doest thou hope to bee saued without fight Consider secondly that in this agony hee prayed longer because thou must cōtinue longest in prayer in time of affliction Consider thirdly what that is which he desired in his long praier not that the cup might be taken from him for hee had before vsed shorter wordes to that end but since he must needes suffer that thou mightest obtain profite by his torments Admire heere that excellent loue of Christ who alone is the true comfort of Angels Lament for thy sinnes which were the cause of his suffering stirre vp also in thy selfe the other affections of loue confidence cōmiseration whereof this place administreth aboūdant cause And his sweat was made like droppes of bloud Luc. 22. running downe to the ground COnsider first by the quality and quantity of his sweate the great griefe of thy Spouse without which neither the bloud could issue with the sweate nor yet so great plenty as should fall downe to the ground Consider secondly that our Lord both began ended his passion with a prodigious effusiō of bloud water That thou shouldest knowe that the diuine nature did bring this chiefely vnto Christ at that time that hee might the longer bee able to suffer those most bitter torments which humane nature al alone could neuer haue indured Consider thirdly that bloud issued out of euery part both because euery member of the Church of which number thou art one should lament the death of Christ and also because euery Christian might gather one drop of his bloud to wash away their sinnes and also that thou mayest know how liberally he offereth his bloud for thee by as many fountaines as hee hath members Consider fourthly howe much this great effusion of bloud and water did weaken the most tender body of Christ Consider fiftly that it ranne down vpon the earth to take away the sinnes of men which are adicted too much to the pleasures of the world Consider sixtly that the droppes ranne downe vpon the ground that thou mayest vnderstand that thou must make haste if thou wilt bee partaker of this precious bloud which no sooner issueth foorth but that it runneth away most swiftly Therfore except in this life thou doest gather and lay vp some of this bloud it will all runne away after thy death so as none will be left for thee The seauenth Meditation of the cōming of Iudas with the Soldiours And he came the third time and said vnto them Mat. 26. Mar. 14. sleepe now and rest it sufficeth the houre is come Behold the Sonne of man shall bee deliuered into the handes of sinners arise let vs goe behold he that shall betray me is hard by COnsider first that Christ hauing three times visited his Apostles and found thē sleeping did the first time reprehend them the secōd time held his peace and the third time bad them sleepe on That thou mayest learne first to beare with the infirmity of another Secōdly to assent presently to diuine inspirations for if Christ perceiue that thou dost contemn his admonitions hee will afterwards holde his peace and more sparingly suggest these things which tend to thy saluatiō Thirdly that when thou hast begun any good worke thou shouldest not wauer nor change thy minde for Christ after hee had subdued the inclination of nature had resolued euen against nature to dye did not at any time after shew any signe of sorrow inconstancy or doubt Consider secondly that Christ framed himselfe to take a little rest or sleepe with his Disciples but that could neither bee great nor long especially in a man so ouer wearied shortly after to be apprehended Consider thirdly this word It suffereth as thogh he taught vs to vse a meane or measure in our rest and humaine cōmodities Consider fourthly that this word behold is twise repeated because it was a strange thing that any man could be found which would betray the Son of God man Cōsider fiftly Arise let vs goe It is not enough for thee if thou doest not sleep when Gods glory is in hand but thou must arise goe forward preuent euils suffer all aduersities couragiously for Gods cause Heere shake off thy sleepe and pray vnto God to stirre thee vp effectually to labour for his names sake As hee was yet speaking beholde Iudas one of the twelue came And Iudas Mat. 26. Ioan. 18 which betrayed him knewe the place because Iesus had come thither often with his Disciples COnsider first that Iudas had no neede to be warned to watch for it hapneth cōmonly that when mischiefe is to be done wicked men neuer sleepe Consider secondly behold Iudas one of the twelue It is a strange thinge that hee who had receiued so great a benefite at Christ his hand could euer come to that malice and ingratitude that hee would betray his Lord benefactor Thou mayest learne hereby not to trust in guiftes freely bestowed vppon thee but how much the more God hath bestowed vpon thee so much the more to feare because God in the houre of death wil weigh all his guifts as the Scripture here with great emphasis saith Behold Iudas one of the twelue Consider thirdly that an euill man feareth not to abuse good things as Iudas came to the place of the prayer of Christ to betray him how much better had it bene for him to haue left his treasō to haue ioyned himselfe with Christ his Apostles in prayer Cōsider fourthly that the knowledg of many yea of diuine things shal not help a wicked man but rather shall condemne him euen as it did not help Iudas to haue known Christ and the time place of the prayer of Christ c. In this place if thou doest consider thine owne ingratitude who hauing receiued many good benefites doest restore nothing but wickednes thou wilt admire detest thy selfe thou wilt pray vnto Christ not to suffer thee to perish with wicked Iudas Therfore Iudas Ioan. 18. Mat. 26. Mar. 14. Luc. 22. when he had receiued his company the ministers from the Priests Pharises hee came thith r with lanthornes torches with swordes and staues armour sent from the chiefe Priests Seniors of the people and hee which was called Iudas went before him COnsider first what a great company of men assembled together to apprehend Christ First a cōpany of the Gentils with their tribune perhaps fiue hundreth soldiours then no small number of the ministers of the Iewes with some of the chiefe Priests Seniors and Magistrates of the people there were therfore two companies one of the Gentils and another of the Iewes armed with sundry weapons prepared to hurt the ring-leader captaine of all these was he who was called Iudas that is that famous Iudas who was knowne to all those Iewes and Gentils Cōsider secōdly what they talked among thēselues as they came what mindes they bare towards Christ how they thirsted
the greatnes of their enuy whereby they desired to doe all mischiefe vnto Christ and that our lord had giuen them power to satisfie their desires Acts. 22 The Apostle Paul was taken with great cruelty pulled out of the Tēple by force presētly beaten with their fistes almost killed with stripes but it was nothing to this cruelty which surpassed all cruelty Consider the antient predictions of this his captiuity Many clogs compassed me about they tooke me as a Lyon prepared for his prey Psal 11 Psal 16. casting me downe they compassed me now about they compassed me like Bees and they burned like fire in the thornes being pushed I was ouerthrowne that I fell Secondly marke the words of the Euangelists a cōpany the tribune the Ministers not a few but the whole army laboured for this captiuity euery one went about some thing they came they leaped with great violence as blessed Gregory Nazianzene affirmeth Laid hands on him not onely apprehending him but grieuously beating him They held him as St. Leo saith In Christo patiēte ser 7. de pas domini they pulled him hither thither and they bound him O how many cords were pulled not by one but by many both because he should not escape and also because being seene in such habit he might be iudged worthy of death by all men These bands were due vnto thee for thy sinnes except thou beest partaker of them thou shalt bee bound with euerlasting chaynes in hell Suffer then with thy lord who was so cruelly bound for thy cause and endeauour to be thankefull and pray him that by this his captiuity hee will deliuer thee free frō al the power of the Deuill and from all bonds of euill desires which according to the Deuills will might drawe thee into any sinne restore thee to spirituall liberty that being deliuered out of the hand of thy enemie thou maist serue him Mat. 26. Mar. 14. Then all his Disciples leauing him fled but a certaine young man did followe him cloathed in linnen vpon the bare and they layd hold of him but he leauing his linnen fled away naked from them COnsider first that heere are two things declared whereby thou maist vnderstād the great fury cruelty which was vsed in taking Christ and carying him away One was the flight of his most deare Disciples who were stroken into so great a feare that although they burned in loue with him yet euery one of them fledd away The other that a young man in one of the next houses being moued with the tumult rose out of his bed couered onely with linnen came foorth to see what was done in the streete whome they thinking to bee one of his Disciples would haue apprehended but he leauing his linnen fled away naked whereby thou maist gather what a clamor they made as if their prey were now taken and how much they raged and desired to hurt all them which belonged vnto Christ Consider secondly that Christ was forsaken by all his friends and followers and cruelly carryed away by the hands of the wicked Learne heereby not to trust in men which oftentimes in this life and euer in death doe forsake all men and pray thy Lord that he neuer forsake thee although thou beest forsaken of al men especially in the houre of thy death when thou must goe into a strange countrye without the company of any man with thee The twelfe Meditation of the acts in Annas house and his sending to Caiphas And they brought Iesus first to Annas Ioan. 7. for he was father in law to Caiphas who was the high Priest of that yeare And Caiphas was he which gaue counsaile to the Iewes Because it is necessary that one man dye for the people COnsider first that Christ was brought to Annas either because he should be caried to his father in law Caiphas an old man which should succeede the next yeare in the high priesthood and dwellling in the way to the high Priests house or else for the traytor to whome as Saint Cyrill saith Annas was appointed by the Priestes to pay the reward of his treason Lib. 11. in Ioan. cap. 37. for the taking of our Lord. Behold thou the affections of euery man the cruell ioy of this most wicked Annas tryumphing that at the last his enemy was taken the flattering congratulations of the Soldiours the couetousnesse of Iudas hauing now receiued his money the modesty of Christ and his cheerefull minde to suffer for thee Consider secondly that mention is here made of the counsaile which Caiphas gaue for the putting of Christ to death that it may be shewed that he prosecuted his death who first gaue the counsell of his death Secondly that thou maist learn that al things which our Lord suffered in his passion did not happen vnto him so much by humane counsaile as by the will of God For those words of the death of our Lord although Caiphas vttered them out of a wicked minde yet he spake them by the instinct of the holy Ghost who vseth to apply the words of the wicked for the profit of the iust that he might teach thee that God the Father inioyned God the Son tooke vpon him this cruell passion only for the loue of mākinde that thou again mightst be caried into the loue of God with all thy heart minde Thirdly that thou maist know that God neuer forgetteth sinnes past though perhappes they are out of thy minde For all things are kept in memory and an account shall be demanded at the houre of death And Annas sent him bound to Caiphas the high Priest Ioan. 18 Mat. 26. where the Scribes and Seniours were assembled COnsider first that Christ suffered many wrongs in the house of Annas for this word hee sent him signifieth that he did not lightly suffer him to goe away but that he made some stay But search out with thy selfe what those things were For blessed Cyrill saith that the blowe was giuen him in the house of Caiphas and many affirme that this word he sent should be taken in the Hebrue for this word he had sent Consider secondly what this word signifieth bound to wit that either he was newly bound or else that his former bōds were not loosed that he might bee accounted condemned as guilty worthy of bonds by the iudgmēt of this graue mā But as the wicked Priest did take no compassion vpon him that was bound so neither doest thou take any pittie vpon thy poore afflicted Neighbour nor yet vpon thy owne soule which is grieuously tyed with the bondes of sinnes Consider thirdly this wearisome iourney in which thy Lord was cruelly drawne with with cordes and whipped on with stripes whether soeuer it pleased the wicked people to earye him He walked indeede the hard waies that he might make the way to Heauē easie and plaine for thee and that thou mightest goe in the way of the Cōmaundements
✚ I H S. MEDITATIONS of the whole Historie of the Passion of CHRIST Written by the Reuerend Father F. Francis Costerus Doctor of Diuinity of the Society of IESVS Translated out of Latine into English by R.W. Esquire 1. Pet. 4.1 Christo igitur passo in carne vos eadem cogitatione armamini Christ therefore hauing suffered in the flesh bee you also aâ—med with the same cogitation Printed at Doway 1616. The Preface To the Sodality of the most blessed Sacrament in Aquicincts Colledge in the Vniuersity of Doway Of the best manner of Meditation of the Passion of Christ IT is manifest that the end for which Almighty God created Man was that beeing indowed not onely with that inferiour part which is common to him with other Creatures but also with the peculiar priuiledge and preheminence of a Coelestiall minde hee should onely imploy his exteriour sences in the mannaging of outward and transitory thinges and with his minds surpassing all humane affaires should aspire wholy to God and bee carryed to him as to his first beginning Wherefore it is wonderfull and much to bee lamented that some being vnmindefull of their condition and end doe with such earnestnes follow these temporall Vanityes as if they wanted this diuine vnderstanding hauing not their mindes eleuated on high but fixed on the earth and creeping like Wormes vpon the ground so as the very bruâ—e Beastes accuse them of ingratitude which by a certain instinct of Nature seeme to retaine a memory of the benefite they haue receiued Whom least you should seeme deare brethren to resemble you are accustomed together with the frequent participation of the holy Sacraments to giue your selues daily to the pious meditation of Heauenly thinges That although in your bodyes you bee heere on Earth yet your minde is transported into Heauen where you conuerse with the blessed Saints and with Christ himselfe labouring to vnite your minde to him from whome at first it did proceed This Godly endeauour both of you and all pious persons that I might in some sort promote and further I haue gathered together diuors Meditations of the Passion of our blessed Sauiour which may minister vnto you occasion and matter of many deuoute and profitable contemplations Which Meditations I haue thought good to commend vnto you for diuers reasons First because nothing is of such force to mooue mens mindes and to inflame them with the fire of the loue of God as the serious cogitation of benefites especially such as are so great and proceed from so great a Lord and God Some indeede whose consciences are oppressed with the burthen of sinne are oftentimes reâ—laimed from their wickednes with the horror of Death Iudgement and the paines of Hell bâ—t the vertuous sort and such as serue Almighty God rather for loue than feare are wholy set on fire with the loue of their Redeemer through the remembrance and meditation of his Death and Passion Secondly because nothing doth so easily present it selfe vnto our vnderstanding as the meditation of the paines torments sorrowes and tribulations wherewith in our whole life we are enuironed and beset on euery side As for Heauen Hell and the last Iudgment because they are not subiect to our sight and seeme to be a farre off we doe not sufficiently conceiue or apprehend the same but for the afflictions of the body and the anguishes of the minde we vnderstand oftentimes by experience more then wee would Thirdly because I know no meditation to be more acceptable to our blessed Sauiour then that which wee conceiue of the bitter passion that hee suffered for vs. For as a Conqueror doth reioyce at the remembrance of his battaile so we may well thinke that Christ our Lord is delighted when wee doe often remember his Passion both because by so bloudy a combat hee hath obtained a perpetuall and renowned victory both for himselfe and vs and also because herein hee seeth our thankefulnes which wee render vnto him for so great a benefite Fourthly because I perceiued that the meditation of no other thing could bee so necessary for Man-kinde as of that from which alone is deriued vnto vs the remission of our sinnes our iustification our workes of merite and our whole saluation Which certainly is the principall cause why the Catholike Church according to the institution of the Apostles hath ordained that the memory of this Passion should by sundry wayes be so ofteÌ„ iterated as by making the signe of the Crosse with our handes by Pictures and Images of the Pâ—ssion which the Laye people are accustomed to vse in stead of Bookes by fasting on Fridayes and Saterdayes by the yearely celebritry of the Passion in the end of Lent by Sermons by Lessons by sounding of Bells and such like yea Christ himselfe hath instituted a most sacred and daily remembrance of his Passion to wit the holy Sacrifice of the Mâ—sse wherein his deaâ—h and shedding of his bloud is most clearly represented vnto vs. Fiftly because greater vtility redoundeth vnto vs by these Meditations then by the contemplation of any other thing whatsoeuer For as all good thinges are purchased for vs by the merites of our Sauiours PassioÌ„ so in the same as in a wel furnished shop all precious wares of vertues and good examples are to bee found But that you may more easily reape these fruites I thinke it requisite to propose vnto you certaine aduertisements touching the best manner of Meditation For many are deceiued which thinke it is sufficient to repeat in their mindes the history of the Passion or by consideration therof to feele an inward delight whereas notwithstanding that auaileth little to their saluation if withall the affection and wilâ— bee not thereby mooued For meate neuer satisfieth a man if hee onely looke vpon it and doe not put it into his mouth chewe it with his teeth and let it downe into his stomacke The knowledge indeed of the History is the ground of Meditation and the discourses of the vnderstanding doe affoord the matter but all the profite consisteth in this that the will which beareth the greatest sway in man bee moued with many affections for she onely meriteth she onely loueth she onely directeth all our thoughtes and actions towards God Therefore to comprehend all in fewe wordes those which haue treated best of this matter of Meditation haue designed and set downe vnto vs seauen affections of the minde which may bee moued with this consideration of the Passion To wit Compassion Compunction Imagination Thankesgiving Admiration Hope and the Loue of God Which I will explicate vnto you briefly and in fewe wordes to the end you may vnderstand after what manner you may bee imployed with profite in these ensuing Meditations For by these seauen wayes as by seauen teeth the matter ministred by these Meditations may bee chewed and with the affection tasted and d â—gested The first therefore is Compassion Compassion that is an affection of the minde by which we
participate of other mens griefes and afflictions feeling the same though not in body yet in minde by which affection the griefe of the Patient seemeth to bee diuided and communicated with another and is thereby greatly mittigated and asswaged as on the contrary side it is much augmented and increased if either we â—eride him or bee not moued with his afflictions Chr st our Sauiour to diminish our sorrowes would suffer for vs and condole also wish vs as the Apostle saith Wee haue not a High Priest that cannot haue compassioÌ„ on our infirmities but tempted in all thinges by similitude except sinne And truly although we cannot lessen by this our sorrowe the most grieuous and exessiue sorrowes that our Sauiour suffered for vs yet this our compassion is most gratefull to him whereby we make his dolours ours and apply his suffrings vnto our selues Wherefore the Apostle hath said very rightly We are coheires of Christ yet if we suffer with him that we may be also glorified with him For hee that will not bee a partaker with Christ in his sufferings cannot be a partaker with him in his kingdome There are two thinges which are most availeable to prouoke this commiseration First the condition of the person that is to say his nobility his goodnesse his piety towards men and such other things which doe aggrauate the indignity of his inflicted miserie Secondly the cruelty and immanity of his torments If therefore we desire to feeâ—e in our hearts this coÌ„miseration we must consider in euery article First who it is that suffereth As first that it is God who with his Maiesty filleth Heauen and Earth secondly a most honorable man descended of the house of Dauid and conceiued by the holy Ghost in the wombe of the Virgine thirdly one most learned in his vnderstanding and most holy in his will who by no error or sinne did euer offend either God or man fourthly most graue and sober in his conuersation being neuer seene to laugh but often to weepe and that for our sinnes fiftly more beautifull in his body then all the sonnes of men and of a more tender and delicate complexion Secondly wee must set before our eyes the greatnes of his torments and with what particular payne euery member was afflicted Considering first that all the sences of his body and all the powres of his soule sustayned their proper and peculiar tortures Secondly that his tormenâ—s were most grieuous both by reason of the most tender constitution of his body and also because he wanted all interior comfort to indure the same Certainly it is the vndoubted opinion of all Diuines that neuer any creature indured such paynes and torments as our blessed Sauiour did If we see a wicked man suffer such punishment as he hath most iustly deserued we cannot but be moued to compassion and griefe and if we see but a Dogge or an Asse cruelly whipped or beaten we are presently touched with commiseration Ought we not then to condole with the Son of God suffering so vnspeakable tortures and that for our sakes The second affectioÌ„ is Compunction Compunction or sorrowe for our sinnes when we are induced to an horror and detestation of our sinnes by the remembrance of our Sauiours passion which may easily be done if we ponder what the malice of sinne is and what torments it hath drawne vpon Christ our Sauiour As God is infinite so the malice of sinne which is committed against God is also infinite and this malice in the iustice of God which ought not to be violated could not by any satisfaction be taken away but by that which was infinite Wherfore either an infinite paine was to be endured which no finite creature could endure or for an infinite time which the damned in hell endure or by an infinite person which is God himselfe Hence let vs proceede and consider what it was that drewe God from Heauen to earth and induced him to vndergoe his passion which was nothing else but our sinnes For if man had neuer sinned God had neuer been incarnated nâ—uer suffered neuer dyed Wherefore like as for the sinner his sinnes prepare a place in hell for the thiefe his theft prepareth his punishment so for our blessed Sauiour our grieuous sins haue procured a necessity of suffering death The malice therefore of sinne is aboue all things to bee detested which caused euen our Lord God himselfe to bee crucified But least thou shouldest imagine perhapps that the grieuousnesse of sinne is heereby extenuated because Christ did not suffer for thy sinnes alone but for the sinnes of all the world be thou assured of this that the malice of sinne is not thereby diminished or impaired but the singular vertue of our Sauiours passion is declared which hath washed away the sins not of this or that man but of all the men in the world For the merite of his passion is infinite and no malice whatsoeuer is able to counteruaile it which thing alone doth sufficiently discouer the grieuousnes of sinne because without the infinite merite of Christ it could not be forgiuen As therefore if one only man see the Sunne it will shine no more to him alone then it would doe to him and all other men together and as a man doth no lesse kill another when alone he stabbeth him to the heart then if he should take ten or twelue others to assist him in the same so euen one mortall sinne for redeeming whereof the death and passion of the Sonne of God was necessary is no lesse the cause of our Sauiours death then all the sinnes of the world ioyned together Neither doth the passion of our Sauiour bring vs lesse profite being vndertaken for the vniuersall saluation of the world then if it had beene vndertaken for mee alone The third affection is Imitation Imitation whereby wee desire to followe and imitate those rare excellencies which we discouer in Christ as the Apostle teacheth vs Christ suffered for vs 1 Pet. 2. leauing you an example that you may followe his steppes And againe Christ hauing suffered for vs in the flesh be you also armed with the same cogitatioÌ„ 1 Pet. 4 There are two thinges principally to bee imitated in our Sauiours Passion The one is a desire to suffer for vs. The other is a great heap of vertues which appeared so plainly in this his Passion that though our Sauiour spake nothing yet by his example from the Pulpit as it were of the Crosse he taught all kinde of vertues yea and taught them most perfectly both for that hee was destitute of all interior comfort which doth ordinarily accompany our vertuous acts and also because there wanted not meanes whereby hee might haue resisted his Passion Wherefore in euery Meditation wee must search out First what vertue is chiefly coÌ„mended vnto vs therein Secondly how our Sauiour exercised the same And lastly wee must stirre vp a desire and firme purpose to obtaine that vertue deuising the
I finde no cause in this man But the high Priestes accused him in many things and Iesus answered nothing Then Pilate asked him saying to him Dost thou not heare howe great testimonies they speake against thee dost thou not answere any thing behold in how great things they acuse thee But Iesus answered not him to any word Mar. 15 so as the President wondred greatly COnsider first that Pilate expecting no answere to this question what is the truth went foorth either because he thought that question appertained not to him or else that it was not conuenient at that time To whom thou maiest knowe thy selfe to be like so oft as thou passest ouer lightly heauenly things or as oft as thou shalt thinke that those things which are spoken of euerlasting life of perfection or of christiaÌ„ life appertain not vnto thee or as often as thou dost lightly leaue that which before thy God thou hadst iustly purposed Thinke no time vnfitt for diuine instructions Consider secondly that Pilate found no cause of death in Christ the Iewes a false cause and God the Father a true cause to wit the purging of thy sinnes for the saluation of thy soule Ponder earnestly with thy selfe vpon this cause For the reason why thou louest not Christ so well as thou oughtest nor art so thankfull as thou shouldest be nor art sufficiently moued with this his so great and bitter paine is because thou doest not earnestly acknowledge nor reuolue in thy minde that thou wert the cause of these his bitter paines Consider thirdly the great and manifould crimes obiected against thy Lord in the sight and hearing of all the people who wondred exceedingly at such new and strange things Doe thou patiently suffer for thy Lords sake all slanders iniuries and reproches Consider fourthly the deepe silence of our Lord wherein Pilate the Gentile admired the wisedom of Christ and the Iewes were made more audacious to adde more and more grieuous accusations Admire thou the patience of God who beeing hetherto offended with so many and so grieuous sinnes both of thee and of other men doth not onely still holde his peace winke at them parâ—oÌ„ them but also doth bestowe many benefites vpon thee that thou being moued with his bountifull liberality maist at last remember thy felfe But they were more earnest saying Luc. 23. He moued the people teaching through all Iurie beginning froÌ„ Galilee euen hither COnsider first the clamors of the Iewes who hauing no hope to effect any thing by truth raised vp troubles tumults and clamours like those which defeÌ„d an ill cause wherein they imitate the Deuill who when he can doe nothing by his owne suggestions theÌ„ he stirreth vp friends parents and companions he moueth the inward concupiscâ—nce he hindereth and darkneth the vnderstanding Doe thou nothing impatiently imitating our Lord who was not prouoked nor moued by any iniuries except to loue the more dearly Consider 2. that Christ was heere reputed captaine of the sedicious Thou knowest say they O Pilate the Galilaeans to be factious people whose bloud thou didst lately mingle with their sacrifice behold hee is the head and Ring-leader of all mischiefe borne to raise sedition among the people Verily O Lord thou doest moue the people but not to sedition treason robberies and man-slaughters which is the property of Heretiques which stirre vp such motions in their Sermons but to the change of their life and manners that forsaking their pleasures and sinnes they may all giue themselues to the exercise of vertue Thou fillest the Monasteries with religious people the Deserts with Anchorites the Prisons with Confessors and the gallowes with Martyrs Through thy motion Virgins cast away their braue artyre Rich men choose pouerty Noble men submit themselues to the wills of others and young men by a vowe of religion offer themselues as a Holocaust vnto thee Pray thou also that our Lord may mooue thee Consider thirdly whome he is said to teach to wit the Galilaeans that is Passengers and Iewes that is Confessors and praisers of God But hee began from Galilee For the beginning of Christian doctrine is to passe from sinne the middle is to confesse our dayly defects with sorrowe of heart and purpose of amendment and to praise God in true obedience and the end is to behold the face of God in Ierusalem in the vision of peace Pray our Lord to bring thee to the perfection of this wisedome And Pilate hearing Galilee asked if the maÌ„ wer a Galilaean as soon as he knew that he was vnder the iurisdiction of Herod Luc. 23. he sent him to Herod who also in those dayes was in Hierusalem GAlilaean is heere to bee seperated from the man in this sence whether this maÌ„ be a Galilaean Consider first that either Pilate did not knowe the name of Iesus or else that he disdained to name him Wicked men knowe not Iesus suffering mocked and bound they knowe the honours of the world but not the ignominy of the Crosse Therefore they shall not bee knowne of Iesus that is their Sauiour and they shall neuer reape the fruite of saluation which reiect the Passion being the instrument of saluation Consider secondly that Herode the Iewe came to Hierusalem against the feast of Pasch For sinners vse to celebrate the Feastes of the Faithfull with outward ceremonies onely in brauer Apparrell with daintyer Dishes c. But they doe not receiue the inward fruit of the Feasts neither doe they labour so much for the inward ornament of their Soule to the which they ought to bee caried from the outward ceremonyes Consider thirdly thy Lord is saide to bee vnder the iurisdiction of Herode a wicked man Incestuous Adulterous and a Murtherer that thou mayest willingly obey thy Superiours though they bee not very good hauing respect not to their vices but to the vertue of obedience Consider fourthly the sower Iudges of Christ two Priests Annas Cayphas and two secular men Herode the Iewe and Pilate the Gentile For Christ was adiudged to death by all states of men hee was slaine for the sinnes of all men hee suffered and dyed for the saluation of all men Therefore doe thou confidently lay all thy sinnes vpon him that being free'd from them thou mayest receiue eternall saluation prepared by him The 22. Meditation of the acts in the house of Herode Herode when he saw Iesus reioyced much Luc. 23. for hee was desirous a long time to see him because he had heard many thinges of him and hee hoped to see some signe done by him And he examined him with many questions but hee answered nothing vnto him COnsider first that this Herode neuer came vnto Christ neuer heard his wordes nor neuer saw his miracles but yet hee knewe many things of him by the report of others Wherefore he was glad that hee had occasion to see and behold him but he was not moued with hope or desire of saluation but with a
chooseth the worst things hateth a benefactor and imbraceth an enemy Take thou heed least for a small gaine or humane fauour thou dost betray Christ against thine own cōscience least the same happen to thee which fell vnto the Iewes to whom in stead of the Messias which they expected so many yeares at last reiected condemned came Barrabas which signifieth the sonne of the Father a Murtherer a Rayser of sedition a Deuill by whose will they are ruled that they which refused to heare Christ comming in the name of his Father might heare Antechrist speaking in the name of his Father the Deuill Consider 3. the fearfull speach of Pilate What shall I doe with Iesus the wicked Iudge seeketh the allowance of the people Bende thou thy minde in all thy iudgments and actions not to the will or manners of the people but to the Commaundements of God Consider fourthly For what euill hath hee done the innocency of Christ so often repeated That thou mayst euer remember that Christ dyed not for his owne sinnes but for thine this worde shall condemne all sinners at the last Iudgement Why will our Lord say haue yee forsaken mee and fled vnto the Deuill For what euill haue I done What haue you found in my manners Doctrine that is not pure and agreeable to reason What euill haue yee had from me or what good haue you found in the seruice of the Deuill Doe thou now meditate vpō these thinges and perseuere in the faith of Christ Consider lastly howe these clamours did wound the heart of Christ and how hee was more grieued for this so great and heynous a sinne of his beloued people then for the torment of the Crosse Doe thou comfort him with thy deuoute prayer and forsaking the Deuill and his pompes yeild thy selfe wholy a slaue and seruant vnto Christ The 24. Meditation of the whipping of our Lord. Then Pilate apprehended him and whipped him Then the Soldiours of the President taking Iesus carryed him into the Pretors court and they gathered together all the company vnto him COnsider first that the spouse of thy soule that hee might betroth himselfe vnto thee was diuers waies mocked spit vpon pulled and beaten but nowe hee is come to woundes and bloud that hee which gaue vnto thee his honors liberty and other corporall goods and suffered himselfe to bee spoyled of all these for thy sake might now in like manner plentifully shed his bloud and powre out his bowels that hee might see what liberality thou wilt vse towards him againe Consider secondly two causes why Pilate vsed this whipping The one was that by the sight of the body of Christ torne with so many stripes hee might somewhat pacifie the fury of the Iewes and stay them from the desire of the Crosse The other was that if neuerthelesse they persisted in their fury this whipping should goe before his crucifying For by the lawes of the Romanes such as were to be crucified were first whipped But the true cause of the whipping of Christ according to the will of his Father Luc. 23. was first that thou which wert sicke in euery part of thy body mightest bee wholy cured by the woundes of his whole body Secondly that he might receiue thee wholy who gaue himselfe wholy for thee Thirdly that thou shouldest open the bowels of thy loue towards him who by these stripes opened his body to thee Consider thirdly that Pilate deliuered Christ to the Pretorian Soldiours who assembled their whole band which was the tenth part of a Legion to wit Sixe hundred sixty sixe Soldiours by whom hee was carried into the court of the Pretor that is into a more spacious roome forsaken of all friends was exposed vnto the prey like a Lambe in the midst of Wolues Enter thou into this Court mark attentiuely the cruell wantonnes of the Soldiours and the modesty of Christ in all these miseryes his cleare and amiable countenance and his incredible patience First they despoyled him of all his cloathes set him naked amōgst them Consider the shamefastnes of thy most chast Lord set naked before so great a company of men and keepe the clothes which hee put off to couer thy nakednes Then they tyed his holy body to a piller with his armes stretched vp that his whole body might bee subiect to stripes Then euery one made a whip either with roddes brought thither of purpose or else of cordes for this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which wee call a whip as Euthemius noteth Cap. 67. in Mat. is a scourge wouen with little cordes or leather thongs and euery one fell to worke Pray thou thy Lord that this his nakednesse may couer thy soule with his heauenly grace and vertues and these his bonds free thee from sinnes and this his being alone amongst his cruell enemyes may deliuer thee from the handes of thy enemyes Secondly of the whipping it selfe COnsider first how cruell it was By the auncient Law the Iewes were forbidden to giue any man aboue forty stripes this being added for the cause of the Commaundement Least thy brother should depart before thine eyes fowly torne with so many stripes Deut. 25. But the Gentiles who were neither tyed by the Iewes Law nor moued with any commiseration exceeded this number so farre St. Gert. lib. 4 diuinam insumationū Cap. 35. as it was reuealed vnto some Saints that hee receiued to the number of 5. thousand 4. hundred stripes which will not seem improbable if these few things be diligently cōsidered 1. The Law of beating by which it was decreed that the guilty person should bee stricken by euery one of the Soldiours a Free-man with staues and a Bond-man with whippes By which Law thou dost learn that thy Lord Christ was beaten with whips like a Bond-slaue that hee might restore thee to liberty and that hee was beaten by Sixe hundred and threescore Soldiours according to the will of euery one Secondly the cause of the Lawe of this whipping of thē which were cōdemned to the punishment of the Crosse to wit that the body of him that was to bee crucified should bee so disfigured that the nakednes should not moue the beholders to any dishonest thoughtes when they should see nothing pleasing or beautiful but al things torne and full of commiseration Thirdly the purpose of Pilate who hoped to spare his life by this so great cruelty vsed against him Hee would therefore that this correction should bee most sharpe by which hee might pacifie the desire of reuenge in his most cruell and inhumane enemies Fourthly the hatred of the Priestes whome to please the Soldiours vsed all extremityes against Christ Fiftly the great care and hast which the Priests vsed in the carrying of the Crosse of Christ least Christ should dye before hee was crucified Which doth plainly shew that he was beaten with so many stripes that hee could not long continue Consider secondly the māner obserued in this whipping For
thee so thou oughtest religiously to meditate worship and imbrace those spittings whips reproaches which haue brought aboundance of so great goods vnto thee For our Lord knoweth his owne attyre and he will more easily receiue thee comming in such garments then in worldly pompe and brauery And hee had rather haue thee to pray and worship him in this poor array then in all thy braue attyre Consider secondly that this sack of the body of Christ which came down from Heauen Ioan. 1 full of grace and truth is now opened and torne in all partes breathing out of his holy bowels a wonderfull sauour so sharpe that it driueth away Deuils Mat. 24. so peircing that it entreth into stony hearts and so sweete that it draweth the Eagles from all partes of the world For where the body shall bee Mat. 24. thither also will the Eagles be gathered Purge thou the nostrils of thy heart purge thou the filth of thy vices that being stirred vp with the sweetnes of the sauour of God Thou mayst runne into the sweet sauour of these oyntments Cant. 1 And pray vnto our Lord to drawe thee after him with his sweetnes to instill into thy heart the loue of his Passion that thou mayest contemne the world in respect therof And he said behold the man by this worde Pilate endeauoured to mooue some commiseration shewing first the bitternes of his punnishment as if hee had said knowe that hee is a man and not a beast if hee haue committed any fault he hath paid wel for it therfore ô meÌ„ take pitty vpon a man it is the part of beasts not to spare the conquered And again behold he is a man a most miserable man whom ye haue accused as King of the Iewes there is no cause why yee should be afraid of this King whome through the great deformity of his body cruell tormeÌ„ts yee can scarce knowe to be a man Doe thou apply these words profitably vnto thy selfe in this maÌ„ner 1. Behold the man he is set before thee to imitate in this habite in these gestures and in this shape of body and minde Abraham was proposed to our Auncestours for an example of life Isa 51 Marke the Rock saith Isaias out of which yee were cut Heere a man is proposed vnto thee of whom our Heauenly Father saith Heare him and the Sonne of God Learne yee of mee Mat. 27. for I am meeke and humble of heart Looke therefore not vpon other mens manners but vpon this mans vpon this face of Christ who although hee be God whose vertues and deedes thou canst not attayne vnto yet he is true man indued with the same frayle and humane nature like thee and other men Thy first Father Adam made thee of a man like to foolish Beastes Psal 84. If thou wilt returne to the auncient dignity of humane nature ioyne thyselfe with this man Secondly beholde the man to whome thou maist flye in all thy necessities these spittings are suffered for thee this bloud is shedd for thee and all these euills are indured for thy sake both that thou shouldest take away thy sinnes and cure thy wounds by these medicines and also that thou shouldest pay them to the eternall Father for thy infinite depts Thirdly behold the man marke what thy sinnes haue brought vnto this man thy pride hath caused these irrisions and this contempt thy couetousnesse this nakednes thy drunkennesse this effusion of bloud thy lust these thornes and thy sloath these bonds O man behold this man but who art thou and what is he thou a man like a worme he a man and God Oh how great glory is due vnto him and how much shame vnto thee yet what is he become for thy sake and what sufferest or doest thou for him Psal 21 he is made a worme and no man a scorne of men and an abiect of the people And this because he would carry thee vp to God But thou being carefull of nothing lesse then of exalting his glory applyest thy selfe about thine own honor wealth and commoditie The 27. Meditation of the third accusation of our Lord before Pilate Ioan. 16 Then wheÌ„ the high Priests and the Ministers sawe him they cryed saying crucifie him crucifie him COnsider first the people holding their peace and inclyning to coÌ„miseration the Priestes and their ministers and flatterers were not pacified That thou maist knowe first that no man is moued more hardly to repent his sinnes then he which sinneth of set purpose and malice For they which fall thorough weakenesse and ignorance are sooner recalled and deserue pardon but they which wittingly and willingly are euill are rather hardned indurate theÌ„ any way ameÌ„ded by admonitions 2. That the enimies of Christ and of his Church are neuer the better for being vsed geÌ„tly curteously For these kind of meÌ„ are to be subdued by thretnings terrors constancy not by sufferance Consider 2. That euen as these wicked men did vpon the sight of the bloud of Christ thirst after his death like dogges vpon the sight of the bloud of a wilde Beast So thou oughtest to be inflamed with the loue of the passion of our Lord by the contemplation of his paines Psal 38. that the fire of Deuotion may be inkindled in thy meditations Consider thirdly how the words of these wicked people did pierce the bowells of thy Lord crucifie him crucifie him of which he foretold in the Prophet I haue left my house I haue put away my inheritance Hiere 12 I haue giuen my beloued soule into the hands of her enemies my inheritance is made vnto me like a Lyon in the woâ—d Sâ—ffer with thy Lord and lament thy sinnes which continually send foorth the same cryes and are bloud-suckers instantly crying Pro. 30 Bring Bring Pilate said vnto them take yee him and crucifie him Ioan. 19. for I finde no cause in him COnsider first that Pilate being moued with disdaine answered somewhat sharply vnto the Iewes Admire thou thy own coldnesse who art a Christian knowest the dignity of Christ and the greatnesse of his paines and doest confesse that thou wert the cause thereof and yet art not moued neither with commiseration towards Christ nor with disdaine against thy selfe Learne iustly to be angry at them which goe about to incite thee and others vnto sinne that is to say at the Deuill and his ministers Say vnto him if thou wilt offend the goodnesse of God I finde no cause in him but of loue reuerence and thankesgiuing Consider 2. Though Pilate was loath to pronounce the senteÌ„ce of death aganst our Lord yet he did not hinder his death but wold put it ouer to other meÌ„ WhoÌ„ thou doest imitate as often as thou leauest to the will of others that mischife which thou thy selfe darest not coÌ„mit Consider 3. That this wicked PresideÌ„t after all this grieuous punishment found no cause in him either of
death or stripes Doe thou inquire the cause in the opened bowells of Christ to wit his burning loue which cutt brake asunder this sacke of his body poured foorth his bloud so pleÌ„tifully What will the holy Angels do which were astonished in the natiuity of this Lord at the wonderfull loue which caused almighty God to take vpon him a frayle and infants body How will they be amazed both at this loue of God which for man was coÌ„tent to be esteemed a worm rather then a man to be the scorn of men and the outcast of the people the scum and laughing stocke of all men also at the raging malice of the Iewes who would neuer bee satisfied with the paines and punishment of their Messias which so many ages before was expected promised vnto them and likewise at the hardnes of thine owne heart which is not softened and melted with this burning charity of thy Creator Admire thou these thinges and pray thy Lord to inflame thy heart with the loue of him Ioan. 19 The Iewes answered him we haue a Lawe and according to the lawe he ought to dye because hee made himselfe the Sonne of God COnsider first the proud answere of the Iewes we haue a Lawe They belieued in the lawe which they had in writing and did not fulfill it in worke Those men doe imitate them first which boast of the word of God and continually obiect the same and are wholy in the commendation of faith when in the mean time they do nothing worthy neither of faith nor of the holy Scriptures nor yet of a Christian man Secondly they which place all piety in outward ceremonies onely and not in the worship of God in brotherly charity Consider 2. That according to the Lawe Christ ought to dye For the whole lawe of Moses and of the Prophets foreshewed the death of Christ for all the sacrifices of the old Law were shadowes of the sacrifice of the Crosse and all the Prophets referred their prophesies to the death of the Messias Therefore the Iewes said true but not according to their owne intention whose meaning was that the sinne and blasphemy of Christ deserued death by the Lawe that thou maiest learne that God turneth to thy good those things which are badly spoken or done by the wicked and also that thou shouldest drawe goodnes euen out of wicked men Consider third-the cause of his death Because hee made himselfe the Sonne of God A most true cause of death First if thou doest consider God the Father for the Son of God being made man made man the Sonne of God assuming humane nature into one person of the Sonne of God For wee should neuer haue come into grace with the eternall Father but by the death of that man who was the true and very Sonne of God Secondly if thou consider the Iewes because hee liued the life of the Sonne of God For therefore their enuy was exasperated to the death of Christ because his most Holy life reprehended their wicked behauiours Take thou heede that neuer any other fault bee noted in thee but onely that thou art the sonne of God For if thou doest suffer for that cause thou art happy and the faithfull Disciple of Christ And because the Sonne of God did vndergoe this death to make thee the Sonne of God pray him that hee will lighten thy soule with his Grace and exalt thee to bee the Sonne of God and after this life by communicating his Diuinity vnto thee he will number thee amongst the Sonnes of God and graunt thee thy portion among his Saints which shall bee called the sonnes of God The 28. Meditation of the second examination of Christ made by Pilate When Pilate heard that speach hee feared more Ioan. 19 and entred againe into the Pallace and said vnto him whence art thou but Iesus gaue him no answere COnsider first that Pilate being an Ethnicke and possessed with the error of the Gentiles feared least Christ was the Son of some God as perhaps of Iupiter or Maâ—s For so the Poets faine of Romulus and Remus and of diuers others and Christ his modesty in answering and his grauity of manners confirmed this opinion Hee feared therfore the indignation of the God his Father whose Sonne hee had so vniustly whipped The Gentile feared the vaine wrath of the Gentile God and feared not the grieuousnes of his sin neither did the Iewes feare the most iust wrath of the true God Thou likewise doest feare sometimes shadowes dreames and childish fancies and art not affraid of the Deuill who is alwayes at thine elbowe when thou sinnest nor the district iudgment of Christ whome thou doest offend nor Hell mouth gaping for thee Consider secondly Whence art thou Euill men neither knowe God the giuer of all good thinges nor from whence any good commeth to them The Oxe knoweth his Keeper and the Asse the manger of his Lord. Hennes Cattes and Hogges when meat is cast vnto them lift vp their heades and looke vpon them that cast the same And man who hath receiued so many benefites froÌ„ God doth neither thanke nor knowe God Consider thirdly that Christ made no answere First because it was not necessary seeing hee had manifested his innocency before and also satisfied this question saying My Kingdome is not of this world I was borne for this and for this I came into the World c. For our Lord spake but seldome and necessary thinges and as St. Chrysostome saith least hee might seeme proude by his continuall silence Hom. 87. in Mat. Secondly least by his answeares hee might bee thought desirous to escape and to auoyde death which he might easily haue done if either hee himselfe or any other for him had seriously defended his cause Thirdly least hee should giue holy thinges vnto Dogs For at this time Pilate by his great sinne of whipping him had made himselfe vnworthy of an answere at Gods handes Fourthly because an Heathen man could not vnderstand the answere of that which the Angells cannot conceiue For from whence is that Person which with his Maiesty filleth both Heauen Earth which alwayes springing in the bosome of the Father Isa 53 is alwayes borne and perfect whose generation noe man can declare Thou therefore pondering in thy minde the Maiesty of thy Lord and seeing him before this wicked President thus fowly torn deformed with so many stripes and couered with so many spittings filth and torments admire and aske him whence art thou Art thou hee whose Father is God whose Seruants are the Angels and whose Kingdome is Heauen For if wee may Iudge of a man according to his habite thou seemest to bee a Worme rather theÌ„ a Man brought forth of the durte rather then comming from Heauen Then Pilate said vnto him Doest thou not speake vnto mee Ioan. 19 doest thou not knowe that I haue power to crucifie thee and power to dismisse thee COnsider first the
the children of this earthly Hierusalem conuert themselues to the faith of Christ Consider secondly whereas in former times the barren were accursed now the barren in Christ are blessed For there is giuen to Eunuches that is to them which liue chaste and single in the Church Isa 56. a name better then from sonnes and daughters Consider thirdly that in all troubles of this life wee must say vnto the mountaines fall vppon vs and to the hills couer vs that is to say we must haue recourse to the helpe of Saints who in the Scriptures are called by the names of mountaines and hilles as in Isaias Isa 2. the house of our Lord shall be a prepared mountaine that is to say Christ the head of the Church in the toppe of the mountaines and he shall be eleuated aboue the hills exceeding in dignitie and worthynes all Saints great and lesse Consider fourthly although these predictions of our Lord pertaine cheifly to the ouerthrowing of Hierusalem yet they may and ought to be referred also to all sinners who by their sinnes were cause of the death of our Lord and yet are not made partakers of his merits nor returned into Gods fauour by his death For they which now liue securely and whome no danger will make to refraine from sinnes shall then runne into the dennes and Caues of the earth Isa 2. Osea 11. Apoc. 6. as the Prophets haue forespoken From the face of God sitting on the throne and from the wrath of the Lambe For there shall come a great day of wrath on them and who shall be able to stand The countenance of the Iudge shall be terrible to the wicked and his sentence intollerable Then the barren shall bee called blessed that is they whome the world accounted vnprofitable and the wombes which haue not brought foorth that is which haue not followed the concupiscence of the flesh but haue subdued the vices of their belly and throat the pappes which haue not giuen sucke that is the humble and such as are not high minded Pray thou thy Lord that thou maiest not feare the face of his fury in the day of wrath and last reuenge whilst time serueth bee reconcyled vnto Christ For if they doe these thinges in greene wood Luc. 23 what shall bee done in the drye Consider first Christ is the wood euer greene and flourishing delectable to behold moderating the great heate with the shadowe of his thicke leaues bringing foorth fruit pleasant both to the taste and smell delighting the earth with the singing of birds For by his diuine nature and by the inward grace of the Holy Ghost hee doth not onely exceede all beauty but also preserue chearish and comfort all creatures Thou also art wood but dead without the sappe of Grace barren without the fruite of charitie naked and vnprofitable without the leaues of good workes Consider secondly who they are which doe these things in the greene Wood that is which gaue these torments and death vnto Christ thy Lord. First Rom. 8 God the Father who spared not his owne sonne but deliuered him vp for vs al. Secondly the Deuill who prouoked his sernants to put Christ to death Thirdly the Iewes and other ministers of his death But all these did not concord in the passion of Christ to one end For God the Father punished his Sonne for the loue of thy saluation Gen. 22 and like Abraham carrying the sword of iustice in his hand against his sonne and the fire of Charitie towardes thee hee layed the wood vpon his sonnes shoulders to be carryed by him for the burning of the holocauste The Deuill greiuing at the conuersion of many indeauored to hinder the course of his preaching to intangle the Iewes in the most grieuous sinne of innocent death and to ouercome the patience of Christ by his torments And the Iewes being moued by enuie could not indure to be admonished to amend their liues by the wordes and example of Christ Consider thirdly the argument of our Lord If they doe these things in greene wood what shall be done in the drye First if I suffer this for other mens sins what shalt thou suffer for thine owne Secōdly if the Father doe so grieuously afflict his innocent and obedient Son what will he do against his wicked and disobedient serūat Thirdly if the deuills could by their officers doe these things in another kingdom against the sonne of God what will they bee able to doe in hell in their owne kingdome against their owne bond-slaues Fourthly if by the permissiō of God wicked men raged thus against the onely begotten Sonne of God for the sinnes of men why shall any man meruaile that God will permit men to vexe and molest men when their sinnes deserue it Pray thou thy Lord to ingraft thee into himselfe being the green wood and that neuer more punishment bee exacted of thee then that which he himselfe suffered for thee The 33. Meditation of the crucifying of our Lord. And they came into the place which is called Golgotha which is a place of Caluaria Luc. 23. Mar. 27. Mar. 15. and they gaue him wine to drinke mixt mith gall and when he had tasted hee would not drinke and it was the third houre COnsider first the ascending of this hill howe painfull it was vnto thy Lord how hee inforced his tender and consumed body that it should not faile to procure thy saluation but that in the mountaine nearer vnto heauen he might stande before God the Father and offer Holocaust as a sauor of sweetnes for thy sinnes Follow thou the Lord ascending his hill as neare as thou canst and stand by him in this hill euen vntill death Consider secondly how the executioners made ready the Crosse how they bored the holes for the nailes and prepared nayles hammers and ropes thy Lord behoulding them with his eyes Doe thou also behold them and lament and beware because thou doest prepare a Crosse for thy Lord as often as by thy sinnes thou deseruest a place in hel for thy soule which is created to his owne likenes Consider thirdly that according to the custome of such as were put to death they offered a cup to Christ but much differing from that was vsed to be giuen to others The drinke was mixed with wine Myrre gall and vineger for St. Mathew vseth in stead of wine this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vineger that none of his sences should want his paine and punishment His cruell enemies compasse him round about troubled his sight their cruell wordes vpbraydings and blasphemies tormented his hearing the stench of the of the place and of the filth which couered his face offended his smelling his touching suffered most grieuous paines all ouer his body and because no sence should bee without his tormēt this most bitter drinke was giuen him to afflict his tast Is it not reason then thinkest thou that thou shouldest suffer some affliction or trouble
tytle was ingrauen because it should last for euer and in wood because by the wood he shall alwayes raigne ouer them whome the wood had ouerthrown Thirdly the Hebrue was first in order which the rest doe imitate For our saluation is from the Iewes to whose diuine Scriptures all humane wisdome is to bee directed Fourthly they are written from the left hand to the right to signifie that if thou desirest to be exalted by wisdom with Christ thou must humble thy selfe and not be proud in thy owne conceipt For knowledge puffeth vp 1 Corr. Iac. 3.8 wisedome without Christ is earthly carnall and diabolicall Fiftly the Greeke is before the Latine for first the Grecians and then the Latines were conuerted to the faith and leauing the manners and customs of their fore-fathers followed that doctrine which God gaue to the Iewes in the Hebrewe language that thou shouldest not rely vpon thine owne wisdome but follow them with thy whole heart whome thou knowest to be the seruants of God Pray our Lord to ingraue this tytle in thy heart Iesus of Nazareth King of the Iewes Ioan. 19. COnsider first and marke euery word of this tytle Iesus a Sauiour which name our Lord receiued when hee first shedd his bloud for thee For then seeking thy saluation he gaue part of his bloud as a pledge that he would aftewrards giue it all for thee He then receiued at thy hands circumcision which was the signe of a sinner euen as it is the signe of a theefe to bee boared through the eares that the eternall Father omitting thee a sinner might satisfie his wrath vpon his sonne This name vntill that day was obscure and of small reputation but being fastened to the Crosse it became so glorious that In the name of Iesus euery knee is bowed Phil. 2. Of Nazareth not of Bethlehem although he were borne in Bethlehem First because there was a greater myracle and benefite wrought in Nazareth by the incarnation and conception of our Lord then by his Natiuity in Bethlehem Secondly because Nazareth signifieth flourishing and Christ is an oderiferous flower hanging on the Crosse which rendreth vnto vs the wholesome fruite of grace and glory King who being crowned with a Diadem cloathed with bloud like a purple roabe raigneth vpright and fast tyed by the feete ready to help thee with his hands boared through because he would not keepe his guiftes but bestowe them plentifully vppon thee and with his armes spread that he may imbrace thee when thou commest He did not write Bishop or Priest although he did the office of a Priest but King both because hee once by himselfe immolated the bloudy sacrifice Heb. 10 Ezo 19 1 Pet. 2 by which he did consummate the sanctified and raigneth for euer and euer and also because it is a priestly kingdome a kingly priesthood where Christ being God is king doing all things in power and Christ being man is Priest obtaining all things by sacrifice Of the Iewes sent first to the Iewes not to the gentiles For I am not sent saith our Lord but to the sheepe which perished of the house of Israel Mat. 15 Rom. 15. and the gentiles doe honour God for his mercie that thou maist thanke God that the Messias was taken from the Iewes and offered vnto thee and showe thy selfe in praysing God a true Iewe not by carnall birth but by spirituall circumcision of thy vices and true confession of thy sinnes Consider secondly the true cause of the Crosse was to saue thee to adorne thee with vertues and to gouerne thee sweetly Pray thy Lord to suffer none to rule in thee but only himselfe Therefore many of the Iewes reade this title for the place where Iesus was crucified was neare the Cittie Therefore the Priests said to Pilate doe not write King of the Iewes but that he said I am King of the Iewes Pilate answered what I haue written I haue written COnsider first that many Iewes did see and reade these holy words but they vnderstood them not and therefore scorned them that thou maist learne that none scoffe at diuine things the holy Ceremonies of the Church the Doctrine life of Saints but only they which vnderstand them not Therefore because it is written He shall mocke the mockers Pro. 1. and I will laugh in your distruction do thou take heede and refrayne from these blasphemous scoffings Secondly because the name of Iesus was to be highly honoured and this tytle to be celebrated ouer the whole world and the Crosse it selfe to be imprinted in kings foreheads therefore it was conuenient to haue it first laughed at and scorned For euen as a brasen vessell doth shine brightest after it hath beene fowled and rubbed with dyrt and clay so he shall be most glorious which hath suffered most shame and vexation for Christ Yeelde not then to thy afflictions nor be dismayed since there is so great glory prouided for thee Consider secondly that Christ was crucified not farre from the Cittie for though hee bee throwne out by the inhabitants of the Cittie and of this world yet because it is proper alwaies to him to spare and to be mercifull he goeth not farre but stayeth hard by knocking continually at the gates of our heart to trye if he may be let in Consider thirdly that the wicked cannot indure the very name of the kingdome of Christ because the Crosse of Christ is distastefull to sinners who choose rather to haue a delicate king then one nayled to the Crosse This was the cause as St. Damascene testifieth why the Iewes crucified Christ with his face turned from the Cittie Lib. 4. Act. 11. Cap. 13 and looking towards the gentiles because neither they nor their children should euer receiue him for their Messias Giue thou thankes vnto Christ that he would behold the gentiles from his Crosse thinke vppon thee and bring thee to the knowledge of him Pray him neuer to turne his eyes from thee Consider fourthly Pilates answere Hee indeede set on this tytle but moued thereunto by the instinct of God Therefore that ought not to be vndone which by God had beene done for the glorie of the Crosse and the kingdome of Christ which is his Church wil stand continue though thou shouldest forsake it For if thou wilt refuse this King and his kingdome another shall be called and receiue the Crowne Remember the holy Oyntment and consecrated Oyle in thy baptisme and conformation by which was imprinted in thee the tytle and signe of the Crosse that the marke and badge of Christ might remaine in thee as oyle doth penetract is not easily washed off and that the writing made vppon thee by the finger of God Apoc. 3. might alwaies be imprinted in thy soule Pray then our Lord to ingraue in thee his new name and the name of his holy Citty and write thee also in the booke of euerlasting life The 35. Meditation of the first word of
Christ But Iesus said COnsider first what thy Lord in these great paines of the Crosse did doe say or thinke when as amongst all those torments he found no comfort neither outwardly by men nor inwardly in his owne soule Yf he moued his body the woundes of the nayles tormented him if his head the thorns ranne in deeper and pricked him if he stirred not at all his torment was intollerable ouer his whole wearied body Thinke thou yppon these things in all thy labours and afflictions which thou sufferest for thy Lord. Hee reproued no man although he were slaundered diuers wayes But because the mouth speaketh from the aboundance of the hart his wordes euen vppon the Crosse were directed to thy profite and saluation and doe declare most manyfestly that he prayed to his Father incessantly for thee when by reason of his torments he was not able to vtter one word Consider secondly his swan-like song and note the last words of thy Lord which he spake to thee at the poynt of death For euen as the voyce of the Serpent hyssing out of the Tree of the knowledge of good and euill instilled the poyson of sinne so the last wordes of Christ from the Tree of the Crosse were very effectuall for our saluation and full of burning feruour as proceeding from the depth of infinite charitie Hee spake with a loud voyce and weeping teares with great affectiō and deepe sighes in fewe words but with many teares mixed with bloud streaming downe from his head His teares watered his prayers Heb. 5 and his bloud adorned them his eyes pierced his Fathers eares his sighes moued his heart Doe thou listen to these wordes marke them diligently and gather the fruite thereof For by these seauen wordes the wordes and formes of the seauen Sacraments are sanctified the seauen guiftes of the holy Ghost are obtained and the seauen deadly sinnes are driuen away Consider thirdly but Iesus said First whilst the Iewes were busie in crucifying tormenting mocking him Iesus as if he had not marked these thinges yea rather that he migh render good for euill said Secondly hee who hetherto in his owne cause to the admiration of all men held his peace and could not be brought to speake but being adiudged and had also abstayned from the most iust defence of himselfe now in the middest of his torments is not silent in thy most vniust cause but being not intreated intreateth yea and intreateth with most effectuall wordes Iesus said who the Sonne of God To whome to God the Father Where vpon the Crosse When being ready to dye and his vitall spirits being spent How not sitting nor lying easily but vpright vpon his feete with his hands lift vp and spread abroad like Moses in former times Ezo 17. and all bleeding For whome for sinners who were carelesse of their owne saluation for Christ and his frtends pray for sinners Heb. 5. before sinners pray for themselues What he craueth mercy offring his prayers and supplications appealing from this cruell sentence of the Iewes his bloud be vpon vs and vpon our children to a better sentence and full of mercy and desiring that this cruell sentence might be made frustrate Before whome openly in the hearing of his enemies to teach them mercy sweetnesse and in the presence of his Mother and of his friends both because they should bee witnesses of his pardoning them also that they should neuer pray for the reuenge of this sinne O excellent speach of highest merite and worthy to be imitated by all men full of labour charity mercy and piety Haue confidence then in Christ and pray him who by speaking first for sinners before he spake for his Mother left to vs a testimonye how much he esteemeth the saluation of sinners that hee will vouchsafe to haue continuall care of thee now in Heauen Luc. 23 Father forgiue them PAuse vpon euery word Father he doth not say Lord which is a name of seuerity and iustice but Father which is a name of mercy and of the newe Testamēt giuen vnto vs in this place by the bloud merites of Christ that euen as he would be our Brother so we should haue all one father in Heauen He saith therefore O Father knowe me thy Sonne the Father will denye nothing to his sonne I came into the world to this end that thou shouldest receiue thine enemies for thy children Heare me then praying for them For euen as the prayers of the Priestes in the Church shall hereafter be very effectuall which shall conclude in my name in these wordes through Christ our Lord so I doe now pray vnto thee my Father thorough me thy onely begotten Sonne Therefore as thou louest mee thy Son so receiue these my prayers For I ascended this crosse haue suffred all these stripes that I might obtaine mercy and pardon for them If therefore thou doest reiect the prayers of thy sonne and not hear thy sonne thou shalt impose a greater torment on mee then the Crosse it selfe which I suffer that I might take away a greater euill that is that I might turne away thy wrath from them Spare therfore the great dolors of thy Son least he seeme to haue indured them in vaine Thou giuest reward to others labours I desire onely this reward for my paines that thou wilt forgiue these men Forgiue heer our Lord doth the office of a Priest for he prayeth for the sinnes of the people and he cryeth Heb. 5. not only as a Priest but as a sacrifice desiring not a free pardon but offering a full satisfaction His wounds crye his bloud cryeth his spittings his paines and all his members crye Forgiue accept of these torments for their sinnes I haue paied their debtes I giue my bloud for the pryce my paines for the ransom my life in satisfaction my body soule for a sacrifice Be thou therfore merciful for this is a copious redemption A hard thing is required to wit that the Father should forget the death of his onely begotten Sonne and of such and so gteat a Sonne but the Sonne beggeth and hee beggeth with his bloud Secondly hee asketh it not conditionally as he praied for himselfe in the Garden If it bee possible if thou wilt if it may bee done but absolutely Forgiue Both that thou mayest learne to pray to God for pardon of thy sinnes and for his diuine grace without any cōdition because that hath alwayes relation to Gods honour And also that thou shouldest freely forgiue thy neighbours faultes without any condition Thirdly hee prayeth to haue them forgiuē presently and not to bee deferred till after his death For hee would not leaue this life till peace was made with God Parents when they are dying doe often leaue vnto their children small store of goods and those intangled with many difficulties charges debts and contentions But Christ before his death payed all debts with his owne bloud took away all difficulties and charges
and made a peace and reconciliation with his Father Hee sayeth therefore O Father forgiue and that by and by For the time of hauing mercy on him commeth Pâ—al 101. for the time commeth to wit the houre of sacrifice the day of satisfaction the time of forgiuenes the last instant of my life in which being presently to yeeld vp my breath I now propound my last petitioÌ„ and intreat onely this O Father forgiue them Fourthly hee saith not forgiue the sinnes already committed but onely forgiue euen those euills which they shall hereafter coÌ„mit against mee their irrisions their blasphemies the bitternes of the vineger my death and the wound in my side that thou also shouldst quickly forgiue thy enemies and remit all thinges keeping no rancor at all in thy heart Fiftly hee sayth not I forgiue both because the offence against his Father grieued him more thâ—â— his own torments and also because being intentiue vpon the happines which should redound to all the world by this his Passion hee seemed to esteem all the euils which the Iewes did vnto him rather as a benefite then any hurt Like as a man hauing a grieuous vlcer in his side if his enemy thinking to kill him should wound him in that place whereby the vlcer should be opened and the corruption let out would bee glad of that wound which was the cause of his cure So desirous was our Lord of thy saluation that hee reioyced at those his paines which were the cause of so great good vnto thee Them Note first that hee sayeth not these wicked Crucifiers these Hangmen these aduersaries and enemies both because thou shouldest refraine from all euill wordes and reproaches and also because thy Lord reputeth no man his enemy who payed the price of his death for all men and offereth saluation to euery one louing dearly euen these very Iewes his executioners Rom. 11. not for their owne euill workes but for their Fathers sakes who were holy and iust men and therefore speaking of his stripes Zach. 13. I was whipped saith hee in the house of them that loued mee Not by them that loued me but the Sonnes of them that loued mee that good might be done vnto the Children for their holy Fathers sakes Secondly them in the plurall number not onely those which conspire now against my death but also to all those who at any time by their sinnes haue giuen cause of this my Passion For thou shalt not bee excluded from this prayer whose sinnes haue been cause of our Lords death and thou mayst haue hope of pardon if thou wilt ioyne thy prayer with the prayer of Christ For if the prayer of Christ did profite them which neuer required it doubtlesse it will profite thee requiring it of him and praying together with him For they knowe not what they doe Luc. 23. COnsider first that Christ to whome all iudgement is giuen and whome his enemyes had offended did not take vpon him the office of a Iudge or an accuser but rather of a defender patrone The Iewes sought how to accuse him and found nothing worthy of accusation in him Our innocent Lord that was offended seeketh how to excuse the offence and the malice of the offence was such that nothing could be alleadged for the extenuating therof but onely ignorance And yet this ignorance being voluntary could no more excuse the Iewes then him who wittingly and willingly hideth his eyes because he will not see him whom he striketh or killeth If Christ then in the midst of his torments mittigateth the sinnes of his torturers will hee not now before his Father excuse their sinnes who call vpon his name with faith deuotion and sorrow for their sinnes Consider secondly that the Father answered not his Sonne by worde and yet Christ was heard for his reuerence Heb. 5 For God when he denyed his Sonnes request answered in the garden by an Angell but when hee graunted it hee answered not in worde but in deede Ioan. 19. For first hee restrained all creatures froÌ„ rising against his enemies in reuenge of his death all which would haue fought for their creator if this prayer of Christ had not stayed them Secondly hee reduced one of the Theeues vnto pennance Thirdly at the death of his Sonne he changed the minde of the Centurion and others Fourthly vpon the solemnity of Penticost hee conuerted sometimes three somtimes fiue thousand of the same Iewes vnto his faith Therefore God the Father not by outward words but by inward consent answered his Sonne in this manner O my Sonne I grant that which thou requirest laying aside all wrath I open the fountaines of mercy and I offer grace and pardon of sinnes Iustice and adoption of children as wel vnto these who haue afflicted thee as also vnto all the Nations of the world for euer and euer so as they will admit mercy offer'd vnto them For I will compell none against their will but I giue power to all to returne into grace and fauour with mee if they will and to be made the Sonnes of God and to come into my inheritance in Heauen so as they will be partakers of the merit of this my Passion through faith and the Sacraments Doe thou cry out now with great affliction great are thy mercyes therfore we giue thankes to thee our Lord God And pray him to bestow the guift of wisdome vpon thee that thou mayst know and admire his bounty and goodnes and driuing away all enuy to giue vnto thee the vertue of charity that thou mayst bee inflamed with the loue of thy neighbour The 36. Meditation of the diuision of his Garments Ioan. 19 Then the Soldiours when they had crucified him tooke his garments and made foure partes to euery Soldiour a part and his coate And the coat was without seame wouen all ouer COnsider first the pouerty of Christ thy Lord hee had not change or many suites of apparrell nor the same of silke and other costly matter but his garments were fewe and poore to defend him only from the cold and to couer his nakednes And by tradition it is deliuered as Euchemius witnesseth that his coate without seame was the worke of the mother of God In Mat. 27 which she did weaue with her owne hands for her sonne when he was a little infant which grew miraculously as our Lord grewe and was not worne nor torne out in all that long time the like whereof is rehearsed in holy Scripture to haue happened to the children of Israell that thou mayest learne by the example of thy Lord to forsake all curiositie and superfluity as well in apparrell as in other things Consider secondly the liberality of thy spouse he had already giuen his body shedde his bloud and spent his youthfull yeares for thee and now he giueth a fewe poore garments leauing nothing for himselfe but nayles thornes spittings and bloud clodded on his body Behold the riches of thy
Sun no lesse dependeth then the light of the other starres depend vpon the brightnes of the Sunne Thirdly that thou shouldest knowe the greatnes of this sinne from which the Sunne abhorring did as it were turne away his face and withdraw his light and shewed himselfe ready to reuenge and offered to his Lord and creator to perish for his death Thou learnest hereby that euery mortall sinne is so grieuous that it were better the Sunne and starres should perish then that the maiesty of God should bee offended by one sinne For by euery mortall sinne God is put to death whose death cannot bee recōpenced with the perishing of all creatures Fourthly that thou mayst know that Christ suffred this death for the great and thicke darknes of sinners and of the Iewes that this darknes being driuen away throgh the death of our Lord there might a nowe light of faith diuine wisedome be restored vnto the world as at the 9. houre the light appeared againe Fiftly that thou mayst vnderstand that the fruite of our Lords death consisteth in the cōtempt of the splendor fauour of the world for they which are crucified with Christ reioyce not in Honors Nobility but in obscurity neglect contempt Consider 2. the manner of this Eclipse with St. Dionisius Areopagita being an eye witnes Epist 7. ad policarpū 11. ad Apolloph hath described 1. The Moone being at the full and opposite to the Sun returned from midnight to noone 2. It returned not by his ordinary motion from the West but by a contrary motion to himselfe from the East Thirdly the Sunne it selfe lost his light in it selfe Fourthly not in one only part of the earth as in other Eclipses but ouer the whole world this darknesse of the Sunne was seene in like manner as of the Moone eclipsed and depriued of her light by the shadowe of the earth falling vppon her Fiftly this eclipse continued three whole houres which vsually lasteth but a small time All these thinges are not voide of their reasons and considerations Christ is the Sonne of Iustice the Moone is the world and foolish sinners Eccles 27 For a foole is changed like the Moone Therfore our Lord dyed when the world being opposite to God did shine in glory riches and wisdome The world also came to this eclipse that is to the death of our Lord to which not onely by other sinnes but also by this seeking of the death of Christ it had giuen cause But because the maiesty of Christ is not subiect to humane power hee could neuer haue beene obscured put to death by the power of man except hee had bin deliuered to death by the diuine will of God Therfore the Sunne is truly obscured and Christ is truly slaine both by the malice of the world by his Fathers wrath For our Lord was like vnto him which standeth between two men a fighting and receiueth both their swordes into his owne body The world fighteth with God and our Lord receiueth in his body both the wrath of God and the fury of men Thy wrath saith hee hath passed through me Psal 87. and thy terrors haue troubled me Therfore when the Sun of Iustice was eclipsed the Earth was couered with darknes both because by this grieuous sinne there was newe matter giuen of lamentation and reuenge and also because by the death of our Lord all power ouer men was taken away from the Prince of the world and in stead thereof he was bound in chaynes of fire and condemned to the darke prison of Hell But whereas the Moone by a contrary motion came from the East to the Sunne in the South thereby is signified that the Iewes without all consideration of equity and iustice hastened the death of Christ contrary to Law contrary to the right of nature and contrary to their owne conscience and did violently suppresse all good motions in themselues To bee briefe the Sunne was eclipsed three houres because our Lord lay hid three whole dayes partly in torments and in the handes of the Iewes and partly in the Sepulcher Pray thou vnto Christ to preserue the true light of faith and grace in thy soule About the nynth houre Iesus cryed out with a loude voyce saying Eli Eli Mat. 27. Mar. 15. lammasa bactani which is interpreted My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee COnsider first why thy Lord at the end of his life made this crye Certainly not to escape the paines like vnto vs who crye out assoone as wee feele any paine for now the end of his paine approached nor to bee reuenged on the Iewes for this his death for the bloud of Christ speaketh better then the bloud of Abell But first that hee who by the space of three houres being couered with darknes had giuen no signe of life neither by worde nor groane might be knowne to bee still aliue Doe thou consider with thy selfe what hee did all the time of his silence in the midst of his torments surely hee prayed without ceasing vnto God for thee in that admirable lyturgie and sacrifice and hee rehearsed the holy wordes of the Psalmes for thy saluation speaking some with a loude voyce that he might be heard of the standers by Secondly least by the continuall silence of Christ and his admirable patience and constancy of minde hee might erroneously be thought to be but a vision and no man and not to haue felt any paine at all For hee did truly suffer feele paines but the loue of thee restrained him from complaining Thirdly to teach thee in all thy miseries to crye only and with all affection to almighty God Fourthly that thou shouldest learne by this loud voyce to obtaine of God the Father through Christ the fruite of his Passion Fiftly that thou shouldst earnestly pōder with thy selfe what thinges how great for whome and by whome our Lord suffered For our Lord saith St. Epiphanius spake these thinges in the Syriack tongue Haere 69 that all the standers by might vnderstand him Consider secondly and marke the wordes O God hee sayeth not Father First because hee was ashamed representing the person of all sinners to call him Father that thou setting aside all pride shouldest learne humility Secondly least he should seem as a Sonne to complaine of his Father but rather as a naturall man of his affliction My that is though thou art the God of all creatures yet thou art peculiarly my God for many respectes both because thou wouldest haue humane nature assumed into the person of the Son and mee to be exalted aboue al creatures and because thou with thy owne handes didst frame this body in the Virgins wombe and also because I haue euer loued and obserued thee sincerely without any vice The repetition My God my God sheweth the great affection of this speach Why hee asketh not the cause least the perfection of his obedience shold be diminished but hee complaineth out of a
naturall affectiō First that he is forsaken through no demerite of his owne Are saith he the words of my offences far from my saluation that is Psal 21. doe my sinnes hinder my saluation and thy helpe but I haue committed no sinne Secondly of the vnworthines of the cause that thou mightest saith hee redeeme a poor seruant thou hast deliuered thy Sonne to his enemies Hast thou forsaken hee sheweth that hee receiued no helpe nor comfort from the vnion of his Diuinity and that all the time of his Passion hee was left as man to his owne power Hee sayeth not doest thou forsake but hast thou forsaken not onely in this passion but in all my life thou hast not assisted mee in my labours Amongst the Prophets many thinges were spoken hereof Psal 87 I am poore in labors from my youth An vnworthy thing I haue a rich Father but hee giueth his riches plentifully amongst wicked men For of thy hidden thinges Psal 16. that is of riches which vse to bee hidden Their belly is filled but I thy Sonne am left in the meane time poore and beggerly from my child-hood am inforced to great labours Thou hast remoued farre from mee my friend and my neighbour who might comfort mee in my troubles Thy fury is setled ouer me Psal 87 and thou hast brought all thy floods vpon mee thou hast oppressed and drowned mee in calamities Mee thy Sonne whome thou hast begotten frō all eternity whom aboue all creatures thou oughtest to holde most deare In these thinges beholde the iust cause of complaint in Christ together with the most ardent loue of his Father towards thee who because hee would heare thy complaint refused to heare the cōplaints of his Son whom hee would haue not onely to knowe but also really to feele affliction and misery both that hee might take compassion vpon thy infirmityes and also bestow on thee the guift of knowledge how to vse all things to thine owne saluation Mat. 27. Mar. 15 But some standing there and hearing said Beholde this man calleth Helias COnsider first that the Romane Soldiours according to St. Hierome being ignorant of the Hebrue tongue for Eli is Hebrue and Lammasabactani Syriack and hauing heard many times among the Iewes with whome they cōuersed mention made of Helias were deceiued by the meer sound of the words and thought that our Lord had called vpon Elias Learne thou not to vse nor interpret rashly the wordes of God which thou vnderstandest not Consider secondly that all those three houres of the eclipse euery man stood amazed without motion and without speach but assoone as the light returned the wicked also returned to their irrisions that thou mayest learne First that the impiety of wicked men may bee restrained for a time but cannot be quite taken away without the speciall fauour of God Secondly to obserue diligently and feare the miracles and thratenings of God For euen as God by this darknes did foreshew vnto the Iewes the iminent darknes wherin for euer they shall remaine except they repent so by his threatning signes by comets thunder earthquakes pestilence famine and other strange thinges and euents he foresheweth the calamity and mischiefe to come Consider thirdly whereas heretofore the Iewes required a signe to bee giuen them from Heauen heere they hauing a signe are made neuer the better That thou mayest knowe that they would not haue beleeued as they promised if hee should discend from the Crosse because the desires of the wicked are not directed to their saluation but to vanity and mocking Consider fourthly what comfort is brought frō the world to wit mocking and contempt for how can they comfort others which want true comfort of minde themselues Consider fiftly that these wordes were spoken by them which stood by and heard that thou mayest learne First the idle men which are not occupied in their own affaires doe nothing but carp and scoffe at the wordes and deedes of others Secondly that such wrest Gods wordes to an euill sence which onely heare them and doe not imploy their time to the study of vertue Consider sixtly that the wicked knowe no difference betweene Helias Eli and the honour which is due vnto God and which is due vnto creatures Therefore some leauing God seeke help of his creatures to which they vse to flye in all their necessities others giue more honor to men then to God himselfe others thinke those thinges to bee done to creatures which by them are referred vnto God as the reuerence worship done to Images Saints obediēce to their Pastors c. But doe thou better interpret the wordes of Christ pray him to informe thy soule with his diuine guift of knowledg The 41. Meditation of the fift worde of Christ on the Crosse Afterwards Iesus knowing that all thinges were now consummate Ioan. 19. that the Scripture might bee fulfilled hee saide I thirst COnsider first that our Lord in all these torments of the Crosse did neuerthelesse in his minde reuolue the Scriptures and diligently view them all least perhaps there might bee somthing in them vnfulfilled for thy saluation that thou likewise being alwayes attentiue to the will of God and to the cōmandements of thy Superiours mayst neuer ouer-flip any thing belonging to thy office duty Consider secondly that Christ neuer spake nor did any thing rashly but referred all thinges to this end that the Scripture might bee fulfilled Blessed art thou if thou doest nothing but of obedience which giueth a great ornament to the dooer and deserueth an admirable recompence for the worke Consider thirdly that this thirst was most grieuous which the kingly prophet Dauid foresawe so many ages before which grewe both from the labours and torments of the Crosse and frō the continuall streams of bloud and from his fasting all the day and night before Mark the wordes of the Psalmist Psal 21. My strength is dryed like an earthen pott and my tongue hath cleaued vnto my iawes and thou hast brought mee into the dust of death that is thou hast made mee like to dry ashes Consider fourthly why the Scriptures that spake of this thirst were fulfilled last after all the rest to wit First that the first sinne cōmitted in the wood by intemperāce which infected all mankinde might as the greatest prouoker of all the rest be last of all washed away and abolished vpon the wood of the Crosse Secondly because this thirst proceeced from the decaying of his strength and from the losse of all naturall moisture that our Lord might declare vnto vs that hee had with a liberall hand bestowed all his benefits vpon vs. Consider fiftly why being inwrapped compassed with so many torments paines on euery side he complained onely of thirst First to show that he did truly and sharply feele the torments of the Crosse for Christ vseth not to complaine lightly but onely in matter of great moment Secondly to commend
application of them to thy selfe Thy dinner indeed is ready but thou must goe to the table and put the meate in thy mouth thy medicine is made but it is kept in the shop of the Church inclosed in seauen boxes to wit in the seauen Sacraments the price is payed for thee but not yet applyed vnto thee Doe not thou thinke that onely Faith as some Heretiques would haue thee belieue is sufficient for thee thou must goe with thy feete to dinner thou must take thy meate and medicine with thy handes thou must put them into thy mouth and receiue them into thy stomache that is thou must frequent the Sacraments and be diligent in the exercise of vertues that that which was effected giuen for all mankinde may bee accepted for thee applied to thee and profite thee Pray thou our Lord that hee who spent and consummated all his dayes with infinite merits of good works will neuer suffer thee to spend and passe away thy dayes idly and in vaine The 4◠Meditation of the seauenth worde of our Lord on the Crosse And crying againe Mat. 27. Mar. 15. Luc. 23. he saide with a loude voyce COnsider first that as often as Christ spake for himselfe vnto his Father hee cryed with a loude voyce but when he spake to others or for others hee vsed a lower voyce to teach thee First that thou must alwayes deale with God with great affection To others thou openest thy griefes with teares but when thou speakest with God thou art so drye that thou hast scarce any feeling of deuotiō Secondly what grieuous paines the Son of God suffered who with the violence thereof was forced to crye out Consider secondly that Christ for diuers causes cryed out in his prayers when hee was ready to dye Ioan. 11. First to shew that he was Lord of life and death hauing power to yeeld vp his soule and to take it againe at his owne will and pleasure Therfore hee called for death as Nazianzen saith which durst not come In Christo patiente except it had been called Secondly to mooue God the Father to mercy For seeing all mankinde being oppressed with grieuous sinnes was farre off from God hee who carryed the person of all men ought to cal vpon God with a loude voyce being so farre absent Doe thou therefore knock at our Lords eares not so much with loudnes of voice as with affection of hart Thirdly that this voice being sent through the whole world might moue mens hearts and that hearing of the death of God for their sinnes they might be penitent for their offences For at this voyce the Earth was shaken the Rockes were cleft in sunder and the Monuments were opened that thy stony heart might also be broken by the force of this worde of God Not without cause did Marke say his voyce being sent forth that thou shouldst vnderstand that being sent into the world it worketh still in the heartes of men Fourthly that Hell should tremble at this voyce and euen as at the crye of our Lord calling Lazarus the soule of Lazarus returned without delay into his body so now euery one there should prepare himselfe to receiue their Lord being ready instantly to come vnto them The holy Fathers therefore in Limbo reioyced at this voyce and the Deuils in Hell trembled Fiftly to teach thee how to meditate on death not remisly or negligently as of a thing little pertaining to thee nor slowly and dully as of a thing a farre off but often and earnestly of a thing most certaine and at hand so much the more feruently because it is the onely gate to saluation Consider thirdly that in the ninth houre our Lord brake forth into this clamor in the houre I say of prayer and of the euening Sacrifice For then the true hoast was sacrificed vpon the Crosse and being cutt into two partes that is into body and soule was immolated to God the Father by the high Priest with a loud voyce and great labour Ioyne thou thy prayers with Christ his prayer that with his voice they may pierce the Fathers eares Luc. 23. O Father into thy handes I commend my spirit COnsider first that Christ prayed not vnto his Father vppon the Crosse but in the wordes of the Scripture First because hee knewe that these wordes were most acceptable to his Father beeing written by the holy Ghost to teach vs to pray Secondly to teach thee to worship God not according to thy owne fashion vnderstanding but in such manner as the Church indued with the holy Ghost hath appointed thee Consider secondly that Christ vsed this word Father onely twise vpō the Crosse in his first in his last prayer but in his middle that is in his fourth prayer hee called him not Father but God First that thou shouldest like a Son willingly accept that punishment which thy Father sendeth and in thy punishment confesse thy own basenes who art not worthy to bee called the son of God and like a poore creature call vpon God thy Creator for tribulation and aduersity doe teach good men their owne fraile estate and vnworthines and thereby perswade or rather inforce them to mend their liues that in the end hauing ouercome all aduersities thou shouldest take courage reioyce as a Son For probation worketh hope Rom. 5. which confoundeth not Secondly because the beginnings of Gods word doe most sweetly affect the minde the progresse is hard to sensuality but the fruites which are gathered are most pleasaunt The booke was in the mouth of Iohn sweete as hony Apoc. 10. but being deuoured it made his belly bitter Thirdly because in his first prayer when hee prayed for sinners hee was to gaine authority to his prayer through the loue of a Sonne for none but a sonne could bee heard for so great wickednes In the middle he complained as a man And in this last hauing fulfilled his embassage he desires as a Son to bee called home to his Father Consider thirdly that Christ made this petition to his Father not for feare of iudgment for now his Father had committed all iudgement to him nor for feare of the Deuill whose forces hee had already broken nor for feare of the paines of Hell which now hee came to take from good men and to carry away the spoyles of Hell But first to teach thee neuer to remit or slacke thy inuincible spirit from prayer Secondly that thou shouldest knowe with what confidence he went vnto his Father For hee sayeth not anxiously after the māner of a suppliant I pray thee Father but as it were of mine owne right and authority I commend my spirit Consider fourthly marke euery word of this last prayer which before had bin made by the holy Ghost to this purpose Psal 32. and is now recited by the Son to the Father with addition onely of this word Father Father First I haue remained thy Son in all these so great