De ecclesia, chapter 22, part 8

The objections answered: burial in holy places, mourning, three conclusions on rites for the dead, and gilds and costly tombs

Loserth pp. 542.20–548.35

¶1542.20–548.35

542Ad primum obiectum patet quod beatus Gregorius intendit quod talia obsequia non prosunt mortuis nisi forte per accidens. Unde sequitur in textu Gregorii: Nec ideo tamen contempnenda et abicienda sunt corpora defunctorum maximeque iustorum, ex quo illud salubriter discitur quanta possit esse remuneracio pro elemosinis; quas viventibus et sencientibus exibemus, sed neque hoc apud Deum perit quod ex animis hominum membris officii diligencia persolvatur. Ex quo videtur quod racione elemosine prosunt defunctis talia obsequia, et obsunt eis de quanto excitant affectantes ad affectandum splendenciam in mundi gloria, accusantque mortuos, de 543quanto ostendunt illos affectos ad secularia desideria. Et quoad dictum Crisostomi, patet quod ipse intendit istam eandem sentenciam, unde sequitur in textu suo: Pietatis namque affectu et humanitatis intuitu mortuos lugere non prohibemur, sicut nonnullos sanctorum aliorum exequiis legimus pias lacrimas impendisse. Unde quod quis sepelitur iuxta martirem in ecclesia vel ubicunque solempniter, nunc obest et nunc prodest, sed tantum per accidens obest, si accumulant peccata originata ex mortuo decedente in mortali. Prodest, si sit occasio diligencius orandi pro mortuo in gracia decedente, unde decretum (ubi supra) sub auctoritate sanctorum Augustini et Gregorii sic loquitur: Quibus peccata dimissa non sunt, a sacris locis post mortem adiuvari non possunt, quia quos peccata graviora deprimunt, si in sacris locis sepeliri se faciunt, restat ut de sua presumpcione iudicentur, quia eos sacra loca non liberant, sed culpa temeritatis accusat. Et quoad secundum partem sequitur decretum beati Gregorii: Cum gravia peccata dimissa sunt et non deprimunt, tunc prodest mortuis si in ecclesia sepeliantur, quia eorum proximi, quociens ad eadem loca veniunt, suorum quoque sepulturam aspiciunt, recordantur et pro eis domino preces fundunt. Nam quos peccata gravia deprimunt, ad maiorem cumulum dampnacionis pocius quam absolucionem eorum corpora in ecclesiis reponuntur. Quantum ad racionem terciam, quomodocunque glossamus, non dubium quin murmuraciones plurime pro mortuis sunt inique; 544dicitur enim quod alius est amor vel affeccio naturalis, quali Christus voluit vivere et non mori, cum Matthei XXVI° dicit: Verumptamen non sicut ego volo, sed sicut tu vis. Et tali affeccione naturali doluit mater eius pro morte filii naturalis. Nec evidens quod in hoc peccavit, sicut nec Christus, quando pro Lazaro ploravit. Alia autem est affeccio deliberativa qua non est dolendum sed gaudendum de mortibus propinquorum. Sic enim Christus, sic Paulus et ceteri martires gaudebant de pena et morte propria, et sic oportet omnem salvandum gaudere. Ideo necessarium est christianis discere quomodo debent mori; quando ergo quis plus dolet propter amissionem boni utilis vel boni delectabilis temporalis in morte proximi quam propter amissionem boni utilis anime defuncti et utilitatis ecclesie, tunc peccat indubie plus vel minus, sicut ille peccat gravius qui propter amissionem amoris quem habet ad seculum dolet de morte propria. Et patet quod debemus secundum racionem superare impetum anime naturalem, sicut est mihi verisimile quod mater domini mitigavit ex integro, et Christus non directe ploravit pro morte Lazari quem necessitavit ad gloriam suam mori, sed doluit pro peccato humani generis, pro quo oportuit talia et tot pati. Unde ex concilio Toletano Qui divina sic scribitur: Prohibet nos sanctus Apostolus dicens: De dormientibus nolo vos contristari sicut et ceteri qui spem non habent. Et dominus Joh. XI° non flevit Lazarum mortuum, sed ad huius vite erumpnas ploravit resuscitandum. Si autem potest hoc episcopus omnibus christianis prohibere, non moretur. 545Ex istis colligo conclusionem triplicem mihi notabilem: Prima quomodo ista sentencia est a prepositis populo predicanda, eo quod instruit eum in moribus, evacuat errorem fidei et precipitur ab ecclesia fieri. Quod si multiplicamus leges de sepulturis et eas solempnizamus atque pro porcionibus et substancia defuncti contendimus et illud cum aliis suffragiis defunctorum omittimus, quis dubitat quin Deus huius seculi usque ad infidelitatem cecavit oculos mentis nostre? Et cum in vigilia Pentecostes post communionem concinimus quod Deus per os omnium prophetarum docuit nos temporalia relinquere, et alibi cantantes oramus ut Deus doceat nos terrena despicere, quia certum est quod spiritus sanctus effugit cohabitare cum spiritu hominis sic affeccione temporalium deturpato. Ad probandum autem si sumus huiusmodi, sollicitudines nostre cum actibus sequentibus iudicabunt. Nam pater spiritualis qui animo preponderat oracionis suffragia et elemosinas providas faciendas pro mortuis plus quam lucri temporalis commoda, manifeste demonstrat quod plus amat temporalia defuncti quam anime sue spirituale suffragium. Secunda conclusio: Nullus ritus ecclesie ab eius capite approbatus de suffragiis vel memoriis faciendis pro mortuis repugnat sentencie supradicte. Patet ex hoc quod nulla veritas repugnat veritati. Procuret ergo homo, quantum prudenter sufficit, per se vel alium, remedium animarum in purgatorio oblacionibus vel stipendiis annalibus sacerdotum aut precibus sanctorum, aut carorum elemosinis aut ieiunio cognatorum et secundum supradictam Dei sentenciam approbatur. 546Et hiis quatuor modis secundum decretum beati Gregorii, XIIIª q. II, Anime defunctorum, contingit animabus in purgatorio suffragari, ymmo (ut sepe dixi) per omnem vitam vel operam meritoriam viatoris. Unde ritus quem approbat beatus Ambrosius in De Officiis, positus in conclusione predicta, plurimum est laudandus. Quia, inquit, alii tercium diem, alii septimum diem, alii tricesimum, alii quadragesimum observare consueverunt in officiis mortuorum, quid doceat leccio consideremus. Defuncto quidem Jacob precipit Joseph pueris suis ut sepelirent eum et sepelierunt sepultores Israel, et completi sunt quadraginta dies luctus, ut patet Genesis L°. Sed eciam in Deuteronomio, capitulo ultimo, et Numeri XX scriptum est: Quia planxerunt filii Israel Moysen triginta diebus et consummati sunt dies luctus. Illi autem qui servant diem tercium respiciunt trinitatem vel triduum resurreccionis Christi; qui autem observant septimum observant perpetuam quietem anime, que est tercia cum copulacione corporis, quod est quatuor; ex quibus autem constant septem; qui autem observant trigenarium considerant quomodo ex duobus quindenariis secundum corpus et animam ille constat, quindenarius autem resultat ex septenario patrum legis veteris et octonario legis nove: Nam hos duos numeros quadam proprietate colunt specialiter isti patres. Qui autem observant quadrigenarium expectant fructum resurreccionis per mortem Christi qui totidem horis dicitur fuisse mortuus, licet arca triginta sex horas iacuit in sepulcro, et sic de quinquagenario, centenario vel anniversario secundum racionem cui devocio populi est affecta. 547Omnes enim affectant suis mortuis beatitudinem circularem, ut notat Hostiensis in Summa (ubi supra). Tercia conclusio: Dimissis istis ritibus foret purgandis animabus utilius, populo superstite dante sollicitudinem et operam ex integro ad virtutes. Patet ex hoc quod ista variacio rituum fuit omissa a Christo et suis apostolis; ymmo precepit Matthei VIII°, 22: Dimitte mortuos sepelire mortuos suos et in moribus sequi ipsum. Ista autem variacio introducit sectas et gildas et consequenter errores multiplices, mundialibus infideliter opinantibus quod proporcionaliter habent ipsi suffragia singulariter a se ipsis et beatis in patria, sicut ipsi coniunguntur federe temporali, et sic credunt de suis mortuis quoad ipsa suffragia que impendunt. Illud autem improbatum est hic et capitulo ultimo libri quinti. Omnes enim predestinati vivi vel mortui citra beatitudinem constituti participant suffragiis utriusque ecclesie precise secundum quod digni sunt meritis quoad Deum. Tales ergo lige superfluunt et periculose seminant dogma falsum sepeque gignunt sedicionem in populo. Nec moveat quod sepe bonum ex ipsis evenit, quia Deus non sineret dyabolos vel aliud nefandum collegium congregari, nisi exinde disponeret utilitatem ecclesie provenire. Et sic dicitur de sepulcris et aliis construccionibus sumptuosis quod bonum exinde evenit, ut puta, devocio confluencium, sustentacio egenorum et multa bona similia; malum eciam communius, ut puta, distraccio et ocium sensus hominis dissoluti et inordinata conglobacio tam temporalium quam eciam personarum, et difficile foret iudicare quid istorum foret matri nostre utilius, si facta et dicta Christi et 548apostolorum suorum non darent fidem de inutilitate fundamenti. Non enim est causa evidens: Si Symon, summus sacerdos construxit sibi et suis edificium altum super sepulchrum eorum et mirabiliter sumptuosum (ut patet I Macchabeorum XIII°), ergo bene, sicut est evidens: Si Christus et eius apostoli illud omiserant, ergo bene; nam regimen illorum sacerdotum fuit presagium destruccionis synagoge que fuit ecclesia Judeorum; et fundamentum aliud cum suis domesticis fuit indefectivum principium perpetue ecclesie christiane; nichil ergo valet nobis fidelibus nisi de quanto fuerit fundabile ex lege Christi; sed cum ex lege Christi et lege ecclesie patet quod observancie de quanto plus accedunt ad statum innocencie et minus intricantur cum mundo, imitantes voluntatem Dei, direccius preponderantes in amore bonum communius, patet quod observancia opposita ritui quem mundus in istis exigit est ipso melior. Unde (ut tetigi) talia memorialia post mortuos derelicta vel nocent eis vel minus eis proficiunt quam purgandis pauperibus in gracia ampliori, ymmo minus quam ceteris paribus eorum destruccio. Si enim tales mortui sunt presciti, tunc talia memorialia derelicta sunt fructus peccati sui in spiritum sanctum; si sunt predestinati, tunc sunt fructus sue affeccionis proprietarie expurgande, et indubie pauper decedens in maiori gracia, cum melius usus fuit temporalibus istis quibus verius dominatus est, plus participabit in purgatorio eorum fructu, dominio devoluto ab utroque ad dominum, aput quem non potest esse accepcio personarum. Quomodo excusatur peccatum quo propter affeccionem mundialem vel affeccionem proprietariam carnalem ritus talis preponitur et modus faciendi exproprietarie vivencium, et bonum communius plus diligencium stulte postponitur?

To the first objection it is clear that blessed Gregory maintains that such duties do not profit the dead, except perhaps by accident. Hence there follows in Gregory’s text: "Yet the bodies of the departed, and most of all of the just, are not on that account to be despised and cast away; from which this is wholesomely learned, how great can be the reward for the alms which we show to the living and those who feel; but neither does that perish before God which is paid, by the diligence of duty, to the lifeless members of men."¹ From which it seems that such duties profit the departed by reason of alms, and harm them insofar as they stir those who desire them to desire splendour in the glory of the world; and they accuse the dead, insofar 543as they show them to have been attached to worldly desires.² And as to Chrysostom’s saying, it is clear that he maintains this same teaching; hence there follows in his text: "For we are not forbidden, out of the affection of piety and in regard of humanity, to mourn the dead, as we read that not a few of the saints shed pious tears at the exequies of others."³ Hence that someone is buried beside a martyr in a church, or anywhere with solemnity, now harms and now profits; but it harms only by accident, if they heap up sins originating from the dead man departing in mortal sin. It profits, if it is an occasion of praying more diligently for a dead man departing in grace; hence the decree (where above) speaks thus under the authority of Saints Augustine and Gregory: "Those whose sins have not been remitted cannot be helped by holy places after death; for those whom graver sins weigh down, if they have themselves buried in holy places, it remains that they be judged for their presumption, because the holy places do not free them, but the guilt of their rashness accuses them."⁴ And as to the second part, there follows the decree of blessed Gregory: "When grave sins have been remitted and do not weigh down, then it profits the dead if they are buried in the church, because their neighbours, as often as they come to those same places, see also the burial-place of their own, remember them, and pour out prayers to the Lord for them. For those whom grave sins weigh down, their bodies are laid in churches for a greater heap of damnation, rather than for absolution."⁵ As to the third reason, however we gloss it, there is no doubt that very many murmurings for the dead are wicked; 544for it is said that one thing is love or natural affection, with which Christ willed to live and not to die, when he says, Matthew 26: "Nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." And with such natural affection his mother grieved for the death of her natural son. Nor is it evident that in this she sinned, as neither did Christ when he wept for Lazarus. But another is deliberative affection, by which one is not to grieve but to rejoice at the deaths of kinsfolk. For so Christ, so Paul and the other martyrs rejoiced in their own pain and death; and so every one who is to be saved must rejoice.⁶ Therefore it is necessary for Christians to learn how they ought to die. When, therefore, someone grieves more, in the death of a neighbour, for the loss of a useful good or of a pleasurable temporal good than for the loss of the useful good of the departed’s soul and of the advantage of the church, then without doubt he sins, more or less; as he sins more gravely who grieves at his own death for the loss of the love that he has for the world.⁷ And it is clear that we ought, according to reason, to overcome the natural impulse of the soul, as it is likely to me that the mother of the Lord wholly assuaged that impulse; and Christ did not weep directly for the death of Lazarus, whom he made it necessary to die for his own glory, but grieved for the sin of the human race, for which such things and so many had to be suffered. Hence from the Council of Toledo, Qui divina, it is written thus: "The holy Apostle forbids us, saying: 'Concerning them that are asleep I will not have you sorrowful, even as others who have no hope.' And the Lord, John 11, did not weep for Lazarus dead, but wept for him who was to be raised again to the hardships of this life. But if the bishop can forbid this to all Christians, let him not delay."⁸ 545From these I gather a threefold conclusion, notable to me. The first: how this teaching is to be preached to the people by superiors, because it instructs them in morals, empties out an error of faith, and is commanded by the church to be done. But if we multiply laws about burials and solemnize them, and contend for the portions and substance of the dead man, and omit it along with the other suffrages of the departed, who doubts that the god of this world has blinded the eyes of our mind even to unbelief?⁹ And since on the vigil of Pentecost, after communion, we sing together that God by the mouth of all the prophets taught us to leave temporal goods, and elsewhere, singing, we pray that God may teach us to despise earthly things: because it is certain that the Holy Spirit flees from dwelling together with the spirit of a man thus defiled by affection for temporal goods.¹⁰ And to prove whether we are of this sort, our anxieties, with the acts that follow, will judge. For a spiritual father who in his mind weighs the suffrages of prayer and provident alms to be made for the dead more heavily than the advantages of temporal gain manifestly shows that he loves the temporal goods of the departed more than the spiritual suffrage of his soul.¹¹ The second conclusion: no rite of the church approved by its head concerning suffrages or memorials to be made for the dead is repugnant to the teaching stated above. It is clear from this, that no truth is repugnant to truth. Let a man therefore procure, as far as prudently suffices, by himself or by another, a remedy for the souls in purgatory: by oblations or annual stipends of priests, or by the prayers of saints, or by the alms of dear ones, or by the fasting of kinsfolk; and according to the aforesaid teaching of God it is approved.¹² 546And in these four ways, according to the decree of blessed Gregory, C.13 q.2, Anime defunctorum, it is possible to aid souls in purgatory by intercession; indeed (as I have often said) by every meritorious life or work of a wayfarer.¹³ Hence the rite which blessed Ambrose approves in De officiis, set down in the aforesaid conclusion, is very greatly to be praised. "Since," he says, "some are accustomed to observe the third day, some the seventh day, some the thirtieth, some the fortieth in the offices of the dead, let us consider what the reading teaches. When Jacob had died, Joseph commanded his servants to bury him, and the buriers buried Israel, and the forty days of mourning were fulfilled, as is clear in Genesis 50. But also in Deuteronomy, in the last chapter," and Numbers 20, "it is written that the children of Israel mourned Moses thirty days, and the days of mourning were completed."¹⁴ And those who keep the third day look to the Trinity, or to the three days of Christ’s resurrection; and those who observe the seventh observe the perpetual rest of the soul, which is three, with the coupling of the body, which is four; and of these seven is made up; and those who observe the thirtieth consider how it is made up of two fifteens, according to body and soul; and fifteen results from the seven of the fathers of the old law and the eight of the new law: for these fathers honour these two numbers specially, by a certain propriety. And those who observe the fortieth await the fruit of the resurrection through the death of Christ, who is said to have been dead for as many hours, although the ark lay thirty-six hours in the tomb; and so of the fiftieth, the hundredth or the anniversary, according to the reason to which the devotion of the people is attached.¹⁵ 547For all desire for their dead a circular blessedness, as Hostiensis notes in the Summa (where above).¹⁶ The third conclusion: if these rites were set aside, it would be more useful to the souls to be purged, the surviving people giving their care and labour wholly to the virtues. It is clear from this, that this variety of rites was omitted by Christ and his apostles; indeed he commanded, Matthew 8:22, "Let the dead bury their dead", and to follow him in morals.¹⁷ And this variety brings in sects and gilds, and consequently manifold errors, worldly men faithlessly supposing that they themselves have suffrages singularly, from themselves and from the blessed in the homeland, in proportion as they are joined by a temporal compact; and so they believe of their dead as regards the very suffrages which they bestow.¹⁸ But this has been disproved here and in the last chapter of the fifth book. For all the predestinate, living or dead, who are placed short of blessedness, share in the suffrages of both churches precisely according as they are worthy by their merits as regards God. Such leagues, therefore, are superfluous, and dangerously sow false dogma, and often beget sedition among the people.¹⁹ Nor let it move anyone that good often comes of them, for God would not allow devils or any other abominable college to be gathered unless he disposed that advantage to the church should come of it. And so it is said of tombs and other sumptuous constructions that good comes of them, for instance, the devotion of those who flock together, the sustenance of the needy, and many like goods; evil also, more commonly, for instance, the distraction and idleness of the sense of a dissolute man, and the disordered heaping together of temporal goods as well as of persons; and it would be hard to judge which of these would be more useful to our mother, if the deeds and words of Christ and 548of his apostles did not give faith concerning the uselessness of the foundation.²⁰ For it is not an evident cause: if Simon the high priest built for himself and his own a lofty building over their sepulchre, and wonderfully sumptuous (as is clear in 1 Maccabees 13), therefore it is well, as it is evident: if Christ and his apostles omitted it, therefore it is well; for the rule of those priests was a presage of the destruction of the synagogue, which was the church of the Jews; and the other foundation, with his household, was the unfailing beginning of the perpetual Christian church. Nothing therefore avails us faithful except insofar as it can be founded on the law of Christ; now since from the law of Christ and the law of the church it is clear that observances, the more they approach the state of innocence and the less they are entangled with the world, imitating the will of God, more directly weighting in love the more common good, [the better they are], it is clear that the observance opposite to the rite which the world demands in these things is better than it.²¹ Hence (as I have touched on) such memorials left behind after the dead either harm them, or profit them less than they profit poor men in ampler grace who are to be purged; indeed less, other things being equal, than their destruction would.²² For if such dead men are foreknown, then such memorials left behind are fruits of their sin against the Holy Spirit; if they are predestinate, then they are fruits of their proprietary affection, which is to be purged out; and without doubt the poor man dying in greater grace, since he made better use of these temporal goods, over which he more truly exercised lordship, will share more in their fruit in purgatory, the lordship having devolved from both to the Lord, with whom there can be no respect of persons.²³ How is the sin excused by which, out of worldly affection or carnal proprietary affection, such a rite is put before, and the manner of doing of those who live without property, and who love the more common good more, is foolishly put after?²⁴

Notes

1 Ad primum obiectum: Wyclif now answers the authorities of part 7 that seemed to deny any profit from care of the dead: first Gregory’s decree (Curacio funeris …, 539), then Chrysostom, then the third of the reasons drawn from Cyprian. Talia obsequia: such duties, the funeral observances. S. Decretum C.13 q.2 c.22, under Gregory’s name (Loserth, 542.23; the form is ours); the words are Augustine’s, De cura pro mortuis gerenda 3.5. T. "Lifeless" translates exanimis, our emendation of the print’s ex animis, which does not construe with hominum membris; Augustine (PL 40) and Friedberg’s apparatus read exanimis. The decree reads diligentiaeque persolvitur (542.28); B salubriter dimittitur (542.25). The print’s semicolon after elemosinis is read across, quas taking elemosinis as antecedent. R. Side-note 542.29; A in the margin at 542.20: Nota pro exequiis et sepultura circa ecclesias.
2 Racione elemosine: in so far as the funeral expenses are alms. Excitant affectantes ad affectandum splendenciam: they stir those who desire them to desire splendour (row affectare). Accusant mortuos: the pomp accuses the dead of worldly desires.
3 Chrysostom, as Decretum C.13 q.2 c.26 (Loserth, 543.3). T. AA₁ nonnullorum (543.5). C. Humanitatis intuitu: in regard of humanity. Nonnullos sanctorum aliorum exequiis: some saints at the exequies of others.
4 Decretum C.13 q.2 cc.16–17 (Loserth, 543.13; the form is ours). T. A sp sepelitur, A₁ semper sepelitur; Loserth notes that A₁ copied A’s scribal error (543.7). The decree reads quoniam eos (543.18). C. Si accumulant peccata: the subject of accumulant is unexpressed; taken as the solemn rites, which heap up the sins of one who died in mortal sin. Ubi supra: the canons cited in part 7. R. Side-note 543.7.
5 The same canons. T. The decree reads in ecclesiis (543.22). C. Secundum partem: so printed, for secundam (as secundum confirmacionem, 533.24): the second part of the answer, that burial in church can profit. Suorum … sepulturam aspiciunt: they see the burial-place of their own.
6 Quantum ad racionem terciam: the third of the three reasons drawn from Cyprian (540.17–25, part 7). Alius est amor vel affeccio naturalis … alia autem est affeccio deliberativa: natural affection, which shrinks from death, against deliberative affection, which follows reason. Filii naturalis: her son by nature. S. Matthew 26:39 (Douay–Rheims; Wyclif sicut tu vis, the Vulgate sicut tu); John 11:35, "Jesus wept". T. A quod aliquis (544.1); A et sicut (544.11). R. Side-note 544.1; A in the margin at 543.28: Nota quomodo licet deplangere (with flere, i.e. deflere, written above) mortuum et quomodo.
7 Bonum utile … bonum delectabile: the useful and the pleasurable good (cf. 535, bonum honestum et utile). Propter amissionem amoris quem habet ad seculum: for the loss of what he loves in the world. Plus vel minus: more or less gravely.
8 Decretum C.13 q.2 c.28 Qui divina (Loserth, 544.26; the form is ours), from a council of Toledo; Friedberg: Toledo III (589), c. 22. 1 Thessalonians 4:12: the Douay–Rheims has "we will not have you ignorant … that you be not sorrowful"; the canon’s nolo vos contristari is translated. The decree reads agere non moretur (544.31). C. Quem necessitavit ad gloriam suam mori: whom he made it necessary to die, for his glory (John 11:4). Ad huius vite erumpnas ploravit resuscitandum: he wept for Lazarus as one to be raised again to the hardships of this life. T. A nunciavit ad gloriam (544.23–24). R. Side-note 544.19; A and B in the margin at 544.22: Nota de fletu Christi.
9 Mihi notabilem: notable to me. Prepositis: superiors, here those set over the people (row). Evacuat errorem fidei: clears away an error of faith. Precipitur ab ecclesia fieri: as the Toledo canon commands. Pro porcionibus et substancia defuncti: Loserth glosses porcio as pensio annua, a yearly payment (545.6). S. 2 Corinthians 4:4, "the god of this world hath blinded the minds of unbelievers" (Douay–Rheims); Wyclif’s oculos mentis nostre is translated. R. Side-note 545.2; A in the margin at 545.1: Contra avariciam cleri. Prima conclusio.
10 The sentence has no main clause: Et cum … concinimus … et … oramus is followed directly by quia certum est; it is translated as it stands. Cohabitare: cf. row cohabitacio. S. The postcommunion chant of the vigil of Pentecost (per os omnium prophetarum … temporalia relinquere) and the prayer ut … terrena despicere are the collect of the Saturday before Pentecost in the Gregorian Sacramentary (Deus, qui nobis per prophetarum ora praecepisti, temporalia relinquere) and a common postcommunion (doceas nos terrena despicere), PL 78.
11 As printed, the spiritual father weighs the suffrages for the dead above temporal gain, and yet is said to love the dead man’s goods more than his soul; the argument and Loserth’s side-note ("They must not let the desire of gain outweigh the desire to benefit souls", 545.18) need the reverse. The print, which the plate confirms, is translated; an inversion of the two terms or a lost negative is possible. Pater spiritualis: the dead man’s confessor or priest. Anime sue: the dead man’s soul, or the father’s own. R. Side-note 545.18.
12 Ab eius capite: by its head, taken as Christ. Nulla veritas repugnat veritati: truth does not contradict truth. Quantum prudenter sufficit: as far as prudence allows. Et secundum supradictam Dei sentenciam approbatur: the closing clause has no expressed subject; taken as "and such provision is approved". S. The four ways are those of Decretum C.13 q.2 c.22 Anime defunctorum, under Gregory’s name (Loserth, 546.2); vel stipendiis annalibus, the stipends of annual priests (row sacerdotes annales), is Wyclif’s addition: the canon has oblations, prayers, alms and fasts. R. Side-note 545.23; A in the margin at 545.23: Secunda conclusio. De variis ritibus approbatis in suffragiis et memoriis mortuorum.
13 Contingit animabus … suffragari: it is possible to aid the souls by intercession (row). Per omnem vitam vel operam meritoriam viatoris: by any meritorious life or work of one still on the way.
14 Decretum C.13 q.2 c.24 Quia alii (Loserth, 546.2; the form is ours), under Ambrose’s name and, in Wyclif, his De officiis; the words are from Ambrose, De obitu Theodosii 3 (PL 16), and Wyclif’s De officiis is a misattribution; the print’s italics take in Genesis L° and Deuteronomio, capitulo ultimo, but not Numeri XX. Genesis 50:2–3 and Deuteronomy 34:8 are given in the canon’s wording, which is translated: in the Vulgate the physicians embalm Jacob and "there passed forty days" (Douay–Rheims). Numbers 20:30 is the mourning for Aaron, not Moses. T. A and B lack sepultores (546.12). Ut patet Genesis L° and capitulo ultimo, et Numeri XX are not in the decree (546.12, 546.15) and are left outside the quotation marks. C. Positus in conclusione predicta: taken as "set out in support of the conclusion just stated"; the ritus is the custom of the third, seventh, thirtieth and fortieth days. R. Side-note 546.6; A in the margin at 546.5: Ambrosius.
15 The quotation is closed at luctus; the reasons for the numbers are taken as Wyclif’s. Que est tercia: the soul, taken as threefold, which with the body’s four makes seven; tercia may stand for trina. Septenario … octonario: the sabbath of the old law and the eighth day, the resurrection, of the new. Licet arca triginta sex horas iacuit in sepulcro: the print, checked on the plate, reads arca, "the ark"; circa, "although he lay about thirty-six hours", would give a plainer sense. Secundum racionem cui devocio populi est affecta: according to the reason to which the people’s devotion attaches each day.
16 Hostiensis, Summa aurea (cited in part 1 of this chapter); the place for beatitudo circularis is § Quibus mortuis suffragia: those who keep the anniversary optant mortuis vitam aeternam … et quasi annus in se revolvitur. C. Beatitudinem circularem: a blessedness that comes round as a circle, the year returning on itself in the anniversary.
17 Matthew 8:22 (Douay–Rheims "Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead"); Wyclif puts Dimitte mortuos … first and gives Sequere me as in moribus sequi ipsum (Loserth, 547.7). C. Dimissis istis ritibus: if these rites were set aside. Ista variacio rituum: this variety of days and rites. R. Side-note 547.3; A in the margin at 547.3: Tercia conclusio. Contra ritus supra positos.
18 Sectas et gildas: the religious orders (row secta) and the gilds, with their fraternities of prayer. Proporcionaliter … sicut ipsi coniunguntur federe temporali: in proportion to their membership in a worldly compact; singulariter: as their own, apart from the rest of the church. Infideliter: against the faith. T. B lidere (547.13); the lemma is not legible in the page foot, perhaps federe. R. Side-note 547.10.
19 Hic et capitulo ultimo libri quinti: in this chapter and in the last chapter of the fifth book, De civili dominio III c. 27 (Society ed. IV, 644–46: the rich err in thinking they will have suffrage singulariter; all in purgatory share proporcionabiliter secundum suam capacitatem). Citra beatitudinem: short of blessedness (cf. row citra fidem): the living and those in purgatory. Utriusque ecclesie: of both churches, the militant and the sleeping. Lige: leagues, the gilds and fraternities. T. A p", A₁ pe, for precise (547.18).
20 Dyabolos vel aliud nefandum collegium: the gilds set beside a gathering of devils. Malum eciam communius: evil also, and more commonly. Fundamenti: the foundation, the endowment of tombs and memorials. Darent fidem: gave assurance. R. A in the margin at 547.16: De solempni sepultura et sumptuosis sepulcris.
21 1 Maccabees 13:27, Simon’s monument, paraphrased. C. Non enim est causa evidens: it is not an evident ground for the inference. Fundamentum aliud cum suis domesticis: the other foundation, Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:11), with his household. T. "[The better they are]" is our supply: the clause observancie de quanto plus accedunt … has no main verb and de quanto no correlative. B tam evidens (548.2); B lacks ergo … omiserant (548.5); B regnum illorum fuit (548.7). An ex at 548.12 is Loserth’s supply, lacking in the codices. R. Side-note 548.2.
22 Memorialia post mortuos derelicta: tombs and memorials left by the dead. Purgandis pauperibus in gracia ampliori: poor men in purgatory with greater grace, who share in the fruit (next sentence). Eorum destruccio: the destruction of the memorials.
23 Romans 2:11, "there is no respect of persons with God" (Douay–Rheims), in Wyclif’s words. C. Peccati sui in spiritum sanctum: their sin against the Holy Spirit. Cum melius usus fuit temporalibus istis quibus verius dominatus est: the poor man in grace used these temporal goods better and was more truly their lord. Dominio devoluto ab utroque ad dominum: the lordship having passed back from both to God. T. B lacks expurgande … fuit (548.26).
24 Preponitur … postponitur: put before … put after (cf. row proponere). Modus faciendi exproprietarie vivencium: the way of acting of those who live without property (row exproprietarie). The chapter ends here.

How the Latin of this chapter was established

Plate readings; page · reading · note):
- 542: Gregorius (a is a margin letter)
- 544: Verumptamen
- 544: ego
- 545: animo (203a is the glued folio mark)
- 546: XIIIª)
- 546: ∅)
- 546: plurimum [NW]
- 546: alii
- 547: purgandis (main token holds whole word (pur- / gandis))
- 547: lige [NW]
- 548: edificium