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A19433	The interiour occupation of the soule Treating of the important businesse of our saluation with God, and his saints, by way of prayer. Composed in French for the exercise of that court, by the R. Father, Pater Cotton of the Societie of Iesus, and translated into English by C.A. for the benefit of all our nation. Whereunto is prefixed a preface by the translator, in defence of the prayers of this booke, to the saints in heauen.; Interioure occupation d'une âme devote. English	Coton, Pierre, 1564-1626.; Anderton, Christopher, attributed name.; Apsley, Charles, attributed name.; C. A., fl. 1619.	1618 (1618)	STC 5860; ESTC S108849	75,781	318

and with all the force of my soule that for the loue of your heauenly Spouse I liue no more but to him I take no life but from him I bring forth no fruite but his And that finally I may come to die for him 14. O good Iesus O meeke Lambe O Chast Spouse and rich Crowne of Virgin-soules let mee obtaine this mercy by the loue thou hast borne to them who haue loued none but thee that I be permitted here in this world to loue thee with my heart and to serue thee with other fidelitie then hitherto I haue done 15. Purifie the filth of my conscience restore to my soule her first puritie so as if I cannot follow thee so neere as thy more beloued in the street of the heauenly Ierusalem and in the most pure and cleane pathes paued all with f●●e golde of which thy Apostle Disciple and Virgin Euangelist maketh mention yet at least I may carry in my hand the Lampe of good workes and one day bee admitted to thy marriage banquet and there be placed if not at the higher end of the holy table yet among those who sit at the lower end thereof Title 26. A Communication bad with God vpon the Life Death and Passion of our Sauiour 1. PErmit mee my GOD Father and Sauiour of my soule that prostrate before the Throne of thy Maiesty I put thee in mind and represent vnto thee the wonders which thou hast wrought for my loue and as much for all others as for me and no lesse for mee then for all I will speake vnto you in the simplicitie of my heart taking my assurance from your mercyes and placing my confidence altogether in immēsitie of your goodnesse without hauing any regard at this time to my owne exceeding great vnworthines which otherwaies would shut vp my mouth and not permit me to appeare before the eyes of your Maiesty 2. I was as thou truely callest me thy hartlesse Doue thy lost Sunamite thy strayed sheep when to make demonstration of the excesse of thy beneuolence thou resoluedst to make thy selfe like to mee to th' end that I might become like to thee Out of this motion thou descended'st from Heauen to Earth that so thou might'st lift mee vp from Earth to Heauen thou humbledst thy selfe to extoll me thou becommest passible to make mee impassible mortall that I might bee made immortall and thou becam'st Man after a sorte to deifie mee and make me God 3. Thou diddest take I say my humaine substance to communicate vnto me thy diuine thou tookest for spouse my humanitie to giue me for a dowrie thy diuinitie as if thou hadst saide O thou extaticall louer of my saluation when thou shalt see me conceaued be bolde to say that it is for no other end but to make thee conceiue in thy soule the spirit of God my Father whē thou shalt see mee carried in the wombe of my Mother that it is to make thee to bee transported with an holy desire whē borne and brought into the world by a Virgin that it is to make thee bring foorth by workes the fruites worthy of aeternall life 4. I will take my repose in the wombe of my holy Mother that thou maist come one day to take thy repose in my armes I will be content to bee shut vp in that darke prison to bring thee out of darknes into light I will make my selfe little to make thee great feeble and weake to make thee strong poore to make thee rich an imperfect childe to make thee a perfect man I will be naked to cloth thee trembling in thy Maunger for colde that thou maist bee warme tyed vp in swadling-bands to set thee as libertie laide vpon the hay and straw to place thee aboue the heanens between the Oxe and the Asse to procure thee the company of the Angels in a ●table and amidst the dung to make thee know that I will not disdaine to be borne amidst the filth of thy imperfections so as they be displeasing vnto thee 5. Thou wouldest that the Shepheards of Idumaea and the Kinges of the East should take notice of thee to shew that thou didst thinke long when thou wert new borne to make a present to God the Father of the first fruites both of Iew and Gentile Thou wast circumcised the Eight day to giue mee betimes the earnest penny of my redemption and to bestow vpon me the first fruites of thy labour some life 6. Thou wast carryed vpon the fourteenth day to the Temple thy holy Mother was there purif 〈…〉 and thou thy selfe presented to God thy Father and after Redeemed for fiue peeces of Coyne To what other end was all this but by the mediation of thy worthy Mother to present me to thy heauenly Father to obtaine for me internall purification and by the meanes of thy fiue wounds the onely price of my redemption to redeeme me from my vaine conuersation 7. The flight into Aegypt was to incourage me not to flie but to stand before the face of God whom I had prouoked to wrath and when thou wert found in the Temple it was to teach me that thou wilt be found in the midst of my heart and erect there a diuine Academie If so bee I make it a holy Temple dedicated to thy Maiestie and not a prophane house open to all vanitie which it shall not be hard for me to doe after the three dayes of contrition confession and satisfaction by meanes whereof thou hast promised to holde me in the ranke and qualitie of a Mother a Brother and a Sister 8. Thou wast subiect to Ioseph as a tutor and to his spouse thy Mother to put me vnder the tuition and protection of God thy Father Thou wast obedient to them to make easie to me the law of obedience and which is admirable thou wert vnknowne in the world for the space of 18. yeares to teach me humility and to make me knowne in ages to come with titles of honour due to diuine adoption 9. When thou wast pleased to manifest thy selfe vnto the world was it for any other end but to giue me knowledge of my felicitie and of the meanes by which I might attaine vnto it And when thou diddest change water into wine at the Marriage of Cana was it not to instruct me that thou wouldst change the water of my imperfections into the wine of perfection flowing from the precious vine of thy grace especially being ayded herein by the intercession of thy most honorable Mother And further to instruct me that it should not be hard or difficult for thee to change the materiall wine into thine owne bloud whensoeuer thou sholdst be pleased to make thy selfe as admirable and amiable in the nouriture of my soule as thou art in the refection and conseruation of my body 10. Didst thou not leaue vnto me a rare example of humilitie the strong foundation of the stately building of all vertues at the Riuer of Iordan when after the manner of

37. T 〈…〉 Bon●uenture in the Bonauēt life of Saint Francis And finally to the life of Saint Barnar● Life of S. Bernard wherein there is receiued a most wonderfull Miracle wrought by Saint Barnard him selfe who in confirmacion of this verie point of prayer to Saints which he preached against the heretickes of his time that spake against it Blessed certaine bread which the people offred with the Signe of the Crosse and said In this you shall knowe that those thinges are true which we haue Preached If all your sicke hauing tasted of this Bread shall be restored to their former health And when the Bishop there had said If they re●●iue it with a good faith they shal be healed Saint Barnard added I doe not say so but assuredly whosoeuer they be tha● taste it shall be healed to the end they may knowe that we are true Messengers sent from God Whervpon a huge multitude of sicke folkes hauing tasted that Bread recouered that this worde was diuulged ouer all the Prouince To conclude in all the places likewise before alleaged those venerable and renowned Authors haue related so many Miracles in this poynt of prayers to Saintes as if any Protestant would take the paines either to read them or to heare them recited they would be more then sufficient to conuince him For he that should deride or contemne the iudgements of those famous Saints were verye prophane And how can he think himselfe a good Christian that will giue no credit or beliefe to the chiefe Pastors and Doctors of the Church of Christ whome shall we belieue if we belieue not them Were not this to take away all faith and together therewith all Morall beliefe out of the worde And this shall suffice me Curteous Reader to haue collected for the most part out of other Catholicke Authors for thy satisfaction in this point of praier to Saints drawne by good consequence out of the Text it selfe of holy scripture which the Protestants on the other side haue neither heretofore nor euer will be able to aunswer hereafter and much lesse to produce any solide Argument out of Scripture for the proofe of the contrarie without the which notwithstanding though we alleaged no proofe at all it were more then absurde to condemne any generall custome or practise of Church or Common wealth as hath bene noted in the beginning Wherefore gentle freind now at the length to conclude this whole discourse if thou rest satisfied therwith I shall think my labour well bestowed but neither will I think it lost if I may gaine so much of thee as not fearing to venture thy Soule with the auncient Fathers vppon a truth so testified not onely by the worde of God in Scripture but also with the very hand of God in Signes and Miracles aswell at this present time as in all former ages thou wilt bee content to make some tryall of the power abilitie of the Saints to help thee by recommending thy selfe seriously to their intercession for thee desiring them to beseech Almightie God that thou maist obtaine sufficient light to discerne his euery sauing truth and effectuall grace to imbrace it And in perticuler to recommend thy poore Soule to the prayers of the Mother of God our Blessed Ladye who as Saint Barnard saith is the neck vnder Christ our head whereby all Grace descendeth vnto euery member of his mystcall Bodie For I doubt not thou shalt finde that true comfort and Reall satisfaction in the excercises thereof with such a touch of Gods finger as well better perswade thy hart then any other Pen can maister thy vnderstanding vntill it please his diuine Maiestie to subiect it fully to the rule of faith and to place it firmly on the Rocke which is the piller and foundation of truth And so remitting thee to the Prayers them selues of this Booke I desire to be pertaker of their good effects c. rest Thine in Iesus Christ C. A. THE Interiour occupation of the SOVLE Treating of the important businesse of our saluation with God his saints by way of Prayer Title 1. Adoration 1. I Adore thee O great GOD with all the creatures which are in Heauen and on earth prostrated cast downe euen to the center of my nothing before the T●rone of thy soueraigne Maiestie 2. My affection is farre too litle to acknowledge thy high Deitie and therefore I present vnto thee the hearts of Angels and men the naturall property of the elements the growth of plants the sense of beasts the motion of whatsoeuer is in nature and the very being of all thinges Adoring with the dependance which they haue of thy diuinitie that which thou art in them and honouring that which they are in thee 3. If I had the affection of all those men women which haue presented vnto thee sacrifices of diuine worship and soueraigne adoration as well in the law of nature as in the written Euangelicall law I should melt in thy presence but seing that all things subsist before thee I beseech thee that thou wilt accept my most humble and profound adoration as comprising them all and being comprised in them 4. Aboue all I offer present the interiour actions of the humanitie of Iesus Christ thy sonne euen from the first instant of the creation thereof to the very last period of his life and those also which he continually exerciseth in heauen 5. I present also vnto thee the internall acts of that most happie Virgin his mother of the Cherubins Seraphins and of all those holy spirits which opposed themselues against the reuolt of the Apostate Angels and whatsoeuer else hath proceeded at any time from those soules which haue bene most pleasing vnto thee frō the beginning of the world Beseeching thee to number me amongst them to ioyne my holocaust with theirs and to receiue it as a sweet smelling sacrifice 6. The most part of corporall creatures doe not acknowledge the being they haue receiued from thee nor the Obligation which they haue to thee for the same many abuse that being which thou hast bestowed vpon them as Infidels heretiques reprobates and all the accursed diuels I offer thee them O my God and prostrate them as much as is in my power at the feete of thy Maiestie adoring thee as often as they offend and blaspheme thee and I doe homage vnto thee with the actions and the very naturall being with the which they sinne and which they abuse 7. Great is the honour that hitherto hath beene ●oone to the great personages of the earth and is still continued euery day Incense hath bin offred vp to Idols Idolatrie is cōmitted to corporall beautie O the God of my soule I lay holde of all those thoughts wordes prophane actions passions and as farre as my minde can stretch I seperate from them all deformitie to make a present and sacrifice of that being they haue of which thou art the Author 8. I aske thee also

But seeing O soueraigne truth thou canst not iudge of thinges or take them otherwise then they are and that if I doe seeke my selfe thou canst not but know that I doe so I am content if it be so But with this condition O my God and not otherwise that thou looke vpon me from henceforth as a thing y● is thine and that thou impute the loue of my s●lf● as an affection bestowed vpon a thing that is wholly thine As the sonne whatsoeuer he gets hee gets to the b●nefit of his father so long as hee is vnder the power of his father and as a bond slaue whatsoeuer he gets is to his maisters profit 12. From henceforth all the solicitude I shall haue either for apparell or meate or drinke or any such like thinges all my affections reflections goings forth returnings backe that I shall haue either in my selfe of my selfe or about my selfe all my ioy all my feare all my sorrowes all my pleasures all whatsoeuer appertaining to my vanitie past and the inordinate care y● I haue had of my selfe all this my God shall from henceforth be wholly addicted to thy seruice vnto the preseruation of a thing which is thine neither more nor lesse then if all this were done by me to any poore creature in an Hospitall or any other towards whome all this exercise of diligence and charity should be pleasing to thee Allow this O my God receiue this O my Father accept of this O my gracious Lord by the merits of him whose workes wordes and thoughts neuer strayed from thy will He hath liued for me he dyed for me euen so I will dye to my selfe and liue to him and so my life shall be hidden in his and shall appeare before thee as if it were his and all the care I shall haue shall not bee of a thing that is mine but it shal be O the onely beloued of my soule as of a thing that is thine And what other meanes O God of my soule can be found t● cut off the heade and kill this most horrible Hydra of selfe-loue considering the great malice thereof Title 5. To the soule of our Sauiour Iesus Christ 1. MOst holy and most happy soule Empresse of Heauen and earth I beseech thee by thy incomparable grace which thou receiuedst whē at the instant of thy creation thou wa 〈…〉 ●ited to thy diuinitie and supported by the person of the word that thou wilt be pleased to obtaine for mee those vertues of which thou hast left vs both a Commandement and an example aboue all others Chartitie humilitie and puritie 2. By the blessednesse thou didst enioy euen then beholding the Essence of the Sonne of God to whome thou are personally vnited deliuer mee from the loue of my selfe and the great miserie of my imperfections 3. Thy holy Mother was impeccable by grace thou wast so by nature as well for that thy diuine Will did gouerne thy humane as also because by thy vnderstanding thou didst possesse and by thy will created thou hadst fruition of the Diuine essence I dare not aske impeccabilitie but onely the grace neuer to sinne and if the power to sinne be left me yet that the effect of that power be taken from me 4. Soule seate of wisdome which containest in thee the treasures of thy Fathers science thou hast been indued with knowledge diuine blessed and insused ouer and aboue the knowledge experimentall and acquisite which was euery day encreased in thee Obtaine for me by these so rare priuiledges and prerogatiues that I may haue knowledge both of diuine and humaine thinges so as I may neuer stray from the right path of faith and charitie 5. Soule the splendor of the glory of the Father and the Image of his goodnesse be my guide and conductor in the midst of the perils and temptations of the dangerous life of this world Dissipate the cloudes of my passions driue away the night of my ignorance making me euer and in all things to acknowledge his will to whō thou art personally vnited 6. Ouer and aboue the grace of vnion hipostaticall and blessed thou ba●st also the grace of Capitall vnion as being the head of men and Angels Make me then to draw aboundantly out of this plentifull well and to pertake to the greater glory of thy Father of those influences which flow vpon thy misticall body the Church militant and Triumphant 7. Who is able to expresse the thanksgiuing when of nothing and out of that bottomlesse depth of not being any thing common to all creatures thou perceiuedst thy selfe to bee transported to a personall vnion with God who is able to recount that holocaust and sacrifice that thou madest of thy selfe for the accomplishing of that excellent worke of our redemption with what excesse of Charitie diddest thou consecrate thy selfe to God the Father with what an eye of compassion didst thou behold humaine Nature of which thou wast a noble sprig and branch In remembrance of all those thy internall eminent actions for the loue of thy Hypostasie by the merites of thy abode in this world and by all whatsoeuer appertaineth to thy incarnation I beseech thee to thanke him for me to whome thou art vnited to giue and sacrifice me to his glory to present vnto him my actions vowes intentions and thoughts to make my miserable abode in this world pleasing vnto him to make vnto him an holocaust of my life and a sacrifice of my death 8. Thou wast no sooner vnited to that body framed in the womb of the Virgin drawne and taken out of the most pure substance of thy virgin Mo●●er but that thou wast receiued and supported by the word O so 〈…〉 Queene of men Princesse of Angels obtaine for me by this grace the grace that I may be deliuered from the cogitation of the body and infection of the flesh from which thou wast preserued being by an extraordinary manner without Adam ioyned to the flesh which descended from Adam 9. Ignorance frailtie and malice are the furniture of this corrupt Masse from which wee are drown'd and of that first fault from which thou wast the deliuerer and the deliuered I beseech thee to guard me from the falls to which I am subiect by my naturall corruption and that by the merits of thy incomparable integritie puritie and holinesse 10. Thy heart was alwayes attentiue to God of whome thou neuer didst loose the sight obtain that I may liue in his presence in him euer and euer before him 11. In vertue of the deiformitie of thy soule my sweete Iesus I begg of thee the guift of conformitie and vniformitie with thee 12. By reason of thy Hypostaticall vnion thy actions were of infinite merit and the onely act of thy incarnation sufficient to redeeme a thousand worlds What shall I not then obtaine of God thy Father if thou shalt please once to present vnto him that which thou hast offered and shed for mee which is thy precious bloud and thy

Deliuer mee then out of the prison of sinne breake in peeces the chaynes of my bad customes that they may fall from mee before the face of my God Title 16. To Saint Paul 1. VEssell of Election Apostle of the holy Ghost Interpretor of the Diuinitie Doctor of the Gentiles it is to thee that I haue my recourse and in whom I haue particuler confidence Considering the Charitie that made thee desire to be an Anathema for thy bretheren thy Humilitie which made thee name thy selfe a Childe vntimely borne acknowledging that thou haddest persecuted the Church thy inflamed Loue towards Iesus Christ which made thee liue more in him then in thy selfe 2. Thou calledst them thrice yea foure times accursed which loue not our Lord Iesus Christ deliuer vs then from this malediction and make vs such by thy prayers as in thy writings thou desirest we should be 3. Thou wouldst whilst thou wast heere vpon earth if it had beene in thy power haue set the whole world on fire in the loue of God 4. Thou now art able to doe what thou wilt enflame then my heart with the fire of Charitie so as I may truely say with thee I liue but I liue not in my selfe for Iesus Christ is my life 5. O when will the time come that my life may be hidden with God in Iesus Christ when will the hower come that I shall liue to him who dyed for me 6. When shall I put off the olde Adaem to put on the new formed and reformed according to God 7. When is it that thy iudgement shall make little or no estimation of the world when shall I neglect the figure of this world which passeth 8. When shall I aspire to that permanent Cittie to the free Ierusalem to the habitation of the Saints 9. Thou great Maister and Chatechist of our soules didst make so little reckoning of Faith if it were not accompanied with Charitie that albeit by it thou haddest transported mountaines distributed all thy goods to the poore spake with the tongues of Angels and of all Nations hadst had perfect intelligence of all the wonders of nature and of all the mysteries of Faith yea though thou haddest exposed thy body to flames all this had serued to no purpose but to make as it were a sound and noyse in the world but before God had beene thou saidst of no valew at all Obtaine then for me this faith quickened by Charitie frō which the iust draw the spring of life and by which as Saint Iames saith Abraham and all the Saints were iustified 10. Thou wilt that wee owe nothing to each other but mutuall loue assuring vs that Charitie is the bond of perfection loue vs then and in louing vs procure that we may loue each other 11. Thou didst carry incessantly the mortification of Iesus Christ in thy body procure that I may haue an internall sense feeling of his wounds that I may willingly be nayled with him to the Crosse 12. Thou prayedst thrice to be deliured from a troublesome tentation and it was answered vnto thee that the grace of God should suffice thee for that vertue is perfected in infirmitie Thrice yea foure times I make supplication to thee not to be deliuered from my temptations but that thou wilt obtaine for me grace and force to ouercome them to the glory of him who hath placed vs here in this world as in a field of warre in the sight of Angels and men to crowne such as shall fight valiantly Thou art hee who didst sight a good combat runne a good race happily end thy course kept thy faith and promise made and for whome the crowne was reserued in the handes of the iust Iudge obtaine for vs this great grace and these tryumphant Lawrels which shall neuer wither 13. More then two hundred soules by thy intercession were not drowned in shipwracke neere to the I le of Malta obtaine by thy prayers that wee may escape the shipwracke of sinne and safely ariue at the happy port of blessednesse 14. Thou desiredst with an inflamed desire to be deliuered from thy mortall body to bee the more neerly vnited to Iesus Christ assist mee that my desire bee alwayes transported to thinges Coelestiall and Eternall 15. Thou diddest afflict and tame thy body and not withstanding thou hadst no reprehension of conscience yet didst not thinke thy selfe in assurance Keepe me from vaine presumption and obtaine for me a filiall feare 16. We thinke our selues often to haue charitie toward God and towards our neighbour when we haue it not if we had the former who could seperate vs from the fidelitie we haue sworne to him could tribulation affliction hunger nakednesse danger persecution the sword No no wee should be assured that neither death nor life nor Angels nor Principalities nor thinges present nor thinges to come nor any creature should be able to seperate vs from the charitie founded in Iesus Christ 17. And if we had the latter our charitie would be sweete being without emulation without ambition without precipitation It would not be puffed vp by pride it would not bee stirred by choller it would neuer reioyce in anothers infirmitie but contrariwise reioyce in his perfections thinke well of him endure with patience what hee should doe vnto vs conceiue good hope of him Charitie neuer faileth shee is euer like to her selfe as well whether it be towards the learned or the ignorant towards the poore or the rich towards friend or foe towards him that is of a different humour from ours and him who is conformable to vs in our humours 18. When shall it be O great Champion of God Pillar of the Church wonder of the world that I shall haue these qualities Till then I will not cease to knocke at thy gates and I will not giue truce to my lippes or repose to my heart vntill I be heard in this suite Graunt it then grant it O holy Apostle amiable in Heauen imitable vpon earth redoubtable to the Spirits of Hell 19. By all the ropes with which thou wast tyed by all the prisons which thou sanctifiedst by the shipwrackes stonings whippings false accusations treasons and persecutions in which and by which thou didst honour the Sonne of God I beseech thee that my life may be to him a sacrifice and my death an holocaust Title 17. To St. Iohn the Euangelist 1. AS St. Peter was the most louing Apostle so thou wast the most beloued a quality which is singuler for which thou wert to be enuied with an holy aemulation and for the attaining whereunto three remarkable vertues should be necessary which all three shined admirable in thee Charitie Humilitie Puritie what will it cost the● to obtain them for me 2. One neuer loueth God truly but he is beloued of him and one is not beloued of God but forthwith hee loueth God obtaine then for me O Secretarie of God that I may loue if not so much as I ought yet so much as

by his grace my forces are able to stretch vnto 3. Thou diddest drinke and draw from the fountain it selfe when thou leanedst vpon the breast of the Sonne of God a speciall signe of his fauour and loue to thee I doe asmuch as often as I present my selfe at his holy table but alas it is not with equall deuotion but with too much coldnes distraction drynesse and miserie Obtaine for mee thou fauorite of the word an obliuion of my selfe and an extasie of perfect dilection that receiuing him into me I may enter into him and hauing him neere to my heart I may be according to his heart And that albeit I receiue not frō him an Apocalips or reuelation of his secret iudgement yet that I may receiue at least a cleare and manifest knowledge of his holy will And howsoeuer I be not worthy presenting my selfe to his holy table to receiue into my selfe him betweene whose armes thou diddest repose yet at least I may not be so vnworthy as I am 4. Thou wert a domesticall witnesse of his most secret actions in the acknowledgment of which fauours obtaine for me the guift of a most straight vnion and internall conuersation with his diuine Maiestie 5. Thou hadst by vertue of his last will and testament the most noble part of the inheritance of the Son of God which was his blessed Mother In regard of this fauour I beg of thee an inflamed deuotion towards her to the end that being vnder her protection I may be so much the more in fauour with her Sonne by how much the more I shall by thee bee recommended to the Mother 6. Amongst all the rest at the last Supper thou tookest particuler notice of the traytor that betrayed his Lord and maister let no man then surpasse me in discouering temptations the enemies of his glory and ouercomming of them And as the poysoned cup did thee no hurt So pray you that no naughtie suggestion may hurt me 7. Thou camest out of the boyling Tunne of oyle without hurt I desire that I may so goe out of the occasions of sinne cleane and voyde of offence And that as thy banishment in the I le of Pathmos serued thee for a neerer approach to God comming thereby to vnderstand the more high mysteries of our Faith So the aduersities of this present life may be to me as a spur and motiue to draw nearer and nearer to God and to purge and purifie mee from the drosse of the world 8. Charitie to our neighbour was perchance neuer so rare in the world as it is now and yet neuerthelesse it was the lesson read vnto vs by that heauenly Maister first and afterwards by thee Exercise yet one acte of charitie towards me in obtaining for me the guift of a vertue which was so familiar vnto thee and without which we are vnworthy so much as of the name of Christians seeing it is the marke and liuerie by which his disciples are knowne which is Charitie it selfe 9. Eagle of the holy Ghost Virginall integritie and inflamed Charitie were the two winges which lifted thee vp to so pure and high contemplation of the Diuinitie Obtaine for vs the grace that our reason may be lifted vp to the loue of God with as great heate of affection as our sence is drawne downe to the loue of thinges corporall by the heat of concupiscense that I may be as much inclined to desire thinges coelestiall as the common sort of the world are inclined to desire thinges terrestriall And that the loue and affection I beare to my Creator may deuoure and consume all loue affection to his creatures sauing only that by which I shall loue them in him by him and for him 10. This is it O Secretarie of God which thou hast practised thy selfe wished vnto others ioyne to the documents thou hast giuen vs and to the examples thou hast left vs thy prayer and intercession to God for vs and wee shall be feruent imitators of the first patterne of all holinesse of whome thou hast beene and shall be for euer the best beloued Disciple Title 18. To the Apostles 1. FIrst and chiefest Peeres of Christianitie Princes of the Church you are the noble pearles of the mysticall body of our Redeemer the 12. Patriarches from whome descended the true Isralites the 12. Princes generals and conductors of the Armie of God camped about the humanitie of his Sonne the tabernacle of the Diuinitie You are the 12. sent to take a view of the Land of promise who haue brought vs newes of the wonders which are in that true land of the liuing flowing with milke and honey of aeternall comfort and consolation The 12. ouer-seers of Salomons house who furnish the Church with all necessary prouision The 12. Fountaines which the people found in the desart The 12. loaues of proposition who with the heate of perfect charitie alwayes appeare before the face of the highest The 12. precious stones set in order in the Rationall of the high Priest Iesus Christ The 12. young Lyons which support the Throne of the great King The 12. Oxen that carryed the Sea of his mercies The 12. Starres of which the crowne of the Church his spouse were made O Fathers of our soules obtain for vs the effects of your fatherly charitie pray for the whole Church that all errours heresies and superstitions may bee abolished Pray for the Sea Apostolique that it may be acknowledged for such of all the Nations of the earth Make the sound of your wordes so to be heard euery where as Christians dishonour not the excellency of their Faith by the corruption of their manners that they may liue in peace and brotherly amitie and that wee altogether both in this life and in the next may bee Heyres of your Faith Legataries of your Charitie fellowes and partakers of your glory Title 19. To the holy Euangelists 1. TRumpets of Israell cornets of the liuing GOD Notaries of Heauen Secretaries of the Church I haue now my recourse to you for the obtayning from him who is the mouth of wisdome and the Oracle of all truth a firme faith with true vnderstanding and vertue strength to put in execution the words documents miracles and misteries which you haue set down in writing Giue force to my voyce cleerenes to my conceit by which I may be able to oppose my selfe against the contrary opinions and by vertue of that which you haue writen bring backe againe to the bosome of the Chuoch such souls as are led out It shall be more easie for you to pray then to write to demaund then to perswade to intercede then to conuert doe then the one seeing you desire the other Banish out of our souls all error abuse superstition haeresie selfe iudgment To be short all whatsoeuer is any way repugnant to the truth of your wordes to the perfctions of your instructions to the example of your liues Title 20. To the holy Martyrs VIctimes of Paradice