of mighty anguish when the soule findes noe repose in any thing to which it can apply it selfe As when a man is drowning in a profound sea without finding soe much as any little rest for the feete Or like one who is bound fast hand and foot and would faine rise vp but knowes not once how to stirr For as he who is highly comforted by Almighty God cannot be discomforted by any paine or torment soe can nothing comfort him who is discomforted by Almighty God And yet must these seruants goe after their lord through such a desart as this which is euen a very image of death and by such darknes and distresse they must passe on to the place of rest This Martyrdome I say must be endured for loue of the Spouse by that soule which desires to carry the Embleme of Loue in her hart and amōgst these thornes shee must make her nest if shee will be conforme to her Head who was crowned with thornes And these draughts must shee swallow downe into these sweates must shee bee cast who resolues to keepe that Lord company who being in fierce agony vpon that holy Thursday at night did sweate drops of blood from his whole body in testimony that his soule was truly sad euen to the very death Did you thinke perhapps that it was some dainty and delightfull thing to serue Christ our Lord or that you vndertooke some trifling busines when you began to place your loue on him They who fight the battailes of loue must dye dayly as S. Paule did And they must bee euen cruell against themselues as a man who were carelesse of soe many base and broken pots to the end that they may neuer faile of fidelity to the Loue of our Lord. Which Loue was neuer complyed with well by any who was eyther negligent or inconfident For the former of these two seekes his owne Regalo whereas it were his part to seeke the contentment of his beloued And the latter faints in his loue because he cannot beleiue that he is beloued But Faith being ioyned to Obedience frees vs from such mischeiues as these making vs beleiue that God loues vs and then most when he most hides his loue from vs and when he seemes to be most rigourous and cruell towardes vs. For the condition and property of true faith is to beleiue not onely vpon those signes and pawnes which may be giuen but as well without them and not onely without them but euen against them And herein it doth but resemble euery other vertue which then declares best of what strength and beauty it is when it is put on by the fewest helpes and when it is encountered by the greater impediments That is true loue which loues a person who euen deserues not to bee beloued And that is true Patience which suffers impertinences and endures wrongs And then doth Chastity deserue a rich and gallant crowne of glory when in despight of seuerall temptations it standes fast And soe you must learne to know the true valew of true faith which beleiues and puts confidence in the truth and goodnes of God against that distrust or despaire which humane reason or the senses of flesh and bloud might pretend to cause By this Faith wee see that which is inuisible how deepe soeuer it be hidd And euen through the midst of these pikes which are the disfauours of God the sharpe points whereof we feele sticking in vs wee yet enter and passe on into that most retired secret of the hart of our Lord and there wee finde that indeed he loues vs though hee shew vs signes which looke as if they proceeded from disaffection And then soe wee esteeme and vse them as wee ought when we take them for the tryal of our Faith and for the exercise of our Loue and for the encrease of our Crowne and for matter wherevpon our Obedience to God must worcke If you beleiue mee not I pray you tell me how shall the chast woeman be tryed but by contradictions and combates against Chastity And how shall your Faith be tryed but by receiuing these tokens of disfauour which pretend to depriue you of confidence Be not troubled to finde that your Spouse is thus resolued to make tryall of your fidelity to him For this is a very vsuall thing betweene Spouses and the fruite thereof vses to be but an encrease of loue which it is not fit to keepe idle for in our employment and exercise thereof doth our life and treasure consiste And now God made choice of you to discharge this office towardes him And if indeed you would exercise it well it must be by louing him though you feele not your selfe to be beloued by him and by following him whome you conceiue to be flying from you For he who loues not but onely when hee finds himselfe to be beloued is indeed noe true louer but his respects runn all towards himselfe And heereby it will appeare whether you be that true Cananean or noe if when you heare hard language and be cast of by our lord you doe yet importune him and if following him who flyes from you and humbling your self to him who treats you noe better then some base vnre asonable creature you doe yet proceede to loue him as sincerely and purely as if you tasted of great delights and Regalos at his hands For in the end hee will answeare you thus O woeman greate is thy faith let that be done which thou desirest But in the meane time be you resolute in continuing faith full and say to him with your whole hart O Lord I will loue thee though thou shouldest not loue me I will seeke thee and looke chearfully towards thee though thou flye from me Let me loue thee still vpon that condition doe with me what thou wilt By this meanes the disfauours of our lord shall be conuerted into the exercise of true loue and herein you are to remaine more contented then you are to be in paine for being disfauoured Nor shall you onely please our lord by this meanes but more ouer you will obtaine a crowne in heauen which will be straungely greate For by the measure of your discomforts that robe of glory is to bee cut out wherewith you must be vested in heauen and from the seede of teares we must gather the sheaues of ioy And we are not to be crowned for hauing beene in deuotion and consolation but for hauing beene as it were threshed with variety of temptations and for hauing beene content with the taste of such gall as carried the very image of hell with it and of the torments thereof and for bearing all these things with an equall minde and for beleiuing that they are light and few 2 Cor. 4. in comparison of that superexcellent weight of glory which is to be reuealed in them who shall be humbled and mortifyed after this manner And wee must thinke our selues happy in being obedient to the ordinance of our lord God
from his hand and this signe is that you haue suffered tribulation You must not be a little gladd of this since our Lord loues you Nor yet must you be slacke since you are in the middest of many dangers but carry your eye towards him who hath called you with so great loue You must alsoe haue a stronge harte For he called you not with intention to giue you ouer in the middest of your iourney but to guide you vnder the protection of his owne wings till he may haue conducted you to heauen where you shall see his face Let not the faith of Christ our Lord nor the loue you owe him sleepe in you for he neuer sleepes when there is question of doeing you any good These are tokens which he vses to send to whome he loues to try if they alsoe loue him in their afflictions and if they confide in him in their dangers That Spouse is not worthy of thaÌ„kes who loues her fellow spouse but onely when he is present with her not doth it cost him much to confide in him when she findes her selfe regaled by him But the matter is that when he absents himselfe from her yea and when he seemes to haue forgotten her she must loue him soe much the better as he is further absent from her and confide in him soe much the more as she hath fewer exteriour signes of his fauour It is enough for you my good sister to haue knowne already by experience how louing our Lord hath beene to you by his hauing drawne you to the knowledge of himself And be you not crauing new testimonies of his Loue but making your selfe sure enough thereof and be not troubled though he correct you and though it seeme as if he estraunged himselfe from you and forgott you but rather say thus Hee hath a minde to trye me and not to oppresse mee You must loue our Lord though he correct you you must coÌ„fide in him though you feele noe comfort from him Seeke him though he hide himselfe suffer him not to rest till you haue waked him and till he confesse that you are faithfull in his absence And thus you shall finde him returne to you with soe much aduantage as that when you enioye his presence againe you will esteeme your former afflictions well imployed Procure greate courage wherewith to suffer for after the rate of your sorrows shall your comforts be Bee not a louer of your selse but be a louer of God loose yourselfe and soe you shall be sure to finde your selfe And if once you would but trust God home and if once you would offer your selfe to him with true loue there could nothing happen which would fright you All bitter frosen afflictions proceede but from distrust in God And for this our Lord said Let not your harts be troubled and doe not feare You beleiue in God beleiue alsoe in mee Soe that faith and loue is the cause of peace Iohn 14 and quietnes to the hart There is noe one thinge which is soe necessary for you towards the making you able to arriue at the end of that dayes worke wherein God hath placed you as to confide in him with loue Our lord hath many proofes to make of you and many tribulations shall growe where you looke least for them but if you stand armed with faith and loue you shall ouercome them all Doe but remember how the children of Israell Num. 1 when they were issued out of the land of Egypt by the meanes of soe many miracles and were passing through soe many afflictions before they arriued at that land which our lord had promised them said thus The people which possesse this land is greater and stronger then wee they haue mightie Citties whose walis doe euen threaten the skye we cannot ouercome such a stout nation as this to what end doe wee put our selues vpon this iourney And though some amongst them whoe had faith did encourage the rest by saying that since God was of their side they should easily be able to ouercome as they had done till then yet feare preuailed soe farre as that they offended our lord thereby and through their little considence they lost the land and God destroyed them in the desert without suffering them to enioye that for which they had laboured and which himselfe had promised Let vs take warning my good sister by the danger of others and lett vs know that our lord hath gust Psal 147. in such as feare him and hope in his mercie and is offended with such as doe not soe It is he whoe drewe you out of the captiuity of Egypt when he inspired your hart with a desire of being his and hee leades you still through this desert which is soe impleasant where sometymes you want the bread of doctrine for lacke of such as might breake it to you other tymes you want company which may speake of spirituall things that soe your way might be made to seeme the shorter At other tymes you want the trees of other recreation which might giue you shade and in steede of these coÌ„modities you haue a thousand discomforts Now temptations rise against you from within and then from without now from strangers and then from domesticks But yet attend you onely to your busines for he who did that for you which was more can neuer faile to doe that for you which is lesse He who made you a freind of an enemy will better keepe you now when you are his freind He who did not abandon you when you fled from him will much lesse fly now from you when you follow him Who is he that can say with any truth that God did not helpe him if he were desired See you haue noe feare o you seruant of Christ in any thing which may happen to you but confide in him who Loued you soe well as to dye for you It is true that you haue but one who protects you but that one is of much more power then all they whoe contradict you Doe not thinke of how great the giants and how stronge the Citties are which you must encounter for it is not you who must fight Numb 14. But hold you your peace and our lord will fight for you Doe not fly from the warre nor abandon your selfe as one who were ouercome and soe you shall see the fauour of our Lord â—â—wards you For in this warre he onely looses the battaille Exod. 14. who quitts the feild It is true that you are weake but in that weakenes of yours God will shew his strength It is true that you know not much but God himselfe will be your guide By your miseries God will make his mercies appeare Whoe are you that you should be able to passe through such difficulties but yet say with Daâ—id Pâ—â— 17. In the strength of my God I will leape ouer a wall Who are you that you should be able to fight but yet say with him
I beare to my creatures I couer it for whome nothing is so good as not to know any thing which concernes themselues but to remitt themselues wholy to me In that ignorance doth their knowledge consist in that suspence their strength and in that subiection their dominion And it ought to suffise a soule that it lyes in no other hands but mine which are also hers since for her they were nayled vpon the Crosse Yea they are more hers then mine since they laboured more for the purchase of her good then of mine owne And to the ende that I may draw her out of all self conceipt and make her follow my direction it is I who conduct her into this darkenesse that so she may know nothing of herself But yet still if she putt her confidence in me and departe not from my seruice I will deliuer her and I will glorifye her and all this will I performe to her Be faithfull to death Psal 90. and I will giue thee the Crowne of life This sayth our Lord to all faithfull soules and this he sayth to yours which I pray God to keepe Amen A Letter to a Lady who was a Religious woman and in great affliction He shewes how troubles are the proofe of Faith and Loue in the seruants of God and how confident they ought to be of his Diuine Maiesly in the middest of their troubles AS soone as I receiued your letter I offered thanks to our lord for hauing giuen you a signe that your vocation came from his hand and this signe is that you haue suffered tribulation You must not be a little glad of this since our Lord loues you Nor yet must you be slack since you are in the midst of many dangers butt carry your eye towardes him whoe hath called you with soe great loue You must alsoe haue a strong hart For he called you not with intention to giue you ouer in the midst of your iourney but to guide you vnder the protection of his owne wings till he may haue conducted you to heauen where you shall see his face Let not the Faith of Christ our Lord nor the loue you owe him sleepe in you for he neuer sleepes when there is question of doeing you anie good These are tokens which he vses to sende to whome he loues to trye if they also loue him in their afflictions and if they confide in him in their dangers That spouse is not worthy of thankes who loues her fellow-spouse but onely when he is present with her nor doth it cost her much to confide in him when she findes herselfe regaled by him But the matter is that when he absentes himself from her yea and when he seemes to haue forgotten her she must loue him so much the better as he is further absent from her and confide in him so much the more as she hath fewer exteriour signes of his fauour It is enough for you my good sister to haue knowen alreadie by experience how louing our lord hath beene to you by his hauing drawen you to the knowledge of himself And be you not crauing new testimonies of his loue but make yourself sure enough thereof and be not troubled although he correct you and though it seeme as if he estranged himself from you and forgott you but rather say thus He hath a minde to trye me and not to oppresse me You must loue our lord though he correct you you must confide in him though you feele no comfort from him Seeke him though he hide himself suffer him not to rest till you haue waked him and till he confesse that you are faithfull in his absence and thus you shall finde him to returne to you with so much aduantage as that when you enioy his presence againe you will esteeme your former afflictions well employed Procure great courage wherewith to suffer for after the rate of your sorrowes shall your comforts be Be not a louer of yourself but be a louer of God loose yourself and soe you shall bee sure to finde yourself And if once yow would bud trust God home and if once you would offer yourselfe to him with true loue there could nothing happen which would fright you All bitter frozen afflictions proceede but from distrust in God And for this our lord sayde Let not your harts bee troubled and doe not â—eare You beleiue in God beleiue also in me So that Faith and loue is the cause of peace and quietnesse to the hart There is no one thing which is so necessarie for you towards the making you able to arriue at the ende of that dayes worke wherein God hath placed you as to confide in him with loue Our lord hath manie proofes to make of you and manie tribulations shall growe where you looke least for them but if you stand armed with Faith and loue you shall ouercome them all Num 13. Doe but remember how the children of Israel when they were issued out of the land of Egypt by meanes of so manie miracles and were passing through so manie afflictions before they arriued at that land which our lord had promised them sayd thus The people which possesse this land is greater and stronger then we they haue mightie Citties whose walles doe euen threaten the skye we cannot ouercome such a stoute nation as this to what ende doe we putt ourselues vpon this iournie And though some amongst them who had Faith did encourage the rest by saing that since God was on their side they should easily be able to euercome as they had done till then yet feare preuailed so farre as that they offended our lord thereby and through their litle confidence they lost the land and God destroyed them in the desert without suffering them to enioy that for which they had laboured and which himself had promised Let vs take warning Psal 147. my good Sister by the danger of others and let vs knowe that our Lord hath gust in such as feare him and hope in his mercie and is offended with such as doe not so It is he who drew you out of the captiuitie of Egypt when hee inspired your hart with a desire of being his and he leades you still through this desert which is so vnpleasant where sometimes you want the bread of doctrine for lacke of such as might breake it to you At other times you want companie which may speake of spirituall things that so your way might bee made to seeme the shorter At other times you doe want the trees of other recreation which might giue you shade and thus in steede of these commodities you haue a thousand discomforts Now temptations rise against you from within and then from without now from strangers and then from domestiques Butt yett attende you onely to your businesse For he who did that for you which was more can neuer fayle to do that for you which is lesse He who made you a friend of an enemie will better
not onely in that which giues vs gust but in the contrary alsoe For otherwise what wonder is it to see the spouse obey her fellow spouse in that which giues contentment to her selfe since for that there is noe greate neede of loue for the respect of proper interest is able to breed such obedience as that Nor doe I know with what eyes Christ our lord will looke vpon such a spouse as that since he obeyed his Father Matth. 26. for her sake in cases of soe extreame affliction saying Let it be not as I wil but as thou wilt Whereas shee saith iust the contrary Not as thou wilt but as I will for shee will be squared out by another rule then her head was and will needs make the will of God which is eternally good to be crocked that it may conforme it selfe to her will which seekes not that which is truly good for her and which eternally is to be soe but that which seemes likely to giue her some little temporall delight A wake O Virgin out of that sleepe wherein you are for it is broad day Take the sheild of Faith Rom. 13. since God hath armed you with it and driue away these dismayes beleeuing that you are beloued though you be not regaled by our lord And turne your complaint backe vpon yourself since a little present disfauour is of more power towards the drawing you downe then the many fauours which are past to keepe you fast on foot You now doe iust the contrary of what you should For whereas it were reason that in this time of tribulation you should remember your comforts of former times beleiuing that the trouble which now you haue is but to trye what proportion of trust you repose in God You doe yet call it into question whether his loue were true to you then or noe beleiuing rather in the shew and leafe then in the substance and roote You haue noe iust cause to be dismayed though you bee afflicted For our lord is nor gone from you but he went away with a meaning onely to stande by and to see how you carried yourselfe like a mother who hides herselfe behind a hanging to obserue and heare what her childe sayth and doth whilst he thinkes that he hath lost her but then shortly shee steps out and makes much of him If you feare that he hath forsaken you and giuen you a bill of separation for the faults and ignorances into which you may haue fallen you are much deceiued For in farr greater falls then those Ierem. 3. his course hath beene to comfort soules by saying Thou hast committed fornication with many louers but yet retourne to me and I will receiue thee Though God like well that his seruants should know and weigh the faults into which they fall yet it is not his pleasure that they should be dismayed or too excessiuely afflicted by them Nay he esteemes this to be of more disseruice to him then the very fall it selfe Neither is it alsoe his pleasure that a sinne which is as little as a graine of seede should be made by vs as bigg as an Elephant and much lesse that we should make that to be a sinne wich indeed is none Soe that if you haue not fallen into sinne and yet will needs be troubled as if you had you offend against his truth And if you had fallen you should offend against his mercye by not beleiuing that he hath pardoned you You offend alsoe against his loue by suspecting that he hath forgotten you And lastly you offend against the Crosses which he hath sent to you esteeming them to be messengers and signes of wrath whereas indeed they are effects of his goodnes Take therefore the courage now at last to sally out from the owne narrow thought beleiue of God according to his goodnes as it imports his honour that you should doe And liue not still in such blindnes as to measure the large hand of God by the rules of your owne poore woefull hart Nor conceiue you that now he will be a rigorous iudge who at others times and in your greatest occasions hath beene a most indulgent Father to you It was not you vpon whome he looked when he pardoned you and called you but he regarded his owne blood which he shedd Nor doth he now stand hanging vpon your handes as if he loued you for them but you are placed and written in his as he sayth by his Prophet Isay And in those handes he loues you and with those handes he guards you euen then when you thinke he giues you buffets But it is his mercye which is your remedye and safety and noe meritt of your owne You are a Daughter and you are to possesse heauen by way of inheritance and not as a meere day labourer Confide in God and giue him glory in that he lodges his eyes vpon soe vnworthy a thing as you and for that he purposes to exalt soe base a creature to such height of glory And know that he hath noe neede of anything in you and that if he desire anything it is but that you may offer him that sacrifice of praise for your owne good confessing him to be your gratious pardoner and your piteous rayser vp from your falls and your Centinell who neuer sleepes when there is questioÌ„ eyther of doeing you fauours or of drawing good out of your sinnes and your most wise conductour who carries and saues you by such pathes as seeme in the eye of your ignoraunce to be very farr about or rather quite out of the way And all this he doth through his owne goodnes alone considering what himselfe is Which carries a greater weight towards your saluation then your wickednes doth towards your condemnation and you are bound to beleiue that soe it is And it must not seeme straunge to you that the greater surmounts the lesse and the Creatour the creature But let it stand for the last conclusion that as noe goodnes in you was the cause why God loued and called you to his seruice soe will he take care that your wickednes and weakenes shall not hinder the course of those mercies which he resolues to shew you for all eternity Continew your Communions and I beseech our Lord to giue them his benediction For my part I like well thereof and vpon the dayes which are sett downe communicate from time to time and God will giue you strength that it may doe you no hurt for he hath noe quarrel to you I beg that he may be your Loue since he is your Louer A Letter to a Lady who was a Religious woman and in great affliction He shewes how troubâ—es are the proofe of Faith and Loue in the seruants of God and how confident they ought to be of his diuine Maiesty in the middest of their troubles AS soone as I receiued your letter I offe red thankes to our Lord for hauing giuen you a signe that your vocation came
for that person with whome your lordship willed mee to speake I haue not done it yet for I haue now kept my bed ten or twelue dayes together But yesterday I rose and I will take great care to doe what you cōmaund very shortly and you shall knowe what I finde Since you went from hence our lord hath beene pleased to giue mee a much more particular care to recommend you into the hands of his mercy I did not then vnderstand the cause it is like to be this that there is more neede thereof Be it what it will your lordship is to animate your self with new courage to offer your self vp to the will of our lord like one who performes seruice to his father who is some great man whome hee loues much your lordship was not borne for your self but for God For euen before you were borne you were already purchased by Iesus Christ who bought vs with himself a price of inestimable valewe to the end that wee who liue might as S. Paul sayeth not liue to our-solues but to him Who is hee that will pretend to remayne his owne now that he sees himself to haue beene bought by Almighty God and by the price of God himself There are men who offer themselues to the losse of their liues in some warr for slight causes and shall wee be soe destitute of courage as not to giue our-selues to God he gaue himself for vs into the hands of those base executioners and shall not wee aduenture to putt our-selues into his He did it that he might die and wee are to doe it that wee may liue I would not haue your lordshipp to be nigardly herein but make now this account There is a God and for that misery which he hath endured for mee and for those sinnes which he hath forgiuen mee and for those blessings which he hath vouchsafed mee I owe my self to him three thousand times ouer If hitherto I haue not giuen him the entire dominion ouer my self I am sorry for it From this instant I giue my self free and without any impediment or obligation otherwise that he may treate me wholy according to his will and that mine may submitt it self to his as well in the doeing of any thing which he commaundes by his holy lawe as in the suffering of any affliction which he shall either continue or add to mee Where can I be kept better then in the hands of God into which I putt my self since he suffers not his creatures to be lost and was content to loose his life that I might be enabled to doe this He would not aske it of mee if he did not like it and he would not take pleasure in itt if he did not desire it For it is not a proceeding for God to vse to desire vs to giue him that which he hath noe mind to receiue any more then it is his custome to commaund that wee aske and yet he forbeare to giue And since he hath notified his deare will to vs wherewith he desires our good and consequently that wee may bee his let vs not doubt to belciue but that he who is so carefull to demaund and he who demaunds with the menace of hell if it be not graunted and with promise of the kingdome of heauen if it be will not be slacke in receiuing that very thing which he demaunds Let it not seeme to your Lordship that the sinnes of your former life ought to diuert you from this amorous embracement of Almighty God since he stands crying out to a sinner with his armes all open and since he doth so before the sinner calles on him For thus he saith Fornicata es cum amatoribus multis Ierem 3. tamen reuertere ad me ego suscipiam te Thou hast committed fornication with many louers but yet returne to mee and I will receiue thee The shepheard will not easily be weary in seeking his lost sheepe nor the falkoner in procuring to recouer his hauke and when he findes her he takes her and returnes home with much ioy I say this because by what I conceiue of your lordship you are endewed with a greater measure of the knowledge of your self then of the knowledge of God and therefore that you will be more subiect to feare then to hope and loue I wish you not to retract the ill opinion you haue of your selfe confesse and beleiue that you haue cause and doe not seeke to remoue your feare with false hopes and lyes to diminish your miseryes by that meanes This would not indeed proue any diminution but an addition of one mischeif vpon the backe of another and the latter would be worse then the former and an impediment in steed of a remedy since God neuer graunts his pardon and mercy but to such a one as vnderstands his owne miserie But beleiue that as wee are more wicked then wee can arriue to knowe soe is God more good then wee can possibly imagine Another kind of hart hath he then wee conceiue and especially in pardoning which men knowe very ill how to doe because they knowe not well how to loue And from hence it growes that they are not able to reach to that height of mercy which God vouchsafes to sinners For as they know nothing by experience of themselues but anger against such as offend them and if they pardon there yet remaynes a thousand reliques of the disgust and withall a great cooling of they re loue therfore doe they iudge of God as they would doe of themselues and if they say with they re mouths that there is difference betweene God and man and that they forgiue as well as they can yet theyr harts doe not beate to the same time When your lordships sonnes shall bee more growne and shall haue giuen you some disgusts you will haue had some sent and taste of this The father doth not vnloue the sonne although that sonne make him angry but he correctes him and still carries the hart of a father towards him And soe is our lord wont to proceede and whensoeuer the sinner hath a mind to returne to him he refuses not to receiue him into his paternall hart Yea and euen when he retournes not he is desiring that he would retourne and all his sinnes are not able to quench this desire in him fort his loue is that which still exceeds Now wee gayne this loue and this retreate in to the hart of God by him who is the Mediatour betweene God and men Iesus Christ our lord Who being the naturall sonne did gayne the adoption of sonnes for vs and that God should haue the hart of a father towards vs his sonnes whensoeuer wee would dispose our selues to enioy this benefitt by meanes of pennance and the Sacraments This loue is as the roote from whence it proceedes that Almighty God is content to expect vs to call vs to receiue vs to pardon vs and to saue vs. For if wee consider well the hart
worth accounting himselfe rich in possessing that a lone insteede of many other things which he had before O God ô Lord ô thou the true repose of the most interiour part of our soules and when shall wee beginn I say not to loue thee but at least to desire to loue thee When I say shall we conceiue a desire of thee such a one as may be worthy of thee When shall veritie be able to preuaile more with vs then vanity beauty then deformity repose then restles care the Creatour who is soe richly full and all-sufficient before the creature whoe is soe very empty and poore Deare Lord and whoe at length will open our eyes that we may knowe that there is nothing out of thee which either hath any countenance in it selfe or is able to giue any true contentment to vs who will make some little discouery of thee to vs that soe being all enamored of thee wee may goe may runne may flye and may remaine eternally with thee Woe be to vs for wee are extreamely farre from God and wee are in soe little paine for that distance as that wee can scarce be said to feele it What is become of the profound and tender sighes of those soules which had tasted once of God and were afterwards estraunged a little from him what is become of that holy affection Psal 31. wherewith Dauid said If I shall giue sleepe to mine eyes or slumbering to myne eyelids till I haue found a house wherein our Lord may dwell And this house wee our selues are when wee destroy not our selues by scattering our harts vpon variety of things but recollect them to the vnity of one desire and of one loue and then it is that we finde our selues and are indeede the house of God For my part I beleeue that he said true who affirmed the cause of our tepidity to be this That he who hath not tasted yett of God doth not knowe in very deede what it is either to haue hunger or saciety And so wee are neither hungry after God nor are wee entirely satisfied by creatures but we remaine as certaine frozen things being neither heere nor there full of dulnes and discouragement without all taste of spiritt and fitt to cause a vomitt in his stomacke who likes not seruants who are Luke warme but desires to haue them inflamed with the fire of loue This fire himselfe brought into the world Luke 22 and desires nothing but that it may burne and to the end that it may doe soe himselfe did burne and was consumed vpon the Crosse num 19. like that redd Cow which was carried out of the campe And this he did of sett purpose to the end that wee taking of that wood of the Crosse vpon our selues might make a fire and might warme our selues and keepe correspondence with soe great a louer with some loue of ours considering how iust a thing it is that we should be wounded by the sweete dart of loue since wee see him not onely wounded but killed by it It is but reason that wee be taken by the loue of him who was taken thereby for vs deliuered ouer for our sakes into such fierce hands Lett vs enter into that prison of his loue since he entred into the prison of ours and thereby was made as tame as any lambe before them who treated him soe ill And this prison was that which made him remaine quiet vpon the Crosse For more strange and rude were those ropes and prisons of his lòue then the nailes and ropes which restrayned his person These later laying hould but vpon his body but his loue being that which seized his soule And therefore lett our harts be tyed by his loue that tye of saluation and lett vs not desire such liberty as may carry vs out of his prison For as he is very ill in health who is not wounded and made sick of his loue soe is he very ill at liberty who is not restrayned in that prison Lett vs now resist him noe longer let vs yeild our selues conquered by his armes which are his benefitts whereby he procures to kill vs that soe we may euer liue with him He desires to burne vs vp that soe the old man who was conforme to Adā being cōsumed the new man who is conforme to Christ our Lord may rise againe by loue He desires to melt our hardnes to the end that as vpon mettall which is made liquid by heate that forme is imprinted which is desired by the worke-man soe wee being softned by that loue which makes vs melt by hearing our beloued speake to vs may be ready without all resistance that soe Christ our Lord may imprint vpon vs what figure shall be most pleasing to him Now that figure which he desires to imprint is noe other then that of Loue. Iohn 15. For Christ our Lord is very Loue it selfe he cōmaunded that we should loue one another as he loued vs. Gal. 2 And S. Paule tells vs that we must soe be in loue with Christ our Lord as he loued vs and deliuered himselfe vp for vs. Soe that vnlesse we loue we are vnlike him our countenance hath noe resemblance to his but we are poore naked blinde deafe and dumbe and dead For loue a lone is that which quickenes all things and loue is that which is the spirituall-cure of our soules For the soule without loue is iust such a thing as the body is without the soule Let vs therefore loue and we shall liue let vs loue and we shall grow like God nay we shall wound him whoe is to be wounded by loue alone Lett vs loue and all things shall be ours since they are all to serue vs as it is written They that loue God shall proue well in all things If we loue this loue lett vs apply the axe of diligence to the roote of our owne selfe-loue and soe bring this enemy of ours to the ground What haue we of our selues let vs hedge our selues in God and make noe account at all of any thing els Let not our owne losses trouble vs but the losses of God which are the soules who depart from him And because it is a hard thing for a man to leaue to loue himselfe let vs shed many teares whereby it may be made easy for vs to dig vp this earth Let vs groane out to God from the very profoundest of our harts for our teares doe euen wound almighty God though they be soe weake and soft and though he be omnipotent Lett vs entertaine good thoughts for as Dauid saith Psal 38. My thought is a very fournace But aboue all let vs place our selues and not come quickly out againe but make our habitation in the woundes of Christ our Lord and particularly in his sacred side For there his hart being deuided and peirced for vs will receiue ours into it and soe it will growe warme through the greatnes of his loue For
guide you whole life thereby For the saying of the Apostle S. Paule is true 1. Cor 13. and whatsoeuer wee doe without Charitie is nothing worth though wee should deliuer our bodyes into the fire Your demaunde is very great and I could wish that the same Apostle S. Paule whose sentence moued you to aske me the question might enable me also to make the answeare For I know not what greater thing then this you could haue asked mee since the sublime parte of all our christian religion consists in it 1. Cor. 13. And as the same Apostle saith He who liues according to it is a fulfiller of the whole law Soe that you o deuout spouse of Christ our Lord must beseech the holy ghost whose proper attribute is Loue that he will teach and write that thing in your hart whereof you aske as he taught it vpon the day of Pentecost Act. 2. when hee infused it into the harts of his Apostles For know that this is the true teacher of this language and soe as there is none but he For alas what can my tongue which is made of earth expresse of that which is onely vsed with perfection in heauen This is a celestiall language and they whoe speake it perfectly are the blessed spiritts which attend to nothing els but truly to loue our Lord God with all their strength and all that which his pleasure is that they shall loue How shall I be able to speake to you of that Loue which is subiect to noe interest and is accompanyed with noe selfe-loue and lookes towards noe other marke and aymes at noe other scope but onely God How I say shall I speake of it whome my father Adam hath left all wrapped vp in mine owne interest and who apply my selfe to seeke my selfe in all things See how much For euen in those things which concerne the seruice of God wee doe soe hang towards our selues that many tymes wee performe them for our owne interest or end And though the workes themselues be holy yet the loue wherewith wee doe them is impure And the difference doth onely consist in this that when wee seeke our selues by euill workes our Loue runnes through a conduit of clay when we seeke our selues by good workes it runnes indeede through a cōduit of gould but in fine it runnes towards our selues Iohn 6 I beseech our true doctour Iesus Christ our Lord who euer sought the honour of his Father and whose loue abased him to this world not for the accomplishing of his owne will but his who sent him that he will vnty my tongue to the end that I may tell you some part of that which you demaunde For certainly if your good desire did not oblige me to lett you know what I haue read my poorenes would oblige mee to hould my peace And now to the end that you might better vnderstand what Charitie is and how you may euer goe imployed therein I could wish you knew some parte of that Loue which the Blessed spiritts haue in heauen to the end that you may know thereby wherein true Charitie doth consist For how much neerer we shall come to that loue so much the more perfect will our loue be you must know that the loue which is in heauen doth transforme the Saints into the same will with that of our lord God For one of the effects of loue as S. Dionisius saith is to make the seuerall wills of such as loue to be but one I meane that they should haue the same will and the same not will which the other hath And now since the will and loue which our lord hath is but onely of his owne glory and of his essence which is supremely perfect and glorious from hence it followes that the loue of the Saints is a Loue and will wherewith they loue and desire with all their strength that our lord God may in himselfe be still as good as glorious and as worthy of honour as hee is And for as much as they see all that to be already in him which they can desire there followes there vpon Gal. 5. the fruite of the holy ghost which is an vnspeakeable ioy to see him whome they loue soe much to be soe full of treasures and felicitie in himselfe as they desire If you will haue a touch or at least some little sent of this diuine ioye doe but consider how great that ioy is which a good Sonne receiues in seeing his father whome he loues much full of honour beloued by all rich powerfull hoble and very much esteemed by the king Certainely there be sonnes soe gratefull and well disposed to their parents as to esteeme that nothing can be compared to the ioy of seeing their fathers soe esteemed which reaches indeede soe farre as that to whatsoeuer necessitie or affliction themselues may be subiect it serues not to depriue them of that great ioy because they aspire to noe other end but onely the honor of their parents Now if this ioy be soe great what doe you conceiue that the ioy of the Saints may be when being transformed by loue into that true lord of theirs the vniuersall creatour of all things they shall see him soe full of goodnes soe holy and soe rich in beauty and that he is a Lord and creatour soe infinitely powerfull as that by one onely act of his will all that which is created hath his beauty and his being and noe one leafe of any tree can so much as wagg but by his will Infallibly this is such a ioy as noe eye hath seene nor eare hath heard nor can such an vnspeakeable knowledge as this euer enter into the hart of any man but such a one as enioyes and possesses it You see heere the loue which the Saints haue in heauen speaking according to the poorenes of our vnderstanding And from this aboundant swelling Riuer which delights the Citty of God doth flow that loue which the soules in heauen beare to their neighbours For as all the desire and ioy of the Saints consisteth in their seeing God who is their true loue full of honour and glory from hence they grow to loue with a most feruent loue and to desire with an excesse of appetite that all the Saints may be as full of glory and beauty as they alsoe are And they ioy in this to a strange proportion because he is honoured and glorified in them whose honour and glory they onely seeke And in reguard that this is the cause why they loue the Saints from hence it growes that they ioy more and doe more desire the glory and beauty of the greatest Saints then of their very selues because they see that our Blessed Lord is more glorified in those others then in them And by this tyme you may perceiue how fart this holy cōpany is from selfe-loue from enuy which springs from that roote But you will tell me perhapps that it followes from hence that they
who being sent about busines would needes stay to passe his tyme and play with other boyes or els loyter for seeing of some vaine show and neither did that which he was commaunded nor soe much as remembred where about he went till returning home at night without any answeare coÌ„cerning his busines he is receiued with reprehensions and stripes by him who sent him Let vs awake whilest wee haue tyme and lett vs haue an eye to that which imports vs most and which is to last for euer And lett vs leaue vanity to vaine persons for both it and they shall perish Let vs raise our eyes to wards him who gaue vs the life and being which wee haue and afterwards gaue his owne life to the end that we might not loose ours And with great labour he taught vs the way whereby we were to walke and by a death which was full of torments and reproaches did he encourage and strengthen vs towards the purchase of vertue and he obteyned grace for vs whereby we might be able to serue and please almightie God Lett vs search into the most hidden corners of our harts and lett vs cure that in it which is wounded Lett vs vntye the fetters of our sinnes Let vs procure to redresse our selues in that which giues vs most cause of feare And let vs appease the clamorous remorse of our Conscience with doing that which God commaunds by the Dictamen thereof that soe all things being once well ordered and agreed we may like true and watchfull seruants expect the coming of our Lord and that we may be found with tapers lighted in our hands and with our loynes girt and that we may heare that sweete word Reioyce thou good and faithfull seruant Luk. 12 Matth. 25. whoe hast benâ— faithfull in lesser things I will place thee ouer greater Enter thou into the ioy of thy Lord That is the daye for which good christians hope and in coÌ„templation whereof they who liue heere in paine doe in tyme passe through it with much patience And this expectation of that crowne giues them hart to endure the combatts of this world and of the flesh Making election of abasement heere for that eternall aduancement and of this short lamentation For that delight which shall haue noe end of loosing their will heere that they may haue it euerlastingly vnited to the will of God in heauen Where they shall haue nothing which may disgust them but all that shall be done which may content them For they shall possesse almightie God as their most rich treasure in whome is conteyned all Good If our Lord haue yet begunne to visit that soule of yours you will vnderstand what I say and you will profitt by it If not which God forbidd it will be but the hearing of a story which is instantly forgotten I desire that Christ our Lord may be the Loue of you and of my lady your wife whose desire to see mee I pray God reward But thinke no more of your coming this way till first God shall haue soe disposed that I may goe thither to you the rather because I alsoe desire that it may be soe A letter to an afflicted lady whose sicknes hindered certaine deuotions which shee had beene wont to vse He teaches her how to finde peace and true repose which is noe where but in God And of the great care wherewith she was to prouide that the forbearance which she vsed of her exercises of spirit in her sicknes might not proceede from tepiditie THE best comfort in those afflictions which come vpon vs against our will is not to haue committed any fault which might occasion their coming For a conscience which stands right will easily beare any weight which you can lay vpon it but to a conscience which is impure any little burden is intollerable If men knew as well how to seeke the meanes of true repose as they know how to desire the thing they should enioye it and not remaine with the sole desire thereof It is the expresse lawe of God that they who haue desires of any other thing then him shall be subiect to torment whether the thing be obteyned or not obteyned For supposing the thing be had which they desired yet can they not compleately enioye it through the remorse which their conscience brings and if it can not be had they are racked by the delay of the thing desired The pure desire of God is very contrary to this Psal 104. For if Dauid say Lett the hart reioyce which goes but euen in search of God what kinde of thing will it be to finde him out If the hunger of seeking giue them ioye what will the being satisfied at that table doe He therefore who desires to finde peace and true repose must resolue to forgoe his owne appetytes must boldly and faithfully lodge himself in the will of our Lord and soe he shall neither be tumbled vp and downe in the darke nor be afflicted otherwise by the arriuall of strange euents But who will now procure that the sonnes of men may attend to that which God exacts at their hands How longe will you be heauy harted and loue vanity Psal 4. and seeke after lyes who shall vnbeguile such men and free them from their blindenes as goe seeking peace and finde warre yea and by the same way wherein they seeke it they loose it Let the whole world vnderstand once for all that as there is noe more then one God soe is there noe more then one true repose And as without the true God there is noe God soe out of his repose there is noe repose Certainely the mountaines were lyers and soe was the multitudes of the valleys and onely in our Lord God there is true saluation This say they whoe after they are well wearied vpon the experience of their owne vaine desires arriue to know at length both what God is and what hee is to them who seeke him Madam we haue not in our house a bitt of bread which wee may giue our freind to eate who is coming from abroad vnlesse we goe borrow it of our neighbour who is God made man and one who withall is soe neere vs as that he is our head and both our father and our brother He who will lift his eyes vp to him and depend vpon his hand he who will be a begger at his gate he who will be in desire of him and growe euen fainte through hunger after him shall be refreshed by the aboundance of him which doth as farre exceede the satisfaction which creatures giue as God him selfe exceedes them But out of God lett noe man presume to haue any hunger For as S. Augustine saith where soeuer flesh and blould shall expect to finle a suâ—â—nes amongst the creatures it will finde it selfe deceiued Soe that a man may vnderstand by experience what difference there is betweene the Creatour and the creatures and soe being vntyed from them since in
noe loue without greife I hope in God that as heere hee giues you greife and trouble soe hee hath prouided a place of rest and ioy for you in the other world Though indeede the very suffering for such a Lord is reward enough And soe that as there is nothing soe much to be desired in the other world as to enioy that kingdome with Christ our Lord soe neither is there any thing in this which may be compared to the excellency of suffering with him and for him Suffer therefore with a good will since you are to be crowned for the same For the afflictions which you endure come to you but as a fitt meanes whereby you may obtaine that crowne A Letter of the Authour to a Cauallero his freind He shewes how that person who feeles himselfe growne could in the way of vertue hath reason to apprehend it much and to greiue much for the present ill and for the daunger wherein he is of falling into greater mischeife and namely of a hardned hart which is the next doore to hell That vsually this decay of spirit growes either from ingratitude or negligence And lastly he speakes of the remedies HE who in some former tyme hath seene his soule a proficient in vertue and at the present findes it to be in decay hath much cause to be in paine and to procure remedy by all the meanes hee may For if a man be apt to feele the diminution which he may suffer in his temporall goods how much more ought wee to apprehend the decay of the goods of our soule which are goodes indeede Iob said with a deepe sigh Iob. 29 that he wished to be as he had beene in the tyme of his youth when our Lord protected him and when he made his candle shine ouer his head These and other things which he affirmed himselfe to haue possessed before and were wanting to him then at the present must rather be thought to haue beene certaine choice delightfull and deuout communications which formerly he had receiued from God and then were missing then that he was then in present want of his former vertues For since he gaue soe good account of himselfe in that tyme of tryall which is true tyme wherein indeede it may be seene what strength one hath he is found to haue had noe cause to coÌ„plaine as if our Lord did not then protect him or carry his light ouer him and therefore he saith vpon the former ground who will graunt that I may be as I was before c. Now if he complaine of this what will that man haue reason to doe who findes himselfe wasting in pointe of vertue it selfe and who perceiues that his soule goes estraunging it selfe by little and little not onely from those communications which he had enioyed and wherewith he comforted himselfe in former tyme but euen from the very custody of God's lawe and from conformity with his holy will And although this mischeife be great euen for the present yet is it greater by much for the future losse which may be feared For a little fall in relation to a great one lyes as close as the eeue doth to the holy day Apoc. 3. and as neere he is to be vomitted out who leades a life of tepidity God for his pretious passion keepe euery mortall man from this misery which is so great as to make Saint Peter say 2. Peter 2. that such men as they had beene better neuer to haue knowne our Lord then after they had knowne him and walked in his way to haue forsaken him and to haue betaken themselues to wicked courses And that was not without great mistery which our lord said to the man who had beene sick eight and thirty yeares Now thou art whole but take heede thou sinne noe more least a worse thing happen to thee These words are to be weighed feared withall for they containe a rigorous threat and are deliuered by the mouth of Truth it selfe and are wont many tymes to be executed vpon such as feare him not nor take a course to preuent their falling into them There happens a wors thing to them because the sinnes into which they fall afterward are more highly qualifyed and more deepely rooted then the sinnes committed in former tymes As there is a difference betweene a man when he falls with his eyes open and when with his eyes shutt or betweene a man whoe hath witt and yet doth the workes of a foole and another who either hath no witt at all or very little or betweene a man who ought his life to another in the way of gratitude and seruice for great fauours receiued and another who had receiued noe such fauours One thing it is to meete the king in the streete seeing and knowing who he is not onely to doe him noe reuerence but to proceede irreuerently towards him and another thing it is not to know him at all or not very well or at least not to consider who it was that passed A great fauour it is which God doth to them to whome he giues both the knowledge of their sinnes and of his diuine loue but yet withall he obliges them to much thereby sinâ—e according to the guift he saith tâ—aâ—â—he account must be made Luke 12. And if it be ill done not to pay good with good what will it be to render euill for good receiued and to answeare with offences insteede of seruices There happens a wors thing to them since they are wont to sinne more and with more faulty circumstances then before and they come by little and little towards a hardnes of hart and to dry themselues vp in such sort that they are not in disposition to doe the good which they did before I meane not when they were soe prosperous and happy in our Lord but euen before that when yet he had not called them to his seruice Then doe they sigh though it be with a hard vntoward hart to obtaine a little spirituall good againe and they finde it not But that which they finde is That heauen is to them made of brasse and the earth of iron for there is not a dropp of water to be found which may soften their soules or yeild them any fruite whereby they may be susteyned And they whoe in former tymes were visited watered with many good inspirations to which they vouchsafed not to answeare doe now desire some one and cannot compasse it Thus are negligent fastidious rich men punished by being killed with hungar as the rich couetous man was afflicted with thirst Luc. 16 And it is not many myles from this hardnes of hart to hell it selfe since the Scripture saith It shall goe ill with the hard harted at the latter day And the being cured of this euill costs deere and it is a thing which is of great priuiledge and grace when it is graunted by our lord as S. Bernard saith Noe man of a hard hart
their owne vpō which they neuer looke but from farre of soe how great soeuer they be in themselues they seeme little to them From hence it proceedes that in their conuersation they are soe intractable and soe rigourous for iust after the rate of their hauing noe consideration of their one infirmities they haue noe compassion of others I neuer yet saw man who was curious in the cōsideration of himselfe who would not alsoe easily passe ouer the fault of another and whatsoeuer that man be who is seuere against another when he falls giues strong euidence whereby it is proued that he considers not his owne defects Soe that if wee desire to fly from this soe daungerous kinde of blindenes we must be sure to view reuiew what kinde of things our selues are that soe when we finde how miserable we be we may cry out for remedy to our lord Iesus Because indeede hee is Iesus that is to say a Sauiour but yet of noe other then such as know and bewaile their owne miseries and who receiue indeede if they can and in desire if they cannot the holy Sacraments of the Church that soe they may be cured and saued And although for the making vs know our selues God and his Saints haue declared many and many things to vs yet he whoe shall attentiuely behould that which he may obserue to passe within his owne hart will finde soe many things for which he must despise him selfe that with horrour he will cry out from the bottome of that Abisse and say there is noe end of my miseries Who is he that hath not erred in those things wherein he thought him selfe most sure who hath not desired searched after things as cōcerning that they were good for him which yet afterward he found to be full of preiudice Who will presume to know any thing since he hath beene deceiued innumerable tymes what thing is more blinde then a man who knowes not soe much as what he is to aske of God as S. Paule tells vs and this comes to passe Rom. 2. because we know not soe much as what is good for our selues as it happened euen to the same S. Paule Who begging of God that he would free him from a particular temptation Rom. 2. Cor. 12. conceiued that he had asked a right but it was giuen him to be vnderstood that indeede he knew not what he asked nor soe much as what was good for him And now who will put cōfidence in his ability to know euen soe much as what he should Iudge desire concerning himselfe since he whome the holy ghost inhabited did aske that which was not good for him to obtaine Certainely our ignorance must needes be very great fince we erre soe oftē in those things wherein it imports vs soe much not to erre But now though sometymes our lord should teach vs to know what is good yet who doth not see how very great our weakenes is and how we fall flat vpon our faces in those things wherein it concerned vs to stand vp right To whome hath it not occurred many tymes to propound the doeing of some good thing and yet to finde himselfe ouerthrowne and ouercome by that wherein he tooke himselfe to be most inuincible To day wee lament our sinnes with teares in our eyes and we purpose to refraine them afterward and yet euen whilst the same teares are still wett vpon our cheekes some new occasion of sinne is offered and weeping because we fell we committ that very thing for which we may haue cause to weepe againe receiuing the body of our lord Iesus-Christ with much cause of being confounded for the irreuerence which we haue committed For the tyme hauing beene but short since we harboured his pretious body in our bosomes it happens sometymes that by some sinne we driue his grace out of our soules What care is soe weake and light which chaunges soe often vpon the warning of all windes as wee Sometymes merry and sometymes sadd now deuout and then distracted now full of desire tending to heauen and then following the world and euen dropping downe to hell Now hee abhorres a thing and instantly he loues that which he abhorred He casts vp that which he had eaten because he found it charge his stomack and presently he eates it vp againe as if he had not cast it before What thing can there be with such variety of coulours in it as a man who is made after this sort what Image can they painte with soe many faces and soe many tongues as this kinde of man How truely said Iob Man neuer remaines in one and the same state Iob. 14. Iob. 7. And the reason heereof is because he is ashes or dust and his life a winde Now what a sott should hee bee who would seeke for any repose or rest betweene dust and winde I doe not thinke that there could be a more hedious thing then if we were able to discerne to how many seuerall dispositions one man is subiect in one onely day His whole life is a very masse of mutability and frailty And that which the scripture saith agrees well to him Eccl. 27. The foole is as chaungeable as the Moone But now what remedy shall wee finde heereof Certainely we can haue none better then to know our selues for Lunaticks And as in former tymes they carryed a Lunatick person to our Lord Iesus Christ that he might cure him soe lett vs goe for cure to the same lord Iesus The scripture saith that the euill spiritt tormented that man and that sometymes he cast him into the fire and sometymes into the water and the very same happens to vs. Sometymes wee fall into the fire of couetousnes of wrath of enuy at other tymes into the water of carnality of tepidity and of malice And if wee consider vpon how large accompts wee stand obliged to almighty God for the tyme past and how little amendment there is in the tyme present we will be sure to say and we may doe it with much truth The sorrowes of death haue enuironed mee the dangers of hell haue hemmed me in O danger of hell which is soe mightily to be feared And who is not hee that will not watch with a hundred thowsand eyes that he may not be put to welter in that profound Lake where hee shall eternally bewaile the temporall delight which he hath vnlawfully enioyed who will not take care of his way least otherwise he be found wādering from all happines where are the eyes of that man who sees not this where are his eares whoe heares not this where is his pallate who tastes not this It is a cleare testimony of death not to performe the actions of life Our sinnes are innumerable our frailties are great our enemies are stout crafty and many and they hate vs home That whereof wee are in question is either the gayning or loosing of God for all eternity How comes it then to
he shall pay soundly for it if he giue iust cause Nay he pardoned not soe much as his owne sonne though hee owne nothing for himselfe but onely because he obliged himselfe to pay for the sinnes of others Without faile he must needes be farre from acceptation of persons whoe punished with soe great seuerity his onely begotten sonne and such a sonne and soe deerely beloued and that for the sinnes of others There is nothing which should haue power to make him who gouernes forbeare the doeing of his duty but he is to stand like the stalke of a ballāce which leanes not either to the one scale or to the other that so cuery man may haue his owne There is noe state but it would perish and be vndone if publique busines should be ledd after the pace of particular affections And at an instant doth that person leaue to be publique when he hangs neuer soe little towards the particular Now since the respect of priuate profitt must not bend him who gouernes much lesse must the respect of any other man's profitt make him bend since he owes more to himselfe then to any other Christ our Lord is the patterne which is made for all not onely forasmuch as concernes the priuate cōscience of a particular man but forasmuch alsoe as concernes any publique person For hee was a king and soe he is though not after the manner of this world But being in the chaire of his Crosse hee said to his mother Woeman behould thy sonne To giue vs to vnderstand that hee who is in the place of a publique person must renounce all particular inclinations though it should regard his very Mother And the same example he alsoe gaue vs when at some other tymes he would speak with lesse tēdernes to that Blessed Mother of his To teach vs how carefull wee must bee to keepe our selues cleere from particular affection though some be angry at it and though our selues endure paine by it rather then to cherish them with disgust to God There is nothing to which great lords ought to attend so much that so they may be well both with God and man as truly cordially and like men who liue in the presence of God to remaine euer faithfull firme to him with out hanging either to this way or to that And this will be easily performed by that great man who shall attentiuely consider that he is but the Minister of God as one who but meerely executes and must not exceede the commission which is giuen to him God places not great Lords in the world to the end that they may doe and vndoe what they list but to execute the lawes of his holy will And though they may account themselues lords yet are they still vnder the vniuersall Lord of all in comparison of whome they are more truly vassailes then their vassailes are theirs and their power is as truly limitted as their vassailes power is forasmuch as concernes the dispensing with what they ought to doe Soe that he is to be more fauoured and beloued who hath most right on his side and he is to be most punished who deserues it most And thus may any lord resemble the true lord of all if without acceptation of persons he giue to euery one according to his workes yea and if sometymes he punish most such as are most fauoured by him Both because reason would require that they should offend him least and for that alsoe they must not thinke that because they are beloued by him they may take occasion to doe what they list that which reason alloweth not Freindship should last as long as vertue doth and enmitie or opposition as vice For if it be otherwise woe be to ihem who call good euill euill good Your lordship must consider besides that God hath placed you in the eyes of many whoe take that to be a rule of their liues which they see you doe Make account that you are seated in a high place and that your speech and fashions are seene by all and followed by the most part of men If such a fashion be taken vp in Court if such a manner of speach be vsed there all men procure to follow it And if it were the custome amongst great lords that when one should giue them a buffet vpon one cheeke they would tender the other and if it were the fashion for thim to abhorre sinne and to take it for a point of greatenes to obey the lawes of Christ our Lord without doubt inferiour men would hould it an honour to doe that which they saw practised by great persons And for this reason I beleeue that the Prelats of the Church and the lords of the world are a cause of perdition to the most part of soules I beseech your lordship that as you are a particular man you will looke into your selfe with a hundred eyes and that you will looke into your selfe with a hundred thowsand as you are a person vpon whome many looke and whome many follow And take care to carry both your person and your house soe ordered as the law of Christ requires that hee who shall imitate your lordship may alsoe imitate Christ our Lord therein and may meete with nothing to stumble at The vulgar is without doubt but a kinde of ape Let great men consider what they doe for in fine that will be followed either to their saluation if they giue good Example or for their condemnation if it be euill And this consideration alone should suffice to make great lords liue like soe many Saints though it might cost them some trouble considering how our lord Iesus the sonne of God would not be a king but resolued by his labour and sweat to giue rest and peace to his subiects And he fledd from prosperities and honours least otherwise he might haue giuen occasion of sinne to his seruants who would haue thought if Christ our lord had followed them that is would also haue beene their part to pursue the same All things are to be thought little worth so that we may procure thereby that God be serued And let this be the finall conclusion That soe much the more attentiuely a man shall consider and imitate Iesus Christ so much the better man and so much the better Lord he shall bee For in him wee beganne and soe also we will end in him A Letter of the Authour to a Lady in the tyme of Aduent and vpon this occasion he perswades her to dispose her selfe to receiue the Infant Iesus and to loue him with feruent loue HOw busy will your ladyship bee in this holy tyme preparing a lodging for that guest who is coming to you Mee thinkes I see you as earnest as S. Martha yet as quiet as S. Mary Magdalen that soe by your endeauours both exteriour and interiour you may doe him seruice who is drawing neere since hee is soe worthy both of the one and of the other and is in
fine your lord O blessed tyme wherein is represented to vs the coming of God in flesh to dwell amongst vs Luke 1. to illuminate our darkenes and to addresse our feete in the way of peace and to adopt vs for his brethren and to designe vs for the enioying of the same inheritāce with himselfe It is not without cause that you desire his coming and that you prepare your hart for his habitation For this lord was desired long before he came Agge and the Prophet called him The desire of all Nations Psal 9. and indeede hee giues himselfe to none but such as desire him God heares the desire of the poore for his eares are laid close to the sighing of our harts and he cares for nothing els in vs but that To such a hart hee comes and cannot deny himselfe as it is said in the Canticles Cant. 4 Thou hast wounded my hart O thou my sister and my spouse thou hast wounded my hart by the cast of one of thyne eyes and by a haire of thy head Is it possible for any thing to be more tender then that which is wounded by the sight of a single eye Is it possible for any thing to be more weake then that which is tyed fast by one single haire where now are they who say that God is hard to be obteyned that he is rigourous to be delt with and insupportable to be endured Wee must quarrell with our selues since because wee will be looking many seuerall wayes we place not our sight vpon God nor will wee shutt that eye of ours which behouldes creatures that so with all our thought wee may cōsider God alone Hee who shootes in a Crosse bowe shutts one of his eyes that hee may see better with the other how to hitt the white we the while will not shutt vp all that sight of ours which hinders vs from being able to hunte wound our lord with loue Let him recollect and make sure his loue and lett him lodge it in God whosoeuer hath a minde to obtaine God For as God is loue soe is he onely to be hunted and taken with loue and he will haue nothing to doe with them who loue him not And if they say that they know him already as they ought 2. Iohn 4. S. Iohn will tell them that they say not true But our lord who is wounded with an eye is tyed with a haire For that which loue takes the recollected and reflected thought conserues that it may not be lost And to the end that men might be put into confidence that they should be able to arriue to almighty God and that hee hath noe minde to slipp away he makes himselfe one of them and layes himselfe in the armes of a virgin swathed vp hand and foot without power to fly from that man who is disposed to seeke him O celestiall bread which descendest out of the bosome of thy Father and art laid in the publique places of this world inuiting as many as will that they may come to enioye thee and feede vpon thee And whoe is hee whoe can endure to withhould him selfe from goeing to thee and from receiuing thee since thou giuest thy selfe vpon noe harder cōdition then onely that wee be content to hunger after thee For doest thou peraduenture aske more of vs then onely that a soule may sigh for thee and confessing her sinnes may receiue and loue thee Great is the misery of those men who when bread comes to seeke them in their owne howses they choose rather to dye of hunger then to stoope to take it vp O sloath what a deale of mischeife thou doest O blindenes what a deale of benediction doest thou loose O sleepines what a deale of aduantage doest thou steale away since considering the promise that whosoeuer seekes shall finde Mat. 7 21 Mark 11. Luc. 11 Iohn 14. 16 and he who askes shall obtaine and to him who knockes it shall be opened it is cleare that if wee proue not well the fault is ours But what shall things passe still after this manner Though God himselfe is come to cure vs shall wee still continue sicke He being at the gate of our hart crying out and saying Open to mee O thou my freind and my spouse shall we being all wrapt vp in vanities Cant. 4. suffer him to stand calling there and not soe much as open him the gate O my soule come hither and tell mee for I aske thee on the part of God what in fine is that thing which detaines thee from goeing all with all thy forces after God What doest thou loue if thou doe not loue this Spouse of thine Or rather why doest thou not loue him much who did soe mightily loue thee He had noe busines on earth but to attend to the loue of thee and to seeke thy profitt with his owne losse And what hast thou to doe in this world but to exercise thy selfe all in loue of this king of heauen Doest thou not see how all that which heere thou seest must haue an end as also all that which thou hearest which thou touchest which thou tastest and wherewith thou doest converse Doest thou not see that all this is but cobwebs which cannot cloath thee and keepe thee warme Where art thou if thou haue not thy being in Iesus Christ our lord what art thou thinking what account art thou making what doest thou seeke out of that onely one complete God Let vs rowse vp our selues at last breake of this badd sleepe Let vs awake for it is broad day since Iesus Christ our lord who is the light is come Let vs doe the wookes of light since there was tyme wherein wee did the workes of darknes O that the memory of that tyme wherein wee know not God might sèrue vs now for sharp spurrs to make vs runne greedily after him O that we could runne O that wee could fly O that wee might burne and be transformed into him What must a creature doe when he sees his creator made man and all for loue of him alone who euer heard of such a loue as this that one louing another should by loue be converted into that other It is true that God loued vs when hee made vs after his Image but a farre greater worke it was to make himselfe after our image He abases himselfe to vs that hee may exalt vs to him He makes himselfe man that hee may make vs Gods He descēdes from heauen that he may carry vs thither in his cōpany and in fine he dyed that he might giue vs life And now shall it be possible that in the midst of these things I should lye sleeping and without any sense of gratitude for soe great loue O lord illuminate myne eyes that they may not sleepe in such a death as this And thou who hast done vs this great fauour Ps 12. giue vs alsoe a right feeling of it For otherwise the
to the feeling of flesh bloud but according to faith which ouercomes and fooles all such discourse This Madam is the wisedome of the Crosse which makes the soule with shurt eyes submitt it selfe to the holy will of God And by thus not iudging but confiding in him it growes wise beyond the wisedome of the whole world For let him who desires to know and please God not rayse his eyes but let him abase them with humility and not sifte his iudgments and that man shall arriue to true knowledge and shall finde that our lord of power is entirely sweete towardes his seruants and doth then endue them with the greatest blessings when to the eyes of flesh and bloud hee may seeme most to haue forsaken them It is now long agoe since your ladyship hath sung this song My beloued to mee Cant. 2. and I to him But it is now that you should especially singe it for these delicate warbling notes are best vsed in these tunes of trouble Your beloued lookes vpon you and takes care of you looke you also vpon him and confide in such a taker of care He is your Father though he scourge you be you his daughter in receiuing his correction with obedience and giuing of thanks And if you be in much payne whilst you feele the scourge let it be tempered by considering the hand from whence it comes your beloued he is and he loues you more then he is beloued by you He corrects you with loue doe you also receiue it with loue that so you may answere our lord in the same tune wherein he speakes He hath a minde to purify you by fire do not fly of from the Crusyble whatsoeuer payne it may put you to For it is better to become pure from the vncleanes of earth which is ones owne will and withall to bee broken in pieces then to be whole otherwise Sing you thus to our lord Ps 16. Thou hast tryed my hart and thou hast visited mee by night thou hast examined mee with fire and thou hast not found wickednes in mee For thus doth God purify his elect and he who is not proued and purifyed thus is noe Sonne and shall be noe heire of his And for as much as it is now soe long a time since your ladyship hath soe fayre euidence that you are borne to inheritt procure you to pay with readines that rent charge which is layd vpon your land This inheritance is very rich and glorious but the heires thereof must suffer much tribulation in this world They are to be vntyed and taken of from the Crosse heere when they goe vp to raigne there and men must not think of goeing from one pleasure to another The bulls which are of a generous kind goe all darted and wounded out of the Place but such as are base and cowardly retourne home in whole skinnes Iust soe is the good Christian who is to be pierced on all sides And when tyrants and executioners are wanting they shall haue enough to suffer in they re owne houses by they re children they re husbands and they re freyndes who will by certayne sweete and and smooth wayes torment them worse then those others It is most certaine that to see one suffer whome wee loue is a very knife at our harts and loue is our executioner and the more loue there is soe much is the executioner more cruell Butt yett lett vs not turne away our face from him For this loue was the executioner of Iesus Christ our lord which putt him to more payne then all those visible executioners and this was the executioner of his blessed Mother alsoe and of as many elect as God hath had I would haue your ladyship prepare your head to be cutt of and your harte to be tormented by this executioner and you must procure to fight stoutely in the presence of God and of all his coelestiall court since such an excellente Crowne of glory is prepared for you Our lord who sends you this tribulation knowes the time which is most fitt for comforte and hee will prouide it for you when it shall be best In the meane time I beseech him to giue your lady ship patience and to remayne with you for euer Amen A Letter of the Authour to a Religious woman who was his ghostly childe Of the mercy which God shewes to such as he calles to Religion and of the exercices and obligation of a Religious woman SERVANT OF IESVS CHRIST I Haue beene thinking sometimes whither our lord might not ere this haue taken you out of this life to giue you the fruition of himselfe For to be aliue and to remaine soe long without letting me know how your soule doth seemes to me a kind of incredible thing Though yet it be true that our lord some times giues a soule soe great feeling of himselfe that it remembers nothing els because it is wholy employed vpon him who is all thinges I beseech his goodnes that this may haue beene the cause of your silence For then I shall not onely not complayne but greatly reioyce For what other thing can I soe well desire for your soule which in our lord I loue as to see it all employed in louing and in being beloued by him This is the end of all the paines which he hath taken with your soule and of all the fauours which he hath bestowed vpon it Tell me O spouse of Christ our lord how you doe Doe you loue him much and doe you hould him fast in your bosome is you heart euen wounded with the care you haue to keepe him content and to seeke his holy will though it be in contradiction of your owne For though the loue of our lord be the ioy and solace of our soules yet on the other side it suffers them not to repose but like a continuall spurre is solliciting and vrging them on that soe euery day they may please him whome they loue more and more For this reason this loue is compared to fire which neuer is at rest but the liuely flame thereof is euer working and striuing vpward This loue will haue nothing to doe with slackenes nor knowes it how to take any rest but in our lord And this is the loue of a Loyal sponse which it is reason that you be in performance since you are soe in profession since you haue an inward vocation to put that in practise to which you were called Doe not forgett the day on which you offerred your selfe to your spouse by the hand of your Prelatt Nor that other day when your spouse conueyed his hand into your heart making you vnderstand both your selfe and him He said in your soule let light be made and then all darkenes and sorrow fled away and now like one who sees the light of heauen you liue in ioy because you know which way you may goe without danger of falling For if you be carefull to keepe those dayes in mind you
contenting of him and to be dead towards the seeking of your owne contentment soe much the more happy shall you be Spend not time at all in thinking whether it were best to accept or els to refuse that busines whereof they wrott to you that without doubt it would be done For this is the signe of a hart not deliuered vp to recollection and which easily is induced to loose the present tyme with care of the future Forget it and beseech our Lord that it may not proue a temptation to you since he knowes your weaknes And liue without perplexity or affliction of minde solemnizing such a Feast to our Lord as that your hart beeing asked what care it hath it may answeare you none at all but onely that I may be soe happy as to giue this little tyme to our Lord. All that swarues from this is not sound whatsoeuer coÌ„plexion it may carry And heere it comes fittly in to weigh what it is to bee changing from one thing to another All those are effects of a heart which is but slack and not imployed about that whereunto it was called which is a continuall intercourse with our Lord who lookes vpon it in euery moment of tyme and desires it to looke as often towardes him and to open it self to him because indeede it is his owne and to deny it self to all that which is not God O base abhominable man in whose hart God desires to repose and to giue it rest and yet the man goes labouring heere and there and God tells him the while that to the end he may finde rest he must enter into himselfe and must dye there to himself and that so he shall finde his true safety life and that a certaine Sunne shall then rise to him which will discharge all those former clouds and sorrowes he shall come to vnderstand certaine things whereof he knowes nothing yet Humility and diligence are needfull heere for the keeping of our harts shutt vp And our Lord dyed for this that wee might haue strength to dye to our selues for his sake to keepe our harts recollected Christ our Lord be your light But take you heede of being desirous to knowe things concerning Mentall Prayer more by speculation then by practise For our lord is the teacher of Infants absâ—ondit se sua a prudentibus he hides both himselfe and his secrets from all such as are but worldly wise A Letter of the Authour to a Cauallier whome hee sought to carry on to the state of Religion THese great fishes are hard to be taken and a man had neede make many turnes with them vp and downe the riuer till they be weary that soe through the little strength they haue left the hooke may quiettly fetch them vp And therefore wee must not meruaile if our lord giue you soe many knockes contradicting that which you had formerly in your thought and desire And the cause of all I conceiue without doubt to be your owne proper will and iudgment which be hard thinges to subdue and still are ready to rebell Wee haue need that our lord should tire them out with a multitude of blowes and should kill them to the end that they may noe longer liue in you but that we may continue in the faith of our lord and in obedience to his holy will I would haue you vnderstand what this curbe meanes and these tokens of reproofe which our lord shewes you For as he is praysed who is an intelligent seruant and growes acceptable to our lord thereby so is he discommended whoe vnderstandes not I say not onely the wordes but the corrections also of our lord You must conceiue that there is nothing which importes you soe much as to be vntyed from your owne opinion and conceit and that Omnis sapientia tua deuorata sit vt sic clames ad Deum de necessitatibus tuis liberet te That all your wisedome is at a non plus and that soe crieing out to God he may deliuer you out of your necessityes For what Idolatry is more preiudiciall then that a man should relye vpon his owne opinion And what mariage is soe monstrous as for a man to be married to his owne will such fearfull and abominable monsters rise from hence as that they precipitate him who breeds them into the very bottomles pit of hell If you beleiue not me doe but take order that a man may not follow his owne opinion and not loue his owne will and then I will vndertake that there shal be noe hell for him You must therefore offer your selfe as a piece of clay into the handes of that soueraigne Potter and say that to him Isay 64. which is writen Fictor noster es nos vero lutum Thou art our framer and we are not better then a piece of clay Resolue that to be the best which is contrary to your owne will For so ill affected is our will that for the onely reason why a thing is much desired a man may safely apprehend and doubt that it is not good For that which pleaseth it is ill what confidence can he then repose therein Haue great care to consider of the way wherein God guides you for you shall be called to an account thereof And when you haue learned this science you shal be wise in the sight of God You must be enamoured of nothing vnder heauen how pretious soeuer it may seeme but onely with seeking the good pleasure of God And if it should soe happen that we should obtaine noe part of that which we particularly sought yet that very thing it self is all the riches both of this world and of heauen for God is pleased thereby and the contentmeÌ„t of God is God himself and he who loues it loues God and he who professes it professes God Concerning those coÌ„plaintes which you are making against your self I well beleiue that you haue reason since you are a man and not yet in heauen And you doe well to reproue your selfe for by this meanes the reproofe which our lord makes of sinners may be remoued from you which reproofe of his would be farre greater theÌ„ we know how to imagine For who can reach to vnderstand eyther the riches of the goodnes of God or our faultes and miseries I beseech our Lord giue vs light from heauen where with to see these two Abysses which are soe different that soe the sight of our wickednesse dismay vs not but that we may be coÌ„forted by meditating vpon the goodnes of our lord For otherwise the stoutest gallant vpon earth might say well enough Cor meum derelâ—quit me My hart hath failed me Psa 38. to see soe many debts incurred by himselfe both past and present besides the danger of such as are to come I know not what we should doe with this miserable thing which is called Our selues nor why we will take Our selues for our owne or stand charged with doeing what
to our good as S. Paule saith Infallibly that man shal neuer die of hunger who is fed by this loue of thine He shall feele noe nakednes he shall neuer finde want of any thing which this world can giue For possessing God by loue noe good thing can be wanting to him Let vs therefore O my beloued brethren be taken with a great desire of goeing to see this vision of the bush which burnes and yet is not consumed That is Exod 2 how they who loue God suffer iniuries and yet feele them not how in the middest of hunger they are full fed how they are cast of by the world and yet afflict not themselues thereat how they are assaulted by the fire of fleshly appetites and yet they are not scortched by it They are troaden vnder foote and yet they stand fast vpright they seeme poore and they are rich They seeme deformed but they are full of beauty They seeme straungers but they are citizens They are not knowne to men but they are familiarly acquainted with Almighty God All this and more is brought to passe by the noble Loue of our lord Iesus Christ in the hart where it is lodged But noe man can arriue vnto this vnlesse he put of his shoes that is to say his vnmortified affections which spring vp out of â—â—lselouâ— For this is the root of death as the loue of God is the cause of life A life which is spirituall holy admitts to weare aâ—e â—hâ—es that is to say noe desires of seâ—feloue He who loues Christ our Lord must abhorre himselfe He who will not be cruell to Christ our Lord lett him not be coÌ„passionate to himselfe They who dandle themselues shew vnkindnes to Christ our Lord and they who take soe much care of themselues cannot make God their businesse Let vs therefore giue our All that which we are which God knowes is but a little All for that other great All which is Almighty God Let vs giue ouer the following of our owne proper will and let vs betake our selues with diligence to follow the will of God Let vs esteeme all things as meer dung that soe wee may possesse that pretious pearle which is Christ our Lord. And to the end that we may see him in his beauty and glory let vs heere be content to embrace dishonour labour Infallibly he shall neuer finde himselfe deceiued who makes such an exchaunge as this But when God shall come with his Saints and shall come to reward euery one according to hiâ— workes then will that appeare to haue beene foolery which now is held in soe great account and then it will be their turne to lament who now shall haue spent their mortall liues in delight And he only will be avowed by Christ our Lord who shall haue liued according to his holy will O how great shall the ioy of good men bee at that day when receiuing high honour at the hands of God they shall be seated vpon those thrones which were prepared for them from all eternity and when in society of all the quires of Angels they shall sing prayses to their Lord and their God O how great will their ioy be who shall behould the king in his beauty In the contemplation whereof they will be soe happy that noe one of them shall bee without euen regorging through his being soe full of that pretious liquour and that soueraigne Balsamum which created all good thinges In comparison of this all beauty is deformity the very brightnes of the sunne it selfe is direct downe-right darknes the very topp of other delights is the very bitternes of gall And in fine that I may not reckon vp euery particular thing by it selfe in comparison of this beauty all the things of the whole world put together are not to be esteemed for any thing at all neither are they any thing in very deede O eternall God thou who art all thinges and yet who art none of these thinges and when shall that day arriue wherein we may bee soe happy as to see thee when is this earthen pott to be cracked which shuts vs vpp from enioying soe great a good When shall theese chaines be broken which hinder vs from flying vpp to thee who art the true repose of such as are to repose indeede Let vs not my Brethren looke any other way but onely vppon Almighty God Let vs call vpon him in our harts and let vs keepe him close imbraced by vs that soe hee may neuer part from vs. For woe be to vs wretched thinges what shall wee be able to doe without him but onely to turne againe into our nothing Let vs now at last cast this world behinde vs which yet wee carry before our eyes and let vs at last beginn to trye how sweete our Lord is Let vs runn after him who came running downe towards vs from heauen it selfe that he might carry vs thither Let vs goe to him who cals vs and who doth it with soe much loue from the topp of that Crosse with his flesh all torne and euen as it were broyled with the fire of loue to the end that it might be more sauoury to our taste O that we might feede thereon O that we might euen consume thereby O that we were all traÌ„sformed O that wee could growe to be one and the self-same spiritt with God Who is he that detaines vs who is he that hinders vs who is hee that deceaues vs soe as that wee cannot perswade our selues to draw neare to God If it bee our goods let vs cast them away if they be in our power if they bee not let vs keepe them though onely as soe much dunge which may bee layd vp with diligence for good vses but yet still without any loue at all to the thing it selfe If is be our wiues S. Paule lets vs know that wee must haue wifes as if wee had them not If it be our children let vs loue them but for the loue of God And let vs euen out of water bee able to kindle a fire whereby all that may be burnt vpp which shall pretend to deuide vs from Almighty God Let the teares of greife wash vs and the fire of loue consume vs and soe wee shall growe to be those holy creatures which were offered vpp to God with fire O eternall God whoe coÌ„sumest our couldnes and how sweetly doest thou burne and how dearely doest thou inflame and how delightfully doest thou consume vs O that wee all might altogether burne with thee Then would all our powers cry out and say O Lord who is like to thee For whosoeuer hee bee that sayth he knowes thee and yet loues thee not is a lyar Lett vs therefore loue thee and let vs alsoe knowe thee since loue growes from that knowledge And afterward make vs able to possesse thee since they who possesse thee are soe rich and possessing thee let vs be possessed by thee and soe let vs employ
for his loue is the most high and safe MAdam In this so greate hast which our life is making to leaue vs it is but reason that we make election of that which may be best for our addresse in the seruice of Christ our lord and to put it in practise with diligence least otherwise we may haue cause to repent our selues for not hauing beene faithfull seruants to that lord whoe hath beene so faithfull to vs and at whose hands wee expect that hee will be soe still Eccl. 15. There are many things in this life wherevpon we may cast our eyes since God hath giuen vs libertie that soe we may lay hould either vpon this or that But amongst soe many what shall wee choose Shall it paraduenture be pleasures which passe away like smoake and which leaues ten tymes as much affliction behinde them as they brought delight Or shall it perhapps be the dung of riches which is wont to blinde the eyes of the owners and which makes the entrance into heauens gate soe hard Madam Mat. 9 there is noe looking towards any thinge of this life with hope that it will make one happy For though a man possessed them all they would serue him but fot an affliction of spirit and for an impediment to his proceeding Eccl. 1. and in fine it is vanitie of vanities and all vanitie Happy therefore is hee who remoues his eyes from that which makes such haste to passe away and who places them vpon that which neuer ends and where delight is pure and true because it is taken in truth it selfe which is God And where the treasures are certaine since they all consist in enioying him who alone suffices to enrich his possessors with inestimable beatitude But now to the seruice of this God there are many seuerall wayes and some carry an affection to one and some to another euery one according to his inclination Some like the actiue life and others the contemplatiue Some excell in abstinence others sett vp their rest vpon Chastitie And soe wee see that diuers Saints haue flourished with seuerall vertues and guifts of God But Madam amongst all the things of this world wherein our lord may bee pleased by vs let vs make choise of suffering for his loue for this is both most high and most safe And this did the Maister of truth whoe is Christ our lord teach vs when coming into the world he principally exercised himselfe in this and to this he hath inuited vs. This is a pointe of securitie and not a thinge made of dust or strawe For it is not of conformitie with our sensuallitie but of contrarietie therevnto And onely the loue of Iesus is able to make affliction sauour well in our mouthes and he alone is sufficient to make vs encounter and embrace that which of it selfe is vnpleasant and driues men from it What did it signifie that Moyses seeing a serpent before him Exod. 4. grew into feare and beganne to flye but that men who considering what they suffer actually or els foreseeing what they are to suffer are frighted and would not onely suffer it but not soe much as see it But God commaunded that he should returne to that from which he had fled and not onely returne towards it but to take it vp into his hand And he obeying the voice of God founde in those hands noe more now a serpent to bite him but a staffe to support him Thus doth it dayly happen to men who in their afflictions obeying the will of our lord who sends them and taking them into their hands that is to say taking hould of the occasions which are offered and accepting them with obedience that they finde noe such discomfort or disquiet as is wont to weary the soule with complayning butt comfort and support and strength Confiding that since God sendes them tribulations he will place himselfe neere about them according to his promise and that he lodges his loue in them since he treates them like his beloued children and as he hath treated as many freindes as euer he hath had in this world Thus doth tribulation breede patience and patience Rom. 5. is the proofe of that loue and faith which we haue in Christ our lord And this patience workes hope because God hath promised to make them participate of his glory whoe are participant of his Crosse And thus doth tribulation turne into a staye and staffe to our weakenes because it makes vs confide in our lord more and more and it takes from vs that kinde of vnquietnes and complayning which affliction was formerly wont to giue vs like a kinde of seruant Be you therefore well aduised by making choice of that which is pleasing to God and be not one of them whome the Apostle S. Paule reprehends saying Heb. 5. It was reason that you should haue growne greate spirituall Maisters after soe long a tyme wherein you had serued God and yet you still continue but very babes whoe haue neede of new instruction in the principles of those things which concerne God and you are rather fitt to sucke milke then to eate the breade with the crust which is the foode of such as are growne stronge Madam you must consider that that scholler doth not please his Maister who hauing beene taught a thing at many seuerall tymes is still as grosse and rude as at the first And that phisitian growes weary who findes that he giues noe helpe through the patients fault by some receipt of phisick which he hath ministred often And soe our lord is not pleased that we should still continue in taking the milke of comforts and delights but that we should runn nimbly towards him although it could not be done without passing the pikes and that the fire of our loue must consume whatsoeuer shall stand before vs since there is nothing which it imports vs soe much to haue as loue And this loue cannot receiue soe good a proofe as by tribulation and paine Now whosoeuer loues Christ our lord should not desire to be without some tryall or proofe whether indeede he loue him yea or noe And though that proofe may paine one much yet it giues him cōfort to perceiue That God hath examined him with fyre and that he hath not found wickednes in him Psa 16 and that it made him not turne backe from the enterprise which he had in hand A great honour it is to stand constant in that which much troubles vs and we cannot yeild a seruice to God which pleases him better then when with a very willing hart we be afflicted for his sake and when wee drinke that challice in his company who drunke so deepely of it for vs. Vpon this you must place your eyes since God is pleased to choose this meanes whereby to bring you vp towards him Doe not turne coward in fighting the battailes of the generous loue of the celestiall kinge nor hould you any tyme to be well
walke in the middest of the shadow of death you may yet feare noe ill See you call vpon him for though you should bee in the whales belly yet he harkenes to his seruants euen when they are there Call vpon his Blessed Mother Ionas 3. who is also ours Call vpon the Saints who are our Fathers and our brethren for with such helpes as those you cannot feare to loose the celestiall kingdome And if our lord will haue you passe through Purgaâ—ory let his name be blessed still for soe that you may haue hope to see him you shall gladly endure any thing which may be imposed I beseech Christ our Lord who dyed for you to accompany you at your death and receiue you into his owne armes when you departe out of this life Say you to him as hee sayd to his Father In manus â—uas Pater commendo spiritum meum Luc. 23. And I confide in his mercy that you shall be receiued by him as a sonne and treated as the heire of God and coheyre with Christ our Lord. A Letter of the Authour to a Religious woeman who was neere her death He encourages her and shewes how she is to carry her self at that time DEuout seruant of Christ our Lord you sent mee word that you were in the last dayes of your life and that this was the time wherein you desired mee to remember you Soe I doe And though the newes you giue mee is not pleasing to flesh and bloud yet when I looke vpon you with christian eyes it is to recreate my soule And soe is it also to recreate yours as our Lord saith in the Ghospell when those things beginne to shew themselues Luc. 21. looke about you and lift vp your heades for your redemption is neere at hand For though Christ haue freed you by his goodnes the merit of his bloud from mortall sinnes yet still you are in daunger of committing euen then and you actually committ venial sinnes and you are still in the captiuity of your body which is soe subiect to miserie as that it makes euen a S. Paul and others who are like him sigh and groane and say as him self relates it Rom. 8. that they liued in expectation of the redemption of tâ—eir body But there you shall neither sinne mortally not venially For by meanes of the bloud of that lambe which was shed for vs hell where they euer sinne shall haue nothing to doe with you but onely Purgatory where though they suffer yet they sinne not And from thence you shall goe forth to see your Spouâ—e to enioy that blisse which he wonne for you with the nailes in his hands and with his feete fastened to the Crosse And forasmuch as it is a stranger thing to see God nailed vpon a Crosse then to see you placed in heauen I confide in his goodnes that since he had mercy enough to make him doe the more he will not want it for that which is the lesse Thither will he carry you thither I say will he carry you to remaine with himself For the espousalls which heere were celebrated betweene you when you soleÌ„nely made Profession that you would liue and dye in the state of Religion was one day to be concluded by that being together both of him the spouse and of her his fellow spouse in heauen There shall you see your self in soe great liberty and aboundance that you will esteeme your inclosure afflictions heere for well employed And there will they giue you a body which though in substance it shall be the very same which heere you haue yet shall it be very different in health and life and other things And you will incomparably more reioyce in it there then you haue suffered in it heere All entire all entire in bodye and soule are yow to bee blessed there and soe beautified as is fitt for the honour of him who tooke you for his spouse Iesus Christ the lord both of this the other world Be not therefore dismayed when you are to dye by thinking of what your owne sinnes deserue Christ our lord can doe all things and he loues you will not forsake you And since he hath preserued you in this time of your nauigation amongst all the tempests of this life be sure that he will not suffer you to perish now that you are goeing to disinbarke Putt your self wholly into his haÌ„d offering your self entirely to him both in life death and to whatsoeuer he will And beg pardon of him by his bloud for all that wherein you haue offended him and being confessed communicated cast your self headlong at his feete and desire of him one drop of his bloud whereby you may be washed and haue great confidence that you shall bee soe Be as reserued to yourselfe as free from all conuersation as the state of your sicknesse will permit For our Lord before he was to dy left his disciples that he might pray in solitude to his father giuing vs so to vnderstaÌ„d that in this traunce we must reseÌ„ble him And let your discourse be with Christ our lord with his Bl Mother And to the end that your infirmity diuert you not from them it will be well that you behould an image of the Crucifix of his Mother staÌ„ding by him Giue thaÌ„kes to our lord with your whole hart for the fauour he hath done you whether they be generall or particular and cast your self into the wounds of Christ oul Lord which is that Sanctuary out of which his Iustice must not drawe such malefactours as are repentant And repose you there and conceiue strong hope that by meanes of his bloud and death you shall goe and enioy that life in heauen which neuer is to haue an end Our Lord IESVS be euer with you Amen A Letter of the Authour to a woeman who did greatly feele the absence and disfauour of our Lord. He animates her to confide in our Lord and he assigned diuerse causes why God afflictes his seruants and of the fruit which his Diuine Maiesty reapes from thence DOe not conceiue that to be anger in our Lord which indeede proceedes from true loue For as he who beares ill will to another doth flatter sometimes and fawne vpon him so true loue sometimes corrects and chides And the holy scripture saith That the woundes which are giuen by him who loues are better then the false kisses of him who hates And therefore we doe him an extreame wrong who reproues or punishes vs out of the bowells of his loue if we thinke or say that he persecutes vs as if he loues vs not Doe not forgett that the Mediatour betweene God the Father and vs is Iesus Christ our lord by whome we are beloued and tyed with so strong a bond of loue that nothing is able to vndoe it if man himself do not cutt the knott by the guilt of mortall sinne Haue you so soone forgotten that the bloud of
into so great affliction and feare as the newes of what thou art ought to giue them comfort If thou O lord wert well knowne there is no soule which would not loue thee and confide in thee vnlesse it were strangely wicked For this it is that thou sayst It is I therefore doe not feare I am he who kill and giue life I cast men downe as low as hell and I draw them back againe that is I afflict a man till he thinkes he dyes and then againe I refresh I recreate and I giue him life I cast men into certaine discomforts which seeme hell to them but when they are there I forgett them not but I fetch them from thence and they are but therefore mortified that they may be quickened I sende them not thither to remayne there but that their entry into that shadow of hell may be a meanes to make them escape the substance of that true hell after death and that they may fly vp to heauen I am he who can deliuer you from all affliction for I am of infinite power And I am he who will deliuer you for I am of infinite goodnesse and I am he who know how to do it for I am of infinite wisedome I am your Aduocate for I embraced your cause as mine owne I am your surety for I haue made myself subiect to all your debts I am your Lord who haue purchased you with mine owne bloud and with no meaning to forgett you but to doe you honour if you will serue me because you were bought at so high a price I am he who haue so profoundly loued you that for the loue of you I haue beene contented to be transformed into you and to become passible and mortall I who in mine owne nature was very farre from being subiect to such miserie I am he who deliuered myself ouer to innumerable torments of bodie and farre greater torments of minde that you might take hart to endure some for loue of me and to confide that you shall in fine be freed from them since I am he who vndertake it I am your Father as I am God and your elder-brother as I am man I am your Christ your redemption and what feare can you then haue of your debts if by penance and Confession you demaunde a generall release of them I am your reconciliation and of whose wrath can you then be afraide I am that true-loues-knott of friendshipp and how then can you thinke that you are fallen out with God I am your defender and what opposites can you apprehende I am your freind and how then doe you feare that you can want anie thing which I haue vnlesse you will needes departe from me My bodie and my bloud is yours and why then doe you feare hunger nay my verie hart is yours and why then doe you feare to be forgotten yea and my diuinitie is yours and what doubt can you then haue of miserie For accessories vnto that Principall my Angells are yours to defende you My Saints are yours to pray for you My biessed mother is yours to be the carefull and indulgent mother of you all The earth is yours that you may serue me vpon it The heauen is yours for you shall enioy it and me in it The deuills and hell is also yours for you shall treade it and them vnder foote like slaues who are chayned vp in that prison This life is yours because with it you gett another which shall neuer ende Your honest entertainements and delights are yours For you direct them to my glorie Your paynes are yours for you endure them for my loue and for your owne true good Your temptations are yours because they are occasion of your meritt and of an euerlasting Crowne in heauen Your death is yours because it is to be the immediate steppe to your eternall life And all these things you possesse in me and by my meanes For neither did I gaine them for myself alone neither will I enioy them alone for when I putt myself into your companie by taking your flesh vpon me I did it to make you partakers of all the meritt which I should acquire by my labours my fasting eating sweating weeping and by the enduring of all my torments and death if the fault be not your owne Now you cannot account yourself poore who possesse so great riches if you doe not wittingly throw them away by your wicked life Be not dismayed for I will not forsake you It is true that you are no better then some thinne glasses but I will holde you fast in my hand Your weakenesse setts of my strength the more From your sinnes and miseries I draw the manifestation of my goodnesse and mercie There is nothing which shall be able to hurt you if you will loue me and confide in me Thinke not of me according to your owne opinion and the iudgments which are made by flesh and bloud but thinke of me by a strong faith with loue nor by the apparance of exteriour signes but by that hart of mine which was opened for you vpon the Crosse that you might dismisse all doubt whether you are beloued by me or no forasmuch as concernes my parte since you see such workes of loue without and a hart which was so wounded by that launce within Iohn 18. and yet more wounded by my loue How shall I denye myself to them who seeke me to do me honour since I went out to that way where those others sought me to offende me I offered myself to ropes and chaines which afflicted me and shall I refuse myself to the hart and armes of Christians where I desire to repose I yeilded myself to those scourges and to that hard pillar and shall I denye myself to that soule which will be subiect to me I turned not away my face from him who strooke me and shall I turne it away from him who will holde himself happy that he may beholde and adore me What litle confidence is this that seing me to be voluntarily torne in pieces by the hād of dogs for the loue of my children yet those children should be doubtfull whether I loue them or no though they be confessed to loue me Consider o yee sonnes of men and tell me whome I euer despised if he desired to be well with me whome haue I abandoned if he called on me from whome haue I fled if he sought me Matt. 9. I conuersed and I fedde with sinners yea I called and I iustified them who were forlorne Matt. 11. and euen fowle in sinne Nay I am importunate to winne their harts who loue me not I make myself a beggar to all the world and what cause is there then to suspect me of forgettfullnesse towards my children when there is so great diligence vsed both to loue me and to make expression of that loue And though I may cōceale it sometimes yet do I not leaue to loue but euen for the very loue
God can suffer him vpon the earth This is that truth where in we must liue and without this we liue in lyes And sometimes the more vertue we thinke we haue and the better we esteeme ourselues in health the more sicke and miserable we be through the want of this For confiding in ourselues we thinke we are somewhat whereas indeede it is not soe in his sight who discernes our harts and saith Apoc. 3. Thou hast the name of one who liues whereas indeede thou art dead He hath the name of one that liues who falles not into publike sinnes which the world condemnes for enormous But if neuerthelesse he fall into other sinnes which are condemned in the iudgement of Almightie God for what doth it serue him to be absolued by the world when he is censured by that iust Iudge The world knowes not how to holde that man for wicked nor to punish him for such who onely hath a good opinion and complacence in himself with pride or at least is not displeasing to himself but in the iudgement of God that man is held for proude and blinde who doth not euen stinke to himself as if he carried some dead dog tyed to his nose and who hath not a profound internall shame in the sight of his Creatour as heere men vse to haue when they are presented before some Iudge hauing beene taken in the maÌ„ner with enormous crimes And if this pride arriue to be a mortall sinne then doth it wholy square agree to him which was said before in the person of God and if it be but veniall this suytes with him but in parte Thou hast the face of a harlott â—ier 3. and knowest not what belongs to the hauing of any shame Now it is an ill fauoured spott in a soule to be voyde of shame as it is euen exteriourly when women want it The world condemnes not a man's confidence in himself nor the estimation which he may haue of himself nor a resolute will which he may haue to procure his owne contentmoÌ„t But in the sight of God these and such other things are great offences and they hinder grace and our friendship with him if they be mortall and if they be but veniall yet they hinder the profitt which we might make of the grace we haue and it destroyes all inward communication with our Lord. The deuill knowing this it troubles him not much that a soule may be aliue after the large manner if interiourly and spiritually it be dead And many times he procures not that such a person may fall into apparant and deformed sinnes for if he should coÌ„mitt any such he would be much confounded thereat For obseruing that he had done things which euen in the eyes of the world were so wicked he would take penance to hart and would be displeasing to himself in his very soule and so would mende But the deuill desires to holde him tyed fast vp in a deepe interiour blindenesse and so keepes him safe for himself without inducing him to committ other sinnes For if he fell into them also he would peraduenture giue ouer both the one and the other and so escape out of his hand You therefore must be sure to carry your eyes open vpon your owne hart and when you finde not there a profound contempt and confusion of yourself in the high presence of Almightie God be you well assured that you are farre from knowing yourself and that you haue yet no other eyes but of flesh and bloud and no true celestiall light at all For this light searches into the most hidden corners and makes the soule highly ashamed euen of those things which in the sight of worldly eyes will seeme to haue beene well done After this shame teares of griefe and true humility are wont to growe whereby the soule is wholy and absolutely made subiect to God to euery creature for his sake Now when this is wanting all things goe after another fashion and the wound is not cured but onely skinned And in that case we must call vpon our Celestiall Phisition not giue ouer till by litle and litle we may gett some small thread of light whereby to enter and see the retraites and darke holes thereof and finde her faultes euen in those things which haue apparance to be well done Our Lord doth not instantly imparte this guift but when himself is best pleased to doe it And in the meane time let vs know that we must be sure not to putt confidence in our owne workes and if yet this vertue be now wanting to vs let vs confide in our Lord that he will bestow it vpon vs in his good time Matth 7. Marke 11. Luc. 11. For he that promised That he will not giue a stone to him who shall demaunde bread and that our Father of heauen will giue a good spirit to such as aske it I beseech him to be your light that so you may know him to honour him and that you may know yourself to despise yourself And departe you wholy from yourself that you may be wholy subiect to him You must also consider that you must not want some bodie euen heere on earth who may call you to an account therefore soe you gett great store of sanctity against the time when you shall goe into another world And in the meane while be sure there be nothing in you for which it may importe me to chide you and for which you may haue reason to be ashamed as hauing beene a cause of payne to vs both Christ our Lord keepe you euer in that side of his which was pierced by a launce Amen A Letter of the Authour to a certaine Preacher against the temptation of disconfideÌ„ce of the benefitts which we enioy in Christ our lord DOe not Sir I beseech you conceiue anie vnkindenesse at my hands but forgiue me as S. Paul saith since God hath forgiuen the offences which we haue committed against him You know alreadie how full of faults I am which might suffice to make anie man fayle in the seruice which he owes Sometimes I haue wanted a messenger as I did where I haue beene of late and doe yet remaine For if no bodie bring me word of anie I know not where I am to seeke him I beseech you Sir beleiue that in a matter of more importance I will haue loue enough for the doeing you seruice I holde this distrust of Saluation to which you tell me you are subiect for a most plaine temptation Nay I holde it not onely to be certaine but sottish also For it deserues no better name then that if it will not be discharged by the consideration of those benefitts which we possesse in Christ our lord as if this businesse were the worke of our hands or the rewarde of our meritts and not by the grace of God through Iesus Christ You must therefore enlarge your litle hart towards the immensenesse of that loue wherewith
should remaine vnburnt How shall that man be able to loue pompes and shewes who cordially loues the Infant Iesus being layd in a poore maunger if it be true that loue must make louers like to one another It is a great blessing and light which makes vs able to see God heere beloue that soe we may know how to walke for the pleasing of his diuine Maiesty And since he walkes in a very contrary way to that of the world let vs resolue to make our choice of that guide whome we meane to follow since wee cannot walke in both and since the world runnes headlong vpon errour and since Christ our Lord is the truth which saues such as beleeue and follow it Iohn 14 And let his â—â—locaust haue marrow in it for marrow is a soft thing and doth soone melt And soe doth that hart which loues our lord and whether the matter concerne the scruice of the same lord or els the good of a man's neighhour such a one will not expresse either drynes or harshnes but sweete mildenes bee alsoe hath care to keepe his loue as safe as the marrowe is within the bone But before you can arriue to that marrow it is garded first by the skynue and then by the flesh and lastly by the bone it selfe The man who loues places all things which he possesses and desires before that which he loues that he may sooner loose all that then that the person beloued by him should once be touched And he hath a strong and firme purpose as if it were made of iron not to venture the loue of our lord though it should cost him whatsoeuer he either is or may euer be Such gould as this it is which you must offer to the Infant who is borne soe poore and you must open your treasures for that purpose as those kings did For if this hart be not opened which is the treasure-howse all the labour is lost For in that case whatsoeuer it bee Marke 2. which is offered is not gold but counterfect stuffer he takes the best to himselfe and giues the worst to Almighty god Open therefore your hart and conueigh the Infant newly borne into it since that hart alone liues in which hee is And since he is of soe little weight doe not lay him downe but weare him in your bosome like that handfull of Myrrh whereof the spouse speakes Conuerse with him with all reuerence because he is God Cant. 1 and yet take courage to communicate freely with him because he is an Infant for within he hath his hart as serene and sweete as you may well conceiue by his exteriour apparance Take heede you lett him not fall for he must be kept with great care but if your loue be not great you will either forgett him quickly or els lay him soone aside as thinking that he weighes too much And soe that you negotiate with him in such sort as that you giue not ouer till you perceiue by good coniectures that both you loue him and are beloued by him For till a soule feele this it euer liues in feare and sadnes and as vnder the burden of a law but when it comes to this passe there is nothing which can casily trouble it when it considers that God loues it and it loues God I beseech him that it may soe happen to your Ladyshipp Amen A letter of the Authour to a Lady wherein hee shewes what the coming of the holy Ghost wrought in the Apostles and what it workes in them whoe dispose themselues to receiue it and how they are to dispose themselues GOd send you a good Feast of whitsontide not by hearesay but by experience that in this solemnitie your hart may feele that which the faithfull seruaÌ„ts of Christ our Lord when they were assembled in that meeting-place did feele by the infusion of him into their soules who depriued them of their weakenes and deliuered them from their ignorances and fulfilled the bosome of their soules with soe great ioy as might well giue the world to vnderstand that the blood of Christ our lord was not shedd in vayne nor his prayers to his Father made in vayne since by meanes thereof a participation of the diuinitie was communicated O how often when they saw themselues soe deifyed and that they were made soe richly the louers and beloued of God did they sing a world of prayses to Iesus Christ their lord and Maister as knowing well that he had sent them this guift as he was God and had deserued it for them as he was man For according to what our lord himselfe had ptomised the holy ghost as soone as he should become was to make knowne Iesus Christ our Lord and to giue testimony of him Iohn 16 that soe the Disciples and the world might knowe him and by knowing him might vnderstand withall that all good was to come to them by his meanes and that they were to render him seruice and expresse all gratitude to him as to their true and aboundant benefactour and that soe they might remaine faster tyed to him by the cordes of loue in his absence then formerly they had beene in presence might know by experience what a puissant loue the holy ghost is and how ardently he makes that Blessed word of God to be beloued from whome himselfe proceeded and in whome he reposes and that they should make noe difficultie to publish and proclaime him to the world though it should cost them their liues If we had a parte of this solemnity heere within our very harts we should be sure to celebrate it exteriourly as we ought And if our soule were bedewed with some dropp of the water of this plentifull Riuer which issues out of the throne of God Apoâ— 20. of the lambe the thirst of this whole world would be soone quenched in vs and wee should be refreshed by this heauenly dew from that drynes and stiffnes wherein wee yet remaine soe negligent soe barren and soe accursed O how much would we finde our selues obliged to our Redeemer when wee should sensibly feele that wee were indeede redeemed by him and that our sinnes were drowned that our sorrowes were spent and aboundance of ioy imparted insteede thereof Wee would not then complaine of paines of banishments of absence from what we loue of wanting those things which seeme most necessary to vs and in sine of any inconuenieÌ„ce For soe powerfull is this spiritt and the fire thereof that it striues vpward and makes vs soe loue confide in God that noe water of sorrow and affliction hath power to quench it but it remaines euer quicke and conveyed with such strength into the bowells of the soule which are soe mightily inflamed that it kills that which liues ill and causes that euen death it selfe cannot conquer him who is mortyfied by the coming of this holy spiritt This is that deare guest whoe cures the wound which the absence of Christ our
lord had made in their harts whoe loued him and fills vpp that empty place which was made therein by his departure And now if he were able to comfort and free men from that sorrow which was caused by the absence of Christ our lord himselfe more easily will hee be able to comfort vs in case of the absence of creatures if we be in any paine thereby This is hee who is soe full of care of his orphanes who ouershadowes them with strength from on high and who covers and keepes them warme vnder the mantle of his protection and makes them know that they haue of in heauen whome they may with confidence but without presumption call Father hee repaires that which is ruined he illuminates that which is darke he heates that which is colde he straightens that which is crooked be refreshes that which is ouer wearyed and he is dayly giuing vs new strength which makes vs fly vp toward the mountaine of God Madam it will be reason that such an excellent present as this should put vs into great appetite and that wee sell all the affections of our hart for the purchase of this Iewell which onely is able to make vs happy The newes of it passes before our doores and the noyse sounds in our eares of how he comes downe to men and is glad of a habitation in their hartes Let vs not suffer him to passe by but let vs constraine him to visitt and comfort vs that we may serue him yet more And considering in whose name wee may desire him to stay with vs he will not neede to be much entreated for the Father sends him through Iesus Christ his sonne our Lord. Christ our Lord is he who obtayned the holy ghost for vs. For otherwises what had that most high spirit to doe with coming downe to vs whoe are but soe much flesh which is impure and weake and enclined to all kinde of ill This spiritt exceedes vs incomparably more then the heauens exceede the earth if it were not for that he who is of heauen being engendred by the Father did abase himselfe soe farre as to become man the signification of which word is to be earthly And so God being humaned and tempored with our weakenes did labour and sweate and vpon the cost of his life did obtaine for vs that this spiritt which created the heauens should abase it selfe soe farre as to dwell in those potts of clay Let vs giue thankes to Iesus Christ our Lord and lett vs gather the fruite of his labours And since the holy ghost comes downe willingly to dwell with vs in contemplation of the meritts of Christ our lord let vs not be soe vngratefull for either of these two great fauours as thereby to loose them both The most high will abase himselfe to these meane persons that he may bee their Father and their guide and how then can wee be such woefull sotts as to say Noe to him Let vs goe forth to receiue him with loue whoe comes with loue and lett vs doe it with great desire for where he is desired he is well content to stay Lett vs be like him whoe said say 26 My soule hath desired thee by night and in spiritt and with the very bowells of my sowle I watch towards thee in the morning By night he desires to enioy thy holy Spiritt who findes himselfe to be afflicted and places not his confidence in his owne arme but sends out sighes to this spirit as to the comforter of the sorrowfull and the easer of all such as are in paine And in the morning hee will bee content to watch whoe makes it not one of his last cares how it may be fitt for him to furnish vp that inward howse but the cheefe of them all is to consider how he may be able to obtaine this fauour of our Lord. And being thus desired and inuoked infallibly he will come for soe did Christ our lord himselfe who was called the Desired of all the nations Aggae 2. and he loues all such as desire to possesse him Let vs call vpon this holy Spirit with the speach both of our tongues and of our soules but we must be sure that the howse be not ill furnished and soe without prouision that after hee shall be inuited and satt downe at table we may haue nothing for him to eate Let vs mortify our flesh for that is the foode whereon hee feedes and which he likes soe well For as for the flesh which liues he flyes from it as farre as he can and it stinckes worse to him then a dead dog would to vs. Let vs mortifye our owne opinion and iudgment that soe we may be ruled by his for two heades will neuer gouerne a house well if that which knowes least be not swayed by that which knowes most And let vs renounce all our selfe conceipts for these are the Capitall enemyes of this heauenly spirit which teaches vs to say Matth. 26. Not my will but thy will be done Let vs be diligent to cleanse our conscience by penance and confession from all impurity and euery graine of dust how little soeuer it may bee For this guest is most pure and cleane and it is not fitt to lodge him in such a howse as may disgust him Let vs keepe peace both at home and abroad for euen vnquiet and wrangling folkes are wont to dissemble their little brawles for the honour of some principall guest Hauing lodged him in our howse let vs giue him good attendance since he hath made it a pallace For he is a mighty king and it is against all reason that hauing him with vs at home we should be gadding abroad to see vanities Let vs then shutt vp the doores and cast our selues prostrate at his feete and let vs tell him with truth that there is nothing which shall draw vs from him and that we haue giuen this answeare to all the world that it must leaue vs and him alone together And soe lett vs enioye him for he is able to make vs happy and so as that nothing can depriue vs thereof If you carry the busines thus you shall be comforted in all that wherein yet you haue discomfort and you shall drinke of the Riuer of the delights of God till euen you be inebriated thereby And I shall alsoe be comforted when I shall see you in the hands of him whoe knowes soe well how to keepe you and instruct you and eternally to saue you It is he whome I beseech to be your succour A letter of the Authour to a certaine Preist Hee shewes how he may prepare himselfe and what considerations are most profitable when he goes to celebrate at the Altar REuerend Father I beseech our Lord that the delay which I haue vsed in making my answeare may be recompēced with being true and profitable to you for your demaunde is of great importance and soe would the answeare alsoe bee if it were such