Selected quad for the lemma: truth_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
truth_n	ghost_n	holy_a	son_n	6,613	5	5.5143	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A08920	Saint Bernard his Meditations: or Sighes, sobbes, and teares, vpon our sauiours passion in memoriall of his death. Also his Motiues to mortification, with other meditations.; Tractatus de interiori domo. English	Bernard, of Clairvaux, Saint, 1090 or 91-1153.; W. P., Mr. of Arts.	1614 (1614)	STC 1919A; ESTC S118711	165,249	611

so separate the vnderstanding from the loue of the world nothing doth so fortifie the minde against temptations The profitable fruits of deuout meditation nothing doth so stirre vp man and further him to euery good worke and labour as the Grace and benefit of diuine meditation and heauenly contemplation In what manner a man ought to pray deuoutly MOTIVE VIII HAue mercy vpon mee oh God because I offend there most where I ought to amend my sinnes For while I pray often in the place of prayer I doe not marke what I say I pray truly with the mouth but my minde wandering abroad I am depriued of the fruit of prayer With my body I am within but with my heart I am without And therefore I loose that I say For it profiteth little to sing or pray with the voyce onely without the deuotion of the hart Therefore it is great foolishnesse yea rather great madnesse vvhen wee doe presume to speake with the Lord of Maiestie in prayer It is presumption to pray without hearty and true deuotion and being without vnderstanding doe turne our minde from him and turne our heart I know not to what fooleries and toyes It is also great madnesse and grieuously to be punished when most vile and base dust doth disdaine to heare the Creatour of the whole world speaking to it But it is an vnspeakeable grace of the Diuine goodnesse which doth daily behold vs vnhappy vvretches turning away our eares hardning our hearts and neuerthelesse cryeth out to vs saying Returne yee Transgressors vvith your heart attend and see because I am God God speaketh to me in a Psalme neither yet when I say a Psalme doe I consider whose Psalme it is Wherefore I doe great iniurie to God when I pray to him to heare my prayer which I doe not heare my selfe who doe vtter the same I intreat him that he attend to mee The prayer of the wicked is turned into abhomination but I neither attend to my selfe nor to him but that which is farre worse by thinking filthy and vnprofitable things within my heart I bring an horrible stinke before his sight Of the instabilitie and wandering of the heart MOTIVE IX The heart of man is tossed to and fro in the stream of euill cogitations NOthing is more vnconstant instable and fugitiue in mee then my heart the which so often as it leaueth me floweth and fleeteth away by euill cogitations so often it offendeth God My heart great heart wandering vnstable while it is led by his owne will cannot remaine constant in it selfe but being more moueable then any moueable thing is distracted and drawne through infinite things and runneth vp downe hither and thither through innumerable matters And vvhile it seeketh rest and content by diuers things it cannot finde the same but continueth in the labour and turmoyle of miserie voyd of rest and contentment and seeketh here and there where it may rest and findeth nothing which may suffice it vntill it doth returne to him backe againe who gaue it It is ledde from cogitation to cogitation and it is altered and changed by diuers imployments and affections that at least it may be filled with varietie and change of those things with whose qualitie it cannot any way possibly be satisfied So the heart is troubled with it's owne illusions and fantasies The heart reuolting from God can finde no rest vntill it returne to God All that we haue is Gods owne yet hee saith giue mee thy heart the Diuine grace being remoued and substracted And when it is returned to it selfe and discusseth and examineth that vvhich it thought it findeth nothing because it was not a worke but an vnsauoury and vnseasonable thought which compoundeth and frameth many things of little or nothing at all And lastly imagination deceiueth it which the illusion of the Deuill formeth and shapeth God commaundeth me that I giue him my heart and because I am not obedient and subiect to God commanding I am rebellious and contrary to my selfe Whereby I cannot be brought in subiection to my selfe vntill I shall be subiect to him and serue my selfe with an euill will which would not serue him with a good will Therefore my heart plotteth endeauoureth and goeth about more things in one moment then all men are able to performe in a yeere I am not vnited with God and therefore I am diuided in my selfe I cannot be truly vnited with him but by loue neither be subiect to him but by humility neither can I be truly humble but by truth It is expedient therefore that I examine my selfe in Truth and know how vile how fraile how vnconstant and slipperie I am Afterwards when I shal know all my wants and miseries it is needfull that I cleaue vnto him by whom I am and without whom I am nothing and can doe nothing and because I haue departed from the Lord by sinning I cannot returne vnto him but by true confession Therefore I must now confesse in truth and sinceritie because I haue neuer confessed my sinnes in that measure and manner in which I haue sinned neither haue I remembred all eyther because of the antiquitie or multitude of them But if I haue confessed them I haue not sincerely confessed them but haue flattered the flesh in my confession and haue dealt falsely in casting vp the sum of my great and grieuous transgressions And it is a cursed dissimulation to make but a slight and counterfeit confession of our rebellions towards GOD and of our injurious and vncharitable actions towards men and onely to pare the outside of sinne away and as it were to wash our hands with a little water not to pluck vp sinne by the rootes that it may neuer afterwards grow vp in our hearts Our Confession must bee true and sincere For confession is not profitable but in the Truth and puritie of the heart that there may be three which may beare vs witnesse in Heauen The Father and the Sonne and the holy Ghost And as men haue beene beholders of our manifolde transgressions so let vs make them witnesses of our humble repentance and hartie contrition And although we must and ought to acknowledge GOD alone to bee All-sufficient to graunt vs free pardon and absolution yet wee should not refuse to shew forth manifest testimonies to men of our true and sincere Humiliation To vvhich the Apostle Saint Iames doth counsell and perswade vs saying Confesse your sinnes one to another For it is very conuenient that vvee vvhich haue beene stubborne and rebellious by sinning against GOD should be humble also towards men whom vve haue offended eyther by the euill example of our wicked life or else by our wrongfull dealing and false deeds For it is most healthfull to the soule that a man repent in heart and acknowledge his fault with his mouth so that God which is present in Mercy and Grace may pricke his heart by compunction and bitter repentance

sake seeing thou hast suffered so much for my sinnes But before thou passe any further oh my soule doe thou not let it passe without earnest meditation how that although the hearts of the tormentors of mine afflicted Iesus were so poysoned with impietie and their hands so polluted with cruelty that they grieued his righteous soule vvith their scornes and reproaches killed his innocent body with their tortures yet that the fury of their malicious harts was so restrained and the violence of their cruell hands so repressed that they could not breake one bone of his blessed body as they did of the malefactors which were crucified with him because the sacred scripture had said they should not and therefore their hands were fettered that they could not Exod. 12.46 Num. 9.12 Zach. 12.10 Wherefore let this meditation comfort thy drooping heart oh my soule and consolate thy fainting spirits in the sowrest fits of any worldly misery and in the sorest conflicts of any affliction that can betide thee that no Tyrant be hee neuer so mighty or his heart neuer so malicious can imagine more in his cruell thoughts or act any more with his bloudy hands against thee then the Diuine prouidence hath predestinated and the counsell of the highest hath alwayes determined Let this resolution be as a pretious Balme to heale the wounds of thy sorrow and as a soueraigne Salue to cure thy soares that they may not fester with dispairefull repining or rancor with impatient mourning Let no dread of danger throw downe the Fort of thy hope let no Tempest of persecution shake the foundation of thy Faith and let no waues of affliction quench the flame of thy loue towards thy Sauiour but let the oyle of his sufficient grace so strengthen the sinewes of thy Faith when it waxeth feeble that thy heart neuer faile nor thy courage quaile when thou art molested with any sickenes or affliction of body or moued with any malady of thy mind being faithfully perswaded that no calamity can betide thee without his will nor no danger can come neere thy dwelling without his good pleasure and that no Tyrants although they be neuer so mighty can do but so much and no more against thee then hee in his wisedome knoweth to be profitable for thee For neither the prophane Gentiles nor the superstitious Iewes could doe any more vnto my innocent Iesus then he vvas willing to suffer who came to die for the sinnes of the people they could not do one iot more then was enacted in the highest Court of the Caelestiall Parliament determined by the secret Counsel of the Trinity confirmed by the euerlasting Statutes of the sacred Scriptures Confirme my mind oh Lord with a stedfast perswasion of thy power and comfort my weake nature with a resolute confidence in thy word that in the time of my aduersitie and day of my tribulation yea at the houre of my death I may commend my spirit into thy hands as thou didst thine into the hands of thy heauenly Father Oh what a consolation comfort may it be vnto me in my greatest misery to commend my soule into thy custody for there it shall remain in the safe harbor of eternal tranquility no more subiect to misery no more obnoxious to vanity the ioy that it shall possesse is vnspeakable the felicitie incomparable the continuance of it neuer decaying but alwayes durable without any change or ending Receiue my soule oh my louing Sauiour into thy hands that it may be safe vnder the shadowe of thy wings it is thine owne it came from thee and therefore let it returne vnto thee receiue my gift my bountifull giuer But because oh Lord nothing that is impure may appeare in thy sight neither canst thou behold any vncleane thing with thine eie purge my soule with the fire of thy spirit and wash away the spots of it with thy precious bloud that being beautified with the pure white robe of thy mercy Reu. 12.18 it may confidently approach vnto the Throne of thy Maiesty Oh let the affection of my loue be neuer defectiue towards thee and infuse that into me by the gift of thy grace which I am not able to obtaine by my owne strength captiuate all my sences that they may be obsequious to do thy will and frame all the members of my body to performe thy law that being partaker of thy death by true mortification of my flesh I may also be made partaker vvith thee of thy glorious Resurrection by the viuification of thy blessed Spirit A Meditation how the Lord Iesus was buried and of the lamentation of his Mother and other women for his death MED XX. Within a a Mar. 15.46 Tombe which in a Rocke was wrought Ioseph b Mar. 27.90 enshrines the body of our Lord. Wrapt in a c Luk. 23.53 Mark 15.46 cloath which hee of purpose bought Oh happy man that did such loue afford AS there was a wicked and couetous Iudas oh my soule amongst the faithfull Disciples of thy louing IESVS to betray him to a cruell death so there was a kinde Ioseph found among the Iewes who brought him honourably to his graue Oh who is able to relate the lamentation to expresse the sorrow and vtter the griefe of the Virgin Marie mourning for the death of her deare Sonne and other vvomen vvho did behold him vvith their compassionate eyes vvhen like an innocent Lambe he gaue vp the Ghost and bewailed his departure from them vvith floods of teares Now thinke that thou doest heare the Virgine Marie discouering the inward sorrowes of her heart of her grieued and wounded heart vttered out of her dolefull mouth passionate as she was a tender harted woman and more compassionate as shee vvas a louing Mother vvhen shee saw the vvounded and breathlesse body of her Sonne taken downe from the Crosse Let her sorrowfull words penetrate thine eares and pierce thy heart that thou maist bewaile the debts of thy sinnes as she lamented the death of her Sonne in this or the like manner Oh my most sweet Sonne what is my felicity which I had by thee in thy life Is it any thing else but extreame miserie at thy death how is my chiefest ioy changed into sorrow my mirth into mourning how is my reioycing turned into lamenting my cheerefulnesse turned into heauinesse nothing can mittigate my calamity nothing can ease my malady What hadst thou done oh my most deare Sonne what hainous crime hadst thou committed vvhat odious treason hadst thou perpetrated that thou wert condemned to die such a shamefull and bitter death Thy pure hands were neuer defiled with any euill actions and thy harmlesse heart did neuer harbour any vvicked cogitations thine eyes were neuer bewitched with worldly vanities nor thine eares delighted with lewd discourses thy mouth did vtter forth wisedome and thy tongue spake nothing but the truth thy whole life was a Mirrour of piety thy words deserued no reprehension thy deeds were without all

exception Oh how bitter was the malice how horrible was the enuie how blinde were the eyes how bloody were the hearts of the cruell Iewes to crucifie my deare Sonne my innocent Iesus how dolefull is it to mine eyes and dolorous to my heart to behold thy bright eyes obscured with deadly darknesse thy blessed hand depriued of action and thy beautifull feete senslesse vvithout any motion to see thy cheerefull countenance couered with an ashy palenesse thy skinne blacke and blew with blowes and thy flesh mangled with wounds This spectacle is so wofull that I can no longer behold thee with mine eyes and the waues of sorrow doe ouerflow my heart so fast that they stop my words and stay the current of my mournfull speech Now as Marie Magdalene did behold the blessed body of my Sauiour with his mourning Mother so she did not cease to lament his death who had beene so kinde a Master vnto her in his life What a plentifull streame of teares ran downe her cheekes What a spring of sorrow arose in her heart How did her sorrowfull sighes second her heauie sobs How did her dolefull sobs preuent her lamentable sighes Thinke thou doest see her kisse his senslesse hands thinke thou doest see her kisse his breathlesse feet speaking vnto her louing Master with her trembling voice being dead as if he did heare her and were aliue bathing them with her teares and giuing a little ease to her sore diseased heart by vttering these or the like words with her feeble lips Mary Magdalens lamentation for the losse of her Master Alas my sweet Master alas my most louing Lord the staffe of my stay the onely ioy of my heart the sole comfort of my perplexed spirit Alas for me how comfortlesse doest thou leaue mee how sorrowfull shall I bee by being without thee To whom shall I haue recourse for comfort in the straightnesse of my sorrow To whom shall I goe for succour in time of my trouble How lamentable is the view of thy vvounded head vnto mine eies How grieuous is the view of thy sacred hands and feet vnto my sight pierced with iron-nailes and depriued of sense which I so carefully annoynted bathing them with the teares of mine eies and drying them with the haires of my head Ioh. 11.2 and 12.3 Mat. 26.7 But now alas in stead of odoriferous oyntment they are mangled with wounds and spotted with blood Oh wretched woman oh miserable creature because I am depriued of such a louing and welbeloued Master Where shall I find one who will loue me so deerely and regard me so entierly Thou art hee which diddest often vouchsafe to come into my cottage and to sit downe at my Table and didst vouchsafe to honour my poore house with thy gratious presence when alas I was not able to afford thee any such entertainement as might in any sort requite thy kindenesse or recompence thy loue Iohn 11.28 Oh my most sweet Iesu thou didst defend me from the Pharisie who disdained me for my trespasses and loathed me for my sinnes Thou didst kindely excuse mee speaking in my cause and pleading my case when my sister began to be angry with me and to conceiue displeasure against mee Thou didst commend me when I did annoynt thee with a pretious oyntment washing thy feete with my teares and wiping them with my haire thou didst mittigate my sorrow thou didst remit my sins thou didst kindely aske for mee when I was not present with thee and commanded my sister to call me vnto thee Oh what great and how many demonstrations of thy loue how many tokens of thy kindnesse how many signes of thy charity how many arguments of thy mercie Oh my most sweet Lord hast thou shewed vnto mee vvhat a rich treasure of thy bounty hast thou conferred vpon mee When thou didst see my mourning for the death of my Brother thou didst comfort mee in my sorrow thou didst asswage my griefe thou didst weepe with me such was thy kinde affection towards my louing brother such was thy tender compassion towards mee his sorrowfull sister and thou didst not onely shed teares as signes of thy loue but thou didst raise my dead brother out of his graue for my consolation and restored him to life againe for my comfort Iohn 11.35 Ibidem 43. As nothing was more sweet and pleasant vnto me then to enioy thy blessed company so nothing can be more sowre and sharpe vnto me then want of thy comfortable societie But alas sorrowfull words are too weake a medicine to cure my maladie and although I haue cause to say much yet extreamity of griefe vvill suffer mee to say no more Now thou hast heard oh my soule the lamentation of a tender Mother deploring the death of her Sonne and also the pittifull mourning of a faithfull seruant bewayling the want of him who was her louing Master and bountifull benefactor canst thou be so stonie-hearted that thou art moued with no feeling compassion Is thy heart so hard that it cannot giue a groane Are thine eyes so dry that they vvill not yeeld a teare at the meditation of the death and buriall of thy Sauiour who died for thy sinnes and was slaine for thine iniquities I flie vnto thee my most mercifull Lord that thou maist mollifie and moysten my hard and dry heart with plentifull showres of thy graces turne my head into a spring of water and change mine eyes into a fountaine of teares I know not how to excuse my selfe because I haue beene so vnthankfull for thy benefits so forgetfull of thy mercies and so vnkinde vnto thee for thy loue What shall I say but woe and alas for me a most wretched and wicked sinner Who can measure the quantity of mine infelicitie Who can describe the horrour of my miserie Who can quiet the troubles of my minde Who can pacifie my troubled conscience because my hard heart hath not beene touched with any compunction nor my bowels moued with any compassion when I did think on thy cruell death and meditate on thy bitter Passion Oh wretched man that I am oh miserable creature for when others doe mourne at the meditation of thy Passion shed teares and send forth sighes at the remembrance of thy death my hart is so ouer-growne with hardnesse that it cannot be touched with sorrow and mine eyes are so dry without moisture that they vvill not send forth a teare Oh why doe I not sigh sob and weepe in my Meditation of the bitter Passion of my Sauiour my gratious and bountifull benefactor who did abide so many painefull torments and reproachfull taunts for my sinnes and suffered a most shamefull and cruell death on the Crosse for my transgressions How can I excuse the coldnesse of my loue How should I cleare my vnthankfull minde If Death take away my Father or depriue me of my Mother I water my cheekes vvith teares and vvearie my heart vvith groaning I can weepe for the death of a Brother and wring my