haue shewed but the least fauor in this cause ye vsing this his feare for the finishing of this blody tragedie vrged him too often that if b. Iohn 19. hee did acquite hee was not Caesars friend although the tryalls of iustice betweene a Prince and his subiects should no other wise bee esteemed of them as quarrels O heauenly father Caesar is more regarded than thy sonne and more are men afraide not to be ouer officious to Caesar than to be too much offensiue to thee and thy sonne and therefore is thy sonne at this time called from the earth O vngratefull creatures not because they iudged the earth vnworthie to beare him but because in their corrupted conceits they thought him vnworthie to liue any longer vpon the earth and hangeth in the ayre fast nayled to a Crosse O happie Crosse O Holy nailes O sweete instrumentes of a sorrowfull death worthie for this so neare touche of so sacred a body to bee had herafter in perpetual reuerence ye were not painefull vnto him but they which caused you to enter his hands and feete but neither deserue ye any blame if yee desierd to sticke so close vnto him O my sweete sonne bee not hard to me who haste beene so bountifull to all but graunt mee this my last request Take thy Mother vnto thee on the Crosse that dying with thee I may also liue with thee after death for nothing can be more sweet vnto me than hauing embraced thee to die with thee and nothing more loathsome than to liue without thee after that thou art dead O true sonne of God thou wert a father vnto me thou wert a mother to mee thou wert my sonne thou wert my spouse thou wert my soul now am I become an orphant without Father or Mother a spouse without a mate a Mother without a sonne a body without sence and soule and in conclusiō when thou art gone all that I haue and all that I am is gone Tell mee my most louing son tell me who wert mine only ioy Why sufferest thou mee to languish and pine awaye with griefe Why hast thou seperated thy selfe so far from me shall thy sorrowfull mother when shee most needeth receiue least cōfort of thee where she least suspected shall she there bee most neglected O how long dost thou hāg with thine armes abroad none will come to be embraced How louingly dost thou stretch them out to an incredulous and contradictious people and none do take any compassion vppon thee How largely doest thou bestowe thy most deare and precious blood vpon this prodigall Natiō and none there are which treade it not vnder their feete O had I bin thy Crosse no other nayles should haue fastned thee vnto me then a motherly affection no other witnesses shuld haue bin called of our sweet embracings then thy Father and his Angels Lesse paine I am well assured it should haue bin vnto thee but knowing that neyther this nor any thing els can be done without thy priuity I cānot say how much more pleasing at this time it wold haue bin vnto thee but howsoeuer it is or might be not seeing any likelyhood of thy longer life I cānot but grieue as mothers vse to grieue at the death of their first begottē But he being no les carefull of her now at his death then hee was obedient vnto her in his life mooued with these inward speeches and wofull lamentations looking downe vpon her said vnto her Iohn 19. VVoman behold thy sonne O moste mercifull Lorde what doubtfull wordes are these VVoman behold thy sonne thou knowest right well that shee hath sorrowed so much for thee that all her sences faile her her vnderstanding also is quite dulled shee standeth still like one without her life looking vpp to thee and no where els and sayest thou vnto her VVoman behold thy sonne O most sweete Lord whome doth shee behold when shee beholdeth thee on whome dooth shee looke when she looketh on thee where is her eye when it is fixed on thee yet as though she had not regarded thee but minded somwhat els beside thee thou sayest vnto her VVoman behold thy sonne What ioy would it bee to her to behold thee if shee could help thee but being that she cannot why to increase her griefe doest thou say vnto her VVoman behold thy sonne and the more sorrow conceaueth she by these thy wordes that thou sayest vnto hir VVoman as though shee could and did not discharge the part of a Mother as thou hadst done the dutie of a Sonne But if nowe at thy departure from her thou art to deliuer her vp a Mother to another therefore saiest vnto her VVoman behold thy sonne consider her case consider thine owne sorrowe hath taken away her sence from her and too much paine thy life from thee both which concurring what wonder if she stand amazed not knowing what thou meanest for although shee might aime at thine intention yet vvas her attention so great to euerie last word which she herd of thee being now almost breathles that nothing els seemed to sounde in her eares and therfore she could not but behold thee still Beside this if it had beene so that thou hadst quickned her wits that she had vnderstood thy meaning that by vertue of thy word Saint Iohn should become her sonne yet since that this worde sonne hath such relation to Iohn that it hath a more proper to thee No woonder sweet Lord if she still stand beholding thee since that without naming which thou sayest vnto her woman behold thy sonne Our blessed Lady beeing now wounded to the death hearing her sonne with a hoarse fainting voice vtter these wordes was not able to make him any answere but beeing in a more grieuous trauaile than euer was any woman shee cryed for help shee knewe not whence a. Mat. 27. God had denayed it her for hee had forsaken his son the Angels neclected her b. Luk. 22 for they knewe their Lord to be in this agonie would not defende him c. Mat. 27 hys friendes stood looking on aloofe of her paines grew vpon her her panges increased double and treble about her there was not any of her dearest could comfort her But her sonne seeing her thus perplexed knowing that he was the cause of al hir griefe although void of all comfort also himselfe hastned what he could to cōfort her by giuing her to vnderstand that hee came into this world to this end and no other that by this way he should redeeme the world and since that it pleased his father it shuld be so he would not it shoulde displease his Mother also that by this Passion hee was to enter into his glory neuerthelesse that hee would not leaue her although for a time he must be absent from her During which season in his place shee should take her cosen account him as her sonne who should be a most faithfull comforter vnto her
loue her serue her haue care of her and obey her as his Mother Looking therefore vppon Iohn who stoode close by him with a sad countenance a sorrowfull hart shedding manie a hote teare he said vnto him Behold thy Mother Iohn 19. Sweet Lord right well maist thou put her out of doubt by these wordes what before thou diddest meane ey the other but thou darest not put her out of her dumpes because she is now assured that thou wilt depart frō her but since that shee her selfe cannot nowe haue her choice which shoulde haue beene no other then thy selfe Shee is cotented with her chance and not altogether somuch dismaied or otherwise she should haue beene if her lot had not lighted where shee not lightly loued and yeeldeth vp her will to bee wholie thine although to thine owne paine aswell as hers thou leauest to be hers But who can thinke what griefe will possesse this thy other beloued Disciple to heare him selfe posted ouer to another whom although he loued entirelie well hee loued because she was thy mother and now that this dignitie is eyther quite taken from her or at the least suspended hee knoweth not for how long as appeareth by that thou hast giuen her a mother to an other howe can hee bee but full of sorrow His loue to thee was such as hee neuer loued himselfe or anye for himselfe wherefore if thou diddest mind to bequeath thy Mother to his custodie much better haddest thou saide vnto him beholde my Mother then beholde thy Mother since that hee knewe not howe to loue anie but thy selfe or els for thy sake But alas sweet Lorde how in seeking to comfort him doest thou take away all comfort from him Right well might hee call to minde nowe yea and vnderstand that which once thou saidst that the sonne of man for so did the sonne of GOD delight to call him selfe should bee betraied to the gentils Luke 13. he should bee mocked whipped and spet at and that after that they should whippe him they would kil him for al this he hath seene both with watrie eyes and a wofull heart but howe can hee thinke in his minde that according to thy promise thou wilt rise againe the third day since that thou haste thus disposed of thy chiefest treasure can he thinke that thou hast any such meaning as to returne at the least in any short time who hast giuen ouer both thy mother and him in such sorte as an euerlasting linke of loue shuld bee betweene them when thou saidst to the one in respect of the other VVoman behold thy sonne behold thy mother Behold thy mother thou saiest vnto him what child sweet Lord in his mothers wombe desireth not to see their Mother What els doe those throwes portend which to their paine all mothers but thine own and onely as thine doe feele in their trauaile so that no doubt this thy Disciple cannot but iudge this a most guide and carefull motiue by which hee should become thy mothers sonne He knew right well that once her bowels wer thy liuing Temple and now he seeth that when thou diest her heart will bee thy chiefest shrine and therefore is verie well contented to beholde her as thou biddest him yet pardon Lord pardon doth he craue a while and leaue to looke vpon thee still because hee hath iust cause of feare in respect of thy grieuous torments that whilest he casteth his eye one waie from thee to looke on her thou wilt make an escape some other way both from her and him and because he doubteth he cannot see thee so long as he would hee desireth to look vpon thee so long as he may and although she be one who deserueth to bee beheld aswell for the signes shee maketh of exceeding great loue vnto thee as also for that she was so potent an obiect that shee drew thee to looke in an extraordinarie manner vpon her yet when thou art present he thinketh his sences haue such an obiect of thee in regard both of his owne loue and compassion as also of thine exceeding great dignity beeing author of whatsoeuer is worthie praise or maruaile in any other that he cannot as yet behold any other but thee Some comfort were these speeches vnto them woman behold thy sonne Behold thy mother but they wished they might haue proceeded from some other occasion When he was with them him selfe hee was most tender ouer them and now that hee is taken from them hee giueth the one of them charge ouer the other He knewe not who loued him and his mother better than did Iohn and therefore hee thought none so fitte to haue charge of her as Iohn neither did he know who could loue Iohn better than did he and his mother therefore wold his mother shuld haue the care of him and that this loue should continue in the most tender manner that might bee hee ioyned them together as mother and sonne O Mary if thou wert a Virgin as thou wert most pure behold thy sonne if thou wert es poused to thy mare and yet remainedst chast behold thy sonne If thou wert one who for thy most rare vertues wert singularly beloued of Christ beholde thy sonne if thy loue were such vnto Christ that neither bashfulnes in thrusting among the people beeing a maiden nor feare of being trodden downe in the multitude being a weakeling nor danger of being apprehended and euill intreated by the souldiers being so deare and neare vnto him could holde thee backe from accompanying him to the Crosse beholde thy sonne a. Iohn 21 Christ left Peter as his successour to guide his Church beeing his spouse a signe of great loue a place of high renowne dignitie a. Iohn 19 Christ hath left Iohn as his successor to haue care of Mary who was not onely his spouse but also his mother what greater honor with like contentment could hee enioy in this world If Moyses hauing charge of the Iewes had such aboundance of grace infused into him that when it was deuided b. Num. 11 it was sufficient for threescore more and tenne what shall wee imagine was giuen vnto Iohn who was to haue charge not of the children of Israell c. Iohn 19 but of the Mother of God Likewise when God passed by Moyses hee passed in that order and with such swiftnes that nothing could be seene but his hinder partes and yet no doubt hys promise was performed a. Exod. 33 I will shew thee all God But Saint Iohn did so long behold God his face that hee was not able to hold vp his head any longer b. Iohn 13 but laid it downe vppon his breast and rested in his bosome what good was it likely was shewed then to him nay rather what good had he not communicated vnto him Thence his exceeding great knowledge whereby when others write of Christ as a man c. Iohn 1. hee began his Gospell with insearchable misteries of his
Godheade Thence his inuinsible courage which could neyther with any promised honour nor present horrour be vanquished Thence his vnspeakable charitie which was so hote and burning within him that hee felt not the scalding oyle The loue which lay within his breast was so potent that fire it selfe in respect of it was cold or at the least had no force in working comparable vnto it for neyther did he desire a tabernacle in mount a. Math. 17 Tabor with Peter nor couet a crowne or b. Mat. 20 next sitting to Christ in heauen with Iames without a firme purpose and a resolute minde to disburse what should be thought conuenient for so great a purchase which fullie and truely he paid vpon his birth day Other Martirs haue their Martirdome and they suffer in it S. Ioh. had his at his masters his Passion but he suffered not in it and therefore hee suffered the more for it was death for him to liue and to die for Christ his gaine But O most mercifull Lorde why didst thou afflict this thy beloued Disciple in this sorte Thou a. Mat. 20 gauest him a promise that he should drinke of thy cup and he expecting a death for thy sake cannot haue it did pittie mooue thee beeing thy darling that thou couldest not see him murdered as thy other Apostles were and whom thou louedst most entirelye and therefore wouldest hee should drinke of no other Cuppe than thine and so to haue him as thy Mother and his a Martyr in life in minde in will but not in death that thou mightest haue to Crowne at once the Mother and the Sonne with the same Crownes of glory Impossible it was O Mary that thou shouldest bee like vnto thy son in al things wherefore in asmuch as it is possible thy Sonne hath made one like vnto thee where also thou shalt not leese the name of a mother beholde then Saint Iohn thy sonne a most pure virgin a most learned Docter a most constant Martir Nowe is it performed which was so long before promised a Isai 56. I will giue vnto mine Euenuches a worthie place in my house within my walkes and a name better than the name of sonnes daughters of Israell I will giue them an eternall name which shall neuer faile VVoman behold thy sonne What name vnder Heauen is comparable vnto this name What name shall endure after this name the Sonne of Marie It. b. Iohn 8. was an honor to be accounted the son of Abraham the son of Israell and happie was hee which coulde bee numbered among them But this name the sonne of Mary none was worthie of but God himselfe the second person in the Trinitie a. Iohn 19 and nowe it is giuen to Iohn by Christ hanging vpon the Crosse for his inheritance whē looking vppon his mother and making signe toward Iohn hee said vnto her VVoman behold thy sonne A name which as it had no greater vnder heauen so did it neuer perish for as Christ dying vpon the Crosse so lest a Sonne with his mother as he himself did not leaue to be her sonne so also shee dying did so ioyne her selfe to her son in heauen as shee left not to be a Mother also vnto him which was in earth that this name might very well bee called a eternall name for whether she were in earth or in heauen aliue or dead her sonne had so prouided it there should bee Maries sonne O blessed Virgin when thou diddest conceaue Saint Iohn a. Iohn 2 thou diddest conceaue him in mirth b. Iohn 19. but thou wert deliuered of him when he was deliuered vnto thee in great sorrow heauines Hee was the first for whose cause at thy request thy Sonne did manifest himselfe vnto the worlde by shewing his power in working miracles and now he is the last the only man committed vnto thee when thy Sonne passeth out of the world by suffering with patience what malice could work against him so that the measure of thy Son his life in this worlde was no more than the time in which thou diddest breed Saint Iohn for when the time was come that Iohn became thy Sonne thou lost thyne other Sonne Nowe that thou shouldest be a comfort vnto others thou hast experience what that saying meaneth a. Gen. 3. thou shalt bring forth in griefe for the ease thou hadst when Christ was borne is with vsurie recompenced at thy deliuerie of Iohn whom with excessiue sorrowe thou broughtest forth thy sonne b. Iohn 16 A woman when she is in trauaile hath sorow because her houre is come but when she hath brought foorth the childe now shee remembreth not the anguish for ioy that a man is borne into the world But thou most blessed Virgin as thou wert priuiledged in this aboue all other women that thou wert deliuered of thy first begotten without any paine so now hast thou this singular aboue any other woman that at thy second trauaile thou feelest as great panges after it as before it Shee ioyeth because a man is borne into the world and thou haste cause to grieue because a man is gone out of the worlde shee is glad because shee hath a sonne and thou haste cause to mourne because thou haste lost a sonne and so much is thy sorrowe more than theyrioy may be as thy sonne exceedeth all other womens sons for although thou wert deliuered of a sonne yet wert thou spoiled of an other such was thy trauaile and with such condition that the birth of thy second son supposed the death of thy first begotten a. Luk. 1 When thou gauest consent vnto the wordes of the Angell God spake the worde and the worde was incarnate the same word vouchsafing to speake vnto thee not by the mouth of an Angell but by himselfe hath said the word and thou haste not only conceaued thy second son but art also deliuered of him VVoman behold thy sonne Behold thy Mother Thus hauing eyther of them charge of other glad they were that neither was willing to depart Saint Iohn feared not hee shuld be forced to leaue his Master in following his charge whē she should goe away neither did our blessed Lady doubt what she might doe if Iohn should parte from thence their life was nayled on the Crosse that they could not stirre from it rather had they stay a. Iohn 19 see him wounded a dolefull sight then not see him at all wherefore neuer satisfied with looking vp vppon him they tarried vntill hee was taken downe whome when his Mother receaued in her Armes sorrow and ioy fought so doubtfull a Combat that it was not to bee iudged which of them was the stronger She had lost him and now she hath founde him againe great cause she hath to ioy he was her hope her help her life She had lost him and now she hath founde him againe great cause she hath to mourne hee is past hope past help and past out of his life What ioy was comparable to that he had when she might speake vnto him embrace him and kisse him as shee was wont to doe But alas what griefe was like to that shee had when hee did neyther answere by worde or behauiour as hee was wont to doe Noe ioy to that shee hadde when shee behelde him againe a. Psal 44. for hee was the moste fayre and beautefull of all the Sonnes of men Noe greefe to that shee had when shee behelde him againe and found that b. Isal 53. neyther any fauour nor comelynesse was in him Shee see his heade swollen with the Crowne of Thornes shee see his face blacke and blew with the buffettes of their fistes shee see his bodye torne from toppe to the toe with whippes or to say more true she neyther see heade face nor any part of his bodie but a masse only of congealed blood which couered all his body beeing most grieuously wounded and in so many places that they altogether seemed one on lie wounde which reached from the crowne of his head vnto the soles of his seete So sate she at the foote of the Crosse with the dead bodie in her lap offering it all bloodie to Almightie God Gen. 37. demaunding of him whether that were not his sonne his coate shewing it also vnto the Angels and asking of them whether that were not their Master his Garment Her self was not able to discerne perfectly whether it were any part of her or no it was so dissigured but that with sorrowe shee had brought her selfe so out of sauor that euerye one which see her might easily iudge hee was her sonne and shee his mother Shee hath founde him againe but because whatsoeuer shee founde shee must forgoe except sorrow sorrow got the victorie in which shee did so much abound as her sonne his sorrowe beeing at an end there was now no sorrowe like vnto hers no comfort would shee admit because he was not They sought no water to wash his blessed body fountains there were enough of hoate and scalding teares wherein they bathed him first then buried him against their willes wishing that either they themselues were his sepulcher or his were theirs When thy dayes were come O full of sorow that thou shuldest be deliuered thou broughtest forth thy first begotten Son thou swadlest him in cloutes Luk. 2. laidst him downe in a maunger because there was no place for thee in the Inne and nowe thy daies were fully come that thou shouldest bee deliuered againe thou broughtest foorth thy second sonne Iohn 19. and in steed of swadling him in cloutes and ioyfull laying him downe and tending him thou art constrained to swaddle thy first begotten Sonne againe and with sorrow to lay him downe in a Monument because no other place but that woulde hee make choice of to lie in The Funeralles beeing ended Saint Iohn doth take possession he leadeth home his sorrowfull Mother giuing her what comfort hee could beeing nowe almost spent with griefe with whome hee continued yeelding vnto her that dutie which became him Iohn 19. For from that houre hee tooke her for his owne FINIS