Selected quad for the lemma: virtue_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
virtue_n	lord_n	poor_a	title_n	806	5	9.6002	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A01202	An introduction to a deuoute life composed in Frenche by the R. Father in God Francis Sales, Bishop of Geneua. And translated into Englisg [sic], by I.Y.; Introduction à la vie dévote. English	Francis, de Sales, Saint, 1567-1622.; Yakesley, John.; Tauler, Johannes, ca. 1300-1361. Colloquium theologi et mendici. English.	1613 (1613)	STC 11316.5; ESTC S105599	212,387	622

propose and vow chastitie of widowhood in case their housbands should die before them that among the sensuall pleasures which they may haue in their wedlock they may enioy the merit of chast widowhood by this promise and vow made before hand The vow maketh the work more acceptable vnto God fortifieth the will to do it more courageously and giueth to God not onely the good works which are the fruicts of our will but dedicateth likewise vnto him our will it self as the root and tree of all our actions By simple chastitie we lend our bodie to God retaining notwithstanding our libertie to subiect it when we list to sensuall pleasure but by the vowe of chastitie we make him an absolute and irreuocable present of our bodie without reseruing to our self anie possibilitie to goe back from our word rendring our selues happie slaues vnto him whose bondage is better then all royalties As I approue the aduise of these two great personages so could I wishe that those soules which are so happie as to folow them would doe it prudently holily and soundlie hauing well examined their forces and inuoked the grace of God and taking the counsell of some wise and deuout directour for so all will prosper the better 2. Besides it is necessarie that the abrenunciation of second marriage be made purely and simplie to conuert all our affections vnto God more loyallie and to make our hart cleaue vnto Gods hart on euery side for yf the desire to leaue her children rich or any other worldly respect do keep the widow in widowhood she may deserue praise and commendation perhaps but not before God since in Gods sight nothing is trulie praiseworthy but that which is done for honour and reuerence of his diuine maiestie 3. Likewise a true widow must be voluntarilie abstracted from all prophane contentments for the widowe which liueth deliciously sayth S. Paule is dead in her life time She that wil be a widowe yet delights to be courted embraced made much of and takes pleasure in dauncing and feasting desiring perfumes tricking and trimming her self is a widow aliue in bodie but dead in soule What auaileth it whether the image of Adonis or prophane loue which hangeth for a signe before the dore of fleshly delight be painted with goodlie flowers and plumes round about it or the face thereof be couered with a nett or a cypres For so doubtlesse not without much vanitie some times black morning apparell serues to make her beautie more apparent the widdow hauing made triall of that wherin women do please men most casteth more dangerous baites into their minds The widow then which liueth in these fond delights is dead being aliue and is nothing els to speak properlie but an idoll of widowhood 4. The time of pruning is at hand the voice of the turtle doue hath been heard in our land saith the holie Ghost in the Canticles All men that will liue deuoutlie must prune and shaue away all worldly superfluities but especiallie is this needfull to true widowes who like Turtle doues come freshelie from bewailing lamenting the losse of their deer husbands When Noemy returned from Moab to Bethlehem the wemen of the towne who had knowne her when she was first married sayd one to another is not this Noemy but she answered call me not Noemy I pray you for Noemy signifieth comely and wel-fauoured but call me Mara for our Lord hath filled my soule with bitternes which she sayd because her husband was dead Euen so the deuout widowe will neuer be termed or esteemed faire and beautifull contenting her self to be such as it pleaseth God she be 5. Lampes that are fedwith sweet oyle cast a sweeter smell when they are blowne out and widowes whose liues were pure and laudable during their wedlock powre out a sweeter odour and virtue of chastirie when theire light that is their husbands is put out and extinguished by death To loue their husbands being aliue is an ordinarie thing amongst wemen but to loue them so well as to take no other after their death and departure is a loue which pertaineth onely to true widowes To hope in God so long as the husband is a liue and setueth for a pillar to support his wife is not a thing so rare to be seene but to hope in God when she is destitute of so great a proppe and stay of her life is indeed worthie of commendations This is the reason that one may with greater facilitie know in widowhood the perfection of virtues then one could haue done in the state of marriage 6. The widow that hath children which stand in need of her assistance bringing vp principallie in matters belonging to their soules health and establishing of their course of life cannot nor ought in anie wise abandon them for the Apostle S. Paule sayth clearlie that they are obliged to take that care of them which they them selues had before experienced in their fathers and mothers and that yf anie haue not care of his owne familie he is worse then an infidel But yf her children be in state that they stand no more in need of her guiding then should she gather to geather all her thoughts and imploy them whollie to enrich her hart with the pure and holie loue of God 7. Yf meere constraint bind not the conscience of the widow to outward affaires as processes and such like I counsel her to auoide them altogether and to to vse that order in menaging her affaires which is most peaceable and recollected although it seeme not so gainfull For the profits gotten by contentions and troublesome labour must be verie great indeed to recompence the benefit of a quiet life besides that wrangling pleas and processe do distract the hart and oft times open a gate to the enemies of chastitie while to please them whose fauour they need they are faine manie times to vse demeanure and behaueour displeasing to God 8. Prayer must be the widowes continuall exercise for she must now loue nothing but God she must vse almost no words but for Gods sake And as the iron which by the presence of the Diamant was hindered from folowing the Loadstone leapes after it so soone as the Diamant is remoued away so the chast widowes hart which could not easilie giue it self whollie to folowe Gods holie inspirations during the life of her husband should immediatly after his death runne with ardent affection after the sweet odours and celestiall perfumes of her Lord saying with the sacred spouse O Lord now that I am all mine owne receaue me altogether drawe me after thee and I will runne after the sweet smell of thy ointments 9. Virtues peculiar to Christian widdowes are perfect modestie neglect of honors ranckes places titles and such like vanities to serue the poore visit the sick comfort the afflicted instruct young maydens and encline them to affect pietie and deuotiō and in a word to yeald them selues a perfect patterne all virtues to

good that in giuing light to others they should consume them selues All this is an artificiall kind of humilitie not only false but also malignant wherby one seeketh secretly and subtilly to blame the guifts of God or at the least with the cloke of humilitie to couer the loue of his owne humour and slothfulnes Demaund of God a signe either from heauen aboue or from the depth of the sea below sayd the prophet to vnhappie Achaz and he answerd I will demaund none neither will I tempt God O wicked man he would seeme to beare great reuerence to God and vnder colour of humilitie excuseth him self from aspiring to the grace which Gods goodnes offereth vnto him but he vnderstood not that when our Lord offereth vs his graces it is pride to refuse them that the guifts of God oblige vs to receaue them and that true humilitie is to obey and folow his will and desire the neerest we can But Gods desire is that we become perfect vniting our selues vnto him and imitating him the best we can The proud man which trusteth in him self hath iust occasion if he knew it to vndertake take nothing but he that is humble is so much more courageous by how much more vnable he acknowledgeth him selfe and according to the measure that he measureth his owne frailtie his boldnes in God increaseth for all his trust is in God and God he knowes delighteth to exalt his omnipotencie in our infirmitie and to magnifie his mercie by our miserie We must then humbly and holily dare and vndertake what soeuer is iudged fit and conuenient to our spirituall aduancement by them that haue the guiding of our soules 7. To thinck one knoweth that which he knoweth not is an expresse follie to play the learned man in that in which it is manifest we haue no skill nor experience is an intolerable vanitie For my part I would not take vpon me a learned mans person euen in things which I were certaine that I knew wel enough as cōtrariewise I would not counterfet my self altogether ignorant When charitie requireth we must readilie and sweetlie communicate to our neighbour not only that which is necessarie for his instruction but withall that which is profitable for his consolation for humilitie which hideth and concealeth virtues to conserue them in their puritie doth neuertheles discouer them and make them shew them selues when charitie commandeth to increase and perfect them Wherin she resembleth a tree in the Isles of Tylos which all night long locketh and encloseth vp her faire carnation flowers and doth not open them but at the rising of the sunne so that the inhabitants of the countrie do say that these flowers do sleep by night for euen so humilitie couereth and hideth all our virtues and humane perfections and letteth them not be seene abroad but when charitie commandeth and charitie being a virtue not humane but heauenly not moral but diuine is the verie true sunne of all other virtues vpon which she must therfore euer predominate so that humilitie which is preiudicious to charitie is without all doubt false humilitie 8. I would neither coūterfeit a foole nor a wiseman for yf humilitie forbid me to counterfeit my self wise simplicitie and plainnes forbid me likewise to coūterfeit my self a foole for as vanitie and pride are contrarie to humilitie so are affectation and dissembling cōtrarie to simplicitie and plaine-dealing And yf some great seruāts of God haue made as yf they had been fooles to render them selues more abiect in the eyes of the worlde we must admire them and not imitate them for they had motiues that induced them to this excesse which were so peculiar vnto them extraordinarie that no man ought from thence to inferre any consequence for him self As for Dauid when he daunced before the arke of the testament with some more demonstration of myrth then seemed to beseeme the maiestie of a king he did it not as counterfaiting any foolish myrthe but simplie and plainlie vsed he these exteriour motions conformable to the extraordinarie gladnes which he felt in his hart True it is that when Michol his wife vp braided him for this fact as to base and fond for a king he was neuer a whit sorrie to see himselfe despised but perseuering in the true and sincere representation of the ioye which he had conceiued in his soule he protested that he was likewise glad to receaue a litle shame for the loue of his God And consequently I say that yf for acts of true and profound deuotion thou be esteemed simple abiect and base-minded humilitie will make thee reioyce at this happie shame the cause wherof is not in thee but in them that lay it vpon thee That humilitie maketh vs loue our owne debasement and abiection CHAPTER 6. 1. I PASSE farther Philotheae to tel thee that aboue all things thou loue thy owne abiection But thou wilt aske me what it is to loue our owne abiection In latin abiection is all one with humilitie and humilitie with abiection for so when our Ladie in her sacred hymne sayth that all generations should tearme her blessed because God had seene the humilitie of his hādmaide her meaning is that our Lord beheld with great loue her abiection her basenes and lownesse to endowe her with fauours inestimable graces Yet there is great difference between the virtue of humilitie and abiection for abiection is the litlenes basenes poornes the nothing that is in vs of our owne selues we not knowing nor considering it but as for the virtue of humilitie it is a true feeling knowledge and voluntarie acknowledgement of our abiection and vilenesse 2. But the principall point of humilitie consisteth not only in this willing acknowledgement of our abiection but to loue it and take a delight and contentment in it not for want of courage or magnanimitie but to extoll so much the more the diuine maiestie and to esteeme much better of our neighbour in comparison of our selues This point is that which I exhort thee to insist in most of al and that thou mayst the better vnderstand and conceiue it Consider that amongst the afflictions and troubles which we suffer in this life some of them be base contemptible and abiect other be honourable and glorious and many applie them selues willinglie to honourable tribulations but scarce any at all will abide those that be abiect ignominious So a deuout hermit all ragged and shiuering for cold euerie bodie honoureth his torne habit taking compassion of that which he endureth but yf a poore tradeseman a decayed gentleman or a poore gentlewoman be in the same case men despise and mock them and so thou seest how their pouertie is abiect and ignominious A religious man receaueth deuoutly a rigorous reprehensiō of his superiour and a child of his father and all men count it and call it mortification obedience and good manners but let a knight or some great ladie suffer the like of another

not I tast thee sooner And yet alas thou deseruedst it not at that time in which it was giuen thee therfore acknowledging the great bountie and grace of God for calling thee to him in thy youthe say vnto him with Dauid Thou hast lightened me ô God and touched me from my youth and I will for euer pronounce thy mercy But yf this thy vocation was in thy older dayes ô then Philotheus how inestimable a benefit was it after thou hadst in such sort abused the yeares of thy life past that God of his goodnes should call thee before thy death and stay the courrent of thy miserie euen at that time in which yf it had beene continewed thou hadst beene miserable for euer and euer 6. Consider the effects which this vocation hath wrought in thee I suppose thou shalt find change and alteration enough in thy soule cōparing that which now thou art with that which thou hast beene Doest thou not accoūt it a singular felicitie to know how to talk familiarlie with God by prayer to haue an enflamed affection and burning desire of the loue of God to haue appeased and pacified manie a troublesome passion which before did vex and torment thee to haue auoided many sinnes and scruples of conscience And in a word to haue so often frequented the holy Communion more then thou wouldst once haue done so vniting thy self to this soueraigne well-spring of euer-during graces Ah these be great and inestimable fauours We must way and ponder them with the waightes of the sanctuarie it is Gods right hand that hath done all this The right hand of God sayth Dauid hath done powerfully his right hand hath extolled me I will not dy but liue and will make knowne with hart word and deed the wonders of his goodnes 7. After all these considerations which as thou seest may plentifullie furnish thee with holie and feruent affections thou must simplie conclude with thancks-geuing and pray affectionatly for thy good progresse in virtue And so retire frō prayer with great humilitie and confidence in God reseruing the enforcing of the resolutiōs till after the second poinct of this exercise The examination of our soule touching her proffiting in deuotion CHAPTER 3. 1. THE second poinct of this exercise is somewhat long and therfore to practize it it is not requisite to performe it all at once but at diuers times as to take that which concerneth thy misdemeanour towards God for once that which apperteineth to thy self for another time that which toucheth thy neighbour for an other the examining of thy passions for another Neither is it requisite or necessary to doe it all vpō thy knees but onely the beginning ending which cōprehendeth the affections The other poincts of the examination thou must performe profitablie walking or sitting or best of all in bed yf thou canst so remaine without drowsines or well awake but thou must well haue read them before Yet it is necessarie to make an end of all this second poinct in three dayes and two nights at the farthest taking eache day night some hower or seasō according as thou best mayest for yf it should be done at times farr distant one from another it would loose his force and would worke but verie weak and kay-cold impressions and resolutions 2. After euerie point of the examination note carefully in what thou findest thy self amended and in what thou art defectiue and what principall errours or abuses thou hast committed that so thou mayst declare thy self the better to take good councell and resolution to comfort thy mind And although in these dayes of examination it be not necessarie to retire thy selfe totallie from companie and conuersation yet thou must be somwhat more retired thē ordinarie principallie towards the euening that thou mayst go to bed earlie take that rest of bodie and repose of mind which is necessarie for these exercises And in the day time thou must vse verie frequent aspirations to God to our Ladie to the Angells to all the celestiall Hierusalem And all this must be done with a louing hart towards God desirous of perfection So beginne then this examination well and happelie 1. First place thy self in the presence of God 2. Inuoke the ayde of the holy Ghost demaund of him light and cleernes to see and know well with S. Augustin who cried out before God in an humble spirit O lord let me know thee and let me know my selfe and S. Francis who sweetly asked God saying Who art thou and who am I Protest that thou doest not purpose to marke and note thy aduancement and progresse in pietie and virtue to reioice therfore in thy self but to reioice in God nor to glorifie thy self but to glorifie God to giue him thancks for it Protest likewise that yf thou findest that thou hast not profited nor gone forward at all in deuotion nay though thou hast recoyled gone backward yet for all that thou wilt not leese thy courage nor become any whit the colder in thy good purposes through faintnes of hart but that rather thou wilt more stirre vp thy courage animate thy self to goe more cheerfully forward in the iourney of deuotion happely enterprized that thou wilt the more profoundlie humble thy self and amend thy defaults by the assistance of Gods grace This done cōsider leasurely quietly how thou hast behaued thy self euen till that presēt power toward God towards thy neighbour towards thy selfe An examination of the estate of our soule towards God CHAP. 4. 1. HOW is thy hart affected toward mortal sinne hast thou a firme resolution neuer to committ any whatsoeuer should happē vnto thee therfore Hath this resolution and full purpose endured cōtinually in thy soule since thy last protestation vnto this time In this resolution consisteth the foundation of spirituall life 2. How findest thou thy hart affected towards the commandements of God Doest thou find thē delightful sweet acceptable Ah my deer child he that hath his mouth in tast and a good stomak loueth wholsome meats and reiecteth the contrarie 3. How doth thy hart beare it self towards veniall sinnes we cannot keep our selues so pure but we shall commit some now and then but is there any to which thou hast any especiall inclination or which were worse is there any kind of venial sinne to which thou bearest a peculiar affection and delight 4. How is thy hart affected towards spirituall exercises doest thou loue them and esteeme them doe they not trouble thee art thou not out of content and tast with them To which of them doest thou find thy self most inclined To heare the word of God to reade it to talke of it to meditate it to aspire daylie to God to goe often to confession to receaue spirituall instructiōs to prepare thy self duly to the holy Cōmunion to Cōmunicate frequētly to bridle thy affectiōs in these and such like acts and exercises what is there contrarie or