in Lent taken from S. Gregorie 1. That it represseth the flesh and vices 2. That it eleuateth the spirit 3. That it acquireth virtues and merits For which cause the holy scripture recommendeth the same so much vnto vs. Ioel. 2. psal 101. 34. Luc. 5. Mar. 2. 9. 17. Luc. 4. 2. Cor. 11. and the holie Fathers S. Basil hom 1. 2. de Ieiun Aug. ser 55. de temp Amb. ser 23. 25 34. 36. 37. And our Lord him selfe hath both honored and recommended it by his example Mat. 4. EXAMPLES 1. The prophet Daniel by fasting obtained the knowledge of thinges to come Dan. 9. 2. The Niniuites appeased the anger of God Ionas 3. 3. Elias and Moyses by the fast of fortie dayes obtayned the companie and familiaritie of almightie God 3. Reg. 19. 11. Exod 24. 25. 33. 11. 4. Eleazer a gentleman of note being nintie yeares olde chose rather to loose his life after diuers greuous torments he had endured then to eate swines flesh contrary to the commandement of God 2. Mac. 6. 18. 5. The seauen Machabean bretheren together with their mother did the same 2. Mac. 6. 18. 6. The Emperor Iustinian seeing his people afflicted with famin caused the but cherie in Constantinople to be opened in the second weeke of Lent and gaue permission to buy and sell flesh but the good people chose rather to die by hunger then ether to buy or to sell flesh Niceph. lib. 17. cap. 32. At Vartisla◠or Breslaw in Silesia an hereticall Minister to deride and mock at Catholique religion hauing put a peace of meate into his mouth vpon a Friday his mouth remayned open and wistly gaping without being able to shut it againe nether by force nor yet by art In the historie of the Societie Anno 1592. 8. A woman in the same place hauing put flesh into her mouth vpō a Saturday fell downe starke dead Ibidem 9. At Poldachie a cittie of Polognia in the yeare 1585. a young man eating flesh vpon a Friday was possessed of the diuill who a litle after stopt his throate and kild him out right In the same hist. anno 1585. 10. A married man mockinge at the fast of Lent which S. Elphegus bishop of Winchester in England had recommended died sodainly the night ensuing according to the prediction of the Saint Baron tom 10. annal eccles anno Dom. 947. §. 2. Of Almes Redeeme thy sinnes with almes said Daniel to Nabuchodonoser and thine iniquities with the mercies of the poore Dan. 4. 24. Blessed is the man that vnderstandeth concerning the needie and the poore in the euill day our Lord will deliuer him psal 40. 1. Loe this was the iniquity of Sodome thy sister pride fulnes of bread and abundance and the idlenes of her and of her daughters and they raught not the hande to the needy and the poore Ezech. 16. 49. Almes giuing is a marke of predestination according to S. Paul for in the 3. of the Colos vers 12. he saith Put yee on therfore as the elect of God holy and beloued the bowells of mercie I remember not to haue read saith S. Hierom that any one came to an euill death who gladly during his life practised the workes of mercie because such an one hath many intercessors and it is impossible that the prayers of many should not be heard S. Hier. ad Nepotian And the same S. Aug. saith serm ad fratres in Eremo Heare for the last S. Chrisostom Almes saith he is one of the greatest friendes of God and which is alwayes neere vnto him She hath in such sort gained his grace that all whatsoeuer she asketh of him and for whomsoeuer she doth obtaine without difficultie She it is that vnbindes the bādes the shackles and manacles of sinners she expels darknes and puts out the fire for which respect she enters with all assurance into heauen for that the gates of this great pallais are instantly open to her and as if it were the Queene her selfe none nether porters nor gard dare say vnto her who art thou whence comest thou but contrariwise all the courtiars of heauen doe goe before her to entertayne her S. Chrisostom Hom. 9. in Matt. EXAMPLES 1. S. Catharine of Sienna hauing giuen a siluer Crosse vnto a poore bodie our Lord appeared vnto her the night following saying that he would shew that Crosse at the day of iudgement to all the worlde Ant. Senen in her life 2. S. Iohn the Almes-giuer so stiled because of the continuall almes which he bestowed called the poore his Lordes for as much quoth he as they had the power to helpe him that he should not be shut out of the kingdome of heauen Ribad in his life 3. S. Lewis kinge of France and B. Amaedes Duke of Sauoye were wont to serue the poore bare-head this latter called thē his hunting houndes where with he hunted after and caught the kingdome of heauen In their liues 4 Robert kinge of France as Hegaldus writeth and after him cardinall Baronius the yeare of our Lord 1033. whersoeuer he went drew allwayes after him great wagons all full of poore people and when any asked him why he did so I goe quoth he to besiege the cittie of paradise with these troupes God hath said that he will open the gates of paradise to the riche who haue opened to them their harts and their treasures Who then shall enter into heauen if this armie shall not enter and I also who am the Colonnel of the company See the liues of S. Martin S. Francis S. Edward Kinge of England and S. Oswald of S. Gregorie pope S. Iulian bishop of Guence S. Nicholas S. Bernardine S. Iohn Chrisostom with infinit others and you shall see them all maruellously addicted to this virtu Is it not true then that Almes giuing is a marke of predestination 5. Euagrius philosopher being conuerted to the faith by the Bishop Senesius gaue him three hundred crownes of gould for an almes receuing an obligation from the bishop vnder his hande to receaue them againe in heauen Being dead he appeared to this bishop willing him to goe vnto his graue and to open it The which he did and found his obligation in the handes of him that was dead wherin was written that he held him selfe wel content for he had receiued his mony in heauen Sophron. in prat spirit cap. 195. Ioan. Zonaras 3. annal 6. S. Gregorie writeth that two Martyrs appeared after their death in the habit of pilgrimes to a deuout matrone and as she gaue them her almes according to her custome they said vnto her You helpe vs now and we will also helpe you at the day of iudgment Hom. 32. in euang 7. The like did certaine Charter-house Monkes martyred vnder Henrie the eight to a deuout woman at the houre of her death which had somtimes asisted thē in the time of their prisonment P. Cornelius in Deut. cap. 26 12. See the happy death of Peter Velleio a
306. 3. Aske nothing but what is ether profitable or necessarie to thy saluation And that which is indifferent as health prosperitie c. aske it also with condition for example Lord giue me health if it be to thy greater glorie and my saluation This is the confidence which we haue towards him that whatsoeuer we shall aske according to his will he heareth vs. 1. Ioh. 15. 14. And the will of God saith S. Paul is your sanctification 1. Thes 4. 3. 4. To aske all in the name and by the merits of Iesus Christ Amen I say to you if you aske the Father any thinge in my name he will giue it you Iohn 16. 23. EXAMPLES 1. God the Creator receiued the gift of Abel but that of Cain was reiected because Cain offred it with a hart full of enuie and rancor against his brother Gen. 4. 2. At Toulouse in France a young man being in quarrel enmity against an other albeit he frequented the churches and recited there sundry prayers yet neuer could he for the space of seauen monthes once recite the Pater noster vntill such time as following the councell of a father of the Societie he was reconciled to his enemie In the annales of the Societie anno 1584. 3. I wâ—ll speake vnto God was Abraham wont to say before prayer I that am but dust and ashes Gen. 18. 27. 4. S. Hierom writing to Saluina sayeth that Nebridius was wont to aske nothinge in his prayer but that which God knew to be best for him Epist. â— 5. Another holy person was wont to pray reciting A. B. C. and after at the end said Lord doe thou ioyne the letters together I aske thee only that which is most agreeable to thee and most expedient for me and what this is thou knowest better then I. And S. Macarius said that this maner of praier was the best Lord giue me what thou wilt and what thou pleasest Salmeron tract 12. de orat Christi in horto 6. Iacob being reuested with the garments of his eldest brother Esau receiued the benediction of his father Isaac Gen. 27. If we will receiue the blessing of our celestiall father we must approache vnto him with the garments and merits of our eldest brother Iesus Christ It is the practise of the Church neuer to conclude any praier in the diuine office or in the Masse but. Per Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum c. THE VIII CHAPTER Of Communion THe holie Church obligeth a euerie Christian who hath attained to the vse of reason to receiue at the least once a yeare and that about Easter but this is not to say that she is not maruellous desirous b that we receiue the same more often and that because of the necessitie which the soule hath of this nourishment and of the greate vtilities she receiueth therby a Concil Lat. Can. 21. b. Concil Trid. Sess 22. c. 26. §. Of the necessitie and vtilitie of Communion Amen I say to you vnles you eate the flesh of the Sonne of man and drinke his blood you shall not haue life in you Saith our Sauiour in S. Iohn cap. 6. 53. Thâ— bread which I will giue is my flesh for the life of the worlde Ibid. 51. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me and I in him Ibid. 56. I am stricken as grasse and my hart is withered because I haue forgotten to eate my bread psal 101. 5. that is to say the holie Eucharist To communicat euery day saith S. Aug. I nether praise nor yet dispraise but I councell and exhorte to communicat euery Sonday Lib. de eccles dog-mat The same S. Hierom saith in apolog ad Pamachum O â—acred baÌ„quet singeth the church wherin Christ is receiued the memory of his passion is renewed a the minde is fild with grace b and a pledge of future glorie is giuen vnto vs. a Basil ser 1. de baptis cap. 3. b Amb. in psal 18. ser 15. v. 4. Concil Trid. Sess 13. cap. 2. It is the viaticum of our pilgrimage a which is giuen vnto vs as the manna to the Isralites b to passe happely the desaâ—t and warfare of this life vntill we arriue to the celestiall Hierusalem bringing to vs all consolation c vertu and graces a Concil Nice can 12. 2. Arelat can 12. Chrisost l. 6. de sacerd Paulin. in vita Ambros Greg. hom 4. in Euang. b Exod. 16. Deut. 8. c Sap. 16. Ioan. 6. Heare what S. Ambrose saith Our Lord in the Eucharist is vnto vs all in all If you will heale your woundes he is the medecin If you be thirstie he is the fountaine If you be loaden with sinnes he is iustice If you stand in neede of asistance he is virtu If you feare death he is life If you will goe to heauen he is the way If you fly darknes he is the light If you are hungrie he is foode Tast then and see how sweet our Lord is S. Amb. de virginit ad Marc. sor l. 3. tom 4. EXAMPLES 1. A certaine woman hauing bene fiue weekes without communicating appeared like a Mare Pallad in hist. Lausiac sect 17. c. 19. 2. Sister Agnes Abbesse hauinge forbidden S. Lutgarde to communicate euery Sonday was at the same instant stricken with sicknes whereof she could not be healed till after she had reuoked that sentence Surius tom 3. c. 12. 3. S. Gertrude praying for one of her religious who thorough an indiscreet zeale diuerted her fellowes to frequent the coÌ„munion our Lord said vnto her that all his delight was to be with men and that therfore this religious did ill in withdrawing others from the communion Lud. Blos in Monil spirit c. 6. 4. S. Bonauenture out of reuerence and humiliâ—ie abstayninge sundrie dayes to say Masse as he heard the same the priest hauing broken the holie Hoste one peece therof flew to the mouth of S. Bonauenture Then giuing thankes to God he vnderstood that those were more agreable vnto him who approached to the communion by loue then those who for feare abstained from it which he hath since committed to writinge In the treat of spirituall exercises intituled Fascilulus cap. 7. lib. 2. de prof relig cap. 78. 5. A litle childe after he had communicated was cast by his owne father being a Iew into a burning fornace without receiuing any hurt Gregor Turon lib. 1. de gloria mart cap. 10. Nicephor Eccles hist. lib. 17. cap. 25. 6. S. Liberalis receiuing the coÌ„munion euery Sonday tooke no other kinde of sustenance and was in good health Marul lib. 4. cap. 12. Pet. de Natal lib. 4 cap. 93. 7. Iulia Zerbina at Parma liued also many monthes without other sustenance then the B. Sacrament Orlandinus in the hist. of the Societie lib. 2. of the yeare 1539. Who sees not then that the holie Eucharist is the true nourishment of a Christian man and a soueraigne remedie against all danger and that therfore it is wisely done to
for me to loose a whole kingdome for so litle a pleasure Plutarch Ah sinner thou doost the same for lesse when for a pleasure but of a momeÌ„t of a wicked worke of a disordered word or of consent to some euill thought thou loosest in an instant the whole kingdom of heauen thine owne soule 2. What a subiect of griefe was it to accursed Esau to haue lost for a litle dishe of pottage all his birth-right Gen. 25. 3. Susanna seeing her selfe solicited to the sinfull concupiscence of two â—ould men of Babilon who threatned her in case of refusall to accuse her of adulterie she sighing said Perplexities are to me on euery side for if I shal doe this it is death to me and if I doe it not I shall not escape your handes But it is better for me without the act to fall into your handes then to sinne in the sight of our Lord. Dan. 13. 22. 4. Eleazer one of the princes of the Scribes being fourscore and ten yeares ould being vrged to eate swines flesh against the commandement of God or else to die answered That he would rather be sent vnto hell that is to say that he had rather die For quoth he although at this present time I be deliuered from the torments of men yet neither aliue nor dead shal I escape the hande of the almightie God so at the last was put to death 2. Mac. 6. 5. Seauen bretheren also together with their mother being taken and most cruelly scourged for the same cause one of them which was the first said What seekest thou and what wilt thou learne of vs we are ready to die rather then to transgresse the lawes of God coming from our fathers ibid. cap. 7. 6. All the martyrs both of the ould and the new Testament haue they not chosen rather to die then to sinne 7. This also was that which S. Blanche so greatly recommended vnto S. Lewis Kinge of France saying vnto him That she had rather to see him die then to see him offende God mortallie which point he imprinted so deepely in his pious hart that it is houlden for certaine that in his whole life he neuer committed any mortall sinne 8. And the same S. Lewis in the instruction which he gaue to his sonne Phillip at the houre of his death said vnto him My sonne take heede to thy selfe that thou offende not God mortallie although thou shouldest suffer all the torments in the worlde 9. S. Thomas of Aquin said that he knew not how a man who saw him selfe in mortall sinne could ether laughe or be merry in any time whatsoeuer Ribad 7. of March. And the kinge of Spaine Philip the third could not comprehend how such an one could euer sleepe 10. S. Stillites of Edessa obtained this fauor of almightie God as to see his Angell gardian and that of others but differently for those which were in the grace of God he saw them accompanied with their good Angells who guided them with a torche alighted but those which were in mortall sinne he saw them detained in chaines by the diuells and their Angells which followed them a far off heauilie weeping Ex Patrico Grecorum M. S. Biblioth Reip. Augustana Raderus in virid sanct pag. 2. cap. 6. Weepe weepe yee ô yee blessed Spirits sith the sinner him selfe is so vnfortunat as not to see nor deplore his owne ill fortune Desire you to see yet more reade the § that doth ensue §. 2. How much mortall sinne is detestable horrible and stinking 1. Fly from sinne saith the wise man as from a serpent Eccle. 21. 2. One may well say of a soule fallen into mortall sinne that which the Prophet Ieremie said of the sonnes and daughters of Ierusalem during the time of their affliction From the daughter of Sion all her beautie is departed Thren 1. 6. 2. And againe How is the gold darkned the best color changed the stones of the sanctuarie dispersed in the head of all streetes The noble children of Sion and they that were clothed with the principall gold how are they reputed as earthen vessels the worke of the potters handes Her Nazarits whiter then snowe purer then milke ruddier then the ould yuorie faâ—rer then the saphire their face is made blacker then coales and they are not knowen in the streetes Ibid. cap. 4. 3. They are become abhominable like to the thinges which they loued Osee 9. Aske saith S. Ambrose the conscience of the sinner if it be not more stinking then all the sepulchers of the dead lib. 1. offic cap. 12. 4. Euen as the rottenes taketh away all the beautie color sent and fauor of the apple euen so sinne taketh away the beautie of the soule the odor of her good name the goodnes of grace and the sauor of glorie S. Bon. in Dieta salutis c. 2. EXAMPLES 1. The Sonne of God hauing taken vpon him selfe the sinnes of men lost in such wise his excellent beautie that of the fairest that he was amongst all men he became so disfigured that the prophet behoulding him said There is no beautie in him nor comelines and we haue seene him and there was no sightlines Isay 53. 2. Now if the only paine of sinne hath so disfigured our B. Lord what shall the guilt it selfe doe vnto vs 2. The diuel is most horrible gastly but mortall sinne is yet much more for a holy hermit seeing him selfe honored for the miracles which he did in driuing diuells forth of bodies for feare of falling into vaine glorie he instantly asked of almightie God to be him selfe possest of the diuell as he was Seuer Sulpit. in the life of S. Martin c. 1. Doe you see how this holie man was more afraid of sinne then of the diuell 3. Our B. Ladie appeared to S. Catharine virgin and martyr before such time as she was baptised houldinge her litle Sonne betwixt her armes and she recommended Catharin vnto him our Lord turned his face from her saying that she was too il fauored Which was the cause that she made haste to be baptised and within awhile after our Lord bethrothed him selfe vnto her in the presence of his holy mother and of an inâ—init number of B. Angells and put a ringe vpon her fingar the which she kept during her life Pet. de natal l. 10. c. 105. Ribad in her life 4. S. Catharine of Sienna discoursing with a gentlewoman which was defiled with the sinne of the flesh stopt her nose And when father Raimond her coÌ„fessar was amazed therat she said vnto him that vnles she should haue done so she should haue been forced for to vomit because of the stinke which came forth of the soule of the same woman 5. S. Anthonie relateth the like of an Angel who passing with an Hermit hard by an effeminat youngster stopt his nostrils which he had not done passing by a dead carion And when the Hermit was astonished therat he said vnto him that young man by reason of
could possibly befall vnto a familie 4. A certaine woman damned for hauing taught her daughter all sortes of mondanitie appeared to S. Bridgit as coming forth of some darksome lake with her hart torne forth of her bellie hir lippes cut off her nose all eaten her eyes puld out of her head hanging downe vpon her cheekes her breast couered with great wormes and with most fearfull and lamentable cries and lamentations complaining of her daughter and saying as if she had spoken to her Vnderstand my daughter and venimous Newte accursed be I that euer I was thy mother for as often as thou doost imitate and follow the workes of my wicked customes that is to say the sinnes which my selfe haue taught thee so oft my paine is renewed S. Bridgit in her reuelations l. 6. cap. 52. 5. A certaine person saw vpon a day hell open and in the midst of the flames the father and the sonne which bitterly cursed one another the father said Cursed be thou my sonne who art cause of my damnation for to enriche thee I haue done a thousand iniustices The sonne on the contrary said It is thou cursed father who art the cause of my damnatioÌ„ because for feare to displease thee I haue remayned in the worlde Dionis Carth. l. de 4. nouis art 42. towards the end Loe here a goodly looking glasse for those which hinder their children to enter into religion principally when one seeth that God doth call them 6. A certaine crack-rope led to the galloes cald for his father and making as if he would tel him somewhat in secret approached with his mouth vnto his eare and then tore it off with his teeth saying Auantwretch if thou hadst whipt me in my youth I had not now bene where I am S. Bernardinus ser 17. de euang aeterno 7. Another called Lucretius being likewise led vnto the galloes and hauing called for his father to bid him farwel tore off his nose with his teeth saying vnto him as the other did Boetius de disciplin scholarium Ioan. Hieroso serm 16. 8. Pretextat a Roman Lady by the commandement of Hymettius her husband ouncle to the virgin Eustochium for hauing changed the habit and dresse of this mayden and renewed her head-geare after the model of such as were secular contrary to the minde both of the virgin and the desire of her mother Paula saw the same night in her sleepe her Angell addresse him selfe vnto her threatning her with a terrible voice Darest thou to touche the heade of the virgin of God with thy prophane and sacriledgious handes the which shall wither from this very houre and fiue monthes hence thou shalt be carried into hell and if thou perseuer in thy sinne thou shalt be depriued both of thy husband anâ— thy children altogether The succes wherof ensued in ordre for sodaine death made euident the late repentance of this wretched womaÌ„ S. Hier. l. 2. ep 15. All these examples proue they not apparantly that the negligence and conuiuence of the parents is both heir owne and their childrens ruine Thus the Ape making ouermuch of her litle ones doth stifele them §. 2. Of the sinnes of Children towards their parents The first commandement of the second table is Honor thy father and thy mother that thou mayest be long liued vpon the earth Exod. 20. 12. Three obligations are comprised in this commandement The first to loue honor and reuerence our parents The second to obey them in that which is reason The third to asist and succour them in their necessities S. Tho. 2. 2. q. 101. a. 2. Cursed be he that honoreth not his father and mother Deut 27. 16. If a man beget a stubburne and froward sonne that will not heare the commandments of his father and mother and being chastned contemneth to be obedient they shall take him and bringe him to the ancients of his cittie and to the gate of iudgment and shall say to him This our sonne is froward and stubburne be contemneth to heare our admonitions he giueth him selfe to commessation and to ryot and banquetinges The people of the cittie shall stone him and he shall die that you may take away the euill out of the midest of you and all Israel hearing it may be afraid Deut. 21. 18. He that curseth his father and mother his lampe shall be extinguished in the middest of darknes Pro. 20. 20. He that curseth his father and mother dying let hâ—m dâ—e Exod. 21. 17. The eye that scorneth his father and that despiseth the trauaile of his mother in bearing him let the Rauens of the torrent pick it out and the younge of the Eagle eate it Pro 30. 17. It is most certaine that whosoeuer curseth father or mother or vttereth against them iniurious threatninges or smiteth them or wisheth them dead or pronouÌ„ceth wordes which of them selues may greatly put them into choler or being in honor despiseth his father or his mother that are poore or shall accuse them before a Iudge or shall not obey them in a point of importance touching the gouerment of their famillie especiallie if it be done by contempt or selfe opinion or doth not asist them in their great necessitie offendeth God mortallie Toletus l. 5. Instruct c. 1. S. Tho. 22. q. 101. art 4. ad 4. Siluest verbo filius Nauar. c. 14. n. 11. EXAMPLES 1. Cain was cursed and all his posteritie because he mockt his father Noe. Gen. 19. nor would receiue the instructioÌ„s which he gaue him to serue God Lactantius 2. Esau for takinge a wife against the will of father and mother Gen. 26. 34. 3. Ruben fell from his birth-right for hauinge wrought shame to his father Iacob Gen. 49. 3. 4. 4. Absalon was hanged in a chaine made of his owne haire and perced with three strokes of a speare because he had taken armes against his father Dauid 2. Reg. 18. 9. 14. 5. The yeare of our Lord 873. and the first yeare of Iohn the 8. Pope in the assemblie of Bishops and Lords which was made in Francfort by the commandement of Lewis kinge of Germany Charles his younger sonne was thorough the iust iudgment of God posest of the diuell for that he had conspired against his father as he him selfe confest being deliuered saying That as oft as he consented to this deliberation so oft was he seased on by the diuell Taken out of the Annales of France by Pitheus and of Amonius l. 5. c. 30. and of Card. Baron the yeare abousaid 6. A boy of eighteene yeares old being hanged at the same instant a beard grew forth of his chinne al gray and his haire also became white God manifesting by this miracle till what age he should haue liued if he had not bene disobedient to father and mother S. Bernardinus to 2. dom 40. ser 17. 7. A Young maried man seing his father cominge hid a rosted Goose which he had made to be set on the table to the end he should haue none
v. 4. Our Lord said vnto his Apostles Going therfore teache yee all nations bap tising them in the name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost Mat. 28. 19. Tertullian who liued in the yeare of our Lord 198. saith that the true Christian is accustomed in entring in going forth in putting on his clothes at his vprising at his letting downe at the table when candles are lighted when he goes to bed and when he sets him downe to rest him in all his conuersation and in all his exercises to make the signe of the Crosse vpon his forehead If one aske you quoth he what the origine is of such like thinges Answere tradition hath left them custome hath confirmed them and faith hath practised them lib. de corona milit c. 3. S. Cyrill catechisinge a Christian saith as followeth Be not ashamed to confes the Crucifix engraue with thy fingars confidently the signe of the Crosse vpon thy fore-head on euery other thinge vpon thy bread vpon thy drinke at thy going out at thy coming in c. Cyrill Hier. Cat. 13. The same S. Amb. saith of Isaac and the soule c. 8. S. Basill in his booke of the holy Ghost c. 27. S. Hier. ad Eustoch de custod virg S. Aug. de Cat. rud c. 20. Seest thou then o Christian that it is not a new thinge to vse this signe EXAMPLES 1. S. Gregorie the great writeth in his dialogues that a certaine religious woman was posessed of the diuell in earing the leafe of a lettice for not making theron before hande the signe of the Crosse L. 1. dialog c. 4. 2. Ioannes Niderus of the order of the Preachers writeth to haue vnderstood from the mouth of a Doctor in diuinitie and inquisitor of his order as an eye witnes that a religious man of the couent of Boisleduc was possessed also of the diuell tasting but the leafe of a cabbedge ommitting to make theron the signe of the Crosse l. 3. formicarij c. 1. 3. S. Bennet hauing made the signe of the Crosse vpon a pot wherin some illwillers of his had put poison and presented it to him the pot broke in peeces and all the liquor was sted a grounde as if the signe of the Crosse had bene vnto it the blowe of a stone S. Greg. l. 2. Dtal 6. 3. 4. A gentleman of Arras in the low contries hauing prepared in his house a most sumptuous banquet for Kinge Cloitarus and for S. Vaast Bishop of the said cittie as the Saint had set his foote within the place where the banquet was he made the signe of the Crosse and behould instantly all the potts cuppes glasses and vessells broke and crackt all in peeces The Kinge and the asistants astonished therat S. Vaast said vnto them that these vessells polluted with panims superstitions could not suffer the signe of the Crosse which he had made vpon them in entring in Doctor du Val in in the life of S. Vaast 6. of Feb. Is not this a maruellous virtu of this signe 5. Ribadeneira in the life of S. Iohn the Euangelist writeth that a certaine Christiā finding him selfe pressed by his creditors not hauing wherwith to cōtent pay them all in despaire resolued for to kill him selfe for this purpose had bought of a Iew a poisoned drinke But yet before he dranke it he made theron the signe of the holy Crosse and behould it did him no maner of harme He returned to the Iew and made his complaint he astonished thereat gaue him another yet more stronger But hauing takē it in the selfe same fashion as he had the former he receiued no kinde of domage therby The Iew gaue therof in his presence to a dog and the dog died instantly Then he enquired of the Christian what he had done before he dranke it Who answered that he had done no other thinge saue only made vpon it the signe of the Crosse accordinge to the custome of all good Christiās The Iew admiring the virtu of the Christiā ceremonies went and sought out S. Iohn Euangelist recounted vnto him the fact aforsaid and caused him selfe to be baptised Afterwards S. Iohn made the Christian that was thus in despaire to come vnto him bearing a litle bundle of hearbes and hauing made theron the signe of the Crosse conuerted it into perfect golde where with the miserable man contented his creditors Good God what an Antidote and what a treasure is this holy signe §. 2. That this signe is a preseruatiue against all danger and particularly against the tentations of the diuel S. Cyrill saith Make the Crosse vpon thy fore head that so the deuils perceiuing the caractar of the kinge all affrighted may take their flight Catec 4. And in another place he saith This signe is the protection of the faithfull and the terror of the diuells Catech. 13. The same doth S. Basil also say lib. de Spiritu Sanc. S. Efrem de poenit c. 3. de armat spirit c. 2. Origen hom 6. in c. 5. Exod. S. Aug. ad Catech. c. 2. de Simbolo S. Paulinnatal 8. S. Felicit S. Antonie was wont to say that the signe of the Crosse was an vnexpugnable rampart against the diuels Arme your selues said he to his disciples both your selues your houses with this signe and the diuells shall vanish away immediatly EXAMPLES 1. S. Gregorie writeth that a Iew was conuerted to the faith for hauing being preserued by night from the diuells within the ruines of an olde temple of Apollo by the signe of the Crosse which he had made vpon him selfe according to the imitation of the Christians the diuells crying An emptie but a signed vessel l. 3. dial c 7. Now if the signe of the Crosse made by a Iew had so much force what shall it haue being made by a true Christian Catholique 2. Palladius writeth that a good old man hauing espied in the bottome of a well an ouglie serpent made the signe of the Crosse vpon the welle drew of the water drāk therof with out receiuing any detriment Lausiac c. 2. 3. Theodoret in the life of Iulian and S. Martian martyrs writeth that these Saintes only by the signe of the Crosse slew sundry great and horrible Dragons The same also did S. George as Metaphrastes writeth in his life 4. Certaine Persians being sent to Constantinople to the Emper or Mauritius by the kinge Cosroas were demāded by the said Emperor why they bore the signe of the Crosse imprinted grauen vpon their foreheads seeing that according to their owne law they did no kinde of honor to it Who answered that this they did to recall to their minde the benefit receiued by that signe saying that according to the instructions which they had learned of the Christiās in arming thē selues with this signe they had bene deliuered frō the plague Niceph. Calist. in his historie 5. S. Aug. writeth that in Carthage one of the chiefest matrons of the citty called
might not die without Confession Communion and being confessed and communicated dyed in the yeare of our Lord. 1548. Surius 8. of December Et Bredembachus l. 4. c. 1. Loe then is not this enough to proue that it is good to recommend our selues vnto the Saintes and that it is dangerous to goe to bed not hauing first implored their asistance §. 4. Of holie water wherewith a Christian ought to sprinkle him selfe at his going in or coming out of his bed and chamber Holie water is of great virtu and of singular efficacie by reason of the prayers which holy Church vseth at the benediction hollowing thereof For she prayeth that God vouchsafe to giue the virtu of his blessing vpon it to driue away the diuills and other diseases all immondicities and dangers all corrupted or pestifferous ayres and other snares of the malignant spirit and that all which may trouble the health or peace of the inhabitauts may be expelled by the aspersion of this water This loe is the reason why we ought to sprincle our selues often there with but principallie when as we rise and goe to bed enter in or goe out of our chamber or house for we haue euery where the diuell who followeth and pursueth vs euen to death EXAMPLES 2. With holy water S. Hilarion dissolued the enchantments of a carter that was a gentile S. Hieron in Hilarion 2. With holy water S. Marcellus bishop of Apamia put both to feare and flight the very diuells who would haue hindred to burne the temple of an idole Theod. hist l. 8. c. 21. 3. With this water S. Macarius draue away the illusions of the diuells and magicians Pallad in lausiac c. 6. 4. With this water S. German bishop of Antisiodore appeased the sea which the diuells troubled Venerable Bede de gest Aug. l. 1. c. 17. 5. But behould here one of a fresher date In the yeare 1609. at Limoges in Guienna a Baker that had good store of customers was much enuyed of an old witche which entring into his house charmed the ouen and the dowe mumbling out certaine barbarous wordes and vnknowen She was forthwith taken with the fact but they did naught saue only laugh a litle therat vntill that on the morrow morning the Baker coming to looke vpon his past which he had made readie the day before founde that it was all spoiled and plainly stunke The like happened vnto him the day followinge and the third day also so that he founde him selfe in great necessitie and so perplexed that wanting meanes to pay his creditors and forced to goe beg his bread he was vpon the point to forsake his house and to goe like a vagabond about the contrie But before he put in practise his designe he went and recounted his affliction to a father of the Societie of Iesus who counselled him to confes him selfe with al his familie and made him to promise to doe the like from that time forward once a monthe After that they were all confest he gaue to ether of them an Agnus Dei and a litle botle full of holy water enioining the Baker to sprinckle his paste there with euery day He did as he was wild and at the first sprinckling a strange case he saw issue forth of his dowe a stinkinge vapor which caused a trembling thorough all his bodie but blessing him selfe with the signe of the Crosse it vanished away and he found his dow or past all changed and the loaues wel come He continued the same a whole yeare with the like successe but at the last quite neglected this good custome to sprincle his paste with holy water and behould presently the aforesaid witch-craft began againe and for a month together he found his paste all corrupted al black and so stinking that none durst come nere vnto it nor would the very dogges so much as eate it Wherupon he sprinckled it againe and behould he was presentlie seazed with so great a feare that it was needfull to cary him to his bed but this past within a while on the morrow he found his dowe both faire and good and his batch of bread came passing well Taken out of the historie of the colledge of limoges of the Soc. of Iesus anno 1609. §. 5. Of Agnus Deies It is an auncient custome in the Churche to beare or weare an Agnus Dei hanged or tyed about our neck for Cardinall Baronius makes mention in the yeare of our Lord 58. and saith that this was practised to couÌ„terpoint the superstition of the panims who were wont to carry hangd about their necks certaine ticquers or lotteries wherin there was a hart printed against the enchantments of sorcerers whereof Varron also maketh mention The holy Church hath consecrated certaine images of wex with holy chrisme imprinting theron the figure of a Lambe representing Iesus Christ our Lord and this is the cause why we call them Agnus Deies to the end that Christians bearing them about them may be counter garded against the diuels against witch craftes the plague thunder lightning and other dangers These are the thinges which the Pope asketh of God at such time as he doth hallow them who only hath this power and doth it not but only once in seauen yeares EXAMPLES 1. At Drepano in Sicilie the yeare of our Lord 1585. the diuell hauing tormented a maide for sundry monthes together with those of the fame familie a father of our compapanie caused her to hange an Agnus Dei about her neck The deuill not able to endure it threatned her to wreste her neck in two if she tooke it not off but by the councell of the said father being resolute the diuell was confounded and forced to leaue both her with all her familie in rest and peace Out of the historie of the Societit anno 1585. Father Martin Delrio to 3. disq mag l. 6. c. 2. sect 3. q. 3. 2. In the confines of Treues the same yeare as aforsaid a childe of eight yeares old which had bene led sundry times to the assemblie of witches was taken and brought vnto the Archbishop who sent for a father of the Societie to instruct him in matters of faith The father hauing catechised the childe hunge an Agnus Dei about his neck The night following the diuell appeared vnto him sharply reproouing him to haue suffered him selfe to be seduced by the father and commanded him to take off that Agnus The childe did as the diuell commanded and presently was carried by a Buck to the dances and afterwardes brought â—ack againe Thus much is the power which the diuell hath of those who are disfurnished and destitute of this holy armour Mart. Delrio 6. disq mag c. 2. ser 3. q. 3. tom 3. 3. The yeare followinge another boy somwhat elder was brought before the same Archbishop for the like subiect who assured him that one of theirs had accesse vnto his chamber to giue vnto him a poisoned drinke because he had left in
to be healed but only if her sinnes were forgiuen her and vnderstanding that they were she died with most exceeding consolation S. Greg. l. 4. dial c. 13. 5. The Emperor Mauritius hauing bene the cause of the massacre of sundry of his captiue subiects which he might haue set free for a smale matter besought of God to haue his punishment in this life and wrote to all the Patriarkes and Monkes of the easte to the end they should offer vp to God their praiers for this effect God granted him his demand for he saw all his children put to death before his eyes he saying no other thinge saue only that verse of the psalme 118. Thou art iust o Lord and thy iudgment is right and within a while after he him selfe had his head cut off Niceph. l. 18. hist. c. 38. and Card. Baron anno 602. 6. S. Liduuine natiue of Holland from the age of fifteene yeares to fifty three was neuer without sicknesses and diseases And first hauing an Apostume broken within her body was afterwards smitten with the palsie and fire of S. Anthonie had al her members rotten and full of holes Out of her breasts wormes issued by whole hundreds which eate and gnawed all her body She had her head afflicted with most sharp paines her fore-head open her chinne cleft one eye out and the other not able to behould the light cast commonly blood out at her mouth eyes nose and eares had the squinzie in her throate the tooth-ache agues single double triple quadruple and the dropsie and besides all these euills she was accused of witcherie Now what feeling could she haue amongst so many and such afflictions notwithstanding she said no other thinge but. O my sweete Lord augment my paines Wretch that I am alas what is it that I endure Alas how litle is it in comparison of that which thou endurest for me Surius to 7. 14. of Aprill See the example of Saint Frauncis here before lib. 1. c. 7. § 7. example 1. 7. S. Nichola or Colecta hauing craued of our Lord to make her partaker of his paines for the space of fiftie yeares was neuer without sicknesses and most greeuous dolours which allwayes redoubled vpon solemne feastes And as they that looked vnto her wept at the very sight of her torments she in smyling wise said vnto them Wherfore weepe yee my good sisters that which I suffer deserues not so much as to be thought of If God haue sent it me alas should I be so perfidious as to quarrell against the bountie of my sweet Lord who hath so great a care of his poore seruāt And as she ommitted not for all her paine to come and goe to doe some seruice vnto God some saying vnto her You will die by the way So that quoth she we die betwixt the armes of good Iesus what forces it my poore sisters whither we die in the fieldes or in the cittie vpon the pauement or vpon a matteras We cannot fall amisse falling betwixt the handes of God Surius 6. of March ex Stephano Iuliaco See Binet in ses consolations des malades c. 7. § 4. 8. S. Spiridion being called by the Emperor Constance as he entred the pallace a courtiar seeing him poorely apparelled gaue him a box vpon the eare the Saint presented him the other Which touched in such sort the hart of this arrogant person that he cast him selfe before his feete and asked him forgiuenes Surius 24. of December 9. S. Romuald of the house of the Dukes of Rauenna being often strucken with a pole by Marinus the Hermit when he hapned to misse in saying his psaulter replied not a word vntill such time as after certaine daies seeing that by this meanes he lost the hearing of one eare he said vnto him that if he thought good he should frō thence forth strike him vpon the right side because he had lost the hearing of the left by reason of the blowes that he had giuen him Marinus was extreamly amazed at this patience and was the cause that he euer afterwards respected him so much the more The B. Card. Damian in his life Ribad 7. of Feb. 10. Our Lord said vpon a day to the B. mother Teresa of Iesus Beleeue my daughter that he that is most beloued of my Father is he to whom he giueth the greatest troubles Behould and consider my woundes neuer will thy euills be equall to my paines This so encouraged her that she had no other desire but to suffer so that being buffeted spit on and trode vnder foote she fell a laughing being calumniated in all that possible might be said she set not by it Yea she prayed to God that she might neuer be without paines as she was not And after she had bene once tormented for the space of fiue houres by the deuill with great dolors and interior and exterior troubles so that she thought that she was able to endure no more she notwithstanding ceased not to craue patience of our Lord offring her selfe according to her custome that if he would make vse therof that then this paine might last her till the day of iudgment and this was her ordinarie prayer My Lord be it to dye or to endure I for my selfe aske naught else of thee 11. Blessed Father Zauerius endured much in the Indies but it was nothing in regard of that which he desiered to endure for amidst his greatest paines he praied to God to giue him greater And when vpon a day our Lord had shewed him the crosse and torments by the which he was to passe he began to cry Yet more yet more o Lord yet more Ribad in the abridgment of his life 12. S. Iohn Gualbertus hauing pardoned from his hart the murdering of his brother as he praied a while after before a crucifix our Lord. who was nayled theron enclined his head downe vnto him Blas Mediolan general ord val vmbrosae circa annum 1040. Baron tom 11. anno 1051. 13. An English gentilman hauing likewise pardoned him who had kild his father as he praid before a Crucifix the Kinge who was present perceiued that at eache genuflexion which he made the Crucifix bowed its head vnto him Math. Paris hist. Anglic. anno 1090. Thou confirmest o Lord by this miracle the truth of thy doctrine vttered so many ages past Forgiue and it shall be forgiuen you Luc. 6. Mat. 6. 14. Our Lord said vpon a time vnto S. Gertrude that euen as the ringe which is giuen at a making sure is a signe of the faith which the parties promise one to another euen so patience in corporall and spiritual aduersities endured for the loue of God is a signe of diuine election and of the mariage of the soule with almightie God Blos l. de consol pusillam He said the same to the B. Mother Teresa Thou knowest full wel quoth he vnto her the mariage there is betwixt thee and me and that by this meanes all that I haue is thyne I
paines and asked him how he found himselfe Ah quoth he you haue deceiued me for you promised me that I should be but three daies in Purgatorie and behould I haue already bene here many yeares No replyed the Angell I haue not deceiued you but it is the greuousnes of the paines that doe deceiue you for you haue not as yet bene here but only an houre Alas bringe to passe then quoth hee that I may returne to life againe and I am readie to endure my sicknes not two yeares only but euen as long as euer it shall please God which was granted him and neuer after did he complaine of his paines S. Antoninus 4. p. Sum. tit 14. cap. 10. § 4. Ribad l. 1. de tribulat c. 7. The greuousnes of these paines may be further proued by all the reuelations which venerable Bede alleadgeth in the 3. and 5. booke of his historie 〈…〉 Bridgit §. 8. Of prayers or suffrages for the departed It is a holie and healthfull cogitation to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from sinnes 2. Mac. 12. 46. It is holie because it commeth from a holy begining which is charitie It is healthfull first to the departed for it deliuereth them from their paines 2. To him who doth it for as much as he by this meanes encreaseth his owne merits and consequently his glorie and maketh him selfe as many friends and intercessors with God as he asisteth soules Againe that which is said of praier may be also vnderstood of fastinge almes pilgrimages and whatsoeuer good worke offered to God to this intent but aboue all the holy sacrifice of the Masse I am of the minde saith S. Ambrose speaking to Faustinus of his sister deceased that we should not so much weepe for her as asist her with prayers and recommend her soule vnto God lib. 2. ep 8. S. Aug. saith We must not dout that the dead are holpen by the prayers of the Church sacrifices almes c. Ser. 32. de verb. Apost Saint Chrisostom saith Let vs asist the dead not with teares but with prayers and almes Homil. 41. in 1. Cor. An Angel in the historie of venerable Bede came to tell in the behalfe of God to a holy personage that the prayers of the liuing almes fastinges and principally the sacrifice of the Masse did succour sundry faithfull soules departed to the end they might be deliuered before the day of iudgment lib. 5. hist. Aug. cap. 13. Who seeth not then that it is the duty of a good Christian in the morning at his arising and in the euening before his sleeping hearing or saying Masse to pray for the soules detayned in this fire which we haue seene in the precedent paragraph to be so terrible but aboue all for those of our parents to whom for sundrie respects we may be obliged and somtimes also in the day time to asist thē by some good worke If in this life we saw some one of our friendes amidst a fire from whence he could not deliuer him selfe and yet that we might doe it easily could we be so cruell to him as not to asist him With such measure saith our Lord as you shall haue measured vnto others it shall be measured to you againe Mat. 7. 2. Marc. 4. 24. EXAMPLES 1. A certaine religious of S. Francis albeit of a holie life appeared the yeare 1541. vnto a nouice who prayed for him saying that he was in Purgatorie for hauing bene negligent to pray for the departed Franc. Gonzaga de orig Seraph relig part 4. in prouincia Canariae conu 7. 2. Brother Bertrand prouinciall of the Dominicans said Masse euery day for the expiation of his sinnes but very seldome for the dead And when vpon a day he was asked the reason he answered that the soules that were in Purgatorie were assured of their saluation and therfore had not so great neede of prayers as the liuing had The night following one that was dead appeared vnto him ten seuerall times beating with his hande vpon his coffin as it were in threatning of him whence he conceiued so great a feare that the day did no sooner appeare but he went and said Masse for the dead and all the rest of his life after he employed him selfe to asist the deceased Lib. 1. Chron. frat Praedic c. 27. Theod. de Apoldia lib. 3. vitae S. Dominici cap. 8. 3. S. Christine natiue of S. Trou in Hasbaye being dead her soule was led by Angells into a place which by reason of the horrible torments which they there endured supposed her selfe to be in hell but one of the Angels tould her that it was Purgatorie Frō thence they led her to heauen before the throane of the most holy Trinity who put it to her choice ether to remayne in heauen for all eternitie or to returne to her body to deliuer by good workes all those soules which she had seene in Purgatorie and afterwards to come to heauen loaden with the more merits She accepted this last condition and immediatlie entred againe into her body whilst Masse was said the body being set in the midst of the Church Afterwards vntill her death she suffered so many and so horrible torments that she merited the name of Christine the admirable Thomas à Cantipr in her life and Surius tom 3. c. 23. of Iune 4. S. Leibertus Bishop of Cambray praying vpon a day in the churchyard of S. Nicholas of the same cittie for the soules of those whole bodies were buried in that place saying Animae omnium fidelium defunctorum requiescant in pace The soules of all the faithfull departed rest in peace this voice was heard in the ayre most intelligibly Amen In the Martyrologe 23. of Iune See the life of S. Lidwine and the discourse of the commemoration of the faithfull departed in the flowers of the liues of Saintes by Ribad 2. of Nouember THE VII CHAPTER Of satisfactorie workes Fasting Almes and Prayers THe Archangell Raphaell in the 12. of Tobie teaching young Tobias the practise of of good workes said vnto him That prayer accompanied with fasting and almes was very healthfull and profitable Yea all the satisfactorie workes which we are able to doe in this life are referred to these three for which cause S. Aug. saith Behould all the iustice of man in this life fastinge almes and prayer Will you that your prayer flie vp to heauen Giue it two winges fastinge and almes S. Aug. in psal 42. §. 1. Of Fasting The Church commands vs to fast the Lent the four Ember daies and certaine vigills that is to say not to eate then but one meale a day and to abstaine also from flesh and in Lent from flesh and egges which hath bene practised euen from the Apostles times 68. canon Ap. S. Hier. ep 54. ad Marcellam She also commandeth that the Fridayes and Saturdayes and the Rogation dayes we abstaine from flesh She declareth the vtilities of Fastinge in the preface of the Masse
approach often therunto §. 2. Of the preparation and deuotion requisite to communicat well Let a man proue him selfe that is to say examine him selfe and if he see him selfe in mortall sinne that he confes him selfe and so let him eate of that bread and drinke of the chalice For he that eateth and drinketh vnworthely in mortall sinne eateth and drinketh iudgement to him selfe that is to say his condemnation not discerninge the body of our Lord. Therefore are there among you many weake and feeble and many sleepe that is to say are in the death of sinne These are the wordes of the Apostle 1. Corinth 11. and so explicated by Theophil Saint Anselme Saint Greg. lib. 2. cap. c. 1. in l. 1. Reg. serm 1. temp Concil Trid. Sess 13. c. 7. Now four thinges are requisite to communicate well 1. Faith 1. Tim. 3. S. Basil quest 172. in reg breu That is to say to beleue the reallitie of the pretious body of Iesus Christ in the holy Sacrament 2. Penance and Confession 3. An attention of soule deuotioÌ„ excited by prayers and meditations Chrisost hom 83. in Mat. 3. ad Ephes 60. 61. ad pop 4. A decent cariage and comportment to be fasting chaste modest humble hauing our face mouth and handes cleane S. Aug. ad Ian. epist. 118. cap. 6. Orig. hom 5. â—n diuers euang locos O what horrible indignitie is it to beleeue that Iesus Christ is in the most holie Sacrament and yet to presume to receiue him hauing thorough mortall sinne the diuell harboured in his soule EXAMPLES 1. A holy Bishop hauing asked of God to know the interior estate of two of his subiects which were reported to be adulterers as they communicated he saw the one of them to haue his face black and his eyes full of blood and the face of the other bright and shining and al his garments as white as snow And not knowing what it ment an Angell tould him that the first was an adulterer and was yet in sinne The other albeit he had likewise committed adulterie yet had he cleansed him selfe by Confession before communion In vitis patrum pag. 2. § 156. The same also Saint Euthymius Abbat saw in some communicants as Surius writeth in his in life Ian. 20. 2. Widekindus Duke of Saxonie being come disguised into the campe of Charlemaigne saw the priest vpon Easter day giue to those that did communicat a very beautifull litle childe who entered into the mouth of some with a face laughing and into others with a countenance frowning and as it were by force Albertus Crautz l. 2. de hist. de Sax. c. 23. 3. A young man in Guienna anno 1600. communicating in mortall sinne had neuer power to open his mouth Wherat the priest amazed asked of him if he were confest who answered with teares no Florimond Reimond tom 1. of the begining of heresie lib. 2. cap. 12. S. Greg. of Tours writeth the like historie lib. de gloria mart c. 89. 4. Kinge Lotharius hauing for a long time kept a concubine came to Rome to Pope Nicholas to be absolued assuring that he had put her from him which notwithstanding he had not done The Pope to proue his saying caused him to communicat with all the Lordes of his trayne A strange case the kinge died within a few daies after at Placentia and within the yeare all the others of his company Sigebert in chron anno 870. 5. At Dulaca a cittie of the Phillippine Islandes a younge man receiuing the B. Sacrament in mortall sinne felt instantly most strange paines thoroughout his body He cast vp the holy Hoste in a priuie and the paine ceased our Lord choosing rather to be in that dirt then within that sinfull soule Within a while after he fell againe to his former sinnes and went notwithstanding vnto the communion and behould he was at the same instant as seased with a fire in his throate he withers and consumes quite away which his parents them selues perceiued well and yet descouered not the cause He communicats againe and behould an infinite number of litle flies which fly to his mouth and gaue him so many prickes with their stinges that at the last he knew him selfe confest him and presently all those litle flies and all his paines departed In the annales of the Societie anno 1605. O the blindnes and obstinacie of the sinner O the admirable patience and benignitie of God! THE IX CHAPTER Of hearing sermons or the word of God BLessed is the man whom thou shalt instruct o Lord and shalt teache out of thy law psal 93. 12. Blessed is the wombe that bare thee and the pappes that thou didst suck said a woman vnto our Lord after his sermon yea rather quoth he blessed are they that heare the word of God and keepe it Luc. 11. 28. He saith yet more in another place He that is of God that is to say according to the explication of the holy fathers a he that is predestinat to eternall life he heareth the wordes of God therfore you heare not quoth he to the Iewes because you are not of God Iohn 8. 47. a Aug. tract 42. in Ioan. Greg. hom 12. in euang Ber. ser 1. in Septuag Certainly saith S. Iohn Chrisostome I haue great proofes of your profit and spirituall aduancement to see you euery day to runne with so great promptitude and to be so greedie and desirous to feede and fill your selues with spirituall doctrine For euen as the appetit to corporall meate is an argument of the good constitution of the body euen so the desire of spirituall doctrine is an euident signe of the good constitution and health of the soule Chrisost hom 32. in Gen. The wordes of sermons are called by our Lord the wordes of God because it is God who speaketh by their mouthes He that heareth you heareth me Luc. 10. And Mat. 10. 20. It is not you that speake but the spirit of your Father that speaketh in you We giues thankes to God without intermission because that when you had receiued of vs the word of the hearing of God you receiued it not as the word of men but as it is indeed the word of God 1. Thes 2. 12. EXAMPLES 1. S. Ephrem being one day in praier he heard a voice which said vnto him Ephrem eate What shall I eate quoth he and who shall giue me foode Goe to Basil replied the voice he will teache thee and will giue vnto thee the euerlasting bread He arose goes seeke S. Basil and found him preaching in the church Surius 1. of Feb. 2. S. Gregorie of Nice and Metaphrastes write that S. Ephrem saw a Doue to prompt vnto S. Basil all that he preached And Amphilochius addeth that he saw the tongue of S. Basil all on fire 3. An Arrian heretique and a great enimie of our faith was conuerted to the truth for that he perceiued whilst S. Ambrose preached an Angell to dictat into his eare all that