St. Bridget: A renowned Monk interrogates Christ the Judge

“I saw a throne in heaven on which sat the Lord Jesus Christ as Judge. At his feet sat the Virgin Mary. Surrounding the throne was a host of angels and a countless multitude of saints. A certain monk, a great scholar of theology, stood high up on a rung of a ladder that was fixed in the earth and whose top reached up to heaven...”


Prologue

Here begins the prologue to the fifth book of heavenly revelations which is called the Book of Questions.


Moreover, after the lady had in her mind, in a single instant, the whole of this book by means of one and the same revelation and why she was now approaching the aforementioned castle, the members of her household grasped the bridle of her horse and began to shake her and, as it were, to awaken her from that rapture. And when she had returned to herself, she was exceedingly grieved by the fact that she was now deprived of such divine sweetness. This Book of Questions then remained fixed in her heart and her memory as effectively as if it had all been carved on a marble tablet.




FIRST INTERROGATION

I saw a throne in the sky, and on it sat the Lord Jesus Christ as Judge. Before his feet sat the Virgin Mary; and around the throne, there was an army of angels and an infinite multitude of saints. A religious, very learned in theology, stood on a high rung of a ladder which was fixed in the earth and whose summit touched the sky. His gestures were very impatient and restless, as if he were full of guile and malice. He questioned the Judge, saying:

First question. "O Judge, I ask you: You have given me a mouth. May I not say the things that please me?"

Second question. "You have given me eyes. May I not see with them those things that delight me?"

Third question. "You have given me ears. Why am I not to hear with them those things that please me?"

Fourth question. "You have given me hands. Why am I not to do with them what agrees with me?"


Christ's response to the first question. The Judge, who sat on the throne and whose gestures were meek and very dignified, replied: "Friend, I gave you a mouth that you might speak rationally about things that are useful for your body and soul and about things that belong to my honor."

Response to the second question. "Second, I gave you eyes that you might see evils to be fled and healthful things to be kept."

Response to the third question. "Third, I gave you ears that you might hear those things that belong to truth and honesty."

Response to the fourth question. "Fourth, I gave you hands that with them you might do those things that are necessary for the body and not harmful to the soul."

Response to the fifth question. "Fifth, I gave you feet that you might draw back from love of the world and go to your soul's rest and love and to me, your Creator and Redeemer."



SECOND INTERROGATION

First question. Again the same religious appeared on his rung as before and said: "O Christ, Judge, you voluntarily bore most bitter pain. Why my I, for that reason, not treat myself honorably and take pride in this world?"

Second question. "Item. You have given me temporal goods. Why then may I not possess those things that I crave?"

Third question. "Item. Why have you given me limbs for my body if I am not to move them and exercise them as I will?"

Fourth question. "Item. Why have you given law and justice if not for doing vengeance?"


Response to the first question. The Judge replied: "Friend, man's pride is long tolerated out of my patience in order that my humility may be exalted and my virtue may be manifested. And because pride was not created by me but was invented by the devil, it therefore must be fled because it leads to hell. But humility must be practiced because it leads to heaven. And I, God, have taught it by my word and my example."

Response to the second question. "Item. I have given and entrusted temporal goods to man that man might have the use of them in a rational way and that he might exchange these created things for that which is uncreated - namely, for me, the Lord and Creator - by praising and honoring me for my good things and by not living in accord with the desire of the flesh."

Response to the third question. "Item. The body's limbs are given to man so that they may represent for the soul a similitude of the virtues and be for the soul, as it were, its instruments for duty and virtue."

Response to the fourth question. "Item. Justice and law have been instituted by me that they may be accomplished with supreme charity and compassion and that divine unity and concord may be strengthened among humans."

Response to the fifth question. "Item. I enabled man to have bodily rest and quiet in order to strengthen the weakness of the flesh and to make the soul gain power and strength. But because the flesh is sometimes imprudently insolent, one must cheerfully tolerate tribulations and all those things by which the flesh may be corrected."



THIRD INTERROGATION

First question. Again the same religious appeared on his rung as before and said: "O Judge, I ask you: Why did you give us bodily senses if we are not to move and live according to the feelings of the flesh?"

Second question. "Item. Why have you given us things to nourish and sustain the flesh - namely, foods and other delights - if we are not to live to our own satisfaction according to our carnal appetites?"

Third question. "Item. Why have you given us free will if not to follow our own choice?"

Fourth question. "Item. Why have you given men and women sexual organs and the seed for intercourse if it may not be spilt according to the appetites of the flesh?"


Response to the first question. The Judge replied: "Friend, I gave man sense and intelligence that he might consider and imitate the ways of life, and flee the ways of death."

Response to the second question. "Item. I gave foods and the necessities of the flesh for the body's moderate sustenance and so that it might more vigorously execute the virtues of the soul and not be weakened by excessive consumption."

Response to the third question. "Item. I gave man free will for this reason: that he himself might abandon his own will because of me, his God, and that thereby, man might gain greater merit."

Response to the fourth question. "Item. I gave the seed for intercourse for this reason: that it might germinate in the proper way and in the proper place and that it might bear fruit for a just and rational cause."

Response to the fifth question. "Item. I gave man a heart so that he might enclose in it me, his God, who am everywhere and incomprehensible, and so that his delight might be in thinking of me."



The first revelation in the Book of Questions - made to Lady Birgitta by the Virgin Mary - in which Mary informs her about five virtues which she ought to have inside herself and five others outside.

The Mother speaks:


FOURTH INTERROGATION

First question. Again the same religious appeared on his rung as before and said: "O Judge, why should I search for God's wisdom when I have the wisdom of the world?"

Second question. "Why should I mourn and weep when the world's joy and glory are mine in abundance?"

Third question. "Item. Tell me why or how I ought to rejoice in the afflictions of the flesh."

Fourth question. "Item. Why should I fear when I have the force of my own strength?


Response to the first question. The Judge replied: "Friend, everyone is wise toward the world is blind toward me, his God. And therefore, to acquire my divine wisdom, it is necessary that one seek after it with diligence and humility."

Response to the second question. "Item. Everyone who has the world's honors and its joy is driven by various cares and is involved in bitter things that lead to hell. Therefore, in order not to deviate from the way of heaven, it is necessary to be devoutly cautious, to weep, and to pray."

Response to the third question. "Item. It is very useful to rejoice amidst the affliction and infirmity of the flesh because my mercy draws near to one who has afflictions of the flesh; and through that mercy, such a person more easily approaches eternal life."

Response to the fourth question. "Item. Everyone who is strong gets his strength from me, and I am stronger than he. Therefore, one must everywhere fear that strength will be taken away."

Response to the fifth question. "Item. Whoever has free will in his own hands ought to fear and truly understand that nothing so easily leads to eternal punishment as one's own will without a leader. Therefore, one who relinquishes his own will to me, his God, and obeys me will have heaven without punishment."



FIFTH INTERROGATION

First question. Again, the same religious appeared as before and said: "O Judge, why have you created worms which can harm and cannot profit?"

Second question. "Item. Why have you created ferocious beasts that also harm human beings?"

Third question. "Item. Why do you send infirmities and pains into bodies?"

Fourth question. "Item. Why do you suffer the iniquity of unjust judges who afflict their subjects and scourge them as if they were bought slaves?"


Response to the first question. The Judge replied: "Friend, I, God and Judge, created heaven and earth and all that is in them - but nothing without a reason and nothing without a similarity to spiritual things. For, just as the souls of the saints resemble the holy angels who have life and happiness, so the souls of the unjust resemble the demons who have everlasting death. Therefore, because you have asked why I created worms, I answer you that I created them to show the manifold power of my wisdom and goodness. For even though they can harm, nevertheless they do not harm except by my permission and because sin requires it in order that man, who scorns submission to his own superior, may groan over his ability to be troubled by this lowest of things and thus may know that he is nothing without me, whom even irrational things serve and at whose beckoning all things stand."

Response to the second question. "Item. As to why I created ferocious beasts, I answer: All that I created was not only good, but even very good, and was created either for man's benefit and testing or for the good of the other creatures and so that man, being so much happier than all others, might serve me, his God, all the more humbly. Moreover, beasts do harm in temporal things for two reasons: first, for the recognition and reproof of wickedness so that the wicked may understand from their scourges that they must obey me, their superior. Second, beasts also harm the good in order to advance their virtue and to purge them. And because man, by sinning, has raised himself up against me, his God, therefore all things which had been subject to man have been raised up against him."

Response to the third question. "Item. As to why infirmity comes to the body, I answer: This happens as a major warning and also because of the vices of incontinency and excess, in order that man may learn spiritual moderation and patience by bridling his flesh."

Response to the fourth question. "Item. Why is there toleration for unjust judges? This happens for the purging of others and because of my own patience. Just as gold is purged in the fire, even so, through the malice of the wicked, souls are purged and educated and drawn back from things that must not be done. Therefore, I patiently tolerate the wicked so that the ears of the devil's grain may be separated from the wheat of the good and so that out of my hidden and divine justice their desire may be fulfilled."


The second revelation in the Book of Questions, in which the Virgin Mary speaks to blessed Birgitta and says that one who desires to taste divine sweetness must first endure bitterness.

The Mother speaks:


SIXTH INTERROGATION

First question. Again there appeared on the rung the same man as before, and he said: "O Judge, I ask you why one infant comes forth alive from its mother's womb and obtains baptism while another, after receiving a soul, dies within its mother's viscera?"

Second question. "Item. Why, for the just, do many things have an untoward outcome while, for the unjust, all things are as they wish?"

Third question. "Item. Why do plagues and famines come - and the inconveniences that afflict the body?"

Fourth question. "Item. Why does death come so unexpectedly that it can very rarely be foreseen?"


Response to the first question. The Judge replied: "Friend, you question not out of charity but only because I permit it. And that is why I answer you in a way that resembles words. You ask why one infant dies within its mother's viscera and another comes forth alive. The reason is this. All the strength of a child's body is taken from the seed of its father and mother; but if it is conceived without due strength because of some infirmity of the father or the mother, it quickly dies. As a result of the parents' neglect or lack of care - and also as a result of my divine justice - many things happen so that what was joined together quickly separates. Nevertheless, although the soul had no longer time to vivify the body, it will not therefore meet with a harsh punishment but rather with a mercy known to me. When the sun streams into a house, its rays alone are seen. Only those who gaze at the sky see the sun as it is in its beauty. So it is with the souls of such children. Because they lack baptism, they do not see my face. Nevertheless, they do draw nearer to mercy than to punishment - although not in the same way as my elect."

Response to the second question. "Item. As to why untoward things befall the just, I answer: My justice is that every just man should obtain what he seeks. But no man is just who does not desire to suffer untoward things for the sake of obedience and the perfection of justice and who does not do good to his neighbor out of divine charity. My friends consider what I, their God and Redeemer, have done for them and what I have promised to them; and also they attentively see the wickedness in the world. Therefore, as a precaution, they more gladly seek - for my honor, for their own salvation, and for the avoidance of sin - the untoward things of the world rather than its prosperity. And therefore I permit tribulations to befall them.

If some of them suffer with too little patience, I do not permit this to happen without a reason; and I stand by them in their trouble. When a son, in his boyhood, is rebuked by a charitable mother, he does not know enough to thank her because he cannot weigh the cause for which he is being reproved; but when he has reached the age of discretion, he thanks his mother because through her instruction he has been drawn away from wrongdoing and has become accustomed to discipline and good behavior. I treat my elect in a similar way. Because they entrust their will to me and love me above all things, they have tribulations for a time. And although, at present, they may not fully understand my benefactions, nevertheless I am doing what is best for them in the future.

But because the impious do not care about justice and are not afraid to inflict injuries and because they seek the transitory things of the world and love earthly delights, therefore, out of my justice, they prosper for a time, free from scourges, lest they sin the more if they be touched by untoward things. However, not all the wicked are given what they desire - in order that they may know that it lies within my power to give gifts to whomever I will. For I grant good things even to the ungrateful and although they do not deserve them."

Response to the third question. "Item. As to why plagues and famines come, I answer: It is written in the law that one who commits a theft must give back more than he took. Because the ungrateful accept my gifts and abuse them and do not pay me the honor that is my due from them, I therefore exact of their bodies more trouble in the present in order to spare their souls in the future. Sometimes, too, I spare the body and punish man in and through that which he loves so that he, who would not acknowledge me when he was happy, may recognize and understand me when he is troubled."

Response to the fourth question. "Item. As to why death comes suddenly, I answer: If man knew the time of his death, he would serve me out of fear and faint with sorrow. Therefore, in order that man might serve me out of charity and that he might always be solicitous about himself and secure about me, the hour of his exit is uncertain - and deservedly so. For, when man deserted that which was certain and true, it was necessary and right that he be afflicted with uncertainty."

Response to the fifth question. "Item. As to why I permit men to proceed to war while filled with wrath, I answer: Everyone who has the full intention of harming his neighbor is like the devil and is the devil's member and his instrument. I would be doing an injury to the devil if I deprived him of his servant without justice. Therefore, even as I use an instrument of my own for whatever pleases me, so it is justice that in one who would rather be the devil's member than mine the devil operates and does his own deeds either for the purgation of others or for the completion of his malice - but only as I permit and as sin demands."



SEVENTH INTERROGATION

First question. Again, the same religious appeared on his rung as before, and said: "O Judge, I ask you. Why are ugliness and beauty spoken of in the world?"

Second question. "Item. Why must I hate the world's beauty when I myself am beautiful and of noble descent?"

Third question. "Item. Why may I not extol myself above others although I am rich?"

Fourth question. "Item. Why may I not prefer myself to others although I am more honorable than they?"

Fifth question. "Item. Why may I not seek my own praise although I am good and praiseworthy?"


Response to the first question. The Judge replied: "Friend, the ugliness and the beauty of this world are like bitterness and sweetness. The ugliness of the world - which is its contempt and its adversity - is a profitable sort of bitterness that heals the just. The world's beauty is its prosperity; and this is a flattering sort of sweetness, but false and seductive. Therefore he who flees the beauty of the world and spits out its sweetness will not come to the ugliness of hell or taste its bitterness, but will ascend to my joy. Therefore, in order to escape the ugliness of hell and to acquire the sweetness of heaven, it is necessary to go after the world's ugliness rather than its beauty. For even though all things were well created by me and are all very good, nevertheless one must beware especially of those things which can furnish an occasion for the loss of the souls of those who use my gifts irrationally."

Response to the second question. "Item. As to why you must not glory in your descent, I answer that what you received from your father was worthless, putrid, and dirty; and that in your mother's womb you were as if dead and totally unclean. It was not in your power to be of born of noble or ignoble parents, but it was my pity and my goodness that brought you into this light. Therefore, you who call yourself noble, humble yourself under me, your God, who arranged for you to be born of nobles. Conform yourself to your neighbor; for he is of the same matter as you - although by my providence you have come from what is, in the eyes of the world, a lofty lineage and he from a lowly one. O you noble! Fear even more than he who is not noble, for the nobler and richer you are, the stricter will your accounting be and the greater your judgment because you have received more."

Response to the third question. "Item. As to why you must not take pride in riches, I answer: The world's riches are yours only for your necessary nourishment and clothing. The world was made in order that man - having sustenance for his body - might return, by means of labor and humility, to me, his God, whom he disobediently despised and for whom, in his pride, he had no care. Moreover, if you say that temporal goods are yours, I tell you for very certain that you, as it were, violently usurp for yourself all those things that you have beyond your necessities.

For all temporal goods ought to be common and, out of charity, equal for those in need. But you superfluously usurp for yourself things that should be given to others out of compassion. And yet, it is reasonable that many people have much more than others; they own it rationally and they distribute it with discretion. Therefore, lest you be reproved more gravely at the judgment because you have received greater things than others, you are advised not to put yourself above others by boasting and by hoarding. For delightful as it is in this world to have more temporal things than others and to enjoy an abundance, at the judgment it will be a fearsome and exceedingly grave matter if one has managed even licit things unreasonably."

Response to the fourth and fifth questions. "Item. As to why one must not seek personal praise, I answer: No one is good of himself except me, God alone; and everyone who is good has received that goodness from me. If then you, who are nothing, seek your own praise and not the praise of me, to whom belongs every perfect gift, false is your praise and you do an injustice to me, your Creator. Since all the goods that you have are from me, you should give to me all praise. And since I, your God, bestow upon you all temporal things - strength and health, conscience and discretion to think of what is more beneficial to yourself, and time and life - it is I who should be honored for all these things that have been given to you, if you manage them well and reasonably. But if you manage them badly, the fault and the ingratitude are yours alone."

Response to the sixth question. "Item. As to why one must not seek a temporal reward for good deeds in the present, I answer you: If anyone does good to others with the intention of caring not for a recompense from man but only for such as I, God, choose to give him, such a person shall have much in return for little, the eternal in place of the temporal. But he who seeks something earthly in exchange for something temporal will have what he desires but will lose what is everlasting. Therefore, in order to obtain the eternal in exchange for what is transitory, it is better to seek recompense not from man but from me."



EIGHTH INTERROGATION

First question. Again the same religious appeared on his rung as before and said: "O Judge, I ask you: Why do you permit it that gods are placed in temples and honored as yourself when your kingdom is nobler than any other?"

Second question. "Item. Why do you not cause your glory to be seen by humans in this life so that they may more fervently desire it?"

Third question. "Item. Since your saints and angels are more noble and more holy than all other creatures, why are they not seen by humans in this life?"

Fourth question. "Item. Since the pains of hell are incomparably horrible, why do you not cause them to be seen by humans in this life so that they may be fled?"


Response to the first question. The Judge answered: "Friend, I am God, the Creator of all. I do not act less justly to the wicked than to the good; for I am justice itself. My justice decrees that entrance into heaven must be obtained through steadfast faith and rational hope and fervent charity. That which is more fervently loved by the heart is more frequently thought of and more diligently adored. Such is the case with the gods that are placed in temples although they are neither gods nor creators; for there is only one sole Creator - namely, I, God, the father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, the people and the owners of the temples love these gods more than they love me - their purpose being prosperity in this world and not life with me. Therefore, if I were to annihilate those things which humans love more than they love me and if I were to permit myself to be adored against their will, I would indeed do them an injustice by taking away their free will and desire. And so, because they do not have faith in me, and since they have in their hearts something more delightful than I, it is therefore reasonable for me to permit them to fashion externally what they love and long for in their minds. They love created things more than me, the Creator, whom they can know in a provable way from signs and deeds if only they would use their reason. Therefore, since they are blinded, cursed are their created works and cursed are their idols. They will be put to shame and judged for their foolishness because they are unwilling to understand how sweet am I, their God, who with fervent love created man and redeemed him."

Response to the second question. "Item. As to the reason why my glory is not seen, I answer: My glory cannot be spoken, and it cannot be compared to any other sweetness or goodness. Therefore, if my glory were to be seen as it is, then man's perishable body would weaken and fail as did the senses of those who saw my glory on the mountain. And also because of the soul's joy, the body would faint from its labor and would be incapable of physical activities. Therefore, because there is no entrance into heaven without the labor of charity, and so that faith may have its reward and the body may be capable of work, my glory is hidden for a time in order that, through desire and faith, it may be seen all the more fully and happily forever."

Response to the third question. "Item. As to why the saints are not seen as they now exist, I answer: If my saints were seen openly and visibly spoke, they would be honored as I myself; and then too, faith would have no merit. Nor would the frailty of flesh be strong enough to see them. Moreover, my justice does not will that such brightness be seen by such frailty. Therefore, my saints are not heard or seen, as they now exist, in order that all honor may be shown to me and that man may know that no one is to be loved above me. However, if my saints do sometimes appear, they do so, not in that form of glory in which they truly exist, but in that form in which - by hiding the fullness of their virtue - they can be seen without disturbing a corporeal intelligence."

Response to the fourth question. "Item. As to why the pains of hell are not seen, I answer: If hell's pains were visibly seen as they now exist, man would be totally frozen with fear and would seek heaven out of fear and not out of love. Since no one ought to seek heavenly joy out of fear of punishment but rather out of divine charity, these pains are therefore now hidden. Indeed, before the separation of soul and body, those who are good and holy cannot taste that ineffable joy as it is; nor can the wicked taste their punishments. But when the soul has been separated from the body, then they will feel and experience what they were unwilling to probe with their understanding when it was still possible."

Response to the fifth question. "Item. As to why the demons do not appear visibly, I answer: If their horrible deformity were seen as it now exists, a soul seeing this would go out of its mind at the very sight; the whole body would begin to quiver like a trembling man's; drained by fear, the heart would die; and the feet would not be strong enough to support the other limbs. Therefore, in order that the soul may remain stable in its sense, that the heart may be vigilant in its love for me, and that the body may be capable of laboring in my service, the demons' deformity is hidden - and so that the demons' evil endeavor may be restrained."



The third revelation, in which Christ speaks to his bride, blessed Birgitta, and gives her - in a similitude - instruction concerning a true physician who is a healer, a false physician who is a murderer, and a man who makes a guess. He says that if a man takes responsibility for sinners and gives them help or opportunity for sinning and if they then die in sin, God will exact an account of the death of those souls at his hand. But if he takes responsibility for them in order that they may cease from sinning and that they may be instructed by him in the virtues and if, through his teaching, they do amend, then he and they shall have a great reward from God.

The Son of God speaks:



THE NINTH INTERROGATION

First question. When these things had been said, the same religious appeared on his rung as before and said: "O Judge, I ask you: Why do you seem so unfair in your gifts and graces that you preferred your mother Mary to every other creature and exalted her above the angels?

Second question. "Item. Why did you give the angels a spirit without flesh and the gift of being in heavenly joy, whereas to man you gave an earthen vessel and a spirit - and birth with wailing, life with labor, and death with sorrow?"

Third question. "Item. Why did you give man a rational intellect and senses, whereas to animals you did not give reason?"

Fourth question. "Item. Why did you give life to animals, but not to the other created things that lack senses?"


Response to the first question. The Judge replied: "Friend, in my Godhead all that is going to exist or happen is foreseen and foreknown from the beginning as if it had already occurred. The fall of man was foreknown, and out of God's justice it was permitted; but it was not caused by God and did not have to happen because of God's foreknowledge. Foreknown too from eternity was man's liberation, which was to happen out of God's mercy. You now ask why I preferred my mother Mary to all others and loved her more than any other creature. It was because the special mark of virtues was found in her. When a fire is kindled and many logs surround it, the log most apt and efficient for combustion will be the quickest to catch the flame and burn. So it was with Mary. For when the fire of divine love - which in itself is changeless and eternal - began to kindle and appear and when the

Godhead willed to become incarnate, no creature was more apt and efficient for receiving this fire of love than the Virgin Mary; for no creature burned with such charity as she. And although her charity was revealed and shown at the end of time, it was nevertheless foreseen before the beginning of the world. And so, from eternity, it was predetermined in the Godhead that as no one was found comparable to her in charity, so too no one would be her equal in grace and blessing."

Response to the second question. "Item. As to why I gave the angel a spirit without flesh, I answer: In the beginning and before time and the ages, I created spirits in order that of their own free choice they might live according to my will and thus rejoice in my goodness and glory. But some of them took pride in their goodness and did evil to themselves by using their free will in an inordinate way. And because there was nothing evil in nature and creation except the inordinacy of their individual wills, they therefore fell. But other spirits chose to take their stand in humility under me, their God; and therefore they merited eternal stability. For it is right and just that I, God, who am an uncreated spirit and the Creator and Lord of all, should also have in my service spirits more subtle and swift than other creatures. And because it was not fitting for me to have any diminishment in my hosts, I therefore created, in place of those who fell, another creature - namely, man - who, through his free choice and his good will, might merit the same dignity that the angels deserted. And so, if man had a soul and no flesh, he would not be able to merit so sublime a good nor even be able to labor. The body was joined to the soul for the attainment of eternal honor. Therefore, man's tribulations increase in order that he may experience his free will and his infirmities, to the end that he may not be proud. And so that he may desire the glory for which he was created and that he may undo the disobedience that he voluntarily committed, he has therefore been given, out of divine justice, a tearful entrance and a tearful exit and a life full of toils."

Response to the third question. "Item. As to why animals do not have a rational intellect as man does, I answer you: Everything that has been created is for man's use or for his needs and sustenance or for his instruction and reproof or for his consolation and humiliation. But if brutes had intelligence as man does, they would certainly be a trouble to him, causing harm rather than profit. Therefore, in order that all things may be subject to man - for whom all things were made - and that all things might fear him, while he himself is to fear no one but me, his God, animals have not been given a rational intellect."

Response to the fourth question. "Item. As to why insensate things have no life, I answer: Everything that lives is going to die, and every living thing moves unless it is impeded by some obstacle. If, therefore, insensate things had life, they would move against man rather than for him. And so, in order that everything might be for man's solace, higher beings - namely, the angels, with whom man shares reason and immortality of the soul - have been given to man for his protection; and lower beings, whether they are sensate or not, have been given to him for his use and sustenance and instruction and training."