yeeres tossed vp and downe the world as in a troubled sea will bee glad of Death as of Mount Ararat a resting place for his tyred Soule As an Apprentise patiently vndergoeth seuen yeeres labour to bee made a Freeman or as a bondman waites for the yeere of Iubile So doth the Soule for her deliuerance Lastly death doth vs not the least pleasure in freeing vs from phantasmes and vaine pleasures Pleasure may stand with innocencie for God loues to see his creatures happy But commonly the pleasure of the body is the poyson of the soule A man smothered in Roses meetes with Death though in sweetnesse Delicatas enim mentes eneruat felicitas In vaine mirth there is no true ioy nor gladnesse in laughter Nam res est seuera verum gaudium Delight in pleasures and you shall finde your greatest pleasures become your bitterest paines in their losse A man whose soule is conuersant with God finds more pleasure in the desart and in death then in the Palace of a Prince The benefits that come by death FVlnesse of grace The benefits by death which heere we haue but in part Viuere velinthomines vt perfectisint Mori volunt perfecti sunt Heere wee haue but arrham Spiritus there we shall haue pretium Secondly perfection of glory Erimus participes non spectatores gloriae Enioy with these eyes visionem illam beatificam ioy vnspeakeable And saith S. Iohn your ioy shall no man take from you Thirdly inseparable fellowship with Christ They follow the Lambe whithersoeuer hee goeth There wee shall bee married to him heere we are but contracted Desponsabo te mihi saith the Prophet Those fauours and loue-tokens I haue heere receiued doe but inflame not satisfie desires and I am willing to part with them lest they should make mee loth to depart to him that gaue them Meretricius est amor plus amicum quà m sponsum diligere Lastly it brings mee where I would be into my owne countrey into Paradise where I shall meete not as in the Elysium of the Poets Catones Scipiones Scaeuolas but Abraham Isaac and Iaeob The Patriarks my Fathers the Saints my Brothers the Angels my Friends my wife children kindred and seruants that are gone before me and doe there attend mee looking and longing for my ariuing there Therefore with Dauid I will say Lord when shall I come and appeare before thee Like as the Hart panteth for the water brookes so panteth my soule for thee O God I had rather be a doore-keeper keeper in thy house then dwell heere though in chambers of pleasure Touching the second generall Diuision II. The feares or ioyes that death brings NAturally men feare Death The feares of death because it ends being which Nature would preserue Rachel mourned for her children and would not be comforted because they were not When Moses Rod was turned into a Serpent it was fearefull But when God bids Feare not to take it vp it may well be handled Timeat mortem qui Deum non timet sed si sperare desideras desine timere It is well said Pompa Mortis magis terret quam mors ipsa Groanes convulsions and a discouloured face shew death terrible But that Philosopher is not to bee followed who to prepare himselfe the better for death set forth death most fearefully nor yet that Emperour to be praised who so little esteemed of death that hee dyed in a complement Feare of death kills vs often where death it selfe can doe it but once The Philosophers thought that if death as bad as men count it were not mingled with bitternesse men would runne to it with desire and indiscretion Ergo mortem concupiscentes timentes aeque obiurgat Epicurus It is true life would not willingly be troubled with too much care nor death with too much feare Feares betray cares trouble those succours that reason would yeeld to both Multi ad fatum venêre suum dum fata timent Feares multiply euils Faith diminishes them yet most men wish vt mors potius semel incidat quam semper impendeat because nothing is so painefull as to dwell long vnder the expectation of some great euill Conscience of dying giues the right sence of death and the true science of liuing For by death absoluitur anima resoluitur corpus gaudet quòd absoluitur quòd resoluitur non sentit Therefore said the Heathen man Non nego poenas esse quibusdam post mortem sed quid ad mortem quod post mortem est If there be any feares in death saith a wise man Quare iuuenes non timent fieri senes But it is the nature of feare to make dangers greater helpes lesse then they are When Anaxagoras had word brought him that his deare and onely sonne was dead Scio said hee me genuisse mortalem The sonnes condition satisfied the fathers passion without more words Hee can neuer be at ease nor liue contentedly that liues continually in feare of death Nil in morte metuamus si nihil timendum vita nostra commisit There is no such gentle remoouall of all life's discontents as a quiet death Hee that knowes not how to end his time hath lost all his time Nescire mori miserrimum Socrates de morte disputabat vsque ad ipsam When Otho and Cato had prepared all things for their death they setled themselues to sleepe when they awaked and found themselues vpon the stroke of execution all they said was Vita supplicio data est mors remedio Cruell tyrants haue beene told to their faces that their threates of death were promises of life Their swords were fauours to the sufferer Mortall wounds made them immortall Viuere non potest qui mori non audet Though it be true that it is in vaine to feare what wee cannot shunne and feare of death as a tribute due to Nature is a weakenesse yet feares be not alwayes ill symptomes before death nor in death at that instant nature will reluct for loue sake to keepe still her being But grace thus distinguishes of being To the wicked the best thing of all were not to haue beene Non nasci optimum His next best were to liue long It was ill with him that he was borne worse that he must dye for hee not being sure of a better would faine be sure of this Conscious to himselfe that this dying life will bring him to a liuing death His hope is no longer then his breath His word is Dum spiro spero he flutters inter mortis metum vitae tormentum viuere nolit merinescit With good men it is otherwise to them the best thing of this life is to haue been for this leades the way ad beatitudinem patriae to the fruition of their faith Quid huius viuere est saith hee sed dijs mori His word is Cum expiro spero his hopes faint not when his breath failes him Patienter viuit delectabiliter moritur To this man mori
hee liue the arrest of Death shall not alwayes keepe him Well said S. Austine The bodies of Saints shall bee raised tanta falicitate quanta felicitate with as much ease as happinesse Nam mors tantum intermittit vitam non eripit death doth not disanul but discontinue life By our rising wee are remitted to our better right a life which neuer dyes a morning which hath no Eue nor ending Me thinkes I heare death say of life as Iohn the Baptist said of Christ He that commeth after mee is before me Which is life O sweet word Life The best Monasyllable in the world Gods owne Attribute Deus viuit And my soule saith Iob shall liue for my Redeemer liueth And is this life but the child of this word Death then blessed also bee the word Death the mother of life I will no more call thee Marah but Naomi for thou art not bitter but sweet more pleasant though swifter in thy gate then the Row or Hinde The Stoike could say Mors est quae efficit vt nasci non sit supplicium But what saith S. Iohn I heard a voice from heauen saying Write Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord whose workes follow them they die no more death hath no more power ouer them all teares are wiped from their eyes Compare together the benefits of life and death and you shall clearely see how that death which seemes to dispossesse vs of all puts vs in possession of more thē that al. Per varios casus per tot discrimina rerū Tendimus in Latium sedes vbi fata quietas Ostendunt It is but being which wee haue by Nature or by Birth our better being is by Grace but our best being is in glory there wee cannot bee till death haue conueyed vs thither Esse naturae est benè esse gratiae optimum esse gloriae Better therefore is our last being by death then was our first being by birth Dicique beatus ante obitum nemo Birth brought mee into the world but that was misery allowing no vacation to sorrowes Ne natalem quidem excipit For crying was the first note of my being Calamitatis futurae propheta Death carries me from a world of miseries to a world of felicities Dies mortalis est fatalis Natiuitas Heere I dwell in a house of clay whose foundation is dust Death brings to an habitation made without hands euerlasting in the heauens Ad excelsa sublatus inter felices currit animus excipitque illum coetus sacer Birth brought mee to conuerse and haue commerce with men death brings mee to haue communion with Saints and fellowship with Angels yea to enioy visionem illam beatificam The immediate fruition of God and Christ Old father Iacob when he was told of his sonne Iosephs power in Egypt was not satisfied to heare of his honours but enquires of his life intimating that life to come is better then all the honours that are in Egypt or fortunes that are on earth nor yet did Iosephs life content him without being present with him and therefore said I will goe downe and see him counting it better to behold with the eye and yetmost sinnes begin and creepe in at the eyes then to walke in desires Implying that the best things that are pleasure vs not in their being but in our enioying them What then shall bee the ioy The ioy soule dy at the meeting when soule and body separated for a season shall meete againe in ioy and mutually enioy one the other The sense of this delight and contentment did well appeare in that meeting betwixt Iacob and Ioseph whom mutuall losse and separation for a while did more endeare each to other Intermission of comfort hath this aduantage that it sweetens our delight more in the returne then was abated in the forbearance And was Iacob glad to leaue his countrey the land of Promise to see his yonger sonne Ioseph though in Egypt What then shall bee the soules ioy to end a pilgrimage in a strange land and goe to see his elder brother Christ in heauen an inheritance more pleasant then that land of Goshen freed from all the encombrances of this Egypt Therefore said S. Paul I desire to be dissolued that I may bee with Christ For this tedious mortalitie pleasant it how man can will be intollerable if death doe not disburthen it because long liuing so loads vs with sinne as the burthen thereof tyres euery man at last It is such an inmate as will roost in vs as long as life affords it house-roome nor wil it lodge alone but still one sinne will call in another but through death the very body of death and burthen of sinne are both cast out together Sith then the life I now enioy is beset with death tends to death and ends in death I will no longer mistake tearmes calling that death which is life and that life which is death Hanc esse mortem quam nos vitam putamus Illam vitam quam nos pro morte timemus said Lactantius More diuinely said S. Austine Per vitam ad mortem transitus est per mortem ad vitam reditus est Therefore the Pagans did not ill to celebrate the day of their death with mirth and the day of their birth with mourning For although the soule be then infused when man is made Death the regeneration of the soule yet it is new borne when man dyes His bodie being the wombe and death the midwife which deliuers that to sorrow this to glory The Prophet Ieremie so little ioyed in his birth that he said Let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed Quis pauet quis flet quis eget quis errat Solus heusortes homo sperat optat alget voluit explorat queritur Malorum omnia plena said a diuine Poer But to assure there are ioyes in death What saith the Scripture vnto well dying men Reioyce and lift vp your heads for now your Redemption draweth neere The third generall diuision III. When Death is to be prepared for and how IT was the saying of the diuine Philosopher Plato There is nulla salutar is Philosophia The time when but perpetua mortis meditatio and sine ista meditatione tranquillo esse animo nemo potest Scipio was wont to say Mortis meditatio Is vita sapientis and that it was the most honourable Philosophy to study a mans mortality Politiques say Totâvitâ discendum est viuere But saith Seneca Hoc magis miraberis Totâ vitâ discendum est mori Fooles would faine doe in the end that which wise men doe in the beginning Prepare for their end but carelesse men thinke that the signiory and gouernment of times is at their commands to doe what they list when they list We haue little power ouer the present much lesse ouer the future Therefore King Dauid cryed betimes Lord let me know mine end and the measure of my daies what it is and
long time Et vita ipsa si scias vti longa est Vir bonus bis viuit saith the Spaniard Amâ—liat at at is spatium sibi vir bonus hoc est viuere bis vita posse priore frui He liues twice that leades his first life well Alexander had a good account of his age reckoning by victories not by dayes So should Christians count their dayes by euery sinne they conquer in that day Numbring of dayes saith Saint Austine is not numerus dierum quis sit but quî sit Tres sunt dies hominis saith Saint Hierom Dies Conditionis dies Conuersionis dies Resurrectionis One day certifieth another saith Dauid Time lent vs flyes away in the time that is lent euery moment comming being the death of that is past But weigh well euery moment for it is of so great moment as that vpon it depends eternity of time to come Vnto dying well there are three things most requisite Three things requisite to dying well First to bee often meditating vpon death Secondly to be dying dayly Thirdly to dye by little and little Often meditation of Death The first step to dying well brings you to die in ease alleuiates paines expels feares eases cares cures sinnes corrects death it selfe Quo modo non morimur cùm viuitur mortuis wee liue with so many deaths about vs that wee cannot but often thinke of dying Euery humour in vs engenders a disease enough to kill vs so that our bodies are but liuing graues and we die not because wee are sicke but because wee liue and when we recouer sicknesse wee escape not death but the disease Doe then as the Preacher counsels what you haue to doe that doe quickely For in the graue whither thou goest there is neither worke nor discourse nor trauaile nor wisedome nor conuersation nor fruition of any thing all is entombed in silence darkenesse ouershadowing it Measure not life spatio sed actu because life is ordained for Action not for fruition If thou hast any good to doe for the Church the Commonwealth or thy Friends doe it quickly Hast thou much goods laid vp in store make thee friends with thy Mammon but sing not a requiem to thy soule say not vainely Viuamus dum viuimus sors fortuna vt volet ordinet vita iam in tuto est Remember Hac nocte know that after the day of vanitie comes the night of Iudgement then both light and delight goe out together Sadly and suddenly shalt thou find all worldly pleasures turned into waking dreames Et quae parasti cuius erunt All the towers in the ayre that thou hast built Vno ictu prosternentur On the other side doest thou eate the bread of carefulnesse and drinke the water of wearisome affliction Heere is Manna bread from heauen and water after which non sities There is no such cordiall to comfort cares or temper sorrows as often and seriously to thinke of death and to be acquainted with it betimes Priuacie with death a souereigne cordiall against death for through acquaintance death will leese his horror like vnto an ill face though it be as formidable as a Monster yet often viewing will make it familiar and free it from distaste It is said that Philostrates liued seuen yeeres in his tombe that hee might be acquainted with it against his bones came to lye in it Some Philosophers haue beene so rapt in this Contemplation of Death and Immortalitie that they discourse so familiarly and pleasingly of it as if a faire death were to bee preferred before a pleasant life This is well for Natures part Where the power of death lyeth and Moralists thinke it enough for their part but Christians must goe further and search deeper They must search where the power of death lies They shall finde that the power of euery particular mans death lyes in his owne sins that death neuer hurts a man but with his owne weapon it alwayes turnes vpon vs some sin it findes in vs. The sting of death is sinne Plucke out the sting death cannot hurt Quid huius viuere est diû mori Dye often and you shall be sure to dye well The second step to dying well The second step is to dye dayly Morior ne moriar I dye dayly saith S. Paul Singulos dies singulas vitas putae qui enim â—mnes dies tanquà m vitam ordinat crastinum nec optat nec timet The old saying is as good Doe that euery day which thou wouldest doe the same day that thou dyest Bonum est consumere vitam ante mortem Make that voluntarie which is necessarie and yeeld that quickly as a gift which you must pay as a debt at last Did men know that death were onely an end of life and no more euery man for his owne ends would bee a disturber of the worlds peace while hee liued and seeke to make his owne but when he dyed Hee that dies daily seldome dies deiectedly so he that will liue when he dies must dye while hee liues The widow that liues in pleasure said Saint Paul is dead while shee liues Liue holily you shal die happily Studeto talem esse in vita qualem velis reperiri in morte A liuing man is subiect to a double death Two sorts of death where to euery man liuing is subiect The one naturall the other spirituall Naturall death doth but separate the bodie from the soule But the spirituall death separates the soule from God Of all other it is the most desperate state of life to liue naturally and to bee dead spiritually Thou hast a name to liue but thou art dead said Saint Iohn but of the Prodigall child returned from his euill wayes it is said This my sonne was dead but is now aliue Wee count it a fearefull thing for a man to bee author of his owne death A sinfull life slayes the soule and so while we liue we kill or lose our better life The commandement that sayes Thou shalt d ee no murder specially forbids the murthering of our owne soules but certainly that which depriues vs of our better life makes of all other the worst death It is therefore a holy wisedome for a man to let his sins go before him Moriantur ante te vitia They to die actually thou heere virtually and so to liue that when thou art to die thou haue nothing to doe but die Atchieuement of riches pleasures honours haue beene painefull yet if these things leaue not vs by accident we leaue them by death and at our death we shall plainely tell them as Iob said Miserable comforters are you all If life delight then vse it yet so as a Traueller doth his Inne for a night and away and in thy iourney follow not the common tracke Nam ad Deum faciens iter per trita si itur longiùs abitur But do as the doubtful passenger aske questions of euery one you meete that can set you in your
right way Herein bee as great a questionist as were those religious Ladies of Rome who neuer let Saint Hierome rest for questions which was the readiest way to heauen If a man would but compare the Forenoone of his age with the Afternoone how long the one is and how short the other is euery man would be dying dayly Palmarios posuisti dies The longest liuer hath but a handfull of dayes Life it selfe is but a circle alwayes beginning where it ends Erat quando non erat sed erit Time was when man was not But how late a beginning soeuer man had yet after death hee shall be sure neuer to see end With the Ancient of dayes there are no dayes And the time shall be when time shall be no more There be two common errours which deceiue most men Two common errors First that a man enters not into eternall life till he dyes when as his calling heere begins his life eternall To Zacheus Christ said This day is saluation come vnto thy house Faith preuents time and makes things future present The godly man that hath his present life hid with Christ in God so liues heere as if his conuersation were in heauen carrying himselfe not onely honestly ciuilly and humanely but beyond naturall condition his life seemes super-humane diuine and spirituall The second errour is that howeuer a man liues yet if at last he seeme to die well then all is well and his soule is sure to bee saued this is a bold and a dangerous conceit for though Misery be the obiect of Mercy and Hope the miserable mans god yet humane life hath not a greater friend nor many times a greater foe then Hope Many would dye did not hope sustaine them more haue dyed flattered with vaine hope Whoso hopes too much cozens himselfe at last Be not deceiued God is not mocked not euery one that saith Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdome of Heauen In this mortall life enter into the first degree of life eternall or thou mayest die eternally with Lord haue mercy vpon vs in thy mouth But haue thy part heere in the first Resurrection which is from sinne to Grace and then thou shalt enioy the second Resurrection which is from dust to Glory The third step to well dying To die by little and little the third step is to die by little and little Totâ die mortificamur Naturally wee are euery day dying by degrees The faculties of our mind the strength of our bodies our common senses euery day decaying paulatim He that vseth this course euery day to dye by little and little to him let death come when it will it cannot be either terrible or suddaine If wee keepe a Courser to runne a Race wee leade him euery day ouer the place to acquaint him by degrees with all things by the way that when he comes vpon his speed he doe not start or turne aside for any thing he sees So let vs enure our soules and then wee shall run with boldnesse the race that is set before vs. To die by little and little is first to mortifie our lesser sinnes and not to say with Lot Is it not a little one Wee may not wash our hands from crying and from bloody sinnes and yet hugge in our bosome some beloued and Herodian sinne Certainely great sinnes will neuer be conquered if little sinnes be cherished Saint Cyprian writing consolatory Epistles to the Martyres of his time told them that he that once hath ouercome death in his owne person doth dayly ouercome him in his members if you mortifie the members of your flesh by little and little you will not feare the crueltie of any exquisite death the Tyrant can deuise There be a sort of little deathes as sicknesse of body troubles of minde losse of friends and the like vse these rightly in their kinde and you may make them kindely helpes to dying well The right way to bring any thing to a good end is to proceed by degrees God himselfe made nothing absolute at first This great God loues to haue degrees kept degreeingly to grow to greatnesse is the course of the world so by little and little to goe out of the world per gradus not per saltum is the way to Heauen Let a man goe out of the world as he came into the world which was first by a life of Vegetation then of Sense afterwards of Reason Dauid prescribes vs this order when hee sayes Doce me duce me Domine Hee will not runnetill hee bee taught to goe Teach mee to doe thy will and leade me into the land What land is that There is terra quam terimus land on earth which yeelds vs all pleasures that 's not it There is terra quam gerimus refined earth beautified bodies which we beare about vs nor is this it There is terra quam quaerimus the glorious land of promise that 's the land we seeke Into this land duce me Domine For the manner of dying AMongst men it is a matter of chiefe marke the manner of a mans death All men as men die naturally as Christians they should die religiously The good man equally can die or liue for he knowes if hee liue God will protect him if he dyes God will receiue him The Prophet Dauid in a Contemplation of Death ingeminates the word saying Domine Domine exitus Mortis The issues of Death belong to thee A good man by his good will would die praying and doe as the pilgrim doth goe on his way singing and so addes the paine of singing to that of going Yet by this Surplus of paine vnwearies himselfe of paine But some wretches thinke God rather curious then they faulty if a few sighes with a Lord haue mercy vpon vs be not enough at the last gaspe There is no spectacle in the world so profitable or more terrible then to behold a dying man to stand by and see a man dismanned Curiously diddest thou make man in the lowest part of the earth saith Dauid but to see those elements which compounded made the body to see these diuided and the man to be dissolued is rufull So dependant is the life of man that it cannot want one element Fire and Ayre these fly vpward Water and Earth they sinke downeward So liuing man becomes a dead carkase Seneca thought a man might choose his own death which was some ease to him Quemadmodum nauim elegam nauigaturus domum habitaturus Ita mortem vtique quá sum exiturus è vita But better saith another Stultè haec cogitantur vitam alijs approbare quisquam debet mortem verò sibi But since it is so great a matter to die so necessarie to die well so dangerous to die ill Let your life be an acting of death Certainely Death hath great dependancie on the course of a mans life There bee many that choose rather to die quickely then to liue long sickely Some that will inuite
in a high speculation endeuouring to expresse this heauenly ioy was asked by a graue old man Father Austine quid agis A man may as well draw in all the ayre in the world with one breath as expresse to the life that which thou art now about Though this ineffable ioy cannot bee expressed yet it is res generosa conari alta mente maiora concipere quà m quae effici possunt Therefore this wee may doe some way sample that which wee can no way expresse Looke as a Bird that hath been long encaged then chants it most merrily when she gets loose into the open ayre Nititur in syluas quaque rediresuas Or as a sicke man that hath wearily tossed and turned himselfe in his bed all night is them comforted when hee sees the day breake and the sunne beames guild the morning Or as a prisoner that feeles his chaines heauy vpon him longs for releasement Liberaque â ferris crura futura velit So it will bee with thy Soule when thou shalt heare thy Sauiour say I am thy saluation Come vnto mee thou that art weary and heauy laden and I will refresh thee Poenitentibus petentibus pertinet Regnum Coelorum To them that are weary of this durance and sue for deliuerance belongeth the kingdome of heauen Wherefore as a wearied traueller that hath passed a long iourney though perhaps met with some delights by the way is then gladdest when hee comes within kenning of his countrey Natale solum dulcedine cunctos ducit Euen so thy soule after many yeeres pilgrimage in the wildernesse of the world being come with Moses to Mount Nebo and beholding the pleasant land of Canaan from the top of Pisgah will then laugh for ioy as doth the Horizon to see the Sunne comming as a Bridegroome out of his chamber Dilectus meus descendit ad hortum suum ad areolam aromatum Of this ioy thy dazled eyes might haue some glimpses when thou wast in health but then it was as the blind mans visiō in the Gospel to whose first sight men seemed to walke like trees But in this thy new state thou shalt see clearely men and Angels stand before the Lambes Throne and heare thy selfe inuited to the Lambes Supper where thou shalt be brought into the wine seller and loue will be the banner ouer thee Come then O Shunammite stay me with flagons and comfort me with Apples for I am sicke of loue Kisse me with the kisses of thy mouth for thy loue is better then wine Shew mee O thou whom my soule loueth where thou feedest where thou lyest at noone Thus with Solomon in a Canticle and with Dauid in a Psalme let be the Raptures of thy Soule which as in trance shall bee caught vp to Heauen as was Philip by the Spirit or Abdias by the Angel And with an Heroicall alacritie tempered with a gracious humilitie giue vp thy soule to God and bid farewell to the world It was S. Bernards I shall neuer truely ioy till I heare this word Come you blessed Nor cease to sorrow till this be past Goe ye cursed Dying Saint Stephen before his eyes were closed had a faciall fight of his Sauiour looked stedfastly into heauen and saw the glory of God and Iesus standing at the right hand of God And old Simeon after hee had seene his Sauiour then reioyced to say Lord now lettest thou thy seruant depart in peace for mine eyes haue seene thy Saluation Hoc videā moriar Morior vt videam THE RAPTVRE OF THE SOVLE RApitur anima cùm coelestia Contemplatur contemplando iucundatur And because sight increases delight Therefore Rapture would faine ascend to vision But that 's a priuiledge for Saint Paul It so diuinely rauishes as it raises in man towring thoughts irradiates his soule with high apprehensions yea so it eleuates mans soule to God as it takes him out of himselfe to liue aboue himselfe The Soule being thus powerfully attracted by the faire inducements of so diuine delight She on her party corresponds and with a willing assent glides after these attracts And as a vapour exhaled by the Sun shee goes out of her selfe would willingly draw the body with her but that substance is too sad wherefore shee quitts it as not agil and spritefull enough to soare so high It is an admirable thing to consider that the eye of a man so weake a creature should looke vp euery day to heauen so wonderfull in height and yet neuer bee tyred by the way But by this I see that heauenly Contemplation if it be strong enough and not ouer-clogged with earthy thoughts is able to carry vs with case to heauenly extasie but then there must be application of the will and vnderstanding from things sublunarie to things heauenly For the will takes pleasure to perceiue the vnderstanding taken into Rapture and when as the faculties both of will and vnderstanding doe intercommunicate their rauishments then are we sweetly brought into diuine extasie Of this sacred extasie the Seraphical Diuines make diuerssorts One of Vnderstanding a second of Affection a third of Action Action is well added for a man is not to bee aboue himselfe in Contemplation and vnder himselfe in Conuersation The first of the three is in Splendore The second in Feruore The third in Labore The one caused by Admiration the other by Deuotion the last by Operation In these Raptures the Fathers who were stiled Saints had such a complacency as they stroue to act this as the way of a new life sometime before their Death insomuch as the Votaries would say Neuer was Saint but had Extasie and rauishment of life before his death They laboured by a liquefaction of their soules into God to Insoule themselues in God to put their foules out of the naturall comportment of the body and so to liue in diuine extasie without liuing in the body Some so liued as it was doubted whether they were liuing-men dead or dead-men liuing nay some with feruency of spirit were transported into such Extasie that their soules being wholly conuersant in diuine Contemplation they cared not to afford common assistance to Nature and so haue dyed through exinanition and want of strength Thus did loue performe the office of Death Loue is as strong as Death saith Solomon nay with them it wrought more then death could doe For death onely performeth by effect that which loue operated by affection Death did but separate their bodies from their soules But loue separated their soules from their bodies In such a trance they report Saint Austine to say O God thou onely art all mine when shall I bee wholly thine S. Bernard to say What is there in heauen or what desire I on earth but thee O Lord Thou art the God of my heart and my eternall portion my Soule is satisfied with nothing but to be with thee S. Ambrose to say The soule of Ionathan was knit to Dauid but my soule is glued vnto
vespere examine his heart Quid nocte vel die praecedente hath hee thought hath he said hath he done Et in quo peccati labem inuenerit Let him mend it cum proposito efficaci simili non peccare This if it be done daily I dare boldly say Vix fieri poterit vt quis moriendo peccet aut peccando moriatur Inter these thoughts I had these things in Contemplation 1. First what Death was and the kinds of death 2. Secondly what feares or ioyes death brought 3. Thirdly when death was to be prepared for and how 4. Fourthly death approching what our last thoughts should then be Of these I thus resolued THat Death was a fall What death is which came by a fall Our first framed father Adam falling in him wee all fell Cecidimus omnes saith S. Bernard super acerbum lapidem in luto vnde inquinati vulneratisumus Therefore wee needed water in Baptisme to wash vs Blood in the Eucharist to heale vs. This falling sicknesse infected not only the person but the nature such is the infection of euill alwayes worse thē the Act making man that was immortall subiect to Death as are Birds and Beasts whereas before wee were differenced from them in this condition though made of the same matter Dust. Yet as wee now stand the fault is ours if that fall be not our rise the aduantage wee haue by Christ being more then the damage wee had by Adam ideo qui stat videat ne cadat For relapse may turne vs againe to be as Birds and Beasts that haue no ioy but being no sorrow but dying Consider Death originally or in his owne nature and it is but a departed breath from dead earth inliuened at first by breath cast vpon it Take the dimension of it and it is but a point of Time interiected betweene two extremes A Parenthesis which interposed breakes no sense when the words meete againe When Seneca was asked Quid est Mors he answered Aut finis est aut transitus Rogatus Secundus Philosophus said to the Emperour Adrian Mors est aeternus somnus Diuitum Pauor pauperum desiderium incerta peregrinatio ineuitabilis euentus latro hominis fuga vitae resolutio omnium Plato said it was Lex Naturae Tributum mortalium Scaliger defines it to bee but the cessation of the soules functions All men graunt the cause of Death was iust yet few can tell who was the Author or what 's the name or nature of it Estimemus singula famâ remotâ quaeramus quid sint non quid vocentur In Nature it can be nothing for it hath no cause efficient The nature of Death but deficient Post mortem nihil est ipsaque Mors nihil It hath no Essence though Existence It is no substance but priuation no creature but creaturarum sepultura Therefore curiously to search the efficient of it were to labour the eye to see darknesse God made it not saith the booke of Wisedome nor is it mentioned as any of his workes God that made all things saw that all things which he had made were good Omne ens bonum omne bonum estens Therefore good Saint Augustine said finely Lord thou hast not made Death wherefore I beseech thee suffer not that which thou hast not made to reigne ouer that which thou hast made It is no errour to say that man made death For curiositie the itch of mans Soule affecting to know that which God neuer made which was the euill of death thinking it had been good to know euill by desiring to know it made it He that knew all other things knew not this one thing that hee knew enough So diuine a thing is knowledge that wee see innocencie it selfe was ambitious of it Life did not content that was thought but the act of knowledge knowledge was the life the soule looked at That yet begets a studious scrutinie to discouer things wee can neuer know So we see that although Nature be moderate in her desires yet conceit is vnsatiable But since God hath reuealed more then we can know enough to make vs happy let vs learne sober knowledge and contented ignorance Who then was the Author of Death The Autho◠of Death The booke of Wisedome saith that through enuie of the diuell death came into the world and they that hold on his side finde it But if the Diuell was the father Sinne was the mother For saith Saint Iames sinne being finished trauaileth in child-birth like a mother to bring foorth death Adam falling sin followed him Man being tempted Death attempts him and by sinne death entred Death had no interest in man till sin had dispossessed him of the freehold hee had in God There was no trust in Gods seruants saith Eliphaz but euen Angels were charged with folly And to doe the Diuell right hee did but perswade not compell It was in mans choice to stand or fall Adam acceperat posse quod vellet non velle quod posset nos accepimus posse quod volumus velle quod possumus ille posse non mori nos non posse mori sic Augustinus Power of standing man had from God but possibilitie of falling from himselfe Therefore though wee may thanke our first parents for our birth-sinne Yet wee may thanke our selues for improouing of it wherefore said the old Letanie Ame salaa me Domine All mans natiue vertues were giuen him but in trust and vnder a condition Hee abused the trust and brake the condition so incurred the penaltie For that is mans nature euer subiect to extremities either dull in want or wanton in fruition Ne moriemini was a faire warning but hee cared not for it when Satan tempted hee consented Had the mind gouerned the eye the Apple could not haue beguiled though it was faire to see to The proud aspiring thought was hatched in man The Diuell was but the deuiser sinne was the Author and wee being partners in the sinne shared likewise in the punishment Facinus quos iniquinat aequat Since then Death stole in at the eare by our hearkening to ill counsell let vs now cast it out by the eares through hearkening to Gods Word the word of life the life of Death For the name of Death The name of Death Saint Iohn cals it a sleepe Amicus noster Lazarus dormit Of Saint Steuen it was said and when hee had thus spoken hee slept The Patriarkes and Kings of Iudah slept with their Fathers Transitum ad vitam aliqui appellant mortem saith Saint Bernard Sed ideo Scriptura dormientes appellat vt euigilaturos minimè desperemus Hee is not dead saith Dauid but sleepeth whose flesh doth rest in hope The night sauours of mortalitie and sleepe is but the shadow of death and where the shadow is the body cannot bee farre off But let it be Mors à morsu which our first Parents tasted or Mors à mora which yet tarries for vs all Let her bee
whose strength faileth that is now in his last age and vexed with all things and to him that despaireth and hath lost patience But contrariwise O death how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that lyeth at rest in his possessions vnto the man that hath nothing to vexe him and that prospereth in all things yea to him that is yet able to receiue meate Certainly to this man that thus liues at ease in delicacie with affluence of all things for euen to vse happinesse is as difficult as to forbeare it to him it is a sad and bitter meditation to thinke that death must take him from all these ioyes wherein his heart tooke pleasure O quam amara mors mundum amantibus Euery poore contentment glues his affections to that he likes When as the best of this worlds contentments are but contemptible If thy heart bee set on Heauen thy soule will haue no pleasure in these low things looke vpward Os homini sublime dedit coelumque tueri The minde contemplating Heauen walkes beyond eye sight and at so farre a distance discernes God as if hee were at hand there is his true solace to conuerse with God Who euer they bee that dwell in Contemplation of heauenly things goe off rich in thoughts satisfied in their expectation For an antidote against Death hate sinne and the pleasures thereof then will death bee delightfull nor life dolefull nay death it selfe looking thee in the face knowing thy heart will change countenance looke vpon thee facie non horrendâ sed blandâ non terribili sed amabili This very day of death Dies iste quem tanquam extremum aliqui reformidant tibi aterni natalis erit The good mans hope is euen in death the world-louer ends both hope and happinesse when he dyes Plato discoursing vnto one de contemptu mortis and speaking strangely vpon it was answered Fortiùs loqueris quà m viuis At ille dicebat non quemadmodum viueret sed quemadmodum viuendum esset How euer the Contemplation of death pleases yet the sufferance of death pinches A man satisfied that death is nothing but a bridge to passe him ouer to an other shore where life stands and lookes for his landing yet while hee is vpon the Bridge which is but a short step betwixt two liues his vertiginous braine wil grow giddie and hee will before troubled in the passage Did not the word Ibis ad Patres sweeten the contemplation as did that wood cast by Moses into the the waters of Marah turning bitternesse into sweetnesse the thought of death though it be but a gathering to our Fathers would be an vnpleasing contemplation But feares being past which are but shadowes set off ioyes the better Therefore now to see What ioyes death brings OVt of the bitter came sweet The ioyes brought by death said Sampson When wee thinke vpon the separation of bodie and soule then it is a sweet contemplation to consider the coniunction of our bodies and soules with Christ which being once made by the bond of the Spirit in this life shall neuer afterwards be cancelled For let death wilde beasts or birds deuoure and teare the body from the soule yet neither body nor soule are thereby seuered frō Christ Non curo saith Ignatius si ferarum dentes me moluerint modo pura fiam farina Christo. And yet the body thus consumed liues not in the graue or belly of the beast nor yet receiues life or sense from the soule while it is in this seate vntill the great Assizes that generall Venite comes But then looke what the condition of Christ was in his death the like shal be of his members The body soule of Christ were seuered as farre as Heauen and the Graue were distant and yet neither of them were seuered from the godhead but both existed in his person so likewise our bodies and soules though rent and pulled in sunder millions of miles distant yet neither of them is seuered or disioyned from Christ our head Qui praedixit reuixit this serues to work it Humane wisedome cannot comprehend this Weake faith lookes for meanes and is put to shifts when shee sees meanes faile But omnipotency workes by improbabilities and tels vs. There is no faith where there is either meanes or hopes Difficulties and improbabilities are the obiects of Faith Through the Spirit saith S. Paul wee waite for the hope of righteousnesse in faith Yet in nature we see that in winter season trees which seeme as dead reuiue againe in the Spring because the body graines armes of the trees are ioined to the root where the sap lyes all the Winter and by meanes of coniunction it conueyes vegitation to all parts of the tree euen so mens bodies haue their winter when they are turned into dust Homo arbor inuersa cuius Radix in caelis rami in terra Their life is hid in Christ with God Yet in the day of resurrection by reason of this mysticall coniunction diuine and quickening vertue shall streame from Christ to his Elect and cause them to resurge from the graue to life eternall For the head wil not be without the members where he is there they shall be also It is noted how in that transfiguration the body of Moses which was hid in the valley of Moab appeared in the hill of Tabor which assures that this body of ours lodge it where you will is not lost but layed vp to bee raised in glory as it was laid downe in corruption The incineration and dissipation of this dust shall haue a recollection in that day of resurrection In the valley of dead bones did not the Spirit say to Ezekiel Prophesie vpon these bones and say O ye dry bones I will cause breathto enter into you I will lay sinewes vpon you and will bring vp flesh and you shall liue If any thinke The difference betwixt the resurrection of the vngodly and the iust this Resurge againe which is so wonderfull is not peculiar but common vnto all both good and bad as good men loue not to bee happy alone its truth yet it is not by the same cause nor to the same end For the wicked rise by the power of Christ to be iudged and condemned But the godly rise by the vertue of Christs resurrection to receiue eternall life Vita mortem assumpsit vt mors vitam assumeret Therefore they collect truely who say that the rotting of our bones is no death but a being asleepe and that sleepe must needs be sweet which hath peace with rest and rests in safety Awake then thou that sleepest arise come and liue hee whom thou louest sleepeth but thou wilt come to awake him till when his couch of ease is his coffin the graue his bed wherein he lyes neuer troubled with dreames or fancies what shall become of his bodie till it rise againe I am the resurrection and the life saith Christ He that beleeueth though hee were dead yet shall