saying O admirable humility of Christ our Lord that to a contemptible and defeated man without strength or health in any part of his body whom the Priests of the lawe would haue despised and disdained euen so much as to touch our most Bâ—nigne Lord was content to giue the name of Sonne There came to Christ our Lord Marc. 5. Luc. 8. a woman who had a fluxe of blood she touched the skirt of his garment and remained whole and our Lord hauing brought her forth to light and she hauing confessed the benefit which she had receiued our Lord said publickly to her daughter thy faith hath made thee whole go in peace He honoured her by calling her daughter and by attributing her cure to her owne faith making her rich with Peace and ioy of heart which was an effect of the pardon of her sinnes and of the grace he gaue her And thus by honouring the paraliticke with the name of Sonne and this womaÌ„ by the name of daughter we see it was no particular priuiledge which he gaue to this or that person onely but that it was the coÌ„moÌ„ stile which our most benigne Lord vsed honouring with this name such meane and poore meÌ„ and woemen as came to him for any helpe His disciples being poore and meane and very full of defects at such time as he conuersed with them in mortall flesh sometimes he called Sonnes yea and at some other times he would call them by that diminitiue whereby fathers call their sonnes little children to vnfould so much the more that sweetnes of loue wherwith he called them Sonnes At other times he would call them Friends and after the ResurrectioÌ„ when the glory of his sacred Humanity and the Maiesty of his Diuinity was more discouered he called them his Brothers when he spake of them to others in their absence For once he said to S. Mary Magdalene Goe tell my brethren I ascend to my Father and to your Father And againe he said to the Maries Goe tell my brethren that they are to goe into Galilea and that they shall see mee there All these are titles of great honour and glory and that our Lord should vse them towards men who were so meane and poore and at a time when still they were so imperfect and especially that he did it after they had quite forsaken him in his Passion was an effect of extreme Benignity in him THE XII CHAPTER Of other examples which Christ out Lord gaue vs of his Benignity in the same kinde CHrist our Lord preaching in a Sinagogue Luc. 13. they placed a woman who was deformedly bent downe to the grouÌ„d by that diuell wherewith she was possessed Now he hauing cured her they calumniated him in respect that he had done it vpon the Sabboth and he defending his miracle from that slander said Which of you will not vpon a Sabboth day let your oxe or asse be vntyed and carryed to the waters If this may well be done how much more is it conuenient to vntie the bond of sickenes wherby Satan had bound vp this daughter of Abraham although it were vpon the Sabboth day That title of the whole world which was most honourable amongst the Iewes and whereby they prised themselues and wherin they gloried most was to be called the sonnes of Abraham and so vpon a certaine occasion when they were disposed to magnify this honour they said to Christ Wee are the sonnes of Abraham And whereas it had beene curtesy enough towards that woman if Christ our Lord had said It had been conuenient to free this afflicted Woman from that misery or to deliuer this miserable creature from that infirmity he could not content himselfe therwith but was resolued to honour her with the most glorious name which could be vsed amoÌ„gst the Iewes by saying This daughter of Abraham this woman who according to the extraction of flesh and blood is desceÌ„ded of Abraham yea and in the way of spirit also for she is an imitatour of his faith When Christ our Lord receiued that message Ioh. 11. concerning the sicknes of Lazarus and being resolued vpon his death which succeeded within few daies after to raise him vp againe to life he said to his disciples Our friend Lazarus sleepes and I will goe waken him It had been enough and more then enough for a Lord of so great Maiesty to haue said Lazarus sleepeth or since he would needes doe him honour to say Lazarus my seruant or Lazarus whose guest I haue been sleepeth and with this he had done him much honour Yet his enamoured heart could not content it selfe with this but he would needes passe on and say our friend Lazarus which is a word of the greatest curtesy and honour For if it goe for a point of high honour to be accounted the friend of an earthly Kinge and for a great fauour and regalo to any vassaile that a King should call him by that name what honour must it be for a mortall man to be accounted a friend by Christ our Lord the Kinge of heauen and what kinde of felicity and comfort must it be to be called so by Christ our Lord himselfe and that not in complement but from the very rootes of his heart And so Christ our Lord honouring Lazarus with this word of friend did also honour his disciples equalling them with himselfe and making them his companions in the friendship of Lazarus and declaring that they were all his friends This Benignity which Christ our Lord did vse both in word and deed whilest yet he liued in mortall flesh hath been also vsed by him since he ascended vp to heauen towards many seruants of his to whom he hath seuerally appeared And leauing many examples of Saints to whom he hath done it sometimes in the forme of a childe and sometimes of a most beautifull young man sometimes of a most glorious person and hath honoured and comforted them both with words and deedes of must sweet loue Wee will speake here of one admirable apparition and that of great authority whereof we haue made some mention elswhere to another purpose and in respect it was vouchsaffed to a person of very meane quality it doth so much the more disclose the Benignity of Christ our Lord and makes vs the more confident of his goodnes Saint Paulinus Bishop of Nola relateth how certaine ships going from Sardinia towards Italy grew into a great tempest close by the Iland and the rest of them breaking and sinking there one of them which was fraught with corne did not split but yet was extremely ill treated by the storme The marriners did all leaue her and left also in her an old poore man of Sardinia who was yet no Christian but had begun to be catechised in that faith and it was his office to clense and pumpe the ship When the maÌ„ obserued him selfe to be alone and in a ship which had neither anker nor sterne for she had lost all in
silent and he discouered the Benignity and sweetnes of his immēse charity towards his enemies since he obeyed them who had noe right of commaundmēt ouer him and satisfied their demandes who were so vnworthy of all answere Let vs follow the example of Benignity which here our most blessed Lord and Sauiour giues vs and not onely let vs loue our enemies as wee haue already shewed but let vs also be benigne towards them and let vs grant them what they desire when it may lawfully be done condescending to their disposition and inclination in lawfull thinges and speaking to them humbly and modesty and shewing them the loue of our hearts and the desire wee haue to giue them gust and contentment in such things as are agreable to the wil of God This doth our Lord himselfe expect and aduise vs to by Saint Luke saying Loue your enemies and do good to them and if they desire to borrow money of you or any other thing affoard it without hoping after any interest And when there is need giue with a free hand without expecting any other reward then of Almighty God and so the reward which God wil giue you for such workes will be very abundant and great For you shall be the sonnes of the most high God who is benigne euen to men who are vngratefull and wicked and though they be vnworthy of his benefits and breakers of his cōmaundments worthy of eternall torments yet he ceaseth not to doe them good THE XI CHAPTER Of the Benignity which wee are to vse towards our neighbours doing them honour by good wordes and of the examples which Christ our Lord gaue vs herein THe vertue of Benignity requires that a man should be courteous and well mannered in the wordes he speaketh of his neighbour and that both in presence and absence he doe him honour by his manner of speech For Benignity maketh a man sweet and ciuill in his discourse and cōuersation sticking close to the end of charity which is a spirituall and eternall good And a principall part of this sweet conuersation doth consist in that the wordes be ciuill and curteous whereby wee may honour our neighbour according to the quality of his person and state and for this reason a man who vseth curtesy is called benigne and gentle and he adorneth his neighbour with good wordes There are men who being gouerned by a spirit of this world or els by their naturall condition not corrected by reason vse to speake of their neighbours with little estimation of them when there is a latitude of giuing thē a title more honourable they giue him the least they can so it be without offence to the quality of his person And whereas they might treate them in better termes they proceed in such sorte as to shew little estimation of them and so they trouble and greiue them And especially they speake of their neighbours when they are absent in wordes which shew they make little account of them and thereby they thinke to exalt themselues to make thēselues more esteemed by others but they are deceiued For in that they do not the thing which is required by charity which is benigne and sweet they obtaine not that which they pretend which is to be esteemed and honoured but they are despised and dispraised for it For estimation springeth from loue and if you loue a man you esteeme him and so on the other side contempt springeth from hate and to abhorre a man is to despise him And so when a man is wel conditioned and curteous in his wordes towards his neighbours he is generally beloued and for the same reason all men respect esteeme and honour him for they loue a man who loueth them and they esteem honour such as esteem and honour them But when a man is discourteous in his wordes and appeareth to make small account of his neighbours he is abhorred by all men or if they doe not abhorre his person yet they abhorre his condition discourteous language and for the same reason he is little accounted of and despised by all This is taught vs by holy scripture saying A sweet and gentle word doth reconcile and winne the hearts of men and makes thē their friends and multiplieth others and doth sweeten appease enemies and a benigne and gratious tōgue doth abound in a good man The meaning is it produceth an abūdant fruite in the heart of others mouing them also to be benigne and to speake gently sweetly to such as speake gently sweetly to them The holy Ghost saith of the seruant of God that he is well mannered and curteous in his wordes and this is that diuine fruite which he produceth in his neighbours to make them meek and Benigne as himselfe is And of him on the other side who is rude discurteous in his words the Holy Ghost also saith The stroke of a whippe maketh the flesh blacke and blew but the blow of an ill tongue breakes the bones that is to say it doth many times hurt and wound the soule in such sort as to cause is to fall into sorrow and impatience hatred wherby the strength and vigour of that grace and vertue which it had is lost This hurt doth a discurteous vnmannerly word which wanteth Benignity produce in the soule of man Of this kinde of Benignity in speech Christ our Lord did leaue vs most excellent examples in his holy Ghospell They brought him one day a man in his bed who was a paralitike breaking through the roofe of the house they placed him before him Mat. 9. and our Lord behoulding the faith of them who brought him did him so particular a fauour that he efficaciously moued him to a great sorrow for his sinnes and to haue faith in our Lord confidence that he should be forgiuen And being then in so good a disposition he pardoned them and so he declared himselfe to doe by saying Sonne thy sinnes are forgiuen thee This man being so miserable in his corporal state and being so base of condition as that he might without shame carry his couch vpon his backe and being a sinfull man besides for as Saint Hierome notes he had contracted his disease by his sinnes and coming to the presence of our Lord with the vncleannes of those sinnes by the waight whereof he was oppressed for there they appeared to haue been takē from him by our Lord the same Lord being the creator of all things did yet call him Sonne which is a title of great sweetnes of loue and sheweth such equality in condition as runnes between fathers sonnes So high a Lord doth honour and exalt so base a man so farre that in some sort he maketh him equall to his Angells and Saints by giuing him the name and title of his Sonne For this is the great dignity honour which Saints and Angels haue to be the sonnes of the most high God So doth S. Hierome note
all that which may giue him any disgust or paine And so Benignity falls out to be the act and exercise of Charity with that perfection which wee haue declared and interiourly it embraceth the act of beneuolence and loue and exteriourly the exercise of beneficence liberality affability and of all sweetnes in conuersation It is also one of the fruites of the Holy Ghost For an act of vertue in regard that it proceedeth froÌ„ thence and giueth gust to him who performeth it is called a fruite and therefore Benignity being an act of Charity and causing delight in him by whom it is possessed is accounted amongst the fruits of the Holy Ghost All this is confessed by the Saints when they speake of Benignity Saint Isidorus saith That man is said to be Benigne who doth good with a good will and vseth sweetnes in his wordes And Saint Anselmus declaring what Benignity is saith thus Benignity is a good affection of the will a serenity of heart in vertue whereof a man doth for Gods sake giue all he can after a gratious and cheerfull manner and discourseth and conuerseth gently and sweetly with his neighbours And Saint Thomas explicating the nature of Benignity saith that it is the very sweetnes tendernes of Charity which spreads communicates it self exteriourly that as natural fier doth melt mettel make it flow so the fier of loue which is Benignity maketh a maÌ„ scatter what he hath towards the succour of the necessities of his neighbours This is that which the Saints say of Benignity and the summe of it all is this that it is the tendernes of Charity which doth not only communicate a mans exteriour goods to his neighbour but together with them it communicates his owne very bowells which is to discouer both by wordes and workes the dearnes sweetnes of Charity The Apostle declareth this by saying Charity is Benigne Which signifieth that it makes the man who possesseth it not to be straight handed but apt to communicate his goods and not to be harsh or bitter but that he communicate euen his very hart by conuersing with all men after an affable and sweet manner And to giue vs to vnderstand this truth the holy Scripture doth by one the selfe same Hebrew and Greeke word which signifieth Benignity in doing good signify also a softnes and sweetnes in the manner of shewing mercy And so whereas Dauid saith Our Lord is sweet towards all another letter saith Our Lord is benigne towards all And whereas he saith That maÌ„ is gentle sweet who sheweth mercy another translation saith The man who sheweth mercy is Benigne And therfore S. Basil when he would explicat what it was for a man to be Benigne saith that it is he who doth liberally enlarge himselfe to doe good to all such as are in necessity And he confirmeth it by that Psalme which saith Our Lord is benigne towards all and by that other which also saith That a man is Benigne who sheweth mercy and imparteth his goods to such as are in necessity In this Benignity did Christ our Lord instruct vs and perswade vs to it by many examples Mysteries of his holy life which wee wil eÌ„deauour to declare The first and principall Mystery wherein he discouered his Benignity was that of his Incarnation In that the most high sonne of God was pleased to become a naturall man to appeare visibly in the world in mortall flesh obnoxious to the miseries and penalties of other men and in that he did all this to doe good to man and to draw him to his loue and so to saue him not onely did he discouer an immense loue towards vs but a loue which was also most sweet and dear And not onely did he communicate his blessings to vs but he also did it with supreme liberality and gust and ioy of his owne sacred heart And together with his blessings he communicated to vs his very selfe namly his body his blood his blessed soule and his diuinity and all that which he hath yea and euen all that which he is he communicated to vs by many admirable mysterious waies This did the Apostle signify by saying WheÌ„ in the time of grace the Benignity immeÌ„se loue of our God and Sauiour to man did manifest it selfe to the world he saued and freed vs from our sinnes not by the title of Iustice and the merit of our workes which were not of any valew without Christ our Lord for the arriuing to that end but through his owne great mercy and most gratious bouÌ„ty and by meanes of that sacred Lauatory which is holy Baptisme whereby wee are engendred a second time to be the sonnes of God and renewed by a spirituall generation renouation which is wrought by the holy Ghost which Holy Ghost the eternall Father hath by meanes of his gifts and graces infused and coÌ„municated to vs in great abundaÌ„ce through the merits of Christ our Lord to the end that being iustified through the grace of the same Lord wee might from this instant become heires of eternall life which now wee hould by certaine hope and which hereafter wee shall haue in actuall possession This is deliuered by Saint Paule And Saint Bernard vpon these words declaring that Benignity of God which was discouered in this Mystery discourseth thus Before the humanity of Christ our Lord appeared in the word the Benignity of God was hidden from vs. There was already in God this Benignity mercy which in him is eternall but so great Benignity as this was not knowen before nor was there any meanes how to to know it And although it were promised by the Prophets yet men vnderstood it not and felt it not and many did not so much as beleeue it But when that time arriued which had been ordained by the diuine wisedome Almighty God came in mortall flesh and being vested with his sacred Humanity and appearing to the eyes of our flesh blood his Benignity came to be made knowne for by no meanes could he more haue manifested his Benignity then by taking our flesh and by no meanes could he more haue declared his mercy then by vndertaking our misery Let maÌ„ consider and vnderstand from hence how great care God hath of him and how much he esteemeth him and for how mighty an end he made him since he did and suffered so great thinges for him And thus by this Humanity wee may know his Benignity for how much the lesse he became by his Humanity so much the greater doth he shew himselfe to be in bounty and by how much the more he abased himselfe for vs so much the more amiable doth he shew himself to vs. This is said by Saint Bernard and so it is a most clear truth that nothing hath made so great discouery â—o vs of the bounty and Benignity of God nor hath moued obliged vs so to loue and praise him as for that he hath
and to giue him light to vnderstand them helpe whereby he might go encreasing and profitting in the good way which he had begunne There came to Christ our Lord Mat. 9. Marc. 5. a Prince of the Synagogue to aske remedy for a daughter of his who already was at the last cast and he held her for dead as indeed she died instantly after and he desired our Lord that he would goe to his house and lay his hand vpō her that so he might giue her life This man coming to Christ our Lord with so imperfect a faith and with so meane a conceit of the power of our Lord as to thinke that it would be necessary for the health of his daughter that he must goe to his house lay his hand vpon her not beleeuing that he could cure her without these ceremonies yet notwithstanding all this our Lord receiued him and conuersed with him after so sweet a manner and shewed himselfe so affable to him that he dissembled the seeing of all these defects and he reproued him not for them least he should haue grieued him by his wordes whereas he ment to cure him by his workes Nor did he deny that which the other asked nor did he differre the doing of it but instantly he rose vp and went with him and graunted not onely that which he asked but a great deale more For he raised his dead daughter to life in body and he also gaue health to her soule by making her beleeue firmely in him vpon the sight of so great a miracle and he moued and obliged him to doe him seruice with deuotiō for so singular a benefit This was an act of great Benignity and so did Saint Chrysostome obserue thereof saying Behould the dullnes of this man who for the health of his daughter desires Christ our Lord that he will goe to his house and lay his hand vpon her And yet our Lord not looking vpon the vnworthines of him who asked the benefit did with much facility and suauity grant his suite going presently to his house to doe the thing which he desired and much more then he desired For he resolued to raise her from death to life and moreouer to giue a firme hope of the Resurrection to them who sawe and beleeued that miracle Let vs be hould other examples of the same kinde of Benignity in his receiuing rude and imperfect people after a sweet manner and in teaching and comforting thē both by word and deed Iohn 4. There came a Samaritan woman to Christ our Lord and notwithstanding that she were a creature of very base condition and of more base life and a Gentile by descent and extreamely rude in matters which concerned Religion and spirit yet he inuited her to haue speech with him himselfe beginning the discourse and desiring water of her whereof he knew he would not drinke and he fell into a most sweet and fauourable communication with her and he made her a very long Sermon full of Mysteries and he passed by the rudenes both of her questions and answeres and he condescended to her ignorance and he accommodated himselfe to her weakenes and by the resemblance of corporall thinges taught her things which were spirituall and by meanes of materiall water he aduanced her to the vnderstanding of the value and effects of the water of grace And he went instructing her by little and little discouering to her first that he was a Prophet and teaching her afterward how she was to honour one only God with spirituall and true worship And hauing already disposed her by the knowledge of these thinges he plainly declared to her at last that he was the very Messias who was come to saue the world and that which he tould her in words he imprinted in her heart giuing her both light to beleeue it and courage and deuotion to confesse it What dearnes what sweetnes of discourse and conuersation can be imagined to exceed this That the Creator of all thinges should speake in so familiar māner with so base a creature and that the eternal wisedome should vouch saffe by his very selfe to instruct at so great leasure and by such a lowly manner of speech so ignorant and rude a woman and should giue so high mysteries to be vnderstood so quickly and so clearly by her This is the Benignity which Christ our Lord vsed towards this woman and the Apostles were in wonder at it as Saint Chrysostome obserueth saying The Apostles were in admiration to see that excessiue meekenes and humility of Christ our Lord in that he was content so publickly and in sight of all men to speake so of set purpose and so at leasure and so benignely with a poore woman that a poore Samaritan There came to Christ our Lord Matt. 9. Marc. 5. a sicke woman who was subiect to a bloody fluxe and she came with much want of vertue for out of shame and inordinate feare she durst not discouer her infirmity and shee thought to keepe her selfe from being known by Christ our Lord by meanes of the presse of people coming secretly neer him without the obseruatiō of others and meaning after this sorte to steale health frō our Lord without so much as his knowing of it who was to giue it But notwithstanding shee came so imperfect and weake our most pitteous Lord did passe by all these defects of hers without so much as reprehending them or reproaching her for them and he granted that which she desired and hoped for yea and much more then that For instantly he cured her of that corporall infirmity and he cured her soule by taking away that vaine feare to which she had bene subiect and by enabling her to cōfesse both her sicknes and the health which she had receiued and by augmenting in her the gifts of faith and loue And hauing vsed so great Benignity towards her by this worke he was also benigne to her in words For putting her into quiet and giuing her comfort he said Thy faith hath made the whole Which was as much as to say In regard of that saith wherewith thou diddest touch mee although it was imperfect I haue deliuered thee from thy disease goe thy waies in peace and still be free from the same disease So saith Chrisostome This woman had not a perfect opinion of Christ our Lord for if she had she would neuer haue imagined that she could hide her self from him our Lord tooke publicke notice of her for the good both of her selfe and many others For by discouering her he tooke away her feare and he preuented that remorce of conscience which was to accuse her as hauing stolne the gift of her health and he rectified her from that false imagination and he made her know that nothing could be hid from our Lord and then cōmēding her faith he placed her for an example to be imitated by others Wee also are to imitate Christ our Lord in that Benignity which he vsed
ignorant people nor to be sharpe or wayward towards them but that we must haue compassion of their ignorance and instruct them and correct them with charity Our Lord did also discouer his Benignity to the Apostles in that hauing already wrought that miracle of the seauen loaues telling them that they were to take heed of the leuen of the Pharisees and Saduces Matt. 16. Marc. 8. which signified their euill doctrine and example they would needes vnderstand as if he had said it because they were not prouided of bread inough for the desert and so they were affraid they might want food And our Lord reprehēding this fault in them which they had added to the former said in this manner do you not vnderstand and remember the fiue loues of bread and the fiue thousand men which I susteined with thē nor yet the seauē loues wherewith I fed foure thousand men And thus reprouing them as much as was necessary he did it yet in words as gentle as you haue heard and with so great sweetnes as that together with reprehending them he excused them imputing their fault to ignorance and forgetfulnes O admirable Benignity worthy of such a Lord as he who together with the chastisemēt giueth comfort and whilest he speaketh of the fault he giueth hope of pardon and remedy So doth Saint Chrysostome obserue Consider the reprehension which he giueth thē all tempered with meekenes for whilest he reproues them he excuseth them yea he answereth for the very men whom he reproueth But let vs looke vpon some other examples of this Benignity which Christ our Lord did vse towards his disciples When thus he had answered that rich young man Matt. 19. who said He had kept the comaundments If thou wilt be perfect goe and sell all that thou hast and giue it to the poore and come and follow mee and thou shalt haue treasure in heauen and when the young man was going sad away because he was very rich and had not the heart to embrace the counsaile of our Lord and to make himself poore for the kingdome of heauen Saint Peter said to our Lord Behould ô Lord how as for vs wee haue left all thinges and wee haue followed thee what therfore shall be done to vs What reward wilt thou bestow on vs Our Lord made them this answere Verily I say to you that you who haue followed mee shall sit vpon twelue seates and thrones to iudge the twelue Tribes of Israell with the Sonne of man when he shall sit in the seate of his Maiesty at the generall resurrection to a life of glory At that day you shal haue great authority and glory by raigning with the sōne of man and iudging the world together with him It was very little which Saint Peter and the rest of the Apostles had left for Christ our Lord for they were but a poore company of fishermen and that which they had left as Saint Chrysostom saith was some fishing rod some net and some little barke And although together with these thinges they also left whatsoeuer they might growe to haue yet that also must needes be very little for in the trade they had they were neuer able to get much And all this being so little and that Saint Peter with so much liberty and audacity should say to him Behould ô Lord wee haue left all wee had for thee as if they had left most abundant riches and great hopes our Lord might with much truth and reason haue said to Saint Peter What greate possessions hast thou left for mee and what great acts of prowes hast thou performed in my seruice And yet he said no such thing nor did he answere them with any shew of any disdaine or euē disgust or with little estimation of that which had been left for his sake but he spake to him in great earnest and with wordes of much weight and with shew of great estimation of that which they had lest and of that which they had performed in following him and he declared that most high reward of glory that most eminent dignity which he would giue them in the kingdome of heauen By this answere Christ our Lord did shew extreme Benignity partly by making so great account of such a trifle as his disciples had left for his sake and promising such a soueraigne reward for such a sleight seruice as they had performed in following him and partly by shewing how greatly he loued them who then had laboured so little for him and by esteeming them so much who were so meane and poore as to promise to exalt them to so great dignity and to giue them a seate of so great Maiesty and by answering them in words so serious so sweet so full of comfort and which gaue them such a height of hope So saith Origen Saint Peter asked what reward he would giue him for what he had left as if he had performed things of mighty difficulty But although the thinges which he his brother left were little in the account of the world yet in the sight of God who regarded the loue and great good will wherewith they were left they were much esteemed This is the most benigne sweet condition of Christ our Lord and our God who be houldeth the seruices which are done him and the good will men haue to serue him their holy desire to please him and that grace which he liberally bestoweth for the doing of them and therfore doth he recompence little works with most high and euerlasting rewardes Our Lord 10.11 whilest he was in the desert hauing heard the message of Lazarus his sicknes and two daies passing on after he had heard it and now vnderstanding that Lazarus was dead he said resolutely Let vs goe yet once againe into Iudea for Bethania was seated in that Prouince But his disciples answered him after this manner Master it is but the other day since the Iewes were ready to stone thee in Iudea and doest thou thinke of going backe where there is so much danger And our Lord saying still let vs goe yet againe into Iudea and they seeing his resolution and being full of apprehension and feare of death Thomas said to the rest of the Apostles Well then let vs goe and dy with him Now the Apostles hauing known by so many experiments that our Lord knew the secrets of mēs hearts and that his enemies hauing a minde to take and stone him were not able to touch him because he had all power in his hands and hauing heard him say many times that in all thinges he performed the will and good pleasure of his eternall Father they ought to haue beleeued that if our Lord went into Iudea it was most conuenient thnt he should doe so and that he knew very well whatsoeuer was to happen to him there that if he should haue a minde to free himselfe from his enemies they could fasten no hurte vpon him and that themselues
immense a reward in the kingdome of heauen THE VIII CHAPTER Of the Benignity which Christ our Lord did vse to diuers blinde men hearkning to them expecting them and illuminating them and how wee are to imitate him in this Benignity IT doth also belong to this vertue of Benignity to giue that to ones neighbour which he desireth with facility and sweetnes yea and more then that which he desireth and not to reflect vpon the indignity of him who asketh nor vpon the authority greatnes of that Lord who may need the like but to consider what is agreable to charity which whensoeuer it is great it communicateth it selfe to all and doth good to all and taketh order that in many things the high and lowe the great and little men of the world be made equall to one another Christ our Lord left vs many examples of this truth Saint Luke chap. 18. relateth how once coming to the Citty of Iericho a blinde man neer the way was asking almes and when he heard the noise of the people in company of our Lord and vnderstood that it was Iesus of Nazareth who passed by he began to cry out and say Iesus thou sonne of Dauid haue mercy on me And although the people bad him hould his peace yet still he continued in crying out and beseeching our Lord that he would free him from the misery wherin he was Our Lord heard his cry and deteined himselfe in the high way and made all that people which was in his company stay with him and commaunded that they should bring the blind begger to him and he stayed expecting till he came being come he asked him this question What wouldest thou haue mee doe for thee What doest thou desire at my hands The blinde man answered the thing which I desire and beg of thee is that thou wilt giue mee my sight and instantly our Lord without the least delay gaue him that which he desired and said Receiue thy sight And he receiued the sight of his corporall eyes the sight also of his soule for being full of faith and deuotion he followed Christ our Lord both with body and soule and did not cease from glorifying Almighty God This passed at the entry which Christ our Lord made into Iericho for Saint Luke relates that he entred into Iericho after he had wrought this miracle Saint Matthew also chap. 20. shewes that Christ our Lord going forth of the same Citty of Iericho and being accompanied with much people there stood two blinde men close vpon the way demaunding almes when they knew that Iesus passed by they began to cry out and say Iesus the sonne of Dauid take pitty on vs. Christ our Lord did instantly make a stand in the way and caused them to be called to him and being arriued he asked thē thus what do you aske at my hands They answered Lord that thou open these eyes of ours and take this blindenes from vs and at the instant our Lord extended his hand to their eyes and they obtained sight both of body and soule and they followed our Lord being full of gratitude for so great a benefit and of faith and desire to doe him seruice Much is here to be considered in the admirable Benignity which Christ our Lord did vse towards these blind men in that he would hearken to their cries and they being so base persons and our Lord so soueraignely high that he would yet pawse in the way stay for them and make all them also stay who went with him and condescend thereby to the necessity of those blinde men and accōmodate himself to their weaknes For if our Lord had gone walking on they not seeing the way could not haue followed him or at least not fast enough to ouertake him he must haue giuen them much trouble in putting them to it That way of Iericho was also full of impediments and dangerous precipices as Saint Hierome notes and so if they had been put to goe a pace in such a way they had been in danger to receiue much hurt For these reasons did our Lord make a stand as also because he would vouchsaffe to doe them honour making so much accoūt of them as for their respect to stay in that high way and to make so much people stay with him And besides it was a great testimony of his Benignity towardes them to graunt them at the instant of their asking it and that with so much comfort to them so great a benefit as it was to receiue their sight both in body and soule and such deuotion as carryed thē on to glorify Almighty God A great wonder it was that Iosue should cause the Sunne to stand still and make a pawse in the heauen to illuminate the earth till such time as he had obtained victory ouer his enemies and that the Sunne and all the Orbes which moued with it should stand still obeying the voice of Iosue the seruant of God But a much greater wonder it is that our Lord who created both the Sunne and the whole machine of the world should make a stand in the way obeying the voice of a blinde begger that he might illuminate him both in body and soule as the true Sunne of Iustice A great Benignity it is that a Kinge of any earthly kingdome passing on his way through a street should stay and make all the Grādes of his Court stay with him vpon the cry of a begger who asketh almes and that he should expect that begger till he could arriue and should giue audience to his petion and then instātly open a purse with his owne hands and giue the begger whatsoeuer almes he had desired But a farre greater Benignity it is that the King of heauen and earth should deteine himselfe in a high way and stand expecting a poore begger till he could arriue to him and then should aske him what he would desi◅ to the end that his owne mouth might be the measure of that which our Lord would giue him and that instantly he should open the treasures both of his mercy power and bestow all that almes vpon him which he could aske or desire yea and much more then he knew how to aske Now our Lord by shewing this mercy to those blinde men hath shewed also a very great mercy to all faithfull Christians instructing vs and perswading vs by his example to vse Benignity towards our neighbours giuing eare to the cry of the poore and bestowing with liberality what they aske according to the ability wee haue and that when they are not able to come to vs to aske remedy as being hindred either by infirmity or ignorance or any other weakenes wee goe to seeke them out or make thē be sought to the end that wee may helpe them accommodating our selues to their impotēcy and necessity And teaching vs also by this example that wee must expect and stay for our neighbours when there is occasiō to do
by this true explication which wee haue made it remaineth very cleare that the serious and seuere reprehensions wherwith Christ our Lord his Saints haue corrected the great crimes of sinners are not cōtrary to that Benignity which he taught vs but are full of the dearnes sweetnes of true Charity THE XVII CHAPTER Of the Benignity wherewith a Christian is to be glad of the good of his neighbour and to approue and praise the same and of the example which Christ our Lord gaue vs thereof ONe of the principall things besides those whereof wee haue spoken which belong to the vertue of Benignity and the sweet manner of conuersing with our neighbours is to be glad of their good and to praise them yet with that moderatiō which prudence requireth and to that end which Charity seeketh For this maketh a seruant of God to be amiable and sweet and thus he augmenteth Charity towards his neighbours he groweth more able to be of vse to soules For by this meanes his instruction and admonition will be the better receiued and the example of his good life better allowed and he will haue more efficacy to moue others So saith the worthy Doctor and Bishop Guiltelmus Parisiensis Benignity is the loue of anothers good and wee call those men Benigne who as soon as they discouer a good thing in their neighbours doe instantly loue it and loue him for it and from hence it growes that they praise and set him forth in wordes For the exercise of this vertue there is need of great consideration and much discretion and light from heauen For as by the vse therof with moderatiō being directed to the right end it is of great profit and edification towards the encrease of vertue so vsing it without moderation and without rectitude of intention it is both very hurtfull to his soule who praiseth and to his also who is praised For this reason Saint Bonauenture approueth this saying of Seneca praise that with moderation which is praise worthy dispraise that which is blamable with more moderation For superfluity of praise is liable to reproof as well as tēperate dispraise Well then let vs goe on declaring the errour which is committed and the hurt which groweth by inordinate praise and the manner intention which praise must haue to the ēd that it may be truly giuen according to vertue For a man to praise his neighbour for that which is naught is a great sinne and not onely doe they fal into it who praise a man for some reuenge which he may haue taken of an enemy or for hauing affrōted that person who did him iniury by some word or for hauing vttered some carnall speech performing some actiō of that kind but they also who praise sūptuous buildings superfluous humours gifts curious rich cloathes delicious costly dyet and all that which hath any tincture of vanity and pride and the regalo of this flesh blood and the loue of the world For all these thinges are ill and hurtfull to the soule of a Christian who to the end that he may get to heauen must deny himselfe and imbrace the Crosse of Christ our Lord. To all these flatterers who praise that which they should reprehēd Esay chap. 5. saith Woe be to them who praise wicked thinges as if they were good and who hould the darknes of errour for the light of truth and true light for darkenes and who esteem the bitter life of sinners to be sweet and the sweet life of vertue to be bitter In like manner it is vitious for a man to praise temporall naturall thinges as if they were the greatest principall gifts of God as riches nobility strength and beauty of the body For these are blessings of little value and they make not a man to be better in himselfe or more estimable in the sight of God such praise breeds much hurt to the soule for it makes a man greatly loue and praise those thinges which he should despise from which he should estrange his heart The holy scripture condemneth this vice saying doe not praise men for the corporall beauty which they haue nor despise them for their poore meane apparance Consider that the Bee being but a very little creature giueth so excellent a fruite as that it is the most sweet of all sweet thinges for there is nothing more sweet then hony The meaning is that as the little Bee hath efficacy to produce such a fruite so may a little body a meane presence haue much vertue And that which the Holy Ghost saith of the beauty of the body he will haue vs vnderstand of all other naturall and temporall gifts which are of so little value that a man is noe further worthy of estimation or praise for them thē if he had them not but onely so farre forth as there may result some profit to the soule thereby This was taught vs both by the example and diuine wordes of Christ our Lord For a certaine deuoute womā hauing seen his miracles and hauing heard his doctrine was not able to conteine herselfe but that she must needes praise that Mother aloud who had brought forth such a Sonne saying Blessed is the wombe which have thee and the brests which gaue thee sucke But Christ our Lord gaue her this answere Nay rather blessed are they who heare the word of God and keepe it By which wordes he discouered to vs how that free gratuite blessing whereby the most sacred Virgin was made Mother of the naturall Sonne of God did not alone and of it selfe make her happy or blessed nor worthy of the reward of heauen nor more great in the sight of God but the vnspeakeable vertue and suauity and grace wherby Almighty God did exalt and dignify her for such an office that which afterward he gaue her in regard of so high a dignity was the thing which made her so truly happy If then so admirable a gift as that was did not deserue great praise for it selfe alone but for that vertue and sanctity which went in company thereof how much more must all temporall blessings and gifts of nature which in themselues are so poore and perishing be vnworthy of praise but onely so farre forth as they may be found to assist and concurre towards the good of the soule So saith Saint Chrysostome declaring these wordes of Christ our Lord. By this sentence Christ our Lord did make vs know that it would not haue profited the Virgin to haue brought forth the Sonne of God if shee had not withall been endowed with that faith and incomparable sanctity which shee had And therefore as I said if so great a dignity would not haue profited the blessed Virgin without the vertue and sanctity of her soule how much more clear is it that it will serue vs to little purpose before Almighty God to haue Saints to our Fathers or sonnes or kinred or such other
if he had said Behould here a man truly good not dissembling or counterfeit but that vertue which he sheweth in his exteriour fashion and publicke conuersation which is subiect to the sight of men is possest by him in the secret most interiour part of his heart which is seen by Almighty God This was a true and moderate praise and much good grew to Nathaniell by it for therby he vnstood that Christ our Lord knew the secrets of his heart and he was certified of it so much the more by the further answere of Christ our Lord. For saying to him where knew you mee he answered I sawe thee when thou wert vnder the sigtree It should seem that Nathaniell had retired himselfe vnder that tree to pray or to doe some other good worke and so he inferring thereby as a wise man might well doe that Christ our Lord knew all thinges he beleeued perfectly in him and tooke him for his Master Let vs deliuer another example of the same truth Christ our Lord Luke 19. came into the house of Zaccheus the Publican and he mooued him by his wordes and by his presence to so great pennance and change of life that not onely he resolued to giue ouer all those sinnes into which he had fallen to restore all that to the restitution wherof he was obliged but to render it foure fould thereby giuing satisfaction for the fault he had mitted by voluntarily vndergoing the paine which the lawe imposed vpon such persons as tooke away the goods of others and besides all this he gaue halfe his substance to the poore Christ our Lord perceiuing so good beginnings of a holy life in Zaccheus did praise him by saying of him to the standers by This day is true saluation wrought in this house For the Master and owner of it is already a true sonne of Abraham not only now by the extraction of flesh and blood but by the imitation of his faith and vertue In this sorte therefore did Christ our Lord praise Nathaniell who was a new beginner in his schoole of vertue and good life and so also did he praise Zaccheus And the praise was true and moderate it did no more then declare in plaine wordes that the one of them was a man truly good and the other truly penitent by meanes of these words he strengthned and encouraged them both to perseuer and grow in the good course which they had begunne But not only did Christ our Lord praise them who had good intentions who were truly good and vpright and well meaninge soules as Nathaniell already was before and Zacchaus was growne to be but he approued and praised also that good which was said or done by such as came to him euen with an ill minde There came a man Luc. 10. who was learned in the Lawe to tempt him asking what he was to doe for the obtaining of eternall life Christ our Lord demaunded of him how it was written in the Lawe He answered It is written that thou shalt loue the Lord thy God with all thy heart and thy neighbour as thy selfe Our Lord thē said to him by way of allowing praising what he had formerly said Thou hast answered well doe as thou hast said and as the Lawe commaundeth and thou shalt obtaine euerlasting life There came another time a Pharisy to our Lord Mat. 22. Marc. 12. in name of all the rest to see if he could draw some such answere from him as whereby he might calumniate him and he asked him which was the greatest commaundment of the law And Christ our Lord hauing answered him that it was to loue God with all the heart the Pharisy approued the answere of our Lord and added thereunto these words that to loue God with all the heart and the neighbour as ones selfe was a better worke and more acceptable to God then all the Holocausts and other Sacrifices of the Lawe Then our Lord liking the speech of this man did praise him saying Thou art not farre from the kingdome of God Which is as much as to say Thou art not farre from beleeuing and obeying the Ghospell and obteining true saluation For the knowing of a diuine truth so important and the approouing it by the supernaturall gift of God was a disposition for the being conuerted to him and to acknowledge Christ himselfe who was sent into the world to saue it Christ our Lord if he would haue encreased his Iustice vpon these two learned mē in the Law might haue seuerely reprooued the ill mind wherewith they were come to him and he might haue discouered the craft and malice which they carryed in their hearts for so also they would haue vnderstood that he knew all things and thereby he might haue put them to confusion and shame Yet this he would not do but he heard them with admirable meekenes and answered their questions with supreme Charity And he approoued that which they had said well though it were very little and very imperfect and he praised it with strange Benignity that so he might remooue that peruersenes of minde from thē which they brought to him and encourage them to encrease in the knowledge and loue of truth till at length they might grow subiect to it And so by this true Benignity he changed their hearts and sent them bettered from him and he taught vs withall that not only we are to praise good men for the true vertue which they haue but that we may also praise with moderation euen in imperfect and wicked men the good they doe or say to the end that they may growe to take affection to vertue and may so detest and driue out of their hearts the wickednes which they haue and goe encreasing in the good way begunne as also to gaine their good will to make them beneuolous and kinde which is a very good disposition towards the inducing them to receiue in good part the doctrine which we shall deliuer and the reprehensions which we may haue cause to vse And therefore Saint Gregory aduiseth that when they who are endowed with authority and wisdome for this purpose reproue sinners who are pusillanimous weak they shal do wel to mingle some sweetnes of praise the sharpenes of correction that so they may the better admit of the doctrine and reproofe which is giuen them The Saint expresseth it in these words Wee shall better drawe such sinners as are not peruerse proud but weake and poore of heart to the way of heauen if whilst we reprehend the euil thinges which they haue done wee ioyntly praise those good thinges which wee know to be in them to the end that by this meanes such praise may confirme and strengthen thē in their weakenes who were humbled by that reproofe Thus did S. Paule proceed with those Christians of Thessalonica For they hauing fallen into the fault of giuing credit to certaine false Prophets who taught thē that the day of iudgment
was then to come very suddenly whereby they were put into much disorder and trouble before he reprehended this lightnes of theirs he praised them saying 2. Thess 1. Wee must giue many thanks to God for the great encrease of yours faith which is growing euery day and for the encrease also of your fraternall charity which aboundeth its euery one of you and encreaseth daily both by your louing and doing good to one another But when he had praised them in these other words he benignely reprehendeth them saying chap. 2. Wee beseech you brethren by the coming of Christ our Lord to iudgment and by the glorious and blessed vnion which wee are all to haue together at that day that you depart not so easily from giuing credit to vs and from hauing the true sence of those thinges which you haue learned of vs and that you be not troubled or frighted by what others tell you and in a word that none may haue power to deceiue you By this diuine artifice the sacred Doctour of the nations did reprehend them when first he had comforted and encouraged thē by recording that vertue which he knew to be in them and the good opinion which he had of them to the end that hauing cōpunction to see that they had failed of the good which they had begunne they might the better accept of the reproofe he gaue them and so might reforme themselues thereby THE XIX CHAPTER How wee must praise vertue for the making it be more esteemed and of the examples which Christ our Lord gaue vs to this purpose WEe must also praise the vertue of good men to declare how great a good that is and how that which seemeth little and of meane value in the sight of mē is indeed very great and hath a most high reward in the sight of God to the end that other men may esteem greatly of it and carry much affection to it labour hard to acquire it Let vs deliuer some examples hereof Saint Peter Matt. 16. confessed to Christ our Lord that he was the true Sonne of God saying Thou art Christ the Sonne of the liuing God It seemed a small matter and of no merit that Saint Peter hauing conuersed so long with Christ our Lord seen with his owne eyes so great and so euident miracles and heard such doctrine contemplated such an exāple of life that he should piously incline his heart to belieue that he was the true Messias the naturall Sonne of God For this did not cost him the shedding of his blood nor the tormenting of his body with affliction and penance but only to produce a pious affect of the will and to performe an act of obedience in the vnderstanding But Christ our Lord praised him and gaue testimony that this inward act of his was of supreme value and estimation in the sight of Almighty God and that on earth he should receiue admirable fauouurs from God for the same that in heauen he should enioy an immēse reward of glory And that frō that instāt he might begin to be happy by that certen hope and pawne which was giuen him of that infinite good which he was afterward to possesse and enioy during all eternity All this he declared by saying Blessed art thou Simon the sonne of Ionas for men who are made of flesh and blood were not able with al the humane wisdome they haue to teach thee this truth My celestiall Father it is who hath reueiled it to thee vpon thee will I build my Church and to thee will I giue the keyes of the kingdome of heauen By these words Christ our Lord praised by faith and deuotion of Saint Peter and declared to the world of how soueraigne value before Almighty God and how richly to be rewarded with celestiall and eternall blessings one single act of vertue may be which is performed by a iust mā though it be easily produced and in a short time and how little soeuer it may cost and especially an interiour act of liuely faith which a iust man hath no difficulty at all to performe Christ our Lord being in the Atrium of the Temple Marc. 12. Luc. 21. behoulding thē who were easting almes into the chest which was to serue for the reparation of the Temple for the maintenance of the Priests and for the relief of the poore amōgst the rest of them who cast in their almes which without doubt was then done both by many and in plentifull manner for it was neer Easter at which time there came much people to Ierusalem from all parts there cometh a very poore widow and casteth into the chest two of the least little peeces of money or mites Our Lord seeing her and being pleased to praise her much for the act which shee had done and the almes which shee had giuen called his disciples and pointing out the woman said thus to them This widow hath cast a greater almes into the chest and made a greater present to the Temple then all the rest who haue giuen almes this day And our Lord shewed diuers reasons why shee had giuen more then any of them First because in proportion of her poore condition it was more for her to giue a mite then for others to giue store of crownes And because the rest gaue the almes out of that which did aduance beyond their necessary maintenance and that they gaue not all but a part therof but this widow gaue that which was necessary to her selfe and shee gaue it all But the principall reason which he was pleased to signify vnder this was for that shee gaue her almes with a greater affection and desire to giue and with more ardour of charity then al they which he declared by her hauing giuen all that she had being in precise necessity thereof for her owne reliefe In this sorte did Christ our Lord praise the almes of this poore widow and by praising her he manifested to all the children of his Church how highly the good worke of a iust person is valued in the sight of Almighty God the great account he makes therof and how he will reward it in heauen and how he meanes not to giue the reward according to the quantity of the worke but according to the good will and loue of God and our neighbour wherewith it is performed He will also haue vs learne frō hence first to esteem greatly of the good works which our neighbours do how litle soeuer they may be and and approue them and praise thē before men for their edification and much to value those good men who doe them though they be poore of meane condition and estate since God who sees their hearts doth prize them much And secondly he will haue vs learne by this to be animated towards the doing of good works and to exercise the acts of Religion and charity with much affection and desire to please God and to doe more then wee doe although