The Fourth Letter to Agnes of Prague
(1253)

¹To her who is half of her soul and the special shrine of her heart’s deepest love, to the illustrious Queen and Bride of the Lamb, the eternal King, to the Lady Agnes her most dear mother, and, of all the others, her favorite daughter, ²Clare, an unworthy servant of Christ and a useless handmaid of His handmaids in the monastery of San Damiano of Assisi: ³health and may she sing the new song with the other most holy virgins before the throne of God and the Lamb and follow the Lamb wherever He will go.^a

⁴O mother and daughter, spouse of the King of all ages, if I have not written to you as often as both your soul and mine desire and long for, do not wonder at all ⁵or think that the fire of love for you glows with less delight in your mother’s heart. ⁶No, this is the difficulty: the lack of messengers and the obvious dangers of the roads.

⁷Now, however, as I write to your love, I rejoice and exult with you in the joy of the Spirit, O spouse of Christ, ⁸because, since you have totally abandoned the vanities of this world, like the other most holy virgin, Saint Agnes, you have been marvelously espoused to the spotless Lamb, Who takes away the sins of the world.

⁹Happy, indeed, is she
to whom it is given to drink at this sacred banquet
so that she might cling with her whole heart
to Him
¹⁰Whose beauty all the blessed hosts of heaven
unceasingly admire,

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Epistola Ad Sanctam Agnetem De Praga IV

¹Animae suae dimidiae et praecordialis amoris armariae singularis, illustri reginae, Agni Regis aeterni sponsae, dominae Agneti, matri suae carissimae ac filiae inter omnes alias speciali, ²Clara indigna Christi famula et ancilla inutilis ancillarum eius commorantium in monasterio Sancti Damiani de Assisio, salutem ³et cum reliquis sanctissimis virginibus ante thronum Dei et Agni novum cantare canticum et quocumque ierit Agnum sequi.

⁴O mater et filia, sponsa Regis omnium saeculorum, et si tibi non scripsi frequenter, prout anima tua et mea pariter desiderat et peroptat aliquatenus, non mireris, ⁵nec credas ullatenus incendium caritatis, erga te minus ardere suaviter in visceribus matris tuae. ⁶Hoc est: impediverunt defectus nuntiorum et viarum pericula manifesta. ⁷Nunc vero, scribens caritati tuae, congaudeo et exsulto tibi in gaudio spiritus, sponsa Christi, ⁸quia velut altera virgo sanctissima, sancta Agnes, Agno immaculato, qui tollit peccata mundi, es mirifice desponsata, sumptis omnibus vanitatibus huius mundi.

⁹Felix certe,
cui hoc sacro datur potiri convivio,
ut ei adhaereatur totis cordis praecordiis,
¹⁰cuius pulchritudinem
omnia beata caelorum agmina incessabiliter admirantur,