Domi mansit, lanam fecit
Thomas a Kempis mentioned in Imitation of Mary that this motto of the noble Romans expresses the valiant, diligent woman--the perfection--Mary fulfills.
What does Domi mansit, lanam fecit mean? The search for meaning began the other day. Fr. R. didn't know but picked out domi as having to do with "house." Fr. S. worked on it after Mass and later said all he could come up with was something related to the woman being the mistress of the household yet also one who works and serves. He thought it was something like, "She who is head of the household also draws the bath."
It took Br. M. and two Benedictine priests of St. Andrew Svorak Abbey to definitively solve the translation of this motto.
Why did I need to know? I wondered why this motto, of several Latin phrases Thomas a Kempis uses, seemed to be absolutely necessary for my entrance into this next phase of my life: the maidservant of the Handmaid of the Lord. Somehow, I knew the Lord and the Handmaid wanted me to know and acquiesce to this motto.
Br. M. e-mailed back saying both priests immediately said Domi mansit, lanam fecit means "Remain [at] home, work the wool."
Ah, yes! The maidservant has been wandering too much from home, not working the wool. And what wool? Lambswool? Surely so.
The maidservant is to imitate the Handmaid and also the Agnus Dei, the Lamb of God. For see? Behold Him! He comes to take away the sins of the world! Even the sins of the maidservant....
Being a maidservant means a dutiful life, a life of simplicity, of stability, of poverty, of humble service. It means I must keep an eye on the hand of my mistress, for I must be careful to do as she requests and desires. Exteriorly, I must imitate her bearing, her modesty, her surety of pondrance. I must think before I speak or act. I must imitate her lovely face, her poise, her presence, her way of positing questions.
Remain [at] home. I tried this yesterday after I wandered to a used book store and found some outstanding out-of-print Catholic books. One is the autobiography of Caryll Houslander; I read somewhere that she was an eccentric mystic. I'm not sure about the eccentric part, if the word is used as people today tend to use it, with arched eyebrow and scythe-bladed smile.
Eccentric came from the Middle English, meaning not of the circular path of the earth, in the solar system, thus off-center. Today the notion is peculiar and odd.
My Irish Da, the great and saintly Fr. F. told me, regarding the House of Mary--the Betmaryam being built soon--that people will say, "Ah, there is that mystic living toward the end of the street." It told him that in Indiana the word for "mystic" is "oddball".
Caryll Houslander suffered much in her life of 53 years. She died 50 years to the day of my own mother's death. I am counting on this connection to bring some friendship and help from Caryll, not only for my mother's soul but also for me to learn to be an outstandingly humble and hard-working maidservant to the Handmaid.
So I will try to remain at home more, and I started by doing so this morning, staying on the floor longer than usual, taking a shower later, and not rushing into early Mass. The maidservant was not well enough, frankly, and I wondered what the mistress does with suffering maidservants. I suppose, like this morning, she is quite patient but knows if there is sloth involved. So I got up at the point in which I knew the pain would not be served by more rest, and better served by stretching the legs and back, and scrubbing the tub and putting in a load of dirty clothes before heading out to a coffee house near the Cathedral. Soon it will be time for noon Mass. Then the maidservant will meet a Protestant cousin for lunch, and try to listen and help her heal over being wounded this past weekend--wounded in feelings by a rude woman.
This, too, perhaps is working the wool. Working what the Lamb of God would desire in being available to the wounded souls that wander this earth--and that means most of us if not all.
But the maidservant has been called off personal encounter with Gazelle, except to pray intently for her soul and that of her husband. They are not only wounded but also enslaved by the devil. That isn't being off-kilter or off-center; that is being held prisoner in a dungeon of confusion.
Remain home, work the wool. Later today I will return to the rental house where the Handmaid and I wait a few more months to move to the Betmaryam. I will read and tidy up until time to go to bed. I admit that I love night time; it is dark, soothing, and the floor embraces my aching body and suffering soul. I can read an engaging chapter of a saint's life, pray Compline, and continue interiorly talking with the Lamb of God. It is when and where I can be in the calm of dark and work the wool in the world's encroaching silence and rest.
Dearest Mary Mother and Mistress, most Holy and Sweet Lamb of God: I will try more and more to remain home and work the wool.
What does Domi mansit, lanam fecit mean? The search for meaning began the other day. Fr. R. didn't know but picked out domi as having to do with "house." Fr. S. worked on it after Mass and later said all he could come up with was something related to the woman being the mistress of the household yet also one who works and serves. He thought it was something like, "She who is head of the household also draws the bath."
It took Br. M. and two Benedictine priests of St. Andrew Svorak Abbey to definitively solve the translation of this motto.
Why did I need to know? I wondered why this motto, of several Latin phrases Thomas a Kempis uses, seemed to be absolutely necessary for my entrance into this next phase of my life: the maidservant of the Handmaid of the Lord. Somehow, I knew the Lord and the Handmaid wanted me to know and acquiesce to this motto.
Br. M. e-mailed back saying both priests immediately said Domi mansit, lanam fecit means "Remain [at] home, work the wool."
Ah, yes! The maidservant has been wandering too much from home, not working the wool. And what wool? Lambswool? Surely so.
The maidservant is to imitate the Handmaid and also the Agnus Dei, the Lamb of God. For see? Behold Him! He comes to take away the sins of the world! Even the sins of the maidservant....
Being a maidservant means a dutiful life, a life of simplicity, of stability, of poverty, of humble service. It means I must keep an eye on the hand of my mistress, for I must be careful to do as she requests and desires. Exteriorly, I must imitate her bearing, her modesty, her surety of pondrance. I must think before I speak or act. I must imitate her lovely face, her poise, her presence, her way of positing questions.
Remain [at] home. I tried this yesterday after I wandered to a used book store and found some outstanding out-of-print Catholic books. One is the autobiography of Caryll Houslander; I read somewhere that she was an eccentric mystic. I'm not sure about the eccentric part, if the word is used as people today tend to use it, with arched eyebrow and scythe-bladed smile.
Eccentric came from the Middle English, meaning not of the circular path of the earth, in the solar system, thus off-center. Today the notion is peculiar and odd.
My Irish Da, the great and saintly Fr. F. told me, regarding the House of Mary--the Betmaryam being built soon--that people will say, "Ah, there is that mystic living toward the end of the street." It told him that in Indiana the word for "mystic" is "oddball".
Caryll Houslander suffered much in her life of 53 years. She died 50 years to the day of my own mother's death. I am counting on this connection to bring some friendship and help from Caryll, not only for my mother's soul but also for me to learn to be an outstandingly humble and hard-working maidservant to the Handmaid.
So I will try to remain at home more, and I started by doing so this morning, staying on the floor longer than usual, taking a shower later, and not rushing into early Mass. The maidservant was not well enough, frankly, and I wondered what the mistress does with suffering maidservants. I suppose, like this morning, she is quite patient but knows if there is sloth involved. So I got up at the point in which I knew the pain would not be served by more rest, and better served by stretching the legs and back, and scrubbing the tub and putting in a load of dirty clothes before heading out to a coffee house near the Cathedral. Soon it will be time for noon Mass. Then the maidservant will meet a Protestant cousin for lunch, and try to listen and help her heal over being wounded this past weekend--wounded in feelings by a rude woman.
This, too, perhaps is working the wool. Working what the Lamb of God would desire in being available to the wounded souls that wander this earth--and that means most of us if not all.
But the maidservant has been called off personal encounter with Gazelle, except to pray intently for her soul and that of her husband. They are not only wounded but also enslaved by the devil. That isn't being off-kilter or off-center; that is being held prisoner in a dungeon of confusion.
Remain home, work the wool. Later today I will return to the rental house where the Handmaid and I wait a few more months to move to the Betmaryam. I will read and tidy up until time to go to bed. I admit that I love night time; it is dark, soothing, and the floor embraces my aching body and suffering soul. I can read an engaging chapter of a saint's life, pray Compline, and continue interiorly talking with the Lamb of God. It is when and where I can be in the calm of dark and work the wool in the world's encroaching silence and rest.
Dearest Mary Mother and Mistress, most Holy and Sweet Lamb of God: I will try more and more to remain home and work the wool.
posted by The Catholic Hermit | 7:55 AM
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