Selected quad for the lemma: virtue_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
virtue_n	faith_n	good_a	temperance_n	1,131	5	11.1758	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
B00457	The art of dying well. Deuided into tvvo books. / Written by Roberto Bellarmine of the Society of Iesus, and Cardinall. ; Translated into English for the benefit of our countreymen, by C.E. of the same Society.; De arte bene moriendi. English	Bellarmino, Roberto Francesco Romolo, Saint, 1542-1621.; Coffin, Edward, 1571-1626.	1621 (1621)	STC 1838.5; STC 1838.5; ESTC S90457	138,577	338

à malo fac bonum decline from euill a● do good for there can be no true iustic● towards our neighbour where those secular desires do yet remayne for wh● else do these desires signify but the conc●piscence of the flesh the concupiscenc● of the eyes and pride of life which ar● not of God but of the world Therefore as iustice cannot be vniust so neyther can these desires be any way conioyned wit● true iustice A child of this world ma● counterfeyt in word and toung true iustice but indeed and truth he cannot possibly performe it most prudently therefore did the Apostle not only say let vs liue iustly but promised before abnegantes saecularia desideria renouncing secular desires to signify that the root infected with the poysō of concupiscēce is first to be pulled out before the good tree of iustice can be planted in a vertuous Religious hart What it is to liue iustly seemes a matter of it selfe so perspicuous as it cannot be doubted of for all men know that iustice doth commaund Rom. 13. that we giue to euery man his owne reddite sayth the Apostle omnibus debita c. Yield you vnto al that which is due vnto them to whom tribute tribute to whome custome custome to whome feare feare to whom honour honour Tribute is due vnto the Prince honour to our parents Malach. 1. feare to our maisters for so God sayth by the prophet Malachy If I be a Father where is my honour And if I be a Lord or a maister where is my feare A iust price is due to the seller a iust reward to the workeman and so of others after the same manner and with no lesse reason but rather with much more those vnto whome the distribution of the common goods of a Kingdome or common wealth pertayne ought to bestow the same according to the prescript of distributiue iustice to such I meane as deserue them best not according to the acception of persons as vnto their kinsfolkes and such as they affect and fauour If any I will then learne well this art let him heare the Wiseman thus calling vpon men of authority in the beginning of his booke Sap. 1. Loue iustice you who iudge the earth And let them heare S. Iames lamenting in his Epistle Behold the reward of the workemen who haue reaped your ground which is defrauded by you Iacob 5. doth cry and their cry hath entred into the eares of the Lord of Sabbaoth There remayneth the third vertu● vnto which these secular desires are no lesse contrary then vnto iustice neyther do we vnderstand in this place by Sobriety that vertue only which is contrary to drunkennes but in generall the vertue of Temperance or moderation which make a man to measure these things which concerne the care or preseruation of his body by the rule of reason and not according to his sensuall desire and this vertue is rarely found amongst men for secular desires seeme to haue filled all the houses of rich men but those who are wise are not to looke vnto that which fooles do although they be neuer so many almost innumerable but vnto that which wise men do Doubtles Salomō was a most wise man Prouer. 30. and yet he made this prayer vnto God saying Duo rogaui te c. Two things I haue prayed for that thou wouldest not deny me before I dye to wit that thou neyther graunt me beggary or riches but those things only giue me which are necessary for my life 1. Tim. 6. S. Paul was also a wise man and yet he sayd Habentes c. Hauing wherewith to couer our nakednes let vs be contented for we brought nothing into this world without doubt neyther can we cary any thing hence Which reasō is most witty for why shold we take such immoderate care for superfluous riches seeing we cannot cary them with vs to that place vnto which by death we come vnto Christ our Lord was not only wiser then Salomon and S. Paul but was very wisdome it selfe yet he sayd Luc. 6. Luc. 9.19 Deut. Blessed be the poore and woe be to you that be rich And of himselfe he sayd The foxes haue holes and the fowles of the ayre nests but the sonne of man hath not where to repose his head If euery word is to stand in the verdict of two or three witnesses how much more ought it to stand in the verdict of these three most wise men What if we should yet adde that the riches which we haue more then our necessityes require are not our own but are the substāce of the poore as is the cōmon opinion of holy Father and schoole Doctours are not then suc● men very fooles who with so great diligence keep that for which by God himselfe they shall be condemned to hell fire He then who will learne this ar● of liuing and dying wel let him not imitate the multitude or common people who belieue or esteem nothing but wh● they see but let him follow Christ an● his Apostles who in word and deed hau● taught vs that the things of this world are to be contemned and that we are to expect The great hope and comming of the glory of the great God and of our Sauiour Iesus Christ. Truly the thing is so great which w● hope for at the comming of our Lord Iesus Christ frō heauen vnto iudgment that al the glory al the riches al the ioyes past of this world are in respect therof to be esteemed nothing or as though they had neuer beene and they are to be held most foolish and most vnhappy who in a matter of this consequence will rather giue credit vnto fooles then vnto wise men CHAP. VII Of the seauenth precept of the Art of dying well which is of Prayer OVT of that which hitherto hath beene sayd we haue drawne the precepts of dying well frō the three theologicall vertues Faith hope and charity and also from three morall Sobriety iustice and piety of all which the Apostle Saint Paul hath admonished vs now I will further adioyne another precept of three other workes of vertue of prayer fasting and almes which we haue learned of the Angell Raphael for we read in the booke of Toby the Angell to haue spoken in this manner Prayer is good with fasting almes and better then to heape vp treasures of gold And this threefold nūber of these works is the frute of three vertues of Religion of mercy of temperance which haue great resemblance with piety iustice and sobriety before mentioned for as piety concerneth God iustice our neighbour sobriety our selues So prayer which is an act of religion respecteth God almes which is an act of mercy respecteth our neighbour fasting which is an act of abstinence respecteth our selues Of Prayer many Authours haue written many things we for our present purpose will explicate three only one of the necessity of prayer another of the

true happines doth depend let him protract no tyme but presently go out of the world perfectly dye to the world when as otherwise it cannot possibly be that a man can liue to the world God togeather and at once enioy both earth and heauen CHAP. III. Of the third precept of the Art of dying well which is of the three Theologicall vertues VVE haue shewed in the former chapter that he cannot dye wel who goeth not out of the world dyeth not to the same Now is to be added what he is to doe who is dead to the world that he may liue to God because it is graunted to none to dye well that haue not liued well in this life as I haue written in the first chapter The briefe summe of liuing well is expressed by the Apostle in his first to Timothy in these wordes Finis praecepti caritas de corde puro conscientia bona fide non ficta the end of the commaundement is charity from a pure hart and a good conscience 1. Tim. 1. and an vnfeyned faith the Apostle was not ignorant of the answere which our Sauiour did giue to him who demaunded quid faciendo vitam aeternam possidebo Matth. 19. what shall I doe to attayne euerlasting life For he sayd Si vis ad vitam ingrediserua mandata if thou wilt enter into life keep the commaundements but he would explicate in few words the end of the principal commaundement on which the whole law and the vnderstanding fulfilling therof and the way to euerlasting life doth depend and withall he would teach vs what vertues are necessary to perfection of which elswhere he said nunc manent fides spes caritas maior autem est caritas now there remayne fayth 1. Cor. 13. hope and charity but the greater of those is charity he saith therefore that charity is the end of the cōmaundement that is the end of al the commaundements the obseruance of which cōmaundements is necessary vnto good life and this end is so placed in charity as that he who hath the Charity of God fulfilleth all the commaundements which apperteyne vnto the first table and he who hath the charity of his neighbour fulfilleth all the commaundements which belong to the second table This later part which might seeme more obscure he declareth in his epistle to the Romans saying Qui diligit proximū c. He who loueth his neighbour hath fulfilled the law for thou shalt not commit adultery thou shall not kill thou shalt not steale thou shalt not beare false witnesse and if there be any other commaundement it is comprized in this word thou shalt loue thy neighbour as thy selfe the loue of thy neighbour worketh no ill the fullnes therfore of the law is loue Out of which discourse euery one by himselfe may perceaue al the commaundements which are referred to the worship of God to be fullfilled by charity alone for as the charity of our neighbour towards our neighbour worketh no euill so neyther doth the charity of God towards God worke any euill therefore the fullnes of the law as well towards God as towards our neighbour is loue or charity Now which is true and perfect charity as well towards God as our neighbour the same Apostle declareth saying Charitas ex corde puro conscientia bona fide non ficta charity out of a pure hart a good conscience and vnfeigned faith in which wordes by a good conscience we doe vnderstand with S. Augustine Praefat. in psal 31. the vertue of hope which is one of the three Theologicall vertues and Hope is called a good conscience because it proceedeth from a good conscience as desperation proceedeth from a bad hence is that saying of S. Iohn Carissimi c. my deerest if our hart doe not reprehend vs 2. Ioan. 3. we haue confidence towards God there are therfore three vertues in which the perfection of our Christian law doth consist Charity from a pure hart Hope from a good conscience and Faith not feigned and as charity if we respect the order of pefection is the first because most perfectest so if we respect the order of their proceeding to wit how they are produced then faith is the first according to the prescript of the Apostle nunc manent fides c. Now there remaine faith hope and charity these three but the greatest of these is charity Let vs begin with Faith which first of all before the other is in the hart of him who is to be iustifyed Not without cause did the holy Apostle add vnto faith this condition non ficta not faigned for faith beginneth our iustification if it be true and sincere not if it be false and feigned the faith of heretikes beginneth not iustification because it is not true but false the faith of ill Catholikes beginneth not their iustification because it is not sincere but feigned a feigned faith is taken two wayes as when one indeed doth not belieue and yet feigneth himselfe to beleeue or else indeed he doth belieue but liueth not as his beliefe teacheth him that he should and the words of S. Paul to Titus seeme to beare both the one and other sense and to be vnderstood of them both confitentur se nosse deum Hierom. in com Aug. ser 31. de verb. Apost factis autem negant they confesse themselues to know God but in their deeds deny him for so the holy Fathers S. Hierome and S. Augustine do interpret them And out of this first vertue of a iust man it may easily be cōceaued how great the multitude is of such who doe not liue well and consequently come to an ill death I let passe Inf●dells Pagans Heretikes and Atheists who know nothing of this art how to liue well amongst Catholikes how great number is there of those who in wordes confesse that they know God but deny him in their deeds Who confesse Christ to be the Iudge of the liuing and the dead and yet so liue as though they had no Iudge at all Who confesse the Mother of our Lord to be a Virgin and by their blasphemyes feare not to call her a Harlot who commend prayers fastings almes and other works of vertue and yet alwayes practise the contrary vices I omit the rest which are knowne vnto all let them not therefore brag and vaunt that they haue not a feygned Fayth who eyther do not belieue at all that which falsly they affirme to beleeue or else they liue not as the Catholike faith doth commaund them to liue and by this they may know that as yet they haue not begunne to liue well neyther let them hope to dye well vnles through the help of Gods grace they learne in tyme this Art we treat of The other vertue of a man truly iust is Hope or else a good conscience as our maister S. Paul the Apostle hath thought fit in this place to call it this vertue proceedeth

from fayth for no man can hope in God who eyther knoweth not the true God or else doth not beleeue him to be either powerfull or mercifull but to stir vp and strengthen hope in so much that it may be tearmed not hope only but also confidence nothing so much auaileth as a good conscience for with what face will he come vnto God and aske any blessings and benefitts of him who is guilty of sinne committed against him which yet by true pennance he hath not blotted out For who will aske for any fauours at his enemyes hands Or who thinketh that such an one will help him whom he knoweth to be greuously incēsed against him Heare I pray you what the Wise man sayth of the hope of the wicked Spes impij tanquam lanugo c. Sap. 5. The hope of the wicked is like light dust which is caried away with the wynd or as thinne froth of water which by the tempest is dispersed or like smoke which is dissolued by the wynde or as the memory of a passenger that stayeth but one day so the Wise man who most wisely warneth the wicked that their hope is a fraile and no solid thing short and not permanent for they whiles yet they are aliue in some sort hope that they may do pennance and be reconciled vnto God but when death shall approach vnlesse God of his speciall mercy preuent them and moue their harts to doe pennance their hope will be turned into desperation they will say with the other wicked that which followeth in the same place Errauimus c. We haue erred from the way of truth and the light of iustice hath not appeared vnto vs what hath our pride auailed vs or what hath the boasting of our riches holpen vs All haue passed away like a shaddow Thus the Wiseman who grauely aduiseth vs that if we will liue well and dye happily that we presume not to liue one minute of an hower in synne deceauing our selues with a vaine persuasion that as yet we haue a longe tyme to liue and that hereafter at fitter opportunity we wil do penance for this vaine hope hath deceaued many and will still deceaue them vnlesse prudently they learne this Art whiles yet they haue tyme to doe it There remayneth the third vertue which worthily is called the Queene of Vertues to wit Charity with which none can perish without which none can liue eyther in the passage of this life or in our desired home of euerlasting happines that charity is sayd to be true and sincere which proceeds from a pure hart not for that purity of hart doth properly beget charity for charity as S. Iohn sayth is from God and S. Paul 1. Ioan. 4. Rom. 5. The charity of God is powred forth in our harts by the holy Ghost which is giuen vs wherefore charity is said to be from a pure hart because it cannot be kindled in an impure but in such a one as is purged from all errour by diuine Fayth according to that of S. Peter the Apostle Act. 15. fide purificans corda eorum cleansing their hart by faith and by diuine hope being cleansed from al loue and desire of earthly things for euen as fire is not kindled in greene stickes full of moist humours but in dry euen so the fire of charity requireth clean harts purged frō al earthly loue vaine confidence in our own strength forces By this may we vnderstand which is true Charity which false counterfeit for if any one do willingly speake of God shed teares through compunctiō of mynd in his prayers and do other good workes as giuing much almes and fasting often yet so as he enterteyneth impure loue in his brest vaine glory hatred towards his neighbour and the like which make the hart impure and filthy this man hath not diuine and true charity but a vaine shew or resemblance thereof for which cause the Apostle most prudently named not absolutly faith hope charity when he spake of true and perfect vertue but said Finis praecepti c. The end of the commaundement is charity from a pure hart and a good conscience and faith not feigned and this indeed is the true Art of liuing well and of a happy death if any perseuere vnto the end in this true and perfect charity CHAP. IIII. Of the fourth precept of the Art of dying well which conteyneth three Euangelicall documents ALTHOVGH to liue and dye well that which we haue said of faith hope and charity may seeme to suffice yet to performe the same the better and wit● more facility Christ himselfe hath vouc● saued in the Ghospell to giue vs thre● lessons or documents for thus he sayth in the Euangelist S. Luke Sint lumbi vestr●● c. Luc. 12. Let your loynes be girt burning candles in your hands and be you lik● vnto men expecting their Lord when h● retourneth frō the Marriage that whē he shall come knocke they may presently open the gate vnto him blessed are those seruants whom our Lord when he shall come shall fynd watching This parable may be vnderstood two waies either for the preparatiō to be made for the cōming of our Lord at the day of iudgment or els for his cōming at the death of euery particuler man this later which is the exposition of S. Gregory maketh more for our purpose in hand Greg. hō 13. in Euang. for the expectation of the last day shall apperteyne only to those who shall then liue and Christ spake this parable to his Apostles and to vs all certainly the Apostles and those who succeeded them were by many ages very farre off from the last day againe there shall many signes goe before the last day which shall stir vp men to attendance for Christ saith Erunt signa c. There shall be signes in the sunne and moone and starrs and the earth Luc. 21. great calamity of nations men withering away for feare and expectation of those things which shal come vpon the whole world But no certayne signes shall go before the comming of God to particuler iudgemēt which euery man is called vnto at the hower of his death and this coming is signifyed by those wordes so often repeated in the holy Scriptures that our Sauiour will come as a theefe to wit when he is least thought vpon or expected Let vs now then briefly expound this Parable let vs well conceaue that this preparation to death is a thing most of all to be respected of al because of al other things it is most necessary Three things doth our Lord heere commaund vs first that we haue our loynes girded that we haue candles burning in our hand last of al that we watch expect his cōming who when he will come we know as little as most men do when the theefe will come to robbe their howses Let vs explicate the first sentence Sint lumbi vestri

may be seene before all the world in his high throne to iudge all synners to the end that it may be fulfilled which is written in the booke of Iob Iob. 16. Thy cause is iudged as the cause of a wicked mā thou shalt receaue or take to thy selfe both cause and Iudgement And therefore the ignominious shame of the passion of the sonne of God shall be iustly recompensed with the glory of his being Iudge and maiestically sitting in the Theatre of whole world and then shal be fulfilled that of the Apostle At the name of Iesus let euery knee be bowed of all that are in heauen in earth a●●● hell The third reason is that the reward of the good may be full and entiere the reward of vertue is honour and glory for that many men for their vertue most excellent haue openly beene put to death as wicked malefactours it is meete that their vertue and innocency should be declared in that open Court and Theatre of the world To this ranke the holy Martirs of God do specially apperteyne who shall there appeare triumphantly crowned before the eyes of their persecutours Pagans or heretiks Princes or Kings or of what degree soeuer The fourth reason is for the confusion of hypocrites for there are some who dye with the opinion of Sanctity wheras indeed they are impure and wicked as are all heretikes Caluinists A●●baptists and the like and such were they of whome Saint Cyprian writeth in his booke of the vnity of the Church Ardeant ●icet flāmis c. Let them burne in flames ●et them leese their liues eyther by the fire ●r beasts that death of theirs shall not be ●he crowne of faith but the punishment ●f their perfidiousnes it shall not be esteemed the glorious issue of religious vertue ●ut a wicked or desperate death So he Therfore it is necessary that the hipocri●y of seducers or seduced people be at least detested and layed open in the vniuersall Iudgement which in the particuler cannot so conueniently be done The fifth reason is that the soules bodyes may be iudged both togeather for in the particuler iudgement only the soules are iudged and receaue eyther reward or punishment but in the generall ●udgement the whole men must appeare both in soule and body and because the soules haue synned togeather with the bodyes or else haue done well and merited so likewise is it expedient that after the resurrection the soules receaue togeather with their bodyes eyther glory or confusion happines or woe ioy or torment To conclude the sixth and last rea●on is that not only the good or bad deeds which we haue don in this life may haue their rewards or punishments but also the good or il which do proceed from 〈◊〉 good or bad workes and are propagated spread and continued vnto the end of the world that such in the end of the wo●●d may haue their due praise or reproofe And to make this more plaine we will expresse it by some examples there want not good men who do build hospitalls or monasteryes or schooles in which many sicke recouer their health many religious are trayned vp in vertue many schollers are instructed in learning thes● works well founded continew for a long tyme some write bookes profitable for the spreading abroad of wisdome of artes of vertue of all good actions by which many in all ages do profit and help their neighbours On the other side there b● many lewd men who with their wāto● or seditious or hereticall books do seduce and destroy many and building vp Theaters for Fencers or Stageplayers or the like do hurt their neighbours for a long time after their death wherfor seing th● in the end of the world all process● shall haue also an end and ●he meritt● and demeritts of all shal be finished it is very meet that in that day of all others which euer were from the beginning of the world most remarkable the definitiue sētence of the most suprem powerful most iust iudge be deliuered to end decide determyne all These are the causes why besides the particuler iudgment which shall be made in the death of euery particuler man there is another generall to be expected in the end of the world It remayneth now to explicate who shall be the Iudge in this dreadful iudgement from whence he shal come to what place he shall come whom he shall iudge and what shall be the sentence The Iudge without al doubt shal be our Lord Iesus Christ Matt. 25. Act. 10. for thus himselfe speaketh in S. Matthew VVhen the Sonne of man shall come in his maiesty all his Angells with him then he shall fit on the seat of his maiesty and all nations shal be gathered togeather before him and the rest which followeth The same is confirmed by the Apostles Saint Peter Saint Paul and Saint Iohn Saint Peter sayth in the Acts It is he who is appointed Iudge of the liuing and dead Saint Paul in the same Acts Act. 17. God hath appointed a day in which he is to iudge the would in iustice by the man whome he hath ordeyned raising him from death Ioan. 5. S. Iohn thus writeth in his Ghospell The Father hath giuen him power to do iustice because he is the Sonne of man And in another place The Father iudgeth not any man but hath giuen all iudgement to the Sonne The place from whence he shal come to iudgement is from heauen and he shall come as farre as the ayre neere vnto the earth that he may be seene and heard of all that shal be on the earth vnder him Heare I pray Christ himselfe in Saint Matthew You shall see the Son of man comming in the clowds of heauen 1. Thess 4. Heare the Apostle Saint Paul writing vnto the Thessalonians VVe shal be taken vp with them to meet with Christ in the ayre Ioel. 3. And the same did the Prophet Ioel foretell saying All nations shal be gathered togeather and I will bring them into the vale of Iosaphat there will I pleade with them Out of the wordes into the vale of Iosaphat we may well gather this iudgement to be the greatest that euer was for the hebrue word Iosaphat signifyes properly the iudgement of God and for that the vale of Iosaphat is neere vnto Hierusalem at the East side of the Temple as S. Hierome testifyeth in his Commentary on the third chapter of Ioel then which no place can be more fit for so great a iudgement for from thence is seen Hierusalem whē our Lord did preach and foretold that the last iudgement should be from thence also is seene mount Caluary where Christ for the redemption of mankynd was nayled on the Crosse and mount Oliuet from whence as a Conquerour he ascended into heauen To this place Christ shall come in the clouds of heauen with al his Angels which are at the least thousands of thousands ten