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74
The sayd creatur on a day, heryng hir
messe and revolvyng in hir mende the tyme
of hir deth, sor syhyng and sorwyng for it was so long delayd,
seyd on this maner,
"Alasse, Lord, how long schal I thus wepyn and mornyn for thy
lofe and for desyr of thy
presens?" Owr Lord answeryd in hir sowle and seyd, "Al this fifteen
yer." Than seyd
sche, "A, Lord, I schal thynkyn many thowsend yerys." Owr Lord
answeryd to hir,
"Dowtyr, thu must bethynkyn the of my blissyd modyr that levyd
aftyr me in erth
fifteen yer, also Seynt
John the Evangelyst, and Mary
Mawdelyn, the whech lovyd me
rith hyly." "A, blysful Lord," seyd sche, "I wolde I wer as worthy
to ben sekyr of thy
lofe as Mary Mawdelyn was." Than seyd owr Lord, "Trewly, dowtyr,
I love the as
wel, and the same pes that I gaf to hir the same pes I geve to
the. For, dowtyr, ther is no
seynt in hevyn displesyd thow I love a creatur in erde as mech
as I do hem. Therfor
thei wil non otherwyse than I wil." Thus owr mercyful Lord Crist
Jhesu drow hys
creatur unto hys lofe and to mynde of hys passyon
that sche myth not duryn to beheldyn
a lazer er an other seke man, specialy yyf he had any wowndys
aperyng on hym. So
sche cryid and so sche wept as yyf sche had sen owr Lord Jhesu
Crist wyth hys wowndys
bledyng. And so sche dede in the syght of hir sowle, for thorw
the beheldyng of the
seke man hir mende was al takyn into owr Lord Jhesu Crist. Than
had sche gret mornyng
and sorwyng for sche myth not kyssyn the lazerys whan sche sey
hem er met wyth
hem in the stretys for the lofe of Jhesu. Now gan sche to lovyn
that sche had most
hatyd befor tyme, for ther was no thyng mor lothful ne mor abhomynabyl
to hir whil
sche was in the yerys of werldly prosperité than to seen
er beheldyn a lazer, whom
now thorw owr Lordys mercy sche desyryd to halsyn and kyssyn
for the lofe of Jhesu
whan sche had tyme and place convenyent. Than sche teld hir confessowr
how gret
desyre sche had to kyssyn lazerys, and he warnyd hir that sche
schulde kyssyn no men,
but, yyf sche wolde algatys kyssyn, sche schuld kyssyn women.
Than was sche glad, for
sche had leve to kyssyn the seke women and went to a place wher
seke women dwellyd
whech wer ryth ful of the sekenes and fel down on hir kneys beforn
hem, preyng hem
that sche myth kyssyn her mowth for the lofe of Jhesu. And so
sche kyssyd ther two
seke women with many an holy thowt and many a devowt teer, and,
whan sche had
kyssyd hem and telde hem ful many good wordys and steryd hem
to mekenes and
pacyens that thei schulde not grutchyn wyth her sekenes but hyly
thankyn God therfor
and thei schulde han gret blysse in hevyn thorw the mercy of
owr Lord Jhesu Crist, than
the oo woman had so many temptacyons that sche wist not how sche
myth best be
governyd. Sche was so labowryd wyth hir gostly enmy that sche
durst not blissyn hir
ne do no worschep to God for dreed that the devyl schuld a slayn
hir. And sche was
labowryd wyth many fowle and horibyl thowtys, many mo than sche
cowde tellyn.
And, as sche seyd, sche was a mayde. Therfor the sayd creatur
went to hir many
tymys to comfortyn hir and preyd for hir, also ful specialy that
God schulde strength
hir ageyn hir enmye, and it is to belevyn that he dede so, blissyd
mote he ben. |