Companion to the English prose works of Richard Rolle : a selection / from the edition by Carl Horstman.

Katherine of Rome

¶ Here begynneth a deuoute medytacyon in sayenge deuoutly þe psalter of our lady with dyuers ensamples.

THe gloryous mayster Iohn¯ of the mounte in his moryall telleth / whiche also I founde in þe boke of frere Thomas of the temple. In the tyme þat moost blessyd Domynyck the noble fader and leder moost famouse of þe ordre of prechers / preched throughout the worlde in many regyons and exhorted incessauntly þe people to the laude and prayse of þe blessyd marye vyrgyn vndefyled / & to her angelyke confraternyte: It fortuned hym to preche at Rome in the audyence of the grete prelates of the worlde, and shewed by fygures and examples this blessyd vyrgyn to be saluted moost specyally by her psalter. All they meruaylled of thaffluence of his wordes, They were astonyed at the

grete wonders. To whome he sayd: O faythfull and true lordes and other true louers of the fayth: here this synguler holsome sayenge to you all / that ye may veryly knowe those thynges whiche I haue spoken to be true: Take the psalter of this blessyd vyrgyne / and in sayenge it: call deuoutedly vnto your remembraunce the passyon of cryste: Thus I shewe vnto you that ye shall haue in experyence the spyryte of god. Truely soo greate a flamble may not stonde in ony place without makynge hote, Neyther soo grete lyghte without gyuynge lyght / nor soo godly a medycyne without the vertue of makynge hole. What sholde I saye more? all the people gaue audyence and in maner astonyed: they meruaylled of his godly wordes / [&] many persones not onely of the comyn people but also of grete prelates of the chyrche as reuerende cardynalles and many honourable bysshoppes toke vpon them to saye this psalter of our lady / to thentent they myght gete some grace of almyghty god. A meruayllous thynge: The cyte beynge in trouble / dyuerse multyplycacyon of prayers was [made] amonges the people in euery state or degree. For truly thou myght se bothe mornynge / euenynge / and at myddaye men and women euerywhere berynge the psalter of our lady. Cardynalles whiche be named the pyllers of the worlde and bysshoppes shamed not to bere in theyr handes & at theyr gyrdelles these soo grete tokens of the godhede and of our fayth veryly to be byleued. Truely by the myracles of our lady shewed by saynt Domynyck they doubted not but in excercysynge of this psalter goddes helpe to be redy at all tymes. What more? All that dyde assaye this psalter perceyued some knowlege of the pyte of god. And amonges all I shall shewe this wonder or myracle onely folowynge.

At Rome was a certayne mysdysposed woman of her body, moost famouse aboue all other lyke dysposed / in beaute / eloquence / apparayle / and worldly gladnes / whiche fortuned gracyously to haue the psalter of our lady by thaduyse of holy saynt Domynyk / whiche she hydde vnder her kyrtell and sayd it many tymes on the daye. But alas she neuertheles vsed the vnlawfull flesshely pleasure and vnclennes of her body aboue all other / more men resorted to her than to ony other woman of suche vayne dysposycyon. This woman, named fayre Katheryne for the incomperable beaute of her body, contynued in her mysse-lyuynge / and ones on the day at the leest she dyde vysyte the chyrche sayenge the psalter of our lady / and thus was her medytacyon and thought: The fyrst fyfty she sayd for the infancye of cryst in the whiche he bare all his passyon to come / and yf it were not at that tyme in execucyon / neuertheles it was in his entent and mynde. The seconde fyfty she sayd for crystes passyon exhybyte and done ryally lyke as he suffred in his manhode. The thyrde fyfty she sayd for the passyon of cryste as it was in his godhede / not bycause the godhede as the godhede myght suffre / but bycause this infynyte godhede loued so moche the nature of man / that yf it had ben mortall it sholde haue suffred deth; Therfore bycause the eternall wysdome of god in hymselfe myght not dye for vs / he toke vpon hym our manhode / whiche his wyll was sholde suffre passyon & dye for all mankynde. And as this fayre Katheryne thus contynued in prayenge / it happened on a season as she wente aboute Rome wandrynge after her olde

maner / a meruayllous fayre man mette her & sayd: Heyle Katheryne / why stondest thou here / hast thou noo dwellynge place? To whome she answered sayenge: Syr I haue a dwellynge place and euery thynge in it ordered to the best and goodlyest maner. To whome he sayd: This nyghte wyll I soupe with the. She answered: I graunt with all myne herte / and what so euer thou wylte haue I shall gladly prepare. Thus goynge hande in hande they came vnto her hous where as were many wenches of lyke dysposycyon. Souper was prepared and this vnknowen geste sate with fayre Katheryne / the one dranke to the other. But euery thynge that this straunge geste touched / were it drynke or other thynge lyke / anone turned in to blody colour, with a meruayllous excellent smell & swete sauour. She meruaylynge sayd to hym: Syr what arte thou / eyther it is not well with me elles thou arter very meruaylous / for euery thinge that thou touchest is anone made of blody colour. And he answered sayenge: Knowest thou not that a crysten man neyther eteth nor drynketh but that is dyed or coloured with the blode of cryste. Thus this woman was meruayllously abasshed of this straunger / soo moche that she fered for to touche hym. Notwithstondynge she sayd: Syr I well perceyue by your countenaunce that ye be a man of grete reuerence: I beseche you who be ye / and from whens come ye? To whome he sayd: Whan we be togyder in thy chaumbre / I shall shewe the all thyn askynges. And thus lefte in doubte of the mater: she made redy the chaumbre. This woman Katheryne wente fyrst to bedde / & desyred the straunger to come to bedde to her. A wonderful thynge and suche one as in maner neuer was herde of ony creature: Sodeynly this straunger chaunged hymselfe in to the shappe of a lytell chylde / bare vpon his heed a crowne of thorne / vpon his sholder a crosse / and tokens of his passyon with innumerable woundes vpon all his body / and sayd vnto Katheryne: O Katheryne now leue thy folysshenes. Beholde / now thou seest the passyon of Cryste veryly as it was in his infancye for the whiche thou sayd the fyrst fyfty of thy psalter. I shewe vnto the / that from the fyrste houre of my concepcyon vnto my deth I bare contynually this payne in myne herte / whiche for thy sake was soo grete that yf euery lytell pece or stone of grauell in þe see were a chylde and euery one of them had as moche payne as euer suffred al the men in the worlde at theyr deth: yet all they togyder suffre not so grete payne as I suffred for the. This woman was sore abasshed seynge and herynge this wonder. And anone agayne he was tourned in to the lykenes of a man, euen after the same fourme whiche he had the tyme of his passyon ryall, And sayde: Doughter beholde now thou seest how grete paynes I suffered for the / whiche dooth excede all the paynes of helle / for my power of suffrynge is of god and not of man. And my passyon was so grete that yf it had ben deuyded amonge all creatures of the worlde / they sholde all haue dyed or ben dystroyed. After this sey[i]nge he chaunged hymselfe in to the clerenes of the sonne / notwithstandynge the tokens of his passyon remaynynge also gloryously/ in all his woundes were sene al and infynyte creatures of the worlde for compassyon of the same / and he sayd vnto her:

BEholde / take hede / now thou seest what I suffred in my godhede for thyn helth; syth all thynges be in me and I in euery thynge / in all these I se the / I loue the / & in them all I am redy to suffre eternally the payne for thy soules helth whiche thou seest, for my loue is infynyte (after saynt Dyonyse) and all thynges in me be infynyte as the same Dyonyse sheweth. Therfore knowe the mekenes of god / and call to mynde the threfolde passyon of cryste / for the whiche thou sayd thryse fyfty Aues / & fyftene Pater nosters, And here after amende thyselfe / that as thou were before the example of all malyce and vnclene lyuynge / soo now from this tyme forwarde [þou] lyue in suche maner that thou may be to all other a myrrour of purete and clennes. I do not appere to the for thy merytes but onely for an example of penaunce / and bycause thy brethren and systers of myn vndefyled moders fraternyte haue prayed for the / that by thy conuersacyon many sholde be conuerted and be the chyldren of god / lyke as before innumerable were made the chyldren of the deuyll by thy wyckednes.

What more? This vysyon vanysshed awaye. It was also vnfayned / for the woman afterwarde felte in her handes and fete the sorowe of crystes passyon / and in other partes of her body. Therfore she rose from synne & toke her to penaunce / and on the morowe after made her confessyon to saynt Domynyk; to whome he enioyned in penaunce to saye the psalter of the blessyd vyrgyn Marye as she was wonte to doo, and to be one of her fraternyte / whyche she had not before in dede but onely in purpose and entent as it is afore sayd; where it is to be noted how moche this sayd fraternyte is worth to them whiche haue it in dede / syth it was soo grete valure to this woman hauynge it but in purpose. [&] whyles that she prayed deuoutely vnto this vyrgyn Marye / the same blessyd lady appered to her with saynt Katheryne, sayenge to her: Doughter beholde / take hede / thou hast synned moche: therfore thou must suffre grete penaunce; for this cause take in penaunce euery daye thre dyscyplynes or thre correccyons / wherof euery one shall be of .lv. strokes whiche make a penytencyall psalter. She sayd also / it shall not alwaye nede to haue a rodde / but prycke the with thy nayles / or pynche thy flesshe in euery place. Thou mayst at all tymes doo this penaunce ayenst euery wycked temptacyon and for to obteyne all goodnes / and this is a royall, preuy penaunce and naturall, It may be called the quene of all penaunces. This woman herde all these wordes and fulfylled them in dede. And as she was thus dayly penytent: vpon a tyme saynt Domynyk auaunced by the power of god sawe in the nyght a wonderfull thynge to all the worlde. He perceyued that from the hous of this same Katheryne yssued out .lv. flodes from the membres of a lytell chyld / ewhiche flodes descended to hell, in whose comynge the soules, there to be purged, were gretely comforted. O how grete and Ioyfull noyses made they than: how many blessynge gaue they vnto this sayd Katheryne; veryly the erth sounded agayne to theyr voyces for Ioye. There were soules delyuered / comforted / made hole & excluded from theyr paynes, by the medytacyon that Katheryne had of crystes passyon in his chyldehode. She was alwaye aboute to applye it to the comforte of all true crysten soules departed out of this worlde. O meruaylous thynge: After this saynt Domynyk sawe a man entre

in to Katheryns chaumbre / & from .v. [woundes] of his body yssewed out .lv. [fountaynes] whiche nourysshed and watred all the chyrche mylytante / and also this present worlde; trees and plantes dyde burgyn / byrdes and fysshes were quyckened / true crysten people were bathed in those flodes. O how grete swetenes was there and how grete worldly gladnes. All creatures blessyd this woman Katheryne and prayed for her to almyghty god maker of all thynges. And these two meruaylles were shewed for the fyrst fyfty and the seconde. And where as this penytent Katheryne began the thyrde fyfty of her psalter, Saynt Domynyk sawe a meruaylous grete gyaunt clerer than the lyght / of whome yssewed out fyue fountaynes / of the fyue fountaynes sprange fyfty flodes whiche neyther descended to therth / nor to hell / but meruayllously ascended togyder vnto heuen, And by them all heuenly paradyse was watred. Theyr swetenes was so grete that the aungelles and holy sayntes dyde drynke of theym / gyuynge grete thankes to almyghty god. Whan saynt Domynyck sawe all these meruaylles as Thomas of the temple wryteth: he meruaylled gretly why they sholde be shewed and done in the hous of so grete a synner. To whome marye the vyrgyn appered and sayd: O my frende Domynyk why doost thou meruayle in suche causes? Knowest thou not I am a frende to all synners and that the mekenes of god is in me? It was my wyll to shewe these vysyons to the of this my doughter that thou sholde preche them to the worlde / for this entent that no crysten persone be theyr synnes neuer so grete sholde dyspayre in ony condycyon / but alwaye trust in god and his mercy / and namely they that wyll flee vnder my proteccyon with this woman Katheryne. The holy vyrgyn and martyr saynt Katheryne socoured her very moche whiche alwaye she loued and serued with some prayer from her yonge aege / for the congruence of the name. More ouer the blessyd moder of god sayd: O Domynyk thou haste sene these meruaylles: Here now and preche that I soo holy and meke shall saye. Shewe that I haue purchased of my sone to all suche as sayth my psalter and are of my fraternyte / they shall haue the same excellence whiche the sayd Katheryne hath. & though they can not se it in this worlde, lykewyse as men can not se god / his aungelles / the deuylles / neyther theyr merytes and vertues in this lyfe, Also they can not se the vertue of a precyous stone nor of the sterres: therfore the knowledge of heuenly thynges must be moche ferther from them; Notwithstondynge they shall beholde this excellence after theyr deth. Therfore Domynyk be of good comforte [&] preche my psalter & my fraternyte / for vnto all suche as hath them I haue purchased not onely to se this excellence / but also to haue it eternally in possessyon. What sholde I saye more? Saynt Domynyk gaue thankes to almyghty god for his grete mercy. And this Katheryne made herselfe a recluse [&] she dystrybuted her goddes to the poore people. Whiche afterwarde was of so grete holynes that many very holy persones came vnto her bycause of her godly reuelacyons. To whome appered our lorde Ihesu .C. dayes & fyfty before her departynge out of this lyfe shewynge the tyme of her deth / whiche afterwarde departed out of this lyfe very holy. Thre holy vyrgyns one named Iohanne / an other Martha / the thyrde Lucya sawe her soule departe from the body bryghter than the sonne /

bytwene the armes of her spouse cryst. Her sepulture is in the chyrche of saynt Iohn¯ lateranence. All crysten people by this take hede of how grete vertue the psalter of our lady is with the remembraunce of crystes passyon / it is alwaye in strength bothe in lyf and at the houre of deth. Therfore let vs prayse and laude our lorde Ihesu and Marye his moder in theyr psalter / to thentent we may deserue to haue the Ioyes of heuen / here by grace / & after this lyfe by glorye.

¶ Here endeth a deuoute medytacyon in sayenge deuoutly the psalter of our lady with dyuers ensamples. Enprynted at London in Fletestrete at the sygne of the sonne. By Wynkyn de Worde. Anno domini .M.CCCCC.Viii. the fourth daye of February.

Notes

• A translation of Alanus de Rupe's Tractatus mirabilis de ortu atque progressu psalterii Christi et Marie.