§14Tanto abest, ut capiti suo munus inferat idololatriae, immo iam dixerim Christo, siquidem viri caput Christus est, tam liberum quam et Christus, ne velamento quidem obnoxium, nedum obligamento.
So far is a Christian from placing a gift of idolatry upon his head, nay, I should rather say, upon Christ, since indeed the head of the man is Christ, who is as free as Christ Himself, not subject even to a veil, much less to a binding.
Porro et quod obnoxium est velamento, caput feminae, hoc ipso iam occupatum non vacat etiam obligamento.
Furthermore, the head of the woman, which is subject to a veil, being already occupied by this very thing, is not free for a binding either.
Habet humilitatis suae sarcinam.
She has the burden of her humility.
Si nudo capite videri non debet propter angelos, multo magis coronato fortasse tunc illos coronatos scandalizaverit.
If she ought not to be seen with a bare head on account of the angels, much more with a crowned one; perhaps she will then have scandalized those crowned ones.
Quid enim est in capite feminae corona quam formae lena, quam summae lasciviae nota, extrema negatio verecundiae, conflatio inlecebrae? Propterea nec ornabitur operosius mulier ex apostoli prospectu, ut nec crinium artificio coronetur.
For what is a crown on the head of a woman but a pander of beauty, a mark of the greatest lewdness, the ultimate denial of modesty, and the brewing of seduction? Therefore, the woman shall not be adorned too elaborately, according to the apostle's view, so that she is not even crowned by the artifice of her hair.
Qui tamen et viri caput est et feminae facies, vir ecclesiae, Christus Iesus, quale, oro te, sertum pro utroque sexu subiit? Ex spinis opinor et tribulis, in figuram delictorum, quae nobis protulit terra carnis, abstulit autem virtus crucis, omnem aculeum mortis in dominici capitis tolerantia obtundens.
Yet, Jesus Christ, the husband of the church, who is the head of the man and the face of the woman, what kind of wreath, I ask you, did He undergo for both sexes? Of thorns, I suppose, and thistles, as a figure of the sins which the earth of our flesh brought forth for us, but which the power of the cross took away, blunting every sting of death in the endurance of the Lord's head.
Certe praeter figuram contumelia in promptu est et dedecoratio et turpitudo et his implexa saevitia, quae tunc domini tempora foedaverunt et lancinaverunt, uti tu nunc laurea et myrto et olea et inlustri aliqua fronde et, quod magis usui est, centenariis quoque rosis de horto Midae lectis et utrisque liliis et omnibus violis coroneris, etiam gemmis forsitan et auro, ut et illam Christi coronam aemuleris, quae postea ei obvenit, quia et favos post fella gustavit, nec ante rex gloriae in caelestibus salutatus est, quam rex Iudaeorum proscriptus cruci, minoratus primo a patre modico quid citra angelos, et ita gloria et honore coronatus.
Certainly, besides the figure, the insult is obvious, as well as the defilement and dishonor, and the cruelty interwoven with these, which then defiled and tore the temples of the Lord, so that you should now be crowned with laurel and myrtle and olive and some illustrious leaf, and, what is more in use, with hundred-petaled roses gathered from the garden of Midas, and both kinds of lilies, and all kinds of violets, perhaps even with gems and gold, to emulate that crown of Christ, which came to Him later, because He also tasted honeycombs after gall, nor was He greeted as the king of glory in the heavens before He was proscribed on the cross as the king of the Jews, being first made by the Father a little lower than the angels, and thus crowned with glory and honor.
Si ob haec caput ei tuum debes, tale, si potes, ei repende, quale suum pro tuo obtulit, aut nec floribus coroneris, si spinis non potes, quia floribus non potes.
If for these reasons you owe Him your head, render to Him, if you can, such a head as He offered His own for yours, or do not be crowned with flowers, if you cannot be with thorns, because you cannot be with flowers.
§15Serva deo rem suam intaminatam.
Keep God's own property undefiled for Him.
Ille eam, si volet, coronabit.
He, if He wishes, will crown it.
Immo et vult denique, invitat.
Indeed, He even wishes to do so and invites us.
Qui vicerit, inquit, dabo ei coronam vitae. Esto et tu fidelis ad mortem et decerta et tu bonum agonem, cuius coronam et apostolus repositam sibi merito confidit.
"To him who overcomes," He says, "I will give the crown of life." Be faithful even unto death, and fight the good fight, of whose crown the apostle also deservedly trusts is laid up for him.
Accipit et angelus victoriae coronam procedens in candido equo, ut vinceret, et alius iridis ambitu ornatur caelesti prato.
The angel of victory also receives a crown, proceeding on a white horse to conquer, and another is adorned with the circle of a rainbow in a heavenly meadow.
Sedent et presbyteri coronati eodemque auro et ipse filius beminis supra nubem micat.
The elders also sit crowned with the same gold, and the Son of Man Himself shines above the cloud.
Si tales imagines in visione, quales veritates in repraesentatione? Illas aspice, illas odora.
If such are the images in the vision, what will the realities be in the representation? Look upon those, smell those.
Quid caput strophiolo aut dracontario damnas, diademati destinatum? Nam et reges nos deo et patri suo fecit Christus Iesus.
Why do you condemn your head with a ribbon or a dragon-shaped ornament, destined as it is for a diadem? For Christ Jesus has also made us kings to God and His Father.
Quid tibi cum flore morituro? Habes florem ex virga Iesse, super quem tota divini spiritus gratia requievit, florem incorruptum, immarcescibilem, sempiternum; quem et bonus miles eligendo in caelesti ordinatione profecit.
What have you to do with a dying flower? You have a flower from the rod of Jesse, upon which the whole grace of the Divine Spirit rested, a flower incorruptible, unfading, eternal; which the good soldier, by choosing it, has advanced in the heavenly enlistment.
Erubescite, commilitones eius, iam non ab ipso iudicandi, sed ab aliquo Mithrae milite, qui cum initiatur in spelaeo, in castris vere tenebrarum, coronam interposito gladio. sibi oblatam, quasi mimum martyrii, dehinc capiti suo accommodatam monetur obvia manu a capite pellere et in humerum, si forte, transferre, dicens Mithran esse coronam suam.
Blush, his fellow-soldiers, who are now to be judged not by Christ Himself, but by some soldier of Mithras, who, when he is initiated in the cave, in what is truly the camp of darkness, is warned—when a crown is offered to him on a sword placed between them, as if in a mockery of martyrdom, and then fitted to his head—to push it away from his head with an opposing hand and to transfer it, if possible, to his shoulder, saying that Mithras is his crown.
Atque exinde nunquam coronatur, idque in signum habet ad probationem sui, sicubi temptatus fuerit de sacramento, statimque creditur Mithrae miles, si deiecerit coronam, si eam in deo suo esse dixerit.
And from then on he is never crowned, and he has this as a sign for his trial, if he should be tested anywhere regarding his oath, and he is immediately believed to be a soldier of Mithras if he throws down the crown, if he says that it is in his god.
Agnoscamus ingenia diaboli, idcirco quaedam de divinis affectantis, ut nos de suorum fide confundat et iudicet.
Let us recognize the cleverness of the devil, who affects certain divine things for this reason, that he may confound and judge us by the faithfulness of his own followers.