compunction and pierc'd with sorrow which before while it was green was not in a capacity to receive the influences of the Sun of Righteousness and consequently could not be ripned till a passage was made for the evacuation of the peccant humour that so the beams of grace might efficaciously work upon it Let us then consider that if this delicate fruit does upon its piercing or wounding distil tears and that in order to its attainment of maturity it is much more requisite that the devout Christian should endure the stings of remorse and compunction in order to his being advanc'd to that perfection which is requir'd in the pure of Heart To this end is it that a Man ought sometimes as Saint Augustine sayes to make his appearance at the Tribunal of his own Soul where his own Thoughts will be his Accusers his Conscience the Witness and Grief the Executioner to wound the sinful Heart Then saith he let the blood as it were of the Soul fâ—w and issue forth by tears Notwithstanding all this Who saith Solomon will glory that he hath a clean Heart True it is no Man should glory herein but give the Glory onely to God Yet since the pure of Heart shall onely see God such purity of Heart is required as is produc'd by the expulsion of sin and infusion of Grace Therefore David humbly desired that his sin might be blotted out and that within him might be created a clean Heart Not a new Heart created but purity therein which being produc'd without any precedent merit of the finners part may be term'd a Creation Therefore Saint Paul tells us That Charity which is the same spiritual quality with Grace is transfus'd into our Souls which gives life and vigour in some sort as the Soul created and infus'd informs and gives life and motion to the body Me-thinks a Fig when but green pierc'd and wounded as it were by the Gnat lies expos'd to the bright and hot beams of the Sun as the Heart of a sinner doth to the Sun of Justice when 't is plerc'd by compunction Ah! what Light of Faith and heat of Love enters through those new â—ade passages of the Contrite Heart by which it becomes as it were a new Heart ripened by Virtue and embellished by Grace Now elevate thine Eyes to behold the wounded Heart of our Lord not with the sting of a Gnat but with a sharp Spear not to receive any light or heat of Consolation but to lay out the entire summ of that infinite treasure of his precious blood besides water to purifie thy impure Soul that thou mayst be blessed and see God thereby to enjoy eternal Beatitude CONSIDERATIONS ON THE VI. BEATITUDE On our Blessed Saviour's wounded Heart HAving in the Fifth Beatitude like a Dove nestling in the hole of a Rock as at the Gate of Mercy entred by Contemplation into Christ's wounded side now make a step farther or rather with reverence stay and view his wounded Heart most pure and clean where sin could never find entrance and say with the Patriarch Jacob Verily here is no other than the House of God and the Gate of Heaven This is the Blessed One pure of Heart who ever had the happy sight of God Consider what it is to be clean of Heart It is to be the Temple of the Holy Ghost To be in the state of Grace that is not guilty of any mortal sin And since the Heart is the Source and Fountain whence our thoughts perpetually flow to suppress all impure cogitations as they are rising is to have a clean Heart when it is accompanied with a pure intention directing all our actions to the Honor and Glory of God And as Saint Augustine saith Whatsoever we do whatsoever we laudably desire must tend to obtain the Vision of God beyond which nothing can be desired Think of the Question propounded by King David O Lord Who shall dwell in thy Tabernaele or who shall rest in thy holy hill And then attend to the Answer which is this He that liveth uprightly and worketh righteousness c. This is a hard saying Must the Heart be so clean as not to have one spot The Child but a day old is not free and in his Angels God found iniquity Who then shall be justified in his sight Or who can be clean of Heart while the All-seeing Eye of Heaven beholds it Appeal then to the pure Heart of thy Saviour rely on his Innocence not on thine own on his merits not on thine Seeing that Vessel of Election said he was guilty of nothing and yet in that he was not justified yet doubted not to say A Crown of righteousness was due unto him which the just Judge would give him I will therefore say with David O Lord turn away thy face of thy severe Justice from my sins And with him add further Shew me thy face that is to say of thy mercy and I shall be saved According to thy great mercy and multitude of thy mercies cancell my iniquity wash me again from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin that I may be clean of Heart to enjoy thy sight O my Soul Keep thy Heart as the Wise man adviseth thee with all kind of custody for out of it saith he proceeds life Keep it pure let not in one mortal sin to defile it for then from the Heart would proceed Death destruction of Grace and loss of the sight of God for Grace is the seed of Glory Let thy Heart be ploughed by Contrition harrow'd and cleans'd from the weeds of sin that this divine seed may be sowen in thy Heart which springs up by holy desires and is ripened by virtuous exercises O my God thou hast commanded me to love thee with an entire pure and sincere Heart Give me I beseech thee what thou commandest by creating in me a clean Heart and renewing a right Spirit in my bowels that I may love thee with all my Soul that my Will may be resign'd to thine without any contradiction with all my Mind and Memory alwayes to think of thee and with all my powers that I may employ them in thy service To perform all these things I must observe four things First Seeing all I am and have Body and Soul spiritual and temporal blessings I have from God I must be alwayes mindfull of his benefits Serve honour and thank him for all love him above all and for him my Neighbour Secondly I must consider the excellency of God And seeing he is infinitely greater than our Heart though we serve him with all our Heart and powers of our Soul yet are we defective and insufficient and must therefore think we never do enough Thirdly We must not suffer the world to usurp the least corner of our Heart by disordinate Love for that were injurious to God as was the placing of the Idol Dagon by the Ark. He is too covetous saith Saint Jerom whom God cannot satiate And he loves God less
Kingdom of Heaven The First BEATITUDE Blessed are the poor in Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven EMBLEME I. The Cornel-Tree Tam nudus natus homo-1 So naked Blossom-like you see A Man is born Ah! but if he In Spirit were as poor Then which ' Mongst Mortals here could I term Rich THis Cornelia or Cornel-Tree in February begins to bloom and bears blossoms long before there is any appearance of Leaves to secure and shrowd them from the injuries of Wind and Weather This is the true Embleme of Man who is born naked and springs forth like a tender Blossome As Job saith Naked came I from the womb of my Mother and naked shall I return From which we may learn this Lesson That as man is born poor and naked in Body so should he be in Spirit that is in Will and Desire seeing that as he brought nothing into this World so shall he not carry any thing out of it Now forasmuch as man is naturally too apt to be over-sollicitous for the things oâ— this World he may learn from this Cornell-Tree That if he make it his first Endeavour to bud and blossome and fructifie in Virtue a short time will furnish him with all the consequent Advantages and Conveniences of Humane Life For this Tree does afterwards plentifully bring forth Leaves to shelter and shadow its Fruit As if it should say according to our Blessed Saviour's expression First seek the Kingdom of Heaven first bloom in Virtue nourish'd by the sap of Grace spreading it self from the Root of Christian Humility into all the Boughs and Branches that is into all your Actions and all other things shall be added unto you Leaves shall not be wanting that is Cloaths to cover you besides other Necessaries which are all in fine but Leaves Nay Honours and Dignities what are they but withering Leaves What Wealth or rich Apparel but Leaves whereof Man is soon despoil'd and left poor and naked What voluptuous Pleasures but Leaves which so soon as enjoy'd shrink up and vanish Oh! what a bleak Autumn and Fall of the Leaf sudden and unexpected is that we find in this our Vale of Misery Who then would not be poor in Spirit and naked in his Affections to the leafy Creatures of this transitory Life that he may bloom to Eternity This is the poverty which lightneth the heart of Man formerly clogg'd with too much care and follicitude With this poverty of Spirit a Man runs freely towards Heaven his Country With this is accompanied Humility which lesseneth Man to himself that he may lie hidden and secure like a Blossom under the Leaves never to be blasted with Pride On this Humility Patience attends and enables a Man to suffer with Christ It is the Enemy and Self-love that surcharge Man with worldly cares riches and vices which are but Leaves without the Blossoms of Virtue These are they which puff up Man with ambitious thoughts that he high aspiring may find a precipice These incite great Spirits to toil and labour yet so as that out of breath even to the World they may happily at last reflect on Christ crucified and in his nakedness read Blessed are the poor in Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven Might not he be said to be poor in Spirit that lies gasping and labouring for breath while every minute he apprehends Death at his Elbow ready to stifle him To be as poor in Spirit in another sense is to conceive the like That death is neighbouring as neer unto us which when it comes dismantles the covetous Heart of Man as well as his Body Why then shall not I prevent him by being disengag'd from the extream desire of Riches and verifie what S. Jerome assures us to be true Caput jam canescit prope est aest as vitae falx acuitur instat messor terribilâ— Gr. Nazianz. That He easily contemns all things who is always thinking that he shall die That if his Body be a flourishing green Meadow Death the Mower is at hand That if it be a beauteous Flower in an instant 't is cropt And finally If his Life be but a vapour it is soon dispell'd Ah! what an earthy substance interposeth 'twixt the Heart of Man and the Sun of Justice And what a dark Eclipse is thereby caused in their Souls who are not poor in Spirit CONSIDERATIONS ON THE I. BEATITUDE Of our Blessed Saviour's Nakedness upon the Cross THe Crucifix or Representation of our Blessed Saviour crucifi'd is a Book wherein may be read the Eight Beatitudes preached by him when he was upon Earth as some conceive on Mount Thabor and afterwards exemplifi'd in him on Mount Calvary At first aspect as your eye reflects on Christ crucified you behold him naked by which you may read the first Beatitude Blessed are the poor in Spirit that is to say poor in Will and Desire of having any thing of this World and therefore he would die as naked as he came into it Teaching us hereby how naked we should be in our Affections ready to be despoil'd of worldly Riches for his sake And so poor in Spirit as to lose our last breath rather then deny our Faith or him by preferring his Creatures before him Consider how poor our Lord and Saviour was in Spirit who did annihilate and evacuate himself taking upon him the form of a Servant And how for thy Redemption he gave himself unto thee and for thee to restore thee to thy self who wert lost and utterly undone by sin Now seeing he may wholly claim thee by right of Creation whereby he gave thee to thy self what hast thou left to render unto him for thy Redemption In the Creation of the World he spake the word and it was done but to redeem Man he spake did and suffered that for which thou art infinitely indebted Say then with the Prophet David What shall I render to our Lord for all that which he hath given me He desires but my self poor in Spirit and naked in mine Affections to the transitory things of this Life which cannot be till I abandon my self whom while I cherish and pamper through disordinate love I shall still be coveting the pelf of the World pleasures dignities and self-esteem so far from being poor in Spirit Will and Desire that I am involv'd and cloath'd as it were with a burthen of earthly Cares and Concupiscences which having cast off by poverty of Spirit we walk more freely towards Heaven our Country A Begger the more naked he appears the more he moves to pity and compassion and with more confidence intrudes to receive an Alms then another in better Apparel So to beg an Alms from God from whom every good and perfect gift descends present thy self as naked and poor in Spirit as thou canst Acknowledg thy self to have been hitherto an unprofitable servant naked as to all desert poor and abject in Spirit not having serv'd him with alacrity in time of afflictions crosses or
I never mourn but for my sins nor grieve but for the loss of thee IV. On thy sacred Mouth crying out I thirst I read thou didst hunger and thirst after righteousness that I might be justified by thy Death and Passion Grant sweet Jesu I may ever hunger and thirst after this V. By thy wounded Side I find thou wert merciful giving all thy precious blood for my redemption May I be merciful to thee in thine that I may finally find mercy VI. Let thy pierced Heart most pure and exempt from all fin teach me to prepare a pure and clean heart for thee VII By thy sacred Hands nailed I understand thou wert the grand Peace-maker Vouchsafe to infuse into my soul true and perfect Charity that I may have peace withall for thee and during this life make my peace with thee VIII Lastly By thy Feet pierced with nails I read they are blessed that suffer persecution which thou didst even unto the death of the Cross Grant me grace to suffer for thee to bear afflictions patiently that with thee I may reign eternally Amen O good Jesu to reign with thee is to suffer with thee On the Cross thou art surrounded with the eight Beatitudes Here I must seek them exemplified in thy self on Mount Calvary to find them perfected on Mount-Sion the heavenly Jerusalem I. I behold the Cornel-tree where without leaves to shrowd it the blossom lies naked and expos'd to the blustring winds And on the Tree of the Cross as naked I behold my Saviour poor in Spirit poor in Will and Desire as naked dying as born for us Uncloath thy self then O my soul and be as naked in thine affections to the leafy vanities and riches of this life which is but a so journing for poor mortality II. I see the arch'd Indian-Fig-tree greedy to possess the Land with a thousand shoots which descend to take deep root in the earth And on the Tree of the Cross I behold our Lord meekly bowing down his Head humbled even to the death of the Cross to take possession of the Land of the Living for me an exile by as many shoots as sighs prayers tears and drops of blood as he shed for me a lost sinner O my soul where are thy humble shoots that should descend that they may ascend to the Land of promise where are thy submissive thoughts that should lowly bend to the earth by acknowledgment of thy unworthiness and ingratitude to so good and merciful a Lord Thou art now in possession of a barren Land thy body where thou canst not nor must not take deep root Heaven is thy Land this thy place of banishment Thither let thy thoughts ascend to be deeply rooted by an eternal possession III. I view the Myrrhe-tree weeping drop after drop but when prick'd and wounded it more abundantly distills Thus came I weeping and mourning into a vale of tears like a taper by the wind soon extinguish'd like a spark in the Sea as soon swallowed up like a froth suddenly vanishing and a vapour scatter'd in the air Have I not then cause to weep to prevent a future mourning and acquire a happiness and consolation which is promised to Mourners Then I cast mine eyes on Christ crucified and weeping on the Cross why for my sins Why like a Myrrhe-wee wounded over all his body distilling blood To give light to my glimmering taper fire to my spark substance to my frothy soul and purer air to my dusky vapour Thirdly I will summon my heart and expostulate with my soul why she would be usher'd by her eyes to the aspect of vainer objects yet never made use of them to bewail her sins with tears And if the Myrrhe tree stab'd or launc'd with a knife dissolves it self into tears why doth she not procure by her sighs and prayers that my heart woulded with true compunction may be liquified into tears of grief IV. I seem to behold the Clove-tree hungring as it were and thirsting after the strengthning moisture of the earth which it continually attract Then I seem to hear my Saviour cry out I thirst to express his ardent desire of our Salvation And then O my soul say I canst thou hear thy Lord crying out I thirst and yet present him with no other potion then a cup full of absinth thy sins which are more bitter to him then Vinegar and Gall of which he tasting would not drink O my soul taste and see how sweet our Lord is who to revive and refresh thee which wert like dry and barren earth showred down his precious blood from his wounded body veins and heart till it was totally exhausted O what an excessive thirst did this cause in thy Saviour what a Consummatum est was this what bounty when hereserv'd not to himself so much as one drop of blood O my soul if he gave thee all that was most precious doubt not to say with his royal Prophet What shall I give unto our Lord for all he hath given me what less then an entire heart and soul with all her powers to love honour and serve him V. Next I imagine I see the fruit of Adams Apple-tree cut in two which presents us with a cross which bare the Saviour our of the World in whom I behold as many crosses as stripes and scourges enterlac'd in his tender flesh It was the fruit of the forbidden Tree wherein being eaten were included as many crosses as miseries now incident to wretched man As hunger thirst cold heat infirmities c. which render him miserable and consequently to be pitied O my soul commiserate at least thine own self encompassed with so many frailties casualties and anxieties of mind Turn which way thou wilt thou canst not be long exempted from one calamity or other Wherefore seeing to be Misericors that is to say merciful is to have an agrieved and pitiful heart as it were always bearing a cross let thine he dolor sorrow and compunction for thy sins VI. Imagine you behold the green Fig pick'd and pierc'd by a little Gnat or Fly whence distills a drop as it were of hony And then say O my green hard and immature Heart where is that compunction that is requisite for thee O that thou wert thus pierc'd and wounded with grief for thy fins that sweet delight like a honey-drop might issue forth for while it resides within thee thou canst never come to maturity for where sin predominates Grace must needs be an Exile Then reflect your Eye on our Saviour's Heart wounded with a Spear and say Lord Were not thy larger wounds in thy Hands and Feet sufficient pledges and testimonies of thy excessive Love Why then after thy death wouldst thou receive so deep a wound in thy Heart Ah! If Death were stronger than Love in thee when by him thou wert vanquisht he seizing by Heart Love again even after Death was more powerful by opening that sacred rift whence issued the Sacraments and where the Gate of