Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	body_n	reason_n	soul_n	6,782	5	5.3548	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A01420	An abridgement of Christian perfection Conteining many excellent precepts, & aduertisments, touching the holy, and sacred mysticall diuinity. Written in Italian, by Fa. Achilles Galliardi of the Society of Iesus, &translated into English, A.H. of the same society; Breve compendio intorno alla perfezione cristiana. English	Galliardi, Achilles, 1537-1607.; Percy, Mary, Lady, 1570-1642.; Hoskins, Anthony, 1568-1615, attributed name.; Berinzaga, Isabella Cristina, 1551?-1624, attributed name. aut	1625 (1625)	STC 11539; ESTC S120493	51,187	200

may any way impeach the executiō of such a desire in her and endea●our that there should not be any thing betweene God and her no not God himselfe in regard of the pleasure and contentment that is accustomed to spring of the knowledg and feeling that she hath of God himselfe for although that the sayd pleasure and contentment be not euill nor any sinne yet notwithstanding it hindereth so that the disappropriatiō doth not ariue to his perfection Therfore if somtimes the soule take contentment or pleasure in her selfe remaine busied in creatures vnder the shadow and pretence of the Creator she putteth God himselfe as a hinderāce between him her soule disuniteth him from the same for the respect she hath of that which proceedeth from his diuinity or is appertaining vnto him 3. Not to take care or be to much grieued if she attain not to that height of perfection vnto which she findeth herselfe called for God is infinitely pleased to 〈◊〉 a soule in paine for his diuine 〈◊〉 the Kingly prophet Dauid hauing said so much in his Psalme 90. Cum ipso sum in tribulation● that is to say I am with him in tribulation For the interiour tribulations make a soule more capable then the exterior to receaue particuler graces from God yea sometymes so great as cannot be thought or imagined Therefore a soule ought to tak great heed that she doe not grieue or tormēt herselfe if she attayne not to the top of the perfection so much desired for that sometymes God giueth great perfection and yet with the same a soule shall not be so agreable to his diuine maiesty as another that hath it not but doe on their part al that possibly they can to haue it For hauing the said perfection she will haue a sati●…on and contentment in herselfe the which although it be good it will not be so pleasing to our Lord as the payne and affliction that a soule suffereth for his loue but with this payne and trouble she ought to be wholy conformed to his diuine will without disquiet and not to separate herselfe any thing at all from the loue of God for otherwise it wil be selfe-loue THE EFFECTS of Selfe-loue THIS Selfe-loue although it be called in this manner ought rather neuertheles to be called want of loue to our selues hatred death a selfe-venome or poison for that it hath no regard nor respect eyther to life or health to body or soule nor to any other thing it esteemeth of nothing but what it affecteth it regardeth not God himselfe This selfe-loue was first in Lucifer whē he made greater esteeme of his owne excellency then to be with God in Paradise wherby he incurred presently death vnto himselfe to wit to be separated from God the like also happeneth to a soule for it separateth her from God maketh her become insensible taking from her the light of reason to be opiniatiue churlish and voyd of ciuility Selfe-loue is like vnto the heath called Dogs-tooth which being not rooted out commeth by little little to haue such force tha●… marreth all other heathes that are neere vnto it euen so if this Selfe-loue be not taken away and ●…ted out of our hart it wil take suck increase in our soule that it will spoile and corrupt all vertues and graces that are in the same for 〈◊〉 only it corrupteth the vertues that we haue gotten by our industry but also those that we haue receyued in Baptisme and in the other Sacraments It doth also the same in our soules as the opilations or obstructions doe in our bodyes which are the causes of infinite diseases It maketh a man proud and high minded and afterwardes casteth him into the depth of despaire It giueth him a presumptuous strength and hope to do what he will and afterwards makes him vnable and cold in the seruice of God It cloatheth the soule coloureth it with diuers colours vnder the pretence of sanctity afterwards despoyleth it and maketh it naked of the meanes that might bring her to her Creatour It is a venome by which the soule becōmeth senselesse and is ruyned and destroyed It is like vnto the most hurtfull venome of the Aspe it gnaweth and consumeth without being perceaued and inchaunteth and betwitcheth in such sort that she knoweth not what she doth nor what she would but passing from one thing to another she tormenteth herselfe and not being able to come to what she desireth she grieueth fretteth and pyneth away if any counsell her for her help comfort and profit she remaineth as a senseles body not apprehending any thing like to one that had no life finally the ornaments that the foresayd selfe-loue giueth vnto a soule are these that follow First it maketh it vnlike vnto God and like to Lucifer it causeth it to be hurtfull vnto other displeasing to herselfe It maketh it a vessell of contumely or sea of iniquity A soule infected therewith may be likned to a ship that is exposed to the waues and tempests of the sea that is shaken with all sortes of windes like vnto a stinking water a barraine ground that produceth no kind of fruit that is pleasant an infected carren and in a word it is like an vnbridled vntamed horse but which is most of all such a soule deceyueth those that she conuerseth withall for she sheweth herselfe as though she were full of vertue holynes hideth inwardly the qualities of a venemous serpent A DESCRIPTION of Selfe-loue SELFE-loue may be figured represented as a man without eyes and notwithstanding hath foure but none for God but for himselfe with two he seeth and with other two forseeth only that which is for his commodity He hath no eares to vnderstand the voyce of God that soundeth mediatly or immediatly to wit he is not attentiue when he is excited inwardly to know his defaultes and imperfections but he hath six earers to appropriate any thing to himselfe with two he heareth his own praises with two others he hatkeneth vnto that which may augmēt this selfe loue with the other two he is watchfull and attentiue that nothing be sayd agaynst him He hath three harts notwithstanding he hath not one that may bring him any profit for the good of his soule or whereby to come to perfection for he hath not any affection tast or feeling of good The first hart is for that which concerneth hi● exteriour or interiour commodity in regard of his body The second is for such things at he doth negotiate with others to the end the world may haue him in good reputation The third maketh him to shew a mild and gracious countenance to be beloued of all hauing his lookes very humble his wordes sayre and well placed outwardly an Angell but inwardly a rauening wolfe in summe seeking no other thing then to please himself HOW SELFE-LOVE entreth and intrudeth it selfe into all things THIS Selfe-loue is most subtile and hideth it selfe entring and

submission and tranquillity giueth to the soule a very great strength not actiue but passiue by the which he giueth and leaueth herselfe to be as a prey vnto God and so like a most patient lambe suffereth all in great debility feeblenes Of this peace and trāquillity followeth a comformity with the actiue will although passiue but without comparison greater then the foresaid and an inexplicable deification in an act yet passiue not of oblation nor of gift dedication or holocaust but much more excellent more perfect as to giue themselu●… wholy as it were a prey vnto almighty God In this estate she must be aduertised of some things of much importance one is that the interiour and imperatiue actions of vertue are not lost but are made more actiue then euer in such fort that a person hath strength to worke and exercise the partes and powers of her body and soule in speaking thinking and doing all that is conuenient to be done according to her vocation yea euen in performing acts of temperance patience c. Also when she ought to ayd and help her neighbour it is with the accustomed affability for the act of commaundment practice resteth in the soule to commaund and to direct all her actions of commaund or execution For the subtraction or withdrawing ought to bee vnderstood in the vnderstanding and will concerning the proper interiour acts of the will intention fruitiō election reioycing satisfaction the like which indeed are taken away Another is that it must not be vnderstood that our Lord taketh away the gifts or habits but the acts not giuing his help concurrence notwithstanding he doth not so alwaies for that often in this estate he letteth the soule be free and at liberty to worke but sometymes he suspendeth it and this is done without any certaine rule and when he pleaseth Therfore the soule ought to be wholy resigned to be depriued of all acts or not as much and when it shall please God and to be alwaies ready to renounce thē with this admirable indifferency When the actiue is taken away in she manner aforesaid then the soule remaineth in the passiue state in two ●orts First for that with promp●nes great tranquillity she submitteth herselfe to all the afflictions and foresaid troubles and miseries induring them most willingly although she be transpierced and wounded by them for the great resolution she hath made rather to suffer a thousand deaths then to offend God and for that she suffereth so many euill motions and also for that she cannot performe any act of vertue but only suffereth such affliction for the loue of God Secondly the soule in such estate being retyred to the deepest part of her hart which the Mysticall Deuines call Pax anima the peace of the soule operatiō being withdrawne she giueth and submitteth herself with great prōptnes vnto God who worketh within with the passiue consent of her freewill much more higher acts then of thanks-giuing loue vnion with him election or any other vertue without tast only admitting them and cooperating with all her hart and affection in such sort that as the vnderstanding retyred from the sense in extasy cannot be attentiue with her naturall forces to actiue vertues as she was before but receiueth diuine light that worketh most high vnderstanding knowledg in her which the mysticall Deuines call pati diuina now if in the vnderstanding raysed aboue her naturall forces our Lord worketh this the same may be done much more in the will when renouncing wholy the actiue she forsaketh the same then our Lord raising it into an extasy a most vertuous practise worketh in her entirely what he pleaseth and this pati diuina which is an estate much higher then the foresaid for that extasy of the vnderstanding is dangerous and few attaine vnto it full of infinite occasions and subiects of curiosity propriety but heere the will renounceth and humbleth herselfe and with a most assured confidēce submitteth herselfe vnto God and of such an extasy all are capable and it is much higher then the other rendring the soule most aggreable and pleasing vnto God OF THE THIRD and last Estate CHAP. XI FINALLY our Lord is accustomed to take away not only the actiue but also the foresaid passiue the will remayning in all and by all naked and impotent for any thing It is true she doth not resist or oppose her selfe to this but she suffereth herselfe to be bereaued of all And for the vnderstanding of this last Estate which is the highest of all the others it must be noted that the vertue and force of the liberty which the will hath is so great that she can renounce wholy her will and wholy her liberty and indeed bereaueth herselfe of them as if she neuer had them and she doth this freely with her good will and by such a renunciation the will is made as it were no wil in the like manner as S. Pauli●… made himselfe a slaue to deliuer another slaue euen so the soule hath power to doe with her interiour and with her free will and liberty Then our Lord taketh away the actiue and the passiue by subtraction and all acts whatsoeuer as if she were not at all and she doth not resist this but with an entire exhibition of such a renunciation concurring therwith cōmeth to be no practicall will to wit that all the operations that she doth or can doe concerning herselfe she doth not will them nor doth them as of herself yet willing them neuerthelesse with a will conformable to the diuine will in which sort she willeth worketh them and therfore she doth them as commaunded immediatly by the diuine will without bringing therin any concurrence of her owne putting the will of God in the place of hers For in as a large spacious Pallace of the which one only is maister when he is absent he leaueth some friend of his absolute mayster and there is done all that was done before but only by the commaundement of the friend not of the other euen so the will renouncing it selfe wholy aswell in the actiue as in the passiue although pure holy not willing but what God willeth and now not willing indeed neyther more nor lesse to haue this satisfaction as is afore sayd she renounceth in all thinges and wholy the sayd actiue and passiue being resolued not to worke at all as with her will notwithstanding she doth al euen as before but as thinges willed ordeyned by God not of herselfe leauing entirely imediatly to the good pleasure of God the commaundment of her body soule actions motions and feelings as if truely she had no māner of will and to this God correspondeth as is sayd with the withdrawing of all acts if peraduenture she leaueth or doth the like acts of vertue as before then she leaueth and doth them not according to her proper will but for so much as she seeth

intruding into all things euen into the Sacraments First causing persons to frequent them for the proper gust they find therein Secondly to be well esteemed off by others also to couer some defectes it thrusteth it selfe entreth in the same manner in hearing the word of God for the pleasure they take therein It entreth into holy Orders when the are receaued or vsed for vanity for some commodity ambition or other euill designement It thrusteth it selfe into marriages when they mary for to satisfy their concupiscence and appetites It intrudeth it selfe also into the practise of vertues procuring that great paine trauell be imployed in it without hauing any good right or sincere intention for the glory of God but rather for some other respect It thrusteth it selfe and entreth into the exercise of Prayer pretending to receaue therein tast light and feeling vnder pretence to be vnited vnto God and in doing this the persō so infected seeketh himselfe vnto God It entreth also by a certayne superfluous ouer great and excessiue desire of the crosse but it is for the pleasure that one taketh oftentymes in the same crosse in which self-loue much delighteth PROPERTIES of a soule infected with selfe-loue SELFE-loue robbeth from God what appertayneth vnto him for it stealeth and taketh from him his honour by seeking to attribute the same vnto himselfe as the Pharisy robbed our Lord of his honor when he sayd nou sum sicut coeteri b●minum I am not like vnto other men First this loue maketh the soule vnlike vnto God being a most simple obiect an infinite purity Self-loue maketh the soule double crafty and dissembling and causeth it to seeme other then it is Secondly it maketh her like vnto the diuell for euen as the diuell is neuer cōtent nor reposeth so the like miseries doth selfe-loue cause in the soule for it causeth much vnquietnes and many troubles in her not being able to find any repose or contentment It maketh her a lyar and an enemy to truth and by this meanes she becommeth hatefull vnto others for that such qualities are insupportable moreouer it causeth continually fretting and vnquiet for neuer finding any repose and not daring to desire death by reason of this selfe loue she tormenteth and afflicteth herselfe without ceasing It bringeth her also to beavessell of contumely for that to satisfy herself she doth euen her best actions desiring prayers the Sacraments and such like thinges hauing for a foundation of all this her selfe-loue And thus the works become defiled soule and infected with this selfe-loue and the soule by this meanes is a sea of iniquity for the bottome of her imperfections not being able to be found she is a sea without bottome that is mooned and troubled with contrary winds swolne with meruaylous great fearefull and horrible waues being angry and euer opposing herself against those that would affoard her any help or remedy She is also like vnto a ship exposed to the tempests raging of the sea for this soule sayling in the sea of selfe-loue euen as a ship in the sea so is she combated on euery side making ship wracke for a smal matter She may also be compared to a stinking water for she runneth on euery side as water that hath no stay to seeke if she cā find contentment but by reason of her imperfections she is very noysome and yeldeth an euill fauour vnto those that are pure and cleane She resembleth also a barrayne ground that produceth nothing but thornes thistles and other such vnsauoury weeds spoyling all the fruit of good workes She is like vnto a stinking carren for this self-loue infecteth the soule and maketh her serue him as food to a rauen and afterwardes to become a prey and repast to that infernal fiend whom she resembleth Briefly this loue thus qualifyed is as an vntamed horse without bit or bridle it will not be ruled by any person nor cōtaine it sel●e neither by counsell not by skilfull aduise but it maketh the soule to mayne as rooted in her proper sense and selfe iudgement whereby she becommeth incorrigible and this happeneth sometimes to some spirituall person vnder colour of sanctity which is very hardly cured This foresayd Selfe-loue springeth of the delight that the creature hopeth to enioy in those thinges she seeketh and which do appertay ne vnto her and it groweth to that passe that she esteemeth not of her life nor of any other thing els in respect of arrayning to what she so liketh It proceedeth also of the nature wounded corrupted in her irascible and concupiscible powers and euill habits and customes which haue gotten root in the soule And this is vnderstood not only of the first kind of self-loue which is cōmon familiar to worldly persons but also of the second wherwith oftentimes spirituall persons are intangled the which may be called self-loue for the tast pleasure that they seeke in spirituall thinges It is vnderstood also of the third kind of self-loue in spirituall persons who are already aduaunced and profited in the way of vertue which may be compared to the poyson of the diamond that gnaweth a creature interiourly by litle litle but it leaueth no exteriour signe as other poysons do so this proper loue gnaweth oftentymes in wardly the conscice but it leaueth no mark or signe in the soule but killeth it and bringeth it in the end to death damnation It is a very euident signe of the forsaid self-loue when our Lord hath giuen any particuler grace to a soule and when it pleaseth him to depriue her of it she falleth into great griefe and sadnes The root of this forsaid Selfe-loue lieth hid vnder the colour of faygned holines and guideth the soule by a very strait and narrow way and maketh it appeare to those that conuerse which such a person that the way to serue God is very strait and more difficult then in truth it is It engendreth a great wearines of sanctity aswell in the parties that haue it as in the persons that conuerse with them which is no true holines It exciteth a great meruaile and an astonishment with vnquietnes which procureth to the parties a disgust and confusion in seing that they cannot arriue to that perfection and holines which they see in others wherby they remaine without repose which is a great signe that this holines proceedeth of selfe loue And he that wrote this discourse witnesseth to haue proued found this many tymes in ●…isel●e to wit that in thinking on the sanctity of some such per●ō he much meruailed but notwithstanding he did not fall into vnquietnes and confusion REMEDIES against Selfe-loue 1. FIRST the soule infected herewith must seeke to haue a person very much enlightned by God that hath the discretion of spirits with whom she must confer of her troubles desires and according to his iudgmēt esteeme herselfe to be sick and to haue need of help as in truth she hath