all this but that the holie Ghost intended by all these metaphors to expresse vnto vs the coÌ„tinuall exercise and coÌ„sideration wherewith the iust man is alwaies occupied in searchinge the worckes and wonders of almightie God And for this verie cause Psalm 1. Eccles 31. emonge the praises of the iust maÌ„ this is put for one of the most principall that his exercise is to meditate vpon the lawe of our lord daie and night and that he is alwaies coÌ„uersaÌ„t in the secrecie of parables geuing vs hereby to vnderstand that all his trade and coÌ„uersatioÌ„ must be in searching and meditating vpoÌ„ the secretes and woÌ„derfull worckes of almightie God And euen for this verie cawse also Ezech. 1. were those misticall beastes of Ezechiel represented vnto vs with so manie eies to signifie vnto vs that the iust man staÌ„deth in greater neede of the continuall consideration and sight of spirituall thinges then of a nomber of other exercises By this therefore we see plainlie what great neede we haue of this holie exercise and consequentlie how blyndelie and fowlie they are deceaued that either despise or make little accompt of the holie exercise of praier and meditation not considering that this is openlie to gaynesaie and contemne that thing which the holie Ghost hath with so great instancie commended vnto vs. I wishe that such persons would reade those fiue bookes of coÌ„sideration which S. Barnard wrote vnto EVGENIVS the Pope And there shall they perceaue of how great importance this holie exercise is towardes the obteyning of all vertues Now for this cause manie Catholike and religeous persons vnderstanding what great and inestimable fruit ensueth of this godlie meditation haue gone abowt to exercise them selues ordinarilie therein and haue appointed euerie daie certein speciall times and howeres for the same Howbeit oftentymes they waxe colde and geue ouer this holie exercise by reason of two difficulties they finde in it Two difficulties in the exercise of praier and meditation The one is the want of matter and of consideratioÌ„s wherein they maie occupie there cogitation at that time And th' other is the want of feruencie and deuotion which is verie requisite to accompanie this holie exercise in case we mind to haue anie fruit and commoditie thereby In steed whereof they find manie times great drynes of hart and withall a great combate of diuers and sondrie thowghtes The ordre and diuisioÌ„ of the contentes of this booke For remedie of which two inconueniences I haue ordeined this present booke which is deuided into two principall partes The first part for remedie of the first inconuenience treateth of the matter of praier The firste parte of this booke or meditation wherein are conteined fowertience meditations seruing for all the seuen daies of the weike both in the morninge and euening And these meditations do conteine the principall places and misteries of our faith and especially the consideration of those misteries that are of most force and power to brydle our hartes and to incline them to the loue and feare of God and to the abhorring of sinne In like maner there are sett out the fiue partes of this exercise which be Preparation readinge meditation thankes geuing and petition which is done to this end that a man maie haue great varietie of matters wherein to occupie his hart wherewith to procure and stirre vp the tast of deuotion and withall wherewith to illuminat and instruct his vnderstanding with diuers coÌ„siderations and instructions Besides this there is also treated therein of six kindes of thinges that are to be considered in euerie one of the pointes of the PassioÌ„ of our Sauiour that both they and all the rest maie minister vnto vs more plentifull matter for meditation These three thinges are sett forthe in the first part of this worcke for remedie of the first inconuenience The seconde parte of this booke The second part for remedie of the seconde inconuenience treateth of those thinges that do helpe vs vnto deuotion and likewise of those that doe hinder vs from the same It treateth also of the most common temptations that are wont to molest deuout persons Moreouer there are geuen certein aduices to be a direction vnto vs that we erre not in this waie These fowre articles are sett out in the seconde part of this booke The thirde parte of this booke After these I haue added the third parte in which is treated of the vertue of praier and of her two companions fasting and almes deedes to the intent that when a man seeth that in all the booke there is treated of praier and of the paines he owâ—â—ht to take for the same he maie vnderstand how well his labour is employed which is bestowed in obteining of a thinge of so great and wonderfull profitt Peraduenture the Christian reader wil be offended with the length of the meditations which we haue here sett fourth for the seuen daies of the weike Howbeit for this I haue manie answeres The first is considering that in these meditations is treated of the principall places and misteries of our faith the consideration whereof is of so great importance for the due orderinge and reforming of our liffe it behoueth me therefore to enlarge my style in these matters espetiallie by reason of the great fruit and commodetie that maie ensue vnto vs by the same For in this booke our meaning is not onelie to geue matter of meditation but much more to showe the ende of meditation which is the feare of God and amendment of our liffe The ende of meditation is the feare of God and amendemente of our life For the procuring whereof one of the thinges that most helpeth vs is the profound and long consideration of the misteries that are treated in these meditations For certeinlie these fourtene meditatioÌ„s be as it were so manie sermons in which is laide as it were a certein batterie to mans hart to cawse it to yeald so much as is possible and to surrender it selfe vp into the handes of his rightefull and true souereine Lorde This was the cheifest cause that moued me to make the meditations so longe Besides this I see not why the ghest that is inuited should complaine that the table is to full furnished with manie dishes sith we bynd him not as by waie of constraint to make an ende of them all but onely emonge so manie sundrie thinges to make his choice of that which serueth best for his purpose Moreouer that there might be the lesse occasion of complaint I haue putt the somme of each meditation at the beginninge thereof to the intent that such as minde not to passe anie further might there haue such thinges breiflie abridged as be necessarie for the time they intend to bestowe in this holie exercise THE ENDE OF THE PROLOGE THE FIRST PARTE WHICH TREATETH OF the matter of consideration THE FIRST CHAPTER Wherein is treated of the great profitt and necessitie of
and if it seeme vnto thee that he commeth not humble thy selfe then before him and acknowledge that thou art not worthie to receiue that thinge which he geueth not vnto thee and let this content thee for that tyme that thou hast made a sacrifice of thy selfe denied thine owne will crucified thy appetite striued with the diuell and with thy felfe and done at the least what thou couldest for thyne owne parte And in case thou haue not adored our Lorde with sensible adoration accordinge to thy desire it is sufficient that thou hast adored him in spirite and in trueth accordinge as his will is to be adored Ioan. 4.23 And trust me assuredlie in this poynte that this is the most daungerous passage of all this nauigation and the place where trewe deuout persons are prooued and tried and that if thou escape well out of this daunger thou shalt haue prosperous successe in all the rest To conclude if all this notwithstandinge it seeme vnto thee that it were but time lost to perseuere in praier and to trouble and wearie thy head without anie profite in such a case I accompt it not anie inconuenience if when thou hast done what lieth in thee thou take then some deuoute booke and chaunge for that time thy prayer into readinge Howbeit with this condition that thy readinge be not passed ouer with to great hast when our harte is verie much distracted it is good then to entermingle readinge and meditation together or speide but leasurelie and with great attention and consideration vnto such thinges as thou doest reade and intermingle now and then in places conuenient praier with readinge which is a thinge both verie profitable and verie easie to be done by all kinde of persons be they neuer so rude and newly entered into this waie The sixte aduise that we must endeuour to haue a longe and profounde praier and great aboundance of deuotion § VI. AN other aduise there is not much differinge from this aforesaied nor of lesse necessitie than it which is that the seruante of God doe not content him selfe with euerie litle tast he findeth in his praier as some persones vse to doe who when they shead a fewe teares or feile a litle tendernes of harte we must seeke in praier for aboundance of deuotion perswade them selues forthwith that they haue then accomplished and performed their exercise But surelie this is not enoughe for the obteininge of that thinge which we here seeke to haue For like as a litle dewe or sprinkelinge of water is not sufficient to cause the earthe to bringe forthe fruite which doth no more but onely alaie the dust and wette the vppermost parte of the grounde but it is neidfull also to haue so great abundance of water that it maie enter into the innermost parte of the earthe and there soke and water throwghe the same euen so if we will haue our sowle to bringe forthe the fruites of vertues and good worckes it is not sufficient to haue that litle dewe and sprinkelinge of deuotion which at the turninge of the head is dried vp with the least blast of wynde or heate of sonne that cōmeth with the which the sowle maketh some outwarde apparance that it is deuout but in verie deide it is not so within but it is also requisite to haue a longe profounde praier and great deuotion which after the maner of a great showre of raine may descende and sinke downe into the bothom of the harte and there cause it to be so well watered and wasshed therewith that neither sonne nor winde I meane hereby that neither anie busines nor cares of the worlde maie be able to drie it vp nor make anie alteration therein Accordinge hereunto we reade of the blessed holie religious woman S. Clare S. Clare that she rose sometimes from prayer and meditation so wholie absorpted in contemplation vpon almightie God that she coulde not but with verie great difficultie frame her harte to deale in such busines as she was enforced to attende vnto by reason of her office This kinde of deuotion is not like vnto that which is caried awaie with the winde and dried vp with euerie aier but it is like vnto that deuotion whereof it is written in the Canticles Cant. 8.7 That manie waters shall not be able to quenche the fier of charitie neither shall the great riuers ouerflowe it In prayer it is better to haue one longe time then two shorte times And therefore we are counselled and that for verie good cause to take as longe a time for this holie exercise of prayer and meditation as we maie And suerlie it is better to haue one longe tyme for the same than two shorte tymes For if the time of prayer be shorte all is spente in setlinge the imagination and in quietinge the harte and then so soone as we haue quieted the same we rise vp forthwith from our exercise at the very time when we shoulde beginne it So that we are like vnto the Miner which in searchinge for golde geueth ouer digginge at the verie time when he findeth the vaine thereof and so loseth his former traueyll when he shoulde presentlie enioye the fruit of his labour For vndoubtedly the fruit and profite of a longe and profounde praier is wont sometimes to be so great that a man hath thereby store enoughe to spende manie daies together 3. Reg. 17. and to goe with Elias to the mounte of almightie God with the vertue and force of the foode and sustenaunce which he hath there receyued One hower and a halfe or two howers is a conueniente time for the exercise of prayer But to descende more particulerlie in limitinge this time I am of opinion that what so euer is lesse than one howre and a halfe or two howres is to shorte a tyme for praier and meditation For often times there is spente more than halfe an howre in temperinge and tuninge our instrument to witt our harte and in quietinge our imaginatiō and so all the rest of this time is litle enoughe for the enioyinge of the fruit of praier True it is I graunte that when we goe to this exercise after some other holie exercises as for example after matins or after that we haue harde or saied Masse or after some deuoute readinge Earlie in the morninge before day is a verie fitte tyme for the exercise of praier and meditation or vocall praiers our harte is then better disposed vnto this exercise For then this heauenlie fier of deuotion is enkendeled with lesse difficultie in our harte which by reason of the former holie exercise is verie apte like drie wood to take fier muche more quicklie therein Likewise earlie in the morninge before daie the tyme of our praier and meditation maie be the shorter because then our harte is much better disposed for this exercise as hereafter shal be declared Howbeit in case it be so that a man by reason
Martirs In this schoole learned also the Apostles And this schoole hath likewise taughte and strengthened the virgins the Confessors the holie mounkes and to conclude all the Sainctes to liue a holie austere kinde of lyfe And it was the crosse that hath accompanied and comforted them in all their labours trowbles paynes afflictions and persecutions Now when the deuout sowle findeth so many kindes of fruites in this tree of lyfe for all times and for all necessities she can not but wonder at the highe wisedome of that soueraine master that hath founde out such an excellente meane for our remedie and she is also prouoked thereby to acknowledge the vnspekeable goodnes of so mercifull a father who beinge able to haue holpen and remedied man with his onely will chose rather to put him selfe to so great paines and dishonours to the intente that man might be more honored and more holpen by this meane thaÌ„ by anie other The order that maye commonlie be vsed in meditatinge vpon the PassioÌ„ These be the sixe principalle waies to meditate vpon the holie passion and the order that maie commonlie be vsed in meditatinge vpon them is to beginne at the first to witt to consider the most grieuous paynes which our sauiour suffred for vs the which consideration is as it were the verie foundation of all th 'others and from that consideration we maye goe forwardes immediatlie vnto all the rest accordinge as the very cowerse of meditation will open vnto vs the waie and especiallie the grace of the holie Ghost who is the principalle teacher of these exercises For as we haue declared before when we haue considered the passinge great paines which our Sauiour suffered for vs we maie then immediatly proceide forwardes and consider the greatnes of our sinnes which caused him to suffer so manie greiuous paines and tormentes and withall the passinge greatnes of this benefite of our redemption in that almightie God woulde vouchesafe for the loue of vs to suffer such extreme paines And we maie likewise consider the highnes of the goodnes and mercie of almightie God who for the great loue he bare vnto vs abased him selfe so farre forthe as to suffer so manie reprochefull contemptes villaynies and miseries And aboue all this we may consider how great examples of vertues our Sauiour Christe hath geuen vnto vs herein to witt of patience obedience charitie humilitie meikenes constancie and of all other vertues whereof we haue hitherto treated Howbeit althowghe it be a verie conuenient order of meditatinge vpon this holie misterie to passe orderlie by degreis throughe all theise forsaid considerations takinge our beginninge at the first consideration and so to proceide in order from one coÌ„sideration to an other euen to the last yet is it not neidfull for a man so often as he meditateth vpon this holie misterie to goe in this precise maner through them all for many times he shall not haue sufficient time for the same but let him contente him selfe in his meditation with that consideration wherein he shall finde most spirituall taste and likinge Forsomuch as in these exercises we must haue respecte not to the great quantitie of the matter that is meditated vpon but to the great deuotion wherewith it is done The ende of the first parte of this booke DEO GRATIAS Faultes escaped in the printinge of this Booke to be amended by the gentle reader as followeth Folio 1. Page 1. Lyne 13. for lyffe reade lyfe fol. 1. pag. 1. lin 18. wordlie worldlie fol. 2. pag. 1. lin 25. perfection perfection fol. 3. pag. 1. lin 16. vorde worde fol. 26. pag. 2. lin 1. consideration prayer fol. 38. pag. 1. lin 23. humilie humilitie fol. 38. pag. 1. lin 12. greuous greiuous fol. 70. pag. 2. lin 2. pincipalitie principalitie fol. 87. pag. 2. lin 2. showed shewed fol. 81. pag. 2. lin 2. tracke trace fol. 107. pag. 2. lin 4. sutelie surelie fol. 115. pag. 1. lin 20. encrase encrease fol. 133. pag. 1. lin 4. inuestured inuested fol. 138. pag. 2. lin 25. thou had thou hast fol. 143. pag. 2. lin 24. one owne fol. 161. pag. 2. lin 21. as is as it fol. 162. pag. 2. lin 30. be but is but. fol. 174. pag. 2. lin 23. as they as that they fol. 179. pag. 1. lin 1. in worde in one worde fol. 187. pag. 1. lin 1â— consider it consider them fol. 196. pag. 2. lin 14. dâ—eadfull dreadfull fol. 197. pag. 1. lin 23. harthe harte fol. 202. pag. 2. lin 21. inuite inuiteth fol. 211. pag. 1. lin 7. routes rootes fol. 222. pag. 2. lin 13. heare hayre fol. 230. pag. 1. lin 1. they shalle when they shalle fol. 234. pag. 1. lin 1. pompes pompe fol. 234. pag. 1. lin 3. heyre hayre fol. 234. pag. 2. lin 21. all that all of that fol. 238. pag. 2. lin 24. for they for that they fol. 267. pag. 1. lin 29. beneâ—fites benefites fol. 284. pag. 1. lin 28. this meanes this meane A TABLE OF THE CONTENTES OF THIS FRIST PARTE AN exhortation made by the Bishoppe of Cuença to the Christian Reader to reade this booke with good attention and with a desire to profite and proceed for wardes in godlines The Epistle of the Awthor folio 1. The Prologue and Argument of this Booke fol. 3. Of the great profite and necessitie of consideration Cap. 1. fol. 7. How Consideration helpeth Faith § I. fol. 10. How Consideration helpeth Hope § II. fol. 11. How Consideration helpeth Charitie § III. fol. 13. How Consideration helpeth Deuotion § IIII. fol. 17. How prayer ioyned with consideration helpeth all the vertuous affections § v. fol. 19. How Consideration helpeth to wardes the obteyninge of the fower Cardinall vertues § VI. fol. 22. How Consideration helpeth to resist vices § VII fol. 22. How consideration helpeth to atchieue and accomplishe all vertuous workes of Austeritie § VIII fol. 24. How consideration excludeth not other particuler helpes vnto vertues § IX fol. 24. How the exercises of prayer and meditation apperteine not onelie to Religious persons and priestes but to the Laitie also § X. fol. 25. An answere to an obiection that some slouthefull christians doe make against the exercise of prayer and meditation sayeinge that they are bownde to no more but to kepe the commaundementes of God and of his catholicke churche § XI fol. 28. Of the matter of consideration § XII fol. 30. Of the fiue partes of Prayer cap. 2. fol. 32. The first seuen Meditations of the seuen daies of the weke in the morninges fol. 33. Mondaie morninge Of our Sauiours washinge his Apostles feete And of the institution of the most blessed Sacrament of the Aulter fol. 33. Of the most blessed Sacrament of the Aulter And of the causes wherefore it was instituted § II. fol. 42. Tewsdaie morninge Of the prayer of our Sauiour in the Garden And of his apprehension fol. 50. How our Sauiour was apprehended § II. fol. 58. Of those that doe spirituallie bynde the handes of
hath with a rare wisedome in such wise tempered the doctrine and accommodated him selfe vnto all states and conditions of persons that neither the verie highe and learned haue anie cause to leaue it as ouer base for them nor the verie lowe and vnlearned to refuse it as ouer highe for their capacities For here is made a conuenient prouision of competent meates both for the one sort and for the other And because the Awthor vnderstode right well howe farre the mouthes of men now adayes are owt of tast and how much they are more affectionate vnto the sleshe pottes of Egypt than to the breade of Angels I meane hereby rather to the readinge of prophane bookes by reason of the pleasant stile wherewith they thinke they are written than to the bookes of spirituall doctrine which are commonly written with more simplicitie he hath therefore dressed this meate in suche wise and hath written this doctrine in such a sweete and pleasant stile that it maie prouoke an appetite vnto this boke euen in such persons as doe otherwise lothe good and holesome foode besides that the verie matters them selues are exceedingly well chosen and of great profite And because it were the parte of rude and rusticall persons to geue thankes to the bees that make the honie combes and not vnto almightie God who created the flowers from whence the bees gather the honie which they worke in their hiues I exhort all persons to geue thankes to the deuoute and Learned Author of these workes for these so sweete and sauorie honie combes which he hath here geuen vs in such sorte that they omit not to procede further and to geue thankes to almightie God also who hath sent the flowers wherewith this honie is made And withall I make humble request vnto all men that I may be partaker of the prayets they shall make by meanes of the good disposition which I truste with the grace of God the readinge of theise holie and excellent deuoute workes shall cause in all godly and deuoute Christian Readers ✚ Bernard de Fresneda Bishoppe of Cuenca TO THE VERIE REVEREND FATHERS AND right honorable personnages DON ANTONIO DE CORDOVA and Father LORENÇO DE FIGVEROA The Epistle of the Awthor Note reader that theese to whome the awthor directeth this booke are two noble personages of the most noble and auncient howses of Spayne whiche haue forsakē all their wordlie possessiōs and entred into religion I Cannot find anie other place whither I maie better direct this my smale present then to your Reuerende handes For settinge a part diuers and sundrie reasons of great importance that bynde me so to do certeinlie the wonderfull change of liffe which your Reuerences haue made and the holie example which you haue geuen to the world in this our corrupte age are sufficient cawses to moue all such as doe anie thing desire the glorie of Christ to serue you in this your spirituall iourney that haue in such wise amplefied his glorie I might well speake of this matter more largelie in this place and surelie without lyinge or flatterie and to speake herein were not to emploie the time in the praises of men but in the praise of almightie god Forsomuch as it is manifest that this your wonderfull change of life hath not proceded of flesh and bloode but of the right hand of the highest But because it behoueth all men of our cote and profession to be free not onelie from all flatterie but also euen from all suspition of the same I will therefore content my selfe at this present onelie with geuing thāckes to our lord for this notable vertuous act of yours and I will confesse that we haue seene that wonder in our daies which the holie auncient father S. Ierome declareth to haue chaunced in his tyme. He writeth it in a certein Epistle to Ruffinus in theise wordes Bonosus thy frynd and myne is now gone vp by that misticall ladder S. Ierom. ad Ruffinum which the Patriarck Iacob sawe and according to the misterie of Moses he hath now sacrificed the brasen serpent in the desert where at this present he soweth with teares that hereafter he maic Reape with ioye Lett the truthe of this worthie act putt to sylence all the lyenge wonders which the Greikes and Lattins haue written in their histories Behold here a yong man brought vp in our companie and instructed in all good artes and learning who had no want neither of landes nor riches nor honor nor dignitie emonge his equales who forsakinge his mother and his sisters and aboue all his most deerlie beloued brother went to liue in an Iland which is verie solitarie and fearfull and enuironed with diuers seas there to dwell like a new inhabitor of paradice and being alone in this place howheit not alone forsomuch as he is in the companie of Christ he seeth now the glorie of almightie God which the Apostles them selues neuer saw but when they were alone in the mownt Thus farre be S. Ieromes wordes This holie example of Bonosus is treulie a thinge wherein almightie God is to be praised as in a singuler worke of his grace And suerlie no lesse is he to be praised in your Reuerend and most honorable personages who hauinge much more to forsake in the world than Bonosus had and being now in the verie flowers of your youth haue forsaken the world and all the vayne pōpe and pryde thereof and with all your great landes and possessions the dignitie of your highe noble estates and the hope of so great honorable promotions that were due vnto your nobilitie and vertue and to the renowmed desertes of your verie auncient and most noble families And all this yow haue dōne to embrace euen the pouertie nakednes and obedience of Christ you haue not done like that yong man in the gospell Math. 19. who remembring how great possessions he had refused to followe the waie of perferction which our sauiour Christ tawght him But ye haue done like that wise and prudent merchant who after he had found the pretiouse pearle Math. 13. sould all he had in the world to bye the same And if vnto this wonderfull change of yours we ioyne also the notable vertuous change of liffe which the most noble and renowmed Duke of Gandia hath made in our daies This Duke of Gandia forsooke his greate Dukedome in Spayne and became a religious mā of the holie societie of Iesus commōlie called Iesuittes Cantic 8. and the merueylous changes of sundrie other right honorable personages which might here be reheresed it will verie euidentlie appeare that there is more sweetenes in the waie of Christ then the world thinketh there is sithence euen those that haue had so long and so greate experience both of the one kinde of life and of the other do verie hartelie and willinglie renownce all that euer the world geueth and promeseth vnto them for the least crumme that falleth from Christes table sayinge
vpon thee For the one I will reioyce and be glad and for the other I will sorrowe and lament And so with ioye and lamentation together I will singe and bewaile the misterie of thy most dolorous passion and I will studie continuallie in that booke of Ezechiell the contentes whereof arâ— songes Ezechiel 2. and lamentations When our sauiour had spoken these wordes he departed from his disciples a stones cast where lyenge prostrat vpon the grounde he begane his praier with verie great reuerence sayinge O father if it be possible Matth 26. let this cuppe passe from me howbeit not as I will but as thou wilt Lucae 22. and after he had made this praier three times at the third time he was in such a great agonie that he beganne to sweat euen droppes of bloud which ranne downe all a longe his sacred bodie and trickeled downe to the grownd The causes of our Sauiours greâ— te agonie and sweâ—tinge droppes of bloud while he was prayinge in the garden Consider now attentiuelie in what a dolorous case our sauiour was and how there were then represented vnto him all the cruell paynes and tormentes he had to suffer euen as thowgh they had bene then presentlie in doinge before his eies all which he apprehended after a most perfet maner in his most excellent imagination eache one in such sort as they were prepared for his bodie which was certeinlie more tender and delicate then euer anie other bodie was in the whole worlde He set also at that time before his eies all the synnes of the worlde or which he should suffer and withall the greate vnthankfulnes and ingratitude of so manie soules as he knewe would neuer acknowledge this his singuler benefit nor further aid helpe themselues with this most pretious aid so costlie remedie These thinges being profoundelie wayed and considered by our sauiour at this time his soule was vexed in such sort and his senses and most tender fleshe were so wounderfullie troubled that all the forces and elementes of his bodie were distempered and his blessed fleshe opened on euerie side and gaue place to the bloude that it might passe and distille throwgh all partes of his bodie in verie great aboundance and streame downe to the grownde Now if the fleshe suffered suche greuous paynes with the onelie remembrance and imagination of that which as then was to come in what a dolefull case then trow ye was his soule that suffered those paynes euen directlie in it selfe In other men we see when they are disquieted with anie suddaine and great anguishe the bloude vseth commonlie to haue recourse vnto the hart leauinge the other members of the bodie colde and destitute of theire streÌ„gthe to comfort the most principall member Our Sauiour suffred his greauous paynes without anie maner of comforte But our sweete Sauiour Christ contrariewise because he would suffer without anie maner of comfort thereby to make our redemption more aboundant such was his passing loue towardes vs that he would not admit so much as that little releefe and comfort of nature Beholde our sweete sauiour now in this dolorous agonie and consider not onelie the paynefull anguishes and greifes of his soule but also the forme of his sacred and reuerent countenance The sweare is wont to haue his most cheefe and principall recourse to the forehead and to the face If then the bloud issued out through all the bodie of our Sauiour in such sorte that it trickeled downe to the verie earthe in what plight then was that goodlie cleare forehead thinke you that geueth light to the verie light it selfe And how was that face beraied which is so reuerenced of the heauens beinge as it was all in droppes and couered ouer with a blouddie sweat If such as be kinde and louinge are wont when they come to visit theire frendes being sicke and in danger of death to beholde theire countenance aduisedlie and to marke the colour and other accidentes that proceed of the disease tell me o my soule that beholdest the face of our sweete sauiour what thinkest thou when thou beholdest in the same such wonderfull strange and deadlie signes What painfull fittes and dolorous greifes are those like to be hereafter if in the verie beginninge of the disease he suffer such a great agonie In what dolorous panges is he like to be when he shall feele those most greuous paynes and cruell tormentes themselues if in the onelie thinkinge of them he sweateth euen droppes of bloude If thou be not moued to take compassion of our sweete sauiour seinge him in this dolefull case for thy sake If now when he sweateth droppes of bloud throughout all his bodie thou canst not sheede anie teares from thyne eies thinke verelie with thy selfe that thou hast a verie harde and stonie hart and if thou canst not weepe for want of loue towardes him yet at the least weepe for the multitude of thy sinnes forsomuch as they were the verie cause of this his agonie Our synnes were the verie cause of our Sauiours blouddye sweare and greife Now the tormentors doe not whippe him neither doe the souldiars crowne him with thornes It is not now the nailes nor the thornes that do cause the bloud to gushe out of his bodie at this time but it is thy verie synnes and offences those are the tormentors that doe torment him those are the heauie burden that cause him to sweat this so straÌ„ge and wonderfull blouddye sweat O my sweete sauiour and redeemer how redemption O my true Adam that art comme our of paradice for my synnes and labourest here in earth with thy blouddie sweat Of our Sauiours agonie and watchinge aboute our saluation whilest his disciples be in a heauie sleepe to get the bread that I must feede vpon Consider also in this place on the one side the great agonie and watchinge of our Sauiour Christ and on the other the sownde and deepe sleepinge of his disciples and thou shalt see here represented a great misterie For trulie there is nothinge more to be lamented in the worlde then to see how careles and negligent men be in there liues and how little accompt they make of a matter of so great importance as is theire owne saluation What thinge is more to be bewayled then to see men so careles in such waightie afaires Now if thou wilt vnderstand both the one and the other consider in this matter the doinges of our sauiour and withall the doinges of his disciples See how our sauiour applieng his minde earnestlie to this busines of our redemption is in such a great care and agonie therewith that it maketh him to sweate euen droppes of bloude and see on the other side how his disciples do lie a longe on the grownd and are so heauie a sleepe that neither theire maisters rebukynge of them nor theire ill fauoured aÌ„d harde lodginge on the bare grouÌ„de nor yet the obscure and darcke dewie night are able to