the vsuall vaine should haue beene no eye-sore to those that are better pleased with worse matters Yet sith the copies therof flew so fast and so false abroad that it was in danger to come corrupted to the print it seemed a lesse euill to let it flie to common viewe in the natiue plume and with the owne wings then disguised in a voate of a bastard feather or cast off from the fist of such a corrector as might happily haue perished the sound and impedâ—n some sicke and sory fethers of his owne phansies It may be that courteous skill will recken this though eourse in respect of others exquisite labors not vnfit to entertaine well tempered humours both with pleasure and profit the ground therof being in scripture and the forme of enlarging it an imitation of the ancient doctours in the same and other pointes of like tenour This commodity at the least it will carie with it that the reader may learne to loue without improofe of puritie teach his thoughts eyther to temper passion in the meane or to giue the bridle onely where the excesse cannot be faultic Let the work defend it self and euerie one passe his censure as he seeth cause Manie Carpes are expected when curious eyes come a fishing But the care is alreadie taken and the patience waiteth at the table readie to take away when that dish is serued in and to make roume for others to set on the desired fruit S. VV. MARY MAGDALENS Funerall Teares EMONGST other mourneful accidents of the passion of Christ that loue presenteth it selfe to my memory with which the blessed Mary Magdelen louing our Lord more then her life followed him in his iourney to his death attending vppon him when his Disciples fledde and being more willing to die with him then they to liue without him But not finding the fauour to accompany him in death and loathing after him to remaine in life the fire of her true affection enflamed her heart and her enflamed hart resolued into vncessant teares so that burning and bathing betwéen loue and griefe shee led a life euer dying and felt a death neuer ending And when hee by whome shée liued was dead and shée for whom he died enforcedly left aliue shée praised the dead more then the liuing and hauing lost that light of her life shee desired to dwell in darkenesse and in the shadow of death choosing Christs Tombe for her best home and his corse for her chiefe comfort For Mary as the Euangelist saith Stoode without at the Tombe weeping But alas how vnfortunate is this woman to whome neyther life will afforde a desired farewell nor death alow any wished welcome Shée hath abandoned the liuing and chosen the company of the dead and now it seemeth that euen the dead haue forsaken her sith the corse shee séeketh is taken away froÌ„ her And this was the cause that loue induced her to stand and sorrow enforced her to wéepe Her eie was watchful to séek whom her heart most longed to enioy and her foote in a readinesse to runne if her eie shoulde chaunce to espy him And therefore shée standeth to be still stirring prest to watch euery way and prepared to goe whether any hope should call her But shée wept because shée had such occasion of standing and that which moued her to watch was the motiue of her teares For as shée watched to finde whom shée had lost so shée wept for hauing lost whom shée loued her poore eies being troubled at once with two contrary offices both to be clear in sight the better to séeke him and yet cloudy with tears for missing the sight of him Yet was not this the entrance but the increase of her griefe not the beginning but the renewing of her mone For first shée mourned for the departing of his soule out of his body and now shée lamented the taking of his body out of the graue being punished with two wreckes of her onely welfare both full of misery but the last without all comfort The first originall of her sorrow grew because shée could not enioy him aliue yet this sorrow had some solace for that shée hoped to haue enioyed him dead But when shée considered that his life was already lost and now not so much as his body could be found shee was wholly daunted with dismay sith this vnhappinesse admitted no helpe Shee doubted least the loue of her master the onely portion that her Fortune had left her would soon languish in her cold brest if it neither had his wordes to kindle it nor his presence to cherishe it nor so much as his dead ashes to rake it vp Shee had prepared her spices and prouided her ointments to pay him the last Tribute of eternall dueties And though Ioseph and Nichodemus had already bestowed a hundred pounds of Mirthe and Aloes which was in quantity sufficient in quality of the best and as well applied as art and deuotion could deuise yet such was her loue that shée would haue thought any quantity too little except hers had béene added the best in quality too meane except hers were with it and no diligence in applying it inough except her seruice were in it Not that shée was sharpe in censuring that which others had done but because loue made her so desirous to doe all her selfe that though all had béene done that shée could deuise and as wel as shee could wishe yet vnlesse shee were an Actor it would not suffice sith loue is as eager to bee vttered in effects as it is zealous in true affection Shee came therefore now meaning to enbalme his corps as shee had before annointed his feet and to preserue the reliques of his body as the only remnant of all her blisse And as in the spring of her felicitie shee had washed his feete with her teares be wailing vnto him the death of her own soule so nowe shee came in the depth of her misery to shedde them a freshe for the death of his body But when she saw the graue open and the body taken out the labour of embalming was preuented but the cause of her wéeping increased and he that was wanting to her obsequies was not wanting to her teares and though shée founde not whom to annoint yet found she whom to lament And not without cause did Mary complaine finding her first anguishe doubled with a second griefe and being surcharged with two most violent sorrowes in one afflicted heart For hauing setled her whole affection vppon Christ and summoned all her desires and wishes into the loue of his goodnes as nothing could equall his worthes so was ther not in the whole world either a greater benefit for her to enioy then himselfe or any greater domage possible then his losse The murdering in his one death the life of all lifes left a general death in all liuing creatures and his disease not onely disrobed our nature of her most roiall ornaments but impouerished the world of
starre can yeeld when the Sun is downe and a sorry exchange to goe gather crummes after the losse of a heuenly repast My eyes are not vsed to see by the glims of a sparke and in seking the sunne it is either needeles or booteles to borrowe the light of a candle sith eyther it must bewray it selfe with the selfe light or no other light can euer discouer it If they come to disburden me of my heauinesse their comming wil be burdensom vnto me and they wil load me more while they labour my reliefe They cannot perswade me that my Maister is not lost for my owne eyes will disproue them They can lesse tell me where he may be found for they would not be so simple to be so long from him or if they ran forbeare him surely they doe not know him whom none cā truly know and liue long without him All their demurres would be tedious and discourses irkesome Impaire my loue they might but appay it they could not to which he that first accepted the debt is the onely paiment They eyther want power will or leaue to tell me my desire or at the first word they would haue don it sith Angels are not vsed to idle spéeches and to me al talke is idle that doth not tell me of my master They know not where he is and therefore they are come to the place where he last was making the tombe their heauen and the remembrance of his presence the foode of their felicity Whatsoeuer they could tell me if they told me not of him and whatsoeuer they should tell me of him if they told me not where he were both their telling and my hearing were but a wasting of time I neither came to sée thē nor desire to heare them I came not to sée Angels but him that made both me and Angels and to whom I owe more then both to men and Angels And to thée I appeal O most louing Lord whether my afflicted heart doe not truely defray the tribute of an vndeuided loue To thée I appeale whether I haue ioyned any partner with thee in the small possession of my poore selfe And I would to God I were as priuy where thy body is as thou art who is onely Lord and owner of my soule But alas swéet Iesu where thou wert thou art not where thou art I know not wretched is the case that I am in and yet how to better it I cannot imagin Alas O my onely desire why hast thou left me wauering in these vncertainties and in how wilde a maze wander my doubtfull and perplexed thoughts If I stay here where he is not I shall neuer finde him If I would goe farther to séeke I knowe not whether To leaue the tombe is a death and to stand helpeles by it an vncurable disease so that all my comfort is now concluded in this that I am left frée to choose whether I will stay without helpe or goe without hope that is in effect with what torment I will end my life And yet euen this were too happy a choise for so vnhappy a creature If I might be chooser of my owne death O how quickely should that choise be made and how willingly would I runne to that execution I would be nailed to the same crosse with the same nailes and in the same place my heart should be wounded with his speare my head with his thornes my body with his whips Finally I would taste al his tormentes and tread all his embrued and bloudy steppes But O ambitious thoughts why gaze you vpon so high a felicity why think you of so glorious a death y t are priuy to so infamous a life death alas I deserue yea not one but infinite deaths But so swéet a death seasoned with so many comforts the very instruments whereof were able to raise the deadest corps depure the most defiled soule were too small a scourge for my great offences And therefore I am left to feele so many deaths as I liue hours and to passe as many pangues as I haue thoughts of my losse which are as many as there are minutes and as violēt as if they were all in euery one But sith I can neither die as he died nor liue where he lieth dead I will liue out my liuing death by his graue and die on my dying life by his swéete tombe Better is it after losse of his body to looke to his sepulchre then after losse of the one to leaue the other to be destroyed No no though I haue béene robbed of the Saint I wil at the least haue care of the shrine which though it be spoiled of the most soueraigne hoast yet shall it be the Altar where I will daily sacrifie my heart and offer vp my teares Here will I euer leade yea here to I meane to end my wretched life that I may at the least bee buried by the tombe of my Lord and take my iron sléepe neere this couche of stone which his presence hath made the place of swéetest repose It may be also that this empte Sindon lying héere to no vse and this tōbe being opē without any in it may giue occasion to some mercifull heart that shall first light vpon my vnburied body to wrap me in this shroud and to interre me in this tombe O too fortunate lott for so vnfortunate a woman to craue no no I doe not craue it For alas I dare not yet if such a sinfull ouersight shoulde be committed I doe now beforehand forgiue that sinner and were it no more presumption to wish it aliue then to suffer it dead if I knew the party that shuld first passe by me I woulde woe him with my teares and hire him with my praiers to blesse me with this felicity And though I dare not wish anie to do it yet this without offence I may say to all that I loue this Syndon aboue all clothes in the world and this tomb I estéeme more then any princes monument yea and I thinke that corse highly fauoured that shall succéede my Lord in it and for my part as I mean that the ground where I stand shall be my death-bed so am I not of Iacobs minde to haue my bodie buried farre from the place where it dieth but euen in the next and readiest graue and that as soone as my breath faileth sith delaies are bootlesse where death hath wonne possession But alas I dare not say any more let my bodie take such fortune as befalleth it my soule at the least shall dwel in this swéet Paradise and from this britle case of flesh and bloud passe presently into the glorious tombe of God and man It is nowe enwrapped in a masse of corruption it shall then enioy a place of high perfection where it is nowe it is more by force then by choise and like a repining prisoner in a loathed gayle But there in little roume it should finde perfect rest and in the prison of death
all highest perfections What meruaile therefore though her vehement loue to so louely a Lord being after the wrecke of his life now also depriued of his dead body feele as bitter pangues for his losse as before it tasted ioyes in his presence and opē as large an issue to teares of sorrowe as euer heretofore to tears of contentment And though teares were rather oile then water to her flame apter to nourish then diminish her grief yet being now plunged in the depth of paine shee yéelded her selfe captiue to all discomfort carrying an ouèrthrowen mind in a more enfeebled body and still busie in deuising but euer doubtfull in defining what shée might best doe For what could a seely woman doe but weepe that floating in a Sea of cares founde neither eare to heare her nor tongue to direct her nor hand to helpe her nor heart to pitty her in her desolate case True it is that Peter and Iohn came with her to the tombe and to make triall of her report were both within it but as they were speedy in comming and diligent in searching so were they as quick to depart and fearefull of farther seeking And alas what gained shee by their comming but two witnesses of her losse two dismaiers of her hope and two paterns of a new despaire Loue moued them to come but their loue was soone conquered with such a feare that it suffered them not to stay But Mary hoping in dispaire and perseuering in hope stood without feare because shée now thought nothing left that ought to be feared For shée had lost her maister to whom shée was so entirely deuoted that hee was the totall of her loues the height of her hopes and the vttermost of her feares and therefore beside him shée could neither loue other creature hope for other comfort nor feare other losse The worst shee could feare was the death of her body and that shée rather desired then feared sith shée had already lost the life of her soule without which any other life would be a death and with which any other death would haue ben a delight But now shée thought it better to die then to liue because shée might happely dying finde whome not dying shee looked not to enioy and not enioying shée had little will to liue For nowe shée loued nothing in her life but her loue to Christ if any thing did make her willing to liue it was onelye the vnwillingnesse that his Image should die with her whose likenesse loue had limmed in her heart and treasured vp in her swéetest memories And had shée not feared to break the Table and to breake open the closet to which shée had entrussed this last relique of her lost happinesse the violence of griefe would haue melted her heart into inward bleeding teares and blotted her remembraunce with a fatall obliuion And yet neuerthelesse shée is no we in so imperfect a sort aliue that it is proued true in her that Loue is as strong as Death For what could death haue done more in Mary then Loue did Her wittes were astonied and all her senses so amased that in the end finding shée did not know séeing shée could not discern hearing shée perceiued not and more then all this shée was not there where shée was for shée was wholly where her Maister was more where shée loued then where shée liued and lesse in her self then in his body which notwithstanding where it was shee could not imagine For she sought and as yet found it not and therefore stood at the Tombe weeping for it being now altogether giuen to mourning driuen to misery But O Mary by whose counsaile vppon what hope or with what hart couldest thou stand alone when the Disciples were departed Thou wert there once before they came thou returnest againe at their comming and yet now thou staiest when they are gone Alas that thy Lord is not in the Tombe thy own eies haue often séen the Disciples hands haue felt the empty Sindon doth auouch and cannot al this winne thée to beléeue it No no thou wouldest rather condemne thy owne eies of error and both their eies and handes of deceite yea rather suspect all testimonies for untrue then not looke whom thou hast lost euen there where by no diligence he coulde be found When thou thinkest of other places and canst not imagine any so likely as this thou séekest againe in this and though neuer so often sought it must still bee a haunt for hope for when things dearely affected are lost loues nature is neuer to be weary of searching euen the oftenest searched corners being more willing to thinke that all the senses are mistaken then to yéelde that hope should quaile Yet now sith it is so euident that he is taken away what should moue thee to remaine here where the perill is apparent and no profite likely Can the witof one and shée a woman wholly possessed with passion haue more light to discerne daunger then two wittes of two men and both principall fauorites of the parent of all wisedom Or if notwithstanding the danger there had béene iust cause to encounter it were not two together being both to Christ sworne companions each to other affied friends and to all his ennemies professed foes more likely to haue preuailed then one feminine heart timorous by kinde and already amased with this dreadfull accident But alas why doe I vrge her with reason whole reason is altered into loue and that iudgeth it folly to follow such reason as should any way impair her loue Her thoughts were arrested by euery thredde of Christs Sindon and shée was captiue in so many prisons as the Tombe had memories of her lost maister Loue being her Iailor in them all and nothing able to raunsome her but the recouery of her Lord. What maruaile then though the Apostles examples drew her not away whome so violent a loue enforced to remaine which prescribing lawes both to witte and wil is guided by no other lawe but it selfe Shee could not thinke of any fear nor stand in feare of any force Loue armed her against all hazardes and being already wounded with the greatest griefe shée had not leisure to remember any lesser euill Yea shée had forgotten all things and her selfe among al things onely mindefull of him whom shée loued aboue all thinges And yet her loue by reason of her losse drownev both her mind and memory so déepe in sorrow and so busied her wittes in the conceite of his absence that al remembraunce of his former promises was diuerted with the throng of present discomforts and shée séemed to haue forgotten also him besides whome shée remembred nothing For doubtlesse had she remembred him as she should shée should not haue now thought the Tombe a fitte place to séeke him neither would shée mourne for him as dead and remoued by others force but ioy in him as reuiued and risen by his owne power For hee had often foretold both the manner of
and the losse is manifest My eies haue answered them with teares my brest with sighes and my heart with trouble what néed I also punish my toonge or wound my soule with a newe rehear sall of so dolefull a mischance They haue taken away O vnfortunate worde They haue taken away my Lord. O afflicted woman why thinkest thou this word so vnfortunate It may be the Angels haue taken him more solemnly to entombe him and sith earth hath done her last homage happily the Quires of heauen are also descended to defray vnto him their funerall duties It may be that the Centurian and the rest that did acknowledge him on the crosse to be the sonne of God haue béene touched with remorse and goared with the pricke of conscience and being desirous to satisfie for their heinous offence haue nowe taken him more honourably to interre him and by their seruice to his bodie sought forgiuenesse and sued the pardon of their guiltie soules Peraduenture some secret Disciples haue wrought this erploit and maugre the watch taken him from hence with due honour to preserue him in some fitter place and therefore being yet vncertaine who hath him there is no such cause to lament sith the greater probabilities march on the better side why doest thou call sorrowe before it commeth without which calling it commeth on thee too fast yea why doest thou create sorrow where it is not sith thou hast true sorrowes inough though imagined sorrowes helpe not It is follie to suppose the worst where the best may be hoped for and euerie mishappe bringeth griefe enough with it though wée with our friendes doe not goe first to méete it Quiet then thy selfe till time trie out the trueth and it may be thy feare will proue greater then thy misfortune But I know thy loue is litle helped with this lesson for the more it loueth the more it feareth and the more desirous to enioy the more doubtfull it is to loose It neyther hath measure in hopes nor meane in feares hoping the best vpon the least surmises and fearing the worst vppon the weakest grounds And yet both fearing and hoping at one time neither feare withholdeth hope from the highest atteÌ„pts nor hope can strengthen feare against the smallest suspitions but maugre all feares loues hopes will worke to the highest pitch and maugre al hopes loues feares will stoupe to the lowest downcome To bidde thée therefore hope is not to forbid thée to feare and though it may be for the best that thy Lord is taken from thée yet sith it may also be for the worst that wil neuer content thée Thou thinkest hope doth inough to kéepe thy heart from breaking feare little enough to force thée to wéeping sith it is as likely that he hath béen taken away vpon hatred by his enimies as vpon loue by his friendes For hitherto saiest thou his friends haue all failed him and his foes preuailed against him as they y t would not defend him aliue are lesse likely to regard him dead so they that thought one life too litle to take from him are not vnlikely after deathe to wreake new rage vpon him And though this doubt were not yet whosoeuer hath taken him hath wronged me in not acquainting me with it for to take away mine without my consent can neither be offered without iniurie nor suffered without sorrow And as for Jesus he was my Jesus my Lord and my maister Hée was mine because he was giuen vnto me and borne for me he was the author of my being and so my father hée was the worker of my wel doing and therefore my Sauiour hee was the price of my ransome and thereby my redeemer Hee was my Lord to command me my maister to instruct mée my pastor to féede mée He was mine because his loue was mine and when he gaue me his loue hee gaue me himselfe sith loue is no gift except the giuer be giuen with it yea it is no loue â—â—lesse it be as liberall of that it is as of that it hath Finally if the meat bee mâ—â—â— that I eate the life mine wherewith I liue or he mine all whose life labours and death were mine then dare I boldly say that Iesus is mine sith on his bodie I feede by his loue I liue and to my good without any neede of his owne hath hee liued laboured and died And therefore though his Disciples though the Centurion yea though the Angels haue taken him they haue done me wrong in defeating mee of my right sith I neuer meane to resigne my interest But what if he hath takeÌ„ a way himself wilt thou also lay vniustice to his charge Thogh he be thine yet thine to command not to obey thy Lord to dispose of thee and not to be by thée disposed and therefore as it is no reason that the seruant should be maister of his maisters secretes so might hee and peraduenture so hath he remoued without acquainting thee whether reuiuing himselfe with the same power with which he raised thy dead brother and fulfilling the wordes that he often vttered of his resurrection It may be thou wilt say that a gift once giuen cannot bee reuoked and therefore though it were before in his choise not to giue himselfe vnto thée yet the deede of gift being once made he cannot be taken from thee neyther can the doner dispose of his gift without the possessors priuitie And sith this is a rule in the lawe of nature thou maiest imagine it a breach of equitie and an impeachment of thy right to conuey himselfe away without thy consent But to this I will aunswere thée with thine owne ground For if he be thine by being giuen thée once thou art his by as many gifts as daies and therefore hee being absolute owner of thée is likewise full owner of whatsoeuer is thine and consequently because he is thine hee is also his owne and so nothing liable vnto thée for taking himselfe from thée Yea but he is my Lord saiest thou and in this respect bound to kéepe me at the least bound not to kill me and sith killing is nothing but a seuering of life from the body he being the chiefe life both of my soule and body cannot possibly go from me but he must with a double death kill me And therefore he being my Lord and bound to protect his seruant it is against all lawes that I should be thus forsaken But O cruel tongue why pleadest thou thus against him whose case I feare me is so pitifull y t it might rather moue all tongues to plead for him being peradueÌ„ture in their hands whose vnmercifull hearts make themselues merrie with his miserie and build the triumphes of their impious victorie vpon the dolefull ruines of his disgraced glorie And now O griefe because I know not where he is I caÌ„not imagine how to helpe for they haue taken him away and I knowe not where they haue put him Alas Mary why dost thou consume
hope aliue which was that for a small reliefe of her other afflictions she might haue annointed thy body that hope is also dead since thy body is remoued and shee nowe standeth hopelesse of all helpe and demandest thou why shée wéepeth and for whome shee séeketh Full well thou knowest that thée onely shee desireth thée onely she loueth all things besides thée she contemneth and canst thou find in thy heart to aske hir whom she séeketh To what end O sweet Lord doest thou thus suspend hir longinges prolong hir desires and martir hir with these tedious delaies Thou onely art the fortresse of hir faint faith the anker of her wauering hope the very center of her vehement loue to thée she trusteth vpon thée she relieth and of her selfe she wholly dispaireth She is so earnest in seeking thée that shée can neither seeke nor thinke any other thing and all her wittes are so busied in musing vppon thée that they draw all attention from her senses wherewith they should discerne thée Being therfore so attentiue to that she thinketh what maruell though shee marke not whome shée séeth and sith thou hast so perfect notice of her thought and she so litle power to discouer thée by sense why demandest thou for whome shée séeketh or why shee wéepeth Doest thou looke that she should answer for thée I séeke or for thée I wéep vnlesse thou wilt vnbend her thoughtes that her eyes may fully sée thée or while thou wilt be concealed doest thou expect y t she should be able to know thee But O Mary not without cause doth he aske thée this question Thou wouldest haue him aliue and yet thou wéepest because thou doest not finde him dead Thou art sorie that hee is not here and for this verie cause thou shouldst rather be glad For if he were dead it is moste likely hee should bee héere but not being héere it is a signe that hée is aliue Hee reioyceth to be out of his graue and thou wéepest because hee is not in it Hee will not lie any where and thou sorrowest for not knowing wherehe lieth Alas why bewaylest thou his glorie as an iniurie the reuiuing of his bodie as the robberie of his corse Hee being aliue for what dead man mournest thou and he being present whose absence doest thou lament But shee taking him to be a Gardiner said vnto him O Lord if thou hast carried him from hence tell me where thou hast laid him and I will take him away O woonderfull effectes of Maries loue if loue be a languor howe liueth she by it If loue be her life how dieth shée in it if it bereued her of sence how did she sée y e Angels if it quickned her sense why knewe shee not Jesus doest thou séeke for one whome when thou hast found thou knowest not or if thou doest know him when thou findest him why doest thou séeke when thou hast him Behold Jesus is come and the partie whom thou seekest is he that talketh with thee O Mary call vp thy wittes and open thine eyes Hath thy Lord liued so long laboured so much dyed with such paine and shedde such showres of bloud to come to no higher preferment then to bee a Gardiner And hast thou bestowed suche cost so much sorrow and so many feares for no better man then a silly Gardiner Alas is this soarie Garden the best inheritāce that thy loue can affoord him or a Gardiners office the highest dignitie that thou wilt allow him It had bin better he had liued to béen Lord of thy castle then with his death so dearly to haue bought so small a purchase But thy mistaking hath in it a farther mistery Thou thinkst not amisse though thy sight bee deceiued For as our first father in the state of grace innocency was placed in the garden of pleasure the first office allotted him was to be a Gardener so the first man that euer was in glorie appeareth first in a Garden and presenteth himselfe in a gardeners likenes that the beginnings of glory might resemble the entrance of innocencie and grace And as a Gardener was the foyle of mankind the parent of sinne and author of death so is this Gardiner the raysor of our ruines the ransome of our offences and the restorer of life In a Garden Adam was deceiued and taken captiue by the diuell In a Garden Christ was betraied and taken prisoner by the Jewes In a Garden Adam was condemned to earn his bread with the sweate of his browes And after a frée gift of the bread of Angels in the last supper in a Garden Christ did earne it vs with a bloudy sweat of his whole body By disobedient eating the fruite of a trée our right to that Garden was by Adam forfeited and by the obedient death of Christ vpon a trée a farre better right is nowe recouered When Adam had sinned in the garden of plesure hee was there apparelled in dead beastes skinnes that his garment might betoken his graue and his liuerie of death agrée with his condemnation to die And nowe to defray the debt of that sin in this garden Christ lay clad in the dead mans shrowd and buried in his Tombe that as our harmes began so they might ende and such places and meanes as were the premises to our miserie might be also the conclusions of our misfortune For this did Christ in the canticles inuite vs to a heauenly banquet after hee was come into this garden and had reaped his myrrh and his spices to forewarne vs of the ioy that after this haruest should presently insue namely when hauing sowed in this garden a body the mortalitie whereof was signified by those spices he now reaped the same neither capeable of death nor subiect to corruption For this also was Mary permitted to mistake that we might be informed of the mystery and see how aptly the course of our redemption did answere the processe of our condemnation But though he be the gardiner that hath planted the Trée of grace and restored vs to the vse and eating of the fruites of life Though it be he that soweth his gifts in our souls quickning in vs the seedes of vertue rooting out of vs the wéedes of sinne Yet is he neuerthelesse the same Jesus he was the borowed presence of a meane laborer neither altreth his persō nor diminisheth his right to his diuine titles Why then canst thou not as well sée what in trueth he is as what in shew he séemeth but because thou seest more then thou diddest beléeue findest more then thy faith serued thee to seeke and for this though thy loue was worthy to sée him yet thy faith was vnworthy to know him Thou diddest seeke for him as dead and therfore dost not know him seing him aliue and because thou beléeuest not of him as hée is thou doest onely sée him as he séemeth to be I cannot say thou art faultlesse sith thou art so lame in thy beliefe
not from thy crosse after death shee came to dwell with thee at thy graue Why then dost not thou say with Noemi Blessed bee shee of our Lord because what courtesie shee afforded to the quicke shee hath also continued towardes the dead A thing so much the more to be esteemed in that it is most rare Doe not sweet Lord any longer delay her Behold shee hath attended thee these three daies and shee hath not what to eate nor wherewith to foster her famished soule vnlesse thou by discouering thy selfe doest minister vnto her the bread of thy body feede her with the foode that hath in it all taste of sweetnesse If therefore thou wilt not haue her to faint in the way refresh her with that which her hunger requireth For surely shee cannot long enioy the life of her body vnlesse shee may haue notice of thee that art the life of her soule But feare not Mary for thy teares will obtaine They are too mighty oratours to let any suite fall though they pleaded at the most rigorous bar yet haue they so perswading a silence and so conquering a complaint that by yeelding they ouercome and by intreating they commaund They tie the tongues of all accusers and soften the rigour of the seuerest Iudge Yea they win the inuincible and bind the omnipotent When they seeme most pittiful they haue greatest power and being most for saken they are most victorious Repentant eies are the Cellers of Angels and penitent teares their sweetest wines which the sauor of life perfumeth the taste of grace swéetneth and the purest colours of returning innocency highly beautifieth This dew of deuotion neuer falleth but the sunne of iustice draweth it vp and vpoÌ„what face soeuer it droppeth it maketh it amiable in Gods eie For this water hath thy heart beene long a limbecke sometimes distilling it out of the weedes of thy owne offences with the fire of true contrition Sometimes out of the flowers of spirituall comforts with the flames of contemplation and now out of the bitter hearbs of thy Maisters miseries with the heate of a tender compassion This water hath better graced thy lookes then thy former alluring glaunces It hath setled worthier beauties in thy face then all thy artificiall paintings Yea this onely water hath quenched Gods anger qualified his iustice recouered his mercy merited his loue purchased his pardon brought forth the spring of all thy fauors Thy tears were the proctors for thy brothers life the inuiters of those Angels for thy comfort and the suiters that shall be rewarded with the first sight of thy reuiued Sauiour Rewarded they shal be but not refrained altered in their cause but their course continued Heauen would weepe at the losse of so pretious a water and earth lament the absenee of so fruitefull â—owers No no the Angels must still bathe themselues in the pure streams of thy eies and thy face shall still bee set with this liquid pearle that as out of thy teares were stroken the first sparkes of thy Lordes loue so thy teares may be the oyle to nourishe and feede his flame Till death damme vp the springs they shall neuer cease running and then shal thy soule be ferried in them to the harbour of life that as by them it was first passed from sinne to grace so in them it may be wasted from grace to glorie In the meane time réere vp thy fallen hopes and gather confidence both of thy spéedie comforte and thy Lordes well being Iesus saith vnto her Maria She turning said vnto him Rabboni O louing maister thou didst onely deferre her consolation to increase it that the delight of thy presence might be so much the more welcome in that through thy long absence it was with so little hope so much desired Thou wert content shee shoulde lay out for thée so manie sighs tears and plaints and diddest purposely adiorne the date of her paiment to requite the length of these delaies with a larger loane of ioy It may be she knewe not her former happinesse till shee was weaned from it nor had a right estimate in valuing the treasures with which thy presence did enriche hir vntill her extreame pouertie taught her their vnestimable rate But now thou she west by a swéete experience that though she paied thée with the dearest water of her eyes with her best breath and tenderest loue yet small was the price that shee bestowed in respect of the worth that shee receiued She sought the dead and imprisoned in a stonie gayle and now she findeth thée both aliue and at full libertie Shée sought the shrined in a shrowd more like a leaper then thy selfe left as the modell of the vitermost miserie and the onely paterne of the bitterest vnhappinesse And now shee findeth thée inuested in the robes of glorie the president of the highest and both the owner and giuer of all felicitie And as all this while shee hath sought without finding wéept without comforte and called without aunswere so no we thou satisfiest her séeking with thy comming her tears with thy triumph and al her cries with this one word Marie For when she heard thee call her in thy woonted maner and with thy vsuall voyce her onely name issuing froÌ„ thy mouth wrought so strange an alteration in her as if she had béene wholly new made when she was only named For whereas before the violence of her griefe had so benummed her that her bodie séemed but the hearse of her dead heart and her heart the cophin of an vnliuing soule and hir whole presence but a representation of a double funeral of thine and of hir owne now with this one word her senses are restored her minde lightened her heart quickened and her soule reuiued But what maruell though with one word hee raise the dead spirites of his poore disciple that with a word made the world euen in this very worde sheweth an omnipotent power Marie she was called as well in her bad as in her reformed estate and both her good and euill was all of Maries working And as Marie signifieth no lesse what she was then what she is so is this one word by his vertue that speaketh it a repetition of all her miseries an Epitome of his mercies and a memorial of all her better fortunes And therefore it laid so generall a discouerie of her self before her eyes that it awaked her most forgotten sorows and mustered together the whole multitude of her ioyes and woulde haue left the issue of their mutinie verie doubtfull but that the presence and notice of hir highest happinesse decided the quarrell and gaue her ioyes the victory For as he was her only sunne whose going downe left nothing but a dumpishe night of fearefull fansies wherein no starre of hope shined and the brightest plannets were chaunged into dismall signes so the serenitie of his countenance and authoritie of hys worde brought a calme and well tempered day that chasing away all darknesse and