In the name of Jesus Christ crucified and of
gentle Mary, mother of God’s Son.
Very loved and reverend father in Christ Jesus,
I Caterina, servant and slave of the servants of
Jesus Christ and your poor wretched unworthy daughter, am writing to you in his
precious blood. I long to see you the sort of true gentle shepherd who takes an
example from the shepherd Christ, whose place you hold. He laid down his life
for his little sheep in spite of our ingratitude …
You know that the devil is not cast out by the
devil, but by virtue. [Mt. 12, 26-27] … You hold the keys, and to whomever you
open it is opened, and to whomever you close it is closed. This is what the
good gentle Jesus said to Peter …
So take a lesson from the true Father and
Shepherd. For you see that now is the time to give your life for the little
sheep who have left the flock. You must seek and win them back by using
patience and war—by war I mean by raising the standard of the sweet blazing
cross and setting out against the unbelievers. So, you must sleep no longer,
but wake up and raise that standard courageously. I am confident that by God’s
measureless goodness you will win back the unbelievers and [at the same time]
correct the wrongdoing of Christians, because everyone will come running to the
fragrance of the cross …
By the fragrance of their virtue they would help
eliminate the vice and sin, the pride and filth that are rampant among the
Christian people—especially among the prelates, pastors, and administrators of
holy Church who have turned to eating and devouring souls, not converting them
but devouring them! And it all comes from their selfish love for themselves,
from which pride is born, and greed and avarice and spiritual and bodily
impurity. They see the infernal wolves carrying off their flock and it seems
they don’t care. Their care has been absorbed in piling up worldly pleasures
and enjoyment, approval and praise. And all this comes from their selfish love
for themselves. For if they loved themselves for God instead of selfishly, they
would be concerned only about God’s honor and not their own, for their
neighbors’ good and not their own self-indulgence.
Ah, my dear Babbo (Father), see that you attend to
these things! Look for good virtuous men and put them in charge of the little
sheep. …
Up, father! Put into effect the resolution you
have made concerning your return and this crusade. You can see that the
unbelievers are challenging you to this by coming as close as they can to take
what is yours. Up, to give your life for Christ! Isn’t our body the only thing
we have? Why not give your life a thousand times, if necessary, for God’s honor
and the salvation of his creatures? That is what he did, and you, his vicar,
ought to be carrying on his work. It is to be expected that as long as you are
his vicar you will follow your Lord’s ways and example.
So come, come! Delay no longer … Take courage,
take courage, father! Stay away from the bitterness that cripples but take hold
of the bitterness that strengthens—bitterness at seeing God’s name insulted,
and strength in the trust that God will provide for your needs. I’ll say no
more, for if I followed my inclination I wouldn’t stop as long as I had life in
my body!
Forgive my presumption. Let my love and grief for
God’s honor and the advancement of holy Church be my excuse in the presence of
your kindness.
This is all I can do now. Have pity on the sweet
loving desires being offered for you and holy Church in continual tears and
prayers. Please don’t treat them with indifference, but act on them vigorously,
for it seems that spring is ready to burst into bloom, and soon the fruit will
come, because the flowers are beginning to blossom. … As for whatever I can do,
I would gladly give my life if necessary for God’s honor and the salvation of
souls. Gentle Jesus! Jesus!
(St. Catherine of Siena, Letter 74 to Gregory XI
at Avignon)
No comments:
Post a Comment