{
  "meta": {
    "schema_version": "1.1",
    "endpoint": "/api/sources/rhineland-mystics/suso/vol-1-18-chapter-xix.json"
  },
  "work": {
    "slug": "suso",
    "name": "Heinrich Suso"
  },
  "parents": [
    {
      "slug": "rhineland-mystics",
      "name": "Rhineland Mystics",
      "url": "/sources/rhineland-mystics/"
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  "chapter": {
    "num": 19,
    "slug": "vol-1-18-chapter-xix",
    "title": "Chapter  XIX.",
    "of": 51,
    "words": 664,
    "text": "## Chapter  XIX.\n\nOf  his  bed. \n\nAt  this  same  period  the  Servitor  procured \nan  old  castaway  door,  which  he  placed  upon  his \nbedstead  in  his  cell,  and  he  used  to  lie  upon  it \nat  night  without  any  bed-clothes  to  make  him \ncomfortable.  He  also  made  for  himself  a  very \nthin  mat  of  rushes,  which  he  laid  upon  the  door, \nand  which  reached  only  to  his  knees.  He  put \nunder  his  head  for  a  bolster  a  small  sack  filled \nwith  pea-stalks,  and  upon  it  a  very  small  pillow. \nHe  had  no  bed-covering  over  him,  and  he  lay  at \nnight  just  as  he  was  clothed  during  the  day;  ex- \ncept only  that  he  took  off  his  shoes,  and  wrapped \na  thick  cloak  round  him.  He  thus  secured  for \nhimself  a  most  miserable  bed ;  for  the  hard  pea- \nstalks  lay  in  lumps  under  his  head,  the  cross \nwith  the  sharp  nails  stuck  into  his  back,  his \narms  were  locked  fast  in  bonds,  the  horsehair \nunder-garment  was  round  his  loins,  and  the \ncloak  too  was  very  heavy,  and  the  door  hard. \nThus  he  lay  in  wretchedness,  afraid  to  stir,  just \nlike  a  log.  Whenever  he  attempted  to  turn, \nthe  pain  it  caused  him  was  very  great ;  and  if \nhe  fell  back  at  all  heavily  upon  the  cross  when \n\n\nHIS  BED.  69 \n\nasleep,  the  nails  ran  into  his  bones ;  and  he \nwould  then  send  up  many  a  sigh  to  God. \n\nIn  winter  he  suffered  very  much  from  the \nfrost,  for  if  he  stretched  out  his  feet  in  sleep,  as \npeople  do,  they  lay  quite  bare  upon  the  door, \nand  froze  with  the  cold ;  and  if  he  drew  them \nin  again,  and  kept  them  gathered  up,  the  blood \nbecame  all  on  fire  in  his  legs,  and  this  was  great \npain  to  him.  His  feet  were  full  of  sores ;  his \nlegs  swelled,  as  if  they  were  growing  dropsical; \nhis  knees  were  bloody  and  seared ;  his  loins  were \ncovered  with  scars  from  the  horsehair  under- \ngarment ;  his  back  was  wounded  by  the  cross  ; \nhis  body  wasted  from  excessive  austerity;  his \nmouth  parched  with  intense  thirst;  and  his \nhands  tremulous  from  weakness.  Amid  these \ntorments  he  spent  his  days  and  nights ;  and  he \nendured  them  all  out  of  the  greatness  of  the \nlove  which  he  bore  in  his  heart  to  the  Divine \nand  Eternal  Wisdom,  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, \nwhose  agonising  sufferings  he  sought  to  imitate. \n\nAfter  a  time  he  gave  up  this  penitential  ex- \nercise of  the  door,  and  instead  of  it  he  took  up \nhis  abode  in  a  very  small  cell,  and  used  the \nbench,  which  was  intended  for  a  seat,  as  his  bed. \nThis  bench  was  so  narrow  and  short  that  he  could \nnot  stretch  himself  out  upon  it.     In  this  hole, \n\n\n70  LIFE  OF  BLESSED  HENRY  SUSO. \n\nand  upon  the  above-mentioned  door,  he  lay  at \nnight,  in  his  usual  bonds,  for  about  eight  years. \nIt  was  also  his  custom  during  the  space  of  five- \nand-twenty  years,  provided  he  was  staying  in \nthe  convent,  never  to  go  after  compline  in \nwinter  into  any  warm  room,  or  to  the  convent- \nstove  to  warm  himself,  however  cold  it  might  be, \nunless  he  was  obliged  to  do  so  for  other  reasons. \nThroughout  all  these  years  he  never  took  a  bath, \neither  a  water  or  a  sweating  bath ;  and  this  he \ndid  in  order  to  mortify  his  comfort -seeking \nbody. \n\nFor  a  long  time  he  only  ate  once  a  day, \nboth  in  summer  and  winter ;  and  he  not  only \nfasted  from  meat,  but  also  from  fish  and  eggs. \nHe  practised  during  a  long  time  such  rigid  po- \nverty that  he  would  neither  receive  nor  touch  a \npenny  either  with  leave  or  without  it.  For  a \nconsiderable  space  of  time  he  strove  to  attain  to \nsuch  a  high  degree  of  purity  that  he  would \nneither  scratch  nor  touch  any  part  of  his  body, \nsave  only  his  hands  and  feet. \n\n\nHIS  ABSTINENCE  FROM  DRINK.  71",
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  }
}