De prandio monachorum
1345BQuando autem ad prandium accedunt, dicit prior orationem cum fratribus, hoc est: oculi omnium; totam cum Gloria Patri subsequente prolixe dicuntur, et postea in fine alleluia canuntur; et dicit sacerdos orationem talem vocem, ut cuncti audiantur, et respondeant. Amen. Hoc benedicantur nobis Dne dona tua. Vel alias sunt plurimas, quae ad hunc cibum sunt deputatas. Et sedeunt postea omnes in loco suo; habent autem prope mensa Abbatis cathedra tale ex alto stabilita cum annologio, ubi librum ponitur, et sedeunt, cum legunt. Et statim, cum primum cibum ponunt ministri, et signum insonuerit, ut signetur ad comedendum, respondent omnes: Deo gratias. Priore signante, aut presbytero, vel cui jusserit, tali voce signatur, ut universi audiant, et respondent: amen. In ipso inicio comedentium est praeparatus lector, qui statim petit benedictionem, dicit: jube Domne benedicere. Senior autem dicit: Salvet nos Dns; et respondent omnes amen; et ingreditur ad legendum, et legit, quamdiu illum cibum 1345Cmanducant, et postea, si longo prandio habuerint, ut diucius sedeant, vel si aliam ministrationem ministrentur, tangit Prior mensa, ut sileat ipse lector modicum, et si fuerint pisces, vel etiam si volatilia, manducant; cum ministratur, et insonuerit signum, ut benedicatur, respondent omnes: Deo gratias, et benedicit Prior, aut cui jusserit, dicente: creaturam suam creator omnium Dns benedicat, et respondent omnes, amen; et manducatur. Si item alius cibus fuerit, dicit orationem, hoc est: precibus scae Dei genitricis Mariae, et nos, et dona sua Xps Filius Dei benedicat; respondent omnes, amen.
Et ad aliam ministrationem iterum legit lector tamdiu, quousque praecipiat ei Abba ut finiatur. Aut si ille congruam finem invenerit, si benedictio sonaverit in extremo sermone repetit ipsum iterum secundum vicem prolixe; et respondent omnes: Deo gratias, et descendit. Si autem longa fuerit lectio, et vel bene finierit sermonem, repetit ipsum, 1345Det postea dicit: tu autem Dne miserere nobis, et respondent omnes, amen. Sic et ad nocturnis, vel ad collecta, vel ubi praeceptum legerint divinum, ista est consuetudo, ut semper quando incipit legere, petita benedictione dicit: jube Domne benedicere; quando finierit lector lectionem, Deo gratias respondent. Et descendente eo vadit ante mensam Abbatis, et dat ei benedictionem, unde manducat, et bibit. Surgentibus autem fratribus dicent lente: confiteantur tibi Dne; adjungentes Gloria Patri, et ad finem alleluia canentes. Et si majorem refectionem habuerint, ut eis exinde superfuerit dicit Prior, vel cui cura commissa est orationem: fragmenta, quae superaverunt servis suis, Xpus Filius Dei multiplexit, et benedicat, et abundare faciat, qui est benedictus in saecula saeculorum, et respondentibus omnibus, amen, vadunt in oratorio ad orationem Dnm gratias agentes, et ibi dicent post finitam orationem dispersit dedit, completo officio cibi.
Item ad sera coenantibus, cum ingressi fuerint, ubi reficiuntur, dicant, subtrahendo moras, orationem: edent pauperes, adjungentes Gloria Patri, et 1346Bin fine canentes alleluia. Et dicit senior orationem, sic tamen, ut cuncti audiant, et respondeant, amen, hoc est: tua nos Dne; vel alias sunt multas secundum tempus. Sedentes autem in sedilia sua faciunt similiter, sicut et in prandio in die, et si contigerit, ut nox perveniat coenantibus, et lumen necesse sit accendere; ille autem frater, qui lumen adportat, statim cum ingreditur in domum prope seniores dicit tali voce, ut omnes audiant: lumen Xpi, et dicunt omnes Deo gratias; et iterum ipse incurvatus dicit: jube Domne benedicere. Senior autem dicit: in nomine Dni sit; et respondent omnes, amen, et sic ponit lumen in locum suum, ut luceat omnibus in domo. Et si miscere jussum fuerit fratribus, ut bibant, vadit minister ad ministerium, et tangit digito suo calicem, et respondent omnes Deo gratias, et signat, et respondent omnes, amen, et sic bibent cum benedictione; et si fructum eis Dns dederit, dicit senior ita orationem: fructus suos Dns omps benedicat, et respondent omnes, amen. Sic fit de 1346Comnia (omni) administrationem. Cum autem refectio expleta fuerit, facto signo, ut surgant, ille frater, qui in quoquina septimanam facit, quando fratres reficiunt, semper cum aliis ministris ad mensam seniorum sive fratrum administrat. Cum autem surgunt a mensa, ille frater curvat se contra oriente super genua sua, et rogat pro se orare, dicens: Domni orate pro me; et dicit senior, salvet nos Dns, ille frater surgens, dicit prolixa voce, Deo gratias. Statim omnes fratres incipiunt canere, semper tibi Dne gratias. Ita finitum, dicit Prior cum fratribus: miserator et misericors Deus, prolixe cum Gloria, adjungentes et in fine alleluia. Sive: Qui dat escam omni carni, confitemini Dno coeli, quoniam bonus, quoniam in saeculum misericordia ejus, et dicit sacerdos orationem, hoc est: satiasti nos Dne, finita respondent omnes, amen, et sic vadunt ad orationem, et orant, sicut supra scriptum est.
Ille autem septimanarius, qui ingreditur quoquinam, 1346Din die dominica ingreditur, vel egreditur, juxta id quod in regula sci Benedicti continetur scriptum. Matutinis finitis statim in oratorio, qui egreditur, postulat pro se orare dicens: Domni orate pro me, dicit autem senior: salvum fac servum tuum; ille vero subsequens dicit cum omnibus fratribus: benedictus es Dne Deus, hoc usque tercio repetens, accepta benedictione egreditur. Statim dicit, qui ingreditur: Deus in adjutorium meum intende, et ista oratione tertio cum omnibus repetitur, et sic accepta benedictione, intrat ad serviendum fratribus suis. Sic et in ecclesia beati Petri apostoli, presbyter septimanam facit, vel mansionarii, qui lumen vel ornatum ipsius ecclesiae custodiunt, die Sabbati ora tercia consignant officia sua ad pares suos, et sic descendunt, et vadunt in domos suas; et illi alii cum presbytero vel paris suos (paribus suis) usque ad alio Sabbato serviunt, et faciunt similiter, et sic in omnibus officiis honeste, vel ordinabiliter Deo conservantur.
Et si fortasse ista, quae de multis pauca conscripsimus (conscripsi) alicui displicuerit, non sit 1347Apiger, sed habeat prudentiam; sic habent alii Sacerdotes, vel Patres, seu et Monachi devoti, qui recto ordine vivere, atque custodire cum divina auctoritate desiderant. Quomodo illi vadunt, istam scam doctrinam ad suam utilitatem, vel suos, seu et multorum aedificationem cum magno labore ipsam deferent, ut hic postmodum, vel in futurum perpetualiter gaudeant, atque letentur in conspectu Dei et angelorum, vel omnium sanctorum ejus. Vadat sibi ipse Roma, aut si piget, misso suo fideli in loco suo transmittat, et inquirat diligenter, si est ita, aut non est, quod de pluribus parum conscripsimus; aut si non ita ibidem celebratur, vel si bene cum sancta intentione vel devotione inquisierat, et adhuc in centuplum melius, unde in opere Dei proficiat, invenerit; tunc postmodum fortasse ista audiat, despicere vel derogare, vel etiam tantos et tales scos Patres contra se adversare praesumat, qui istam scam normam instituerunt. Primus, beatus Damasus Papa, adjuvante S. Hieronimo presbytero vel ordinem 1347Becclesiasticum descriptum de Hierosolyma permissu sci ipsius Damasi transmittentem instituit, et ordinavit. Post hunc beatissimus Leo Papa annalem cantum omnem instituit, atque opuscula in canonica institutione luculentissima edidit, quam, si quis ea usque ad unum iota non receperit, vel veneraverit, anathema sit. Deinde beatus Gelasius (Zelasius) Papa similiter omnem annalem cantum seu et decretalia canonum honeste atque diligentissime, facto in sede beati Petri apostoli conventu Sacerdotum plurimorum, conscripsit. Post hunc Simmachus Papa similiter et ipse annalem suum cantum edidit. Iterum post hunc Johannes Papa similiter et ipse annum circuli cantum, vel omni ordine conscripsit. Post hunc Bonifacius Papa, qui inspirante sco Spu et regulam conscripsit, et cantilena anni circuli ordinavit. Post hos quoque beatus Gregorius Papa, qui afflatu sci Spus, magnam atque altissimam gratiam ei Dns contulit, ut super librum beati Job moralia 1347Cdiptycha (tibica), investigatione tripliciter atque septiformem expositionem lucidaret. Super Ezechiel quoque propheta prima parte, seu et extrema, luculentissima expositione declaravit. Quid super evangelia quadraginta humiliarum expositione fecerit, notum est omnibus Christianis, quam pulchre explanarit. Quid inde aliquorum libris operante sco Spu digessit, vel aliarum multarum sanctarum Scripturarum interpretatus est, Xpianis in mundo tegentibus, patefactum est. Et cantum anni circuli nobile edidit. Post istas quoque Catalenus Abba, ibi deserviens ad sepulcrum sci Petri, et ipse quidem annum circuli cantum diligentissime edidit. Post hunc quoque Maurianus Abba ipsius sci Petri apostoli serviens, annalem suum cantum, et ipse nobile ordinavit. Post hunc vero Domnus Vir bonus Abba, et omnem cantum anni circuli magnifice ordinavit.
Si quis, postquam ista cognoverit, custodire, vel celebrare, in quantum Deo jubente valuerit, 1347Dneglexerit, aut si melius aliunde scire, vel accepisse exemplum fortasse jactaverit, dubium non est, quod ipse sibi fallit, et in caligine erroris semet ipsum infeliciter demergit, qui tantos, et tales Patres, scos Auctores ausus sit despicere, vel derogare. Nescio, qua fronte, vel temeritate praesumptuoso spiritu ausi sunt beatos Hilarium atque Martinum, sive Germano vel Ambrosio, seu plures sanctos Dei, quos scimus de sca sede Romana a beato Petro apostolum successoribus suis directos in terra ista occidentali, et virtutibus atque miraculis coruscare, qui in nullo a sca sede Romana, vel a synodo trecentorum decem, et octo Patrum catholicorum Niceni (Nicaeni) conventus, medium cum Spiritu sco cohabitantem vel caeteris tribus aliis principalibus synodis deviarint, cum qua sca canonica instructione omnia esse noscuntur, ut tales ad testimonium adducere audeant, ut dicantur, sicut et illi tenuerunt, vel custodierunt, sic et nos tenere, 1348Aatque custodire videmur; quorum vita, vel mores, et opera atque meritum longe ab istis, quos modo memoravimus, quantum coelum a terra, distat, distare videatur; cum istos praeclaros Confessores Xpi, quos superius nominavimus, sciamus, frequenter eos Romam ambulasse, et apud beatos Papatus, vel Xpianis Imperatoribus colloquium habuisse, vel si qui a sca Romana sede deviabant, saepe recorrexisse, apud nos manifestum est. Iniquirant ergo, qui istos se fatentur habere auctores, volumina, vel gestas eorum, si sic tenent, et operantur, quomodo et illi operati sunt, atque tenuerunt, adsentimus et nos eos cum omni devotione et veneratione. Si autem non est ita, oportet eos diligenter inquirere, et imitare, atque custodire, sicut et sca Romana ecclesia custodit, ut teneant et ipsi unitatem catholicae fidei, amen: ne dum peregrinas consuetudines inquirentes, atque sectantes involvantur, vel excidantur a fide, ne superveniat in illos illud, quod egregius praedicator praedixit: in novissimis 1348Bdiebus instabunt tempora periculosa, et erunt homines se ipsos amantes, et omnem intellectum in captivitatem redigentes, veritatem autem non loquentes, nec adquiescentes; et illud; erit enim tempus, cum sanam doctrinam non substinebunt, sed ad sua desideria coacervabunt sibi magistros prurientes auribus habentes, et a veritate quidem auditum avertent, ad fabulas autem convertentur; et illud; testimonium perhibeo illis, quod aemulationem Dei habeant, sed non secundum scientiam, vel traditionem, quam acceperunt a nobis; ignorantes enim Dei scientiam, et suam quaerentes, statuere justitiae Dei non esse subjectam justitiam suam. Illi qui sunt, qui statuere? qui veram auctoritatem derelinquunt, et arbitrio suo vel voluntatem sequuntur; quod ita Xpianis non expedit facere, sed magis divinarum Scripturarum cottidie scrutare, et sanctorum Patrum dogmata investigare, atque imitare, qui in omnibus semper Domino placuerunt, et hic 1348Cin mundo hominibus probati paruerunt, nec e schismaticis vel contradictoriis adversus scam sedem Romanae ecclesiae esse demonstrentur, et ne forte videantur esse ramusculi, quod sunt membra de illo sigillo septimo, id est septima haeresis, qui ad extremo surrectura est, adtestante sacra scriptura: quia prope est pro foribus, quod dicitur ante januis, quia juxta beati Johannis Apostoli vocem, qui septem ecclesiis in Apocalypsi scribere a Domino jussus est, et librum signatum vidit sigillis septem secundum misterium septem dona Spiritus sancti. Econtra ex adversa parte septem spiritus nequam sunt contrarii septem donis Spiritus sancti, et septem sigillis, septem haereses sunt. Sex enim jam surrexerunt in mundo de parte orientali contra sca Romana ecclesia, sed opitulante gratia Xpi omnes illas haereses fregit sancta sedes beati Petri apostoli, atque computavit. Adhuc septima restat, et sic tradunt seniores et sapientes, atque Doctores 1348Dscae sedis Romanae ecclesiae, quia de parte ista occidentali, seu et aquilone surgere habet; et data est eis potestas tenebrosa, et perdant semetipsos, et alios in errore ducantur, et quos non potuerunt seducere per blandimenta, faciunt per fortitudinem et per tormenta, vel gladium Ecclesiae Dei quaerantur trucidare, atque extingere. Sed fundamentum Dei fortiter ac fixum stat, quod in evangelium per semetipsum Dominus promittere dignatus est dicens ad beatum Petrum apostolum: Super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam, et portae inferi non praevalebunt adversus eam. Fideles autem Romanae sedis ecclesiae tormentis et tribulationibus adfligi vel mori quidem possunt, sed superari fides atque credulitas eorum nullatenus nec frangi potest.
Oremus misericordem Dominum, et instanter vigilemus, atque sobrii simus, et non dormiamus, sicut illi, qui spem non habent, ut de ista mala omni, quae universa orbe superventura sunt in proximo, 1349Aut nos eripere, et liberare dignetur, et unitatem catholicae fidei usque in finem habere, atque custodire concedat, et per portas sit introitus noster in civitatem Dei, quod est Hierusalem coelestis, ut lignum vitae 1350Ain perpetuum cum sanctis Dei perfruere et jucundare mereamur donante Domino nostro Ihu Xpo, qui cum Patre et Spiritu sancto vivit et regnat, Deus per omnia saecula saeculorum amen. Finit. Deo gratias.
On the Midday Meal of Monks
1345BNow when they come to the midday meal, the prior says the prayer with the brethren, that is: the eyes of all; it is said in full, drawn out, with the Glory be to the Father following, and afterward at the end they sing alleluia; and the priest says the prayer in such a voice that all may be heard, and may answer. Amen. By this may thy gifts, O Lord, be blessed unto us. Or there are very many others which are appointed for this meal. And afterward all sit in their own place; and they have near the abbot's table a lectern of this kind, set up on high with a book-rest, where the book is placed, and they sit while they read. And immediately, when the servers set out the first dish, and the signal has sounded for the blessing to be made over the food, all answer: Thanks be to God. The prior making the sign, or a presbyter, or whomever he shall have bidden, the blessing is made in such a voice that all may hear, and they answer: amen. At the very beginning of those eating, a reader is made ready, who at once asks the blessing, saying: Bid, sir, a blessing. And the senior says: May the Lord save us; and all answer amen; and he enters upon the reading, and reads as long as they are eating that dish; 1345Cand afterward, if they shall have had a long meal, so that they sit the longer, or if another course is served, the prior taps the table, so that the reader himself may be silent a little; and if there be fish, or even fowl, they eat. When it is served, and the signal has sounded for the blessing, all answer: Thanks be to God, and the prior blesses, or he whom he shall have bidden, saying: May the Lord, the Creator of all, bless his own creature, and all answer, amen; and it is eaten. Likewise if there be another dish, he says the prayer, that is: By the prayers of the holy Mother of God, Mary, may Christ the Son of God bless both us and his own gifts; all answer, amen.
And at the next course the reader again reads for so long, until the abbot shall bid him make an end. Or if he himself shall have found a fitting close — if the blessing has sounded at the last sentence — he repeats that same sentence again a second time, drawn out; and all answer: Thanks be to God, and he comes down. But if the reading shall have been long, and he shall have well finished the sentence, he repeats it, 1345Dand afterward says: But do thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us, and all answer, amen. So also at the night offices, or at the collect, or wherever they shall have read the divine precept, this is the custom: that always when he begins to read, having asked the blessing he says: Bid, sir, a blessing; and when the reader shall have finished the reading, they answer Thanks be to God. And as he comes down he goes before the abbot's table, and the abbot gives him the blessing, whereupon he eats and drinks. And as the brethren rise they shall say slowly: Let them give thanks to thee, O Lord; adding Glory be to the Father, and at the end singing alleluia. And if they shall have had a fuller refection, so that something is left over to them from it, the prior, or he to whom the charge has been committed, says the prayer: May Christ the Son of God multiply the fragments which have remained over to his servants, and bless them, and make them abound — he who is blessed unto ages of ages, and all answering, amen, they go into the oratory to prayer, giving thanks to the Lord, and there, after the prayer is finished, they shall say He hath dispersed, he hath given, the office of the meal being completed.
Likewise for those supping in the evening: when they shall have entered where they take refection, let them say, without drawing out the pauses, the prayer: The poor shall eat, adding Glory be to the Father, and 1346Bat the end singing alleluia. And the senior says the prayer, yet in such wise that all may hear, and answer, amen, that is: May thy gifts, O Lord, unto us; or there are many others according to the season. And sitting in their seats they do just as at the midday meal in the daytime; and if it should happen that night comes on while they are supping, and it is necessary to light a lamp, that brother who brings the lamp, immediately as he enters the house near the seniors, says in such a voice that all may hear: The light of Christ, and all say Thanks be to God; and again he himself, bowed down, says: Bid, sir, a blessing. And the senior says: May it be in the name of the Lord; and all answer, amen, and so he sets the lamp in its place, that it may give light to all in the house. And if it shall have been bidden that drink be mixed for the brethren, that they may drink, the server goes to his service, and touches the cup with his finger, and all answer Thanks be to God, and he makes the sign, and all answer, amen, and so they shall drink with a blessing; and if the Lord shall have given them fruit, the senior says the prayer thus: May the Lord almighty bless his own fruits, and all answer, amen. So it is done with 1346Cevery (every) service. But when the refection shall have been completed, the signal being given for them to rise, that brother who keeps the week in the kitchen — who, when the brethren take refection, always serves along with the other servers at the table of the seniors or of the brethren — when they rise from table, that brother bows himself toward the east upon his knees, and asks prayer for himself, saying: Sirs, pray for me; and the senior says, May the Lord save us; and that brother, rising, says in a drawn-out voice, Thanks be to God. At once all the brethren begin to sing, Thanks be to thee always, O Lord. This so finished, the prior says with the brethren: A God compassionate and merciful, drawn out, with the Glory, adding also at the end alleluia. Or else: Who giveth food to all flesh; give praise to the Lord of heaven, for he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever, and the priest says the prayer, that is: Thou hast filled us, O Lord; which finished, all answer, amen, and so they go to prayer, and pray, as is written above.
Now that weekly servant who enters upon the kitchen 1346Denters, or goes out, on the Lord's day, according to that which is contained written in the rule of Saint Benedict. Matins being finished, immediately in the oratory he who goes out asks prayer for himself, saying: Sirs, pray for me; and the senior says: Save thy servant; but he, following after, says with all the brethren: Blessed art thou, O Lord God, repeating this up to three times; and having received the blessing he goes out. Immediately he who enters says: O God, come to my assistance, and this prayer is repeated three times with all; and so, having received the blessing, he goes in to serve his brethren. So too in the church of blessed Peter the apostle, a presbyter keeps the week, or the mansionarii, who guard the lamp or the furnishings of that church: on the Sabbath day at the third hour they consign their offices to their fellows, and so they go down, and go to their own houses; and those others, with the presbyter or their fellows (their fellows), serve until the next Sabbath, and do likewise; and so in all the offices things are kept for God honorably and in due order.
And if perchance these things, which out of many we have written down as a few (I have written down), shall have displeased anyone, let him not be 1347Aslothful, but let him have prudence; so do other priests hold it, and fathers, and devout monks too, who desire to live in right order and to keep it with divine authority. In whatever way they go about it, let them carry forward this holy teaching with great labor, to their own profit, or their people's, or for the edification of many, so that here afterward, or in time to come, they may rejoice perpetually and be glad in the sight of God and of the angels, and of all his saints. Let a man go to Rome himself, or, if it irks him, let him send his own trusty man in his place, and let him inquire diligently whether it is so or is not so, this little that out of much we have written down; or if it is not so celebrated in that place, or if he shall have inquired well, with holy intent and devotion, and shall have found something a hundredfold better still, whereby he may make progress in the work of God — then afterward let him perhaps hear these things, and presume to despise or disparage them, or even to set himself against so many and such holy Fathers as established this holy standard. First, the blessed Pope Damasus, with the help of Saint Jerome the presbyter — who by leave of that same Saint Damasus transmitted the ecclesiastical order 1347Bset down in writing from Jerusalem — instituted and ordained it. After him the most blessed Pope Leo instituted the whole chant of the year, and published in canonical institution most brilliant little works; and if anyone shall not have received or venerated these down to a single iota, let him be anathema. Then the blessed Pope Gelasius (Zelasius) likewise wrote down the whole chant of the year, and also the decretals of the canons, honorably and most diligently, an assembly of very many priests having been convened in the see of blessed Peter the apostle. After him Pope Symmachus likewise himself published his own chant of the year. Again after him Pope John likewise himself wrote down the chant of the circle of the year, and in every order. After him Pope Boniface, who by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit both wrote down a rule and set in order the chant of the circle of the year. After these also the blessed Pope Gregory, upon whom, by the breathing of the Holy Spirit, the Lord conferred great and most lofty grace, so that upon the book of blessed Job he made the moral 1347Cdiptychs (tibica) shine clear by a threefold investigation and a sevenfold exposition. Upon the prophet Ezekiel also, in the first part and in the last, he set forth a most brilliant exposition. What he did upon the Gospels in the exposition of forty homilies is known to all Christians — how beautifully he expounded them. What he thereafter set in order out of the books of certain men, by the working of the Holy Spirit, or how he interpreted many other Holy Scriptures, has been laid open to Christians dwelling in the world. And he published a noble chant of the circle of the year. After these also Abbot Catalenus, serving there at the tomb of Saint Peter, himself too most diligently published the chant of the circle of the year. After him also Abbot Maurianus, serving that same Saint Peter the apostle, himself too nobly set in order his own chant of the year. And after him the lord Vir Bonus, abbot, likewise magnificently set in order the whole chant of the circle of the year.
If anyone, after he has come to know these things, shall neglect to keep or to celebrate them, so far as by God's bidding he is able, 1347Dor if perchance he shall boast that he knows better from elsewhere, or has received a better model, there is no doubt that he deceives himself and unhappily sinks himself down into the darkness of error — he who has dared to despise or disparage so many and such great Fathers, holy authors. I know not with what face, or with what rashness of a presumptuous spirit, they have dared to bring forward, as though for testimony, the blessed Hilary and Martin, or Germanus and Ambrose, or the many other saints of God — whom we know to have been directed from the holy Roman see by the successors of blessed Peter the apostle [Migne: a beato Petro apostolum successoribus suis] into this western land, and to shine with virtues and miracles; who in nothing swerved from the holy Roman see, or from the synod of the three hundred and eighteen catholic Fathers of the council of Nicaea (Nicaea) — the Spirit dwelling in their midst — or from the other three principal synods besides, with which all things are known to accord in holy canonical instruction — to bring them forward, I say, so that it may be said: as those men held and kept, so we too are seen 1348Ato hold and to keep; whereas their life, or their manners, and works and merit are seen to stand as far from these whom we have just now mentioned as heaven stands from earth. For those illustrious Confessors of Christ, whom we named above, we know to have walked often to Rome, and to have held conference with the blessed popes, or with Christian emperors, and, if any swerved from the holy Roman see, often to have set them right again — this is manifest among us. Let them therefore, who profess to have these men as their authors, inquire into their volumes, or their deeds, whether they hold and act as those men acted and held; and we too assent to them with all devotion and veneration. But if it is not so, they ought diligently to inquire, and to imitate, and to keep, even as the holy Roman church keeps, so that they too may hold the unity of the catholic faith, amen: lest, while inquiring after and following foreign customs, they be entangled, or cut off from the faith — lest that come upon them which the excellent preacher foretold: In the last 1348Bdays perilous times shall press in, and there shall be men lovers of their own selves, and bringing every understanding into captivity, but not speaking the truth, nor assenting to it; and this: For there shall be a time when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires they will heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears, and will indeed turn away their hearing from the truth, but will be turned unto fables; and this: I bear them witness that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge, or the tradition which they received from us; for being ignorant of the knowledge of God, and seeking their own, they resolved that their own righteousness should not be made subject to the righteousness of God. Who are those, "they resolved"? Those who forsake true authority, and follow their own judgment or will; which it is not expedient for Christians so to do, but rather daily to search the divine Scriptures, and to investigate the teachings of the holy Fathers, and to imitate them — those who in all things always pleased the Lord, and here 1348Cin the world appeared approved unto men, and are not shown to be of the schismatics or of the gainsayers against the holy see of the Roman church; and lest perchance they be seen to be little branches — which are members of that seventh seal, that is, the seventh heresy, which is to arise at the last, as Holy Scripture attests: for it is near, at the doors, as is said, "before the gates" — since, according to the word of blessed John the Apostle, who was bidden by the Lord to write to the seven churches in the Apocalypse, and saw the book sealed with seven seals according to the mystery of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. On the contrary, from the adverse side there are seven wicked spirits contrary to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit; and to the seven seals there are seven heresies. For six have already arisen in the world from the eastern part against the holy Roman church, but by the help of the grace of Christ the holy see of blessed Peter the apostle has broken all those heresies, and has reckoned them up. The seventh yet remains; and so the elders and the wise, and the Doctors 1348Dof the holy see of the Roman church, hand down that it is to arise from this western part, or from the north; and there has been given to them a power of darkness, and they destroy themselves, and others are led into error, and those whom they could not seduce by blandishments they win by force and by torments, or seek to slaughter and to extinguish by the sword of the Church of God. But the foundation of God stands strong and fixed, which the Lord himself deigned to promise in the Gospel through his own self, saying to blessed Peter the apostle: Upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. But the faithful of the see of the Roman church can indeed be afflicted with torments and tribulations, or even die, yet their faith and belief can in no way be overcome nor broken.
Let us pray to the merciful Lord, and let us watch instantly, and be sober, and not sleep, like those who have no hope, that from all this evil which is soon to come upon the whole world, 1349Ahe may deign to rescue and free us, and grant us to have and to keep the unity of the catholic faith unto the end, and that through the gates our entrance may be into the city of God, which is the heavenly Jerusalem, so that we may deserve to enjoy and to delight in the tree of life 1350Afor ever with the saints of God, our Lord Jesus Christ granting it, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, God unto all ages of ages, amen. Here it ends. Thanks be to God.