ouer and he that gathered little had no lack Misericordia est miserorum chorda sayth Vrbanus Mercy is the line or cord by which wretched soules are haled vp with Ieremy out of the dungeon of iniquity and misery this is the three-fold cord of Gods mercy in Iesus Christ which cannot easily nay which neuer can be broken for whom the Lord loues once hee loues to the end the gates of hell shall neuer preuaile against them the deare Elect of God shall stand fast for euer like the Mount Sion which cannot bee remooued O Peter Peter Satan hath desired to fan and sift and winnow thee but I haue prayed that thy faith faile not And there were sealed vnto the Lambe an hundred and foure and forty thousand of all the Tribes of the children of Israel and a great number besides which no man could number of all nations and kinreds and people and languages stood before the Throne and before the Lambe clothed with long white robes and palmes in their hands And these are they that came out of great tribulation and haue washed their soules to be Anathema's as being forsaken of their God no God of mercies now to them nor Father of consolations the Lord standing as Dauid expostulates with God a farre off no gleame of comfort no beameling of blisse but all dismall and shady night vpon the surface of the soule yet at the length as plants that seemed withered and dead in that dull and downe-looke of winter as that Father termes it haue new life infused into them by the blessed rayes of the Sunne when the quickning spring doth once put in so the deare Elect they haue their blessed spring and sun-shine of grace to reuiue as it were their drooping languishing soules to make them flourish and blossome and bud in faith againe And that poore remainder that small sparke of faith couered in cold embers interred as it were in the Sepulcher of their hearts shall once bee raked vp againe and kindled and grow to a big flame the blessed Spirit of God that breatheth where it lusteth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with heauenly bellowes blowing it vp againe and so it prooues the sacred fire of Gods Altar that neuer goes out For needes must Gods eternall determination in whom there is no shadow of change stand sure and immutable of sauing his Elect. Faith in the chosen Sons of God may haue a pang a spasme and convulsion a qualme a swound but it shall not dye It may bee remota but not amota percussa not excussa it may haue remissionem not amissionem it may haue a slip a fall but no falling on into Maries heart from embracing the holy seruice of this Rabboni from turning vnto him with teares of true contrition In one of the premises the Maior of his counterfet Syllogisme he puts in all her sinnes in the other which is no Minor he layes before her her long dwelling in the tents of Kedar her continuance in sinning and withall the rigour of the Law the iudgements of her God and so windes vp a weake conclusion otherwise then that in S. Paul Rom. 11. for that is a conclusion of mercy Conclusit Deus omnes in incredulitate vt omnium misereatur He hath shut vp all in vnbeleefe that he might haue mercy on all For this tels her so all the discomforted not discomfited children of God that now there is no balme in Gilead that the good Samaritane is passed by That the Prophets spotted Leopard and vgly Black-more can neuer bee rinsed white That her name was Legion and that El-gibbor or Gabriel himselfe the God of strength and power was vnable to dispossesse Zabûlus that subtill Serpent who was more subtill then all the beasts of the field That they that rise not early can gather not so much as one gomer full of manna That the vnwise Virgins come too late to knocke at mercies gate That her sinne with Cains was greater then God could forgiue That the childrens bread is not to be throwne to dogs who are not worthy of the crums of mercy that fall from the table of the Lord That Nouatus was no Heretike for denying all vertue of repentance vnto them that sinned after baptisme who if they once fell could neuer rise againe That Hels Nabuchadonosors fiery furnace is the guerdon and wages of sinne whose feruent flame made by naptha and pitch and tow and faggots doth licke vp and deuoure all rebellious transgressours Thus formes he from hence a sophisticall inference a cunning conclusion derogatory to true Diuinity that notorious sinners are neuer to expect for mercy But as S. Ambrose seeing S. Augustine to bee too nimble a Disputant and too much skild in sophistry caused this to bee sung in the Letanies A logica Augustini libera nos Domine So let vs all pray From this Logicke of that grand Sophister Satan Good Lord deliuer vs. See I beseech you how with this Logicke this great Enginer of arguments accosts and sets vpon the soule of deuout S. Bernard when the agony and pangs of death were on him a little before his soule and body these two frends of long acquaintance did take their last leaue one of another yet not last if wee haue an eye to the resurrection at the latter day Thus the Diuell the great Iempter appearing to him did accuse him saying Hee had no title nor interest hee could make no plea nor challenge to the Kingdome of eternall blisse This holy Father being nothing appalled or cast downe with Lucifer who was indeede himselfe cast downe like lightning made this present reply I confesse with that faithfull Centurion that I am not worthy to enter vnder the heauenly roofe of my deare Lord except the Word do say the word nor can I challenge it by any merit I build no such Babel which will come tumbling downe vpon my owne head but Iesus my Sauiour whose diuine power the true Vbiquitary is now present with and assistant vnto me hath taken possession of Heauen by a double right Iure hereditatis and Iure redemptionis by right of inheritance and by right of redemption by the first hee hath got possession for himselfe as the eternall Sonne of that eternall Father and by the other in regard of his death passion of his redemption he hath purchased and obtained Heauen for mee and for euery penitent Beleeuer At which words Satan departed And thus thankes bee to the Lord S. Bernards soule as no question Mary Magdalens escaped as a bird out of the snare of the Fowler the snare is broken and it was deliuered And thus hee peaceably resigne◠his soule into the hands of him that created it like Babilas the Martyr he vttering these his last words the vp-shot of his life them words of that Negnim zemiroth the sweet Singer of Israel Now ô my Soule returne vnto thy rest for
this our loyall duty cancell all our debts create in vs cleane hearts support and vnder-shore vs with thy diuine and gracious hand from future further lapsing binde vs vp all in the bundle of The booke must bee beholden to the courtesie of the Reader there be so many mis-prints or misprisions for words accents poynting As Page 10. line 15. orizon for oraison pag. 13 lin 21.22 That was I and yet is pag. 20. lin 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 21. Rabbi Dauid in the margin ouer against Thammyz p. 24. l. 22 watcheth p. 25. in marg vicant for Cant. 6. p. 22. l. 13. beards ibid. l. 19. of whom our help standeth p. 41. l. 10. dreads p. 42. l. 2. pamphlet p. 43. l. 11. Lady as some write Prostibulum p. 46. l. 6 7. read shee thinking this that to despaire of mercy was p. 48. l. vlt. in peeces Like a c. p. 59. l. 1. Quot membra p. 96. marg Lachman dimhar hablan iomanah Syr. p. 106. l. 17. now for thou p. 111. l. vlt. to liue with thee p. 121. marg 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 132. l. 10 11. a Non-Hierarchy It brings not in a Gauel-kinde c. p. 138. l. 6. adde c. p. 139. marg Ezech. 10.13 p. 141. l. 18. venashuua p. 149. l. 19. Cheirograph p. 150. l. 14. read for that ibid. l. 16. read wee shall bathe and drench our selues RABBONI IOHN XX. XVI LOE heere is the little Clowd that arose out of the sea no bigger then a mans hand out of which did fall a great raine Loe here is the little Well that grew into a great riuer flowed ouer with great waters Loe heere the Iliades of Homer in the shale of a nut a very curt and a concise speech the stile and word of Mary Magdalen vttered to him who is the Word at or betweene God and man the Man Christ Iesus So Gen. 32. vaieauech â—sh gnimmo And there wrastled with Iacob a man vnto the breaking of the day So Exod. 15. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A man of warre A man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for excellency the second person in Trinity Angelus Domini and Dominus Angelorum The Angell of the Lord nay the Lord of Angels for so in two neighbouring verses is Christ termed The Angell of the Lord and the Lord Acts 7. Vriel the God of light Gabriel the God of strength Raphael the curing God and Michael who is like our God one man of whom as it was sayd of Heraclitus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 One man to mee as three thousand they that are numberlesse as no man to mee Vnus homo nobis moriendo restituit rem This man has restored saluation to vs by so louingly and mercifully dying for vs that we for euer might liue and raigne with him and this is this Rabboni Secondly one woman a woman O mulier non mulier twice that Father cries out as admiring her great worth O woman no woman Non mulier ô Dea certè more fit to make a Goddesse in Heauen if Heauen admitted any such then a woman on earth Mary Magdalen a noble woman one of the bloud-royall of the Tribe of Iudah sister to Lazarus and Martha which three diuided the Inheritance from their father Syrus Magdalum castrum the Castle Magdalen fell to her share which castle was neere vnto Naym from which shee had her name To Martha fell Bethanie not far from Hierusalem where Lazarus was raised out of his graue by Iesus where Christ out of the Mount Oliuet ascended vp to Heauen to Lazarus their brother fell many possessions at Hierusalem a woman of nobility nay of diuinity a heauenly Saint a Conuert she cries Rabboni Thirdly vnum opus one action one singular affection in them both the vnprizeable loue of the one to the other To let that passe many sinnes bee forgiuen her there was Christs loue to her for she loued much there was her loue to Christ But this to the poynt Christ Iesus his loue appeared to her in this In first appearing to her after his resurrection To Mary alone not to the Disciples but to Mary first To a woman as a woman was Nuncia mortis in Paradiso The messenger of mortality of death in Paradise So this woman Mary was the messenger of life new begun by Christ his resurrection And to this woman as being most memorious and mindefull of all the mercies and benefits wherewith Iesus her deare Sauiour had enriched her soule Maries loue to Christ in running to and fro to the Sepulcher and from the Sepulcher to tell the Disciples and euen to preach like that blessed Cohêleth a shee-Preacher the resurrection of this Rabboni in so soone returning staying standing at the Tombe in weeping and wailing and howling for his losse in vigilantly looking and searching her lost Lord neuer linning vntill shee had found him whom her soule loued His loue to her in calling her Mary her loue to him in calling him Rabboni 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wee may terme them Nobile par a paire of sweet Turtle Doues true Louers indeede Louers in life and Louers in death their Loues as strong as death This two-fold cord cannot easily nay can neuer be broken Two Louers that onely in number yeeld to the three graces In whom there is a rich Exchequer of all heauenly graces In one of them especially of whose fulnesse we all haue receiued grace for grace Maries enamoured soule was Vbi amauit non vbi animauit Where it liked not where it lodged not in her owne but in Iesus his blessed bosome who loued her so incomparably she loues him with a most vnfained vntainted and chaste affection but heere is the difference of both their loues In Maries to Christ it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 due debt for her to loue him In Iesus his loue to her it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Grace and fauour and mercy a free gift in him Hee loued her and so he loues vs first 1 Ioh. 4. And here is that pugillus farinae in hydria The widdowes handfull of meale in the barrell which the Lord God our heauenly Eliah or El-iah increase to the feeding of all our soules vntill as in that Text the raine doe fall that is some others sweeter and selecter doctrine doe drop on you as the deaw as the showre vpon the herb sing of Christ and sing of Mary sing of Mary and sing of Christ Christ sayes to her Mary shee answers him Rabboni First of Mary who heere cryes Rabboni The winged Quiristers of Heauen the Birds vnto whom God has granted the large patent of the whole aire as his glorious Chappell to sing their sweet notes anthymnes their shrill praises vnto God Almighty in In winter time in drizling clowdy weather and when the day is shut in they silly soules as all
It behooues Mary to stand to her teares I as Vespasian sayd at his death of an Emperour to dye standing Stetit shee stood shee had no prop no pallet no ease for her greefe no bed of downe to cast her sorrow asleepe on as Dauid had his couch Euery night wash I my bed and water my couch with my teares Stetit she stood A positure of the body ready still for to remooue as if she would neuer lin seeking vntill shee had found him whom her soule loued and so much desired Mary comes first earely while yet it was darke like a Manna-gatherer very earely to finde him happily out whom her soule I say affected and embraced so much In that time shee came vnto the Sepulcher Iohn 20.1 when she by course of nature should haue beene in bed and fast asleep But her eyes are like the morning watch that watch for the morning shee takes away from Nature to giue to Grace Peraduenture in the whole circuit of that night shee gaue no sleep vnto her eyes nor any slumber to her eye lids in musing of him who is the Keeper of Israel that neither slumbreth nor sleepeth but watcheth ouer hers and all our soules Thus with the Spouse in the Canticles shee may well say In my bed I sought him whom my soule loued I sought him but I found him not and so shee rises earely and sought him but found him not The watch-men can tell her no tydings of him she askt the two Angels in linnen the one sitting at the head the other at the feet where the body of Iesus had layen Those Nightingales that were making of their nests and singing at the Sepulcher of Orpheus that heauenly Orpheus our Sauiour Iesus The Angels she sought not but all our hearts O fountaine o◠these gardens ô well of liuing waters ô the springs of Lebanon water and moysten ô Lord with thy speciall grace these gifts and heauenly vertues of thine owne plantation Thus let my beloued come to his garden and taste of his pleasant apples his delicacies his sweetnesses So peri mega◠thau signifies This word in the plurall number denotes out vnto vs both the multiplicity and excellency of Gods graces wherewith from his heauenly Exchequer hee in mercy and bounty doth inrich vs. Well Mary enquires of Iesus himself whether he knew where Iesus was and shee cals him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lord which S. Hierom seemes to tax in way of dispute for that she cals the Gardiner Lord Iesus but Rabboni Master But heere Beloued in our Lord was her feruent and longing desire much more exprest in giuing such a title to the Gardiner as whereby to woe and to win him to tell her the sooner as being impatient to brooke the least delay or else as S. Augugustine Prophêtat nescit quando dicit Domine This was in a prophetike straine by a heauenly Enthousiasme calling him Lord who was Lord indeed who hath vpon his garment and on his thigh a name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords But sure it is no more then thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cyr or Sir write it as you list as if on this manner O my deere and gentle Sir good Gardiner Thou seemest to bee the Keeper of this garden where the loue of my soule was laid where he was interred Petra in petra nouus in Nor was she like to timorous Nicodemus that came to see our Sauiour by night no beameling of heauenly boldnes illustrating his too too darkned soule Nor was she like to Ioseph of Arimathia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Counsellour who secretly for feare of the Iewes begged of Pilate the body of Iesus but she like an heroyke spirit steeled and maled with a manly resolution she feares not death it selfe maugre the breards of all them that may stand in opposition in despite of al affronts Ego illum tollam I will take him away and will neuer basely beg any other helpe but his alone of whom our help standeth in the name of the Lord who hath made both heauen and earth Ego illum tollam Loe here a resolute new S. Christopher Quam non mille modi mortis c As Lucan of Scaeua that valiant Souldier of Caesar so wee may say of her She feared not a thousand sorts of death to lose her dearest life for him in whom she liu'd and moou'd and had her cheefest being And thus Mary speakes and mournes and pines within her selfe and weepes No man but would rather haue imagined Mary her selfe had been the Gardiner who with the full bottles of her heart the water pots of her head her eyes did all to be-water that garden O heauenly showres such sweet riuers make glad the City of God Thus while shee with a languid dead and longing eye a heart full heauy big with greefe was sighing and sobbing and blubbring and crying O stay me with flagons and comfort me with apples for I am sicke of loue Quia te Domine Iesu prae caeteris dilexit Maria ideo meruit c. Because Mary loued thee ô Lord aboue all therefore shee obtained to bee both seene of thee first to bee called of thee so louingly Mary and to call thee so loyally Rabboni Iesus our gracious Lord speakes to Mary in a passionate straine of affection no obiurgation and chiding as some doe write But as S. Chrysostome saith out of a singular and deepe affection and compassion he vtters out this one word Mary The onely Electuary and Cordiall the Ros Solis to recouer her drowping and dying soule Mary Vnto whom shee turning with an open and a nimble eare for the touch of such a heauenly string with a liuely alacrity and cheerefulnesse of spirit hauing thus heard his sweet and gracious voyce in terming her Mary she out of a singular dutifull strict obligation of her loue to him ecchoes backe this one and sole reciprocall word of her lowly loue and most humble respect vnto him Rabboni Non nouit ex vultu fides ex auditu She knew him not at first by his outward lineaments faith comes by hearing Shee heard him and then beleeued in him Thy rough garment shewes thee to be the Gardiner but thy voyce is Iacobs voyce I Iacob indeed the true supplanter the true wrastler supplanting the old Adam thy elder brother for thou hast got the birth-right and the blessing for thou art the First-begotten Alpha Omega the Beginning and the Ending and God blessed for euermore Thou art Iacob the true Huntsman who hast brought the true venison the pleasant and sauoury meat the saluation of thy beloued brethren vnto thine euerlasting Father that celestiall Isaac for God would in no wise the death of a sinner For this ô thou heauenly Iacob thou didst put on our sinnes these were thy rough skins ô Lord wherewith thou wast arrayed
But in meere mercy thou hast got the blessing not for thy selfe with old Iacob but for me ô Lord and so for all who claime an interest in thy prizelesse drops of bloud the true Purgatory that purges our consciences from dead workes to serue the liuing God I therefore and let vs all therefore with the golden Censors of the Sanctuary in our hands and in our hearts burne deuotion as incense vnto thee and with the 24 Elders wee fall downe before him that sits on the Throne and worship him who liues for euermore and wee will cast our crownes before the Throne saying Thou art worthy ô Lord to receiue glory and honor and power for thou hast created all things and for thy wils sake they are and haue been created but more and much more for thy deare loues sake thou hast redeemed vs by that thy dearest bloud-shed powred out for our saluation What doe I heare the sweet voyce of my heauenly Iacob calling me Mary out of his mercy ô then let mee returne backe the drops of my deerest loue and dutifulnesse and acknowledge we may in this respect of Maries Few or none at all such Maries nay hardly euer such a Mary saue Mary Theotôcos the mother of our Lord. Mary Magdalen much louing and much beloued of Christ stiles him Rabboni O well-deseruing duty vnto an all-meriting loue garded with Gods especiall grace vshered on by faith attended with singular affection deuotion admiration she is as out of her selfe her selfe being wholly in Christ her more then second selfe for shee estimates and prizes him far aboue her selfe shee beleeues it is her Lord and Master and Sauiour yet stands she agashed and amazed first at this so sudden happy end inexpected sight O heauenly change a blessed Conuert a true Penitentiary Thus Beloued thus shee was not she that is now Christ Iesus his Follower his Retainer was erewhile Satans seruitour the daughter of darknesse very loth to haue beene seene in committing the deedes of darknesse but now with Henoch shee walkes with God as in the presence of God with S. Basils Virgin shee dreaded the sight of holy Angels and the soules of Saints departed who if they see might mourne at her vnchaste and lewd misdemeanor she with Drusus now desires her house may be so built of the Architectours if there be any skill in them as that euery one passing by might see what was done within Shee paints not out with the men of Crête Iupiter without eyes For hee that made the eye shall not he see shee knowes of it shee thinkes on it that it cannot bee and hard to bee sit who will often cast Reason I and Grace too the Riders did carry her away a ho-gallop euen to the brinke of death the suburbs of Hell O blessed and euermore blessed be God in that like Marcus Curtius shee was not hurried head-long into the gulfe the bottomelesse pit Tsalmâueth Beershacatb the shadow of death the fountaine of destruction where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth Beloued in our Lord they runne farre that neuer turne God hath his owne times and houres and moments for the conuersion of a sinner though his soule bee litted in a crimson die of sinne the bloud of Iesus shall lauer and rinse it as white as that snow in Salmon if wee returne to him by weeping Crosse and bathe our selues in Bethesda the teares of true repentance the sacred poole that God delights to see a sinner swim in Mary Magdalen while she was plunged in the midst of mare mortuum the dead sea of her misdeedes acknowledged not this blessed Rabboni But after her heauenly retired thoughts her deepe and serious consideration of that Legion wherwith she had been possessed the talent of lead wherewith her soule was burthened her infinite sins she had committed her good and gracious God she had displeased the terrors of eternall death she had deserued and with all his remarkable mercies who is multus ad misericordiam of much mercy and very ready to forgiue as the Prophet termes him And as Fulgentius well sayth In hoc multo nihil deest in quo est omnipotens misericordia misericors omnipotentia In this much is nothing wanting wherin is both omnipotent mercy and mercifull omnipotency shee thinking to despaire of mercy was most impious and sacrilegious and derogatory to the sufferings of her sweet Sauiour shee then was big-bellyed with sorrow for her sinne and brought forth like an Hebrew woman without Midwife such a faire off-spring such an issue as is acceptable to the Lord of Hosts euen her relenting teares the sweetest Wine and Hypocras of Angels the sad and drery drops that peirce the Following Rocke CHRIST IESVS which make him supple and milde and gentle and mooue him vnto mercy And thus as Dionysius Egesippus record she betook her self solitary sequestred from all the world and the pleasures therof vnto the mountaine Balma full thirty yeeres to meditation fasting and prayer for which as also for sitting at Iesus his feet and hearing him preach she might be truly said of Christ to haue chosen the good or better part And as Iosephus reports after Christs ascension from the Mount of Oliues into Heauen she neuer could endure any company See now how this new Conuert puts on now a new liuery she that before stood in defiance of Iesus and scorned to haue the title and name of any of his meane despised Followers now happily challenges him to bee her Master and Lord and cals him by the name of Rabboni lo heere is the sauing power of him who is mighty to saue O doe but ponder the difficulty of her and our turning after so much sinning it will make vs much more admire and stand in a deepe amazement at the exuberant loue and mercy of our Lord and Sauiour Iesus In the prime act at our first entrance into conuersion when we begin to forsake Satan and neuer till then ô Lord to feele the plunges and pangs and convulsions and apoplexies and swounds that the soule hath with Satan now is the time for Satan the most of all to bestirre himselfe to labor tooth and naile to continue his long challenged interest in a sinner now hee fomes and rores and rages and rends and teares as much as is permitted him from God a poore sinner in peeces like a sauage fierce and hungry Lyon so long as his prey the silly Lambe is vnder his paw so long will hee play with it and licke it with his tongue dandle it ouer with an easie gentle tallon but if it once seeke to struggle and to make an euasion and escape out of his clawes timorously to crawle away then begins hee to yell and rore and with his cruell clutches and mercilesse teeth to seaze vpon it and so to deuoure it So long as Iacob stayed in Labans house he was at quiet but when he
the Lord hath blessed thee hee hath deliuered thy soule from death thine eyes from teares and thy feet from falling henceforth shall I walke with the Lord in the land of the liuing Thus ô Lord thy mercy reacheth vnto the Heauens and thy truth vnto the clowds wherefore we will praise thy name yea our soules shall bee satisfied with marrow and fatnesse when our mouths praise thee with ioyfull lips These are the golden Cymbals that so much delight thy skilfull eares ô Lord Almighty O let vs all returne with Mary Magdalen with penitential tears vnto this blessed Rabboni who cries to vs for to returne Shuui shuui hashullammith shuui shuui Returne returne ô Shulamite returne returne Foure times Returne for God the Fathers sake returne for God the Sonnes sake returne for God the Holy Ghost his sake returne for the whole and holy Trinities sake returne And if so bee wee turne vnto the Lord hee will accept of our penitency for he bottles vp all our teares and hee will receiue vs into mercy the mercies of our God shall embrace vs on euery side Maryes penitency and so the repentance of vs all is the Asylum the Sanctuary of euery sinnefull soule the Birth-day of our regeneration the Super-sedeas of all our spirituall debts the heauenly Iordan to bathe and wash the leprosie of our soules and bodyes it is the red sea wherin the hoast of our spirituall Pharaoh and himselfe are drowned it is the swelling waters of the deluge that carries the Arke of the soule aloft and keepes it from drowning in perdition it is the casting out of the old leauen of maliciousnesse and the eating of the sweet bread of sincerity and holinesse it is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an house of physicke for euery sicke soule the Hospitall or Inne of the good Samaritane the Physician of our soules where the wine and oyle of consolation is it is the source and spring the draw-well of Gods fathomlesse and infinite mercies one drop of which one mite one crumme is sufficient to wash away our crimson sinnes to feede our starued discontented soules withall O Lord thou Celestiall Almoner giue vs of the broken meat of thy mercies which thou hast layd vp in more then twelue baskets full for them that turne to thee turne vs ô good Lord with Mary Magdalen so shall we be turned vnto thee ô Rabboni for wee perswade our soules that if our sinnes were more in number by millions then those of Mary Magdalens yet thou in mercy wouldest race them all out of thy booke of Items And for this I beseech you read that heauenly comfortable booke of Fulgentius fore-mentioned to Venantia of penitence and retribution wherin hee hath bundled vp the places of the Scripture pregnant for this purpose saying Non est perfecta bonitas à qua non omnis malitia vincitur nec est perfecta medicina cui morbus aliquis incurabilis inuenitur There is no absolute goodnesse that ouercomes not all maliciousnesse nor perfect drug or true skill in physicke that leaues any malady vncured And hee shewes moreouer that if Iudas as hee legally repented had trusted in Gods mercy he surely had been saued The Lord hath his owne peculiar times and places of gathering together that which was scattered of bringing home the lost sheep vpon his owne shoulders to the heauenly fold of running to meet of falling on the neck and kissing the riotous Prodigall Hee hath a Tolle lege vnder the tree Take vp and read the 13. to the Romanes the three last verses For S. Augustine Not in surfetting and drunkennesse c. He hath a shining light from Heauen both to darken and illumine Pauls or Sauls eyes as hee trauelled to Damascus breathing out threatnings and slaughter against the Disciples of the Lord was their not a heauenly trap layd by this Rabboni our Lord and Sauiour Iesus to catch this Courtier in to make a Courtier a true Conuert A thing some will say something rare Yet surely there be many Courtiers very holy religious and deuout and God encrease the number of them But sure a chaine is sooner and fairer made of purest gold then of impurer mettall mixt with earth Christ Iesus with his heauenly gospelling his powerfull preaching caught this notorious sinner Mary Magdalen Penalty alwayes followes not immediately nor fals vpon the necke of impiety Thus many by the vnspeakable mercies of him that wholly is composed of mercy who in their April and prime of youth haue greeuously sinned in their yeeres of more maturity were happily reclaimed of Apostata's became Apostles of Sauls persecuting were made Pauls diuinely preaching of Succisores were made Successores to vse Bullingers words of Cutters and Swash-bucklers and prophane persons were made Captaines ouer the Host of Israel Successours of that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the cheefe Shepheard RABBONNI 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c Who hath measured the waters in his fist and counted Heauen with his span and comprehended the dust of the earth in mea sure waighed the mountaines in a waight and the little hils in a ballance Esay 40. O sweet Iesu my braine is a broken cisterne to contain thee the water of life the euer-flowing springs of Lebanon my carnall reason but like a blinde Bartimae my tongue like dumbe Zacharies locked vp in my mouth when I should runne descant on thee ô Rabboni O let my tongue be the pen of a ready writer to treat of thy wisdome thy mercy thy greatnesse thy goodnesse my pen that like a cursed Israelite ranging like a poore pilgrim in a wildernesse of secular obiects often nay too often lothing that Celestiall Manna surfetting on pleasancies calling rather for the cucummers the onions the garlicke the flesh-pots of Aegypt wherein is naught but Mors in olla Death in the pot ô thou man of God I say my pen is too vnfit a pensill to limbe forth thy praise to describe thy glory excellency and perfection O neither is it safe for pollution to enter into the holy Tabernacle without washing at the golden lauer no more then a weake blemisht sore eye may gaze vpon the Sun-beames O therfore purge me ô Lord with hysope that my hand my heart my tongue may appeare before thy glorious presence as white as snow in Salmon that so thou graciously mayest accept of this my meaner sacrifice in my thought and speech of thee O Lord Rabboni wishing my very heart and soule were made an Holocaust burnt in feruent deuotion vnto thy most sacred seruice Rabboni O my deare Lord and Master En amo te si hoc parum est amem validius Loe I loue thee and if this my loue be too little ô giue mee power to loue thee more Dothi li vaani lo. And Ani ledothi vedothi li harogneh bashoshannim I am my Well-beloueds and my Well-beloued is mine who feedeth among the lillies
of thy wedding garment thou blessed Bridegroome Thou Son of righteousnesse touch my charmed eares with the finger of thine omnipotent mercy and cry but Ephthata bee thou opened and I shall euer acknowledge that it was Digitus Dei the hallowed finger of my God that opened the doore of entrance into my soule and so shall I heare of ioy and gladnesse that the bones that thou hast broken may reioyce and so shall I bee sure to heare the sweet concent the heauenly harmony the new song of those blessed Saints these shrill-voyc'd Quiristers in that Triumphant Church in the new Ierusalem the Mother of vs all O call me ô Lord as thou didst the Shulamite Returne returne ô Shulamite returne returne O rouze me out of my slumber my dead sleepe of sin euen by my name so shall I call thee ô Lord with Mary by thy sweet name Rabboni my Lord my Master my onely Lord and Sauiour Rabboni O Rabboni ô Lord God of Hoasts who is like vnto thee Thou rulest the raging of the sea and stillest the waues therof when they arise the Heauens are thine and the earth is thine thou hast layd the foundation of the round world and all that is therin Thou hast created the North and the South Tabor and Hermon shall reioyce in thy name ô Rabboni Thou that hast filled the basket of my soule not with the broken meat of thine incomparable mercies onely I being not worthy to gather vp the crums vnder thy bounteous table but with thy better Manna the hidden Manna euen thy sacred selfe the bread of life And this Manna haue I hid in the golden pitcher in the middest of the Arke of my true and faithfull heart by celestiall meditation and deeper contemplation which neuer shall be transported or depart from thee ô Lord vnto Ashdod of the Philistims except it bee to cause Dagon that Idolatrous God to fall downe vpon his face to breake off his head and the palmes of his hands There will I coffin vp intomb and inshrine my Lord Rabboni Thou that gauest mee what thou didst not owe to mee and forgauest what I did owe to thee O great is thy obligation ô my soule wherin thou standest bound for this vnto this thy Rabboni thy Redeemer Shall I say Vbicunque sum mea sum where euer I am I am mine owne no no where euer I am thine ô sweet Iesu I am Tota sum tua I am wholly thine and will bee euerlastingly As Ruth vnto Naomi so I to thee Intreat me not ô Lord to leaue thee where thou goest I will goe where thou dwellest I will dwel where thou dyest I will dye and there will I be buried the Lord doe so to mee and more also if ought but death nay if death it selfe part thee and mee I haue begun well to serue my Lord and Master Rabboni so will I perseuere vnto the end I neuer will end ill that holy and deuout Father bids me flye this vt daemonium meridianum How haue I poore wretched silly soule wept and lamented for thy losse Now will I weepe no more yes but I will weepe for ioy The ore-flowing Sea of thy gracious fauour did first so inrich and fill the cisterne of my heart and so followed with his pressing and pursuing waight that it hath caused the water to ascend vp to my head the spring-head from whence as out of Paradise foure channels and streames of teares are happily deriued three streames of sad sorrow and but one of ioy and that one running with a brimmer eddie then all the other three The first for thy passion the second for my sin the pully of thy passion the third for thy absence being dead and buried and for thy remooue out of the Sepulcher I deeming thy sacred body to haue beene vnworthily pilfered away the fourth no streame of sorrow but a shedding of teares for exceeding ioy for enioying once againe thy blessed presence and hauing by thee my reconciliation assured me and being of thee so louingly called by my name No word of taxation to my soule as some may dreame descant though to thy immense glory I cannot deny but I much deserue it for the Chenograph the hand-writing of sins that was Item'd against me but a word of assured singular consolation Out of which this blessed balsame may be extracted That if Mary were so much delighted and euen transported with seeing her Sauiour heere and hearing him speake but one sole word to her in calling her Mary Then sure in Heauen both shee and we shall ten thousand times more reioyce there to enioy his presence in whose presence is all fulnesse of ioy and there to heare him speake in the language of Canaan much sweeter words of endlesse comfort to our soules that there by meanes of him the riuer of the water of eternall life shall bathe and drench themselues in streames of blisse But list I pray you still to Mary O deare Lord the loue of my soule what an invaluable losse is it to lose thee here O then what a lamentable losse haue they that lose thine euerlasting presence ô thou heauenly Beniamin thou Son of the right hand sitting in glory at the right hand of thy Father I cannot bee sated nor filled sufficiently with the presence of my Lord Rabboni nor with thinking and meditating on thee A heauenly dropsie hath possest my soule the more I taste the more I thirst after thee the Fountaine of the Gardens the Well of liuing waters and the Springs of Lebanon I know what wisdome sayes Ecclus. 24. they that eat me shall haue more hunger and they that drinke of me shall thirst the more O let me cling to thee euerlastingly my Rabboni my Master my Lord my God the best and sweetest meeter for Deus is Meus my God my Lord my Master In whom Ego credo I beleeue for personall and particular faith must saue O my dearely Beloued in him that loued vs most our Lord and Sauiour Iesus Be no more I beseech you seruants to Sinne and Satan I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims to abstain from fleshly lusts which fight against the soule especially in them that are in the bud and prime of their age who auricularly and iustly may reueale and bewray vnto the Great Confessor of Heauen and earth with S. Augustine in his youth that they doe syluescere varijs vmbro sis amoribus that they lurke with Adam and are tapisht in the shady Thicket of diuerse darling and minion sins For which they had neede to cry with Dauid O remember not the sins and offences of my youth but according to thy mercy thinke thou vpon mee ô Lord for thy goodnesse O bee yee renewed in your spirit put yee on the new man who after God is created in righteousnesse and true holinesse If you haue beene Retainers to Apollyon the Generall of Gebenhinnom of Hell it selfe if you haue