and yealding a meruelous beawtiful light in proportion and quaÌ„titie answerable to the measure of her bodie and putting the same vpon her with his owne handes said This garment I geue thee for all the tyme that thou shalt liue here vpon the earth in token and pleadge of that immortal garment that thou shalt receiue at my handes in heauen And with these wordes that vision ceased and left her endewed with such a strange grace and qualitie not only in sowle but also in bodie that from that verie instant that our Lord spake vnto her she neuer felt alteration in her bodie but continued euermore in one temper whether it were winter or somer hote or cold wind or raine And whatsoeuer wether came she neuer ware moe or fewer clothes then one only single peticote vnderneth and one only single kirtel aboue and that rather for decencie then for necessitie Of two euident miracles which our Lord wrought to declare how accceptable her workes of Charitie were to him Chap. 8. THere was in the citie of Sienna a certaine poore man that had dispossessed him selfe of all his worldlie goods for Gods sake and was in great distresse for lacke of necessarie sustenance The which thing when this holie maid vnderstood being moued withal compassion she tooke a lynnen bag the she had and filled the same with egges and caried it priuily vnderneth her cote towardes the howse of the said poore man to relieue him withal When she came neere the place were he dwelt seeing a Church there by she entred into it first as her maner was to doe her deuotion Where lifting vp her hart to God in praier and comtemplation she was foorthwith so rauished in spirite that her bodilie senses failing she fell downe with all the waight of her bodie on that side where the bag of egges was There was also in the bag a thymble such as taylours do so we withal which she had forgoten to take out when she put in the egges This thymble was broken in three peeces and the egges remained as whole and as sownd as they were put in notwithstanding that she had lyen vpon them with the burthen of her whole bodie and that for the space of certaine howers It pleased almightie God to work an other verie strange miracle also to the like effecte a thing well knowen and testified by as manie as were in the howse which were to the nomber of twentie persones It happened that the howsehold had dronke out a vessel of wine so lowe that the remnant that was left seemed not good ynough to geue to the poore for her maner was alwaies to geue out the best in almes for Gods sake Where vpon she went to the next vessel and drewe out of that largely for the poore a nomber of daies together and was neuer espied by anie of the howsehold At the length when the other vessel was quite drawen out the Butler also went to the vessel that she had broched and drewe of it for the whole howse The howsehold drancke as they were wont to doe sufficiently and she gaue out as her maner was plentifully And yet the wine neuer decreased nether in quantitie nor qualitie but kept euermore at one staie both for fulnes and for freshnes All the howse had great wonder how the vessel should continue so long and withal so good For they all knewe that such a vessel was wont to serue the howse but only xv or at the vttermost xx daies And this had continued a ful moneth and yet to all their seemyng was neither the lesse in measure nor worse in tast but rather they all confessed that in their whole life tyme they had neuer tasted a better wine But that holie maid made no wonder of it for she vnderstood that it was the worke of God whose propertie it is to blesse multiplie the substance of those that are readie to geue to the poore for his loue One moneth was fully expired an other was well entred yet the wine continued still as good and as fresh as it was the first daie that it was broached At the length when the tyme was come that the grapes were ripe and readie to the presse to make newe wyne he that had the chiefe charge about the making of the same tooke order that this vessel which had continued so long with old wine should be emptied that it might be filled with newe wine Whereupon one of the seruantes which thought of all likelyhood that there had ben litle or nothing left in the vessel went about to drawe it out into bottels After the which maner when he had drawen a good deale he sawe still that it ran with full tap At the last they resolued to gawge the vessel and so to see what was in it The which they did and behold they fownd the vessel so drie as if it had stood without licour for the space of manie monethes before Whereat the whole household was meruelously astoined in so much that they had no greater wonder before to see the cleere colour freshnes and long continuance of the wine then they had now to see so sodaine an alteration and fayling of the same Of a passing great charitie and diligence which she vsed in attending vpon a sicke woman and of her inuincible patience in bearing the waiwardnes of the same woman Chap. 9. AS this holie maid had a passing great desire to relieue the poore in their distresse and extremitie so had she also a meruelous tender care and compassion ouer them that were sicke and diseased Concernyng the which vertue she left manie wonderful examples to the wordle emong others this was one There was in the citie of Sienna a poore widowe called â—ecca who for lacke of necessarie attendance and sustentation in her owne howse being verie weake and feeble was constreined to craue the ordinarie charitie of an hospital that was there by Where she was charitably receiued but the hospital was so poore that they were not able to make her allowance of such thinges and seruices as her disease required and so her maladie increasing daily more and more at the length she became disfigured with a verie fowle leprie all ouer her bodie Which made her so lothsome to all that were in the hospital that they eschewed her and there was none fownd that would serue her anie longer Wherupon they determined to send her to a spittle-house that was ordained for such Lazarous folkes about a mile from the citie But before she was remoued it pleased God that this holie maid should haue vnderstanding of their determination Who being inwardly moued with pitie went foorthwith to the hospital where she laie and serued her both with her bodie and with her goods mornyng and euenyng prouiding for her whatsoeuer she thought necessarie or requisite for a woman in that case and dressing the same for her with her owne handes And all this she did with as diligent a care and
the which he mynded to make a perfecte buylding of spiritual life An other goodlie doctrine by the which a sowle is made pure and meete to ennioye the familiaritie of almightie God euen in this life with a miracle wrought by our Lord on the sea for confirmation of the same Chap. 18. IT pleased almightie God to teach this his scholer an other verie notable lesson not vnlike to that afore mentioned On a tyme he appeered vnto her and said these wordes Daughter thinke on me and I shall thinke on thee The which wordes she tooke to be spoken in like sense as she declared afterwardes to her ghostlie Father as if our Lord had said in plaine wordes vnto her Daughter haue no thought or care of thy selfe neither bodily nor ghostly for I that knowe what is behoueful for thee better then thou dost thy selfe will thinke vpon thee and prouide with all care and diligence for thy necessities Only set thou thy self to thinke on me for in that standeth thy perfection and final blisse This is a great lesson and vndoubtedly verie profitable to him that would exercise it faithfully For the will of God towardes vs as the Apostle saieth is our sanctification which consisteth in vniting our selues to him by loue which loue cānot be wrought in our willes vnlesse our hart be wholly discharged of the cares of all earth lie thinges Forsomuch as God is a thing of such excellencie that he deserueth to dispossesse our hart of all other thinges that him selfe maie enter take possession of it as the only rightful Lord and owner of the same But bicause he seeth that we stand in need of manie thinges for the preseruation of our bodie which if we haue not prouided from tyme to tyme it must needes decaie therefore he added furthermore and said and I will thinke on thee Which wordes import so much as those that he spake to his disciples when he willed them to be careles for all earthlie thinges aperteinyng to the maintenance of the bodie and to set their whole hope and affiance in his prouident goodnes For if it be so that he prouideth so dwely for the necessarie sustentation of byrdes in the aier of beastes and wormes in the earth and of all other liuing thinges if he haue such a fatherlie care to clad the verie trees plantes flowers and other insensible creatures how much greater care is it like that he will haue of man for whose sake all these creatures were made as being the most excellent creature made vnto the image of God specially chosē to haue the ioyfull fruition of him selfe She reasoned furthermore with Church men specially with Priestes and religious persons after this maner Seing it is so said she that we haue made a full resignatiō of our selues vnto God first in Baptisme and afterwardes when we entred into holie Orders or tooke vpon vs the state of a religious life surely there is no cause why we should be houefull for our selues in anie thing forsomuch as God to whom we haue resigned our selues both can and will prouide whatsoeuer he knoweth to be behoueful for vs. Wherefore our whole and onlie care ought to be how to please and serue him And that we must doe not only in respecte of the reward that we looke for at his hand but specially and principally in consideration of the worthines of that blessed band of loue and vnion which is betweene vs and him In so much that the blessed state of life euerlasting is to be desired of vs not so much for it selfe as bicause it vniteth vs perfectly and inseparably to our begynning and original being which is almightie God It can not be expressed in wordes what a great affiance this holie maid conceiued of those wordes of our Sauiour And I will thinke on thee in the which wordes she tooke such a passing ioye and delite that she could neuer haue her fill of thinking and speaking of them In so much that she made a treatise called a Dialogue wherin she expressed the wonderful frutes of the same as they maie well perceiue that read it or rather to saie better that can perse into the matter and haue a tast in it She was wont also to saie to Doctour Raimundus her ghostlie Father and to other that were familiar with her when she sawe them dismaied and pensiue for anie strange accident that chansed vnto them Leaue all said she to God what haue you to doe of your selues For you to take care for these thinges is to take from God his care and prouidence as though he either would not or could not prouide for you in all cases Knowe you not that he hath a greater care of you then you haue of your selues And that he is both able and willing to award you from all euels It chaunced on a tyme that Doctour Raimundus and manie other both men and women were in a ship on the sea emong whom was this holie maid also and when the night came on they were in great peril as the pilote said to be caried for lacke of a good wind into strange ylandes and farre countries The which thing Doctour Raimundus vnderstanding came to her and spake after a lamentable maner Mother said he for so they vsed to call her see you not in what danger we stand To whom she made answere readily and said What haue you to doe of your selues With that Doctour Raimundus held his peace tooke a better comfort And anon after there blewe a contrarie wind which enforced the pilote as he said to returne back againe which thing her ghostlie Father went and declared vnto her also Wherunto she said Let him turne the ship a Gods name and folowe the wind that God sendeth And so he did and she in the meane tyme bowed downe her head and made her praier to God And they kept not on that course so farre as a man would shoot an arrowe but that there came a gracious wind that brought them to the hauen that they desired to their great wonder and gladnes singyng all with a ioyfull voice Te Deum laudamus Certaine goodlie sayinges which she was wont to vse to excite her selfe and others to the perfection of Charitie Chap. 19. OFten tymes when she conferred with her ghostlie Father and talked concernyng the worthines and state of a sowle that loued God with a perfecte charitie she was wont to vtter this sentence A sowle said she that loueth God perfectly neuer seeth loueth or remembreth anie other creature neither it selfe nor anie other thing The which saying she declared more plainely after this maner Such a sowle said she seeth that of it selfe it is nothing and that all her being and welfare dependeth of God only in whom she findeth by experience that al her felicitie standeth and in none other creature and therfore she wholly forsaketh both her selfe and all other thinges doth as it were plonge her selfe in the loue of
and me by such meanes as I declared vnto thee thou camest to the knowledge of truth Thy second petition was that I should shewe mercie to the wordle Thy third petition was for the bodie mysticall of my holie Church beseeching me that I should take awaie from it darckenes and persecutions which it suffreth at this present And thou requiredst that I should punish the iniquities of the euell vpon thee Whereupon I declared vnto thee that no paine that hath an end or is geuen in tyme that hath an end is able of it selfe alone to satisfie for a synne done and committed against me which am an endles goodnes But it maie well satisfie if it be ioyned with contrition of hart and desire of sowle The maner also how this satisfaction maie be made I haue declared vnto thee Then I made thee answere that I will shewe mercie to the worlde shewing thee that it is proper to me to be mercifull Whereupon for mercies sake and for the inestimable loue that I bare to man I sent my only begotten Sonne and word The which thing that I might declare more plainely to thee I likened him to a bridge that reacheth from heauen to earth by reason of the vnion that is made in him betweene the nature of God and man And to geue thee yet a further light of my truth I shewed thee how the waie to clymme vp this bridge is by three steppes to witte by the three powers of the soule And of this true bridge shewed vnto thee I made a figure in my bodye resembling those three steppes as thou knowest verie well the first in my feete the second in my side and the third in my mouth In the which I put the three states of the soule to witte the state imperfecte the state perfecte and the state most perfecte in the which the soule atteineth fully to the excellencie of inward loue And in each of these I shewed thee plainely what thing that is that taketh awaie imperfection and what is the defecte or let of perfection and by what waie one maie come to it I spake to thee also concernyng the secret deceites of the deuels and concernyng spirituall selfe loue Furthermore I spake to thee in these three states of the reproofes that my clemencie maketh The first reproofe I put to be made in this life before they depart out of their bodie The second at their death which toucheth them that die in mortall synne Of whome I told thee that they went vnder the bridge by the waie of the deuell and I shewed vnto thee of their myseries The third reproofe I shewed should be at the generall iudgement where I shewed thee somewhat concernyng the paines of the damned and glorie of the blessed when euerie one shall receiue the dowries of his bodie In like manner I promised thee and doe promise that with much sufferance of my mynisters I will refourme my spouse the Church inuiting you to such sufferance complainyng my self with thee of their iniquitie and shewing thee withall what an excellent place I haue put them in and what reuerence I doe require that secular personnes should doe vnto them And I declared vnto thee that my will was that their reuerence should in no wise be diminished for anie defectes or excesses that are in them and how much it displeaseth me when the contrarie is done I spake also to thee of the vertue of those that liue like Angels Where I touched withall the excellencie and worthnes of the blessed Sacrament of the Aulter Againe while I was speaking to thee of the three states of the soule thou wert desirous to be infourmed concerning the states of teares and to know from whence teares proceede Whervpon I declared the matter orderly vnto thee shewing that the states of teares haue an accordance with the states of the soule and that all teares doe proceede out of the fountaine of the hart And of this I assigned the cause proceeding orderly Moreouer I declared that there were fiue kindes of teares of the which the fifte engendreth death Then I made answere to thy fouerth request which was that I should prouide for a certaine particular case that had happened for the which I prouided as thou knowest verie well And vpon this I declared vnto thee of my prouidence both in generall and in speciall from the begynning of the creation vntill the end of the wordle Where I shewed how I made and doe make all thinges with a most high and diuine prouidence geuing or permitting all thinges to witt comfortes and tribulations spirituall and temporall for your good that you maie be sanctified in me and my truth fulfilled in you For my truth was and is this that I haue created you to haue life euerlasting Which truth is opened to you with the blood of the Word which is my only begotten Sonne Last of all I satisfied thy desire and discharged my promise made to thee by declaring vnto thee and speaking of the perfection of obedience and of the imperfection of disobedience and from whence it cometh and what thing that is that taketh obedience from you And I put it for a generall keye and so it is And I spake to thee of the particular and of the perfecte and imperfecte personnes liuing both in religion and out of religion Of each of these pointes I informed thee plainely and distinctly I spake to thee likewise of the peace that obedience geueth and of the warre that disobedience causeth adding and shewing withall how by the disobedience of Adam death came into the wordle Now I the euerlasting Father the most high and eternall veritie doe conclude openly that you doe obteine euerlasting life by the obedience of the Word to witt of my only begotten Sonne And as all men haue taken death and damnation of the first man Adam so haue all men that will beare the keye of obedience taken life euerlasting of the newe man Iesus Christ my most deerely beloued Sonne Of whome I haue made you a bridge after the tyme that the waie of heauen was broken downe that you maie passe without harme by this sweete and streight waie which is a cleere and lightsome truth with the keye of holesome obedience And so passing without harme thorough the darckenes of this present life at the last with the keye of my Word you find heauen open vnto you Now I inuite thee with the rest of my frindes and seruantes to weepe for by weeping and by continuall and humble praier I mynd to shewe mercie to the wordle Runne therefore by this waie of truth that thou be not rebuked afterwardes for going slowly for there shal be more required of thee now then before bicause I haue shewed my selfe vnto thee in my truth And take good heed that thou neuer goe out of the cell of the knowledge of thy selfe but in this cell keepe and spend the treasure that I haue geuen thee which treasure is a doctrine of truth founded
had seene that from this tyme forward her whole care and studie was how to recouer the same againe Now whē our Lord had after this maner watered the roote of his litle plāt with the dewe of his sweet blessing she began foorthwith to yeald not only buddes blossomes of great matters in expectation but also ripe frutes of diuerse and sundrie excellent and perfecte vertues in so much that in all her behauiour she shewed her selfe to all those that God vowchsafed to conuerse with her not like an infant as her yeares required nor yet like a young woman which not withstanding in that age had ben a verie strange matter but like a graue and sad matrone This heauenlie fyer of Gods holie loue had wrought such an alteration in her hart such a light in her vnderstanding such a feruour in her will such a plyantnes in all her powers both of bodie and sowle to folowe the instincte of his holie Spirite that to them that sawe her behauiour and tooke good heed to her wordes and deedes it seemed that she was wholly transformed into IESVS-CHRIST her sweet spowse and Sauiour In so much that on a daie going to confession as her maner was she declared of her selfe to her gostlie father that she had learned the liues and austeritie of diuerse auncient fathers in Egipt other Sainctes and specially of the holy patriarke S. Dominicke not by the teaching of men nor by reading in bookes but by reuelation from God and that she had such a desire to frame her life after the examples and rules of those holy men that she could think vpon none other thing but only how to bring the same to passe Whervpon she entred into a newe course of life which was so strange vnwonted especially in that tender age that all men had great wonder of it First of all she gaue ouer all maner of plaie and sport wherein yong children are wont to take delite Then she withdrewe her selfe from all companie that she might haue the freer and more familiar accesse to God in holie meditations and praiers She bound her selfe to a wonderfull kinde of silence she punished her bodie with much abstinence and other hard discipline The which that she might doe with the more commoditie secrecy she sought out a priuie place in the howse where she might scourge her selfe with a cord which she had prouided for that purpose And as she was a towardlie scholer in the schoole of Christ yealding her selfe verie ployantly to be lead from vertue to vertue whether soeuer it pleased the spirite of God to lead her so was she also a diligent and discrete schole-mistres and vsed meanes to allure and trayne other litle children also of her age in the same patthes of vertue and austere life In so much that when the neighbours children resorted vnto her as they did oftentymes being sterred to grace by the sweet wordes and holie example of this gratious infant they would gather them selues together in a certaine secret place of the howse which she had chosen out for the nonce and there would they scourge them selues as they sawe her to doe saying in the meane tyme ech of them a certaine nomber of Pater nosters and Aue Maries according as she prescribed them to saie By these other the like exercises of piety and deuotion she fownd such fauour in the sight of her heauenlie spowse that verie manie tyme when she set hir self to goe vp and downe those staiers in her fathers howse saying her Aue Maries after such sort as we declared before it was seene by diuerse and sundrie persones that she was caried sensibly in the ayer by the almightie power of God and ministerie of Angels without towching anie steppe of the same with her feete And this happened vnto her namely at those tymes when she retired her selfe from all companie and specially of men And there is no doubt but that it happened in that place to geue her and others to vnderstand how acceptable that deuotion towardes the most glorious mother of God which she exercised in that place was to almightie God Of a bold entreprise which this blessed infant made to liue a solitarie life after the maner of auneiēt Fathers in Egipt And how she vnderstood that it was not the wil of God that she should enter into that state of life as yet Chap. 3. THis yong virgin had learned by reuelation that the trade of life which the auncient Heremites liued in Egipt was verie acceptable vnto God and therfore she had a passing great desire to seeke out some solitaire place in the wildernes where she might likewise liue after their rules and examples But she could not deuise how to bring her desired purpose to passe And bicause it was not the will of God that she should take that trade of life in such maner as she desired he left her in this point to her owne natural wit and would geue her none other direction but only what her owne childish wit could deuise Wherupon to accomplish the great desire that she had to serue God in the wildernes on a daie tymely in the mornyng she made her prouision like a child of one loafe of bread and with the same tooke her waie towardes her sisters howse which was maried dwelt neere vnto the gate of S. Ansanus Howbeit she entred not into the howse as she was wont to doe but passed by and went out at the gate and so did she neuer before that tyme. And so passing foorth vntill she came at the lenght where she sawe the howses standing one here and an other there and not together as she was wont to see them in the citie she begā to be glad hoped wel that she was neere to the wildernes Yet she held on her waie a litle further and came at the last to a place where she fownd a litle caue vnder a bancke which pleased her very well And foorth with she entred into the same with passing great ioye gladnes for she persuaded her selfe verily that she had now fownd out that wildernes that she so much desired And when she was entred she stood not long to consider of the opportunitie of the place or how she might accōmodate her selfe in that newe oratorie but by and by without anie further aduisement or consideration she fell downe on her knees and set her selfe to praier with great humilitie and feruour of spirite The which lowly and deuout mynd was so acceptable in the sight of our Lord that although it was not his holie will and pleasure that she should followe that order of life yet to geue her to vnderstand that no holie desire or purpose shal euer passe vnrewarded he gaue her this tokē As she was praying with a verie vehement bent of mynd she was taken vp by litle and litle from the earth where she kneeled and her bodie was lifted vp as high as the height of
the caue would suffer her to rise And so she continued from mornyng till noone But whē she perceiued that she was thus lifted vp from the earth she began to feare and to suspecte that it might be some deceite of the ghostlie enemie whose drifte might be by this meane to put her in feare and so to hinder her designement of going into the wildernes And therfore she set her selfe to praie more feruently and to abase her self more and more before God Wherevpon about that verie hower that our Sauiour after his passion was taken downe from the Crosse it pleased his diuine maiesty that she likewise should descend by litle and litle in like maner as she had ascended And he made her to vnderstand by his secret inspiration that the tyme was not yet come in the which she should forsake her fathers howse and put her bodie to such penance and affliction Wherfore she was in mynd to returne home againe But when she came foorth and sawe her selfe all alone and beheld the gate of the citie which seemed to be so farre off that she douted her weake and feeble bodie would neuer be able to endure so long a iourney fearing also lest her father and mother should thinke that she had ben lost she set her selfe againe to praier and cōmitted the matter wholly to God who failed not to supplie the weakenes of his litle hand maid and sent a litle clowd which tooke her vp from the grownd and carying her in the ayer set her in a verie short tyme in the gate of the citie from whence she went with all speed home to her Father and mother who suspected nothing at all of anie such matter but thought she had ben with her sister Bonauentura How shee vowed her virginitie vnto almightie God Chap. 4. SVch was the vertue and operation of this afore mentioned reuelation that it drewe al wordlie loue and affection out of the hart of this yong maid and wrought in the same a certaine holie loue to the Sonne of God only and to his most glorious mother the virgin Marie And this loue was so great that she accounted all the delites and pleasures of this wordle as verie durt and dong in comparison of her sweet spowse Iesus Christ Moreouer being now seuen yeares old she had learned only by the inward instructiō of the holie Ghost in her hart that is was a goodly state of life withal verie acceptable vnto God to liue in all puritie cleannes both of bodie and sowle She had learned also that our blessed Ladie the most pure vnspotted mother of God was the first that dedicated her selfe by vowe to serue God in that most cleane and perfecte state of virginitie And therfore she thought it most expedient for the obteinyng of that grace to make her humble suite to her who had before al others obteined the same at Gods hand for her selfe and vndoubtedly for all those that should afterwardes require it at her hand with the like humilitie and earnest desire Being therfore of the age of seuen yeares she set her selfe verie grauely sadly to take aduisement what order of life was best for her to take and for the better resolution in that point she praied to our blessed Ladie queene of Angels and virgins that it would please her to make intercession to her deere Sonne that he would vowchsafe to teach her by the instincte of his spirite what waie she might best take that were most to his glorie and to her sowles health Our blessed Ladie mother of pitie and comfort by whose gracious mocion this holie desire was first planted in her hart heard the discrete demaund of this wise yong virgin and answered her iust request First with a dailie increase of greater desire longing after the thing requested which was to knowe how she might order her life to be most acceptable vnto God then also with a resolution from God certifying her by secret inspiration in her hart that his will and pleasure was that she should serue him with all purity both of bodie and sowle in the state of virginitie The which when she vnderstood she suffred not that heauenlie fyer enkendled in her hart to be quenched nor to slake but being wholly inflamed with the loue of that most excellent and goodlie maner of life she chose out a secret place in the howse farre from the conuersation of all persones where she might with the more freedome of spirite offer vp her praiers and vowes to almightie God and there composing her selfe both in bodie and mynd with all humilitie she made her praier after this maner O most blessed Ladie O most glorious and sacred virgin mother of God which before all other women diddest by vowe consecrate thy virginitie vnto God becamest therby so gratious in his sight that he would haue his only Sonne to be borne of thee I most humbly beseech thee trusting not in anie merites of myne owne but only in thyne vnspeakable pitie that thou wilt vowchsafe to obteine me such grace and fauour with thy only begotē Sōne that frō this day foreward I may take him for the lawful deerly belowed spowse of my sowle And I here geue my faith and promise both to him and to thee that I shall neuer take other spowse but shall by the assistance of his holie grace doe what in me lieth to keepe my selfe a true and vndefiled virgin to him alone Thus praied this yong handmaid of Christ with great lowlines and feruencie of of spirite And her praier was heard her vowe accepted and she receiued to be the vndefiled spowse of the vnspotted lambe of God Iesus Christ The which thing when she vnderstood as she did by and by by the inward inspiration of the holie Ghost being replenished with a certaine holie feare she emploied her whole care and studie how she might best keepe her selfe chast true to her deere spowse And though as yet she felt no motion to vncleannes in her flesh yet to prouide like a wise womā for the tyme to come she began euen in those tender yeares to tame her bodie with fasting watching abstinence from all deliteful thinges and namely from eating of flesh In so much that when anie flesh was laid vnto her at the table either she gaue it to her brother Steuen that sate by her or els she conueied it priuily awaie that no man might see it She praied verie often and much subdued her bodie with much hard and sharpe discipline sometymes by her selfe alone sometymes with other yong children which resorted vnto her at tymes and were as it were trayned vnder her in spiritual exercises And so with these and other the like workes she preserued increased the graces of God that were plāted in her by her deere spowse Iesus Christ Of a woderfull zeale that was in her to wynne sowles to God and how for that cause she cast a great loue to