|
Those on the left wanted more certain proof, went to see if Christ was alive, just as someone, an angry arm, brutally thrust, pierced the right side of the body dying on the cross, but that blind lost hand twisted the spear away from its accustomed path, to keep His heart forever whole, good, there, for the soul must join with him through the heart. Like the Pelican this feeds His children in the nest with His sweet blood, saves, hides them from the fierce, maddened, and ravenous snake. Alas, it is only by such tempests of ravaging grief that we rise above sordid nature to see beyond the shore. |
An image of the Italian text from Visconti's 1840 edition |
|
Notes: From V LXXI:231. See also B S1:36:103; Valgrisi 36; in MS V2 ("Parga pił certa prova al manco lato"). Reference: John 19:32-5. A ninth in a series meditating Christ. Key |
