Mirror of Sinners on the Contempt of the World

Words of lamentation for procrastination

...the condition of a dying man. "O tomorrow, tomorrow, what a long rope you have made into the pit of death! By procrastinating, you have dragged me, you have deceived me, I am deceived." original: "Dinem hominis morientis. O cras cras q̃ longā restim fecisti in baratrū mortis procrastinando me traxisti decepisti me sum deceptus."
"Does this misery not surpass every misery of this world? Does my heart not rightly afflict itself and my soul anguish over these things?" original: "Aōne hec miseria supat omnē miseriā hui? mūdi Aōne super his merito affliget cor meū t fauciabitur aia mea"
"Deu, all the days of my life passed without the fruit of good works, which I ought to have spent in the praise of God and the procuring of my soul's salvation." original: "Deu oēs dies meisine bonor operum fructu tranfierunt: quos in laudem dei t anime mee salutē procurando expendere debu issem."
And he adds: "Beyond thirty years of my age have elapsed, and have been lost and miserably perished. They passed so negligently that I do not know if I ever spent any day of all these according to the will of God and the salvation of my soul as I perhaps ought to have, or if I ever rendered well-pleasing service to my Creator as my state required. Woe is me, alas, this is why all my insides are wounded." original: "Et subdit: Ultra triginta anni etatis mee elapsi sunt: et perditi t miserabiliter perierunt. tranfierūt tam negligeter q̃ nescio si vnq̃ diem aliquē ex oibus his expendi ad dei volūta tem t anime mee salutē sicut forte debuissem vel si vnq̃ bene placitū famulatū coditori meo erhibui sicut status me? requi rebat heu me prochdolor hoc est vnde vulnerant oia interiora mea."
Likewise he adds: "O eternal God, with what shame shall I stand before you and all the saints to judgment, when I am forced to render an account of commissions and omissions? And what shall I say to you, when my tribulation is near, that I should pass from this world?" original: "Item subdit O deus eterne q̃ verecūde corā te t omnib? sanctis ad iudicū stabo: cum reddere rationez de conmissis t ommissis cogar t quid tue dicam cū in prorimo est tribulatio mea vt de hoc mūdo tranfeam."
Attend, I ask, diligently, all you lovers of this world: wake up in this hour; I should have rejoiced more about a small prayer, such as the Lord's Prayer or the angelic salutation devoutly said by me, than over thousands of gold and silver. original: "Attendite queso diligenter oēs amatores hui? mundi: euigilate in hac hora: magis gaudere deberem de oratiuncula: vtputa de oratione dominica vel salu tatione angelica deuote per me dicta quā super milia auri et argenti"
And he adds further, crying out: "O my God, what good things I have neglected, which I could have done well! O how ill it has happened to me that I did not foresee this, which I could have foreseen! O how many hours never to return have I lost! O how I spent time on trifles and useless exterior business, while so many precious and meritorious goods necessary for me I neglected; I entangled myself in unnecessary business and dismissed what was necessary. O truly I did not recognize what would have contributed more to the magnitude of heavenly rewards: a retreat from the vanities of the world, and a custody of my heart and senses with purity and piety, than these things I neglected through an inordinate affection for all the joy of the world. Alas, what good things I could have done in such a time, in a healthy body, which now I would opt for over all the delights, riches, and honors of this world; and alas, I did not do them. O what immense spiritual riches and heavenly treasures I could have gathered, and I neglected them. O my God!" original: "Et subdit vlterius exclamādo O mi deus quāta bona neglexi que bene facere potuisses. O quā male mihi accidit q̃ hoc nō preuidi q̃n preuidere potui o quot horas nunq̃ reditu ras perdidi o quā modica facta vtilia t negocia exteriora inu tilia tractans: tam multa t preciosa bona meritoria mihi ne cessaria neglexi: negociis nō necessariis me iplicaui t necessa ria dimisi o vere nō cognoui q̃ ad magnitudinē pmioy celesti um plus mihi cōtulisset recessus a vanitatib? seculi: t follicita cordis mei ac sensuum meoy cum puritate ac pietate custodia quā his neglectis per affectū inordinatū omnis mūdi leticia heu quāta bona in tāto tpe sano corpe potuissem fecisse: quod nūc optarem p omnib? deliciis diuitiis t honozib? hui? mun di: t heu nō feci. O quā immensas diuitias spirituales t the sauros celestes cōgregasse potuissem t neglexi. O deus meus"