"Teach us, O Lord, and enable us to live the life of saints and angels!"
cried Cardinal Newman. There is a lovely parallel to Catherine's prayer in
the Paternoster of Dante's blessed souls in Purgatory:
"Come del suo voler gli angeli tuoi
Fan sacrificio a te, cantando osanna,
Cosi facciano gli uomini de' suoi."
From the gentle thoughts on non-resistance with which this letter opens,
Catherine turns with transition as fine as sudden to the splendid figure
of the holy soul as a horse without bridle, running most swiftly "from
grace to grace, from virtue to virtue." One is accustomed by Plato--not to
speak of Browning in "The Two Poets of Croisic"--to the image of the soul
as a charioteer. Catherine's metaphor is less familiar but not less
forceful. The will, to her, is only free when pure: impure and sinful
desires, far from being the sign of liberty, are the bit and bridle that
hinder its fiery course toward God. The same thought, less vividly put, is
found in a modern theologian--Dr. Moberly. "The real consummation of
either moral or immoral character," he writes, "would exclude the
ambiguity which was offered as the criterion of free will.... Full power
to sin is not the key to freedom. On the contrary, all inherent power to
do wrong is a direct infringement of the reality of free-will.... Free-
will is not the independence of the creature, but rather his self-
realisation in perfect dependence. Freedom is self-identity with
goodness."
In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary:
Dearest and most beloved daughters in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine,
servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, and your mother in
Christ, write to you and comfort you in the Precious Blood of the Son of
God, who was a gentle Lamb, spotless and slain not by power of nails or
lance, but by power of love and measureless charity which He felt and
still feels to His creatures. Oh, charity unspeakable of our God! Thou
hast taught me, Love most sweet, and hast shown me, not by words alone--
for Thou sayest that Thou dost not delight in many words--but by deeds,
in which Thou sayest that Thou dost delight, and which Thou dost demand
from Thy servants. And what hast Thou taught me, O Love Uncreate? Thou
hast taught me that I should bear, patiently like a lamb, not only harsh
words, but even blows harsh and hard and injury and loss. And with this
Thou dost will that I be innocent and spotless, harmful to no one of my
neighbours and brethren; not only in case of those who do not persecute
us, but in that of those who injure us; Thou dost will that we pray for
them as for special friends who give us a good and great gain. And Thou
dost will that we be patient and meek not only in injuries and temporal
losses, but universally, in everything that may be contrary to my will: as
Thou didst not will Thine own will to be done in anything, but the will of
Thy Father. How then shall we lift up our head against the goodness of
God, wishing that our perverted wills should be fulfilled? How shall we
not will that the will of God be fulfilled?
O Jesus, Most Sweet Love, make Thy will to be fulfilled in us ever, as in
Heaven by Thy Angels and saints! Dearest my daughter in Christ, this is
the meekness which our sweet Saviour wants to find in us: that we, with
hearts wholly peaceful and tranquil, be content with everything which He
plans and does concerning us, and wish neither times nor seasons in our
own way, but in His alone. Then the soul, so divested of its every wish
and clothed with the will of God, is very pleasing to God. Like an
unbridled horse, it runs most swiftly from grace to grace, from virtue to
virtue; for it has no bridle that holds or prevents it from running, since
it has severed from itself every inordinate appetite and impulse of its
own self-will, which are bands and bridles that do not allow the souls of
spiritual men to run.
The affairs of the Crusade are going constantly better and better, and the
honour of God is increasing every day. Increase constantly in virtue, and
furnish the ship of your soul, for our time draws near. Comfort and bless
Francesca, from Jesus Christ and me; and tell her to be zealous that I may
find her increased in virtue when I shall return. Bless and comfort all my
sons in Christ. Now this very day the ambassador of the Queen of Cyprus
came and talked to me. He is going to the Holy Father, Christ on earth, to
urge him concerning the affairs of the holy Crusade. And, moreover, the
Holy Father has sent to Genoa to urge them concerning the same thing.
Our sweet Saviour give you His eternal benediction! Remain in the holy and
sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus, Jesus Love.
TO MESSER JOHN
THE SOLDIER OF FORTUNE AND HEAD OF THE COMPANY
THAT CAME IN THE TIME OF FAMINE
_Which letter is one of credentials, certifying that he may put faith in
all things said to him by Fra Raimondo of Capua. Wherefore the said Fra
Raimondo went to the said Messer John, and the other captains, to induce
them to go over and fight against the infidels should it happen that
others should go. And before leaving he had from them and from Messer John
a promise on the sacrament that they would go, and they signed it with
their hands and sealed it with their seals._
So runs the old heading to this letter. It is piquant to contemplate
Catherine writing to that picturesque gentleman, Sir John Hawkwood. Her
attitude of friendly and almost sisterly sympathy with the audacious free-
lance appears in her unwonted addition of the word "glory" to her usual
formula, "The honour of God and the salvation of souls," in the last
sentence. We are told that the letter and Fra Raimondo produced a real
impression, and that Hawkwood not only vowed himself to the Crusade, but
that, no Crusade occurring, he from this time bore arms only in regular
warfare. He who follows the Englishman's subsequent career may perhaps
wonder a little what "regular warfare" meant to his mind. Yet let us
remember to his credit that Hawkwood protested against the massacre of
Cesena--nor was this the only occasion on which his nature flashed for a
moment a chivalrous light. May his bones rest in peace in the Duomo of
Florence, that city to the gates of which he brought terror and dismay,
but which bore him no grudge, and at the end decreed him splendid
funerals, and sepulchre among her honoured sons!
In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary:
To you, most beloved and dear brothers in Christ Jesus: I Catherine,
servant and slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write in His precious
Blood: with desire to see you a true son and knight of Christ, in such
wise that you may desire to give your life a thousand times, if need were,
in service of sweet and good Jesus. This is a gift which would pay off all
our sins, which we have committed against our Saviour. Dearest and
sweetest brother in Christ Jesus, it would be a great thing now if you
would withdraw a little into yourself, and consider, and reflect how great
are the pains and anguish which you have endured by being in the service
and pay of the devil. Now my soul desires that you should change your way
of life, and take the pay and the cross of Christ crucified, you and all
your followers and companions; so that you may be Christ's company, to
march against the infidel dogs who possess our Holy Place, where rested
the Sweet Primal Truth and bore death and pains for us. I beg you, then,
gently in Christ Jesus, that since God and also our Holy Father have
ordered a crusade against the infidels, and you take such pleasure in war
and fighting, you should not make war against Christians any more--for
this is a wrong to God; but go against the infidels! For it is a great
cruelty that we who are Christians, and members bound in the Body of Holy
Church, should persecute one another. We are not to do so; but to rise
with perfect zeal, and to uplift ourselves above every evil thought.
I marvel much that you, having, as I heard, promised to be willing to go
to die for Christ in this holy crusade, are wanting to make war in these
parts. This is not that holy disposition which God demands from you if you
are to go to so holy and venerable a place. It seems to me that you ought
now, at this present time, to dispose you to virtue, until the time shall
come for us and the others who shall be ready to give their lives for
Christ: and thus you shall show that you are a manly and true knight.
There is coming to you this father and son of mine, Brother Raimondo, who
brings you this letter. Trust in what he tells you; because he is a true,
faithful servant of God, and will advise you and say to you nothing except
what will be to the honour of God and the safety and glory of your soul. I
say no more. I beg you, dearest brother, to keep in memory the shortness
of your time. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. Sweet Jesus,
Jesus Love.