A letter from Elisabeth of Schoenau ()

Translated letter:

When I, Elisabeth, had received your letters from the hand of your messenger and had read them, I went to the Lord and prayed to Him with all my heart that He might provide me with such a response that would offer you consolation. I had hardly finished my prayer when my mouth was filled with this sermon: To the venerable abbot Reinhard, Elisabeth, humble handmaid of Christ sends greetings and consolation in Christ Jesus. O venerable father, behold! The divine voice admonishes you, saying, “Be strengthened and fortified against all adversities. Be consoled in the Holy Spirit and trust in the Lord your God, because I the Lord am with you all the days of your life. I will not abandon you in the time of tribulation and suffering (2 Mc. 1:15). I will rescue you and guard you like the pupil of my eye. Be strong and do not fail in the contest. Whoever contends well until the end will be saved” (Mt. 10:22). The same divine voice admonishes you again, saying, “Reinhard, servant of God, run when you run, do what you do; let your foot not be idle; let your hand not be idle. The time is near and the days will not be long till God will have mercy on you. I myself have chosen you and established you as a worker in my vineyard. You have guarded my vineyard and faithfully labored like a faithful and prudent servant whom a master establishes over his family to give to him a measure of wheat at the proper time (Lk. 12:42). Rejoice and be glad because I the Lord will receive you as my chosen servant and I will refresh you at my banquet with my brothers and I will give you an unfading reward for your labor and exhaustion. You will rest where I myself am and there you will rejoice with the angels and exalt with the saints without end.” I warn you who have taken on that same appearance of piety: You must appear so not only in the presence of other human beings but in the presence of the angels and of God Himself, who dwells on high and looks upon the lowly. Let your light so shine among humans (Mt. 5:16); let all your works grow bright and pay attention to what David said in the Psalter, “Those who please humans have been confounded since God has rejected them.” Don’t be counted among the foolish virgins who sought external praise but be like the wise virgins who carried oil with them and whose lamps were lit (Mt. 25:1-10). Be wise not among yourselves but so that you may boldly say, “All people have we won” in accordance with what Paul said, “I am a debtor to all people” (Rom. 1:14). Take care lest what is written in Isaiah pertain to you: “You have destroyed my vineyard and the spoil of the poor is in your house” (Is. 3:14). For this you must pay out to the poor what you have in abundance and the things you took from them. What I say to you I say even more insistently to very many other brothers. Alas, the secret business of buying and selling what belongs to God! Know beyond doubt that those who sell, sell judgment unto themselves, and those who buy, buy themselves a double-edged sword. What do you think the Lord will do when He comes to the judgment with the elders of the people and He lays down the reckoning for such servants? He will send them with hands and feet bound into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping of eyes and gnashing of teeth (Mt. 13:42). Again I warn everyone under the governance of the good father Reinhard: before and above everything else, carry yourselves in all humility and obedience to the lord and father, and see the Lord our God in him. Love him with all the attention of your mind and gentleness and with a sincere heart. Honor each other; bear one another’s burdens (Gal. 6:2), and let there not be schisms among you, nor scandal, murmuring, or detraction. Possess nothing of your own in this world, not even your own bodies, and do not forget purity. Endure all things for the honor of God. Place nothing before the love of God for the sake of Him who loved you and handed Himself over for you as an innocent sacrifice for many sinners, and called you into His own wonderful light (1 Pt. 2:9). Walk like beloved sons of your heavenly Father while there is still light in you, lest the shadows surround you. There is still time to repent. Correct yourselves and be prepared, because you do not know the hour when your Lord will come (Mt. 24:42). Then, when He comes, you will immediately be revealed to Him and enter with Him into glory. There you will receive from Him the reward for all your good works, which is perfect delight, infinite exaltation, the crown and joy of all the saints. May He who is the fountain and source of all goodness deign to offer it to you. On the day of Epiphany, my familiar angel of the Lord appeared to me. When I had asked him about what it was that had prompted you to ask those things about me, he told me, “Know without a doubt that it was I who moved him to this. Everything which he did in this affair was done according to God’s plan and mine in order that the works of God would be made manifest in you.” For this reason, I asked him about certain words from your letter which I have now announced. I asked him why I said them and he explained everything to me. (1)

Original letter:

Cum accepissem ego Elyzabeth litteras vestras de manu nuncii vestri, ac legissem eas, adii dominum et deprecata sum eum toto corde, ut talem michi pararet respondionem, qua ad vestram consolationem pertineret. Et vix orationem compleveram, cum repletum est os meum sermone hoc. Venerabili abbati Reinhardo Elisabeth humilis ancilla Christi salutem et consolationem Christo Jhesu. O pater venerande, ecce ammonet te vox divina dicens: Confortare et esto robustus contra omnia adversa. Consolare in spiritu sancto, et confide in domino deo tuo, quia ego dominus tecum sum omnibus diebus vite tue, et non derelinquam te in tempore tribulationis et angustie, et eruam te et custodiam te ut pupillum oculi. Confortare et noli deficere in certamine, qui enim bene ceraverit usque in finem, hic salvus erit. Et iterum admonet te eadem vox divina dicens: Reinharde serve dei, curre, ut curris, operare, quod operaris, non cesset pes tuus, non cesset manus tua, tempus enima prope est, et dies non elongabuntur, quando miserebitur tui deus. Ego ipse elegi te, et constitui te operarium in vinea mea. Vineam meam custodisti et fideliter in ea laborasti quasi fideles servus et prudens, quem constitui dominus super familiam suam, ut deit illi in tempore tritici mensuram. Gaude et letare, quia ego dominus suscipiam te servum meum electum, et reficiam te in convivio meo cum fratribus meis, et dabo tibi inmarcesibile premium pro labore et fatigatione tua, cum sanctis exultabis sine fine. Et admoneo vos, qui in ipsa eademque religione apparetis, ut non solum coram hominibus appareatis, sed etiam coram deo, et angelis eius, qui in altis habitat, et humilia respicit, et sic luceat lux vestra coram hominibus, et omnia opera vestra in luce clarescant et adtendite, quod in psalterio David dicit: Qui hominibus placent, confusi sunt, quoniam deus sprevit eos, et ne cum fatuis virginibus computemini, que laudem exterius querent, sed ut sapientes virgines, que secum oleum portant, et quarum lampades accense sunt, et sitis sapientes non apud vosmet ipsos, sed ut audacter diactis: Omnes homines lucrati sumus, quantum in nobis secundum quod Paulus dicit: Omnibus hominibus debitor sum. Cavete autem, ne forte ad vos pertineat, quod in Ysaia legitur: Vos depasti estis vineam meam, et rapina pauperis in domo vestra pro eo, quod erogare in pauperes debuistis, que vobis superhabundant, et hec subtrahitis illis. Quod vobis dico, plerisuqe aliis fratribus idem adtentius dico. Ve abscondite negociationi vendentium et ementium, que dei sunt. Procul dubio scitote, quia qui vendunt, vendunt sibi iudicium, et qui emunt, emunt sibi gladium ex utraque parte acutum. Quid putatis facturus est dominus, cum venerit ad iudicium cum senioribus populi et positurus est racionem cum servis talibus? Ligatis manibus et pedibus mittet eos in aminum ignis, ibi erit fletus oculorum et stridor dentium. Et iterum ammoneo omnes, qui sub reginine boni patris estis, ante omnia et super omnia dominum patremque nostrum omni humilitate et obedientia subportate, et dominum nostrum deum in eo aspicite, et eum cum omni sollicitudine et mansuetudine mentis vestrem et sincero corde diligite, et vos invicem honorate, alter alterius onera portate, et non sit inter vos scisma et scandalum nec murmuratio, neque detractio, et nichil in hoc mundo proprium possidete, neque corpora vestra et mundicie nolite oblivisci. Omnia ad honorem dei sustinete, nichil amore dei preponite, propter eum, qui dilexit vos, et tradidit semetipsum pro vobis, oblationem pro multis, innocens pro peccatoribus, et vocavit vos in admirabile lumen suum. Ambulate sicut filii karissimi patris vestri celestis, dum adhuc lux est in vobis, ne tenebre vos comprehendant. Adhuc tempus est penitendi, emendate vos in melius, et estote parati, quia nescitis, qua hora dominus vester venturus sit, ut cum venerit, confestim aperiatis ei, et introeatis cum ipso in gloriam, ubi omnium bonorum operum remunerationem accipietis ab eo, qui est delectatio perfecta, ecultatio infinita, corona et leticia omnium sanctorum. Quod vobis prestare dignetur, qui est fons et origo tocius bonitatis. In die Epiphanie apparuit michi angelus domini familiaris meus, et cum interrogassem eum de vobis, quidnam fuisset, quod excitasset vos ad inquirendum ea, que sunt de me, dixit mihi: Indubitanter scito, quoniam ego sum, qui eum permovi ad hoc, et omnia, que fecit in negotio isto, dei ac mea dispositione facta sunt, quatinus manifestentur opera dei in te. Propterea et de epistola vestra, quam iam tunc pronunciaveram, interrogavi eum de quibusdam verbis, que dicta fuerant in ea, quam ob causam dicta fuissent, et exposuit mihi omnia.

Historical context:

Elisabeth relates her visions of the virgin Mary and John the Evangelist and the questions she put to them. It was written after 1155, when Fulbert became abbot at Laach. The first paragraph of this letter was incorporated into Third Book of Visions as ch. 5.

Scholarly notes:

(1)This translation is copyrighted by Anne Clark. For permission to reproduce, contact Paulist Press.

Printed source:

Die Visionen der hl. Elisabeth und die Schriften der Aebte Ekbert und Emecho von Schönau, ed. F.W.E. Roth (Brünn: Verlag der Studien aus dem Benedictiner- und Cistercienser-Orden, 1884), Bk.6, ch.22, p.150-53; trans. Anne L. Clark, The Complete Works of Elisabeth of Schönau (New York: Paulist Press, 2000), 22.