Cam/Magd/Pepys 2125
NAME
Pepys 2125.
DESCRIPTION
Paper and parchment; ii + 145 + i [146]; 285 x 198; fourteenth century (late) or fifteenth century (early) to fifteenth century (second half).
CONTENTS
f. i recto: Memorandum dated 1591; f. i verso: Blank, f. ii recto: Blank apart from a few words and the date of 1591; f. ii verso: Latin notes on the six ages of the world and the arrival of the Britons; ff. 1r–28r: The Chastising of God's Children (IPMEP 343); ff. 28v–38v: Meditation on Christ's Passion translated from the pseudo-Bonaventuran Meditationes vitae Christi; ff. 39r–50v: Penitential treatise based on Job 10:20–22, imperfect owing to a missing leaf between ff. 43 and 44; ff. 50v–55v: Revelations of St Birgitta of Sweden, Book VI, Chapter 65, concerning the contemplative life; ff. 55v–56v: Revelations of St Birgitta of Sweden, Book VI, Chapter 65, concerning the active life; ff. 56v–60v: Form of Confession from The Cleansing of Man's Soul; ff. 60v–65r: Mirror of Mankind (NIMEV 1259); f. 65r: Latin Prayer; ff. 65v–73v: Thomas Wimbledon's sermon, Redde racionem villicationis tue (IPMEP 560); ff. 73v–76v: Legend of the Cross; f. 76v: Verse meditation on the passion (NIMEV 1761), written as prose and imperfect; ff. 77r–80v: Teachings of St Barnabas; ff. 80v–82v: Contemplative treatise beginning, 'A gret clerk žat men clepen Richard of Seynt Victores' (IPMEP 5); ff. 82v–83v: 'Of že manere of lyuyng of owre lady Marie' (IPMEP 22); f. 83v Aphorisms on patience; f. 83v: Verse dialogue in Latin between Christ on the Cross and Mary; f. 84r: Extract from Richard Rolle's The Commandment (IPMEP 660); ff. 84r–85v: First part of Richard Rolle's The Form of Living (IPMEP 351); ff. 85v–88v: Richard Rolle's The Commandment (IPMEP 660); f. 88v: Latin Vision of St Thomas of Canterbury on the Seven (temporal) Joys of Mary; f. 88v: Admonitory verses (NIMEV 1409); f. 88v: Latin verses on the Virgin and the Crucified Christ; ff. 89r–96v: The Charter of the Abbey of the Holy Ghost (IPMEP 509); ff. 97r–98v: On conduct when hearing mass; f. 98v: Latin prayers to St Anne, All Saints, and the Virgin; f. 98v: Latin comments on the opening of St John's gospel; f. 99r: Latin Vision of St John on the Seven Sorrows of Mary; ff. 99r–102r: Richard Rolle's Ego dormio (IPMEP 160), imperfect; f. 102r: A short rule of life; f. 102r–v: On the seven corporal works of mercy and poverty (IPMEP 331); ff. 102v–104r: First part of Richard Rolle, The Form of Living (IPMEP 351), which has already been given on ff. 84r–85v; ff. 104r–105v: Meditations beginning 'Thenk man what žou hast ben', mainly designated for different times of the day or night, and being interpolated extracts from St Edmund of Pontigny's Mirror of Holy Church (IPMEP 202); ff. 105v–107v: Meditation on the hours of the day, again from St Edmund of Pontigny's Mirror of Holy Church (IPMEP 202); f. 107v: Notes concerning St Bernard beginning 'In že lif of seynt Bernard his is wryten žat že deuell', introducing the seven psalms in Latin; f. 107v: Prayer to the archangels; f. 108r: Note on God's grace beginning 'Thow že sonne shyne on že hows'; ff. 108r–116v: Second part of Richard Rolle's The Form of Living (IPMEP 351); f. 116v: Latin prayer taught to a hermit of Warwick by St Ursula; f. 116v: Latin prayer concerning the name of Jesus, from the second Meditation of St Anselm; f. 117r–117v: Meditation (IPMEP 336), ending imperfectly; f. 118r: English and Latin devotions to Mary, beginning imperfectly owing to a missing leaf between ff. 117 and 118; f. 118r: Devotions in English and Latin concerning the name of Jesus, beginning with a verse prayer (NIMEV 1825), followed by one in Latin and a Latin inscription; f. 118v: Seven prayers and indulgences in Latin on the 'Arma Christi', ending imperfectly; ff. 119r–123v: On the Pater noster; ff. 124r–125r: Item on faith; ff. 125v–126r: On virtues and vices; ff. 126r–128v: The Mirror of Sinners (IPMEP 213); ff. 128v–130v: Three Arrows on Doomsday (IPMEP 842); ff. 131r–139r: The Ghost of Guy (NIMEV 2725); ff. 139r–143r: Easter Day Sermon; f. 143v: Blank except for a Latin annotation; ff. 144r–145r: On the four requests of Mary to Christ at the time of the passion, associated with Queen Isabel of France; f. 145v: Blank, except for a few words; f. 146 (endleaf i recto and verso): Verse prognostics (NIMEV 1194); f. 146 (endleaf i verso): Pen trials and an inscription.
PARALLEL TRADITIONS
For Wimbledon's sermon see Cam/Corpus/357; for the Easter sermon see BL/Harl 2398/001.
COMMENTS
The lower two thirds of f. 145 have been cut away; the endleaf is foliated as f. 146. On the binding strip between ff. 144v-145r there is a barely visible reference to 'Payneswyk in Com. Gloucestre'. McKitterick and Beadle 1992:61 provide full details of its ownership by the collector Richard Smith (1590–1675) in the mid-seventeenth century, noting that it was bought by Miller (probably the bookseller William Miller of St Paul's Churchyard) for 4s. 2d. after the sale of Smith's books in 1682; they further note that, although it is not known how Samuel Pepys (d. 1703) acquired the manuscript, 'a number of Smith's manuscripts are recognisable in the Pepysian collection'. Smith has added headings to the first item, to Wimbledon's sermon, and to The Charter of the Abbey of the Holy Ghost; there is also a little seventeenth-century annotation of Wimbledon's sermon. LALME:I, 112 localises the manuscript in Gloucestershire.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
O'Mara 1987:87–88; Beadle and McKitterick 1992:61.
Sermon Description: BL/Harl 2398/001
OCCASION
Easter Day.
HEADING/TITLE
Sermo in die pasche ad populum.
THEME
Ihesum queritis Nazarenum crucifixum [Mc 16:6 (L)].
LENGTH
175v–185r.
INCIPIT
Ihesum queritis Nazarenum crucifixum, Matthei [sic] vltimo, et in euangelio hodierno. Cristene children in God, as 3e wyte wel, on žis day 3e bež at že feste and že maungere of že kyng of heuene, lord of alle lordes, in že whiche feste 3e bež serued nožer wiž pyg, nožer veel, nožer capoun, ne swan bot wiž že precious flesche and blood of Crist Ihesu in whom alle angeles of heuene hauež ioye to beholde. Žan as 3e knowež wel, at a grete feste whan men bež reyalyche yserued, it is custome to men to be reheted and conforted wiž good and louelych talkyng, and žerfore at žis tyme, syžže 3e bež fed and fested wiž Crist, I schal žurgh že grace of God conforte 3ow wiž Godes word in Cristes name.
EXPLICIT
And alle [185r] že fendes of helle schulle not že while haue power to putte ous doun into synne bot yf žey be strongere žan Crist and žat may not be. And so reste in Crist and lyue in Crist and ende in Crist. And also syker as he is trewe God he schal at žy last ende brynge že to himself into ioye and into blysse žat neuere schal haue ende. To že whiche ioye and že whiche blysse Crist brynge 3ow žat for 3ow schadde his blood. Amen.
SUMMARY
At Christ's feast the dishes of pig, capon or swan are replaced with his flesh and blood. The fine speeches are replaced by the comfort of God's word. [176r] To attend such a feast, one should be clothed in virtues, love of God and neighbour, and good living. Those in a state of deadly sin should not attend. [The preacher asks for grace for himself and his listeners and ends his prayer by requesting a Pater Noster and an Ave.]
[The theme is repeated.] [176v] [The preacher declares that he will tell the gospel 'as it was red', expound it, and provide words of comfort. The gospel of Mc 16:1–7 is given in English followed by a paraphrase interspersed with comment and interpretation.] [177r] Christ did not need the stone to be rolled from the entrance to the tomb; rather, the angel moved the stone to help the feeble women, to comfort them and show them that Christ had risen, and to frighten the guards. The angel looked like a child so that the women would not be frightened. [177v] The lessons of this gospel are that (1) one should seek Christ's body and bury it in the soul through remembrance of the passion; (2) one should trust in God's mercy and not despair since Christ showed mercy to Peter in instructing the women particularly to tell him about the resurrection; [178r] (3) Christ appeared to the women first and made them his messengers to comfort those who were steadfast in faith and to reprove the apostles.
They are three types of men who seek Christ: (1) false believers like the Jews, [178v] (2) devout people like Joseph and Mary, and (3) people in need of help like Martha for her brother, the centurion for his daughter, the widow for her dead son, and especially Mary Magdalene. These signify: (1) those who receive the eucharist but intend to return to sin [179r] which is a betrayal worse than that of Judas because they take Christ into their sinful bodies; (2) those who receive Christ devoutly with clean hearts; [179v] and (3) those who repent during Lent through contrition, confession, and satisfaction. [180r] Throughout life, the devil tries to bring the sinner into sin [180v] and particularly into despair, the worst of all sins. There are five stages of sin from suggestion to habitual action; once the latter occurs, the sinner, thinking he must sin, forsakes God and falls into despair. [181r] Although such sins are great, God's mercy is greater.
The devil tries to make sinners despair but his arguments can be countered. [181v] (1) He may say that the sinner's sins are so numerous, foul and grievous that God may not, cannot, or will not forgive them. To counter this, one should (1) eat, drink and sleep moderately; (2) cultivate the virtues, especially faith, hope, and charity; (3) keep busy with good works [182r] and keep good company. God has more power to forgive sins than the sinner has to commit them. [182v] (2) He may say that the sinner is damned and this cannot be changed. However, one may challenge the devil as to how he knows who is damned. [183r] (3) The devil may say that the sinner's sins are so numerous and persistent that a righteous God must condemn him or her; Cain, Judas, and Saul were each damned for a single sin. [183v] The answer to this is that Christ's passion can wash away any sin while the sins of the damned can never be washed away. If one trusts in God, one's sins will be washed away. [184r] David, Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene all sinned but are now in heaven because they repented. [184v]
The best general lesson in dealing with temptation is given in Ps 136:9, 'Blessed be he žat schal holde and knocke his smale or his 3onge children to a stoon'. The small children represent the early stages of a man's works and deeds, conceived but not yet fulfilled. One ought to hold onto these stirrings and strike them with the stone of righteousness that is Christ. By holding fast to Christ, [185r] one may be brought to joy and bliss.
BIBLICAL CITATIONS
Mc 16:6 (L); Mt 4:4 (L); Mc 16:1–7; Mt 28:3 (L); cf. Io 18:4–5; Lc 2:42 (L); cf. Mt 8:5–13; cf. Lc 7:12–15; cf. Mc 16:9; Hbr 6:6 (L); Mt 12:50 (L); Io 5:14 (L); Col 3:5 (L); cf. Gn 3:1–6; cf. Mt 4:1–11; I Cor 10:13 (L); Mt 24:36 (L); Ps 136:9 (L).
PROPER NAMES
St Peter; St Joseph; Mary; St Martha; Lazarus (Io 11–12); St Mary Magdalene; Judas Iscariot; Eve; Adam; Cain; Abel; Saul (OT); David; St Paul.
PLACE NAMES
Galilee.
CONCEPTS
Eucharist; Sin; Pater noster; Ave Maria; Resurrection; Mercy; Women; Devil.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
O'Mara 1987:187–93.
