the soul loosing her forces and the vse of her powers and senses is like to yeald the Ghost and thus with loue and excesse of ioy both she and all the powers are not themselues but sopited and like to one as is said wholy senslesse and the ioy and content which is heere had by farre exceedeth that of the former degree yet his diuine maiesty with this not contented to manifest his loue the more to this his beloued spouse he bringeth her into a solitude beyond all that is created and this is the fourth step or degree called vnion where all are absorpt and drowned ouer head and eares for she and all the powers are wholy vnited to God and ingulfed in the depth of his diuinity and she is become one and the same with God quite forgetting all that is in heauen and earth and the very body which during the tyme of vnion is voyde of sense and in a manner dead neither doth she know whether she be in the body or no. in this vnion she doth not continew long perhaps halfe an hour or there about before some of the powers doe returne to them selues and often not finding the like content as one should say in their owne house they goe willingly back againe and are drowned in the same depth and burned with the same fire and in this coming and going some houres may be spent but not in the totall or perfect vnion of all for as our Holy Mother saith it is so strong and forcible that our weake nature is not able to endure it long but by degrees his diuine Maiesty doth enable the soul and make her capable for receiuing those supernaturall fauours and diuine communications 12. In this totall vnion the soul knoweth nothing as is said but enioyeth a content and happinesse surpassing sense yet what she doth enioy or how she vnderstandeth not but doth remaine absorpt and vnited to the diuine essence and thus she is become God's captiue tyed and chayned fast by loue and hath no power to free her selfe vntill his Maiesty be pleased to set her at liberty neither would she though she could esteeming it a greater captiuity to be left to her owne liberty and farre more liberty to be in that sweet and happy captiuity this is a greater and more eminent gift and fauour then all the former it is a most blessed vnion or coniunction a most diuine transformation a most happy death a true deification and most happy life in God 13. Note that in that quiet prayer the will only is vnited and not the other powers in that other of the sleepe of the powers the will and the powers are vnited but so that they are not perfectly vnited or wholy lost but in this vnion they are all wholy and perfectly lost vnited and in gulfed in the diuine essence and they are wholy dead to all the world drowned in vnspeakable delight and the profit of the soul in this degree is vnexplicable her loue is come to so great a height that nothing but the enioying of God wholy and perfectly can giue her content Therefore his diuine Maiesty doth lead her to an other step or degree farre beyond her selfe and all that hath beene sayd eleuating her spirit and opening her eyes to set and know somwhat of his greatnesse and the treasure of his celestiall glory with visions and reuelations of high matters hidden and most profund misteryes and this is called and exstasy or rapt where she vnderstands cleerly and plainly how all things created are a meere shadow and nothing compared with what she then doth enioy and see in God and this rapt some tymes is so forcible and vehement that it doth eleuat the very body with the soul from the earth and remayneth hanging in the ayre and it doth so participat of the inward ioy and glory of the soul that it doth loath to be longer on earth and faine would be inuested with immortality for all eternity and after these great raptes commonly when the soul returneth to her selfe the body as yet and perhaps for some dayes will not be able to vse its owne functions nor the powers and senses are themselues but all are out of order for they are as yet drunk with the memory of the glory and delight which they enioyed and the introuersion and application of the powers and senses is so great that they cannot but with difficulty attend as yet to any outward things and though they see and heare at those tymes yet they neither well see nor know what they see or heare this soul now is no more her owne but wholy belongeth to God for she hath consigned her selfe her will and the keyes therof vnto his diuine Maiesty so that she liueth not now but Christ doth liue in Gal. 2. v. 20. her in so much that she myndeth nothing but the honour glory and praise of God and heartely desireth and laboureth that all may loue and praise him for euer her vertues are solid and of great perfection her loue is so excessiue that her life on earth is a continuall martyrdome and death by reason of her forcible and languishing desyre to be dissolued and be with her beloued Christ Iesus in glory for all Eternity 14. Thus deere Christian soul our Sauiour doth reward euen in this mortall and myserable lyfe the litle labour and endeauours of a louing soul O who would not labour for so great a good and willingly serue so good a Lord O who would not affect so true a louer and deere a frend o who would not freely forsake all this world for the loue of so bountifull and Gracious a God O Blessed Lord praysed and exalted for euer and euer mayst thou be who art so choyse of vs and ha'st prepared so great happinesse for such wormes of the earth as we all thy creatures loue and praise thee for euer more Amen THE II. CHAPTER Of Recollection and quiet Prayer more in particular 1. WHereas this recollection is so great and inward and the powers not troubled with the noyse of worldly and vaine thoughts and that God is there present what must the soul doe in this recollection first she must consider that he is there only attending to giue audience and ready then to heare her petition and that she can without any impediment speake to him being so neere for as our Holy Mother sayth the In her life chap. 27. soul seemes to haue other eares and tongue inwardly and needeth not speak loud or cry out with noyse of inward words or consider him in heauen or a farre of or without her selfe to be heard or vnderstood but she may rest there with him for he is not a frend of many words and accustome the vnderstanding to worke very slowly and as it were in silence carefully attending to what is said and with what reuerence and confidence she speaketh to him and if the vnderstanding can be kept quiet sweetly beholding that
presence of his diuine Maiesty without words or with Luke 18. v. 13. the Publican casting his eyes to the earth expecting with humility what shall be sayd to him it will be of great profit and increase vertuous desyres in the soul contempt of the world and strong resolutions to serue God and amend their liues and this the soul doth vnderstand by sweet inspirations and secret whispers by which he speaketh vnto her heere she doth offer her selfe and her will wholy to God to be employed euer after in his seruice 2. Though some yea religious after coming so farre and hauing forsaken the world and giuen themselues to God doe returne back to the flesh pots of Egipt and as a dog to his vomit to be more worldly then euer and to seeke for familiarityes and frendships and they take back againe from God euen against his will what formerly they freely gaue him THEIR VVILL which they did dedicat vnto his diuine Note Maiesty to be employed only in his seruice which againe they dispose of as of their owne and the world and what is in it which for his sake they forsooke they seeke after more earnestly then before they left it and thus they draw their mynd and affection from God applijng them selues to base vile and transitory things notwithstanding the experience they often had by many comforts and consolations of Gods goodnesse and loue when they did proceede sincerly 3. And one thing may be much admired to wit that these vngratfull people do goe to prayer as boldly and without all feare as if they had done no iniury to God nor wronged themselues and they are not ashamed to aske or expect spirituall comforts and fauours of his diuine Maiesty after so great an affront are these to be regarded or fauoured more by God certainly they deserue it not vnlesse with a humble submission and acknowledgment of their abuse and wrong committed they returne to his Maiesty forsaking all and restoring what was vniusty taken away without which this recollection is not had againe for it doth consist in this that the powers are introuerted and not troubled with any vaine or worldly thoughts as is formerly said But they who goe on with their endeauours to please God doe easily find how sweet and good our Lord is to those that loue and doe seeke after him 4. It is a comfortable thing to speake of the next degree to which they are brought after that recollection and of what passeth there and seriously to consider it is most ioyfull and pleasing but to feele it is in excesse delightfull this is in Quiet Prayer where the soul is placed to rest without labouring or discourse heere she is feasted with varietyes of heauenly comforts diuine consolations and ioyfull delights farre surpassing sense heere she doth begin to taste of the food of Angells and is reposed in the bed of sweet content certainly if all the honours pastines and pleasures of this world were in one and to continue and be enioyed for euer yet compared with one only moment of the ioy content and satisfaction which heere are had all that would appeere to be meere nothing for as farre as the heauens doe exceede the earth in greatnesse and perfection without any proportion so doe these spirituall comforts without any equality or proportion exceede all the others words cannot expresse what it is but those happy soules can best tell and declare it that by experience hath often knowen and felt the sweetnesse of it 5. This Quiet prayer doth consist in this that the soul and all the powers after labouring to find out whom she doth deerely loue are brought by his diuine Maiesty from that laborious discoursing and searching for him to the place of rest that is farre within her selfe where in great silence and peace of all the powers she doth enioy his presence and is vnited to him strongly by loue and doth remaine in his sweet embracements with great content and satisfaction and this is therefore called quiet prayer by reason there is no discoursing nor noyse of inward wordes vsed in it where with the soul and powers were often weryed searching to find him but all are silent and quiet not that they doe omit to worke but it is so sweetly done that it is scarcely perceiued by reason they are in contemplation and with one simple looke they are in admiration with great ioy and doe feelingly vnderstand more in an instant then they could attaine to with all the discourses possible let not any thinke that the soul doth see any image or shape wherein God doth appeere when his presence is named heere but only that she hath a fixt memory with a liuly faith that he is there and that by the effects which she doth find in her selfe it appeeres as a great ioy and inward satasfaction of all the powers Also a light which procureth a most humble and reuerentiall respect in the soul with a kind of certainty of his presence with which she is so contented delighted as if nothing more rested to be desyred in this world and this content doth redowne euen to the body which is neuer wery whiles that quit content doth hold 6. And obserue that as it is former 's said the will being only vnited the other powers which are not so doe keepe he often in warre and doe molest her much endeauouring to bring her from her rest and content to passe the tyme as we may say with themselues but their labour is in vaine and the contrary doth often happen for she doth cause them to returne to their quiet rest with her for she doth labour to keepe in that litle spark of fire of the loue of God esteeming it as of right she ought of great worth for thence if she be not in the fault in tyme may proceede a great fire and flames of diuine loue for she doth now by experience well know how great good it is to adheare to God who giâ—â—th that small begining as a liuly token of his affection and earnest penny to bind the bargaine and confirme the agreement betwixt them to wit that she must not be longer of this world though liuing in it but of those whose conuersation is in heauen and dispose her selfe for greater and higher matters and to be disposed of only by his diuine Maiesty who hath now chosen her to be of his priuat chamber and to seeke after nothing but what shall be to his honour and glory O admirable dignity and happinesse 7. Let not any soul that is come to this state vnderualue her selfe nor think it want of humility to conceiue that she is fauoured by God for one will be more thankfull that he knoweth the greatnesse of the gift or benefit and dignity of the person that giueth it then if they did not marke it or did forget it or would not acknowledg it but she must with an humble submission and holy presumption acknowledg that she
to communicat himselfe to soules and bring them to his diuine loue are many and farre beyond our reach and vnderstanding and he is powerfull to giue them great gifts and vnknowen fauours though it is vnpossible for vs to expresse by words the fauours which we doe receiue in prayer being supernaturall vnlesse his diuine Maiesty be pleased to giue vs the ability to know the gift and how to make it to be vnderstood by words for there is great difference betwixt feeling and vnderstanding what we feele and as our Holy Mother saith it is one fauour to receiue a gift and an other to cause vs to vnderstand the supernaturall gift which we receiue In her life chap. 17. and an other to know how by words or examples to expresse it and cause it to be vnderstood by our directour 3. And this as a speciall fauour was In her life Chap. 30. granted vnto her by God aboue any that I haue seene or read that wrote of those diuine communications for the very cleerest of them all is obscure enough but she as one well experienced and instructed by the holy Ghost hath so plainly and clearly declared the seuerall wayes that in euery degree of prayer God worketh in the soul and what effects he doth produce in her and what in these occasions the is to doe and how to behaue her selfe that the directour knoweth reading her writings what to examin and the penitent how to vnderstand and declare herselfe that her directour may be well informed of her spirit and conceiue things aright which otherwise though neuer so learned without the experimentall knowledg of them he could not vnderstand nor she expresse and so the penitent soul by the Ghostly Father not vnderstanding her might suffer very much and be hindred of her spirituall profit as our Holy Mother and others that she writ of were and put rather backward then forward in prayer and vertue 4. Now to speake more of this degree then is spoaken in the first chapter seemes superfluous but deere Christian soul the more that such matters as these are repeated and some litle thing giuen better to be vnderstood the more profitable they are and not in any way superfluous therefore out of her workes I will adde to what is formerly said of these degrees and of this in particular that which I haue obserued which may be the better vnderstood by this example 5. A young chield desyring somwhat that he doth want not able to help himselfe doth fall a crijng and is not at rest vntill his Mother or nourse doth take him into her lappe or armes and giueth him the brest to suck with this he is silent and quiet and when he hath taken sufficiently and his belly is full as we may say he begins to slumber and fall a sleepe and at last he is soe heauily and deadly a sleepe that she takes the dugge out of his mouth and placeth him where she please to rest he not knowing nor feeling what is done to him or with him In like manner the soul in meditation is the child crijng for somwhat that she doth want and is not at rest vntill his diuine Maiesty doth take compassion vppon her seing her weryed and almost tired by the labour of the vnderstanding and will seeking to find him then taking her into his lappe he giueth her the teat of his holy presence which is supernaturall by which she begins to suck the sweet milk of deuotion and diuine consolation and is thereby made silent and contented this is quiet prayer then hauing taken sufficiently of that celestiall nectar in that quiet content with the dugge in her mouth as we may say or that diuine presence she is so ouer delighted and satisfyed and all the powers so ioyed that by degrees they begin to slumber or fall a sleepe forgetting by litle and litle all things of the world where they are and what they doe this is called the sleepe of the powers yet is not the soul in a dead sleepe for she holdeth the dugge as yet in her mouth and doe not omit to worke somewhat at last she is so replenished with that diuine liquor as one drunke and quite ouercome she falls into a dead sleepe she looseth the dugge and forgets absolutly all whatsoeuer is in heauen or earth and then she is put to rest yet where or how or by whom she knoweth not being drowned and in gulfed in the diuine essence with all her powers vnited the poore body for that present left quite forgotten senslesse and in a manner dead and this is called vnion that is the soul and all the powers are vinted to the diuine essence and she becomes one with God or as our Holy Mother sayth he taketh her and shut's her vpp within himselfe in the height of this vnion the soul knoweth and vnderstandeth nothing but soone after for it holds not long she knoweth what a great good she did enioy wherin all goodnesse is But now to the sleepe of the powers I returne which are not lost yet the ioy of the soul is so great that she knoweth not what to doe with her selfe through the vehemency of loue and she cannot containe her selfe her ioy and glory is so great she faine would cry out to giue notice to all creatures of her delight and paine for this excesse of loue is not without a delightfull paine that all might partake thereof and praise God she doth feele those effects in her selfe so perfectly that they put her farre beyond her selfe 6. And then she doth speake many words of loue in the praise of God without any order not knowing what to say or doe the will seemes to be in a kind of frensy with loue the vnderstanding doth see so many things together that she knoweth not what to fix vppon but is kept suspended in admiration the memory myndeth nothing but what is present so that the soul in this spirituall frensy and strang disposition knoweth not what best to doe whether to be silent or speake to lough or weepe for she is in a restlesse quietnesse and a sweet rest lessnesse through loue then to thinke of returning to vse the things of this world againe is very odious to her to walke is troublesome to speake and not of him is very painfull to eate is a kind of death though nature doth require it Se her life chap. 37. to sleepe is worse in fine all things which may in any wise hinder her of the enioying so great a good though for a moment and for her very health doth molest her and giueth her no satisfaction nor content 7. She doth not desyre to see or speake with any in this world but with such as are in the same frensy or sick of the same disease faine she would enioy God wholy and know nothing but him it seemes that S. Augnstine was sick of this disease when he sayd our heart o Lord is allwayes vnquiet vntill it
secure way is to be indifferent to be disposed of as his diuine Maiesty shall thinke fitt and esteeme our selues vnworthy of any fauours 16. Our Holy Mother doth giue vs notice of other deceits which are incident to manie that haue some degree of supernaturall prayer and doe vse great and indiscreet pennances and thereby doe bring themselues to great weaknesse and of others who by nature are delicat tender and weake these soules feeling in prayer those gusts and ouer ioyed with consolations and inward sweetnesse doe languish or rather through weaknesse yeald as one whose spirits are decaying and failing and doe leaue themselues in a manner dead as if they were in a kind of rapt by which nature is extreamly hurt and more weakned and they think it to be some effect of prayer or the spirit of God that doth worke so in them and therefore they remaine in that manner for some houres to gether 17. But they must resist that weakenesse and shake of that sluggish disposition for it is no other and if that weaknesse doth proceede from too much austerity or pennance by the aduise of their Ghostly Father or directour they must eat and drink sleepe and recreat themselues well for some dayes vntill they acquire strength for as is said indiscreet pennance is hurtfull to body and soul and if it doth proceede from the tendernesse or weake constitution of nature they must be more employed in the actiue life and outward things then in the solitary or contemplatiue life for the very solitude is able to make them weaker and therefore let them be obedient being applyed to outward things and let them be sure that this is very gratfull to God and they no lesse saints for as I said sanctity doth not consist in contemplation or hauing visions or such like but in true vertue and conformity of our will to the will of God 18. So that if obedience command the actiue more or rather then the contemplatiue to be obserued we must be wholy indifferent and resigned to embrace it with content also euery complexion is not fitt for solitude contemplation and much recollection for some that giue themselues to this cannot goe forward nor profit by reason of their indisposition of nature that would be saints if they had applyed themselues to the charitable and humble workes of the actiue life for though Martha gaue her selfe to the practise and exercise of the actiue lyfe yet she was a S. as well as her sister Mary Magdalen who gaue her selfe wholy to the contemplatiue 19. So that they must in this case resist that weaknesse and belieue for certaine that it is no effect of supernaturall prayer for in this sort of prayer the body is rather comforted and delighted then troubled or weakned by reason the ouer great content and ioy of the soul doth redowne to the body and it doth partake of her inward felicity as it is knowen by experience vnlesse it be in the prayer of vnion when the soul powers and senses are wholy vnited and drowned in Gods diuine essence for though then the body be destitute of all force this doth not continue but for a short tyme as I said elswhere and it doth returne to it selfe againe with strength content and great satisfaction and in that vnion though the body be for a short tyme as dead yet the soul it more liuely inwardly with God which in that other she cannot be but heauy and dull without any good effect yea rather with many euil and hurtfull to body and soul Obserue also if God be pleased to giue you any of those fauours of Rapts visions Reuelations or other supernaturall things of that sort whether you be terrifyed or fearfull at first for commonly if they be true they worke that effect in the soul though soone after she is in great quietnes and content moreouer you must not goe to prayer through curiosity to know any thing by reuelation nor adheare to your owne opinion or proper iudgment concerning any thing reuealed but easily submit to the saying of your directour or other learned men Likewise marke whether they be of vaine things without any necessity or profit to your selfe or others and note that whensoeuer by visions words or any such which you haue in these degrees of supernatutall prayer you find not your soul bettered in humility or that you perceiue in your selfe any litle smoake of selfe interest proper esteeme or vaine glory make no accompt of them but set them at naught as false and proceeding from Sathan but the prayer or vision bringing humility with it is to be much esteemed and God highly praysed with many thankes for it 20. Deere Christian soul you may read of these things more at large in the life of our Holy Mother and in the bookes which she wrote called the castle of the soul or the mansions and the way of perfection for I haue collected these thence only that they which God doth bring to these degrees or haue visions or reuelations may vnderstand reading this litle treatise what prayer they haue and whether their visions be true or false that they may not be troubled or in continuall feare of being deceiued by the deuil as our Holy Mother was which will be a great comfort to their mynd and quietnes to their conscience THE VII CHAPTER Of some obseruations for the better vnderstanding of what is said concerning Prayer 1. WHereas in the treatise of Prayer there is often mention made of the sensitiue appetite inferiour and superiour part of man also of seuerall degrees of contemplation which I suppose are knowen to the learned I thought good for the better satisfaction of the ignorant and vnlearned to speake somewhat of them in the conclusion of this worke The sensitiue appetite is a faculty consisting of two members in the inferiour part of man and hath its seat in the liuer and heart or as others say in the heart only and it hath for its obiect sensible good or euil as it is apprehended by the imagination as conuenient or disconuenient the members or partes of it are the concupiscible and irascible The office of the concupiscible part is to incline to and be moued to that which is good or agreable to it and to decline and shun that which is euil or contrary to it The office of the irascible part is to fight against the difficultyes which may occurre in the acquisition of the good and shuning the euil in these two the eleauen passions which are in man are resident six in the concupiscible and fiue in the irascible 2. The passion is a motion of the sensitiue part which is moued by the apprehension of some good or euil as conuenient or disconuenient pleasing or displeasing to it The passions of the concupiscible are loue desyre ioy or gladnes hatred flight griefe or sadnesse Loue is a propension of the appetite towards that which is apprehended as good desire or concupiscence is a
labours with many diuine fauours and celestiall benedictions euen in this life and in the other in the land of the liuing with endlesse glory and felicity and thou shalt see him face to face where he is enioyed and shall be praised by his Holy Saints and Angells for all Eternity Amen THE IV. CHAPTER Of the Prayer of vnion 1. IN the former chapters you haue seene how God doth bring a soul from the cares and troubles of the world to a solitude formerly vnknowne a supernaturall state where in silence he speaketh to her heart Now from that silent and quiet rest and from that delightfull sleepe wherein the soul falleth a dijng to all things of this world through loue his diuine Maiesty taketh her wholy to himselfe and doth conclude a spirituall marriage betwixt them both in so much that she is perfectly dead to all the world that is to say her affection is wholy mortifyed hauing no inclination to any thing created and she is liuing only to and in God vnited to him by a celestiall coniunction that is by all her substance and powers to hs diuine essence and substance in which she is so farre carryed beyond her selfe not knowing how or whither that she cannot perceiue whether she be in the body or no in the world or out of it for she is sunke in the depth and altogether in gulfed in that incomprehensible ocean of his diuinity hauing lost the vse of all her powers and inward and outward senses and is become the same and one spirit with him and therefore it is called vnion because two distinct things are made one 2. In this vnion she knoweth nothing but that her ioy and satisfaction is excessiue great but afterwards she can well perceiue that her profit is farre transcending that of the former degrees and that her vertues are more solid and of higher perfection she in this vnion doth not labour more but God doth worke in her she is the patient and he the diuine agent who doth produce those wonderfull effects and make her admirable to the world she hath enough to doe to receiue those diuine fauours and celestiall gifts she is not satisfied with admiration seing the great goodnesse and liberality of God towards such as she is which doth cause so great humility and loue in her that she would euen an nihilat her selfe in the presence of so high a Maiesty she is so drowned that the body is quite forgotten and during that vnion it is voyde of hearing seing and feeling all her powers and senses are absorpt and in gulfed so deeply in it that there is no memory left of what they were meditating thinking reading or doing but their ioy cannot be exprest 3. Yet as it is formerly sayd this totall vnion doth not continew long before some of the powers are permitted to returne to their owne operations the will still remayning strongly vnited but they are so farre besyde themselues that they can get no content or rest vntill they returne to their principall againe and eat of the same meat and drinke of the same liquour and then they remaine suspended and vnited as formerly neither can they tell how long or short a tyme they are in that vnion and though it were long they are so swayed with ouer great delight that it seemeth to them but very short 4. I haue knowen one that was as yet but in the other degrees and when the hour of prayer was spent he could hardly be persuaded that it was so for he thought really that he had not beene more then the space of one Aue Maria in it not knowing what prayer he was in what shall we thinke then of this certainly the least part of it cannot be exprest by all the eloquence and rethorick of the world as it is much lesse the rest which is more 5. O how admirable and farre surpassing all vnderstanding it is to comprehend how Gods Holy diuinity doth enter in and penetrat the whole substance and essence of the soul leauing in her a perfect impression of himselfe that she is no more what she was but truly deified altogether in gulfed in the blessed diuinity now quite forgetfull of her selfe and all that is in heauen and earth for she is in possession of him who containeth all and is more then all and is her all so that in the other she may be well sayd to be a dijng but in this to be truly dead as you see but to God alone in whom she doth liue and who doth liue in her 6. This is a most happy state a blessed rest a sweet repose a heauenly drunknes a ioyfull alteration a louing embracement a delightfull vnion a diuine transformation a totall Deification and a blisfull marriage confirmed and signed with no lesse then his owne most Glorious diuinity that as a bride and bridegrome they are one spirit she is partaker of his glory looketh to his family and attendeth only to those things which belong to him and to his honour glory and praise and he hath care of her and of what doth belong to her now she is so burning with his loue and so solicitous of his affaires that she is neuer idle she doth thirst vehemently after the conuersion of sinners and saluation of soules as a thing belonging to her beloued and to his honour and glory and to vndergoe and effect this great and difficult worke she doth find her selfe stout and courragious and would giue a thousand liues most willingly if she could to gaine one soul and therefore her prayers to God are many and haue no end her teares and pennances for them are great no troubles can breake her no persecution feare her detractions doe not grieue her murmuration and diffamation doe not disquiet her she taketh contentedly and ioyfully all disgraces so she may gaine but one soul to God and in this she is continually labouring and to make his goodnesse knowen to all that they may loue and serue him and with greater feruour allwayes praise him and that they may dayly increase in all vertue and perfection 7. To heare any to flatter or praise her is a torment to her to see her selfe esteemed and honoured is her greatest affliction for she cleerly knoweth that she deserues it not and what good vertue or gift is seene in her is not from her selfe but from the fountaine of all grace mercy and goodnesse her heauenly spouse without any merit on her part and therefore to him she doth referre all honour and praise to whom alone it is due 8. The resolutions of such as come to this state to doe some heroyick workes for the loue honour and glory of God are as strange and admirable as the rest they know not what to doe with themselues they are so transported by loue beyond themselues and this loue doth enable them and strengthen them to doe what to others might seeme vnpossible hence our Holy Mother S. Teresia did In her life chap.
18. make that admirable vowe to doe in all things what she conceiued or should be informed were most to God's honour and glory or of most perfection which is a wonderfull thing and a rare act to tye her selfe so strictly vnder the penalty of a mortall sin doing the contrary But this is the efficacy and effect of diuine loue and this she did exactly performe during her life and her desyre of god's glory and honour was so great that she prayed earnestly that his diuine Maiesty would depriue her of the fauours which he bestowed vppon her and giue them to others that might doe more good with them for the conuersion of soul's and the good of his Church only that he might be the more honored glorified and praised 9. One of these soules though but simple and ignorant will doe more good in the Church of God then many eloquent preachers with all their art and learning Consider S. Francis who had no learning and our Holy Mother a simple woman yet it is admirable to see what great good they haue done in the Church of God and how many thousand soules by their meanes were and are daily saued and so of others who did the like the spirit of God doth efficaciously concurre with them and their words doe powerfully moue such as they conuerse with to a vertuous life and the loue of God of these things you may read more at large in her life and workes for I doe speake but briefly of them heere to giue some small notice of what his diuine Maiesty is graciously pleased to worke in the soules which dispose themselues and endeauour in what they can to loue and serue him that others may be encourraged to vse this Holy exercise of prayer in which God doth communicat his fauours and gifts to deuout soules and giue them a taste of those ioyes which are in heauen I beseech his diuine maiesty to graunt this gift of prayer to many for his glory and the good of his Holy Church Amen THE V. CHAPTER Of seuerall other eleuations of the spirit and how they differ from vnion 1. OVr Holy Mother doth declare that they that come to perfect vnion commonly haue visions and reuelations extasis flights and rapts and that though the extasis flights and rapts seeme to be one and the same thing yet in truth they are not as they who haue experience of them by their effects can easily obserue in themselues I shall touch briefly some of them heere and so with God's help end this worke leauing the reader to peruse them more fully in her workes whence I haue collected these and where they are farre more plainly exprest then I doe heere 2. The difference betwixt vnion and these others and of these betwixt themselues is knowen by their effects and first the effects of vnion are inward only the soul alone enioying that happinesse of which I spoake in the former chapter for the body is senslesse and destitute of any operation or comfort I speake of the totall or perfect vnion but in the extasis or raâ—â—â— the effects are inward and outward for the body is not destitute of its operations also one may resist the vnion though with great paine but not the others for often on a sudden the soul is surprised and carryed away she then not thinking of God and vnlesse the rapt be very great or in the height for then she knowes nothing as in the vnion the senses are not lost and one may perceiue that the head is drawen after she spirit and somtymes by the force of the spirit the whole body is eleuated vpp into the ayer and the party then seing the body so farre aboue ground doth begin to feare and wonder at it yet in this both body and soul haue great comfort and ioy 3. Heere the soul doth obserue the great power of God to whom there can be no resistance but when he is pleased he will eleuat both soul and body without our consent and against our will for at these tymes as we are nothing so we can doe nothing with our selues but he as Lord of all disposeth of his owne as he thinks fit so that the soul is carryed in these rapts she knoweth not whither how or by whom but away she must goe and for her greater comfort his diuine Maiesty is often pleasd to shew vnto her the kingdome of heauen and what glory he hath prepared there for his true seruants for euer at other tymes the Angells then some saints also his magnificent power and he doth make 2. Gor. 12. v. 4 her vnderstand high misteryes and great secrets of which as S. Paul saith it is not lawfull to speake also she doth see the Queene of Angells the Mother of God in great glory and the sacred humanity of our Sauiour in vnspeakable Maiesty and glory and when he is so pleased she doth enioy the sight and company of the most Holy Trinity and at other tymes she is endued with the spirit of Prophecy and knowledg of things to come and the vnderstanding of the Holy Scripture our Holy Mother In her life chap. 37. Mans 7. chap. 1. doth relate as by obedience she was commanded how the holy Trinity did appeere vnto her in the very center of her soul and that she could not but see euery person and the admirable glory and Maiesty that was present she did speake to euery person in particular and they to her in which her ioy and content was so great that it cannot be imagined and it is no wonder if the senses should not returne to their owne functions from so great happinesse that they doe there enioy neither would they willingly vnlesse it were as seruants doe to obey and fullfill the will and command of their Lord for his Maiesty will often haue it so either for her spirituall profit the good of others or his owne honour and glory 4. She also doth relate how she was in a rapt eleuated and taken to behold the kingdome and Glorious inhabitants of heauen her owne parents and some frends and was brought to the blessed throne of God to behold how the eternall Se her life chap. 38. word the second person of the holy Trinity the sonne of God is resident in the bosome of his Father and she saith that the soul in these occasions can doe nothing of it selfe nor behold litle or much but only what our Lord will haue her to see or know and as there be seuerall degrees of eleuations of the spirit or rapts in euery one of them the light is greater the knowledg more and purer the alienation from all things created more perfect the vertues more solid humility chiefly more profound and the loue of God increasing as they ascend one degree after an other is so ordent and vehement that the soul doth loath to liue on earth and her absence or separation from God is so heauy a loade that she doth
liue but a painfull life or rather a tormenting Martyrdome and lingering death so that all her desyre is to be dissolued and be with Christ yet though the paine which she doth suffer is very great her inward ioy is no lesse if not more but you shall see what she speakes of rhese degrees 5. The first after vnion is when the soul like vnto a flame proceeding or ascending from a well kindled fire burning with the fire of diuine loue goeth out of her selfe ascending vpwards and some tymes it goeth to a great height farre beyond the fire whence it doth proceede and this doth seeme to those that went no further to be the same with vnion but it differs much For vnion is like to the fire which only burneth inwardly not giuing any flames ascending vpwards but this going out of her selfe is like flames ascending vpwards from the fire and not to the fire it selfe so that this fire increasing and not able by reason of its vehemency to containe it selfe from blasing foorth the sweet wynd of the Holy Ghost blowing on it the soul is eleuated out of her selfe and as this firye flame increaseth it doth more and more consume in her all terrene affection and leaueth her farre purer and with greater freedome and liberty then in vnion and though she knoweth not how it came to passe yet she cannot but admire to see such an alteration and change in her selfe and her profit to be farre greater and with very great ioy 6. At other tymes his diuine Maiesty is pleased that the soul be struck and wounded at the very heart with a fearefull noyse in the most inward of her substance by a certaine delicat subtile and penetratiue impulse and as it were with a firy dart or bolt on a sudden proceeding from a thunder she not knowing how or by whom it came and though she hath hence great paine her ioy and comfort is farre greater then in the former and though this noyse is not heard with corporall eares for it is inward and a very silent noyse yet instantly heard and vnderstood by the soul and she doth cleerly and perfectly know that she is so called vppon by God as with a whistle and that she cannot but heare it and suddenly feele a great certainty of his presence and it is of that Maiesty and efficacy that it causeth all the powers and senses instantly to be recollected attentiue and giue their attendance though at that present they were much distracted and they dare not then moue or stire and this celestiall call impulse or firy dart doth so inflame her that she is burning and a consuming with the fire of diuine loue penetrating through her very bowells and the very inward substance of the soul and her paine by reason of the wound and the vehemency of loue is so great that she cannot containe her selfe but lament and with most sweet and amorous words complaine of her paine not being able to doe otherwise to her deerely beloued whom she knoweth to be present and will not manifest himselfe which is a spurre to forward and augment both loue and paine and though this paine is with vnspeakable delight it doth not continue long but cometh and goeth and allwayes doth leaue the soul inflamed with diuine loue her desyre to please him and serue his maiesty in great matters doth increase and her only feare is least she should become vngratfull for this and his other great fauours and benefits which doth encourrage her dayly to better her life to content him the more 7. Note that in this rapt the powers and senses are not suspended nor drowned but all stand in admiration to see the soul in so great paine worthy of compassion and yet with vnspeakable delight they wonder much what this should be and they can neither helpe nor disturbe her but remaine in their attendance with admiration In these degrees it doth happen that the soul hath many strong and sudden motions when one doth heare a good sermon or God well spoaken of or praised or musick or at the sight of some sweet and deuout picture and this cometh with an impulse in the depth or most inward of the soul so vehement sudden and swift that she cannot resist it more then a chyld to a Gyant but away she is taken and eleuated sometymes aboue all that is created where she hath the visions and reuelations formerly mentioned and with the greatnesse of the glory and Maiesty which she beholdeth in God she is much terrified and doth conceiue a reuerentiall feare which causeth the very haires of her head to stand and then she doth grieue that she or any other euer offended à Lord of so high and incomprehensible a dignity power and Maiesty and some tymes it is so excessiue that the body in the rapt is eleuated forcibly a great height from the earth as loathing all things on earth and tending to the place where it doth expect to be in endlesse happinesse 8. Neither is the soul and powers for a long tyme after these great rapts perfectly themselues for they are not yet out of that sweet sleepe or risen from that delightfull drunknesse for they had Ps 35. v. 9. taken plentifully of the varietyes and abundance of his house and drunke without measure of the torrent of those diuine liquours with so excessiue delight that they for a tyme after know not where they are or what they doe 9. Also when they returne to themselues all things of this world are so disgustfull and displeasing to them by reason of the great ioy they had that they haue an auersion from them and would not daine if they could to vse the least of them 10. She declareth an other degree or sort of rapt which she doth call a flight of the soul farre different from the rest and greater this she doth compare to a fire that suddenly falling doth fire and burne all whence proceedeth a great flame so as the soul is suddenly fired all ouer and doth burne so strongly with the fire of diuine loue that her spirit like vnto a great flame with a most swift flight getteth out of herselfe in such a delicat and subtile manner that it is admirable and in an instant she is placed where she doth see and vnderstand many great misteryes together with all clearnesse and truth and she doth not only see the Holy Trinity and speake with euery person but also doth obtaine some particular fauour of each of them 11. Likewise she doth relate that God doth shew how all creatures are contayned in his diuine essence and may be seene as in a faire christiall glasse suppose saith she that there were a great round cristiall glasse greater then all the world without which there is nothing and in which all things are included and seene very cleerly the same conceiue of God in whom really and truly all things are contayned and euen the very thoughts words and deedes of euery
rest in thee 8. Of the soul also in this spirituall drunknesse it is said in the canticles he brought me into the winecellar and ordered Cant. 2. v. 4. in me charity there she was ouercome with the strength of those diuine liquours she became wholy drunke with loue she could goe no further nor part the place but fell into the armes and sweet embracements of her beloued who placed his left hand vnder her head and embraced her with his right by the left vnderstand his mercy keeping her from sinne least she should fall and by the right his loue couering her ouer with many graces blessings and fauours 9. O Blessed drunknes o happy foollishnes o diuine frensy o celestiall loue who can tell your worth O true louer of our soules Christ Iesu how forcibly with the odours of thy sweet oyntments do'st thou draw young Virgins to witt pious soules after thee if the loue of mortall creatures be so forcible as to depriue people of their witt and the vse of reason and euen to cause them run naked and sensles about the streetes what shall we say then of this diuine loue 10. These pious soules O Lord are in loue with thy infinit goodnesse they are rauisht with thy rare beauty they are ouer delighted with thy sweetnesse they are not themselues they are vnquiet and haue no rest without thee they feele inwardly a burning fire which doth consume them and what is it but that fire of charity which thou ha'st ordered in them they are by it strongly in loue yea drunke with loue and quite besyde themselues they doe loue and know not what but what they loue is that which thou art faine they would enioy thee entyrely and not by partes being their only good this they desyre this they inquire after but know not how it may be had which maketh them wholy restlesse vntill they rest in thee for whether sickly or healthy ill or well liuing or dead in heauen or hell they regard not so they may be with thee for they are wholy thyne 11. This diuine loue doth leaue them no other force or ability then to leaue themselues wholy to God and giue consent that he may dispose all and doe with them what he please and as he thinkes fitting in so much that then they cannot though they would apply them selues to any other thing but to adheare to God alone neither can they diuert themselues neuer so litle without great paine 12. Heere they cannot but be attentiue heare see and know his sweet whisper pleasant voyce and Holy will with great content heere they may say with Samuell the Prophet speake o Lord for 1. king 3. v. 10 thy seruant doth heare that is to say is attentiue to heare and know what thy will and pleasure is to obey and fullfill it and with Holy Dauid say I will heare Ps 84. v. 9. that is attend to what my Lord shall speake in me for he doth speake peace vnto his people as if he said I will giue care attentiuely to the words of my God for they are of that Maiesty and vertue that though my soul were in darknesse tempted and troubled the only sound of his voyce disperseth all on a sudden leaueth a light and inward peace to all my powers and senses with so great ioy and satisfaction that they are wholy recollected and setled and in a manner totally drowned in delight 13. VVonderfull are the effects that God worketh in the soul that is in this degree farre surpassing those of quiet prayer for besyde that she doth possesse his diuine Maiesty more entirely then in that and that her ioy and delight are greater her loue increaseth to a great height and her vertues are more solid and her inward change is noted by her outward behauiour which she cannot couer nor hyde for all her actions are more stayd and graue then formerly and she would not liue longer in this life if she could and her desyre is so great to be with him in endlesse rest that it were sufficient to end her if it were not that she doth think to doe him some seruice in suffering the miseryes and persecutions of this world for loue of him esteeming that as yet she did very litle or nothing in his seruice who is goodnesse it selfe and to whom she is so much obliged 14. Her intention to please and honour him is pure without any selfe interest she feare 's no trubles nor any thing of this world but to displease him in the very least imperfection she doth proceede with all fidelity and sincerity her conuersation is only and wholy in heauen with and for God she doth not affect her owne content or gust though neuer so spirituall so much as the honour of God and to doe his will in all things 15. O loue great is thy worth and greater thy worke they that doe possesse thee cannot but worke they aspire to great matters beyond theyr ability thinking all things possible to loue therefore S. Paul sayd I can doe all things in him Philip. 4. v. 13 who doth strengthen me Christ they are neuer better feasted neuer more ioyed and delighted neuer more sweetly comforted and contented then when they suffer troubles disgraces persecutions torments and euen death it selfe for their beloued therefore our Holy Mother S. Teresa was wont to say to In her life chap. 40. God with whose loue she was inflamed graunt me o Lord eyther to suffer or to dye for nothing but suffering for his sake could preserue her lyfe for in this she had some content and her compagnion in her troubles the venerable Father John a cruce allwayes desyred either to suffer or be contemned and thus God is truly wonderfull in his saints for what can be more admirable then to see one desyre and thirst after those things which are contrary yea destructiue to nature as to suffer torments and death it selfe but this is the priuiledg and efficacy of diuine loue which can haue no â—est but in the nest where it was bred and whence it came so God loued the world that he gaue them his only son who suffered death with loue of them 16. But you must obserue that though commonly in this degree the vnderstanding and memory are so well employed that they haue no ability or power to apply themselues to any other thing then beholding and enioying what our Lord is pleased to represent vnto them Yet some tymes his Maiesty whose captiues they are is pleased to set them free and at liberty and though the will doth remaine strongly vnited they may employ themselues in outward workes of vertue as to frequent the quire sing write read and other workes of charity according to their state of life which in deede is a great benefit for then Martha and Mary the actiue and contemplatiue life like two louing sisters doe walke hand in hand together for the will as Mary remayning in his sweet
and by conderation or meditation come to the contemplation of those things which are eternall for meditation is a discourse of the vnderstanding by which we labour to find out the truth of things which being found the vnderstanding doth rest beholding that truth with content which is contemplation In meditation we are like a shippe at Sea tending towards its port of hauen through many dangers and crosse winds for there come's one crosse wynd of an euil representation then that of an other distraction then a tempest of some great temptation then the heauy waues of the sensitiue appetites and passions though not allwayes giuing vs very litle rest but as the shippe with contrary wynds and swelling sea 's doe tosse vs too and froe thinke then what great labour must the Superiour part take in this case therefore great dilligence and art is to be vsed to get forward and secure our selues that all difficultyes ouercome we may rest at length in the hauen of sweet contemplation which is but a simple view or beholding of the knowen truth with content for there we are like a shippe at anker and rest in the hauen so long and so much desired and wished for by which you see that meditation is the high path way to contemplation and without the long vse and practise of it that rich iewell of conteÌ„plation is not had 9. Contemplation thus described hath three degrees the one naturall the other supernaturall the last diuine by the first we contemplat God as the authour and creatour of all things and naturall verityes in them as many philosophers did in the second by a supernall light infused we contemplat God as the authour of grace of whom we receiue spirituall fauours and benefits for we are borne the children of wrath and by grace in baptisme we are made the children of God and come to know the workes of grace by the third which is diuine as proceeding from the gift of the Holy Ghost called wisdome we contemplat God and his diuine perfections as that he is infinit immense eternall goodnesse it selfe c. to these three degrees of contemplation there are three appetites or facultyes in vs corresponding the sensitiue the rationall and the spirituall by the first we loue God for our being as our creatour by the second we affect him for his many benefits of grace as our chiefe benefactour by the third we loue him for his diuine perfections only as worthy of all loue for himselfe and according to these three we may regulat all our actions in this life of these that proceede according to the first S. Paul said The naturall man 1. Co. rinth 2. v 14 Collos 3. v. 5. that is he that followeth sensuality receiueth not the things of the spirit of God of the second that tend to Christian perfection he sayes mortify your members which are vppon the earth of the third it is said by God to Abraham Gen. 17. v. 1. walke before me that is in his Holy presence and be perfect as Abraham and Dauid did who said to God the meditation of my heart is allwayes acceptable in thy sight for those doe all things for the honour and glory of God 10. Yet misticall diuines doe speake of an other degree of contemplation which they call Sapientia vnitiua an vniting wisdome and it doth consist in the affection of the will rather then in the operation of the vnderstanding for by anagogicall or ardent acts of loue and diuine aspirations the will inflamed in a manner without the operation of the vnderstanding getteth out of it selfe earnestly endeauoring to be vnited and to adheare actually to God this is of great perfection But that diuine contemplation of which I spoake formerly is an act of the vnderstanding suspended in admiration of eternall things proceeding from the gift of wisdome with an inward gust and experimentall taste of celestiall sweetnes for beholding so many rare and stang things together the vnderstanding stands in admiration this admiration causeth a serious attention this attention bringeth a pure and very cleere knowledg of Eternall verityes with so great inward gust and sweetnes thâ—â— the vnderstanding remaines wholy suspended hence diuine loue increaseth the soul is inflamed and knoweth not what to doe with her selfe 11. The effects of this diuine loue are many but those principally An extasy by which the soul seemeth to goe out of her selfe with seruour of spirit to be transformed into her beloued then liquefaction which is a kind of tenderdesse or melting of the soul that the pores all open she might drawe her beloued into her selfe as the spunge doth water Vnion by which they are vnited and doe touch each other as we see two things ioyned together mutuall inhesion by which hey now vnited doe strictly embrace each other Penetration by which with cordiall affections she getteth within her beloued Transformation by which she 〈…〉 to be changed into the forme and perfections of her beloued Zeale by which she doth so burne that she can endure no Society of any in that good which she doth possesse these effects of loue are more forcibly produced when the thing beloued is in her possession but if her beloued be absent her desyre to enioy him is so vehement and this is called feruour that it doth procure an other effect of loue called languor by which out of the excessiue griefe and paine which for his absence she doth conceiue she is often in danger to dye for in deede it is able to procure a separation of body and soul and it doth happen to some you may read of these things more at large in seuerall bookes but chiefely in the booke written by the R. Fr. Iohn of Iesus Maria called the instruction of the nouices and that which he wrote of oration and contemplation in the treatise of the passions note that all the degrees of prayer and contemplation of which our Holy Mother speakes may be reduced to those formerly mentioned as the prayer of recollection quiet prayer sleepe of the soul vnion c. which are supernaturall and haue contemplation 12. As for a rapt it is a certaine eleuation by which the soul is exalted by the spirit of God to supernaturall things with a kind of abstraction from the senses you must obserue heere that a rapt doth include a violence which doth not consist in that the soul is carryed towards God by reason that is agreable to her nature but because she is with so great swiftnes carryed from the senses by that abstraction yet the senses as is formerly said are not wholy lost vnles it be when the rapt is in the height but they are much altered by reason of that sudden and violent abstraction of the soul from them yet they doe well perceiue in that rapt when the body is eleuated from the ground that the body is in that height which causeth great admiration in the soul so that the rapts properly doe not consist
in the affectiue but in the knowing powers as when the vnderstanding with a kind of alienation from the senses or with some intellectuall vision is eleuated and suddenly snatcht away or the phantasy or imaginatiue to some imaginary vision 13. The reason why rapts cannot be in the will is that the will is a kind of propension or inclination to that which is good and the more forcibly or violently it is drawen the more conformable it is to his inclination for that cannot be said to suffer violence which is moued according to its naturall disposition but the more forcibly it is moued towards its obiect the more delightfully it worketh So that the rapts by reason they come with violence against the naturall disposition cannot be in the will yet the vehemency of the affection of the will or sensitiue appetite is often the cause of rapts when the soul doth very forcibly adhere to those things which she doth affect for by that force she doth compell the knowing powers to attend to the obiects which she doth loue as it were with a certaine violence drawing them from all other things and the sensitiue appetite doth the same therefore they that naturally haue vehement inclinations or affections must diuert their mynd to some other thing when they find their desyre inflamed least they be deceiued thinking that to be from God which is from nature or the deuil for if it be from God though the soul endeauour to resist it all will be in vaine for it will take effect 14. Note that in this a rapt doth differ from an extasy that an extasy is without violence and therefore it is in the will as is formerly said for it is but a going out of it selfe by loue to what it doth affect and a rapt is allwayes with violence also the calling or inward touch of God and certaine abstractions by which his diuine Maiesty doth forcibly drawe the soul vnto himselfe as her Lord are the cause of rapts likewise by some light or inward flame also by some instillation of great sweetnes into the sensitiue appetite in like manner by a kind of secret whistle and many other vnknowen wayes God doth efficaciously drawe the soul to himselfe by which he doth giue her notice that he is absolute Lord and creatour of all 15. Moreouer rapts doe produce other effects in the body as its forces to faile to wax cold to fall into a kind of dead fit to be eleuated from the earth to hange in the ayre to be very light and agill as not hauing any weight There are other rapts which are not so forcible and are imperfect by which the soul is not so drawen from the senses but she may speake some words and giue out heany sighs and grones and somtymes the vehemency is such that they cast blood and the body doth tremble and shake with strang fits and they do leape runne and crye out by reason of the excesse of inward ioy this is that celestiall or diuine drunknes of which I spoake before To conclude loue is the prime and principall passion by which a man is drawen to all his operations therefore S. Augustine said my loue is my poise or weight and whither soeuer I am carryed thither I am carryed to wit where his loue is For all the rest of the passions doe follow loue as for example I desyre to haue a thing not for any other cause but that I loue it I doe not reioyce or delight my selfe but in that which I loue also I doe not hate a thing but because it is opposit and contrary to what I loue and therefore I doe flye and shim it likewise I doe not hope or fight but for what I loue nor grieue but for the euil which doth hinder me from what I loue and so of the rest 16. He therefore that intend's to acquire vertue and the true loue of God must heede carefully to what his loue doth tend whether to that which is truly good and not apparent or to that which is according to the lawes of God and not to the desyres of nature or to that which is truly vertuous and not vicious and if he find that it is not right with sweet persuasions and solid reasons let him allwayes endeauour to reduce it to piety and those things which are eternall as if it be moued by the beauty of any creature instantly say how farre more beautifull and worthy of all loue he is who made that beauty why then do'st not thou seeke after him who is eternall rather then after this which is to day and gone to morrow thy God is beauty it selfe from whom all beauty is he then is more worthy of thy loue then this which is but a shadowe of what is loue worthy in him O my sweet soul loue not that which brings thee to hell but what may bring thee to heauen and endles ioy See that what thou can'st loue most on earth will faile thee and decay being but momentary but if thou do'st loue God thy sweet and louing creatour and redeemer he will neuer faile thee but bring thee to enioy himselfe in endles glory thus sweetly you must in all occasions labour to induce your soul to the loue of God and those vertues which are contrary to your vicious inclination or loue 17. Deere Christian soul I wrote this chapter for the better vnderstanding of what is in the second and third part of this booke for there it is said that you must mortify your passions how can you mortify what you doe not know for though you feele the passion yet you know not what it is or whence it is which being knowen with more ease you may mortify it and preuent its swelling rage and so by degrees going from vertue to vertue from meditation to contemplation from contemplation to a true transformation in God you shall enioy the begining of true felicity in this life and compleatly in the other which I most humbly beseech God of his infinit goodnesse to bestow on thee and me Amen This booke is endend to the honour and glory of God and the most Blessed V. Mary this 8. of September 1651. and if there be any thing in it contrary to our Holy Faith I doe most willingly submit both it and my selfe to the censure of the Holy Catholick Roman Church By me S. B. natiue of the citty of Dublin THE TABLE OF THE CHAPTERS Of this Third Part of the Soul's Delight CHap. 1. p. 1. A briefe relation of supernaturall prayer Chap. 2. p. 19. Of Recollection and quiet prayer more in particular Chap. 3. p. 36. Of the sleepe of the powers Chap. 4. p. 55. Of the prayer of vnion Chap. 5. p. 62. Of Seuerall other eleuations of the spirit and how they differ from vnion Chap. 6. p. 78. Of the manner of inward speeches visions and reuelations and how to discerne the true from the false Chap. 7. p. 94. Of some obseruations for