Blanquerna

The monk that had aforetime been Abbot had a great yearning for the Bishop, who had of late been in his com¬ pany. That monk had remembrance of these words in the Ave Maria; “ Holy Mary, pray for us,” and he desired to preach these words all the days of his life in honour of Our Lady. The monk considered how many are the preachers who preach the word of God in towns and churches, but that to the shepherds who wander through the woods and mountains no preachers are sent. Where-

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fore the monk spake to the Abbot Blanquerna these words:

2. “ According to my knowledge there is a sore lack of preachers to those people that live and dwell1 in the moun¬ tains and in the forcSts, and come not to church; therefore would I have a rule and office, whereby all the days of my life I may preach to these shepherds and speak to them of the words ‘ Holy Mary, pray for us ’ ; for the shepherds have opportunity for thought and reflection, because they are all alone, and there is none to hinder them from think¬ ing upon that which a man might say to them concerning the honour of Our Lady; and the greater is their thought, the more may devotion and love of Our Lady be increased

3. The Abbot was right pleased at the devotion of the monk, and at the manner of life which he desired to lead from thenceforward in honour of Our Lady; and he re¬ turned to the monastery to see how he might make establish¬ ment, with the consent of the chapter, that ever thereafter it should be a cuStom that one man of that monastery should be a preacher to the shepherds, and that his office should bear the name “ Ora pro nobis.” That establishment gave pleasure to all the community; and the monk who had of old been Abbot took that office, and begged the Abbot for a rule and instruction whereby he should preach to the shepherds concerning the words: “ Holy Mary, pray for us." So the Abbot gave this rule and instruction for the which the monk begged, in these words which follow :

4. “ It is a thing moSl natural," said the Abbot, “ that between the understanding and the will there should be Strait agreement, since the understanding comprehends that which the will loves, and the will loves that which the understanding comprehends; wherefore that sermon is profitable wherein are shown forth such arguments as may be proved by the nature of understanding. Furthermore,

may come devotion to the words, and devotion may be turned into aflion ; wherefore it is fitting that in a sermon the beft word be kept till the end.” Many things spake the Abbot which it is needful for a preacher to know, especially concerning good works and devout words.

7. When the Abbot had made exposition to the monk of Ora pro nobis, according to the manner aforesaid and in many another wise, concerning the method of his preaching, the Abbot made contemplation of Our Lady in presence of the monk, to the end that the monk might have rule and doflrine concerning the preaching of “ Ora pro nobis.” The Abbot therefore spake these words:

8. “ Holy Maryl I adore and bless thy glorious Son, to Whom thou dost pray for us sinners. If thou haft greater desire to pray for us sinners than have we ourselves, it befits

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us not to beg thee to pray for us ; but, because we should not be worthy to be heard in thy prayers if we prayed not to thee and trusted not in thy prayers, therefore are we bound to pray to thee and to contemplate thee and thy

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how that she was the wife of another shepherd, and was living with this shepherd in sin, and had repented her of the fault which she had committed againSt her husband ; but for fear of her husband she dared not return to him, and the shepherd with whom she lived desired not to leave her, for the great love that he bore her. The shepherd returned, and they continued to cat together; and, when they had eaten, the monk made the sign of the Cross and blessed their table, and spake these

14. “ Once on a time it came to pass that a shepherd lived in sin with a woman upon a high mountain. That woman prayed daily to Our Lady Saint Mary that she would deliver her from her sin. One night the shepherd slept; and he thought that he saw Our Lady Saint Mary, who wrote down the names of all those for whom she prayed to her Son, and wrote in her book the name of the woman with whom the shepherd lived. So the shepherd entreated Saint Mary that his name also might be written in that book. Saint Mary answered, and said that since he prayed not to her daily, he was not worthy that his name should be written therein.”

IT “ Sirl ” said the shepherd to the monk: “ Knoweft thou if Our Lady would pray for me if I begged her daily so to do? ” The monk answered and said that he would be surety to him that Our Lady would pray for him, pro¬ vided only that he did no dishonour to her Son, to Whom all they that arc in sin do dishonour, and all they that leave their sin do honour. As the monk spake these words, the shepherd had knowledge of the sin wherein he lived, and he spake to the monk as follows:

16. I am in the sin of luft, and I would fain leave it, that I may honour the Son of Our Lady and that Our Lady may pray for me; but were I to leave this woman she would have no counsellor, neither dares she to return to her husband, wherefore I am compelled to live in sin.” The

his vengeance.

17. So the monk and the woman journeyed to the house of the husband of that woman; and the shepherd, who remained in the valley, did penance continually, and gave adoration and praise to Our Lady daily. While the monk and the woman journeyed, they found, asleep, in the shade of a tree, the shepherd who was the husband of that woman, and who was going to seek his wife, with arms wherewith to slay the shepherd who had carried off his wife from him.

lim for the death of the man whom he ha Vhen the shepherd had dreamed thus, he n his dream, the words which his wife an epeating. At these words the shepherd lis wife, with the monk, who were knei

rent was the devotion and the holy life of ever the husband went to visit the woman, the blessings which each beftowed upon e inftru&ion which each of them gave to

miffht do honour therewith to God and

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preach to other shepherds who dwelt in thos The good things and the praises whereby honoured by those shepherds to whom the monk who may tell them? And the wondrous fame monk won in every land, who can relate it? shepherds who came to hear him, who can coun

le regions. God was ; preached, which the And the t them ?

ENDED IS THE BOOK OF RELIGION

BEGJNNETH THE THIRD BOOK WHICH IS OF PRELACY