Illumina oculos meos ne vnquam obdormiam in morte ne quando dicat inimicus meus praeualui aduersus eum That is lighten myne eyes that I sleep not in death least that at any tyme my enemy say I haue preuailed against him And yf thow canst say none other at least thow shalt say a Pater noster and Aue Maria deuoutly euerie day with this inteÌ„tioÌ„ that God wil geue thee grace to dy lyke a true christian And although it be a thing very coÌ„uenieÌ„t for the obtayning of such singular grace to haue recourse to the glorious mother of God as also to the apostles martirs coÌ„fessors virgins other saintes in heaueÌ„ yet neuerthelesse thow oughtest particularly to inuocate the ayd of thy good angel who for so much as hee hath a particular care ouer thee wil not faile in that so dangerous and perillous an howre to assist thee with a singuler and special help Some bee accustomed to say this prayer O Domine Iesu Christe deprecâ—r te propter illam amaritudinem quà m pro me misero peccatore sustinuisti in cruce maxime quando nobilissima anima tua egressa est de corpore tuo miserere animae meae in egressu suo Amen That is O Lord Iesu Christe I beseech thee for that bitternes which for mee wretched sinner thow didst endure on the crosse espetialy when thy moste noble soule went foorth of thy body haue mercy vpon my soule when it shal departe out of my body A chanon reguler of the order of S. Augustyne after his death appearing to a freind of his told him that by meanes of this prayer which hee had ordinarily in his lyfe tyme said euery day there was graunted vnto him a verie good happie and quiet death Yf thow shalt then daylie vse so to recommend thy self to God to the saincts and angels thow mayest hope neuer to be abandoned of them in that case And although in time of pestilence or of war thow fynde thy self depriued of all mannes help do not doubt For in that hower thy good angel and the saincts wil not fayle of their desired helpe in due tyme as it is knowne to haue happened to many that trusted in their ayd The fourth and last rule THE fourth rule which ought to be obserued in health is called mortification The deuout men that haue treated of this doctrine wryte that a man ought euerie day to dy that is to say to mortifie his proper passions sences as for example one doth abuse thee in wordes thy passion would answere him and thow wouldest not suffer him to tread thee as it weer vnder his feet but thereby thow shouldest shew thy self not to haue mortifyed thy affections whereas holding thy peace and mortifiyng that violent motion thow shouldest shew thy selfe to bee dead to the world and that thy reason comaundeth ouer thy inferiour affections When thyne eye would see and behold a beautiful creature yf thow restraine thy desire thow shalt mortifie it but yf thow suffer thy self to be caried away by sensualitie then caÌ„st thow not be called dead vnto the world but aliue Therefore it is said of holy men that yf thow desire to dy a trew christian and at the end of thy lyfe to enioy euerlasting blisse it behoueth thee euerie day whilest thow liuest many times to dy And thus oftentymes dying spiritually thow shalt learne the arte to dy wel and safelie and without feare come to the end of thy lyfe with good preparation and their shal be verified in thee the saying of blessed S. Gregorie the great when hee said Non timebit facere quod se nouerit bene didicisse that is to say hee shal not feare to doe that which hee knoweth himself to haue learned wel to do And thus haste thow somwhat vnderstood how thow oughtest to prepare thy self for death in tyme of health which is practised beforehand and in it consisteth fowre rules or principal points the first is called the remembrance of death the second the making of thy testament the third prayer the fourth mortification And now come wee to the second parte where wee shal speak more briefly of the preparation a man ought to make when hee beginneth to bee sick and it conteyneth fowre other principal rules THE SECOND CHAPTER wherein is principally treated of the preparation which a man ought to make in the begining of sicknes and conteyneth fowre principal rules The first rule THE first rule is that when thow feelest thy selfe depriued of health thow do think by and by that almightie God who is the chief goodnes is hee that sendeth thee this sicknes for the greater weal of thy soule and to the end that thow shouldest leaue thy euil lyf or els yf alreadie thow haest amended thy euil lyfe that then thow mayest bee preserued in good lyfe with greater perfection The wyseman sayd Infirmitas grauis sobriam facit animam that is to say A grieuous sicknes maketh the soule sober And Dauid saith Multiplicate sunt infirmitates eorum postea accelerauerunt that is Their infirmities weare multiplied and afterward they made haste Therefore this sicknes without doubt being sent thee of God for thy profit thow oughest to receyue with great patience and thank him for his giftes For although these strypes and fatherlie corrections afflict and greeue the bodie yet they cure the soule and of this thy prayse-woorthie patience many good fruites shal follow First thow shalt greatly merit in the sight of God being conformable to his iust and holie wil and pleasure and it shal be a satisfactioÌ„ for thy sinnes and the more in that thow shalt the more easilie suffer the sicknes it self and so yf God wil that thow ameÌ„d thow shalt sooner bee deliuered Whereas on the contrarie part yf thow shouldest bee impatieÌ„t thow shouldest synne and thy sicknes should bee prolonged and peraduenture also encreased and thow weakened by thyne impatience shouldest then with more difficultie beare euerie litle payne or grief To this purpose S. Augustine said Si Deum diligis quod faecit Deus diligis that is Yf thow loue God thow louest that which God doeth And S. Hierome saith Qui cum dolore agritudinem suscipit signum est quod Deum non sufficienter diligit that is to say It is a signe hee doth not loue God with all his hart as hee ought to do which receyueth sicknes with greef of mynde The second rule THE secoÌ„d rule of preparatioÌ„ that ought to be made in sicknes is so soone as thow perceyuest thy self to bee sick that thow think thow mayest dy of this disease and that thow therefore doe dispose thy selfe to receyue the sacraments of holy Churche as yf thow wert sure thow shouldest then dy in deed In this case the deuil is wont to lay many stoppes to let a man to doe so great good First hee putteth in his mynde that hee shal not dy of that sicknes and that their is no
a spiritual consolation and to fulfil without offence to God a desire to know such a thing that this is no sinne Notwithstanding hold thow that opinion which moste pleaseth thee so that thow haue the vertue of humilitie ioyned with godly and holy desire The sixt question THE sixt question was whether hee that hath alwayes liued il neuer hath made preparation for death being now at the point of death may at that instant sufficiently prepare himself to dy The Ermite answered saying sonne so long as a man liueth and hath the vse of reason hee may alwayes dispose and prepare himself to dy wel But in truth I say vnto thee that of ten thowsand men that delay it to the last instant their is not one saued This is the iudgement of S. Hierome and S. Augustine and verie wel knowne and manifest to other holy doctors therefore I wil not go about to multiplie wordes in vayne The seuēth question THE seuenth question was whether the deuil do appeare to all those that dy The Ermite answered saying that ordinarily the deuils appeare to all in the end of their lyues as may be proued by the authoritie of diuers holy men The ordinary glosse explicating these woordes of Geneses Tu insidiaberis calcaneo eius that is Genes 3. Thow shalt ly in wayt euen at his heel saith that this is to be vnderstood to be at the end of mannes lyf To the same purpose Ecclesiasticus also saith Sunt spiritus qui ad vindictam creati sunt in tempore consummationis effundunt virtutem suam that is to say their be spirits which were created for reuenge and at the tyme of consumation they do shew their force which authority S. Vincent and other Doctors expound of deuils that appeare at the tyme of death And S. Gregorie saith that the deuil so much the more diligently tempteth a man in the end of his lyfe as he knoweth hee hath lesse tyme to tempt him Thesame S. Gregorie also wryteth that the deuil in the end of lyfe appeereth aswel to the good as the euil yea and that hee durst appeer to Christe himself beeing on the crosse If then this wicked spirit came to Christe on the crosse how much more boldly wil hee appeere to all other yf it be not that some through the spetial grace and priuiledge of almighty God be exempted from such a diuelish apparition as wee read of our blessed Ladie in some bookes of smalle authoritie that she asked and obtayned of her blessed sonne that at her death she should not see any wicked spirit or deuil The eight question THE eight question was whether our Sauiour Christe discend corporally to the particuler iudgment of all those that dy The Ermite answered that to some it seemeth hee doth and they confirme their opinion with authoritie of holy scripture in the actes of the Apostles where it is said of our Lord. Act. 10. Ipse est qui constitutus est à Deo iudex viuorum mortuorum that is to say it is hee that is appoynted of God the iudge of the quick and the dead And in S. Iohn the 5. Chap. it is written Pater omne iudicium dedit filio that is to say God the father gaue all iudgement to his sonne But to some other this opinion seemeth not credible because it happeneth that in one and the self same tyme diuers persons dy in diuers places and it is not conuenable that Christes humanitie in one instant should bee to this end in so many places and therefore they say our blessed Sauiour doth not discend personally to giue this particuler iudgmēt but rather committeth that office to the good Angel that is giuen vs for our gard giuing him authoritie as iudge to end and execute the proces and sentences to him appoynted and the Angel so made iudge condemneth or absolueth the soule according to iustice and after guideth it to the place assigned eyther in heauen in hell or in purgatorie according as it hath deserued But to the vniuersal iudgment our blessed Sauiour himself wil discend and iudge the quick and the dead And in this sence they expound the authoritie before aleaged The nynth question THE nynth question was whether our Sauiour Christe appeare at the hower of death generallie to all men good and il The Ermite answered that some great doctors haue said that hee dothe and to approue thesame they alleage the authoritie of Pope Innocent the third in the second book de conditione vilitatis humane that is of the misery of man where it is said that all men aswel good as bad do see Iesus Christe before the soule go out of the bodie The good to their great consolation and the euil to their great confusion to the end that by such apparance they may be ashamed to haue lost through their negligence the precious fruit of their redemption And albeit this bee the opinion of very famous doctors yet do I not fynde it sufficiently confirmed by authority of holy scripture for this reason there are others that do not concur in this opinion though yet very Godly and deuout About this matter then I wil make none other resolution but that I hold for certayne that our benigne and mercyful redeemer appeareth to many in the end of their lyues as by innumerable examples and approued histories it may be verefyed but that hee appeareth to all vniuersally I neyther affirme nor deny The tenth question THE tenth was whether the particuler iudgement bee immediatly after the soule is gon out of the bodie or that there bee some space of tyme before the sentence of the said iudgement be giuen The Ermite answered that ordinarilie without delay after the soule be separated from the bodie it receyueth his particuler iudgment with the sentence of damnation or saluation according to the condition of his merits But verie trew it is that Omnis regula patitur exceptionem euery rule suffereth exception Therefore some soules after their separation attend a good space before their particuler iudgement be giuen as wee read of a famous Doctor of Paris who was reputed a man of holy lyfe but beeing dead whyles they made his funeralles in the Churche hee lifted vp his head as he lay on the beere in the presence of many people a great nūber of maisters Doctors in diuinitie and diuers schollers and said Ad iudiciam vocatus sum that is I am called to iudgement and then layd himself down againe wherevpō it was ordayned that hee should not be buried vntil the next day and so the day following hee did the like for lifting vp his head againe hee said Iudicatus sum I am iudged And there vpon his burial was deferred til the third day when as hee in lyke manner as twyce before lifting vp his head said aloud Condemnatus sum I am condemned whereby it is manifest that this particuler iudgement continued for the space
peril at all After that hee procureth the phisition to giue him too much hope of lyfe and lykewyse all them of the howse And his fteindes and kinsfolkes to comforte him saying Sir bee of good cheere for ye shal amend verie shortlie And yf any religious man come to visit him they warne him or tel him that for nothing in the world he put any feare in him or tel him that hee is in peril to dy All these bee woorkings of our ghostelie enemie Therefore a wyseman so soone as hee feeleth himself sick saith I wil confesse my self and receyue the blessed sacrament and prepare my self for death and after let God woork his holy wil of mee as it pleaseth him for that I am his creature But note that when hee hath made this good determination the deuil doth not yet ceasse to make him delay so good a deed and beginneth to moue his wyf yf hee bee maried and his kinsfolkes to leaue them some of his worldlie substance and they talk to him of many hard thinges and all worldlie In the meane while the sicknes encteaseth and the sickman saith dispatche these businesses I wil in any wyse bee confessed In suche case I would aduyse thee to haue an eye to the principal which is the health of thy soule for the malice of the deuil layeth many snares to catche thee Say not I wil first dispatche my worldlie busines and then confesse mee because it is the deuil that maketh thee to speak so but say I wil first confesse me and prepare for my soule and after I wil dispose these other things of the world because this busines of the soule doth to say the truth importe mee much more then a thowsand worldes And doubt not when thow shalt be confessed thow shalt haue in thee the grace of God and bee better able then to dispose of thy worldlie things with more iudgement and better meanes Now marke wel my sonne for in this rule I wil discouer vnto thee some goodlie secretes which commonlie are not set fourth of some deuout men which haue entreated of this arte to dy wel All how shold and worldlie care beeing then set a side I wil haue thee after thow haste examined thy conscience to make thy confession to a good and learned priest following the example of S. Augustine who in his last sicknes would haue none to enter into his chamber for some dayes together vntil he had made a diligent search examination of his conscience And so hee had written before to a nephew of his and perswaded him that putting a syde all earthlie care in his sicknes hee should turne himselfe wholie to God almightie with great contrition beholding the blessed woundes of our moste mercyful redeemer and bewayling detesting al his faultes past In this tyme it should be verie good to say the seaueÌ„ peniteÌ„tial Psalmes as did thesame S. Augustyne who turning his heauie pale face to the wall where the seauen Psalmes weere written and beeing froÌ„ all other care sequestred sayd them with great aboundance of teares demaunding of almightie God mercie pardon for his sinnes And after such a contrition and repentance for thy sinnes thow shalt then make thy confession with an exact examination of thy conscience and after while thow art in perfect memorie thow shalt receyue the blessed sacrament which is called in latyn viaticum that is to say a viage prouision because it is necessarie and needful in the way by which wee haue to passe from this lyf to the next With how great reuerence and deuotion so great a sacrament is to be receyued I wil not for breuities sake heere declare but wil referre thee for this matter to the examples of the sainctes and especially for the passage out of this lyfe to the glorious doctor S. Hierome where thow shalt fynde with how many teares and with how merueylous great consideration hee receyued the blessed sacrament all which is wrytten for our example When now thow shalt be communicated immediatelie thow shalt require that growing woors thow mayest haue the sacrament of extreme vnction when it shal seeme good to thy ghostly father And heer I wil tel thee a good note which is that yf thow take the sacrameÌ„t of extreme vnctioÌ„ in such manner as I haue instructed thee and yf thow pray to our Lord aswel as thow canst and oftentymes repeat thy prayer and perseuer in desire vntil death asking of God that for his infinite mercy and by the vertue of this holie Sacrament of extreme vnction he wil graunt thee plenarie remission in this lyfe of all thy sinnes that is to say that when thy soule shal be seperated from thy bodie immidiatly without touche of the paynes of purgatorie thow mayest flie to the blisse of euerlasting lyfe Iohn Gerson Chancelor of Paris and William Altissiodorensis affirme with whome agreeth also Peter de Palude that in this case the sick dying with the disposition and holy preparation before mentioned shal not feel the paynes of purgatorie but straight way shal ascend to the eternal ioyes of heauen And it seemeth Cassiobrus was of this opinion touching the plenary remission in alleaging this verse â—salm 115. Dirupisti Domine vincula mea tibi sacrificabo hostiam laudis that is thow haste broken my bandes in sonder o lord to thee wil I yeeld the sacrifice of prayse which as some hold opinioÌ„ being sayd in the end of a mannes lyf doth procure that his sinnes be remitted that is as I expound it touching the payne for as for the fault perfect contrition sufficeth Behold my welbeloued sonne how easilie a christian may obtayne plenarie remission and ful pardon of his sinnes See besydes how much it importeth to knowe this arte of dying wel and how greatlie it profiteth how to knowe to make preparation with the sacraments of holy Churche And yf thow weart at that point that thow couldest then not haue the sacrameÌ„ts in this case thy good desire with the continewance of the said prayer would suffice thee And so by the opinion of Iohn Gerson a verie Catholike doctor William Altissiodorensis thow shouldest lykewyse obtayne plenarie remission by the vertue of that prayer Yea without the sacraments actuallie receyued Therefore marke this notable saying and keep it in memorie and prayse the infinite goodnes of God who for so short and few wordes doth deliuer vs from the payne of so great a fyer The third rule THE third rule for the tyme of sicknes is that thow prepare thy self to be constant and strong against the sundrie temptatioÌ„s whear with the deuil wil trouble thee Wherefore it is to be known according to the doctrine of diuynes that the deuil is more diligent in tempting at the tyme of death then in the tyme of health for he thinking the disease to be mortal saith to himself yf I lose this soule at this instant I lose it for euer wherfore I wil not leaue to doe what
instruct him in then in the arte to dy wel because it excelleth euerie other science thesame being more necessarie more profitable and more worthie then the others as without the which a man cannot purchase paradise nor escape the horrible paynes of hel These other artes do teache to dispute to talke to measure to number to sing and suche like exercises which are all of litle value and only vsed of men whyle they liue in this miserable and transitorie lyfe but the arte to dy wel teacheth thee to get paradise where each science and all kynde of knowledge is to bee found By thee liberal artes thow shalt get wordlie glorie and earthly substance which moste speedely passeth a way but by the arte to dy wel is gotten the glorie of heauen which endureth for euer by this arte is our soule saued and wee haue this life onlie to the end to learne the arte to dy wel To this our lord Iesus Christe doth inuite vs in many places of the gospel as where hee saith Math. 25. Estote parati quia nescitis diem neque horam that is to say Bee ye in a reddines because ye know not the day nor the hower Againe Luc. 12. Estote parati quia qua hora non putatis filius hominis veniet that is Be ye prepared because the sonne of man wil come what hower ye think not To come to this knowlege the saincts and true philosophers haue taken great trauail and paynes because this science alone helpeth more then all the other together In this day and night the holie fathers did exercise themselues and now euerie good religious person and true deuout Christian putteth all his studie to learne to dy wel yea hee is not a true christian neyther can be called a wiseman which doth not procur some meanes to learne this so worthie and so necessarie a science without which none can dy wel nor consequently be saued For as sainct Bernard saith venientem mortem nemo bene excipit nisi qui se ad ipsam dum viueret bonis operibus preparauit that is No man doth wel receyue death but hee that while hee liued did prepare himself for it by good woorkes The passage of death beeing then more perilous then any other thing for as muche as that therein either is lost the soueraigne good and eternal damnation purchased or els the blessed perpetual felicitie is thereby wonne and the euer during payne of hell is thereby auoyded wee ought with all carefulnes and diligence to prepare our selues for that passage in which the whole conclusion and end of all our doings consisteth because hauing made this passage as it requireth with behooful meanes wee become happie for euer whereas contrariwise doing euil wee do foreuer lose the ioyes of paradise If a iudge were to giue senteÌ„ce in a case whereon depended thy whole substaÌ„ce or yf thow weare to yeeld accoÌ„pte of some administratioÌ„ or office of great importance thow wouldest not fynde repose either night or day thow wouldest not sleep one hower soundlie nor eate one morsel of meat with pleasing taste thow wouldest neuer laugh nor vse any recreation vntil such tyme as thow wert freed from that perillous estate and businesse Alas then how great is the ignorance of miserable wordlings which beeing to make this so painful and dangerous a passage wherevpon dependeth all our good do arryue and come thereunto like vnto brute beastes without any preparation at all When an imprisoned malefactor â—ath receaued sentence of death and knoweth hee cannot escape oh how many waylings and how many lameÌ„tings maketh the wretche in that time seeing that assuredly he must foorthwith be put to death In this case are all men liuing found to bee against whome as soone as euer they be borne in this miserable and transitorie lyfe the seuere sentence of death is pronounced And so do wee all stand in this world as the malefactor standeth in prison condemned to death readie to goe vnto execution Of whome as it is said that hee lieth in prison vpon his life so of vs all may it truly bee spoken that wee are in this prison of the world and ly vpon our lyues which beeing considered oh how much ought wee to weep and how much ought wee to be careful and diligent to prepare our selues for death When the marchant had vnderstood all these things being then brought into great perplexitie he said vnto the Ermite o father and maister I harteâ—… desire that you wil vouchsafe to instruct mee further in this so woorthie and necessarie arte of dying wel that I may thereby know by this your charitie that you haue chosen mee for your sonne and disciple and yf in this moste healthful science you haue any secret or worthie point I beseech you for the loue of God before you pas from this our mortal lyf vnto the lyf euerlasting to discouer vnto mee thesame Then the Ermite answered him saying my sonne welbeloued scholler now do I know that our Lord is hee that maketh thee to speak and therefore I wil not denie thee thy request Know thow then that I beeing an hundred yeares old am assured that the end of my lyfe cannot but bee neere wherefore hauing studied for the space of seauentie yeares to learne this science of dying wel It hath pleased almightie God to reueal vnto mee sundry secret especial poynts of thesame the which I wil coÌ„municate and shew vnto thee for the coÌ„moÌ„ good of all them that wil learne to dy wel to the end that by thy meanes they may bee published vnto the world and especialy to such godly and deuout myndes as aboue all other things desire to obteyne through the grace of God the glorie of paradise yf euer then to any sacred sermon thow didest giue attentiue eare instantly then I pray thee that vnto this present discourse thow wilt more then euer bee heedful and attentiue and for the time not to interrupt my speech And this beeing said the Ermite began his discours as followeth THE DIVISION OF HIS NARATION THe doctrine of dying wel conteyneth three chapters and twelue golden rules The first fowre in the first chapter are called rules of health for that whyles wee are in health they teache the meanes to dispose our selues for death The other fowre are called in the second chapter rules of infirmitie which wee ought to obserue for dying wel in our sicknes The fowre last are called in the third chapter rules of extremytie because wee are by them instructed in fowre principal pointes which wee ought to obserue at the last end of our lyf to the end to passe securely the passage of death The first chapter sheweth the long preparation that a man is to make during the tyme of his health The second chapter sheweth the disposition more neerer which a man is to make in the tyme of sicknes The third conteyneth the last preparation which a man is to make euen
shalt easely get patience in all thy troubles for euerie man in trouble is greatlie comforted when he thinketh that by death all aduersitie is ended and that after death great rewardes are prepared for all those that bee truely patient By this feare is engendred in the soule of a reasonable creature which is the beginning of the amendment of lyf for who is so sencelesse that considering wel and diligentlie the circumstāces of death doth not from top to toe tremble and quake And yf thow wilt say vnto mee I cannot feare death then must I answear thee that it proceedeth of these causes eyther that thow arte not a reasonable creature or that thow arte without vnderstanding or els that thow art ignorant how to consider and think on it wel It is no sinne to feare death because this feare is natural and was in our Sauiour Christe in as much as hee was man and wee fynde that the wise and natural philosophers had an apprehension of death but out of doubt it should bee a moste grieuous enormous sinne yf for such feare one should desyre to continew alwayes remaine in this miserable lyfe yea against God almightie his wil and pleasure And the feare of death in this manner is reproued in holy scriptures It is good then to feare death when such feare induceth thee to the feare and loue of God but it is a verie il thing to feare it when thow art therby disposed to gaine-say the holy wil of God I speak to thee of this laudable and profitable feare and thereto I inuite thee seeing without it holy men haue not profited in the perfection of christian lyfe I refuse and greatly blame that other vnmeasured feare of carnal and wicked men If thow take a custome to remember death in all thyne acts and deeds thow wilt become so timerous to displease almightie God that thow wilt cast from thee all slouth and sluggishnes and that this is true is apparant because yf thow shouldest think that to morrow thow must needs dy suddeynlie thow wouldest bee made wel disposed to all good woorkes Oh how much almes how many prayers how great contrition and what number of teares sobbes and sighes wouldest thow make and powre out Fasting would not bee hard for thee nor to pardon thine enemies nor yet to make restitution of euil gotten goods And therefore when thow art tempted with slouth or that wel doing grieueth thee take this spur of the remembrance of death and therewith prick thyne asse forward driuing him on and saying together with Salomon Eccl cap. 9. bestirre thee to doe good for thow arte to go out of hand where thow cāst not woork any more for thy profit and commoditie S. Gregorie saith valde se sollicitat in bone opere S. Greg. qui semper cogitat de extremo fine that is he maketh himself verie diligent in good woorks that alwayes thinketh on his last end And Seneca not disagreing from this our purpose saith nothing helpeth so much to temperance in all things as the often thinking vpon death wheer with thow maiest direct thy whole lyfe euen as the gouernour of a ship doth direct his vessel who desirous to bring it wel home into the hauen setteth himself at the sterne in the end therof so putting thy self by consideration into the end of thy lyfe thow shalt guide thy soule to the hauen of health Set thy self then continually to consider the end of thy lyfe and yf their commeth vpon thee a desire of worldlie riches say within thy self I must dy shortlie and I may dy euen this hower it standeth mee vpon therefore to take heed that for transitorie gayne I doe not lose my soule and euerlasting blisse If thou bee tempted with ambition and worldlie glorie run immediatlie to the remembrance of death say to thy desire If I am to dy shortlie and paraduenture to day or to morrow what need haue I to think how to make my self great in this world where I am to abyde so litle and short a time So in euerie other carnal desyre and in euerie other temptation that may come to thee eyther of hatred or of enuie or of pryd or of gluttonie alwayes thow shalt help thy self with the remembrance of death And their shal be no sinner so great that with this onlie remedie wel vsed and practised shal not be able to leaue sinne and to do trew pennance with perseueration And note that this remedie although it bee profitable to all yet is it much more profitable to beginners and to those that be nouices in the way of our Lord then to others that be wel forward or come to perfection Therefore as a holie father saith for those that haue gotten an habit in sinne and for the beginners in spiritual lyfe the remembrāce of death is no lesse necessarie and needful then daylie bread vnto the lyfe of the bodie yea it is wrytten that without such remembrance hardlie any one can bee saued for the scripture saith Ecclesiast ◠2 without feare no man is iustified which feare is wont to proceed of the remembrance of death Seeing then that thow knowest sufficientlie the medecine for all thy spiritual infirmities yf thow do not put it in practise vsing it when thow haste need the fault shal be thine And yf thow wilt be a diligent obseruer of this vniuersal remedie at the last end of thy lyfe that may be trewlie sayd of the which a bishop called Theophilus said vpon his death bed vnto the abbot Arsenius Blessed art thow Arsenius which haste alwayes had before thine eyes this last hower of death The Marchant hauing with much attension heeded these the Ermites woords and not without great cōtentation receaued thereby the aforesaid fruites beeing filled with a kynd of spiritual sweetnes hee said vnto the Eremite Father of two thinges I do much meruaile the first is that so few by this so easie way of the remembrance of death endeuour themselues to get so many marueylous spiritual commodities the second is how it cometh to passe that many think and remember themselues of their lyues last hower yet notwithstanding do not attayne to one of the least of these fruits and marueylous commodities To this answered the olde Ermite I shal not be able my sonne without teares to answere thee if I assoyle thy propounded questions seeing so great a multitude of christians to bee damned which so easilie might saue themselues for I am by fraternal charitie constrained to this grief and compassion of the ignorance and negligence of the world To the first then I answere that the world is so ful of so great ignorances and blyndnes and the health of soules so litle or nothing cared for that one ducat of gold or one carnal contentation is more estemed then a thowsand heauens The least thought or care that worldlings haue now adayes is of their saluation Therefore it is not to bee marueyled at that so
comest to mee lyke a traytor with deceytes laying wayt for my lyf I feel thow byndest mee hand and foot and by thy cruel forces suddaynlie bound and taken I see I am drawne as a thief and malefactor to the miserable punishment of myne end seeking ayd in so great sorrow and payne I finde no help nor succour neyther of riches nor of freinds nor yet of kynsfolkes why the hower appoynted of God is comme I must needs go and I know not whether I depart from this world that I loue so wel I leaue all my worldlie goodes and my worldlie felicitie greatly against my wil and so weeping and howling without hope of Gods help I was of cruel death preuented and in a moment lost all my prosperitie the wreched soule was assigned to the euerlasting paynes of hel and my corruptible bodie lost all his beautie and became loth some and stinking the food of wormes This sinner with this head made many other long discourses and had many imagined speaches ful of compunction and verie profitable to him that desireth to dy wel the which did in such wise imprint in his mynd the remembrance of death as thereby hee profited greatly in the way of saluation for he thought that all the miseries aboue mentioned hee might proue in himself yf hee should not against the hower of death be wel prepared But to be short I leaue this second mean and come to the third the which is yet of much more effect then eyther the first or the second The reason whereof may easilie be comprehended for in the first the miserable paines and anguishes of death are heard with the eares in the second they be as it weer seene with the eyes but in the third wee feel them in our selues The hearing surely doth moue much the seeing doth yet moue more but the feeling farre more moueth then either of the other Yf then the first and second mean to meditate vpon death do not moue thee take the third which is practised in this manner Imagine with all the forces of thy mynd that thow art presentlie in that last sicknes in which thow shalt be compelled to passe from this lyfe to another and thow shalt transforme into thee all those accidents which in that hower may happen thee and make them with thy mynde present vnto thee intentiuelie considering all the anguishes sorrowes and paynes of that heauie doleful tyme as though now presentlie thow wearest in the verie agonie of death and think thereon not as it shal come but as yf euen now at this instant thow didest feel in thy self the verie paynes and agonie thereof with thy thought then and with thyne imagination thow shalt suppose that thow art in thy bed forsaken of the phisitiōs as one without all hope of recouering bodilie health when thy tōgue fayleth thee the sences of thy bodie cease to do their woonted offices thow seeist no more nor more shal euer see in this lyfe thow speakest not nor euer shalt in this world speak more eyther wel or il thow hearest no more thow eatest no more thy pulse is scarselie to be perceyued thy bodie in all partes vexed with payne forsaketh thee thy members moue no more thow liest in thy bed like an image of wood or stone thow sweatest from top to toe for extream payne and torment their doth remaine in thee but a litle breath and in this manner sorrowing gaping for breath and striuing with death thow lyest for a litle tyme in such horrible terrible paynes both of mynde and of bodie as in this lyfe thow neuer didest feel so bitter griefes The synful soule seing herself forsaken and abandoned of the bodie whome she loued so deerlye with deep sighes her estate thorowlie weyghed knoweth she can haue neyther succour nor help of the world in this her extream need and therfore on her owne part willing to comfort and helpe her self beginneth to think on her workes yf yet in them she might finde some refuge but not able to finde in her self any other workes then weightie and wicked vices she maketh far greater sorrow then before Yet searching yf on any syde she might finde refreshing in this her hard and bitter case she then with wayling tourneth her to the mercie of God but therewithal knowing this her conuersion to rise of seruile feare seeith her self not in this last hower woorthie of mercie but rather of all rigour of iustice foorthwith is wholy cōfounded not knowing how to escape this horrible and feareful iudgement of the moste great iust iudge before whome the poore and vnhappy soule is now to bee called to appeere in iudgemēt to render a general accompt of all her actiōs euē to the least thought then the sorrowfull soule seeing her self in so great extremitie and not able to satisfie so great a iudge because so strait an accompt is demaūded of her as of all her worldlie goods of her worldlie honours of the members of her bodie and of their powers and how she hath vsed them to the honour of her creatour and the miserable soule not knowing what to answeare the eyes of her vnderstanding beeing opened she knoweth that she is not of her self by the giltinesse of her owne cōsciēce woorthie of glorie but deserueth payne and therefore vtterly desperate seeing she can fynde no relief to ease her vnshunnable payn but rather the encrease therof seeing the diuels appeare before her with moste soule and vglie shapes like fiers lyons watching to deuour her she then more vnhappie than any other creature in that instant feeleth such bitter grief and sorrow that she is forced for vehemencie of her vnspeakable passions to forsake for euer her miserable and contemptible bodie And so suddaynlie taken by those cruel fiendes of hel she is with such grief as cannot bee vttered bound and brought against her wil to that vnhappie and sorrowful countrie where beeing cast in burning fire she their remayneth in euerlasting wo and payne and the dead carkas now become carrion and all foule and stinking with a litle sound of belles and with weeping teares of kinsfolkes is brought vnto the graue whereafter it is put in the groūd it is soone deuoured of wormes turned into earth and ashes And then is verified the saying of Dauid in the Psalme Psalm 9. Perijt memoria eius cum sonitu iustus in eternum permanet that is his memorie hath perished with the sound the iust abydeth for euer and thus is the end of this worldes pomp and glorie Of how great effect the remembrāce of death may bee is shewed by many examples and chiefly by that which Iohn Climacus recyteth of a moste negligent and keycold religious man who taken with a grieuous sicknes was within a while rapt in spirit and when his soule was as it weer cleane separated from the bodie hee saw the iust iudgments of God afterward beeing returned to himself by by he despatched