# Matins Nocturn 3 reading for the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin
# Mary (Sep 15). Sourced directly from
# web/www/horas/Latin/Sancti/09-15.txt, English/Sancti/09-15.txt --
# Lectio7-9, St. Ambrose's homily on John 19:25-27 (On Virgins, 7) and
# his own Epistle 25 to the Church of Vercelli, combined into one
# reading. Nocturn 2 (Lectio4-6) is a direct `@Tempora/Quad5-5`
# cross-reference (Friday of Passion Week), not this feast's own
# content -- not transcribed here.
id: seven-sorrows-of-the-bvm
readings:
  - nocturn: 3
    isGospel: false
    source: "St. Ambrose, On Virgins, Bk. 7; Epistle 25 to the Church of Vercelli"
    text:
      la: >-
        Stabat juxta crucem Mater, et, fugiéntibus viris, stabat
        intrépida. Vidéte utrum pudórem mutáre potúerit Mater Jesu, quæ
        ánimum non mutávit. Spectábat piis óculis Fílii vúlnera, per quæ
        sciébat ómnibus futúram redemptiónem. Spectábat non degéneri
        mater spectáculo, quæ non metúerat peremptórem. Pendébat in
        cruce Fílius, Mater se persecutóribus offerébat.


        María Mater Dómini ante crucem Fílii stabat. Nullus me hoc
        dócuit, nisi sanctus Joánnes Evangelísta. Mundum álii concússum
        in passióne Dómini conscripsérunt, cælum ténebris obdúctum,
        refugísse solem, in paradísum latrónem, sed post piam
        confessiónem, recéptum. Joánnes dócuit, quod álii non docuérunt,
        quemádmodum in cruce pósitus Matrem appelláverit. Pluris putátur
        quod victor suppliciórum pietátis offícia Matri exhibébat, quam
        quod regnum cæléste donábat. Nam si religiósum est quod latróni
        donátur vénia, multo uberióris pietátis est quod a Fílio Mater
        tanto afféctu honorátur.


        Ecce, inquit, fílius tuus: ecce mater tua. Testabátur de cruce
        Christus, et inter matrem atque discípulum dividébat pietátis
        offícia. Condébat Dóminus non solum públicum, sed étiam
        domésticum testaméntum: et hoc ejus testaméntum signábat
        Joánnes, dignus tanto testatóre testis. Bonum testaméntum, non
        pecúniæ, sed vitæ ætérnæ; quod non atraménto scriptum est, sed
        Spíritu Dei vivi, qui ait: Lingua mea cálamus scribæ velóciter
        scribéntis.
      en: >-
        There stood by the Cross His Mother. Men had forsaken Him, but
        she stood there fearless. Behold how the Mother of Jesus could
        break through her shrinking modesty, but could not belie her
        heart. With the eyes of a mother's love she gazed upon the Wounds
        of her Son, those Wounds through Which she knew that redemption
        for all mankind was flowing. The Mother, who feared not the
        executioners, was able to endure the sight of their work. Her
        Son was hanging upon the Cross, and she braved His tormentors.


        Mary, the Mother of the Lord, stood by the Cross of her Son. My
        only informant of this fact is the holy Evangelist John. Others
        have written that when the Lord suffered, the earth quaked, the
        heavens were veiled in darkness, the sun was hidden, and the
        thief received, after a good confession, the promise of
        Paradise. John hath taught us what the others have not taught
        us. Upon the Cross He called her Mother. It is reckoned a
        greater thing that in the moment of triumph over agony, He
        should have discharged the watchful duty of a Son to His Mother,
        than that He should have made gift of the kingdom of heaven. For
        if it be a sacred thing to have forgiven the thief, this so
        great kindness of the Son to the Mother is to be worshipped as
        the outcome of a tenderer and more touching love.


        Behold, saith the Lord, thy son: Behold thy Mother! Christ bore
        witness from the Cross, and divided the offices of his tender
        love between his Mother and his disciple. Thus doth the Lord
        give us a testament, not only of his love for souls, but also of
        his natural affection. Moreover, the testimony which John doth
        give us concerning this same testament, is a worthy testimony to
        the original Testator himself. It is a good testament, not of
        earthly riches, but of eternal life, written not in ink, but in
        the Spirit of the living God, who speaketh of such testimony in
        the Psalms, saying: My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
    status: { la: verified, en: verified }
