“The brethren wondered and rejoiced that I said such things to my father. And then my father said: ‘You have bewitched and deceived my son, so that he will not mind me. I will complain again of you to the emperor and to the minister-general. Now let me speak with my son apart from you; and you will see him follow me without delay.’
“So the brothers allowed me to talk with him alone; for they began to have a little confidence in me, because of my words. Yet they listened behind the wall to what we should say. For they trembled as a reed in water, lest my father should alter my mind with his blandishments. And not for me alone they feared, but lest my return should hinder others from entering the Order.
“Then my father said to me: ‘Dear son, don’t believe those nasty tunics[635] who have deceived you; but come with me, and I will give you all I have.’
“And I replied: ‘Go away, father. As the Wise Man says in Proverbs, Thou shall not hinder him to do right, who is able.’
“And my father answered with tears, and said to me: ‘What then, son, shall I say to thy mother, who is afflicted because of thee?’
“And I say to him: ‘Thou shalt tell her from me; thus says thy son: My father and mother have forsaken me, and the Lord hath taken me up; also (Jer. iii.): Thou shalt call me Father, and walk after me in my steps.... It is good for a man when he has borne the yoke from his youth.’
“Hearing all these things my father, despairing of my coming out, threw himself down in the presence of the brethren and the secular folk who had come with him, and said: ‘I give thee to a thousand devils, cursed son, thee and thy brother here who has deceived thee. My curse be on you forever, and may it commend you to the spirits of hell.’ And he went away excited beyond measure; while we remained greatly comforted and giving thanks to our God, and saying to each other, ‘They shall curse, and thou shalt bless.’ Likewise the seculars retired edified at my constancy. The brethren also rejoiced seeing what the Lord had wrought through me, His little boy.”
This whole scene presents such a conflict as the thirteenth century witnessed daily, and the twelfth, and other mediaeval centuries as well. The letters of St. Bernard set forth situations quite as extreme or outrageous, from modern points of view. And Bernard can apply (or shall we say, distort?) Scripture in the same drastic fashion. But these monks meant it deeply; and from their standpoint they were in the right with their quotations. The attitude goes back to Jerome; that a man’s father and mother, and they of his own household, may be his worst enemies, if they seek to hinder his feet set toward God. Of course we can see the sensible, worldly, martial father of the youth leap in the air and roll on the ground in rage; flesh and blood could not stand such turn of Scripture: Tell my weeping mother (who so longs for me) that I say my father and mother have forsaken me, and the Lord hath taken me up! This came to the Lord Guido as a maddening gibe; but Salimbene meant simply that his parents did not care for his highest welfare, and the Lord had received him into the path of salvation. It is all a scene, which should evoke our serious reflections—after which it may be permitted us to enjoy it as we will.
In his conscience Salimbene felt justified; for a dream set the seal of divine approval on his conduct.
“The Blessed Virgin rewarded me that very night. For it seemed to me that I was lying prostrate in prayer before her altar, as the brothers are wont when they rise for matins. And I heard the voice of the Blessed Virgin calling me. Lifting my face, I saw her sitting above the altar in that place where is set the host and the calix. She had her little boy in her lap, and she held him out to me, saying: ‘Approach without fear and kiss my son, whom yesterday thou didst confess before men.’ And when I was afraid, I saw that the little boy gladly stretched out his arms. Trusting his innocence and the graciousness of his mother, I drew near, embraced and kissed him; and the benign mother gave him to me for a long while. And when I could not have enough of it, the Blessed Virgin blessed me and said: ‘Go, beloved son, and lie down, lest the brothers rising from matins find thee here with us.’ I obeyed, and the vision disappeared; but unspeakable sweetness remained in my heart. Never in the world have I had such bliss.”