minde At length vnited are And ioying in so rich a peace They can admitt no iarre But hauing quitt these fading leaues They seeke their roote againe And looke vpon the present face Of Truthe which hath no stayne Still drinking at that liuely spring Huge draughtes of ioyes in graine From thence they fetch that happy state Wherein no change they see But cleere and chearfull and content From all mishaps are free No sicknes there can threaten health Nor young men old can be There haue they their Eternity Their passage then is past They grow they flourish and they sprout Corruption off is cast Immortall strength hath swallowed vp The power of death at last Who knowe the knower of all things What can they choose but knowe They all behold their fellowes harts And all their secretts showe One simple act of will and nill From all their mindes doth flowe Though all their merits diuers be According to their paynes Yet charity makes that ones owne Which any fellow gaynes And all which doth belong to one To all of them pertaynes Vnto that body iustly goe The Eagles all for meate Where with the Angells and the Saints They may haue roome to eate One loafe can feede them all who liue In both these Countries great Hungry they are yet euer full They haue what they desire Sith no saciety offends Nor hungar burnes like fire Aspiringly they euer eate And eating they aspire There euer are your newe concerts With songs which haue no end The organs of eternall ioy Doe on their eares attend In prayse of their triumphant King They all their voyces spend O happy Soule which canst behold This King still present there And vnder thee discerne the world Runn round secure from feare With Starres and Plannettes Moone and Sunn Still moueing in their Spheare O Christ thou valiēt soldiers crowne Cast downe an eye of pittie That hauing once our armes putt downe we may inioy that Citie And with those heauenly Quires beare part In their eternall dittie Grant Iesu grant we still persiste In thy iust cause defending As longe as worldly warre may last As longe as strifs depending That we may carrie thee i th end The prize which knows noe ending CHAP. XXVII Of the continuall praise which a soule conceiueth by the contemplation of the Diuinity O My soule blesse our Lord and all the powers within me sing praise to his holy Name O my soule blesse our Lord and forgett not all his benefitts O all yea workes of our Lord blesse our Lord in all the places of his dominion Let vs praise God whome the Dominations adore whome Cherubin and Seraphin with a neuer ceasing voice proclame Holy Holy Holy Let vs ioyne our voyce to the voice of the holy Angells and lett vs praise this Lord who is common to vs both to the vttermost of our power For they praise our Lord most purely and incessantly who are alwayes plunged in that diuine contemplation not by a glasse or in a figure but face to face But who shal be able to say or so much as to thinke what kinde of innumerable multitude of blessed Spiritts and celestiall powers that is which standeth in the sight of our Omnipotent Lord God What glory what endles festiuity they enioy by the vision of God What delight without any defect what ardour of loue not tormenting but delighting who can say what desire there is of the vision of God when they haue saciety and how they can haue saciety with desire where in nether desire procures any payne nor saciety breeds any loathinge How they growe to be happy by adhearing to that supreame beatitude How they growe to be made light by their coniunction with that true light How by euer beholdinge the immutable Trinity themselues are changed into immutability But how shall we be able to comprehend that higth of Angelicall dignity when we are not able so much as to finde out the nature of our owne soule what kinde of thing is that which is able to giue life to flesh and yet is not able so much as to conteyne it selfe in good thoughts what kinge of thing is this so strong and se weake so little and so great which searcheth into the secrets of God and riseth into contemplation of celestiall things and is prooued to haue found out with such subtill power of witt the skill of so many arts for the vse of man what kind of thing is this which knoweth so many other things and yet is so wholyignorāt of how it selfe comes to be made For although many doubtfull things be said by many about the beginninge of the soule yet we finde it to be a certaine intellectual spiritt a spirit made by the power of the Creator liueinge after a sort immortaly and quickninge the body which it doth sustaine subiect to mutability and forgetfulnesse which is often depressed by feare and extolled by ioy O admirable thinge and to which all astonishment is due Of God the Creator of vs all who is vnspeakable and incomprehensible we read we speake and we write excessiuely sublimely wounderfull things without any ambiguity at all but whatsoeuer we say of Angells and soules we are not so well able to prooue But yet lett the minde passe on euen from these thinges and transcend all that which is created Lett it runn and rise and flutter and fly through and lett it fix the eyes of Faith as eagerly as it can vpon him who created all things I will therfore make certaine stepps of riseinge in my hart and by them I will assend into my soule and by the purest power of my minde I will assend to my Lord who remaines ouer my head Whatsoeuer is visibly seene whatsoeuer is imagined though in a most spirituall manner I will remoue farr of from the sight of my hart and minde with a strong hand Let the pure and simple power of my vnderstanding passing on with a speedy flighte towards him arriue to him who is that Creator himselfe both of Angells and soules and all things else Blessed is that soule which forsaketh inferior things and aspireth to them which are sublyme and placeing the seat of her habitation in those highe vnhaunted wayes doth contēplate the Sunn of Iustice frō those mighty rocks with eagles eyes For there is nothinge so beautifull and so delightfull as with the sharpe sight of the minde and the eager desire of the hart to contemplate this God himselfe alone and after a wounderfull manner inuisibly to beholde him who is inuisible so to taste not the sweetnes of this world but of another and to behold not this inferior kind of light but another For this light which is shutt vp in place is also ended in tyme its varied by the interruption of night and this light which is common to vs with wormes and other vnreasonable beasts in comparison of that other souueraigne light is rather to be called night then light CHAP. XXVIII What
stone or some tree or some brute beast but because thy goodnes hath ordeyned otherwise concerning me and that thou shouldest so ordeyne was not caused by any precedent merits of myne CHAP. X Of the incomprehensible prayse of God WHence came this mercy to me O Lord and whence shall I be able to gett power wherewith I may be able to prayse thee For as thou madest me without me according to thyne owne good pleasure so art thou praysed in thy self as thou art best pleased without mee Thy prayse O Lord is thy very selfe Lett all thy workes prayse thee according to the multitude of thy greatenes Thy prayse O Lord is incomprehensible It is not comprehended by the hart nor to be measured by the mouth nor receiued by the eare For these things passe on away but thy prayse O Lord remaynes for euer The cogitation of man begins and his cogitation ends the voyce sounds and the voyce is blowen ouer the eare heares and it leaues of to heare but thy prayse endures for euer Vvho is therefore he that shall prayse thee Vvhat man shall be able to announce thy prayse Thy prayse is not transitory it is eternall He prayseth thee who beleiues thee to be thyne owne prayse He prayseth thee who knoweth that he cann neuer arriue to prayse thee enough Thy prayse is euerlasting doth neuer passe In thee is our prayse and in thee shall my soule be praysed It is not wee who prayse thee but it is thou who prayseth thy selfe and in thy selfe and by thy selfe and wee also haue our prayse in thee Then haue wee true prayse when wee haue prayse from thee when light approueth light For thou O true Prayse doest imparte true prayse but as often as we seeke prayse from any other but thee soe often doe wee loose thy prayse because that other is transitory but thyne eternall If wee seeke that prayse which is transitory wee shall loose the prayse which is eternall If wee desire that which is eternall let vs not loue that which is transitory O thou eternall Prayse O thou my Lord and my God from whome all prayse proceedeth and without whom there is no prayse I am not able to prayse thee without thee but let me possesse thee and I shall prayse thee For who O Lord am I that of my selfe I should be able to prayse thee dust and ashes I am a dead and stinkeing dog I am I am a very worme and putrefactiō it selfe Vvho am I that I should prayse thee O thou most Mighty Lord and thou God of the spirits of all flesh who inhabitest Eternity Shall darkenes be able to praise light or death life Thou art light and I am darkenes thou art life and I am death Shall vanity be able to prayse truth Thou art truth but I am a man as vane as vanity it selfe How then O Lord shall I be able to praise thee Shall my misery be able to prayse thee Shall stinkes be able to prayse pretious odours Shall the mortality of a man who is here to day and will be gone to morrowe be able to prayse thee Shall man who is rottennes it selfe be able to prayse thee and the sonne of man who is noe better then a base worme Shall he be able to prayse thee O Lord who is conceyued and borne and bredd vp in sinne verily thy prayses cannot be gratefull in the mouth of a sinner O Lord my God let thy incomprehensible power thy wisdome which cannot be circumscribed and thy goodnes which cannot be declared prayse thee Let thy supereminent clemency thy superabondant mercy thy sempiternall vertue and diuinity praise thee Let thy most Omnipotent fortitude thy supreme benignity and charity whereby thou didest create vs O Lord thou God of my soule prayse thee CHAP. IX Of the hope which is to be erected towards God BVt I who am thy creature reposing vnder the shadow of thy Vvings will hope in thy goodnes whereby thou didest create me Assiste thy creature who was created by thy benignity let not that perish through my malice which hath bene wrought by thy goodnes Let not that perish by my misery which hath bene framed by thy mercy For what doth it profit thee to haue created me if I shall descend to hell through myne owne corruption For hast thou ô Lord in vaine made all the sonnes of men Thou hast created mee O Lord and therefore gouerne that which thou hast created Doe not O Lord despise the the worke of thine owne hands Thou madest mee of nothing and if thou doe not gouerne me O Lord I shall againe retourne into my nothing For as once I was not O Lord then thou madest me of nothing soe if thou doe not gouerne me yet once againe I shall of my selfe be reduced to nothing Helpe me O Lord my life and let me not perish in my wickednes If thou haddest not created mee O Lord I had not beene and because thou didest create me Behold I am But if now thou doe not gouerne me behold I am noe more For neither my merits nor any priuiledge of myne compelled thee to create me but thyne owne most benigne bounty clemency Let that charity of thyne O Lord my God which compelled thee to create me I beseech thee oblige thee to gouerne mee For what doth it profit me that thy charity constrayned thee to create me if now I perish in my misery and if thy right hand doe not perfect me Let that mercy compell thee O Lord my God to saue that which thou hast created which compelled thee to create that which thou haddest not created Let charity ouercome thee to make thee saue which ouercame thee to make thee create because now that charity is not lesse then it was For that very charity is thy very selfe who art the same for euer Thy hand O Lord is not so abbreuiated as that it cannot saue vs nor is thine eare out of tune that it cannot heare vs but my sinnes haue made a diuision betwixt thee and me betweene light and darkenes betweene the image of death and life betweene vanity and verity betweene this lunatike inconstant life of myne thyne which is capable of noe change or end· CHAP. XII Of the snares of Concupiscence THese are those shadowes of darkenes wherewith I am couered in the Abysse of this darke prison where I lye prostrate till such tyme as the day may dawne and the black shadowes be remoued and the light may be made in the firmament of thy power Let the voyce of our Lord in power The voyce of our Lord in magnificence say thus Let light be made and let darkenes be driuen away let the earth appeare dry sprout forth fresh and greene plants which may bring forth seede and the good fruite of the Iustice of thy Kingdome O Lord our Father and our God thou light whereby all things liue and without which all things are accounted for dead doe not
haste brought me to the vnderstanding of truthe casting away the darknes of ignorance and whereby thou haste drawen me out of the foolish bitternes of this world and so accompanyinge it with the sweetnes of thy charity thou haste made it delightfull and deer to me I doe with a lowde voice inuoke thee O blessed Trinity with that sincere loue which groweth out of Faith which Faith thou haueing nourished euen from my cradle did'dst inspire by the illustration of thy grace and which thou hast encreased and confirmed in me by the documents of my Mother the Church I inuoke thee O holy and blessed and glorious Trinity in Vnity the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghoste our God our Lord and our Paraclete Charity Grace and Communication the Father the Sonne and the Illuminator the Fountayne the Riuer and the Irrigation or wateringe All things by one and all things in one from whome by whome in whome all things The liuing life the life proceeding from the liuing life the life liuing One from himselfe One from one and One from two One being from himselfe One being from another and One being from two other The Father is true the Sonne is Truth and the Holy Ghoste is Truth Therfore the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghoste are one essence one power one goodnes one beatitude from whome by whome and in whome all things are happie what things soeuer are happie CHAP. XXXII That God is the true and souuereigne life O God the true and Souuereigne life from whome by whome and in whome all things doe liue which haue any true and happy life O God who art that goodnesse and that beauty from whome by whome and in whome all things are faire and good which haue any beauty or goodnesse in them O God whose faith doth excite vs whose hope doth erect vs and whose charity doth vnite vs O God who requirest that we seeke thee and who makest vs finde thee and who openest to vs when we knocke O God from whome to be auerted is to faâ—l and to whom to be conuerted is to rise and in whom to remayne is to be immoueable O God whome noe man looseth but he who is deceaued no man seeketh but he who is admonished and noe man findeth but he who is purged O God whome to know is to liue whome to serue is to reigne whome to praise is the ioy and saluation of the soule I praise thee I blesse thee and I adore thee with my lipps with my hart and with all the whole power I haue And I present my humblest thanks to thy mercy and goodnes for all thy benefitts and I sing this Hymn of glory to thee Holy Holy Holy I inuoke thee O blessed Trinity beseechinge that thou wilt come into me and make me worthy to be the Temple of thy glory I begge of the Father by the Sonne I begge of the Sonne by the Father I begge of the Holy Ghoste by the Father and the Sonne that all vice may be farr remoued from me and that all holy vertue may be planted in me O Immense God from whome all things by whome all things in whome all things both visible and inuisible are made Thou who doste inuiron thy workes without and fillest them within who dost couer them from aboue and dost susteyne them from belowe keepe me who am the worke of thy hands and who hope in thee and who onely confide in thy mercy Keepe me I beseech thee here and euery where now and euer within and without before me behinde me aboue and belowe and round about that no place at all may be left for the treacherous attempts of my enemies against me Thou art the Omnipotent God the keeper and the Protector of all such as hope in thee without whome noe man is safe none freed from danger Thou art God and there is noe other God but thou neyther in heauen aboue nor on earth belowe Thou whoe performest workes of prowess and so many wonderfull and vnscrutable things which exceed all number Praise is due to thee honor is due to thee and to thee Hymns of glory are due To thee doe all the Angells the heaueÌ„s all the power therof sing Hymns and praises without ceaseing and all creatures and euery spiritt doth praise thee the holy and indiuiduall Trinity as it becomes the creatures there Creator the slaues their Lord and the souldiers their King CHAP. XXXIII The praises of men and Angells TO thee doe all the Saintes and they who are humble of hart to thee doe the spiritts and soules of iust persons to thee doe all the Cittizens of heauen and all those orders of blessed spiritts sing the hymn of honor and glory adoreinge thee humbly without end All the Cittizens of heauen doe praise thee O Lord after a most honorable and magnificent manner and man who is an eminent parte of thy Creatures doth also praise thee Yea and I wretched sinner and miserable Creature that I am doe yet labour with an extreame desire to praise thee and wish that I could loue thee with excessiue loue O my God my life my strength and my praise vouchsafe to lett me praise thee Grant me light in my hart putt thou the word into my mouth that my hart may thinke vpon thy glory and my toÌ„gue may singe thy praises all the day longe But because it is noe hansome praise which proceeds out of the mouth of a sinner And because I am a man of polluted lipps Clense thou my hart I beseeche thee from all spotts sanctify me O thou Omnipotent sanctifier both within and without and make me worthy to sett forth thy praise Receaue with benignity and acceptation from the hand of my hart which is the affection of my soule receiue I say the sacrifice of my lipps and make it acceptable in thy sight and make it ascend vp to thee in the odour of sweetnes Let thy holy memory and thy most diuine sweetnes possesse my whole soule and draw it vp at full speed to the loue of inuisible things Let it passe from the visible to the inuisible from the earthly to the heauenly from the temporall to the eternall and lett it passe on so farr as to see that admirable vision O eternall Verity O true Charity O deer Eternity thou art my God to thee doe I sigh day and night to thee doe I pant at thee doe I ayme to thee doe I desire to arriue He who knowes thee knowes Truth and he knowes Eternity Thou O Truth dost preside ouer all things We shall see thee as thou art when this blind and mortall life is spent wherein it is said to vs where is now thy God And I also said to thee Where art thou O my God In thee am I refreshed a little when I power out my soule towards thee by the voice of my exultation and confessioÌ„ which is as the sounde of a man who is bankquetting end celebratinge some great festiuity And
no comfort till I shall obteyne to see thee in thy celestiall bedd of state Thee who art my beloued and most beautifull Spouse my Lord and my God That beholding there in the society of such as thou hast chosen that glorious and admirable most beautifull countenance of thine which is topp full of all true sweetenes I may with profound humility adore thy Maiesty And then at last being replenished with the celestiall and vnspeakable iubilation of eternall ioy I may cry out with such as loue thee and say Beholde that which I aspired too I see That which I hoped for I haue That which I desired I inioy For to him am I conioyned in heauen whome being yet on earthe I loued witth my whole power I imbraced with entire affection and I inheared to with inuincible loue Him doe I praise adore and blesse who liueth raigneth God for euer and euer Amen CHAP. XXXVIII A Prayer to be made in affliction HAue mercy on me O Lord haue mercy on me deer Lord haue mercy on me most miserable sinner who cōmitt vnworthy things and doe endure such as I am worthy of for I am daily sinninge and daily feeling the scourge of sinn If I consider the euill which I cōmitt daily it is noe great matter which I suffer It is much wherein I offend and it is little which I endure Thou art lust O Lord and thy iudgment is right yea all thy iudgments are iust and true Thou art iust and true O Lord our God and there is noe iniquity in thee Thou O mercifull and Omnipotent Lord dost not afflict vs sinners cruelly and vniustly But when we were not thou didst make vs with thy hand of power and when we were lost through our owne fault thou didist admirablie restore vs by thy pitty and goodnes I know and am well assured that our life is not driuen on by rash and irregular motions but it is disposed and gouerned by thee O Lord our God So that thou hast a care of all butt especially of thy seruants who haue placed their whole hope in thy mercy I doe therefore beseeche and humbly pray thee that thou wilt not proceed with me according to my sinns whereby I haue deserued thy wrathe but accordinge to thyne owne great mercy which surpasseth the sinns of the whole world Thou O Lord who doest inflict exterior punishments vpon vs giue vs interior patience which may neuer faile that so thy praise may not departe from my mouth Haue mercy on me O Lord haue mercy on me and helpe me accordinge to what thou knowest to be necessary for me both in body and soule For thou knowest all things thou canst doe all things thou who liuest for euer CHAP. XXXIX A verie deuoute Prayer to God the Sonne O Lord Iesus Christe the Sonne of the liueing God who didest drinke vp that Calice of thy Passion thou being extēded vpon thy Crosse for the Redemption of all mortall men vouchsafe this day to giue me helpe Beholde I come poore to thee who art riche miserable to thee who art mercifull Let me not goe empty or despised from thee I am hungry now when I beginn let me not giue ouer empty of thee I come to thee almost starued let me not departe from thee vnfed And if now before I eat I sighe grant at least after I haue sighed that I may eate First of all O most sweete Iesus I confesse myne owne iniustice against my selfe before the magnificence of thy mercy Behold O Lord how I was conceaued and borne in sinne and thou didst wash me and sanctify me and after that I did yet pollute my selfe with greater sinnes For I was borne in Original sinn which was necessary to me but afterwards I weltred in actuall sinn which was voluntary Yet thou O Lord beinge not vnmindfull of thy mercy didst take me from the house of my father of flesh and blood and out of the Tabernacles of sinners and didst inspire me to follow thee with the generation of them who seeke thy face and who walke in the right way and who dwell amongst the Lillyes of chastity and who feed with thee at the table of profound pouerty And I vngratefull for so many benefits did after I had receaued Baptisme worke many wicked deeds and committed many execrable crymes And whereas I ought to haue remoued those former sinns I did after add new sinns to those These are my wickednesses O Lord whereby I haue deshonored thee defiled my selfe whome thou haste created after thyne owne Image and likenesse by pride vaine glorye and a number of other sinnes whereby my vnhappy soule is afflicted torne and destroyed Behold O Lord how my iniquityes haue ouergrowne my head and how they oppresse me as any heauy burden might doe And vnlesse thou whose property it is to haue mercy and to forgiue be pleased to put the hand of thy Maiesty vnder me I shall not faile to be miserably drowned in that bottomlesse pitt Consider O Lord God and see because thou art holy and behold how my enemy insulteth ouer me saying God hath forsaken him I will persecute him and take him for there is none to deliuer him But thou O Lord how long Conuert thy selfe to me and deliuer my soule and saue me for thy mercyes sake Haue mercy vpon thy Sonn whome thou didst begett weth noe small sorrow of thine and doe not so consider my wickednes as thereby to forgett thyne owne goodnes Who is that Father which will not deliuer his Sonne Or who is that Sonne whome the Father will not correct with the staffe of pitty Therefore O my Father and my Lord though it be true that I am a sinner yet I leaue not for all that to be thy Sonne because thou haste both made me and made me agayne As I haue sinned so doe thou reforme me and when thou shalt haue mended me by thy correction deliuer me then to thy Sonne Can the Mother forgett the Childe of her wombe Yet supposeing she could thou hast promised O Father that thou wilt not forgett him Behold I cry out and thou hearest me not I am tormented with sorrowe and thou comfortest me not What can I say or what shall I doe most wretched creature that I am I am vtterly without all comfort and I am cast of from the sight of thyne eyes Woe is me from how great happinesse into how great misery am I fallen Whither was I goeinge and yet where am I arriued where am I or rather where am I not To whome did I aspire and yet now what kinde of things be they for which I pant and sighe I haue sought for happinesse and behold I hawe mett wish infelicity Bebold I am euen dyinge and Iesus is not with me without fayle it is better for me not to be at all then not to be with Iesus it is better for me not to liue at all then to liue without life But thou O Lord Iesus and what
iniustice is great I confesse it but farr greater is the Iustice of my Redeemer For as much as God is Superior to man so much is my malice inferior to his goodnes both in quantity and quality For in what hath man sinned wherin the Sonne of God being made Man hath not redeemed him What pride was able to swell so highe as that so great humility would not be able to beate it downe What dominion of death could be so absolute which the torment of the Crosse indured by the Sone of God will not destroy Infaillibly O my God if the faults of a sinfull man and the grace of him who redeemed them be putt into an equall ballance the East will not be found so farr distant from the west nay the lowest parte of hell will not be found so farr distant from the highest pich of heauen as they two will be Now therfore O thou most excellent Creator of light pardon my faults through the immense labours of thy beloued Sonne Lett now I beseech thee his piety propitiate for my impiety his modesty for my peruersity his meekenes for my rudenes his humility for my pride his patience for my impatiēce his benignity for my harshnes his obedience for my disobedience his tranquillity for my vnquietnesse his sweetenes for my bitternesse his mildnesse for my anger and let his charity ouerworke my cruelty CHAP. IX Of the inuocation of the Holy Ghost O Loue of that diuine power the Holy communication of the Omnipotent Father and of the most blessed Sonne O thou Omnipotent Holy Ghoste the most sweete comforter of the afflicted slipp thou downe euen very now by thy puissant vertue into the most secrett corners of my hart and by the splendor of thy cleere light illuminate ô thou deere dweller in our soules these darke retreyts of our neglected habitations and by thy visitation and by the abundance of thy dewe from heauen make my soule growe fruitfull which by reason of so longe a drought is all deformed and decayed Wound thou the most retyred parts of this inward man with the darts of thy loue and inflame and pearce the very marrowe of my dull hart with those healthfull fires of thine And by the flame of thy holy feruour illuminate thou and feed the very interiour both of my whole body and minde Giue me once to drink of the torrent of thy delights that now I may noe more haue a minde so much as euen to taste of the pestiferous sweetnesse of wordly things Iudge me ô Lord and discerne my cause from all wicked people and teach me to doe thy will for thou art my God I beleeue therfore that whomesoeuer thou dost inhabite thou dost build vp a dwellinge place in him both for the Father and the Sonne Blessed is he who shall arriue to intertayne thee because by thee both the Father the Sonne will remaine with him Come come euen now O thou moste benigne Comforter of all woefull soules Thou who protectest them when they haue most need and art their helper in tribulation Come ô thou clenser of sinns and curer of wounds Come ô thou strength of the weake ô thou who stayest such as are falling Come ô thou teacher of the humble and distroyer of the proude Come ô deare Father of Orphants and fauorable Iudge of widowes Come thou hope of the poore thou cherisher of such as fainte Come thou propitious starr of such as sayle thou hauen against the danger of shipwrack Come ô thou excellent ornament of such as liue the onely helpe of such as dye Come ô most holy Spiritt Come and haue mercy on me make me fitt for thy self condiscend to me with pitty that my meanenesse may growe pleasing to thy greatnesse and my weakenes to thy strength Accordinge to the multitude of thy mercyes through Iesus Christe my Sauiour who with the Father doth liue ad reigne in thy vnity for euer and euer Amen CHAP. X. The Prayer of the Seruant of God conceauing humbly of himselfe I Knowe O Lord I knowe and I confesse that I am not worthy that thou shouldest loue me but yet at least it is certaine that thou art not vnworthy to be beloued by me It is true that I am vnworthy to serue thee but it is also true that thou art not vnworthy to be serued by thy Creatures Giue me therfore somewhat O Lord of that which maketh thee so worthy and so I shall growe worthy who am vnworthy Make me cease from sinn by what meanes thou wilt to the end that I may serue thee as I ought Grant that I may so addresse and order and end my life that I may sleepe in peace and repose in thee Grant that in the end the sleepe of death may receiue me with rest rest with securiry and security with eternity Amen CHAP. XI A Prayer to the blessed Trinity WE confesse to thee with our whole hart and with our mouth we praise and blesse thee O God the Father who art vnbegotten and thee O God the Sonne who art the onely begotten and thee O God the holy Ghoste who art the Paraclete To thee O holy and indeuiduall Trinity be glory for all eternityes Amen CHAP. XII A Confession of the Omnipotency and Maiesty of God O Supreame Trinity O thou sole power vndeuided Majesty O God of ours O Omnipotent God I confesse to thee who am the vnworthyest of thy seruāts and the weakest of thy mēbers I cōfesse to thee in thy Church and I giue thee honor by offering thee a due sacrifice of praise according to that little power and skill which thou haste vouchsafed to affoord me thy miserable creature And because I haue no external presents which I can make to thee therfore these desires and vowes of seruice and praise which by the guift of thy mercy are in me behold how with an vnfained faith and with a pure conscience I offer them to thee not onely with a good will but with a hart which is full of triūph and ioy I beleeue therfore with my whole hart and I confesse with my mouth O thou Kinge of heauen ad Lord of earth that thou the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghoste art in Persons three and in Substance one that thou art God Omnipotent of one simple incorporeall inuisible and vncircumscribed nature That there is nothing either aboue thee or belowe thee or greater then thou but that thou art sublymely and absolutely perfect whithout the least deformity Great without quantity good without quality eternall yet wholly without Tyme That thou hast life without death that thou art strong without any weakenesse true without falshoode euery where present without being scituated any where filling all things yet without any extension occurringe euery where yet without any crossinge or contradiction Transcending all things without Motion remaneinge in all things without Station creatinge all things without looseinge or wantinge any thing and ruleinge all things without
labour Giueinge a beginninge to all things thy selfe haueinge noe beginninge makeing all things changeable beinge yet vnchangeable in thy selfe being infinite in thy greatenesse Omnipotent in thy power souuereigne in thy goodnesse inestimable in thy wisdome terrible in thy decrees iust in thy iudgements secret in thy thoughts true in thy wordes holy in thy workes plentifull in thy mercyes Towards sinners thou art most patiēt towards penitents thou art most pittifull Thou art euer the same eternall sempiternall immortall vnchangeable God whome neither space can dilate nor littlenesse of place can streighten nor any receptacle can keepe in or constraine nor the will vary nor partiality corrupt nether doe sad things afflict thee nor ioyfull things transport thee From whome neither forgetfullnes takes any thinge neither doth memory restore any thing neither doe things past passe away nor future things succeed To whome neither the first gaue beginninge nor the continuance of tyme increase nor shall any accident giue it any end But thou liuest for all eternity both before and in and through all aages And lett immortal praise and eternall glory and souuereigne power and supreame honor and a Kingdome Empire for all eternity remaine with thee through those infinite vnwearied and immortall ages of ages Amen CHAP. XIII How God the Father vouchsafed to helpe mankinde and of the Incarnation of the worde HItherto O Omnipotent God the beholder searcher of my hart I haue confessed the Omnipotency of thy Maiesty and the maiesty of thy Omnipotency But now as I beleeue with the hart to Iustice so will I confesse before thee with the mouth to saluation in what sort thou haste beene pleased at the end of many ages to releiue the misery of mankinde Thou O God and our onely Father wert neuer to be sent any whither But of the Sonne the Apostle writeth thus When the fullnes of tyme was come God sent his Sonne When he saith sent he doth sufficiently showe that then he came sent into this world when being borne of the euer B. Virgin Mary he became and appeared true and perfect man in flesh But what is that which that cheife of all the Euangelistes saith He was in the world and the world was made by him He was sent thither in his Humanity who was euer and is there by his Diuinity Now that this Mission is the worke of the whole blessed Trinity I confesse with my whole hart and mouth But how then didst thou loue vs O thou holy and good Father how much didst thou loue vs O most deare Creator who didst not euen spare thyne owne Sonne but didst deliuer him vp for vs wretched Creatures He was subiect to thee euen vnto the death and that the death of the Crosse takeinge the hand-writinge of our sinns and nailinge it to the same Crosse He crucified also sinn it selfe and killed death He who onely is free amongst the dead haueing power both to lay downe his life for vs and afterward to take it vp againe Hence was he both the conquerer and Sacryfice And therfor the Conquerer because the sacryfice for vs To thee he was the Preist and the Sacrifice and therfore the Preist because the Sacrifice Most iustly haue I a strong hope in him that thou for his sake who sitteth at thy right hand and is continually interceedinge for vs wilt cure all our languishing diseases For my infirmityes O Lord are great and many great they are and many The Prince of this world hath much to say against me I knowe and cōfesse it yet deliuer me I beseeche thee by that Redeemer of mine who sitteth at thy right hand in whome he was able to finde none of his malice By him I beseeche thee to iustify me by him who comitted noe sinn nor was there any guile found in his mouth I beseeche thee by that head of ours in whome there is noe one little spott deliuer this member which yet is his how weake and poore soeuer it be Deliuer me I beseeche thee from my sinns my vices my faults and my negligence Fill me with thy holy vertues make me of most innocent conuersation And grant for thy holy names sake that I may continue euen to the very end in those good workes which thou commaundest according to thy holy will CHAP. XIV Of the confidence which a soule ought to haue in our Lord Iesus in his Passion I Could easily haue despaired through the excesse of my greiuous sinns and of my infinite negligences if thy word O God had not become flesh and had not dwelt amongst vs. But now I dare not despaire because when we were enemyes we were reconciled by the death of thy Sonne how much more now we beinge already reconciled shall we be saued by him For all the hope and stay of all my confidence doth consist in that pretious blood of his which was shed for vs and for our saluation In him doe I take breath and hopeing firmely in him I earnestly desire to come to thee not haueinge any iustice of mine owne but that which is in thy Sonne our Lord Iesus-Christe We doe therfore thank thee O most Clement and benigne louer of mankind who when we were not didst powerfully create vs by Iesus-Christe thy Sonne our Lord. And whē we were lost by our owne fault thou didst admirably deliuer and recouer vs. I giue thankes to thy mercy many thanks doe I giue thee with the whole affection of my hart who through that vnspeakable charity wherewith thou didst vouchsafe with strange goodnes to loue vs miserable and vnworthy Creatures didst send thyne onely begotten Sonne from thyne owne bosome for our common good so to saue vs sinners who were then the sonns of wrath I giue thee thanks for his holy Incarnation and Natiuity and for his glorious Mother of whom he vouchsafed to assume flesh for vs and our saluation that as he was true God of God so he might also be true man of man I thanke thee for his Crosse and Passion for his death and Resurrection for his Ascension into heauen and for his seat of Maiesty at thy right hand For vpō the fortieth day after his Resurrection ascendinge aboue all the heauens whilest his Disciples were lookeing on and being seated at thy right hand he did according to his promisse powre forth the Holy Ghoste vpon the Children of adoption I thank thee for that most sacred effusion of his most pretious Blood wherby we are redeemed and withall for that Sacred and Holy and quickninge Mistery of his Body and Blood which dayly we eate and drinke in the Church and wherby we are washed and sanctified and made partakers of that one supreame diuinity I thank thee for this admirable and vnspeakable charity of thine wherby thou hast so loued and saued vs vnworthy creatures by that onely and beloued Sonne of thine For thou didst so loue the world as to giue thy onely begotten Sonne that euery one who beleeued
yet agayne it is afflicted because it falls back and returnes to be an Abysse or rather it findes that still it is so My faith which thou hast kindled in this night of myne before my feete doth say Why art thou sad O my soule and why doste thou afflict me Hope thou in God his word is a lanterne to my feete Hope and continue to doe so till the night which is the mother of the wicked doe passe a way till the wrath of our Lord passe away wherof sometymes we were the Children For sometymes we were darknes Till this fury of water pass cleane a way we still dragg on in our body which is dead through sinn the reliques of that darknes Till such tyme as the day shall approach all shadowes may be remoued I will hope in our Lord. In the morrow of the next life I shall assist and contemplate and I will euer confesse to him In that morrow I shall assist and behold the health of my countenance which is my God who will reuiue euen our mortall bodyes for that spiritts sakes which dwelleth in vs that now we may be light euen whilest we are saued here by hope That we may be the Sonns of light and the Sonns of God and not of night and darknes For sometymes we were darknes but now we are light in thee O our God and yet we are so here but by Faith and not face to face Because that hope which is seene is not hope All that immortall people of thy Angells praiseth thee O Lord and those celestiall Powers glorify thy Name They haue no need to read any such writing as this towards the makeinge them knowe the holy indiuiduall Trinity For they see thy Face for euer and there they read without any syllabes of tyme what that eternall will requires They read they choose and they loue They euer read and that neuer passeth which they are readinge By choosing and by loueinge they read the very immutability of thy counsell and their booke is neuer shutt and their scrowle neuer folded vp for thy self is all that to them and so thou art to be for euer O how excessiuely happy are those powers of heauen which are able to praise thee most purely and holyly with excessiue sweetnes and vnspeakable exultation They praise thee for that in which thâ—â— ioy because they euer see reason 〈◊〉 they should reioice and praise them But we being oppressed by this burthen of our flesh and being cast farr of from thy face in this pilgrimage of ours and being so racked by the variety of worldly things are not able worthily to praise thee Yet we praise thee as we can by Faith though not face to face but those Angelicall spiritts praise thee face to face not by Faith For our flesh putteth this vpoÌ„ vs obligeth vs to praise thee farr otherwise then they doe But how soeuer euen we sing praise to thee in a different manner and yet thou art but one O God thou Creator of all things to whome the sacrifice of praise is offered both in heauen and earth And by thy mercy we shall one day arriue to their society with whome we shall for euer see and praise thee Grant O Lord that whilest I am placed in this fraile body of mine my hart may praise thee my tongue may praise thee and all the powers of my soule may say O Lord who is like to thee Thou art that Omnipotent God whome we worshiâ— as Trine in Persons and Onâ—â— the Substance of thy Diety We adore the Father vnbegotten the Sonne the onely begotten of his Father and the Holy Ghoste proceedinge from them both and remaininge in them both We adore thee O Holy and indiuiduall Trinity one Omnipotent God who when we were not did'st most puissantly make vs and when by our owne fault we weare lost by thy pitty and goodnes thou did'st recouer vs after an admirable manner Doe not I beseech thee permitt that we should be vngratefull for so great benefitts and vnworthy of so many mercyes I pray thee I beseech thee I begg of thee that thou wilt increase my faith hope and charity I beseech thee make vs by that grace of thyne to be euer firme in beleiueinge and full of efficacy in working that so by meanes of incorrupted Faith and workes worthy therof we may through thy mercy arriue to euerlastinge life And there beholding thy glory as indeed it is we whome thou haste made worthy to see that glory of thyne may adore thy Maiesty and may say together Glory be to the Father who created vs Glory be to the Sonne who redeemed vs Glory be to the Holy Ghoste who sanctifyed vs Glory be to the supreame indiuiduall Trinity whose workes are inseparable and whose empire is eternall To thee our God praise is due to thee a Hymne of glory to thee all honor benediction clarity thanksgiueing vertue and fortitude for euer and for euer Amen CHAP. XXXIV He complayneth against himselfe for not being moued with the contemplation of God whereat the Angells tremble PArdon me O Lord pardon me through thy mercy pardon and pitty me pardon my great ignorance and imperfections Doe not reiect me as a presumptuous creature in that I aduenture being thy slaue I would I could say a good one and not rather that I am vnprofitable and wicked and therfore very wicked because I take this boldnes to praise and blesse and adore thee who art our Omnipotent God and who art terrible and excessiuely to be feared without contrition of hart without a fountaine of tears and without due reuerence and trembling For if the Angells who adore and praise thee doe tremble whilest they are filled with that admirable exultation how comes it to passe that I a sinfull creature whilest I am present with thee and sing prayses and offer sacrifices to thee am not frighted at the hart that I am not pale in my face that my lipps tremble not and my whole body is not in a shiueringe and that so with a flood of tears I doe not incessantly mourne before thee I would fayne doe it but I am not able because I cannot doe what I desire Herupon I am vehemently wondringe at my selfe when by the eyes of Faith I see how terrible thou art but yet who can doe euen this without thy grace For all our saluation is nothing but thy great mercy Woe be to me how comes my soule to be made so senseles as that it is not frighted with excessiue terrour whilest I am standing before God and singinge forth his praise Woe be to me how comes my hart to be so hardned that myne eyes cannot incessantly bring forth whole floods of tears whilest the slaue is speaking before his Lord Man with God the. Creature with the Creator he who is made of durte with him who made all things of nothing Beholde O Lord how I place my selfe before thee that which I conceiue of
might be thought fit to be made pertakers of so high a good and so great a glory Let therfore the deuills lye in wayte for vs let them prepare theyr temptations let fasting breake our bodyes let garments loade our flesh let labours weigh heauy vpon vs let watching drye vs let one man cry out vpon vs and let another man disquiet vs let cold contract vs let the conscience repine let heat burne vs let the head ake the breast be inflamed let the stomacke be swolne let the face growe pale and let the whole body be distempered let my yeares be spent in groaning yea let rottennes enter into my bones and multiply therin so that yet I may rest in that day of tribulation and may ascend to our elected people For how great wil that glory of iust persons be how great will be that ioy of the saints when euery one of their faces shal be resplendent like a Sunne When our Lord shall begin to muster vp his people by different ranks in the kingdome of his father shall assigne the promised rewards according to the workes and merit of euery one Celestiall rewards for workes which were performed heere on earth Great rewards for little workes eternall for such as were but temporall That indeed will be a whole huge heape of felicity when our Lord shall bring his Saints into the vision of his Fathers glory and shall place them vpon their seats in heauen that so he may be all in all CHAP. XVI How the kingdome of God may be obteyned O HAPPY sweetnes O delicious happines which it will be for vs to behold the Saints be with Saints and to be Saints to see God and to possesse him for all eternity and euen if it might be beyond eternity Let vs be continually thinking on these things let vs aspire to them with our whole desire that so we may speedily arriue to enioy them If thou aske how this may be done by what merits or by what helpes giue eare and I will tell thee This affaire is put into thine owne power for the kingdome of heauen suffereth violence The kingdome of heauen O man doth exact no price at thy hands but onely thy selfe So much is it worth as thou thy selfe art Giue thy selfe and thou shalt haue it Why art thou troubled about the price Christ our Lord did giue himself away that he might purchase thee to be a kingdome for his father and so do thou also giue thy selfe that thou maist become a kingdome for him that sinne may not raigne in thy mortall body but the Spirit in the renouation of life CHAP. XVII What a happy place Heauen is O My soule returne toward that heauenly Citty wherin we are written and enrold as Cittizens And as Cittizens amongst the Saints the houshold seruants of God and as the heires of God and coheires of Christ our Lord. Let vs consider that excellent felicity of this citty of ours to the very vttermost of what we are able Let vs therefore say with the Prophet O how glorious thinges are sayd of thee thou Citty of God the habitation which is made in thee is of them who are all full of ioy For thou art founded in the exultation of the whole earth No old age is in thee nor any misery which is wont to wayte vpon old age In thee there is no man lame of arme or legg nor crooked nor other wise deformed when once they meet together becoming perfect man in the measure of the age of the fulnesse of Christ What is more happy then such a life where there is no fear of pouerty nor no incommodity of sicknes where no man is offended no man is angry no man enuious no desire doth solicite vs there is no appetite of meate no man is importuned by thirsting after honour and power there is no feare of the Diuell or the craft of those infernall spirits all terrour of hell is farre off there is no death either of body or soule but a life which is made full of ioy by the guift of immortality In fine there is no kind of ill or discord but all thinges are full of agreement proportion for as much as the concord of all the Saints is intierely one all things are full of peace and ioy all things are quiet and serene An euerlasting splendor there is not like that of this Sunne of ours but another which is so much more bright at it is more blessed For that Citty as we read shall need neither Sūne nor Moone but our Lord omnipotent will illuminate it and the Lambe is the bright lampe therof Where the Saints shall shine like starres and they who instruct many others like the splendour of the firmament No night shal be therefore there no darknes no concourse of clowds no incommodity at all of heat or cold but such a temper of things there wil be as neither the eye hath seene nor the eare hath heard nor can it enter into the hart of any other mē but such as shal be thought worthy to enioy it Whose names are written in the booke of life But it exceedeth all these thinges to be associated to the Quires of Angells and Archangells to behold the Patriarkes and the Prophets to see the Apostles and all the Saints yea to see our owne parents friends These things indeed are glorious but yet still incomparably a more glorious thing it is to behold the present face of God to looke vpon that vnlimitted light of his A superexcellent glory it will be when we shall see God in himselfe we shall see we shall possesse him in our selues and of that sight there wil be no end CHAP. XVIII We cannot make any requitall to Almighty God but only by loue THE soule which is beautifyed by the Image and dignifyed by the ressemblance of God hath groūd inough within it selfe which is also imparted by the same God wherby she may be aduised to remain perpetually within him or at least to return towardes him if she chance to haue beene separated by her affection or rather by her defectes And not only hath she ground of solace in the hope which she may conceaue of pardon and mercy but yet further she may also presume to aspire euen to the marriage of the Word and to contract a league of friendship with God and togeather with that king of the Angells to be drawing in the same sweet yoake of loue Now all this is performed by the same loue if the soule do make it selfe like to God by her will as already she is like him by nature and if she loue him as she is beloued by him For only loue amongst all the motions passions feeling senses of the soule is the thing whereby a creature may answere the benefits of a Creatour and repay after a sort what it oweth though it be not in any equall manner Where loue entreth in it draweth captiueth all other
me For thou art as we beleeue thou art that very thing which we beleeue wee beleeue that thou art some what then which nothing greater and nothing better can be conceaued What therfore art thou O Lord God since nothing can be cōceaued either greather or better then thou art but only that soueraigne good which existing by it selfe alone did create al other things of nothing VVhat good can therfore be wanting to that soueraigne good whereby all good thinges are Thou art therefore iust true blessed whatsoeuer els which it is better to be then not to be that thing thou art But yet if thou be all supremely iust how commeth it to passe that thou pardonnest sinners Is it because thy goodnes doth exceed our vnderstanding This mistery lyeth hid in that inaccessible light which thou dost inhabit yea in that most deepe and most secret profoundity of thy Goodnes that fountaine doth lye hid from whence the riuer of thy mercy floweth For although thou be wholy and supremely iust yet therefore art thou mercifull to wicked men because thou art also wholy and supremely Good And thou shouldst be lesse good if thou wert not good to any who is wicked For he is better who is good both to the good to the had then he who is good but to the good And better is he who is good both in pardoning and in punishing wicked men then another who is only good in punishing And therefore art thou also mercifull because thou art wholy and supremely Good CHAP. XXXIII Of the delightfull fruition of God O Thou immense goodnes who exceedest all vnderstanding Let thy mercy which so aboundantly preceedeth from thee descend downe on me let that flow into me which floweth from the. Pardon me by thy mercy least els thy iustice be forced to take reuenge vpon me Styr thy selfe vp now O my soule erect thy whole vnderstanding and consider to the vttermost of all thy power what kind how great a good that is which is God himself For if euery particulier good thing do carry with itsome delight doe but seriously consider how delightful that good must needs be which contayneth the delight of all good thinges that too no such kind of delight as we experience in thinges created but a delight so very different as the Creatour is more excellent then the creature Now if that life which is created be good how good is that other life which created this If this health be delightfull which is made how delightfull must that needs be which made all this health If the VVisedom be amiable which is exercised in the consideration knowledge of created things how amiable must that other VVisedom be which created framed all of nothing And in fine if the delight which is taken in delightfull things be very great and of great variety how various how great is that delight which is taken in him who created all these delightfull thinges O how happie shall he be that shall arriue to ēioy this good Yea how happy shall he not be Infaillibly whatsoeuer he would haue to be shall be and whatsoeuer he would not shall not be He shall there be so endued with such felicity both of body soule as neither the eye hath seene nor the eare hath heard nor hath it entered into the hart of man CHAP. XXXIV That this supreme good is to be desired WHY dost thou therfore wander O thou man in the search of any good concerning either thy body or thy soule Loue thou that one good wherein all good things are it is inough Desire thou that one single good which conteyneth all good and it will suffice For what dost thou O boby of myne desire what dost thou desire O my soule There is in that good whatsoeuer thou canst desire or loue If thou be delighted with beauty the iust shall shin bright like the Sunne If speed or strenght or ability to do what thou wilt with thy body nothing shall be able to resist thee since the. Saints shal be as the Angels of God For a corporall body is sowed but it shall rise vp a spirituall body not that it is so by nature but by participation If thou desire a long healthfull life in heauen there shal be a health full eternity an eternall health for the iust shall liue for euer their saluatio is of our Lord. If thou desire to haue a satiety fullnes of all things Men shal be satisfyed when the glory of our Lord shall appeare If thou desire to be inebriated mē shall there be inebriated by that euer growing plenty of the house of God If musicke the Angells shal be singing there for all eternity If pleasure which is chast pure our Lord shall giue then to drink of the torrent of his pleasure If wisedome the very wisedome of God will to them declare himself who is wisedome If friendship they shall loue God more then themselues God will loue them better them they can loue themselues because they loue him themselues one another in him he loueth himselfe them by himselfe If concord with one another be esteemed they haue all but one will because they haue no other will but the supreme will of God If power they shall haue the same dominion ouer their owne will which God hath ouer his For as God can do what he will by himselfe so shall they be able to do what they will by him And as they cannot will any thing but what he wills so wil he will whatsoeuer they will so what they will cannot chuse but be If wealth honour God doth place his good and faythfull seruants ouer many goods yea they shall be called the sonnes of God and Gods and they shal be his heires the coheirs of Christ If true security they shall be as certainly assured that no good thing shall be euer wanting to them as they shall be sure that neither they wil forgoe it willingly nor that he who loueth them will take it away against their will whome he so loueth nor yet that there is any thing mightier then God which is able to separate him and them from one another Now what kind of ioy and how great must that needs be where such a good as this is to be inioyed CHAP. XXXV Of the mutuall Charity of the Saints in Heauen O Thou hart of man thou poore hart thou hart which knowest what belonges to cares and miseries by experience or rather which art euen ouer-welmed by them how much wouldst thou reioyce if thou didst abound with all those blessings Aske thy most inward powers if they would be able to containe the ioy which would grow to thee by such felicity as that But now if any other whom thou didst absoluty loue as thou didst loue thy selfe should possesse the selfe same beatitude with thee thy ioy would be doubled because thou wouldst