and buried in his Tombe that as our harmes began so they might end and such places and meanes as were the premises to our miserie might be also the conclusions of our misfortune For this did Christ in the Canticles inuite vs to an heauenly banquet after he was come into this Garden and had reaped his myrrhe and his spice to forewarne vs of the ioy that after this haruest should presently ensue namely when hauing sowed in this Garden a body the mortalitie whereof was signified by those spices he now reaped the same neither capable of death nor subiect to corruption For this also was Mary permitted to mistake that we might be informed of the mysterie and see how aptly the course of our redemption did answer the processe of our condemnation But though he be the Gardener that hath planted the tree of grace and restored vs to the vse and eating of the fruites of life Though it be he that soweth his giftes in our soules quickening in vs the seeds of vertue and rooting out of vs the weedes of sinne yet is he neuerthelesse the same Iesus he was and the borrowed presence of a meane laborer neither altereth his person nor diminisheth his right to his diuine titles Why then canst thou not as well see what in truth he is as what in shew he seemeth but because thou seest more than thou diddest beleeue and findest more thrn thy faith serueth thee to seek and for this though thy loue was worthy to see him yet thy faith was vnworthy to know him Thou diddest seeke for him as dead and therefore doest not know him seeing him aliue and because thou beleeuest not of him as he is thou doest onely see him as he seemeth to be I cannot say thou art faultlesse sith thou art so lame in thy beleefe but thy fault deserueth fauour because thy charitie is so great and therefore ô mercifull Iesu giue me leaue to excuse whom thou art minded to forgiue She thought to haue found thee as she left thee and she sought thee as she did last see thee being so ouercome with sorow for thy death that she had neither roome nor respite in her minde for any hope of thy life and being so deepely interred in the griefe of thy buriall that she could not raise her thoughts to any conceit of thy resurrection For in the graue where Ioseph buried thy body Mary together with it entombed her soule and so straightly combined it with thy coarse that she could with more ease sunder her soule from her owne body that liueth by it than from thy dead body with which her loue did burie it for it is more thine and in thee than her owne or in her selfe and therefore in seeking thy body she seeketh her owne soule as with the losse of the one she also lost the other What maruell then though sense faile when the soule is lost sith the lanterne must needes be darke when the light is out Restore vnto her therfore her soule that lieth imprisoned in thy body and she will soone both recouer her sense and discouer her errour For alas it is no errour that proceedeth of any will to erre and it riseth as much of vehemencie or affection as of default in faith Regard not the errour of a woman but the loue of a Disciple which supplyeth in it selfe what in faith it wanteth O Lord saith she If thou hast carried him hence tell me where thou hast laide him and I will take him away O how learned is her ignorance and how skilfull her errour She charged not the Angels with thy remouing nor seemed to mistrust them for carrying thee away as though that her loue had taught her that their helpe was needlesse where the thing remoued was remouer of it selfe She did not request them to enforme her where thou wert layd as if she had reserued that question for thy selfe to answer But now he iudgeth thee so likely to be the authour of her losse that halfe supposing thee guilty she sueth a recouerie and desireth thee to tell her where the body is as almost fully perswaded that thou art as priuie to the place as well acquainted with the action So that if she be not altogether right she is not very much wrong and she erreth with such ayme that she very little misseth the truth Tell her therefore ô Lord what thou hast done with thy selfe sith it is fittest for thy owne speech to vtter that which was onely possible for thy owne power to performe But ô Mary sithens thou art so desirous to know where thy Iesus is why doest thou not name him when thou askest for him Thou saidest to the Angels that they had taken away thy Lord and now the second time thou askest for him Are thy thoughts so visible as at thy onely presence to be seene or so generall that they possesse all when they are once in thee When thou speakest of him what him doest thou meane or how can a stranger vnderstand thee when thou talkest of thy Lord Hath the world no other Lords but thine or is the demanding by no other name but him a sufficient notice for whom thou demandest But such is the nature of thy loue thou iudgest that no other should be entitled a Lord sith the whole world is too little for thy Lords possession and that those few creatures that are cannot chuse but know him sith all the creatures of the world are too few to serue him And as his worthinesse can appay all loues and his onely loue content all hearts so thou deemest him to be so well worthy to be owner of all thoughts that no thought in thy conceit can be well bestowed vpon any other Yet thy speeches seeme more sudden than sound and more peremptory than well pondered Why doest thou say so resolutely without any further circumstance that if this Gardener haue taken him thou wilt take him from him If he had him by right in taking him away thou shouldst do him wrong If thou supposest he wrongfully tooke him thou layest theft to his charge and howsoeuer it be thou either condemnest thy selfe for an vsurper or him for a thiefe And is this an effect of thy zealous loue first to abase him from a God to a Gardener and now to degrade him from a Gardener to a thiefe Thou shouldest also haue considered whether he tooke him vpon loue or malice If it were for loue thou maiest assure thy selfe that he will be as wary to keepe as he was venturous to get him and therefore thy pollicie was weake in saying thou wouldest take him away before thou knewest where he was sith none is so simple to bewray their treasure to a knowne thiefe If he tooke him of malice thy offer to recouer him is an open defiance sith malice is as obstinate in defending as violent in offering wrong and he that would be cruell against thy maisters dead body is likely to be more furious against his liuing
lesson it fell out to be the bitterest part of thy miserie that thou diddest so well know how infinite the losse was that made thee miserable This is the cause that those very Angels in whom all things make remonstrance of triumph and solace are vnto thee occasions of new griefe For their gracious and louely countenances remember thee that thou hast lost the beauty of the world and the highest marke of true loues ambition Their sweet lookes and amiable features tell thee that the heauen of thy eyes which was the reuerend Maiesty of thy Masters face once shined with farre more pleasing graces but is now disfigured with the dreadfull formes of death In summe they were to thee like the glistering sparkes of a broken Diamond and like pictures of dead and decayed beauties signes not salues of thy calamity memorials not medicines of thy misfortune Thy eyes were too well acquainted with the truth to accept a supply of shadowes and as comelinesse comfort and glory were neuer in any other so truely at home and so perfectly in their prime as in the person and speeches of thy Lord so cannot thy thoughts but be like strangers in any forraine delight For in them all thou seest no more but some scattered crums and hungrie morsels of thy late plentifull banquets and findest a dim reflexion of thy former light which like a flash of lightning in a close and stormie night serueth thee but to see thy present infelicitie and the better to know the horrour of the ensuing darknesse Thou thinkest therefore thy selfe blamelesse both in weeping for thy losse and in refusing other comfort Yet in common courtesie affoord these Angels an answer sith their charitie visiting thee deserueth much more and thou if not too vngratefull canst allow them no lesse Alas saith she what needeth my answer where the miserie it selfe speaketh and the losse is manifest My eyes haue answered them with teares my breast with sighes and my heart with throbs what need I also punish my tongue or wound my soule with a new rehearsall of so do lefull a mischance They haue taken away O vnfortunate word they haue taken away my Lord. O afflicted woman why thinkest thou this word so vnfortunate It may be the Angels haue taken him more solemnely to entombe him and sith earth hath done her last homage haply the Quires of heauen are also descended to defray vnto him their funerall duties It may be that the Centurion and the rest that did acknowledge him on the crosse to be the Sonne of God haue bene touched with remorse and goared with pricke of conscience and being desirous to satisfie for their haynous offence haue now taken him more honorably to interre him and by their seruice to his body sought forgiuenesse and sued the pardon of their guiltie soules Peraduenture some secret disciples haue wrought this exploit and maugre the watch taken him from hence with due honour to preserue him in some better place and therefore being yet vncertaine who hath him there is no such cause to lament sith the greater probabilities march on the better side Why doest thou call sorrow before it commeth which without calling commeth on thee too fast yea why doest thou create sorrow where it is not sith thou hast true sorrow enough though imagined sorrowes helpe not It is folly to suppose the worst where the best may be hoped for and euerie mishap bringeth griefe enough with it though we with our feares do not go first to meet it Quiet then thy selfe till time try out the truth and it may be thy feare will proue greater than thy misfortune But I know thy loue is little helped with this lesson for the more it loueth the more it feareth and the more desirous to enioy the more doubtfull it is to lose It neither hath measure in hopes nor meane in feares hoping the best vpon the least surmises and fearing the worst vpon the weakest grounds And yet both fearing and hoping at one time neither feare with-holdeth hope from the highest attempts nor hope can strengthen feare against the smallest suspitions but maugre all feares loues hopes will mount to the highest pitch and maugre all hopes loues feares will stoupe to the lowest downe-come To bid thee therefore hope is not to forbid thee to feare and though it may be for the best that thy Lord is taken from thee yet sith it may also be for the worst that will neuer content thee Thou thinkest hope doth enough to keepe thy heart from breaking feare little enough to force thee to no more than weeping sith it is as likely that he hath bene taken away vpon hatred by his enemies as vpon loue by his friends For hitherto sayest thou his friends haue all failed him and his foes preuailed against him and as they would not defend him aliue are lesse likely to regard him dead so they that thought one life too little to take from him are not vnlikely after death to wrecke new rage vpon him And though this doubt were not yet whosoeuer hath taken him hath wronged me in not acquainting me with it for to take away mine without my cōsent can neither be offered with out iniurie nor suffered without sorrow And as for Iesus he was my Iesus my Lord and my Maister He was mine because he was giuen vnto me borne for me he was the author of my being and so my father he was the worker of my well doing and therefore my Sauiour he was the price of my ransome and thereby my Redeemer he was my Lord to command me my maister to instruct me my pastor to feede me He was mine because his loue was mine and when he gaue me his loue he gaue me himselfe sith loue is no gift except the giuer be giuen with it yea it is no loue vnlesse it be as liberall of that it is as of that it hath Finally if the meate be mine that I eate the life mine wherewith I liue or he mine all whose life labours and death were mine then dare I boldly say that Iesus is mine sith on his body I feed by his loue I liue and to my good without any neede of his owne hath he liued laboured and dyed And therefore though his Disciples though the Centurion yea though the Angels haue taken him they haue done me wrong in defeating me of my right sith I neuer meane to resigne my interest But what if he hath taken away himselfe wilt thou also lay iniustice to his charge Though he be thine yet thine to command not to obey thy Lord to dispose of thee and not to be by thee disposed and therefore as it is no reason that the seruant should be maister of his maisters secrets so might he and peraduenture so hath he remoued without acquainting thee whither reuiuing himselfe with the same power with which he raised thy dead brother and fulfilling the words that he often vttered of his resurrection It may be thou wilt
I can then discharge this account so shall I be either crowned in eternall ioy or condemned to perpetuall damnation Rules following of this Foundation FIrst I must vse all things in this life as another bodies goods for which I must be accountable to the vttermost farthing Secondly the more I haue the greater and harder will be mine account of the good vse thereof and therefore the more warie ought I to be in disposing of it Thirdly let me often consider what bodily ghostly and externall gifts of God I haue receiued what in baptisme and at other times I haue promised how profitable and necessarie good works I haue omitted how many grieuous and hainous sinnes I haue committed how often I haue lost the grace of God and my right to heauen Finally how much honour and how many soules I haue robbed from God And these things being well perused let me seeke to make that recompence satisfaction for them which I would wish to haue made when death shall summon me before my heauenly Iudge to giue a most strict account of them The fruite of these Foundations consisteth in the often considering of them as most necessarie points and as it were the very first principles of good life vpon the vnderstanding and practising whereof dependeth my progresse in vertue and therefore I must very often read them and examine my selfe whether my mind and actions be answerable vnto them How we ought to be affected towards God First of the consideration of Gods presence THese Foundations being laid it behooueth me further to descend to the notice of my dutie to God my neighbour and my selfe And first concerning my dutie vnto God a very fit meane I can vse to please him is to beare alway in mind his presence for sure it is that as God he is euery where in substance power and presence as in him I liue moue and am as the Scripture saith because he worketh with me in all my deeds thoughts and words in so much that as the beame of the Sunne the heate of the fier or the wetnesse of the water so depend I of God and should he but withdraw himselfe from me one moment I should forth with turne into nothing and therefore it is a very forcible meanes for my good to do all things as if I did see God visibly working with me in euery action as in truth he doth and knowing that what words thoughts or deeds soeuer passe me and what part of my bodie or mind soeuer I vse Gods concourse and helpe therunto is more then mine owne I must be afraid to vse them in any such thing wherein I might offend him but rather seeke to do all things so that they be worthy of his presence helpe and assistance in them and if I can get a custome or habite to remember still the presence and assistance of God as by vse easily I may I shall with due regard reuerence consideration abstaine from such behauiour as I thinke may be any way offensiue vnto him I shall also get a great facilitie in turning my mind and heart to him and in talking often with him by prayers which are the fuell of deuotion Other Affections that we ought to haue vnto God SEcondly I must endeuour to to kindle in my selfe these affections towards God The first Affection FIrst of a sincere and tender loue of him as the fountaine of all beautie and felicity of which loue I may ghesse by these signes By often thinking and an earnest desire of God by sorrow of his absence and contentment in consideration of his presence By my diligence in performing without delay or tediousnesse that which pleaseth best my Sauiour and by finding such comfort in doing it that it grieueth me when for things of lesse value and goodnesse I am enforced to deferre it By withdrawing all disordred loue from all creatures and especially my selfe and by louing nothing but in God and for God By seeking to increase this loue by consideration of Gods goodnesse and his daily benefit By taking delight in Gods seruice or things tending thereunto not because I finde contentment in it but because it is to Gods glorie to the which I would haue all things addressed By taking tribulations or troubles of body or minde patiently yea and with ioy knowing that they come by Gods permission and thinking them as fauours which he affoordeth to his dearest friends The second Affection THe second affection is a reuerent and dutifull feare of God which I may gather by these signes If when I remember the presence and maiestie of God I frame both my body and minde to reuerence and honour him with all humility and decency fearing lest by any vnseemely and light behauiour I should seeme to be contemptuous and carelesse of my dutie towards him If I finde great feare to do any thing that may displease God not onely mortally but euen venially and be withall â—â—â—y wâ—tchfull to auoide the least offâ—nce lest â—ny frailtie which is great should draw me to it and so to farther inconuenience If I feare to be banished from him or forsaken for my sinnes and endeuour what I may to preferre his loue and fauour towards me The third Affection THe third affection is zeale of Gods honour and desire that he should be duely serued and obeyed of all his creatures of which I may iudge by these signes First if I finde a griefe in my selfe and am heartily fory when I see or heare of other folkes faults or thinke on mine owne considering how by them a base and wretched creature dishonoreth and displeaseth his Creator in steade of him seruing his professed enemies the flesh the world and the diuell The second signe is an earnest desire to helpe my neighbour or mine owne soule out of sinne by praying for this effect and refusing no conuenient labour to accomplish the same so that my Lord God be no more or at least wise offended then before The fourth Affection THE fourth affection is to endeuour as neare as I can to take occasion of euery thing that I heare see or thinke of to praise God as if the things were good then to praise God that he gaue grace to do them and if the things were euill to thanke God that either he preserued me or others from them or at least hath not suffered me to continue still in them or to be in his wrath condemned for them Also I must consider and with my inward eye see God in euery creature how he worketh in all things to my benefit and weigh how in all creatures both within and without me he sheweth his presence by keeping them in their being and course of nature for without him they would presently turne to nothing and I must assure my selfe that in all this he hath as well regard to my good as to others and therefore all creatures must be as it were bookes to me to reade therein the loue presence prouidence and