all the cagernes of our hart and spirit but prefer a momentary pleasure before the grand affaire of eternity What is it that we are so ambitious off unles we be very greedy of glory what hunt we so earnestly after one moment sufficeth for the purchase of eternity If the largest extent of the earth be but a point in respect of heaven which is limitable what will the narrow bounded life of man be in regard of an unlimited eternity and is it possible that time can be spard from the pursuit and attainment of glory if having exposd a full exchequer of gold God should say to some needy beggar thou art yet to live a thousand yeares and shalt have nothing to sustain thy want for so long a respit of time but what thou canst carry out of this treasury in the space of an hour would he thinkst thou play the trewant in that short interim or spend that remnant in play or sleep why do we not bestir our selves an eternity expects us nor can we lay up provision for it but in the short interstice of this life why do we interrupt so laudable a commerce and sit still with our hands in our pockets a thousand yeares carry les proportion to an eternity then a moment to a thousand yeares what then wil ten or twenty yeares the utmost tearm of thy life be in regard of an endles duration why ceasest thou from doing good life flyes from thee death runs towards thee eternity stands still and thou nevertheles art slow in coffering up eternal riches What a tedious journey under took the queen of Saba for no other end but to enjoy the sight of Salomon her intention aymed not at any long stay but to return presently to her country many come from remote lands to behold a man whom fame hath cryed up for some rare talents of wit or art with how much more reason ought we be content to employ before hand prolix endeavours to be able but once to contemplate God in the height of his majesty if permission were given to all of making our journey to heaven on foot and nothing else were prerequired but only a pilgrimage of a thousand yeares no body I believe would decline the enterprize Thy journey thither is much more compendious thou needst not lift thy foot over thy threshold nor out of thy bed and why dare we not aspire with all our might to compass a good which is so nigh us the sole lustre of gold or flashings of a gem are able to make men brook the roughnes and danger of the seas and the clarity of God strikes us no more then if we were insensible neyther do we prize an invaluable good at so much as the value of a little labour But what do I insist upon eternity although glory were not eternal but momentary yet it is a good so boundlesly great that an eternity of suffering should not be deemd too much to purchase it but for a moment we beholding God intuitively in that instant O how exquisite must that needs be which God hath provided for his friends if he prepared and gave himself to be crucifyed even for his very enemyes how exquisite must that needs be which cost God so dear for which he was at so great expense at no les then his life auctority passion and omnipotency If Gods manufactures as the heavens the motions of the stars the nature of beasts orderd onely for the use of man be to us such an object of admiration what will that be which he exhibits to the ostentation of his majesty if we admire the artifice of an eye though in a loathsome creature or carriage-beast what wil that be which eye hath not seen nor ear heard nor can enter into the hart of man if he hath made the fabrick of this world which is but the cottage of miserable Adam a bridewel of sinners acave of brute beasts of such an admirable structure that heathens at its contemplation were rapt into extasy what shal we think of his own royal Pallace as much as a nasty stable falls short of the court of some great Monarch which is adornd with guilded roofs paved with pretious stones hung with most rich tapistry yea as much as the magnificence of the heavens exceeds the horrour of a stinking prison so much far more must thou imagin the dwelling place of the blessed to surpass the beauty of this universe which respectively will be found but an object of loathsomenes All the comelines of this world falls so far short of the seat of the blessed that all this artifice which the Philosophers admired with so much astonishment is in respect of it but an eye sore and blemish of deformity If heaven and nature which God provided as it were by the by and with as much ease as one can speak be so ravishing what wil that be which he hath from all eternity on set purpose prepared for those that make him their love In the guifts of nature God carried himself master-like he made them all with a commanding word but in his glory he resembles an industrious servant passing to and fro seeking as it were to give content If the beauty of this visible world where he was not so sollicitous to please be so winning and enamouring how much more pleasing wil he be in that where he made it his task study to please The whole machin of the world was no more chargable to him then the expense of one voyce he made it with a word but glory made him as it were set his wits on work and as obsequious as a servant yea most patiently to brook disgraces torments and death it self If thou shouldst bestow a hundred yeares in speculating the greatnes of glory shouldst frame some high conceit of its worth thou mightst wel deem all to be nothing and thy conceptions to fall so far short of comprehending it that thou canst not so much as conjecture thy self to have come nigh it But in that imperfect idea which thou hast conceived rayse thy self to the gates of heaven beholding it open take as clear and exact a view of it as thou canst that being done cast thy eyes upon the earth and what is remarkable in its rarities compare then the goods of both together and see whether earthly things wil abide the test Wonder then at so many unfortunate endeavours of men in purchasing a little worldly pelf or rather nothing and their trewantly sluggishnes in seeking after the true good Contemplate thence from the top of the stars the frustrated labours of mortals and their certain hazards in obtaining an uncertain good and do thou hear thy soveraign inviting thee in such like words come enter into possession of my kingdom heavenly treasures This is a most certain guift seald with no les a promise then that of divine faith and recommended to us by the diligence and death of Christ heaven having so voted
tasting gall and the whole series of his bitter Passion It s consideration is so feelingly efficacious that it made Christ himself become irksome and fearful so far as to sweat drops of blood What more efficacious to debar us of all gust then to compassionate with the sorrowful IESVS It was not without mystery that those who so perseverantly persisted with Christ upon the Mount Calvary and jointly suffered there with him concluded their life with no other Martyrdom wheras the rest of the Apostles and Disciples were crownd by the hands of persecuting tyrants For the most B. Virgin Mother of IESVS S. Iohn Evangelist and the Magdalen dyed not Martyrs a greater sorrow then any death or passion tormented them by meer compassion and was in lieu of a cruel martyrdom Let us then suffer jointly with IESVS and let our sufferings be joyfully voluntary IESVS is the way the truth and life what way will we take to arrive at a life truly happy but the life of IESVS which was a continual death and perpetual crucifixion It might suffice to make us eternally condole compassionate with IESVS and loathingly abhor all self-seeking appetites if we considerd what torture he sufferd that last night and day of his life in all his members there being no whole bit to be found in him from the sole of the foot to the crown of his head His tongue which the torments left untouchd that it might not go scotfree seems to have shard as deeply as any of the rest for the most patient IESVS complaind of no disjoyntings anguish of his limbs but only of his thirst to let us understand that even those parts which seemd to be vacant wanted not also their torment Neither did the intensenes of the pain stupify or benum them but all were preservd strong lively and vigorous that they might be more able to suffer and therfore he being ready to give up the ghost cryed out with a loud voice wherby also he gave a remonstrance of the never-relenting fervour with which he sollicited our cause amidst such bitter torments and of the humble acquiescency wherewith he accepted death by the bowing of his head and the profound respect and reverence he usd in fulfilling his Fathers precept so ful of difficulty Notwithstanding all this we ought to resent most feelingly what he sufferd all his life long in that one little member of his most holy Hart whose paine was unsufferably great even from the first moment of his conception and continued so all the time of his life It was his hart that did first and last partake of torment It was so much the more feelingly ressentive by how much the unsupportable anguish of all the rest of his members met in it the most delicate of all others as in their center No les affliction harbourd in the hart of IESVS from that moment then he felt in the garden when he swet blood through his whole body And even as there he was siezd after an unwonted and frightful manner with a lively apprehension of all the anguish and paines of his passion so also no les intensely did he apprehend the same in the womb of his most loving mother For Christs knowledg was not obnoxious to any imperfection at that time especially when he took upon him the grand affair of our redemption and all the difficulty he was to undergo and break through was without any dissimulation clearly represented to his understanding He did there most perfectly apprehend all the series of his sufferings the innumerable labours of his whole life his contempts and revilements and from that time this knowledge was as afflictive and perchance more if there could be any inequality as it was afterwards in the garden for there the sense of paine broke out and diffusd it self through all his body in such sort that the anguish dispersd through the whole did remaine les pungent in the hart but in the womb of the most glorious Virgin the whole sea of grief was confined within the narrow channel of one smal member the little tender hart of the infant IESVS When one sheds teares he is les sensible of an affliction then when the anguish is shut up and smotherd in the hart the eyes remaining dry and tearles so Christ when he did not sweat nor the blood trickld out sorrowd perchance more because no particle at all of that sorrow did evaporate nevertheles it was behoofful for our instruction to shew once exteriourly how much he continually sufferd interiourly That grief accompanyd him all along through the whole course of his life IESVS enjoyd alwaies a most perfect and intuitive knowledg of all things as they are in themselves Vnles by divine priviledg and dispensation he had bin particularly assisted the intensenes of the pain had causd death in that first instant he began to live and therfore his whole life was a signal and continual miracle Neither did his own Passion alone afflict him but much more his compassion over others he was moved to it while he considerd the distress of his most loving and innocent Mother he was moved to it in behalf of us he resented more feelingly the torments of Martyrs the austerities of confessours the discases and maladies of his Saints then they themselves who did undergo them If an affectionate Mother do more grieve at the sicknes of her child then the child himself who can deny but Christ loved his more tenderly then any mother doth her only child He did truly bear our labours our griefes did he sustain How great then must his pain needs be if it surpass that of Martyrs Penitents and sick folks comprizd in one But above the rest he was touchd with a lively compassion over us for all and each particular sin of all and each particular man who hath been or shal be to the worlds end The immensity of this pain will strike him that considers it into amazement it being able if it had not been miraculously suspended to have a thousand times bereaud him of life If some men have sorrowd so intensely for their sins that the vehemency of their contrition causd death how could it be but that the sorrow of IESVS for one alone and that the least venial sin of any one man must needs extinguish life in him he penetrating so perfectly the deformity of the fault as also the majesty of God his Father who is offended and the basenes of man the offender and loving so ardently both the one and the other as no body can reach the hight of this his charity so neither can any sound the depth of his sorrow If he conceivd so great griefe for one venial sin how much will he conceive for all and every venial and mortal so horrid and abominable he bore an unsupportable weight of sin who imposd upon us a sweet yoak and a light burden and we charge IESVS with the abominable fardel of our iniquities which forced a bloody
endeavouring conformity in all his proceedings O what a comfort it is to one that loves thee o IESVS to operate not only to please thee but because it is pleasing to thee this is the prerogative of obedience that so the obedient may not be frustrated of any part of the reward which he expects not only from the work but which he finds in it he obtaining his end in the beginning which is to please God and this depends not on any future thing it being anticipated by obeying O most welcome task of obedience why do any complain or seek to be excused from it for this reason that if they obey with humility and promptitude more is enjoind them for superiours are wont to be more forward in commanding them that are most prompt in complying with their commands It is a very fond complaint when we complain of what we ought to wish for A king is thought to do one a favour if he commit any businesses to his trust and the more and weightier they are the greater is the favour esteemd if God proceed after this manner with us why do we complain masters for the most part employ those servants about their commands who are most deare and intimate with them and of whose fidelity they have good proof why do we resent that God treats us as such o God of my hart if thou heldst this favorable manner of proceeding with thy own Son in this world who was obedient even unto the death of the cross shal I dare presume that any favour wil be shewed me of a higher strain o IESVS thou who becamest obedient in all grant that I may never refuse any compliance with obedience Thou atchievedst all by being obedient from thy nativity to thy very death thou wert no les subject to Caesar and Pilate then to it There was also a time when thou wouldst subject thy self to the powers of darknes giving way to the divels and permitting thy self with great obedience to the fury of hel in the executioners and malice of the Iewes and because thou couldst not become Incarnate by it thy Humanity being not as yet existent thy Mother supplied for this she conceiving thee by that rare act of obedience and submission of mind O most welcome task of obedience since it is most certain that nothing is better or more grateful to God Adam with drawing himself from it knew good and evil obedience is most innocent it not only knowes not good and evil but is also ignorant of good and better for all the works of obedience are in the superlative degree that is best in comparison of which the acts of other moral vertues carry no comparison in this that none of them is to be preferred before commands for though one practise all the rest but yet do against obedience they all avail nothing yea he does evil But if he omit them for it he shal have the merit of them all The obedient man knowes no such comparative discourses as it is better to do this then that but that it is best to do what is commanded He that hath obedience hath all other vertues in a compendious abridgment he that is obedient wil be both chast and a lover of poverty Adam after he became refractory felt presently the stings of the flesh and sought a garment to conceal them while he was obedient he was most chast and remained a Virgin being content with his own nakednes he stood in an exact poverty O most welcome obedience to him that is emulous of vertue and makes God the sole object of his love Comfort thy self o my soul who covetest longest so much to see his face which the Angels love to contemplate comfort thy self in the interim and reverence thy superiour whosoever he be as an apparent Christ and visible God God is not worshipped in himself only but in every superiour also Perswade thy self that the divine goodnes in its eternal love and providence hath ordained and decreed thee this Prelate that by him and no other he might communicate his grace and enrol thee one of the predestinate Gods autority resides in him enquire not why he commands this or that Gods wil stands for a reason and so it must be in him who is here his vice-gerent Why demandst thou a reason for putting thy self into the hands of God Tell me what was the reason he created not another man who perchance would have been better when he created thee and gave thee to thy self if thou canst not assigne any why demandest thou one for resigning thy self to God with all the latitude of thy will it is an unspeakable glory and content to the heavenly spirits to be alwaies praysing God but it is far more considerable that it is a property inherent to him inbred then if it proceeded only from their mouth The XIII Chapter How great harme proceeds from daily and light defects VVHy dost thou contemne in thy own soul what men affect so much in their bodies they providing not only for lifes maintenance but also for health and comelines It would be held an unsufferable misery to be alwaies sick and a horrid deformity to have ones body composed of man and beast Thou must not only stand in horrour of great sins but also dread the very desires and thoughts that are culpable yea any imperfection How unseemly an object would it be if a serpents mouth stood upon thy face and yet every smal word whether but lightly detractive or offensive or idle is far more deformed O truth o immense goodnes I beg of thee by the merits of Christ that thou wilt remove this veile from before my eys that I may throughly know how stupendious an evil is involved in the malice of the least default o man how monstrous a creature wouldst thou seeme to the eyes of men if thou shouldst at any time appeare with the head of an oxe or horse in thy humane body and yet it is far worse if before God and his Angels thou conceive in thy soul deified by divine grace disproportioned and idle thoughts of terrene things a brutish longing after thy own commodity nay there is more proportion betwixt a mans body and that of a beast which are in the same degree or order of things then there is betwixt grace and any sin even the smallest Wherfore the deformity of the least venial defect exceeds all monstruosity and corporal mishapednes whatsoever not only what is now extant but also imaginable or possible I beseech thee o zealot of Christ by his most sacred blood pause here a while and ponder what I say with an unbiazd judgment and thou who wouldst not have the least blemish in thy body permit not to thy utmost these monsters in thy soul the spouse of IESVS Employ all the faculties of thy mind set all the inventivenes of thy imagination on work and frame a deformity as ugly as thou canst such a mishapdnes as
held an heretique why I pray dost thou dispise the world and conceive a love of things eternal because thou hast experienced the inconstancy of temporal things and beheld unexpected calamities as the death of wealthy and powerful men and the like Was it thou or God who combined things into such a series didst thou forecast the death of that king or Potentat which moved thee so feelingly by beholding the instability of humane things besides these self-same things passed in publick and were known to others why were not they as wel as thou stird up to a contempt of the world why when one is reclaimed doth another stil persist in his wicked courses thou must needs acknowledge some supernatural cause of this difference which neither is in us nor of us alone Perchance thou gloriest for thy being moved and not others as if it proceeded wholly from thy self Tel me I beseech thee how often have such like casualties nay more forcible then this happened and yet thou felst no such motion therfore that now it is effectual to thy conversion proceeds not from thy self but from some hidden and provident vertue from his love and sollicitude over thee who would not have thee detaind any longer in an error but excited thee sweetly to an acknowledgment of the truth and orderd things so as he knew they would move thee efficaciously Thou wilt reply that therfore now and not before thou art moved because some hurtfull friend of thine was absent or dead by whose company thou wert drawn to thy invererate and sinful proceedings or because a fit opportunity of committing them was not presented Wilt thou perchance acquiesce in this was the death or absence of thy wicked consort or this opportunity in thy own hand or was it not rather God who disposed things so and moreover furnished thee with vertuous company that thou mightst be incited by its imitation In like manner what good soever thou hast or dost or what evil soever thou wantest and shunnest it is because God disposing things for thy good removed all obstacles and seasonably gave thee incitements to goodnes moreover infused supernatural habits and helps to very many things which exceeded altogether the reach of nature What share hast thou in these if thou findst none what insolency is it to ascribe all to thy self eyther thou must acknowledg the grace of God and thy own nothing or together with Epicurus confine God and remove him from the government of the world leaving him no part of providence O most wise truth take compassion upon me most senseles who am like to doat much more then that Philosopher who never was so fond as so say that his own providence mannagd and orderd things for â—â— he would make himself better then God â—ut he that presumes upon his own force in a â—eritorious action besides that he takes away all providence from God he necessarily usurps it to himself because if there were another concurrence of things he would not exercise a good act but a vicious and although things were contingent by mere chance or carried with an inevitable destiny yet he had no reason in the world to attribute any thing to himself He that applauds himself only in the goods of nature denies that he is created by God but he that glories in his talents of vertue denies that the whole world and all creatures in it are made by him and disposed and ordaind for our good in the first he deprives God of the dominion of one only nature to wit his own in the latter he deprives him of the dominion of the whole universe in the first he robs him of his omnipotency in the latter of his wisdome also and goodnes denying that his fatherly providence had with due forecast orderd things so for our advancement towards salvation What shal I say of them that glory in those vertues which are above all nature being rankd in the highest class carry a kind of proportion with God eyther make us as it were Gods in a divine degree or at least suppose us such by a sublime participation of the deity it self as also in those which have God for their immediate object faith hope charity in which whosoever glories he must necessarily eyther deny God to be above nature or think himself of himself equal or better then God The XIX Chapter That man must not only esteem himself nothing but also a great sinner THOV art far short of being truly humble if thou thinkest only that of thy self thou hast no good thou must also hold thy self very bad Saint Paul stild himself the first of sinners and that mouth of the H. Ghost could not tell a lye wilt thou perchance hold thy self better then such an Apostle or think thou speakest very modestly or with exaggeration if thou call thy self the ring leader of the wicked esteem thy self in good earnest the first among sinners and the last among creatures because thou must prefer thy self before none at all No body ever had meaner perswasives tâ—â—n thou to incline Gods mercy towards thee do not esteem it an act of modesty to think thus for divine faith teacheth that no good at all preceded Thou hast no ground nor reason to think that any other who had experienced the like mercy and favors from God that thou hast done would have been les grateful then thou art neither is it lawful to judge so rashly of another who shouldst hold it almost impossible that greater ingratitude can be found any where then thou evidently acknowledgest in thy self If thou wert truly compunct for thy sins thou wouldst be seriously of this opinion He that is tormented with an intense and stinging pain thinks no other so great as it and that no body els suffers such anguish the affection to wit inclines and overwayes the judgement If thou didst bear any love to humility thou wouldst easily judg thy self the worst of all others The proud man out of a desire of being exalted prefers himself before all as also because he regards not so much in others their perfections as defects thou if thou wert truly humble wouldst account thy self the worst of all thou wouldst consider thy own imperfections not anothers fixing thy eye wholly and solely upon their vertues O majesty of the supreme truth what needs any interpretation I consess before thy Angels before men malign spirits without any tergiversation that I am the unworthyest of all creatures the moral dignity of a rational creature which grounds his chief praise worth and vertue consists in the knowledg and advertence of his obligation and his proceeding according to it these in no body are obnoxious to greater abuses then in me Although many vertuous men have been more illuminated and some to the outward appearance have for number outgone my sins but this juncture to have sind more grievously and les cooperated with my obligations in such knowledg of them such remorse of conscience such
were great for this respect that they were not the greatest nay although thou didst outrun a great many almost all if one alone outstripd thee the prize would be lost and all as good as nothing Now our merits are at a greater certainty and more fruitful now not the least of our works perisheth now all our services are recompensed according to the degree of their fervour Why then should we now be so pittifully sluggish with certain forfeyture of a secure reward what if thou wert ascertaind that none at all should be damned but all partake of salvation that ought not to give thee a pretence of being negligent but rather highten thy fervour towards a more ample enrichment of merits and increase of glory Go to the sufferings of this life are not condigne or commensurate to the future glory suffer not lazynes to reside in thee for it is the moth of merits and scab of vertues taking away all the grace of our actions rendring them so light of weight and distastful to God that his stomack wil not disgest them If thou yealdst thy self to slouth sadnes wil not a little annoy thee being forced to sustain the heat and burden of the day without any comfort the sting of conscience bereaving thee of that but promptitude and alacrity wil make thee insensible of the incumbrances of this life and is highly pleasing and acceptable to God What master of a family loves not to see his servants pleasantly merry and going cheerfully about their work If man love to behold a pleasant countenance so doth God a cheerful mind Let not the sad look of thy negligence contristate Almighty God neither do thou superadd to the bitternes of this life the wormwood of sluggishnes a sluggard partakes neither of the joyes of God nor of this world A tepid religious man in most things is in a worse condition then a wordling This though he share not of spiritual comfort yet he doth of temporal the tepid for the most part is deprived of both He that is habituated in sin is not without hope of being coverted and acquiring sanctity but he that growes tepid after his conversion hath forfeyted part of that confidence there being greater hopes of a sinner then of him Great sinners very often become great Saints but it is a piece of a miracle if he that is tepid become such a one Experience teacheth us that it is more difficil for the lukewarme to become fervorous then for a sinner to become a Saint for a tepid man is far from resenting his condition as evil because he deems himself secure and that a mediocrity in vertue sufficeth to salvation he doth acquiesce in this he must notwithstanding be wary and dread his security for the danger is very eminent But which is no mean subject of terrour God cals makes enquiry after sinners Christ takes his refection with them but as for the frigid they turn his stomack and he loathingly vomits them out of his mouth Shal I say somthing no les frightful the tepid obstruct the current of Gods mercy and suspend the influences of his profuse liberality while he is bountiful towards the greatest sinners but towards the negligent he is as it were sparingly parcimonious not communicating to them what he oftentimes more willingly confers upon the other I wil add something yet more formidable which ought to make each bone of our body shiver and quake God who is stil giving to all erecting every where trophees of his bounty with the tepid he is on the taking hand depriving them of those talents which he had mercifully lent them before What more noxious then to debar him as much as in us lyes from being beneficent what worse then not to suffer him to be good impeding the activity of his goodnes and munificence Is not he accursed who is the occasion of such a curse how deservedly then is he accursed who doth the work of God negligently Many things which are evil are at least serviceable in some respect but slouthfulnes is so naughtily naughty that it is in no sort conducible What can be imagined worse then heynous sins yet these many times through the wonderful wisdome and goodnes of God who knowes how to extract good out of evil conduce to our conversion and sanctification we seeking him after such foul lapses with greater fervour and humility Slouthfulnes obstructs all this it is so hurtfully evil that it shewes it self in part less good and proficuous then the very malice it self of greater sins Slouthfulnes is the worm of time it eats and spoiles the choisest things we have yea it is an enemy to eternity lessening life eternal by lessening our merits and it also wasts our temporal by its mortiferous idlenes If thou demand whose life is shorter I wil undoubtedly reply that of the negligent though he protract it to a hundred years if thou ask whose is longer I wil answere that of the diligent though he live but for a short space death and slouthfulnes is equivalently the same thing What marchant would sit idle at home if by one dayes paines he could compendiate the return of a thousand years do not thou set light by time one day of fervour is more available then a million of remisnes and tepidity A short life ful of a vigorous ardency is equivalent nay prevalent to a long one if it be cold and phlegmatique If thou covet to live long live diligently But how shameful is the shame of sluggish idlenes how ridiculously infamous would he be who being picked out from among all the peers of the realm to fight a duel in his kings behalf having before boasted much of his valour should now in the very lists of combat where his soveraign and all his court stand spectatours not have the courage to draw his sword nor move his arme to make a thrust but bend all his forces to flight leaving his adversary an unbloody victory O sluggard thou maintainst Gods quarrel many Angels beholding and enuying thy happines who would take it for a great honor to suffer and combat for the glory of God as thou mayst this favour is done thee to be his champion thou art become a theater or spectacle to God the B. Virgin his Saints and Angels thou hast often promised to behave thy self valiantly why art thou now being come to the push so dastardly cowardish o infamy of nature do not defame the grace of God nor frustrate those supplies which are kept for a reserve why art thou so hartles in this work consider how fervently God desires that thou performe it with fervour The III. Chapter How incommodious a thing is sleepines VVHAT more seemly to season the first thoughts of the day then the ancient of dayes my God that so our mind in its first undertakings may be consecrated to him The thought and love of God must not be intermitted and how much less denied at a seasonable time Pay the
upon thee by name when it stood â—ritten in the front of the book that he was to do the will of God he said o heavenly Father even for that contemptible Caytif Iohn will I also undergo a whipping a crowning a cross ignominy even death it self I give I offer I sacrifice my self wholly for his salvation And will it not be also thy duty to reflect upon Christ and say o my God this day for my Saviours sake wil I embrace all corporal labours and anguish of mind that I may love serve and glorify him with all the extent of my affection If God had created thee in the state of grace in an ample freedome of will and had by divine revelation indoctrinated thee in all the mysteries of our faith and thou didst see thy self dear to him and his B. Son become man and crucified with unspeakable love for thy sake were it not thy duty in these circumstances to give thy self wholly to God and power thy self forth upon him it is all one as if he had but just now created thee be oâ— good courage thou shalt awake in the state of grace behold thou findst thy redemption accomplishd to thy hand by the death and torments of thy God and this with so early a love that Christ sufferd for thee a thousand and so many yeares before thou wert born that he might have plenty of grace in store for thee Neyther Adam nor S. Michael nor Gabriel nor any other of the Angels no nor their queen her self the sacred Virgin found such preventing diligence such a feat of love to wit that God had already died for their releasment Be inflamed then forth with with a recipocal love and burning desires towards so magnificent a goodnes so speedily provident over thy affaires and do not contemn such an anticipation in what concerns thy eternal weal. Adam stood in expectation of this benefit the space of 4000. yeares but the benefit it self hath expected thee already above 1600 and it is neyther right nor reason that thou requite such sedulity and quicknes with so much sluggishnes and delay Procrastinate no longer thy conversion to God who hath so long expected thee in a great deal of patience Put case a proffer of coming to life were made to the soules which now are only in a possibility of existence and this upon the same conditions helps and favours which God hath daignd to bestow this day upon thee how would they joy how happy would they esteem themselves how officiously would they spend that day how would they in the very entrance of life sacrifice themselves to such a benefact or And what if he should make this proffer to those whom this very night he hath sentenced to hel fire while he so lovingly stood centry over thee in thy repose with what incredible fervour would they at their first return to life consecrate themselves to Almighty God as also the remnant of that day and their whol life if they did but once behold themselves adornd with divine grace with supernatural habits and such opportunities of serving so beneficial a God Be thou confounded for not sacrificing thy self more fervently to him who is much more munificent towards thee it is a greater matter to have preserved thee from damnation then to have reprieved thee being once condemned Spur up thy self to outstrip the fervor of many just soules and be thankful that thou findst not thy self this morning plungd in hell but freed from it as also from so many dangers and sins which innumerable others have this night incurd Do thou alone wish to give him if it were possible that glory which all the Saints will be still rendering through the great day of eternity which desire thou must unfaignedly iterate in the course of the whole day and that with sighs from thy very hart neither in the morning only but oftner as if then newly set on foot and created begin the journey of Gods service allwayes with a fresh and vigorous courage The V. Chapter That our daily fervour must be retained THOV providest but fondly for this dayes life neyther art thou secure of that if thou delayst it till to morrow If the use of this dayes life be granted thee live wel and perfectly for he only is said to live who lives wel Thou diest miserably being yet alive if thou leadest not a good life Each morning when thou awakest purpose to live that day as wel as possibly thou canst as if thou wert undoubtedly to dye the same night Delay not the amendment of any defect till another day which perchance thou wilt never see eyther the day or thy wil wil fayl thee The day to come wil go wel with thee if the present do One must never hazard a thing so good as is a good life but be alwaies in an active fruition of it Thou art industrious in avoiding any thing that may endanger life and why dost thou by delaying prepare and call danger to a good life Live to day and protract not to amend what is amiss after this week or month or the disposall of this affair To day God is our Lord and to day must thou be the servant of God for he is thy servant to day since he to day makes the sun rise to thy behoof He delaies not his guifts till to morrow neither must thou thy services To day God heaps benefits upon thee which thou canst not challenge be not thou wanting to services which he exacts The services of another day wil not suffice for the beneficence of their day why wilt thou have them satisfy for the day past and for the benefits of the present its own goodnes is not sufficient to pay its debt why wilt thou make it pay for the malice of another God especially redoubling thy debts and his graces to day God is God and to day thou art his creature to day Christ is thy redeemer and thou to day his redeemed IESVS is Christ yesterday to day thou hast a being to day and shalt perchance not have one to morrow To day and every moment art thou a debter to God who impends continually his omnipotency to thy behoof thou also must each moment impend all thy forces in his love and service How darest thou incur the loss of one hour since thou canst not make recompense for the least benefit which thou receivest this instant flowing from the ocean of Gods infinite love How darest thou suspend the quitting thy obligation for the interval of one day or hour for if God suspended his munificence but for a piece of an hour thou wouldst not be in the world or if he suspended his indulgence thou wouldst be in hell An eternal salary is promised thee thou must not merit by interrupted services If thou wilt truly live never intermit to live wel this is an eternal truth O Truth give me grace to serve thee truly henceforth for all eternity and that I may eternally
a double degree of beatitude Purity is so beseemingly requisite in order to this Sacrament that the divine providence hath ordaind that even as it precedes the sacrifice of Christ it be propitiatory for our sins it having vertu to remit the very pain due to their fault Christ himself whom we receive is pleasd first of all to cleanse us as he did the feet of his Disciples cer he would give himself to us or deliver himself for us He shewd by that washing that not any kind of purity was sufficient but that a special one was necessary for he would not only have the hands of his Disciples clean which sufficeth for ordinary banquets but their feet also which signifyes a very extraordinary diligence God declard hereby that we are to come to the Eucharist not only with clean hands that is works devoyd of all fault but also with clean feet that is to say without so much as any print or sign of fault viz the paine due to tepid actions or sins remitted being quite abolished and in this sort grace proper to this sacrifice is powerful to cancel the penalty due to sin How shal I come worthily o Lord to receive thee what a treasure of sanctity was bestowd upon S. Iohn Baptist that his mouth might figuratively entertain not thee but thy name saying behold the lamb of God and he express the shadow of one of thy Sacraments but what purity ought to invest me who am to approach that venerable Sacrament and receive thee truly and really into my mouth o I wish I could entertain thee with as much reverence as the most B. Virgin Mother did in her sacred womb in that stupendious hour of thy Incarnation or as she embraced thy most H. Body in her bosome when it was taken down from the cross and thy heavenly Father received thy spirit at thy expiring when it was recommended into his hands What thou dividedst o Lord in thy death betwixt thy Father and Mother all that do I here adore in this Sacrament after thy resurrection for thy soul remaynes not separate from thy Body Thou affordest me that body which thou bequeathedst to thy Mother together with thy spirit which thou recommendedst to thy Father O that any one could have applyed his mouth to that of the expiring IESVS and gatherd thence his sacred breath worthy to be gatherd by the hands of God that it might animate and steer my body o that any one could with the effusion of his own blood wash the disfigured Corps of IESVS and make himself the viol of Christs blood shed for my sake to cleanse my soul so ill-favourd and ugly o that any one would hold his mouth to receive and tast the water blood which flowed from the side of Christ that not so much as one drop of it might fall to wast but thou o Lord desirous and desirable complyest with my wishes in this dreadful mystery How great joy did the Angels conceive in thy Ascension when thou entredst triumphant into heaven what longing desires preceded thy return thither o the desired of all the Hierarchyes of heavenly spirits with what jubily of hart ought I to exulâ— when thou entrest into my breast I alone upon many scores owe thee all the reverence which all the Angels exhibited when they entertaind thee returning from this world and passible life for thou frequently enterst into me that thou mayst delight me alone thou who once only enterd into heaven to cause joy to all the Angels Thou frequently dost for me alone what thou didst but once for all the quyres of blessed spirits If this favour were imparted to one alone of all the multitudes of men that once only through all eternity Christ should enter after this most amiable manner into his sole breast what a stupendious benefit would it be deemd whosoever should hear of it ravishd into extasy with this excess of bounty would scarse believe it he that received him absorpt in admiration would stand like one besides himself without voyce without motion yea without life through amazement fear joy and love unles he were miraculously sustaind by reason of such unheard-off benevolence why then do not I worthily reverence and admire a greater benefit conferd not once but often not on me alone but all wherein I acknowledg the favour done me much hightned O that I or any one could entertain thee o amiable IESVS becoming my guest as thy Father entertaind thee entring into heaven after a world of torments and death for the sanctity of all the Angels their devotion their joy pomp and celebrity fell far short I wil not say of thy majesty but even of that humility wherwith thou daignest to shut thy self up in the narrow cottage of my hart grant me grace by so rare an example to humble my self below nothing I that cannot humble my self sufficiently in respect of thy humility how can I do it in respect of thy majesty and glory o how happy is that soul that shal humble it self before this Sacrament what honour will accrew to it how wil the Angels reverence and honour such a one that it may receive its Lord with honour S. Teresa oftner then once beheld the Brothers of our Society when they went to communicate in our Church accompanyd with Angels and these holding a most rich and beautiful canopy over their heads that like royal and consecrated soules they might more honorably entertain their soveraign but when others approachd that heavenly Table she beheld no such obsequiousnes in these B Spirits and the reason was want of humility in their devotions Let us then procure with all humility devotion fervour and charity to receive that supersubstantial daily bread Let us so receive it daily as if we were never more to receive it though we come very frequently let us come so as if it were to be but once in our whole life Let our daily communion be so performd as it ought to be the first day of our life and last at our death The XII Chapter That in time of refection we must not be more indulgent to our body then necessity requires THE Angels expect thee at their supper glut not thy self like a beast with corruptible food He that is invited as a guest to anothers table eats nothing at home thou art invited a guest to heaven do not at least glut thy self upon earth If one that is cloyd with earthly food cannot be a competent guest at an earthly banquet how can he be at a heavenly one fulnes hinders the relish of material meats how much more then of divine the fasting Lazarus who could not so much as feed upon crums is now a constant guest at the heavenly supper but that glutton who cramd himself with exquisit daintyes is shut forth Men at a banquet abstain from several dishes reserving their appetite for some choyse one intending to make their repast upon that o Lord if I shal be satiated at the
be perpetual combining in the same thing a penalty and a benefit justice mercy Therfore because death is so great a good so proper and secure an effect of his goodnes he would not have it lyable to mans free wil or the hatred of an enemy For although it be in any ones power to bereave thee of life no body not even the uncon troulable violence of kings can bereave thee of death This is the property of things of the best quality to be out of the reach of humane power not to be obnoxious to anothers pleasure If one were entangled in any one danger or incumbrance it would be no smal content to find a meanes how to evade it why do we then grieve or dread death which is the gate wherby we may rid our selves of the hazards and incumbrances of this life Many for a meer puntillio of worldly glory have sought and covetted it at least for the glory of heaven let us not fear it O immortal God who wast born not to live for thou wast life eternal as now thou art but to dye a most mortal and bitter death for me why should I that am mortal be unwilling to dye to live a vital eternal and most pleasant life with thee and for accomplishment of thy wil since the desire of a christian is to be with Christ I know not why he should not desire death since but by it he cannot come to that fruition What misery can death bring or what happines can it bereave him of who is not besotted upon the world but hath placed all his felicity in heaven but besides this ocean of content which flowes from the sight and fruition of our beloved it hath moreover this advantage that it puts us out of further danger of offending God Death then is not evil which takes away all evil But if it be evil and an enemy to mankind why do not men treat it like an evil and as one would treat an enemy I wish we would proceed in this manner with it and deal no otherwise then with a foe forecasting that we carry nothing about us which he may make booty of or give him cause of triumphing over us Souldiers are wont to secure their provisions and baggage or els quite spoil them that they may not be serviceable to their enemyes We must leave no plunder for death but if there be any thing subject to its rapine it must eyther be wholly abandoned or sent before us with a safe convoy to heaven where all will be throughly secured We must keep no spoiles about us in which it may glory but the luggage of our flesh and we must extenuate it by fasting labour and other pennances that he sieze it not entire If death be evil and adverse to us let us resist it and object a buckler by relinquishing things and all affection to them that its wounds may bite the les upon us if death be evil let us make it good by doing good Why should we dread death more then our selves since it cannot be worse then we are evil yea it is we that make it bad because we do not become good Let us do this now when we have time and may do what we shal wish at its hour we had don and cannot A little respit only remaines for labour and in comparison of eternity not so much as an instant Behold now so many years of our life are past and those which remain are no longer But death is not evil in it self but rather good and we should be very good if we did imitate it and practised what it puts in ure by dispoyling our selves of all things so that if nothing were grateful and delectable in this world it would be pleasing and savory to our pallat He only needs fear death who loves other things and not Christ He is not a faithful servant who refuseth to appear in the presence of his master If I did love thee o Lord I should not have such a horrour of death for it would be contentiue to me to behold thee face to face and cast my self into thy embracements rejoicing that thy wil were accomplishd in me otherwise I play but the hypocrite when I daily beg that thy wil may be done in earth as it is in heaven Thy pleasure was to dye not that we might be immortal in this mortality but that we might dye wel by leading a better life Grant me grace that as thy wil is to be fulfilld in my death though against my wil so I may wil and death fulfil it in a good death by a better and more perfect life I give thee thanks o most benign Lord for this benefit of death as thy wisdome hath disposed it I give thee thanks that I am to dye and that I know not when or where or how I am to dye The certainty of death is good and comfortable to me it being a secure passage to bring me to thy sight and rid me of the miseries of this life and make me despise its deceitful and counterfeyt goods What man if he have but any one grain of wit although he were sure never to experience any adversity but were to be successful in all the contingencies of this life would not contemn it and all its goods since he must needs see that he is to quit them all in death which is wholly unavoydable In which moment all past joyes all present goods now to be relinquishd are no more then if they never had enjoyd a being nay they are les conducible for their very relinquishment wil prove a torture That only which man neyther loves nor possesseth wil not afflict him in that hour of affliction The uncertainty also of the manner place and time of dying is acceptable to me that I may more certainly serve thee o God in all requisite manner time and place as thy worth and dignity doth require This is a divine disposal which breeds in us a certain sollicitude of a better life by reason of the uncertain condition of a contingent death I am throughly perswaded o Lord that I know not whether I am worthy of love or hatred and how it wil fare with me after this life neither do I covet to know because it is expedient for me to be ignorant of it according to the ordainment of thy wisdome But I will not therfore more dread death then desire thee and confide in thy mercies I accept most willingly its great uncertainty this being most certain that it is enough for me that thou art most merciful and a cordial lover of me and both canst and wilt save me if I but humbly trust in thee What imports it that I know not how and when and where I am to dye if I be assurd that thou dyedst for me and dyedst the death of the cross and at noon day and betwixt two thieves upon Mount Calvary to clear all doubt of thy love towards me that I may