your letter and I will not haue you say that I acknowledge you not for my sonne For if you say that because you are wicked you deserue it not for the same reason I deserue not to be your father and therefore I may ill despise you who am my selfe more worthy to be despised But since our lord houlds vs all for his though we be soe miserably weake it is but reasonable that we learne to be mercifull one towards another that we support one another with Charitie as he doth I haue my good brother a great desire that you should be able to giue a good accounte of that which our lord hath recommeÌ„ded to you For the good and faithfull seruant must looke to gaine fiue other talents to the fiue which were giuen him at the first That so he may heare from the mouth of our lord Reioyce thou good and faithfull seruant thou hast beene faithfull in the few things which I haue recommended to thee Math. 25. and I will place thee ouer many You must take care of that which is recommended to you concerning others in such sort as that you forget not your owne soule But yet know that the man who of all others is most recommended to you is your selfe For it will profitt you but little though you should drawe all the world out of the durt if the while your selfe remaine therein And therefore I once againe encharge you that still you seeke out some fitt of-tyme wherein you may dispatch your owne deuotions and that dayly you heare Masse and vpon euery sunday the sermon And especially take heede that you conuerse not much with woemen For you cannot be ignorant that they be that snare which the deuill setts for the fall of such as serue God You know how Dauid sinned 2. kings 11. by looking vpon one of them and Salomon his Sonne sinned with many 3. Kings 11. and he walked soe farre out of his witts as to place Idolls in the temple of our Lord. And since we are soe much more weake then they lett vs be afraid to fall and take warning by the misfortunes of others Deceiue not your selfe with saying I desire to doe them good For vnder the mantle of these good desires doe those daungers lurke when prudence accompanyes not the same And God is farre from desiring that I should procure the good of another with the Spiriâ—â—â—ll hurt of my selfe Concerning those temporall necessities to which you are subiect I haue already written to you that there is euery where such abundaÌ„ce of waÌ„ts as that when we aske any releife they say that they haue enough more neere at hand whome they are to remedy And I thought that my Lord the Duke of Sessa had sent you that which might serue the turne because they tould me you had sollicited him for some releife If he haue not done it desire it of him a second tyme for he will send it He loues you much for the care you haue of the poore and if he doe not our Lord will prouide though hee make you stay a while I haue reioyced much in the charitie which you haue found in that other house whereof you speake Returne my salutations to him who sent them by you to mee And because I am now in my iourney I write noe more at this tyme but onely that you must remaine all fixed in Iesus Christ our Lord who will protect and fauour you And that you looke well to your selfe and that the deuill may haue noe cause to reioyce by hauing induced you to sinne but that God may take delight in your penance for that which is past in your amendment for that which is to come And soe the holy ghost be with you Amen A letter to one whoe had some desires to serue God but not the courage to beginn He animates her greatly to confide in God He teaches her how to loue certaine persons who had offended her and hee giues remedies both against scruples and vaine glorie I doe much reioyce at the holy desires which you haue to please our lord but I am in paine to consider your pusillanimitie in executing the same For I hould it to be a strange ill thing that one should presume to remaine in the vanitie of this life and not presume to aduenture vpon the making of a new match with God confiding in the same God For what maÌ„ was there euer since there were such things in the world as men who hoping in God and procuring to liue according to his comaundments was forsaken by him whoe euer inuoked him with an intyre and perseuering hart and was not heard by him Nay he goes seeking vs and inciting vs to serue him What possibilitie therefore is there but that since he is good and true of his word he must come forth to meete and cast his armes a bout our neckes an doe vs fauour when we make towards him He wil infallibly he wil and that incomparably more completely Heb. 9. as S. Paule affirmes then we know how to thinke Beginne you seruant of God cast your selfe vpon him and confide that he whoe gaue you the desire will giue you strength to worke courage to make an end For he calls not vpon such as sleepe to wake them but to the end that he may doe them many fauours when they are awake Beginne with diligence and feruour yea and with a kinde of strife for there is not a worse thing then a faint beginner who still takes much care to regale him selfe to content the world Shut your eyes against both humaine prayses dispraises for you shall quickly see both the prayser and the praised turned in to dust and ashes and him alsoe whoe is honoured and dishonoured An wee shall all be presented before the tribunall of our lord where the mouth of wickednes shall be stopped and vertue shall be highly exalted In the meane tyme lay you fast hould on the Crosse follow him whoe was dishonoured and lost his life vpon it for you And hide your selfe in those woundes that when our lord comes for you he may finde you there and may beautifie you with his graces and may giue him selfe to you as your reward for hauing left all things and your selfe with them for his sake But ô how little doth he leaue who euen leaues all since he leaues but that which he must quickly leaue whether he will or noe yea and euen the enioying it is a great misery since all that which is not God is but waight and sorrow to the soule God onely is sufficieÌ„t for you open therefore your hart and enioye him you shall finde him more sweete much more full of loue then you could haue thought Sometymes I wonder within my selfe to thinke how one either doth or can wish ill to another since Christ our lord is in the middest betweene them both How can he be disgusted with the body who loues or
God is a great Lord and he will be serued with much diligence and hee inflicted noe lesse punishment vpon the sloathfull seruant then to cast him bound hand and foote into exteriour darkenes which signifies a being excluded from all the blessings of God and of his howse And since to the end that wee may be fauorits with an earthly king and to acquire the possession of a little earth there is a necessity of taking care of watching of troubles yea and sometymes euen of shedding bloud lett not them grow faint in the combatt since God whose cause it is will be their captaine in the strength of whose arme they shall infallibly goe victorious out of the feild The enemy whome they are to ouercome and the Cittie which they are to subdue is their owne proper will Let them place that will before themselues and against that lett them leuell all their shott and to that let them say Thou art the enemy of God since thou desirest that which is contrary to him and therefore thou art my enemy For I wholly belong to God I am the freâ—nd of his freinds and the enemy of his enemyes I will haue noe peace with thee that soe I may haue noe warre with God Lett God raigne in my hart and not myne owne disordered will I will gouerne my selfe according to that which hee commands and not according to that I list I will beg of my God that hee will be pleased to shew mee his holy will and that shall be my lawe though myne owne will would faine haue it otherwise Let it paine mee or let it please mee I am resolued to â—â—e my selfe fast to God since besides that I owe to him otherwise he was fastned to the Crosse for mee Nay I am vndone if I goe not to him since all that which comes not to him heere with loue shall be deuided from him in the next life by his hate Let it cost me my bloud Nâ—â—b 25. soe that I may not loose my God but that I may heare this word from his blessed mouth Reioyce thou good and faithfull seruant enter thou into the ioye of thy Lord. In fine all that which passes is very short and all this is temporall and the rest eternall all this is light and that is full of waight And therefore let vs say from the hart with Dauid Ps 26. One thing haue I desired of our Lord and that will I seeke that I may dwell in the howse of our Lord for euer And lett this be our conclusion that heauen did neuer cost deare Our Lord graunt it to you and to vs all euen by his owne deâ—re bloud Amen A Letter to a great Lord wherein he treates of the knowledge of God and of a man's selfe and how he was to proceede towards his vassalls THE peace of our Lord Iesus Christ be euer remayning with your lordship The holy S. Augustine desired two things of our Lord saying Graunt to mee O Lord that I may know thee that I may know my selfe These two are things which we must all desire and noe man is to be found without them vnlesse withall he desire to be found without saluation The Temple of Salomon consisted of two partes Both of them were holy but yet one of them was more holy then the other That parte which was lesse holy was the way to the other which was more holy The first is the knowledge of a man's selfe which certainely is a holy thing it is the way to that Sancta Sanctorum which is the knowledge of God where our Lord makes answeare to our demaunds and remedies our necessities and where we finde the fountaine of life For this saith our Lord is true life that wee know thee and whome thou hast sent Iesus Christ But now this soe high thing namely the knowledge of God is not to be obtained without that other which seemes soe lowe namely the knowledge of ones selfe It is most certaine that noe man euer saw God vnlesse first he saw himselfe Nor is it safety for any man to fly high vnlesse he haue the counterpoyse of knowing himselfe which makes vs thinke basely of our selues Amongst all the other fauours of our Blessed Sauiour there is noe doubt but that his disciples would be standing to looke at him with exceeding great gust whilst he was ascending vp to heauen vpon Ascension day since there was noe remedy but that they must needes forgoe his conuersation that conuersation which can carry noe disgust with it And they found great comfort in looking vpon the way by which he passed and towards the place to which he went But what did our lord commaund them Not certainely that they should be still casting vp their eyes to heauen though that seemed to be an excellent thing But he said thus to them You men of Galilee why doe you stand looking vp to heauen Giuing vs thereby to vnderstand that although it be a very sauoury thing to looke towards God yet it concernes vs alsoe to study our selues First for the reuerence which wee owe to God vpon whome we cannot looke but with great confusion considering how vnworthy we are thereof And secondly because when a man forgetts himselfe he is instantly apt to become wanton not seeing his owne faultes and frailty he growes to loose all holy feare and he prooues light and giddy like a ship which being without ballist looses the ankar when any tempest rises and the end thereof is to be carried hither thither till at last it be brought to suffer wrack I neuer saw any soule remaine in safety but by the knowledge of it selfe Noe building can be sure without deepe foundation and that tyme is well imployed which is spent vpon the reproofe of a man 's owne soule It is full of profitt towards the amendment of our faults if we will examine them What kinde of thing is a man who examines not and knowes not himselfe but a howse without a window but the sonne of some widdow ill brought vp who for want of correction is growne wicked but a measure without all measure and rule and which therefore is a false measure And finally what is he but a man whoe is indeede noe man For he who considers not himselfe doth neither gouerne himselfe like a man nor doth he vnderstand or possesse himselfe but why lest he is able to tell many storyes of other things he can giue noe account of himselfe at all These are they who hauing forgotten themselues take such paines to vnderstand the liues of others and hauing shut vp their eyes to their owne defects haue yet more then a hundred eyes open which stand in continuall watch ouer the errour of other folkes These are they who obserue and aggrauate the errours of their neighbours and neglect their owne For in regard those errours of others are beheld by them more continually more close at hand they seeme greater to them then
worth accounting himselfe rich in possessing that a lone insteede of many other things which he had before O God ô Lord ô thou the true repose of the most interiour part of our soules and when shall wee beginn I say not to loue thee but at least to desire to loue thee When I say shall we conceiue a desire of thee such a one as may be worthy of thee When shall veritie be able to preuaile more with vs then vanity beauty then deformity repose then restles care the Creatour who is soe richly full and all-sufficient before the creature whoe is soe very empty and poore Deare Lord and whoe at length will open our eyes that we may knowe that there is nothing out of thee which either hath any countenance in it selfe or is able to giue any true contentment to vs who will make some little discouery of thee to vs that soe being all enamored of thee wee may goe may runne may flye and may remaine eternally with thee Woe be to vs for wee are extreamely farre from God and wee are in soe little paine for that distance as that wee can scarce be said to feele it What is become of the profound and tender sighes of those soules which had tasted once of God and were afterwards estraunged a little from him what is become of that holy affection Psal 31. wherewith Dauid said If I shall giue sleepe to mine eyes or slumbering to myne eyelids till I haue found a house wherein our Lord may dwell And this house wee our selues are when wee destroy not our selues by scattering our harts vpon variety of things but recollect them to the vnity of one desire and of one loue and then it is that we finde our selues and are indeede the house of God For my part I beleeue that he said true who affirmed the cause of our tepidity to be this That he who hath not tasted yett of God doth not knowe in very deede what it is either to haue hunger or saciety And so wee are neither hungry after God nor are wee entirely satisfied by creatures but we remaine as certaine frozen things being neither heere nor there full of dulnes and discouragement without all taste of spiritt and fitt to cause a vomitt in his stomacke who likes not seruants who are Luke warme but desires to haue them inflamed with the fire of loue This fire himselfe brought into the world Luke 22 and desires nothing but that it may burne and to the end that it may doe soe himselfe did burne and was consumed vpon the Crosse num 19. like that redd Cow which was carried out of the campe And this he did of sett purpose to the end that wee taking of that wood of the Crosse vpon our selues might make a fire and might warme our selues and keepe correspondence with soe great a louer with some loue of ours considering how iust a thing it is that we should be wounded by the sweete dart of loue since wee see him not onely wounded but killed by it It is but reason that wee be taken by the loue of him who was taken thereby for vs deliuered ouer for our sakes into such fierce hands Lett vs enter into that prison of his loue since he entred into the prison of ours and thereby was made as tame as any lambe before them who treated him soe ill And this prison was that which made him remaine quiet vpon the Crosse For more strange and rude were those ropes and prisons of his lòue then the nailes and ropes which restrayned his person These later laying hould but vpon his body but his loue being that which seized his soule And therefore lett our harts be tyed by his loue that tye of saluation and lett vs not desire such liberty as may carry vs out of his prison For as he is very ill in health who is not wounded and made sick of his loue soe is he very ill at liberty who is not restrayned in that prison Lett vs now resist him noe longer let vs yeild our selues conquered by his armes which are his benefitts whereby he procures to kill vs that soe we may euer liue with him He desires to burne vs vp that soe the old man who was conforme to Adā being cōsumed the new man who is conforme to Christ our Lord may rise againe by loue He desires to melt our hardnes to the end that as vpon mettall which is made liquid by heate that forme is imprinted which is desired by the worke-man soe wee being softned by that loue which makes vs melt by hearing our beloued speake to vs may be ready without all resistance that soe Christ our Lord may imprint vpon vs what figure shall be most pleasing to him Now that figure which he desires to imprint is noe other then that of Loue. Iohn 15. For Christ our Lord is very Loue it selfe he cōmaunded that we should loue one another as he loued vs. Gal. 2 And S. Paule tells vs that we must soe be in loue with Christ our Lord as he loued vs and deliuered himselfe vp for vs. Soe that vnlesse we loue we are vnlike him our countenance hath noe resemblance to his but we are poore naked blinde deafe and dumbe and dead For loue a lone is that which quickenes all things and loue is that which is the spirituall-cure of our soules For the soule without loue is iust such a thing as the body is without the soule Let vs therefore loue and we shall liue let vs loue and we shall grow like God nay we shall wound him whoe is to be wounded by loue alone Lett vs loue and all things shall be ours since they are all to serue vs as it is written They that loue God shall proue well in all things If we loue this loue lett vs apply the axe of diligence to the roote of our owne selfe-loue and soe bring this enemy of ours to the ground What haue we of our selues let vs hedge our selues in God and make noe account at all of any thing els Let not our owne losses trouble vs but the losses of God which are the soules who depart from him And because it is a hard thing for a man to leaue to loue himselfe let vs shed many teares whereby it may be made easy for vs to dig vp this earth Let vs groane out to God from the very profoundest of our harts for our teares doe euen wound almighty God though they be soe weake and soft and though he be omnipotent Lett vs entertaine good thoughts for as Dauid saith Psal 38. My thought is a very fournace But aboue all let vs place our selues and not come quickly out againe but make our habitation in the woundes of Christ our Lord and particularly in his sacred side For there his hart being deuided and peirced for vs will receiue ours into it and soe it will growe warme through the greatnes of his loue For
whoe can remaine in fire and not growe warme at least to some proportion O that we could dwell there and how happye should we be therein what is the reason that we depart thence soe soone Because we take not vp those fiue lodgings in that high mountaine of the Crosse where Christ our Lord was transfigured indeede though not towards beauty but towards deformitie basenes and dishonour which lodgings are granted to vs nay we are desired to take them though those other three tabernacles which S. Peter desired were denyed to him If some little sparke of this fire be kindled in our harts let vs take great care that the winde blowe it not out since it is soe little Let vs couer it with the ashes of humilitie let vs hould our peace and hide it and soe we shall finde it still aliue Leuit. 6 And we must dayly add some wood to it as God commaundeth his Preists to doe And that signifies to vs the doeing of good workes and the not loosing of any tyme and aboue all things we must approach to the true fire which may kindle and enflame vs and this is Iesus Christ our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament Let vs open the mouth of our soule which is our desire and let vs goe all gaping towards the fountaine of liuing water for soe without doubt if we take hony into our mouths we shall haue some taste thereof And in fine if the fire be in our bosome it will heate vs. But both before and after we communicate we must vse some preparations and reflections and there cannot be any better then a liuely Faith that we goe then to receiue Iesus Christ our Lord together with a consideration and loue of his passion since that misterie was instituted in memory thereof Being thus refreshed lett vs then prouide our selues for our communicating the next tyme after For he whoe onely prepares himselfe for the present tyme shall seldome finde himselfe well prepared Let vs therefore runne after God for we may be sure enough that he will not flye from vs. He is nayled vpon the Crosse and infallibly we shall finde him there Let vs conveigh him into our harts and then shutt the doore that he retyre not thence Let vs dye to all visible things since there will come a tyme when we must leaue them perforce Let vs renew our selues in newnes of spirit since we haue liued soe longe according to the old man Eph. 4 Let vs be growing in knowledge and loue of Christ our Lord who is the soueraigne good And all this is to be obteyned by humble prayer and perseuerant endeauour More is receiued into the soule from without the soule then doth proceede of the soule It is more for it to be moued and disposed then to worke when that is done And therefore let vs remoue all impediments and compose our owne harts within our selues expecting Christ our Lord there who enters when the gates are shutt to visit and comfort his Disciples and soe without doubt he will come to vs. For Dauid saith of him Psal 144. Our Lord heard the desire of the poore and his eares harkened to the preparation of his hart And since Christ our Lord is principally he who must worke this in vs Psal 9. we haue noe reason to distrust but taking courage and confidence in such a conductor as he is let vs beginne to runne that course with feruour which ends not but in the obteyning of God And if we cannot soe soone make our harts as subiect to vs as we would lett vs yet endure it with patience till God rise vp and soe our enemies may fall and till he awake and commaund this sea to calme it selfe But then on the other side his expresse pleasure is that we haue confidence in him euen in the greatest temptations yea though our little barkes should be vpon the very point to sincke Let vs not therefore be disturbed or dismayed Let vs not put others to paine for the trouble which this continuall warre giues vs in threatning that we shall be ouercome The day will arriue when God will put this country of ours into peace when wee shall sleepe without any body by to wake vs. And now since this peace cannot be obteyned yet it will be a better course for vs to goe sweating and striuing to roote out our passiōs then to keepe our selues in ease and to content our selues with leading a tepid life for the auoyding of that paine which the seeking of perfection would put vs to But first lett vs vtterly distrust ourselues and confide in God and let vs beginne in the name and power of the omnipotent And this begining of ours shall be humilitie which is figured in the ashes that we take and our end shal be loue which is figured in the resurrection of our Lord and soe we shall inioye both a good lent and a good Easter In the meane tyme I kisse the hands of all my Masters your Collegialls and I recommend my selfe to their prayers And say you to them in my name that I beseech them that we may loue both God and our neighbours in great measure That soe at the day of iudgment we may know well how to answeare and that we may be made doctours be receiued into the Colledge of the Angells and Saints where we shall euer study the booke of life which is God himselfe who will for euer stand open before our eyes that we may knowe him loue him and for euer be in possession of him Our Lord Iesus remaine euer with you Amen A Letter of the Author to a certaine lady Hee shewes how the hunger of our hart cannot be satisfied but by the spirit of our lord who that hee may lodge himselfe therein requires that it bee free from all affection to creatures And how tepid and negligent persons greiue that spirit how the Feast of the holy Ghost is a very good preparation for the Feast of Corpus Chisti which followes MADAM I desire to know how your hart standes affected at this tyme. For if wee looke to the weeke wherein wee are it is belonging to the holy Ghost whose property is to giue light to the vnderstanding and to infuse loue into the will and euen strength into the body alsoe by meanes of which three loaues of bread we shall haue some what to set before our freind who comes hungry and weary from the high way For the hunger that our hart feeles which walkes as it were out of it selfe whilest it imployes it selfe vpon creatures this holy Ghost is wont to take away and to giue vs the bread of fulnes and satisfaction And woe be to vs if we feele not that great defect which is in things created and if we conuert nor our selues to god in our very harts at least now when they are weary with finding imperfections wants in those things wherein we hoped that they might obtaine repose
will be subiect to some disgust because themselues are not soe growne in sanctity as others are since thereby the glory of God would alsoe haue encreased in them This doth not follow considering that first effect of loue which is the vnion of two wills in one for they are transformed into the will of God and would haue nothing done but that which their lord will and they see that this will is the cause why one hath more glory then another and from hence they grow to be highly content with that which he assignes to them as alsoe because the diuersity of the degrees of glory in the blessed doth more beautify the whole Citty of God then if they were all of one rancke as the musick of a vyall is much the sweeter because it hath diuers strings and distinct soundes then if they were all but any one And since it is soe that because there are different degrees of glory and diuers mansions in the triumphant Church 1. Cor 13. it is of greater beauty then if they all possessed but one Iohn 14. and the same degree of glory by this they see that our Lord is more honoured in them then if they were all equall and consequently they are not troubled for their owne being lesse in glory then those others are For they in their colours and others in other colours of a deeper dye doe all concurre to manifest the infinite goodnes and beauty of him who made them Heere you see Apoc. 22 that riuer which S. Iohn discouered in the Apocalyps to issue out of the throne of God Apoc. 19. and of the lambe whereof all the blessed spirits in heauen drinke And being inebriated by this loue they sing an euerlasting Alleluia admiring and glorifying our lord God And you will haue discerned a little of that enamell wherewith those pretious stones are accompanied wherevpon that temple of the celestiall mountaine is founded And now after the resemblance of this temple Apoc. 11. which you haue seene in that mountaine you must build a dwelling place in your soule for our lord Exod. 25. iust as they said to Moyses that he should prouide to make the Tabernacle after that forme which he had seene in the mountaine You must my good sister if you meane to goe through the way of this life in perfect charitie and loue of our lord procure to carry about you a continuall desire or at least the most continuall that you can whereby you may euer wish and like that our lord God in whose presence you are still to walke may be in himselfe as good as holy and as full of glory as indeede hee is And soe with great ioy and complacence in all the attributes of almightie God you are to goe reioycing and your soule is to seast it selfe inseeing that your lord your true love possesses himselfe whoe is infinitely good powerfull from whome all creatures receiue their being and their beauty who in himselfe is soe full of glory and goodnes that all creatures haue neede of him he none of them This must be the whole scope at which your loue must ayme S. Tho. 1. And heerein S. Thomas saith that perfect charitie doth consist As for the loue which new deuotes call Charitie which is when they are kindled in deuotiō in louing our lord tēderly though this be a holy thing yet is it not of soe high condition as that other most holy loue which transformes soules into the beloued To this loue the holy scripture inuites vs in many places saying Ps 96. Phil. 4 Reioyce you iust persons in our lord And S. Paule saith Reioyce in our lord And conceiuing that this aduise was worthy to be giuen more then once he repeates it saying yet againe I tell you that you must reioyce The Prophet Dauid expressed the same when he said Ps 36 delight you in our lord and he will giue you whatsoeuer you shall aske This is that ioye wherewith the most holy virgin reioyced when she said My spirit reioyces in God my Sauiour Luk. 1. And with this ioye did Christ our lord reioyce when S. Luke said that Iesus reioyced in the holy Ghost Luk. 10. And the royall Prophet saith that his hart Ps 83. euen his flesh reioyced in the liuing God This happēs whē the soule with the will for there the hart signifies the will are actually louing desiring that our lord may in himselfe bee what he is And from the great redundāce which proceedes sometymes from this ioye of the soule the very flesh it selfe is kindled in the loue of our lord And because this loue is soe excellent celestiall a thing therefore doth the Church which is directed by the holy ghost inuite vs in the begining of Mattins with a perswasion to loue our Lord saying thus Come lett vs reioyce in our Lord and sing canticles of praise to God our saluation If you will finde the excellency of this loue put it in practise you shall see that the soule doth not satisfy it selfe but in praysing God For when it sees all that to be accomplished in God which it can wish it breakes instantly out into thanks-giuing to him for hauing perfected the desire it hath to praise him which is the same effect which flowes from the loue they haue in heauen as the Prophet Dauid saith Blessed are they O Lord Psal 8. whoe dwell in thy howse for they shall praise thee for euer and for euer S. Augustine was inflamed with this loue when speaking to our Lord he said If thou O Lord wert Augustine and I God I would make thee God and my selfe Augustine I thinke there is noe neede to bring testimonies which may proue the excellencie of this Loue for euen plaine reason tells vs that this is the loue which drawes a man out of him selfe and transformes him vnto God who is his beloued And out of this loue it must follow that all your workes and deuotions and prayers must be made by you to the honour and glory of this God who deserues to be adored and serued for his owne pure goodnes by as many creatures as he hath made without carrying any respect at all to the hope which might be had of a reward from him For though it be good and holy to serue our Lord euen for retribution Psal 118. yet is not this an act of soe perfect charity as that which seekes noe kinde of interest but onely the honour and glory of our Lord God If at any time you place before your soule the reward which they will giue it for the good it doth to the end that it may be animated towards good workes let not this be your last end but the will which you haue to serue our Lord. For the more glory you haue the more honour and glory shall our Lord God receiue Soe that the last ayme of all must be to
Thou art the defender of all such as hope in thee And if at any tyme he hide him selfe from vs Cant. 2. it is not because he departs but like a Iealous spouse he stands looking through the cranyes to see what that soule is doeing when he hath absented his imbracements from her Especially he considers if the soule haue lost her confidence which his desire is may remaine soe rooted in our harts that noe winde of teÌ„ptation may pluck it vp but may rather strengthen and settle it beleeuing that how much more we are tempted soe much more we are beloued by him and how much more we are persecuted by our enemies so much more are we cherished by almighty God whose care and vigilancy is imcomparably more for our desence then the subtility of our enemies can be for our preiudice The cause heereof is for that he loues vs more then the deuill abhorres vs and he is more powerfull then our flesh is fraile and he hath a blessed place of retreate wherein as in a most secure haueÌ„ and as in the bosome of a mother he giues harbour to such as being wearyed with the tempest of tribulations endured for his sake haue recourse to him Psal 30. Of this Dauid said Thou shall hid vs in the hidden parte of thy face Doe you not thinke O my beloued brother that you shall be well hidden and secure and ioyfull in the face of God But you wil aske why it is called a hidden part Cerâ—â—nely with great reason For as the face of God is not darke but bright according to his diuinitie so yet the face of Christ our Lord as God and man is said to be darke and hidden according to his humanity But this not when his face shined like the Sonne Matth. 7. in Mount Tabor and his garments like the light Mark 9. but when he was disfigured vpon Mount Caluary when his garments and flesh were dyed redd with the bloud which proceeded from him as the price of our redemption Luke 9 If you well consider his face growne yellow with his long fasting and redd with the buffetts and swelling which their blowes had made full of teares descending from his eyes of blood distilling from his crowne of thornes you will be sure to say that his face was hidden he of whom Dauid saith Psal 44. that he was fayre beyond the sonnes of men and that grace was diffused through his lipps and that therefore our Lord did blesse him for all eternity Certainely the most beautifull of men was hidden and more tormented then man euer was and soe farre disfigured Esay 53. that Esay saith He hath noe beauty nor grace we saw him and he had no figure of a man And againe afterwards he saith That his face was as if it had beene hidden and despised and that therefore they esteemed him not He indeede did suffer our infirmities and our sorrowes and we tooke him for some leprous person who had beene stroocken and abased by our Lord. Well then my deere brother in this face which seemes to be soe deformed but which indeede is rarely beautifull to such as behould it with the eyes of faith and loue considering that it was loue which deformed it to the end that he might beautify our deformity doth God hide them who labour that they may not depart from him And he giues them light wherewith to looke him in the face and to receiue such strength and comfort thence as to make them feele that he said true who said Shew vs thy face and we shall be safe Psal 79. This face is beheld by the eternall father and out of that sight doe result to vs the beames of his bounty and light for by meanes thereof doe all those blessings come to vs which God sends Psal 83. And Dauid knowing this besought God saying Looke vpon the face of thy Christ For by looking vpon that face he layes downe that wrath to which he had been moued by looking vpon our impudent faces and he will remoue the deformity of them by that other beauty And to the end that this face of his might euer stand before his father Hebr. 9 Saint Paule saith that Iesus Christ entred into heauen to appeare before the face of God for vs. And now since the eternall Father lookes into this glasse that he may come to vs let vs alsoe looke into it to the end that we may not depart from him We haue not any other remedy against our weakenes 2. Cor. 13. but the weakenes of Iesus Christ our Lord of which S. Paule said that he dved with infirmity but that be liues by the power of God Consider how great things he endured that soe our soules might be taught to loue that weakenes of his and that we might not giue them away to strangers they hauing been purchased by their proper Lord at such a painefull and precious rate And doe but weigh what weake braines we haue in departing from that ioy which recreates the angells to obtaine this base delight which is possessed by beasts And how inconsiderate that soule is which exchaunges honny for gall and the Creatour for a creature Wretched creatures that we are and whether shall wee goe and what shall wee seeke out of Christ our lord Shall we peraduenture be able to finde out any other Lord like this any other soe deere companion and soe true freind both in prosperity aduersity Where is any other soe milde in pardoning soe beautifull to behould soe wise to consult and soe good to loue where is there any other who can finde in his hart to dye for mee with such teares and with such loue and who still remaines with a disposition to dye yet againe if I could haue neede of his second death O how sincere a truth was that which Saint Peter deliuered when he said Whether shall we goe O Lord Iohn 23. for thon hast the words of eternall life Wee are well my deere brother where Christ our Lord hath by his mercy placed vs. Let vs take heede that wee trye not what kinde of woefull thing it is to be without him A very bitter thing it is and it costs soundly the setting on Lett vs looke vpon the afflictions which he suffered for vs and with them lett vs comfort our selues in ours and by them let vs begg his grace and fauour and he will giue it to vs that we may thereby ouercome the world the flesh and the deuill and soe we shall liue in God since he dyed to kill our death and to giue vs life A Letter of the Authour to the same Lady Whome formerly he had animated to beare her afflictions with patience MY soule loues yours because God loues it and because I am to haue noe little part in your happines S. Paule saith that they to whome he preached were his ioy his honour and his crowne in respect that receiuing the
greater the benefitt is the more hurt it will doe vs in the end O Lord open thou myne eyes that they may consider thee descending out of the bosome of thy father and entring into that of thy virgin mother that I may giue thee great thankes for this benefit Make mee able to humble my selfe for thee Make mee able to consider thee lying in a maunger insteade of a bed crying out through could being opprest with pouerty make me learne thereby how to cast all delicacy farre from mee Make thy teares sighes shew sound themselues forth in myne eares that soe they may mollify my hart that soe it may deliuer it self couer as wax to euery inclination of thy will And doe not thou permitt that God should weepe and that man should haue noe feeling of it for I know not at which of these two things wee might wonder most Seale vp O lord thy wordes in my soule that I may neuer sinne against thee Let the blood which thou didst shed for mee be gathered vp into my hart and be thou all my onely loue that soe thou maist not repent thy selfe of all these great afflictions which thou enduredst for mee It is I whom thou soughtst and whome thou seekest still and for mee thou hast made all those tiltings and triumphes and shewed forth all thy liueries and vndergone all that cost Let me neuer see my selfe belonging to any other then thee since thou hast deserued me soe well Come Madam let that hart of yours now prepare it selfe for God is vpon the point of being borne and hee hath neither howse nor bedd wherein to lye Let your hart be all inflamed with loue for the Infant suffers much cold And yet if your hart be but euen soe much as luke warme this Infant with his cold will giue it greater heat For how much the more cold he suffers for vs so much the more loue he shewes to beare vs where I finde my selfe to be more beloued there am I obliged more to loue Exteriourly hee suffers cold and yet through the great loue he beares vs he can endure noe cloathes but he lyes naked as soone as he is borne naked they lay him vpon the Crosse because in his bearth in his death he shewed the greatest excesse of loue Madam you must prouide a cradle wherein you may rock him a sleepe which signifies the repose of contemplation and see that you tend and treat him well for he is the sonne of a great high king and he is the sonne alsoe of a virgin and he takes much gust to lodge himselfe in the hart of virgins for the meat he eates is flesh which is crucified dead And because he hath a great deale of poore people amongst his kindred whome yet he loues deerely well you must be alsoe sure to loue them for they are the brethren of our creators As soone as he is borne in your hart you must take care to nurse him and I beseech him to keepe and saue you for his mercies sake Amen A Letter to a certaine Lady who is taught with what disposition she is to receiue Christ our lord into her soule and with what care she is to keept him and of the great misery where into that soule falls which committs mortall sinne and what a great treason it is to leaue God and follow the deuill especially for such as haue beene particularly fauoured by almighty God THE grace and peace of the holy ghost be in your hart and assist you in this holy tyme that you may prepare your soule for that Infant who is now to be borne For he hath noe howse but in those soules which are well disposed to receiue him He comes as a straunger and in great pouertie Giue him your hart Mat. 25 that soe he may say in the last day I was a straunger and you receiued mee But yet consider withall that as there is nothing so much to be desired by you as to lodge this Infant in your soule so is there nothing which requires more care and diligence then to prepare the lodging ready in such sort as he desires He comes in humility and pouertie and they who receiue him must be humble and poore He comes to vndertake great labours and with labour that howse must be adorned wherein he voutchafes to dwell He is chast and he loues such as are chast And though he be very little and a very Infant yet withall he is very great and he is God and soe it must be no little thing to prepare a lodging for a great God Our lord is choise and nice and by reason of some-one mortall sinne which some man makes litle difficulty to committ he refuses to enter into the soule And if he be there already one mortall sinne sends him away And when he is gone he comes not back againe soe soone but makes it plaine by the difficulty which he hath to returne with how great diligence he is to be kept by vs when we haue him there O my good lady and how riche is he who possesses God and how often in the day were he to looke downe vpon his hart asking our Lord if hee be there What chaynes should he cast about him of humble petitions and teares begging of him as Dauid did in these words Psal 21. O lord depart not from mee How full of caution ought a man to walke least he should doe somewhat which might offend our Lord least being offended he should be gone For if hee be all good what shall it be to loose him but to fall into the Abisse of all miseries They are sadd things which a soule feeles when it hath lost God and such as will hardly be beleiued though all the world should speake of them This appeares well in our first parents Adam and Eue. For Eue looking vpon the fruite of the forbidden tree it seemed very beautifull to her eye and that if she might eate thereof it would proue very pleasing to her and giue her great contentment But as soone ast she had eaten her eyes were opened to behould those great miseries which came vpon her by that meanes experience taught her that the bitternes of breaking the cōmaundment of God was greater then the pleasure to haue eaten the fruite And then she saw that the apparance which the forbiddē fruite had of being soe very faire and full of gust was but a deceite of the deuill who made a false glasse for her to looke through And hee alsoe gaue her a loathing of those other fruites which God commaunded her to eate Soe as they seemed vnsauoury to her and she thought that all the gust and hidden good had consisted in that which God forbad O how many haue beene deceiued by the deuill through false imagination he promising them contentment gust they afterwards making bitter lamentation for giuing credit to him whom euen before they knew to be a
ours as that he will not serue so benigne a Lord with all diligence who is he that coÌ„sidering whence our Lord hath drawen him will not resolue to be daily further and further of from hell and from the impiety of sinne He seemes not to haue bene sorrie for his offence who procures not with diligence to be farre from the like He doth not sufficiently thanke our Lord for this guift who hath layde aside the memory thereof with whome it decayes with time not stirring himself vp to giue new thankes and to presente new seruices knowing more and more thereof euery day as a person who hath receiued encrease of light This is so great a fauour that Dauid calles it the Benedictions of sweetenesse And it is great reason that we should grow strong with that new grace Psal 20. which our Lord gaue vs and not content ourselues still with being little ones I sayd that at least we must be carefull in the continuance and conseruation of this guift because according to good reason we should be encreasers thereof daily more and more And from hence it growes that when I see that the light of your soule is sett vpon by so many windes and when I consider your weakenesse in the midst of so many and so great and so subtile enemyes I finde my selfe to be all trembling ouer you as any mother would be ouer her sonne who aduentures not to reioyce for the good she sees him enioy through the feare she hath that he may chance to loose it Tell me good Sir how is it with you are you still on foote in the presence of your God doe you liue in the presence of true life is God lodged in your hart is there an vnion of loue betweene God and your soule Or is there not perhaps some litle drynesse or disagreement growen betweene you which your much care of this world and your little care to please your Lord may haue caused I feare to heare the answeare which you may chance to giue and yet I cannot content my selfe to be without hearing it If you giue me good newes my soule will reioyce in our Lord and I will giue him thankes for hauing conserued what he hath gayned But if you tell me otherwise I must be extremely sorry and yet still howsoeuer I must needes know it For I will not remaine without greife if you be subiect to any spirituall losse or inconuenience I hope to haue a parte of your Crowne and I submitt my selfe to beare a parte of your payne If there be any thing of this kinde take heede you suffer not the wound to fester and make no intricate knotts vpon the swathing-bands of your sinnes Make haste to breake that quickly which is ill tyed vp for you can haue no leaue to diuide your self from him who fixed himself to that Crossë for you with so cruell nayles Say alowde to all things Departe from me for neither am I yours neither ought I be so much as mine owne Lett the thing be what it will let the person be who it will and let the interest be as great as it can be no other can haue Title or iustice to carry you away but onely Iesus Christ who created you and tooke you for his sonne and after you had beene a prodigall admitted of you againe and honoured you and gaue you a new garment and a sweete embracement of peace and keepes a state of great repose prepared for you in heauen if you will keepe his commaundements That man namely your selfe belongs to this Lord of ours Though euery man in this world should putt in his clayme for you there is none who hath so dearely bought you as he to whome you also belong by another title For what is it for God to dye for vs but to repurchase that at an extreame rate which was already his by the benefitt of Creation and to draâ—v vs out of hell and againe to admitt vs to his freindshipp what is this but to multiplie diuerse Titles to the same thing and those so very great that euery one of them hath reason enough to carry the whole man after it O treason of the sonnes of Adam what is that which you doe when somewhat else preuailes in your hart against Iesus Christ how are you able to say No to him whome you are so bound to serue though it were with the losse of your liues Shall any small title which any thing may make towards you be able to carry you away and so blinde you as to make you forgett so many and so great benedictions as our Lord layes vp in heauen for you Let the world departe euen now from our harts since it is so soone to departe from our eyes And when we shall see anything therein which flourishes let vs bury it vnder ground and treade vpon it there in the sepulcher For by the coÌ„sideration thereof we shall obtaine a true relation of it and such a one as will deliuer vs from it and free vs from the care of all that which heere is sought with such a pestilent kind of desire What better weights or measure can you desire that so you may not be deceiued nor be drawen to take one thing for another then to carry it instantly to the Passion and death of Iesus Christ our Lord who then condemned that which the world esteemed and to carry it also to the hower of our owne death which conducts vs all naked solitary and defeated and to be trod vpon by the seete of our seruants And you in particular may doe well to remember this point since besides the feare which we all ought to haue of that passage your self haue another particular reason for it because you haue a more particular knowledge of death for lately you wanted not as a man may say a fingar's breadth of passing through it to eternity Take heede take heede that you be not deceaued by those false apparances and by those painted maskes for they are no better then maskes which enueagle deceaue our soules And if you like these shadowes so well raise vp your hart to heauen where the Truthes of these things are whereof heere there is but some litle resemblance And so you will neither conceiue any enuie against him whome you finde to prosper in warldly things neither yet will you haue any great appetite to possesse that which in fine you must be forced to leaue Do not entangle your selfe with this earth since God hath giuen you some good hopes and pledges that he meanes to carry you to heauen And those are his most sacred death the knowledge and loue of the Crucifix the receauing of the holy Sacraments whereby in the holy Church there is giuen a pardon of our sinnes and the adoption of the Sonnes of God and consequently of heyres Let him seeke for shadowes who hath no hope to lay holde on things of substance Let him respect a short tyme who hath
we list Let vs giue itt to him who will haue goodnes to tolerate it and wisedome to conduct and cure it And certainely our lord would thereby vndergoe the weight as a man may say of a heauy end vnsufferable burden if his loue were not incomprehensible It is a great help towardes out denyeing of our selues when we consider that we are our owne enemies and our very being soe miserable may well serue to keepe vs from being so couetous to enioy our selues and to make vs cast our selues away and turne our selues out of house whatsoeuer it cost vs. And yet the truÌ„pet of the diuine goodnes soundes this out in our eares that Dauid goes forth into the field as being persecuted without any fault of his and that the poore people who were much in debt and such as were in anguish and bitternes of heart ioyned themselues to him Blessed be our lord Iesus Amen who is soe rich and patient in goodnes that his father thought fit to trust such poore sheepe as we are in his handes But that which is lamentable is that we are soe blinde withall that he begging that we will be his and binding himselfe to be ours vpon that condition yet woe woe be to vs we still resolue to seeke Quae nostra sunt non quae Iesu Christi Those thinges which are our owne 1. Cor 13. and not these things of Christ our lord And we will needes possesse our selues still without any reason at all but onely through blinde affection and without once resoluing to trye how sweet how iust and how profitable a thing it is to belong entirely to Christ our lord and to walke in the way of his holy will Christ our lord giue you light in all Amen and be wholy with you A Letter of the Authour to a great man his freind who entred into the state of Religion in the Society of Iesus HAuing vnderstood of the chaunge which you haue made I haue giuen many thankes to the immense bounty of our lord who hath so earnestly taught you soe mercifully found you and so powerfully conducted you thither where without any impediment of other employmeÌ„ts you may present him with your whole hart for a quiet peaceable habitation wherein he may conuerse and take delight as he vses to doe with his elect These are not sleight fauours nor must wee passe them ouer without particular acknowledgment and gratitude For this I hould to be that sacrifice which our lord expressely requires in recompence of his fauours and for want thereof he hath depriued very many of those which formerly he had imparted Soe much more must you haue a care of this as the fauour was greater through the great dangers which threatened you by reason of the greatenes of your person the many imployments which accompanyed you in the world And therefore as our lord hath not performed a lesse act in giuing you light that so leauing all things you may goe in pursuit of him then he did in fauour of the three Magi whome he enabled by a starr to doe the same you must bee sure to adore God to spread your self all prostrate vpon the ground acknowledging your owne nothing before that high Maiesty and giuing him thankes from the very bottome of your hart for the fauour you haue receiued and offering your self as an euerlasting present to him whose you are by so many Titles As for me I esteemed it not for one of the least that he hath voutchsafed to seeke the Post childe and that he hath placed him in the ranckâ— of them who are most honoured in his house and all this through his owne onely goodnes What hart is there in the world which would not melt into tendernes by the coÌ„sâ—deration of such a fauour as this to see himselfe pâ—â—euented by such a hand and so as if the question and doubt had beene whether God's mercy â—â—r our misery should preuaile but he hath mightilâ—â— happilly ouercome And not being conteâ—ted to send vs messengers both within and from without himselfe takes vs by the hand like another Lott Gen. 1 and drawes vs out of the place of danger vp the hill where wee may be saued Doe not you forget this goeing out of Egypt for it is a certaine thing where many wonderfull things of God are seene And this departure of ours is not obtayned for vs but by the bedding of the bloud of the lambe which â—ath cryed out before the Father with desiâ—e that it may bee applyed to our soules Cleansing them from all earthly appetites and consecrating them wholly to the desire of his diuine loue Christ our Lord hath beene heard whilest he was praying for you as wee may very well beleiue Giuing this stone to his Father that so of vilde and basâ— he may make it pretious and that it may bee sett and worne in the head of Christ our Lord as a fruite of those great afflictions which hee endured for the good of soules Great was that warre and hee conquered therein for he giues soules â—o his Father who may runne after him and adore him vt vinctis mambu post â—â—lâ—â— Câ—â—iant Prepare your selfe to receiue our Lord since you are redeemed by him you are already belonging to him you are the spoyles of his victory a piece of lande you are which is come to him by lott that he may câ—ltiuate and water it and make it fruitfull O how happy are you if you can but valew your owne happynes and consider from whome and through whome it hath proceeded Beseech him that since he hath done you soe much fauour without all desert of yours his goodnes may neuer permitt that your hart should serue any but him nor your eyes behould any other beauty then the beauty of God who hath beene so good to you A great burden it is which herein they haue Layd vpon you in exchaunge of those many other burdens whereof they haue eased you For now you are growne a deepe debtor of a most profound internall loue and of diligent seruice to that Lord who hath eased you of all those other obligations and giuen you the speede of a slag wherewith to â—unne in his wayes Thinke you vpon this and bee thankfull for this Abâ—â— 3. And since you are as poore towards paying as you were vnworthy towards receiuing you shall make an act of renounciation of all your goods into the hands of our Lord. Beseeching him that he will accept you all for his and soe take you vpon his owne accompt to serue himselfe of you according to his owne gust and desiring that he will dispose of you as shall please him best I beleiue I haue already sayd too much to a soule to which our Lord is already speaking For to such soules all humane discourse is accounted tedious and troublesome and it hath reason to be soe But the ioy which in our Lord I haue conceiued and the commandment which you sent