The Gospel According to the Mark of Silver.

This is the English text an unattributed 13th Century parody of Roman ecclesiastical excess by an Anonymous Latin writer. The parody evinces the emerging anticlerical spirit present and contemporary with the rise and papal reign of such men as Lotario de Conti di Segni (Innocent III, r. AD 1198-1216)* and his successors, and is just one example of a whole body of such works which rapidly gained popularity (and often also crossed the line) in calling for ecclesiastical reform.

Its’ sentiments are especially apropos today’s money obsessed proprietary minded protestant church leadership and pastoral models.

“At that time, the Pope said to the Romans, “When the son of man comes to the seat of our majesty, first say, `Friend, why have you come?’ But if he continues knocking without giving you anything, throw him out into the outer darkness.”

And it came to pass that a certain poor cleric came to the Curia of the Lord Pope and cried out, saying, “Do you, at least, have mercy on me, you doorkeepers of the Pope, for the hand of poverty has touched me. I am indeed needy and poor. Therefore, I beg you to come to my aid.” But when they heard him they were exceeding angry, and they said, “Friend, you and your poverty can go to hell. Get thou behind me, Satan, because you do not smell of money. Amen, amen, I say to you, you shall not enter into the joy of your lord [the Pope] until you pay your last farthing.”

So the poor man went away and sold his coat and his shirt and everything he owned and gave it to the cardinals and doorkeepers and chamberlains. But they said, “What is this among so many?” They threw him out, and he went off weeping bitterly and inconsolably.

Later on, a certain rich cleric came to the Curia. He was gross and fat and swollen, and had committed treacherous murder. He bribed first the doorkeeper, then the chamberlain, then the cardinals. But they put their heads together and demanded more.

However, the Lord Pope heard that his cardinals and ministers had been lavishly bribed by the cleric, and he was sick even to death. So the rich man sent him medicine in the form of gold and silver, and straightway he was healed.

The Lord pope summoned his cardinals and ministers and said to them, “Brethren, be vigilant lest anyone deceive you with empty words. My example I give unto you, that you might grab just as I grab.”

*Conti died of a sudden fever at the age of 55; bandits looted his body when his and entourage left him unattended and unhonored.