Select English works of John Wyclif; edited from original mss. by Thomas Arnold.

ÞE GOSPEL ON ASSUMPCIOUN DAI.

[SERMON CXIV.]

Intravit Jesus in quoddam castellum.—LUC. X. [38.]

ÞIS gospel telliþ a storie of Crist, how he tauȝte to his Chirche which is þe beste stat here. Luk seiþ, þat Jesus entride in to a castel, and a womman þat hiȝte Martha toke Crist in hir hous, to fede him and his apostlis. And manye men þinken here þat þis castil was a wallid toun, for ofte tymes þe gospel clepiþ sich wallid touns, castels. Men supposen over þis, þat þis Martha and hir sistir, and Lazarus þer broþir, hadden al þing in comune; and þis Martha was beste hous-wyf, and best coude ordeyne for hir hous; and þus she hadde speche to men bifore hir broþir and hir sistir. Þis sister was Marie Mawdeleyn, þat was a ful devout womman fro þe tyme þat she was purgid of Crist, and sett in þe weie of hevene. And so þis Marie Mawde|leyn, fro þe tyme þat Crist cam to hir hous, sat mekeli at Jesus feet, to heere Goddis wordis of him. For Jesus hadde þis maner, to speke ever Goddis wordis whanne he wiste þat þei shulden profite to ony peple þat herden hem. And so Crist prechide ofte, now at mete, and now at soper, and what time þat it was covenable ony peple to heere him. And so Martha fedde Crist bodili, but he fedde hir sistir goostli. And so he ȝaf þe beter for þe worse, as it falliþ God to ȝeve. Martha enforside her bisili to serve Crist and his disciplis, but Marie sat stille at Cristis feet to heere þe wordis þat he spake. And Martha stood bifore Crist, and playnede to him of hir sistir. Sir, she seiþ, takist þou noon heede þat þis Marie, þat is my sistir, haþ left me aloone to serve to þee, and to my gueestis? I preie þee, seie to hir, þat she rise and helpe me. And þus Crist, þat was taken for juge to acuse Mawdeleyn, was maad avocat of þis Marie; for he holdiþ ever for trewe part. And þus many trewe men, boþe aprentis

and avocatis, wolen no procure in a cause bifore þat þei heeren it, and þis cause to þer witt haþ þe part of riȝtwisnes; for ellis þei maden hemsilf avocatis aȝens treuþe wiþ þe fend. And aȝens þis foule synne shulden men speke upon resoun. For al ȝif Goddis lawe teche þat procuraturis shulden have hire, and jugis shulden have noon hire of men þat þei travailen fore, neþeles þis is mys-turned, for riȝt is turned to coveitise. Crist spak a meene weye, and tauȝte þe Chirche in þes wymmen, and spak in þes wordis: Martha, Martha, þou art bisie and troublid aboute ful many þingis; but certis, o þing is nedeful, and betere þanne þes many þingis: Marie haþ chosen þe beste part, þat shal not be taken from hir.

It is seid comunli, þat þes two wymmen ben two lyves, actif and contemplatif; þe first is Martha, and þe toþer Marie. And actif liif axiþ in mesure bisynesse aboute worldli þingis; and alȝif þis liif be good, þe toþer liif is moche better. And so, for men failen ofte in þis liif fro love of God, Crist doubliþ þis word Martha, for two passen fro unyte. Crist telliþ how actif liif mut nede be troublid for many þingis; but contemplatif liif stondiþ in oo þing, þat is, God, and haþ no bisynes aboute þingis of þis world. For as a man bisieþ him not how his shadewe shal passe þe water, so men þat ben contemplatif bisie

hem not aboute worldli goodis, but þei trusten and hopen in God þat alle þes þingis shal falle to hem. And oonli in swet|nesse of God þei bisien hem, and taken þe toþer in mekenes and in poverte, as Crist haþ tauȝt in word and dede.

But men supposen over þis, þat Crist approveþ here þree lyves. Þe first is good, as children lyven whanne þei ben cristened. Þe secound liif is þe betere; and þis is clepid actif liif, whanne men travailen for worldli goodis and kepen hem in riȝtwisnesse. And þis is hard, but it is possible; and alȝatis ȝif coveitise be left; for Crist techiþ bi Matheu þat men shulden not be besie aboute her fode and hilyng, but bisynesse shulde be for hevene, þat shulde be eende of mennis traveile. And exces of þes goodis lettiþ ofte tymes þis eende. Þe þridde liif is þe beste, as Crist seiþ þat mai not lye. And þis is sum|what here in erþe, but fulli in þe blisse of hevene. And here douten many men wheþir of þes two lyves is betere. But men þat biholden bileve of Crist witen þat þis þridde liif is best; for Crist seiþ þus þat mai not lye, and chees to lyve ever þis liif. For, alȝif Crist dide erþeli workes, neþeles he dide on sich mesure þat his soule was ever fed in contemplacioun of God. And in þis many apes weenen to sue Crist here and þei slippen into þe fendis weies for defaute of Cristis lore.

Þree resouns ben comune þat þis þridde is þe beste liif. Oon, for Crist þe beste maistir seiþ þus, and mai not lye. Also, þis lif mote nedis laste in blis of hevene wiþouten ende; but þes oþer two lyves moten nedis be eendid here. And so þis liif þat makiþ men betere, and more lastiþ wiþ hem in joie, mote nede be betere þan þe toþer þat algatis moot be taken from man; and þis is þe resoun of Crist in þe laste word of þis gospel. Also, an eende þat kinde ordeyneþ to come to men, bi certeyn meenes, is alȝatis betere þan þes meenes, þat comen nevere but for þis eende; as, siþ mannis liif is eende of his eting and oþer dedis, þis liif is betere þan þis eting, or ellis kynde ordeyned amys. And so, siþ þes two firste lyves ben meenes to þis þridde liif, algatis þis þridde is þe beste, þat God ordeyned to ende þes two. And in no persone ne ony stat ben þes first lyves for

to preise, but ȝif þei ben quykened bi þis þridde, þat shal laste evere perfitli.

And ȝif þe pope haþ maad a lawe contrarie to þis sentence, or ȝif an aungel come from hevene or from helle, reversing it, trowe not to þes aungels, but trowe to Crist þat seiþ þis sentence. And resouns aȝens Crist ben not worþi to be rehersid; as sum men seien, þat ellis þe pope lyvede evere a synful liif, siþ he chesiþ þe worse and þe hardere for þe betere. But here we graunten to þes men þat þis is soþ whanne þei have proved þat þe pope leeveþ þe þridde liif for þe secounde. For þe Chirche shulde beter be governed ȝif alle preestis lyveden þis þridde lif; for þus it was in Cristis tyme, and in tyme of his apostlis.

Notes

• So in E; A includes of hir sistir in the italics.
• þe trewe part, E.
• aprentis and avocatis; that is, barristers practising in the common law courts, and pleaders belonging to the church courts. By the term Apprentitius (from the French ap|prendre, to learn), as applied to the legal profession, was originally meant, according to Ducange, a law-student merely,—one who fre|quented the courts and universities in order to gain legal knowledge. But at an early period it became, in England at least, a more honour|able appellation. In Fleta, the author of which wrote under Ed|ward I, the Apprentitius appears as the lowest kind of legal practitioner admitted to the king's courts;—'in curia autem regiâ sunt servientes, narratores, attornati, et apprenticii' (lib. II. cap. 37). In the reign of Edward II, the term seems to be used much in the same way as 'bar|rister' is now-a-days; thus the jurist, Andrew Horn (on whom see Selden's Dissertatio ad Fletam), dedicates his treatise Speculum Justitiarum (Justi|tiariorum?) to the 'Apprentitii ad barras.' Spelman (Glossarium in voce), says that the Apprentitius, after a course of legal training ex|tending over seven years, was per|mitted 'cancellos salutare,' i.e. to come up to the bar, and there to plead. He thus corresponded to the 'outer barrister' of modern times; and so completely is this the case, that Fortescue (quoted by Spelman), with Selden, Plowden, Sir Henry Finch, and Sir Edward Coke (quoted in Cowell's Interpre|ter), speak of Apprentitius as being only another name for barrister-at|law.
• not, E.
• holden, E.
• two first, E.
• So E; and, A.
• or, E.