most familiar and perpetual society with Christ and his most Lovely and most Gracious Mother Mary and with all the Blessed Assuredly all the joys of the world Compared with the least joy of Heaven are meer bitterness The vast Ocean does not so much exceed in quantity one single drop of water as the least pleasure of the Blessed does exceed all the delight and pleasure that ever was in the world And the joys of Heaven shall never be ended nor ever be diminished Nor be interrupted for one single moment for all eternity 5. Besides when thy Soul in the Resurrection shall have received thy glorious body what joy shall it thence receive For thy very body shall be most splendid and much more bright than the Sun it shall be most sound most firm most beautiful most pure odoriferous incorruptible impassible most subtil and very agil Whence thy soul with its glorified body can be wheresoever it will in a very short space of time nothing can hinder it nothing put a stop or impediment unto it Thou shalt also after the Resurrection conceive exceeding great Joy from the happy renovation of this visible World which shall be of a far more elegant form than now it is For whatsoever is now in the World unclean whatsoever is obscure and shady in the Earth whatsoever is cold in the Waters and whatsoever has power of burning in the Fire all that shall go down into Hell The Sun and Moon and Starres shall be seven times more bright than they are now Henceforth there shall be no Clouds nor Hail nor Rain nor Winds nor Lightning nor Thunder Night shall cease to be a perpetual Day and Clarity succeeding as well on Earth as in the Heavens The Air shall have more light than it has now the Water shall be purer than it is now The Earth shall be fair as Gold and pellucid as Crystal and plain as the palm of your hand 6. Such things God has prepared for those who love him O how unhappy are they who for the most base pleasures delights and vanities of this World deprive themselves of so great joyes But thou who readest these things aspire and make haste to that never-fading Glory Detest and fly all Sin as much as thou canst contemn all transitory things love God love all Men and spend the time profitably which is allotted thee The Conclusion Admonitions concerning the Practice of these Meditations 1. HE who exercises himself in the foregoing Meditations may nay ought in some of them to wit in those which are more fruitful stay more than three daies especially during the first Exercise which Exercise precedes the repetition of the same Meditations 2. It will be profitable when he is to begin any Exercise our Meditation that he read first the last division of the same Meditation for in it commonly are put some things conducing to the right and profitable performance of the same Meditation 3. If whilst he is exercising himself he be overcharged with sleep let him rise and standing or walking continue the Exercise He must diligently weigh with himself all the points and members of the Divisions and freely stay in them 4. Moreover when he shall perceive himself to be solicited or allured to follow his vitious passions Concupiscences and inclinations if holy love do not restrain him from evil he must forthwith call to mind death judgment and hell that at least profitable fear may restrain him 5. He must very Carefully contain and bridle his tongue and senses for otherwise he will never make any progress in true vertues 6. That he may more speedily attain to a contempt of himself and true humility without which no Vertue is of any value he must very often exercise himself in an attentive and amorous consideration of the greatness of God and of his Fidelity and Charity towards himself and on the contrary in the consideration of his own littleness and of his unfaithfulness and ingratitude towards God he shall say to God these or such like things O Lord who art thou and who am I Thou art the Lord of highest majesty nobility and dignity Thou art the Creator of Heaven and Earth Thou art the Immense God the Omnipopotent God But I am a most vile worme I am unworthy whom the Earth should sustain I am nothing I can do nothing Thou hast been ever most faithful to me loving me most purely and bestowing upon me innumerable benefits but I alas have been most unfaithful and too ungrateful to thee and am so still He must perform the foresaid exercise purely to the honour of God He must in his heart prefer every man how wicked soever before himself and deem him better than himself 7. He must accustom himself frequently to recall and elevate his mind to God and he must do this even amidst conversation and when he is exercised in external works least his mind wandering and forgetful of his purpose and too estranged from God lose its inward purity and antient grace He must piously attend the amiable presence of God knowing that he alwaies beholds all his thoughts words and actions He must aspire after the spouse of his soul Jesus Christ and maintain sweet colloquies of love with him By this means he shall both pass this life with pleasure and after the death of the body he shall come to eternal joyes of immortal life Amen A short Commemoration of the Life of Christ divided into Articles Article I. THe sweet JESUS the Son of the living God the most high God the Creator of Heaven and Earth for the exceeding Charity wherewith he loved me would be conceived by the Holy Ghost and incarnate in the most chast womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary in which also he dwelt nine months My God emptied himself and taking the form of a servant was made my Brother that he might reduce me to his Heavenly Kingdom O Ineffable Piety and inestimable Favor what shall I return to my Lord I offer and resign my self wholly to his good pleasure To him be praise honour and glory for ever and ever Amen Article II. THe sweet JESUS the King of glory the cause of my salvation was born a Tender Infant in a poor stable winter sharply raging He was wrapp'd in clouts He was reposed in the Crib of Beasts He lay upon hay and straw He was suckled by the breasts of a poor mother The Son of God endured so great Poverty for my sake To him be praise honour and glory for ever Amen Article III. The sweet JESUS was circumcised on the eighth day from his Birth his Mother sadly condoling with him He was circumcised and shed his most pure Blood for me a most vile wretch and he would be called Jesus that is a Saviour for my comfort Then he was revealed to the Gentiles when the Sages guided by a star to Bethlehem to adore the little Infant and with joy and reverence offered to him gifts gold frankincense and myrrhe To him
be praise honour and glory for ever Amen Article IV. THe sweet JESUS was presented in the Temple and was redeemed with the sacrifice of the poor He fled into Aegypt and there endured the incommodities of Poverty with Mary and Joseph He was subject and obedient to the same Mary and Joseph In his sacred Infancy Childhood and Youth he suffered very many necessities and tribulations for my salvation To him be praise honour glory for ever Amen Article V. THe sweet JESUS when he was thirty years old humbly received Baptism from his servant John He fasted forty daies and forty nights dwelling with the Beasts in the desert The maker of the World the King of Angels the Omnipotent God did not disdain to be tempted by the Devil for my sake To him be praise honor and glory for ever Amen Article VI. THe sweet JESUS was wearied with journeys watchings and labours for my salvation He preached wrought miracles bestowed favours He suffered hunger and thirst cold and heat He endured with a most meek heart three and thirty years innumerable grievances and innumerable persecutions and at length came to Jerusalem that he might dy for me To him be praise honour glory for ever Amen Article VII THe sweet JESUS the King of Kings and Lord of the highest majesty girt about him a linnen cloath and powred water into a Basin and kneeling down humbly washed the feet of his Disciples and wiped them with a towell O what an example did my Lord God give me To him be praise honor and glory for ever Amen Article VIII THe sweet JESUS out of the immense Love with which he most tenderly loves us instituted the venerable Sacrament of the Eucharist by a stupendious liberality and a most sweet charity giving and leaving to us himself in it To him be praise honor and glory for ever Amen Article IX THe sweet JESUS coming into the Garden of Olivet he began to fear and to be sad so that he said My Soul is sad even unto death he humbly bended his knees upon the ground and falling upon his face he prayed to his Father three times for my sake being excessively afflicted he most fully resign'd himself to his Father saying Father not my will but thine be done Out of the vehemency of the anguishes with which his most meek heart was oppressed he swet Blood all over his Body so that the drops ran down upon the earth To him be praise honor and glory for ever Amen Article X. THe sweet JESUS burning with an earnest desire of redeeming me and suffering for me went out to meet his Enemies and most courteously spoke to them He refused not to receive a kiss from the traytor Judas and ignominiously to be apprehended and bound as a thief by wicked men that I might be absolved from the Bonds of my Sins To him be Praise Honor and Glory for ever Amen Article XI THe sweet JESUS bound as a Malefactor was led with disgrace to the house of Annas and thence to the house of Caiphas the high Priest My gracious and sweet Lord was dragg'd pushed on beaten and blasphem'd by the Ministers of the Devil but he bore all those grievous and unworthy things most patiently for the love of me To him be Praise Honor and Glory for ever Amen Article XII THe sweet JESUS Lord of Lords endured most modestly for my Salvation a reproachful and cruel box on the ear most unjustly given by a servant of the High Priest And how shall not I hereafter in return for his Love patiently endure the affronts that are done me I beg I wish I desire to be strengthened and confirmed by his Grace To him be praise honor and glory for ever Amen Article XIII THe sweet JESUS was falsly accused in the house of Caiphas he was unjustly condemned He was fowly spit upon and received horrible blows and buffets he was scornfully blindfolded the wicked smiting him and in scorn saying Prophecy unto us O Christ who it was that struck thee Ah! that royal and amiable face of his for me was defiled with filthy spittle the most meek Lamb in the mean while did not complain but teaching us Patience he was dumb and opened not his mouth he bore in silence for my sake revilings contumelies reproaches and all sorts of injuries O how ill and how unworthily was he handled that night To him be praise honor and glory for ever Amen Article XIV THe sweet JESUS the Holy of Holys and King of Angels defiled with spittle and bound in the morning was led to Pilate and stood before him with a loving countenance and his eyes down And when he was falsly accus'd by the Jewes he humbly held his peace answering nothing To him be praise honor and glory for ever Amen Article XV. THe sweet JESUS bound as a Thief was sent from Pilate to Herod who seeing him silent to his own idle questions and to the false accusations of the Jewes he despised him and clothed him in a white and ridiculous Coat as a Fool and so sent him back to Pilate The amiable Lord at the pleasure of his Enemies went backward and forward without contradiction permitting them to do with him whatsoever they would O how humble was the Obedience and Patience of the Eternal King To him be praise honor and glory for ever Amen Article XVI THe sweet JESUS was ignominiously stript in the Pretors Hall he was inhumanly tyed to a Pillar he was most cruelly torn with whips for me his delicate and Virginall Flesh was all deformed with blewness and wounds and out of it ran down on all sides upon the ground streams of precious Blood O sharp dolours O sad spectacle Indeed he was wounded for my iniquities he was bruised for my sins and by his wounds I was healed To him be praise honor and glory for ever Amen Article XVII THe sweet JESUS for his greater ignominy was clothed with a Purple Cloak a Crown of Thorns was pressed upon his venerable head and so his head being grievously wounded most pure Blood abundantly flowed down upon his face and neck A Reed was put into his hand and he was scoffingly saluted and adored by the wicked deriding him and saying Hail King of the Jewes he was smitten with a Reed he was spit upon and received cruel buffets for my sake To him be praise honor and glory for ever Amen Article XVIII THe sweet JESUS was brought forth by Pilate and shown to the furious Jewes wearing a Crown of Thorns and a Purple Vestment But they ask'd with loud clamours that he might be crucified His head surrounded with thorns his face stained with blood and defiled with spittle his body cut with whips his humble and pleasant Aspect did not move them to pitty I pray God they may move me to a most inward Compassion and ardent Love of him To him be praise honor and glory for ever Amen Article XIX THe sweet JESUS was condemned to dye by
Pilate and delivered up to the will of the Jewes Wherefore they forthwith laid hands on him and loaded with the Beam of his Cross they drew him out of the City The sweet Lord carrying his Cross on his rent shoulders was pushed forward beaten forced to make haste the amiable Redeemer made the reproach of men and disdain of the people humbly went forwards to the place of Calvary O how much did the weight of his Cross load and afflict him but more the weight of my sins But he for my salvations sake willingly bore all Labour and Dolor and all Confusion To him be praise honor and glory for ever Amen Article XX. THe sweet JESUS being come weary and out of breath to Mount Calvary he refused not to taste Wine mixed with Myrrhe and Gall which was offered unto him that by this bitter drink he might expiate the faults which I have contracted by eating and drinking intemperately O what a kind of refection was that of my Lord To him be praise honor and glory for ever Amen Article XXI THe sweet JESUS was disgracefully stript upon Mount Calvary and by the pulling off of his Clothes his wounds were renewed the mild and innocent Lamb of God was unmercifully stretched out upon the Cross by cruel men his delicate hands and undefiled feet were cruelly bored through with bloody Nails the joynts of his most holy Members were miserably loosed Purple Blood abundantly flowed out of his sacred wounds as out of so many Fountains O how hard a bed had the Spouse of my soul extended on his Cross and nailed to it for my sake To him be praise honor and glory for ever Amen Article XXII THe sweet JESUS hanging naked upon the ignominious Gibbet of his Cross in the middle betwixt two Thieves with his hands and feet transfixed powred out most precious Blood and suffered most bitter dolours for my sake he was scoffed at he was reviled with Blasphemies but in the mean time he prayed for those who blasphemed him he prayed for his Crucifiers saying Father forgive them for they know not what they do To him be praise honor and glory for ever Amen Article XXIII THe sweet JESUS hanging upon the Cross despised and wounded graciously promised Paradise to the penitent Thief he tenderly compassionated his Virgin-Mother standing by the Cross transpierced with the sword of grief and commended her to his Disciple St. John and to the same St. John and to us all he gave her to be a Mother To him be praise honor and glory for ever Amen Article XXIV THe sweet JESUS when he had for me endured immense torments for three hours upon the Cross and his sacred blood being powred out was most vehemently a thirst he had Vinegar given him to drink which having tasted he the Author of Life to all things commending himself to his Father and bowing his venerable head gave up the Ghost To him be praise honour and glory for ever Amen Article XXV THe sweet JESUS as soon as he was dead upon the Cross forthwith descended according to his soul out of exceeding Charity into Hell and delivered the Fathers detained in Lymbus for they at the coming of his soul instantly were filled with the Light of Glory and saw the most Blessed Trinity saw clearly the Divine Essence And this was that spiritual Paradise of which our Lord said to the Thief To day thou shalt be with me in Paradise To him be praise honour and glory for ever Amen Article XXVI THe sweet JESUS the good shepherd laid down his life for his sheep And the right side of his dead body was opened with a Spear whence did flow forth to us blood and water his amorous heart was wounded for me O may this most sweet heart this pleasant treasury of happiness be salvation and comfort to me in my death that after death I may be united to Jesus and contemplate him for all Eternity To him be praise honour and glory for ever Amen Article XXVII THe sweet JESUS dyed for me whose immaculate body when it was taken down from the Cross his most blessed Mother received it into her Lap kist it and wept over it then Joseph and Nicodemus wrapped it in a clean winding sheet and laid it in a Sepulchre so that Jesus the immarcessible Flower of humane dignity was buried for me To him be praise honour and glory for ever Amen Article XXVIII THe sweet JESUS coming the third day victorious out of his closed and sealed Sepulchre by a noble triumph arose from the dead and the clarity of his most pleasant countenance being restored he first exhilarated with a new joy his most dear Mother the Virgin Mary then Mary Magdalen and his other friends To him be praise honour and glory for ever Amen Article XXIX THe sweet JESUS on the Fourtieth day after his Resurrection in the presence of his Disciples filled with ineffable joy gloriously ascended into Heaven and afterwards sent them the Holy Ghost He sits in Heaven at the right hand of his Father and thence is to come in Majesty to Judge the living and the dead To him be praise honour and glory for ever Amen Thirteen short Precepts necessary for one who aspires to a perfect Life Precept I. FOr the love of Jesus Christ who suffered very sharp things for thy sake renounce the pleasures of thy senses When thou hast a mind and desires to see hear smell taste touch or speak any thing remember that thou must not obey thy sensuality inciting of thee but Reason and God speaking in thee Yea even be ready to want spiritual delights according to Gods good pleasure and ordination And when thou art recreated with inward comfort and sweetness have a care thou do not rest in it nor abuse it to thy own proper pleasure Precept II. KEep very diligently thy sight hearing and tongue that they do not decline to unlawful vain and unprofitable things It behoves thee to be vigilant and very wary in thy speech that thou speak not more words nor otherwise than is convenient Let thy speech be succinct plain and quiet Carefully rule and contain in good order all the Parts of thy Body Avoid immoderate Laughter and all lightness of behaviour Precept III. DO not adhere to any Creature by inordinate affection but dye to all perishable things and keep thy heart free from them for in such a death and in such a liberty does lye hid the most true and most pleasant life Precept IV. BY an entire abnegation of thy self and resignation diligently destroy in thee vitious passions and affections and thy own will and self-seeking But love dearly and only the Divine will and ever wish it and submit thy self wholly unto it so that whatsoever God wills do thou also will Every where seek rather the praise and honour of God than thy own profit Precept V. IN all things which happen wisely regard the providence of God and securely commit thy self and all thy concerns