§4Has martyrum caelestes coronas, has confessorum glorias spiritales, has stantium fratrum maximas eximiasque uirtutes maestitia una contristat, quod auulsam nostrorum uiscerum partem uiolentus inimicus populationis suae strage deiecit.
One sadness alone saddens these heavenly crowns of the martyrs, these spiritual glories of the confessors, these greatest and remarkable virtues of the brothers who stood firm, because the violent enemy has cast down a torn-away part of our own vitals in the ruin of his devastation.
<quid hoc loco faciam, dilectissimi fratres, fluctuans uario mentis aestu quid aut quomodo dicam? lacrimis magis quam uerbis opus est ad exprimendum dolorem, quo corporis nostri plaga deflenda est, quo populi aliquando numerosi multiplex lamentanda iactura est.
What shall I do in this place, dearest brothers? Fluctuating in a varied tide of the mind, what or how shall I speak? Tears rather than words are needed to express the grief with which the blow of our body must be wept over, with which the manifold loss of a once numerous people must be lamented.
quis enim sic durus ac ferreus, quis sic fraternae caritatis oblitus qui inter suorum multiformes ruinas et lugubres ac multo squalore deformes reliquias constitutus siccos oculos tenere praeualeat nec erumpente statim fletu prius gemitus suos lacrimis quam uoce depromat? doleo, fratres, doleo uobiscum nec mihi ad leniendos dolores meos integritas propria et sanitas priuata blanditur, quando plus pastor in gregis sui uulnere uulneretur.
For who is so hard and iron-hearted, who so forgetful of brotherly charity, who, placed amid the multiform ruins of his people and the mournful remains deformed with much squalor, would prevail to keep his eyes dry, and not, with weeping immediately bursting forth, bring out his groans with tears before his voice? I grieve, brothers, I grieve with you, nor does my own integrity and private health flatter me to alleviate my griefs, since the shepherd is more wounded in the wound of his flock.
cum singulis pectus meum copulo, maeroris et funeris pondera luctuosa participo.
I join my heart with each one, I share the mournful weights of sorrow and death.
cum plangentibus plango, cum deflentibus defleo, cum iacentibus iacere me credo.
I weep with those who weep, I lament with those who lament, I believe myself to lie down with those who lie down.
iaculis illis grassantis inimici mea simul membra percussa sunt, saeuientes gladii per mea uiscera transierunt.
By those darts of the raging enemy my limbs were struck at the same time, the raging swords passed through my vitals.
inmunis et liber a persecutionis incursu fuisse non potest animus: in prostratis fratribus et me prostrauit adfectus. §5Habenda tamen est, fratres dilectissimi, ratio nentatas nec sic mentem debet et sensum persecutionis infestae tenebrosa caligo caecasse, ut nihil remanserit luminis et lucis, unde diuina praecepta perspici possint.
Free and immune from the incursion of persecution my mind could not have been: affection has prostrated me as well in the prostrated brothers. Nevertheless, dearest brothers, regard must be had for the truth, nor ought the dark gloom of the hostile persecution to have so blinded the mind and sense that no light and radiance remained from which the divine precepts can be discerned.
si cladis causa cognoscitur, et medella uulneris inuenitur.
If the cause of the disaster is known, the remedy for the wound is also found.
Dominus probari familiam suam uoluit et quia traditam nobis diuinitus disciplinam pax longa corruperat, iacentem fidem et paene dixerim dormientem censura caelestis erexit, cumque nos peccatis nostris amplius mereremur, clementissimus Dominus sic cuncta moderatus est, ut hoc omne quod gestum est exploratio potius quam persecutio uideretur. §6Studebant augendo patrimonio singuli et obliti quid credentes aut sub apostolis ante fecissent aut semper facere deberent insatiabili cupiditatis ardore ampliandis facultatibus incubabant.
The Lord willed His family to be tested, and because a long peace had corrupted the discipline divinely delivered to us, the heavenly judgment raised up the faith that was lying down and, I might almost say, sleeping; and though we deserved worse things by our sins, the most merciful Lord so moderated all things that all this which was done seemed to be a testing rather than a persecution. Individual men were striving to increase their patrimony, and, forgetful of what believers had either done before under the apostles or ought always to do, they were incubating on expanding their resources with an insatiable ardor of covetousness.
non in sacerdotibus religio deuota, non in ministeriis fides integra, non in operibus misericordia, non in moribus disciplina.
There was no devoted religion in priests, no intact faith in ministries, no mercy in works, no discipline in morals.
corrupta barba in uiris, in feminis forma fucata: adulterati post Dei manus oculi, capilli mendacio colorati.
In men the beard was corrupted, in women beauty was painted; eyes were adulterated after the hands of God, hair colored with a lie.
ad decipienda corda simplicum callidae fraudes, circumueniendis fratribus subdolae uoluntates.
There were cunning frauds to deceive the hearts of the simple, guileful wills to circumvent brothers.
iungere cum infidelibus uinculum matrimonii, prostituere gentilibus membra Christi.
To join the bond of marriage with infidels, to prostitute the limbs of Christ to gentiles.
non iurare tantum temere sed adhuc et peierare, praepositos superbo tumore contemnere, uenenato sibi ore maledicere, odiis pertinacibus inuicem dissidere.
Not only to swear rashly but even to perjure, to despise rulers with proud swelling, to curse one another with poisoned mouth, to disagree with persistent hatreds.
episcopi plurimi quos et hortamento esse oportet ceteris et exemplo diuina procuratione contempta procuratores regum saecularium fieri, derelicta cathedra, plebe deserta per alienas prouincias oberrantes negotiationis quaetuosae nundinas aucupari.
Very many bishops, who ought to be both an encouragement and an example to others, despised their divine stewardship and became agents of secular kings, abandoned their cathedrals, deserted their people, and, wandering through foreign provinces, hunted after markets of lucrative business.
esurientibus in ecclesia fratribus habere argentum largiter uelle, fundos insidiosis fraudibus rapere, usuris multiplicantibus faenus augere.
While the brothers in the church were starving, they wished to have abundance of silver, to seize estates by insidious frauds, to increase their interest by multiplying usury.
quid non perpeti tales pro peccatis eiusmodi mereremur, cum iam pridem praemonuerit ac dixerit censura diuina: si dereliquerint legem meam et in iudiciis meis non ambulauerint, si iustificationes meas profanauerint et praecepta mea non obseruauerint, uisitabo in uirga facinora eorum et in flagellis delicta eorum.
What might we not deserve to suffer, such as we are, for sins of this kind, since the divine judgment long ago forewarned and said: 'If they shall desert my law, and shall not walk in my judgments; if they shall profane my justifications, and shall not observe my precepts, I will visit their crimes with a rod, and their sins with scourges.'