must be warned There is noe sanctity assured but in the holy feare of God wherein Eccl. 2. I would haue you euen grow old as the holy Scripture saith Soe to giue vs to vnderstand that wee must not onely feare God when first we come to his seruice but euen to the very end This feare is noe sadd or irksome kinde of thing but full of sauour and gust and it takes away all leuity and effusion of hart and it makes a man not venterous to approue his owne actiōs as good though perhapps in themselues they be well done But he leaues the iudgment both of himselfe and of all the world to Almighty God As S. Paule said I iudge not my selfe but he whoe iudges mee is our Lord. This is hee whome you must feare if you will perseuer in doeing well and if you will not haue your building fall but stand safe till it may rise and reach to the most high God But now this must be done by loue which I beseech our lord Iesus Christ to giue you Amen Pray for mee very cordially as already I beleiue you doe For I hope in God that hee will heare you and that he will giue mee to you for your seruice as in former tymes A Letter to a Lady who was growen a widow He comforts her in the death of her husband and animates her to carry her afflictions with patience I Haue deferred to write to you out of a beleefe that my letter would be of little power towards the mitigating of that great sorrow to which they said you were growen subiect And I thought I should take a better course to be vttering my selfe to our Lord who is the Lord of all comfort and to be recommending you to him then to be speaking to you by my letters But yet because they haue beene demaunded with soe great instance which serues to assure mee how much they are desired and because our lord hath power enough to doe what he lists by the meanes euen of dead letters I would not faile to doe as I was commaunded and that to which I was obliged beseeching our lord that by meanes thereof he will be pleased to breede that comfort in your hart which I desire Our Lord hath soe disposed as to haue you try what tast these afflictions haue which are gathered in this vale of teares and they not of the gentler but ruder sort Let his name be blessed his iudgments adored and his will obeyed since that which the creature owes to his Creatour is all reuerence and subiection not onely in those things which are delightfull but in those others alsoe which are most painefull Now to make try all of this obedience God is wont to teach vs in that which lyes next our harts To the end that wee may vnderstand that for soe great a lord we must be content both to doe and suffer great things Abraham carryed excessiue loue to his sonne Isaack Cenisis 22. and God was pleased to try him in that A great loue it was which Iob carryed to his seauen sonnes and yet God tooke them all away in one day And after this manner is he wont to proceede with such as he loues For by this meanes both they are made capable of testifying their loue to him and by the same hee takes occasion to doe them great fauours I know well that flesh and blood haue noe vnderstanding of this language and that they onely imploy themselues vpon feeling the greife and losse which they sustaine without caring for other things But if God be in vs we must restraine our sence and make it obedient to reason and to the will of our Lord. And though it trouble vs much yet must we not let this flesh of ours ouercome but remembring the anguish of our Lord which made him sweate dropps of bloud and say Father not my will Luc. 22. but thy will be done we are to say the same if we meane to be knowne for his disciples since he will know none for his vassalls on earth nor for his companion in heauen but the man who carryes the crosse vpon his backe Matth 10. and whoe will follow him as the sheepe his sheapheard though it should cost him his life Tell mee of what wee can iustly complaine in our afflictions since by them our sinnes grow to be discharged and our selues made to ressemble the sonne of God For what a bould irreuerēce should it be that slaues would not passe by that lawe by which their Lord did passe and that adopted sonnes should not be content to endure that which the naturall sonne endured who was more beloued by God the Father then his first begotten sonne and whoe was more loaden with variety of paines then hee Esay 53. Hee was the man of greife and be who knew by experience what belonged to affliction And if you be able to count the dropps of the sea you may alsoe perhaps count his sorrowes Will it then seeme reason to you that the sonne of God being soe in anguish and all wounded with greife euen to the death wee should passe all our liues without drinking once of vinager and gall Matth. 26. What is become of that shame which wee ought to haue if heere wee should lett him suffer alone and yet pretend to raigne with him in heauen Let all creatures be at last vnbeguiled and know that if the king of heauen did enter into his kingdome by tribulations we also must enter in by the same way There is noe other way but Iesus Christ and hee crucified whoesoeuer seekes any other will not finde it and whosoeuer walkes by any other will loose himselfe and hee will see that though it may be a kind of vnsauoury thing to suffer in this life it is worse to suffer in the next O blindenes of the sonnes of Adam whoe take noe care of the future soe that the present may passe to their contentement Not valewing that which brings in true profitt but that which giues vs gust Not looking towards reason but passion And therefore doe they lament when they ought to thinke themselues happy and they reioyce when they haue more cause to mourne What is all this present prosperity but a smoake which by little and little will be dispersed in such sort as that wee shall see nothing of it And what are all the yeares of our life but a short sleepe out of which when wee awake wee finde our selues but to haue beene abused And vpon any little trouble which arriues we are drawne to forgett our former pleasures yea and it giues vs a kinde of paine to haue enioyed them If then wee finde soe great in constancy in this why doe wee not seeke that other And since wee see every day that this is slipping out of our hands why doe wee not seeke that which lasts indeede and will make our felicity eternall If hitherto wee haue beene in blindenes let vs now
of them suffers ease which he loues not and iust soe is affliction sufferred by the other Now this is part of that which Christ our lord deliuered when he commaunded vs to take vp the Crosse if we meant to be his disciples I say it is a part thereof for the other and chiefe part whereof this Crosse consistes is the mortification and death of our self conceyt and will and of our passions and powers This is that old man who must die as Christ our lord died vpon the Crosse what is this old man the body which is passible and mortall and that other inward man whereof I haue spoken before must be also dead in vs. But although this be the cheife part of carrying the Crosse we must not put away that other part howsoeuer it be lesse principall then this And though S. Paul say Timoth Exercitatio corporis ad modicum vtilis est yet the seruant of Christ our lord will not leaue to please him euen in the least things which can be thought And least we should fall into errour the same Apostle saith elswhere 1. Cor. 9. Castigo corpus meū in seruitutem redigo I conceiue not that he said this because he was tempted with the flesh as some vnderstand the difficulty whereof he complaynes but that he would punish and soe cure himselfe by way of preseruatiue vsing this exercise of his body least his mind might otherwise grow sick And elswhere he saith when he recountes the afflictions which he endured 2. Cor. 4. Semper mortificationem Iesu Christi in corpore nostro circumferentes where hee calles that the mortification of Christ which is the very Crosse of corporall afflictions In another place he saith also Psal 5. Qui Christi sunt carnem suam crucifixerunt And if he had meant this onely of crucifing the affections it had sufficed to say Cum vitiis concupiscentiis but by saying carnem it proues that he meant afflictions of the body This he explicates very well in his Epistle to the Corinthians where amongst other things Cor. 6. wherein men were to exercise themselues he reckens vp corporall afflictions namely fasting and watching so that the whole man must vnder-goe the Crosse since Christ our lord died vpon it Our soule must dye by the compassion and memory of Christ crucified and by the mortification of the ould man as hath beene said and the body also must dye vpon the Crosse of corporall afflictions that soe the whole man may be conforme to Christ our lord as he is in paine and misery since heereafter he is to be conforme to him as he is in glory I haue said thus much that you may take a scantling of those forces which God hath giuen you and that soe you may imploy them vpon doeing and suffering all you can And this not onely considering that it may be addressed to some other good intention but euen though it be for noe other reason let it be done to the end that you may be in conformity with Christ our lord as he was afflicted and not vpon necessity but for loue And though neyther the hairecloath nor hard bed nor such thinges as these howsoeuer they be vsed for the loue of Christ our lord should saue vs sola enim Crux Christs est saluifica yet at least lett vs vse them in imitation of that extreme pouerty and sharpe affliction which Christ our lord endured in being crucified which consideration will not be lightly esteemed by vs if we be not wholy voyd of the loue we owe him Gloria enim magna est sequi dominum And thus much of this matter There were two other points of which I thought to haue written but there is noe time for them now I will note them downe least I should forgett them vpon condition that you write me word what there is to be amended in this letter A Letter of the Authour to a Lord of great quality who was sicke and very fearfull of death He teaches him how he is to carry himself I Haue receiued your lord-ships letter I haue read it and I haue vnderstood it and I hope our lord hath mercy for you in store For it is noe great wonder that his greatnes should doe fauour to one who deserues it not since he hath done it soe often to such as haue deserued the expresse contrary I am not sorry a whitt that your lord-ship is affrayed of death for although this feare be a thing paynefull there is noe hurt for a man to apprehend it and many times it is sent by our lord to the end that by the spurre of feare we may bee vrged on to doe that which wee will not doe for the spurre of loue And he as being a father of mercy vsefull to guide those affaires in such an admirable manner as that both feare and hope may helpe vs to ride that way which it is necessary for him to prepare and to make playne and in fine thus feare serues for many good purposes and it is hurtfull for none I desire that your lordshipp would commaund that house to bee built where your pages are to bee lodged As also that you would defrey the cost of those armes and horse wherewith those townes of yours are charged I wish more ouer that you would not cause any sumptuous cloathes or furniture or such like things to bee prouided now Besides if you remember any thing which you may haue wonne ill at play which either is not restored or els not lost againe to the same partyes I aduise you to make restitution thereof And forasmuch as the men who are Lords of states as your Lordship is are not able to reach to the knowledge of all the wrongs which may bee done to others by you noe nor yet your seruants through theire negligence I could wish you would commaund it to bee published in all the Churches of your state that whosoeuer had receiued any wrong by you should de clare the same and that satisfaction should be giuen him And you shall doe well to appoint the Prior of Saint Dominique and the Pastor of your Church where you dwell and some man learned in the lawes who knowes the affaires of your state to heare and see what were fitt to bee done Some particular causes your Lordship shall doe well to heare your self though it should be of some trouble to you that so they may not say elswhere that this course puts you to more payne then it doth I desire by all meanes that all this may bee done for it seemes to mee to be a fitt remedy of all those wrongs which may concerne your neighbours now it is as easy to doe it well as it vill be hard if it be adiorned till after this life Let it be noe impediment to this that the world may chaunce not to like it since he whoe respects the pleasure of God will easely despise that of the world As
not perhapps the commaundements of God more worthy to be desired then thousands of gold and siluer where shall we finde a true paire of scales to weigh euery thing out for iust as much as it is that soe we may not thus for euer liue in lyes Men fly as farre as they cann from being deceiued in their temporall states But why fly they not with greater diligence from being deceiued in some what els which imports them more They complaine if they be cosened in halfe the worth of any thing which they are to buy yea and there is noe meanes to appease them but they will needes be seeking a remedy against that abuse And yet they are very ready to loose their soules for a little gaine or for an act of murmurring or some other sinne And we cannot soe much as preuaile with them to the end that they may haue some feeling of it and say I am deceiued let soe great a wrong as this be remoued That soule O men which you are loosing is more worth then all that which can be giuen you in exchaunge thereof what doe you gett by gayning it all if you loose your selues alone what doth it profitt you to see euery body good if withall your selues be wicked what doth it profitt you to gaine and growe great in point of fortune with preiudice to your soules and to be mighty in the sight of men but not to be acknowledged in the sight of God The day will come infallibly it will come when God will destroy all them whoe worke iniquity and for what then will that serue to which they haue most pretended heere O day of giuing accounte for all the daies of our liues how little art thou considered and therefore how little art thou feared And men in the meane tyme runne with the bridle loose and in their teeth for the gathering of this little miserable flower which soe quickly Fades and they see with their very eyes that it is euen slipping from betweene their fingers and yet there is neuer want of some body who hath a minde to hould fast this world whilst still it is flying speedily from them Sir our true repose and our kingdome is not to be had in this world What is this life but a way from our owne houses reaching to the place where theeues desire to cutt our throates since euery day we walke on more and more and it is noe whether els but towards death Now who would be soe absurdly inconsiderate as that when he were to be conducted to execution and that much hast were vsed to dispatch him the delinquent should yet fall into great aflictioÌ„ because lie were not sumptuously cladd or who in such a case would attend to busy himselfe about hearing some relation of the liues of others or would delight himselfe with looking vpon some publick entertainement and pastime Or would put himselfe to study what the reason might be why men put not of their hatts to him with a good graces And yet how many doe wee see through our sinnes depriued of all sense who goeing as we all doe to that resting place of their graues yea and running faster thither then any arrow flyes out of a bowe doe yet detaine themselues foolishly some vpon fine cloathes others vpon a certaine paltry smoake of honour and others who grow angry at the hart because iust that which they desire is not done And yet those very things which they desire are neither such as helpe them to obtaine true felicity not hinder them from falling into eternall misery What in the name of God is this which hath soe blinded vs as that we should make Tyme of Eternity and Eternitie of Tyme For soe haue men despised that eternall blisse which God hath prepared for them in heauen as if it were but temporall and soe haue they lodged all their loue vpon this transitory world as if this were the thing which is eternall How few are there on earth whoe passe through it like straungers as S. Peter saith we must 1. Peteâ— 2. and who fasten their harts vpon the Future as vpon their Cittie and true place of rest Let the tongue say what it will but our workes proclayme vs to be Cittizens of this world since we extreamely desire to be accommodated and exalted heere and so take noe care though we should be but as straungers in the next world Perhaps we are growne to be of opinion that the kingdome of heauen may be obteyned without any great labour or care But the truth is that euen they who take most paines will finde that still they haue enough to doe that still they must continue in doubt whether it will serue the turne or noe and what then will become of the rechlesse person but that he will be sure to loose it Our life is a very match of wrastling and he whoe wrastles as the Apostle saith must wholly vntye and dis-intangle himselfe that he may gaine his crowne 1. Cor. 9. Wee are running for a wager and the Prize is noe lesse then the kingdome of heauen Yet not all they who runne are to haue this Prize but they onely who runne best What a madd man were hee who should shackle his feete and then thinke that he were to carry the Prize which must be giuen to that man whoe runnes a pace And it is not a lesse absurde strange thing that a man should ensnare his soule with the heauy aflictioÌ„s of flesh and bloud which permitt him not to flye vp towards God God commaundes that to him who should strike thee vpon one of thy cheekes thou shouldest turne the other Maâ—â— 5. â— which is as much as to say that not onely thou must not reuenge thy selfe for the iniury receiued but that thou art to keepe thy hart prepared to endure an other if it be giuen and still if another blowe be offered to turne the other cheeke that is to prepare thy selfe for enduring iniuries more and more in such sort that the other may be sooner weary of doeing ill then thou of suffering it for thy goodnes is to be greater then his mallice But how then shall hee bee able to make a speedy course in this way who is fettered in the chaines of worldly Honour which requires that we reuenge the iniuries which are done vs. For as S. Gregory saith Noe man feeles the weight of dishonour but he who loues his owne honour And therefore if this loue be not laid a side how shall we be euer able to runne If God commaund that wee must rather dye then committ a mortall sinne how shall we be able to comply with his will heerein if wee cast not of the chaynes of that inordinate loue which we carry to this life Couetousnes is a Chaine which permitts vs not to liue in good neighbourhood with others Enuy is a Chaine Anger is a Chaine and the loue of our selues is a Chaine and roote of all the rest
their owne vpō which they neuer looke but from farre of soe how great soeuer they be in themselues they seeme little to them From hence it proceedes that in their conuersation they are soe intractable and soe rigourous for iust after the rate of their hauing noe consideration of their one infirmities they haue noe compassion of others I neuer yet saw man who was curious in the cōsideration of himselfe who would not alsoe easily passe ouer the fault of another and whatsoeuer that man be who is seuere against another when he falls giues strong euidence whereby it is proued that he considers not his owne defects Soe that if wee desire to fly from this soe daungerous kinde of blindenes we must be sure to view reuiew what kinde of things our selues are that soe when we finde how miserable we be we may cry out for remedy to our lord Iesus Because indeede hee is Iesus that is to say a Sauiour but yet of noe other then such as know and bewaile their owne miseries and who receiue indeede if they can and in desire if they cannot the holy Sacraments of the Church that soe they may be cured and saued And although for the making vs know our selues God and his Saints haue declared many and many things to vs yet he whoe shall attentiuely behould that which he may obserue to passe within his owne hart will finde soe many things for which he must despise him selfe that with horrour he will cry out from the bottome of that Abisse and say there is noe end of my miseries Who is he that hath not erred in those things wherein he thought him selfe most sure who hath not desired searched after things as cōcerning that they were good for him which yet afterward he found to be full of preiudice Who will presume to know any thing since he hath beene deceiued innumerable tymes what thing is more blinde then a man who knowes not soe much as what he is to aske of God as S. Paule tells vs and this comes to passe Rom. 2. because we know not soe much as what is good for our selues as it happened euen to the same S. Paule Who begging of God that he would free him from a particular temptation Rom. 2. Cor. 12. conceiued that he had asked a right but it was giuen him to be vnderstood that indeede he knew not what he asked nor soe much as what was good for him And now who will put cōfidence in his ability to know euen soe much as what he should Iudge desire concerning himselfe since he whome the holy ghost inhabited did aske that which was not good for him to obtaine Certainely our ignorance must needes be very great fince we erre soe oftē in those things wherein it imports vs soe much not to erre But now though sometymes our lord should teach vs to know what is good yet who doth not see how very great our weakenes is and how we fall flat vpon our faces in those things wherein it concerned vs to stand vp right To whome hath it not occurred many tymes to propound the doeing of some good thing and yet to finde himselfe ouerthrowne and ouercome by that wherein he tooke himselfe to be most inuincible To day wee lament our sinnes with teares in our eyes and we purpose to refraine them afterward and yet euen whilst the same teares are still wett vpon our cheekes some new occasion of sinne is offered and weeping because we fell we committ that very thing for which we may haue cause to weepe againe receiuing the body of our lord Iesus-Christ with much cause of being confounded for the irreuerence which we haue committed For the tyme hauing beene but short since we harboured his pretious body in our bosomes it happens sometymes that by some sinne we driue his grace out of our soules What care is soe weake and light which chaunges soe often vpon the warning of all windes as wee Sometymes merry and sometymes sadd now deuout and then distracted now full of desire tending to heauen and then following the world and euen dropping downe to hell Now hee abhorres a thing and instantly he loues that which he abhorred He casts vp that which he had eaten because he found it charge his stomack and presently he eates it vp againe as if he had not cast it before What thing can there be with such variety of coulours in it as a man who is made after this sort what Image can they painte with soe many faces and soe many tongues as this kinde of man How truely said Iob Man neuer remaines in one and the same state Iob. 14. Iob. 7. And the reason heereof is because he is ashes or dust and his life a winde Now what a sott should hee bee who would seeke for any repose or rest betweene dust and winde I doe not thinke that there could be a more hedious thing then if we were able to discerne to how many seuerall dispositions one man is subiect in one onely day His whole life is a very masse of mutability and frailty And that which the scripture saith agrees well to him Eccl. 27. The foole is as chaungeable as the Moone But now what remedy shall wee finde heereof Certainely we can haue none better then to know our selues for Lunaticks And as in former tymes they carryed a Lunatick person to our Lord Iesus Christ that he might cure him soe lett vs goe for cure to the same lord Iesus The scripture saith that the euill spiritt tormented that man and that sometymes he cast him into the fire and sometymes into the water and the very same happens to vs. Sometymes wee fall into the fire of couetousnes of wrath of enuy at other tymes into the water of carnality of tepidity and of malice And if wee consider vpon how large accompts wee stand obliged to almighty God for the tyme past and how little amendment there is in the tyme present we will be sure to say and we may doe it with much truth The sorrowes of death haue enuironed mee the dangers of hell haue hemmed me in O danger of hell which is soe mightily to be feared And who is not hee that will not watch with a hundred thowsand eyes that he may not be put to welter in that profound Lake where hee shall eternally bewaile the temporall delight which he hath vnlawfully enioyed who will not take care of his way least otherwise he be found wādering from all happines where are the eyes of that man who sees not this where are his eares whoe heares not this where is his pallate who tastes not this It is a cleare testimony of death not to performe the actions of life Our sinnes are innumerable our frailties are great our enemies are stout crafty and many and they hate vs home That whereof wee are in question is either the gayning or loosing of God for all eternity How comes it then to
fine your lord O blessed tyme wherein is represented to vs the coming of God in flesh to dwell amongst vs Luke 1. to illuminate our darkenes and to addresse our feete in the way of peace and to adopt vs for his brethren and to designe vs for the enioying of the same inheritāce with himselfe It is not without cause that you desire his coming and that you prepare your hart for his habitation For this lord was desired long before he came Agge and the Prophet called him The desire of all Nations Psal 9. and indeede hee giues himselfe to none but such as desire him God heares the desire of the poore for his eares are laid close to the sighing of our harts and he cares for nothing els in vs but that To such a hart hee comes and cannot deny himselfe as it is said in the Canticles Cant. 4 Thou hast wounded my hart O thou my sister and my spouse thou hast wounded my hart by the cast of one of thyne eyes and by a haire of thy head Is it possible for any thing to be more tender then that which is wounded by the sight of a single eye Is it possible for any thing to be more weake then that which is tyed fast by one single haire where now are they who say that God is hard to be obteyned that he is rigourous to be delt with and insupportable to be endured Wee must quarrell with our selues since because wee will be looking many seuerall wayes we place not our sight vpon God nor will wee shutt that eye of ours which behouldes creatures that so with all our thought wee may cōsider God alone Hee who shootes in a Crosse bowe shutts one of his eyes that hee may see better with the other how to hitt the white we the while will not shutt vp all that sight of ours which hinders vs from being able to hunte wound our lord with loue Let him recollect and make sure his loue and lett him lodge it in God whosoeuer hath a minde to obtaine God For as God is loue soe is he onely to be hunted and taken with loue and he will haue nothing to doe with them who loue him not And if they say that they know him already as they ought 2. Iohn 4. S. Iohn will tell them that they say not true But our lord who is wounded with an eye is tyed with a haire For that which loue takes the recollected and reflected thought conserues that it may not be lost And to the end that men might be put into confidence that they should be able to arriue to almighty God and that hee hath noe minde to slipp away he makes himselfe one of them and layes himselfe in the armes of a virgin swathed vp hand and foot without power to fly from that man who is disposed to seeke him O celestiall bread which descendest out of the bosome of thy Father and art laid in the publique places of this world inuiting as many as will that they may come to enioye thee and feede vpon thee And whoe is hee whoe can endure to withhould him selfe from goeing to thee and from receiuing thee since thou giuest thy selfe vpon noe harder cōdition then onely that wee be content to hunger after thee For doest thou peraduenture aske more of vs then onely that a soule may sigh for thee and confessing her sinnes may receiue and loue thee Great is the misery of those men who when bread comes to seeke them in their owne howses they choose rather to dye of hunger then to stoope to take it vp O sloath what a deale of mischeife thou doest O blindenes what a deale of benediction doest thou loose O sleepines what a deale of aduantage doest thou steale away since considering the promise that whosoeuer seekes shall finde Mat. 7 21 Mark 11. Luc. 11 Iohn 14. 16 and he who askes shall obtaine and to him who knockes it shall be opened it is cleare that if wee proue not well the fault is ours But what shall things passe still after this manner Though God himselfe is come to cure vs shall wee still continue sicke He being at the gate of our hart crying out and saying Open to mee O thou my freind and my spouse shall we being all wrapt vp in vanities Cant. 4. suffer him to stand calling there and not soe much as open him the gate O my soule come hither and tell mee for I aske thee on the part of God what in fine is that thing which detaines thee from goeing all with all thy forces after God What doest thou loue if thou doe not loue this Spouse of thine Or rather why doest thou not loue him much who did soe mightily loue thee He had noe busines on earth but to attend to the loue of thee and to seeke thy profitt with his owne losse And what hast thou to doe in this world but to exercise thy selfe all in loue of this king of heauen Doest thou not see how all that which heere thou seest must haue an end as also all that which thou hearest which thou touchest which thou tastest and wherewith thou doest converse Doest thou not see that all this is but cobwebs which cannot cloath thee and keepe thee warme Where art thou if thou haue not thy being in Iesus Christ our lord what art thou thinking what account art thou making what doest thou seeke out of that onely one complete God Let vs rowse vp our selues at last breake of this badd sleepe Let vs awake for it is broad day since Iesus Christ our lord who is the light is come Let vs doe the wookes of light since there was tyme wherein wee did the workes of darknes O that the memory of that tyme wherein wee know not God might sèrue vs now for sharp spurrs to make vs runne greedily after him O that we could runne O that wee could fly O that wee might burne and be transformed into him What must a creature doe when he sees his creator made man and all for loue of him alone who euer heard of such a loue as this that one louing another should by loue be converted into that other It is true that God loued vs when hee made vs after his Image but a farre greater worke it was to make himselfe after our image He abases himselfe to vs that hee may exalt vs to him He makes himselfe man that hee may make vs Gods He descēdes from heauen that he may carry vs thither in his cōpany and in fine he dyed that he might giue vs life And now shall it be possible that in the midst of these things I should lye sleeping and without any sense of gratitude for soe great loue O lord illuminate myne eyes that they may not sleepe in such a death as this And thou who hast done vs this great fauour Ps 12. giue vs alsoe a right feeling of it For otherwise the
greater the benefitt is the more hurt it will doe vs in the end O Lord open thou myne eyes that they may consider thee descending out of the bosome of thy father and entring into that of thy virgin mother that I may giue thee great thankes for this benefit Make mee able to humble my selfe for thee Make mee able to consider thee lying in a maunger insteade of a bed crying out through could being opprest with pouerty make me learne thereby how to cast all delicacy farre from mee Make thy teares sighes shew sound themselues forth in myne eares that soe they may mollify my hart that soe it may deliuer it self couer as wax to euery inclination of thy will And doe not thou permitt that God should weepe and that man should haue noe feeling of it for I know not at which of these two things wee might wonder most Seale vp O lord thy wordes in my soule that I may neuer sinne against thee Let the blood which thou didst shed for mee be gathered vp into my hart and be thou all my onely loue that soe thou maist not repent thy selfe of all these great afflictions which thou enduredst for mee It is I whom thou soughtst and whome thou seekest still and for mee thou hast made all those tiltings and triumphes and shewed forth all thy liueries and vndergone all that cost Let me neuer see my selfe belonging to any other then thee since thou hast deserued me soe well Come Madam let that hart of yours now prepare it selfe for God is vpon the point of being borne and hee hath neither howse nor bedd wherein to lye Let your hart be all inflamed with loue for the Infant suffers much cold And yet if your hart be but euen soe much as luke warme this Infant with his cold will giue it greater heat For how much the more cold he suffers for vs so much the more loue he shewes to beare vs where I finde my selfe to be more beloued there am I obliged more to loue Exteriourly hee suffers cold and yet through the great loue he beares vs he can endure noe cloathes but he lyes naked as soone as he is borne naked they lay him vpon the Crosse because in his bearth in his death he shewed the greatest excesse of loue Madam you must prouide a cradle wherein you may rock him a sleepe which signifies the repose of contemplation and see that you tend and treat him well for he is the sonne of a great high king and he is the sonne alsoe of a virgin and he takes much gust to lodge himselfe in the hart of virgins for the meat he eates is flesh which is crucified dead And because he hath a great deale of poore people amongst his kindred whome yet he loues deerely well you must be alsoe sure to loue them for they are the brethren of our creators As soone as he is borne in your hart you must take care to nurse him and I beseech him to keepe and saue you for his mercies sake Amen A Letter to a certaine Lady who is taught with what disposition she is to receiue Christ our lord into her soule and with what care she is to keept him and of the great misery where into that soule falls which committs mortall sinne and what a great treason it is to leaue God and follow the deuill especially for such as haue beene particularly fauoured by almighty God THE grace and peace of the holy ghost be in your hart and assist you in this holy tyme that you may prepare your soule for that Infant who is now to be borne For he hath noe howse but in those soules which are well disposed to receiue him He comes as a straunger and in great pouertie Giue him your hart Mat. 25 that soe he may say in the last day I was a straunger and you receiued mee But yet consider withall that as there is nothing so much to be desired by you as to lodge this Infant in your soule so is there nothing which requires more care and diligence then to prepare the lodging ready in such sort as he desires He comes in humility and pouertie and they who receiue him must be humble and poore He comes to vndertake great labours and with labour that howse must be adorned wherein he voutchafes to dwell He is chast and he loues such as are chast And though he be very little and a very Infant yet withall he is very great and he is God and soe it must be no little thing to prepare a lodging for a great God Our lord is choise and nice and by reason of some-one mortall sinne which some man makes litle difficulty to committ he refuses to enter into the soule And if he be there already one mortall sinne sends him away And when he is gone he comes not back againe soe soone but makes it plaine by the difficulty which he hath to returne with how great diligence he is to be kept by vs when we haue him there O my good lady and how riche is he who possesses God and how often in the day were he to looke downe vpon his hart asking our Lord if hee be there What chaynes should he cast about him of humble petitions and teares begging of him as Dauid did in these words Psal 21. O lord depart not from mee How full of caution ought a man to walke least he should doe somewhat which might offend our Lord least being offended he should be gone For if hee be all good what shall it be to loose him but to fall into the Abisse of all miseries They are sadd things which a soule feeles when it hath lost God and such as will hardly be beleiued though all the world should speake of them This appeares well in our first parents Adam and Eue. For Eue looking vpon the fruite of the forbidden tree it seemed very beautifull to her eye and that if she might eate thereof it would proue very pleasing to her and giue her great contentment But as soone ast she had eaten her eyes were opened to behould those great miseries which came vpon her by that meanes experience taught her that the bitternes of breaking the cōmaundment of God was greater then the pleasure to haue eaten the fruite And then she saw that the apparance which the forbiddē fruite had of being soe very faire and full of gust was but a deceite of the deuill who made a false glasse for her to looke through And hee alsoe gaue her a loathing of those other fruites which God commaunded her to eate Soe as they seemed vnsauoury to her and she thought that all the gust and hidden good had consisted in that which God forbad O how many haue beene deceiued by the deuill through false imagination he promising them contentment gust they afterwards making bitter lamentation for giuing credit to him whom euen before they knew to be a
her selfe to leaue the world and to consecrate herselfe to God he animates her in that purpose and shewes the great blessings which shee would finde both in life and death by the espousalls which shee meant to make with Christ our Lord. DEuout seruant of Iesus Christ The contentment which my soule tooke in vnderstanding of the new purpose you were growen to haue of taking the king of heauen for your spouse yow who might soe well haue matched your selfe heere on earth was so very great that I know not with what words to expresse it And though when it was tould mee it were new to mee as not hauing vnderstood thereof before yet neither was it wholly new for already I had in a manner eyed you out for that lord who created you and I had begged of him as a particular fauour that he would bestow you vpon mee for himselfe Blessed be his holy name for euer who hath now done it soe very completely as I knew not soe much as how to wish But that ioy which your soule founde before in seeing it self soe disintriqued from all the basenes of this earth and finding it selfe already to haue receiued that pledge and pawne of loue from that heauenly king what was it els but a cleare signe that this mutation which you haue made proceeded not from any incōstancy of your humour but from the worke of God who hath conveighed his hand into your hart and therein hath produced that desire of heauen which now you haue And he also gaue you that great ioy as a testimony and earnest penny of those many and great and pure ioyes which if you proue faithfull to him he resolues to giue you in heauen the least whereof is incōparably more to be esteemed then a husband of this world and children and estate and whatsoeuer els the whole earth can giue O if you had but tryed how sweete God is to that soule which turnes her backe to the world to place her eyes vpon her Creatour O if you did but know what that sweetnes is of the celestiall spouse towards the comforting of those soules who cast all transitory delight away and like chast turtles refuse to take comfort vpon earth but send vp sighes for loue of their Lord who is in heauen who are like the doue which returnes home to the hand of the owner as cleane as shee went forth without touching any dead body soe much as with her feete What is there soe flourishing in this world which is any better then a dead and stincking carkasse And for what then doth it serue vs to ioyne our selues to that which will infect vs and which may leaue vs thirtie thousand tymes more disgusted with the bitternes which followes then with the pleasure which it yeilded for the present You must render Christ our Lord many thankes whoe hath giuen you light whereby you know how to distinguish betweene that the pretious and the base betweene eternall and-temporall betweene an immortall God and a mortall man And for hauing giuen you grace to make soe happy an election as whereby God is accepted and man despised and in that for the loue of that heauenly bedd of state the care of any earthly bedd is throwne aside◠how rich soeuer it might haue beene Be therefore faithfull to him whoe takes you for his spouse and who will be sure to be so faithfull to you as to make you finde by experience that hee is not in iest when he calls himselfe the pure Spouse of pure Virgins for you shall finde the assembly of all blisse in him Nor can it proue like the marriages which are made betweene flesh and bloud wherein vsually the little contentment which is had at first is followed by the bitternes of repētance But this worke of ours giues not onely contentment at the first but the more you conuerse with this Lord the better you shall know him and the better you know him the more you will loue him For he is not like men who when they are more frequented let vs easily see that they haue more faults and he who was a good husband vpon the marriage day within a yeare proues such as that there is noe liuing with him But in Christ our Lord you shall see nothing which may disgust you and as little in that Blessed mother of his who is the mother in lawe to all the spouses of her sonne O blessed houre wherein that good purpose was sowed in your hart and much more blessed will that other bee when you shall finde your selfe so visited by your spouse as to make you say O my Lord and when could I deserue these fauours of thee that I should finde this hidden treasure for the purchase whereof to pay the price of a thowsand liues were to buy it very cheape O how happy and prosperous is this marriage to be and of how excessiue ioy both to heauen and earth God the Father is pleased to see that there be soules on earth whoe loue his onely begotten sonne soe well as that for his loue they leaue the loues of flesh and blood not onely those which are forbidden by his lawe but euen those of marriage which are lawfull For it is a signe of greater loue when for his sake we forbeare that which we might lawfully vse The sonne is he to whome the soule is espoused and for this hee dyed that he might haue some soules which would loue him at least with spirituall purity and others whoe might doe it not onely spiritually but euen with the body alsoe vntouched The holy Ghost is most pure and farre estraunged from flesh and when he findes a soule which resolutely despises carnall delights there doth he lodge his eyes and fills them with spirituall comforts and will neuer permitt that the soule be empty which shall refuse to feede vpon carnall foode Our Blessed Lady is the mother of the spouse and they are very like one another for shee alsoe is all amiable benigne a beginner a protectour and an aduocate of virgins and shee highly reioyces that there is virginity vpon earth for that is the flower which she planted There want not pages to giue attendance at this marriage for the Angells are seruants to the king of heauen and ready for all that which the spouse shall neede Neither yet is there want of children which the world is wont to desire soe much and they come without throwes of trauaile and without paine in bringing vp and without that greife which growes when either they liue not well or dye too soone The children of this marriage are good workes which be rightly called a man's or woman's fruite What comfort will he feele when for the loue of Christ our Lord he conceiues a good purpose to giue an almes or some such other thing and when afterward he shall put it in execution what pleasure will he take by the birth thereof These children giue both ease and honour to their
that I should write haue beene the reasons of this letter I beseech that soueraines goodnes which hath already vouchsafed you soe much fauour that to his owne eternall glory hee may finish the good worke which it hath begunne You see in what fashion I am talking to you I haue layd aside those Titles of honour and rancke which according to the stile of the world now forsaken by you belonged to your quality And I write as to one who is already estranged wholly from the world and in soe playne a manner as is conuenient to a domestick seruant of Christ our lord and as is fitt for the Institute whereof you are And since your selfe desired it and I haue obeyed you in it be carefull that now when you haue abhorred the Tytles of this world you may also abhorre the affections thereof and that now you may passe wholly on into that age cuius pater Christus est Esay 9. whose father is Christ our lord Which consists not soe much in whether the time be present or future as itt doth in Spiritt which cometh after flesh For as the Apostle saith non prius quod spirituale sed quod animale 1. Cor. 15. That is not first which is spirituall but that which is animal And therefore the spirituall is called seculum futurum a future age Soe much the more care must you take of this as it will be more hard for you to doe it since he who hath most to leaue doth it with most difficulty And the man who hath most impediments is least able to runne lightly away And this is the good which they gett who are the great men of this world though they come not to knowe it till they putt themselues to runne after others who are before them And then the faster he runnes the more he shall feele it And by his owne experience he will be able to vnbeguild himselfe in that which the world beleiues Namely that it is better to be great then meane and poore And soe I beleiue it hath happened to you if indeede you haue begun to follow Christ our Lord or at least will finde it when you shall begin The thing which must comfort you herein is this That since our Lord vouchsafed to take you for his seruant when you were most vntoward vncapable thereof hee will giue you greater strength wherewith to serue him now then hee would haue giuen to another who had not beene soe incapable And soe must you represent your selfe before our Lord who hath called and accepted you beseeching him that howsoeuer it may putt you to more payne and shame he will yet bestow that vpon you whereby you may serue him much since you owe him much And consider your selfe as a person who bringes but halfe that meanes wherewith to negotiate this busines which another bringes And begg pardon for ill employing euen your little stocke but yet with giuing thankes to our liberall lord whose workes are great towards his poore creatures That soe liuing with feare and trembling to see your selfe soe vnworthy of such a place there may grow from thence a due reuerence to all your neighbours carrying them vpon the topâ—e of your heade and doeing for them as any slaue would doe for his lord considering how mercifully Christ our lord hath done the same to you you may haue good hope to proue well in your great busines if you obtaine that knowledge of your selfe whereof I haue spoken And then shall you spend your life happily when you hould euery daye thereof to be the last Christ our Lord bee with you Amen A Letter of the Authour to some Disciples which he had in the Citty of Ezija THE peace of our Lord Iesus Christ be euer with you Amen Since I parted from your presence I haue euer had you all present with me in my memory for the loue I beare you permits me not to doe otherwise Giue your selues still to God since you once gaue your selues to him and I was a witnes thereof nor will I by any meanes that you repent the hauing offered yourselues to him since hee offered himselfe to death for you You shall be sure to haue battailles and those sharp enough for our enemies are in great multitude and full of rage Bee not therefore negligent for if you be you are instantly vndone If they who watch best haue enough to doe to defend themselues what doe you thinke will become of wrechlesse persons but that they should entirely bee ouercome Remember that the pleasure which sinne presents is small filthy and shorte and the sorrow which it leaues behinde is very great and the misery which growes to vs thereby is incomparably greater What sorrow how great soeuer it be can equal that which wee ought to conceiue vpon our losse of Almighty God O misery which should make vs tremble euen in hearing it named For if we delight in sinne we shall haue noe part in God Let vs therefore consider how we liue for we shall shortly be led before the Throne of God to giue account of our selues Let not the vncleanes of the flesh nor the vanitie of the world nor the subtility of the deuil deceiue vs. But let vs behould Christ our Lord vpon the Crosse and we shall see him tormented in his body dishonoured by the world that soe he subdued the deuill Who euer looked towards Christ our Lord and was deceiued Infallibly there was neuer any Let vs therefore neuer draw our eyes of from him vnlesse we meane to turne blinde Let it neuer seeme to him that wee valew his loue soe little as that although he died for vs we cannot find in our harts soe much as to bee looking towards him For he died for this that wee by looking vp to him might striue to dye to our sinnes Let therefore our ould man die in vs since our new man who is Christ our Sauiour died for vs vpon the Crosse Let vs approach towards his wounds for by his wee shall be cured of ours And if wee thinke it a heauy thing to part from our sinnes it was much more hard and heauy for his soule to part from his body when he died to the end that wee might euer liue Let vs therefore goe on apace take hart to follow such a captaine as this who leades vs the way not onely in doeing but in suffering Let vs crucifye our flesh with him that now wee may noe longer liue according to the desires of the flesh but of the spirit If the world shall persecute vs let vs goe hide our selues in his holy woundes and there wee shall finde those iniuries as delightfull to our harts as any musicke is sweete to the eare And soe rude stones will be to vs as pretious Iewels and prisons will be pallaces and death it selfe will be conuerted into life O Iesus Christ and how strong is that loue of thine and how truly doth it coÌ„uert all things
for it is not fitt that eyther you or I should haue an eye to our owne ease but that although wee should know that after this life wee must suffer paine yet heere we must also take courage to suffer afflictions for loue loue is content with nothing but loue Christ our lord suffered for our loue Christ our lord carried the Crosse and lett vs help him to cary it on Christ our lord is dishonoured and I renounce honour Christ our lord suffered torments and therefore they shall be welcome to me He was subiect to many necessityes and I submitte my selfe to the same For me he made himselfe a stranger and I desire not to be the owner of any single thing wherein my heart may rest He dyed for me and lett my life be a continuall death for the loue of him Gal. 2. Let me liue yet now not me but let Christ our lord liue in me and that Christ who was crucified exhausted abandoned by all the world and receiued alone by Almighty God This Christ I loue vpon the Crosse will I seeke him and from thence haue I noe desire to finde him Let him dispose of me how he will for my part I will suffer affliction for him Let him choose whether he will giue me any reward or noe for the very suffering it selfe is an abundant reward And if he would graunt me a great suite I would desire noe other then to haue afflictions for thereby I may know that I loue him and that he alsoe loues me since he layes me vpon the Crosse where himselfe lay For though I haue noe ayme at mine owne profitt yet I know full well that if I continue vpon the Crosse he will cary me to his Crowne To him be glory through the eternity of all eternityes Amen A Letter of the Authour to one who formerly had beene a disciple of his and then being of the Society of Iesus was growen to be at the poynt of death He congratulates his departure hence and his goeing to enioy the fruites of his labour in his Order and he giues him great hope of the eternall kingdome by meanes of the bloud of Christ our Lord. THE grace of the holy Ghost be euer with you Though heere they say that you are vpon the point of passing into the land of the liuing soe as a man may thinke that whilest I am writing this you may already be enioying the deare imbracements of our allswcete Iesus yet I thought it not amisse to venture this letter towards you congratulating with you your promotion to that Prebēd in the Church of the celestiall Ierusalem where without all ceasing God is praised and seene face to face Goe in a good houre most deare father goe I say in a good houre both to see all Good and to possesse it for all eternity Goe in a good houre to the bosome of the celestiall father where he entertaines those lambes of his with glory which heere he fed with his grace and corrected with his discipline Now my good Father shall you see the fauour which God did you in calling you to a Religious life and in giuing you grace in the strēgth whereof you dispising the world might follow him by the way of the Crosse For now in recompence thereof he will giue you heauen for your Religious Order and glory for that Crosse which you haue borne for his sake Blessed be our lord Iesus Christ who hath goodnes enough to induce him to giue such glory to such wormes of the earth raising vp the poore man out of the dust that he may sitt amongst the Princes of his people Happy is the houre of our corporall death since thereby wee are exalted intitled to take our seate amōgst those princes who liue eternally in the high presence of God O day which is the end of labours and the end also of sinnes and in which wee ascend to serue our Lord in good earnest and not as wee are wont to doe heere below where wee are all discomforted through the imperfections of those seruices which we performe to God For heere a man goes halting faynting with hunger through his desire to please that diuine Maiesty to serue him with all the soule But in heauē this desire is perfected that in so cōpleat a manner that all the whole man is imployed in the seruice praise of God without being subiect to the least impedimēt which may interpose it self Blessed be God who hath soe soone beene pleased to gather you vp into his granary least mallice might els haue chaunged your mind and to shew you the riches of his bounty Sap. 4. who for soe few yeares of seruice imparts an eternity of reward Sir this is God this I say is God this is the fruit of his passion this is the valew of his grace this is our happy encounter to haue fallen into the hands of such a Lord to know him to loue him though it be with many imperfections But he washes them away by his bloud making vs partakers of his Sacramēts And the paternall loue which he beares vs both makes him easily encline to pardon our faults to be very copious in rewarding our seruices And he cōducts vs through the middest of the red sea Psal 102. to the land of promise diuiding vs from our sinnes as farre of as the East is from the West and drowning them in his bloud Soe that although wee may see them still yet wee shall see them dead they will serue but to giue vs matter reason to praise our Lord Exod. 14. who hath cast both the horse and horseman into the sea Goe Sir with the benediction of our lord God to enioy the riches of your deer Father which he gayned for you with the launce in his hād by shedding his owne bloud who neuer fay les to succour all such as place theire hope loue in him It is true that wee shall misse you that wee shall thinke our selues to be all alone when we are heere without you but since God hath desined you to this great happynes let vs who loue you hould it for our owne And wee who in our owne right shall lament will yet reioyce with you in yours like the brothers of Rehecca who is goeing to be espoused with Isaak which signifies i◠And therefore wee say to you you are our brother and wee desire that you may encrease to thousands of thousands Gen. 24. and that your seede may possesse the gates of your enemyes I doe not pretend to tell you how you must prepare your self for this Feast for there you haue them who can doe it and who will helpe you to passe on out of the hands of men into the hands of God And let our lord who came into the world for you and who ascended vp to the Crosse for you Ps 22. be he who succours you in such sorte that though you
walke in the middest of the shadow of death you may yet feare noe ill See you call vpon him for though you should bee in the whales belly yet he harkenes to his seruants euen when they are there Call vpon his Blessed Mother Ionas 3. who is also ours Call vpon the Saints who are our Fathers and our brethren for with such helpes as those you cannot feare to loose the celestiall kingdome And if our lord will haue you passe through Purgaâ—ory let his name be blessed still for soe that you may haue hope to see him you shall gladly endure any thing which may be imposed I beseech Christ our Lord who dyed for you to accompany you at your death and receiue you into his owne armes when you departe out of this life Say you to him as hee sayd to his Father In manus â—uas Pater commendo spiritum meum Luc. 23. And I confide in his mercy that you shall be receiued by him as a sonne and treated as the heire of God and coheyre with Christ our Lord. A Letter of the Authour to a Religious woeman who was neere her death He encourages her and shewes how she is to carry her self at that time DEuout seruant of Christ our Lord you sent mee word that you were in the last dayes of your life and that this was the time wherein you desired mee to remember you Soe I doe And though the newes you giue mee is not pleasing to flesh and bloud yet when I looke vpon you with christian eyes it is to recreate my soule And soe is it also to recreate yours as our Lord saith in the Ghospell when those things beginne to shew themselues Luc. 21. looke about you and lift vp your heades for your redemption is neere at hand For though Christ haue freed you by his goodnes the merit of his bloud from mortall sinnes yet still you are in daunger of committing euen then and you actually committ venial sinnes and you are still in the captiuity of your body which is soe subiect to miserie as that it makes euen a S. Paul and others who are like him sigh and groane and say as him self relates it Rom. 8. that they liued in expectation of the redemption of tâ—eir body But there you shall neither sinne mortally not venially For by meanes of the bloud of that lambe which was shed for vs hell where they euer sinne shall haue nothing to doe with you but onely Purgatory where though they suffer yet they sinne not And from thence you shall goe forth to see your Spouâ—e to enioy that blisse which he wonne for you with the nailes in his hands and with his feete fastened to the Crosse And forasmuch as it is a stranger thing to see God nailed vpon a Crosse then to see you placed in heauen I confide in his goodnes that since he had mercy enough to make him doe the more he will not want it for that which is the lesse Thither will he carry you thither I say will he carry you to remaine with himself For the espousalls which heere were celebrated betweene you when you soleÌ„nely made Profession that you would liue and dye in the state of Religion was one day to be concluded by that being together both of him the spouse and of her his fellow spouse in heauen There shall you see your self in soe great liberty and aboundance that you will esteeme your inclosure afflictions heere for well employed And there will they giue you a body which though in substance it shall be the very same which heere you haue yet shall it be very different in health and life and other things And you will incomparably more reioyce in it there then you haue suffered in it heere All entire all entire in bodye and soule are yow to bee blessed there and soe beautified as is fitt for the honour of him who tooke you for his spouse Iesus Christ the lord both of this the other world Be not therefore dismayed when you are to dye by thinking of what your owne sinnes deserue Christ our lord can doe all things and he loues you will not forsake you And since he hath preserued you in this time of your nauigation amongst all the tempests of this life be sure that he will not suffer you to perish now that you are goeing to disinbarke Putt your self wholly into his haÌ„d offering your self entirely to him both in life death and to whatsoeuer he will And beg pardon of him by his bloud for all that wherein you haue offended him and being confessed communicated cast your self headlong at his feete and desire of him one drop of his bloud whereby you may be washed and haue great confidence that you shall bee soe Be as reserued to yourselfe as free from all conuersation as the state of your sicknesse will permit For our Lord before he was to dy left his disciples that he might pray in solitude to his father giuing vs so to vnderstaÌ„d that in this traunce we must reseÌ„ble him And let your discourse be with Christ our lord with his Bl Mother And to the end that your infirmity diuert you not from them it will be well that you behould an image of the Crucifix of his Mother staÌ„ding by him Giue thaÌ„kes to our lord with your whole hart for the fauour he hath done you whether they be generall or particular and cast your self into the wounds of Christ oul Lord which is that Sanctuary out of which his Iustice must not drawe such malefactours as are repentant And repose you there and conceiue strong hope that by meanes of his bloud and death you shall goe and enioy that life in heauen which neuer is to haue an end Our Lord IESVS be euer with you Amen A Letter of the Authour to a woeman who did greatly feele the absence and disfauour of our Lord. He animates her to confide in our Lord and he assigned diuerse causes why God afflictes his seruants and of the fruit which his Diuine Maiesty reapes from thence DOe not conceiue that to be anger in our Lord which indeede proceedes from true loue For as he who beares ill will to another doth flatter sometimes and fawne vpon him so true loue sometimes corrects and chides And the holy scripture saith That the woundes which are giuen by him who loues are better then the false kisses of him who hates And therefore we doe him an extreame wrong who reproues or punishes vs out of the bowells of his loue if we thinke or say that he persecutes vs as if he loues vs not Doe not forgett that the Mediatour betweene God the Father and vs is Iesus Christ our lord by whome we are beloued and tyed with so strong a bond of loue that nothing is able to vndoe it if man himself do not cutt the knott by the guilt of mortall sinne Haue you so soone forgotten that the bloud of
into so great affliction and feare as the newes of what thou art ought to giue them comfort If thou O lord wert well knowne there is no soule which would not loue thee and confide in thee vnlesse it were strangely wicked For this it is that thou sayst It is I therefore doe not feare I am he who kill and giue life I cast men downe as low as hell and I draw them back againe that is I afflict a man till he thinkes he dyes and then againe I refresh I recreate and I giue him life I cast men into certaine discomforts which seeme hell to them but when they are there I forgett them not but I fetch them from thence and they are but therefore mortified that they may be quickened I sende them not thither to remayne there but that their entry into that shadow of hell may be a meanes to make them escape the substance of that true hell after death and that they may fly vp to heauen I am he who can deliuer you from all affliction for I am of infinite power And I am he who will deliuer you for I am of infinite goodnesse and I am he who know how to do it for I am of infinite wisedome I am your Aduocate for I embraced your cause as mine owne I am your surety for I haue made myself subiect to all your debts I am your Lord who haue purchased you with mine owne bloud and with no meaning to forgett you but to doe you honour if you will serue me because you were bought at so high a price I am he who haue so profoundly loued you that for the loue of you I haue beene contented to be transformed into you and to become passible and mortall I who in mine owne nature was very farre from being subiect to such miserie I am he who deliuered myself ouer to innumerable torments of bodie and farre greater torments of minde that you might take hart to endure some for loue of me and to confide that you shall in fine be freed from them since I am he who vndertake it I am your Father as I am God and your elder-brother as I am man I am your Christ your redemption and what feare can you then haue of your debts if by penance and Confession you demaunde a generall release of them I am your reconciliation and of whose wrath can you then be afraide I am that true-loues-knott of friendshipp and how then can you thinke that you are fallen out with God I am your defender and what opposites can you apprehende I am your freind and how then doe you feare that you can want anie thing which I haue vnlesse you will needes departe from me My bodie and my bloud is yours and why then doe you feare hunger nay my verie hart is yours and why then doe you feare to be forgotten yea and my diuinitie is yours and what doubt can you then haue of miserie For accessories vnto that Principall my Angells are yours to defende you My Saints are yours to pray for you My biessed mother is yours to be the carefull and indulgent mother of you all The earth is yours that you may serue me vpon it The heauen is yours for you shall enioy it and me in it The deuills and hell is also yours for you shall treade it and them vnder foote like slaues who are chayned vp in that prison This life is yours because with it you gett another which shall neuer ende Your honest entertainements and delights are yours For you direct them to my glorie Your paynes are yours for you endure them for my loue and for your owne true good Your temptations are yours because they are occasion of your meritt and of an euerlasting Crowne in heauen Your death is yours because it is to be the immediate steppe to your eternall life And all these things you possesse in me and by my meanes For neither did I gaine them for myself alone neither will I enioy them alone for when I putt myself into your companie by taking your flesh vpon me I did it to make you partakers of all the meritt which I should acquire by my labours my fasting eating sweating weeping and by the enduring of all my torments and death if the fault be not your owne Now you cannot account yourself poore who possesse so great riches if you doe not wittingly throw them away by your wicked life Be not dismayed for I will not forsake you It is true that you are no better then some thinne glasses but I will holde you fast in my hand Your weakenesse setts of my strength the more From your sinnes and miseries I draw the manifestation of my goodnesse and mercie There is nothing which shall be able to hurt you if you will loue me and confide in me Thinke not of me according to your owne opinion and the iudgments which are made by flesh and bloud but thinke of me by a strong faith with loue nor by the apparance of exteriour signes but by that hart of mine which was opened for you vpon the Crosse that you might dismisse all doubt whether you are beloued by me or no forasmuch as concernes my parte since you see such workes of loue without and a hart which was so wounded by that launce within Iohn 18. and yet more wounded by my loue How shall I denye myself to them who seeke me to do me honour since I went out to that way where those others sought me to offende me I offered myself to ropes and chaines which afflicted me and shall I refuse myself to the hart and armes of Christians where I desire to repose I yeilded myself to those scourges and to that hard pillar and shall I denye myself to that soule which will be subiect to me I turned not away my face from him who strooke me and shall I turne it away from him who will holde himself happy that he may beholde and adore me What litle confidence is this that seing me to be voluntarily torne in pieces by the hād of dogs for the loue of my children yet those children should be doubtfull whether I loue them or no though they be confessed to loue me Consider o yee sonnes of men and tell me whome I euer despised if he desired to be well with me whome haue I abandoned if he called on me from whome haue I fled if he sought me Matt. 9. I conuersed and I fedde with sinners yea I called and I iustified them who were forlorne Matt. 11. and euen fowle in sinne Nay I am importunate to winne their harts who loue me not I make myself a beggar to all the world and what cause is there then to suspect me of forgettfullnesse towards my children when there is so great diligence vsed both to loue me and to make expression of that loue And though I may cōceale it sometimes yet do I not leaue to loue but euen for the very loue
I beare to my creatures I couer it for whome nothing is so good as not to know any thing which concernes themselues but to remitt themselues wholy to me In that ignorance doth their knowledge consist in that suspence their strength and in that subiection their dominion And it ought to suffise a soule that it lyes in no other hands but mine which are also hers since for her they were nayled vpon the Crosse Yea they are more hers then mine since they laboured more for the purchase of her good then of mine owne And to the ende that I may draw her out of all self conceipt and make her follow my direction it is I who conduct her into this darkenesse that so she may know nothing of herself But yet still if she putt her confidence in me and departe not from my seruice I will deliuer her and I will glorifye her and all this will I performe to her Be faithfull to death Psal 90. and I will giue thee the Crowne of life This sayth our Lord to all faithfull soules and this he sayth to yours which I pray God to keepe Amen A Letter to a Lady who was a Religious woman and in great affliction He shewes how troubles are the proofe of Faith and Loue in the seruants of God and how confident they ought to be of his Diuine Maiesly in the middest of their troubles AS soone as I receiued your letter I offered thanks to our lord for hauing giuen you a signe that your vocation came from his hand and this signe is that you haue suffered tribulation You must not be a little glad of this since our Lord loues you Nor yet must you be slack since you are in the midst of many dangers butt carry your eye towardes him whoe hath called you with soe great loue You must alsoe haue a strong hart For he called you not with intention to giue you ouer in the midst of your iourney but to guide you vnder the protection of his owne wings till he may haue conducted you to heauen where you shall see his face Let not the Faith of Christ our Lord nor the loue you owe him sleepe in you for he neuer sleepes when there is question of doeing you anie good These are tokens which he vses to sende to whome he loues to trye if they also loue him in their afflictions and if they confide in him in their dangers That spouse is not worthy of thankes who loues her fellow-spouse but onely when he is present with her nor doth it cost her much to confide in him when she findes herselfe regaled by him But the matter is that when he absentes himself from her yea and when he seemes to haue forgotten her she must loue him so much the better as he is further absent from her and confide in him so much the more as she hath fewer exteriour signes of his fauour It is enough for you my good sister to haue knowen alreadie by experience how louing our lord hath beene to you by his hauing drawen you to the knowledge of himself And be you not crauing new testimonies of his loue but make yourself sure enough thereof and be not troubled although he correct you and though it seeme as if he estranged himself from you and forgott you but rather say thus He hath a minde to trye me and not to oppresse me You must loue our lord though he correct you you must confide in him though you feele no comfort from him Seeke him though he hide himself suffer him not to rest till you haue waked him and till he confesse that you are faithfull in his absence and thus you shall finde him to returne to you with so much aduantage as that when you enioy his presence againe you will esteeme your former afflictions well employed Procure great courage wherewith to suffer for after the rate of your sorrowes shall your comforts be Be not a louer of yourself but be a louer of God loose yourself and soe you shall bee sure to finde yourself And if once yow would bud trust God home and if once you would offer yourselfe to him with true loue there could nothing happen which would fright you All bitter frozen afflictions proceede but from distrust in God And for this our lord sayde Let not your harts bee troubled and doe not â—eare You beleiue in God beleiue also in me So that Faith and loue is the cause of peace and quietnesse to the hart There is no one thing which is so necessarie for you towards the making you able to arriue at the ende of that dayes worke wherein God hath placed you as to confide in him with loue Our lord hath manie proofes to make of you and manie tribulations shall growe where you looke least for them but if you stand armed with Faith and loue you shall ouercome them all Num 13. Doe but remember how the children of Israel when they were issued out of the land of Egypt by meanes of so manie miracles and were passing through so manie afflictions before they arriued at that land which our lord had promised them sayd thus The people which possesse this land is greater and stronger then we they haue mightie Citties whose walles doe euen threaten the skye we cannot ouercome such a stoute nation as this to what ende doe we putt ourselues vpon this iournie And though some amongst them who had Faith did encourage the rest by saing that since God was on their side they should easily be able to euercome as they had done till then yet feare preuailed so farre as that they offended our lord thereby and through their litle confidence they lost the land and God destroyed them in the desert without suffering them to enioy that for which they had laboured and which himself had promised Let vs take warning Psal 147. my good Sister by the danger of others and let vs knowe that our Lord hath gust in such as feare him and hope in his mercie and is offended with such as doe not so It is he who drew you out of the captiuitie of Egypt when hee inspired your hart with a desire of being his and he leades you still through this desert which is so vnpleasant where sometimes you want the bread of doctrine for lacke of such as might breake it to you At other times you want companie which may speake of spirituall things that so your way might bee made to seeme the shorter At other times you doe want the trees of other recreation which might giue you shade and thus in steede of these commodities you haue a thousand discomforts Now temptations rise against you from within and then from without now from strangers and then from domestiques Butt yett attende you onely to your businesse For he who did that for you which was more can neuer fayle to do that for you which is lesse He who made you a friend of an enemie will better