grace to vvant this soueraigne meanes wherby to protest the faithfull and incommunicable homage vvhich she ovves to him For (c) The Oblation of Sacrifice is the highest act of religion a Sacrifice is a worship of Latria and the supreme act of religion wherby through the oblation and externall mutation of some corpor all thing according to the particular rites and sacred ceremonies which are perfourmed by persons who are peculiarly deputed for that purpose and are called Priests the excellency of the diuine Maiesty and the supreme Dominion which it hath ouer the life and death of all the creatures is acknowledged and protested Now therfore Christ our Lord vvould not depriue vs of this blessing But as vvith great aduātage to vs he had already changed the Circumcisiō of the old law into Baptisme so also was the diuine Goodnes pleased to make all those figuratiue Sacrifices of the same old lavv yeild vp their possession in the nevv and giue place to this one other most excellent Sacrifice of his ovvne most pretious body and bloud The Sacrifices of the old lavv vvere bloudy Num. 1. 3. and they vvere offred by that braunch of the Tribe of Leui which descended from Aron But yet Melchisedech also vvas a Priest and that long before Gen. 14. Psal 109. and he offred an vnbloudy Sacrifice and it consisted of bread wine Novv Christ our Lord vvho is our true high Priest did summe vp all the Sacrifices of both those kindes into his ovvne sacred selfe For as those former bloudy Sacrifices did prefigure the Sacrifice of his pretious life vpon the Crosse so that other of bread and vvine did prefigure the Sacrifice of the holy Masse And so truely and properly is this last a Sacrifice and so truly vvas he the Priest vvho offered it first in this last supper of his and so truly did he ordaine his Apostles to do the like by those vvords Hocfacite in meam commemorationem Doe this in commemoration of me Luc. 22. in their persons all those others also of succeding ages vvere appointed to doe it vvho should in like manner be ordayned by them that vnlesse this truth be sincerly and religiously granted vve shall neuer be able to verify those vvords of the holy Ghost vvherby it vvas prophesied thus by Dauid Psal 109. concerning Christ our Lord and so vnderstood by the holy Fathers of the Church as vve shall shortly see Tues sacerdos in aeternum secundum ordinem Melchisedech Thou art a Priest for euer after the order of Melchisedech But a true and lawfull Priest he is after the order of Melchisedech and a Priest he is to be till the end of the vvorld And although he be raigning still in heauen yet continually doth he exercise this office of his by his deputies vvho are true Catholicke Priests And principally it is he vvho offereth vp his ovvne body and bloud together vvith them he being the only true Originall Priest and these other though properly truly Priests yet being but partakers of his Povver Order by his grace Novv this body and bloud of our Lord IESVS vvho is the one only Sacrifice and vvho vvas offered vp in a bloudy māner vpon the Crosse is novv offered dayly in an vnbloudy manner vpon our Altars Conteyning (d) The sacrifice of the Masse is both Propitiatory Impetratory and of thanksgiuing doth benefit both the quick dead Mala. ◠in it selfe all sufficiency and aboundance of grace both for the liuing and dead for the propitiation of sinne and the paines vvhich follovv it the thanksgiuing for benefits already receiued the impetration of graces to be heereafter graunted by Almighty God And this is that Sacrifice wherof Malachy did so cleerly prophesy vvhen reprouing the Sacrifices of the old lavv he spake thus as in the tyme of the lavv of grace Ab ortu solis vsque ad occasum magnum est nomen meum in gentibus c. From the rysing of the sunne to the going downe therof great is my name among the gentiles And in euery place there is sacrificing and there is offered to my name a cleane oblation because my name is great among the Gentills sayth the Lord of Hosts Of the iudgemēt which the holy Fathers of the Church haue alwayes made of this holy Sacrifice and B. Sacrament and the great veneration which they had them in and the motiues whereby we may be induced to do the like CHAP. 47. VVELL might the Prophet say that this Sacrifice vvas pure and cleane since it is no lesse then God himselfe though not as God but man And the cheife Priest also is God vvho dayly offereth vp the same together vvith the subordinate Priest And although no Quire of Angells can speake as magnificently of it as the thing deserues yet the Fathers of the Church haue done theyr best to acknovvledge and admire it And for the comfort of my reader I vvill cite him a fevv of the many passages vvhich are found in them Who is more the Priest of God sayth (a) Cypr. l. 2. Ep. 3. S. Cyprian then our Lord Iesus Christ who offered a Sacrifice to God the Father he offered that which Melchisedech offered towit bread and wine that is to say his owne body and bloud When we offer this Sacrifice sayth (b) Cyril Hierosol one of the fathers of the first Councell of Nice in Catech. mist 5. Saint Cyrill we afterwards make mention of the dead We erect not Altars to Martyrs saith (c) August de ciuit Dei l. 22. c. 10. Idem Confes l. 9. c. 13. S. Augustine but we offer Sacrifice to him alone who is the God both of them and vs. This S. Augustine saith and he relateth els vvhere of his mother That when she was dying she desired him to remember her at the Altar where she was wont to be present euery day and from whence she knew that holy Sacrifice (d) The body of our Lord. to be dispensed wherby the hand wryting was blotted out which was contrary to vs. Our flesh sayth (e) Tertul. l. deresurrect carnit cap. 8. Tertullian doth secd vpon the body and bloud of Christ that the soule also may be made fat with God The bread which our Lord gaue to his Disciples as (f) Cypr. de coena Domini S. Cyprian saith of the Reall Presence being changed not in shew but in substance by the omnipotency of the word was made flesh That as in the person of Christ the humanity was seene and the diuinity lay hid so hath the diuine essence vnspeakeably powred it selfe into this inuisible Sacrament We doe rightly beleeue sayth (g) Gregor Nyssen in oratione catechistica cap. 37. S. Gregory of Nisse that bread being sanctified by the word of God is transmuted into the body of the word of God We know and haue it for most assured sayth (h) Cyril Ierosol cathe Myst. 4. S. Cyrill Bishop of
to any ambition of riches or strength or knowledge or any other such aduantage whatsoeuer so the infamy of impiety of sinne is that which of all other woundeth most This infamy is therfore the very thinge to which our Lord with strange contempt of himselfe did submit his diuine excellency And notwithstanding the perfect hatred which indeed he carryed to all that which looked like sinne he was yet content to lay that thought aside through the infinite loue which he bare to vs and he pinned that badge vpon his owne sleeue which was only to haue been worne by the traytours Rebells of Almighty God and he resolued to weare it being God himselfe By taking (c) Our Lord by the payne shame of his circumcision did satisfy for our sinnes he did purchase grace and fortify vs by his example this badge of sinne which was payne and shame to his owne person he did not only satisfy for the sensuality pride of man but he deliuered vs also from being subiect any longer to those tyrants both by the grace which he obtayned therby at the hands of his eternall Father and by the example which he gaue in this his Circumcision of a most profound contempt of himselfe And who is therfore that man who by way of retribution for the loue of this Lord will not now procure to follow his example and at least by little and little to weane himselfe frō estimation of honour and delight in pleasure since the king of glory did contēt himself for the loue of vs to be thought a sinner and to vndergoe the obligatiōs due to such a one Doctour Auila Cap. 76. in his Audi Filia vseth this excellent comparison If (d) Consider and ponder this comparison a King should goe vpon his bare feete and should be weary and should sweat through the length and sharpnes of the way hauing his back loaden with sackcloath and his face with teares as king Dauid did and had by occasion of the reuolte of his sonne Absalom what seruant or Courtier could there be of his who either for loue or shame would not also goe on foote and vnshodd and as like his king as he could be And so the holy Scripture affirmeth that all the seruants of Dauid did and all the people which accompanied him at that tyme. And the same authour saith afterward That the altitude of the state of perfect Christians is so great and that Christ our Lord hath wrought such a change in things by his holy example as that the bitter and the base of this world is growne to be honorable and delightfull And (e) Let worldlinges thinke as lightly as they will of this the perfect seruāts of God do find the truth of it at theyr very harts that he enableth his true seruants to cast the gorge when they are but to rast of that in the pursuite wherof worldly men are vpon the pointe of cutting the throates of one another Thus sayth Doctour Auila Fa. Arias doth serue himselfe of another comparison to this effect If a King sitting in his chayre of State should by a * Titulo de Redemtor Ca. 4. law command that the Caualleroes of his Court should weare their garments of plame stusse for the enriching of his kingdome or that for the defence therof they should accustome themselues to carry such or such a kind of weapō it is cleere that they would take themselues to be in obligation of obseruing that law But if the king himselfe at the very gate of his Royall Pallace should proclaime the same with his owne princely mouth for the example of others would gird such a weapon to his owne side put such a garmēt vpō his own back without doubt his Courtiers would take thēselues to be more straitly bound to keepe this law And as they should be honored who would obserne it so the breach therof would instly intytle the infringers of it to more grieuous punishmēt Now (f) Obserue this application and it will mooue thee God being in his Thron of glory did commaund both by the naturall written lawe that men should liue according to vertue and be caresull to imbrace those meanes which might conduce to their saluation This lawe he published by meanes of his Angells and other Creatures and the world was bound to obserue the same and the breach of it was both threatned and reuenged with the eternall fire of Hell But in the tyme of the law of grace God himselfe descended from his Imperiall throne came downe into the world apparailing himselfe with the garment of our flesh and bloud And with his owne sacred mouth be did proclaime his Euangelicall Law And in his owne sacred person he (g) The perfectiō of Christ our Lord complyed with all that vertue and sanctity in supreme perfection which he exacted at the hands of men And (h) His mortification he imbraced all the meanes of paine and shame wherby sincere and solid vertue is obtained So that there can be no doubt but that our obligation to keepe his law is much the greater since it is auowed by his owne example and consequently the fault in breaking it would be more inexcusable and the punishment due to it more intollerable And (i) Giue great attention to this circumstāce if when Christ our Lord was yet on earth and did commaund his Disciples to preach his will to the people of Israel and to moone men also by their example he commaunded that they should goe on foote and not only without money but euen without shoes that otherwise also they should be poorely cladd and did then protest that the people who would not heare their Doctrine should find themselues in worse case at the day of Iudgment then they of Sodome Gomorra how incomparably much more will it increase our damnation who haue bene taught by the very mouth and haue bene conuinced by the example not only of the Disciples but of Christ our Lord himselfe the king of glory if we imita e not his vertues and if we imbrace not his mortifications This is the summe and substance of that excellent discourse of Fa. Arias where he treates of Christ our Lord vnder the quality of his being our Redeemer And although he doe in generall propound it there as inducing vs to pennance and vertue vpon the consideration of the doctrine and example of Christ our Lord at large yet (k) That the consideration brought by Fa. Arrias doth very particularly belong to the Cu c̄cision of our Lord. it seemes very naturall that heer I should apply it in particular manner by occasion of this mistery of the Circumcision Wherein the first of that most pretious bloud was shedd wherby the world was to be redeemed and when he who was the true and supreme Law-giuer did diminish himselfe so much as to become obnoxious to that penalty of his owne Law since as his holy
of God for the perpetuating of the memory of so great a benefit Though yet no oblation was able to make that infinite Maiesty of the eternall God a Sauer for his hauing deliuered them by the death of the first borne of their enemies till he was pleased that his only sonne should come and offer himselfe in flesh and bloud for theyr deliuerance Coloss 1. he who was the first begotten of all Creatures and who performed that in deed and truth which all other oblations and Sacrifices did but only as figures in respect of him Now this Act of the Presentation of our Lord Iesus was made by our B. Lady Or rather he offered himselfe in those sacred and most pure hands of hers which he enabled for that excellent purpose with vnspeakeable and most ardent loue And as hereafter we shall see that he chiefely made oblation of himselfe in his sacred passion by way of propitiation for our sinnes and impetration of grace So the Presentation seems to carry a particular respect to worke by way of thanksgiuing for all the benefits which that open hand of God was by moments rayning downe vpon the Creatures And to the end that the goodnes of this Lord of ours may not be cast away vpō vs it will be necessary both now and very often heerafter to cast a carefull and well considering eye vpon the former (*) Cap. 2. discourse wherin we obserued the vnlimited knowledg of that diuine soule of Christ our Lord and wherby it is euident that all things concerning the Creatures for whome he would vouchsafe to be offered whether they were past or to come were as present to him as the very instant of tyme wherin then he liued In so much as there was not nor euer could be imparted the least benefit to mankind by Almighty God which was not present to his incomprehensible but all-comprehēding mind and for which our Lord Iesus did not offer himselfe then by way of thankes with most particular loue So that now we see our Lord surrendred vp into the hands of his eternall Father as if the world after a sort vvere dispossessed of him But so full of Charity vvas that Father as to ordayne the sonne to be sould backe againe (b) What soeuer is giuen to God is giuen vs backe againe with aduantage for the imparting of all those diuine sauours vvhich appeare to haue bene done to vs by him in the vvhole progresse of his holy life and death And vvheras he exercised vvith a perpetuity of burning loue those offices of a Lawgiuer a Maister a Father a Freind a Spouse and lastly of an omnipotēt Redeemer by his fiue sacred vvounds in this mistery vve find him to haue bene recouered and brought backe to vs vvith the payment of fiue Sicles vvhich according to the most probable opinion of computation doe not exceed tvvo shillings O omnipotent loue of our Lord IESVS who so would giue himselfe to vs as that indeed he choose rather not to giue himself but rather to innoble vs so farre as to enable vs to giue him somewhat for himselfe though the price fell infinitely short of the thing which was to be redeemed A price it was which fell short euen of being able to buy a very slaue and what proportion then could it carry with purchasing a God and King of glory sauing that his loue did make vp the rest His loue which was as pretious as God himselfe for God is loue and he being man is also God and so he was not only willing but euen able to pay as much as God was able to exact But we the while besides the contemplation of our owne obligation may doe wel to consider that course of prouidence loue which from the beginning of the world hath bene held with man in addressing him to an expectation and firme beleefe and loue of this diuine Redeemer Euen in the law of nature all was full of figures sacrifices were also offred then and (c) There is no truth of Religion where there is no visible Sacrifice wheresoeuer there is no visible Sacrifice there neither is nor cā there be any true Religion nor true worship of God and the mindes of many were indued with light according to the exigency of their state which ledd their inward eyes towards this marke In the tymes of the written Law another curtaine as a man may say was drawne and the faith of men grew more explicite then the Maiesty of the Church was increased the figures were both more and more significant and more euident and there was store of Prophets who expresly foretold the qualities of the Messias to come But now that he was indeed arriued no tyme was lost such loue as that could not be slacke and we haue seene how instantly the Sheepheards and in their persons such others as were neere at hand were inuited to that feast of ioy by the call of Angells After that the Magi and in their persons all the Gentills though neuer so farre off either in respect of tyme or place were drawne vnder the conduct of a Starre And now that such as were most particularly deputed for Gods seruice might be farre from not knowing their redeemer behould how he (d) Our Lord was declared by Saint Simeon to be come for the saluation both of Iewes and Gentils declares himselfe in the Temple to all the world by the mouth of holy Simeon Anna to be the Sauiour therof to be the glory of the Iewes and the light of the Gentills That so there might be none who should not tast of that fountaine of loue which was distilling into al those hartes which would receaue it It came not doubtles downe by drops into that of Simeon For instantly vpon the taking of that celestiall infant who was the Lord of life into his dying armes he fell into an extasis of ioy withall into a diuine deepe wearines of the world and was so deadly wounded by the loue of our Lord that he could not endure to looke vpon him but vpon the price of being willing to liue no longer How in the flight which our Lord Iesus made to Egypt he discouered his vnspeakeable Loue to man CHAP. 18. OVR Lord Iesus was no sooner brought backe into the power and designed to the vse of men but he was disposing himselfe by this incessant Charity to doe and suffer strange things for them For what stranger thing could there be then that he who created the whole world and who carries conducts it all by the word of his power in whose sight the Angells tremble the gates of heauen doe shiuer and in (a) What a poore Nothing the whole world is in comparison of God Matt. 2. comparison of whome all creatures are not so much as one poore single naked desolate grayne of dust that he I say should be content for loue of vs to feare and fly from such a thing as
assured of any coÌ„dition he vvas quickly pleased to shevv the very bovvells of his mercy tovvards them They vvere opened before but then did he let them see hovv he had lodged them all therin For (c) The vnspeakeable fauour with our Lord lesus imparted to his Apostles in regard that they had left their little All for him he admitted them instantly into his ovvne diuine conuersation he instructed them by his heauenly doctrine He gaue them a dominion ouer deuills that they might expell them out of the bodies of men He made them knovv that he vvould leaue them Ambassadours in his place betvvene God and the vvorld That they should haue povver to offer consecrate and consummate his owne pretious body and bloud And to remit or retaine the sinnes of men according to that spirit of vvisedome and the authority vvhich he vvould impart to them for that purpose And that so they must grow to be Treasurers of eternall riches and administrators of all his diuine Sacraments Doctours of the vvhole vvorld And they being so fraile and imperfect men as vve haue shevved before he assumed them to a kind of participation of his ovvne Empire ouer heauen and earth and to a spirituall kind of principality aboue all the Monarks of the vvorld And that vvhich more importeth then all this he declared that they should sit together with himselfe vpon his throne and at the day of Iudgement giue sentence vpon the Twelue Tribes of Israell vvherby the vvhole vvorld is designed So (d) How infinitely we gayne by giuing al to God that heere vve haue meanes to see at hovv high a rate that mony is put out to vse vvhich vve present to God I meane vvhat infinite gaine is raysed by making a deed of guift of the miserable litle thing which vve haue and are to that immense goodnes of his By hearkning with a diligent faith full hart to his holy inspirations vvherby he vvoes vs to become his that in exchange he may be ours It is true that he desires to haue all or none and he hath reason For if this soule of ours with being so poore a thing as it is be yet of such capacity as that nothing which is lesse then God himselfe can content and fill it what a brutish thought would it be in vs to conceaue That our God himselfe could be contented to inioy but a part of vs who are things of nothing and who were all created by him and who are his and only his by so many tytles that hell it selfe is a punishment which comes not home to the crime of our diuiding the soule betwene him creatures He being the sole and supreme truth all (e) All that which concerneth creatures is a meer lye whensoeuer it disobeyeth God or drawes vs from him Confes lib. 10. cap. 22. creatures no better then a pure perfect lye in whatsoeuer they say they are or would seeme to be otherwise then as they yield obedience to the diuine Maiesty S. Augustine doth excellently expresse this particular when reuersing the wandring steps of his ill gouerned youth in the way of confession to almighty God he deliuereth himselfe in this manner Thou art supreme truth who presidest ouer all things Loath I was to loose thee but through my couetousnes I desired to possesse a Lye together with thee This was the reason why I lost thee because thou disdainst to be enioyed in the company of a lye The Apostles therfore when they were called did instantly and wholly giue themselues away with all they had And though the goods which they left were not a matter in themselues of any moment yet they were esteemed to haue giuen much because those happy men reserued nothing to themselues And with the same affection through which they had left that little they were as ready to haue left a thousand worlds for the loue of Christ our Lord. And S. Peter afterward was not affraid to put our Lord in mind therof by these words of his innoceÌ„t and confident Matt. 19. ardent tender loue Behould we haue left all things and followed thee what therfore wilt thou doe for vs He said not that he had left his netts or his house or his boate or this or that but absolutely that he had left all things And (f) The infinite liberality of our Lord Iesus our Lord made him this answere with no lesse then the bounty of a God Amen Amen c. which declareth a most serious affirmation or protestation You who haue followed me shall sit vpoÌ„ thrones at the resurrection of the iust you shall iudge the twelue tribes of Israell And whosoeuer shall haue left his Father or mother or brother or sister or house or land for my names sake shall haue a hundred fold in this world and afterward shall possesse eternall life Yea so liberall is our Lord IESVS as to reward with no lesse then heauen for euery instant of that tyme which we dispose our selues to imploy vpon his seruice And yet his excellency is such as that euen the very only doing him any little seruice is of so great happines to a faithfull soule as that it alone is an ouer-pay foral the paines that can be taken in this life But to shew that our Lord is scarce able to differre the recompence of such as follow him with a ready will we shall see in the next Chapter how he takes some of them as it were into the ioyes of heauen before their tyme. And he who (g) Note heer the excellent loue of Christ our Lord. would not haue them present when he was tempted solitary and in act of penance because perhaps they were not so able to feed so soone vpon such crosses or hard crusts as those did yet resolue that he would not haue some of them absent when he was to be Transfigured vpon the hill But that in recompence of their beginning to doe him seruice for the strengthning of their Faith and Hope and Loue in the processe of it they should tast a dropp of that glory wherwith they were to be inebriated in heauen Of the excessiue Loue which our Lord Iesus shewed to man in the mistery of the Transfiguration CHAP. 29. THE Temptation and Transfiguration of our Lord IESVS are liuely instances of hovv hard things he desired to suffer and how excellent things he desired to doe for vs which two â—â—e the most certayne tokens (a) True loue desires not only to do great thinges but to suffer hard thinges Matt. 17. of true loue We haue already considered of his Temptation and now this Mystery of his Transfiguration is thus related in the sacred text That our Lord tooke Saint Peter S. Iames S. Iohn into the top of a high and solitary mountaine to the end that he might pray That whilst he (b) The manner of the Transfiguration of our Lord Iesus was praying he grew to be
goodnes immediatly vpon his hauing washed the Apostles feete And our Lord was pleased by that vnspeakeable humility of his to prepare and exalt them to a participation of so high mysteries as were to follow Ioan. 7. The holy Ghost was not then descended because the sonne of man was not ascēded vp to heauen And therfore it is no meruaile if S. Peter were at that tyme to seeke concerning the reasō why our Lord would vse such an excesse as that But he was told that he should vnderstand the mystery afterward Ioan. 13. and then he would easily know withal that (f) The great purity which is requisite to a Catholique Priest no purity in this world could be too great for the disposing of themselues to that which they went about which was to be ordeyned Priests and not only to partake but also to dispense the pretious body and bloud of our blessed Lord. Our Lord IESVS did therfore take bread into his hands he blessed it and gaue therof to his Disciples when first he had pronounced the words of Consecration ouer it Declaring and consequently making it to be that very body of his which was to be offred vpon the Crosse That being done he also tooke the Chalice and he consecrated that in like manner affirming and therby also making it to be that very bloud which was to be powred out afterward for the saluation of the world He authorized and commaunded them withall to doe the like in commemoration of what he should haue done and suffered for them Now incomparable was the loue which our Lord shewed heerin both in substance circumstance In (g) Most strong in substance most sweet in circumstance substance because he gaue himselfe for the food of his seruants and in the manner of it because he did it in such a sweet and tender fashion towards them at such a tyme when yet his owne hart was oppressed with sorrow through the foreknowledge and expectation of his bitter Passiō which was thē at hand Nay he was pleased as appeareth by the words of the sacred Text to be (h) In the very consecration he speake and thought of his Passion feeding his thoughts actually vpon how he was to giue his body vp by his bitter Passion and to shed his bloud by a violent and most dishonorable effusion euen whilst he was graunting that legacy and consecrating the same body and bloud of his for the comfort and ioy of mankind vnder the familiar and delightful formes of bread wine He was taking his leaue of them though yet he knew not how to leaue them But as he went from them in that visible manner according to which he had conuersed vvith thē til that tyme so yet he vvould bind himself to come in person to them for their comfort though in another forme vvhensoeuer they should haue a mind to call him How our Lord would not harken to those reasons which might haue disswaded him from shewing this great mercy to man Of the necessity of a visible Sacrifice and how our Lord himselfe doth still offer it CHAP. 46. IF reason might haue preuailed it seemes that he should haue taken heed vvhat he vvas about doe Matt. 7. That if Pearles were not to be cast to swyne much lesse vvas this inualuable ievvell to be mis-spent vpon so many vvho vvould continually be vvallovving in the filth of sinne That there vvould be a vvorld of Pagans Iewes Heretiques and vvho vvould not beleeue and would blaspheme the truth therof That millions of Catholikes though they did beleeue it would not yet frequent it but would rather for beare this bread of life this fountaine of heauenly water then the muddy miserable gust of some carnal pleasure or some base interest of the world which yet doth but lead them from a Purgatory in this life to a Hell in the next That some would do worse then to abstayne for notwithstanding that they resolued still to sinne they would yet presume with Sacrilegious mouth to prophane this Lord of heauen and earth to bring God into that house wherof the deuill had possession and dominion And in fine that they would be too few who would often resort to it with due reuerence of that Maiesty with hungar after true sanctity with loue of that immense beauty and with that purity of hart which might forbid them to lauish and wast themselues away in pursuite of creatures This might haue seemed to be the voyce of reason which was to haue diuerted our blessed Lord from submitting himselfe to such indignity as he seemed by his mercy to grow subiect to But (a) How the infinite loue of our Lord made answere in our behalfe to this infinite wisedome he on the other side would needs vnderstand it to be otherwise And that he being an infinite God it vvould become him well to be infinitely good That it should not be long of him if all the world were not inchayned to him by loue That if any man would either vnder-value the benefit and much more if he would abuse it otherwise a most rigorous account should be asked therof And that in the meane tyme it would be comfort inough for him if such as were resolued to serue him might be incorporated to him not only by supernaturall grace but by this supersubstantiall bread which should cause an vnspeakeable vnion betwene him them This was a principall reason why our Lord was pleased to institute both this diuine Sacrifice and Sacrament in this last supper of his but he did it besides for the fulfilling of Prophesies and the perfecting of the figures of the old Testament He was not come as himselfe had formerly affirmed To breake the law but to fulfill it And therfore as he was pleased to eate the Paschall lambe with all those Ceremonies which the law required and which till then were to be of force so (b) The Paschall lambe was a figure both of the death of Christ our Lord and of the B. Sacrament the same being partly a figure of the Passion and Death of our Lord IESVS and much more properly of the Blessed Sacrament and the holy Sacrifice of the Masse it became his Truth and Goodnes to ordaine and institute them at that tyme. For his Church in euery one of the states therof aswell vnder the law of nature as the written law was the Spouse of Christ our Lord and in vertue of that only coniunction it vvas acceptable and pleasing to the eternall Father But particularly it was to be so vnder the Law of Grace vvhen once it should come to be fed by his sacred body and inebriated by his pretious bloud And therfore as in those former tymes the Church of Christ our Lord had neuer bene without her Sacrifices neither is there indeed or can there be any true Religion without a reall and proper Sacrifice so much lesse vvould he permit that Spouse vnder the lavv of
griefe of our Lord Iesus novv vve vvill but consider hovv infinitely the nature of God doth abhorre any one single sinne And hovv straitly our Lord IESVS had obliged himselfe out of loue to satisfy Gods Iustice for them all And hovv certainely he savv that the farre greater part of men vvould take no benefit at all by that bitter Passion But that some would not beleeue it some others vvould not apply it yea and that some would euen blaspheme it as thinking it impossible that God himselfe should be so good to them If vve consider that men vvho seriously desire to serue God vvith perfection are profoundly afflicted euē for the least discorrespondence to the motion of his holy Spirit and much more for any small defect into vvhich by their fault they may haue fallen And vvhen there hath beene question of greater sinnes there be men and vvomen vvho haue dyed as hath been sayd euen of pure repentance sorrovv for them And yet hovv fevv sinnes had they to be sory for in comparison of the sinnes of the vvhole vvorld And hovv little could they be sorry euē for their ovvne in cōparison of the griefe vvhich did seize the hart of our blessed Lord for those very sinnes Which (d) We shall greeue for onr sinnes after the rate of our know ledge and loue of God vvas so much greater then theirs as his knovvledge loue of God them his vnderstanding detestation of all sinne vvas greater If vve cōsider the seuerall kinds of sinne vvhich as hath been touched before vvere distinctly represented to the minde of Christ our B. Lord All the sinnes of Idolatry heresy offending after an infinite māner his most religious piety All the sinnes of pride his profound humility All the sinnes of vvrath his inuincible patience All the sinnes of cruelty and enuy those bovvels of his charity and mercy All the sinnes of gluttony and prodigality his his perfect pouerty and sobriety All the sinnes of abhominable bestiall and not so much as to be named sensuality his impenetrable supercelestiall purity If concerning Idolatry vve consider that it is either exteriour or interiour Exteriour vvhen Sacrifice is offred to a materiall externall Idoll interiour vvhen Christians or any other do lodge a creature in theyr harts which though they know not to be God yet they esteeme and obey and doe more honour to it then to God And if vve consider hovv for these seuerall kindes of sinnes he felt and vvas to feele a seuerall kind of Crosse an outvvard crosse to vvhich they vvould crucify his sacred body and another vvhich vvas inward to which he crucified his ovvne hart through griefe and loue In (e) How our Lord was wounded by the considetion of Gods iustice and bate of sinne and our great misery particular our Lord had his eye vpō that inflexible decree of God which dāned so many millions of Angells for one only sinne And how for one sinne he droue Adam out of Paradise Yea and how not only for the fault or guilt of sinne he is so terrible but euē for the penalty due to any one sinne although the fault be put away by pennance that he inflicteth excessiue paine in Purgatory if satisfaction be not made in this life He had besides in his sight the miserable weakenesse of man towards all good workes which weakenesse men cōtract by sinne besides the sinnes thēselues and these are the effects teliques therof And he well knew that they would make it very difficult for men to serue God without a great abōdāce ofgrace which he only could tell how to merit for thē Add to this that he cleerly saw all those vast affronts which in that night and the next day were to be done to himselfe with the hideous torments which he vvas sure they would inflict vpon him He also saw the Martyrdomes of all his Prophets past his Apostles and other Martyrs which were then to come the banishment and confiscation of his seruants persons and goods the contempt and prophanation of his Sacraments There was no place wheron he could tell how to rest the head of his hart The Synagogue was all in effect corrupt and almost dead and buried His Church vnder the name of Christian not then borne One of his Apostles was gone to betray him another would shortly deny him and the rest were vpon the point to runne from him His B. Mother in whom only he might haue taken intiere delight was to suffer martyrdome in her soule which was to be transpierced with a sword of sorrow Whithersoeuer he might cast his thoughs in the search of some little comfort they were bowed as it were and beaten backe againe into his owne sad hart which was become a whole Sea of sorrow How would he grieue for all this vvho grieued till he wept againe Ioan. 11. and till he was troubled and did groane in spirit for the only temporall death of Lazarus All these things I say being vvell considered and duely pondered I (f) It is no wonder if such incōparable causes of griefe did produce so strange effects in the wounded hart of our Lord Iesus cease to meruaile that such a generall muster of hell as this had like euen vvith the only apprehention therof to haue extinguished the pure lampe of his pretious life Or yet that it cost him so much shame vvith the horrour to see such a vvorld of filth cast before him vvhich novv he vvas to take vp and to make his ovvne as vvas able to put him into expresse Agony Or in fine that it drevv out that svveat and euen shovver of bloud as if it had bene to shevv the profound reason vvhich euen all his body had to blush therat Or els according to the deuoute contemplation of holy S. Bernard as if he should haue shed teares ouer all his body since his sacred eyes alone had not inough of the sluce for such a purpose Of the excellency of Prayer declared by occasion of that Prayer of our B. Lord in the Garden CHAP. 57. INFALLIBLY he must needs haue dyed vnder this huge weight of sorrow if particular force had not bene sent him by the good will of God as the sorrow of the same kind though incomparably of an inferiour degree hath depriued many others of their life Nor are we able to discerne visibly by what meanes this strength and succour came imparted to him but only by the visitation of the Angell and the feruour and perseuerance of his Prayer to the eternal Father (a) We ought to carry great deuotion reuerence to the Angells of God Now since our Lord who as God was the King of glory did not yet disdaine as man to accept that seruice and assistance from an Angell much more must we who are in the next degree to Nothing carry great deuotion to those blessed spirits who come to vs with succour in their hands at such times as when
negotiate vpō the crosse did he as it were shut himselfe vp for the Redēption of mankind making dispatches which he sent by moments to the mercy and Iustice seate of God and speeding of all his memorialls concerning the erection and propagation of his Church the illuminating of Pagans the mollifying of lewes the reducing of Heretikes the instruction of all soules the propitiation of sinnes the satisfaction of all paynes the impetration of all graces and the retribution of thankes for all benefits There did he adore God in highest contemplation there did he prostrate himself with profound humiliation There did one of the extended armes of his soule reach to the Angells in heauen and the other to Lymbus below the earth his hart the while betwene them both was imbracing the whole race of mortall men with desire to make them all one with him in that kingdome of glory vpon the purchase wherof he was then disbursing his hart bloud He had nothing but deadly sorrow by him but he saw that ioy before him which he was eternally to take in the glory of God and good of man Hebr. 2. And therfore Proposito sibi gaudio sustinuit crucem confusione contempta If euer his hart did appeare to be an infinite kind of thing it was in those three howers of torments desolations and silence He was at that tyme withall the world or rather with as many little worlds as there had bene were were to be reasonable creatures in it but there was not any one of thē with him in the way of giuing him the least sensible comfort So that we may conclude that his Father and Sonne and seruant Dauid did most truly litterally prophesy of him when he said Psalm 10◠Vigilaui (c) The sad solitude of Christ our Lord. factus sum sicut passer solitarius in tecto He was kept well awake like a solitary sparrow vpon the roofe of a house which knowes not whither to retyre it selfe being strocken by the voyce of thunder and frighted on euery side by the flashes of lighning and battered euen to the very braines by an impetuous storne of rayne and hayle O thou innocent lambe of God which takest away the sinnes of the world Thou Lambe of God who art also God and becamst a Lābe that so thou mighest not only haue wooll wherof to be fleeced for the couering of vs but bloud also which thou wert glad to shed for the giuing of life to vs. And how deeply are the soules of vs thy seruants wounded to see this multiplication of thy miseries How cordially are we afflicted that we can but be astonished at this solitude and silence and those vast torments of thine Or rather how much are we ashamed that we scarce say true euen when we say that we are sory for them since we are so wicked withall as that we giue them not leaue to worke those effects vpon our soules for which they were suffered vpon thy pretious body How long shall we be the slaues of sinne since thou hast fought so hard for our liberty How long shall we care for the contentments of this life since thou who art more to vs then millions of liues didst for the loue and example of vs wretches contract and tye thy selfe to such an endlesse shame of reproach torment How come we to be so miserable as that we are able so much as to liue when we see that thou who art the King of glory and the God of life art thus going to dye Would not lesse deere Lord haue serued the turne for the accomplishment of our redemptiō but that thou must needs be thus obnoxious to such a vastity of anguish as now we see thee in Lesse would haue serued to satisfy the iustice of God since by reason of the Hypostaticall vnion any one act or sigh of thine would haue ouerbought many millions of worlds from hell But nothing could satisfy that vnquencheable heat of thy hart vnlesse thou hadst endured all this Chaos of confusion torment Because therby not only our saluation but our sanctification also was to be more nobly wrought more sweetly and more honorably for vs more gloriously for God and therfore more gustfully and delightfully for thee in the superiour part of thy soule howsoeuer in the inferiour it cost thee deere Of the vnspeakeable thirst of our Lord which he did indure and declare with incomparable Loue to man CHAP. 74. THERE remayned now a Prophesy to be fulfilled cōcerning the thirst of our Lord vpō the Crosse The torment of extreme h̄gar is sometymes so great as that we read of straite and long sieges of townes where the inhabitants haue bene driuen by the rage therof not only to eate vncleane beasts but euen mothers haue deuoured the very childrē of their owne body yea and euen the flesh of their owne Lymms And yet most certain it is and we take a kind of tast therof by our owne dayly experience that euery one of vs who haue at any tyme found our selues in extremity both of hungar and thirst haue felt the thirst incomparably more troublesome thē the hungar (a) The great torment of great thirst beyond that of hungar Such againe as haue trauelled sundry dayes in some dry and barren deserts as it hapneth to many in the Southern and Eastern parts of the world such as haue felt the malignity of burning feuers doe well vnderstād what I say Nor is there almost any treasure vpon earth which some such man would not be glad to giue for a glasse of water Now thirst is otherwise also caused by excesse of labour by heate by griefe of minde by payne of body and especially by the spending of much bloud And we seldome let bloud whē we are taking Phisicke though it be but in iest but it serues to giue vs increase of thirst How ardent then must the thirst of Christ our Lord needs haue beene in whome alone al the causes of extreme thirst did meet For during all that day and the whole precedent night he had bene perpetually in tormēt And besides his Agony and bloudy sweat in the garden he had bene dragged and buffeted and all inflamed by those cruell scourges thornes And lastly he had byn bored through with nayles vpō which he had now hunge almost three houres with streames of bloud continually flowing from him and his spirits were exhausted by a world of deadly sorrow at his hart to increase his thirst This torment he endured all that while without once so much as saying that he endured it Nether did he expresse himselfe now at last in this kind through the delight he meant to take or paine he meāt to driue away by drinking for already he was euen vpon the very pitch and brimme of death And he who in all that tyme had bene swallowing vp the want of drinke in silence could easily haue extended his patience to those next minutes which were to
God forbid that now any creature should coÌ„tinue to crucify her in her honour and in the fame of her sanctity or in the effects of her mercy The Iewes crucified the Sonne but let no man be so wicked as to crucify the mother Let no maÌ„ now be like those Heretiques of auncient time who thinking belike that the sword of sorrow Antidico marianitae apud Ephiphan haer 78. Luc. 2. which was foreseen foretold by holy S. Simeon and of which it was said that it should pierce her hart from side to side at the crucifying of our Lord did not make the wound wide inough and therfore they would needs procure to keepe it open with their venemous teeth and tongues Let men I say be like them so much the lesse as the Turks themselues in their AlcoraÌ„ haue bin coÌ„uinced so far by the certaine and cleere truth of the purity and perfection of our blessed Lady as in seuerall places by way of exclamation and admiration to say thus of her Alcor Mahom. Azoar 5. 75. O Maria c. O Mary thou art more pure and right and cleere then all other men or women who doth perpetually attend to please God alone There is none borne of the children of Adam free from sinne but Mary and her Sonne There is none amongst the children of Adam whome SathaÌ„ hath not defiled excepting Mary and her Sonne If any wicked man would needs haue a spight to any other euen of them who are recorded in holy writ they might haue more colour for there are few who were not subiect to some apparent fault 2. Reg. 11. 3. Reg. 11. There was a time when Dauid committed a most inexcusable murther Salomon fell away to Idolatry the Prophets and Apostles had their defects And such as were free from fault were yet found to execute some seuerity which howsoeuer Matt. 26. in it selfe it were iust and good yet such persons vse to be lesse attractiue of the loue of others If any man should be incestuous I would meruaile the lesse although he should cry out against S. Paul because he deliuered ouer one of that confraternity to the deuill by excommunication 1. Cor. 5. Or if he would breake his promise made to God though he rayled against â— Pâ—eter Act. â— because Ananias Saphira were strocâ—â—Ì„ dead in the Apostles preseÌ„ce for that finne Or being wholy giuen ouer to frequent Taâ—ernes and playes to worke his vnbridled will whatsoeuer it may cost if he haue no mind to S. Iohn Baptist whome he counts to haue bene a melancholy kind of man that he was no good Courtyer Matt. 14. in reprouing Herod for his faults to his face Or being a Prophanour of the worship of God I should not woÌ„der so very much though he maligned the very fountaine of sanctity Christ our Lord himselfe because he whipt such offeÌ„dours as those out of the Temple Ioan. 2. But in this sacred Virgin as on the one side there was neuer the least defect at all of which any creature could iustly taxe her so on the other she had no such Office as might oblige her to the executioÌ„ of any seuerity vpon the pretence wherof they could grow to be auerted from her Of her excellency otherwise I shall say somewhat afterward but for her discharge in point of Innocency I would but aske the sowrest Critiques of the world What action of hers they did euer note what word they did euer read or heere or what (e) The excessiue suauity of our B. Lady coppy of her countenance they did euer take in a true light which did not eueÌ„ smell with sweetnes and goodnes Yet peraduenture this will not serue because themselues will not be such as they ought They loue not to see the sensuality and pride of theirowne liues reproached by the example of her high purity and most holy humility And they conceaue her to cast more shame vpon them then euen the example of Christ our Lord himselfe would doe From the imitation of whome they would excuse themselues because he was God aswell as man wheras she was no more then a mere creature though most eminently inspired by the grace of God which yet they also in their proportions may be But if they would once procure to imitate this Queene of heauen in her vertues Note there is no soule capable of reason which could euer detaine it selfe from becoming the trumper of her prayses If any narrow-harted man be inclined out of ambition to enuy such as aspire to temporall Greatenes his Enuy must looke after another obiect since she was poore and priuate and loued to be so If he hate all cruelty of condition he may better imploy that hate vpon what other creature he will for in this sacred Virgin he could neuer see any thinge which might offend him vnlesse he will be angry with her for hauing neuer resented any indignity that could be done her in this life If he loue to be reuenged of such as doe him any wronge that passion can haue noe place vpon this Queene of Heauen who neuer did him or any any other wrong then to giue her flesh and bloud to God that he might spend and shed it for the redemption of man But (f) How we are obliged to pitty to admire and loue this Queene of heaueÌ„ if on the other side there be any thinge which he can resolue to pitty in her he may see a world of paine for the Crosses of her sonne supported by him for the finnes of vs his wicked seruants If there be any thing which he can be content to admire in her he sees nobility of bloud dignity of calling and sanctity of life all met in one If he be not so fierce but that there is some thing which he may be induced to loue in her he may behould most incomparable beauty of body with an vnspeakeable suauity of minde who neuer in all her life gaue any one crosse-answere nor shewed so much as a strange eye to any creature nor complayned of any incommodity nor refused to be subiect to any impertinency nor fayled to succour any misery But if we will looke vpon her story with vntroubled eyes we shall find all the traces of her pure feete to haue bene full of a kind of diuine profound perpetuall humble suffering sweetnes which at last will oblige men to be her slaues Of the incomparable sanctity which is implyed to haue beene in our Blessed Lady by the consideration of the high dignity of her calling and how that maÌ„ner of speach is to be vnderstood in holy Scripture wherby our Blessed Lady doth seeme in the eye of some to be disaduantaged CHAP. 82. AND how indeed could it be chosen but that her externall actions should leaue behind them an admirable odour whose soule did so regorge with the most sublime perfection of sanctity which might be agreable to the dignity of