most God and soonest speedeth For our Soule is so preciouslie loved of him that is highest that it over-passeth the knowing of all Creatures That is to saie There is no Creature that is made that may wit how much and how sweetly and how tenderlie that our Maker loveth us And therefore we may with his Grace and his helpe stand in Ghostlie beholding with everlasting marvailing in this high over-passing unmeasurable Love that our Lord hath to us of his Goodnes And therefore we may aske of our Lover with Reverence all that we will for our * i. e. naturall kindlie Will is to have God and the Good-will of God is to have us And we may never cease of willing ne of loving till we have him in fulhead of joy And then we may no more will for he will that we be occupied in knowing and loving till the time cometh that we shall be fulfilled in Heaven And therefore was this Lesson of Love shewed with all that followeth as you shall see for the strength and the ground of all was shewed in the first sight for of all things the beholding and the loving of the Maker maketh the Soul to seem least in his own sight and most filleth it with reverent dread and true meekness and with plenty of Charity to his even Christian The vij Chapter ANd to learn us this as to my understanding our good Lord shewed our Lady Mary in the same time that is to mean the high Wisdom and Truth that she had in beholding her Maker This Wisdom and Truth made her to behold her God so Great so High so Mighty and so Good This greatness and this | i. e. nobleness Noblety of her beholding of God fulfilled her of reverend deed And with this she saw her self so litle and so low so simple and so poor in regard of her God that this reverend Dread fulfilled her of meekness And thus by this ground she was fulfilled of Grace and of all manner of Vertues and passeth all Creatures And in all the time that he shewed this that I have now said in Ghostly sight I saw the bodily sight lasting of the plentuous bleeding of the head the great drops of Blood fell down from under the Garland like Pellots seeming as it had come out of the Veins And in the coming out they were brown red for the blood was full thick and in the spreading abroad they were bright red and when it came at the | i. e. forehead Brows there they vanished And notwithstanding the bleeding continued till many things were seen and understanded nevertheless the fair head and the lively head continued in the same beauty and liveliness The plentuous head is like to the drops of Water that fall off the evesing of an House after a great shower of Rain that fall so thick that no man may number them with any bodily Wit And for the roundness they were like to the Seal of her Ring in the spreading of the forehead These three things came to my mind in the time Pellets for the roundhead in the comming out of the blood the Scale of Herring for the round-head in the spreading the dropps of the evesing of an House for the plentuous head unnumerable This shewing was quick and lively and hideous and dreadful and sweet and lovely And of all the sight that I saw this was most comfort to me that our good Lord that is so reverent and dreadful is so homely and so courteous And this most fulfilled me with liking and sickness * i. e. in of Soul And to the understanding of this he shewed this open example It is the most worship that a solemn King or a great Lord may do to a poor Servant if he will be homely with him and namely if he shew it himself of a full true meaning and with a glad chere both in private and openly Then thinketh this poor Creature thus Lo what might this Noble Lord do more Worship and Joy to me than to shew to me that am so little This marvelous himeliness verily it is more joy and liking to me than if he gave me great gifts and were himself strange in manner This bodily example was shewed so high that this mans heart might be ravished and almost forget himself for Joy of this great homeliness Thus it faireth by our Lord Jesu and by us for verily it is the most joy that may be as to my sight that he that is highest and mightest nobliest and worthiest is lowest and meekest homliest and courtesiest And truly and verily this marvellous joy shall he shew us all when we shall see him And this will our good Lord that we believe and trust joy and like comfort us and make solace as we may with his Grace and with his Help into the time that we see it verily for the most fulhed of joy that we shall have as to my sight is this marvellous courtesie and homeliness of our Father that is our Maker in our Lord Jesu Christ that is our Brother and our Saviour But this marvelous Homlliness may no man know in this Life but if he have it by special shewing of our Lord or of great plenty of Grace inwardly given of the Holy Ghost but Faith and Belief with Charity deserve the meed and so it is had by Grace For in Faith with Hope and Charity our Life is grounded the shewing is made to whom that God will plainly teach the same opened and declared with many privy Points belonging to our Faith and Belief which be worshipful to be known And when the shewing which is given for a time is passed and hid then Faith keepeth it by Grace of the Holy Ghost unto our Lives end And thus by the shewing it is none other than Faith no less no more as it may be seen by our Lords meaning in the same matter by than it come to the last end The viij Chapter ANd as long as I saw this sight of the plentuousness of bleeding of the Head I might never stint of these Words Benedicite Dominis In which shewing I understood six things The first is the Tokens of the blessedful Passion and the plentuous shedding of his precious Blood The second is the Maiden that is his dear worthy Mother The third is the blessedful God-head that ever was and shall be all Mighty all Wisdom and all Love The fourth is all thing that he hath made for well I wote that Heaven and Earth and all that is made is great large fair and good but the cause why it sheweth so litle to my sight was for I saw it in the presence of him that is the Maker for a Soul that seeth the Maker of all thing all that is made seemeth full litle The fifth is that he that made all thing that is made for Love and by the same Love it is kept and shall be without end as it is before said The sixth is that God is all
that greatly pleaseth God and also meekly taketh bodily sickness of Gods sending Also Sorrow and Shame outwardly with reproof and despite of the World with all manner of Grievance and Temptations that we be cast in Ghostly and Bodily Full preciously our good Lord keepeth us when it seemeth to us that we be near forsaken and cast away for our sin and for we see that we have deserved it And because of the Meekness that we get thereby we be raised full high in Gods sight by his Grace And also whom our Lord will he visiteth of his special Grace with so great Contrition and also with Compassion and true longing to God that they be suddenly delivered of Sin and of Pain and taken up to bliss and made even with Saints By Contrition we be made clean by Compassion we be made ready And by true Longing to God we be made worthy These be three means as I understood whereby that all Souls come to Heaven that is to say that have been Sinners in Earth and shall be saved For by these Medicines behoveth that every sinful Soul be healed though that he be healed his Wounds be seen before God not as Wounds but as Worships And so on the contrariwise as we be punished here with Sorrow and with Penance we shall be rewarded in Heaven by the courteous Love of our God Almighty that will that none that come there leese his Travel in any degree For he beholdeth sin as Sorrow and Pains to his Lovers in whom he assigneth no blame for Love The meed that we undertake shall not be litle but it shall be high glorious and worshipful and so shall all shame turn to Worship and to Joy For our courteous Lord will not that his Servants despair for oft failing ne for grievous falling for our falling letteth not him to Love us Peace and Love is ever in us being and working but we be not ever in Peace and in Love But he will we take heed thus that he is ground of all our whole Life in Love And furthermore that he is our everlasting Keeper and mightily defendeth us against all our Enemies that be full fell and full fierce upon us And so much our need is the more for we give them occasion by our falling The xl Chapter ANd this is a sovereign Friendship of our courteous Lord that he keepeth us so tenderly whiles we be in our sin And furthermore he toucheth us full privily and sheweth us our sin by the sweet light of Mercy and Grace But when we see our self so foul then we wene that God were wrath with us for our sin Then be we stirred of the Holy Ghost by Contrition into Prayer and desire amending of our self with all our Might to slack the Wrath of God unto the time we find a rest in Soul and softness in Conscience And then hope we that God hath forgiven us our sin and it is true And then sheweth our courteous Lord himself to the Soul merrily and of full glad chear with friendfully welcoming as if it had been in Pain and in Prison saying thus My dear Darling I am glad thou art come to me in all thy Woe I have ever been with thee and now seest thou me loving and we be oned in Bliss Thus are sins forgiven by Grace and Mercy and our Soul Worshipfully received in Joy like as it shall be when it cometh into Heaven as oftimes as it cometh by the gracious Working of the Holy Ghost and the vertue of Christs Passion Here understood I verily that all manner of thing is made ready to us by the great Goodness of God so far forth that what time we be our self in Peace and in Charity we be verily safe But for we may not have this in fullhead while we be here therefore it befalleth us ever to live in sweet Praying and in lovely Longing with our Lord Jesu for he longeth ever for to bring us to the fulhead of Joy as it is before said where he sheweth the Ghostly Thirst But now because of all this Ghostly Comfort that is before said if any Man or Woman be stirred by Folly to say or to think Ob. If this be true then were it good for to Sin to have the more meed or else to charge the less to sin Sol. Beware of this stirring for truly if it come it is untrue and of the Enemy For the same true Love that toucheth us all by his blessed Comfort the same blessed Love teacheth us that we shall hate sin only for Love And I am sure by my own feeling the more that each kind Soul seeth this in the courteous Love of our Lord God the lother is him to sin and the more he is ashamed For if it were laid before us all the Pain that is in Hell and in Purgatory and in Earth to suffer it rather than sin we should rather choose all that Pain than sin For sin is so vile and so mickle for to hate that it may be likned to no Pain which Pain is not sin And to me was shewed none harder Hell than sin for a kind Soul hateth no Pain but sin for all is good but sin and naught is evil but sin And when we give our intent to Love and Meekness by the working of Mercy and Grace we be made all Fair and Clean. And as Mighty and as Wise as God is to save Man as willing he is For Christ himself is ground of all the Laws of Christen Men and he taught us to doe Good against Evil. Here we may see that he is himself this Charity and doth to us as he teacheth us to do For he will that we be like him in whole-head of endless Love to our self and to our even Christen No more than his Love is broken to us for our sin no more will he that our Love be broken to our self nor to our even Christen but nakedly hate sin and endlesly love the Soul as God loveth it Then should we hate sin like as God hateth it and love the Soul as God loveth it for these words that God said is an endless Comfort I keep thee full truly The Fourteenth Revelation The xlj Chapter AFter this our Lord shewed for Prayer In which shewing I saw two Conditions in our Lords meaning One is rightful Prayer Another is * i e. sure siker trust But yet oftentimes our trust is not full for we be not sure that God heareth us as we think for our unworthiness and for we feel right naught for we be as barren and as dry oft-times after our Prayers as we were before And thus in our feelling our folly is cause of our Weakness For thus have I felt by my self And all this brought our Lord suddenly to my mind and shewed these Words and said I am ground of thy beseeking First it is my will that thou have it And sithen I make thee to will it And sithen I make thee to beseek it and
them to which Grace alone all Good in us is to be ascribed XVI REVELATIONS OF LOVE Here beginneth the First Chapter THis is a Revelation of Love that Jesu Christ our endless Blisse made in xvi Shewings of which The first is of his precious Crowning of Thornes and therein was conteined and specified the Blessed Trinity with the Incarnation and the uniting between God and mans Soul with manie faire Shewings and Teachings of endless Wisdom and Love in which all the Shewings that follow be grounded and joyned The second is of the discolouring of his faire Face in tokening of his dear worthie Passion The third is that our Lord God Almighty all Wisdom and all Love right also verilie as he hath made all thinges that are right also verilie he doth and worketh all things that are done The fourth is scourging of his tender Bodie with plenteous Shedding of his precious Blood The fifth is that the fiend is overcome by the precious Passion of Christ The sixth is the Worshipfull Thanking of our Lord God in which he rewardeth all his blessed Servants in Heaven The seventh is oftentimes feeling of weale and woe feeling of weale is gracious touching and lightning with true * i e. security sikernes of endeles joy The feeling of Woe is of Temptation by Heavines and Wearines of our fleshlie living with Ghostelie understanding that we be kept also verelie in love in woe as in weal by the goodnes of God The eighth is the last paines of Christ and his cruell dying The ninth is of the * i. e. pleasure liking which is in the Blessed Trinity of the hard Passion of Christ after his rufull and sorrowful dying in which joy and liking he will that we be in solace and Mirth with him till that we come to the Glorie in Heaven The tenth is our Lord Jesu Christ by Love his blessed Heart even cloven in two The eleventh is an high Ghostlie shewing of his deare worthie Mother The twelfth is that our Lord God is all Soveraign being The thirteenth is that our Lord God will that we have great regard to all the Deedes which he hath done in the great Nobletie of all things making and of the Excellency of Mans making the which is above all his Works and of the precious amends that he hath made for Mans sin turning all our blame into endeles Worship Than meaneth he thus Beholde and see for by the same Might Wisdome and Goodness that I have done all this by the same Might Wisdome and Goodness I shall make well all that is not well and thou shalt see it And in this he will that we keep us in the Faith and Truth of Holie Church not willing to * i e. know wit his privities not but as it longeth to us in this Life The fourteenth is that our Lord God is the Ground of our | i. e. desire beseekinge Herein was seen two fair properties that one is rightful praier that other is verie trust which he will both be one like large and thus our Praier liketh him and he of his Goodness fulfilleth it The fifteenth is that we should soudeinlie be taken from all our Paine and from all our Woe and of his Goodnes we shall come up above where we shall have our Lord Jesu to our * i. e. reward meed and for to be fulfilled with joy and blisse in Heaven The sixteenth is that the blessed Trinitie our Maker in Christ Jesu our Saviour endleslie dwelleth in our Soule worshipfullie rewarding and commanding all things us mightilie and wiselie saving and keeping for Love and we shall not be over-come of our Enemy The Second Chapter THis Revelation was made to a simple Creature unlettered living in deadlie Flesh the Year of our Lord a Thousand three Hundreth lxxiij the xiiij th daie of Maie Which Creature desired before three Gifts by the Grace of God The first was * i. e. feeling mind of the Passion The second was bodilie Sickness The third was to have of Gods gift three Woundes For the first me thought I had some deale feeling in the Passion of Christ but yet I desired to have more by the Grace of God Me thought I would have been that time with Magdalen and with other that were Christs Lovers that I might have seen bodilie the Passion that our Lord suffered for me that I might have suffered with him as others did that loved him and therefore I desired a bodilie sight wherein I might have more knowledge of the bodilie paines of our Saviour and of the Compassion of Our Lady and of all his true Lovers that were living that time and saw his Paines For I would have bene one of them and have suffered with them Other sight nor shewing of God desired I never none till when the Soule were departed from the body for I believed to be saved by the Mercy of God This was my meaning for I would after because of that shewing have the more true mind in the Passion of Christ For the second came to my mind with Contrition freelie without anie seeking a | i. e. earnest wilfull desire to have of Gods Gift a bodilie sicknes I would that that sicknes were so hard as to the death that I might in that sicknes have undertaken all the Rights of Holie Church my self weening that I should have died and that all Creatures might suppose the same that saw me For I would have no manner of Comfort of fleshly ne earthly Life in that sicknes I desired to have all manner of Paines Bodilie and Ghostlie that I should have if I should have died All the Dreads and Temptations of fiends and all manner of other Paines saving the out-passing of the Soule And this meant I for I would be purged by the Mercy of God and after live more to the Worship of God because of that sicknes For I hoped that it might have bene to my reward when I should have died for I desired to have bene soone with my God and Maker These two desires of the Passion and of the sicknes that I desired of him was with a Condition For me thought this was not the common use of Praier Therefore I said Lord thou knowest what I would and if that it be thy will that I might have it and if it be not thy will Good Lord be not displeased for I will not but as thou wilt This siicknes I desired in my Youth that I might have it when I were thirtie Years Old For the third by the Grace of God and teaching of Holie Church I conceived a mightie desire to receive three Wounds in my Life that is to say the Wound of verie Contrition the Wound of kind Compassion and the Wound of willful Longing to God Right as I asked the other twaine with a Condition so asked I this third mightilie without any Condition These twaine desires before said passed from my mind and the third dwelled
thing that is good as to my sight and the goodness that all thing hath it is he And all this our Lord shewed in the first sight And gave me space and time to behold it and the Bodily sight stinted and the Ghostly sight dwelleth in my understanding And I abode with reverent dread joying in that I saw and desiring as I durst to see more if it were his will or longer time the same sight In all this I was much stirred in Charity to mine even Christian that they might all see and know the same that I saw for I would that it were comfort to them for all this sight was shewed in general Then said I to them that were with me It is this Day Dooms-day with me And this I said for I went to have died for that day that Man or Woman dieth is he deemed particularly as he shall be without end as to my understanding This I said for I would they should love God the better for to make them to have mind that this Life is short as they might see in example for in all this time I weened to have dyed and that was marvaile to me and wonder in party for methought this vision was shewed for them that should live All that I say of me I mean in person of all my even Christian for I am learned in the Ghostly shewing of our Lord God that he meaneth so And therefore I pray you all for God's sake and counsel you for your own profit that you leave the beholding of a Wretch that it was shewed to and mightily wisely and meekly behold in God that of his courtesie love and endless Goodness would shew it generally in Comfort of us all for it is Gods will that ye take it with a great joy and liking as Jesu Christ hath shewed it to you The ix Chapter FOr the shewing I am not good but if I love God the better and in asmuch as ye love God the better it is more to you than to me I say not this to them that be wise for they | i e. know wit it well but I say it to you that be simple for ease and comfort for we be all one in Love for verily it was not shewed to me for that God loveth me better than the least Soul that is in Grace for I am sure there be many that never hath shewing ne sight but of the common teaching of Holy Church that love God better than I for if I look singularly to my self I am right nought but in general I am I hope in | i e. unity one-head of Charity with all my even Christian for in this one head standeth the life of all mankind that shall be saved for God is all that is good as to my sight And God hath made all that is made and God loveth all that he hath made and he that generally loveth all his even Christen for God he loveth all that is For in mankind that shall be saved is comprehended all that is to say all that is made and the Maker of all for in Man is God and in God is all and he that loveth thus he loveth all And I hope by the Grace of God he that beholdeth it thus shall be truly taught and mightily comforted if him needeth comfort I speak of them that shall be saved for in this time God shewed me none other But in all thing I believe as Holy Church Preacheth and Teacheth for the Faith of Holy Church which I had before hand understanding and as I hope by the Grace of God will fully keep it in use and custome stood continually in my sight willing and meaning never to receive any thing that might be contrary thereto And with this intent and with this meaning I beheld the shewing with all my diligence for in all this blessed shewing I beheld it as in Gods meaning All this was shewed by three parts that is to say by bodily sight and by words formed in my understanding and by Ghostly sight but the Ghostly sight I cannot ne may shew it as openly ne as fully as I would but I trust in our Lord God Almighty that he shall of his Goodness and for your Love make you to take it more Ghostly and more sweetly than I can or may tell it The Second Revelation The x. Chapter ANd after this I saw with bodily sight in the face of the Crucifix that hung before me In the which I beheld continually a part of his Passion despite spitting sulloing and buffeting and many languring Pains more than I can tell and often changing of Colour and one time I saw how half the face beginning at the Ear over | i e. covered yede with dry Blood till it closed into the mid-face And after that the other half be closed in the same wise And the whiles it vanished in this party even as it came This saw I bodily | i e. obscurely sweinly and darkly and I desired more bodily light to have seen more clearly and I was answered in my reason If God will shew thee more he shall be thy light thou need none but him For I saw him and sought him for we be now so blind and so unwise that we can never seek God till what time that he of his Goodness sheweth him to us And when we see ought of him graciously then are we stirred by the same Grace to seek with great desire to see him more blessedfully And thus I saw him and sought him and I had him and wanted him And this is and should be our common working in this life as to my sight One time my Understanding was litle down into the Sea-ground and there saw I Hills and Dales green seeming as it were most begrowing with Wrake and Gravel Then I understood thus that if a Man or Woman were there under the broad Water and he might have sight of God so as God is with a man continually he should be safe in Soul and Body and take no harm and | i e. exceedingly over-passing he should have more solace and comfort than all this World may or can tell For he will that we believe that we see him continually though that us think that it be but litle and in the belief he maketh us evermore to get Grace for he will be seen and he will be sought and he will be abiden and he will be trusted This second shewing was so low and so litle and so simple that my Spirits were in great Travail in the beholding mourning dreadful and longing for I was sometime in a fear whether it was a shewing or none and then divers times our Lord gave me more sight whereby that I understood truly that it was a shewing It was a Figure and a Likeness of our foul black deeds which our fair bright blessed Lord bare for our sin It made me to think of the Holy †i e. Veronica Vernacle of Rome
which he protraid with his own blessed face when he was in his hard Passion wilfully going to his Death and often changing of Colour of the brown-head and the black-head rewlyhead and lean-head Of this Image many marvelled how that might be standing that he protraid it with his blessed face which is the fairest of Heaven Flower of Earth and the fruit of the Maidens Womb. Then how might this Image be so discoloured and so far from fair-head I desire to see as I have understood by the Grace of God We know in our Faith and in our Belief by the Teaching and Preaching of Holy Church that the blessedfull Trinity made Mankind to his Image and Likeness In the same manner wise we know that when man fell so deep and so wretchedly by Sin there was none other help to restore man but through him that made man And he that made man for Love by the same Love he would restore man to the same bliss and over-passing And right as we were made like to the Trinity in our first making our Maker would that we should be like to Jesu Christ our Saviour in Heaven without end by the vertue of our own making Then between these two he would for Love and for Worship of man make himself as like to man in this deadly Life in our foul-head and in our wretchedness as man might be without guilt Whereof it meaneth as is before said it was the Image and the Likeness of our foul black deeds wherein our fair bright blessed Lord hid his God-head But verily I dare say and we ought to believe that so fair a man was never none but he till what time that his fair Colour was changed with Travaile and Sorrow Passion and Dying Of this it speaketh in the Second Revelation and in the xviijth Chapter where it speaketh more of the same likeness And there it saith of the Vernacle of Rome it meaneth by diverse changing of Colour and either sometime more comfortable and lively and sometime more ruful and deadly as it may be seen hereafter and this Vision was a learning to my understanding that the continually seeking of the Soul pleaseth God much for it may do no more than seek suffer and trust And this is wrought in every Soul that hath it by the Holy Ghost And the clearness of finding it is of the special Grace when it is his will the seeking with Faith Hope and Charity pleaseth our Lord and the finding pleaseth the Soul and fulfilleth it with joy And thus was I learned to my understanding that seeking is as good as heholding for the time that he will suffer the Soul to be in Travaile It is God's Will that we seek into the beholding of him for by that shall he shew us himself of his special Grace when he will And how a Soul shall * i e. behave have her in his beholding he shall teach himself and that is most Worship to him and most profit to the Soul and most received of Meekness and Vertues with the Grace and leading of the Holy Ghost for a Soul that only resigneth him to God with very trust either in seeking or in beholding it is the most Worship that he may do as to my sight These be two Workings that may be seen in this Vision That one is seeking the other is beholding The seeking is common that each Soul may have with his Grace and ought to have discretion and teaching of Holy Church It is God's Will that we have three things in our seeking of his Gift The first is that we seek | i e. seriously wilfully and busily without sloath as it may be with his Grace gladly and merrily without unreasonable Heaviness and vain-sorrow The second that we abide him stedfastly for his Love without grudging and striving against him into Lives end for it shall last but a while The third is that we trust in him mightily of full and true Faith For it is his will that we know that he shall appear suddenly and blessedfully to all his Lovers For his Working is privy and he will be perceived and his appearing shall be sweet sudden and he will be trusted for he is full | i e. familiar homely curteous Blessed mote he be The Third Revelation The xj Chapter ANd after this I saw God in a Point that is to say in my understanding By which sight I saw that he is in all thing I beheld with advisement seeing and knowing in that sight that he doth all that is done I marvelled in that sight with a soft dread and thought what is sin For I saw truly that God doth all thing be it never so litle And I saw verily that nothing is done by happ ne by adventure but all by the aforesaid Wisdom of God if it be happ or Adventure in the sight of man our blind-head and un-fore-sight is the cause For those things that be in the foresaid Wisdom of God been fro without beginning which Rightfully and Worshipfully continually he leadeth to the best end As it cometh about falling to us suddenly our unwitting And thus by our blindness and our unforesight we say these things be by happs and Adventure Thus I understand in this shewing of Love For well I wot in the fight of our Lord God is no happ ne Adventure Wherefore me behoved needs to grant that all things that are done are well done for our Lord God doth all For in this time the Working of Creatures was not shewed but of our Lord God in the Creatures for he is in the mid Point of all things and all he doth And I am sure that he doth no sin And here I saw verily that sin is no deed for in all this sin was not shewed And I would no longer marvel in this but beheld our Lord what he would shew And thus as it might be for the time the rightfulness of God's Work was shewed for the Soul Rightfulness hath two fair Properties It is right and it is full And so be all the Works of our Lord. And thereto needeth neither Working of Mercy ne Grace For they be all rightful wherein faileth right nought And in an other time he shewed for beholding of sin naked as I shall say After when he useth working of Mercy and of Grace This Vision was shewed to my understanding For our Lord will have the Soul turned truly unto the beholding of him and generally of all his Works for they be full good And all his * i e. judgment Dooms be easie and sweet and two great eyes bringing the Soul that is turned from the beholding of the blind deeming of man into the faire sweet deeming of our Lord God For man he holdeth some deeds well done and some deeds evil And our Lord beholdeth them not so for as all that hath being in kind is of God's making so is all thing that is done in Property of Gods doing For it is easie to
Chapter IN this time I would have looked fro the Cross and I durst not for I wist well whiles that I beheld the Cross I was sure and safe Therefore I would not assent to put my Soul in Peril for besides the Cross was no sureness for dreed of fiends Then had I a proffer in my Reason as it had been friendly said to me Look up to Heaven to his Father And then saw I well with the Faith that I felt that there was nothing between the Cross and Heaven that might have diseased me Here me behoved to look up or else to answer I answered inwardly with all the Might of my Soul and said Nay I may not for thou art my Heaven This I said for that I would not for I had * i. e. rather leaver have been in that Pain till Dooms-day than have come to Heaven otherwise than by him For I wist well that he that bound me so sore he should unbind me when he would Thus was I learned to choose Jesu for my Heaven whom I saw only in Pain at that time Me liked no other Heaven than Jesu which shall be my bliss when I come there and this hath ever been a Comfort to me that I chose Jesu to be my Heaven by his Grace in all this time of Passion and Sorrow And that hath been a Learning to me that I should evermore do so to chose Jesu only to my Heaven in weal and in woe And though I as a Wretch hath repented me as I said before if I had wist what Pain it had been I had been loath to have prayed it Here I saw verily that it was grudging and frailty of the flesh without assent of the Soul in which God assigneth no blame Repenting and wilful choise be two Contraries which I felt both at that time And those be two parts that one outward that other inward The outward party is our deadily flesh which is now in Pain and now in woe and shall be in this Life Whereof I felt much at this time and that part was that I repented The inward party is a high and a blessedful Life which is all in Peace and Love And this is more privily felt and this party is in which mightily wisely and wilfully I chose Jesu to my Heaven And in this I saw truly that the inward party is Master and Soveraign to the outward nought charging nor taking heede to the Wills of that but all the intent and the Will is set endless to be oned to our Lord Jesu that the outward party should draw the inward to assent was not shewed to me but that the inward party draweth the outward party by Grace and both shall be owned in bliss without end by the vertue of Christ this was shewed The xx Chapter ANd thus saw I our Lord Jesu languring long time for the uning of the Godhead gave strength to the Man-head for Love to suffer more than all men might I mean not only more Pain than all men might suffer but also that he suffered more Pain than all man of Salvation that ever was from the first beginning into the last day might tell or fully think Having regard to the worthiness of the highest worshipful King and the shameful and despiteous painful Death for he that is highest and worthiest was foulest condemned and utterly despised For his Passion is to think and to know that he is God that suffered Seeing after these other two points which be lower that one is what he suffered and that other for whom that he suffered And in this he brought to mind in part the height and the nobility of the glorious God-head and therewith the precious head and the tenderness of the blessedful body which be together owned and also the loathfulness that in our kind is to suffer Pain for as much as he was most tender and clean right so he was most strong and mighty to suffer And for every mans sin that shall be saved he suffered and every mans sorrow dissolation and anguish he saw and sorrowed for kindness and Love for in as much as our Lady sorrowed for his Pains as much suffered he sorrow for her sorrows And moreover in as much as the sweet Man-head of him was worthier in kind for as long as he was passible he suffered for us and sorrowed for us And now he is up-risen and no more passible yet he suffered with us as I shall say after And I beholding all this by his Grace saw that the Love in him was so strong which he hath to our Soul that willingfully he chose it with great desire and mildly he suffered it with great joy for the Soul that beholdeth thus when it is touched by Grace he shall verily see that the Pains of Christs Passion pass all Pains that is to say which Pains shall be turned into everlasting Joy by the vertue of Christs Passion It is Gods will as to my understanding that we have three manners of beholding of his blessed Passion The first is the beholding the hard Pain that he suffered with a Contrition and Compassion And that shewed our Lord in this time and gave me might and grace to see it And I looked after the departing with all my mights and * i. e. thought wende to have seen the Body all dead but I saw him not so And right in the same time that me thought by seeming that the Life might no longer last and the shewing of the end behoved needs to be nigh The xxj Chapter SUddenly I beholding in the same Cross he changed in blessedful Chear the changing of his blessed Chear changed mine and I was as glad and merry as it was possible Then brought our Lord merrily to my mind Where is now any point of thy Pain or of thy Anguish And I was full merry I understood that we be now in our Lords meaning in his Cross with him in our Pains and in our Passion daying And we wilfully abiding in the same Cross with his help and his Grace into the last point suddenly he shall change his Chear to us And we shall be with him in Heaven between that one and that other shall all be one time and then shall all be brought into Joy And so meant he in this shewing Where is now any point of thy Pain or of thy Grief And we shall be full of bliss and here saw I verily that if he shewed now to us his blessedful Chear there is no Pain in Earth ne in no other place that should trouble us But all things should be to us joy and bliss but for he sheweth us the sad Chear of Passion as he bare in this Life his Cross therefore we be in Disease and Travaile with him as our kind asketh And the cause why that he suffereth is for he will of his Goodness make us the Heirs with him in his bliss And for this litle Pain that we suffer here we shall have an high
deed the which the blissedful Trinity shall do in the last day as to my sight And what the deed shall be and how it shall be done it is unknown of all Creatures which are beneath Christ and shall be till when it shall be done The Goodness and the Love of our Lord God will that we | i e. know wit that it shall be And the Might and the Wisdom of him by the same Love will * i e. conceal hill it and hide it from us what it shall be and how it shall be done And the cause why he will we wit it thus is for he will we be the more eased in our Soul and peaceable in Love leaving the beholding of all Tempests that might | i e. hinder let us of true enjoying in him This is the great deed ordeined of our Lord God fro without beginning treasured and hid in his blessed Breast only known to himself by which deed he shall make all thing well for right as the blessed Trinity made all thing of naught right so the same blessed Trinity shall make well all that is not well And in this sight I marvelled greatly and beheld our Faith meaning thus Our Faith is grounded in Gods Word and it longeth to our Faith that we believe that Gods Word shall be saved in all thing And one point of our Faith is that many Creatures shall be damned as Angels that fell out of Heaven for Pride which be now Fiends and many in Earth that dyeth out of the Faith of Holy Church that is to say tho that be Heathen And also many that hath received Christendome and liveth unchristen Life and so dyeth out of Charity all these shall be damned to Hell without end as Holy Church teacheth me to believe And standing all this methought it was unpossible that all manner of thing should be well as our Lord shewed in this time And as to this I had no other answer in shewing of our Lord but this That that is unpossible to thee is not unpossible to mee I shall save my Word in all thing and I shall make all thing well And in this I was taught by the Grace of God that I should stedfastly hold me in the Faith as I had before understood And therewith that I should stand and | i e firmly sadly believe that all manner thing shall be well as our Lord shewed in the same time for this is the great deed that our Lord God shall do In which deed he shall save his Word in all thing and he shall make well all that is not well But what the deed shall be and how it shall be done there is no Creature beneath Christ that wot it ne shall wit it till it is done as to the understanding that I took of our Lords meaning in this time The xxxiij Chapter ANd yet in this I desired as I durst that I might have some fight of Hell and of Purgatory But it was not my meaning to take proof of any thing that longeth to our Faith for I believed | i e. assuredly sothfastlie that Hell and Purgatory is for the same end that Holy Church teacheth for but my meaning was that I might have seen for Learning in all thing that longeth to my Faith whereby I might live the more to Gods Worship and to my Profit And for ought that I could desire I ne could see of this right nought but as it is before said in the first shewing where that I saw the Devil is reproved of God and endless by damned In which sight I understand that all the Creatures that be of the Devils condition in this Life and therein ending there is no more mention made of them before God and all his Holy Ones then of the Devil notwithstanding that they be of Mankind whether they have be-Christened or not For though the Revelation was shewed of Goodness in which was made litle mention of Evil Yet I was not drawn thereby from any point of the Faith that Holy Church teacheth me to believe For I had sight of the Passion of Christ in divers shewing In the first in the second in the fourth in the eighth as it is before said wherein I had in part feeling of the sorrow of our Lady and of his true Friends that saw his Pains but I saw not so properly specified the Jews that did him to Death but notwithstanding I knew in my Faith that they were Accursed and Damned without end saving those that were Converted by Grace And I was strengthed and learned generally to keep me in the Faith in every Point and in all as I had before understood hoping that I was therein with Mercy and the Grace of God desiring and praying in my meaning that I might continue therein unto my lives end It is Gods will that we have great regard to all the deeds that he hath done for he will thereby that we know trust and believe all that he shall doe But evermore us needeth leave the beholding what the deed shall be and desire we to be like to our Brethren which be the Saints in Heaven that will right nought but Gods will Then shall we only enjoy in God and be well apaid both with hiding and shewing For I saw verily in our Lords meaning the more we busie us to know his privities in that or in any other thing the farther more shall we be from the knowing The xxxjv Chapter OUr Lord shewed two manner of | i e. secrets privities One is this great privity with all the privy Points thereto belonging And these privities he will we know thus hid into the time that he will clearly shew them to us That other are the privities which himself shewed openly in this Revelation for those are privities which he will make open and known to us for he will that we wit that it is his will that we know them They are privities to us but not only for that he will they be privities to us but they are privities to us for our blind-head and our unknowing And therefore hath he great ruth and therefore he will make them open to us himself whereby we may know him and love him and cleave to him For all that is | i e. profitable speedeful for us to wit and for to know full courteously our good Lord will shew us what it is with all the Preaching and Teaching of Holy Church God shewed full great pleasaunce that he hath in all men and women that mightily and wisely take the Preaching and Teaching of Holy Church for he it is Holy Church He is the Ground He is the Substance He is the Teaching He is the Teacher He is the End and He is the Meed Wherefore every kind Soul Traveleth And this is known and shall be known to each Soul to which the Holy Ghost declareth it And I hope truly all those that seek thus they shall speed for they
Salvation And that this is our Lords Working in us I am sure the Soul that is pearced therewith by Grace shall see it and feel it and though it be so that this Deed be truly take for the general man yet it excludeth not the special for what our good Lord will do by his poor Creatures it is now unknown to me But this Deed and that other aforesaid it is not both one but two sundry but this Deed shall be known sooner and that shall be as we come to Heaven And to whom our Lord giveth it it may be known here in party But the great Deed aforesaid shall neither be known in Heaven nor in Earth till that it be done And furthermore he gave special understanding and teaching of Working and shewing of Miracles as this It is known that I have done Miracles here before many and full high and marvellous worshipful and great and so as I have done I do now continually and shall in coming of time It is known that before Miracles come Sorrows and Anguish and Trouble And that is that we should know our own feebleness and mischief that we be fallen in by sin to meek us and make us to cry to God for help and Grace and great Miracles come after and that of the high might and wisdom and goodness of God shewing his vertue and the joyes of Heaven so as it may be in this passing Life and that for the strengthening of our Faith and encrease of our Hope in Charity Wherefore it pleaseth him to be known and Worshipped in Miracles Then meaneth he thus he will that we be not born over low for Sorrows and Tempests that fall to us for it hath ever so been before Miracles comming The xxxvij Chapter GOd brought to mind that I should sin And for liking that I had in beholding of him I * i e. attended entented not redily to that shewing And our Lord full mercifully abode and gave me Grace for to entend And this shewing I took singularly to my self But by all the gracious Comforts that followeth as ye shall see I was learned to take it to all mine even Christen all in general and nothing in special Though our Lord shewed me that I should sin by me alone is understood all And in this I conceived a soft dread And to this our Lord answered I keep thee full surely this Word was said with more Love and Sureness of Ghostly keeping than I can or may tell For as it was afore shewed to me that I should sin right so was the Comfort shewed sureness of keeping for all mine even Christen Who shall be saved What may make me more to love mine even Christen than to see in God that he loveth all that shall be saved as it were all one Soul for in every Soul that shall be saved is a godly Will that never finally assenteth to sinn ne never shall Right as there is a beastly will in the lower party that may will no Good right so there is a godly Will in the higher party which Will is so good that it may never will Evil endlesly but ever Good and therefore we be that he loveth and endlesly we do that he liketh And this shewed our good Lord in the * i e. fulness wholehead of Love that we stand in his sight yea that he loveth us now as well while that we be here as he shall do when we be there before his blessed Face But for failing of Love in our party therefore is all our Travel The xxxviij Chapter ANd God shewed that sin shall be no shame but Worship to man for right as to every sin is answering a Pain by Truth Right so for every sin to the same Soul is given a bliss by Love Right as divers sins be punished with divers Pains after that it be grievous right so shall they be rewarded with diverse Joys in Heaven for their Victories * i e. accordingly after as the sin hath been painful and sorrowful to the Soul in Earth for the Soul that shall come to Heaven is so precious to God and the place so Worshipful that the goodness of God suffereth never that Soul to sin finally that shall come thither But what Sinners they are that so shall be rewarded is made known in Holy Church in Earth and also in Heaven by overpassing Worships For in this sight my understanding was lifted up into Heaven And then God brought merily to my mind David and other in the Old Law with him without number And in the New Law he brought to my mind first Magdalen Peter and Paul Thomas and Jude St. John of Beverley and others also without number how they be known in the Church on Earth with their sins and it is to them no shame but all is turned them to Worship And therefore our courteous Lord sheweth for them here in party like as it is there fulfilled for there the Token of sin is turned to Worship And St. John of Beverley our Lord shewed him full highly in Comfort of us for homeliness and countrey sake and brought to my mind how he is a kind Neighbour and of our knowing And God called him plainly St. John of Beverley as we do and that with a full glad and sweet chear shewing that he is a full high Saint in his sight and a blessedful And with this he made mention that in his Youth and in his tender Age he was a dear worthy Servant to God full greatly God loving and dreading And nevertheless God suffered him to fall him mercifully keeping that he perished not ne lost no time And afterward God raised him to manifold more Grace and by the Contrition and the Meekness that he had in his living God hath given him in Heaven manifold joys overpassing that he should have had if he had not sinned or fallen And that this is true God sheweth in Earth with plentuous Miracles doing about his Body continually And all this was to make us glad and merry in Love The xxxjx Chapter SIN is the sharpest Scourge that any chosen Soul may be smitten with Which Scourge all to beateth Man or Woman and all to breaketh him and purgeth him in his own sight So far forth that otherwhile he thinketh himself that he is not worthy but as it were to sink into Hell till when Contrition taketh him by touching of the Holy Ghost and turneth the Bitterness into Hope of Gods Mercy And then begin his Wounds to Heal and the Soul to quicken turned into the Life of Holy Church The Holy Ghost leadeth him to Confession wilfully to shew his sins nakedly and truly with great sorrow and with great shame that he hath so defouled the fair Image of God Then undertaketh he Penance for every sin enjoyned by his * i e Confessarius Domes-man that is grounded in Holy Church by the Teaching of the Holy Ghost And this is one | i e. humiliation Meekness
thou seekest it How should it then be that thou shouldest not have thy seeking And thus in the first Reason with the three that follow our good Lord sheweth a mighty Comfort as it may be seen in the same Words and in the first Reason there he saith And thou beseek it There he sheweth full great pleasance and endless meed that he will give us for our beseeking And in the sixth Reason there he saith How should it then be This was said for an unpossible thing for it is the most unpossible that may that we should seek Mercy and Grace and not have it For of all thing that our good Lord maketh us to beseek himself he hath ordained it to us from without beginning Here may we then see that our beseeking is not the cause of the Goodness and Grace that he doth to us but his proper Goodness And that shewed he verily in all these sweet Words there he saith I am Ground And our good Lord will that this be known of his Lovers in Earth and the more that we know the more shall we beseech if it be wisely take and so is our Lords meaning Beseeching is a true and gracious lasting will of the Soul owned and fastened into the Will of our Lord by the sweet privy Working of the Holy Ghost Our Lord himself he is the first Receiver of our Prayer as to my sight and he taketh it full thankfully and highly enjoying he sendeth it up above and setteth it in Treasure where it shall never perish It is there before God with all his Holy Saints continually received ever speeding our needs And when we shall undertake our bliss it shall be given us for a degree of Joy with endless Worshipful thanking of him full glad and merry is our Lord of our Prayer and he looketh thereafter and he will have it for with his Grace it maketh us like to himself in condition as we be in kind and so is his blessed Will For he saith thus Pray intirely inwardly though thee think it savour thee not yet it is profitable enough though thou feel it nought Pray intirely inwardly though thou feel nought though thou see nought yea though thou think thou might not for in Dryness and Barrenness in Sickness and in Feebleness then is thy Prayer full pleasant to mee though thou think at savor thee not but litle and so is all thy Living Prayer in my sight For the meed and the endless thank that he will give us therefore he is covetuous to have us Praying continually in his sight God accepteth the good Will and the Travel of his Servants howsoever we feel Wherefore it pleaseth him that we work in Prayer and in good Living by his Help and his Grace reasonably with Discretion keeping our Mights to him till when we have him that we seek in fulhead of joy that is Jesu And that shewed he in the xvth Revelation where he saith Thou shalt have me to thy meed Also to Prayer longeth thanking Thanking is a true inward knowing with great Reverence and lovely Dreed turning our self with all our Mights into the Working that our Lord stirred us to enjoying and thanking inwardly and sometime for plentuousness it breaketh out with Voyce and saith Good Lord grant Mercy Blessed mote thou be And sometime when the Earth is dry and feeleth naught or else by Temptation of our Enemy then it is driven by Reason and by Grace to cry upon our Lord with Voyce rehearsing his blessed Passion and his great Goodness And so the vertue of our Lords Word turneth into the Soul and quickeneth the heart and entreth by his Grace into true Working and maketh it to Pray full blessed fully and truly to enjoy in our Lord is a full lovely thanking in his sight The xlij Chapter OUr Lord will that we have true understanding and namely in three things that longeth to our Prayer The first is by whom and how that our Prayer Springeth by whom he sheweth when he saith I am Ground and how by his Goodness For he saith First it is my Will For the second in what manner and how that we should use our Prayers and that is that our Will be turned into the Will of our Lord enjoying And so he meaneth when he saith I make thee to will it For the third that we know the Fruit and end of our Prayer that is to be oned and like to our Lord in all thing and to this meaning and for this end was all this lovely Lesson shewed And he will help us and he shall make it so as he seeth himself blessed mote he be For this is our Lords Will that our Prayer and our trust be both alike large for if we trust not as * much mickle as we Pray we do not full Worship to our Lord in our Prayer And also we tarry and Pain our self and the cause is as I believe for we know not truly that our Lord is Ground in whom that our Prayer springeth And also that we know not that it is given us by Grace of his Love for if we knew this it would make us to trust to have of our Lords gift all that we desire for I am sure that no man asketh Mercy and Grace with true meaning but if Mercy and Grace be first given to him But sometime it cometh to our mind that we have prayed long time and yet it thinketh us that we have not our asking but herefore should we not be heavy for I am sure by our Lords meaning that either we abide a better time or more Grace or a better Gift He will that we have true knowing in himself that he is being And in this knowing he will that our understanding be grounded with all our Mights and all our Intents and all our Meanings And in this Ground he will that we take our * i e. resting place steeds and our dwelling And by the gracious Light of himself he will that we have understanding of three things that follow The first is our Noble and Excellent making The second our precious and dear worthy * i e redemption again being The third all thing that he hath made beneath us to serve us and for our Love keepeth it Then meaneth he thus as if he said Behold and see that I have done all this before thy Prayer and now thou art and prayest me And thus he meaneth that it longeth to us to wit that the greatest Deeds be done as Holy Church teacheth And in the beholding of this with thanking we owe to Pray for the Deed that is now in doing and that is that he rule us and guide us to his Worship in this Life and bring us to his Bliss and therefore he hath done all Then meaneth he thus that we see that he doth it and we pray therefore for that one is not enough for if we pray and see not that he doth it it maketh us heavy and doubtful and that
that we desire And notwithstanding all this I beheld and marvelled greatly what is the Mercy and Forgiveness of God For by the Teaching that I had before I understood that the Mercy of God shall be Forgiveness of his Wrath after the time that we have sinned For methought that to a Soul whose meaning and desire is to Love that the Wrath of God were harder than any other Pain And therefore I took that the Forgiveness of his Wrath should be one of the principal Points of his Mercy But for ought that I might behold and desire I could not see this Point in all the shewing But how I saw and understood of the Working of Mercy I shall say some deal as God will give me Grace I understood thus Man is changeable in this Life and by simpleness and uncunning falleth into sin He is unmighty and unwise of himself and also his Will is over-laid In this time he is in Tempest and in Sorrow and in Woe And the cause is blindness for he seeth not God for if he saw God continually he should have no mischievous feeling ne no manner stirring nor sorrowing that serveth to sin Thus saw I and felt in the same time and methought that the sight and the feeling was high and plentuous and gracious in regard that our common feeling is in this Life but yet methought it was but low and small in regard of the great desire that the Soul hath to see God For I felt in me five manner of workings which be these Enjoying Mourning Desire Dreed and true Hope Enjoying for God gave me understanding and knowing that it was himself that I saw Mourning and that was for feeling desire that was that I might see him for ever more and more understanding and knowing that we shall never have full rest till we see him clearly and verily in Heaven Dreed was for it seemed to me in all that time that sight should fail and I to be left to my self True hope was in the endless Love that I saw that I should be kept by his Mercy and brought to the bliss And the joying in his sight with this true Hope of his merciful keeping made me to have Feeling and Comfort So that Mourning and dreed were not greatly painful And yet in all this I beheld in the shewing of God that this manner sight of him may not be continuant in this Life and that for his own Worship and for increase of our endless joy And therefore we fail oftentimes of the sight of him And anon we fall into our self and then find we feeling of right naught but the contrarious that is in our self And that of the old Root of our first sin with all that followeth of our own continuance And in this we be travelled and tempted with feeling of sin and of pain in many diverse manner Ghostly and Bodily as it is known to us in this Life The xlviij Chapter BUt our good Lord the Holy Ghost which is endless Life dwelling in our Soul full truly keepeth us and worketh therein a Peace and bringeth it to ease by Grace and maketh it | i e. complyant buxom and accordeth it to God And this is the Mercy and the Way that our good Lord continually leadeth us in as long as we be in this Life which is changeable For I saw no Wrath but on mans party and that forgiveth he in us For Wrath is not else but a frowardness and a contrariousness to Peace and Love And either it cometh of feeling of Might or of feeling of Wisdom or of feeling of Goodness which feeling is not of God but it is in our party for we by sin and wretchedness have in us a Wrath and a continuant contrariousness to Peace and to Love And that shewed he full oft in his lovely Chear of ruth and pity For the ground of Mercy is in Love and the working of Mercy is our keeping in Love And this was shewed in such a manner that I could not perceive of the property of Mercy otherwise but as it were all Love in Love that is to say as to my sight Mercy is a sweet gracious working in Love * ie mingled medled with plenteous pitty for Mercy worketh us keeping and Mercy worketh turning to us all thing to good Mercy for Love suffereth us to fail by measure and in as much as we fail in so much we fall and in as much as we fall in so much we die For us behooveth needs to die in as much as we fail sight and feeling of God that is our life Our failing is dreadful our falling is shameful and our dying is sorrowful But yet in all this the sweet eye of pity and love departeth never from us ne the working of Mercy ceaseth not For I beheld the property of Mercy and I beheld the property of Grace which have two manner of Working in one Love Mercy is a pitiful property which longeth to Mother-hood in tender Love And Grace is a Worshipful property which longeth to Royal Lordship in the same Love Mercy worketh keeping suffering quickening and healing and all is of tenderness of Love And Grace worketh with Mercy raising rewarding endlesly over-passing that our Loving and our Travel deserveth spreading abroad and shewing the high plenteousness largeness of Gods Royal Lordship in his marvellous courtesie And this is of the abundance of Love for Grace worketh our dreadful failing into plenteous and endless solace And Grace worketh our shameful falling into high Worshipful rising and Grace worketh our sorrowful dying into Holy blissful Life For I saw full truly that ever as our contrariousness worketh to us here in Earth pain shame and sorrow Right so on the contrariwise Grace worketh to us in Heaven Solace Worship and Bliss and over-passing so far forth that when we come up and receive that sweet Reward which Grace hath wrought to us there we shall thank and bless our Lord endlesly enjoying that ever we suffered Woe and that shall be for a property of blessed Love that we shall know in God which we might never have known without Woe going before And when I saw all this me behooved needs to grant that the Mercy of God and the Forgiveness slacketh and wasteth our Wrath. The xljx Chapter FOr it was an high marvel to the Soul which was continuantly shewed in all and with great diligence beholding that our Lord God aneynst himself may not forgive for he may not be Wrath. It were unpossible for this was shewed that our Life is all grounded and rooted in Love and without Love we may not live And therefore to the Soul that of his special Grace seeth so far forth of the high marvellous goodness of God that we be endlesly oned to him in Love It is the most unpossible that may be that God should be Wrath for Wrath and Friendship be two Contraries for he that wasteth and destroyeth our Wrath and maketh us meek and mild it
slade and taketh full great sorrow and then he groneth and moneth and walloweth and wrieth but he may not rise nor help himself by no manner of way And of all this the most mischief that I saw him in was failing of Comfort for he could not turn his face to look up on his loving Lord which was to him full near in whom is full Comfort But as a man that was full feeble and unwise for the time he entended to his feeling and enduring in Woe In which Woe he suffered seven great Pains The first was the sore brusing that he took in his falling which was to him much pain The second was the heaviness of his body The third was feebleness that followed of these two The fourth was that hew as blinded in his Reason * i e. astonished stonnyed in his mind so farth forth that almost he had forgotten his own Love The fifth was that he might not rise The sixth was pain most marvellous to me and that was that he lay alone I looked all about and beheld and far ne near ne high ne low I saw to him no help The seventh was that the place that he lay in was long hard and grievous I marvelled how this Servant might thus meekly suffer all this Woe And I beheld with avisement to wit if I could perceive in him any default or if the Lord should assign him any manner of blame And verily there was none seen for only his good will and his great desire was the cause of his falling And he was as unlothful and as good inwardly as he was when he stood before his Lord ready to do his Will And right thus continually his loving Lord full tenderly beholdeth him and now with a double chear One outward full meekly and mildly with great rewth and pity and this was of the first Another inward more Ghostly And this was shewed with a leading of my understanding into the Lord in restoring which I saw him highly enjoy for the worshipful resting and noble that he will and shall bring his Servant to by his plentuous Grace and this was of the other shewing And now was my understanding led again into the first both keeping in mind Then said this courteous Lord in his meaning To my beloved Servant what harm and disease he hath had and taken in my service for my love yea and for his good will It is not reason that I reward him his | ie fright frey and his dreed his hurt and his maym and all his Woe and not only this but falleth it not to me to give him a gift that be better to him and more worshipful than his own heal should have been or else methinketh I did him no Grace And in this an inward Ghostly shewing of the Lords meaning descended into my Soul in which I saw that it behooved needs to be standing his great goodness and his own worship that his dear worthy Servant which he loved so much should be highly and worshipfully rewarded without end above that he should have been if he had not fallen yea and so far forth that his falling and all his Woe that he hath taken thereby shall be turned into the high over-passing Worship and endless Bliss And at this Point the shewing of the example vanished and our good Lord led forth my understanding in sight and in shewing of the Revelation to the end But notwithstanding all this forth leading the marvelling of the example went never from me for methought it was given me for answer to my desire And yet could I not take therein full understanding to my ease in that time for in the servant that was shewed for Adam as I shall say I saw many divers properties that might by no manner be direct to single Adam And thus in that time I stood mickle in three Knowings for the full understanding of this marvellous Example was not given me in that time In which misty Example the privities of the Revelation be yet much hid And notwithstanding this I saw and understood that every shewing is full of privities And therefore me behooveth now to tell three properties in which I am * i e somewhat somedeal eased The first is the beginning of teaching that I understood there in the same time The second is the inward Learning that I have understood therein sithens The third is all the holy Revelation from the beginning to the end which our Lord God of his Goodness bringeth oft-times freely to the sight of my understanding And these three be so oned as to my understanding that I cannot nor may depart them And by these three as one I have teaching whereby I * i e. ought owe to believe and trust in our Lord God that of the same Goodness that he shewed it and for the same end right so of the same goodness and of the same end he shall declare it to us when it is his Will for twenty years after the time of the shewing save three months I had teaching inwardly as I shall say It longeth to thee to take heed to all the properties and the conditions that were shewed in the Example though thee think that it be misty and indifferent to thy sight I assented wilfully with great desire seeing inwardly with avisement all the points and the properties that were shewed in the same time as far forth as my Wit and my understanding will serve beginning at my beholding at the Lord and at the Servant At the manner of sitting of the Lord and the place he sat on and the colour of his Cloathing and the manner of shape and his chear without and his nobley and his goodness within And the manner of standing of the Servant and the place where and how and his manner of Cloathing the Colour and the shape at his outward behaviour and at his inward goodness and his unlothfulness The Lord that sat solemnly in rest and in peace I understand that he is God The Servant that stood before him I understood that he was shewed for Adam that is to say one man was shewed that time and his falling to make thereby to be understood how God beholdeth all man and his falling For in the sight of God all man is one man and one man is all man This man was hurt in his Might and made full feeble And he was stonnyed in his understanding for he was turned from the beholding of his Lord but his Will was kept in Gods sight for his Will I saw our Lord commend and approve but himself was letted and blinded of the knowing of this Will And this is to him great sorrow and grievous disease for neither he seeth clearly his loving Lord which is to him full meek and mild nor he seeth truly what himself is in the sight of his loving Lord. And well I wot that when these two be wisely and truly seen we shall get rest and peace here in party And the
and understood more in the xvjth Shewing as I shall say And as aneinst our substance it may rightly be called our Soul And aneinst our sensuality it may rightly be called our Soul and that is by the oning that it hath in God That worshipful City that our Lord Jesu sitteth in it is our sensuality in which he is enclosed And our kindly substance is beclosed in Jesu with the blessed Soul of Christ sitting in rest in the God-head And I saw full surely that it behooveth needs to be that we should be in longing and in Penance into the time that we be led so deep into God that we verily and truly know our own Soul And surely I saw that into this high deepness our good Lord himself leadeth us in the same Love that he made us and in the same Love he bought us by Mercy and Grace through vertue of his blessed Passion and notwithstanding all this we may never come to the full knowing of God till we know first clearly our own Soul for into the time that it is in the full mights we may not be all holy and that is that our sensuality by the vertue of Christs Passion be brought up into the substance with all the profits of our tribulation that our Lord shall make us to get by Mercy and Grace I had in party touching and it is grounded in kind that is to say our reason is grounded in God which is substancially kindness Of this substancial kindness Mercy and Grace springeth and spreadeth into us working all things in fulfilling of our joy These be our grounds in which we have our being our encrease and our fulfilling for in kind we have our Life and our Being and in Mercy and Grace we have our encrease and our fulfilling It be three properties in one goodness And where that one worketh all worken in the thing that belongen to us God will we understand desiring with all our heart and with all our strength to have knowing of them ever more and more into the time that we be fulfilled For fully to know them and clearly to see them is * i e. naught not else but endless joy and bliss that we shall have in Heaven which God will we begin here in knowing of his Love for only by our reason we may not profit But if we have evenly therewith mind and Love ne only in our kindly ground that we have in God we may not be saved but if we have coming of the same ground Mercy and Grace For of these three Workings altogether we receive all our goods of which the first be goods of kind For in our first making God gave us as much good and as great good as we might receive only in our spirit But his fore-seeing purpose in his endless Wisdom would that we were double The Lvij. Chapter ANd against our substance he made us so noble and so rich that evermore we work his Will and his Worship there I say We it meaneth man that shall be saved For truly I saw that we be that he loveth and do that him liketh lastingly without any stinting And of this great riches and of this high noble vertues by measure come to our Soul what time that it is knit to our body In which knitting we be made sensual And thus in our substance we be full and in our sensuality we fail which failing God will restore and fulfill by working of Mercy and Grace plenteously flowing into us of his own kind goodness And thus this kind goodness maketh that Mercy and Grace worketh in us And the kind goodness that we have of him ableth us to receive the working of Mercy and Grace I saw that our kind is in God whole in which he maketh diversities flowing out of him to work his will whose kind keepeth and Mercy and Grace restoreth and fulfilleth And of these none shall be perished for our kind which is the higher party is knit to God in the making and God is knit to our kind which is the lower party in our flesh taking And thus in Christ our two kinds be oned For the Trinity is comprehended in Christ in whom our higher party is grounded and rooted and our lower party the second person hath taken which kind first to him was a dight For I saw full truly that all the Works that God hath done or ever shall were full known to him and before seen fro without beginning And for Love he made mankind and for the same Love himself would become Man The next good that we receive is our Faith in which our profiting beginneth and it becometh of the high riches of our kind substance into our sensual Soul and it is grounded in us and we in that through the kind goodness of God by the working of Mercy and Grace And thereof come all our goods by which we be led and saved for the Commandements of God come therein In which we owe to have two manner of understanding That one is that we owe to understand and know which be his bidings to love them and to keep them That other is that we owe to know his forbiddings to hate them and to refuse them for in these two is all our working comprehended Also in our Faith come the Seven Sacraments each following other in order as God hath ordained them to us and all manner vertues for the same vertues that we have received of our substance given to us in kind of the Goodness of God the same vertues by the working of Mercy be given to us in Grace through the Holy Ghost renewed Which vertues and gifts are treasured to us in Jesu Christ for in that same time that God knit him to our body in the Maidens Womb he took our sensual Soul In which taking he us all having beclosed in him he oned it to our substance In which oning he was perfect man for Christ having knit in him all man that shall be saved is perfect man Thus our Lady is our Mother in whom we be all beclosed and of her born in Christ for she that is Mother of our Saviour is Mother of all that be saved in our Saviour And our Saviour is our very Mother in whom we be endlesly born and never shall come out of him Plentuously fully and sweetly was this shewed And it is spoken of in the first where it is said We be all in him beclosed and he is beclosed in us And that is spoken of in the xvjth Shewing where he he saith He sitteth in our Soul for it is his liking to reign in our understanding blessedfully and sitteth in our Soul restfully and to dwell in our Soul endlesly us all working into him In which working he will we be his helpers giving to him all our intent learning his Laws keeping his lore desiring that all bedone that he doth truly trusting in him for verily I saw that all our substance is in God The Lviij Chapter GOD the
blessedful Trinity which is everlasting being right as he is endless from without beginning right so it was in his purpose endless to make mankind Which fair kind first was dight to his own Son the second Person and when he would by full accord of all the Trinity he made us all at ones And in our making he knit us and oned us to himself By which oning we be kept as clean and as noble as we were made by the vertue of that each precious oning we love our Maker and like him praise him and thank him and endlesly enjoy in him And this is the working which is wrought continually in each Soul that shall be saved which is the godly Will before said And thus in our making God Almighty is our kindly Father And God all Wisdom is our kindly Mother with the Love and the Goodness of the Holy Ghost which is all one God one Lord. And in the knitting and in the oning he is our very true Spouse and we his loved Wife and his fair Maiden with which Wife he was never displeased for he saith I love thee and thou lovest me and our love shall never part in two I beheld the working of all the blessed Trinity In which beholding I saw and understood these three properties the property of the Father-head and the property of the Mother-head and the property of the Lordship in one God In our Father Almighty we have our keeping and our bliss And aneynst our kindly substance which is to us by our making fro without beginning And in the second Person in Wit and Wisdom we have our keeping And aneynst our sensuality our restoring and our saving for he is our Mother Brother and Saviour And in our good Lord the Holy Ghost we have our rewarding and our yielding for our living and our travel and endlesly over-passing all that we desire in his marvellous courtesie of his high plentuous Grace for all our Life is in three In the first our being And in the second we have our encreasing And in the third we have our fulfilling The first is kind the second is Mercy the third is Grace For the first I saw and understood that the high might of the Trinity is our Father and the deep Wisdom of the Trinity is our Mother and the great Love of the Trinity is our Lord. And all these have we in kind and in our substantial making And furthermore I saw that the second Person which is our Mother substancially the same deer worthy Person is now become our Mother sensual for we be double of Gods making that is to say substancial and sensual Our substance is the higher party which we have in our Father God Almighty And the second Person of the Trinity is our Mother in kind in our substancial making in whom we be grounded and rooted And he is our Mother of Mercy in our sensuality taking And thus our Mother is to us diverse manner working in whom our parts be kept undeparted For in our Mother Christ we profit and encrease and in Mercy he reformeth us and restoreth And by the vertue of his Passion his Death and his Uprising oned us to our substance This worketh our Mother in mercy to all his beloved Children which be to him buxom and obedient And grace worketh with mercy and namely in two properties as it was shewed Which working longeth to the third Person the Holy Ghost he worketh rewarding and giving Rewarding is a gift of trust that the Lord doth to them that hath traveled And giving is a courteous Working which he doth freely of grace fulfilling and over-passing all that is deserved of Creatures Thus in our Father God Almighty we have our being And in our Mother of mercy Jesu Christ we have our reforming and our restoring in whom our parts be oned and all made perfect man And by yielding and giving in grace of the Holy Ghost we be fulfilled and our substance is in our Father God Almighty And our substance is in our Mother God all Wisdom And our substance is in our Lord God the Holy Ghost all goodness for our substance is whole in each person of the Trinity which is one God And our sensuality is only in the second Person Christ Jesu in whom is the Father and the Holy Ghost And in him and by him we be mightily taken out of Hell and out of the wretchedness in Earth and worshipfully brought up into Heaven and blessedfully oned to our substance encreased in Riches and Nobly by all the vertue of Christ and by the grace and working of the Holy Ghost The Ljx. Chapter ANd all this bliss we have by mercy and grace Which manner bliss we might never have had and known but if that property and goodness which is in God had been contraried whereby we have this bliss For wickedness hath been suffered to rise contrary to that goodness and the goodness of mercy and grace contraried against that wickedness and turned all to goodness and worship to all that shall be saved For it is that property in God which doth good against evil Thus Jesu Christ that doth good against evil is our very Mother We have our being of him where the ground of Mother-head beginneth with all the sweet keeping of Love that endlesly followeth As verily as God is our Father as verily is God our Mother and that shewed he in all and namely in these sweet words there he saith I it am that is to say I it am the Might and the Goodness of the Father-head I it am the Wisdom and the Kindness of the Mother-head I it am the Light and the Grace that is all blessed Love I it am the Trinity I it am the Vnity I it am the high Sovereign Goodness of all manner thing I it am that maketh thee to long I it am the endless fulfilling of all true desires For there the Soul is highest noblest and worshipfullest yet it is lowest meekest and mildest And of this substancioal ground we have all our Vertues in our sensuality by gift of kind and by helping and speeding of mercy and grace without which we may not profit Our high Father Almighty God which is being he knoweth us and loved us fro before any time Of which knowing in his full marvellous deep Charity by the fore-seeing endless counsel of all the blessed Trinity he would that the second Person should become our Mother our Brother and our Saviour Whereof it followeth that as verily as God is our Father verily God is our Mother Our Father willeth our Mother worketh Our good Lord the Holy Ghost confirmeth and therefore it longeth to us to love our God in whom we have our being him reverently thanking and praising of our making mightily praying to our Mother of mercy and pity and to our Lord the Holy Ghost of help and grace for in these three is all our Life Kind Mercy and grace Whereof we have mild-head patience and pity and hating of
is contrarious to our fair kind for as verily as sin is unclean as truly sin is * i e. unnatural unkind And this is an horrible thing to see to the loving Soul that would be all fair and shining in the sight of God as kind and grace teacheth But be we not adread of this but in as much as dread may speed but meekly make we our moan to our dear worthy Mother and he shall all besprinckle us in his precious blood and make our Soul full soft and full mild and heal us full fair by process of time right as it is most worship to him and joy to us without end And of this sweet fair working he shall never cease nor stint till all his dear worthy Children be brought forth and born And that shewed he where he gave the understanding of the Ghostly thirst that is the Love-longing that shall last till Doomes-day Thus in our very Mother Jesu our Life is grounded in the fore-seeing wisdom of himself fro without beginning with the high might of the Father and the sovereign goodness of the Holy Ghost And in the taking of our kind he quicked us and in his blessed dying upon the Cross he bare us to endless Life And fro that time and now and ever shall into Doomes-day he feedeth us and * i e. nourisheth fordreth us right as the high sovereign Kindness of Mother-head will and as the kindly need of Child-head asketh Fair and sweet is our Heavenly Mother Jesu in the sight of our Soul precious and lovely be the gracious Children in the sight of our Heavenly Mother With mildness and meekness and all that fair vertues that long to Children in kind for | i e. naturally kindly the Child dispaireth not of the Mothers Love kindly the Child presumeth not of it self kindly the Child loveth the Mother and each one of them other These be as fair Vertues with all other that be like wherewith our Heavenly Mother is served and pleased And I understood none higher stature in this Life than Child-hood in feebleness and failing of might and of wit into the time our gracious Mother hath brought us up into that our Fathers bliss And there shall it verily be made known to us his meaning in the sweet Words where he saith All shall be well and thou shalt see it thy self that all manner of thing shall be well The Fifteenth Revelation The Lxjv. Chapter ANd then shall the bliss of our Mother-head in Christ be new to begin in the joyes of our Father God Which new beginning shall last without end Now beginning thus I understood that all his blessed Children which be come out of him by kind should be brought into him again by grace Afore this time I had great longing and desire of Gods gift to be delivered of this World and of this Life for oft-times I beheld the Woe that is here and the weal and the blessed being that is there And if there had no pain been in this Life but the absence of our Lord methought sometime that it was more than I might bear And this made me to mourn and busily to long And also of my own wretchedness slouth and weariness that me liked not to live and to travel as me fell to do And to all this our courteous Lord answered for Comfort and Patience and said these Words Suddenly thou shalt be taken from all thy Pain from all thy Sickness from all thy Disease and from all thy Woe And thou shalt come up above and thou shalt have me to thy meed and thou shalt be fulfilled of joy and bliss and thou shalt never more have no manner of Pain no manner of Sickness no manner misliking no wanting of will but ever joy and bliss without end What should it then grieve thee to suffer a while sithen it is my Will and my Worship And in this word suddenly thou shalt be taken I saw that God rewarded man of the patience that he hath in abiding of Gods will and of his time And that man | i e. lengthneth lengeth his patience * i e. far above over the time of his living for unknowing the time of his passing This is a great profit for if a man knew his time he should not have patience over that time And also God will that while the Soul is in the body it seem to it self that it is ever at the point to be taken out thereof for all this Life and this longing that we have here is but a point And when we be taken suddenly out of Pain into Bliss then Pain shall be nought And in this time I saw a Body lying on the earth Which body shewed heavy and fearful and without shape and form as it were a †i e. foul swilge stinking myre And suddenly out of this body sprung a full fair Creature a little Child full shapen and formed swift and lively and whiter than the Lilly which sharply glided up into Heaven The †i e foulness swilge of the body betokeneth great wretchedness of our deadly flesh And the littleness of the Child betokeneth the cleanness and the pureness of our Soul And I thought with this body †i e. abideth bliveth no fairness of this Child ne of this Child dwelleth no foulness of this body It is full bliss-ful for man to be taken from pain more than pain to be taken from man for if pain be taken from us it may come again Therefore this is a sovereign Comfort and a blessful beholding in a longing Soul that we shall be taken from pain for in this * i e. promise behest I saw a merciful Compassion that our Lord hath in us for our Woe and a courteous | i e. assurance behighting of clear Deliverance For he will that we be comforted in the overpassing joy And that he shewed in these words And thou shalt come up above and thou shalt have me to thy meed and thou shalt be fulfilled of Joy and Bliss It is Gods will that we set the point of our thought in this blissful beholding as oft-time as we may and as long time keep us therein with his grace for this is a blissful Contemplation to the Soul that is led of God and full much to his Worship for the time that it lasteth And when we fall again to our self by heaviness and Ghostly blindness and feeling of pains Ghostly and Bodily by our fragility It is Gods will that we know that he hath not forget us And so meaneth he in these words and saith for Comfort And thou shalt never more have pain in no manner nor no manner of Sickness no manner of mis-liking no want of Will but ever joy and bliss without end What should it then agrieved thee to suffer a while sithen it is my Will and my Worship It is Gods will that we take his behests and his Comfortings as largely and as mightily as
we may take them And also he will that we take our abidings and our diseases as lightly as we may take them and set them at naught For the lightlier that we take them and the less price that we set at them for love less pain shall we have in the feeling of them and the more thank and meed shall we have for them The Lxv. Chapter ANd thus I understood that what man or woman wilfully choseth God in this Life for Love he may be sure that he is loved without end with endless Love that worketh in him that grace for he will we keep this trustily that we be as sicker in hope of the bliss of Heaven whiles we are here as we shall be in surety when we are there And ever the more liking and joy that we take in this sickerness with reverence and meekness the better liketh him For as it was shewed this reverence that I mean is a holy courteous dread of our Lord to which meekness is knit and that is that a creature see the Lord marvellous great and her self marvellous litle For these vertues are had endlesly to the Loved of God And it may now be seen and felt in measure by the gracious presence of our Lord when it is Which presence in all thing is most desired for it worketh that marvellous sickerness in true Faith and siker hope by greatness of Charity in dread that is sweet and delectable It is Gods will that I see my self as much bound to him in Love as if he had done for me all that he hath done And thus should every Soul think in regard of his Love that is to say the Charity of God maketh in us such a unity that when it is truly seen no man can part them self from other And thus ought each Soul to think that God hath done for him all that he hath done And this sheweth he to make us to love him and liken him and nothing dread but him for it is his will we know that all the might of our enemies is locked in our Friends hands And therefore the Soul that knoweth this sickerly he shall not dread but him that she loveth All other dreads she set them among passions and bodily sickness and imaginations And therefore though we been in so much pain woe and disease that us thinketh we can think right naught but that we are in or that we feel assoon as we may we pass it lightly over and set we it at naught And why for God will be known for if we know him and Love him and reverently dread him we shall have patience and be in great rest And it should been great liking to us all that he doth And this shewed our Lord in these words What should it then agrieve thee to suffer a while seeing it is my Will and my Worship Now have I told you of xv Shewings as God witsafe to minister them to my mind renewed by Lightnings and Touchings I hope of the same Spirit that sheweth them all Of which xv Shewings the first began early in the morning about the hour of four and it lasted shewing by process full fair and soberly each following other till it was noon of the day or past The Sixteenth Revelation The Lxvj. Chapter ANd after this the good Lord shewed the xvjth Revelation on the night following as I shall say after Which xvjth was conclusion and confirmation to all the xv But first me behooveth to tell you as anenst my feebleness wretchedness and blindness I have said at the beginning where it saith And in this suddenly all my pain was taken from me Of which pain I had no grief ne no disease as long as the xv Shewings lasted in shewing And at the end all was close and I saw no more and soon I felt that I should live longer And anon my sickness came again first in my head with a sound and a noise And suddenly all my body was fulfilled with sickness like as it was before And I was as barren and as dry as I had never had comfort but litle and as a wretch mourned heavily for feeling of my bodily pains and for faulting of comfort Ghostly and Bodily Then came a Religious person unto me and asked me how I fared and I said I had raved to day and he laught lowd and inwardly And I said The Cross that stood before my face methought it bled fast And with this word the Person that I spake to waxed all sad and marvelled And anon I was sore ashamed and astonished for my retchlesness And I thought this man taketh sadly the least word that I may say that saw no more thereof And when I saw that he took it so sadly and with so great reverence I waxed full greatly ashamed and would have been * i e. confessed and absolved shriven but I could tell it to no Priest for I thought How should a Priest believe me when I by saying I raved I shewed my self not to believe our Lord God Notwithstanding I believed him truly for the time that I saw him And so was then my will and my meaning ever for to doe without end But as a Fool I let it pass out of my mind Ah Loe how wretched I was this was a great sin and a great unkindness that I for folly of feeling of a litle bodily pain so unwisely left for the time the comfort of all this blessed shewing of our Lord God Here may you see what I am of my self But herein would our courteous Lord not leave me And I lay still till night trusting in his mercy and then I began to sleep The Lxvij. Chapter ANd in my sleep at the beginning methought the fiend set him in my throat putting forth a visage full near my face like a young man And it was long and wonder lean I saw never none such The colour was red like the Tile stone when it is new brent with black spots therein like frackles fouler than the Tile-stone his hair was red as rust not scoured afore with side Locks hanging down in flakes he grinned upon me with a shrowd look and shewed me white teeth And so | i e. much my kill me thought it the more ugly body ne hands had he none shapely but with his paws he held me in the throat and would have stopped my breath and kild me but he might not This ugly shewing was made sleeping and so was none other And in all this time I trusted to be saved and kept by the mercy of God And our courteous Lord gave me grace to wake and | i e. scarcely unnethes had any Life The persons that were with me beheld me and wet my temples and my heart began to comfort And anon a litle smoke came in at the door with a great heat and a foul stinch and then I said Benedicite dominus Is it all on fire that is here And I went it had been a bodily fire
be turned into sweetness of kind Love by grace for it may never please our Lord that his Servants doubt in his goodness The fourth is Reverent Dread for there is no dread that fully pleaseth God in us but reverent dread and that is soft For the more it is had the less it is felt for sweetness of Love Love and Dread are Brethren and they are rooted in us by the goodness of our Maker and they shall never be taken from us without end We have of kind to Love and we have of grace to Love and have we of kind to dread and we have of grace to dread It longeth to the Lordship and to the Father-head to be dread as it longeth to the goodness to be Loved and it longeth to us that are his Servants and his Children to dread him for Lordship and Father-head as it longeth to us to Love him for God-head And though this reverent Dread and Love be not both in one but are two in property and in working and neither of them may be had without other And therefore I am sure he that Loveth he dreadeth though he feel it but little All dreads other than reverend dread that are proferred to us though they come under colour of Holiness they are not so true And hereby may they be known asunder That dread that maketh us hastily to flee fro all that is not good and fall into our Lords breast as the Child into the Mothers arme with all our intent and with all our mind knowing our feebleness and our great need knowing his everlasting Goodness and his blessed Love only seeking into him for Salvation cleaving to with faithful trust That dread that bringeth us into this Working it is kind and gracious and good and true And all that is contrarious to this either it is wrong or it is medled with wrong Then is this the remedy to know them both and refuse the wrong For the kind property of dread which we have in this Life by the gracious Working of the Holy Ghost the same shall be in Heaven afore God gentle courteous full sweet And thus we shall in Love be homely and near to God And we in dread be gentle and curteous to God and both in one manner like * i e. equal even Desire we then of our Lord God to dread him reverently and Love him meekly and to trust in him mightily For when we dread him reverently and love him meekly our trust is never in vain for the more that we trust and the mightilier that we trust the more we please and worship our Lord that we trust in And if us fail this reverent dread and meek Love as God forbid we should our trust shall soon be mis-ruled for that time And therefore us needeth much to pray our Lord of grace that we may have this reverent dread and make Love of his Gift in Heart and in Work for without this no man may please God The Lxxjv. Chapter I Saw that God may do all that us deedeth And these three that I shall say Need Love Longing Pitty and Love keepeth us in the time of our need And Longing in the some Love draweth us into Heaven for the thirst of God is to have the general man into him In which thirst he hath drawn his Holy Souls that be now in bliss And so * i e. taâ—â—ng getting his lively Members ever he draweth and drinketh and yet him Thirsteth and Longeth I saw three manner of Longings in God and all to one end The first is for that he Longeth to learn us to know him and to Love him ever more and more as it is convenient and speedful to us The second is that he longeth to have us up into bliss as Souls are when they be taken out of pain into Heaven The third is to fulfill us of bliss and that shall be on the last day fulfilled ever to last For I saw as it is known in our Faith that then pain and sorrow shall be ended to all that shall be saved And not only we shall receive the same bliss that Souls afore have had in Heaven but also we shall receive a new which plentuously shall flie out of God into us and fulfill us And those be the goods which he hath ordained to give us from without beginning These goods are treasured and hid in himself for into that time Creature is not mighty ne worthy to receive them In this we should see verily the cause of all the Deeds that God hath done And over-more we should see the cause of all thing that he hath suffered And the bliss and the fulfilling shall be so deep and so high that for Wonder and Marvel all Creatures should have to God so great reverent and dread over-passing that hath been seen and felt before that the Pillars of Heaven shall travel and quake But this manner of trembling and dread shall have no manner of pain but it longeth to the worthy majesty of God thus to be beholden of his Creatures dreadfully trembling and quaking For much more of joy endlesly marvelling of the greatness of God the Maker and of the least part of all that is made For the beholding of this maketh Creature marvellous meek and mild Wherefore God will and also it longeth to us both in kind and in grace to will to have knowing of this desiring the sight and the working For it leadeth us in right way and keepeth us in true Life and oneth us to God And as good as God is as great he is And as much as it longeth to his God-head to be Loved so much it longeth to his great highness to be dread For this reverent dread is the fairer courtesie that is in Heaven before Gods face And as much as he shall be known and Loved over-passing that he is now In so much he shall be dread over-passing that he is now Wherefore it behooveth needs to be that all Heaven all Earth shall tremble and quake when the Pillars shall tremble and quake The Lxxv. Chapter I Speak but little of this reverent dread For I hope it may be seen in this matter aforesaid But well I wote that our Lord shewed me no Souls but those that dread him for well I wote the Soul that truly taketh the teaching of the Holy Ghost it hateth more sin for the vileness and the horribility than it doth all the pain that is in Hell For the Soul that beholdeth the kindness of our Lord Jesu it hateth no Hell but Hell is sin as to my sight And therefore it is Gods will that we know sin and pray busily and travel wilfully and seek teaching meekly that we fall not blindly therein and if we fall that we rise readily for it is the most pain that the Soul may have to turn from God any time by sin The Soul that will be in rest when other mens sins come to mind he should flee it as the pain of Hell
seeking into God for help again that for the beholding of other mens sin it maketh as it were a thick mist afore the eye of the Soul And we may not for the time see the Fair-head of God but if we may behold them with Contrition with him with Compassion on him and with Holy desire to God for him For without this it noieth and troubleth and letteth the Soul that behold them for this I understand in the shewing of the Compassion In this blessedful shewing of our Lord I have understanding of two Contrarious That one is the most Wisdom that any Creature may do in this Life That other is the most folly The most Wisdom is a Creature to do after the Will and the Counsel of his highest sovereign Friend This blessed Friend is Jesu and it is his Will and Counsel that we hold us with him and fasten us homely to him evermore in what state soever we bene For whether we be foul or clean we are ever one in his Loving For weal ne for woe he will never we flee him but for the change-ability that we are in our self we fall often into sin than have we this by the stirring of our Enemy and by our own Folly and Blindness For they say thus Thou wotest well thou art a Wretch a Sinner and also untrue for thou keepest not thy Covenant Thou promisest oftentimes our Lord that thou shalt do better and anon thou fallest again in the same namely in slouth and leesing of time For that is the beginning of sin as to my sight and namely to the Creatures that have given themself to serve our Lord with inward beholding of his blessedful goodness And this maketh us adread to appear afore our courteous Lord. Than is it our Enemy that will put us a back with his false dread of our Wretchedness for pain that he threateth us by for it is his meaning to make us so heavy and so sorry in this that we should let out of mind the blessedful beholding of our everlasting Friend The Lxxvj. Chapter OUr good Lord shewed the enmity of the fiend whereby I understood that all that is contrarious to Love and to Peace it is of the fiend and of his party And we have of our feebleness and our folly to fall And we have of mercy and of grace of the Holy Ghost to rise to more joy And if our enemy ought winneth of us by our falling for it is his likeness he leeseth many times more in our rising by charity and meekness And this glorious rising it is so great sorrow and pain to him for the hate that he hath to our Soul that he brenneth continually in envy And all this sorrow that he would make us to have it shall turn into himself And for this it was that our Lord scorned him and shewed that he shall be scorned and this made me mightily to Laugh Then is this the remedy that we be a known of our Wretchedness and flie to our Lord For ever the more needier that we be the more speedful it is to us to touch him and say we thus in our meaning I know well that I have deserved pain but our Lord is Almighty and may punish me mightily and he is all Wisdom and can punish me wisely and he is all Goodness and loveth me tenderly And in this beholding it is speedful to us to abide for it is a full Lovely meekness of a sinful Soul wrought by Mercy and Grace of the Holy Ghost When we will wilfully and gladly take the scourging and the chastising that our Lord himself will give us and it shall be full tender and full easie if we will only hold us pleased with him and with all his Works For that Penance that man taketh upon himself it was not shewed me That is to say it was not shewed me specified but this was shewed specially and highly and with full lovely chear that we should meekly and patiently bear and suffer that Penance that God himself giveth us with mind of his blessed Passion for when we have mind of his blessed Passion with Pitty and Love Then we suffer with him like as his Friends did that saw it And this was shewed in the xiijth neer at the beginning where it speaketh of Pity for he saith Accuse not thy self that thy Tribulation and thy Woe is all thy default For I will not that thou be heavy ne sorrowful undiscreetly for I tell thee howsoever thou do thou shalt have Woe And therefore I will that thou wisely know thy Penance which thou art in continually and that thou meekly take it for thy Penance And then shalt thou truly see that all this living is Penance profitable This Place is Prison This Life is Penance and in the remedy he will that we enjoy The Remedy is that our Lord is with us keeping us and leading into fulhead of joy for this is an endless joy to us in our Lords meaning that he that shall be our bliss when we are there he is our Keeper while we are here our Way and our Heaven in true Love and faithful trust And of this he gave understanding in all and namely in shewing of his Passion where he made me mightily to choose him for my Heaven Flee we to our Lord and we shall be comforted touch we him and we shall be made clean cleave we to him and we shall be sure and safe from all manner of perils for our courteous Lord will that we be as homely with him as heart may think or Soul may desire But be we ware that we take not so retchesly this homely-head for to leave courtesie for our Lord himself is sovereign homely-head and so homely as he is as courteous he is for he is very courteous And the blessed Creatures that shall be in Heaven with him without end he will have them like to himself in all thing and to be like to our Lord perfectly it is our very Salvation and our full bliss And if we wote not how we shall do all this desire we of our Lord and he shall Learn us for it is his own liking and his Worship Blessed mote he be The Lxxvij Chapter OUr Lord of his mercy sheweth us our sin and our feebleness by the sweet gracious sight of himself For our sin is so foul and so horrible that he of his curtesie will not shew it us but by the Light of his Mercy Of four things it is his Will that we have knowing The first is that he is the ground of whom we have all our Life and our Being The second is that he keepeth us mightily and mercifully in the time that we are in our sin among all our Enemies that are full fell upon us And somuch we are in the more peril for we give them occasion thereto and we know not our own need The third is how curteously he keepeth us and maketh us to know that we go amiss The fourth is how