here a dweller. Here beginneth the Litanies, the More and the Less | The Litanies be done twice | in the year. The first be done on Saint Mark's day, and that is called the more | Litany. And the second be | done on the three days before the Ascension Day, and is called the lesser Litany. And | Litany is as much to say | supplication or prayer. The first Litany is named in three manners. First, it is called | the more Litany. secondly, | the procession of seven orders. Thirdly, the black cross. Then this Litany is said | the more, for three reasons. | The first is for him that instituted it, that was Saint Gregory the Pope, and that | was at Rome, which is lady | and head of the world, because that the body of the prince of the apostles is | there, and the Holy See. | And also for the reason of the cause wherefore it was instituted, and that was for a | right great and grievous malady. | For as the Romans had in the Lent lived soberly and in continence, and after at | | | Easter had received their Saviour. | After, they disordered them in eating, in drinking, in plays and in lechery. And | therefore our Lord was moved | against them, and sent to them a great pestilence, which was called the botche of | impedimy. And that was cruel | and sudden, and caused people to die in going by the way, in playing, in being | at table, and in speaking one | with another suddenly they died. In this manner sometime sneezing they died, | so that when any person | was heard sneezing anon they that were by said to him: God help you, or Christ help: | and yet endureth the custom. | And also when he sneezeth or gapeth, he maketh tofore his face the sign | of the cross, and blesseth | him; and yet endureth this custom. And how that pestilence began, it is found in | the life of S. Gregory. Secondly, | this Litany is said procession of seven orders, because that when they | were made, S. Gregory ordained |them by seven ordinances. For in the first order was all the clergy, in | the second were the monks and |religious men, in the third were all the nuns, in the fourth all the children, in | the fifth all the lay people, | in the sixth all the women, and in the seventh all they that were married. But | because that now we may not | fulfil in number of persons, we ought to fulfil it in number of Litanies. For | it with black clothes. And | peradventure for that same cause they covered the cross and the altars with blessed | hairs, and thus we should | take on us clothing of penance. There is another Litany, which is called the | lesser Litany, the which | is made the three days tofore the Ascension. And this instituted S. Mamertin, Bishop of | | | Vienne in the time of the | Emperor Leo, which reigned the year of our Lord three hundred and fifty-eight tofore | the institution of the first. | And is said the Litany the less, the rogations and processions. For it is the lesser | Litany to the difference of | the first, because that this lesser Litany was instituted of a lesser, which was a | simple Bishop, in a lesser | place, and for lesser malady. And the cause of the institution was this. For then, at | Vienne, were great earthquakes | of which fell down many churches and many houses, and there was heard | great sounds and great clamours | by night. And then happed a terrible thing on Easter-day, for fire descended | from heaven that burnt the | king's palace. Yet happed more marvellous thing; for like as the fiends had | entered into the hogs, right | so by the sufferance of God for the sins of the people, the fiends entered into | wolves and other wild beasts, | which every one doubted, and they went not only by the ways ne by the fields, but | also by the cities ran openly, | and devoured the children and old men and women. And when the Bishop saw | that every day happed | such sorrowful adventures, he commanded and ordained that the people should fast | three days; and he instituted | the Litanies, and then the tribulation ceased. And from then, forth on, the Church | hath ordained and confirmed | that this Litany should be kept and observed over all. It is said also Rogations, for | then we pray and demand | the suffrages of all the saints, and we thus have good cause for to keep this ordinance | and fast in these days. And | for many reasons it is instituted. First, because it appeaseth the battles, that | | | commonly begin in primetime. | Secondly, because that the fruits which be then tender, that God will multiply. | Thirdly, because that every | man should mortify in himself the movings of his flesh, which in that time | boil. Fourthly, because that | every one dispose himself to receive the Holy Ghost; for by fastings, by orisons, | and by devotion is one more | able and more worthy. But, two other reasons assigneth Master William of Auxerre, | because then, when Jesu | Christ would ascend into heaven he said: Ask ye duly and ye shall have. And we | may the more faithfully | demand when we have the promise of God. Secondly, because that holy Church | fasteth and prayeth that | she have but little flesh, that is to make the body lean by abstinence, and to get wings | by prayer. For prayer is the wing | of the soul by which she fleeth to heaven, to the end that she may follow Jesu Christ | ascending up before us to | show us the way. And know ye that the soul that aboundeth in plenty of flesh, and | hath but few pens and feathers, | he may not well fly. Thus this Litany is called procession, for then the | Church maketh general procession. | And in this procession the cross is borne, the clocks and the bells | be sounded and rung, | the banners be borne, and in some churches a dragon with a great tail is borne. And | aid and help is demanded | of all saints. And the cause why the cross is borne and the bells rung is for to make | the evil spirits afraid and | to flee; for like as the kings have in battles tokens and signs-royal, as their trumpets | and banners, right so the king | of heaven perdurable hath his signs militant in the Church. He hath bells for | business and for trumps, he hath | the cross for banners. And like as a tyrant and a malefactor should much | doubt when he shall hear | the business and trumps of a mighty king in his land, and shall see his banners, in | like wise the enemies, the evil | spirits that be in the region of the air, doubt much when they hear the | trumpets of God which be the bells | rung, and when they see the banners borne on high. And this is the cause | why the bells be rung when | it thundereth, and when great tempests and outrages of weather happen, to the | end that the fiends and the | evil spirits should be abashed and flee, and cease of the moving of tempests. | Howbeit also that there | is another cause therewith; that is for to warn the Christian people, that they put them | in devotion and in prayer, | for to pray God that the tempest may cease. There is also the banner of the King, | that is the cross, which the | enemies dread much and doubt. For they dread the staff with which they have | been hurt. And this is the | reason wherefore in some churches in the time of tempest and of thunder, they set | out the cross against the | tempest to the end that the wicked spirits see the banner of the sovereign king, and | for dread thereof they flee. | And therefore in procession the cross is borne, and the bells rung for to chase and | hunt away the fiends being | in the air, and to the end that they leave to tempest us. The cross is borne for to | represent the victory of the | resurrection, and of the ascension of Jesu Christ. For he ascended into Heaven | with all a great prey. | And thus this banner that flyeth in the air signifieth Jesu Christ ascending into heaven. | And as the people follow |the cross, the banners, and the procession, right so when Jesu Christ styed up into | heaven a great multitude | of saints followed him. And the song that is sung in the procession signifieth the | song of angels and the praisings | that came against Jesu Christ and conducted and conveyed him to heaven | where is great joy and melody. | In some churches, and in especial in them of France, is accustomed to bear a | dragon with a long tail | filled full of chaff or other thing. The two first days it is borne before the cross, and on | the third day they bear it | after the cross, with the tail all void, by which is understood that the first day tofore | the law, or the second under | the law, the devil reigned in the world, and on the third day, of grace, by the | passion of Jesu Christ, he | was put out of his realm. After in this procession singularly we call the suffrages | | | of all the saints. And why | we call to the saints divers reasons be assigned heretofore, but yet there be of the | general, wherefore we pray | the saints. First for our poverty and for the glory of saints, and for the reverence | of God. For the saints | may well know the vows and the prayers of the suppliants. For in the mirror perpetual, | that is Jesu Christ, they | understand how much it appertaineth to their joy and to our profit. Then the first | reason is for our poverty, | and for our misery, or for our default we have some merit, to the end that where our | merits be not sufficient the | suffrages of saints may avail us, or for default that we have in contemplation of God, | and that we may see perfectly | the light sovereign that we see and behold in his saints, or for the default that | we have in loving God, for we | see that some show more greater affection to a saint than they do to God, and | such people be imperfect. The | second reason is for the glory of saints. For God will that we call the saints, | because that by their | suffrages that we require, we glorify them, and the more greatly we praise them. The | third reason is for the | reverence of God, to the end that the sinners that have offended God, the which dare not | approach to God in their persons, | they approach him by the friends of God in demanding their suffrages. And in | these Litanies we ought to | repeat this song of angels: Sancte Deus, sancte fortis, sancte et immortalis | miserere nobis. Item, John Damascene | recordeth in his fourth book that, in Constantinople, for a tribulation | that happed there, there were | litanies made. It happed that a child amid the people was ravished to heaven and | | | this canticle he learned there; | and after then he returned to the people, and in the midst of the people he sang it, | and anon that tribulation | ceased. And after at the Council of Chalcedon this canticle was approved and | the cause concluded. We | know that it is so that the fiends be put out by this canticle: Sancte Deus. Of this | canticle and praising the authority | is approved by four reasons. First, because that an angel taught it first. | Secondly, because at the prolation | and repetition of this canticle, that tribulation ceased. Thirdly, because that | the Council of Chalcedon | approved it. And fourthly, because that the fiends and enemies so much dread and | doubt it. Here beginneth next | the Ascension of our Lord. The Ascension of our Lord Jesu Christ was the fortieth | day after his resurrection; | for which to declare, seven things be to be considered. First then, he ascended. | Secondly, why he ascended | not anon after his resurrection. Thirdly, how he ascended. Fourthly, what | company ascended with him. | Fifthly, by what merit he ascended. Sixthly, where he ascended, and seventhly, | wherefore he ascended. | As to the first he ascended from the mount of Olives by Bethany; the which mountain, | by another relation, is said | the mountain of three lights. For by night on the side of the west it is lighted of the | fire that burneth in the Temple, | which never is put out ne quenched. On the morning it is light of the orient, | for she hath first the rays | of the sun before it shineth in the city, and also it hath great abundance of oil that | nourisheth the light, | and therefore it is said the hill of three lights. Unto this hill Jesu Christ commanded his | disciples that they should go. | For on the day of his Ascension he appeared two times, one time to eleven | disciples that ate in the hall | where they had supped with him. All the apostles and the disciples and also the | | | women, abode in that part | of Jerusalem which is called Mello, in the mountain of Sion, where David had made | his palace. And there was | the great hall arrayed and ordained for to sup, whereas Jesu Christ commanded | that they should make ready | for to eat the Paschal Lamb, and in this place the eleven apostles abode, and | the other disciples, and the | women abode in divers mansions there about. And when they had eaten in this | hall, our Lord appeared to them | and reproved them of their incredulity. And when he had eaten with them, and | had commanded them that | they should go to the Mount of Olivet on the side by Bethany, he appeared again to | them, and answered to them | of the demands that they made to him indiscreetly, and with his hands lifted he |
| blessed them; and anon before them he ascended unto heaven. Of the place of this ascension saith | Sulpicius, Bishop of Jerusalem, and | it is in the gloss. For there was edified a church in the place where were made the | signs of his ascension. Never | sith might be set there any pavement, it could not be laid ne set but anon it issued | out, and the stones of the marble | sprang into the visages of them that set it. And that is a sign that they be stones | | | on which Christ passed upon, | which lie in the powder and dust, and abide for a token and sign certain. As to | the second point, wherefore | he ascended not anon after his resurrection, but abode forty days, that was for three reasons. | First, for the certification of his | resurrection. And more strong it was to prove his resurrection than his passion, | for from the first unto the | third the passion might be well proved, but to prove the very resurrection it | required more days, and | therefore a greater time was required between the resurrection and the ascension | than between the passion | and resurrection. And hereof saith Leo the Pope, in a sermon of the ascension: This | day the number of forty | days is complete and dispensed by right holy ordinance and to the profit of our | enseignment and teaching, | to the end that in the space of his presence corporal the faith of teaching was | necessary. And we ought to give | thankings to the divine dispensation for the tardy creance of holy fathers to us | necessary; for they doubted | of that which we doubt not. Secondly, he abode for the consolation of the apostles. | For the consolations divine | surmount the tribulations temporal. And the time of the passion was the time of | tribulation to the apostles, | and therefore there ought to be more days unto the ascension than for the | resurrection. Thirdly, for the | mystery of the comparation, for to give to understand that the | consolations divine be compared | to tribulations as the day unto an hour, and the year unto a day. And that this | be true it appeareth by the writing | of the prophet Isaiah: I shall preach a year pleasant to our Lord, and a day of | | | vengeance to God. Lo! | for one day of tribulation, he rendereth a year of consolation. And that is by | comparison as the day to an | hour. It appeareth by that, that our Lord was dead and lay in the sepulchre forty | hours, which was the time | of tribulation. And by forty days after his resurrection he appeared to his disciples, | which was the time of consolation. | And this saith the gloss: Because that he was forty hours dead, after, he | was forty days living ere | he ascended in to heaven. As to the third point, how he ascended, it appeareth how | that he ascended mightily. | For by his puissance and virtue saith Isaiah, he ascended into heaven, Isaiah xliii. | And also S. John saith: No | man ascendeth into heaven by his own puissance and might, but the Son of Man | that is in heaven. And how be | it that he ascended in a cloud, he had none need, but because that he would | show that every creature is ready | to serve his creator, he ascended in his proper virtue. And in this is the | difference, after that Scholastica | Historia saith, of Jesu Christ, of Enoch and Elijah. For Enoch was translated, | Elijah was borne, but Jesu | Christ by his own might is ascended into heaven. After S. Gregory, the first, that is | to wit Enoch, was engendered | of a man, and he was engendering. The second, that is to say Elijah, was | engendered and not engendering. | The third, that is to wit Jesu Christ, he was born, not engendered of a man | ne engendering. Secondly, | he ascended openly, for seeing his disciples he ascended: whereof it is said | Johannis xvi., Vado ad eum qui | me misit, etc.: I go to my father, and none of you demandeth whither goest | | | thou? the gloss saith: I go | so openly that no man demanded of that they saw at the eye. And therefore he | would ascend in their presence, | because they might bear witness, and that they should enjoy of that they | saw nature human ascend to | heaven, and that they should desire to follow him. Thirdly, he ascended | joyously, for the angels singing | and enjoying, he ascended into heaven in gladness. Whereof saith S. | Austin: Adscendente Christo | paves, etc.: Jesu Christ ascending, the heaven abashed, the stars marvelled, the | company of heaven enjoyed, the | trump sounded, and all the sieges of the pleasant place made melody. Fourthly, | he ascended lightly. Whereof | David saith: He styed up as a giant with a great pace: and much hastily and | lightly he ascended when | he passed so great a space in a moment. Rabbi Moses, which was a great | philosopher, rehearseth that | every circle, or every heaven of each planet, hath the thickness and the way | of five hundred years. | That is to say as one may go in a plain way in five hundred years. And that is the distance | between heaven and heaven, | and between circle and circle, after that which is said so great. And as there be | seven heavens, after his saying, | from the centre of the earth unto the concavity of the heaven of Saturn, which | is the seventh way of seven | thousand years; and unto the concavity of the eighth heaven seven thousand and | seven hundred years, that | is as much space as one could go in plain way in seven thousand and seven hundred | years if a man might live |so long, and that every year be of three hundred and sixtyfive days, and the way of | | | every day be of forty miles, | and every mile be of two thousand paces or cubits, and this said Rabbi Moses, | which was a great philosopher; | if it be truth or no God knoweth, for he that all hath made and created in | certain number, in certain | poise and weight, and in certain measure, he knoweth all. Then this leap or | springing was great that | Jesu Christ made from the earth to heaven. Of this leap, and | divers others leaps of Jesu | Christ, S. Ambrose saith: Jesu Christ came into this world to make a leap; he was with | God the Father, he came | into the Virgin Mary, and from the Virgin Mary into the crib or rack. He descended into | flom Jordan, he ascended | upon the cross, he descended into his tomb. From the tomb he arose, and after | ascended up into heaven, | and sitteth on the right hand of the Father. As to the fourth point, it is with whom he | ascended. He ascended with | a great prey of men and great multitude of angels. And that he ascended up with | the prey of men, it appeareth | by this that David saith: Ascendisti in altum, cepisti captivitatem, etc.: Lord, | thou hast ascended on high | and hast taken them that were captives emprisoned, and the servitude thou hast | affranchised. And also that | he ascended with a great multitude of angels, it appeareth by the interrogations | that the angels made Lord | of the deputations to them beneath. When Jesu Christ ascended into heaven as | Isaiah recordeth, Isaiah Ixiii.: | Quis est iste qui venit de Edom, etc.: Who is he that cometh from Edom with his | clothes dyed, whereas saith | the gloss that some of the angels that knew not plainly the mystery of the | incarnation, of his passion | and of his resurrection, that saw our Lord ascend with all a great multitude of angels | and of saints by his own virtue, | marvelled, and said to the angels that accompanied him: Who is this that | cometh from Edom? And | yet they said: Who is this king of glory, etc. S. Denis in the book of the The Hierarchy | of holy angels in the seventh | chapter saith: Thus seemeth it that he said that three questions were made | to the angels when that Jesus | ascended. The first were the first to themselves, the second were the principals | -
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2014-01-13 PM 6:33 | ascended. The first were the first to themselves, the second were the principals | to Jesu Christ that ascended, | the third were the less to the greatest. Of which they demanded among them: who | is this that cometh from Edom, | his clothes dyed of Bosra? This word Edom is as much to say as full of | blood, and this word Bosra | is to say anguish and tribulation. Thus as they would have said: Who is this | that cometh from the world | full of blood by the sin of the world and of malice against God? And our Lord | answered: I am He that speaketh | in justice. And S. Denis saith thus, that he said: I am he that disputeth | justice and righteousness of | health in the redemption of human lineage. He was justice, inasmuch as he that was | creator brought again his | creatures from the strange jurisdiction, and he was righteousness, inasmuch as the | enemy which had assailed | us he put and cast out of the domination that he had in the human lineage. And after | this maketh S. Denis a question: | Sith the principal angels be nigh to God and be without moyen illumined | of God, wherefore, demanded | they one of the other like as that they would have learned each of other? But he | saith, that giveth this solution, | that in that they demand each of other, as it showeth that they desire to know, | and in that first among | them they had collation, it showed that they durst not advance them tofore the | divine progression. And for | this first, they ought to ask each one other, because that peradventure their | interrogation were not over | hasty upon the illumination that they had received of God without moyen. The | second question is that | which the first and sovereign angel made to Jesu Christ saying: Why is thy clothing | red, and thy vestments as trodden | or fulled in a press? Our Lord hath his clothing and his body red, all | covered with blood, because | that yet when he ascended he had his wounds in his body, after this that Bede | saith: He must keep his |wounds in his body for five reasons, and he said, thus our Lord keepeth his | | | wounds. And to the day | of judgment he shall keep them, to the end that it confirm his resurrection. And | for to pray the Father for | us, he presenteth them, to the end that the good see the great mercy by which he hath | redeemed them, and that the | wicked people may know that righteously they be damned, and that eternally he | bears with him the signs | of his glorious victory perpetual. And to this question answered our Lord: | Torcular calcavi, etc. The | press I have turned and fouled all alone, and of all men. there was not one that would | help me. The press is the | cross, in the which he was pressed in such wise that the blood sprang out. Thus | Jesu Christ called the enemy | the presser, which that thus had wrapped the human lineage with cords of sin, | and quenched him so clean | that he had nothing spiritual, but that it was without expressed, and only he | showed it in the Virgin | Mary. But our champion fought so strongly, and defouled the presser so foul, that he | brake the bonds of sin | and ascended into heaven. And after this he opened the tavern of heaven and poured | out the wine of the Holy | Ghost. The third question is that which the lesser angels made to the greater and | more, in saying: Who is | this king of glory? They answered and said: The lord of virtues, he is the king of | glory. And of this question | of the angels, and of the answer of the other saith S. Austin: All the air is | hallowed in the company divine, | and all the tourbe of devils flying in the air fled backward when Jesu Christ | ascended, to whom the angels | that were in the company of God ran and demanded: Who is this king of glory? | | | And they answered this is | he that was white and coloured as a rose, the which was seen without colour | and without beauty; sick | in the tree, strong in his despoil; foul reputed in his body, well-armed in the | battle; stinging in his death, | fair in his resurrection; white, born of the Virgin, red in the cross; pale in | reproof and clear in heaven. | As to the fifth, it is for what merit he ascended; and we ought to understand | that he ascended in treble merit. | Whereof saith S. Jerome: Jesu Christ ascended in merit of truth, for that | which had he promised by | prophets, he fulfilled in merit of humility and debonairly. For like as he was | sacrificed like a lamb for the life | of the people in merit of justice. But by justice and not only by puissance, but | by justice and by right thou | hast delivered man, and I have withholden of thy puissance, and thy virtue shall | bring thee to heaven. This | said God the Father to the Son. As to the sixth, that is whither he ascended, it | ought to be known that he | ascended above all the heavens, as the apostle saith ad Ephesios quarto: He | that descended from heaven, | that is he that ascended above all the heavens because he fulfilled all things. He | said above all the heavens | because there be many heavens above which he ascended. There is a heaven | material, a heaven rational, | a heaven intellectual and a heaven substantial. There be many heavens material. | The heaven of the air, | which is called æreum; one other called ethereum; another olimpium; another igneum; | another siderum; another crystallinum; | and another empyreum; the heaven reasonable is the man just, | which is said just because | of the divine habitation. For like as heaven is the seat of God as the prophet Isaiah | saith: Cœlum mihi sedes est. | Our Lord saith that the heaven is his seat, right so is the soul of a righteous | | | man. Like as Solomon saith: | The soul of a righteous man is the seat of sapience, by reason of the holy | conversation. For the saints | by holy conversation and desire dwell in heaven. As saith S. Paul: Our | conversation is in heaven | because of continual operation in virtue. For like as the heavens move | continually without resting, | in such manner the saints move always by good works. The heaven intellectual be | the angels, and the angels | be called heaven by reason of dignity and of their understanding. Whereof saith S. | Denis in the book of divine | names, in the fourth chapter. The divine spirits and the angels be above the | creatures which be, and | live above all things that live and understand, and know above all other wits and | reasons, and more than | all other things that be in being, they desire well and good of which they been | participant, that is God. | Secondly, they be right fair because of their nature and of their glory. Of which | beauty saith S. Denis in | the book before alleged: The angel is the manifestation of deeds and will of God by | whom they be showed, | and he is the clearness of dark light, he is a mirror pure and right clear without | receiving of any filth or spot | in him, if it be lawful to say, he is the beauty and the conformity of the bounty | of God. Thirdly, they be right | strong because of their virtue and might, of which strength saith John | Damascene in his second book, | the eighth chapter, where he saith: Fortes sunt et parati, etc. The angels of | God be strong and always | ready to fulfil the will of God, and they be found alway anon where God will | | | have them. The heaven hath | three conditions. It is right high, right fair, and right strong. Of the two first saith | Solomon, Ecclesiastici xliii.: The | firmament is the beauty of the height, and the beauty of heaven is in the | sight of glory. The heaven | is substantial, that is the quality of the divine excellence of which Jesu Christ | came, and after this he ascended. | Whereof David saith: A summo cœlo egressio ejus, etc. From the high and | sovereign heaven the Son | of God descended and ascended again unto the sovereign height, the quality of | the divine excellence. And | that he ascended above all the heavens material David said it clearly which said, | Elevata est magnificentia tua | super cœlos, Lord God thy magnificence is lift up and elevate above all the heavens | material. He ascended unto | the heaven where God the Father sitteth, not like unto Elijah which ascended in a | chariot of fire unto a high region, | from whence he was translated into a paradise terrestrial. He went no further, | but Jesu Christ ascended in | the highest heaven that is called cœlum empyreum, which is the proper habitation | of God, of the angels, | and of the saints. And this habitation properly appertaineth to dwellers, for this | heaven, above all other heavens, | hath excellence in divinity, in priority, in situation and circumference. And | therefore it is convenient of Jesu | Christ, which all the heavens of intelligence and reason surmounteth in | divinity, in eternity, in situation | of immobility, and in circumference of puissance. Semblably it is the | habitation of saints of good | congruity. For that heaven is without deformity, unmeasurable, of perfect light, | | | and of capacity without | measure; and rightfully it appertaineth unto angels and unto saints, which were | all one in operation, immovable | in dilection, shining in the faith and in knowledge, of great capacity in | receiving the Holy Ghost, it | appeareth by this Scripture that saith in the Canticles: Lo! this is he that cometh | leaping in the mountains and |overpassing the hills. And who that ascended above all the heavens of intelligence, | that is to say above the angels, | appeareth by David, that saith: He ascended above the cherubin, which is as | much as to say as the plenitude | of science, and flew upon the pens of the wind. And who ascended above | unto the heaven substantial, that | is, to the equality of God the Father, it appeareth by the gospel of Mark, | Marci ultimo: Et Dominus quidem, | Jesus, etc. Sith that our Lord had spoken to his disciples, he was set in | heaven on the right side of | God. Whereof saith S. Bernard: To my Lord Jesus Christ it is said singularly, | and given of my Lord God | the Father, that he sit on the right side of his glory in glory, in essence | consubstantial by generation, | semblable of majesty and nothing-unlike, and of eternity semblable. | Now may we say that Jesus | in his ascension was right high of four manners of height, that is to wit of place, | of remuneration, of reward, | of knowledge, and of virtuality or strength. Of the first said the apostle ad | Ephesios: He that descended | hither down, that is he that ascended above all the heavens. Of the second, ad | Ephesios secundo: He was made | obedient unto death. When S. Austin saith: The humility of clearness is the | | | merit, and the clearness | of meekness is the meed or reward. Meekness is the merit of clearness, and | clearness is the reward of meekness. | Of the third saith David: Adscendit super cherubim, He ascended above | cherubim, that is above the | plenitude of science and of knowledge. Of the fourth it appeareth, for as it is | written: He ascended above | Seraphim, which is interpreted the strength of God. And we ought to know | that of his ascension we have | nine fruits profitable. The first is the habitation of the love of God, whereof is | said in the gospel, Johannis xvi.: | Nisi enim abiero, etc. But if I shall go the Holy Ghost shall not come to you; | where saith S. Austin: If ye | seek me by fleshly love ye may not comprehend the Holy Ghost which is spiritual | love. The second is the more greater | knowledge of God, whereof saith S. John in the gospel: If ye love me well | ye shall have great joy, for | I go to my Father, for he is greater than I am. Where saith S. Austin: I shall | withdraw this form of humanity | in which my Father is more greater than I, as to that ye may see God. The third | point is the merit of the faith, | of whom saith S. Leo the Pope in a sermon of the Ascension: Then began the | faith more certain to approach, | which teacheth us the Son to be equal to the Father and semblable, and as to | the body substantial of Jesu | Christ, of which he is less than the Father, and whereof he had no need. And this | vigour is of great courage, | and firm without doubt, for to believe that which is not seen at eye, and to affix the | desires that may not be beholden. | And S. Austin saith: He ascended as a giant to run in his way, and tarried | | | not, but he ran crying by voice, | by words, by deeds, by death, by life, by descending and by ascending; in | crying that we should return | to him by good heart that we may find him. The fourth is our surety, therefor | ascended Jesu Christ into | heaven for to be our advocate to God the Father. And we ought to hold us well | | | assured when we have such | advocate to God the Father, and this witnesseth us S. John, that saith in his canon: | We have advocate to the Father, |Jesus Christ which is merciful to us for our sins. And of this surety saith S | Bernard: O man, saith | he, we have a sure going or a coming to God the Father, where the Mother is before | the Son, to whom she showeth | her breast and her paps, and the Son showeth to the Father his side and his | wounds. Then we may not | be put away where we have so many signs of love and of charity. The fifth is our | dignity. A great dignity have we | gotten when our nature is lift up unto the right side of the Father, whereof the | angels of heaven, considering | that, defended for to be worshipped of man, Apocalypsis xix. S. John would | have worshipped the angel | that spake to him, and the angel defended him in saying: Beware thee that thou do | not so, for I am thy brother | and thy servant. Whereas the gloss saith, that in the old law he defended not to be | worshipped of man, but after the | Ascension, when he saw man lift up above him. And of this S. Leo saith in a | sermon of the Ascension: This | day the nature of our humanity hath been borne above the height of all | puissances unto where as God | the Father sitteth, as that it should seem more marvellous when it is seen that it is | much far from men, so much | more show they the reverence and the honour that they have. And hereof the | faith mistrusteth not, ne hope | slacketh not, ne charity aminisheth not. The sixth is the stedfastness and | firmness of our faith, whereof | saith S. Paul ad Hebræos sexto: To Jesu Christ we run for refuge, for to keep the | | | hope that hath been delivered | to us as an anchor which is firm to the soul and sure, which leadeth to within | heaven, where Jesu Christ | before us entered. And S. Leo saith thus: The ascension of Jesu Christ is our | mounting and lifting up, | and where the joy of our head is, there abideth the hope of our body. The seventh is | the showing of the way of heaven, | whereof saith Micah the prophet: He ascended to show us the way. And S. | Austin saith: Thy Saviour hath | made the way to thee, arise thou and go thither, for thou hast that thou | intendest, be not now slothful. | The eighth is the opening of the gate of heaven; for like as Adam opened | the gate of hell, in likewise Jesu | Christ opened the gate of heaven, as the Church singeth; Lord God Jesu | Christ, thou art he that hast | overcome the prick of death, that is the devil, and hast opened the realm of | heaven to them that believe in thee. | The ninth is the preparation of the new place. Whereof Jesus saith in the | Gospel of John: I go for | to make ready your place in heaven. And S.Austin saith: Lord, array that thou hast | made ready. Thou arrayest |us Lord to thee, and thou arrayest thee to us, when thou makest ready the place, | to the end that to thee in us, | and in thee to us, may be the preparation of the place and the mansion of the | everlasting health. Amen. | Here beginneth of the Blessed Holy Feast of Pentecost or of the Holy Ghost. | The Holy Ghost, as witnesseth | S. Luke in the story of the Acts of the Apostles, on this day was sent to the | apostles in the form and likeness | of tongues of fire. And of this sending and coming eight things be to be | | | considered. First, from whom | he was sent. Secondly, in how many manners he was sent. Thirdly, in what time | he was sent. Fourthly, how | oft he was sent to the apostles. Fifthly, in what wise he was sent. Sixthly, into | whom he was sent. Seventhly, | wherefore he was sent. As to the first, it is to weet that he was sent from the | Father, and from the Son he | was sent, and he also himself, the Holy Ghost, gave and sent himself. Of the | first saith S. John, Johannis xiv.: | The Holy Ghost which is said paraclitus, whom God the Father shall send in | my name, this is he that shall | teach us all. Of the second saith S. John: If I go, saith Jesus, I shall send | him to you. Now it is to wit | that the sending is compared in three manners to the sender. First, as he | that giveth being in his | substance, and in this manner the sun giveth his rays or beams. Secondly, as in giving | virtue or strength, and so is | the dart given by the virtue and strength of him that casteth it. Thirdly, to him that | giveth his jurisdiction to another, | and thus the messenger is sent from him of whom he hath the | commandment. And after these | three manners the Holy Ghost may be said to be sent, for it is said: sent of the | Father and of the Son as | having virtue and authority in his operation, notwithstanding himself giveth and | sendeth him. The which | thing seemed to be veritable after this that the gospel of John saith, Johannis decimo | sexto, Cum autem venerit | ille Spiritus veritatis, etc.: When the spirit of truth shall come, which proceedeth | from the Father, he shall bear | witness of me that he cometh from me. Now saith S. Leo in a sermon of the | | | Pentecost: The incommutable deity | of the Blessed Trinity is without any changing, one in substance, not | divided in operation, all one | in will, like in omnipotence, equal in glory, and in his mercy. He hath | taken to himself the work | of our redemption, that the Father be to us merciful, the Son to us profitable, and | God the Holy Ghost inflame us. | And because that the Holy Ghost is God, therefore he giveth himself. And | that this is true, S. Ambrose | in the book of the Holy Ghost sayeth thus: The glory of the Divinity is | approved by four reasons, or | for that he is without sin, or for that he leaveth the sins, or for that he is creator | and not creature, or for that | he worshipped none but he is worshipped. And in that is showed to us that the | Blessed Trinity was all given | to us, for the Father hath offered all that he had. As saith S. Austin: He hath sent | to us his Son in price of | our redemption, and the Holy Ghost in sign of our adoption. Semblably the Son of | God hath given himself unto | us. For thus saith S. Bernard: He is our pastor, he is our pasture, and he is | our redemption, for he gave | his soul in price of our redemption, his blood in to drink, his flesh in to meat, | and his divinity in to final reward. | Semblably the Holy Ghost gave himself all to us; like as the apostle saith: | By the Holy Ghost is given | the word of sapience to one, to another of science; and thus of all graces particular is | given by the same Holy Ghost. | And hereof saith S. Leo the Pope: The Holy Ghost is the inspirer of the faith, | giver of Science, teacher of | chastity, and cause of all health. As to the second, he is sent in four manners, that | is to wit, that the Holy Ghost | is sent in two manners, visibly and invisibly. As touching into the hearts pure | and chaste he descended | visibly, when by some sign visible he is showed. Of the sending invisible saith S. | John, Johannis iii.: Spiritus | ubi vult spirat. The Holy Ghost where he will he inspireth the hearts, but thou | knowest not whence he cometh | nor whither he will go. And it is no marvel, for as S. Bernard saith of this word | invisible: He is not entered | by the eyes, for he is not coloured, ne by the ears, for he soundeth not, ne by the | nostrils, for he is not | meddled with the air, ne he entereth not by the conduit of the mouth, for he may | not be swallowed, ne by | the feeling or attouching, for he is not maniable, ne may not be handled. Thou | demandest then if he hath | sought any place natural or human by which thou mightest know that he be come | into thee. Know thou, saith | S. Bernard, that of the moving of the heart I have understood by his presence; | and by the fleeing of vices | I have felt the virtue of his puissance; and by the discussion and reproving of my | sins hidden, I am amarvelled | of the deepness of sapience and of the amendment of my manners how | little and small that they be. | I have experience of the bounty of his mansuetude and of the reformation and | renovation of the spirit of | my heart. I have pierced the thickness and the nobleness of his beauty, and of the | regard and consideration | of all these things, I am abashed of the multitude of his greatness. The sending | visible, when it is in any | sign visible, it showeth. And it is to wit that in five signs visible the Holy Ghost is sent | and showed. First, in sign | of a dove upon Jesu Christ when he was baptized, Luke iii.: The Holy Ghost | descended in bodily likeness | of a dove upon him. Secondly, in likeness of a fair cloud and clear upon | Jesu Christ at his transfiguration, | Matthew xvii.: Lo! he yet speaking a bright cloud shadowed them. This was | upon the Mount Tabor | where Jesu Christ spake with S. Peter, James, and John. And thus as he spake there | descended a clear cloud that | covered them all, whereas the gloss saith thus: When Jesu Christ was baptized, | and also when he was clarified, | the mystery of the Trinity was showed. The Holy Ghost was showed at the | baptism in likeness of a dove, | and in the hill in the likeness of a clear mountain and cloud. Thirdly, he was | showed in likeness of a blowing | or a blast, as saith S. John, Johannis vicesimo: He breathed and blew on | | | them and said: Take ye the Holy | Ghost in you; of whom ye forgive the sins, they shall be forgiven, and of whom | ye retain the sins, they shall | be retained. Fourthly, in likeness of fire. Fifthly, in likeness of tongues. And in | these two manners he appeared | to us to give us to understand that the properties of the tongue and of fire | he putteth in the hearts | when he descendeth. The dove hath wailing for her song, she hath no gall, she maketh | her house in an hole, or | in a wall of stone. And thus the Holy Ghost, them that he replenisheth, he maketh them | to wail for their sins. | Whereof saith Isaiah the prophet, Isaiah Iix.: We all shall roar like bears, and wail like | doves, in thinking humbly | and bitterly how we have erred against the Scripture. | And this comforteth us | the apostle S. Paul, ad Romanos viii.: The Holy Ghost ceaseth not to pray for us in | moving us to wailings without | number, for our sins which be without number. Secondly, the doves be | without gall, and the | Holy Ghost maketh them such where he descendeth, for that is his nature. Whereof | saith the wise man, Sapientiæ | xii.: O quam bonus et suavis, etc.: O Lord God, how much good and sweet is | this spirit in us. Item, in | the same place he is called sweet, benign, and human, of that he maketh us benign | and human, that is to wit, | sweet in word, benign in heart, and human in work. Thirdly, the doves dwell | within the holes of walls | of stone, that is to say, in the wounds of Jesu Christ he maketh them dwell. That he | fulfilleth whereof it is said | in the Cantica Canticorum ii.: Arise thou my spouse, my love and my dove, my | | | spouse and love, that is | a devout soul, and come my dove for to nourish small pigeons in the holes of the | wall, that is in the wounds | of our Lord. Whereof S. Jerome saith: Spiritus oris nostri, etc.-thus as he would | say, the Spirit that is of |our mouth, that is Jesu Christ, for he is our mouth. And our flesh maketh us say to | Christ, In thine umber, that | is, in thy passion, in which Jesu Christ was obscure, dark and despised, we shall | live by continual memory. | Secondly, he was showed in likeness of a cloud. The cloud is lift up from the earth | by virtue of the sun, and nourisheth | and engendereth rain, and refresheth and cooleth the air and the earth. | Thus the Holy Ghost, | them that he replenisheth he lifteth from the earth for to despise the earthly things, | as saith the prophet Ezechiel: | The Holy Ghost hath lift me into the air between heaven and earth, and hath | brought me into Jerusalem, | in the vision of God. Secondly, he refresheth the earth, that is the hearts, | against the dryness of burning | of vices. And of this was said to the Virgin Mary Spiritus sanctus superveniet in | te, etc.: The Holy Ghost | shall come in thee, and the virtue of him that is highest shall shadow thee, and | from all ardour of vices shall | cool thee. And the Holy Ghost is called water because that water hath the virtue | and nature to refresh and cool. | Whereof saith S. John the Evangelist: From the Holy Ghost the floods of | living water shall run. And | that same saith he of the Holy Ghost, which the apostles received, and of them | that received him, for the | rivers ran through all the world upon them that believed in God. Thirdly, he | engendereth rain, the which |descendeth by drops. And this is that David saith: The Holy Ghost shall blow and | make waters to flow, that | is to say by the tears coming from the heart dropping from the eyes. Fourthly, he is | | | showed in likeness of breath, | which is a spirit of the heart which is cast out by the mouth, which is light, | hot, sweet, and necessary | to breathe with. Thus the Holy Ghost is light to be shed into a man, he is most | swift of anything that is movable, | as the gloss saith upon this word: Factus est repente de cœlo sonus, etc. | At the coming of the Holy Ghost | he made moving as of thunder, and of wind, vehement and sudden, and | fulfilled all the house where | the apostles sat, which abode him in great devotion. For the grace of the Holy | Ghost wrought not in | his operation of space, ne of time, but he had sudden motion. Secondly, he is hot for to | enflame the hearts. Whereof | Jesu Christ saith: I am come to cast fire in the earth, but this is that burneth | and inflameth the hearts. | And is compared to wind which is hot, whereof is said in the Canticles: Veni | auster et perfla hortum meum. | Come wind of the south, and blow in my garden, that is my soul. Thirdly, he is | sweet for to make sweet the hearts, | and therefore he is named by the name of unction; the sweet unction of | him teacheth us which appertaineth | to our health. And it is named by name of dew whereof singeth holy | Church: Et sui roris aspersione | fecundet, where she prayeth that the aspersion and springing of the dew | make our hearts to grow in | virtue, and also by space of time still and calm. After the stroke of the fire, | descended a sweet sound | of air soft and small, and there was our Lord. Fourthly, it is necessary to breathe | in such manner that if it might | not issue out of the mouth that he might not breathe, anon the man should | | | die. And thus should we | understand of the Holy Ghost, after this that David saith: Auferes spiritum eorum et | deficient et in pulverem, etc. | Lord God as soon as thou shalt take away their spirit they shall fail. And therefore | saith he: Emitte spiritum tuum, | etc. Lord God send thy spirit into them and they shall be created by spiritual | life and be renewed, for the | Holy Ghost is he that giveth life. Fourthly, he was showed in the likeness of fire. | Fifthly, in likeness of tongues. | And the cause for which he appeared in these two manners I shall hereafter say. | As to the third principal, | in which time he was sent, he was on the fiftieth day sent, after Easter, for to give to | us knowledge that the Holy Ghost | came, and it is the perfection of the law, the remuneration perdurable, and | the remission of sins. It appeareth | of the perfection of the law, for from the day that the Lamb was sacrificed | in that old law, the law was | delivered the fiftieth day after that, as the Church saith, in fire. And also in the | New Testament, fifty days | after Easter, descended the Holy Ghost on the mount of Sion in likeness of fire. | Like as the law was given | in the highest of the mount of Sinai, so the Holy Ghost in the solier where the supper | of Jesu Christ and of his | apostles was made. In this appeareth that the Holy Ghost is the perfection of all | the law, for in that is the | plenitude of dilection. Secondly, the perdurable remuneration is in the Holy | Ghost, whereof the gloss | saith thus, that the fourty days in which our Lord conversed with his disciples signify | the holy church, also the | fiftieth day on which the Holy Ghost was given, expresseth the penny of the last | | | retribution and reward perdurable. | Thirdly, of the Holy Ghost is the remission of sins, as saith the gloss. | Therefore it was given in the | fiftieth day, because in the fiftieth year was the Jubilee, and all things pardoned, | and by the Holy Ghost the | sins be pardoned. And it followeth in the gloss: In the jubilee spiritual the | prisoners be delivered, the debts | be quitted, the exiled be repealed and called home, the heritages be rendered, | and the bond men be rendered | from their servitude and made free. and the guilty of death be made quit and | delivered. Whereof saith S. Paul: | The law of the spirit of life in Jesu Christ hath delivered me from the law of | sin and of death. After, the | debts of sin be left, for charity covereth and quencheth great multitude of sins. | The exiled men be called | home, and the prophet saith: Spiritus tuus bonus, etc. Lord thy good spirit hath | brought me into the right land | of my country, that is, into heaven. The heritage lost is rendered, whereof saith | S. Paul: The Holy Ghost | hath given witness to our Spirit that we be the sons of God. And if we be sons we | be heirs, which were servants | to sin, we be made free to God, for where the Holy Ghost is, there is franchise and | liberty. As touching the fourth, | how oft he was sent to the apostles, after that the gloss saith: He was given to | them by three times, that is | to wit before the passion of Jesu Christ, after the resurrection, and after the | Ascension. First to do miracles. | Secondly to release the sins, and thirdly to confirm the hearts. First, when he | sent them to preach, and to cast | fiends out of bodies, and to heal the sick malades, he gave to them the | | | puissance. And these marvels | did they by the Holy Ghost, nevertheless it is not consequent that whosoever | have the Holy Ghost do miracles. | For S. Gregory saith: The miracles maketh not a man holy, but show him | holy, nor also every man | that doth miracles hath not the Holy Ghost. For evil people avaunt them to have done | miracles, saying: Lord, Lord, | say they, have not we well prophesied in thy name? Thou hast given to us the spirit | of prophecy. God doth | miracles by his angels, by matter amiable that they have, and the fiends by virtues natural, which be | in things created naturally, | and the enchanter, by help of fiends. The good christian man by justice public, the | evil christian man by signs | of justice. Secondly, they had the Holy Ghost when he breathed on them saying: | Take ye the Holy Ghost in | to you, to whom ye loose their sins they shall be loosed, and of whom ye retain, | they shall be retained. Nevertheless | none save God may forgive sins as to the sin that is in the soul, and which | is the obligation to pain | perdurable, or as to the offence of God, the which is only forgiven by the infusion of | the grace of God, and by | the force and virtue of contrition. Nevertheless we say that the priest assoilleth | of sins, as for that he is | insinued, or showeth that the sinner is assoilled of God. As to that, that the pain that | should be perpetual, he changeth | into temporal of purgatory, and also for that the pain temporal is due, he | releaseth part. Thirdly, the | Holy Ghost was given to them on this day, when he confirmed so their hearts that | they dreaded no torment | by the virtue of the Holy Ghost, which all overcometh. Whereof saith S. Austin: | | | Such is the grace of the Holy | Ghost that if he find heaviness in the heart he breaketh it; if he find desire of | evil, he destroyeth it; if he | find vain dread, he casteth it out. And S. Leo the Pope saith: The Holy Ghost was | hoped of the apostles, not | for then first he had inhabited in them, but because that the hearts to him | | | sacred and dedicated, he | more should visit them, and more abundantly by grace should abide in increasing | his gifts not then begun, | of which he was not newly showing his operation, for his largess passeth all | abundance. As to the fifth, | that is to wit, how he was sent. It is to be known that he was sent with great sound | in tongues of fire, the which | tongues appeared sitting. And the sound was sudden from heaven, vehement and | shining. It was sudden for | he had no need of space temporal. It was from heaven, for he made them | celestial that he replenished. | Vehement for he gave dread of love, or for that he took away the sorrow | perdurable, which is malediction; | or for that that he bare the heart out of carnal love. Also he was | replenishing, for he fulfilled | all the apostles. As saith S. Luke: Repleti sunt omnes Spiritu Sancto. And it is to | weet that there be three signs | of replenishing that were in the apostles. The first is that the place where he is | giveth no sound, like a tun | of wine that is full. To this purpose speaketh Job: Shall the ox cry and roar when | the racke is full? The ox | shall not low nor cry when the crib shall be full, like as he would say when the heart is | full of grace, him ought not | grudge by impatience. This sign had the apostles, for in the tribulation that they | had, they resounded not, | ne grudged by impatience, but joyously went to the presence of the tyrants, to prison, | and to torments. The second | sign is that he may receive no more, else he were not full. In this manner he that is | all filled demandeth no more. | In like wise the saints that have plenitude of grace, may receive none other | | | liquor of earthly delectation; | and because they have tasted the sweetness of heaven, they have none appetite | to the earthly delectations. | Whereof saith S. Austin: Whoso drinketh one drop of delights of paradise, the | which one drop is greater than | all the sea ocean. Which ought to be understood that all the thirst of this world | is in him extinct. And this | sign had the apostles which would have none of the goods of this world in proper, | but put it all in common. | The third sign is for to run over out, as it appeareth by a river which ariseth and | runneth over his banks. | As Solomon saith: Which filleth as Phison wisdom. This flood, or river Phison, of | his nature ariseth and springeth | over, and watereth and arroseth the land about him. In like wise the apostles | began to spread abroad. | For after they had received the Holy Ghost they began to speak divers languages, | where the gloss saith, that | that was the sign of plenitude, for the vessel full sheddeth over, as it | appeareth of S. Peter, for anon | as he began to preach he converted three thousand. Secondly, he was sent in | tongues of fire. And here | be three things to be considered. First, for whom he was sent conjointly in | the tongues of fire. Secondly, | wherefore he was sent in tongues of fire more than in another element. Thirdly, | wherefore he was sent in | tongues more than in another member. As to the first, for three reasons he was sent | and appeared in tongues | of fire, to the end that their words should inflame the hearts. Secondly, that they | should preach the fiery law | of God. Thirdly, that they should know that the Holy Ghost, which is fire, spake | | | in them, and t by his | incomprehensibility. For the third, he is said Holy Ghost having all virtue, for he is | invincible, for he hath all | strength, seeing all things from far. The third reason is taken as to his manifold | effect. And this reason assigneth | Rabanus, saying that the fire hath four virtues or natures. It burneth, it | purgeth, It chauffeth, it | lighteth. In likewise the Holy Ghost burneth the sins, he purgeth the hearts, he casteth | away all coldness and dread | of the hearts, and he illumineth them that be ignorant. Of the first saith | Zachary the prophet: He | broileth and burneth the hearts as the fire burneth the silver. Also David saith: Lord I | pray thee, burn my reins | and my heart, and dry them from all sin. He purgeth also the hearts after that, as | saith Isaiah: When our Lord | hath washed away the filthes of the daughters of Sion, and hath purged the | blood of Jerusalem from | the middle of him in the spirit of judgment and in the spirit of burning, then shall they | be in safety and surety, | and kept against all tempest. And the prophet speaketh of the purgation that shall be | made at the last, when all shall | be purged pure and clean that shall go in to heaven. He casteth out also all | coldness and pusillanimity of | the hearts, whereof the apostle saith: Be ye fervent in spirit, that is of heart, the | which thing the Holy Ghost | maketh when He espriseth him of his love. And hereof saith S. Gregory: The Holy | Ghost appeared in fire for | all the hearts which He replenished, and voided the coldness of fire, and | inflamed them with desire | of the glory perdurable. He illumined also the ignorant, whereof saith the wise | | | man; Lord God who shall | know thy science, if thou give not thy sapience and send to us thine Holy Spirit | from above, that is he that | all enseigneth and teacheth? The fourth reason is taken after the nature of his love. | Love is signified by the fire | for three causes. The first cause is for the fire is always moving, so is it of the | Holy Ghost; for them that | he replenisheth he maketh them to be in continual moving of good operation. | Whereof saith S. Gregory: | The love of God is never idle, as long as it is in the heart of a devout person it | fructifieth. And it fructifieth | not, it is a sign that it is not there. The second is, for the fire among all the other | elements hath but little matter, | but strong virtue in operation it hath in his quality. Thus the Holy Ghost, | whom he replenisheth, maketh | them to have but little love to earthly things, and great to spiritual things, in so | much they love not worldly | things more worldlily, but spiritually. S. Bernard putteth four manners of love; | that is to wit, to love the | world fleshly, the spirit fleshly, the flesh spiritually, and the spirit spiritually. | The third cause is, for that | the fire abasheth and meeketh the things high. He hath tended on high things | despercled, to unite them, | and them despercled to bring together. And by these three things be understood three | virtues of love. For as saith S. | Denis in the book of the names divine: The fire hath three virtues, for he | inclineth the high things down, | he lifteth the things low in height, he ordaineth the things equal to their | ordinance. And these three | things maketh the Holy Ghost in them that he replenisheth. For he inclineth | them by humility, he lifteth | them up by desire of high things, and ordaineth them together by unity of | manners. Thirdly, he appeared | in likeness of a tongue more than in another member, and for three reasons. | The tongue is the member | that is inflamed of the fire of hell, and is of great difficulty to govern, and profitable | when it is well governed. And | because that the tongue was inflamed of the fire of hell, she had need that the | Holy Ghost should come | to inflame it. As saith S. James: It is the fire of the Holy Ghost, and because it is | evil and lightly governed, | she hath the more need. For after that that saith S. James in his chronicle: All nature | of beasts, of birds, and | of serpents be mastered and ruled by man, but the tongue may not be mastered. And | because it is a member profitable | when it is well governed, therefore he had need of the Holy Ghost that | should govern it. He appeared | also in a tongue, which is much necessary. To preachers he is necessary, for he | maketh them to speak fervently | without dread, and therefore he was in that likeness. As saith S. Bernard: | The Holy Ghost descended | upon the disciples in tongues of fire to the end that they should preach and | speak the law of the tongues | of fire. The Holy Ghost also maketh them to speak and preach hardily and | constantly, as S. Luke saith | in the Acts of the Apostles: They were all replenished with the Holy Ghost and | began to speak with hardiness | the word of God. He maketh them also to speak in many manners for the | great and diverse multitude | of hearers, and therefore it is said they began to speak with divers tongues in such | wise as the Holy Ghost | administered to them. He made them also to preach profitably to the edification of the | people, whereof saith Isaiah: | The Holy Ghost is descended upon me, and hath anointed me with his | grace, whereof he hath | made my words pleasant and profitable to the health of creatures. Thirdly, the | tongues appeared sitting, in | signifying that he was necessary to presidents and judges, for he giveth | authority for to pardon and | to forgive sins, as saith S. John: Take ye the Holy Ghost, by whom ye shall take | away the sins of them-that | will repent them. He giveth also wisdom for to deem and judge, whereof saith -
Mike Says:
2014-01-13 PM 6:35 He giveth also wisdom for to deem and judge, whereof saith | Isaiah: shall put, saith God, | my spirit upon them that shall judge and deem truly. He giveth also debonairty | and sweetness for to support | and mollify the judgment, as it is said, Numeri xi.: I shall give to my people of my | | | spirit that is in thee, for | to support the burden of my people. The spirit of Moses was the spirit of benignity | and of sweetness that was | in him for to judge the people. Moses was most meek and most debonair, and | therefore God delivered to | him his people for to govern. The Holy Ghost giveth also adornment of holiness for | to inform, as saith the Scripture: | The Holy Ghost hath adorned the heavens, that be the hearts wherein he | descendeth. And as to the sixth, | into whom he was sent, into the apostles that were vessels clean and pure, and | disposed to receive the Holy |Ghost, And that for seven causes that were in them. First, they were quiet and | peaceable in heart, and this | signifieth that is sung: Dum complerentur dies pentecostes, etc. The day of the | pentecost they were all together | in one place still assembled. The day of the pentecost is the day of rest, | after that Isaiah saith: Upon | whom shall my spirit descend, but upon an humble heart and being still. | Secondly, he was heard by | dilection. And this is that the Scripture saith: Erant omnes pariter, they were all | together, for they were all of | one heart and of one will. And thus the spirit of man giveth not life to the | members but that they be together; | in likewise the Holy Ghost giveth not spiritual life but to the members | united spiritually. And as | the fire quencheth and goeth out when the brands be taken away, so the Holy Ghost | goeth away when the members | by discord be divided. And therefore it is sung of the apostles that the Holy | Ghost found them all of one | accord by love and by charity, and illumined them with clearness shining in | | | them of the divine Deity. | Thirdly, they were in a secret place; for they were in the place where Jesu Christ | made with them his maundy | or supper, whereof is said, Hosea ii.: I shall lead man's soul into a solitary place | and shall speak to it in secret. | Fourthly, they were in orison and prayer continual, whereof is sung: Orantibus | apostolis deum venisse, etc, | when they were in prayer then came the Holy Ghost upon them; which prayer is | necessary to receive the Holy | Ghost. Like as the wise man saith: I have prayed God and the Holy Ghost is | come in me. Whereof saith | Jesu Christ, John xiv.: I shall pray God my Father, and I shall send to you in my | stead the Holy Ghost that shall | comfort you. Fifthly, they were garnished with humility and meekness, and | that is, that they were sitting | when the Holy Ghost came. And hereof saith David: Lord God, thou art he | that sendest the fountains | into the valleys, that is the Holy Ghost which is the fountain of grace, which he | sendeth into the humble hearts. | Sixthly, they were in peace together. In that is to be understood that they | were in Jerusalem, which is | as much to say as the vision of peace. And that peace is necessary to receive the | Holy Ghost, our Lord showed | when he came to them after his resurrection saying: Pax vobis, Peace be with | you, and after said: Take ye | the Holy Ghost. Seventhly, they were lift up in contemplation. And this is to | understand that they received | the Holy Ghost in an high place, wherof saith the gloss: Who that now desireth | the Holy Ghost in his heart, | let him put the house of his flesh under his feet by lifting up his heart by | contemplation. And as to | the seventh, wherefore he was sent; it is to be noted, for seven causes he was sent, that | be understood in this authority: | Paracletus autem spiritus sanctus: quem mittet pater in nomine meo ille | | | vos docebit omnia. The | first cause is for to comfort the sorrowful when is said, Paracletus, which is as much as | to say as comforter, as | God saith by Isaiah: The spirit of God upon me, and it followeth to the end that I should | comfort the weepers of Sion, | that be the daughters that saw God. Whereof saith S. Gregory: The Holy Ghost is | said comforter to them that | he findeth wailing for their sins that they have committed, he maketh ready hope of | pardon in lifting their hearts | from affliction of sorrow. The second is for to quicken the dead when he saith | Spiritus, for the Spirit is | he that quickeneth as it is said in Ezechiel: Ye bones that be dry and without life, I | shall send in you my Spirit | and ye shall live. The third cause is for to sanctify and make clean the sinners in | this that he said: Sanctus, | as it is said, Spirit because he giveth life. Also he saith Holy, because he sanctifieth | and maketh clean, and it | is said pure and clean. Therefore saith David: The grace of the Holy Ghost | which is a flood pure and | cleansing, he gladdeth the city of God, that is holy church, and by this flood our | Lord hath sanctified his | tabernacle. The fourth cause is, he is sent for to confirm love among them that be in | discord and hate, which is |noted in this word Pater. He is said Father, because that naturally he loveth us, as | saith S. John in the gospel, | Johannis xiii.: Jesu Christ saith: My Father loveth you as his sons, and if ye be his | sons, then be ye brethren each | to other, and between brethren always ought to persevere love and friendship. | The fifth cause is for to | save the just and true men. In this that he saith: In nomine meo, that is Jesus, that is | | | to say, Saviour, in whose name | the Father sent the Holy Ghost to show that he came to save the people. The | sixth cause is for to inform | the ignorant in this that he saith: Ille vos docebit omnia. The Holy Ghost, when he | shall come, he shall | teach you all things. As to the seventh, that he is given or sent first in the beginning of | the church by prayer, | as thus when he came the apostles prayed God and were in prayer, whereof is sung: | Orantibus apostolis Deum venisse, | the apostles praying, the Holy Ghost came. And Luke iii., Jesu praying the | Holy Ghost descended. Secondly, | he came by hearing attentively and devoutly the word of God. Acts x.: As S. | Peter was preaching, the Holy | Ghost descended upon them. Thirdly, he came by holy and busy operation, that | is by this that is said: | Imponebant manus super eos et accipiebant spiritum sanctum. The apostles put their | hands on them that believed | and anon they received the Holy Ghost. And this imposition of the hands signifieth | the absolution of the priest; | which absolution give us the Holy Ghost. Amen. Here followeth the Feast of the Holy Sacrament. | The great largesse and benefits | that God hath distributed to Christian people, give to the said people | great dignity, for there is | no people, ne never was so great a nation that their gods had approached so nigh | them as our Lord God is | unto us. The blessed Son of God would make us partners unto his divinity and | godhead, and therefore took | our nature to the end that making himself man, he would make men as gods. And | all that he took of us, he | gave all again to us for our salvation. He gave his proper body an offering unto God | | | the Father on the altar | of the cross, for our reconciliation, and shed his blood in price and washing | our sins, to the end | that we might be redeemed from the miserable servitude wherein we were, and that we | should be also clean and | cleansed of our sins. And also to the end that this excellent benefice abide to us in | perpetual memory, he hath | unto devout hearts and faithful given his own body in meat, and his precious | blood in drink, in likeness | of bread and wine. O precious feast and convive and verily full of great | wonder, the feast healthful | and replenished of all sweetness. What thing may be more precious than the | noble convive or feast in | which not only the flesh of calves ne of oxen like as was given in the old law for to | taste, but the proper body | of Jesu which is very God, is presented for to receive and assavour devoutly. What | thing might be more full | of great admiration than is this Holy Sacrament in which the bread and wine be | commixed substantially into | the proper body of Jesu. And therefore Jesu Christ there is contained under the | species and likeness of bread | and wine. He is eaten and received of the good and true christian men but for that | he is not departed in pieces |ne asundered in his members, but abideth all whole and entire in every each | of his parts. For if this | holy sacrament were divided or departed in a thousand parts, in every part should | remain the proper body | of our Lord whole and entire. None other sacrament is not of so much merit, nor so | full of health as this sacrament | is. For by this be purged the sins, the virtues be increased, and the thoughts be | | | engrassed and fulfilled with | the abundance of all good virtues. He is in holy church offered for the living and | them that be dead, to the | end that he may profit to all that which is for their salvation, of all them that be | ordained and instituted to | consecrate it. The sweetness of this holy sacrament may none express. By the which | sweetness is spiritually tasted | and remembered the excellent charity that God showed in his glorious | passion, and to the end | that it might be the more fervently impressed in the hearts of devout and faithful | people, of the great largesse | of his charity when he should depart out of this world and go to God his | Father and would eat | his paschal lamb with his disciples, then he instituted this holy sacrament like a | memory perdurable of his | passion, as the accomplishment of ancient figures, and of the miracles | that were done by him, and | also to the end that they that were sorrowful and heavy for his absence, should | thereby have some solace | singular. This is a thing then right convenient and convenable unto the devotion of | devout hearts; to remember | solemnly the institution of so healthful and marvellous a sacrament, to the end that | the ineffable manner of | the ordinance and thought divine visibly be honoured and worshipped; and that | the might and puissance | of God be loved and thanked, which in this sacrament worketh so marvellously; and | also, of so healthful and | of so sweet and gracious benefice be given and rendered to God due thankings | and graces. And how well | that on the day of the cene or supper in which this noble sacrament was instituted is | | | special memory made of | this sacrament, how be it the surplus of the service of the same day appertaineth to | the passion of our Lord, | in the which passion our mother, holy church, is occupied all that day devoutly. | And because this institution | of so noble sacrament may be hallowed more solemnly, the Pope Urban iv., by | | | great affection that he had | to this holy sacrament, moved of great devotion, he ordained the feast and | remembrance of this holy | sacrament the first Thursday after the octaves of Pentecost, for to be hallowed of all | good christian people, | to the end that we who use throughout all the year this holy sacrament to our | salvation, may do our | devoir to this holy institution specially in the time when the Holy Ghost enseigned | and teached the hearts | of the disciples to know the mystery of this holy sacrament. For in that time then, | the true faithful disciples | began to frequent it, it is read in the Acts of the Apostles that they were perseverant in | the doctrine of the apostles | and in communication of the breaking of the bread in devout orisons after the | sending of the Holy Ghost. | And to the end that the holy institution of this amorous sacrament should be the | more honorably hallowed on | the said day, and by the utas or octaves following, in stead of distribution | material, that been distributed | in cathedral churches, the foresaid Pope Urban hath given of his power and | largess apostolic, wages spiritual | and pardons special unto all them that shall be personally in clean life at the | hours diurnal and nocturnal | of this holy solemnity, to the end that every good catholic person should have the | more desire to come to | one so great a solemnity overall where it shall be hallowed. That is to wit at matins, an | hundred days of pardon, | at the mass as much, at the first evensong as much, and at the second evensong on | the day also an hundred | days; at the hours of prime, of tierce, of sixt, of none, and of compline, at every each | | | of these hours forty days. | On the other days during the octaves for every day to them that shall be at matins and | at mass, at tierce, at sixt, | none, evensong and compline, an hundred days of pardon. And all these pardons of the | treasure of the church by | the misericord divine, he hath given them and instituted to endure perpetually. This | sacrament figured our Lord | when he sent manna from heaven unto the old fathers in desert, where they were | fed with meat celestial, | and it is said that the men had eaten bread of angels, but alway, all they that had eaten | thereof, they died in desert, | but this meat that ye now receive is the living bread which descended from | heaven; that administered the | substance of the life eternal; and therefore whosoever receive this bread | here, worthily he shall never | die eternally, for this is the proper body of Jesu Christ. Now consider here then which is most | excellent and most profitable, | the bread of the angels or the proper body of Jesu Christ, which is life perdurable. The | manna aforesaid came from | heaven, this precious flesh is above the heaven; this manna is celestial; this flesh | here is God the creator of | heavens. The manna was kept unto the morn and was corrupt; this bread may feel no | corruption. To them in desert, | abovesaid, sprang water out of a stone, to us is sprung the blood of the amorous | Jesu Christ. The water refresheth | them for an hour, but the precious blood of Jesu Christ washeth us | perpetually. The Jews drank | and alway were athirst, but thou christian man, when thou hast drunk of this | beverage here, thou mayst | never after have thirst. That other was given to them in a shadow and umber but this | | | was given in truth. Now | ye shall understand this that was in the shadow, they drank of the water that issued | out of the stone, this stone | was Jesu Christ and yet they pleased not alway in their works to God, and therefore | died they in desert. All | those things there were done in figure, for to give knowledge of things more great and | more notable. It is much | greater thing of the light than of the shadow; semblably of verity than it is of figure; | and also much greater | of the body of our creator and maker, than it is of the manna that came from heaven. | Thou shalt demand peradventure: | how thou affirmest and assurest me that I receive the body of Jesu Christ | when I see another thing. | We have many examples by the which we may well prove that it which thou | receivest is not that thing | that nature hath formed, but it is well that that the benediction hath consecrated. The | benediction hath greater might | than nature, for by benediction ofttimes nature hath been changed. Moses | that held a rod in his | hand, when he cast it to the earth it became a serpent; anon he took it up and it turned | into the nature of a rod. | Thou seest then how by the grace of the prophet the nature hath been changed | twice, of the serpent and | of the rod. The rivers of Egypt ran some time their course natural, but suddenly by the | veins of the fountains blood | began to issue, and ran so long that the people wist not for to drink. After, at the | prayer of the prophet | the river of blood ceased, and came again to his nature of water as it was before. The | people of the Hebrews | was on a time all environed and enclosed of the Egyptians, between the sea and them | | | Moses lift up his rod, | and then the water departed, and assembled unto the likeness of a wall, and there | appeared to them a way | for to go on foot, and the flood of Jordan, in his proper place, against his nature | returned against the hill. | The old fathers that were in desert, also on a time had great thirst; Moses took his | rod and smote a stone, | out of the which issued a great abundance of water. Is not the grace of benediction | great which hath wrought | above nature, when the stone giveth water which he may not by nature? Marah, which | was a river right bitter, | in such wise that the people that had great thirst might not drink it; Moses put a staff in | the water, and suddenly |by the grace of benediction which there wrought, it lost his bitterness and became | sweet. Semblably in the time | of Elisha the prophet, one of the sons of the prophets let fall the iron of his axe in | the water, the which iron, | after his nature, sank down to the bottom of the water. Then he came to Elisha praying | him for his axe. Elisha | put his bourdon in the water, and anon the iron began to swim about the water, which | is a thing above nature, | for the weight of the iron is heavier than the liquor of the water. By all these things, | and by the blessing of prophets, | we see clearly how grace or benediction hath thus wrought above nature, | and then, sith that benediction | human, diverse times hath thus converted things against nature, what shall we | say of the consecration divine | where the words of God work? For this holy sacrament here that thou receivest | is consecrate of the words | of Jesu Christ. Then if the word of Elijah was of so great effect that it made fire to | descend from heaven, of much | more value and effect is the word of Jesu Christ for to turn the likeness of | elements. Ye have read | of the work of the world; as God said and commanded so was it made; he commanded | and it was made. And | the word that made all things of nought, may not the same change the things that have | been made into other species | and likeness? It is not less to him to create things than to change things. We show | also the mystery of the incarnation | of our maker Jesu Christ. Was not that above nature that Jesu Christ was | born of the Virgin Mary? | If thou demand of the ordinance of nature, thou knowest that the woman hath | a custom to conceive by | the seed of man; but the Virgin Mary engendered and conceived above the ordinance of | nature, and alway remained | a virgin. And this holy sacrament that we now consecrate, is the proper body of | Jesu Christ that was born | of the Virgin. Wherefore then seekest thou of the ordinance of the precious nature of | Jesu Christ, when he is | above all nature? He that was born of the Virgin is the proper flesh of Jesu Christ, the | which was crucified and | buried. And verily this proper flesh is in this sacrament. Our Saviour Jesu Christ | saith: Lo! this is my | proper body. Before the benediction of the celestial words it is another species, | but after the consecration | it is the proper body of our Lord. For as soon as the consecration is preferred and | said, the substance of the bread | is converted into the blessed body of Jesu Christ, and in like wise of the | wine and water in the | chalice; after the words of consecration said, is the very body of our Lord also | whole in flesh and blood. | All the remnant that is said in the mass be praisings and laudings to our Lord, and | also prayers for the church, | for the kings, and for the people. But when this holy sacrament is consecrate the | priest useth not his own | words, but he speaketh the proper words of Jesu Christ and so consecrateth the | sacrament. The which word | of Jesu Christ is it by which all thing was made, the heaven, the earth, and the | sea; then mayst thou see | what a worker is the word of Jesu Christ. And sith that so much might and | power is in the word of Jesu | Christ, that it which never had been began to be, then by much more reason may he make that | that is, to be converted | into other substance. And thus that which was bread before the consecration, is the proper | body of Jesu Christ after | the consecration. And thus hath our blessed Lord left to us his blessed body for to | | | be honoured and worshipped | here in earth. And by reason, methinketh, he might do no less, considering | our unstableness, and how | prone the people have been to worship false gods and idols; and how oft his own | chosen people the Jews departed | from his laws and took to them false gods, notwithstanding the great | miracles and marvellous that | he did and showed for them, than to leave his own proper body here among us | daily, to be remembered | in eschewing of all idolatry for the salvation of our souls, whom we beseech that we | may receive unto our perpetual | salvation. Amen. The Dedication of the Temple of the Church. | The dedication of the | church is solemnly hallowed among the other feasts of the church, and because that | it is double church or | temple, that is to wit, material and spiritual. And therefore it is to be seen shortly of | the dedication of this double | temple. As to the dedication of the temple material. three things be to be | considered. First, wherefore it | is hallowed or dedicate. Secondly, how it is hallowed. Thirdly, by whom it is | hallowed. And because that | two things be in the church that be hallowed, that is the altar and the temple, | therefore it is first to be | seen how the altar is hallowed. The altar is first hallowed for three things. First, to | make sacrifice to God, as | it is said, Genesis viii.: Noah edified first an altar to our Lord, and took of all the | birds and of all the beasts | of the the thought, and the song of the voice to the preaching of the word of God: | but in this, what profiteth | the sweetness of the voice without the sweetness of the heart? She breaketh the | | | voice, but the will keepeth | the concordance of the voice, and of good manners, so that by ensample he | accord him to his neighbour, | and by his good will he accord him to God, and by obedience to his master; and | this is the treble manner | of music, which is reported to the treble difference of the office of the church. For the | office of the church is made | in psalms, in lessons, and in song. The first manner of music is made by touching | of fingers, as in the psaltery | and semblable instruments: the second is the song as of the voice; and that | appertaineth to the lessons. | And thereof saith the Psalmist Sing ye to him in deporting your voice. The | third, that is by blowing, | appertaineth to the song of a trumpet and hereof saith David: Praise ye him in the | sound of the trumpet. | The temple or the church is hallowed for five reasons. The first is, because that the devil and all his | power be put out, whereof | S. Gregory recounteth in his dialogue, that as a church of the heretic Arians was yielded to | good christian men, and | they hallowed it, and had brought in relics of SS. Fabian and Sebastian, and of S. | Agatha, all the people were | there assembled, and they heard suddenly a hog cry, and run hither and thither |
| among their feet, seeking the doors of the church, and he might not be seen of no man, whereof the | people had great marvel. But | our Lord showed to them that it was the foul spirit that dwelled tofore in that place: and that | night was a great noise | upon the covering of the church, like as they had run upon it, and the second night yet a | greater noise, and the | third night was so fearful and so horrible a great noise, as that the church should have | | | been thrown down unto | the foundament, and then the wicked spirits departed and came no more there. The | hideous sound signified that | for certain the fiend issued by constraint the which he had long holden. Secondly, | it is hallowed because that | they that flee to the church should be safe; whereof some churches, after the | dedication, be privileged of princes, | that they that be culpable and flee to the church that they may be safe. | Whereof the canon saith: | The church defendeth the culpables from blood that they ne loose life ne member. | And therefore Joab fled | to the tabernacle and took the altar. Thirdly, it is hallowed because that the orisons be | enhanced there. And it is | signified in the book of Kings, the viii. chapter, when the temple was dedicated, | Solomon said: Whosoever shall | pray in this place thou shalt hear him, Lord in heaven, and when thou hast | heard him thou shalt be | to him debonair. And we worship God in the churches towards the east for three | reasons, after that Damascene | saith in the fourth book, the fifth chapter. First, because that we show that we | require our peace. Secondly, | that we behold Jesu Christ crucified. Thirdly, that we show that we abide him a | judge to come. And also | he saith: God planted paradise in the house of the east from the which he exiled man | because he brake his commandments; | and made him to dwell tofore paradise toward the occident, ere he went | any other part, and therefore | we look now in the church toward the orient. And our Lord crucified beheld | toward the occident, and thus | look we worshipping him toward the orient. He was borne on high, and so | | | worship him the apostles, | and so shall he come as they saw him going to heaven. And so worship we him | towards the orient, in abiding | till he come. Fourthly, the church is hallowed because that there louings and | prayings be given to God, | and this is done at the seven times or hours canonical at matins, at prime, at tierce, | and so at the others. | And howbeit that God is to be praised in all the hours of the day, but because our | infirmity sufficeth not thereto, | it is ordained that at these hours we praise God specially, because that | these hours in some things | be more privileged than the others; for at midnight when matins be sung Jesu Christ | was born, and also was taken | and despised of the Jews; and at the same hour he depoiled hell. Taking midnight | largely, that is to say afore | day, he arose from death to life, and he appeared at the hour of prime, and it is said | that he shall come into | the doom at midnight. Whereof S. Jerome saith: I ween that those things that the | apostles have said shall | be before day. For the day of the vigil of Easter, before midnight it behoveth not to | leave matins, for the people | abide the coming of Jesu Christ. And when this time shall come, men ought to | have surety that all men make | feast that day. And we sing at that hour praisings because that we give him | thankings for his nativity, | for his taking, and of the deliverance of the holy apostles, so that we may busily | abide his coming. And | the lauds be adjousted to the matins because that the morrowtide he drowned the | Egyptians in the sea, and | created the world and arose. And at this hour let us give thankings to God that we be | | | not drowned in the sea of | this world with the Egyptians, and that we render louings to God for our | creation and for his resurrection. | At the hour of prime Jesu Christ came into the temple and the people | assembled there to him, as | Luke saith, the xxi. chapter. He was at that hour presented to Pilate, and at this | hour, after he was risen, | he appeared first to the women. And this is the first hour of the day, and therefore let us | render our thankings to God | and praising, because that we may follow Jesu Christ, that we may yield to him | the first fruit of all | our works. At the hour of tierce Jesu Christ was crucified in the tongues of the Jews, and | was bound to a stake and | beaten tofore Pilate. And as it is said, the stake or pillar that he was bound to, | showeth yet his blood. | And this same hour was the Holy Ghost sent to the apostles. In the sixth hour he | was nailed to the cross, and | darknesses were throughout all the world, so that the sun bewept the | death of his Lord, and | covered him with black in such wise that he gave no light to them that crucified his | Lord. And at this hour | was he at dinner the day of his Ascension with his disciples. At the hour of nones Jesu | Christ gave up his spirit, | and the knight pierced his side, and the company of the apostles had a custom for | to assemble then for to pray, | and Jesu Christ ascended that hour into heaven. And for these honours praise we | our Lord at all hours. | At evensong time Jesu Christ made the sacrament of his body and of his blood | together; he washed the | feet of his apostles and disciples; he was taken down off the cross and borne to | | | the sepulchre; he manifested | and showed himself unto his disciples in habit of a pilgrim, and for these things | the church giveth thanks | to God at this hour. At compline Jesu Christ sweat water and blood, his | monument was delivered to | be kept and there he rested. And when he was risen, he showed himself and | declared peace to his apostles. | And of these things give we louings and thanks to God. And hereof saith S. | Bernard how we ought | to render and give thankings to God: My brethren, saith he, when ye sacrifice to God | with praisings and thankings, | join your mind to your words, and thy talent to thy wit, and gladness to thy | talent, and demurety to thy | gladness, and humility to thy demurety, and to humility free will. | Fifthly, the church is | hallowed for to administer there the sacraments of the church. Like as on the table of | God, in which the sacraments | be communicated and administered; and some sacraments be administered and | given to them that enter, | as baptism, and some be given to them that issue out as is the last unction or | annealing. And some be | given to the abiders and dwellers as is order. And some fight and fall, to them is | given penance. Some other | contrarien, and to them is given hardiness of courage for to enforce them, and that | is by confirmation. And | to other is given meat for to sustain them, and this is for to receive the sacred body | of Jesu Christ. And sometime | is taken away the letting, that they fall not into sin, and that is by conjunction of | marriage. Secondly, it is | to wit how she is hallowed. And it ought first to be known of the altar, and after of | the church. And many things | appertain to the hallowing of the altar. And first be made on the four corners of the | altar four crosses of holy | water, and environed about seven times, and seven times arrosed and besprent with | the holy water stick or | sprinkler. After, the incense is burnt on the altar, and after, it is anointed with chrism | and then it is covered | with black cloth, and this representeth them that go to the altar. For they ought | first to have charity in | four manners, that is, they love God, and themselves, their friends and their enemies. | And this signifieth the | four crosses on the four corners of the altar. And of these four corners is said in Genesis | the xxviii. chapter: Thou | shalt stretch to the orient, to the occident, to the north and to the south. Or by the | four crosses that be made | in the four corners be signified that Jesu Christ saved by the cross the four | parts of the world, or for | this, that they signify that we ought to bear the cross of Jesu Christ in four manners, | that is, in the heart by | thought; in the mouth by confession; in the body by mortification; and in the | visage by continual impression. | Secondly, to have care and owe to watch: and this signifieth the environing or | going about the altar. For | they sing then: The waits of the city have found me. For they ought have cure and | watch upon them that | be to them committed. And for this cause putteth Gilbert the negligence of prelates | among the things disordinate. | These be foul things and much perilous, that is to wit, a blind archer, a halting | messenger, a prelate negligent, | a doctor not conning, and a dumb crier, this be a perilous fellowship. | Or by the seven goings about | of the altar be signified seven considerations that we ought to have unto the | seven virtues of the humility | of Jesu Christ, and to go oft about them. The first virtue is that he that was rich | be made poor. The second, | that he was put in the rack or in the crib. The third, that he was subject to his | parents. The fourth, that | he inclined his head under the power of his servant. The fifth, that he sustained the | disciple, thief and traitor. | The sixth, that before a felonous judge he held his peace and spake not. The | seventh, that he prayed | piteously for them that crucified him. Thirdly, they ought to have mind of the | passion of Jesu Christ, and | that is signified by the sprinkling and casting of the water, which signified seven effusions of | | | the blood of Jesu Christ. | The first, was in the circumcision. The second, was in the orison. The third, | when he was beaten at the | pillar. The fourth, when he was crowned with thorns. The fifth, in piercing his | hands. The sixth, in nailing | his feet, and the seventh, in opening of his side. And these arrosements or | sprinkling of blood were | made with the sprinkle of humility, and of charity without estimation. And the | altar is environed seven | times for to signify that the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost be given in the baptism; | or by the seven goings | about be signified the seven comings of Jesu Christ. The first, was from heaven into | the belly of his mother. | The second, from the belly into the crib. The third, from the crib into the world. The | fourth, from the world unto | the gallows of the cross. The fifth, from the cross unto the sepulchre. The sixth, | from the sepulchre to hell. | The seventh, from hell when he arose and ascended unto heaven. | Fourthly, they should have | ardent prayer, amorous and devout, and this is signified by the incense which is | burnt upon the altar, | and then it hath virtue to ascend by the lightness of the fume, and to comfort by his | quality, and to conjoin | by the gum, and to confirm by that it is aromatous or well smelling. And all in like | wise is the orison or prayer | which ascendeth to the mind of God; it comforteth the soul as to the sin past in | asking medicine; it estraineth | as to that which is to come for to beware thereof; it confirmeth as to that is | present in getting defence | and keeping. Or it may be said that devout orison is signified by the incense, that | | | it appertaineth that it ascend | to God. And hereof saith Ecclesiasticus: Orison of humility giveth to God sweet | savour when it issueth | out of a heart inflamed. And the apostle saith much incense is given to him. | Fifthly, they ought to have | resplendor or brightness of conscience and the odour of good renown. And this is | signified by the chrism or cream; | they ought to have a pure conscience so that they might say with the apostle: | Our glory is the witness of | our conscience and also is good renown. Whereof the apostle to Timothy: It | behoveth that he have good | witness of them that be without; and Chrysostom saith that the clerks ought not | to have no filth, ne in word, | ne in deed, ne in thought, ne in opinion, for they be the virtue and beauty of the | church, and if they be evil | they make foul all the church. Sixthly, they ought to have cleanness of good | work; which is signified | by the white clothes and clean of which the altar is covered. The usage of coverture and | of vestments were found | for to cover, for to chauffe, and keep warm, and for to array ordinately. And the good | works cover the nakedness | of the soul, whereof the apostle saith: Clothe thee with white vesture that the | confusion of thy nakedness | appear not. They array the soul with honesty, whereof the apostle saith to the | Romans: Clothe you with |vestments of light, they enchauffe and inflame us in charity. Where of it is said: | Be not thy vestments hot, | for it availeth little to him that goeth to the altar if he have sovereign dignity and a | life defamed. It should be an | horrible thing to see him in a high seat and a low life; sovereign degree and low | estate; a sad visage and | light in works; full of words and nothing of deed; noble of authority and fleeing courage. | Secondly, it ought to be | seen how the church is sacred and hallowed. And to that appertain many things, for | | | the bishop goeth all about | three times, and at every time that he cometh to the gate or door he knocketh with his | cross, saying: Princes open | your gates. And the church is washed within and without with holy water, and a | cross of ashes is made on | the pavement, and of sand a travers, the angle from the orient unto that which is | against the occident. And | the A B C is written within of letters of Greek and of Latin. Crosses be made on the | walls of the church, and | they be anointed with cream. And it is to wit that the three first goings about signify | three goings about that | Jesu Christ made for the hallowing of his church. The first was when he came | from heaven into the world. | The second was when he descended from the world into hell. The third was when | he came again from hell | and ascended into heaven. Or the three goings about show that the church is hallowed | in the honour of the Trinity, | or for to signify the three estates of them that be to be saved of the church, that be | virgins, continent, and married | folk; which be signified in the disposition of the church material. Like as Hugo | de Sancto Victore showeth, | for he saith: That the sanctuary signifieth the order of virgins, the choir or | quire signifieth the continent, | and the body signifieth the order of them that be married. For the sanctuary is | straiter than the choir or quire, | and the quire straiter than the body, for the order of virgins is more worthy | than the continents, and | the order of the continents is more worthy than they that be married. The second | knocking at the door signifieth | the treble right that Jesu Christ hath in the church, wherefore it ought to be | | | opened to him. For it is his | by creation, and sweet by redemption and by promise of glorifying. And of this | threefold right saith Anselm: | Certainly, Lord, for so much as thou hast made me, I owe myself all to thee; | because thou redeemest me, | I owe myself all to thee; because thou hast promised to me so great things, I owe | myself unto thy love; and | because thou art greater than I, for whom thou gavest thyself, and to whom thou | promiseth thyself, I owe | to thee more than myself. And this that the bishop crieth thrice: Open your gates, etc., | signifieth the treble power | that he hash, in heaven. in the world, and in hell. And this that the church is thrice | washed within and without | signifieth three causes. The first is for to put out the devil, and therefore is said in | the blessing of the water, | that it be blessed to chase away all the power of the enemy, the fiend with his | angels cursed and shrewd. | And thou oughtest to know that this holy water is made of four things, that is, of | water, of salt, of wine, and | of ashes, which things put out the devil and chaseth him away. By the water is | signified the effusion of tears; | by the wine is signified spiritual gladness; and by the salt is showed mure | discretion, and by the ashes | is profound humility. Secondly, it is dedicate for to make herself clean from | all earthly things which | were corrupt by sin, and therefore because it should be clean from all ordure it is | washed with holy water, | so that it be clean and pure. And this was signified in the old law, that all should be | cleansed by water. Thirdly, | it is hallowed for to take away all malediction, for the earth at the beginning was | | | cursed with his fruit because | man was deceived by fruit, and the water was not cursed. And therefore it is said | that our Lord ate fish, but it | is not found that ever he ate any flesh by name save the paschal lamb, and that | was in ensample for to accomplish | the commandment of the law. And because that all malediction and cursings | should be taken away, | is the church washed with holy water. Fourthly, the A B C is written in the pavement in | Latin and in Greek, and this | signifieth the communion of that one and of that other people. Or it signifieth that | one and that other testament, | or the articles of our faith. For the scripture of the letters, Greek and Latin, that | were made on the table | of the cross, representeth the assemble of the faith made by Jesu Christ on the cross | and therefore is this cross | laid and made transverse from the angle of the orient unto the angle of the | occident, for to signify that | it that was first on the right side was made the left side, and that which was at the | head was made at the end, | and thus to the contrary. And it representeth the scripture of that one and that other | testament which was accomplished | by Jesu Christ on the cross, for he said when he died: All is | accomplished. And the cross is | made transverse because that the one was changed into that other, for all the law | is in a roll. Thirdly, the | crosses be painted in the church, and that is for three causes. The first is to fear | the devils, for when they see | the sign of the cross there, by which they have been put out, they be afeard and | -
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2014-01-13 PM 6:43 | the sign of the cross there, by which they have been put out, they be afeard and | dare not enter, for they | doubt and dread much the sign of the cross. And hereof saith Chrysostom: In what | | | place they see the sign of the | cross they shall flee, for they dread the staff of which they have been hurt. | Thirdly, it representeth the | articles of the faith. For the pavement of the church is the foundament of our faith, | the letters that be within | written be articles of our faith, by the which the rude people and new be introduced, | and they of the one and | other people which ought repute them for ashes and for powder, after this that | Abraham saith in Genesis: | I shall speake to my Lord as I were ashes and powder. Secondly, for to show the sign | of the victory of Jesu Christ, | for these crosses be signs and banners of Jesu Christ and of his victory, and | therefore be there painted | the crosses for to show that the place is divine, subject to God. And also it is of | custom to emperors and to | other princes, that when a town or city is taken or yielded, for to set up within the | banners and the ensigns | of the lords, to signify that it is subject to them. Thirdly, for to represent the apostles it | is used for to set up twelve | lights before the cross, for to represent the twelve apostles, which by the faith of | God crucified they illumined | all the world, and anointed with cream in baptism, for oil signifieth | cleanness of conscience, and | balm signifieth the odour of good life. And it is to know that the church or the | temple was, as it is said, assailed | by three persons, by Jeroboam, by Nebuchadnezzar, and by Antiochus. For | as it is read in the book of Kings: | Jeroboam did do make two calves gilt and did do set that one in Judæa, | and that other in Bethel, | which is said the house of God. And thus did he by covetousness, and therefore it | | | is signified that the covetousness | of clerks maketh much foul the house of God, the which avarice reigneth | much in them, whereof S. Jerome | saith, that from the least unto the greatest they follow all avarice. And S. | Bernard saith the same: | Who wilt thou give me of these provosts that entend not more to empty the purse of his | subjects than to take away | from them their sins? The calves be their nephews and their sons, which they set | in Bethel, the house of God. | And the church is assailed by Jeroboam after this that it is said: The Church is | assailed when it is edified | and builded of the avarice of the usurers and thieves. Whereof is read that an usurer had | founded a church, and then | he prayed the bishop for to dedicate and hallow it. And as the bishop and his clerks made the | office of the dedication he | saw the devil which was in a chair by the altar in the habit of a bishop, and he said to | the bishop, Why hallowest | thou my church? Cease ye, for the right thereof appertaineth to me, because it is | made of usury and of ravin. | And then the bishop and his clerks were sore afraid and fled, and anon the devil | destroyed the church with | great storm and great noise. Nebuzar-adan as is read in the xxv. chapter of the book | of Kings that he burnt | the house of God for he was prince of the cooks, and signifieth them that serve to | gluttony and to luxury, | and make of their belly their god. And after this that the apostle saith, that their belly | | | is their god. And Hugh | of S. Victore showeth how their belly is their god, and saith: Men were wont to make | temples to the gods, and | dress altars, ordain ministers for to serve them, to sacrifice beasts and to burn | incense. But now the belly | and the kitchen is the temple, the table is the altar, the cooks be ministers, the | beasts sacrificed be the flesh | sodden and roasted, the incense is the odour of the savour. The king Antiochus | was the most proud man | and the most covetous, and assailed the church of God, as it is read in the | Maccabees. And by him | be signified pride and covetise, which covet not to profit but to serve themselves, and | they defoul much the church | of God. Of which covetousness and pride S. Bernard saith: They go | worshipfully of the goods | of our Lord, and yet they give him no worship, they go every day as goliards in habit | shining, and royal apparel, | they bear gold on their bridles, on their saddles and on their spurs; their | harness shines more than | the altars. And thus as the house of God was dishonoured by these three, right so | was it dedicated by other three. | And Moses made the first dedication, and Solomon the second, and the third | Judas Maccabeus. By the | which is signified that we ought to have in the dedication of the church the | humility that was in Moses, | the wisdom and discretion that was in Solomon, and the very confession of faith | that was in Judas Maccabeus. | And after it appertaineth to see of the dedication of the temple spiritual, which | temple we be, that is to wit, | the assembly of good christian men. And this temple is made of living stones, | | | as S. Peter saith: Let | us edify whilst the stones be quick, it is said of stones polished; whereof is sung: the jointures been | made of polished stones; | it is made of square stones four cornered, that is to say of spiritual stones that have | four squares, that is to wit, | faith, hope, charity and good works, which be all equal as S. Gregory saith: As | long as thou believest thou | hast hope, and lovest as much as thou believest, and hopest and lovest to work | in them. In this temple | the altar is the heart, and upon this altar three things ought to be offered to God. The first thing | is the fire of love perdurable, | like as the apostle saith, the fire of dilection shall be perdurable and shall never | fail at the altar of the heart. | The second thing is the incense of orison and prayer well smelling, as it is said | in Paralipomenon, Aaron and Phineas, | burnt incense upon the altar of sacrifices, that is to say where were | burnt the things precious | and well smelling. The third thing is sacrifice of righteousness, and this is the | offering of penance in sacrifice | of perfect love, and in calves of mortifying of the flesh, and hereof saith | David: Thou shalt accept | the sacrifice of righteousness, the oblations and holocausts. This temple spiritual that | we be, is of God in the manner | as the temple material. For first the sovereign bishop when he findeth the door | of the heart shut, he goeth | about three times, when he bringeth to our mind the sin of the mouth, of the heart. | and of the work. And of | this treble going about saith he, as to the first I have gone about the city, that is to wit of | the heart. And the second | saith Isaiah: Take thy harp, and as to the third: The common woman is forgotten. | Secondly, he smiteth three | times the door of the heart, which is closed, to the end that it should be opened to | him. And he smiteth by | the stroke of benefice, of counsel and of playing. Of this treble stroke it is said in | the Proverbs: I have stretched | out my hand, etc. As to the evil and as to the benefits given he saith: Thou | despisest all my counsel, | and as to counsel inspired, thou despisest my counsellors, and to the blaming, that | is for the plaies to thee given. | Or this treble going about is done when he moveth us to reasonable knowledge of | sins, and to sorrow for them, | to avenge and blame ourselves for sin. Thirdly, he arroseth or watereth the | temple spiritual three times | with water, and so oft it ought to be watered or besprinkled. And this watering | signifieth three manners of | shedding of tears. For as S. Gregory saith: The thought of an holy man should be | confused in sorrow, in considering | where he was, where he shall be, and where he is. Or he was said in sin; or | he shall be in judgment; | or he is in maleurte; and there is where is no joy. When he sheddeth then his tears of | the heart, considering that | he was in sin, and shall be in judgment for to give a reckoning for sin, then is this | temple watered once of water; | and when he is contrite to weep for his unhappiness and maleurte where he is, | the temple is watered the second | time. And when he weepeth for the joy where he is not, he arroseth or | watereth the temple the third time. | And thou oughtest to know that wine, salt, and ashes be meddled with this | water. For with the other | sacraments we ought to have wine of spiritual gladness, salt of ripe wisdom, and | ashes of deep humility. | Or by wine with water is understood the humility of Jesu Christ, that he had in | taking flesh human. The | wine with water is the word human; and by the salt is understood the holiness of his | life which is savour to all | of his religion. By the ashes is understood his passion. And of these three things we | ought to water our heart, | the which be, the blessing of his incarnation by which we be called to humility, the | ensample of his conversation | by the which we be conformed to holiness, and the mystery of his passion | by the which we be moved | to charity. Fourthly, in this temple of the heart spiritual is written the A B C, or the | scripture spiritual. And | this scripture is treble, that is to wit the evils of things, the witnesses of divine benefits, | and the accusation of his | proper trespasses. And of these three things saith the apostle to the Romans: The | | | people that have law do | naturally the things that be of the law. They that have no law make law to themselves. | They that show the work | of the law written in their heart, that is the first, the witness of their conscience is | the second, and he that thinketh | to accuse himself is the third. Fifthly, the cross ought to be painted in this | church, that is to understand | that it ought to have the sharpnesses of penance. And these sharpnesses ought to | be anointed and have light | of the fire, for they be not only to be suffered in patience, but with good will and | by charity. And hereof saith | S. Bernard: He that is threatened and menaced with the dread of Jesu Christ | he beareth the cross in patience; | he that profiteth in hope beareth it gladly and with good will, but he that is | perfect in charity embraceth | it ardently, and much people see our crosses that see not our anointings. And | he that shall have all these | things in him shall be the temple of God to his honour, and shall be plainly | worthy that God inhabit | and dwell in him by grace, so that he may dwell in God by glory, the which he give us | that liveth and reigneth God | in heaven, world without end. Amen. Here follow the stories of the Bible. | The Life of Adam | The Sunday of Septuagesima beginneth the story of the Bible, in which is read the legend and story of Adam | which followeth. In the beginning | God made and created heaven and earth. The earth was idle and void and covered with | darkness. And the spirit of | God was borne on the waters, and God said: Be made light, and anon light | was made. And God saw | that light was good, and divided the light from darkness, and called the light day | | | and darkness night. | And thus was made light with heaven and earth first, and even and morning was made one day. | The second day he | made the firmament, and divided the waters that were under the firmament from them that were above, | and called the firmament heaven. | The third day were made on the earth herbs and fruits in their kind. The | fourth day God made the sun | and moon and stars, etc. The fifth day he made the fishes in the water and birds | in the air. The sixth | day God made the beasts on the earth, every one in his kind and gender. And God saw | that all these works | were good and said: Faciamus hominem, etc. Make we man unto our similitude and | image. Here spake the | Father to the Son and Holy Ghost, or else as it were the common voice of three | persons, when it was said | make we, and to our, in plural number. Man was made to the image of God in his soul. | Here it is to be noted | that he made not only the soul with the body, but he made both body and soul. As to | the body he made male and | female. God gave to man the lordship and power upon living beasts. When God | had made man it is not | written: Et vidit quod esset bonum, quia in proximo sciebat eum lapsurum. For yet | he was not perfect till | the woman was made, and therefore it is read: It is not good the man to be alone. | Thus in six days was heaven | and earth made and all the ornation of them. And then he made the seventh day on | which he rested, not for | that he was weary, but ceased his operation, and showed the seventh day which he | blessed. Thus be shortly | showed the generations of heaven and earth, for here be determined the works of | the six days and the seventh | day he sanctified and made holy. God had planted in the beginning Paradise a place | of desire and delices. | And man was made in the field of Damascus; he was made of the slime of the earth. | | | Paradise was made the third | day of creation, and was beset with herbs, plants and trees, and is a place of | most mirth and joy. In | the midst whereof be set two trees, that is the tree of life, and that other the tree of | knowing good and evil. | And there is a well, which casteth out water for to water the trees and herbs of | Paradise. This well is the | mother of all waters, which well is divided into four parts. One part is called | Phison. This goeth about Inde. | The second is called Gijon, otherwise Nilus, and that runneth about | Ethiopia, the other two be called | Tigris and Euphrates. Tigris runneth towards Assyria, and Euphrates is called | fruitful, which runneth in | Chaldea. These four floods come and spring out of the same well, and depart, and | yet in some place some | of them meet again. Then God took man from the place of his creation and | brought him into Paradise, | for to work there, not to labour needily, but in delighting and recreating him, | and that he should keep Paradise. | For like as Paradise should refresh him, so should he labour to serve God, | and there God gave him | a commandment. Every commandment standeth in two things, in doing or | forbidding. In doing he commanded | him to eat of all the trees of Paradise, in forbidding he commanded that he | should not eat of the tree | of the knowledge of good and evil. This commandment was given to the man, and by | the man it went to the woman. | For when the woman was made it was commanded to them both, and hereto | he set a pain, saying: | Whatsoever day thou eatest thereof thou shalt die by death. God said: It is not good a man to | | | be alone, make we to him | an helper like to himself for to bring forth children. Adam supposed that some helper to him had been | among the beasts which | had been like to him. Therefore God brought to Adam all living beasts of the earth and | air, in which be understood | them of the water also, which with one commandment all came tofore him. | They were brought for two | causes, one was because man should give to each of them a name, by which they | should know that he should | dominate over them, and the second cause was because Adam should know that | there was none of them | like to him. And he named them in the Hebrew tongue, which was only the language and | none other at the beginning. | And so none being found like unto him, God sent in Adam a lust to sleep, which | was no dream, but as is | supposed in an extasy or in a trance; in which was showed to him the celestial court. | Wherefore when he awoke | he prophesied of the conjunction of Christ to his church, and of the flood | that was to come, and of the | doom and destruction of the world by fire he knew, which afterward he told to | his children. Whiles that | Adam slept, God took one of his ribs, both flesh and bone, and made that a woman, and set her | tofore Adam. Which then | said: This is now a bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; and Adam gave her a | name like as her lord, | and said she should be called virago, which is as much as to say as made of a man, | and is a name taken of a man. | And anon, the name giving, he prophesied, saying: Because she is taken of | the side of a man, therefore | a man shall forsake and leave father and mother and abide and be adherent unto | | | his wife, and they shall be | two in one flesh; and though they be two persons, yet in matrimony and wedlock | they be but one flesh, | and in other things twain. For why, neither of them had power of his own flesh. They | were both naked and were | not ashamed, they felt nothing of the moving of their flesh, ne to refrain them | as we now do, for they | stood both in the state of innocence. Then the serpent which was hotter than any | beast of the earth and naturally | deceivable, for he was full of the devil Lucifer, which was deject and cast out | of heaven, had great | envy to man that was bodily in Paradise, and knew well, if he might make him to | trespass and break God's | commandments, that he should be cast out also. Yet he was afeard to be taken or | espied of the man, he | went to the woman, not so prudent and more prone to slide and bow. And in the | form of the serpent, | for then the serpent was erect as a man. Bede saith that he chose a serpent having a | maiden's cheer, for like | oft apply to like, and spake by the tongue of the serpent to Eve, and said: Why | commanded you God that | ye should not eat of all the trees of Paradise? This he said to find occasion to say | that he was come for. | Then the woman answered and said: Ne forte moriamur, lest haply we die, which she | said doubting, for lightly | she was flexible to every part. Whereunto anon he answered: Nay in no wise ye shall | die, but God would not | that ye should be like him in science, and knowing that when ye eat of this tree ye | shall be as gods knowing | good and evil, he as envious forbade you. And anon the woman, elate in pride and | | | willing to be like to God, | accorded thereto and believed him. The woman saw that the tree was fair to look on, | and clean and sweet | of savour, took and ate thereof, and gave unto Adam of the same; happily desiring him by | fair words. But Adam anon | agreed, for when he saw the woman not dead he supposed that God had said that | they should die to fear | them with, and then ate of the fruit forbidden. And anon their sight was opened that | they saw their nakedness, | and then anon they understood that they had trespassed, for anon their | flesh began to move and | stir to concupiscence. For before that they had eaten of the forbidden fruit, the | movings were repressed and | closed as in young children. And then, after they had sinned, they were | opened like springs of water | and began to move, and then they were expert and knew them. And like as they | were inobedient to their superior, | right so their members began to move against their superior, which is | reason, and they felt their | first moving in their privy members, and thereof they were ashamed. And thus they | knew that they were naked, | and they took fig leaves and sewed them together for to cover their members in | manner of breeches. And anon | after, they heard the voice of our Lord God walking, and anon they hied | them. Our Lord called the | man and said: Adam, where art thou? Calling him in blaming him and not as | knowing where he was, but | as who said: Adam, see in what misery thou art. Which answered: I have hid me, | Lord, for I am naked. | Our Lord said: Who told thee that thou wert naked, but that thou hast eaten of the tree for | bidden? He then not meekly | confessing his trespass, but laid the fault on his wife, and on him as giver of the | woman to him, and said: | The woman that thou gavest to me as a fellow, gave to me of the tree, and I ate thereof. | And then our Lord said | to the woman: Why didst thou so? Neither she accused herself, but laid the sin on the | serpent, and privily she laid | the fault on the maker of him. The serpent was not demanded, for he did it not of | himself, but the devil by him. | And our Lord, cursing them, began at the serpent, keeping an order and | congruous number of curses. | The serpent was the first and sinned most, for he sinned in three things. The | woman next and sinned lese | than he, but more than the man, for she sinned in two things. The man sinned last | and least, for he sinned | but in one. The serpent had envy, he lied, and deceived, for these three he had three | curses. Because he had envy | at the excellence of man, it was said to him: Thou shalt go and creep on thy breast; | because he lied he is punished | in his mouth, when it was said: Thou shalt eat earth all the days of thy life. | Also he took away his voice | and put venom in his mouth. And because he deceived, it was said: I shall put | enmity between thee and | woman, and thy seed and her seed. She shall break thy head, etc. In two things the | woman sinned, in pride and | eating the fruit. Because she sinned in pride, he meeked her, saying: Thou shalt | | | be under the power of man, | and he shall have lordship over thee, and he shall put thee to affliction. Now is she | subject to a man by condition | and dread, which before was but subject by love; and because she sinned in the | fruit, she is punished in her | fruit, when it was said to her: Thou shalt bring forth children in sorrow; in the | pain of sorrow standeth | the curse, but in bringing forth of children is a blessing. And so, in punishing, God | forgat not to have mercy, | which is to be noted, etc. And because Adam sinned but only in eating of the fruit, | therefore he was punished | in seeking his meat, as it is said to him: Accursed be the earth in thy work, that is | to say for thy work of thy sin, | for which is made that the earth that brought forth good and wholesome fruits | plenteously, from henceforth | shall bring forth but seldom, and also none without man's labour, and also | sometime weeds, briars, and | thorns shall grow. And he added: Thereto shalt thou eat herbs of the earth, as who | saith thou shalt be like | a beast or jument. He cursed the earth because the trespass was of the fruit of the earth | and not of the water. He | added thereto to him of labour: In the sweat of thy cheer thou shalt eat thy bread unto | the time thou return again | into the earth; that is to say till thou die, for thou art earth, and into earth thou shalt | go again. Then Adam, | wailing and sorrowing the misery that was to come of his posterity, named his wife Eve, | which is to say, mother | of all living folk. Then God made to Adam and Eve two leathern coats of the skins of dead | beasts, to the end that they | bare with them the sign of mortality, and said: Lo, Adam is made as one of us, | knowing good and evil, | now lest he put his hand and take of the tree of life and live ever, as who saith: | beware and cast him out, | lest he take and eat of the tree of life. And so he was cast out of Paradise, and set in | | | the field of Damascus | where as he was made and taken from, for to work and labour there. And our Lord set | Cherubim to keep Paradise | of delight with a burning sword and pliant, to the end that none should enter | there ne come to the tree of life. | After then that Adam was cast out of Paradise and set in the world, he knew his wife and engendered | Cain, the fifteenth year | after he was made, and his sister Calmana. They came out of Paradise virgins, as | Methodius saith, and when | Adam was made, he was made a perfect man as a man of thirty years of age when | he was but one day old, | and he might well have gotten many children tofore Cain, but after another fifteen | years was Abel born, | and his sister Delbora. When Adam was an hundred and thirty years of age, | Cain slew Abel his brother. | Truth it is, after many days Cain and Abel offered sacrifice and gifts unto God. It is | to be believed that Adam | taught his sons to offer to God their tithes and first fruits. Cain offered fruits, for he | was a ploughman and tiller | of earth, and Abel offered milk and the first of the lambs, Moses saith, of the | fattest of the flock. And | God beheld the gifts of Abel, for he and his sacrifices were acceptable to our Lord; | and as to Cain his sacrifices, | God beheld them not, for they were not to him acceptable, he offered withies and | thorns. And as some doctors | say, fire came from heaven and lighted the sacrifice of Abel, and the gifts of Cain | pleased not our Lord, for the | sacrifice would not belight nor burn clear in the light of God. Whereof | Cain had great envy unto | his brother Abel, which arose against him and slew him. And our Lord said to him: | | | Where is Abel thy brother? | He answered and said: I wot never, am I keeper of my brother? Then our Lord said: | What hast thou done? The | voice of the blood of thy brother crieth to thee from the earth, wherefore thou art | cursed, and accursed be | the earth that received the blood of thy brother by his mouth of thy hands. When | thou shalt work and labour | the earth it shall bring forth no fruit, but thou shalt be fugitive, vagabond, and void | on the earth. This Cain | deserved well to be cursed, knowing the pain of the first trespass of Adam, yet he | added thereto murder and | slaughter of his brother. Then Cain, dreading that beasts should devour him, or if he | went forth he should be | slain of the men, or if he dwelt with them, they would slay him for his sin, damned | himself, and in despair said: | My wickedness is more than I can deserve to have forgiveness, whoso find me | shall slay me. This he said | of dread, or else wishing, as who said, would God he would slay me. Then our Lord | said: Nay not so, thou | shalt die, but not soon, for whosoever slayeth Cain shall be punished seven sithes | more, for he should deliver | him from dread, from labour and misery, and added that he should be punished | personally sevenfold more. | This punition shall endure to him in pain unto the seventh, Lameth, whosomever | shall slay seventh Cain | shall loose seven vengeances. Some hold that his pain endured unto the seventh | generation, for he committed | seven sins. He departed not truly, he had envy to his brother, he wrought | guilefully, he slew his | brother falsely, he denied it, he despaired and damned, he did no penance. And after he | | | went into the east, | fugitive and vagabond. Cain knew his wife which bare Enoch, and he made a city and | named it Enoch after the | name of his son Enoch. Here it showeth well that this time were many men, though | their generation be not said, | whom Cain called to his city, by whose help he made it, whom he induced to | theft and robbery. He | was the first that walled or made cities; dreading them that he hurted, for surety he brought his | people into the towns. | Then Enoch gat Irad, and Irad Mehujael, and he gat Methusael, and he gat Lameth, which was | the seventh from Adam and | worst, for he brought in first bigamy, and by him was committed first adultery, | against the law of God | and of nature, and against the decree of God. This Lameth took two wives, Adah and | Zilla; of Adah he gat Jabal | which found first the craft to make folds for shepherds and to change their pasture, | and ordained flocks | of sheep, and departed the sheep from the goats after the quality, the lambs by | themselves, and the older | by themselves, and understood the feeding of them after the season of the | year. The name of his | brother was Jubal, father of singers in the harp and organs, not of the instruments, | for they were found long | after, but he was the finder of music, that is to say of consonants of accord, such as | shepherds use in their | delights and sports. And forasmuch as he heard Adam prophesy of two | judgments by the fire | and water, that all things should be destroyed thereby, and that his craft new found | should not perish, he | did do write it in two pillars or columns, one of marble, another of clay of the earth, to | | | the end that one should | endure against the water, and that other against the fire. Josephus saith that the pillar | of marble is yet in the land | of Syria. Of Zilla he begat Tubal-cain, which found first the craft of smithery and | working of iron, and made | things for war, and sculptures and gravings in metal to the pleasure of the | eyes, which he so working, | Tubal, tofore said, had delight in the sound of his hammers, of which he made | the consonants and tunes of | accord in his song. Noema, sister of Tubal-cain, found first the craft of diverse | texture. Lameth was a shooter, | and used to shoot at wild beasts, for none use of the meat of them, but only for to have | the skins for their clothing, | and lived so long that he was blind and had a child to lead him. And on a time by | adventure he slew Cain. | For Cain was alway afeard and hid him among bushes and briars, and the child that led | Lameth had supposed it had | been some wild beast and directed Lameth to shoot thereat, and so, weening to | shoot at a beast, slew Cain. | And when he knew that he had slain Cain, he with his bow slew the child, and thus | he slew them both to his damnation; | therefore as the sin of Cain was punished seven sithes, so was the sin of | Lameth seventy sithes and | seven. That is to say seventyseven souls that came of Lameth were perished | in the deluge and Noah's | flood; also his wife did him much sorrow, and evil-entreated him. And he being | wroth said that he suffered | that for his double homicide and manslaughter, yet nevertheless he feared him by | pain, saying: Why will ye slay | of me? he shall be more and sorer punished that slayeth me, than he that slew | Cain. After that Abel | was slain, Strabus saith that Adam avowed no more to have to do with his wife, but by an | angel he brake the vow, | because a son should be born to God. Yet nevertheless Josephus said that when Abel | was slain and Cain fled | away, Adam thought of procreation of children, and so when he was one | hundred and thirty years | old he engendered Seth like to his similitude, and he to the image of God. This Seth | was a good man, and he gat | Enos, and Enos Cainan, and Cainan begot Malaleel, and Malaleel Jared, and | Jared Enoch, and Enoch | Methuselah, and Methuselah Lamech, and Lamech Noah. And like as in the | generation of Cain the seventh | was the worst, so in the generation of Seth the seventh was the best, that was |
| Enoch whom God took and brought him into Paradise, unto the time that he shall come with | Elias for to convert the | hearts of the fathers into the sons. And Adam lived after he had begotten Seth eight hundred | years, and engendered sons | and daughters. Some hold opinion thirty sons and thirty daughters, and some fifty | of that one and fifty of | that other. We find no certainty of them in the Bible. But all the days of Adam living| | | here in earth amount | to the sum of nine hundred and thirty years. And in the end of his life when he should | die, it is said, but of none | authority, that he sent Seth his son into Paradise for to fetch the oil of mercy, | where he received certain | grains of the fruit of the tree of mercy by an angel. And when he came again he | found his father Adam | yet alive and told him what he had done. And then Adam laughed first and then died. | And then he laid the grains | or kernels under his father's tongue and buried him in the vale of Hebron; and out of | his mouth grew three trees | of the three grains, of which trees the cross that our Lord suffered his passion on | was made, by virtue of which | he gat very mercy, and was brought out of darkness into very light of heaven. | To the which he bring | us that liveth and reigneth God, world without end. Here beginneth the History of Noah. | The first Sunday in Sexagesima. | After that Adam was dead, died Eve and was buried by him. At the beginning, in the first age, the | people lived long. Adam | lived nine hundred and thirty years, and Methuselah lived nine hundred and sixty-nine years. S. | Jerome saith that he died | the same year that the flood was. Then Noah was the tenth from Adam in the | generation of Seth, in whom | the first age was ended. The seventy interpreters say that this first age dured two | thousand two hundred and | forty-four years. S. Jerome saith not fully two thousand, and Methodius full two thousand, etc. | Noah then was a man perfect | and righteous and kept God's commandment. And when he was five hundred | years old, he gat Shem, | Ham, and Japhet. This time men began to multiply on the earth, and the children of God, | | | that is to say of Seth, | as religious, saw the daughters of men, that is to say of Cain, and were overcome by | concupiscence and took them | to their wives. This time was so much sin on the earth in the sin of lechery, | which was misused against | nature, wherefore God was displeased and determined in his prescience to destroy | man that he had made, | and said: I shall put man away that I have made, and my spirit shall not abide in man | for ever, for he is flesh. | As who said, I shall not punish man perpetually as I do the devil, for man is frail, and | yet ere I shall destroy | him I shall give him space and time of repentance and to amend him, if he wild. The | time of repentance shall | be one hundred and twenty years. Then Noah, righteous and perfect, walked with | God, that is in his laws, | and the earth was corrupt by sin and filled. When God saw the earth to be corrupt, and | that every man was corrupt | by sin upon the earth, he said to Noah: The end of all people is come tofore me except them | that shall be saved, and |the earth is replenished with their wickedness. I shall destroy them with the earth, id | est, with the fertility | of the earth. Make to thee an ark of tree, hewn, polished, and squared. And make there | divers places, and lime it | with clay and pitch within and without, that is to wit with glue which is so fervent, that | the timber may not be loosed. | And thou shalt make it three hundred cubits of length, fifty in breadth, and | thirty of height. And | make therein divers distinctions of places and chambers and of wardrobes. And the ark had | a door for to enter in | and come out, and a window was made thereon which that the Hebrews say was of | | | crystal. This ark was on | making, from the beginning that God commanded first to make it, one hundred and | twenty years. In which time Noah | oft desired the people to leave their sin, and how he had spoken with God, | and that he was commanded | to make the ship, for God should destroy them for their sin, but if they left it. And | they mocked him and said | that he raved and was a fool, and gave no faith to his saying and continued in their | sin and wickedness. Then, | when the ark was perfectly made, God bade him to take into it of all the beasts of | the earth, and also of the | fowls of the air, of each two, male and female, that they may live. And also of all the | meats of the earth that be | comestible, that they may serve and feed thee and them. And Noah did all that our | Lord commanded him. Then | said our Lord to Noah: Enter thou and all thy household into the ark, that is to | say thou and thy wife and | thy three sons and their three wives. I have seen that thou art rightful in this | generation. Of all beasts | that be clean thou shalt take seven, and of unclean beasts but only two. And of the | birds seven and seven, male | and female, that they may be saved on the face of the earth. Yet after seven days I | shall rain upon the earth |forty days and forty nights, and shall destroy all the substance that I made on the | earth. And Noah did | all things that our Lord commanded him. He was six hundred years old when | the flood began on the earth. | And then Noah entered in and his sons, his wife, and the wives of his sons, all | into the ark to eschew the | waters of the flood. Of all the beasts and the fowls, and of all that moved and had life | | | on earth, male and female, | Noah took in to him as our Lord had bidden. And seven days after they were | entered, the water began | to increase. The wells of the abysms were broken, and the cataracts of heaven were | opened, that is to say the | clouds, and it rained on the earth forty days and forty nights. And the ark was | elevate and borne upon | the waters on height above the mountains and hills, for the water was grown higher | the waters on height above the mountains and hills, for the water was grown higher | mountains, that it should purge and wash the filth of the air. Then was consumed | all that was on the earth | living, man, woman, and beast and birds. And all that ever bare life, so that nothing | abode upon the earth, | for the water was fifteen cubits above the highest mountain of the earth. And when | Noah was entered he shut | the door fast without forth, and limed it with glue. And so the waters abode elevate | in height an hundred and | fifty days from the day that Noah entered in. And our Lord then remembered Noah | and all them that were | in the ark with him, and also on the beasts and fowls, and ceased the waters. And the | wells and cataracts were | closed, and the rains were prohibited, and forbidden to rain no more. The seventh | month, the twenty-seventh | day of the month, the ark rested on the hills of Armenia. The tenth month, of the | first day of the month, | the tops of the hills appeared first. After these forty days after the lessing of the | waters, Noah opened the | window and desired sore to have tidings of ceasing of the flood. And sent out a | raven for to have tidings, | and when he was gone he returned no more again, for peradventure she found | some dead carrion of a beast | swimming on the water, and lighted thereon to feed her and was left there. After | this he sent out a dove | which flew out, and when she could find no place to rest ne set her foot on, she | returned unto Noah and | he took her in. Yet then were not the tops of the hills bare. And seven days after he | sent her out again, | which at even returned, bearing a branch of an olive tree, burgeoning, in her mouth. And | after other seven days | he sent her again, which came no more again. Then in the year of Noah six hundred and | one, the first day of the | month, Noah opened the covering of the ark and saw that the earth was dry, but | he durst not go out, | but abode the commandment of our Lord. The second month, the twenty-seventh day of the | month, our Lord said | to Noah: Go out of the ark, thou and thy wife, thy sons and the wives of thy sons. He | commanded them to go | conjointly out which disjointly entered, and let go out with them all the beasts and | fowls living, and all the | reptiles, every each after his kind and gender, to whom our Lord said: Grow ye and | multiply upon the earth. | Then Noah issued out and his wife, and his sons with their wives, and all the beasts, | the same day a year after | they entered in, every one after his gender. Noah then edified an altar to our Lord and | took of all the beasts | that were clean and offered sacrifice unto our Lord; and our Lord smelled the | sweetness of the sacrifice | and said to Noah: From henceforth I shall not curse the earth for man, for he is | prone and ready to fall | from the beginning of his youth. I shall no more destroy man by such vengeance. And | then our Lord blessed them | and said: Grow ye and multiply the earth and be ye lords of all the beasts of | the earth, of the fowls | of the air, and of the fishes. I have given all things to you, but eat no flesh with the | blood. I command you to | slay no man, nor to shed no man's blood. I have made man after mine image. | Whosomever sheddeth his brother's | blood, his blood shall be shed. Go ye forth and grow and multiply and | fill the earth. This said |our Lord to Noah and his sons: Lo! I have made a covenant with you and with them that | shall come after you, that | I shall no more bring such a flood to slay all people, and in token thereof I have set | -
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2014-01-14 PM 3:01 > | I shall no more bring such a flood to slay all people, and in token thereof I have set | my rainbow in the clouds | of heaven: for who that trespasseth I shall do justice otherwise on him. Noah | lived after the flood three | hundred and fifty years. From the time of Adam until after Noah's flood, the time and | | | season was alway green and | tempered; and all that time men ate no flesh, for the herbs and fruits were then of | great strength and effect, | they were pure and nourishing. But after the flood the earth was weaker | and brought not forth so | good fruit, wherefore flesh was ordained to be eaten. And then Noah began to | labour for his livelihood | with his sons, and began to till the earth, to destroy briars and thorns and to plant | vines. And so on a time | Noah had drunk so much of the wine that he was drunk, and lay and slept, and his privy | member lay bare and open. | Ham, his middlest son espied it, and laughed and scorned his father, and called | his brethren to see, which | came backward for to cover their father, and would not look on it, and rebuked Ham | of his folly and sin. | And when Noah was covered with the mantle, anon he awoke, and when he understood | how Ham his son had scorned | him, he cursed him and also his son Canaan, and blessed Shem and Japhet | because they covered him. | All the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years and then he died. And after his death his sons | dealed all the world between | them, Shem had all Asia, Ham Africa, and Japhet all Europe. Thus was it departed. | Asia is the best part | and is as much as the other two, and that is in the east. Africa is the south part, and | therein is Carthage and | many rich countries, therein be blue and black men. Ham had that to his part of Africa. | The third part is Europe | which is in the north and west, therein is Greece, Rome and Germany. In Europe | | | reigneth now most the christian | law and faith, wherein is many a rich realm. And so was the world departed to | the three sons of Noah. | Here followeth the Life of Abraham. The Sunday called Quinquagesima is read in the church | the history of the holy patriarch | Abraham which was the son of Terah. This Terah was the tenth from Noah in the | generation of Shem. Japhet had | seven sons and Ham four sons. Out of the generation of Ham Nimrod came, | which was a wicked man | and cursed in his works, and began to make the tower of Babel which was great and | high. And at the making of | this tower, God changed the languages, in such wise that no man understood other. | For tofore the building of | that tower was but one manner speech in all the world, and there were made | seventy-two speeches. The | tower was great, it was ten miles about and five thousand and eighty-four steps of | height. This Nimrod was | the first man that found mawmetry and idolatry, which endured long and yet | doth. Then I turn again | to Terah which had three sons, which was Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Of Nahor came | Us, Bus, and Batuel. | Of Us came Job, of Bus came Balaam, and of Batuel Rebekah and Laban. Of Haran | came Lot and two daughters, | Melcha and Sara. Now I shall speak of Abram of whom our blessed lady | came. He wedded Sara, | daughter of his brother Haran. Abram was ever faithful and true, he was sixty-five | years old when his father | died, for whom he mourned till our Lord comforted him, which said to Abram: | Abram, make thee ready | and go out of thy land and kindred, and also from the house of thy father, and | come into the land that I | shall show to thee. I shall make thee grow into much people; I shall bless thee and | magnify thy name, and thou |shalt be blessed, and I shall bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse | | | thee, and in thee shall |be blessed all the kindreds of the earth. Abram was seventy years old when he | departed from the land | of Haran, and he took with him Sara his wife, and Lot the son of his brother, and their meiny, and his | cattle and his substance, | and came into the land of Canaan, and came into the vale of Sichem, in which | were ill people which were | the people of Canaan. And our Lord said to Abram: I shall give to thee this land | and to thine heirs. | Then Abram did raise an altar on which he did sacrifice, and blessed and thanked our | Lord. Abram beheld all | the land toward the south, and saw the beauty thereof, and found it like as our Lord | told him. But he had not | been long in the land but that there fell great hunger therein, wherefore he left that | country and went into | Egypt and took with him Sara his wife. And as they went by the way Abram said to his | wife: I fear and dread | sore that when we come to this people, which be lawless, that they shall take thee for | thy beauty and slay me, | because they would use thee. Wherefore say thou art my sister, and I thy brother, and | she agreed thereto. And | when they were come in to that country the people saw that she was so fair, and anon | they told the king, which | anon commanded that she should be brought into his presence. And when she was | come, God of his good | grace so purveyed for her, that no man had power to use any lechery with her ne to do | her villainy. Wherefore the | king was feared that God would have taken vengeance on him for her, and sent | for Abram and said to | him that he should take his wife, and that he had evil done to say, that she was his sister, | | | and so delivered her again, | and gave him gold and silver, and bade that men should worship him in all his | land, and he should freely | at his pleasure depart with all his goods. Then after this Abram took his wife Sara | and went home again, | and came unto Bethel, and set there an altar of stone, and there he adored and | worshipped the name of God. | His store and beasts began to multiply, and Lot with his meiny was also | there. And their beasts began | so sore to increase and multiply, that unnethe the country might suffice to their | pasture, in so much that | rumour and grudging began to sourde and arise between the herdmen of Abram and the | herdmen of Lot. Then Abram | said to Lot: Lo! this country is great and wide, I pray thee to choose on | which hand thou wilt go, | and take it for thy meiny and thy beasts. And let no strife be between me and thee, ne | between my herdmen ne thy | herdmen. Lo! behold all the country is tofore thee, take which thou wilt; if thou | go on the right side, | I shall go on the left side, and if thou take the left, I will go on the right side. Then Lot | beheld the country and saw | a fair plain toward flom Jordan, which was pleasant, and the flood ran toward | Sodom and Gomorrah, which | was like a paradise, and took that part for him. And Abram took towards the | west, which was beside | the people of Canaan at the foot of mount Mamre. And Lot dwelled in Sodom. The | people of Sodom were worst | of all people. Our Lord said to Abram: Lift up thine eyes and see | directly from the place | that thou art now in, from the north to the south, and from the east to the west. All | | | this land that thou seest | I shall give thee, and to thy seed for evermore. I shall make thy seed as powder or | dust of the earth, who | that may number the dust of the earth shall number thy seed. Arise therefore and walk | the land in length and | in breadth, for I shall give it to thee. Abram moved then his tabernacle and dwelled in | the valley of Mamre, which | is in Hebron and set there his tabernacle. It happened soon after that there was a | war in that land, that four | kings warred again other five kings, which were of Sodom, Gomorrah and other. And | the four kings overthrew | the five and slew them, and spoiled and took all the substance of the country and | took also with them | Lot and all his goods. And a man gat away from them and came to Abram, and told him | how that Lot was taken and | led away. And then anon Abram did do gather his people together, the number of | three hundred and eighteen. | And followed after, and departed his people in two parties because they should | not escape. And Abram | smote in among them, and slew the kings, and rescued Lot and all his goods, and | delivered the men of Sodom | that were taken and the women. And they of Sodom came against him, and | Melchisedech came and met | with him, and offered to him bread and wine. This Melchisedech was king and | priest of Jerusalem and | all the country, and blessed Abram. And there Abram gave to him the tythes of all | he had. And the king of | Sodom would that Abram should have had such prey as he took, but he would not | have as much as the latchet | of a shoe, and thus gat Abram much love of all the people. After this our Lord | | | appeared to Abram in a | vision and said: Abram, dread thee nothing, I am thy protector, and thy reward and | meed shall be great. Abram | answered: Lord God, what wilt thou give me? Thou wottest well I have no | children, and sith I have | none I will well that Eleazar the son of my bailiff be my heir. Nay, said our Lord, he | shall not be thine heir, but | he that shall issue and come of thy seed shall be thine heir. Our Lord led him out | and bade him behold the | heaven, and number the stars if thou mayst, and said to him, so shall thy offspringing | and seed be. And Abram | believed it and gave faith to our Lord's words, and it was reputed to him to justice. | And our Lord said to him, | I am the Lord that led thee out of the land of Ur of the Chaldees for to give to thee | this land into thy possession. | And Abram said: Lord, how shall I know that I shall possess it? A voice said to | Abram: Thy seed shall be | exiled into Egypt by the space of four hundred years, and shall be there in | servitude, and after, I shall | bring them hither again in the fourth generation. Thou shalt abide here unto thy | good age, and shalt be | buried here, and go with thy fathers in peace. Sara was yet without child, and she | had a handmaid named Hagar, | an Egyptian, and she on a day said to Abram her husband: Thou seest I may bear | no child, wherefore I would | thou took Hagar my maid, and lie by her that thou might get a child which I might | keep and hold for mine. | And ten year after that Abram had dwelled in that land, he took Hagar and get her | with child, and anon as | she felt herself with child she despised her mistress Then Sara said to Abram: Thou | | | dost evil. I gave thee licence | to lie with my servant, and now sith she is conceived by thee, she hath me in | despite, God judge this between | thee and me. To whom Abram answered: Thine handmaid is in thine hands, | chastise her as it pleaseth | thee. After this Sara chastised Hagar and put her to so great affliction that she went | away; and as she went | an angel met with her in the wilderness by a well, and said: Hagar, whence comest | and whither goest thou? She | answered: I flee away from the face of my lady Sara. To whom the angel said, | return again and submit thee | by humbleness unto thy lady, and I shall multiply thy seed, and so much people | shall come of it that it | cannot be numbered for multitude. And he said furthermore: Thou hast | conceived and shalt bear | a child and shalt call him Ishmael. He shall be a fierce man, he shall be against all | men, and all men against | him. Then Hagar returned home and served her lady, and soon after this she was | delivered of Ishmael. Abram | was eighty-six years old when Ishmael was born. When Abram was ninety-nine years, | our Lord appeared to him | and said: Abram, lo! I am the Lord Almighty, walk thou before me and be perfect, and I shall | keep covenant between me | and thee and shall multiply thy seed greatly. And Abram fell down lowting low to the | earth and thanked him. | Then our Lord said I am, and my covenant I shall keep to thee, thou shalt be father of | | | much people. Thou shalt | no more be called Abram, but Abraham, for I have ordained thee father of much | people. I shall make thee to | increase most abundantly; kings and princes shall come of thee, and shall stablish | my covenant between me | and thee, and thy seed in thy generations. I shall give to thee and to thy seed after | thee the land of thy pilgrimage, | all the land of Canaan, into their possession and I shall be their God. Yet said | God to Abraham: And thou | shalt keep thy covenant to me, and thine heirs after thee in their generations, and | this shall be the covenant | that ye shall keep and thine heirs after thee. Every man-child and male shall be | circumcised in his privy member, | that it be a token between me and you. Every child masculine that shall | be born shall be circumcised | when he is eight days old, and I will that this sign shall be in your flesh. And see | that the men in your | generation be circumcised, begin at thyself and thy children. And all that dwell in thy | kindred, who of you that | shall not be circumcised in his flesh shall be cast and put out for ever from my people, | because he obeyeth not my | statute and ordinance. And thy wife Sara shall be called no more Sara but she shall | be called Sarah, and I | shall bless her, and shall give to thee a son of her, whom I shall bless also. I shall him | increase into nations, | and kings of peoples shall come of him. Abraham fell down on his face toward the earth | and laughed in his heart, | saying: May it be that a woman of ninety years may conceive and bear a child? I | beseech thee, Lord, that Ishmael | may live before thee. Our Lord said to Abraham, Sarah shall bring forth a son | | | whom thou shalt name Isaac, | and I shall keep my covenant to him for evermore, and to his heirs after him. | And I have heard they request | for Ishmael also. I shall bless him and increase, and shall multiply his seed into | much people, twelve dukes | shall come of him. I shall keep my covenant to Isaac, whom Sarah shall bring | forth the next year. When | these words were finished Abraham took Ishmael his son and all the men, small | and great, strangers and | other that were in his house, and circumcised them. Ishmael was thirteen years old | when he was circumcised, | and Abraham was ninety-nine years when he himself was circumcised. And thus | that same day he and his | son Ishmael and all the men in his house, as well as strangers, of what degree they | were, received this new | law of circumcision, whereby they were known from other people. After this on a | time, as Abraham sat beside | his house in the vale of Mamre in the heat of the day, and as he lift up his eyes, | he saw three young men | coming to him, and anon as he saw these three standing by him he ran to them and | worshipped one alone; he | saw three and worshipped but one. That betokeneth the Trinity, and prayed them | to be harboured with him, | and took water and washed their feet: and prayed them to tarry under the tree, and | he would bring bread to | them for to comfort them. And they bade him do as he had said, he went and bade | Sarah to make three ashy | cakes and sent his child for a tender fat calf, which was sodden and boiled. And he | served them with butter and | milk, and the calf, and set it tofore them. He stood by them, and when they had | eaten they demanded him: | Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said: Yonder in the tabernacle. And he said, I | shall go and come again, | and Sarah thy wife shall have a child. And she stood behind the door and heard it and | laughed, and said softly | to herself: How may it be that my lord is so old and I also that I should bear Abraham | a child? She thought it | impossible. Then said our Lord to Abraham: Why laugheth Sarah thy wife, saying in | scorn, Shall I bear a child? | but as I said to thee before, I shall return and come again, and she shall have a child | in that time. And he asked | Sarah why she smiled in scorn, and she said she smiled ne laughed not, and our | Lord said, It is not so, for | thou laughedst. When they had rested Abraham conveyed them on the way. And our | Lord said to Abraham: I | have not hid from thee what I purpose to do. The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is | multiplied and their sin | is much grievous. I shall descend and see if the sin be so great, the stench | thereof cometh to heaven, I | shall take vengeance and destroy them. Then Abraham said: I hope, Lord, thou | wilt not destroy the just | and righteous man with the wicked sinner. I beseech thee, Lord, to spare them. Our | Lord said: If there be fifty | good and righteous men among them, I shall spare them. And Abraham said: | Good Lord, if there be found forty, | I pray thee to spare them. Our Lord said: If there be forty, I shall spare | them, and so from forty to | thirty and from thirty to twenty and from twenty to ten, and our Lord said: If | there be found ten good men | among them, I shall not destroy them. And then our Lord went from Abraham, | and he returned home again. | That same eventide came two angels into Sodom, and Lot sat at his gate, and | when he saw them he went | and worshipped them and prayed them to come and rest in his house, and abide | there and wash their feet. | And they said: Nay, we shall abide here in the street, and Lot constrained them and | brought them into his | house and made a feast to them. But ere they should go to bed, the sinful and cursed | people of the town, young | and old, beset and environed Lot's house, and called Lot, and said: Where be the men | that thou tookest into thy | house this night? Bring them forth that we may know and use them. And Lot anon | shut the door, and | stood behind and said to them: O ye my brethren, I beseech you that ye will not do ne | commit this wicked sin | on them. I have two daughters, virgins, which yet never knew man. I shall bring them | | | out to you, and use ye | them, but these men I pray you to spare, they be entered under the shadow of my | protection. They said again | to him: Go forth and fetch them; thou art entered among us as a stranger, shalt | thou rule and judge us? | We shall put thee to more affliction than them. Lot withstood them mightily; they | had almost broken up the doors, | but the men set hand to, and did help Lot, and brought him in and did shut | fast the door: and smote | them that were without with blindness that they might not see, ne find the door. | Then said the angels to Lot: | If thou have here of thy kindred, sons or daughters, all them that long to thee, | lead out of this city, we | shall destroy this place, for the cry thereof is come to our Lord, which hath sent us for | to destroy them. Lot went | unto his kinsmen and said: Arise and take your children, and go out of this city, for | our Lord shall destroy it. | And they supposed that he had raved or japed. And as soon as it was day the angels | said to Lot: Arise, and | take thy wife and thy two daughters, and go out of this town lest ye perish with | them. Yet he dissimuling, | they took him by the hand and his wife and two daughters, because that God | should spare them, and | led them out of the city. And there they said to him: Save thy soul and look not | behind thee lest thou perish | also, but save thee in the mountain. Lot said to them: I beseech thee, my Lord, | forasmuch as thy servant hath | found grace before thee, and that thou hast showed thy mercy to me, and that | peradventure I might take | harm on the hill, that I may go into the little city hereby and may be saved there. He | | | said to Lot: I have heard | thy prayers, and for thy sake I shall not subvert this town for which thou hast prayed, | hie thee and save thyself | there, for I may do nothing till thou be therein. Therefore that town is called Zoar. So | Lot went in to Zoar; and | the sun arose, and our Lord rained from heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah sulphur | and fire, and subverted the | cities and all the dwellers of the towns about that region, and all that was there | growing and burgeoning. Lot's | wife turned her and looked towards the cities, and anon she was turned into | a statue or image of salt, | which abideth so unto this day. Abraham arose in the morning early, and looked | towards the cities, and | saw the smoke ascending from the places, like as it had been the light of a furnace. | What time our Lord subverted | these cities he remembered Abraham, and delivered Lot from the | vengeance of the cities | in which he dwelled. Then Lot ascended from Zoar and dwelled in the mountain, and | his two daughters with him. | He dreaded to abide any longer in the town, but dwelled in a cave, he and his | two daughters with him. | Then the elder daughter said to the younger: Our father is old, and there is no man left on the earth living | that may do have ado | with us after the manner of the world, come and let us make him drunk and let us sleep with | him, that we may have some | seed of him. They gave their father wine to drink that night and made him | drunk. And the elder daughter | went to him, and conceived of him, he not knowing of it. And the second | night in like wise conceived | the younger daughter, and Lot was not knowing thereof. They conceived both of | their father. The more had | a son and called him Moab; he is father of the Moabites unto this day. The younger | brought forth another son | and called him Ammon; he is father of the Ammonites unto this day. | | | Abraham departed from thence | and went southward and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and went a | pilgrimage to Gerar. He said | that his wife was his sister. Abimelech the king of Gerar sent for her and took her. | God came to Abimelech | in his sleep and said: Thou shalt be dead for the woman that thou hast taken, she | hath an husband. Abimelech | touched her not and said: Lord, wilt thou slay a man ignorant and rightful? She | said that she was his sister, | in the simpleness of my heart and cleanness of my hands I did this. And God | said to him: I know well that | with a simple heart thou didst it, and therefore I have kept thee from having to | do with her, now yield the | woman to her husband, and he shall pray for thee, he is a prophet and thou shalt | live. And if thou deliver | her not, thou shalt die, and all they that be in thy house. Abimelech arose up the same | night and called all his servants, | and told them all these words. All they dreaded sore. Also Abimelech called | Abraham and said to him: | What hast thou done to us, that we have trespassed to thee? Thou hast caused me | and my realm to sin greatly. | Thou hast done that thou shouldst not have done. What sawest thou for to do so? | Abraham said: I thought | that the dread of God was not in this place, and that ye would slay me for my wife; | and certainly otherwise she | is also my sister, the daughter of my father but not of my mother, and I have | wedded her. And after that | I went from the house of my father, I said to her: Wheresomever we go say thou art | my sister. Then Abimelech | took sheep and oxen and servants and maidens, and gave to Abraham, and | | | delivered to him Sarah his wife, | and said: Lo! the land is here tofore thee, wheresoever thou wilt, dwell and | abide. And he said to Sarah: | Lo ! I have given to thy brother a thousand pieces of silver, this shall be to thee | a veil of shine eyes, | and wheresomever thou go, remember that thou wert taken. Abraham prayed for | Abimelech and his meiny | and God healed him, his wife and all his servants, and they conceived. Our Lord had | closed the place of engendering | of all the house of Abimelech for Sarah the wife of Abraham. Our Lord | then visited Sarah, and | she conceived and brought forth a son in her old age, than same time that God had | promised. Abraham called his | son that she had borne, Isaac, and when he was eight days old he circumcised | him as God had commanded, | and Abraham was then an hundred years old. Then said Sarah: Who would have | supposed that I should give | suck to my child, being so old? I laughed when I heard our Lord say so, and all | they that shall hear of it | may well laugh. The child grew and was weaned from the pap, and Abraham made a | great feast at the day of his | weaning. After this, on a day when Sarah saw the son of Hagar her handmaid | play with her son Isaac, | she said to Abraham: Cast out this handmaid with her son, the son of the handmaid | shall not be heir with my | son Isaac. Abraham took this word hard and grievously for his son. Then said God to | him: Let it not be hard | to thee for thy son and handmaid, whatsomever Sarah say to thee hear her | voice, for in Isaac shall thy | seed be called. Yet shall I make the son of the handmaid grow into great people, | | | for he is of thy seed. | Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water, and laid | it on her shoulder, and gave | to her the child and let her go, which, when she was departed, erred in the | wilderness of Beersheba. And | when the water was consumed that was in the bottle, she left the child under | a tree that was there | and went thence as far as a bow shot and sat her down, and said: I shall not see my son | die, and there she wept. | Our Lord heard the voice of the child, and an anger called Hagar saying, What doest | thou, Hagar? Be not afeard, | our Lord hath heard the voice of the child from the place which he is now in. | Arise and take the child | and hold him by the hand, for I shall make him to increase into much people. God | opened her eyes and she | saw a pit of water, and anon she went and filled the bottle, and gave the child to | drink, and abode with him, | which grew and dwelled in the wilderness, and became there a young man and an | archer, and dwelled also | in the desert of Paran. And his mother took to him a wife of the land of Egypt. | That same time said Abimelech, | and Phicol the prince of his host, unto Abraham: Our Lord is with thee in all | things that thou doest. | Swear thou by the Lord that thou grieve not me, ne them that shall come after me, ne | my kindred, but after the | mercy that I have showed to thee, so do to me and to my land in which thou hast | dwelled as a stranger. And | Abraham said, I shall swear. And he blamed Abimelech for the pit of water which his | servants had taken away | by strength. Abimelech answered: I know not who hath done this thing, and | thou toldest me not thereof, | and I never heard thereof till this day. And then after this they made covenant | together, and promised each | to other to be friends together. After all these things God tempted Abraham, | | | and said to him: Abraham, | Abraham. He answered and said: I am here, and he said to him: Take thou thine only son that | thou lovest, Isaac, and go | into the land of Vision and offer him in sacrifice to me upon one of the hills that I | shall show to thee. Then | Abraham arose in the night, and made ready his ass, and took with him two young | men and Isaac his son. | And when they had hewn and gathered the wood together to make sacrifice, they went | to the place that God commanded | him. The third day after, he lift up his eyes and saw from afar the place, | and he said to his children: | Abide ye here with the ass, I and my son shall go to yonder place, and when we have | worshipped there we shall | return to you. Then he took the wood of the sacrifice and laid it on his son Isaac, | | | and he bare in his hands | fire and the sword. And as they went both together, Isaac said to his father: Father | mine. What wilt thou, my son? | said Abraham, and he said: Lo! here is fire and wood, where is the sacrifice | that shall be offered? | Abraham answered: My son, God shall provide for him a sacrifice well enough. They | went forth and came | to the place that God had ordained, and there made an altar, and laid the wood | thereon, and took Isaac | and set him on the wood on the altar, and took his sword and would have offered him | up to God. And lo! the angel | of God cried to him from heaven saying: Abraham, Abraham, which answered: I | am here, and he said to him. | Extend not thy hand upon thy child, and do nothing to him, now I know that thou | dreadest God, and hast | not spared thine only son for me. Abraham looked behind him, and saw among the | | | briars a ram fast by the horns, | which he took, and offered him in sacrifice for his son. He called that | place: The Lord seeth. | The angel called Abraham the second time saying: I have sworn by myself, saith the | Lord, because thou hast | done this thing, and hast not spared thine only son for me, I shall bless thee and | shall multiply thy seed | as the stars of heaven, and like the gravel that is on the seaside, thy seed shall possess | the gates of their enemies, | and in thy seed shall be blessed all the people of the earth, for thou obeyedst to | me. Abraham then returned | to his servants, and went into Beersheba and dwelled there. Sarah lived an | hundred and twenty-seven | years and died in the city of Arba, which is Hebron in the land of Canaan; for whom | Abraham made sorrow and | wept, and bought of the children of Heth a field, and buried her worshipfully in | a double spelunke. | Abraham was an old man, and God blessed him in all his things. He said to the eldest and upperest | servant in all his house: | I charge and conjure thee by the name of God of heaven and of earth that thou suffer not my son | Isaac to take no wife of | the daughters of Canaan amongst whom I dwell, but go into the country where | my kindred is, and take | of them a wife to my son. And the servant answered: If no woman there will come with | me into this country, shall | I bring thy son into that country from whence thou camest? Abraham said: | Beware that thou lead not | my son thither. The Lord of heaven and of earth, that took me from the house of my | father and from the place | of my nativity, hath said and sworn to me, saying: To thy seed I shall give this land. | | | He shall send his angel tofore | thee, and thou shalt take there a wife for my son. If no woman will come with | thee thou shalt not be bounden | by thine oath, but in no wise lead my son thither. His servant then swore and | promised to him that he | would so do. He took ten camels of the flock of his lord, and of all his goods bare | | | with him, and went in to | Mesopotamia unto the town of Nahor. And he made the camels to tarry without the | town by a pit side at such | time as the women be wont to come out for to draw water. And there he prayed our | Lord, saying: Lord God |of my lord Abraham, I beseech thee to help me this day, and do mercy unto my lord | Abraham. Lo! I stand here | nigh by the well of water, and the daughters of the dwellers of this town come | hither for to draw water, | therefore the maid to whom I say: Set down thy pot that I may drink, and then she set | down her pot and say: | I will give to thee drink, and to the camels, that I may understand thereby that she be | the maid that thou hast |ordained to thy servant Isaac, and thou showest thy mercy to my lord Abraham. He | had not fully finished these | words with himself, but that Rebekah, daughter of Bethuel, son of Milcah wife | of Nahor, brother of Abraham, | came out of the town, having a pot on her shoulder, which was a right fair | maid, and much beauteous | and unknown to the man. She went down to the well and filled her pot with water | and returned. The servant | of Abraham ran to her and said: I pray thee to give me a little of the water in thy | pot for to drink. Which | said: Drink, my lord, and lightly took t that man, she said: Yea, I shall go with | him. Then they let her go, | and her nurse with her, and so she departed, and they said to her: Thou art our | sister, we pray God that | thou mayst increase into a thousand thousand, and that thy seed may possess the | gates of their enemies. | Then Rebekah and her maidens ascended upon the camels, and followed the servant of | Abraham which hastily returned | unto his lord. That same time, when they were come, Isaac walked by | the way without forth | and looked up and saw the camels coming from far. Rebekah espied him and | demanded of the servant | who that he was that came in the field against them. He answered and said: That is | my lord Isaac, and anon | she took her pall or mantle and covered her. The servant anon told unto his lord Isaac | all that he had done; | which received her and led her into the tabernacle of Sarah his mother and wedded her, | and took her in to his wife, | and so much loved her, that the love attempered the sorrow that he had for his | mother. Abraham after this | wedded another wife, by whom he had divers children. Abraham gave to Isaac all | his possessions, and to | his other children he gave movable goods, and departed the sons of his | concubines from his son | Isaac whilst he yet lived. And all the days of the life of Abraham were one hundred | and seventy-five years, | and then died in good mind and age, and Isaac and Ishmael buried him by his wife Sarah | in a double spelunke. | Here beginneth the life of Isaac, with the history of Esau and of Jacob, which is read in the Church the | | | Second Sunday of Lent. | Isaac was forty years old when he wedded Rebekah and she bare him no children. Wherefore he | besought our Lord that she | might conceive and bring forth fruit. Our Lord heard his prayer that she conceived of him and | had twain sons at once, | which two, ere they were born, fought oft in their mother's belly. For which cause she | prayed God to counsel her | and to give her comfort, which appeared and said to her: Two manner people be | in thy belly, and two | manner folk shall be divided from thy womb, people shall overcome people, and the more | shall serve the less. | Thus said our Lord to her. After this, when time came that she should be delivered, there | were twain to be born. | The first that issued was rough from the head to the foot, and he was named Esau. And | forthwith followed that | other holding the plant of his brother's foot in his hand, and he was named Jacob. | Isaac the father was sixty | years old when these children were born. And after this, when they were grown to | reasonable age, Esau became | a ploughman, and a tiller of the earth, and an hunter. And Jacob was simple and | dwelled at home with his | mother. Isaac the father loved well Esau, because he ate oft of the venison that Esau | took, and Rebekah the | mother loved Jacob. Jacob on a time had made a good pottage, and Esau his | brother had been an | hunting all day and came home sore an hungred, and found Jacob having good pottage, | and prayed him to give him | some, for he was weary and much hungry. To whom Jacob said: If thou wilt sell to | me thy patrimony and heritage | I shall give thee some pottage. And Esau answered, Lo! I die for hunger, what | shall avail me mine inheritance | if I die, and what shall profit me my patrimony? I am content that thou take it | | | for this pottage. Jacob | then said: Swear that to me thou shalt never claim it, and that thou art content I shall | enjoy it, and Esau sware | it, and so sold away his patrimony, and took the pottage and ate it, and went his | way, setting nothing thereby | that he had sold his patrimony. This aforesaid is to bring in my matter of the | history that is read, for | now followeth the legend as it is read in the church. Isaac began to wax old and his eyes | failed and dimmed that | he might not clearly see. And on a time he called Esau his oldest son and said to him: Son mine, which | answered: Father, I am | here ready, to whom the father said: Behold that I wax old and know not the day that I| shall die and depart | out of this world, wherefore take shine harness, thy bow and quiver with tackles, and go | forth an hunting, and | when thou hast taken any venison, make to me thereof such manner meat as thou | knowest that I am wont | to eat, and bring it to me that I may eat it, and that my soul may bless thee ere I die. | Which all these words | Rebekah heard. And Esau went forth for to accomplish the commandment of his father, | and she said then to Jacob: | I have heard thy father say to Esau, thy brother: Bring to me of thy venison, and | make thereof meat that I | may eat, and that I may bless thee tofore our Lord ere I die. Now my son, take heed | to my counsel, and | go forth to the flock, and bring to me two the best kids that thou canst find, and I shall | make of them meat such | as thy father shall gladly eat, which when thou hast brought to him and hast eaten he | may bless thee ere he | die. To whom Jacob answered: knowest thou not that my brother is rough and hairy | and I am smooth? If | my father take me to him and taste me and feel, I dread me that he shall think that I mock | | | him, and shall give me | his curse for the blessing. The mother then said to him: In me, said she, be this curse, | my son, nevertheless hear | me; go to the flock and do that I have said to thee. He went and fetched the kids | and delivered them to his | mother, and she went and ordained them into such meat as she knew well that his | | | father loved, and took | the best clothes that Esau had, and did them on Jacob. And the skins of the kids she | did about his neck and | hands there as he was bare, and delivered to him bread and the pulment that she had | boiled. And he went to his | father and said: Father mine, and he answered: I am here; who art thou, my son? | Jacob said: I am Esau, | thy first begotten son, I have done as thou commandedst me, arise, sit and eat of the | venison of my hunting that | thy soul may bless me. Then said Isaac again to his son: How mightest thou, said he, | so soon find and take it, | my son? To whom he answered: It was the will of God that such thing as I | desired came soon to my | hand. Isaac said to him: Come hither to me, my son, that I may touch and handle thee, | that I may prove whether | thou be my son Esau or not. He came to his father, and when he had felt him, Isaac | said: The voice truly is | the voice of Jacob, but the hands be the hands of Esau. And he knew him not, for | his hands expressed the | likeness and similitude of the more brother. Therefore blessing him, he said to him: | Thou art then my son Esau? | He answered and said: I am he. Then said Isaac: Bring to me the meat of thine | hunting, my son, that my | soul may bless thee; which he offered and gave to his father, and also wine. And when | he had eaten and drunken | a good draught of the wine, he said to Jacob: Come hither to me, my son, and kiss | me; and he went to him | and kissed him. Anon as he felt the sweet savour and smell of his clothes, blessing him | he said: Lo! the sweet | odour of my son is as the odour of a field full of flowers, whom our Lord bless. God | | | give to thee of the dew | of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, abundance of wheat, wine, and oil, and the | people serve thee, and the tribes | worship thee. Be thou lord of thy brethren, and the sons of thy mother shall | bow down and kneel to | thee. Whosomever curseth thee, be he accursed, and who that blesseth thee, with | blessings be he fulfilled. | Unnethe Isaac had fulfilled these words and Jacob gone out, when that Esau came with his meat | that he had gotten with hunting, | entered in, and offered to his father saying: Arise, father mine, and eat of the venison | that thy son hath ordained | for thee, that thy soul may bless me. Isaac said to him: Who art thou? To whom he | answered, I am thy first begotten | son Esau. Isaac then was greatly abashed and astonied, and marvelled more | than can be thought credible. | And then he was in a trance, as the master of histories saith, in which he had | knowledge that God would | that Jacob should have the blessing. And said to Esau: Who then was he that right | now a little tofore thy | coming brought to me venison? And I have eaten of all that he brought to me ere thou | -
Mike Says:
2014-01-14 PM 3:23 | coming brought to me venison? And I have eaten of all that he brought to me ere thou | camest. I have blessed him, | and he shall be blessed. When Esau heard these words of his father, he cried | with a great cry, and was | sore astonied and said: Father, I pray thee bless me also. To whom he said: Thy brother | germain is come fraudulently, |and hath received thy blessing. Then said Esau: Certainly and justly may his | name be called well Jacob, | for on another time tofore this he supplanted me of my patrimony, and now | secondly he hath undernome | from me my blessing. And yet then he said to his father: Hast thou not reserved to | | | me one blessing? Isaac | answered: I have ordained him to be thy lord, I have subdued all his brethren to his | servitude. I have stablished | him in wheat, wine and oil. And after this what shall I do to thee, my son? To whom | Esau said: Hast thou | not, father, yet one blessing? I beseech thee to bless me. Then with a great sighing and | weeping Isaac moved said | to him: In the fatness of the earth and in the dew of heaven shall be thy blessing, | thou shalt live in thy | sword, and shalt serve thy brother. Then was Esau woe-begone, and hated Jacob for | supplanting him of his | blessing that his father had blessed him with, and said in his heart: The days of | sorrow shall come to my | father, for I shall slay my brother Jacob. This was told to Rebekah, which anon | sent for Jacob her son, | and said to him: Lo! Esau thy brother threateneth to slay thee, therefore now my son | hear my voice and do as I | shall counsel. Make thee ready and go to my brother in Aran, and dwell there | with him unto the time | that his anger and fury be overpast, and his indignation ceased, and that he forget | such things that thou | hast done to him, and then after that I shall send for thee, and bring thee hither again. | And Rebekah went to Isaac | her husband and said: I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth, if | Jacob take to him a wife | of that kindred, I will no longer live. Isaac then called Jacob and blessed him and | commanded to him saying: | I charge thee in no wise to take a wife of the kindred of Canaan, but go and walk | into Mesopotamia of Syria, | unto the house of Bethuel, father of thy mother, and take to thee there a wife of the | | | daughters of Laban thine | uncle. God Almighty bless thee, and make thee grow and multiply, that thou mayst | be increased into tourbes | of people, and give to thee the blessings of Abraham, and to thy seed after thee, that | thou mayst possess and own | the land of thy pilgrimage which he granted to thy grandsire. When Isaac had thus | | | said, and given him leave | to go, he departed anon, and went into Mesopotamia of Syria to Laban, son of | Bethuel, brother of Rebekah | his mother. Esau seeing that his father had blessed Jacob and sent him into | Mesopotamia of Syria to | wed a wife there, and that after his blessing commanded to him saying: Take thou | no wife of the daughters | of Canaan; and he obeying his father went into Syria, proving thereby that his father | saw not gladly the daughters | of Canaan, he went to Ishmael and took him a wife beside them that he had | taken tofore, that was | Melech, daughter of Ishmael, son of Abraham. Then Jacob departed from Beersheba and | went forth on his | journey toward Aran. When he came to a certain place after going down of the sun and would rest | there all night, he | took of the stones that were there and laid under his head and slept in the same place. And there | he saw in his sleep a ladder | standing on the earth, and the upper end thereof touched heaven, and angels of | God ascending and descending | upon it, and our Lord in the midst of the ladder saying to him: I am the Lord | God of Abraham thy father, | and of Isaac; the land on which thou sleepest I shall give to thee and to thy seed, | and thy seed shall be | as dust of the earth; thou shalt spread abroad unto the east and unto the west, and | north and south, and all | the tribes of the earth shall be blessed in thee and in thy seed. And I shall be thy | keeper wheresoever thou | shalt go, and shall bring thee again into this land, and I shall not leave till I have | accomplished all that I have | said. When Jacob was awaked from his sleep and dreaming, he said: Verily | | | God is in this place, and | I wist not of it. And he said dreadingly: How terrible is this place, none other thing | is here but the house of God | and the gate of heaven. Then Jacob arose early and took the stone that lay | under his head, and raised | it for witness, pouring oil thereon, and called the name of the place Bethel which | tofore was called Luza. | And there he made a vow to our Lord, saying: If God be with me and keep me in the way | that I walk, and give me | bread to eat, and clothes to cover me, and I may return prosperously into the house | of my father, the Lord | shall be my God, and this stone that I have raised in witness, this shall be called the | house of God. And the | good of all things that thou givest to me, I shall offer to thee the tithes and tenth | part. Then Jacob went | forth into the east, and saw a pit in a field and three flocks of sheep Iying by it, for of | that pit were the beasts | watered. And the mouth thereof was shut and closed with a great stone, for the custom | was when all the sheep | were gathered, they rolled away the stone, and when they had drunken they laid the | stone again at the pit mouth. | And then he said to the shepherds: Brethren, whence are ye? Which answered: | Of Aran. Then he asking | them said: Know ye not Laban, son of Nahor? They said: We know him well. | How fareth he, said he, | is he all whole? He fareth well, said they; and lo! Rachel his daughter cometh there | with her flock. Then said | Jacob: It is yet far to even, it is yet time that the flocks be led to drink, and after be | driven to pasture, which answered: | We may not so do till all the beasts be gathered, and then we remove the | | | stone from the mouth | of the pit and water our beasts. And as they talked, Rachel came with the flock of her | father, for she kept that | time the beasts. And when Jacob saw her and knew that she was his eme's | daughter, and that they were | his eme's sheep, he removed the stone from the pit's mouth, and when her | sheep had drunken, he kissed | her, and weeping he told her that he was brother to her father and son of | Rebekah. Then she hied | her and told it to her father, which when he understood that Jacob, his sister's son | was come, he ran against | him and, embracing, kissed him, and led him into his house. And when he had | heard the cause of his | journey he said: Thou art my mouth and my flesh. And when he had been there | the space of a month, he demanded | Jacob if he would gladly serve him because he was his cousin, and what hire and reward he would | have. He had two daughters, | the more was named Leah, and the less was called Rachel, but Leah was blear-eyed, | and Rachel was fair of visage | and well-favoured, whom Jacob loved, and said: I shall serve thee for | Rachel thy younger daughter | seven years. Laban answered: It is better that I give her to thee than to a | strange man; dwell and | abide with me, and thou shalt have her. And so Jacob served him for Rachel seven | years, and him thought | it but a little while, because of the great love that he had to her. And at the end of seven | years, Jacob said to Laban: | Give to me my wife, for the time is come that I should have her. Then Laban called | all his friends and made | a feast for the wedding, and at night he brought in Leah, the more daughter, and | | | delivered to her an handmaid | named Zilpah. Then Jacob, weening that it had been Rachel, went to her as | the manner is, and when | the morning came and he saw that it was Leah, he said to Laban her father: What hast | thou done? Have I not | served thee for Rachel, why hast thou brought Leah to me? Laban answered: It is not the | | | usage ne custom of our country | to give the younger first to be wedded, but fulfil and make an end of this | complement and marriage this | week, and then shall I give to thee Rachel my daughter for other seven years | that thou shalt serve to me. | Jacob agreed gladly, and when that week was passed, he wedded Rachel to his | wife. To whom Laban her | father gave an handmaid named Bilhah. Nevertheless when the wedding of the | younger was finished, because | of the great love that he had to her, him thought that the other seven years were | but short. Our Lord saw | that he despised Leah. He let Leah conceive, and Rachel her sister abode barren, | which then Leah bare | a son and named him Reuben, saying: Our Lord God hath beholden mine humility and | meekness, now shall mine | husband love me. She conceived yet and bare another son, and said: Because | our Lord saw me despised | he hath given to me this son, and she called him Simeon. She conceived the third, | and brought forth another son, | and said: Now shall my husband be coupled to me, because I have born to him | three sons, and she called | his name Levi. She conceived the fourth son and was delivered of him, and said: Now | I shall knowledge me to | our Lord, and therefore she named him Judah, and then she ceased of bearing of children. | Rachel, seeing herself | barren, had envy to her sister and said to Jacob her husband: Make me with child or else I | shall die. To whom Jacob | was wroth, and answered: What! weenest thou that I were God and hath prived | from thee the fruit of thy | belly? Then she said, I have my servant Bilhah, go unto her, and let her conceive of | thee on my knees, that I | may have of her some sons. She gave Bilhah unto her husband to know her, which | when Jacob had known, | she conceived and bare a son. Then said Rachel: Our Lord hath heard my petition | giving to me a son, and | she named him Dan. After that Bilhah conceived again and bare another son, for whom | Rachel said: Our Lord hath | compared me to my sister and I have availed, and she named him Naphtali. Then | Leah feeling that she conceived | no more, she gave Zilpah her handmaid to her husband, which conceived | and bare a son whom Leah | named Gad. After Zilpah conceived and bare another son, for whom Leah said: | This is for my blessedness, | and certainly all generations shall say that I am blessed; therefore she called him Asher. | | | It happed that Reuben | went out in harvest time into the field, and took there a mandrake which he brought and | gave to his mother. Then | Rachel said to her sister Leah: Give me some part of the mandrake of thy son. Leah | answered: Is it not enough | to take from me my husband, but that also thou wilt have part of the mandrake of my | son? Then said Rachel: | He shall sleep with thee this night for the mandrake of thy son. At even, when Jacob | came home from the field, | Leah went against him and said to him: Thou shalt this night sleep with me, for I | have bought thee for | the meed of the mandrake of my son. He slept with her that night, and our Lord heard | her prayers. She conceived | and brought forth the fifth son, and she said: God hath rewarded me because I gave | my handmaid to my husband. | She called his name Issachar. Yet Leah conceived and bare the sixth son and | said: God hath endowed | me with a good dower, yet shall my husband abide with me because I have borne | to him six sons, and she | called his name Zebulon. After this she conceived and bare a daughter named Dinah. | Then our Lord remembered | Rachel and heard her and opened the place of conception, which conceived and | bare a son, saying: The Lord | hath taken away mine opprobrium and shame, and named his name Joseph, | saying: I pray God to send | me another. When Joseph was born, Jacob said to Laban his wives' father: Give | me leave to depart that I | may go in to my country and my land; give to me my wives and children for whom I | have served thee that I may | go hence. Thou knowest what service I have served thee. Laban said to him: I | | | have founden grace in thy sight; | I know it by experience that God hath blessed me for thee; I have ordained the | reward that I shall give | to thee. Then Jacob answered: Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how much | thy possession was in my | hands. Th colours. And when he said the contrary they brought forth all white. God | hath taken the substance | of your father and hath given it to me. And now God hath commanded me to depart, | wherefore make you ready | and let us depart hence. Then answered Rachel and Leah: Shall we have nothing | else of our father's faculty | and of the heritage of his house? Shall he repute us as strangers, and he hath | eaten and sold our goods? | Sith God hath taken the goods of our father and hath given it to us and to our | children, wherefore all that | God commanded to thee, do it. Jacob arose and set his children and his wives upon | his camels, and went his | way and took all his substance, and flocks, and all that he had gotten in | Mesopotamia and went toward | his father Isaac into the land of Canaan. That time was Laban gone to shear his | sheep, and Rachel stole | away the idols of her father. Jacob would not let Laban know of his departing, and | when he was departed with | all that longed to him of right, he came to the mount of Gilead. It was told to | Laban, the third day after, | that Jacob was fled and gone, who anon took his brethren and pursued him by the | space of seven days and | overtook him in the mount of Gilead. He saw our Lord in his sleep saying to him: | Beware that thou speak | not angrily ne hard words to Jacob. That time Jacob had set his tabernacle in the hill, | | | and when he came thither | with his brethren, he said to Jacob: Why hast thou done thus to me to take away my | daughters as prisoners taken | by sword? Why fleddest thou from me and wouldst not let me have knowledge | thereof? Thou hast not | suffered me to kiss my sons and daughters, thou hast done follily. Now may I do thee | | | harm and evil, but the God | of thy father said to me yesterday: Beware that thou speak no hard words | against Jacob. Thou desirest | to go to the house of thy father, why hast thou them, and returned into his | country. Jacob went forth | in his journey that he had taken. Angels of God met him, which when he saw, he | said: These be the castles | of God, and called that place Mahanaim. He sent messengers tofore him to Esau his | brother in the land of Seir, | in the land of Edom, and bade them say thus to Esau: This saith thy brother | Jacob: I have dwelled with | Laban unto this day, I have oxen and asses, servants both men and women. I send | now a legation unto my | lord that I may find grace in his sight. These messengers returned to Jacob and said: We | came to Esau thy brother, | and lo! he cometh for to meet thee with four hundred men. Jacob was sore afraid then, | and divided his company into | twain turmes, saying: If Esau come to that one and destroy that, that other shall | yet be saved. Then said | Jacob: O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, O Lord that | saidst to me, return into | thy land and place of thy nativity, and saidst I shall do well to thee, I am the least | in all thy mercies, and in | thy truth that thou hast granted to thy servant, with my staff I have gone this | river of Jordan, and now I | return with two turmes. I beseech the Lord keep me from the hands of my brother | Esau, for I fear him greatly | lest he come and smite down the mother with the sons. Thou hast said that | thou shouldest do well to | me and shouldest spread my seed like unto the gravel of the sea, and that it may not | | | be numbered for multitude. | Then when he had slept that night, he ordained gifts for to send to his brother, goats | two hundred, kids twenty, | sheep two hundred, and rams twenty; forty kine and twenty bulls, twenty asses and | ten foals of them. And | he sent by his servants all these beasts; and bade them say that Jacob his servant sent to | him this present and that | he followeth after. And Jacob thought to please him with gifts. | The night following, | him thought a man wrestled with him all that night till the morning, and when he saw he | might not overcome him, | he hurted the sinew of his thigh that he halted thereof, and said to him: Let me go | and leave me, for it is | in the morning. Then Jacob answered: I shall not leave thee but if thou bless me. He | said to him: What is thy name? | he answered: Jacob. Then he said: Nay, said he, thy name shall no more be | called Jacob, but Israel, | for if thou hast been strong against God, how much more shalt thou prevail against | men? Then Jacob said | to him: What is thy name? tell me. He answered, Why demandest thou my name, | which is marvellous? And | he blessed him in the same place. Jacob called the name of that same place Penuel, | saying: I have seen our | Lord face to face, and my soul is made safe. And anon as he was past Penuel the sun | arose. He halted on his foot, | and therefore the children of Israel eat no sinews because it dried in the thigh of | Jacob. Then Jacob lifting | up his eyes saw Esau coming and four hundred men with him, and divided the sons | of Leah and of Rachel, | and of both their handmaidens, and set each handmaid and their children tofore in the | | | first place, Leah and her |sons in the second, and Rachel and Joseph all behind. And he going tofore kneeled | down to ground and, | worshipping his brother, approached him. Esau ran for to meet with his brother, | and embraced him, straining | his neck, and weeping kissed him, and he looked forth and saw the women | and their children, and said: | What been these and to whom longen they? Jacob answered: They be children | which God hath given to | me thy servant and his handmaidens, and their children approached and | kneeled down, and Leah | with her children also worshipped him, and last of all Joseph and Rachel | worshipped him. Then said | Esau: Whose been these turmes which I have met? Jacob answered: I have sent | them to thee, my lord, | unto the end that I may stand in thy grace. Esau said: I have many myself, keep these | and let them be thine. | Nay, said Jacob, I pray thee to take this gift which God hath sent me that I may find | grace in thy sight, for | meseemeth I see thy visage like the visage of God; and therefore be thou to me merciful, | and take this blessing of me. | Unnethe by compelling he taking it, said: Let us go together, I shall accompany | thee and be fellow of thy journey. | Then said Jacob: Thou knowest well, my lord, that I have young children | and tender, and sheep and | oxen, which, if I overlaboured, should die all in a day, wherefore please | it you, my lord, to go tofore, | and I shall follow as I may with my children and beasts. Esau answered: I pray thee | then let my fellows abide | and accompany thee, whatsoever need thou have. Jacob said: It is no need, I | need no more but one, | that I may stand in thy favour, my lord. And Esau returned then the same way and |
|journey that he came into Seir. And Jacob came to Succoth and builded there an house, and from | thence he went in to Shalem, | the town of Shechem which is in the land of Canaan, and bought there a part of a field,| in which he fixed his tabernacles, |of the sons of Hamor father of Shechem for an hundred lambs. And there he | raised an altar, and worshipped | upon it the strongest God of Israel. It happed that Dinah, daughter of Leah,| | | went out for to see the women |of that region, which when Shechem, son of Hamor, prince of that land saw, anon loved and | ravished and slept with |her, oppressing her by strength, and was assotted on her in such wise as he went to his | father Hamor and said: |Give me this damsel in marriage that she may be my wife. Which when Jacob knew, and | heard how his daughter was |ravished, his sons then being absent in occupation of feeding of their beasts in | the field, he held it | secret till they returned. Then Hamor went to speak of this matter to Jacob, and that| time his sons came from | the field and heard what was happened and done, and were passing wroth and angry| because he had so defouled | their sister. Then said Hamor to them: Shechem my son loveth your daughter,| give her to him in marriage, |and let us ally each with other, let our daughters be given to you, and yours to | us, and dwell ye with us. | All the country is in your power, exercise and occupy it, buy and sell and take ye| it. Then said Shechem | to his father and brethren: Whatsoever ye ordain I will do, and what ye demand,| gifts or dower, I shall |gladly give it, so I may have this damsel unto my wife. Then answered the sons of Jacob | to Shechem and his father |in guile, dissimuling as they had not known the ravishment of their sister: We may | not do that ye desire, ne |give our sister to a man uncircumcised. it is a thing unlawful and great sin to u | Lord appeared again to | Jacob after that he was returned from Mesopotamia of Syria, and was come into Bethel, | and blessed him saying: | Thou shalt no more be called Jacob but Israel shall be thy name, and called him | | | Israel, and said to him: | I am God Almighty, grow and multiply, folks and peoples of nations shall come of | thee, kings shall come | of thy loins. The land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac I shall give to thee and thy seed; | and vanished from him. |He then raised a stone for a remembrance in the place where God spake to him, and | anointed it with oil, calling |the name of the place Bethel. He went thence and came in veer time unto the | land that goeth to Ephrath, |in which place Rachel travailed and began for cause of childing to die. The | midwife said to her, |Be not afeard, for thou shalt have a son. And the death drawing near, she named him | Benoni, which is as | much to say as the son of my sorrow. The father called him Benjamin, that is to say| the son of the right hand. | There Rachel died and was buried in the way toward Ephrath, that is Bethlehem.| Jacob raised a title upon |her tomb; this is the title of the monument of Rachel unto this present day. Jacob went | thence and came to Isaac |his father into Mamre the city of Arbah, that is Hebron, in which dwelled Abraham | and Isaac. And all the days |of Isaac were complete, which were an hundred and fourscore years, and he | consumed and died in good | mind, and Esau and Jacob his sons buried him. Thus endeth the history of Isaac| and his two sons Esau and Jacob. | Here beginneth the history of Joseph and his brethren, which is read the third Sunday in Lent.| Joseph when he was sixteen |years old began to keep and feed the flock with his brethren, he being yet a | | | child, and was accompanied | with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, wives of his father. Joseph complained on| his brethren, and accused |them to their father of the most evil sin. Israel loved Joseph above all his sons for | as much as he had gotte |son a long time. All his sons gathered them together for to comfort their father and | assuage his sorrow, but |he would take no comfort, but said: I shall descend to my son into hell for to bewail | him there. And thus, |he abiding in sorrow, the Midianites carried Joseph into Egypt, and sold him to | Potiphar, eunuch of Pharaoh, |master of his knights. Thus was Joseph led into Egypt, and Potiphar, prince of | the host of Pharaoh, an |Egyptian, bought him of the hands of Ishmaelites. Our Lord God was always with | Joseph, and he was wise, | ready, and prosperous in all manner of things. He dwelled in his lord's house and | pleased so well his lord, | that he stood in his grace that he made him upperest and above all other, and betook | him the rule and governance |of all his house, which well and wisely governed the household and all that he | had charge of. Our Lord |blessed the house of Egypt for Joseph's sake, and multiplied as well in beasts as in | fields all his substance. |Joseph was fair of visage and well favoured. After many days the lady, his master's | wife, beheld and cast her |eyes on Joseph, and said to Joseph: Come and sleep with me, which anon refused that, and would not | attend ne listen to her | words, ne would not consent to so sinful a work, and said to her: Lo! hath not my lord| delivered to me all that |he hath in his house? and he knoweth not what he hath, and there is nothing therein | | | but that it is in my power |and at my commandment except thee, which art his wife. How may I do this evil | and sin to my lord? Such | manner, or semblable words, he said daily to her, and the woman was the more| desirous and grievous to |the young man, and he always forsook and refused the sin. It happed on a day that | Joseph entered into the |chamber about certain needs that he had to do, and she caught him by his mantle, | and held it fast, and said |to him: Come and lie with me, who anon would not agree to her, but fled forth out of | the doors, and left his | mantle behind him in her hand. And when the lady saw that she was refused, and his| mantle in her hand, she cried |and called the men of the house and said to them: Lo! this Hebrew is come to my | chamber and would have |enforced and have lain by me, and when I cried, he fled out of the chamber and left for | haste his mantle that I held, |behind him, and into witness of truth she showed to her husband the mantle | when he came home, | and said: Thy servant the Hebrew, whom thou hast brought into this house, is entered into | my chamber for to have lain | by me, and when I cried, he left his mantle that I held, and fled away. When the lord| heard this, anon he gave | faith and believed his wife, and being sore wroth, set Joseph in prison where the| prisoners of the king were kept |and he was there fast set in. Our Lord God was with Joseph, and had mercy on | him, and made him in the |favour and grace of the chief keeper of the prison, in so much that he delivered to | Joseph the keeping of all |the prisoners, and what he did was done, and the chief jailor was pleased with all. Our | Lord was with him and directed all his works. |After this it fell so that two officers of the king's trespassed unto their lord, wherefore he was wroth with | them and commanded them |to the prison whereas Joseph was. That one of them was the butler, and that | other the baker; and the keeper | betook them to Joseph to keep, and he served them. After a while that they had| been in prison they both |saw on one night a dream of which they were astonied and abashed, and when | Joseph was come in to |serve them, and saw them heavy, he demanded them why they were heavier than they | were wont to be, which |answered: We have dreamed and there is none to interpret it to us. Joseph said to | them: Suppose ye that |God may not give me grace to interpret it? Tell to me what ye saw in your sleep. Then | the butler told first and |said: Methought I saw a vine had three branches, and after they had flowered the | grapes were ripe, and |then I took the cup of Pharaoh in my hand, and took the grapes and wrang out of them | wine into the cup that |I held, and presented it to Pharaoh to drink. Joseph answered: The three branches | be yet three days, after | which Pharaoh shall remember thy service and shall restore thee into thy foremost| office and gree, for to |serve him as thou wert wont to do. Then I pray thee to remember me when thou art at | thine above, and be to me | so merciful to sue unto Pharaoh that he take me out of this prison, for I was| stolen out of the land of | Hebrews and am innocently set here in prison. Then the master baker saw that he had| wisely interpreted the |butler's dream; he said: Methought that I had three baskets of meat upon my | head, and in that one basket |that was highest methought I bare all the meat of the bakehouse and birds came and | ate of it. Joseph answered: |This is the interpretation of the dream; the three baskets be three days yet to come, | after which Pharaoh shall | smite off thy head and shall hang thee on the cross, and the birds shall tear thy| flesh. And the third day |after this Pharaoh made a great feast unto his children, and remembered him, among the | meals, on the master butler |and the master baker. He restored his butler unto his office, and to serve him of | the cup, and that other was | hanged, that the truth of the interpreter was believed and proved. Notwithstanding | the master butler in | his wealth forget Joseph his interpreter. Two years after Pharaoh saw in his sleep| a dream. Him thought he |stood upon the river, from which he saw seven oxen ascend to the land which were fair and right | | | fat, and were fed in |a fat pasture; he saw other seven come out of the river, poor and lean, and were fed in | places plenteous and burgeoning. | These devoured the other that were so fat and fair. Herewith he started out | of his sleep, and after slept |again, and saw another dream. He saw seven ears of corn standing on one stalk, | full and fair of corns, |and as many other ears void and smitten with drought, which devoured the beauty of the | first seven. In the morning |Pharaoh awoke and was greatly afeard of these dreams, and sent for all | conjectors and diviners of |Egypt, and wise men; and when they were gathered he told to them his dream, and | there was none that could | interpret it. Then at last the master butler, remembering Joseph, said: I knowledge| my sin, on a time the king |being wroth with his servants, sent me and the master of the bakers into | prison, where we in one |night dreamed both prodigies of things coming. And there was a child of the Hebrews, | servant to the jailor, | to whom we told our dreams and he expounded them to us and said what should happen;| I am restored to mine office |and that other is hanged on the cross. Anon, by the king's commandment, Joseph | was taken out of prison |and shaved, bathed, and changed his clothes, and brought tofore Pharaoh, to whom be said: I | saw a dream which I |have showed unto wise men, and there is none that can tell me the interpretation thereof. | To whom Joseph answered: | God shall answer by me things prosperous to Pharaoh. Then Pharaoh told to| him his dreams, like as is tofore |written, of the seven fat oxen and seven lean, and how the lean devoured the fat, | | | and in likewise of the ears. |Joseph answered: The king's dreams are one thing which God hath showed to | Pharaoh. The seven fat |oxen and the seven ears full, betoken seven years to come of great plenty and | commodious, and the seven |lean oxen, and the seven void ears smitten with drought, betoken seven years | after them of great hunger | and scarcity. Lo! there shall come first seven years of great fertility and plenty in all | the land of Egypt, after |whom shall follow other seven years of so great sterility, barrenness, and scarcity, that | the abundance of the first shall |be all forgotten. The great hunger of these latter years shall consume all the | plenty of the first years. | The latter dream pertaineth to the same, because God would that it should be fulfilled.| Now therefore let the king | provide for a man that is wise and witty, that may command and ordain provosts| and officers in all places |of the realm, that they gather into garners and barns the fifth part of all the corn and | fruits that shall grow these |first seven plenteous years that be to come, and that all this wheat may be kept in | barns and garners in towns |and villages, that it may be made ready against the coming of the seven scarce years | that shall oppress by hunger | all Egypt, to the end that the people be not enfamined. This counsel pleased| much to Pharaoh and to | all his ministers. Then Pharaoh said to his servants: Where should we find such a, man| as this is, which is | fulfilled with the spirit of God? And then he said to Joseph: Forasmuch as God hath showed| to thee all that thou hast | spoken, trowest thou that we might find any wiser than thou or like to thee ? Thou| shalt be upperest of my |house, and to the commandment of thy mouth all people shall obey. I | only shall go tofore thee | and sit but one seat above thee. Yet said Pharaoh to Joseph: Lo! I have ordained| | | thee above and master upon | all the land of Egypt. He took a ring from his hand and gave it into his hand, and| clad him with a double stole | furred with bise; and a golden collar he put about his neck, and made him to | ascend upon his chair; |the second trumpet crying that all men should kneel tofore him, and that they should | know him upperest provost |of all the land of Egypt. Then said the king of Egypt to Joseph: I am Pharaoh, | without thy commandment shall | no man move hand nor foot in all the land of Egypt. He changed his name and| called him in the tongue |of Egypt: The saviour of the world. He gave to him a wife named Asenath, daughter | of Poti-phera, priest of Eliopoleos. | Joseph went forth then into the land of Egypt. Joseph was thirty years old when he stood in the favour and| grace of Pharaoh. And he |went round about all the region of Egypt. The plenteousness and fertility of the | seven years came, and sheaves |and shocks of corn were brought in to the barns; all the abundance of fruits was | laid in every town. There |was so great plenty of wheat that it might be compared to the gravel of the sea, and | the plenty thereof exceedeth |measure. Joseph had two sons by his wife ere the famine and hunger came, which | Asenath the priest's daughter | brought forth, of whom he called the name of the first Manasseh, saying: God hath| made me to forget all my labours, |and the house of my father hath forgotten me. He called the name of the | second son Ephraim, saying: |God hath made me to grow in the land of my poverty. | Then passed the seven years |of plenty and fertility that were in Egypt, and the seven years of scarcity and | | | hunger began to come, |which Joseph had spoken of tofore, and hunger began to wax and grow in the | universal world; also in | all the land of Egypt was hunger and scarcity. And when the people hungered| they cried to Pharaoh asking |meat, to whom he answered: Go ye to Joseph, and whatsoever he saith to | you do ye. Daily grew |and increased the hunger in all the land. Then Joseph opened the barns and garners, | and sold corn to the Egyptians, |for the hunger oppressed them sore. All provinces came into Egypt for | to buy meat to them, | and to eschew the hunger. Jacob, father unto Joseph, heard tell that corn and | victuals were sold in Egypt, | and said to his sons: Why be ye negligent? I have heard say that corn is sold in| Egypt; go ye thither and | buy for us that is necessary and behoveful, that we may live, and consume not for| need. Then the ten brethren |of Joseph descended into Egypt for to buy wheat, and Benjamin was left at home | with the father, because |whatsoever happed to the brethren in their journey. Then they entered into the | land of Egypt with other | for to buy corn. There was great famine in the land of Canaan, and Joseph was| prince in the land of Egypt, |also by his commandment wheat was sold unto the people. Then when his | brethren were come and had | adored and worshipped him, he anon knew them, and spake to them, as to|
| that ye will buy ye shall have licence. And this said, each of them poured out the wheat, and every man | strangers, hard words, demanding | them saying: Whence be ye? bring with you your youngest brother that I may | know that ye be none espies | and that ye may receive this brother that I hold in prison, and then forthon what | found his money bounden | in the mouth of every sack. Then said Jacob their father: Ye have made me without | children. Joseph is gone and | lost, Simeon is bounden in prison, and Benjamin ye will take away from me, on me | come all these evils. To Reuben | answered: Slay my two sons if I bring him not again to thee; deliver him to me | in my hand, and I shall restore | him again to thee. The father said: My son shall not go with you, his brother is | dead and he is left now alone, | if any adversity should hap to him in the way that ye go into, ye shall lead my | old hairs with sorrow to hell. | In the meanwhile famine and hunger oppressed all the land greatly. And when the corn that they brought | from Egypt was consumed, | Jacob said to his sons: Return ye into Egypt and buy for us some meat, that we may live. | Judah answered: That man | said to us, under swearing of great oaths that: Ye shall not see my face ne come into | my presence but if ye bring | your youngest brother with you. Therefore if thou wilt send him with us, we shall | go together and shall buy | for us that shall be necessary, and if thou wilt not we shall not go. The man said as we | oft have said to thee, that | if we bring him not we shall not see his visage. Israel said to them: This have ye | done into my misery, that | ye told to him that ye had another brother. And they answered: The man demanded | of us by order our progeny, | if our father lived, if we had any brother. And we answered him consequently after | that he demanded, we wist | not what he would say, ne that he said bring your brother with you. Send the child | with us that we may go | forth and live, and that we ne our children die not for hunger. I shall receive thy son, | and require him of my hand. | If I lead him not thither and bring him again, I shall be guilty to thee of the sin | ever after. If there had been | no delay of this, we had been there and come again by this time. Then Israel | their father said to them: | If it be so necessary as ye say, do ye as ye will; take with you of the best fruits of this | land in your vessels, and give | ye and present to that man gifts, a little raisins, and honey, storax, stacten, | terebinthe, and dates, and | bear with you double money, and also the same money that ye found in your sacks, | lest there be any error therefore; | and take with you Benjamin, your brother. My God, that is almighty, make | him pleasant unto you, and | that ye may return in safety with this your brother and him also that he holdeth in | prison; I shall be as a man | barren therewhiles, without children. Then the brethren took the gifts and double | money and Benjamin, and went | forth into Egypt, and came and stood tofore Joseph; whom when he had seen, | and Benjamin, he commanded | to the steward of his house that he should do slay sheep and calves and make | a feast, for these brethren | shall dine with me this day. He did as he was commanded and brought the men into | his lord's house. Then | were they all afeard and said softly together: Because of the money that we had in | our sacks we be brought | in that he take us with the default, and shall by violence bring us and our asses | into servitude. Wherefore they | said to the steward of the house, in the gate of the house ere they entered, | saying: We pray thee to hear | us: the last time that we came to buy victual, which when we had bought and | departed, and were on our | him from themward, for he was moved in all his spirits and wept on his brother, | and went into his bedchamber. |After this he washed his visage and came out making good countenance and | commanded to set bread on | the board, and after that he set his brethren in order, each after their age, and ate | together, and Joseph sat | and ate with the Egyptians. For it was not lawful to the Egyptians to eat with the | Hebrews. And each of them | were well served, but Benjamin had the best part, and they ate and drank so | -
Mike Says:
2014-01-14 PM 3:30 > | were well served, but Benjamin had the best part, and they ate and drank so | much that they were drunken. | Then Joseph commanded the steward of his house to fill their sacks with wheat | as much as they might receive, | and the money of the wheat put it in to every man's sack, and take my cup of | silver, and the money of | the youngest, and put that in his sack. And all this was done. And on the morn | betimes they were suffered | to depart with their asses. And when they were gone out of the town and a little | on their way, then Joseph | said to his steward: Make thee ready and ride after, and say to them: Why have ye | done evil for good? The |cup that my lord is accustomed to drink in, ye have stolen, ye might not do a worse | thing. He did as Joseph | had commanded and overtook them, and said to them all by order like as he had | charge, which answered: Why | saith your lord so, and doth to us his servants such letting? The money that we | found in our sacks we | brought again to thee from the land of Canaan, and how may it follow that we should | steal any gold or silver | from the house of thy lord? Look! at whom it be found of us all thy servants, let | him die. Which said | to them: Be it after your sentence, at whom that it ever be found he shall be my servant | and the others shall go | free and be not guilty. Then he hied and set down all their sacks, beginning at the | oldest unto the youngest, | and at last found the cup in the mouth of the sack of Benjamin. Then they all for | sorrow cut and rent their | clothes, and laded their asses again, and returned all into the town again. Then Judah | entered first with his brethren | unto Joseph and all they together fell down platte to the ground. To whom | Joseph said: Why have ye | done thus? Know not ye that there is no man like to me in the science of knowledge? | To whom Judah answered: | What shall we answer to thee, my lord; or what shall we speak or rightfully | desire? God hath found and | remembered the iniquity of us thy servants, for we be all thy servants, yea, we and | he at whom the cup was | found. Joseph answered: God forbid that I should so do, whosoever stole the cup | shall be my servant, and go | ye your way, for ye shall be free and go to your father. Then Judah approached near | him and spake with a hardy | cheer to him and said: I beseech thee my lord to hear me thy servant that I may | and that thou wilt not be | wroth to thy servant. Thou art next to Pharaoh; my lord, thou demandedst first of us | thy servants: Have ye a father | or brother? And we answered to thee, my lord: Our father is an old man and | we have a brother a young | child which was born to him in his old age, whose brother of the same mother is | dead, and he is an only | son whom the father loveth tenderly. Thou saidest to us thy servants: Bring him | hither to me that I may see. | We told to thee my lord for truth: our father may not forego the child, if he forego | | | him certainly he shall die. | And thou saidest to us, thy servants: But if ye bring him with you, ye shall no more | see my visage. Then when | we came to our father and told him all these things, and our father bade us to | return and buy more corn. | To whom we said: We may not go thither but if our youngest brother go with us, | for if he be absent we dare | not approach, ne come to the presence of the man; and he answered to us: Ye know | well that my wife brought | to me forth but two sons, that one went out, and ye said that of wild beasts had | devoured him, and yet I | heard never of him ne he appeared not. If now ye should take this my son and | any thing happened to him | in the way ye should bring my hoar bair with sorrow to hell. Therefore if I should | come home to my father | and bring not the child with me, sith the soul and health of my father dependeth of | this child, and see that | he is not come with us, he shall die and we thy servants should lead his old age with | wailing and sorrow to hell. | I myself shall be thy proper servant which have received him upon my faith and | have promised for him, saying | to my father: If I bring him not again I shall be guilty of the sin to my father | ever after. I shall abide | and continue thy servant for the child in the ministry and service of thee my lord. I may | not depart, the child being | absent, lest I be witness of the sorrow that my father shall take. Wherefore I | beseech thee to suffer this | child to go to his father and receive me into thy service. Thus said Judah, with much | more; as Josephus, Antiquitatum, | rehearseth more piteously, and saith moreover that the cause why he did | do hide the cup in Benjamin's | sack, was to know whether they loved Benjamin or hated him as they did | him, what time they sold | him to the Ishmaelites. Then this request made, Joseph might no longer | forbear, but commanded them | that stood by to withdraw them, and when all men were gone out sauf he and his | brethren, he began to say | to them weeping: I am Joseph your brother, liveth yet my father? The brethren were so | afeard that they could | not speak ne answer to him. Then he debonairly said to them; Come hither to me; and | when they came near him | he said: I am Joseph your brother that ye sold into Egypt; be ye not afeard nor | think not hard unto you that | ye sold me into these regions. God hath sent me tofore you into Egypt for | your health. It is two years | since the famine began, and yet been five years to come in which men may not ear, | sow, ne reap. God hath sent | me tofore you that ye should be reserved on the earth, and that ye may have | meat to live by. It is not by | your counsel that I was sent hither, but by the will of God, which hath ordained me | father of Pharaoh, and |lord of all his house, and prince in all the land of Egypt. Hie you, and go to my father, | and say ye to him: This | word sendeth thee thy son Joseph: God hath made me lord of the universal land of | Egypt, come to me lest thou | die, and thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen. Thou shalt be next me, thou and | thy sons and the sons of thy | sons, and I shall feed thy sheep, thy beasts and all that thou hast in possession. | Yet rest five year to come | of famine, therefore come lest thou perish, thy house, and all that thou owest. Lo! | your eyes and the eyes | of my brother Benjamin see that my mouth speaketh these words to you. Show ye to my | father all my glory and | all that ye have seen in Egypt. Hie ye and bring him to me. This said, he embraced his | brother Benjamin about his | neck and wept upon each of them. After this they durst better speak to him. Anon it | was told and known all | about in the king's hall that Joseph's brethren were come. And Pharaoh was joyful | and glad thereof and all | his household. And Pharaoh said to Joseph that he should say to his brethren: Lade | ye your beasts and go | into the and of Canaan, and bring from thence your father and kindred, and come to me, | and I shall give you all | the goods of Egypt, that ye may eat the marrow of the earth. Command ye also that they | take carriages of this land | of Egypt, for the carriage of their children and wives, and say to them: Take your | father and come as soon | as ye may, and leave nothing behind you, for all the best things shall be yours. The | sons of Israel did as they | were commanded. To whom Joseph gave carriages after the commandment of | Pharaoh, and meat to eat | by the way. He commanded to give to every each two garments. To Benjamin he gave | three hundred pieces of | silver, with five garments of the best, and also he sent clothing to his father, adding to | them ten asses which were | laden with all riches of Egypt, and as many asses laden and bearing bread and | victual to spend by the | way. And thus he let his brethren depart from him saying: Be ye not wroth in the way. | Then they thus departing came | into the land of Canaan to their father, and showed all this to their father, and | said: Joseph thy son liveth | and he lordeth in all the land of Egypt. When Jacob heard this he awoke as a man | had been awaked suddenly | out of his sleep, yet nevertheless he believed them not, and they told to him all the order of | the matter. When he saw | the carriage and all that he had sent, his spirit revived and said: It sufficeth to me if | Joseph my son yet live, | I shall go and see him ere I die. Then Israel went forth with all that he had and came to | the pit where tofore he had | sworn to God; and slew there beasts to make sacrifices to the God of Isaac his | father. He heard God by | a vision that same night saying to him: Jacob, Jacob, to whom he answered: I am here | all ready. God said to him: | I am strongest God of thy father Isaac, dread thee not, but descend down into | Egypt. I shall make thee to | grow there into great people. I shall descend with thee thither, and I shall bring thee | again when thou returnest. | Joseph soothly shall put his hands upon thine eyes. Jacob then arose on the morn | early, and his sons took him | with their children and wives and set them on the carriages that Pharaoh had | sent to bring him and all | that he had into the land of Canaan. And so came into Egypt with all his progeny, | sons and children, etc. | These be the names of the sons of Israel that entered with him into Egypt. The first begotten Reuben | with his children four. | Simeon with his seven sons. Levi with his three sons. Judah and his sons three. Issachar and his | four sons. Zebulon and his sons | three. These were sons of Leah that Jacob gat in Mesopotamia, and Dinah his | daughter. All these sons | and daughters were thirty-three. Gad also entered with his children seven. Asher | with his children five | and of his children's children two. These were sons of Zilpah, in number sixteen. The sons | of Rachel were Joseph and | Benjamin. Joseph had two sons in the land of Egypt by his wife Asenath, | Manasseh and Ephraim. The | sons of Benjamin were ten. All these children that came of Rachel were in | number fourteen. Dan entered | with one son, and Naphtali with four sons. These were the children of | Bilhah; they were in number | seven. All the souls that were issued of his seed that entered into Egypt with | him, without the wives of | his sons, were sixty-six. The sons of Joseph that were born in Egypt twain. Summa | of all the souls of the house | of Jacob that entered into Egypt were in all seventy. Jacob sent then tofore him Judah unto | Joseph, to show to him | his coming. And he came to Joseph in Goshen, and anon Joseph ascended his chariot and went for to | meet his father, and | when he saw him, he embraced him meekly and wept. And his father received him joyously | and embraced also him. | Then said the father to Joseph: Now shall I die joyously because I have seen thy visage. | | | Then said Joseph to his | brethren and to all the house of his father: I shall go and ascend to Pharaoh and shall | say to him, that my brethren | and the house of my father that were in the land of Canaan be come to me, and be | men keeping sheep, and | can the manner well for to keep the flocks of sheep, and that they have brought with | them their beasts, and all | that ever they had. When he shall call you and ask you of what occupation ye be, ye | shall say: We be shepherds, | thy servants, from our childhood unto now, and our fathers also. This shall ye | say that ye may dwell in | the land of Goshen, for the Egyptians have spite unto herdmen of sheep. Then | Joseph entered tofore Pharaoh | and said to him: My father, my brethren, their sheep and beasts be come | from the land of Canaan, and | be in the land of Goshen. And he brought five of his brethren tofore the king, | whom he demanded of what | occupation they were of. They answered: We be keepers of sheep, thy servants, | we and our fathers, we | be come to dwell in thy land, for there is no grass for the flocks of sheep of us thy | servants, the famine is | so great in the land of Canaan. We beseech thee that thou command us thy servants to | dwell in the land of Goshen. | Then said the king to Joseph: Thy father and thy brethren be come to thee, | the land of Egypt is | at thy commandment, make thou them to dwell in the best place, and deliver to them the | land of Goshen. And | if thou know them for conning, ordain they to be masters of my beasts. After this || | Joseph brought his father | in, and made him stand tofore the king which blessed him, and was demanded of the | king how old he was. | He answered: The days of the pilgrimage of my life be an hundred and thirty years, || | small and evil, and yet I | am not come unto the days of my fathers that they have lived. And he blessed the king | and went out. Then Joseph | gave to his father and brethren possession in Egypt in the best soil of | Rameses like as Pharaoh had | commanded, and there fed them, giving to each of them victual. | In all the world was scarcity | of bread, and hunger and famine oppressed specially and most, the land of Egypt | and the land of Canaan. | Of which lands Joseph gat all the money for selling of wheat, and brought it into the | king's treasury. When all | people lacked money, all Egypt came to Joseph saying: Give us bread, why die | we to the lacking money. | To whom he answered: Bring to me your beasts and I shall give you for them victuals, | if ye have no money: which | when they brought, he gave to them victuals and food for horses, sheep, oxen and | asses, and sustained them | one year for changing of their beasts. Then came they again the second year and said: | We hide not from thee | our lord that our money is failed and also our beasts be gone, and there is nothing left | but our bodies and our land. | Why then shall we die in thy sight? And we ourselves and also our land shall be | thine, buy us into bondship | and servitude of the king, and give us seed to sow lest the earth turn into | wilderness. Then Joseph bought | all the land of Egypt, every man selling his possessions for the vehement | hunger that they had. He | subdued all unto Pharaoh, and all his people from the last terms of Egypt unto the | utterest ends of the same, | except the land longing to the priests, which was given to them by the king, to whom | were given victuals openly | out of all the barns and garners, and therefore they were not compelled to sell | their possessions. Then said | Joseph to all the peoples: Lo, now ye see and know that Pharaoh oweth and is in | possession of you and of | your land. Take to you seed and sow ye the fields that ye may have fruit. The fifth | part thereof ye shall | give to the king and four parts I promise to you to sow, and for meat to your servants | and to your children. Which | answered: Our health is in thine hand, let our lord only behold us and we shall | gladly serve the king. | From that time unto this present day, in all the land of Egypt the fifth part is paid to the | king; and it is holden for | a law, except the land longing to the priests which is free from this condition. | Then Israel dwelled in Egypt | in the land of Goshen, and was in possession thereof. He increased and multiplied | greatly, and lived therein | seventeen years. And all the years of his life were an hundred and seven and forty | years. When he understood | that the day of his death approached, he called to him his son Joseph and said to | him: If I may find so much | grace in thy sight, do to me so much mercy as thou promise and swear that thou | bury me not in Egypt, | but that I may rest with my fathers, and take and carry me from this land, and lay | me in the sepulchre of my | forefathers. To whom Joseph answered: I shall do that thou hast commanded. Then | said he: Swear to me, | and so he swore. And then Israel adored and worshipped our Lord, and turned him | towards his bed's head. | Then this done, anon after it was told to Joseph that his father was sick and feeble; | who anon took his sons | Manasseh and Ephraim and came to his father. Anon it was told to the father: Lo thy | son Joseph cometh to thee, | which then was comforted, and sat up in his bed. And Joseph entered in, and Jacob || | said: Almighty God appeared |to me in Luz which is in the land of Canaan, and he blessed me and said: I shall | increase thee and multiply | thee into tourbes of peoples, I shall give to thee this land and to thy seed after thee in | sempiternal possession, therefore thy | two sons that be born to thee in this land of Egypt tofore I came hither to | thee, shall be my sons Ephraim | and Manasseh, they shall be reputed to me as Simeon and Reuben. The | other that thou shalt get | after them shall be thine, and shall be called in the name of their brethren in their | possessions. Then he, seeing |Joseph's sons, said to him: Who be these children? Joseph answered: They be my | sons which God hath given | to me in this place. Bring them hither, said he, to me that I may bless them. | Israel's eyes were dimmed | and might not see clearly for great age. He took them to him and kissed them and | said to Joseph: I am not | defrauded from the sight of thee, and furthermore God hath showed to me thy seed. | Then when Joseph took them | from his father's lap, he worshipped him kneeling low to the earth, and set | Ephraim on his right side, | and on the left side of Israel, and Manasseh on the right side of his father Israel, | which took his right hand | and laid it on the head of Ephraim the younger brother, and his left hand on the | head of Manasseh which was | first born. Then Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph and said: God, in whose | sight walked my fathers Abraham | and Isaac, God that hath fed me from my youth unto this present day, the | angel that hath kept me | from all evil bless these children, and my name be called on them, and the | names of my fathers Abraham | and Isaac, and grow they into multitude upon earth. Then Joseph seeing that his | father set his right hand | upon the head of Ephraim the younger brother took it heavily, and took his father's | hand and would have laid | it on the head of Manasseh, and said to his father: Nay father, it is not convenient, | that ye do, this is the first | begotten son, set thy right hand on his head. Which renied that and would not do | so, but said: I wot, my son, | I wot what I do, and this son shall increase into peoples and multiply, but his | younger brother shall be | greater than he, and his seed shall grow into gentiles, and blessed them, saying that | same time: In thee shall | be blessed Israel, and shall be said: God make thee like to Ephraim and Manasseh. | And he said to Joseph his son: | Lo! now I die and God shall be with you, and shall reduce and bring you again | into the land of your fathers; | and I give to thee one part above thy brethren, which I gat and won from the hand | of the Amorite with my sword | and my bow. Then Jacob called his sons tofore him and said to them: | Gather ye altogether tofore | me, that I may show to you things that be to come, and hear your father Israel. And | there he told to each of | them his condition singularly. And when he had blessed his twelve sons he | commanded them to bury | him with his fathers in a double spelunke which is in the field of Ephron the | Hittite against Mamre in | the land of Canaan which Abraham bought. And this said he gathered to him his | feet and died. Which | anon as Joseph saw, he fell on his visage and kissed him. He commanded to his masters of | physic and medicines, which | were his servants, that they should embalm the body of his father with sweet | spices aromatic; which was | all done, and then went they sorrowing him forty days. The Egyptians wailed | him seventy days, and | when the wailing was past, Joseph did say to Pharaoh how he had sworn and | promised to bury him in | the land of Canaan. To whom Pharaoh said: Go and bury thy father like as thou hast | sworn. Which then took | his father's body and went, and with him were accompanied all the aged men of | Pharaoh's house, and the | noblest men of birth of all the land of Egypt, the house of Joseph with his brethren, | without the young children, | flocks and beasts, which they left in the land of Goshen. He had in his | fellowship chariots, carts and | horsemen, and was a great tourbe and company, and came over Jordan where | as they hallowed the exequies | by great wailing seven days long. And when they of the country saw this plaint | and sorrowing they said: | This is a great sorrow to the Egyptians. And that same place is named yet the | bewailing of Egypt. The | children of Israel did as they were commanded, and bare him into the land of | Canaan, and buried him | in the double spelunke which Abraham had bought. Then when Jacob the father was | buried, Joseph with all | his fellowship returned into Egypt. Then his brethren after the death of their father | spake together privily, and | dreading that Joseph would avenge the wrong and evil that they had done to him, | came to him and said: | Thy father commended us ere he died that we should say thus to thee; We pray thee that | thou wilt forget, and not | remember the sin and trespass of thy brethren, ne the malice that they executed in | thee. We beseech thee | that thou wilt forgive to thy father, servant of God, this wickedness. Which when | Joseph heard he wept bitterly, | and his brethren came to him kneeling low to the ground and worshipped him, | and said, We be thy servants. | To whom he answered: Be ye nothing afeard ne dread you not, ween ye that ye | may resist God's will? Ye | thought to have done to me evil, but God hath turned it into good, and hath exalted | me as ye see and know, | that he should save much people. Be ye nothing afeard, I shall feed you and your | children. And comforted them | with fair words, and spake friendly and joyously to them. And he abode and | dwelled still in Egypt with | all the house of his father, and lived an hundred and ten years, and saw the sons of | Ephraim in to the third | generation. After these things he said to his brethren: After my death, God shall visit you | and shall do you depart | from this land unto the land that he promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When | that time shall come, | take my bones and lead them with you from this place, and then died. Whose body was | embalmed with sweet spices | and aromatics and laid in a chest in Egypt. Here next followeth the history | of Moses, which is read | in the Church on Mid-lent Sunday: These be the names of the children of Israel that entered | into Egypt with Jacob, and | each entered with their household and meiny. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, | Issachar, Zebulon, Benjamin, Dan, | Naphtali, Gad, and Asher; they were all in number that entered seventy. | Joseph was tofore in Egypt. | And when he was dead and all his brethren and kindred, the children of Israel grew | and multiplied greatly, and | filled the earth. Then was there a new king upon Egypt which knew nothing of | Joseph, and said to his people: | Lo! and see the people of Israel is great, and stronger than we be, come and let | us wisely oppress them, | lest they multiply and give us battle and fight with us and drive us out of our land. | Then he ordained provosts and | masters over them to set them awork and put them to affliction of burdens. They | builded to Pharaoh two towns, | Pithom and Raamses. How much more they oppressed them, so much the | more they increased and multiplied. | The Egyptians hated the children of Israel and put them to affliction, | scorning and having envy | at them, and oppressed bitterly their life with hard and sore labours of tile and | clay, and grieved all them | in such works. The king of Egypt said to the midwives of the Hebrews, of whom | that one was called Shiphrah, | and that other Puah, and commanded: When so is that the time of birth is, and | that ye shall do your office | in helping in the birth of children, if it be a manchild slay him, if it be a maid-child | keep it and let it live. | The midwives dreaded God, and did not as the king commanded them, but reserved | and kept the men-children. | For whom the king sent and said: What is the cause that ye reserved and kept the | men-children? They answered: | There be of the Hebrews women that can the craft of midwives as well as we, and | ere we come the children | be born. God did well therefore unto the midwives, and the people grew and | were greatly comforted. | And because the midwives dreaded God they edified to them houses. Then Pharaoh | commanded to his people saying: | Whatsomever is born of males cast ye into the river, and what of women keep |
| After this was a man of the house of Levi went out and took a wife of his kindred, which conceived | ye them and let ye them live. | and brought forth a son, and he saw him elegant and fair, | and hid him three months, | and when he might no longer hide him, took a little crib of rushes and wickers and | pitched it with glue | and pitch, and put therein the child, and set it on the river, and let it drive down in the stream, and | | | the sister of the child | standing afar, considering what should fall thereof. And it happed that same time, the | daughter of king Pharaoh | descended down to the river for to wash her in the water, and her maidens went by | the brink, which then, | when she saw the little crib or fiscelle she sent one of her maidens to fetch and take it | up, which so fetched and | brought to her, and she saw therein Iying a fair child; and she having pity on it said: | This is one of the children | of the Hebrews. To whom anon spake the sister of the child: Wilt thou, said she, | that I go and call thee a | woman of the Hebrews that shall and may nourish this child? She answered: Go thy | way. The maid went and | called his mother, to whom Pharaoh's daughter said: Take this child and nourish | him to me, and I shall give | to thee thy meed and reward. The mother took her child and nourished it, and when it | was weaned and could go | she delivered it to the daughter of king Pharaoh, whom she received and | adopted instead of a son | and named him Moses, saying that I took him out of the water. And he there grew and | waxed a pretty child. | And as Josephus, Antiquitatum, saith: This daughter of Pharaoh, which was named | Termuthe, loved well Moses | and reputed him as her son by adoption, and on a day brought him to her father, | who for his beauty took | him in his arms and made much of him, and set his diadem on his head, wherein was his | idol. And Moses anon | took it, and cast it under his feet and trod on it, wherefore the king was wroth, and | demanded of the great | doctors and magicians what should fall of this child. And they kalked on his nativity | | | and said: This is he that | shall destroy thy reign and put it under foot, and shall rule and govern the Hebrews. | Wherefore the king anon | decreed that he should be put to death. But others said that Moses did it of childhood | and ought not to die therefore, | and counselled to make thereof a proof, and so they did. | They set tofore him | a platter full of coals burning, and a platter full of cherries, and bade him eat, and he took | and put the hot coals | in his mouth and burned his tongue, which letted his speech ever after; and thus he | escaped the death. Josephus | saith that when Pharaoh would have slain him, Termuthe, his daughter, plucked | him away and saved him. | Then on a time as Moses was full grown, he went to his brethren, and saw the | affliction of them and | a man of Egypt smiting one of the Hebrews, his brethren. And he looked hither and thither | and saw no man. He | smote the Egyptian and slew him and hid him in the sand. And another day he went out | and found two of the Hebrews | brawling and fighting together; then he said to him that did wrong: Why | smitest thou thy neighbour? | which answered: Who hath ordained thee prince and judge upon us? wilt thou slay | me as thou slewest that | other day an Egyptian? Moses was afeard and said to himself: How is this deed known | and made open? Pharaoh | heard hereof and sought Moses for to slay him, which then fled from his sight | and dwelled in the land | of Midian, and sat there by a pit side. The priest of Midian had seven daughters which | came thither for to draw | water, and to fill the vessels for to give drink to the flocks of the sheep of their father. | | | Then came on them the | herdmen and put them from it. Then rose Moses and defended the maidens and let | them water their sheep, | which then returned to their father Jethro. And he said to them: Why come ye now | earlier than ye were wont | to do? They said that a man of Egypt hath delivered us from the hand of the herdmen, | and also he drew water for | us and gave to the sheep drink. Where is he, said he, why left ye the man after | you' go call him that | he may eat some bread with us. Then Moses sware that he would dwell with him. And | he took Zipporah one | of his daughters and wedded her to his wife, which conceived and bare him a son whom | he called Gershom, saying: | I was a stranger in a strange land. She brought to him forth another son whom he | named Eleazar, saying: The | God of my father is my helper and hath kept me from the hand of Pharaoh. | Long time after this died | the king of Egypt, and the children of Israel, wailing, made great sorrow for the | oppression of their labour, | and cried unto God for help. Their cry came unto God of their works, and God heard | their wailing, and remembered | the promise he made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and our Lord beheld | the children of Israel and knew them. | Moses fed the sheep of Jethro his wife's father. When he had brought the sheep into the innermost part of the | desert he came unto the | mount of God, Oreb. Our Lord appeared to him in flame of fire in the midst of a bush, | and he saw the fire in | the bush, and the bush burned not. Then said Moses, I shall go and see this great | vision why the bush burneth | not. Our Lord then beholding that he went for to see it, called him, being in | | | the bush, and said: Moses, | Moses, which answered: I am here. Then said our Lord: Approach no nearer | hitherward. Take off thy shoon | from thy feet, the place that thou standest on is holy ground. And said also: I am | God of thy fathers, God | of Abraham, and God of Isaac, and God of Jacob. Moses then hid his face, and durst | not look toward God. | To whom God said: I have seen the affliction of my people in Egypt, and I have heard | their cry of the hardness | that they suffer in their works, and I knowing the sorrow of them am descended to | deliver them from the | hand of the Egyptians, and shall lead them from this land into a good land and spacious, | into a land that floweth | milk and honey, unto the places of Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and | Jebusites. The cry of the | children of Israel is come to me, I have seen their affliction, how they be oppressed | of the Egyptians. But come | to me and I shall send thee unto Pharaoh that thou shalt lead the children of Israel | out of Egypt. Then Moses | said to him: Who am I that shall go to Pharaoh and lead the children out of Egypt? | To whom God said: I shall | be with thee, and this shall be the sign that I send thee. When thou shalt have led | out my people of Egypt, | thou shalt offer to God upon this hill. Moses said unto God: Lo! if I go to the | children of Israel and say | to them: God of your fathers hath sent me to you; if they say What is his name? what | shall I say? Our Lord | said to Moses: Ego sum qui sum. I am that I am. He said: Thus shalt thou say to the | children of Israel: He that is, | sent me to you, and yet shalt thou say to them: The Lord God of your fathers, | God of Abraham, God of | Isaac, and God of Jacob, hath appeared to me saying: This is my name for evermore, | and this is my memorial | from generation to generation. Go and gather together the seniors and aged men of | Israel, and say to them: | The Lord God of your fathers hath appeared to me, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, | and God of Jacob, saying: | Visiting I have visited you, and have seen all that is fallen in Egypt, and I shall lead | you out of the affliction |of Egypt into the land of Canaan, Ethei, etc, unto the Iand flowing milk and | honey, and they shall hear | thy voice. Thou shalt go and take with thee the seniors of Israel to the king of Egypt, | and shalt say to him: The | Lord God of the Hebrews hath called us; we shall go the journey of three days in | wilderness that we may | offer to our Lord God. But I know well that the king of Egypt shall not suffer you to | go but by strong hand. | I shall stretch out my hand and shall smite Egypt in all my marvels that I shall do amid | among them. After that | he shall let you go. I shall then give my grace to this people tofore the Egyptians, and | when ye shall go out ye shall | not depart void, nor with nought, but every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, | and of her hostess, vessels | of silver and of gold, and clothes, and them shall ye lay on your sons, and on your | daughters, and ye shall | rob Egypt. Then Moses answered and said: They shall not believe me ne hear | my voice, but shall say: | God hath not appeared to thee. God said then to him: What is that thou holdest in thine | hand? He answered: A rod. | Our Lord said: Cast it on the ground. He threw it down and it turned into a serpent, | whereof Moses was afeard | and would have fled. Our Lord said to him: Put forth thy hand and hold him by | the tail; he stretched forth | hie hand and held him, and it turned again into a rod. To this, that they believe thee, | that I have appeared to thee. | And yet our Lord said to him: Put thy hand into thy bosom, which, when he hath | put in, and drawn out again, | it was like a leper's hand. Our Lord bade him to withdraw it into his bosom again, | and he drew it out and | it was then like that other flesh. If they hear not thee, and believe by the first sign and | token, they shall believe | thee by the second. If they believe none of the two ne hear thy voice, then take | water of the river and pour | on the dry ground, and whatsoever thou takest and drawest shall turn into | blood. Then Moses said: | I pray the Lord send some other, for I am not eloquent, but have a letting in my | | | speech. Our Lord said to him: | Who made the mouth of a man, or who hath made a man dumb or deaf, seeing or | blind, not I? Go, therefore, | I shall be in thy mouth and shall teach thee what thou shalt say. Then said Moses: I | beseech thee Lord, said he, |send some other whom thou wilt. Our Lord was wroth on Moses and said: Aaron thy | brother deacon, I know | that he is eloquent, lo! he shall come and meet with thee, and seeing thee he shall be | glad in his heart. Speak | thou to him and put my words in his mouth, and I shall be in thy mouth and in his | mouth, and I shall show | to you what ye ought to do, and he shall speak for the people, and shall be thy mouth, | and thou shalt be in such | things as pertain to God. Take with thee this rod in thine hard, by which thou shalt do | signs and marvels. Then | Moses went to Jethro his wife's father, and said to him, I shall go and return to my | brethren into Egypt, and see | if they yet live. To whom Jethro said: Go in God's name and place. Then said our | Lord to Moses: Go and return | into Egypt, all they be now dead that sought for to slay thee. Then Moses took | his wife and his sons | and set them upon an ass and returned in to Egypt, bearing the rod of God in his hand. | Then our Lord said to Aaron: | Go against Moses and meet with him in desert; which went for to meet with | him unto the mount of | God, and there kissed him. And Moses told unto Aaron all that our Lord had said to | him for which he sent | him, and all the tokens and signs that he bade him do. They came both together and | gathered and assembled all | the seniors and aged men of the children of Israel. And Aaron told to them all that | | | God had said to Moses, | and made the signs and tokens tofore the people and the people believed it. They heard | well that our Lord had | visited the children of Israel, and that he had beholden the affliction of them, wherefore | they fell down low to the | ground and worshipped our Lord. After this Moses and Aaron went unto Pharaoh and | said: This saith the Lord | God of Israel: Suffer my people to depart that they may sacrifice to me in desert. Then | said Pharaoh: Who is | that Lord that I may hear his voice and leave Israel? I know not that Lord, nor I will not | leave Israel. They said to him: | God of the Hebrews hath called us that we go the journey of three days in the | wilderness and sacrifice unto | our Lord God, lest peradventure pestilence or war fall to us. The king of | Egypt said to them: Why solicit | ye, Moses and Aaron, the people from their works and labour? Go ye unto | your work. Pharaoh also said: | The people is much, see how they grow and multiply, and yet much more shall | do if they rested from | their labour. Therefore he commanded the same day to the prefects and masters of | their works saying: In no | wise give no more chaff to the people for to make loam and clay, but let them go and | gather stubble, and make | them to do as much labour as they did tofore, and lessen it nothing. They do now but | -
Mike Says:
2014-01-14 PM 6:07 | them to do as much labour as they did tofore, and lessen it nothing. They do now but | cry: Let us go and make | sacrifice to our God, let them be oppressed by labour and exercised that they attend | not to leasings. Then the | prefects and masters of their work said to them that Pharaoh had commanded to give | them no chaff, but they | should go and gather such as they might find, and that their work should not therefore | be minished. Then the children | were disperpled for to gather chaff, and their masters awaited on them and | bade them: Make an end | of your work as ye were wont to do when that chaff was delivered to you. And thus | | | they were put to more affliction, | and would make them to make as many tiles as they The did tofore. Then the | upperest of the children | of Israel came to Pharaoh and complained saying: Why puttest thou thy servants to | such affliction? He said | to them: Ye be so idle that ye say ye will go and sacrifice to your God; ye shall have | no chaff given to you, | yet ye shall work your customable work and gather your chaff also. | Then the eldest and the upperest | among the Hebrews went to Moses and Aaron and said: What have ye done ? | ye have so done that ye | have made our odour to stink in the sight of Pharaoh, and have encouraged him to slay | us. Then Moses counselled | with our Lord how he should do, and said: Lord, why hast thou sent me | hither? For, sith I have spoken | to Pharaoh in thy name, he hath put thy people to more affliction than they | tofore, and thou hast | not delivered them. Our Lord said to Moses: Now thou shalt see what I shall do to | Pharaoh. By strong hand | he shall let you go, and in a boistous he shall cast you from his land. | Yet said our Lord to Moses: | I am the Lord God that appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in my might, and | my name is Adonai, I | showed to them not that. I promised and made covenant with them that I should | give to them the land of | Canaan in which they dwelled. I now have heard the wailing and the tribulations that the | Egyptians oppress them with, | for which I shall deliver and bring them from the servitude of the Egyptians. | Moses told all these things | to the children of Israel, and they believed him not for the anguish of their spirits that | | | they were in, and hard labour. | Then said our Lord to Moses: Go and enter in to Pharaoh and bid him deliver | my people of Israel out of his | land. Moses answered: How should Pharaoh hear me when the children of | Israel believe me not? Then | our Lord said to Moses and Aaron that they both should go to Pharaoh and give him | in commandment to let the | children of Israel to depart. And he said to Moses: Lo! I have ordained thee to be | God of Pharaoh, and Aaron | thy brother shall be thy prophet. Thou shalt say to him all that I say to thee, and | he shall say to Pharaoh | that he suffer the children of Israel to depart from his land. But I shall enhard his | heart, and shall multiply | my signs and tokens in the land of Egypt, and he shall not hear ne believe you. And | I shall lead the children | of Israel my people. And shall show mine hand, and such wonders on Egypt, that | Egyptians shall know that | I am the Lord. Moses and Aaron did as our Lord commanded them. Moses was | eighty years old when he | came and stood tofore Pharaoh, and Aaron eighty-three years when they spake | to Pharaoh. Then when they were | tofore Pharaoh, Aaron cast the rod down tofore Pharaoh, and anon the rod | turned into a serpent. Then | Pharaoh called his magicians and jugglers and bade them do the same. And | they made their witchcraft | and invocations and cast down their rods, which turned in likewise into serpents, | but the rod of Aaron devoured | their rods. Yet was the heart of Pharaoh hard and so indurate that he would not | do as God bade. Then said | our Lord to Moses: The heart of Pharaoh is grieved and will not deliver my people. Go | | | to him to-morn in the | morning and he shall come out, and thou halt stand when he cometh on the bank of the | river, and take in thine hand | the rod that was turned into the serpent, and say to him: The Lord God of the | Hebrews sendeth me to thee | saying: Deliver my people that they may offer and make sacrifice to me in desert, | yet thou hast no will to | hear me. Therefore our Lord said: In this shalt thou know that I am the Lord: Lo! I | shall smite with the rod that | is in my hand the water of the flood, and it shall turn into blood; the fishes that be | in the water shall die, and | the Egyptians shall be put to affliction drinking of it. Then said our Lord to Moses: | Say thou to Aaron: Take | this rod and stretch thine hand upon all the waters of Egypt, upon the floods, rivers, | ponds, and upon all the | lakes where any water is, in that they turn to blood, that it may be a vengeance in all the | land of Egypt, as well in | treen vessels as in vessels of earth and stone. Moses and Aaron did as God had | commanded them, and smote | the flood with the rod tofore Pharaoh and his servants, which turned into | blood, and the fishes that | were in the river died, and the water was corrupt. And the Egyptians might not drink | the water, and all the water | of Egypt was turned into blood. And in likewise did the enchanters with their | witchcraft, and the heart | of Pharaoh was so indurate that he would not let the people depart as our Lord had | commanded, but he returned | home for this time. The Egyptians went and dolven pits for water all about by | the river, and they found | no water to drink but all was blood. And this plague endured seven days, and | | | whatsomever water the children | of Israel took in this while was fair and good water. This was the first plague | and vengeance. The second was | that God sent frogs so many, that all the land was full, the rivers, the houses, | chambers, beds, that they | were woebegone, and these frogs entered into their meat. so many that they covered | all the land of Egypt. Then | Pharaoh prayed Moses and Aaron that God would take away these frogs, and that | he would go suffer the people | to do sacrifice; and then Moses asked when he would deliver them if the frogs | were voided, and Pharaoh said: | In the morn. And then Moses prayed, and they voided all. And when Pharaoh | saw that he was quit of them, | he kept not his promise and would not let them depart. The third vengeance that | God sent to them was a great | multitude of hungry horse-flies, as many as the dust of the earth, which were on | men, and bit them and beasts. | And then enchanters said then to Pharaoh: This is the finger of God. Yet would | not Pharaoh let them depart. | The fourth vengeance was that God sent all manner kind of flies and lice in such | wise that the universal land | of Egypt was full of all manner flies and lice, but in the land of Goshen were | none. Yet was he so indurate | that he would not let them go, but would that they should make their sacrifice to | God in that land. But Moses | would not so, but would go three days' journey in desert, and sacrifice to God | there. Pharaoh said: I | will that ye go into desert, but not far, and come soon again, and pray ye for me. And | Moses prayed for him to | our Lord, and the flies voided that there was not one left. And when they were gone | Pharaoh would not keep | his promise. Then the fifth plague was that God showed his hand upon the fields | and upon the horses' asses, | camels, sheep and oxen, and was a great pestilence on all the beasts. And God | showed a wonder miracle | between the possessions of the Egyptians and the possessions of his people of | | | Israel, for of the beasts of | the children of Israel there was not one that perished. Yet was Pharaoh so hard-hearted | that he would not suffer | the people to depart. The sixth plague was that Moses took ashes out of the | chimney and cast on the land. | And anon all the people of Egypt, as well men as beasts were full of botches, | boils, and blains and wounds, | and swellings in their bladders, in such wise that the enchanters could ne | might not stand for pain tofore | Pharaoh. Yet would not Pharaoh hear them, nor do as God had commanded. The | seventh plague was a hail | so great that there was never none like tofore, and thunder and fire that it destroyed | all the grass and herbs | of Egypt and smote down all that was in the field, men and beasts. But in the land of | Goshen was none heard, ne | harm done. Yet would not Pharaoh deliver them. The eighth our Lord sent to them | locusts, which is a manner | great fly, called in some place an adder-bolte, which bit them and ate up all the | corn and herbs that was | left, in such wise that the people came to Pharaoh and desired him to deliver, | saying that the land perished. | Then Pharaoh gave to the men licence to go and make their sacrifice, and leave | their wives and children | there still, till they came again, but Moses and Aaron said they must go all, wherefore | he would not let them depart. | The ninth plague and vengeance was that God sent so great darkness upon all | the land of Egypt that the |pleasing to him, and command ye to your sons that they do righteous ness and alms, that | that ye do that may be |darkness was so great and horrible that they were palpable, and it endured three | | | days and three nights. | Wheresoever the children of Israel went it was light. Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron | and said to them: Go ye | and make your sacrifice unto your Lord God, and let your sheep and beasts only abide. To whom Moses | said: We shall take with |us such hosties and sacrifices as we shall offer to our Lord God. All our flocks and | beasts shall go with us, | there shall not remain as much as a nail that shall be necessary in the honour of our | Lord God, for we know | not what we shall offer till we come to the place. Pharaoh was so indurate and hard-hearted | that he would not let | them go, and bade Moses that he should no more come in his sight. For when | thou comest thou shalt die. | Moses answered: Be it as thou hast said: I shall no more come to thy presence. | And then our Lord said to Moses: | There resteth now but one plague and vengeance, and after that he shall let you | go. But first say to all the | people that every man borrow of his friend, and woman of her neighbour, vessels of | gold and silver, and clothes; | our Lord shall give to his people grace and favour to borrow of the Egyptians; and | then gave to them a commandment | how they should depart. And our Lord said to Moses: At midnight I shall | enter into Egypt and the first | begotten child and heir of all Egypt shall die, from the first begotten son of | Pharaoh that sitteth in his | throne unto the first begotten son of the handmaid that sitteth at the mill, and all the | first-begotten of the beasts. | There shall be a great cry and clamour in all the land of Egypt in such wise that | there was never none like, |ne never shall be after, and among all the children there shall not an hound be hurt, | | | ne woman, ne beast, whereby | ye shall know by what miracle God divideth the Egyptian and Israel. Moses | and Aaron showed all these | signs and plagues tofore Pharaoh, and his heart was so indurate that he would | not let them depart. Then when | Moses had said to the children how they should do, they departed, and ate | their paschal lamb, and | all other ceremonies as be expressed in the Bible, for a law to endure ever among | them, which the children | of Israel obeyed and accomplished, it was so that at midnight our Lord smote | and slew every first-begotten | son throughout all the land of Egypt, beginning at the first son and heir of Pharaoh | unto the son of the caitiff | that lay in prison, and also the first begotten of the beasts. Pharaoh arose in the night | and all his servants and | all Egypt, and there was a great clamour and sorrowful noise and cry, for there was not a | house in all Egypt but there | lay therein one that was dead. Then Pharaoh did do call Moses and Aaron in the | night, and said: Arise ye | and go your way from my people, ye and the children of Israel, as ye say ye will, | take your sheep and beasts | with you like as ye desired, and at your departing bless ye me. The Egyptians | constrained the children to | depart and go their way hastily, saying: We all shall die. The children of Israel | took their meal, and put | it on their shoulders as they were commanded, and borrowed vessels of silver and of | gold, and much clothing. | Our Lord gave to them such favour tofore the Egyptians that the Egyptians lent to | them all that they desired, | and they spoiled and robbed Egypt. And so the children of Israel departed, nigh the | | | number of six hundred thousand | footmen, besides women and children which were innumerable, and an huge great | multitude of beasts of divers | kinds. The time that the children of Israel had dwelt in Egypt was four hundred | years. And so they departed | out of Egypt, and went not the right way by the Philistines, but our Lord led them | by the way of desert which | is by the Red Sea. And the children descended out of Egypt armed. Moses took |
|with him the bones of Joseph for he charged them so to do when he died. They went in the extreme ends | of the wilderness, and | our Lord went tofore them by day in a column of a cloud, and by night in a column of fire and | was their leader and duke; | the pillar of the cloud failed never by day, nor the pillar of fire by night tofore the | people. Our Lord said to Moses, | I shall make his heart so hard that he shall follow and pursue you, and I shall | | | be glorified in Pharaoh, | and in all his host, the Egyptians shall know that I am Lord. And anon it was | told to Pharaoh that the | children of Israel fled, and anon his heart was changed, and also the heart of his servants, | and said: What shall we | do, shall we suffer the children to depart and no more to serve us? Forthwith he took | his chariot and all his people | with him. He took with him six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots | and wains of Egypt, and the | dukes of all his hosts and he pursued the children of Israel and followed them in | great pride. And when he | approached, that the children of Israel saw him come, they were sore afraid and cried | to our Lord God, and said | to Moses: Was there not sepulchre enough for us in Egypt but that we must now | die in wilderness? Said | we not to thee: Go from us and let us serve the Egyptians: It had been much better for | us to have served the Egyptians | than to die here in wilderness. And Moses said to the people: Be ye not | afraid, stand and see ye | the great wonders that our Lord shall do for you this day. The Egyptians that ye now see, | ye shall never see them | after this day. God shall fight for you, and be ye still. Our Lord said then to Moses: What | criest thou to me? | Say to the children of Israel that they go forth. Take thou and raise the rod, and stretch thy | hand The upon the sea, | and depart it that the children of History Israel may go dry through the middle of it. I of | Moses shall so indurate | the heart of Pharaoh that he shall follow you, and all the Egyptians, and I shall be | glorified in Pharaoh, and | in all his host, his carts and horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am Lord | | | when I shall so be glorified. | The angel of God went tofore the castles of Israel, and another came after in the | cloud which stood between | them of Egypt and the children of Israel. And the cloud was dark that the host | of Israel might not come | to them of all the night. Then Moses stretched his hand upon the sea, and there came | a wind blowing in such | wise that it waxed dry, and the children of Israel went in through the midst of the Red | Sea all dry foot; for the | water stood up as a wall on the right side and on the left side. The Egyptians then | pursuing them followed and | entered after them, and all the carts, chariots and horsemen, through the middle of | the sea. And then our | Lord beheld that the children of Israel were passed over and were on the dry land, on | that other side. Anon turned | the water on them, and the wheels on their carts turned up so down, and drowned | all the host of Pharaoh, | and sank down into the deep of the sea. Then said the Egyptians: Let us flee Israel; the | Lord fighteth for them against us. | And our Lord said to Moses: Stretch out shine hand upon the sea, and let the | water return upon the Egyptians, | and upon their chariots and horsemen. And so Moses stretched out his hand and | the sea returned in to his |first place. And then the Egyptians would have fled, but the water came and | overflowed them in the midst | of the flood, and it covered the chariots and horsemen, and all the host of | Pharaoh, and there was not | one of them. And the children of Israel had passed through the middle of the | dry sea and came land. | | Thus delivered our Lord the children of Israel from the hand of the Egyptians, and they saw the Egyptians | | dead upon the brinks | of the sea. And the people then dreaded our Lord and believed in him, and to Moses his | servant. Then Moses and | the children of Israel sang this song to our Lord: Cantemus domino magnificatus est, | Let us sing to our Lord, | he is magnified, he hath overthrown the horsemen and carmen in the sea. And | Miriam the sister of Aaron, | a prophetess, took a timpane in her hand, and all the women followed her with | timpanes and chords, and | she went tofore singing Cantemus domino. Then Moses brought the children of | Israel from the sea into | the desert of Sur, and walked with them three days and three nights and found no | water, and came into Marah, | and the waters there were so bitter that they might not drink thereof. Then the | people grudged against | Moses, saying: What shall we drink? And he cried unto our Lord which showed to him | a tree which he took and | put into the waters, and anon they were turned into sweetness. There our Lord | ordained commandments and judgments, | and there he tempted him saying: If thou hearest the voice of thy | Lord God, and that thou do | is rightful before him, and obeyest his commandments, and keep his precepts, I | shall not bring none of the | languors ne sorrows upon thee that I did in Egypt. I am Lord thy saviour. Then the | children of Israel came in to | Elim, where as were twelve fountains of water, and seventy palm trees, and they | abode by the waters. Then | from thence went all the multitude of the children of Israel into the desert of Sin, | which is between Elim and | Sinai, and grudged against Moses and Aaron in that wilderness, and said: Would | | | God we had dwelled still | in Egypt, whereas we sat and had plenty of bread and flesh; why have ye brought us | into the desert for to slay | all this multitude by hunger? Our Lord said then to Moses: I shall rain read to you | from heaven, let the people | go out and gather every day that I may prove them whether they walk in my law or | not; the sixth day let them | gather double as much as they gathered in one day of the other. Then said Moses | and Aaron to all the children | of Israel: At even ye shall know that God hath brought you from the land of Egypt, | and to-morn ye shall see |the glory of our Lord. I have well heard your murmur against our Lord, what have ye | mused against us? What | be we? and yet said Moses; Our Lord shall give you at even flesh for to eat and to-morn | bread unto your fill, for as | much as ye have murmured against him; what be we? Your murmur is not | against us but against | our Lord. As Aaron spake to all the company of the children of Israel they beheld | towards the wilderness, and | our Lord spake to Moses in a cloud and said: I have heard the grudgings of the | children of Israel; say to | them: At even ye shall eat flesh and to-morn ye shall be filled with bread, and ye shall | know that I am your Lord | God. And when the even was come there came so many curlews that it covered all | their lodgings, and on | the morn there lay like dew all about in their circuit. Which when they saw and came | for to gather, it was small | and white like to coriander. And they wondered on it and said: Mahun, that is as | much to say, what is this? | To whom Moses said: This is the bread that God hath sent you to eat, and God | commandeth that every man | should gather as much for every head as is the measure of gomor, and let nothing | be left till on the morn. | And the sixth day gather ye double so much, that is two measures of gomor, and | keep that one measure for | the Sabbath, which God hath sanctified and commanded you to hallow it. Yet some of | them brake God's commandment, | and gathered more than they ate and kept it till on the morn, and then it | began to putrify and be full | of worms. And that they kept for the Sabbath day was good and putrified not. | And thus our Lord fed the | children of Israel forty years in the desert. And it was called Manna. Moses took one | gomor thereof and put it | in the tabernacle for to be kept for a perpetual memory and remembrance. | Then went they forth all | the multitude of the children of Israel, in the desert of Sin in their mansions and came to | Rephidim, where as they | had no water. Then all grudging they said to Moses, Give us water for to drink. | To whom Moses answered: | What grudge ye against me, why tempt ye our Lord? The people thirsted sore for | lack and penury of water | saying: Why hast thou brought us out of Egypt for to slay us and our children and | beasts? Then Moses cried | unto our Lord saying: What shall I do to this people? I trow within a while they shall | stone me to death. Then our | Lord said to Moses: Go before the people and take with thee the older men and | seniors of Israel, and take | the rod that thou smotest with the flood in thy hand, and I shall stand tofore upon the | stone of Oreb, and smite | thou the stone with the rod and the waters shall come out thereof that the people may | drink. Moses did so tofore | the seniors of Israel and called that place Temptation, because of the grudge of | the children of Israel, and | said: Is God with us or not? Then came Amalek and fought against the children of | Israel in Rephidim. Moses | said then to Joshua: Choose to thee men, and go out and fight against Amalek to-morrow. | I shall stand on the top | of the hill having the rod of God in my hand: Joshua did as Moses | commanded him, and fought | against Amalek. Moses, Aaron. and Hur, ascended into the hill, and when Moses | held up his hands, Israel | won and overcame their enemies, and when he laid them down then Amalek had | the better. The hands | of Moses were heavy; Aaron and Hur took then a stone and put it under them, and they | sustained his hands on | either side, and so his hands were not weary until the going down of the sun. And so | | | Joshua made Amalek to | flee, and his people, by strength of his sword. Our Lord said to Moses: Write this for a | remembrance in a book | and deliver it to the ears of Joshua; I shall destroy and put away the memory of | Amalek under heaven. | Moses then edified an altar unto our Lord, and called there on the name of our Lord, | saying: The Lord is mine | exaltation, for this is the hand only of God, and the battle and God shall be against | Amalek from generation to generation. | When Jethro the priest of Midian, which was cousin of Moses, heard say what our Lord had done to Moses | and to the children of | Israel his people, he took Zipporah the wife of Moses, and his two sons, Gershom and | Eleazar and came with them | to him into desert, whom Moses received with worship and kissed him. And when | they were together Moses | told him all what our Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel, and | all the labour that they endured | and how our Lord had delivered them. Jethro was glad for all these things, that | God had so saved them | from the hands of the Egyptians, and said: Blessed be the Lord that hath delivered you | from the hand of the Egyptians | and of Pharaoh, and hath saved his people; now I know that he is a great | Lord above all gods, because | they did so proudly against them. And Jethro offered sacrifices and offerings | to our Lord. Aaron and all | the seniors of Israel came and eat with him tofore our Lord. The next day Moses sat | and judged and deemed | the people from morning unto evening, which, when his cousin saw, he said to him: | What doest thou? Why sittest | thou alone and all the people tarry from the morning until evening? To whom | | | Moses answered: The people | came to me demanding sentence and the doom of God; when there is any debate | or difference among them they | come to me to judge them, and to show to them the precepts and the laws of | God. Then said Jethro: Thou | dost not well nor wisely, for by folly consumest thy self, and the people with | thee; thou thy might, thou | mayst not alone sustain it, but hear me and do there after, and our Lord shall be | with thee. Be thou unto | the people in those things that appertain to God, that thou tell to them what they | should do, and the ceremonies | and rites to worship God, and the way by which they should go, and what work | they shall do. Provide of | all people wise men and dreading God, in whom is truth, and them that hate | avarice and covetise, and | ordain of them tribunes and centurions and deans that may in all times judge the | people. And if there be of | a great charge and weight, let it be referred to thee, and let them judge the small | things; it shall be the easier | to thee to bear the charge when it is so parted. If thou do so, thou shalt fulfil the | commandment of God, and sustain | his precepts, and the people shall go home to their places in peace. Which | things when Moses had | heard and understood, he did all that he had counselled him, and chose out the | strongest and wisest people | of all Israel and ordained them princes of the people, tribunes, centurions, | quinquagenaries, and deans, which | at all times should judge and deem the people. And all the great and | weighty matters they referred | to him, deeming and judging the small causes. And then his cousin departed | and went into his country. | The third month after the children of Israel departed out of Egypt, that same day they came into the wilderness | of Sinai, and there | about the region of the mount they fixed their tents. Moses ascended into the hill unto | | | God. God called him on | the hill and said: This shalt thou say to the house of Jacob and to the children of | Israel. Ye yourselves have | seen what I have done to the Egyptians, and how I have borne you on the wings of | eagles and have taken you | to me. If ye therefore hear my voice and keep my covenant, ye shall be to me in the | reign of priesthood and holy | people. These be the words that thou shalt say to the children of Israel. Moses came | down and gathered all the | most of birth, and expounded in them all the words that our Lord had commanded | him. All the people answered: | All that ever our Lord hath said we shall do. When Moses had showed the | people the words of our Lord, | our Lord said to him: Now I shall come to thee in a cloud that the people may | hear me speaking to thee, | that they believe thee ever after. Moses went and told this to the people, and our | Lord bade them to sanctify |the people this day and to-morrow, and let them wash their clothes, and be ready | the third day. The third |day our Lord shall descend tofore all the people on the mount of Sinai. And ordain | to the people the marks | and terms in the circuit. And say to them: Beware that ye ascend not on the hill ne touch | the ends of it. Whosoever | toucheth the hill shall die by death, there shall no hand touch him, but with stones he | shall be oppressed and with | casting of them on him he shall be tolben; whether it be man or beast, he shall not | live. When thou hearest | the trump blown then ascend to the hill. Moses went down to the people and sanctified | and hallowed them, and | when they had washen their clothes he said to them: Be ye ready at the third day and | | | approach not your wives. |When the third day came, and the morning waxed clear, they heard thunder and | lightening and saw a great | cloud cover the mount, and the cry of the trump was so shrill that the people were | sore afraid. When Moses | had brought them forth unto the root of the hill they stood there. All the mount of | Sinai smoked, for so much | as our Lord descended on it in fire, and the smoke ascended from the hill as it had | been from a furnace. The | The mount was terrible and dreadful, and the sound of the trump grew a little more | and continued longer. Moses | spake and our Lord answered him. Our Lord descended upon the top of the | mount of Sinai, even on the | top of it, and called Moses to him, which when he came said to him: Go down and | charge the people that they | come not to the terms of the hill for to see the Lord, for if they do, much multitude | shall perish of them. The priests | that shall come let them be sanctified lest they be smitten down. And thou and | Aaron shall ascend the hill. | All the people and priests let them not pass their bounds lest God smite them. | Then Moses descended and | told to the people all that our Lord hath said. After this our Lord called Moses | and said: I am the Lord | God that brought you out of Egypt and of thraldom. And gave him the | Commandment first by speaking | and many ceremonies as be rehearsed in the Bible, which is not requisite to be | written here, but the ten | commandments every man is bounden to know. And ere Moses received them written, | he went up into the mount | of Sinai, and fasted there forty days and forty nights ere he received them. In | | | which time he commanded | him to make many things, and to ordain the laws and ceremonies which now be | not had in the new law. | And also as doctors say, Moses learned that time all the histories to-fore written of the | making of heaven and earth, | of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and of Joseph with his brethren. And at | last delivered to him two | tables of stone, both written with the hand of God which follow. | Here follow the Ten Commandments of our Law. | The first commandment that God commanded is this. Thou shalt not worship no strange ne diverse gods. That | is to say, thou shalt worship | no god but me, and thou shalt not retain thine hope but in me, for who that | setteth principally his hope | on any creature or faith or belief in any thing more than in me, sinneth deadly. And | such be they that worship idols, | and make their god of a creature; whosoever so doth, sinneth against this | commandment. And so do they | that overmuch love their treasures, gold or silver, or any other earthly thing that | be passing and transitory, or | set their heart or hope on any thing by which they forget and leave God their | creator and maker which hath | lent to them all that they live by. And therefore ought they to serve him with all | their goods, and above all | things to love him and worship him with all their heart, with all their soul, and | with all their strength, | like as the first commandment enseigneth and teacheth us. | The second commandment is | this, that thou shalt not take the name of God in vain, that is to say, thou shalt | not swear by him for nothing. | In this commandment our Lord commandeth in the gospel that thou shalt not | | | swear by the heaven ne by | earth ne by other creature. But for good cause and rightful a man may swear | without sin, as in judgment | or in requiring of truth, or without judgment in good and needful causes. And in | none other manner without | reason by the name of our Lord and for nought. If he swear false wittingly he is | forsworn, and that is against | the commandment and sinneth deadly, for he sweareth against his conscience, | and that is when he sweareth | by advice and by deliberation, but a man should swear truly and yet not | for nought or for any vain | or ill thing, ne maliciously. But to swear lightly without hurt or blame is venial sin, | but the custom thereof is | perilous and may well turn to deadly sin but if he take heed. But he then that sweareth | horribly by our Lord, or | by any of his members, or by his saints in despite, and blasphemeth in things that be | not true, or otherwise, he sinneth | deadly, he may have no reason whereby he may excuse him. And they that | most accustom them in | this sin they sin most, etc. The third commandment is that thou have mind and | remember that thou hallow | and keep holy thy Sabbath day or Sunday. That is to say, that thou shalt do no work | nor operation on the Sunday | or holy day, but thou shalt rest from all worldly labour and intend to prayer, and to | serve God thy maker, which | rested the seventh day of the works that he made in the six days tofore, in which | he made and ordained the world. | This commandment accomplisheth he that keepeth to his power the peace of | -
Mike Says:
2014-01-14 PM 6:17 | This commandment accomplisheth he that keepeth to his power the peace of | his conscience for to serve | God more holily. Then this day that the Jews called Sabbath is as much to say as | rest. This commandment may | no man keep spiritually that is encumbered in his conscience with deadly sin, | such a conscience can not | be in rest ne in peace as long as he is in such a state. In the stead of the Sabbath day | which was straitly kept in | the old law, holy church hath established the Sunday in the new law. For our Lord | | | arose from death to life | on the Sunday, and therefore we ought to keep it holily, and be in rest from the works of | the week tofore, and to | cease of the work of sin, and to intend to do ghostly works, and to follow our Lord | beseeching him of mercy | and to thank him for his benefits, for they that break the Sunday and the other | solemn feasts that be stablished | to be hallowed in holy church, they sin deadly, for they do directly against the | commandment of God aforesaid | and holy church, but if it be for some necessity that holy church admitteth and | granteth. But they sin much | more then, that employ the Sunday and the feasts in sins, in lechery, in going to | taverns in the service time, | in gluttony and drinking drunk, and in other sins, outrages against God. For alas | for sorrow I trow there is more | sin committed on the Sunday and holy days and feasts than in the other work | days. For then be they drunk, | fight and slay, and be not occupied virtuously in God's service as they ought to do. | And as God commandeth us | to remember and have in mind to keep and hallow the holy day, they that so do | sin deadly and observe and | keep not this third commandment. These three commandments be written | in the first table and appertain | only to God. The fourth commandment is that thou shalt honour and | worship thy father and | mother, for thou shalt live the longer on earth. This commandment admonisheth us | that we be well ware to | anger father and mother in any wise. Or who that curseth them or set hand on them in | evil will, sinneth deadly. | In this commandment is understood the honour that we should do to our ghostly | | | and spiritual fathers, that is | to them that have the cure of us, to teach and chastise us, as be the prelates of the | Church, and they that have | the charge and cure of our souls, and to keep our bodies. And he that will not obey | to him that hath the cure over | him when he enseigneth and teacheth him good that he is bound to do, he | sinneth grievously and is | inobedient, which is deadly sin. The fifth commandment is that thou shalt slay no man. | This commandment will that | no man shall slay the other for vengeance, ne for his goods, or for any other evil | cause, it is deadly sin. But | for to slay malefactors in executing of justice or for other good cause, if it be | lawful it may well be done. | In this commandment is defended the sin of wrath and hate, of rancour and of | ire. For as the Scripture saith: | Who hateth his brother is an homicide when it is by his will, and he sinneth | deadly; and he that beareth | anger in his heart long, for such ire long holden in the heart is rancour and hate, | which is deadly sin, | and is against this commandment. And yet sinneth he more that doth or purchaseth shame, | villany or hurt to another wrongfully, | or counselleth or helpeth to grieve another for to avenge him. But wrath | or anger lightly past without | will to noy or grieve any other, is not deadly sin. The sixth commandment is, thou shalt not | do adultery, that is to say, | thou shalt not have fleshly company with another man's wife. In this commandment it is forbidden | and defended all manner | sin of the flesh which is called generally lechery, which is a right foul sin and | villainous. How be it that there | is some branch of it that is not deadly sin, as oft movings of the flesh that may | | | not be eschewed, which men | ought to restrain and refrain as much as they may. And this cometh oft times | by outrageous drinking and | eating, or by evil thought, or foul touching, for in such things may be great peril. And | in this commandment is | defended all sin against nature, in what manner it be done in his person or other. | The seventh commandment is | that thou shalt do no theft. This commandment forbiddeth to take away other | men's things whatsomever they | be, without reason, against the will of them that owe or make them. In this | commandment is defended ravin, |usury, robbery and deceit, and beguiling other for to have their havoir or | good. And he that doth | against this commandment is bound to make restitution and yield again that he hath | so gotten or taken, if he | know to whom he ought to render it. And if he know not, he is bounden to give it | for God's sake, or do by | the counsel of holy church. For who retaineth wrongfully and without reason other | men's goods against their will, | sinneth deadly, if he pay not where as he oweth, if he know where and be in his | power and hath whereof. | And if he know not let him do by the counsel of holy church, and whoso doth not so, | sinneth against this commandment | deadly. The eighth commandment is that thou shalt not bear | false witness against thy | neighbour. In this commandment is forbidden that no man shall lie | wittingly, for whoso lieth | doth against this commandment. And also that he forswear not him in | judgment, ne make no leasings | to annoy ne grieve another, nor he ought not to missay ne speak evil of | | | others in intention to impair | his good name and fame, for it is deadly sin. Against this commandment do they | that say evil of good men | behind them, and backbite them, and do this wittingly by malice, which is called | detraction. And also they | that accuse some of their folly, or hearken by manner of adulation or flattering, when | they that men speak of | be not present. They that do thus and say such words do against this commandment, for | they be all false witnesses. | The ninth commandment is that thou shalt not desire the wife of thy neighbour, nor shalt not covet her | in thine heart, that is | to say, thou shalt not consent to sin with her with thy body. This commandment defendeth to | desire to have company with | all manner women out of marriage, and the evil signs that be without forth make | men for to draw them to sin, | as the evil words of such matter, or the foul and evil attouching, kissing, handling | and such other. And the | difference between this commandment and the sixth aforesaid is that, the sixth | commandment forbiddeth the deed | without forth, and this forbiddeth the consenting within forth; for the | consenting within forth to have | company with a woman that is not his by marriage is deadly sin, after the | sentence of the gospel that | saith: Who that seeth a woman and coveteth her in his heart, he hath now | sinned in his heart and deadly. | This is to understand of the consenting expressed in his thought. | The tenth commandment is that |thou shalt not covet nothing that is, or longeth to, thy neighbour. This | commandment defendeth will to have | things that belong to other men by evil reason or wrongfully. In this | commandment is defended envy | of other men's weal, of other men's grace or welfare. For such envy cometh of | evil covetise to have such good | or such grace or fortune as he seeth in other. And this covetise is when the | consenting and thought be certainly | one, then it is deadly sin. And if there be any evil movings without | will and consenting of damage | or hurt of other, this is not deadly sin. If he sin herein it is but venial sin. These | be the ten commandments of | our Lord, of which the three first belong to God, and the seven other be | ordained for our neighbours. | Every person that hath wit and understanding in himself, and age, is bound to | know them and to obey | and keep these ten commandments aforesaid or else he sinneth deadly. | Thus Moses abode in | the hill forty days and forty nights and received of Almighty God the tables with the | commandments written with the | hand of God; and also received and learned many ceremonies and statutes that | God ordained, by which | the children of Israel should be ruled and judged. And whiles that Moses was thus with | our Lord on the mount, | the children of Israel saw that he tarried and descended not, and some of them said that | he was dead or gone away, | and would not return again, and some said nay; but in conclusion they gathered | them together against Aaron, | and said to him: Make to us some gods that may go tofore us, we know not what | is befallen to Moses. Then | Aaron said: Take the gold that hangeth in the ears of your wives and your children, | and bring it to me. The | people did as he bade, and brought the gold to Aaron, which he took and molt it | and made thereof a calf. | Then they said, These be thy gods, Israel, that brought thee out of the land of Egypt. | Then the people made an altar | tofore it, and made great joy and mirth, and danced and played tofore the calf, | and offered and made sacrifices | thereto. Our Lord spake to Moses, saying: Go hence and descend down, thy | people have sinned whom | thou hast brought forth from the land of Egypt. They have soon forsaken and left the | way which thou hast showed | to them. They have made to them a calf blown, and they have worshipped it, and | offered sacrifices thereto, saying: | These be thy gods, Israel, that have brought thee out of the land of Egypt. | Yet said our Lord to Moses: | I see well that this people is of evil disposition, suffer me that I may wreak my | wrath on them, and I shall | destroy them. I shall make thee governor of great people. Moses then prayed our | | | Lord God saying: Why art | thou wroth, Lord, against thy people that thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt | in a great strength and | a boisterous hand? I beseech thee, Lord, let not the Egyptians say that their God hath | locked them out for to slay | them in the mountains. I pray thee Lord that thy wrath may assuage, and be thou | pleased and benign upon | the wickedness of thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob thy servants, to | whom thou promisedst and | swaredst by thyself saying: I shall multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and the | universal land of which I | have spoken I shall give to your seed, and ye shall possess and have it ever. And | with these words our Lord | was pleased that he would do no harm as he had said unto his people; and Moses | returned from the mount, | bearing two tables of stone, written both with the hand of God. And the scripture | that was in the tables were | the ten commandments as fore be written. Joshua hearing the great noise of the | children of Israel said to | Moses: I trow they fight beneath, which answered and said: It is no cry of | exhorting men to fight, ne | noise to compel me to flee, but I hear the noise of singing. When he approached to | them he saw the calf | and the instruments of mirth, and he was so wroth that he threw down the tables and | brake them at the foot | of the hill, and ran and caught down the calf that they had made, and burnt and smote | it all to powder, which | he cast into water and gave it to drink to the children of Israel. Then said Moses to | Aaron: What hath this people | done to thee that thou hast made to sin grievously? To whom he answered: Let | | | not my lord take none indignation | at me, thou knowest well that this people is prone and ready to sin. They said | to me: Make us gods that | may go tofore us; we know not what is fallen to this Moses that led us out of Egypt. |
|To whom I said: Who of you that hath gold give it me; they took and gave it to me, and I cast it into | the fire, and thereof |came out this calf. And then said Moses: All they that be of God's part and have not sinned in this | calf let them join to me; and |the children of Levi joined to him, and he bade each man take a sword on his side | and take vengeance and |slay every each his brother, friend, and his neighbour that have trespassed. And so | | | the children of Levi went | and slew thirty three thousand of the children of Israel. And then said Moses: Ye have| hallowed this day your hands |unto our Lord, and ye shall be therefore blessed. The second day Moses spake | to the people and said: |Ye have committed and done the greatest sin that may be. I shall ascend unto our Lord | again, and shall pray him |for your sin. Then Moses ascended again, and received afterwards two tables | again, which our Lord |bade him make. And therein our Lord wrote the commandments. And after, our Lord | commanded him to make | an ark and a tabernacle: in which ark was kept three things. First the rod with | which he did marvels, |a pot full of manna, and the two tables with commandments. And then after Moses | taught them the law; how |each man should behave him against other and what he should do, and what he | should not do, and departed | them into twelve tribes, and commanded that every man should bring a rod into the| Tabernacle. And Moses wrote |each name on the rod, and Moses shut fast the tabernacle. And on the morn there | was found one of the rods |that burgeoned and bare leaves and fruit, and was of an almond tree. That rod fell to Aaron. | And after this, long time, |the children desired to eat flesh and remembered of the flesh that they ate in Egypt, | and grudged against Moses, |and would have ordained to them a duke for to have returned into Egypt. Wherefore | Moses was so woe that he | desired of our Lord to deliver him from this life, because he saw them so unkind| against God. Then God |sent to them so great plenty of curlews that two days and one night they flew so thick | | | by the ground that they | took great number, for they flew but the height of two cubits. And they had so many that| they dried them hanging on |their tabernacles and tents. Yet were they not content, but ever grudging, wherefore | God smote them and took | vengeance on them by a great plague and many died and were buried there. And then| from thence they went into | Hazeroth and dwelt. After this Miriam and Aaron, brother and sister of Moses| began to speak against | Moses, because of his wife which was of Ethiopia, and said: God hath not spoken| only by Moses, hath he | not also spoken to us? Wherefore our Lord was wroth. Moses was the| humblest and the meekest | man that was in all the world. Anon then, our Lord said to him, and to Aaron and to| Miriam: Go ye three only |unto the tabernacle; and there our Lord said that there was none like to Moses, to | whom he had spoken mouth |to mouth, and reproved Aaron and Miriam because they spake so to Moses, and | being wroth, departed from |them, and anon, Miriam was smitten and made leper and white like snow. And when | Aaron beheld her and saw |her smitten with leprosy, he said to Moses: I beseech the Lord that thou set not the | sin on us which we have |committed follily, and let not this our sister be as a dead woman, or as born out of | time and cast away from | her mother, behold and see, half her flesh is devoured of the leprosy. Then Moses | cried unto our Lord, saying: | I beseech thee Lord that thou heal her; to whom our Lord said: If her father had| spit in her face should she |not be put to shame and rebuke seven days? Let her depart out of the castles | | | seven days, and after she |shall be called in again. So Miriam was shut out of the castles seven days, and the | people removed not from |the place till she was called again. After this our Lord commanded Moses to send | men into the land of Canaan |that he should give them charge for to see and consider the goodness thereof, and that of | every tribe he should send |some. Moses did so as our Lord had commanded, which went in and brought of the | fruits with them, and they |brought a branch with one cluster of grapes as much as two men might bear | between them upon a colestaff. | When they had seen the country and considered by the space of forty days they| returned and told the commodities |of the land, but some said that the people were strong, and many kings and | giants, in such wise that | they said it was impregnable and that the people were much stronger than they were.| Wherefore the people anon |were afeard, and murmured against Moses and would return again into Egypt. Then | Joshua and Caleb, which were |two of them that had considered the land, said to the people: Why grudge ye | and wherefore be ye afraid? |We have well seen the country, and it is good to win. The country floweth full | of milk and honey, be not rebel |against God, he shall give it us, be ye not afeard. Then all the people cried | against them, and when they |would have taken stones and stoned them, our Lord in his glory appeared in a | cloud upon the covering of | the tabernacle, and said to Moses: This people believeth not the signs and wonders| that I have showed and |done to them. I shall destroy them all by pestilence, and I shall make thee a prince | | | upon people greater and |stronger than this is. Then prayed Moses to our Lord for the people, that he would | have pity on them and not |destroy them, but to have mercy on them after the magnitude of his mercy. And | our Lord at his request forgave |them. Nevertheless our Lord said that all the men that had seen his majesty, and | the signs and marvels that |he did in Egypt, and in desert, and have tempted him ten times, and not obeyed | unto his voice, shall not |see ne come into the country and land that I have promised to their fathers, but | Joshua and Caleb, my servants, |shall enter into the land, and their seed shall possess it. Moses told all this unto | the children and they wailed | and sorrowed greatly therefore. After this the people removed from thence| and came into the desert |of Sin; and there Miriam, sister of Moses and Aaron, died, and was buried in the same place. Then | the people lacked water and | came and grudged against Moses, and yet wished they had abided in Egypt. Then| Moses and Aaron entered into | the Tabernacle and fell down to the ground low, and prayed unto our Lord,| saying: Lord God, hear the clamour | of thy people, and open to them thy treasure, a fountain of living water,| that they may drink and |the murmuration of them may cease. Our Lord said to him then: Take the rod in thy | hand, and thou and Aaron | thy brother, assemble and gather the people and speak ye to the stone, and it shall| give out water. And |when the water cometh let all the multitude drink and their beasts. Moses then took the | rod as our Lord bade, | and gathered all the people tofore the stone and said to them: Hear ye rebels and out of| belief; trow ye not that |we may give you water out of this stone? And he lift up his hand and smote between | the stone, and water came | and flowed out in the most largest wise, in such wise that the people and beasts| drank their fill. Then said |God to Moses and Aaron: Because ye have not believed me and sanctified my | name tofore the children |of Israel, and given to me the laud, but have done this in your name, ye shall not bring | this people into the | land that I shall give to them. And therefore this water was called the water of| contradiction, where the children | grudged against God. Anon after this, by God's commandment, Moses took | Aaron upon the hill, |and despoiled him of his vesture, and clothed therewith his son Eleazar, and made him | upperest bishop for his father |Aaron. And there Aaron died in the top of the hill, and Moses descended with | Eleazar. And when all |the multitude of people saw that Aaron was dead, they wept and wailed on him thirty | days in every tribe and family. |After this the people went about the land of Edom, and began to wax weary, and grudged against our | Lord and Moses, and |said yet: Why hast thou led us out of the land of Egypt for to slay us in this desert and ||there is no water, and our souls abhor and loathe this light meat. For which cause | God sent among them fiery- |serpents, which bit and wounded many of them and slew also. Then they that | were hurt came into Moses |and said: We have sinned, for we have spoken against our Lord and thee; pray for | us unto God that he deliver |from us these serpents. Then Moses prayed our Lord for the people. And our Lord | said to him: Make a serpent |of brass and set it up for a sign, and whosomever be hurt, and looketh thereon and | beholdeth it, shall live and | be whole. Then Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it up for a sign, and when| they that were hurt beheld | it they were made whole. After this when Moses had showed to them all the laws| of our Lord, and ceremonies, |and had governed them forty years, and that he was an hundred and twenty | years old, he ascended from | the fields of Moab upon the mountain of Nebo into the top of Pisgah against| Jericho, and there our Lord | showed to him all the land of Gilead unto Dan, and the land of promise from that| one end unto that other. |And then our Lord said to him: This is the land that I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and | Jacob, saying: I shall |give it to thy seed. Now thou hast seen it with thine eyes, and shalt not enter ne come | | | therein. And there in that | place died Moses, servant of our Lord, as God commanded, and was buried in the| vale of the land of Moab | against Beth-peor. And yet never man knew his sepulchre unto this day. Moses was| an hundred and twenty | years old when he died, his eyes never dimmed, ne his teeth were never moved. The| children of Israel wept and |mourned for him thirty days in the fields of Moab. Joshua the son of Nun was | replenished with the spirit of | wisdom; for Moses set on him his hands, and the children obeyed him as our Lord| had commanded to Moses. |And there was never after a prophet in Israel like unto Moses, which knew and | spake to God face to face |in all signs and tokens that God did and showed by him in the land of Egypt to | Pharaoh and all his servants. |The History of Joshua. After Moses, Joshua was duke and leader of the | children of Israel, and brought | them into the land of behest, and did many great battles. For whom God| showed many great marvels | and in especial one; that was that the sun stood still at his request, till he had | overcome his enemies, by |the space of a day. And our Lord, when he fought, sent down such hail-stones that | slew more of his enemies |with the stones than with man's hand. Joshua was a noble man and governed well | Israel, and divided the |land unto the twelve tribes by lot. And when he was an hundred and ten years old he died. And divers | dukes after him judged |and deemed Israel, of whom be noble histories, as of Jephthah, Gideon, and Sampson, | which I pass over unto |the histories of the kings, which is read in holy church from the first Sunday after Trinity | | | Sunday, unto the first Sunday | of August. And in the month of August is read the Book of Sapience, and in| the month of September be | read the histories of Job, of Tobit, and of Judith, and in October the history of the | Maccabees, and in November |the book of Ezechiel and his visions. And in December the history of Advent. and | the book of lsaiah unto |Christmas and after the feast of Epiphany unto Septuagesima be read the Epistles of | Paul. And this is the rule |of the temporal through the year, etc. The History of Saul. | The first Sunday after Trinity |Sunday unto the first Sunday of the month of August is read the Book of Kings. | This history maketh mention | that there was a man named Elkanah which had two wives, that one was| named Hannah, and the name | of the second Peninnah. Peninnah had children and Hannah had none but was| barren. The good man | at such days as he was bounden, went to his city for to make his sacrifice and worship| God. In this time Hophni |and Phineas sons of Eli; the great priest, were priests of our Lord. This Elkanah gave | to Peninnah at such times | as he offered, to her sons and daughters, certain parts, and unto Hannah he gave but| one part. Peninnah did | much sorrow and reproof to Hannah because she had had no children, and thus did | every year, and provoked |her to wrath, but she wept for sorrow and ate no meat. To whom Elkanah her husband | said: Hannah, why weepest | thou? and wherefore eatest thou not? Why is thine heart put to affliction? Am I not| better to thee than ten sons? |Then Hannah arose after she had eaten and drunk in Shilo and went to pray unto | our Lord, making to him |a vow if that she might have a son she should offer him to our Lord. Eli that time sat | tofore the posts of the |house of our Lord. And Hannah besought and prayed our Lord, making to him a vow, if | | | that she might have a |son she should offer him to our Lord. And it was so that she prayed so heartily in her | thought and mind, that |her lips moved not, wherefore Eli bare her on hand that she was drunk. And she said: | Nay, my Lord, I am a sorrowful | woman, I have drunken no wine ne drink that may cause me to be drunken, but I| have made my prayers, |and cast my soul in the sight of Almighty God. Repute me not as one of the daughters of | Belial, for the prayer that | I have made and spoken yet is of the multitude of the heaviness and sorrow of my| heart. Then Eli the priest |said to her: Go in peace, the God of Israel give to thee the petition of thy heart for | that thou hast prayed him. | And she said: Would God that thy handservant might find grace in thy sight. And| so she departed, and on |the morn they went home again in to Ramatha. After this our Lord remembered her, and | Elkanah knew her, and she |conceived, and at time accustomed brought forth and bare a fair son and named | him Samuel for so much as | she asked him of our Lord. Wherefore Elkanah, her husband, went and offered a | solemn sacrifice and his |vow accomplished, but Hannah ascended not with him. She said to her husband that she | would not go till her child | were weaned and taken from the pap. And after when Samuel was weaned, and was | an infant, the mother |took him, and three calves and three measures of meal, and a bottle of wine, and | brought him unto the house |of our Lord in Shilo and sacrificed that calf and offered the child to Eli, and told | to Eli that she was the |woman that prayed our Lord for that child. And there Hannah worshipped our Lord and | | | thanked him, and there | made this psalm which is one of the canticles: Exultavit cor meum in domino, et| exaltatum est cornu meum | in deo meo, and so forth, all the remnant of that psalm. And then Elkanah with his | wife returned home to his |house. After this our Lord visited Hannah, and she conceived three sons, and two | daughters, which she brought |forth. And Samuel abode in the house of our Lord and was minister in the sight of | Eli. But the two sons | of Eli, Hophni and Phineas were children of Belial, not knowing our Lord, but did great| sins against the commandments | of God. And our Lord sent a prophet to Eli because he corrected not his sons,| and said he would take | the office from him and from his house, and that there should not be an old man in his | house and kindred, but |should die ere they came to man's estate, and that God should raise a priest that | should be faithful and after his heart. |Samuel served and ministered our Lord in a surplice before Eli. And on a time as Eli lay in his bed his | eyes were so dimmed | that he might not see the lantern of God till it was quenched and put out. Samuel slept in| the temple of our Lord |whereas the ark of God was, and our Lord called Samuel, which answered: I am ready, | and ran to Eli and said: |I am ready, thou calledst me. Which said: I called thee not my son, return and sleep, | and he returned and slept. |And our Lord called him the second time, and he arose and went to Eli and said: Lo! | I am here, thou calledst |me, which answered: I called thee not, go thy way, and sleep. Samuel knew not the | calling of our Lord yet, ne |there was never revelation showed him tofore. And our Lord called Samuel the | third time, which arose and |came to Eli and said: I am here, for thou calledst me. Then Eli understood that our | | | Lord had called him, and said |to Samuel: Go and sleep, and if thou be called again thou shalt say: Speak, Lord, | for thy servant heareth thee. |Samuel returned and slept in his place, and our Lord came and called him: Samuel! | Samuel! and Samuel said: | Say, Lord, what it pleaseth, for thy servant heareth. And then our Lord said to| Samuel: Lo! I make my |word to be known in Israel that whoso heareth, his ears shall ring and sound thereof. In | that day I shall raise against |Eli all that I have said upon his house. I shall begin and accomplish it. I have given | him in knowledge that I |shall judge his house for wickedness, forasmuch as he knoweth his sons to do | wickedly, and hath not corrected |them. Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the wickedness of his | house shall not be made |clean with sacrifices ne gifts never. Samuel slept till on the morn, and then he rose | and opened the doors |of the house of our Lord in his surplice; and Samuel was afeard to show this vision | unto Eli. Eli called him |and asked what our Lord hath said to him and charged him to tell him all: and Samuel | told to him all that our |Lord had said, and hid nothing from him. And he said: He is our Lord, what it pleaseth | him, let him do. Samuel |grew, and our Lord was with him in all his works. And it was known to all Israel from | Dan to Beersheba that Samuel |was the true prophet of our Lord. After this it was so that the Philistines warred | against the children of Israel, |against whom there was a battle, and the children of Israel overthrown and put to | flight. Wherefore they assembled | again, and took with them the ark of God which Hophni and Phineas, sons of| | | Eli, bare, and when they |came with a great multitude with the ark, the Philistines were afraid. | Notwithstanding they fought against |them manly and slew thirty thousand footmen of the children of Israel | and took the ark of God. |And the two sons of Eli were slain, Hophni and Phineas. And a man of the tribe of | Benjamin ran for to tell |this unto Eli which sat abiding some tidings of the battle. This man, as soon as he | entered into the town, told |how the field was lost, the people slain, and how the ark was taken. And there was | a great sorrow and cry. |And when Eli heard this cry and wailing he demanded what this noise was and meant, | and wherefore they so sorrowed. | Then the man hied and came and told to Eli. Eli was at that tide ninety-eight| years old, and his eyes |were waxen blind and might not see, and he said: I am he that came from the battle, and | fled this day from the host. |To whom Eli said: What is there done my son? He answered: The host of Israel is | overthrown and fled tofore |the Philistines, and a great ruin is made among the people, thy two sons be slain | and the ark of God is taken. | And when Eli heard him name the ark of God he fell down backward by the door| and brake his neck and |there died. He was an old man and had judged Israel forty years. Then the Philistines |took the ark of God and | set it in their temple of Dagon by their god Dagon, in Ashdod. On the morn the next| day early, when they of |Ashdod came into their temple, they saw their god Dagon lie on the ground tofore the | ark of God upon his face, | and the head and the two hands of Dagon were cut off. And there abode no more| | | but the trunk only in the place. | And God showed many vengeances to them of the country as long as the ark was| with them, for God smote |them with sickness in their secret parts, and wells boiled in towns and fields of that | region, and there grew among |them so many mice, that they suffered great persecution and confusion in that | city. The people seeing this | vengeance and plague said: Let not the ark of the God of Israel abide longer with us,| for his hand is hard |on us and on Dagon our god, and sent for the great masters and governors of the | Philistines, and when they | were gathered they said: What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And| they answered: Let it | be led all about the cities, and so it was, and a great vengeance and death was had upon| all the cities, and smote |every man with plague from the most to the least; in such wise that the nether parts of | them putrified and rotted |off them, and that they made to them seats of furs and skins to sit soft. And then they | sent the ark of God into |Acheron and when they of Acheron saw the ark, they cried saying: They have | brought the ark of the God | of Israel to us, for to slay us and our people. They cried that the ark should be sent | home again, for much |people were dead by the vengeance that was taken on them in their secret parts, | and a great howling and |wailing was among them. The ark was in the region of the Philistines seven months. | After this they counselled | with their priests what they should do with the ark, and it was concluded it should| be sent home again, but | the priests said: If ye send it home, send it not void, but what ye owe pay for your | | | trespass and sin, and then |ye shall be healed and cured of your sicknesses. And so they ordained after the | number of the five provinces |of the Philistines, five pieces of gold and five mice of gold, and led to a wain | and put in it two wild kine, | which never bare yoke, and said, Leave their calves at home and take the ark and set| it on the wain, and also |the vessels and pieces of gold that ye have paid for your trespass, set them at the side | of the ark and let them | go where they will, and thus they sent the ark of God unto the children of Israel.| Samuel then governed Israel |long, and when he was old he set his sons judges on Israel, whose names were Joel | and Abiah. And these |two his sons walked not in his ways, but declined after covetise and took gifts and | perverted justice and doom. |Then assembled and gathered together all the greatest of birth of the children | of Israel, and came to | Samuel and said: Lo! thou art old and thy sons walk not in thy ways, wherefore ordain to| us a king that may judge |and rule us like as all other nations have. This displeased much to Samuel when | they said Ordain on us a king. |Then Samuel counselled on this matter with our Lord, to whom God said: Hear | the voice of the people |that speak to thee: they have not cast only thee away, but me, that I should not reign on | them, for they do now like | as they ever have done sith I brought them out of Egypt unto this day; that is that| they have served false gods | and strange, and so do they to thee. Notwithstanding hear them, and tell to them| tofore, the right of the king, | and how he shall oppress them. Samuel told all this to the people that demanded to have| | | a king, and said: |This shall be the right of a king that shall reign on you. He shall take your sons and make | them his men of war, |and set them in his chariots and shall make them his carters and riders of his horse in his | chariots and carts, and |shall ordain of them tribunes and centurions, earers and tillers of his fields, and mowers | and reapers of his corn, |and he shall make them smiths, and armourers of harness and cars, and he shall also | take your daughters and make |them his unguentaries, and ready at his will and pleasure; he shall also take | from you your fields and |vineyards and the best olives and give them to his servants, and he shall task and | dime your corn and sheaves, |and the rents of your vineyards he shall value for to give to his officers and | servants, and shall take |from you your servants, both men and women, and set them to his works. And your | asses and beasts he also | shall take to his labour, your flocks of sheep he shall task and take the tenth or what| shall please him, and |ye shall be to him thrall and servants. And ye shall cry then wishing to flee from the | face of your king, and our | Lord shall not hear you nor deliver you because ye have asked for you a king. Yet| for all this the people |would not hear Samuel, but said: Give to us a king, for a king shall reign on us, and we | shall be as all other people |be. And our king shall judge us and go before us, and he shall fight our battles for us. | And Samuel heard all and |counselled with our Lord. To whom God commanded to ordain to them a king, and so | he did, for he took a man |of the tribe of Benjamin whose name was Saul, a good man and chosen, and | | | there was not a better among | all the children of Israel, and he was higher of stature from the shoulder upward | than any other of all the people. | And Samuel anointed him king upon Israel, and said to him: Our Lord God| hath anointed thee upon |his heritage and ordained thee a prince, and thou shalt deliver his people from the | hands of his enemies that |be in the circuit and countries about, and so departed from him. And Samuel after this | gathered the people together |and said: Our Lord saith that he hath brought you from the land of Egypt, and | -
Mike Says:
2014-01-15 PM 3:51 |and said: Our Lord saith that he hath brought you from the land of Egypt, and | saved you from the hands |of all the kings that were your enemies and pursued you, and ye have forsaken our | Lord God that hath only | delivered you from all your evil and tribulations, and have said: Ordain upon us a king. | Wherefore now stand every | each in his tribe, and we shall lot who shall be our king. And the lot fell on the| tribe of Benjamin, and |in that tribe the lot fell upon Saul the son of Kish. And they sought him and could | not find him, and it |was told him that he was hid in his house at home, and the people ran thither and fetched | him and set him amidst | all the people. And he was higher than any of all the people from the shoulder| upward. Then Samuel said |to the people, Now ye see and behold whom our Lord hath chosen, for there is | none like him of all the people. | And then all the people cried: Vivat Rex, live the king. Samuel wrote the law of | the realm to the people | in a book, and put it tofore our Lord. Thus was Saul made the first king in Israel, and| anon had much war, for | on all sides men warred on the children of Israel, and he defended them, and Saul had| divers battles and had victory. |Samuel came on a time to Saul and said God commanded him to fight against Amalek and | that he should slay |and destroy man, woman, and child, ox, cow, camel and ass and sheep, and spare nothing. Then | Saul assembled his people |and had two hundred thousand footmen and twenty thousand men of the tribe | of Judah, and went forth |and fought against Amalek and slew them, sauf he saved Agag the King of Amalek alive, | and all other he slew, |but he spared the best flocks of sheep and of other beasts, and also good clothes, and | wethers, and all that was | good he spared, and whatsomever was foul he destroyed. And this was| showed to Samuel by our Lord, |saying: Me forthinketh that I have ordained Saul king upon Israel, for he hath | forsaken me, and not fulfilled | my commandments. Samuel was sorry herefor, and wailed all the night. On| the morn he rose and came |to Saul, and Saul offered sacrifice to our Lord of the pillage that he had taken. | And Samuel demanded of | Saul what noise that was he heard of sheep and beasts, and he said that they were of| the beasts that the people |had brought from Amalek to offer unto our Lord, and the residue were slain. They | have spared the best and |fattest for to do sacrifice with unto thy Lord God. Then said Samuel to Saul: | Rememberest thou not that | whereas thou wert least among the tribes of Israel thou wert made upperest? And| our Lord anointed thee, |and made thee king. And he said to thee: Go and slay the sinners of Amalek and | leave none alive, man ne |beast; why hast thou not obeyed the commandment of our Lord? And hast run to | robbery and done evil | in the sight of God? And then said Saul to Samuel: I have taken Agag, king of the | Amalekites, and brought |him with me, but I have slain Amalek. The people have taken of the sheep and beasts | of the best for to offer | unto our Lord God. And then said Samuel: Trowest thou that our Lord would rather have| sacrifice and offerings than |not to obey his commandments. Better is obedience than sacrifice, and | better it is to take heed |to do after thy Lord than to offer the fat kidneys of the wethers. For it is a sin to | withstand and to repugn | against his Lord like the sin of idolatry. And because thou hast not obeyed our Lord,| and cast away his word, |our Lord hath cast thee away that thou shalt not be king. Then said Saul to Samuel: I | have sinned for I have |not obeyed the word of God and thy words, but have dreaded the people and obeyed to | | | their request, but I pray |thee to bear my sin and trespass and return with me that I may worship our Lord. And | Samuel answered, I shall |not return with thee. And so Samuel departed, and yet ere he departed, he did do slay | Agag the king. And Samuel |saw never Saul after unto his death.. Then our Lord bade Samuel to go and anoint one of the | sons of Isai, otherwise called | Jesse, to be king of Israel. And so he came into Bethlehem unto Jesse and bade| him bring his sons tofore |him. This Jesse had eight sons, he brought tofore Samuel seven of them, and | Samuel said there was not |he that he would have. Then he said that there was no more, save one which was | youngest and yet a child, |and kept sheep in the field. And Samuel said: Send for him, for I shall eat no bread | till he come. And so he was | sent for and brought. He was ruddy and fair of visage and well favoured, and| Samuel arose, and took an |horn with oil and anointed him in the middle of his brethren. And forthwith the | spirit of our Lord came directly |in him that same day and ever after Then Samuel departed and came in to | Ramah. And the spirit |of our Lord went away from Saul and an evil spirit oft vexed him. Then his servants said | to him: Thou oft art vexed |with an evil spirit, it were good to have one that could harp, to be with thee when | the spirit vexeth thee, thou |shalt bear it the lighter. And he said to his servants: Provide ye to me such one. And | then one said: I saw one | of Jesse's sons play on a harp, a fair child and strong, wise in his talking and our Lord is| with him. Then Saul sent | messages to Jesse for David, and Jesse sent David his son with a present of bread, | | | wine, and a kid, to Saul. |And always when the evil spirit vexed Saul, David harped tofore him and anon he was | eased, and the evil spirit went his way. |After this the Philistines gathered them into great hosts to make war against Saul and the children of Israel, | and Saul gathered the children |of Israel together and came against them in the vale of Terebinthe. The Philistines | stood upon the hill |on that other part, and the valley was between them. And there came out of the host of the | Philistines a great giant |named Goliath of Gath; he was six cubits high and a palm, and a helmet of brass on his | head, and was clad in a habergeon. |The weight of his habergeon was of five thousand shekels of weight of | metal. He had boots of brass |on his calves, and his shoulders were covered with plates of brass. His glaive | was as a great colestaff, |and there was thereon six shekels of iron, and his squire went tofore him and cried | against them of Israel, and | said they should choose a man to fight a singular battle against Goliath, and if he| were overcome the Philistines | should be servants to Israel, and if he prevailed and overcame his enemy, they| of Israel should serve the |Philistines, and thus he did cry forty days long. Saul and the children of Israel were | sore afraid. David was | at this time in Bethlehem with his father, and kept sheep, and three of his brethren| were in the host with Saul. |To whom Jesse said: lodgings of the Philistines, and took all the pillage. | David took the head | of Goliath and brought it into Jerusalem, and his arms he brought into his tabernacle.| And Abner brought David, |having the head of Goliath in his hand, tofore Saul. And Saul demanded of him of | what kindred that he was, |and he said that he was son of Jesse of Bethlehem, and forthwith that same time | Jonathan, the son of Saul, |loved David as his own soul. Saul then would not give him licence to return to his | | | father, and Jonathan and |he were confederate and swore each of them to be true to other, for Jonathan gave his | coat that he was clad withal, |and all his other garments, unto his sword and spear, unto David. And David did all | that ever Saul bade him |do wisely and prudently. And when he returned from the battle, and Goliath was slain, | the women came out from |every town singing with choirs and timpanes against the coming of Saul with | great joy and gladness, saying: |Saul hath slain a thousand and David hath slain ten thousand. And this | saying displeased much to Saul, |which said: They have given to David ten thousand and to me one thousand; | what may he more have save | the realm, and to be king? For this cause Saul never loved David after that day, ne| never looked on him friendly | but ever sought means afterward to destroy David, for he dreaded that David| should be lord with him, |and put him from him. And David was wise and kept him well from him. And after | this he wedded Michal, |daughter of Saul, and Jonathan made oft times peace between Saul and David, yet Saul | kept no promise, but ever | lay in wait to slay David. And Jonathan warned David thereof. And David gat him a| company of men of war |to the number of four hundred, and kept him in the mountains. | And on a time David |was at home with his wife Michal, and Saul sent thither men of war to slay him in his | house in the morning; and |when Michal heard thereof, she said to David: But if thou save thyself this night, to | morn thou shalt die, |and she let him out by a window by which he escaped and saved himself. Michal took an | | | image and laid in his |bed, and a rough skin of a goat on the head of the image, and covered it with clothes. And | on the morn Saul sent |spies for David, and it was answered to them that he lay sick in his bed. Then after | this sent Saul messengers for |to see David, and said to them: Bring him to me in his bed that he may be slain. | And when the messengers |came they found a simulachre or an image in his bed, and goats' skins on the head. | Then said Saul to Michal |his daughter: Why hast thou mocked me so, and hast suffered mine enemy to flee? | And Michal answered to |Saul and said: He said to me: Let me go or I shall slay thee. David went to Samuel in Rama | and told him all that Saul | had done to him. And it was told to Saul that David was with Samuel, and he sent thither| messengers to take him. | And when they came they found them with the company of prophets, and they sat and prophesied| with them. And he sent more. |And they did also so. And the third time he sent more messengers. And they also | prophesied. And then Saul |being wroth asked where Samuel and David were, and went to them, and he | prophesied when he came |also, and took off his clothes and was naked all that day and night before Samuel. | David then fled from thence |and came to Jonathan and complained to him saying: What have I offended that | thy father seeketh to slay me? |Jonathan was sorry therefore, for he loved well David. After this Saul ever | sought for to slay David. | And on a time Saul went into a cave for to ease him, and David was within the cave, to| whom his squire said: |Now hath God brought thine enemy into thine hand; now go and slay him. And David | | | said: God forbid that I | should lay any hand on him, he is anointed. I shall never hurt ne grieve him, let God do | his pleasure. And he went |to Saul and cut off a gobet of his mantle and kept it. And when Saul was gone out, | soon after issued David |out and cried to Saul saying: Lo! Saul, God hath brought thee into my hands. I might | have slain thee if I had |would, but God forbade that I should lay hand on thee, my lord anointed of God. And | what have I offended |that thou seekest to slay me? Who art thou? said Saul. Art thou not David my son? Yes, | said David, I am thy servant, |and kneeled down and worshipped him. Then said Saul: I have sinned, and | wept and also said: Thou |art rightfuller than I am, thou hast done to me good end I have done to thee evil. And | thou hast well showed to |me this day that God had brought me into shine hand, and thou hast not slain me. | God reward thee for this, |that thou hast done to me; now know I well that thou shalt reign in Israel. I pray | thee to be friendly to my |seed, and destroy not my house, and swear and promise me that thou take not | away my name from the |house of my father; and David sware and promised to Saul. And then Saul departed | and went home, and David |and his people went in to surer places. Anon after this Samuel died, and was | buried in his house in |Rama. And all Israel bewailed him greatly. Then there was a rich man in the mount of | Carmel that hight Nabal, | and on a time he sheared and clipped his sheep, to whom David sent certain men, and| bade them say that David |greeted him well, and whereas aforetimes his shepherds kept his sheep in desert, he | | | never was grievous to them, |ne they lost not so much as a sheep as long as they were with us, and that he might | ask his servants for they |could tell, and that he would now in their need send them what it pleased him. Nabal | answered to the children of | David: Who is that David? Trow ye that I shall send the meat that I have made ready| for them that shear my | sheep and send it to men that I know not? The men returned and told to David all that | he had said. Then said David |to his men: Let every man take his sword and gird him withal, and David took his | sword and girt him. And |David went and four hundred men followed him, and he left two hundred behind him. | One of the servants of Nabal |told to Abigail, Nabal's wife, how that David had sent messengers from the | desert unto his lord, and |how wroth and wayward he was, and also he said that those men were good enough | to them when they were in desert, |ne never perished beast of ours as long as they were there. They were a | wall and a shield for us both |day and night all the time that we kept our flocks there, wherefore consider what | is to be done. They purpose | to do harm to him and to servants. And she arose and took with her five maidens | which went afoot by her, | and she rode upon an ass, and followed the messengers, and was made wife to David.|And David also took another |wife called Ahinoam of Jezreel, and both two were his wives. | After this Saul alway | sought David for to slay him. And the people called Zyphites told to Saul that David was| hid in the hill of Hachilah |which was on the after part of the wilderness, and Saul took with him three thousand | | | chosen men and followed | and sought David. David when he heard of the coming of Saul went into the place| whereas Saul was, and when | he was asleep he took one with him and went into the tent where Saul slept, and| Abner with him and all | his people. Then said Abishai to David: God hath put thine enemy this day in thine| hands, now I shall go and |smite him through with my spear, and then after that we shall have no need to dread | him. And David said |to Abishai: Slay him not; who may extend his hand into the anointed king of God and be | innocent? And David said |yet more: By the living God, but if God smite him or the days come that he shall die | or perish in battle, |God be merciful to me, as I shall not lay my hand on him that is The anointed of our Lord. | Now take the spear that |standeth at his head, and the cup of water, and let us go. David took the spear and the | cup and departed thence |and there was not one that saw them ne awaked, for they slept all. Then when David | was on the hill far from |them, David cried to the people and to Abner, saying: Abner, shalt not thou answer? And | Abner answered: Who art |thou that cryest and wakest the king? And David said to Abner: Art thou not a man | and there is none like |thee in Israel? why hast thou not therefore kept thy lord the king? There is one of the | people gone in to slay |the king thy lord; by the living Lord it is not good that ye do, but be ye worthy to die | because ye have not kept |your lord anointed of our Lord. Now look and see where the king's spear is, and | the cup of water that |stood at his head. Saul knew the voice of David and said: Is not this thy voice, my son | | | David? And David said: |It is my voice, my lord king. For what cause dost thou, my lord, pursue me thy | servant? what thing have |I done and what evil have I committed with my hand? Thou seest well I might have | slain thee if I would; God |judge between thee and me. And Saul said: I have sinned, return, my son; I shall | never hereafter do thee | harm ne evil, for thy soul is precious in my sight this day. It appeareth now that I| have done follily, and am |ignorant in many things. Then said David: Lo! here is the spear of the king, let a child | come fetch it, our Lord |shall reward to every man after his justice and faith. Our Lord hath this day brought | thee into my hands, and |yet I would not lay mine hand on him that is anointed of our Lord. And like as thy soul | is magnified this day in |my sight, so be my soul magnified in the sight of God and deliver me from all | anguish. Saul said then | to David: Blessed be thou, my son David. And David went then his way, and Saul| returned home again. And |David said in his heart: Sometime it might hap to me to fall and come into the hands of Saul, it is better I | flee from him and save | me in the land of the Philistines. And he went thence with six hundred men and came to | Achish king of Gath |and dwelled there. And when Saul understood that he was with Achish he ceased to seek | him. And Achish delivered |to David a town to dwell in named Ziklag. After this the Philistines gathered | and assembled much people |against Israel. And Saul assembled all Israel and came unto Gilboa; and when Saul saw al! the host | of the Philistines, his |heart dreaded and fainted sore, he cried for to have counsel of our Lord. And our Lord answered | | | him not, ne by swevens |ne by priests, ne by prophets. Then said Saul to his servants: Fetch to me a woman | having a phiton, otherwise | called a phitoness or a witch. And they said that there was such a woman in Endor.| Saul then changed his habit |and clothing, and did on other clothing, and went and two men with him, and | came to the woman by | night, and made her by her craft to raise Samuel. And Samuel said to Saul: Why hast | thou put me from my rest, | for to arise? And Saul said: I am coarted thereto, for the Philistines fight against me, | and God is gone from me, |and will not hear me, neither by prophets, ne by swevens. And Samuel said: What | askest thou of me when | God is gone from thee and gone unto David? God shall do to thee as he hath said to thee| by me, and shall cut thy realm |from thine hand, and shall give it to thy neighbour David. For thou hast not | obeyed his voice, ne |hast not done his commandment in Amalek; therefore thou shalt lose the battle and Israel | shall be overthrown. To-morrow |thou and thy children shall be with me, and our Lord shall suffer the children | of Israel to fall in the hands |of the Philistines. Anon then Saul fell down to the earth. The words of Samuel | made him afeard and there |was no strength in him, for he had eaten no bread of all that day, he was greatly | troubled. Then the phitoness |desired him to eat, and she slew a paschal lamb that she had, and dighted and set it | tofore him, and bread. |And when he had eaten he walked with his servants all that night. And on the morn | the Philistines assailed Saul |and them of Israel, and fought a great battle, and the men of Israel fled from the | | | face of the Philistines, |and many of them were slain in the mount of Gilboa. The Philistines smote in against | Saul and his sons, and slew |Jonathan and Abinadab, and Melchi-shua, sons of Saul. And all the burden of the | battle was turned on Saul, |and the archers followed him and wounded him sore. Then said Saul to his squire: | Pluck out thy sword |and slay me, that these men uncircumcised come not and, scorning, slay me; and his | squire would not for he |was greatly afeard. Then Saul took his sword and slew himself, which thing when his | squire saw, that is that Saul |was dead, he took his sword and fell on it and was dead with him. Thus was Saul | dead, and his three sons | and his squire, and all his men that day together. Then the children of Israel that were| thereabouts, and on that |other side of Jordan, seeing that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his three | sons were dead, left |their cities and fled. The Philistines came and dwelled there; and the next day the Philistines | went for to rifle and |pillage them that were dead, and they found Saul and his three sons Iying in the hill of | Gilboa. And they cut off |the head of Saul, and robbed him of his armour, and sent it into the land of the | Philistines all about, that |it might be showed in the temple of their idols, and unto the people; and set up | his arms in the temple |of Ashtaroth, and hung his body on the wall of Bethshan. And when the men that dwelt | they may remember God |and bless him in all time in truth and in all their virtue. Now therefore, my sons, | in Jabesh-Gilead saw what |the Philistines had done unto Saul, all the strongest men of them arose and went | all that night and took down | the bodies of Saul and of his sons from the wall of Bethshan and burnt them, and| took the bones and buried |them in the wood of Jabesh-Gilead and fasted seven days. Thus endeth the life of Saul which | was first king upon Israel, |and for disobedience of God's commandment was slain, and his heirs never reigned long after. | The History of David |Here followeth how David reigned after Saul, and governed Israel. Shortly taken out of the Bible, the most | historial matters and but little touched. |After the death of Saul David returned from the journey that he had against Amalek. For whilst David had been | out with Achish the king, |they of Amalek had been in Ziklag and taken all that was therein prisoners, and | robbed and carried away | with them the two wives of David. and had set fire and burnt the town. And when | David came again home |and saw the town burnt he pursued after, and by the conveying of one of them of | Amalek that was left by |the way sick, for to have his life he brought David upon the host of Amalek whereas they | sat and ate and drank. | And David smote on them with his meiny and slew down all that he found, and rescued | his wives and all the good |that they had taken, and took much more of them. And when he was come to Ziklag, | the third day after there |came one from the host of Saul, and told to David how that Israel had lost the battle, and | how they were fled, |and how Saul the king and Jonathan his son were slain. David said to the young | man that brought these tidings: |How knowest thou that Saul and Jonathan be dead? And he answered it was so | by adventure that I came | upon the mount of Gilboa, and Saul rested upon his spear, and the horsemen and the | chariots of the Philistines |approached to himward, and he looked behind him and saw me, and called me, and | said to me: Who art thou? |And I said I am an Amalekite, and then he said: Stand upon me and slay me, for I am | full of anguish, and yet |my soul is in me. And I then standing on him slew him, knowing well that he might | not live after the ruin. |And I took the diadem from his head, and the armylle from his arm, which I have | brought hither to thee, | my lord. David took and rent his vestment, and all the men that were him, and wailed and| sorrowed much the death | of Saul and Jonathan and of all the men of Israel, and fasted that day till even. And| David said to the young man: | Of whence art thou? And he said: I am the son of an Amalekite. And David said to| him: Why dreadedst thou |not to put thy hand forth to slay him that is anointed of God? David called one of | | | his men, and bade him | slay him. And he smote him and slew him. And David said: Thy blood be on thy head! | thine own mouth hath |spoken against thee, saying: I have slain Saul which was king anointed of our Lord. | David sorrowed and bewailed |much the death of Saul and of Jonathan. After this David counselled with our | Lord and demanded if he | should go in to one of the cities of Judah. And our Lord bade him go, and he ask| and because God hath | said thou shalt reign upon my people and be their governor, therefore we shall obey| thee. And all the seniors |of Israel came and did homage to David in Hebron, and anointed him king over them. | David was thirty years | old when he began to reign and he reigned forty years. He reigned in Hebron upon| Judah seven years and | six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years upon all Israel and Judah.| David then made him a |dwelling-place in the hill of Sion in Jerusalem And after this the Philistines made | war against him but he |oft overthrew them, and slew many of them, and made them tributary to him, and after | brought the ark of God |in Jerusalem, and set it in his house. After this yet the Philistines made war again unto | him and other kings were | aiding and helping them against David, whom David overcame and slew and put under.| And on a time when Joab |was out with his men of war Iying at a siege tofore a city, David was at home, and | walked in his chamber, |and as he looked out at a window he saw a fair woman wash her and bain her in | her chamber, which stood |against his house, and demanded of his servants who she was, and they said | | | she was Uriah's wife. He |sent for her and lay by her and gat her with child. And when David understood that she | was with child, he sent |letters to Joab and bade him to send home to him Uriah; and Joab sent Uriah to David, | and David demanded how |the host was ruled, and after bade him go home to his house and wash his feet. And | Uriah went thence, and | the king sent to him his dish with meat. Uriah would not go home, but lay before the| gate of the king's house |with other servants of the king's. And it was told to the king that Uriah went not home, | and then David said to | Uriah: Thou comest from a far way, why goest thou not home? And Uriah said to| David: The ark of God |and Israel and Judah be in the pavilions, and my lord Joab and the servants of thee, my | lord, lie on the ground, |and would ye that I should go to my house and eat and drink, and sleep with my wife? By | thy health and by the health |of my soul I shall not do so. Then David said to Uriah, Abide here then this night, | and to-morrow I shall deliver |thee. Uriah abode there that day and the next, and David made him eat tofore | him and made him drunk, |yet for all that he would not go home, but lay with the servants of David. Then on | the morn David wrote a | letter to Joab, that he should set Uriah in the weakest place of the battle and where most| jeopardy was, and that |he should be left there that he might be slain. And Uriah bare this letter to Joab, and it | was so done as David had | written, and Uriah was slain in the battle. And Joab sent word to David how they had| fought, and how Uriah |was slain and dead. When Uriah's wife heard that her husband was dead, she | mourned and wailed him; |and after the mourning David sent for her and wedded her, and she bare him a son. | And this that David had | committed on Uriah displeased greatly our Lord. Then our Lord sent Nathan the prophet| | | unto David, which, when |he came, said to him: There were two men dwelling in a city, that one rich and that other poor. The | rich man had sheep and |oxen right many, but the poor man had but one little sheep, which he bought and | nourished and grew with |his children, eating of his bread and drinking of his cup, and slept in his bosom. | She was to him as a daughter. |And on a time when a certain pilgrim came to the rich man, he, sparing his | own sheep and oxen to make |a feast to the pilgrim that was come to him, took the only sheep of the poor man | and made meat thereof to | his guest. David was wroth and said to Nathan: By the living God, the man that | hath so done is the child |of death, the man that hath so done shall yield therefor four times double. Then said | Nathan to David: Thou art |the same man that hath done this thing. This said the Lord God of Israel: I have | anointed thee king upon Israel, |and I have kept thee from the hand of Saul, and I have given to thee an house | to keep in thine household | and wives in thy bosom. I have given to thee the house of Israel and the house of| Judah, and if these be |small things I shall add an l give to thee much more and greater. Why hast thou therefore | despised the word of God | and hast done evil in the sight of our Lord? Thou hast slain Uriah with a sword, and| his wife hast thou taken | unto thy wife, and thou hast slain him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. | Therefore the sword shall | not go from thy house, world without end, forasmuch as thou hast despised me and| hast taken Uriah's wife |unto thy wife. This said our Lord: I shall raise evil against thee, and shall take thy | | | wives in thy sight and |give them to thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives tofore thine eyes. Thou hast | done it privily, but I |shall make this to be done and open in the sight of all Israel. And then said David to Nathan: | Peccavi! I have sinned against |our Lord. Nathan said: Our Lord hath taken away thy sin, thou shalt not die, | but for as much as thou |hast made the enemy to blaspheme the name of God, therefore the son that is | born to thee shall die by |death. And Nathan returned to his house. And for this sin David made this psalm: | Miserere mei deus, which |is a psalm of mercy, for David did great penance for these sins of adultery and also of homicide. | For as I once was beyond | the sea riding in the company of a noble knight named Sir John Capons, and was also| doctor in both laws, and was | born in Malyorke, and had been viceroy and governor of Arragon and Catalonia,| and that time counsellor |unto the Duke of Burgundy, Charles, it happed we communed of the history of | David; and this said nobleman | told me that he had read that David did this penance following for these said| sins. That he dolved him | in the ground standing naked unto the head, so long that the worms began to creep in| his flesh, and made a verse |of this psalm Miserere, and then came out, and when he was whole thereof he went | in again and stood so |again as long as afore is said and made the second verse, and so as many times he was | dolven in the earth as be |verses in the said psalm of Miserere mei deus, and every time was abiding therein | till he felt the worms |creep in his flesh. This was a great penance and a token of a great repentance, for there be | | | in the psalm twenty-one |verses, and twenty-one times he was dolven. Thus this nobleman told me, riding between | the town of Ghent in Flanders |and the town of Brussels in Brabant. Therefore God took away this sin, and forgave it him, | but the son that she brought |forth died. And after this Bathsheba, that had been Uriah's wife, conceived and | brought forth another son |named Solomon, which was well-beloved of God, and after David, Solomon was king.| After this David had much |war and trouble and anger, in so much that on a time Amnon, oldest son of David, | loved Thamar his sister. |This Thamar was Absalom's sister by the mother's side, and Amnon forced and lay by | her, and when he had done |his pleasure, he hated her, and threw her out of his chamber, and she complained | unto Absalom. David knew | hereof, and was right sorry for it, but he would not rebuke his son Amnon for it, for| he loved him because he |was his first begotten son. Absalom hated Amnon ever after, and when Absalom on | a time did do shear his sheep | he prayed all his brethren to come eat with him, and made them a feast like a| king's feast. At which feast | he did do slay his brother Amnon; and anon it was told to the King David that| Absalom had slain all the king's | sons. Wherefore the king was in great heaviness and sorrow, but anon after it| was told him that there |was no more slain but Amnon, and the other sons came home. And Absalom fled into | Geshur, and was there three |years, and durst not come home. And after by the moyen of Joab he was sent for, | and came into Jerusalem, |but yet he might not come in his father the king's presence, and dwelled there two | | | years, and might not see | the King his father. This Absalom was the fairest man that ever was, for from the| sole of his foot unto |his head there was not a spot; he had so much hair on his head that it grieved him to bear, | wherefore it was shorn off |once a year, it weighed two hundred shekels of good weight. Then when he abode | so long that he might |not come to his father's presence he sent for Joab to come speak with him, and he would | not come. He sent again |for him and he came not. Then Absalom said to his servants: Know ye Joab's field that | lieth by my field? They said | yea. Go ye, said he, and set fire in the barley that is therein, and burn it. And Joab's| servants came and told | to Joab that Absalom had set fire on his corn. Then Joab came to Absalom and said: Why | hast thou set fire on my |corn! And he said, I have sent twice to thee, praying thee to come to me that I might | send thee to the king, and |that thou shouldst say to him why I came from Geshur; it had been better for me for to | have abiden there. I pray | thee that I may come to his presence and see his visage, and if he remember my| wickedness let him slay me. |Joab went in to the King and told to him all these words. Then was Absalom | called, and entered in to | the king, and he fell down and worshipped the king, and the king kissed him. After this|Absalom did do make for |himself chariots and horsemen and fifty men for to go before him, and walked among | the tribes of Israel; and |greeted and saluted them, taking them by the hand, and kissed them, by which he gat to | him the hearts of the people; |and said to his father that he had avowed to make sacrifice to God in Hebron, and | | | his father gave him leave. | And when he was there he gathered people to him, and made himself king, and did| do cry that all men should | obey and wait on him as king of Israel. When David heard this he was sore abashed| and was fain to flee out |of Jerusalem. And Absalom came with his people and entered into Jerusalem into | his father's house, and lay |by his father's concubines, and after pursued his father to depose him. And David | ordained his people and battle |against him, and sent Joab, prince of his host, against Absalom, and divided | his host into three parts, | and would have gone with them, but Joab counselled that he should not go to the | battle whatsomever happed, | and then David bade them to save his son Absalom. And they went forth and fought, and Absalom| with his host was overthrown | and put to flight. And as Absalom fled upon his mule he came under an oak, and his hair| flew about a bough of the |tree and held so fast that Absalom hung by his hair, and the mule ran forth. There | came one to Joab and told |him how that Absalom hung by his hair on a bough of an oak, and Joab said: Why | hast thou not slain him? | The man said: God forbid that I should set hand on the king's son; I heard the king say:| keep my son Absalom alive |and slay him not. Then Joab went and took three spears, and fixed them in the heart | of Absalom as he hung |on the tree by his hair, and yet after this ten young men, squires of Joab, ran and slew | him. Then Joab trumped |and blew the retreat, and retained the people that they should not pursue the | people flying. And they |took the body of Absalom and cast it in a great pit, and laid on him a great stone. And | | | when David knew that his |son was slain, he made great sorrow and said: O my son Absalom, my son Absalom, | who shall grant to me that | I may die for thee, my son Absalom, Absalom my son! It was told to Joab that the| king wept and sorrowed the | death of his son Absalom, and all their victory was turned into sorrow and wailing,| in so much that the people |eschewed to enter into the city. Then Joab entered into the king and said: Thou | hast this day discouraged | the cheer of all thy servants because they have saved thy life, and the lives of thy| sons and daughters, of thy |wives and of thy concubines, thou lovest them that hate thee, and hatest them that | love thee, and showest |well this day that thou settest little by thy dukes and servants; and truly I know now | well that if Absalom had |lived and all we thy servants had been slain, thou haddest been pleased. Therefore, | arise now and come forth |and satisfy the people; or else I swear to thee by the good lord that there shall not one | of thy servants abide with |thee till tomorrow, and that shall be worse to thee than all the harms and evils that | ever yet fell to thee. | Then David the king arose and sat in the gate, and anon it was shown to all the people that| the king sat in the gate. |And then all the people came in tofore the king, and they of Israel that had been with | Absalom fled into their |tabernacles, and after came again unto David when they knew that Absalom was dead. | And after, one Sheba, |a cursed man, rebelled and gathered people against David. Against whom Joab with | the host of David pursued, |and drove him unto a city which he besieged, and by the means of a woman of the | | | same city Sheba's head |was smitten off and delivered to Joab over the wall, and so the city was saved, and Joab | pleased. After this David |called Joab, and bade him number the people of Israel, and so Joab walked | through all the tribes | of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and over Jordan and all the country, and there were| founder in Israel eight |hundred thousand strong men that were able to fight and to draw sword, and of the | tribe of Judah fifty |thousand fighting men. And after that the people was numbered, the heart of David was | smitten by our Lord and |was heavy, and said: I have sinned greatly in this deed, but I pray the Lord to take | away the wickedness of thy | servant, for I have done follily. David rose on the morn early, and the word of| our Lord came to Gad |the prophet saying: that he should go to David and bid him choose one of three things that | he should say to him. |When Gad came to David he said that he should choose whether he would have seven | years hunger in his land, | or three months he should flee his adversaries and enemies, or to have three days| -
Mike Says:
2014-01-15 PM 4:08 | or three months he should flee his adversaries and enemies, or to have three days| pestilence. Of these three |God biddeth thee choose which thou wilt; now advise thee and conclude what I | shall answer to our Lord. |David said to Gad: I am constrained to a great thing, but it is better for me to put | me in the hands of our Lord, | for his mercy is much more than in men, and so he chose pestilence.| Then our Lord sent pestilence |the time constitute, and there died of the people from Dan to Beersheba seventy | thousand men. And when | the angel extended his hand upon Jerusalem for to destroy it, our Lord was merciful | | | upon the affliction, and |said to the angel so smiting: It sufficeth now, withdraw thy hand. David said to our | Lord when he saw the angel |smiting the people: I am he that have sinned and done wickedly, what have these | sheep done? I beseech |thee that thy hand turn upon me and upon the house of my father. Then came Gad to | David and bade him make | an altar in the same place where he saw the angel; and he bought the place, and | made the altar, and offered |sacrifices unto our Lord, and our Lord was merciful, and the plague ceased in Israel. | David was old and feeble |and saw that his death approached, and ordained that his son Solomon should | reign and be king after him. |Howbeit that Adonijah his son took on him to be king during David's life. For | which cause Bathsheba and |Nathan came to David, and tofore them he said that Solomon should be king, and | ordained that he should |be set on his mule by his prophets Nathan, Zadok the priest and Benaiah, and | brought in to Sion. | And there Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed him king upon Israel and| blew in a trump and said: |Live the King Solomon. And from thence they brought him into Jerusalem and set | him upon his father's seat |in his father's throne, and David worshipped him in his bed, and said: Blessed be | the Lord God of Israel |that hath suffered me to see my son in my throne and seat. And then Adonijah and all | they that were with him |were afeard, and dreading Solomon ran away, and so ceased Adonijah. The days of | David approached fast | that he should die, and did do call Solomon before him, and there he commanded him| to keep the commandments |of our Lord and walk in his ways, and to observe his ceremonies, his precepts and | his judgments, as it is written |in the law of Moses, and said: Our Lord confirm thee in thy reign, and send to | thee wisdom to rule it well. |And when David had thus counselled and commanded him to do justice and keep | God's law, he blessed |him and died, and was buried with his fathers. This David was an holy man and made the | holy psalter, which is an |holy book and is contained therein the old law and the new law. He was a great | prophet, for he prophesied | the coming of Christ, his nativity, his passion, and resurrection, and also his| ascension, and was great | with God, yet God would not suffer him to build a temple for him, for he had shed | man's blood. But God | said to him, his son that should reign after him should be a man peaceable, and he| should build the temple |to God. And when David had reigned forty years king of Jerusalem, over Judah and | Israel, he died in good mind, |and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. The History of Solomon. | After David, reigned Solomon |his son, which was in the beginning a good man and walked in the ways and laws | of God. And all the kings |about him made peace with him and was king confirmed, obeyed and peaceable in | his possession, and according |to his father's commandment did justice. First on Joab that had been | prince of his father's host, | because he slew two good men by treason slay him not, and contrary said that| other woman: Let it not |be given to me ne to thee, but let it be divided. The king then answered and said: Give | the living child to this woman, |and let it not be slain; this is verily the mother. All Israel heard how wisely the | king had given this sentence |and dreaded him, seeing that the wisdom of God was in him in deeming of rightful dooms. | After this Solomon sent | his messengers to divers kings for cedar trees and for workmen, for to make and build a | temple unto our Lord. |Solomon was rich and glorious, and all the realms from the river of the ends of the | Philistines unto the end |of Egypt were accorded with him, and offered to him gifts and to serve him all the | days of his life. Solomon |had daily for the meat of his household thirty measures, named chores, of corn, and | sixty of meal, ten fat oxen, |and twenty oxen of pasture and an hundred wethers, without venison that was | taken, as harts, goats, |bubals, and other flying fowls and birds. He obtained all the region that was from Tiphsa | | | unto Azza, and had peace | with all the kings of all the realms that were in every part round about him. In that| time Israel and Judah dwelled |without fear and dread, every each under his vine and fig tree from Dan unto | Beersheba. And Solomon had | forty thousand racks for the horses of his carts, chariots and cars, and twelve | thousand for horses to ride | on, by which prefects brought necessary things for the table of king Solomon,| with great diligence in |their time. God gave to Solomon much wisdom and prudence in his heart, like to the | gravel that is in the sea-side, |and the sapience and wisdom of Solomon passed and went tofore the | sapience of all them of |the Orient and of Egypt, and he was the wisest of all men, and so he was named. He | spake three thousand parables, | and five thousand songs, and disputed upon all manner trees and virtue of them,| from the cedar that is in | Lebanon unto the hyssop that groweth on the wall, and discerned the properties of| beasts, fowls, reptiles and | fishes, and there came people from all regions of the world for to hear the wisdom of Solomon.| And Solomon sent letters |to Hiram, king of Tyre, for to have his men to cut cedar trees with his servants, and he | would yield to them their | hire and meed, and let him wit how that he would build and edify a temple to our Lord.| And Hiram sent to him |that he should have all that he desired, and sent to him cedar trees and other wood. | And Solomon sent to him |corn in great number, and Solomon and Hiram confederated them together in love | and friendship. Solomon chose |out workmen of all Israel the number of thirty thousand men of whom he | | | sent to Lebanon ten thousand |every month, and when ten thousand went the others came home, and so two | months were they at home, |and Adonias was overseer and commander on them. Solomon had seventy | thousand men that did | nothing but bear stone and mortar and other things to the edifying of the temple,| and were bearers of burdens | only, and he had eighty thousand of hewers of stone and masons in the| mountain, without the prefects |and masters, which were three thousand three hundred that did nothing but | command and oversee them | that wrought. Solomon commanded the workmen to make square stones, great | and precious, for to lay |in the foundament, which the masons of Israel and masons of Hiram hewed, and the | carpenters made ready the timber. |Then began Solomon the temple to our Lord, in the fourth year of his reign he | began to build the temple. |The house that he builded had seventy cubits in length, and twenty cubits in | breadth, and thirty in height, |and the porch tofore the temple was twenty cubits long after the measure of the | breadth of the temple, and | had ten cubits of breadth tofore the face of the temple, and for to write the| curiosity and work of |the temple, and the necessaries, the tables and cost that was done in gold, silver and | latten, it passeth my cunning |to express and English them. Ye that be clerks may see it in the Second Book | of Kings and the Second |Book of Paralipomenon. It is wonder to hear the costs and expenses that was made in | that temple, but I pass |over. It was on making seven years, and his palace was thirteen years ere it was | finished. He made in the |temple an altar of pure gold, and a table to set on the loaves of proposition of gold, | five candlesticks of gold |on the right side and five on the left side, and many other things, and took all the | | | vessels of gold and silver |that his father David had sanctified and hallowed, and brought them into the | treasury of the house of our |Lord. After this he assembled all the noblest and greatest of birth of them | of Israel, with the princes |of the tribes and dukes of the families, for to bring the Ark of God from the city of | David, Sion, into the temple. | And the priests and Levites took the Ark and bare it and all the vessels of| the sanctuary that were in | the tabernacle. King Solomon, with all the multitude of the children that | were there, went tofore |the Ark and offered sheep and oxen without estimation and number. | And the priests set the Ark |in the house of our Lord in the oracle of the temple, in sancta sanctorum, under the | wings of cherubim. In the |ark was nothing but the two tables of Moses of stone which Moses had put in. And | then Solomon blessed our |Lord tofore all the people, and thanked him that he had suffered him to make an | house unto his name, and |besought our Lord that he whosomever prayed our Lord for any petition in that | temple, that he of his mercy | would hear him and be merciful to him. And our Lord appeared to him when the| edifice was accomplished perfectly, |and said to Solomon: I have heard thy prayer and thine oration that | thou hast prayed tofore me. |I have sanctified and hallowed this house that thou hast edified for to put my | name therein for evermore, |and my eyes and heart shall be thereon always. And if thou walk before me like as | thy father walked in the |simplicity of heart and in equity, and wilt do all that I have commanded thee, and | | | keep my judgments and laws, |I shall set the throne of thy reign upon Israel evermore, like as I have said to thy | father David, saying: There |shall not be taken away a man of thy generation from the reign and seat of Israel. | If ye avert and turn from me, |ye and your sons, not following ne keeping my commandments and | ceremonies that I have showed |tofore you, but go and worship strange gods, and honour them, I shall cast | away Israel from the face |of the earth that I have given to them, and the temple that I have hallowed to my name, l | shall cast it away from my |sight. And it shall be a fable and proverb, and thy house an example shall be to all | people; every man that shall | go thereby shall be abashed and astonied, and shall say: Why hath God done thus to| this land and to thy house? |And they shall answer: For they have forsaken their Lord God that brought them out | of the land of Egypt, and |have followed strange gods, and them adored and worshipped, and therefore God | hath brought on them all |this evil: here may every man take ensample how perilous and dreadful it is to break | the commandment of God. | | Twenty year after that Solomon |had edified the temple of God and his house, and finished it perfectly, Hiram | the king of Tyre went |for to see towns that Solomon had given to him, and they pleased him not. Hiram had sent | to king Solomon an |hundred and twenty besants of gold, which he had spent on the temple and his house, | and on the wall of Jerusalem |and other towns and places that he had made. Solomon was rich and glorious that | | | the fame ran, of his sapience |and wisdom and of his building and dispence in his house, through the world, | in so much that the queen | of Sheba came from far countries to see him and to tempt him in demands and | questions. And she came |into Jerusalem with much people and riches, with camels charged with aromatics | and gold infinite. And she |came and spake to king Solomon all that ever she had in her heart. And | Solomon taught her in all |that ever she purposed tofore him. She could say nothing but that the king answered | to her, there was nothing |hid from him. The queen of Sheba then seeing all the wisdom of Solomon, the | house that he had builded, | and the meat and service of his table, the habitacles of his servants, the order of the| ministers, their clothing and |array, his butlers and officers, and the sacrifices that he offered in the house | of our Lord, when she saw |all these things, she had no spirit to answer, but she said to king Solomon: The | word is true that I heard in my |land, of thy words and thy wisdom, and I believed not them that told it to me, | unto the time that I myself |came and have seen it with mine eyes, and I have now well seen and proved that the | half was not told to me. |Thy sapience is more, and thy works also, than the tidings that I heard. Blessed be thy | servants, and blessed be |these that stand always tofore thee and hear thy sapience and wisdom, and thy Lord | God be blessed whom thou |hast pleased, and hath set thee upon the throne of Israel, for so much as God of | Israel loveth thee and hath |ordained thee a king for to do righteousness and justice. She gave then to the king | | | an hundred and twenty |besants of gold, many aromatics, and gems precious. There were never seen tofore so | many aromatics ne so sweet | odours smelling as the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.| King Solomon gave to the |queen of Sheba all that ever she desired and demanded of him, and after returned | into her country and land. |The weight of pure gold that was offered every year to Solomon was six hundred and | sixty-six talents of gold, |except that that the merchants offered, and all they that sold, and all the kings of | Arabia and dukes of that land. |Solomon made two hundred shields of the purest gold and set them in the | house of Lebanon; he made |him also a throne of ivory which was great and was clad with gold, which had six | grees or steps, which was |richly wrought with two lions of gold holding the seat above, and twelve small lions | standing upon the steps, |on every each twain, here and there. There was never such a work in no realm. And all | the vessels that king Solomon |drank of were of gold, and the ceiling of the house of Lebanon in which his | shields of gold were in was |of the most pure gold. Silver was of no price in the days of king Solomon, for the | navy of the king, with the |navy of Hiram went in three years once into Tarsis and brought them thence gold and |silver, teeth of elephants |and great riches. The king Solomon was magnified above all the kings of the world | in riches and wisdom, and | all the world desired to see the cheer and visage of Solomon, and to hear his| wisdom that God had given |to him. Every man brought to him gifts, vessels of gold and silver, clothes and | | | armour for war, aromatics, |horses and mules every year. Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen; he | had a thousand four hundred |chariots and cars, and twelve thousand horsemen, and were lodged in small | cities and towns about Jerusalem |by the king. There was as great abundance and plenty of gold and silver in | those days in Jerusalem | as stones or sycamores that grow in the field, and horses were brought to him from | Egypt and Chao. What shall |I all day write of the riches, glory and magnificence of king Solomon? It was so | great that it cannot be expressed, | for there was never none like to him, ne never shall none come after him | like unto him. He made the |book of the parables containing thirty-one chapters, the book of the | Canticles, the book of Ecclesiastes, |containing twelve chapters, and the book of Sapience containing nineteen | chapters. This king Solomon |loved overmuch women, and specially strange women of other sects; as king | Pharaoh's daughters and many |other of the gentiles, of whom God had commanded to the children of Israel that | they should not have to do |with them, ne they with their daughters, for God said certainly they should turn your | hearts to serve their gods. |To such women Solomon was coupled with most burning love. He had seven hundred | wives which were as queens, |and three hundred concubines, and these women turned his heart. For | when he was old he so doted |and loved them that they made him honour their strange gods, and worshipped | Ashtareth, Chemosh and Moloch, |idols of Zidonia, of Moabites, and Ammonites, and made to them | | | Tabernacles for to please his |wives and concubines, wherefore God was wroth with him, and said to him: | Because thou hast not observed | my precepts and my commandments that I commanded thee, I shall cut thy| kingdom and divide it and |give it to thy servant but not in thy day, I shall not do it for love that I had to David | thy father; but from the hand |of thy son I shall cut it but not all, I shall reserve to him one tribe for David's love, | and Jerusalem that I have chosen. |And after this divers kings became adversaries to Solomon, and was never in peace after. | It is said, but I find it not in |the Bible, that Solomon repented him much of this sin of idolatry and did much | penance therefor, for he | let him be drawn through Jerusalem and beat himself with rods and scourges, that| the blood flowed in the |sight of all the people. He reigned upon all Israel in Jerusalem forty years, and | died and was buried with |his fathers in the city of David, and Rehoboam his son reigned after him. | The History of Rehoboam. |After Solomon, reigned his son Rehoboam. He came to Sichem and thither came all the people for to | ordain him king. Jeroboam |and all the multitude of Israel spake to Rehoboam, and said: Thy father set on us an hard yoke | and great impositions, now | thou hast not so much need, therefore less it and minish it, and ease us of the great| and hard burden and we |shall serve thee. Rehoboam answered and said: Go ye and come again the third day | and ye shall have an answer. |When the people was departed, Rehoboam made a counsel of the seniors and | old men that had assisted |his father Solomon whiles he lived, and said to them: What say ye? and counsel me | | | that I may answer to the |people, which said to Rehoboam: If thou wilt obey and agree to this people, | and agree to their petition, |and speak fair and friendly to them, they shall serve thee always. But Rehoboam | forsook the counsel of the old |men, and called the young men that were of his age, and asked of them | counsel. And the young men | that had been nourished with him bade him say to the people in this wise: Is not| my finger greater than the back | of my father? If my father hath laid on you a heavy burden, I shall add and| put more to your burden; | my father beat you with scourges, and I shall beat you with scorpions. The third| day after, Jeroboam and |all the people came to Rehoboam to have their answer, and Rehoboam left the | counsel of the old men, and |said to them like as the young men had counselled him. And anon the people of | Israel forsook Rehoboam, |and of twelve tribes, there abode with him no more but the tribe of Judah and | Benjamin. And the other ten |tribes departed and made Jeroboam their king, and never returned unto the house | of David after unto this day. |And thus for sin of Solomon, and because Rehoboam would not do after | the counsel of the old men, |but was counselled by young men, the ten tribes of Israel forsook him, and | departed from Jerusalem, |and served Jeroboam, and ordained him king upon Israel. Anon after this, | Jeroboam fell to idolatry |and great division was ever after between the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel. | And so reigned divers kings |each after other in Jerusalem after Rehoboam, and in Israel after Jeroboam. | | | And here I leave all the history |and make an end of the book of Kings for this time etc. For ye that list to know | how every king reigned | after other, ye may find it in the first chapter of Saint Matthew which is read on| Christmas day in the morning | tofore Te Deum, which is the genealogy of our Lady. Here followeth the History of Job,| read on the first Sunday of September. | There was a man in the land of Uz named Job, and this man was simple, rightful and dreading God,| and going from all evil. |He had seven sons and three daughters, and his possession was seven thousand sheep, three | thousand camels, five hundred |yoke of oxen, five hundred asses, and his family and household passing | much and great. He was |a great man and rich among all the men of the orient. And his sons went daily each to | other house making great |feasts, ever each one as his day came, and they sent for their three sisters for to eat | and drink with them. |When they had thus feasted each other, Job sent to them and blessed and sanctified them, | and rising every day early, | he offered sacrifices for them all, saying: Lest my children sin and bless not God in| their hearts. And thus did Job every day. | On a day when the sons of God were tofore our Lord, Satan came and was among them, to whom our | Lord said: Whence comest |thou? Which answered, I have gone round about the earth and through walked it. Our | Lord said to him: Hast thou |not considered my servant Job, that there is none like unto him in the earth, a man | simple, rightful, dreading God, | and going from evil? To whom Satan answered: Doth Job dread God idly? If so | were that thou overthrewest |him, his house and all his substance round about, he should soon forsake thee. | Thou hast blessed the work |of his hands, and his possession is increased much in the earth, but stretch | out thy hand a little, and |touch all that he hath in possession, and he shall soon grudge and not bless thee. | Then said our Lord to Satan: |Lo ! all that which he owneth and hath in possession, I will it be in thy hand | and power, but on his person |ne body set not thy hand. Satan departed and went from the face of our Lord. On a | day as his sons and daughters |ate, and drank wine, in the house of the oldest brother, there came a messenger | to Job which said: The oxen |eared in the plough and the ass pastured in the pasture by them, and the men of | Sabea ran on them, and smote |thy servants, and slew them with of sword, and I only escaped for to come and | to show it to thee. And whiles |he spake came another and said: The fire of God fell down from heaven and | hath burnt thy sheep and |servants and consumed them, and I only escaped for to come and show it to thee. And | yet whiles he spake came |another and said: The Chaldees made three hosts and have enveigled thy | camels and taken them, and |have slain thy servants with sword, and I only escaped for to bring thee word. And | yet he speaking another |entered in and said: Thy sons and daughters, drinking wine in the house of thy first | begotten son, suddenly came | a vehement wind from the region of desert and smote the four corners of the house, | which falling oppressed thy |children, and they be all dead, and I only fled for to tell it to thee. Then Job | arose, and cut his coat, |and did do shave his head, and falling down to the ground, worshipped and adored | God, saying: I am come |out naked from the womb of my mother and naked shall return again thereto. Our Lord | hath given and our Lord hath |taken away, as it hath pleased our Lord, so it is done, the name of our Lord be | blessed. In all these things |Job sinned not with his lips, ne spake nothing follily against our Lord, but took it all patiently. | After this it was so that |on a certain day when the children of God stood tofore our Lord, Satan came and | stood among them, and God |said to him: Whence comest thou? To whom Satan answered: I have gone | round the earth, and walked |through it. And God said to Satan, Hast thou not considered my servant Job that | there is no man like him in the earth, | a man simple, rightful, dreading God, and going from evil, and yet| retaining his innocency? Thou |hast moved me against him that I should put him to affliction without cause. To| | | whom Satan said: Skin |for skin, and all that ever a man hath he shall give for his soul. Nevertheless, stretch | thine hand and touch |his mouth and his flesh, and thou shalt see that he shall not bless thee. Then said God to | Satan: I will well that his body |be in thine hand, but save his soul and his life. Then Satan departed from the | face of our Lord and smote |Job with the worst blotches and blains from the plant of his foot unto the top of his | head, which was made like |a lazar and was cast out and sat on the dunghill. Then came his wife to him and said: | Yet thou abidest in thy simpleness, | forsake thy God and bless him no more, and go die. Then Job said to her:| Thou hast spoken like a |foolish woman; if we have received and taken good things of the hand of our Lord, | why shall we not sustain |and suffer evil things? In all these things Job sinned not with his lips. Then three | men that were friends of Job, |hearing what harm was happed and come to Job, came ever each one from his | place to him, that one was |named Eliphas the Temanite, another Bildad the Shuhite, and the third, Zophar | Naamathite. And when they |saw him from far they knew him not, and crying they wept. They came for to comfort | him, and when they considered |his misery they tare their clothes and cast dust on their heads, and sat by him | seven days and seven nights, | and no man spake to him a word, seeing his sorrow. Then after that Job and they | talked and spake together |of his sorrow and misery, of which S. Gregory hath made a great book called: The | morals of S. Gregory, which | is a noble book and a great work. But I pass over all the matters and return| | | unto the end, how God |restored Job again to prosperity. It was so that when these three friends of Job had been long with Job, | and had said many things |each of them to Job, and Job again to them, our Lord was wroth with these three men | and said to them: Ye have |not spoken rightfully, as my servant Job hath spoken. Take ye therefore seven bulls | and seven wethers and go |to my servant Job and offer ye sacrifice for you. Job my servant shall pray for you. I | shall receive his prayer |and shall take his visage. They went forth and did as our Lord commanded them. And | our Lord beheld the visage | of Job, and saw his penance when he prayed for his friends. And our Lord added to| Job double of all that Job |had possessed. All his brethren came to him, and all his sisters, and all they | that tofore had known him, |and ate with him in his house, and moved their heads upon him, and comforted | him upon all the evil that | God had sent to him. And each of them gave him a sheep and a gold ring for his ears.| Our Lord blessed more Job |in his last days than he did in the beginning. And he had then after fourteen | thousand sheep, six thousand |camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, one thousand asses. And he had seven | sons and three daughters. |And the first daughter's name was Jemima, the second Kezia, and the third Keren | happuch. There was nowhere | found in the world so fair women as were the daughters of Job. Their father Job| gave to them heritage among | their brethren, and thus Job by his patience gat so much love of God, that he | was restored double of all his |losses. And Job lived after, one hundred and forty years, and saw his sons and | the sons of his sons unto |the fourth generation, and died an old man, and full of days. | Here followeth the history of | Tobit which is read the third Sunday of September. Tobit of the tribe and of the city of Nephthali,| | | which is in the overparts | of Galilee upon Aser, after the way that leadeth men westward, having on his left side the city of| Sepheth, was taken in the |days of Salmanazar, King of the Assyrians, and put in captivity, yet he forsook not | the way of truth, but |all that he had or could get he departed daily with his brethren of his kindred which | were prisoners with him. | And how be it that he was youngest in all the tribe of Nephthali yet did he nothing| childishly. Also when all |other went unto the golden calves that Jeroboam, King of Israel had made, this | Tobit only fled the fellowship |of them all, and went to Jerusalem into the temple of our Lord. And there he | adored and worshipped the |Lord God of Israel, offering truly his first fruits and tithes in so much that in the | third year he ministered |unto proselytes and strangers all the tithe. Such things and other like to these he | observed whilst he was |a child, and when he came to age and was a man he took a wife named Anna, of his | tribe, and begat on her a son, |naming after his own name Tobias, whom from his childhood he taught to dread | God and abstain him from all sin. |Then after when he was brought by captivity with his wife and his son into | the city of Nineveh |with all his tribe, and when all ate of the meats of the Gentiles and Paynims, this Tobit kept | his soul clean and was |never defouled in the meats of them. And because of remembered our Lord in all his | heart, God gave him grace |to be in the favour of Salmanazar the king which gave to him power to go | where he would. Having |liberty to do what he would, he went then to all them in captivity and gave to them | | | warnings of health. When |he came on a time in Rages, city of the Jews, he had such gifts as he had been | honoured with of the king, |ten besants of silver. And when he saw one Gabael being needy which was of his | tribe, he lent him the said |weight of silver upon his obligation. Long time after this when Salmanazar the | king was dead, Sennacherib |his son reigned for him, and hated, and loved not, the children of Israel. And | Tobit went unto all his | kindred and comforted them, and divided to every each of them as he might of his| faculties and goods. He |fed the hungry and gave to the naked clothes, and diligently he buried the dead men and them that | were slain. After this |when Sennacherib returned, fleeing the plague from the Jewry, that God had sent him for his | blasphemy, and he, being |wroth, slew many of the children of Israel, and Tobit always buried the bodies of | them, which was told to |the king, which commanded to slay him, and took away all his substance. Tobit then | with his wife and his | son hid him and fled away all naked, for many loved him well. After this, forty-five| days, the sons of the king | slew the king, and then returned Tobit unto his house, and all his faculties and| goods were restored to |him again. After this on a high festival day of our Lord when that Tobit had a good | dinner in his house. |he said to his son: Go and fetch to us some of our tribe dreading God, that they may come | and eat with us. And |he went forth and anon he returned telling to his father that one of the children of Israel was | slain and lay dead in |the street. And anon he leapt out of his house, leaving his meat, and fasting came to the | | | body, took it and bare it |in to his house privily, that he might secretly bury it when the sun went down. And | when he had hid the corpse, |he ate his meat with wailing and dread, remembering that word that our Lord | said by Amos the prophet: |The day of your feast shall be turned into lamentation and wailing. And when the sun | was gone down he went | and buried him. All his neighbours reproved and chid him, saying for this cause| they were commanded to |be slain, and unnethe thou escapedst the commandment of death, and yet thou | buriest dead men. But Tobit, |more dreading God than the king, took up the bodies of dead men and hid them | in his house, and at midnight | he buried them. It happed on a day after this that when he was weary of burying| dead men, he came home |and laid him down by a wall and slept. And from a swallow's nest above there fell | down hot dung of them |on his eyes, and he was thereof blind. This temptation suffered God to fall to him, that | it should be an example |to them that shall come after him of his patience, like as it was of holy Job. For from | his infancy he dreaded ever |God and kept his precepts and was not grudging against God for his blindness, but | he abode immovable in | the dread of God, giving and rendering thankings to God all the days of his life. For| like as Job was assailed |so was Tobit assailed of his kinsmen, scorning him and saying to him: Where is now | thy hope and reward for |which thou gavest thy alms and madest sepulchres? Tobit blamed them for such words, | saying to them: In no wise |say ye not so, for we be the sons of holy men, and we abide that life that God shall | | | give to them that never shall |change their faith from him. Anna his wife went daily to the work of weaving, | and got by the labour of her |hands their livelihood as much as she might. Whereof on a day she gat a kid and | brought it home. When Tobit |heard the voice of the kid bleating, he said: See that it be not stolen, yield it again | to the owner, for it is not | lawful for us to eat ne touch anything that is stolen. To that his wife all angry| answered: Now manifestly |and openly is thine hope made vain, and thy alms lost. And thus with such and | like words she chid him. |Then Tobit began to sigh and began to pray our Lord with tears saying: O Lord, thou | art rightful, and all thy dooms |be true, and all thy ways be mercy, truth, and righteousness. And now, Lord, | remember me, and take |now no vengeance of my sins, ne remember not my trespasses, ne the sins of my fathers. | For we have not obeyed |thy commandments, therefore we be betaken in to direption, captivity, death, fables, | and into reproof and shame to | all nations in which thou hast dispersed us. And now, Lord, great be thy | judgments, for we have not |done according to thy precepts, ne have not walked well tofore thee. And now, | Lord, do to me after thy |will, and command my spirit to be received in peace, it is more expedient to me to die | than to live. The same |day it happed that Sara, daughter of Raguel in the city of Medes, that she was rebuked and heard | reproof of one of the handmaidens |of her father. For she had been given to seven men, and a devil named | Asmodeus slew them as |soon as they would have gone to her; therefore the maid reproved her saying: We shall | never see son ne daughter |of thee on the earth, thou slayer of thy husbands. Wilt thou slay me as thou hast | slain seven men? With |this voice and rebuke she went up in the upperest cubicle of the house. And three days | and three nights she ate |not, ne drank not, but was continually in prayers beseeching God for to deliver her | | | from this reproof and shame. |And on the third day, when she had accomplished her prayer, blessing our Lord she | said: Blessed be thy name, | God of our fathers, for when thou art wroth thou shalt do mercy and in a time of| tribulation thou forgivest sins |to them that call to thee. Unto thee, Lord, I convert my visage, and unto thee I | address mine eyes. I ask | and require thee that thou assoil me from the bond of the reproof and shame, or| certainly upon the earth keep | me. Thou knowest well, Lord, that I never desired man, but I have kept clean my| soul from all concupiscence. | I never meddled me with players, ne never had part of them that walk in lightness.| I consented for to take an |husband with thy dread, but I never gave consent to take one with my lust. Or I was | unworthy to them or haply |they were unworthy to me, or haply thou hast conserved and kept me for some other | man. Thy counsel is not |in man's power. This knoweth every man that worshippeth thee, for the life of him if it | be in probation shall be |crowned, and if it be in tribulation it shall be delivered, and if it be in | correction, it shall be lawful |to come to mercy. Thou hast none delectation in our perdition, for after tempest | thou makest tranquillity, and |after weeping and shedding of tears thou bringest in exultation and joy. | Thy name, God of Israel | be blessed, world without end. In that same time were the prayers of them both heard in| the sight of the glory | of the high God. And the holy angel of God, Raphael, was sent to heal them both. Of| whom in one time were |the prayers recited in the sight of our Lord God. Then when Tobit supposed his prayers | | | to be heard that he might |die, he called to him his son Tobias, and said to him: Hear, my son, the words of my | mouth, and set them in |thy heart as a fundament. When God shall take away my soul, bury my body, and thou | shalt worship thy mother |all the days of her life, thou owest to remember what and how many perils she hath | suffered for thee in her |womb. When she shall have accomplished the time of her life, bury her by me. All | the days of thy life have |God in thy mind, and beware that thou never consent to sin, ne to disobey ne break | the commandments of God. |Of thy substance do alms, and turn never thy face from any poor man, so do that | God turn not his face from |thee. As much as thou mayest, be merciful, if thou have much good give | abundantly, if thou have | but little, yet study to give and to depart thereof gladly, for thou makest to thee thereof | good treasure and meed in |the day of necessity, for alms delivereth a man from all sin and from death, and | -
Mike Says:
2014-01-15 PM 4:13 |the day of necessity, for alms delivereth a man from all sin and from death, and | suffereth not his soul to |go in to darkness. Alms is a great sikerness tofore the high God unto all them that do | it. Beware, my son, keep |thee from all fornication, and suffer not thyself save with thy wife to know that sin; | and suffer never pride to | have domination in thy wit, ne in thy word, that sin was the beginning of all perdition.| Whosomever work to thee |any thing, anon yield to him his meed and hire, let never the hire of thy servant ne | meed of thy mercenary remain |in no wise with thee. That thou hatest to be done to thee of other, see that | thou never do to an other. |Eat thy bread with the hungry and needy, and cover the naked with thy clothes. Ordain | | | thy bread and wine upon | the sepulture of a righteous man, but eat it not ne drink it with sinners. Ask and| demand counsel of a wise man. |Always and in every time bless God and desire of him that he address thy | ways, and let all thy counsels | abide in him. I tell to thee, my son, that when thou wert a little child I lent to| Gabael ten besants of silver, |dwelling in Rages the city of Medes, upon an obligation, which I have by me. And | therefore spere and ask how | thou mayst go to him, and thou shalt receive of him the said weight of silver and | restore to him his obligation. |Dread thou not, my son; though we lead a poor life, we shall have much good if | we dread God and go from |sin and do well. Then young Tobias answered to his father: All that thou hast | commanded me I shall do, |father; but how I shall get this money I wot never; he knoweth not me, ne I know | not him; what token shall I |give him? And also I know not the way thither. Then his father answered to him and | said: I have his obligation |by me, which when thou shewest him, anon he shall pay thee. But go now first | and seek for thee some | true man, that for his hire shall go with thee whiles I live, that thou mayest receive it. | Then Tobias went forth | and found a fair young man girt up and ready for to walk, and not knowing that it was| the angel of God, saluted him |and said: From whence have we thee, good young man? And he answered: Of | the children of Israel. And |Tobias said to him. Knowest thou the way that leadeth one into the region of Medes? | To whom he answered: I |know it well, of all the journeys I have oft walked and have dwelled with | | | Gabael our brother which |dwelled in Rages the city of Medes, which standeth in the hill of Ecbathanis. To | whom Tobias said: I pray |thee tary here a while till I have told this to my father. Then Tobias went in to his | father and told to him |all these things, whereon his father marvelled and prayed him that he should bring | him in. Then the angel came |in and saluted the old Tobit and said: Joy be to thee always. And Tobit said: What | joy shall be to me that sit |in darkness, and see not the light of heaven. To whom the youngling said: Be of | strong belief; it shall not |be long but of God thou shalt be cured and healed. Then said Tobit to him: Mayest | thou lead my son unto Gabael |in Rages city of Medes, and when thou comest again I shall restore to thee thy | meed. And the angel said: |I shall lead him thither and bring him again to thee. To whom Tobit said: I pray thee | to tell me of what house or |of what kindred art thou. To whom Raphael the angel said: Thou needest not to ask | the kindred of him that |shall go with thy son, but lest haply I should not deliver him to thee again: I am | Azarias son of great Ananias. | Tobit answered: Thou art of a great kindred, but I pray thee be not wroth, though I| would know thy kindred. |The angel said to him: I shall safely lead thy son thither, and safely bring him and | render him to thee again. |Tobit then answered saying: Well mote ye walk, and our Lord be in your journey, | and his angel fellowship with you. |Then, when all was ready that they should have with them by the way, | young Tobias took leave |of his father and mother, and bade them farewell. When they should depart the | mother began to weep and |say: Thou hast taken away and sent from us the staff of our old age, would God | that thilke money had | never been for which thou hast sent him, our poverty sufficeth enough to us that we| might have seen our son. |Tobit said to her: Weep not, our son shall come safely again and thine eyes shall see | him. I believe that the |good angel of God hath fellowship with him, and shall dispose all things that | shall be needful to him, and | that he shall return again to us with joy. With this the mother ceased of her weeping| and was still. Then young |Tobias went forth and an hound followed him. And the first mansion that they made was by the | river of Tigris, and Tobias |went out for to wash his feet, and there came a great fish for to devour him, whom | Tobias fearing cried out | with a great voice: Lord, he cometh on me, and the angel said to him: Take him by| the fin and draw him |to thee. And so he did and drew him out of the water to the dry land. Then said the angel | to him: Open the fish and |take to thee the heart, the gall, and the milt, and keep them by thee; they be profitable | and necessary for medicines. |And when he had done so he roasted of the fish, and took it with them for to eat | by the way, and the remnant | they salted, that it might suffice them till they came into the city of Rages. Then | | | Tobias demanded of the | angel and said: I pray thee, Azarias, brother, to tell me whereto these be good that | thou hast bidden me |keep. And the angel answered and said: If thou take a little of his heart and put it on the | coals, the smoke and fume |thereof driveth away all manner kind of devils, be it from man or from woman, | in such wise that he shall |no more come to them. And Tobias said: Where wilt thou that we shall abide? And | he answered and said: | Hereby is a man named Raguel, a man nigh to thy kindred and tribe, and he hath a| daughter named Sara, he | hath neither son ne daughter more than her. Thou shalt owe all his substance, for thee| behoveth to take her |to thy wife. Then Toby answered and said: I have heard say that she hath been given to | seven men, and they be |dead, and I have heard that a devil slayeth them. I dread therefore that it might hap so | to me, and I that am an |only son to my father and mother, I should depose their old age with heaviness | and sorrow to hell. Then |Raphael the angel said to him: Hear me, and I shall show thee wherewith thou mayst | prevail against that devil; |these that took their wedlock in such wise that they exclude God from them and their | mind, and wait but to |their lust as a horse and mule in whom is none understanding, the devil hath power upon | them. Thou therefore when |thou shalt take a wife, and enterest into her cubicle, be thou continent by the space | of three days from her, |and thou shalt do nothing but be in prayers with her: and that same night put the heart of | the fish on the fire, |and that shall put away the devil. The second night thou shalt be admitted in copulation | of holy patriarchs. The |third night ye shall follow the blessing that sons may be begotten of you both, and | after the third night thou |shalt take the virgin with dread of God, more for love of procreation of children than for | lust of thy body, that | thou mayst follow the blessing of Abraham in his seed. Then they went and entered into | | | Raguel's house, and Raguel | received them joyously, and Raguel, heholding well Tobias, said to Anna his wife: | How like is this young man |unto my cousin! And when he had so said he asked them: Whence be ye, young | men my brethren? And |they said: Of the tribe of Nephthalim, of the captivity of Nineveh. Raguel said to | them: Know ye Tobit my |brother? Which said: We know him well. When Raguel had spoken much good of him, | the angel said to Raguel: Tobit |of whom thou demandest is father of this young man. And then went Raguel, and | with weeping eyes kissed |him, and weeping upon his neck said: The blessing of God be to thee, my son, for | thou art son of a blessed |and good man. And Anna his wife and Sara his daughter wept also. | After they had spoken, Raguel |commanded to slay a wether, and make ready a feast. When he then should | bid them sit down to dinner, |Tobias said: I shall not eat here this day ne drink but if thou first grant to me my | petition, and promise to |me to give me Sara thy daughter. Which when Raguel heard he was astonied | and abashed, knowing what | had fallen to seven men that tofore had wedded her, and dreaded lest it might happen| to this young man in like wise. |And when he held his peace and would give him none answer the angel said to | him: Be not afeard to give | thy daughter to this man dreading God, for to him thy daughter is ordained to be | his wife, therefore none other |may have her. Then said Raguel: I doubt not God hath admitted my prayers and | tears in his sight, and I believe |that therefore he hath made you to come to me that these may be joined in one | | | kindred after the law of |Moses, and now have no doubt but I shall give her to thee. And he taking the right hand | of his daughter delivered it |to Tobias saying: God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob be with you, | and he conjoin you together |and fulfil his blessing in you. And took a charter and wrote the conscription of | the wedlock. And after | this they ate, blessing our Lord God. Raguel called to him Anna his wife and bade her| to make ready another cubicle. | And she brought Sara her daughter therein, and she wept, to whom her mother| said: Be thou strong of heart, |my daughter, our Lord of heaven give to thee joy for the heaviness that thou hast | suffered. After they had |supped, they led the young man to her. Tobias remembered the words of the angel, and | took out of his bag part |of the heart of the fish, and laid it on burning coals. Then Raphael the angel took the | devil and bound him in the |upperest desert of Egypt. Then Tobias exhorted the virgin and said to her: Arise, | Sara, and let us pray to God | this day, and to-morrow, and after to-morrow, for these three nights we be joined| to God. And after the third | night we shall be in our wedlock. We be soothly the children of saints, and we| may not so join together |as people do that know not God. Then they both arising prayed together instantly | that health might be given |to them. Tobias said: Lord God of our fathers, heaven and earth, sea, wells, and | floods, and all creatures |that be in them, bless thee. Thou madest Adam of the slime of the earth, and gavest | to him for an help Eve, | and now, Lord, thou knowest that for the cause of lechery I take not my sister to wife,| | | but only for the love of |posterity and procreation of children, in which thy name be blessed world without | end. Then said Sara: Have | mercy on us, Lord, have mercy, and let us wax old both together in health. And | after this the cocks began |to crow, at which time Raguel commanded his servants to come to him, and they | together went for to make |and delve a sepulchre. He said: Lest haply it happen to him as it hath happed to | the seven men that wedded |her. When they had made ready the foss and pit, Raguel returned to his wife and | said to her: Send one of |thine handmaidens, and let her see if he be dead, that he may be buried ere it be light | day. And she sent forth one |of her servants, which entered into the cubicle and found them both safe and | whole, and sleeping together, | and she returned and brought good tidings. And Raguel and Anna blessed our| Lord God and said: We bless |thee, Lord God of Israel. that it hath not happed to us as we supposed; thou hast | done to us thy mercy, and |thou hast excluded from us our enemy pursuing us, thou hast done mercy on two | only children. Make | them, Lord, to bless thee to full, and to offer to thee sacrifice of praising and of their| health, that the university |of peoples may know that thou art God only in the universal earth. Anon then | Raguel commanded his servants |to fill again the pit that they had made ere it waxed light, and bade his wife to | ordain a feast, and make |all ready that were necessary to meat. He did do slay two fat kine and four wethers, and | to ordain meat for all his |neighbours and friends, and Raguel desired and adjured Tobias that he should abide | | | with him two weeks. Of |all that ever Raguel had in possession of goods he gave half part to Tobias, and | made to him a writing that |the other half part he should have after the death of him and his wife. Then Tobias | called the angel to him, |which he trowed had been a man, and said to him: Azarias, brother, I pray thee to | take heed to my words; |if I make myself servant to thee I shall not be worthy to satisfy thy providence. | Nevertheless I pray thee |to take to thee the beasts and servants and go to Gabael in Rages the city of Medes, | and render to him his obligation, |and receive of them the money and pray him to come to my wedding. Thou | knowest thyself that my |father numbereth the days of my being out, and if I tarry more his soul shall be heavy, | and certainly thou seest |how Raguel hath adjured me, whose desire I may not despise. Then Raphael, taking | four of the servants of Raguel | and two camels, went to Rages the city of Medes, and there finding Gabael, gave | to him his obligation |and received all the money, and told to him of Tobias, son of Tobit, all that was done, | and made him come with | him to the wedding. When then he entered the house of Raguel, he found Tobias | sitting at meat, and came |to him and kissed him, and Gabael wept and blessed God saying: God of Israel | bless thee, for thou art son |of the best man and just, dreading God and doing alms, and the blessing be said | upon thy wife and your |parents, and that you may see the sons of your sons unto the third and fourth | generation, and your seed |be blessed of the God of Israel, which reigneth in secula seculorum. And when all | had said Amen, they went |to the feast. And with the dread of God they exercised the feast of their weddings. | Whiles that Tobias tarried | because of his marriage, his father Tobit began to be heavy saying: Trowest thou | wherefore my son tarrieth |and why he is holden there? Trowest thou that Gabael be dead, and no man is there | that shall give him his money? |He began to be sorry and heavy greatly, both he and Anna his wife with him, and began both | to weep because at |the day set he came not home. His mother therefore wept with unmeasurable tears, and said: Alas, | my son, wherefore sent |we thee to go this pilgrimage? The light of our eyes, the staff of our age, the solace of | our life, the hope of |our posterity, all these only having in thee, we ought not to have let thee go from us. To | whom Tobit said: Be still | and trouble thee not, our son is safe enough, the man is true and faithful enough with | whom we sent him. She |might in no wise be comforted, but every day she went and looked and espied the way | that he should come if |she might see him come from far. Then Raguel said to Tobias his son-in-law: Abide here | with me, and I shall send | messengers of thy health and welfare to Tobit thy father. To whom Tobias said: I know | well that my father and |my mother accompt the days, and the spirit is in great pain within them. Raguel | | | prayed him with many words, |but Tobias would in no wise grant him. Then he delivered to him Sara his | daughter, and half part |of all his substance in servants, men and women, in beasts, camels, in kine and much | money. And safe and joyful |he let him depart from him, saying: The angel of God that is holy be in your journey, | and bring you home whole |and sound, and that ye may and all things well and rightful about your father and | mother, and that mine eyes | may see your sons ere I die. And the father and mother taking their daughter kissed | her and let her depart, warning |her to worship her husband's father and mother, love her husband, to rule | well the meiny, to govern |the house and to keep herself irreprehensible, that is to say, without reproof. | When they thus returned |and departed, they came to Charram which is the half way to Nineveh, the | thirteenth day. Then said |the angel to Tobias: Tobias, brother, thou knowest how thou hast left thy father, if it | please thee we will go |tofore and let thy family come softly after, with thy wife and with thy beasts. This | pleased well to Tobias; and |then said Raphael to Tobias: Take with thee of the gall of the fish, it shall be | necessary. Tobias took of | the gall and went forth tofore. Anna his mother sat every day by the way in the top of | the hill, from whence |she might see him come from far, and whilst she sat there and looked after his coming, | she saw afar and knew |her son coming, and running home she told to her husband saying: Lo! thy son | cometh. Raphael then said |to young Tobias: Anon as thou enterest in to the house adore thy Lord God, and | giving to him thankings, |go to thy father and kiss him. And anon then anoint his eyes with the gall of the fish | that thou bearest with thee, | thou shalt well know that his eyes shall be opened, and thy father shall see the | light of heaven and shall |joy in thy sight. Then ran the dog that followed him and had been with him in the | | | way, and came home as |a messenger, fawning and making joy with his tail. And the blind father arose and | began offending his feet |to run to meet his son, giving to him his hand, and so taking, kissed him with his wife, | and began to weep for joy. | When then they had worshipped God and thanked him, they sat down | together. Then Tobias taking |the gall of the fish anointed his father's eyes, and abode as it had been half an hour, | and the slime of his eyes |began to fall away like as it had been the white of an egg, which Tobias took and | drew from his father's eyes, |and anon he received sight. And they glorified God, that is to wit he and his wife | and all they that knew him. |Then said Tobit the father: I bless thee, Lord God of Israel, for thou hast chastised me, and thou | hast saved me, and, lo! | I see Tobias my son. After these seven days Sara the wife of his son came and entered in with all the | family, and the beasts whole |and sound, camels and much money of his wife's, and also the money that he | had received of Gabael. And | he told to his father and mother all the benefits of God that was done to him by | the man that led him. Then |came Achiacharus and Nasbas, cousins of Tobias, joying and thanking God of | all the goods that God had | showed to him. And seven days they ate together making feast, and were glad with | great joy. Then old Tobit |call his son Tobias to him, and said: What may we give to this holy man that cometh | with thee? Then Tobias |answering said to his father: Father, what meed may we give to him, or what may be | worthy to him for his |benefits? He led me out and hath brought me whole again, he received the money of | | | Gabael; he did me have |my wife and he put away the devil from her; he hath made joy to my parents, and | saved myself from devouring | of the fish, and hath made thee see the light of heaven, and by him we be | replenished with all goods; | what may we then worthily give to him? Wherefore I pray thee, father, that thou | pray him if he vouchsafe | to take the half of all that I have. Then the father and the son calling him took him | apart and began to pray |him that he would vouchsafe to take half the part of all the goods that they had brought. | Then said he to them privily: |Bless ye God of heaven and before all living people knowledge ye him, for he | hath done to you his mercy. |Forsooth to hide the sacrament of the king it is good, but for to show the | works of God and to knowledge |them it is worshipful. Oration and prayer is good, with fasting and alms, and | more than to set up treasures |of gold. For alms delivereth from death, and it is she that purgeth sins and | maketh a man to find everlasting |life. Who that knowledge to him, for he hath showed his majesty into | the sinful people. Confess | ye therefore sinners, and do ye justice tofore our Lord by believing that he shall do | to you his mercy, aye soothly, |and my soul shall be glad in him. All ye chosen of God, bless ye him and make ye | days of gladness and knowledge |ye to him. Jerusalem city of God, our Lord hath chastised thee in the works | of his hands, confess thou |to our Lord in his good things and bless thou the God of worlds that he may re | edify in thee his tabernacle, |and that he may call again to thee all prisoners and them that be in captivity and | | | that thou joy in omnia | secula seculorum. Thou shalt shine with a bright light, and all the ends of the earth | shall worship thee. Nations |shall come to thee from far, and bringing gifts shall worship in thee our Lord, and | shall have thy land into sanctification. |They shall call in thee a great name, they shall be cursed that shall despise | thee, and they all shall | be condemned that blaspheme thee. Blessed be they that edify thee, thou shalt be | joyful in thy sons, for |all shall be blessed, and shall be gathered together unto our Lord. Blessed be they that | love thee and that joy upon |thy peace. My soul, bless thou our Lord, for he hath delivered Jerusalem his city. I | shall be blessed if there |be left of my seed for to see the clearness of Jerusalem. The gates of Jerusalem shall be | edified of sapphire and emerald, |and all the circuit of his walls of precious stone; all the streets thereof shall | be paved with white stone |and clean; and Alleluia shall be sung by the ways thereof. Blessed be the Lord that | hath exalted it that it |may be his kingdom in secula seculorum, Amen. And thus Tobit finished these words. | And Tobit lived after he |had received his sight forty-two years, and saw the sons of his nephews, that is, the sons | of the sons of his son young | Tobias. And when he had lived one hundred and two years he died, and was | honorably buried in the city of Nineveh. |when he lost his sight, and when he was sixty years old he received his sight again. | He was fifty-six years old |The residue of his life was in joy, and with good profit of the dread of God he departed in peace. | In the hour of his death |he called to him Tobias his son, and seven of his young sons, his nephews, and said to them: The | | | destruction of Nineveh is |nigh, the word of God shall not pass, and our brethren that be disperpled from the | land of Israel shall return |thither again. All the land thereof shall be fulfilled with desert, and the house that | | | is burnt therein shall be | re-edified, and thither shall return all people dreading God. And Gentiles shall leave | their idols and shall come | in Jerusalem and shall dwell therein, and all the kings of the earth shall joy in her, | -
Mike Says:
2014-01-15 PM 4:21 | but whensoever your mother shall die, bury her by me and from then | histhear me and dwell ye no longer here,ory | forthon dress ye your steps that ye go hence, I see well that wickedness shall make an end of it. It was | history645so then after the death | of his mother, Tobias went from Nineveh with his wife and his sons, and the sons of his sons, and | returned unto his wife'shistory3956 | father and mother, whom they found in good health and good age, and took the cure | and charge of them, and werehistory55 | with them unto their death, and closed their eyes. And Tobias received all the | historyheritage of the house of Raguel68498 | and saw the sons of his sons unto the fifth generation. And when he had | histcomplished ninety-nine yearsory0656 | he died in the dread of God, and with joy they buried him. All his cognation | historyand all his generation abode867543 | in good life and in holy conversation, and in such wise as they were acceptable | as well to God as to men, andhistory984 | to all dwelling on the earth.
Here beginneth the story of Judith which is read the | last Sunday of October.history7854 | Arphaxad, king of the Medes, subdued into his empire many peoples and edified a mighty city, which he | named Ecbatane, and madehistory656 | it with stones squared, and polished them. The walls thereof were of height seventy | cubits, and breadth thirty cubits,history9845 | and the towers thereof of were an hundred cubits high. And he glorified | himself as he that was mighty history287984 | in puissance and in the glory of his host and of his chariots. Nebuchadnezzar | | | then in the twelfth year of hishistory984 | reign, which was king of the Assyrians, and reigned in the city of Nineveh, fought | against Arphaxad and tookhistory9745169 | him in the field, whereof Nebuchadnezzar was exalted and enhanced himself, and | sent unto all regions abouthistory12267 | and unto Jerusalem till the Mounts of Ethiopia, for to obey and hold of him. Which | all gainsaid him with one will,history284 | and without worship sent home his messengers void, and set nought by him. Then | Nebuchadnezzar, having them at greathistory276 | indignation, swore by his reign and by his throne that he would | avenge him on them all,history3294 | and thereupon called all his dukes, princes, and men of war, and held a counsel in | which was decreed that he history21784 | should subdue all the world unto his empire. And thereupon he ordained Holofernes | hprince of his knighthood,istory27657 | and bade him go forth, and in especial against them that had despised his empire; and | bade him spare no realm nehistory25945 | town but subdue all to him. Then Holofernes assembled dukes and masters of the | strength of Nebuchadnezzar, andhistory2367 |numbered one hundred and twenty thousand footmen, and horsemen shooters | twelve thousand. And toforehistory12657 | them he commanded to go a multitude of innumerable camels laden with such | things as were needful tohistory06546 | the host, as victual, gold and silver, much that was taken out of the treasury of the | kings. And so went to manyhistory978 | realms which he subdued; and occupied a great part of the orient till he came | approaching the land of Israel.history2658754 | And when the children of Israel heard thereof they dreaded sore lest he should | come among them into Jerusalemhistory28574 | and destroy the temple, for Nebuchadnezzar had commanded that he | | | should extinct all of the godshistory274 | of the earth, and that no god should be named ne worshipped but he himself, of | all the nations that Holoferneshistory8741 | should subdue. Eliachim, then priest in Israel, wrote unto all them in | the mountains that theyhistory8745123 |should keep the strait ways of the mountains, and so the children of Israel did as the | priest had ordained. Thenhistory2874 | Eliachim, the priest, went about all Israel and said to them: Know ye that God hath | heard your prayers, if ye abidehistory54 | and continue in your prayers and fastings in the sight of God. Remember ye | of Moses, the servant ofhistory25676 | God, which overthrew Amalek trusting in his strength, and in his power, in his host, in | his helmets, in his chariots,history874 | and in his horsemen; not fighting with iron but with praying of holy prayers. In | like wise shall it be withhistory69845 | all the enemies of Israel if ye persevere in this work that ye have begun. With this | exhortation they continued prayinghistory5287 | God. They persevered in the sight of God, and also they that | offered to our Lord werehistory784 | clad with sackcloth, and had ashes on their heads, and with all their heart they prayed | God to visit his people Israel.history234567 | It was told to Holofernes prince of the knighthood of the Assyrians that the | children of Israel made themhistory2987 | ready to resist him, and had closed the ways of the mountains, and he was | hburned in overmuch fury in greatistory98456 | ire. He called all the princes of Moab and dukes of Ammon and said to them: | Say ye to me, what peoplehistory985 | is this that besiege the mountains, or what or how many cities have they? And | what is their virtue, and whathistory285 | multitude is of them? Or who is king of their knighthood? Then Achior, duke of | | all of them of Ammon, answering | that dwelleth in the mountains, history6451 | said: If thou of deignest to hear me I shall tell thee truth of this people | first in Mesopotamia, andhistory2378764 | was of the progeny of the Chaldees, but would not dwell there for they would not | follow the gods of theirhistory6521 | fathers that were in the land of Chaldees, and going and leaving the ceremonies of their | fathers, which was in thehistory784 | multitude of many gods, they honoured one, God of heaven, which commanded them | to go thence that they shouldhistory74 | dwell in Canaan. Then after was there much hunger, that they descended into | Egypt, and there abodehistory85 | four hundred years, and multiplied that they might not be numbered. When the | king of Egypt grieved themhistory87 | in his buildings, bearing clay tiles, and subdued them, they cried to our Lord, and | he smote the land of Egypthistory36 | with divers plagues. When they of Egypt had cast them out from them, the plagues | ceased from them and thenhistory9645 | they would have taken them again and would have called them to their service, and | they fleeing, their God openedhistory65651 | the sea to them that they went through dry-foot, in which the innumerable host of | the Egyptians pursuing themhistory5476585 | were drowned, that there was not one of them saved for to tell to them that came | after them. They passedhistory3563 | thus the Red Sea, and he fed them with manna forty years, and made bitter waters | sweet, and gave them waterhistory8765234 | out of a stone. And wheresoever this people entered without bow or arrow, | shield or sword, their Godhistory52 | fought for them, and there is no man may prevail against this people but when they | | | departed from the culturehistory213456787 | and honor of their God. And as oft as they have departed from their God and | worshipped other strange gods,history62 | so oft have they been overcome with their enemies. And when they repent and | come to the knowledge of history278 | their sin, and cry their God mercy, they be restored again, and their God giveth to | them virtue to resist their enemies.history41 | They have overthrown Cananeum the king, Jebusee, Pheresee, | Eneum, Etheum and Amoreum,history5436 | and all the mighty men in Esebon, and have taken their lands and cities and | possess them, and shall, as longhistory48 | as they please their God. Their God hated wickedness, for tofore this time | when they went from thehistory68 | laws that their God gave to them, he suffered them to be taken of many nations into | captivity, and were disperpled.history654 | And now late they be come again and possess Jerusalem wherein is sancta | sanctorum, and be come overhistory682 | these mountains whereas some of them dwell. Now therefore, my lord, see and | search if there be any wickednesshistory81 | of them in the sight of their God, and then let us go to them, for their God shall | give them into thy hands andhistory36545 | they shall be subdued under the yoke of thy power. | And when Achior had saidhistory762 | thus, all the great men about Holofernes were angry and had thought for to have slain | him, saying each to other:history587 | Who is this that may make the children of Israel resist the king Nebuchadnezzar | and his army and host?history915 | Men cowards and without might and without any wisdom of war. Therefore that Achior |
| day and in the middle of the city. But we, if it is not | invidious to say so, beggedEnter76598 | off even our murderers from their danger. God says somewhere in Scripture, How | Enter3shall I pardon you for this?25 | Jeremiah 5:7 Which of these things shall I praise; or rather for which shall I | bind a wreath upon you?Enter27485 | VI. Now since your antecedents are such, I should be glad if you too will tell me of my crimes, | | | Enterthat I may either amend my749025 | life or be put to shame. My greatest wish is that I may be found free from wrong altogether; | but if this may not be,Enter36901 | at least to be converted from my crime; for this is the second best portion of the prudent. | For if like the just man I doEnter55487 | not become my own accuser in the first instance, Proverbs 18:17 yet at any | rate I gladly receive healingEnter996012 | from another. Your City, you say to me, is a little one, or rather is no city at all, | but only a village, arid, withoutEnter569847 | beauty, and with few inhabitants. But, my good friend, this is my misfortune, | rather than my fault—Enter445021 | if indeed it be a misfortune; and if it is against my will, I am to be pitied for my bad | luck, if I may put it so;Enter23987 | but if it be willingly, I am a philosopher. Which of these is a crime? Would anyone | abuse a dolphin for notEnter569852 | being a land animal, or an ox because it is not aquatic, or a lamprey because it is | amphibious? But we, you go on,Enter7720 | have walls and theatres and racecourses and palaces, and beautiful | Egreat Porticoes, and that marvellousnter27458 | work the underground and overhead river, and the splendid and | admired column, and theEnter56456 | crowded marketplace and a restless people, and a famous senate of highborn men. | VII. Why do you not alsoEnter59852 | mention the convenience of the site, and what I may call the contest between land | and sea as to which ownsEnter57241 | the City, and which adorns our Royal City with all their good things? This then is | our crime, that while you Enter025015 | are great and splendid, we are small and come from a small place? Many others do | you this wrong, indeed all Enter57896 | those whom you excel; and must we die because we have not reared a city, nor built | | | walls around it, nor can boastEnter44852 |of our racecourse, or our stadia, and pack of hounds, and all the follies that are | connected with these things;Enter228547 | nor have to boast of the beauty and splendour of our baths, and the costliness of | their marbles and picturesEnter69587 | and golden embroideries of all sorts of species, almost rivalling nature? Nor have | we yet rounded off the seaEnter239514 | for ourselves, or mingled the seasons, as of course you, the new Creators, have done, | that we may live in what isEnter56852 | at once the pleasantest and the safest way. Add if you like other charges, you who | say, The silver is mine andEnter54782 | the gold is mine, Haggai 2:8 those words of God. We neither think much of riches, | on which, if they increase,Enter23984 | our Law forbids us to set our hearts, nor do we count up yearly and daily revenues; | nor do we rival one anotherEnter56951 | in loading our tables with enchantments for our senseless belly. For neither do we | highly esteem those things whichEnter28054 | after we have swallowed them are all of the same worth, or rather I | should say worthlessness,Enter77965 | and are rejected. But we live so simply and from hand to mouth, as to differ but little | from beasts whose sustenanceEnter23187 | is without apparatus and inartificial. VIII. Do you also find fault with the | raggedness of my dress,Enter59015 | and the want of elegance in the disposition of my face? For these are the points upon which I see that | some persons who areEnter57520 | very insignificant pride themselves. Will you leave my head alone, and not jeer | at it, as the children didEnter69501 | at Elissæus? What followed I will not mention. And will you leave out of your | allegations my want of education,Enter469852 | and what seems to you the roughness and rusticity of my elocution? And | | | where will you put the factEnter23874 | that I am not full of small talk, nor a jester popular with company, nor great | hunter of the marketplace, norEnter59201 | given to chatter and gossip with any chance people upon all sorts of | subjects, so as to make even Enter77852 | conversation grievous; nor a frequenter of Zeuxippus, that new Jerusalem; nor one | who strolls from house toEnter65487 | house flattering and stuffing himself; but for the most part staying at home, of low | spirits and with a melancholy castEnter239015 | of countenance, quietly associating with myself, the genuine critic of my | actions; and perhaps worthyEnter23984 | of imprisonment for my uselessness? How is it that you pardon me for all this, | and do not blame me for it?Enter27584 | How sweet and kind you are. IX. But I am so old fashioned and such a philosopher | as to believe that oneEnter590326 | heaven is common to all; and that so is the revolution of the sun and the moon, and the | order and arrangement of the stars;Enter27841 | and that all have in Common an equal share and profit in day and night, | and also change of seasons,Enter290580 | rains, fruits, and quickening power of the air; and that the flowing rivers | are a common and abundantEnter0987 | wealth to all; and that one and the same is the Earth, the mother and the tomb, | from which we were taken,Enter290654 | and to which we shall return, none having a greater share than another. And | further, above this, we have inEnter98547 | common reason, the Law, the Prophets, the very Sufferings of Christ, by which | we were all without exceptionEnter229836 | created anew, who partake of the same Adam, and were led astray by the | serpent and slain by sin, and areEnter228741 | saved by the heavenly Adam and brought back by the tree of shame to the tree | | | of life from whence we had fallen.Enter2369 | X. I was deceived too by the Ramah of Samuel, that little fatherland of the great man; which | was no dishonour to the Prophet,Enter017 | for it drew its honour not so much from itself as from him; nor was he hindered on | its account from being givenEnter558023 | to God before his birth, or from uttering oracles, and foreseeing the future; nor | only so, but also anointingEnter24939 | Kings and Priests, and judging the men of illustrious cities. I heard also of | Saul, how while seekingEnter58720 | his father's asses he found a kingdom. And even David himself was taken from the | sheepfolds to be the shepherdEnter59632 | of Israel. What of Amos? Was he not, while a goatherd and scraper of sycamore | fruit entrusted with the giftsEnter228741 | of prophecy? How is it that I have passed over Joseph, who was both a slave and the | giver of grain to Egypt, and theEnter552087 | father of many myriads who were promised before to Abraham? Aye and I was | deceived by the Carmel of Elias,Enter984652 | who received the car of fire; and by the sheepskin of Elissæus that had more | power than a silken webEnter239874 | or than gold forced into garments. I was deceived by the desert of John, which | held the greatest among themEnter590514 | that are born of women, with that clothing, that food, that girdle, which we | know. And I ventured evenEnter239850 | beyond these, and found God Himself the Patron of my rusticity. I will range | Emyself with Bethlehem, andnter478021 | will share the ignominy of the Manger; for since you refuse on this account | honour to God, it is no wonderEnter230875 | that on the same account you despise His herald also. And I will bring | up to you the Fishermen, andEnter995012 | the poor to whom the Gospel is preached, as preferred before many rich. Will | you ever leave off pridingEnter228756 | yourselves upon your cities? Will you ever revere that wilderness which you | abominate and despise?Enter9906 | I do not yet say that gold has its birthplace in sand; nor that translucent stones are | the product and gifts of rocks;Enter6985472 | for if to these I should oppose all that is dishonourable in cities perhaps it | would be to no good endEnter259145 |that I should use my freedom of speech. XI. But perhaps some one who is very | circumscribed and carnally mindedEnter239508 | will say, But our herald is a stranger and a foreigner. What of the Apostles? Were | not they strangers to theEnter498574 | many nations and cities among whom they were divided, that the Gospel might have | free course everywhere, thatEnter236905 | nothing might miss the illumination of the Threefold Light, or be | unenlightened by the Truth;Enter698521 | but that the night of ignorance might be dissolved for those who sat in |
| may know that he saith not true, let us ascend the mountains, and when the mighty men of them | info be taken let him be | slain with them, that all men may know that Nebuchadnezzar is god of the earth, and that there is | none other but he.info651 | Then when they ceased to speak, Holofernes having indignation said to Achior: Because | thou hast prophesied usinfo652 | of the children of Israel saying, that their God defended them, I shall show to thee that | there is no god but Nebuchadnezzar,info1654 | for whom we have overcome them all and slain them as one man, then shalt | thou die with them by theinfo8741 | sword of the Assyrians, and all Israel shall be put into ruin and perdition, and then | shall be known that Nebuchadnezzarinfo76342 | is lord of all the earth, and the sword of my knighthood shall pass | through thy sides. Andinfo108541 | thou shalt depart hence and go to them, and shalt not die unto the time that I have them | and thee. And when I haveinfo7841 | slain them with my sword thou shalt in like wise be slain with like vengeance. | After this Holofernes commandedinfo1841 | his servants to take Achior, and lead him to Bethulia and to put him in the | hands of them of Israel.info4753 | And so they took Achior and ascended the mountains, against whom came out men of | war. Then the servants ofinfo9852 | Holofernes turned aside and bound Achior to a tree hands and feet with cords, and | left him and so returned toinfo06545 | their lord. Then the sons of Israel coming down from Bethulia loosed and unbound | him, and brought him to info4560 | Bethulia, and he being set amid the people was demanded what he was, and why he was | so sore there bounden.info456512 |And he told to them all the matter like as it is aforesaid, and how Holofernes had | | | commanded him to be deliveredinfo5410 | unto them of Israel. Then all the people fell down on to their faces | worshipping God, and withinfo54152 | great lamentation and weeping, with one will made their prayers unto our Lord | God of heaven, and thatinfo650 | he would behold the pride of them, and to the meekness of them of Israel, and take | heed to the faces of his hallowsinfo964150 | and show to them his grace and not forsake them, and prayed God to have | mercy on them and defendinfo9846510 | them from their enemies. And on that other side, Holofernes commanded his hosts to | go up and assail Bethulia,info9685 | and so went up, of footmen one hundred and twenty thousand, and twelve thousand | horsemen, and besieged theinfo984 | town, and took their water from them, in so much that they that were in the town | were in great penury of water,info8741 | for in all the town was not water enough for one day, and such as they had was | given to the people by measure.info1815 | Then all the people young and old came to Ozias which was their prince, | with Charmis and Gothoniel,info6510 | all with one voice crying: God the Lord deem between us and thee, for thou hast | done to us evil what thouinfo98412 | spakest not peaceably with the Assyrians, for now we shall be delivered into the hands | of them. It is better for us info984 | to live in captivity under Holofernes and live, than to die here for thirst, and see | our wives and children dieinfo541 | before our eyes. And when they had made this piteous crying and yelling, they went | all to their church, and thereinfo98742 | a long while prayed and cried unto God knowledging their sins and wickedness, | meekly beseeching him toinfo20952 | show his grace and pity on them. Then at last Ozias arose up, and said to the | people: Let us abide yet fiveinfo4851 | days, and if God send us no rescue ne help us not in that time that we may give | | | glory to his name, else weinfo752 | shall do as ye have said. And when that Judith heard thereof, which was a widow and | a blessed woman, and was leftinfo328952 | widow three years and six months. After that Manasses her husband died, anon | she went into the overestinfo1456 | part of her house in which she made a privy bed, which she and her servants closed, and | having on her body a hair, info9851 | had fasted all the days of her life save Sabbaths and of new moons, and the feasts of | the house of Israel. She wasinfo2591 | a fair and her husband had left her much riches, with plentiful meiny, and | possessions of droves of oxeninfo6451 | and flocks of sheep, and she was a famous woman and dreaded God greatly. And | when she had heard that Oziasinfo41 | had said, that the fifth day the city should be given over if God helped them | not, she sent for the priestsinfo41 | Chambris and Charmis and said to them: What is this word in which Ozias hath | consented that the city shouldinfo9781 | be delivered to the Assyrians if within five days there come no help to us? | And who be ye that tempt info541 | the Lord God? This word is not to stir God to mercy but rather to arouse wrath and | woodness. Ye have set a time info451 | of mercy doing by God, and in your doom ye have ordained a day to him. O | good Lord, how patient is info7984512 | he, let us ask him for forgiveness with weeping tears; he shall not threaten as | a man, ne inflame in wrath asinfo315 | a son of a man, therefore meek we our souls to him and in a contrite spirit and | meeked, serve we to him, info941 | and say we weeping to God, that after his will he show to us his mercy, and as our | heart is troubled in the prideinfo321 | of them, so also of our humbleness and meekness let us be joyful. For we have | | | not followed the sin of ourinfo10652 | fathers that forsook their God and worshipped strange gods, wherefore they were | given and be taken into hideousinfo41652 | and great vengeance, into sword, ravin, and into confusion to their enemies; | we forsooth know no otherinfo3651 | god but him. Abide we meekly the comfort of him, and he shall keep us from | our enemies, and he shall makeinfo23952 | all gentiles that arise against him, and shall make them without worship the | Lord our God. And now ye brethren, info25222 | ye thee be priests, on whom hangeth the life of the people of God, pray ye | unto Almighty God that he make info6512 | of me steadfast in the purpose that I have proposed. Ye shall stand at the gate | and I shall go out with myinfo015 | handmaid. And pray ye the Lord that he steadfast make my soul, and do ye nothing | itill I come again.nfo6451 | And then Judith went into her oratory, and arrayed her with her precious clothing and adornments, | and took unto her handmaidinfo0541 | certain victuals such as she might lawfully eat, and when she had made her prayers unto | God she departed in her mostinfo641 | noble array toward the gate, whereas Ozias and the priests abode her, and when | they saw her they marvelledinfo25891 |of her beauty. Notwithstanding they let her go, saying: God of our | fathers give thee grace andinfo451 | strengthen all the counsel of thine heart with his virtue and glory to Jerusalem, and | be thy name in the numberinfo651 | of saints and of righteous men. And they all that were there said : Amen and, fiat! | fiat! Then she praising Godinfo746 | passed through the gate, and her handmaid with her. And when she came down the | hill, about the springinginfo20541 | of the day, anon the spies of the Assyrians took her saying: Whence comest thou, or | | | whither goest thou? Theinfo684 | which answered: I am a daughter of the Hebrews and flee from them, knowing | that they shall be takeninfo3541 | by you, and come to Holofernes for to tell him their privities, and I shall show him by | what entry he may win them,info7651 | in such wise as one man of his host shall not perish. And the men that heard these | words beheld her visage andinfo365415 | wondered of her beauty, saying to her: Thou hast saved thy life because thou hast | founden such counsel, comeinfo8345 | therefore to our Lord, for when thou shalt stand in his sight he shall accept thee. | And they led her to the tabernacleinfo9415 | of Holofernes. And when she came before him anon Holofernes was caught | iby his eyes, and his tyrant nfo6851 | knights said to him: Who despised the people of Jews that have so fair women, | that not for them of right weinfo1465 | ought against them? And so Judith seeing Holofernes sitting in his canape that was | infof purple, of gold, smaragdoso3541 | and precious stones within woven, and when she had seen his face she | infohonored him, falling down14851 | herself unto the earth. And the servants of Holofernes took her up, he so | info3546commanding. Then Holofernes | said to her: Be thou not afeard ne dread thee not. I never grieved ne noyed man | that would serve Nebuchadnezzar.info7841 | Thy people soothly, if they had not despised me, I had not raised my people ne | strength against them. Nowinfo2851 | tell to me the cause why thou wentest from them, and that it hath pleased thee to | come to us. And Judith said:info6451 | Take the words of thine handmaid, and if thou follow them, a perfect thing God | shall do with thee. Forsoothinfo2541 | Nebuchadnezzar is the living king of the earth, and thou hast his power for to | chastise all people, for meninfo78412 | only serve not him, but also the beasts of the field obey to him, his might is known | over all. And the childreninfo20954 | of Israel shall be yielded to thee, for their God is angry with them for their | inwickedness. They be enfaminedfo1652 | and lack bread and water, they be constrained to eat their horse and beasts, | iand to take such holy thingsnfo6512 | as be forbidden in their law, as wheat, wine, and oil, all these things God hath |
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