And An Half Mile From Nazareth Is The
Leap Of Our Lord.
For the Jews led him upon an high rock for to
make him leap down, and have slain him; but Jesu passed amongst
them, and leapt upon another rock, and yet be the steps of his feet
seen in the rock, where he alighted.
And therefore say some men,
when they dread them of thieves in any way, or of enemies; JESUS
AUTEM TRANSIENS PER MEDIUM ILLORUM IBAT; that is to say, 'Jesus,
forsooth, passing by the midst of them, he went': in token and
mind, that our Lord passed through, out the Jews' cruelty, and
scaped safely from them, so surely may men pass the peril of
thieves'. And then say men two verses of the Psalter three sithes:
IRRUAT SUPER EOS FORMIDO & PAVOR, IN MAGNITUDINE BRACHII TUI,
DOMINE. FIANT IMMOBILES, QUASI LAPIS, DONEC PERTRANSEAT POPULUS
TUUS, DOMINE; DONEC PERTRANSEAT POPULUS TUUS ISTE, QUEM POSSEDISTI;
and then may men pass without peril.
And ye shall understand, that our Lady had child when she was
fifteen year old. And she was conversant with her son thirty-three
year and three months. And after the passion of our Lord she lived
twenty-four year.
Also from Nazareth men go to the Mount Tabor; and that is a four
mile. And it is a full fair hill and well high, where was wont to
be a town and many churches; but they be all destroyed. But yet
there is a place that men clepe the school of God, where he was
wont to teach his disciples, and told them the privities of heaven.
And, at the foot of that hill, Melchisedech that was King of Salem,
in the turning of that hill met Abraham in coming again from the
battle, when he had slain Abimelech. And this Melchisedech was
both king and priest of Salem that now is clept Jerusalem. In that
hill Tabor our Lord transfigured him before Saint Peter, Saint John
and Saint Jame; and there they saw, ghostly, Moses and Elias the
prophets beside them. And therefore said Saint Peter; DOMINE,
BONUM EST NOS HIC ESSE; FACIAMUS HIC TRIA TABERNACULA; that is to
say, 'Lord, it is good for us to be here; make we here three
dwelling-places.' And there heard they a voice of the Father that
say; HIC EST FILIUS MEUS DILECTUS, IN QUO MIHI BENE COMPLACUI. And
our Lord defended them that they should not tell that avision till
that he were risen from death to life.
In that hill and in that same place, at the day of doom, four
angels with four trumpets shall blow and raise all men that had
suffered death, sith that the world was formed, from death to life;
and shall come in body and soul in judgment, before the face of our
Lord in the Vale of Jehosaphat. And the doom shall be on Easter
Day, such time as our Lord arose. And the doom shall begin, such
hour as our Lord descended to hell and despoiled it. For at such
hour shall he despoil the world and lead his chosen to bliss; and
the other shall he condemn to perpetual pains. And then shall
every man have after his desert, either good or evil, but if the
mercy of God pass his righteousness.
Also a mile from Mount Tabor is the Mount Hermon; and there was the
city of Nain. Before the gate of that city raised our Lord the
widow's son, that had no more children. Also three miles from
Nazareth is the Castle Safra, of the which the sons of Zebedee and
the sons of Alpheus were. Also a seven mile from Nazareth is the
Mount Cain, and under that is a well; and beside that well Lamech,
Noah's father, slew Cain with an arrow. For this Cain went through
briars and bushes as a wild beast; and he had lived from the time
of Adam his father unto the time of Noah, and so he lived nigh to
2000 year. And this Lamech was all blind for eld.
From Safra men go to the sea of Galilee and to the city of
Tiberias, that sits upon the same sea. And albeit that men clepe
it a sea, yet is it neither sea ne arm of the sea. For it is but a
stank of fresh water that is in length one hundred furlongs, and of
breadth forty furlongs, and hath within him great plenty of good
fish, and runneth into flom Jordan. The city is not full great,
but it hath good baths within him.
And there, as the flome Jordan parteth from the sea of Galilee, is
a great bridge, where men pass from the Land of Promission to the
land of King Bashan and the land of Gennesaret, that be about the
flom Jordan and the beginning of the sea of Tiberias. And from
thence may men go to Damascus, in three days, by the kingdom of
Traconitis, the which kingdom lasteth from Mount Hermon to the sea
of Galilee, or to the sea of Tiberias, or to the sea of Gennesaret;
and all is one sea, and this the tank that I have told you, but it
changeth thus the name for the names of the cities that sit beside
him.
Upon that sea went our Lord dry feet; and there he took up Saint
Peter, when he began to drench within the sea, and said to him,
MODICE FIDEI, QUARE DUBITASTI? And after his resurrection our Lord
appeared on that sea to his disciples and bade them fish, and
filled all the net full of great fishes. In that sea rowed our
Lord often-time; and there he called to him Saint Peter, Saint
Andrew, Saint James and Saint John, the sons of Zebedee.
In that city of Tiberias is the table upon the which our Lord ate
upon with his disciples after his resurrection; and they knew him
in breaking of bread, as the gospel saith:
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