his sinnes was much more stinking and abhominable vnto him then was the most corrupted carion D. Antonij 4. p. sum tit 14. c. 6. § 1. O sinne how horrible detestable cruell gastly and stinking art thou c Let vs fly from a monster so abhominable 6. S. Edmond had an exceedinge horror therof sith he said that he had rather cast him selfe into a burning fornace then to fall into one mortal sinne Sur. in his life c 29. Nou. 16. 7. Yea S. Anselme said that he had rather fall into hell then into sinne S. Ansel de similit Sur. 2. of Aprill See hereafter lib. 2. c. 3. § 1. the like answere of an old Iaponian §. 3. By mortall sinne we crucifie againe Iesus Christ. 1. O the full measure of all mischiefe that sinne is not only extremly iniurious to him who committeth it but euen to God him selfe the author of health It is the sentence of S. Paul Heb. 6. 6. saying that sinners crucify againe to themselues the Sonne of God and make him a mocquerie And in the 10. c. 29. he saith that they tread the Sonne of God vnder foote and esteeme the blood of the testament polluted wherin they had bene sanctified By one mortall sinne we crucifie againe the Sonne of God because we doe that which was the cause of his crucifixion And if his death had not bene sufficient for the ransome of all the sinnes of the world he must for the expiation of euery sinne which we commit haue againe bene crucified and put to death 2. With great reason then said that good doctor Ioannes Taulerus if God would suffer some one to see his owne sinnes as they are seene of God him selfe he would burst a sunder with very sorrow at the same instant perceiuing the iniurie and contempt that he hath done by them to his Creator and Redeemer lib. de vita pass Christi c. 7. EXAMPLES 1. At the time that the Albigensian heretiques ransacked France our Lady appeared vnto S. Leutgarde with a sad and weeping countenance The saint hauing enquired the cause of her heauines she answered vnto him that it was because that the heretiques and euil Christiās crucified againe by their sinnes her deare Sonne Iesus Christ Sur. tom 3. ex Tho. Cantiprat 2. S. Bridgit of Sueede haueing heard preached vpon a day the passion of our B. Sauiour the night ensuinge our Lord appeared vnto her al bloody and full of dolors as when he was fastned to the Crosse and said vnto her Behould my woundes The Saint beleeuing that they were fresh said vnto him in weeping wise Alas my Lord who hath hurt thee in this maner They quoth he that doe contemne and make none account of my charity Sur. to 4. Ribad in her life the 23. of Iuly 3. See more in the 2. booke c. 7. § 3. Example 4. of S. Collect. O execrable malice of mortall sinne Let vs now speake of veniall sinne §. 4. Of veniall sinne 1. Veniall sinne doth not exclude the grace of God nor charitie it diminisheth notwithstanding the feruor thereof and as S. Paul speaketh Ephes 4. doth contristat the holy Ghost obfuscat the conscience and hinder the aduancement in virtues and by litle and litle draweth a man to mortall sinne He that contemneth smale thinges shall fall by litle and litle saith the wiseman Eccles 19. 1. S. Aug. compareth veniall sinnes vnto the itche which spoyle the beautie of the face and disgusteth the behoulders feare them not saith he because they are lesser then the others but because they are in greater nombre The gnattes and flies are litle beastes which yet if they be many in number are able to take from a man his life Graines of Sande being multiplied doe sinke the Shippes and droppes of waters gathered together make riuers swell and ruine houses 2. Veniall sinne is like to a thrid tied to the foote of the soule which hindreth it to fly to perfection It is a mothe which eateth by litle and litle beames and summer postes which not able at the last to support the waight that is laid vpon them doe cause the fall of the whole house No polluted thinge shall enter into the celestiall Ierusalem saith S. Iohn Apoc. 21. 27. vnles therfore veniall sinnes be blotted forth in this life they traile a man to the fire of Purgatorie a fire so terrible that in respect therof the paines of this life are in a maner nothinge as both S. Aug. and S. Greg. say in psl. 37. ser 41. in 3. psl. paenit And our Lord him selfe saith That euery idle word that men shall speake they shall render an account for it in the day of iudgement Mat. 12. 36. And doost thou set so light by veniall sinne EXAMPLES 1. The Abbot Moises was posessed with the diuell for hauing thorough impatience spoken a litle ouer roughly vnto another Cassian Colat. 7. c. 27. Another Monke was also possest for hauing drunke with too much sensuallitie a glasse of water S. Greg. dial l. 1. c. 4. And another for hauing bene distracted voluntarily in his prayer Ibid. l. 2. c. 1. Is not this enough to giue to vnderstand that veniall sinnes are not so litle before God as men imagin 2. S. Marie of Ognia was so circumspect and so aduised in her actions euen in the very least of all that none could euer obserue the least idle word to issue out of her mouth nor anie other vncomely cariage and was accustomed to confes her selfe of her least faultes with as much contrition as if they had beene mortall sinnes Iac. de vitriaco Card. in her life l. 1. c. 6. 3. Eusebius Monke casting once his eye thorough curiositie vpon the the workmen which laboured in the fieldes whilst Amyan read the gospels vnto him for this cause not hauing well vnderstood a certaine passage whereof the other asked him the explication had so great repentance for it that he euer after mortified his sight duringe the time of his whole life carying continually his head enclined towards the earth by meanes of a great iron chaine which tyed his neck vnto his girdle and this for the space of forty yeares so great esteemed he this litle fault Theodore in hist sanct pat sect 4. Sophron. in prato◠spirit 4. The B. Mother Teresa of Iesus foundresse of the discalceat Carmelits makes mētion in her writinges of her sinnes with such excesse of exaggeration albeit they were but very litle as if they had bene exceeding greuous If in reciting any lesson in the quire she chanced to fayle but a litle she presētlie prostrated her self vpō the groūd in the midst of the quire which all the other sisters seeing could not abstaine from teares and were constrained to interrupt their seruice for the great feeling they had therof Ribera in her life and in the 10. c. of that which she wrote with her owne hande Now if the Saintes haue so apprehended the malice of veniall sinne what great horror had they of mortall sinne THE
giue thee then all the sorrowes and paines which I haue suffered In the booke aforsaid cap. 10. Length of time can nether be yrksome nor tedious vpon this subiect there being nothinge more profitable and necessarie for vs as S. Paul saith Heb. 10. 36. §. 7. Of spirituall diligence That which I haue alleadged heretofore against Slouth and Idlenes sufficeth to excite vs to the loue of this virtu yet to the end to say somwhat more directly and particularly We must consider that this life is giuen vs for no other end but to negociat our saluation for which cause it is that our Lord compareth vs to labourers sent to the vyniard there to worke who are to receiue our wages answerable to our labour Mat. 20. 8. 16. 27. The Sonne of man shall come in the glorie of his Father with his Angells and then will hee render to euerie man according to his workes The same also S. Paul saith 1. Cor. 3. 8. Euery one shall receiue his owne reward according to his owne labor And S. Iohn in the last of the Apocalips 12. and in the Galat. 6. 9. Doing good let vs not faile for in due time we shall reape not fayling therfore while we haue time let vs worke We shall haue no more glorie in heauen then we haue acquried merits in our life If the Saints could be sorrie nothing would so much peirce their hart as to haue let the time to passe so vnprofitably which was giuen them for the gayning of their glorie Our Lord compareth him selfe vnto a maister who going to trauell into a far contrie gaue to eache one of his seruants certaine tallents to trasique with all who at his returne was to call them to account for the diligence or negligence losse or gayne which they had made in their trasique and accordingly to giue them recompence What ioy hath a Christian at the houre of his death who hauinge carried him selfe like a good seruant may truly say Lord thou didst deliuer me two talents behould I haue gayned other two And to heare his Master say Well fare thee good and faithfull seruant because thou hast bene faithfull ouer a few thinges I will place thee ouer many thinges enter in to the ioy of thy Lord. Mat. 25. 22. How much more courageous oughtest thou to be in the field of God saith S. Aug. sith thou hast the promise of the truth which can nether fayle nor deceiue And what is it which is promised to thee Gold or siluer which men doe loue so excessiuelye Or enheritances for which men doe melt gold Or gardens houses or heardes of beastes No this is not the recōpence for which God doth encourage vs for to trauaile What is it then Life eternall Aug. tract 3. in ep Ioan. S. Gregorie of Nazianzen compares our life to a faire or market the day wherof being expired one findes no more to sell of that which he desired In sentent Behould the industrie of sundrie tradesmen who moyle and toile from the breake of day vnto midnight and this with ioy and songes of myrthe only to gaine a litle bread and thou o Christian to gaine the bread of Angells heauen it selfe and life eternall wilt thou refuse the labor and diligence of a few daies EXAMPLES 1. In the monasterie of Arnsberge of the order of the Premonstrenses a certaine English monke called Richard to fly idlenes spent the time which he had free to write forth the bookes of the monasterie hoping that for this paine diligence God would one day recompence him Twentie yeares after his death his graue being opened his whole body was turnd to ashes excepting only his right hande which was still as fresh and as whole as if at that instant it had bene cut or pluckt from the liuing body This arme is yet kept vnto this day in the same monasterie Caesarius l. 12. c. 47. 2. S. Bernard seing vpon a day one of the bretheren of his couent labouring in the field with great feruor and aboue his forces said vnto him in the presence of all the other religious who laboured as well as he Follow on my brother I assure thee that thou shalt haue no other purgatorie after this life Thom. à Cantipr lib. 2. ap cap. 5. 3. S. Marcian Anchoret meeting with a hunter was demanded of him what he did in that desert But the Saint demanded likewise of him what he did there The hunter answered that he hunted there after Hares and Deeres And I said S. Marcian hunt here after my God nor will neuer giue ouer this goodly chace vntill I take him and embrace him Theodor. in Philotheo Blessed is he who emploies his time and labour in such a chase See more vpon this matter c. 6. the Examples of the 7. § THE V. CHAPTER Of the holy sacrifice of the Masse THe Masse is a sacrifice a wherin the body and blood of Iesus-Christ is consecrated and offered vp to God with sundrie ceremonies prayers and sacred wordes instituted by our Lord him selfe as touching the substance in his last supper b and as concerning the rest by the B. Apostles and principallie by Saint Peter Saint Iames and by their successors c a Iustin. in dial cum Tryph. Basil ser 2. de baptis c. 2. Tertullian de orat Aug. ep 23. lib. 20. cont Faust. c. 21. b Luc. 22. Iren. l. 4. c. 32. Cypr. ep 63. Aug. l. 10. de ciuit c. 20. alibi sepe Conc. Trident. sess 2. c. 1. c Conc. Trid. ibid. cap. 5. §. 1. Of the fruites and vtilities of the Masse By meanes of this Sacrifice we rēdre thankes vnto God for all the benefits we haue receiued of his infinit boūtie as we are infinitly bound obliged vnto him so is there nothing by the which we can better satisfie him then to offer vnto him the immaculat hoste of his B. Sonne which of it selfe is of infinit value and merit Nether are they Priests only which may make this offringe but all those likewise who asist at Masse Moreouer by meanes of this sacrifice there is obtained and applied vnto vs all that which our Lord hath purchased for vs by his death and passion a And what other thinge is the holy Masse but the selfe same representation of the passion of our Lord b a Greg. Naz. orat 1. in Iulian. Greg. mag Hom 37. in euang b Luc. 22. Chrisost Hom. 17. in ep ad Heb. Aug. ser 4. de Innoc. See the Catechisme of Bellarmin There are yet many more vtilities 1. By the sacrifice of the masse we satisfie for our sinnes and venial sinnes are forgiuen vs. Cyp. Basil Chrisost Ambros citati a Canisio Hic 2. We receiue grace to resolue to confesse our mortall sinnes how enorme or in how great number soeuer they be and not to fall againe into them 3. We receiue sundry graces and helpes to resist the malignant spirit and to surmount the difficulties of this life Aug. l.
the fier of hell and to come to heauen with Iesus Christ counter garding him selfe against all tentations and not suffering him selfe to be corrupted by prosperity nor beaten downe with aduersity and who arriueth to this perfection that he more loueth God then he feareth hell Who though God him selfe should say vnto him vse and enioy the pleasures of the world commit all the sinnes thou wilt thou shalt not be damned would not for all this commit sinne for feare of offending almighty God such an one is truly Christian lib. de Catech. rud c. 16. 17. tom 4. Acknowledge thy dignitie o Christian saith S. Leo and take good heede that thou returne not by a degenerate and vnworthy conuersation to thy wonted vilenes and basenes Ser. 1. de Nat. EXAMPLES 1. S. Lewis kinge of France went more willingly to Poissi then to any other place in all his kingdome for that he had bene there baptised and made a Christian and was wont to say that he had receiued more dignitie and honor in that place then in any other in the whole world Nicol. Aegid Franc de Belleforest vpon his life Behould o Christian the dignitie thou hast sith such a Kinge preferreth the same before his crowne 2. Now to be a true Christian one must first flie and detest all sinne as well mortall as veniall as well that of will only and of thought as of wordes and worke 3. And touching wordes to keepe him selfe from swearing without necessitie and reason from blaspheming cursing and wicked imprecations from speaking wordes of contumelie detracting lying vttering of dishonest songes or wordes 4. As touchinge sinnes of worke parents ought to take heede that they be not negligent both to instruct and correct their children and children not to disobey their parents 5. Aboue all the sinne of Pride Couetousnes Luxurie Enuie Gluttonie Drunkenes Anger and Sloth is to be auoided 6. The most effectual remedies are to fly the occasion the memorie of the presence of almightie God of the passion of Iesus Christ of death Iudgement Hell and the kingdome of Heauen thus much concerninge the flight of sinne 7. Secondly one must addict him selfe to the exercise of virtues and of good workes as 8. To make the signe of the Crosse in rising vp and lying downe before eating and drinking before worke and in euery necessitie 9. To pray to God and to giue him thankes both morning and eueninge both before and after meate and to inuoke the assistance of our B. Ladie his Angell Guardian and of the Saintes namly of him whose name he beareth 10. To sprinkle him selfe with holie water and to beare about him an Agnus Dei. 11. To learne the most necessarie pointes of faith and of Christian religion 12. To haue a distrust of him selfe and a great trust and confidence in almightie God 13. To loue God aboue all thinges and his neighbour for God 14. To heare Masse both with reuerence and attention 15. To Confes often game Indulgences and to pray for the soules that are in Purgatorie 16. To fast pray and willingly to giue almes vnto the poore 17. To receiue often the holy Communion to heare gladly sermons and to beare a singular deuotion to our B. Ladie Loe these are the most necessarie pointes to liue and die a good Christian whereof I pretend to treate thorough all the chapters that doe ensue THE II. CHAPTER Of mortall and veniall sinne 1. AMongst all the euills that raigne in the world the greatest and most to be deplored is that men know not nor apprehend not the euills and miseries of the soule regarding none but those of the body The Asse falleth into the myre saith S. Bernard and both the master and the neighbours runne with speed to pull him forth the soule falleth into sinne and perdition none at all takes care thereof 2. What doth it profit a man saith our Lord if he gayne the whole worlde and sustaine the damage of his soule Mat. 16. 26. O yee fathers mothers apprehend this point and teache it betimes vnto your children make them to suck it with their milk whilst they are yet in their infancie and often singe vnto them this goulden sentence of our Sauiour Feare yee not them that kill the body and are not able to kill the soule but rather feare him that can destroy both soule and body into hell Mat. 10. 28. which nether is nor neuer shall be but for sinne §. What mortall sinne is and what detriments it bringeth to the soule 1. S. Augustin speaking of sinne in generall saith that it is a word thought or deede against the law of almightie God lib. 22. cont Faustum cap. 27. 2. Diuines say that it is a foulenes and deformitie of the reasonable creature wherby it is made displeasing to God and wherwith it can not see God in his glorie 3. To be mortall it must be committed freely and voluntarily against some commandement of God or the Church in a matter of importance 4. It is called mortall because it depriueth vs of our spirituall life and bringeth death vnto the soule separating it by this death from the kingdome of God and making it worthie of fire and paines that are perpetuall 5. The soule that shall haue sinned â—hall dye the death Ezech. 18. If I doe this said the chast Susanna being solicited vnto sinne it is my death Dan. 3. And the father of the prodigall child said vnto his eldest sonne thy brother was dead and is reuiued Luc. 15. 32. 6. Besides the spirituall life that is to say the grace of God which is lost by mortall sinne he likewise looseth all the merits he had got Ezech. 18. 24. All the giftes and the familiaritie of the holy Ghost and his virtues Sap. 1. 4. 5. Abdias 5. 6. He looseth the right of the children of God that is to say euerlasting life The especiall particular protection of God Psal 32. 18. The protection of his good Angell S. Basil in psal 33. Communication in the merits of all the Saints that is to say of all good Christians He becometh in an instant the slaue of the deuill prickt gnawen coÌ„tinually with the remorce of conscience it being the greatest of all torments that are in this life S. August in Psal 45. Iob. 15. 21. Pro. 28.1 throughout Sap. 17. Psal 50. He meriteth nothing in doing any good worke Isay 59. Luc. 5. 5. But that which is the greatest of al mischiefes he remayneth obliged to euerlasting paines Eccles 21. 10. 11. Iis procella tenebrarum seruata est in aeternum Cath. ep of S. Iude to whom the storme of darknes is reserued for euer Blessed Lord how many euills doth one only pleasure bringe EXAMPLES 1. Lysimachus kinge of Thracia rendring him selfe with his whole kingdome vnto his enimie for the thirst which he could no longer suffer after he had drunk a glasse of water Good God said this poore Pagan how great a miserie is it
point but litle honest he couered his face for very shame O Christian learne honestie of this Pagan you aboue all fathers and mothers Hitherto haue we spoken of sinne in generall mortall veniall sinnes of thought of the tongue As touching that which followes after of sinnes of worke to the end that this litle discourse do not enlarge it selfe too loÌ„ge I wil conteÌ„t my selfe to speake of capitail to wit of those which are the springe and fountaine of all Saue only before I come therto I wil insert this alone THE V. CHAPTER Of the sinnes of parents and their children LEt not fathers and mothers thinke it strange if I addresse my selfe more oft and more particularly to theÌ„ in this litle discourse and that I set before them particularly this litle chapter sith all the good or euill fortune of a common welth proceedeth from no other cause then from their good institution or negligence to frame their children as they ought and to bringe them vp in the feare of God See the last chap. of the 3. booke of the life of our B. Father Ignatius by Ribadeneira As God hath commanded children to honor loue and helpe their pareÌ„ts Exod. 20. 11. and to obey them in all that is reason so will he that parents loue their children Eccl. 7. 25. 26. nourishing them and bringing them vp according to their power and qualitie in all that which is needfull for them as well for body as for soule Et Ephes 6. 4. 1. Tim. 5. 8. S. Christ. to 6. ho. 27 §. 1. Of the negligence of parents to correct their children from their tendre youth and to instruct them in matters of faith and of good maners Can I conceale from Abraham the thinges that I will doe wheras he shall be into a nation great and very stronge and in him are to be blessed all the nations of the earth For I knowe that he wil coÌ„mand his children and his house after him that they keepe the way of the Lord and doe iudgement and iustice Gen. 18. 18. Forget not the wordes that thine eies haue seene and let them not fall out of thy hart all the dayes of thy lâ—fe thou shalt teach them thy sonnes and thy nephewes Deut. 4. 9. And in the 11. Chapter Teache your children my commandements when thou sittest in thy house and walkest on the way and lyest downe and risest vp that thy dayes may be multiplied and the dayes of thy children Deut. 11. 19. Hast thou children instruct them and â—ow them from their childhood Ecc. 7. 25. The notable negligence of parents to see that their children know and vnderstand the contents of the Creed the Pater Aue Commandements the vse of the holy Sacraments is mortall sinne saith Nauar. Man cap. 14. num 17. He that spareth the rod hateth his childe but that loueth him doth instantly nurture him Pro. 13. 24. The childe that is left to his owne will confoundeth his mother Pro. 29. 15. An vntamed borse becommeth stubburne and a dissolute childe wil become headdy Pamper thy sonne and he will make thee afraid play with him he will make thee sorrowfull Laugh not with him lest thou be sorrie and at the last thy teeth shal be on edge Giue him not power in his youth contemne not his cogitations Curbe his neck in youth and knock his sides whiles be is a childe lest peshaps he he hardned and beleeue thee not O beautifull sentence Eccl. 30. 8. He that loueth sonne or daughter aboue me is not worthie of me Mat 10. 37. If the childe by the conuiuencie or winking of the parents come to fall into any sinne his parents shall be answerable for his soule S. Clement successor to S. Peter const Apost l. 4. c. 20. S. Basil saith that children are like vnto soft wax wherein one printeth what he list and with the selfe same singars one formes an Angell or a deuill Reg. fus disp interrogat 7. Those parents saith Saint Chrisostome which care not to correct their children I tell them the truth and without passion are more wicked their paracides for these doe but seperat the bodie from the soule but such parents by their conuiuence send both the bodies and soules of their children to eternall flames and he that is kild as touching the body must of necessitie haue once died but these poore children might haue escaped the fire of hell if the negligence of their fathers and mothers had not sent them thither l. 3. aduers vituperat vitae monast This is that which the wiseman saith Withdraw not discipline from a childe thou shalt strike him with the rod and deliuer his soule from hell Pro. 23. 13. 14. EXAMPLES 1. Helie the high Priest albeit a Saint as S. Hierom writeth in c. 6. ad Ephes not hauing reprehended his children as he ought to haue done for their sinnes of Gluttonie and Lubricitie God called the prophet Samuell and said vnto him Behould I doe a thinge in Israel which whosoeuer shall heare both his eares shall tingle In that day will I raise vp against Helie all thinges which I haue spokeÌ„ touching his house I will begin and accomplish it for I haue foretold him that I would iudge his house for euer because of iniquitie for that he knew that his sonnes did wickedly and hath not corrected theÌ„ 1. Reg. 3 11. c. And what betided then vnto him 1. He became blinde 2. His soule melted 3. The life of his posterity was shortned 4. He lost the battaile against his enemies thirtie thousand of his foote men remayning slaine vpon the place 5. The Arke of God was taken and carried from them 6. His two sonnes Ophin and Phinees were likewise killed the same day 7. He hearing the newes fell backward and broke his neck 8. His daughter in law at the rehearsall of so strange a fortune was deliuered before her time and so died How many mischifes doth the conuiuence of a father trayle after it 2. You haue seene a litle before a childe of fiue yeares old borne away by the diuels forth of his fathers armes for his blasphemies c. 4. § 2. Ex. 3. what a hart breaking was it to this father to see his childe carried to hell from whence he might haue deliuered him with three or four ierkes of a rod 3. S. Augustine preaching to the religious of the desert tould them that that very day wherin he preached vnto theÌ„ the sonne of Cyrillus one of the most notable bourgesses of Hippo hauing bene alwaies ouer well beloued of his father yea more then God and therfore left to all kinde of libertie ether to say or to doe whatsoeuer he list after he had wasted all his wealth in dissolutenes cominge drunke in a doores had forced his mother great with childe and stroue to violate one of his sisters had kild his father and deaâ—ly wounded his two sisters Aug. ser 33. ad fratres in eremo Deare God what greater disaster
is at their beds feete who the same night is to let fly his dart and arrowe at them and to sende them from their bed to hell and from their soft boulster to a burning furnace of fire and of eternall flames Hapned it not so to Holofernes c Sisara d the rich glutton e to the slouthfull seruant in the gospell f â—o a thousand others who laying theÌ„ downe like vnto these and falling a â—leepe in perfect health haue bene found stone dead on the morrow morninge a Malach. 1. 6. Mat. 5. 6. 23. Rom. 8. 15. 16. b l. 1. c. 1. c Iudith 13. d Iudg. 4. e Luc. 16. f Luc. 12. Watch yee therfore saith our Lord that is to say stande vpon your garde put your selues in good estate for you know not when the Lord of the house cometh at euening or at midnight or at the cock crowing lest coming vpon a sodaine be finde you sleepinge that is to say in sinne without care without solicitude for the saluation of your soule and that which I say to you I say to all watch Marc. 13. 35 §. 1. Of the examen of our conscience The examen of our conscience consisteth in three pointes 1. To thanke God for all benefitâ— receiued and particularly of that day 2. To search and seeke forth diligently all the thoughtes wordes and workes of that day in the selfe same maner as if one should confes himself 3. To excite an act of Contrition with a firme purpose of amendment and to be confest with the first occasion See the act of Contrition pag. 265. Next to recommend him selfe to the good protection of almighty God of our B. Ladie his Angell gardian and of his patrons This practise is maruellous profitable for by an act of true contrition all sinnes are forgiuen albeit we remaine obliged to confes them to the priest in so much that if a person hauinge committed a great number of mortall sinnes after he shall haue excited in him such an act of contrition should come to die sodainly not hauing the meanes for to confes them he should be assured of his saluation as contrariwise not hauing made this act he should be damned infallibly See you the importance Marke now what the holy scripture and holy fathers say In the 4. psal 5. The thinges that you say in your hartes be yee sorry for that is to say for euill thoughtes and with much more reason for euill workes in your chambers That is to say aske God forgiuenes in going to bed Which S. Chrisostome explicating saith What meaneth this The thinges that you say in your hartes c. that is to say after supper when you goe to bed being alone in peace and silence iudge your conscience and demand an account of your selfe seeke forth all the bad actions of the day and hauing set â—hem before you take vengance of them and put them to death by a holy compunction And in the 76. Psal v. 6. I thought vpon old dayes and the eternall yeares I had in minde and I meditated in the night with my hart and I was exercised and swept my spirit that is to say examining my conscience and cleansing iâ— by a holy sorrow as S. Aug. expoundeth it And the same that holy Dauid did the same did kinge Ezechias as is to be found in Isay 38. 15. S. Anthonie was wont to recommend it seriously to his Disciples Athanas in his life as also S. Cyprian ser de pass Christi S. Basil ser commonit admonach ser de Ascen ser dâ— instit monach The marchants of the worlde saith S. Efrem are accustomed to calculate euery day the gayne or losse betyded to them in their traffique and you euery euening consider in what termes your traffique standeâ—h examine what you haue done that day and in the morninge that which you haue done during the night Ser. Ascet de vita relig See S. Chrisost Hom. 43. in Mat. S. Greg. Hom 4. in Ezech 35. moral in Iob. c. 6. 7. S. Iohn Climach grad 4. S. Doroth. de vita recte piè instit c. 11. S. Bernard ad fratres de monte Dei. S. Benet c. 4. of his rule instru 48. according to the explication of Trithemius l. 1. comment in hanc reg S. Bon. in opusc de purit cons c. 12. alibi Tho. a Kemp l. 1. de Imit Christic 19. l. 2. de discipl claust c. 9. discipl mon. c. 11. The Act of Contrition put in practise An excellent praier which euery Christian ought to haue by hart MY Lord Iesus Christ true God and true man who art my Creator and my Redeemer I am sorry from my very hart for that I haue offended thee and this for that thou art my God and for that I loue thee aboue all thinges And I purpose firmely neuer more to offend thee and to withdraw my selfe far off from all occasions of sinne I purpose also to confes me and to fulfill the pennance which shall be imposed me Moreouer I offer vnto thee in satisfaction of all my sinnes my life my labours and all the good workes which I shall euer doe And as I humbly aske pardon of my sinnes so I hope in thy goodnes and infinite mercy that thou wilt forgeue them all thorough the merits of thy most pretious blood death and passion and giue me the grace for to amend me and to perseuer in good estate vnto the end Amen EXAMPLES OF CONtrition 1. Thomas of Cantimpre somtimes Suffragan to the Archbishop of Cambray writeth that a wicked man after he had violated his owne daughter came to the reuerend Archbishop of Sens to confes him selfe vnto him of his sinne and hauinge declared it with many teares and true remorce of soule he demanded if he might hope for pardon at Gods handes Yes quoth the Archbishop if you be ready to fulfill the pennance which I shall giue you All whatsoeuer your Lordship shal please answered the penitent although I should endure a thousand deathes I enioyne you only quoth the Archbishop seauen yeares of pennance What is that replied the penitent Albeit I should doe pennance vntill the ending of the worlde yet shall I not satisfie sufficientlie Goe said the Archbishop I will that thou fast only three daies with bread and water Here the poore man began to weepe beseeching him to impose vpon him a pennance answerable to his crime The Archbishop seeing him so truly contrite said vnto him finally Iâ— ordaine that thou only say one Pater â—oster assuring thee that thy sinne is forgiuen thee Which the peniteÌ„t hearing he entred in to so great compunction that hauinge cast forth a deepe sighe he fell downe starke dead vpon the place The Archbishop assured since in his sermon that this man by reason of his great contrition went straight to heauen without passinge thorough Purgatorie Tract de vniuerso lib. 2. c. 51. p. 7. 2. Iacobus of Vitry Cardinall writeth the like of a
his neck and so meltinge into teares dyed He beleeued that the B. mother would make his excuse towards her Sonne and that he should not be excluded heauen presenting at the gate thereof the picture of her who was the Queene of heauen and hauing his harâ— all grauen with the markes of her deuotion Binet in his treatise of deuotion to our Lady 8. The B. mother of Teresa of Iesus being appointed prioresse of the Incarnation at Auila before she began any thinge touching her office placed in the Prioresses chaire an image of wood of our B. Lady and offered vp vnto her the whole house and the keyes therof This act was so aggreable to our B. Lady that within a few daies after as she her selfe hath left in writâ—inge she saw at the beginning of the Salue the mother of God come downe from heauen into the same chaire with a great multitude of Angells who said vnto her that she had done rightwell to set her in her place and that for this fact she would present their prayers and praises vnto her Sonne Fâ—b l. 3. cap. 1. of her life 9. A certaine religious man of the order of S. Francis had a custome neuer to take his refection if first he had not said his Beades once to our B. Lady One day being set at the table he called to minde that he had not discharged that day that pious dutie Hauing then obtained leaue of the Gardian to goe forth he went and said his Bedes in the Church and as he staied somwhat longe another went for to call him Who as he entred into the Church he saw our Ladie accompanied with a multitude of Angels who gathered from the mouth of this religious as he said his Beades most faire Roses the which they placed about our Ladies head and at euery time that he pronounced in the Aue Marie the name of Iesus our Lady and the Angells bowed downe their heades Extracted out of the Chronicles of the Friar Minors Part. 3. l. 1. c. 36. 3â— 10. A Sodaliste of our B. Lady in the yeare 1586. confest aâ— his death that he had bene presented before the iudgment of God and in great danger of being saued had he not bene sodainly asisted by our B. Lady Franciscus Bencius in the annales of the Societie anno 1586. and Ioannes Bonifacius in the historie of the virgin l. 4. c. 18. 12. Martin Guttrich an heretique hauing heard in the sermon of Doctor Frederick Fornerus preacher of Bamberge that none could die ill who deuoutly serued our B. Lady and dailie offered vnto her sonne Aue Maries he began from that very time to say vnto her euery day seauen in the morning and as many at night which he continued for three whole yeares at the end whereof being fallen sick our B. Lady appeared vnto him warning him to be confest and to receiue the B. Sacrament tellinge him that she had obtained of her Sonne that he should not die in his wicked heresie in requit all of the seruice that he had done her and that she would come and fetche him at the same instant that she was deliuered of her Sonne as it came to passe for he deceased on Christmas night betwixt twelue and one a clock the yeare of our Lord 1607. This historie was written more at large by the preacher aforsaid as an eye witnes in a letter sent to a certaine friend of his at Monich the 4. of Ianuarie 1608. If an heretique hath merited so much fauour of the moâ—her of God for some few Aue Maries which he recited during his heresie what oughâ—est thou to hope for true Christian Catholique if being in the state of grace thou rendrest vnto her euery day some pious seruice recitinge the Rosarie or the Bedes or at the least a litle Coronne of twelue Aues interposing three Paters in honor of the crowne of twelue Starres or fauours wherwith the most holy Trinitie hath crowned her soule And how much more if rancking thy selfe in some Sodalitie of hers thou resoluest to be particularly and singularly deuout vnto her Wilt thou be assured more and more one day to rendar and giue vp thy soule betwixt her armes Put thy selfe in the companye of those who pray one for another to this purpose reading the Litanies of Loretto with some other prayers vnto S. Ioseph Loe here that which I had to impart vnto thee touching the maner to liue Christianly that is to say to liue in such sort that thou mayest as a true soldiar of Iesus Christ hauing driuen away sinne from thy soule trampled vpon the diuell the world and the fleshe thy mortall enimies hauing gotten many merits and virtues by the exercise of good workes thou maist one day at the last ascend vpon a chariot of honor and triumphantly enter into euerlastinge glorie and felicitie Amen To the greater glorie of God and of his glorious mother the Virgin Marie APPROBATIO Ego infrascriptus testor me perlegisse libellum intitulatum The Christian 〈◊〉 Per R P Philippum Doultreman Societatis Iesu SacerdoteÌ„ Gallicè compositum in linguam Anglicaâ—…am per Ioannem Heigham traductum nihilque in eo contra fidem CatholicaÌ„ aut bonos morâ—…s deprehendisse sed magnam potiù vtilâ—…atem consolationem Catholicis Angliaeâ—… aturum fore Quare securè imprimi potest Datum Audâ—…mari in Collegio Anglorum Soc. Iesu die 18. Aug 1622. Hugo Buccleus Soc. Iesu Sac. A Summarie of the Chapters and Paragraphes contayned in these two bookes THE I. BOOKE Of the flight from sinne THE I. CHAPTER Of the name Christian pag 18. THE II. CHAPTER Of mortall and veniall sinne pag. 25. § 1. What mortall sinne is and what detriments it bringeth to the soule p 27. § 2. How much mortal sinne is detestable horrible and stinking pag 33. § 3. By mortall sinne we crucifie againe Iesus-Christ pag. 37. § 4. Of veniall sinne pag. 40 THE III. CHAPTER Of sinnes of will only of thought pag. 45. THE IV. CHAPTER Of the sinnes of the Tongue pag 50. § 1 Of Swearing pag. 52. § 2. Of Blasphemie pag 64. § 3 Of Malediction and of wicked Imprecation pag 69. § 4. Of contumelious wordes pag. 73. § 5 Of Dâ—traction pag. 76. § 6 Of Lying pag. 81. § 7. Of songes and of dishonest wordes pag. 86. THE V. CHAPTER Of the sinnes of parents and their children pag. 92. § 1. Of the negligence of parents to correct their children from their tendre youth and to instruct them in matters of faith and of good maners pag 93 § 2. Of the sinnes of Children towards their parents pag 102. § 3. Other considerations for the fathers of families touching the gouuernment of their houshold and particularly towards their men and women seruants pag. 110. THE VI CHAPTER Of the Seauen capitall sinnes pag. 115. § 1. Of Pride and Superbitie pag 116. § 2. Of Couetousnes pag 121. § 3. Of the sinne of Luxurie pag. 129. § 4 Particular Considerations
III. CHAPTER Of sinnes of will only and of thought 1. THere is a great abuse ignorance and blindnes which raigneth amongst simple people and such as are idiots to thinke that one offendes not God vnles by worke and by worde and not with the wil alone for he that hath forbidden to commit the sinne of the flesh and adultrie hath likewise forbidden to couet his neighbours wife You haue heard that it was said to them of old thou shalt not commit aduoutrie but I say to you that whosoeuer shall see a woman to luste after her hath already committed aduoutrie with her in his hart Mat. 5. 28. And the like is of euery other euill will Concupiscence when it hath conceiued bringeth forth sinne but sinne when it is consummate ingendreth death Iac. 1. 15. Blessed is he that shall dashe his litle ones that is to say his first thoughtes against the rock that is to say Iesus Christ psl. 136. 9. Whilst your enemie is but litle kill him saith S. Herom and crush malice in the very seede Epist 12. ad Eustoch Man seeth those thinges which appeare but our Lord behouldeth the hart ◠Reg. 26. 7. EXAMPLES 1. Kinge Pharao for hauing coueted Sara the wife of Abraham albeit he touched her not in any sort both he him selfe and all his familie were out of hande chasticed of God most rigorously with diuers great and sharp afflictions 2. A Iew gotten into a temple by night saw a troupe of diuells which gaue account to one who seemed to be the chiefe of the rest of all their comportment towardes men and heard one who bragged that he had induced Andrew Bishop of Fonda to embrace a dishonest thought S. Greg. l. 3. Dial. c. 7. 3. At Cosma a towne of Itallie a cittizen giuen for a long time to follow a concubine felt him selfe at last to be brought to the point and pinche of death A father of the Societie of Iesus was called to heare his Confession At the first begining being informed of his life as he was before he represented vnto him that the houre was now come that he must needes depart this worlde and therfore exhorted him to forsake his harlot The obstinat and accursed wretch hauing death in his face replied that he could not be without her in that extremitie but that she would serue him very well The father pressed him againe cast him selfe at his feete and besought him with teares to take compassion on his soule causing all the fathers and brothers of his colledge to pray to this effect and purpose At the last our Lord touched him he caused this shee wolfe to depart his lodging confest him selfe with exceeding sorrow and with other signes of true repentance and the very day after this confession he dyed Vpon the morrow as this father went from his chamber to the sacristie to say Masse for his soule he felt him selfe scuffeld with al and thrust back and heard a voice most distinctly which said vnto him Whether goest thou The father went on his way and being arriued at the vestrie doore he felt him selfe pusht back more forceibly then before and was constrained to recoyle two or three great steps He ommitted not for all this to inuest him selfe and to goe vnto the Altar As he descended thence he that asisted him being come to the Confiteor behold a horrible monster most gastfull and fearfull shewed him selfe visiblie vpon the Altar on that side where the Epistle is read and looking vpon the priest said Pray not for me beware thou doost not The father replied why not art not thou such an one Didst thou not confes thy selfe to me yesterday with so great contrition and with teares Hadst thou no◠pardon of thy sinnes What then is betided of new vnto thee Yea quoth the Spirit I am euen he in very deed I confest my selfe it is true and that entirely and withall receiued pardon of my sinnes But after that thou wast departed that accursed strumpet that had kept me captiue all my life entred againe into my house drew nere vnto me to doe some seruice and forthwith the accustomed fancies awaked in me I yelded entrie to a wicked thought stayed therein and consented and therupon I died For which I now burne and shall burne for all eternitie Extracted out of the annuall histories of the Societie and alleadged by Vallad in the sermon vpon the Thursday of the passion who assureth to haue learned it of a religious mā who knew the father that heard the confession of this miserable man and had it from his owne selfe Good God what a tragicall example And shall we then say that euill desires are no sinnes THE IV. CHAPTER Of the sinnes of the Tongue DEath and life are in the hande of the tongue saith the wise man Prou. 18. 21. Out of the mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing The tongue is certes a litle member and vanteth great thinges Behould how much fire what a great wood it kindleth and the tongue is fire a whole worlde of iniquitie Finally he concludeth saying If any man offend not in worde this is a perfect man Iac. 1. 2. 10. 5. That is to say according to Hugo of S. Victor it is a signe that he hath a great care to keepe his hart therfore hath a great inward perfection In cap. 13. ep ad Rom. Philo saith that the worde is as the hande of the diall which giues to vnderstand the estate of the inward springe and of the wheeles that is to say of the good or bad constitution of the soule And our Sauiour saith That out of the aboundance of the hart the mouth speaketh Mat. 12. Luc. 6. EXAMPLES 1. Nicephorus writeth that a certaine learned man went vpon a day to visit S. Pambonus Abbot one very holie but somwhat simple and laboured to perswade him to ioyne linke learning with his virtu And when the Saint had shewed him that he was well content as he was this Doctor tooke the Bible and openinge the same expounded vnto him the first passage that he fell vpon which was out of the 36. Psalme I haue said I will keepe my wayes that I offend not in my tongue Enoughe quoth the Saint you shall teache me the rest when I shall haue first well learned practised this Geuing to vnderstande that the first and principalest point of a spirituall life is to refraine and bridle the tongue Niceph. Socrat. l. 4. hist eccles c. 18. hist trip Cassiod l. 8. c. 1. §. 1. of Swearing The second commandement of the first table is Thou shalt not take the name of thy Lord thy God in vaine for God wil not hould him guiltles that taketh his name in vaine Exod. 20. Deut. 5. 11. Thou shalt not sweare at all nether by heauen because it is the throne of God nether by the earth because it is the foot-stoole of his feete c. but let your
talke be yea yea no no and that which is ouer and aboue these is of euill Mat. 5. 37. Yet must we vnderstand these wordes of swearing vsed without any necessitie for our Lord in Ieremie cap. 2. permitteth to sweare with truth iudgement and iustice that is to say touching a thinge that one knoweth for truth and that one iudgeth that there is necessitie and if it be an oath promissiue that it be of a thing iust and lawfull Let not thy mouth be accustomed to swearing saith the wise man and vers 12. A man that sweareth much shall be filled with iniquitie and plague shall not depart from his house Eccl. 23. 9. Is it not a thinge absurde saith S. Iohn Chrisost that if we haue one pretious garment we vse it not but once a weeke and yet that we dare rashlie vsurpe vpon eache occasion the most pretious and sacred name of almightie God Hom. 9. ad pop Antioch I had a custome to sweare euery day saith S. Aug. but hauing read how great a sinne it was I was afraid to commit the same I haue combatted against this euill custome and in this custome I had recourse vnto God and he hath giuen me the grace to sweare no more now nothing is more easie vnto me then not to sweare I tell you this to the ende that you may see that it is not impossible euen to one that is accustomed to sweare to sweare no more the feare of God ouercometh all Aug. fer 10. de sanctis To sweare is to call God for a witnes of that truth which we auerre If then it be a great sinne to sweare rashlie and without necessitie it is a great deale more when one knoweth well that which one auerreth to be false or that one douteth of the truth for this is to call God to witnes a lie and so to make him the author and defender of our owne malice what impietie can be more enorme then this For this reason all sortes of nations euen the most barbarous haue had periuries in great horror The Egiptians and Scithians put them to death Iohn Boemus in the description of Egipt The Indians cut off the toppes of their feete and handes and in sundry places of Europe they cut off their hande Couuarruuias in c. quamuis pactum p. 1. § 7. n. 2. According to the decrees of the Canon law periured persons are infamous c. infames 6. a. q. 1. They ought to fast fortie daies with bread and water and after for the space of seauen yeares performe some penance a litle milder nor neuer may be admitted for witnes c. quicunque 6. 9. 1. S. Lewis kinge of France caused their tongues to be pierced thorough S. Antonin 3. p. chron tit 19. c. 9. § 4. Paul Aemil. l. 7. hist Franc. Ribad in his life Charles the good Count of Flanders made them to fast fortie dayes Hist Fland. Behould the apprehention which these great personages had of this sinne EXAMPLES 1. In the cittie of Tours a certaine person being entred into our Ladies church to aâ—ouche by oathe a thinge that was false he had no sooner laid his hande vpon the Altar to sweare but that he fell backward and was grieuously wouÌ„ded S. Greg. of Tours the first miracle c. 20. 2. Another hauing set a house a fire sware in S. Martins church that he did it not and at the selfe same instant he was smitten with a reuenginge fire which fell from heauen which slew him out-right vpon the place The same author l. 8. of the hist of France c. 16. 3. A litle after the death of S. Omer a burgesse of the same cittie hauinge receiued a somme of mony lent him of another and swearing to repay it him againe vpon a certaine day the creditor demanded his mony but he denied to haue receiued it and went to take his oathe vpon the tombe of S. Omer As they came neere to the Church his creditor said vnto him let vs not goe to prophane the sacred tombe of the Saint sweare here that thou receiuedst nothing and I shall be satisfied The other presently lifted vp his hande beginneth to pronounce his periurie hauing his face turned towards the church of the Saint but before he was able to vtter one worde he fell to the grounde with his eyes rowling in his head depriued of the vse of all his members and so dyed within three daies after Surius in the life of S. Omer c. 26. Sept. 9. and Vincent of Beauuais in his miror hist l. 23. c. 109. 4. Two sisters the daughters of a Duke wraÌ„gling for their goods against their brother came froÌ„ France to ValencieÌ„ there to finde king Charlemaigne to haue redres of the wronge their brother did them in detayninge their goods And as he denied the fact the kinge made him to sweare vpon the body of S. Sauue that he owed them nothing The which he did but to his cost for at the same instant he burst asunder in the midst rendred al his intralls cast great aboundance of blood forth of his mouth eyes eares and nostrills and two houres after gaue vp the ghost Vincent of Bauuais in the same hist l. 24. c. 24. 5. But behould here of a fresher date In the yeare 1599. the 26. of Nouember at Grandmount in Flanders at the signe of the Ship two gatherers of impost giueing vp their accounts before their magistrats the one of theÌ„ called Peter Clippel and the other Antonie Haek this Peter said that Antonie had receiued of him twentie french crownes more then he owed him Which Antonie denied saying that he was contented to be fried in his owne fat and to be reduced to ashes if it were so as the other said The magistrates other which were present trembling at such terrible execrations withdrew them selues deferring this affaire vntill the morrow Antonie remayned alone in his chamber and after he had supped merrily with the hoste hostis they bid him god night On the morrow morning about eight a clock his brother came to speake with him and hauing knocked sundry times at his chamber doore receiuing no answere he caused the hoste to open the doore Good God what a spectacle they had no sooner set their foote within the chamber but that they saw a forme ouerwhelmed and halfe burned and the two feete of the man with some two handfulls of his legges betwixt the anckles yet hauing on his shoes and hose all the rest of his body and his apparell entirely burnt and reduced to ashes the chamber pot was also melted the stoole likewise wheron he had set by his beds side was also wholy burnt excepting to endes only of the feete His budget also was there founde and the gold and siluer that was therin all turned to ashes saue only the twentie crownes which he denied to haue receiued which were found al whole amidst the ashes Of this information was since taken by our most Excellent Archdukes of Brabant and the
Indian woman to lie with him behould how at mid-night a tempest arose with a terrible thunder The woman stricken with feare cryed out saying O blessed virgin Marie keepe me Which this dissolut companion hearing he said vnto her That it was needles to call vpon our Lady for that she had not the meanes how to helpe her Scarce had he vttered the last wordes but a thunderbolt caried him out of the bed into the midest of the chamber burnt all his shirt The woman lept forth of the bed and puld him by the feete but his feete remayned in her haÌ„des as if they had not held to his body She endeuored to draw him out of the chaÌ„ber but a flame entring at the doore hindred him that he could not get forth She cryed for helpe and the neighbours runne and finde this accursed caytiffe starke dead with his mouth open in a horrible manner without teeth without tongue and all his members brused and grounden in such a sort that in pulling of them though neuer so litle one deuided and rent them from the body Franciscus Bencius in the Annales of Col. of Pacen of the societie of Iesus in Peru. in the yeare 1588. And Matheus Timpius in the Theatre of the diuine vengance Happie was this poore wenche that she called vpon our B. Lady so luckelie but cursed was this hoore-master and blasphemer so to haue mocked her §. 3. Of Malediction and of wicked Imprecation To curse any one is to wishe him some euill as the plague death the diuel to take him or the like In the old law he that cursed father or mother was to be put to death Leuit 20. 9. c. 24. 15. The mothers curse rooteth vp the foundation Eccles 3. 11. that is to say ouerthrowes her whole familie MaledictioÌ„ according to S. Thomas is of its nature mortall sinne because it repugneth vnto charitie and is so much the more greuous as the person which one curseth ought to be more loued and reuerenced as for example God Saints Superiors and our parents S. Thom. 2. 2. q. 76. a. 3. EXAMPLES 1. Surius vpon the life of S. Zenobius martyr writeth that a mother angrie with her childe who afflicted with a terrible ague asked her drinke vnto the fourth time in one night said vnto her childe in choller in giuinge him the goblet Hould drinke and swallow downe the diuell and all together at the same instant the childe was posessed of the diuell He writeth likewise of another mother who being beaten of her children sent them all vnto the diuell and that forthwith they were seased and possessed in such sort that they fell a bytinge and tearing of one another The mother repenting her of her fact albeit a panim brought them vnto S. Zenobius who by the signe of the holy Crosse deliuered them and baptised them together with their mother and all the houshold Ioannes Archipresbiter Aretin in the life of S. Zenobius and Surius 25. of May. 3. S. Aug. in his 22. booke of the cittie of God de diuers ser 94. writeth that a certaine woman in Capadocia hauing seauen sonnes and three daughters was stricken of her eldest sonne with the consent of all the others Which she supported so impatiently that she went to Church to curse them vpon the holy Font wherein they had bene baptised As she was in the way the diuel appeared vnto her in the likenes of her husbands brother who hauing aked her whither she went she answered that she went to curse her sonne The diuel tould her that she should curse them all When she was come to the place of the Font all in a furie she toused her haire and discoueringe her breastes besought God that he would sende vpon her children the punishment of Cain making them all trembling and rogues This being said she retourned and behould instantly her eldest sonne was stricken with a trembling of all his members and before the end of the yeare all the others were in the like perplexitie The mother seeing the vnfortunat disaster of her children conceiued so great sorrow therfore that she hunge and strangled herselfe her children became vagabound rogues here and there about the contrie wherof two bretheren and sisters were seene of S. Aug. at Hippo who healed them at the reliques of S. Steuen Learne here you fathers and mothers to restraine your choller and to bridle the intemperance of your tongue that you become nor the cause of such disaster vnto your children 4. That famous posessed person at Laon in Lannois in France anno 1566. fell she not into the power of the diuell thorough the wicked imprecation of her parents which hath likewise hapned to so many others §. 4. Of contumelious wordes To giue one some euill name or to obiect vnto him some vice ether of body or minde as to cal him lyer dolt theife drunkard or the like is a contumelie which of its nature is a mortall sinne Whosoeuer shall say to his brother Thou foole shall be guiltie of the hell of fire Mat. 5. 23. And the Apostle S. Paul Rom. 1. 30. â—ancketh the coÌ„tumelious with those that doe deserue death EXAMPLES 1. As the holy prophet Eliseus went vp to Bethell certaine children came â—oorth of the cittie who seeing him with his head balde mockt him saying Goe vp bald-pate which the Saint hearing he turned him towards them and cursed them and behould at the selfe same instant two Beares which came forth of the forrest ran vpon these children and deuoured of them fortie two 4. Reg. 2. 2. The Chamberlain of the Emperor Valens hauing vomited forth a number of iniurious contumelious wordes against S. Aphrates went to prepare the Emperors bayne but he was come no sooner in but he became stark madde and cast him selfe into the scalding water wherin he dyed Theodoret l. 4. hist. eccles c. 26. Card. Barron tom 4. of his eccles Annales in the yeare of our Lord 370. 3. Iohn Aratus a great fauorer of the Iewes in Lacedemonia after he had disgorged a many of contumelies against S. Nicon was in the night time whipt in his sleepe of two venerable old men who hauing sharply rebuked him for his sinne cast him into a deepe prison Hereupon he awaked and found him selfe taken with a stronge ague and knowing that this was a punishment from God arose and went and sought forth the Saint and asked him forgiuenes S. Nicon forgaue him but withall told him that God had decreed to take him out of this life and that therfore he should dispose him selfe for his death Hereupon he returned to his house layes him downe on his bed and three dayes after gaue vpp the ghost Baron tom 10. of his annales anno 932. See you not by these examples that contumelie is a great sinne You shall then be chasticed ether in this life or in the other you fathers and mothers who hearing your children to pronounce the like wordes doe not punish
month should receiue the B. Sacrament 4. That none should be so bould as to speake any blasphemy othes or dishonest wordes And if any one were fallen in to ether of these thinges he made them to sit vpon the ground whilst the others dined not giuing him ought for his dinner but bread and water 5. He would not suffer that anie should play at dice in his house or at other forbidden game 6. He was carefull that all agreed well together and if he perceiâ—ed any quarrell to be moued amongst them he endeuored that they should forthwith be reconciled 7. After dinner or towards the euening he made them in his presence to speake of spirituall thinges Sur. 27. of Sept. c. 18. vpon his life 8. The mother of S. Marie of Ognies appeared vnto her vpon a day as she prayed for her in the time of Masse and said vnto her that she was damned for that she was careles of that which was done in her house against God by those of her famillie Iacobus de Vitr Card. in the life of S. Marie of Ognies lib. 3. c. 11. Thomas à Cantip. lib. 2. ep c. 54. p. 18. O that God would be pleased to giue to famillies a great many of CeÌ„turions and Elzears and preserue them from such mothers or fathers of families as this wretched womaÌ„ was What great good would ensue thereof not only to famillies but to the whole common welth THE VI. CHAPTER Of the Seauen capitall sinnes THe sinnes of Pride Couetousnes Lecherie Enuie Gluttonie Anger Slouth are called capitall because they are as the heades and fountaines from whence as from a corrupted roote doe proceede the pestiferous fruites of all sortes of sinnes and vices Canis Hic §. 1. Of Pride and Superbitie Pride a is a disordinate appetite of ones proper excellence and is as the b mother and Queene of all vices Her principall daughters c are disobedieÌ„ce boasting hipocrisy debates pertinacitie discord and curiositie a Chrisostome hom 43. ad pop Bernard de grad humil Greg. 34. mor. c. 17. seq l. 23. c. 7. Isidor de sum bo l. 2 c. 38. b Greg. l. 13. mor. c. 31. Prosper l. 3. de contemplat c. 2. August ep 56. Bern. ser 3. ex paruis ser 4. de Aduent c Deut. 17. Sap. 5. Mat. 23. Pro. 13. Gen. 49. Pro. 6. 1. Tim. 5. 5. Tob. 4. Neuer permit pride to rule in thy word for in it all perdition tooke its begininge Tob. 4. 6. God resisteth the proud and giueth grace to the humble Iac. 4. 6. 1. Pet. 5. 5. He that exalteth him selfe shal be humbled and he that humbleth him selfe shall be exalted Mat. 23. 12. Pride is odious before God and men Eccl. 10 7. S. Bonauenture compareth the proud man to the winde for that euen as the winde putteth out the light drieth vp the dew and sturres vp the duste euen so the proud man putteth out the light of wisdome drieth vp the dew of grace and stirreth vp the dust of vanitie 2. He compares it next vnto the smoke for as much as the smoke the more it ariseth the more it vanisheth and scattereth it selfe 3. To the spider for that as the spider emptieth out his owne bowells weauing his cloth to catch a flie euen so the proud man looseth all the good he hath in his soule to catch a litle honor and humain praise Isay 59. 4. To the henne who as soone as she hath laid an egge she makes it knowen to all the house by her cackling which is the cause her egge is taken away as S. Chrisostome saith And so doth the proud man for as soone as he hath done any good thinge he makes it knowen and publisheth it abroad desiring that euery one should know it S. Bon. in dieta salut tit 1. c. 5. And of such persons our Lord saith that they haue receiued their reward in earth and that therfore they shall haue none in heauen Mat. 6. 2. EXAMPLES 1. Lucifer the noblest and fairest amongst the Angels for his pride hath lost heauen and hath encurred an eternitie of paines Isay 14. 12. seq 2. Pharo kinge of Egipt after diuers most horrible chasticements was swallowed vp with all his troope chariots and baggage within the waters of the sea Exod. 14. 3. Chore Dathan and Abiron were swallowed vpp aliue of the earth which gaue way vnto them to lett them sinke downe in to hel Num. 16. 4. Kinge Senacherib was slaine of his owne children 4. Reg. 19. 37. 5. Nabuchodonoser became like a beast and for such liued for the space of seauen yeares of nothinge else but of grasse and hey Dan. 4. 30. 6. Holofernes had his head câ—t off with his owne sword by the hande of a woman Iudith 13. 10. 7. A man was hanged vpon the same gallous which he had caused to be made for humble Mardocheus and he exalted to honor in his place Esther 7. 10. 8. Kinge Antiochus hauing first endured a worlde of dolors was at the last eaâ—en vp of lice 2. Mach. 9. 9. Kinge Herod dyed of the same death Act 12. 23. 10. Iesabell was cast downe head-long from a windoe and eaten of dogges 4. Reg. 9. 33. 37. Of all which that may be verefied which Dauid said of all the proud I haue seene the impious highly exalted and aduanced as the Cedars of Libanus and I passed by and behould he was not and I sought him and his place was not founde psal 36. 35. 11. About the yeare of our Lord 1570. in a certaine conuent after Complin appeared in the refectorie at all the tables certaine religious which being coniured by the Prior of the Conuent in virtu of the most holy Sacrament which he helde in his handes to tell who they were He that seemed to be chiefe of the rest answered that they were all religious of the same ordre and the greater part of them Doctors Bachelors Priors Subpriors Readers and al of them daÌ„ned for theire pride and ambition Which hauing said they opened all their robes and appeared all in fire Anno 1599. Brother Tiberius a holy man entring into the same refectorie saw and vnderstood the same This fearful history is recounted by brother Anthonie of Sienna in the Chronicles of the brothers preachers anno 1570. Loe here the end of the smoke of worldly honors to vanish sodainly away and not to leaue to him who was addicted to them but teares in his eyes teares I say eternall confusion §. 2. Of Couetousnes Couetousnes is a disordinate appetite of hauing See touchinge this vice S. Basil in ditesc auar hom 6. 7. S. Prosper l. 2. de vita contemplat c. 1â— c. 16. Isid de summo bono l. 2. c. 41. S. Aug. l. 3. de lib. arb c. 17. serm 196. de temp S. Amb. l. de Nabuthe Iesaraelita Her daughters are treason fraude deceit periurie vnquietnes violence want of mercie or inhumanitie and hardnes of hart S. Greg. l. 31. mor.
blindnes of spirit inconsideration inconstancie precipitation selfe-loue hatred of God too great a desire of this life horror of death and of the iudgment of God together with dispaire of eternall felicitie Greg. l. 31. Mor. c. 31. Ose 4. 2. Reg. 11. Dan. 13. Pro. 13. Sap. 4. Psl. 51. Tim. 3. Psal 20. Iac. 4. Ephes 4. Fornication and all vncleanes let it not so much as be named among you as it becometh Saints that is to say Christians Ephes 5. 3. Know you not that your bodies are the members of Christ Taking therfore the members of Christ shall I make them the members of an harlot God for bid 1. Cor. 6. 15. 19. Doe not erre nether fornicators nor adulterers nor the effeminate shall posesse the kingdome of God ibid. 10. If you liue according to the flesh you shall die Rom. 8. 13. You haue heard that it was said to them of old thou shalt not commit adulterie but I say to you that whosoeuer shal see a woman to lust after her hath already committed adulterie with her in his hart Mat. 5. 28. S. Bernard saith that Luxurie is one of the chariots of Pharao who pursued the seruants of God and carries them that sit thereon to the red sea of the infernall flames Her four wheeles are Gluttonie and drunkennes curiositie of apparell iâ—lenes and ardor of concupiscence The two Coursers or horses are prosperitie of life and aboundance Vpon these two horses doe sit stupid ignorance and blinded assurance Sor. 39. in Cant. EXAMPLES Behould the horrible punishments which God hath imposed vpon this sinne 1. For the sinne of the flesh God hath drowned all the world Gen. 7. 21. 2. The citties of Zodome and Gomorah and all the contrie round about with their inhabitants were con-consumed by fire sent from heauen Gen. 19. 25. 3. Hemor sonne of Sichem with all the inhabitants of the cittie of Sichem were put to the sword Gen. 34. 26. 4. All the tribe of Benianim were cut off for the same cause Iudg. 20. 48. 5. Sampson was blinded with ouermuch affection towards his wife Iudg. 16. 21. 6. Amnon was slaine by his brother Absalon 2. Reg. 13. 29. 7. Dauid was persecuted of his sonne 2. Reg. 11. 15. 8. Salomon became an adulterer 3. Reg. 11. 9. The husbands of Sara were strangled by the deuil Asmodeus Tob. 3. 8. 10. The two old men that coueted the chast Susanna were stoned to death Dan. 13. 11. Four and twentie thousand of the people of Israel were put to death Num. 25. 12. Marie daughter to the kinge of Arragon wife to the Emperor Othon the 3. hauing solicited the Count of Modena to condescend to her lubricitie and he most constantly refusing her was accused by her calumniously that he would haue induced her to sinne wherupon the Emperor cut off his head But before he died hauing declared his innocencie to his wife he prayed her to carry his head after his death vpon her bare feete into a great fire in witnes of the integritie of her husband which she performed nether that head nor yet her body being hurt any whit at all Which the Emperor seeing he commanded the Empresse to be cast into the fire Thus God permitted that this terrible chasticement shauld befall her not only for this calumnie and filthie desire but also for that she had somtimes abandoned her body to a young youth disguised like a wenche who serued her for a chamber maide and was also burnet aliue by the commandement of the Emperor but she receiued pardon by the intercession of the princes and Lordes of the court The 2. Chron. Gotscalcus Holenser 23. p. Hyem Licosthemes in theatro mundi D. Antonin p. 2. tit 6. c. 3. Baron anno 998. Iacobus Serada in thes Imp. Krantz l. 4. Saxon. c. 26. 13. Raimond of Capua confessar to S. Catharin of Sienna writeth that this Saint could nether see nor abide to come neere those which were infected with the sinne of the flesh that if she spake with them she was enforced to stop her nose Sur. 20. of Ian. 14. Palladius writeth that S. Pachomus hauing giuen a box on the eare vnto the diuell which appeared vnto him in the forme of an Ethiopian had his hande so infected that he spent more then two yeares to take away the stink therof In his Lausiaca 15. S. Euthimius Abbot as Cyrillus Monke writeth in his life passing by one who had consented to a dishonest thought smelt such a stinke that he supposed him selfe to haue bene posest of the diuell See before a terrible and fearfull historie of this matter in the 3. cap. example 3. and another in the 4. cap. § 2. example 6. and in the 2. booke cap. 2. § 2. Loe here the gayne and reward which is got by this sinne for a beastly pleasure and which lasteth so litle plunging ones selfe into so many euills temporall and eternall Let vs say with that wise Pagan Demosthenes I will not buy a repentance at so deare a price Agell noct Act. l. 1. c. 8. §. 4. Particular Considerations against the sinne of voluntarie Pollution It is with great griefe that I speake at all of this sinne yea that I doe so much as name it because it is so enorme and detestable yet so it is that I cannot altogether ommit the same for that it is o heauie case so coÌ„mon and so vniuersall Hearken hereupon to Cardinal Toletus The sinne of voluntarilie pollution is amongst al others the most difficult to be amended and this by reason that one hath alwaies with him the occasion for to fall therein and is so vniuersall that I beleeue that the most part of those that goe to hell are damned for the same sinne l. 5. Instruct sacerd c. 13. Ioannes Benedictus in his Summe vpon the 6 commandement of the deâ—alogue writen after Conradus Clinâ—ius be it that the same be knowen by reuelauelation or else by experience that those which are habituated in this sinne as many yeares as our Lord liued that is to say thirtie three are incurable and as it were without hope of their saluation vnles that God doe succour them by a maruellous rare and extraordinarie grace This is that which this author saith But touching the sinne it selfe accordinge to the minde of the Cardinall before alleadged there is no better remedy then to be confessed often to communicate twice or thrice aweeke and this vnto the same confessar Note all this Christian and if euer thou felst into this curssed sinne resolue to rise out of it from this very instant that thou readest this page for feare lest habituating thy selfe therin thou canst not afterwardes rid thee thereof and that thou twist not by litle and litle the netts and vnloosable lines which draw thee in the end into the abisse of mischiefe and eternall torments For accordinge to the Apostle Effeminat nor liers with mankinde shal not possesse the kingdom of God 1. Cor. 6. 10. EXAMPLES 1.
maiden who had sinned with her owne father and afterwardes cut his throate and poisoned her mother who died at her confessars feete thorough the vehemencie of her contrition and he assured that it was needles to pray for her for that she was alreadie saued Iul. Mazaim reportes it of the said Cardinall vpon the 50. psal p. 1. discourse 10. 3. A great sinner died also of very sorrow at the feete of S. Vincent Ferrier and appearing to him said that he was in glorie without passing at all thorough Purgatorie God being satisfied with his sorrow for the full expiation of his sinnes Ribad in his life 5. of Aprill 4. S. Gregorie also writeth that a religious man bewaylinge his sinne heard a voice which said vnto him that his contrition had blotted it out Hom. 34. Seing then that contrition is of such most singular force is it not wisdome often to excite acts thereof but especially before we goe to bed or fall a sleepe to the end to put our selues in full assurance by this meanes EXAMPLES §. 2. Of the Inuocation of Saintes 1. S. Edmond Archbishop of Canterburie in England from the time that he studied in Paris was wonte to say euery day in honor of our Lady and of S. Iohn Euangelist the praier which beginnes O intemerata And chancing once to forget him selfe S. Iohn appeared vnto him in the night with a feruler make shew that he would strike him Notwithstandinge he appeased him selfe and withheld his hande already lifted vp gently admonishinge him no more to ommit it Surius Ribad in his life the 16. of Nouemb. 2. The selfe same Saint experienced at another time how dangerous it is to goe to bed not hauinge first said his prayers For hauing ommitted them vpon a certaine hollieday behould how at the breaking of the day the diuell appeared vnto him in a horrible forme who seasing both his handes hindred him so that he could not make the signe of the Crosse But the virtuous Saint seeing that he could not make it nether by deed nor yet by worde he made it in his hart and in spirit and forthwith the diuell fell downe vpon the pauement betwixt the bedsted and the wall Which S. Edmond seeing he lept vpon his bellie and tooke him fast by the throate and coniured him in the virtu of the passion of Iesus Christ and of his pretious blood to tell vnto him by what meanes he was most easily ouercome By these meanes quoth the diuell which thou hast euen now named to me 3. The deuout Thomas a Kempis canon regular being yet a younge scholler at Dauentrie was wont dailie to offer vp a certaine number of prayers in the honor of our Lady to whō he carried a singular affection but as youth is light and inconstant he grew by litle and litle to be so luke-warme that he began to be first one day without saying them then two then four and at the last he left them off for all together But behould one night in the dead of his sleepe he thought he was in the halle of Maister Florence his teacher full of schollars amongst whom as he harkned as he thought with great greedines vnto the word of God which the religious men of that order expounded vnto them heauen did open vpon a sodaine and in a faire and most bright cloude the queene of Angells descended into this halle with a sweet and smiling countenance and in a habit very sumptuous then she embraced them all with great demonstration and signes of loue This good Thomas thought with him selfe that his turne also would come at the last but he was foully deceiued herein for hauinge embraced all the others she turned to him and looking vpon him with a discontented eye said vnto him It is in vaine that thou expectest this my kindnes light and incōstant that thou art who thorough an accursed and wretched slouth hast left to pay me that number of prayers thou was accustomed Where are those deuotiōs wher-with thou seruedst me Where are those sighes and those louing dartinges There is now no more loue in in thee and yet thou awaitest audacious that thou art to be cherished made much of by me Hence quoth she get thee gone from me for thou art vnworthy of my embracinges and shalt so be as longe as thou ommittest to offer vnto me thy accustomed prayers which hauing said it seemed vnto him that she ascended againe vpp to heauen and disappeared Thomas awaking after this vision remayned maruellously perplext and sorrie he examined his conscience founde to haue fayled for some weekes past in his exercise of deuotion whervpon he presently arose fell vpon his knees and humbly asking God forgiuenes and his mother made a firme purpose neuer more to ommit those prayers for any occasion whatsoeuer which he afterwards obserued faithfully euen till his death Specul exempl dist 10. § 7. 4. A certaine Dominican had for a time kept this good and godlie custome neuer to goe vnto his bed but first to offer vp some prayers in the honor of S. Barbara and by this meanes had often bene preserued from sundry perills At the last he vtterly left it And behould vpon a night Sainte Barbara appeared to him saying vnto him that as he had left her so shee likewise would leaue him nor would no longer doe him the fauors which he had well founde and proued vnto that present He related this vision to his bretheren but yet for all this did not amend him Wherupon forsaken of the succour of this Saint he debauched him selfe by litle and litle in such sort that at the last he cast his habit vpon the hedge and left his religion After he had wandred abroade here and there he came to Nuremberg where he fell sick and was forced to lodge in the common hospitall Father Conradus one of his order hauing knowledge therof sent vnto him the habit by some of his religious and prayed him to returne againe vnto them but he swore with an othe that he would not They returned back and forthwith he fell into an ague and so died miserably Ioan Niderus S. Theol. Doct. ord pred formicatorij l. 2. c. 4. 5. About Erklentz in low Germanie a young man was wont to say euery day certaine prayers and sometimes to fast in the honor of S. Barbara that she should obtaine for him that he might not die without confession and communion It chanced that he was taken prisoner and there remayned the space of twelue whole daies without so much as eatinge or drinking by the prayers and intercession of S. Barbara vntill such time as he had receiued those Sacraments and presently after he deceased Ibid. l. 4. c. 2. 6. Another at Gorcome in Hollande was all burnt by a sodaine fire which tooke in the house and nothing remayning whole saue only the tongue and the eyes was taken forth of the flames by S. Barbara whom he had inuoked to the end he
goe Can. 3. 4. 2. To be insatiable and neuer to become wearie to doe any thinge for the loue of God for this cause it is that the Holy Ghost compareth charitie vnto death to the graue to hell and vnto fire who neuer say it is enough Prou. 30. 15. Cant. 8. 6. 3. To haue a simple and vpright intention addressing all his thoughtes wordes and workes only to God That saith S. Bernard is called true simplicitie which hath a wil perfectlie conuerted to God alone and which with Dauid desireth but one thinge alone that is to say to please God S. Bernard ad fratres de monte Dei. The espouse saith in the Canticles In our gates all fruites the new and the old my beloued I haue kept for thee Cant. 7. 13. By the fruites of the yeare passed are to be vnderstood the workes of nature as to eate to drinke to sleepe and the like By the new the workes of grace or supernaturall as all the workes of virtu are as if she said I offer vnto thee all my workes good indifferent supernaturall and naturall without any sort or manner of reseruation 4. To be inuincible that is to say neuer to suffer him selfe to be beaten downe for any kinde of difficultie Who shall seperate vs saith the Apostle from the charitie of God which is in Christ Iesus our Lord Rom. 8. 35. 5. To thinke allwayes vpon God and by the creatures as by so many steppes to ascend and lift vp him selfe allwayes to him Come my beloued saith the spouse let vs goe forth into the fielde my beloued to me and I to him that I may behould thee as thou behouldest me Cant. 7. 10. EXAMPLES 1. S. Marie Magdalen so greatly loued our Lord after her conuersion that she could in no wise be separated from him following him euen in his passion amidst the presse of soldiars and people vnto the mount of Caluarie and there also standing nere vnto him vntill such time as he was dead and buried And what greater proofe of her loue could be giue then the testimonie of our Lord him selfe who saith defendinge her against Simon the Pharisie Many sinnes are forgiuen her because she loued much Luc. 7. 44. 2. Who then shall separat vs from the charitie of Christ Tribulation or distres or famine or nakednes or danger or persecution or the sworde But in all these thinges we ouercome because of him that hath loued vs for I am sure that nether death nor life nor Angells nor Principallities nor Powers nether thinges present nor thinges to come nether might nor height nor depth nor other creature shall be able to separate vs from the charitie of God which is in Christ Iesus Lord. Rom. 8. 35. 3. S. Peter beinge asked by our Lord if he loued him bouldly answered him three seuerall times Thou knowest Lord that I loue thee Ioan. 21. 15. 16. 17. 4. S. Ignatius bishop and Martir was so enflamed with this burninge charitie that he said writing to the Romans when he was led prisoner to Rome there to be executed I make it knowen to all the Churches that I die for Iesus Christ with exceeding ioy vnles you trouble me I beseeche you let not your affection be domageable to me let me be torne in pieces by the wilde beastes that so they may send me soone to God I am the corne and graine of God and shall be ground betwixt their teeth so to be made the wheate delicious bread of Iesus Christ And a litle after he saith Let fire crosse beastes come let all my members be cut in peeces brused and ground let the death of this miserable body and all the torments of the diuell come vpon me so that I may come and be vnited with Iesus Christ Epist. ad Rom. Hier. in Ignat. Ribad 1. of Feb. After his death his body being opened the name of Iesus was found engrauen in his hart 5. S. Bonauenture writeth of Saint Francis that he considered God in euerie thinge making of all the creatures a ladder to ascend to him who is to be desired aboue all thinges In his life cap. 9. 6. S. Iacopon of the order of Saint Francis being all alone in a certaine garden ran as a man besides him selfe embracing the first tree that there he founde crying O sweete Iesus ô my well beloued Iesus c. Raderus in vita sanct p. 2. c. 3. 7. Our Lord vpon a day commanded S. Gertrude that she should offer him more especially then she had yet done vntill that time all her actions as all the letters which she wrote the meate she eate the wordes the steps the respirations and beatinges of her hart all in the vnion of the life and naturall actions of his Sonne She did so and by meanes of this exercise she arriued vnto so great perfection that our Lord speaking of her to S. Mechtildis a religious woman of the same monasterie said There is no place vpon the earth after the most B. Sacrament wherein I abide more particularly then in the hart of B. Gertrude Lud. Blos in monil spir 8. The blessed father S. Xauerius seeing in the night by diuine reueuelation in an hospitall in Rome all the paines and afflictions which he was to suffer in the Indes cryed out to God Yet more yet more o Lord yet more Ribad in the abridgment of his life and Horatius Turselinus so greatly desirous was he to endure and suffer for the loue of God If these examples doe not suffice reade the liues of the B. Saintes and you shall finde no man nor woman Sainte which were not enflamed with this loue §. 6. Of Charitie towards our neighbour After that our Lord had deliuered the first commandement of charitie he said And the second is like to this Thou shalt loue thy neighbour as thy selfe on these two commandements dependeth the whole law and the prophets Mat. 22. 37. If any man shall say that I loue God and hateth his brother he is a lyer For he that loueth not his brother whom he seeth God whom he seeth not how can he loue 1. ep c. 4. 20. Before all thinges haue mutuall charitie continually among your selues 1. Pet. 4. 8. The maner how to loue our neighbour is comprehended in these few wordes According as you will that men doe to you doe you also to them in like maner Luc. 6. 31. And contrary-wise That which thou hatest to be done by thee to another see thou doe it not to another at any time Tob. 4. 16. The properties of this charitie are set downe by S. Paul 1. Cor. 13. 4. Charitie is patient is benigne charitie enuieth not dealâ—th not peruersly is not puffed vp is not ambitious seeketh not her owne is not prouoked to anger thinketh not euill reioyceth not vpon iniquitie but reioyceth with thee truth suffereth all thinges beleeueth all thinges hopeth all thinges beareth all thinges We are all bretheren Mat. 23. 8. members of the same body 1. Cor. 12.
those that are chast and modest They fill them selues as those who remember that they are to pray vnto God in the night They talke together as those that know that God doth heare them After meate they washe their mouth and handes and after discourse turne by turne vpon some point of holy scripture and by this meanes it is one knowes how much they haue drunke They arise from the table not to enter into debates and quarrells not to talke of lasciuiousnes and knauerie but of that which is both honest and modest vt qui non tam caenam coenauerint quam disciplinam as those who had not so much fed of a supper as of discipline so that a man would iudge that they rather came from some lesson then from the table Tertul c. 39. Apologet. O admirable sobrietie of these first Christians from which how far off are we at this present §. 6. Of the virtu of Patience Patience is a virtu wherby we endure voluntarily and with tranquillitie the euils which doe happen to vs sent from God from the diuell or from men as sicknesses losse of goodes of children of parents iniuries sadnesses scruples and other afflictions of spirit and this for the hope we haue of better goodes There are six degrees of patience 1. To receiue the iniurie or the euill without any resistance 2. Not to reuenge it 3. To beare no hatred to the partie from whome the euill doth proceede 4. To loue him 5. To doe good vnto him 6. To pray to God for him All that shall be applied to thee receiue and in sorrow sustaine and in thy humiliation haue patience saith the wiseman for gold and siluer are tried in the fire but acceptable men in the fornace of humiliation And v. 16. Woe be to them that haue lost patience He that is patient is gouerned with much wisdome but he that is impatient exalteth his follie Pro. 14. 29. My sonne cast not away the discipline of our Lord nether doe thou faint when thou art chasticed of him for whom our Lord loueth he chasticeth and as a father in the sonne he pleaseth him selfe Pro. 3. 11. The same doth the Apostle say Heb. 12. 17. and S. Iohn in the Apoc. 3. 19. The most effectuall motiues which one can giue to excite and aduance him selfe to this holy virtu are 1. To consider the patience of God the Creator who giues so many good thinges vnto sinners and indures so gently all their iniuries who maketh his sunne to rise vpon good and bad and rayneth vpon iust and iniust as our Lord saith in S. Mat. 5. 45. Which point Tertullian deduceth elegantly lib. de patientia and S. Cyprian lib. de bono patientiae 2. To consider the patience which our Lord Iesus Christ had during his whole life in whom God as Tertullian speaketh hath placed his spirit with all patience who when he was reuiled did not reuile when he suffered he threatned not not but deliuered him selfe to him that iudged him vniustly 1. Pet. 2. 25. 3. To consider all the Saintes of the old Testament as Abell Abraham Isaac Iacob Ioseph Moyses Dauid Tobie Iob what is it they haue no◠endured Now if in that rude worlde before the doctrine and examples of Iesus Christ all these holy Saintes haue bene so patient in their aduersities what ought we to be saith Tertullian in the light of the gospell in the schoole of Iesus Christ in this abundance of grace amongst the infinit examples of the Saintes of the new testament 4. To consider the great vtilities of this virtu 1. It satisfieth for sinnes redeeming by a litle paine the most horrible torments of the other life It is easie to suffer the losse of ten crownes when one knowes that by this meanes one redeemeth the confiscation of then thousand 2. It aideth confirmeth and perfecteth all virtues Esteeme it my bretheren al ioy when you shall fall into diuers tentations saith S. Iames knowing that the probation of your faith worketh patience and let patience haue a perfect worke Iac. 1. 2. 3. It maketh vs also to merit euerlasting life 2. Cor. 4. 17. And our Lord saith Blessed are they that suffer persecution for iustice for theirs is the kingdome of heauen Blessed are you when they shall reuile you and persecute you and speake all that naught is against you vntruly for my sake be glad and reioyce for your reward is verie great in heauen Mat. 5. 10. EXAMPLES 1. Iob one of the greatest Princes of all the east being spoiled by the deuill of all his goodes afflicted with al sorts of diseases that might befall vnto a man and this thoroughout all the members of his body and for the space of many yeares despiced of all men yea euen assaulted by his owne wife who prouoked him to deny God hauing no other lodging then a dunghil and for all sortes of moueables an ilfauored piece of a broken pot to scrape his soares and to cleanse the filth that issued out of them not withstanding all these afflictions he neuer changed nor lost his courage no not so much as of speeche or of visage but singing cherefully these wordes so full of resignation to the will of God As it hath pleased our Lord so is it done Iob. 1. 22. 2. Tobias falling a sleepe against a wall a Swallow let fall her dunge vpon his eyes which made him blinde at the same instant God permitted this affliction to happen to him saith the holy scripture that an example might be giuen to posteritie of his patiēce as also of holie Iob. For wheras he feared God alwayes from his infancie and kept his commandements he grudged not against God for that the plague of blindnes had chanced to him but continued immoueable in the feare of God giuing thankes to God all the dayes of his life Iob. 2. 12. And after the Angel Raphael had healed him he said vnto him Because thou wast acceptable to God it was necessary that tentation should proue thee Tob. 12. 13. 3. S. Serulus a beggar lying paralitique his whole life at a gate of Rome at eache new accesse of dolor alwaies rendred thankes and praise to almightie God for which cause he deserued at his death to be visited and recreated with the musick of Angells S. Greg. Pope writeth it in his Dialogues l. 4. c. 14. Hom. 15. in Euang. 4. S. Galle daughter to Simachus Consull of Rome being left a widdow in the flower of her age had all her body couered ouer with an infamous scale and the Phisitians assuring her that she should soone die yea that a beard would growe out at her chinne like to a man vnles she married her selfe againe she chose rather to endure both the sicknes and death then to marry againe the second time At last as she drewe by litle and litle vnto her death hauinge one of her breastes all full of soares and that S. Peter appeared vnto her she asked not of him
was found all black as if it had bene burned in the same instant The rest made their profit hereof for fearing to fall into the same misfortune they made from that present a firme purpose neuer to defer their Confession genâ—le Reader doe thou the like Extracted out of the historie of the Societie of Iesus anno 1609. in the life of Michael Ayaturnus a younge Phillippine scholer of a holie life §. 4. Of Generall Confession It is good for the most part to make a generall confession of our whole life and afterwardes euery yeare to make one begining from the last so to supply the defaults which might haue hapned in the former for it often hapneth that the Confession is of no value ether because of the Confessar who is not approued ordinarilie to heare Confessions or because he is not thy pastor nor appointed by him nor priuiledged by the Pope to heare Confessions euery where or else because he is very ignorant or because he was confessed without any sorrow or purpose to amend him and to flie the immediat occasions to fal againe not to make restitution the like or for that he hath coÌ„cealed voluÌ„tarily some sinne in Confession or because he had not a will to accept or fulfill the penance which the Confessar enioyned him In all these cases the Confession is voide And for as much as these faults arriue often it is therfore good somtimes to make general CoÌ„fessions And notwithstanding this were not yet are there sundrie other reasons which moue vs therto which one may see else where As fa. Costerus l. 1. Of the Sâ—dalitie c. 4. Fa. Puentes in his bookâ—â—… Perfection 3. treatise c. 7. and heretofore â— 4. of this cap. l. 1. examp 4. §. 5. Of Satisfaction the third part of the Sacrament of Penance For as much as ordinarily with the fault all the paine is not pardoned which one hath encurred by the sinne and that satisfactorie workes haue much more efficacie being done by the ordonance of the Confessar as well by reason of the act of obedience which is of inestimable valor as for the virtu which they receiue of the Sacrament and from the merits of Iesuâ— Christ applied vnto vs by meaneâ— therof one ought to receiue with â— cheerfull hart the penance enioyneâ— by the Confessar how great and harâ— soeuer it be and to endeuour to accomplish it with the soonest It is not enough for him who dotâ— penance saith S. Ambrose to wipâ— away his sinnes by teares but he muâ— moreouer labor to couer them by gooâ— workes l. 2. de poenit c. 5. l. 1. c. 1â— To a great wound quoth he must bâ— applyed a great plaister and a great sinne requireth great satisfaction Ad Virg. laps cap. 8. lib. 1. de paenit cap. 2. See touching satisfactioÌ„ most worthie examples out of the flowers of the liues of Saints of Ribadeneira of the Emperor Othon and Theodosius of Henrie 2. kinge of England in the places cited heretofore l. 1. c. 6. § 6. l. 2. c. 6. § 1. sect 1. §. 6. Of Indulgences Indulgences is the remission of the temporall paine due by reason of the actuall fault which is made by the application of the satisfactions which are in the common treasurie of the Church to wit of the merits of our Lord and of the Saintes of which treasurie the Pope hath the keyes giuen by our Lord himselfe vnto S. Peter and his successors Mat. 16. 18. The fault being forgiueÌ„ yet that there remayneth some paine to be suffered is apparant by the 12. cap. of the 2. booke of Kinges where the sinne of murder and of adulterie hauing bene forgiuen Dauid yet God did chastice him with temporall paine in the death of his sonne He did as much to Adam Gen. 3. Sap. 10. to Moises sister Num. 12. and to a Prophet 3. Reg. 13. And albeit these paines may be pardoned as well by the satisfactorie workes enioyned by the confessar as by those which one doth voluntarily of him selfe yet ordinarily all the paine is not remitted by such like workes whence it followeth that the rest is to be paid in Purgatorie vnles we haue recourse to the treasure of the Church by Indulgences Wise and well aduised is he who by a way so easie doth free him selfe from a payment which else he is to make by fire and by such a fire as that of Purgatorie is EXAMPLES 1. S. Francis hauing obtained of our Lord and of Pope Honorius the third a plenarie indulgence for his Church of our Lady of Portiuncula neere to Asissium the bruit being spread euery where abroad a hundred and twentie Sclauonians were moued from heauen to trauell thither as they did It came to passe that a woman fel there soare sick and hauing ended her deuotions died The rest being embarked to returne into their contrie she appeared to them saying Feare yee not for I am one of your compaine sent by our blessed Lady for to tell you that by the benefit of the Indulgences which I gayned together with you at our Ladies of Portiuncuâ—a I am departed directly to heauen without passing thorough Purgatorie Which hauing said she disappeared â—auing all these good pilgrimes greatly comforted See you the efficacie and virtu of Indulgences Taken out of the annales of the Friar Minors to 1. l. 2. cap. 5. 2. Our Lord hath maruelously praised Indulgences to S. Bridgit as appeareth by the 102. cap. l. 6. of her Reuelations §. 7. Of the paines of Purgatorie The Apostle S. Paul speaking of the diuersitie of those who build spiritually in this worlde saith that he who dyeth with smale sinnes shall be saued yet so as by fire Vpon which wordes S. Aug. discoursing in Psal 37. saith Because it is written we shal be saued therfore we despise the fire of Purgatorie yes truly we shall be saued by fire but by a fire more greuous and painfull then all whatsoeuer a man can suffer in this life The same S. Greg. saith vpon the 3. penitential psalme Venerable Bede vpon the same psalme S. Anselme vpon the 1. Cor. 3. S. Bernard serm de obitu Humberti S. Thomas houldeth that the paines of Purgatorie are greater then are the paines of all the Martyrs yea then those which Iesus Christ him selfe suffered in his most holy and painfull passion 3. p. q. 46. art 6. ad 3. EXAMPLES 1. S. Antoninus writeth that a certaine person giuen to debauchement was visited of God with a longe and painfull sicknes At the last loosing his patience he instantly besought of God that he might dye behould an Angel appeared vnto him who gaue him his choice ether to remayne two yeares more in this infirmitie then to goe directly to heauen or else to dye that very houre and be three dayes in purgatorie This ill aduised person chose rather to dye and to endure for three dayes the paines of Purgatorie He 〈…〉 same Angell came to visit him in his
which he said S. Paulinus in his life §. 1. Of the efficacie of the worde of God Why are not my wordes as fire saith our Lord and as a hammer breaking a rocke Ierem. 23. 29. They are also called Trumpets Isay 58. Iosue 6. By the trumpets which the priests caused to be sounded the walles of Hiericho were ouerthroweÌ„ a most assured presage that at the voice and sound of the preachers the true trumpets of the church the walles and ramparts of our vices should be ouerthrowen EXAMPLES 1. A certaine woman that had poisoned her husband hearing S. Hughe bishop of Grenoble preache felt so greiuous a sorrow in her hart for hauing committed so great a sinne that without regarding where she was she confest it aloud and publiquely Ribad in the life of S. Hughe 2. S. Vincent Ferrier being about to preache he perceiued two wicked persons which were a leading to the gallouse he made them to be brought vnto him and a cloth to be put before their face Then he preached of the malice and deformitie of sinne and of the paines of hell and that with such feruour and efficacie that these two theeues touched with repentance for their sinnes began to sweate and to smoake or reake as if they had bene burnt and their faces being discouered they were seene become as black as coales Platus de bono stat relig l. 2. c. 32. O what reformation would there be both in townes and villages if sinners would frequent sermons and catechismes But al as it is to be feared lest that which our Lord said to his Apostles arriue not to sundry Christians Whosoeuer shall not receiue you nor heare your wordes amen I say to you it shall be more tollerable for the lande of the Sodomites and Gomorrheans in the day of iudgment then for that cittie Mat. 10. 14. THE X. CHAPTER Of the singular deuotion which the good Christian ought to haue to our B. Lady ALl the holy Saintes haue bene so affected to the mother of God haue thought so highly of the desire which God hath of her honor and her seruice that they haue bene bould to assure that who so shall be truly deuoâ—t vnto her shall be neuer damned but that she will obtaine him of her Sonne all that which shall be necessary for him to be saued They proue the same by the wordes of the wise man Prou. 8. 34. saying Blessed is the man that heareth me he that shall finde me shall finde life and shall draw saluation of our Lord. For this cause S. Epiphanius calleth the holie virgin the roote and seede of glorie orat de Annunt And in Eccles 24. 24. I am the mother of beautifull loue and feare and of knowledge and of holie hope in me is all grace of way and truth they that explicate me shall haue life euerlastinge S. Anselme and S. Bonauenture lib. 1. phar cap. 5. say Sicut o beatissima c. Euen as o blessed virgin all auerted from thee and despiced of thee must needes perish euen so all conuerted to thee and respected of thee it is impossible they should perish Heare S. Bernard God hath placed the whole plenitude of all good thinges in Marie that we should know that if there be any hope in vs any grace of heauen any hope of saluation all this comes from God by the handes of Marie Ser. de nat virg Mariae And in another place She is called the Qâ—eene and mother of mercie because we beleeue that she openeth the bottomles depth of diuine mercie to whom she will when she will and aâ—ter what maner and fashion she will in so much that euen the most enormous sinner caÌ„ not perish if this Saint of Saints honor him with her intercession asâ—…tance Serm. 1. in Salue regina Who hath euer saith a certaine holie personage reclaymed thy most powerfull fauour with a faithfull hart and hath bene reiected Neuer neuer hath one bene heard of Eutichianus in vita Theoph. anno 600. The same Saint Bernard saith in the sermon vpon the Assumpâ—…on EXAMPLES 1. My mother aske said king Salomon to Bersabee for it behoueth not that I turne away thy face 3 Reg. 20. Salomon was a figure of the Sonne of God and Bersabee of our B. Lady 2. When Iesus therfore had seene his mother from the Crosse wheron he was nayled and the Disciple standinge whom he loued he saith to his mother Woman behould thy Sonne And after that he saith to the Disciple behould thy mother Ioan. 19. 26. From which houre S. Iohn tooke her for his mother Our Lord recommended vs also then vnto his mother in the person of S. Iohn Haue we not then iust occasion to hould her for our mother as well as hee 3. S. Thomas of Aquin assured before his death neuer to haue asked ought of our Lord by the meanes of our B. Lady which he obtained not Ribad 7. of Marche The same is reade also of S. Dominick Ibid. 4. of August 4. Theophilus hauing giuen his soule vnto the diuell and signed the gift with his owne hande had recourse vnto our Lady and praied vnto her so feruently and so efficatiously that the diuel was forced to bring him back againe his bill Metaphrast 4. of Fâ—b and. S. Antoninus Which the B. Cardinall Damian admiring saith What may be denied thee o most holy virgin to whom was not denied to pluck Theophilus out of the very throat of hell Certainly nothing is impossible for hee sith thou canst from the very bottom of the bottomles depthe raise vp the despaired to lift them vp into the bosome of glorie 5. See such other like examples in the historie of Loretto by Horatius Turselinus lib. cap. 4. cap. 33. In Cesarias lib. 6. mirac cap. 26. 27. In Delrio disq magic lib. 6. cap. 2. S. 3. q. 3. 6. A certaine Hermit vpon a day saw our Lady sitting vpon a sumptuous throane and at her feete S. Wadrus and S. Aldegundus who besought her to doe iustice vpon Theodoric Count of Auesne who vniustlie vsurped the goods of the Church Our Lady answered them that his wife helde her handes for as much as euery day she offred for him sixtie Aue Maries In the 3. volume of the annales of Hainnaâ— cap. 19. 7. Lewis kinge of France and Emperor sonne of Chaâ—lemaine bore alwaies the picture of our Lady hanging at his neck as did also S. Heduuige Dutchesse of Polâ—gnia Sur tom 5. and if he were ether wearie of huntinge or stayed amongst the thickets he fastned this picture vpon some tree and offered vp his praiers vpon both his knees In the historie of France Canis l. 5. cap. 2â— Crautz 7. Andronicus Emperor of the caste being reduced by a sodaine acciâ—ent to the point of death and seeing that he could not receiue the most pretious body of our Lord for his voyage foode he put within his mouth a golden image of the most holy virgin which he alwaies bore about