Undusted Texts

On the Book of Life

Ascribed to Hildebert of Tours (c. 1055 - 1133)

Introduction

Hildebert was born in Lavardin, near Vendôme, in central France. His parents were poor, and, from birth, he was destined for the clergy. He studied under Berengar of Tours (known for a controversy regarding the doctrine of transubstantiation, as well as reviving the use of dialectics in theology). After becoming master of the school at Le Mans, he became the city's bishop around 1096. When the town was conquered by King William II of England, Hildebert was forcibly taken to England; after this, in 1100 or 1103, he travelled to Rome to resign his bishopric, but Pope Paschal II (r. 1099-1118) refused him. Having returned to Le Mans, in 1116, he battled with the teaching of Henry of Lausanne, who rejected the Church, the Sacraments, the communion of saints, and all liturgy. His time at Le Mans came to an end in 1125, when he was forcibly transferred to Tours, where he battled with King Louis VI and Baldric, Bishop of Dol, over the governance and authority of his see. In 1127, he presided at the Synod of Nantes, and then, on December 18, 1133, he died at Tours.

Many sermons and treatises are attributed to him, though most of these attributions are now considered inaccurate. It is quite possible that the sermon translated here is not his. Among his authentic works are Lives of St. Hugh of Cluny (1024-1109) and St. Radegund (520-587), a book on The Conflict of the Flesh and the Spirit, or the Soul (titled De Queremonia), a few letters and sermons, and numerous poems. The most interesting thing about the sermon translated here, whether it is by Hildebert or not, is its detailed application of the imagery of medeival scribal techniques to the soul. It is quoted--where I discovered the sermon--in Ernst Robert Curtius, European Literature and the Middle Ages, tr. Willard R. Trask (New York: Harper Torchbooks, 1963), 318-319. The whole chapter of Curtius' book--on the use of books and book-writing as symbols, from antiquity to Shakespeare and beyond--is interesting, and shows off Curtius' skill at collecting references from a wide array of sources, often obscure.

Sermon 102

On the Book of Life

“Hear, Israel, the precepts of life, and write them on your heart, and I will give you a land flowing with milk and honey” (Dt 4:1).

  1. You ought to diligently attend, brethren, to these words. For what I have proposed are not mine, but the Lord’s words. I do not offer them to you as their inventor, but I report them as announcer; in a series, three of them are proposed to us by the Lord, namely, by what name we are called, and what we are held to do; third, what prize we are to attain. For, first, we ought to inspect what name’s honor we are to partake in. For we are called Christians. But what is more beautiful, what more honorable to men, than to be counted by the name of his Creator? If we participate in something’s name, we will also participate in the reality.[1] For he who calls himself “Christian” ought to himself walk as Christ walked, and so we will be the true Israel. For Israel is interpreted seeing God, which, doubtless, we will attain to, we who imitate Christ. But how will this be, that we merit to see God, Whom it happens that neither souls nor angels see, and of Whom Scripture says: “No one has ever seen God” (Jn 1:18), and the Lord says to Moses: “Man will not see Me, and live” (Ex 23:20)? Because it is to be known that man has exterior eyes, which are of the body; and interior eyes, which are of the mind, by which spiritual eyes it happens that a true Christian will see God. Here, when we are on the way, by faith; but in the fatherland, face to face (cf. Ex 33:11). Here, He is considered from afar, in enigma; there, He will be known just as He is in reality,[2] which is eternal life. “For this is eternal life, that they know You, and Whom You have sent, Jesus Christ” (Jn 17:3). But how we ought to follow Him, He Himself declares to us, saying: Hear, Israel, the precepts of life; as if He says: “O Christian, who are seeing God through faith, hear the precepts of life, whose observation you will preserve in eternity!” But since what is easily heard will be forgotten by the human mind, that those things which are commended by Scripture, recalling them to memory, be daily preserved, the Lord adds: And write them. To which you will perhaps say: “We who have not learned letters, nor know how to write, how are will able to write them?” Open your ears; I will unfold both how you are to know how to write the book, and how you are to write in it; which book you will always be able to have with you, without any burden, and, by its doctrine, you will be knowing, as much as you can have knowledge quickly. This is more precious than gold, which you can have without penny and halfpenny.[3] You know what the scribe is wont to do. First, with a razor, he begins to purge the parchment of fat, and to remove great filths; then, with pumice, to wipe off hairs and sinews completely; if he does not do this, it does not avail to impose letters, nor can they last long. Afterwards, he adds the ruler, so that he can keep order in his writing.[4] All of which you also ought to do, if you want to have the book which I’ve proposed to you. This book’s parchment will be your heart, which you will have from the words of the Lord, if you look out for what follows. For after He said, Write them, He added, on your heart, by this manifestly declaring that our heart is parchment that is to receive the precepts of the Lord on the outside, which is first to be purged, and to have filth removed with the sharp edge of a cutting razor. Whence the Lord says in the Gospel: “Blessed are the cleansed in heart, since they will see God” (Mt 5:8). Which the Prophet also asks for, saying: “A clean heart create in me, O God” (Ps 51:10). The razor of the heart is penitence, by which crimes are removed, which consists in three things, namely, in contrition of the heart, in confession of the mouth, in satisfaction of the work; which, indeed, is grave and burdensome to beginners, but sweet and not burdensome to the diligent. Whence: “My yoke is sweet, and My burden light” (Mt 11:30). But some of you, not desiring to have a clean heart, when some satisfaction is enjoined upon them, always want to offer an excuse, saying: “How can I fast from some foods?” And yet they can sin, perhaps, refraining from some; or if some are ordered to give to the poor, as satisfaction, they say that their goods are not sufficient for so much almsgiving, yet nothing seems to be lacking them in perpetrating evils; and to such the yoke of the Lord is not light, since they do not love, nor desire to have a pure heart. Whence no good can long endure in such ones.
  2. After this cleansing with the pumice of prayers and almsgiving, the hairs, that is, venial sins, are to be removed, which are in excess of laughter, or in superfluity of food, or in loving of fables, or of rumors, all of which, if they are turned to use, are criminal. Instead, this rule ought to be set on our heart, and thus we can keep order in writing. For some of us have a distorted heart. For when they are in prosperity, they praise God, of whom it is said: “He will confess You when You benefit him” (Ps 49:18). But when some adversity arises, they blaspheme, saying: “God is not equal, and the way of the Lord is not equal, nor benign,” when, strongly to the contrary, a good is seen by the upright; whence the Prophet: “How good, O Israel, is God, to those who are right in heart!” (Ps 73:1). Therefore, as God is always, to us, whether in adversity, or in prosperity, right, we ought to place the ruler—that is, the lives of the holy Fathers—on our heart, by which we rule ourselves, imitating them, like that athlete, namely, the good Job, and many others, like Paul, Martin, and Laurence.[5] Let us consider that the father corrects the son whom he loves (cf. Prv 3:12). Therefore, have an upright heart, blessing the Lord in all things, knowing that, if He sends adversity upon you, it is a correction for sin. If prosperity, so that you may give to others and do works of mercy. Therefore, always say with the Prophet: “I will bless the Lord in every time, His praise always in my mouth.—Rejoice in the Lord, and exult, O just, and glory, all you upright in heart” (Ps 34:1, 32:11). Therefore, when you have a prepared heart, nothing remains, except that I show you what you will write. On the first page and the first line,[6] write: “Your God is one God” (Dt 6:4), that is, believe in the Father Almighty, and love Him. On the second line of the same page, write: “You shall not take the Name of your God in vain” (Ex 20:7), that is, believe the Son to be in no way minor, a second divinity to the Father, but equal to the Father, and love Him. For he dishonors the Father who believes Him to have a Son minor to Him, as if envious, or impotent to beget a Son equal to Himself; whence He also prohibits believing of the Son things which are not to be believed about Himself, and perjuring, or swearing inanely, which is a great sin. In the third line of the same page, write: “Keep the day of the Sabbath,” that is, believe in the Holy Spirit, since He is our rest and consolation, both in the present, as on the way, and in the future, as in the fatherland. For Sabbath is interpreted rest, by which we understand the Holy Spirit. But he is said to observe it, who does not offend it. Behold, on this first page, those things which pertain to love of God Himself are written, and here the Trinity is expressed. On the second page, you will write that which pertains to the love of neighbor. Of which the first is: “Honor father and mother” (Ex 20:12), not only deferring in words, but bestowing or ministering necessities to them. But we do not exhibit as much reverence as we ought, or bestow necessities, but despoil them of their own things, when

    The son, before the day, inquires of his father’s years.[7]

    Nevertheless, fruit is subjoined, when it is said, “That you may be long-lived upon earth,” (Ex 20:12), yet not on the earth of the dying, where we openly see the diligent conferring many goods upon their parents, but also in the earth of the living, where no end is to expected, and they will be remunerated with eternal goods. This earth is called “of the dying,” where no one comes who does not die, or is to die. But how do they love strangers, who condemn their own, of whose flesh and blood—I omit other things—they are? It follows: “You shall not slay” (Ex 20:13), by which homicide is prohibited, as of the body, so of the soul. For there can be homicides of men by act and will, even of those living and walking with me, and of souls, as a single example, by corruption, when we lead a neighbor in an evil error. The sixth is God’s mandate: “You shall not commit adultery” (Ex 20:14), where every illicit bedsharing is prohibited. For every bedsharing is illicit and a criminal sin, except that which is when a legitimate wife, even in which there can be excess and sin.[8] The seventh is: “You shall not steal” (Ex 20:15), in which all plunder, all theft, and all manner of usury[9] is prohibited. For what ought to be called greater theft and plunder, than that which, me sleeping and me keeping watch, hiddenly, not only now, but assiduously, subtracts and removes mine from me? The eighth is: “You shall not speak false testimony” (Ex 20:16). Here lying and perjury are prohibited. The ninth is: “You shall not covet the wife of your neighbor” (Ex 20:17), where coveting of a stranger’s wife is prohibited. But was this not said above, when the Lord prohibited adultery? But since the act is prohibited there, yet the will here: “For if someone looks at a woman to covet her, he has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Mt 5:18).
  3. There follows the tenth commandment, that is: “You shall not covet the thing of your neighbor, nor the servant, nor the handmaid, nor anything which is his” (Ex 20:17); in which is prohibited not only plunder and theft, but also cupidity and will to have another’s goods. Behold, you see what it behooves to write; after everything will be written in your heart, it is necessary to preserve this book, lest some enemy be allowed to look inside, or, injecting filth, erase it, or overwrite other things contrary to them in their place. For our adversary, the devil, is always lying in wait for us, for however much he can erase these things, and to write the opposite, namely, criminal sins. For there is something contrary to each of these. To the first precept, the contrary is deception; for the soul is deceived by vain thoughts, so that it deserts the truth, and adheres to falsehood, following the falsity of idols; to the second, error; to the third, love of the world; to the fourth, fullness; to the fifth, cruelty; to the sixth, fornication; to the seventh, rapacity; to the eighth, falsity; to the ninth, adultery; to the tenth, cupidity; and these are of the devil. Whence you shall certainly know, if you find any of these in your heart, it is clearly not God’s precept, but rather the devil’s. Therefore, on this book, we ought to set a closure, namely, God’s grace against the enemy’s astuteness, which is ready for all those preparing themselves. Imposture flies far from this adept binding, which at once rushes in, when grace departs. You will have this book; you will always be able to read it, even with eyes closed. If you seek the prize with which those who write this in the heart and who obey these precepts of the Lord are to be remunerated, hear the Lord, Who fails no one, nor will fail, and all of Whose sayings are true: I will give you a land flowing with milk and honey. This land is the best, in which you will find rivers running with milk and honey; but what is that which is said, “running with milk and honey”? By milk, which is of animal flesh and blood, and is white and nutritious to the body, is understood the clarity and glorification of our flesh. For, at that time, our bodies will be shining like the sun (cf. Mt 13:43). And by honey, which is sweet to those tasting it, and is confected from dew sent from heaven and from flowers, is understood the celestial beatitude of our souls: therefore, this land is the celestial fatherland, where we will be fully blessed, in body and soul together, receiving the double stole, namely, the body’s agility, immortality, fulgor, and impassibility, and God’s full knowledge in the soul,[10] which God has promised to those loving Him. To which may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself deign to lead us, Who lives and reigns through all the ages of ages. Amen.

Footnotes: [1] The word used here and elsewhere in this sermon, res, is a very multivalent word. The most basic definition is “thing” or “object,” but it can also refer to a business matter, to an action or deed, to a situation or condition, etc. Here I am translating in re as “in the reality,” though it might be more directly translated as “in the thing.”

[2] See the previous note on the multivalence of the word res. Here we could also translate in re as “in Himself.”

[3] Literally, without nummus and obolus. In older Latin, when referring to actual Roman or Greek currency, these terms had various meanings, but both refer to small coins. I take the meanings of “penny” and “halfpenny” from J.F. Niermeyer, Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, ed. C. Van de Kieft (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1976), 319, 729

[4] This refers to the ruled lines, similar to those found in modern spiral notebooks or looseleaf. These were drawn on parchment so that, when the scribe wrote the text, it would be on straight lines (“kept in order”). Sometimes, these lines were meant to be erased afterwards; sometimes, they were simply drawn lightly, so that they would barely be seen in the finished product.

[5] Probably referring, after the Apostle Paul, to St. Martin of Tours (316/336 - 397) and St. Laurence of Rome (225-258). St. Martin, in particular, was immensely popular in France for many centuries

[6] More literally, “on the first folio and the first ruler.” Throughout the following passage, Hildebert details what should be written on each ruled line of each folio of the “book of the heart.”

[7] Ovid, Metamorphoses I.148. Ovid is describing the four ages of the world—Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Iron—with each worse than the last. This is from his description of the evils of the Iron Age, where man “lives from plunder: host cares not for guest, / nor father-in-law for son-in-law, and brothers’ grace is rare, / man ponders slaughter for his wife, and she for her husband, / dreadful step-moms mix the sallow aconite, / the son, before the day, inquires of his father’s years: / piety lies vanquished, and Astraea, virgin, / heaven’s last, abandons blood-wet earth” (I.144-150). Aconite, also known as monkshood or wolf’s-bane, is frequently used as a poison; Astraea was a Greek goddess of justice, said to be the last goddess to still live among men, and, when she departed the earth, she became the constellation Virgo (hence her name means “starry” in Greek)

[8] It is a common teaching in early Christian tradition that any excess act of intercourse, outside of what is strictly required for procreation, is a sin, being lustful in some way. St. Augustine is probably the figurehead of this view, when he says of such intercourse that “it is not allowed because of wedlock, but is ignored because of wedlock,” and that “conjugal bedsharing, for reason of generation, has no fault; but, for satiating concupiscence, even when with a spouse, because of the faith of the bed, it has a venial fault…And, because of this, concupiscence from all bedsharing, except for that matrimonial bedsharing which is for the cause of begetting, is indeed better.” Therefore, “bedsharing necessary for the cause of begetting is faultless, and it alone is nuptial. But that which advances beyond this necessity, now yields, not to reason, but to lust.” See St. Augustine, On the Conjugal Good, Ch. VI and X (PL 40:377-378, 381).

[9] It should be remembered that, for many centuries, the Church forbid usury (that is, taking interest on a loan), which Jewish bankers, however, allowed. This is part of the common medieval (and, sadly, modern) trope that Jews are inherently greedy. Some of the ancient reviling for usury can be felt in the recent poetry of Ezra Pound: “Stonecutter is kept from his stone / weaver is kept from his loom / WITH USURA / wool comes not to market / sheep bringeth no gain with usura / Usura is a murrain, usura / blunteth the needle in the maid’s hand / and stoppeth the spinner’s cunning…/ Usura rusteth the chisel / It rusteth the craft and the craftsman / It gnaweth the thread in the loom / None learneth to weave gold in her pattern; / Azure hath a canker by usura; cramoisi is unbroidered / Emerald findeth no Memling / Usura slayeth the child in the womb / It stayeth the young man’s courting / It hath brought palsey to bed, lyeth / between the young bride and her bridegroom / CONTRA NATURAM.” See The Cantos of Ezra Pound (New York: New Directions, 1998), Canto XLV, pp. 229-230.

[10] The editor of the Latin text (Antoine Beaugendre, 1628-1708) supplies these words to complete the sense, though they are not found in the sources he used. Throughout this sermon, there were occasional spots where he corrected a word, where the text in his sources did not make sense: I have followed his emendations, without noting them, in my translation.

Source: Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series Latina, ed. J.-P. Migne, Tomus CLXXI (Paris: J.-P. Migne, 1854), 814C-818C. [PL 171:814C-818C]


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