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| Please pray for the soul of Esther Clark. R.I.P. She gave a framed copy of this painting to the author in the 1980's. |
The work is offered on behalf of my family to Our Blessed Lady, Regina Martyrum et Consolatrix Afflictorum. For EEKPTEE&EA.
👈The Tears of St Peter (1587-1596)
El Greco (Domḗnikos Theotokópoulos) 1541-1614
Museo Soumaya at Plaza Carso, Mexico.
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Christ, health of fever’d soule, heaven of the minde,
Force of the feeble, nurse of Infant loves,
Guide to the wandring foote, light of the blind,
Whom weeping winnes, repentant sorrow moves;
Father in care, mother in tender hart: [755]
Revive and save me slaine with sinnefull dart.
Christ, who saves souls burning with sin’s fever; who fills troubled minds with the peace and joy of His heavenly presence; who lends the strength of His arm to support the weak and infirm; who patiently tends hearts learning to offer Him their love; who guides souls, like a good shepherd leading His precious sheep and lambs lest any stray into danger; who enables the blind to see and offers to all the light of eternal life; who never fails to respond to the tears and contrition of sinners; who is a dutiful father, ever watchful and caring for His children; and who has a mother’s tender heart, overflowing in love for her little ones.
Do Thou save me, sweet Christ, and restore the life I lost when wounded by the dart of mortal sin!
751. fever’d. Christ’s miracles of healing include several that involved fever affecting the body, e.g.,
Peter’s own mother-in-law:
A certain ruler, whose son was sick at Capharnaum.“And Simon's wife's mother lay in a fit of a fever: and forthwith they tell him of her. [31] And coming to her, he lifted her up, taking her by the hand; and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them.” [Mark i. 30-31]
“He asked therefore of them the hour wherein he grew better. And they said to him: Yesterday, at the seventh hour, the fever left him.” [John iv. 52]
heaven. Christ came down from Heaven and gives through Himself a taste of Heaven to His faithful fflock.
“This is the bread which cometh down from heaven; that if any man eat of it, he may not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven.” [John vi. 50-51]
752. Force. Physical strength, might, or vigour. 1576 A. Fleming tr. Solon in Panoplie Epist. 194 Chosen men, hugest in stature, and fullest of force. There are many references to God's might and strength in Scripture. Here is one from the lips of the Blessed Virgin Mary:
“Because he that is mighty, hath done great things to me; and holy is his name. And his mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear him. He hath shewed might in his arm: he hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.” [Luke i. 49-50]
nurse of Infant loves. Christ nurtures and tends love when it has just come into being, helping it to grow and blossom. Consider too:
“Out of the mouth of infants and of sucklings thou hast perfected praise, because of thy enemies, that thou mayst destroy the enemy and the avenger.” [Ps. viii. 3]“At that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying: Who thinkest thou is the greater in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus calling unto him a little child, set him in the midst of them, And said: Amen I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” [Matthew xviii. 1-3]“Then were little children presented to him, that he should impose hands upon them and pray. And the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said to them: Suffer the little children, and forbid them not to come to me: for the kingdom of heaven is for such.” [Matthew xix. 13-14]
753. Guide to the wandring foote.
light of the blind. There are numerous instances of Christ healing those who suffer from physical or spiritual blindness:“Jesus saith to him: I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by me.” [John xiv. 6]“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep.” [John x. 11]“For you were as sheep going astray; but you are now converted to the shepherd and bishop of your souls.” [1 Peter ii. 25]
“I am the light of the world: he that followeth me, walketh not in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” [John viii. 12]“The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, the poor have the gospel preached to them.” [Matt. xi. 5]
754. Whom weeping winnes. Amongst other exmamples, consider Mary Magdalen’s tears (the subject of a work in prose by RS: “Mary Magdalen’s Funeral Tears”)
“And behold a woman that was in the city, a sinner, when she knew that he sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment; And standing behind at his feet, she began to wash his feet, with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment . . . And turning to the woman, he said unto Simon: Dost thou see this woman? I entered into thy house, thou gavest me no water for my feet; but she with tears hath washed my feet, and with her hairs hath wiped them. Thou gavest me no kiss; but she, since she came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint; but she with ointment hath anointed my feet. Wherefore I say to thee: Many sins are forgiven her, because she hath loved much [Luke vii. 37-38, 44-47]
winnes. win. To overcome the unwillingness or indifference of; with various shades of meaning: to attract, allure, entice; to prevail upon, persuade, induce; to gain the affection or allegiance of; to bring over to one's side, party, or cause, to convert.
with adverb or prep. (away, over; from, to, etc.). Here, “who is won over by weeping.” 1542 N. Udall in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eminent Lit. Men (1843) 5 Thei have thereby woonne to goodnes innumerable persons.
755. Father in care. Among the numerous examples of paternal love in Scripture, consider that of the prodigal son’s father:
“And the son said to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, I am not now worthy to be called thy son. And the father said to his servants: Bring forth quickly the first robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it, and let us eat and make merry: Because this my son was dead, and is come to life again: was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.” [Luke xv. 24]
756. dart. A pointed missile weapon thrown by the hand; a light spear or javelin; also applied to pointed missiles in general, including arrows, etc. figurative. 1509 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure xli. i Deth with his darte arest me sodenly.
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If King Manasses, sunke in depth of sinne,
With plaintes and teares recovered grace and crowne:
A worthlesse worme some mild regard may winne,
And lowly creepe, where flying threw it downe. [760]
A poore desire I have to mend my ill;
I should, I would, I dare not say, I will.
King Manasses of Judah forgot his duty to the Lord God and introduced idolatry, sinking thereby into the very depths of sin. He later repented of his sins with tears and deep contrition. His prayers were answered and he obtained mercy from the Lord, regaining his crown. If this was possible for such a one, then I too may hope for divine favour as I languish, a worthless wretch, in the depths where my pride cast me down.
My desire to mend my ways and to make amends is sadly wanting. I know what I should do, and I want to do it, but I still dare not actually say the words: “I will...”
757. King Manasses, sunke in depth of sinne. The story of his idolatry and repentance is recounted in 2 Paralipomenon (2 Chronicles). Here is an excerpt:
“And he did evil before the Lord, according to all the abominations of the nations, which the Lord cast out before the children of Israel: And he turned, and built again the high places which Ezechias his father had destroyed: and he built altars to Baalim, and made groves, and he adored all the host of heaven, and worshipped them. He built also altars in the house of the Lord, whereof the Lord had said: In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever. And he built them for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. And he made his sons to pass through the fire in the valley of Benennom: he observed dreams, followed divinations, gave himself up to magic arts, had with him magicians, and enchanters: and he wrought many evils before the Lord, to provoke him to anger. He set also a graven, and a molten statue in the house of God,”
“Therefore he [the Lord] brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of the Assyrians: and they took Manasses, and carried him bound with chains and fetters to Babylon. And after that he was in distress he prayed to the Lord his God: and did penance exceedingly before the God of his fathers. And he entreated him, and besought him earnestly: and he heard his prayer, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom, and Manasses knew that the Lord was God.” [2 Paralipomenon (2 Chronicles). 2-7, & 11-13]
Manasses. Hebrew: מְנַשֶּׁה Mənaššé, “Forgetter”; king of Judah.
758. crowne. Manasses lost his crown when captured by the Assyrians.
759. worme. worm. In his humility, Peter considers himself a worthless worm, betraying his Saviour, to whom the Psalmist attributed the following words, a thousand years before the crucifixion:
“But I am a worm, and no man: the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people.” [Psalms xxi. 7]
The comparison of a sinful man to a worm is made explicit here:
“And fear not the words of a sinful man, for his glory is dung, and worms:” [1 Machabees ii. 62]
760. Where flying threw it downe. This is a reference 1. to Peter’s pride, examples of which include:
“And Peter answering, said to him: Although all shall be scandalized in thee, I will never be scandalized.” [Matt. xxvi. 33]“Peter saith to him: Yea, though I should die with thee, I will not deny thee.” [Matt. xxvi. 35]
Peter was “thrown down” by his sins of cowardice and betrayal when he denied his Lord.
2. to Lucifer, the archetype of pride followed by a fall, described by Isaiah:
“Thy pride is brought down to hell, thy carcass is fallen down: under thee shall the moth be strewed, and worms shall be thy covering. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, who didst rise in the morning? how art thou fallen to the earth, that didst wound the nations? And thou saidst in thy heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will sit in the mountain of the covenant, in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the height of the clouds, I will be like the most High. But yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, into the depth of the pit.” [Isaias xiv. 11-15]
3. There is perhaps an echo of the story of Icarus (see line 614. supra), recounted in Ovid’s Metamorphoses (Bk VIII:183-235). Daedalus and his son Icarus are prisoners of king Minos. They contrive to escape by fashioning wings from feathers and wax. The father warns his son:
“‘Let me warn you, Icarus, to take the middle way, in case the moisture weighs down your wings, if you fly too low, or if you go too high, the sun scorches them.’ Alas, the boy began to delight in his daring flight, and abandoning his guide, drawn by desire for the heavens, soared higher. His nearness to the devouring sun softened the fragrant wax that held the wings: and the wax melted: he flailed with bare arms, but losing his oar-like wings, could not ride the air. Even as his mouth was crying his father’s name, it vanished into the dark blue sea, the Icarian Sea, called after him.”
761. poore. poor. 1. afflicted or characterized by poverty. figurative, usually with reference to a person's soul, spirit, etc.a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) iii. iii. 166 He that filches from me my good name, Robs me of that, which not inriches him, And makes me poore indeed.
2. Used to express deprecation (for reasons of modesty, in polite formulae, etc.) of oneself, one's actions, or something belonging to or offered by oneself: of little worth or pretension; lowly; undeserving. 1603 W. Shakespeare Hamlet i. v. 135 For my owne poore parte, ile go pray.
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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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