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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A06450	A spiritual doctrine conteining a rule to liue vvel, vvith diuers praiers and meditations. Abridged by the Reuerend Father Levvis de Granada of the holie order of preachers. And deuided into sixe treatises, as is to be seene after the prefaces. Nevvlie translated out of Spanish into English.	Luis, de Granada, 1504-1588.; Gibbons, Richard, 1550?-1632.	1599 (1599)	STC 16922; ESTC S108929	160,268	410

A SPIRITVAL DOCTRINE CONTEINING A RVLE To liue vvel vvith diuers Praiers and Meditations ABRIDGED BY THE REVEREND FAther Levvis de Granada of the holie order of Preachers AND DEVIDED INTO SIXE TREAtises as is to be seene after the prefaces Nevvlie translated out of Spanish into English Psalm 118. v. 35. Dedue me in semita mandatorum tuorum Leade me O Lord in the path of thy commaundements AT LOVAN Imprinted by Laurence Kellam 1599. TO THE HONORABLE SYR VVILLIAM STANLEY Knight Coronel of the English Reg●ment c. HONORABLE Syr hauing latelie translated this little volume out of Spanish into English I began to thinke to vvhat person of our nation I might dedicate the same that not onelie vvould gratefullie accept of so small a trauail but also vvere able to iudge as vvel of the translation as also of the fruite vvhich maie be deriued to such as shall list to reade it At the length amongst all others your honorable person seemed to me most fitte for all the respects before mentioned For if I regard your courtisie to all sortes of men and your speciall good vvill and affection to those of mic coate in generall to saie nothing of mie self in particular I maie vvith greate reason be esteemed verie vndiscreete if I should think that you vvould take this poore offer othervvise then your Nobilitie and courtisie requireth Also if I consider either your knovvledge in both languages English and Spanish or youre experience and vvounderful good affection to all sortes of spirituall and Godlie Treatises ioined vvith your Deuotion Pietie and Zeale in the seruice of God I can not but esteeme you to be a sufficient Iudge as vvell of the translation as also of the profit that manie maie take by this little vvoorke Accept then Honorable good Syr the same as the first frutes token of mie good vvill tovvards you accept it I saie vntill I haue put som other thing in order vvhich maie further the spirituall auancement of deuoute persons be more vvorth your reading and accept therevvithall mie sincere affection vvholie addicted to praie for your long life and prosperitie vvhich God graunt you and preserue the same to his greater honour and glorie and to your ovvne saluation and best contentment Christ IESVS be alvvaies in your safegard From our college of the Societie of IESVS in Louan this 19. of March 1599. being the feast of S. Ioseph Yours most humble affectionate Rich. Gibbons THE TRANSLATOVR to the gentle Reader IT hath seemed good to me Gentle Reader to let thee vnderstand in the beginning of this little booke that som yeeres past a vvorthie and vertuous Gentleman of our nation had begon to translate out of Spainish into English the Memoriall and other spirituall bookes of that famous and Religious father Levvis de Granada of S. Dominicks order Of all vvhich som haue ben put in print som others I knovv not vppon vvhat occasion a● not yet com forth But whatsoeuer the cause maie be certeine it is that in the meane time the same Religious father being verie desirous that all sort of men should take the profit of such spirituall vvoorkes as he vvith so greate paines had vttered to the vvoorld for theire soules good and auancement in the seruice of God did not long before his death dravve out an Abridgment of his forsaid bookes moued therunto for the reasons vvhich he him self hath set dovvne in his preface to the Reader as it goeth heere in the beginning of this little volume VVhich vvoork vvhen I had read and perused the same liked me so much that I resolued vvith mie self to put it in English esteeming that as all the other spirituall vvoorks of this deuout father ar of greate comfort and consolation to all the seruants of Almightie God so this vvould be of no lesse furtherance in spirite to such as vvould endeuour to vse the same Especiallie considering that all that is conteined in this little booke is matter apperteining rather to practise of deuotion and to kendle our affection in the loue of our svveete Sauiour then to frame greate discourses and illuminate our vnderstanding albeit this part be also to be found heere as much as it maketh to the benifit of the other and standeth vvith the briefenes vvhich the Author novv pretended This being so it remaineth Gentel Reader vvhoesoeuer and of vvhatsoeuer Religion thou be that thou endeuour to peruse this booke to the end for vvhich it vvas first vvriten and is novv translated into English that is to thine ovvne good and saluation VVhich thing thou shalt easilie perfourme if thou procure as neere as God shall aforde thee grace to reade and vveigh that vvhich is heere conteined vvith a reposed and quiet spirite vvith a meeke and humble spirite vvith a spirite of patience and long animitie vvith a spirite altogether determined and resolued to seeke sincerelie and purelie not so much thine ovvne interest contentment as the honour and glorie of God and to knovv his good vvill and pleasure and vvith all thy povver to put the same in execution Neither must thou be ouercurious or hastie to passe on in reading the contents thereof but rather endeuour to staie thie self som space of time in considering vvith much attention that vvhich thou hast read and by this consideration to stirre vp and prouoke thy vvill and affection to practise excute that vvhich thou shalt vnderstand to be the best pleasure of almightie God and most profitable to thine ovvne saluation This is that vvhich thou must doe if thou pretend to take anie comfort or commoditie by reading of spirituall and deuout bookes Novv then deare Reader hauing nothing els vvhereof to admonish thee I vvil end this mie preface and remitte thee to the Author him self of this little vvoorke desiring thee for mie small paines bestovved in the translation to be mindfull of me in thie praiers Christ IESVS direct thee At Louan the 25. of March 1599. Thy hartie vvellvviller and seruant in Christ IESVS Rich. Gibbons THE AVTHOR TO THE CHRISTIAN READER IT is a thing notorious good Christian reader that the bread vvhich vve dailie eate is not so necessarie for the maintenance of our natural life as is the doctrine of the vvoord of God for the conseruation of oure spiritual life This doctrine teacheth vs tvvo principal things to prate and to vvoorke vnto vvhich tvvo be reduced al others vvhat-soeuer Of these tvvo things infinite bookes haue ben vvriten But for as much as this doctrine is so neceessarie at euerie foote-steppe that vve make by reason of the continual dangers and temptations of our life I haue determined to resume heere in fevv vvoords gathered out of al mie bookes that vvhich hath seemed to me most fit for this purpose Sixe treatises of this booke to the end thou maist easilie beare about vvith the in thie bosom that vvhich ought to be alvva●s vvriten in thie heart And therfore I haue heere gathered

and put together Sixe briefe treatises one of Mental praier taken ovvt of mie booke of Praier and Meditation vvith al the fourteene meditations abbreuiated vvhich vvere there set doune And this treatise I haue put in the first place because these meditations besides that they giue vs abundant matter vvhereof to meditate be also the best persuasions and motiues that can be found to bring men to liue vvel and vertuouslie So that yf they serue not in the beginning for the exercise of meditation yet they vvil serue for persvvasion to induce men to the feare of God and changement of life But because al men dooe not so much giue them selues to th'exercise of meditation ether for their diuers affairs or for other reasons vvhich they may haue therfore that these also vvant not the succour and help of praier I haue added an other treatise of vocal praier conteining manie praiers vvhich serue to obteine such vertues as be most necessarie for th'edification of our sovvles Trulie al holie scripture doth euerie vvhere declare vnto vs the neede vvhich vve haue of these tvvo exercises because they be the vveapons vvhich vve haue most readie and at hand against our enimies by vvhome vve be alvvais enuironed therfore vve must goe vvel armed vvith them as long as our life lasteth Heerehence it is that our Sauiour the night of his passion armed his disciples vvith praier Matth. 26.41 saying vnto them vvatch ye and praie that ye enter not into tentation and Dauid armed him self vvith meditation vvhen he said Psal 118.29 vvere it not o lord that thy lavv is my meditation I had then peraduenture perished in my humilitie that is I vvas then verie likelie to haue fallen vvhen tribulation came vppon me Seeing therfore that these tvvo vveapons be so assured and prooued for our vvarfare it seemed to me conuenient to put them in this brife manual that by such meanes they might be alvvais at hand Novv for so much as in the beginning vve diuided the vvhole summe of Christian doctrine into these tvvo things praier vvoorke hauing spoken alreadie of praier as vvel Mental as Vocal it ensueth that vve treat hence forvvard of vvoork that is of the instruction and order of our life hauing cheefelie regard of such as nevvlie begin to serue our Lord. And because of those som there be that begin this life remainning still in the vvoorld som others entering into Religion for these last also I haue laid dovvne an other treatise in vvhich the thornes and brambles of our euil inclinations and passions be rooted out and in their place ar set the plantes of vertues vvhich doe order and perfectionate our sovvles And albeit these tvvo last treatises maie seeme to be different in the titles neuertheles the documents conteined in them both especiallie those vvhich concerne vertues serue no lesse for the one treatise then for the other because such as desire to be saued haue no other vvay for the same but to goe from vertue to vertue Psal ●● 8 vntil they see the God of Gods in Sion that is in the glorie vvhich is to com Besides this to th' end there vvant nothing for the dailie instruction of our life I haue put heere also tvvoe other little treatises vvhereof the one is of Penance and Confession the other is of preparation for receiuing the blessed Sacrament of the altare And this may suffice for the preface of this little booke A SPIRITVAL DOCTRINE DEVIded into sixe treatises The First Treatise is of Mental Praier The Second Treatise is of Vocal Prater The Third Treatise is A Rule of good life for all sorts of men The Fourth Treatise is A Rule of good life for Religious men The Fift Treatise is of The Sacrament of Penance The Sixt Treatise is of receauing the blessed Sacrament vvith a profession of the Catholique faith according to the holy Councel of Trent THE FIRST TREATISE OF MENTAL PRAIER THE FIRST PART VVHEREIN IS treated of Meditation OF THE FRVITE VVHICH VVE reape by Praier and Meditation CHAP. I FOR so much as this litle treatise speaketh of Praier and Meditation it shal be good in the beginning thereof to laie dovvne in fevv vvordes the fruite vvhich is reaped by this holie excercise to th' end that men may vvith a more frank free hart giue them selues to the same It is a thing most euident that one of the greatest impediments letts vvhich man hath to hinder him from his last felicitie and blisse is the euil inclination of his soule and the difficultie and tediousnes vvhich he feeleth in doing good in so much that if this difficultie vvere not it should be a most easie thing for him to runne the vvaie of vertues and to obteine the end for vvhich he vvas created Rom. 7.22 And therfore the Apostle said I am delighted vvith the lavv of God according to the invvard man but I see an other lavv in my membres repugning to the lavv of my mind and captiuing me in the lavv of sinne This is then the most general reason that can be giuen of all our euil But novv to quite our selus of this tediousnes difficultie to make this affaire most easy one of the things that most helpeth and furthereth is deuotion 〈◊〉 2. q. 82. ar 1. For as S. Thomas saith deuotion is no thing els but a promptnes readines to vvoorke vvel vvhich quiteth our sovvle of al this difficultie and tediousnes and maketh vs quick and nimble to all good For deuotion is a spiritual refection a ref●esshing and devv of heauen a blast and breathing of the holie Ghost and a supernatural affection vvhich so cōforteth forceth and transformeth or changeth a mans hart that it geueth him a nevv tast desire of spiritual things and a nevv disgust and hatred of things that be sensual And this dailie experience teacheth vs for vvhen a spirituall person cōmeth from anie deepe deuou● praier it is then that all his good purposes and desires be renued then be al his feruors and determinations to dooe good then he desireth to please and loue so good and so svveete a lord as God there shevved him self to be and to endure nevv labours paines and that vvhich is more to spend his blood for him and then finallie is renued and florisheth the fireshnes of our sovvle And yf thou ask me by vvhat means vve com to obtaine this so mightie and noble affection of deuotion to this ansvvereth the same holie Doctor aforenamed saying that it is atteined by meditation and cōtemplation of heauenlie things for that from the deepe meditation and consideration of them riseth and springeth vp this affection and feeling in the vvil vvhich vve call deuotion and vvhich inciteth and moueth vs to all good And therfore is this holie and religious exercise so highlie praised commended of al Saincts because it is a meane to obtaine denotion vvhich although it be but one vertue maketh vs

one account to vvit the austeritie of the one and the pouretie and nakednes of the other VVhen this vertue shall vvant in religious then shal they fal to ruine and decaie because the vice contrarie to this vertue vvhich is to ea●e drink and chearish the bodie is not content to breake one onlie lavve of fasting but also al other lavves and ordres for so much as to seeke and procure the pleasures and delicacies vvhich the bellie requireth permitteth not that anie lavve of Religion remaine entire and in his due force especiallie because one delicacie requireth an other and one vice dravveth an other euen as one vertue bringeth an other vertue Novv he that desireth to be free from so greate euils let him set tel vvel in his hart those vvordes of the Apostle that saieth Manie vvalke Philip. 3.18 vvhome often I told you of and novv vveeping also I tell you the ennimies of the crosse of Christ vvhose end is destruction vvhose God is the bellye By vvhich vvords thou maist vnderstand that it must be no small euil vvhich the Apostel so much bevvaileth Of Silence THE ninth vertue is Silence vvhich is the keie of deuotion of discretion of chastitie of shamefastnes of innocencie and of al vertues fith the vvise-man saied Death and life lie in the hand of the toung Pronerb 18.21 VVhose praises and commendations yf anie man desire to see let him reade the booke of Sapience and there shal he finde maruailous things touching this vertue And therfore let a Christian man alvvaies praie to almightie God for this vertue and saie vvith the Prophet David Pone Domine custodiam orimeo Psalm 140.3 ostium circumstantiae labijs meis Set o lord a garde to mie mouth and a doore of circumstance to mie lippes And let him be assured that it is no more possible to keepe other vertues vvithout this then to preserue a great treasure vvithout keie and locke Novv heere it seemeth conuenient to vvarne those that speake of the Circumstances vvhich they ought to obserue in the time of speache to vvit vvhoe speaketh to vvhome vvhen vvhereof to vvhat end vvhere and vvith vvhat intention he speaketh that by this meanes he maie keepe him self from al the rocks vvhich be in this nauigation Of Solitarines THE tenth vertue sister and Companion of Silence is Solitarines vvhich is a rauelin of Silence vvhich Solitarines he must greatlie loue and procure vvith al diligence vvhoe desireth to keepe innocencie to conserue peace to spend vvel his time to enioie the pleasures and comforts of the holie Ghost and to mount vp and descend by the deg●ees of that ladder vvhich S. Bernard describeth vvriting it to Religious folkes vvhich be Reading Meditation Praier and Contemplation Bernard de scala Claustralium For the obteining of this vertue it is necessarie that a man subdue nature and force him self vntil he haue goten a custom to flie companie to loue recollection and solitarines and to leade his life vvith her but chiefelie it is necessarie to flie the companie of distracted and light persons because this is one of the greatest diseases that the vvorld hath seeing that neither a mad dogge nor a venimous snake doeth so much harme as doeth euil cōpanie for it is most certaine as the Apostle saieth that Euill speaches corrupt good manners 1 Cor. 15.33 Prouerb 13.20 Moreouer let the seruant of God vvrite in his hart that saying of the vviseman He that vvalketh vvith vvisemen shal be vvise the frind of fooles shal be like them And that also Ecclesiast 13.1 He that toucheth pitch shal be defiled therevvith he that dealeth vvith proude men shal put on pride Novv the maisters of nouices must be verie zealous of this vertue yf they desire not to lose that in fevv hovvers vvhich hath ben goten vvith greate trauail and diligent bringing vp in manie yeares Of invvard composition THE eleuenth ver●ue is the measure and Composition of the invvard man to vvhich vertue apperteineth that saying of S. August in regula Clericorum Augustine In your going standing apparel and in al other your motions let nothing be donne that maie offend anie mans eyes but that vvhich becommeth your holines because the contrarie is a token of a light hart of small vertue smal substance and small deuotion And therfore one of the chiefest cares of a good maister must be to teache his nouice hovv to goe hovv to speake hovv to apparel him self hovv to conuerse vvith others hovv to dispute hovv to laughe hovv to vse his armes in theire gestures hovv to recollect his sight vvith other such like things Also vvith vvhat temperance he must behaue him self at the table vvith vvhat comelines he must lie in his bed vvith vvhat measure and deuotion he must be in the Church vvith vvhat invvard and outvvard reuerence before the altare and so in al other the like places Likevvise vvhen he dealeth vvith other men he ought to conuerse vvith them in suche manner that they remaine edified vvith his good example and that he be vvith al men and to all an image and patterne of holines in such sort that as one vvhoe toucheth som things that be odoriferous and svveete beareth and reteineth vvith him self the sent of that vvhich he did touche and as he vvhoe in the old lavve touched anie holie thing remained halovved therbie so it is great reason that he remaine in like sort vvhoe hath had communication vvith anie seruant of God Of invvard loue to the ceremonies of a mans Religion THE tvvelfth vertue is an invvard and hartie loue to al the ceremonies and obseruations of a mans profession not onlie to those that be great and essential but also to all the others hovv litle and small soeuer they seeme for in verie deede none of those things ought to seeme small vvhich be ordeined to so high an end as is to loue God Let a man remember vvel hovv it is vvriten Ecclesiast 19.1 Luca 16.10 that he vvhich maketh no account of small things shal fall toe greater and that he vvhich is faithful in litle shal be also faithful in more My meaning is that he vvhich feareth to fal in small things shal be more secure from falling in greater And contrarievvise from smal offences men com by little and littel to fall into verie great euils It is a thing vvel knovven that goeth in the common prouerbe hovv for a naile vve loose a horse-shue and for a horseshue a horse and for a horse the horseman also In like manner vve see that for a littel rippe al a vvhole garment commeth to be rent and for a little peece that falleth our of a vvall falleth aftervvards a great stone and thence goeth to decaye the vvhole building None vvas euer at the first leape verie euil but by littel and little men clim as it vvere and get vp from small euils to greater There is nothing in Religion that ought