his death and the day of his resurrection But alas let her heauinesse excuse her and the vnwontednes of the miracle plead her pardon sith dread and amazement hath dulled her senses distempered her thoughts discouraged her hopes awaked her passions and left her no other liberty but onely to wéepe Shée wept therefore being onely able to wéepe And As shee was weeping shee stouped down and looked into the Monument and she saw two Angels in white sitting one at the head and an other at the feete where the body of Iesus had beene layd They said vnto her Woman why wepest thou O Mary thy good hap excéedeth thy hope and where thy last sorrow was bred thy first succour springeth Thou diddest séeke but one and thou hast found two A dead body was thy errand and thou hast light vppon two aliue Thy wéeping was for a man and thy téars haue obtained Angels Suppresse now thy sadnes and refresh thy heart with this good Fortune These angels inuite thée to a parlée they séem to take pitty of thy case and it may be they haue some happy tidinges to tell thée Thou hast hitherto sought in vaine as one either vnséene or vnknown or at the least vnregarded sith the party thou séekest neither tendereth thy teares nor aunswereth thy cries nor relenteth with thy lamentings Either he doth not heare or hée will not helpe he hath peraduenture left to loue thée and is loath to yéelde thée reliefe therefore take such comfort as thou findest sith thou art not so lucky as to finde that which thou couldest wish Remember what they are where they sitte from whence they come and to whom they speake They are Angels of peace neither sent with out cause nor séen but of fauour They sit in the Tombe to shew that they are no straungers to thy losse They come from Heauen from whence all happy newes descend They spake to thy selfe as though they had some speciall Embassage to deliuer vnto thée Aske them therfore of thy maister for they are likeliest to returne thée a desired aunswere Thou knewest him too well to thinke that hell hath deuoured him thou hast long sought and hast not found him in earth and what place so fit for him as to be in heauen Aske therefore of those Angels that came newly from thence and it may be their report will highly please thée Or if thou art resolued to continue thy séeking who can better helpe thée then they that are as swift as thy thought as faithfull as thy owne heart and as louing to thy Lord as thou thy selfe Take therefore thy good hap least it be taken away from thée and content thée with Angels sith thy maister hath giuen thée ouer But alas what meaneth this change how happeneth this strange alteration The time hath béene that fewer teares would haue wrought greater effecte shorter séeking haue sooner found and lesse paine haue procured more pitty The time hath ven that thy annointing his féete was accepted and praised thy washing them with teares highly commended and thy wyping them with thy haire most curteously construed How then doth it now fall out that hauing brought thy swéete oiles to annoint his whole body hauing shed as many teares as would haue washed more then his féet and hauing not only thy haire but thy heart ready to serue him he is not moued with all these duties so much as once to affoorde thée his sight Is it not he that reclaimed thee from thy wandring courses that dispossessed thee of thy damned inhabitants and from the wildes of sinne recouered thee into the folde and family of his flocke was not thy house his home his loue thy life thy selfe his Disciple did not hee defend thée against the Pharisee pleade for thée against Iudas and excuse thée to thy sister In summe was not hee thy patron and protector in all thy necessities O good Iesu what hath thus estranged thée from her Thou hast heretofore so pittied her teares that séeing them thou couldest not refraine thine In one of her greatest agonies for loue of her that so much loued thée thou diddest recall her dead brother to life turning her complaint into vnexpected contentment And we knowe that thou doest not vse to alter course without cause nor to chastice without desert Thou art the first that inuitest and the last that forsakest neuer leauing but first left and euer offering til thou art refused How then hath shée forfaited thy fauour Or with what trespasse hath shée earned thy ill will That shée neuer left to loue thée her heart will depose her hand will subscribe her tongue will protest her teares wil testify and her séeking doth assure And alas is her particular case so farre from all example that thou shouldest rather alter thy nature then shée better her Fortune and be to her as thou art to no other For our parts since thy last shew of liking towardes her we haue found no other faulte in her but that shée was the eareliest vp to séeke thée readiest to annoint thée and when shée saw that thou wert remoued shée forthwith did wéepe for thée and presently went for helpe to finde thée And whereas those two that shée brought being lesse careful of thée then fearefull of themselues when they had séene what shée had sayd sodainely shrunke away behold shée stil staieth shée still séeketh shée still wéepeth If this be a fault we cannot deny but this shée doth and to this shée perswadeth yea this she neither meaneth to amend nor requesteth thée to forgiue if therfore thou reckōnest this as punishable punished shée must be sith no excuse hath effect wher the fact pleadeth guilty But if this import not any offence but a true affection and be rather a good desire then an euil desert why art thou so hard a Iudge to so soft a creature requiting her loue with thy losse and suspending her hopes in this vnhappinesse Are not those thy wordes I loue those that loue mee and who watcheth earely for me shall finde mee Why then doth not this woman finde thée that was vp so early to watch for thée Why doest thou not with like repay her that bestoweth vppon thée her whole loue sith thy word is her warrant and thy promise her due debt Art thou lesse moued with these tears that shée sheddeth for thée her onely Maister then thou wert with those that shée shed before thée for her deceased brother Or doth her loue to thy seruaunt more please thée then her loue to thy selfe Our loue to others must not be to them but to thée in them For he loueth thée so much the lesse that loueth anything with thée that he loueth not for thée If therefore shée then deserued wel for louing thée in an other shée deserueth better now for louing thée in thy selfe and if in déede thou louest those that loue thée make thy worde good to her that is so far in loue with thée Of thy selfe thou hast
sayd that thou art The way the truth and the life If then thou art a way easie to find neuer erring how doth shée misse thée If a life giuing life and neuer ending why is shée ready to die for thée If a true promising truth neuer failing howe is shée bereaued of thée For if what thy tongue did speake thy truth will auerre shée will neuer aske more to make her most happy Remember that thou saidst to thy sister that Mary had chosen the best part which should not be takē from her That shée choose the best part is out of question sith shée made choise of nothing but onelye of thée But how can it be verified that this part shall not be taken from her sith thou that art this part art already taken away If shée could haue kept thée shée would not haue lost thée and had it béene in her power as it was in her will shée would neuer haue parted from thée and might shée nowe bée restored to thy presence shée would try all Fortunes rather then forgoe thée Sith therefore shée seketh nothing but what shée choose and the losse of her choise is the onely cause of her comber either vouchsafe thou to kéepe this best part that shée choose in her or I sée not how it can be true that it shall not bée taken from her But thy meaning happely was that though it be taken from her eies yet it should neuer bee taken from her heart and it may be thy inward presence supplieth thine outward absence yet I can hardlye thinke but that if Mary had thée within her shée could féele it and if shée felt it shée would neuer séeke thée Thou art too hoate a fire to be in her bosome and not to burne her and thy light is too great to leaue her minde in this darkenesse if it shined in her In true louers euery part is an eie and euery thought a looke and therefore so swéet an obiect among so many eies and in so great a light could neuer lie so hidden but loue would espie it No no if Mary had thée her innocent heart neuer taght to dissemble could not make complaint the out side of a concealed comforte neither would shée turne her thoughtes to pasture in a dead mans tombe if at home shée might bid them to so heauenly a banquet Her loue would not haue a thought to spare nor a minute to spend in any other action then in enioying of thée whome shée knew too wel to abridge the least part in her from so high a happinesse For her thirst of thy presence was so excéeding and the Sea of thy ioies so well able to afforde her a full draught that though euery parcell in her should take in a whole tide of thy delightes shée would thinke them too few to quiet her desires Yea doubtlesse if shée had thée within her shée would not enuye the Fortune of the richest Empresse yea shée would more reioyce to be thy tōbe in earth then a throne in heauen and disdain to be a Saint if shée were worthy to be but thy shrine But peraduenture it is now with her mind as it was with the Apostles eies and as they séeing thee walk vppon the sea tooke thée for a Ghost so shée séeing thee in her heart déemeth thée but a fansie being yet better acquainted with thy bodily shape then with thy spirituall power But O Mary it séemeth too strange that hee whome thou séekest and for whome thou wéepest should thus giue thée ouer to these painefull fittes if in thée he did not sée a cause for which he will not be séene of thée Still thy plaint and stint thy wéeping for I doubt there is some trespasse in thy teares and some sinne in thy sorrow doest thou not remember his wordes to thée and to other women when he said Daughters of Hierusalem weepe not vppon me but weepe vppon your selues and vpon your children What meanest thou then to continue this course Doth he forbid thy teares and wilt not thou forbeare them Is it no fault to infringe his will or is not that his will that his wordes doe import The fault must be mended ere the penaunce be released and therefore either cease to wéepe or neuer hope to finde But I know this Logicke little pleaseth thée and I might as soon win thée to forbeare liuing as to leaue weping Thou wilt say that though he forbad thée to wéepe for him yet he lefte thée free to wéepe for thy selfe and sith thy loue hath made thée one with him thou wepest but for thy self when thou wéepest for him But I aunswer thée againe that because he is one with thée and thy wéeping for him hath bin forbidden thée thou canst not wéepe for thy selfe but his wordes will condemn thee For if thou and he are one for which soeuer thou weepest it is all one and therefore sith for him thou maiest not weepe forbeare all weeping least it should offend Yea but saiest thou to barre mee from weeping is to abridge me of liberty and restraint of liberty is a penalty and euery penalty supposeth some offence but an offence it is not to weep for my selfe for he would neuer commaund it if it were not lawfull to doe it The fault therefore must be in being one with him that maketh the weeping for my selfe a weeping also for him And if this be a fault I will neuer amend it and let them that thinke it so doe penaunce for it for my part sith I haue lost my mirth I will make much of my sorrow and sith I haue no ioy but in teares I may lawfully shedde them Neither thinke I his former word a warrant against his latter deede And what neede had he to weepe vppon the Crosse but for our example which if it were good for him to giue it can not be euill for mee to follow No no it is not my weeping that causeth my losse sith a worlde of eies a sea of tears could not worthely bewaile the misse of such a maister Yet since neither thy seeking findeth nor thy weeping preuaileth satisfy thy selfe with the sight of Angels Demaunding the cause of their comming and the reason of thy Lords remoue and sith they first offer the occasion of parley be not thou too dainty of thy discourse It may be they can calm thy stormes and quiet thy vnrest and therefore conceale not from them thy sore leaste thou loose the benefite of their emplaister But nothing can moue Mary to admit comfort or entertaine any company for to one alone and for euer she hath vowed her selfe and except it be to him shee will neither lend her eare long to others nor borrow others helpe least by seeking to alay her smart shee should lessen her loue But drawing into her minde all pensiue conceites shee museth and pineth in a consuming languor taking comfort in nothing but in being comfortlesse Alas saith shee small is the light that a
the libertie of a ioyfull life O swéet tomb of my swéetest Lord while I liue I will stay by thee when I die I will cleaue vnto thée neither aliue nor dead will I euer be drawne from thée Thou art the altar of mercie the temple of trueth the sanctuary of safetie the graue of death and the cradle of eternall life O heauen of my eclipsed sunne receiue into thee this sillie starre that hath nowe also lost all wished light O Whale that hast swallowed my onely Ionas swallowe also me more worthy to be thy pray sith I and not he was the cause of this bloudie tempest O Cesterne of my innocent Ioseph take me into thy drie bottome sith I and not he gaue iust cause of offence to my enraged brethren But alas in what cloud hast thou hidden the light of our way Upon what shoare hast thou cast vp the preacher of all trueth or to what Ismaelite hast thou yéelded the purueyour of our life O vnhappie me why did I not before thinke of that which I now aske why did I leaue him when I heard him thus to lament him nowe that I haue lost him If I had watched with perseuerance either none would haue taken him or they shoulde haue taken me with him But through too much precisenesse in keeping the lawe I haue lost the lawmaker and by being too scrupulous in obseruing his ceremonies I am proued irreligious in loosing himselfe sith I should rather haue remained with the trueth then forsaken it to solemnize the figure The Sabboth could not haue bin prophaned in standing by his corse by which the prophanest thinges are sanctified whose couch doth not defile the cleane but clenseth the most defiled But when it was time to stay I departed When it was too late to helpe I returned and nowe I repent my folly when it cannot be amended But let my heart dissolue into sighes mine eyes melt in teares and my desolate soule languish in dislikes yea let all that I am and haue indure the deserued punishment that if hee were incensed with my fault he may be appeased with my penance and returne vpon the amendement that fled from the offence Thus when hir timorous cōscienec had indited hir of so great an omission hir toong enforced the euidence with these bitter accusations Loue that was now the onely vmpier in all hir causes condemned hir eyes to a freshe showre of teares hir brest to a new storme of sighes and hir soule to be perpetuall prisoner to restlesse sorrowes But O Mary thou deceiuest thy selfe in thy owne desires and it well appeareth that excesse of griefe hath bred in thee a defect of due prouidence And wouldest thou indeed haue thy wishes come to passe and thy wordes fulfilled Tell me then I pray thee if thy heart were dissolued where wouldest thou harbor thy Lord what wouldest thou offer him how wouldst thou loue him Thy eyes haue lost him thy hands cannot féele him thy féet cannot follow him and if he be at all in thée it is thy heart that hath him and wouldest thou now haue that dissolued from thence also to exile him And if thy eyes were melted thy soule in languor and thy senses decayed how wouldest thou see him if he did appeare howe shouldest thou heare him if he did speake howe couldest thou knowe him though hée were there present Thou thinkest happily that hee loueth thée so wel that if thy heart were spent for his loue he would either lend his owne heart vnto thee or create a newe heart in thee better then that which thy sorrow tooke from thée It may bee thou imaginest that if thy soule woulde giue place his soule wanting nowe a body would enter into thine with supplie of all thy senses and release of thy sorrowes O Mary thou didst not marke what thy maister was woont to say when he told thee that the third day he shuld rise againe For if thou hadst heard him or at the least vnderstoode him thou wouldest not thinke but that hée now vseth both his heart and soule in the life of his owne body And therefore repaire to the angels and enquire more of them least thy Lord be displeased that comming from him thou wilt not entertaine them But Marie whose deuotions were all fixed vpon a nobler Saint and that had so straightly bound hir thoughtes to his onely affection that shee rather desired to vnknow whom she knew alreadie then to burthen her mind with the knowledge of newe acquaintance could not make her wil long since possessed with the highest loue stoupe to the acceptance of meaner friendships And for this though she did not scornefully reiect yet did she with humilitie refuse the Angels company thinking it no discourtesie to take her selfe from them for to giue her selfe more wholly to her Lord to whome both shee and they were wholly deuoted and ought most loue and greatest dutie Sorrow also being nowe the onely interpreter of all that sense deliuered to her vnderstanding made hir conster their demand in a more doubtfull then true meaning If saith she they come to ease my affliction they coulde not be ignorant of the cause and if they were not ignorant of it they woulde neuer aske it why then did they say Woman why weepest thou If their question did import a prohibition the necessitie of the occasion doth countermand their counsaile and fitter it were they shoulde wéepe with me then I in not wéeping obey them If the Sunne were ashamed to shew his brightnesse when the father of all lightes was darkened with such disgrace If the heauens discolouring their beauties suted themselues to their makers fortune If the whole frame of nature were almost dissolued to sée the authour of nature so vnnaturally abused why may not Angelles that best knewe the indignitie of the case make vp a part in this lamentable consort And especially nowe that by the losse of his bodie the cause of wéeping is increased and yetthe number of mourners lessened sith the Apostles are fled all his friends afraid and poore I left alone to supplie the teares of all creatures O who will giue water to my head a fountaine of teares vnto my eyes that I may weepe day and night and neuer cease weeping O my only Lord thy griefe was the greatest that euer was in man and my griefe as great as euer happened to woman for my loue hath carued me no small portion of thine thy losse hath redoubled the torment of mine owne and all creatures séeme to haue made ouer to me theirs leauing mee as the vice-gereut of all their sorrows Sorrow with me at the least thou O Tombe and thawe into teares you hardest stones The time is now come that you are licensed to cry and bound to recompence the silence of your Lordes Disciples of whome hée himselfe said to the Pharisies that if they held their peace the verie stones should crie for them Nowe therefore sith feare hath
might not very well become me None will bar me frō defending my life which the least worme in the right of nature hath leaue to preserue And sith he is to me so deare a life that without him all life is death nature authoriseth my féeble forces to imploy their vttermost in so necessary an attempt Necessity addeth ability loue doubleth necessity and it often happeneth that nature armed with loue and pressed with néede excéedeth it selfe in might and surmounteth all hope in successe And as the equity of the cause doth breath courage into the defendors making them the more willing to fight the lesse vnwilling to die so guilty consciences are euer timerous still starting with sodaine frights and afrayd of their own suspitions ready to yéeld before the assault vppon distrust of their cause and dispaire of their defence Sith therefore to rescue an innocent to recouer a right and to redresse so déep a wrong is so iust a quarrell nature will enhable me loue encourage me grace confirme me and the iudge of all iustice fight in my behalfe And if it séeme vnfitting to my sexe in talke much more in practise to deal with martiall affaires yet when such a cause happeneth as neuer had patterne such effects must follow as are without example There was neuer any body of a God but one neuer such a body stollen but now neuer such a stealth vnreuenged but this Sith therefore the Angels neglect it men forget it O Iudith lend me thy prowesse for I am bound to regard it But suppose that my force were vnable to winne him by an open enterprise what scruple should kéepe me from seeking him by secret means yea and by plain stealth It wilbe thought a sinne and condemned for a theft O swéete sinne why was not I the first that did commit thée Why did I suffer any other sinner to preuent me for stealing from God his honour I was called a sinner and vnder that title was spred my infamy But for stealing God from a false owner I was not worthy to be called a sinner because it had béene too high a glory If this be so great a sinne and so heinous a theft let others make choise of what titles they will but for my part I would refuse to be an Angel I would not wishe to be a Saint I would neuer be estéemed either iust or true and I shoulde be best contented if I might both liue and die such a sinner and be condemned for such a theft When I heard my Lord make so comfortable a promise to the théefe vppon the crosse that he should that day be with him in Paradise I had halfe an enuy at that théefes good Fortune and wished my selfe in the théefes place so I might haue enioyed the fruite of his promise But if I could be so happy a théefe as to commit this theft if that wish had takeu effect I would now vn wishe it againe and scorne to be any other théef then my self sith my booty could make me happier then any other théefes felicity And what though my felony should be called in question in what respect should I néede to feare They would say that I loued him too well But that were soone disproued sith where the worthinesse is infinite no loue can be inough They would obiect that I stole an others goods and as for that many sure titles of my interest would aucree him to be mine and his dead corse would rather speak then witnesses should faile to depose so certaine a truth And if I had not a speciall right vnto him what shuld moue me to venture my life for him No no if I were so happy a felone I shoulde fear no temporal araignmēt I should rather feare that the Angels woulde cite me to my aunswere for preuenting them in the theft sith not the highest Seraphin in heauē but would déeme it a higher stile then his owne to be the théefe that had committed so glorious a robbery But alas thus stand I deuising what I would do if I knew any thing of him and in the meane time I neither know who hath him nor where they haue bestowed him and stil I am forced to dwell in this aunswere that They haue taken away my Lord and I know not wher they haue put him While Marie thus lost her selfe in a Laberinth of doubtes watering her wordes with teares and warming them with sighes séeing the Angels with a kind of reuerēce rise as though they had done honour to one behinde her She turned backe and she saw Iesus standing but that it was Iesus she knewe not O Marie is it possible that thou hast forgotten Iesus faith hath written him in thy vnderstanding loue in thy will both feare and hope in thy memorie and how can all these registers be so cancelled that so plainly séeing thou shouldest not know the contentes For him onely thou tyrest thy féete thou bendest thy knées thou wringest thy handes For him thy heart throbbeth thy brest sigheth thy tongue complaineth For him thy eye wéepeth thy thought sorroweth thy wholebody fainteth and thy soule languisheth In summe there is no part in thée but is busie about him c notwithstanding all this hast thou nowe forgotten him His countenance auourheth it his voyce assureth it hys woundes witnesse it thy owne eyes beholde it and doest thou not yet beléeue that this is Iesus Are thy sharp séeing eies become so weake sighted that they are dazeled with the sunne and blinded with the light But there is such a showre of teares betwéene thée and him and thy eyes are so dimmed with wéeping for him that though thou seest the shape of a man yet thou canst not discerne him Thy eares also are still so possessed with the dolefull Eccho of his last spéeches which want of breath made him vtter in a dying voyce that the force loudnesse of his liuing wordes maketh thee imagine it the voice of a stranger and therefore as hée séemeth vnto thée so like a stranger hee asketh this question of thée O woman why weepest thou whom seekest thou O desire of heart and onely ioy of her soule why demandest thou why shée wéepeth or for whome she séeketh But a whilesince she saw thée hir only hope hanging on a trée with thy head full of thornes thy eies full of teares thy eares full of blasphemies thy mouth full of gall thy whole person mangled and disfigured and doest thou aske her why shee wéepeth Scarse thrée daies passed she beheld thy arms and legs racked with violent pulles thy hands and féete boared with nails thy side wounded with a speare thy whole body torne with stripes and goared in bloud and doest thou hir only griefe aske hir why shée wéepeth She beheld thee vppon the crosse with many teares most lamentable cries yeelding vp her ghost that is thy own ghost alas askest thou why she weepeth And now to make vp hir misere hauing but one