who was to be destroyed by poison but a hand-maid and spouse of Christ our Lord to be prepared for his celestiall kingdome Saint Hierome to Furia about keeping her selfe in state of widdowhood YOV desire me by your letters and you entreat me in a lowly kind of manner to answere you and I will write how you ought to liue and conserue the crowne of widowhood without touch to the reputation of your chastity My mind reioyces my hart exults and the affection of my soule doth euen earne with gladnes to see you desire that after your husbands life which your mother Titiana of holy memory did mainteyne and performe a long time whilest her husband liued Her petition and prayers are heard She obtayned that her only daughter should arriue to that which her selfe when she was aliue did possesse You haue besides a great priuiledge from the house whereof you came in that since Camillus his dayes it is hardly writen that any woman of your family was euer marryed a second tyme. So that you are not so prayse-worthy if you coÌ„tinue a widdow as you will deserue to be detested if you keep not that being a ChristiaÌ„ which PagaÌ„ woemen haue kept for so many ages I say nothing of Paula Eustochium who are the flowers of your stocke least by occasion of exhorting you I may seeme to prayse them I also passe by Blesilla who following your husband and your brother ran through much tyme after the account of vertue in a short space of her life And I wish that men would imitate that for which woemen may be praysed and that wrinkled old age would restore what youth doth offer of his owne accord I do wittingly willingly thrust my hand into the fyre The browes will be knit the arme will be stretched out angry Chremes rage till his face swell The great Lords will staÌ„d vp against this letter the nobility of lower ranke wil thunder crying out that I am a witch I a seducer and fit to be carryed away into the furthest part of the world Let them add if they will that I am also a Samaritan to the end that I may acknowledge the title of my Lord. But the truth is I deuide not the daughter froÌ„ the mother nor doe I bring that of the Ghospell let the dead bury the dead For he liues whosoeuer he be that belieues in Christ But he that belieues in him must also walke as he walked A way with that enuy malignitity which the sharpe tooth of 〈◊〉 tongued men would euer be fasting vpon Christians that whilest they feare reproach they may be vrged to forsake the loue of vertue Except it be by letters we know not one another and then piety is the onely cause where there is no notice of flesh and blood Honour you father if he seperate you not from the true Father So long you must acknowledge the tye of blood as he shall know his Creatour For otherwise Dauid will speake thus to you in playne termes Hearken O daughter see and incline thyne eare and forget thy people and thy fathers house and the King will earnestly desire thy beauty for he is thy Lord. A great reward for hauing forgoten a father The King will earnestly desire thy beauty Because you sawe because you inclined your eare and haue forgotten your people your fathers house therfore the King will earnestly desire your beauty and will say to you Thou art all fayre my friend and there is no spot in thee What is more beautifull then a soule which is called the daughter of God and eares for noe exteriour ornaments She belieues in Christ and being aduanced to this high honour she passes on to her spouse hauing him for her Lord who is her husband What troubles are found in these other marriages you haue found in the marriages themselues and being satisfyed euen to a glut with the flesh of quailes your iawes haue bene filled with extreme bitternes You haue cast vp those sharpe and vnwholosome meates you haue rendred that boyling vnquiet stomacke Why will you cramme you selfe againe with that which did yea hurt like a Dog returning to his voâ—…it and a Sâ—…w made cleane in a wallowing place of durt Euen bruit beastes and wild birdes are not apt to fall againe into the same ginnes and nets Are you perhaps affrayd that the family of your Furia's should faile and that your father should not haue some little child sprunge from your body who may craule vp and downe his brest and bedaube his necke with filth As if all they who were marryed had borne children or they who haue had children had them euer answerable to the stocke whereof they came Belike Cicero'es sonne did resemble his father in eloquence and your auncestour Cornelia who was indeed the example both of chastity and fecundity was glad belike that she brought the Gracchi into the world It is a ridiculous thing to hope for that as a thing certaine which you see that many haue not others haue lost when they had it But to whom shal you resigne so great riches to Christ who cannot dye Whom shall you haue for your heire him who is also your Lord. Your father will be troubled at it but Christ will be glad your family will mourne but the angels will reioyce Let your father do what he will with his estate you belong not â—…o him of whom you were borne but to him by whom you were regenerated who redeemed you with that great price of his owne blood Take heed of those nurses and those woemen who are wont to carry the children in their armes and such venemous creatures as they who desire to seed their bellyes euen out of your very skinne They perswade you not to that which is good for you but for themselues And they are often giuing out those verses VVilt thou alone consume thy youth in vayne And children sweet and loues rewards disdayne But men will say that where the sanctity of chastity is there is frugality where frugality is there are the seruants put to losse They thinke themselues robbed of whatsoeuer they carry not away and they consider but how much and not of how much they receiue it Wheresoeuer they see a Christian they encounter him with that coÌ„mon scorne of being an Impostor Thâ—…se people sow most shamefull rumours and that which came first from themselues they giue out to haue had from others being both the authors and exaggerators of the report A publique â—…ame grows out of a meere lye which being once come to the Matrons eares and hauing bene canuased by their tongues passes on and penetrates euen through whole Prouinces You shall see many of them fall into the very rage of mad people and with a spotted face and vipers eyes and woorm-eaten teeth raile at Christians Heeâ—… one who in some stately purple mantle goes And mumbling out some filthy thing through her fowle nose Trippes vp her
Nicopolis which formerly had bene called Emaus where our Lord being knowen in the breaking of bread did consecrat the house of Cleophas a Church Departing from thence she ascended both into the vper and lower Bethoron which were Citties built by Salomon but were afterward destroyed through the tempest which was drawen vpon them by seuerall warres beholding vpon her right hand both Haialon and Gabaon where Iesus the sonne of Naue fighting against fiue Kinges commanded both the sunne and moone and condemned the Gabaonites to be water carryers and wood-cutters for their trechery and falshood in breaking the league which themselues had obtayned In Gabaon which had bene a Citty but was then destroyed eueÌ„ to the very ground she paused a while remembring the sinne it committed and the concubine cut in peices and the three hundred men of the tribe of Beniamin who were reserued for Paul the Apostles sake Why make I any longer stay Hauing left the tombe of Helena on the left hand who being the Queen of the Adeabenians had relieued the people with corne in a time of famine she entred into Hierusalem that citty of a treble name Iebus Salem and Hierusalem which afterward out of the ruines and ashes of the Citty was raised by Helius Adrianus and called Helia And when the Proconsul of Palestine who excelleÌ„tly well knew her Family had sent her Officers before and commanded the Pallace to be prepared she rather chose an humble Cell and went round about to all those places with so great ardour and affection of mind that vnles she had hastened to haue seene the rest she would neuer haue beene drawne from the former And lying prostrate before the Crosse she adored our Lord as if she had seene him hanging on it Being entred into the Sepulcher she kissed the stone of the Resurrection which the Angell had remoued from the doore thereof And that very place where our Lord had lyen shee licked with a faythfull mouth as any thirsty creature would do the most desired waters What teares what groanes what griefe she there powred forth all Hierusalem is a witnes and indeed our Lord himselfe is the best witnes to whome she prayed Going out from thence she went vp to Syon which now is turned into a watch-tower or lanterne This Citty Dauid did anciently both destroy and build againe Of this when it was destroyed it is written thus VVoe be to thee O Citty Ariel that is thou Lyon of God and once of excessiue strength which Dauid tooke And of that Citty being reedifyed it is sayd Her foundations are in the holy hills our Lord loueth the gates of Sion aboue all the Tabernacles of Iacob not those gates which now we see dissolued into dust and ashes but the gates against which hell cannot preuaile and by which the multitude of belieuers go into Christ. There was shewed to her a pillar of the Church houlding vp the porch which was spotted by the blood of our Lord to which he was sayd to haue beene bound and whipt and that place also shewed where the holy Ghost descended vpon the soules of more then a hundred and twenty belieuers that the prophecy of Iod might be fullfilled After this hauing disposed of her little meanes to the poore who by that tyme were growne to be her fellow-seruants she went on towards Bethlem stayed on the right hand of her way at the sepulcher of Rachel wherin the mother of Beniamin brought him forth not Benoni as she called him wheâ—… she was dying that is the Sonne of my griefe but as the Father pâ—…ophecyed of him in spirit which is the sonne of my right hand And from thence going to Bethleem and entring into that hollow place of our Sauiour as soone as she saw the sacred lodging of the Blessed Virgin that stable wherin the Oxe knew his owner and the Asse the manger of his Lord that it might be fullfilled which was written by the same Prophet Blessed is he who soweth vpon the water where the Oxe and Asse do tread She swore in my hearing that she saw with the eyes of Fayth the child wrapped in his cloutes and our Lord crying in the manger the Magi adoring the Starre shining from aboue the Virgin Mother the diligent Foster-father the Pastours comming by night that they might see the VVord which was made and so dedicated euen then the beginning of Iohn the Euangelist In the beginning was the word and the word was made flesh Herod raging the young Infants slaine Ioseph Mary flying into Egypt And then with teares mixed with ioy she sayd All haile O Bethleem the house of bread wherein that bread was borne which descended from heauen All haile O Ephrata thou most abundant fruitfull Region whose fertility God is Of thee Micheas prophecyed of old And thou Bethlem the house of Ephrata art not the least amongst those thousand of Iuda out of thee shall he come forth to me who is â—…he Prince in Israell his going forth is from the beginning from the dayes of eternity Therefore shalt thou giue them till the tyme of bringing them forth arriue She shall bring them forth and the relikâ—…s of her brethren shall be conuerted to the sonnes of Israel For of thee is borne a Prince who was begotten before Lucifer and whose birth on the Fathers side doth exceed all ages And so long did the beginning of Dauids stocke remaine in thee till a Virgin did bring forth and till the relickes of the people belieuing in Christ were conuerted to the sonnes of Israell and did freely preach in this manner To you first it was fit to preach the word of God but because you haue reiected it and iudged your selues vnworthy of eternall life behold we are conuerted to â—…he Gentils For God had sayd I came not but to the lost sheep of the house of Israell And at that tyme the words of Iacob were fullfilled A prince shall not be wanting out of the house of Iuda nor a Captaine out of his loynes till he come for whome it is layd vp and he shall be the expectation of the Gentiles Dauid swore truly and made his vowes well saying If I enter into the tabernacle of my house if I ascend into the bed of my couch if I graunt sleep to myne eyes and slumbring to myne eye-lids till I find a place for our Lord and a tabernacle for the God of Iacob And instantly he declared what he desired and with his propheticall eyes discerned that he was to come whome now we see to be come already Behold we haue heard him in Ephrata we found him in the fieldes of the wood For Vau the Hebrew word as I haue learned by your teaching doth not signify Mary the mother of our Lord that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but him that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whereupon she confidently sayd VVe will go into his Tabernacles we will adore in the place where his feet haue stood And I
who liberally affoarded all thinges to sicke folkes and would also giue them flesh to eat whensoeuer her selfe wa◅sicke she gaue her selfe no such liberties and in that seemed vniust that being so full of pitty to others she exercised so much seuerity vpon her selfe There was none of the younger sort healthfull and strong who gaue her selfe to so much abstinence as Paula did with that broken and aged and weake body of hers I confesse that in this poynt she was somewhat too peremptory for she would not spare her selfe nor hearken to any admonition I will tell you what I know by experience In Iuly when the heates were at the highest she fell into a burning feauer and when by the mercy of God she was recouering after she had bene despaired of and the Physitians were perswading her that for the getting of some strēgth she would vse a little wine which was very small least continuing to drinke water she might grow hydropicke when I had priuately desired the blessed Pope Epiphanius to aduise or rather to compell her to drinke wine she as she was discret of a quicke piercing wit did presently find that she was as it were betrayed and smiling declared that that was my doing which was his saying To be short when the blessed Bishop after hauing vsed much perswasion was gone forth I was asking her what he had done she answered I haue gone so farre as that almost I haue perswaded the old man that I might drinke no wine I haue related this particular not that I allow of those burdens which are vndertaken inconsideratly aboue ones strength for the scripture fayth Take not a burdem vpon thee but only to the end that I may proue euen hereby the ardour of her mind and the desires of her faithfull soule And she said My soule thirst towards thee and how plentifully doth my flesh also thirst A hard thing it is to keep the meane in all things And indeed according to that sentence of the Philosopher vertue is in the meane and excesse is reputed vitious which we expresse by one short little sentence Take not too much of any thing She who was so peremptory and strict in the contempt of food was tender in the occasions of her greif and was euen defeated by the death of her friends and especially of her children For in the death both of her husband of her daugters she was euer in danger of her owne life And though she would Signe both her mouth and her brest and procure to mollify a mothers grief by the impression of the Crosse yet she was ouercome by her affection and those bowels of a mother did euen astonish her tender hart and though she were a conquerour in her mind yet she was conquered by the frailty of her body And once vpon such an occasion a sicknesse taking hold of her did possesse her for so long a time that it gaue care to vs daunger to her But she reioyced said Miserable creature that I am who shall free me from the body of this death But here the discreet Reader will say that I writ matter of reproofe rather then praise I take Iesus to witnes whom she serued in deed and whom I serue in desire that I fayne nothing on either side but that I deliuer truthes as one Christian should do of another and that I writ no panegyricke but a story of her and that those thinges which go for vices in her would be vertues in an other I call them vices according to the mind whereof I was and to the desire of all the sisters and brothers who loued her and are looking for her now she is gone But she hath fulfilled her course she hath kept the faith now enioyes the crowne of iustice and followes the lambe wheresoeuer he goes She is now satisfyed to the full because she was hungry she sings thus with ioy As we haue heard so haue we seen it in the Citty of the Lord of power in the Citty of our God O ble◅ed change of things she wept that she might for euer reioyce she despised these leaking cesternes that she might find the fountayne which is our Lord. She wore a haircloath that now she might be apparelled in white roabes say Thou hast torne my sackloath and hast apparelled me with ioy She fed vpon ashes like bread and she mingled her drinke with teares saying My teares were bread to me day and night that she might feed for euer vpon the bread of Angels sing Taste see how sweet our Lord i◅ And My hart hath earnestly vttered a good word I consecrat my workes to the King And she saw those words of Esay or rather the words of our Lord by Esay fulfilled in her selfe Behold they who serue me shall eat but you shall be hungry Behold they who serue me shall drinke but you shall be thirsty Behold they who serue me shall reioyce but you shall be shamefully aflicted Behold they who serue me shall exult but you shal cry out in the sorrow of your harts shall howle through the contrition of your spirit I was saying that she euer fled from those leaking Cesternes that she might find the fountayne which is our Lord might sing with ioy As the hart desires the fountaynes of water so doth mysoule aspire to thee O my God when shal I come appeare before th◅face of God I will therfore briefly touch how she auoyded those durty lakes of the heretikes and esteemed them to be no better ther Pagans A certaine crafty old companion and who in his owne opinion was a shrewd kind of schollar begā without my knowledge to propound certaine questiōs to her and say VVhat sinne hath an Infant committed that he should be possessed by a Diuell It what age shall we be when we are to rise from the dead If in the age when we dye some of vs will need nurses after the resurrection If otherwise it will not be a resurrection of the dead but a transformation of them into others Besides there will either be a diuersity of the Sexes of man and woman or there will be none If there be it will follow that there will be marriage and carnall knowledge yea and generation If there be not then taking away the difference of Sex they will not be the same bodies which rise againe for an earthly habitation doth aggrauate and oppresse the vnderstanding which hath many thinges to thinke of but they shall be spirituall and subtill according to the Apostle The body is sowed carnall and it shall rise spiritual By all which he desired to proue that reasonable soules for certaine vices auntient sinnes were slipped downe into bodies and according to the diuersity and demerit of the same sinnes were to be subiect to such or such a condition so that either he should enioy health of body or riches and nobility of parents or els should fall into sicke
he vses to others he arrogates the reputation of knowledge to himselfe Gregory Nazianzen myne old Master being desired by me to expound what that Sabboth called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 meant in Luke he did elegantly allude thus I will instruct you about this busines when we are at Church where the whole people applauding me you shall be forced whether you will or no to know that whereof you are ignoranâ—… now There is nothing so easy as to deceiue a poore base people and an vnlearned assembly by volubility of speech which admires whatsoeuer it vnderstands not Marcus Tullius of whome this excellent Elogium was vsed Demosthenes depriued you of being the first Oratour you him of being the only Oratour sayth that in his Oration for Quintus Gallus concerning the fauour of the people and such as speake absurdly before them which I would fayne haue you marke least you should be abused by these errours I speake of that whereof my selfe haue lately had experience A certaine 〈◊〉 a man of name and learned who made certaine Dialogues of Poets and Philosophers when in one and the same place he bringes in Euripides and Menander and Socrates and Epicurus discoursing altogether one with another whom yet we know to haue liued not only at different tymes but in different ages what applauses and acclamations did he moue For in the Theatre he had many condisciples who performed not their studies together Be as carefull to auoid blacke course cloathes as white Fly from affected ornaments at as full speed as you would do from affected vncleanes for the one of them sauours of delicacy the other hath a taste of vaine glory It is a commendable thing I say not to vse no linnen but not be worth any for otherwise it is a ridiculous thing and full of infamy to haue the purse well filled then to bragge that you are not worth so much as a handkerchiue There are some who giue some little thing to the poore to the end that they may receiue more and some man seekes after wealth vnder the pretence of vsing Charity which is rather to be accounted a kind of huÌ„ting then almes-giuing So are beasts and birds and so are fishes taken Some little bayte is layd vpon the hooke that the money bagge of the Matrons may be brought forth vpon that hooke Let the Bishop to whome the care of the Church is committed consider whome he appointes to ouersee the dispensation of goodes to the poore For it is better for a man not to haue any thing to giue away then impudently to begge somwhat for himselfe to hide Nay it is a kind of arrogancy for one to seeme more meeke and mercifull then the Priest of Christ is We cannot all do all thinges some one is an eye in the Church an other is a tongue an other a hand an other is a foot an eare or a belly and so forth Read the Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians How diuers members serue to constitute onâ—… body But yet let not the rusticke and simple man thinke himselfe to be holy because he knowes nothing nor if a man be eloquent and skillfull must he esteeme that he hath as much sanctity as he hath tongue and of the two defects it is much better that he haue a holy rudenes then a sinfull eloquence Many build vp wals and raise pillars in Churches the marbles shine the roofes glister with gold the Altar is set with pretious stones and the while no care is taken to chose fit Ministers for Christ. Let no man obiect to me that rich temple of the Iewes the Table the Lampes the Incensories the Basons the Cuppes the Morters and other thinges made of gold Then were these thinges approued by our Lord when the Priest did immolat sacrifices and when the blood of beasts was the redemption of sinnes Though all these things did go before in figure yet they were written for our instruction vpon whâ—… the ends of the world are come But now when our Lord by being poore hath dedicated the pouerty of his house let vs thinke vpon his Crosse and esteem of riches as of durt What marueile is it that Christ called riches by the name of vniust Mammon Why should we admire and loue that which Peter doth euen after a kind of glorious manner professe himselfe not to haue For other wise if we onely follow the letter and that yet the apparance of the history speaking of gold and riches delight vs then together with the gold let vs take vp other thinges too and let the Bishop of Christ marry virgins and make them their wiues If that argumeÌ„t I say be to hold then let him who hath any skarre or other corporall deformity be depriued of his Priesthood though he haue a vertuous minde let the leprosy of the body be accounted a worse thing then the vices of the soule Let vs encrease and multiply and fil the earth and let vs not sacrifice the lambe nor celebrat the mysticall Pascha because these thinges are forbidden by the law to be done any other where then in the Temple Let vs fasten the tabernacle in the seauenth moneth and let vs chant out the solemne fast with the sound of the cornet But now if comparing all these to spirituall thinges and knowing with Paul that the law is spirituall and that the words of Dauid are true who sings thus Open thou myne eyes and I will consider the wonderfull thinges of thy law we vnderstand them as our Lord also vnderstood them and as he interpreted the Sabboth either let vs despise gold with the rest of the superstitions of the Iewes or else if we shall like gold let vs also like the Iewes whom of necessity we must either like or dislike together with the gold The Feasting of secular persons and especially of such as swell vp in high place of honour must be auoyded by you It is an vgly thing that before the doores of a Priest of Christ crucifyed who was so poore and had no meat of his owne the Officers of CoÌ„suls bands of souldiers should stand wayting and that the gouernour of the Prouince should dine better at your house then at the Court. And if you shall pretend â—…at you do such thinges as these to the end that you may obtayne fauour for inferiour and miserable people know that a temporall Iudge will deferre more to a mortifyed Priest then to a rich one will carry more veneratioÌ„ to your vertue theÌ„ to your wealth Or if he be such a one as that he will not fauour Priests speaking for afflicted persons but wheÌ„ he is in the middest of his cups I shall be well content to want the obtayning of such a suit and will pray to Christ in steed of the Iudge who can helpe me better and sooner then he It is better to confide in our Lord then to confide in man It is better to hope in our Lord then to hope in
of the beauties of woemen nor euer let any house vnderstand by you what hath passed in any other house Hippocrates adiured his disciple before he taught them and made them sweare to follow his directions and commanded them religiously to promise silence and prescribed the speech the gate the habit and the conuersation which they were to vse How much more must we to whom the charge of soules is coÌ„mitted loue the houses of all Christians as our owne Let them know vs to bâ—… rather comforters of them in their aflictions then companions and feasters with them in their prosperity That Priest is ordinarily contemned who being often inuited to dinner doth not refuse to go Let vs neuer desire to be inuited and euen when we are inuited let vs go seldome It is a more blessed thing to giue them to receiue And it is strange but so it is that euen he who desires you to receiue a curtesy at his handes thinkes the meanlier of you when you haue accepted thereof and doth strangely honour you afterward if you chance to lay aside that request of his You who are a preacher of chastity must not meddle with making of marriages He who reades the Apostle saying thus It remayneâ—… that they who haue wiues bâ—… so as if they had them not Why should he compell a virgin to marry He who is a Priest after hauing bene marryed but once why should he exhort a widow to marry againe The stewards and ouerseers of other mens houses possessions how can they be Priests who are comaunded to contemne their owne fortunes To take any thing violently from a mans friend is theft to deceiue the Church is sacriledge To take away that which were to be distributed vpon the poore and when there are many hungry people to be reserued or wary or which is a most abhominable crime to take their due from them doth exceed the cruelty of any robber by the high way I am tormented with huÌ„ger and you will be measuring out how much I may haue an appetite to eat Either distribut that presently which you haâ—…e receiued or els if you be a timorous dispencer turne it backe vpon the proprietary that he may bestow his owne I will not haue your purse to be filled by occasion of dispensing my goods No man can better dispose of my things then my selfe He is the best dispencer who reserues nothing for his owne vse Youe haue compelled me most deare Nepotianus after thee booke which I wrote to holy Eustichium at Rome concerning the custody of virginity which hath bene stoned to death that now againe I haue vnsealed my mouth in Bethleem and haue laid my selfe open to be stabbed by the tongues of al men For either I must writ nothing least I should become subiect to mens censure which you forbad me to regard or els I must know when I wrot that the dartes of all ill speaking tongues would be turned against me But I beseech them to be quiet that they will giue ouer to backbite For we haue not written this as to aduersaries but as to friendes nor haue we made any inuectiue against them who sinne but only aduised them not to do so Nor haue we only bene seuere iudges against such as do ill but against our selues also and being desirous to picke the moat out of anothers eye I haue first cast the beame out of myne owne I haue done no man wrong nor poynted at any mans name in my writing My speech hath not applyed it selfe to particulars but hath discoursed onely in generall against vice He who shall be angry with me will thereby confesse himselfe to be in fault Saint Hierome to Laeta about the instruction of her daughter THE Apostle Paul writing to the Corinthians instructing the Church of Christ which was then but youÌ„g or rude with holy directions did propound this commaundment amongst the rest If any woeman haue an vnbelieuing husband and if he consent to liue with her let her not seperate her self from him for the vnbelieuing husband is sanctifyed by the belieuing wife and the vnbelieuing wife is sanctifyed by the belieuing hubands for otherwise yoâ—… children would be vncleane but now they are cleane If perhaps it may haue seemed to any hitherto that the bonds of discipline were too much relaxed that the indulgeÌ„ce of the Master was too forward let him consider the house of you father a man I confesse most illustrious and most learned but yet walking hitherto in darkenes and he will perceiue that the counselle of the Apostle hath produced this effect that the sweetnes of the fruit might make a recompence for the bitternes of the rooâ—… that base twigs might sweat forth pretious balsamuÌ„ You are borne of an vnequall marriage Paula is begotten brought forth by my Toxotius you Who would euer belieue that the grand-child of Albinus the pagan high Priest should be borne vpon the fore promise of a Martyr that the staÌ„mering tongue of the little one should sound forth the Alleluia of Christ that the old man should cherish the virgin of God in his bosome And we haue wel happily expected that the holy belieuing house may sanctify the vnbelieuing husband He is now in a kind of ambition expectation to become a Christian whom a troupe of belieuing sons grand children doth already enuiron For my part I think that Iupiter himself might haue come to belieue in Christ if he had had such a kinred Let him derid spit at my Epistle and cry out that I am either fond or mad His sonne in law did also this before he belieued Men are not born Christians but they are made so The golden Capitoll is out of couÌ„tenaÌ„ce now for lacke of looking to al the heathen Temples of Rome are ouer growne with cobwebs The very citty is now fleeting from it selfe and the people runnes downe like a flood towards the Martyrs Tombes whilest the Heathen Temples are not yet halfe pulled downe If wisedome will not oblige them to embrace the faith me thinkes they should do it now euen for shame This O 〈◊〉 my most deuout daughter in Christ is said to you to the end that you despaire not of the conuersation of your Father and that by the same faith wherby you haue deserued to obtayne you daughter you may also gaine your father and so the whole house may be happy by knowing this which was promised by our Lord Those thinges which are impossible with men are possible with God A mans conuersion neuer comes too late The theefe passed on from the Crosse to Paradice Nabuchodonozor the King of Babylon after he had growne wild both in body and disposition and had fed in the wildernes like a beast was restored to the reason of a man And that I may passe ouer auÌ„tient stories least they might seem fabulous to incredulous persons did not your kinsman Gracchâ—… whose name doth sufficiently
there is a Court where there is a guarde of souldiers where there are lasciuious people iesters mimickes and all other things which were wont to be in other Citties or if it were only frequented by troopes of Monkes all Monkes indeed might well desire such an habitation as this But now it is extreme folly for a man to renounce the world to forgoe his country to forsake his Cittyes to professe Monasticall life and then to liue in greater concourse of men abroad then he was to haue liued in his owne country Men flocke hither from all the partes of the world the Citty is full of all kind of people and there is such a crowding here of folkes of both sexes that here you are to endure that whole incouenience whereof you auoyded but a part by going from any other place Since therefore you doe so confidently aske me by what way you are to goe I will vnmaske my selfe and tell you clearely what I thinke If you will exercise the office of a Priest if you be delighted in the imployment of Episcopal dignity liue in Citties and Townes and procure that the saluation of others soules may be profitable to yours But if you desire to be that which now you are called that is to say a Monke which signifyes to be a solitary person what make you in Citties which are not the habitations of seuerall single persons but of many who liue togeather Euery profession hath his chiefes Let Captaines of Roman armyes imitate the Camillo's the Fabricio's the Regulo's and the Scipio's Let Philosophers propound to themselues Pythagoras Socrates Plato Aristotle Let Poets imitate Homer Virgil Menander and Terence Historians Thucydides Salust Herâ—…tus Liuy Orators Lysias the Gracchi Demosthenes Tully And that we may come neerer to our selues let Bishops and Priests haue the Apostles and Apostolicall persons for their patternes let them endeauour to haue their merit since they haue their honour But let vs haue for the prime men of our institute the Paulo's the Authoâ—…ies the Iulians Hilarions and the Macario's And that I may returne to the authority of scriptures our Generall is Elias and Elizeus and our Captaines are the sonnes of the Prophets who dwelt in solitary places and deserts and who made Tabernacles for themselues neer the waters of Iordan The children of Rechab are of this kind who drunke no wine nor other thing that could inebriat who dwelt in Tents who were praised in Ieremy by the voice of God and it was promised to them that some one of their stocke should not be wanting who might stand before our Lord. This I thinke is signifyed by the title of the 70. Psalme speaking of the sonnes of Ionadab and of them who were led into captiuity This is Ionadab the sonne of Rechab who is affirmed in the booke of Kinges to haue mounted the chariot of Hiâ—…u and his sonnes they are who euer dwelling in Tents and being at last compelled vpon the breaking in of the Army of Chaldea to enter into Hierusalem are said to haue bene the first who were led into captiuity because after hauing enioyed the large liberty of a desert they were shut vp in that Citty as if it had bene a prison I beseech you therefore because that holy Sister of yours hath a kind of tye vpon you and for that you passe not on as yet with a pace which is wholly free yet whether you be here or there fly from complements and visits and feasts as from certaine chaines which will tye you to pleasure Let your food be meane as herbes and pulse and take it not till night and little fishes sometimes which you must hold for a great delicacy He who desires Christ and feeds vpon that bread must not greatly care of how pretious meates his excrement be made whatsoeuer delicate thing you eat is all one with bread and pulse when once it is passed downe below the throat You haue two bookes of myne against Iouinian of the contempt of delight in eating Let your hand eâ—…er haue in it some holy booke You must often pray with your knees bent your mind must be raised vp to our Lord. You must watch often and often sleepe with an empty stomacke These carryers o tales and these prety little vanities and smoothing flatterers you must fly like so many enemyes Dispence your almes with your owne hand for the ease of the charge of poore and vertuous people Honesty is growne rare amongst men Doe you not belieue what I say Thinke of Iudas his purse Do not affect poore cloathes with a prowd mind What need haue you to see those thinges often for the contempt whereof you became a Monke Especially let your sister decline the conuersation of these Matrons and let her haue no cause either to be sorry for her selfe or to admire her selfe when she sees her selfe all neglected and ill clad amongst the silkes and iewels of other woemen who â—…it about her For one of these two will bring you to repent your good purpose the other is a Seminary of vainglory Take heed that you who haue formerly bene a faithfull excellent dispencer of your owne goods take not vpon you to distribute the money of other folkes You conceaue well what I say for our Lord hath giuen you a very vniuersall vnderstanding Carry the simplicity of a doue that you procure not to deceiue any man and the subtility of a serpent that you be not supplanted by the sleights of others It is not much lesse vitious for a Christian to be deceiued then to deceaue Whom you shal find to be euer or often speaking of money except it be in the way of almes which must be open to all hold him rather to be a merchaunt then a Monke Besides that which must serue for food and cloathing and other manifest necessities doe not giue to any least the dogs eate vp the childrens bread The belieuing soule is a true temple of Christ. Apparel that adorne that offer presents to that and receiue Christ in that For what serues it that the wals should glister with prâ—…tious stones and that Christ should be in danger to dy of hunger in the person of a poore man They are no goods of yours which you possesse but you are only trusted with dispensing them Remember Ananias and Saphira They did too miserably keepe their owne and take you heed that imprudently you scatter not the substance of Christ that is to say that by indiscretion or affection you bestowe not the goods of the poore vpon such as are not poore and that according to the laying of that most wise man Liberality â—…e not destroyed by liberality Do not looke backe vpon the martiall ornaments and the vayne title of the Cato'â—… I know you within euen to the very rootes It is a high poynt to be indeed not only to seem a Christian And I know not how but so it is that they who please the world
to God to whome all things liue by that posture of reuerence Anthony therefore hauing shrouded the body brought it forth and singing hymnes and psalmes according to the tradition of the Christian Church was troubled that he had not there some spade wherewith he might dig and make a graue And wauing between the variety of seuerall passions and casting with his thoughtes many wayes he sayd thus within himselfe If I returne to the Monastery it is a iourney of no lesse then three dayes if I stay heere I shall loose my tyme labour my best way would be euen to dye and by casting my selfe headlong against this warryer of thyne O Christ to deliuer vp my last breath Whilst he was reuoluing these things in his mind behould from the more inward part of the desart two Lyons bore themselues with speed towardes him their manes al wauing about their neckes At the first vpon this sight he was much frighted yet then instantly casting vp his mind to God he remayned as void of feare as if he had but seene some paire of Doues But the Lyons hauing directed their course to the corps of that other blessed ould man made a stand and fawning with their tailes they lay downe at his feet roaring out with a huge noyse so as a man might plainely vnderstād that they bewayled the death of Paul after the best manner they could Soone after they also began to scrape the ground with their pawes casting out sand as if it had beene with a kind of strife who should do it fastest they digged a place which might be able to containe a man and then instantly casting downe their necks and wagging their eares they went towardes Anthony and as if they had demanded some wages for their paynes they licked both his handes and feet But he vnderstood it as if they had desired a blessing from him and therefore instantly inlarging his hart towardes the prayse of Christ for that euen these dumme Beasts did also vnderstand that there was a God he expressed himselfe thus O Lord without whose becke neither doth any leafe fall from a Tree nor any Sparrow light vpon the ground be good to these creatures as thou knowest And so making a signe with his hand he gaue them a commandement to be gone As soone as they were departed he submitted his old shoulders to the waight of that holy corps and laying it downe in the graue and then casting earth vpon it he made a kind of tombe according to the manner But then vpon the next day least this pious heyre should not become the owner of some of the intestates goods he tooke the coat which Paul had wouen for himselfe after the manner of Baskets of Palme leaues And so returning to his Monastery he made relation of al to his Disciples in order as it had passed and vpon the solemnities of Easter Pentecost he euer vsed to weare the coat of Paul And now vpon the end of this little worke I will take the liberty to aske those men who haue such store of Lands as that they hardly know the names therof they who apparell their houses in marble thread the price of whole Mānours vpon roapes of pearle what thing was euer wanting to this halfe naked man You drinke in cupps made of precious stone this man satisfyed Nature by the vse of a paire of hollow handes You imbroder your garments with gold but he had not so much as the meanest cloath which belonged to any drudge of yours But then Heauen on the other side will be open to that poore man and you with your guilt will go downe to Hell He was still cloathed with Christ though he were naked you being clad with silke haue lost the garment of Christ. Paul lyes couered vnder poore light dust and he shall rise vp againe into glory wheras you are pressed downe by those weighty and costly Tombes of stone and are to burne in hell fire with your wealth I beseech you be good to your selues or els at least be good to your riches which you loue so well Why wrappe you vp the bodyes of your dead friendes in goulden cloathes Why do you not permit that Ambition and Pride may cease at least in the midest of your sorrowes and teares Are not perhaps the Carkases of rich men able to rot vnles they be layd vp in filke I beseech you whosoeuer you be that read this be mindfull of Hierome that sinnefull man to whome yet if our Lord should graunt his wish he would much rather choose the coat of Paul with his merits then the purple of Kinges with their paynes FINIS THE LIFE OF S. HILARION THE HERMITE WRITTEN BY S. HIEROME THE ARGVMENT HILARION was a Monke borne at Thabatha a little towne of Palestine a disciple of that great Anthony with how singular abstinence and sanctity he lead his life and with how great Miracles it was continually illustrated euen when he procured tolye most concealed S. Hierome doth largely and learnedly expresse and so as that a man may cleerely see the true patterne of a perfect Monke in his personne THE LIFE BEING to write the life of S. Hilarion I inuoke the holy Ghost who inhabited his soule that so he who gaue power to him may giue speech to me wherwith to manifest the same and so my wordes may grow to equall his deedes For as Crispus sayth their merites who haue wrought wonders haue beene held iust as great by men as the more excellent kind of wits haue beene able to magnify them by wordes Alexander the Great the Macedonian whome Daniel calls the Ramme or Leopard or Goat when he came to Achilles his tombe Happy sayth the young man art thou who enioyest such a mighty publisher of thy merits reflecting thereby vpon Homer But as for me I am to relate the conuersation and life of a person so great and so qualifyed as that Homer himselfe if he were present would either enuy the excellency of the subiect or els would sinke vnder the burden For though S. Epiphanius the Bishop of Salamin◅ in Cyprus who conuersed much with Hilarion wrote his prayses in a short Epistle which is vsually read yet one thing is to prayse a dead man according to the nature of a common place and another to relate the vertues which were proper to that dead man Whereupon we also rather vnder his fauour then with meaning to shew him any disrespect will set vpon the worke which was begun by him resoluing to contemne the exceptions of ill tongued men who formerly detracting from the life which I wrote of Paul will now perhaps doe as much for this of Hilarion taxing the former of excesse in solitude and chalenging the later for exposing himselfe ouermuch to publicke view that so he who say euer hid might be thought as good as not to haue beene at al and this other who was seene by so many might be held thereby in lesse high