of him for that he had so manye daies depriued her of his desired presence Be mery therfore O Queene of heuen and forget thy former sorowes sith nowe thou hast found and possessest him whom thy soule desired and according to the greatnes of dolours past art now surceased with present consolation A PRAYER VVHAT pleasure and contentment did thy soul feele O most sacred Queene of heauen when hauing lost thy deerly beloued sonne thou foundest him againe in the Temple amongst the Doctors None can possibly conceue it but he that wel weieth with howe great grief desire and diligence thou wentest those three days seeking him amongst his frends kinsfolks I beseech thee therfore O mother of mercy aswel by the extreme annoy wherwith thou soughtest him as by the inexplicable ioy wherwith thou receuedst him hauing founde him that thou wilt vouchsafe to helpe me that I deserue not through my sinnes and offences to lose the same Lorde and if at some time he should absent him selfe from me I may knowe howe to seeke him and howe againe to finde him Amen ¶ THE SECOND MISTERIES ARE CALLED DOLOROVS THROVGH THE GRET dolours which the moste sacred virGIN-MOTHER FELT WHEN such thinges happed as thou shalt MEDITATE THEREIN whereof some she sawe with her CORPORALEYES and some with her spiritual OF THE PRAYER Expauet ingeminatque preces sanguine mâ—nat Dum socij fugiunt impia vincla subit ¶ THE FIRST DOLOROVS MISTERIE is of the praier which our Lorde made in the garden of Geth-semani wher vpon thou shalt meditate these pointes in maner folowing FIRST how our Redeemer comforting his Disciples and exhorting them to pray and watche with him pronounced this most doulful speeche My soule is heauy euen til death SECONDLY howe withdrawing him self from his Disciples about a stones cast he praied with most profound humilitie and reuerence to his Father saying My Father if it be possible passe ouer this cupp from me howbeit not my wil be done but thine THIRDLY howe he came to visite his Disciples and finding them asleepe awaked and commaunded them to praye as he did twise more him-selfe with the same wordes and swett droppes of bloud which trickled downe to the grounde and then did an Angel discend from heauen to comfort him AS TOVCHING the firste point thou maiest pause therein meditating how our Redeemer fore-knowing the hour of his most holy Passion to draw nigh wherto he through his most feruent charitie freely offred vp him-selfe got him to the garden of Geth-semani where he was eftsons wont to pray that Iudas the Traitour and the other which he brought with him might knowe where to finde and to apprehend him Howbeit before thei came our Lorde had praied a longe time and commaunded that his Disciples shoulde doo in like maner wherein he ment to geue both to theÌ„ and vs an example that against al the perils temptations and tribulations that may befal vs in this life and that in any matter of importance whatsoeuer it be that we haue to doo that we first arme and fortifie our selues with the armour of holy prayer by meanes wherof we shal-be illuminated to knowe what we ought to doo and comforted to endure patientlye the afflictions which we are to suffer Meditate also how our Sauiour finding him-self sore afflicted inwardly through the consideratioÌ„ of so many sorts of griefes and torments as were prepared for him he shewed the most vehement affliction and heauines which he felt by those woful wordes he vttered to his Disciples My soule is heauie euen til death The which ought to perce to the verye depth of our heartes seing we haue been the cause that he shoulde suffer such sorowe who is the ioy of Angels And howe can it be O Lorde but my heart be it neuer so harde shal-be heuie and melt againe contemplating thy heart so extremely anguished and distressed What solace can my soule receaue seing thee who art the Sonne that illuminatest and reioicest it thus oppressed with dole and sorowe If thou which art the ioye of Angelical quiers art thus grieuedâ— what thing can suffice to reioyce and comfort man but to think that thine infinite charitie which bringeth thee to thy death doth make thee heauy euen to death to th'ende that as thy death is cause of our life so in like maner thy heauines might be cause of our consolation and deliuer vs from that mortal heauines wherein we shoulde perpetually haue remained if thou haddest not vouchsafed to haue bene made sorowful and heauy for our sakes This thy heauines O King of glorie shal continue eueÌ„ til thy death for that euen to death shal thy trauaile endure wher-with like a moste louing mother thou deliuerest vs but when we shal by thy death be borne a-newe then shalt thou not thinke any more of heauines by reason of the ioy of our newe birth and this maye some-what mitigate his sorowe who contemplateth this sorowful passage AS FOR the seconde point thou maiest staye therein considering the circumstaunces that happed in this our Lordes praier and the wordes he vttered First the text saith howe he withdrewe him-self from his Disciples to pray and this withdrawing or separation doth S. Luke declare by this worde auulsus est which signifieth plainely with howe great difficultie he withdrewe him-selfe from them through the loue he bare them and that to pray which must be done in solitarines silence and attention and he withdrew him-selfe from theÌ„ but a stones cast so that he might easily see and heare them being called yea he came eftsons to visite theÌ„ to wake them and to warne them of that they had to doo instructing al Pastors and Curates how they ought to behaue them-selues towards their flockes by these his particularities Learne also of the profounde humilitie wher-with he threwe him-selfe on ground to pray what humilitie is necessary for thee when thou praiest sith thou presentest thy selfe before the face of the self-same infinite Maiestie before whom the Potentates of heauen doo tremble againe In like maner thou maiest out of the wordes which he vsed in his petition learne the forme which thou oughtest to obserue in thy prayers not crauing such temporal thinges as thou desirest absolutelye but remitting al things to his diuine wil wherto thou oughtest to conforme thy wil. Here maiest thou contemplate also howe with the silence and obscuritie of the night and with the words which our Lorde pronounced in his petition this inwarde heauines he felt in his heart increased and grewe greater finding nothing that might possibly afforde him comfort Ah! my moste sweete Sauiour the onely comfort of the comfortlesse and afflicted how is it that I see thee this night without any comfort or ease at al neither is there any of al thy deere frendes to comfort thee for whose sakes thou art fallen into such heuines and anxietie O that I had heard those pitiful
sighes and grones which eftsons issued out of thine annoyed heart to th'ende that nowe I am not able any wayes to comfort thee I might yet at least taste some part of thy heauines and afflictiō wherwith I might waile the occasion that I haue geuen thee to be heauie and that my tears might serue for breade to susteine me in this my miserable pilgrimage IN THE thirde point thou maiest consider many thinges firste by the diligence where-with our Lorde went from his praiers to visite his Disciples and returned from them backe again to his prayers thou maiest note the charitie and fatherlye care he had of them whom he visited thus oft Secondly consider the greeuous anguish and inwarde paine he suffered which permitted him not to rest in any place Thirdly weigh the perseuerance and often praier which he taught vs and is most necessarye so to be to be fruitful and effectual Fourthly consider the griefe it is like he felt fore-thinking the tormentes which he was to endure seing that by the imagination only thereof he swett in so straunge and miraculous a maner O my Lorde if the bare apprehension of thy future tormentes doo so sore afflict and make thee sweat so strangely what shal the impression of the self-same tormentes doo right euidently doth thy readye and willing heart shewe it self wherwith thou wilt redeeme vs with the inestimable price of thy pretious bloud sithens thou beginnest so plētifully to shedd it before those manifold wounds and strokes wherwith it shal hereafter be whollye drawen out of thy body O my soule learne to set by thy self and doo not sel thy selfe so vilely as for the filthy plesure of sinne seing here howe greatly thou art set by of thy Redemer who with so great a price hath bought thee and hath begonne to paye the same so long time before the daye Occupie thy self a while in contemplating the meruailous vision of this garden which is farre surpassing that that Moyses saw in the mountaine and shake off the shoes of thy carnal concupiscēces approching to behold this beautiful face al bathed in bluddie streames of sweat wherin al the Angels take singuler delite to looke Gather me those doleful drops that fal on ground by the vertue whereof thy paines shal-be asswaged and thy woundes recured sith the celestial Phisition hath thus vouchsafed to sweat them for thy wel-fare Lastly meditate how our Lord being in this pitiful extremitie an Angel came downe from heauen to cōfort him O Prince of Angels howe hast thou thus exceedingly abased thy selfe for vs that thou standest in neede to be comforted by one of thine owne seruauntes Al the Angelical quires yeelde adoration and thankes vnto thee who wot muche better then we doo howe greatly we are bounde to thee for hauing vouchsafed thus to humble and abase thy selfe for vs thy moste vile creatures O sacred virgin if thou haddest with thy corporal eyes viewed this ruful spectacle as it is likelye thou diddest see it with thy spiritual eyes wel haddest thou stoode neede of an-other Angel to haue come and comforted thee For wel may we deeme that thy woes should not haue wanted nor any anguishe and affliction to haue tormented thee And albeit thou diddest not then bedewe the grounde with thy blouddie sweat as did thy sweete sonne yet haply diddest thou bedewe it with teares trickling from thine eyes and filledst the ayre with lamentable sighes and heauen with feruent praiers Howbeit al this was litle in comparison of that which remayned behind both for thee to see and for him to suffer This vigilant Shepparde being nowe lastlye of al returned to his sleapie sheepe thou maiest meditate howe he remained with them expecting the furious arriual of those mad dogges that came to seek him by whom he was cruellye assailed bound and caried to the houses of Anna and Caiphas A PRAYER LIKE AS O most sacred virgin and mother thou wert partaker of the ioyes and cōsolations of thy most holy sonne euē so didst thou likewise participate of the pains and griefs of his most bitter passion sith that which he suffred in body did cruciate thy blessed soul and therfore at such time as he praied and sweat droppes of bloud thorough the great anguishe he felt in the garden of Geth-semani thē were thou by imagining the same whollye surseased with vehement sorowe I beseeche thee therefore by this thy dolour and his and thy heauines that it may please thee to make me partaker thereof that praying with bitter teares and wailing my former manifolde and grieuous trespasses I maye obteine a ful forgeuenes of the same Amen OF THE WHIPPING In virgas in flagra datur rigat atria sanguis Verbera deficiunt non patientis amor ¶ THE SECOND DOLOrous Misterie is of the whipping of our Lorde concerning the which thou shalt meditate these pointes folowing FIRST how Pilate ordeined that our Redeemer should be whipped supposing that by this chastisement he might some-what appease the fiendish fury of those cruel Iewes who with such obstinacie required him to condemne him to be crucified SECONDLY with what diligence and crueltie those barbarous executioners caried our Lorde into the Palace and stripping off his clothes bound him fast to a piller there to beate him THIRDLY thou maiest consider the extreme dolour which this most mild Lambe felte whiles they whipt him his most delicate flesh being with so many and so cruel scourges and strokes wholly torne and wounded VPON the firste point thou maiest amplifie by considering the shiftes that Pilate sought to excuse him-self from condemning him to death who is the authour of life for first he protested that he found no cause in him whye he ought to dye secondlye he sent him to Herode that he might pronounce iudgement of him thirdly he compared him with Barrabas the thiefe perswading him selfe that the Iewes hauing choise to saue one of their two liues would rather take innocent Iesus then the seditious thiefe and murtherer fourthly this being not sufficient he determined for a last remedie to make him be whipt weening that by this punishment he should mittigate their felonious madnes Where note that al these meanes wherby Pilate sought to deliuer him woting wel his innocencie were occasion that our Redeemer was more tormented and afflicted for by this meanes he added to the death of the Crosse which they required and was afterwardes graunted them the pain and shame he suffred going and cōming from Herode and being accompted worse then Barrabas and afterwardes most cruelly whipt and crowned with thornes in such wise as not onely they which are his open enemies cause him to suffer but he also who desired to deliuer him encreased his annoyes And thou moste louing Lorde lettest euery thing redounde to thy greater griefe to the ende that to those that loue thee euerye thing may redound to their greter benefite Blessed be thine infinite charitie for
heauie Crosse on his weak shoulders which they had with great diligence prepared in such wise for him ponder wel how greatly his paine was increased by that so vnmerciful a weight being so sore weakned with his former tormentes and the bloud which he had lost alreadie Consider howe they make his condition worse then that of the twoo theeues whom they carye with him to suffer the like death sith neither of them carieth his Crosse as they make our most mild Sauiour to doo This is the sceptre O my King which these Infidels and rebellious seruants of thine geue thee in signe of the soueraintie which thou hast ouer theÌ„ the which answereth very wel to the crowne wherwith they haue alredie crowned thee and thine inestimable charitie dissembleth and embraceth al with the great desire thou hast to conduct them by this way to thy celestial kingdome This is the staffe whereon thou leanest and goest therwith like an-other Iacob to passe the floud of Iordan to witt of death to returne anon after thy resurrectioÌ„ associated with those infinite legions of soules which thou deliueredst out of Limbo and cariedst vp to heuen with thee With this staffe and with the fiue stones which thou tookest in the mount Caluarie that is to say thy fiue most sacred woundes thou foughtest like an-other Dauid against that proude giant Lucifer subduedst him deliuering by this meanes thy people from the hellish hoste which did on euery side enuirone them This is the wood which thou bearest on thy backe like an-other Isaac to offer thy selfe thervppon for vs in this most acceptable sacrifice to thine eternal Father being burned with the â—ire of thy moste feruent charitie Consider besides how the Redeemer going thus loden with the grieuous weight of the Crosse fel to the ground through the vnmerciful weight that he bare and howe they smiting him then a-fresh most tirannously make him rise vp and go an ende where thou maiest meditate how not only the weight of the Roode did grieue tormeÌ„t him but also both thine and the whole world their manifold and enormous offeÌ„ces which he then bare vpoÌ„ him going for theÌ„ in this wise to be crucified So did the Prophet Esay affirme saying Howe the eternal Father had laide vpon him al our iniquities that he should stisfie for al like as he had offred him-selfe for al. O my most sweete Redeemer howe grieuous a burden did the multitude of mine abhominations occasionate thee which thou berest on thy backe and paine thee much more then the Crosse it selfe doth O how great reason is it that I weepe and waile with thee for the paine which I haue caused thee to endure and with-al yeeld thee thankes that thou like a good Sheppard hast vouchsafed to carye vpon thy sacred shoulders this miserable strayed sheepe which thou diddest come to seeke in the wildernes of this world Al the quiers of Angels which thou leftest behinde thee in heauen adore and blesse thee who knowe much better then we doo howe greatlye the clemencie meriteth to be thanked which moued thee to come carye and cure so vile a sheepe as is that of humane nature which thou diddest beare vpon thy backe in carying of thy Crosse IN THE THIRDE point thou mayest also interteyne thy selfe contemplating in what a pitiful plight our Lorde and Sauiour was in when the Crosse was taken from him and geuen to Cyreneus because he was not able to go so fast as those wicked helhoundes woulde haue had him Howe greatly he was pained and afflicted sweting through the wearines of the viage he had made howe wounded and annoyed through the heauines of the Crosse shedding his bloud a-new which intermedled with sweat did bedew the ground he went vpon howe fraight with the shame and vilanies they did vnto him howe brused with the blowes and strokes which they gaue him to make him go on ende O my God what a countenaunce is this ynough to burst his heart with compassion who had neuer so litle of humane pietie O my soul if thou couldest throughly consider this passage howe great cause shouldest thou find to take compassioÌ„ grief at so many griefs so many and outragious spites as thou seest him suffer for thy sins who neuer sinned nor euer was ani falshod fouÌ„d in his mouth and howe greatly oughtest thou besides to waile the hardnes of thy heart which is not rent in twain with the remembrance of such a ruful countenance O if thou didst loue this Lord with such loue as thou art bound to doo he louing thee so dearlye with howe great feruour wouldest thou desire to gather vpp those pretious droppes of bloud and sweat which did fal on the grounde wher-with thou mightest washe out thy staines and beautifie thy beastlye blemishes Ah! what a spite shouldest thou beare that Cyreneus who eased in some wise the paine of this Celestial Monarche carying his Crosse hefore him as a Royal Standard and that which he bore then perforce and maugre his wil thou shouldest beare on thy backe with a willing and cheerful courage woting howe the same Lord hath saide That if any wil folowe him he must take vp his Crosse and folowe him And seing thou hast not deserued to cary that Crosse which Simon Cyreneus did carye at least thine owne like as thou art coÌ„maunded that is to say the toils and tribulations which in this life shal befal thee Carye also the Crosse of compassion vnbethinking thee of that which thy Lord vouchsafed to suffer for thee sith in this sort thy seruice which now thou doest shal be much more grateful to him theÌ„ that which Cyreneus earst performed Meditate also in this Article the pitiful plaintes of those deuout women that folowed him who al of them wept ful bitterlye seing the crueltie wher-with the most patient Lambe was handled but aboue al take compassion of those teares which the most mournful mother shed who like as she loued her sonne more then did al the other women so did she weepe more bitterly then the other lament more then the other and feele more greeuous corseys then the other O sacred virgin who can possiblye conceaue the excesse of thy most vehement griefes when thou sawest him whom thy soule loued so tenderly lodened with that importable weight weakned with so many woes pained with so many woundes contemned with so many iniuries felowed with theeues and adiudged to the death of the Roode which they caused him with such reproche and paine to carye Euen such was thy soule then as was the figure which thou beheldest with thy weeping eyes neither did the thornes of sorowe perce thine entrals lesse then those of woodd pearce his most Reuerend head This onely anguish O my Soueraine Ladye had beene sufficient to haue made thee dye as it sufficed to make thee sowne were it not thy life had been supernaturally preâ—erued to see
with those most sacred handes which she had so lately seene fastned to the Roode he with such pietie wiped off the trickling tears of her reuerend face then might she saye and that with great cause that sentence of the Prophet Dauid According to the multitude of griefes that my heart hath suffered thy consâ—lations haue reioyced my soule Consider then in the best wise thou canst the sweete communication that passed betwixt the blessed mother and the Sonne the the which wel maye we beleue did occasionate no lesse comfort to the mother then did his sight albeit she could vtter but fewe wordes by reason she was wholly rapt in beholding that glorious vision which she had before her eyes and in viewing euery particuler fealtie of that body and that amiable countenance whose brightnes and beautie did so greatlye delite her nowe as did the seing of it blacke and wounded heretofore torment her in the time of his painful passioÌ„ In like maner beholding those wounds which in his death had perced her virginal heart with sorowe nowe became so faire and so glittering she was therby replenished with so great a ioye as she remained like one astonished not being able to pronounce scarse any one word Reioyce therfore O Queene of heauen sith thou hast so great causes to reioyce thee Let thy spirite now be glad in God thy Sauiour who hath fully satisfied the loÌ„ging desires of thy soule Nowe thou seest him risen vp again whose death thou earst lamentedst Now is winter and the stormes of his persecutions ignominies and tormentes cleane passed ouer now liueth he and death shal haue no more any dominion ouer him Thou seest him nowe farre more exalted then he was before depressed now is he a conquerour of Death of Hel and of the Diuel nowe is neither he to suffer anye more nor thou to haue any further feare Reioyce therfore O Lady and let thy soule receaue solace through his triumph and Resurrection as it was before made sorowful eueÌ„ almost to death through his painful death and passion IN THE THIRDE point thou maiest in like maner enterteyne thy selfe being a matter of great consolation considering howe our Lorde looke what office he had performed to his most blessed mother and the same vouchsafed he to doo to his Disciples and other deuout seruants wher-with we may wel beleeue that the louing Ladye replenished with charitie was very wel contented yea desired him so to doo sithens like as when he was borne she laide him in a manger signifying thereby that albeit she alone did beare and bring him forth yet would she not haue him for her-selfe alone but for al eueÌ„ so would she not haue al the ioye of his glorious resurrection to her-selfe alone but would in any wise that others were made partakers thereof Meditate therfore how he first appered to good Mary Magdalen according to the testimonie of the holy Euangelists who went with the other deuout womeÌ„ to annoint him with pretious oyntments which they caried with theÌ„ in the sepulchre where not finding of him albeit her companions went away yet would not she depart sith loue held her fast linked to the place where she had earst left him whom she so dearly loued and remaining there weeping she with a desire she had to finde him dead merited to see him aliue and risen vp albeit in Gardners weede in such sort as she sawe him and knewe him not our Lord aunswering herein to the disposition of her soule for she loued and doubted as he for the same reason appered in pilgrims shew to those two disciples that went to Emaus where thou maiest note how this Lord knoweth at one time how both to comfort instruct and manifest the defects of his elect and how such are best fauoured of him as most feruently doo loue him like as we here see by good Mary MagdaleÌ„ to whoÌ„ for her feruent loue sake was this prerogatiue geuen that she might first see her deerlye beloued master and that she might be the messenger to announce the ioye of his Resurrection to those that litle thought therof by reason of the heauines they were in through the remembrance of his death and doleful passion Thinke nowe good Christian think attentiuely what ioy that most denout gentlewoman did feele wheÌ„ she both sawe and knew her so dearlye beloued master Ah Lorde howe that heart leaped againe for ioy wheÌ„ our Sauior called her Mary and she answered him forth-with with this louing word of master O what a sodaine chaunge is this how present an alteration What did thy hart feele O good Mary Magdalen being thus in a moment deliuered from thy surpassing sorows and surseased with such a wonderful consolation What a boiling heat of hart was that that made her so impotent ouer her selfe be about to embrace him like one dronke in loue wherby she quite forgot her-selfe of his most sacred Maiestie O most happy teares wherewith she bedewed the ground of that garden which made her so soone to reape so sweete a fruit happy the perseuerance which made her tarye stil in that place wherby she was so singulerly reioyced and comforted of our Sauiour O happy loue more strong theÌ„ death which made her to finde the authour of life reuiued and risen vp in the very place of death Contemplate afterwardes howe she hied her to tel these ioyful tidinges to the Apostles whom euery one of them this Sonne of righteousnes minded to white confect and illuminate for like as he was borne for al and died for al so did he rise vp again for al and vouchsafed to coÌ„municate the ioyes of his Resurrection to al forgetting neither Peter who denied him nor the other Apostles who were nowe for woe and distrust departed from Ierusalem neither Thomas who coÌ„tinued so long time in his obstinate incredulitie wherby is shewed vs howe much more this Lord is inclined and prone to comfort and to fauour then to afflict and punish seing how in counterchange of those fewe dayes wherin he permitted them through his death to be scandalized troubled and afflicted he did afterwardes comfort and reioyce them farre more with his desired presence appering many times to them during the fortie daies mening ther by to ascertaine theÌ„ the better of the veritie of his ResurrectioÌ„ where out thou maiest learne to put thy trust in this most faithful Lorde And albeit thou feele thy selfe other-whiles afflicted and greeuously tempted dispaire not yet for he wil haue care to comfort and visite thee in due time and wil deliuer thee out of al thy temptatioÌ„s and afflictions according as it is written After a storme he sendeth a calme and after sobbes and teares he geueth consolations A PRAYER AFTER a storm the aire grow eth commonly clear againe euen so is it happed to thee O most Souerain Queene of heauen for after the stormie and woful