replenished with Saint Ierom◠saith That grace was giuen vnto all other Virgines by weight and measure but vnto the mother of God it vvas not giuen by weight and measure but heaped vp The Angels in heauen neither yet the holy men departed did not reach vnto so many secrets of God as the mother of God did because it is to bee beleeued that hee who did trust and credite her would hide nothing from her O mother of my redeemer tell mee what couldest thou not doe what hadst thou not or what didst thou not know when thou haddest my God in thy wombe O Virgin blessed and beloued of the Lord thou maist well say Dilectus meus mihi ego illi seeing that if he hath placed thee in his eternall storehouse thou diddest put him in thy virgins wombe where thou diddest teach him to know what it was to bee a man and hee taught thee what it was to bee the mother of God As Iobs sonnes went sporting themselues from house to house so the mother of God and the sonne of God went from seller to seller recreating themselues and the mother told the sonne what hee should haue in this world and the son told the mother how they shold rest in heauē the which speeches the holy Orders of heauē were not worthy to hear O saith S. Barnard how cōtent the sonne of God was of the wineseller vvhere his mother kept him for vvithout comparison he tooke more pleasure in the chast cogitations vvhich hee saw in his mothers wombe than in the milke which hee sucked at her breasts Anselmus also saith O what a thing it had been to see in that virgins wombe the sonnes life vvithin the mothers life and the sonnes body within the mothers body and which is most of all though their bodies were seperated the one from the other at the time of his birth yet their hearts vvere neuer seperated at all CHAP. III. Of the first and second word which holie Simeon spake vnto our Lady and how many fall from the law of Christ without his fault ECce hic positus est in ruinam resurrectionem multorum in Israel Luke the second chapter The great Chronicler S. Luke saith That the first time that the mother of our Lord went abroad the mother and Ioseph her and were in a maze and wondered at that that Simeon said of the child and of that which the holy woman Anna Phanuel prophecied of him before them all S. Cyprian vpon this place saith If the great wonders which Simeon spake of Iesus the child did make the mother ioifull so likewise they put the Angels in a wonder and maruell because they said of him that he should be the light of the Gentiles the glory of the Iewes and the redeemer of all Nations And Simeon not contented with that which he had said although he were very ioifull of that which he had seene said further that hee desired not to liue any longer in this world but die presently seeing that he had already seene with his eies that which his hart had so long time wished for It is a natural condition of the hart which hath long wished for any thing if at any time he hath that before his eies which he bought with many sighes rather to desire to die than to be seperated from the same Origen vpon Luke saith That all the praises which Simeon spake of the sonne of God moued the mother to further loue for if he said that her sonne was the light she knew that shee first of all receiued light if hee said that her sonne was honour she knew that hee had first of all honoured her insomuch that the Virgin did already possesse all that which was promised vnto others S. Augustine sayth in a Sermon That Simeon did very well say that the child Iesus was the light of the Gentiles considering that he brought them vnto this holy faith and that he was the glory of the Iews seeing that there neuer came any one out of their stocke like vnto him which is easily seene in that that for their further honour and fame he made of a Synagogue a church of a figure the truth of Prophets Apostles and of sacrifices Sacraments It is here to bee noted that Simeon did not say simply Thou shalt be the glory of the people of Israel but he added more and said thou shalt bee the glory of thy people of Israel the which he said for the wicked and peruerse of the Synagogue who although they were in the people of the Iewes yet they were not of the people of Israel Abel Seth Noe Sem Abraham Iacob Ioseph and Dauid and all the Prophets were of the people of God of all whome the sonne of God was the honour and glory seeing they beleeued in him before that he came into the world and were saued in the faith in which they liued Cain and Cham Ismael and Esau Roboam and Athalia Iesabel Annas Cayphas did all dwel among the people of God but they were not of the elect number of the people of God because that no man can bee called a neighbour of the children of God but hee who beleeueth stedfastly in God Let me saith Chrysostome be of the number of the people of God because I may bee lightened with thy light and glorified with thy glory seeing that no man can be lightened but whome thou doest lighten nor glorified but whom thou doest glorifie O how many there bee at this day in the church that be not of the church and how many in religion which bee not of the religion Because that our perfection and saluation doth not consist in the names wee beare nor in the places we haue but in the good or euil liues which we lead What doth it auaile me to bee called a Christian if I lead the life of a Pagan or what doth it helpe me to be called a religious man if I liue like a worldling As the sonne of God came into the world not to the honour of those which were in the people but of those which were of the people so thou my brother shouldest bee of the number of the religious and not in the number for otherwise thou shalt be as Saul was among the Prophets and as Sathan vvas amongst the children of God Origen sayth That when Simeon did deuide Christs gifts he gaue light vnto the church saying Lumen ad reuelationem gentium A light to the reuelation of the Gentiles and he gaue the Iewes honour and glory saying Ad gloriam plebis tuae Israel which honour and glory they deserued to lose when they went about by all the means they could to dishonour the sonne of God vpon the crosse The son of God gaue great honour and glory vnto the Synagogue if the Iews could haue known it and that is in that he vouchsafed to discend of them and bee borne amongst them and in that hee would conuerse among them preach among them
that his father would destroy all the word for to reuenge his death hee lifted vp his eies vnto heauen and with a sorrowfull voice said Father forgiue them because they know not what they doe as if he would say O my eternall and holy father I beseech and pray thee that thou wouldest forgiue this vnhappy people seeing thou shouldest make more account of the bloud which I shed for thē than of the offence which they haue committed against thee It is now now time for a thousand to fall on thy left side and ten thousand on thy right for seeing that I stand betwixt them and thee it is not reason that they should fall but rise nor that thou shouldest punish but pardon them O what a happie time O what a happy age the Catholike church liueth in in the which hee which is iniuried is reconciled and made our friend the iudge become our aduocate and spokesman for vs our accuser turned to bee our defender and hee who was woont to feare vs with iustice doth now flatter vs and entice vs to him with mercy How shal Dauid be able to say now Cadent à latere eius mille A thousand shall fall on his side seeing the sonne of God hath said vpon the crosse Father forgiue them In the law of grace and vnder the yoke of Christ it is not time to goe astray but aright not to cast away our selues but to saue our selues not a time of iustice but of mercie not to punish but to pardon neither is it time to fall but to rise It is much to be noted that the sonne of God did neuer command any man to fall and throw downe himselfe but rather bad all men rise vp as it appeareth in the ninteenth of S. Matthew where hee sayth Rise vp and take thy bed and in another place Arise maid and hee said vnto him whom hee raised from death in Naim adolescens tibi dico surge and likewise hee said in the garden to his Disciples Rise let vs goe It is the propertie and office of the diuell to counsell and procure men to fall for so he counselled Christ in the desart when he said I will giue thee all these things Si cadens adoraueris me as if hee would say I will make thee Lord ouer all the world if thou wilt but fall downe on the ground O my sweet Iesus I wil liue with thee who commandeth me to rise and not with the diuell who counselleth mee to fall for hee is desirous to haue me fall and thou and no other art able to helpe mee vp again Why should I liue with the diuell who deceiueth me a thousand waies or with the world which putteth mee in a thousand dāgers or with the flesh which asketh of me a thousand pleasures O redeemer of my soule O sweet delight of my life I will liue and die with thee and no other for if I bee sick thou dost heale me if I be sorrowful thou dost cōfort me if I be falling thou dost help me if I be falne thou dost helpe me vp if I haue sinned thou dost pardon me He is the disciple of the diuell who goeth about to throw down his brother he is the sonne of Christ who doth helpe to lift vp his neighbor for we are not able in this life to do any mā a greater fauor then to keepe his credit honor to help him to saue his soule When the giuer of life said vpon the crosse Father forgiue them by those speeches he ment to obtain two things of his father That is that hee would neither punish their bodies like vnto murderers nor condemne their soules like vnto traitors O infinite goodnesse O clemency neuer heard of before O redeemer of my soule doest thou dissemble with the trecherous pardon murderers excuse traitors vndertakest for the credite of the infamous turnest vnto sinners It is litle when I say thou doest turn vnto sinners seeing thou doest not only turn vnto them but also die for them What is the reason O good Iesus what is the reason that thou doest pray vnto thy father that he would forgiue them and doest not say I doe forgiue them When thou saiest Father pardon them why doest thou not say also I pardon them Art thou the partie iniuried art thou the partie shamed and disgraced art thou the partie agreeued and doest giue the libertie of pardoning them vnto another It is a high mysterie and a hidden Sacrament to thinke that the sonne of God would not say I pardon them but entreat his father to pardon them making greater reckoning of the iniurie which they had done vnto his father then of the death which they procured vnto himselfe The reason why the sonne of God would not say I pardon them although hee were the partie offended was to tell vs plainly That hee did not esteeme those which put him to death his enemies rather his deer brothers great good doers vnto the world hauing more regard vnto the good vvhich they had done in causing the world to be redeemed then vnto the hurt which they did in causing himselfe to bee murdered When good Iesus said Father forgiue thē it is no more thē to say thou art he my good father who must forgiue thē because they haue brokē thy law discredited thy doctrine violated thy temple put to death thy son If thou dost say that I should forgiue thē I say I haue no cause to forgiue for I take my death as wel reuenged my life as well bestowed seeing that by the merit thereof all the world may liue heauen made open vnto all men S. Augustine sayth That if the sonne of God had holden the Iewes for his enemies as they accounted of him it was in his power to forsake them and goe preach vnto others but because hee esteemed of them as of his kindred in bloud neighbours by nature brothers by law disciples in doctrine it was not needful for him to say on the crosse I forgiue thē seeing he was not angry towards thē nor moued at al with thē They bare rancor and hatred vnto Christ but nor Christ vnto thē therfore notwithstanding all the reproches they vsed towards him al the iniurious speeches they gaue him he neuer left off preaching vnto thē nor neuer ceased to work miracles amongst them With what face could they say that Christ was their enemy seeing hee raised their dead cast out diuels frō them instructed their childrē cured their friends of diseases also forgaue thē their sins Seeing the son of God had done the works of a friend among them that of a true friend why should he say vpō the crosse I do also forgiue thē seeing he did not hold any one of thē for his enemy If sweet Iesus was angry with thē if he misliked thē it was not for the iniuries which they did vnto him but for the offences they cōmitted against his father
S. Barnard vpoÌ„ Qui habitat saith O what guards double guards O what watches double watches meÌ„ should put to their poor heart that is Liberality against the world which doth compasse vs with riches Chastity against the flesh which doth enuiron vs with pleasures Charity against the diuel who doth vex vs with malice If we had as great a care in guarding our harts as the diuel hath in fighting with it he shold neuer bring vs into such great disquietnes nor could neuer put vs in such danger and perill If thou wilt hear me tel thee the order of thy perditioÌ„ thou shalt perceiue clearly that it riseth for want of putting a guard ouer thy hart insomuch that at the same instant in which we withdraw the guard froÌ„ our hart presently our coÌ„scieÌ„ce runneth to perdition TheÌ„ the order of our disorder is that the sight breedeth thought thought breedeth delight delight breedeth coÌ„sent coÌ„sent breedeth work the work breedeth custome custome breedeth obstinatioÌ„ obstinatioÌ„ breedeth desperatioÌ„ desperatioÌ„ damnatioÌ„ Would it not be iust to keep a hart manacled fettered which bringeth forth such children nephews who holdeth you O my soul loaden with scrupulosities who holdeth you O my body tormeÌ„ted with trauails but only the towers of wind which my heart breedeth a thousand daÌ„gers into which he casteth himself It is very coÌ„uenieÌ„t saith Anselmus that we keepe our heart in work because that which we shal do may be good keep our tongue very well because that which we shal speak may be iust keep wel our thought because that which we shall think may be clean and pure because our hearts shal be such as our works are Audi popule stulte audiqui non babes cor said God by the Prophet Ieremy in the 5. chap as if he would say Heare my foolish cursed people heare mee people without heart which art come to such perdition that thou wantest reason and hast no heart God could not haue iested at the people of Israel nor giuen theÌ„ a greater scoffe than call them fooles without a heart For seeing that the life of the body is the heart as it is and the life of the heart the soule and God the life of the soule that the life of God is God himselfe what other thing is it to be without a heart than to be naught and vvithout a soule Origen vpon â—eremy saith That God speaketh not of the heart of flesh which is in the breast for this heart no Iew vvanted but God speaketh of holy spiritual hearts with the which vvee serue our Lord and saue our soules in this sence if any one want a heart hee wanteth also reason And if this be true as true it is that the heart is nothing else but reason vvhat loseth he who loseth his heart and vvhat hath hee vvho hath not his heart And therefore there are not any put into the house of innocents or into Bedlem because they wanted a heart to liue with but because they want reason to gouerne themselues with for this cause is not he a verier foole who liueth not according to reason thaÌ„ he who hath his heart molested and troubled Plato saith in his Timaeo If a man doth lose his eies or feet or hands or his wealth we may say of such a one that if he lose he loseth somewhat but hee who loseth his heart reason loseth all for in the wombe of our mother the first thing which is engendred is the heart and the last thing which dieth is the same heart Because wee haue great need of patience in the trauails which we do endure and constancy in the good works which we do take in haÌ„d God doth vs a principall fauour in making vs a stout heart it is also a great punishmeÌ„t of him to make vs of a faint hart Anselmus in his meditations saith O good Iesus O the glory of my soule stop I pray thee stop my ears that I heare not make my eies blind that I see not cut off my hands that I steale not with coÌ„dition that thou wouldst leaue me a wil to serue thee and a heart to loue thee How is it possible that I shold loue thee serue thee with al my hart if thou O sweet Iesus doest let my heart lose it self seeing thou art the God in whom I beleeue the Lord whome I serue and life with which I liue and the heart vvhich I most loue vvhat other thing is it for me to be vvithout a heart than to bee depriued of thee O my good Iesus Vae duplici corde labijs scelestis c said the wise man as if he would say Woe bee vnto that man which hath two hearts to think ill with two tongues to murmure much with and two hands to steale more with and goeth two waies to lose himselfe No man hath two hearts but hee who is malicious no man hath two tongues but hee who cannot rule his tongue no man hath two handes but the couetous man no man goeth two waies but the ambitious man who for to haue more and preuaile more leaueth no way not gone nor any estate not shot at or shakeÌ„ It is sure a new thing not heard of before that the wise maÌ„ dare say that some maÌ„ hath two tongues to murmure much with some two hearts to think much with in this case we dare well say that it is as monstrous a thing to haue two harts as to want one Remigius vpoÌ„ these words saith In things which do hinder the one the other to vndo them is to win theÌ„ to seperate theÌ„ is to flie from theÌ„ to cut theÌ„ asunder is to sow theÌ„ to diminish theÌ„ is to encrease them and to wast them is to better theÌ„ the example of all this may bee giuen in trees which haue many boughes and in a vine which hath many branches whose superfluitie if we doe cut off wee make them grow and the pruning of the vine maketh it fructifie The Prophet Ieremy accuseth Israel because he hath no heart at all and Salomon reprehendeth the malicious man because hee hath two hearts what meane shall we keep then to complie with the one and satisfie the other Hugo de arra anima answereth and saith Seeing our loue ought to be but one and he on whom we ought to bestow our loue should bee but one in like manner the heart with whom we should engage our loue should bee but one because that cannot be called true loue which is scattered into many hearts If we should be permitted by the law of Christ to haue many loues wee should also bee suffered to haue many hearts but seeing it is not permitted to haue more than one loue why would we haue more than one heart He in an Order of religion is said to haue many hearts who remaineth with his body in the monastery and with his will mind wandereth in the
the reward of Paradise but vnto another crucified Saint Barnard vpon the Passion sayth for mine owne part I thinke not my selfe deceiued but I know that the naked giueth not his kingdome but vnto another naked he whose ioints are vnloosed vnto another whose ioints are also loosed one from an other hee that is couered with bloud vnto another couered with bloud also and the crucified vnto another crucified Thou that sittest sporting thy selfe what doest thou aske of him who suffereth on the crosse Thou that art clothed and reclothed what doest thou craue of him who is bowelled vpon the crosse Thou that art faire and fat what doest thou aske of him who is on the crosse one member rent from one another Thou that art at freedome and liberty what doest thou aske of him who is nailed and fastened vpon the crosse If thou wilt heare sayth Anselmus O my soule Hodie mecum eris in Paradiso Lift vp thy affections from the earth let thy heart bee free from all passions let thy flesh keepe watch and vvard ouer her inclinations crucifie thy liberty on the crosse let bloud thy fancie of all presumptions and bury thy affections that they may not appeare If thou wilt ascend as high as heauen it is necessary that with the theefe thou take the crosse for thy ladder to steale it for otherwise although thou bee a companion with him in sinning yet for all that thou shalt not so be in raigning CHAP. XIIII Why the sonne of God did not say vpon the crosse vnto all men Amen dico vobis as hee did say vnto the theefe Amen dico tibi aad how he was the first martyr which died with Christ and the first Saint which he canonized LOquetur ad eos in ira sua in furore suo conturbabit eos said king Dauid in the second Psalme as if hee would say when the great God of Israell shall bee angry and troubled hee will speake vnto the wicked men with anger and when hee shall trouble their iudgements it shall bee with great anger Our Lord doth threaten the wicked whome hee meaneth to punish with two grieuous scourges that is that hee will speake in anger to feare them and trouble their iudgement that they shall not bee able to guesse at any thing aright If our Lord speake vnto vs with anger it may bee borne with but if he trouble our iudgement it is a thing much to be lamented for in this wicked world if he doe not lighten our steps to see where wee goe wee shall fall downe vpon our face Barnard crieth out and saith What shall become of thee O my soule if he who should lead me put mee out of the way if hee who should succour me forsake mee if hee who should pardon me accuse me and he who should quit mee condemne me and he who should giue mee sight make mee blind Saint Augustine De verbis Apostoli sayth When it is said in Scripture that God speaketh vnto vs with anger it is meant that he doth not speake with mercy and when it is said that hee doth trouble vs with fury it is to say that hee doth not lighten vs with his diuine grace because there cannot happen vnto vs greater hurt in this world than for God to withdraw his hand from doing vs good There is no anger in God as there is in man with the which hee doth trouble himselfe nor furie to moue him withall and when wee say that he is angry it is because he vseth that punishment which in others is done with anger and if we say that he is in fury it is because hee vseth rigorous punishment towards vs or else because hee doth not punish at all in this world for wherin can our Lord shew greater anger than by not vsing his accustomed clemency Our Lords wrath is appeased when hee punisheth presently after the offence committed and he is very angry when hee deferreth the punishment vnto hell S. Ambrose sayth That in the house of God not to punish is to punish to dissemble is to bee angry with not to speake is to chide to pardon is to threaten to suffer is to let it putrifie to defer is to reuenge the more Is there thinke you any greater punishment than not to bee punished in this world When doth our Lord speake vnto vs with anger but when wee fall from his grace into sinne by our fault God spake with anger vnto our first father when hee said vnto him thou shalt eat thy bread in the sweat of thy face as if hee would say Because thou hast fallen from my grace and eaten of the apple which I did forbid thee to eat of for a perpetuall punishment thou shalt eat and drinke alwaies with care in thy mind sweat on thy face and trauaile of thy body insomuch that at the best morsell thou shalt giue ouer eating and fall to sighing God spake also with anger vnto the murderer Cain when hee said vnto him behold the bloud of thy brother Abel doth crie from the earth vnto mee as if he would say Because thou hast flaine thy brother Abel through malice and enuy I cannot but doe iustice vpon thee because his bloud crieth aloud for it of me and thy punishmēt shall be that thou shalt wander to and fro all the daies of thy life and thy head shal neuer cease shaking God spake with anger vnto the great king Nabugodonoser whē he said Eijciam te ab hominibus as if he would say Because thou hast robbed my tēples of their treasures and led away my people of the Iews captiue thou shalt be throwne out frō the conuersation of men shalt liue with beasts on the mountaines thou shalt eat hay like oxen and bee clothed like wild sauages with haire vntill thou doest acknowledge mee for to bee thy Lord and thy selfe to bee a sinner God spake with anger vnto the great Priest Heli when hee said Ego praecidam brachium tuum c as if hee would say Because thou diddest not punish thy children when they stole away the sacrifices and behaued themselues dishonestly vvith women in the Tabernacle I will take thy Priesthood from thee I will kill thy steward and will make that no old man come into thy house in so much that thou shalt haue no children in thy stocke to inherite after thee nor ancient men to counsell thee To come then vnto our purpose God vsed this kind of speech vnto the Synagogue but now speaketh otherwise vnto the church as is easily seene in the death of Christ when hee said vnto the theefe Hodie mecum eris in Paradise Wee doe not read that Christ did euer vse this woord of anger so oft as hee hath done the woord of mercy the which hee hath vsed often as Per viscera misericordiae dei nostra said holy Zachary in his song as if he would say The sonne of God came downe from the highest of heauen into the earth moued thereunto by
grieued to see his body plagued than to see his goods taken from him This then was the reasoning and dialogue which passed betwixt God the diuell touching Iobs tentation whereof we may inferre how much more that is to be esteemed which the sonne of God offered than Iephthes sacrifice because the one offered his daughter and the other his owne proper life The victory which Iephthe had was a costly victory vnto him but Christs was more costly because that Iephthe did ouercome and liue but the sonne of God did ouercome and die and there is no dearer victory in the world than that which is bought with the exchange of a mans proper life Although Iephthe did loue his onely daughter well yet Christ did loue his precious flesh better because it was vnited vnto the diuine eslence and therefore the better hee did loue it the more was his griefe in losing it Aristotle sayth That wise men doe loue their liues better than others of the vulgar people because they see themselues more necessary vnto the Commonwealth and euery common good is to be preferred before a particular And according vnto this saying of the Philosopher as the sonne of God was wiser than all men and better than all men so without doubt by so much the more he loued his life by how much it was most profitable to all men Sathan said well Pellem pro pelle dabit homo A man will giue one skin for another For if a man would haue asked the captaine Iephthe which of these two thinges he would rather haue done either haue sacrificed his daughter or his owne person it is to bee thought that hee would rather haue sacrificed his daughter twise than his owne person once Seneca in his booke of Clemency sayth That because it is a naturall thing vnto vs to liue and a dreadfull and fearefull thing to die wee are much afraid of our owne death and beare another mans easily Theophilus saith That it is much to be maruelled that Christ would die but it is much more to bee wondered at that hee would die with so good a will because that without augmenting his glory yea rather diminishing it hee offered himselfe willingly vnto them to the end that they should take his life from him The figure sayth further that Iephthes daughter went two months weeping and wailing her virginity on those solitary mountains with other virgines and maids which bare her company What was the meaning that that pare virgine bemoned and bewailed her virginity but onely that shee was sorry that shee had not been married and had a husband and that she had no children to mourne for her death or inherite her goods It seemeth to bee a dishonest matter for a virgine to weepe and bewaile her owne virginity if there were no other hidden sence vnder this letter because that in scripture the more obscure a saying is the more fuller it is of mystery Wee haue already said that Christs sacred flesh is figured by that tender virgine and now wee say againe that as Iephthes daughter bewailed her owne virginity so did Christ likewise his only it is to be noted that there is a difference betwixt weeping and weeping virginitie and virginity The sonne then doth complaine on his father saying Why hast thou forsaken me which he vttered because hee had not emploied his most pure virginity and most holy innocency as he desired to doe for as he was borne a virgine a virgine hee died and if hee came innocent into the world with his innocency hee returned vnto heauen againe Let no man thinke that Christ bewailed and wept his virginity because hee did inuiolably keepe his most holy flesh for if his mother did not lose it in bringing him into the world neither could hee lose it by liuing in the world The chastity which the scripture speaketh of and the virginity which Christ bewaileth with Iephthes daughter is not the corruptible virginity but the incorruptible not the virginity of the body but of the soule the which doth make our Lord great with holy speeches and diuine inspirations and therefore if hee bee great with these diuine inspirations he bringeth forth afterward holy workes S. Augustine vpon those wordes Desponsauit te mihi in fide sayth Spirituall and holy men haue as great need to marry their foules with Christ as worldlings haue to seeke husbands for their daughters and if I haue said as great now I say more need because a maid may bee saued without the company of a husband but a soule cannot be saued vnlesse she take Christ with her S. Barnard sayth O how farre more higher is the spirituall matrimony than the corporall the one is betweene the wife and her husband the other betwixt the soule and Christ of the one come children which sometimes do breed griefe anger of the other there do proceed workes which doe alwaies good If Iephthes daughter doe weepe her departing out of this world a virgine euen so doth Christ weepe and lament his virginitie because hee hath left no greater a spirituall posteritie after him for he would willingly haue left all the hearts in the world great with child with good vertuous desires and all soules deliuered of good workes When God said by the Prophet Esayas Numquid ego qui alijs generationem tribue sterilis ere That is Shall I be barren my selfe and giue issue vnto others hee did not speake this for any desire which hee had to marry himselfe with any woman but for the great zeale which hee had to marry and couple himselfe with our soules because that in all ages and all times the chastity of the body is a holy thing and in all ages all times the barrennesse of the soule is naught and discommendable What doest thou weepe for then O good Iesus what doest thou weepe I weepe my virginity with the daughter of Iephthe because I haue scarse found any in all the world who will marry with my diuine grace nor who will be great with child with my diuine inspirations and that which I mislike most of all is that if I begin to dally and make loue with any sinfull soule she turneth her backe towards mee and is ready to flie from mee I bewaile my virginitie because that in three and thirty yeares which I haue liued in the world with al the sermons which I haue preached and with all the dead which I haue raised vnto life and with all the diuels which I haue cast out and all the sinnes which I haue forgiuen it seemeth vnto mee that I haue made small gaine and done little good in respect of the paines which I haue taken I bewaile my virginity because that being come in person into the world hauing instructed all the people shed my bloud rent and torne my flesh lost my reputation and bestowed my life yet I see now that there is scarse any one found who would benefit himselfe with my bloud or who