The Medieval Devil: A Reader by Richard Raiswell & David R. Winter

Author:Richard Raiswell & David R. Winter [Raiswell, Richard & Winter, David R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Royal Indian Engineering College – History, Engineering schools – England – London – History, Engineers – India – History, Engineering students – England – London – History
ISBN: 9781442634176
Google: mDq1zgEACAAJ
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Published: 2022-06-10T20:39:39+00:00

Source: trans. Richard Raiswell and David R. Winter, from Johannes Herolt, Sermones discipuli in quadragesima (Venice: Haeredes Melchioris Sessae, 1599), pp. 198−99.

A certain maiden was faithfully serving the Blessed Virgin Mary in chastity, and vowed to serve Mary and her son right up to her death. However, the ancient enemy hated her on account of her blessed deeds. He corrupted the eyes of a certain handsome man of wealth and power, into love of the maiden, throwing his whole mind into confusion. This man frequently seduced the maiden with flattery and promises so that he might win her as a wife. He promised her glory and riches, and all good things before God, and pressing her more urgently every day, the wicked devil roused her heart more intensely.

What more shall I say?

The maiden was worn down by the whirlwind of the enemy’s repeated attacks, and so she went from being the bride of the eternal king to agreeing to become the wife of a mortal man! Renouncing Christ and eternal goods, she chose a mortal spouse and transitory goods.

The day of the nuptials was decided and on the night immediately before the wedding, when she was sleeping in her parents’ house, she had a dream in which she saw herself taken over the mouth of the abyss. It was enormous in size, and in the depths of its mouth she saw hell. While she was there, it emitted fetid vapors that seemed to infect the air of the entire world. Dense clouds of smoke seemed to drive away the brightness of this world. The whole place seemed overrun with snakes and worms, and she constantly marveled in horror at the shouts of those being tormented within.

Suddenly, she saw certain fiery Ethiopians bursting forth from its midst and they were cruelly plunging the souls assigned to them into these torments without any respect for difference. She was seized by them and as she was being dragged into their midst, she came to understand her desperate situation. She looked around to see if there was anyone who could help her. She saw her former lady, the mother of God, the virgin Mary—but too far away and with her back to the maiden. But this sight, so far away, gave her very little hope. Eventually, with her whole heart and with great effort, the maiden turned toward the Virgin and shouted her name mightily. “O lady,” she said, “rescue your handmaid who finds herself in such dire circumstances!” The Virgin came closer and asked, “Who are you?” “I am your handmaid, O lady,” she said, “your slave, devoted to your memory.” The Virgin said, “Be gone! You are not mine. No, indeed! You have chosen that which is contemptible to me and my son—he who could rescue you; he who could free you!”

Unable to bear these words of reproach, she said, “O, that my Lady should be so far from me, and my memory of her should be so far from my heart!

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