proceeding vertue many whereof were yet formerly in miserable case and made slaues to sinne and so passionatly affected to it that their harts did seeme euen to be transformed into the same And that with so great determination to follow wickednes that they wold passe as we vse to say the vory pikes for the committing thereof But (a) The powerfull grace which God imparteth in the holy Catholike Church these miserable captiues who were so weake in the deliuery of theÌ„ selues from so strong a tyrant haue sometymes by the hearing of one Sermon other tymes by making one confession other tymes by some one single inspiration of God and others by other meanes which doe abound in the Catholique Church haue found within themselues a most powerfull and mighty hand which putting those in captiuity who lead them captiue drew them out of the slauery of sinne wherein they were and made a change of their hart so truely changed that many tymes in lesse space then of a month yea and of a weeke they haue been seen to haue more abhorred wickednes then formerly they were louers of it Saying with their harts I haue abhorred (b) Psal 118. sinne I haue detested it and I haue loued thy law And this they do so truly as that they resolue not to commit a sinne neither for life nor death nor any thing created as S Paul (c) Rom. 1. saith Who is he that wrought this so strang and happy change in so short a tyme Who drew water out of so hard a rocke Who raysed vp such a miserable dead man bestowing such an excellent life vpon him No other certainly but the hand of God who is so belieued in and so beloued as the Christian Church belieueth in him and loueth him by those meanes which the Christian doctrine imbraceth and teacheth And if this manner of proceedinge with God doe passe on as in many it doth in such sort as that leauing all thinges they imploy themselues wholly vpon attending to God who brake their chaynes and if they began to walke by the solitude of a spirituall life and by that strayt way which leadeth to true life though many tymes they might see themselues in so great afflictions and fierce tempestes that as Dauid sayth it makes such as sayle loose their courage and their discourse yet by calling vpon their Iesus who is the guid of their way and at other tymes by receiuing the comfort of the Sacraments and at other tymes agayne by hearing or reading the word of God or by such other meanes as are in the Church they haue found themselues so wonderfully assisted in their tribulation as that seeing the sea of their hart to be growne so still vpon such a sudden it hath made them say with the Apostles (d) Matt. 8. Who is this to whom the sea and the winds obey Certainely this is the holy Sonne of God S. Bernard relateth how by experience he had found many tymes that the name of Iesus being cordially called vpon was a remedy and cure of all the infirmities of the soule and that which the Saint did say was approued in him by experience The same hath hapned to many others both before after him among whom S. Hierome may be one who is worthy of all credit He relateth as I haue sayd before that seing himselfe in tribulation of the flesh without meeting with remedy in any thing that he had thought vpon without knowing what more to do did find it out by casting himselfe at the feete of Iesus Christ and by calling vpon him with deuour prayer Whereupon his tempest receiued such a calme that he seemed to himselfe as (e) S. Hierome in Extasis if he were euen assisting among the quires of Angels For (f) Note the fauour which God is wont to do doth not only remooue the tribulatioÌ„ that a man is in which may happen sometymes by the turning of his thoughts some other way or by such other naturall meanes as that but it is a fauour which God doth whereby he planteth such a disposition in the mind as is directly contrary to that which was felt before Now this change and perfect deliuery and that vpon such a sudden is not in the power of any man to giue himselfe as (g) Or els let him neuer trust me he that shall try it will confesse From abroad it cometh from God it cometh and from such other Christian meanes it cometh and so experience is taken of that which S. Paul sayd That Christ Iesus crucified to them that were called by God was the strength of God and the wisedome of God Because they calling vpon him in the day of tribulation he giueth them light and force that so ouercomming all impedimentes they may proceed in their way and sing therein as (h) Psal 1â—7 Dauid doth Great is the glory of our Lord. And so they find in themselues that which the same Prophet (i) Psal 55. sayth In whatsoeuer day I called vpon thee I haue knowne that thou art my â—od For to remedy them so speedily and so powerfully is a great testimony and motiue to proue to them that God is the true God and that he hath care of them And here we speake not of celestial visions or reuelations which may rather passe amongst maracles but only those things which are more ordinary and which may be subiect to better proofe CHAP. XXXVII Of the many and great good things which God worketh in the soule that followeth perfect vertue and that this is a great proofe that our Fayth is true because that did teach vs meanes how to obtaine those graces NOT only do they who trauell diligently in the way of perfect vertue enioy the benefit of being deliuered by Christ from the dangers which present themselues but moreouer do they obtaine and possesse such graces in their soule as that we may say to them and that with much truth (a) Luc. 7. The Kingdom of God is within you Which as S. Paul (b) Rom. 14. sayth doth consist in hauing with in ones selfe iustice and peace and ioy in the holy Ghost And so these persons are so affectioned and such louers of that which is iust and good as that if the lawes of vertue which are written in bookes were lost we should find them written in their hartes Not because they haue them without (c) In their memory booke but for that the resolute loue of their hartes doth say the selfe same thing which the Law sayth exteriourly Their hart being already so transformed into the loue of goodnesse and to worke it with so much diligence and delight as that to follow that to which their hart inclineth is to follow vertue and to fly from vice they being made a liuing Law and a kind of measure of humane actions which euen Aristotle himselfe was ayming at And from hence doth spring a certayne ioy and contentment so complete as none
afflictions most gladly didst thou resolue to suffer them because thereby thou diddest remoue ours Thou art he who saidst to thy beloued (b) Lue. 22. Apostles a little before thy Passion With (c) Note wonder at these wordes desyre haue I desyred to cate this paschall with you before I suffer Thou art he who saidst before (d) Lue. 12. I came into the world that I might bring fyre what do I desyre but that it should burne With a baptisme I am to be baptized and how am I straitned till it be effected This fyre of the loue of thee which thou desyrest may be kindled till it may inflame and burne vs wholy vp and till it transforme vs into thee thou still art blowing by the blessings which by thy life thou bestowedst on vs thou makest it burne by the death which thou enduredst for vs. And who amongst vs is so well natured as that he would haue loued thee vnles thou hadst died for the loue of vs therby to giue vs life who are dead for lacke of louing thee But now who wil be wood so cold and moist as that seeing thee so faire and flourishing a tree wherof whosoeuer doth eate shall liue to be thus kindled vpon the Crosse burnt vp by that fyre of tormentes which they gaue thee and yet more by that loue wherewith thou sufferedst them he will not yet be kindled now at last to loue thee and to do it euen to the death Who wil be so deadly obstinate as to shut himselfe vp against that importunate (e) Our Lord Iesus doth make no other suit to vs but that we will loue him only it must be with true loue request wherein thou didst persist from the tyme that thou wert borne of the wombe of the B. Virgin and that she tooke thee into her armes and layd thee in the maunger till the same handes and armes of hers tooke thee agayne when being dead thou wert taken from the Crosse and wert deliuered ouer to the holy Sepulcher as into another wombe Thou (f) Note didst burne thy selfe that we might not freeze in the cold Thou didst weep that we might reioyce Thou didst suffer that we might repose and thou wert baptized euen by the sheading of thy bloud that we might be washed from our sinnes and yet thou saydst withall O Lord How do I liue in the straitnes of affliction till this Baptisme be accomplished Giuing vs thereby to vnderstand what an imflamed desire thou hadst to giue vs remedy though thou knewest that it would cost thee thy life And as the Spouse desireth the day of his marriage that he may enioy his end so doest thou desire the day of thy Passion to deliuer vs by thy paynes from our miseryes One houre O Lord did seeme to thee a thousand years till thou camest to dye for vs conceauing that thy life would be well imployed if it were laid downe for thy seruantes And because that which is desired doth carry ioy after it when it is accomplished it is no meruaile if the day of thy Passion be called the day of thy ioy since it was so desired by thee And (g) The vast loue of God in Christ our Lord. although the griefe of that day were excessiue in so much as it is sayd in thy person O all you that passe by the way attend and see if there be any griefe like myne yet the loue which flamed in thy hart was incomparably greater For if it had been needfull in respect of our good that thou shouldst haue passed throgh a thousand tymes as much as that and that thou shouldst haue continued vpon the Crosse till the end of the world thou didst place thy selfe vpon it with firme determination to do and suffer whatsoeuer might haue beene necessary for our remedy So that thou didst loue more then thou didst suffer and more was thy loue able to preuaile with thee then the want of loue in those wretches that did torment thee So then did thy loue remaine conquerour and that being so liuely a flame those great riuers of many afflictions that came against thee were not able to quench it And therefore although the torments gaue thee sorrow and sound griefe yet thy loue tooke pleasure in that benefit which we were to receaue thereby For this it is called the day of the ioy of thy hart this day did AbrahaÌ„ see he reioyced not that he wanted compassion of thy paines but because he saw that the world was to be redeemed by them In this day therefore Go forth you daughters of Sion you being the soules who behold God from the tower of Fayth to see your peace-making King who by his affliction goeth no conclude the desired peace Looke I say vpon him since your eyes were giuen you for that purpose And amongst all the ornaments of his espousall which he weareth looke vpon that crown of thornes which his diuine head doth carry Which although it were platted and put on by those of the Court of Pilate who were Gentills yet is his Mother sayd to haue placed it vpon his head which Mother in that sense was the Synagogue of the race wherof Christ descended according to the flesh For by the accusation of the Synagogue and at the will therof Christ was so tormented Now (h) A strange kind of marriage if any man say that this is a new kind of ornament for a spouse to weare a dolorous crowne insteed of a garland for ornaments of handes and feet sharpe nayles which might passe and pierce them through scourges insteed of a girdle and the hayre of his head and face glued togeather with his owne bloud his sacred beard pulled off from his cheekes and they discoloured with buffeting and that soft bed which in the case of persons newly espoused vse to be filled with pretious odours being conuerted into a bitter Crosse and that erected in place where malefactours were put to death what hath this extreme abasement to do with the ornaments of an espousall What hath this being accompanied by theeues to do with being in the society of friends who should ioy in doing honour to the new spouse What fruit or musickâ—â— or pleasure may it be which heere we see since the Mother and the friends of the spouse do ease griefe and drinke teares and the Angells of peace weepe bitterly There is nothing further off from an espousall then all that which heere appeareth But yet this nouelty is not to be wondered at because the Spouse and the manner of the espousall is all new Christ is a new man both because he is without sinne and because he is both God man and we are they whome he espouseth to himselfe we who are deformed poore and full of misery and this he doth not to permit vs to remaine so but to kill that which is euill in vs and to impart to vs that which is good in him For this
it for it walkes in darknes and it is obscured beyond (b) Thren 4. the black of coales according to that lamentation of Hieremy Least of all hath it the fourth condition since there is nothing so miserably little as to be a sinner who is nothing and lesse then nothing So that all the conditions of beauty being wanting to such a soule it will not faile to be deformed And because all those soules which are infused into the bodyes that descend of Adam be (c) Christ our Lord our B. Lady are excepted and therefore he vseth the word ordinary to oppose it to that other way which is extraordinary ordinarily sinners it will follow that they are all deformed CHAP. CVII How the deformity of sinne is so wicked a thing as that no force or law of Nature or of Scripture were sufficient to abolish it but only Iesus Christ in vertue of whome sinne was euer taken away and grace was giuen THIS deformity of sin is so hardly or indeed so impossibly to be taken away by the force of any creature that all of them togeather are not able to beautifye any one deformed soule Our Lord declareth this by the Prophet (a) Hier. 2. Hieremy saying If thou shalt be washed with salpetre and with abundance of sope yet art thou defiled in my presence The meaning whereof is That for the taking away of sinne neither the salpetre or the reprehensions of the Prophets nor the rigorous punishmentes of the old law nor yet the faire speaches and promises which God did make at that time were sufficient Men were defiled then in the middest both of their punishmentes and of their comfortes of threatninges and of promises For no man was iustified in the sight of God as S. Paul (b) Gal. 3. sayth by the works of the old law and therfore the soule could not haue such beauty in it as to make it desirable by Almighty God because there was a want of iustification which is the cause of beauty in a soule Now if in that law and in those sacrifices which were giuen by God himselfe beauty could be imparted to the soule it is euident that it must lesse haue bin in the law of Nature for as much as that had not so great remedyes against sinne and in particuler it had no written law But (c) No soule was euer purged for sinne but by the precious bloud of our Lord Jesus the beauty which then inhabited the soules of men as well vnder the law of Nature as that other which was written was obtained by the shedding of the bloud of that pretious lambe Iesus Christ our Lord who as S. Iohn (d) Apoc. 13. doth teach vs was slaine from the beginning of the world For although he dyed vpon the crosse in the latter dayes thereof for so the Apostles doe call the time of the comming of Christ yet is he sayd to haue beene slaine from the beginning of the world because euen from that tyme did (e) How the bloud of our Lord thē did worke before it was shed his death beginne to obtaine pardon and grace for them who grew to haue it So taking that vp as a man would say vpon trust which he would after pay vpon the crosse For God ordeined that as there was one Father who was the head and fountaine of sinne and death to all such as were to descend from him in an ordinary course so in like māner there should be one by whome all such as desired might be free both from that mischiefe wherin the other had placed them and from those others also which they should bring vpon themselues So saith Saint (f) Rom 5. Paul That as by the inobedience of one many were made sinners so by the obedience of one many should be made iust And (g) Let the Protestant note this truth without passion as the obedience which Iesus Christ performed to his Father euen to the death yea and the death of the Crosse doth not only make men iust by a kind of resemblance but by giuing of true iustice so the hurt that Adam did vs was not by giuing vs an example only of sinne but by making vs through his sinne true sinners And so that which (i) Act. 4. S. Peter sayd That there is no other name vnder heauen then that of Iesus Christ wherein we may thinke of being saued is not only to be vnderstood from the time that God became incarnate but from the beginning of the world as hath beene sayd Since they who at any time haue beene in grace with God were so by the merits of this our Lord by (k) Fayth pennāce are the meanes of applying the merits of Christ our Lord to a soule meanes of fayth pennance And although by the circumcision of Children Grace were giuen whereby they became iust and their originall sinne was pardoned yet was it not the circumcision alone which gaue the grace for that precious gift was reserued for the Sacramentes of the new law but (l) What that was which gaue grace in the old law it was A protestation of Faith in the Messias who was afterwards to come which protestation was to be made vnto him then And when after being growne in yeares they came to loose their grace by any mortall sinne they offered vp some such beast as God commaunded the bloud whereof was to be shed in the Temple Not to the end that it might iustify for that it had no power to do but that the sinner might protest the Faith which he had in that Lord who was to come And by this saith and by that inward sorrow for his sinns which God inspired he was made partaker of that pretious bloud of Christ which for the pardon of sinnes was to be shed Not (m) The same bloud of our Lord was the remedy also of sinne vnder the law of Nature only was there a remedy in the written law against sinne by faith and internall pennance as we haue said but also in the law of nature although it were not then required that their faith in our Lord should be so explicite But so also were there such exteriour protestations of their Faith as our Lord who would haue all men saued did inspire To the end that although the nations were diuers and their (n) In seuerall places seuerall externall rites may be vsed by the members of the same Church so that the Church allow the same as we see it is in Milan and many other places but the doctrine must be euery where alike externall rites were different yet the Sauiour and Mediatour betweene God and man as (o) 1. Tim. 2. S. Paul affirmeth might be but one CHAP. CVIII That Christ our Lord taketh away the deformity of the soule by his bloud and that it was conuenient that rather the Sonne should become man then either the Father or the holy Ghost and of the great force of
at the soules of men and not at the only tickling of their eares or the applause of their handes shoots at no lesse then the souls of meÌ„ them he conuinceth by so pregnant reasons and obligeth by so plaine demonstrations as to make them glad or or least he giues them cause why they should be so to cast away that loose liberty which made them slaues to their own passions to step or rather to leap into the chaines of the loue of God which will put them into a kind of soueraignity not only ouer all other thinges created but euen ouer their very selues And (y) The extraordinary great care wherwith he conducteth his Reader throughout the whole discourse in this he equalleth in my poore opinioÌ„ if he do not rather excel any other whom I haue read That he most carefully doth conduct the soule which he instructeth in the way of spirit accompanying his discourse with aboundance of caution so to saue his Reader from sliding into any extreme and being no lesse sollicitous to guide him straight then a tender mother or nurse would be to lead her only child by the sleeues or armes for feare least otherwise he might take a fall I (z) The occasion whereupon he wrote this booke will further premise to you vpon what occasion he wrote this Booke and to whom he did particulerly direct the same and then by way of preuention I will both make and answere an obiection to the end that your selfe may be kept from errour afterward There was a Lady called (a) The person for whom he wrote it Donna Sancba the daughter of the Lord of Guadalcaçar who for her beauty and other better parts was designed to serue the Queene of Spayne in quality of a Lady of Honour Already she was euen vpon the point of parting from her parents who had put her into an equipage which was to haue becom a Court But before her iourney she meant to arme her selfe with the holy Sacraments of the Church in the strength of that desire she went and cast her selfe at the feet of Doctour Auila in the way of Confession She would after say that he reprooued her a little sharply for bringing a hart which pretended to be penitent for sinne in a body set out ardorned too curiously too costly for such a busines What els passed between them in that priuate conference and Confession of hers God and they do only know but the sequele thereof was notorious to the world For she instantly did vnturne Courtier she grew quickly to cast away her vaine and sumptuous attires and she betooke her selfe though only in her Fathers house to a course of admirable pennance recollection which she accompanied with a Vow of perpetuall chastity wherein she dyed most holily and most happily some ten yeares after This Lady then as being the Child and Creature as it were in spirit of Doctour Auila was deare to him after an extraordinary manner And so for her both consolation and instruction he made this Booke of Audi Filia and she esteemed it as she ought for she neuer would know or call it by other name then of her Treasure But when she was gone to God he took the Booke againe to himselfe and enlarged it and enriched it to that proportion which at this day we see it beares Now in regard that he chiefely speakes therein to her as to a person who had giuen her selfe to God by a vow of chastity you (b) An obiection which it importeth much to be wel answered may seeke perhaps to make your selfe belieue that the doctrine therin conteined belongeth only to such as she But the answere is obuious and assured That howsoeuer it may import such as she was knowne to be in a more eminent manner then other Christians in regard that she had consecrated her selfe to our Lord Iesus as to the spouse of her soule by a particuler vow yet for as much as coÌ„cernes the obligation which we (c) The general obligation to which all good Christians are subiect all haue to abstaine from sinne to imploy ourselues in prayer good workes to despise the vanity of the world to resist the motions of sense to arme our selues against the temptations of the Diuel to which the promise euen of our very Baptisme bindes vs to loue God aboue all thinges to imitate the life and to practise the doctrine of our Lord Iesus and finally to be and to continue true children of his holy Catholique Church this doctrine I say doth so much and so mightily belonge to vs all as that none of vs shall euer get to heaueÌ„ but either by an exact obedience to it or a cordiall griefe for hauing swarued from it And so (d) Of the variety of addresse in the way of spirit which is to be found in this book for persons of al quality es if you may be intreated to obserue what variety of addresse for spirit the Authour giueth in the seueral parts of the worke you cannot chuse but discerne that it is not only meant for Virgins but for all others also if they be Christians yea and if they be not so much as that they yet will heer find reason to beg of God that they may grow so happy Let (e) How much it importeth that this booke be read with great attention deuotion vs also all beg hard for that whereof we haue most need That when heerafter at the day of Iudgment we shall meete Doctour Auila in the valley of Iosaphat there may be no cause to be reproached by our Iudge of so deep ingratitude as not to haue been the better for the great benefit which the godnes of God hath vouchsafed to mankind by means of this his deare and most deuout seruant But (f) In this valley there abouts is the vniuersall IudgmeÌ„t to be made Ioel. 3. that the seed which hath fructified so abundantly in Spayn in Italy in France in I know not how many other countryes by the translatioÌ„ of this booke into so many seuerall languages may also in England be of comfort to that good (g) Matt. â—â— husbandman of the ghospell and not be choaked by thornes nor supplanted by stones nor deuoured by the rauenous birds of the aire who are euer watching how to enrich themselues by our pouertie For so truly miserable are those damned spirits as to think themselues more happy in nothing then if they might draw vs into a society with them in torment though indeed euen our very torment would be sure to serue but for an increase of theirs Our Lord Iesus deliuer vs from that place of eternall malediction both for that which we know thereof by Fayth already and much more for that which we do not know and which I hope we shall neuer know by experience A RICH CABBINET FVLL OF SPIRITVALL IEWELLS CHAP. I. WHEREIN IS TREATED How necessary it is for vs
any part therof vnto himselfe as if he had not spoken therof at al. Thereby fulfilling that which he had already sayd to the Corinthians (g) â— Cor. 7. That they who had wines were to haue them as if they had them not and they who wept were to be as if they did not weep the like Wherby he had a mind to say That he vseth temporall things as he ought whether they be prosperous or aduerse whether they be of consolation or affliction who suffers not his hart to stick vnto them but it passeth by as by a thing which is transitory and vayne And certaynly S. Paul when he related those things of himselfe did speake of them with a hart which was not only a despiser of honour but a louer of contempt and dishonour for Iesus Christ his sake whose crosse he held for the highest honour Such hartes as these may well be trusted with taking honour and may relate such things as will purchase it for they wil neuer do so but wheÌ„ it shal be necessary for some good end But as it is a point of much vertue for a man to possesse a thing as if he had it not and so as that the honour which is imparted to vs by others should not cleaue vnto our hartes so (h) The more need we haue to vse all diligence is it also a matter of much difficulty and to which very few arriue For as S Chrysostome sayth To be in the middest of honour and that the hart of him that is so honoured should (i) Both these cases are full of daunger not be affected by it is as if a man were to conuerse amongst fayre women without euer behoulding them with vnchast eyes And experience hath taught vs that honourable and high place hath seldome made men better of worse hath very often made men bad of good For to beare the weight of honour to resist the occasions which grow in company thereof a man had need of much strength Because as S Hiâ—rome sayth The highest mouÌ„taynes are assaulted by the greatest winds This is certayne that greater vertue is requisite for commaunding then for obeying And not without cause great cause did our soueraigne Mayster Lord who knoweth al things fly away (k) This point deserueth great ponderation from being made a King Now since it was not possible for him to run hazard in any estate how high so euer it is playne that this doctrine was deliuered for the help of our weaknesse and that we ought to fly from that which is daungerous since he fled who was out of daunger And if it be a very great boldnesse and against the example of Christ to receyue a place of honour when it is offered what then shall it be to desire it and what againe to procure it For as for the mischeife which it bringes to purchase such a thing with money there liues not the man that can declare it We should find it very strange that a man who might walke securely vpon firme land would rather choose the daungers of going by sea (l) We should thinke that he were mad and that not in fayre weather but in a perpertuall tempest For as S. Gregory sayth What other thing is the power of honour but a tempest of the soule And besides these troubles and the daungers which are euer found in eminent place are followed by that terrible menace sounded forth by God though it be hearkned to vnderstood by few A (m) Sap. 6. most seuere iudgment shall passe vpon sâ—ch as command What kind of thing shall this be wheÌ„ (n) Let men of power commaund consider this euen the ordinary iudgment of God is such as that the men who are most refin'd in vertue do tremble thereat and say (o) Psal 141. Enter not O Lord into iudgment with thy seruant And yet there are persons so blindly bold as (p) For want of faith and the consideration of the next life that they choose to enter into his iudgement and that not such a one as may be accounted ordinary but into the most straite and hard that God affoardes And considering that Saul (q) 1. Reg. 10. the King to whom that kingdome was offered by the order of God without his prizing it or making much account thereof yea he declined it by hiding himselfe but was poynted out and shewed by the hand of God yet neuerthelesse that height of dignity with the circumstances therof treated him so ill that although God made choice of him and himselfe desired to be excused he yet passed through so wicked a life and ariued to so wretched a death that it ought to cast apprehension and feare vpon such as enter into place of honour though they be called in by the right doore and far far more vpon such others as go not in by so good a way Verily (r) A strange blindnes or rather madnes it is to be wondered at that there are persons to be found so strait-harted in the seruice of our Lord that if they be aduised to do any thing therein though it be clearely good yet do they go considering reconsidering whether or no the doing of it do oblige vnder the payne of mortal sin that so indeed they may forbeare to do it For they say that they are but weake they will not ingulfe themselues into matters of great perfection but tread in the playne beateÌ„ way And yet these very men who are so voyd of courage in the search of true vertue which by the grace of our Lord it would be no hard matter for them to obtayne are on the other side so audacious as to put themselues into dignity honour and places of Command For the innocent vse whereof without the hurt of him that hath them there is need of perfect and tryed vertue which they make themselues belieue that they haue and that forsooth they will giue a good account of the forward ranke they hold without hazarding any thing of conscience wherein yet others haue runne so much hazard So (s) How mightily doth the loue of honour intoxicate the brayne deeply doth the desire of honour and command and other humane interests blind men as to make them who dare not set vpon an enterprize which is secure and easy attempt other thinges which are accompanied with difficulty and danger Yea they who do not confide in God that he will help them in those good workes which only do concerne themselues do promise themselues with strange boldnesse that God will guide them by the hand towards those things which concerne the gouernement of others Whereas indeed he may answeare them with great reason That since they would needs plung themselues into that danger let them looke to their owne carriage therein For of such as these it is that God did say They raigned but not by my direction They were Princes and I knew
nothing of the matter which signifieth that he did not approue or like it And he that shall consider how God (t) Osâ—ae c. 8. abandoned King Saul the same God hauing placed him in the Kingdom wil find that he (v) A sad example but fit for ambitious men to looke much vpon hath much reason to vndeceiue himselfe since there will be no assurance giuen him by any that he is not to proue as frayle as Saul but only by his owne pride and ambition of command Of (x) Note this I am very sure that he shal neuer more honestly enter into it then Saul did S Augustine had reason when he sayd That authority and dignity is necessary for such as are to rule the people and that when a man is in it he must administer it according to reason but that it is vnlawfull for him that hath it not to desire it And of himselfe he sayd That he desired and procured to saue his soule in a low place that he might not put it to hazard in a higher This is especially to be done when the place whereof we speake doth concerne the charge of soules the well discharging whereof doth carry with it so much difficulty as that it is called the Art of Artes. These (y) Certaine excellent directions for practise dangers ought to be fled by vs as much as with a morall possibility we may in imitation of the example already touched which our Lord did shew in flying from the acceptance of a Kingdome he hath represented to vs many other holy wise persons who haue fled the like with al the harts they had And such as enter into these places had need do it either by reuelatioÌ„ of our Lord or by obedience to such as haue power to command them or by counsell of such others as do well vnderstand the obligation of such an office and the dangers thereof and they must be sure to keep the iudgment of God before their eyes and to cast all temporall respects behind their backes If these conditions may not be found it will at least be needfull that there be ground for good coniecture that God is pleased to lay such a burthen vpon them that such or such a man may giue credit to those coniectures before he imbarke himself into so great a danger And notwithstanding all this there will be matter inough of feare and continuall watch must be kept and our Lord must be prayed that since he kept the entrance free from ill he may also defend them in the issue of it for feare least otherwise it end in euerlasting condemnation For we haue seen many of them who liued with much contentment in such command dye full of wishes that they had neuer beene imployed therein and loaden with great feares of that whereof before they were in their opinion secure And (z) Platerv and false iudgment is then out of date in all likelyhood the truth of a mans iudgment concerning temporall thinges doth shine brighter vpon him when he is departing from them when he is more approaching to the iudgment of God wherein all Truth remaynes CHAP. V. How much we ought to fly from the pleasure of flesh and â—loud and what a most dangerous Enemy this is of what helpes we are to serue our selues for the subduing thereof FLESH and Bloud speakes of Delights and pleasures sometymes expresly sometymes vnder a colour of necessity The warre which is made vpon vs by this enemy besids that it brings vs much affliction is full of danger Because it fightes with pleasure in the hand which is (a) Note and take heed the strongest weapon of all others This doth euideÌ„tly appeare since many haue beene conquered by pleasure who were not so by riches honours or eueÌ„ by cruel torments Nor is it any meruayle For this ware is so secret and so in the way of ambush or treasoÌ„ that a man had need of much coÌ„sideration for his defence Who (b) We may well beleeue it vpon the infinit experieÌ„ce that hath byn takeÌ„ would belieue that death and death eternall should come towards vs vnder a maske of sweet and smooth delight death being the top of bitternesse delight the very thing that we most aspire to tast A cup of gold with a draught of poyson is this false pleasure whereby they are made drunke who haue no eyes but for the exteriour This is the treason of (c) 2. Reg. 20. Ioab who killed Amasus by imbracing him and of (d) Matt. 26. Marc. 14. Luc. 22. Iudas who by that treacherous kisse of peace deliuered ouer his blessed mayster into the hands of death So is it when by drinking the pleasure of a mortal sin Christ dyeth in the soule vpon whose death it also dies for company for the life it had came from him So sayth (c) Rom. 8. S. Paul If you liue according to the flesh you shal dy And in another place (f) Tim. 5. The widdow that remaynes in pleasure being yet aliue is dead aliue by the life of her body but dead by that of her soule By how much the more closely we are ioyned to this (g) It is a traytour lodging in our bosome flesh and bloud so much the more we are to feare it for our Lord hath sayd (h) Matt. 10â— That a mans enemies are they of his owne house And this flesh bloud is not only belonging to this house of ours but of the two walls whereof the same house is made this is one For this and other reasons S. Augustin sayd that the combate of our flesh bloud was continuall and the conquest full of difficulty and whosoeuer will proue victorious must go armed with many and strong (i) Of Armes pieces For the pretious iewell of chastity is not imparted to al but to such as by the much sweat of many earnest prayers and of other holy peÌ„nance do obteyne it of our Lord. He was pleased to be wrapt in a fayre sheete of linnen which must passe through many rude handlings before it wil come to be white Wherby we may vnderstaÌ„d that the man who desireth to obteyne to conserue the guift of chastity and so to lodge Christ in himself as if it were in another sepulâ—her must be content with a great deale of cost labour to gayne this purity (k) Chastity is such a iewell as that it can neuer be ouer-bought which is a thing so rich that whatsoeuer be spend vpon it he may account himself to buy it cheap And as many more painfull works of pâ—nnance satisfaction are to be required at his hands who hath much offended our Lord then at his who hath not so much offended so though all of vs who liue in flesh must be afrayd of it and watch ouer it bridle it and rule it with discreet-temperance yet they who particulerly are infested by it wil haue need to vse
sweetnes which is in God and which is enioyed by the Saints and by the Angells and by God himselfe the Creatour of them all It is a businesse belonging to beasts which thou dost so prize and loue and thy passions are no better then very beastes And so often doest thou cast the most high God vnder the feet of thy most vile beasts as thou doest offend him for carnall pleasures Fly therefore O thou Virgin from a thing so infamous as this and ascend thou vp to the mount of prayer and beseech our Lord that he will giue thee some tast of himselfe that thy soule being strengthned by the sweetnes that distills from him thou mayst despise those durty pleasures which inhabit flesh and bloud Then wilt thou haue a cordiall and deep compassion of them who go casting themselues away through the bâ—senes of the durty vallies of a bestiall life And (n) Thou hast a hart of stone if this do not moue thee being all amaz'd thou wilt cry out O you men and what is it that you loose And for what The most sweet God for most stinking flesh bloud And what payne do they deserue for so (o) False weights are an aâ—hâ—min â—ioÌ„ to God and how false are these which make vayne empty creatures to outweigh the God of eternall glory false weights and measures but eternall torment and of that they shall infallibly be sure CHAP. X. Of many other meanes which we are to vse when this cruell Enemy doth assault vs with his first blowes THE aduises which thou hast already heard by way of remedy of this infirmity are thinges which ordinarily thou must vse though it be not in the tyme of tentation Hearken now to that which thou art to do when it sets vpon thee by giuing thee the first blow Then blesse thy (a) Diuers profitable and practicall remedyes against temptations of sense forehead or thy hart with the signe of the Crosse calling with deuotion vpon the holy name of Iesus Christ and say Not I I sell not God so good cheape O Lord thou art more worth and I loue thee more then so If (b) Note the tentation do not then giue ouer descend with thy thoughts into hell and behold how terribly that liuing fire doth burne and maketh those miserable creaturs which were heere inflamed with the fire of lust cry out and howle and blaspheme why lest in the meane tyme the sentence of God is executed vpon them which sayth Let (c) Apoc. 18. somuch torment and desolation be laid vpon them as they glorifyed themselues in their delights Be thou astonished at the grieuousnes of the punishment though yet withall it be most iust that the pleasure of one moment should be chastized with eternall torments And say within thyselfe as S. Gregory doth Momentary is that which delighteth but eternall is that which tormenteth If this contemplation help thee not send vp thy hart to heauen and represent to it the purity of that Chastity which remayneth in that happy Citty where no beast can haue any entrance I meane no person that is bestiall And there continue thou for some time till thou mayst find strength of spirit and so that heere thou mayst abhorre that which there is so abhorred through the loue of God It doth also help to suppose that thy body were in the graue and to behold at leasure how miserable and stincking the bodies of men and woman are there to be So also is it good to go instantly to Christ Iesus nayled vpon the Crosse and especially as he is tyed to the pillar and whipped and bathed in bloud from head to foote and then to say with a deepe internall groane Thy virgineall and diuine body O Lord so tormented and so loaden with grieuous paynes and that I should put myne into pleasure this were worthy of all rigorous punishment Since thou with scourges so full oâ— cruelty doest pay for the delightes which men take in offence of thy law I will not O Lord delight my selfe so much to thy cost In like manner will it auayle to represent thy selfe instantly in presence of the most pure Virgin Mary considering the purity and integrity both of her body mind and instantly to abhorre the dishonest thought which came to thee as darknesse is driuen away by the approach of light But (d) Pray to God to giue thee grace to practise this aboue all if thou canst shut the dore of thy vnderstanding and shut it well as we vse to do in the most internall recollection of our prayer as hereafter we will declare thou shalt find help at hand with more facility then by al those other remedies For it happens many tyms that by opening the dore to a secoÌ„d good thoght an ill one doth vse to enter in but keeping out both the one the other it is a turning from the enemy not opening the dore till he be gone and so he is put to a scorne So doth it also help to spread the armes into the forme of a crosse to beÌ„d the knees and to beate the breast But that which most importes or at least as much as all the rest togeather is to (e) The deuout receauing of the B. SacrameÌ„t is the most soueraigne remedy against tentations of sense receiue with due preparation the holy body of Christ Iesus our Lord which was formed by the holy Ghost is very far estranged from all impurity This is an admirable remedy against those mischeifes which would grow vpon vs by occasion of our flesh conceyued in sinne And if we could well ponder the blessing that we receyue by the comming of Christ Iesus into vs we should esteeme our selues to be as so many pretious Reliquaries and we would fly from all kind of filthynesse for the honour of him whome we had receiued What (f) Read this with great feeling hart can any one haue to prophane his body when it hath byn honoured so far as to close with the most holy body of God humaned what greater obligation could haue byn cast vpon me what more forcible motiue cold haue byn offered to make me liue inpurity then to behold with myne eyes to touch with my hands to receyue with my mouth to ledge in my breast the most pure body of Iesus Christ He vouchsafing me that vnspeakeable honour to the end that I might not descend to basenesse and knitting me to himselfe and consecrating me as a place into which he vouchsafes to enter How then with what body shall I endure to offend our Lord. since he being the authour of purity hath entred into the same body I haue fedd vpon him and fedd with him at the same table and shall I now be a traytour to him No I will neuer be so for the whole world Thus is it fit that we esteeme this fauour to the end that we may haue a crown put vpon this weake and frayle condition of ours
But (g) Tremble and take heed if we receiue him ill or do not serue our selues wel of this benefit iust the contrary effect doth follow and such an one shall find himselfe more enthralled by dishonesty then he was before he communicated If with all these considerations and remedies this bestiall flesh grow not quiet thou art to vse it like a beast laying good sound loads vpon it since it will not hearken to so iust reason Some find helpe by pinching themselues very hard in memory of the excessiue paine which those nayles did cause to Christ Iesus our Lord Others by whipping themselues seuerely calling so to mind how our Lord was scourged others with spreading their armes into the forme of a Crosse others with fixing their eyes on heauen others with beating their face and such other thinges as these which put the flesh to paine for at that tyme she vnderstands no other language This (h) The example of Saints is the manner which by reading we find that the Saintes did hold wherof one did strip himselfe starck naked and did all tumble in thorny bushes and so by meanes of his bloudy and afflicted body the warre which was made against his soule did end Another did cast himselfe in the depth of winter into a poole of water which was extreamly cold wherein he stayed till the body came forth halfe dead but the soule was freed from all danger Another thrust his fingers into the fyre and with burning them that other fyre which tormented his soule was quenched And a martyr there was who being bound hand and foote then tempted to vnlawful pleasure by cutting of his owne tongue with his owne teeth became victorious in that combate And although some of these things are not to be imitated because they were inspired by particuler instinct of the holy Ghost and not by the ordinary law vnder which we liue yet hereby we may learne That in the tyme of spirituall warre when there is question or hazard of the soule we are not to be lazy or to expect till our enemyes do giue vs thrustes but we must leape backe from sinne as from the face of a serpent as sayth the Scripture and euery one must apply that remedy to himselfe wherein he findes most profit according to the addresse which shall be giuen him by his prudent Ghostly Father CHAP. XI Of other meanes besides the former whereby some grow to loose their Chastity that we may fly from them if we aâ—so will not loose ours and by what meanes we may strengthen our selues NO care or labour though neuer so great which is employed towards the proseruatioÌ„ of Chastity will be esteemed too much by any if he know how to put the true price vpon the merit and reward thereof Now since our Lord hath made thee vnderstand the valew of this treasure hath giuen thee grace both to choose it and to make (a) This Ladv had vowed Chastity promise therof againe to him I shall not be put into so much necessity to declare the excellency thereof as to giue thee good directions how thou mayst be sure not to loose it and to tell thee of some errours besides the former through which it is lost by others that so thou knowing them mayst auoyde them least thou also come to loose it and thy selfe with it Some (b) Of the diuers wayes whereby chastity groweth to be lost loose it in respect that hauing fierce violent inclinations against it and they on the other side being not earnest in making such a continuall and sharp warre against themselues do with a miserable resolution deliuer themselues ouer bound hand and foot to the will of their enemyes Not considering that the purpose of a (c) A noble word for a Christian to write in his hart â—ither to couqâ—er sinne or to dye in the battaiâ—s Christian is to be either to dye or els to ouercome by meanes of his grace who helpeth such as fight for his honour Others there are who although they be not greatly tempted haue yet naturally a certaine basenes straitnes of hart which is inclined to vile poore things And for as much as this pleasur is one of the most vile poore most at hand they quickly find meanes to meet with it to bestow themselues vpon it as a thing that is proportionable to the basenes poornesse of their owne hart which doth not rayse it selfe so high as to imbrace a life of such men as are ruled euen by naturall reason Which alone taught one so good a lesson as to make him say That in carnall pleasures there was nothing worthy of a magnanimous hart And another sayd That the life which consists in carnall pleasure is a life of beasts For not only doth the light of heauen but euen that of naturall reason condemne such as employ themselues vpon this basenes as people who liue not in the circle of men whose life must be agreable to reason but of beasts whose very life is sensuall appetite And if iustice might be done there would be a great deale of cause to take away the name of men from these fellowes in regard that although they haue the shape of men they yet lead a life of beasts are the true dishonour and reproach of men Nor would (d) How strang this is and yet after a sort it is dayly seene it be a thing moderatly strange or giue small wonder to them that saw it if a beast should lead a man bridled vp and downe and carry him whither it would directing him who ought to gouerne it And yet there are so many ruled by the bridle of bestiall appetite both of high and low condition that I know not whether it is through the multitude thereof that it cannot be so easily discerned Or els I rather belieue that it is because there are few who haue light to see how miserable a soule in a body is when it is killed by carnall pleasures and the more if that body be fresh and fayre O how many soules of these and others are burning in this infernal fire nor is there any to cast tears of compassion vpon them or to say with their hart To (e) Iod. 1. thee O Lord will I cry out because the fire hath denoured the beautifull thinges of the desert For (f) Note certainly if we had amongst vs of those (g) Luc 7. widdowes of Naim who would bitterly bewayle their dead children Christ would vse mercy for the reuiuing them in soule as he did the body of that widdowes sonne who is mentioned in the Ghospell It is not his part to sleep who hath the office in the Church to pray and intercede for the people with the tendernes of a Mother Least God do chastize both him them saying (h) Ezech. 22. I sought among them for a man who might place himself as a wall (i) See the infinit
enemies and triumphing ouer them we shal say O death where is thy victory O death where is thy sting which sting is sinne in them where death is still in force whereby it doth wound as the Bee is wont to do with her sting for by sinne death entred into the world Both the one and the other enemy which were wont to gouerne and to wound the world remayne drowned in the blessed bloud of Iesus Christ and slayne by his precious death And in (u) See heer how copious the Redemption is which our Lord hath purchased for vs. their place succeedeth that euerlasting iustice whereby heere the soule is iustifyed and afterwards shall succeed the vision of God face to face in heauen and a life which shal be eternally blessed both in body and soule What shall we say to this O Virgin but that which S. Paul hath taught vs Thankes be giuen to God who hath graunted vs victory through Iesus Christ Him thou art to adore and with a gratefull and enamoured harte say to him Let all the earth adore thee and prayse thee and singe a hymne to thy name And see thou say this often euery day and especially when at the Altar his most holy body is eleuated by the hands of the Priest CHAP. XXIII Of the great mischeise which despayre doth worke in the soule and how we must ouercome this ene my with spirituall alacrity and diligence and feruour in the seruice of God THis despayre and loosing of hart is such a dangerous instrument of our enemy that when I remember the great mischeifes which haue growen by it to the consciences of many I desyre to speake a little more concerning the remedy thereof if perhaps any good may come thereby It (a) This is a case too common happeneth so that sometymes there are persons who be loaden with a multitude of great sinnes and neither know what despayre nor so much as a little feare is nor doth it once passe through their thought But they goe on as being assured by a false hope offending God and yet not fearing punishment for the same And (b) We see by lamentable experience that such as are not Catholiks do passe from one extremity of presâ—â—â—tion to the other of de peration without resting in true hope if once the mercy of God shine vpon their soules and they beginne to see the grieuousnes of their sinnes though it be reason that since they aske pardon of God with purpose of amendement and that they receiue the benefit and comforte of the Sacramentes they should be strengthned thereby both against that which is past and that also which in the seruice of God might afterward present it selfe yet fall they vpon the other extreame of feare as before they were subiect to that of false security Not (c) Note considering that they who oftend God and do not repent haue reason indeed to feare tremble though all the world smile vpon them because the wrath of the omnipoteÌ„t is prouoked against them which wrath there is no power that can resist and that they who humble themselues to God and receiue his holy Sacramentes and who will procure to do his will ought to haue the hart of Lions for as much as they are commaunded to confide in God by that token that God is with them Whome as they hold for an enemy to the wicked and for that themselues haue byn such they are in feare so it is all reason that they should hold him for a friend of the good and that in regard of the holy purposes which he hath inspired them with they may confide that he is also their friend and that so he will be giuing increase to the good seed which himselfe did plante and perfecting that which he hath begunne This is certainely true that when once a man coÌ„meth to say in earnest that which Dauid sayd I haue held vp my hands towardes the performance of thy commanamentes which I haue loued God putteth his eyes and hart where that man putteth his hands that so he may help him and as one who is good by an infinite goodnesse he taketh him into protection with care and ranketh that man on his syde who will fight for his honour making warre vpon himselfe to giue contentment to God And (d) The difficulties which vse to occur to such as begin to serue God although it be true that when a man beginneth to serue God through some particuler calling which may incite him with the contempt of all thinges to seeke that pretious pearle of the Ghosâ—ell by the perfection of a spirituall life there may grow against such a man such traines and warres of the Diuells both immediately from themselues and also by the meanes of wicked men and they lock him vp in such straytes that when he rayseth the first foote from ground and placeth it on the lowest of those fifteene steppes whereby men rise to perfection he is forced to say When I was in tribulation I called vpon our Lord and he heard me O Lord deliuer my soule from wicked lipps and from the deceitefull tongue which wicked lippes are they which doe expressely hinder that which is good and a deceitfull tongue is that which procureth in a disguised manner to deceyue and sometymes so great impediments are presented or at least it seemeth so towards the making one depart from his course begunne that they are like those great Giantes wherof the children of Israel sayd Compared with them we are no more then a few little grashoppers and the walles of the Citty which we are to assault seeme to threaten heauen with their height and the earth in that place seemeth to open to swallow vp her inhabitantes notwithstanding I say all this thou art to consider and let vs all consider it with well opened eyes how much that faint-hartednes despaire displeased God which the Sonnes of Israel were subiect to by the meanes aforesayd For as much as the sinns which they committed in the wildernes howsoeuer they were great many and one of them was that they adored a Calfe for God which seemeth to be the very outside of wickednes yet God endured all this at their hands and did them fauour towards the prosecuting of their enterprize begun But (c) Note how predominaÌ„tly despaire is displeasing to Almighty God he would not endure their disconfidence and despaire of his mercy and power and he sware to them in his wrath as Dauid sayth that they should not enter in to his rest and as he sware it so he performed it Doth it not seeme to thee that we haue reason to curse this vice which is opposite to the honour of the diuine goodnes That being so much greater then our wickednes as God is greater then man And be thou assured that as the way of perfect vertue is a kind of stiffe battaile made against our enemies who are full of strength both within vs and without vs yet
arriue to man Hereby God gained more honour then by hauing created heauen and earth and all that is therein And therefore this worke is for the eminency and excellency of it called the work of God as our Lord sayd This is my foode to do the will of my Father in my finishing his worke which is the redemption of men Not but that God hath wrought other workes but because the Inâ—ernation and redemption which follow hereupon is the greatest worke of them all and that which he prizeth most as the thing whereby he receiueth most honour For (h) The same excellent discourse continued although to haue scourged Egypt for the loue of his people and to haue drawne it out from thence to haue conducted it through the desert did giue honour to God as Isaias saith yet already thou canst not chuse but see which is the more high and heroicall act of loue for God to whip his enemies for the loue of his people or to suffer himselfe to be scourged in his owne flesh for the loue both of his domestiques and of strangers and both of his friends and of his enemies One thing it is for God to carry his children through the desert like an eagle that would teach his yong ones how to fly taking them vp vpon his shoulders when they are weary that so they might vnweary themselues whylest yet God groweth not weary thereby and another thing it is to ouerloade his owne shoulders with a heauy Crosse which did euen flea them of their skin togeather with all the sinnes of the whole world which like the beame of a wyne-presse did straine him so far as to depriue him of life vpon the same Crosse and this to the end that men might be out of paine Who is he that will not discerne that this was a most excellent heroicall act of loue the like whereof was neuer seene which gaue more honour to God then all that was past That other was to him but a common thing and there was no need of so great loue for the doing of it But this later was a busines that would haue byn imbraced by few and hardly wil there be found a man vpon earth who would suffer himself to be publikely whipped or put to death for any good man or any frend And yet if such a man could be found there would still be no comparison to be made betweene that and the much that our Lord did loue and suffer for vs. For he hath no equal Nor is it to be greatly meruaâ—led at if a Lion carry himselfe like a Lion but that a Lion should be content to suffer like a Lambe and that the only cause therof should be his loue this is a busines of a strang extent and worthy of eternall honour And since in former tymes they sayd Let (i) Exod. 15. vs sing vnto our Lord for he hath byn magnified in a glorious manner Let vs also say with a most profound gratitude Let vs sing vnto our Lord who hath byn magnifyed in a most humble manner For as much as formerly God did neither abase himselfe nor take paines in the ease which he gaue vs nor although he imparted riches did he impouerish himselfe but here he impouerished himselfe he did sweat yea he abased himselfe to death and death of the Crosse to raise his seruantes from sinne and to conduct them to heauen and he preuailed in his enterprize and that which Isaias (k) Isa 55. sayd was fulfilled that insteed of the little shrubbe there should grow the Firre-tree and insteed of the nettle there should grow the myrtle And that our Lord should be renowned by an eternall token which shall neuer be taken away For the honour which God did gayne in placing of of this signe which is the Crosse and to dy thereon and to make men good of bad shall last for euer and there shall none be able to ouerthrow it CHAP. XLI That not only the glory of our Lord doth shine in the humble thinges of God which our Faith teacheth but also our owne great profit our strength and vertue NOT (a) He stil prosecuteth the same excelleÌ„t discourse in an excellent manner only doth the honour of God shine after an excellent manner in the workes of his humanity and humility but from thence also doth result the great profit and glory of man whome nothing doth so much exalte as that God hath put himselfe into Brotherhood with him Nor is there any thing which doth so much strengthen his hart against the swooning afflictions which sinne causeth in it as to see that God died for the remedy thereof and that he gaue himselfe to man as his owne Nor is there any thing which can so mooue him to loue God as to see himselfe beloued by him euen to the death nor to make a man despise prosperity or suffer aduersity nor to humble himselfe to God and to his Neighbour nor indeed to any good thing be it great or smal as to see God abased humaned that he was pleased to passe through these thinges giuing vs commandements to performe examples to behold and strength to go through And since this way of remedying our humility and basenes turneth more to the glory of God and to the good of men it is a signe that this is a worke of God since in that which God worketh he pretendeth the manifestation of his owne glory and mans good And therefore he that either denyeth this worke or hindreth it is an enemy of God and of all mankind Since thereby he will depriue God of the greatest honour which by his workes can come to him and man of the greatest glory and benefit that can be imagined And since he declareth himself as an enemy both to God and man it is but reason that he be punished and that with eternall death in hell And the answere that he will be able to giue when God shall aske him this question Why (b) Read this with great attention didst thou not belieue those high things of me must be this Because O Lord they seemed so high to me that I did not thinke thou hadst been so high And being asked why he did not belieue those mysteryes of his humanity and humility since they were the testimonyes of his goodnes of his loue he must answere That he did not thinke the loue and goodnes of our Lord to haue beene so great that he could find in his hart to do and suffer so much for the loue of men So that he stumbleth both vpon the high and vpon the low And the roote of all is because he thinketh basely of God And that he tooke his height and his goodnes to be a limitted kind of thinge Which root and that which proceeds thereof shall iustly burne in the fire of hell as being iniurious to the most high God whom it doth diminish and confine with in a certaine narrow compasse How much better
although it be not necessary that for belieuing a man must be in state of grace as heereafter I will shew yet can it not be done without the inspiration of the Holy Ghost For there S. Paul the Apostle is speaking of such workes of graces as these which the Deuines expresse to be giuen gratis This is that Fayth which inclineth the vnderstanding to belieue supreme Truth in that which the (h) Do not willfully mistake the Authour for whensoeuer he nameth the Christian fayth he meaneth the Catholike Roman as he sheweth plainly plentifully by this booke Catholike fayth affirmeth as the wil is inclined by loue to loue supreme goodnes And as the Mariners needle is carryed force of the North to turn straight towards the north so doth God moue the vnderstanding by that Fayth which he infuseth to go towards him by giuing a kind of credit which is (i) A true descriptioÌ„ of true Fayth which sheweth how noble and sublime a thing it is firme quiet and full of satisfaction And when this Fayth is perfect it carryeth in her company a certaine light whereby although it seeth not what it belieueth yet seeth it how fit it is to belieue the mysteryes of God And not only doth it feele no paine in belieuing but much delight as perfect vertue vseth to do which operateth with facility constancy and pleasure This is that Fayth which for much reason is to be prized and honoured since by it we honour God as S. Paul sayth that Abraham did giuing to God the honour of being so mighty as that he can do whatsoeuer he sayth This is that â—ayth which God hath erected in our soule as it were a Tower to the end that moâ—â—â—ng vp by it we may see though it be but as in a glasse that which is in heauen and in hell and that which happened in the beginning of the world and that which is to happen in the end And though a thing may be neuer so hidden yet can it not lye hidden from the eyes of fayth as is plame in the case of the good thiefe who seeing so much contempt and exteriour basenes vpon the person of Christ crucifyed did enter yet by his fayth into that which was most retyred and he knew him for the Lord of heauen and confessed him for such with great humâ—â—â—tâ— and constancy By (k) Note this and reuerence the church of Christ which hath power to declare which are the Sâ—â—â—tureâ— which are to be beâ—â—uâ—d by 〈◊〉 this Fayth we belieue that to be the scripture and word of God which the Church declareth to vs to be such And though it be spoken by the mouth of men we â—et do imbrace it for the word of God And therefore we do no lesâ—â— belieue that Euangelist or Prophet who wrote that which he did not see then him that wrote what he saw For our Fayth doth not cast her eye vpoÌ„ humane testimony which resteth vpon meanes that are humane but vpon this That God inspireth such an Euangelist or Prophet to write the Truth and that God assisted him that so he might not be deceyued in what he wrote Certayne it is that although S. Peter with his owne eares did heare that voyce of the Father which he sounded forth in Mount Thabor This is my wellbeloued sonne and who with his owne eyes saw Christ Iesus shine as brightly as the sunne yet if we should consider him but as a man giuing testimony of what he saw and heard more firmnesse and certainty hath the Scripture or speach of the Prophets who gaue testimony of Christ Iesus to be the sonne of God although they neither saw nor heard him euer with their corporall eyes and eares then that which S. Peter sayd by what he had both heard and seene But (l) Note this welâ— since the letter of S. Peter wherein this is written is declared by the Church to be diuine Scripture and so by consequence that whatsoeuer he sayth therein is the word of God it is certaine that God assisted him in saying it and assisted him so as that he might not be deceiued in what he eyther heard or saw vpon Mount Thaâ—or nor in that which he wrote when he recounted what had passed there And thus the word of the Prophets is not more firme or certayne because he or they did vtter them but because they spake by the instinct of the same holy Ghost who is Truth it selfe This habituall fayth God infuseth into the soules of children when they are baptized and into persons of discretion who want it he infuseth both habituall fayth and actuall when they dispose themselues to receâ—â—e it For he desireth that all should be saued and come to the knowledge of this Truth since without it God cannot be pleased nor man be saued He faileth not to giue it to euery one if there be no fault in him CHAP. XLIV That we must giue our Lord great thanks for the guift of Fayth and that we must vse it to the end for which it was giuen in such sort as that we attribute not that to it which it hath not and what both the one and the other is IT is much reason O thou Child of Christ that all we who are Christians be most cordially thankefull to our Lord who out of his grace bestowed this benefit of Fayth vpon vs whereby we might be gratefull to him Nor must we suffer a day to passe without confessing this Fayth at the least in the morning and euening and without giuing him particuler thankes for this benefit We must procure to conserue it in great sincerity and purity as a thing which importeth vs much considering to what end it was giuen vs both that we might not faile to vse it for that which it is that we attribute not that to it which it hath not It is giuen vs to the end that we may belieue that which God commaundeth vs to belieue and that it may be a light of knowledge which may help to mooue our will towards the louing of God and the keeping of his commandments whereby a man may be saued But if any one will attribute to this Fayth that by it (a) A greiuous errour it is to hold that sayth alone will saue our soules alone we ariue to haue iustice and pardon of our sinnes he shall fall into a (b) Note this discourse very wel for it doth much import grieuous erâ—our as they haue done who did affirme it because as already hath byn sayd by the authority of S. Paul No man can say that Iesus is our Lord but by inspiration of the holy ghost Whereby it is to be vnderstood that the same inspiration is reâ—uisite to belieue all the other mysteries of our Fayth And we know that our Lord sayd to some of them who heard him why do you call me Lord Lord and do not the things that I commaund you Now since they could so much as call
Iesus Lord but by fayth inspired as S. Paul sayth yet not doing that which our Lord commaunded they were not in state of grace it followeth cleerely that a man may haue Fayth without grace which S. Paul affirmeth also in another place where he fayth That if a man should haue the gifte of speaking tongues and should comprehend and possesse all knowledge and prophesie and haue all fayth so farre as that he could remooue mountaynes from one place to another and yet should be without charity all this were nothing And since it is certayne that the gifte of tongues with the rest which is there recounted is compatible vvith mortall sinne it stands not vvith reason that men should make it impossible for fayth to be without charity though it be true that charity cannot be without fayth They are the words of the diuine scripture That iustice is giuen by fayth but that it should be giuen by fayth alone is an inuention of men a very ignorant and peruerse errour Whereof our Lord did warne vs when he sayd to S. Mary Magdalen That many sinnes were forgiuen her because she loued much Which words are as cleare to shew that loue is requisite as there are any in the whol scripture to shew the necessity of fayth And that not only there must be loue in the iustification of a sinner but because loue is a disposition towards the obteining of pardon as fayth is they both must go hand in hand and of both did our Lord make mention in the conuersion of S. Mary Magdalen For at the end of the discourse he sayd Thy fayth hath saued thee go in peace Nor in that which our Lord sayd before That many sinnes were forgiuen her because she loued much would he say that it was because she belieued much giuing the effect the name of the cause since it is euident that our Lord hauing asked which of these two debters did loue him most who released the debt it was answered He to whom the more was released and not he to whome the lesse he was to haue concluded his discourse with speaking of loue and not of Fayth And if liberty may be taken for a man to say that he called Fayth Loue tearming the effect by the name of his cause let vs also take liberty to say that in those places of the Scripture where it is affirmed That man is iustifyed by Fayth Loue is to be vnderstood by the name of Fayth by considering in the cause the effect In plaine manner did our Lord speake heer vnles a man be disposed to hood wincke himself in so faire a light and he called fayth and loue by their owne names and both of them are requisite to iustification as we haue sayd already And our Lord did settle the same coniunction when he sayd afterward to his disciples The (c) Ioan. 16. Father himselfe loueth you because you haue loued me and haue belieued that I issued froÌ„ him And fince Fayth loue are both requisite to a man without doubt he will haue griefe for his sinnes as hauing grieuously offended God whome he loueth aboue all things as it is plaine by the example of S. Mary Magdalen and of other sinners who were comuerted to God Now (d) If this be well considered it wil ouerthrow the fancyes which the Caluinish haue concerning Fayth because both these thinges are requisite and others also which flow from them towardes the obtaining of Iustice therefore doth the holy Scripture sometymes name Fayth and sometymes Loue sometymes sorrow griefe of Repentance and sometymes The humble prayer of the penitent who sayth Lord haue mercy vpon me a sinner and sometymes the knowledge of the sinne it selfe I haue sinned O Lord sayd Dauid instantly he heard the word of pardon in the name of God But yet he who should be induced by this to say that sinne is pardoned by a mans only knowledge of the sinne should fall into no small errour since Cain and Iudas and Saul and many others did know their sinne and yet came not to obtayne pardon of it And so farre without all ground is it for them to say That by only Fayth it is obtayned in respect that the Scripture doth in some places make mentioÌ„ of Fayth alone as it is that for the same reason we might also exclude fayth out of this businesse as being vnnecessary because in other places the Scripture sayth That sinnes are forgiuen by pennance other meanes without making any mention at all of Fayth But (e) The doctrine of the Catholike Church concerning this point the truth of Catholike doctrine is this That both the one and the others are requisite as dispositions towards the obtayning of pardon and grace And if any man shall reflect vpon this That Fayth is named many tymes by way of attributing iustice to it and that by fayth we are made the sonnes of God and partakers of the merits of Iesus Christ and such like effects as do accompany grace and charity it is not because fayth alone is sufficient for it but because when the Scripture attributeth these effects to Fayth it is to be vnderstood of that Faith which is formed by charity and which is the life thereof Neither yet must these effects be attributed to Fayth as if necessarily vpon our hauing fayth we must haue loue because true fayth may remayne as hath beene sayd euen when grace and loue are lost which loue as S. Paul sayth is greater then either fayth or hope And when our Lord spake of fayth and loue as well in that passage of S. Mary Magdalen as in that other which we mentioned with his disciples he named loue before fayth giuing the precedent place of perfection to that which was the act of the will which yet after a sort is subsequent if it be compared with an act of the vnderstanding to which fayth belongeth It is also to be vnderstood that although the Sacraments of Baptisme and Pennance are necessarily to be receaued or at least a purpose of receauing them must be intertayned for the obtayning of that Grace which is lost the former by Infidells and the latter by belieuers who after Baptisme haue committed mortall sinne yet is there not in holy Scripture so frequent speach of them as of fayth for the reason which shortly I shall relate But yet neither is the mention of them forborne least any one should thinke that they were not necessary towardes the obtayning of Iustice S. Paul (f) Tim. 3. fayth That God saued vs by the Baptisme of regeneration and renouation of the holy Ghost and that Christ did cleanse his Church by the Baptisme of water in the word of life And it because the Scripture sayth That we are iustifyed by fayth we were to cast away the Sacraments as iustly were we to cast away saâ—th since it sayth That saluation and cleanesse is giuen by holy Baptisme But our Lord doth couple these
necessary for the search and true science of the Scriptures And he sayth afterwards that without purity of mind and a life which followeth in the steps of sanctity it is not possible to vnderstand the speach of Saints For as if a man would behould the light of the Sunne he maketh cleare his eyes and by so doing his sight groweth cleare and by that meanes to be of some resemblance with the very Sunne which he desireth to behold that so his eye being made light he may the better looke vpon the Sunnes light and as also if a man desire to see any Citty or Countrey he must come within a certayne distance for that purpose so he that would procure the vnderstanding of holy books must first endeauour to cleanse purify his soule by a resemblaÌ„ce of life manners to draw neare to the Saints who wrote theÌ„ that so approaching to them by his intentions actions he may vnderstand those things which God reuealed to them being made as it were one of them he may escape from the danger that sinners are subiect to from the fire which against the day of iudgement will be prouided for them It is necessary to ponder this greatly which S. Athanasius deliuered that so we may receaue profit by the diuine Scripture For though without this purity of life a man may easily know by Scripture what God in generall requireth of him yet in particuler to know the counsaile will of God cannot be learned as the Wiseman sayth by humane study but he affirmeth thus in the manner of a question Who O Lord shall know thy meaning vnles thou giue him wisedome vnles thouâ—end thy holy spirit from on high This Wisedome (r) True celestiall wisedom is that which teacheth the vvay how to please God in particuler manner this resideth not in wicked men But when this industry continueth with experience of holy labours humble prayers and the fruit of good workes it maketh a man truely wise that so by reading of Scripture and long experience he may teach others after the manner of an eye vvitnesse and may light vpon the veyne of another mans hart instructing it by that which passeth in his owne And without this though he may chance to hit right for once he will mistake many tymes and will fall out to be one of them of whome S. Paul sayth That (s) 1. Tim. 1. taking vpon them to teach the law they vnderstood not that wherof they speake A man who putteth himselfe vpon the studdy of holy Scripture must help himselfe also by the interpretation and exposition of the Saints as also of the Schoole-Deuines For as for the profit which may be drawne from the study of holy Scripture without accompanying it by these endeauours Germany hath taken experience of it to her cost CHAP. XLIX That we must not grow in pride for not hauing lost our Fayth as others haue done but rather we must be humble with feare and the reasons which we haue for being so DO not thou by hearing of the fal of others grow to such pride of hart as to say I am not like one of them who so wickedly haue lost their fayth Call thou to mind those men who related to our Lord how Pilate had caused certaine Galileans to be kil'd as they were in the middest of offering their sacrifices And they that related this carryed in their hart a kind of vayne contentment wherewith they held themselues for better then those others who had deserued that Pilate should cause them to be murthered But now when this soueraigne Iudge did know their pryde without the manifestation of it on their partes and being desirous to vndeccaue them he sayd after this manner Thinke you that those Galileans were the greatest sinners of all the men in that Prouince because that punishment came vpon them Or doe you thinke that those eighteene men vpon whome the tower of Siloe did fall and slew them were the greatest sinners of all them that dwelt in Hierusalem I tell you No. But if you do not pennance you shall also perish The same did S. Paul intend when he sayd For their incredulity were the Iewes cut off which had byn the branches of the Oliue tree of belieuers and thou who by fayth art on foote do not thou grow proud but feare for else thou shalt also be cut off The (a) The punishment which God inflicteth vpoÌ„ others must mak vs humble and not insolent punishments which God hath inflicted vpon others ought to make vs chast and humble and not proud For whither soeuer we cast our eyes in these vnhapy tymes of ours they will find reason to weep and to say with Ieremy If (b) Ierem. 14. I go out into the field I see that men are slayne by the sword if I enter into the citty I find them defeated and dead of hunger The former are they who went out of the Citty which is the Church A kind of people this is without a head for the sword of incredulity hath taken off from them the head which God gaue to Christians which is the (c) The Bishop of Rome as successour to S. Peter is the visible head which God hath giuen to the Church vnder Christour Lord. Bishop of Rome And the later are those many who in this citty of the Church haue their Fayth vntouched but they are miserably dead of hunger because they tooke not the food of obedience to the coÌ„mandmeÌ„ts of God of his church These things deserue that we should feele them much if we haue any feeling of Christ and that we should bewayle them in his high presence and say to him How long O Lord wilt thou forbeare to haue mercy on them for whom thou didst shed thy bloud and loose thy life vpon the Crosse in the middest of so many torments And since the busines is thyne let the remedy also come from thy hand being impossible that it should come from any other Be thou carefull O daughter to feele and to pray for this for (d) Note if thou loue Christ thou art to lodge in thy hart a tender and profound compassion of the soules for which Christ Iesus dyed And so art thou also carefully to consider how thou liuest and how thou doest profit by the Fayth which thou hast least otherwise God doe also punish thee by suffering thee to fall into some errour and so to loose it since thyne eares haue heard the newes of so many that haue lost it by the heresies of that peruerse Luther And others there are who haue denied Christ amongst the Moores to follow the bestiall law of Mahomet whereby thou shalt see accomplished that which Saint Paul sayth That some had lost their Fayth for hauing cast away a good conscience in their life And whether it be as we sayd before when we spake of the motiues which induce a man to belieue because euen their euill
should exalt him yet would he not exalt himselfe But as a true iust person he depriueth himselfe of that honour which he findeth not to be his owne and he giueth it to our Lord whose it is And in this light he findes that the more high he is the more he hath receaued of God and the more he oweth him and the more poore and base he is in himselfe For (k) This is a most pure and perfect truth he that doth truly grow in other vertues doth so also in humility saying to God Thou must increase in me and I must decrease in my selfe dayly And if euen with al these considerations already meÌ„tioned thou find not the fruite of the contempt of thy selfe which thou desirest be not yet dismayd thereat But call vpon our Lord with continuance of prayer for he knoweth how and he is accustomed to teach both interiourly and by way of exteriour comparisons the little that all thinges created are to be esteemed And in the meane tyme till this mercy come liue in patience and know thy selfe for proude which is a kind of humility as for one to hold himselfe humble is a kind of pride CHAP. LXVIII Wherein he beginneth to treate of the consideration of Christ our Lord and of the mysteries of his life and death and of the great reason we haue to exercise our selues in this consideration and of the greâ—â— fruites which grow from thence THEY (a) He beginneth heere and continueth till the the 8â— Chapter a discourse vpon the meditatioÌ„ of the sacred Passion of our Lord Iesus as excellently written perhaps as any hath been seene in this age I am sure I neuer saw any that I liked so well who are much exercised in the knowledge of themselues in respect that they are coÌ„tinually viewing their defects so neer at hand are wont to fall into great sadnes and disconfidence and pusillanimity for which reason it is necessary that they do exercise themselues also in another knowledge which giueth comfort and strength much more then the other gaue discouragement And against this inconuenience there is no other knowledge which may compare with that of Iesus Christ our Lord especially if we consider how he suffered and dyed for vs. This is the cheereful newes which in the new law was preached to all such as are of broken hart and hereby is ministred a kind of Physicke which is more efficacious towards their comfort then they can be discomforted by the woundes and soares of their ownesoules This crucifyed Lord is he who cheereth them vp whom the knowledge of their owne sins afflicteth and he it is that absolueth whome the law condemneth maketh them sonnes of God who were slaues of the Diuell This Lord they must procure to know and they who are subiect to the spirituall debtes which they haue made by finne and they who find straitnes and bitternes of sorrow at their hart when they consider themselues must approach to him and they shal find themselues well therewith as heeretofore others that were afflicted and indebted did resort to Dauid and found help in his society For as we vse to giue counsaile that they who are to passe a riuer should looke vpward or at least out of the water least their heads may els be subiect to some trouble by staring vpon the running streame so whosoeuer shall find himselfe dismaid by the contemplation of his own miseryes if he will cast vp his eyes to Iesus Christ vpon the Crosse he may recouer strength For it was not sayd in vaine My soule was troubled within me and for this reason I remembred thee of the land of Iordan and of the hilles of Hermon of the little hill For the mysteries which Christ did worke in his Baptisme Passion are able to quiet any tempest of distrust which riseth in the hart of man And so it doth both for that reason aforesayd as also because there is no (b) This is the booke of Bookes booke so efficacious towardes the instructing of a man in al kind of vertue nor how hartily sinne ought to be abhorred and vertue loued as the Passion of the Sonne of God And againe because it is an extreme ingratitude to put such an immense benefit of loue into obliuion as that was in Christ to suffer for vs. It is therefore fit for thee after the exercise of the knowledge of thy selfe to imploy thy mind vpon the knowledge of Christ Iesus our Lord. S. Bernard teacheth vs this by saying whosoeuer hath any feeling of Christ doth know how much it belongeth to Christian piety and how necessary it is and what fruit it bringeth to the seruant of God and a seruant of the redemption of Christ to remember with attentioÌ„ for at least the space of one houre in a day the benefits of the Passion and Redemption of Christ Iesus our Lord to enioy it sweetly in our soules and to settle it faythfully in our memoryes This S. Bernard sayd this he did And besides this thou art to know That God when he was pleased to communicate the riches of his Diuinity to men imbraced the meanes of making himselfe a man that by such basenes and poorenesse he might conforme himselfe to the small capacity of such as were base and poore and by ioyning himselfe to them he might raise them vp to his owne height so that the way by which God hath vsed to communicate his Diuinity to men hath beene by meanes of his sacred Humanity This is that gate by which whosoeuer entreth shall be saued and it is the staire by which we must ascend to heauen For God the Father is pleased to honour the humanity and humility of his only begotten Sonne so far as not to make friendship with any creature who belieueth not in him nor to grant his familiar conuersation but to such as meditate vpon him with much attention Since therefore there is no reason that thou shouldst forbeare to desire so great blessings see (c) If we meane not to be wholy miserable we must become slaues to the PassioÌ„ of Christ our Lord. that thou make thy selfe a slaue to this sacred Passion For as much as by it thou wert deliuered from the captiuity of thy sinnes from the torments of hell and those other blessings do also come to thee by this Do (d) Note and be ashamed of thy ingratitude not esteeme it a trouble to thinke of that which he through his great loue of thee did thinke no trouble to endure Be thou one of those soules to which the Holy Ghost speaketh in the (e) Cant. 3. Canticles Go forth you daughters of Sion and behold Salomon the King with that garland vpon his head wherewith his Mo ther crowned him in the day of his espousall and in the day of the ioy of his hart In no place of the Holy Scripture is it read that King Salomon was crowned with any crowne or garland by the handes
the excesse of admiration and amazement And if this would happen to such as in their owne person had not receiued this benefit from the King but by the only thinking what he had done for another man what may be belieued that it would worke in the hart of that very slaue vnlesse he were franticke for whome that King should so haue dyed Doest thou not thinke that such a knocke of loue as this would awake him would change him would so entitely captiue him to the loue of that King as that he could neuer get leaue of himselfe to conceaue his prayses nor thinke of his merits but with teares Nor employ himselfe vpon any other thing then the expressing of supreme gratitude and loue by doing and suffering for him all that possibly he could Hast thou heard this Parable which in the world did neuer take effect Then (m) A miserable man thou art if this do not mouethee to the very soule know That what the Kings of the earth haue not done that very thing hath beene done by Christ Iesus the King of heauen Of whom S. Iohn (n) Apoc. 19. sayth That in his thigh he carryed this title written King of Kinges and Lord of Lordes For euen as he is man as he hath taken humane nature which is signifyed by the word Thigh so great is his altitude as that it surmounteth all Lords Kings created not only them of this world but (o) The celestiall spirits also of heauen Enioying a Name which is aboue all Names and a height and power of dominion aboue all the highest men and Angells Behold this height which hath no equall and cast downe they eyes to behold that (p) The infinite God for base and sinnefull man basenes for which it suffers And thou wilt see as S. Paul sayth That (q) Rom. 1. we are weake and wicked and traitours against God and his enemyes Which titles are of so much dishonour basenes as that they cast a man backe and downe into the hindmost place and into the lowest price that can be set vpon any creature Since there is nothing so base as to be wicked nor nothing so wicked as a sinner is in respect that he is such Comparing therfore these extremes which are so different of so high a king and so wicked slaues behold now the much that he loued them Come (r) If thou refuse this inuitatioÌ„ thou art vndone hither into the hart of our Lord and if thou haue the eyes of an Eagle heere in matter for them to worke vpon Nay they will not serue thy turne to make thee sufficiently see the brightly burning high heaped loue which inhabited that most holy soule with such extent and latitude that although those highest Angells of heauen for the great power which they haue to Loue are called Seraphims which signifyeth that they are set on fire yet if they had come to mount Caluary at the time when our Lord did suffer there his excessiue loue would haue cast them into wonder in comparison whereof their owne would haue bin no more then meere tepidity For as that most sacred soule possesseth greater altitude and honour then can be had by any other eyther in heauen or earth for as much as instantly vpon the creation thereof it was vnited to the person of the Word of God so was the Holy Ghost infused into it beyond all measure and such degrees of grace and loue were giuen to it that neither they could increase nor could the soule contayne more So that it is with great reason applyed to this most holy soule which is written The (Å¿) Cant. 1. King did place me in the cellar of wine and in me he ordayned Charity Or as we read in another translation he placed his Ensigne or Banner of loue vpon me For in regard that this soule as soon as it was created did clearly see the Diuine Essence and was carryed to it with an vnspeakable force of loue the banner of holy loue was planted on it To giue vs to vnderstand that this soule was the most ouercome by loue that euer man or Angell was either in Heauen or on Earth And (t) They only conquer who are captiued by the loue of our Lord Iesus because in the warre of the loue of God he that is most ouercome is most worthy and most valiant and most happy therefore doth this most blessed soule carry the Ensigne of loue which standes vpon it That al they may know who either on Earth or in Heauen do pretend to loue God that they must follow the conduct of this Lord if they meane to do it well as the disciple would do his maister or the soldiar his captaine since he exceedeth them all in loue as he exceedeth them otherwise in dominion Now since so great a fire of loue was lodged in that most sacred soule it is (u) If thy hart loue deeply it will find meanes to expresse iâ— selfe not strange if the flame fly out and scorch and burne the cloaths which are his most sacred body which was loaden with such torments as giue testimony of the interiour loue For it is written Who shall be able to carry fire in his bosome and that his garment should not be burnt And when thou shalt see that in the exteriour they guide in his handes with cruell ropes thou art to vnderstand that within he is taken prisoner by the nets of loue which are so much stronger then those other as chaynes of iron are beyond threeds of flaxe This (x) Shall we not paâ— such loue with loue loue this was it which defeated him which ouer cam him which tooke him which tost him from Iudge to Iudge and from the torment of scourges to the torment of cruell thornes and which cast the Crosse vpon him first and which carryed him to Mount Caluary where he was after cast vpon the Crosse There stretcht he out his armes abroad to be crucifyed in token that his hart had beene opened by his loue and that so widely towardes all as that the brightly burning and puissant beames of loue did sally out from the center of his hart and went to determine themselues vpon euery (y) wherof thou and I are two man in particuler both such as were past such as were present such as were to come offering vp his life for the good of them all And if (z) Note the high Priest do exteriourly carry the names of the (a) Eâ—â—d 28. twelue Sonnes of Israel written both vpon his shoulders and vpon his breast much more excellently doth this Priest of ours carry men vpon his shoulders by suffering for men And he carryeth them also written in (b) And our Lord make vs able to write him iâ—â—â—tâ— his hart for he doth so cordially loue them that if the first Adam sold them all for an apple and if they sel themselues at a base price and if so
a longer tyme and which had sharper pointes wherewith to hurt thee Isay (m) Psal 53. saith Euery one of vs did loose himselfe in his owne way and God did lay the sinnes of vs all vpon the Messias And this sentence of the diuine iustice being so rigorous thy loue O Lord did find to be both iust and good and thou didst take vpon thyne owne shoulders and didst make a burthen for thy selfe of all the sinnes without the want of so much as one which all the men in the whole world eyther had committed or then did commit or would commit from the beginning thereof vntill the end That thou O Lord and our true loner mightst pay for them all with the sorrowes of thy hart Who then shal be able to count the number of thy soares since (n) Consider and know by this what our Lord suffered for thee or rather know that thou canst neuer know so much of it as is to be knowne there is no meanes to count the number of all our sinnes which caused them but only thou O Lord who didst endure them Thou being made for vs the man of sorrow and who knowest indeed what affliction is by sad experience One man alone doth say of himselfe (o) Psalm 3◠That he had more sinnes then bayres vpon his head and besides that he desyreth God to forgiue him those other sinnes which he had committed though be knew them not Yf then one man which was Dauid had so many sinnes who shal be able to reckon vp all the sinnes of all men amongst whome there were many who committed both more more grieuous sinnes then Dauid did Into what affliction didst thou cast thy selfe O thou lambe of God to take away the sinnes of the world in whose person it was said (p) Psal 3◠Many calues haue come round about me and the great bulls haue circled me about they haue opened their mouth agaynst me as a roaring lion who is feasting vpon his prey But although into that garden of Gethsemani there went a ful company of souldiers of the secular power besids them who were sent by the high Priests Pharisees who with much cruelty came about to take thee and did take thee yet he that should haue beheld the multitude and grieuousnes of all the sinnes of the world which did hedge in that hart of thyne will thinke that the people who went that night to take thy person were very few in comparison of these others who came to seize vpon thy hart What (q) This is that which gaue our Lord more torments a million of tymes then the paynes which exteriourly he suffered horrible spectacle O Lord What vgly representation how painefull would it be for thee to be compassed in by our great sinnes which are signified by those Calues and those others which are you more grieuous and which are signifyed by those Bulls Who O Lord shall be able to recount what vgly sinnes haue beene committed in the world Which being set before thy vnspeakable purity and sanctity would put thee vpon astonishment and like Bulls with open mouths set vpon thee demanding at thy handes O Lord the payment of that torment which so great impiety had deserued With how much reason is it sayd afterward That thou wert spilt like water by those exteriour torments and That thy hart was melted a way like waxe by that fire of inward anguish Who O Lord will say that the number of thy sorrowes may be told since the number of our sinnes is past-telling CHAP. LXXX Wherein is prosecuted the tendernes of the loue of Christ towards men and of that which caused his interiour griefe and gaue him a Crosse to carry in his hart all the dayes of his life BY that which is sayd thou wilt haue seene how many and how grienous the sorrowes of our Lord were since our sinnes by which they were caused were so many so grieuous But if we will dig into the most deep part of that hart of our Lord we shall find sorrow therein not only for the sinnes that men committed but sorrow also for the sinnes which they committed not For as the pardon of the former fell (a) We owe all to the passiō of our Lord both the pardon of all those sinnes which we haue cōmitted the preuentiō of all them which we haue not committed and al the graces which we haue receaued all the good deeds that we haue done vpon thee O Lord so the preseruation of men from the later did cost thee dolours and death Since thy grace and those diuine fauours which preserue men from sinne are not giuen to any soule for any reason but only vpon the price of thy pretious payne So that all men lay heauy load on thee O Lord both great and small and past and present and they that are to come They who haue sinned and they also who haue not sinned They who haue sinned much they who haue sinned little For they all being considered in themselues were the children of wrath without the grace of God enclined to all manner of sinne and exiled from heauen And if they be to receaue pardon if they be to receaue grace if to auoyd sin if to be the Sonnes of God if to enioy him in heauen for al eternity al this O Lord is to be done at thy cost by thy enduring bv thy paying for our misery and by thy purchasing of our felicity Yea and all this is to be at that cost of thyne so far as that thy sorrowes are to be proportionable in number and greatnesse to that which these other thinges are worth And yet further is thy price to exceed the thing which thou doest buy that so thou mayst shew vs thy loue and that our redemption and consolation may be more firme How (b) Infinit is the glory of our Lord but it cost him deere extremely deare O Lord doth that name cost thee which Isay (c) Isa 9. put vpon thee of being The Father of that age which was then to come since as there is no man according to the generation of flesh which is called the first age who commeth not from Adam so neither is there any of the second generation which is of grace who commeth not from thee But Adam was an ill Father who by wicked pleasure did murther both himselfe and his sonnes whereas thou O Lord didst purchase the name of Father at the price of those dolorous lamentations wherby as a Lyonesse that were roaring whilest she bringeth forth her yong ones thou giuest life to them whome the first Father killed He drunke that poyson which the serpent gaue so was made a Father of serpents for by his engendring them they became sinners But yet all his sonnes which being cōsidered in themselues are venemous serpents did lay hold O Lord vpon thy hart gaue thee such pinches of paine as were neuer felt before nor since and
that not only during the space of eightteen houres which passed in the tyme of thy sacred Passion but for the whole course of three and thirty yeares from one fiue and twentith of March when thou didst become incarnate till another fiue and twentith of March and eight dayes after when thy life did leaue thee vpon the Crosse Thy (d) The great loue of God to vs is exempliâ—ied by diuers comparisons and proofs of holy Scripture selfe did call thy selfe a Mother when speaking to Hierusalem thou didst say How often (e) Watt 23. would I haue gathered thy children vnder my winges as the Hen doth her chickens but thon wouldest not And to giue vs to vnderstand that thy hart doth carry a particuler loue and tendernes towards vs thou didst compare thy selfe to a Hen which is the creature that is content in extraordinary manner to cast away her comfort and to afflict her selfe for that which concerneth her little ones Nor only art thou like the Hen in this but thou exceedest both that all other mothers in the world as by (f) Isa 49. Isay thy selfe didst say A mother perhaps may forget the sonne of her wombe well yet though she forget him I will not forget thee for I haue written thee in my handes and thy walles do euer stand before me Who O Lord shall be able though he dig neuer so deep to discouer those vnspeakable secrets of loue and sorrow which are in thy hart Thou doest not content thy selfe O Lord with carrying the lone of a Father towardes vs which might only be strong and patient in suffering the afflictions and troubles of a Father but to the end that no delightfull comfort might be wanting to vs not no vexation to thy selfe thou wouldst needs be also a Mother to vs in the tendernes of thy affection which causeth an vnspeakable kind of loue towards her children Yea and more art thou to vs then a Mother for of no Mother haue we read that to the end she might stil remember her sonne she hath written a booke whereof hard nayles of iron were the pen and her owne handes the paper and that by pressing those handes and passing them through with the nayles bloud may issue out insteed of inke which with grieuous payne may giue testimony of the great internall loue not suffering that to be forgotten which still she carryeth in her hands And if this which thou didst endure vpon the Crosse by hauing handes and feet so nayled to it be a thing which exceedeth all loue of Mothers who (g) Christ lesus our Lord became vpon the Crosse as it were a woman in trauaile shall recount that great loue and great griefe wherewith thou drewest all men into the wombe of thy hart groaning deeply for their sins with the groanes of labour like them of child-birth And that not for an houre nor for a day alone but for the whole tyme of thy life which lasted three and thirty yeares till at length like another Rachel thou diedst of trauell vpon the Crosse to the end that (h) Genes 35. Beniamin might be borne aliue The serpents which thou carriedst within thy selfe did giue thee O Lord such gripes that they made thee burst vpon the Crosse to the end that at the price of thy paines those serpents might be conuerted into the simplicity mildnesse of lambes and that in exchange of thy death they might obtaine a life of grace How iustly O Lord mayst thou cal men if thou considerest what thou hast suffered for them the Sonns of thy griefe as Rachel called her sonne since the griefe which their sinnes gaue thee was greater then the pleasure which they tooke by committing them And greater was thy humility and that breach of thy hart then the irreuerence and pride was which they expressed against the most high God when they offended him by breaking his law that so thy paines might ouercome our sinnes as the greater do the lesse More (i) The incomparable griefe of Christ our Lord for sinne is excellently desaâ—ibed O Lord did the sinnes of others grieue thee then any man hath bin euer grieued for his owne And if we read of some who had so great repentance for their sinnes as that their hart not being able to conteyne such griefe it did cost them their liues what sorrow was prouoked in thee by that vnmeasurable loue which thou didst carry both to God and man since one sparke of the same lone being cast into the harts of those others did oppresse them in such sort that it made them breake as if they had bin blowen vp with powder Of many we reade and we know that by hauing heard a newes which was very painefull to them did loose their liues And tell vs now O Lord for thy mercy how thou hadst force to out-liue such a bitter newes when all the sinnes of all mankind were first presented to thee thou louing men much more then any man euer loued another yea or euen himself Especially when thou didest coÌ„sider know that the misery which was hanging ouer theÌ„ for the same was greater then any other that could happen And where O Lord didst thou get strength to endure to see thy diuinity oftended and yet to liue since the loue which thou bearest both to it and men did exceed all measure Yet didst thou liue O Lord when thou heardst this newes yea and thou didst liue with the griefe thereof all the dayes of the life But vnles particuler force had bin giuen thee for the enduring of such sorrow it would not haue fayled to haue brought death vpon thee as lesse sorrow hath brought it vpon others So that O Lord they are many and not one only debt which I owe thee And although in regard of these sorrowes which as a mother thou didst endure for men with much reason thou mayst tearme them the sonnes of thy griefe as hath bin said yet as thou also art their Father thou mayst call them also the sonnes of thy right hand as (k) Gen. 35. Iacob did Because (l) The reformation of men doth manifest the power of the Crosse of Christ our Lord. in them is expressed and declared the greatnesse of thy hand which is thy power since thou drawest them out of sinne and dost place them in the state of grace euen in this life and at the later day shalt ranke them vpon thy right hand that so they may accompany thee in glory Being seated there in great security of repose as thou art O Lord at the right hand of thy Father where thou wilt esteeme all that which thou hast laboured and suffered for them to be well imployed CHAP. LXXXI Of other profitable Considerations which may be drawn out of the Passion of our Lord and of other meditations which may be made vpon other pointes and of some directions for such as cannot easily put that which hath bin said in practise YF thou
were deafe For incomparably more acceptable to God was the voyce of Christ and of his Passion and death which demaunded pardon then all the sinnes of the whole world are offensiue demaunding vengeance What doest thou thinke that (h) The profound silence of Christ our Lord in his sacred passion the silence of Christ did procure and that he made him selfe as deafe who did not heare and as a dumbe man who did not open his mouth when he was accused Without doubt since the sinnes of them who by their mouth accused Christ did make a noyse which was full of lyes against him who was not guilty and when he in the meane tyme would needes hold his peace who yet might haue answered them with all iustice it is but due that the rest of the world may not be accused of their sinnes by the Diuells though of it selfe this might be iustly done but that they should be dumbe because they had accused him who was innocent And that since he would needs be (i) Sicâ—â— mutus non aperiâ—â—s os suum deafe who yet was so well able to answere it is but reason that the diuine iustice to which Christ offered himselfe for vs should also make it selfe as deafe though we haue done thinges which require vengeance Reioyce therefore O thou spouse of Christ and let all sinners reioyce if indeed they be sorry for hauing sinned and if they dispose themselues to take the (k) Contrition ConfessioÌ„ and Satisfaction remedyes which are in the Catholike Church For God is deafe towards the punishment of our sinnes but hath his eares wide open towardes the hearing of our prayers with mercy Feare not thy accusers nor those outcryes although thou haue giuen cause thereof since Christ was accused and by his silence did strike dumbe the clamour of our sinnes It was (l) Isa 35. prophesied that he would be silent as the lambe is before the shearer But (m) The great profit which we reape by the silence that Christ our Lord did vse in his sacred Passion when most he was silent and did suffer most in the sight of men so much greater were the out cryes which he gaue to the diuine iust 〈◊〉 by paying for vs. And these out cryes were heard as S. Paul (n) Hebr. 5. sayth for his reuerence that is for his great humility and for the reuerence wherewith he humbled himselfe to his Father euen to death and that of the Crosse reuearing in as much as he was man that superexcellent diuine Maiesty and loosing his life for the honour of it He was heard I say by his Father of whome it was written He (o) Psal 102. regarded the prayer of the humble and despised not their petition Now who is so humble as our Blessed Lord who sayd Learne (p) Matt. 11. of me for I am meâ—ke and humble of hart And therefore he was heard as before it was prophesyed in his person Our q Psal 21. Lord did not remooue his face from me and when I cryed out he heard me And the same Lord of ours sayth in the Ghospell I giue (r) Ioan. 21. thee thankes O Father because thou doest euer heare me Now since the Father doth heare him when he prayeth for thee and that the obtayning of grace whereby thou mayst be made iust that so thou maist be heard by God did cost him so dear procure to get it if thou haue it not and if thou haue it employ it in offering vp prayers to God since to such prayers his eares are open And as we must heare our Lord with the Prophet Samuel when he sayth Speake (Å¿) 1. Râ—g â— Lord for thy seruant heareth so doth our Lord say to vs Speake seruant for thy Lord heareth thee And as we sayd long before that our hearing the voyce of God must not be the only hearing of the sound of the wordes but to belieue them and to be pleased in them to put them in execution so the eares of our Lord are opened by the loue of Christ not only to heare what we say for so also doth he heare the blasphemies which are spoken of him and which offend him but our Lord doth heare our petitions in such sort as to performe them And to the end that thou mayst see how true it is that our Lord doth heare the deep sighes that we present to him hearken thou to that which the â—aâ—â—â—e Lord sayth by (t) Isa 65. Isaias Before they call I will heare them O blessed be that holding thy peace O Lord for both within and without didst thou hold thy peace vpon that day of thy Passion Out wardly by not cursing or so much as answearing and in wardly by not contradicting but accepting with great patience those blowes and cryes and paynes of thy passion For thereby thou didst so speake in the eares of God as that we may be heard euen before we speake Nor is this any great meruaile for (u) The inestimable prouidence and goodnes of God in Christ our Lord. as much as we being yet nothing thou didst make vs and before we could aske thee any thing thou didst maintayne vs both within and without the wombe of our Mother and before we knew what it was that might do vs good thou gauest vs the adoption of Sonnes and the grace of the Holy Ghost in holy Baptisme And before we had beene ouerthrowne by sinne thou didst keep vs and when vve were fallen through our own fault thou didst raise vs vp and thou didst seek vs when we sought not thee And that which is more before we were borne thou hadst already dyed for vs and prepared heauen for vs. It is not therefore any wonder that of whome thou hadst so much care before they had any of thee thou haue it also in this particuler And that thou dost giue vs that many times wherof thou seest vs to haue need without expecting that we should weary our selues so much as to aske it since thou didst weary thy selfe so much both in asking and procuring it for vs. What shall we giue thee O most blessed Iesus for this silence which thou didst vse before them vvho did so hate and hurt thee And what shall vve giue thee for those loud cryes so full of loue vvhich thou gauest for vs before thy Father O (x) A deuout contemplation that it were pleasing to thy infinite goodnes to do vs so great a fauour as that we might be so silent towardes the offence of thee and so willing to suffer that which thou vvouldst do with vs as if we vvere so many dead men And that we vvere so full of life towardes the vttering of voyces in thy prayse that neither we whome thou hast redeemed nor the heauens nor the earth nor that which is vnder the earth nor any of that which is in them all might euer cease with the very extremity of all our strength and theirs to sing
is distinct from that whereby Iesus Christ our Lord is iust For to belieue otherwise were to imbrace a very grieuous errour which (c) The erroneous opinion of impuâ—tiue Iustice doth extremly derogate from the great and tender loue of God to man in Christ our Lord. proceedeth from the want of knowing the loue which Iesus Christ doth beare to such as are in the state of grace Whome his bowells of mercy and loue would not permit that whyleft himselfe was iust and full of all good things he should say to such as he iustifyed Content your selues with this that I abound with these good things and esteeme them for your owne as they are in me although in your selues you remayne vniust impure and naked There (d) Think seriouly of this point is no head vvhich would hold such language as this to his liuing meÌ„bers nor one Spouse to another if he should dearely loue her and much lesse will that celestiall Spouse say so vvho is giuen for a patterne to the Spouses of this world that after his resemblance they may treat and loue their fellow-spouses You men sayth (e) Ephes 5. S. Paul loue your wines as Christ loued his Church who gaue himselfe ouer for it to sanctify it and to cleanse it by Baptisme and by the word of life If then he sanctify and wash and cleanse it and that with his owne bloud which is the thing that giueth power to the Sacraments to cleanse soules by that grace of his which they impart how can that soule remaine vniust and filthy which is washed and cleansed by a thing of so extreme efficacy Now this cleanesse God did promise that he would giue in the tyme of his Messias when he sayd I will powre forth cleane water vpon you and you shall be cleansed from all your filth And our Lord in the last supper did testify That eleuen of his disciples were cleane and not after an ordinary manner but that they were wholy cleane For the veniall faults which are caused in the soule by some inordinate affections which sticke like dust vnto our feet are remoued by help of the Sacraments and their good disposition that receaue them as corporall feet are washed by materiall water as our Lord then did vse it washing both without and within and leauing them cleane from al sinne according to this testimony of (f) â— Ioâ—â— 1. S. Iohn The bloud of Iesus Christ doth cleanse vs from all sinne This bloud was called by the Prophet (g) Mich. 7. Micheas long before it was shed the sea wherein all our sinnes are drowned And he sayd God will shoot off all our sinnes into the bottome of the sea Now if these and many other places of Scripture do giue testimony that a man is pardoned and cleansed from all sinne who is there that will presume to say That a man doth neuer come to be cleansed from it For to say that sinne remayneth in a man which really and truly shal be sinne and that yet for the loue of Iesus Christ our Lord the payne which is due to that sinne should be released to him is no (h) I beseech our Lord that the truth of this discourse may sin he as deeply into thy hart as there is cause such discourse as wil serue eyther towards the verifying of the Scriptures or for the doing of Iesus Christ sufficient honour For since the payne which is due to sinne is a lesse euill to any man then the guilt of the same sin the iniustice and deformity which is caused thereby it cannot be sayd That Christ doth saue his people from their sinnes if by his merit he only obtaine that they may not be imputed to them for their punishment vnlesse first he take the guilt away by the gift of his grace nor yet that he obtayneth purity and piety for men that so detesting sinne they may keep the law of God And if the doctrine of the holy Scripture be well obserued it wil be found that when the pardon of â—inne is graunted there is giuen with all a newnesse of life and a cleane hart as if it were newly created as Dauid did desire according to that which it was (i) Isa 50. â—geâ—h 11. prophesied that it should be I will giue you a new hart and I will place a new spirit in the middest of you And I will take away from you that hart of stone and I will giue you a hart of flesh and I will place my spirit in the middest of you and I will make that you shall walke in my commandments and that you shall keep and worke my iudgementes This doth God promise to such as formerly he had told that he would cleanse them from all their filth And afterward he sayth I I will saue you from them all To (k) Be attentiue giue vs clearely thereby to vnderstand That the sauing vs from our sinnes is not only to free vs from the paine but to impart an inward cleanesse and such a hart and such a grace and such a spirit as may haue power to enable vs to keepe the commaundements of God S. Iohn (l) Apec 3. affirmeth that our Lord saith I stand at the gate and I knocke if any man open to me I will enter into him and I will suppe with him and he with me Isay (m) Isa 55. inuiteth such as are hungry in the behalfe of God that they will eate and such as are thirsty that they will drinke Our Lord saith by the mouth of (n) 2. Cor. 6. S. Paul Get you out from the middest of the wicked and do not so much as touch any thinge that is vncleane and I will receaue you I wilâ—e a Father to you and you shal be my Sonnes my daughters By which places and many others it doth euidently appeare that the benefittes which are imparted to vs by iustification are more and better then Gods not imputing to vs that punishment which is due to sinne Since withall he giueth vs his grace and cleanesse of hart and vertues and infuseth the spirit of our Lord whereby we may keep his law and so that vnder the title of being his children and of exercising our selues in good workes we may eternally enioy him And because Christ did purchase these blessings for vs togeather with the pardon of the paine he may well be proclaimed with a full mouth to be the Sauiour of vs from our sinne and (o) We are infinitely more bound to God for freeing our soules from sin then if he had only forgâ—uen vs the punishment thereof that much more for the former respect then for the later Because in vertue of that former he freeth vs from the guilt and bringeth vs to a detestation of sinne and obteineth for vs a kind of participation of God at the present and a good title for our eternally possessing him in heauen Whereby he deliuereth vs from a greater mischeife and
obteineth blessings for vs of greater weight then would haue been if he had but freed vs only from any paynâ— whatsoeuer CHAP. LXXXIX That sinne doth not remaine in iust Persons but that the guilt of sinne is destroyed in them and that they are cleane and acceptable to God IS it possible that the blindnesse of some can arriue so farre as to thinke that the fauour of Christ Iesus reacheth to this that from them in whome they say that sinne it selfe doth still remayne yet not only the punishment is remooued but that also for as much as they say they are incorporated into Iesus Christ who is so beloued by his Father they are beloued and are asceptable and cleane because Christ is so Wel howsoeuer it may seeme to them that it is to honour Iesus Christ to (a) Behold the pleasing mask of this erâ—ourâ— but looke on a little you shall see it taken off thinke so higly of the loue which his Father beareth him as that it â—uercometh the detestation which he carrieth to those persons in whom sinne remaines yet such honour as this is wholy contrary to true honour and to the truth of holy Scripture It (*) Note would certainly be no honour for a Iudge that he should for beare to punish or that he should fauour wicked persons because they dwell with his Sonne For it would appeare thereby both that such a Sonne were no perfect louer of vertue in that he so louâ—d wicked â—â—ruants and that the Pather were no louer of Iustice since he tolerated and loued them whom he ought to punish without any partiall respect They who are to be the acceptable seruantâ— of Christ our Lord must not haue the guilt of â—ortail sinne in their harts since he is the head which giueth the influxe into them as into liuing members of his spirit and grace whereby they leade a life estranged from sinne and like to his For a horrible corporall Monster would that be which should haue the head of a man and the body of a brute beast And (b) They make ous Lord a kind of monster who maâ—â— his liuing memberâ— vncleane sinnefull so would it be a kind of spirituall monster that vnder a head which were iust and pure and full of vertues there should be liuing members which yet were so very contrary to it The branches are fresh and full of fruit when they liue in the vine And by this comparison our Lord was pleased that we should vnderstand that the members which are incorporated to him by grace are like those others enioying benefittes of their owne which they receiue from him and by him that so it may be accomplished which S. Paul (c) Rom. 8. saith That it is ordained by God that they who are to be saued should be conforme to the image of his Sonne But how can there now be a resemblance betweene that head which euer kept the commaundements of his Father and those members which though they may be pardoned (d) By imputation only as the Protestants say not by any inherent iustice and iustifyed are still breaking with a perfect breach the first and the ninth commandment of God Nor is there any participation betweene goodnesse wickednesse nor betweene Christ and such as breake the commaundments of his Father For as much as himselfe did preach That not euery one who should call him Lord Lord should enter into the Kingdome of heauen but he that would do the will of his Father And so far off is it from truth that the fauour of Christ is to be thus vnderstood That they who breake the commaundments should be in the grace eyther of God or of him as that our Lord himselfe sayd Yf (c) Iean 15. you keepe my commaundments you shall remayne in my loue as I haue kept the commaundements of my Father and do remayne in his loue Now who is he that will hope that whilest he breakes the commaundments he is beleued by the Father in respect of Iesus Christ since Christ by keeping those commaundments doth remaine in the loue of his Father (f) But ProtestaÌ„ts would faine mak theÌ„selues belieue that there were no necessity of keeping the commandements and yet forsooth that God and they did loue one another very hartily Without doubt the slaue shall not be loued but by the same way that the Sonne was loued nor will God imbrace with his grace and loue but such as shall keep the commaundments as hath euidently byn already shewed And to the end that no man may be deceiued in this when he had formerly said Be (g) Ioan. 15. you in me and I wil be in you he added afterward Be you in my loue And to declare what it was to be in him and in his loue he said Yf you shal be in me and my wordes be in you whatsoeuer thinge you would obteine you shall aske and it shal be giuen you So that whosoeuer disobayeth his wordes must not thinke that he is in his loue nor that he is incorporated into his body as a liuing member For this sentence of holy Scripture standeth fast The (h) Sap. 4. wicked man and his wickednes is abhorred by God And to declare how they who are his are not to be abhorred but euen in themseues to be loued he sayd to his disciples I say not now that I will pray to the Father for you for (i) The eternall Father doth not only pardon vs for the loue of Christ but when we are iustifyed he doth loue our very selues the Father himselfe doth loue you because you haue loued and haue belieued that I came from him As if he had sayd A (k) Ioan. 14. 16. whyle since I sayd I will pray to the Father and he will giue you another comforter but do not you conceaue that I will so pray for you as in the world a man desires his friend sometyms to bestow somewhat vpon some others to whome that friend is not a friend so that which he giueth them is only because he loueth the man much that intreateth him and those others are as far from being beloued and accepted as they were before But heere it is not so For the Father loueth you in regard that you haue loued and belieued me and you are pleasing to him and you haue leaue as people which is beloued by his loue of your selues and which enioyeth grace and iustice which is your owne to appeare in his high presence and to aske all that whereof you haue need in my name And that which I aske of him for you is as for people that is beloued and to which the Father doth impart his blesings both because I desire them and because I desire them for you Such are they whome Iesus Christ doth carry incorporated with himselfe as liuing members and for whome he obtained grace whereby they might be pleasing to the Father when they had it not and
handes And this they expect vnder such a title of more iustice as that if he deny them any thinge they are complaining in their hartes and do hold themselues agrieued why lest they forsooth seruing him so well he doth them not iustice by denying them any thing Let not this wicked pride seize on thee for (h) How God abhorreth Pride it is now long since God complaineth of it by Isay (i) Isa 58. saying They demaund the iudgements of iustice at my handes and they come to God and say Why haue we fasted and yet thou hast not behold vs we haue humbled our soules and thou hast not appreoued it But to the end that this so dangerous poison may not infuse it selfe into thy soule with others which do also flow frō thēce thou art to lay hold vpon that excellent doctrine which our Lord Christ Iesus deliuered in S. Luke after this manner Which of you hauing a seruant who goeth to plow feedes the cattell and your selfe comming from the field you say instantly to your seruant Goe thy wayes and take thyne ease and doth not rather say Go dresse my supper and make thy selfe ready to come and serue me till I haue eaten and drunke and then thou also shalt cate and drinke Doth peraduenture that maister stand thanking of his seruant for doing those thinges which he commaunded I thinke not Well then let it be so in your case and when you haue performed all those thinges which are inioyned say We are vnprofitable seruants and we did but that which we were obliged to From these wordes thou art to fetch a knowledge of how profitable a consideration it is for a Christian to hold himselfe the slaue of God since our Lord commaundeth vs so to call our selues And yet this must not be done with that kind of hart wherewith the slaue vseth to serue which is a hart of feare and not of loue For as S. Paul (k) Rom. 8. sayth You did not againe receaue the spirit of seruitude in feare but you receiued the spirit of adoption of the sonnes of God wherein you cry out to God say Father Father For as S. Augustine saith the difference betweene the old law and the Ghospell in a word is that which is betweene feare and loue Leauing therefore a part (l) To serue God for feare is lesse good to do it for loue is excellent this spirit of seruility because it belongeth not so properly to the sonnes of God and the spirit also of (m) He speaketh heere of filial fear feare as lesse perfect though it be not cuill since it is the gift of God to feare him euen for the punishments which he inflicteth do thou vnderstand by the name of seruant a person who is subiect to God by more strong and iust obligation then any slaue can be to his Lord how deare soeuer he haue cost him And (n) A faythfull and louing seruant well described looking euer vpon this whatsoeuer he doth well eyther within himselfe or exteriourly he will do it for the glory and to giue gust to God as a true-harted slaue will giue a iust account vnto his Lord of whatsoeuer he is able to gaine So also wil he forbeare to be slack or sluggish in seruing him vpon the present day notwithstanding that he had serued many yeares before Nor will he hold himselfe disobliged from the doing of one seruice in respect that he hath done another But as the holy (o) Luc. 17. Ghospell saith he carrieth a continuall hungar and thirst after iustice For he esteemeth all to be little considering both the much that he hath receaued and which the Lord in whose seruice he is hath merited By this meanes doth he accomplish that which S. Paul (p) Philip. ◠saith of himselfe That forgetting those things which were past he gaue himselfe new spirites towardes the pursuite of that which was then to come He doth also know that from those thinges which he is able to do how great so euer they may be no profit accreweth vnto God nor is God obliged to esteem that which he doth if the works be considered as growing from our naturall power and strength since a man is not able to pay euen what he oweth And therefore doth the holy (q) Luc. 17. Ghospell say When you haue done all those thinges which you haue beene commanded say We are vnprofitable seruants and we did but that which we were bound to do I say (r) How the best man is indeed an vnprofitable seruant and in what sense againe he is not so vnprofitable in respect of God but for as much as concerneth themselues they gaine life eternall as shal be shewed in the next Chapter And in this sort vnderstanding the name of slaue thou wilt find it to be a name of humility of obedience of diligence and of loue And this feeling thereof had the sacred Virgin Mary when being taught by the Holy Ghost she (s) The vnspeakeable humility of the incōprehensible virgin Mary the B. Mother of God answered Behould (t) Luc. 1. heere is the slaue of our Lord let that be fulfilled in me which is agreeable to his word She confesseth her owne basenes she offereth vp her loue and seruice with a liberall hart without ascribing any thing vnto her selfe by way of any other honour or interest then only in being carefull to serue as a slaue in that which our Lord was commanding her for his glory All this did she feele within and this did she outwardly expresse by deliuering her selfe in the name of slaue S. Paul doth call himselfe and prize himselfe by this name when he (u) Rom. 1. sayth Paul the slaue of Iesus Christ And in a word so are al they who serue God to acknowledg themselues whether they be high or low vnles they be content that euen the seruice which they are doing proue to be of more preiudice then aduantage to them Procure therefore to profit by this truth and thou shalt find a powerfull remedy against the danger which groweth by occasion of good workes not (x) There is no danger in good workes but in the vanity of mans hart who doth them from the workes themselues but by the imperfection of such as do them And vse thou to say both with thy mouth and with thy hart very often I am (y) A iust and true acknowledgement which ought to be made by the hart and tongue of all true Christiās the slaue of God and I am so because God is that which he is and for a thousand millions of benefits which I haue receaued from his hand And how much soeuer I might do for him I should neuer be able to pay the least of those paces which he being made man did make for me nor the least of those torments which he endured for me nor the least sinne which he hath pardoned nor any other which he hath preuented
there heires in being made sinners by them and full of many other miseryes but by the second we are made the brethren of Christ and ioyntly the heires of heauen with him For the present we receyue the holy ghost but we hope hereafter to see God face to face Well (k) An ignorant most inexcusable errour then and what dost thou thinke that God will say to that person who shall prize himselfe more as being borne of men wherby he became a sinfull and miserable creature then for the being borne againe of God wherby he presently becommeth iust and may afterwardes be happy These (l) Note this comparison men are like to some one who being begotten by a King vpon the body of some most vgly slaue should prize himselfe for being her sonne and should talke much thereof and should neuer consider or remember himselfe to be the sonne of the King Forget therefore thy people that so thou mayst be of the people of God The wicked people is thyne owne and therefore it is sayd Forget thy people for of thy selfe thou art a sinner and a very vile one But if thou wilâ— shake of that which is thyne our Lord will receaue thee into that which is his into his nobility into his iustification into his loue but as long as thou wilt cleaue to thy selfe thou shall not be inriched by him Christ will haue thee all naked for he meaneth to giue thee a dowry and he hath where withall Of thy selfe thou hast nothing but to be full of debts Forget (m) We must forget our people more wayes theÌ„ one thy people That is forget to be a sinner and grow a stranger to thy ancient faults Forget thy people and set not so high a price vpon Nobility of bloud Forget thy people by casting all kind of tumult out of thy hart and make account that thou art in some desert hand to hand with Almighty God Forget in fine thy people since there are so many solide reasons why thou shouldst forget it CHAP. C. Wherin he beginneth to declare that other word And forget the house of thy Father And how much it importeth vs to fly from our owne will in imitation of Christ our Lord â—or the auoyding of those inconueniences which grow from thence THERE followeth heere another word which saith And forget the house of thy Father This Father is the (a) How the diuell may be called the Father of sinnefull men why Diuell for as S. Iohn saith He that committeth sinne is of the Diuell for the Diuell did sin from the beginning Not that he did create or beget wicked men but because they imitate his workes and he according to the holy Ghospell is said to be anothers Sonne who imitates the workes of that other This wretched Father liueth in the world that is in wicked men as it is written in (b) Iob. 4. Iob He sleepeth in the shaddow and in the hollow part of a reed and in moyst places A (c) A place of holy Scripture excellently pondered shaddow are the riches of this world For they giue not that rest which they promise but pricking the hart which cares like so many thornes the owners of them do find by experience that they are not true riches but they are a meere shaddow of riches and they are true pouerty and nothing lesse then that which their name doth pretend A (d) The vanity of transitory honour glory cane or reede is the glory of this world and how much the fairer and bigger it appeares exteriourly so much the more hollownes doth it hold Yea and euen that very exteriour is so very subiect to change that with reason it may be called a reede which declines at the commaundement of euery wind Moist (e) The basenes weaknes of men giuen ouer to worldly pleasures places are those soules which are dissolued by carnall pleasures after which they runne without any bridle Iust contrary to them of whome the holy ghospell saith That (f) Matt. 11. the vncleane spirit departing out of that man whome he had formerly inhabited goes seeking where he may be and he walkes his round through dry places desiring entertainment but findeth none For in soules which keepe a loofe from these carnall appetites the diuell cannot find a lodging but his place of aboad is in couetousnes ambition and sensuality Therefore is it that he is called the Prince of this world the ruler and the Lord thereof not still in any respect of his hauing created it but because wicked men who are of God by creation will needes be of the Diuell by imitation Conforming themselues to his will that so with iustice they may also be made conforme with him in the torments of hell as at the latter day it wil be sadly and plainly said to them by the mouth of Christ Go (g) Matt. 25. you cursed into euerlasting fire prepared for the Diuell and for his Angells And if we consider well what kind of thing this house of the Diuell is we shall find that it is the lewd will of wicked men wherein (h) How the Diuell is seated in a sinnefull will the diuell takes vp his seate as he would do in a chaire commaunding from thence the whole man To forget therefore thy Fathers house is no other thinge but to forget and to forsake thyne owne will wherein thou maiest haue sometimes giuen entertainment to this wicked Father and to imbrace insteed thereof the will of God with an entire and faithfull hart saying to him Thy will O Lord and not myne be done This admonition is one of the most profitable that can be giuen vs. For by casting away our will we shall put away our sinnes as (i) The will is the root and the sinne is the braunch braunches are cut off from the roote This (k) 2. Tim. 3. S. Paul doth note when recounting the multitude of sinnes which (l) These dayes of ours in the latter day would be committed he saith That men would be louers of themselues Giuing vs thereby to vnderstand as the commentary declareth That the inordinate loue of a mans selfe is the head and root of all sinnes and that vpon the taking away thereof a man growes to be in subiection to God from whome all his good proceedeth Againe (m) A most profitable consideration the cause of all our disgustes our melancholies and our affliction is no other thinge then our owne will which we would faine haue to be accomplished and when it is not we are in paine but this being taken away what is there that can trouble vs For (n) Note as much as sadnes doth not necessarily rise from the very comming of any troublesome thing towards vs but from our vnwillingnesse that it should come Nor is the paine alone of this world put away by the putting away of our will but of the other also For as S. Bernard saith Let
also thy inferiours so that yet the gouernement and order of the house be not disturbed thereby But yet if there be a necessity that thou shouldst command exteriourly at least hold thy selfe for inferiour in thy hart And for the doing of this with the more courage remember how our soueraigne Lord Maister did (k) Ioan. 13. kneele downe to the ground as if he had been an inferiour and subiect to wash the feet not only of them that loued him but of him who imployed those very feet being washed to giue vp into the hands of death that very man who had washed them with (l) The ineffable humility and chaof our Lord Iesus so great humility and loue Call this passage many tymes to mind and let the word which then he sayd be rooted in thy soule If I being your Lord and Maister haue washt your feet how much more ought you to wash the feet of one another And so loue thy inferiours which are in thy house as if thou wert their Father or Mother and labour for them as if thou wert their slaue taking the impertinency of their conuersation the superfluity of their speach yea and the iniurious works of their hands with patience Be not humble towards them who liue abroad and proud amongst them whome thou hast at home Practise vertue with them whome thou hast vnder thyne eye and neare at hand and make triall of thy selfe at home that thou mayst know how to conuerse abroad And remember that holy woman S. Catherine of Siena who was instructed by God and whose life I desire that thou shouldst read not to make thee couet her reuelations but to breed in thee an imitation of her vertues For although her parenas did hinder her in the way which she had taken towards the seruice of God she did neither trouble her selfe nor abandon them They cast her out of her little Oratory where she vsed to performe her deuotions and they appointed her to serue in the Kitchin But because she humbled her selfe and obeyed them she found God in the (m) God is euery where the rewarder of humility Kitchin as well or better then in her Oratory Do not torment thy selfe if at the time when thou hast a mind to pray thy parents or (n) He seemeth heere to meane the Ghostly Father Prelates would haue thee do somewhat else But offering that desire of thine to our Lord do that which is enioyned by thy Superiours with much humility and peace of mind being confident that in obeying thy superiours thou obeyest God it being so appoynted by him in his fourth commaundement Neyther yet is it forbidden hereby but that with humility thou mayst beseech thy parentes to allow thee some retired place some vacant time for thy spirituall exercises And first hauing begged it of our Lord haue thou so firme a trust in his goodnesse that whether it be graunted thee or no it shal be all for thy profit if thou take at from the hand of God with (o) Two partes worth the labouring for obedience and peace of mind And as for thy parentes they shall giue account to our Lord of that which they commaund thee and it shall be no superficiall account But thou art not to consider that let them looke to it for as S. Ambrose sayth It is a fauour of God and full of profit for a man to haue a sonne or daughter who will serue his diuine Maiesty in state of Virginity with contempt of the world by a particuler vocation to a spirituall life CHAP. CII That not all those thinges which we desire to do or demaund to haue are to be called a mans proper will how we may know what our Lord demaundeth at our handes IF thou haue well considered that which hath bin said to thee in those former wordes thou wilt easily haue perceiued that two thinges were recommended to thee The one The flying of thine owne will The other the following of the will of God Now for the declaration of these two thinges I must let thee know that for thee to desire or begge in particuler manner of Almighty God that he will deliuer thee out of any spirituall inconuenience whereof thou art most in danger or that he will impart some vertue to thee wherof thou art in particuler need is not any vicious act of thine owne will but it is a meanes that a good one to enable thee to fulfill the will of God who commaundeth vs to depart from euill and to do good For if thou obserue it well thy begging of a thing in particuler through (a) It is good to beg any particuler grace of our Lord in a particuler manner for so it will be done with more zeale the particuler necessity thereof wherein thou art doth help thee to aske it with greater efficacy and with a more profound sigh of thy hart which are meanes whereby God is induced the more easily to grant that which is desired Which very thing would not perhaps be graunted if it were asked with that tepidity which vseth to accompany requestes which are made in generall tearmes And this doctrine is agreable to the holy Scripture since our Lord himself doth teach vs in that prayer of the Pater Noster to aske things in particuler manner And so also did the Prophet Dauid as his particuler necessities did present themselues and so haue other Saints vsed to do when they asked any thing eyther for themselues or others And although the same may also be done whylest we are desiring temporall thinges of God as we reade of the (b) Marc. 10. blind man who begged his sight and of many others yet because nothing that is temporall deserueth to be much esteemed and the loue whereof doth vse to carry danger with it and the contempt whereof deserueth praise so great liberty is not giuen vs to discharge our hartes wholy in the desire and suite for such thinges as for spirituall although it be not ill done of vs to demaund temporall thinges so that it be without excesse of earnestnes and vnder this condition if it so be pleasing vnto our Lord. Concerning the accomplishment of the will of our Lord wherein consisteth all our good thou wilt aske perhaps How may I know what that is To which I answeare That (c) A certayne rule how to know what is the will of God whensoeuer the word or commaundement of God or of his Church doth ordaine any thinge thou art to make no further inquiry but to rest assured that it is the will of our Lord. And when there is no such expresse commaundment esteeme that to be of the same ranke which is imposed on thee by thy superiour if it do not euidently appeare to be against the law of God or of his Church or the light of Nature For since S. Paul (d) Rom. 1â— saith That although the superiour be an infidell yet the Christian man must obey him and
one must practise first the seruice of Christ and must haue recommended it to God and that very cordially both dayes and yeares least that be negligently performed which was not groundeâ—ly intertayned But when it is once vndertaken both in that manner and for the end that is fit the person who imbraceth it is to grow chearefull vpon it because it is a state of incorruption yet a state also it is of fertility For as the Blessed Virgin Mary who through her excellent and incomparable pure Virginity is called the Virgin of Virgins and is the patronesse of Virgins did both giue fruite and yet retained the floure of her purity so other Virgins if indeed they be true Virgins do giue fruit in their soules and yet haue enâ—iernesse in their bodies For this celestiall spouse of Christ Iesus is not like them of this world who despoile their spouses of their true beauty and integrity but he is so truely a conseruer of their beauty and so great a louer of their purity as that they may say to him with (d) The sweet S. Agnes virgin Martyr sayd so when she was but 13 yeares of age S. Agnes To him alone do I keepe my Faith to him alone do I recommend my selfe with entiere deuotion whome when I loue I am chast when I touch him I am pure and when I receiue him I am a Virgin Nor will there be wanting children as the fruit of such marriages as these wherof they are deliuered without torment and their fruitefullnes is euery day increased And this did S. Agnes say as one who had tasted the suauity of this celestiall espousall And (e) It is a shame to Virgins if they aspire not to the imbracemeÌ„t of their heauenly Spouse a confusion and that no small one it ought to be to a Virgin who calleth her selfe the spouse of Christ to haue no more taste of the qualities and sweet condition of her spouse then if she were a meere stranger to him O how many afflictions doth virginity preuent how many cares how much vnquietnes Some which the very state it selfe of Matrimony betweene persons who are made of flesh bloud doth necessarily bringe with it and others which grow from that vntoward disposition which is so often found eyther in the husband or in the wife Others agayne from the ill proofe of the children But (f) The great difference betweene a spiritual corporall marriage in our case all the children are Ioy Charity Peace and such others like to these which are recounted by (g) Gal. 5. S. Paul This spouse is full of goodnes he is peaceable rich wise beautifull and as his fellow Spouse saith in the (h) Cant. â— Canticles He deserueth to be wholy desired Doth it not therefore seeme to thee that this King doth an incomparable fauour to the persoÌ„ whom he taketh I say not for a slaue or seruant but for a spouse Doth it not seeme to thee a good exchange of a birth with torment into a birth with ioy of Children which afflict with care to Children which are full of comfort yea and such as bring their dowry in their handes which is both honour and pleasure Verily sayd S. Hierome when he was speaking to the mother of a certaine virgin I cannot vnderstand the reason why thou shouldst be angry with thy daughter for refusing to be the wife of a particuler Cauallier that so she might be espoused to a (i) Christ our Lord. King by meanes whereof she hath made thee the mother-in law of Christ It doth therefore now but remaine O Virgin that thou take comfort in the state which our Lord of his goodnes hath called thee to And that thou haue care to be that very thinge to him which thou shouldest be And be no more fearefull of thine owne weakenes then thou art confident in our Lord that he will perfect that in thee which he hath begunne That (k) The middle way is the right way betweene feare and hope till we arriue to the iorneyes end which is perfect loue so neither the fauour that he hath done thee do intoxicate thee with any giddy kind of gladnesse nor yet the thought of the much thou owest him draw thee down into any dismay But walke thou on betweene feare and hope till the feare be taken away by that perfect loue which is found in heauen And hope also may be then dismissed when we shall haue (l) The very visioÌ„ of God and that for euer that thing present with vs which heere we hoped for and so as that we haue no more feare to loose it CHAP. CVI. Of foure conditions which are requisite for the making of any thinge beautifull and how all of them are wanting to a soule that is in sinne VVE haue made a long digression from the question that we asked How the soule could come by such beauty as that God should be drawne to a desire of it But the cause of this digression was the doubt of our conceauing that the King perhaps might care for the beauty of the Body Let vs now returne to our purpose Thou art to know that for the making a thing to be of perfect beauty foure conditions are necessary The first That it must haue all the parts that belongeth to it for if any of them be wanting as a hand or foot or the like it cannot be tearmed beautyfull The second is that one part haue proportion with another and if it be the picture of any life it must be made very like the originall The third is that it must haue purity of colour The fourth that it must haue a competency of greatnes For that which is little though it be well proportioned will not arriue to be absolutly accompted beautifull Now if (a) Euery soule that is in state of sinne is out right deformed we consider all these conditions in a soule that is sinfull we shall finde that it hath no one of them Not completenes because if it want either faith or charity and the giftes of the holy Ghost which it was to haue that cannot be called beautifull to which so many thinges are wanting Againe one part thereof carryeth no proportion to another for neither doth sense obey reason nor reason God Especially considering that the soule being created after the image of God it was reason that for the preseruation of her beauty she should haue resembled her Originall in vertue as shee doth in the naturall being which she hath But now God being good and the soule being wicked God being pure and the soule polluted God being milde and the soule impatient and so in the rest how can there be beauty in that image which is so vnlike to the originall As for the third which is a certaine spiritual light of grace the notions which are to refresh as it were reuiue the beauty of the soule as colours do of the body they are also wanting to
the bloud of Christ our Lord. CONSIDER then how deformed the spot is which sinne doth cause and how farre we are to fly from it since being once receiued into the soule it could neither be washed away by the shedding of so much bloud as was offered in the Temple by the commaundment of God himselfe nor could all the force of man arriue vnto it And if that beautifull and deare (a) Christ our Lord. Word of God had not come downe to beautify vs the deformity of sinne would for euer haue remained in vs. But that lambe without spot comming downe he had the power and he had the way and he had the will to put away these spotts he destroyed our deformity and he endewed vs with beauty And to the end that thou mayest see with how much conueniency the Sonne of God rather then God the Father or the holy Ghost was to be he that should beautify our deformed soules with his bloud Consider that as Eternity is attributed to the Father and Loue to the holy Ghost so to the Sonne of God as God is attributed Beauty because he is most (b) The first quality of Beauty prefect and without the least defect and he is the (c) The second quality of Beauty image of the Father as S. Paul (d) Heb. 1. saith and so liuely an one that in regard he is engendred by way of the vnderstanding he is to all purposes as his Father who gaue him the same essence that himselfe hath in such sort as that he (e) Ioan. 14. who seeth him seeth the Father as the holy ghospell saith Now by reason of this proportion betweene the Sonne and the Father which is so absolute most iustly is beauty ascribed to him since the image is taken in so liuely a maner out of the originall Light (f) The third quality of Beauty is not wanting to him for he is called the Worde which is a thing engendred by the vnderstanding and in that vnderstanding as S. Iohn (g) Ioan. 1. saith which was true light Greatnes is not (h) The fourth quality of beauty wanting to him since he is infinitly immense and therefore was it conuenient that this beautifull God by whom we were made wheÌ„ we were not should come to restore vs when we were lost and who apparaylling himselfe with our flesh should take vpon him the resemblance of our deformity and so imparte to vs the excellency of his owne beautie And although neither our being punished or spoken faire was able to free vs from our spots yet was the valew so great of the punishing of that beautiful person that the sharp salpetre of his passion falling vpoÌ„ his shoulders there distilled downe vpon vs the sweet dew of his whitnesse And howsoeuer God doth say to the sinner Although (i) Hier. 12. thou wash thy selfe with salpetre with the Fullers hearbe thou shalt not be cleane yet telling vs that he would send a remedy against this spot he sayth in another place If thy sinnes be as red as scarlet they shal be made white like snow and if they shal be as red as bloud they shall become whyte like woll Very truly well did Dauid belieue this when he (k) Ps 50. sayd Thou shalt sprinkle me O Lord with (l) The inward meaning of this place deliuered â—yssope and I shal be cleane thou shalt wash me and I shall become more white then snow Hyssope is a litle hearbe and somewhat hot and hath the property to purge the lunges wherby we breath This hearbe they brought to a wand of Cedar they tyed it thereunto with a string of crimson double died And so being bound togeather they called it that Hyssope wherewith when first it had beene steeped in bloud and water and then with water and ashes they sprinkled both leaprous persons and such as had touched any dead body and thereupon they were held for cleane Full well knew Dauid that neither the herbe nor the Cedar nor the bloud of birdes or beastes nor yet water or ashes could giue any cleannesse to the soule although it were figured by them And therfore he desired not God that he would take into his hand a branch of Hyssope sprinkle him with it but (m) That hysop was a figure of the humility and Passion of Christ our Lord. he sayth so in respect of the humanity and humility of Iesus Christ our Lord which is called an herbe because it grew from the earth of the Blessed Virgin Mary and because he was begotten without the help of man as the flower springeth in the field which is neither plowed nor sowed For this it is that he sayth I am (n) Can. 2. the flower of the field And this her be is called little for the meanenesse which he tooke vpon himselfe in the world so far forth as to say A (o) Psal 21. worme I am and no man the dishonour of men and the very out-cast of the people This (p) The passion of our Lord is the only soueraign cure of pride humbled flesh of our Lord is such a remedy against the puffe of our foolish pride as that it may be cured by this so great humility since there is no colour for a worme to exalt it self when the King of Maiesty is so abased And forget not that Hyssope is hot For Christ by the fire of that loue which was burning in the roots of his hart was pleased to abase himself to purge vs thereby to make vs know that if he who was so high did abase himselfe how much reason there is why we who haue so true cause to abase our selues should not by our selues be exalted And if God be humble how much more should a man be so This (q) Of our Lord Iesus flesh so full of true phisicke was then put to the sticke of a Cedar when it was placed vpoÌ„ the crosse tyed by that delicate thrid of wooll twice died For although the nayles which fastned thereunto his handes and feete were hard and great and long inough yet if the thrid of his ardent loue had not fastned him to that crosse and vnles he had been willing to deliuer vp his life for the killing of our death those nayles would not haue beene strong inough for such a businsse So that it was not they but the loue he bare vs that held him there And (r) The double aspect which was carryed by the loue of our Lord the reparation of Gods honour and the remission of mans sin this loue carryed a double aspect as crimson which is double died for he suffered that which he suffered to satisfy for the honour of his father who was offended by our sinnes and for the loue of sinners who were lost thereby CHAP. CIX That the sacred humanity of Christ our Lord was figured in the gaâ—â—ent of the high Priest and in the veyle which God commaunded Moyses to make
ariue to repose in thee Now the reason why he passeth through such want and pouerty is declared by S. Paul who saith You know well O brethren the grace which our Lord Iesus Christ imparted to vs who being rich did make himselfe poore for vs that so we might grow rich by his pouerty And the while thou seest that the first condition of beauty which was to be complete is altogeather hidden and as it were dissembled by him since to him there was so much wanting vpon earth who in heauen was abundance it selfe If now thou wilt consider the second condition of the Beautifull word of God which is to be (d) The second condition of the beauty of our Lord was hidden by him in the passiō the most perfect image of his Father and proportionable to him and equall to him thou wilt find that on earth he dissembled this condition no lesse then the former For tell me what is the Father but Strength Wisdome Honour Beauty Bounty Ioy and such other excellencies which all togeather do make vp an infinite Good Well then do thou place on the one side this admirable Originall which is all glorious in it selfe adored by the Angells and (c) If euer thou wilt lend me thy attention and thy compassion I beg it now then call to mind that passage which in reason ought to passe yea and passe through the most internall partes of our very soules when this beautiful image of the Father Iesus Christ our Lord was brought out from the Tribunall of Pilate most cruelly scourged and vested with a purple robe and tormented with that crowne which was of scorne in their eyes that saw it and of insufferable payne in him that felt it His hands in the meane tyme were bound and a Cane or Reed was put into them His eyes full of teares and of bloud with all which ran downe from his head His cheeks pale and wanne and full also of bloud and defiled vvith filthy spittle vvhich they had darted out vpon his face And vnder this paine and shame vvas he brought out to be seeme by all the people and thus it vvas said Behold the man And this vvas done to the end that his shame might increase in being seene by them and that compassion might once grovv in their hartes vvhen they perceaued in vvhat case he vvas and so they might giue ouer the persecution of a man vvhō they saw in such a passion But (f) Infinit patience and loue of our Lord and inscrutable malice of the wicked Iewes O vvith hovv wicked eyes did they behold the paines of him vvho yet did feele more paine for their perdition then for those very paines of his owne since insteed of quenching that fire of their frantike malice with the water of the dishonour which they saw him in it burned but more and more like wild-fyre which burnes in water They would not hearken to that worde which was said to them by Pilate Behold the man for they cared not for seeing him there but sayd that they would see him vpon a Crosse But thou at least O soule which art redeemed by the torments of Christ do thou hearken and let all of vs hearken to this word Behold the man least otherwise we grow aliens from the redemption of Iesus Christ if we cannot find in our harts to be mindfull and gratefull to him in respect of them When we (g) A consideration which wil pierce the harts of al such as hauethen◠not of flint bring forth any thing to the end that it may be seene we are wont to dresse it the best we can that so it may enamoure the lookers on And when we bring forth any thing that we would haue to be feared we set it out with a shew of Armes Trophees and we accompany it with such other thinges as may make them tremble that behold it And when we make any representation that should moue a man to tears we apparail it in mourning and we giue it all those additions that may induce men to sorrow Then tell me what was the intention of Pilate in drawing Christ our Lord into the view of the people It was certainely not to make them loue him nor to make them feare him and therefore they did neither beautify him nor set him out with Guardes Caualliers but he brought him forth to appease the cruell harts of the Iewes by that spectacle of our Redeemer And this was not to be done by the way of loue For well did Pilate know hovv cordially and profoundly they abhorred him but he had a desire to pacify them euen by the pure force of those excessiue torments which were indured by that delicate body of his so much to his cost For this it was that Pilate did dresse Christ our Lord with such a dressing of torments which were both so many and so great as might haue serued to moue compassion in al such as saw him how much soeuer they did detest him It (h) No Christian soule can doubt of this is therefore to be belieued that he brought him forth the most afflicted the most abased and the most dishonoured that he could deuise Making it his study how to deforme him as one would study to beautify and adorne some gallant birde that so he might appease the wrath of such as hated him since he found by experience that he could not do it by other meanes And now tell me if Christ was brought forth in such a fashion as might haue serued to quench the fire of hate in their harts that abhorred him how (i) It is more thē reason mightily is it reason that the sight and shew of him should kindle the fire of loue in their harts who know him to be God and who confesse him to be their Redeemer Isay the (k) Isa 5◠Prophet saw this passage long before it was brought to effect And being in contemplation of our Lord he sayd He (l) Heere giue thyn eares and thy hart to God hath no beauty nor delicacy we haue seene him and there was nothing to be seene in him and we desired to haue him despised and the most abased thing amongst men a man of griefe and who did euen possesse the knowledg of torments His face was as if it were hidden and despised and therefore we had him in no estimation It was truely he that bare our infirmityes and himselfe did suffer our paynes and we esteemed of him as some leaprous person and as stroken by the hand of God and so deiected If thou wilt weigh these wordes of Isay one by one thou wilt easily see how the beauty of Christ was all concealed in that day of his affliction for the beautifying of vs. The (m) Heere see the different christ our Lord grew to be from himselfe and it was all for our sakes Spouse speaking to Christ doth say in the (n) Cant. 5. Canticles Thou art faire thou
art sweet O my beloued and heere Isay sayth That he hath neither sweetnes nor beauty and he whose face is beheld with such attention and ardent desire by the Angells is heere affirmed not to be worth the looking on And he who at his entrance into the world was by commaundment of the Father adored (o) Heb. 9. by all the Angells is now at his going out of it despised by the basest of men Dauid sayth of Christ That (p) Psalm 88. he is exalted aboue all the workes of the handes of God and Isay sayth That he is the most abased amongst men And (q) Be attentiue if this had beene yet deliuered by way of comparing him with some worthy persons the reproach would not haue beene so great But what wilt thou say if being put in ballance with a Barabbas that robber that murtherer that sedicious man they hold him better then Christ who is the giuer of life it selfe and the maker of all the peace that is made betweene his Father and the world And so farre off he was from taking away any thing which belonged to others as that he payed what he had neuer taken There was no cause why Christ should suffer any payne since the cause of payne is the sinne which came into the world but yet Isay calleth him heere The very man of greife which signifyeth that he did strangely abound therein For although by experience he knew not vvhat belonged to vvicked pleasure yet vvas he the man who knew vvell vvhat did belong to rigorous payne because he felt it And that in so full a measure as that he sayth by the mouth of â—auid My soule is very full of payne Christ is called (r) The third condition of beauty was all hidden in christ our Lord in the tyme of his sacred passion light because he did by his admirable vvordes and works giue ioy and driue darkenesse out of the vvorld but this light sayth Isay had the countenance thereof almost all hidden For if he be looked vpon vvith the eyes of flesh and bloud I know not vvho wil be able to recouer him by his countenance through the excessiuely yll that they had treated him before Which is the lesse to be marueyled at because although the virgin vvho be blessed for euer and vvho was vpon that day the most (s) The vnspeakable griefe of our B. Lady whose holy soule was pierced through with the sword of sorrow according to the prophesy of Sâ—mâ—oÌ„ afflicted of vvomen had brought him forth into the vvorld and swathed him and vsed to behold her selfe in his face as in a most pure and perfect glasse yet I easily belieue that if she was present at that spectacle of so excessiue sorrow she would looke and looke againe with as great attention as the teares of her eyes and the bitter greife of her wounded hart would giue her leaue to see if that were her most blessed Sonne who now was growne to be of a complexion and a fashion so very different from that which formerly she had obserued in him And (t) Anoother point which is also highly to be considered if they who saw our Lord had belieued that he endured all that not because himselfe did owe it but because he loued them who were true debters to the iustice of God it might haue giuen some ease to the paynes of Christ but what shall wee be able to say since Isay telleth vs That they held him for a man who was deiected and stroken by the hande of God For they thought that God abased him so for his sinnes and that he deserued all that and a great deale more and therefore they desired that he might be crucifyed So that for as much as concerned his exteriour they tooke off their eyes from looking on him For they did loath the sight as of a leaprous person and in their harts they held him for a most wicked man and worthy both of that misery and more A strange and lamentable thing it was that if they looked towards him they did spit withal if they looked not it was because they had some mighty auersion as men would haue from the sight of some vgly thing That which they spake of him was most reproachfull language which might afflict him no lesse then his very paines and yet they said that he had not all which he had deserued and that therefore he was to be nailed to the Crosse CHAP. CXI Of the many and wonderfull thinges which our Lord did draw out of that greatest wickednesse which they committed who murthered Christ and of the seueral effects which these wordes Behold the man being spoken by Pilate and preached by the Apostles haue brought to passe in the world VVHO is he that will not wonder and giue praise to God for his infinite wisdome who by so strange a meanes could redeeme the world drawing the greatest blessinges out of the most wicked sinnes that euer were committed by men What more impious thinge eyther was or euer can be committed in the world then to dishonour prophane torment and crucify the Sonne of God But yet on the other side from what other thinge hath there growne so much benefit to the same world as by this blessed Passion there hath done It was then conceaued that when Pilate bestowed such a dressing of torments vpon this spouse that he had dressed him only but to haue bin seene by the eyes of that people But he dressed him as it proued to be seen by the eyes of the whole world (a) God can serue himselfe as well of them that offend him as of them that loue him doing seruice thereby although himselfe knew not of it to that which God had promised so (b) Isa 52. long before by saying All mankind shall see the saluation of God And this saluation is Christ Iesus to whome the Father said I do not much esteeme that thou shouldst awake the tribes of Iacob to serue me and conuert the dregges of Israel to me I (c) Isa 49. gaue thee for a light to the Gentills that so thou mightst be my (d) That is the Sauiour of my people saluation to the vttermost partes of the earth Christ Iesus in person did only preach to the sheepe of the house of Israel which had perished and afterward his holy Apostles did beginne to preach to the same people of Israel and they conuerted some but not all the Iewes and therefore they are called dregges But the saluation of the Father which is Christ did not stay only with the people of the Iewes but (c) The fayth of Christ was spred into the world by the Apostles and it is still spreading in the furthest corner thereof by Apostolicall men sallied out into the world when it was preached by the Apostles so also at this day is the preaching of the name of Christ stretching it selfe out to the Nations which are furthest of that so he
it treateth the cittizens therof and of the sad end which they all shall haue pag. 503. Chap. 99. Of the vanity of being nobly borne and that such persons must not bragge thereof as desire to be of the kindred of Christ pag. 512. Chap. 100 VVherein he beginneth to declare that other word And forget the house of thy Father And how much it importeth vs to fly from our owne will in imitation of Christ our Lord for the auoyding of those inconueniences which grow from thence pag. 517. Chap. 102. Of a kind of practise in the denying of our owne will and of the obedience that vve owe to our Superiours which is a way how to obtayne the abnegation of our will and how a superiour is to carry himselfe with his subiects pag. 522. Chap. 102. That not all those thinges which we desire to do or demaund to haue are to be called a mans proper will how we may know what our Lord demaundeth at our handes pag. 5.7 Chap. 103. VVherein he beginneth to declare that word which sayth And the King will desire thy beauty And how great a matter it is that God should be content to place his loue vpon a man And that this is no corporall beauty how dangerous such kind of beauty is pag. 530. Chap. 104. That the dignity of being a spouse of Iesus Christ requireth that great care be had in all things of the example which they are to booke vpon both in the exteriour in the interiour of their soule vvho haue a desire to enioy this dignity pag. 538. Chap. 105. That the dignity of this State must not dismay Virgins for as much as their Spouse vvho is our Lord doth giueÌ„ them that vvhich is necessary for it And of the aduise by which they are to vndertake it of the cheerfulnes wherewith they are to vndergoe it of the great blessings vvhich are contayned in it pag. 540. Chap. 106. Of foure conditions vvhich are requisite for the making of any thing beautifull how aâ—t of of them are wanting to a soule that is in sin pag. 545. Chap. 107. How the deformity of sinne is so wickâ—d a thinge as that no force or law of Nature or of Scripture were sufficient to abolish it but only Iesus Christ in vertue of whome sinne was euer taken away grace was giuen pag. 547. Chaâ— 108. That Christ our Lord taketh away the deformity of the soule by his bloud that it was conuenient that rather the Sonne should become man then either the Father or the holy Ghost of the great force of the bloud of Christ our Lord. pag. 550. Chap. 109. That the sacred humanity of Christ our Lord was figured in the garment of the high Priest in the veile which God commaunded Moyses to make And what that was which Dauid begged when he desired to sprinckled with Hyssope that he might so be cleansed pag. 555. Chap. 110. How Christ did as it were dissemble those foure conditions of his beauty so to make vs beautifull to which purpose there is a passage of the Prophet Isay declared pag. 557. Chap. 111. Of the many wonderfull things which our Lord did draw out of that greatest wickednes which they committed who murthered Christ of the seuerall effects which these wordes Behold the man being spoken by Pilate preached by the Apostles haue brought to passe in the world pag. 566. Chap. 112. How great reason it is that we should behold this man Christ with those eyes wherewith many of them to whome the Apostles preached did behold him that so we may grow beautifull And that this beauty is giuen vs through his grace and not through our owne merits pag. 572. Chap. 113. Wherein is prosecuted the way that we are to take in beholding of Christ how he is beautifull in all thinges and that those thinges which in our Lord seeme vgly to the eyes of flesh bloud such as are troubles and torments be of great beauty pag. 578. FINIS