I doe not compare the bad Pastours that is such as dishonour their ministeries by their scandalous life with the good Cenobites for the weapons would not be equall Nether will I speake of vnrulie or dis-ordered Cenobites to witt who no wayes obserue their rules but contrariwise violate and breake them almost in euery poynt with the good and vertuous Pastours for to tourne the wroÌ„g side of the meddall heere were foule play There are in the one and the other both vertuous and vicious true and false brothers Wee see but too many Pastours and Cenobites that liue dis-orderly who by their lapses and actions of bad example resemble steeples which by their falling beate downe the Churches wheâ—â—of standing they were the ornament He then that stands on his feete let him take heede that he fall not Let vs leaue there the bad they are Ethiopians and Leopards whose skinne is hardlie to be changed let vs not labour at this Pumpe out of which there can come no cleare water nor good odour out of this sinke of the vessell of the Church Let vs imitate Constantine who cast into the fire the memorialls which were presented vnto him wherin were couched the licentious deportments of some Ecclesiastiques anâ— as he was willing to couer them with his robe let vs beholde them in silence For the subiect which I handle this word is sufficient that there are but too many bad Pastours and vnreformed Cenobites who in the seruice which they render to soules seeke nothing but their owne interest base and mercenary spirits for whom the storme of darknes is prepared vnles they take à more excellent way which is that of à pure and dis-interessed charitie Let vs speake then onely of those who both in the one and the other condition performe their duty or striue to doe it shewing themselues as true seruants of God in all patience sweetnes austeritie of life in the word of truth in charitie not feigned according to the doctrine of the Apostle Let vs see who setts the best foote before in that seruice of the great Maister and of the Prince of Pastours Bishop of our soules IESVS-CHRIST For as there is golde of diuers carracts so are there diuers degrees of charitie and as in heauen there is à disference of brightnes amongst the starrs and different mansions in the Heauen of Heauens soe are the degrees of charitie different iâ— soules CHAP. VII Difference betwixt the Pastour and the mercenarie LET vs then handle here the square rule or golden measure of charitie to take the dimentions of the mysticall Hierusalem and let vs saie that Pastours aswell Diocesans as subalternes or Curats are by state obliged to expose their liues for the sheepe committed to their charge Let vs concerning this point giue eare to the diuine sentence which cannot be denied without impietie nor contradicted without blasphemie there is no greater charitie then to giue his life for his frinds Let vs adde herevnto the picture of the true and good Pastour drawne out-of the chap. 10. of the Ghospell of S. Iohn The good Pastour giueth his life for his sheepe which is to saie is obliged to giue it But the mercenary and he that is not Pastour see you how he distinguisheth the mercenary from the Pastour and how he makes it apparent that the mercenary is not Pastour and that he who is Pastour is not mercenary He addeth the mercenary is he to whom the sheepe apperteine not Note that he who hath no sheepe of his owne and serueth neuertheles the sheepe is not Pastour but à simple seruant and mercenary without flocke Let vs followe the text He that is the mercenary seeth the wolfe comming and flyes and the wolfe deuoures and disperseth the sheepe Who is he that flieth whether he who is obliged by state and condition and by diuine lawe to an actuall residence what storme soeuer happen be it of plague of warr of famine of persecution of heresies or other such like or he that is not tyed vnto any care nor charge and not hauing any obligation may retire himselfe from these afflicted places his coutry and the place of his abode being wheresoeuer he likes best and who peraduenture should thinke to tempte God in exposing himselfe rashly to hazard without any necessary obligation according â—s it is witten who loueth and seeketh perill shall perish therin Let vs now put the last finger to this Euangelicall picture The mercenary flies saieth S. Iohn and he giues the reason of his flight because he is mercenary and that the safety of his sheepe concernes him not in respect he is not charged with them But the true Pastour who knowes that this blood must be required at his hands and the saluation of the people committed to him becomes à part of his astonished with so many threats vttered by the Prophets particularly Ezechiel agaynst the bad Pastours who abandon their flocks in time of neede awakeneth his sollicitude and reuiuing his courage exposeth himself to labour and danger inclining his hart vnto all the iustifications of our lord for the retribution which he expects from him alone Let vs now obserue with what aire they behaue themselues in the guidance of soules and in this hazardous occupation where is giuen touth for touth eye for eye soule for soule who marched therin onely by delegation by mission of assistance by extraordinary commission as troupes of releefes and voluntaries This last saying sufficientlie declareth that if they labour therin it is but voluÌ„tarily and as it is for pittie so truly is it some tymes pittifully For as they gouerne onely such soules as voluntarily and of their owne election without any obligation commit themselues to their conduct so on their part haue they the choice in this great haruest of what eares of corne they please in this great draught of fishe which they like best casting the rest into the water to sende them backe to their proper Pastours In so much that as the people of the world doe not make vse of them but in such manner and as long as they please so doe not they serue the persons of the world but soe long and in such sorte as they thinke best The place of their residence or rather of their continuall pilgrimage being that which is most conformable to their liking or to the Order of obedience wandring starrs to vse the phrase of an Apostle whose moueable influencies worke not so strong impressions for so much as they cast not their glimmerings and sparklings but by way of passage where as the Pole-starr alwayes fixt is the leuell wherby all Marriners direct their nauigations CHAP. VIII Of vertue exercised by sallies or by continuation HOwe soeuer I deney not but that some vpon occasions of plague of warrs of heresies mainly endeauour the seruice of both soule aÌ„d bodies and some-times more then the Pastours who feele themselues daunted in these tempests As it often enough happeneth at sea that Ã
such like actions for to be seene of men rather then of God Neuertheles euen by the common practise we may easilie discerne amongst such as liue of begging those who haue chosen Maries best part in keeping themselues in repose and in the holy vacancy at the feete of our Sauiour from those who are put vnto the toyles and troubles of Martha and it belongs to the actiue life of lay-brothers to nourish the contemplatiue of those of the Quire who aâ—â— as the Cherubins and Seraphines of the highest Hierarchie And besides if one should set vpon these good brothers and saie vnto them my frinds I see well that you are like vnto bees which gather of flowers and make hony but not for them selues vnto sheepe which carry fleeses to cloath others vnto oxen which plowe the feild when the haruest shall not be theirs vnto birds which make neasts not for their owne vse Tell me if you had remained in this vncleane world vpon whose head are heaped all the inuectiues which are in holy Scripture as the maledictions were auntiently cast vpon the emissary goate which one chased into the desert Would you haue bene contented since it seemes that your condition called you vnto seruitude to serue à maister which would oblige you being poore to goe seeke for his and your liuing amongst your neighbours of the towne and country and who perhaps at your retourne would treat you as liberally as the good maister did the prodigall childe But of courtesie and euen in good truth and without dissimulation that if you saie you serue in this countrie out of the world where you are I vnderstand not that which Plato imagined to be in the lowest Planets through à farr purer intention and for à reward farr more eminent since like that auntient Painter you labour not but for eternitie the Apostle commaunding the seruants of secular persons to render seruice vnto their maisters not as vnto men but vnto God opens them the gate to purifie their intentions and to render them as straight as yours And finally these masters whom you serue out of the world in qualitie of Laymen and seruants though they alleage all the Scripture to shewe you allegorically tropologically anagogically tearmes which you well knowe that they are Angells and Gods and that truely God speakes by their mouthes and that it is from thence you ought to receaue the lawe and learne the science of Saints albeit these be men and shall die and be iudged like other men and the ceremonious and magnificent excellencies of your vowes excepted I see not why the other seruantes which are vnder subiection in the world may not take their masters for Gods in the same sense since their authority ouer them represents that of God And if you saie that these men whom God hath placed ouer you and who hath called you into bands doe you the honour as to holde you for brothers and children of the selfesame communitie One will answeare that honest men and such as liue Christianly in the world esteeme not their seruants as slaues but according to the saying of the great Stoick as humble soules or rather as brothers in IESVS-CHRIST called vnto the same beatitude For they knowe it is vnto them these Apostolicall words are addressed Masters be you benigne towards your seruants laying aside threats knowing that both their Lord and yours is in heauen and that before him there is no exceptions of persons That if you will vnderstand the precept which the same vessell of election giues vnto seruants who desire to render their dutie Christianly beholde his diuine words Seruants be obedieÌ„t to your maisters according to the flesh with feare and trembling in the simplicitie of your hart as to CHRIST not seruing to the eye as it were pleasing men but as the seruants of Christ doing the will of God from the hart seâ—uing with à good affection as to our Lord and not to men knowing that euery one what good soeuer he shall doe that shall he receaue of our Lord whether he be bond or free Beholde how the good and faythfull seruants who are in the world and haue pietie and their saluation in recommendation carry themselues in their duty being subiect in all reuerence vnto their maisters not onely vnto the wayward according to the doctrine of S. Peter And we must not aske where are the seruants of this condition for besides that they who are in this obseruance ether knowe not their owne vertue or if they knowe it couer it as much as they can by humilitie It is certaine that God in the corruption of the world so much exaggerated by those who haue left it reporting the wolfe to be sometimes greater sometimes lesse then he is according to the humour of those with whom they medle God alwayes reserues to to himselfe in all estates many thousands of men who bende not their knee before the Idol of vice Yes yes the deluge is not so great nor so vniuersall as there are not alwayes many soules saued from â—his invndation of the world and Paradise is not euer so open to those who are gone out of it to put themselues into Cloisters but that some one is shut out of the gate But what on the otherside it is so cried downe by such as haue made à glorious breaking therewith as it seemes who soeuer remaines in this Babilon and flies not vnto the montaines of the high state of perfection runs the waye of perdition An opinion not onelie vniust and irroneous but also would be hereticall if obstinatly mainteyned as very well saied blessed Francis de Sales in the first part of his diuine Philothy Tell vs not then ô good brother-seruant that it is the feare of damning your selfe in the world and the desire of sauing your soule in the Cloister which you call religion as if there were no religion but in the same that hath reduced you into the state of voluntary seruitude wherin we see you à seruitude which for IESVS-CHRIST is more excellent then euen the Diademe of kings Saie not that you cannot worke your saluation in the world if you distinguish not vnto vs the corporall from the spirituall for concerning this it were impietie to say that one might not worke it but touching the other if it be hunger which hath chased you from this place to finde your liuing in à begging pietie or if it be permitted so to speake I knowe not whether this gainfull motiue render you laudable before God and whether this be not as saieth S. Paul to make lucre or profitt of pietie This word peraduenture will touche some of this sort in the aple of the ey who were great noble and rich in the world and wanting learning to enter into the power and dignitie of Preisthood haue left goods honours to put on à Cenobiticall weede in qualitie of lay-brothers casting themselues into à Cloister not to be serued but to serue and serue in fastings
or to speake more mildly an imperfection in Charity for being free and voluntary without obligation there is alwaies some mingling of proper will which will endure no yoake nor tye and which saith though most secretly I will not serue or else in magnifying its toÌ„gue saieth our lipps are our owne who is our Maister Who is he that hath right to commaunde vs But beholde the force of the reply if it followe that the Cenobite hath à more pure Charity in seruing soules then the Pastour because he is not therevnto obliged by duty and Iustice it will followe that the Layck and Secular liuing in chastitie pouerty and obedience without any obligation of vowe shall serue God more purely and perfectly then the Cenobite with all his vowes which being made oblige him by duty and Iustice to render vnto the God of Iacob the vowes which the lipps haue distinctly pronounced which were to destroy the maximes of the who schoole abuse the sainctity aÌ„d eminency of vowes and of vowed couÌ„sells and to tourne topsie-turuy this glorious and sublime state of perfection for which the Cenobites contende with as much ardour as republiques for their libertie For since they preferr themselues before all Preists of the Clergie whether Canons or the dignityes of Cathedrall or Collegiall Churches and before Preists subordinate vnto the Ordinary Prelates and sometimes since they are so pleased before the Ordinaries themselues yea euen if they thinke good before the Ordinary of Ordinaryes for what boundes can à vanitie haue couered with an apparent humility which extolls it self aboue all that is great holy on earth in the sacred Principality which is called Hierarchy and grounde this preference in this magnificall state of perfection vpon the seruitude of their vowes which ties theÌ„ to God by à holy slauery to be preferred before à Royaltie serâ—itude which they haue euen the courage to preferr in perfection before the sacred character and which eternitie it selfe will neuer take away from Preisthood that rendereth such as beare it like marked slaues eternally consecrated to the seruice of God and of his holie misteries eleuating in this sort simple veiled nuÌ„ns and Laie brotheres that haue no part in the Sacrament of Order nor in the Clergie to à state of more eminent perfection then that of Preists the Annoynted and Prophets of our lord his Lieutenants on earth they who haue the keys of heauen the word of reconciliation in their mouthes who detayne euery day the sonne of Iustice on the altars and at whose voyce God kimselfe becomes obedient in the most adorable Sacrament of the Eucharist And in that of penance ratifiing in heauen the sentences which they pronounce here beneathe If say I they grounde this preeminency which they frame to themselues on their vowes which make that necessary and of obligation of Iustice which before was but voluntary and which change Counsell into commaundement why altering the battery will they that Charitie the sunne of vertues and in whose presence all other vertues both diuine and humane haue no more light then the starrs in the presence of the Planet that makes the day be not so much the more excellent as she is the more necessary and that she ought to be exercised by state and obligation of Iustice Chastitie before it be vowed is but of counsell he that will followe it let him followe it who shall be without necessity and master of his will and in power to embrace it let him embrace it since it is good for à man to be so and better to liue in continency then to engage himselfe in nuptiall commerce It is notwithstanding but of Counsell saieth the Apostle fearing least some might take his perswasions for à precept and so to caste à snare into teÌ„der scrupulous consciences But after it is promised vnto God one may not violate his faith without acquiring his damnation And who will saie that à Chastitie vowed and consecrated vnto God doth not acquire by this vowe and by this consecration an admirable aduantage ouer that which is not practised but for à time and which in expectation of the marriage is free from voluptuousnes but not from the will of loosing its integrity in à lawfull vse The same may one say of that degree of charitie which obligeth Pastours by office They may refuse the Pastorall state being offered them but when they haue embraced it and as long as their Pastorall sollicitude lasteth it is not in them to recant no more then for à Cenobite his vowes And if the practise of three vertues of their owne nature simplie morrall which make the three essentiall vowes of the Cenobiticall life place such as haue made profession thereof in the state of perfection not those which practise them without vowe though very perfectly why shall we not saie that the Pastours obliged by state and by duty vnto the highest degree of Charitie without which all other vertues are nothing no not the giuing of all that he hath in almes nor the Martyrdom of fire saieth the Apostle I saie more which alone without the rest is more worth then all the rest together without it although I knowe that with it all the other enter into à soule when this vertue is true and accomplissed Why saie I shall not we auerre that this vertue exercised by duty and obligation of Iustice is more excellent then when it is exercised euen in the same degree but without any obligation then that bond of the proper will which may without sinne aswell withdrawe it selfe from this good as to apply it selfe therunto And let no man alleadge here the holie obedieÌ„ce nor the Institute For as nether the Order nor the Superiours of any Cenobiticall Order are any wayes obliged vnto the conduct of secular soules nor haue any charge of them so may they not giue any mission or obedience saue by the sending subordination of Pastours who are principally charged and answearable for them And besides we speake here of the state of the Order either Hierarchicall or Cenobiticall not of particulars who are eÌ„gaged in the one or in the other condition And we saye that the Pastorall Order is obliged by state so the highest degree of Charity which is to expose ones life for the sheepe of IESVS-CHRIST the which is not of precise absolute nor necessary duty in the Cenobiticall Order this worke being obligation vnto that and of supererogation vnto this CHAP. X. The touchstone of true Charity is the charge of soules BVT if you will see the touchstone to discerne the good golde of true and vnfayned Charitie beholde it Let vs obserue on what side and in what Order is the charge of soules for it belongs vnto the good Pastour to carry the strayed and infirme sheepe on his shoulders and to sweat vnder this weight in taking not onely the burthen of his neighbours but his neighbour for à burthen It is proper vnto fathers mothers