of this vertue and humilitie This is my precept said that deare master of ours that you loue one another My litle children I giue you a new precept that you loue one another In this all men shall know that you are my Disciples if you haue loue one to another Holy Father I pray c. that they may be one as we also are one I in them and thou in me AFFECTION and RESOL. This is the great commandement indeede my soule this Christs speciall precept Loue one another this the badge by which he will haue all his seruants to be knowne If they loue one another If we come without this wedding garmēt we shall be repulsed If we knocke not hauing this oyle of charitie in our Lampes wherby we may be knowne to men to be Gods Disciples God vvill not knovve vs the dore vvill be shut What thinge more wishfull could we haue desired to haue heard thē by affording mutuall loue and assistance to one another which we haue all such neede of to secure our saluation And yet the most louing and beloued Apostle assures vs It is the precept of our soueraigne Lord and Master doe this saith he and it sufficeth Beare one anothers burden and so you shal accomplish the lavve of Christ THE SECONDE POINTE. Hovv vve ought to exercise Charitie to one another Consider that this ought to be done by his example who gaue the commande of it and afterwards came graciously downe to teach it by his owne practise Thus we are taught by the great Apostle Receiue helpe comfort support and loue one another as Christ receiued assisted supported and loued vs. But how did Christ loue vs c Marrie he loued vs first with a free and disinterested loue which looked vpon noe preceedant merites 2. With a right loue not to receiue any thinge from vs but to discharge the ouer-flowing riches of his mercifull breastes vpon our pouertie 3. With a perseuerant loue for louing his vvho vvere in the vvorld he loued them to the end 4. With a stronge loue euen as stronge as death it selfe he loued vs and deliuered himselfe for vs for vs men and for our saluation AFFECTION and RESOL. If then my soule we hope for any consolation in Christ if any solace of Charitie if any societie of spirit if any bowells of commiseration let vs endeuour to fulfill the B. Apostles ioy by being of one meaning having the same charitie of one mynd agreeing in one That nothing be done by contention nor by vaine glorie but in humilitie each counting others better then themselues In a word let vs receiue comfort support and loue our poore brethren and that too as Christ gaue vs the example with a pure and disinterrested loue because it is his blessed pleasure that so it should be With a right loue not seeking that vvhich is profitable in particular to our selues but that vvhich is profitable to many With a perseuerant loue which is not to end but with the end of our liues Finally with a stronge loue readie to wrastle with obuious difficulties and euen with death it selfe for the good of our brother as our deare Lord gaue vs an example THE THIRD POINTE. What assurance this fraternall Charitie giues that vve are in happie estate Consider with S. Augustine that God out of his infinite goodnesse that man might haue noe excuse left if he learned not to loue him pleased to consummate and abridge his holy word or Lawe He made it short that none might be wearied with reading of it and cleare withall least any might haue said I could not vnderstand it And what is this short and cleare vvord Take it from S. Paule he that loueth his neighbour hath fulfilled the Lavve Hence S. Iohn affirmes confidently that vve knovv vve are translated from death to life because vve loue our brethren We knovv What doe we knowe saith your diuine Father that vve are translated from death to life But how doe we know it demandes he againe Because vve loue our brethren concludes he with the great Euangelist AFFECTION and RESOLVT O the great goodnesse of God to reduce his whole lawe to loue O easie fulfilling of the said Lawe which consists onely in louing of our neighbour O happie assurance receiued from the penmen of the holy Ghost O blessefull knowledge which makes vs know that we are gotten out of the possession of death into the Kingdome of life And all this at so easie a rate because vve loue our brethren Let vs not then be sollicitous ô my soule nor run to others to know our present state returne to our owne hartes and if we meete with brotherly charitie therin le ts rests secure saith your B. Father that vve are translated from death to life like as not finding it there we haue an accursed assurance that we are in death's possession he that loues not remaynes in death Let me loue thee then my euer deare louing Lord and my neighbours in thee and for thee If I euer forgett thee or them or this Couenant of loue let my right hand be forgotten and let my tongue sticke to my iawes if I remember thee not and place thee not in the heade of my dearest delightes For I am thy seruant I am thy seruant and the sonne of thy handmayde redeemed vvith a great price Thou hast broken my chaynes in sunder the chaynes of my sinnes the chaynes of ill custome the chaynes of the malignante world that by a happie escape from it I might be chayned to thee in the golden chaynes of Charitie And therfor I will sacryfice to thee a sacryfice of prayse of all that I haue or hope for and all that I am my life libertie and all and willingly ioyfully and without constraint I vvill render my vovves to thee in the sight of all thy people Amen FINIS
soule that we build Or rather doe we not heape negligences tepidities vanities and impurities of intention vpon the good fundation we haue layd Are we not in verie deed cold and slowe in the loue of God and ther vpon as carelesse of our neighbour as though the care of him had not at all bene commended to vs Let vs therfor in imitation of our good Patron say with him Giue me ô Lord to loue thee as much as I desire and as much as I ought and my neighbour for thee and in thee c. THE VII MEDITATION Hovv he behaued himselfe in Faith I. POINT COnsider that he putt down with Saint Paule whose best scholler he was that Faith is the substance of things to be hoped for an argument of things not appearing or as he saith in another place it is the fundation of all good things the verie begining of mans saluation It is an illustration of the mynd by which it is illuminated by the Prime Light to discerne spirituall things AFFECTION and RESOL. Doe we ô my soule ayme at the true knowledge of spirituall things doe we desire our saluation or hope we for those eternall waights of glorie those ineffable things which appeare not to the eye sound not to the eare nor enter into the hart of man which God hath prepared for those that loue him know then that it is by the benefit of the heauenly light of Faith That is the illumination that the fundation that the very substance and somme of all II. POINT Consider that he putt downe for his seconde ground with the same Apostle that without Faith it is impossible to please God I saith he none shall be admitted into the number of the sons of God without it None without it shall obtayne iustifying grace in this world nor possesse eternall life in the next which is giuen to the loue of God alone Nor can any loue whom he knowes not nor doth any know God but he to whom it is reuealed by the Father through faith in his onely son Christ Iesus AFFECTION and RESOL. If without Faith we know not without knowledge we loue not without loue we remayne in the iawes of death if in death there be no grace nor without grace any hope of glorie If we haue no right to the denomination of sons nor consequently iust Title of Heyres Oh of what con-consideration ought faith to be with vs how constantly ought we to imbrace it how carefully to conserue it For alas if we misse to be numbered amongst the sons of God we shall not misse to be counted amongst the flaues of the Diuell III. POINT Consider further with him that the begining of our faith is from Christ from vvhom by vvhom and in vvhom are all things It is not bought by our riches procured by our industries or giuen to our merits but is a pure and free gift of Gods mercy to which he is nether necessitated nor induced saue onely by the abundance of his owne vncompelled goodnes AFF. and RES Blessed be thy goodnes for euer ô my Lord God who daynedst me with this great gift whilst I nether deserued nor desired nor euen thought of it Farre be it from me to extolle my selfe to arrogate it to my selfe as though I had had it of my selfe Nay contrarily vpon the thought of that singular goodnes I fall downe prostrate before thy Maiestie pronunceing in all humilitie that he vvho doth glorie should glorie in our Lord. THE VIII MEDITAT A CONTINVATION OF the same subiect I. POINT COnsider that though the begining of our faith be from God purely and cannot be merited by vs yet is the increase of it Gods grace being alwayes presupposed left in our hands to be procured by care and cultiuating and by continually accompaigning it with good workes We are not to be as it were secure in faith but we are to accompaignie a right faith with a right life The Apostles saih he had not left all contemning the hopes of the world had they not had some faith nor would they haue said Increase our faith had it alreadie bene perfect AFFECTION and RESOL. Blessed be our good God who doth not onely preuent vs with his benedictions before we deserue or yet thinke of them but also giues vs power by concurring with his grace to multiplie his good gifts yea he hath euen charged vs to negotiate vpon them till he come Le ts vs not therfore be wanting to our selues since the increase is left in our owne hands II. POINT Consider that though it be our part to make good vse of the good Talent which Gods grace freely bestowed vpon vs and by that good vse to multiplie it yet are we to know with our Saint that as no man is sufficient of himselfe to begin or perfect any good vvorke so is none of himselfe able to begin or perfect faith But the increase and perfection of it ought to be procured by our feruent and frequent prayers to the good Giuer saying AFFBCTION and RESOLV I beeseech thee and in a most suppliant manner I implore thy mercy ô God who are the fountaine and sourse of all good things the giuer and conseruer of all vertues increase in me holy right and immaculate Faith And make me performe workes sutable to it least a good faith may be defiled by vncleane workes and least I may deny thee by a bad life whom I confesse by a good beleife I beleeue ô Lord Yet helpe my incredulitie III. POINT Consider further with your holy Fa. that for want of good workes and feruent and frequent prayers our Faith in lieu of increasing falls into a deficiencie it sleeps waxes weeke and sicklie yea dyes Iesus some tymes sleeps in vs as he slept in the shippe that is our faith which is from Iesus sleeps in vs and then the winds and waues of temptation tosse vs too and fro We must therfore awake Iesus and the tempest shall be allayed that is we must recollect our faith and call it to practlse AFFECTION and RESOL. vve perish ô Lord vve perish haue mercy vpon vs. For alas why doth our faith sleepe but for want of being excited and stirred vp by feruent prayers whence is it weeke and sickly but for want of the nourishement of good workes whence is it dead but that it is not quickned by charitie We wil therfore Pray worke endeuour to loue God aboue all things and our neighbour as our selfe c. and when all is done we will ascribe all not to our owne strength but to Gods grace THE IX MEDITATION With vvhat modestie and humilitie he looked vpon matters of Faith And hovv high a rate he putts vpon it I. POINT COnsider that he aduentures not to diue into the knowledge of high misteries with hereticall pride and presumption as though witt were able to make way to all but by a truly Catholike submission and modestie vpon many occasions he makes open profession of his ignorance acknowledges the
a hart as a Heauen or Paradice since thou art made a Mansion for the God of glorie Doe not doe not my hart gadd abrode and by a degenerous conuersation forgett with whose presence thou art honored thou hast by loue gott Deus tuus omnia Contemne for his loue all other thinges saying Dilectus meus mihi ego illi III. POINT Consider whether a greater commendations could be putt vpon Charitie then by saying God is Charitie A short prayse and yet a great prayse Short in speech great in vnderstanding Yes it is quickly said God is charitie but good God whether are our thoughtes carried by that word God is Charitie By possessing Charitie then wee possesse God but God is all good things therfore by possessing Charitie we possesse all that good is in Heauen and in Earth AFFECTION and RESOL. O short and great commendation indeed sith so great as nothing can be added Since greater or better then God nothing can be imagined by men or Angells Nor is it a humane persuasion we haue for it but an assurance of faith that God is Charitie and vvho remaynes in Charitie remaynes in God and God in him O my soule what an honor and comfort is this amidst all the calumnies and afflictions of the world that by loue thou art able to become Gods Mansion and he thyne And if thy beloued be thyne and thou his what can be wanting to a well borne hart THE XVIII MEDITAT A continuation of the excellences of Charitie I. POINT COnsider that Charitie alone is not vexed at anothers felicitie because she knowes no emulation She alone is not transported with her owne felicitie because she swells not with pride She onely is not stung with a bad conscience because she wrongs no body Amidst contumelies she is secure amongst hatreds friendly amongst braules pleasant amidst deceipts innocent lamenting at iniquities and resuming hart vpon the discouerie of Truth AFFECTION and RESOLVT Who is then so happie as one inioying Charitie What hath the world which can giue so solide and sure a content Yea what hath it that is not brimme full of discontent Wheras the charitable man meets with no vexation no emulation no swelling but contrarily ioy peace patience vnder the shelter of a good conscience are that happie mans share O diuine Charitie how thou fillest the harts which thou dost possesse with delight sweetnes and tranquilitie Ah! they seeme euen to enter into the ioy of their Lord. II. POINT Consider that it is Charitie which makes all the good Angells and all Gods seruants compagnions in the bonde of sanctitie and it ioynes vs and them together amongst our selues and subiects vs to him AFFECTION and RESOLV See how it leagues heauen and earth together and putts vs in mynd what title we haue to it makes Angells and men fellow seruants and euen in a manner equall in honor and chaynes them together in linkes of holy loue which is true sanctitie ô wishfull and deare bonds See what a sweete order it establisheth betwixt man and man making each one loue and honor and deferre to an other without forgetting their due subiection to God to whom incomparably aboue all loue honor and glorie is due III. POINT Consider vvhat a huge great good Charitie is vvhich vvithout our labour makes vvhat is good in others our ovvne Hence it was that the Psalmist holily glories that he is made partaker of all that loue God and keepe his commandements AFFEDTION and RESOLV Ah my soule if thou hast but charitie all 's thyne owne There is no good worke done in heauē or in earth but thou hast a share of it Heauen and earth makes but one great Christiā comon wealth wherof Charitie is the Queene and lodgeth in thy hart What euer prayers fastings austerities almes-deeds sufferances are exercised within the compase of the Catholike Church are partly thyne while thou art rooted in Charitie THE XIX MEDITAT OF SOME MOTIVES of the loue of God I. POINT COnsider that S. Augustins first motiue of the loue of God was that he first loued him The loue wherby God loues vs cannot be comprehended nor changed for he loued vs not onely since the tyme we were reconciled to him by the blood of his son but he euen loued vs before the world was made that we together with his onely begotten son might be his sons before we were yet any thing at all AFFECT and RESOLVT While I yet was not and so was nothing my infinitly good God had thoughts of goodnes for me to rayse me out of that abisse of nothing and make me that something which now I am being made he fell in loue with his owne worke meerely out of the abundance of his owne goodnes without any neede he had of it at all and made vs sons sons and heirs of the heauenly Kingdome we had no title too Ah my soule if we will not begin to loue at least being thus graciously preuented let vs not sticke to pay loue for loue The hart is too hard which though it will not freely giue will not at least render what it owes II. POINT Consider that his second motiue was the excessiue greatnes of Gods loue to vs such as we were which went so farre that he spared not his owne onely son but deliuered him to death and the death of the Crosse for all of vs vs who where wicked sinners Remember how much he loued that we may not despaire whom or what kind of creatures he loued that we waxe not proude A son for a seruant an that a most wicked one deliuered vp to death and that à most ignominious one AFFECTION and RESOLV O God I cannot looke vpon that great price that infinitly great price the pretious blood of a son spent for the redemption of a seruant but of a son who was a first begotten an onely begotten and an onely beloued one one to thyne owne hart in whom thou wert intirely pleased one in a word in euery thing equall to thy selfe I cannot I say looke vpon it but with much loue and confidence Nor can I reflect vpon the seruant the poore miserable and sinfull seruant vpon which it was spent but with much confusion O God what is man that thou shouldst so putt thy hart vpon him but ô man what is God to thee And yet thy hart departs so easily from him III. POINT Consider that his third motiue was not that he loued vs first and most but euē prepared no other reward for our loue then himselfe What then saith he shall our worshipe of God haue noe reward Ah yes but noe other then the verie God himselfe whom we worshipe Seeke nothing of him without him he himselfe will suffice thee AFFECTION and RESOL. Ah! that hart is conuinced to be intolerably greedie and vnsatiable whom God sufficeth not At least Augustins noble hart finds all plentie meere want to him which is not his verie God And therfore he petitions for nothing
A PROPER LOOKING GLASSE FOR THE DAVGHTERS OF SION OR St. AVGVSTINES LIFE ABBRIDGED AND reduced into points of Meditation VVITH MEDITATIONS for a spirituall exercise at Clothings and Professions By THOMAS CARRE their Confessour POST NVâ— PIâ—â—â— AT PARIS M. DC LXV THE I. MEDITATION HOVV HE VVANDERED from his heauenly Fathers hovvse and by vvhat degrees I. POINT CONSIDER how their was a tyme when this great Saint himselfe confessing it being transported by the heate of youth wandered out of his Fathers house euen into a land of extreame disproportion and that by no other stepps or degrees but first by idlenes the sourse of all euills heare his owne words vvhen I grevv idle at home vvith my parents the brambles of vnchaste desires grevv euen ouer my heade Waigh in particular the euils you may haue fallen into by it secondly by ill compaignie vvhich moues vs saith he often to doe that vvhich vve should neuer doe alone but vvhensoeuer it is said let vs goe and let vs doe this or that vve are ashamed and blush if vve doe not shevv our selues to be past shame AFFECTION âh how true it is ô friendshippe that we experience thee often tymes too too vnfriendly nay euen a cruell seducer of our soules for that which the Diuell by himselfe cannot by the meanes of a friend he is able to effect That deare name of louing and being beloued carries vs quite away to perdition And idlenesse serues for nothing but onely to inuent and suggest fewell to this consuming fire Say my soule is it no so indeed RESOLVTION Neuer will I more then intertayne such or such a thing for euer I renounce you ô vaine and frutelesse thoughts I abiure you ô friuolous and detestable remembrances I forsake you for euer vnfaithfull and disloyall frindships miserable and lost seruices mispent gratifications displeasing and indeed paynefull pleasures II. POINT Consider that the third steppe to Augustines ruine was his neglect of his Mothers counsell which seemed to him but like old wiues fables which as he saith he was ashamed to follow Ponder how it is euen thus that all our miseries doe increase and ripen we first waxetepide and idle in Gods seruice we spend tyme in imbraceing a masse of vaine thoughts and extrauagances we then meete with a coÌ„panion of the same mould whose equall follie doth feede and increase our fancie and by litle and litle we are hurried on to a precipice of mischeife Parents and frieÌ„ds counsells are imployed to preuent our future woe but are reiected we are gone for euer vnlesse Gods speciall grace doe recalle vs AFFECTION Yes it is euen thus ô my soule that we run to ruine the fancies of idle houres doe truly feede and increase our miseries and what doth the communication of such fancies to others but still more and more impoyson and ripen the desease of our mynds and euen confirme our harts against that soueraigne remedie the good Counsell of superiours and friends RESOLVTION Against idlenes I will still haue in memorie that vpon the good or bad vse of the moments of tyme which we now haue a happie or accursed eternitie doth depend and that a tyme will come that a moment of tyme shall not be left to repent in Against bad companie I will remember that he vvho toucheth pitch shall be defyled vvith it and that vvith the good vve shall be good and vvith the peruerse vve shall be peruerted Against the neglect of good counsell which is a thing of so dangerous a consequence that the prouerbe assures past counsell past grace I will haue these sacred lessons deeply imprinted in my mynd Want and ignominie shall be his share vvho forsakes discipline but glorie to him vvho giues eare to one vvho doth counsell and correct Prouerbs c. 13. and Prou. 29. Soudaine distruction shall ouertake or fall vpon that man vvho vvith a stiffe necke contemnes him vvho doth reprehend him And these of S. Augustine I thought it vvas onely she vvho spoke meaning Saint Monica but her vvords vvere indeed thyne ô God and in her person thou vvast contemned by me I being old and a Bishop am readie to be taught by a child Petition Say with Salomon Giue me ô Lord a Docile hart a hart myld and supple and readie to take the good tincture of wholsome counsell THE II. MEDITATION Whither he vvaÌ„dred and vvhat miseries he mett vvithall in his vvandering pilgrimage I. POINT COnsider that he followed the stepps of the prodigall child and with him arriued in a foraine Land whither sin ledd him and putt him into so great a distance from Gods helping hand that he fell into the hands of theeues my enemyes saith he did with me what euer they pleased they beate me they stript me naked they defyled corrupted wounded and euen killed me and all this because I departed from thee and because I became a verie nothing without thee AFFECTION and RESOLVT Woe be to that audacious soule who by leauing thee ô Deare Lord dares presume to hope to find out any thing els in heauen or in Earth not onely better then thee or like to thee but euen any thing tolerable without thee Thou hast made vs to and for thy selfe thou hast endowed our soules with a capaciousnes capable of thy selfe and our harts must needs be vnquiete till they returne to thee and repose in thee Be they forsaken for euer ô Lord who forsake thee may their names be written vpon the grownd that they haue abandoned thee the veyne of liueing water II. POINT Consider that those enemyes of our good hauing maymed vs leaue vs not so but obseruing that none comes in to our succour they vilifie and contemne vs they make their vvay ouer our bellies they treade vs vnder feete and with the filth of sinne defile Gods holy Temple and leaue vs gasping vpon the ground full of desolation and worne out with sorrow AFFEC and RESOL. This sad truth Blessed Augustine feared not to publish in the eares of all the world and wee frequently fayle not to experience in owne particulars if we make reflection and yet alas we endeuour not in good earnest to flie from the face of so cruell a foe but euen without witt or feare we trudge after them being blind and naked and loaden with the chaynes of our sinns They vvounded me and I greeued not they haled and trayled me after them and I vvas not sensible of it III. POINT Consider that Augustins and our miseries find yet no periode but growe vp to a higher excesse We doe not onely by our flight from God fall into the power of our deadely foes are stript and wounded by them while yet we follow them without feare and grow senselesse but we euen fall in loue with our miserie misfortune and seruitude I vvas slaue and yet loued my slauerie blind and yet desired my blindnes In a word to me bitter scemed svveet and svveet bitter AFFEC and RESOLVT A pittifull case and yet this is
aboue He below by the compassion of Charitie we aboue by the hope of Charitie AFFECTION and RESOLV Had we Christians yet reason to doubt with Salomon vvhether God did dvvell amongst men we might also fall into that deficiencie of Truth that he vvalkes about the Poles of Heauen and considers not our things but being assured by Faith that he left heauen to take vp his delights amongst the sons of men we cannot feare but he is full of goodnes for vs through that goodnes loues vs and for that loues-sake would haue vs to loue him againe and to be confident in him I will therfore with the holy Patriarche hope euen against hope and with the good Iob hope in him Though he should kill me because sure I am what euer sense may seeme to suggest he doth not loue and forsake II. POINT Consider that his seconde motiue was not that he conuersed with vs onely but euen became one of vs. What hath man to doe for whom God became man taking our humane nature vpon him This is my whole Hope and entire confidence for by this sacred vnion euery one of vs hath a part or portion in Iesus Christ to witt flesh and bloode AFFECTIONS and RESOL. Let vs then say with your holy Father where a part of me raignes their will I apprehend I raigne where my flesh is glorified their I know I am glorious Though I am a sinner I cannot be diffident in this communion of graces for what my sinns prohibite my substance exacts He cannot forgett man which he beares about with him and for our loue tooke vpon him In him we haue alreadie ascended the heauens in him we are sett at the right hand of his heauenly father O comfortable and admirable and ineffable motiue of mans hope and confidence in so sweete à Sauiour II. POINT Consider that his third moriue of hope was not so much that he conuersed among vs or was one of vs as that he daigned to dye for our Loue. Be confident thou shalt attayne to his life of glorie vvho hast his death for a pledge of it AFFECTION and RESOL. Let then the Diuell rage the flesh reuoult the world waxe madd against me Let me heare nothing from them but vvhere is novv thy God as though I were quite forsaken by him yet wil I liue and dye in this confidence that since he delightes to be vvith the sonnes of man he cannot delight to abandonne him to the rage of his enemye any further then he discouers it for his aduantage That since for the loue of man he became man he loues not man so litle as to loose him That finally since he dyed for him while he was yet an enemye he will not now sith he endeuours to be a seruant and a friend leaue him a praye to his enemye In hac spe dormiam requiescam THE XIV MEDITAT Hovv he behaued him selfe in Charitie shevving first that vvithout Charitie all serues for nothing I. POINT COnsider that though Faith shew vs the good things which nether eye hath seene nor eare hath heard c. and Hope giues vs a comfortable confidence that we shall attayne vnto them yet shall we neuer walke home indeede vnlesse Charitie giue vs feete Thy Charitie is thy feete with that thou art carried where so euer thou art carried Thy two feete are the two precepts of the loue of God and thy neighbour Run to God with these feete draw close to him for he himselfe exhorts thee to run and to that end enlightened thee with Faith incourraged thee by Hope c. AFF. and RESOL. I playnely see what euer Faith shewes me and Hope assures me of it is loue alone can make me happie Without that like the sicke man of the passie I lye vncomfortably vnprofitably I aduance not at all vnlesse thy loue make me walke I stirre not Grant me therfore to loue thee as much as I desire and as much as I ought Let me be wholy inflamed with the fire of thy Charitie that I may loue thee with all my hart yea with the verie marrow of my hart strings that thou maist alwayes and in all places be in my hart in my mouth and before my eyes till at length I may see thee for euer face to face in thy heauenly Sion II. POINT Consider that without true Charitie all our workes are of no value seeme they neuer so specious in the eye of the world Charitie makes the distinctiō betwixt the sons of God and the sons of the Diuell Let them signe themselues with the signe of the Crosse Let them all answere Amen Let them all singe Alleluya Let them all be baptised Let them all enter into the Church and build vp the walls of the Church by Charitie onely are the sons of God discerned from the sons of the Diuell AFFECTION and RESOL. Let vs not deceaue our selues with the faire out-sides of things All that is without loue is without life Whether we beleeue or we hope what the Catholike Church beleeueth and hopeth and liue within the walls of the same Church and with ioy say Amen to all that is said to it Whether we watch or fast or preach or pray it will not all auayle vs to eternall life vnlesse all be both commanded and ordered by charitie Without this one necessarie thing all the rest are lost Diligam te Domine fortitudo mea refugium meum liberator meus c. III. POINT Consider that as hauing Faith and Hope together with all the specious vvorkes imaginable without Charitie wee haue nothing so hauing Charitie we want nothing Where Charitie is what can be wanting saith he and where it is not what can profit vs The Diuell beleeues and yet loues not but none loues but he beleeues One who loues not may though without effect hope for pardon but none that loues can despaire where loue is therefor Faith and Hope also necessarily are Let vs then keepe this precept of our Lord and let vs but loue one another and we shall not fayle to performe what euer he commands besids For in this we haue what euer other thing there is AFF. and RESOL. O God how true it was that Salomon said when he professed that together with wisdome all good things came vnto him for what is wisdome but a sauourie knowledge a true relish of heauenly things which is noe other thing then Charitie This makes vs beleeue as we ought hope as we ought worke as we ought This is one and all vpon the purchace of which if a man imploye all his substance he shall repute it all as nothing at all Vpon this then will I settle my whole intention vpon this spend all my meditation and thoughts c. THE XV. MEDITAT VVHAT CHARITIE IS I. POINT COnsider what Charitie is and you will receaue from Saint Augustine that it is a loue of the cheife Good or Charitie is a vertue wherby we desire to see God and
to inioye him Or yet more fully Charitie is a motion of the soule to inioye God for his owne sake and ones selfe and his neighbour for God So that Charitie is a loue which lookes onely vpon God or for God AFFECTION and RESOL. Good God how sublime and noble an obiect How worthy of a mans whole thoughts Nay rather how farre is it aboue man and who did imbolden him to take so high a flight Ah! It was euen the same souueraigne Good which would haue it so O Lord what art thou to me or what am I to thee that thou shouldst commande me to loue thee Yea and be angrie and threaten to lay huge punishments vpon me if I loue the not Ah! is it not of it selfe agreat and euen the worst of miseries if I loue thee not II. POINT Consider that as Faith and Hope are not fruites of this base soyle so nor Charitie as by our endeuours and substāces we are not able to purchace them so nor this but it is sent dovvne from he auen as the most excellēt of Gods gifts saith he according to that of the Apostle Charitie is diffused in our harts by the holy Ghost vvhich is giuen to vs. To wayne our harts from earth and carrie them vp to heauen with her AFFECTION and RESOL. O diuine and heauenly Charitie Thy extraction is from Heauen thy whole ayme or obiect is Heauen thy whole imployment in earth is to rayse our harts to Heauen and of earthly which we are to make vs become heauenly O my soule let vs not loue our selues so litle as not to imploy our selues wholy vpon this sacred loue O loue which alwayes burnest and art neuer extinguished ô Charitie which art my God let me be wholy burnt with thy fire that I may loue thee with all my hart with all my soule with all my strength with all my aymes and intentions c. III. POINT Consider that though holy charitie be a fruite originally of Paradice yet being planted in our harts by the finger of the holy Ghost we are to husbād water and increase it For saith S. August is Charitie intirely perfect as soone as it is produced No but it is produced that it may be perfected To witt being produced it is nourished by nourishment strengthened by strength perfected AFF. and RESOL. O let vs carefully watch this holy fire that wee may neuer be so vnhappie as haue it dye out for want of the oyle of our workes let all our thoughts be imployed vpon the husbandrie of this seede of Heauen let it be watered with the plentifull teares of a contrite and humble hart Deare God smite my hart with the dart of thy loue that my soule may say to thee I am wounded with thy charitie and out of that Loue-sore a floode of teares may streame day and night THE XVI MEDITAT Hovv Charitie is increased I. POINT COnsider how admirable Charities commerce is which quite contrarie to wordly riches increaseth by being imparted and bestowed vpon our neighbours Bestowe your charitie bountifully and it increaseth abundantly communicate not this sacred fire to your neighbour and it decreases languisheth and dyeth out Money saith he and Charitie are not bestowed alike that by being bestowed is diminished this is increased Yea more it increaseth in his hands who renders it and by how much more amply he repays it by so much more plentifully he retaynes it It increaseth in his hands AFFECTION and RESOL. O blessed tradinge easie and wishfull and gaynefull traffike By giuing away apace we speedily waxe rich By endeuouring to make others happie we fayle not our selues to become happie indeed We will therfor dilate the bowells of charitie and striue to doe good to all One we will helpe with counsell another with comfort or what other wayes we may be able to assiste him in II. POINT Consider how exceeding easie our good God hath made the increase of charitie It is not necessarie that we haue ether a great power a great purse or vse any great industrie For is there any thing more comon or more within euerie mans power then a cupp of cold water giue that onely for Gods sake and charitie is increased and a reward is promised Who saith he is able to bring any excuse sith God promiseth a revvard euen for a cupp of cold vvater And againe such is the nature of holy loue and true charitie that by imparting it increaseth AFFECTION and RESOL. O God how good thou art who while we haue nothing but by thy free gift enables vs by the good vse of what thou hast formely giuen to increase holy loue and therby draw a number of new blissings vpon vs. Ther is nothing lesse then a cupp of cold water nothing greater then loue and yet euen by that this is increased III. POINT Consider further with your holy father that it is not onely by your purse power or by the gift of a cupp of cold water that charitie is increased but euen by a good looke a good wishe a myld answere Despise no suppliant if thou beest able to giue giue If not shew thy affabilitie God crownes our good wishes where he finds no wealth Let none therfore say I had not wherwithall charitie comes not out of our coffers onely He who hath a hart full of charitie neuer wants what to giue AFFECTION and RESOL. O deare God how exceeding easie thou hast made this Queene of vertues which is indeed alone better then all the rest together Let vs neuer be so wanting to our selues as to send any away without an Almes since a good word a looke a wishe is able to doe it and by so doing our loue is increased and our title to the Kingdome of heauen inlarged THE XVII MEDITAT THE EXCELLENCIES of Charitie I. POINT COnsider with him that there is nothing better more pretious more profitable more lightsome more stronge more secure then charitie AFFECTION and RESOL. What is it we looke for or whether is it that with paynes we run to seeke it Nothing can possibly be found better then the best nor more pretious then what is most pretious c. and all that we may possesse in charitie alone Nothing can better enlighten our blindnes strengthen our weaknes or secure vs against the manifold dangers of this malignant world II. POINT Consider that Charitie possesseth vs of the presence and sight of God so that we need not run out into the streetes to looke whom our hart loueth since the eyes of Faith discouers alreadie in our owne hart whom we loue Why doe we send him who hath charitie a farr of to see God Let him obserue his owne conscience and there he sees God for if Charitie inhabites there there also inhabits God Would we happily see him in heauen Le ts haue charitie and he is in our hart as in Heauen AFFECTION and RESOL. O the blisse and glorie and Maiestie of a louing hart O humane hart not so much now
els Render me thy selfe giue me thy selfe for thee I vvish thee I seeke thee I hope for to thee hath my hart said I haue sought thy countenance ô Lord And therfore what euer my Lord God is disposed to bestowe on me let him take it all away and let him giue me himselfe THE XX. MEDITAT In vvhat manner and measure God is to be loued I. POINT COnsider that the best manner of louing God is to loue him chastly that is with puritie of intention with as litle of our owne respects and interest as may be but because he is God that is infinitlie good or infinite goodnes Let vs loue him so as that we loue no other thing besides himselfe I that we may be made worthy of his heauenly imbracemeÌ„ts let vs discharge our selues of the care of all earthly things and le ts adheare to him alone gratis AFFECTION and RESOL. Too litle he loues thee ô Lord who loues any thing besids thee yea euen with thee which he loues not for thee for alas the innocent lambe who was slaughtered for vs is worthy to receaue glorie and honor and benediction nor that in respect of his good gifts onely but euen because in himselfe he is infinitly wise infinitly powerfull infinitly beautifull infinitly good contayning in him selfe in a most eminent manner all the respects of good by which a reasonable man can be drawen to loue Let vs loue him therfore let vs loue him euen for his selfe sake and for no other reason as farre as we are able II. POINT Consider that the best measure of louing God is to imitate his loue to vs and loue him without measure for sith the obiect of our loue is infinite should not our loue also if it were possible be infinite Thou art immense ô Lord and vvithout measure ought thou to be loued and praysed by those vvhom thou hast redeemed vvith thyne ovvne pretious blood AFFECTION and RESOLV Come le ts loue him le ts loue him he deserues all loue yea more then all for he hath loued vs to make vs he hath loued vs being made he hath loued vs first and most he loued vs so farre as to giue his son and to be readie to giue himselfe if we loue againe Ah! let vs blush and be ashamed if after all this we find our selues slowe to loue MEDITATIONS FOR SEAVEN DAYES TO BE VSED BY THE Canonesses Regulars of the Order of Sainte Augustine in the Monasterie of SION Established at Paris A. 1634. As well before their clothings and Professions os otherwise I vvill leade her into the vvildernesse and I vvill speake to her harte Osee 2. POST NVâ— PIâ—â—â— AT PARIS By GABRIEL TARGA M. DC LXV THE FIRST MEDITATION FOR THE FIRST DAY The preparatorie prayer shall be the Hymne Veni Creator with the prayer Deus qui corda THE FIRST POINTE. Of Gods Benefits to man in his Creation CONISDER that God who is infinitly great and infinitly and eternally happy in himselfe seeinge thinges which are not as thinges that are out of his meere Goodnesse without any neede of vs beinge neither preuented by any merits of ours nor prouoked by hopes of returnes raysed vs out of nothinge to his owne likenesse presented vs with the whole world made vs absolute Lords ouer it and ouer all the great varietie of thinges comprised in it for our vse Finally he endowed vs with a reasonable soule capable of himselfe to enioy him for euer AFFECTION Where were wee where were wee soe longe or soe longe agoe my soule where were wee and all that wee glory in while wee yet were not Ah while wee slept in our nothinge he who watches ouer Israel slept not But loued vs vvith a perpetuall loue he made a world for vs not vs for the world he made vs Lords ouer it not slaues to it He gaue vs all thinges to vse not to inioy to solace our pilgrimage not to stay vs from our contry Heauen my soule is our contry the Kinge of Heauen our possession which we are made to inioy Be it farre from vs to loue the benefits more then the bountiful benefactor or to glory in our selues or any thinge while we and they are Equally his free gifts THE SECONDE POINTE. Of mans regeneration Consider that though the benefit of creation be great yet that of regeneration farre exceeds it whereby we are borne to a new and better life life euerlastinge By that we were made and called men by this wee were made and called by Christ his owne name Christians or men of Christ By that he gaue vs power to liue and raigne ouer all the creatures by this to be little lesse then the Angells yea to be like to our creator in iustice and sanctity We were borne dead but by pure grace we were reuiued in baptisme made domestikes of his house the Catholike Church strengthened by confirmation fedd and fatned by his holy word and euen his owne pretious body and bloud Whereby wee are not onely called his seruants but are indeede his freinds nor his freinds onely but his sonns nor his sonns alone but his spouses AFFECTION If all my soule that we are be due to God for our creation by which we are all that wee either are or haue in the order of nature what will be due for our better beeinge by our regeneration which makes vs citizens of the Saintes and Gods owne domestikes his friends his sonns his spouses O what hart is able to conceaue the highth of the dignity to be made by grace of sonns of the earth the sonns of God of disloyall subiects the spouses of Christ and yet my soule such wee are which was not granted to all such wee are by his free goodnesse and mercy If therefore all that wee haue in the order of nature or grace we had absolutly from his free gift let all be employed and hartily referred to his honour THE II. MEDITATION FOR THE SAME DAY Of the obligations vvhich vve contract in Baptisme THE FIRST POINTE. COnsider that as the benefite of regeneration in Baptisme is a benefite of preference and of singular excellencie since of slaues of the Diuell it renders vs childeren of God and reintitles vs to our right in the Kingdome of Heauen so it bringes with it greate obligations to which we are all indispensably subiect We solemnely promessed therin in the face of the Church First to renounce the diuell and all his pompes wiles and allurementes wherby he endeuours incessantly to worke our eternall ruine That is to detest and flye the concupiscence of the flesh the coÌ„cupiscence of the eyes and pride of life which are the Diuells baites wher-in he insnares the whole world and inslaues it to his accursed dominion These renounciations ô my soule are the promesses we solemnely made in our Baptisme These are the christian duties to which we are all absolutly oblidged be we religious persons or be we secular according to these we shall be iudged at
the last day It highly behoues vs then to run ouer our life past in the bitternesse of our harts and obserue whether our holy professions haue bene seconded by answerable practises and whether due performances followed our solemne promises Haue we indeede my soule renounced the Diuell and all his pompes Or rather haue we not left Christ and followed his wicked allurements Vpon what follies haue we not feasted our eyes To what highth hath not our thoughtes aspired Of what impurities and disloyalties haue not our hartes at least bene brimme full Obserue and lament our miseries THE II. POINTE. Of the seconde obligation vvhich vve contracte in Baptisme Consider that the seconde obligation which we cōtracte in Baptisme is to be listed among the soldiers of Iesus Christ to fight vnder the banner of the Crosse and openly to professe his lawe That Sweete lawe of loue which conteynes all Christian dutie the loue of God incomparably aboue all other thinges as being infinitly louelie and comprisinge in himselfe all the motiues and obligations of loue and the loue of our neighbour as our selues that is in order to God in God and for God All the loue we can afford to the rest of the creatures is but onely for solaces to our necessities and pouerties as prouisions for the way of our pilgrimage to be vsed not to be inioyed not to haue our hates fixed vpon which are wholie due to God and our neighbour AFFECTION and RESOL. Ah my soule had we bene to haue made choyce of what lawe we our selues had most desired not to haue receiued it from the hand of our almightie maker who had full power to impose what lawe he pleased vpon the workes of his hands what other lawe would we haue wished but that which we haue A lawe by which we are not permitted onely but euen commanded to loue our Kinge the Kinge of Kinges the Kinge of glorie What more honorable To loue him wholy from whose loue and bountie we haue all that we haue What more reasonable To loue him from whose liberalitie we expect all that we yet want the possession of his heauenly Kingdome the inioyment of himselfe for all eternitie What more profitable And as to the other parte of the lawe what poore liues should we not leade nay what deathes and Hells should we not suffer did we in lieu of loue to our neighbour afford him onely neglect scorne and hatred Let me loue thee then ô my deare Lord and my neighbour in thee and for thee for euer THE FIRST MEDITAT FOR THE SECONDE DAY Of the third obligation contracted in Baptisme THE FIRST POINTE. COnsider that the third obligation that we contracted in Baptisme was that we are bound to liue the life of Christ according to that of S. Paule I liue not novv I but Iesus Christ liues in me for vve are buried togeither vvith him by Baptisme and ought also to ryse with him and walke after him in newnesse of life because he left vs an example and his will is that we should followe his foostepps that is that we should walke in the lowlie pathes of humilitie pouertie and abiection as he did from his verie first steppe into this world in labours hunger and thirst from his youth in suffering reproches contumelies and outragious contēpts all his life longe in being abandonned at his death by his Apostles and euen by his heauenly Father my God my God vvhy haste thou forsaken me AFFECTION and RESOL. The life of Christ my soule is our paterne the imitation of it is our obligation and the liuely expression of it is our perfection Let vs seeke noe other nor other way then by humbly following his footestepps To that he calls vs learne of me vvho am mylde and humble in harte not to high speculations with are more apt to fill vs with vanitie then feede vs with solide foode Caluarie was left vs for the imitation of his vertues Thabor onely to admire his Maiestie He is our Alpha and Omega our begining and our end Let all our applications be to him and our dependences of him Let all our conuersations be with him our desires followe him our discourses of him our continuall cryes to him O my dearest Lord and sauiour thou my loue thou my life Let this couenant be made betwixt vs. Let me wholy dye to my selfe that thou alone mayst liue in me Let my passions be wholy silenced that thou alone mayst be heard in me Let all my sollicitous cares which are fruitlesse without thee wholy cease that thou onely mayst worke in me THE II. POINTE. Consider that notwithstanding all those former benefits and obligatiōs contracted therby we haue bene so vngratfull and neglectfull of our owne good as litle to mynde them Nay like true Prodigalls we haue dissipated and spent all those gracious and Godlike talents and forgetting our promesses and obligations we haue returned backe into the slauerie of the Diuell And here it was indeede that our good God magnified his mercyes towards vs. We run from him into a foraigne land and he leaues the ninetie nine to seeke vs. Wee strike at him by sinne and euen crucify him againe and he supportes vs with patience We steppe downe to hell and he brings vs backe He frequently knockes at our harts by his holy word preached to our eares by his internall voyce inculcated to our hartes by wholsome tribulations multiplyed vppon vs and breakes through our deafness And hauinge himselfe wrought all this in vs he crownes his owne mercyes by takeinge vs againe into his familiarity and he and all his courte reioyceth at our conuersion AFFECTION and RESOL. O thou God of mercy to what a length hast thou extended thy patience with me It was I that ran from thee into a Land of disproportion I that forsooke thee the fountaine of liueinge water and made to my selfe cisternes broken cisterns which could hold noe water I that turned the vse of thyne owne giftes to abuse by loueinge them more then thy selfe in such or such an occasion I that stept downe into Hell at such or such a time soe or soe often and thou the while ceasedst not to redouble thy cryes Why vvilt thou perish ô thou house of Israëll Why dost thou loue vanity and seeke a lye loose thy chaynes from thy necke ô thou captiue daughter of Sion At least after all thy disloyaltyes call mee but Father Ah my soule be noe longer deafe to all these gracious inuitations but run though alas but too late to that Father of mercyes and say with a contrite and humbled hart Father I haue offended against heauen against thee I am noe longer vvorthy to be called thy Sonne deale with mee onely as with one of the hyrelings of thy house THE II. MEDITATION FOR THE SECONDE DAY The greeuousnesse of sinne THE FIRST POINTE. COnsider what sinne is and your holy father S. Augustine will teache you that it is noe substance at all but a
euident my dearest Lord thy sorowes passe all our sorowes yet my soule it is maiestie that is thus smitten it 's innocencie which thus suffers It 's indeede the God of Gods whose immensitie cannot be comprehended whose perfections excellencies cannot be numbred whose goodnesse is boundlesse whose mercyes cannot be matched Alas my deformed hidden crucifyed Lord whither hath mercy goodnesse loue to miserable man ledd thee was it thought fittinge to this goodnesse that thy wounds should be without number as are thy perfectiōs mercyes to man soe to make an absolute demonstration that as there is noe loue soe are there noe sorrowes like to thyne Let me not liue but to loue thee suffer for thy sake THE II. POINTE. Consider further that he sufferd in all his senses by the presence of all the obiects of sorrow He saw his choysen Apostles sleeping while he was sweating bloud He saw the Trayter whom he had newly fedd with his owne blessed body bloud come in the heade of a barbarous band to apprehend him He saw the execrable crueltie of an vngratefull nation which he had alwayes oblidged and loued by preference Finally his eares were full of blaspheemies scoffes and scornes and his eyes and harte of the sorrowes teares and bloud of a God dying AFFECTION And yet my soule it is the very naturall sonne of God that suffers all this He is the splendour of his fathers glorie and the figure of his substance And shall we his poore sonns taken in by adoption onely see with drye eyes his full of teares and bloud or shall we after this sad sight permitt them any more to be filled with vanitie Shall our eares lye open to destractions adulations and found rumours which hurt our soules whyle his for our sake are filled with contumelies and blasphemies Shall we Christians pamper the rest of our senses with sweetes and delicacies while our Christs so hugely suffers in them all Ah! be it euer farre from vs to pay his loue with such intolerable ingratitude THE III. POINT He suffers in his soule But if his body vniuersally and all his senses be ingaged in the sufference is his soule at least free Ah noe it s sadd to death it s replenished vvith euill or sorrow the bitter vvaters of tribulations haue broken in vpon it The horrour of death the ingratitude of mē the scorne of Nations Pilates iniustice Herods mockerie Annas and Cayphas blasphemie the Scribes and Pharisies circumuentions the Ministers and Soldiers crueltie the peoples preference of Barabbas and their tumultuous and vniust Crucifige See then vvhether there be any sorrovv like to his sorrovv AFFECTION and RESOL. O man of dolours and accustomed to sufferances from thy youth Were not thy sorrowes and in them thy loue to man sufficiently expressed in abandonning that innocent chast and tender virginall body of thyne to the cruell persecutours wills vnlesse thou didst withall permitt the bitter flouds of tribulatiō and deadly saddnesse enter into and take possession of thy blessed soule Consider my soule and see whether their be any sorowe like to this sorrow or any loue like to his loue who gaue vp his soule to such sorrowes for thy sake If the horrour of death inuade thee thy Master went before thee waded through to death it selfe Proue friends vngratefull so they were to thy Lord. Are others of lesse worth preferred before thee but so was Barrabas before thy Master Christ Remember remember my soule that the seruant is not greater then his master c. THE IV. POINTE. He suffers vvithout a comforter Consider his body 's tormented his senses offended his soule afflicted and oppressed Is none left to comfort him Noe none relictus est solus he 's abandoned left all alone to wrastle with all the legions of sorrowes Non est qui consoletur eum There is none left to comfort him Was there euer so pittious a spectacle His Apostles are fled Peter followes a farre of and sweares he knowes him not The dolorous mother stands neere the Crosse indeed but her presence affords so smale solace that her sorrowes serue to redouble his The Angells come not neere His heauenly father abandonns him nay yet more Heauens stand amaysed at it he is euen forsaken by himselfe while he stopps the influence of his diuinitie that it flow not vpon his humanitie leauing it to suffer all alone without all comfort See then vnhether there be any sorrovv like to his sorrovv AFFECTION and RESOL. O my soule looke vpon the face of thy Christ Admire his his vn wearied suffering loue Hartily acknowledge that there is noe sorrow like his sorrow Imprint in thy harte at what a deare rate thou wast bought Ah my soule it was not with gold and siluer and such corruptible thinges but with the sorrowes and teares and bloud and death of a God-man our Sauiour Iesus With sorrowes which spredd thēselues so vniuersally ouer body senses and soule with teares and bloud so plentifully and freely powred out with death so ignominious so deuoyd of all comfort so abandonned that it forced from the mouth of a most obedient and dearest child My God my God vvhy hast thou forsaken me Resolue firmely then that neither sorrowes nor bloodshed nor abandonments nor death it selfe shall separate vs from the loue of that dearest Lord. THE FIRST MEDITAT FOR THE FOVRTH DAY Of Deathe THE FIRST POINTE. Nothinge more certaine then death lesse certaine then the tyme therof COnsider and striue to imprint in our harts that which we all know yet seeme not to know it that which we all beleeue and yet as it were beleeue it not to witt that as there is nothinge soe certaine as death soe is there nothinge soe vncertaine as the houre therof Consult our owne Knowledge vppō these truthes we Know that neither Salomons witt nor Samsons strength nor Absolons beauty were founde proofe against it They were and now are not mortui sunt is certaine Consult the word of truth and we shall finde that we are bound to beleeue what we otherwise Know. Consult our selues againe vppon the vncertaintie of it and we finde that we haue Knowne many taken away when they and their freinds least feared it some by violent some by naturall deathes some in their childhoode before they well knew what it was to liue some in theire flourishinge spring when vigourous youth promised them they could not dye Some in the decline of their age while death threatned and yet was not feared soe certaine it is that the houre of death is vncertaine to all as Christ himselfe makes it sure to faith Watch saith he because you neither know the day nor the houre AFFECTION and RESOLV Dye then we must my soule thereis nothinge soe certaine departe we must out of this cottage of clay Gods iustice hath pronounced the sentence Remember man that thou art dust in-to dust thou shalt returne But when must this sentence be put in execution that
THE FIRST MEDITAT FOR THE SIXTH DAY Of Heauen THE FIRST POINTE. COnsider what this Kingdome is which is prepared for the Blessed and which they are called to possesse come possesse the Kingdome prepared for you and this at least we shall finde that whateuer this possession may be it is greater then we haue any capacitie to comprehend Let vs looke vpon all the beauties and magnificencies that euer our eyes beheld and they are not it Le ts make reflection of all that euer we haue heard of honours riches pleasures and all of them are not it Let vs by helpe of imagination put all togeither that we haue either seene or heard and euen adde to them millions of millions more and yet we are not arriued at it Noe for S. Paule assures vs that neither eye hath seene nor eare hath heard nor hath it entred into the mynde of man vvhat God hath prepared for those that loue him AFFECTION and RESOL. O my most bountifull Lord and Master Hath thy good-nesse made me capable of a Kingdome which thy wisdome hath not inabled me at present to comprehend O too too happie we could we truly vnderstand our owne happinesse But ô more then most vnhappie we if we permitt sinne to robbe vs of it or that we otherwise make it a way for a messe of potage or the bitter Mandragores of mixt moments of painefull pleasures for such inconsiderable toyes I meane as are daylie obiects to meanest eyes and fill euery eare Nay euen for the greatest thinges our hartes can conceiue since in a smale tyme they vanish away like dreames and leaue nothinge in our hands Alas were it not a strange miserie and madnesse to make away such inconceiuable permanēt possessions for such knowne transitorie toyes THE II. POINTE. What heauen is Consider againe what this Kingdome or possession prepared for vs may be and we finde it is a state of life perfectly accomplished with the whole collection of all good thinges Not a passage but a state a permanencie without change without end without irkesommesse Perfectly accomplished not by halues and peecemeales With the vvhole collection of all good thinges Not with a few as here below and those good and ill paines and pleasures mixt togeither but with the whole collection of all good thinges so that what euer we desire shall be present and all thar we desire not shall be absent eternally AFFECTION and RESOL. We haue Gods word for it my soule and it cannot fayle vs that he will shew vs all good that is all that is aduantagious gaynefull and rich in steede of the transitorie riches of this world all that is beseeming honorable and illustrious in lieu of the vaine and vadinge honours here belowe all that conteynes in it selfe any cause of ioy and iubilie and and all that is deare and delightfull to witt that ineffable vnmeasurable eternall waight of glorie according to S. Paule in place of those short light deluding and euen painefull pleasures as Salomon and S. Augustine experienced them for which poore man looses himselfe Thus my soule doth faith assure vs let not then follie perswade vs the contrarie THE II. MEDITATION FOR THE 6. DAY Of Heauen againe THE FIRST POINTE. COnsider the kingdome prepared for vs is Beatitude come ô you blessed and Beatitude is noe other thinge then to know what is best and to inioy the same And wheras none but God himselfe is our summum bonum or optimum our cheife good or our best it followes that God himselfe the father sonne and holy Ghost is our Beatitude or the Kingdome prepared for vs accordinge to that I my selfe vvill be thy exceeding greate revvarde Him we shall see face to face and in that sight our vnderstanding meets with all truth him we shall see and in seeing him our will meetes with all good Hence the vnderstanding hauing noe more to seeke and the will noe more to loue they fall as it were into a blessed necessitie of truly seeing what they loue and louing what they see for all eternitie AFFECTION and RESOL. Forgett not then ô man thy dignitie By Gods mercy and the merits of Christ thou art made the sonne of God coheire with Christ to share in his heauenly inheritance to possesse the same Kingdome with him that is to knowe the prime truth and loue the cheife good for euer and euer Let not then the fables fictions and vaine lyes of the world take vp thyne vnderstandinge made to knowe so great and diuine a Truth nor the vaine loue of creatures ingage thy will made to loue so souueraigne à Good But crye incessantly here belowe with holy S. Augustine Let me knovv thee ô Lord and knovv my selfe and let me loue thee as much as I desire and as much as I ought Thus my soule may we in some measure while we liue amidst our miseries begin before hand to possesse our Beatitude which consists in knovving louing and inioying our chiefe Good which is God himselfe THE II. POINTE. Hovv Heauen is to be purchased Consider out of the Gospell that the Kingdome of heauen suffers violence and the violent beare it avvay Yes but we must learne of S. Ambrose how we are to make this violence We are to assault it not with swords with clubbe or stone but with myldnesse with good workes with chastitie These are the armes which our faith makes vse of in that onsett But yet to make a right vse therof we must first of all make force against our owne flesh and bloud that so gayning dominion ouer our selues we may imploye all our abilities to force Heauen as it were out of the stronge hands of the Almightie We are not to hope saith S. Gregorie to come to great honours but by great labours and paines We must mortifie our members and all the mutinous people of our hartes our vnrulie passions and badd inclinations So did all the saintes of God scale and winne his Kingdome So did that greate Doctour of the Gentiles beare it away I chastise my body and bringe it into seruitude So did the sainte of saintes enter into his owne Kingdome He suffered and so entred into his owne Kingdome AFFECTION and RESOL. Let vs not hope my soule that we who are but younger and adoptiue children should find any other safe way to heauen then that which the naturall sonne of God and all his saintes were to passe That is through tribulations contumelies and contempts If vve suffer vvith him vve shall raigne vvith him Noe noe the pure wheate reserued for the heauenly granaries must be winnowed the gold found worthy to haue course in that celestiall Kingdome must passe through the hotest fires Sweete S. Augustine putts it at the lowest rate that euer it can be expected and yet according to him it will cost vs noe lesse then all we are The Kingdome of heauen saith that excellent Sainte is vvorth as much as thou art giue thy selfe and thou shalt haue it Doe not
buildinge but onely the materialls or ruines therof vpon which passers by looke with derision and say this man began to build but could not finish the same AFFECTION RESOLVT It is the end my soule that euery wise man acts for without which his worke is imperfect nor can he repose Pouertie indeede seemes more then humane Pure nature knowes noe such production Virginitie is truly Angelicall and diuine and is a fruite which is onely found in the bosome of the Catholike Church None but a virgine mother brings out virgines Obedience directs all secures all confirmes all and makes a fitt tabernacle for God in the harte of man by banishing thence selfe iudgement and selfe will But heauenly charitie as a glorious mother farr outstrips them all giues them all their begining increase and perfection For why indeede my soule did we first enterprise this holy worke but because we loue What could be able to robbe vs of all we haue but loue What did wowe vs to virginall chastitie but the loue of a virgine spouse What could moue men to depriue them selues of beloued libertie and to liue at the dispose of anothers will but the loue of him alone who chused rather to dye thē not to accomplish the will of his heauenly Father Loue then saith your holy Father and doe vvhat thou vvilt THE II. POINTE. That vvithout charitie nothing is done to secure our happie eternitie Consider that if humilitie put the foundation of your spirituall Towre it was by charities guidance and order for as humilitie goes not without charitie so charitie neuer leaues humilitie If pouertie raysed the walls it was with the treasure wherwith charitie furnished her If chastitie adorned it within it was with the pure burning gold which she had of charitie Finally if obedience confirmed and secured the whole worke it was by the force she receiued of charitie vvhich is as stronge as death In a word all is from charitie and all is for charitie AFFECTION RESOLVT He S. Paule knewe this truth my soule as certainly as he affirmes it vndauntedly to wit that not onely the foresaid vertues profit vs nothinge without charitie but euen that tho vve should haue all faith so that vve could remoue mountaines though vve should distribute all our goods to be meate for the poore finally though vve should deliuer our bodies to burne and yet vvant charitie it profits vs nothing Charitie saith holy S. Augustine is that which discernes the sonns of God from the sonns of the Diuell Charitie is that one necessarie thinge which alone sufficeth Charitie in a word is that Euangelicall gemme for which if a man should giue all his substance he shall repute it as nothing Come thē ô come then ô thou holy spirit Deus Charitas and replenish the hartes of thy faithfull and inflame them vvith the fire of thy loue THE FIRST MEDITAT FOR THE 7. DAY That all the vertues are loue THE FIRST POINTE. COnsider that so true it is that nothing is done without charitie that your holy Father makes noe difficultie to teach you that vvithout charitie the rest of the vertues are not indeede reputed vertues nay further that the rest of the vertues are but indeede loue and charitie so or so qualified For what is humilitie but charitie stooping and reputing her selfe nothing What is pouertie but charitie contemning all and stripping herself of all What is chastitie but loue preseruing corruptible man from corruption of bodie and mynde What finally obedience but loue freely and reasonably sacrifycing vp the will of man and making it supple and inclinable to euerie creature AFFECTION and RESOL. Charitie then my soule is that transcendant heauenly vertue without which there is noe true vertue at all It is she which gouernes as Queene giues life vigour and worth to all the other vertues He who loueth not remaynes in death It is she who perfumes them all with the odour and sweeenesse of holy loue since we doe not meerely imbrace them because they are vertues but rather in qualitie of thinges that are desired imbraced and beloued by God To discouer à man truly vertuous we vse not to inquire what he beleeues or what he hopes for but what he loues If earth h'es earthly if Heauen he 's heauenly if God he 's Godlike for as such they become all desirable louing and louelie Let me loue thee then ô Lord let me loue thee and loue all other thinges which I loue and practise for thee and in thee that my beloued may be myne and I wholie his THE II. POINTE. That vve ought incessantly to desire and breath after charitie Consider that if as we haue seene Charitie be all in all our thoughtes ought to be sett vpon the continuall desire of it For what oughr we or doe we indeede desire but what euery one proposeth to himselfe for his end and the end of the lavve is loue What ought any Christiā to desire but the accomplishment of the lawe of God and the fulnesse of the lavve is charitie Nor fares it in those heauenly desires as in vaine worldly wishes a million of them puts not one pennie into our purses Wheras by the verie desire of the loue of God we begin to loue God indeed and still the more we desire it the more we loue Yea when this desire waxes stronge and hartie the desire is turned into fire and inflames the couering harte He that desires God vvith his vvhole harte has alreadie him vvhom he loues saith S. Gregorie And S. Augustine a holy desire is the vvhole life of a good Christian AFFECTION and RESOL. But alas my poore soule tho we clearely discerne this desire to be most iust aduantagious and most worthy of a christiā harte yet we somtymes perceiue our selues not to be so happie as euen to haue this desire Let vs then at least say with the Prophete my soule hath desired earnestly to desire thy iustifications at all tymes Let vs not fayle to haue this desire of desiring continually in our harte saying with S. Au. Giue me thy selfe restore me thy selfe for vvhat is not thy verie selfe is verie nothing to me and it will happen with vs as it did with the holie Prophete that in these holy thoughtes and desirs fire will flashe out and so throughly in flame our soule that as the stagge thirsteth after the fountaines of fresh water so shall we vehementlie couet and thirst after our good God that drainlesse fountaine of liuing water which flowes into life euerlastnig THE II. MEDITATION Of vvhom vve are to learne Charitie tovvards one another THE FIRST POINTE. COnsider that we ought to learne this most important lesson this one necessarie thinge of him who doth as well teach it as giue it our Sauiour Iesus who brought downe this sacred fire into earth and his vvill vvas it should burne the hartes of men And indeede neuer did he seeme so peculiarly to make himselfe the Master of any thinge as