at the soules of men and not at the only tickling of their eares or the applause of their handes shoots at no lesse then the souls of meÌ„ them he conuinceth by so pregnant reasons and obligeth by so plaine demonstrations as to make them glad or or least he giues them cause why they should be so to cast away that loose liberty which made them slaues to their own passions to step or rather to leap into the chaines of the loue of God which will put them into a kind of soueraignity not only ouer all other thinges created but euen ouer their very selues And (y) The extraordinary great care wherwith he conducteth his Reader throughout the whole discourse in this he equalleth in my poore opinioÌ„ if he do not rather excel any other whom I haue read That he most carefully doth conduct the soule which he instructeth in the way of spirit accompanying his discourse with aboundance of caution so to saue his Reader from sliding into any extreme and being no lesse sollicitous to guide him straight then a tender mother or nurse would be to lead her only child by the sleeues or armes for feare least otherwise he might take a fall I (z) The occasion whereupon he wrote this booke will further premise to you vpon what occasion he wrote this Booke and to whom he did particulerly direct the same and then by way of preuention I will both make and answere an obiection to the end that your selfe may be kept from errour afterward There was a Lady called (a) The person for whom he wrote it Donna Sancba the daughter of the Lord of Guadalcaçar who for her beauty and other better parts was designed to serue the Queene of Spayne in quality of a Lady of Honour Already she was euen vpon the point of parting from her parents who had put her into an equipage which was to haue becom a Court But before her iourney she meant to arme her selfe with the holy Sacraments of the Church in the strength of that desire she went and cast her selfe at the feet of Doctour Auila in the way of Confession She would after say that he reprooued her a little sharply for bringing a hart which pretended to be penitent for sinne in a body set out ardorned too curiously too costly for such a busines What els passed between them in that priuate conference and Confession of hers God and they do only know but the sequele thereof was notorious to the world For she instantly did vnturne Courtier she grew quickly to cast away her vaine and sumptuous attires and she betooke her selfe though only in her Fathers house to a course of admirable pennance recollection which she accompanied with a Vow of perpetuall chastity wherein she dyed most holily and most happily some ten yeares after This Lady then as being the Child and Creature as it were in spirit of Doctour Auila was deare to him after an extraordinary manner And so for her both consolation and instruction he made this Booke of Audi Filia and she esteemed it as she ought for she neuer would know or call it by other name then of her Treasure But when she was gone to God he took the Booke againe to himselfe and enlarged it and enriched it to that proportion which at this day we see it beares Now in regard that he chiefely speakes therein to her as to a person who had giuen her selfe to God by a vow of chastity you (b) An obiection which it importeth much to be wel answered may seeke perhaps to make your selfe belieue that the doctrine therin conteined belongeth only to such as she But the answere is obuious and assured That howsoeuer it may import such as she was knowne to be in a more eminent manner then other Christians in regard that she had consecrated her selfe to our Lord Iesus as to the spouse of her soule by a particuler vow yet for as much as coÌ„cernes the obligation which we (c) The general obligation to which all good Christians are subiect all haue to abstaine from sinne to imploy ourselues in prayer good workes to despise the vanity of the world to resist the motions of sense to arme our selues against the temptations of the Diuel to which the promise euen of our very Baptisme bindes vs to loue God aboue all thinges to imitate the life and to practise the doctrine of our Lord Iesus and finally to be and to continue true children of his holy Catholique Church this doctrine I say doth so much and so mightily belonge to vs all as that none of vs shall euer get to heaueÌ„ but either by an exact obedience to it or a cordiall griefe for hauing swarued from it And so (d) Of the variety of addresse in the way of spirit which is to be found in this book for persons of al quality es if you may be intreated to obserue what variety of addresse for spirit the Authour giueth in the seueral parts of the worke you cannot chuse but discerne that it is not only meant for Virgins but for all others also if they be Christians yea and if they be not so much as that they yet will heer find reason to beg of God that they may grow so happy Let (e) How much it importeth that this booke be read with great attention deuotion vs also all beg hard for that whereof we haue most need That when heerafter at the day of Iudgment we shall meete Doctour Auila in the valley of Iosaphat there may be no cause to be reproached by our Iudge of so deep ingratitude as not to haue been the better for the great benefit which the godnes of God hath vouchsafed to mankind by means of this his deare and most deuout seruant But (f) In this valley there abouts is the vniuersall IudgmeÌ„t to be made Ioel. 3. that the seed which hath fructified so abundantly in Spayn in Italy in France in I know not how many other countryes by the translatioÌ„ of this booke into so many seuerall languages may also in England be of comfort to that good (g) Matt. â—â— husbandman of the ghospell and not be choaked by thornes nor supplanted by stones nor deuoured by the rauenous birds of the aire who are euer watching how to enrich themselues by our pouertie For so truly miserable are those damned spirits as to think themselues more happy in nothing then if they might draw vs into a society with them in torment though indeed euen our very torment would be sure to serue but for an increase of theirs Our Lord Iesus deliuer vs from that place of eternall malediction both for that which we know thereof by Fayth already and much more for that which we do not know and which I hope we shall neuer know by experience A RICH CABBINET FVLL OF SPIRITVALL IEWELLS CHAP. I. WHEREIN IS TREATED How necessary it is for vs
holy places good works for so it is fittest for young folks Do not plunge thy selfe into transitory cares when thou hast done working som what with thy hands which being moderately vsed will do thee good both in soule and body hauing complyed with thy obligations either of necessity or Charity according to that rule of life which hath been prescribed to thee take as much tyme as thou canst to be shut vp in thyne Oratory And although at the first it may chance to go against thy stomake thou wilt come to find that they are the affaires of heauen which are treated there and that thou takest not so much gust in the expence of any tyme as that which thou spendest there in peace CHAP. LIX Wherein he prosecuteth the exercise which conduceth to the knowledge of ones selfe and how we are to profit in the vse of reading and of Prayer HAVING then found out this priuate place retire thy selfe into it twice euery day at the least Once in the morning to thinke vpon the sacred passion of Iesus Christ our Lord as I will shew thee afterward and once againe in the euening at the shutting vp of the day to attend to the exercise of knowing thy selfe and let thy way to that be this Take first some booke of good instruction wherein as in a glasse thou mayest see thy faultes and that thy soule may therewithall receiue such food (a) A most excellent aduise how spirituall books are to be read with great profit of the soule as to be encouraged in the way of God This reading must not be vsed with any trouble nor by turning ouer many leaues but with raising vp the hart to our Lord to beseech him that he will speake to it with his liuing and powerfull voyce by meanes of those words which there thou readest And that he wil giue thee the true vnderstanding thereof and with this attention and reuerence obserue and hearken to God by those wordes which thou readest as if thou heardest himselfe preach when he spake heere in the world In such sort that although thyne eyes be cast vpon the booke do not thou fasten thy selfe to it with so great an anxiety of mind as to make thee not so well to thinke of God but conserue a moderate and peacefull attention which may not enthrall thee nor hinder the free and superiour kind of attention which thou art to yeald vnto our Lord and reading thus thou wilt not grow weary By this meanes our Lord will giue thee the liuing sense of the wordes which in thy soule may worke sometimes repentance of thy sinns at other times a confidence in him and his pardon of them and he will open thy vnderstanding towards the knowledge of many other thinges although thou read not many lines Sometymes it wil be fit to interrupt thy reading to thinke of somewhat which resulteth from thence and then to returne againe to read and so at once thou shalt profit both in reading and prayer And with a hart thus deuout and recollected thou mayest beginne to enter vpon the exercise Of the knowing of thy selfe then vpon thy knees thou shalt thinke to what an excellent and soueraigne maiesty thou art going to speak Which yet (b) How we are to thinke vpon God when we go to pray thou must not conceaue to be farre from thee but that he filleth heauen and earth that there is nothing wherein he is not and that he is more within thee then thou thy selfe And considering thyne owne poorenes make thou a profound internall reuerence humbling thy hart as if it were a kind of Ant in the presence of an infinite Essence and desire that thou mayst haue leaue to speake Begin first to speake ill of thy selfe and make thy confession in generall and particulerly also if it occure to thee demand pardon of that wherein thou mayst haue offended him that day Resort then to some of those (c) Some few vocal prayers wherein moderation is to be vsed deuotions to which thou art accustomed but let thē not be so many as that they may breake thy braynes dry vp thy deuotion nor yet do thou leaue them altogeather because they serue to stir vp the soule to piety and for the offering also of that seruice of our tongue to God in token that he gaue it to vs. For this reason S. Paul teacheth vs That we must pray and sing with the spirit both of the voyce and of the soule And these prayers must serue to obtaine fauours of our Lord not only for thy self but for them to whom thou hast particuler obligation and for the whole Church of Christ the care whereof thou art to haue deeply fixed in thy hart For if thou loue Christ it is reason that thou be neerely touched by that for which he shed his bloud Pray as well for them that liue as for the soules that are in Purgatory and for all that infidelity which is depriued of the knowledge of God beseeching him to bring al vnbeleeuers to his holy Fayth since he desireth that they should all be saued And these prayers or the most of them are to be addressed two wayes By the one to our (d) Our B. Lady must be deuoutly prayed to by vs as a great intercessour with her Sonne our Lord for the pardon of our sins but especially Christ Iesus our Lord who is the only hope of our saluation Blessed Lady towardes whome thou must be sure to carry a very cordiall loue and to haue entiere confidence that she will be a true mother to thee in all thy necessityes and the other to Christ Iesus our Lord which also must be a most familiar refuge in thy troubles and the only hope of thy saluation CHAP. LX. How much the Meditation of death doth profit towardes the knowledge of a mans selfe and of the manner how it is to be meditated for as much as concerneth the death of the body AFTER (a) If this Chapter and the two next do not mooue thee I know not what will this giue ouer to pray vocally and conuaye thy selfe into the most inward part of thy hart and make account that thou art appearing in the presence of Christ Iesus and that there are no more in the world but thou he Consider that before thou camest into the world thou wert nothing and how that Omnipotent goodnes of our Lord God drew thee out of that profound bottome of not being and made thee his creature and that not after an ordinary manner but he made thee a reasonable creature Consider how he gaue thee a body and a soule to the end that with them both thou mightest labour in doing seruice to him Make account that thou art then in the very passage out of life into death and hauing the most true feeling of it that may be say to thy selfe This houre of my end is once to arriue and I know not whether
Confession yet euen let that be dispatched with as much breuity as thou canst without enterlacing other discourses fearing the account of the speach that thou shalt either vtter or heare which thou art to giue vnto the strict iudge So (d) Note this and for the reuerence of the Sacrament auoid euen the least idle wordes much the more art thou to auoyd this in confession because that is ordeined for the taking away of old sins and not for the committing of any new or to make thy selfe sicke with the very taking of phisicke The spouse of Christ especially if she be young ought not to be easy in the choice of her Confessour but (c) What kind of Confessour a woman of honour especially a Virgin must procure carefull that he be a man of vertuous and tryed life of good reputation ripe yeares and thus thy conscience shall be safe in the sight of God and thy fame shal be faire spotlesse in the eyes of men Thou must vnderstand and know that thou hast need of both these things for complying with the height of the state of Virginity And whē thou shalt haue found such a Confessour giue thankes to our Lord and obey him loue him as a guift that he hath bestowed vpon thee But yet stil be very careful for although this loue be good as being spirituall yet there may be a fault in it if it be too much and it may bring him that hath it into danger and it is an easy matter for spirituall affection to translate and turne it selfe ouer into carnall And if thou vse not restraint in this thou wilt grow to haue thy hart as much taken vp therby as marryed women haue with their husbands their children Now this thou seest would be a great irreuerence in respect of the loyalty which thou owest to our Lord whom thou hast taken for thy Spouse Do not therefore place and keep thy Ghostly Father in the most interiour part of thy hart keep him neare thy hart as a friend of thy Spouse but not in the place of thy Spouse himself And let the memory which thou holdest of him serue for the putting of his directions in practise without reflecting otherwise vpon his person esteeming him as a gift of God bestowed for the helping thee to vnite thy selfe to thy celestiall Spouse but yet without bringing him into that Vnion Thou (f) Note must also be prouided for the loosing him without losse of thy patience if God shall so ordayne in whome alone thou art to lodge thy hopes and he is to be thy only resting place That which we read in S. Hierome of the loue and familiarity between him and S. Paula did keep conformity with these rules Though yet many thinges are lawfull and safe to them who haue sanctity and mature yeares which yet are not so to such others as want one of these qualityes if not both In this sort then art thou to carry thy selfe with the Ghostly Father whome thou choosest he being such as I haue described But if thou canst not haue him such it is much better that thou (g) By this he sheweth the great care which a Virgin ought to haue of her good name though such as liue not in villages but in townes can haue no difficulty to find many most worthy Ghostly Fathers at whose handes they may receaue the Sacraments as often as they will do it with deuotion confesse and communicate but twice or thrice in the yeare and keep good account with God and with thy spirituall bookes in thy Oratory then by confessing often to bring thy fame into hazard For if as S. Augustine sayth Good name amongst our Neighbours be necessary for vs al how much more necessary then shall it be for the Virgin of Christ whose reputatiō is very delicate and tender as S. Ambrose sayth And that so much as that to haue a confessour who wanteth any of the former qualityes doth cast a spot vpon her fame which because it is in so pretious and pure a cloth it seemes to be very deformed and in no case to be endured And to the end that they who content themselues with saying There is no hurt my conscience is cleare and who haue the reputation of their honesty in small account should not be able to help themselues with a conceit that men imposed any of these infamies vpon the most sacred Virgin Mary it (h) Note pleased her most blessed Sonne that she should be espoused choosing rather that they should hold him for the sonne of Ioseph which yet he was not then that men should haue colour to say and thing sinisterly of his most sacred Mother by seeing her haue a sonne and not to thinke that she had a husband Therefore let such as haue no care to preuent scandalls seeke out some other shelter for that which they may learne of the most sacred Virgin Mary and of other holy women is purity within and good example without togeather with all reseruation and caution in conuersation And although none of these inconueniences did follow vpon those superfluous intertaynments yet (i) Note this for the preseruing of thy soule in perfect purity peace should they deserue to be speedily auoyded because they do with the multitude of thoughts which they vse to bring depriue the soule of liberty whereby it might freely fly vp by the cogitations thereof to God and it takes away that purity which the secret corners of our hart where Christ desires to dwell alone were bound to haue And it seemes that it remayneth not so entire nor so shut vp against all creatures as it were fit that the bed of so soueraigne a spouse should be and that it doth not wholy possesse the perfect purity of chastity if therein there may be found but euen the ayre or memory of a man But thou must know that yet what hath byn sayd is meant when there is excesse in familiarity or when there groweth any scandall by it For otherwise thou art not to conuerse with such as reason leades thee to with a scrupulous or perplexed mind For from hence euen the very tentation it selfe doth often rise but thou art to carry thy selfe with a holy and prudent simplicity and neither to be carelesse on the one side nor malicious on the other CHAP. IX That one of the principall remedies for the conquering of this Enemy is the exercise of deuout and feruent Prayer whereby we may find gust in diuine considerations which maketh vs abhorre all worldly pleasures IN one of the former (a) Read this chapter with extraordinary attention be sure to blesse God for the great sweet goodnes of his towardes mankind and let it help thee to hate all bestiall pleasure Chapters it was tould thee what a strong and well tempered weapon Prayer is for the fighting against this vice yea although the prayer be not of so great length Thou
procure to be so not only by belieuing the promises in generall nor yet by belieuing that in particuler they are applied to him but by pennance also other meanes which are taught by the Catholike Church Not but that we do neuerthelesse assuredly belieue that many in the same Church are in the state of grace to whom without all doubt God fulfilleth the promises of being their defendour who hope in him but yet for as much as no man can be infallibly sure without speciall reuelation that himselfe is in that state of grace he is to belieue by the Catholike fayth that the diuine assistance is neuer wanting on the part of God but himselfe may and must feare that it will not perhaps take effect in him through his fault or negligence in doing his duty So that with some feare of himselfe and by confidence in our Lord he must procure to encourage and help himselfe by the word of God who promiseth succour to such as fight for him And (i) Note this feare or vncertainty in which God hath left vs of not knowing assuredly that we are in his fauour though it may seeme painefull is very profitable towardes the conseruing of our humility and the not vndervalewing of our neighbours and to spur vs vp towardes good workes And with so much the more caution and consideration must we do it as we are lesse certaine whether we be pleasing to our Lord or no. But do not for all this conceaue that thy hart must be dismayed with vaine feare for as much as this truth which I haue told thee did not keep Dauid from saying If (k) Psalâ— 15. whole armies shall rise against me yet shall not my hart be afraid if warre shal come vpon me yet wil I hope in God So also doth S. Paul (l) Heb. 13. admonish vs that we should serue our selues of those wordes which God sayd I will not forsake thee I will not abandon thee in such sort as that we may confidently say Our Lord is my helper and I will not feare what man can do These and the like wordes do not wholy take away all the feare which a Christian for his owne part ought to haue but it taketh away all excesse thereof by the confidence which is to be placed in God And thus we are to walke between hope and feare and so much more as the loue increaseth so much doth the hope also increase and so much also is feare diminished And (m) An excellent rule therefore if thou haue a mind to feele in thy selfe that courage of mind and the little feare which perfect men do find cast thou away al tepidity from thy selfe take the businesse of vertue to hart and then in that very hart of thyne thou shalt read that courage which now thou readest but in Bookes Then shalt thou be able to fight boldly against the Diuell although he circle theâ— round about to deuoure thee for thou shalt haue a hope to be defended by Iesus Christ who is the strong Lyon of Iuda He alwayes ouercommeth in vs if we do not loose our confidence and if like cowards we do not deliuer vp our selues with our hands bound behind vs to our enemies without resoluing to fight Our Lord doth not suffer these warrs and temptations to come to his friendes but for their greater good as it is written Blessed (n) laâ— 1. is the man who suffereth temptation for he being so proued shall receaue the crowne of life which God promiseth to such as loue him He was pleased also that patience in troubles and the standing fast on foot for his honour in tentations should be the touchstone whereby his friends were to be tryed For (o) Note it is no signe of a true friend if he only accompany another in occasions of case but to stand fast by him in tyme of tribulation And as all men would be glad to haue approued friends to stand fast by them in the tyme of affliction and triall accounting of it as their owne iust so doth God desire to haue his and like a thankfull person he sayth to them You are the men who haue remayned with me in my temptations And as an aboundant rewarder he sayth further to them I (p) Lue â—â— dispose of my kingdome to you as my Father disposed of it to me that you may eate and drinke at my table in my kingdome companions heere in payne and afterwards in the Kingdome of glory Thou must encourage thy selfe to fight manfully in the warrs which are made against thee to deuide thee from God since he is thy helper on earth and thy reward in heauen Remember how S. Anthony being cruelly vvhipped and beaten by the Diuells lifting vp his eyes to heauen saw the roofe of his Cell all open whereby a beame of so admirable light did enter as at the presence thereof all the Diuells fled away and the payne of his wounds forsooke him with profound internall sighes he sayd to our Lord who then appeared to him Where wert thou O my good Iesus where wert thou when I was so ill handled by the enemies why wert thou not heere in the beginning of my combat that so thou mightest haue preuented or cured all my soares Wherunto our Lord answered Heere I was froÌ„ the very beginning but I stood looking on to see how thou diddest carry thy self in thy combate And because thou hast fought manfully I wil euer help thee thou shalt be famous throughout the whole earth By these wordes and by the vertue of our Lord he rose vp so full of courage as to find by experience that he had gotten then more strength then he had lost before In (q) A most comfortable and true doctrine this sort doth our Lord treat his friends and he leaueth them oftentimes in traunces of so great danger as that they scarce know where to set a foot nor do they find one hayre of strength by which they can take hold nor are they able to help themselues by the memory of those fauours which in former tymes they had receaued of God but they remayne as if they were naked and in profound darcknes being giuen ouer to the persecution of their enemyes But suddainly when they least looke for it our Lord doth visite them and deliuer them and leaue them with more strength then they had before thrusteth those enemies vnder their feet And the soule howsoeuer it be more weake in nature then the Diuell doth feele in it selfe such a powerfull strength that it seemeth to teare him euen in pieces as a thing that is but weake and without resistance and not only groweth it not able to fight against one but against many Diuells so great is the courage which it feeleth to haue comfreshly towards it from heauen and wherewith it doth not only defend it selfe but it sayth with Dauid I will persecute my enemies and I will take them I will
proceeding vertue many whereof were yet formerly in miserable case and made slaues to sinne and so passionatly affected to it that their harts did seeme euen to be transformed into the same And that with so great determination to follow wickednes that they wold passe as we vse to say the vory pikes for the committing thereof But (a) The powerfull grace which God imparteth in the holy Catholike Church these miserable captiues who were so weake in the deliuery of theÌ„ selues from so strong a tyrant haue sometymes by the hearing of one Sermon other tymes by making one confession other tymes by some one single inspiration of God and others by other meanes which doe abound in the Catholique Church haue found within themselues a most powerfull and mighty hand which putting those in captiuity who lead them captiue drew them out of the slauery of sinne wherein they were and made a change of their hart so truely changed that many tymes in lesse space then of a month yea and of a weeke they haue been seen to haue more abhorred wickednes then formerly they were louers of it Saying with their harts I haue abhorred (b) Psal 118. sinne I haue detested it and I haue loued thy law And this they do so truly as that they resolue not to commit a sinne neither for life nor death nor any thing created as S Paul (c) Rom. 1. saith Who is he that wrought this so strang and happy change in so short a tyme Who drew water out of so hard a rocke Who raysed vp such a miserable dead man bestowing such an excellent life vpon him No other certainly but the hand of God who is so belieued in and so beloued as the Christian Church belieueth in him and loueth him by those meanes which the Christian doctrine imbraceth and teacheth And if this manner of proceedinge with God doe passe on as in many it doth in such sort as that leauing all thinges they imploy themselues wholly vpon attending to God who brake their chaynes and if they began to walke by the solitude of a spirituall life and by that strayt way which leadeth to true life though many tymes they might see themselues in so great afflictions and fierce tempestes that as Dauid sayth it makes such as sayle loose their courage and their discourse yet by calling vpon their Iesus who is the guid of their way and at other tymes by receiuing the comfort of the Sacraments and at other tymes agayne by hearing or reading the word of God or by such other meanes as are in the Church they haue found themselues so wonderfully assisted in their tribulation as that seeing the sea of their hart to be growne so still vpon such a sudden it hath made them say with the Apostles (d) Matt. 8. Who is this to whom the sea and the winds obey Certainely this is the holy Sonne of God S. Bernard relateth how by experience he had found many tymes that the name of Iesus being cordially called vpon was a remedy and cure of all the infirmities of the soule and that which the Saint did say was approued in him by experience The same hath hapned to many others both before after him among whom S. Hierome may be one who is worthy of all credit He relateth as I haue sayd before that seing himselfe in tribulation of the flesh without meeting with remedy in any thing that he had thought vpon without knowing what more to do did find it out by casting himselfe at the feete of Iesus Christ and by calling vpon him with deuour prayer Whereupon his tempest receiued such a calme that he seemed to himselfe as (e) S. Hierome in Extasis if he were euen assisting among the quires of Angels For (f) Note the fauour which God is wont to do doth not only remooue the tribulatioÌ„ that a man is in which may happen sometymes by the turning of his thoughts some other way or by such other naturall meanes as that but it is a fauour which God doth whereby he planteth such a disposition in the mind as is directly contrary to that which was felt before Now this change and perfect deliuery and that vpon such a sudden is not in the power of any man to giue himselfe as (g) Or els let him neuer trust me he that shall try it will confesse From abroad it cometh from God it cometh and from such other Christian meanes it cometh and so experience is taken of that which S. Paul sayd That Christ Iesus crucified to them that were called by God was the strength of God and the wisedome of God Because they calling vpon him in the day of tribulation he giueth them light and force that so ouercomming all impedimentes they may proceed in their way and sing therein as (h) Psal 1â—7 Dauid doth Great is the glory of our Lord. And so they find in themselues that which the same Prophet (i) Psal 55. sayth In whatsoeuer day I called vpon thee I haue knowne that thou art my â—od For to remedy them so speedily and so powerfully is a great testimony and motiue to proue to them that God is the true God and that he hath care of them And here we speake not of celestial visions or reuelations which may rather passe amongst maracles but only those things which are more ordinary and which may be subiect to better proofe CHAP. XXXVII Of the many and great good things which God worketh in the soule that followeth perfect vertue and that this is a great proofe that our Fayth is true because that did teach vs meanes how to obtaine those graces NOT only do they who trauell diligently in the way of perfect vertue enioy the benefit of being deliuered by Christ from the dangers which present themselues but moreouer do they obtaine and possesse such graces in their soule as that we may say to them and that with much truth (a) Luc. 7. The Kingdom of God is within you Which as S. Paul (b) Rom. 14. sayth doth consist in hauing with in ones selfe iustice and peace and ioy in the holy Ghost And so these persons are so affectioned and such louers of that which is iust and good as that if the lawes of vertue which are written in bookes were lost we should find them written in their hartes Not because they haue them without (c) In their memory booke but for that the resolute loue of their hartes doth say the selfe same thing which the Law sayth exteriourly Their hart being already so transformed into the loue of goodnesse and to worke it with so much diligence and delight as that to follow that to which their hart inclineth is to follow vertue and to fly from vice they being made a liuing Law and a kind of measure of humane actions which euen Aristotle himselfe was ayming at And from hence doth spring a certayne ioy and contentment so complete as none
doth know but he that feeleth it For as much as Isaias (d) Isa 4â— sayth That the peace of such persons is as a riuer as the very gulfes of the sea And S. Paul (e) Philip. 4. sayth That this peace of God doth exceed all vnderstanding And S. Peter saith That this ioy cannot be recounted A hidden manna it is which is giuen to him that manfully ouercometh himselfe and they only know it who receiue it And from whom now doth this so perfect vertue proceed and this rest of mind which is the earnest-penny and introduction to eternall felicity Certainely it is not by meanes of the Diuell For (f) Note although sometymes the Diuell as we haue sayd haue counselled some to doe some particuler good that by meanes of those counsells he might gaine credit to himself wherby the better to deceiue them afterward yet to make a man perfectly good and a fulfiller of the law of nature which cannot be denied to be good since God is the authour of nature it selfe is a worke which neither the Diuell doth not can effect who cannot giue that goodnes which himselfe hath not Nor yet is it the worke of man alone for as much as to haue vertue and much more to haue perfect vertue wherby God may perfectly be serued is the guift of the Father of lights from whome euery perfect guift descendes And (g) See therefore how vniustly the Catholike doctrine is charged by the Caluinists to be a doctrine of presumptioÌ„ the same man doth find by experience more then once that he is deliuered from sinne out of which he was not able to depart and that he is fauoured with certaine graces which it was not in his power to compasse Since therefore this perfect vertue commeth neither from the Diuell nor from the spirit of man it remayneth that we conclude it to be infused by God when (h) The perfection is only to be found in the holy Catholique Church he is inuoked serued as the Catholike Church doth teach And man findeth by experience that this vertue commeth to him by the meanes of Fayth in confirmation of the truth thereof for out of a lye such profit of light or knowledg could not come for the procuring of perfect Vertue and for the inuoking of God to fauour him in the pursuite thereof S. Paul vseth this proofe when he speaketh thus to the Galathians I desire only that you will tell me The holy Ghost which you receaued was it by meanes of the workes of the Law or els by means of fayth As if he should haue sayd Since I preaching Fayth to you and not the old law and you belieuing it and disposing of your selues thereunto by your will did receaue the holy Ghost why do you now returne to the old Law since you find by experience that without it and by meanes of Fayth and of pennance vpon the receauing of Baptisme you haue receaued the holy Ghost with the graces benefits therof And so to proue the thing which we haue in hand That perfect verene which is obteyned by the right vse of Fayth and by those other meanes which it teacheth vs doth giue testimony that it is true because towardes the obtaining of so good a thing it was a meanes and it taught vs also other meanes And so these persons who are so rich through the graces which come to them by Christ Iesus are so adherent to him so enriched by him that they haue no thought of looking for the Messias whom the Iewes expect nor of enioying that paradise which Mahomet doth entice men by For as they despise those bestiall delights of the flesh which Mahomet in his paradise doth promise and those other transitory benefits of the earth which the Iewes by their Messias do expect so they willingly take their leaue both of the one and the other howsoeuer they be intreated to the contrary And they remember how it was prophesied that in the tyme of the Messias They (i) Ezech. 14. 16. Ierem. 31. should know that our Lord was God by his breaking the chaynes of the yâ—â—kes of men and that God would giue men new hartes and that he would write his Law in the very howells of them that would receaue it Now because they make very great coniectures that they haue a part in these blessings it is a testimony to them that Christ is come By these and other effects which cannot be related and which they haue within themselues they are so full of ioy and peace and confidence in Iesus Christ as that if men should tell them of another Christ that were (k) Matt. 14. in the desert or in the secret closets of the house or that he were farre off or neere hand they would neuer bestow the seeking of him For since the true Christ is but one and that they find the conditions of being true in him in whom they do belieue with the same fayth wherby they accept the one they reiect the rest But (l) Note yet I say not this to the end thou shouldest thinke that Christians belieue by the only experimeÌ„tal motiues which they find within themselues for they only belieue through faith which is infused by God as heer after I will shew But this I haue only sayd that thou mayst know the many motiues that we haue to belieue since we are treating of this subiect And one of them is The experiments which perfect men do find in their soule which since they are thinges that passe vp and downe in their hart thou art not to looke for them in bookes or in the liues of others but in thy owne priuate conscience by striuing to attayne perfect vertue That so as I was saying in the beginning thou mayst haue witnesses both neere thee and well knowne by theo as remayning vvithin thee and that thou mayst fullfill what the Scripture sayth Drinke the water of thyne owne Cisterne and thou shalt see such meruailes vvrought within thy selfe as shall take from thee all appetite of seeking any vvithout thy selfe CHAP. XXXVIII That if the power and greatnes of the worke of Belieuing be well pondered we shall find great testimony to proue that it is much reason that the vnderstanding of man do serue God by imbracing of Fayth HE (a) A worthy a wise discourse that had light to know and a steedy hand to weigh the very worke of belieuing vvould be in no necessity of other witnesses towards the receauing thereof but euen therein vvould find beauty to make him loue it reason to imbrace it For who is he that will not conceaue it to be wholy fit that a creature should serue his Creatour with all his power vvithal his meanes And so also do all men know that although we owe him this seruice withall that we haue yet specially since God is a spirit the prime seruice that we are to do him is with our spirit
〈◊〉 we want grace we must haue feare because we are ready to take a thousand falls When we haue it we must haue care because we are to worke in conformity of the talent which God bestoweth on vs therby most care of all when we loose it because that fauour went from vs by our negligence The Scripture doth therefore say Blessed is the man who doth alwayes feare CHAP. LVIII That we must be diligent to find out the knowledge of our selues and by what meanes this may be done and that it is fit for vs to haue some priuate place into which we may dayly retire our selues for a tyme. BY that which heere is sayd and by much more which hath beene sayd by the Saints in prayse of the knowledge of ones selfe thou wilt find how necessary this Iewell is for the comming afterward to know God And since thou hast a mind to build a house in thy soule for so high a Lord know thou that (a) God will neuer inhabite a proud hart not the high but the humble of hart are his houses Therefore let thy first care be to digg deep in the earth of thy littlenes till hauing freed all that which thou hast from being esteemed by thy selfe thou come at last to the firme stone which is God vpon which not vpon thyne owne false earth or sand thou art to build thy house For this did the blessed S. Gregory say Thou who thinkest to rayse vp a building of vertues take into the first part of thy care the foundation which is humility for he that pretendeth to haue vertue without it is like a man that would carry ashes in his hand against the wind This he sayth not only because vertues do not profit men without humility though rather indeed without it they be no vertues but for that they are an occasion of great perdition as a great building vpon a sleight and weake foundation would be sure of a great fall According therefore to the height of other vertues the foundation of humility is to be layd low to the end that the soule may be firme and not puffed first vp then down by the wind of Pride And if thou say where shall I find this pretious iewell of the knowledge of my selfe I tell thee that although it be of great valew yet (b) Wher humility is to be found art thou to find it in the stable and in the middest of the dung of thyne owne pouertyes and infirmityes remouing thyne eyes from looking on the liues of others Do not busy thy selfe to know curious thinges but turne in thy sight vpon thy soule and continue in examining of thy selfe And although at the first thou canst not lay hold vpon this knowledge like one that goeth out of a bright Sunne-shine into a darke chamber yet (c) Obserue and practise this for thou wile find it most certainely true by continuing in a quiet manner thou shalt see by little little with the grace of God whatsoeuer is in thy hart thogh it lye in the most secret corners therof And that thou mayst know the meanes which thou art to vse in a thing that doth so highly import thee giue eare to S. Hierome who speaketh thus to a marryed woman In such sort art thou to haue care of thy house that thou also mayst find some resting place for thy soule Seeke out some fit corner and retyred from the noyse of thy family to which I would haue thee go as one doth into a hauen flying frō the stiffe tēpest of thy cares And there be thou in reading of spirituall books and continuall prayer and in the thoughts of another life and they so firme as that all the employments of the rest of the day may be made light to thee by this tyme of thy retraite Nor do I yet say this to withdraw thee from the gouernement of thy house but rather that so thou mayst learne thereby and consider how thou art to carry thy selfe therein If this Blessed Saint do recommend to a marryed woman that she free her self from the busines of her house for some tyme and retyre her self into some quiet place to read and thinke of heauenly thinges with how much more reason is it that a Virgin of Christ who is free from worldly cares and who should thinke that she liueth not for any thing els so particulerly as to frequent prayer to practise both interiour and exteriour recollection should seeke out some priuate and hidden place of her house wherein she may haue her deuout books and deuout pictures and that the same place may be only deputed to the vse of seeing and tasting how sweet our Lord is The state of Virginity which thou hast taken is not meant for this that thou shouldst be wrapped vp in the cares of this world which passe perish But as it carryeth resemblance to the (d) The noblenes of the state of virginity state of celestiall spirits for as much as concernes the entiernes incorruption of the flesh so thou art to thinke to the very out side of thy power that no thought of earth must haue entrance into thy hart but thou art to be a liuing Temple wherein the sacrifice of continuall prayers may be offered and prayses of him that made thee sounded forth without intermission Let this only thought possesse thy hart how thou mayst please our Lord as (e) Coloss 3. S. Paul sayth Giue thy selfe for dead to the world since thou hast espoused thy soule to a celestiall King And (f) Recollection is necessary for soule that pretend to serue God remember what he sayth to the Spouse A (g) Cant. 4. gardē shut vp O my sister and my spouse a garden shut vp For not only art thou to be kept cleane in thy body but thou art also to be very retyred recollected in thy soule And because Virginity is imbraced among Christians not only for what it is in it selfe but because it helpeth to giue the soule to God with more freedome of spirit that Virgin who is content with the only Virginity of her body and is not carefull of progresse in vertue and prayer and taking gust in God what other thing doth she then dwell vpon the way and not procure to arriue to the iourneys end And it were as if thou hadst all thinges ready to sew and worke and shouldst neuer set thy selfe about it A shameful thing it is for any Christian not to exercise himselfe in reading of spirituall bookes and not to carry holy thoughtes in his soule but for a Religious man not to do it or for a Priest or for a Virgin who haue giuen themselues away to Christ is not only a thing shamefull but vnsufferable And therefore if thou wilt reape the fruites of that holy Virginity which thou hast promised to Christ be an enemy both of seeing and being seene Go abroad the least thou canst though it be euen to
knowledge of ones selfe Then read that mystery of the Passion which thou art about to meditate in some booke that treates thereof This (b) The manner of reading spirituall bookes will serue thee for two purposes The one to teach thee what did happen in that mystery that so thou mayst be able to thinke vpon it for as for the life death of our Lord thou art to know them and that soundly knowne The other for the recollecting of thy hart to the end that when thou meanest to thinke vpon the Passion thou mayst not haue wandring or tepide thoughtes And although thou do not read at one tyme all that which the booke deliuereth of that part of the Passion thou wilt be at no losse thereby because vpon the same dayes of the weekes following thou wilt come to an end thereof And as I told thee before thy reading must not be such as to make thee weary but to stirre vp the appetite of thy soule and to prepare matter for thee to thinke and pray vpon The bookes which may profit thee in the thought of the Passion are amongst others the Meditations of S. Augustine in Latin and those of the Father Lewys de Granada in Spanish and the (c) Diâ—â—ysius Carthusianus Carthusian who writeth vpon al the Ghospells When thou hast ended thy reading cast thy selfe vpon thy knees and hauing first recollected thyne eyes doe thou beseech our Lord that he will send thee light of the Holy Ghost which may impart to thee an amorous and compassiue feeling of that which Christ with such dearenesse of loue did suffer for thee Be very (d) Obserue this excellent discourse with great attention importunate with him not to permit in thee so great ingratitude as that thou being bound to imitate his passion shouldest hardly find in thy hart to thinke vpon it Then place the image of that Mystery which thou wouldst meditate within thy hart and if this succeed not with thee yet esteeme at least that thou hast it neere thee And (e) A necessary aduice this I say to let thee know that thou art not to carry thy thoughts to contemplate our Lord at Hierusalem where the Passion was accomplished for this would do thy head great hurt and dry vp thy deuotion But make account that he is present to thee and place thou the eyes of thy soule vpon his feet or on the ground neere to him and behold with all reuerence that which passeth as if thou wert present at it and hearken to that which our Lord did say with all attention Aboue all (f) Our Lord make vâ— fit to do so thinges behould with a pure and quiet sight his most sacred hart which so aboundeth with loue towards vs and which did so much excell in comparison of that which he suffered exteriourly thogh euen that were also vnspeakable as the Heauen doth exceed the Earth But take heed that thou doe not afflict thy hart with any forced griefe which vseth to fetch out some (g) Take heed of forcing thy selfe to teares few teares with violence for this doth hinder that quiet repose which is wholy needfull in the exercise of prayer as the Abbot Isaac was wont to say they dry vp the hart make it vnfit for the receauing of the visitation of Gods spirit which requireth peace and rest Yea and they vse to preiudice euen our bodily health and to leaue the soule so frighted with the disgust which therein it found that it feareth to returne againe to praier as to some painefull thing But if with a quiet thinking of these things our Lord do giue thee teares and compassion other deuout affections of mind thou art to take them vnder this condition That the excesse thereof be not such as to ouerworke thee to wardes the notorious preiudice of thy health or that thou becommest vnable therby to resist them and to hinder crying out or by other such exteriour signes to make shew of what thou findest within For yf thou doest vse thy selfe to this thou wilt grow to make those expressions amongst others and with greate note to which thou art accustomed in thy Oratory without being able to resist them but from this it is reason that thou fly So (h) How we are to carry our selues when we haue tears tender motions of the mind as thou art to receaue these spiritual gustes and teares in such sort as that thou do not greatly go after them least (i) That pious thought which was the cause of teares is to be cherished and the teares tâ—es lues neglected in the pursuit thereof thou loose that pious thought or spirituall affection by which they were caused But vse thou great diligence that the thought continue and as for the other exteriour and sensible feeling let it take the chance and by this meanes thou mayest continue a long tyme togeather in a spirituall and deuout gust of mind Whereas that other which may be accompted but as corporall to touch vpon the sensible part of the soule cannot last Nor yet will it suffer the spiritual affection to continue vnles it be withheld from following the other which is more corporall Only (k) IndulgeÌ„ce may be vsed towards beginners to such as are new beginners a little leaue may be allowed that so they may taste of this sweet kind of milke a little more then such as are proficient For (l) In this true deuotion doth consist these later haue an ayme to feele in their soule the high dignity of him that suffers and the deepe indignity of him for whom he suffers and the mightily much that he suffers and yet that the loue wherewith he doth it is still greater and (m) Do this and liue they desire to imitate this loue and this passion with all the strength that our Lord shall giue And if herewith he giue them the aforesaid gustes they driue them not away nay rather they are thankfull for them but not as for the more principall And (n) Both these loues of God are excellent but generally speaking men excell in the former and women in the later although I make no doubt but that there is a certaine kind of loue of God so inflamed and so fyery as that it doth not only not prouoke teares but it hindreth them and dries them vp so do I also aduertise thee that there is another tender kind of loue which procureth those aforesaid gustes in the sensitiue part of the soule and in the eyes of the body which yet is not blame-worthy since the doctrine of Christ is not a doctrine of Stoickes who condemne euen the passions which are good And because Christ our Lord did weepe and was sad that sufficeth to make vs belieue that these thinges are good yea euen in the most perfect men O how much hurt hath bin done by certaine vnlearned men both to themselues and to others by their taking the businesse of
haue well considered that which hath bin said to thee of the mystery of the Passion of Iesus Christ our Lord thou wilt haue seene how thou art to obserue both his sufferance in the exteriour of his body and the patience and humility and those other vertues which were in his soule and aboue all his amorous and compassiue hart from which all the rest did proceed it will animate thee both to follow him in sufferance and to imitate him also in other thinges But thou art moreouer to vnderstand that thou mayst intertayne many other profitable considerations concerning the passion of our Lord. For thereby thou mayst know as we are permitted (a) We see not eleerly but as in a cloud to know it in this place of banishment how glorious a thing the ioy of heauen is and how grieuous those infernall torments are how pretious is grace how hurtfull and detestable is synne since for the purchasing of those blessinges for vs and the remoouing of these mischiefes from vs Christ himselfe being what he is was yet faine to suffer so great miseries A booke (b) The Passion of our Lord Iesus is a booke wherein we may read and learne all sauing knowledge this is wherein thou mayst read the immense goodnesse of God and the deare sweetnes of his loue and so also the wonderfull rigour of the diuine Iustice which did so punish the sin of others vpon the Iudge himselfe being made man And because I had both a desire a purpose to prosecute this matter more at large and to passe on to the consideration of the diuinity by this step of the most holy soule of Iesus Christ our Lord and that my little health doth keep me from all meanes to do it I now say no more and that which heere I write is the last of this (c) Of the Passion discourse sauing that I recommended to thee all perseuerance in the Meditation of this sacred Passion For (d) Why we are to perseuere in the meditation of the passion of our Lord Iesus although I haue seene some persons exercise themselues therein for a yeare and for more yeares then one without gusting it much yet by their continuance our Lord was brought to pay them at last whatsoeuer he had formerly deferred in such sort as that whē they considered the reward they thought their labour well imployed I (e) Many other courses of deuotion whereby a man may also profit in spirit do also aduertise thee that there are other exercises of Meditation whereby we may walke on towards our Lord as wel by the consideration of the creatures and of the benefits of God and by way of recollecting the hart that it may imploy it selfe vpon louing which is the end of all thinking and indeed of the whole Law And as there are diuers wayes of exercises so are there seuerall inclinations in men and it is a very great blessing of our Lord when he applyeth a man to that which is to be of most profit to him Which (f) Light is to be asked of our Lord in the address of our deuotions euery one ought to begge of him with great instance and to procure for as much as he sindeth in himselfe when first he shall haue giuen relation thereof to such as know more then he to iudge what exercise of prayer is fittest for him for this is that which he is to follow It is (g) A gooddirection for such as can not greatly frame to the recollecting of thēselues also fit for me to let thee know that there are some so imployed vpon exteriour things that they cannot giue themselues at least for any good space of tyme to these interiour excrcises at which they take discomfort disgust But now if lawfully they cannot forsake those imployments they must content themselues with that state which our Lord hath giuen them and with diligence and alacrity they are to comply with their obligation and to endeauour as much as they can to haue our Lord (h) A blessed thing to haue and keep the presence of God euer present with them for loue of whome they must performe their workes And because there are some who haue a kind of naturall inquietude in their soule and who are wholy so vndeuout and dry that although they imploy both much tyme and care vpon these inward exercises yet they profit nothing it is necessary to let them know that since our Lord doth not giue them the spirit of large and inward prayer they must content themselues with praying vocally vpon the partes of the passion and so praying let them thinke although it be but brei fely of that particuler mystery And let them haue some deuout picture to behould and let them read some deuout books of the passiō for it happeneth many tymes that by these steps a man doth rise to the exercise of inward thinking if our Lord be pleased that yet they shall not rise let them giue him thankes for conducting them by that other way Let (i) Concerning such as are scrupulous and pusillanimous such also as are scrupulous and deiected vnderstand That our Lord is not pleased that they should euer be thinking of the sinnes which they haue committed so to be buried in discomfort and griefe like a Lazarus in his graue But it is his will that after mortification be vsed and pennance done wherin they imitate his passion they may also receaue comfort by the hope of pardon whereby they may resemble his Resurrection And when they shall haue kissed his most sacred feete by lamenting their sinnes they may raise themselues vp to kisse his handes for the benefits which they haue receaned and let them walke on between hope and feare which is the safest way of all others And I conclude with telling thee that although there be some who through ignorance or pride haue committed errours in the way of prayer yet (k) We must not giue ouer good things by the ill vse that is made therof by some thou art not to take occasion thereby to leaue it since the fault of others must not make vs giue ouer that which is good but only we must attend to our busines with greater caution And it ought more to encourage vs towardes the following of it to know that Iesus Christ our Lord and his Saints haue walked therein for our example then the few who haue erred must discourage vs. For hardly will there be found that thing whereof ill vse hath not beene made by some CHAP. LXXXII How attentiuely our Lord doth heare vs and how piteously he doth behold vs if we manifest our infirmityes to him with that griefe which is fit and how ready he is to cure vs and to do vs many other fauours THE great goodnesse of our Lord hath this That to the end his Commandementes and Lawes may be kept by vs he maketh them easy in themselues and more easy by