is distinct from that whereby Iesus Christ our Lord is iust For to belieue otherwise were to imbrace a very grieuous errour which (c) The erroneous opinion of impuâ—tiue Iustice doth extremly derogate from the great and tender loue of God to man in Christ our Lord. proceedeth from the want of knowing the loue which Iesus Christ doth beare to such as are in the state of grace Whome his bowells of mercy and loue would not permit that whyleft himselfe was iust and full of all good things he should say to such as he iustifyed Content your selues with this that I abound with these good things and esteeme them for your owne as they are in me although in your selues you remayne vniust impure and naked There (d) Think seriouly of this point is no head vvhich would hold such language as this to his liuing meÌ„bers nor one Spouse to another if he should dearely loue her and much lesse will that celestiall Spouse say so vvho is giuen for a patterne to the Spouses of this world that after his resemblance they may treat and loue their fellow-spouses You men sayth (e) Ephes 5. S. Paul loue your wines as Christ loued his Church who gaue himselfe ouer for it to sanctify it and to cleanse it by Baptisme and by the word of life If then he sanctify and wash and cleanse it and that with his owne bloud which is the thing that giueth power to the Sacraments to cleanse soules by that grace of his which they impart how can that soule remaine vniust and filthy which is washed and cleansed by a thing of so extreme efficacy Now this cleanesse God did promise that he would giue in the tyme of his Messias when he sayd I will powre forth cleane water vpon you and you shall be cleansed from all your filth And our Lord in the last supper did testify That eleuen of his disciples were cleane and not after an ordinary manner but that they were wholy cleane For the veniall faults which are caused in the soule by some inordinate affections which sticke like dust vnto our feet are remoued by help of the Sacraments and their good disposition that receaue them as corporall feet are washed by materiall water as our Lord then did vse it washing both without and within and leauing them cleane from al sinne according to this testimony of (f) â— Ioâ—â— 1. S. Iohn The bloud of Iesus Christ doth cleanse vs from all sinne This bloud was called by the Prophet (g) Mich. 7. Micheas long before it was shed the sea wherein all our sinnes are drowned And he sayd God will shoot off all our sinnes into the bottome of the sea Now if these and many other places of Scripture do giue testimony that a man is pardoned and cleansed from all sinne who is there that will presume to say That a man doth neuer come to be cleansed from it For to say that sinne remayneth in a man which really and truly shal be sinne and that yet for the loue of Iesus Christ our Lord the payne which is due to that sinne should be released to him is no (h) I beseech our Lord that the truth of this discourse may sin he as deeply into thy hart as there is cause such discourse as wil serue eyther towards the verifying of the Scriptures or for the doing of Iesus Christ sufficient honour For since the payne which is due to sinne is a lesse euill to any man then the guilt of the same sin the iniustice and deformity which is caused thereby it cannot be sayd That Christ doth saue his people from their sinnes if by his merit he only obtaine that they may not be imputed to them for their punishment vnlesse first he take the guilt away by the gift of his grace nor yet that he obtayneth purity and piety for men that so detesting sinne they may keep the law of God And if the doctrine of the holy Scripture be well obserued it wil be found that when the pardon of â—inne is graunted there is giuen with all a newnesse of life and a cleane hart as if it were newly created as Dauid did desire according to that which it was (i) Isa 50. â—geâ—h 11. prophesied that it should be I will giue you a new hart and I will place a new spirit in the middest of you And I will take away from you that hart of stone and I will giue you a hart of flesh and I will place my spirit in the middest of you and I will make that you shall walke in my commandments and that you shall keep and worke my iudgementes This doth God promise to such as formerly he had told that he would cleanse them from all their filth And afterward he sayth I I will saue you from them all To (k) Be attentiue giue vs clearely thereby to vnderstand That the sauing vs from our sinnes is not only to free vs from the paine but to impart an inward cleanesse and such a hart and such a grace and such a spirit as may haue power to enable vs to keepe the commaundements of God S. Iohn (l) Apec 3. affirmeth that our Lord saith I stand at the gate and I knocke if any man open to me I will enter into him and I will suppe with him and he with me Isay (m) Isa 55. inuiteth such as are hungry in the behalfe of God that they will eate and such as are thirsty that they will drinke Our Lord saith by the mouth of (n) 2. Cor. 6. S. Paul Get you out from the middest of the wicked and do not so much as touch any thinge that is vncleane and I will receaue you I wilâ—e a Father to you and you shal be my Sonnes my daughters By which places and many others it doth euidently appeare that the benefittes which are imparted to vs by iustification are more and better then Gods not imputing to vs that punishment which is due to sinne Since withall he giueth vs his grace and cleanesse of hart and vertues and infuseth the spirit of our Lord whereby we may keep his law and so that vnder the title of being his children and of exercising our selues in good workes we may eternally enioy him And because Christ did purchase these blessings for vs togeather with the pardon of the paine he may well be proclaimed with a full mouth to be the Sauiour of vs from our sinne and (o) We are infinitely more bound to God for freeing our soules from sin then if he had only forgâ—uen vs the punishment thereof that much more for the former respect then for the later Because in vertue of that former he freeth vs from the guilt and bringeth vs to a detestation of sinne and obteineth for vs a kind of participation of God at the present and a good title for our eternally possessing him in heauen Whereby he deliuereth vs from a greater mischeife and
the bloud of Christ our Lord. CONSIDER then how deformed the spot is which sinne doth cause and how farre we are to fly from it since being once receiued into the soule it could neither be washed away by the shedding of so much bloud as was offered in the Temple by the commaundment of God himselfe nor could all the force of man arriue vnto it And if that beautifull and deare (a) Christ our Lord. Word of God had not come downe to beautify vs the deformity of sinne would for euer haue remained in vs. But that lambe without spot comming downe he had the power and he had the way and he had the will to put away these spotts he destroyed our deformity and he endewed vs with beauty And to the end that thou mayest see with how much conueniency the Sonne of God rather then God the Father or the holy Ghost was to be he that should beautify our deformed soules with his bloud Consider that as Eternity is attributed to the Father and Loue to the holy Ghost so to the Sonne of God as God is attributed Beauty because he is most (b) The first quality of Beauty prefect and without the least defect and he is the (c) The second quality of Beauty image of the Father as S. Paul (d) Heb. 1. saith and so liuely an one that in regard he is engendred by way of the vnderstanding he is to all purposes as his Father who gaue him the same essence that himselfe hath in such sort as that he (e) Ioan. 14. who seeth him seeth the Father as the holy ghospell saith Now by reason of this proportion betweene the Sonne and the Father which is so absolute most iustly is beauty ascribed to him since the image is taken in so liuely a maner out of the originall Light (f) The third quality of Beauty is not wanting to him for he is called the Worde which is a thing engendred by the vnderstanding and in that vnderstanding as S. Iohn (g) Ioan. 1. saith which was true light Greatnes is not (h) The fourth quality of beauty wanting to him since he is infinitly immense and therefore was it conuenient that this beautifull God by whom we were made wheÌ„ we were not should come to restore vs when we were lost and who apparaylling himselfe with our flesh should take vpon him the resemblance of our deformity and so imparte to vs the excellency of his owne beautie And although neither our being punished or spoken faire was able to free vs from our spots yet was the valew so great of the punishing of that beautiful person that the sharp salpetre of his passion falling vpoÌ„ his shoulders there distilled downe vpon vs the sweet dew of his whitnesse And howsoeuer God doth say to the sinner Although (i) Hier. 12. thou wash thy selfe with salpetre with the Fullers hearbe thou shalt not be cleane yet telling vs that he would send a remedy against this spot he sayth in another place If thy sinnes be as red as scarlet they shal be made white like snow and if they shal be as red as bloud they shall become whyte like woll Very truly well did Dauid belieue this when he (k) Ps 50. sayd Thou shalt sprinkle me O Lord with (l) The inward meaning of this place deliuered â—yssope and I shal be cleane thou shalt wash me and I shall become more white then snow Hyssope is a litle hearbe and somewhat hot and hath the property to purge the lunges wherby we breath This hearbe they brought to a wand of Cedar they tyed it thereunto with a string of crimson double died And so being bound togeather they called it that Hyssope wherewith when first it had beene steeped in bloud and water and then with water and ashes they sprinkled both leaprous persons and such as had touched any dead body and thereupon they were held for cleane Full well knew Dauid that neither the herbe nor the Cedar nor the bloud of birdes or beastes nor yet water or ashes could giue any cleannesse to the soule although it were figured by them And therfore he desired not God that he would take into his hand a branch of Hyssope sprinkle him with it but (m) That hysop was a figure of the humility and Passion of Christ our Lord. he sayth so in respect of the humanity and humility of Iesus Christ our Lord which is called an herbe because it grew from the earth of the Blessed Virgin Mary and because he was begotten without the help of man as the flower springeth in the field which is neither plowed nor sowed For this it is that he sayth I am (n) Can. 2. the flower of the field And this her be is called little for the meanenesse which he tooke vpon himselfe in the world so far forth as to say A (o) Psal 21. worme I am and no man the dishonour of men and the very out-cast of the people This (p) The passion of our Lord is the only soueraign cure of pride humbled flesh of our Lord is such a remedy against the puffe of our foolish pride as that it may be cured by this so great humility since there is no colour for a worme to exalt it self when the King of Maiesty is so abased And forget not that Hyssope is hot For Christ by the fire of that loue which was burning in the roots of his hart was pleased to abase himself to purge vs thereby to make vs know that if he who was so high did abase himselfe how much reason there is why we who haue so true cause to abase our selues should not by our selues be exalted And if God be humble how much more should a man be so This (q) Of our Lord Iesus flesh so full of true phisicke was then put to the sticke of a Cedar when it was placed vpoÌ„ the crosse tyed by that delicate thrid of wooll twice died For although the nayles which fastned thereunto his handes and feete were hard and great and long inough yet if the thrid of his ardent loue had not fastned him to that crosse and vnles he had been willing to deliuer vp his life for the killing of our death those nayles would not haue beene strong inough for such a businsse So that it was not they but the loue he bare vs that held him there And (r) The double aspect which was carryed by the loue of our Lord the reparation of Gods honour and the remission of mans sin this loue carryed a double aspect as crimson which is double died for he suffered that which he suffered to satisfy for the honour of his father who was offended by our sinnes and for the loue of sinners who were lost thereby CHAP. CIX That the sacred humanity of Christ our Lord was figured in the gaâ—â—ent of the high Priest and in the veyle which God commaunded Moyses to make
our Lord Iesus is the Sancta SanctornÌ„ I answere That it is the hart of Iesus Christ our Lord who is truly the Holy of Holyes For as he did not content himselfe to suffer only in the exteriour but with a cordiall loue so thou art not to stay vpon the seeing and imitating that which exteriourly appeares but thou must enter into his hart to behold imitate the same And to the end that this entry might be more easy for vs and that which was locked vp in his hart more manifest he permitted after he was dead that howsoeuer he then felt no paine his hart should be (b) By the point of a launce disclosed that so as by an open gate wherby we might discouer a world of admirable mysteryes men might be induced to enter into it might be inuited as to a thing wherein they were to behold that strange beauty which was there conteined But who is able with a tongue to speake therof since he that hath entrance thither and lookes vpon them cannot reach to the greatnes And eueÌ„ that which he reacheth he is not able to expresse S. Iohn (c) Apoe 11. deliuereth in figure of this that the temple of God was opened and that the Arke of the Testament was seene therein for in the hart of Christ the law of God is fulfilled and there is kept the Manna of celestiall bread and that pretious and complete (d) By the incarnation passion of Christ our Lord. sweetning of God which was signified by that couerture of gold of the ancient Arke And all this in so great excellency that it far exceedeth the very highest pitch of all our thoughtes Dauid (e) Psal 39. sayth Many meruailes hast thou wrought O Lord my God and in those thoughtes which thou hadst for my good there is none like to thee Meruailous (f) Marke this gradation is all that which God hath done and more meruailous is all that which he hath suffered But yet if thou consider the thoughts of his (g) O bottomles Abysse of the lou of our Lord Iesus to mankind hart which euen whilest lest he was suffering did through his loue think as it were but little of any thing except the same very loue thou wilt cry out with a loud cry of thy soule There is none O Lord like to thee Do thou desire him O Virgin when thou shalt see him suffer his handes and necke to be tyed when thou shalt see him endure buffets thornes nailes and death to do thee the fauour to let thee know why being so strong and so powerfull he should suffer himselfe to be treated as if he were so weake without ability of making resistance To this S. Iohn (h) Aâ—oc 2. wil answeare thee in his name He loued vs and he washed vs from our sin with his bloud Ruminate well vpon these wordes and lodge them deepely in thy hart and entertaine thy selfe in thinking what an admirable and excessiue loue that is which burneth so in his hart as to flame out by suffering such thinges in the exteriour Say within thy selfe What (i) Obserue well the gradations of this chapter which tend towards the making thee all enamoured of our Lord Iesus it is the top of any thing that I haue seene in this kind person might there be in the world for whom I or such an one as I would endure such miseryes without pretending any proper interest but only for pure loue of that other person and thou wil see that to suffer all that which our Lord suffered is not such a kind of thing as which we may looke to find elsewhere for there would be no forces fit for so heauy a burthen To endure some small part of what he endured might perhaps be found betweens fathers and sonnes brother and brother friend and friend man and wife or the like to whoÌ„ either necessity or bloud or friendship may giue strength to suffer yea and to dye though this of dying but very rarely But to suffer for strangers without any interest of a mans owne without being obliged to it yea and to dye and that for nothing but for meere loue was a thing neuer seene And yet if it should be seene that a slaue should offer to dye for a King and that before his death he wold be scourged endure some of the many tormentes which our Lord did suffer it would be such an act of prowesse as that the slaue might deserue a Pardon although he had committed many faultes And all men would iudge that he had merited many fauours at that Kinges handes if he were able to impart any in the other life Nor would this famous action depart froÌ„ the mouths of men for a long time yea the King himselfe would recount it both with much thankefullnes and much tendernesse But (k) Giue great attention now let vs turne the story the other way and conceaue that the King himselfe after hauing suffered greiuous tormentes and extreame reproach would needs dye for his slaue from whom he had receiued no seruice but great offences which deserued a most cruell death that the cause of the Kinges dying were the meere nothing but the loue which he bare this slaue This would be a thing neuer seene and neuer heard before and it would betoken such an excessiue kind of loue as would cast them that heard of it into a horrible kind of amazement and would furnish matter to men for publishing the goodnesse of that King al the dayes of their liues And so admirable so new and so sublime a loue would this be that some men of superficiall vertue and weake vnderstanding would be scandalized thereat and would not make such a iudgement of this worke as were conuenient affirming it to be a kind of absurd excesse that the maiesty of a King full of all power and vertue should so cast away his pretious life to the end that his wicked slaue might liue who had most iustly deserued death And (l) Be still attentiue for these are circuÌ„stances of high importance if moreouer it were added to this story that this King were so wise and so powerfull as that with much facility and without suffering the least inconuenience and without doing the least iniustice to any he could deliuer that slaue of his from death and that yet neuerthelesse he would make vp his loue into so huge a heape and would giue him to vnderstand that he were resolued to endure such and so many miseries as neuer any man endured and all this for no other reason but because that so it would be better for the slaue most certaine it is that few eyes would be found in the world which could be able to behold such a bright sunne of burning loue as this And if any maÌ„ should haue so good an apprehension as to thinke thereof as the thinge deserued he would escape well if he kept his wittes through
all men yet many of them are in hell not through any fault of his redemption which is abundant but for want of their disposition to receiue it From hence therfore groweth thy despayre To this I answeare That although it be true which thou sayest yet doest thou not serue thy selfe wel thereof S Bernard telleth vs that towards 2 hauing the testimony of a good conscience which may giue a man the ioy of a good hope it sufficeth not to beâ—eeuâ— in generall That sinnes are pardoned by the death of Christ but it is also necessary to haue confidence and good coniectures that this pardon is applied in particuler to such a man by meanes of (b) Contrition Conseâ—â—ie and Sâ—â—â—ofaction those dispositions vvhich the Church doth teach For though he belieue the first part he may yet despayre but that he cannot do if he belieue the second for how can he despaire if he liue in hopes But (c) Behold the solution indeed thou oughtest to consider that it is high reason that when thou seest euen those bowells of the heauenly Father all open for the giuing to thee his sonne as he gaue him seeing that he was at such cost therein and that the diuine Lamb is already dead to the end that thou mayst feed vpon him and not dye thou art to driue from thee all pusillanimity and sloath procure to serue thy self of this Redemption with confidence that God will help thee to it And since for thy being pardoned there is no cause why Christ should put himselfe to new paines or to suffer heereafter more or lesse or to dye for thee any more why shouldest thou thinke it to be any desyre of his that since he hath beene at the charge of such a feast there should be want of guests to sit thereat But it is far from this nor is it his will That the sinner should dye but that he should be conuerted and liue And to the end that he might do so himselfe left his life vpon the Crosse And do not thou belieue that it is needfull for thee towardes the enioying of this Redemption to do any impossible thing yea or euen so hard as that thou shouldst despaire to go throgh with it euen when thou art considering thy weaknes Send but one cordiall sigh to God for hauing offended such a Father and haue thou a purpose of amendment and manifest thy sinnes to a Priest who may absolue thee and the eares euen of thy flesh and bloud shall for thy (d) It is a picture in little of the ioyes of heaueÌ„ which no man knowes but he that feels thâ—â—â— greater consolation heare the sentence which is giuen vpon the ending of thy suite Which shall certify thee in this manner I absolue thee from all thy sinnes in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Ghost And (c) Note although it should seeme to thee that thy griefe for thy sinns were not so complete as it ought to be and that therefore thou art afrayd of thy selfe yet art thou not (f) So that yet thou be sorrv though imperfectly for that which is past and haue a firme purpose to auoyd the like in tyme to come to be afflicted thereat because the desire which our Lord hath of thy saluation is so great that he supplyeth our wants by the priuiledge which he gaue his Sacrament which maketh a man of attrite contrite And (g) Note yet againe if it seeme to thee that thou art not able to do euen so much I tell thee once for all that thou must not presume to do it of thy selfe but call vpon thy heauenly Father and beseech him by his Sonne Christ Iesus that he will help thee both to grieue for thy life past and to purpose an amendment for the tyme to come and to confesse thy selfe well and lastly for all that whereof thou hast need And (h) Deus cutus nâ—tâ—â—a bonitaâ—â— cutus Voluntas potentia cuâ—us opus misâ—râ— or dâ—◠〈◊〉 S. Leo. he is of such a nature as that there is no cause why we should expect any other thing at his hands then sweetnes and succour since he who giueth the pardon is the same who doth first inspire vs with a disposition to demand it And if withall this thou do not find comfort euen after hauing heard the sentence of absolution yet (i) In the seruice of God a man must haue a patient noble courage be not thou dismayed thereat nor giue ouer that which thou hast begun For if in one confession thou hadst no comfort thou shalt be sure of it in others and that shall be fullfilled in thee which was sayd by that penitent King (k) Psal â—0 Dauid Thou shalt giue ioy and comfort to myne eares my bones which are humbled shall reioyce It is certainly so that although the wordes of sacramentall absolution do not giue a man such a certainty of pardon as that he can beleeue (l) Not as an article of Faith it by fayth or know it by expresse euidence yet do they giue such repose and consolation as wherwith the powers of our soule may be recreated which by sinne were humbled and oppressed And let no man giue ouer to aske pardon for if he persist in his desire the Father of mercyes will go out to meete his prodigall sonne and will giue him pardon and will cloath him with the heauenly garment of grace and he will take pleasure to see him so recouered by pennance who was lost by sinne Nor (m) Note let any man thinke it to be incredible that God should liue with sinners vnder the laws of so great tendernes sweetnes which are penned by his owne goodnes most faythful loue since he executed lawes of so great rigour vpon his Sonne as that louing him as he loued himselfe and being the person that he was and paying for the iniquity but of others he did not yet acquit him of any one only sinne for which his iustice was to be satisfyed And for this reason as (n) A comparison which is both significaÌ„t sweet a Lyon who how fierce soeuer he be if he yet be satisfyed and fully fed doth no harme to inferiour creatures which yet he would swallow vp if he were hungry so the iustice of God being satisfyed with that which was payed by Iesus Christ that diâ—ine lambe he doth them no hurt whome he findeth â—o approach towards him that so they may be incorporated to his body nor doth he hinder his mercy from working in them according to his custome And from hence it groweth that insteed of being an angry iudge to vs he becommeth a Father full of paâ—ty CHAP. XXI He proceeds in the discourse of Gods mercy which he sheweth to them that cordially aske pardon This is a consideration of power to conquere all Despaire A Cup (a) What a hideous thing sin is if it be truly
enemies and triumphing ouer them we shal say O death where is thy victory O death where is thy sting which sting is sinne in them where death is still in force whereby it doth wound as the Bee is wont to do with her sting for by sinne death entred into the world Both the one and the other enemy which were wont to gouerne and to wound the world remayne drowned in the blessed bloud of Iesus Christ and slayne by his precious death And in (u) See heer how copious the Redemption is which our Lord hath purchased for vs. their place succeedeth that euerlasting iustice whereby heere the soule is iustifyed and afterwards shall succeed the vision of God face to face in heauen and a life which shal be eternally blessed both in body and soule What shall we say to this O Virgin but that which S. Paul hath taught vs Thankes be giuen to God who hath graunted vs victory through Iesus Christ Him thou art to adore and with a gratefull and enamoured harte say to him Let all the earth adore thee and prayse thee and singe a hymne to thy name And see thou say this often euery day and especially when at the Altar his most holy body is eleuated by the hands of the Priest CHAP. XXIII Of the great mischeise which despayre doth worke in the soule and how we must ouercome this ene my with spirituall alacrity and diligence and feruour in the seruice of God THis despayre and loosing of hart is such a dangerous instrument of our enemy that when I remember the great mischeifes which haue growen by it to the consciences of many I desyre to speake a little more concerning the remedy thereof if perhaps any good may come thereby It (a) This is a case too common happeneth so that sometymes there are persons who be loaden with a multitude of great sinnes and neither know what despayre nor so much as a little feare is nor doth it once passe through their thought But they goe on as being assured by a false hope offending God and yet not fearing punishment for the same And (b) We see by lamentable experience that such as are not Catholiks do passe from one extremity of presâ—â—â—tion to the other of de peration without resting in true hope if once the mercy of God shine vpon their soules and they beginne to see the grieuousnes of their sinnes though it be reason that since they aske pardon of God with purpose of amendement and that they receiue the benefit and comforte of the Sacramentes they should be strengthned thereby both against that which is past and that also which in the seruice of God might afterward present it selfe yet fall they vpon the other extreame of feare as before they were subiect to that of false security Not (c) Note considering that they who oftend God and do not repent haue reason indeed to feare tremble though all the world smile vpon them because the wrath of the omnipoteÌ„t is prouoked against them which wrath there is no power that can resist and that they who humble themselues to God and receiue his holy Sacramentes and who will procure to do his will ought to haue the hart of Lions for as much as they are commaunded to confide in God by that token that God is with them Whome as they hold for an enemy to the wicked and for that themselues haue byn such they are in feare so it is all reason that they should hold him for a friend of the good and that in regard of the holy purposes which he hath inspired them with they may confide that he is also their friend and that so he will be giuing increase to the good seed which himselfe did plante and perfecting that which he hath begunne This is certainely true that when once a man coÌ„meth to say in earnest that which Dauid sayd I haue held vp my hands towardes the performance of thy commanamentes which I haue loued God putteth his eyes and hart where that man putteth his hands that so he may help him and as one who is good by an infinite goodnesse he taketh him into protection with care and ranketh that man on his syde who will fight for his honour making warre vpon himselfe to giue contentment to God And (d) The difficulties which vse to occur to such as begin to serue God although it be true that when a man beginneth to serue God through some particuler calling which may incite him with the contempt of all thinges to seeke that pretious pearle of the Ghosâ—ell by the perfection of a spirituall life there may grow against such a man such traines and warres of the Diuells both immediately from themselues and also by the meanes of wicked men and they lock him vp in such straytes that when he rayseth the first foote from ground and placeth it on the lowest of those fifteene steppes whereby men rise to perfection he is forced to say When I was in tribulation I called vpon our Lord and he heard me O Lord deliuer my soule from wicked lipps and from the deceitefull tongue which wicked lippes are they which doe expressely hinder that which is good and a deceitfull tongue is that which procureth in a disguised manner to deceyue and sometymes so great impediments are presented or at least it seemeth so towards the making one depart from his course begunne that they are like those great Giantes wherof the children of Israel sayd Compared with them we are no more then a few little grashoppers and the walles of the Citty which we are to assault seeme to threaten heauen with their height and the earth in that place seemeth to open to swallow vp her inhabitantes notwithstanding I say all this thou art to consider and let vs all consider it with well opened eyes how much that faint-hartednes despaire displeased God which the Sonnes of Israel were subiect to by the meanes aforesayd For as much as the sinns which they committed in the wildernes howsoeuer they were great many and one of them was that they adored a Calfe for God which seemeth to be the very outside of wickednes yet God endured all this at their hands and did them fauour towards the prosecuting of their enterprize begun But (c) Note how predominaÌ„tly despaire is displeasing to Almighty God he would not endure their disconfidence and despaire of his mercy and power and he sware to them in his wrath as Dauid sayth that they should not enter in to his rest and as he sware it so he performed it Doth it not seeme to thee that we haue reason to curse this vice which is opposite to the honour of the diuine goodnes That being so much greater then our wickednes as God is greater then man And be thou assured that as the way of perfect vertue is a kind of stiffe battaile made against our enemies who are full of strength both within vs and without vs yet
not performe that which it aduised but that which their owne peruerse will suggested And because the Truth of God is a most excellent thing he bestoweth it as a great fauour to the end that a man practising it with affection may honour it and obtaine vertue by it and so be saued and if he consider not â—eerof and do entertaine it in such a fashion as that he neither practiseth those things which it teacheth nor doth lodge it in so faire a place as it deserueth he doth thereby great dishonour to God that gaue it and to the Truth it selfe which was giuen by him And if it had a tongue wherewith to speake it would with a loud voyee demaund iustice against such a man For as much as it being so precious a Iewell and which is able so much to enrich men it is detayned without hearing what it sayth and without doing what it requireth and it is quartered out in the stincking company of sinne wher with the will of such a man aboundes And so in such sort as it is able it doth like the bloud of Abell cry out demanding vengeance Because although such an one depriueth not Truth of life because true fayth is compatible with a life that is wicked yet doth he depriue it of that efficacy which it would haue in working if insteed of hindring he did assist it towardes the performance of those thinges which it teacheth These cryes are heard by God for it is he that sayth The seruant who knoweth the will of his maister and doth it not shall be beaten with many stripes Amongst which the very greatest which he giueth in this world is to permit as we haue â—ayd before that in punishment of his sinnés he fall into errour of beliefe And so were those others punished by being suffered to fall into such blind Idolatry as that they came to worship for God euen birdes and serpents and other beasts And because they robbed God of that honour which was due to him as God and gaue it to such as it belonged not to God redoubled vpon them the punishment of this sinne of Idolatry by suffering them to fall into such other filthy sinnes as breed horrour to thinke of them and shame to name them And although such as are afflicted with this punishment of infidelity without doubt wil fall into other sinnes yet is that fall of theirs into those later sinnes as free as that whereby they fel into the former through their owne will Which yet how many soeuer they be either of one kind or of the other the mercy of God is not shut vp against them if they dispose themselues to retyre into the bowells of his pitty The power of God is manifested in the first of these his wisedome in the second and his goodnes and mercy in the third Now by the (g) The iust iudgments of God both against Iewes Gentilles same reason whereby the soueraigne Iudge did punish the proud Gentills he did also punish the vngratefull Iewes that vpon great cause Because he gaue more knowlege to them then to the Gentills wherof they serued themselues so il as that with infidelity they denyed the very true life it sâ—lfe which is Christ Iesus and they crucified him by the hands of the Gentills And because they had a mind to extinguish that soueraigne light without which there is no light nor Truth they remayned in obscure darknes and they will remayne in eternall perdition vnles they be conuerted to the seruice of our Lord whome they denyed But now let vs see what the motiue was which drew them on to so great a misery as to vnbelieue that light which stood there before their eyes S. Iohn (h) Ioan. 3. makes the answere thus Men loued darknesse more then light because their works were euill euery one that worketh euill abhorreth the light So that because our Lord his doctrine did addresse them to all vertue truth they loued falsehood and lyes they could not endure to heare or see him nor did they wish that there had by many light of doctrine in the world which might be able to discouer that counterfait sanctity which they professed Or that there should be any example of perfect life in comparison whereof their owne might be condemned for wicked And from this root of a will which was so depraued did grow that bitter fruit of denying and murthering that heauenly Phisitian who came to cure them And they found themselues to be such as the Prophet (i) Psal â—8 vers 24. Dauid had painted out long before when he sayd thus of them Let their eyes be obscured that they may not see and let their back go euer bending downeward for their eyes haue remayned without the light of fayth and their will hath been all imployed vpon thinges of the earth CHAP. XLVIII Wherein the former discourse is more particulerly prosecuted and it is declared what dispositions are requisite for the beginning to read and vnderstand the diuine Scriptures the holy Doctours BVT now if God did take into so zealous care the honour of that knowledge which he gaue the Gentills that which he also gaue the Iewes how much will he haue zeale of that which he giueth Christians since incomparably this is more then that which eyther of the other did enioy And (a) God inflicteth grieuous punishments vpon such as liue not according to the true fayth which they haue receaued since men do serue themselues very ill of the knowledge of this so excellent Fayth it is not to be meruayled at if sometymes God strike such persons by suffering them with a great chastisement to fall vpon heresies as he suffered those of former tymes Can it be sayd perhaps that we see not that accomplished with our owne eyes which S. Paul did prophesy of the latter tymes saying That God would send the operation of errour to certayne men that they might belieue a lye and this lye is against Fayth For no man can be ignorant of the miserable and great efficacy wherewith so much people hath cordially imbraced the Lutheran heresy so that we see plainely how God (b) Do not willfully mistake the Scripture or this authour but marke well that which instantly followeth hath sent this efficacy of errour for the belieuing of a lye as S. Paul sayth Not that God doth send these things by inciting men to belieue a lye or to worke any wickednesse For he is not the tempter of the wicked as S. Iames the Apostle (c) Iac. 1. sayth But he is sayd to send the operation of errour wheÌ„ by his iust iudgment he (d) Note suffereth the vnderstanding of men to be deceaued by false discourses or by false miracles which either some man or the peruerse Diuell may worke and withall they find in themselues such force towards the belieuing of that lye as to thinke themselues mooued to the beliefe of it
or hungry or wel fed he sayth it is (a) Matt. 25. himself that is so So that As soone as we were he was in vs as S. Augustine sayth and when we are heard by God he sayth that he is heard through the (b) The vnspeakable vnâ—oÌ„ of Christ Iesus our Lord with his seruantâ— and his infinite loue to them vnspeakable vnion which is between him and his which is signifyed by the name of the Spouse the fellow spouse and of the head in respect of the body which he loued so much that howsoeuer in ordinary course we see that a man exposeth his arme to receaue the blow for the sauing of the head yet this blessed Lord being the head would needs meet that blow which was giuen by the hand of the iustice of God and so dyed vpon the Crosse to giue life to his body which is our selues And after that he hath quickned vs by the meanes of pennance of the Sacraments he doth regale vs and defend vs and maintayne vs as a thing so much his owne that he is (c) Note not content with calling vs his seruants and friends brothers and sonnes but to teach vs yet better how much he loueth vs and that so he may rayse vs vp to greater honour he endueth vs with his (d) An vnspeakable honour it is if we had the grace to weigh it well to be called ChristiaÌ„s yea as it were one Christ owne name For by this vnspeakable vnion of Christ the head with the body which is the Church he and we are called one (e) 1. Cor. 12. Christ And this most sweet mystery full of all consolation doth S. Paul giue vs to vnderstand in those wordes when he said That (f) Ephes 2. the heauenly Father did make vs acceptable in his beloned Sonne and that we were created in good workes in Iesus Christ. And to the Corinthians he said You are in Iesus Christ Which manner of speach by the word In doth point vs out to this vnion of Christ and his Church So also our Lord saith by (g) Ioin 11. S. Iohn He that is in me and I in him beareth much fruit for without me you are able to do nothing Thanks (h) A holy conclusioÌ„ of this chapter be giuen O Lord to thy loue and goodnesse who by thy death didst giue vs life And thankes be giuen to thee also because by thy life thou consernest ours and thou doest imbrace vs so close to thy selfe in this exile of ours that yf we will perseuere in thy seruice thou wilt carry vs to geather with thy selfe and wilt keep vs for euer in heauen where thou art as thy selfe hath said Where I am my selfe there shall my seruant also be CHAP. LXXXV How lowd Christ cryed out and doth euer cry out for vs before the Eternall Father and with how great speede his Maiesty doth heare the prayers of men and bestoweth benefitts vpon them by meanes of this out-cry of his sonne THov mayst already see by what is sayd how great necessity all men haue of the fauour of Christ Iesus to the end that their prayers may be heard as acceptable in the presence of God But it is not so with Christ himselfe for he hath no need that any other should speake for him He it is and he alone whose voyce is heard in respect of it selfe For as S. Paul (a) Hebr. 8. saith he is able to go to his Father himselfe to pray for vs he also saith That Christ in the dayes of his mortall life offering prayers to his Father with a lowd cry and with teares was heard for his reuerence Christ desired his Father that he would deliuer him from death not suffering him to remaine therein by raysing him vp to a life immortall And as he desired so was it granted to him He also offered vp teares and prayers to his Father many times which proceeding from a hart which was full of loue are said to haue bin made with a loud cry And although that loue which made him cry was euer all alike in him for as much as euery teare he shed and euery (b) What infinite loue therfore was that and what loue ought ours to be in answer of it pace that he made was performed with as much loue as when he laid himself downe vpon the Crosse yet considering the exteriour and the nature of the worke it selfe which was wrought so much difference there was betweene the offering of his most holy body vpon the Crosse and the offering vp prayers for vs as there is betweene suffering yea and suffering death on the one side and praying or speaking on the other Remember that which God (c) Gen. 4. said to Cain The voyce of the bloud of thy Brother Abel doth cry out to me from the earth And of that also which S. Paul (d) Hebr. 12. said to vs Christians You are come to aâ—hedâ—ing of bloud which cryeth out better then that of Abel For (e) The difference betweene the bloud of Christ our Lord and the bloud of Abel that of Abel cryed out to the diuine iustice demaunding vengeance against Cain who spilt it but the bloud of Christ which was shed vpon the earth cryed out to the diuine mercy demaunding pardon The former calleth for anger the later for pitty the former for indignation the later for reconciliation that of Abel asketh vengeance against Cain alone this other asketh pardon for all the wicked men that euer were or will euer be so farre forth as they shal be ready to receiue it with (f) Pennance such a disposition as is fit yea it asketh pardon euen for them which shed it The bloud of Abel was able to profit no man because it had no such power as to pay for the sinnes of others but the bloud of Christ did cleanse both the heauens the earth and the sea as the Church doth sing and drew out such as were detayned in the very pittes of Limbus as the Prophet Zachary affirmes Without fayle the cry of the bloud of Christ desiring mercy is a great cry since it hindred the hearing of that other cry which was made by the sinnes of the world and which demaunded vengeance against the committers thereof Consider thou O Virgin if (g) And thou also who art no virgin consider of it for it speakes to all the world that one only sin of Cain made such a noyse by asking vengeance what noyse what cryes what shouting out do all the sinnes of all men make demaunding the same and greater vengeance in the eares of the iustice of God But yet neuertheles how loud so euer they cry incomparably more loud crieth the bloud of Christ in the eares of the diuine mercy demaunding pardon And it makes that those others are not heard that the noise of our sinnes may be so little and so low as that God may be to them as if he
it for it walkes in darknes and it is obscured beyond (b) Thren 4. the black of coales according to that lamentation of Hieremy Least of all hath it the fourth condition since there is nothing so miserably little as to be a sinner who is nothing and lesse then nothing So that all the conditions of beauty being wanting to such a soule it will not faile to be deformed And because all those soules which are infused into the bodyes that descend of Adam be (c) Christ our Lord our B. Lady are excepted and therefore he vseth the word ordinary to oppose it to that other way which is extraordinary ordinarily sinners it will follow that they are all deformed CHAP. CVII How the deformity of sinne is so wicked a thing as that no force or law of Nature or of Scripture were sufficient to abolish it but only Iesus Christ in vertue of whome sinne was euer taken away and grace was giuen THIS deformity of sin is so hardly or indeed so impossibly to be taken away by the force of any creature that all of them togeather are not able to beautifye any one deformed soule Our Lord declareth this by the Prophet (a) Hier. 2. Hieremy saying If thou shalt be washed with salpetre and with abundance of sope yet art thou defiled in my presence The meaning whereof is That for the taking away of sinne neither the salpetre or the reprehensions of the Prophets nor the rigorous punishmentes of the old law nor yet the faire speaches and promises which God did make at that time were sufficient Men were defiled then in the middest both of their punishmentes and of their comfortes of threatninges and of promises For no man was iustified in the sight of God as S. Paul (b) Gal. 3. sayth by the works of the old law and therfore the soule could not haue such beauty in it as to make it desirable by Almighty God because there was a want of iustification which is the cause of beauty in a soule Now if in that law and in those sacrifices which were giuen by God himselfe beauty could be imparted to the soule it is euident that it must lesse haue bin in the law of Nature for as much as that had not so great remedyes against sinne and in particuler it had no written law But (c) No soule was euer purged for sinne but by the precious bloud of our Lord Jesus the beauty which then inhabited the soules of men as well vnder the law of Nature as that other which was written was obtained by the shedding of the bloud of that pretious lambe Iesus Christ our Lord who as S. Iohn (d) Apoc. 13. doth teach vs was slaine from the beginning of the world For although he dyed vpon the crosse in the latter dayes thereof for so the Apostles doe call the time of the comming of Christ yet is he sayd to haue beene slaine from the beginning of the world because euen from that tyme did (e) How the bloud of our Lord thē did worke before it was shed his death beginne to obtaine pardon and grace for them who grew to haue it So taking that vp as a man would say vpon trust which he would after pay vpon the crosse For God ordeined that as there was one Father who was the head and fountaine of sinne and death to all such as were to descend from him in an ordinary course so in like māner there should be one by whome all such as desired might be free both from that mischiefe wherin the other had placed them and from those others also which they should bring vpon themselues So saith Saint (f) Rom 5. Paul That as by the inobedience of one many were made sinners so by the obedience of one many should be made iust And (g) Let the Protestant note this truth without passion as the obedience which Iesus Christ performed to his Father euen to the death yea and the death of the Crosse doth not only make men iust by a kind of resemblance but by giuing of true iustice so the hurt that Adam did vs was not by giuing vs an example only of sinne but by making vs through his sinne true sinners And so that which (i) Act. 4. S. Peter sayd That there is no other name vnder heauen then that of Iesus Christ wherein we may thinke of being saued is not only to be vnderstood from the time that God became incarnate but from the beginning of the world as hath beene sayd Since they who at any time haue beene in grace with God were so by the merits of this our Lord by (k) Fayth pennāce are the meanes of applying the merits of Christ our Lord to a soule meanes of fayth pennance And although by the circumcision of Children Grace were giuen whereby they became iust and their originall sinne was pardoned yet was it not the circumcision alone which gaue the grace for that precious gift was reserued for the Sacramentes of the new law but (l) What that was which gaue grace in the old law it was A protestation of Faith in the Messias who was afterwards to come which protestation was to be made vnto him then And when after being growne in yeares they came to loose their grace by any mortall sinne they offered vp some such beast as God commaunded the bloud whereof was to be shed in the Temple Not to the end that it might iustify for that it had no power to do but that the sinner might protest the Faith which he had in that Lord who was to come And by this saith and by that inward sorrow for his sinns which God inspired he was made partaker of that pretious bloud of Christ which for the pardon of sinnes was to be shed Not (m) The same bloud of our Lord was the remedy also of sinne vnder the law of Nature only was there a remedy in the written law against sinne by faith and internall pennance as we haue said but also in the law of nature although it were not then required that their faith in our Lord should be so explicite But so also were there such exteriour protestations of their Faith as our Lord who would haue all men saued did inspire To the end that although the nations were diuers and their (n) In seuerall places seuerall externall rites may be vsed by the members of the same Church so that the Church allow the same as we see it is in Milan and many other places but the doctrine must be euery where alike externall rites were different yet the Sauiour and Mediatour betweene God and man as (o) 1. Tim. 2. S. Paul affirmeth might be but one CHAP. CVIII That Christ our Lord taketh away the deformity of the soule by his bloud and that it was conuenient that rather the Sonne should become man then either the Father or the holy Ghost and of the great force of
And what that was which Dauid begged when he desired to be sprinckled with Hysâ—ope that he might so be cleansed THE garment which the high Priest of the old Law did weare was to be double died in crimson because (a) How the figurs of the old TestameÌ„t were perfected fullfilled in the person of our Lord Iesus the holy Humanity of Christ which is the garment of his soule was to be dyed in bloud being shed both for the loue of God and man And this flesh being nayled vpon the Crosse is that veyle which God commaunded Moyses to make of the (b) Exod. 18. colour of Hyacinth Crimson and Purple double died and of whyte and well and strongly wouen linnen made with the needle and curiously diuersified by seuerall workes For this holy Humanity is died with bloud like crimson it is of a fiery colour which is signified by the purple as hath been said and it is white like fyne linnen through Chastity and Innocency and it is well and strongly wouen for it is not loose or weake but firmely and fast put togeather vnder all kind of vertuous discipline and much affliction And (c) The colour of the floure hiacinthus is blew though the colour of that stone which we know by that name is of a deep yellow this is well signifyed by the Hyacinth which is of a celestiall colour because his body was framed by the supernatural worke of the holy Ghost For this reson is it called celestiall and for many other vertues perfections thereof which were contriued by the admirable knowledge of the wisedome of God! The commaundment was that this veyle should be hung vpon foure pillars which were to vphold it which signifieth that Christ was to be placed vpon the (d) The crosse was made of foure parts One was the length two the breath the other wherupoÌ„ the litle was written foure armes of the Crosse and foure Ghospells they also be which doe publish and preach it throughout the world Now for as much as Dauid being a Prophet so illuminated by God in the knowledge of those mysteries which concerned Christ who was to come seeing how deformed himselfe was growne by the foule sinne of (c) The murther which he committed vpon the persoÌ„ of Vrias that so he might coÌ„tinue to enioy Bersabee his wife stealing the sheep and murthering the sheepheard fearing the wrath of the Omnipotent God wherwith he was threatened by the mouth of the Prophet Nathan he beseecheth God to take away his (f) The deformity of sinne the beauty of grace deformity and to giue him beauty not with materiall Hyssope since the same Dauid sayd to God That he tooke no (g) Not in any thing that was only external but the externall sacrifices were to be accompanied by internall sorrow for sinne delight in the sacrifice of beasts but he beggeth to be sprinckled by the flesh bloud of Iesus Christ being tied with the strings and cordes of loue vpon the Crosse Beleeuing that though his deformity were great and that otherwise it was impossible to remoue it yet he should grow white beyond the whitenesse of snow by the bloud which was to fall from the crosse O Beautifull bloud of Christ our Lord who art so Beautiful For although thou be as red as Rubies thou hast power to make a thing more white theÌ„ snow O (h) At the least we must now consider it and lameÌ„t the cause thereof which is our sinne if a man had seene with what violence it was drawne downe by those wretches with what loue it was shed by thee O Lord when thou didst stretch forth thyne armes and feete to be let bloud therein for the remedy of that so lewd disorder and distemper which we made by our ill desires and deedes With great force did thyne enemies come vpon thee but with much more violence did thy loue assault thee for it was that and not they which ouercame thee Dauid did stile Christ (i) Psalm 44. beautifull aboue all the sonnes of men But this beautifull creature who surpassed not only men but Angells would needes as it were dissemble that beauty of his and he apparailed the exteriour of his body with the resemblance of that deformity which possest our soules That so the same deformity might be swallowed vp in the Abysse of his beauty as some little straw would be consumed in a huge fire and that he might giue vs his owne beautifull Image and make vs so resemble him CHAP. CX How Christ did as it were dissemble those foure conditions of his beauty so to make vs beautifull to which purpose there is a passage of the Prophet Isay declared YF we do well consider the conditions which haue bin shewed to be requisite for the making a man beautifull al which are in the diuine word after a most excellent manner we shal find that he dissembled and hid them all that so being concealed in him they might grow to be disclosed in vs. Most (a) The first conditioÌ„ that any thing must haue if it will be beautifull was hidden by Christ Iesus our Lord in his sacred passion entire and perfect and full is the word of God which wanteth nothing nor can it want and which remooueth the want of all thinges But yet though in the bosome of his Father he be so rich if thou looke vpon him being made man in the wombe and in the armes of his mother as also throughout the whole course of his life and death thou wilt see how he wanted both to eate and drinke yea and a bed wheron to lye when the Virgin layd him in the manger For neither was there any bed for him in the stable of Bethleem nor any other place then that How often did he want meanes to put away both heate and cold and nothing he had if they gaue him nothing And if in his life tyme he had not a place where to lay his head as himselfe affirmeth what shall we say of that extremity of pouerty to which he was subiect in his death at which tyme neither had he any thing whereupom so much as to lay his head For eyther he was to haue leaned backe with it vpon the Crosse and so to endure excessiue paine by the thornes which might pricke him so much the deeper or else he must let it fall so remaine without a rest but not without exceeding paine O sacred head whereof the Spouse (b) Cant 5. saith That it is of purest gold as being the head of God and how much to thy cost dost thou pay for that resting place which in preiudice of the loue that we owe to thy selfe we procure to find vpon thy creatures both (c) How true is this and how truly ought it to be reformed louing them and desiring to be beloued and praised by them making that to be our lodging which should be only our high way whereby we might
Christian Pilate might conceaue that quickly there would be no more thought of Christ nor any that would haue compassion of him yet God ordained that insteed of those few who did spit vpon him there might be may be shal be many who are with reuerence to adore him And that insteed of them who for the loathsomnesse of the spectacle could not endure to look vpoÌ„ him there should be many who might ioy in beholding that most blessed face as a most pure and perfect glasse though it were placed vpon a (s) The place of the greatest reproach that could be thoâ—hâ— of Crosse And insteed of theÌ„ who thought him to deserue all that which he suffered there should be so many who might confesse that he committed no euill for which he ought to suffer but only that themselues had sinned and that he suffered for the loue of them And lastly if their cruelty were so great as not to haue compassion of him but demanded that he might be murthered vpon the crosse God was pleased that there should be many who would desire to dye for Christ and who with all their soules would say I see (t) The wordes of a soule which is the spouse of Christ our Lord. O thou my friend that thou art wounded and full of payne and I would to God I could suffer it for thee Let not therfore Pilate thinke that he dressed Christ so in vayne though he could not moue them who then were present to compassion since now so many vpon the remembrance of those afflictions of Christ haue so great pitty of him that in their harts they are scourged crowned and crucified togeather with him as S. Paul affirmeth both of himselfe and in the person of many others CHAP. CXII How great reason it is that we should behold this man Christ with those eyes wherewith many of them to whome the Apostles preached did behold him that so we may grow beautifull And that this beauty is giuen vs through his grace and not through our owne merits A Most reasonable thing it is O Virgin that these motiues which are so pregnant and these examples which are so full of life should moue thee thou hauing first cast away all tepidity to fixe him in thy hart with a profound and cordiall loue who so much to his torment was placed nayled vpon the Crosse for thee And that thou be none of those hard-harted persons who heard those wordes spoken in vayne but of those others to whome the hearing thereof hath beene a cause of saluation Be none of them who had not the grace to esteeme that which was present to them but of those others in whose person Isay sayth We desired to see him for many Kinges and Prophets haue desired to see the face and to heare the voyce of Christ our Lord. Behold (a) How necessary it is for vs to behold Christ our Lord crucifyed therefore O Virgin this man Christ Iesus who is published by the voyce of one that is not worthy to proclaime him thus Behold this man that thou mayst then come to heare his wordes for he is that maister which the Father gaue vs. Behold this man that thou mayst imitate his life for there is no way whereby thou canst be saued but he Behold this man that thou mayst haue compassion of him for he was brought to such a passe as might haue mooued euen his enemies to compassion Behold this man to lament ouer him for it is we who by our sinnes haue brought him to the case he is in Behold this man that thou mayst loue him for he hath suffered infinitly for vs. Behold this man that thou mayest beautify thy selfe by him for in him thou shalt find all the colours of beauty that thou canst desire Red by the new buffetts which they gaue him Blew by those which he had receiued the night before Yeallow by the abstinence of his whole life and by the affliction which he had passed through in that night White by the spittle which they had discharged vpon him and Blacke by those blowes wherwith they had new moulded his sacred face his cheekes all swelled and of as many colours as those wretches could paint vpon them For Isay (b) Isa 50. prophesied thus in the person of Christ I gaue my cheekes to those that would pull them and my body to them that would afflict it What waters what enamells what white and red mayest thou find heere wherewith to beautify thy selfe if by thy negligence thou leaue them not Behold this man O Virgin for whosoeuer beholdeth him not shall not escape from death For as Moyses did exalt the serpent in the desert vpon a staffe that they who were wounded might recouer by looking on it and those others dye who did not looke so (c) It is not with fayth alone that we must looke vpon our Lord but with faith loue whosoeuer shall not looke with faith and loue vpon Christ who is placed vpon the wood of the Crosse shal dye for euer And as I told thee before that we must beseech the Father by saying Looke O Lord vpon the face of thy Christ so also doth the Eternall Father coÌ„maund and say to vs Looke O man vpon the face of (d) Christ our Lord is not only the Christ of God but of vs also thy Christ and if thou wouldst haue me looke vpon his face to pardon thee looke thou vpon his face that by him thou mayest desyre me to giue thee pardon In (e) The great God and this wretched man can only be made to meet in Christ our Lord. the face of Christ our Mediatour the Fathers sight and ours doe come to meete There do the beames of our belieue and loue there do the beames of his grace and pardon determine themselues Christ is called the Christ of the Father because the Father engendred him gaue him what he hath And Christ is called our Christ because he offered himselfe for vs bestowing vpon vs all his merits Behold therefore the face of thy Christ belieuing in him confiding in him and louing him and all others for him Behold the face of thy Christ by meditating on him and by comparing thy life with his that so as in a glasse thou mayest see thy faultes and how far thou art off from him so knowing the sinnes which deforme thee thou mayest take of his tears of his bloud which streame downe ouer that beautifull face of his and with griefe mayest wash away those spotts and so thou mayst become beautifull and iust But as the Iewes tooke off their eyes from Christ because they saw him so ill handled so doth Christ take his eyes off from that soule which is wicked and which as leaprous is abhorred by him But when he hath beautifyed it by the grace that he gained for it by his afflictions he placeth his eyes vpon it saying How (f) Cant. 4. beautifull art thou
O my Friend how beautifull art thou Thyne eyes are as of a doue besides that which is hidden within He saith two seuerall times That she is beautifull because (g) The soule that serueth God must haue both good desires good deeds she must be so both in body and soule within by desires and without by deeds And because that which is within is to exceed that which is without he therefore saith Besides that which is within And for that the beauty of the soule as S. Augustine saith doth consist in louing God he therefore saith Thyne eyes are as of a doue Whereby is noted that syncere and amourous intention which only aymes at the pleasing of God without any mixture of proper interest Then Behold thou Christ that Christ may behold thee And (h) We must giue all glory to God take the shame to ourselues as thou must take heede of thinking that he had done any thing for which he might deserue to take vpon him the shew of being deformed so be sure thou haue no imagination that thou hast deserued the beauty which he gaue thee of meere grace For without any obligation did he vest himselfe with our deformity and without any obligation but of meere grace he hath apparailed vs with his beauty Of such men as thinke that the beauty which they haue in their soules they haue of themselues God saith by (i) Ezech 16. Ezechiel thou wert perfected by the beauty which I had placed vpon thee and yet hauing confidence in that beauty (k) As if it had beene his owne not only imparted by God of thine thou didst commit fornication in thyne owne name and thou didst expose thy selfe in that sinne to all such as passed by to be made theirs This God doth say For when a soule ascribeth to her selfe the beauty of Iustice which God gaue her she doth after a sort commit fornication with her selfe For as much as she desireth to ioy in her selfe and not in God who is her true spouse and from whome she hath all her being beautifull and she resolueth rather to glory in her owne name which is to commit fornication in that name then to glory in God who gaue her that which she possesseth For this cause doth God with great reason take away the beauty which he gaue her since she rebelled from him by occasion thereof And because this vaine and wicked complacence which she taketh in her selfe is pride and the beginning of all mischeife therefore it is said Thou didst offer thy selfe in the way of fornication to euery passenger For (l) A iust punishment the proud man leaning resting vpon himself who is but a meere vanity is carried away with euery winde taken prisoner by euery sinne that passeth by and that most iustly because he would not humble himselfe so as to be established by putting his confidence in God Behold therfore this man Christ Iesus in himselfe and behold him in thy selfe In thy selfe that so thou mayst see who thou art In himselfe that so thou mayst see who he is Those ignominyes and abasements of his thou didst deserue and therefore they are thyne The good which is in thee is his and he gaue it without any merit in thee CHAP. CXIII Wherein is prosecuted the way that we are to take in beholding of Christ and how he is beautifull in all thinges and that those thinges which in our Lord seeme vgly to the eyes of flesh bloud such as are troubles and torments be of great beauty IF thou know how to make the right vse of that which hath been sayd thou wilt employ all thy intention in beholding this Lord of ours with thy spirituall eyes thou wilt find it to be of more profit to thee then if thou didst see him with the only eyes of flesh and bloud For to these eyes Christ was made deformed but in the eyes of fayth he was full of beauty Isay sayth That to the eyes of the body his face was as if it had beene hidden but (a) How cleare and piercing are the eyes of Fayth nothing is hidden from the eyes of fayth but like the eyes of a Leopard which looketh as it were through walles they passe through all exteriour impediments and striking in they find diuine strength vnder that humane weaknes and vnder contempt and dishonour they find beauty with glory So that the wordes which Isay sayd We saw him and he had no beauty were spoken in the person of such as beheld him with the only eyes of their body But thou O Virgin take in thy hand the light of fayth and looke further in and thou wilt perceaue that he who comes forth in likenes of a sinner is both iust and a iustifyer of sinners and that he who is murthered hath in him the innocency of a lambe And he that hath his face all discoloured is of himself most beautifull and did but dresse himselfe so for the making of them beautifull who were deformed And (b) There is nothing that ought so to enamour a soule vpō the beauty of christ out Lord as to consider that our sinnes and his loue did cause his deformity how much the more the spouse doth suffer and abase himselfe for his fellow-spouse so much the more is she to exalt him and how much the more he commeth wounded and steeped as it were in sweat bloud so much the more beautifull is he in her eyes considering the loue wherwith he resolued to suffer those afflictions for her And in fine it is cleare that if we ponder the cause why Christ tooke vpon him this deformity so much the more beautifull will he seeme to be as he shall seeme to be more deformed Tell (c) The foure cōditions of beauty recapitulated The first me therefore now if the first condition of beauty were hidden in him when being rich and aboundant he abased himselfe to the want of many thinges what cause can be assigned thereof but that he did it to preuent euery want of ours And (d) The second if he grew to seem vnlike the image of his beautyfull Father it was for no other reason but because the Father resolued not to giue vs beauty but by the sonnes taking vpon him our deformity And (e) The third if the third condition which is light or heat did hide it selfe from that sacred face which was obscured and mortifyed and those bright shining eyes were darkned when he was dying and after he was dead why was it but to giue light to put a liuely colour vpō our obscurities According to that which himselfe figured when of spittle which signified himselfe as God and of earth which signifyed his humanity he made durt which signifyed his contumelious passion and so the blind man who signifyed mankind receaued sight And (f) The fourth condition of beauty if when he made himself man and that the most abased of men
it treateth the cittizens therof and of the sad end which they all shall haue pag. 503. Chap. 99. Of the vanity of being nobly borne and that such persons must not bragge thereof as desire to be of the kindred of Christ pag. 512. Chap. 100 VVherein he beginneth to declare that other word And forget the house of thy Father And how much it importeth vs to fly from our owne will in imitation of Christ our Lord for the auoyding of those inconueniences which grow from thence pag. 517. Chap. 102. Of a kind of practise in the denying of our owne will and of the obedience that vve owe to our Superiours which is a way how to obtayne the abnegation of our will and how a superiour is to carry himselfe with his subiects pag. 522. Chap. 102. That not all those thinges which we desire to do or demaund to haue are to be called a mans proper will how we may know what our Lord demaundeth at our handes pag. 5.7 Chap. 103. VVherein he beginneth to declare that word which sayth And the King will desire thy beauty And how great a matter it is that God should be content to place his loue vpon a man And that this is no corporall beauty how dangerous such kind of beauty is pag. 530. Chap. 104. That the dignity of being a spouse of Iesus Christ requireth that great care be had in all things of the example which they are to booke vpon both in the exteriour in the interiour of their soule vvho haue a desire to enioy this dignity pag. 538. Chap. 105. That the dignity of this State must not dismay Virgins for as much as their Spouse vvho is our Lord doth giueÌ„ them that vvhich is necessary for it And of the aduise by which they are to vndertake it of the cheerfulnes wherewith they are to vndergoe it of the great blessings vvhich are contayned in it pag. 540. Chap. 106. Of foure conditions vvhich are requisite for the making of any thing beautifull how aâ—t of of them are wanting to a soule that is in sin pag. 545. Chap. 107. How the deformity of sinne is so wickâ—d a thinge as that no force or law of Nature or of Scripture were sufficient to abolish it but only Iesus Christ in vertue of whome sinne was euer taken away grace was giuen pag. 547. Chaâ— 108. That Christ our Lord taketh away the deformity of the soule by his bloud that it was conuenient that rather the Sonne should become man then either the Father or the holy Ghost of the great force of the bloud of Christ our Lord. pag. 550. Chap. 109. That the sacred humanity of Christ our Lord was figured in the garment of the high Priest in the veile which God commaunded Moyses to make And what that was which Dauid begged when he desired to sprinckled with Hyssope that he might so be cleansed pag. 555. Chap. 110. How Christ did as it were dissemble those foure conditions of his beauty so to make vs beautifull to which purpose there is a passage of the Prophet Isay declared pag. 557. Chap. 111. Of the many wonderfull things which our Lord did draw out of that greatest wickednes which they committed who murthered Christ of the seuerall effects which these wordes Behold the man being spoken by Pilate preached by the Apostles haue brought to passe in the world pag. 566. Chap. 112. How great reason it is that we should behold this man Christ with those eyes wherewith many of them to whome the Apostles preached did behold him that so we may grow beautifull And that this beauty is giuen vs through his grace and not through our owne merits pag. 572. Chap. 113. Wherein is prosecuted the way that we are to take in beholding of Christ how he is beautifull in all thinges and that those thinges which in our Lord seeme vgly to the eyes of flesh bloud such as are troubles and torments be of great beauty pag. 578. FINIS