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
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
thy body embrodered ouer with soe many stripes as that it was noe casye thing to nunber them Hee whoe beholding thee shall loue himselfe and not thee shall doe thee an extreame wrong Hee whoe seeing thee in such a plight shall flye from that which may make him like to thee and hee whoe hath but little desire to suffer for thee doth not know thee with perfect loue For hee whoe soe knowes thee doth euen dye for loue of thee when he considers that thou dyedst for him and he more desires dishonour for thy sake then hee esteemes honour then all that which the whole world which is both a deceiuer and doth deceiue can giue Away with it away let it all hould his peace in comparison of thy Crosse whatsoeuer it be in this world which florishes most and yet is soe soone withered And let worldly people be euen confounded with shame since thou soe much to thy cost hast fought ouercome by thy Crosse Yea and lett them euen alsoe be ashamed who are held for seruants of thine and yet reioyce not in that which is contrary to the world notwithstanding that thou wert soe reproached and abandoned and contradicted by this blinde world which neither doth nor yet can see that Truth which is Thy selse For my part I am resolued to hould thee fast though all other things be wanting to mee which yet in true account can neither deserue the name of all things nor indeede of any thing but of perfect misery and a meere nothing rather then I will remaine of any other colour then thou art though otherwise the world wherein I liue might be all mine For all those things which are not the thing which thou thy selfe art are rather affliction and burden then true happines but in thy being ours and our being thine consists our true ioy and riches for thou alone art all our true good I had forgotten my selfe my deere brethren in that whereof I beganne to speake and to beseech and admonish you in the name of Christ our Lord that you be not troubled nor brought to wonder at a straunge thing and not familiarly knowne by the seruants of God at these persecutions or rather the shadowes thereof which are come vpon vs. For this hath beene nothing but a tryall and examen of that lesson which we haue beene learning continually by the space of fiue or six yeares saying that we must suffer we must suffer for the loue of Christ our lord Behould wee are now at the very gates Let vs not be troubled like children whoe are not willing to repeat their lesson But comfort your selues in our Lord and in the strength of his power who loues you and whoe will defend you And though he be but one yet he can doe more then all the rest for hee is omnipotent You neede not alsoe feare that hee wants knowledge how to doe it for he can be ignorant of nothing And now consider whether it be reason that any man should be moued whoe is tyed to Almightie God with those three soe hard knotts of an infinite power an infinite wisedome and an infinite loue Let not the menaces of them who threaten you breede you any trouble For I for my part giue you to vnderstand that I vallew not all their threates at the weight of one single haire For I am noe where but in the hand of Christ our Lord and I haue great compassion of their blindenes For the ghospell of Christ our Lord which I haue preached in that towne is hidden from their eyes 2. Cor. 4. and S. Paule affirmed that the God of this world which is the deuill did blinde the soules of the Infidells to the end that the glory of the ghospell might not shine vpon them But I desire much and I cordially begg of our Lord that he will haue mercy on them and that he will heape benedictions vpon them in liew of the curses which they cast on mee and glory for the dishonour which they doe mee or to speake more truely for that which they desire to doe mee For as for mee I am fixed in this that there is noe honour for a man vpon this earth but to be dishonoured for Christ our Lord. Doe you alsoe my deere freinds after the same manner and be Disciples of him whoe gaue a kisse of peace to that person and called him freind who had sould him Matth 20. to his enemyes And vpon the Crosse he said Pardon them Father Luc. 23. for they know not what they doe Consider in all your neighbours how they are the creatures of God and that God desires their saluation and then you will take heede of wishing ill to that man to whome God desires soe much good Remember how often you haue heard from my mouth that wee must loue our enemyes and that with great repose of minde and without speaking ill of any Passe ouer this fitt of tyme for our Lord will quickly bring on another And be very well awake that you may not goe backe to reuerse any one lott of that good which you haue begunne for this would be extreamely ill done But settle this truth in your hartes that he whome you haue followed is the lord of heauen and earth and of life and death And that in fine though all the world should say nay his truth must preuaile Labour you to follow that truth and whilest you are doeing soe doe not onely forbeare to feare men but feare not deuills noe nor euen Angells if it were possible for them to be against you Be very carefull to be silent amōgst men but be sure that your hartes speake much in prayer to God from whome all our good is to come And his pleasure is that we should obtaine it and especially by meditating vpon the passion of Iesus Christ our Lord. And if you suffer any thing by the tongues of euill men for in fine you suffer nothing els take it in discharge of your sinnes and as a particular fauour of God whoe will make you cleane by the tongues of those euill men as it might be with some brush or rubber for those tongues will be fowle thereby since they vtter fowle things and your selfe will grow cleane by suffering and you will be sure of happines in the other world But in the meane tyme I will not by any meanes that you esteeme your selues for better then them whome thus you see to goe in errour Because you know not how long your selues may continue in doeing well nor they in doeing ill But worke your saluation in feare and in humility and soe hope that your selues shall gett to heauen as not to iudge with all that your neighbour is not to goe thither And soe value the fauours which God hath done to you as that withall you touch not vpon the imperfections of your neighbours For you know what happened betweene the Pharisee Luc. 18. and the Publicane by which example we
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
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
knowledge lyes in a place which is hidden from all discourse of reason that soe wee may learne to belceue that most firmely whereof wee finde least certainty For if as the starre guided them soe they had beene guided but by their reason they would haue gone to looke for this new borne king in some royall pallace for a person and a place wherein he dwells are to carry proportion to one another Our lord vouchsafes to shew a great fauour to them vpon whom he bestowes a starre which is the guift of faith that soe they may seeke God both when he is wrapped vp aswell in those swadling-cloutes in the pouerty of his birth as in the contempt and torment of the death of the Crosse the kings finde him in one of thofe places and the good theefe in the other For both they and hee had the eyes of Faith and that made them prostrate themselues all along and adore him protesting that they were as nothing in his diuine presence For if they had knowne him but for a temporall king how great soeuer hee had beene it would haue suffized for them to haue done reuerence to him as one man vses to another but for soe great men to prostrate themselues before an Infant betokens that they had interiour faith whereby they knew the high Maiesty which lay hidd in that Infancy But now your Ladyship must be sure that you appeare not empty before this Lord and that you thinke not that you giue him any thing if you doe not giue him your loue Nothing but God is able to make your Ladyshipp happy and nothing but your selfe is able to keepe him contented This loue of his is not ioyned with any interest which regards himselfe or the value of the presents which are made to him but it is a true and perfect loue which requires an vnion of harts And this is that language as S. Bernard saith whereby God and the soule communicate themselues speake to one another in the same tune If our lord threaten and punish mee I am not to doe the same but my duty will bee to humble my selfe soe much the more as hee doth more exalt himselfe but if he loue mee I must bee like him in that and I must loue him saying with the spouse My beloued to mee and I to him O great dignitie of a creature Cant. 2 which is abled thus to draw in the selfe same yoke with his Lord and may answeare him like for like for loue is that thing which abases hills and rayses valleys Offer your loue to him whoe for loue of you did though hee were soe great become an infant and being God became man and shedd the blood of circumcision for you within eyght dayes as being not content that he had shedd teares for you when he was borne Steale not your selfe away from this lord since you are soe truly his least you grow to be of them of whome the Prophett Ieremy faith he went like one whoe runnes away with him selfe Where are you engaged more deepely where can you employ your selfe more profitably where can you exalt your self more highly then by louing Christ our lord who loued you and washed you with his bloud and giues euen himselfe to such a one as loues him and makes him of a man grow to be a kinde of God Bee very carefull of your selfe in this busines and soe that you offer gould to the Infant Iesus For as a little gould is more worth then a great quantitie of other mettall soe a little true loue is more pretious then much copper and such other mettalls of feare and proper interest or any other succh affects as rise from these Many are wont to measure themselues by their doeing many good workes and they neuer consider that God respects nothing in them but onely the hart from whence they rise and that one man shall please God more who doth lesse good workes then another whoe doth greater if he who did the lesse haue the greater loue Some man by fasting from some one meale or by giuing some very little almes shall be more pleasing to our lord as the widdow was Marke 12. then many others whoe gaue great almes because he doth it with more loue then they And heerein appeares the greatenes of our Lord since noeseruice which wee can doe him how great soeuer it may be is great in his sight if the loue of the partie be not great For hee whoe hath neede of nothing and cannot possibly encrease at all in riches or any other good why should he care for ought which can be giuen him but onely to be beloued which is soe acceptable a present as cannot be refused by any And soe much is God in earnest when he requires it of vs as that he punishes with eternall death the person whoe grauntes him not his loue What thing is soe farre from selfe loue in the desires of any thing as hee whoe needes noe seruice which can be done him thereby and whoe againe hath soe much desire of any thing as he whoe soe requires a man's loue as to punish him with the torments of hell who will not giue him that loue and giue it truely yea and that soe as it may exceede all other loues And therefore Saint Augustine might say with reason O lord what account doest thou make of mee since thou commaundest mee to loue thee and doest threaten mee with huge miseries if I loue thee not Let his be therefore your prime care to attend to the loue of our Lord. For this very purpose he made himselfe soe very little For by how much the more he conceales and as it were dissembles his Maiesty soe much more doth he declare his goodnes and thus doth he the more inuite our loue which lookes more at ease vpon the littlenes which he tooke the vpon the greatnes which he naturally possessed His wisedome lyes hidden by his being made an Infant whoe could not speake His power is alsoe bound vp by certaine swathing-cloathes and he endures bitter colde And all this to the end that the more of his other attributes he hides from vs the more he may declare his loue to vs that soe we alsoe may loue him the more as we finde him to haue suffered more for vs. It is certaine that to see him tremble with colde doth kindle vs much more then if wee saw him well and warmely cladd and if he felt noe paine And therefore hee shall doe very ill whoe denyes him his loue since it was bought at soe much cost of this Infant and after the rate thereof will it cost that man whoe shall deny to giue it Hee whoe offers this loue offers the bolocaâ—st with the marrow to our lord Psal 65. as Dauid saith For as fire burnes vp a whole beaste soe doth loue consume the whole man both within without The fire of true loue will not endure that the straw of exteriour vanities
ours as that he will not serue so benigne a Lord with all diligence who is he that coÌ„sidering whence our Lord hath drawen him will not resolue to be daily further and further of from hell and from the impiety of sinne He seemes not to haue bene sorrie for his offence who procures not with diligence to be farre from the like He doth not sufficiently thanke our Lord for this guift who hath layde aside the memory thereof with whome it decayes with time not stirring himself vp to giue new thankes and to presente new seruices knowing more and more thereof euery day as a person who hath receiued encrease of light This is so great a fauour that Dauid calles it the Benedictions of sweetenesse And it is great reason that we should grow strong with that new grace Psal 20. which our Lord gaue vs and not content ourselues still with being little ones I sayd that at least we must be carefull in the continuance and conseruation of this guift because according to good reason we should be encreasers thereof daily more and more And from hence it growes that when I see that the light of your soule is sett vpon by so many windes and when I consider your weakenesse in the midst of so many and so great and so subtile enemyes I finde my selfe to be all trembling ouer you as any mother would be ouer her sonne who aduentures not to reioyce for the good she sees him enioy through the feare she hath that he may chance to loose it Tell me good Sir how is it with you are you still on foote in the presence of your God doe you liue in the presence of true life is God lodged in your hart is there an vnion of loue betweene God and your soule Or is there not perhaps some litle drynesse or disagreement growen betweene you which your much care of this world and your little care to please your Lord may haue caused I feare to heare the answeare which you may chance to giue and yet I cannot content my selfe to be without hearing it If you giue me good newes my soule will reioyce in our Lord and I will giue him thankes for hauing conserued what he hath gayned But if you tell me otherwise I must be extremely sorry and yet still howsoeuer I must needes know it For I will not remaine without greife if you be subiect to any spirituall losse or inconuenience I hope to haue a parte of your Crowne and I submitt my selfe to beare a parte of your payne If there be any thing of this kinde take heede you suffer not the wound to fester and make no intricate knotts vpon the swathing-bands of your sinnes Make haste to breake that quickly which is ill tyed vp for you can haue no leaue to diuide your self from him who fixed himself to that Crossë for you with so cruell nayles Say alowde to all things Departe from me for neither am I yours neither ought I be so much as mine owne Lett the thing be what it will let the person be who it will and let the interest be as great as it can be no other can haue Title or iustice to carry you away but onely Iesus Christ who created you and tooke you for his sonne and after you had beene a prodigall admitted of you againe and honoured you and gaue you a new garment and a sweete embracement of peace and keepes a state of great repose prepared for you in heauen if you will keepe his commaundements That man namely your selfe belongs to this Lord of ours Though euery man in this world should putt in his clayme for you there is none who hath so dearely bought you as he to whome you also belong by another title For what is it for God to dye for vs but to repurchase that at an extreame rate which was already his by the benefitt of Creation and to draâ—v vs out of hell and againe to admitt vs to his freindshipp what is this but to multiplie diuerse Titles to the same thing and those so very great that euery one of them hath reason enough to carry the whole man after it O treason of the sonnes of Adam what is that which you doe when somewhat else preuailes in your hart against Iesus Christ how are you able to say No to him whome you are so bound to serue though it were with the losse of your liues Shall any small title which any thing may make towards you be able to carry you away and so blinde you as to make you forgett so many and so great benedictions as our Lord layes vp in heauen for you Let the world departe euen now from our harts since it is so soone to departe from our eyes And when we shall see anything therein which flourishes let vs bury it vnder ground and treade vpon it there in the sepulcher For by the coÌ„sideration thereof we shall obtaine a true relation of it and such a one as will deliuer vs from it and free vs from the care of all that which heere is sought with such a pestilent kind of desire What better weights or measure can you desire that so you may not be deceiued nor be drawen to take one thing for another then to carry it instantly to the Passion and death of Iesus Christ our Lord who then condemned that which the world esteemed and to carry it also to the hower of our owne death which conducts vs all naked solitary and defeated and to be trod vpon by the seete of our seruants And you in particular may doe well to remember this point since besides the feare which we all ought to haue of that passage your self haue another particular reason for it because you haue a more particular knowledge of death for lately you wanted not as a man may say a fingar's breadth of passing through it to eternity Take heede take heede that you be not deceaued by those false apparances and by those painted maskes for they are no better then maskes which enueagle deceaue our soules And if you like these shadowes so well raise vp your hart to heauen where the Truthes of these things are whereof heere there is but some litle resemblance And so you will neither conceiue any enuie against him whome you finde to prosper in warldly things neither yet will you haue any great appetite to possesse that which in fine you must be forced to leaue Do not entangle your selfe with this earth since God hath giuen you some good hopes and pledges that he meanes to carry you to heauen And those are his most sacred death the knowledge and loue of the Crucifix the receauing of the holy Sacraments whereby in the holy Church there is giuen a pardon of our sinnes and the adoption of the Sonnes of God and consequently of heyres Let him seeke for shadowes who hath no hope to lay holde on things of substance Let him respect a short tyme who hath
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
to vs. Be sure therefore that you serue this lord with all the force you haue And if hitherto you haue done soe giue him thankes for it and if you haue failed thereof see you retourne to him with shame and firme purpose of amendment Comfort your self also with the holy Sacraments of the Church they beeing the remedies which he hath left And put your selfe into a new way and now at last learne to trip noe more vpon that at which you stumbled most before Soe that you may be of their number of whome S. Paul saith that all thinges cooperate to â—e good of them who loue God For howsoeuer they may fall Rom. 8. they are not bruysed to death because our lord conueyes his hand vnder them to receiue them In the middest of these thinges I beseech you call my miseries to mind that you may obtaine mercy for me of our lord And deliuer my salutations to all those persons in your house who serue our lord I beseech him to be your aeternall loue Amen A Letter of the Author to a freind of his whome God had called to lead a spirituall life by meanes of his preaching TO those many obligations into which you put me by your letters I answeare late and ill And though I be confounded therewith yet I hope Christ our lord hath giuen you some little crumme of Charity Now the first condition thereof is by the testimony of him who had store of it 2 Cor 1. and who knew it well Quia patiens est That it is patient I beseech that immense fountaine of Charity to encrease it in you till you be enabled thereby euen to lay downe your life for your enemyes as Christ our lord layd downe his for vs. You complayne of drynesse in deuotion though yet I conceiue you speake it not by way of complaynt but onely as relating to one who loues you the disposition wherein you finde your soule And I say that so longe as this drynes reaches not to weaken your desire or vertue it is noe such thing as ought to putt you to much payne For that which is questioned thereby is but the losse of a certaine sweetenes in the things of God though yet this is wont to be a spurre to make such men quitt themselues and to fly faster on towards our Lord who knowe how to make right vse thereof And because I desire all good to you whether it be in much or little I wish that you were endewed with a Loue of God which were both strong and wise and sweete also since a loue with all these qualities is due to him to whome wee owe our loue But yet if he impart that loue alone which is strong and wise it will be because he intends to doe vs other secret fauours by meanes which are vnknowen to vs and to vnty vs from our selues and to exercise our vertue whereof there will bee great neede for a man whoe treates with him who is infinitly wise and doth extreamely like that noe man should be so in his owne eyes Your care must therefore bee to follow on according to that strength which our Lord giues yow for his grace will not faile And yow must giue him thankes both for that which yow vnderstand and for that also which you vnderstand not and in this doth your safety consist And as you grow elder and to haue more experience of the very little which any man is able to doe towardes the contriuing of things how small soeuer they may bee you will be confirmed more and more in the good custome which you beginne to take to hould your peace And you will perceiue that a busines will then be well dispatched when wee speake at lardge with God and but a little with men This ignorancy of ours is an vnspeakeable kinde of thing and soe is our setting our selues out and our ignorant kinde of zeale to doe good And wee haue much and much a doe to beleiue it till wee haue bought this knowledge vpon the price of many errours which wee shall haue committed For wee inherit from our first parents a certaine fly and secrett desire of a kinde of diuinity Cen. 3. which cannot be sought without theft This makes vs imitate our first fathers therein and to denie that things may be done how and when wee list with certaine other deepe and most secret rootes of pride which are neuer to bee discouered without light from heauen and this cannot be obtayned without much Prayer As for the particular of those soules which you desire to reduce I tell you as I did before that you must cordially recommend the busines to our Lord and hope well that you shall haue good successe And be you not troubled or afflicted since you know that you haue a father in heauen who calls you towards him and he will be your guide in the way Spend your tyme at the present the best you can and as for the future doe not vexe your selfe but make account that nothing but your owne negligence cann take God from you Fight therefore against this negligence if you ouercome it you will finde by experience that the Exchaunge or Burse is a very Celâ— to you and that busines is but as a Riuer which may serue to wash you cleane The way wherein God hath placed you requires that more diligence bee vsed then that which your letter sayth you vse concerning the constancy of your deuotions And if I were with you I could tell you of straunge things which haue happened to men who had beene slacke in performing their good exercises Whereby you might perceiue that our Lord esteemes it not as any small infirmity for a man to be a Lunaticke sometymes doeing his duty and sometymes not A cleare signe it is of a soule in subiection to selfewill to doe a thing when the humour serues and afterward vpon mere humour to lett it alone And forasmuch as such men want the abnegation of themselues they are in fault both when they cease from doeing any thing and soe are they alsoe when they doe it because they liue butt in themselues And the punishment which our Lord inflictes vpon these men is that hee is not liberall of himselfe to them when they desire it because they are not liberall of themselues to him when he requires it Wee must therefore be sure to aske pardon for the little constancy which wee haue vsed in the seruice of our Lord and to reforme our selues with an entire resignation into his hands concerning the successe of our endeauours whether they be more or lesse Take courage once to loose your selfe for the loue of our Lord obeyng that which he commaunds and neuer looke vpon what is to follow vpon it For whether it be drynes or deuotion it cannot faile to be a fauour since it is sure to be the pleasure of our Lord. And by how much the more you shall be able to liue towards the
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
into so great affliction and feare as the newes of what thou art ought to giue them comfort If thou O lord wert well knowne there is no soule which would not loue thee and confide in thee vnlesse it were strangely wicked For this it is that thou sayst It is I therefore doe not feare I am he who kill and giue life I cast men downe as low as hell and I draw them back againe that is I afflict a man till he thinkes he dyes and then againe I refresh I recreate and I giue him life I cast men into certaine discomforts which seeme hell to them but when they are there I forgett them not but I fetch them from thence and they are but therefore mortified that they may be quickened I sende them not thither to remayne there but that their entry into that shadow of hell may be a meanes to make them escape the substance of that true hell after death and that they may fly vp to heauen I am he who can deliuer you from all affliction for I am of infinite power And I am he who will deliuer you for I am of infinite goodnesse and I am he who know how to do it for I am of infinite wisedome I am your Aduocate for I embraced your cause as mine owne I am your surety for I haue made myself subiect to all your debts I am your Lord who haue purchased you with mine owne bloud and with no meaning to forgett you but to doe you honour if you will serue me because you were bought at so high a price I am he who haue so profoundly loued you that for the loue of you I haue beene contented to be transformed into you and to become passible and mortall I who in mine owne nature was very farre from being subiect to such miserie I am he who deliuered myself ouer to innumerable torments of bodie and farre greater torments of minde that you might take hart to endure some for loue of me and to confide that you shall in fine be freed from them since I am he who vndertake it I am your Father as I am God and your elder-brother as I am man I am your Christ your redemption and what feare can you then haue of your debts if by penance and Confession you demaunde a generall release of them I am your reconciliation and of whose wrath can you then be afraide I am that true-loues-knott of friendshipp and how then can you thinke that you are fallen out with God I am your defender and what opposites can you apprehende I am your freind and how then doe you feare that you can want anie thing which I haue vnlesse you will needes departe from me My bodie and my bloud is yours and why then doe you feare hunger nay my verie hart is yours and why then doe you feare to be forgotten yea and my diuinitie is yours and what doubt can you then haue of miserie For accessories vnto that Principall my Angells are yours to defende you My Saints are yours to pray for you My biessed mother is yours to be the carefull and indulgent mother of you all The earth is yours that you may serue me vpon it The heauen is yours for you shall enioy it and me in it The deuills and hell is also yours for you shall treade it and them vnder foote like slaues who are chayned vp in that prison This life is yours because with it you gett another which shall neuer ende Your honest entertainements and delights are yours For you direct them to my glorie Your paynes are yours for you endure them for my loue and for your owne true good Your temptations are yours because they are occasion of your meritt and of an euerlasting Crowne in heauen Your death is yours because it is to be the immediate steppe to your eternall life And all these things you possesse in me and by my meanes For neither did I gaine them for myself alone neither will I enioy them alone for when I putt myself into your companie by taking your flesh vpon me I did it to make you partakers of all the meritt which I should acquire by my labours my fasting eating sweating weeping and by the enduring of all my torments and death if the fault be not your owne Now you cannot account yourself poore who possesse so great riches if you doe not wittingly throw them away by your wicked life Be not dismayed for I will not forsake you It is true that you are no better then some thinne glasses but I will holde you fast in my hand Your weakenesse setts of my strength the more From your sinnes and miseries I draw the manifestation of my goodnesse and mercie There is nothing which shall be able to hurt you if you will loue me and confide in me Thinke not of me according to your owne opinion and the iudgments which are made by flesh and bloud but thinke of me by a strong faith with loue nor by the apparance of exteriour signes but by that hart of mine which was opened for you vpon the Crosse that you might dismisse all doubt whether you are beloued by me or no forasmuch as concernes my parte since you see such workes of loue without and a hart which was so wounded by that launce within Iohn 18. and yet more wounded by my loue How shall I denye myself to them who seeke me to do me honour since I went out to that way where those others sought me to offende me I offered myself to ropes and chaines which afflicted me and shall I refuse myself to the hart and armes of Christians where I desire to repose I yeilded myself to those scourges and to that hard pillar and shall I denye myself to that soule which will be subiect to me I turned not away my face from him who strooke me and shall I turne it away from him who will holde himself happy that he may beholde and adore me What litle confidence is this that seing me to be voluntarily torne in pieces by the hād of dogs for the loue of my children yet those children should be doubtfull whether I loue them or no though they be confessed to loue me Consider o yee sonnes of men and tell me whome I euer despised if he desired to be well with me whome haue I abandoned if he called on me from whome haue I fled if he sought me Matt. 9. I conuersed and I fedde with sinners yea I called and I iustified them who were forlorne Matt. 11. and euen fowle in sinne Nay I am importunate to winne their harts who loue me not I make myself a beggar to all the world and what cause is there then to suspect me of forgettfullnesse towards my children when there is so great diligence vsed both to loue me and to make expression of that loue And though I may cōceale it sometimes yet do I not leaue to loue but euen for the very loue
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
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