few be saued but it is to bee woundered at and a thing to make euerie man amased that in a reasonnable humain creature can raigne so great blyndnes and so litle care of a thing of so great a weight as his saluation To the second I say the cause therof is that they know not how they should think on death for their thoughts thereon are superficial and short and not vsed with due meanes and therefore it is no meruayle yf of such cogitation they carie a way litle or no fruite at all Few preachers of this tyme haue care to teach in what manner a man ought fruitfullie to meditate and think vpon his death Some because they neyther think vpon it themselues nor take delyte in it as they that be more seculer and wordlie then holie and religious Some others disdayne to handle a matter so base saying they be things for women and simple folkes and therefore they goe aloft by the toppes of trees disputing high things without fruit and do not see that the principal intent of a preacher ought to bee to teach the way to saluation the which consisteth in rooting out of vice and planting of vertue and to do both the one and the other himself Nothing truely is more apt and profitable than the continual remembrāce of death and the meditation therof vsed and practised as it ought to be By this meane all wyse men haue come to be good Christians And all Catholyke Doctors with all their learning haue not found a better way to shonne sinne and follow vertue then the remembrance of death Wyse Salomon diuyne Plato moral Seneca yea and all our holy men of tyme past as wel learned as vnlearned haue of one accord cōfirmed approued this our doctrine of death both with woords and deeds Onlie the miserable and ill Christians be those that make therat a ieast and mock and scorne it but in the end they wil fynde themselues mocked and deceaued Then said the Marchant let vs let others go at their peril that wil not seek to bee saued and let vs attend to our owne saluation wherefore with great desire I look that you vouchsafe to instruct mee in what manner the remembrāce of death ought to be vsed that it may bring fourth the fruits aboue rehearsed The Ermite answered yf I yeild to thy desire I doubt I shal be to long yet considering that moderate length in a doctrine profitable and necessarie is not reprehensible especiallie when the hearer is wel disposed it shal not be grieuous vnto me in the first rule to lengthen my speach more then I thought Three meanes to haue the remembrance of death vvith profit for thy greater profit and better contentation Marke then that by three meanes a man may haue thee remembrance of death the which shal bring thee to taste thereof in such wise that exercising thy self in them thow shalt reap the fruites before mentioned The first meane The first meane is willinglie to heare speaking and preaching of the terrible conditions paynes of death and willinglie to read spiritual books where that matter is hādled and where the stories and examples bee written of many persons which by feare of death haue bene conuerted For such examples help much and not a litle moue sinners to repentance The second meane The second meane much more effectual then the first is willinglie and oftentimes to go to see men when they be in the agonie of death and whē they passe out of this lyfe and when they be borne vnto their graues and besydes to accustome to visit Churche-yeards and monuments and sepulchres of the dead Oh how profitable is such an exercise as this yf it bee vsed with a deep and discreet cōsideration where-vpon the wise man saith Eccl. cap. 7. it is better to go into the howse of mourning then to the howse of feasting Wheare the dead bee lamented there occasion is geuen vs to remember our selues of the end of all men And the better to print this remembrāce in themselues Beholding causeth remembring some haue taken a dead mannes head and kept it in a secret place and certaine tymes in the week set it before their eyes and verie wel and diligentlie considered it and by way of imagination kept long talk with it and this not euerie day but once or twise a week because it so moueth more our affection then it would do yf euerie day wee should see thesame for by long custome being once made familiar vnto vs it would moue vs nothing at all A great sinner that some tyme vsed thesame asked diuers questions of a dead mannes skul which he kept as thus tel me yf it please the o lothsome and deformed head whose head haste thow bene and what cause hath made thee so vglie where bee thy fine yealow heares where is thy faire white forehead where is thy cleare shyning eyes where is thy tongue that so wel could speak where be all the liuelie sences of thy bodie where is thy face so goodlie and so faire where is thy trim delicate skin and flesh Thow arte now without a nose without eyes without eares thow haste not so much as one haire left vpon thy head what rasor hath bene so cruel that it hath shauen away all thy haire and flesh euen to the very bone who hath taken away thy beautie who hath made thee so monstrous and il fauoured whereof cometh so great deformitie Thow arte to vs that be liuing so horrible and vglie to behold that thow puttest euerie one in feare The head with lamenting voyce wayling woordes he imagined to answere him thus I was the head of a young man beautyful rich and mightie which in the short tyme of my flourishing youth gaue my selfe wholie to carnal lust and wordlie pleasures I took no heed of my fathers admonitions godlie talk I vtterlie dispised mocking simple and deuout people and beleeuing that I should haue bene a lōg tyme happie in the world I neuer thought vpon death I was altogether drowned in worldlie desires and so liuing in iolity singing dauncing and laughing I was sudainly assaulted with a sudain deadlie disease in which seeing my self in so short a tyme depriued of all my ioy and in a manner desperate because I had neuer done good workes I began with my self not without sore grones and deep sighes to consider myne estate saying alas vnhappie that I am I see my selfe depriued of all thinges that did delight mee o poor yongman whereto am I now brought I must leaue the world that I did loue so much alas what helpeth me now my vading goodlie beautie in this miserable state o cruel death how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a merie harte which hath alwayes flourished in delightful pleasures o how horrible is thy presence to a young man healthful lustie and beauteful to him that taketh delight onelie in worldlie pleasures and prosperities I see thow
at the very end of his lyf THE FIRST CHAPTER CONTEYNING RVLES of health sheweth what a man ought to do about dying wel the whyle he is in good health The first rule NO man ought to defer vnto the last hower to prepare himself to dy but very behooful it is that euery one dispose himself during the whole tyme of his lyf that wel he may passe the last passage of death Therefore then whylest thow arte in good health obserue and keepe these fower fruitful rules The first whereof is this bee alwayes myndful of death because therein is conteyned a great secret which of few is vnderstood of fewer practised for that by the onlie meditation of death in due manner often vsed sufficient remedie is found against all our spiritual infirmities And therefore Kinges Princes Prelates and riche men of the worlde who with all industrie do put away froÌ„ them the remembraÌ„ce of death do herein greatly offend because more then any other thing they ought to haue it in continuall coÌ„sideration for that to flie the meditation and remembrance of death is no other thing then to cast away from them the grace of the holie ghoste which bringeth oftentimes into the myndes of sinners such feareful remembrance to the end that being thereby terified they may more easelie returne to good lyfe and attaine to eternal felicitie And to the end that this so good and profitable doctrine may alwayes rest fixed in thy mynd I wil in few wordes declare vnto thee the marueylous fruites that proceed of this continual memorie of death The first frute that it produceth is a profound and entyre humilitie The first fruit of the remembraÌ„ce of death for yf thow think often tymes on death thow doest abase and put downe as it were perforce all pryde arrogancie and insolencie become gentle humble and meek For who is hee that considering in how short a tyme hee is to returne to ashes can wax proud we read in bookes of natural philosophy that the peacock a moste faire bird beholding the great beautie of his glistering fethers he reioyseth greatly spreading out his maruelous faire taile in signe of his gladnes but eft-soones beholding thee foulenes of his feet he then becometh altogether heauie his pryde is abated sodainlie hee layeth downe his winges and tayle and for great sorrow maketh a lamentable crie Euen so a man made proud either through his riches beautie of his bodie or by glorying in his parentage or for other worldly causes exalted yf hee shal consider the miserie of his end and in how short a tyme all his glorie is to be resolued into smoke he wil be constrayned to lay a side all pride of mynde and to cloath himselfe with humilitie and lowlines To this end at the triumphant coronation of the Pope a woorthy custome is obserued that a litle towe beeing tyed to the end of a staf it is held vp and set on fyre and beeing in opeÌ„ view suddeynlie burnt one with a loud voice crieth out saying Sic transit gloria mundi Pater sancte that is to say Euen thus o holy Father passeth a way the glorie of the world And for this cause also a holy Patriarke desyrous in that high dignitie to keep himselfe humble and lowlie ordeyned that the makers of his tombe the worke where of he would should continew all the time of his lyfe euerie time that he was in any great pompe should appeare before him and tel him how his tombe was stil in making and that therefore he should prepare himself for death and this he did that such remembrance might alwayes in the middest of wordlie honour keep him humble and lowlie The other merueylous profit that cometh of the meditation of death The second fruit is a suffic eÌ„t remedie against coueteousnes for the man that perswadeth himself to liue euer in this world can neuer be coÌ„tent nor satisfied with heaping vp of riches but becometh wholy insatiable yet when hee remeÌ„breth that ere it be long he must leaue all things and cannot carie away with him so much as one half peny then beginneth he to dispise all the goodes of the world This is it which S. Ierome wryteth to Paulinus saying Epist 101. Facile contemnit omnia qui semper cogitat se esse morituru that is he which euer hath in mynde that he shal dy doth easelie contemne all things And Salomon saith that a man liuing long in aboundance and glorie of the world Ecclesiast 12 ought to remember the darke and obscure time of death which beeing once come shal make euerie man know how vaine and britle haue bene the thinges which are past and gon And Plato highlie commending this meditation of death sayeth more worthie philosophy then this can not bee found Whoso then desireth in short time and with ease to become a perfect philosopher yea a godlie man and beloued of God let him giue himselfe wholie to thee meditation of death and he shal fynd by sure experience that my wordes are neyther false nor vaine The third fruite Lib. 16. moral cap. â—â—t The third fruit of the remembrance of death is that all desire of carnal lust is theirby easely extinguished S. Gregorie witnesseth this where hee saith Nothing auayleth so much to tame the desires of the flesh then the memorie of death and to think what this poor flesh shal become when the soule hath left it The sainctes which wear by nature cloathed with frayle and wanton flesh as wee are through help of this exercise of the mynd did easelie ouercome all fleshlie motions as it is red of many and speciallie of an Ermite who beeing much assaulted with the temptation of the flesh through an imagination that the diuel presented before him of a yong woman that was dead on whome in the tyme of her lyf he had bene enamoured hee digged her dead body stincking and ful of wormes out of her graue and casting himself vpon this carcas licked it with his tongue and smelling the filthy sauour said to his flesh go to now cruel and vntamed beast take now thy fil of that which thow haste affected with an vnmeasurable and dissolute loue and so by this meanes hee was freed from this his fleshly temptation The fourth commoditie rising of this consideration is that not only pride couetousnes and leacherie are thereby ouercome but also euerie other sinne may by it bee auoyded as the scripture testifieth In omnibus operibus tuis memorare nouissima tua in aeternum non peccabis In all thy woorkes remember the end and thow shalt neuer sinne And to thesame effect a holy Abbot said Semper memor esto exitus tui non erit delictuÌ„ in anima tua that is remember alwayes thine end their shal neuer bee synne in thy soule But what need I to remember thee of the merueylous fruits of the first rule which are almost innumerable by this thow
A DIALOGVE OF DYING WEL. First written in the Italian tongue by the Reuerend father Don Peeter of Luca a Chanon regular a Doctor of Diuinitie and famous preacher VVherin is also contayned sundry profitable resolutions vpon some doubtful questions in Diuinitie Translated first into French and novv into English VVatch and pray for you knovv not vvhen the tyme is Mar. 13. Imprinted at Antwerp by A.C. 1603. TO THE RIGHT REVEREND LADY IOAN BARKLEY ABBESSE of the English Monastery of Nunnes of the holy order of S. Benedict in Bruxels RIght Reuerend I heer present vnto your perusal this dialogue of dying wel a woork more of woorth for the goodnes then in value for the greatnes It was first written in the Italian tongue by a deuout Chanon of Luca by M. Peeter Frison a deuout Chanon of Rhemes wel knowne through his pietie vnto many of our nation it was since translated into french The remembrāce of death as Bishop fisher of blessed memory was wont to say doth neuer come out of season and this spake that good father in regard that the remembrance of death tendeth vnto a care to endeuour to dy wel a matter of moste important consideration vnto all that liue There are sundry serpents and monsters that out of filth and corruption do take their originals and so in lyke manner was that vgly monster called death out of the filth and sin of our first aunceter first engendred The agillitie arte of this moste mercilesse tyrant cōsisteth in the continual casting of deadly dartes and infynit hee throweth out euen in euery moment neuer ayming but at lyuing hartes neuer missing those hee aymeth at neither is there any armour to bee found that may withstand his hart-piersing force VVherefore seeing to auoyd death there is no remedy the remedy then that remayneth is the learning how to dy wel this lesson the ensuing dialogue teacheth only truants neglect to learne it but attentiue schollers do deepely imprint it in memory To your good Ladiship I dedicate the same vnto you the first Abbesse of your holy order reuyued in our nation whose posteritie by the diuine prouidence may come to brighten our country with their shyning sanctitie as your predecessors heretofore haue donne after that S. Augustyne had brought and taught vnto the English people the first knowlege belief in the true God and his deer sonne and our Sauiour Christe Iesus A religious man was this first Apostle of ours and of your order as also were those holy Abbesses and religious virgins so much comēded by the venerable Bede and other veritable writers in there relating their holy liues and wonderful miracles yea euen after their deathes which were true arguments of their dying wel the which they wel learned to do whyle they liued as he graunt wee also may to whose holy tuition I leaue your Reuerend Ladiship This 3. of April 1603. Your Ladiships very much deuoted R. V. THE AVTHORS PROHEME ACCORDING to the iudgemēt of Aristotle man of all mortal creatures is moste prudent for that hee alone foreseeith thinges to come and therefore differeth from the brute beast which regardeth only thinges that bee present Man therefore seeing hee must dy is by his natural wisdome enclyned to foresee his death the cogitation wherof is vnto him a thing more terrible then any other thing els whatsoeuer and it much more doth importe him He therefore that desyreth to walk wisely in this miserable lyfe must in such sorte prepare and dispose himself for dreadful death that when it approcheth neere vnto him hee be not taken vnprouyded and that for want of due consideration he lose not the chief felicitie and besydes that be assigned for euer vnto the paines of hel VVherefore beeing desirous to begin this discourse of the arte or science to dy wel for an introduction thereunto I presuppose suche an imagined narration as heer ensueth A DIALOGVE OF DYING WEL. THERE was a marchant which trauayling into a far countrie as hee wandred out of his way happened to come into a great wildernesse where he chaunced to meet with an old Eremite who through great age was euen ouerspent worne with whome after he had begōne to enter into discours he asked him what he did their in that solitarie place now so neere vnto the date of his death The Eremite answered sayd Thow shalt my sonne vnderstād that when I was in the flourishing age of thirtie yeares I forsook the deceitful world and retyred my self into this solitarie place heer to do some kynde of penance for my former synnes and to learne to dy and heere haue I continuallie dwelt in solitude these threscore and ten years Then the Marchāt said to him it seemeth too mee a thing very superfluous that thow shouldest seek to learne to dy seeing thow beeing a mortal man and alreaddie an hundred yeers old must needs dy and that verie shortly The Eremite answered this is that which I feare not without great astonishment do euerie day think vpon cōsidering that I am not redy for death and neuerthelesse I know assuredly that I must dy To this then quoth the Marchant what thing is it to know how to dy The old Ermite answered him to know how to dy is no other thing then to flie all things that may offend our lord God and with diligence to doe all that hee commādeth obseruing obedientlie all his preceptes and commandements and to be in suche wise neat and cleane in cōscience that arryuing vnto the last end of our lyfe wee may be receaued into the euerlasting rest of the cittizens of heauē At these woordes the Marchāt begining to feel in his hart some suddaine motiō to the change of his lyfe sayd vnto him againe o deere father your talk greatly pleaseth mee Tel mee I beseech yow could yow giue mee some good instructions touching this moste necessarie point of dying wel Hereūto the Ermite answered that he was very willing to make him partaker of such gaine as alredy himself had gotten by his study in that science there-withal asked him what trade hee liued by hee answered that hee was a Marchant whervnto the Ermite added that the arte of a Marchant is to sel his marchādise deer and to buy good cheape yf thow then desire quoth hee to make a good market and to buy a treasure incomparable and far beyond all estimation for a litle price behold heauen which is so great and glorious and buy it with thy temporal goods giuing them to the poore for thee loue of God Then thee Marchāt beeing desirous to bee further satisfied asked him againe saying o deere father and my good maister I pray yow tel mee yf so be that you had a scholler whome you loued wel or a sonne whome you deerely affected what arte principallie would you teache him The Ermite answered setting a syde all secrets all artes all experimentes and all sciences in the world other arte would I not
shalt easely get patience in all thy troubles for euerie man in trouble is greatlie comforted when he thinketh that by death all aduersitie is ended and that after death great rewardes are prepared for all those that bee truely patient By this feare is engendred in the soule of a reasonable creature which is the beginning of the amendment of lyf for who is so sencelesse that considering wel and diligentlie the circumstāces of death doth not from top to toe tremble and quake And yf thow wilt say vnto mee I cannot feare death then must I answear thee that it proceedeth of these causes eyther that thow arte not a reasonable creature or that thow arte without vnderstanding or els that thow art ignorant how to consider and think on it wel It is no sinne to feare death because this feare is natural and was in our Sauiour Christe in as much as hee was man and wee fynde that the wise and natural philosophers had an apprehension of death but out of doubt it should bee a moste grieuous enormous sinne yf for such feare one should desyre to continew alwayes remaine in this miserable lyfe yea against God almightie his wil and pleasure And the feare of death in this manner is reproued in holy scriptures It is good then to feare death when such feare induceth thee to the feare and loue of God but it is a verie il thing to feare it when thow art therby disposed to gaine-say the holy wil of God I speak to thee of this laudable and profitable feare and thereto I inuite thee seeing without it holy men haue not profited in the perfection of christian lyfe I refuse and greatly blame that other vnmeasured feare of carnal and wicked men If thow take a custome to remember death in all thyne acts and deeds thow wilt become so timerous to displease almightie God that thow wilt cast from thee all slouth and sluggishnes and that this is true is apparant because yf thow shouldest think that to morrow thow must needs dy suddeynlie thow wouldest bee made wel disposed to all good woorkes Oh how much almes how many prayers how great contrition and what number of teares sobbes and sighes wouldest thow make and powre out Fasting would not bee hard for thee nor to pardon thine enemies nor yet to make restitution of euil gotten goods And therefore when thow art tempted with slouth or that wel doing grieueth thee take this spur of the remembrance of death and therewith prick thyne asse forward driuing him on and saying together with Salomon Eccl cap. 9. bestirre thee to doe good for thow arte to go out of hand where thow cāst not woork any more for thy profit and commoditie S. Gregorie saith valde se sollicitat in bone opere S. Greg. qui semper cogitat de extremo fine that is he maketh himself verie diligent in good woorks that alwayes thinketh on his last end And Seneca not disagreing from this our purpose saith nothing helpeth so much to temperance in all things as the often thinking vpon death wheer with thow maiest direct thy whole lyfe euen as the gouernour of a ship doth direct his vessel who desirous to bring it wel home into the hauen setteth himself at the sterne in the end therof so putting thy self by consideration into the end of thy lyfe thow shalt guide thy soule to the hauen of health Set thy self then continually to consider the end of thy lyfe and yf their commeth vpon thee a desire of worldlie riches say within thy self I must dy shortlie and I may dy euen this hower it standeth mee vpon therefore to take heed that for transitorie gayne I doe not lose my soule and euerlasting blisse If thou bee tempted with ambition and worldlie glorie run immediatlie to the remembrance of death say to thy desire If I am to dy shortlie and paraduenture to day or to morrow what need haue I to think how to make my self great in this world where I am to abyde so litle and short a time So in euerie other carnal desyre and in euerie other temptation that may come to thee eyther of hatred or of enuie or of pryd or of gluttonie alwayes thow shalt help thy self with the remembrance of death And their shal be no sinner so great that with this onlie remedie wel vsed and practised shal not be able to leaue sinne and to do trew pennance with perseueration And note that this remedie although it bee profitable to all yet is it much more profitable to beginners and to those that be nouices in the way of our Lord then to others that be wel forward or come to perfection Therefore as a holie father saith for those that haue gotten an habit in sinne and for the beginners in spiritual lyfe the remembrāce of death is no lesse necessarie and needful then daylie bread vnto the lyfe of the bodie yea it is wrytten that without such remembrance hardlie any one can bee saued for the scripture saith Ecclesiast ◠2 without feare no man is iustified which feare is wont to proceed of the remembrance of death Seeing then that thow knowest sufficientlie the medecine for all thy spiritual infirmities yf thow do not put it in practise vsing it when thow haste need the fault shal be thine And yf thow wilt be a diligent obseruer of this vniuersal remedie at the last end of thy lyfe that may be trewlie sayd of the which a bishop called Theophilus said vpon his death bed vnto the abbot Arsenius Blessed art thow Arsenius which haste alwayes had before thine eyes this last hower of death The Marchant hauing with much attension heeded these the Ermites woords and not without great cōtentation receaued thereby the aforesaid fruites beeing filled with a kynd of spiritual sweetnes hee said vnto the Eremite Father of two thinges I do much meruaile the first is that so few by this so easie way of the remembrance of death endeuour themselues to get so many marueylous spiritual commodities the second is how it cometh to passe that many think and remember themselues of their lyues last hower yet notwithstanding do not attayne to one of the least of these fruits and marueylous commodities To this answered the olde Ermite I shal not be able my sonne without teares to answere thee if I assoyle thy propounded questions seeing so great a multitude of christians to bee damned which so easilie might saue themselues for I am by fraternal charitie constrained to this grief and compassion of the ignorance and negligence of the world To the first then I answere that the world is so ful of so great ignorances and blyndnes and the health of soules so litle or nothing cared for that one ducat of gold or one carnal contentation is more estemed then a thowsand heauens The least thought or care that worldlings haue now adayes is of their saluation Therefore it is not to bee marueyled at that so
peril at all After that hee procureth the phisition to giue him too much hope of lyfe and lykewyse all them of the howse And his fteindes and kinsfolkes to comforte him saying Sir bee of good cheere for ye shal amend verie shortlie And yf any religious man come to visit him they warne him or tel him that for nothing in the world he put any feare in him or tel him that hee is in peril to dy All these bee woorkings of our ghostelie enemie Therefore a wyseman so soone as hee feeleth himself sick saith I wil confesse my self and receyue the blessed sacrament and prepare my self for death and after let God woork his holy wil of mee as it pleaseth him for that I am his creature But note that when hee hath made this good determination the deuil doth not yet ceasse to make him delay so good a deed and beginneth to moue his wyf yf hee bee maried and his kinsfolkes to leaue them some of his worldlie substance and they talk to him of many hard thinges and all worldlie In the meane while the sicknes encteaseth and the sickman saith dispatche these businesses I wil in any wyse bee confessed In suche case I would aduyse thee to haue an eye to the principal which is the health of thy soule for the malice of the deuil layeth many snares to catche thee Say not I wil first dispatche my worldlie busines and then confesse mee because it is the deuil that maketh thee to speak so but say I wil first confesse me and prepare for my soule and after I wil dispose these other things of the world because this busines of the soule doth to say the truth importe mee much more then a thowsand worldes And doubt not when thow shalt be confessed thow shalt haue in thee the grace of God and bee better able then to dispose of thy worldlie things with more iudgement and better meanes Now marke wel my sonne for in this rule I wil discouer vnto thee some goodlie secretes which commonlie are not set fourth of some deuout men which haue entreated of this arte to dy wel All how shold and worldlie care beeing then set a side I wil haue thee after thow haste examined thy conscience to make thy confession to a good and learned priest following the example of S. Augustine who in his last sicknes would haue none to enter into his chamber for some dayes together vntil he had made a diligent search examination of his conscience And so hee had written before to a nephew of his and perswaded him that putting a syde all earthlie care in his sicknes hee should turne himselfe wholie to God almightie with great contrition beholding the blessed woundes of our moste mercyful redeemer and bewayling detesting al his faultes past In this tyme it should be verie good to say the seaueÌ„ peniteÌ„tial Psalmes as did thesame S. Augustyne who turning his heauie pale face to the wall where the seauen Psalmes weere written and beeing froÌ„ all other care sequestred sayd them with great aboundance of teares demaunding of almightie God mercie pardon for his sinnes And after such a contrition and repentance for thy sinnes thow shalt then make thy confession with an exact examination of thy conscience and after while thow art in perfect memorie thow shalt receyue the blessed sacrament which is called in latyn viaticum that is to say a viage prouision because it is necessarie and needful in the way by which wee haue to passe from this lyf to the next With how great reuerence and deuotion so great a sacrament is to be receyued I wil not for breuities sake heere declare but wil referre thee for this matter to the examples of the sainctes and especially for the passage out of this lyfe to the glorious doctor S. Hierome where thow shalt fynde with how many teares and with how merueylous great consideration hee receyued the blessed sacrament all which is wrytten for our example When now thow shalt be communicated immediatelie thow shalt require that growing woors thow mayest haue the sacrament of extreme vnction when it shal seeme good to thy ghostly father And heer I wil tel thee a good note which is that yf thow take the sacrameÌ„t of extreme vnctioÌ„ in such manner as I haue instructed thee and yf thow pray to our Lord aswel as thow canst and oftentymes repeat thy prayer and perseuer in desire vntil death asking of God that for his infinite mercy and by the vertue of this holie Sacrament of extreme vnction he wil graunt thee plenarie remission in this lyfe of all thy sinnes that is to say that when thy soule shal be seperated from thy bodie immidiatly without touche of the paynes of purgatorie thow mayest flie to the blisse of euerlasting lyfe Iohn Gerson Chancelor of Paris and William Altissiodorensis affirme with whome agreeth also Peter de Palude that in this case the sick dying with the disposition and holy preparation before mentioned shal not feel the paynes of purgatorie but straight way shal ascend to the eternal ioyes of heauen And it seemeth Cassiobrus was of this opinion touching the plenary remission in alleaging this verse â—salm 115. Dirupisti Domine vincula mea tibi sacrificabo hostiam laudis that is thow haste broken my bandes in sonder o lord to thee wil I yeeld the sacrifice of prayse which as some hold opinioÌ„ being sayd in the end of a mannes lyf doth procure that his sinnes be remitted that is as I expound it touching the payne for as for the fault perfect contrition sufficeth Behold my welbeloued sonne how easilie a christian may obtayne plenarie remission and ful pardon of his sinnes See besydes how much it importeth to knowe this arte of dying wel and how greatlie it profiteth how to knowe to make preparation with the sacraments of holy Churche And yf thow weart at that point that thow couldest then not haue the sacrameÌ„ts in this case thy good desire with the continewance of the said prayer would suffice thee And so by the opinion of Iohn Gerson a verie Catholike doctor William Altissiodorensis thow shouldest lykewyse obtayne plenarie remission by the vertue of that prayer Yea without the sacraments actuallie receyued Therefore marke this notable saying and keep it in memorie and prayse the infinite goodnes of God who for so short and few wordes doth deliuer vs from the payne of so great a fyer The third rule THE third rule for the tyme of sicknes is that thow prepare thy self to be constant and strong against the sundrie temptatioÌ„s whear with the deuil wil trouble thee Wherefore it is to be known according to the doctrine of diuynes that the deuil is more diligent in tempting at the tyme of death then in the tyme of health for he thinking the disease to be mortal saith to himself yf I lose this soule at this instant I lose it for euer wherfore I wil not leaue to doe what
example of S. Paule S. Martin diuers holy men of such a man so as hee be confirmable to God his holy wil and pleasure we ought to haue a good and holy opinion because hee hath his desires agreable vnto charitie Hereunto replyed the Merchant yf this be so then are but few saued because few they be which desire not to haue long lyfe to triumphe heer in ioy and to get worldly riches and honours Therefore these things ye tell mee seeme vnto mee verie strange and difficil To this answered the good Ermyte saying my sonne I graunt thee that few are saued but yet that which I tell thee is true and taken out of the doctrine of holy diuynes which to auoyd tediousnes I name not nor yet goe I about to proue at length this my saying because it is a thing verie palpable and wel knowne to deuout holy persons The third question THE third question was whether wee ought to haue an ill opinion of them that at the last end of their lyf do lose the vse of reason many tymes do vtter vaine and il speeches The Ermite answered with distinction saying that of these wee ought to say as of them which in health become mad and dy in their madnes who yf they weare in state of grace when they loste the vse of reason so dyed they are saued but yf then they wear in mortal sinne and so dyed they be without all doubt damned in hel And note for our purpose that the iust iudge our Lord Iesus Christe suffereth somtymes some great sinners in their last sicknes to lose the vse of reason in iust iudgement to the intent that as in their lyfe tyme they haue not bene myndful of almightie God so in their death they should not remember themseluee This is that which S. Augustine said Hac animaduersione percutitur peccator vt moriens obliuiscatur sui qui dū viueret oblitus est Dei that is to say with this punishment the sinner is stricken that dying hee forgetteth himself which whilest hee liued did forget almighty God Such men as these hauing liued beastly and without reason for their woorthie punishment ought to dy as brute beastes without any good preparatiō therefore without confession and communion and without any signe of contrition oftentymes with blasphemies and ill woordes they passe out of this miserable lyfe to the more miserable and euerlasting paine of hell On the contrary parte it happeneth somtymes to some iust and holy persons that in the end of his lyfe through the great mercie of God being in state of grace hee loseth the vse of reason and becometh frantick and speaketh many soule and vnseemely woordes God who is mercyful suffereth this to fall vnto him for his profit and of compassion to the end hee feele not the great payne of his sicknesse and that the deuils may not haue occasion to afflict him with temptations after the losse of the vse of reason God almightie of his benignitie vseth this mercy with him that hath bene good and is of nature fearful and frayle deliuering him by this mean from the grief of the sicknes which hee doth not feele so much when his bodie is without vse of reason and making him vnable to receyue the deuils temptations because he that is without vse of reason doth not sinne And say hee or do hee what hee wil yea though hee vtter woordes against God in that tyme it is not imputed vnto him for sinne but it is inoughe for him whē hee had his vnderstāding that hee had true cōtrition for his sinnes and was in the grace and fauour of God The fourth question THE fourth question was whether wee ought to thinke il of them that dy of sodayne or violent death The Ermyte answered that according to the iudgement of S. Augustine Mors mala dicenda non est quam bona vita praecessit that is to say That death is not to be esteemed il which a good lyfe hath gonne before Alwayes when a man hath lyued wel and at the point of death is without deadlie sinne such a death ought to bee esteemed good because Preciosa in conspectu Domini mors sanctorum eius that is to say precious in our Lords sight is the death of his saintes So as let a man dy of what kynde of death soeuer it bee eyther of fire or water or swoord or pestilence or poyson or sodaynly or lingringly alwayes his death is said to be holy and pretious when hee dyeth in the state of grace Wee haue example of this in many holy confessors martirs which in respect of the world haue dyed ignominious and shameful deathes and neuerthelesse they are now happy with God in heauen And thesame also happened to our Lord Iesus Christe to whome as yf hee had bene the prince of thieues was allotted by the wicked and obstinate Iewes the infamous death of the crosse And for the contrarie hee saith that alwayes of wysemen that death is iudged il when one dyeth in mortal sinne although hee haue a quiet and honourable death to the sight of the world and bee in disgrace with almightie God and alwayes by holy men that death is iudged the wurst because as Dauid saith Mors peccatorum pessimae the death of sinners is the most euil All deathes then be ill when men dy in deadly sinne and contrariwise euerie kynde of death is good and holy when a man dyeth in the fauour of almightie God The fift question THE fift question was whether it be lawful to desire a man when hee dyeth that after death hee wil appeare vnto thee and tel thee his estate The Ermite answered that hee foūd to this question two contrarie answears giuen by the Doctors The one is of the Angelical Doctor S. Thomas In quodlibeti who saith that when there is not ioyned withal any curiositie or infidelitie but onely a careful desire to know the state of him that dyeth then is it lawful to require such a thing The other answear cōtrarie is of Henry de Ascia who saith that it is not a thing lawful because it can hardly come but of avayne curiositie and peraduenture of infidelitie to be assured of the lyfe to come and besydes that hee putteth himself in peril to be deluded of the deuil who many tymes appeareth in forme and shape of the dead and reuealeth false things And therefore wee read in the gospel that Abraham would not permit that any reuelation or apparition should be made vnto the brethren of the wicked riche man who prayed him to send some one that was dead vnto them that yet liued to aduertise them of his miserable state To whome Abraham answered Habent Moysen Prophetas audiant illos that is to say They haue Moyses the Prophetes let them heare them But it seemeth vnto mee that when a man is not moued neyther of infidelitie nor of curiositie but onely for