both God and man man and god Neuerthelesse although by thy marueilous will the word was made flesh yet neither of both the natures was chainged into others substance In the misterie of the Trinitie there is not a fourth person added for y substance of the word of God and of man was vnited and knitte together but not confused and mixed that that thing which was taken of vs should be turned into God and that whiche neuer had bene before that time that his flesh manhoode should be the same that had bene euer without any beginning that is his Godhead Oh marueilous mistery Oh vnspekable felowship Oh marueilous meeknes of thy heaueÌ„ly mercifulnes which is euer worthy marueiling and euer to be loued we were but vile seruantes and beholde we are made the sonnes of God yea and heyres of God together with Christ From whence came this goodnes who brought vs vnto this state But I require thee O most mercifull father by thine inestimable pitie goodnes and charity to make vs worthy of these many and great promises of the same thy sonne our Lord Jesu Christ Send forth thy strength O God establish the thing that thou hast wrought in vs Make perfect that which thou hast begun that we may be able to come vnto the fulnesse perfectnes of thy pitie Make vs through y holy ghost to vnderstand and through thy Sonne to deserue with due honor alway to worship this great misterie of thy pitic whiche is manifest in our fleshe iustified in the spirite did appeare vnto Angels was preached vnto nations was beleeued to be in the world was taken vp into heauen Amen ¶ Of the thankes which man ought to geue vnto God for the benefite of his redemption LOoke how much O Lord our God we ar in debt vnto thee euen for so great a price were we redeemed with such a great gift were we saued and with so great a benefite helped Howe much ought we wretehes to loue dread bles praise honour and glorifie thee which hast so loued vs after such fashion saued vs after such a sort sanctified vs to set vs on hie To thee truly do we owe and are bound as much as we are able euen our life and all our study and endeuour But who hath any thing that is not thine But do thou O Lorde our God from whom al goodnes procedeth euen for thy holy names sake geue vs of thy goodnes that we may serue thee of thine owne goodes and giftes and that we may please thee in truth and repay vnto thee daily due prayses for so great benifites of thy mercie For by none other meanes raÌ„ we serue the but by thine owne giftes that thou hast lent vs while we be in this world For euery good gift and euery perfect gift is from aboue commeth down from the father of light with whome there is none alteration or variablenes neyther yet is hee chainged vnto darcknes O Lorde our God and a pitifull god a good God and almighty God an vnspeakable God and incompreÌ„sible of such a nature that can not be contayned as in a place O God which art the beginner of all thinges and the father of our Lord Jesu Christ which diddest send the same thy beloued sonne our Lord foorth of thy bosome to our common profite to take vpon him our life to the entent he might geue vs his life and that hee might be perfect and very God of thee his father and very perfect man of his mother a whole and a perfect God a whole and perfect man and yet but onely Christ both euerlasting and enduring but for a space both immortal and mortall both a creator and a creature strong and weake an ouercommer and one ouercommed a nurse and one that was nursed him selfe a shepheard and a sheepe dead for a time and liuing with the euerlasting promising to theÌ„ that loued him the freedome of life who sayd to his disciples what thing soeuer ye aske the Father in my name he will geue it vnto you For that hie priestes sake which was also a Bishop indeede a good shephearde that offred himselfe in a sacrifice to thee putting his life in ieoperdie for his flock for his sake I say I besech thee which sitteth on thy right hand maketh intercession for vs being our redeemer and our aduocate that thou wouldest graunte vnto me that together with thy Sonne and the holy Ghost I may in all thinges blesse glorifie thee with much contrition of hart and a fountaine of teares with much reuerence and feare For the gift of them that be all of one substance is all one But because a bodie that is corrupted doth aggranate burden the soule stir vp and awake I beseech thee my sluggishnes with thy prickes and prouokinges and make me boldly to perseuer continue in thy coÌ„manndements and lawes day and night Graunt mee that my harte may waxe warme within me and that many meditation prayer I may be feruent And for as much as thy onely sonne sayd No maÌ„ can come to me excepte my Father that sente me shall draw him again No man commeth to the Father but by me I â—â—quire and humbly besech thee drawe me alwayes vnto him that he at the length may bring me to thee thether I meane whereas he is sitting on thy right hand whereas is euerlasting life continuall blessednes wheras is perfect loue without all kinde of feare wheras is one day euerlasting and one spirite of al men whereas is most sure securitie safety sure quietâ—es and quiet plesantnes pleasant felicitie and happines happy eternitie continuall and eternall seeing praising of thee without end wheras thou with him and he with thee in the communion and vnity of the holy Ghost euerlastingly continuallye liuest and raignest throughout all worldes of worldes Amen ¶ A deuout prayer vnto Christ O Christ God which art my hope and the true and gentle louer of mankinde the light the way the life the health the honour and worship of them that be thine I besech thee call to thy remembraunce all thinges that thou willingly didst suffer for theÌ„ both bands crosse woundes death and sepulcher which after three dayes death being ouercommed diddest rise wast seene of thy disciples reforming theyr hartes and establishing them that were almost declining from thee the fortie day after didst ascend vp to heauen which liuest euerlastinly now and raignest throughout worldes Thou art my God both louing true my father and my God both holy and pitiful my mighty king my good shepheard mine onely maister my best helper one whome I am most bound to loue my liuing bread mine euerlasting priest my guide vnto my coutry my true light my holy sweetnes my right and straight way mine excellent wisedome my sure and vnfayned simplicitie my peaceable coÌ„cord my safe garison my good portion mine euer lasting health my great mercy my strongest
patience mine vnspotted sacrifice my holy redemption my sure and stedfast hope my perfect charitie my very and true resurrection mine euerlasting life my ioy most blessed vision and continual without ende I humbly beseech thee I desire and pray thee that I may walke by thee that I may come to thee that I may rest in thee which art the way the truth and the life without the which no man cā come vnto the Father Thee do I desire and couet O good Lord which art the brightnesse of thy Fathers glory which sittest aboue the angell called Cherubin and doest behold the low and deep places which art the true light the light that lighteneth all things the light that neuer falleth nor goeth out which the angels haue desire to beholde Loe my harte is before thee in thy sight put away the darcknes from it that it may fully be replenished with the clearnes of thy loue Geue vnto me Lord thy selfe beholde I do loue thee and if that be but a thing of small valure make me to loue thee more strongly and earnestly I can not measure to knowe how much I lacke of thy loue neyther can I tell howe much should be sufficient for me that my life may fulfill his course in thy loue and not turne backe vntill it be hid in the secrets of thy countenance Neuerthelesse this I know that it were euell with me if it were not for thee O Lord that not onely with the outward things that belong vnto me but also with the inward thinges For all my riches God except is but mere pouertie but thou onely art a treasure and a parcell of riches that canst neither be chainged into better nor worse Thou art he to whome it is not one thing to liue and an other thing to liue happely because thou are thy blessedues thy happines and thou art all one But I which am thy creature to whome it is not one thing to liue an other thing to liue blessedly happely all both in that I liue and in that I liue happely I ought not to attribute nor referre it to be receiued of any body but of thy fauour therfore haue we need of the but not thou of vs because if were not at al yet shouldest thou lack nothing of thy goodnes Therefore O Lord it is necessary for vs to sticke and cleane vnto thee that by thy continuall helpe we may be able to liue holily vertuously and as we ought to liue for with the waight of our frailuesse we are drawn euen downward but by thy gift we are stirred caried vpward we seruētly desire to ascend we make certain ascensiōs in our harts lifting thē vpward sing the song of starres with the fire of thy loue I say are wee kindled moued to goe with thee Whether goe we now vpwarde vnto the peace of Jerusalem because I was glad and did reioyee in those thinges which were spoken vnto me we will go into the house of our Lord there hath he placed vs we will haue good thin-that we may will or desire nothing els but to tary and remaine there for euer But for asmuch as whilest we be clad with this body wer do as it were goe astray and are straingers vnto thee we haue not here an abiding place for euer but wee seek for one that is to come Our abiding place is in heauen therefore thy fauour and grace being my guide I enter into the chamber of my hart and sing vnto thee songes of loue my king my God mourning with merueilous sighinges in this place of my peregrination whereas thy iustices are made my songes and when I remember Jeru salem I extende strerch forth toward it the senses of my hart Jerusalem I say which is my contrey Jerusalem which is my mother and toward thee whiche art a king ouer her her light her father her defender her patron her gouernor her keper her chast and strong delight her only and whole pleasure all her goodnes come of thee because thou art the chiefe good and the true good and I will neuer turne backe vntill thou bring me home from this pilgrimage in whiche I am deformedly scattred abroad vnto the peace of my dearely beloued mother whereas be the first fruits of my spirite and vntill thou O God which art my mercy fasion me and confirme me for euer ¶ A prayer declaring with how great miseries this 〈◊〉 is replenished I Am wonderful wery O Lord of this life of this carefull painful pilgrimage This life is a wretched life a life that will sonefade away an vncertain life a painfull life an vncleane life a life that worthely may be called the maistres of all euilles the queene of pride full of miseries and errors which is not wor thy to be called a life but rather a deathe in the which euery houre wee dye by diuers defectes failinges of nature by mutabilities alterations diuers kinds of deaths How can we therfore cal this that wee liue in this world a life which is puf fed vp and swollen often with humoures made leane and feeble with for rowes dried with angers and whot hasty furies of the minde the ayre filleth it full of diseases meates do infect it fasting doth extenuate and make it leane pastimes make it to dissolute and rechles pensiuenes doth shorten and lessen it securitie and too much case maketh it dull and nothing lustie riches setteth it a flote puffeth it vp into pride pouertie dismayeth and discourageth it youth extolleth it age lameth it infirmitie breaketh it for rowe oppresseth it And immediatly after these euils as though it were by succession commeth death maketh an ende of al the ioyes of this miserable life after suche a sort that a man woulde not thinke when he leaueth this life to haue liued at all This liuing death and dying life although it be sprinckled mixte with these other sorrowes and miseries yet oh good Lord how many men doe it catch entangle with her entising snares and how ma ny doth she deceiue with her deceitfull false promises and al for that she of her selfe is so false and bitter that her blinde louers can not bee kepte long secret nor close vnknown yet doth she daily cause an infinite number of fooles to drinke of the goldē cup which she beareth in her hand yea and maketh them vtterly drunken with the loue of her Happy are they but very few of them is there that refuse her acquaintance and familiaritie or that dispise to vse her ioyes or that neglect her frendship and felowship least when their deceiuer perisheth that they shoulde perish also ¶ Of the blessednes of that life which God hath prepared for them that loue him BUt thou heauenly life thou art she whome God hath ordayned and prepared for them that loue him thou art the heuenly life the blessed life the sure life the quiet life the fayre
life the clean life the chast life the holy life the life that knowest no death knowest no sadnes or pensiuenes a life without spot without do lour without vexation without corruptiō without trouble without variety or mutabilitie a life most full of pleasure and dignitie wheras is none aduersarie to striue against a man no inticements of sinnes wheras is perfect loue without all maner of feare wheras is day continually one spirite of all men wheras God is sene face to face and the minde is fed with this meat of life without ende I haue a very good minde and desire to marke and geue heed to thy clearnesse with thy goods the desire and appetite of my hart is delighted Loke how much I am able to consider with my selfe in musing and thinking of thy commodities euen so much am I rauished rapte with thy loue with the ardent desire of thee the sweet and comfortable remembrance of thee am I wōderfully delited I haue a pleasure therefore surely to lift vp the eyes of my harte vnto thee to erecte the state of my mind and conforme or fashion the affects of my minde vnto thee It pleaseth me to talke of thee to heare of thee to write of thee to conferre and meditate of thee to read euery day of thy blessednes and glory and to muse oftentimes in my minde of that things I haue read concerning thee that at the least by such meanes I being vnder the sweet refresshing comforting of thy liuely ayre may passe from the vexatiōs ieoperdies laboures and trauels of this mortall life that wil soone perish and that in passing I may lay my wery head in thy bosome to sleepe or to rest a litle For this cause do I enter into the pleasant medow of the holy scriptures and in plowing I pluck the goodliest greene herbes of sentences and in reading I do eate them and in frequenting I do meditate and as it were cut them in gathering them together at the last I last them vp in my memory that by such meanes whē I haue tasted of thy sweetnes I may somewhat lesse feel the bitternes of this most wretched life O thou most happy life oh kingdome which art blessed in deed which lackest deth which art without end no time doth successiuely passe at any time to thee wheras continuall day without night knoweth no time whereas that capitaine conqueror is accompanied with those quires of Angels singing of himnes songes they sing vnto God without ceasing the ballet of ballets of Sion Oh most noble head which art cōpassed about with a perpetuall crowne oh that pardon and forgeuenes of my sinnes were graunted vnto me then immediatly this burden of my fleshe layde away that I might enter into thy ioy to haue true rest that I might get with in the goodly and beutifull walles of thy citie to receiue a crown of life at the hand of our lord that I might bee amongest those most holy quires that I mighte stand with the most blessed spirites of the creator of glory that I might see presently the coūtenance of Christ that I might beholde alwayes that most hie vnspeakable light incomprehensible which can not be cōtayned as in a place And so I should not only be out of al feare of death but also I might reioyce alwayes at the gift of the euerlasting incorruption Amen ¶ Here do we complaine that wee be not moued nor pricked in our contēplation prayer like as the Angels be which tremble at the sight of God. PArdon me O Lorde pardon me mercifully forgeue me and haue mercy vppon me spare mine ignoraunce and my great vnperfectnes do not reproue me as a rash fellow because I dare be be so bolde which am but thy seruaunt but would to God I were eyther a good seruant or none vn profitable nor euill seruant And therfore am I an euill man because I prayse blesse worship thee which art our God almighty terrible very much to be feared I worship thee I say with out contritiō of hart and without a well of teares For if so be that the Angels when they worship and prayse thee do tremble being fulfilled with merueilous gladnes I which am a sinner whilest I stande before thee saying prayses offring sacrifice why am I not afrayd in my hart why am I not pale in my coūtenance why do not my lips quake and tremble why is not all my body afrayd why do I not mourne and bewayle before thee after such a sort that teares might spring out of mine eies I wold faine but I am not able because I can not do that whiche I desire to doo This maketh me truely wonderfully to marueill that I am no more moued when I see with the eyes of my fayth thee which art so fearful But who can do any thing without the help of thy grace except thou make our stony hartes to relent wee of our selues are not able to mollifie them but all our health dependeth vpon thy great mercy O wretch that I am how is my soule made without any feeling or perseuerance that it is not afraid with ouermuche feare whilest it standeth before God and singeth to him his owne prayses Alas how is my hart so hardened that mine eyes do not gush out gret flouds of teares without ceasing when I which am but a seruaunt or bondman do common and talke in my Lorde and maisters presence Yea a man with God a creature with a creator I that am made of the shine of the earth do speake with him that made all thinges of nothing Put me before thee O Lord whatsoeuer I perceiue of my selfe in the secrets of my hart I do not keep it close from thy brotherly ears Thou art rich in mercy liberal in rewards geue me of thy goods that with them I may serue thee For with nothing els can we serue or please thee but with thine owne giftes which thou hast vouchsafed to bestow vpon vs Fasten I beseech thee thy feare in my flesh let my harte reioyce be glad to feare thy name Woulde God my sinfull soule feared thee so much as that holy man which sayd I alwayes feared God as though it wer great swelling floudes should come and tumble vpon me O God the geuer of all good things geue me amongst thy praises a wel of teres with the purenes of hart and reioyeing of minde that I louing thee perfitly and worthely praising thee may feele taste and sauour in the pallace of my hart how sweet and pleasant thou art O lord as it is written Do ye tast and see how sweet delectable the Lorde is Blessed is the man that putteth his trust in him Blessed is that people which knoweth glad and ioyful praysing Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee in whose harte are thy wayes which going through the vale of misery vse it for a well Blessed are the