fine your lord O blessed tyme wherein is represented to vs the coming of God in flesh to dwell amongst vs Luke 1. to illuminate our darkenes and to addresse our feete in the way of peace and to adopt vs for his brethren and to designe vs for the enioying of the same inheritāce with himselfe It is not without cause that you desire his coming and that you prepare your hart for his habitation For this lord was desired long before he came Agge and the Prophet called him The desire of all Nations Psal 9. and indeede hee giues himselfe to none but such as desire him God heares the desire of the poore for his eares are laid close to the sighing of our harts and he cares for nothing els in vs but that To such a hart hee comes and cannot deny himselfe as it is said in the Canticles Cant. 4 Thou hast wounded my hart O thou my sister and my spouse thou hast wounded my hart by the cast of one of thyne eyes and by a haire of thy head Is it possible for any thing to be more tender then that which is wounded by the sight of a single eye Is it possible for any thing to be more weake then that which is tyed fast by one single haire where now are they who say that God is hard to be obteyned that he is rigourous to be delt with and insupportable to be endured Wee must quarrell with our selues since because wee will be looking many seuerall wayes we place not our sight vpon God nor will wee shutt that eye of ours which behouldes creatures that so with all our thought wee may cōsider God alone Hee who shootes in a Crosse bowe shutts one of his eyes that hee may see better with the other how to hitt the white we the while will not shutt vp all that sight of ours which hinders vs from being able to hunte wound our lord with loue Let him recollect and make sure his loue and lett him lodge it in God whosoeuer hath a minde to obtaine God For as God is loue soe is he onely to be hunted and taken with loue and he will haue nothing to doe with them who loue him not And if they say that they know him already as they ought 2. Iohn 4. S. Iohn will tell them that they say not true But our lord who is wounded with an eye is tyed with a haire For that which loue takes the recollected and reflected thought conserues that it may not be lost And to the end that men might be put into confidence that they should be able to arriue to almighty God and that hee hath noe minde to slipp away he makes himselfe one of them and layes himselfe in the armes of a virgin swathed vp hand and foot without power to fly from that man who is disposed to seeke him O celestiall bread which descendest out of the bosome of thy Father and art laid in the publique places of this world inuiting as many as will that they may come to enioye thee and feede vpon thee And whoe is hee whoe can endure to withhould him selfe from goeing to thee and from receiuing thee since thou giuest thy selfe vpon noe harder cōdition then onely that wee be content to hunger after thee For doest thou peraduenture aske more of vs then onely that a soule may sigh for thee and confessing her sinnes may receiue and loue thee Great is the misery of those men who when bread comes to seeke them in their owne howses they choose rather to dye of hunger then to stoope to take it vp O sloath what a deale of mischeife thou doest O blindenes what a deale of benediction doest thou loose O sleepines what a deale of aduantage doest thou steale away since considering the promise that whosoeuer seekes shall finde Mat. 7 21 Mark 11. Luc. 11 Iohn 14. 16 and he who askes shall obtaine and to him who knockes it shall be opened it is cleare that if wee proue not well the fault is ours But what shall things passe still after this manner Though God himselfe is come to cure vs shall wee still continue sicke He being at the gate of our hart crying out and saying Open to mee O thou my freind and my spouse shall we being all wrapt vp in vanities Cant. 4. suffer him to stand calling there and not soe much as open him the gate O my soule come hither and tell mee for I aske thee on the part of God what in fine is that thing which detaines thee from goeing all with all thy forces after God What doest thou loue if thou doe not loue this Spouse of thine Or rather why doest thou not loue him much who did soe mightily loue thee He had noe busines on earth but to attend to the loue of thee and to seeke thy profitt with his owne losse And what hast thou to doe in this world but to exercise thy selfe all in loue of this king of heauen Doest thou not see how all that which heere thou seest must haue an end as also all that which thou hearest which thou touchest which thou tastest and wherewith thou doest converse Doest thou not see that all this is but cobwebs which cannot cloath thee and keepe thee warme Where art thou if thou haue not thy being in Iesus Christ our lord what art thou thinking what account art thou making what doest thou seeke out of that onely one complete God Let vs rowse vp our selues at last breake of this badd sleepe Let vs awake for it is broad day since Iesus Christ our lord who is the light is come Let vs doe the wookes of light since there was tyme wherein wee did the workes of darknes O that the memory of that tyme wherein wee know not God might sèrue vs now for sharp spurrs to make vs runne greedily after him O that we could runne O that wee could fly O that wee might burne and be transformed into him What must a creature doe when he sees his creator made man and all for loue of him alone who euer heard of such a loue as this that one louing another should by loue be converted into that other It is true that God loued vs when hee made vs after his Image but a farre greater worke it was to make himselfe after our image He abases himselfe to vs that hee may exalt vs to him He makes himselfe man that hee may make vs Gods He descēdes from heauen that he may carry vs thither in his cōpany and in fine he dyed that he might giue vs life And now shall it be possible that in the midst of these things I should lye sleeping and without any sense of gratitude for soe great loue O lord illuminate myne eyes that they may not sleepe in such a death as this And thou who hast done vs this great fauour Ps 12. giue vs alsoe a right feeling of it For otherwise the
greater the benefitt is the more hurt it will doe vs in the end O Lord open thou myne eyes that they may consider thee descending out of the bosome of thy father and entring into that of thy virgin mother that I may giue thee great thankes for this benefit Make mee able to humble my selfe for thee Make mee able to consider thee lying in a maunger insteade of a bed crying out through could being opprest with pouerty make me learne thereby how to cast all delicacy farre from mee Make thy teares sighes shew sound themselues forth in myne eares that soe they may mollify my hart that soe it may deliuer it self couer as wax to euery inclination of thy will And doe not thou permitt that God should weepe and that man should haue noe feeling of it for I know not at which of these two things wee might wonder most Seale vp O lord thy wordes in my soule that I may neuer sinne against thee Let the blood which thou didst shed for mee be gathered vp into my hart and be thou all my onely loue that soe thou maist not repent thy selfe of all these great afflictions which thou enduredst for mee It is I whom thou soughtst and whome thou seekest still and for mee thou hast made all those tiltings and triumphes and shewed forth all thy liueries and vndergone all that cost Let me neuer see my selfe belonging to any other then thee since thou hast deserued me soe well Come Madam let that hart of yours now prepare it selfe for God is vpon the point of being borne and hee hath neither howse nor bedd wherein to lye Let your hart be all inflamed with loue for the Infant suffers much cold And yet if your hart be but euen soe much as luke warme this Infant with his cold will giue it greater heat For how much the more cold he suffers for vs so much the more loue he shewes to beare vs where I finde my selfe to be more beloued there am I obliged more to loue Exteriourly hee suffers cold and yet through the great loue he beares vs he can endure noe cloathes but he lyes naked as soone as he is borne naked they lay him vpon the Crosse because in his bearth in his death he shewed the greatest excesse of loue Madam you must prouide a cradle wherein you may rock him a sleepe which signifies the repose of contemplation and see that you tend and treat him well for he is the sonne of a great high king and he is the sonne alsoe of a virgin and he takes much gust to lodge himselfe in the hart of virgins for the meat he eates is flesh which is crucified dead And because he hath a great deale of poore people amongst his kindred whome yet he loues deerely well you must be alsoe sure to loue them for they are the brethren of our creators As soone as he is borne in your hart you must take care to nurse him and I beseech him to keepe and saue you for his mercies sake Amen A Letter to a certaine Lady who is taught with what disposition she is to receiue Christ our lord into her soule and with what care she is to keept him and of the great misery where into that soule falls which committs mortall sinne and what a great treason it is to leaue God and follow the deuill especially for such as haue beene particularly fauoured by almighty God THE grace and peace of the holy ghost be in your hart and assist you in this holy tyme that you may prepare your soule for that Infant who is now to be borne For he hath noe howse but in those soules which are well disposed to receiue him He comes as a straunger and in great pouertie Giue him your hart Mat. 25 that soe he may say in the last day I was a straunger and you receiued mee But yet consider withall that as there is nothing so much to be desired by you as to lodge this Infant in your soule so is there nothing which requires more care and diligence then to prepare the lodging ready in such sort as he desires He comes in humility and pouertie and they who receiue him must be humble and poore He comes to vndertake great labours and with labour that howse must be adorned wherein he voutchafes to dwell He is chast and he loues such as are chast And though he be very little and a very Infant yet withall he is very great and he is God and soe it must be no little thing to prepare a lodging for a great God Our lord is choise and nice and by reason of some-one mortall sinne which some man makes litle difficulty to committ he refuses to enter into the soule And if he be there already one mortall sinne sends him away And when he is gone he comes not back againe soe soone but makes it plaine by the difficulty which he hath to returne with how great diligence he is to be kept by vs when we haue him there O my good lady and how riche is he who possesses God and how often in the day were he to looke downe vpon his hart asking our Lord if hee be there What chaynes should he cast about him of humble petitions and teares begging of him as Dauid did in these words Psal 21. O lord depart not from mee How full of caution ought a man to walke least he should doe somewhat which might offend our Lord least being offended he should be gone For if hee be all good what shall it be to loose him but to fall into the Abisse of all miseries They are sadd things which a soule feeles when it hath lost God and such as will hardly be beleiued though all the world should speake of them This appeares well in our first parents Adam and Eue. For Eue looking vpon the fruite of the forbidden tree it seemed very beautifull to her eye and that if she might eate thereof it would proue very pleasing to her and giue her great contentment But as soone ast she had eaten her eyes were opened to behould those great miseries which came vpon her by that meanes experience taught her that the bitternes of breaking the cōmaundment of God was greater then the pleasure to haue eaten the fruite And then she saw that the apparance which the forbiddē fruite had of being soe very faire and full of gust was but a deceite of the deuill who made a false glasse for her to looke through And hee alsoe gaue her a loathing of those other fruites which God commaunded her to eate Soe as they seemed vnsauoury to her and she thought that all the gust and hidden good had consisted in that which God forbad O how many haue beene deceiued by the deuill through false imagination he promising them contentment gust they afterwards making bitter lamentation for giuing credit to him whom euen before they knew to be a
walke in the middest of the shadow of death you may yet feare noe ill See you call vpon him for though you should bee in the whales belly yet he harkenes to his seruants euen when they are there Call vpon his Blessed Mother Ionas 3. who is also ours Call vpon the Saints who are our Fathers and our brethren for with such helpes as those you cannot feare to loose the celestiall kingdome And if our lord will haue you passe through Purgaâ—ory let his name be blessed still for soe that you may haue hope to see him you shall gladly endure any thing which may be imposed I beseech Christ our Lord who dyed for you to accompany you at your death and receiue you into his owne armes when you departe out of this life Say you to him as hee sayd to his Father In manus â—uas Pater commendo spiritum meum Luc. 23. And I confide in his mercy that you shall be receiued by him as a sonne and treated as the heire of God and coheyre with Christ our Lord. A Letter of the Authour to a Religious woeman who was neere her death He encourages her and shewes how she is to carry her self at that time DEuout seruant of Christ our Lord you sent mee word that you were in the last dayes of your life and that this was the time wherein you desired mee to remember you Soe I doe And though the newes you giue mee is not pleasing to flesh and bloud yet when I looke vpon you with christian eyes it is to recreate my soule And soe is it also to recreate yours as our Lord saith in the Ghospell when those things beginne to shew themselues Luc. 21. looke about you and lift vp your heades for your redemption is neere at hand For though Christ haue freed you by his goodnes the merit of his bloud from mortall sinnes yet still you are in daunger of committing euen then and you actually committ venial sinnes and you are still in the captiuity of your body which is soe subiect to miserie as that it makes euen a S. Paul and others who are like him sigh and groane and say as him self relates it Rom. 8. that they liued in expectation of the redemption of tâ—eir body But there you shall neither sinne mortally not venially For by meanes of the bloud of that lambe which was shed for vs hell where they euer sinne shall haue nothing to doe with you but onely Purgatory where though they suffer yet they sinne not And from thence you shall goe forth to see your Spouâ—e to enioy that blisse which he wonne for you with the nailes in his hands and with his feete fastened to the Crosse And forasmuch as it is a stranger thing to see God nailed vpon a Crosse then to see you placed in heauen I confide in his goodnes that since he had mercy enough to make him doe the more he will not want it for that which is the lesse Thither will he carry you thither I say will he carry you to remaine with himself For the espousalls which heere were celebrated betweene you when you soleÌ„nely made Profession that you would liue and dye in the state of Religion was one day to be concluded by that being together both of him the spouse and of her his fellow spouse in heauen There shall you see your self in soe great liberty and aboundance that you will esteeme your inclosure afflictions heere for well employed And there will they giue you a body which though in substance it shall be the very same which heere you haue yet shall it be very different in health and life and other things And you will incomparably more reioyce in it there then you haue suffered in it heere All entire all entire in bodye and soule are yow to bee blessed there and soe beautified as is fitt for the honour of him who tooke you for his spouse Iesus Christ the lord both of this the other world Be not therefore dismayed when you are to dye by thinking of what your owne sinnes deserue Christ our lord can doe all things and he loues you will not forsake you And since he hath preserued you in this time of your nauigation amongst all the tempests of this life be sure that he will not suffer you to perish now that you are goeing to disinbarke Putt your self wholly into his haÌ„d offering your self entirely to him both in life death and to whatsoeuer he will And beg pardon of him by his bloud for all that wherein you haue offended him and being confessed communicated cast your self headlong at his feete and desire of him one drop of his bloud whereby you may be washed and haue great confidence that you shall bee soe Be as reserued to yourselfe as free from all conuersation as the state of your sicknesse will permit For our Lord before he was to dy left his disciples that he might pray in solitude to his father giuing vs so to vnderstaÌ„d that in this traunce we must reseÌ„ble him And let your discourse be with Christ our lord with his Bl Mother And to the end that your infirmity diuert you not from them it will be well that you behould an image of the Crucifix of his Mother staÌ„ding by him Giue thaÌ„kes to our lord with your whole hart for the fauour he hath done you whether they be generall or particular and cast your self into the wounds of Christ oul Lord which is that Sanctuary out of which his Iustice must not drawe such malefactours as are repentant And repose you there and conceiue strong hope that by meanes of his bloud and death you shall goe and enioy that life in heauen which neuer is to haue an end Our Lord IESVS be euer with you Amen A Letter of the Authour to a woeman who did greatly feele the absence and disfauour of our Lord. He animates her to confide in our Lord and he assigned diuerse causes why God afflictes his seruants and of the fruit which his Diuine Maiesty reapes from thence DOe not conceiue that to be anger in our Lord which indeede proceedes from true loue For as he who beares ill will to another doth flatter sometimes and fawne vpon him so true loue sometimes corrects and chides And the holy scripture saith That the woundes which are giuen by him who loues are better then the false kisses of him who hates And therefore we doe him an extreame wrong who reproues or punishes vs out of the bowells of his loue if we thinke or say that he persecutes vs as if he loues vs not Doe not forgett that the Mediatour betweene God the Father and vs is Iesus Christ our lord by whome we are beloued and tyed with so strong a bond of loue that nothing is able to vndoe it if man himself do not cutt the knott by the guilt of mortall sinne Haue you so soone forgotten that the bloud of
the Father gaue vs his Sonne and with him gaue vs himself and the Hoâ—iâ—-Ghost and all things Receiue this grace with giuing of thankes and enioy you God since he bestowes himself vpon you And if your demeritts fright you remember that one of the benefitts which the Father impartes to vs in Christ our lord is the payement of our debts and the sweetening and appeasing of that wrath which our sinnes deserued Why doe you doubt of a pardon since you doubt not of that Passion which he endured for our sinnes Pet. 2. What doth it profitt you to confesse that Christ our lord dyed for vs be who was lust for vs that were vniust if you beleiue not that his death killed our sinnes and now if they be dead why do you feare them For the Children of Israel Exod. 15. whome our lord drew out of Egypt seing that their enemies were drowned in the sea did not feare but sung praises to our lord taking occasion thereof from those very enemies who had persecuted them before and whome formerly they had feared And though we haue not so assured Faith that our sinnes are pardoned as we are sure that our lord dyed for them because we do not so certainly know that his merits are applyed to vs yet the new hart which God gaue vs when he called vs to himself may be a good signe of his friendshipp and pardon whereby we may well hope that our sinnes also are forgiuen And besides that spirit of being his children which he gaue vs when he imparted his loue as the loue of a Father to vs may well be taken for a particular assurance that in the hart of God we are esteemed as his sonnes since in our harts we esteeme him as our Father For it is blasphemie to affirme that I louing God he should not loue me since that loue wherewith I loue him is neuer giuen me but by his hand I beseech you thinke not of our lord Sap. 1. with a short hart a straite but in great beleife of his goodnesse as we are commaunded And cast vp your eyes to that signe of our saluation Curist our lord who is the assurance of our hope and who is so acceptable to his Father and by whose participation we are also made acceptable to him and we haue assured hope through his bloud to enioy eternall life before the Throne of God And if it seeme to you that your workes are weake and poore it is reason you should thinke so still But what reason is this why you should loose your confidence By Christ our lord we were made freinds of enemies and by him we are conserued in his friendshipp We had greater impediments to be well with God when we were subiect to our sinnes before we knew God then now we haue by the defects into which we fall So that if our former sinnes could not hinder that grace which was communicated to vs in Christ our lord much lesse shall our present faults be able to breake of this friendshipp we being now incorporated in Christ who is beloued by his Father A good thing it is for vs to feele our pouertie and miserie but yet it must be with condition that withall we beleiue highly of the bountie and riches of the mercie of God And let vs glorifye his goodnesse in our wickednesse since with so much loue he tolerates his children who are so faultie so weake and so miserable Why should you depriue God of the glorie to haue great latitude of loue towards his children For by reason of the faith and loue which wee carrie to his sonne he hath patience with the faults which we committ when once we haue bewailed them and done true penance for them Beleiue therefore now at length that as there is goodnesse enough in God to make you loue him so there is meritt enough in Christ our lord to make you be beloued for his sake and liue you with gratitude for the benefitts which you haue receiued as also for the pardon of those errours which you daily committ And be daily accepting of all good occasions and fight the warres of our lord with ioy as that Iudas Machabeus did And God giuing you that which he giues you may hope you shall enioy his kingdome though perhaps you may be putt to suffer in temporall fire for the hay and straw and wood which shall be found in your soule Be you euer breathing more and more towards Profitt in spiritt but yet so as that it may be accompanyed with quietnesse grounded vpon Confidence For though it should grow to be no more then now it is euen that being carefully kept will suffice for your saluation But if you looke onely vpon yourself we are all so full of faults that your soule will neuer bee without dismay nor will you perceiue that you are greatly beloued by our lord And then proceeding after such a manner as that how will you be able to serue him and giue gust to his holie spirit which is dwelling in you For this spirit is chearefull and we checke it by our anguish and dismay against which S. Paul thus disswades vs saying That we must not contristate the holie spirit of our lord The summe of all is this that you must know and consider your faults and that they must seeme very great in your eyes and you must bewaile and lamente them by Confession and Penance But yet still you must consider that those benefitts which we possesse in Christ our lord are greater by reason whereof you must confide yourself to be beloued and you must doe it with much thankefullnesse And if God doe no more but continue that to you which you haue alreadie euen that may suffise as hath beene sayd to make you hope for eternall life A Letter of the Authour to an afflicted woman He declares that afflictions come either through the fault of the partis or else for tryall and how one is to carrie himself in tribulation THe grace and peace of our lord Iesus be euer with you Amen The true loue wherewith I loue you in Iesus Christ hath caused so great compassion in me towards you in respect of what you suffer that it hath moued me to write this letter with desire that it may serue you to some purpose I know not my good sister whether I shall putt you into anie comfort or rather whether I shall not helpe you to weepe Nor doe I know whether or no I should tell you that the trouble which you haue is good and that you are to carrie it with ioy and that I should not graunt that it is ill as it seemes to you and that as such you are to fly from it I see that if manie good men endure such accidents as this there are also very ill men who endure the same And if to some it be a signe of loue to others it is an effect of the wrath of God Our lord punishes
Thou art the defender of all such as hope in thee And if at any tyme he hide him selfe from vs Cant. 2. it is not because he departs but like a Iealous spouse he stands looking through the cranyes to see what that soule is doeing when he hath absented his imbracements from her Especially he considers if the soule haue lost her confidence which his desire is may remaine soe rooted in our harts that noe winde of teÌ„ptation may pluck it vp but may rather strengthen and settle it beleeuing that how much more we are tempted soe much more we are beloued by him and how much more we are persecuted by our enemies so much more are we cherished by almighty God whose care and vigilancy is imcomparably more for our desence then the subtility of our enemies can be for our preiudice The cause heereof is for that he loues vs more then the deuill abhorres vs and he is more powerfull then our flesh is fraile and he hath a blessed place of retreate wherein as in a most secure haueÌ„ and as in the bosome of a mother he giues harbour to such as being wearyed with the tempest of tribulations endured for his sake haue recourse to him Psal 30. Of this Dauid said Thou shall hid vs in the hidden parte of thy face Doe you not thinke O my beloued brother that you shall be well hidden and secure and ioyfull in the face of God But you wil aske why it is called a hidden part Cerâ—â—nely with great reason For as the face of God is not darke but bright according to his diuinitie so yet the face of Christ our Lord as God and man is said to be darke and hidden according to his humanity But this not when his face shined like the Sonne Matth. 7. in Mount Tabor and his garments like the light Mark 9. but when he was disfigured vpon Mount Caluary when his garments and flesh were dyed redd with the bloud which proceeded from him as the price of our redemption Luke 9 If you well consider his face growne yellow with his long fasting and redd with the buffetts and swelling which their blowes had made full of teares descending from his eyes of blood distilling from his crowne of thornes you will be sure to say that his face was hidden he of whom Dauid saith Psal 44. that he was fayre beyond the sonnes of men and that grace was diffused through his lipps and that therefore our Lord did blesse him for all eternity Certainely the most beautifull of men was hidden and more tormented then man euer was and soe farre disfigured Esay 53. that Esay saith He hath noe beauty nor grace we saw him and he had no figure of a man And againe afterwards he saith That his face was as if it had beene hidden and despised and that therefore they esteemed him not He indeede did suffer our infirmities and our sorrowes and we tooke him for some leprous person who had beene stroocken and abased by our Lord. Well then my deere brother in this face which seemes to be soe deformed but which indeede is rarely beautifull to such as behould it with the eyes of faith and loue considering that it was loue which deformed it to the end that he might beautify our deformity doth God hide them who labour that they may not depart from him And he giues them light wherewith to looke him in the face and to receiue such strength and comfort thence as to make them feele that he said true who said Shew vs thy face and we shall be safe Psal 79. This face is beheld by the eternall father and out of that sight doe result to vs the beames of his bounty and light for by meanes thereof doe all those blessings come to vs which God sends Psal 83. And Dauid knowing this besought God saying Looke vpon the face of thy Christ For by looking vpon that face he layes downe that wrath to which he had been moued by looking vpon our impudent faces and he will remoue the deformity of them by that other beauty And to the end that this face of his might euer stand before his father Hebr. 9 Saint Paule saith that Iesus Christ entred into heauen to appeare before the face of God for vs. And now since the eternall Father lookes into this glasse that he may come to vs let vs alsoe looke into it to the end that we may not depart from him We haue not any other remedy against our weakenes 2. Cor. 13. but the weakenes of Iesus Christ our Lord of which S. Paule said that he dved with infirmity but that be liues by the power of God Consider how great things he endured that soe our soules might be taught to loue that weakenes of his and that we might not giue them away to strangers they hauing been purchased by their proper Lord at such a painefull and precious rate And doe but weigh what weake braines we haue in departing from that ioy which recreates the angells to obtaine this base delight which is possessed by beasts And how inconsiderate that soule is which exchaunges honny for gall and the Creatour for a creature Wretched creatures that we are and whether shall wee goe and what shall wee seeke out of Christ our lord Shall we peraduenture be able to finde out any other Lord like this any other soe deere companion and soe true freind both in prosperity aduersity Where is any other soe milde in pardoning soe beautifull to behould soe wise to consult and soe good to loue where is there any other who can finde in his hart to dye for mee with such teares and with such loue and who still remaines with a disposition to dye yet againe if I could haue neede of his second death O how sincere a truth was that which Saint Peter deliuered when he said Whether shall we goe O Lord Iohn 23. for thon hast the words of eternall life Wee are well my deere brother where Christ our Lord hath by his mercy placed vs. Let vs take heede that wee trye not what kinde of woefull thing it is to be without him A very bitter thing it is and it costs soundly the setting on Lett vs looke vpon the afflictions which he suffered for vs and with them lett vs comfort our selues in ours and by them let vs begg his grace and fauour and he will giue it to vs that we may thereby ouercome the world the flesh and the deuill and soe we shall liue in God since he dyed to kill our death and to giue vs life A Letter of the Authour to the same Lady Whome formerly he had animated to beare her afflictions with patience MY soule loues yours because God loues it and because I am to haue noe little part in your happines S. Paule saith that they to whome he preached were his ioy his honour and his crowne in respect that receiuing the
Ps 41. therefore will I remēber thee the land of Iordan Hermō the little hill Hee who behoulds himselfe and there discouers soe many abhominations is troubled at himselfe and he hath reason And not finding one houre exactly well spent in his whole life but seeing his sinnes to be many great his good deedes to be so few weake what should he doe but be troubled when he findes himselfe soe vnable to make a good accounte before soe strict a Iudge Only he must remēber Christ our lord cōsidering what he wrought in the land of Iordan vpon that little hill and bewayling his sinnes and receiuing the holy Sacraments hee must liue in obedience to the commaundemēts of God and of his Church and soe as a sonne he may hope for the inheritance of heauen He must alsoe call to minde that which was wrought by our lord in those hills of Hermon which are many in the little hill alsoe Which whether it be that of Horeb where God gaue the lawe or whether it be some other hill doth not soe much import vs who are Christians whose vnderstanding Iesus Christ hath opened towards the conceiuing of the scriptures and he vnderstands them who vnderstands Christ our Lord in them who is shutt vp therein as a graine of corne may be in an eare or as wine is in the grape And therefore the end of our law is Christ our Lord for all the lawe rests in him Cor. 10 The hills of Hermon both they which are within the land of promise and without it as also the little hill doe all signify but one hill which may iustly be said to be a little one and to be of Herman And this is Mount Caluary where our redemption was wrought by the shedding of the blood of the sonne of God Now to the end that wee may knowe how well this name may be applyed to Mount Caluary it is to be vnderstood that Hermon signifies malediction And how can Mount Caluary be better expressed then by the name of malediction since it was the place to which they carryed malefactours to be executed whome the scripture calls accursed because they were to be soe punished And because Christ our Lord saw that we were to be accursed and adiudged to euerlasting malediction hee was pleased through the immensenes of his Charitie to take our maledictions vpon himselfe I meane the punishment of our sinnes that soe his benediction might descend on vs. S. Paule expresses thus much after this manner Gal. 3. Christ was made malediction that so his benediction might be communicated to the Gentiles He was blessed and we were cursed But now the case is altered and we chaunge persons with one another He tooke the place of the accursed in being tormented vpon the Crosse which was dew to vs and wee are admitted to the freindship of God and to be his sonnes and the inheritours of the kingdome of heauen with a thowsand other benedictions which came from our Blessed lord Iesus Christ in whome they remaine for euer O wonderfull exchaunge that life should dye to the end that death may liue Benediction is accursed that soe malediction may be blessed The sound man is wounded that soe the wounded man may be cured The sonne is treated as a slaue that soe the slaue may be adopted for a sonne They most cruelly handle him who deserues all pitty and all the fauour and Regalo falls vpon that person who deserued hell In fine what shall we say They apprehend the innocent and they release the guilty The iust man payes for sinnes Innocency is cōdemned and the wicked man is iustified What did Christ our lord choose for himselfe Our afflictions and our miseries to be his recreations delights What shall wee say to such a charity as this but that we are to praise and blesse this lord day and night who hath wrought our redemption and saluation by a way which put him to soe much cost This is indeede that hill of Hermon that little hill and this soe truly as that he was esteemed by the relation of the Prophett Esay Esay 53. for the meanest amongst men And for this reason our Lord himselfe saith Ps 21 I am a worme and noe man but the dishonour of men and the abasement of the people O thou honour of men and angels and how canst thou be the dishonour of men Thou who art the aduancement of thy people and who art the glory both of heauen and earth what could make thee grow to be the abasement of thy people but onely thine owne great Charitie For thou to honour vs didst endure soe great dishonour that as wee are wont to say of some very base vnworthy man that he dishonours his whole stocke soe did they alsoe say of thee that thou dishonouredst the whole race of mankinde Bee thou Blessed without end For all the honour which all the race of mankinde possesses comes from thee and through thee Thou gauest it by the coniunction of thy selfe to them making thy selfe man and dying for men and exalting them to an equallity with Angells and euen with Seraphins if themselues will and ordeyning that the sonnes of sinnefull Adam they may become the sonnes of God and the heyres of thy Father and coheyres with thee as being thy bretheren and yet thou O Lord art called the dishonour and abasement of the people Thou didst abase thy selfe O Lord to exalt vs thou didst abase thy selfe belowe all men that thou mightest rayse vs about the Angells What shall wee render to thee O Lord for soe great fauours but onely that we must tenderly and profoundly knowe that if wee haue any thing if wee be fitt for any thing and if we be any way acceptable to almighty God it is wholly by thee And wee must yeild thee all thankes and praise for that thou being what thou art wouldest yet vouchsafe to offer thy selfe to sufferance of soe great afflictions for such wretched things as wee are Thou diminishedst thy selfe in that little hill that thou mightest exalt vs to that great hill Thou dyedst on Mount Caluary to the end that wee might liue in the mountaine of heauen And by the malediction which fell vpon thee there thou diddest purchasse and thou wilt impart to vs that happy benediction of thine Come you blessed of my father possesse the kingdome which is prepared for you They cursed thee O Lord and thou blessedst vs. Thy death giues vs life and thy affliction ease Since thou wert content to be iudged it is reason that thou alsoe be our Iudge Lett vs therefore reioyce since hee who loues vs soe much is to be our Iudge and wee will goe confidently to iudgment since the Iudge is of our owne flesh and bloud If wee know not what wee may doe for the pleasing of Almighty God lett vs looke vp to Christ our Lord and he will teach vs meekenes from that Crosse Who being
mother This Spouse hath noe neede of a dowry for the children which shee brings will bring it and that soe richly as wherewith she may gaine and purchase heauen it selfe And they make their mother liue in soe perfect ease that I giue you my word that when you compose your selfe to sleepe at night you shall finde your selfe in greater peace and rest then if you were Mystres of the whole earth and whatsoeuer can be desired therein And tell me now what can be thought of in this world which may arriue or euen approach to the least of these aduantages For if there be any little paltry pleasure heere euery hower of such pleasure carryes with it the counterpoyse of more then a hundred howers of greife and paine And if heere there be any pleasure without paine it will at last haue an end and either the spouse will dye before her fellow spouse or els he before her and soe all proues paine And besides the death of children it is a greife to a mother to part from them euen vpon other occasions in such sort as that they enioy not one another But reioyce you O virgin in Christ our Lord. For your spouse shall neuer dye And when you dye you will be hemmed in by your children which are those good workes that you haue wrought and they will not put you to paine by your leauing them for they goe with you into the other world and they accompany you euen to the very throne of God and they will plentifully repay all the labour and charge which you haue beene at with them and the mother shall be made happy for the loue of the children More ouer death makes noe diuorce in this case but rather puts the spouse and her fellow spouse together And he shall deliuer vs for he is the Lord of life and death And noe deuill shall presume to steale her away whome God hath taken vnder the protection of his fauour and hath honoured with the name of his spouse Then will the Angells come and serue and present her before Almighty God singing prayses to him and powring forth benedictioÌ„s vpon her and saying to her after this manner Come O spouse of Christ receiue that crowne which is prepared for thee by our Lord. The virgin mother will not then absent herselfe being accompanyed with a world of other virgins who haue done in this world that which you are doeing now and are farre from repenting themselues thereof In fine you shall goe out of this world in company of your Peeres where our Lord hath already prepared that celestiall bedd of state for yow that you may eternally be full and rich and royally prouided for in the house and presence of our Lord God contemplating that infinite beauty of his from one moment to another one hower whereof is so high a reward that by way of recompence it farre exceedes the proportion of what you suffer yea and all those afflictions which all the men of the whole world did euer suffer in tyme past or can euer suffer in tyme to come There shall you possesse all good and there shall you haue obtayned all that for which you were created and you shall bee soe very full of God as that it cannot be expressed nor soe much as thought For there shall you finde the whole bosome of your soule euen to regorge with ioy like one whoe were ingulfed into a whole sea of vnspeakeable sweetenes whereby he were enuironed on all sides Then shall you see and exclayme and enioy and possesse the Lord of all things and say whome I haue loued I haue obteyned and whome I haue sought I haue found and hee for whome I left the world is growen my pay and my reward and him will I praise and loue through the eternitie of all eternityes Amen A Letter written to a deuout person wherein is treated of Humility and Pride and of the perfection of the loue of God GOD giue you Sir a good Lent and that soe you may exteriourly take ashes in the begining of this holy tyme that the vertue of holy humility which is signifyed thereby may euer haue a resting place in your soule For to whome our Lord giues true knowledge and greife for what he was at that tyme when he went estraunged from God him hath he deliuered from the daungerous blindenes of pride and him doth he make capable of all those spirituall blessings which it may concerne him to haue The holy Scripture saith The begining of all mischeife is pride and he whoe is possessed by it shall be possessed by all manner of maledictions that is of vices For as kings are not wont to goe alone soe is Pride accompanyed with many sinnes And soe alsoe on the other side humility is neuer alone since according to Saint Iames. God giues his grace to such as are humble which Grace is the Mother of all vertue The proud man seekes after honour and afflicts himselfe when he is contemned but the person who is humble is out of countenance when hee is well treated and is glad when he is despised because he findes that Iustice is done thereby which Iustice he loueâ— as a person whoe is truly Iust The proud man is euer in want of somewhat because how much soeuer he haue either of his owne or by the guift of others he still conceiues himselfe to be worthy of more but the huÌ„ble man is alwayes in aboundance yea and in superfluity for he acknowledges himselfe to be vnworthy euen of the very earth whereof he treades yea and he esteemes hell it selfe to be a punishment which comes short of his sinnes The proud man cannot endure nor liue with any body noe nor euen with himselfe in peace But the humble man can liue with all the world for he abases himselfe to all he endures all esteeming them for his betters in his very hart To the proud man it seemes an vnsupportable thing to obey the will of others whether it be of God or man but the man whoe is humble submitts and diminishes himselfe and soe is enabled to goe in by the straite gate of doeing the will of others whether it be of the Creatour or of the creatures Great are the blessings which comes to vs in these ashes of humility and men must take heede that they be not found without it vnlesse they meane to be without God For S. Augustine saith How high art thou O Lord and yet â—he â—umble of hart are the house wherein thou choosest to aweâ— And the holy Scripture saith Vpon whome will I looke or vpon whome shall my spiriâ—â— rest but vpon the person who feares and trembles at the voice of my wordes This humility which makes a man thinke basely of himselfe is farre from being abase thing nor is it a fruite which growes on earth but in heauen it is and God impartes it to such as digg deepely in their owne dunge raking vp and ruminating vpon their faultes and
self-loue tell vs that wee desire it but for the seruice of Almighty God And for my part I beleiue that there is noe peace to be had in this world but by patience Nor doe I thinke that it is true patience when a man is content to beare with his neighbours if withall he be not content to beare with himself Not to the end that he must fayle to punish and to mend his faultes but that his hart may not be deiected and he vnreasonably afflicted and that whatsoeuer happen hee may bee able to keepe himself content both within and without but soe that yet withall as I was saying he still doe his diligences to mend himself Which yet if he should not wholy doe it is better that he bee sorry for it and that instantly he rise vp with new alacrity which vses to encrease and double our strength then that whilest conceiues himself to lament his faultes for the loue of God he should indeed displease the same God by seruing him with a sowre kind of hart and with fallen wings and such other braunches as vse to rise from this roote Let the Conclusion be that which S. Paul deliuers Let vs frequent prayer in all things giuing thanks to God Thess 5. and soe wee shall be sure to doe well Our Lord Iesus bee with you and with vs all Amen A Letter to a Cauallier his freind wherein he teacheth how the afflictions which God sendes to his seruants are to put good men in hope and wicked men in feare THankes be giuen to Christ our lord for hauing made you a partaker of paine and trouble for it is the most certaine title to heauen which can be had vpon earth since it doth enable vs to be like our lord who descended from heauen to giue vs light that we might loue him and strength by his example and grace by his merites Let not the dispensation of the workes of God seeme cruelty in your sight for as the rewarde which he giues is not light soe neither must the meanes be light whereby it is to be obtained Nor is there any thing further of from being a matter of toyes or iest then that which our lord hath prepared for such as loue him Now to the end that this may be knowen and rightly vnderstood it is fitt that they who are to enioy it may be soe treated as he was that soe the world may be vnbeguiled if it still conceiue that by liuing in iest they are to enioy that great reward in earnest Our lord giues aduise to his seruants and he threatens such as will needes be strangers to him For to the former sorte of men he saith that they must thinke highly of his rewarde since he will not giue it but vpon high tearmes And as for these other he askes them how they thinke to escape the rigour of his handes they who are his enemies since euen his children be strictly treated who are yet elected for soe great a good If we cast our eyes towardes this beame of rigour and iustice which are the afflictions whereof we now speak we shall finde that they conteyne greate occasions both of hope and feare And on the one side the mercy of God is much glorified thereby and his iustice on the other Let trouble expect to finde repose and let him feare affliction hereafter who doth not feele it now For since in any man how iust soeuer he be there are many thinges which may deserue punishment though not in hell and this punishment is to be personally indured if it be not purged with soe great an excesse of loue as that the contrition may stand for the punishment as it did in S. Mary Magdalen and some others it is plaine that eyther heere or in purgatory they must passe through fire And though they who finde not in themselues soe great loue of God as to cause this greife which may stand for a satisfaction may thinke perhaps that they receiue hard measure in beeing saued by fire whilst others shall be saued without it yet indeed they are much deceiued in their account For the great loue of God euen heere on earth when men see that God is offended doth cause greater greife then that to which you are subiect And that truth is seene by this then when one loues God greatly he would be glad of the paine you suffer soe that he might be free from that which he feeles for the offences which are committed against God And at this wee must not wonder since there are persons who euen to free you from the paine wherein you are would indure themselues And this also may serue for a proofe that the loue which one beares to another puts him to more trouble then the paine it selfe would doe which the other feeles that if your selfe loue another very much you would not be ridd of your owne paine if it were vpon condition that the other must indure it for yow which proues as I was saying that it would trouble you more in the personne of that other then in your owne Now if the loue of a creature can reach soe farre how much more will the loue of the creatour be able to doe it being infused by the most holy spirit of our lord which farre exceedes all other force And thus it growes to be a most certaine truth that eyther in this fashion or in that there is noe meanes to escape from suffering before we ariue to enioying And tell him who would complaine of this law ather complaine that he is a man that he was not made an angell and lett him complaine against iustice and reason which doe absolutely require that vertue must be obtained with labour and the reward must correspond with the vertue But who o lord who shall euer presume to cōplaine of thee as if thou didst treat them with rigour◠since instantly thou stoppest their mouthes with shewing that thou so loued the world as to giue thy onely begotten sonne to the end that in the strength of these afflictions and sorrowes and death which they charged vpon him the world might escape the torments of hell and might triumph in heauen Who I say o lord will presume to complaine when he shall see thy best beloued freindes to be soe seuerely handeled and obserue that in thy court it is hard to say which of these two haue the pre-eminence eyther afflictions or fauours and that it was said by thy commaundement to one of thy fauourites Because thou wert accepted by God it was necessary that temptation should try thee Doe not permitt your heart to sinke vnder your crosses but remember that heretofore you haue desired to doe and suffer somewhat for the loue of God God is not deafe to the desires of our hartes He hath giuen that which he knew to be best for you and if you thinke it heauy confide that he who sendes it will giue you shoulders wherewith to beare it That
againe Though thousands should rise against me yâ—t my hart shall not feare Beleiue my good sister Ps 26. that how much the harder this businesse is for you soe much the easyer is it for Almighty God And therefore you must haue great distrust in respect of your owne weakenes but great confidence withall in God's strength Infallibly he will crowne you if you continue in his loue and if you confide that by his grace you shall obtaine that Crowne Forget not this promise of Christ our lord him whoe confesses mee before men Man 10. that man will I confesse before my father who is in heauen but him who denyes mee before men that man will I alsoe deny before my father whoe is in heauen Can you thinke that one is to esteeme that for affliction which he endures for the confession of Christ our lord since it is to haue soe high a reward as that with soe much honour he shall be avowed by him at the day of iudgment before his father Happy is that sufferaÌ„ce happy that dishonour and pouerty to which soe high an honour doth succeede What kinde of ioye will it be for you O my goost sister to heare these wordes from the mouth of Christ our lord himselfe and that in presence of the whole world Matth 25. Come you blessed of my father and possesse the kingdome which is prepared for you What will it bee when the angells shall thus singe to her who hath beene a faithfull seruant of that celestiall king Come O spouse of Christ receiue thâ— crowne which our Lord hath prepared for thee and that not for one day but for all eternitie What will the spouses of Christ our Lord conceiue when hauing passed through the sea of this life and their enemies who disturbed vs remayning drowned therein they shall singe thus with great ioye for hauing runne through this dangerous world without being ouerwhelmed by the vices thereof Psal 123. The suare is broken and we are deliuered our helpe is in the name of our lord What a day will that be when that true Mary the virgin of virgins shall goe before with her Timbrell which is her sacred body praysing God both in body and soule and singing thus Psa 31. Come magnisye our Lord wish mee and lett vs exalt his name in mutuall sacietie with one another Happy are you if you be found faithfull to the Spouse whoe chose you Happy are you if you haue the courage to cast away that which is present vnder the most certaine promise of Christ our Lord for that which is future Be confident my good sister in taking his word for you are not the first to whome he hath passed it and fulfilled it neither shall you be she with whome that word shall want effect He gaue his word to S. Katherine S. Agnes S. Barbara and S. Lucy and to innumerable other Lady virgins and tell me now how completely he hath performed it They had the courage to despise the poore present world and you see that now they raigne with God They liued heere in trouble and they are nowe in the eternitie of repose Through how many combatts did they passe and they now enioye the euerlasting crownes of their conquests They fled from spouses of the earth and they brought the king of heauen to be in loue with them If they had followed the trace of this world their delight had bene already passed and their memories would haue bene forgotten But they loued that which was eternall and therefore their felicitie shall not dye and their memory shall not decay They were written in the booke of God and therefore neither water nor winde nor fyre nor tyme can make them waste For that booke is incorruptible and soe in the name which is written in it You must therefore procure to haue a stronge heart towards God who is your saluation and doe not thinke that he sells heauen deere to you for you haue not yet shed your bloud for him as those others shed theirs Our lord treates you like a weake creature and you should be ashamed to haue giuen him such cause If you had had more faith and confidence in him and more loue to suffer for him he would haue procured you more afflictions to the end that you might haue purchased richer Crownes Doe not content your selfe with suffering little considering how great your rewards all bee and how much Christ our Lord suffered for you He gaue his life for you and he was deepely tormented and despised How then come you thus to complaine of the touch of a flye doe but loue and you will desire to suffer Let your loue be doubled and you will suffer sorrowes which are doubled The loue of our lord makes such as possesse it more greedy of suffering then the loue of ones selfe of reposing It makes that any burden weighes light for loue is stronger then death He who loues not groanes vnder the burden like some lasy beast but he who loues runnes and flyes and it suffers him not to feele the weight euen of his owne body nor of whatsoeuer els they can lay vpon it It is not my good sister that the afflictions which wee suffer are greater but that our loue is little The weight of a pound is noe great weight but yet lay it vpon some little childe and he will say O how heauy it weighes Whereas if a man tooke it vp he would scarce feele it And soe take you it for a signe that if you loue little your afflictions will weigh heauy vpon you but if you loue much you will scarce allowe them to be afflictions For you will be soe inebriated with loue that nothing can be able to distract you from the taste thereof You will finde a good sauour in the very suffering it selfe and you will draw water Num. 20. out of the rocke and hony out of the stony hills Doe but loue and you shall not be subiect to afflictions but you shall be Superiour to them as their Lady and you shall praise him who deliuers you from them If they threaten you with death you will bid it welcome that soe you may enioy true life If with banishment you will say That you esteeme your selfe banished wheresoeuer you are till you may arriue to see the face of God And that it imports you little whether you goe to heauen from this or that part of the earth And that if you haue God in your company wheresoeuer you are you shall be happy and if not your owne country will giue you misery enough If you see your selfe contemned say Christ our Lord is my honour and he honours mee let the world despise mee soe hee value mee Doe not afflict your selfe about the necessitie which you may sustaine of present things for of your felfe you must despise them through the desire which you haue to â—liue in conformitie with Christ our Lord whoe made himselfe a
for it is not fitt that eyther you or I should haue an eye to our owne ease but that although wee should know that after this life wee must suffer paine yet heere we must also take courage to suffer afflictions for loue loue is content with nothing but loue Christ our lord suffered for our loue Christ our lord carried the Crosse and lett vs help him to cary it on Christ our lord is dishonoured and I renounce honour Christ our lord suffered torments and therefore they shall be welcome to me He was subiect to many necessityes and I submitte my selfe to the same For me he made himselfe a stranger and I desire not to be the owner of any single thing wherein my heart may rest He dyed for me and lett my life be a continuall death for the loue of him Gal. 2. Let me liue yet now not me but let Christ our lord liue in me and that Christ who was crucified exhausted abandoned by all the world and receiued alone by Almighty God This Christ I loue vpon the Crosse will I seeke him and from thence haue I noe desire to finde him Let him dispose of me how he will for my part I will suffer affliction for him Let him choose whether he will giue me any reward or noe for the very suffering it selfe is an abundant reward And if he would graunt me a great suite I would desire noe other then to haue afflictions for thereby I may know that I loue him and that he alsoe loues me since he layes me vpon the Crosse where himselfe lay For though I haue noe ayme at mine owne profitt yet I know full well that if I continue vpon the Crosse he will cary me to his Crowne To him be glory through the eternity of all eternityes Amen A Letter of the Authour to one who formerly had beene a disciple of his and then being of the Society of Iesus was growen to be at the poynt of death He congratulates his departure hence and his goeing to enioy the fruites of his labour in his Order and he giues him great hope of the eternall kingdome by meanes of the bloud of Christ our Lord. THE grace of the holy Ghost be euer with you Though heere they say that you are vpon the point of passing into the land of the liuing soe as a man may thinke that whilest I am writing this you may already be enioying the deare imbracements of our allswcete Iesus yet I thought it not amisse to venture this letter towards you congratulating with you your promotion to that Prebēd in the Church of the celestiall Ierusalem where without all ceasing God is praised and seene face to face Goe in a good houre most deare father goe I say in a good houre both to see all Good and to possesse it for all eternity Goe in a good houre to the bosome of the celestiall father where he entertaines those lambes of his with glory which heere he fed with his grace and corrected with his discipline Now my good Father shall you see the fauour which God did you in calling you to a Religious life and in giuing you grace in the strēgth whereof you dispising the world might follow him by the way of the Crosse For now in recompence thereof he will giue you heauen for your Religious Order and glory for that Crosse which you haue borne for his sake Blessed be our lord Iesus Christ who hath goodnes enough to induce him to giue such glory to such wormes of the earth raising vp the poore man out of the dust that he may sitt amongst the Princes of his people Happy is the houre of our corporall death since thereby wee are exalted intitled to take our seate amōgst those princes who liue eternally in the high presence of God O day which is the end of labours and the end also of sinnes and in which wee ascend to serue our Lord in good earnest and not as wee are wont to doe heere below where wee are all discomforted through the imperfections of those seruices which we performe to God For heere a man goes halting faynting with hunger through his desire to please that diuine Maiesty to serue him with all the soule But in heauē this desire is perfected that in so cōpleat a manner that all the whole man is imployed in the seruice praise of God without being subiect to the least impedimēt which may interpose it self Blessed be God who hath soe soone beene pleased to gather you vp into his granary least mallice might els haue chaunged your mind and to shew you the riches of his bounty Sap. 4. who for soe few yeares of seruice imparts an eternity of reward Sir this is God this I say is God this is the fruit of his passion this is the valew of his grace this is our happy encounter to haue fallen into the hands of such a Lord to know him to loue him though it be with many imperfections But he washes them away by his bloud making vs partakers of his Sacramēts And the paternall loue which he beares vs both makes him easily encline to pardon our faults to be very copious in rewarding our seruices And he cōducts vs through the middest of the red sea Psal 102. to the land of promise diuiding vs from our sinnes as farre of as the East is from the West and drowning them in his bloud Soe that although wee may see them still yet wee shall see them dead they will serue but to giue vs matter reason to praise our Lord Exod. 14. who hath cast both the horse and horseman into the sea Goe Sir with the benediction of our lord God to enioy the riches of your deer Father which he gayned for you with the launce in his hād by shedding his owne bloud who neuer fay les to succour all such as place theire hope loue in him It is true that wee shall misse you that wee shall thinke our selues to be all alone when we are heere without you but since God hath desined you to this great happynes let vs who loue you hould it for our owne And wee who in our owne right shall lament will yet reioyce with you in yours like the brothers of Rehecca who is goeing to be espoused with Isaak which signifies i◠And therefore wee say to you you are our brother and wee desire that you may encrease to thousands of thousands Gen. 24. and that your seede may possesse the gates of your enemyes I doe not pretend to tell you how you must prepare your self for this Feast for there you haue them who can doe it and who will helpe you to passe on out of the hands of men into the hands of God And let our lord who came into the world for you and who ascended vp to the Crosse for you Ps 22. be he who succours you in such sorte that though you
Iesus Christ cryes out in the demaunde of mercie for vs and that his crye is so lowde as that it drownes the crye of our sinnes so that it cannot be heard Doe you not know that if our sinnes should still remayne aliue notwithstanding that Christ Iesus dyed to defeate them his death should be of litle worth since it could not worke that effect Let no man sett a light price vpon that which was so highly valued by Almighty God that he holdes it for a sufficient yea a superaboundant discharge forasmuch as concernes his parte therein of all the sinnes of the whole worlde and of a thousand worldes if there were so manie They who are lost are not lost for want of payment but for want of seruing themselues thereof by meanes of Faith and Pennance and the Sacraments of the holie Church Settle once this truth in your hart and doe it soundly that Christ our lord tooke the businesse of our redemption to his owne charge as verily as if it had beene his owne and he calles our sinnes his by the mouth of Dauid saying Longè a salute mea verba delictorum eorum And he demaunded pardon for them though himselfe committed none and he desired with a most profound internall loue that his seruants might be beloued as if he had desired it for himself and as he desired it Iohn 17. he obtayned it For according to the ordinance of God he and we are so much one thing that either he and we must be beloued or he and we must be abhorred And since he neither is nor can euer be abhorred neither can we also be so if we be incorporated into him by Faith and Loue. But indeede because he is beloued we are also beloued and that iustly because he weighes more towards the making of vs to be beloued then we doe to make him be abhorred And the Father loues his Sonne more then he abhorres such sinners as are conuerted to him And as one who was much beloued by his Father he said to him to this effect Either loue them or loue not me for I offer myself in pardon of their sinnes to the ende that they may be incorporated into myself The greater loue ouercame the lesser hate we are beloued pardoned and iustified we haue great hope not to be forsaken there where there is so strong a knott of loue If through our weakenesse we be afflicted with excessiue feares as now you are conceiuing that God hath forgotten you our lord hath prouided you a comfort saying thus by the Prophet Isai 49. Shall the mother perhaps be able to forgett to take pittie vpon the childe of her wombe well if she doe yet will not I forgett thee for I carrie thee written in my hands O writing which art so firme whose penne be hard nayles whose inke is the bloud it self of him who writes and the paper is his owne very flesh and his word saith thus I haue loued thee with an eternall loue â—eve 31. and therefore I haue drawen thee towards me with mercie Such a writing therefore as this must not be litle esteemed especially when one findes in himself that his soule is drawen by the sweetenesse of good purposes which are signes of that eternall loue where with our Lord hath chosen and loued him Be not therefore scandalized or afflicted for any of these things which happen to you since they all are dispensed by those very hands which were nayled to the Crosse for you in testimony of the loue hee bate you And if you desire to vnderstand what you gett heereby in the inteÌ„tion of God who sendes them you must know that they are tryalls whereby you may be examined that afterward as one who hath beene faithfull in the conflict you may be crowned by the haÌ„d of our lord with a Crowne of Iustice And to the ende you may not thinke that the particulars which you endure are signes of reprobation and that they are sent by our Lord to none but wicked men heare what Dauid saith in his owne person and of many others who walked in the way of God I sayd in the excesse of my soule Psal 30. that I am cast of before the countenance of thine eyes And though this dismay of hart and the disfauour which wee finde in the middest thereof be a thing which doth much afflicte and that the soule can take no ayme of how it standes in the sight of God nor how it shall stande nor what ende that Crosse shall haue yet neuerthelesse there are few things in the world which are so forcible to purge sinnes or which teach a man soe manie tâ—utâ—es as doth this darke obscuritie and inward affliction which makes the soule sweate droppes of bloud Our lord sendes this to his seruants that they may not departe this life without feeling what crosses and tribulations are And therefore he wounds them in the spiritt wherein they liue For if he should but wound them in temporall things to which they are dead they would haue no sence at all thereof You must therefore be sure to giue a good accompt of that dangerous passage wherein God hath beene pleased to bestow you and you must adore his iudgements And being comforted through confidence in his goodnesse bowe downe that head of yours without anie more sifting into the matter and open the mouth of your hart to swallow downe this pill of darkenesse and desolation and disfauour of God through the obedience which you owe to the same God And knowe for certaine that vnlesse you haue a minde to breake your word and vnsay your self in this tryall which God sendes to you you must resolue to make yourself strong as the Angell did Iosue Ioâ—uâ— 1. and you must liue dying euerie day 1. Coâ— 15. as S. Paul did You must be baked in the fire of tribulation that so you may grow hard like anie bricke and fitt to resist the raynes and windes of temptation and troubles and that you be not soft like the dawbing of a wall which is instantly dissolued by water and no way fitt for a strong building For the people who are to be placed in that house of heauen must be beaten and hammerd here on carth by the knockes of manie tribulations and temptations as it is written Our lâ—â—dâ—ryâ—d them and found them worthie of him self Sap. 3. Learne you therefore to sustaine your self with strong foode and striue to conuerte these stones of tribulation into bread if you desire to haue the testimonie of being the childe of God And if he giue you an appetite to eate the white and new bread of consolation remitt it back againe to the will of our lord and be content with being sure that you shall haue so much of that in the next world as that the sweetnesse thereof will farre and farre exceede the recompence which might be due for anie bitternesse sustayned in this And in steede of those hard
take you it for a signe that if you loue little your afflictions will weigh heauy vpon you but if you loue much you will scarce allowe them to be afflictions For you will be so inebriated with loue that nothing can be able to distract you from the taste thereof You will finde a good sauour in the very suffering it self and you will draw water out of the rocke and hony out of the stonie hilles Num. 20. Doe but loue and you shall not be subiect to afflictioÌ„s but you shall be superiour to them as their lady you shall prayse him who deliuers you froÌ„ them If they threaten you with death you will bid it wellcome that so you may enioy true life If with bannishment you will say That you esteeme yourself bannished wheresoeuer you are till you may arriue to see the face of God And that it imports you litle whether you goe to heauen from this or that parte of the earth And that if you haue God in your companie wheresoeuer you are you shall be happie and if not your owne country will giue you miserie enough If you see yourself contemned say Christ our Lord is my honour and he honours me let the world despâ—se me so hee value me Doe not afflict yourself about the necessity which you may sustaine of present things for of yourself you must despise them through the desire which you haue to liue in conformity with Christ our Lord who made himself a poore man for you What is there in the world which ough to fright you if the loue of Christ our Lord haue wounded you you will treade the deuill vnder foote you will despise his threates and you will passe with courage through all your enemies Put your trust in him who loues his louers There is nothing which you will not be able to doe in him Goe and buy whatsoeuer you want of him though he aske you all this world for it see that you be not found without the loue of him though it should cost you your life He is a hidden treasure but he who findes him selles all to buy him For in him alone he findes himself more rich then with the multitude of all other things And now if it concerne euery one of vs to loue him how much more doth it importe that she doe it whome he hath chosen for his spouse It becomes the seruant to feare his Maâ—ster and the sonne to honour his father but the Spouse to Loue her fellow spouse See you loue our Lord and take no rest till he haue graunted you this guift Loue him with reuerence for that is the kinde of loue which he likes Esteeme not him the lesse because he communicates himself to you but wonder how so great an altitude as his can stoope to such a profound basenesse as yours It is the propertie of ill-natured and ill-mannerd seruaÌ„ts to value their Maisters at a lesse rate for vouchsafing to descende and become familiar with them then if they had liued with them like Lords But they who liue in true light esteeme that Lord so much the more as he doth the more vouchsafe to diminish himself The true loue of Christ our Lord carries this badge with it in token that it is indeede of him That as it apprehendes and highly esteemes the goodnesse of God so it also apprehendes and profoundly disesteemes the wickednesse of man Therefore loue adore and serue our Lord with Ioy but yet reioyce with trembling Not a trembling as of a slaue in the midst of torments but as of a true and tenderharted childe who highly feares to giue any disgust to her father how litle soeuer it may bee Of yourself you can doe none of these things but if you humble your hart in the acknowledgement of your owne miseries if you present yourselfe often in prayer before Christ our Lord if you lodge him in your breast by the Communion if you heare him speake to you in your spirituall reading and in fine if you will but giue him leaue to helpe you you are to haue confidence that by litle litle he will be healing your soule notwithstanding all the harsh encounters which may occurre Doe not starte out of his hands though the cure putt you to payne for in fine he will worke the cure at the fittest time And for the afflictions which he sendes you and the delights whereof he depriues you he will giue you his owne most plentiefull delight which shall inebriate you as if it were with some swelling riuer and you shall be in full ioy for all eternitie without the want of anie good and without the feare of loosing what you haue You shall there finde yourself to be highly well content and payde and more felicity shall be imparted to you then yourself could tell how to desire Which felicity is not a creature but the Creatour himself of all things that true God who liues and raignes for the eternity of all eternities Amen A Letter of the Authour to a Lady He shewes how Christ our Lord being placed vpon the Crosse is that glasse wherein wee may see all the sports of our soules and wherein wee may alsoe finde the cure of all our miseries And that it is an enterprise of great honour to bee carrying a part of his Crosse IF in the night of the Natiuity of our Lord they carried you to Mount Caluary and haue giuen you compassion to the Crucifix and teares wherewith to wash his feete it may well be beleiued that now when you are in Lenit and neere the time wherein the holy passion of our Lord is represented he will keepe you as such a fixed Inhabitant of that hill as to suffer you to depart noe more from thence This is such a thing as that you may safely say with Saint Peeter it is good for vs to bee heere and it shall be a better suite to our Lord Mat. 17 then his was For he desired to remaine on that hill where repose and delight were to be found but in this other there is affliction and therefore this carryes a testimony with it of greater loue For not in resting but in labouring and suffering is the loue of our Lord employed and shewed Doe you Lady remaine in those woundes of our Lord since for the cure of your woundes he accepted his And though you be not to endure the like for his sake yet let them serue you at least to make you thanke him and to lament him and to haue compassion on him since your sinnes are they which placed him in soe extreame distresse Continue there and passe not on with such haste as you would doe by some ill-prouided country inne They whoe passed on by their owne way shooke their heads and blasphemed our Lord. But fixe you yourselfe close by the Crosse like that virgin-mother and like that beloued disciple and those other holy woemen For they who runn ouer this soe great benefit in
some by these meanes and to others who deserue no punishment he sendes them as tryalls and he presentes them with an occasion of meritt And though the thing which you endure may proceede from either of these two causes vet I am not sorrie that you perswade yourself that it is not so likelie to be a proofe of your vertues as the punishment of some light fault if that fault may well be accounted light which deserues so heauie a punishment For if the saints themselues aknowledge that there is no goodnesse in themselues but manie faultes and much wickednesse how much more must you doe it who know yourself to be farre from sanctitie and so full of sinne And now if you holde it for more probable that these fruits growe from this roote the remedie must be that you examine well if you haue done anie thing for which you may deserue punishment And know that for the most parte it vses to be some litle dust of vaine-glorie and if you see not the true reason of it esteeme your case to be so much the worse when not withstanding you are so full of faultes you can discerne none But now since the blow is come humble-yourself vnder the mightie hand of God as knowing that you are worthie of greater torment Beseech him to haue mercie on you and that he cast you not of from himself Say O lord I haue sinned and anie punishment how sharp soeuer is in itself too light for me considering the greatnesse of my sinnes If thou be pleased to punish me here I am extende the hand o lord discharge the blow Cutt burne and kill onely permitt not that I be diuided and driuen away from thee If I haue sinned let not thy punishment be to let me sinne anie more for the naturall punishment of a fault is payne and not a second fault But now neuerthelesse I would not that by your thinking your faultes to haue beene the cause of your crosses you should discomfort yourself and be so farre dismayed as to make you fall and that as by some precipices into despaire I desire on the one side that you humble yourself beleiuing that your sinnes haue deserued them and on the other side that you be comforted by remembring that you are the childe of God and none of them who are forgotten since your father hath beene carefull to correct you as a childe for feare least else you would haue beene worse And beleiue me in one thing though I be no Prophet that if our lord in his mercie had not humbled you as he hath done you would perhaps haue fallen into some parte of Lucifer's pride which had beene infinitely worse and therefore hath he kept you so humble that you neither dare nor euer so much as can holde vp your head Giue thankes therefore to our lord for this fauour and be happie in that you haue his grace But alreadie I know you will say thus to me If I could be sure that I were his childe and not his enemie and that this were the correction of a father and not the punishment of a Iudge If I could perswade myself out right that I were in his fauour what could I wish for more then that But I verily beleiue that vnlesse it might be hell there is not so wicked a creature as I am to be found and how then can I possesse such a thing as grace This life of mine is not a life of the sonnes of God but it is a life or to speake more truly it is a verie death of the damned O my good sister if you know the guift of God and what kinde of people they are who for the most parte are putt to suffer such things as these you would perhaps reioyce If I saw that the enemyes onely of God did endure them infallibly I should be much afflicted but I finde that his best friends are tempted in this kinde and why then should I not be comforted thereby Iob the holie man Iob. 7. saw himself one day in so sad a case that he sayd I haue despaired Such things had passed in his hart that he seemed to be fallen into despayre But to the ende that we may see that indeede he did not despaire he instantly goes to aske mercie and he who askes mercie despaires not Dauid sayd as we all know Psal 30. that God had cast him cleane out of his sight and that he saw himself couered with obscuritie and darkenesse and enuironed euen by the sorrowes of death and the danger of hell And he sayth that such things happened to him as no man will vnderstand but he through whose hart they had passed I will omitt the tribulations of S. Paul which were caused by Satan and which made him hang downe the head for of these you haue heard many other times In the liues of those holie Fathers I haue read manie things which I should neuer haue beleiued if the Authour were not a man of much authoritie And euen at this day we heare and see strange things which arriue to certaine deuout persons and seruants of our Lord and he hath drawen them out of these temptations with great spirituall gayne Whereby we gather that a man in such cases Rom. 4. must like Abraham beleiue that which he sees not and hope euen against hope itself Tell me my good Sister haue you seene these potters heate their fornace Haue you seene that smoake which is so thicke black That kindling of fyre and euen the resemblance of hell it self which passes there who would beleiue but that the potts which stand there within would be mouldred euen to dust by the rage of that fyre Or that at least they would not grow to be as fowle as pitch by the grossenesse of the smoake And yet when that furie is past and the fire quenched and the time come when they vnfurnace the potts you see that though they were soft and made of durt they come forth as hard as stone and they who formerly were so very browne shew themselues as white as snow and so neate and daintie otherwise that they become the table of kings We are called by S. Paul Rom. 9. by the name of potts of clay and certainely with great reason since we are so soft and weake in suffering the knockes of affliction Make account that you also are some poore litle pott that they haue putt you out to bake For you were so weake as that you could not well retaine and conserue the liquour of grace which was infused into you by Almightie God They will bake you my good Sister and you must haue patience They haue trust you into the furnace of tribulation Endure now those fyres those foggye flames and those obscurities and by confiding in the wisedome and goodnesse of our good potter you shall not be turned into ashes which may be carried away by the winde nor disfigured by anie ill marke which may be