§4Scimus ex dominico praecepto, quod caro infirma sit, spiritus promptus.
We know from the Lord's precept that the flesh is weak, but the spirit is willing.
Non ergo nobis blandiamur, quia dominus consensit carnem infirmam esse.
Therefore let us not flatter ourselves because the Lord agreed that the flesh is weak.
Propterea enim praedixit spiritum promptum, ut ostenderet, quid cui debeat esse subiectum, scilicet ut caro serviat spiritui, infirmior fortiori, ut ab eo etiam ipsa fortitudinem assumat.
For He predicted that the spirit is willing for this reason, to show what ought to be subject to what—namely, that the flesh should serve the spirit, the weaker to the stronger, so that the flesh itself may also receive strength from it.
Colloquatur spiritus cum carne de communi salute, nec iam de incommodis carceris, sed ipso agone et proelio cogitans.
Let the spirit converse with the flesh about their common salvation, thinking no longer of the discomforts of the prison, but of the contest itself and the battle.
Timebit forsitan caro gladium gravem et crucem excelsam et rabiem bestiarum et summam ignium poenam et omne carnificis ingenium in tormentis, sed spiritus contraponat sibi et carni acerba licet ista, a multis tamen aequo animo excepta, immo et ultro appetita, famae et gloriae causa nec a viris tantum, sed etiam a feminis, ut vos quoque, benedictae, sexui vestro respondeatis.
Perhaps the flesh will fear the heavy sword and the lofty cross, the madness of wild beasts, the extreme punishment of fires, and all the executioner's ingenuity in tortures; but let the spirit set before itself and the flesh these things, bitter though they may be, which have nevertheless been accepted with an even mind by many, and indeed even sought voluntarily, for the sake of fame and glory—and not only by men, but also by women, so that you too, blessed women, may answer to your sex.
Longum est, si enumerem singulos, qui se gladio confecerint animo suo ducti.
It would be tedious if I were to enumerate each of those who, led by their own mind, destroyed themselves with the sword.
De feminis ad manum est.
As for women, examples are close at hand.
Lucretia, quae vim stupri passa est, cultrum sibi adegit in conspectu propinquorum, ut gloriam castitati suae pareret.
Lucretia, who suffered the violence of rape, drove a knife into herself in the presence of her kinsmen, in order to procure glory for her chastity.
Mucius manum suam dexteram in ara cremavit, ut hoc factum eius fama haberet.
Mucius burned his right hand on the altar so that fame might possess this deed of his.
Minus fecerunt philosophi Heraclitus, qui se bubulo stercore oblitum exussit, item Empedocles, qui in ignes Aetnaei montis desilivit, et Peregrinus, qui non olim se rogo immisit, cum feminae quoque contempserint ignes Dido, cum post virum dilectissimum nubere cogeretur, item Asdrubalis uxor, quae iam ardente Carthagine, ne maritum suum supplicem Scipionis videret, cum filiis suis in incendium patriae devolavit.
The philosophers did no less—Heraclitus, who, smeared with cow dung, burned himself to death; likewise Empedocles, who leapt into the fires of Mount Etna; and Peregrinus, who not long ago cast himself upon a pyre; seeing that women also have despised fire: Dido, when she was forced to marry after the death of her most beloved husband, and likewise the wife of Hasdrubal, who, with Carthage already burning, so that she might not see her husband as a suppliant before Scipio, threw herself with her children into the conflagration of her homeland.
Regulus, dux Romanorum, captus a Carthaginiensibus, cum se unum pro multis captivis Carthaginiensibus compensari noluisset, maluit hostibus reddi et in arcae genus stipatus undique extrinsecus clavis transfixus tot cruces sensit.
Regulus, a general of the Romans, captured by the Carthaginians, since he did not wish himself alone to be exchanged for many Carthaginian captives, preferred to be returned to the enemies, and packed into a kind of chest and transfixed with nails from the outside everywhere, felt so many crucifixions.
Bestias femina libens appetiit, et utique horridiores aspides serpentes tauro vel urso, quas Cleopatra immisit sibi, ne in manus inimici perveniret.
A woman willingly sought wild beasts, and indeed, serpents more horrific than a bull or a bear—namely, the asps which Cleopatra applied to herself, lest she should fall into the hands of the enemy.
Sed mortis metus non tantus est, quantus tormentorum.
But the fear of death is not so great as that of tortures.
Itaque cessit carnifici meretrix Atheniensis, quae conscia coniurationis cum propterea torqueretur a tyranno, et non prodidit coniuratos et novissime linguam suam commestam in faciem tyran(??)i expuit, ut nihil agere in se sciret tormenta, etsi ultra perseverarent.
Therefore an Athenian courtesan did not yield to the executioner; who, having knowledge of a conspiracy, when she was tortured on that account by the tyrant, both did not betray the conspirators and at last spat her bitten-off tongue into the face of the tyrant, so that he might know that tortures could do nothing against her, even if they should persist further.
Nam quod hodie apud Lacedaemonas sollemnitas maxima est διαμαστίγι(??)σις, id est flagellatio, non latet.
For it is no secret that today among the Lacedaemonians the greatest solemnity is diamastigosis, that is, scourging.
In quo sacro ante aram nobiles quique adulescentes flagellis affliguntur, astantibus parentibus et propinquis et, uti perseverent, adhertantibus.
In which sacred rite, before the altar, all the noble youths are afflicted with whips, while their parents and relatives stand by and encourage them to persevere.
Ornamentum enim et gloria deputabitur maiore quidem titulo, si anima potius cesserit plagis, quam corpus.
For it will be accounted an honor and a glory with indeed a greater title, if the soul should yield to the blows rather than the body.
Igitur si tantum terrenae gloriae licet de corporis et animi vigore, ut gladium, ignem, crucem, bestias, tormenta contemnat sub praemio laudis hum(??)ae, possum dicere, modicae sunt istae passiones ad consecutionem gloriae caelestis et divinae mercedis.
Therefore, if so much is permitted to earthly glory from the vigor of body and mind, that it despises sword, fire, cross, beasts, and tortures under the reward of human praise, I can say that these sufferings are moderate for the attainment of heavenly glory and divine reward.
Tanti vitreum, quanti verum margaritum? Quis ergo non libentissime tantum pro vero habeat erogare, quantum alii pro falso?
Is glass of as much value as a true pearl? Who therefore would not most willingly pay as much for the true as others do for the false?
§5Omitto nunc gloriae causam.
I pass over now the cause of glory.
Eadem omnia saevitiae et cruciatus certamina iam apud homines affectatio quoque et morbus quidam animi conculcavit.
All these same contests of cruelty and torture have already been trampled upon among men by mere vanity and a certain disease of the mind.
Quot otiosos affectatio armorum ad gladium locat? Certe ad feras ipsas affectatione descendunt, et de morsibus et de cicatricibus formosiores sibi videntur.
How many idle people does the vanity of arms station at the sword? Certainly they go down to the wild beasts themselves out of vanity, and from their bites and scars they seem to themselves more beautiful.
Iam et ad ignes quidam se auctoraverunt, ut certum spatium in tunica ardente conficerent.
Already some have even hired themselves out to the fires, so that they might complete a certain distance in a burning tunic.
Alii inter venatorum taureas scapulis patientissimis inambulaverunt.
Others have walked about with most patient shoulders amidst the whips of the hunters.
Haec, benedicti, non sine causa dominus in saeculum admisit, sed ad nos et nunc exhortandos et in illo die confundendos, si reformidaverimus pati pro veritate in salutem quae alii affectaverunt pro vanitate in perditionem.
These things, blessed ones, the Lord has permitted into the world not without cause, but to encourage us now and to confound us on that day, if we dread to suffer for the truth unto salvation what others have eagerly sought for vanity unto perdition.
§6Sed haec exempla constantiae omittamus de affectatione venientis.
But let us omit these examples of constancy coming from vanity.
Convertamur ad ipsam condicionis humanae contemplationem, ut et illa nos instruant, si qua constanter adeunda sint quae et invitis evenire consueverunt.
Let us turn to the contemplation of the human condition itself, so that those things also may instruct us, if any things are to be faced with constancy which are accustomed to happen even to the unwilling.
Quotiens enim incendia vivos cremarunt? quotiens ferae et in silvis suis et in mediis civitatibus elapsae caveis homines devoraverunt? quot a latronibus ferro, ab hostibus etiam cruce extincti sunt, torti prius, immo et omni contumelia expuncti? Nemo non etiam hominis causa pati potest quod in causa dei pati dubitat.
For how often have fires burned people alive? How often have wild beasts devoured men, both in their own forests and in the midst of cities, having escaped from their cages? How many have been put to death by robbers with the sword, and by enemies even on the cross, having been tortured first, and indeed wiped out with every insult? There is no one who cannot suffer even for the sake of a man what he hesitates to suffer in the cause of God.
Ad hoc quidem vel praesentia nobis tempora documenta sint, quantae qualesque personae inopinatos natalibus et dignitatibus et corporibus et aetatibus suis exitus referunt hominis causa, aut ab ipso, si contra cum fecerint, aut ab adversariis eius, si pro eo steterint.
Indeed, for this let even the present times be a proof of how great and what kind of personages suffer unexpected ends, despite their birth, dignities, bodies, and ages, for the sake of a man—either from himself, if they have acted against him, or from his adversaries, if they have stood for him.