1380

CANTERBURY TALES

THE PARSON'S TALE

by Geoffrey Chaucer

Jer. 6. State super vias et videte et interrogate de viis

antiquis, que sit via bona; et ambulate in ea, et inuenietis

refrigerium animabus vestris, &c.

Our sweet Lord God of Heaven, Who will destroy no man, but would

have all come unto the knowledge of Him and to the blessed life that

is everlasting, admonishes us by the Prophet Jeremiah, who says

thus: "Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths

(that is to say, the old wisdom) where is the good way, and walk

therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls," etc. Many are the

spiritual ways that lead folk unto Our Lord Jesus Christ and to the

Kingdom of Glory. Of which ways there is a right noble way and a

proper one, which will not fail either man or woman who through sin

has gone astray from the right way to the Heavenly Jerusalem; and this

way is called penitence, as to which man should gladly hear and

inquire with all his heart, in order that he may learn what

penitence is, and why it is called penitence, and in how many ways

penitence functions, and how many kinds of penitence there are, and

what things appertain and are necessary to penitence, and what

things hinder it.

Saint Ambrose says that "penitence is the mourning of man for the

sin that he has done, and the resolve to do no more anything for which

he ought to mourn." And another doctor says: "Penitence is the

lamenting of man, who sorrows for his sin and punishes himself because

he has done amiss." Penitence, under certain circumstances, is the

true repentance of a man that goes in sorrow and other pain for his

misdeeds. And that he shall be truly penitent, he shall first regret

the sins that he has done, and steadfastly purpose in his heart to

make oral confession, and to do penance, and nevermore to do

anything for which he ought to feel regret or to mourn, and to

continue on good works; or else his repentance will avail him nothing.

For, as says Saint Isidore: "He is a mocker and a liar and no true

penitent who does again a thing for which he ought to repent."

Weeping, when not accompanied by a refusal to sin, shall not avail.

But, nevertheless, men should hope that every time a man falls, be

it never so often, he may arise through penitence, if he have grace;

but certainly there is great doubt of this. For, as Saint Gregory

says: "With difficulty shall he arise out of sin who is burdened

with the burden of evil habit." And therefore repentant folk, who keep

from sin and abandon sin ere sin abandon them, Holy Church holds

them to be sure of their salvation. And he that sins and verily

repents in his last moments, Holy Church yet hopes for his

salvation, what of the great mercy of Our Lord Jesus Christ, because

of his repentance; but take you the certain way.

And now, since I have declared unto you what penitence is, now shall

you understand that there are three deeds required by penitence. The

first deed is that a man be baptized after he has sinned. Saint

Augustine says: "Save he be repentant for his former sinful life, he

shall not begin to lead the new clean life." For truly, if he be

baptized without repentance for his old offence, he receives the

sign of baptism but not the grace nor the remission of his sins, until

he have true repentance. Another defect is this, that men do deadly

sin after they have received baptism. The third defect is that men

fall into venial sins after their baptism, and from day to day.

Thereof Saint Augustine says that "penitence of good and humble folk

is the penitence of every day."

The kinds of penitence are three. One of them is public, another

is general, and the third is private. That form of penitence which

is public is of two kinds: as to be expelled from Holy Church in Lent,

for the slaughter of children and such-like things. Another is, when a

man has sinned openly, of which sin the shame is openly spoken of in

the community; and then Holy Church, by judgment rendered,

constrains him to do open penance. Common or general penitence is when

priests enjoin men collectively in certain cases, as, peradventure, to

go naked on pilgrimages, or barefoot. Private penitence is that

which men do continually for their sins, whereof we confess

privately and receive a private penance.

Now shall you understand what is necessary to a true and perfect

penitence. And this stands upon three things: contrition of heart,

confession by word of mouth, and restitution. As to which Saint John

Chrysostom says: "Penitence constrains a man to accept cheerfully

every pain that is put upon him, with contrition of heart and oral

confession, with restitution; and in doing of all acts of humility."

And this is a fruitful penitence for three things wherein we anger Our

Lord Jesus Christ; that is to say, by delight in thinking, by

recklessness in speaking, and by wicked sinful works. And over against

these wicked offences is penitence, which may be likened unto a tree.

The root of this tree is contrition, which hides itself away in

the heart of him who is truly repentant, just as the root of another

tree hides within the earth. From the root contrition springs a

trunk that bears branches and leaves of confession and the fruit of

penance, As to which Christ says in His gospel: "Bring forth therefore

fruits meet for repentance." For by this fruit may men know this tree,

and not by the root that is hidden in the heart of man, nor by the

branches, nor by the leaves of confession. And therefore Our Lord

Jesus Christ says thus: "By their fruits ye shall know them." From

this root, too, springs a seed of grace, the which seed is the

mother of security, and this seed is eager and hot. The grace of

this seed springs from God, through remembrance of the day of doom and

the pains of Hell. Of this matter says Solomon: "Fear the Lord, and

depart from evil." The heat of this seed is the love of God and the

desiring of the joy everlasting. This heat draws the heart of man unto

God and causes him to hate his sin. For truly there is nothing that

tastes so well to a child as the milk of its nurse, nor is there

anything more abhorrent to it than this same milk when it is mingled

with other food. just so, to the sinful man who loves his sin, it

seems that it is sweeter than anything else; but from the time that he

begins to love devoutly Our Lord Jesus Christ, and desires the life

everlasting, there is to him nothing more abominable. For truly the

law of God is the love of God; whereof David the prophet says: "Ye

that love the Lord, hate evil." He that loves God keeps His law and

His word. The Prophet Daniel saw this tree in spirit following upon

the vision of King Nebuchadnezzar, when he counselled him to do

penance. Penance is the tree of life to those who receive it, and he

that holds himself in true penitence is blessed, according to the

opinion of Solomon.

In this penitence or contrition man shall understand four things,

that is to say, what contrition is, and what the causes are that

move a man to contrition, and how he should be contrite, and what

contrition avails the soul. Then it is thus: that contrition is the

real sorrow that a man receives within his heart for his sins, with

firm purpose to confess them and to do penance and nevermore to do

sin. And this sorrow shall be in this manner, as says Saint Bernard:

"It shall be heavy and grievous and sharp and poignant in the

heart." First, because man has offended his Lord and his Creator;

and more sharp and poignant because he has offended his Heavenly

Father; and yet more sharp and poignant because he has angered and

offended Him Who redeemed him, Who with His precious blood has

delivered us from the bonds of sin and from the cruelty of the Devil

and from the pains of Hell.

The causes that ought to move a man to contrition are six. First,

a man should remember his sins, yet see to it that this same

remembrance be not to him in any wise a delight, but only great

shame and sorrow for his guilt. For Job says: that sinful men do

things that ought to be confessed. And therefore Hezekiah says: "I

will remember all the years of my life, in bitterness of heart." And

God says in the Apocalypse: "Remember from whence thou art fallen."

For before that time when first you sinned, you were the children of

God and members of the Kingdom of God; but because of your sin you are

become slavish and vile, and the children of the Fiend, hated of the

angels, the slander of Holy Church, and food of the false serpent. You

are perpetual fuel for the fire of Hell. And yet more vile and

abominable, for you offend often and often, like the dog that

returns to his vomit. And you are even yet more vile, for your long

continuation in sin and your sinful habits, for which you are as

filthy in your sin as a beast in its dung. Such thoughts cause a

may, to take shame to himself for his sinning, and not delight, as God

says by the Prophet Ezekiel: "Thou shalt remember thy ways and be

ashamed." Truly, sins are the ways that lead folk unto Hell.

The second reason why a man ought to have contempt for sin is

this: that, as Saint Peter says, "He that sinneth is the slave of

sin." And sin puts a man into deep thraldom. And thereupon the Prophet

Ezekiel says: "I went sorrowfully, in abhorrence of myself." And

truly, well ought a man to abhor sin and to release himself from

that thraldom and degradation. And see what Seneca says about this

matter. He says thus: "Though I knew that neither God nor man should

ever be cognizant of it, yet would I disdain to commit a sin." And the

same Seneca also says: "I am born to greater things than to be

thrall to my body, or than to make of my body a thrall." Nor a viler

thrall may man or woman make of his or her body than by giving that

body over to sin. And were it the lowest churl, or the lowest woman,

that lives, and the least worth, yet is he or she then more vile and

more in servitude. Ever from the higher degree than man falls, the

more is he enthralled, and by so much the more to God and to the world

is he vile and abominable. O good God! Well ought a man to have

disdain of sin; since, because of sin, whereas he was once free, now

is he in bondage. And thereupon Saint Augustine says: "If thou have

disdain for thy servant, if he offend or sin, have thou then disdain

that thou shouldest do any sin." Have regard of your worth, that you

be not foul unto yourself. Alas! Well ought they then to disdain to be

servants and thralls to sin, and to be sorely ashamed of themselves,

when God of His endless goodness has set them in high place, or

given them understanding, bodily strength, health, beauty, prosperity,

and redeemed them with His heart's blood, who now so unnaturally, in

face of His nobleness, requite Him so vilely as to slaughter their own

souls. O good God! You women, who are of so great beauty, remember the

proverb of Solomon, who says: "A fair woman who is the fool of her

body is like a gold ring in the snout of a sow." For just as a sow

roots deep into every ordure, so does she root her beauty into the

stinking filth of sin.

The third cause that ought to move a man to contrition is fear of

the day of doom and of the horrible pains of Hell. For as Saint Jerome

says: "Every time that I remember the day of doom I quake; for when

I eat or drink or do whatever thing, ever it seems to me that the

trump sounds in my ear, bidding the dead arise and come to

judgment." O good God! Greatly ought a man to fear such a judgment,

"Where we shall be all," as Saint Paul says, "before the throne of Our

Lord Jesus Christ." And there we shall compose a general congregation,

whence no man shall absent himself. For truly there shall avail

neither essoin nor excuse. And not only shall our faults be judged,

but all our deeds shall openly be made known. As Saint Bernard says:

"There shall no pleading avail, and no trickery; we shall give

reckoning for every idle word." There shall we have a judge that

cannot be corrupted or deceived. And why? Because, in truth, all our

thoughts are known unto Him; nor for prayer nor for bribing shall He

be corrupted. And therefore says Solomon: "The wrath of God will spare

no one, either for prayer or gifts." Therefore, at the day of doom,

there shall be no hope of escape. Wherefore, as says Saint Anselm:

"Great anguish shall all sinful folk have at that time; there shall

the stern and angry judge sit above, and under Him the horrible pit of

Hell, open to destroy him who must acknowledge his sins, which sins

shall be openly showed before God and before all creatures. And on the

left side more devils than any heart can think, to harry and to draw

the sinful souls to the punishment of Hell. And within the hearts of

folk shall be the tearing of conscience and without shall be the world

all burning. Whither then shall the wretched sinful man flee to hide

himself? Certainly he shall not hide; he must come forth and show

himself." For truly, as says Saint Jerome: "The earth shall cast him

forth and the sea also; aye, and the air, which shall be filled with

thunders and with lightnings." Now, indeed, whoso well thinks of these

things, I suppose that his sin shall not be a delight within him,

but a great sorrow, for fear of the pain of Hell. And therefore said

Job to God: "Let me take comfort a little, before I go whence I

shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of

death; a land of darkness as darkness itself: and of the shadow of

death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness." Lo,

here may it be seen that Job prayed for respite to weep and to

bewail his trespass; for indeed one day of respite is better than

all the treasure of the world. And for as much as man may acquit

himself before God by penitence in this world, and not by treasure,

therefore should he pray to God to grant him respite for a while to

weep and to bewail his sins. For truly, all the sorrow that a man

might feel from the beginning of the world is but a little thing in

comparison with the sorrows of Hell. As to the reason why Job called

Hell the "land of darkness," it is to be understood that he called

it "land" or "earth" because it is stable and never shall fail; "dark"

because he that is in Hell lacks the materials for light. For truly

the dark light that shall come out of the fire that burns for ever

shall turn him all to pain who is in Hell; for it shall show unto

him the horrible devils that torment him. "Covered with the darkness

of death:" that is to say, that he who is in Hell shall lack the sight

of God; for truly, to see God is life everlasting. "The darkness of

death" is the sin which the wretched man has done, which hinders his

seeing the face of God; just as does a cloud that comes between us and

the sun. "Land of ill ease:" because there are three kinds of pains

against three things that folk of the world have in this present life,

that is to say, honours, delights, and riches. Over against honours

they have in Hell shame and confusion. For well you know that men call

"honour" the reverence that man gives to man; but in Hell is no honour

or reverence. For indeed no more reverence shall be done there to a

king than to a knave. As to which God says, by the Prophet Jeremiah:

"They that scorn me shall be scorned." "Honour" is also called great

lordship; but there no man shall serve another, save to his harm and

torment. "Honour," again, subsists in great dignity and rank; but in

Hell all they shall be trodden upon by devils. And God says: "The

horrible devils shall go and come upon the heads of the damned." And

this is because the higher they were in this life, the lower shall

they lie and be defiled in Hell. Against the riches of this world

shall they have the misery of poverty; and this poverty shall be of

four kinds: lack of treasure, whereof David says: "They that trust

in their wealth, boast themselves in the multitude of their riches,

they shall sleep in the darkness of death, and nothing shall they find

in their hands of all their treasure." And, moreover, the misery of

Hell shall consist of lack of food and drink. For God says thus,

through Moses: "They shall be wasted with hunger, and the birds of

Hell shall devour them with bitter death, and the gall of the dragon

shall be their drink, and the venom of the dragon their morsels." And,

furthermore, their misery shall be for lack of clothing, for they

shall be naked of body save for the fire wherein they burn, and for

other filth; and naked shall they be of soul, devoid of all virtues,

which are the clothing of the soul. Where shall be then the gay

robes and the soft sheets and the soft shirts? Behold what God says by

the prophet Isaiah: "Under them shall be strewed moths and their

covering shall be of the worms of Hell." And still further, their

misery shall lie in lack of friends; for he is not poor who has good

friends; but there no friend; for neither God nor any other shall be

friend to them, and each of them shall hate all others with a deadly

hatred. "The sons and the daughters shall rebel against father and

mother, and kindred against kindred, and each of them shall curse

and despise the others," both day and night, as says God through the

Prophet Micah. And the loving people that once loved each other so

passionately, each of them would eat the other if he might. For how

should they love in the torments of Hell who hated each other in the

prosperity of this life? For trust it well, their carnal love was

deadly hate; as says the Prophet David: "Whoso loveth wickedness

hateth his own soul." And whoso hates his own soul, truly he may

love no other, in any wise. And therefore, in Hell is no solace nor

any friendship, but ever the more fleshly relationships there are in

Hell, the more cursings and the more deadly hates there are among

them. And, again, they shall lack every kind of pleasure; for truly,

pleasures are according to the appetites of the five senses, sight,

hearing, smell, taste, and touch. But in Hell their sight shall be

full of darkness and of smoke, and therefore full of tears; and

their hearing full of wailing and the gnashing of teeth, as says Jesus

Christ; their nostrils shall be full of a stinking smell. And, as

the Prophet Isaiah says, "their savouring shall be of bitter gall."

And as for touch, all the body shall be covered with "fire that

never shall be quenched and with worms that never shall die," as God

says by the mouth of Isaiah. And for as much as they shall not think

that they may die of pain, and by death thus flee from pain, then

may they understand the words of Job, who said, "There is the shadow

of death." Certainly a shadow has the likeness of that whereof it is

the shadow, but the shadow is not the substance. Just so it is with

the pain of Hell; it is like unto death because of the horrible

anguish. And why? Because it pains for ever, and as if they should die

at every moment; but indeed they shall not die. For as Saint Gregory

says: "To these wretched captives shall be given death without

death, and end without end, and want without ceasing." And thereupon

says Saint John the Evangelist: "They shall seek for death and they

shall not find it; and they shall desire to die and death shall flee

from them." And Job, also, says: "Death, without any order." And

though it be that God has created all things in right order, and

nothing at all without order, but all things are ordered and numbered;

yet, nevertheless, they that are damned have no order, nor hold to any

order. For the earth shall bear them no fruit. For, as the Prophet

David says: "God shall destroy the fruits of the earth from them."

No water shall give them moisture, nor the air refreshment, nor the

fire a light. For, as Saint Basil says: "The burning of the fire of

this world shall God send into Hell unto the damned souls there, but

the light and the radiance thereof shall be given in Heaven unto His

children"- just as the good man gives flesh to his children and

bones to his dogs. And since they shall have no hope of escape,

Saint Job says at the last that horror and grisly fear shall dwell

there without end. Horror is always the fear of evil that is to

come, and this fear shall dwell for ever in the hearts of the

damned. And therefore have they lost all their hope, and for seven

causes. First, because God their judge shall be without mercy to them;

they may not please Him, nor may they please any of His saints; they

can give nothing for their ransom; they shall have no voice

wherewith to speak to Him; they cannot flee from pain; and they have

no goodness within themselves which they might show to deliver them

out of pain. And therefore says Solomon: "The wicked man dieth; and

when he is dead he shall have no hope of escaping from pain."

Whosoever, then, will well understand these pains, and bethink him

well that he has deserved these very pains for his sins, certainly

he shall have more longing to sigh and weep than ever to sing and

play. For, as Solomon says: "Whoso shall have the wisdom to know the

pains that have been established and ordained for the punishment of

pain, he will feel sorrow." "This same knowledge," says Saint

Augustine, "maketh a man to bewail within his heart."

The fourth point that ought to cause a man to feel contrition is the

unhappy memory of the good that he has left here on earth; also the

good that he has lost. Truly, the good deeds that he has left are

either those that he wrought before he fell into mortal sin, or the

good deeds he did while he lived in sin. Indeed the good deeds he

did before he fell into sin have been all deadened and stultified

and rendered null and void by the repeated sinning. The other good

deeds, which he wrought while he lay in mortal sin, they are utterly

dead as to the effect they might have had on his life everlasting in

Heaven. And then the same good deeds that have been rendered null by

repeated sinning, which good works he wrought while he stood in a

state of grace, shall never quicken again without an utter

penitence. And thereof God says, by the mouth of Ezekiel: "If the

righteous man shall turn again from his righteousness, and do

wickedness, shall he live?" Nay, for all the good works that he has

wrought shall never be held in memory, for he shall die in his sin.

And thereupon, as to that same chapter, Saint Gregory says thus: "That

we shall understand this principally: that when we do mortal sin it is

for naught that we tell of or draw from memory the good works that

we have wrought before." For, certainly, in the doing of mortal sin

there is no trusting to the help of good that we have wrought

before; that is to say, as it affects the everlasting life in

Heaven. But notwithstanding this, the good deeds quicken again and

return again, and help and are of avail in attaining the everlasting

life in Heaven, when we have contrition. But indeed the good deeds

that men do while they are in deadly sin, because they are done in

deadly sin, shall never quicken again. For truly, that thing which

never had life may never quicken; nevertheless, albeit these deeds

avail nothing as to the perdurable life, yet they help to lighten

the pains of Hell, or else to acquire temporal riches, or else,

because of them, God will enlighten and illumine the heart of the

sinful man to be repentant; and also they avail in accustoming a man

to the doing of good deeds, to the end that the Fiend has less power

over his soul. And thus the compassionate Lord Jesus Christ wills that

no good work be utterly lost; for in somewhat it shall avail. But

for as much as the good deeds that men do while they are in a state of

grace are all stultified by sin ensuing; and, also, since all the good

works that men do while they are in mortal sin are utterly dead, in so

far as the life everlasting is concerned, well may that man who does

no good work sing that new French song, J'ai tout perdu mon temps et

mon labeur. For certainly, sin bereaves a man of both goodness of

nature and the goodness of grace. For indeed the grace of the Holy

Ghost is like fire, which cannot be idle; for fire fails anon as it

forgoes its working, and even so does grace fail immediately it

forsakes its work. Then loses the sinful man the goodness of glory,

which is promised only to good men who suffer and toil. Well then

may he sorrow, who owes all his life to God, as long as he has lived

and as long as he shall live, and who yet has no goodness wherewith to

repay his debt to God. For trust well, "he shall give account," as

Saint Bernard says, "of all the good things that have been given him

in this present life, and of how he has used them; in so much that

there shall not perish a hair of his head, nor shall a moment of an

hour perish of all his time, that he shall not be called upon to

give a reckoning for."

The fifth thing that ought to move a man to contrition is

remembrance of the passion that Our Lord Jesus Christ suffered for our

sins. For, as Saint Bernard says: "While I live I will keep in

remembrance the travail that Our Lord Christ suffered in preaching;

His weariness in travail; His temptations when He fasted; His long

watchings when He prayed; His tears when He wept for pity of good

people; the grievous and the shameful and the filthy things that men

said of Him; the foul sputum that men spat into His face; the foul

buffets that men gave Him; the foul grimaces and the chidings that men

said; the nails wherewith He was nailed to the cross; and all the rest

of His passion, which he suffered for my sins and not for his own

guilt." And you shall understand that in man's sin is every order or

ordinance turned upside-down. For it is true that God and reason and

sensuality and the body of man have been so ordained and established

that, of these four things, the next higher shall have lordship over

the lower; as thus: God shall have lordship over reason, and reason

over sensuality, and sensuality over the body of man. But, indeed,

when man sins, all of this order or ordinance is turned upside-down.

Therefore, then, for as much as the reason of man will not be

subject to nor obedient to God, Who is man's Lord by right,

therefore it loses the lordship that it should hold over sensuality

and also over the body of man. And why? Because sensuality rebels then

against reason; and in that way reason loses the lordship over

sensuality and over the body. For just as reason is rebel to God, just

so is sensuality rebel to reason, and the body also. And truly, this

confusion and this rebellion Our Lord Jesus Christ suffered upon His

precious body, and paid full dearly thus, and hear you now in what

wise. For as much, then, as reason is rebel to God, therefore is man

worthy to have sorrow and to die. This Our Lord Jesus Christ

suffered for mankind after He had been betrayed by His disciple, and

secured and bound "so that the blood burst out at every nail of His

hands," as says Saint Augustine. Moreover, for as much as reason of

man will not subdue sensuality when it may, therefore man is worthy of

shame; and this suffered Our Lord Jesus Christ for man when they

spat in His face. Furthermore, for as much, then, as the wretched body

of man is rebel both to reason and to sensuality" therefore is it

worthy of death. And this Our Lord Jesus Christ suffered for man

upon the cross, where there was no part of His body free from great

pain and bitter passion. And all this Jesus Christ suffered, Who never

did any wrong. And therefore it may be reasonably said of Jesus

thus: "Too much am I tortured for things the punishment of which I

do not deserve, and too much disgraced for shame that belongs to man."

And therefore may the sinful man well say, as says Saint Bernard:

"Accursed be the bitterness of my sin, for which there must be

suffered so much bitterness." For truly, according to the diverse

discordances of our wickedness, was the passion of Jesus Christ

ordained in divers ways, as thus. Certainly sinful man's soul is

betrayed unto the Devil by covetousness of temporal prosperity, and

scorned by deceit when he chooses carnal delights; and it is tormented

by impatience under adversity, and spat upon by servitude and

subjection to sin; and at the last it is slain for ever. For this

confusion by sinful man was Jesus Christ first betrayed and afterwards

bound, Who came to loose us from sin and pain. Then was He scorned,

Who should have been only honoured in all things. Then was His face,

which all mankind ought to have desired to look upon, since into

that face angels desire to look, villainously spat upon. Then was He

scourged, Who had done nothing wrong; and finally, then was He

crucified and slain. So was accomplished the word of Isaiah: "He was

wounded for our misdeeds and defiled for our felonies." Now, since

Jesus Christ took upon Himself the punishment for all our

wickedness, much ought sinful man to weep and to bewail that for his

sins the Son of God in Heaven should endure all this pain.

The sixth thing that ought to move a man to contrition is the hope

of three things; that is to say, forgiveness of sin, and the gift of

grace to do well, and the glory of Heaven, wherewith God shall

reward a man for his good deeds. And for as much as Jesus Christ gives

us these gifts of His largess and of His sovereign bounty, therefore

is He called Iesus Nazarenus rex Iudeorum. Jesus means "saviour" or

"salvation," in whom men shall hope to have forgiveness of sins, which

is, properly, salvation from sins. And therefore said the angel to

Joseph: "Thou shalt call His name Jesus, Who shall save His people

from their sins." And thereof says Saint Peter: "There is no other

name under Heaven given to any man, whereby a man may be saved, save

only Jesus." Nazarenus is as much as to say "flourishing," wherein a

man may hope that He Who gives him remission of sins shall give him

also the grace to do well. For in the flower is hope of fruit in

time to come; and in forgiveness of sins is hope of grace to do

well. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock," says Jesus: "if any man

hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will

sup with him, and he with Me." That is to say, by the good works

that he shall do, which good works are the food of God; "and he

shall sup with Me"- by the great joy that I shall give him. Thus may

man hope, for his deeds of penitence, that God shall allow him to

enter His Kingdom, as is promised unto him in the gospel.

Now shall a man understand in what manner shall be his contrition. I

say, that it shall be universal and total; that is to say, a man shall

be truly repentant for all the sins that he has done in delight of his

thought; for delight is very dangerous. For there are two ways of

acquiescence; one is called acquiescence of the affections, when a man

is moved to do sin, and delights in long thinking thereon; and his

reason well perceives that it is sin against the law of God, and yet

his reason restrains not his foul delight or appetite, though he see

well that it is opposed to the reverence that is due to God;

although his reason consent not to do that sin in very deed, yet

some doctors say that dwelling long on such delight is full dangerous,

be it ever so little. And also a man should sorrow for all that he has

ever desired against the law of God with perfect acquiescence of his

reason; for there is no doubt of it, there is mortal sin in

acquiescence. For truly, there is no mortal sin that was not first

in man's thought, and after that in his delight, and so on unto

acquiescence and unto deed. Wherefore I say, that many men never

repent for such thoughts and delights, and never confess them, but

only the actual performance of great sins. Wherefore I say that such

wicked delights and wicked thoughts are subtle beguilers of those that

shall be damned. Moreover, a man ought to sorrow for his wicked

words as well as for his wicked deeds; for truly, the repentance for a

single sin, unaccompanied by repentance for all other sins, or else

repentance for all other sins and not for a single sin, shall not

avail. For certainly God Almighty is all good; and therefore He

forgives all or nothing. And thereupon says Saint Augustine: "I know

certainly that God is the enemy of every sinner." And how then? He

that continues to do one sin, shall he have forgiveness for the rest

of his sins? No. Furthermore, contrition should be wondrous

sorrowful and full of suffering; and for that God gives fully His

mercy; and therefore, when my soul was suffering within me, I had

remembrance of God, that my prayer might come unto Him. Moreover,

contrition must be continual, and a man must keep and hold a steadfast

purpose to shrive himself and to amend his way of life. For truly,

while contrition lasts, man may continue to have hope of

forgiveness; and of this comes hatred of sin, which destroys sin

within himself and also in other folk, according to his ability. For

which David says: "Ye that love God hate wickedness." For trust this

well, to love God is to love what He loves and to hate what He hates.

The last thing that man shall understand about contrition is this:

What does contrition avail him? I say, that at times contrition

delivers a man from sin; as to which David says: "I said I will

confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and Thou forgavest the

iniquity of my sin." And just as contrition nothing avails without

firm purpose of shrift, if man have opportunity, just so shrift itself

is of little worth without contrition. Moreover, contrition destroys

the prison of Hell and makes weak and feeble all the strength of all

the devils, and restores the gifts of the Holy Ghost and of all good

virtues; and it cleanses the soul of sin, and delivers the soul from

the pain of Hell and from the company of the Devil, and from the

servitude of sin, and restores it unto all spiritual good and to the

company and communion of Holy Church. And furthermore, it makes of him

who was formerly the son of anger to be the son of grace; and all

these things are proved by holy writ. And therefore he that would

set his understanding to these things, he were full wise; for truly,

he should not then, in all his life, have desire to sin, but should

give his body and all his heart to the service of Jesus Christ, and do

Him homage. For truly, Our sweet Lord Jesus Christ has spared us so

graciously in our follies that, if He had not pity on man's soul, a

sorry song indeed might all of us sing.

Explicit prima pars penitentie;

Et sequitur secunda pars eiusdem

The second part of penitence is confession, which is the sign of

contrition. Now shall you understand what confession is, and whether

it ought to be used or not, and which things are necessary to true

confession.

First, you shall understand that confession is the true discovery of

sins to the priest; I say "true," for a man must confess all the

circumstances and conditions of his sin, in so far as he can. All must

be told, and nothing excused or hidden, or covered up, and he must not

vaunt his good deeds. And furthermore, it is necessary to understand

whence his sins come, and how they increase, and what they are.

Of the birth of sins, Saint Paul says thus: that "as by one man

sin entered into the world, and death by sin;... so death passed

upon all men, for that all have sinned." And this man was Adam, by

whom sin entered into the world when he broke the commandment of

God. And therefore, he that at first was so mighty that he should

never have died became such a one as must needs die, whether he

would or no; and all his progeny in this world, since they, in that

man, sinned. Behold, in the state of innocence, when Adam and Eve were

naked in Paradise, and had no shame for their nakedness, how that

the serpent, which was the wiliest of all the beasts that God had

made, said to the woman: "Yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of

every tree of the garden?" And the woman said unto the serpent: "We

may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of

the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, 'Ye shall

not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.'" And the

serpent said unto the woman: "Ye shall not surely die: for God doth

know, that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be

opened; and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." And when

the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was

pleasant to the eyes, and delectable in the sight, she took of the

fruit thereof and did eat; and gave also unto her husband, and he

did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened. And when they knew

that they were naked, they sewed fig-leaves together into a kind of

breeches to hide their members. There may you see that mortal sin

had first suggestion from the Fiend, who is here figured by the

serpent; and afterward the delight of the flesh, as shown here by Eve;

and after that the acquiescence of reason, as is shown by Adam. For

trust this well, though it were that the Fiend tempted Eve, that is to

say, the flesh, and the flesh delighted in the beauty of the forbidden

fruit, certainly until reason, that is, Adam, consented to the

eating of the fruit, yet stood he in the state of innocence. From that

same Adam caught we all that original sin; for we are all descended

from him in the flesh, engendered of vile and corrupt matter. And when

the soul is put into a body, immediately is contracted original sin;

and that which was at first merely the penalty of concupiscence

becomes afterwards both penalty and sin. And therefore are we all born

the sons of wrath and of everlasting damnation, were it not for the

baptism we receive, which washes away the culpability; but,

forsooth, the penalty remains within us, as temptation, and that

penalty is called concupiscence. When it is wrongly disposed or

established in man, it makes him desire, by the lust of the flesh,

fleshly sin; desire, by the sight of his eyes, earthly things; and

desire high place, what of the pride of his heart.

Now, to speak of the first desire, that is, concupiscence, according

to the law for our sexual parts, which were lawfully made and by

rightful word of God; I say, for as much as man is not obedient to

God, Who is his Lord, therefore is the flesh disobedient to Him,

through concupiscence, which is also called the nourishing of and

the reason for sin. Therefore all the while that a man has within

himself the penalty of concupiscence, it is impossible but that he

will be sometimes tempted and moved in his flesh to do sin. And this

shall not fail so long as he lives; it may well grow feeble and remote

by virtue of baptism and by the grace of God through penitence; but it

shall never be fully quenched so that he shall never be moved within

himself, unless he be cooled by sickness or my maleficence of

sorcery or by opiates. For behold what Saint Paul says: "The flesh

lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh: and

these are contrary, the one to the other; so that ye cannot do the

things, that ye would." The same Saint Paul, after his great penance

on water and on land (on water by night and by day, in great peril and

in great pain; on land in famine, in thirst, in cold, and naked, and

once stoned almost unto death), yet said he: "O wretched man that I

am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" And Saint

Jerome, when he had long lived in the desert, where he had no

company but that of wild beasts, where he had no food but herbs,

with only water to drink, and no bed but the naked earth, for which

his flesh was black as an Ethiopian's with heat and well-nigh

destroyed with cold, yet said he that the heat of lechery boiled

through all his body. Wherefore I know well and surely that they are

deceived who say that they are never tempted in the flesh. Witness

Saint James the apostle, who says that everyone is tempted in his

own concupiscence. That is to say, each of us has cause and occasion

to be tempted by the sin that is nourished in the body. And

thereupon says Saint John the Evangelist: "If we say that we have no

sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."

Now shall you understand in what manner sin waxes or increases in

man. The first thing to be considered is this same nurturing of sin,

whereof I spoke before, this same fleshly concupiscence. And after

that comes the subjection to the Devil, that is to say, the Devil's

bellows, wherewith he blows into man the fire of concupiscence. And

after that a man bethinks himself whether he will do, or not, the

thing to which he is tempted. And then, if a man withstand and put

aside the first enticement of his flesh and the Fiend, then it is no

sin; and if it be that he do not, he feels anon a flame of delight.

And then it is well to be wary, and to guard himself, else he will

fall anon into acquiescence to sin; and then he will do it, if he have

time and place. And of this matter Moses says that the Devil says

thus: "I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my

lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall

destroy them." For certainly, just as a sword may part a thing in

two pieces, just so acquiescence separates God from man. "And then

will I slay him in his sinful deed." Thus says the Fiend. For truly,

then is a man dead in soul. And thus is sin accomplished by temptation

and by acquiescence; and then is the sin called actual.

Forsooth, sin is of two kinds; it is either venial or mortal sin.

Verily, when man loves any creature more than he loves Jesus Christ

our Creator, then is it mortal sin. And venial sin it is if a man love

Jesus Christ less than he ought. Forsooth the effect of this venial

sin is very dangerous; for it diminishes more and more the love that

man should have for God. And therefore, if a man charge himself with

many such venial sins, then certainly, unless he discharge them

occasionally by shriving, they may easily lessen in him all the love

that he has for Jesus Christ; and in this wise venial sin passes

over into mortal sin. Therefore let us not be negligent in ridding

ourselves of venial sins. For the proverb has it: "Mony a mickle mak's

a muckle." And hear this example. A huge wave of the sea comes

sometimes with so great violence that it sinks a ship. And the same

harm is caused sometimes by the small drops of water that enter

through the little opening in the seam into the bilge of the ship,

if men be so negligent that they do not discharge it in time. And

therefore, though there be a difference between these two ways of

sinking, nevertheless the ship is sunk. Just so it is sometimes with

mortal sin, and with vexatious venial sins when they multiply in a man

so greatly that the worldly things he loves, for which he venially

sins, have grown as great in his heart as the love for God, or

greater. And therefore, the love for everything that is not fixed or

rooted in God, or done principally for than he love God's sake, though

a man love it less. God, yet is it venial sin; and it is mortal sin

when the love for anything weighs in the heart of man as much as the

love for God, or more. "Mortal sin," as Saint Augustine says, "is when

a man turns his heart from God, Who, is the truly sovereign goodness

and may not change, and gives his heart unto things that may change

and pass away." And true it is that if a man give his love, the

which he owes all to God, with all his heart, unto a creature, then

certainly so much of his love as he gives unto the said creature he

takes away from God; and thereby does he sin. For he, who is debtor to

God, yields not unto God all of his debt, which is to say, all the

love of his heart.

Now since man understands generally what venial sin is, it is

fitting to tell especially of sins which many a man perhaps holds

not to be sins at all, and for which he shrives not himself; yet,

nevertheless, they are sins. Truly, as clerics write, every time a man

eats or drinks more than suffices for the sustenance of his body, it

is certain that he thereby sins. And, too, when he speaks more than it

is necessary it is sin. Also, when he hears not benignly the complaint

of the poor. Also, when he is in health of body and will not fast when

other folk fast, and that without a reasonable excuse. Also, when he

sleeps more than he needs, or when he comes, for that reason, too late

to church, or to other places where works of charity are done. Also,

when he enjoys his wife without a sovereign desire to procreate

children to the honour of God, or when he does it without intention to

yield to his wife the duty of his body. Also, when he will not visit

the sick and the imprisoned, if he may do so. Also, if he love wife or

child or any other worldly thing more than reason requires. Also, if

he flatter or blandish more than, of necessity, he ought. Also, if

he diminish or withdraw his alms to the poor. Also, if he prepare

his food more delicately than is needful, or eat it too hastily or too

greedily. Also, if he talk about vain and trifling matters in a church

or at God's service, or if he be a user of idle words of folly or of

obscenity; for he shall yield up an accounting of it at the day of

doom. Also, when he promises or assures one that he will do what he

cannot perform. Also, when he, through thoughtlessness or folly,

slanders or scorns his neighbour. Also, when he suspects a thing to be

evil when he has no certain knowledge of it. These things, and more

without number, are sins, as Saint Augustine says.

Now shall men understand that while no earthly man may avoid all

venial sins, yet may he keep them down by the burning love that he has

to Our Lord Jesus Christ, and by prayer and confession, and by other

good deeds. For, as Saint Augustine says: "If a man love God in such

manner that all that he ever does is done in the love of God, and

truly for the love of God, because he burns with the love of God:

behold, then, how much a drop of water falling in a furnace harms or

proves troublesome; and just so much vexes the venial sin a man who is

perfect in the love of Christ." Men may also keep down venial sins

by receiving deservingly the precious body of Jesus Christ; also by

receiving holy water; by almsgiving; by general confession of

confiteor at mass and at compline; and by the blessings of bishops and

of priests, and by other good works.

Explicit secunda pars penitentie

Sequitur de septem peccatis mortalibus

et eorum dependenciis

Circumstanciis et speciebus

Now it is a needful thing to tell which are the mortal sins, that is

to say, the principal sins; they are all leashed together, but are

different in their ways. Now they are called principal sins because

they are the chief sins and the trunk from which branch all others.

And the root of these seven sins is pride, which is the general root

of all evils; for from this root spring certain branches, as anger,

envy, acedia or sloth, avarice (or covetousness, for vulgar

understanding), gluttony, and lechery. And each of these principal

sins has its branches and its twigs, as shall be set forth and

declared in the paragraphs following.

DE SUPERBIA

And though it be true that no man can absolutely tell the number

of the twigs and of the evil branches that spring from pride, yet will

I show forth a number of them, as you shall understand. There are

disobedience, boasting, hypocrisy, scorn, arrogance, impudence,

swelling of the heart, insolence, elation, impatience, strife,

contumacy, presumption, irreverence, obstinacy, vainglory; and many

another twig that I cannot declare. Disobedient is he that disobeys

for spite the commandments of God, of his rulers, and of his spiritual

father. Braggart is he that boasts of the evil or the good that he has

done. Hypocrite is he that hides his true self and shows himself

such as he is not. Scorner is he who has disdain for his neighbour,

that is to say, for his fellow Christian, or who scorns to do that

which he ought to do. Arrogant is he who thinks he has within

himself those virtues which he has not, or who holds that he should so

have them as his desert; or else he deems that he is that which he

is not. Impudent is he who, for his pride's sake, has no shame for his

sins. Swelling of heart is what a man has when he rejoices in evil

that he has done. Insolent is he that despises in his judgments all

other folk in comparing theirs with his worth, and with his

understanding, and with his conversation, and with his bearing. Elated

is he who will suffer neither a master nor a peer. Impatient is he who

will not be taught nor reproved for his vice, and who, by strife,

knowingly wars on truth and defends his folly. Contumax is he who,

because of his indignation, is against all authority or power or those

that are his rulers. Presumption is when a man undertakes an

enterprise that he ought not to attempt, or one which he cannot

accomplish; and that is called over-confidence. Irreverence is when

men do not show honour where they ought, and themselves wait to be

reverenced. Obstinacy is when man defends his folly and trusts too

much in his own judgment. Vainglory is delight in pomp and temporal

rank, and glorification in this worldly estate. Chattering is when men

speak too much before folk, clattering like a mill and taking no

care of what they say.

And then there is a private species of pride that waits to be

saluted before it will salute, albeit the one who has it is of less

worth than is the other, perchance; also, when he attends services

in church he desires to sit, or else to go, before his neighbour in

the aisle, or to kiss the pax before him, or to be censed before

him, or to make offering before his neighbour, and similar things; all

against his necessity, peradventure, save that in his heart and his

will is such proud desire to be magnified and honoured before the

people.

Now there are two kinds of pride; one of them lies within the

heart of man, and the other lies without. Whereof, truly, these

aforesaid things, and more than I have named, appertain to that

pride which is within the heart of man; for that other species of

pride lies without. But notwithstanding, one of these species of pride

is a sign of the existence of the other, just as the fresh bush at the

tavern door is a sign of the wine that is in the cellar. And this

second kind of pride shows itself in many ways: as in speech and

bearing, and in extravagant array of clothing; for truly, if there had

been no sin in clothing, Christ would not have noted and spoken of the

clothing of that rich man in the gospel. And, as Saint Gregory says,

that same precious clothing is culpable for the glory and beauty of

it, and for its softness. and for its strange new modes, and its

fantastic ornamentation, and for its superfluity, and for the

inordinate scantiness of it. Alas! May not men see, in our days, the

sinfully costly array of clothing, especially in the matter of

superfluity, or else in inordinate scantiness?

As to the first sin, it lies in the superfluity of clothing, which

makes cloth so dear, to the harm of the people; not only the cost of

embroidering, the elaborate notching or barring, the waved lines,

the stripes, the twists, the diagonal bars, and similar waste of cloth

in vanity; but there is also the costly furring of gowns, so much

perforating with scissors to make holes, so much slashing with shears;

and then the superfluity in length of the aforesaid gowns, trailing in

the dung and in the mire, a-horseback and afoot, as well of man's

clothing as of woman's, until all this trailing verily, in its effect,

wastes, consumes, makes threadbare and rotten with dung the

superfluity that rather should be given unto the poor; to the great

harm of the aforesaid poor. And that in sundry wise: this is to say,

the more that cloth is wasted, the more it costs the people because of

its scarcity; and furthermore, if they would give such perforated

and slashed clothing to the poor folk, it would not be suitable for

their wearing, what of their state, nor sufficient to help their

necessity to keep themselves from the fury of the elements. On the

other hand, to speak of the horrible inordinate scantiness of

clothing, let us notice these short-cut smocks or jackets, which,

because of their shortness, cover not the shameful members of man,

to the wicked calling of them to attention. Alas! Some of them show

the very boss of their penis and the horrible pushed-out testicles

that look like the malady of hernia in the wrapping of their hose; and

the buttocks of such persons look like the hinder parts of a she-ape

in the full of the moon. And moreover, the hateful proud members

that they show by the fantastic fashion of making one leg of their

hose white and the other red, make it seem that half their shameful

privy members are flayed. And if it be that they divide their hose

in other colours, as white and black, or white and blue, or black

and red, and so forth, then it seems, by variation of colour, that the

half of their privy members are corrupted by the fire of Saint

Anthony, or by cancer, or by other such misfortune. As to the hinder

parts of their buttocks, the thing is horrible to see. For, indeed, in

that part of their body where they purge their stinking ordure, that

foul part they proudly show to the people in despite of decency, which

decency Jesus Christ and His friends observed in their lives. Now,

as to the extravagant array of women, God knows that though the

faces of them seem chaste and gentle, yet do they advertise, by

their attire, their lickerousness and pride. I say not that a moderate

gaiety in clothing is unseemly, but certainly the superfluity or

inordinate scantiness of clothing is reprehensible. Also, the sin of

adornment or apparel lies in things that appertain to riding, as in

too many fine horses that are kept for delight, that are so fair, fat,

and costly; in many a vicious knave who is kept because of them; in

too curious harness, as saddles, cruppers, poitrels, and bridles

covered with precious caparison and rich, and with bars and plates

of gold and silver. As to which God says by Zechariah the prophet:

"I will confound the riders of such horses." These folk have but

little regard for the riding of God of Heaven's Son and of His

trappings, when He rode upon the ass and had no other caparison than

the poor cloaks of His disciples; nor do we read that ever He rode

upon any other beast. I say this against the sin of superfluity, and

not against reasonable display when the occasion requires it. And

further, certainly pride is greatly shown in keeping up a great

household, when such servants are of little profit, or of no profit.

And this is especially so when such an array of servants is

mischievous and injurious to the people, by the insolence of high rank

or by way of office. For truly, such lords sell then their lordships

to the Devil of Hell when they sustain the wickedness of their

following. And when folk of low degree, as those that keep and run

hostelries, sustain the thievery of their servants, which is done in

many ways. This kind of folk are the flies that seek honey or the dogs

that seek carrion. Such folk strangle spiritually their lordships;

as to which thus says David the prophet: "Wicked death shall come upon

such masters, and God will give that they descend into Hell; for in

their houses are iniquities and evil deeds." And God of Heaven is

not there. And truly, unless they mend their ways, just as God gave

His blessing to Laban for the service of Jacob and to Pharaoh for

the service of Joseph, just so will God give His curse to such

lordships as sustain the wickedness of their servants, unless they

shall make amendment. Pride of the table is often seen; for truly,

rich men are bidden to feasts and poor folk are turned away and

rebuked. The sin of pride lies also in excess of divers meats and

drinks; and especially in certain baked meats and made-dishes, burning

with spirituous liquors and decorated and castellated with paper,

and in similar waste; so that it is scandalous to think upon. And also

in too great preciousness of vessels and in curious instruments of

minstrelsy, whereby a man is stirred the more to the delights of

luxury; if it be that he thereby sets his heart the less upon Jesus

Christ, certainly it is a sin; and certainly the delights might be

so great in this case that a man could easily fall thereby into mortal

sin. The varieties of sin that arise out of pride, truly, when they

arise with malice imagined, advised, and aforethought, or from

habit, are mortal sins, and of that there is no doubt. And when they

arise out of frailty, unadvisedly and suddenly, and are quickly

withdrawn again, albeit they are grievous sins, I think that they

are not mortal. Now might men ask, whence pride arises and takes its

being, and I say: sometimes it springs out of the good things of

nature, and sometimes from the benefits of Fortune, and sometimes from

the good of grace itself. Certainly the good things of nature

consist of either physical wellbeing or riches of the soul.

Certainly physical wellbeing consists of the weal of the body, as

strength, activity, beauty, good blood, and generous candour. The

benefits of nature to the soul are good wit, keen understanding,

clever talent, natural virtue, and good memory. The benefits of

Fortune are riches, high rank. and the people's praise. The good of

grace consists of knowledge, power to suffer spiritual travail,

benignity, virtuous contemplation, ability to withstand temptation,

and similar things. Of which aforesaid things, certainly it is great

folly in a man when he permits himself to be proud of any of them.

As for the benefits of nature, God knows that sometimes we receive

them naturally as much to our detriment as to our profit. As, to

take bodily health, certainly it passes away lightly enough, and

moreover it is often the reason for the wickedness of the soul; for

God knows that the flesh is a great enemy to the soul; and

therefore, the more sound the body is, the more are we in danger of

falling into sin. Also, to feel pride in the strength of one's body is

a great folly; for certainly the flesh lusts for that which is

detrimental to the spirit, and ever the stronger the flesh is, the

sorrier must the soul be: and above all this, strength of body and

worldly boldness bring a man often into danger of mischance. Also,

to be proud of his gentility is a great folly; for often the gentility

of the body debases the gentility of the soul; and furthermore, we are

all of "One father and one mother; and we are of one nature, rotten

and corrupt, both the rich and the poor. Forsooth, but one kind of

gentility is praiseworthy, and that it is which clothes a man's

heart with virtue and morality and makes of him Christ's child. For

trust this well, that over whatsoever man sin has gained the

mastery, that man is a very serf to sin.

Now there are general signs of gentility; as the eschewing of vice

and ribaldry and servitude to sin, in word, in deed, and in conduct;

and as the practising of virtue, courtesy, and purity, and being

generous, which is to say, bounteous within measure; for that which

goes beyond a reasonable measure is folly and sin. Another such sign

is, when a man remembers and bears in mind the good that he has

received from others. Another is, to be benign to his good

inferiors; wherefore, as Seneca says: "There is nothing more

becoming a man of high estate than kindliness, courtesy, and pity. And

therefore the flies that men call bees, when they make their king,

they choose one that has no prick wherewith he may sting." Another is,

for a man to have a good heart and a diligent, to attain to high

virtuous things. Now truly, for a man to pride himself on the gifts of

grace is also an extravagant folly; for these same gifts of grace that

should have turned him to goodness and to alleviation, turn him to

venom and confusion, as says Saint Gregory. Certainly, also, whoso

prides himself on the benefits of Fortune, he is a full great fool;

for sometimes a man is a great lord at morning who is a captive and

a wretch ere it be night; and sometimes the wealth of a man is the

cause of his death; sometimes the pleasures of a man cause the

grievous malady whereof he dies. Certainly the people's commendation

is sometimes false enough and brittle enough to trust; today they

praise, tomorrow they blame. God knows, desire to have commendation of

the people has caused death to many a busy man.

REMEDIUM CONTRA PECCATUM SUPERBIE

Now, since it has come to pass that you have understood what pride

is, and what the species of it are, and whence pride arises and

springs, now you shall understand what is the remedy for the sin of

pride, and that is, humility or meekness. That is a virtue whereby a

man may come to have a true knowledge of himself, and whereby he

will hold himself to be of no price or value in regard to his deserts,

but will be considering ever his frailty. Now there are three kinds of

humility: as humility of heart, and another humility is of the

mouth, and the third is in a man's works. The humility of heart is

of four kinds: one is, when a man holds himself to be of nothing worth

before God in Heaven. Another is, when he despises no other man. The

third is, when he recks not though men hold him as nothing worth.

The fourth is when he is not sorry for his humiliation. Also, the

humility of the mouth is of four kinds: temperate speech, meek speech,

and when a man acknowledges with his own mouth that he is as he thinks

himself to be, in his heart. Another is, when he praises the

goodness of another man and nothing thereof belittles. Humility in

deeds is in four manners: the first is, when a man puts other men

before him. The second is, to choose the lowest place of all for

himself. The third is, gladly to assent to good counsel. The fourth

is, to abide gladly by the decision of his rulers, or of him that is

of higher rank; certainly this is a great work of humility.

SEQUITUR DE INUIDIA

After pride I will speak of the foul sin of envy, which is,

according to the word of the philosopher, sorrow for other men's

prosperity; and according to the word of Saint Augustine, it is sorrow

for other men's weal and joy for other men's harm. This foul sin is

flatly against the Holy Ghost. Be it that every sin is in opposition

to the Holy Ghost, yet, nevertheless, for as much as goodness

appertains properly to the Holy Ghost and envy springs by nature out

of malice, therefore is it especially against the goodness of the Holy

Ghost. Now malice has two species, that is to say, a heart hardened in

wickedness, or else the flesh of man is so blind that he does not

consider himself to be in sin, or he cares not that he is in sin,

which is the hardihood of the Devil. The other kind of malice is, when

a man wars against the truth, knowing that it is truth. Also, when

he wars against the grace that God has given to his neighbour; and all

this is envy. Certainly, then, envy is the worst sin there is. For

truly, all other sins are sometime against only one special virtue;

but truly, envy is against all virtues and against all goodnesses; for

it is sorry for all the virtues of its neighbour; and in this way it

differs from all other sins. For hardly is there any sin that has

not some delight in itself, save only envy, which ever has of itself

but anguish and sorrow. The kinds of envy are these: there is,

first, sorrow for other men's goodness and prosperity; and

prosperity being naturally a thing for joy, then envy is a sin against

nature. The second kind of envy is joy in other men's harm; and this

is naturally like the Devil, who always rejoices in man's harm. From

these two species comes backbiting; and this sin of backbiting, or

detraction, has certain forms, as thus. A man praises his neighbour

with a wicked intention, for he puts always a wicked twist into it

at the end. Always he puts a "but" in at the end, which implies more

blame than all the praise is worth. The second form is, when a man

is good and does or says a thing to good intent, the backbiter turns

all this goodness upside-down to his own evil end. The third is, to

belittle the goodness of a neighbour. The fourth form of backbiting is

this: that if a man say good of a man, then the backbiter says,

"Faith, such or such a man is better than he," in disparagement of him

that men praise. The fifth form is this, to assent gladly and listen

gladly to the evil that folk speak of others. This sin is a great one;

and it grows according to the wicked endeavours of the backbiter.

After backbiting comes grumbling or murmuring; and sometimes it

springs from impatience with God, and sometimes with man. Impatience

with God it is when the man grumbles against the pains of Hell, or

against poverty, or loss of chattels, or against rain or tempest; or

else complains that scoundrels prospers or else that good men have

adversity. And all these things should men suffer patiently, for

they come by the right judgment and ordinance of God. Sometimes

grumbling comes of avarice; as Judas complained of the Magdalen when

she anointed the head of Our Lord Jesus Christ with her precious

ointment. This murmuring is such as when a man grumbles at good that

he himself has done, or that other folk do with their wealth.

Sometimes murmuring comes of pride; as when Simon the Pharisee

murmured against the Magdalen when she approached Jesus Christ and

wept at His feet for her sins. And sometimes grumbling arises out of

envy; as when men discover a man's secret weakness, or swear of him

a thing that is false. Murmuring, too, is often found among

servants, who grumble when their masters bid them to do lawful things;

and for as much as they dare not openly gainsay the commands of

their masters, yet do they speak evilly of them and grumble and murmur

privately, for very spite; which words men call the Devil's

Paternoster, though the Devil never had a Paternoster, save that

vulgar folk give these murmurings that name. Sometimes grumbling comes

of anger or privy hate, that nurtures rancour in its heart, as I shall

hereafter set forth. Then comes bitterness of heart, through which

bitterness every good deed of one's neighbour seems to one to be but

bitter and unsavoury. Then comes discord, which undoes all friendship.

Then comes spite, as when a man seeks occasion to annoy his neighbour,

though he do never so well. Then comes accusation, as when a man seeks

occasion to offend his neighbour, which is like the guile of the

Devil, who watches both night and day to accuse us all. Then comes

malignity, through which a man annoys his neighbour privately, if he

may; and if he may not, then nevertheless his wicked will shall not

want for means to harm him, as by burning his house, or poisoning or

slaying his beasts, and suchlike things.

REMEDIUM CONTRA PECCATUM INUIDIE

Now will I speak of the remedy for this foul sin of envy. First,

is the love of God, and the love of one's neighbour as one's self; for

indeed the one cannot be without the other. And trust well, that by

the name of your neighbour you are to understand your brother; for

certainly all of us have one fleshly father and one mother, that is to

say, Adam and Eve; and even one spiritual father, and that is God in

Heaven. Your neighbour you are bound to love and to wish all good

things; and thereunto God says, "Love thy neighbour as thyself."

That is to say, to the salvation both of life and soul. Moreover,

you shall love him in word, and in benign admonition and in

chastening; and comfort him in his vexations, and pray for him with

all your heart. And you shall love him in deed and in such wise that

you shall charitably do unto him as you would that it were done unto

yourself. And therefore you shall do him no damage by wicked words,

nor any harm in his body, nor in his goods, nor in his soul by the

enticement of wicked example. You shall not covet his wife, nor any

of, his things. Understand also that in the word neighbour is included

his enemy. Certainly man shall love his enemy, by the commandment of

God; and truly, your friend shall you love in God. I say, you shall

love your enemy for God's sake, and by His commandment. For if it were

reasonable that a man should hate his enemies, then God would not

receive us into His love, when we are His enemies. For three kinds

of wrong that his enemy may do to a man, he shall do three things in

return, thus: for hate and rancour, he shall love him in heart. For

chiding and wicked words, he shall pray for his enemy. And for the

wicked deed of his enemy, he shall do him kindness. For Christ says:

"Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them and

pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you." Lo,

thus Our Lord Jesus Christ commands that we do to our enemies. For

indeed, nature drives us to love our enemies, and, faith, our

enemies have more need for love than our friends; and they that have

more need, truly to them men ought to do good; and truly, in the

deed thereof have we remembrance of the love of Jesus Christ Who

died for His enemies. And in so much as that same love is the harder

to feel and to show, in that much is the merit the greater; and

therefore the loving of our enemy has confounded the venom of the

Devil. For just as the Devil is discomfited by humility, so is he

wounded to the death by love for our enemy. Certainly, then, love is

the medicine that purges the heart of man of the poison of envy. The

kinds of this degree of sin will be set forth more at large in the

paragraphs following.

SEQUITUR DE IRA

After envy will I describe the sin of anger. For truly, whoso has

envy of his neighbour will generally find himself showing anger, in

word or in deed, against him whom he envies. And anger comes as well

from pride as from envy; for certainly, he that is proud or envious is

easily angered.

This sin of anger, according to Saint Augustine, is a wicked

determination to be avenged by word or by deed. Anger, according to

the philosopher, is the hot blood of man quickened in his heart,

because of which he wishes to harm him whom he hates. For truly, the

heart of man, by the heating and stirring of his blood, grows so

disturbed that he is put out of all ability to judge reasonably. But

you shall understand that anger manifests itself in two manners; one

of them is good, the other bad. The good anger is caused by zeal for

goodness, whereof a man is enraged by wickedness and against

wickedness; and thereupon a wise man says that "Anger is better than

play." This anger is gentle and without bitterness; not felt against

the man, but against the misdeed of the man, as the Prophet David

says: Irascimini et nolite peccare. Now understand, that wicked

anger is manifested in two manners, that is to say, sudden or hasty

anger, without the advice and counsel of reason. The meaning and the

sense of this is, that the reason of man consents not to this sudden

anger, and so it is venial. Another anger is full wicked, which

comes of sullenness of heart, with malice aforethought and with wicked

determination to take vengeance, and to which reason assents; and

this, truly, is mortal sin. This form of anger is so displeasing to

God that it troubles His house and drives the Holy Ghost out of

man's soul, and wastes and destroys the likeness of God, that is to

say, the virtue that is in man's soul; and it puts within him the

likeness of the Devil, and takes the man away from God, his rightful

Lord. This form of anger is a great joy to the Devil; for it is the

Devil's furnace, heated with the fire of Hell. For certainly, just

as fire is the mightiest of earth engines of destruction, just so

ire is mightiest to destroy things spiritual. Observe how a fire of

smouldering coals, almost extinct under the ashes, will quicken

again when touched by brimstone; just so will anger quicken again when

it is touched by the pride that lies hidden in man's heart. For

certainly fire cannot come from nothing, but must first be naturally

dormant within a thing, as it is drawn out of flints with steel. And

just as pride is often the matter of which anger is made, just so is

rancour the nurse and keeper of anger. There is a kind of tree, as

Saint Isidore says, which, when men make a fire of the wood of it, and

then cover over the coals with ashes, truly the embers will live and

last a year or more. And just so fares it with rancour; when it is

once conceived in the hearts of some men, certainly it will last,

perchance, from one Easter-day to another Easter-day, and longer.

But truly, such men are very far from the mercy of God all that while.

In this aforesaid Devil's furnace there are forged three evils:

pride that ever fans and increases the fire by chiding and wicked

words. Then stands up envy and holds the hot iron upon the heart of

man with a pair of long tongs of abiding rancour. And then stands up

the sin of contumely, or strife and wrangling, and strikes and hammers

with villainous reproaches. Certainly, this cursed sin injures both

the man who does it and his neighbour. For truly, almost all the

harm that any man does to his neighbour comes from wrath. For

certainly, outrageous wrath does all that the Devil orders; for it

spares neither Christ nor His Sweet Mother. And in his outrageous

anger and ire, alas! full many a one at that time feels in his heart

right wickedly, both as to Christ and as to His saints. Is not this

a cursed vice? Yes, certainly. Alas! It takes from man his wit and his

reason and all the kindly spiritual life that should guard his soul.

Certainly, it takes away also God's due authority, and that is man's

soul and the love of his neighbour. It strives always against truth,

also. It bereaves him of the peace of his heart and subverts his soul.

From anger come these stinking engenderings: first hate, which is

old wrath; discord, by which a man forsakes his old friend whom he has

long loved. And then come strife and every kind of wrong that man does

to his neighbour, in body or in goods. Of this cursed sin of anger

comes manslaughter also. And understand well that homicide,

manslaughter, that is, is of different kinds. Some kinds of homicide

are spiritual, and some are bodily. Spiritual manslaughter lies in six

things. First, hate; and as Saint John says: "He that hateth his

brother committeth homicide." Homicide is also accomplished by

backbiting; and of backbiters Solomon says that "They have two

swords wherewith they slay their neighbours." For truly, it is as

wicked to take away a man's good name as his life. Homicide consists

also in the giving of wicked counsel deceitfully, as in counselling

one to levy wrongful duties and taxes. And Solomon says that cruel

masters are like roaring lions and hungry bears, in withholding or

diminishing the wages (or the hire) of servants; or else in usury;

or in withholding alms from poor folk. As to which the wise man

says: "Feed him who is dying of hunger." For indeed, unless you feed

him, you slay him; and all these are mortal sins. Bodily homicide is

when you slay a man with your tongue is some manner; as when you

give command to slay a man, or else counsel him to the slaying of

another. Homicide, in deed is in four manners. One is by law; as

when a judge condemns a culpable man to death. But let the judge

take care that he do it rightfully, and that he do it not for

delight in the spilling out of blood, but only for the doing of

justice. Another kind of homicide is that which is done by

necessity, as when one man slays another in his own defence, and

when he may not otherwise escape his own death. But certainly, if he

may escape without killing his adversary, and yet slays him, he

commits sin, and he shall bear the punishment for mortal sin. Also, if

a man by force of circumstances, or by chance, shoot an arrow or

cast a stone with which he kill a man, he commits homicide. Also, if a

woman negligently overlie her child in her sleep, it is homicide and

mortal sin. Also, when a man interferes with the conception of a

child, and makes a woman barren by the drinking of poisonous drugs,

whereby she cannot conceive, or slays an unborn child deliberately, by

drugs or by the introduction of certain substances into her secret

parts with intent to slay the child; or does any unnatural sin whereby

man or woman spill his or her fluid in such manner or in such place as

a child cannot be conceived; or if a woman, having conceived, so

hurt herself that she slays her child, it is homicide. What do we

say of women that murder their children for dread of worldly shame?

Certainly, such a one is called a horrible homicide. Homicide it is,

also, if a man approach a woman by desire of lechery, through the

accomplishing of which her child is killed in the womb, or strike a

woman knowingly in such manner that she is caused to miscarry and lose

her child. All these constitute homicide and are horrible mortal sins.

Besides' there come from anger many more sins, as well of word as of

thought and of deed; as that of accusing God of, or blaming God for, a

thing of which a man is himself guilty; or despising God and all His

saints, as do wicked gamblers in divers countries. They do this cursed

sin when they feel in their heart a great wickedness toward God and

His saints. Also, they do it when they treat irreverently the

sacraments of the altar, and then the sin is so great that scarcely

may it be forgiven, save that the mercy of God passes all His works;

it is so great and He is so benign. Then comes of anger, venomous

anger; when a man is sharply admonished after confession to forgo

his sin, then will he be angry and will answer scornfully and angrily,

and will defend or excuse his sin as the result of the weakness of his

flesh; or else he did it to keep the good will of his fellows, or

else, he'll say, the Fiend enticed him; or else he did it because of

his youth, or else his temperament is so mettled that he could not

forbear; or else it was his destiny, as he says, until a certain

age; or else, he says, it comes to him out of the breeding of his

ancestors; and suchlike things. All this kind of folk so wrap

themselves in their sins that they will not deliver themselves. For

truly, no man that excuses himself for his sin may be shriven of it

until he meekly acknowledges it. After this, then comes swearing,

which is expressly against the commandment of God; and this comes

often of anger and ire. God says: "Thou shalt not take the name of the

Lord thy God in vain." Also, Our Lord Jesus Christ says, through Saint

Matthew: "Nolite iurare omnino: neither by Heaven; for it is God's

throne: nor by the earth; for it is His footstool: neither by

Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou

swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or

black: but let your communication be, yea, yea, nay; for whatsoever is

more than these, cometh of evil." For Christ's sake, swear not so

sinfully, thus dismembering Christ by soul, heart, bones, and body.

For indeed it seems that you think that the cursed Jews did not

dismember enough the precious body of Christ, since you dismember

Him even more. And if it be that the law compel you to swear, then

be governed by the rule of the law in your swearing, as Jeremiah says,

quarto capitulo: "Iurabis, in veritate, in iudicio et in iusticia:

thou shalt swear, the Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in

righteousness." That is to say, you shall swear truth, for every lie

is against Christ. For Christ is utter truth. And think well on

this, that every great swearer, not by law compelled to swear, the

plague will not depart from his house while he continues to indulge in

such forbidden swearing. You shall swear for the sake of justice also,

when you are constrained by your judge to bear witness to the truth.

Also, you shall swear not for envy, nor for favour, nor for reward,

but for righteousness; for the declaring of it to the honour of God

and the helping of your fellow Christian. And therefore, every man

that takes God's name in vain, or falsely swears by word of mouth,

or takes upon him the name of Christ that he may be called a Christian

man, and who lives not in accordance with Christ's example of living

and with His teaching, all they take God's name in vain. Behold,

too, what Saint Peter says, Actuum, quarto capitulo: "Non est aliud

nomen sub celo, etc. There is none other name under Heaven given among

men whereby we must be saved." That is to say, save the name of

Jesus Christ. Take heed also how in the precious name of Christ, as

Saint Paul says ad Philipensess secundo: "In nomine Iesu, etc. In

the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in Heaven, and

things in earth, and things under the earth." For it is so high and so

worshipful that the cursed Fiend in Hell must tremble to hear it

named.

Then it appears that men who swear so horribly by His blessed name

despise Him more boldly than all the cursed Jews, or even than the

Devil, who trembles when he hears His name.

Now, certainly, since swearing, unless it be lawfully done, is so

strictly forbidden, much worse is false swearing, and it is needless.

What shall we say of those that delight in swearing and hold it

for an act of the gentry, or a manly thing, to swear great oaths?

And what of those that, of very habit, cease not to swear great oaths,

though the reason therefor be not worth a straw? Certainly this is a

horrible sin. Swearing suddenly and thoughtlessly is also a sin. But

let us pass now to that horrible swearing of adjuration and

conjuration, as do these false enchanters or necromancers in basins

full of water, or in a bright sword, in a circle, or in a fire, or

in a shoulder-bone of a sheep. I can say nothing, save that they do

wickedly and damnably against Christ and all the faith of Holy Church.

What shall we say of those that believe in divinations, as by the

flying or the crying of birds, or of beasts, or by chance, by

geomancy, by dreams, by creaking of doors, by cracking of houses, by

gnawing of rats; and such kinds of wickedness? Certainly, all these

things are forbidden by God and by all Holy Church. For which they are

accursed, until they repent and mend their ways, who set their beliefs

in such filth. Charms against wounds or maladies in men or in

beasts, if they have any effect, it may be, peradventure, that God

permits it that folk shall have the more faith in Him and the more

reverence unto His name.

Now will I speak of lying, which generally is the using of words

in false signification with intent to deceive one's fellow

Christian. Some lying there is whereof there comes no advantage to

anyone; and some lying is done for the ease and profit of one man, and

to the uneasiness and damage of another man. Another kind of lying

is done to save one's life or chattels. Another kind of lying is

born of mere delight in lying, for which delight they will fabricate a

long tale and adorn it with all circumstances, where all the

groundwork of the tale is false. Some lying is done because one

would maintain his previous word; and some lying is done out of

recklessness, without forethought; and for similar reasons.

Let us now touch upon the vice of flattering, which comes not gladly

from the heart, but for fear or for covetousness. Flattery is

generally unearned praise. Flatterers are the Devil's nurses, who

nurse his children with the milk of adulation. Forsooth, as Solomon

says, "Flattery is worse than detraction." For sometimes detraction

causes a haughty man to be more humble, for he fears detraction; but

certainly flattery- that causes a man to exalt his heart and his

bearing. Flatterers are the Devil's enchanters, for they cause a man

to think of himself that he is like what he is not like. They are like

Judas who betrayed God; for these flatterers betray a man in order

to sell him out to his enemy, that is, to the Devil. Flatterers are

the Devil's chaplains, that continually sing Placebo. I reckon

flattery among the vices of anger; for oftentimes, if one man be

enraged at another, then will he flatter some other to gain an ally in

his quarrel.

Let us speak now of such cursing as comes from an angry heart.

Execration generally may be said to embrace every kind of evil. Such

cursing deprives a man of the Kingdom of God, as says Saint Paul.

And oftentimes such cursing returns again upon the head of him that

curses, like a bird that returns again to its own nest. And above

all things men ought to eschew the cursing of their children, and

the giving to the Devil of their progeny, so far as they may;

certainly it is a great danger and a great sin.

Let us now speak of chiding and reproaching, which are great evils

in man's heart; for they rip up the seams of friendship in man's

heart. For truly, a man can hardly be reconciled with him that has

openly reviled and slandered him. This is a terrible sin, as Christ

says in the gospel. And note now that he who reproaches his neighbour,

either he reproaches him for some painful evil that he has in his

body, as with "leper" or "hunchbacked scoundrel," or by some sin

that he does. Now, if he reproach him for a painful evil, then the

reproach is turned upon Jesus Christ; for pain is sent, as the

righteous giving of God, and by His permission, be it of leprosy or

malady or bodily imperfection. And if he reproach him uncharitably for

sin, as with "you whoremonger," "you drunken scoundrel," and so forth,

then that appertains to the rejoicing of the Devil, who is ever

rejoiced when men sin. And truly, chiding may not come, save out of

a sinful heart. For according to the abundance of what is in the heart

the mouth speaks. And you shall understand that when any man would

correct another, let him beware of chiding or reproaching. For

truly, save he beware, he may easily quicken the fire of anger and

wrath, which he should quench, and perhaps will slay him whom he might

have corrected gently. For, as Solomon says, "the amiable tongue is

the tree of life," which is to say, of the spiritual life; and in

sooth, a foul tongue drains the vital forces of him that reproaches,

and also of him that is reproached. Behold what Saint Augustine

says: "There is nothing so like the Devil's child as he that chideth."

Saint Paul says, too: "The servant of the Lord must not strive." And

though bickering be a sinful thing as between all kinds of folk,

certainly it is most unsuitable between a man and his wife; for

there is never rest there. Thereupon Solomon says: "A continual

dropping in a very rainy day, and a contentious woman, are alike." A

man who is in a house, the roof whereof leaks in many places, though

he avoid the dripping in one place, it finds him in another; and so

fares he who has a chiding wife. If she cannot scold him in one place,

she will scold him in another. And therefore, "Better is a dinner of

herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith," says

Solomon. Saint Paul says: "Wives, submit yourselves unto your

husbands, as it is fit in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and

be not bitter against them." Ad Colossensess, tertio.

After that, let us speak of scorn, which is a wicked sin; especially

when one scorns a man for his good works. For truly, such scorners are

like the foul toad, which cannot bear to smell the sweet odour of

the vine when it blossoms. These scorners are fellowpartakers with the

Devil; for they rejoice when the Devil wins and sorrow when he

loses. They are adversaries of Jesus Christ; for they hate what He

loves, that is to say, the salvation of souls.

Now will we speak of wicked counsel; for he that gives wicked

counsel is a traitor. For he deceives him that trusts in him, ut

Achitofel ad Absolonem. Nevertheless, his wicked counsel first harms

himself. For, as the wise man says, every false person living has

within himself this peculiarity, that he who would harm another

harms first himself. And men should understand that they should take

counsel not of false folk, nor of angry folk, nor of vexatious folk

nor of folk that love too much their own advantage, nor of too worldly

folk, especially in the counselling of souls.

Now comes the sin of those that sow discord amongst folk, which is a

sin that Christ utterly hates; and no wonder. For He died to establish

concord on earth. And more shame do they do to Christ than did those

that crucified Him; for God loves better that friendliness be among

men than He loved His own body, the which He gave for the sake of

unity. Therefore they are like the Devil, who ever goes about to

make discord.

Now comes the sin of the double-tongued; such as speak fairly before

folk, and wickedly behind; or they make a semblance of speaking with

good intention, or in jest and play, and yet they speak with evil

intention.

Now comes betraying of confidence, whereby a man is defamed:

truly, the damage so done may scarcely be repaired.

Now comes menacing, which is an open folly; for he that often

menaces, he often threatens more than he can perform.

Now come idle words, which sin is without profit to him that

speaks and also to him that listens. Or else idle words are those that

are needless, or without an aim toward any profit. And although idle

words are at times but a venial sin, yet men should distrust them; for

we shall have to account for them before God.

Now comes chattering, which cannot occur without sin. And, as

Solomon says, "It is a sin of manifest folly." And therefore a

philosopher said, when men asked him how to please the people: "Do

many good deeds and chatter but little."

After this comes the sin of jesters, who are the Devil's apes. For

they make folk laugh at their buffoonery, as they do at the pranks

of an ape. Such clownings were forbidden by Saint Paul. Behold how

virtuous and holy words give comfort to those that labour in the

service of Christ; just so the sinful words and tricks of jesters

and jokers comfort those that travail in the service of the Devil.

These are the sins that come by way of the tongue, and from anger

and many other sins.

SEQUITUR REMEDIUM CONTRA PECCATUM IRE

The remedy for anger is a virtue which men call mansuetude, which is

gentleness; and even another virtue which men call patience or

tolerance.

Gentleness withholds and restrains the stirrings and the urgings

of man's impetuosity in his heart in such manner that it leaps not out

in anger or in ire. Tolerance suffers sweetly all the annoyances and

wrongs that men do to men bodily. Saint Jerome says thus of

gentleness, that "it does harm to no one, nor says harm; nor for any

harm that men do or say does it chafe against reason." This virtue

is sometimes naturally implanted; for, as says the philosopher: "A man

is a living thing, by nature gentle and tractable to goodness; but

when gentleness is informed of grace, then is it worth the more."

Patience, which is another remedy against anger, is a virtue that

suffers sweetly man's goodness, and is not wroth for harm done to

it. The philosopher says that "patience is that virtue which suffers

meekly all the outrages of adversity and every wicked word." This

virtue makes a man god-like and makes him God's own dear child, as

Christ says. This virtue discomfits one's enemy. And thereupon the

wise man says: "If thou wilt vanquish thy enemy, learn to endure." And

you shall understand that man suffers four kinds of grievances from

outward things, against the which he must have four kinds of patience.

The first grievance is of wicked words; this suffered Jesus Christ

without grumbling, and patiently, when the Jews many times

reproached Him and showed how they despised Him. Suffer patiently,

therefore, for the wise man says: "If thou strive with a fool,

though the fool be wroth or though he laugh, nevertheless thou shalt

have no rest." Another outward grievance is to suffer damage in

one's chattels. In that Christ endured patiently when He was despoiled

of all that He had in the world, that being His clothing.

The third grievance is for a man to suffer injury in his body. That,

Christ endured full patiently throughout all His passion. The fourth

grievance is in extravagant labour. Wherefore I say that folk who make

their servants labour too grievously, or out of the proper time, as on

holidays, truly they do great sin. Thereof endured Christ full

patiently, and taught us patience when He bore upon His blessed

shoulder the cross whereon He was to suffer a pitiless death. Hereof

may men learn to be patient; for certainly, not only Christian men

should be patient for love of Jesus Christ, and for the reward of

the blessed life everlasting, but even the old pagans, who never

were Christians, commended and practised the virtue of patience.

Upon a time a philosopher would have beaten a disciple for his great

misdoing, at which the philosopher had been much annoyed; and he

brought a rod wherewith to scourge the youth; and when the youth saw

the rod he said to his master: "What do you intend to do?" "I will

beat you," said the master, "for your correction." "Forsooth," said

the youth, "you ought first to correct yourself who have lost all your

patience at the offence of a child." "Forsooth," said the master,

weeping, "you say truth; take the rod yourself, my dear son, and

correct me for my impatience." From patience comes obedience,

whereby a man becomes obedient to Christ and to all to whom he owes

obedience in Christ. And understand well that obedience is perfect

when a man does gladly and speedily, with entire good heart, all

that he should do. Obedience, generally, is to put into practice the

doctrine of God and of man's masters, to whom he ought to be humble in

all righteousness.

SEQUITUR DE ACCIDIA

After the sins of envy and of anger, now will I speak of the sin

of acedia, or sloth. For envy blinds the heart of a man and anger

troubles a man; and acedia makes him heavy, thoughtful, and peevish.

Envy and anger cause bitterness of heart; which bitterness is the

mother of acedia, and takes from a man the love of all goodness.

Then is acedia the anguish of a troubled heart; and Saint Augustine

says: "It is the sadness of goodness and the joy of evil." Certainly

this is a damnable sin; for it wrongs Jesus Christ in as much as it

lessens the service that men ought to give to Christ with due

diligence, as says Solomon. But sloth has no such diligence; it does

everything sadly and with peevishness, slackness, and false

excusing, and with slovenliness and unwillingness; for which the

Book says: "Accursed be he that serveth God negligently." Then

acedia is the enemy to every state of man; for indeed the state of man

is in three degrees. One is the state of innocence, as was the

condition of Adam before he fell into sin; in which state he was

maintained to praise and adore his God. Another state is the condition

of sinful men wherein they are obliged to labour in praying to God for

the amendment of their sins. Another state is the condition of

grace, in which condition man is bound to acts of penitence; and

truly, to all these things acedia is the enemy and the opposite. For

it loves no busyness at all. Now certainly this foul sin of acedia

is also a great enemy to the livelihood of the body; for it makes no

provision for temporal necessity; for it wastes, and it allows

things to spoil, and it destroys all worldly wealth by its

carelessness.

The fourth thing is that acedia is like those who are in the pain of

Hell, because of their sloth and their sluggardliness; for those

that are damned are so bound that they may neither do well nor think

well. First of all, from the sin of acedia it happens that a man is

too sad and hindered to be able to do anything good, wherefore God

abominates acedia, as says Saint John.

Then comes that kind of sloth that will endure no hardship nor any

penance. For truly, sloth is so tender and so delicate, as Solomon

says, that it will endure no hardship or penance, and therefore it

spoils everything that it attempts to do. To combat this

rotten-hearted sin of acedia or sloth, men should be diligent to do

good works and manfully and virtuously to come by the determination to

do well; remembering that Our Lord Jesus Christ rewards every good

deed, be it ever so little. The habit of labour is a great thing; for,

as Saint Bernard says, it gives the labourer strong arms and hard

thews, whereas sloth makes them feeble and tender. Then arises the

dread of beginning to do any good deeds; for certainly, he that is

inclined toward sin, he thinks it is so great an enterprise to start

any works of goodness, and tells himself in his heart that the

circumstances having to do with goodness are so wearisome and

burdensome to endure, that he dare not undertake any such works, as

says Saint Gregory.

Now enters despair, which is despair of the mercy of God, and

comes sometimes of too extravagant sorrows and sometimes of too

great fear: for the victim imagines that he has done so much sin

that it will avail him not to repent and forgo sin; because of which

fear he abandons his heart to every kind of sin, as Saint Augustine

says. This damnable sin, if it be indulged to the end, is called

sinning in the Holy Ghost. This horrible sin is so dangerous that,

as for him that is so desperate, there is no felony or sin that he

hesitates to do; as was well showed by Judas. Certainly, then, above

all other sins, this sin is most displeasing to Christ, and most

hateful. Truly he that grows so desperate is like the cowardly and

recreant combatant that yields before he is beaten, and when there

is no need. Alas, alas! Needlessly is he recreant and needlessly in

despair. Certainly the mercy of God is always available to every

penitent, and this is the greatest of all God's works. Alas! Cannot

a man bethink him of the gospel of Saint Luke, 15, wherein Christ

says: "Joy shall be in Heaven over one sinner that repenteth more than

over ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance." Behold

further, in the same gospel, the joy of and the feast given by the

good man who had lost his son, when his son, repentant, returned to

his father. Can they not remember, also, that, as Saint Luke says,

XXIII capitulo, the thief who was hanged beside Jesus Christ said:

"Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy Kingdom." "Verily,"

said Christ, "I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in

Paradise." Certainly, there is no such horrible sin of man that it may

not be, in his lifetime, destroyed by penitence, by virtue of the

passion and the death of Jesus Christ. Alas! Why then need a man

despair, since mercy is so ready and so great? Ask, and it shall be

given unto you. Then enters somnolence, that is to say, sluggish

slumbering, which makes a man heavy and dull in body and in soul;

and this sin comes from sloth. And truly, the time that a man should

not sleep, in all reason, is the early morning, unless there be a

reasonable necessity. For verily the morningtide is most suitable

for a man to say his prayers, and to meditate on God and to honour

God, and to give alms to the poor person who first asks in the name of

Christ. Behold what Solomon says: "Whoso would awake in the dawn and

seek me, me shall he find." Then enters negligence, or carelessness,

that recks of nothing. And if ignorance is the mother of all evil,

certainly then negligence is the nurse. Negligence cares not, when

it must do a thing, whether it be well done or badly.

As to the remedies for these two sins, as the wise man says: "He

that fears God spares not to do that which he ought." And he that

loves God, he will be diligent to please God by his works, and will

exert himself, with all his might, to do well. Then enters idleness,

which is the gate to all evils. An idle man is like a house that has

no walls; the devils may enter on every side and shoot at him, he

being thus unprotected, and tempt him on every side. This idleness

is the sink of all wicked and villainous thoughts, and of all idle

chattering, and trifles, and of all filthiness. Certainly Heaven is

for those that labour, and not for idle folk. Also, David says:

"They are not among the harvest of men and they shall not be

threshed with men," which is to say, in Purgatory. Certainly, then, it

appears that they shall be tormented by the Devil in Hell, unless they

soon repent.

Then enters the sin that men call tarditas, which is when a man is

too tardy or too long-tarrying before he turns unto God; and certainly

this is a great folly. He is like one that falls in the ditch and will

not arise. And this vice comes of a false hope whereunder a man

comes to think that he shall live long; but that hope full often fails

him.

Then comes laziness; that is when a man begins any work and anon

forgoes it and holds his hand; as do those who have anyone to govern

and who take no care of him as soon as they find any difficulty or

annoyance. These are the modern shepherds who knowingly allow their

sheep to run to the wolf in the briers, or have no care for their

governing. Of this come poverty and the destruction of both

spiritual and temporal things. Then comes a kind of dull coldness that

freezes the heart of man. Then comes lack of devotion, whereby a man

is so blinded, as Saint Bernard says, and has such languor of soul,

that he may not read or sing in holy church, nor hear or think of

anything devout, nor toil with his hands at any good work, without the

labour being unsavoury and vapid to him. Then he grows slow and

slumbery, and is easily angered and is easily inclined toward hate and

envy. Then comes the sin of worldly sorrow, such as is called

tristicia, which slays men, as Saint Paul says. For, verily, such

sorrow works the death of the soul and of the body also; for thereof

it comes to pass that a man is bored by his own life. Wherefore such

sadness full often shortens a man's life before his time has naturally

come.

REMEDIUM CONTRA PECCATUM ACCIDIE

Against this horrible sin of acedia, and the branches thereof, there

is a virtue that is called fortitudo or strength; that is, a force

of character whereby a man despises annoying things. This virtue is so

mighty and so vigorous that it dares to withstand sturdily, and wisely

to keep itself from dangers that are wicked, and to wrestle against

the assaults of the Devil. For it enhances and strengthens the soul,

just as acedia reduces it and makes it feeble. For this fortitudo

can endure, by long suffering, the toils that are fitting.

This virtue has many species; and the first is called magnanimity,

which is to say, great-heartedness. For certainly a great heart is

needed against acedia, lest it swallow up the soul by the sin of

sadness, or destroy it by despair. This virtue causes folk to

undertake hard things, or grievous things, of their own initiative,

wisely and reasonably. And for as much as the Devil fights a man

more by craft and by trickery than by strength, therefore men may

withstand him by wit and by reason and by discretion. Then there are

the virtues of faith and of hope in God and in His saints, to

achieve and accomplish the good works in which one firmly purposes

to continue. Then comes security and certainness; and that is when a

man shall not doubt, in time to come. the value of the toil of the

good works that he has begun. Then comes munificence, which is to say,

that virtue whereby a man performs great works of goodness that he has

begun; and that is the goal to reach which men should do good works;

for in the doing of great good works lies the great reward. Then there

is constancy, that is, stability of purpose, and this should be

evidenced in heart by steadfast faith, and in word and in attitude and

in appearance and in deed. Also, there are other special remedies

against acedia or sloth, in divers works, and in consideration of

the pains of Hell and of the joys of Heaven, and in faith in the grace

of the Holy Ghost, that will give to a man the strength wherewith to

perform his good purpose.

SEQUITUR DE AVARICIA

After acedia I will speak of avarice and of covetousness, of which

sin Saint Paul says that "The love of money is the root of all

evil:" ad Timotheum, sexto capitulo. For verily, when the heart of a

man is confounded within itself, and troubled, and when the soul has

lost the comforting of God, then seeks a man a vain solace in

worldly things.

Avarice, according to the description of Saint Augustine, is the

eagerness of the heart to have earthly things. Others say that avarice

is the desire to acquire earthly goods and give nothing to those

that need. And understand that avarice consists not only of greed

for land and chattels, but sometimes for learning and for glory, and

for every kind of immoderate thing. And the difference between avarice

and covetousness is this. Covetousness is to covet such things as

one has not; and avarice is to keep and withhold such things as one

has when there is no need to do so. Truly, this avarice is a sin

that is very damnable; for all holy writ condemns it and inveighs

against that vice; for it does wrong to Jesus Christ. For it takes

away from Him the love that men owe to Him and turns it backward,

and this against all reason; and it causes that an avaricious man

has more hope in his chattels than in Jesus Christ and is more

diligent in the guarding and keeping of his treasure than in the

service of Jesus Christ. And therefore Saint Paul says, ad Ephesios,

quinto, that "this ye know, that no... covetous man, who is an

idolater, hath any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and of God."

What difference is there between an idolater and an avaricious

man, save that an idolater, peradventure, has but one idol and the

avaricious man has many? For verily, every florin in his coffer is his

idol. And certainly the sin of idolatry is the first thing that God

forbids in the ten commandments, as witnesses Exodi, capitulo XX:

"Thou shalt have no other gods before me, thou shalt not make unto

thee any graven image." Thus an avaricious man, who loves his treasure

more than God, is an idolater, by reason of this cursed sin of

avarice. Of covetousness come these hard exactions whereunder men

are assessed and made to pay taxes, rents, and payments in lieu of

service, more than duty requires or reason demands. Also, they take

from their serfs amercements that might more reasonably be called

extortions than amercements. As to which amercements and fines of

serfs, some lords' stewards say that it is just, because a churl has

no temporal thing that does not belong to his lord, or so they say.

But certainly these lordships do wrong that take away from their serfs

things that they never gave them, Augustinus de Civitate, libro

nono. The truth is that the condition of serfdom is a sin: Genesis,

quinto.

Thus may you see that man's sin deserves thralldom, but man's origin

does not. Wherefore these lords should not greatly glorify

themselves in their lordships, since by natural condition, or

origin, they are not lords of thralls; but thralldom came into being

first as the desert of sin. And furthermore, whereas the law says that

the temporal effects of bondmen are the property of their lords,

verily, by that is to be understood, the property of the emperor,

who defends them in their rights, but who has no right to rob or to

plunder them. And thereupon says Seneca: "Thy prudence should cause

thee to live benignly with thy slaves." Those whom you call your serfs

are God's people; for humble folk are Christ's friends; they are at

home in the house of the Lord.

Think, also, that such seed as churls come from, from such seed come

the lords. As easily may the churl be saved as the lord. The same

death that takes the churl takes the lord. Wherefore I advise you to

do unto your churl as you would that your lord should do unto you,

if you were in the churl's plight. Every sinful man is a serf to

sin. I advise you, verily, that you, lord, act in such wise with

your serfs that they shall rather love you than fear. I know well that

there is degree above degree, and that this is reasonable; and

reasonable it is that men should pay their duty where it is due;

but, certainly, extortions and contempt for underlings is damnable.

And furthermore, understand well that conquerors or tyrants often

make thralls of those who were born of as royal blood as those who

have conquered. This word of thralldom was unknown until Noah said

that his grandson Canaan should be servant to his brethren for his

sin. What say we then of those that plunder and extort money from Holy

Church? Certainly, the sword which men give to a knight when he is

dubbed, signifies that he should defend Holy Church and not rob or

pillage it; and whoever does so is a traitor to Christ. And, as

Saint Augustine says: "They are the Devil's wolves that pull down

the sheep of Jesus Christ." And they do worse than wolves. For

truly, when the wolf has filled his belly, he ceases to kill sheep.

But truly, the plunderers and destroyers of God's Holy Church do not

so, for they never cease to pillage. Now, as I have said, since it was

because sin was the first cause of thralldom, then it stands thus:

that all the while all the world was in sin, it was in thralldom and

subjection. But certainly, since the time of grace came, God

ordained that some folk should be higher in rank and state and some

folk lower, and that each should be served according to his rank and

his state. And therefore, in some countries, where they buy slaves,

when they have converted them to the faith, they set their slaves free

from slavery. And therefore, certainly, the lord owes to his man

that which the man owes to his lord. The pope calls himself servant of

the servants of God; but in as much as the estate of Holy Church might

not have come into being, nor the common advantage kept, nor any peace

and rest established on earth, unless God had ordained that some men

should have higher rank and some lower: therefore was sovereignty

ordained to guard and maintain and defend its underlings or its

subjects within reason and so far as lies in its power, and not to

destroy or to confound them. Wherefore, I say that those lords that

are like wolves, that devour the wealth or the possessions of poor

folk wrongfully, without mercy or measure, they shall receive, by

the same measure that they have used toward poor folk, the mercy of

Jesus Christ, unless they mend their ways. Now comes deceit between

merchant and merchant. And you shall understand that trade is of two

kinds; the one is material and the other is spiritual. The one is

decent and lawful and the other is indecent and unlawful. Of this

material trade, that which is decent and lawful is this: that where

God has ordained that a kingdom or a country is sufficient unto

itself, then it is decent and lawful that of the abundance of this

country men should help another country that is more needy. And

therefore there are permitted to be merchants to bring from the one

country to the other their merchandise. That other trade, which men

barter with fraud and treachery and deceit, with lies and with false

oaths, is accursed and damnable. Spiritual trade is properly simony,

which is earnest desire to buy spiritual things, that is to say,

things that appertain to the sanctuary of God and to the cure of the

soul. This desire, if it be that man is diligent in accomplishing

it, even though his desire have no effect, yet it is a deadly sin; and

if he be ordained he sins against his orders. Simony is named for

Simon Magus, who would have bought, with temporal wealth, the gift

that God had given, by the Holy Ghost, to Saint Peter and to the other

apostles. And therefore you should understand that both he that buys

and he that sells spiritual things are called simonists; be it by

means of chattels, or by entreaty, or by fleshly asking of his

friends- fleshly friends or spiritual friends. Fleshly friends are

of two kinds, as kindred and other friends. Truly, if they ask for one

who is not worthy and able, it is simony if he take the benefice;

but if he be worthy and able, it is not. The other kind is when a

man or woman asks folk to advance him or her, only for wicked

fleshly affection that they may have for that person, and that is vile

simony. But certainly, in that service for which men give spiritual

things unto their servants, it must be understood that the service

is honest; and also that it be done without bargaining, and that the

person be able. For, as Saint Damasus says: "All the sins of the

world, compared to this sin, are as naught." For it is the greatest

sin that may be done, after that of Lucifer and Antichrist. For by

this sin God loses the Church and the soul that He bought with His

precious blood, because of those who give churches to those who are

not worthy. For they put in thieves, who steal souls from Jesus Christ

and destroy His patrimony. By reason of such unworthy priests and

curates have ignorant men the less reverence for the sacraments of

Holy Church; and such givers of churches put out the children of

Christ and put in the Devil's own sons. They sell the souls that

they watch over as lambs to the wolf that rends them. And therefore

they shall never have any part in the pasture of lambs, that is, the

bliss of Heaven. Now comes hazardry with its appurtenances, such as

backgammon and raffles; whence come deceit, false oaths, chidings, and

hatred for one's neighbours, waste of wealth, mis-spending of time,

and sometimes homicide. Certainly, hazarders cannot be without great

sin while they continue to practise their craft. Of avarice come

also lying, theft, false witnessing, and false oaths. And you must

understand that these are great sins, expressly against the

commandments of God, as I have said. False witnessing lies in word and

also in deed. In word, as by taking away your neighbour's good name by

bearing false witness against him, or by depriving him of his chattels

or his heritage by such false witnessing when you, for anger or

reward, bear false witness or accuse him by your false witnessing,

or else when you falsely excuse yourself. Beware, you jurymen and

notaries! Certainly, by false witness, was Susanna in great sorrow and

pain, as have been many others. The sin of theft is also expressly

against God's command, and that of two kinds, corporal and

spiritual. Corporal, as taking your neighbour's chattels against his

will, be it by force or by fraud, be it by short lineal measure or

by short measure of capacity. By secret swearing, and, of false

indictments against him, and by borrowing your neighbour's goods

with intent never to return them, and by similar things. Spiritual

theft is sacrilege, that is to say, injuring of holy things, or of

things sacred to Christ, and is of two kinds; by reason of the fact

that it is a holy place, as a church or a churchyard, every vile sin

that men do in such places may be called sacrilege, or every

violence done in such places. Also they who withhold what of right

belongs to Holy Church are guilty of sacrilege. And plainly and

generally, sacrilege is to steal a holy thing from a holy place, or an

unholy thing from a holy place, or a holy thing from an unholy place.

REVELACIO CONTRA PECCATUM AVARICIE

Now shall you understand that the relief for avarice is mercy and

pity in large doses. And men might ask why mercy and pity relieve

avarice. Certainly, the avaricious man shows no pity nor any mercy

to the needy man; for he delights in keeping his treasure and not in

the rescuing or relieving of his fellow Christian. And therefore

will I speak first of mercy. Mercy, as the philosopher says, is a

virtue whereby the feelings of a man are moved by the trouble of him

that is in trouble. Upon which mercy follows pity and performs

charitable works of mercy. And certainly, these things impel a man

to the mercy of Jesus Christ- that He gave Himself for our sins, and

suffered death for the sake of mercy, and forgave us our original

sins; and thereby released us from the pains of Hell and lessened

the pains of Purgatory by means of penitence, and gives us grace to do

good, and, at the last, gives us the bliss of Heaven. The kinds of

mercy are: to lend, and to give, and to forgive, and to set free,

and to have pity in heart and compassion on the tribulations of

one's fellow Christian, and also, to chasten, as need may be.

Another kind of remedy for avarice is reasonable largess; and truly,

here it behooves one to give consideration to the grace of Jesus

Christ, and to one's temporal wealth, and also to the perdurable

wealth that Christ gave to us; and to remember the death that he shall

receive, he knows not when, where, or how, and also that he must forgo

all, that he has, save only that which he has invested in good works.

But for as much as some folk are immoderate, men ought to avoid

foolish largess, which men call waste. Certainly, he that is

prodigal gives not his wealth, but loses his wealth. Truly, that which

he gives out of vainglory, as to minstrels and to followers, in

order to have his renown carried about the world, he does sin

thereby rather than gives alms. Certainly, he shamefully loses his

wealth who seeks in the gift thereof nothing but sin. He is like a

horse that chooses rather to drink muddy or turbid water than the

clear water of a well. And for as much as they give where they

should not give, to them belongs that cursing which Christ will give

at the day of doom to those that shall be damned.

SEQUITUR DE GULA

After avarice comes gluttony, which also is entirely against the

commandment of God. Gluttony is immoderate appetite to eat or to

drink, or else to yield to the immoderate desire to eat or to drink.

This sin corrupted all this world, as is well shown by the sin of Adam

and Eve. Read, also, what Saint Paul says of gluttony: "For many walk,

of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that

they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction,

whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who

mind earthly things." He that is addicted to this sin of gluttony

may withstand no other sin. He may even be in the service of all the

vices, for it is in the Devil's treasure house that he hides himself

and rests. This sin has many species. The first is drunkenness,

which is the horrible sepulture of man's reason; and therefore, when a

man is drunk he has lost his reason; and this is deadly sin. But

truly, when a man is not used to strong drink, and perhaps knows not

the strength of the drink, or is feeble-minded, or has toiled, for

which reason he drinks too much, then, though he be suddenly caught by

drink, it is not deadly sin, but venial. The second kind of gluttony

is when the spirit of man grows turbid for drunkenness has robbed

him of the discretion of his wit. The third kind of gluttony is when a

man devours his food and has no correct manner of eating. The fourth

is when, through the great abundance of his food, the humours in his

body become distempered. The fifth is, forgetfulness caused by too

much drinking, whereby sometimes a man forgets before the morning what

he did last evening, or the night before.

In another manner are distinguished the kinds of gluttony, according

to Saint Gregory. The first is, eating before it is time to eat. The

second is when a man gets himself too delicate food or drink. The

third is when men eat too much, and beyond measure. The fourth is

fastidiousness, with great attention paid to the preparation and

dressing of food. The fifth is to eat too greedily. These are the five

fingers of the Devil's hand wherewith he draws folk into sin.

REMEDIUM CONTRA PECCATUM GULE

Against gluttony abstinence is the remedy, as Galen says; but I hold

that to be not meritorious if he do it only for the health of his

body. Saint Augustine will have it that abstinence should be practised

for the sake of virtue and with patience. Abstinence, he says, is

little worth unless a man have a good will thereto, and save it be

practised in patience and charity and that men do it for God's sake

and in hope of the bliss of Heaven.

The companions of abstinence are temperance, which follows the

middle course in all things; and shame, which eschews all indecency;

and sufficiency, which seeks after no rich foods and drinks and

cares nothing for too extravagant dressing of meats. Measure, also,

which restrains within reason the unrestrained appetite for eating;

sobriety, also, which restrains the luxurious desire to sit long and

softly at meat, and because of which some folk, of their own will,

stand, in order to spend less time at eating.

SEQUITUR DE LUXURIA

After gluttony, then comes lechery; for these two sins are such

close cousins that oftentimes they will not be separated. God knows,

this sin is unpleasing to God; for He said Himself, "Do no lechery."

And therefore He imposed great penalties against this sin in the old

law. If a bondwoman were taken in this sin, she should be beaten to

death with rods. And if she were a woman of quality, she should be

slain with stones. And if she were a bishop's daughter, she should

be burnt, by God's commandment. Furthermore, for the sin of lechery,

God drowned all the world by the deluge. And after that He burned five

cities with thunderbolts and sank them into Hell.

Let us speak, then, of that stinking sin of lechery that men call

adultery of wedded folk, which is to say, if one of them be wedded, or

both. Saint John says that adulterers shall be in Hell "in the lake

which burneth with fire and brimstone"- in the fire for the lechery,

in brimstone for the stink of their filthiness. Certainly, the

breaking of this sacrament is a horrible thing; it was ordained by God

Himself in Paradise, and confirmed by Jesus Christ, as witness Saint

Matthew in the gospel: "For this cause shall a man leave father and

mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they twain shall be one

flesh." This sacrament betokens the knitting together of Christ and of

Holy Church. And not only did God forbid adultery in deed, but also He

commanded that "thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife." This

behest, says Saint Augustine, contains the forbidding of all desire to

do lechery. Behold what Saint Matthew says in the gospel: "Whosoever

looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her

already in his heart." Here you may see that not only the doing of

this sin is forbidden, but also the desire to do that sin. This

accursed sin grievously troubles those whom it haunts. And first, it

does harm to the soul; for it constrains it to sin and to the pain

of everlasting death. Unto the body it is a tribulation also, for it

drains it, and wastes and ruins it, and makes of its blood a sacrifice

to the Field of Hell; also it wastes wealth and substance. And

certainly, if it be a foul thing for a man to waste his wealth on

women, it is a yet fouler thing when, for such filthiness, women spend

on men their wealth and their substance. This sin, as says the

prophet, robs man and woman of good name and of all honour; and it

gives great pleasure to the Devil, for thereby won he the greater part

of the world. And just as a merchant delights most in that trading

whereof he reaps the greater gain, just so the Fiend delights in

this filth.

This is the Devil's other hand, with five fingers to catch the

people into his slavery. The first finger is the foolish interchange

of glances between the foolish woman and the foolish man, which

slays just as the basilisk slays folk by the venom of its sight; for

the lust of the eyes follows the lust of the heart. The second

finger is vile touching in wicked manner; and thereupon Solomon says

that he who touches and handles a woman fares like the man that

handles the scorpion which stings and suddenly slays by its poisoning;

even as, if any man touch warm pitch, it defiles his fingers. The

third is vile words, which are like fire, which immediately burns

the heart. The fourth finger is kissing; and truly he were a great

fool who would kiss the mouth of a burning oven or of a furnace. And

the more fools they are who kiss in vileness; for that mouth in the

mouth of Hell; and I speak specifically of these old dotard

whoremongers, who will yet kiss though they cannot do anything, and so

taste them. Certainly they are like dogs, for a dog, when he passes

a rosebush, or other bushes, though he cannot piss, yet will he

heave up his leg and make an appearance of pissing. And as for the

opinion of many that a man cannot sin for any lechery he does with his

wife, certainly that opinion is wrong. God knows, a man may slay

himself with his own knife, and make himself drunk out of his own tun.

Certainly, be it wife, be it child, or any worldly thing that a man

loves more than he loves God, it is his idol, and he is an idolater.

Man should love his wife with discretion, calmly and moderately; and

then she is as it were his sister. The fifth finger of the Devil's

hand is the stinking act of lechery. Truly, the five fingers of

gluttony the Fiend thrusts into the belly of a man, and with his

five fingers of lechery he grips him by the loins in order to throw

him into the furnace of Hell; wherein he shall have the fire and the

everlasting worms, and weeping and wailing, sharp hunger and thirst,

and horror of devils that shall trample all over him, without

respite and without end. From lechery, as I said, spring divers

branches; as fornication, which is between man and woman who are not

married; and this is deadly sin and against nature. All that is an

enemy to and destructive of nature is against nature. Faith, the

reason of a man tells him well that it is mortal sin, since God

forbade lechery. And Saint Paul gives him over to that kingdom which

is the reward of no man save those who do mortal sin. Another sin of

lechery is to bereave a maiden of her maidenhead; for he that so does,

certainly, he casts a maiden out of the highest state in this

present life and he bereaves her of that precious fruit that the

Book calls "the hundred fruit." I can say it in no other way in

English, but in Latin it is called centesimus fructus. Certainly, he

that so acts is the cause of many injuries and villainies, more than

any man can reckon; just as he sometimes is cause of all damage that

beasts do in the field, who breaks down the hedge or the fence, just

so does the seducer destroy that which cannot be restored. For

truly, no more may a maidenhead be restored than an arm that has

been smitten from the body may return thereto to grow again. She may

have mercy, this I know well, if she does penance, but it shall

never again be that she is uncorrupted. And though I have spoken

somewhat of adultery, it is well to show forth more dangers that

come of adultery, in order that men may eschew that foul sin.

Adultery, in Latin, means to approach another man's bed, by reason

of which those that once were one flesh abandon their bodies to

other persons. Of this sin, as the wise man says, follow many evils.

First, breaking of faith; and certainly, in faith lies the key to

Christianity. And when faith is broken and lost, truly, Christianity

stands barren and without fruit. This sin is also a theft; for theft

commonly is to deprive a person of his own thing against his will.

Certainly this is the vilest thievery that can be when a woman

steals her body from her husband and gives it to her lecher to

defile her; and steals her soul from Christ and gives it to the Devil.

This is a fouler theft than to break into a church and steal the

chalice; for these adulterers break into the temple of God spiritually

and steal the vessel of grace, that is, the body and the soul, for

which Christ will destroy them, as Saint Paul says. Truly, of this

theft Joseph was much afraid when his master's wife besought him to

lie with her, and he said: "Behold, my master wotteth not what is with

me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand:

there is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept any

thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do

this great wickedness and sin against God?" Alas! All too little is

such truth encountered nowadays. The third evil is the filth whereby

they break the commandment of God and defame the Author of

matrimony, Who is Christ. For certainly, in so far as the sacrament of

marriage is so noble and honourable, so much the more is it a sin to

break it; for God established marriage in Paradise, in the state of

innocence, in order to multiply mankind to the service of God. And

therefore is the breaking thereof the more grievous. Of which breaking

come oftentimes false heirs, that wrongfully inherit. And therefore

will Christ put them out of the Kingdom of Heaven, which is the

heritage of good folk. From this breaking it happens oftentimes, also,

that people wed or sin with their own kindred; and specially the

loose-livers who haunt the brothels of prostitutes, who may be likened

to a common privy wherein men purge themselves of their ordure. What

shall we say, also, of whoremasters who live by the horrible sin of

prostitution, yea, sometimes by the prostitution of their own wives

and children, as do pimps and procurers? Certainly these are

accursed sins. Understand also that adultery is fitly placed in the

ten commandments between theft and homicide; for it is the greatest

theft that can be, being theft of' body and of soul. And it is like

homicide, for it cuts in twain and breaks asunder those that were made

one flesh, and therefore, by the old law of God, adulterers should

be slain. But nevertheless, by the law of Jesus Christ, which is a law

of pity, He said to the woman who was taken in adultery and should

have been slain with stones, according to the will of the Jews, as was

their law: "Go," said Jesus Christ, "and have no more will to sin," or

"will no more to do sin." Truly, the punishment of adultery is given

to the torment of Hell, unless it be that it is hindered by penitence.

And there are yet more branches of this wicked sin; as when one of

them is a religious, or else both; or folk who have entered orders, as

a sub-deacon, or deacon, or priest, or hospitaller. And ever the

higher that he is in orders, the greater is the sin. The thing that

greatly aggravates their sin is the breaking of the vow of chastity,

taken when they received the order. And furthermore, the truth is that

the office of a holy order is chief of all the treasury of God, and

His special sign and mark of chastity, to show that those who have

entered it are joined to chastity, which is the most precious kind

of life there is. And these folk in orders are specially dedicated

to God, and are of the special household of God; for which, when

they do deadly sin, they are especially traitors to God and to His

people; for they live on the people in order to pray for the people,

and while they are such traitors their prayers avail the people

nothing at all. Priests are angels, by reason of the dignity of

their ministry; but forsooth, as Saint Paul says: "Satan himself is

transformed into an angel of light." Truly, the priest that resorts to

mortal sin, he may be likened to the angel of darkness transformed

into the angel of light; he seems an angel of light, but, forsooth, he

is an angel of darkness. Such priests are the sons of Eli, as is shown

in the Book of the Kings, that they were the sons of Belial, that

is, the Devil. Belial means, "without judge"; and so fare they; they

think they are free and have no judge, any more than has a free bull

that takes whatever cow pleases him on the farm. So act they with

women. For just as a free bull is enough for all a farm, just so is

a wicked priest corruption enough for all a parish, or for all a

county. These priests, as the Book says, teach not the functions of

priesthood to the people, and they know not God; they held

themselves but ill satisfied, as the Book says, with the flesh that

was boiled and offered to them and took by force the flesh that was

raw. Certainly, so these scoundrels hold themselves not pleased with

roasted flesh and boiled flesh, with which the people feed them in

great reverence, but they will have the raw flesh of laymen's wives

and of their daughters. And certainly these women that give assent

to their rascality do great wrong to Christ and to Holy Church and all

saints and all souls; for they bereave all these of him that should

worship Christ and Holy Church and pray for Christian souls. And

therefore such priests and their lemans also, who give assent to their

lechery, have the cursing of all the Christian court, until they

mend their ways. The third kind of adultery is sometimes practised

between a man and his wife; and that is when they have no regard to

their union, save only for their fleshly delight, as says Saint

Jerome; and care for nothing but that they are come together;

because they are married, it is all well enough, as they think. But

over such folk the Devil has power, as said the Angel Raphael to

Tobias; for in their union they put Jesus Christ out of mind and

give themselves to all filthiness. The fourth kind is the coming

together of those that are akin, or of those that are related by

marriage, or else of those whose fathers or other kindred have had

intercourse in the sin of lechery; this sin makes them like dogs

that pay no heed to relationship. And certainly, kinship is of two

kinds, either spiritual or carnal; spiritual, as when one lies with

one's sponsor. For just as he that engenders a child is its fleshly

father, just so is his godfather his spiritual father. For which

reason a woman is in no less sin when she lies carnally with her

godfather or her godson than she would be in if she coupled with her

own fleshly brother. The fifth kind is that abominable sin whereof a

man ought scarcely to speak or write, notwithstanding it is openly

discussed in holy writ. This wickedness men and women do with divers

intentions and in divers manners; but though holy writ speaks of

such horrible sin, holy writ cannot be defiled, any more than can

the sun that shines upon the dunghill. Another form of sin

appertains to lechery, and that comes often to those who are virgin

and also to those who are corrupt; and this sin men call pollution,

which comes in four ways. Sometimes it is due to laxness of the

body; because the humours are too rank and abundant in the body of

man. Sometimes it is due to infirmity; because of the weakness of

the retentive virtue, as is discussed in works on medicine.

Sometimes it is due to a surfeit of food and drink. And sometimes it

comes from base thoughts that were enclosed in man's mind when he fell

asleep; which thing may not happen without sin. Because of this, men

must govern themselves wisely, or else they may fall into grievous

sin.

REMEDIUM CONTRA PECCATUM LUXURIE

Now comes the remedy for lechery, and that is, generally, chastity

and continence, which restrain all the inordinate stirrings that

come of fleshly desires. And ever the greater merit shall he have

who restrains the wicked enkindlings of the ordure of this sin. And

this is of two kinds, that is to say, chastity in marriage and

chastity in widowhood. Now you shall understand that matrimony is

the permitted coming together of man and of woman, who receive, by

virtue of the sacrament, the bond of union from which they may not

be freed in all their life, that is to say, while they both live.

This, says the Book, is a very great sacrament. God established it, as

I have said, in Paradise, and had Himself born into wedlock. And to

sanctify marriage, He attended a wedding, where He turned water into

wine, which, was the first miracle that He wrought on earth before His

disciples. The true result of marriage is the cleansing of fornication

and the replenishing of Holy Church with believers of good lineage;

for that is the end of marriage; and it changes deadly sin to venial

sin between those who are wedded, and makes one the hearts of them, as

well as the bodies. This is true marriage, which was established by

God ere sin began, when natural law occupied its rightful position

in Paradise; and it was ordained that one man should have but one

woman, and one woman but one man, as Saint Augustine says, and, that

for many reasons.

First, because marriage figures the union between Christ and Holy

Church. And another is, because the man is the head of the woman; at

any rate it has been so ordained by ordinance. For if a woman had more

men than one, then should she have more heads than one, and that

were a horrible thing before God; and also, a woman could not please

too many folk at once. And also, there should never be peace or rest

among them; for each would demand his own thing. And furthermore, no

man should know his own get, nor who should inherit his property;

and the woman should be the less beloved from the time that she were

joined with many men.

Now comes the question, How should a man conduct himself toward

his wife? and specifically in two things, that is to say, in tolerance

and reverence, as Christ showed when He first made woman. For He

made her not of the head of Adam, because she should not claim to

exercise great lordship. For wherever the woman has the mastery she

causes too much disorder; there are needed no instances of this. The

experience of every day ought to suffice. Also, certainly, God did not

make woman of the foot of Adam, because she should not be held in

too great contempt; for she cannot patiently endure: but God made

woman of the rib of Adam, because woman should be a companion to

man. Man should conduct himself toward his wife in faith, in truth,

and in love; as Saint Paul says: "Husbands, love your wives, even as

Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself for it." So should a

man give himself for his wife, if there be need.

Now how a woman should be subject to her husband, that is told by

Saint Peter. First, by obedience. And also, as says the law, a woman

who is a wife, as long as she is a wife, has no authority to make oath

or to bear witness without the consent of her husband, who is her

lord; in any event he should be so, in reason. She should also serve

him in all honour. and be modest in her dress. I know well that they

should resolve to please their husbands, but not by the finery of

their array. Saint Jerome says that wives who go apparelled in silk

and in precious purple cannot clothe themselves in Jesus Christ. Also,

what says Saint John on this subject? Saint Gregory, also says that

a person seeks precious array only out of vainglory, to be honoured

the more before the crowd. It is a great folly for a woman to have a

fair outward appearance and inwardly to be foul. A wife should also be

modest in glance and demeanour and in conversation, and discreet in

all her words and deeds. And above all worldly things she should

love her husband with her whole heart, and be true to him of her body;

so, also, should a husband be to his wife. For since all the body is

the husband's, so should her heart be, or else there is between

them, in so far as that is concerned, no perfect marriage. Then

shall men understand that for three things a man and his wife may have

carnal coupling. The first is with intent to procreate children to the

service of God, for certainly, that is the chief reason for matrimony.

Another is, to pay, each of them to the other, the debt of their

bodies, for neither of them has power over his own body. The third is,

to avoid lechery and baseness. The fourth is, indeed, deadly sin. As

for the first, it is meritorious; the second also, for, as the law

says, she has the merit of chastity who pays to her husband the debt

of her body, aye, though it be against her liking and the desire of

her heart. The third is venial sin, and truly, hardly any of these

unions may be without venial sin, because of the original sin and

because of the pleasure. As to the fourth, be it understood that if

they couple only for amorous love and for none of the aforesaid

reasons, but merely to accomplish that burning pleasure, no matter how

often, truly it is a mortal sin; and yet (with sorrow I say it) some

folk are at pains to do it more and oftener than their appetite really

demands.

The second kind of chastity is to be a clean widow and eschew the

embraces of man and desire the embrace of Jesus Christ. These are

those that have been wives and have lost their husbands, and also

women that have fornicated and have been relieved by penitence. And

truly, if a wife could keep herself always chaste with leave and

license of her husband, so that she should thereby give him never an

occasion to sin, it were a great merit in her. These women that

observe chastity must be clean in heart as well as in body and in

thought, and modest in dress and demeanour; and be abstinent in eating

and drinking, in speech and in deed. They are the vessel or the box of

the blessed Magdalen, which fills Holy Church with good odour. The

third kind of chastity is virginity, and it behooves her to be holy in

heart and clean of body; then is she the spouse of Christ and she is

the beloved of the angels. She is the honour of this world, and she is

the equal of martyrs; she has within her that which tongue may not

tell nor the heart think. Virginity bore Our Lord Jesus Christ, and

virgin was He Himself.

Another remedy for lechery is, specially to withhold oneself from

such things as give rise to this baseness; as ease, and eating and

drinking: for certainly, when the pot boils furiously, the best

measure is to withdraw it from the fire. Sleeping long in great

security from disturbance is also a nurse to lechery.

Another remedy for lechery is, that a man or woman eschew the

company of those by whom he expects to be tempted; for though it be

that the act itself is withstood, yet there is great temptation. Truly

a white wall, though it burn not from the setting of a candle near it,

yet shall the wall be made black by the flame. Often and often I

counsel that no man trust in his own perfection, save he be stronger

than Samson and holier than David and wiser than Solomon.

Now, since I have expounded to you, as best I could, the seven

deadly sins, and some of their branches, and their remedies, truly, if

I could, I would tell you of the ten commandments. But so high a

doctrine I leave to the divines. Nevertheless, I hope to God that they

have been touched upon in this treatise, each of them all.

DE CONFESSIONE

Now, for as much as the second part of penitence deals in oral

confession, as I said in the first paragraph hereof, I say that

Saint Augustine says: Sin is every word and every deed and all that

men covet against the law of Jesus Christ; and that is, to sin in

heart, in word, and in deed by one's five senses, which are sight,

hearing, smell, taste or savour, and feeling. Now it is well to

understand that which greatly aggravates every sin. You should

consider what you are that do the sin, whether you are male or female,

young or old, noble or thrall, free or servant, healthy or ailing,

wedded or single, member of a religious order or not, wise or foolish,

clerical or secular; whether she is of your kindred, bodily or

spiritual, or not; whether any of your kindred has sinned with her, or

not; and many other things.

Another circumstance is this: whether it be done in fornication,

or in adultery, or otherwise; incest, or not; maiden, or not; in

manner of homicide, or not; horrible great sins, or small; and how

long you have continued in sin. The third circumstance is the place

where you have done the sin; whether in other men's houses, or your

own; in field, or in church or churchyard; in a dedicated church, or

not. For if the church be consecrated, and man or woman spill seed

within that place, by way of sin or by wicked temptation, the church

is interdicted till it be reconciled by the bishop; and the priest

that did such a villainy, for the term of all his life, should

nevermore sing mass; and if he did, he should do deadly sin every time

that he so sang mass. The fourth circumstance is, what go-betweens, or

what messengers, are sent for the sake of enticement, or to gain

consent to bear company in the affair; for many a wretch, for the sake

of companionship, will go to the Devil of Hell. Wherefore those that

egg on to or connive for the sin are partners, in the sin, and shall

partake of the damnation of the sinner. The fifth circumstance is, how

many times has he sinned, if it be in his memory, and how often he has

fallen. For he that falls often in sin, he despises the mercy of

God, and increases his sin, and is ungrateful to Christ; and he

grows the more feeble to withstand sin, and sins the more lightly, and

the more slowly rises out of sin, and is the more reluctant to be

shriven, especially by his own confessor. For the which reasons,

when folk fall again into their old follies, either they avoid their

old confessors altogether, or else they make parts of confession in

divers places; but truly, such divided confessions deserve no mercy of

God for one's sins. The sixth circumstance is, why a man sins, as by

way of what sort of temptation; and whether he himself procured that

temptation, or whether it came by the incitement of other folk; or

whether he sin by forcing a woman or by her consent: or, if the sinner

be a woman, despite all her efforts were she forced or not- this shall

she tell; and whether for greed of gain or for stress of poverty,

and whether it was of her own procuring, or not; and all such

trappings. The seventh circumstance is, in what manner he has done his

sin, or how she has suffered men to do it unto her. And the same shall

the man tell fully, with all the circumstances; and whether he has

sinned with common brothel-women, or not; or has done his sin in

holy times, or not; in fasting times, or not; or before confession, or

after his last shriving; and whether he has, peradventure, broken

therefor his enjoined penance; by whose help and by whose counsel;

by sorcery or cunning: all must be told. All these things, according

as they are great or small, burden the conscience of a man. And,

too, that the priest who is your judge shall be the better advised

to his judgment in giving, you penance, that is, according to your

contrition. For understand well that after a man has defiled his

baptism by sin, if he would gain salvation, there is no other way than

by penitence and shrift and penance; and specifically by the two, if

there be a confessor to shrive him; and by the third if he live to

perform it.

Then shall a man reflect and consider that if he will make a true

and profitable confession, there must be four conditions. First, it

must be in sorrowful bitterness of heart, as said King Hezekiah to

God: "I will remember all the days of my life in bitterness of heart."

This condition of bitterness has five signs. The first is, that

confession must be shamefaced, not to cover up nor to hide sin, for

the sinner has offended his God and defiled his soul. And thereof

Saint Augustine says: "The heart suffers for the shame of its sin."

And if he has a great sense of shame, he is worthy of great mercy from

God. Such was the confession of the publican who would not lift up his

eyes to Heaven, for he had offended God in Heaven; for which

shamefacedness he received straightway the mercy of God. And thereof

says Saint Augustine that such shamefaced folk are near to forgiveness

and remission. Another sign is humility in confession; of which

Saint Peter says "Humble thyself beneath the might of God." The hand

of God is mighty in confession, for thereby God forgives you your

sins; for He alone has the power. And this humility shall be of the

heart, and shall be manifested outwardly; for just as he has

humility to God in his heart, just so should he humble his body

outwardly to the priest that sits in God's place. Since Christ is

sovereign and the priest is means and mediator between Christ and

the sinner, and the sinner is the last, in reason, the sinner should

nowise sit as high as his confessor, but should kneel before him, or

at his feet, unless infirmity hinder it. For he shall care not who

sits there, but only in whose place he sits. A man who has offended

a lord, and who comes to ask mercy and to be at peace again, and who

should sit down at once by the lord's side- men would hold him to be

presumptuous and not worthy so soon to have remission or mercy. The

third sign is, your confession should be made in tears, if a man can

weep; and if a man cannot weep with his fleshly eyes, let him weep

in his heart. Such was the confession of Saint Peter; for after he had

forsaken Jesus Christ he went out and wept full bitterly. The fourth

sign is, when the sinner forgoes not for shame to make his confession.

Such was the confession of the Magdalen, who did not spare, for any

shame before those who were at the feast, to go to Our Lord Jesus

Christ and acknowledge to Him her sins. The fifth sign is, that a

man or woman shall obediently receive the penace that is imposed for

the sins; for certainly, Jesus Christ, for the sins of a man, was

obedient unto death.

The second condition of true confession is that it be speedily done;

for truly, if a man had a dangerous wound, the longer he waited to

cure himself the more would it fester and hasten him toward his death;

and also the wound would be but the harder to heal. And it is even

so with sin that is long carried in a man unconfessed. Certainly a man

ought to confess his sins without delay, for many reasons; as, for

fear of death, which often comes suddenly and whereof no man can

ever be certain when it will come or in what place; and also the

prolonging of one sin draws a man into another; and further, the

longer he delays the farther he is from Christ. And if he live until

his last day, scarcely then may he shrive himself or then remember his

sins, or repent of them, because of the grievous malady about to cause

his death. And for as much as he has not in his life hearkened unto

Jesus Christ when He has spoken, he shall cry to Jesus Christ at the

last and scarcely will He hear him. And understand that this condition

must have four elements. Your shrift must be considered in advance and

well advised upon, for wicked haste gives no profit; and that a man

shall be able to make confession of all of his sins, be they of pride,

or of envy, and so forth, according to the kind and the circumstances;

and that he shall have comprehended in his mind the number and the

greatness of his sins; and how long he has lain in sin; and also

that he shall be contrite for his sins, and have a steadfast purpose

that never again, by the grace of God, shall he fall into sin; and

also that he fear and keep watch upon himself, so that he shall flee

the occasions whereof he is tempted to sin. And you shall also

shrive yourself of all your sins to one man, and not of some of them

to one man and some to another; when, it is to be understood, the

intention is to split up your shriving out of shame or fear; for

this is but the strangling of your soul. For indeed, Jesus Christ is

wholly good; there is no imperfection in Him; and therefore He

perfectly forgives all, or nothing. I do not say that if you are

sent to the director for a certain sin you are bound to show unto

him all the rest of your sins, whereof you have been shriven by your

own curate, save and except you wish to do so out of humility; for

this does not constitute dividing your shrift. Nor do I say, in

speaking of divided confession, that if you have leave to shrive

yourself to a discreet and honest priest, where you wish to do so

and by leave of your curate, that you may not as well shrive

yourself to him of all your sins. But let no blot remain behind, let

no sin be untold, so far as you have remembrance of them. And when you

shall be shriven by your curate, tell him as well all of the sins that

you have done since last you were shriven; and then this will be no

wicked intention to divide confession.

Also, true confession asks certain other conditions. First, that you

shrive yourself of your free will, not by constraint, nor for shame,

nor for illness, nor for any such things; for it is only reasonable

that he who trespassed of his own free will shall as freely confess

it, and that no other man tell his sin, but that he himself do it, nor

shall he withhold or deny his sin, nor allow himself to become angry

at the priest for admonishing him to leave sin. Another condition is

that your shrift be lawful; that is to say, that you, who shrive

yourself, and also the priest who hears your confession, be verily

of the faith of Holy Church; and that a man be not deprived of hope of

the mercy of Jesus Christ, as was Cain or Judas. And also a man must

himself accuse himself for his own trespass, and not another; but he

shall blame and reproach himself and his own malice for his sin, and

not another; nevertheless, if another man be the occasion for or

enticer to his sin, or the state of a person be such that because of

that person the sin is aggravated, or else if he cannot fully shrive

himself without telling of the person with whom he has sinned; then he

may tell; so that the intention be not to backbite such a person,

but only to declare fully the confession.

Also you shall tell no lies in your confession; as to seem humble,

perchance, in saying that you have done sins whereof you were never

guilty. For Saint Augustine says: if thou, by reason of thy

humility, liest against thyself, though thou wast not in sin before,

yet art thou then in sin because of thy lying. You must also confess

your sin with your own mouth, unless you grow dumb. and not by letter;

for you have done the sin and you shall have the shame thereof.

Also, you shall not embellish your confession with fair and subtle

words, the more to cover up the sin; for then you beguile yourself and

not the priest; you must tell it plainly, be it ever so foul or so

horrible. You shall also shrive yourself to a priest that is

discreet in counselling you, and moreover, you shall not shrive

yourself for vainglory, nor hypocritically, nor for any cause other

than the fear of Jesus Christ and the well-being of your soul. Also,

you shall not run suddenly to the priest to tell him lightly of your

sin, as one would tell a jest or a tale, but advisedly and with

great devotion. And, generally speaking, shrive yourself often. If you

fall often, then you rise by confession. And though you shrive

yourself more than once of sin. for which you have been already

shriven, it is the more merit. And, as Saint Augustine says, you shall

thereby the more easily obtain release from and the grace of God, both

as to sin and punishment. And certainly, once a year, at the least, it

is lawful to receive the Eucharist, for truly, once a year all

things are renewed.

Explicit secunda pars penitencie;

et sequitur tercia pars eiusdem,

de satisfaccione

Now have I told you of true confession, which is the second part

of penitence. The third part of penitence is expiation; and that is

generally achieved through alms-giving and bodily pain. Now there

are three kinds of alms-givings: contrition of heart, where a man

offers himself to God; another is, to have pity on the weaknesses of

one's neighbours; and the third is, the giving of good counsel,

spiritual and material, where men have need of it, and especially in

the procuring of men's food. And take note that a man has need of

these things, generally; he has need of food, he has need of

clothing and shelter, he has need of charitable counsel, and of

visiting in prison and in illness, and sepulture for his dead body.

And if you cannot visit the needy in person, visit him by your message

and by your gifts. These are general almsgivings, or works of charity,

by those who have temporal riches or discretion in counselling. Of

these works you shall hear at the day of doom.

These alms-doings shall you do with your own proper things, and

without delay, and privately, if you can; but nevertheless, if you

cannot do it privately, you shall not forbear to do such works

though men may see you, so long as they be done not for the world's

approbation, but for the pleasing of Jesus Christ. For take witness of

Saint Matthew, capitulo quinto: "A city that is set on a hill cannot

be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but

on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the

house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good

works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven."

Now, to speak of bodily pain, it consists of prayers, of vigils,

of fasts, of virtuous teaching of orisons. And you shall understand

that orisons or prayers consist of a pious will of the heart that

has made amends to God and expresses itself by spoken word, asking for

the removal of evils and to obtain things spiritual and durable, as

well as temporal things, sometimes; of which orisons, truly, in the

prayer of the paternoster has Christ included most things.

Certainly, it is invested with three things pertaining to His dignity,

wherefore it is more dignified than any other prayer; Jesus Christ

made it Himself; and it is short, so that it may be learned the more

easily, and be held the more easily in the heart of memory, that man

may the oftener help himself by repeating the prayer; and in order

that a man may the less grow weary of saying it, and that he may not

excuse himself from learning it; it is so short and so easy; and

because it comprises within itself all good prayers. The expounding of

this holy prayer I commit to these masters of theology; save that thus

much will I say: that, when you pray that God forgive your

trespasses as you forgive those that trespass against you, beware that

you are not uncharitable. This holy orison diminishes each venial sin,

and therefore it appertains specially to penitence.

This prayer must be truly said and in utter faith, in order that men

may pray to God ordinately and discreetly and devoutly; and always a

man shall subject his own will to the will of God. This prayer must

also be said with great humility and all innocently; honourably and

not to the annoyance of any man or woman. It must also be followed

by works of charity. It is of avail also even against the vices of the

soul; for, as Saint Jerome says, "By fasting we are saved from the

vices of the flesh, and by prayer from the vices of the soul."

After the foregoing you shall understand that bodily pain lies in

vigils; for Jesus Christ says, "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into

temptation." You shall understand, also, that fasting stands in

three things; in the forgoing of material food and drink, and in

forgoing worldly pleasures, and in forgoing the doing of mortal sin;

this is to say, that a man shall guard himself from deadly sin with

all his might.

And you shall understand, also, that God ordained fasting; and to

fasting pertain four things: Largess to poor folk, gladness of the

spiritual heart in order not to be angry or vexed, nor to grumble

because you fast; and also reasonable hours wherein to eat moderately;

that is to say, a man shall not eat out of season, nor sit and eat

longer at his table because he has fasted.

Then you shall understand that bodily pain lies in disciplining or

teaching, by word or by writing, or by example. Also, in wearing

shirts of hair or coarse wool, or habergeons next the naked flesh, for

Christ's sake, and such other kinds of penance. But beware that such

kinds of penance on your flesh do not make your heart bitter or

angry or vexed with yourself; for it is better to cast away your

hair shirt than to cast away the security of Jesus Christ. And

therefore Saint Paul says: "Clothe yourselves as those that are the

chosen of. God, in heart of mercy, gentleness, long-suffering, and

such manner of clothing." Whereof Jesus Christ is more pleased than of

hair shirts, or habergeons, or hauberks.

Then, discipline lies also in beating of the breast, in scourging

with rods, in kneelings, in tribulations, in suffering patiently the

wrongs that are done unto one, and also in patient endurance of'

illnesses, or losing of worldly chattels, or of wife or of child or

other friends.

Then shall you understand which things hinder penance; and these are

four, that is to say, fear, shame, hope, and despair. And, to speak

first of fear, since a man sometimes thinks that he cannot endure

penance, against this thought may be set, as remedy, the thought

that such bodily penance is short and mild compared with the pain of

Hell, which is so cruel and so long that it lasts for ever.

Now against the shame that a man has in confession, and especially

of these hypocrites that would be held so perfect that they have no

need for shrift- against that shame should a man think, and reasonably

enough, that he who has not been ashamed to do foul things,

certainly he ought not to be ashamed to do fair things, and of such is

confession. A man should also think that God sees and knows all his

thoughts and all his deeds; from Him nothing may be hidden nor

covered. Men should even bear in mind the shame that is to come at the

day of judgment to those who are not penitent and shriven in this

present life. For all the creatures on earth and in Hell shall

openly behold all that sinners hide in this world.

Now to speak of the hope of those who are negligent and slow in

shriving themselves- that is of two sorts. The one is, that he hopes

to live long and to acquire riches for his delight, and then he will

shrive himself; and as he tells himself, it seems to him that it

will then be time enough to go to confession. Another is the

over-confidence that he has in Christ's mercy. Against the first

vice he shall think, that our life is in no security; and also that

all the riches in this world are at hazard, and pass as does a

shadow on the wall. And, as Saint Gregory says, it is part of the

great righteousness of God that never shall the torment cease of those

that would never withdraw themselves willingly from sin, but have

always continued in sin; because, for the perpetual will to sin,

they shall have perpetual torment.

Despair is of two sorts: the first is of the mercy of Christ; the

other is the thought of sinners that they cannot long persevere in

goodness. The first despair comes of the thought that he has sinned so

greatly and so often, and has lain so long in sin, that he shall not

be saved. Certainly, against that accursed despair should be set the

thought that the passion of Jesus Christ is stronger to loose than sin

is strong to bind. Against the second despair, let him think that as

often as he falls he may rise again by penitence. And though he may

have lain in sin ever so long, the mercy of Christ is ever ready to

receive him into grace. Against that form of despair wherein he

deems that he should not long persevere in goodness, he shall think

that the feebleness of the Devil can do nothing unless men allow him

to; and also that he shall have strength of the help of God and of all

Holy Church and of the protection of angels, if he will.

Then shall men understand what is the fruit of penance; and

according to the word of Jesus Christ, it is the endless bliss of

Heaven, where joy has no opposite of woe or grievance, where all evils

of this present life are past; wherein is security from the torments

of Hell; wherein is the blessed company that rejoices evermore, each

of the others joy; wherein the body of man, that formerly was foul and

dark, is more bright than the sun; wherein the body, that lately was

ailing, frail, and feeble, and mortal, is immortal, and so strong

and so whole that nothing may impair it; wherein is no hunger nor

thirst, nor cold, but every soul is replenished with the ability to

perceive the perfect knowing of God. This blessed Kingdom may man

acquire by poverty of spirit, and the glory of humbleness, and the

plenitude of joy by hunger and thirst, and the ease and rest by

labour, and life by death and the mortification of sin.

HERE ENDS THE PARSON'S TALE