👈The Tears of St Peter -1587 until 1596
El Greco (Domḗnikos Theotokópoulos) 1541-1614
Museo Soumaya at Plaza Carso, Mexico.
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And could I rate so high a life so base?
Did feare with loue cast so vneven account,
That for this goale I should runne Iudas' race,
And Caiphas' rage in crueltie surmount? [100]
Yet they esteemed thirtie pence His price;
I, worse then both, for nought denyd Him thrice.
How could I rate so highly in my mind a life so base in reality? How could I reckon up an account showing fear so out of balance with love? How could I through this fear have no fear about rushing to follow the treachery of Judas, and exceeding in cruelty the rage of Caiphas? They reckoned Christ’s price to be thirty pieces of silver, whereas I was worse than both of them because I denied Him three times . . . for nothing.
98. cast . . . account. VI. To reckon, calculate. 37. To count or reckon, so as to ascertain the sum of various numbers, originally by means of counters, to the manipulation of which the word probably refers. c. esp. in to cast accounts, originally to sum up or reckon accounts. Vid. 1581 J. Bell tr. W. Haddon & J. Foxe Against Jerome Osorius 44 b You cast your accomptes amisse in your numbryng.
99. & 101. Judas...thirtie pence. vid.
Then went one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, to the chief priests, And said to them: What will you give me, and I will deliver him unto you? But they appointed him thirty pieces of silver. [Matt. xxvi. 14-15]
100. Caiphas.
“The death of Jesus being resolved upon, the most unscrupulous means were employed in order to bring it about, and Caiphas is chiefly to blame. The meeting determined upon by the princes of the priests and the elders of the people, "that by subtlety they might apprehend Jesus", was held in the house of Caiphas (Matthew xxvi. 3-5). The hill south of Jerusalem where this house is said by tradition to have stood is called the “Hill of Evil Counsel.” As high-priest, Caiphas was the official head of the Sanhedrin, and consequently responsible for the travesty of a trial to which Christ was submitted by the Jewish authorities, before they handed Him over to Pilate and stirred up the people to demand his death.” [Caiphas, Catholic Encyclopedia]And Peter followed him from afar off, even into the court of the high priest; and he sat with the servants at the fire, and warmed himself. And the chief priests and all the council sought for evidence against Jesus, that they might put him to death, and found none. For many bore false witness against him, and their evidences were not agreeing. And some rising up, bore false witness against him, saying: We heard him say, I will destroy this temple made with hands, and within three days I will build another not made with hands. And their witness did not agree. And the high priest rising up in the midst, asked Jesus, saying: Answerest thou nothing to the things that are laid to thy charge by these men? But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said to him: Art thou the Christ the Son of the blessed God? And Jesus said to him: I am. And you shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of the power of God, and coming with the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rending his garments, saith: What need we any further witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy. What think you? Who all condemned him to be guilty of death. And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him: Prophesy: and the servants struck him with the palms of their hands. [Mark xiv. 54-65]
102. then: than.
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The mother-sea, from ouerflowing deepes,
Sends forth her issue by diuided vaines,
Yet back her ofspring to their mother creepes, [105]
To pay their purest streames with added gaines;
But I, that drunke the drops of heauenly flud,
Bemyr'd the Giuer with returning mud.
The sea from her abundant depths sends forth waters which go their separate ways; but they slowly make their way back and show how they have enriched the pure water they received from the source.
As for me, I received the waters of Baptism and I have drunk from the heavenly source of grace, but I have polluted my soul through sin and, instead of beautiful gifts, I return to the Lord a soul made filthy through betrayal.
Note. One image here refers to water which, being drawn up from the seas and received in the heavens, is purified and returns to earth to feed into streams and rivers, finally replenishing its own source. A second image refers to a mother whose offspring are sent forth, going their separate ways, before finally coming home to share what they have added to the gifts their mother gave them. One interpretation is that the words relate to a man’s soul, uplifted from the waters of Baptism, rises heavenwards. Whilst alive, a man is duty bound to make good use of this gift of supernatural life in his soul. He later returns before his Lord to show what gaines he has added to the gifts given him by the Lord. Another interpretation concerns the Blessed Virgin Mary who, as our mother and the Mediatrix of all graces, sends her children forth into the world; at length, we come quietly back to our mother to show how we have tried to add to the gifts she gave us.
In the parable of the talents, Our Lord makes clear in a vivid manner what happens to those who fail to do this and instead bemire the giver with returning mud:
But he that had received the one talent, came and said: Lord, I know that thou art a hard man; thou reapest where thou hast not sown, and gatherest where thou hast not strewed. And being afraid I went and hid thy talent in the earth: behold here thou hast that which is thine. And his lord answering, said to him: Wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that ... I should have received my own with interest. Take ye away therefore the talent from him, and give it to him that hath ten talents. For to every one that hath shall be given, and he shall abound: but from him that hath not, that also which he seemeth to have shall be taken away. And the unprofitable servant cast ye out into the exterior darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. [Matthew xxv. 24-30]
103. The mother-sea. It may not be too fanciful to discern a reference here to the Blessed Virgin Mary, The Mediatrix of all graces. Christ designated her as our Mother before He died on the Cross1 and she has fourteen titles as a Mater /Mother in the Litany of Loreto, as well as being hailed as Mater Misericordiæ in the antiphon Salve Regina. St Thérèse of the Child Jesus spoke about this shortly before her death:
“Un soir elle s'écria: «Que je l'aime la Vierge Marie! Si j'avais été prêtre, que j'aurais bien parlé d'elle! On la montre inabordable, il faudrait la montrer imitable. Elle est plus mère que reine!” / “One evening she exclaimed: ‘Oh, how I love Our Blessed Lady! Had I been a Priest, how I would have sung her praises! She is spoken of as unapproachable, whereas she should be represented as easy of imitation. . . . She is more Mother than Queen.’” [L'Histoire d'une Âme]
Note. The origin of the Blessed Virgin’s name is associated by some with the sea: mare , is, n.: the sea, freq.; ocean; water, flood; one of her titles is Stella Maris, Star of the Sea, which some believe was originally Stilla Maris, droplet of the sea (cf. distilled essence from the..). For more, see The Name of Mary in the Catholic Encyclopedia.
104. issue. Something which proceeds or results from any source – here, waters.
vaines: veins. With reference or allusion to veins as channels for water. Vid Obsolete. 1534 J. Fewterer tr. U. Pinder Myrrour Christes Passion f. cxxxv What drynke..dyd he desyre, whiche is the founten of the lyuely and holsome water, the veyne of lyfe, the ryuer of all pleasure.
Offspring, produce, proceeds, and derived senses. Vid. c1613 (▸1504) in T. Stapleton Plumpton Corr. (1839) 193 As for such essew as God sendeth them, it is noe doubt but he wyll..provyd for them.
104. vaines: veins. With reference or allusion to veins as channels for water . Obsolete. 1534 J. Fewterer tr. U. Pinder Myrrour Christes Passion f. cxxxv What drynke..dyd he desyre, whiche is the founten of the lyuely and holsome water, the veyne of lyfe, the ryuer of all pleasure.
105. creepes. Creep. To move softly, cautiously, timorously, or slowly; to move quietly. There may be an echo of another sense suited to the figurative meaning: vid. 1589 W. Warner Albions Eng. (new ed.) v. xxiii. 103 We kisse the Pix, we creepe the Crosse, our Beades we ouer-runne.
1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida iii. iii. 67 To come as humbly as they vsd to creep, to holy aultars.
106. gaines. In plural. Sums acquired by trade or in other ways; emoluments, profits, winnings, etc. Vid. 1600 P. Holland tr. Livy Rom. Hist. (1609) xxxi. xlv. 800 The gaines would hardly quit the paines [L. vix operæ pretium erat].
107. flud. Flood (or possibly fluid?) No trace of flud for fluid in OED quotations).
108. bemyre. Bemire. To cover or befoul with mire. Vid. c1532 T. More Let. Impugnynge J. Fryth in Wks. 833/2 If only they that are alredy bymired, were..myred on more and more.
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Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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