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A16680 A spiritual spicerie containing sundrie sweet tractates of devotion and piety. By Ri. Brathwait, Esq. Brathwaite, Richard, 1588?-1673.; Jacobus, de Gruytrode, fl. 1440-1475. 1638 (1638) STC 3586; ESTC S106112 100,652 500

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selfe-same soule And to the end thou maist more clearely understand these things I would have thee to know that the Source and Fountaine of all my sorrowes was that high and ineffable divine dispensation whereby it was forbid mee that the influence of my glorie and fruition thereof which were in the superiour faculties of my Soule should redound to the inferiour for otherwise shee had felt no sorrow But because this influence was by the divine dispensation prohibited mee therefore did I at once perfectly enjoy all joy according to the Superiour faculties and perfectly suffer and become most vehemently afflicted according to the Inferiour faculties And thus miraculously hath the power of my Father joyned anguish with greatest sweetnesse and highest power with lowest weaknesse Because that this influence prohibited me was altogether repugnant to the course of Nature For naturall it is and according to the course of Nature that the Superiour powers or faculties redound to the inferiour and the Inferiour have impression in the Superiour And by how much this Dispensation was more wonderfull by so much was my sorrow more sharpe and dolefull Thou art to know also that I kept my naturall strength during my Passion even to the point of death Whereby it followeth that my Passion was more dolorous Sinner Surely hee is worthy of death who refuseth to live to thee my LORD JESU who laidst down thy life for us Yea though alive yet he is dead who in the remembrance of thy most bitter continuall Passion and representation of thy Crucifying beareth not thy pricks in his body by sharpnesse of repentance and upon the altar of his heart crucifieth not himselfe for thee by making a Crosse for himselfe to represse carnall delights Christ. He that will come after mee let him deny himselfe and take up his Crosse dayly and follow me Sinner O Jesu the power of God and the wisdome of God give me the understanding of these words Christ. In these my words I have proposed three things to a reasonable man made to the Image of God to wit Servitude Lowlinesse Sharpnesse Servitude is implyed in denying himselfe Lowlinesse in bearing of my Crosse Sharpnesse in imitation of mee That hee who by disobedience fell from the state of a threefold felicity might rise againe by Obedience being humbled with the affliction of a threefold misery For he had fallen from himselfe from society of the Angels from the sight of God that is from Dignity Liberty Felicity Let him therefore heare my counsell that by denying himselfe that is his owne proper will hee may regaine his owne Liberty by taking up his Crosse that is by chusing to bee contemned and disvalued by others hee may regaine the Angels society By following me that is by imitating the steps of my Passion by chastising of his flesh he may regaine the sight of my glory Sinner Truly it is meet and right yea necessary that they suffer with thee who will reigne with thee that they imitate thee who will enjoy thee Christ. Happy is this sentence of thine owne mouth Happy yea three and fourefold happy is he who alwaies considereth how strait and narrow how bitter and sharpe the way is which leadeth to life when it behoued me to suffer that I might enter into my glory If I bought my owne glory at so high a rate Who shall have it altogether freely and for nothing Therefore there is no other way by which thou canst come to the heavenly reward but by labours and afflictions That Rich man who chastised not himselfe with labours of repentance in this world is now in eternall paine in hell But the Poore man with the dolour and labour of this miserable life hath purchased a crowne of eternall glory Sinner Woe is mee that I am allured with the sweetnesse of carnall delights and deceived with the vanity of secular joyes when as I ought to imitate thee whom I read to have oft sorrowed and lamented but once in Spirit to have rejoyced Mary thy Virgin-Mother once rejoyced in a So●g O how of●en hath the sword of sorrow gone thorow her Soule Iohn thy forerunner Paterne and Preacher of repentance rejoyced once in his mothers wombe but how often may wee well beleeve that hee lamented after his comming from her wombe Christ. When I hung upon the Crosse I promised Paradise to none but one that was upon the Crosse. Such are upon the Crosse who cruci●ie their flesh with the vices and concupiscences thereof Upon the Crosse also I prayed onely for such as sinned negligently not for such as sinned wittingly For so long as they are such sinners they are excluded from the embraces of me that was crucified who with hands spred upon the Crosse embraced all for whom I suffered If thou wilt therefore ascend after me and reigne in heaven with mee thou must follow mee by the way of the Crosse by which I have entred into my glory Look for no easier way in the way which I have gone before thee thou must follow For if thou stray from my steps thou shalt perish Attend diligently that thou maist know by what way thou maist ascend into Heaven At such time as I came into the World I descended by a Ladder that had three steps to wit of humility whence it is read of me Thou shalt finde the Babe of Poverty whence it followeth in the same place Wrapped in cloaths And of austerity as ensueth laid in a manger And by these steps I afterwards returned to heaven These steps mine excellent Apostle Paul intimateth writing thus of me He emptied himselfe behold the step of Poverty Taking vpon him the forme of a Servant behold the step of Humility becomming obedient even unto death behold the step of Austerity But whither hath this Ladder of three steps brought mee Heare what followeth For this cause therefore hath the Lord exalted him and given him a name which is above all names Fooles therefore and mad-men are they who would ascend up into heaven after me by a Ladder that hath steps contrary to these to wit by Richesse Delights and Honours Surely this Ladder leadeth to Hell as the first did to Heaven Sinner It is a great shame for the servant to bee feasting and idling while his Master is suffering and labouring Christ. Whosoever devoutly meditateth of this my Passion cannot but bee ashamed to follow the pleasure of the flesh The memory of my crucifying crucifie●h all vices In the paines of my Passion all the delights of the flesh and of the world are condemned which if thou wouldest subdue without difficulty thou must devoutly remember my Passion and sweetly delighting thy selfe in it sincerely cleave to my wounds yea if thou wouldst foile and resist the Devill who especially pursueth and persecuteth the religious and restraine him from annoying thee thou oughtest dayly and devoutly to remember my Passion But necessary it is that they imprint the example and fimilitude of
Kingdome to wit when all thy desires shall bee satisfied both in praising and loving mee and when I shall bee all i● all Therefore it is that ●hou justly cravest and justly with thy whole heart de●irest in that Prayer which I gave ●hee Let thy Kingdome come Wherefore O daughter if thou lovest mee rightly ●aithfully fervently thou wilt desire with all thine heart this Kingdome that is this state or condition for this with sighs thou wilt pray to wit that my Kingdome may come wherein thou maist with most sweet love bee to mee united wholly in mee melted and molded And because as I said before this cannot come to passe but by death therefore this Death which is the gate and passage to life is to my Saints in desire and life in patience Hence thou seest how a soule perfectly loving mee feareth not death For whath hath such a Soule to lose by exchange of this miserable-unhappy life but the sta●e of sinning snares of offending occasions of ruine deceits of enemies self-frailty feares with other innumerable Occurrents which straiten the Soule either ignor●●t or weake or luke-warme not to speake here of the dangers of the body and therefore alwayes fainting and falling Manythings here would the soule have which shee ought not or which she even knowes nor though shee would have them Many things would shee which she cannot In many things is the soule ignorant blind and walking among Snares or in darknesse whence shee knows not how to free her selfe How then may shee not worthily wish how not rejoyce that shee is delivered from these sorrowes and dangers Why therefore O Soule doest tho● feare why dost thou not desire death For tell mee what evill shall death bring unto thee If thou fearest nothing in this world death can take nothing from thee If thou love any thing in this world it is with danger yea thou lovest thine owne danger Cease therefore to love the world before death that thou maist nothing at all feare death Furthermore if thou love me onely in this life joy for that thou shalt dye for that thou shalt never enjoy what thou lovest before thou dye But I know what thou fearest Truly thou lovest nothing in this world thou possessest nothing which thou wouldst not lose or grievest to lose yet feare and terror surprize thee because thou knowest not whether thou beest worthy of love or hate thou knowest not how thou art to bee entertained by mee whether to rest or punishment O daughter thou oughtst not to bee too curious after the knowledge of these things yea it is not expedient for thee to know them Stand constantly although thou feare in hope and affiance both living and dying set thy rest upon mee Thou canst not live well of thy selfe neither canst thou dye well of thy selfe Thou hast both from mee What if I shall give thee grace to live holily shall I not also give thee grace to die happily Seeing thou hast all things from mee exp●ct●● all things of mee how can●● thou expect the one and despaire of the other Of thy selfe thou canst neither live well nor dye well Put thy trust th●re●ore in m● cast thy thought upon mee ground all thy feare and care upon mee As thou canst resist no tentation avoid no sinne living so neither dying If I forsake thee no● living if I faithfully prevent tentation and moderate it in thy life that thou maist beare it I am ready to doe the very same unto thee at thy death that thou maist vanquish it Never goe to fight with thine owne weapons but rely on mee If thou rely on mee I will fight for thee And if thou have mee fighting with thee and for thee what hast thou to feare who art nothing of thy selfe And as concerning the condition or quality of death feare nothing There is no kind of death that can hurt the just for the just man with what death soever hee shall bee surprized shall bee at rest Wherefore let it trouble thee nothing whether thou die at home or abroad in thy bed or in thy field neither art thou to feare whether the death bee naturall or violent which takes thee away For if one kind of death were more unhappy than another all my Saints surely were most unhappy the most part whereof in times past in the judgement of the world and eye of flesh most unhappily ended this life Which of mine holy Martyrs dyed a naturall and timely death Whom hath not the violence of the Crosse racke fire or sword extinguished Nothing therefore shall it hurt thee whether thou dyest of the plague or an apoplexy or any other kind of death in the bed or in the field Onely watch that thou maist bee found in faith hope and charity and no death or kinde of Buriall shall harme thee But forasmuch as speaking to thee I likewise speake to them who are as yet imperfect in my love I advise you all in this that yee love innocence and hate iniquity If thou hast at any time sinned what Soule soever thou bee cease grieve repent that thou hast sinned so long as thou livest Yet so repent if thou wishest to thy selfe a fruitfull repentance that thou returne not againe to thy sins or to thy former state of sinning Alwayes expect death and prepare thy self for it as if thou wert at this very present to dye But lest some devout institution should be wāting to the weake in spirit by which supported they may learne in some sort how to dye I will adde something more to these First therefore thou oughtest to remember what mine Apostle saith and what Truth it selfe speaketh Yee have not here an abiding City but ye se●ke for one that is to come unto which here in this world no otherwise than in a journey yee walke as Pilgrimes Now your Pilgrimage is ended when your life is clozed Death therefore is the very last line running betwixt this exile wherein yee are and the Countrey whereto yee goe so as there is no other gate by which yee may passe from this valley of your Pilgrimage and enter your Countrey your heavenly inheritage but by death Death then most certainly doth wait for you like as a most certaine end is limited to your life But this difference there is betwixt the good and evill that here in your Pilgrimage yee all travaile mixtly all I say albeit not all in a right way yee long after your blessed Countrey all yee so long as yee are in your journey although yee wander may returne unto the true way But when yee shall come to the end of your journey in the gate it selfe that is at the point of death yee are discerned that Some of you may passe from exile unto life others to misery and eternall death It is not then lightly to bee considered nor negligently observed how every one is to bee prepared before death come For there yee leave all things after you in which
a soft bed a pleasant chamber and delight of the flesh Bee ashamed therefore O my soule when thou beholdest thy Lord hanging upon the Crosse Where imagine him to bee preaching unto thee and rebuking thee after this manner I tooke for thee O man a Crowne of Thornes Thou in contempt of mee wearest a garland made of Flowers I for thee stretched out my hands upon the Crosse wilt thou reach thine forth to pleasures and dalliance I dying could not quench my thirst so much as with water wilt thou seeke after precious Wines and Viands I both on the Crosse as likewise all my life long was full of reproaches and sorrowes wilt thou bestow thy time upon honours and pleasures I suffered my side to bee opened that I might make thee even partaker of my heart wilt thou have thine exposed and opened to vaine and perillous loves A Short and fruitfull Confession of a Sinner unto God for obtaining Contrition O God of inestimable and eternall mercy God of unmeasurable piety God the Creator and Redeemer of mankind who purifiest the hearts of such as confesse their sinnes unto thee who releasest all such from the bond of iniquity as accuse themselves before the sight of thy divine majesty I beseech the power and depth of thy goodnesse with inward groanes that according to the multitude of thy mercies thou wouldst grant mee to make a pure and sincere confession before thee of all my sinnes whereof my guilty conscience doth accuse mee And that thou wouldst give mee true repentance for all such things as I have committed in naughty thoughts depraved cogitations wicked consent unjust counsell in concupiscence and uncleane delights in evill and hatefull words in malicious works in my seeing hearing tasting smelling and touching I truly even in all my members doe conceive my selfe guilty above measure because as the starres of heaven and sands of the Sea so doe I know my sinnes to bee innumerable But to thee Lord who knowest all secrets and who hast said Thou desirest the repentance of a Sinner doe I reveale all the secrets of my heart accusing my naughtinesse and my many and very great sinnes which I have committed before the eyes of thy fearefull Majesty all my wretched life long especially these here for the better increase of thy devotion and spirituall compunction maist thou particularize some of thy grievouser Sinnes with all those my evils which are open and manifest O God of mercy in thy sight And now O most gracious LORD looke upon mee and have mercy on mee and give unto mee a fountaine of teares and remission of all my sinnes through thy free mercie and that with inward confession of heart and affection of desiring remission seconded with so sincere a Confession Rectifie and reforme in mee O most loving Father whatsoever is depraved in mee either in word deed thought through my owne impietie or the Devils subtiltie and by joyning mee a member to the unity of the Church make mee partaker of thy Redemption and admit mee to the Sacrament of blessed reconciliation as one who hath no confidence but in thy mercy and compassion A Confession of Sinnes by Blessed Augustine O Mercifull pitifull great and terrible God I confesse unto thee my sins to thee to thee doe I discover my wounds for thine ineffable goodnesse bestow a Salve on mee Thou O most mild Lord vouchsafedst to say I desire not the death of a sinner but rather that hee may turne from his wickednesse and live I confesse that my life is in thy sight wicked and crooked that my life is falling into the lake of misery and my Soule perishing in my iniquities Lust sinfull delight naughty works wrath prid● impatience malice envy gluttony ebriety theft rapine lying perjury scurrility foolish speaking murmuring detraction ignorance infidelity distruct negligence of Gods Commandements as contagious glagues have slaine my Soule Mine heart and lips are polluted My seeing hearing tasting smelling and touching have enfeebled my Soule with sinnes and I am wholly lost as well in my cogitation as action I beseech thee O my Lord God whose mercy hath no end draw mee unto thee as thou drewest that sinfull woman As thou gavest grace unto her not to cease from kissing thy feet washing them with her teares and wiping them with her haires so graciously vouchsafe to grant unto mee that according to the greatnesse of mine iniquities thy great love may bee in mee that for thine unmeasurable piety thou maist forgive mee all my sinnes Bestow on mee pardon for evils past continence for evils present and cautelous prudence for evils to come Grant mee I beseech thee before I dye most fully to obtaine thy mercy and suffer not my dayes to bee ended till my sinnes bee pardoned but as thou willest and knowest have mercy on mee Amen A PRAIER before the holy Communion HAile O most holy flesh and bloud of Christ wherereof I am made partaker in these visible Elements Haile O thou highest sweetnesse who knowest no losing takest away all loathing destroyest death restorest life Haile thou blessed food which leadest thine Elect from the exile of this World to their Country Haile thou happy Sacrifice which art offered upon the Altar of the Crosse to God ●he Father for the whole burden of our sinnes Haile thou Manna more white than snow more sweet than honey more precious than all gold Take from mee I beseech thee O good Shepheard mine iniquities that with a purified heart and spirit I may deserve to taste these Holy of holiest Let this venerable Sacrament bee an impregnable Safeguard to mee against the deceits of the enemy that fed with this wholesome Viand I may passe the slippery wayes of this life in a blamelesse conversation and come unto thee the Bread of life and the true Lord of Angels without any hinderance of the Devils subtilty or malice O Lord heare mee bee pacified with mee attend mee and tarry not from mee O my God for thy goodnesse sake For none can bee worthy of so great a mystery unlesse thou ô Omnipotent God make him worthy Amen A PRAIER OF Th. Aquinas to be said after celebration of the holy Communion I Give thankes to thee O holy Lord Omnipotēt Father Eternall God who hast vouchsafed to refresh me thy grievous sinner and unworthy servant for no deserts of mine but for thy sole mercy sake with the precious Body and Bloud of thy Sonne our Lord JESUS CHRIST And I beseech thee that this holy Communion may not bee of guilt to mee unto condemnation but a soule-saving intercession of remission and consolation Let it bee unto mee the armour of faith and the shield of good-will Let it bee unto mee a removing of my vices a rooting out of lust and licentiousnesse an increasing of Charity and Patience Humility and Obedience and of all Vertues Let it bee a strong defence against all mine Enemies as well visible as invisible a perfect quieting and composing of my
yee trusted Bee they riches honours friends or any other vaine thing whatsoever they shall availe you nothing at the houre of death but leaving these behind you ye shall goe naked unto the Tribunall of God to receive according to your works What blindnesse nay what madnes is it then to rejoyce here in your journey to love fraile things which profit nothing to neglect the time and occasion of living well and as if without all sense of God through drousinesse and drynesse of mind to rellish those things onely which are of the flesh to have in pursuit those things onely which are outward and not at all to consider the dangerous state of the inward man and so to come unto death Alas how innumerable are those miserably wretched ones who are here deceived with the love of the world ensnared and ●y drawing after them the yoake of the Devill how unhappily slaved And thus unexpectedly they come unto death with hearts both hardned and blinded Alas how unhappy is the end of their life with whom there was never Meditation of death nor preparation for health Such things therefore are to bee rejected as hinder the spirit delight the flesh Such things to bee relinquished as are not expedient In such sort is every one to live every houre as if that were his very last wherein he should dye and goe to judgement This is the most fruitfull profitable soveraigne counsell O Daughter that thou maist live after this manner and that death may be to thee no terrour Now then if not continually yet frequently should that houre bee presented before thee as if it were before thine eyes wherein thy soule going out of thy body shall be judged for all thy workes words and thoughts This therefore oughtst thou even at this present to injoyn thy selfe that thou maist live so even now to the end thou maist be found so prepared is thou wouldst thy selfe to bee prepared whensoever death shall undoubtedly come It is the property of a most sottish and senselesse heart to deferre amendment of life to that time when time expireth when thou canst live no longer when now thou art not to amend thy life but to appeare before God as thou art already amended Surely not sinnes only but even all things doe leave thee going out of this life Thou art not then properly said to leave thy sins when thou canst now sin no more But if whilest thou hast ability to sin thou cease from sin true repentance is never to be called late but this which is deferred to the end of thy life it is to be feared that it is seldome true For if through feare of damnation only being even now to die thou sorrowest and art ready for the avoiding of punishment to performe any taske be it never so extreme to obtaine pardon Thou sorrowest not out of charity in that thou hast offended God but out of selfe-love for that thou wishest to thy selfe good and not evill For thou sorrowest because thou hast brought to thy selfe eternall damnation by thy sinnes Wheras if thou rightly sorrowest for this only wouldst thou sorrow in that thou so disobedient unto me so unthankfull to me so reproachfull to me hast not exhibited due honour and reverence unto me whom thou oughtest with al affection to have honored whatsoever should befall thee Whereas now forasmuch as thou only sorrowest for thy selfe if danger were avoided or no revenge on sinne inflicted thou wouldst never lament though thou hadst offended me a thousand yeares together True Repentance which reconcileth the soule unto me springeth from Charitie and bewaileth this especially that shee hath so greatly and grievously contemned and offended mee her best greatest gracioust and most faithfull LORD GOD her Creator and Redeemer Hence I say is his heart wounded for as much as so unthankfully so disobediently and so proudly being bu● dust and nothing hee hath lifted up his head against me Whosoever therefore desireth to dye happily let him as mine A postle admonisheth him live soberly justly and holily An evill death followeth not a good and just life but precious in my sight is th● death of my Saints yea after what sort of death soever they die that is whether they dye by water or fire or in bed But to prepare thee all the better for death the Meditation whereof is the life of every wise man take here along with thee this short exercise by which every one may instruct and addresse himselfe that he may take a course to be found in that state in which he may not feare to dye Wholesome Admonitions teaching a Christian how to dye well WHATSOEVER dying thou wouldst wish that thou hadst done doe the same even now Whatsoever thou wouldst have done doe not commit this unto others to be done after thy death but doe thou it thy selfe for if thou thy selfe bee negligent of thine owne salvation and a traytour to thy selfe how shall strangers tender thy happinesse Doe not repose trust in uncertaine and vaine promises neither commit thy selfe to doubtfull events So live and so doe that thou maist bee safe in thy conscience and as if thou wert this day to dye Never goe to sleepe till such time as thou hast examined the expence of the day with the conditions and actions of thy life Discusse and call to judgement thine heart and examine all thy senses and whether thou art become better or worse this day Never goe with that conscience to sleepe with which thou darest not dye If thou findest thy selfe in that state wherein thou fearest to dye search out the cause of this feare For peradventure some sins are in thee whereof thou hast not as yet repented or refusest to confesse or else thou forbearest to abstaine from sinne and occasions of sin or thou takest upon thee some profession office or vocation which I admit not of or thou continuest in hatred or in the unjust possession of others goods or too much affected to the desire or delight of temporall affaires or taken with the inordinate love of some creature or drowned with the delight of earthly and visible things as of honour and riches thou canst not turne thy selfe to mee tasting nothing of those things which are of the Spirit but onely let loose to outward things and loathing those which are divine therefore it is that thou fearest death Because thy soule guiltie of evill in her-selfe foretelleth what torments shall befall her after death If any of these shall be in thee thou oughtest to abhorre pursue and with all thine endevour to free thee of them For which purpose and the better effecting of so glorious a designe it may helpe thee much to imitate my steps embrace my crosse and with rigour of mind and with holy hatred commenced against thy selfe to denounce warre upon all thy vices to have a purpose to sinne no more frequently and infatigably to renue the same with no infirmitie or
pusillanimity to be dejected to contemplate the examples of me and my Saints to commend thy selfe to the prayers and exhortations of good men to give way to my inward and divine inspirations to exercise prayer and holy reading never to admit of idlenesse to love silence and retirednesse These and such like doe change the naughtinesse of the mind and chase away the feare of death When thou shalt come in the end of every day say thus to thy selfe Now is my life become shorter by one day Earely when thou risest say thus to thy selfe O Gracious God now am I nearer to death by one Night An Exercise whereby earely or whensoever thou willest thou maist poure out thy heart unto God for a good death O Omnipotent eternall God my Creator and Lover I praise laud adore and blesse thee for that thou so mercifully and patiently hast suffered mee groveling in my sins and my unthankfulnes even unto this houre to which thou of thy goodnesse hast brought mee enriching me with thy benefits conferring this life with things necessary for this life upon me with an angelicall guardian protecting me and inlarging towards mee thy mercy who am injuriously ●nworthy and a spectacle of misery Ah gracious God who knoweth whether the terme of my life shall be pro●ogued to the evening O what death shall I desire O ●ost mercifull Lord God and Father give unto mee contrition whereby with all mine heart I may bewaile my sins and my offending thee And doe not suffer my soule to goe forth from her bodie till she be reconciled to thee in mercy adopted to thee by grace adorned with thy merits and vertues inflamed with most perfect charitie and accepted according to thy all-good-will and pleasure O most gracious Lord Jesu Christ if this I desire of thee do please thee grant it unto me although I bee most unworthy to bee heard of thee grant unto me I beseech thee for thine infinite mercies and the merits of thy passion that I may bee purged in this life from all my sins that dying and through vehement and true contrition pricked and in most ardent charitie to thee united I may goe out unto thee my most sweet Redeemer being forthwith freed and secured from all damnation and future affliction Notwithstanding O most loving Jesu I doe offer and resigne my selfe unto thee whether it be to poverty penury or any other extremitie for thy glories sake according to thy good-will and pleasure beseeching thee only this that thou wouldst bee mindfull of my frailty vilenesse weaknesse and misery as also of thy goodnesse and charity that thou wouldest never forsake mee nor depart from mee but that thou wouldst alwayes wholly governe and possesse mee according to thy good pleasure Amen An oblation of Christ and his merits to his Father O Omnipotent most gracious Father I doe offer unto thee all those pains dolours reproches stripes and rebukes all adversities extremities and labours of thine onely begotten Jesu Christ the Lambe immaculate which hee suffered in his body for me likewise all his actions and every of his members afflicted for me his bloud shed for me and with prophane feet trampled also his most noble and devout Soule separated from his lovely Body for me his merits likewise and infinite vertues Likewise the powers or faculties of his Soule and body and all those vitall parts in him given up unto death for mee albeit inseparably united to his Divinity yea the whole Christ thy blessed Sonne God and man omnipotent and infirme despicable and glorious doing wonders and hanging upon the Crosse these I say doe I offer unto thy sacred Majesty to the expiation and satisfaction of all my sins and of all the world and to the mortification and extinction of all mine evill passions affections and vices to the supply of all my negligences and to thy praise and thanksgiving for all thy benefits O God be mercifull unto me a miserable sinner for his sake Have mercy on mee for the love of Jesu Christ thy beloved Son THE DYING mans Diary Or A Christians Memento mori Divided into a five dayes Exercise THere are who all the yeare long present the figure and feature of Death before them by some certaine Exercise and prepare themselves no otherwise for death than if they were even then to dye and that for the space of five dayes continually The first day they meditated of the griefes infirmities which goe before death and horrour of death unto all which they resigne themselves The next day they thinke of their ●ins confessing them with so great diligence and intention as if they were to dye presently after their confession Therefore they spend this day in sighs and teares The third day they come unto the blessed Eucharist with all the fervour they may receiving it as their Viaticum in their passage from this their exile The fourth day they make continuall supplications unto God for the unction of the Holy Spirit whereby they might be illuminated and the hardnesse of their hearts mollified And this they do as it were for extreme unction The fifth day they become most fervent Supplicants unto God for a spirituall death wherby they may perfectly dye to the world to themselves and live with God And to everie of these dayes may be applyed proper Psalmes and Prayers as also divine invocations giving of thanks for all benefits conferred by God upon them all their life long Profitable Counsell for one approaching neare the point of death O Daughter seeing thy selfe in this extremitie prepare thy soule for God so order and dispose here in thy life time of thy goods temporall that after thy death no difference nor debate may arise It is most profitable for thee to dispose of thy goods in thy life time and to redeeme thy sins whilest thou livest with works of mercie Whatsoever thou wouldest recommend to others to doe for thee labour to doe it of thy selfe For if after death thou go to eternall torment the Provision of a Will a pompous Funerall Almes and Doales after death what will these availe thee when thou art damned Offer these Oblations to me now whilest thou art living that thou mayest not onely be delivered from thy sins but by increasing in my grace never fall into damnation but by my preventing grace preserving thee from sin persevere in good works even to the end When death draweth neare see that thou wholly free thy selfe then from all unnecessarie cares and imployments strive to meet me immaculately affectionately faithfully promising nor presuming nothing of thy works but through my assured mercie to obtaine Salvation And in this faith committing and commending thy selfe and all thou hast in this world to my providence and good pleasure receive the Sacraments humbly and devoutly Those peculiar priviledges and graces also which have power in them through my merits and are given by mee as a treasure unto the Church albeit many oft-times abuse them
as they do other most holy things if thou canst have them cause them to be applyed unto thee For even this verie holy persons of both sexes and famous for their miracles have formerly done An Exercise wherein the sick person with sighs and groanes because otherwise it can scarcely be done may resigne himselfe unto God and fervently desire that he may deserve to be joyned unto him O Most faithfull Lover most mercifull Lord Jesu Christ grant unto mee that with heart and mind I may feele what I say As the Hart brayeth for the rivers of water so panteth my Soule after thee ô my God I have chosen to be an Abject in the house of the Lord rather than to dwell in the Tabernacle of sinners Blessed are they that dwell in thy house ô Lord for ever and ever shall they praise thee My Soule hath thirsted after thee ô God when shall I come and appeare before thy face Why art thou sorrowfull ô my Soule and why art thou so disquieted within mee Trust in the Lord therefore will I now confesse my selfe unto him the Salvation of my countenance and my God Shew the light of thy countenance upon thy servant ô Lord save me for thy mercies sake Let me not be confounded for ever for I have called upon thee Be not far from mee ô my God Looke downe upon mee and help mee ô my God The poore is left unto thee Thou wilt be the Orphans helper Thou art my refuge in my tribulation which hath compassed mee O my joy deliver me from these that encompasse mee Make hast to helpe mee ô Lord God of my Salvation For thou art my strength and my refuge my helper and my protector Doe not then leave me nor despise me ô God of my salvation Behold I come unto thee ô my God whom I have despised and offended for the whole earth is full of thy mercie Therefore doe I flie unto thee my most mercifull Father Receive mee according to thy word when thou sayest I WILL NOT THE DEATH OF A SINNER and let mee live and confound mee not in my hope O my God I doe not pray unto thee for a life temporall but I call upon thee for the Salvation of my Soule who art life eternall O my sweet Lover O my Lord God for as much as I have offended thee for that I have neglected thine inspirations and admonitions for that I have at any time loved ought be●ide thee or without thee for this O my Lord God for this doe I grieve And I beseech thee that thou wouldest give unto mee so much grace as I may with all mine heart grieve a●d lament during everie moment of my life Would to God that I might poure out and offer unto thee everie drop of my bloud with teares for griefe and love into thy most sweet heart O sweet Jesu I neither desire nor expect of thee life nor death but thy good will and pleasure may it be done unto mee according to thy will If it be thy will O my sweet Jesu that I shall dye receive my spirit And although I come in the Evening as the verie last of all grant unto mee that I may receive eternall rest with thee and in thee But if it be thy will that I shall live longer O sweet Jesu I purpose this and I crave the assistance of thy grace for this to amend the rest of my life and to offer my selfe wholly as a burnt Sacrifice unto thee to thy glorie and according to thy good will and pleasure O most desired Jesu for as much as I have consumed my life in sin to the reproch of thy glorious name nor to this day have begun to serve thee grant unto mee that I may now at last perfectly begin and employ all the powers of my Soule an● Body and all the remainder of my time given mee by thee to thy glorie and according to thy best and most perfect will O most mercifull Jesu be thou neare mee in these my paines and miseries with which I am straitened and i● any more grievous than these shall come upon mee for that I have deserved not onely more grievous but most grievous by reason of my sins grant that I may patiently beare them O sweet Jesu if I had never at any time sinned nor at thine hand evilly deserved notwithstanding to thy glorie and for thy love good will and pleasure I offer and resigne my selfe unto thee either in these or any other punishments to deale with mee according to thy will not my worth but in the multitude of thy mercies on which I relye and on which I call that by thy power thou wouldest raise and rouze up the frailtie of my flesh and strengthen with longanimitie and confirme with patience the pusillanimitie and instabilitie of my Spirit that I may not ●all downe as one either vanquished with tentation or faint through pusillanimitie but swallowed up with the most burning heat of thy love I may onely sigh after thee onely desire thee and leave loath and contemne the world with all that is in it giving thee thanks with all mine heart for all things whether ministring unto me occasion of joy or sorrow O most loving Jesu I chuse thee I wish thee I desire thee I meet thee and I renounce whatsoever thou art not in mee what thou willest I will what thou nillest I nill whatsoever thou abhorrest I abjure And though sometimes that 〈◊〉 is contrarie to this will in mee may be incident unto mee I beseech thee O my God that thou wouldst not impute it unto mee nor judge mee according to that depravednesse of Will in mee but according to this Election of my mind by thy grace wrought in mee Because I contradict all those things which I ought not to will yea though which for thy mercie sake avert I hereafter vanquished should consent unto yet now doe I accurse and abjure them O most loving Jesu if it please thee and redound to thy glorie grant unto mee that I may be pre●erved in this life from all sins and punishments into which after death I ought otherwi●● to come to which I am subject or may possibly come and that thou wouldst receive my Soule by the hand of thy mercie immediately from this life to eternall joyes O Lord Iesu Christ receive my Spirit c. A CHRISTIANS LAST-WILL OR TESTAMENT Containing A PROTESTATION or Testament not unprofitable to be repeated or meditated of everie Christian at the point of death Composed as may be probably gathered by JOANNES LANSPER GENSIS and faithfully rendred according to the Originall A CHRISTIANS LAST-WILL OR TESTAMENT Containing A Protestation or Testament not unprofitable to be repeated or meditated of everie Christian at the point of death Composed as may be probably gathered by JOANNES LANSPER GENSIS and faithfully rendred according to the Originall IN the name of the Father and the Son and Holy Ghost I. M. an unhappie Sinner redeemed with
my Crucifying in their manners who imprint the signe of my Crosse for their defence in their foreheads that by his Law they may bee formed by whose Faith they are armed For otherwise he disloyally beareth the stampe of his King whose will he doth not observe Neither doth hee rightly protect himselfe with his signe whose command he doth not obey Sinner O good Jesu vouchsafe to bestow on my hearing a fuller joy by recounting to mee thy most unworthy Sinner the rest of those benefits and fruits arising from the dayly remembrance of thy most holy Passion Christ. The memory of my death by a dayly ruminating thereof ought to burne upon the altar of thy mind for many reasons First because thou canst doe nothing more acceptable unto mee than to exercise thine heart in my most holy Passion with love compassion reverence and imitation Whereof thou canst not doubt being assured thereof by many authorities of holy Scripture Wherefore I doe advise thee to stamp my painfull love and loving paine in thy soule and to be thankfull unto me saying Set me as a signet upon thine heart As if he should say Love mee as I love thee Remember not onely how great things I have done for thee but how sharpe and unworthy things I have suffered for thee and see if thou doest not give mee an ill requitall if thou doest not love mee For tell mee who loves thee as I doe Who desireth to be loved of thee as I doe Set me therefore as a signet upon thine heart that thou maist love me with all thy strength upon thine arme that thou maist performe those things which please mee with all thine affection upon thine heart that whatsoever is deare unto thee thou maist set aside for me and alwaies preferre me and alwaies more and more love me Secondly thou oughtst continually to remember my Passion because by it thou art led by the hand to the love of God For by my Passion I have shewne to thee the quantity of my affection And love deserveth love againe Understand what I say I would not reedeme man with praier for so oft times man freeth man from captivity Nor with the price of gold and silver for so sheep and Oxen are bought but with the price of my bloud that by the price of the thing bought my love might bee weighed Do not therfore dis-esteeme thy worth consider oft times thy price If I had redeemed man with gold or silver it might have beene thought that the soule of man had beene comparable ● to temporall riches That which is redeemed is more precious than that by which it is redeemed Therefore the soule of man is more precious than my bloud Thirdly ●or stirring of devotion Whence it was that Sampson found an Honeycombe in the mouth of a dead Li●n I am the Lion of the Tribe of Iud● in whose death the honeycombe of devotion is found wherewith the spirit of man is refreshed O that thou wouldst seriously consider how upon the Crosse my mouth appeared like one halfe-alive open and my tongue bloudy surely if thou hadst an heart of iron it would have melted with compassion and devotion The fourth fruit arising from the memory of my Passion is that in it is found a guard of defence against all Enemies Whereupon my Apostle Peter Christ suffered for you arme your selves likewise with the same mind And I say Enter into the rocke As a Souldier who unable to withstand his enemy in the field flyeth to his Tents Briefly the Enemy shall prevaile nothing against him whom the daily exercise of my Passion doth delight The fifth is because with no exercise is man so much enriched as with my merits applied to him and made his by the hand of faith for the foundation of all grace and the root of merit as it hath sole relation to me and derived to man by Faith in me consisteth in the sorrow of heart and body for my Crosse. For this cause mine Elect Apostle said I have esteemed my selfe to know nothing but JESUS CHRIST and him crucified And that devout sonne of my blessed mother Bernard It is my highest philosophy said hee to know CRIST JESUS and him Crucified But thou oughtst to grieve because there are many enemies of my Crosse. For the lovers of pleasures are my persecutours they are guilty of my death not as authors or fautors but as contemners 〈◊〉 my death These are they who make the merit of my Passion in them of no effect who make themselves unworthy of mine heavenly blessing unspeakable glory who living in their delights laugh at the mysterie of my Passion who tread mee the Sonne of God under their feet and lay reproach upon the Spirit of Grace A carnall life is an injury unto God contempt of my Crosse and redoundeth to the contumely of all the blessed Trinitie The sixt is the allaying of the labours and dolours encountring man in his way of repentance and life of Religion For a devout faithfull Souldier hath no feeling of his owne wounds when hee seeth the wounds of his loving Captaine And to this end have I contemned all earthly goods that I might shew how they were to bee contemned and sustained all adverse things that I might teach how they were to bee sustained The seventh is the extinguishing of carnall desires for with the sight of my Passion whatsoever is carnal● decreaseth The eighth is the stirring of compunction and repentance for sinues For who is he that grieveth not highly when he recals to mind how his sinnes were so odious to God the Father that for taking them away he would have his beloved Sonne crucified and put to death The ninth is the begetting of good hope and considence For in my Crosse the Sinner hath his Sanctuary as a murderer flying for refuge to the Church-yard Nothing is so bitter even unto death which may not be cured by my death I have changed the sentence of thy eternall punishment into the crucifying of my Body subject to a dolorous languishment For I in that sentence which Pilat pronounced against me taking upon me the person of all Sinners to purge their sins wherein they had long laboured was adjudged to death for all Sinners Sinner I conceive and contemplate by this which thou my good Jesu hast said that albeit this sentence was very unjust and therefore execrable in respect of thee because man had no power over God the wicked over the just yet in respect of us it was manifold common modious and profitable and the reason hereof is amiable and venerable because hee wholly reversed that sentence pronounced upon the first man for sinne For the sentence of a dolefull exclusion was denounced against him Whence it is written The Lord cast out man from the Paradise of pleasure and set an Angell to keepe the way of the tree of life But happy and honourable was thy sentence because 〈◊〉 called back a banish'd man for by this
of my mind For why doth my soule appointed for me only love thy Sonne why doth she thus hate mee why relinquisheth shee all things concerning me Behold how she swallowed up with the incomparable love of thy Sonne walketh as one without sense now there is nought else shee heareth nought else shee thinketh or tasteth nought else shee smelleth being alwaies desirous to rest in his armes There is shee joyed there is she cheered there abundantly delighted there made drunke with too much love is shee lodged Neither is it to be wondred at if this my Soule cleave so constantly to thy Sonne Because unlesse she were harder than stone and more insensible than iron seeing thy Sonne hath done such great things for her she can doe no lesse than this for him Yea where is that stone so hard which would not rend with the heat of so great love yea melt like wax if all these aforesaid benefits should be done it I doe not then complaine to thee O most benigne Father of my Soule for that shee hath done no more than she ought but of thy Sonne who hath so forcibly allured her with the benefits of his mercy and by that meanes left mee in so great misery An Answer of the Father to the Flesh. Cap. XV. ATtend and hearken what answer this most gracious Father makes to the Flesh. Forasmuch as thou art my creature I will shew thee Justice with Mercie Whereas then thou wert ordained to bee the Soules Hand-maid yet hadst ever a desire to play the Mistresse and demeaning thy selfe alwaies inordinatly hast caused her to serve thee and not mee by making her prone unto all evill and which is worse hast subjected her who was made after my image to the bondage of Satan Thou I say who hast made her worse than any brute beast being by thee defiled and ab●ominably polluted yea above all darknesse blackned and so much altered as I cannot know that noble creature stamped and formed to so glorious a feature Needfull it was then because I loved her so much that was inclosed in thy Flesh that my Sonne should take Flesh upon him that so hee might allure her to his and my love And because the Soule by cleaving to thee her Flesh was become dead it was my will that my Sonne who became Flesh should be slaine for her that she might be quickned Neither was this in my Sonne any circumvention or deceiving but mine and his ineffable vouchsafing And because thou O Flesh hast done evilly ever from thy first infusion but my Sonne hath beene inflamed towards thy Soule with exceeding affection and hath wholly given himselfe up for her redemption therefore my justice exacteth many things especially that I wholly and totally resigne her unto him and that shee abhorre thee more than dung and that she desire that thou maist bee abhorred of all But forasmuch as thou hast be sought not onely my Iustice but Mercy it is my will that thou in some measure bee refreshed with that present sweetnesse which thy Soule feeleth in my Sonne yea more than all this I will hereafter endow thee most nobly and most perfectly and if thou beest truly obedient to thy Soule from henceforth deliver thee from eternall punishment and bring thee to an inheritance gloriously permanent where I live eternally resident A pithy Meditation upon this Expostulation and Answer to inflame the Soule with a devout fervour IS it so O my Soule that shee whom thou hast so daintily cockred with whom thou hast so familiarly conversed and to whom thou hast so easily consented is thy domestick Enemy and by so much more fearfull because domesticall Chastise her whō thou hast cherished estrange thee from her with whom thou hast so freely consorted incline not to her to whose advice thou hast so freely condescended It is Ismael that playeth with thee who whilest she playes with thee playes upon thee Looke upon that gracious Shepherd who hath sought thee fix thine eye upon that precious price with which he bought thee The worth of the whole world comes farre short of the worth of that price be it then thine highest honour to advance his praise Let no sinne soile that image which is so richly beautified Let no cloud obscure that light which was so freely bestowed Hee that tooke on him Flesh for thee hee that in his Flesh suffered so much for thee hee that gave himselfe to gaine thee and shew'd himselfe so truly thine to retaine thee Let him solely and wholly have thee Suffer not thy Flesh to converse with thee till she become a true Convert in the practice of piety Better is it for thee by contempt of thy Flesh to augment thine owne honour than by obedience to thy Flesh to procure thy dishonour Short is the Fight but great is the Conquest Recoile not for thou hast him for thy Chiefetaine who hath vanquish'd that foe who to this houre hath given all Chiefetaines the foile Fight valiantly then under his banner embrace all contempts for his honour Erect the eye of thy Faith to Heaven while thou directest thy feet on Earth that after thy well-past pilgrimage on Earth thou maist bee rewarded with a lasting inheritance in Heaven Amen GENERALL Rules of living well The highest pitch of Wisdome's pie●y By which man 's taugh● both how to live die EVery day drawest thou nearer than other to Death Judgement and Eternity Bethinke then with thy selfe every day how thou maist stand in the severe discussion of death and judgment and how thou maist eternally live Thou art to take an exact account of all thy thoughts words and deeds because an exact account is to be given of all thy thoughts words and deeds Thinke every evening that death is that night approaching Thinke every morning that death is that day accoasting Deferre not thy conversion nor the performance of any good action till to morrow because to morrow is uncertaine but death is ever certainly waiting There is nothing that hinders piety more than delay If thou contemne the inward calling of the holy Spirit thou shalt never come to true conversion Doe not defer thy conversion nor the practice of any religious action to thy old age but offer unto God the flower of thy youth Uncertaine is old age to the young but certaine destruction attendeth him that dieth impenitently young There is no Age more fit for the service of God than youth flourishing in abilities both of body and mind For no mans sake oughtst thou to take in hand an evill action for not that man which thou so respectedst but God in whose brest all the treasures of wisdome are stored shall in the end judge thy life Doe not then preferre any mans favour before the honour of thy Maker In the way of the Lord wee either increase or decrease Take examination then of thy life every day whether in the practice of piety thou increasest or decreasest To stand in the way of the Lord is
to goe back Let it not then delight thee to stand in the course of piety but endevour alwaies to walke in the way of the Lord. In thy conversation bee cheerefull to all distastefull to none familiar to few Live to Godward devoutly to thy selfe chastly to thy Neighbour justly Use thy friend as a pledge of affection thine enemy for a triall of thy patience all men to a well-disposed benevolence and wherein thou maist more effectually worke to beneficence While thou livest dye dayly to thy selfe and to thy vices So in thy death maist thou live to God Let meekenesse appeare in thy affection mildnesse in thy countenance humility in thy habit modesty in thy habitation patience in tribulation Let facility be in thine accesse decency in thy dresse humility in thy presence affability in thy discourse benignity in thy wayes charity in thy works Let constancy be in thine eie content in thy chest temperance in thy cup. Observe moderation in thy desires discretion in thy delights Think alwaies of those 3. things past Evil committed Good omitted Time mis-spēded Think alwaies of these 3. things present ●he shortnes of this present life the difficulty of being saved the fewnesse of those that are to be saved Think alwayes of these three things to come Death than which nothing is more horrible Judgement than which nothing is more terrible the paine of Hell than which nothing more intolerable Let thine Evening Prayers redeeme the sinnes of the forepast day let the last day of the weeke reforme the offences of the dayes gone before Thinke in the Evening how many soules are that same day thrown head-long into Hell and give thankes unto God for that hee hath given thee time to repent in There be three things above thee which ought never to depart from thy memory That Eye which seeth all things that Eare which heareth all things and those bookes wherein all things are recorded Wholly hath God communicated himselfe to thee communicate thy selfe likewise wholly to thy neighbour That is the best life which is wholly employed to the behoofe and benefit of others Render to thy superiour obedience and reverence to thy equall counsell and assistance to thy inferiour succour supportance Let thy body be subjected to thy mind and thy mind to God Bewaile thy evils past disesteeme thy goods present covet with all the desire of thine heart those goods to come Remember thy sin that thou maist grieve Remember thy death that thou maist cease from sinne Remember Gods justice that thou maist feare Remember Gods mercy lest thou despaire Withdraw thy selfe as much as thou canst from the World and devote thy selfe wholly to the service of God Thinke alwayes how chastity is endangerd by delicacy humility by prosperity and piety by employments transitory Desire to please none but Christ feare to displease none but Christ. Beseech God alwayes that as he bids what he would so he would doe what hee bids that hee would protect what is done and direct in what is to bee done Endevour thy selfe to bee what thou wouldst have thy self thought to be for God judgeth not according to the outward semblance but according to the inward substance In thy discourse beware of much speech because account shall be required of every vaine word Whatsoever thy works bee they passe not away but as certaine seeds of eternity are they bestowed if thou sow according to the flesh from the flesh shalt thou reape corruption if thou sow after the Spirit from the Spirit shalt thou reap the reward of eternall retribution After death neither shall the honours of this World follow thee nor heaps of riches favour thee nor pleasures enjoy thee nor the vanities of this World possesse thee but after the fatall and full period of this life all thy works shall follow thee As then thou desirest to appeare in the day of judgement appeare such in the sight of God at this present Thinke not with thy selfe what thou hast but rather what thou wantst Pride not thy selfe for that which is given thee but rather become humbled for that which is deni'd thee Learne to live now while thou maist live In this time is eternall life either got or lost After death there remains no time for working for then begins the time of rewarding In the life to come is not expected any worke but payment for the worke Holy Meditation may beget in thee knowledge knowledge compunction compunction devotion devotion may produce prayer Great good for peace of the heart is the silence of the mouth By how much more as thou art divided from the World so much more acceptable art thou unto God Whatsoever thou desirest to have aske it of God whatsoever thou already hast attribute it to God He is not worthy to receive more who is not thankfull for what he hath received Then stops the course or current of Gods grace to man when man makes no recourse by thankfulnesse to God Whatsoever befals thee turne it to good so often as prosperity comes upon thee thinke how occasion of blessing and praising God is ministred unto thee againe so often as adversity a●●ayles thee thinke how these are admonitions for the repentance and conversion of thee Shew the force of thy power in helping the force of thy wisdome in instructing the force of thy wealth in releeving Neither let Adversity bruise thee nor Prosperity raise thee Let Christ be thy scope of thy life whom thou art to follow here in the way that thou maist come to him there in thy countrey Amongst all other things let profound humility ardent Charity be thy greatest care Let charity raise thine heart unto God that thou maist cleave unto him Let humility depresse thine heart les● thou becom proud so leave him Esteem God a Father for his clemency a Lord for his discipline a Father for his sweet power a Lord for his severe power Love him as a Father devoutly feare him as a Lord necessarily Love him because he will have mercy Feare him because he will not suffer sin Feare the Lord and trust in him acknowledge thy misery and declare his mercy O God thou who hast given us to will give us likewise to performe THE SORROWFULL Soules solace Gathered from Saint Augustine in his Tract Upon the 62. Psalme Upon these words My Soule thirsteth for thee my Flesh also longeth after thee BEhold here how the Soule thirsteth and see how good it is for the Soule that thirsteth to wit because shee thirsteth after thee There are who thirst but not after God Every one that would in his owne behalfe have ought performed is in heat of desire till he have it effected and this desire is the thirst of the Soule Now see what various desires are in the hearts of men One desireth gold another silver one desireth possessions another inheritances one store of money another stock of cattle one a faire house another a wife one honours another children You see
even that Sunne whereof it is said unto you that feare the Lord shall the Sunne of righteousnesse arise health shall be under his wings and whereof the proud and wicked shall say The light of righteousnesse hath not shined unto us and the Sunne of understanding rose not upon us Hee shall bee our Summer Now fruits in Winter time appeare not in the root Thou observest how dry Trees are in winter He that knows not the observation of these things prunes the dry Vine before the fruit come and perchance next Spring it becomes so dry as it brings forth neither flower nor fruit when it should come Both these are alike in winter this liveth that is dead But the life of this and the death of that are both in secret The Summer approacheth life appeareth in this death is discovered in that Beauty of leaves precedeth plenty of fruit succeedeth the Vine is attired with that beauty in her leafe which she retains in her root Therefore my Brethren we are now while we are here in our condition like other men Like as they are borne eat drinke live and are cloathed and so passe over their life even so the Saints Sometimes doe these things deceive men whence it is they say Behold since this man became a Christian did his head never ake Or now being a Christian enjoyes hee more than I doe O dry Vine Thou observest the Vine planted neere thee how naked it is in winter but never how dry it is by heat of summer The Lord our beauty will come who lay hid in the root and then will He exalt the horne of his people after this our captivity wherin we mortally live Whence it is that the Apostle saith Iudge nothing before the time untill the Lord come who will lighten things that are hid in darknesse and then shall everie man have praise of God But thou wilt say where is any root where is any fruit If thou beleevest thou knowest where thy root is For there it is where thy Faith is where thy Hope and Charity is Heare the Apostle for yee are dead They appeared as it were dead in winter Heare how they live And your life is hid saith he with Christ in God Behold where thou hast thy root When then shalt thou bee adorned with beauty When shalt thou be multiplied in fruit Heare what followeth When Christ which is our life shall appeare then shall yee also appeare with him in glory THE Soules Jubilee Gathered from Saint Augustine in his Tract Upon the 85. Psalme Upon these words Rejoyce the Soule of thy servant for unto thee ô Lord doe I lift up my Soule For thou Lord art good and mercifull of great kindnesse unto all them that call upon thee REjoyce the Soule of thy Servant Rejoyce her because unto thee do I raise her She was in earth and in earth shee felt bitternesse Now lest she should pine away through bitternes and so lose all thy gracious sweetnesse I have raised her up unto thee Rejoyce her with thee For thou onely art joyfulnesse the World is full of bitternesse Surely very rightly doth he exhort his members that they have their hearts on high Let them then heare it doe it let them lift that up unto heaven which is in an evill state while it is upon Earth For there the heart doth not corrupt if it be lifted up unto God If you have corne in low places lest it should corrupt you remove it higher doe you then seeke to prepare a place for your corne and will you suffer your heart to corrupt on Earth you remove your corne to an higher room lift up your heart unto heaven But how may I doe this will you say What Cords what Pulleis what Ladders are needfull These staires are thy affections thy way is thy will By loving thou ascendest by neglecting thou descendest Standing on Earth thou art in Heaven if thou love God For the heart is not lifted as the body is raised The body that it may be raised changeth her place but the heart that it may be roused changeth her will For unto thee O Lord doe I lift up my soule for thou Lord art good and mercifull therefore rejoyce her As one wearied and tediously affected with the bitternesse of earthly things shee desires to bee sweetned and hath sought the fountaine of sweetnesse but could not find it on earth For what way soever she turned herselfe she found scandals tribulations feares tentations In what man living safe security Of whom certaine joy And if not of himselfe how much lesse from another For either men are evill and of necessity wee must suffer them yet hoping withall that they may be changed or they are good and so wee ought to love them yet fearing withall lest they become evill because they may be changed There the wickednesse of those begetteth bitternesse of soule here care and feare equally surprize us lest hee fall away from us who walked sometime uprightly among us What way soever then the heart shall turne her she findes bitternesse in earthly things shee has not wherewithall to sweeten her unlesse shee lift her selfe up unto God her Maker For thou Lord art good and mercifull What is this mercifull Thou supportest mee till thou perfectest me For truly my Brethren I will speak as a man unto men and of men Let every one bring hither his heart and behold himselfe without flattering and without glozing Nothing is foolisher than flattering seducing ones self Let every one then consider and see what and how many things are acted in mans heart and how for most part our very praiers are hindred by various thoughts so as our hearts will scarcely stand firme before God It desires so to enjoy it selfe that it may stand and in some sort it flyes from it selfe yet for all this it findes no lettices by which it may confine her thoughts or barres by which it may restraine her distractions and wandring motions and stand joyfully before her God Rare it is that a prayer should occurre devoutly fixt amongst so many prayers Now every one would say that what befalleth him befalleth not another unlesse we found in the Sacred Scripture of God that David in one place prayed and said O Lord I have found my heart that I may pray unto thee Hee said hee had found his heart as if it used sometimes to fly from him and he to pursue it as a fugitive and could not lay hold on it and to cry unto the Lord My heart hath forsaken me Therefore Brethren considering what hee here saith Thou art good and mercifull I conceive that for this cause he cals him a mercifull God for that hee suffereth these things in us and yet expecteth prayer from us that hee might perfect his good work in us And when we have given it him by offering our oblation of prayer unto him hee receiveth it freely and heareth it friendly
Tinder-box and these gave light to my lighter discourses I held my pockets sufficiently stored if they could but bring mee off for mine Ordinarie and after dinner purchase mee a stoole on the stage I had cares enough besides hoording so as I held it fit to disburden my selfe of that and resigne it over to the worldling A long winter night seemed but a Midsummer nights dreame being merrily past in a Catch of foure parts a deep health to a light Mistresse and a knot of brave blades to make up the Consort I could jeere Him to his face who● I needed most Ten at hundred I meane and he would not stick to pay mee in mine owne coyne I might beg a courtesie at his hands but to starve for 't never prevaile for herein I found this instrument of us●rie and the Devill to be of one Societie and that they craved nothing of any one save onely S●ouritie A weake blast of light fame was a great part of that portion I aimed at And herein was my madnesse I held nothing so likely to make mee knowne to the world or admired in it as to be debauch't and to purchase a Parasites praise by my riot It is not in mee no it is far from mee and my memorie to recall to mind what miriads of houres that time mis-spended Scarcely one poore minute can I bethinke mee on wherein I did ought or exprest my selfe in ought that might redound to his honour whom now in mine age I have only sought How truly might I say in those daies in those many evill dayes I had beene secure if Society had not made me impure And yet must I be enforced to retract this too if I desire freely to lye open my selfe and speake what is true For of all those Consorts whose company I used I found no Consort worse than my selfe Yea I confesse and may this my confession be never without heartie contrition that it is impossible for mee to remember how many poore simple soules who when they scarce knew how to sin I taught them when they were willing to sin I perswaded them when they withstood sin I constrained them when they enclined to sin I consented to them Yea to how many I lay snares in the way where they walked for how many I made pit-fals in the way when they sought it And to the end I might not be afraid to commit I feared nothing at all to forget Aug. Med. c. 3. O how often have I returned after such time as I had mourned to that v●mit which I seemingly loathed and to that clay wherein I formerly wallowed How strong were my promises how weak my performance What lesse then can I doe than resolve my selfe into teares that my bespotted soule may be rinsed my many innumerably many sins may be rinsed my too secure soule from the grave of sin raised With anguish of heart and bitternesse of spirit will I therefore conclude calling on him who is my trust Lord forgive me the sins of my youth Of his Manhood MEMORIALL V. WHen I was a Childe I loved childishnesse when a Youth delicacie and wantonnesse But being now come to Man what can bee lesse expected than fruits of obedience Fruits Few God knowes and those bitter fruits Never did man reade man more and expresse man lesse A long time had I been a stranger to my fathers house Many yeares had I sojourned with the unwary Prodigall in a strange countrey I had spent my portion that faire portion of many rich graces which my heavenly Father had bestowed on me I was driven to such want as I was like to starve yet would I not acknowledge my poore estate Returne I would not to my father nor crave any succour though I was become a most miserable creature a foule uncleane Leper one utterly lost for ever had not some kind-hearted Samaritan relieved mee in such time of danger But Necessitie brings ever along with her some remedie I suffered my sore to be opened that it might bee cured I found my selfe sick I besought my Physician my heavenly Physician that hee would looke upon mee with the eyes of his compassion And he came unto me and healed mee yet with this condition that I should sin no more But I found the custome of sin too hard and the continuance thereof too sweet to bee left so soone No sooner had I recovered strength than I returned to my former state I found the abilities of nature too strong in me to leave sin so speedily No sentence in all the Scripture was so fresh nor frequent in my memory as At what time soever a sinner doth repent him of his sin c. Ezek. c. 18. but I abused the Text and by it promised to my selfe more libertie I held it Security enough to sinne secretly As one retired from the sight both of God and man to promise more impunitie to sinne I stickt not to say Who seeth mee But woe is mee what was worst of all and what without griefe of heart I shall never remember Though I saw many eyes upon mee and that my example might have done good to many for that in the opinion of others I was ranked both for knowledge and condition before many others those whom I might by my uprightnesse have improved by my loosenesse of life I depraved Which made me call to minde with much heavinesse of heart what I had sometimes read Of so many deaths is every one worthy as he hath given evill examples to those that live with him or left evill examples to those that shall succeed him O my God thus would I many times commune with mine owne heart how many deaths have I deserved who held it not enough to undoe my selfe by taking upon me a liberty of sinning but to undoe others too by chalking them out a way by my unhappie example for the like freedom of trāsgressing This I confesse could not chuse but make me to o●hers most hatefull my selfe to my selfe most distasteful And yet for all this swum I still in the same streame Truth it is that frō my youth up whē as yet no early soft downe had cloathed my chin I had takē a full perusall of my owne estate I found in me what of necessity might bee either corrected by me or nought could I looke for lesse than misery Some bosome sins likewise I foūd in me after I came to mans estate which ill became the condition of man and I sought for cure of them Amongst these one I culled forth more deare to me than the rest and which neither day nor night would afford mee any rest And I found meanes to remove it or to weane mee from it and I applyed them but got no helpe by them because I mis-applyed them for I well remember after such time as I had beene advised what directions to use to allay if not take away the poyson of that darling sin wherewith I was infected I tooke great care for a while
such a Guest And though every pusse every blast threaten her fall yet hopes shee with a little repairing to hold out still Foolish flesh if thou lov'st that Guest as thou professest why doest thou lodge her under such rotten tarrases For whilest thou keep'st her in that crazie Cottage thou hold'st her from a princely Palace ' Las shee came to thee not to bee a Dweller but a Sojourner Give her leave then to goe home againe for in a strange Land is shee while shee lodges with thee O but I heare thee answer This Stranger if you please to style him so is as loth to part with mee as I with her Is it so poore Soule hast thou wallowed so long in mire or encamped so long in these shades or shrouds of clay as thou beginnest to bee enamoured of them and never remove from them Is it so that thou hast beene such a long stranger in thy owne Countrey as thou hast quite forgot it or car●st not much if thou never see it H 'as the life of a Souldier so taken thee or the straying libertie of a Pilgrim so seaz'd upon thee as thou preferrest a wandring life before a setled being in thy Countrey Woe is mee for thee But 'pray thee tell mee what is it that hath so woo'd and wonne thee from thy first Love O I heare thee or that false Idumite which holds thee cry out O must I leave my Friends Honours Pleasures and Possessions Yes thou must leave and lose all Thy Friends and Honours may perchance accompany thee to ●hy Grave but there they will leave thee and for thy Pleasures and Possessions they will not doe thee that gra●e to attend thee to thy grave ●●r before thou come there ●hey have vow'd to leave thee These are strong stayes●o ●o depend on faire props to rely on firme foundations to build on I see then Languishing Soule what it is that holds thee Thou either griev'st to lose what thou here lovest or feares to feele there what thou for thy sinne deservest O my Soule by this may any one gather that thou hast beene a constant worldling For if thou hadst possessed the things of this life without loving of them thou wouldst easily lose them without grieving for them Seeing whatsoever without love we enjoy without griefe we forgoe But stay a little stay a very little and with pati●nce heare mee Be not O bee not so fast glued to Earth that thy thoughts become loosened from Heaven I know well it is thy Flesh which thus disquiets thee It is shee who suggesteth these things to thee Wrastle then with her and give her the foile it is better that shee faile than thou fall Tell her oh tell her For this will charme her Those worldly Friends on whom shee so much relyes can neither deliver themselves nor her from Death They may professe much and vow to intercede for her to any Prince or Potentate breathing while shee is living flesh but dying they will leave her for a prey to her Brothers and Sisters And all their friendly teares will be then dried up Sorrow takes quickly a Surfet in the Funerall of her dearest Friend His poore corps is with earth no sooner covered than their Time-love becomes discovered These be the shadowes wherewith our Flesh-flyes are deluded They may remember us sometimes while wee live on earth but they soone forget us when wee are laid in earth Aske her then will shee be stayd by these friends of which Time makes shadowes or injury profest foes Secondly if Friends have not in them such firme dependence as to promise any assurance hopes shee from Honours to receive any sure footing or continuance No tell her these are of all temporary blessings most various and dangerous Various in respect of the Object from whence shee receives them being man and consequently apt enough upon the least occasion to change his minde And dangerous in respect of those corrivals and privie underminers whose highest taske it is to bring these Favourites into disgrace O how happie had many beene had they never knowne what Honour meant For as it incumber'd them living so it distracted them dying exposing them to many dangers both living and dying Aske her then will shee bee staid by these Honours which can neither privilege her from death nor comfort her at the houre of death nor secure her after death Thirdly if shee bee thus forsaken of all her Honours what can she expect from Pleasures La● These long since left her when Age seaz'd on her and thrice happy shee had shee left them before they left her If there bee pleasure in cramps and aches her weake decrepit limbes retaine stil● a memory of them These she h'as constantly to attend her nor vow they to leave her till the cold Earth receive her For now those Ivory-beds Carpets and Laces are but as so many racks and tortures to her when shee remembers them All these have left her in paine and if shee taste pleasure in that may she long enjoy it But thou●h those more active pleasures have wholly left her shee sees her Buildings and to leave them and to whom shee knowes not it deepely grieves her Those pleasant walkes which with the helpes both of Art and Nature shee so carefully contrived those shadie delightfull Arbours wherein shee so retiredly and contentedly reposed Those silent Groves christall Springs dainty Refectories wherein shee so delightfully sported bathed banquetted must she lose all these and for a cover of mouldred earth wherein all her beautie lyes buried It must bee so there is no remedie the cold earth must receive her perished beautie Nor should the losse of all these grieve her seeing these were so confined to time as they could promise no constancie to her Yea they deserved rather to bee loathed than loved seeing the Sight of them too often estranged her thoughts from Him that made them Aske her then where bee all those who sometimes enjoyed these pleasures to the full Where those Objects wherein they delighted Looke Reade Their Memories are as Letters written in dust Their glorious Buildings have lost the Names of their founders They sleepe in their earth but that Account sleepeth not which they mnst render for their vanities on earth Fourthly seeing her forepast pleasures have wholly left her but the bitter remembrance of the abuse of them stayes with her the sweetnesse of the one being spent but the bitternesse of the other left what content may shee finde in her Possessions the Worldlings Minions 'Las nothing these are tane from her and bestowed on another Shee is now to goes to her long home and another is to possesse her dwellings Though here shee held passing of time a meere pastime and a large possession the Sole Solace of a Worldling now she findes enough of Earth in a very smal portion of it No matter now whether her Granars be enlarged her Revenues increased her Treasures slored These be none of hers The
very Wind h 'as as great a share in them as shee h'as Nor did they deserve so much loving when they were in their very height of enjoying Being such as were got with Care kept with Feare and lost with Griefe proper things to dote on The fulnesse of them could not stay one poore Fit of an Ague nor get a reprive at Deaths hand for a minute Besides that long unwilling Adieu of the unhappie possessour at his heavie departure O Death how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that liveth at rest in his possessions Seeing then no outward thing should so much delight man as to withdraw his thoughts from the Maker of man Or so trouble him in his passage or translation from Earth as to divert his affections from heaven in his remove from Earth Seeing all things are not onely vanity but affliction where such as are highliest possest of them are most ensnared and deluded by them Seeing the beauty riches pleasures and contentments of earth are no sooner appearing than vanishing no sooner found than lost Why doest thou tremble O my flesh why are thou so troubled O my Soule and why art thou so disquieted within mee put thy trust in the Lord and hee will deliver thee Yea but I heare thee in a silent secrecy framing this reply These worldly respects are not the things that make Death appeare so terrible unto mee Noe I can freely bid farewell to the world there is nothing in it that makes mee enamour'd of it I see nought at all in it but sinne or occasions of sinne Neither did I ever possesse ought which did not afflict mee more in the forgoing than it delighted mee in the enjoying Tell me then poore fearfull soule what is it that so much troubles thee in this thy passage What is it that makes thee so shake and shudder in this thy dissolution O my sinnes my sinnes it is the remembrance of my sinnes which makes mee unwilling to depart from this place where I committed them or to fix mine eyes on that place which is so pure as it cannot abide them I cannot thinke of that place wherein I have not sinned nor of that houre wherein I have not highly transgressed And can one minutes repentance discharge such long arrerages O my perplexed soule remember to thy comfort that divine Cordiall At what time soever a Sinner repenteth c. As I live I would not the death of a sinner c. My mercie I will not take from him There is mercie with the Lord and therefore is hee feared Hee shall call upon mee and I will dedeliver him in the time of his necessitie Draw yet nearer and thinke of the saying of that sweet Father O humble teare thine is the Kingdome thine is the Power thou art not affraid to enter in and appeare before the presence of the Judge thou though thou enter alone shalt never returne alone whatsoever thou askest thou shalt have thou overcommest the invincible and bindest the Omnipotent This Angelicall Wine will bring thee to the societie of the Angels Doubt not stagger not Raise and rouse up thy selfe with the wings of faith Whence comes it that the Soule dyeth because Faith is not in it Whence that the bodie dyeth Because a Soule is not in it Therefore the Soule of thy Soule is Faith No evill then can befall thee so thy faith doe not faile thee Where watry eyes make faith their Anchor they promise a calme Sea and a safe arrivall to the Christian passenger And though late repentance be seldome true yet true repentance never comes too late That devout and well-prepared Father when hee was readie to die with much sweet assurance and Christian confidence spake thus to Stillico and others about his bed I have not lived so among you that I am ashamed to live longer to please God and yet againe I am not affraid to dye because wee have a good LORD Though thou canst not in thine owne approvement so truly say this crowne thy passage with a devout wish Desire to bee dissolved and to bee with Christ Present him with a pious devotion to thy inward'st thoughts Imagining him even now bowing his precious head to kisse thee spreading his gracious armes to imbrace thee his Angels comming forth to meet thee the whole Hoast of Heaven to conduct thee to the Palace of Eternitie after this thy approaching dissolution from this vale of misery Let nothing divide thee from that love which is in thee to Christ Iesus One Houre in his Courts is better than a thousand in the Courts of Princes Humbly commend thy selfe to his protection who made thee to his affection who redeemed thee to his direction who sanctifi'd thee Feare it not timorous soule but thy Fathers power will defend thee his Sonnes Wisedome will enrich thee the Holy Spirits goodnesse will comfort thee even in these pangs of death which assaile thee Oh how sweet is the remembrance of these things to mee There is nothing now that may divide mee from Him to whom I am spiritually espoused There is no Friend so deare to mee as Hee who gave his life for mee No Honour so highly valued of mee as his who became a reproach for mee that by his owne dishonour hee might honour mee No pleasure so delightfull as his presence whose sight shall ever cheere mee No possession like his fruition who is my portion in the Land of the Living to whom to bee joyned shall ever joy mee Every minute then seemes grievous every moment tedious till I bee dissolved that I may see him after whom I have so longed to whom to bee united I have so thirsted in whose sweet presence to remaine in whose Courts to abide I have so desired These pangs I feele are to mee cheerefull these Messengers of my approaching dissolution to mee gratefull these humane wrastlings which I now endure to mee delightfull I know well I am such metall as I must bee tried before I bee fined O! as I draw by little and little nearer my end so may I in true love draw nearer to thee To thee my Redeemer in whom my trust is placed my confidence planted my hopes crowned my Pilgrim-dayes happily closed my heritage after these dayes of my Pilgrimage possessed I feele now my longing Soule fleeting from this darke Cell this noysome shell of corruption every gaspe now promiseth a dissolution My breath is corrupt my dayes are cut off and the Grave is readie for mee I enter'd this world with a Shrique and I leave it with a Sigh Nor doe I sigh for that I love it or am unwilling to leave it but for that I have beene too long divided by living in it from Him in whom my desires are here fixed there filled The houre is come and it is welcome the houre of my translation to glory Come LORD JESUS come quickely Amen FINIS Errata's PAge 102. line 7. for He reade They. p. 116. l. 8. for