noe loue without greife I hope in God that as heere hee giues you greife and trouble soe hee hath prouided a place of rest and ioy for you in the other world Though indeede the very suffering for such a Lord is reward enough And soe that as there is nothing soe much to be desired in the other world as to enioy that kingdome with Christ our Lord soe neither is there any thing in this which may be compared to the excellency of suffering with him and for him Suffer therefore with a good will since you are to be crowned for the same For the afflictions which you endure come to you but as a fitt meanes whereby you may obtaine that crowne A Letter of the Authour to a Cauallero his freind He shewes how that person who feeles himselfe growne could in the way of vertue hath reason to apprehend it much and to greiue much for the present ill and for the daunger wherein he is of falling into greater mischeife and namely of a hardned hart which is the next doore to hell That vsually this decay of spirit growes either from ingratitude or negligence And lastly he speakes of the remedies HE who in some former tyme hath seene his soule a proficient in vertue and at the present findes it to be in decay hath much cause to be in paine and to procure remedy by all the meanes hee may For if a man be apt to feele the diminution which he may suffer in his temporall goods how much more ought wee to apprehend the decay of the goods of our soule which are goodes indeede Iob said with a deepe sigh Iob. 29 that he wished to be as he had beene in the tyme of his youth when our Lord protected him and when he made his candle shine ouer his head These and other things which he affirmed himselfe to haue possessed before and were wanting to him then at the present must rather be thought to haue beene certaine choice delightfull and deuout communications which formerly he had receiued from God and then were missing then that he was then in present want of his former vertues For since he gaue soe good account of himselfe in that tyme of tryall which is true tyme wherein indeede it may be seene what strength one hath he is found to haue had noe cause to coÌ„plaine as if our Lord did not then protect him or carry his light ouer him and therefore he saith vpon the former ground who will graunt that I may be as I was before c. Now if he complaine of this what will that man haue reason to doe who findes himselfe wasting in pointe of vertue it selfe and who perceiues that his soule goes estraunging it selfe by little and little not onely from those communications which he had enioyed and wherewith he comforted himselfe in former tyme but euen from the very custody of God's lawe and from conformity with his holy will And although this mischeife be great euen for the present yet is it greater by much for the future losse which may be feared For a little fall in relation to a great one lyes as close as the eeue doth to the holy day Apoc. 3. and as neere he is to be vomitted out who leades a life of tepidity God for his pretious passion keepe euery mortall man from this misery which is so great as to make Saint Peter say 2. Peter 2. that such men as they had beene better neuer to haue knowne our Lord then after they had knowne him and walked in his way to haue forsaken him and to haue betaken themselues to wicked courses And that was not without great mistery which our lord said to the man who had beene sick eight and thirty yeares Now thou art whole but take heede thou sinne noe more least a worse thing happen to thee These words are to be weighed feared withall for they containe a rigorous threat and are deliuered by the mouth of Truth it selfe and are wont many tymes to be executed vpon such as feare him not nor take a course to preuent their falling into them There happens a wors thing to them because the sinnes into which they fall afterward are more highly qualifyed and more deepely rooted then the sinnes committed in former tymes As there is a difference betweene a man when he falls with his eyes open and when with his eyes shutt or betweene a man whoe hath witt and yet doth the workes of a foole and another who either hath no witt at all or very little or betweene a man who ought his life to another in the way of gratitude and seruice for great fauours receiued and another who had receiued noe such fauours One thing it is to meete the king in the streete seeing and knowing who he is not onely to doe him noe reuerence but to proceede irreuerently towards him and another thing it is not to know him at all or not very well or at least not to consider who it was that passed A great fauour it is which God doth to them to whome he giues both the knowledge of their sinnes and of his diuine loue but yet withall he obliges them to much thereby sinâ—e according to the guift he saith tâ—aâ—â—he account must be made Luke 12. And if it be ill done not to pay good with good what will it be to render euill for good receiued and to answeare with offences insteede of seruices There happens a wors thing to them since they are wont to sinne more and with more faulty circumstances then before and they come by little and little towards a hardnes of hart and to dry themselues vp in such sort that they are not in disposition to doe the good which they did before I meane not when they were soe prosperous and happy in our Lord but euen before that when yet he had not called them to his seruice Then doe they sigh though it be with a hard vntoward hart to obtaine a little spirituall good againe and they finde it not But that which they finde is That heauen is to them made of brasse and the earth of iron for there is not a dropp of water to be found which may soften their soules or yeild them any fruite whereby they may be susteyned And they whoe in former tymes were visited watered with many good inspirations to which they vouchsafed not to answeare doe now desire some one and cannot compasse it Thus are negligent fastidious rich men punished by being killed with hungar as the rich couetous man was afflicted with thirst Luc. 16 And it is not many myles from this hardnes of hart to hell it selfe since the Scripture saith It shall goe ill with the hard harted at the latter day And the being cured of this euill costs deere and it is a thing which is of great priuiledge and grace when it is graunted by our lord as S. Bernard saith Noe man of a hard hart
loues you with most perfect loue Let not your faith grow weake in these necessities and dangers nor your loue by the feeling of these afflictiōs when the fire is great the winde doth not onely not quench it but inflame it And soe when a soule loues God but in iest any little blast of aire puts it out as it would doe a candle But true loue growes vp in affliction for it applies more strength wherewith to endure the more weight it sees coming towardes it And because that loue is of God it conquers affliction and noe water could serue to quench that fire which comes downe from heauen Our lord called you that you might loue him and this loue is noe such thing as must giue you reason to regale your selfe But you must abhorre your selfe for the loue of Christ our lord and denye your selfe to confesse him and be cruell to your selfe that you may be sweet and acceptable to his diuine Maiesty If you loue and desire to enioy your selfe you must resolue to loose your selfe If you desire to see the face of God you must passe towardes him through the pikes If you care to lodge him in your hart cast your selfe away with all other creatures vpon him Our lord will haue you all alone and all afflicted not for any ill will he beares you but because since his owne naturall sonne was soe afflicted he likes not to see his adopted sonnes apparrelled with any other liuery then that There is nothing soe beautifull in his sight as to see the image of his onely begotten sonne in vs. And as there is nothing vpon which a soule can soe gladly looke as vpon our lord Iesus being tormented for loue of vs vpon the Crosse and the more afflicted and deformed we see him there the more beautifull he seemes to vs soe the more wee suffer for God the more beautifull wee shall seeme to him Nor is it much that a soule which desires to seeme handsome in the sight of God should adorne it selfe with such curious cleansing waters as may enamour his diuine Maiesty by his seeing her since the women of the world doe many thinges which put them to no small trouble and charge soe that they may content the sonnes of men Madam we must cast our skinnes before we shall be pleasing to Almighty God Gould is purified by fire and the terrestriall part being consumed it comes resplendent from the Crucible Let vs be ashamed of being soe weake in a busines which is soe great as to import the pleasing of Almighty God and if we vnderstood this poynt well indeed we should get heart euen to shed our blood for him that soe we might appeare fairer in his sight As a certaine holy Eremite considering this very thing and seeing a woman of the world goe soe gallant and soe well adorned he began to weepe and say Pardon me O lord pardon me I beseech thee for the curious dressing which this woman bestowes vpon her selfe in this one day to please the eyes of the world ouerstrips all the paines which I haue taken many yeares for the pleasing of thine Soe that my good lady this entreprise of loue is noe matter of wordes but of sorrow of bitter torments of the dishonour of the world of being abandoned by the creatures thereof sometimes euen of the seeming absence from the protection of the Creatour And notwithstanding all this a man must cary a good countenance and not be subiect to complaintes or deiection of heart but he must resemble that Martyr whose bowels they drew out of his body and whose flesh they tore from his bones with iron combes and yet there sounded noe word out of his mouth but the name of Iesus nor was there any thing in his hart but Blessed be God togeather with a purpose to endure yet more if God should dispose himselfe to send it To suffer for Christ our lord is great glory and God impartes not that but to such a one as whome he loues much A great mercy it is to giue a guilty person fillips and to release those scourges which were his dew and if that wherein we stand obliged to the iustice of God may be satisfied by what we can suffer heere in the name of God let vs fall to worke and let vs pay whatsoeuer his diuine Maiesty will impose soe that being gone from hence we may instantly by behold the face of God Let vs labour in this banishment of ours for instantly vpon the end thereof we shall be landed in our owne country S. Augustine saith that he wrongs a Martyr who prayes for him when he is dead for Martyrdome makes a soule fly streyght vp to heauen Let vs therefore labour to be Martyrs by our patience in affliction for though our persecution be not soe greiuous as theirs was for the time yet it lastes longer And we should indeed desire that this life might not be too recreatiue but a meere Martyrdome For such was the life of our Lord and such doth hee desire that ours should be There haue beene many martyrs for the faith of Christ our Lord but in fine many are gone to heauen who were not soe But we all must be the Martyrs of loue if we meane to goe thither This loue must torment vs and put vs to paine both because our selues offend God as also because others doe it This loue must depriue vs of the comforts of this life and must load our shoulders with a Crosse This loue must make vs first imbrace affliction and then passe ouer it in the flame which was kindled by our loue of God This makes vs endure dishonours without feeling them as wine doth a drunkard This loue is in this like all other loue that whosoeuer possesses it seekes not himself but his beloued who in our case is God alone and his holy will But this loue which now is soe cruell how full of compassion will it be afterwardes to him who hath bowed downe the head to receiue Martyrdome at the hand thereof A man cannot easily feele the force of loue wherewith it torments heere nor that wherewith it comforts afterwarde Let vs beleiue it since God hath said it and let vs walke on in the faith which we haue in his words for we haue yet a long way to make Choose which you had rather haue eyther long afflictions or els very great ones for noe man can scape suffering much eyther in one fashion or another Be not sorry for this for if God giue you much affliction it is because your many sinnes deserue it and soe you are to make your payment heere and I beseech our Lord that you may doe soe For if I should dye before you want to Purgatory perhaps you might want a freind whoe would carry soe much compassion to your soule as my felf and would take soe much care to free it and if you dye first I shall haue paine enough in thinking of you Excuse mee
What a sottish thing is it therefore for a man to thinke that hee whoe affects those things which his owne will suggests is able to runne that carriere wherein the seruants of God must runne and whoe because he contents himselfe thinkes that God will also be contented with it and who liuing after his owne fashion will yet conceiue that he may liue soe with God Away away lett vs awake at last for the loue of God lett vs awake before hell-fire awake vs. And lett vs knowe that the kingdome of God is a hidden treasure and that he who findes it must bestowe all that he hath vpon the purchase thereof esteeming himselfe more happy and rich in this alone then in all things els A man who hath a minde to gaine this kingdome is not bound to become bankrupt or to be a beggar but that which he needes is that for the loue of this kingdome hee cutt of all occasion of inordinate loue which he may carry to riches and to honour and to a delicate and delightfull life and in fine to his owne proper will Christ our lord will haue vs all naked that soe we may runne on apace to him who dyed naked for vs. That man is naked who houlds his life and his honour laid vnder and in subiection to the will of Christ our Lord doeing what Christ will and not that which is suggested by pleasure or honour and who makes as light account of these things as if he had them not and is ready to cast them all into a light fire rather then to goe against the freindship of our Lord God by committing soe much as one sinne And though perhaps a man may attend to the improuement of his estate it must not be for the loue which he carryes to it but because God commaunds it If he liue it must not be because he loues life as making that the end of his care but he must keepe it for the seruice of God and sooner throwe it away then offend him If he be to aparell himselfe he must not take counsaile with vanity how he may be esteemed for his cloathes but with the word of our Lord which commaunds that we vse them not with superfluity but for the supply of iust necessity And soe this kinde of man doth not hould himselfe to be his owne but as one who belongs wholly to God He cares not for what himselfe desires but for that which God commaunds He layes all things and himselfe withall to be trodden vpon vnder foot for soe he may hould God aboue his head God commaunds and hee obeyes God directs and hee submitts and as the shadow followes the body soe hee followes the will of God Theis are true sonnes of Obedience to whome it is promised that they shall sitt at the table of God And that as the true sonne suffered by Obedience and entred soe into his kingdome soe the adopted sonnes must alsoe enter in by the same meanes There is noe coulour of reason why a man for hauing obeyed the orders of the great Turke should goe to aske a reward of the Christian Emperour and yet if hee should it would be easy to make him this answeare Let him pay you whome you haue serued And soe will God answeare them whoe liued heere in obedience to their owne appetites when they shall aske him that reward of glory Great thankes doe we owe to Christ our Lord for hauing warned vs of this soe longe before that soe if we will thinke thereon we may not finde our selues deceiued by him who soe deerely loued vs. His aduertissement is this Not euery one whoe saith to mee Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdome of heauen but he shall enter in who doth the will of my Father who is in heauen What neede haue wee of any more since the word of Christ our Lord can neuer faile And who is that man who will not awake with this For the question is not now concerning any earthly kingdome but the kingdome of heauen since noe man enters thither but he who shall haue done the will of God Let this therefore be our study let this be our discourse let vs counsaile men to this and let vs in fine obserue vigilantly if we doe any thing which carryes not true conformitie with the will of our Lord. And because our owne watchfulnes will not suffice lett vs call vpon our Lord that hee may assist vs. Let vs acknowledge our owne misery and let vs cordyally implore his mercie Our lord who must helpe vs is noe such person as that he can deny himself to such as seeke him with their harts And if we did indeede knock call vpon him infallibly he would anfweare open to vs. And he knocks indeede who knocks both by prayer by the practise of vertue And he shall be heard when he calls who was content to hearken to his neighbour when he was called vpon by him and whoe assisted him in his necessities and who pardoned his errours and who neither did ill to him nor refused patiently to suffer ill from him This is the generation of them who seeke our Lord Psal 13. and they shall finde him Let vs therefore goe and runne this carriere For happy are those labours which are endured for the obteyning of this Crowne And they shall soone passe away but their reward is to last for euer Let vs lay vp our treasure there It will be highly enough for vs to possesse God and let vs not loose our tyme for it was not giuen vs to be lost But let vs liue to the end that we may euer liue and soe wee shall passe on from contumely to glory from pouerty to plenty from banishment to our owne country which we shall possesse through the eternities of all eternities Amen A letter to a certaine person wherein is treated of the Loue of God towards man and of that which hee is wont to doe towards the releife of our miserie THE Infant Iesus whoe was borne for our good make you partaker of the blessings which he brings since he tooke those miseries vpon him to which we were subject I beseech him to giue you that liuely fire of his loue wherein you may burne vp with a quick flame since to kindle this loue in vs he came into the world soe poore and soe frosen with cold How much more cold this Infant suffers soe much more warme doth he cloath our harts towards the loue of him And by how much the more we loue him soe much the more doe we desire to suffer for him For loue flyes from taking ease as from a thing which is very contrary to the intention and end thereof For whilest others are seeking for libertie and delight he whoe loues abhors this and desires to be eternally a slaue and to be euer labouring for whome he loues I pray you tell me who constrayned Almightie God to become man noe other thing but onely Loue Who
who being sent about busines would needes stay to passe his tyme and play with other boyes or els loyter for seeing of some vaine show and neither did that which he was commaunded nor soe much as remembred where about he went till returning home at night without any answeare coÌ„cerning his busines he is receiued with reprehensions and stripes by him who sent him Let vs awake whilest wee haue tyme and lett vs haue an eye to that which imports vs most and which is to last for euer And lett vs leaue vanity to vaine persons for both it and they shall perish Let vs raise our eyes to wards him who gaue vs the life and being which wee haue and afterwards gaue his owne life to the end that we might not loose ours And with great labour he taught vs the way whereby we were to walke and by a death which was full of torments and reproaches did he encourage and strengthen vs towards the purchase of vertue and he obteyned grace for vs whereby we might be able to serue and please almightie God Lett vs search into the most hidden corners of our harts and lett vs cure that in it which is wounded Lett vs vntye the fetters of our sinnes Let vs procure to redresse our selues in that which giues vs most cause of feare And let vs appease the clamorous remorse of our Conscience with doing that which God commaunds by the Dictamen thereof that soe all things being once well ordered and agreed we may like true and watchfull seruants expect the coming of our Lord and that we may be found with tapers lighted in our hands and with our loynes girt and that we may heare that sweete word Reioyce thou good and faithfull seruant Luk. 12 Matth. 25. whoe hast benâ— faithfull in lesser things I will place thee ouer greater Enter thou into the ioy of thy Lord That is the daye for which good christians hope and in coÌ„templation whereof they who liue heere in paine doe in tyme passe through it with much patience And this expectation of that crowne giues them hart to endure the combatts of this world and of the flesh Making election of abasement heere for that eternall aduancement and of this short lamentation For that delight which shall haue noe end of loosing their will heere that they may haue it euerlastingly vnited to the will of God in heauen Where they shall haue nothing which may disgust them but all that shall be done which may content them For they shall possesse almightie God as their most rich treasure in whome is conteyned all Good If our Lord haue yet begunne to visit that soule of yours you will vnderstand what I say and you will profitt by it If not which God forbidd it will be but the hearing of a story which is instantly forgotten I desire that Christ our Lord may be the Loue of you and of my lady your wife whose desire to see mee I pray God reward But thinke no more of your coming this way till first God shall haue soe disposed that I may goe thither to you the rather because I alsoe desire that it may be soe A letter to an afflicted lady whose sicknes hindered certaine deuotions which shee had beene wont to vse He teaches her how to finde peace and true repose which is noe where but in God And of the great care wherewith she was to prouide that the forbearance which she vsed of her exercises of spirit in her sicknes might not proceede from tepiditie THE best comfort in those afflictions which come vpon vs against our will is not to haue committed any fault which might occasion their coming For a conscience which stands right will easily beare any weight which you can lay vpon it but to a conscience which is impure any little burden is intollerable If men knew as well how to seeke the meanes of true repose as they know how to desire the thing they should enioye it and not remaine with the sole desire thereof It is the expresse lawe of God that they who haue desires of any other thing then him shall be subiect to torment whether the thing be obteyned or not obteyned For supposing the thing be had which they desired yet can they not compleately enioye it through the remorse which their conscience brings and if it can not be had they are racked by the delay of the thing desired The pure desire of God is very contrary to this Psal 104. For if Dauid say Lett the hart reioyce which goes but euen in search of God what kinde of thing will it be to finde him out If the hunger of seeking giue them ioye what will the being satisfied at that table doe He therefore who desires to finde peace and true repose must resolue to forgoe his owne appetytes must boldly and faithfully lodge himself in the will of our Lord and soe he shall neither be tumbled vp and downe in the darke nor be afflicted otherwise by the arriuall of strange euents But who will now procure that the sonnes of men may attend to that which God exacts at their hands How longe will you be heauy harted and loue vanity Psal 4. and seeke after lyes who shall vnbeguile such men and free them from their blindenes as goe seeking peace and finde warre yea and by the same way wherein they seeke it they loose it Let the whole world vnderstand once for all that as there is noe more then one God soe is there noe more then one true repose And as without the true God there is noe God soe out of his repose there is noe repose Certainely the mountaines were lyers and soe was the multitudes of the valleys and onely in our Lord God there is true saluation This say they whoe after they are well wearied vpon the experience of their owne vaine desires arriue to know at length both what God is and what hee is to them who seeke him Madam we haue not in our house a bitt of bread which wee may giue our freind to eate who is coming from abroad vnlesse we goe borrow it of our neighbour who is God made man and one who withall is soe neere vs as that he is our head and both our father and our brother He who will lift his eyes vp to him and depend vpon his hand he who will be a begger at his gate he who will be in desire of him and growe euen fainte through hunger after him shall be refreshed by the aboundance of him which doth as farre exceede the satisfaction which creatures giue as God him selfe exceedes them But out of God lett noe man presume to haue any hunger For as S. Augustine saith where soeuer flesh and blould shall expect to finle a suâ—â—nes amongst the creatures it will finde it selfe deceiued Soe that a man may vnderstand by experience what difference there is betweene the Creatour and the creatures and soe being vntyed from them since in
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
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
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
as I haue said You aske me what preparation is best and what consideration is most profitable when you goe to celebrate the mistery of the body and blond of our lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ because you feare that the thing which of it selfe is soe helpfull may yet proue hurtfull to you for want of due preparation You know already that there are different complexions of mens bodyes and soe is there variety of inclinations in their mindes yea and soe alsoe are the guifts which God imparts to men very different Some he leades by one meanes and others by another and therefore there can be noe such common rule giuen as may square well with the generallity of all men concerning the consideration which may be most profitable for the aforesaid action But this is certaine that that consideration will be best for any man which God imparts and whereby a man findes himselfe to be moued most And he whoe hath any knowledge such as a man may haue in things like these whereof there is noe certaine faith nor cleere euidence that his Preparation or consideration growes from the impulse of God hath noe reason to chaunge it for any other till our lord chaunge it And this is to be tryed by giuing account thereof to some person who hath experience in these things together with prudence and soe to take the resolution But now there are others whoe finde not themselues particularly moued to vse this or that Consideration And yet it is alsoe necessary for these men to impart the notice of their inward disposition soe to trye whether they haue neede to be carryed by the motiue of Loue or feare they being either sadd or cheerefull and the remedy is to be applyed according to the necessities wherein they are And because I incline to thinke according to the relation which I haue receiued concerning you that the state wherein you are is of a person proficient in vertue and that it is fitter for you to exercise your selfe vpon he considerations which may prouoke you to the feruour of loue with reuerence then vpon others I say that to this purpose I know of none better then that which may giue vs liuely to vnderstād that our lord with whome we goe to treate is God and man and what the cause is why he comes to the altar Certainely Sir it is a blow of great force towards the awaking of any man to consider and say this to himselfe in good earnest I am now goeing to consecrate Almighty God to hould him in my hands to haue audience of him and to receiue him into my bosome Let vs ponder this well and if it sincke into vs by the grace and spiritt of our lord it will be sufficient and superabundant for the making that result towards vs whereof we haue soe much neede that soe according to our frailty we may performe that office as we ought Who is hee that can choose but be inflamed in loue by thinking I goe to receiue an infinite Good who will not tremble with an amorous kinde of reuerence at his presence before whome the powers of heauen tremble and who will not resolue neuer to offend him more but still to praise him and doe him seruice Who will not be confounded and euen mourne with greife for hauing offended that Lord whome hee hath present there who will not confide vpon such a pawne whoe will not take hart to goe through this desert by the way of pennance with such Prouision And finally this consideration when the hand of our Lord helpes it on doth wholly chaunge a man and taking him from himselfe doth euen swallow him vp some tymes by reuerence some tymes by loue and at other tymes by other most powerfull affects of the minde which are produced by the considerations of his Presence Which affects though they doe not necessarily flow from these Considerations yet are they a most ready helpe therevnto if the man as we vse to say will not be a stone Soe that you shall doe well to exercise your selfe in this thought Make account that you heare that voice Ecce sponsus venit Matth 2§ Deus vester venit Behold your spouse is coming your God is co ming And shutt your selfe vp in your hart and then open it to receiue that which vses to streame from such a lightning And desire you of the same Lord that for that very goodnes of his by which he hath vouchsafed to put him selfe into your hands for that same goodnes I say he will giue you a true feeling thereof that soe you may esteeme reueare and loue him as you ought Importune him that he permitt you not to be in the presence of such a Maiesty without feare reuerence and loue Accustome your selfe to thinke as you ought of the presence of our Lord although you should then entertaine noe other consideration but that Consider them whoe stand in presence of kings who though they say nothing yet see the modesty the reuerence the loue wherewith they stand if they stand as they ought But it is better to consider how those great ones assist in the Court of heauen in presence of that infinite greatenes all trembling at the reflection of their owne littlenes and burning in the fyre of loue like persons whoe are as it were consumed in such a furnace Make account that you enter amongst those Graundes whoe are soe richly adorned and soe well behaued and soe diligent in doeing seruice to their Lord. And then being placed in such society as that and in the presence of soe great a king thinke of it as you ought though as I was saying you haue not at that tyme any other consideration then that My meaning is that it is one thing for a man to haue what to say to the king and it is another to know which may be done with scilence how to stand in his presence and there to carry himself as he ought And this is that vnion of the soule with our lord which a man shall doe well to procure during the tyme of Masse and to hang wholly vpon him iust soe as when he is in his Cell vnited with our lord in the most secret retired corner of his hart And this in such sort as that the wordes which he reades may not be of any distraction to this vnion for he shall reape more fruite by it then by them though yet it be true that he is to haue regard alsoe to the wordes but he is to accustome him selfe whilest he hath his hart vnited and present with God to carry that attention withall to what he doth and saith as is conuenient Deere lord and what doth the soule of that man feele when hee carryes him in his hands who made election of our B. Lady enriched her with celestiall graces that she might be made fitt to liue and conuerse with God made man And when he compares her hands and armes and eyes with his owne
what confusion doth he grow to haue How straightly will he hould himselfe to be obliged for such a benefit what caution will he vse that he may keepe him selfe wholly for him whoe hath done him soe much honour as to put himselfe into his hands and to come to them by them wordes of Consecration Sir these things are noe bare wordes nor noe dead considerations but they be arrowes shutt stiffly out from the strong bowe of Almighty God which wound and wholly chaunge the hart and which make it desire that at the end of Masse it may at lardge consider that worde of our Lord Scitis quid fecerim vobis John 13. Doe you know what I haue done to you Deare lord that a man could conceiue quid fecerit nobis Dominus What our Lord had done for vs in that houre That a man might tast him with the palate of his soule O that a man had true weights where with he might weigh out this great benefitt How happy should he be euen in this world and how after the end of Masse would he loath euen the sight of creatures and would esteeme it to be a torment that he must treate with them And his ioy and life would consist in pondering Quid fecerit ei dominus what our lord had done for him till the next day that he should retourne to say Masse And if our Lord doe at any tyme giue you this light you will know what sorrow and shame you ought to carry in your hart when you approach to the Altar without the same For he whoe neuer enioyed it doth not know what a misery it is to want it You may add to this Consideration of the person whoe comes to the Altar the reason why he comes and you will there see a resemblance of the loue of the Incarnation of our Lord and of his holy Natiuity and of his life and death renewing that which passed heeretofore vpon his sacred person And if you shall enter into the most inward corner of the hart of our Lord and if hee vouchsafe to teach you that the cause of his coming is a violent and impatient kinde of loue which permitts not him whoe loues to be absent from the party beloued your soule will euen faint vnder such a consideration as that A man is indeede moued much by pondering after this manner Heere I haue Almighty God But yet when hee considers that he comes meerely out of the great loue which he beares like one betrothed who cannot liue a day without seeing and conuersing with his Spouse the man I say who feeles this would be glad to haue a thowsand harts wherewith to correspond with such loue and to say with S. Augustine O Lord what am I to thee that thou shouldest commaund mee to loue thee what am I to thee that thou shouldest soe much desire to make mee a visitt and to giue mee an embracement and that being in heauen with them who know soe well how to loue and serue thee thou yet vouchsafest to descend to this creature who knowes very ill how to serue thee but very will how to offend thee Is it possible that thou canst not content thy selfe O lord to be without mee Is it possible that thy loue of mee should draw thee downe Blessed maist thou bee for euer who being what thou art hast yet placed thy loue vpon such a creatures as my selfe And is it possible that thou shouldest come hither in thy royall person and that thou shouldest put thy seife into my hands as if thou wouldest say I dyed for thee once already and I come to thee now is lett thee know that I repent not my selfe thereof but if it were needefull I would dye for thee yet a second tyme. What launce could remaine in the rest after such a deare expression of loue as this Who O lord will euer be able to hide himselfe from the heate of thy hart which warmes ours with thy presence the sparkes fly out to all them who are neere it as out of some mighty furnace And as such a lord as this my good Father doth the God of the heauens come to our hands and we being such wretches as wee are doe yet conuerse with him and receiue him Let vs now conclude this good subiect which is soe sitt to be felt and put in execution And let vs beseech this lord of ours who hath already done vs one fauour that now he will doe vs another forasmuch as his blessings vnlesse we valew them and thanke him and serue him for them will not be of profitt to vs. Or rather as S. Bernard saith The vngratefull man by how much the better hee is by soe much hee is the worse Let vs consider well how wee liue throughout the whole day least els our lord punish vs in that tyme when we are at the Altar And throughout the whole day let vs carry this thought in our harts I haue receiued our Lord. At his table I sitt and to morrow I shall be with him againe By this meaneâ— wee shall be able to avoyd all ill and wee shall take hart towards the practise of all good For that which is done from the Altar our lord is wont to rewarde at the Altar To conclude I say you must remember how our lord complained of Simon the Pharisee for that Luc. 7 entring into his house hee gaue him noe water for his feete nor any kisse to his cheeke To the end we may know that he desires that in the howse where he enters we should giue him teares layd at his feete for our sinnes and loue which makes vs salute him with the kisse of peace I beseech our lord to bestow this peace on you both with your selfe and with your neighbours and soe as that it may spring from perfect loue which I desire may torment you heere for the offences which your selfe and others committ against our Lord. And in heauen I desire that he should make you enioye it esteeming the good of God for your owne and more then your owne because you loue him more then your selfe For his loue I begg of you that if in this letter there be either litle or much which needes amendement it may not want your helpe and if there be any thing good in it giue the thankes for that to our Lord and remember mee when you shall be at the Altar A letter of the Authour to some deare freindes of his who were afflicted by a persecution which was raysed against them he animates them much to a loue of the Crosse and the imitation of Christ our Lord whereof hee speakes with great tendernes BLessed be God the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ 2 Cor 1. the father of mercyes and the God of all consolation whoe comfortes vs in all our tribulation in such sort as that wee alsoe are enabled to comfort them who are in any kinde of affliction And this we doe in vertue
her selfe to leaue the world and to consecrate herselfe to God he animates her in that purpose and shewes the great blessings which shee would finde both in life and death by the espousalls which shee meant to make with Christ our Lord. DEuout seruant of Iesus Christ The contentment which my soule tooke in vnderstanding of the new purpose you were growen to haue of taking the king of heauen for your spouse yow who might soe well haue matched your selfe heere on earth was so very great that I know not with what words to expresse it And though when it was tould mee it were new to mee as not hauing vnderstood thereof before yet neither was it wholly new for already I had in a manner eyed you out for that lord who created you and I had begged of him as a particular fauour that he would bestow you vpon mee for himselfe Blessed be his holy name for euer who hath now done it soe very completely as I knew not soe much as how to wish But that ioy which your soule founde before in seeing it self soe disintriqued from all the basenes of this earth and finding it selfe already to haue receiued that pledge and pawne of loue from that heauenly king what was it els but a cleare signe that this mutation which you haue made proceeded not from any incōstancy of your humour but from the worke of God who hath conveighed his hand into your hart and therein hath produced that desire of heauen which now you haue And he also gaue you that great ioy as a testimony and earnest penny of those many and great and pure ioyes which if you proue faithfull to him he resolues to giue you in heauen the least whereof is incōparably more to be esteemed then a husband of this world and children and estate and whatsoeuer els the whole earth can giue O if you had but tryed how sweete God is to that soule which turnes her backe to the world to place her eyes vpon her Creatour O if you did but know what that sweetnes is of the celestiall spouse towards the comforting of those soules who cast all transitory delight away and like chast turtles refuse to take comfort vpon earth but send vp sighes for loue of their Lord who is in heauen who are like the doue which returnes home to the hand of the owner as cleane as shee went forth without touching any dead body soe much as with her feete What is there soe flourishing in this world which is any better then a dead and stincking carkasse And for what then doth it serue vs to ioyne our selues to that which will infect vs and which may leaue vs thirtie thousand tymes more disgusted with the bitternes which followes then with the pleasure which it yeilded for the present You must render Christ our Lord many thankes whoe hath giuen you light whereby you know how to distinguish betweene that the pretious and the base betweene eternall and-temporall betweene an immortall God and a mortall man And for hauing giuen you grace to make soe happy an election as whereby God is accepted and man despised and in that for the loue of that heauenly bedd of state the care of any earthly bedd is throwne aside◠how rich soeuer it might haue beene Be therefore faithfull to him whoe takes you for his spouse and who will be sure to be so faithfull to you as to make you finde by experience that hee is not in iest when he calls himselfe the pure Spouse of pure Virgins for you shall finde the assembly of all blisse in him Nor can it proue like the marriages which are made betweene flesh and bloud wherein vsually the little contentment which is had at first is followed by the bitternes of repētance But this worke of ours giues not onely contentment at the first but the more you conuerse with this Lord the better you shall know him and the better you know him the more you will loue him For he is not like men who when they are more frequented let vs easily see that they haue more faults and he who was a good husband vpon the marriage day within a yeare proues such as that there is noe liuing with him But in Christ our Lord you shall see nothing which may disgust you and as little in that Blessed mother of his who is the mother in lawe to all the spouses of her sonne O blessed houre wherein that good purpose was sowed in your hart and much more blessed will that other bee when you shall finde your selfe so visited by your spouse as to make you say O my Lord and when could I deserue these fauours of thee that I should finde this hidden treasure for the purchase whereof to pay the price of a thowsand liues were to buy it very cheape O how happy and prosperous is this marriage to be and of how excessiue ioy both to heauen and earth God the Father is pleased to see that there be soules on earth whoe loue his onely begotten sonne soe well as that for his loue they leaue the loues of flesh and blood not onely those which are forbidden by his lawe but euen those of marriage which are lawfull For it is a signe of greater loue when for his sake we forbeare that which we might lawfully vse The sonne is he to whome the soule is espoused and for this hee dyed that he might haue some soules which would loue him at least with spirituall purity and others whoe might doe it not onely spiritually but euen with the body alsoe vntouched The holy Ghost is most pure and farre estraunged from flesh and when he findes a soule which resolutely despises carnall delights there doth he lodge his eyes and fills them with spirituall comforts and will neuer permitt that the soule be empty which shall refuse to feede vpon carnall foode Our Blessed Lady is the mother of the spouse and they are very like one another for shee alsoe is all amiable benigne a beginner a protectour and an aduocate of virgins and shee highly reioyces that there is virginity vpon earth for that is the flower which she planted There want not pages to giue attendance at this marriage for the Angells are seruants to the king of heauen and ready for all that which the spouse shall neede Neither yet is there want of children which the world is wont to desire soe much and they come without throwes of trauaile and without paine in bringing vp and without that greife which growes when either they liue not well or dye too soone The children of this marriage are good workes which be rightly called a man's or woman's fruite What comfort will he feele when for the loue of Christ our Lord he conceiues a good purpose to giue an almes or some such other thing and when afterward he shall put it in execution what pleasure will he take by the birth thereof These children giue both ease and honour to their
in him of him comes all our good and not from our selues And the more good we haue the greater debters of his wee are and soe much more we haue whereof to accuse our selues as not corresponding to greater fauours by greater seruices and to greater benefits by greater acknowledgments He who is taught by the diuine truth attributes nothing to himselfe but Not being and sinning For if wee remoue all that which God gaue vs when he created vs and which euery day he conserues in vs wee shall not finde any being in vs but onely a nothing and that to nothing we should returne as of nothing we are made And taking alsoe away the fauour of God which through Iesus Christ is communicated vs what should become of the greatest Saint on earth but that which became of Peeter when he denyed his Lord and of Paule who persecuted him that had redeemed him and that which euery one findes by experience that himselfe was before our Lord carryed his hand ouer him taking from him his old hart and giuing him a new one in place thereof Iustification is nothing else but a resurrection of the soule which was dead in sinne and now liues by the spiritt of that life which God infused into it by the death of his blessed sonne And as that body should bee both madd and foolish which would attribute life and motion to it selfe and not to the soule which dwells in it and giues it life soe is that soule deadly blinde which esteemes that the life of good workes which she findes her selfe to haue doth proceede from her selfe and not from the spirit of that life which was infused into her by Almighty God And sometymes God punishes such soules as these by taking away that which formerly hee had giuen them to the end that obseruing that they can neither see nor heare nor taste nor in fine doe that which formerly they did it may be plaine to them that it was some other who imparted that life which was in them and that they did but receiue it that the soule is noe other thing without the grace of Iesus Christ then the body is when the soule departs from the same And therefore my freind be sure that thou see noe other thing in thy selfe but faultes and know that thou hast nothing else of thine owne If our Lord discomfors thee consider how weake and poore thou growest and with how little conformity thou receiuest that which thou doest soe well deserue If he comfort thee consider with how little humility thou receiuest it it being reason that thou shouldst soe much the more abase thy selfe as God honours thee and that by soe much more thou shouldst be confounded with shame as thou seest that God treates thee as though thou wert good when indeede thou art not soe Consider how little profitt thou makest of the inspirations and inward speeches of our Lord and how often our Lord saith somewhat to thee and how soone thou forgettest to put it in execution it being reason that euery word of his should last with thee all the dayes of thy life without any neede of repeating it How often doeth our Lord infuse pretious liquor into thee and thou hauing a hart all full of holes doest suffer that to bee spilt which in reason thou shouldest keepe a long tyme And though it would be sitt that how much more God comforts thee soe much more thou shouldst forgett and neglect the comforts of this world and soe much more vnite and shutt vp thy soule to the end that thou mightest againe and againe receiue God into it it happens sometymes that by the comfort which he giues vs wee are made more giddy through our owne lightnes and wee scatter and powre out our harts more then before What shall wee say of our frailties but that euery thing being well examined we finde that wee doe nothing right and that it were much reason that we should rather be confounded by considering how faultily it is performed then that once it should passe by the least parte of our thoughts that we had done any thing which were worth the looking on It is certaine that if a Page serue a king and that he make him not due reuerence they will punish him If he answeare not or doe it not soone enough or giue not a quicke account of any message they will alsoe punish him And in fine they whome we serue are not contented though we doe what they bidd vs but withall we must doe it well if we meane not to be reprehended and reproached And tell mee now my freind which of vs is he who carryes such a profound reuerence to our Lord as is fitt where is that adoration of such an incomprehensible Maiesty and such a profound internall kind of trembling as they haue in heauen of whome it is said in the holy Masse That the Powers tremble Where is that confusion and shame which we should haue to appeare before that infinite wisedome which well doth see what kind of things we are which discouers vs to the very bottome where is that soe exact obedience as that we should not neede to haue the same thing commaunded twice where is that discretiō wherewith we ought to serue such a thing as God where is the gratitude which is due for soe innumerable and soe vnspeakeable benefitts And lastly where is that seruice both of body and soule which is deserued by soe high a lord and soe great a God Certainely hee who hath eyes to see will neuer discouer in himselfe any thing els but a profoundity of miseries and faultes And when in the euening hee takes account of himselfe what kind of man he hath beene all that day he findes nothing but errours which he hath committed in thinking speaking and doeing and he findes diuers good workes which hee hath failed to doe by not hauing loued and being thankfull to God and by not hauing loued and not hauing supported the weakenes of his neighbour as he ought to haue done besides innumerable other things which he should haue performed and hath omitted And if with the fauour of our Lord he haue done any thing which was good he sindes that hee spotted it with pride or vaine glory or tepidity or with not answering God as he was bound to doe or with two thousand other faultes which God makes him know and with two thousand others which yet he is not able to discerne but yet he beleiues that there they are and for soe wicked doth hee esteeme himselfe as that the least parte of his sinnes he holds to be that which he discouers For as he knowes that God is more good then he is able to conceiue soe alsoe doth he beleiue that himselfe is more wicked then he can arriue to vnderstand And though God doe him fauours yet doth he not attribute to himselfe any parte thereof but onely the faultes which he committed in not answearing and profiting thereby as
be ouer carefull for paines must be taken but sollicitude is forbidden and for the taking of it away our lord willes vs to confide in our heauenly Father He who hath this confidence perceiues well that the busines dependes vpon God and that his diuine wisedome knowes how to addresse him and therefore a Christian man is to be perswaded that it giues noe aduantage euen to the very busines it selfe if we fall into any vnquiet kinde of anguish or euen to superfluity of thinking of it which is thus forbidden by holy scripture Ne affligas temetipsum in consilio tuo Doe not afflict thy selfe in thine owne counsell but say thus to your selfe It is God who must doe it and not I. Perhaps our lord will not haue it remedied by this meanes And if he will yet his will alsoe is that it be done with peace and with my spirituall gaine and without my losse And soe procure that your heart may euer goe in celebration of that Christian Sabaoth whereof S. Paul speaketh and then we may say to our lord Descend â—hou into my heart for it is all free for thee and it hath nothing which may distract me from hearing thee and from speaking to thee You haue reason to desire the helpe of prayers to this purpose for it is not soe easily obtained I beseech our lord who called you to his owne seruice continue you in his grace and carry you afterwardes with himselfe to eternall rest A Letter of the Authour to a Virgin who liued in Recollection Of the valew of a soule and the care wherwith it is to be kept from falling And that if it fall it must haue hope and soe rise againe I Know not with what wordes I may be able to expresse the fault which accuses mee and the punishment which I feare I looke back vpon the much time which hath passed without writing to you whilst yet you were recommended to me that soe by meanes of my care you might proceede and proffit in the seruice of our heauenly king since he was pleased to receaue you for his through that word which I preached vnto you And I in the meane time like an ill seruant of Christ our Lord haue beene negligent in negotiating this businesse which he held to be soe truly his as that it filled him full of care and soe full as to make him giue his life for the dispatch thereof And not onely haue I sinned against him but against you alsoe To him I haue beene an ill seruant and to you I haue beene an ill Father since I haue not preserued the stock nor sustained you with the food of his word his who made mee his steward to the end that in the true time â— 4 I might wisely and faithfully dispence it â—12 to euery one according to that which he should neede I am much grieued for my negligence as it becomes a guilty person and I apprehend the punishment of my fault Not that I feare soe much least our Lord should punish or scourge or afflict me for it with vexations and torments as that he may permitt your soule to receiue some disaduantage thereby For when a man hath noe knowledge of what belongs to children nor cares how he may bring them vpp it is but reason both that he see them dye and that they may alsoe continue dead in his sight that soe the greife thereof may bee a torment to him may keepe those eyes open which his carelesnes had shutt My good sister for I will presume to say that you are mine because you are the Spouse of my Lord O how happy were he who might know how it is with you that soe he might either be delighted in your good or receiue the torment of sorrow for your ill how happy were he who might know if those feruent teares of yours still continue which washed your soule in the high presence of your Spouse and which watered it with deuotion that soe it might giue fruit to the Lord thereof And if your long watches last wherein you were wont to treate in secrecy and solitude with him whom your soule loues Reflecting vpon those sorrowes which he endured for loue of you and you desiring to endure somewhat like that for the loue of him I beseech him of his mercy that you may not haue lost that holy silence of yours which was discourse with God your rich pouerty which gaue you more full satisfaction then all the wealth of this world That coÌ„tempt of your selfe which gaue you price valew in the sight of our Lord and that holy change of your life which cast them into wonder who saw you praised God in you Let it not please him that mine eares may euer heare that the seruant of Christ is other then shee vsed to bee Let it neuer come to passe that shee should liue with any other nor regard any other nor thinke of any other then onely Christ our Lord to whome shee offered her selfe Make noe exchange whereby you may bee soe deceiued as that hauing tasted of that heauenly guift hauing fed vpon the cruÌ„mes of the table of God you should now afterward come to tast the bitternes of Egypt those meate which are deuoured by meÌ„ cast of from him Who when heere they shall haue satisfied themselues with the foode of swine shall burne heereafter in the coÌ„pany of deuills Seruant of Iesus Christ how is it with you indeed tel me how it is with you I beseech Iesus you bee wel in his sight S. Paule said that euen his very life consisted in the good of his children and euen I though not with that great fire but with the little which God giues mee doe yet adueÌ„ture to say that my life consistes in that you be well in the sight of God I can take noe pleasure in this body if the soule of my daughter be dead nor shall delight haue any place in me til I may know that your Spouse whome I lodged in you doth still inhabite your hart If it be any otherwise it is I who haue made the fault I will performe the peÌ„nance but yet see that you bee not angry with him Doe not my good Sister afflict me more then already I am afflicted through mine owne fault by the loue which I carry to your soule and if you bee offended with my negligeÌ„ce be appeased by this coÌ„session which is full of shame and greife And beleiue that through the fauour of our Lord you shall wel finde that I wil mend And vpon this motiue you must forget that I haue beene an ill Father to you since vpon the same God forgets that we haue been ill sonnes ill seruaÌ„ts to him And if yet you will require further satisfactioÌ„ be your owne caruer and require of me what you will Onely retourne to the way of God if you should haue left it or els make mee know that you continue in it that so I
may be sure that thinges goe wel with you that I may haue strēgth to beare that pēnāce which you shall impose vpon me for my negligece Negligence I meane in writing to you but not in remembring you For in this our Lord hath not permitted that I should be forgetfull For soe great was the loue which I carryed towards you vpon seeing that you were growne to be the true seruant of God and you entred soe deepely into my hart when I considered those mercyes which our Lord had vouchsafed to you that it neuer parted more from thence though it haue failed to strengthen and comfort you in this way as it should haue done Pardon me my good Sister for the loue of Iesus Christ and bee not cruel against yourfelfe but be as cruell against me as you shall thinke fit Be sure to loue our Lord for he deserues not to be ill vsed for the negligence of his seruant And if you should haue forgotten your duety to him you know his condition already well enough and that he hath promised to receiue the soule which will retourne and that if you will forgiue me he wil pardon you And he will shew you such mercyes as he shewed before and wil enable you to sing those Canticles to him which you sung in your first beginning and birth to Christ our Lord. Doe not now giue cause of ioy to those infernal spirits since there was a time wherein you wounded them with sorrow Doe not greiue your good Angel since he hath giuen God much praise for you and hath reioyced at your vocation Doe not reuerse that solemne Festiuity which was celebrated in the kingdome of heauen vpon the day of your cōuersion And if through my sinnes any of these things should haue happened yet still you must not be dismayed For our Lord will stretch forth his armes and will receiue you since he stretched them out for you vpon the Crosse And it is vsual with him to loue that person more who hauing runn away out of the warr doth yet returne to fight with greater courage then that other who though he neuer forsook the feild yet was neuer but slack in doeing him seruice This is a kind of warr wherein the losse of the victory consists not in the not receiuing any woundes but in flying out of the battaille rendring himselfe to the enemye in the quality of a man who is ouercome Take courage and begin yet once againe for you shall find Christ our Lord close at hand to help you And seing your humility and how much you are ashamed of yourselfe he will not put you to confusion Nor when he shall perceiue that you are lying prostrate at his feete will he cast you off or kick you out of his sight And if you call vpon those intercessours of yours who are in heauen they will not make themselues deafe to the cryes which you send vp from hence As for me because I haue made the fault whereby you haue incurred the inconuenience if there be any I wil alsoe performe the pennance as I said before And I wil beseech our Lord to restore and raise that vp which my negligence made fit for ruine Let all your thoughts beate vpon his hauing begunn the worke and not vpon my hauing neglected it And then he will put things in good order because he is the true louer of soules and pretends not to see mens sinnes that soe they may retract them by sorrow I beseech him euen by what himself is that he wil keep you in close protection vnder his wings and make you gratious in his sight and that he wil punish me in whatsoeuer sort he shal thinke fit And I beg of you by him that you wil write to me though I confesse myselfe to be vnworthy of your answeare A letter of the Authour to a woman who was afflicted with grieuous and dangerous temptations He encourages her to suffer and shewes that the fraite of afflictions is great when they are well borne BEE comforted Esaye 40. bee comforted O you my people sayth the lord your God speake to the hart of Ierusalem and call her hither for her punishment is ended and her sinne is pardoned Confide my good sister for these words are spoaken to you and they commaunde you to be comforted through his fauour who will defende you though your owne infirmities and those infernall powers striue to plucke you downe But if they be carefull to persecute you more carefull is Christ our lord to ouershadow you and to defende you and to fetch you of from this combatt adorned with new Crownes which are incomparably more to be esteemed and reioyced in then your tribulation deserues to be lamented What is the matter what is that which afflicts you what is that which frights you your God is the curer of these wounds be not troubled there at For at the instant that he closes them he will shine to you as a sunne seauen times more bright then before you were subiect to this affliction your spirituall prosperities will incomparably excell those which are past since that which you suffer now doth so farre exceede in bitternesse that which formerly you suffered For these flowds of anguish vse to serue but for a preface to an aboundance of spirituall delight as the tribulations of Iob were messengers to him Iob 24. of a doubling of his estate and comfort which God bestowed vpon him God afflicted him first and then he comforted him he tryed him and then he crowned him he hid himself from him a litle but afterwards he shewed himselfe more deare and sweeter then he had seemed before to be offended This is the stile which our lord holdes with his seruants He mortifies them so farre that he seemes as if he would place them in the verie torments of hell but then instantly againe he drawes them out and putts them into perfect ease and so as that the whale is neither able to retaine him nor yet so much as to touch him with anie offence whome she had swallowed Our aduersaries the deuills Ionas 2 are full of pride and they threaten to devoure vs but let vs say to them in their teeth Come and spare not for you shall be ouercome Take what councell you list it shall come to nothing for God is on our side Let it not my good sister passe once so much as in your thought to be afrayd of these infernall wolues For hee who conquered them once vpon the Crosse hath conquered them in you and will do so againe and will despoyle them to their great shame And how soeuer it may seeme to you that the encounter is fierce and the enemie so strong as to fright you be not yet dismayde E saye 19. For it is our lord who sayth Shall perhaps the prize be taken out of the hand of the strong man And shall that which was seised by the mightie be resumed Most certainly the
lay fast holdeâ— vpon the Crucifix and fixe his thought and say Thou o Lord dyedst for me before I was borne and thou soughist me with the sorrow of thy hart when I sought thee not nor desired thy ayat but now I call vpon thee and I loue thee and therefore now forsake me not If thou diddest receane and shelter him who was thine enemie thou wilt neuer driue him away who desires to serue thee and whome thou hast accepted for thine owne And in this faith you must liue and remaine secure amongst all the waues and tempests which the sea can shew though it may seeme to you that the shipp is euen sinking and you must labour that so your hart may not fayle least else our Lord awake and chide you as he did his Apostles saying Why feare you â—o men of litle faith whereby you may see Matth 8. how much in earnest our Lord is when he requires vs to be full of courage since euen when the waues are entring into the little shipp to swallow it vp euen then did he reproach them because they feared And this he doth because he will not allow them to be afrayde at all who embarke themselues with him For they goe with the true Lord of soules who is our faithfull helper out of the greatest straytes And now since you are one of them who haue quitt the shore and embarked yourself with him by entring vpon his seruice what can that be which you should feare since you haue walked and doe so still in company of Iesus Christ our Lord. Remember Matth. 14. that S. Peter whilst he had faith went treading with his feete vpon the waters but as soone as he saw the winde stiffe and the waues high he feared and then presently beganne to sinke To giue vs to vnderstand that with a faith which was firme he went secure and by growing tepide he began to be drowned and heard this word from the mouth of our Lord O thou man of litle faith why didst thou doubt And in the same manner doth he say to vs if he see vs fearefull of any visible danger whatsoeuer And if our Lord tooke such care to deliuer his disciple from a corporall death much more will he take care to free you from the death of your soule and to secure you that the tempest which is risen against you may not drowne you Onely be you sure my good sister that you be not dismayed and forsake not the warre for heere the Crowne is lost not because men are tempted but because they either flye or be ouercome Offer your felfe to suffer paine and euen fire for his honour who suffered so much for you And by how much the greater your afflictions are esteeme them for so much the more certaine to ken of the loue which passes betweene Christ our Lord and you Beseech him that he will strengthen you towards sufferance and not that he will take away your afflictions For it will be a Purgatorie to you whereby you may be wholy purified in the sight of God and the Crosse of your beloued lord will keepe you companie This Crosse is that thing which all the louers of our Lord desire and by meanes thereof you will remaine like goulde in the Crusible so much or the more resplendent as you â—ere more afflicted Consider that euerie louer is to endure somewhat which may declare himself for the loue of his beloued And since you are entred into the warre of Loue do not turne coward but consider how great things euen weake woemen haue endured for Christ our Lord. Some by fire others by scourges and others by hauing had their flesh torne from their bones and they held themselues happy in suffering for the loue of their Lord. Now you also suffer for him For if you would forsake him your enemies would not persecute you but you are passed ouer to Iosue's side Iosue 10. and therefore doe they moue this warre against you And if amongst men there be want of base and bloudie executioners the deuills come in their place who are both more cruell are not so soone wearie as the other and with grates of iron they torment you and more in the soule then in the bodie and you are to esteeme that you are in martyrdome for the loue of Christ our Lord since you are martyrized for his seruice Do not omitt your deuotions of Confession and Communicating though you should doe it without any great sensible appetite and though the deuill should seeke to hinder it as he is wont to doe so farre as to strike your tongue dumbe so that you cannot Confesse your sinnes as likewise he giues you to beleiue that you haue eaten at such a tyme in the night that so you may not Communicate the morning after Treade that enemie of yours vnderfoote with all his craft and pray to our Lord vpon the Crosse and take that Crosse in your companie and arme your self therewith and offer your self so truly to anie state of sufferance that if our Lord were pleased that it should last vpon you all your life you would yet be content therewith And how much the deeper you shall cast your self into his will so much the more speedily will he relieue you For he driues not them from him who striue towards him And remember that there is no loue without griefe and that we are to enter into the kingdome of heauen by many tribulations Where for one onely houre that you may see God in his beauty you would thinke two thousand yeares of that sufferance to which now you are subiect to be well employed And since God is to carrie you thither as you haue reason to hope he will be not cowardlie in suffering nor tepide in loning For he who dyed for you and called you to himself will not forsake you I beseech him to be your comfort Amen A Letter of the Author to a person who was much afflicted for seeing that he profited so litle in vertue Hee teaches the difference betweene self-loue the loue of God and how he is to doe all things for the loue of God and nothing in conformity with self-loue THE peace of our lord Iesus Christ remayne with you The roote of all our misery is self-loue as on the other side the loue of God is the roote of all our felicity and so as that he whoe loues God meets with nothing which he can properly be said to suffer because he seekes nothing but the will of God and therein alone doth he delight soe he whoe loues himself finds all things to bee to hard and to heauy for him and he is euer tormented with the variety and trouble of accidents True repose doth not consist in any thing but in desiring little for the loue of God or rather noe one thing and to content himself with any thing for his sake to whome wee offer and present as much as wee forbeare to desire for
that I may end this letter since I am vnder promise to goe write another Iesus be glorified by all and in all Amen A Letter written to a Lady encouraging her to beare with patience the afflictions which were sent her by our lord MAdam I would fayne aske your ladyshipp what kinde of taste the fruites of the Crosse carry with them since you are feeding so aboundantly thereon Our lord sayd thus I will clymb vp to the Palme tree Cant. 7. and gather the fruit thereof and it seemes that he hath taken your ladyship by the hand and drawne you vp with him to the end that if heeretofore you went vp with him by contemplation to consider how he fedd vpon them he is now no more content that you onely accompany him by hauing compassion of his paynes but he will haue you eate with him at that table of the Crosse be a witnesse by experience of that which he suffered when he was feeding vpon that fruite I dare confidently say that that soule is happy which standes at the foote of the Crosse of the Sonne in society with the Mother of God who fed at the same table and was suffering torment yea and was euen crucifyed in her soule with him For there is not a more acceptable thing in the eyes of the Father then to behould his Sonne and to see them who accompany the same Sonne in the imitation of his affliction and Crosse Let noe man deceiue himselfe by thinking that God is in loue with fooleryes and conceytes or that euery absurd idle fellow shall raigne with him in his kingdome The fauour of God is reserued for such as loue tribulation No man shall raigne with him but such a one as is crucifyed That in fine the world may know that forasmuch as he settes that king dome at so high a rate it is no ordinary place but most aboundant in treasures and delights since God himselfe is the glory thereof and that they may resolue with fresh courage to despise all transitory gust and to endure all kinde of Crosses How would your ladyship haue our lord proceede towardes you but so a hee is wont and will be sure to proceede with his beloued Children What would you haue him doe but treate you as his Father treated him Iohn 15. As my Father loued mee so doe I loue you saith our lord And now if any man will make a pawse to consider how the Father treated his Sonne and such a Sonne he will patiently endure his owne condition how sharpe soeuer it may seeme Madam haue patience yett a while for this tempest will passe you will reioyce that you had it to passe through Bow downe that necke of yours to the will of your heauenly Father for so did Iesus Christ our lord when they passed that rope ouer his head which euen flead his necke and hee the while held his peace both with his harte and with his tongue through the obedience which he carryed to his Father What doth that hard halter vpon so delicate a necke and that heauy crosse vpon those weake and weary shoulders declare to vs but that wee must bee obedient in suffering afflictions though they should euen defeate vs and pluck our very hartes out of our bodyes It is not iust nor fitt that your ladyship should take vpon you to dispose of your owne liâ—e and to choose say This I will and that other I will not doe or haue since you haue offered vp your selfe so often as the true slaue of our lord to the accomplishment of euery inclination of his holy will For it is against all reason that now you should vnsay that in your affliction which formerly you affirmed in time of peace Eccl. 2. Nor must you be like that counterfected kinde of freind who in time of prosperity is wont to make many offers but when they would bring him to performance he vnsayes himselfe Woe be to them sayth the scripture who haue lost their sufferance imploying such persons as being weary of enduring and expecting went headlong with their hartes to the ground as men who would no longer beare their burdens Madam The Iust man liues by fayth Act. 2. and our lord requires to be expected though he stay for in fine he promises that he will come But if a man haue a clocke which goeth too fast and if the time seeme too longe before God giue the remedy that must then be sayd to him which is in Esay He who beleiues lett him not be too hasty but lett him place his felicity in longanimity as S. Peter sayth 2. Pet. 2. Madam our lord will come and comfort you The sea is all in tumult Matth. 8. and the waues will needes drowne the ship and our lord is in a profound sleepe like one who throwes a stone and then hides his hand or who strikes flyes It is he who raysed the tempest then instantly layd himselfe to sleepe It is he and no other who hath designed your ladyship to these tribulations It is he who afflictes and woundes and without him nothing can be done And he who hath knowne so well how to strike and hath beene so diligent to afflict is now fallen asleepe when they are seeking remedy at his handes and the more they begg comfort of him the more he doth sometimes encrease discomfort And yet notwithstanding all this he will haue vs possesse a liuely fayth which in all these miseries must not fayle vs. And if wee haue not this fayth wee shall be sure that when he wakes he will reproue vs and say Matth. 8. O men of little fayth why are you afrayd You may see Madam by this how liuely our Lord will haue our faith to bee which may enable vs to confide in him how fresh how well tryed and passed euen through the very fire For as chastity is tryed by the temptations which are contrary thereunto as humility is tryed by dishonours patience by afflictions and charity by rendring good for euill so is faith and confidence made euident when God sendes such aduersities as may seeme to putt men in a manner euen out of their witts and when he the while hides himselfe and seemes to add to them so much the more as he is the more desired to diminish them Euen by this pace wee must passe if wee will he are this worde from our Lord's mouth O woman great is thy faith Matth 15. In this match of wrastling must wee ouercome if wee will pretend to the name and crowne of such as are perfectly and truly faithfull And wee must accept of scourges which may slice vs euen to the very soule and yet wee must beleiue that they are embracements of great and tender loue In this which exteriourly may seeme to be the wrath of God wee must beleiue his diuine harte to be most peaceable and his bowells most paternall towards vs nor must wee argue according
will see that by the former of them you were bound to lodge your loue vpon our lord after a very particular manner because the contract of marriage obliges either partie to loue the other And on the second day our lord shewed the loue which he bore to you and he gaue you strength to pay according to your weakenes the loue which you owe to him For what haue you out of your owne stocke but obligations and what meanes haue you to pay any thing towards the coming out of debt you being a poore ingaged creature who indeed deserued to be euer kept in prison in miserie and in chaynes Psal 106. as Dauid saith But the rich Iesus Christ hath giuen you the plenty of his grace whereby you may know and loue him and may ouercome your contraries and plucke downe that strong Golias which is the Deuill who biddes battaille against all such 1 king 17. as resolue to serue Christ our Lord. It is not reason I say it is notreason that you should forgett what you owe nor how God hath enabled you to pay And for that which God hath giuen you you are much the more bound to serue him For to be a religious woman is the coÌ„dition of many but to receiue soe particular lights and fauours from heauen wherewith to serue our lord is the case of few Abraham bestowed guifts euen vpon those children which hee had by lesse principall wiues but he left his inheritance and estate to the lawfull sonne of that wife of his who was most beloued that wee may vnderstand thereby the difference of the guifts of God which hee imparteth in this life to seuerall persons Our lord be thanked for that your lines and lottes are fallen into the best ground forasmuchas grace was giuen yow whereby to make you chaunge your state of life and to despise the world with your whole heart and to despise also your selfe and to obey the superiour of your Monastery as your mother and to loue all your sisters and Almighty God more then the very apples of your eyes This is that caelestiall fauour which was done you that you might be rich and well supplied with all thinges necessary in Christ our Lord crucified and from thence comes this soe hopefull and happy change which you haue made in the manner of your life and that inuisible beauty wherewith your soule is endewed And what now remaines but that you be like one who hath acquired great worldly riches and who instantly entertaines seruants to â—eepe it And soe you must be carefull to keepe that which our lord hath giuen you least els your soule turne beggar after it hath beene soe rich which is a kind of life of more affliction and greife then theirs whoe neuer knew what belonged to riches Remember what your spouse saith and conceiue that he saith it to you as indeed he doth Now thou art whole soe thou sinne noe more least a worse thing happen to thee Liue with a holy doubt and care how you may keepe that safe which our lord hath giuen you and how yet withall you may gaine fine other talents to the fiue you haue and whether or noe you haue oyle in your lampe and that such as may bee able to last many yeares And till the very houre of your death let this worde sound in your eares Behold your spouse comes Matt. 25. goe forth to meete him For if you liue with this care you will still be well employed and you will not haue leasure to cast your eyes vpon any thing of this life For this alone suffices to giue vs enough to thinke vpon yea and to grow weake withall The holy scripture saith that this alone is enough to breake our sleepes And if you haue not this care I shal be full of sorrow for it For by the want thereof vanity and curiosity doe streight enter in and as many tales of the liues of others as they make who take noe heede to their owne And soe by little and little a soule growes to be seauen times worse then it was before I expect not to receiue such fruites and soe full of bitternesse at your charitable handes but rather the fruites of benediction and sweetnes like a tree which is planted neare the streames of water which with the leaues and with the fruite giues that man a gladd heart who tooke care thereof But yet if by humane frailty you be fallen into any negligence as it happens sometimes see that instantly you wake and breake of that sleepe least it proue inâ—â—tall to you And beg pardon of our lord who is full of mercy and benignity For though he be angry with the defectes of such as haue already knowne him and will punish them yet he driues not away his children and he giues them correction not with fury but with the rod of a Father Goe you therefore instantly to him though you know you haue offended him for perhaps hee may haue shewed you his anger to the end that yow should remoue it from him by your humility and purpose of amendment He will instantly forgiue you and sometimes he impartes particular fauours euen as if it were in recompence of our carelessenes Take heed you grow not stiff and fixed in tepidity for this is a disease very hardly cured And yet on the other side you must not be dismayed if you be not alwayes in soe great feruour as were fit For you are but a woman and noe Angell you are but weake and not indewed with much strength The greatest courtesy you can doe your greatest enemy is to remaine fallen in the way as some cripple might be in a slough of mire with the bones as it were of your soule broken through distrust as if now you had noe more to doe with the busines of getting vp to heauen Our lord's pleasure is that you should thinke highly of his goodnes and that he driues them not away who knowing their owne weaknes goe and seeke for strength and remedy at his hands And indeed our pride is soe very great that for the cure thereof he lettes vs fall many times to the committing of these very things which had formerly beene very farre from vs that soe being fallen we may rise againe And then knowing by experience what kinde of thinges we are we grow to thanke our lord for that which he is to vs and from that time forward we despise our selues we begin to liue with greater doubt and care and feare least we happen to loose that a second time which had beene lost by vs once before Thus doth our most wise phisitian and most louing father draw our cure out of our very woundes themselues and life out of our death and he shewes his goodnes by our wickednes And though we fight sometimes against him with the weapons of sinne which giues him prouocation yet his goodnes steps out like a conquerour and impartes a thousand millions of benefits
contenting of him and to be dead towards the seeking of your owne contentment soe much the more happy shall you be Spend not time at all in thinking whether it were best to accept or els to refuse that busines whereof they wrott to you that without doubt it would be done For this is the signe of a hart not deliuered vp to recollection and which easily is induced to loose the present tyme with care of the future Forget it and beseech our Lord that it may not proue a temptation to you since he knowes your weaknes And liue without perplexity or affliction of minde solemnizing such a Feast to our Lord as that your hart beeing asked what care it hath it may answeare you none at all but onely that I may be soe happy as to giue this little tyme to our Lord. All that swarues from this is not sound whatsoeuer coÌ„plexion it may carry And heere it comes fittly in to weigh what it is to bee changing from one thing to another All those are effects of a heart which is but slack and not imployed about that whereunto it was called which is a continuall intercourse with our Lord who lookes vpon it in euery moment of tyme and desires it to looke as often towardes him and to open it self to him because indeede it is his owne and to deny it self to all that which is not God O base abhominable man in whose hart God desires to repose and to giue it rest and yet the man goes labouring heere and there and God tells him the while that to the end he may finde rest he must enter into himselfe and must dye there to himself and that so he shall finde his true safety life and that a certaine Sunne shall then rise to him which will discharge all those former clouds and sorrowes he shall come to vnderstand certaine things whereof he knowes nothing yet Humility and diligence are needfull heere for the keeping of our harts shutt vp And our Lord dyed for this that wee might haue strength to dye to our selues for his sake to keepe our harts recollected Christ our Lord be your light But take you heede of being desirous to knowe things concerning Mentall Prayer more by speculation then by practise For our lord is the teacher of Infants absâ—ondit se sua a prudentibus he hides both himselfe and his secrets from all such as are but worldly wise A Letter of the Authour to a Cauallier whome hee sought to carry on to the state of Religion THese great fishes are hard to be taken and a man had neede make many turnes with them vp and downe the riuer till they be weary that soe through the little strength they haue left the hooke may quiettly fetch them vp And therefore wee must not meruaile if our lord giue you soe many knockes contradicting that which you had formerly in your thought and desire And the cause of all I conceiue without doubt to be your owne proper will and iudgment which be hard thinges to subdue and still are ready to rebell Wee haue need that our lord should tire them out with a multitude of blowes and should kill them to the end that they may noe longer liue in you but that we may continue in the faith of our lord and in obedience to his holy will I would haue you vnderstand what this curbe meanes and these tokens of reproofe which our lord shewes you For as he is praysed who is an intelligent seruant and growes acceptable to our lord thereby so is he discommended whoe vnderstandes not I say not onely the wordes but the corrections also of our lord You must conceiue that there is nothing which importes you soe much as to be vntyed from your owne opinion and conceit and that Omnis sapientia tua deuorata sit vt sic clames ad Deum de necessitatibus tuis liberet te That all your wisedome is at a non plus and that soe crieing out to God he may deliuer you out of your necessityes For what Idolatry is more preiudiciall then that a man should relye vpon his owne opinion And what mariage is soe monstrous as for a man to be married to his owne will such fearfull and abominable monsters rise from hence as that they precipitate him who breeds them into the very bottomles pit of hell If you beleiue not me doe but take order that a man may not follow his owne opinion and not loue his owne will and then I will vndertake that there shal be noe hell for him You must therefore offer your selfe as a piece of clay into the handes of that soueraigne Potter and say that to him Isay 64. which is writen Fictor noster es nos vero lutum Thou art our framer and we are not better then a piece of clay Resolue that to be the best which is contrary to your owne will For so ill affected is our will that for the onely reason why a thing is much desired a man may safely apprehend and doubt that it is not good For that which pleaseth it is ill what confidence can he then repose therein Haue great care to consider of the way wherein God guides you for you shall be called to an account thereof And when you haue learned this science you shal be wise in the sight of God You must be enamoured of nothing vnder heauen how pretious soeuer it may seeme but onely with seeking the good pleasure of God And if it should soe happen that we should obtaine noe part of that which we particularly sought yet that very thing it self is all the riches both of this world and of heauen for God is pleased thereby and the contentmeÌ„t of God is God himself and he who loues it loues God and he who professes it professes God Concerning those coÌ„plaintes which you are making against your self I well beleiue that you haue reason since you are a man and not yet in heauen And you doe well to reproue your selfe for by this meanes the reproofe which our lord makes of sinners may be remoued from you which reproofe of his would be farre greater theÌ„ we know how to imagine For who can reach to vnderstand eyther the riches of the goodnes of God or our faultes and miseries I beseech our Lord giue vs light from heauen where with to see these two Abysses which are soe different that soe the sight of our wickednesse dismay vs not but that we may be coÌ„forted by meditating vpon the goodnes of our lord For otherwise the stoutest gallant vpon earth might say well enough Cor meum derelâ—quit me My hart hath failed me Psa 38. to see soe many debts incurred by himselfe both past and present besides the danger of such as are to come I know not what we should doe with this miserable thing which is called Our selues nor why we will take Our selues for our owne or stand charged with doeing what
imployed but that wherein you suffer something for your beloued which alone ought to giue you comfort and ground to thinke that you loue our lord For as for other things though you should be taken vp to the third heauen you knowe not whether you loue your selfe therein or him For perhaps it is but the delight in hauing that fulfilled which you desire and not purely because that is done which is pleasing to God And since you are already dedicated to the loue of God and are redeemed by him see that you still be doeing your duty exactly well that soe like a good huswife you may appeare at the day of iudgment all rich with loue and euen cut in pieces in this warre after the imitation of Christ our lord who dyed in this battaile by the hands of loue Inuiting as many as loue him to suffer of that which he suffered and to answere with loue to his loue and being ready to giue himselfe as an eternall reward to them who passe through these amorous aflictions for his sake and your ladyship shall be one of them by the greate mercie of him who hath made election of you for this purpose A Letter of the Authour to a Cauallier his freind who was sicke and desired to enter into Religion The Authour shewes that the carrying of the Crosse in the company of Christ our Lord is exercised best in sicknes when it is borne with patience He also defends the Fathers of the Society of Iesus aduifing him also to esteeme them the rather because he had beene instructed by them YOu doe well in being contented to serue in that house of our great Lord in the Office of being sicke For to passe from doeing to suffering is a signe that Christ our lord aduaunces his seruants raises them from belowe the staires to attend aboue Certainly there is nothing in this exile of ours which is soe fitt for vs as to carry the Crosse in company of our lord who did soe loue it who for loue dyed vpon it Now this is better exercised in sicknes which is soe vnsauoury to flesh and bloud and which caÌ„not cause vain glory in the patieÌ„t then in health how well soeuer it be employed Great were the workes which Christ our Lord performed in this mortall life but in his sufferring he exceeded them all all the world That soe wee might vnderstaÌ„d what the Apostle S. Iames saith Brethren â— Iames 1. esteeme it as a reason of supreme ioy to see your selues in many afflictions And the same Apostle saith that the worke of patâ—ence is perfect Soe that you must be gratâ—full to our lord for hauing sent you sicknesse and if you beare this Crosse burden well he may perhaps aduaÌ„ce you to the carrying of others which are more interiour and irkesome and which he prouides for such alone as are his nearest freinds that so they may comforme themselues to him whose Crosse was extremely great euen in that which was to be seene but incomparably more extreame in that part thereof which was inuisible And though it may seeme to you that God hath taken away your other Offices or imployments because you gaue him not a good account thereof yet forbeare not to be thankefull to him who hath ordered the matter as now wee see For to be corrected by the hand of such a father and with soe great loue puts vs rather into neede of humility for the moderating of our ioy and comfort then of patience wherewith to endure the punishment But yet neuertheles I am in some feare that perhaps you may not profit by this feauer of yours For some beginners are wonte to giue liberty to the soule in the infirmities of their body though yet they be not such as threaten daunger or death It is a thing very contrary to reason for a man to turne Phisick into poyson and to take occasion of growing worse by that which was sent a man by our Lord to make him better Call therefore vpon him with your hart and beseech him that since he strikes you Gen 33. in the strength of your body it may be to make you goe more lightly towards him with your soule And forasmuch as this siâ—â—enes is sent you that your body by the payne thereof may pay for that sinne which hath beene committed by the same body you must not suffer it to be the occasion of your incurring new debts since it was meant that it should discharge the ould You must liue with great reflection vpon your self and giue noe credit to flesh and blood in all that which it shall desire of you but offer it to the Crosse of our lord in the company of his owne holy spirit And he who was content to let his Crosse be sided by the Crosses of two murdering theeues will not driue you from him And since you cannot now continue your custome of meditation or spirituall reading as you would yet faile not to be doeing somewhat the best you can so that it be without euident disaduantage to your health For our lord is soe powerfull and soe good as that he giues strength to such as haue a mynde to take paines And sometimes he bestowes more fauour vpon sick men in they re beds who cannot pray then vpon others who spend many houres in that holy exercise And perhaps he will vouchsafe this mercy to you since it costs him noe more then his very will And I beseech you for the loue of our lord Eph. 4. Vt non circumferaris omuivento doctrinae that you be not whirled about with euery wynde of doctrine and that you esteeme of those persons by whose meanes our lord hath shewed mercy on you Imitating the man who was borne blinde in the ghospell Iohn 9 From whome noe persuasion of any man could take the good opinion which he entertained of that person who had cured him of his continuall blindnes He tooke that benefitt for a great token of the goodnes of his Maister when he sayd si peccator est nescio vnuÌ„ scio quod cum cacus essem modo video whether or noe he be a sinner I cannot tell but one thing I knowe that I who was blinde doe now see And though he said as we haue heard yet he beleiued well that his Maister was a iust person as may appeare by the holy kinde of earnestnes which he vsed towards the Iewes and besides by our lords making himself knowen to him in the temple in reward of that faith which he defended My selfe haue heard some things which are said by such as oppose and emulate those Fathers but I find not yet that any one of them is grounded vpon reason neither doe I beleiue that there is any but yet I like well that yet when you defend them it bee rather with meekenes and few words then otherwise For our lord hath these thinges in great recommandation and his pleasure is that they should be carried
againe Though thousands should rise against me yâ—t my hart shall not feare Beleiue my good sister Ps 26. that how much the harder this businesse is for you soe much the easyer is it for Almighty God And therefore you must haue great distrust in respect of your owne weakenes but great confidence withall in God's strength Infallibly he will crowne you if you continue in his loue and if you confide that by his grace you shall obtaine that Crowne Forget not this promise of Christ our lord him whoe confesses mee before men Man 10. that man will I confesse before my father who is in heauen but him who denyes mee before men that man will I alsoe deny before my father whoe is in heauen Can you thinke that one is to esteeme that for affliction which he endures for the confession of Christ our lord since it is to haue soe high a reward as that with soe much honour he shall be avowed by him at the day of iudgment before his father Happy is that sufferaÌ„ce happy that dishonour and pouerty to which soe high an honour doth succeede What kinde of ioye will it be for you O my goost sister to heare these wordes from the mouth of Christ our lord himselfe and that in presence of the whole world Matth 25. Come you blessed of my father and possesse the kingdome which is prepared for you What will it bee when the angells shall thus singe to her who hath beene a faithfull seruant of that celestiall king Come O spouse of Christ receiue thâ— crowne which our Lord hath prepared for thee and that not for one day but for all eternitie What will the spouses of Christ our Lord conceiue when hauing passed through the sea of this life and their enemies who disturbed vs remayning drowned therein they shall singe thus with great ioye for hauing runne through this dangerous world without being ouerwhelmed by the vices thereof Psal 123. The suare is broken and we are deliuered our helpe is in the name of our lord What a day will that be when that true Mary the virgin of virgins shall goe before with her Timbrell which is her sacred body praysing God both in body and soule and singing thus Psa 31. Come magnisye our Lord wish mee and lett vs exalt his name in mutuall sacietie with one another Happy are you if you be found faithfull to the Spouse whoe chose you Happy are you if you haue the courage to cast away that which is present vnder the most certaine promise of Christ our Lord for that which is future Be confident my good sister in taking his word for you are not the first to whome he hath passed it and fulfilled it neither shall you be she with whome that word shall want effect He gaue his word to S. Katherine S. Agnes S. Barbara and S. Lucy and to innumerable other Lady virgins and tell me now how completely he hath performed it They had the courage to despise the poore present world and you see that now they raigne with God They liued heere in trouble and they are nowe in the eternitie of repose Through how many combatts did they passe and they now enioye the euerlasting crownes of their conquests They fled from spouses of the earth and they brought the king of heauen to be in loue with them If they had followed the trace of this world their delight had bene already passed and their memories would haue bene forgotten But they loued that which was eternall and therefore their felicitie shall not dye and their memory shall not decay They were written in the booke of God and therefore neither water nor winde nor fyre nor tyme can make them waste For that booke is incorruptible and soe in the name which is written in it You must therefore procure to haue a stronge heart towards God who is your saluation and doe not thinke that he sells heauen deere to you for you haue not yet shed your bloud for him as those others shed theirs Our lord treates you like a weake creature and you should be ashamed to haue giuen him such cause If you had had more faith and confidence in him and more loue to suffer for him he would haue procured you more afflictions to the end that you might haue purchased richer Crownes Doe not content your selfe with suffering little considering how great your rewards all bee and how much Christ our Lord suffered for you He gaue his life for you and he was deepely tormented and despised How then come you thus to complaine of the touch of a flye doe but loue and you will desire to suffer Let your loue be doubled and you will suffer sorrowes which are doubled The loue of our lord makes such as possesse it more greedy of suffering then the loue of ones selfe of reposing It makes that any burden weighes light for loue is stronger then death He who loues not groanes vnder the burden like some lasy beast but he who loues runnes and flyes and it suffers him not to feele the weight euen of his owne body nor of whatsoeuer els they can lay vpon it It is not my good sister that the afflictions which wee suffer are greater but that our loue is little The weight of a pound is noe great weight but yet lay it vpon some little childe and he will say O how heauy it weighes Whereas if a man tooke it vp he would scarce feele it And soe take you it for a signe that if you loue little your afflictions will weigh heauy vpon you but if you loue much you will scarce allowe them to be afflictions For you will be soe inebriated with loue that nothing can be able to distract you from the taste thereof You will finde a good sauour in the very suffering it selfe and you will draw water Num. 20. out of the rocke and hony out of the stony hills Doe but loue and you shall not be subiect to afflictions but you shall be Superiour to them as their Lady and you shall praise him who deliuers you from them If they threaten you with death you will bid it welcome that soe you may enioy true life If with banishment you will say That you esteeme your selfe banished wheresoeuer you are till you may arriue to see the face of God And that it imports you little whether you goe to heauen from this or that part of the earth And that if you haue God in your company wheresoeuer you are you shall be happy and if not your owne country will giue you misery enough If you see your selfe contemned say Christ our Lord is my honour and he honours mee let the world despise mee soe hee value mee Doe not afflict your selfe about the necessitie which you may sustaine of present things for of your felfe you must despise them through the desire which you haue to â—liue in conformitie with Christ our Lord whoe made himselfe a
poore man for you What is there in the world which ought to fright you If the loue of Christ our Lord haue wounded you you will treade the deuill vnder foote you will despise his threates and you will passe with courage through all your enemies Put your trust in him who loues his louers There is nothing which you will not be able to doe in him Goe and buy whatsoeuer you want of him though he aske you all this world for it and see that you be not founde without the loue of him though it should cost you your life He is a hidden treasure but he who findes him sells all to buy him For in him alone he findes himselfe more rich then with the multitude of all other things And now if it concerne euery one of vs to loue him how much more doth it import that she doe it whome he hath chosen for his spouse It becomes the seruant to feare his Maister and the sonne to honour his father but the spouse to loue her fellow spouse See you loue our lord and take noe rest till he haue graunted you this guift Loue him with reuerence for that is the kinde of loue which he likes Esteeme not him the lesse because he communicates himselfe to you but wonder how soe greate an altitude as his can stoope to such a profounde busines as yours It is the propertie of ill natured and ill mannered seruants to valew their Maisters at a lesse rate for vouchsafeing to descend and become familier with them then if they had liued which them like lords But they whoe liue in true light esteeme that lord soe much the more as he doth more vouchsafe to diminish himselfe The true loue of Christ our lord carries this badge with it in token that it is indeede of him That as it apprehends and highly esteemes the goodnes of God soe it alsoe apprehends and profoundly disesteemes the wickednes of man Therefore loue adore and serue our lord with ioye but yet reioyce with trēbling Not a trēbling as of a slaue in the middest of tormēts but as of a true tender harted childe who highly feares to giue any disgust to her father how little it soeuer may be Of your selfe you can doe none of these things but if you humble your hart in the acknowledgment of your owne miseries if you present your selfe often in prayer before Christ our lord if you lodge him in your brest by the Communion if you heare him speake to you in your spirituall reading and in fine if you will but giue him leaue to helpe you you are to haue confidence that by little litle he will be healing your soule notwithstanding all the harsh encounters which may occurre Doe not start out of his hāds though the cure put you to paine for in fine hee will worke the cure at the fittest tyme. And for the afflictions which he sends you the delights whereof he depriues you he will giue you his owne most plentifull delight which shall inebriate you as if it were with some swelling riuer and you shall be in full Ioy for all eternitie without the want of any good and without the feare of loosing what you haue You shall there finde your selfe to be highly well content paid and more felicity shall be imparted to you then your selfe could tell how to desire Which felicity is not a creature but a Creatour himselfe of all things that true God whoe liue raignes for the eternity of all eternities Amen A Letter of the Author to a disciple of his who was growne a Preist He shewes that exteriour afflictions must be desired for the seruice and loue of God RIght Reuerend Father I haue receiued your letter which hath wrought in me the same effect with those others which formerly I had from you Namely rendering of thankes to our lord for the guifts which he hath bestowed vpon you according to the testimony which your words giue of that which dwells in your heart It wrought also great confusion in me to see you call me the Maister and Father of him to whome I should thinke it a great fauour of our lord if I could deserue to be a Sonne and a Disciple And especially I was confounded yea and put to paine to heare you say in the end of your letter that you would haue written me many if it had not beene for the Decorum which you thought your self bound to keepe of an Auditour and a Scholler This is not a course wherein you must proceed with me for there is noe reason that you should put me to losse onely because I desire to serue and profitt you And if you treat me in this manner you will make me heare and hold my peace I know not if I wrote not to you the other day of an errour which I haue discouered in some who yet hold themselues to be spirituall And it is that they despise the corporall afflictions and troubles which are vndertaken for the loue of our lord If I wrote to you thereof there wil be nothing lost though I say it ouer againe and if not it is necessary that I write it Since that light of our eyes Christ our lord liued in this world vnder soe many afflictions and died with soe many torments his seruants remaine soe hungry of suffering somewhat that it exceedes the appetite wherewith men of this world runne after ease And not onely are they content to suffer affliction when it comes vpon them and much more that kind of affliction which may be necessary to them for the auoyding of sinne but they seeke it out by all the wayes they can and soe they make proofe thereby of the loue they beare to Christ our lord considering how he was in soe much paine by the afflictions which he endured for the loue of vs. For as the faint and tepid kind of man would of himselfe be glad to suffer noe afflictions but yet he beares them with patience when they come least otherwise he may offend our lord soe the feruent louer of Iesus Christ would faine take noe ease at all and if perforce he must take any he endures it but with patience because soe Christ our lord doth commaund In such sort that as he who is but slack in the seruice of God hath delight and ease in his desire and takes affliction but with patience soe the true Christian is but patient to see himself at ease and hath affliction in his desire This growes from the spiritt of Christ our lord and when this is perfect in a soule it workes that which it wrought in him which was a loue of affliction for vs the better to shew vs his loue And therevpon it also followes that when men would comfort one who is but slack and negligent vpon the arriuall of any affliction they must doe it iust soe as they would comfort a good Christian when he happens to be in repose and ease For the one
of them suffers ease which he loues not and iust soe is affliction sufferred by the other Now this is part of that which Christ our lord deliuered when he commaunded vs to take vp the Crosse if we meant to be his disciples I say it is a part thereof for the other and chiefe part whereof this Crosse consistes is the mortification and death of our self conceyt and will and of our passions and powers This is that old man who must die as Christ our lord died vpon the Crosse what is this old man the body which is passible and mortall and that other inward man whereof I haue spoken before must be also dead in vs. But although this be the cheife part of carrying the Crosse we must not put away that other part howsoeuer it be lesse principall then this And though S. Paul say Timoth Exercitatio corporis ad modicum vtilis est yet the seruant of Christ our lord will not leaue to please him euen in the least things which can be thought And least we should fall into errour the same Apostle saith elswhere 1. Cor. 9. Castigo corpus meū in seruitutem redigo I conceiue not that he said this because he was tempted with the flesh as some vnderstand the difficulty whereof he complaynes but that he would punish and soe cure himselfe by way of preseruatiue vsing this exercise of his body least his mind might otherwise grow sick And elswhere he saith when he recountes the afflictions which he endured 2. Cor. 4. Semper mortificationem Iesu Christi in corpore nostro circumferentes where hee calles that the mortification of Christ which is the very Crosse of corporall afflictions In another place he saith also Psal 5. Qui Christi sunt carnem suam crucifixerunt And if he had meant this onely of crucifing the affections it had sufficed to say Cum vitiis concupiscentiis but by saying carnem it proues that he meant afflictions of the body This he explicates very well in his Epistle to the Corinthians where amongst other things Cor. 6. wherein men were to exercise themselues he reckens vp corporall afflictions namely fasting and watching so that the whole man must vnder-goe the Crosse since Christ our lord died vpon it Our soule must dye by the compassion and memory of Christ crucified and by the mortification of the ould man as hath beene said and the body also must dye vpon the Crosse of corporall afflictions that soe the whole man may be conforme to Christ our lord as he is in paine and misery since heereafter he is to be conforme to him as he is in glory I haue said thus much that you may take a scantling of those forces which God hath giuen you and that soe you may imploy them vpon doeing and suffering all you can And this not onely considering that it may be addressed to some other good intention but euen though it be for noe other reason let it be done to the end that you may be in conformity with Christ our lord as he was afflicted and not vpon necessity but for loue And though neyther the hairecloath nor hard bed nor such thinges as these howsoeuer they be vsed for the loue of Christ our lord should saue vs sola enim Crux Christs est saluifica yet at least lett vs vse them in imitation of that extreme pouerty and sharpe affliction which Christ our lord endured in being crucified which consideration will not be lightly esteemed by vs if we be not wholy voyd of the loue we owe him Gloria enim magna est sequi dominum And thus much of this matter There were two other points of which I thought to haue written but there is noe time for them now I will note them downe least I should forgett them vpon condition that you write me word what there is to be amended in this letter A Letter of the Authour to a Lord of great quality who was sicke and very fearfull of death He teaches him how he is to carry himself I Haue receiued your lord-ships letter I haue read it and I haue vnderstood it and I hope our lord hath mercy for you in store For it is noe great wonder that his greatnes should doe fauour to one who deserues it not since he hath done it soe often to such as haue deserued the expresse contrary I am not sorry a whitt that your lord-ship is affrayed of death for although this feare be a thing paynefull there is noe hurt for a man to apprehend it and many times it is sent by our lord to the end that by the spurre of feare we may bee vrged on to doe that which wee will not doe for the spurre of loue And he as being a father of mercy vsefull to guide those affaires in such an admirable manner as that both feare and hope may helpe vs to ride that way which it is necessary for him to prepare and to make playne and in fine thus feare serues for many good purposes and it is hurtfull for none I desire that your lordshipp would commaund that house to bee built where your pages are to bee lodged As also that you would defrey the cost of those armes and horse wherewith those townes of yours are charged I wish more ouer that you would not cause any sumptuous cloathes or furniture or such like things to bee prouided now Besides if you remember any thing which you may haue wonne ill at play which either is not restored or els not lost againe to the same partyes I aduise you to make restitution thereof And forasmuch as the men who are Lords of states as your Lordship is are not able to reach to the knowledge of all the wrongs which may bee done to others by you noe nor yet your seruants through theire negligence I could wish you would commaund it to bee published in all the Churches of your state that whosoeuer had receiued any wrong by you should de clare the same and that satisfaction should be giuen him And you shall doe well to appoint the Prior of Saint Dominique and the Pastor of your Church where you dwell and some man learned in the lawes who knowes the affaires of your state to heare and see what were fitt to bee done Some particular causes your Lordship shall doe well to heare your self though it should be of some trouble to you that so they may not say elswhere that this course puts you to more payne then it doth I desire by all meanes that all this may bee done for it seemes to mee to be a fitt remedy of all those wrongs which may concerne your neighbours now it is as easy to doe it well as it vill be hard if it be adiorned till after this life Let it be noe impediment to this that the world may chaunce not to like it since he whoe respects the pleasure of God will easely despise that of the world As
bones which here they gaue you to be gnawed vpon by your soule you shall there be employed in feeding vpon that most sauorie bread of life which is God himself and thereof there will neuer be an ende And therefore hope for this and comfort yourself with this for the businesse whereof wee are now in question is not fitt for them who are either of a delicate life or a weake faith You will see yourself many times in such a kinde of state by these afflictions as that if you consider them with the sense of flesh and bloud you will thinke them to be the very markes of hell and euen a beginning thereof but yet you must suffer it with patience though it be without comfort yea and though you do not so much as feele your owne confidence that so you may knowe what it is to suffer in good carnest For as long as a man's confidence is very strong there is nothing which can afflicte him very much but when God hides his face and shewes the soule no fauour but disfauour and when it is persecuted by enemies and yet feeles not the helpe of her good friend then indeede is it pure suffering and hath a taste euen of the very torments of hell You will not then discerne any hope which you may haue to escape but you must content yourself with this that you despaire not and let that discomfort be accepted by you in penance for your sinnes wherein once you tooke delight and let it at length serue to make you clearely see how litle that is which you are able to doe of yourself It is but reason that he who sinnes by louing and liking himself should pay for it by being inwardly and profoundly disgusted with himself and that he who had confidence in himself may see to his cost that he is good for nothing Through this fire must you passe if you desire to enioy the rest of heauen In this warre must you ouercome if you will deserue the Crowne of that kingdome Consider how the holy Scripture saith Blessed is the man Iacob 1. who suffers temptation for when he shall haue beene tryed he is to receiue the Crowne of life which God promised to them who loue him If the Crowne contente you let not the tryall displease you and there can be no triall without temptation and no temptation of troubles can be coming towards you which passes not from the hand of God who is your father and who measures out so much thereof as may be fitt and neither to fall short in respect of your profitt nor to ouerflowe in respect of your weakenesse Feare not to drinke with patience of that which God dranke with loue And God himselfe saith to vs My sonne doe not cast thyself into anguish Prou. 3. when thou art corrected by Almightie God For hee corrects him whome he loues as the father doth the sonne in whome hee delights And elsewhere he saith Heb. 12 Eccl. 38 Doe not despise thyselfe in thy weakenesse but pray to God and hee will cure thee And now since we are commaunded on the parte of God that whatsoeuer happen we must not be dismayed let vs make our recourse to him vpon the confidence which we haue in his word and let vs beg his fauour which hee cannot fayle to afforde O sister and if we could but see how deare and precious we are in the eyes of God! Oh that we could but see how deepely he holdes vs lodged in his hart and how neare we are to him when we may perhaps conceiue our selues to be cast furthest of Blessed be our lord Iesus Christ for hee it is whome with a full mouth we proclaime to be our hope Nothing can so fright me as hee can secure me Let me be changed from deuout to slacke and tepide from goeing towards the comforts of heauen to goe towards the darkenesse of the blacke pitt of hell Let mee be enuironed by my sinnes which are past and by feares which may bee to come let the deuills accuse me and lay snares for me let men persecute and fright me let them threaten me with hell and lay ten thousand dangers before me and yet after all this by sighing and sobbing for my sinnes and by casting mine eyes vp to Christ our lord desiring helpe at his hands that lord who is so meeke so benigne so full of mercie and that most firme and faithfull louer of mine euen to death and I cannot be perswaded to disconfide especially when I consider that I was valued at so high a rate that God himself was giuen for me O Christ thou hauen of securitie for all them who being brused and battered by the tempestuous waues of their owne harts and flye to thee for succour O thou fountaine of liuing waters to those stags who are embossed and pincht by those spirituall dogs which are the deuills and their owne sinnes Thou art that profound internall rest the hope which neuer fayled Psal 103. the protection of orphans and the defence of widowes Thou art that firme house of stone which giuest receipt to those porcupines which are so full of roughnesse and sharpenesse through their sinnes if with groanes and desire of pardon they fly towards thee Thou defendest vs from the wrath of God to which we are subiect And although sometimes thou commaundest thy Disciples to enter into the sea without thee that so they may be weaned by litle and litle frō thy sweete conuersatiō though when thou art absent such tempests of the sea may rise Mani 6. as to putt the soule into hazard of being lost yet still thou forgettest them not Thou biddest them departe from thee and yet euen very then thou goest to pray for them They thinke thou hast layed them aside and that thou sleepest and then art thou vpon thy knees for them And when three partes of the night were already past and when it seemed to thy infinite wisedome that then thou hadst kept them long enough in paine through thy absence and that then they had continued in that tempest long enough thou descendest from the mountaines and as the true Lord of those vnconstant waues thou walkedst vpon them for all is firme vnder thy feete and thou drewest neare thy seruants when they thought thee farthest of from them and thou vtteredst these words of confidence to them Matth. 14. It is I be not afrayed O Christ our lord thou diligent and carefull pastour of thy sheepe and how much is that soule in errour who will not confide in thee and through thee from the most profound internall parte of the hart if withall he can be content to amende his life and to serue thee O that thou wouldst but let men know how much reason they haue who come to giue themselues to thy seruice not to be dismayed vnder the conduct of such a Captaine and that there is noe accident which ought to putt anie seruant of thine
keepe you now when you are his friend He who did not abandon you when you fled from him will much lesse flye now from you when you follow him Who is he that can say with anie truth that God did not helpe him if he were desired See you haue no feare O you seruant of Christ in any thing which may happen to you but confide in him who loued you so well as to dye for you It is true that you haue but one who protects you but that one is of much more power then all they who contradict you Do not thinke of how great the gyants and how strong the citties are which you must encounter Nu. 14. for it is not you who must fight But holde you your peace and our lord will fight for you Do not fly from the warre nor abandon yourself as one who were ouercome and so you shall see the fauour of our lord towards you For in this warre he onely looses the battaile who quitts the field It is true that you are weake but in that weakenesse of yours God will shew his strength It is true that you know not much but God himself will be your guide By your miseries God will make your mercies appeare Whoe are you that you should be able to passe through such difficulties But yet say with Dauid Psa 1◠In the strength of my God I will leape ouer a wall Who are you that should be able to fight but yet say with him againe Psa 26 Though thousands should rise against me yet my hart shall not feare Beleiue my good sister that how much the harder this businesse is for you so much the easier it is for Almightie God And therefore you must haue great distrust in respect of your owne weakenesse but great confidence withall in God's strength Infallibly hee will crowne yow if yow continue in his loue and if you doe confide that by his grace you shall obtaine that crowne Forgett not this promise of Christ our lord Mat. 10 him who confesses me before men that man will I confesse before my Father who is in heauen but him who denyes me before men that men will I also denye before my Father who is in heauen Can you thinke that one is to esteeme that for affliction which he endures for the confession of Christ our lord since it is to haue so high a rewarde as that with so much honour he shall be crowned by him at the day of iudgement before his father Happie is that sufferance happie that dishonour and pouertie to which so high an honour doth succeede What kinde of ioy will it be for you O my good sister to heare these wordes from the mouth of Christ our lord himself and that in presence of the whole world Mat. 15. Come you blessed of my Father and possesse the kingdome which is prepared for you What will it be when the Angells shall thus sing to her who hath beene a faithfull seruant of that Celestiall king Come o Sponse of Christ receiue that crowne which our lord hath prepared for thee and that not for one day but for all eternitie What will the spouses of Christ our lord conceaue when hauing passed through the sea of this life and their enemies who disturbed vs remayning drowned therein they shall sing thus with great ioy for hauing runne through this dangerous world without being ouerwhelmed with the vices thereof Ps 12◠The snare is broken and we are deliuered our helpe is in the name of our lord What a day will that be when that true Marie the virgin of virgins shall goe before with her Timbrell which is her sacred bodie praysing God both in bodie and soule and singing thus Come magnifye our lord with me and lett vs exalte his name in mutuall society with one another Happie are you if you be found faithfull to the spouse who chose you Happie are you if you haue the courage to cast away that which is present vnder the most certaine promise of Christ our lord for that which is future Be confident my good sister in taking his word for you are not the first to whome hee hath passed it and fulfilled it neither shall you be she with whome that word shall want effecte He gaue his word to saynt Catherine saynt Agnes saynt Barbara and saynt Lucie and to inmumerable other ladie virginis and tell me now how completely he hath performed it They had the courage to despise the poore present world and you see that now they raigne with God They liued heere in trouble and they are now in an eternitie of repose Through how manie combats did they passe and they now enioy the euerlasting crownes of their conquests They fled from spouses of the earth and they brought the king of heauen to bee in loue with them If they had followed the trace of this world their delight had beene alreadie past and their memories would haue beene forgotten But they loued that which was eternall and therefore their felicitie shall not dye and their memorie shall not decay They were written in the booke of God and therefore neither water nor winde nor fire nor time can make them waste For that booke is incorruptible and so is the name which is written in it You must therefore procure to haue a strong hart towards God whoe is your saluation and doe not thinke that hee selles heauen deare to you for you haue not yet shed your bloud for him as those others shed theirs Our lord treates you like a weake creature and you should bee a shamed to haue giuen him such cause If you had had more faith and confidence in him and more loue to suffer for him he would haue procured you more afflictions to the ende that you might haue purchased richer Crownes Do not content yourself with suffering litle considering how great your rewarde shall be and how much Christ our Lord suffered for you He gaue his life for you and he was deepely tormented and despised How then come you thus to complaine of the touch of a flye doe but loue and you will desire to suffer Let your loue be doubled and you will suffer sorrowes which are doubled The loue of our Lord makes such as possesse it more greedie of suffering then the loue of ones selfe of reposing It makes that anie burden weighes light for loue is stronger then death He who loues not groanes vnder the burden like some lazie beast but he who loues runnes and flyes and it suffers him not to feele the weight euen of his owne bodie nor of whatsoeuer else they can lay vpon it It is not my good Sister that the afflictiōs which we suffer are great but that our loue is litle The weight of a pound is no great weight but yet lay it vpon some litle childe and he will say O how heauie it weighes whereas if a man tooke it vp he would scarce feele it And so
such haste doe neither vnderstand it nor thankfully acknowledge it and there remayne noe more with them but the meere sound thereof Iohn 19 And some that is such as are Infidells blaspheme him for it because they stay not to looke at leasure vpon this mighty wonder of loue But the Christian who hath taken vp his lodging heere sayth and that from his very hart This is my rest for euer and for euer will I dwell heere because I haue chosen it And if the spouse shall not remaine with at least her hart nailed to that Crosse to which the body of her fellow spouse was nailed how will shee possibly bee able to escape the name of vngratefull and vnkinde There shall you finde remedye against the poyson of those false prayses which men giue you And you will profoundly bee ashamed to perceiue yourself honoured proclaimed for good wheÌ„ you see him who indeede is good holy to be proclaimed for wicked false There shall you see how little reason you haue to think that what you doe is vnworthy of estimation in any kinde forasmuch as concernes your part thereof since it is soe weake lame when it is coÌ„pared with that which Christ our Lord wrought vpon the Crosse yea euen with that which yourself as you are ought to doe Looke into this glasse and you will easily be able to discerne the spots which are in the face of your soule For when you haue beene the most meeke of all if you compare that meeknes with his your meekenes will be noe better then meere wrath and your obedience compared with his will be very disorderly and your humility very proud Yet the blind world will needes beleiue that there are noe other sinnes but those which it conceiues to be such Whereas the eyes of God are of another kinde and he measures vs by another rule whereby many times he findes that to bee faulty which seemed in the eyes of men to bee excelleÌ„tly and coÌ„pleatly done When therefore they shall deliuer out any of these poisoned smooth-lying prayses say you instaÌ„tly in your hart as S. Paule did â— Cor. 4. he who iudges me is our Lord. And make haste to call to minde how our Lord was proclaimed for a wicked person And beseech him not to permitt that you be published for one who is good be sure you hould your toÌ„gue for our lord will obserue how the world goes Nay procure you be carefull that when you are despised you may be very glad thereof and perhaps our lord doth not now permit any body to giue you ill words because he findes that you haue not strength wherewith to beare them He who desires any part of the Crosse of our lord must receiue it as he would doe some pretious Reliquâ— with great reuerence giuing of thankes And he must valew it more then he would all the treasures of the world And because there are soe few who esteeme of those Reliques of the Crosse as they ought therefore our Lord oftentimes doth not impart them whose-pleasure is that they be honoured and beloued and borne with ioy And for this reason it is that he leaues vs still in our infancy without putting vs to the taskes of men But how much more then are we to blame if we be drawne downe to impatience or superfluity of sorrow for any of those thinges which he sendes Soe that if you shall carry a great loue to the Crucifix he will giue you a part of his Crosse But then see that you embrace it as an enterprise of great honour according to what he sayth to the spouse Place mee as a seale vpon thy hart and vpon thine arme for loue is strong as death Cam. 8. And as for that paine wherein you are because you may not receiue the Body of our Lord in the blessed Sacrament soe often as you would be not troubled thereat For I haue already tould you that our Lord is resolued that it shall cost you some what And it is but reason that it doe soe since our soules cost him soe much Doe you thinke perhaps that by our Lords onely saying Let all soules â—ee mine they instaÌ„tly render themselues into his hands Doe you thinke that the loue which you carry to our Lord the dominion which he exercises ouer you cost him but toyes I can assure you it is not soe But he shed his bloud as any slaue might doe vpon condition that your soules might be his and he yours Iust soe must that soule doe which hath a minde to obtaine him that is it must sweate first it must weepe it must importune him it must endure ill wordes yea and alsoe euill deedes at the hands of others yea and it must seeme little to haue endured this but once And if it be not put to endure them at least it shall haue gained much in hauing disposed it selfe to suffer somewhat for him thus it proues noe fruitlesse thing to seeke God Negotiate your businesse with him for if he say Yea there is none who can hinder it and if any body offer to doe it it will not proue with him but yet if it chaunce to proue you may conclude thereby that you haue not negotiated well with our Lord. What shall I say to you Cry out louder to him Follow my counsaile and whensoeuer he giues you a great desire to communicate procure then to be iust as if you were communicating indeed And beseech our Lord since he is omnipotent that he will giue you that when you communicate spiritually which he would haue giuen if you had communicated Sacramentally For soe you shall bee pleasing to his goodnes and he will not suffer you to goe empty from him if you come well prepared and it were not the worse if it might be two or three dayes before Yett now you must not thinke that you may therefore faile to confesse your sinnes afterward to your Ghostly Father But till you haue meanes to declare them to him I aduise that you ralate them to our Lord. And aboue all things keepe your hart in peace and conserue yourself in the way of obedience and humility towards your Superiours and Prelates For this is the way of our Lord and you must take heede you leaue it not Take courage to passe on in your other deuotions For though when you are in them you thinke you make noe profitt by them I say you doe and afterwards you shall taste the fruite thereof And our Lord will find a time to looke back with pittye vpon such as shall haue made much way after him And one day of those when our Lord vouchsafes to looke back vpon vs is worth more then three of those others wherein we laboured to goe after him The crowne is prepared for you in heauen God will be your defendour and will not forget you Perseuer you in obedience till you see our Lord of all Lord in Syon
Psal 83. I beseech him to make you dearly his and that you may be kept safe and proue a saynt Amen A Letter of the Authour to a Cauallier a freind and a Disciple of his FOR what doe spurres serue if the beast be so lazie as I am And then adding to this the burden which lyes vpon me of litle health it is no maruaile if I neither write nor answear This letter is written in such straytes of time that I know not whether it can be good for any thing or noe I haue reioyced much that the Infant is weaned though some dye at that age as not hauing strength to eate the bread with the crust But since our Lord takes you for a Childe of promise Gen. 17. as he did Isaac I hope in Iesus Christ that you will not dye of it though you should be putt to eate stones but that you will feede vpon them as Christ our Lord fedde vpon the wine with myrrhe God will deliuer you from consenting to sinne and your temptations shall serue you in steede of the torment of the Crosse for his glorie who dyed vpon it And though our enemies may bid vs come downe we will rather choose to confesse Christ our Lord by continuing vpon it then to putt ourselues into ease by denying him You are acquainted alreadie with that supreme omnipotent goodnesse of our Celestiall Father whose power is such as to draw good out of euill and heate out of colde And therefore be not dismayde though you see yourself absent from the protection of your spirituall Father on earth and though you finde barrennesse where you expected plentie and aboundance Bee not afrayde to be alone with Christ our Lord not that you are to vnder-value helpe when it may bee had by meanes of his seruants but we must obey his ordinance whensoeuer he shall be pleased that we remaine in this world without succour Because our Lord is vsually wont in such cases to doe more visible and greater fauours immediatly then he did before by meanes of his seruants And such a man comes to learne that Non sum solus quia Pater mecum est Iohn 16. I am not alone because my Father is with me Then Faith beginnes to encrease and Prayer dilates it self by Loue which is sett forward by seing how the soule is beloued And thus it encreases by that by which it seemed and it was feared that it would be diminished And he findes society when he is alone and he hath learnt to walke without a staffe though he be but weake Let there be no want of care to receiue him who is all our good and be you euer saying and that with truth Loquere Domine quia audit seruus tâ—us 1. King 1. Speake Lord for thy seruant heares thee Shutt vp yourself in the castle of your hart which though it be as weake as glasse yet he who comes to dwell there will make it so strong that all that shall proue glasse which can assault it and it self shall remaine more firme then stâ—ele And for lacke of doeing this the soule is full of weakenesse and it may say that Osee 10 which is written Diuisum est cor eorum nunc interibunt Their hart is diuided and they shall instantly perish There is no place secure where your hart may rest but in that secret place of retreate that most hidden corner where none can enter but Christ our Lord â—anuis clausis the doores being shutt Iohn 20. For if it departe from thence it runnes as great hazard as some light yong mayde might doe amongst dissolute men And if some iust punishment were imposed well executed for euery time that the hart should be gadding vp and downe the streete perhaps we should take warning by ourselues as euen a very horse or mule will doe Though indeede a man who watches himself well shall instantly be able to finde a punishment which comes downe from heauen â—re 14. vpon the very hart it self quando diligit mouere pedes when it hath a nunde to be gadding and then that which followes is this Domino non placuit This guift of recollection must be gotten with much practise For afterward the hart will stay within euen of it self though we open the doore to let it out as a tame bird will stay in a cage And this is the roote of all our spirituall profitt and at the feete of Christ our Lord we must haue it if we meane that it shall be true profitt Christ Iesus be with vs all Amen A Letter of the Authour to a Ladie encouraging her to fight the battailes of our Lord. He shewes the subtilty of the deuill and how styly he temptes soules with pride MADAME because I conceiue that you fight the combatts of Christ our Lord and doe franckely offer yourself to all affliction so that he may raigne in your hart all encouragement and assistance is due to you from such as be the seruants of God who are commaunded to aduertise the wicked man of the miserie which is growing towards him that so he may amende and avoyde it and to encourage such as are good and to goe sounding the trumpett before them when they see them entring into the battaile that is to say Esay 58. they are to giue hart by the word of God to such as they perceiue to fight for his honour For otherwise as account shall be demaunded of them for the wicked whome they had not warned so also for the good Ezech. 3 whome they had not encouraged And so they should be punished both for the euill which were committed by the one and for the good which were omitted by the other Take you therefore hart in that combatt which the ancient Serpent makes against you he procuring to diuide you from God and you resoluing to sticke close to him you must be very watchfull for his chiefe ayme is at the hart And it troubles him not greatly that a man serue God by recollecting his eyes by keeping silence by praying by singing the diuine office and the like but to the hart doth he conuey his poyson which is a certaine vaine kinde of complacence or proper estimation and loue of ourselues The foolish virgins Matth 23. were virgins but because they had not oyle in their lampes they heard this sad word out of the mouth of our Lord. In the word of truth I say to you that I know you not Now what is this lampe but the hart and what is this oyle but the spirit of truth which maintaynes and feedes it with good workes if we meane that they shall indeede be good in the sight of God And what is this Spirit of truth but that which makes a man displeasing to himselfe and to seeme ill in his owne eyes and that from his very hart and soule he may conceiue that he is all vglie and abominable and that he is amazed to consider how
be sayd that a woeman killed mee for a woeman had cast a peece of earth stifly downe vpon him from the fortresse Thus must you doe when the Deuill shall offer you combate Cast Christ our lord at him and soe breake his head for Christ our lord being man is called earth and soe the enemy shall dye And if notwithstanding it seeme to you that still he must be a liue knowe yet that he remaynes in extreme trouble and euen as dead to see himself ouercome and to be the occasion that you shall gayne crownes whereas he thought that they would haue proued fetters To what greater misery can an enemy be subiect then to see that he helpes him to be great in the eyes of God For if you sawe the treasure which you haue gayned by resisting the Deuill soe very often there is noe doubte but that it would sufficiently temper the bitternes of your troubles to consider the beawty and riches of those crownes Now so many pretious stones haue you gotten wherewith to enrich your crowne as you haue resisted times those counsailes of the Deuill and so much haue you gained of eternall rest as you haue with patience endured seuerall times the sadd afflictions which he hath brought vpon you Be not therfore weary of getting still new pretious stones though whilest they are throwne at you they hurt you a little but then instantly after they are your owne And see that you resist that vnprofitable sadnesse which is the beginning of many mischiefes confiding in our lord and being cheerefull in the hope of his loue tread all vnder foot and let it seeme little to you as S. Bernard saith My afliction is hardly to bee counted afliction for one halfe howre and if it proue any longer I fele it not through the force of my loue Tread you vpon the dragon and vpon the lyon and let him feare you Psal 26. and not you him And say you to your self Our lord is my helper and whome them shall I feare Our Lord takes care of mee what then can arriue which may afflict mee Our lord gouernes mee and I am safe Our lord serues himself of mee and I aspire to no other happines how much soeuer it may cost mee And thus the Deuill finding you full of courage and well armed shall not bee able to pull you downe but rather feare soe much as to assault you Our lord who called you conserue you and make you such as I beseech him that you may bee Amen A Letter of the Authour to a Cauallier his freind THE newes of this messenger who is parting takes me by night and without paper and full of my ordinary indispositions I beseech our lord who is omnipotent to tell you that by himselfe which he was to haue tould you by my penne since in me there is noe ability to doe it nor haue I indeede any oportunity The cōplaintes you make against your selfe vpon the opinion which you had of your owne prudence are iust You must admitt them doe them iustice euer esteeming that opinion for a crafty enemye and counting vp euery pace it makes that soe you may vnderstand the deceites thereof For in these temptations to know them is to ouercome them Make that very account with your selfe which was made by that Monke in this namer I came not to iudge any but to be iudged by all Say thus to your selfe I came not to haue zeale of others but of my selfe God places not me in the office of a guide but in the duty of being guided And who is soe maddly impertinent as that hee will thinke to hitt right in that where God puttes him not since euery plantation which is not made by the heauenly father shall be rooted vp But now if by Obedience you be commaunded to deliuer your minde first begg you light of our lord and then declare it but not without feare and as a thing which you doe but offer to the end that it may be examined by others And you are not to shoot it out with such a kind of resolution and auctority as if it must needes be approued and executed because forsooth you thought it fitt Noe nor that it ought to haue any force att all vpon that reason but onely that things may soe be done as others may take to be most cōuenient whether they approue or disallow your opinion And you must conceiue that by doeing thus you comply with the duty of your Obedience and that you haue nothing more to doe in that busines They who either be endwed with light from heauen or haue else beene taught to see by the many falles which they haue taken doe noe lesse feare euen some good desires of particular thinges then the executing of some desires which are not good Yea and in some sorte they apprehend them more because of the two it is harder to vnderstand and maister the deceipt which lurkes in them Now this feare takes order that they runne not instantly to entertaine them but to keepe their stand recommending that desire of theirs to our lord and asking councell of him This feare is the beginning of wisedome and it is alsoe the end thereof It is hard to declare this pointe by letter but for him who hath a superiour whome he obeyes it is easily declared by putting the case and following his counsell When you shall be come to know that such a busines concernes the seruice of God and that it is fitt to be dispatched yet still euen that must be done in such sorte as that his Maiesty be not offended for whose seruice the busines it to be vndertaken For if the heart be thereby filled with cares and distractions and especially if they come at wrong tymes the thing it selfe may well be iust but the manner of doeing it wil not be soe It is a good thing for a man to cary himselfe like a persone who is at the comaund of another and not as a guide of the busines Not as if you were some great maister but rather like some young fellow who were bidden eyther to come or goe when the care of any particular shall put it selfe vnseasonably vpon you say to it to this effect Our lord commaundes me nothing about that matter at this time For my part I haue nothing to thinke all will goe into errour if it be done after my fancye when our lord shall commaund me to doe it I will doe it and I will both heare and speake For this purpose it is good to sett out some determinate time to thinke of these thinges which require care that soe they may not come vpon a man in troupes when he were to be in silence with God If they bring any affliction with them which much disquiet we may well conceiue that that is not the way wherein God walkes nor doe we comply with his word which saith Nolite solicit◠esse labor enim exercendus sollicitudo tollenda you must not