Friday, May 15, 2009

The Abbess and the Dean

"One day he met the abbess of the holy Eleven Thousand Virgins: before her went her clerks, wrapped in mantles of grey fur like the nuns; behind went her ladies and maid-servants, filling the air with the sound of their unprofitable words; while the Dean was followed by his poor folk that besought him for alms. Wherefore this righteous man, burning with the zeal of discipline, cried aloud in the hearing of all: 'Oh, lady Abbess, it would better befit your profession, it would better adorn your religion, that ye, like I, should be followed not by buffoons but by poor folk!'"

Caesarius of Heisterbach, Dialogus Miraculorum (13th century).

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