Misericordia: Some Remarks on the Word and its Pagan History

A survey of the Latin word 'misericordia' (= 'm.') as featuring in non-Christian texts, mostly pertaining to the informal linguistic register; in these texts 'm.' is always endowed with a positive meaning; moreover, the word appears in the literary portraits of the ideal physician. I suggest that, besides the Scriptures, even the definitely 'good' 'm.' occurring in non-Christian texts throughout the ages is a major help for the Christians to cope with the philosophical tradition of a somewhat unsafe 'm.', in order to assert that 'm.' is an absolute value both for human beings and for God.