did euer obtaine saluation vnlesse God did in his mercy cure him first and did take his stony hart from him and giue him a hart of flesh insteede thereof These are the iourneys ends of those wicked sonnes who after that they were receiued for sonnes and treated after that rate Deut. 32. doe forgett their Lord whoe possessed them who made them and who created them And he who trembles not at this doth already giue testimony enough that he is hard harted and hath reason to feare so much the more as he feares the lesse And therefore Sir let vs consider these things as signâ—s of that which is like to follow When we see that the foundations of a wall fall away it is tyme to apply some remedy since wee are aduertised of the daunger Lett vs greately feare the goeing backward in spiritt of one onely day lett vs not suffer a defect though it may seeme small to passe away without punishment And I say though it seeme small for in very deede none at all is soe for the very least of them doth vs much hurt though some of them be greater then other Lett vs resolue that this mischeife proceedes from one of these two causes either not being thankefull for the good receiued or being negligent in conseruing it Saint Bernard saith That the cause why God imparting great benefitts to many without euen soe much as their asking doth yet deny them other inferiour benefitts which they asked afterwards is because they were vngratefull for those greater benefitts and thereby make themselues vnworthy of the lesser Nor is it any new thing that he who vses ill the great blessing which he receiues as if there were noe neede of taking paines to conserue that which is already gotten should loose them Soe that we must now thanke God againe for the benefitts which we haue receiued and let vs employ them well forasmuch as now remaines in our power least wee vtterly loose them all and our selues with them Lett vs be the more remisse in other businesses that soe we may be attentiue to this with all our power When a man diuides his estate into very many parts and payments it growes to be in effect nothing And he who hath receiued particular blessings from heauen may content himselfe with keeping them and growing rich in them though he be not so prosperous in the goods of this world If he haue a minde to comply very punctually with the desire of temporall riches I feare that it will be vpon the price of somewhat els which is more worth For the world is soe full of malignitie 1. Iohn 5. and our forces are so weake that wee are like some little poore candle in the middest of many windes and if we faile to be very diligent to keepe it in they will blow it out Such is the misery of vs whoe liue in this exile And therefore they who haue any braines are wont to feare and sigh and groane with desire to be gone from hence Make you account that this is your cheife estate your honour your safety and your life and place your right eye vpon this and your left vpon other things And if somewhat must needes be lost let it be that which will one day be lost whether wee will or noe how carefully soeuer we may thinke to keepe it And lett that remaine in safety which if our selues doe not loose wee shall be saued for euer Iacob disposed of that wife and those children whom he least loued Gen. â— into the froÌ„t or foreward of his company desyring that if any ill accident should arriue it might rather fall first vpon them then vpon that wife and children which he loued better And euery day wee doe the same in marshalling the parts of our temporall estate For we dispose our selues to loose that which is lesse and to saue that which is more Lett vs therefore resolue that it is better to haue a good conscience then much temporall riches and to haue credit with God then with man and so in the rest And procuring to appease our Lord by penance and confession for that which is past lett vs beginne to make new purposes and lead a new life with fresh courage being very much offended with our selues for hauing beene soe vngratefull to our great benefactour and soe negligent in that which concerned vs most Giue not ouer the exercises of penance of prayer of reading spirituall bookes of frequentation of the Sacraments though you performe them but dryly But aboue all lett there be noe wâ—nt of humble prayer and of a wounded hart For our mercifull Lord who stands expecting that we should goe towards him to doe vs good will come out vpon the way to meete vs and will couer vs close with the mantle of his pitty goodnes And will giue vs new strength that now we may againe beginne to serue him and procure new meritts for his kingdome I beseech his diuine Maiesty that he may soe proceede with you for the eternall glory of his goodnes The bookes about which you aske and which I take to be conuenient for you are the Confessions and Meditations of S. Augustine the Moralls of S. Gregory the Summe of the misteries of our faith by Titâ—leman and Dionifius Carthusianus God almighty keepe you euer A Letter of the Authour to a Canallier his freind whom he perswades to doe his dewry which is to fight the battailes of our Lord against the enemy of God which is the selfe-will of man I Haue vnderstood the reasons whereby you would perswade me that it is more securely fitt for you to dwell in the Citty then in that towne And though indeede they be subtile yet they doe not moue me much For the most certaine of all is that which wee doe after the example of Christ our Lord and which wee obtaine at his hands by prayer and which wee see cleerely by experience and not that which on the other side wee take to bee conuenient for vs through a meere humaine and perhapps a perpetuall kinde of iudgment Who can doubt but that you as being an Inhabitant of that Citty and withall a great fauourer of my meanenesse and desiring much that I should continue to liue there are both Iudge and witnes in your owne cause And therefore the tyme which you spend in seeking reasons were better employed vpon making deuout prayers And it will happen to you as Saint Bernard faith it doth betweene the preacher and his hearers If thou wilâ— perswade saith he thou must doe it more by sighing then by exclaming And though in that which I haue said mee thinks you haue committed some excesse yet in another thing you haue the better of it and you edify mee Namely in your hauing written three letters to mee without hauing receiued any one answeare of myne I esteeme this fauour as much more then speaking by word of mouth as there is difference betweene doeing and saying
as I haue said You aske me what preparation is best and what consideration is most profitable when you goe to celebrate the mistery of the body and blond of our lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ because you feare that the thing which of it selfe is soe helpfull may yet proue hurtfull to you for want of due preparation You know already that there are different complexions of mens bodyes and soe is there variety of inclinations in their mindes yea and soe alsoe are the guifts which God imparts to men very different Some he leades by one meanes and others by another and therefore there can be noe such common rule giuen as may square well with the generallity of all men concerning the consideration which may be most profitable for the aforesaid action But this is certaine that that consideration will be best for any man which God imparts and whereby a man findes himselfe to be moued most And he whoe hath any knowledge such as a man may haue in things like these whereof there is noe certaine faith nor cleere euidence that his Preparation or consideration growes from the impulse of God hath noe reason to chaunge it for any other till our lord chaunge it And this is to be tryed by giuing account thereof to some person who hath experience in these things together with prudence and soe to take the resolution But now there are others whoe finde not themselues particularly moued to vse this or that Consideration And yet it is alsoe necessary for these men to impart the notice of their inward disposition soe to trye whether they haue neede to be carryed by the motiue of Loue or feare they being either sadd or cheerefull and the remedy is to be applyed according to the necessities wherein they are And because I incline to thinke according to the relation which I haue receiued concerning you that the state wherein you are is of a person proficient in vertue and that it is fitter for you to exercise your selfe vpon he considerations which may prouoke you to the feruour of loue with reuerence then vpon others I say that to this purpose I know of none better then that which may giue vs liuely to vnderstād that our lord with whome we goe to treate is God and man and what the cause is why he comes to the altar Certainely Sir it is a blow of great force towards the awaking of any man to consider and say this to himselfe in good earnest I am now goeing to consecrate Almighty God to hould him in my hands to haue audience of him and to receiue him into my bosome Let vs ponder this well and if it sincke into vs by the grace and spiritt of our lord it will be sufficient and superabundant for the making that result towards vs whereof we haue soe much neede that soe according to our frailty we may performe that office as we ought Who is hee that can choose but be inflamed in loue by thinking I goe to receiue an infinite Good who will not tremble with an amorous kinde of reuerence at his presence before whome the powers of heauen tremble and who will not resolue neuer to offend him more but still to praise him and doe him seruice Who will not be confounded and euen mourne with greife for hauing offended that Lord whome hee hath present there who will not confide vpon such a pawne whoe will not take hart to goe through this desert by the way of pennance with such Prouision And finally this consideration when the hand of our Lord helpes it on doth wholly chaunge a man and taking him from himselfe doth euen swallow him vp some tymes by reuerence some tymes by loue and at other tymes by other most powerfull affects of the minde which are produced by the considerations of his Presence Which affects though they doe not necessarily flow from these Considerations yet are they a most ready helpe therevnto if the man as we vse to say will not be a stone Soe that you shall doe well to exercise your selfe in this thought Make account that you heare that voice Ecce sponsus venit Matth 2§ Deus vester venit Behold your spouse is coming your God is co ming And shutt your selfe vp in your hart and then open it to receiue that which vses to streame from such a lightning And desire you of the same Lord that for that very goodnes of his by which he hath vouchsafed to put him selfe into your hands for that same goodnes I say he will giue you a true feeling thereof that soe you may esteeme reueare and loue him as you ought Importune him that he permitt you not to be in the presence of such a Maiesty without feare reuerence and loue Accustome your selfe to thinke as you ought of the presence of our Lord although you should then entertaine noe other consideration but that Consider them whoe stand in presence of kings who though they say nothing yet see the modesty the reuerence the loue wherewith they stand if they stand as they ought But it is better to consider how those great ones assist in the Court of heauen in presence of that infinite greatenes all trembling at the reflection of their owne littlenes and burning in the fyre of loue like persons whoe are as it were consumed in such a furnace Make account that you enter amongst those Graundes whoe are soe richly adorned and soe well behaued and soe diligent in doeing seruice to their Lord. And then being placed in such society as that and in the presence of soe great a king thinke of it as you ought though as I was saying you haue not at that tyme any other consideration then that My meaning is that it is one thing for a man to haue what to say to the king and it is another to know which may be done with scilence how to stand in his presence and there to carry himself as he ought And this is that vnion of the soule with our lord which a man shall doe well to procure during the tyme of Masse and to hang wholly vpon him iust soe as when he is in his Cell vnited with our lord in the most secret retired corner of his hart And this in such sort as that the wordes which he reades may not be of any distraction to this vnion for he shall reape more fruite by it then by them though yet it be true that he is to haue regard alsoe to the wordes but he is to accustome him selfe whilest he hath his hart vnited and present with God to carry that attention withall to what he doth and saith as is conuenient Deere lord and what doth the soule of that man feele when hee carryes him in his hands who made election of our B. Lady enriched her with celestiall graces that she might be made fitt to liue and conuerse with God made man And when he compares her hands and armes and eyes with his owne
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
them he found not what he sought he may goe at last with an intyre hart to him who alone is able to impart more to the soule then it is able to receiue Your ladyship must not therefore be carryed away by that great errour which yet is imbraced by many great ones of this world who are mightily affected to their owne will and who abound with particular appetites and who thinke belike that they are to abound as much more then others in desire of things as they are heere of more eminent ranke state but for my part I see not what they gather from hence but greater torments For after the rate of the desire is the paine And as S. Bernard saith Let our proper will cease and there will noe more be any hell And soe wee may say let this proper will cease and there will not be in the world either any sinne or any sorrow For that which comes to vs is not in it selfe the thing which giues vs paine but the coming of it when we would not haue it come And therefore doth God require our harts of vs that soe hee may free them from many miseries and may giue vs in exchaunge his owne which is peaceable reposed and Ioyfull in tribulation And a grosse foole is hee who had rather liue in his owne straitnes then in the latitude of Almightie God and who had rather dye in himselfe then liue in life And if at any tyme or in any thing we haue committed this sinne and haue enlarged the raynes to our owne desires let vs humble our selues before the father of mercies acknowledging our sinnes and hoping for pardon at his hands and taking that paine which grew vpon vs by the inordinatenes of our appetite towards the discounting and discharging of our fault For by this meanes God is wont to take away our sinnes like one who should take the boughes or branches of a tree and setting them first on fire should apply them afterwards to the tree it selfe and soe burne it vpp by the rootes Much better it is for a sinner that hee should grow into â—aine by occasion of his sinne then into peace and rest For as S. Augustine faith there is not a more wofull thing then the temporall felicitie of a sinner And as for vs let vs learne heereafter to giue all our desires to God And as a stone falls downeward and as fire flyes vpward and as euery thing in sine makes towards his proper place soe let our harts fly at full speede towards the center thereof which is God Who would not be amased to behould a great rocky Mountaine hanging loose in the ayre without falling downe to his proper place and who will not wonder to see a hart which was created to repose and rest in God detaine it selfe in the ayre and lesse then ayre Therefore whether it be that wee cannot take true rest in any other then in God or because this Lord of ours deserues of himselfe all our loue since he is the loadestone to which all spiritts looke let vs not fall heereafter into such a folly as that whereof I spake lett vs not spott our honour let vs not committ such a treason against such a lord as that heereafter any other desire may enter into our harts but of him or for the loue of him And soe will the sadd cloudes of these vnprositable hart-breaking melancholies and these both vaine hopes vaine feares fly from these harts of ours in their place a new morning will rise which will giue vs Ioy. For to see the light of heaué is the cause of Ioy but the blinde man cannot discerne it Tob 5. For this did Tobias say what ioy cann I have in this life since I cannot see the light of heauen It is a great truth that noe man who is not indeede vnbeguiled concerning this world can haue any true ioy of hart for though he thinkes hee sees yet indeede it is but a sight of earth and not a light of heauen But after this other sight a man growes cured at the very roote It will be fitt that your ladyshipp doe not thinke to make the like exercises of minde in the way of spiritt as before now that you are subiect to an vnlike disposition of body And many haue ignorantly afflicted them selues for not hauing beene able to weigh what their strength and state would permitt It is cleere that with this condition of body wherein you are you must not thinke of keeping the same method which you held before nor doth our lord aske any such things at your hands since his will is very wise and tempered alsoe with great mercie and demands nothing of vs but that for which hee giues vs meanes And not onely hee will not reape where he doth not sowe but euen when hee sowes he is content to reape lesse then hee hath sowed Your ladyship must not be discóforted for that which you are not able to performe for you might as well put your selfe to paine because you haue noe wings where with to flye Doe not place the ioye of your hart vpon hauing consolation or vpon making Prayer but vpon the accomplishment of the will of our Lord. And since his pleasure is that the tyme which before you spent in praying shall now be spent in vomiting let it be soe in the name of God and lett his contentement be ours and lett vs more esteeme that he be pleased then we would to possesse heauen and earth And if we be troubled with any scruple that such or such a punishement came to vs for our hauing committed such or such a sinne and that God chastises vs now for the thing which wee inordinately desired before in that case what haue we more to doe then to cast our selues at his feete desiring both correction and pardon And our lord will either giue them both or els the pardon without the correction but neuer the correction without the pardon if the fault be not our owne We must therefore take any tribulation as an earnest penny or introduction to peace and prouided that there may be peace betweene God vs let any thing come which he will send One onely thing wee haue to feare in this case which is least wee should slubber ouer our negligences vnder this occasion and pretence of I can doe noe more Wee must heere looke vpon our selues with many eyes for this EVE which liues within vs is soe desirous to be cherished and regaled and to be walking vp and downe the garden and to be eating of the forbidden fruite that she wants not a thousand inuentiòs to make reason beleeue that she demaunds not any thing of superfluity but of meare necessitie and she is in a mightie chafe if they beleiue her not Madam there is neede heere of two things The one that when wee clerely see that wee are able in such cases to performe our spirituall exercises wee must not omitt
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
at length open our eyes And if prosperitie did once tell vs that there was somewhat heere which might content vs let now the gall of tribulation be applyed to our eyes and giue vs light to see that in this world wee are truly miserable and that we are not in our owne Country but in a very painefull banishment and soe raysing first our hartes to heauen let our conuersation be alsoe there This is the end why our Lord hath punished you that you may make more and more account of him the more you see your selfe in want otherwise doe not conceiue that God takes pleasure in your paine but because he is mercifull he hath a tender feeling of your teares Onely he will put this touch of wormewood into your cupp that soe hauing discharged your hart of all humaine comfort you may haue your leaning place vpon him alone God hath taken one comfort from you but it is to giue you another for soe he is wont to doe He hath made you a widow but it is that he may make himselfe your Father since Father of the forsaken Psal 67. is his name Many afflictions will not faile to offer themselues to you in this widowhood and in many things you will finde the want of him who was wont to remedy you in them And in many of your freinds you shall finde little helpe and little fidelity and lesse gratitude but in all these things God will haue you make recourse to him and conferre with him about the troubles you shall be in and that as with a true Father you ease your hart with him And if with that hart you call vpon him and trust your selfe in his hands infallibly you shall meete with a sure refuge in all your difficulties and a perfect guide in all your wayes And in any tymes without your knowing by whose meanes or how it comes to passe you shall finde your busines done to your hand much better then you could haue imagined and you shall then vnderstand by experience how great a freind God is to the afflicted and how truely he dwells with them and makes himselfe a solicitour of their causes And if at any tyme he doe not giue you that which you desire it will be to giue you that which shall be fitt For so doth this celestiall phisitian proceede with them who goe to him for their recovery and whoe haue a greater desire to be cured then that their taste be pleased Depart not you from his hands and cure though it should put you to much paine Desire him not to doe what you will but what he will Let your weapons be your prayers and your teares and they not lost teares for that which our Lord hath taken from you but liuing teares for that our Lord may be pleased to pardon him and to saue you For what doth that superfluous paine serue which they tell mee you giue your selfe but onely for the adding of sinne to paine But now you know that as wee haue no liberty to laugh idely or vainely soe neither haue we any to weepe superfluously But both in the one and in the other we must be obedient to the holy will of our Lord. Why doe you complaine why I say doe you complaine Either you are a sinner and then you are to be clensed by this affliction or els you are a iust person and then you must bee tryed that you may be crowned whether it be the one or the other you must giue thanks to our lord with your whole hart and resolue to loue the end and reason of this correction though the thing it selfe be vnpleasing This we are taught by holy Scripture Hester 5. which relates how Hester kissed the end of Assuerus rod. Let not your tyme passe away in glutting your eyes with teares but for the loue of our Lord apply your selfe to send your hart vp to him and to prepare your selfe for that passage whereby you see others march before It is enough Lady it is enough that you haue already made soe large a feast to flesh and blood Dry your eyes at last and let not that tyme passe in bewayling death which was graunted you for the gayning of life Call to minde that our Lord droue them out of the howse who lamented the death of a yong maide and he said that she was not dead but that she slept For indeede amongst Christiās to dye is but to fall a sleepe till that day come when we shall awake againe to take our bodyes and so to raigne with Christ our Lord both in body and soule And confider that hee for whome you weepe is not dead but sleepes and that in a sleepe of peace since he both liued end dyed a good Christian Why should it trouble you soe much that our lord would draw the man whome you loued out of this place which is soe miserable and would carry him into the way of saluation And if he haue left some troubles to you take them vp with a good will soe that he may goe on to his repose And if his absence afflict you much yet be comforted with this that shortly you shall see him againe since our dayes in this life are soe very fewe and one of vs hath soe little aduantage ouer the other in dying a little sooner or later You shall doe alsoe well to conceiue that our Lord tooke him away because hee was well prepared and that he hath lest you heere to the end that you may well prepare your selfe And since you serued our Lord with alacrity in the state of matrimony serue him now in the state of widowhood and in the trouble of that state with patience That soe if then you gayned thirty fold you may now gaine sixty And soe you shall leade a life if not of gust yet at the least of great profitt towards the purging of your sinnes towards the imitation of the Crucifixe and towards a most certaine purchase of his eternall kingdome But for the obteyning of all this you must demaund grace of our Lord with prayers with teares with vsing to read deuout bookes and with receiuing the celestiall bread of the most Blessed Sacrament And soe lift vpp your deiected hart and walke roundly on For before you can gett to heauen you will haue a longe way to make And if you be to enter there this will not be the last affliction which you shall haue For the Iewell which you expect is of soe inestimable a valew it being God himselfe that how much soeuer it cost it can neuer be deere And since you are one day to possesse it you are now to reioyce in the hope thereof And complaine not of your afflictions but say soe great is the good for which I hope that I feele not the misery which I haue Let Iesus Christ our Lord accomplish all this in you as I desire and begg of him Amen A letter of the Authour to a virgin whoe was disposing
self-loue tell vs that wee desire it but for the seruice of Almighty God And for my part I beleiue that there is noe peace to be had in this world but by patience Nor doe I thinke that it is true patience when a man is content to beare with his neighbours if withall he be not content to beare with himself Not to the end that he must fayle to punish and to mend his faultes but that his hart may not be deiected and he vnreasonably afflicted and that whatsoeuer happen hee may bee able to keepe himself content both within and without but soe that yet withall as I was saying he still doe his diligences to mend himself Which yet if he should not wholy doe it is better that he bee sorry for it and that instantly he rise vp with new alacrity which vses to encrease and double our strength then that whilest conceiues himself to lament his faultes for the loue of God he should indeed displease the same God by seruing him with a sowre kind of hart and with fallen wings and such other braunches as vse to rise from this roote Let the Conclusion be that which S. Paul deliuers Let vs frequent prayer in all things giuing thanks to God Thess 5. and soe wee shall be sure to doe well Our Lord Iesus bee with you and with vs all Amen A Letter to a Cauallier his freind wherein he teacheth how the afflictions which God sendes to his seruants are to put good men in hope and wicked men in feare THankes be giuen to Christ our lord for hauing made you a partaker of paine and trouble for it is the most certaine title to heauen which can be had vpon earth since it doth enable vs to be like our lord who descended from heauen to giue vs light that we might loue him and strength by his example and grace by his merites Let not the dispensation of the workes of God seeme cruelty in your sight for as the rewarde which he giues is not light soe neither must the meanes be light whereby it is to be obtained Nor is there any thing further of from being a matter of toyes or iest then that which our lord hath prepared for such as loue him Now to the end that this may be knowen and rightly vnderstood it is fitt that they who are to enioy it may be soe treated as he was that soe the world may be vnbeguiled if it still conceiue that by liuing in iest they are to enioy that great reward in earnest Our lord giues aduise to his seruants and he threatens such as will needes be strangers to him For to the former sorte of men he saith that they must thinke highly of his rewarde since he will not giue it but vpon high tearmes And as for these other he askes them how they thinke to escape the rigour of his handes they who are his enemies since euen his children be strictly treated who are yet elected for soe great a good If we cast our eyes towardes this beame of rigour and iustice which are the afflictions whereof we now speak we shall finde that they conteyne greate occasions both of hope and feare And on the one side the mercy of God is much glorified thereby and his iustice on the other Let trouble expect to finde repose and let him feare affliction hereafter who doth not feele it now For since in any man how iust soeuer he be there are many thinges which may deserue punishment though not in hell and this punishment is to be personally indured if it be not purged with soe great an excesse of loue as that the contrition may stand for the punishment as it did in S. Mary Magdalen and some others it is plaine that eyther heere or in purgatory they must passe through fire And though they who finde not in themselues soe great loue of God as to cause this greife which may stand for a satisfaction may thinke perhaps that they receiue hard measure in beeing saued by fire whilst others shall be saued without it yet indeed they are much deceiued in their account For the great loue of God euen heere on earth when men see that God is offended doth cause greater greife then that to which you are subiect And that truth is seene by this then when one loues God greatly he would be glad of the paine you suffer soe that he might be free from that which he feeles for the offences which are committed against God And at this wee must not wonder since there are persons who euen to free you from the paine wherein you are would indure themselues And this also may serue for a proofe that the loue which one beares to another puts him to more trouble then the paine it selfe would doe which the other feeles that if your selfe loue another very much you would not be ridd of your owne paine if it were vpon condition that the other must indure it for yow which proues as I was saying that it would trouble you more in the personne of that other then in your owne Now if the loue of a creature can reach soe farre how much more will the loue of the creatour be able to doe it being infused by the most holy spirit of our lord which farre exceedes all other force And thus it growes to be a most certaine truth that eyther in this fashion or in that there is noe meanes to escape from suffering before we ariue to enioying And tell him who would complaine of this law ather complaine that he is a man that he was not made an angell and lett him complaine against iustice and reason which doe absolutely require that vertue must be obtained with labour and the reward must correspond with the vertue But who o lord who shall euer presume to cōplaine of thee as if thou didst treat them with rigour◠since instantly thou stoppest their mouthes with shewing that thou so loued the world as to giue thy onely begotten sonne to the end that in the strength of these afflictions and sorrowes and death which they charged vpon him the world might escape the torments of hell and might triumph in heauen Who I say o lord will presume to complaine when he shall see thy best beloued freindes to be soe seuerely handeled and obserue that in thy court it is hard to say which of these two haue the pre-eminence eyther afflictions or fauours and that it was said by thy commaundement to one of thy fauourites Because thou wert accepted by God it was necessary that temptation should try thee Doe not permitt your heart to sinke vnder your crosses but remember that heretofore you haue desired to doe and suffer somewhat for the loue of God God is not deafe to the desires of our hartes He hath giuen that which he knew to be best for you and if you thinke it heauy confide that he who sendes it will giue you shoulders wherewith to beare it That
againe Though thousands should rise against me yâ—t my hart shall not feare Beleiue my good sister Ps 26. that how much the harder this businesse is for you soe much the easyer is it for Almighty God And therefore you must haue great distrust in respect of your owne weakenes but great confidence withall in God's strength Infallibly he will crowne you if you continue in his loue and if you confide that by his grace you shall obtaine that Crowne Forget not this promise of Christ our lord him whoe confesses mee before men Man 10. that man will I confesse before my father who is in heauen but him who denyes mee before men that man will I alsoe deny before my father whoe is in heauen Can you thinke that one is to esteeme that for affliction which he endures for the confession of Christ our lord since it is to haue soe high a reward as that with soe much honour he shall be avowed by him at the day of iudgment before his father Happy is that sufferaÌ„ce happy that dishonour and pouerty to which soe high an honour doth succeede What kinde of ioye will it be for you O my goost sister to heare these wordes from the mouth of Christ our lord himselfe and that in presence of the whole world Matth 25. Come you blessed of my father and possesse the kingdome which is prepared for you What will it bee when the angells shall thus singe to her who hath beene a faithfull seruant of that celestiall king Come O spouse of Christ receiue thâ— crowne which our Lord hath prepared for thee and that not for one day but for all eternitie What will the spouses of Christ our Lord conceiue when hauing passed through the sea of this life and their enemies who disturbed vs remayning drowned therein they shall singe thus with great ioye for hauing runne through this dangerous world without being ouerwhelmed by the vices thereof Psal 123. The suare is broken and we are deliuered our helpe is in the name of our lord What a day will that be when that true Mary the virgin of virgins shall goe before with her Timbrell which is her sacred body praysing God both in body and soule and singing thus Psa 31. Come magnisye our Lord wish mee and lett vs exalt his name in mutuall sacietie with one another Happy are you if you be found faithfull to the Spouse whoe chose you Happy are you if you haue the courage to cast away that which is present vnder the most certaine promise of Christ our Lord for that which is future Be confident my good sister in taking his word for you are not the first to whome he hath passed it and fulfilled it neither shall you be she with whome that word shall want effect He gaue his word to S. Katherine S. Agnes S. Barbara and S. Lucy and to innumerable other Lady virgins and tell me now how completely he hath performed it They had the courage to despise the poore present world and you see that now they raigne with God They liued heere in trouble and they are nowe in the eternitie of repose Through how many combatts did they passe and they now enioye the euerlasting crownes of their conquests They fled from spouses of the earth and they brought the king of heauen to be in loue with them If they had followed the trace of this world their delight had bene already passed and their memories would haue bene forgotten But they loued that which was eternall and therefore their felicitie shall not dye and their memory shall not decay They were written in the booke of God and therefore neither water nor winde nor fyre nor tyme can make them waste For that booke is incorruptible and soe in the name which is written in it You must therefore procure to haue a stronge heart towards God who is your saluation and doe not thinke that he sells heauen deere to you for you haue not yet shed your bloud for him as those others shed theirs Our lord treates you like a weake creature and you should be ashamed to haue giuen him such cause If you had had more faith and confidence in him and more loue to suffer for him he would haue procured you more afflictions to the end that you might haue purchased richer Crownes Doe not content your selfe with suffering little considering how great your rewards all bee and how much Christ our Lord suffered for you He gaue his life for you and he was deepely tormented and despised How then come you thus to complaine of the touch of a flye doe but loue and you will desire to suffer Let your loue be doubled and you will suffer sorrowes which are doubled The loue of our lord makes such as possesse it more greedy of suffering then the loue of ones selfe of reposing It makes that any burden weighes light for loue is stronger then death He who loues not groanes vnder the burden like some lasy beast but he who loues runnes and flyes and it suffers him not to feele the weight euen of his owne body nor of whatsoeuer els they can lay vpon it It is not my good sister that the afflictions which wee suffer are greater but that our loue is little The weight of a pound is noe great weight but yet lay it vpon some little childe and he will say O how heauy it weighes Whereas if a man tooke it vp he would scarce feele it And soe take you it for a signe that if you loue little your afflictions will weigh heauy vpon you but if you loue much you will scarce allowe them to be afflictions For you will be soe inebriated with loue that nothing can be able to distract you from the taste thereof You will finde a good sauour in the very suffering it selfe and you will draw water Num. 20. out of the rocke and hony out of the stony hills Doe but loue and you shall not be subiect to afflictions but you shall be Superiour to them as their Lady and you shall praise him who deliuers you from them If they threaten you with death you will bid it welcome that soe you may enioy true life If with banishment you will say That you esteeme your selfe banished wheresoeuer you are till you may arriue to see the face of God And that it imports you little whether you goe to heauen from this or that part of the earth And that if you haue God in your company wheresoeuer you are you shall be happy and if not your owne country will giue you misery enough If you see your selfe contemned say Christ our Lord is my honour and he honours mee let the world despise mee soe hee value mee Doe not afflict your selfe about the necessitie which you may sustaine of present things for of your felfe you must despise them through the desire which you haue to â—liue in conformitie with Christ our Lord whoe made himselfe a
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
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
keepe you now when you are his friend He who did not abandon you when you fled from him will much lesse flye now from you when you follow him Who is he that can say with anie truth that God did not helpe him if he were desired See you haue no feare O you seruant of Christ in any thing which may happen to you but confide in him who loued you so 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 who contradict you Do not thinke of how great the gyants and how strong the citties are which you must encounter Nu. 14. for it is not you who must fight But holde you your peace and our lord will fight for you Do not fly from the warre nor abandon yourself as one who were ouercome and so you shall see the fauour of our lord towards you For in this warre he onely looses the battaile who quitts the field It is true that you are weake but in that weakenesse of yours God will shew his strength It is true that you know not much but God himself will be your guide By your miseries God will make your mercies appeare Whoe are you that you should be able to passe through such difficulties But yet say with Dauid Psa 1◠In the strength of my God I will leape ouer a wall Who are you that should be able to fight but yet say with him againe Psa 26 Though thousands should rise against me yet my hart shall not feare Beleiue my good sister that how much the harder this businesse is for you so much the easier it is for Almightie God And therefore you must haue great distrust in respect of your owne weakenesse but great confidence withall in God's strength Infallibly hee will crowne yow if yow continue in his loue and if you doe confide that by his grace you shall obtaine that crowne Forgett not this promise of Christ our lord Mat. 10 him who confesses me before men that man will I confesse before my Father who is in heauen but him who denyes me before men that men will I also denye before my Father who is in heauen Can you thinke that one is to esteeme that for affliction which he endures for the confession of Christ our lord since it is to haue so high a rewarde as that with so much honour he shall be crowned by him at the day of iudgement before his father Happie is that sufferance happie that dishonour and pouertie to which so high an honour doth succeede What kinde of ioy will it be for you O my good sister to heare these wordes from the mouth of Christ our lord himself and that in presence of the whole world Mat. 15. Come you blessed of my Father and possesse the kingdome which is prepared for you What will it be when the Angells shall thus sing to her who hath beene a faithfull seruant of that Celestiall king Come o Sponse of Christ receiue that crowne which our lord hath prepared for thee and that not for one day but for all eternitie What will the spouses of Christ our lord conceaue when hauing passed through the sea of this life and their enemies who disturbed vs remayning drowned therein they shall sing thus with great ioy for hauing runne through this dangerous world without being ouerwhelmed with the vices thereof Ps 12◠The snare is broken and we are deliuered our helpe is in the name of our lord What a day will that be when that true Marie the virgin of virgins shall goe before with her Timbrell which is her sacred bodie praysing God both in bodie and soule and singing thus Come magnifye our lord with me and lett vs exalte his name in mutuall society with one another Happie are you if you be found faithfull to the spouse who chose you Happie are you if you haue the courage to cast away that which is present vnder the most certaine promise of Christ our lord for that which is future Be confident my good sister in taking his word for you are not the first to whome hee hath passed it and fulfilled it neither shall you be she with whome that word shall want effecte He gaue his word to saynt Catherine saynt Agnes saynt Barbara and saynt Lucie and to inmumerable other ladie virginis and tell me now how completely he hath performed it They had the courage to despise the poore present world and you see that now they raigne with God They liued heere in trouble and they are now in an eternitie of repose Through how manie combats did they passe and they now enioy the euerlasting crownes of their conquests They fled from spouses of the earth and they brought the king of heauen to bee in loue with them If they had followed the trace of this world their delight had beene alreadie past and their memories would haue beene forgotten But they loued that which was eternall and therefore their felicitie shall not dye and their memorie shall not decay They were written in the booke of God and therefore neither water nor winde nor fire nor time can make them waste For that booke is incorruptible and so is the name which is written in it You must therefore procure to haue a strong hart towards God whoe is your saluation and doe not thinke that hee selles heauen deare to you for you haue not yet shed your bloud for him as those others shed theirs Our lord treates you like a weake creature and you should bee a shamed to haue giuen him such cause If you had had more faith and confidence in him and more loue to suffer for him he would haue procured you more afflictions to the ende that you might haue purchased richer Crownes Do not content yourself with suffering litle considering how great your rewarde shall be and how much Christ our Lord suffered for you He gaue his life for you and he was deepely tormented and despised How then come you thus to complaine of the touch of a flye doe but loue and you will desire to suffer Let your loue be doubled and you will suffer sorrowes which are doubled The loue of our Lord makes such as possesse it more greedie of suffering then the loue of ones selfe of reposing It makes that anie burden weighes light for loue is stronger then death He who loues not groanes vnder the burden like some lazie beast but he who loues runnes and flyes and it suffers him not to feele the weight euen of his owne bodie nor of whatsoeuer else they can lay vpon it It is not my good Sister that the afflictiōs which we suffer are great but that our loue is litle The weight of a pound is no great weight but yet lay it vpon some litle childe and he will say O how heauie it weighes whereas if a man tooke it vp he would scarce feele it And so