Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.2003, Blaðsíða 172

158
Michael Chesnutt
thus the whole of Denmark came under his jurisdiction. And so King Valdemar
the victorious brought unbelievers to the faith, believers to peace, and peaceful
men to security, tuming hatred to love, sorrow to joy, war to peace, and po verty to
prosperity. Retuming, I tell you, to his original purpose, when he saw how the
miracles of his father, the glorious martyr, increased in number, he devoted him-
self to the cause of his translation and prudently consulted Archbishop Eskil in
the matter. Proceeding sensibly, Eskil fulfilled the wise king’s wish. And sending
a delegation under the leadership of Archbishop Stefan of Uppsala he legally ob-
tained what he had justly sought from the supreme Pontiff Alexander. And so,
when the legates had retumed, on the seventh day before the Kalends of July [i.e.
June 25] in the year of the Lord’s incarnation 1170, by papal authority the king’s
father, himself a king’s son, Duke Knud, the glorious martyr, was translated.
Ninth lesson of the Translation (§ 10c:2:l:l). A reading from the Holy Gospel
according to Matthew. In those days the Lord Jesus said to his disciples: “No-
thing is covered that shall not be revealed, and hidden that shall not be known.”
And so forth.
Homily on this reading: Many things are covered in this life, all of which shall
be revealed at the last day. For many villanies, adulteries, and thefts are now con-
cealed that then shall be apparent to all. And much money is now buried in the
ground that will be revealed in its entirety to Antichrist. Moreover, as to the secret
counsels of men’s thoughts, they are often visible through the manifest zeal of
their actions. For the evil counsels of the ungodly are revealed when they perse-
cute the righteous. Thus, those cruel men craftily greeted Duke Knud, veiling
their hatred with pretended friendship, but when they brutally feli upon him with
weapons their secret deceits rushed forth into the light. And because like Sodom
they proclaimed their crime and did not conceal it, when the Lord makes inquisi-
tion for the biood of the righteous they shall be the smoke and stubble of the fire.
Tenth lesson of the Translation (§ 10c:2:2:l). “What I tell you in darkness,
speak it in the light; and what you hear in your ear, preach it upon the house-
tops.” That which the Lord taught His disciples in secret their voice has sounded
out openly to the ends of the earth. That which He whispered in their ear their
company has spread abroad throughout all nations. “Fear not those who kill the
body, for they cannot kill the soul.” The persecutors of the saints killed them, but
in so doing they carried their souls, purged by those very torments, to heaven.
And because they feared not God, they plunged their own souls and bodies into
hell. Certainly the body of Knud has been consumed through punishments in-
flicted by the ungodly, but his soul is carried by angels to the celestial bosom.
And behold, the whole kingdom venerates a duke slain for righteousness, but the
whole world execrates his murderers.