there are two causes of this Deuotion the one is extrinsecall which is God that is the principall The other is intrinsecall on our part which is Meditation For this prompt and ready will towards the actiōs of vertue doth grow from the consideration and Meditation of the Vnderstanding and this is that which next after the grace of God may be truly said to kindle and blow the fire in our hart So that true Deuotion and feruour of spirit Note doth not consiste in the sweetnes and sensible guste wherof some haue experience and sense in Prayer but in hauing a will which is prompte and ready prest towards all those things which concerne the seruice of Almighty God And this is the deuotion which continues and lasts whilest the other comes quickly to an end For that doth but consist of certaine affects of sensible deuotion which rise from a quicke desire which one hath of any thing which is desirable and amiable And many tymes it proceedeth from a mans naturall complexiō in that he hath a sweet disposition and a tender hart which is quickly moued towards softnesse and tears when this kind of deuotion is once dropped downe the good purposes are assoone dryed vp This is but a tēder kind of loue which is grounded in gustes and consolations and as long as that guste and deuotion lasts the man wil be very diligent and punctuall and he wil be a friend of silence and recolection But when that deuotion is ended there is an end of all Whereas they who are so grounded in Truth by meanes of Meditation and consideration and are conuinced disabused by solide reason these are the men who continue and perseuere in vertue and although those gustes consolations faile them yet they are still the same that they were before because the same cause and reason lasts which at the first induced moued them to it This is a masculine strong kind of loue and by this Touch of triall the true seruants of God are seene not in those gusts and consolations They are wonte to say that our passions are like certaine little dogs which stand barking at vs and in the tyme of spirituall consolation they haue their mouthes muzled vp And make account that God doth caste certaine bits of bread before euery one of them and with that they are quiet craue nothing but take you away that bread of consolation and then one of them will begin to barke and the other of them wil be as sure to follow and then is the tyme to see how euery one doth carry himselfe They also compare these gustes and consolations to moueable goods chattels which are soone spent but solide vertues are as freehold or land of inheritance which continues and lasts so they are of more price From hence groweth a Truth wherof we take experience many tymes it is worthy of consideration Note We see some persons who on the one side haue great comforts in their Prayer and afterward in temptations other occasions of sinne we see them weake and fallen And on the contrary part we see others who suffer great drynesse in Prayer and know not what belongs to any spirituall consolation or guste and yet we find these last to be stronge when they are tempted far from falling The cause of this is that which we were saying before That the former sort of men did ground themselues in gusts and inwarde feelings but the latter laide their foundation vpon reason were disabused conuinced and possessed with the reall truth of thing◠and with that they last and perseuere in those things which formerly they did resolue So that one of the meanes and that a very good one which vsually we giue to make men perseuere in those good purposes which they conceiue in Prayer Note and to put them in execution is That men must procure to conserue in memory the motiue and reason which caused that good desire and purpose in them formerly for that which moued them before to desire it will helpe them afterwards to conserue put it in execution Nay there is more in this then what is said For when a man goeth thus vnbeguiling cōuincing himselfe in Prayer although afterward he remember not particulerly the medium or reason which moued him then yet in vertue of his hauing beene vnbeguiled before and of the resolution which then he tooke being conuinced by truth and reason he continueth firme and strong to resist the temptation afterward and to perseuere in vertue Therefore doth Gerson Gerson p. 2. alphab 34. litera M. de sollicitudine religiosa p. 41. alpha 6.37 lit A. esteeme so much of Meditation For being consulted about what exercise might be more vsefull or profitable to a Religious man who liueth recolected in his Cell eyther reading or vocall Prayer or some worke of the hand or els to attend to Meditation he answered that sauing the duty which they owe to Obedience they were best attend to Meditation And he giues this reason therof That although by meanes of Vocall Prayer or reading of some spirituall booke a man for the present may peraduenture find greater profit and deuotion then by meanes of Meditation yet in giuing ouer to pray vocally or laying the booke aside that deuotion may quickly be at an end whereas Meditation doth profit and dispose men well for the future And therfore he sayth That it is fit that we accustome our selues to Meditation to the end that although the sound of wordes and the sight of bookes may faile vs yet Meditation may be our booke and so we may not want true deuotion CHAP. XI Of the manner which we are to hold in Prayer and of the Fruite we are to gather thence CONCALVIT cor meum intra me Psal 38.4 in meditatione mea exardescit ignis In these words the Prophet Dauid teacheth vs the manner which we are to hold in Prayer according to the explication of many Doctors and Saints who interpret this place Hieron Ambros Greg. a. 23 mor. c. 5. interlin alij of the fire of Charity and the loue of God our neighbour which was kindled by the Meditation of heauenly things did burne in the brest of the Royall Prophet My hart sayth he grew into heat was all kindled within me This is the effect of Prayer But how got he this heat How did that fire come to kindle it selfe in his hart Will you know how It was by meanes of Meditation Et in meditatione mea exardescit ignis This is the meanes and the instrument for the kindling of this fire So that as S. Cyrill of Alexandria sayth Cyrillus Alexandrinus Meditation is as the steele which giues against the flint to the end that fire may be produced By discourse and Meditation of the Vnderstanding you are to strike vpon the hard steele of your hart till such tyme as the
to weary the mind and to dry vp deuotion Hugo of S. Victor bringeth an example of a seruant of God who was admonished by Reuelation Hugo de S. Victore li. 5. erudit Didascalicae c. 7. that he should leaue the Reading of such things and should resort to the Liues and Martyrdoms of Saints and such other plaine deuout writings wherby he profitted much S. Bernard sayth further Bernard Epist seu tract ad fratrem de monte Dei. Sed de quotidiana lectione aliquid quotidie in ventrem memoriae dimittendum est quod fideliùs digeratur rursus reuocatum crebriùs ruminetur quod proposito conueniat quod intentioni proficiat quod detineat animum ita vi aliena cogitare non libeat We are alwayes to commit somewhat to our memory of what we read to the end that we may ruminate digeste it the better afterward Note and especially that which we see may help vs most and wherof we haue most need to the end that betweene the howers of the day we may go thinking vpon good and holy things and not vpon such as are impertinent and vayne Iust so as we must not eate our corporall food to the end that we may spend that tyme in eating but that in vertue of the same foode which then we take we may labour all the day Now Reading is the meat and spirituall foode of our soule because they are the words of God which we Read and we must not only Read that we may spend that tyme well in Reading but to the end that we may profit by it Note all the day after It will also be very well done and it will giue vs great help towards all goodnes that we lift vp our hart to God and desire grace of him to the end that it may be profitable to vs and that the things which we Reade may go imbruing and bathing the very rootes of our hart and that we may remayne more tenderly affected to vertue and more vnbeguiled concerning the vanity of the world resolued vpon those things which import vs most Gregorius And so we read of the blessed S. Gregory that before he went to Reade he euer prepated himselfe by Prayer Psa 118 1â—5 and vsed to say this verse Declinate à me maligni scrutabor mandata Dei mei Departe from me you maligne spirits for I will consider the law and Commaundements of my God To the end that we may more esteeme of this kind of Reading animate our selues more therunto Note the Saints go comparing it with hearing the word of God preached And they say that though Reading haue not that force which the liuing voice hath yet doth it enioy other commodityes which Sermons haue not For first a man cannot alwayes haue a Preacher at hand as he may haue a good booke Secondly the good speach of a Preacher passeth through myne ears at once workes not therfore so great effect in me But that which is well said in a good booke I may reflect vpon and reuolue it in my mind by Reading it once or twice agayne and by ruminating and pondering it and so it will grow to make a great impression in me Thirdly by Reading in a good booke I haue a free and faythfull counsellor And that other Philosopher said well Demetrius Phaler That which many times my friend or my counsellor will not venter to tell me my booke tells me plainly without feare aduertising me of my vices and defects and chiding me on the one side and exhorting me on the other Fourthly by this Reading I am conuersing with them who wrote the booke Sometymes you may go and haue a tyme of conuersation with S. Bernard another with S. Gregory another with S. Basill and you may stand hearing listning to them as truly as if you had beene their disciple of old tyme. And so they say and with great reason That good bookes are a kind of publique treasure for the great benefits and riches which we may drawe from thence To conclude the profit and aduantage which groweth vpon this Reading of spirituall bookes Hieron epist ad Damasum Papam is so very great that S. Hierome treating of that interior inflammation of the soule doth aske where this inflaÌ„mation and fire is And he answereth that there is no doubt to be made but that it is conteyned in holy Scriptures the Reading wherof inflames the soule towards God and so it remaineth purged from all vice And he bringeth for proofe of this that which the disciples said to one another wheÌ„ going to the Castle of Emans Christ our Lord appeared to them in forme of a Pilgrime and went speaking to them of holy Scripture Luc. 24.32 Nonne cor nostrum ardens erat in nobis cùm loqueretur in via aperiret nobis Scripturas Was not say they our hart all inflamed and in fire wheÌ„ he went speaking and declaring the holy Scripture to vs vpon the way And he also bringeth those words of the Prophet Eloquia Domini eloquia casta Ps 11.7 argentum igne examinatum The words of our Lord are chast wordes and pure they are as siluer purifyed by the fire And S. Ambrose affirmeth That this sacred lection is the life of the soule Ambros 15. ser by the testimony of Christ our Lord himselfe Quod autem sacrarum litteraruÌ„ lectio vita sit Dominus testatur dicens Ioannis sexto Verba quae ego locutus sum vobis Ioan. 6.64 spiritus vita sunt The wordes which I haue sayd to you are spirit life To the end therfore that we may lead a spirituall life and that we may walke euer on in true spirit be all kindled and inflamed with the Loue of God let vs giue our selues much to this kind of Sacred Lection and let vs vse it in such sorte as hath been said Now by that which you haue seene it will follow That they do very ill who as soone as they haue Read ouer any good booke do cast it into some corner and say I haue dispatched that booke A good booke is not to be read ouer only once The second tyme that you read it will profit you more then the first and the third then the second Yea and it wil be euer new to you as they finde by experience who desire to profit by Reading And it is a good custome which some haue who when they meete with any thing in any booke which moues them much and giues them particuler satisfaction do note it and set it downe to the end that they may always haue at hand some of the most substantiall things and wherein they may finde the iuyce of deuotion at more ease may haue some comfort in store for such occasions and tymes as may occurre We might bring many Examples Note in confirmation of the great benefit profit August li. 8. confess c.
6. which groweth from the Reading of Spirituall bookes but I will only bring the Example of S. Augustine which conteyneth much doctrine That Saynt recounts how a certaine Cauallier an Affrican called Potitianus comming one day to visite him gaue him newes of the wonderfull things which the world was saying of S. Anthony And he added further that one euening while the was at Treuers imployed vpon seing certayne publique sports which were represented there himselfe with three other Courtiers friends of his went out to take the aire And that two of the fower did chance vpon the Cell of a certaine Monke and finding there a booke wherein the Life of S. Anthony was written one of them began to read it and instantly his hart was kindled with a holy kinde of loue And being all angry with himselfe he said thus to his friend Tell me I beseech thee what is that which we pretend to obteyne with all the paines we take What is that which we ayme at In the hope of what do we thus earnestly imploy our selues Can we perhaps haue a higher ambition in the Court then to be Fauorites of the Emperor And yet euen in that fortune what is there which is not top full of danger And by how many dangers do we still proceed towards some greater danger And how long shall we sweat in this pursuite But to be the friend and sauourite of God himsefe behold I am made so if I will euen at this very instant This he said and being growne bigge and swolne with the feruent desire of bringing forth a new life he restored his eyes to the booke and read on and was inwardly changed and his mind was wholy dispossessed of worldely cares as immediately afterwards appeared For whilst he was Reading and rowling vp and downe those waues of his vnquiet hart he would sometymes groane deepely and then agayne pawse a while And resoluing at last vpon a better course he said with a serene countenance to his friend Euen now haue I broken loose from those hopes wherby hitherto we haue beene seized I haue firmely resolued to be the seruant of God and I will set vpon it in this place and at this very instant As for thee if thou canst not be content to imitate me at least disswade me not But the other answered that he would gladly ioyne himselfe to him as a cōpanion in the prosecuting of so honourable a war the obteyning of so noble a pay And both of them did build vp that Spirituall Tower with the treasure which is only able to do it of forsaking all things and following Christ our Lord. And that which is as strange they both had Spouses who as soone as they knew what these men had resolued did consecrate themselues to God by a vow of Chastity This doth S. Augustine relate and this Example was of so great efficacy with himselfe that soone after he thus cryed out with great exclamation to another friend of his What is this which we indure What is this What haue we heard Surgunt indocti caelum rapiunt nos cum doctrinis nostris sine corde ecce vbi volutamur in carne sanguine The vnlearned men of the world teare heauen from betweene our hands and we with our great knowledge and learning behold how without braynes or courage we are contented still to wallow in flesh and blood But with this alteration and feeling the Saint relates how he entred into a Garden there adioyning and did spread himselfe at the foote of a certaine figtree and letting loose the reynes to teares he beganne with great affliction and sorrow of hart to cry out thus to God and say And thou O Lord how long How long O Lord Wilt to be angry with vs for euer Remember not Lord our old iniquityes And still he repeated these words How long How long shall I say To morrow Why not euen now Why euen at this instant is there not an end of my vncleanenesse Whilest he was saying this in the most bitter feeling of his hart he heard a voyce which sayd to him Take vp and read Take vp and read He then rose vp as himselfe relateth to take vp and read in that holy booke which lay before him For he had heard it related of the same S. Anthony Matt. 19.21 that by once Reading of the Gospell which he fell vpon as it were by chance which sayd Goe and sell all that thou haste and giue it to the poore and follow me and thou shalt haue treasure in heauen he determined to leaue all things and to follow Christ our Lord And so S. Augustine being moued much by this Example more by the voyce which he had heard sayth That he toooke vp the booke and read in it And there did God infuse so great a light into his soule that leauing all things of this world he deliuered himselfe wholy vp to the seruice of our Lord. The end of this Treatise of Mentall Prayer A TREATISE Of the presence of God Written by the same Authour CHAP. I. Of the excellency of this Exercise and the great benefits which are conteyned therein QVAERITE Dominum confirmamini quaerite faciem eius semper Psa 104 4. Seeke God sayth the Prophet Dauid with perseuerance and strength August super Psal 104. be euer seeking his face the face our Lord which as S. Augustine sayth is the Presence of our Lord and so to be euer seeking the face of our Lord is to be euer going in his Presence and conuerting our harts to him with desire and loue Isychius Bonau to 2. opusc li. 2. de profectu Religiosorum ca. 20. Isychius in his last Century sayth so doth also S. Bonauenture That to be alwayes performing this Exercise of the Presence of God is to begin to be blessed here on earth as the glorious spirits are in heauen For the felicity of those Saints consisteth in seeing God perpetually without euer once loosing the sight of him But now since we cannot see God in perfect charity nor as he is in himselfe for this is only proper to those glorious spirits yet at least let vs imitate them the best we can according to the vttermost of our frailty and let vs procure to be all wayes beholding respecting and louing him So that as our Lord God created vs to be eternally in his presence to enioy him in heauen so was it also his pleasure that here on earth we should haue an image modell of that blessednesse by walking euer in his sight reuearing and beholding him 1. Cor. 13.12 though in obscure manner Videmus nunc per speculum in aenigmate tunc autem facie ad faciem We now behold and see God by fayth as in a glasse but afterwards we shall see him cleerely and face to face Ista est meri um illa praemium That cleere vision as sayth Isychius is the reward and the glory and blessednes
rooted in our harts we finde by experience that a man also profits much in other respects by reading these things afterward Because they hauing been a mans owne and for that he hath felt them as such they moue him afterward more then other things and he easily actuates vpon them agayne And when he findeth afterward that he arriueth not to the spirit of that he was before he is confounded to see that he is no more the man he was and that insteed of aduancing he is retired Wherby he will eyther animate himselfe to put on a pace or els he will supply by his confusion that which he shall want of perfection So that this vseth euer to be of much profit though especially it be so in tyme of the Exercises Lastly I say 3. p. tract 7. that if at all tymes it be good to giue account of a mans conscience and of his Prayer to some spirituall man in this it wil be much more fit And some because they will not humble themselues so far do not gather out of the Exercises so much Fruite as they might CHAP. XXVIII Of the Reading of spirituall Bookes and how important it is and of some meanes which may help vs to do it profitably and well READING is the Sister and a great Helper to Prayer And so the Apostle S. Paul 1. Tim. 4.23 doth counsell his disciple Timothy That he should attend to Reading Attende lectioni This spirituall Reading is of so great importance for a man that preteÌ„ds to serue God Athanasius that S. Athanasius in an exhortation which he maketh to Religious men sayth thus Sine legendi studio neminem ad Deum intentum videas Thou shalt see no body who indeed preteÌ„ds to profit in spirit who is not also giuen to Reading of spirituall books he who leaues it will quickly shew it by the state which you shall finde him in S. Hierome Hierome in an epistle to Eustochium recommending much to her that she giue herselfe greatly to this sacred Lection sayth thus Tenenti codicem somnus obrepat cadentem faciem pagina sancta suscipiat Read till sleepe take thee and when being ouercome by sleepe thy head is dropping downeward let those holy leaues receiue it All the Saints do greatly recommend this spirituall lection And experience telleth vs how profitable it is since we see the storyes full of great conuersions which our Lord hath wrought by this meanes This Reading is a meanes so principall so important for our spirituall good that the founders of Religious orders being rooted in the doctrine of the Apostle and in the auctority and experience of the Saints haue ordeyned That their Religious should euery day resort to spirituall Reading Vmbertus in Prolog Vmbertus sayth of holy S. Bennet that he ordeyned a set tyme for this Reading euery day And he ordeyned with all that during that tyme two of the most ancient Monkes should go about the Monastery to visite and to see if any did eyther forbeare it themselues or hinder others Wherby it may appeare how much accounte they made therof And by the way we may perceiue that these Visites which now are daily vsed in Religion at the tyme of spirituall Exercises â—re grounded in the doctrine experience of the ancient Saints For the first and second tyme that any failed herein the Saint ordeyned that he should be reprooued after a milde fashion but if he mended not with that that then they should correct giue him such a pennance as wherby the rest might be kept in feare In the Society we haue a Rule which concernes this spirituall Reading and it speaketh thus Let all men twice in the day giue that tyme Regula 1. commun which is ordeyned to the Examen of Conscience and Prayer and Lection with all diligence in our Lord. And the Superior or Prefect of spirituall matters hath care that euery one may depute some tyme to this purpose euery day And generally this is a helpe for all those who pretend to obtayne vertue and perfection And therfore to the end that they may exercise it with the more Fruite we will here say something which may conduce therunto S. Ambrose exhorting vs Ambro. li. 1. officior cap. 20. to giue all the tyme we can to Prayer spirituall Reading sayth Cur non illa tempora quibus ab Ecclesia vacas lectioni impendas Cur non Christum alloquaris Christum audias Illum alloquimur cùm oramus illum audimus cùm diuina legimus oracula Wherefore doest thou not imploy that tyme which is free from the Quire vpon Reading and Prayer Why doest thou not goe to visit Christ our Lord and both speake to him and heare him For when we pray he sayth that we speake to God and and when we reade he speakes to vs. Let this be therfore the first meanes to profit by spirituall Reading that we make account that God is speaking to vs. that he speakes euery thing which heere we Reade S. Augustine doth also speake of this helpe August Epist 143. ad Demetriad virginem Ita Scripturas sanctas lege vt semper memineris Dei illa verba â—sse qui legem suam non solùm sciri sed etiam impleri inbet WheÌ„ thou readest thou art to make account that God is saying to thee that which thou readest not only that thou mayst know it but also that thou mayst performe Note and put it in practise He addeth another consideration which is both very good and very pious Diuinoe scripturae quasi literae de Patria nostra sunt August ser 36. ad Pra. in eremo Dost thou know sayth he how we are to read the Holy Scriptures As a man would read some letters which are come to him out of his Country himselfe being then abroade to see what newes there is of Heauen what they tell vs of that Country of ours where our Fathers and Brothers and Friendes and Acquaintance are and where we would so faine be and we long and sigh to be going thither S. Gregory Greg. li. 2. mor. c. 1. treating of this pointe sayth that the holy Scripture the same we may vnderstand of any other spirituall Reading is like the placing of a glasse before the eyes of our soule to the end that we may see our inwarde man For there we come to know and playnely see the good and bad that is in vs Note and how much we profit and how far we are from perfection And sometymes there are related to vs the admirable deeds of Saints which may animate vs to their imitation and to the end that by seeing their great victoryes triuÌ„phs we may not be dismaid at our owne temptations and troubles At other tymes there is relation made not only of their vertues but of their fauls to the end that by the one we may knowe what we are to imitate and by the other what we
soake imbrue it selfe in the in tralls of that dry soyle till that be sufficiently done he suffers not the water to passe away So when the water of good affections and desires beginnes to enter in to the soule which is as earth without water according to that of the Prophet Psa 142.0 Anima mea sicut terra siue aqua tibi we are to deteyne the current of the discourse and Vnderstanding and to remay ne enioying that motion and affection of our will as long as we can till such tyme as our hart may be bathed and imbrued therwith and so we may remaine sully satisfyed The B. Saint Iohn Chrysostome Chrysostome brings another good comparison to declare this Hast thou seene sayth he when the little lambe goes to seeke the brest of his daÌ„me what doth it but stir and seeke heere and there now takes the tet and then leaues it But when once the streame of milke comes clere the lambe is presently at a pawse and doth enioy the milke at ease So is it in the case of Prayer For till that dew come from heauen the man goes discoursing heere and there But wheÌ„ once that heauenly dew descends we are presently to pawse and to enioy that delight and sweetnesse CHAP. XII Of how great importance it is to deteyne our selues in the acts affections of our Will IT is of great importance do teteyne our selues and to make a stand in the acts and affections of the Will And the Saints and Maisters of spirituall life do esteeme of it so much as to say that in this consisteth good and perfect Prayer yea and that also which they call Contemplation when a man no longer is seeking incentiues of Prayer by Meditation but stands inioying that loue which he hath soght and found and doth repose therein as in the end of his inquisition and desire saying with the Spouse in the Canticles Inueni quem diligit anima mea Cant. 3.4 tenui cum nec dimittam I haue found him whome my soule loues I haue him and I will hold him fast And this is also that Cant. 5.2 which the Spouse sayth in the same place Ego dormio cor meum vigilat I sleepe but my hart is well awake For in perfect Prayer the Vnderstanding is laide as it were to sleepe because discourse and speculation being lefte the Will is both watching and euen melting with the loue of her fellow Spouse And he likes this sleepe of hers so well that he commaunds it to be nourished in her and that she may not be awaked tell she will her selfe Cant. 3.5 Adiuro vos filiae Ierusalem percapreas ceruosque camporum ne suscitetis neque euigilare faciatis dilectam donec ipsa velit In such sort that Meditation and all those other parts which they touch of Prayer be ordeyned and addressed to this Contemplation and are as it were August de seala Paredisi the ladders wherby we clyme vp to it So sayth S. Augustine in a booke which he calleth the ladder of Paradise Lectio inquirit meditatio inuenit oratio postulat contemplatio degustat Reading seeks Meditation findes Prayer desires but Contemplation enioyes and gustes that which was sought desired and found And he brings that of the Gospell Matt. 7.7 Quaerite iuuenietis pulsate aperietur vobis Seeke by reading and you shall find by meditating knock by Prayer it shal be opened vnto you by Contemplation And the Saints obserue and Albertus Magnus doth alledge it Albertus magnus l. de adherendo Iâ—eo ca. 9. that this is the difference betweene the Contemplation of Faythfull Catholiks and that of heathen Philosophers That the Contemplation of the Philosophers was wholy addressed towards the perfecting of the Vnderstanding Note by the knowledge of such truthes as might be knowne and so it did end in the Vnderstanding for this is the end therof to know and know more yet more then that But the Contemplation of Catholikes and of Saints wherof now we treat doth not rest in the Vnderstanding but passeth on to moue and rectify and enkindle inflame the Will with the loue of God according to that of the Spouse Cant. 5. â— Anima mea liquefacta est vt loquutus est My soule did euen melt as soone as my beloued began to speake And S. Thomas treating of Contemplation noteth this very well S. Tho. 2.2 q. 180. art 7. and sayth That howsoeuer Contemplation doth essentially consist in the Vnderstanding yet that the last Perfection therof is in Loue and in the affection of the Will so that the chiefe intent and end of our Contemplation is to be the affect of the Will and the loue of God In this sort sayth S. Augustine did Christ our Lord teach vs to pray Aug. lib de orando Dâ—um ca. 10. quâ—â— est Epistola 121. ad Probum Matt. 6. when he said in his Gospell Orantes autem nolite multùm loqui when ye pray talke not much S. Augustine sayth also Aliud est sermo multus aliud diuturnus affectus absit ab oratione multa loquutio sed non desit multa precatio One thing it is to speake much and to discourse and flourish much with the Vnderstanding and another thing it is to deteyne our selues much in affects of the Will and in the acts of Loue. That which he mentioneth first which is to talke much we are to procure to decline and auoid in Prayer Et negotium hoc plus gemitibus quà m sermonibus agitur and this businesse of Prayer sayth the Saint is not a businesse of much talke nor shall we in Prayer negotiate so well with Almighty God by sigures nor plenty of discourse not delicacy of conceits as with tears and sighs and groanes and profound desires of the hart according to that of the prophet Ieremias Neque taceat pupilla oculi tui Tren 2.28 Hieron in Psa 50. Let not the apple of thine eye be silent S. Hierome vpon these words askes the question how the Prophet could say That the apple of the eye must not be silent Is not the tongue sayth he that which speakes how then can speach be vsed by the apple of the eye The Saint answers thus When we shed tears in the sight of God it is then rightly said that the apple of our eye cryes out to him for howsoeuer we speake not a word with our tongue with our hart we may cry out to God So sayth S. Paul Ad Gal. 4.6 Misit Deus spiritum filij sui in corda vestra clamantem Abba pater And in Exodus God said to Moyses Quid clamas ad me Exodus 14.15 Why dost thou cry out to me yet he spake not a word but only in his hart he prayed with so great feruour efficacy that God said to him why dost thou so cry out before me Let vs also thus cry out to
are to feare And so sometymes there is set before vs a Iob who rose vp like foame by meanes of temptations at other tymes a Dauid who was drawne downe therby to the end that the former may animate vs and giue vs confidence in tribulation and the later may make vs humble and timerous in the middest of prosperityes and consolations may make vs neuer trust or be secure of our selues but euer to go on with great caution and care And so sayth S. Augustine Optimè vteris lectione diuina August epist. 143 ad virginem Demetr si tibicam adhibeas speculi vice vt ibi velut ad imaginem suam anima respiciat velfaeda quaeque corrigat vel pulchra plus ornet Then you make good vse of the Reading of holy Scriptures when you take it as a glasse wherein to view your soule procuring to correct and remoue that deformity and ill which is reprehended there and to adorne and beautify it yet more by the examples and vertues which there you finde But descending more in particuler to the way which we are to hold herein it is to be noted That to the end that our Reading may be profitable it must not be hasty and cursory as when a man would read a Story but it must be attentiue and quiet For as the suddaine and tempestuous rayne doth not bath and fertilize the earth but that is done by the sweet quiet shower so to the end that our reading may enter and be steeped more throughly in the hart Noteâ— it wil be fit that it be done with pawse and ponderation And it is good when we meete with some deuout passage to deteyne our selues more therein Berâ—â— epist seu Tract ad Fratr de monte Dei. Hauriendus est saepe lectionis seriae affectus formanda oratio quae lectionem interrumpat noÌ„ tam impediat interrumpendo quà m puriorem continuo animùm ad intelligentiam lectionis restituat Et in spec mâ—nachor Neo semper ad oratorium est cun dum sed in ipsa lectione poterit contemplari orare Idem S. Ephrem serm 7. Chrysost ho. â—0 super Genesâ—m Aug. ser 38. ad Fra. in eremo and to make a kinde of Station vpon it reflecting vpon that which we shall haue read and procuring to mooue and effect our will therby as we vse to do in Meditation Although in Meditation this must be done more at large deteyning our selues more vpon those thoughts and ruminating and digesting them more But yet the same must be done to some proportion in this spirituall Reading so the Saints do aduise And they say that spirituall Reading must be like the drinking of a Hen which drinkes by little and little and so lifteth vp the head agayne Heerby a man may see what a Sister CompanioÌ„ Reading is to Prayer It is so in so great degree that when we apply any man first to Mentall Prayer and that we will proceed with him gently by degrees to put him into some disposition that way we aduise him to read some spirituall booke whilst he is Reading to make some stations pawses in such sort as we haue said for by this meanes our Lord is wont many times to raise men to the Exercise of Mentall Prayer And so also wheÌ„ men are not able to enter wel vpon Prayer and if they thinke they shall not be able to go through with it at that tyme we vse to counsell them to take some good booke in hand to ioyne Prayer Reading both together First Reading a little then Meditating and Praying vpon it and then to Read another little For by this meanes the vnderstanding being tyed vp by the words which are read a man is much more secured from scattering himselfe vpon diuers imaginatioÌ„s thoughts then when he was free and loose So that in Reading we may also very wel haue Prayer For this it is Note that the Saints do so earnestly recommend spirituall Reading they deliuer in effect the same praises profits as belonging to it which they ascribe to Priaer For they say That it is the spirituall foode of the soule That it makes vs strong stisse against temptations That it breeds in vs Note good thoughts desires of heauen That it giues lighte to our vnderstanding That it kindles inflames our wil That it driues away the sorrowes of this world and causeth a ioyfullnes in vs which is true and spirituall according to God And such other things as these they say herof Note The blessed S. Bernard giues vs another aduertisemeÌ„t to make vs profit by Spiritual Reading He saith Bernard inspeculo Monachoy rum Si ad legendum accedat non tam quaerat scientiaÌ„ quà m saporem He who comes to Reading is not so much to seeke knowledge as a certayne sauour gust of the will For the single knowledge of the Vnderstanding is but a dry kinde of thing if it be not applyed to the will in such sort as that the affect may by degrees be takeÌ„ and deuotion conserued for this is that which maketh Reading to be full of iuyce profit and it is the End therof This is a very principall aduise For there is a great deale of difference between Reading to know Reading with a designe to profit by it Betwene Reading for others and Reading for a mans self For the former of these two is Study the later is Spirituall Reading And therfore if wheÌ„ you dispose your selfe to Read you only direct your mind to the Knowing of things or to draw out coÌ„ceits which you may preach powre out to others afterward this should be studying for them and not Spirituall Reading for your own profit For that other there are other tymes appoynted Omnia tempus habent Eccl. 3.1 Euery thinge hath his tyme. And the tyme of spirituall Reading is not for Study but for that which we haue said The Saints do also recommeÌ„d to vs for the same reason S. Ephren serm 7. Dernâ—episl ad fratres de mont Dei Difficilis eâ—â—am lâ—ctio scripturae saâ—igat â—on reficit teneriorem animam frangit intentionem hebetat sensum vel ingeniuÌ„ That we must not read too much at once nor passe many howers together therein least a mans spirit be tired with long Reading insteed of being recreated Which is another aduise very good very necessary for some who seeme to place their felicity in Reading much passing ouer many bookes But as much eating is not the thinge which susteynes the body but good digestion of that which is eaten so nether is the soule susteined by Reading much but by ruminating and digesting well that which is Read For the same cause they also say that spirituall Reading must not be of things very hard but they must be playne rather of deuotion Note then difficult For things of difficulty are wont