Blanquerna

OF THE FURTHER HISTORY OF EVAST AND ALOMA

After Mass on the day following Evaft and Aloma re¬ mained in the chapel speaking at length of the ordering of their lives, and they composed and set down a rule which they should keep all the days of their life, the which rule is as follows. In the beginning thereof it was ordered that 77

bunquerna

all their goods should be commended to a faithful religious lay brother, their needfbl expenses alone to be kept for their own use and the overplus of their income to be given to the poor of ChriiSt. That they should wear humble raiment ; that on three days only of each week they should eat flesh j that they should wear no garment of linen nor lie between linen sheets ; that they should know one another nevermore in carnal pleasures ; that at Matins they should rise and say their Hours; that after Mass they should remain to pray and hold converse concerning God ; that ere they ate they should wash the feet of thirteen poor men at the table from the which they ate; that they should not leave their house ; that at night they should search their consciences to see if they had erred againft God or their rule; and that the one should give discipline to the other, each accusing himself of his misdeeds. This then is the rule which was made by Evaft and Aloma.

2. Very careful were Evaft and Aloma to find a friar to whom they should commend their property, for none such could they find conveniently in all the precindts of the city ; and Aloma proposed to Evaft that they should make some man overseer who was of their own kindred. But Evaft said that this was not wise, because kinsfolk are wont to have overmuch pleasure in possessions commended to them, and think and plan how they may be made the heirs. Then Evaft remembered a monk who was a prieft, an old man, of good life and a native of other parts. So Evaft prayed t e a ot to give him this monk for governor, that he himse mig t continue in the rule aforesaid, which monk also ^ t0 h™ and to A1°™' This monk was in that"1?/ SCr?.t0 Evaft and Aloma, and they remained Whll 7 ^ th,C ™le that thef ™>de describes, and all the Aloma were in the eftate aforesaid

t tl to 2h J1 r and a" CXamPle - ‘heir lives, C Xl 7 thr Wl" ofG°d that Evaft fell exceeding 78 th°Ught t0 die °f his sickness. Then Eval

FURTHER HISTORY OF EVAST AND ALOMA called Aloma his wife. “ Aloma 1 ” said EvaSt, “ With thy counsel and good will I would fain draw up a testa¬ ment, and I would have thee tell me thy mind as to how my possessions should be ordered to the service of God ; I pray thee also to tell me thy will as to how thou doSt pur¬ pose to live after my death.” Greatly was Aloma distressed at the sickness of EvaSt, and long did she weep ere she was able to make reply. Then said Aloma: “ My lord EvaSt 1 In all thy will there is naught that I may or would dispute. Dispose thou thy possessions and mine in what manner soever thou wilt, and dispose thou also of me as seems to thee beSt. For my will is wholly subjeft to thine.”

4, “Aloma 1 ” said EvaSt, “Among the things that men do in this world for the love of God, it is worthy of praise to give alms in perpetuity to the poor of Christ; wherefore am I minded to leave all my possessions for the building and endowment of a hospital wherein the poor and destitute may be tended, and I would that thou aid in the administra¬ tion of this hospital and in the service of the poor, to the end that by thy merits God may have mercy upon me a sinner and continue His blessing upon thee and upon Blanquerna. Let the chaplain and the administrator of this hospital be the holy man who now administers our posses¬ sions; and after his death, let there be sought out some other religious man, meet to have care of the hospital, and let this ordinance be kept in the hospital after the manner aforesaid.” Greatly did the words and the ordinance of EvaSl please Aloma, and she said to him that she was in his power to obey all his commands. So EvaSt made his teStament as aforesaid, and according to the above named form commended the hospital to the care of the prince of that land, and of the bishop, and of the chief men of the city. He commanded likewise that after his death his body should be borne to the church humbly, without pomp or vainglory, and that none of his kinsfolk should follow him to the church who thought fit to weep or show signs of 79

blanquerna

sorrow for that which was according to the course of nature and to the work of the Divine Will.

. The„ EvaSt confessed, and received the Body of Jesus Christ, saying these words : “ I adore Thee, very Flesh and very Blood of Jesus ChriSt, which to my bod.ly eyes are represented under the form of bread. The bread I adore not, but I adore and bless the holy Body of Jesus Christ which in this bread is represented to my spiritual sight. I adore Thee, Son of the living God, Who didst bear upon the Cross that Body which I spiritually behold, the which Thou didSt unite with Thyself. This glorious Body repre¬ sents to my soul Thy great and infinite power, which be¬ neath the form of bread makes very Flesh and very human being to exift, and this form Thy great humility takes before me a sinner, that from it I may have grace and blessing. In Thee, O holy and glorious glorified Body, I truSt and hope, in Thee I believe, and to Thee I pray for forgiveness. I receive Thee because Thou wilt receive me in Thy Kingdom through the knowledge and contemplation of Thy Virtue ; and in Thy Virtue I am delivered from the hands of my mortal enemy.”

6. When EvaSt had adored and received the sacred Body of Jesus ChriSt and had done all that pertains to a faithful Christian, he slept, and by the virtue of God and the merits of Aloma and Blanquerna, who prayed to God for him daily, God restored to him his health. When EvaSt was whole and freed from his sickness, he returned to the rule wherein he had lived. Now one day he was seeking a letter in a chest, and he found the teStament which he had made, and he read it. Long did EvaSt consider the good which would o ow, after his death, from the ordinance which he had made. And EvaSt called Aloma, and said: “ Herein is a*1? f°°d that wou'd have *>een done to the poor of n a passed from this life; and because God has

sholP '“'I t0 !engthCn my life il ls not *nt injury should result to those who beg for love of Him. Wherefore,

OF THE HOSPITAL if thou wilt have it so, it is good that we execute the testa¬ ment in our lifetime; for perchance after our death others might be less diligent than ourselves, and we might both die very soon, with the result that the good that would follow the establishment of the hospital and the a£ts of mercy to be done therein would be hindered.” Greatly did the words which EvaSt spake please Aloma, and she said to EvaSt that she was subjeft to his will to obey it in those things and in all others.