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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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Redeeme my lapse with raunsome of Thy love,
Traverse th’inditement, rigors doome suspend;
Let frailtie favour, sorrow succour move,
Be Thou Thy selfe, though changling I offend.
Tender my suite, clense this defiled denne,
Cancell my debts, sweete Jesu, say Amen.
Sweet Jesu:
Redeem me from the dire consequences of my sin,Thy love serving as the ransom;Strike out the accusation against me and suspend the harsh judgement hanging over me;Take account of my weakness and my contrition; let them count in my favour and come to my assistance;Stay as Thou art — unchangingly steadfast — even though I changed and became unfaithful;Grant my petition and cleanse the soul I defiled with my sin, washing away all my iniquity.
Sweet Jesu, Amen.
787. Redeeme. To ransom (a person) from slavery, captivity, or punishment; to save (a person's life) by paying a ransom.
Its etymon = classical Latin redimere to buy back, to recover by purchase. 1508 J. Fisher Treat. Penyt. Psalmes sig. xx.iiii In his treasoure hous is rychesse innumerable, wherwith..he may redeme all ye world from the prysone & captyuyte of ye deuyll. 1557 Bible (Whittingham) Rev. v. 9 Thou wast killed, and hast redemed vs to God by thy bloude.
raunsome. The action or means of freeing oneself from a penalty; a sum of money paid to obtain pardon for an offence or imposed as a penalty, esp. one exacted for a significant offence; c1592 Faire Em sig. D1 Thy death should paie thy ransome of thy fault.
lapse. A falling from rectitude. Probably used in a stronger sense: A falling into ruin. 1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning i. sig. I4 His [sc. Adrian's] whole time was a very restauration of all the lapses and decayes of former times.
788. Traverse. To deny (an allegation) formally; to dispute or challenge (an accusation, claim, finding, etc.).
1588 W. Lambarde Eirenarcha (new ed.) iv. xiii. 542 To Trauerse an Enditement..is to take issue vpon the chiefe matter therof, which is none other..then..to deny the point of the Enditement.
inditement. indictment. The action of indicting or accusing, a formal accusation; 1581 W. Lambarde Eirenarcha (1588) iv. v. 484 I take an Enditement to be the Verdite of the Iurors, grounded upon the accusation of a third person.
rigor. rigour. Harsh inflexibility (in dealing with a person or group of people); severity, sternness; cruelty. 1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde iii. xi. f. 158 Their rygour and fiercenesse ageynst suche as stoobernly..contemned them.
doome. doom. A judgement or decision, esp. one formally pronounced; a sentence; mostly in adverse sense, condemnation, sentence of punishment. 1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene iv. v. sig. E3v Then was that golden belt by doome of all Graunted to her.
suspend. To put a stop to,; to intermit the use or exercise of, put in abeyance. 1540 Act 32 Hen. VIII c. 48 §1 The same rentis by longe tymes shalbe suspendid and not due to be paid.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. clxv The Emperour doeth suspende all suites and actions in the lawe commenced againste the Protestauntes.
789. frailtie. Moral weakness; instability of mind; liability to err or yield to temptation. a1538 T. Starkey Dial. Pole & Lupset (1989) 13 They consydur not the fraylty of man, wych seyng the best folowyth the worst.
favour. Propitious or friendly regard, goodwill. 1611 Bible (King James) Esther v. 8 I haue found fauour in the sight of the king.
move. There are several possible meanings here. It may be noted that number 4. below would continue the metaphor contained in the previous line which pictures legal proceedings (Traverse th’inditement & rigors doome suspend) and which may also include tender my suite in line 791.
1.To operate as a motive or influence on the will or belief of (a person); to prompt, actuate, impel (to an action, or to do something). c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) lii. 177 What hathe moued the thus to do?
2. To rouse or excite feeling in (a person); to affect with emotion, esp. with tender feeling or compassion; to stir (the feelings, etc.); 1611 Bible (King James) Mark i. 41 And Iesus mooued with compassion, put foorth his hand, and touched him.
3. Of God or some other spiritual or supernatural force: to prompt, impel (to do something). 1549 Forme & Maner consecratyng Archebishoppes sig. C.iiii Do you trust that you are inwardly moued by the holy ghost to take vpon you this Office and ministracion..?
4. To propose formally in a court or deliberative assembly that something be done, or to do something. 1578 J. Rolland Seuin Seages 265 Quhen this was mufit to all the counsall thair Thair was na man the questioun culd declair.
The compressed word order in this line may be resolved into the following two options, which almost amount to the same thing:
1. Let frailtie move favour. Let sorrow move succour.2. Let favour move frailtie. Let succour move sorrow.
790. Be Thou Thy selfe. The traditional Christian teaching is that God does not change.
“They shall perish but thou remainest: and all of them shall grow old like a garment: And as a vesture thou shalt change them, and they shall be changed. But thou art always the selfsame, and thy years shall not fail.[Psalm CI 27-28]“Jesus Christ, yesterday, and today; and the same for ever.” [Hebr. xiii. 8]
changling. A person likely to change attitude or allegiance; a fickle or inconstant person; a turncoat. 1539 R. Morison Exhort. to styrre All Eng. Men (new ed.) sig. Dii We become chaungelynges, and for a tryfle leaue that we haue hitherto godly folowed.
Peter sees his own changeable behaviour as a contrast to the unchanging steadfastness and fidelity of Christ. Consider the following examples:
“Peter saith to him: Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him: If I wash thee not, thou shalt have no part with me. Simon Peter saith to him: Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to him: He that is washed, needeth not but to wash his feet, but is clean wholly. And you are clean, but not all.” [John xiii. 8-10]“And Peter answering, said to him: Although all shall be scandalized in thee, I will never be scandalized. [34] Jesus said to him: Amen I say to thee, that in this night before the cock crow, thou wilt deny me thrice. [35] Peter saith to him: Yea, though I should die with thee, I will not deny thee.”[Matt. xxvi. 33-35]“But Peter sat without in the court: and there came to him a servant maid, saying: Thou also wast with Jesus the Galilean. But he denied before them all, saying: I know not what thou sayest. And as he went out of the gate, another maid saw him, and she saith to them that were there: This man also was with Jesus of Nazareth. And again he denied with an oath, I know not the man. And after a little while they came that stood by, and said to Peter: Surely thou also art one of them; for even thy speech doth discover thee. Then he began to curse and to swear that he knew not the man.” [Matt. xxvi. 33-35 & 69-74]
791. Tender. 1. To offer or advance (a plea, issue, averment; evidence, etc.) in due and formal terms; 1542–3 Act 34 & 35 Hen. VIII c. 2 §2 If..the saide Collectoures..tendre paiement of all suche money..within the saide three monethes.
2. An alternative, if unlikely, reading here is : kind, loving, gentle, mild, affectionate. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Psalms xxiv. [xxv.] 6 Call to remembrance, O Lorde, thy tender mercies & thy louing kindnesses. The sense is then: my suit is a loving one. . .
suite. suit. 1. A process instituted in a court of law for the recovery or protection of a right, the enforcement of a claim, or the redress of a wrong; a prosecution before a legal tribunal; = lawsuit. 1576 A. Fleming tr. C. Plinius Novocomensis in Panoplie Epist. 252 Busily occupied in matters of suites of lawe.
2. The action of entreating or petitioning a person to do something; petitioning, supplication. 1592 T. Kyd Spanish Trag. iii. sig. G3v The King sees me, and faine would heare my sute.
clense this defiled denne. Cleanse this defiled den. The word den recalls Christ’s action in cleansing the Temple:
“And he saith to them: It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves.” [Matthew xxi.13]“And he found in the temple them that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting. And when he had made, as it were, a scourge of little cords, he drove them all out of the temple, the sheep also and the oxen, and the money of the changers he poured out, and the tables he overthrew. And to them that sold doves he said: Take these things hence, and make not the house of my Father a house of traffic.” [John ii. 14-16]
The image represents Peter’s soul, which should be regarded as the temple of the Holy Spirit, turned into a “defiled den,” a temple defiled by sin.
“Or know you not, that your members are the temple of the Holy Ghost, who is in you, whom you have from God; and you are not your own?” [1 Cor. vi. 19]
cleanse my soul. “Wash me yet more from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.” [Psalm L. 4]
792. Cancell my debts. “debts,” is another word for “sins,” as in:
“And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.” [Matthew vi. 12]
Amen. Hebrew 'āmēn certainly, verily, surely, used as adverb of 'āmēn faithfulness, truth < 'āman to confirm, to support.
It is highly fitting that Peter, having suffered so much from his unfaithfulness, should conclude by linking the word 'āmēn (faithfulness) to Jesus.
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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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