to observe whatsoever was injoyned mee and to neglect no meanes to procure my safety First I shut my windowes I admitted no treaties I abstained from dainties Secondly I suffer'd not my thoughts to converse with lightnesse Thirdly I presented my suit to that High Court of Requests for more assistance Fourthly I subjected my flesh to holy Discipline and obedience Fifthly I meditated of Death and how this dainty pampered flesh would in that time turne to deformitie and rottennesse Sixtly I imparted my griefes to my Superiours to receive the benefit of their godly counsell and holy prayers But flesh and bloud became soone weary of this Taske Which I no sooner neglected than I made relapse into that malady which during all the time of my spirituall exercise was well asswaged Thus in my entry to the state of man after such time as I was gone downe to the Grave and that the Pit had nearely received mee had not my good God taken pity of mee and showne the light of his Countenance upon me even then I say was I no sooner set againe on my feet then I returned to my accustomed filth And though Manhood had swallowed up my â—outh yet did my Manhood taste lesse of Man than my Youth Of his Age. MEMORIALL VI. BEhold how hee who would not remember his Creator in the dayes of his Youth nor remember that hee was a man is now come to that feeble estate as hee can scarce remember himselfe Now are those Evill dayes come on me wherein I may say I have no pleasure in them Now and never till now feele I the keepers of my house to tremble and the strong men bow themselves and the grinders cease because they are few and those that looke out of the windowes bee darkned Now I feele the silver coard loosed the golden bowle broken the pitcher broken at the fountaine the wheele broken at the Cisterne Eccles. 12. And yet is there none so old but hee hopes to live one yeare longer though the longer he lives his miseries increase in number But what am I now who have seene so many evill dayes and learnâ—d so much by others follies and read man over and over in every volume Sure either now or never there is some appearance of grace when there is so neare approach to my Grave To be old in yeares and young in houres is an unchristian piece of Arithmetick Neither can there be any sight more unseemely than to see an old man gray in haires and grave in yeares to have no other argument to prove his years but his haires I am now gathering my vessels in the haven Neither doe I find ought without me that may so much cheare mee as to hold me one minute longer from my Countrey I have passed the Maine and am come a Shore And yet I must put forth a little further before I can reach my wished Harbour I have already entered the Suburbs my weake Age tels me I draw neare the Walls And yet I feele many things wanting in mee that tell me I am not so well furnished as I should be I finde indeed in me no great abilitie to sinne but what of all that Did my will to sin die while I had ability to sin If it did not all this is nothing nor shall advantage me ought at my ending For hee who ceaseth from sinne when hee can sinne no more cannot be said to leave sinne but sin to leave him There is not one servant in all my Meniey that is able to doe any service for mee not one living power or faculty that can discharge that peculiar office they owe mee It is high time for mee then to shut up shop and to leave my Trade my too long trading in sinning wherein I have spent so many houres never to be recalled of precious time I am now esteemed of but as some old moath-eaten Calendar without date If I talk like to one of my yeares unseasoned youth jeeres such gravity if I speake ought below my selfe straight am I taxed of levity If I doe ought youthfully it ill becomes mee and if I doe like my selfe gravely that distastes me because it dislikes them whose company delights mee I have greene thoughts shrowded under gray locks So as it seemes I differ in nothing from what I was at first but only in haire and unable limbs For I have a will to doe what I did if I had abilitie to doe what I would Never was decrepit thing more strong in will more weake in power I am now made use of like as of some aged sullied Record only brought forth to looke upon and then laid aside Would I but know what a small portion of worldly meanes might suffice mee seeing Nature hath now drawne out my threed of life to the full length I could not but confesse that my small remainder of dayes now left mee had a competencie to serve mee yet while I have one foot in the Grave my desires are more deepe than the Grave more thirstie than the Earth to which I am every moment drawing nearer though in my earthly affections daily stronger There is nothing in all my house of lesser use than my selfe neither is my body halfe so weake as my minde My life is but at best a dying sleepe Nor bee my cares ever at better rest than when I am asleepe The most that can be now said of me is this He was a man in his time But that time is done for now I turne Child again and cannot for a world help my selfe so neare am I to the brinke yet see what light thoughts sparkle out of this dead Turffe My eyes darken my teeth blacken my heart heateth my hoarse throat ruttleth my countenance hath lost her colour all my powers and motions their vigour yet can those darke eyes look and long after anothers Farme those teeth grate and grinde themselves for revenge that poore beating throbbing heart wish for a longer life that seere and sallow countenance desire to looke young those decayed powers wish to be strong My friends put me in mind of my Will and my sicke soule answers them with a sigh Friends advise him to forget his Will for it was that onely which undid mee and him But my outward house must not bee yet disposed of I love it too well to leave it Yet a little and yet a little Spare mee but a very little I finde not my selfe altogether so weake as my weaknesse should yet stand in need of a Will Thus doe I love to deceive my selfe while that strong man stands at the doore readie to arrest mee I daily see how those who are every way stronger are enjoyned to pay their debt to Nature But this I apply not to my selfe I looke still for some dayes to bee added to my life None so weake but hee is fit for some worke Though I can neither digge nor delve nor fashion my selfe to any hand-labour I can devise how to make my
fulfill thee throughout that Where sin hath abounded grace likewise may superabound Yet I would beloved I would be trusted I would with sighs and teares be intreated than which no sweeter melody can unto me be tendred Sinner O my crucified JESU I know I am dearer to thee than I am to my selfe for to thee I am alwayes deare who as it is written Lovest all things that are and hatest nothing of those which thou hast made But man is not alwaies equally deare to himselfe as he is unro thee because hee that loveth iniquity hateth his ownâ— soule Christ. This have I shewn in the continuall sorrowes of my whole cruâ—ified life For I received the Crosse of my Passion in the Womb of my mother and continually bore it in my heart and confirmed it with much austerity in my body So as that I might purposely shew the unmeasurablenesse of the sorrowes of my soule my finall passion then approaching it was my will to sweat blood thorow all my members and that which lay hid as a secret of my crucifying from the wombe of my Mother with sensible signes to reveale to my faithfull ones which seemed fittest to be at my passage and poinâ— of death Sinner I conceive my good JESU how in that bloudy sweat with which thou wert deep-died and engrained in all thy members thy blessed soule wholly suffered because it is whole in every part of the body yea and the very life of the body But tell me what thou requirest of me for so great anguish continually sustained for me Christ. Onely to love me againe For to this end have I suffered my passion that I might purchase thy affection Sinner Surely most worthy art thou to bee loved because thou art good in thy selfe and none good but God alone And because thou art the Lord delivering from the power and slavery of the Devill And because thou art God forgiving sinnes which none forgiveth but God alone And because thou lovest those that love thee Whence it is that thou sayest I love those that love mee And because thou hearest those that begge of thee whence one saith I have loved the Lord because hee will heare mee Thou also as the peace of charity comming into the world to warme and inflame the cold and lukewarme hast said I came that they might have life to wit the life of grace in this life and more abundantly to wit of glory in the life to come Christ. Surely there is nothing which may so inflame the fire of Gods love in thy heart as a continuall consideration and meditation of this speech of mine I came that they might have life and that more abundantly And of that much like unto this So God loved the world as he gave his onely begotten Sonne Sinner Truly wretched and miserable is hee in whose heart the fire of love is not kindled when hee considereth these things wherein the Charity of God hath chiefly appeared But ô thou only begotten of God suffer not my heart to bee so frozen or benummed with this icy congelation but rather through thy mercy in the remembrance of these thy Words like Snow melting by the heat of the Sunne let me say with that princely Prophet My heart is become as melting wax Christ. Humane impiety before the time of my passion tooke occasion of being unthankfull For man being created but not as then redeemed said I am no more bound to God than other creatures be For he spake the word and I was made hee hath bestowed no more labour on me than any other brute creature But now the mouth of these that speak wickedly is stopped and no place now is left for unthankfulnesse For I have laboured more in the sole redemption of man than in the whole frame and fabrick of the World For of a Master I became a servant of Rich poore of Immortall mortall of the Word flesh of the Sonne of God the son of man I suffered reproaches of such as upbraided me I suffered underminers in my Works contradicters in my Words scorners in my Woes necessities of the flesh horrour of death ignominy of the Crosse. Sinner O how admirable was this love What shall I render to my Lord for all his sorrowes Christ. If thou recall to mind how great things the Lord of Majesty the Sonne of God suffered for thee though thou shouldâ—t dye a thousand deaths yet wert thou not equally sufficient to answer me for the estimate of so great a benefit exceedeth all meanes of requitall Sinner As thou best knowest how much I owe unto thee the Lord of glory who subjectedst thy self to death for me that I might enjoy that happinesse which neither eye hath seene nor eare hath heard recount unto me I beseech thee the reasons which caused that most dolorous paine in thy most holy soule For thou saidst right now that in the wombe of thy blessed Mother thou receivedst the Crosse of thy Passion and bore it continually to the houre of thy dissolution Christ. To this end that thou mightst by affection compassion become an acceptable sacrifice unto God wholly inflamed with the fire of Charity all the rust and rubbish of sin being consumed and wasted Consider diligently with a lively heart how I suffred a double Martyrdome one in my body another in my soule or Spirit As touching the Martyrdome of my Body consider that there was never the suffering of any martyr so sharp so painfull that it might be compared with my suffering which I will prove unto thee by authority by signe by reason First by authority For I my selfe crying out of the greatnesse of my sorrows said O all yee who passe by this way consider and see if ever there were sorrow like unto my sorrow as if I should have said there was never any Secondly by Signe Forasmuch as there were never so many Signes seene in the Martyrdome of any as at my Passion implying the sharpnesse and painfulnesse of it to wit When the Sunne was darkned the Earth moved c. As if by the dolorous clamours of my passion they had conceived a sense of devout compassion bemoning me the Son of God hanging on the Crosse. For it was not in the creature to indure the injury done to the Creatour Wherein wicked and obdurate hearts are justly reproved who will not be wrought to compassion nor softned with a pious devotion in the remembrance of my death Thirdly I prove unto thee the bitternesse of my passion by reason Forasmuch as my complexion was most excellent both by reason of the incorruption of my flesh as also by reason of the most proportionable union or mixture of the Elementary qualities For I tooke corruptible flesh of the Virgin for the freeing of all Originall sinne that is of inordinate concupiscence Now to such a complexion was required comelinesse of beauty and strength of body Because therefore by how much more proportionable the union is of those Elements and qualities whereof
man is composed and compacted by so much more difficulty and violently is he dissolved hence it appeareth that the separation of my body and soule was more painfull than the death of others Also my blessed flesh by how much more it was freer from all spot or blemish of sin by so much also it became more sensible of torments Now concerning my Spirituall martyrdome which I suffered in my Soule as I said before unto thee it began at such time as I was first conceived in the wombe of my mother or that my Soule was infused into my body and continued without intermission 33. yeeres and a halfe till such time as my Soule was separated from my body upon the Crosse. So as I became a Martyr even in the Wombe of my Mother Wherfore I was not so much as one moment without the most bitter martyrdome of my Spirit Because whatsoever I suffered in the Night when I was taken or the Day following when I was slaine in mocking reviling spitting nayling and stretching upon the Crosse c. This throughly and wholly my most holy Soule long before suffered But thou art especially to consider that those dolorous piercing darts of the Virgin my blessed mother became the excessivest Object of my sorrowes who having a tender and respective eye to all my dolours in perfect Charity as became the condition of her motherly excellency so much grieved for my sorrowes as was sitting for such a woman to grieve And all the sorrowes of my Mother continually wounded my mind So as my Mothers Crosse ministred unto mee a new Crosse. Another Object of my continuall sorrow was all those martyrdomes which were at any time done or to bee done upon any of mine Elect for me So as in very truth I say unto thee that all those paines griefes tribulations persecutions and miseries which any man was to suffer or should suffer aswell in body as in soule from Adam even to the very last man that shall bee borne to the end of the World all these I suffered alwayes in my Soule must fully and through my compassion they did more hurt me and more sharply grieve me than any mans corporall paine which hee actually suffereth ever personally did And there are two causes which give sufficient testimony of the truth hereof One is because I in the glasse or mirrour of my Divinity did behold all things created and to bee created things past present and to come which were to me present And I from the very first instant of the infusion of my Soule into my Body began alwayes to observe till such time as I gave up my Ghost upon the Crosse all the paines which I was to endure and whatsoever all my Elect from the beginning of the world had at any time suffered and such as being not yet borne were to suffer even to the end of the world all this I suffered in the inferiour faculties of my Soule And in each of these was I more inwardly and grievously tormented in my Spirit than any one could be in his owne proper body at such time as hee is to suffer tortures or torments Another cause which procured so great paine in my Spirit was abundant love For love begetteth griefe and heavinesse in the spirit So as by how much thy love towards me was more intensive or greater by so much more is thy soule tormented with my Death and Passion And because I have alwaies and above comparison loved thee and every man more than hee can love himselfe therefore have I suffered greater paine than all that which any one hath ever suffered upon earth or was to suffer or shall suffer to the end of the world Thou knowest that when Paul had consented to the death and stoning of Stephen and did persecute Christians I said unto him Saul Why persecutest thou me And yet he persecuted not me in my owne proper person but in the persons of my beloved friends because what good or evill soever befalleth my friends befalleâ—h me And this proceedeth from the great love which I beare unto men Thus therefore maist thou consider how and by what meanes my Passion exceeded in paine the passions of all that ever suffered or shall suffer because I suffered both in my Body and Soule and that immaculate and by nature delicate and for so long time to wit for thirty foure yeeres did I suffer martyrdom in my Spirit both for my selfe and all my Elect. Laurence in one night was broyled on a gridiron Bartholomew in one day was slaine Katherine in one houre was broken on a Wheele c. All these tortures never hurt any one of them so much in their owne bodies as they tormented me in my Soule for thirty foure yeeres Whence Isay Truly he hath suffered for our infirmities and borne our sorrowes And therefore I could never laugh but often weepe appearing as one of forty yeeres when I was scarce thirty Which came to passe by reason of the continuall Justice which I incessantly bore for my Passion that was to come and the suffering of my Elect which I alwaies clearly beheld and painfully suffered by strength of imagination Whereupon I oftimes said unto my Father Many are my grones and my heart is sorrowfull To thee likewise doe I say that thou maist bee moved with compassion and affection towards mee that my life is waxen old with heavinesse and my yeeres with mourning Sinner Surely O my good Jesu as I have heard and understood no conceit can sufficiently apprehend the depth of those anguishes and sorrowes of thy most holy Soule nor griefes and passions of thy Body But a very deepe question doth trouble my mind to wit how heavinesse paine or anguish could befall thy blessed soule seeing it was alwaies in great joy through Contemplation of thy Divinitie which was so amiable to behold that if the damned in Hell could but behold the amiable countenance of God as the blessed Spirits doe in the Kingdome of Heaven they could bee tormented by no griefe nor heavinesse either by the fire of hell or sight of the Devils in hell Christ. It is true that my pure and blessed soule was glorified albeit my Body was mortall For my Soule from the very instant of her conception and ever after even when I was upon the Crosse was as glorious and in as great joy and delight in respect of her superiour faculties as she is at this day in heaven sitting at the right hand of God my Father But in respect of her inferiour faculties she was in a continuall and incessant heavinesse and sorrow for the causes aforesaid Which could not bee by course or order of Nature that in one and the selfe-same soule together and at once there should be so great joy and so great heavinesse for this was miraculous and supernaturall Because according to the course of nature joy and delight doe expell sorrow and griefe so as they cannot suffer together in one and the
to goe back Let it not then delight thee to stand in the course of piety but endevour alwaies to walke in the way of the Lord. In thy conversation bee cheerefull to all distastefull to none familiar to few Live to Godward devoutly to thy selfe chastly to thy Neighbour justly Use thy friend as a pledge of affection thine enemy for a triall of thy patience all men to a well-disposed benevolence and wherein thou maist more effectually worke to beneficence While thou livest dye dayly to thy selfe and to thy vices So in thy death maist thou live to God Let meekenesse appeare in thy affection mildnesse in thy countenance humility in thy habit modesty in thy habitation patience in tribulation Let facility be in thine accesse decency in thy dresse humility in thy presence affability in thy discourse benignity in thy wayes charity in thy works Let constancy be in thine eie content in thy chest temperance in thy cup. Observe moderation in thy desires discretion in thy delights Think alwaies of those 3. things past Evil committed Good omitted Time mis-speÌ„ded Think alwaies of these 3. things present â—he shortnes of this present life the difficulty of being saved the fewnesse of those that are to be saved Think alwayes of these three things to come Death than which nothing is more horrible Judgement than which nothing is more terrible the paine of Hell than which nothing more intolerable Let thine Evening Prayers redeeme the sinnes of the forepast day let the last day of the weeke reforme the offences of the dayes gone before Thinke in the Evening how many soules are that same day thrown head-long into Hell and give thankes unto God for that hee hath given thee time to repent in There be three things above thee which ought never to depart from thy memory That Eye which seeth all things that Eare which heareth all things and those bookes wherein all things are recorded Wholly hath God communicated himselfe to thee communicate thy selfe likewise wholly to thy neighbour That is the best life which is wholly employed to the behoofe and benefit of others Render to thy superiour obedience and reverence to thy equall counsell and assistance to thy inferiour succour supportance Let thy body be subjected to thy mind and thy mind to God Bewaile thy evils past disesteeme thy goods present covet with all the desire of thine heart those goods to come Remember thy sin that thou maist grieve Remember thy death that thou maist cease from sinne Remember Gods justice that thou maist feare Remember Gods mercy lest thou despaire Withdraw thy selfe as much as thou canst from the World and devote thy selfe wholly to the service of God Thinke alwayes how chastity is endangerd by delicacy humility by prosperity and piety by employments transitory Desire to please none but Christ feare to displease none but Christ. Beseech God alwayes that as he bids what he would so he would doe what hee bids that hee would protect what is done and direct in what is to bee done Endevour thy selfe to bee what thou wouldst have thy self thought to be for God judgeth not according to the outward semblance but according to the inward substance In thy discourse beware of much speech because account shall be required of every vaine word Whatsoever thy works bee they passe not away but as certaine seeds of eternity are they bestowed if thou sow according to the flesh from the flesh shalt thou reape corruption if thou sow after the Spirit from the Spirit shalt thou reap the reward of eternall retribution After death neither shall the honours of this World follow thee nor heaps of riches favour thee nor pleasures enjoy thee nor the vanities of this World possesse thee but after the fatall and full period of this life all thy works shall follow thee As then thou desirest to appeare in the day of judgement appeare such in the sight of God at this present Thinke not with thy selfe what thou hast but rather what thou wantst Pride not thy selfe for that which is given thee but rather become humbled for that which is deni'd thee Learne to live now while thou maist live In this time is eternall life either got or lost After death there remains no time for working for then begins the time of rewarding In the life to come is not expected any worke but payment for the worke Holy Meditation may beget in thee knowledge knowledge compunction compunction devotion devotion may produce prayer Great good for peace of the heart is the silence of the mouth By how much more as thou art divided from the World so much more acceptable art thou unto God Whatsoever thou desirest to have aske it of God whatsoever thou already hast attribute it to God He is not worthy to receive more who is not thankfull for what he hath received Then stops the course or current of Gods grace to man when man makes no recourse by thankfulnesse to God Whatsoever befals thee turne it to good so often as prosperity comes upon thee thinke how occasion of blessing and praising God is ministred unto thee againe so often as adversity aâ—â—ayles thee thinke how these are admonitions for the repentance and conversion of thee Shew the force of thy power in helping the force of thy wisdome in instructing the force of thy wealth in releeving Neither let Adversity bruise thee nor Prosperity raise thee Let Christ be thy scope of thy life whom thou art to follow here in the way that thou maist come to him there in thy countrey Amongst all other things let profound humility ardent Charity be thy greatest care Let charity raise thine heart unto God that thou maist cleave unto him Let humility depresse thine heart lesâ— thou becom proud so leave him Esteem God a Father for his clemency a Lord for his discipline a Father for his sweet power a Lord for his severe power Love him as a Father devoutly feare him as a Lord necessarily Love him because he will have mercy Feare him because he will not suffer sin Feare the Lord and trust in him acknowledge thy misery and declare his mercy O God thou who hast given us to will give us likewise to performe THE SORROWFULL Soules solace Gathered from Saint Augustine in his Tract Upon the 62. Psalme Upon these words My Soule thirsteth for thee my Flesh also longeth after thee BEhold here how the Soule thirsteth and see how good it is for the Soule that thirsteth to wit because shee thirsteth after thee There are who thirst but not after God Every one that would in his owne behalfe have ought performed is in heat of desire till he have it effected and this desire is the thirst of the Soule Now see what various desires are in the hearts of men One desireth gold another silver one desireth possessions another inheritances one store of money another stock of cattle one a faire house another a wife one honours another children You see
thy wearied soule in the greene pastures of spirituall comfort to bath thy panting soule in the pure chrystalline streames of eternall solace to refresh thine hungry spirit with Heavenly Manna to tune thy voyce to an holy Hosanna Oh then leave to love the world before thou leave the world Redeeme the time because the dayes are evill Avoid the occasion lest thou become void of reason Examine thy wayes thy words thy works Subtract an houre from thy sleeping to adde to thy praying Mans security is the Devils opportunity Watch therfore for thou knowst not when the Theefe will come The holy Hermit S. Antâ—onie who became first professor of an Eremiticall or solitary life when he had read that divine sentence of holy Scripture Goe and sell all that thou â—â—st presently conceiving it to be meant by him hee did so Goe and doe thou likewise Follow thy sweet Saviour in a devout contempt of the world from the Cribbe to the Crosse from mount Olivet to mount Calvary and from the tree of his Crosse hee will reach thee a Crowne of glory Follow I say with fervour the steps of thy Saviour Say with holy Hierom It my mother should hang about mee my father lye in my way to stop mee my wife and children weep about mee I would throw off my mother neglect my father contemne the lamentation of my wife and children to meet my Saviour Christ Jesus My heart is ready my heart is ready doe what thou biddâ—st and bid what thou wilt But above all things that thou maist bee at peace with thy Maker and more gracious in the sight of thy Saviour make the Evening the dayes Calendar Say to thy selfe O my soule what hast thou done to day What sinne hast thou healed in thee wherein was God honoured by thee How hast thou increased or decreased profited or failed Doing thus thy Conscience shall not accuse thee but defend thee thy Memory shall not witnesse against thee but for thee thy Reason shall bee a Judge to acquit thee not condemne thee thy Will shall not restraine thee but free thee no Feare shall affright or come nye thee no Delight shall torment thee but as thy delight was in the Law of the Lord â—o thy delight shall bee in the House of the Lord for ever Even so come Lord Iesus come quickly Upon these Miscellane Meditations with other mixt Subjects conteined in this precedent Tract A clozing Sonnet MOrall mixtures or Divine Aptly cull'd and coucâ—â—d in order Are like colours in a shrine Or choice flow'rs set in a border Or like dishes at a Feast Each attended with his sallet To delight the curious Guest And give relish to his palat Store of colours they are meet When wee should ones picture take One choice flow'r bee 't neere so sweet Would no pleasing posie make One Dish be it neere so precious To the Sent or to the Tast Though at first it seeme delicious It will cloy the Sense at last Here are Colours permanent Objects which will cheere the eye Here are Flowers redolent Which will bloome and never dye Here are Dishes of delight Such delights can never cloy To renew the appetite And to new-revive your joy Muse not then if here you see In this various Worke of mine Such a mixt variety Sorting with this hum'rous time Though the Sunne shine in our Sphere Cloud or Night invelop it But the Sunne shines ever here Darting forth pure rayes of wit Now the frâ—uit I wish to gaine Is your profit for my paine FINIS A reply to a rigid Precisian objecting that flowers from Romish Authors extracted became lesse wholesome and divinely redolent SIr it was your pleasure positively to conclude touching Flowers of this nature that they lost much of their native beauty vigour and verdure because called from a Roman border wherein I referre you to that sententious Poet to returne you answer Flores qui lambunt terrae vapores Non magis tetros referunt odores Nec minus suaves redoleâ—e Flores TIBRIDIS oris Which I have thus rendred in true currant English fearing lest that Latine metall might disrelish your more queasy palate Flow'rs which doe lick up from the Earth a vapour Yeeld to the nosthrils ne're the w rser savour Nor bee those Sooâ—s lesse redolent in odour Which groâ— by TIBER A Christian Diall By which hee is directed how to dispose of his houres while he is living how to addresse himselfe for the houre of his dying and how to close his dayes with a comfortable ending Faithfully rendred according to the Originall To the Generous Ingenious and Judicious Sir WALTER VAVASOR Knight and Baronet together with his Vettuously accomplished Lady R. B. Zealously consecrates this Christian Diall To your Grand-father have I welcom bin Receive this Gage in memory of him Whil'st no Sun-Diall may more truly give The houre o th' day than this the way to live THE LIFE of JOHANNES JUSTUS LANSPERGIUS a Carihusian Authour of these Meditations entitled A Christian Diall IOHANNES JUSTUS LANSPERGIUS borne of honest parents at Lansperge a Towne in Bavaria after such time as hee had finished his course in the study of Philosophy at Cullen hee gave there the name to the Order of the Carthusians wherein being growne Famous for the space of 30. yeares both by example of manners and piety as also by writing Books of Devotion and Sanctity he slept in the Lord the 4. of the Ides of August in the yeare of Christs Nativity M.D.XXXIX A Christian Diall By which he is directed how to dispose of his houres while he is living how to addresse himself for the houre of his dying and how to close his daies with a comfortable endâ—ng Faithfully rendred â—cording to the Originall A briefe Institution with an Exercise for an happy death expressed in a familiar Conference betwixt God and the Soule AS there is nothing O Soule which may make the love of the world more distastfull â—nto thee or that may bring thee to so great contempt of it and of all creatures in it as the consideration of the shortnesse of this life and certainty of death whereby all thy endevours all thine honours all thy pleasures thoughts desires and all thy joyes shall perish So is there nothing that may solace or refresh the loving Soule with greater joy than the beleefe and hope she hath to become associated to mee united to me and swallowed up in mee where there is hereafter no offence no sinne no separation no danger no feare no sorrow Where the Soule full of charity may alwaies praise mee alwayes magnifie me become most perfectly obedient most perfectly pleasant unto mee and that shee may bee with mee where shee may desire nothing love nothing feele nothing else beside me where she may wholly possesse me be wholly possessed by me These things forasmuch as they cannot firmly nor â—ully befall thee in this life but then onely when thou shalt bee with mee in my
pusillanimity to be dejected to contemplate the examples of me and my Saints to commend thy selfe to the prayers and exhortations of good men to give way to my inward and divine inspirations to exercise prayer and holy reading never to admit of idlenesse to love silence and retirednesse These and such like doe change the naughtinesse of the mind and chase away the feare of death When thou shalt come in the end of every day say thus to thy selfe Now is my life become shorter by one day Earely when thou risest say thus to thy selfe O Gracious God now am I nearer to death by one Night An Exercise whereby earely or whensoever thou willest thou maist poure out thy heart unto God for a good death O Omnipotent eternall God my Creator and Lover I praise laud adore and blesse thee for that thou so mercifully and patiently hast suffered mee groveling in my sins and my unthankfulnes even unto this houre to which thou of thy goodnesse hast brought mee enriching me with thy benefits conferring this life with things necessary for this life upon me with an angelicall guardian protecting me and inlarging towards mee thy mercy who am injuriously â—nworthy and a spectacle of misery Ah gracious God who knoweth whether the terme of my life shall be proâ—ogued to the evening O what death shall I desire O â—ost mercifull Lord God and Father give unto mee contrition whereby with all mine heart I may bewaile my sins and my offending thee And doe not suffer my soule to goe forth from her bodie till she be reconciled to thee in mercy adopted to thee by grace adorned with thy merits and vertues inflamed with most perfect charitie and accepted according to thy all-good-will and pleasure O most gracious Lord Jesu Christ if this I desire of thee do please thee grant it unto me although I bee most unworthy to bee heard of thee grant unto me I beseech thee for thine infinite mercies and the merits of thy passion that I may bee purged in this life from all my sins that dying and through vehement and true contrition pricked and in most ardent charitie to thee united I may goe out unto thee my most sweet Redeemer being forthwith freed and secured from all damnation and future affliction Notwithstanding O most loving Jesu I doe offer and resigne my selfe unto thee whether it be to poverty penury or any other extremitie for thy glories sake according to thy good-will and pleasure beseeching thee only this that thou wouldst bee mindfull of my frailty vilenesse weaknesse and misery as also of thy goodnesse and charity that thou wouldest never forsake mee nor depart from mee but that thou wouldst alwayes wholly governe and possesse mee according to thy good pleasure Amen An oblation of Christ and his merits to his Father O Omnipotent most gracious Father I doe offer unto thee all those pains dolours reproches stripes and rebukes all adversities extremities and labours of thine onely begotten Jesu Christ the Lambe immaculate which hee suffered in his body for me likewise all his actions and every of his members afflicted for me his bloud shed for me and with prophane feet trampled also his most noble and devout Soule separated from his lovely Body for me his merits likewise and infinite vertues Likewise the powers or faculties of his Soule and body and all those vitall parts in him given up unto death for mee albeit inseparably united to his Divinity yea the whole Christ thy blessed Sonne God and man omnipotent and infirme despicable and glorious doing wonders and hanging upon the Crosse these I say doe I offer unto thy sacred Majesty to the expiation and satisfaction of all my sins and of all the world and to the mortification and extinction of all mine evill passions affections and vices to the supply of all my negligences and to thy praise and thanksgiving for all thy benefits O God be mercifull unto me a miserable sinner for his sake Have mercy on mee for the love of Jesu Christ thy beloved Son THE DYING mans Diary Or A Christians Memento mori Divided into a five dayes Exercise THere are who all the yeare long present the figure and feature of Death before them by some certaine Exercise and prepare themselves no otherwise for death than if they were even then to dye and that for the space of five dayes continually The first day they meditated of the griefes infirmities which goe before death and horrour of death unto all which they resigne themselves The next day they thinke of their â—ins confessing them with so great diligence and intention as if they were to dye presently after their confession Therefore they spend this day in sighs and teares The third day they come unto the blessed Eucharist with all the fervour they may receiving it as their Viaticum in their passage from this their exile The fourth day they make continuall supplications unto God for the unction of the Holy Spirit whereby they might be illuminated and the hardnesse of their hearts mollified And this they do as it were for extreme unction The fifth day they become most fervent Supplicants unto God for a spirituall death wherby they may perfectly dye to the world to themselves and live with God And to everie of these dayes may be applyed proper Psalmes and Prayers as also divine invocations giving of thanks for all benefits conferred by God upon them all their life long Profitable Counsell for one approaching neare the point of death O Daughter seeing thy selfe in this extremitie prepare thy soule for God so order and dispose here in thy life time of thy goods temporall that after thy death no difference nor debate may arise It is most profitable for thee to dispose of thy goods in thy life time and to redeeme thy sins whilest thou livest with works of mercie Whatsoever thou wouldest recommend to others to doe for thee labour to doe it of thy selfe For if after death thou go to eternall torment the Provision of a Will a pompous Funerall Almes and Doales after death what will these availe thee when thou art damned Offer these Oblations to me now whilest thou art living that thou mayest not onely be delivered from thy sins but by increasing in my grace never fall into damnation but by my preventing grace preserving thee from sin persevere in good works even to the end When death draweth neare see that thou wholly free thy selfe then from all unnecessarie cares and imployments strive to meet me immaculately affectionately faithfully promising nor presuming nothing of thy works but through my assured mercie to obtaine Salvation And in this faith committing and commending thy selfe and all thou hast in this world to my providence and good pleasure receive the Sacraments humbly and devoutly Those peculiar priviledges and graces also which have power in them through my merits and are given by mee as a treasure unto the Church albeit many oft-times abuse them
to surprize us As a Plate or Lamell of gold set unto our eyes doth no lesse hinder our sight than a plate of iron so it behoveth us to renounce and remove from our minds all instable mortall creatures be they never so noble if wee will enjoy that most excellent Good which is God In true deniall the whole Summe of Perfection consisteth without which none shall profit what way soever hee turne him Almightie God grant us grace that with incessant endevour wee may perpetually strive to deny mortifie relinquish resigne goe forth of our selves and dis-esteeme our selves Amen TO HIS MOST Deare and affectionate Sisters their faithfull Brother dedicates THIS Passionate Pilgrim AS A living Memoriall of his unfained love never dying MY teares my joyes my widdow-weed my Bride My prize heav'ns praise my love Christ crucifide THE PASSIONATE PILGRIM Breathing A Contemplative Mans Exercise Offering A Penitent Soules Sacrifice THE Contemplative Mans Exercise Or Penitent Soules Sacrifice The wise mans heart is ever fixt on God And with a filiall kisse receives his rod. GOe to now miserable man flye a little thine occupations retire thy selfe for a space from thy tumultuous cogitations Lay aside now thine onerous cares and set apart thy laborious distentions Reserve thy selfe a while for God and rest thy selfe a little in him Enter into the chamber of thy mind shut out all things besides God and those things which helpe thee to seeke him and having shut thy gate seeke him Say now O my heart say now O my Lord I seeke thy countenance thy countenance O Lord doe I seeke Goe to therefore now my Lord God teach mine heart where and how it may seeke thee where and how it may find thee O Lord if thou beest not here where may I seeke thee being absent But being everie where why doe I not see thee present But surely thou inhabitest a light inaccessible But where is that light inaccessible Or how shall I come to that light inaccessible Or who will guide mee and bring mee to it that I may see thee in it Then with what signes with what face shall I seeke thee I have not seene thee O Lord my God I have not knowne thy face What shall hee doe O most high Lord what shall this thy forraine banisht one doe What shall thy servant doe doubtfull of thy love and far casten off from thy face Hee longeth to see thee and thy face is far from him Hee desireth to come unto thee and thine habitation is inaccessible Hee desireth to find thee and knoweth not thy place Hee affecteth to seeke thee and knoweth not thy countenance O Lord thou art my God and thou art my Lord and I never saw thee Thou hast made mee and re-made mee and all those good things which I have hast thou bestowed on mee and I have not yet knowne thee Finally to see thee was I made yet have not I done that for which I was made O miserable condition of man to lose that for which hee was made O hard and harsh chance is this Out alas what ha's hee lost and what ha's hee found What is gone and what abideth Hee hath lost happinesse for which hee was made and hee hath found unhappinesse for which hee was not made That is gone without which nothing is happie and that abideth which of it selfe is nothing but unhappie Man did eat the bread of Angels which now hee tastes not now hee eats the bread of sorrowes which then hee knew not O the publique lamentation of men the universall mourning of the children of Adam Hee flowed in all plenteous manner wee sigh for hunger Hee abounded wee fast Hee happily possest and miserably lost wee unhappily need and miserably beg and alas wee remaine emptie Why did hee not keepe for us when he easily might what we so grievously want Why h'as hee thuâ— shut the light from us and brought darknesse upon us Wretched men whence are wee expulsed and whereto are we forced Yea whither are wee headlong throwne where overwhelmed From our Countrey to exile from the sight of God to our blindnesse From the joy of immortalitie into the bitternesse and horrour of death Miserable exchange from how great good to how great evill Great losse great griefe nothing but griefes But out alas for me unhappy wretch one amongst the rest of the miserable children of Eve divided from God what have I done what have I begun Whither did I goe whereto am I come to what did I aspire in what doe I now sigh I sought for good and behold trouble I went towards God and behold I became an offender against my selfe I sought for rest in my secret paths and I found tribulation and sorrow in my inward parts I would have laughed through the joy of my minde and I was enforced to rore through the griefe of mine heart Joy was expected and behold how sighes were increased How long Lord wilt thou forget us How long wilt thou turn thy face from us When wilt thou look upon us and heare us When wilt thou enlighten our eyes and shew thy face to us When wilt â—hou restore thy selfe to us O Lord look upon us heare us enlighten us Shew thy selfe to us that it may be wel with us without whom it is so ill with us Have mercie on our labours and endevors directed to thee who are able to doe nothing without thee Enlighten us helpe us I beseech thee O Lord let mee not despaire through fainting but respire by hoping I beseech thee O Lord mine heart is made bitter with her desolation Sweeten it with thy consolation I beseech thee O Lord I hungry have begun to seeke thee let me not depart fasting from thee I hunger-starv'd have come unto thee let me not depart unfed from thee I poore come to thee rich I miserable to thee mercifull let me not depart empty and contemned and if before I eat I sigh grant that after my sighs I may eat O Lord I am become crooked and cannot but looke downward raise mee that I may looke upward mine iniquities are gone over mine head they overwhelme me and as an heavie burden presse me Free and disburden mee lest the ditch stop her mouth upon me Let me look upon thy light though a farre off though from the deepe Teach mee to seeke thee and shew thee to mee seeking thee because neither can I seeke thee unlesse thou teach mee nor finde thee unlesse thou show thee Let mee seeke thee by desiring desire thee by seeking finde thee by loving love thee by finding I confesse O Lord and I give thankes because thou hast created in mee this thine Image that being mindfull of thee I might think of thee and love thee But so abolished is this image with the blemishes of vice and so darkned with the smoake of sinne as it cannot doe that for which it was made unlesse thou renue and reforme it I presume not O Lord to pierce thine height for
Unable was I to commit it yet apt enough to be conceived in it Nothing I had about me but what did staine me The Materials whereof I was made I am asham'd to name Ah! poore shell of corruption impure shrine or new-form'd piece of pollution I as then knew not by whom I was made how I was made when or where I was made or for what end I was made Miserable ignorance I knew her not in whose wombe I was conceived nor that sin wherin I was conceived I was as a stranger to my fathers house yet was I daily in it An Alien was I to my Brethren yet lived I amongst them And as a thing not knowne Sojourn'd I amongst my Kinsmen Capable abilities had I both inward and outward yet enjoyed I the benefit of neither Without all sensible compassion a daily paine was I to my sickly mother I lived as one dead for many months together and was fed without seeking food by course of Nature I was as one closed up and might have no passage till the time appointed I increased daily yet knew I not the meanes of my growth He only who made and fashioned me knew mee long before I came out of the wombe did hee know what would become of mee Paths had he prepared for me before I had knowledge how to walke in them Hee had determined mine end before I received birth Long time did I wrastle with my enforced restraint labouring still to be freed yet became I more miserable by my freedom than restraint I wished and yet I knew not what I was the very least of a childe what lesse then could be my knowledge I was weary of my bed yet going out of it I was fit for nothing By this I foretold how far I would be from being content with my estate on earth when my weake infancie could not bee content with her condition before my birth In a better case was I when so incased than when to the miseries of earth inthralled A right worldling was I before I came into it for I grew no sooner a little strong than I grew to be weary of my former estate Any one that had seene mee would have thought there had been no sin in mee But I became so naturalized a â—inner as it was a taske no lesse hard for mee to put off sinne than nature But as one kept in too long like a new-fledg'd bird I begun to flicker a little with my tender unset wings and to leave my first nest But sharply was she that bred me pained with mee before shee could bee discharged of mee So unnaturall was I to mine owne before I entered the world Gather hence what may bee expected from mee after my entrie into the world Of his Birth MEMORIALL II. I Thought I had got out o' th' Iayle but I found one worser than that which I left For having changed a Lesser world for a Greater I found my miseries so much more numerous as the place I came to was larger than the former In the very beginning I shewed my selfe to my friends unthankfull yet must they hold mee excused for those salutes were naturall They entertained mee with smiles and I gratified them with teares Lachrymae were the onely musicall aires that usher'd mee to this vale of woes My very first voyce implyed a prophecie my teares forerunners of my following miserie I came into the world naked whereas all other creatures come cloathed and armed With what joy was I received while those that saw mee cried How like is hee to his Father And they said well if they pointed at Adam for his bloud made me his sonne and like himselfe a sinner What a foolish part it was had I well considered it to see wise men rejoycing at the sight of one who was entring the Tyring-house of mourning The Thracians though Pagans shewed themselves in this more Christians These lamented their Babes birth but rejoyced at their death What great delight could any take in mee when I came so bare into the world as I brought not with mee one poore ragge to shroud my shame and all the regreets I returned them teares and shrikes These deserved no great entertainment of joy To see such a feeble thing as could afford it selfe no succour An Infant Pilgrim who could not find a tongue to beg him harbour One who wanted all things yet could not tell it 's owne â—ants This might rather move compassion than joy And such a poore one was I. Nothing did I see that could please mee Still were my late-unsealed eyes flowing my seeble voyce shriking nought but notes of miserie everie where resounding And deserved these such pleasing entertainment By my birth I got nothing to my selfe but teares to my friends nothing but cares and feares To feed mee was their care lest I should be better fed than taught was their feare Sleepe Food and Shrikes all which begot my parents trouble were the best things I rendred them and the whole expence of those houres which I bestowed on them Silly infancie when that pleaseth the Parent best and batteneth the Infant most which profiteth the world least Sleepe Small cause had my Parents to have joyed in my birth had they considered how my entrie led mee into a maze of miserie a vale of vanitie How that small portion of flesh which I brought along with mee would in time prove my profest enemie My first teares told the world that I had something in mee which annoyed mee My originall guilt struck teares into mine eyes feares into my heart Naked came I as one stript of his coat And this nakednesse came by the losse of my garment of innocence My Grandfire never found himselfe naked till hee had transgressed Then and never till then flew hee to the bushes But what avail'd it him to flye from his sight whose eyes were in everie place Small doubt but I would have taken the same course could I either have considered my guilt or found feet to hasten mine escape But I found an ignorance in the one and a weaknesse in the other Thus was I borne in sinne before I could beare up my selfe Yet for all this did my Parents account of mee as a rich prize Dandled must I bee till I sleepe wrapt in warme cloaths carefully nursed tenderly used and if my too deare Parents got but one poore smile from their Babe they held their care and cost highly recompenced Thus begun I my life in teares and continued it with feares hopes and griefes Which made mee many times with heartie sighs in the privie chamber of mine heart to conclude Better was the day of ones death than the day of his birth And that the best thing that could bee unto man was not to be borne at all and the next to dye soone For what brought I into the world with mee but pulleyes which haled mee along to miserie And what bestowed the world on mee when shee had received mee but clouts