A Medieval Christmas Eve Letter from Fra Giovanni Giocondo
A Christmas Eve L letter from Fra Giovanni Giocondo
I salute you. I am your friend, and my love for you goes deep. There is nothing I can give you, which you have not. But there is much, very much, that, while I cannot give it, you can take. No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in it today. Take heaven! No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this present little instant.
Take peace! The gloom of the world is but a shadow. Behind it, yet within our reach, is joy. There is radiance and glory in darkness, could we but see. And to see, we have only to look. I beseech you to look!
Life is so generous a giver. But we, judging its gifts by their covering, cast them away as ugly or heavy or hard. Remove the covering, and you will find beneath it a living splendor, woven of love by wisdom, with power. Welcome it, grasp it, and you touch the angel’s hand that brings it to you.
Everything we call a trial, a sorrow or a duty, believe me, that angel’s hand is there. The gift is there and the wonder of an overshadowing presence. Your joys, too, be not content with them as joys. They, too, conceal diviner gifts.
Life is so full of meaning and purpose, so full of beauty beneath its covering, that you will find earth but cloaks your heaven. Courage then to claim it; that is all! But courage you have, and the knowledge that we are pilgrims together, wending through unknown country home.
You can also read Fra Giovanni’s message in German.
These wordes do speaketh of seeing beyond our eyes. No matter how small, we can always find thankfulness. And in our gratitude, it is there we find a deep channel to our hertes. It taketh courage to walk to greater depths, but we are not alone. We pilgrims shall always walk together till we are home.
Lady Sharon
A humble pilgrim who walketh by thy side
Who was Fra Giovanni Giocondo?
Fra Giovanni Giocondo was a Franciscan friar who lived from c.1435-1515.
He excelled in , philosophy, archaeology, and classical literature but is best known for his architectural and engineering works. Giocondo began his career as a teacher of Latin and Greek in Verona, Italy. This Italian architect and engineer built the fortifications of the Treviso, and is universally credited with the design of the Palazzo del Consiglio (1476), which was one of the most perfect buildings in all Europe.
In addition to his classical and mathematical knowledge he was a master of scholastic theology. He stimulated the revival of classical learning by making collections of ancient manuscripts. His full accomplishments show great brilliance.
Read more about Fra Giovanni Giocondo.
We thank Gratefulness.org for the inspiration.
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