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9Who is there, then, who would not encourage me to rejoice over such marvelous joys" 10Therefore, dearly beloved, may you too always rejoice in the Lord Phil 4:4. 11And may neither bitterness nor a cloud overwhelm you, O dearly beloved Lady in Christ, joy of the angels and crown of your sisters!
12Place your mind before the mirror of eternity!a
Place your soul in the brilliance of glory!
13Place your heart in the figure of the divine substance
and, through contemplation,
transform your entire being into the image
of the Godhead Itself,
14so that you too may feel what friends feel
in tasting the hidden sweetness
that, from the beginning,
God Himself has reserved for His lovers.
15And, after all who ensnare their blind lovers
in a deceitful and turbulent world
have been completely passed over,
may you totally love Him
Who gave Himself totally for your love,b
16At Whose beauty the sun and the moon marvel,
Whose rewards and their uniqueness and grandeur have no limits;c
17I am speaking of Him,
the Son of the Most High,
Whom the Virgin brought to birth
and remained a virgin after His birth.
18May you cling to His most sweet mother who gave birth to a Son Whom the heavens could not contain,d 19and yet she carried Him in the little cloister of her holy womb and held Him on her virginal lap. 20Who would not dread the treacheries of the enemy of humanity who, through the arrogance of momentary and
- Here Clare introduces a theme, the mirror of contemplation, which becomes more prominent in her Fourth Letter to Agnes of Prague. For a fuller understanding of this important aspect of twelfth and thirteenth century spiritual literature cf. Regis J. Armstrong, “Clare of Assisi: The Mirror Mystic,” The Cord (1985): 195-202.
- This passage is reminiscent of Francis’s Letter to the Entire Order 29: “... hold back nothing of yourselves for yourselves so that He Who gives Himself totally to you may receive you totally.” Cf. Francis and Clare, 58.
- Office for Feast of St. Agnes, Matins, III Nocturn, II Antiphon, I Responsory.
- Office of Feast of Annunciation, Matins, III Nocturn, III Responsory.
Epistola Ad Sanctam Agnetem De Praga III, Fontes Franciscani, p. 2276
9Quis ergo de tantis mirandis gaudiis dicat me non gaudere? 10Gaudeas igitur et tu in Domino semper, carissima, 11nec te involvat amaritudo et nebula, o in Christo dilectissima domina, angelorum gaudium et corona sororum; 12pone mentem tuam in speculo aeternitatis, pone animam tuam in splendore gloriae, 13pone cor tuum in figura divinae substantiae et transforma te ipsam totam per contemplationem in imagine divinitatis ipsius, 14ut et ipsa sentias quod sentiunt amici gustando absconditam dulcedinem, quam ipse Deus ab initio suis amatoribus reservavit. 15Et omnibus quae in hoc fallaci mundo perturbabili suos caecos amatores illaqueant penitus praetermissis, illum totaliter diligas, qui se totum pro tua dilectione donavit, 16cuius pulchritudinem sol et luna mirantur, cuius praemiorum et eorum pretiosita(ti)s et magnitudinis non est finis; 17illum dico Altissimi Filium, quem Virgo peperit, et post cuius partum virgo permansit. 18Ipsius dulcissimae matri adhaereas, quae talem genuit Filium, quem caeli capere non poterant, 19et tamen ipsa parvulo claustro sacri uteri contulit et gremio puellari gestavit.