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WORDING THE SILENCE: INITIATORY READING OF MYSTICAL TEXTS by which He is clear to Himself and to all His friends and His nearest beloved. (Letter 1, 1-7). God / die de clare minne die onbekint was / verclaerde bi siere doghet / daer hi alle doghet bi verlichte in siere claerheit der minnen, / Hi moet v verliechten ende verclaren /metter claerre claerheit / daer hi hem seluen claer met es / ende al sinen vrienden ende sinen naesten gheminden Given the way Hadewijch formulates and constructs her sentences, light emerges in this text as a reality that can unexpectedly bring something about that does not belong to the realm of understanding or a person’s own will. She then goes on to evoke a community that is enlightened by God’s clarity and in which ‘you’ and T (the magistra speaking) are bound to each other, as well as to those who are ‘beloved by God’. Further on, Hadewijch makes use of other rhetorical stances. One of these is her role as the magistra who shows the way towards minne. This is why I pray you as a friend his dear friend, and I admonish you as a sister her dear sister, and I demand of you as a mother her dear child, and I order you from your Beloved, as the bridegroom orders his dear bride, to open up the eyes of your heart in clarity and regard yourself holy in God. (17-25) Hier omme / bidic v / alsoe vrient sinen lieuen vrient / Ende mane v / alse suster haere lieuer suster / Ende hete v / alse moeder haren lieuen kinde / Ende ghebiede v van uwen gheminden / alse brudegom ghebiedet siere lieuer bruyt / Dat ghi ontpluuct die oghen uwer herten claerlike, / ende besiet v in gode heilichleke. The link between God, speaker and addressee is represented by a crescendo along two separate lines: that of an increasing exhortation (I pray you, admonish you, demand of you, order you’), and an ever more personal appeal (friend, sister, mother, bridegroom) to the sensibilities of the listener. ‘Order you from your Beloved’ (Ghebiede v van uwen gheminden) is clearly the high point of the first series, just as bridegroom/bride is of the second. This long sentence hearkens back to the beginning of the letter with the word claerlike, + 123 ¢ Daréczi-Sepsi-Vassänyi_Initiation_155x240.indb 123 6 2020.06.15. 11:04:16
