after it was obteined that they might bring forth workes which (l) Al this originally by the only goodnes and promise of God through the meriâ—s of Christ our Lord carry a condignity to the deseruing of eternall life as a iust reward of such seruices and as an inheritance duly deriued vpon sonnes And if it seeme a thing disproportionable to the basenes and weakenes of mankind to do a thing which carryeth a proportion of merit to the sublimity and eternity of that heauenly kingdome (m) Note and be no longer scandalized at thyn own conceits for the Catholike doctrine being rightly vnderstood will giue thee no cause thou art not heere to looke vpon a man as of himselfe but as being honoured and accompanied with that celestiall grace which is infused to his soule and so made (n) These are great wordes but it was the holy Ghost which spake theÌ„ partaker of the diuine nature as S Peter (o) 2. Pet. 1. saith And do thou consider him as a liuing member of Iesus Christ our Lord which being incorporated to him doth liue and worke by that spirituall inffluxe which commeth from him and whereby he doth partake his merits Now (p) Note these thinges are so high as that they carry an equality with those other thinges which are hoped for and they are sufficient to enable vs to say with truth That such as liue so do fullfill the law of God and do that which S. Paul required of the (q) Col 1. Colossians and the (r) I hâ—sâ— 1. Thessalonians when he aduised them To liue worthy of God Of (s) Note this inference whome he would neuer haue expected the discharge of so that by the meanes aforesayd it might be performed and that it was more the worke of God then of men For instantly the same Apostle giueth thanks to God For making them worthy of the portion of the Saints in light And what kind of portion this is the Prophet Hieremy (t) Threâ—â— declareth saying My portion is our Lord and therefore I will hope for him And Dauid sayth of God Thou art my portion for euer Of this portion he is worthy who doth (n) Et facere pati magn Christianis est accomplish the law of God by those workes aforesayd and who is found faithfull in those trialls that God doth send him as it is written Our Lord did try them and he found them worthy of himselfe And both for these and those it is also written That God will giue them the hire of the labours of his Saints CHAP. XC That the graunting that there is perfect cleanesse from sinne in such as are iust by the merits of Christ Iesus doth not only not diminish his honour but much more declare it LET no (a) A wise confortable and wel grouÌ„ded discourse man feare to attribute the height of spirituall honour and the aboundance of spirituall riches and perfect cleanes from sinne to them whom the heauenly Father doth iustify by the merits of Iesus Christ our Lord. Let no man thinke that the qualifying of such persons so doth put the honour of the same Lord to any preiudice For since all that which they haue descendeth vpon them by his meanes not only doth not their being so full of dignity dishonour him but it doth publish magnify his honour Since it is euident that how much more iust and more beautifull they are of so much more valew do the merits of him plainely appeare to be who purchased so great a blessing for them which of themselues they neither had nor could procure The Scripture sayth That (b) Thâ—en 14. where the manger is full the strength of the Oxe is made apparent the reason is because by his labour he filled the same full of meate And S. Paul (c) 1. Thes 2. sayth to some whome he had holpen forward by his doctrine and by his labours That they were his honour his crowne in the sight of our Lord. And then how much more will they be the crowne of our Lord Iesus himselfe They who by him are drawn to the honour of being his sonnes and to be full of treasures and blessings which honour is so much the more as those blessinges are the greater Our (d) Our aduersarves make him such a one wheÌ„ they conceaue that he alloweth not that the Saints should be honoured by our inuâ—cations whylest yet themselues do giue the same honour to sinnefull men Lord is not like some persons who are in paine or at least not greatly pleased with the honour or vertue of their seruants as conceauing that it doth obscure their owne or like certaine vaine women who fly from being attended by fayre seruants least so the flowre of their owne beauty should be blasted But make thou no doubt but that Iesus Christ our Lord hath a certaine kind of Charity which exceedeth all humane conceit as S. Paul sayth in (e) In infâ—â—itevâ—n chating of God esteeming our good as his owne and to the end that we might be made rich in graces he left his most worthy life vpon the Crosse The naturall sonne he is of God and we are sonnes adopted through him and he being the only sonne did exalt vs to the title of brother hood giuing vs his God for our God and his Father for our Father as himselfe said I (f) Ioan. â—0 ascend to my Father and to your Father to my God and to your God And so as (g) Ioan. â— S. Iohn saith speaking of the same Lord we saw the glory of him as the glory of the only begotten sonne And he saith also of him That he is full of grace truth Therfore the honour and spirituall riches of these adopted sonnes must be such as becommeth the sonnes of a Father who is God And if grace and truth were made by Iesus Christ as S. Iohn (h) Ioan. 1. saith it was not made that it might remayne alone in him but that it might be deriued downe vpon vs and that we might take some part of his fulnesse and this in such abundance that S. Paul (i) 2. Cor. 9. calleth it a gift which as now we are cannot be related by vs. And to the end that we may know the riches of that inheritance which in his company we may hope to enioy the same S. Paul (k) Ephes beseecheth God To giue him the spirit of wisdome and of reuelation because that blessing is greater then our reason is able to reach vnto Glory and grace and thankes be to thee O Lord for euer who so hast honoured and enriched vs with present giftes and hast comforted vs with the hope of being the heyres of God togeather with thy selfe and who didst carry so great loue to vs as that it wrought better with thee then it did with (l) Iob. 41. Iob That thou mightst not cate thy bitte of bread alone but that the orphane
THE AVDI FILIA OR A RICH CABINET FVLL OF SPIRITVALL IEVVELLS Composed by the Reuerend Father DOCTOVR AVILA Translated out of Spanish into English Omnis terra adoret te psallat tibi Psal 65. Let all the earth adore thee sing to thee O Lord. Permissu Superiorum M.DC.XX THE DEDICATORY TO ALL ENGLISH CATHOLIKES HAVING receaued the honour and happines to be a member of your Holy Communion and on the other side hauing done you nothing but dishonour by leading an vnprofitable life at least and most vnvvorthy of the high vocation of being a Catholike I haue had too much reason to cast my thoughtes vpon thinking hovv I might make you some little part of amendes Nothing came to my mind vvhich might also be vvithin the measure of my povver but the presenting you vvith this Book vvhich togeather vvith my selfe I cast at the feet of you all vvith an humble and most reuerend affection Our Lord doth knovv hovv much need I haue of all your prayers and the high account vvhich I make of them vvhereby you may ghesse hovv much in earnest I desire the same And because there is amongst you a Religious Person a true seruant spouse of Christ our Lord by vvhose meanes through the goodnes of God I am grovvne to an increase of some good desires to doe him Seruice and vvho made much impression vpon my mind tovvards the making me translate this very Booke I do also dedicate it to the same person in a particuler manner as a token of Eternall Gratitude And I beg of that Soule that vvhen by vvay of Exchange for the great Treasures vvhervvith God hath trusted her she shall be remitting her deuout Petitions to that diuine Maiesty the necessityes of myne may not be layd aside Our Lord Iesus graunt by the precious merits of his bitter Passion vvhich I beseech him to apply to vs all by the intercession of his Immaculately conceaued Mother the Queene of Heauen that vve vvho by his grace are in these difficult tymes made members of his Militant Church vvhich to vs indeed is so truely Militant may one day by his goodnes arriue to be also meÌ„bers of the Triumphant Where clearely and at once vve shal be sure to see and vvonder at the inestimable riches of Mercy vvhervvith our Lord did choose vs fevv out of so many millions of soules to professe his Truth and Fayth vvith so much preiudice to our selues in all those thinges vvhich the Foolish and Childish World is vvont to hold so deare Only vve must take care that vve continue in it to and in the end and in the meane tyme also to accompany our Fayth by such good vvorks as may become this high Profession for else vve shall but double our damnation Our Lord deliuer vs from falling into that Abysse of misery and enable vs by his holy Grace so to serue and suffer for him heere that Eternally vve may adore him in Heauen The affectionate humble seruant of you all L. T. THE PREFACE TO The discreet and pious Reader THE (a) The great fam that this Booke enioyeth throughout the world extraordinary fame of this Excellent book gaue me a curiosity to be acquainted with it charity I hope is that which makes me thus deliuer it ouer to be acquainted with you The Title thereof will haue told you the Authours Name and when you shall haue perused it you will acknowledge I belieue that spirit to haue been eminent which the only Giuer of all good thinges bestowed vpon him The (b) The Nation of the Author and the tyme wherin he liued and when he dyed Country of his birth was Spaine and the time of his life was this last age of ours for he dyed in the yeare of our Lord Iesus 1569. some thirteene years after (c) B. P. Ignatius dyed in the yeare 15â—6 Doctour Auila in the yeare 1569. and B. Mother Teresa in the yeare 1â—8â— Blessed Father Ignatius about as many before Blessed Mother Teresa With (d) The communication which he had with the holiest persons of his tyme. both these Saints being mirrours of their tymes and the lasting miracles of these endes of the world he had particuler communication For the later of them he aduised and directed in the way of spirit concerning some difficultyes which occurred to her and she was both comforted and instructed greatly by him And as for the former he bore such affection and euen admiration to his holy Institute that his owne being already at that tyme so far in yeares was (e) He carryed great deuotion to the Society of Iesus the only cause that clipt the winges of his desire which would faine haue beene carrying him on to flye apace after such a guyde But what he could he did by addressing diuers of his disciples to become members of that Society wherein they happily both liued and dyed as appeareth both by the history of his life and yet further by some of his owne printed letters and in a Church of the Society of Iesus he would needs be buried namely at Montillia in Andaluzia The (f) Fray Lewis de Granada wrote his life life of Doctour Auila is written by Fray Lewis de Granada a Religious man of the glorious Saint Dominickes Order and one renowned in the world both for the memory of his great vertues and the presence of his holy bookes It is no meaning of myne to giue you heere the full relation of this life but I only shew euen by the circumstance of the eminent man who wrote the same what account our Authour deserueth at our hands which must needs rebound vpon this Booke so farre as to increase your estimation therof For this reason also you shall vnderstand that when he was yet in health and subiect to the greatest importunity of busines he (g) He was a man of very great Prayer mentally prayed foure houres euery day and he slept but foure euery night When afterward he grew into sicknes which he was subiect to and that in greate extremity for those seauenteene yeares which did immediately precede his death it is probable that he must sleep much lesse and 〈◊〉 is faithfully recorded in the life it selfe that â—e prayed much more for all was prayâ—r with him from the morning till two of the clocke afternoone and againe from six till bed-tyme which with him was not till about an eleuen So as this (h) With how great light of vnderstaÌ„diâ—g and heaâ—e of Charity this Boâ—k was written Booke and the rest of his excellent workes in this kind were not so much the issue of a studious and speculatiue brayne as of a bâ—eeding and boyling hart Boyling through the loue of God and bleeding for the sins of the world Which two obiects being so perpetually before the eyes of his mind and he so hourely treating with the purity of God by way of amorous contemplation and vvith men whose consciences were
shalt now vnderstand that if this prayer be deuout and long continued and such as wherin gust is taken according to that diuine sweetnesse which it imparted to some such prayer I say is not only a weapon wherewith to fight but euen outright to cut the throat of this bestiall vice For the soule wrastling hand to hand with God by the armes of her deuout affections and thoughtes doth obteyne of him in particuler manner as another Iacob that he blesse her with a multitude of graces and with a profound internall sweetnesse Heereupon she remaineth strucken in the thigh which signifieth sensuall appetite this growing to be mortified in such forte as that from thenceforth she goeth lame on that side and she remayneth liuely strong in her spirituall affections being signified by the other thigh which was vntouched For as the delightfull gust of flesh and bloud maketh vs loose all gust and strength of spirit so if once we come to haue gust in spirit the gust of all flesh and bloud grows highly vnsauoury Somtymes (b) See how God vseth his true seruants the delightfull sweetnesse which a soule being visited by God doth tast is so great that the body cannot beare it and the same body remayneth so weake and so defeated as it might be at the end of some corporal infirmity which had held it long Though at other tymes it hapâ—eth that by the strength which is receiued by the soule euen the very body also is assisted and recouers new forces Making some experience in this exile of hers of that which shee is to find in heauen when the soule being happy in God full of inexplicable delightes there shall result into the body both strength and ioy and other most pretious endowements which our Lord will then impart O soueraigne Lord and how (c) How inexcusable they are who leaue God for the loue of creatures mightily without excuse hast thou made the fault of them who for the seeking of delight in creatures are content to forsake yea to offend thee vvhilest yet euery one of the delightes that be in thee are so massiue as that all they which are in the creatures being summed vp into one are in comparison of thyne no better then pure and perfect gall And this is so vvith great reason For the delight or ioy vvhich is taken from any thing is but the fruite of that thing whatsoeuer it be and such as the tree is the fruit is also Therefore is the ioy which is deriued from creatures but short and vayne and filthy and compounded with sorrow because the tree from whence it is gathered is subiect to the same conditions But the ioy which is in thee O Lord what imperfection or decay can it be subiect to Since thou art eternall quiet most simple most beautifull immutable a Good which is infinitely complete The (d) The delights of this world are all but lyes tast which a partridge hath is of a partridge the gust which a man hath of any creature sauours of the creature and he that can say who thou art O Lord can say of what tast thou art Aboue all vnderstanding is thy being and so also is that sweet delight of thyne which is kept and hidden vp for them that feare thee and who to enioy thee do with their harts renounce the gust of creatures An infinite good thou art and so are thy delights also infinite And therfore although the Angels of heauen and the happy soules of men liuing there are euer to remayne enioying thee and (e) The ioyes of heauen are so greatâ— as that no soule would be able to subsist in them if it were not supernaturally enabled to it by Almighty God that with a proportion of strength which thou hast giuen them for that purpose which is not small and although incomparably many more were added also to them that in like maÌ„ner they might enioy thee and that with much greater strength then now they haue yet so boundlesse is that sea of thy diuine sweetnes as that they all wauing and swimming as being full euen inebriated with those delights there doth yet remayne so much more thereof to be enioyed as that if thou O Lord Omnipotent with the infinite powers which thou hast didst not possesse and enioy thy selfe those delights would carry with themselues a kind of complaint in that there would be want of such as might enioy all that which is there to be enioyned And thou O most wise Lord vnderstanding as being our Creatour that our inclinatioÌ„ carryeth vs to a loue of rest and ioy and that a soule is not able to continue long without a search of some consolation either good or bad thou (f) God is so deerely good that euen in this life he puts his faythfull seruants into a kind of paradise dost inuite vs by those celestial delights which are in thee that so we may not cast our selues away vpon the pursuite of sinneful pleasure in thy creatures Thy voice it is O Lord Come vnto (g) Matt. 11. me O all you that labour and are loaden and I will refresh you And thou didst commaund that this should be proclaymed in thy name O all you that are thirsty come to the waters And thou hast made vs know That (h) Isâ— â—s there are delightfull ioyes in thy right hand which continue to the end that of the same riuer of thy delight not by any limited taxe or measure thou giuest to thy seruants to driâ—ke in thy kingdome Yea sometymes thou vouchsafest a tast of some part therof to thy friends euen whylest they are yet on earth to whome thou sayest Come (i) Canâ— 5. eate and drinke and be inebriated O you my deerest friends Al this thou doest O Lord through a desire of drawing them to thee by meanes of ioy whome thou knowest to be so affected to it Let no man therefore lay the least imputation vpon thee O Lord as if there were any want of goodnes in thee to be loued or of true delight to be enioyed and let him neuer be hunting after any pleasing or delightfull conuersation out of thee since the reward which thou wilt giue to thy seruants is to bid them Enter into (k) Matt. 20. the ioy of their Lord. For of the same plate and out of the same cup whereof thou eatest and drinkest they shall eate and drinke and of the same which thou enioyest they shall enioy for thou hast already inuited them to eate at thy table in the (l) Luc. 21. kingdome of thy Father What canst thou haue heere to say (m) Hearken to this for he speaks home to thee if it be to thee O thou carnall man thou who art in so high a measure deceaued as that thou ariuest to prize these filthy pleasures of flesh and bloud which base and wicked persons and euen the very beastes of the field enioy more then that soueraigne
goodnes of God who is angry if by praying for one another we seeke not to appease his wrath might oppose himselfe against me and so I might not destroy the earth but I fouâ—d no such man and I powred out my wrath vpon them in the fire of my (k) Ezech. 22. anger I consumed them Take heed therefore that thou loue not a narrow and poore hart of thyne owne to which these base pleasures vse to be agreable and delightfull Remember that which S. Bernard sayd That if thou well consider the body and that which proceeds from thence it is a kind of more loathsome dunghill then otherwise thou hast seene Despise it from thy hart withall the ornaments and â—ace and delight it hath and make account that euen already it is in the sepulcher conuerted into a handfull of dust When thou seest any man or woman looke not much vpon their face or person and if thou doe let it be to loath it but addresse thy internall eyes to the soule which is shut vp and hidden in the body amongst which soules there is no difference of man or woman And admire thou that soule as a thing created by God since (l) The inestimable dignity excellency of a soule the valew of that alone is greater then that of all corporeall things eyther made or to be made And thus dismissing thy selfe from the basenesse of bodies bestow thy selfe vpon the search of greater treasures and vndertake thou noble enterprizes and no lesse then to lodge euen God himselfe both in thy soule and in thy body with a profound purity of hart Behould (m) The height and dignity of the vocation of a ChristiaÌ„ thy selfe with such eyes as these since S. Paul sayth (n) Câ— or 3. Know you not that you are the temple of God and that the spirit of God remayneth in you And in another place do you not know that your members are the temples of the holy Ghost who remaynes within you and whom God hath giuen to you And you are not your owne And since you are bought with a great price let God be honoured in your bodyes Consider allso that when thou diddest receyue holy Baptisme thou wert made the Temple of God and thy soule was consecrated to him by his grace and so was thy body also by the â—uch of that holy water And the holy Ghost doth â—erue it selfe both of the soule and body as being the Lord of the whole house enclining both the one and the other to good workes and for this it is sayd That euen the partes of our body are the Temples of the holy Ghost God (o) Be thou amazed at this infinite vouchsafing of almighty God doth vouchsafe vs great honour by being pleased to dwell in vs and to honour vs indeed with the name of Temples and great is the obligation which thereby is put vpon vs to cleanse our selues it being so fit that the house of God be cleane And if thou wilt consider that thou wert purchased as S. Paul sayth at a great price that is by the life of God humaned which for thee was giuen thou mayst see how great reason it is for thee to honour God and to beare him in thy body doing him seruice and not therein to commit any thing which may be to his dishonour and thine owne extreame disaduantage For iust and true is that sentence That (p) 1. Cor. 3. whosoeuer shall defile the Temple of God him will God destroy For in his Temple there must be nothing but that which tends to his honour and prayse Remember that which S. Augustine sayd When I had once vnderstood that God had redeemed and purchased me with his pretious bloud I resolued that neuer more I would sell my selfe To which I would haue thee add And how much lesse will I doe it for the base pleasure of flesh and bloud Thou hast begunne a (q) A vow of perpetual Chastity worke worthy of a noble courage because thou meanest to be incorrupt in that corruptible flesh of thyne and to possesse that by way of vertue which the Angells possesse by way of nature and to pretend to a particuler crowne in heauen in being companion to those blessed Virgins Who sing that new song and follow the Lambe wheresoeuer he goeth Consider the name which now thou holdest of being the spouse of Christ and the ioye which thou mayst expect in heauen when there that spouse of thyne shall lodge thee in thy bed for thus thou wilt come to so much loue of the purity of virginity that for it thou wilt gladly loose thy life as many holy Virgins haue done who rather then they would not be Virgins were content to be Martyrs with great magnaminity Procure thou also to (r) This is true Nobility the contrary is meer basenesse haue a noble hart which is very necessary for the keeping of thee in that high estate where God hath placed thee CHAP. XII That God vseth to punish such as are proud by permitting them to loose the treasure of Chastity thereby to humble them and how necessary it is to be humble for the ouercomming of the enemy to this vertue THERE haue byn others who lost the treasure of their chastity by reason that God did punish them in his iust iudgement through a giuing them ouer as S. Paul sayth to the dishonest affections of their owne hart as into the hands of cruell executioners Chastizing thus some of their sinnes by other sinnes of theirs he not inciting them to sin (s) See detest the doctrine of Caluin which he vttereth in his Institutions for the maketh the treason of Iudas to be as properly and as truly the work of God as the coÌ„uersion of S. Paul for a very strange thing it were for him who is soueraigne goodnesse to because of sinne in any soule but by retiring his succour from a man for other sinns of the same man which is the worke of a iust iudge who in that he is iust is also good Thus sayth the scripture A wicked woman is a deepe well and a loose woman is a straite well and he shall fall into it who hath offended God Let (i) Be not high-minded but feare no man therefore presume vpon his not sinning against God in the point of chastity if yet he sin in other thinges Since God is wont to let men fall into that which they would not into which they were not wont to fall in punishment of their falling into other sinnes from which they ought to haue kept themselues And though this be generally true in the case of all sinnes and God is offended with them all and doth punish all yet more particularly doth he as S. Augustin sayth punish secret (u) Aboue all thinges take heed of Pride Pryde by open lust So is it related of Nabuchodonosor That for the punishment of his pryde he lost his Kingdome was cast out of
belongeth to God which is pretended to by such a one as serueth him therfore God commeth out to his succour with great fidelity and in this hope and not in any thing of our owne we are to set vpon the enterprize of Gods seruice CHAP. XXVIII Of the great remedy which groweth against these tentations by seeking a wise and well experiented ghostly Father who must be entirely informed and credited and how the ghostly Father ought to proceed with such persons of the fruit which riseth from these temptations IT vseth in these temptations to put men to much difficulty that they are plainly to declare them to their Ghostly Father in regard that they are thinges so wicked and so deformed that they deserne not to be mentioned and euen the very naming of theÌ„ doth strike with horrour And yet on the other syde if they declare them not very much at large and do not expresse euery thought though neuer so little it seemeth to them that they made no good confession and so they neuer go well satisfyed whether they speake or be silent but with the same affliction that they had before Such (a) It is no â—nerâ—aile if so many make theÌ„selues away for despayre who are not Catholiks for they want this great and soueraign meanes of comsort persons as these are to seeke a wise and well experienced ghostly Father to whome they must lay open the roots of the temptation in such sort as that he may be satisfyed and possesâ—e the businesse And the penitent must giue entiere credit to him for therein consisteth the remedy of these persons who eyther for the litle that they know or the much passion that they haue are wholy vnfit to iudge themselues Now this ghostly Father must pray much to our Lord for the recouery of his patient nor must he be made weary if the penitent do many tymes aske him the same questions nor for other weaknesses which such vse to haue Nor must he wonder at them nor despise him for them but he must carry a cordiall and deep compassion towards him and (b) Galaâ—â— â— correct him in the spirit of meeknesse as S. Paul saith least himselfe grow also to be tempted eyther in that or somewhat else so he fynd to his cost how great humane weaknesse is He must recommend to him the reformation of his life and to resort to the remedies of the Sacramentes then assure him that there is no thought so deformed and so wicked as that it can defile the soule vnlesse it consent and let him giue him good hope that by the mercy of our Lord he shal be deliuered in fit tyme that in the meane whyle he must content himselfe to suffer that torment by those executioners in discharge of his sinnes and in imitation of that which Christ Iesus suffered The penitent being thus comforted and carrying his Crosse with patience and offering himselfe to the will of our Lord to carry it all his life if it be pleasing to God shall gaine more by that vinegar and gall which the Diuell gaue him then by the hony of deuotion which himselfe desired From hence it groweth that our soule being in the flower of her beginnings doth enter vpon yealding the fruite of perfect men since for merly we were sucking the milke of deuotion and now we can eate the bread with the (c) Note the true difference between beginners and proficieÌ„ts in spirit crust Sustaining our selues by the hard stones of temptation which he did cast before vs to try whether or no we were the sonnes of God as he proceeded with our Lord himselfe Thus do we fetch hony out of poison and health out of being wounded we come out of the tentations wel tried with a million of other blessings For which yet we must not giue the diuell thankes whose intention was not to make Crownes for vs but Chaiâ—es But (d) The infinite power wisedom goodnes of God the thankes we are to giue is to God that supreme Omnipotent Good who would neuer suffer any euill to happen if it were not to draw good from thence in a superiour kind of manner Nor would he suffer that enemy who is both his and ours to afflict vs if it were not for the great confusion of that enemy and for the good of him that is afflicted as it is written That (e) Psal 2. God will scoffe at these scoffers he that dwelleth in heauen will deride them For although this dragon play his part and doth in the sea of this world make a ieast as it were of tempting and vexing the seruantes of God yet it is God who indeed doth make a ieast of him because he draweth good out of the others mischeife And whylest the diuell thinkes that he doth vertuous men most harme it is then that he doth them most good whereat he is so confounded and ashamed that through his pryde and enuy he could wish that he had not begunne that enterprize which fell out so much to the aduantage of him whom he hateth And that mischeife and snare which he prepared for others hath cast it selfe about his own necke and he is choaked with enuy to see that the persons whom he tempted go free a way with this cheerfull song in their mouthes The (f) Psal â—â—â— sâ—are is broken and we are free our help is from our Lord who made heauen and earth CHAP. XXIX How the Diuell procureth by exteriour meanes to make vs giue ouer good exercises And how we must strengthen our hart by confidence in our Lord for the ouercomming of him And of other things which help to free vs from this feare and of the fruite of this temptation SO great is the enuy which the Diuells haue of our happinesse as that they alwayes endeauour to keepe vs from enioying that which themselues lost And when in any battayle they goe away ouercome by vs or to speake more truly by Almighty God they are still ranging more and more battailes if so peraduenture they may find some carelesse person to be defeated They change their weapons and their manner of fighting in hope that whom now they ouercame not they may afterward And so when they haue discouered that they could not intangle vs by craft for as much as we are guy ded by true Christian doctrine which telleth vs that we must commit our selues to the most iust will of God that patiently we must suffer what he sendeth vs eyther from without or within they resolue to denounce an open warre and he maketh himselfe a fierce Lion who was before a Dragon but concealed He aymeth at one thing and thrusteth at another and more boldly doth he procure to make himselfe be feared conceauing that he may obtaine that by giuing frightes which he was not able to doe by other crafty meanes Heere shall you see him not made a foxe but a fierce Lion who amazeth men
of this Church And although in these tymes of ours there be departed from her a certayne race of people full of (c) Heresy is both the Mother and the companion and the daughter of Pride pryde and who for that very pryde were fit to be deceaued by the diuell yet the Church doth not for this giue ouer to be what shee was nor must we leaue to belieue that which formerly we belieued And therefore against this Church let no reuelation moue thee nor inward feeling of spirit nor any other thing eyther greater or lesse although it might seeme to be an Angell from heauen which should go against it I say although it should seeme for to be so indeed it is not possible Much lesse art thou to be moued by the doctrine of heretikes whether they be past or present or to come who being forsaken by the hand of God through his iust iudgment do follow a false light insteed of a true and destroying themselues they are the cause of perdition to as many as follow them Obserue what end they haue had who in former tymes haue departed from the beliefe of this Church and how they haue resembled the blustring of a wind which quickly passed and soone after was forgotten And consider how this Church hath remained victorious And although euen since the infancy therof it haue byn assaulted yet neuer hath it byn conquered because it was grounded vpon a firme rocke against which neither the raine nor the wind nor the riuers nor the very gates of hell can preuaile Shut therefore thyne eares against all doctrine which is contrary to this Church and follow that beliefe which hath byn receiued and kept for such a multitude of yeares since it is certaine that an infinite number of men haue byn not only saued therein but haue heere byn Saintes For my part I cannot reflect vpon a greater folly then for a man to leaue a way by which so many persons so wise and so holy went to heauen to follow certaine other folkes who are incomparably inferiour to the former in euery thing that is good In pryde indeed and impudence they are superiour for they will needs be better belieued without any other proofe but of their owne opinion then a multitude of our forefathers who were indued with diuine wisedome and who lead a most excellent life and who wrought a multitude of great miracles Whereas their chiefe whom these deceaued creatures follow was a certaine (d) A strang fellow to make the reformer of Gods Church Luther a man so weake in the point of his flesh that he was not able to liue without a woman nor shee being dead could he liue then in chastity but (e) According to Luthers doctrine he must either do that or worse for he sayth it was not possible for a man to liue withoâ—â—â— woman was faine as the report goes to take a second though many others haue contented themselues with one and others agayne without any at al that so they might with greater liberty purity attend to the contemplation of God How then shall we call that a good spirit which liued in that wicked man since it had not force to giue him a chastity euen of the most vulgar streine whereas yet he had made a promise of it after the highest manner which many men did so possesse whom it had byn fit for him to follow as his betters And since our Lord hath sayd that by the fruites we should know the tree it must haue byn a spirit of earth and of infirmity of flesh and of the diuell which dwelt in that man since he yealded such fruites as these and worse then these Stay a whyle thou shalt see the end of these wicked persons and how God will vomit them out to their extreame reproach declaring the errour of them by some manifest punishment as he hath done with their predecessours CHAP. XLVII What a terrible chastisement it is when God permitteth men to loose their Faith and that it is iustly taken away from them that worke not in conformity of what it teacheth HE that could haue light to iudge that the true blessinges or miseries of a man are the spirituall would quickly discerne the seuere chastisement of God vpon that kind of (a) Heretiques people yea so great chastisement as that only hell is worse then it Who (b) Iâ—rem 20. Psal 39. will not feare thee O thou King of the Nations or who hath knowne the power of thy wrath or who shal be able to recount it through the great feare which is to be had thereof The greatest chastisements of God which are most to be feared are not the losse of goods or of reputation or of life but for God to suffer the will of man to be hardned in sin or to permit his vnderstanding to be blinded in errour especially in matters of Fayth these be the wounds which are inflicted by that celestial indignation they are not the corrections of a father but of a iust and rigorous iudge Of these it is with much reason vnderstood which God sayth in (c) Iâ—rem 30. Ierâ—â—y With the wound of an enemy with rigâ—rous chastisemenâ— I haue wounded thee Though indeed he vseth not this rigour of a iudge till first he haue imployed the mercy of a Father And if thou marke it well the blindnes of the Vnderstanding hath this particuler mischiefe belonging to it more then hath the hardnesse of the will that (d) Let Heretikes consider the sad case they are in this latter though it be a great one is capable of more hope to meete with remedyes For as long as a mans Fayth remaineth though it be dead yet stil he knoweth that there is help in the Church towards the cure of his sinne which is a great step towards his recouering and rising But he that looseth his Fayth how shall he seeke it or where shall he find it since it is not to be found out of the Church because it is no where els and that which is in the Church he will not seeke because he belieueth it not and so he remayneth in ruine This is a word which God speaketh in Israel whosoeuer shall heare it his very cares shall tingle againe with meere seare But so great a punishment is not inflicted without great cause which S. Paul (e) Rom. â—â— declareth thus The wrath of God discouereth it selfe from the heauens downeward vpon all the wickednes of those men who (f) A place of Scripture excellently pondered detayned the wrath of God in iniustice And the intent of the Apostle in that place is this That there were men who although they knew God did not serue him as God but rather did puffe themselues vp with a blind kind of pride and hauing Truth in their vnderstanding they wrought iniquity with their will So that the truth of God was detayned or imprisoned in them since they did
conscience by litle and little draweth their vnderstanding vnto blindnesse to the end that it may seeke some doctrine which doth not contradict their wickednes or else because the supreame iudge in punishment of other sinnes permitteth them to fall vpon heresy or whether it be both for the one and the other reason it is a thing to make one feare and to be full of care to auoyd it And howsoeuer this happen not to all wicked Christians since although they be in mortall sinne they do not for that loose their Fayth as I haue sayd before yet in a matter that is of so high importance the very hauing hapned to one alone giueth vs all reason to feare and care that we may auoyd the like occasion Without doubt the hartes of all those eleuen Apostles were farre from any disposition of deliuering Christ Iesus our Lord to death yet because he sayd that one of the twelue would do it they were all afrayd and they sayd Is it I O Lord through a feare least by their frailty they might fal into actions from which they were free at that tyme. Against all such inconueniences the word which we haue here in hand is full of vse Incline thyne eare obeying God and his Church by Fayth And haue not thou a busy and sifting vnderstanding least it be oppressed by Maiesty as such are threatned in holy Scripture that they shal be And (e) Marke well this comparison for it reacheth home they who wil be descanting vpon the ineffable mysteries of God by the poorenesse of their owne vnderstanding and reason shall find it happen to them as it doth to such as fasten the point of their sight vpon the sunne which so they do not only not come to see but rather they loose their very sight it selfe and it is beaten back agayne through the great excesse of the light which they see to the eyes themselues with which they would see it So those men seeking satisfaction by the way of curious vnderstanding and sifting do find themselues full of vnquietnesse doubt For the wisedome of God is not communicated but to such as are little and humble do approach to him with simplicity inclining their eare to him and to his Church and such as these receaue extraordinary fauours by his goodnesse wherewith the soule resteth satisfied and beautifyed by Fayth and good workes like the fayre Rebecca to whom were giuen in the name of Isaac certayne pendents for her eares and bracelets for her hands And to the end that this humble subiection might be so much the more recommended to our vnderstanding the holy ghost was not content with exhorting vs to it in the first word only by saying Hearken O Daughter but be aduiseth to it yet with another by saying Incline thyme eare To the end that men may know that since God doth speake no idle words and that yet he deliuered this doctrine to vs in seuerall words his pleasure was to recommend in particuler manner this simple humble manner of belieuing as the beginning of our saluation and if to this we will add loue it will then be entire and perfect CHAP. L. How some vse to be much deceaued by giuing credit to false Reuelations and it is particulerly declared wherein true liberty of Spirit doth consist IT is not reason that I passe from hence with out acquainting thee with a great daÌ„ger which happeneth to them that trauayle in the way of God and wherby many haue been ouerthrown The chiefe remedy wherof consisteth in that aduise which the holy Ghost giueth vs by meanes of this word Inclyne thyne eare This danger groweth when reuelations or visions or other spirituall gustes do offer themselues to some deuout persons which by the permission of God do ariue many tymes through the worke of the Diuell that for the obtayning of two effects One is that by the meanes of these deceites he may take credit from the true reuelations of God as he hath also procured to shew false miracles thereby to discredit such as are true Another is to deceaue that person vnder the shew of Good now that by other meanes he cannot do it Many of whome we haue read of in former tymes and many we haue seene in these dayes of ours who may serue for a warning to any such person as is desirous of his saluation to put him in feare of being easy in giuing credit to such things as these since some of those very persons who gaue them such credit at the first did afterward when they were free from being so deceaued aduise others to take heed how they fell into those inconueniences Gerson recounteth that in his tyme many of these abuses did happen and he sayd that be knew of many and that some did hold for certayne that it was reuealed to them that they should be Popes And some one of them did leaue the same in writing and by coniectures and other such kindes of proofe he affirmed it to be true And another belieuing vpon the same motiue that he was to be Pope this thought did after settle it selfe in his hart That he (a) Let not a Caluinist mak himselfe mery at this but let him tremble to find how like he is to the Diuel in saying that the Pope is Antichrist should be Antichrist or at least the forerunner of him And vpon this he was grieuously tempted to kill himselfe that so he might not bring such a deale of misery vpon Christian people till at last by the mercy of God he was drawne out of these deceitfull errours and left them in writing behind him for the caution instruction of others There haue not been wanting some in these dayes of ours who held for certayne that they were to reforme the Church of Christ and to bring it to the first perfection or euen greater then it had at first But their being dead without doing it is a sufficient proofe that they were deceaued and that it would haue beene better for them to haue attended to the reformation of themselues which by the grace of God would not haue beene hard then so forgetting their owne consciences to cast their vaine eyes vpon that (b) The Authour meaneth only ReformatioÌ„ of manners for he sheweth in a hundred places that the Fayth of the Church both is for euer must be true thing which God had no mind to do by their meanes Others haue resolued vpon seeking new wayes which seemed to them very compendious for their owne ariuing quickly to God And it seemed to them that giuing themselues to him in a perfect kind of a manner and abandoning themselues into his handes they were so taken and possest by God and so wholy gouerned by the holy Ghost that whatsoeuer came to their hart must forsooth be no other thing but the instinct and light of God himselfe And (c) Much of this discourse is meant by a cerâ—ayne fantasticall hereticall people
consider of many others as absurd and foolish as this is into which both in other tymes and these also such persons haue fallen as grew lightly to beliâ—ue that the notions or instinctes of their owne harts did come from God CHAP. LI. Of the way wherein we are to carry our selues that we may not erre by such illusions and how dangerous the desire is of Reuelations and such things as those THROVGH the desire I haue that thy soule may not be one of these I recommend to thee much that thou profit as the prouer be sayth by anothers harme and that thou be very carefull that in thy selfe there be no consent either great or small to any desire of these singular or supernaturall things for it is a signe either of pride or at least of curiosity which is full of danger There was a tyme when (a) Marke this Exemple S. Augustine was assaulted by this temptation his wordes are these By how many subtilties of temptation hath the enemy procured with me O Lord that I should beg some miracle at thy hands but I beseech thee for the loue of our Lord Iesus Christ and of our Citty the heauenly Hierusalem which is pure and chaste that as now all consent to this temptation is farre from me so it may euer be farre and further off S. Bonauenture sayth that many had fallen into great follies and errours in punishment of their hauing desired such things as these and he sayth further that they are not so much to be desired as feared If any such extraordinary things happen to thee without any desire of thyne be thou afraid and do not giue them credit but instantly haue recourse to our Lord beseeching (b) A holy wise and safe aduice him that he will be pleased not to carry thee by this way but that he will suffer thee to worke thy saluation in his holy feare and in the vsuall and plaine way of such as serue him Thou art especially to do this when any such Reuelation or instinct shall inuite thee to admonish or reprehend a third person of any thing that is secret much more if he be a Priest or Prelate or the like to whome particular reuerence is due In such case as this thou art to cast away these things withall the hart thou hast and to depart from them with saying that which Moyses sayd Send him O Lord I beseech thee whome thou art to send And Ieremy sayd I am but a child O Lord I cannot speake and both these did hold themselues for insufficient and fled from being sent to reproue others Do not feare least by this humble resistance God should be made angry or to absent himself if the businesse be his but (c) There is no danger of loosing any thing with God by doing acts of humility rather he will draw nearer to thee and he will assure and settle the thing in question For he that giueth grace to the humble will not take it away for an act of humility and if it be not of God the Diuell will fly away as being strooke with the stone of humility which giueth a blow that breaketh his head like that of Golias And so it happened to a Father that remayned in the Desert who vpon the appearing of the figure of a Crucifixe he would neither adore it nor belieue it But (d) See the sweet safe simplicity humility of thâ—se holy Ermites shutting his eyes sayd I will not see Iesus Christ in this world it shall serue my turne to see him in heaueÌ„ Vpon which answere the Diuell fled away who was desirous to deceaue him vnder that forme Another Father answered to one that told him that he was an Angell sent to him on the behalfe of God I haue no need nor am I worthy to receaue messages by the mouth of Angels and therefore consider well to whome it is that thou wert sent for it is not possible they should send thee to me Nor will I so much as heare thee And so with this humble answere the proud Diuell fled away By this way of humility and by a most cordiall driuing away such things as these many persons haue beene free through the mercy of God from great snares which by this meanes the Diuell had prepared for them Experimenting so in themselues that which Dauid (e) Psal 12. sayth Our Lord keepeth the little ones I humbled my selfe and be deliuered me And on the other side a false instinct or Reuelation of the Diuell finding any vaine contentment in the hart of him that doth receaue it taketh roote and force from thence to deceaue men out right God permitting it with iust iudgment For as S. Augustine sayth Pryde deserueth to be deceaued Thou must therfore be free from this vaine inclination and from thinking that thou art capable of these Reuelations that so thy hart may not vary the compasse in the least point from that humility wherein thou wert before vnder the holy feare of God And so carry thy selfe in them as if they had not come to thee And if notwithstanding this answere of thyne the matter do still go on giue thou instantly account to them that may tell thee what is fit although it will be better done to giue notice of it instantly after first it happened and to help him by meanes of prayer fastes other good works who is to giue thee counsaile that God may declare the truth to him in a matter that is of so much difficulty For (f) A great strayte if we hold the good spirit of God for the wicked spirit of the Diuell it is a great blasphemy and we shall so be like to those miserable Pharisees the contradictours of the truth of God who attributed to an euill spirit the workes which Christ Iesus our Lord did by the Holy Ghost And on the other side if with facility of beliefe we accept of the instinct of an euil spirit as if it were of the Holy Ghost what greater misery can there be then to seeke darkenesse and errour insteed of truth and which is worse the Diuell for God On both sides there is great danger eyther in holding God for the Diuell or the Diuel for God And how great necessity there is to be able to distinguish and to iudge of these thinges as indeed they are I thinke there is none who doth not see But as euident as this necessity is so difficult and hidden a thing it is to get assurance and light wherewith to cleare this doubt And therfore as it belongeth not to all men to prophesy or to worke miracles or to impart such other graces but to them to whome the Holy Ghost is pleased to impart them so also is it not giuen to the spirit of man how wise soeuer it be to iudge with certainty and truth of the difference of spirits vnles it were in a matter which were euidently (g) For in that ease
BVT thou art further to note that many do find in themselues their own meanesse and that of themselues they are nothing and they seeme to attribute the glory to God for all the blessings that they receaue and they haue many other signes of humility but notwithstanding all this they are full of pride and that so much the more dangerously as they coÌ„ceaue themselues to be most free from it The reason of this is because although they do liue as in the sight of Truth by not attributing those blessinges to themselues yet do they liue in errour by conceauing them to be more and greater then indeed they are and they take themselues to haue so much light from God as that they are able not only to rule themselues in that way but others also and no man is of sufficiency in their opinion to gouerne them They are greatly friends to their own fancy yea and sometymes they make not much reckoning of that which former Saints haue sayd or that which the seruants of God liuing in their owne tyme conceaue They (a) This is still meant of those hereticall Illuminati boast themselues to haue the spirit of Christ and to be gouerned by it and to haue no need of human counsell since God with so great certainty and the vnction of his spirit doth giue them comfort in their prayers They thinke as S. Bernard sayth of other mens houses but that the sunne doth only shine in their own and they defye and despise all wisemen as Golias did the people of God Only he is good in their opinion who conformeth himselfe to them and to them nothing is more troublesome then to meet with a man that contradicteth them They will be the maisters of all men and belieued by al men and they will belieue none The wary discretion of men who are well experienced they call tepidity and feare but as for vnbridled feruours noueltyes full of singularity which are the occasions of tumult these men call the liberty of spirit and the strength of God and they haue almost euer in their mouthes This my spirit telleth me God satisfyeth me in this and the like At other tymes they alleadge the Scripture of God but they will by no meanes vnderstand it as the Church and the Saints haue vnderstood it but only as they list themselues Belieuing that they haue not lesse light then the former Saints nay that God hath taken them for instruments of greater matters then those others and so they make Idolls of themselues and place themselues vpon the heades of all men with intollerable presumption So miserable is the errour of these men that being extremly proud they hold themselues for perfectly humble and belieuing that God only dwelleth in them he is indeed far from them and that which they take to be light is profound darknesse Of these or such as these Gerson sayth There are some to whome it is a thing very agreeable to be gouerned by their owne conceit and they walke vnder the conduct of their owne inuentions or rather they are cast headlong vpon their owne opinion which is a most dangerous guide They (b) Euen in doing of pennance discretion is to be followed whensoeuer excesse therin is vsed and not accompanyed with docility other interiour vertue it is not only suâ—piâ—â—ouâ— but dangerous macerate themselues with too extreme fasting they watch too much they trouble and empty their braine with excesse of teares and in the middest of all this they follow no mans admonition or counsell They care not to aske the opinion of them that are wise in the law of God nay they care not to heare them when eyther they do heare or aske their counsell they despise their sayings And the cause of this is that they conceaue theÌ„selues to be some great men and that they know better then all the world what is fit for them to do Of these I pronounce that speedily they shall fall into the illusion of the Diuell speedily shall they fall vpon the stone of offence because they are conducted by a blind kind of rashnes and an excessiue kind of lightnesse And therefore what soeuer they shall tell thee of any extraordinary Reuelations know thou that it is to be suspected Al this sayth Cerson CHAP. LIIII Of some propertyes which they haue whome we sayd to be deceaued in the last Chapter and how necessary it is to take the opinion of others and of the mischiefe that men are brought to by following their owne THOV art to vnderstand that some of them of (a) He coÌ„tinueth to describe those aforesayd heretikes whome I spake in the last chapter are people without learning yea they are cordiall enemyes to men that are learned And if perhaps they haue a little Latin to read and to carry a new Testament about them they do belieue themselues so much conceauing the while that they belieue God and they rest so much vpon certaine light motiues and do answere themselues thereby in such blind errours that how manifest soeuer in themselues they be these men know not how to shake them off and they are so presumptuous and so impossibly to be perswaded that as the Scripture sayth A man were better encounter with a beare from whome they had taken her whelpes then with a foole that presumeth in his fault And yet they haue much in their memory and no lesse in their tongue that saying of S. Paul Knowledge doth blow vp but Charity doth build vp And by this they thinke they haue a pattent to contemne wise men as men that are pussed vp they valew themselues at a high rate as a kind of people that is full of charity The (b) Let heretikeâ— examine theÌ„selues by this rule and they will see their owne extreme pride whyle they marke not that themselues are the men that are puffed vp with the pride of sanctity which is more dangerous then the pride of science as a thing which riseth from that which is better and for the same very reason it is worse though indeed neither science nor good workes do of themselues produce this moath but it is the wickednes of the wicked which taketh occasion to swell by that which is good Since the case standeth so they ought not instantly to contemne such as are wise because wisedome of it selfe is no impediment but that withall a man may be humble and holy Yea to many it hath beene and still is a great occasion of their being so for others to esteeme that they are not so proceedeth from an erroneous iudgment and an excessiue pride in themselues But suppose they were not yet were those others to remember that it is written Vpon (c) Matt. 1â— the chaire of Moyses sit the Scribes and Pharisees do therefore that which they direct you to but do not that which they do Whereas these fellowes do iust the contrary for they receaue not the good
instruction which wise men giue and they practise the euill which they say the others do commit in being proud And they despise them without esteeming that course and order which is both naturall and diuine and that is that they who are lesse should be gouerned by them who are more wise Nor is this doctrine against that which is deliuered by (d) Ioan. 2. S. Iohn That the (e) Of the holy Ghost Vnction teacheth all thinges For that which he intended is but this That (f) The true meaning of this place of Scripture the grace and light of God doth sometymes teach a man interiourly by it selfe and at other tymes it directeth him to aske the opinion of others of whome he is to aske and so it teacheth all though not all alone To this purpose S. Augustine sayth Let vs flye from such teÌ„tations which incline men to the greatest pride and are the most dangerous of all others Or rather let vs consider how the Apostle (g) Act. 9. S. Paul although he had beene prostrated and instructed by a voyce from heauen yet neuerthelesse was sent to a man of whom he was to receaue the Sacraments and by whom he was to be incorporated into the Church And (h) Act. 10. Cornelius the Centurion was sent to S. Peter not only to receiue the Sacraments but to vnderstand from him what he was to belieue and in whom he was to hope and whom to loue For if God did not speake to men by the mouth of men the condition of men would be miserable And how should it else be true which is written The (i) 1. Cor. 3. Temple of God is holy which Temple you are if God gaue not answeares out of this Temple which is men but should resolue that whatsoeuer men were to learne should be deriued from heauen by the meanes of Angells And so also charity would haue no intercourse by the communication of some hartes with others if men were not taught by the meanes of other men S. Philip was sent to the Eunuch and Moyses tooke counsayle of Iâ—thro his Father-in-law All this doth S. Augustine say S Iohn Climacus (k) Note the authorityes doth also affirme that a man who belieueth himselfe saueth the Diuell a labour in tempting him for he is Diuell inough to himselfe In like manner S Hierome sayth I will not follow myne own opinion for that is wont to giue me euill counsaile And S Vincentius doth much aduise that a man who desireth to be spirituall may haue some maister to gouerne him and if he will not haue one when he may God will neuer communicate grace to that soule for the pride thereof S. Bernard and S Bonauenture do at euery turning of a hand aduise the same Yea the Scripture of God is full of it Sometymes it sayth Woe (l) Isa 5. be to you who are wise in your owne eyes and in your owne sight are prudent And else where If thou see a man who esteemeth himselfe wise belieue that the foole shall go away better cheape then he S Paul admonisheth vs not to be wise in our own opinion And the Wiseman (m) Eccl. 6. sayth Whatsoeuer thou sayst to a foole vnles it be of things that his hart belieues he will not receiue the words of prudence And in another place If thou incline thyne eare thou shalt receaue instruction and if thou loue to heare thou shalt be wise Therefore to auoyd prolixity I say that the holy Scripture and the admonition of Saints and their liues and the experimentall knowledg that we haue doe all with one voyce recommend to vs that we do not leane or rest vpon our owne prudence but incline our eare to the counsayle of others For otherwise what thing would there be in the world more disorderly then the Church of God and the same would happen to any other Congregation of men if euery one might follow his owne opinion conceauing that he is in the right And how can it be that the spirit of Christ which is the spirit of humility of peace and of vnion should mooue any one to be contrary to the rest of those men in whom God himselfe doth dwell And how can it grow from this spirit of God that a man should haue him selfe in so high esteeme as that there may not be found in the whole congregation of men another who can teach him or who can iudge whether his Spirit be good or bad For as S. Augustine sayth He would not fayle to take and follow the counsayle of others if it were not that through pride he thinketh himselfe better then the other in giuing counsayle And though his pride is so great as to thinke that he is better then others yet he might thinke that as one may belesse good then another and yet may haue the gift of prophesy and power to cure sicke persons and may haue such giftes as these which another perhaps may not haue though he be better then the former so it may also be that he who is inferiour in other giftes may be yet more eminent in the gift of affoarding counsaile or in the discretion of spirits which another man who is more eminent may chaunce to want And since God is so great a friend of humility and peace let no man feare that if the thing which he hath be of God it will go from him or that he shall loose it only because he submitteth himselfe for the loue of the same God to the opinion of another but rather it wil be more and more confirmed and if it proceed from other meanes it will fly away Consider also that if this wisedome be infused by God one of the conditions thereof according to (n) Iacob 3. S. Iames is (o) A wise and true consideration to haue a power of persuasion and consider yet agayne that S. Augustine calleth these thoughtes most proud and most dangerous For (p) The Pride of the vnderstanding is much more daÌ„gerous them the Pride of will and why it is so although the pride and disobedience of the Will be dangerous which consisteth in being vnwilling to obey anothers will yet much more dangerous is the pride of the vnderstanding which consisteth in not being subiect to another vpon the beliefe which he giueth to himselfe For a man that is only proud in will sometymes may be content to obey because he holdeth another mans opinion to be better but he that is resolued to hold his owne for best who shall cure that man And how shal he be able to obey in a thing which he holdeth to belesse good And if the eye which is the vnderstanding wherewith it should be able to see and cure this pride be blind it selfe with being full of the same pride who shall be able to cure it And if the light grow to be darkenes and if the very rule of straightnesse become crooked what kind of thing will the
rest be So great are the mischiefes which grow from pride that it troubleth al them with whom it hath to do for if men will defend their owne opinion in obstinate manner and be inseparable from it who shall be able to liue in peace And to the end that thou mayst fly cutse this vice know that it arriueth so farce as to make of them that were good Christians peruerse Heretikes Nor haue they beene nor are they such for any other reason now but because by giuing more beliefe to their owne iudgment then to that of the Church and of their Prelates they conceaue themselues to hit the birde in the eye and that whatsoeuer passeth in their hart is the worke of God that to belieue the opinion of others rather thē that which they find in their own hart were to forsake God for man But experience truth demonstrates to vs that the thing which they thought to be the spirit of Truth was the spirit of Errour which not being able to ouercome them otherwise did assault them after hauing transformed it selfe into an Angell of light vnder the appearance of Good so depriued them of the life of their soules for not being content to submit themselues to the aduice of others CHAP. LV. That we must fly fast from our owne opinion chuse some person to whome for the loue of God we must be subiect and be ruled by him and what kind of man he must be and how we must carry our selues with him BEING therefore afrayd and taking a warning by occasion of these fellowes I admonish thee that as thou art to be an enemy to thyn owne will so thou art much more to be so of thyne owne opinion and of resoluing to carry thinges by thyne owne iudgment since thou seest the euill conclusion which is made by selfe conceite Be an enemy thereof both within doores and without and follow it not euen in trifles For (a) Note this well thou shalt hardly find a thing which so much will disquiet the peacefull rest that Christ desireth to find in thy soule that so he may cōmunicate himselfe thereunto as to be obstinate resolute to carry the matter after thyne owne mind And better for thee it were not to haue that which thou desirest then to loose that wherof thou hast so much need for the enioying of God with intiere peace This I say is to be practised by thee if the ordering of the house do not belōg to thy care for in case it do thou must not forbeare to do that which seemeth best to thee though yet withall thou art to informe thy selfe well both by making prayer and taking counsaile according to the quality of the thing in question Thou (b) Whosoeuer will maister his will in great matters must be contēt to begin in small ones knowest well inough that they who are in dāger of receauing some great affront do beginne to make trial vpon enduring certaine toyes that so they may be exercised towardes the bearing of such as indeed are great ones And know thou assuredly that whosoeuer is accustomed to belieue himselfe and doth esteeme himselfe to haue a wise vnderstanding resoluing to beare himselfe out in small matters will find it very strang and hard to depart in greater from his owne opinion And on the contrary side a man who hath vsed to call his vnderstanding foole and to giue it little credit in trifles will find himselfe facilitated towards a subiection of himselfe to the pleasure of God and of his Superiours and not easily to iudge ill of his Neighbours And as I haue sayd that in thinges of smal importance thou shalt do well to forsake thyne owne and to follow another mans opinion without much examination of who it is that sayth or sayth it not so I tell thee that in the things which concerne thy conscience thou art much more to follow aduice neither trusting thy selfe therewith nor yet some such other man as thou mayst find at randome It will therefore be fit for thee to take for thy guide and Ghostly Father some person who is both (c) Both learning experience are wholy necessary to such as are to be the Ghostly Fathers of spirituall persons learned and of experience in thinges that belong to God For without both these qualityes speaking ordinarily he will not be for the purpose For learning alone is not sufficient to prouide for the particuler necessityes and prosperityes and temptations which happen to the soules of such as walke in a spirituall life and in these cases as Gerson sayth recourse must be had to men of experience And it will fal out many tymes to them who haue no more thē learning as it fell out to the Apostles who being one night in a tempest at sea thought that Christ comming towardes them was but some other idle apparition holding that for a deceit which yet indeed was a reall fauour the truth of our Lord. Some man will strike thee into excessiue feares condemning euery thing for euill And as their owne harts are very farre from the experience of any spirituall gustes and illuminations of God so do they speake therof as of a thing neuer heard of and can with difficulty be induced to belieue that nobler and higher thinges do passe in the harts of others then they find in their owne With others also thou shalt meet who are practised in matters of deuotion and who are easily carryed towardes any gust of spirit who make much account thereof And if any such thing be told them they hearken to it with great admiration esteeming him for more holy who hath more of them and he is light in giuing credit to them as if in them all were safe But because indeed it is not so many of these persons fall into errour and they suffer also them to fall whom they haue in charge for want of giuing them sufficient aduice against the craft of the Diuell and in this respect they are as vnfit to gouerne soules as the former But (d) Note this and learne thereby wherein true sanctity doth consist know thou that there are some of so good iudgement as to vnderstand that true sanctity consisteth not in such things as these but in the accomplishing of the will of our Lord and they haue experience in spirituall things and they also can tell how to doubt and to aske of others who may informe them Thou (e) Great experiēce with great humility goeth far in making a manable to guyde another in matters of spirit though there be not so great learning maiest trust these last although they haue no eminency in learning because that which they haue is inough since they haue no other employment but to looke to themselues And since it doth so much import thee to light vpon a good guide thou must with great instance beseech our Lord that he will direct thee by his prouidence to
Hier. 18. saith That if we depart from doing his will he will also repent himselfe of the good he promised Not that God can repent since he is not capable of any change but his meaning is That as one who repenteth himselfe doth vndoe the thing which he had done so will he discharge the sentence of punishment which he had giuen against a man if he do pennance and he will retract that promise which he made of doing him good if that man depart from him CHAP. LXXXIIII What a man is of his owne stock and of the great benefits that we enioy by Iesus Christ our Lord. RETVRNING then to our purpose it is plaine how well this law and practise is fulfilled by Almighty God He heareth and he seeth since he did so soone heare the prayer and see the teares of this (a) Ezechias King And did comfort him not only him but the same he doth to others as Dauid (b) Psal 33. saith The eyes of our Lord are vpon iust persons and his eares are bent towards their prayers to deliuer their soules from death and to susteyne them in tyme of hunger I well belieue that thou likest well this word and yet I belieue also that the cōdition vnder which it is said doth put thee into some feare A blessed thing it is that the eyes and eares of God are present to vs. But yet thou wilt say In what case am I for he speaketh that of such as are iust and for my part I am full of sinne Thou saiest true and see that thou do truly belieue it For if there were any men who had no sinnes who should they in all reason be rather then the holy Apostles of Iesus Christ our Lord who as they were nearer to him in conuersation of body so were they also in sanctity of mind and so as that none do equall them excepting only the blessed Mother of God who equalleth and exceedeth both them and the Angells And although S. Paul (c) Rom. 8. do say both in his owne person and in that of the Apostles also That they receiued the first fruites of the spirit which signifieth greater grace and giftes then were imparted to other men yet neuerthelesse our Lord commauded them to say that prayer of the Pater Noster whereof this is a part Forgiue vs our debtes or sinnes And since this prayer is for euery day it is plaine that we are told thereby that (d) Be not rash in mistaking but read on and thou wilt see that this is meant of venial sins as distraction in prayer idle words or thoughts and the like not of such others as depriue the soule of grace we haue faultes and that euery day we commit one or other And therefore (e) 1. Ioan. 1. S. Iohn said Yf we say that we haue no sinne we deceaue our selues and truth is not in vs. Now if all men haue synne excepting him alone who is God as well as man and her who is his true Mother for whome were those wordes spoken That the eyes of our Lord are vpon iust persons and his eares are inclined to their prayers I answeare that God is not humorous nor yet doth he pay men with wordes alone sines we see that as he said so he performed with King Ezechias and in numerable others also whom he heard and saw But (f) See heere the verity purity of Catholik doctrine concerning grace and sinne works do thou know that he is a iust person who is not in mortall sinne since such an one is in grace and is the friend of God and of this sort there are many although they haue veniall sinnes But now when there is speach of these last there is none who can truly lay that he is wholy free And to the end that thou mayst be thankefull for this grace and iustice to that Lord through whose merits they are giuen to such as are well disposed thou art to vnderstand that iust persons haue in them two kinds of good some of nature others of grace though Pelagius be in a chafe at this last who said That a man is iust through the good workes which he doth by the strength of his owne nature without needing that grace and strength which is infused by God This errour is condemned by the Catholike Church which commaundeth vs to belieue That of our nature we are sinners first by originall sinne and them by others also which with our will we commit afterward and that in those other workes which yet are after their manner good but yet still within the only latitude of morality and these are the best that we can worke by force of nature true iustice doth no way consist For this it is that S. Paul (g) Rom. 3. saith That no man is iust that is to say of himselfe for we are all sinners of our selues The being iust is giuen to vs it groweth not out of our soyle or stocke for to haue it (h) Christ our Lord is only iust originally of himselfe al other creatures yea euen the pure mother of God her self were to be iustifyed by his redēption She was secured from falling into the least sinne either originall or actual because his passion wrought in her holy soule by way of Preseruatiue we are freed after falling because it workes in vs by way of remedy so is the priuiledge of Christ our Lord alone who not by meanes of any other but of his only selfe is the true iust person and in whose workes and death is true iustice For if in the workes which we can do by our nature did consist true Iustice or that by them we could deserue it Christ Iesus (i) The protestāts will heere find that they haue no reason to slander vs in this point according to their custome had died in vayne as S. Paul saith since we might haue obteined that without his death which he purchased for vs therby The same Apostle (k) Galat. 3. saith That Christ is made iustice to vs and he saith it because the merit of our iustice doth consist in his workes and death which (l) Suspēd your rash iudgment a while if you be a Protestāt and read the 88. chapter which wil deliuer you from errour in this point merit he communicateth to vs by Faith and by loue which is the life thereo◠and by the Sacraments of the Church as we declared before And thus are we incorporated in Christ Iesus and the grace of the holy Ghost is giuen vs by the infusion whereof into our soules we are made the adopted Sonnes of God pleasing to him and so we also receaue vertues and giftes to the end that we may worke agreeably to the high state of the grace which was giuen to vs. By all which we are made truly iust in the sight of God by a iustice which is ours and which dwelleth in vs and (m) Note this which
handes And this they expect vnder such a title of more iustice as that if he deny them any thinge they are complaining in their hartes and do hold themselues agrieued why lest they forsooth seruing him so well he doth them not iustice by denying them any thing Let not this wicked pride seize on thee for (h) How God abhorreth Pride it is now long since God complaineth of it by Isay (i) Isa 58. saying They demaund the iudgements of iustice at my handes and they come to God and say Why haue we fasted and yet thou hast not behold vs we haue humbled our soules and thou hast not appreoued it But to the end that this so dangerous poison may not infuse it selfe into thy soule with others which do also flow frō thēce thou art to lay hold vpon that excellent doctrine which our Lord Christ Iesus deliuered in S. Luke after this manner Which of you hauing a seruant who goeth to plow feedes the cattell and your selfe comming from the field you say instantly to your seruant Goe thy wayes and take thyne ease and doth not rather say Go dresse my supper and make thy selfe ready to come and serue me till I haue eaten and drunke and then thou also shalt cate and drinke Doth peraduenture that maister stand thanking of his seruant for doing those thinges which he commaunded I thinke not Well then let it be so in your case and when you haue performed all those thinges which are inioyned say We are vnprofitable seruants and we did but that which we were obliged to From these wordes thou art to fetch a knowledge of how profitable a consideration it is for a Christian to hold himselfe the slaue of God since our Lord commaundeth vs so to call our selues And yet this must not be done with that kind of hart wherewith the slaue vseth to serue which is a hart of feare and not of loue For as S. Paul (k) Rom. 8. sayth You did not againe receaue the spirit of seruitude in feare but you receiued the spirit of adoption of the sonnes of God wherein you cry out to God say Father Father For as S. Augustine saith the difference betweene the old law and the Ghospell in a word is that which is betweene feare and loue Leauing therefore a part (l) To serue God for feare is lesse good to do it for loue is excellent this spirit of seruility because it belongeth not so properly to the sonnes of God and the spirit also of (m) He speaketh heere of filial fear feare as lesse perfect though it be not cuill since it is the gift of God to feare him euen for the punishments which he inflicteth do thou vnderstand by the name of seruant a person who is subiect to God by more strong and iust obligation then any slaue can be to his Lord how deare soeuer he haue cost him And (n) A faythfull and louing seruant well described looking euer vpon this whatsoeuer he doth well eyther within himselfe or exteriourly he will do it for the glory and to giue gust to God as a true-harted slaue will giue a iust account vnto his Lord of whatsoeuer he is able to gaine So also wil he forbeare to be slack or sluggish in seruing him vpon the present day notwithstanding that he had serued many yeares before Nor will he hold himselfe disobliged from the doing of one seruice in respect that he hath done another But as the holy (o) Luc. 17. Ghospell saith he carrieth a continuall hungar and thirst after iustice For he esteemeth all to be little considering both the much that he hath receaued and which the Lord in whose seruice he is hath merited By this meanes doth he accomplish that which S. Paul (p) Philip. ◠saith of himselfe That forgetting those things which were past he gaue himselfe new spirites towardes the pursuite of that which was then to come He doth also know that from those thinges which he is able to do how great so euer they may be no profit accreweth vnto God nor is God obliged to esteem that which he doth if the works be considered as growing from our naturall power and strength since a man is not able to pay euen what he oweth And therefore doth the holy (q) Luc. 17. Ghospell say When you haue done all those thinges which you haue beene commanded say We are vnprofitable seruants and we did but that which we were bound to do I say (r) How the best man is indeed an vnprofitable seruant and in what sense againe he is not so vnprofitable in respect of God but for as much as concerneth themselues they gaine life eternall as shal be shewed in the next Chapter And in this sort vnderstanding the name of slaue thou wilt find it to be a name of humility of obedience of diligence and of loue And this feeling thereof had the sacred Virgin Mary when being taught by the Holy Ghost she (s) The vnspeakeable humility of the incōprehensible virgin Mary the B. Mother of God answered Behould (t) Luc. 1. heere is the slaue of our Lord let that be fulfilled in me which is agreeable to his word She confesseth her owne basenes she offereth vp her loue and seruice with a liberall hart without ascribing any thing vnto her selfe by way of any other honour or interest then only in being carefull to serue as a slaue in that which our Lord was commanding her for his glory All this did she feele within and this did she outwardly expresse by deliuering her selfe in the name of slaue S. Paul doth call himselfe and prize himselfe by this name when he (u) Rom. 1. sayth Paul the slaue of Iesus Christ And in a word so are al they who serue God to acknowledg themselues whether they be high or low vnles they be content that euen the seruice which they are doing proue to be of more preiudice then aduantage to them Procure therefore to profit by this truth and thou shalt find a powerfull remedy against the danger which groweth by occasion of good workes not (x) There is no danger in good workes but in the vanity of mans hart who doth them from the workes themselues but by the imperfection of such as do them And vse thou to say both with thy mouth and with thy hart very often I am (y) A iust and true acknowledgement which ought to be made by the hart and tongue of all true Christiās the slaue of God and I am so because God is that which he is and for a thousand millions of benefits which I haue receaued from his hand And how much soeuer I might do for him I should neuer be able to pay the least of those paces which he being made man did make for me nor the least of those torments which he endured for me nor the least sinne which he hath pardoned nor any other which he hath preuented
and I will be their God and they shal be my people and therefore I haue come out of the middest of them And Depart sayth our Lord and touch not any thing that is vncleane and I will receiue you and I will be your Father and you shal be my Children saith our Lord omnipotent Hauing heard these promises thou art to procure with courage to make thy selfe a meerâ— stranger to this people both for the good which is promised and for the euill which thereby thou shalt auoyd It (e) The extreame danger of ill coÌ„pany is no safe thing for thee to remayne vnder a house which infallibly will fall and ouerwhelme as many as are in it And we would not giue him meane thankes who should aduertise vs of such a danger which we might decline Well (f) Hearken well for heere it is the Angell of God that speakes then know thou for certayne and I aduertise thee of it on the part of God that the day will come wherein that vision shal be spiritually accomplished which S. Iohn (g) Apoc. â—8 saw concerning this wicked people when he said I saw another Angell that descended from heauen who had great power and he made the whole earth become all light by his bright splendour and he vttered a voyce with great strength and sayd Babylon the great is fallen it is fallen and it is made the habitation of Diuells and of euery impure spirit and of euery horrible and vncleane bird And afterward he sayd That an Angell tooke vp a huge stone like such an one as they vse in milles and threw it into the sea and sayd with this force shall the great Citty of Babylon be plunged into the sea and it shal be heard of no more And to the end that such as haue a desyre to saue themselues may not grow carelesse by conceauing perhaps that the scourge of God will not lay hold vpon them whilest they are in company with the wicked the same S. Iohn affirmeth that he heard another voyce which sayd thus from heauen Get thee out from Babylon O my people and be not partaker of her sinnes and do not receaue of her markes for her sinnes haue reached vp to heauen and our Lord hath remembred her impietyes And (h) In what maÌ„ner the society of the wicked is to be fled although it be a thing very profitable to a good man euen corporally to fly the company of the wicked and for such an one as is but a beginner in goodnesse it is euen necessary vnlesse he meane to vndoe himselfe yet that going out of the middest of Babylon which heere is commanded by God is to be vnderstood as S. Augustine saith for a going out with the hart from amongst the wicked louing that which they abhorre and abhorring that which they loue For if wee looke but vpon that which is externall Hierusalem and Babylon may be not only in the same Citty for as much as concerneth corporall presence but euen in the same house But if we respect their harts they wil be found to be far a sunder and Hierusalem which is the Citty of God wil be found to be in the one Babylon the Citty of the wicked in the other Forget therefore thy people and get thee vp to the people of Christ being well assured that thou shalt neuer be able to begin the leading of a new life vnlesse with griefe thou first forsake thy old Remember how S. Paul (i) Heb. â—3 saith That our Lord Iesus for the sanctification of his people by his bloud suffered death without the gates of Hierusalem And since that is so let vs goe towardes him out of our tentes and let vs imitate his dishonour This saith S. Paul giuing vs this lesson thereby That Christ did therefore suffer without the Citty to giue vs to vnderstand that if we meane to follow him we must also go our of the Citty whereof we haue spoken which is the congregation of such persons as (k) The very root of all sin loue themselues after an inordinate manner Christ our Sauiour could easily haue cured the blind man in (l) Marc. â— Bethsaida but he chose to draw him out and so to giue him his eyesight and thereby to make vs also know that when we shal be retyred from that common life which is lead by the multitude we are to be cured by Christ in following that (m) Matt. 7. straite way wherein truth it selfe hath told vs that few do walke Let (n) If we pretend to serue christ our Lord we must forsake and forsweare the seruice of the wicked world no man deceiue thee Christ will none of them who will both performe his will and the will of the world And by his owne blessed mouth he hath assured vs That (o) Matt. 6. no man can serue two maisters And since he sayd That he was not of the world that his disciples were not of the world and that his kingdome was not of the world it is not reason that thou be of it if it were but for feare of not comming to such an end as ouertooke the disobedient (p) 2. Reg. 1â— Absolom Who being hanged by his hayre vpon an oak was transpierced with three lances by the hand of Ioab and so as he was hanging he dyed For thus shall it happen to the man who is disobedient to our Lord of heauen Which Lord he doth euen persecute by his wicked life and whose affections thoghts like so many haires of the head do hold him hanging vpon this world For all his ambition is how he may be made great vpon earth and that he may haue faire dayes in this transitory life of his But what can he get by this since the tree whereon he hanges is an (q) Remember the story of the prodigal son Oake which yealdes no fruit but for swine And so this world giues no contentment or fruit at all but to bestiall men whome the Diuell doth passe through with three lances pride of life the desires of the flesh and concupiscence of the eyes the (r) How miserably sinners at treated by the diuell not only in the next life but euen in this Diuell I say who is called the prince of this world because he ruleth and commandeth wicked men whilest yet he treateth his followers in such a fashion as that he fills them not with so much as the food of swine but like as to another (Å¿) Iud. 1â— Adonibesech he cutteth off the endes of their feet and of their hands to disable them from doing any thing that is good and then he casteth them vnder the table that they may feed yet still not vpon full dishes but vpon the crumms that he knoweth not how to bestow elsewhere He keepeth them hungry for the present and he will carry them afterward with himselfe to a place where there will be eternall hunger in company of other torments