The Lady Poverty: A XIII. Century Allegory

by da Parma Giovanni

V

HOW THE BLESSED FRANCIS AND HIS COMPANIONS FOUND THE LADY POVERTY ON THE MOUNTAIN

And when he had thus spoken, they followed after the Blessed Francis. And as with light feet they hastened to the summit of the Mountain, they beheld my Lady Poverty on the topmost Pinnacle gazing down the Mountain. And when she saw them climbing thus valiantly, nay, as it were, rather flying towards her, she marvelled exceedingly, and said to herself: Who are these that ♦Isa. lx. 8.♦ fly like the Clouds and as Doves to their windows? It is long since I saw such as these, or looked upon men so free from trammels. Therefore will I speak to them of the things which I ponder in my Heart, lest, like the rest, they should repent them of their hardy ascent when they behold the dizzying abyss below. I know they cannot possess me without my consent, but I shall find Favour before my Heavenly Father if I give them the Counsels of Salvation. And behold a Voice spoke unto her, saying: Fear not, Daughter of Sion, ♦John xii. 15.♦ for these are of the Seed which the Lord hath blessed. He hath elected them in Charity ♦2 Cor. vi. 6.♦ unfeigned. So from the Throne of her Neediness, the Lady Poverty presented them with ♦Ps. xx. 4.♦ Blessings of Sweetness, and said unto them: Tell me the cause of your Advent, my Brothers, and why you hasten thus speedily from the Valley of Tears to the Mountain of Light. Can it indeed be that you seek me who am poor and needy, tossed by the tempest, ♦Isa. liv. 11.♦ and bereft of all consolation?

VI

THE BLESSED FRANCIS AND HIS COMPANIONS, EXALTING HER VIRTUES IN DIVERS WAYS, BESEECH THE LADY POVERTY TO ABIDE WITH THEM FOREVER

And the Blessed Francis and his Companions answered her, saying: Yea, we have indeed come out to seek thee, Lady, and we beseech thee to receive us in Peace. We desire to become the Servants of the Lord of the Virtues,[20] for He is the ♦Ps. xxiii. 10.♦ King of Glory. We have heard that thou art the Queen of the Virtues, and we have proved it by experience. Wherefore, prostrate at thy Feet, we humbly beseech thee to abide with us, and to light our Way to the King of Glory, as thou wast unto Him the Way, when, a Day-Spring ♦Luke i. 78, 79.♦ from on High, He humbled Himself to visit them that sat in Darkness and the Shadow of Death. For we know that thine is the Power, thine the Kingdom, that thou art constituted Mistress and Queen of the Virtues by the King of Kings Himself. Therefore, we entreat thee, make Peace with us and we shall be saved, and He will receive us through thee, Who through thee did redeem us. Do but elect to save us, and we shall be made free. For the King of Kings and Lord of Lords Himself, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, desired thy Comeliness ♦Ps. xliv. 11.♦ and thy Beauty. When the ♦Cant. i. 11.♦ King was at His Rest, rich and glorious in His Kingdom, He left His House, and forsook His inheritance, the Glory ♦Jer. xii. 7.♦ and Riches of His House, and His Royal Seat, and sought ♦Ps. cxi. 3.♦ thee with gracious words. Great therefore is thy Dignity, and there is none so exalted as thee, since He could leave all Angelic Delights and the great Abundance of Celestial Virtues, to seek thee in the nethermost parts of the Earth, in the miry ♦Ps. xxxix. 3.♦ Clay, in the Darkness and the Shadow of Death. Thou ♦Ps. lxxxvii. 7.♦ wast hated by all the Children of Men, and all fled at thy Coming, or strove, as they could, to drive thee from them. And though some could not fly thee altogether, yet not for that reason wert thou less hated and loathed by them.

But then came the Lord, the Lord God, and took thee for Himself, and lifted up thy Head among the Tribes of the people, crowning thee His Bride, and exalting thee above the Highest Heavens. And although, of a surety, many still hate thee, not knowing thy Virtue and thy Glory, yet hast thou nothing lost thereby, for thou dwellest in Freedom in thy holy Mountains, in the most firm habitation of the ♦Exod. xv. 17.♦ Glory of Christ. Thus the Son of the Most High, having become a Lover of thy Beauty, ♦Wisdom viii. 2.♦ dwelt only with thee in the World, and found thee most faithful in all Things. Even before He left His bright Realms for the Earth, thou hadst prepared Him a fitting place, a Throne on which to sit, a Couch in which to rest, a most poor Virgin from whom He sprung, and shone upon the World. At His Nativity thou didst run to meet Him, so that He might find comfort in thee, and not in soft places. Thou didst lay Him in a ♦Luke ii. 7.♦ Manger, as saith the Evangelist, for there was no room in the Inn. And thus didst thou always inseparably accompany Him, so that during His whole Life, while He dwelt among Men, though the Foxes had ♦Matt. viii. 20.♦ Caves, and the Birds of the Air Nests, He had no place to lay His Head. And when He Who in the Past had opened the lips of the Prophets opened His own Lips to preach, among the many things which He spake, He first praised, first exalted thee, saying: Blessed are the Poor in Spirit, ♦Matt. v. 3.♦ for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. And when He chose Witnesses to His Holy Preaching and to His glorious Work for the Salvation of Man, He did not take rich Merchants, but poor Fisherfolk, that by this choice He might show forth that thou wert to be loved by All. And finally that thy Goodness, thy Greatness, thy Power, might be made manifest to All, and how thou art above all the Virtues, and how without thee there is no Virtue, and how thy Kingdom ♦John xviii. 36.♦ is not of this World but from Heaven, thou alone didst remain with the King of Glory when all His Elect and Beloved had fled from Him in Affright.

Like unto a most dear Mistress and faithful Spouse, thou didst not leave Him for an instant. The more He was despised by All, the more didst thou cleave to Him. For if thou hadst not been with Him, He could never have been so despised by All. Thou wast with Him when the Jews reviled, the Pharisees scoffed, and the High Priests reproached Him. Thou wast with Him when He was struck, when He was spat upon, when He was scourged. He Who should have been reverenced by All, was derided by all, and thou alone didst minister unto Him. Thou wast with Him unto Death, ♦Phil. ii. 8.♦ even the Death of the Cross. And on the Cross itself, His Body being stripped, His Arms extended, His Hands and Feet pierced, thou didst suffer with Him, so that nothing did seem more glorious in Him than thou.