the mystical temple of god 642 For who would not dare to undertake what the purple-clad are not ashamed of? Next, to give food and drink to the needy is proper to great mercy. Clement IX, who died in a very saintly way two years ago (I write this in 1671), following the custom of Gregory the Great, frequently invited the poor to his table.171 Those who have experienced it, speak about this charity far and wide. But also illustrious women, like Elizabeth,172 Hedwig,173 and Kunegunda174 became famous through this virtue. Fortunate women, if they now have imitators! But if high rank or public business hinders someone from this work, he will not lack a reward if he does it through others. The ransoming of captives, especially from infidels, O how glorious! How meritorious! Paolinus, bishop of Nola, who got rid of all that belonged to him and to the Church for this work [of mercy], finally gave himself up as a ransom for the son of a poor widow.175 171 The author could have learned of Pope Clement IX (d. 1669) “inviting the needy to his table” by word of mouth at the time of his stay in Rome at the end of 1667 (the year when Clement was made Pope) and the beginning of 1668. Clement IX was known for his mercy and generosity towards the poor; cf. Soranzo Giovanni, Clement IX, Pope: ECat III, col. 1830. He evidently imitated St. Gregory I, the Great, who excelled “chiefly in mercy towards the poor,” and as Roman Pontiff “everyday invited twelve poor men to serve them food and drink.” Indeed, in the church of St. Gregory on the Caelian (the oratory of St. Barbara) there still exists “a marble tablet from the Roman era which according to tradition was used by St. Gregory I, Pope, for the repast of the poor.” Cf. Monachino, Vincenzo, Gregory I: BS VII, 271-275 (P. XI: The Fame of Holiness and Worship); Pesci Benedetto, Gregory I, Pope, Called the Great: ECat VI, 1123-1124. 172 St. Elizabeth of Hungary (d. 1231); cf. LH, Second Reading for the Office of Reading for November 17, when her memory is celebrated. 173 St. Hedwig, the wife of prince Henry of Silesia, who enclosed herself in the Cistercian monastery in Trzebnica when her husband died. When she was still in the world, St. Hedwig always had 13 poor people in her palace, to whom she served food and drink. Cf. Nowodworski, Michal, Jadwiga: EKośc VIII, 363. 174 Saint Kunegunda (d. 1292), a Sister of St. Clare, founded a monastery in Stary Sącz in the year 1280, where she died in 1292. Her body was highly venerated there. Also, the parents of the author, who lived in neighboring Podegrodzie, had great devotion towards her. The author himself had a devotion to St. Kunegunda from his youth. Cf. Positio, pp. 7, 15, 207, 566, 635, 661. 175 St. Paolinus, bishop of Nola (d. 431). The author mentions “the episode narrated by Gregory the Great in his Dialogues (I, 3), where we read that Paolinus offered himself as a voluntary prisoner of the Vandals in place of a young man, the
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