In March, 1378, Gregory died, and was succeeded by the Archbishop of Bari,
who took the name of Urban VI. The sensitive, cultured, vacillating
Frenchman gave place to a Neapolitan of coarse physique--a man personally
virtuous, but, as history shows us, extraordinarily harsh and violent in
disposition. "It seems," the Prior of the Island of Gorgona wrote with
alarming candour to Catherine, "that our new Christ on earth is a terrible
man."
Catherine was at Florence at the time--having been sent thither by
Gregory, who, however alienated from her personally, seems till the end to
have valued her services. The following is the first letter from her to
Urban which we possess. It is evident that she has as yet little knowledge
of the new Pope at first hand. She writes to him in much the same strain
as that in which she was accustomed to address his predecessor; only the
sense of a new hearer inspires her, after the rather dull opening of the
letter, with fresh fervour in recapitulating the sins and woes of the
Church. Possibly, also, there is a little more insistence than usual on
the plea that mercy temper justice, in the case of the rebellious Tuscan
cities. The sensible policy for such a situation could hardly be better
summed up than in her concise phrase: "Receive from a sick man what he can
give you."
In the Name of Jesus Christ crucified and of sweet Mary:
Most holy and dear father in Christ sweet Jesus: I Catherine, servant and
slave of the servants of Jesus Christ, write to you in His precious Blood:
with desire to see you founded upon true and perfect charity, so that,
like a good shepherd, you may lay down your life for your sheep. And
truly, most holy father, only he who is founded upon charity is ready to
die for the love of God and the salvation of souls: because he is free
from self-love. For he who abides in self-love is not ready to give his
life; and not to speak of his life, apparently he is not willing to bear
the least little pain: for he is always afraid for himself, lest he lose
his bodily life and his private consolations. So he does whatever he may
do imperfectly and corruptly, because his chief impulse, through which he
acts, is corrupt. In whatever state he may be, shepherd or subject, he
shows little virtue. But the shepherd who is established in true charity
does not do so; his every work is good and perfect, because his impulse is
absolutely one with the perfection of divine charity. Such a man as this
fears neither the devil nor his fellow-beings, but only his Creator; he
does not mind the detractions of the world, nor shames, nor insults, nor
jests, nor the criticisms of his subordinates; who take offence, and turn
to criticizing when they are reproved by their prelate. But like a manly
man, clothed in the fortitude of charity, he does not care.
Nor, therefore, does he suppress the flame of holy desire, nor cast from
him the pearl of justice, lucid and one with mercy, which he bears upon
his breast. Were justice without mercy, it would abide in the shadows of
cruelty, and would turn into injustice. And mercy without justice toward
one's subordinate would be like ointment on a wound that ought to be
cauterized: if ointment is applied without cauterizing it rots more than
it heals. But when both are joined they give life to the prelate who uses
them, and health to the subject if he is not a member of the devil,
entirely unwilling to correct himself. However, if the subject failed to
correct himself a thousand times over, the prelate ought not to give up
correcting him, and his virtue will be none the less because that wicked
man does not profit by it. In this way works the pure and clean charity of
a soul that cares for itself not for its own sake, but for God, and seeks
God for the glory and praise of His name, in so far as it sees that He is
worthy of being loved for His infinite goodness--nor seeks its neighbour
for its own sake, but for God, wishing to render him that service which it
cannot render to God. For it recognizes that He is our God, who has no
need of us. Therefore it studies with great zeal to be useful to its
neighbour, and especially to the subjects committed to it. And it does not
draw back from pursuing the salvation of their souls and bodies for any
ingratitude found in them, nor for the threats or flatteries of man; but,
in truth, clothed in the wedding garment, follows the doctrine of the
Spotless Humble Lamb, that gentle and good Shepherd who, as one enamoured,
ran for our salvation to the shameful death of the most holy Cross. The
unspeakable love which the soul has conceived for Christ crucified does
all this. Most holy father, God has placed you as a shepherd over all His
sheep who belong to the whole Christian religion; He has placed you as the
minister of the Blood of Christ crucified, whose Vicar you are; and He
placed you in a time in which wickedness abounds more among your inferiors
than it has done for a long time, both in the body of Holy Church, and in
the universal body of the Christian religion. Therefore it is extremely
necessary for you to be established in perfect charity, wearing the pearl
of justice, as I said; that you may not mind the world, nor poor people
used to evil, nor any injuries of theirs; but manfully correct them, like
a true knight and just shepherd, uprooting vices and implanting virtues,
ready to lay down your life if needs be. Sweetest father, the world cannot
bear any more; vices are so abundant, especially among those who were put
in the garden of Holy Church to be fragrant flowers, shedding the
fragrance of virtue; and we see that they abound in wretched, hateful
vices, so that they make the whole world reek! Oh me! where is the purity
of heart and perfect charity which should make the incontinent continent
by contact with them? It is quite the contrary: many a time the continent
and the pure are led by their impurities to try incontinence. Oh me! where
is the generosity of charity, and the care of souls, and distribution to
the poor and to the good of the Church, and their necessities? You know
well that men do quite the contrary. Oh me miserable! With grief I say it
--your sons nourish themselves on the wealth they receive by ministering
the Blood of Christ, and are not ashamed of being as money-changers,
playing with those most sacred anointed hands of yours, you Vicar of
Christ: without speaking of the other wretched deeds which they commit. Oh
me! where is that deep humility with which to confound that pride of
sensuality of theirs, by which in their great avarice they commit
simonies, buying benefices with gifts, or flatteries, or money, dissolute
and vain adornments, not as clerics, but worse than seculars! Oh me, sweet
my Babbo, bring us a remedy! And give refreshment to the desperate desires
of the servants of God, who die and cannot die. They wait with great
desire that you as a true shepherd should put your hand to correcting
these things, not only with words but with deeds, while the pearl of
justice, joined to mercy, shines on your breast; correcting in truth,
without any servile fear, those who nourish them at the breast of the
sweet Bride of Christ, the ministers of the Blood.
But truly, most holy father, I do not see how this can be well done if you
do not make over anew the garden of your Bride, stocking it with good
virtuous plants; taking pains to choose a troop of very holy men, in whom
you find virtue and no fear of death. Do not aim at grandeur, but let them
be shepherds who rule their flocks with zeal. And a troop of good
cardinals, who may be upright columns of yours, helping you to bear the
weight of many burdens, with divine help. Oh, how blessed will be my soul
then, when I shall see that which is hers given back to the Bride of
Christ, and those nourished at her breast regarding not their own good,
but the glory and praise of the Name of God, and feeding on the food of
souls at the table of the holy Cross. I have no question that then your
lay subjects will correct themselves--for they will not be able to help
it, constrained by the holy and pure life of the clergy. We are not, then,
to sleep over it, but manfully and without negligence to do what you can,
even unto death, for the glory and praise of the Name of God.
Next I beg you, and constrain you by the love of Christ crucified, as to
those sheep who have left the fold--I believe, for my sins--that by the
love of that Blood of which you are made minister, you delay not to
receive them in mercy, and with your benignity and holiness force their
hardness; give them the good of bringing them back into the fold, and if
they do not ask it in true and perfect humility, let your Holiness fulfil
their imperfection. Receive from a sick man what he can give you. Oh me,
oh me, have mercy on so many souls that perish! Do not consider the
scandal which occurred in this city, in which surely the devils of hell
busied themselves, to hinder the peace and quiet of souls and bodies: but
Divine Goodness saw to it that no great harm came from the great evil, but
your sons pacified themselves, and now ask of you the oil of mercy. Grant
that it seems to you, most holy father, that they do not ask it in those
conciliatory ways nor with that heartfelt distaste for the sin they
committed which they should, as it would please your Holiness to have
them--yet, oh me, do not give up! For they will make better sons than
other people. Oh me, Babbo mine, I do not want to stay here any longer! Do
with me then what you will. Show me this grace and favour, poor wretch
that I am, knocking at your door. Do not deny me the easy little things
that I ask you for your sons; so that, having made peace, you may raise
the standard of the most holy Cross. For you see well that the infidels
have come to summon you. I hope by the sweet goodness of God that He will
fill you with His burning charity, so that you shall know the loss of
souls, and how much you are bound to love them: and so you shall increase
in eager zeal to set them free from the hands of the devil, and shall seek
to heal the mystical body of Holy Church, and the body of the universal
Christian religion; and especially to reconcile your sons, winning them
with benignity, with as much use of the rod of justice as they are fit to
bear, and no more. I am certain that unless we have the virtue of charity,
this will not be done; and therefore I said that I wished to see you
established in true and perfect charity. Not that I do not believe that
you are in charity, but because we can grow in the perfection of charity
since we are always pilgrims and strangers in this life, I said that I
wished this perfection in you, that you feed it constantly with the flame
of holy desire, and shed it upon your subjects, like a good shepherd. I
beg you to do so. And I will stay, and labour till I die, in prayer and in
whatever way I can, for the honour of God and for your peace and that of
your sons.
I say no more to you. Remain in the holy and sweet grace of God. Pardon my
presumption, most holy father; but love and grief are my excuse before
your Holiness. I ask you humbly for your benediction. Sweet Jesus, Jesus
Love.