Homily 40

Pronounced before the people

in the basilica of St. Lawrence, martyr

at an unknown date

Poor Lazarus and the bad rich

Saint Gregory first announces the plan of the Homily: unlike the normal order of a scriptural commentary, he begins by dealing in a few words with the allegorical meaning of the Gospel, before extending more extensively on the literal meaning, because the latter strengthens the mores of the faithful, who need them most. But we better remember what we hear last. And the speaker intends to extend his comment by a vibrant appeal to alms, illustrating one of these stories which he has the secret.

I- (2) The allegorical meaning sees in the bad rich the image of the Jewish people, and in Lazarus, that of the Gentiles, who are not admitted to the knowledge of the Law, and must be content with crumbs. Armed with this key, the preacher interprets all the details of the parable.

II- (3-9) The literal meaning of this passage proves to us how demanding the precepts of the Gospel are: they command us not only not to steal, but also to make serve what we possess to the good of our neighbor. The pope points out the additional merit and damnation that poor and rich incur respectively because of their presence, then the severity of the punishment of the rich. It also shows that the rich having been rewarded from this life for the good he had done, while the poor purified himself in trials, the first is reprobated after his death, and the second rewarded. Here is a passage which must be given to meditate as well on those whom Providence spoils here as on those whom she experiences. Against a mentality still too widespread among Christians, wealth, health, reputation are not necessarily signs that one is blessed by God.

III- (10-12) Gregory finally exhorts his listeners to be wise. Lazarus, they have before their door at will: so they make them intercessors for their faults, being careful not to despise them, even if they are sinners. Many of them are also unknown saints. And the Pope recounted the admirable death of the old Romula: having lived in poverty, she found the true riches, those of eternity.

Lk 16, 19-31

At that time, Jesus said to his disciples, "There was a rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen, and who feasted every day splendidly. And there was a poor man, named Lazarus, who was lying on his door, covered with ulcers; he would have liked to be satiated with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table, but no one gave him any; and the dogs came to lick his ulcers. And it came to pass that the poor man died, and was carried by the angels into the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died, and he was buried in hell.

"He lifted up his eyes, while he was tormented, and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom, and began to cry out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to soak the end.' with his finger in the water to refresh my tongue, for I suffer cruelly in these flames. "Abraham said to him," My child, remember that you have received good things during your life, and Lazarus likewise . Now he's comforted here, and you're in pain. Moreover, between us and you, there is a great chasm, so that those who would like to pass from here can not, and it is impossible to cross from there to us.

"Then the rich man said, 'I beg you, father, to send Lazarus to my father's house, where I have five brethren, to testify to them, lest they also come in This place of torment.> Abraham said to him, "They have Moses and the prophets: let them hear." The rich man answered, "No, Father Abraham; but if any of the dead will find them, they will do penance.> But Abraham said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, even if someone rise from the dead, they will not believe it. In the words of Holy Scripture, dear brothers, we must begin by paying attention to the truth of the literal meaning, before seeking to understand the allegorical and spiritual meaning. The sweet fruits of allegory are, in fact, only collected if we first assure our roots in the truth of literal meaning. But since it often happens that allegory strengthens our faith and literal sense strengthens our moral life, and because, thanks to God, we speak to believers, we deem it opportune to reverse the order of our purpose. Your faith is already firm; so that it will suffice for you to begin with a few brief words dealing with the allegorical meaning, while we will keep for the end of our explanation that which relates to the narrative and to the moral life, and which is absolutely necessary to you. We often remember better what we heard last.

2. So let's look briefly at the allegorical meaning, so as to be able to come more quickly to the vast field of moral applications. "There was a rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen, and who feasted every day in a splendid way." Who, dear brothers, may well symbolize this rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen, and who feasted every day splendidly? Who, if not the Jewish people? He had a discipline of living abroad, but he made the delights of the Law which were entrusted to him serve his vain glory, without profit. And what is this Lazarus, covered with ulcers, except the people of the Gentiles, who, not being ashamed to confess his sins when he converted to the true God, saw his skin covered with wounds? Because it is by the wounds that the infectious liquid is drained out of the inside of the flesh and flows outside. What is it then to confess one's sins, if not to burst abscesses? The infection of sin, which was perniciously hidden in the soul, is in fact brought to light in the confession. Do not the abscesses of the skin attract the putrid moods on the surface? Now, what else do we do, confessing our sins, than to bring to light the evil that was hiding in us?

Lazarus, all wounded, would have liked to be satiated with the crumbs that fell from the table of the rich, but no one gave him, because this proud people, who despised all the pagans, refused to admit any to the knowledge of the Law . And since the doctrine of the Law did not lead him to love, but to rise, he inflated, so to speak, the benefits he had received. And the words overflowing with the overflow of his science were like crumbs falling from his table.

Dogs, meanwhile, licking the wounds of the poor lying on the ground. It is not uncommon that in Holy Scripture, dogs designate preachers. The tongue of the dogs indeed heals the wounds by licking them, and the holy doctors also, when they teach us when we confess our sins, touch in some way the wounds of our soul with their tongue. And since they tear us away from our sins by their words, it is as if they restore our health by touching our wounds. This is because the language of the preachers is designated by that of the dogs that the psalmist says to the Lord: "The tongue of your dogs [is taken] by him from among your enemies" (Ps 68, 24). It is indeed from the midst of the unfaithful Jews that the holy preachers were chosen, and by coming to assert the truth against thieves and robbers, they gave, if I dare say, great barking for the Lord. On the other hand, by way of reproach, others are accused of being "dumb dogs, incapable of barking" (Is 56, 10). The dogs thus lick the ulcers of Lazarus, since the holy preachers condemn the sins and approve that they be confessed, saying: "Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, in order to to be saved "(Jas 5, 16). And because the holy teachers are confessing the Gentiles, they heal the wounds of their souls. Lazare's name is aptly translated as "Assisted," since the doctors help Lazarus to free himself by healing his wounds with their words of reprimand.

But the licking tongue of the dogs can also symbolize the wide tongue of flatterers. The habit they have of complimenting wrongly and wrongly with the evil actions that we reproach ourselves for ourselves, does not it amount to licking our wounds?

But it happened that both died. The rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen was buried in hell; Lazarus was led by the angels into Abraham's bosom. What is Abraham's bosom, if not the place removed from the rest of the Fathers? It is from this place that the Truth affirms: "Many will come from the east and the west, and will be placed in the kingdom of heaven with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, while the sons of the Kingdom will be thrown into outer darkness." Mt 8: 11-12). The rich man dressed in purple and fine linen is rightly called the son of the Kingdom. He looks up from afar to see Lazarus, for the infidels, finding themselves plunged into the abyss by the torment of their damnation, see before the day of judgment all the faithful in repose above them; afterwards, they will never be able to contemplate their joy. And what they look at is far away, since they can not reach it by their merits.

Scripture shows us that the bad rich man is burned, especially in his tongue, when he says: "Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in the water to cool my tongue, for I suffer cruelly in these flames. The unfaithful Jewish people, while having the precepts of the Law in their mouths, neglected to observe them in action. He will therefore burn more in his members who showed that he knew what he did not want to accomplish. This is why Solomon so rightly declares of those who know and do not act: "All the work of man is in his mouth, but his soul will not be satisfied" (Qo 6, 7). In fact, whoever works only to know what to say, deprives his soul of the satiating fruit of the science it has acquired. He wishes to be touched with his fingertip, for, condemned to eternal torment, he wishes to receive a part of the charity of the just, even the latter.

He is told that he has received his goods in this life, since he thought that the happiness that passed was all his happiness. The righteous also may possess goods here below, but without being counted on them as a reward: they aspire to better, that is to say, eternal goods, and consequently none of the goods present appear real goods in their eyes, because of the holy desires which inflame them. That is why the prophet David, who enjoyed the riches of a kingdom and great honors, while recognizing the necessity of these goods, longed for one and only good, when he declared: "For me, the it is to be united with God. "(Ps 73, 28)

Here it is necessary to notice what Abraham said to the rich man: "My child, remember!" Here Abraham calls his child whom he does not deliver from his torment, since the believing Fathers, predecessors of this unbelieving people Considering that many men have departed from their faith among the people, do not sympathize with their fate and do not tear them from their torments, although they recognize them as their children by blood.

The rich man declares, from the midst of torments, that he has five brothers, because the proud Jewish people, already largely condemned, know that his descendants left on earth are delivered to their five senses. He therefore denominates by number five the brethren whom he has left on earth, for finding himself in hell he is sorry that his brethren are not attaining spiritual knowledge, and he asks that Lazarus be sent to them. And when it is said to him that they have Moses and the prophets, he replies, "They will not believe unless someone raises from the dead." Abraham immediately replied, "If they do not listen Moses and the prophets, even if someone would resurrect the dead, they would not believe it. "Does not Truth say about Moses:" If you believed Moses, you would believe me too, because He has written to me "(Jn 5:46). What Abraham has answered has since been accomplished. Indeed, the Lord was raised from the dead, but the Jewish people, who did not want to believe Moses, just as refused to believe the one who rose from the dead. And having refused to understand spiritually the words of Moses, he could not recognize the one that Moses spoke of.

3. These few words, dear brothers, should suffice to unravel the mysteries of allegory, and we must now proceed to a deeper examination of the moral applications of this narrative.

"There was a rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen, and who feasted every day splendidly. And there was a poor man, named Lazarus, who was lying on his door, covered with ulcers. "There are some who imagine that the precepts of the Old Testament are more severe than those of the New, but they are mistaken obviously, given the lack of foundation for their assertion. For the Old Testament does not condemn avarice, but only theft (see Exodus 20:15), while in the Gospel one punishes the one who unjustly seizes something by forcing him to restore it. quadruple (see Lk 19, 8). In this passage, we blame the bad rich, not for having taken the good of others, but for not having given him of his. And it is not said that he oppressed someone by violence, but that he boasted of his fortune. It is therefore necessary to consider with great attention what punishment may be inflicted on the one who steals, if he who does not give much of his property is condemned to hell. Let no one feel safe by saying, "I do not take the good of others, but I am content to enjoy property honestly acquired." The rich, indeed, is not punished for stealing property from others, but because he has misused his own property. He was also sent to hell for other reasons, such as not having kept the fear of God in the midst of his bliss, of having his goods served up to his own vanity, of having closed his entrails to all feeling mercy, and not wanting to redeem his sins, while his riches gave him the means to do so.

There are some who imagine that the search for fine and precious clothes is not a sin; but if it were not for a fault, the word of God would not note so insistently that the rich tortured in hell had been dressed in purple and fine linen. Elegant clothes are never sought except by vanity, that is, to appear more respectable to others. Vain glory is the only reason for seeking expensive clothes, since no one would want to dress them if they could not be seen by others. This fault is even better demonstrated by the opposite example, because if poverty in clothing was not a virtue, the evangelist would not insist that John the Baptist was dressed in camel hair (cf. Mt 3: 4).

We must pay particular attention to the order in which Truth speaks to us of the rich proud and the poor humble. Jesus tells us indeed: "There was a rich man," and he immediately adds: "And there was a poor man named Lazarus." The name of the rich is usually better known among the people than the poor. What does it mean, then, that the Lord, speaking of a poor man and a rich man, gives the name of the poor, and not of the rich? It is because God knows the humble ones and approves them, while He wants to ignore the proud. Therefore, on the last day, he will declare to those who take vanity from the power of their miracles: "I do not know where you are from; go away from me, artisans of iniquity "(Mt 7:23). On the contrary, he affirms to Moses: "I have known you by your name" (Ex 33:17). The Lord therefore calls the rich "a man" and the poor "a poor man named Lazarus". It is as if he clearly said: "I know the poor, who is humble; I do not know the rich, who is proud. I know the first because I approve of it; I do not know the second because my judgment condemns it. "

4. We must also meditate with what wisdom and foresight our Creator ordains all his works: he does not have one fact for one single fact. Poor Lazarus, covered with ulcers, is lying in front of the rich man's door. Now, by this fact alone, the Lord made two distinct judgments: the rich man could have had some excuse if poor Lazarus with ulcerated skin had not been lying in front of his door, but had gone further, and his misery had not bothered his eyes; and the poor ulcer would have been less tempted in his soul if the rich man had been far from his eyes. But God, by placing the poor ulcer right in front of the door of the rich man full of pleasures, furnishes at the same time, in this and the same fact, a greater condemnation to the rich man who remains without mercy in the sight of the poor, and a supplement of Poor man tried every day by the sight of the rich.

You can imagine what terrible temptations this poor assailant of ulcers on all sides would undergo in his thoughts! He was short of bread and he was sick; but he had before him this rich man who possessed good health and enjoyed the pleasures of life. In the grip of pain and cold, he saw the rich man rejoice and clothe himself in purple and fine linen. He was reduced to nothing by his wounds, and the rich man was overflowing with all the goods. He lacked everything, and the rich did not want to give anything. Do we think, my brethren, of the tumult of temptations which was to rise in the heart of the poor? Could not poverty have been a sufficient test for him without the disease being added to it? And conversely, could not the disease have been enough, even without this material deprivation? But poverty and sickness were united to better annihilate the poor and thus to better test him. The poor man also saw that when the rich man showed himself in public, a crowd of flatterers came to court him, whereas he, nobody visited him in his infirmity and misery. Dogs can testify that no one was visiting him, since they were free to lick his wounds.

In a single fact, the Almighty God has thus made two judgments appear, for by allowing the poor Lazarus to lie at the door of the rich, he made sure that both the rich without charity increased his punishment and that the poor, tempted, increased his reward. The rich man saw the poor every day without pitying him; and the poor man had to undergo the sight of the rich man, which was worth to him a greater proof. At the bottom, there were two hearts, but above, only one [God] to scrutinize them, who prepared one for glory by tempting him, and waited for the moment to punish the other by supporting him.

5. The text goes on: "And it came to pass that the poor man died, and was carried by the angels into the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died, and they buried him in hell. "This rich man, who had not wanted to help poor Lazarus in this life, began to seek his protection when he was delivered to the torture. For here is the following: "He lifted up his eyes, while he was tormented, and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom, and began to cry out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in the water to cool my tongue, for I suffer cruelly in these flames. " how God is right in his judgments! And what rigor he exercises in the recompense of good and bad actions! Did not they tell us just now that Lazarus sought in this life to reach the crumbs falling from the rich man's table, and that no one gave him any? And now we are told, as to the torture of the rich, that he desires Lazarus to let him drop a drop of water into his mouth. It is there, my brothers, yes, it is there that we must judge what can be the severity of the severity of God. This rich man, who would not give the slightest crumb of his meal to the poor covered with wounds, is reduced, once plunged into hell, to ask what is least. Because it is a drop of water that he implores, he who refused bread crumbs.

But it is necessary to observe why this rich person plunged in the fire asks that one cool him the language. It is usual for Sacred Scripture to affirm one thing to insinuate another through what it says. The Lord had not lately presented to us this proud rich man, as though he had given way to chatter, but as eating excessively. He had not said that he sinned by his chatter, but by a gluttony accompanied by pride and selfishness. However, since excesses of gossip are usual during banquets, the man described here as guilty of table disorders, we are told that in hell he is burned especially in his tongue.

The first sin committed by those who indulge in the disorders of the table is chatter, but frivolous dances are the normal result. Sacred Scripture bears witness to the fact that dance is the normal result of greed when it says, "The people sat down to eat and drink, and then they rose up to dance." (Ex 32: 6). But even before the body starts moving for the dance, the language sets in motion for jokes and idle words. How then to understand that the rich asks in the midst of his torment that his tongue be refreshed, if not because his tongue burns more atrociously in just punishment for his most serious sins, committed by his table chatter?

6. It is with great fear that Abraham's response must be pondered: "My child, remember that you have received good things during your life, and Lazarus alike the evils. Now he is comforted here, and you suffer. "We must rather be terrified of these words, my brethren, than to worry about explaining them. For if you have received some external goods in this world, it is this gift itself, if I dare say, that you must fear, lest it be given to you as a reward for some of your actions, and that the Judge who pays you back here by these external goods does not deprive you of all retribution in your inner goods, or lest the honor or the riches of this world be to you an encouragement to the virtue, but the wages of your work. It is indeed that by saying, "You have received good things during your life," Abraham indicates that even this bad rich man had something good in him, which has earned him goods in this world. And when he says, on the contrary, that Lazarus has received evils, he makes it clear that even Lazarus had something bad in him, that he had to expiate. But the fire of misery erased Lazarus' bad deeds, while the happiness of this transitional life rewarded the good deeds of the rich. Poverty afflicted and purified the first, while wealth rewarded and reproved the second.

If therefore, my brothers, you have good in this world, when you remember your good deeds, have great fear about them: dread that the happiness that has been granted to you is the reward of these good deeds. And when you see poor people commit this or that reprehensible act, do not conceive for them of contempt, do not despair, because the furnace of poverty can suffice to purify them of being guilty of very small excesses. Be on the contrary, full of apprehension for yourselves, since some see their bad deeds followed by a life of happiness. As for these poor, consider that misery is for them a mistress: it crucifies their lives to rectify their orientation.

7. The text continues: "Moreover, between us and you, there is a great chasm, so that those who would like to pass from here can not, and it is impossible to cross from there. down to us. "Here we must ask ourselves how we can say:" Those who would like to pass from here can not. "There is no doubt, indeed, that the souls who are in hell wish to pass to the stay of the blessed. On the other hand, in what sense can we say that those who have been received at the residence of the blessed want to go to those who are tortured in hell? But just as the reprobate desire to go to the elect, that is to say to escape the torment of their torments, the righteous have at heart to go and exercise their mercy with tormented souls and plunged into torture, and they want release them. However, the blessed who want to spend their stay with tormented souls and plunged into torture, can not. For if the souls of the righteous are brought to mercy by their natural goodness, once they are united to the righteousness of their Creator, they are endowed with so great rectitude of judgment that they no longer feel any compassion for the reprobate. They agree fully with the Judge they adhere to, and even mercy no longer allows them to condescend to the fate of those souls they can not deliver. They see it all the more foreign because they understand better than their Creator, whom they love, rejected these souls. The wicked can not therefore go to the lot of the blessed, since they are bound by an eternal damnation, nor the just to pass among the reprobate, because rectified in their judgment, they no longer feel for them any compassion.

8. The rich man who has fallen into the flames having fainted all hope for himself, his soul returns to the loved ones he has left behind. It happens that the punishment endured comes to learn charity to the reprobate - in vain, alas! And here they come alive with spiritual love even for their family, whereas here they did not even love themselves, since they loved their sins. So the text adds: "I beg you, father, to send Lazarus to my father's house, where I have five brothers, to attest to these things, lest they come to them. also, in this place of torment."

We must notice here all that contributes to increase the torment of the rich person plunged in the flames. For knowledge and memory remain to him to increase his punishment. So he knows Lazarus, whom he has despised, and remembers his brothers, whom he has left. The punishment he deserves vis-à-vis the poor would not be complete if he did not know that the poor enjoys his reward. And the pain that he suffers in the fire would not be complete either if he did not fear for his own what he suffers himself. For the increase of their punishment, the sinners thus see, in the midst of their torments, the glory of those whom they despised, but they are still tormented by the punishment of those whom they have loved in vain.

Let us be assured that the damned see some just in their rest before the last judgment, so that seeing them in joy, they are not only tortured by their own torture, but also by the happiness of the righteous. As for the righteous, they always have the punishment of sinners before their eyes, so that their joy may be further increased by the sight of the evil which has preserved them from divine mercy. They give thanks to their deliverer all the more because they see in others what they might have suffered if they had been abandoned. The spectacle of the punishment of the reprobates does not darken in the souls of the just the brilliant clarity of their bliss: such a sight can not in any way diminish the joy of the blessed, since there will be no longer up there of compassion for misfortune. Why be surprised that the joy of the righteous is enhanced by the sight of the torments of sinners? Does not the black background make the white or the red of the painting brighter? For the good, as I have said, what an increase of joy when they see the evils of the damned unfold before their eyes, from which they have escaped! And although the joys of Heaven are quite sufficient for their happiness, there is no doubt that they continually see the punishment of the reprobate: they contemplate the glory of their Creator, so can they see all that is accomplished in the creature.

9. To the rich asking him to send Lazarus, Abraham answered immediately: "They have Moses and the prophets, that they hear them." But this rich man, who had himself despised the words of his God, did not believe that his heirs would like to listen to them more than him. This is why he answers: "No, my father; but if any of the dead will find them, they will believe it. "And Abraham answered him very truthfully:" If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, even if someone would resurrect from the dead, they They will not believe it. "Indeed, those who despise the words of the Law will accomplish all the more difficult the precepts of the Risen Redeemer of the dead that these precepts are more demanding. Because what the Law commits us to is much less than what the Lord commands us. The Law prescribes tithing, and our Redeemer commands those who want to be perfect to leave everything. The Law forbids the sins of the flesh, and our Redeemer also condemns evil thoughts (see Mt 5:28). "If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, even if somebody resurrects from the dead, they would not believe it." Indeed, how would those who neglect to fulfill the very inferior precepts of the Law find the power to obey the higher commandments of our Savior? And it is, without a doubt, refusing to believe in him that not wanting to fulfill his words.

We have said enough to comment on this story.

10. But you, my brethren, who know what a rest Lazarus has enjoyed, and what punishment the rich have been struck, show you wise: are you seeking intercessors for your sins, and obtain counsel for the day of judgment? in the person of the poor. For you now have Lazarus in abundance; they are there, lying in front of your doors, and they need what falls each day from the table of which you are satisfied.

The words of the sacred text must teach us to fulfill the commandments of love. Every day we will find Lazarus, if we seek them. Every day, we will meet even without looking for them. Here the poor come to bother us with their requests, but tomorrow they will intercede for us. Is it not rather we who should ask them? And yet we are asked. Consider if we should refuse what we are asked for, when it is our future lawyers who demand it. So do not let the time of mercy go by for nothing, do not neglect the remedies that are given to you. Think of the ordeal before the time has come.

When you see in this world of the poor poor, do not despise them, even if you think you discover something in them, because those who suffer from some moral weakness can heal well with the remedies of poverty. If you find in them something really blameworthy, have it served, if you will, to your greatest reward; take from their vices even opportunities to increase your charity, giving them both the bread and the word: the bread that restores, and the word that corrects. That they thus receive from you two foods where they sought only one: that the food satiates them outside, and the word inside. Consequently, if a poor man deserves to be reproached, he must be warned, not despised. And if we have nothing to reproach him with, he is entitled to all our veneration, since he will one day be our intercessor. It is true that we see many poor people, and that we can not know the merits of each one. We must therefore respect them all: it is all the more necessary for you to be humble with all that you do not know which of them is Christ.

11. I will tell you a fact that my brother priest, Speciosus, who is here, has known well. At the time when I entered the monastery, an old woman named Redempta, who wore the monastic habit, lived in our town near the church of Blessed Mary, still Virgin. She had been a disciple of this Herundo, a very virtuous woman who, it is said, had led the hermit life on the mountains of Préneste.

Redempta had two disciples, religious like her: one named Romula, and another still alive, whom I know by sight, but whose name escapes me. These three women led in one dwelling a life rich in virtues, but poor in earthly goods. This Romula of which I spoke was ahead of the great merits of her life, her companion whom I mentioned. She had an admirable patience, a great obedience; she knew how to impose silence on her mouth, and was very zealous in indulging in continual prayer.

But those whom men already judge perfect still often have some defects in the eyes of the heavenly Artisan. Is it not the same when we, laymen in this field, see still unfinished statues and admire them as already perfect, while the artist, he, examines and retouches them again, without the praise heard the stop working on them to improve them? That is why this Romula I mentioned was struck by the disease that doctors call a Greek name "paralysis". For many years she had to stay in bed, having lost the use of almost all her limbs. But these trials could not arouse impatience in her. What was wrong with her limbs was all for the benefit of her virtues, for she was all the more zealous in prayer that she could do nothing else.

One night she called this Redempta, of which I spoke, and which showed the same attention for her two disciples as if they had been her daughters: "Mother, come! Mother, come! "Redempta immediately rose, as did the other disciple. It is thanks to their double testimony that these facts were known to many other people, and that I myself learned them from that time.

In the middle of the night, as the two women surrounded the patient's bed, a celestial light suddenly filled the entire cell. His splendor sprang up with such brilliancy that their hearts were seized with an unspeakable terror; their whole body, as they later said, became stiff, and they remained frozen in stupor. They began to hear a noise like that of a great multitude coming in; the door of the cell was shaken as if it were jostled by the crowd that was entering. They perceived, as they said, the multitude of people who penetrated, but they saw nothing, because of their terror and excessive light. Fear made them lower their eyes, and the intensity of the light dazzled them. This was immediately accompanied by a wonderful perfume, whose sweetness comforted their souls terrified by the radiance of light. But as the brightness was of a brightness impossible to bear, Romula, in a very soft voice, began to reassure Redempta, her spiritual mistress, who trembled beside her: "Do not be afraid, my mother, I do not die not right now. "And as she repeated these words, the light that had invaded the room gradually faded, but the good smell that followed followed. The next day and two days passed without the smell of the spilled perfume disappearing.

On the fourth night, Romula called her mistress again. When she came, she asked him for the viaticum, which she received. Now, as Redempta and her other disciple were still near the sick man's bed, suddenly there appeared on the square in front of the cell door two chanting choruses. According to what they said afterwards, they recognized the voices of men and women: the men sang the psalms, and the women answered them. And while these celestial funerals were being celebrated in front of the cell, the holy soul was delivered from the bonds of the flesh. It was conducted to Heaven, and as the chanting choruses rose, the psalmody became less and less distinct, until its whisper faded into the distance at the same time as the sweet scent.

12. As long as Romula lived in this body, who would have done him honor? Everyone considered it without merit, and all despised it. Who would have judged her worthy of a visit? Who would have cared to go see her? But in the dung hid the pearl of God. This manure of which I speak, my brothers, is his body as devoted to corruption; it is also the ignominy of his poverty. But the pearl hidden in the manure has been drawn; it has become an ornament for the heavenly King; and here she is shining among the citizens of Heaven, here she is sparkling among the stones of fire of the eternal diadem.

O you who are rich in this world, whether you believe it to be, or whether you really are, make, if you can, the comparison of your false riches with the true riches of Romula. You possess on the path of the world only things that you must leave; she did not look for anything on that road, and she found everything on arrival. You lead a happy life, but you dread a sad death; she endured a sad life, but she came to a happy death. You seek to please men in this world; she has remained unknown to men, but she has found the friendship of the angelic choruses. Learn therefore, my brethren, to despise all that is ephemeral, learn to despise transitional honor to love only eternal glory.

Honor the poor you have before your eyes. You see them outside despised in this age: consider them inside as the friends of God. Share with them what you have, so that they will one day share with you what they have. Meditate on these words from the mouth of the Master of the nations: "Let your superfluity come in the circumstances to make up for their shortage, so that their superfluity may supply your scarcity" (2 Cor 8:14). Also, meditate on the word of Truth in person: "Whenever you did it to one of the least of my brothers, you did it to me." (Mt 25, 40). Why put so little zest to give? What do you grant to the unfortunate who lies on the ground, is it not to him who sits in the heavens that you offer him?

May the Almighty God, who speaks to your ears by my mouth, deign to speak to your souls himself, who, being God, lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, in all ages centuries. Amen.