The PurveyProject

De Euaungelio Eiusdem Diei

Par Élodie MONTEAU
Publication en ligne le 01 mars 2013

1/182v/ Worshipfull freendis, all holy chirch in erth militant joieth on þat day of þe assumpcion of our Lady, and solempnyȝeth þe fest with reding and synging to Goddis worship and þat blessid mercifull modir of God. But yett, þe gospell

2/183r/ of þis day maketh no mencyon of our Lady nor of þe feste, but of ij susteris Martha and Maria, where it is in þe gospell of Seint Luke, Luce Primero, how our souereyn saviour Criste Ihesu entred into a castell, and a woman þat was called Martha toke hym into hir house. Which Martha had a suster called Maria þat satte at Cristis fete and benignely herd Criste speke. Than for Martha was besy to serue Criste, she seid to hym þus: Domine, non est tui cure quo soror me reliqui me solum ministrare ; as who say “Sir, or Lorde, bid my sustir rise vp and helpe me”. Criste answerd to hir: Martha, Martha, solicita es et turbaris erga plurima porro vun est necessarum, Maria optimam partem elegit que non auferetur ab ea ; “Martha, Martha, þu art trobled and besy with many thingis but in truthe, oon thing is full necessary. For Mary hath chose þe bettir parte which shall not be take away from hir”. This is þe litteral sense of þe gospell of þat same day. Her is no mencyon made of our Lady by eny vndirstonding openly. But þei þat woll rede what Seint Anselyne seith, ye shall wele vndirstonde þat þe gospell perteyneth all to our Lady and to 'hir' holy lyving. First bi þis 'is' vndirstond our Lady, for she was þe castell þat Criste entrid in to fortefye it. Right so had our Lady diuerse vertues þat made hir able and stronge before all oþir women, ffor whereas woman of nature be fragell and freel 'to' sone be ouerecom, that blessid Lady was not so. But she was stronge as a castell and resisted, and myghtily withstode þe castis and engynes of þe feende, and put hym of at all asayes. For as a castell haþe a depe diche, so had þat gracius Lady a depe mekenes in hir hert, in fortefying of þe castell of hir blessid body, in so mych þat 'she' passid all creaturis in þe vertu of mekenes. And for þat mekenes, she was chose to be Goddis modir beforn all oþir women. Quia respexit humilitatem ancille sue. 'Luce Primero'. For God behelde þe mekenes of his hande mayde. “Þerfore all generacions shall blesse me.” For all be it þat þat blessid and mercifull modir of God had many prevelegis of vertues aforne all oþir creaturis. Yett, in hir own reputacion she was meke and lowly, and þat was wele shewid whan þe aungell saluted hir seying: Aue gracia plena, Dominus tecum, Luce Primero ; “Heyle Mari full of grace, God is with þe”. All be it she shuld be aftirward Goddis modir and quene of heuen. Yett, mekely and humbely she called

3/183v/ hirself þe hande mayde of God whan she seid: Ecce ancilla Domini fiat, in et cetera ; “Seeand beholde þe hand maide of God, be it vnto me vp þi worde”. Therefore of þat blessid virgyns mekenes spekith Seint Bernard: S.. missus est sine humilitate audeo dice. Quo uirginitas Marie num quia Deo placuissus n..; “I dare wele sey,” seith Seint Bernard, “þat þe uirginite and maydenhode of Mary shuld neuere haue plesed God withoute grete mekenes þat she had. For if she had not haue 'be' humble and meke, þe holi goste had not discendid vpon hir. And if she plesid God bi hir virgynite, yett she consceyvid God bi hir humilite”. Vnde Anselmus in sermone 33 de assumpcione humilitas insit qui Marie funt scala celestis p.. quia filius Dei descendit in tr..am. O vera..b..ta humilitas que Deu hoi..bus peperit vitam mortalibus 'dedit..' mundum purificant celum aperuit et aimas p..orum pat.. ab inferno liberant hec ille ; Seint Ancelyne seith in þe sermon of þe assumpcion that þe humilite and mekenes of Mary was made a laddir vnto heven, bi þe which Goddis son descendid and cam dovn into þe erth. O verrey blessid humilite and mekenes which brought God forth vnto men. It gafe life vnto dede men, it purified and clensed þe worlde, it sett open heven gatis and delyuered our forn fadirs from hell. Also, if a castell diche be wele waterid, it is more and myghttely fortified. The water is compassion þat 'euery man' hath for his owne syn, or compassion for oþir mennis disesis. This water of compassyon had our Lady whan she wept blode and water for hir sonnys dethe and gilt of man kinde. Yett, a stronge castell wel waterid must have a drawe brige þat shall be drawe vp for enemyes and let dovn for frendis þat woll kepe þe castell. Bi þis brigge is vndirstonde discrete obedyence. For right as a man shall not let dovn þe drawe brigge to his enemy, all be it þat he bid hym, right so no man shuld do þat þing or dede þat he shuld offende God with, for no commaundement nor bidding to bring in þe devell into his soule. But he must lett dovn þe brigge of obedience whan he is commaundid to do þat nedefull is and expedyent for þe soule. So did þat blessid Ladi Maria whan Gabriell, þat hevenli messanger was send from God and tolde hir þe concepcion of hir son. She cam to þe brigge of dicrete obedience forthwith for she wist wel þat messinger was frende and noon enemy, and tolde hir how she shuld conceive and yett be a clene mayde and kepe þe vow of chastitee þat she had made 'be'forn. And so whan she herd þis, anon she lette down þe draw brigge of discrete obedyence and she seyd humbly with a meke spirite :

4/184r/ "Ecce ancilla Domini fiat in sc.dum uerbum tuum" ; "Loe here 'is' Goddis owne hand mayde, be it to me vp thi worde." Also a myghti castell is dowbell walled. The first warde and wall is love, and þe inwarde walle is higher. The former wall betokenyth wedlok of Maria, for she was wife to Ioseph, ellis þe Iewis wolde haue stoned hir to þe dethe for a lechour, if she had conceyvid out of wedlok. Also bi þe former wall may be vndirstond pacience and sufferaunce þat was in our Lady. The inward wall betokenyth virginite, þat is maydenhode, ffor maydenhode is in litell reputacion, but it be strengthed with þe strong wall of pacience þat can suffre in persecucion and in disese. But and she þat is in virgynyte haue no pacience but banne and curs and is a clatterer, 'a' jangler, a flyter, a chider, a scolde, a rebaude of hir tunge and impacient, þis defendith 'not' maydenhode but rather put it dovn or cast it dovn. Wherefore it is requysite þat a maide be of fewe wordis, and if she shall speke, þat it be honest and worship to hir person, ffor it is an olde proverbe, “a maide shulde be sene and not herd”. This vertu had our Lady and, ffor as Seint Bernard seith, “rede all þe gospell ouere, 'and' þu shalt finde þat our Lady spake in all hir life but iiij sythes. Ones to Gabriell, secund to Elizabeth, the third tyme to hir son Ihesu in the temple, the iiij tyme at þe wedding of Archedyclyne in Cana, Galilee”. Þus must þe wall of paciens defende þe wall of maydenhode. This wall of maydenhode is passyng all oþir in hight, ffor þere as it is wele kept and ordenatly, it is higher þan wedlok and it is in more worship in heven passing all oþere. This wall of pure virginyte kept our Lady ffor she was ffree and clene mayden bothe bi free wyll and a vowe. And also she had a degree 'above' passing all oþir maydenes þat euere were borne, ffor she was mayde and modir and so was neuer none but she. In þis wall is a gate to entre which is feith, ffor right as it is impossible for a man to go to a castell þorugh þe hole wall, right so it is impossible for eny man to plese God withoute feith. This feith hade our Lady passing all oþir, ffor it was semyng to be impossible ageyns nature þat 'she' shuld conceyve withoute mannis felysship, for it was neuere seen biforn. But bi teching and enformyng of þe aungell, she belevid and had full feith. And so cam Criste and entrid bi þis gate of bileve and very ffeith into þe castell

5/184v/ ryall, þat is to sey into þe blessid wombe of our Lady Seint Mari. Vpon this gate is a tour, stronge and myghti. This myghti tour is charite, ffor þe tour of charitee is aboue all vertues. This myghti tour of charitee had our Lady and yett hathe, ffor as men, women and childre fleen to a castell for drede of enemyes to haue socour in þeir disease, in so moch as þe leste childe þat can speke cryeth anon: “Lady help! Lady, Lady!”. Right so þat mercifull modir of God she calleth vnto God as a mercifull mediatrice, and she is socour and protectrix to all cristen men, yong and olde, riche and pore, sike and hole. The chefe capteyn of þis castell is þe holy goste, and his knyghtis abowte hym be holy aungellis þat wayte and do seruice to þat gode Lady bothe day and nyght, at bidding of þe capteyn þe holy goste. In this castell be ij sustris, Martha and Maria Magdalene But Martha she toke Criste into hir house and receyvid hym reuerently and ministred to hym besyly, and Maria satte at Cristis feet and desyred to here þe frutefull doctrine of his movth. By þese ij susteris is vndirstonde ij manere lyvingis of men, that oon actife, þat oþir is contemplatife. The actife life is in besynes in þe worlde, which may not be withoute trobyll, but 'þat' shall be oonly for Cristis sake. And þoo þat haue wherewith to resseyve pore men and to releve þem, and to gife þem þat nedith mete and drinke and cloþes, harborowe þem, comforte þe sike, visite þem þat be in prison, and to bery þem þat be dede. This 'is' vndirstonde by Martha. Bi Mari Magdalene is vndirstonde contemplatife life, as to men of holy chirch and women religius and seculer, þat shuld voide in all þat þei can or may all manere of worldely occupacions and besynes, and gife þem to spirituell occupacion to reding, praying, writing, stodying, with gode meditacions. So our Lady seint Mary she fulfilled bothe þese lyves, þat is to sey bothe actife life with Martha, and contemplatife life with Maria Magdalene. She was first Marþa, for þere as Martha was besy to receyve Criste into hir house, þis blessid Maria, Goddis modir, 'receyvid' hym in hir owne blessid body, and þere he was ix monthes harbowred. And þere as Martha fed Criste with mete and drinke, Maria fedde hir son with mete and gafe hym drinke of hir blessid brestis. And whan he was naked she cloþed hym, and whan he was syke be kynde of youthe she cam to visite hym and wessh hym,

6/185r/ and with hir cloþes made his bedde and leyd hym þerein. And whan he was bounde fote and hande with þe cradell bonde and was a prisoner, she cam to hym, toke hym vp and vndid his bondis and mylked his soris with hir beawtefull brestis. And whan he was dede, she helpid to bery hym and leyde hym in his sepulture and grave. And þus fulfilled þe office of Martha, performyng þe vij dedis of mercy. And yett she was oft trobled herewith, ffor it was full hevy to hir hert whan she must take hir son Ihesu and bery hym from oon cuntrey to anoþir þat was full of mawmentis, and þere as she had knowlege of noo man. And also whan she sawe hir dere son Ihesu take and bette all naked, scourged, þan his blessid body ran dovn with stremys of blode and nayled to þe crosse, and so done to þe dethe, and his right syde persid with a spere to þe hert, þis was to hir hert a grete sorow and trobil. And þus she was actife with Martha. Also þis blessid Lady was contemplatife with Mary Magdalene, ffor as the gospell rehersith: Maria conseruabat oiam verba h.. conferens in corde suo; Mari Goddis modir bare in hyrr hert all hir life þe wordes and doctrine of Criste vnto his ascencion. In so mych þat she taught þe Euaungelist mekely of þat þei written and namely Seynt Luke. Thus þat blessid Lady fulfilled þe office of Mary Magdalene, for it was þe best. And aftir þe ascencion of hir dere son, she left all oþir besynes and gafe hir to contemplacion, vnto allmyghti Ihesu callid hir owte of þis worlde vnto blisse at hir assumpcion. Thus euery man þat can vndirstonde may wele see þat þis gospell is convenyent to be red in holi chirch as þis day, ffor it comprehendith þe life of þat blessid Lady, whose assumpcion is solempnyȝed as þis day. Than for þis day was þe ende of hir life, þerefore holy chirch redith þis gospell in example to all men to performe þe same lyving, in as mych as þei may, and as God woll gefe þem grace to serue þat gode Lady to pleasure. Amen.

Pour citer ce document