life of john picus earl of mirandola - The Center for Thomas More ...

The flesh voluntarily
afflicted for God’s sake
[65]
Anger or wrath can
have no place in a
godly mind.
No misadventure
could happen to J.
Picus so grievous as
the loss of his books.
16 Thomas More’s Life of John Picus
that he might the more easily by him as by a faithful messenger relieve
the necessity and misery of poor needy people such as himself haply
could not come by the knowledge of.
⌐ Of the Voluntary Affliction and Paining of his own Body. ¬ Over all this,
many times (which is not to be kept secret) he gave alms of his own
body. We know many men which (as Saint Jerome saith) 1 put forth
their hand to poor folk, but with the pleasure of the flesh they be
overcome; but he many days (and namely those days which represent
unto us the passion and death that Christ suffered for our sake) beat
and scourged his own flesh in the remembrance of that great benefit
and for cleansing of his old offences.¦
⌐ Of his Placability or Benign Nature. ¬ He was of cheer always merry
and of so benign nature that he was never troubled with anger,¦ and
he said once to his nephew 2 that whatsoever should happen (fell
there never so great misadventure) he could never, as him thought,
be moved to wrath, but if° his chests perished in which his books lay
that he had with great travail and watch compiled. But forasmuch as
he considered that he laboured only for the love of God and profit
of His Church, and that he had dedicated unto Him all his works, his
studies and his doings, and since he saw that, ⌐ since God is almighty, ¬
they could not miscarry but if it were either by His commandment or
by His suffereance, he verily trusted, ⌐ since God is all good, ¬ that He
would not suffer him to have that occasion of heaviness.° 3 O ⌐ very ¬
happy mind, which none adversity might oppress, which no prosperity
might enhance¦; not the cunning of all philosophy was able to make
him proud, not the knowledge of the Hebrew, Chaldee° and Arabic
language, besides Greek and Latin, could make him vainglorious; not
his great substance, not his noble blood could blow up his heart, not the
beauty of his body, not the great occasion 4 of sin, were able to pull him
16 but if unless / 23 heaviness sorrow / 26 Chaldee Aramaic, not Chaldean (see CW 1:219)
¦ 11 More omits Gianfrancesco’s brief first person testimony regarding Picus’ voluntary afflictions
: “and with my own eyes—may all redound to the glory of God!—I have often seen the
whip” (CW 1:323). / 13 More omits multis etiam audientibus testatus sit, “that he testified, in the
hearing of many persons” (CW 1:322, 323). / 25 More omits ut palam fiet, “as will become
clear” (CW 1:322, 323).
1. Rigg cites Saint Jerome’s Epistola ad Eustochium Virginem (84, n. 13) as the source.
2. he said once to his nephew: More alters Gianfrancesco’s first person account—Recolo mihi inter
loquendum dixisse (CW 1:322).
3. He…heaviness: A noteworthy departure from the Latin—confidebat se non contristatum iri, “he
[Picus] trusted he would not be saddened by it” (CW 1:322, 323).
4. occasion: Latin licentia (CW 1:322).
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