Chapter XXV.
The Author's Pious Prayer. Commendation of Tears. Dismissal of the Hearers for Refreshment. Finally, Invitation to the Mysteries of the Lord's Body.
89. Look upon us also, Lord Jesus, that we may acknowledge our own errors, release our guilt with pious tears, and deserve the forgiveness of our sins. Therefore, we have deliberately prolonged our speech, so that the rooster may also crow for us and come to our aid when we speak, so that if any offense has slipped into our words, you, Christ, may forgive the guilt. Please grant us the tears of Peter, for I do not desire the joy of the sinner. The Hebrews wept and were freed through the parting waters of the sea. Pharaoh rejoiced because he had the Hebrews enclosed, and he drowned them in the sea with his own people. Judas also rejoiced in the reward of his betrayal, but he hanged himself with the noose of that same reward. Peter wept for his mistake, and he deserved to erase the mistakes of others.
90. But now it is the time when we should end our speech and close it: it is the time when it is better to be silent or weep: it is the time when the forgiveness of sins is celebrated. Let this mysterious rooster also sing for us in our sacred rites; for now Peter's rooster has already sung in our discourse. Let Peter weep for us, who wept well for himself and may he turn Christ's merciful face towards us. May the passion of Jesus the Lord hasten, which daily forgives our sins and performs the gift of remission.
91. The Lord does not want to send away the hungry, so that no one faints on the way. If he says, I have compassion for this crowd; for they have persevered with me for three days, and have nothing to eat, and I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way (Matth., XV, 32); to which Mary, who was intent on his words, refused the preparations of a feast: how much more should we consider that there are not many who live by the word of God, and therefore the nourishment of the body is desired! Certainly, our work on the following day of those three days is more laborious.
92. And therefore, let us now sing the mysteries of the Lord, having played with the birds, having sung with the rooster, and let the eagles, renewed by the washing of sin, come to the body of Jesus. For that great whale has now returned Jonah to us: and let us rejoice that evening has become for us the fifth day; may the morning become for us the sixth day.
Book Six. Of the Work of the Sixth Day.