and delightes drawe me to thee with a greedy hart The more I consider thee the more doe I languish with thy loue and with a vehement desire of thee and I am extreamely delighted with the sweete remembrance of thee I am therfore resolued I am resolued to cast vp myne eyes to thee to erect the state of my minde and to conforme the affections of my will to thee I am resolued to talke of thee to heare speake of thee to write of thee to conferr with others of thee daily to read somewhat of thy felicity glory when I shall haue redd it to reuolue it very often in my hart that at least by this meanes I may passe on from the burninge heats and dangers toyling labours of this mortall dying life to the sweete refreshing of that vitall aire of thyne and that I may proceede at last when I shall lay my selfe downe to sleepe to repose my head a little in that bosome of thyne To this end I enter now and then into those sweete feilds of thy holy Scriptures and whilest I am turninge ouer those leaues I gather the fresh flowers of sentences from thence By reading them I eate by frequenting them I ruminate and by gathering them vp at last I lodge them in the deepe receptacle of my memory that by this meanes haueing taken a taste of thy sweetnes I may feele the biteernes of this most miserable life so much the lesse O thou most happy life O Kingdome which art truely blessed free from death and farr from haueing an end to which noe tymes shall euer succeede where that day which is still continued without night admitts of noe Tyme where the conquering souldiers being associated to those chantinge quires of Angells sing that Canticle of the Canticles of Syon to Almighty God without ceasinge the garland of triumph imbraceinge their glorious heads that for euer I would to Christe that my sinns beinge once forgiuen me and then this burden beinge layd downe I might be assigned to eternall rest might enter into thy ioyes within those excellent and beautifull walls of thy Citty receiuinge the crowne of glory from the hand of my Lord. That I might be present with those most holy Quires of Angells That together with those blessed Spiritts I might concurre to glorify our Creator that I might veiwe the present face of Christe our Lord that I might for euer behold that supreame vnspeakable vncircumscribed light and that so not being subiect to any feare of death I might for euer reioyce in the euerlastinge endowment of incorruption CHAP. XXIII Of the felicity of that holy soule which departeth hence HAppy is that soule which beinge discharged from this body of earth goes freely vp to heauen and is in peace safetie not fearing either any enemy or death it selfe For it will then haue present and shall for euer behold that most beautifull Lord whom it hath serued and whom it hath loued and to whom at length it arriueth all full of glory and ioy This glory of so great beatitude noe tyme shall diminish nor wicked enemy be able to bereeue vs of The Daughter of Syon saw this soule and did publish it to be most happy The queenes and the concubines sawe it sayinge Who is this which goeth forward like a riseinge morninge faire like the Moone bright like the Sunn and terrible like a pitched feild of armed men How ioyfully doth she goe forth make haste and runn when with astonished eares she hears her spouse say thus Rise vp and make haste O thou my freind and my beautifull creature and come with me for now the Winter is ouer-past the Storme is gone and hath hidd it selfe the flowers haue appeared in our Land the tyme of pruninge is now come the voice of the turtle hath beene heard in our land The figg tree hath brought forth her younge fruite the vines are in flower and send forth theire odour Rise vp maKe haste O thou my freind my faire Creature my doue in the holes of the RocKe in the lowes places of the wall Shew me that face of thyne let thy voice sound forth in my ears for thy uoice is sweete and thy face is full of comlinesse and grace Come my elected and my beautifull Creature my doue my immaculate my Spouse Come and I will place my throne in thee because I haue had a greedy desire of thy beauty Come that thou maist reioyce in my presence with my Angells whose society I haue promissed thee Come after many dangers and labours and enter into the ioy of thy Lord which none shal be able to take from thee CHAP. XXIV A prayer to the sanites to secure vs in our dangers HAppy are all you O Saynts of God who now haue passed through the sea of this mortality and haue obteyned to arriue at the gate of eternall quietnesse security peace your selues beinge peacefull and secure and perpetually full of triumph and ioy I beseeche you by your owne Charity you who are secure concerninge your selues be yet solicitous concerning vs. You are secure concerninge your owne incorruptible glory be you solicitous of our manifold misery By him I beseech you who chused you who made you what you are in the fruition of whose beauty you are satiated by whose immortality you are now immortalized by whose most blessed vision yow are continually in ioy be you also continually mindfull of vs. Helpe vs miserable creatures who in the salt waters of this life are tossed with stormes rounde about vs. You are those most beautifull gates who haue beene erected to a huge altitude O giue some helpe to vs who are noe better then a base pauement lying so farr vnderneath you Stretch forth your hand raise vs vp vpon our feete that we recouering out of our infirmity may become strong and fitt for warr Interceede pray with constancy and perseuerance for vs miserable and most negligent sinners that by your Prayers we maybe ioyned to your holy society for otherwise we shall not be saued For we are extreamely frayle and of no strength or vertue miserable base wretches beasts who care but for the belly the slaues of flesh blood in whome the very shadow of goodnes doth scarce appeare And yet not withstandinge beinge placed vnder the confession of Christe our Lord we are borne vp by the wood of his Crosse whilest we saile through this great and spatious sea where there are creepinge creatures without number where there are wilde beasts great and small where there is á most cruell dragon euer ready to deuour vs where there are places full of dangers as Scylla and Charybdis and innumerable others where carelesse persons and they who are of a waueringe faith suffer shipwracke Pray you to our Lord pray O you who are full of pitty pray all you troopes of Saintes and all you compagnies of blessed Spiritts that beinge assisted by your Prayers and meritts we may with our shipp
commerce O admirable and for euer to beloued benignity of the diuine mercy We were not worthy to be seruants and yet behold we are made the Sonnes of God Nay we are the heires of God and coheirs of Christ Whence came this to vs and who brought vs to this But I beseeche thee O thou most mercifull God the Father by this inestimable goodnes and piety and charity of thine make vs worthy of the many and great promisses of thy Sonne our Lord Iesus-Christe imploy thy strength and confirme that in vs which thou hast wrought Perfect that which thou haste begun that we may deserue to attayne to the fulnesse of thy mercy Inable vs by thy Holy Spiritt to vnderstand deserue and reuerence with due honor this great mystery of piety which is manifested in the flesh iustified in the spirit hath appeared to Angells is preached to Gentiles is beleeued in the world and is assumed to glory CHAP. XVII Of the thanks which a man owes to God for the benefitt of Redemption O How deepely are we thy debters O Lord our God being redeemed by so high a price being saued by so rich a guift being assisted by so glorious a benefitt How much art thou to be feared loued blessed praised honored and glorified by vs miserable creatures whom thou haste so loued saued sanctifyed and exalted For to thee doe we owe all our power all our beeing and all our knowledg And who hath any thinge which is not thyne Thou art our Lord and our God from whom all things proceed For thy selfe and for thy holy Name giue vs So me part of thy heauenly riches that by meanes of those blessings and guifts of thyne we may serue please thee in truth and that by way of returne we may dayly render thee all due praise for so many benefits of thy mercy Nor can we serue thee or praise thee by any other meanes then by thy owne guift For euery good grace and euery perfect guift is from aboue descending from thee the Father of lights wiht whom there is noe change nor so much as any shadow of mutability O Lord our God! deare God good God Omnipotent God vnspeakable God whose nature cannot be circumscribed God the ordeyner of all things the Father of our Lord Iesus-Christe who diddest send the same beloued Sonne of thyne our most sweete Lord out of thy bosome for our vniuersall profitt to take our life vpon him that he might bestowe his life vpon vs and that he might be perfect God of thee the Father and perfect Man of his Mother all God and all Man and one and the same Christe eternall and temporall immortall and mortall Creator and creature stronge weake triumphant and yet ouercome the nourse and the creature which is nourished the Pastor the sheepe he that dyed for a tyme and dyed in time and yet is liueinge for all eternity He promiseinge to such as loued him that they should be prouided for said thus to his Disciples What soeuer you shall aske the Father in my name he wil giue it to you By this Supreame Sacrifice and true Preist and good Pastor who offered himselfe in Sacrifice to thee laying downe his life for his flocke by him I beseech thee who sitteth at thy right hand and interceedeth for vt being our Redeemer and Aduocate before thy pitty and goodnesse I beseech thee I say O God the most deere and benigne louer of mankinde that thou wilt giue me grace with the same Sonne of thyne and the Holy Ghoste to praise and glorify thee in all things with great contrition of hart and a fountaine of teares with much reuerence and trembling because theirs whose the substance is theirs also are all the accessaryes therof But because the body which is corrupted doth depresse the soule I beseeche thee to rowse vp my dullnes by thy vertue and make me perseuere with strength in thy Commaundements and praises day and night Grant that my hart may wax warme within me and that whilest I am in meditation the fire may burne And because thy onely Sonne himselfe did say No man cometh to me vnlesse the Father who sent me drawe him and no man cometh to the Father but by me I beseech and humbly pray thee be thou euer draweing me to him that at last he may bring me thither to thee where he is sittinge at thy right hand where there is an eternall life eternally happy where there is perfect loue and noe feare where there is an euerlastinge day and one spirit of them all where there is certaine and supreame security and secure tranquillity and serene alacrity and sweet felicity and happy eternity and eternall beatitude and a blessed praise and vision of thee which neuer ends where thou with him and he with thee and both in the communion of the same Holy Ghoste doe sempiternally liue and being God dost reigne for euer and for euer Amen CHAP. XVIII A Prayer to Christe our Lord. O Christ my God my hope Sweete louer of mankinde Light life way health And beauty most refin'd Behould those things which thou Did'st suffer vs to saue The chaynes the wounds the Crosse The bitter death the graue Riseing within three dayes From conquering death and hell By thy Disciples seene Reforminge mindes so well Vpon the fortieth day Climeing the Heauens soe high Thou liuest now and thou Shalt raigne eternally THou art my liueing and true God my holy Father my deare Lord my greate Kinge my good shepheard my onely instructor my best helper my most beautifull louer my liueinge breade my Eternall Preist my guide into my country my true light my holy sweetnes my right way my excellent wisdome my pure simplicity my peaceable concord my safe custody my good portion my euerlasting saluation my great Mercy my inuincible patience my imaculate Sacrifice my holy Redemption my firme hope my perfect charity my true Resurrection my eternall life my excessiue ioy and most blessed Vision which is for euer to remaine I pray thee I begg of thee I beseech thee that I may walke by thee passe on by thee and repose in thee who art the way the truth and the life without whome no man cometh to the Father For thou art he whome I desire O thou most sweete most beautifull Lord O thou splendor of thy Fathers Glory who sittest aboue the Cherubins and beholdest from thence the most profound Abysses which are belowe thou light which declareth truth illuminateing light light which neuer leaues to shine whome the Angells desire to behold Loe my hart is before thee disperse the darknes therof that by the clearnes of thy loue it may be yet more fully strucken and beaten through with light Giue thy selfe to me O my God restore thy selfe to me Behold I loue thee and if it be to little make me loue thee more I cannot measure out to know how much of my loue is wanting to thee of that which ought to make it
O thou Power whereby I am susteyned Approach to me O thou light whereby I see Appeare to me O glory wherein I ioy disclose thy selfe to me O thou life whereby I liue O thou my Lord and my God CHAP. III. Of the admirable light of God O Thou light which Tobias sawe when he taught his sonne the way of life though himselfe were blinde Thou light which Isaack sawe interiourly when he foretold future things to his sōne though his eyes of flesh and blood were full of darkenes Thou inuisible light I say to which all the abysses of humane harts are visible Thou light which Iacob sawe when thou teaching him interiourly he did exteriourly prophecie to his children Behold whilest thou art light deepe darkenes is spredd ouer the face of the abysse of my minde Behold whilest thou art truth a thicke mist is spredd ouer the wateres of my hart O thou word whereby all things are made and without which nothing is made Thou Vvord which art before all things and nothing was before it Thou VVord which guidest all things and without which all things are nothing thou Vvord which saydest in the beginning Let light be made and light was made say that also to me let light be made and let it then indeede be made And make me also knowe whatsoeuer is not light because without thy helpe I shall mistake light for darkenes and darkents for light And so without thy light there is noe truth but errour and vanity are at hand There is no order but eonfusion noe knowledge but ignorance noe sight but blindenes noe open way but wandering mazes noe life but death CHAP. IV. Of the mortality of Mans nature BEhold O Lord because there is noe light there is death or rather I cannot say that death is there because death indeede is nothing and by that we tend to be nothing whilest we are not affrayd to make our selues nothing by committing sinne And this O Lord happeneth iustly to vs. For we receiue penishement fitt for our demerits whilest we slide away like a little falling water For nothing is made without thee And by doeing and makeing that which is nothing we growe to be nothing because we are nothing without thee by whome all things are made without whome nothing is made O Lord thou who art the Word O God who art the Vvord by whome all things and without whome nothing is made Vvoe be to me miseaable creature who haue beene soe often blynded for thou art light and I haue beene voyd of thee Vvoe be to me miserable creature who haue beene soe often wounded for thou art health it selfe and I am voyd of thee Vvoe be to me miserable creature who haue soe often beene infatuated by errour for thou art Truth and I am voyd of thee Vvoe be to me miserable creature who haue soe often gone astray for thou art the way I haue wandred from thee Vvoe be to me miserable creature who haue beene so often dead for thou art life and I am without thee Vvoe be to me miserable creature who haue beene annihilated soe often for thou art that Vvord by which all things were made and I am without thee without whome nothing is made O Lord who art the word O God the Vvord who art that light whereby light is made who art the way the truth and the life in whome there is noe darkenes nor vanity nor death Light without which all is darkenes Vvay without which all is errour Truth without which all is vanity and life without which all is death O Lord doe but say this word Fiat lux let light be made that soe I may see light and auoyd darkenes that I may see the way and auoyd straying that I may see truth and auoyd vanity that I may see life and auoyd death O Lord my light doe thou illuminate me O thou my illumination and my saluation whome I will praise my God whome I will honour my Father whome I will loue and my spouse for whome I will preserue my selfe Shine forth I say shine forth thou light vpon this blinde creature of thine who is sitting in darkenes and the shadow of death and direct his feete into the way of peace Vvhereby I may enter into the place of thy admirable Tabernacle as farre as the house of God himselfe and the voyce of exultation and confession For a true Confession is the way whereby one may enter into thee who art the way whereby we may departe from all wandring and may returne againe to the same way because thou art that true way of life CHAP. V. VVhat it is to be made nothing I will therfor confesse my misery to thee I will confesse to thee O thou my Father and my Lord that maker of Heauen and Earth that soe I may be admitted to approche thy mercy For I am made wholly miserable and am reduced to nothing and I knew it not For thou art truth and I was not with thee My iniquityes haue wounded me and I was not troubled thereat For thou art life and I was not with thee They brought me to nothing because I was not with thee who art the Word whereby all things were made and without it nothing and therefore did I become nothing without thee For that is nothing which leades to nothing All things are made by him whatsoeuer are made and what kinde of things where they God sawe all those things which he made and they were very good All things which are made were made by the Word and whatsoeuer things were made by that Word are very good Why are they good in regard that all things are made by the Vvord without it nothing is made Because nothing is good withaut a participation of that souueraigne Good But sinne is there where that Good is not and for that cause it is euen nothing For euill is nothing but a priuation of good as blindenes is noe other thing but a priuation of light Sinne therefore is nothing because it is made without the Vvord without which nothing is made and that is sinne or euill which is depriued of that good whereby all things are made which haue any beeing But now those things which are not are not made by him and consequently they are nothing Therefore those things are euill which are not made because all things which are made are made by the Vvord and all things which are made by the Vvord are good Since therefore all things are made by the Vvord sinne is not made by it and therefore it remaynes that all things which are not made be not good for as much as all things which are made be good and therefore those things are euill which are not made and therefore they are nothing because nothing is made without the Vvord Sinne therefore is nothing because it is not made But then how is it euill if it be nothing Because euill is a priuation of that good whereby that which is
the body of his glory wee expect when our Lord returneth from the marriage that he may carry vs in with him Come Lord and doe not stay Come O Lord Iesus Christ come visit vs in peace come and carry vs out who are bound in prison that wee may reioyce before thee with a perfect harte Come O thou Sauiour come thou who art the desired of all nations doe but let vs see thy face and wee are safe Come my Light and my Redeemer lead my soule out of this prison that I may confesse to thy holy Name How long shall I wretched creature be tossed vp and downe in these waues of my mortality cryeing out vpon thee O Lord whilest thou hearest mee not Harken to mee O Lord who am cryeing to thee out of this deepe Sea and waft mee into the Hauen of eternall blisse to theyr society who being conducted out of this dangerous Sea haue obtayned to repose in that most safe harbour which is thy selfe O God O how truely happy are they who be deliuered from that Sea to the shore from banishment to their country and from the prison to the Pallace Happy are they who in theyr desired place of rest are eternally to reioyce for haueing soe with such prosperous ioy obtayned that prize of eternall glory towards which they here made they re course through such a multitude of tribulations O how truely happy are they O thrice and three thousand tymes happy who being freed from all misery and being secure in the possession of that inuiolable glory haue deserued to arryue to that Kingdome of order and delight O Eternall Kingdome Kingdome which out liueth all ages where there is a light which neuer fayleth and a peace which passeth all vnderstanding where the soules of the Saincts repose and eternall ioy hāgeth ouer theyr heads For they shall obtaine delight and exultation and greif and sorrow shall fly away How glorious O Lord is that kingdome wherein all thy Saints shall for euer reigne with thee being cladd with light as with a garment and heauing a crowne of pretious stone vpon theyr heads O kingdome of eternall beatitude where thou O Lord who art the hope of the Saints and the diademe of theyr glory art beheld by them face to face delighting them on all sides with thy peace which passeth all vnderstanding VVhere there is infinite ioy without greif health without payne workeing without labour light without darkenes life without death all good without any ill VVhere youth neuer waxeth old where life neuer cometh to an end where beauty is neuer diminished where loue is neuer weakened where health is neuer blasted where Ioy is neuer impayred where payne is neuer felt where groane is neuer heard where sadnes is neuer seene where ioy is euer had where noe euill is feared because the souueraigne good is possessed there which consists in euer seeing the face of our Lord the God of all strength Happy therefore are they who haue obtayned to come to soe greate ioye out of this life where so many shipwrakes are suffered And O vnhappy and wretched creatures wee who are steereing our ships through the floods of this great sea through these stormy whirlepooles not knoweing whether or no wee shall be able to arryue to the porte of saluation Miserable I say wee are whose life is spent in banishement and whose way in daunger and whose end in doubt for wee knowe not our end because all things are reserued in suspense for the future VVee are still tossed in these sea-waues aspireing to thee who art the hauen O thou country of ours wee see thee though it be from farre of VVee salute thee from this sea wee sigh to thee from this valley and wee striue with teares if perhaps wee may be able to get thither O Christ thou God of Gods thou hope of mankinde thou refuge and strength of ours whose light like some beame of the sea starre doth strike our eyes from farre of amongst the foggy mists and tempests of this sea wherein wee liue that soe our course may be directed to thee who art our hauen gouerne I beseech thee our ship with thy right hand by the instrument of thy Crosse that wee may not perish in these floods that the stormes of water may not drowne vs that the profound pitt may not swallow vs vp but drawe vs out of this sea to thee who art our onely solace whome wee see with our lamenting eyes to be expecting vs though from farre of vpon the shore of that celestiall country as it might be some Sunne of Iustice or morneing starre Behould wee cry out to thee who are redeemed by thee and who are now those exiles of thine whom thou hast redeemed with thy pretious blood Harken to vs O our Sauiour the hope of all the sands of the sea how farre soeuer it be of Wee are tossed in this turbulent sea and thou standing vpon the shore doest see our dangers and saue vs for thy names sake Graunt to vs O Lord that wee may hold soe euen away betweene Sylla and Caribdis that haueing escaped the danger of them both wee may securely arriue in the port with our ship and our aduenture safe CHAP. XXXVI Of the glory of our celestiall country WHen therefore we shall be come to thee O thou foūtaine of wisedome to thee O indeficient light to thee O thou who art the splendour which cannot be defaced that we may then behould thee not by representation as in a glasse but face to face then shall our desire be fully satisfyed with good things because no other thing will remayne to be desired by vs when we shall possesse thee O Lord our soueraigne good who art to be the reward of the blessed and the diademe of they re glorye and the sempiternall Ioy which hangeth ouer theyr heads possessing them both inwardly outwardly in that peace of thyne which passeth all vndestanding There shall wee see and loue and praise Wee shall see light in thy light because with thee is the fountaine of life and in thy light wee shall see light But what kinde of light an immense light an incorporeall incorruptible and incomprehensible light a light indefcient a light which cannot bee put out an inaccessible light an vncreated light a light which sheweth truth a diuine light which illuminateth the eyes of Angells which reioyceth the youth of saints which is a light of lights and the fountaine of life which is thy selfe O Lord my God For thou art that light in whose light wee shall see thy self who art that light hat is to say thee in thee in the splendour of thy countenance when wee shall see thee face to face What is it to see face to face but as the Apostle sayth to knowe thee as I am knowen To knowe thy truth thy glory is to knowe thee face to face To knowe the power of the Father the wisedome of the Sonne the meekenes of the Holy Ghost
restore my selfe I make a grant of my selfe to thee through whome I am through whome I liue and through whom I haue the vse of reason I hope I trust and I place all my confidence in thee by whome I may be able to rise againe and to liue and rest It is thou whom I desire whome I loue and whome I adore and with whome I am to remayne raigne and be happie The soule which seekes not thee nor loues not thee doth loue the world and serueth sinne is a slaue to vice and is neuer quiet or secure O thou most holy God let my minde be euer performing seruice to thee let this pilgrimage of mine be euer sighing towards thee let my hart burne through the loue of thee let my soule O my God repose in thee let it contemplate thee in excesse of mind and let it singe prayses to thee in full ioy and let this be my comfort in this banishment of mine Let this minde of mine fly to the shadowe of thy winges from the scorching cogitations of this world Let this hart of mine be at a calme in thee this hart which is such a deepe Sea full of swelling waues O thou who art so rich of heauenly food thou most aboundant imparter of that spirituall celestiall satiety giue nourishment to him who is defeated with hunger gather him vp who is scattered free him who is entrald stitch him together who is torne Behold he standeth at the doore and knocks I beseech thee by those bowells of thy mercy in which thou being the Orient didst visit vs from on hygh commaund that it be opened to this miserable creature who is knocking that so with nimble feete I may enter into thee and repose in thee and be refreshed by that bread of heauen For thou art both the bread and the fountaine of life thou art the splendor of immortall light In fine thou art all those thinges wherby iust persons liue who loue thee CHAP. V. Of the Desire of a soule O God the light of those hartes which see thee and the life of those soules which loue thee the strength or vertue of their thoughts who seeke thee graunt that I may be incorporated into the holy loue of thee Come I beseech thee into my hart and inebriate it with the springing plenty of thy delights that so I may forget all worldly thinges I am ashamed and I am afflicted to find my selfe suffering such thinges as this world is doing All that which I see concerning transitory thinges makes me sorry and all that which I heare makes me sad Help me O Lord my God infuse ioy into my hart and come to me that so I may grow to see thee For this house of my soule is strait till thou come into it and so it be inlarged by the. It is ruinous till it be repaired by thee It hath many things which may offend thyne eyes I know it and confesse it but yet who is he that can cleanse it or to whom but thee shall I cry out Cleanse me O Lord from my hidden sinnes and pardon also thy seruant those sinnes which he hath caused in others Make me sweet Christ O deere Iesus make me I beseech thee lay downe the burden of carnall desires and of the concupiscence which I haue after earthly thinges Giue dominion to my soule ouer my body and to my reason ouer my soule and to thy grace ouer my reason and subdue me both in my outward and inward man to thy will Graunt to me that my hart may praise thee togeather with my tongue and all the strength I haue Dilate my mind and hoyse vp the sight of my hart that at least by some glymse my spirit may with a swift and suddaine thought lay hold vpon that eternall wisedom whach is aboue all thinges and whach lasts beyond them all Discharge me I beseech thee from he chains wherin I am bound by sinnes chat at last I may giue ouer all thinges that I may hasten to thee and behold and adhere to thee alone CHAP. VI. Of the felicity of a soule which is freed from the prison of flesh and bloud HAPPY is that soule which being freed from this earthly prison arriues to heauen and seeth thee her most deere Lord face to face And which is no longer subiect to the least feare of death but doth reioyce in the incorruptibility of eternall glory She is then in peace she is secure doth no longer feare either death or any other enemy For she possesseth her deere Lord whom she hath long sought and whome she hath euer loued and being associated to those Quires of Angels she doth eternally sing those melodious Hymnes of thy euer lasting solemnity O Christ thou King thou deare Iesus to the prayse of thy glory For then she is inebriated by the fresh and springing plenty of thy house and thou giuest her to drinke of thy delights O happy society of those heauenly Cittizens O glorious solemnity of them who returne to thee from the sad labour of this pilgrimage of ours to that sweetnes of beauty to that delightfulnes of all splendour and to that dignity of all pleasing grace where thy Cittizens O Lord do continually behold thy countenance There is no eare in that place which can heare any thing that may offend it What songs what Organs what Hymnes what melodies are sung there without any end Eternally are there sounded forth mellifluous cōcents of Hymns that most sweet melody of the Angells those most admirable canticles of Canticles which are sung forth by those heauenly Cittizens to thy prayse and glory No bitternes nor any kind of vnsauorynes or gall can haue any place in that Countrey of thine for there is no wickednes nor any wicked man There is no aduersary or enemy there is no tempting bayte of sinne there is no want no shame no quarell no reproach no exception taken no feare no vnquietnes no payne no doubt no violence no dissention But there is souueraigne peace pertect charity eternall iubilation and prayse of God secure euerlasting repose and perpetual ioy in the holy Ghost O how happy shall I be if once I may arriue to heare those most sweet songs of thy cittizens those mellifluous Hymns which with due honour shall declare the prayses of the most blessed Trinity But O how happy euen too happy shall I be if my selfe may obtaine to sing to our Lord Iesus Christ some one of those sweet songs of Syon CHAP. VII Of the Ioyes of Heauen O Vitall life O eternall life and eternally happy where there is ioy without griefe rest without labour dignity without feare riches without want life without death perpetuity without corruption and felicity without calamity Where all thinges are good in perfect charity where there is showing seeing face to face where there is complete knowledge in all and by all where the soueraigne goodnes of God is discerned where the illuminating
abhorr thee When therefore thou art angry thou dost not onely not strike the offenders but euē impartest blessings to them if they giue ouer offending O thou my God! the very horne of my saluation and my vpholder I wretched creature haue offended thee I haue done wickedly in thy sight I haue deserued thy wrathe I haue prouoked thy fury I haue sinned and thou hast suffred me I haue offended and thou yet endurest me If I repent thou pardonest if I returne thou receiuest nay more then this whilest I am deferring thou expectest me Thou dost reduce me when I err thou inuitest me when I resiste thou staiest for me when I am dull thou imbracest me when I returne Thou teachest me when I am ignorant thou cherrishest me when I am afflicted thou raisest me whilest I fall thou restorest me when I am fallen thou giuest me when I aske thou art found when I seeke thee and thou openest when I knock O Lord the God of my saluation behold I know not what I may alledge I know not what to answere I haue no refuge nor hole to retire my serfe into from thee Thou hast showed me the way of good life and thou hast giuen me knoweledge how to cōduct my selfe thou haste treatned me with the feare of hell thou hast allured me with the hope of the glory of heauen And now O Father of mercyes ô God of all consolation strike through my very flesh with thy feare to the end through feare I may auoide that which thou threatnest and restore to me the ioy of thy sauing grace that by loue I may obteyne the thinges which thou promisest O Lord my strength and my fundation my God my refuge my deliuerer inspire me with what I ought to thinke of thee teach me with what words I should inuoke thee impart the power of performeinge those workes wherby I may please thee I know there is one thing wherby thou art appeased an other which thou art not wont to despise To witt an afflicted soule is a sacrifice to thee and thou vouchsafest to accept an humble and contrite hart O my God and my helper inrich me I beseech thee with these guifts defend me against mine enemy by these graces impart this refreshinge to me against the burninge heat of sensualityes and lett this refuge be open to me against the importunity of all inordinate desires O Lord the strength of my saluatiō doe not permitt me to be of them who beleeue in thee for a season but in the tyme of temptation departe from thee Ouer shadow this head of mine in the day of battell O thou who art my hope in the tyme of affliction and my saueing health in the tyme of tribulation Behold ô Lord ô thou my light and my saluation I haue begged those things of thee which I neede I haue intimated those things which I apprehend and feare but my conscience fills me with remorse the secretts of my hart reprooue me and that which loue gathered together feare scattereth and that which zeale moues me too distrust drawes me from My sinns giue me terrour but thy pitty putts me into hope thy bounty exhorts me though myne owne malignity holds me back And that I may confesse a truth the images and representations of my old sinns be still obtrudeing themselues on my memory they hold me downe from presumeing too farr CHAP. III. The complainte of a man who is not heard by our Lord through his disobedience FOr in fine when a man is worthy of hate with what face shall he desire fauour To whome punishment is due what rash boldnes is it for him to expect glory He prouoketh his Iudge who instead of giueinge satisfaction for his offence pretends to be honored with rewards He insults vpon his Kinge who beinge obnoxious to punishment will aduenture to begg a prize which is not due to him And that foolish sonne would exasperate the tender hart of his father who hauinge reproached the same father would presume to vsurpe the honour of the inheritance before he had disposed himself to pennance What is this ô my deare Father which I say I haue done I haue deserued death and yet I aske life I haue offēded my souueraigne Kinge whose aide I doe yet thus impudently implore I haue despised my Iudge whome thus rashly I desire to be my helper Most insolently haue I refused so much as to harken to my Father whom yet I am presumeinge to haue for my defender Woe be vnto me how late doe I come woe be to me how slack am I in makeing haste woe be to me who am runninge still hauing receiued fresh wounds and yet vouchsafe not when I am wel to preuent the pearcinge of new arrowes I haue neglected to forsee the darts before they came but now that I behold my death at hand I am full of trouble I added wounds to wounds because I feared not to add crimes to crimes My ancient scarrs I haue broken through with new violence because my late iniquities haue corresponded with my ancient sinns and that which thy diuine phisick had cured and closed the itch of my frensy hath opened againe The skinn which being drawen ouer my wounds did conceale my infirmity hath putrified by the breaking out of filthy blood whilest that iniquity which I iterated did euacuate the mercy which thou dist grante For I well know how it is written In what houre soeuer the iust man shall sinn all his iustice shal be forgotten And now if the iustice of the iust man shal be forgotten when he falls how much more shall the peunance of a sinner be forgotten if he returne againe to comitt those sinns How often like a dogg haue I returned to my vomitt and like a sowe haue I weltered againe in the mire I may wel confesse it for it is impossible but I should remember it How many ignorant persons haue I taught the way how to sinn how many haue I persuaded who had no minde to it I haue compelled such as resisted and I haue consented to such as desired For how many haue I laide a snare who were already in the right way and for others who sought that way I haue digged a pitt and to the end that I might not abhorr the doeinge of these things I feared not to cast them out of my minde But thou ô iust Iudge who sealest vp the accounts of my sinns and who standest watchinge ouer all my wayes and haste numbered euery one of my stepps thou I say heldest thy peace thou hast euer beene silent and euer patient But woe is me thou wilt at length cry out like a woman who is in the torment of child-bedd CHAP. IV. The feare of the Iudge O God of Gods O Lord who art too hard for the malice and sinn of man I knowe that one day thou wilt appeare I know that thou wilt not be allwayes silent when the fire shall burn in thy sight and that
light is glorifyed by the Saints wher the Maiesty of God is beheld present and the mind of the beholders is satiated by this food of life without all defect They euer see and yet they euer desire to see but they desire without anxiety and they are not glutted by their satiety Where the true Sonne of Iustice doth recreate them all by the admirable sight of his beauty and so doth illuminate all the inhabitants of that heauenly Countrey Where the light of them who are illuminated by that other superiour illuminating light doth shine farre beyond the splendor of our Sun and beyond the clarity of al the Startes adhering to that immortall Deity them selues being made thereby incorruptible and immortal according to this promise of our Lord and Sauiour Father they whome thou gauest me I will that where I am they may be also there that they may see my brightnes and that they all may be one as thou O Father art in me I in thee so they also may be one in vs. CHAP. VIII Of the kingdome of Heauen THE kingdome of heauen is a most happy kingdome a kingdome which hath no death nor end where there shal be no succession of tymes nor no interruption of the day by any night Where the victorious souldier is euen laden with vnspeakeable treasures an immortal crowne being placed vpon his triumphant head O that the diuine mercy hauing first discharged the weight of my sins would commaund me who am the least amongst the seruants of Christ to lay downe this burthen of flesh and bloud that so I might passe on towards my true repose in those eternall ioyes of his Citty that I might beare my part among th' inhabitants of those heauēly Quires that I might assist in glorifying our Creatour with those blessed spirits that I might behold the face of God there present that I might not be so much as touched with the least feare of death but that I might securely reioyce through the incorruptibility of immortall glory that being conioyned to him who knoweth all things I might loose all blindnes of ignorance that I might esteem meanely of all earthly thinges that I might no longer vouchsafe to behold or euen so much as to remember this valley of teares the life whereof is laborious and corruptible a life which is full of all bitternes a life which is the mistresse of sinne and the slaue of Hell The humours of our body doe puffe it vp paynes put it downe intemperate heats dry it the ill affections of the ayre indispose it meate makes it fat fasting makes it shrinke loose myrth dissolueth it afflictions consume it solicitude straitens it security makes it sottish riches make it vane pouerty makes it base youth extolleth it age makes it stoope sicknes breaks it sorrow deiects it the Diuell lyes in wayte for it the world flatters it the flesh is delighted the soule is blinded and the whole man is disioynted And to all these so many and great mischiefes death doth furioussy succeed doth so impose an end vpon these vayne ioyes that when once they leaue to be it is scarce so much as beleeued that they euer were CHAP. IX How God doth comfort an afflicted soule after too great lamentations BVT what prayse what thakes shal we be able to giue thee O our God who euen in the midst of these great miseries of our mortality dost not faile to comfort vs with the admirable visitation of thy Grace For Behold when I am full of many sorrowes whilst I am fearing the end of my life whilst I am considering my sinns whilst I am meditating vpon death whilst I am frighted with thinking on thy iudgement whilst I tremble at the torments of hell whilst I am ignorant with what scales my works are to be wayghed by thee whilst I cannot knowe by what kind of end shal be able to shut them vp whilst I am ruminating vpon these many other things in my hart thou O my Lord and my God according to thy wonted pitty art present with a resolution to comfort me wretched creature And when I am in the midst of these complaints and excessiue lamentations and in the profoundest sighings of my hart thou takest vp this afflicted and perplexed minde aboue those high topps of the mountaines euen to those odoriferous spicy beds of thine and thou dost place me in that deepe pasture neere those brookes of sweet waters where thou preparest in my sight a table full of choice curious meats which may refresh my wearied spirit and may giue ioy to my afflicted hart And so at last being all restored by those delights and forgetting mine owne many miseries and being exalted aboue the highest partes of the earth and earthly thinges I repose in thee who art true peace CHAP. X. Of the sweetnes of diuine loue O My God I loue thee I loue thee and faine would I loue thee yet more and more Grant to me O Lord my God O thou beautifull beyond the sonnes of men that I may desire thee and that I may loue thee as much as I list and as much as I ought Thou art immense and without measure thou oughtest to be beloued especially by vs whom thou so hast loued and so hast saued and for whom thou hast done so many and so mighty things O loue which euer burnest and art neuer quenched sweet Christ deere Iesus O charity my God kindle me with all that fire of thine with thy loue with thy lyking with thy sweetnes with thy desire with thy Charity with thy ioy and exultation with thy piety and suauity with thy pleasure with that ardent desire of thee which is holy and good chast cleane That so being all full with the sweetnes of thy loue and all perfumde sweetened by the flame of thy Charity I may loue thee my most sweet and most beautifull Lord with my whole hart with my whole soule with my whole strength with all the application of my mind with much contrition euen with a very fountaine of teares with much reuerence and trembling loue carrying thee in my hart and in my mouth before mine eyes at all tymes in all places that so there may neuer be found any roome in me for any disloyall and impure loue CHAP. XI Of the preparation of our Redemption O Most beautifull Christ Iesus I beseech thee by that most sacred effusion of thy most pretious bloud whereby we are redeemed graunt me contrition of hart and a very fountaine of teares especially whilest I am offering vp both my vocall and mentall prayers to thee Whilest I am singing the Office of thy prayse to thee whilest I do either declare with my mouth or consider in my mind the mystery of our redemption that expresse testimony of thy mercy Whilest I though vnworthy am assisting at thy sacred Altar intending to offer vp to thee that admirable celestiall sacrifice which is so worthy of