On Proctorship/Procuracy
XCIV. On Proctorship/Procuracy
1. God the Son was such a worthy (lit. “good”) proctor
<on behalf of> God the Father and the Holy Spirit, that, accordingly, He
became incarnate and died for the sake of our redemption.[1]
2. God created the world for the sake of that humanity
He assumed, by means of which He has ensured
that He would be very much served, known and loved.
3. Christ ensured that God was honoured
and He ensures that mankind shall be saved,
and His proctorship exhibited great humility.[2]
4. Nobody is a worthy (lit. “good”) proctor
<who> would rather honour himself than his lord,
or make a wolf shepherd of <a flock> of sheep.
5. Whoever desires to procure great honour
by doing evil and by means of treachery,
knows little about good procuracy.
6. Mankind can procure great benefits
through <the acts of> goodness, greatness,
power, understanding and love.
7. To ensure that man’s mortal sin
is forgiven
can but <indicate> true procuracy.
8. To ensure one’s son becomes wealthy
and that he is not punished for the wrongs he has done,
is to ensure that he will be poor and a beggar.
9. For many years have I tried to ensure (lit. “have I been proctor”)
that Christ might be held in honour throughout the world,
yet I have found no one who will assist me <in this task>.
10. He who would like to ensure
that the Holy Land is recovered
should not sleep or lie idly for too long.
[1] In its most general sense, the English word “proctor” indicates someone who acts on another’s behalf or is appointed to take care of his or her affairs in the latter’s absence, and is thus defined under Canon Law. This word, however, carries a range of senses including: “a legal practitioner in ecclesiastical courts”; “chief steward”; “agent”, “representative” or “proxy’; and “deputy”. In its verbal form, the catalan verb procurar can mean simply “to ensure”.
[2] Here the word procuració carries the sense both of Christ’s role as God’s proxy or agent and His acts of ensuring the above.