heauen Origen vpon Exodus sayth That because the old law was a shadow of the new and that all those which were of the Synagogue were sad and terrified therefore they did vse so many kinds of instruments such diuerse sorts of musicke because that by theÌ„ they might forget the sorrow sadnesse which they were in But when the fulnesse of time came in the which God sent his sonne into the world hee brought mirth with him he brought pleasure with him hee brought the ioies of heauen with him where they doe nothing else but laugh and reioice as we doe nothing else but mourne and weepe Did not trow you our ioyfull Isaac come laughing into the world seeing that when hee was borne the Angels did sing Gloria in excelsis Deo Glory bee to God on high Damascen sayth That if the words which God spake and the works which he did be weighed with grauity they doe all giue vs ioy comfort and put vs in a great confidence of our saluation and take away the distrust of damnation because hee spake and did much more in the fauour of clemency than hee did in the rigour of iustice And because wee may not seeme to speake at randome it is reason that wee bring forth some few sentences which hee vttered in the fauour of mercy and pittie Christ to the Hebrewes said If any man shal keepe my vvord hee shall not die for euer that is His soule shall neuer perish Si quis sermonem meum seruauerit non morietur in aeternum It is reason that wee marke who spake these words vvhy hee spake them and vnto whom hee spake them Hee who spake them was our laughing Isaac and the cause vvhy hee spâ—ke them vvas because he vvould make the vvorld reâ—oice vvith such good news yet for a recompence for this good newes they rewarded him very badly seeing that because he said in Pilates house that there vvas another world that his kingdome was not of this vvorld they clothed him with purple in Herods house as if he had been a foole He spake these vvords vnto the cursed Iewes when they called him a Samaritane which vvas as much as to call him an Hererike when they said that hee had a diuell which was as much to say that hee was a Nigromancer Doest thou not think my good brother that our merry Isaac vvas full of â—â—ughter vvheÌ„ he answered so sweetly vnto such outragious blasphemie O sweet answere O heauenly speech vvho but thou did promise vs another life after that this vvas ended Doest thou not think that our Isaac is full of laughter seeing that vvhen the Iewes doe goe about to stone him hee puttâ—th himselfe betwixt God and our faults to the end that they may charge all the blowes vpon his backe Did not hee laugh trow you vvhen as hee had cast the Diuell out of them yet they called him a man possessed vvith a Deuill When the sonne of God said that his yoke vvas sweet hee did let vs vnderstand thereby plainly that his holy lavv vvaâ— a cheerefull lavv a gracious lavv and a loifull lavv and so truly it is because all good men keepe it cheerefully and all naughty men breake it vvith vveeping Secondly the figure aboue named saith that Isaac vvas very rich and that hee had many flockes of sheepe and many heards of kine and a great number of bondslâ—ues both men and vvomen To say the truth the sonne of God had neither sheepe nor kine nor bondmen but hee fâ—â—d that vvhich was signified by them because his comming into the world was not to possesse sheepe and kine nor to be wealthy in them but his comming was to redeeme our soules and to bee a mediator for our sins When the Prophet said thou hast made all thinges subiect vnder his feet sheepe and oxen he spake it not only in respect of sheepe which went in the stubble or of kine which fed in pastures but in respect of sinners soules which were in their bodies the which he did so much esteeme and for the which he did so much that although his father did put them vnder his feet yet our good Isaac did put them vpon his head By Isaacs sheepe the good people of Israel were vnderstood which came vnto the knowledge of Christ such were Lazarus Nicodemus Ioseph Zacheus the good thiefe and many others all which were of the number of the elect By Isaacs oxen and kine which are of the greater sort of beasts all the Gentiles from whome all wee which are Christians doe descend for euen as a cow is greater than a sheepe euen so the holy mother the church is greater thaÌ„ the Synagogue These are the kine which the sonne of God came to seeke these are the sheep which our Isaac came to keepe for of the other flocke and heard which old Isaac had our redeemer of the world neuer had calse nor lambe The figure sayth also that Isaac had a great family and many bondwomen which serued him at table many men which gathered in his wealth Our Isaac was a poore man in this kind of bondmen and women as hee was of beards and flockes of cattell and sheepe for his pouerty was so great that no man would liue with him nor dwell in his house Christ had another manner of family than Isaac had his family was noble aboundant and holy because there resorted vnto it the powers of heaueÌ„ the fathers which were departed the iust which reioiced in his comming and all the good men of the world What should become of the iust man sayth Anselmus if he had not the sonne of God for his guide and captain What meaneth he when he sayth Vbiduo vel tres congregati fuerint in nomine meâ— ibi ego sum But that wheresoeuer or howsoeuer two or three iust men bee in Christs name that he will be there in the middest of them O what great difference there is betwixt old Isaacs family and our Christs family because that in Isaacs family they call those of his house youths seruants and men bond slaues but in our blessed Iesus family hee calleth his his friends companions and brothers O high mystery and diuine Sacrament why doth Iesus call all his friends saying Amicimeiestis and another time Brothers saying Dic fratribus meis but onely to let vs vnderstand that hee had redeemed them with his precious bloud and iustified them with his diuine grace Who would not be glad O good Iesus who would not bee glad to loue thee serue thee and follow thee seeing that thou art so courteous in thy words and so gratefull in thy deeds Who would not be glad to dwell in thy house and who would not be willingly one of thy family seeing that thou doest call strangers thy acquaintance thy enemies thy friends thy seruants thy companions and vngratefull men thy brothers Who did euer take such great care of his family as thou didst O good Iesus seeing that
enuy did vse him and how in Samaria they sold an asse head for fourescore pence and they gaue but thirty for his Fol. 310 Chap. 12 Christ complaineth vnto his Father that all other martyrs had their paines and troubles inflicted vpon them at diuers times and he is all at once Fol. 318 The Contents of the fift Word WHy the son of God did bid all those which were athirst come vnto him and yet said vpon the crosse that hee himselfe was a thirst Fol. 335 Chap. 2 How the Crowes gaue the Prophet Helias meat and how the Iewes gaue Christ neither meat nor drinke Fol. 342 Chap. 3 How the hangmen drank the wine which was brought vnto him and the other theeues and did suffer Christ to die with thirst Fol. 349 Chap. 4 He followeth the authority of the Prophet Osee speaketh of the garments which Christ left in pledge Fol. 356 Chap. 5 Where is brought a figure of Tobias and declared to the purpose Fol. 362 Chap. 6 Here the Author followeth the figure which hee touched before which is declared well to the purpose and there is brought also a prophesie of Ieremy Fol. 368 Chap. 7 Of a new thirst which King Dauid had which was a thirst not to drinke but to saue himselfe Fol. 376 Chap. 8 God complaineth that we forsake him for vile base things and doth compare vs vnto old pooles Fol. 381 Chap. 9 How the sonne of God did not refuse to drinke gaule vineger although he kniw it would kill him Fol. 385 Chap. 9 How the synagogue could giue Christ nothing to drink but rotten dregs Fol. 390 Chap. 11 How the synagogue gaue Christ that to drink that she her selfe was that is gaule and that which shee had that is vineger Fol. 393 Chap. 12 How that the thirst that Christ had vpon the crosse was not so much for drink as to desire to suffer for vs. Fol. 398 Chap. 13 Where he goes forward with the figure aforesaid Fol. 405 Chap. 14 Of the cruelty and ingratitude that the Iews vsed in giuing Christ gaule and vineger and how hee satisfied for euery sinne in particular Fol. 407 The Contents of the sixt Word HEre are put diuers vnderstandings of this speech Fol. 429 Chap. 2 Against disordered eaters and drinkers and how Christ was a greater martir than any other and there is declared a prophesie of Esayas Fol. 434 Chap. 3 Of the greatnesse of the son of God and how all things haue weight and measure and number sauing onely the humanity of Christ Fol. 441 Chap. 4 Herein is entreated of the greatnesse and wealth of Salomons temple how that in the holy temple of Christs humanity the holyghost hath bestowed greater workmaÌ„ship riches spiritual gifts theÌ„ the teÌ„ple which SalomoÌ„ built Fol. 448 Chap. 5 How that al the misteries prophesies which God had prophesied of him were fulfilled in Christ in Ierusalem Fol. 455 Chap. 6 Here hee entreateth of that high praier which Christ made vpoÌ„ the table saying Pater sancte non pro mundo rogo sed pro illis vt serues eos a malo In which praier if he obtained constaÌ„cy stoutnes for his Apostles yet he forgot not the weak saying Non rogo vt tollas eos a muÌ„do Fol. 463 Chap. 7 Herein hee entreateth of the variety and diuersity of names of the sacrifices of the old Testament of the excellency of the sacrifice of the new Testament Fol. 473 Chap. 8 Wherein is declared a figure when Moyses did annoint the altar seuen times with one finger and how that vnction was a figure of Christ and fully accomplished in his most sacred humanity Fol. 480 The Contents of the seuenth Word HOw God is the only and true comforter and how hee was Deus vltionum to the Synagogue and is to the church Pater misericordiarum Fol. 486 Chap. 2 Of the difference that is betwixt Dauids testament Christs testameÌ„t seeing the ane commaÌ„deth to reuenge other mens iniuries and the other pardoneth his own death Fol. 492 Chap. 3 Of the difference betwixt the bloud of Abel and the bloud of Christ how vnlike their cries vnto God are Fol. 496 Chap. 4 Where Christ complaineth on the ChristiaÌ„ mans soule because shee was vngratefull for the benefite of her creation and redemption Fol. 498 FINIS Here beginneth the first of the seuen words which Christ our redeemer spake vpon the altar of the Crosse saying Pater ignose illis quia nesciuns quid faciunt that is My father pardon these which crucifie me because they know not what they doe CHAP. I. Pater ignosce illis quia nesciunt quid faciunt THe sonne of God spake these words at the houre of his death vpon the altar of the crosse as if he would say O my eternal iust holy father the first thing that I request of thee on this crosse is that thou wouldest forgiue all these which take my life from me seeing they know not how highly they offend thy goodnes clemencie Super inimicos mees prudent em me fecistâ— saith king Dauid in his Psalmes as if hee would say O great God of Israell I giue thee many thanks for that thou hast endued me with the vertue of prudence by the which I haue learned to doe my selfe good by the enemies which persecute me and forgiue them the iniuries which they haue done vnto me For the better vnderstaÌ„ding of that which Christ said vpon the crosse and of that which Dauid vttered in this Psalme it is to bee vnderstood that amongst all the Cardinall vertues the first and chiefest is Prudence because that without her iustice endeth in cruelty temperancie in weakenesse sloth and idlenesse fortitude in tyranny might and power in pride boldnesse in folly and madnesse and knowledge and skill in malice Plate said that Prudence was such a great gift that with her alone the wise man amerâ—â—lâ—th that whâ—â—h is past strengtheâ—â—th that which is broken ruleth and gouerneth that which is present prouideth for that which is to come redresseth that which is amisse and mainteineth that which is well done Eschines the great orator sayth I haue known many Grecians of my time which were eloquent in that which they spake subtile in that they inuented bold in that which they tooke in hand wary in their doings close and dissembled in that they went about to haue and also modest in their behauior which notwithstanding for want of a little wisedome and prudence lost all in one houre Socrates said oft vnto his schollers that they were not tied and bound wholly vnto the letter of that which he taught them for I am your maister said he to tell you only what you are to doe but prudence must afterward teach you when you are to doe it and how you are to doe it and whether you are to doe it or not and if you are to doe it then why are you to doe it Cicero to Atticus sayth Thou art not
eie and life for life why doest thou O mighty redeemer giue thy hands vnto those which bind thē thy feet vnto those which pierce them with nailes thy eies vnto those which make thee blind and thy life vnto those which take thy life from thee If thou wilt not reuenge thy iniuries why doest thou not let iustice doe iustice vpon thy enemies S. Barnard sayth in a sermon from the time that our Sauiour was taken in the garden vntill hee was crucified on the crosse the works which he did were many but the words which he spake were very few whereby hee gaue vs to vnderstand that in time of great vexations and persecutions it is fitter for vs to helpe our selues with patience than with eloquence In this first praier which the sonne made vnto the father it is to be noted who the father is what that is that he asketh of whom he asketh when he asketh from whence he asketh how hee asketh and for whome hee asketh for by so much the more one businesse is greater than another by how much the inconueniences are greater which it draweth after it He who asketh is the sonne he of whom he asketh is the father that which he asketh is pardon the place frō whence hee asketh is the crosse the time is when hee dieth those for whom are his enemies the maner how is with many teares in so much that a praier offered vvith all these circumstances ought of great reason to be heard This praier of Pater ignosce illis Father pardon them is a very high praier seeing that he vvhich made it vvas the sonne of God vvho saith Si quid petieritis patrem in nomine meo dabit vobis And if this bee so how is it possible that the father should not graunt all that which the sonne requesteth seeing hee promiseth to giue all things that shall be demanded in his name If this be a great praier by reason of him which maketh it it is also a very great high praier by reason of him vnto whom it is made which is Pater misericordiarū deus totus consolationis The father of mercies and the God of all comfort the vvhich eternall father created vs vvith his power guideth and gouerneth vs vvith his vvisedome sustaineth and vpholdeth vs with his essence and forgiueth vs with his elemency how is it possible that a sonne vvhich hath such a father or a father vvhich hath such a sonne should not grant his demand This praier of Pater ignosce illis was also very great because of the place vvhere it was made which was in the mount of Caluarie and on the altar of the crosse vvhere the vvrath of the eternall father was appeased his blessed sonne put to death the vvicked deuil ouercome the old sinne forgiuen and all the world there redeemed S. Ambrose vpon S. Luke sayth how much the Iewes dishonoured the holy temple so much Christ honored the Mount of Caluary for they made a den of theeues of the house of praier and the sonne of God made a house of praier of a den of theeues O good Iesus what is there now that thou doest not make cleane what doest thou not renue what doest thou not sanctifie what doest thou not make holy seeing thou wentest to the Mount of Caluary to pray for sinners which before was infamous by reason of execution done there vpon malefactors The sonne of God praying on the infamous and stinking place of the Mount of Caluary giueth all men license to pray vnto God where they will and how they will and for whome so euer they will because the perfection of praier doth not consist of the place where wee pray but of the small or great deuotion with the which wee pray According vnto that which the Samaritane woman said vnto Christ That many Iews would not pray but within the temple and it may bee to take away this error wee doe read that the son of God did not pray there but preach only which our blessed Sauiour did because no man should excuse himselfe from praier deuotion saying that the temple was shut vp Vbertinus saith that the sonne of God is not ashamed to pray Pater ignosce illis on the dunghill of the Mount of Caluary and art thou ashamed to pray alone in thy house O what a high charge and office the office of meditation and praieris considering that Christ his being naked on the crosse with his handes bound and tied his feet peirced with nailes his head crowned with thornes his mouth seasoned with vineger did not hinder him to pray Pater ignosce illis Father forgiue them and seeing hee pardoned and forgaue with his heart and praied with his tongue CHAP. II. How the sonne of God said vnto his father that those which crucifie him be not his enemies but his friends QVid sunt plagae istae in medio manuum tuarum his plagatus sum in dom◠eorum qui me diligebant said God by the Prophet Zachary in the thirteenth chapter as if he would say Who hath giuen thee these cruell wounds in the middest of thy hands the Prophet answered and said Lord they wounded mee thus in the house of those which loued mee much These words were not spoken voluntarily nor of euery man seeing they cannot be applied neither to the nature of mankind nor of angell because men are not wont to receiue stripes and words in their friends houses but in their enemies The Prophet toucheth a new thing and a high mystery in saying that he was whipped and wounded in the house of his well-willers and therefore it is needfull for vs to lift vp our vnderstanding to discouer and reach vnto this high secret because that high mysteries are fit only for heroicall and high persons This demand and this answere passed on the altar of the crosse betwixt the eternall father which asked and his blessed sonne which answered who not being content to entreat only for his enemies saying Pater Father forgiue them would also haue excused them and take all blame from them in saying Nesciunt quid faciunt They know not what they doe the father said vnto him Quid sunt plagae istae so said the father vnto his son which is as much as to say O my son if thou doest say that none of these Iewes are guiltie and culpable of thy death and passion I pray thee tell me who made these cruell wounds in the midst of thy tender hands The son answered his father His plagatus sum in domo eorum qui me diligebant which is as much as to say O holy and eternall father I receiued these wounds which thou seest in my tender hands in the house of those which were my friends and if I be ioifull in receiuing them why art not thou glad in forgiuing them Thou knowest well O my father that nothing can be called an iniury in this world but only that which is done against our proper will If
I die by thy commandement and to obey thy will and because so it is needfull for the world why should I call them enemies which execute thy commandements Giue me leaue O my father giue me leaue seeing I must die to sell my death deerely giue me leaue seeing I lose my life to employ it well which I shall thinke well bestowed if thou pardon those which take my life from mee and haue pitie on those which offend thee for what doth it auaile that I die for sinners if thou wilt not forgiue them their sinnes Thou knowest O my good father that by pardoning and suffering the redemption of the vvorld must bee vvrought If thou shouldest not be satisfied vvith the death vvhich I suffer and with the life vvhich I offer thee in giuing mee another life I vvould offer it vnto thee giuing me another death I vvould accept it to the end O my good father that thou shouldst be wholly appeased and all mankind pardoned O euerlasting goodnesse O infinite charitie O inspeakable clemency showne in this answere calling that a house of friends vvhich was a fortresse of enemies and going about to excuse those vvhich he should accuse and in purposing to appease him vvhome hee should haue stirred vp to vvrath and indignation Fulgencius vpon this place sayth Notwithstanding all the enemies and persecutors vvhich the sonne of God had in this vvorld yet he neuer vsed this vvord Enemie vvhich is euident by this demand of his fathers vvho asking him vvhere hee had ben so euilly handled and wounded sought out a new deuise because he vvould auoid this vvord of enemy and lay the fault vpon his friend rather than confesse that he had any enemies because God vvas vvont to haue many familiar friends in the house of the synagogue vvhich vvere holy men our blessed sauiour vvould not account of the iniuries vvhich the Iewes did presently vnto him nor of the vvounds vvhich they gaue him but respected rather the seruices vvhich the old Patriarkes had done vnto him It is greatly to be noted and weighed that in the answere vvhich the sonne gaue vnto the father he did not say that he had been vvounded in the house of those vvhich then loued him but in the house of those vvhich vvere vvont to loue him for hee sayth In domo eorum qui me diligebant and not qui me diligunt yet notwithstanding all this he doth not only not call them enemies but telleth his father that they did vnto him the vvorks of friends What meaneth this O sweet Iesus vvhat meaneth this If those of the house of Israell vvere thine in times past I pray thee diddest not thou vnto them more good turns than they did seruices vnto thee If thou doest reckon of the seruices which the fathers did vnto theâ—â— a thousand years agoe why doest thou not make account of the vvounds vvhich their children gaue thee not longer than one houre agone O good Iesus O redeemer of my soule vvhat humane iudgement yea vvhat angels vnderstanding is able to conceaue or reach vnto this vvhy thou shouldest rather respect old seruices vvhich ordinarily other men forget than thy owne iniuries vvhich run freshly from thy blood like streames Seeing we haue already told you vvho praied vvhich vvas the son and vnto whome he praied vvhich vvas the father and vvhere hee praied to vvit vpon the crosse it is time now to tell you vvhat praier he made and for whom he praied for seeing the sonne of God betooke himselfe to praier in such a narrow extremitie it is to be thought that hee entreated some great and vveighty matter Vbertinus sayth That vvhen the diuine vvord vvas nailed vpon the crosse as it vvere almost dead hauing his flesh pierced vvith nailes his bowels burning vvith the loue of charitie forgetting his owne selfe and hauing his enemies in remembrance lifting vp his holy eies vnto heauen said Pater ignosce illis qui nesciunt quid faciunt vvhich is as much as to say O my eternall and blessed father in recompence of my comming into the vvorld preaching thy name appeasing thy vvrath reconciling thee vnto the vvorld I desire of thee this one thing for a spiritual guerdon and reward of all my trauailes that is that thou vvouldest pardon these sinfull Iewes father I am very vvell pleased that thou vvouldest not yeeld vnto my naturall desire of life vvhen I praied vnto thee in the garden if it vvould now please thee to heare mee in praying for them for I thinke it a farre greater benefit that they liue in their soules than a hurt vnto me to die in body Pater ignosce illis Father forgiue them for I die because they sinned and if I die it is because they may liue and in so difficult a matter as this it is far greater reason that thou haue more regard vnto my new death than vnto their old fault Father forgiue them seeing the death vvhich preuailed on the wood I haue here crucified with mee vpon the crosse the vvhich being so it is far greater reason that thou esteeme more of the charitie vvith the vvhich I die for them than of their malice vvith the vvhich they put me to death Father forgiue them for if thou vvilt punish these Iewes with all rigour of iustice it will bee but a small punishment to condemne them for euer to hell but if thou doest otherwise as there was neuer any wickednesse done like vnto this so likewise thou shalt neuer bestow thy accustomed mercy like as in forgiuing these their offences Father forgiue them for if my death be sufficient to redeeme all those which shall hereafter be borne or be already borne it is not reason that these vnhappy Iewes should vvant the benefit of it and so much the more because that if my blood be shed by thy holy will and consent it would be reason that it should bee well emploied by thee Forgiue them O my father forgiue them for seeing the partie iniuried which am I do pardon the iniury why wilt not thou O my father pardon that which concerneth thy iustice What hath iustice to doe there where there is no complaint of one against another Father forgiue them seeing the time is now come whereof the Prophet speaketh Tempus miserendi deus tempus miserendi Time of forgiuing good Lord a time of forgiuing it is neither iust nor reasonable that rigor should take place there where mercie by thee hath ben publickely proclaimed If it be true as true it is that misericordia veritas obuiuerunt sibi and also that iusticia pax osculatae sunt Why wilt thou execute iustice vpon this people seeing the Prophet sayth that peace and iustice haue embraced one the other Father forgiue them seeing I aske it in the end of my life and intreat thee at the houre of my death thou must thinke my father that it behooueth me very much that they be pardoned because that by my example none should
better bee verified in Christ than in any other seeing that from the first instant that he tooke humane flesh vpon him he saw the deuine essence and knew as much as hee dooth now in glorie vvhich is not so in other men seeing they are long a bringing vp and vvaxe old very timely The sonne of God vvas also an Hebrue of the tribe of Iuda a vvhich vvas the most honourable stocke of all the tribes and hee vvas of Nazareth vvhich vvas a holy land and he vvas also the most honourable of all his kindred Thirdly the sonne of God vvas best beloued of his father because of him and of no other he said in his baptisme Hic est filius meus dilectus as if hee vvould say This is only my lawful child in him only am I vvel pleased this only is my heire him onely I doe tender and loue in him I delight and take great contentment Fourthly the son of God vvas a very thicke mud vvall a close hedge vvhich put himselfe betwixt God and the people vvhen he suffered himselfe to bee crucified vpon the crosse vpon the vvhich as strong battelments they discharged all the sinnes vvhich vvere in the vvorld and all the wrath vvhich God had O glorious hedge O happie vvall O strong vvounds such vvast thou O redeemer of my soule seeing thou diddest permit and consent to put thy selfe a mediator betwixt God man to the end they should vnlode and put vpon thee all the sins of the vvorld and all the vengeance vvhich God vvas to take for them S. Gregory vpon Ezechiell sayth The sonne of God only vvas the man he sought for this vvas the vvall he required this vvas the mediator he asked for this is the pacifier of the old quarrell and of Gods vvrath this is the reformer of new grace and this is the ouerthrower of the old sinne S. Ierome vpon this place sayth The man vvhich God sought by Ezechiel who else was hee but the son of the liuing God and our redeemer Who like vnto an vnexpugnable wall did put himselfe boldly betwixt God and vs saying Pater ignosce illis Father forgiue them By which words he did not like that our sinnes should come into the sight of God neither suffered he Gods wrath and vengeance to descend vpon vs. Origen vpon S. Marke sayth That whē the two chiefe captaines of the synagogue Moses and Aaron perceiued that the Lord began to poure his wrath and anger vpon the people they went immediatly vnto the tabernacle the one to pray and the other to doe sacrifice to be a mean betwixt God and them because that otherwise God would haue poured out his anger vpon them the Synagogue haue receiued great hurt and detriment That which happened vnto those two holy men in the desart happened vnto Christ on the mount of Caluarie who seeing the elements to be troubled and the dead to rise againe to reuenge his death and punish that nation he made himselfe a mediator and a stikeler betwixt God and them and praied Paterignosce illis as if hee would say Pardon them my father pardon them for if thou wilt not pardon them it will bee a greater griefe vnto me to see them lost then my passion which causeth mee to die What would become of the Iewes then if Christ had not said vnto his father father forgiue them and what should betide vs now if he should not say Pater parce illis Spare them father S. Barnard saith in a sermon That this word of Ignosce illis Forgiue them is of such a deepe consideration that it should neuer be out of a sinners mouth nor blotted out of his memory because that the sonne of God did shew his mercy more vnto vs in two things thē in al the rest that is in the pardon which he got vs of his father and in the bloud which he shed for vs on the crosse Anselmus reasoning with Christ sayth What doest thou crie for what doest thou aske what doest thou intreat for what wilt thou what seekest thou what saiest thou to thy father O good Iesus what saiest thou I intreat O my father that thou wouldest forgiue them because they know not what they do and that thou wouldest load my flesh with thy anger and I intreat that there remaine nothing vnteconciled vnto thee because that my redemption would seem vnperfect and insufficient if there should remaine in any a fault to bee redeemed and in thy selfe any anger to punish vs. O what an enflamed charity what a wonderfull example what incredible patience what entire loue thou diddest shew vs O sweet Iesus in this speech of Father forgiue them the which thou diddest vtter not for an ease to thy griefe but in fauour of thy persecutors O what infinite goodnesse what vnspeakable clemencie what strange charitie doth shine this day in thee O my Iesus and sauiour seeing thou doest loose those which bind thee pleadest for those which diffame thee entreatest for those which accuse thee excusest those which blame thee and pardonest also those which will kill thee What meaneth this O good Iesus what meaneth this doest thou pray for them at the very instant which they blaspheme thee mocke thee and laugh thee to scorne They haue pierced thee with a speare and yet doest thou giue them an acquittance and a release of the blow What mortall man can praise himselfe or bost to haue done that which thou hast done that is to craue pardon for murderers before they haue confessed their fault and seeke to release them before they haue repented They will not returne into the citie before thou hast yeelded vp the ghost and wilt not thou die before thou hast first pardoned them Who euer saw or heard any thing like vnto this to wit that pardon should proceed first out of his blessed bowels before the blood should end to issue out of his tender vaines Doest thou not remember to aske a sepulchre for thy body and doest thou remember to aske forgiuenesse and mercie for those which crucified thee O sweet Iesus O my soules glorie who but thou could haue the breath going out of his body and Ignosce illis Pardon them in his mouth To defend thy selfe couldest not thou open thy mouth and to excuse thy enemies couldst not thou keepe it shut S. Chrisostome sayth The sonne of God onely was he who on the altar of the crosse inspeaking these words Father forgiue them coupled ioined and handfasted together pittie and cruelty the offence and mercie anger and patience hatred and loue killing and pardoning With as great reason sayth Hilarius we can now say Vbi sunt irae tuae antiquae as the Prophet Dauid said Vbi sunt misericordiae tuae antiquae seeing we bee certaine that from the houre that the son of God died vpō the crosse we may cal him Pater misericordiarū as the Synagogue called him Deus vltionū The God of reuenge No man ought to distrust Christs
he suffered in his members When the Apostle sayth That the sonne of God offered vp praiers and supplications vpon the altar of the crosse hee declareth as Theophilactus sayth That the praier ignosce illis was extended vnto the good and vnto the bad in so much that for his enemies he offered praiers for the pardon of their sinnes and for his friends hee offered vp oblations for to confirme them in his grace As the sonne of God was Lord ouer all men and died for all men so vpon the crosse he praied for all men For if the wicked had need of him to help them to rise the good also had need of his helpe to keep them from falling Anselmus in his meditations sayth That when the Apostle sayth that the sonne of God was not content to pray only with deuotion but also offered vp that praier vnto his owne father it is to let vs vnderstand that for the sauing of all the world hee offered vp his paines and sorrowes for a recompence his life for a satisfaction his person for a reward his bloud for a price and his soule for a sacrifice It is also to bee weighed that the sonne of God made not this holy praier of Pater ignosce illis Father forgiue them sitting but vpright not being at libertie but bound not in a low voice but aloud not laughing but weeping that which is most to be maruelled at the words that he praied with were very few but the tears he bathed them with were very many O good Iesus O my souls pleasure who could be worthy to stand at the foot of thy crosse to see how thy bloud ran from the thornes and thy tears flow from thy eies in so much that at the same hour and moment thou diddest water the earth with tears and pierce the heauens with sighes O what a sacred word was that O what a holy praier was Pater ignosce illis Father forgiue them seeing that it was made by the sonne of God vpon the altar of the crosse accompanied with sighes washed with the bloud of Christ and offered vp with the tears of the redeemer Although the sonne of God requested the greatest matter of his father and of the greatest weight that euer was demaunded of him that is to wit Pardon of his precious death yet the tears which hee shed were so many and the loue so great with the which he asked it that if he had asked a greater matter of him his father would neuer haue denied it him S. Basill sayth O what great hurt sinnes bring vnto vs considering that for to lighten vs of them and obtaine pardon for them it was needfull for Christ to pray vnto his father for theÌ„ and offer oblation and crie out and suffer his bloud to bee shed and tears to poure downe from his eies so that thou O good Iesus diddest buy my great offences by the weight of thy bloud tears Our Lord when he praied for his enemies vpon the crosse taught vs what forme and fashion wee ought to keepe when wee pray that is to shed bloud from our members and fall tears froÌ„ our eies The son of God wept when he praied for his enemies and art not thou ashamed to laugh and talke when thou praiest for the remission of thy sinnes Yea and if thou canst not weep in thy praiers yet tel me why thou doest talke ouermuch Barnard sayth That it is more then a iest rather then a praier if at one time thou wouldest pray and talke for if thou bee not attentiue vnto that that thou praiest neither will our Lord be vnto that that thou demandest Defecerunt prae laâ—hrimis oculi mei sayth Ieremie in his Lamentations as if he should say I had such great compasston to see all the Iewes led captiue vnto Babilonia that my eies with very weeping lost their sight And indeed there is no greater token that a man is in true charity then to see him haue compassion of other mens hurts and therevpon it happeneth that good men weepe sooner for the wicked then for themselues the which happened also vnto Christ vpon the crosse who wept first for his enemies before they wept for their owne sinnes It is a very proper thing vnto the chosen people of God to weepe a like for other mens harmes and for their owne because it is the propertie of true Christian charitie to take as great griefe to see his brother lost as pleasure to see himselfe saued One of the greatest priuiledges that good men haue is that euen as they merit in taking comfort and ioy of the good that is done to good men so they are greeued at the hurt which falleth vnto euill men in so much that the good man and the iust reapeth profit commodity of euery mans conuersation Who doubteth but that the lamentation which Christ made vpon the crosse was far greater then that which Ieremie made on the Mount Sion But now it is to be vnderstood that Ieremy wept for one people onely and the sonne of God for all the vniuersall world Ieremy wept only tears from his eies but the son of God wept tears from his eies and shed bloud from his vains Further Ieremie complained that by weeping he had lost his sight onely but our sweet sauior did not only loose his sight with weeping vpon the crosse but also his very life O good Iesus my soules delight what patience is sufficient or by vvhat iustice is it reason that I should commit the offence and thou shed the teares Art thou not content vvith Ierâ—my to make fountains of tears of thy eies but also to make streames of bloud of thy vains With all those sighes which proceed from thy heart with so many griefes which thy members endure with so many teares which run from thy eies and with so much bloud which floweth from thy vains who would not graunt thy request and who would not haue compassion of that which thou sufferest O who can be able tosay with Ieremy Defecerunt prae lachrimis oculi mei Because that the greatest hap which could light vnto mee were that in amending my faults I could recouer my soule and in weeping many teares lose my sight CHAP. V. Why the father answered not his sonne when hee praied for his enemies VOs cogitastis malum de me sed deus vertit illud in bonum ego pascam vos paruulos vestros When the great Patriark Iacob died in Aegypt and that all his childreÌ„ remained vnder the power and will of their brother Ioseph and being afeard least hee should call to mind how they had sold him vnto the muleters of Aegypt the good Ioseph spake these words vnto them You my brethreÌ„ did think that you had done me great hurt but you did me great good for your selling of me was the occasioÌ„ that I came vnto prosperity and to rule and gouerne all Aegypt in so much that the great goodnesse of our Lord
them the Centurion immeadiately there said Vere hic erat filius dei Truly this was the sonne of God and the good theefe also said Domine memento mei Lord remember me In whose power saith Fulgentiusâ— but onely in the vertue and power of the praier of Paterignosce illis within a short space after that Christ had so praied did some strike their breasts and some say This man was iust By the merite of this holy praier the Apostles conuerted three thousand men in one day and fiue thousand another day by reason that the sonne of God had gotten pardon for the excommunicated synagogue glorious S. steuen was baptized holy Paul conuerted and the good Matthew called to be an Apostle O what a difference there is betwixt the praier which Christ made in the garden that which he made vpon the crosse in the one heeswet blood and in the other he shed teares in the one he praied that the bitter challice might passe and in the other pardon for the synagogue and that which Iesus praied for himselfe was denied him that which hee praied for others was graunted him In so much that his blessed father had more pitie on the sinnes of that people than on the flesh of his owne sonne O great goodnest O infinit charity The Sonne of God is in the garden alone hee is prostrate on the ground giuing vp his ghost and yet ready for a new combat his blood issueth from all the pores of his body he praieth thrise for himselfe and thou wilt not heare him and when he praieth for his enemies doest thou heare him at the first word Why dost thou not graunt him his request seeing that when hee praied vpon the crosse for his enemies he called thee nothing but Father but when he praied in the garden alone for himselfe he called thee My Father which is a sweet word and a word of a gentle and courteous sonne What would become of vs saith S. Ierome if Christ should not in his glory aboue repeat that word vnto his father Pater ignosce illis Father forgiue them Christ said once only Father forgiue mine enemies and he repeateth it a thousand thousand times in heanen for his Christians for euen as wee neuer cease from sinning so the sonne of God neuer ceaseth to pray for vs. Saint Steuen did not see Christ sitting by his father but on foote and the reason was because that at that instant when S. Steuen fell downe on his knees to pray for his enemies Christ rose immediatly also to pray and make intercession for them so that that praier which Saint Steuen made here vpon earth our sweet Iesus presented presently vnto his father in heauen It is deeply here to be weyed that Christ did not say Lord forgiue them but Father forgiue them because this word Lord is a fearefull word but this word Father is a word of ioy and therefore when one man calleth another Father it seemeth that hee doth bind him to answere him friendly and not to deny him any thing that he demandeth Wee shall find often in holy scripture that when God was angry with the Hebrewes hee said alwaies Ego Dominus qui loquor vobis I am the Lord which speake vnto you but when he would as it were flatter them and make much of them he alwaies said vnto them Ego ero illis in patrem I will be a father vnto them that is that hee would deale with them like a pitifull father and not like a rigorous Lord. In so much that this word Pater Father breedeth loue and this word Lord bringeth feare Alwaies when the sonne of God made any great praier or asked any great fauour at his fathers hands hee began his petition with Father O iust father O holy father making reckoning that by calling him father nothing should be denied him which was his sonne If Iesus Christ should haue begun his praier with Lord as he began it with Father it would haue seemed that he had called vpon Gods iustice power not vpon his wil mercy therfore in saying Father he intreated him that hee would not iudge as a Lord of iustice but like a father of mercy O depth of all goodnes O bowels full of charity what els didst thou meane when thou begannest thy petition with Father but that thou wouldest giue him to thy enemies for a father who is thine owne proper father what goodnes in all the world can be equall vnto thine or what like charity can be found seeing thou art the plaintife the party offended yet thou gauest him vnto thy enemies for a mercifull father whom thou shouldst haue giuen for a rigorous iudge Then let vs conclude that when the sonne said vnto his father Pater ignosce illis that at one time he praied vnto him that hee would forgiue them their sinnes that at the same time hee would vouchsafe to take them for his children CHAP. VI. How Christ praied for his enemies on the crosse more heartilie then hee did in the garden for himselfe seeing the one praier was made with condition and the other not SVpra dorsum meum fabricauerunt peccatores prolongauerunt iniquitatem suam These are the wordes of King Dauid in the 128 Psalme spoken in the name and person of the sonne of God and they are as if he should say I know not O mother the Synagogue what I haue done against thee nor wherin I haue offended thee yet thou hast gainsaid mee from my childhood thou hast persecuted mee from my manhood thou hast defamed mee euer since I began to preach vnto thee and in the sweetest time of al my life thou hast crucified mee But this is nothing O mother Synagogue this is nothing in comparison of that that thou diddest lay all thy sinnes vpon my shoulders which neuer had lost their innocency nor neuer done vnto thee any iniury Supra dorsum meum And sinners haue built vpon my backe seeing that Adam hath cast his disobedience vpon me Eue her gluttony Cain her sonne his murder king Dauid his adultery the Tyrant Roboam his Idolatrie and all the Synagogue her malice Is it not true that sinners haue built vpon my backe seeing that I must be punished and pay for all the offences that the sinfull Iewes committed The Iewes would willingly haue loaden Christ on both his shoulders that is they would haue cast vpon him both the paine and the offence but good Iesus tooke vpon him the punishment like a redeemer but charged not himselfe with the guilt of sinne like an offender S. Augustine vpon S. Iohn saith That the sonne of God doth not complaine that they burdened both his shoulders but only one seeing he saith Supra dorsum Vpon my backe although his enemies would haue ouercharged and wearied them both by killing his humanitie and darkening his diuinitie by blotting his fame and credite and hindering his doctrine but our mighty redeemer suffered them onely to lay
that his father would destroy all the word for to reuenge his death hee lifted vp his eies vnto heauen and with a sorrowfull voice said Father forgiue them because they know not what they doe as if he would say O my eternall and holy father I beseech and pray thee that thou wouldest forgiue this vnhappy people seeing thou shouldest make more account of the bloud which I shed for thē than of the offence which they haue committed against thee It is now now time for a thousand to fall on thy left side and ten thousand on thy right for seeing that I stand betwixt them and thee it is not reason that they should fall but rise nor that thou shouldest punish but pardon them O what a happie time O what a happy age the Catholike church liueth in in the which hee which is iniuried is reconciled and made our friend the iudge become our aduocate and spokesman for vs our accuser turned to bee our defender and hee who was woont to feare vs with iustice doth now flatter vs and entice vs to him with mercy How shal Dauid be able to say now Cadent à latere eius mille A thousand shall fall on his side seeing the sonne of God hath said vpon the crosse Father forgiue them In the law of grace and vnder the yoke of Christ it is not time to goe astray but aright not to cast away our selues but to saue our selues not a time of iustice but of mercie not to punish but to pardon neither is it time to fall but to rise It is much to be noted that the sonne of God did neuer command any man to fall and throw downe himselfe but rather bad all men rise vp as it appeareth in the ninteenth of S. Matthew where hee sayth Rise vp and take thy bed and in another place Arise maid and hee said vnto him whom hee raised from death in Naim adolescens tibi dico surge and likewise hee said in the garden to his Disciples Rise let vs goe It is the propertie and office of the diuell to counsell and procure men to fall for so he counselled Christ in the desart when he said I will giue thee all these things Si cadens adoraueris me as if hee would say I will make thee Lord ouer all the world if thou wilt but fall downe on the ground O my sweet Iesus I wil liue with thee who commandeth me to rise and not with the diuell who counselleth mee to fall for hee is desirous to haue me fall and thou and no other art able to helpe mee vp again Why should I liue with the diuell who deceiueth me a thousand waies or with the world which putteth mee in a thousand dāgers or with the flesh which asketh of me a thousand pleasures O redeemer of my soule O sweet delight of my life I will liue and die with thee and no other for if I bee sick thou dost heale me if I be sorrowful thou dost cōfort me if I be falling thou dost help me if I be falne thou dost helpe me vp if I haue sinned thou dost pardon me He is the disciple of the diuell who goeth about to throw down his brother he is the sonne of Christ who doth helpe to lift vp his neighbor for we are not able in this life to do any mā a greater fauor then to keepe his credit honor to help him to saue his soule When the giuer of life said vpon the crosse Father forgiue them by those speeches he ment to obtain two things of his father That is that hee would neither punish their bodies like vnto murderers nor condemne their soules like vnto traitors O infinite goodnesse O clemency neuer heard of before O redeemer of my soule doest thou dissemble with the trecherous pardon murderers excuse traitors vndertakest for the credite of the infamous turnest vnto sinners It is litle when I say thou doest turn vnto sinners seeing thou doest not only turn vnto them but also die for them What is the reason O good Iesus what is the reason that thou doest pray vnto thy father that he would forgiue them and doest not say I doe forgiue them When thou saiest Father pardon them why doest thou not say also I pardon them Art thou the partie iniuried art thou the partie shamed and disgraced art thou the partie agreeued and doest giue the libertie of pardoning them vnto another It is a high mysterie and a hidden Sacrament to thinke that the sonne of God would not say I pardon them but entreat his father to pardon them making greater reckoning of the iniurie which they had done vnto his father then of the death which they procured vnto himselfe The reason why the sonne of God would not say I pardon them although hee were the partie offended was to tell vs plainly That hee did not esteeme those which put him to death his enemies rather his deer brothers great good doers vnto the world hauing more regard vnto the good vvhich they had done in causing the world to be redeemed then vnto the hurt which they did in causing himselfe to bee murdered When good Iesus said Father forgiue thē it is no more thē to say thou art he my good father who must forgiue thē because they haue brokē thy law discredited thy doctrine violated thy temple put to death thy son If thou dost say that I should forgiue thē I say I haue no cause to forgiue for I take my death as wel reuenged my life as well bestowed seeing that by the merit thereof all the world may liue heauen made open vnto all men S. Augustine sayth That if the sonne of God had holden the Iewes for his enemies as they accounted of him it was in his power to forsake them and goe preach vnto others but because hee esteemed of them as of his kindred in bloud neighbours by nature brothers by law disciples in doctrine it was not needful for him to say on the crosse I forgiue thē seeing he was not angry towards thē nor moued at al with thē They bare rancor and hatred vnto Christ but nor Christ vnto thē therfore notwithstanding all the reproches they vsed towards him al the iniurious speeches they gaue him he neuer left off preaching vnto thē nor neuer ceased to work miracles amongst them With what face could they say that Christ was their enemy seeing hee raised their dead cast out diuels frō them instructed their childrē cured their friends of diseases also forgaue thē their sins Seeing the son of God had done the works of a friend among them that of a true friend why should he say vpō the crosse I do also forgiue thē seeing he did not hold any one of thē for his enemy If sweet Iesus was angry with thē if he misliked thē it was not for the iniuries which they did vnto him but for the offences they cōmitted against his father
greater the sighs of the faithful the tears which issued out of his mothers eies or the bloud which gushed out of Christ vains or the blasphemies which the wicked Iewes vttered with their mouth but yet our holy meek Iesus did first pardō the iniuries before he was mindful of the tears O good Iesus O redeemer of my soule saith Anselmus as thou dost say Father forgiue thē why dost thou not say dry the eies of my sorrowfull mother stanch the bloud of my tender vains heal the woūds of my gētle flesh haue pity cōpassion of these faithfull women which here weep for my sake as thou didst say in thy last supper saith Ciprian Mandatū nouū do vobis I giue you a new cōmandemēt so maist thou now say vpō the crosse I giue you a new exāple seeing that neuer any before thee hath taught vs so perfect a maner how to loue nor so liuely an exāple how to pardon it was a strange a new kind of goodnes which Iesus vsed in asking pardon first for those which crucified him rather then for those which followed him for his mother which accompanied him for without comparison the griefe which he had to see the souls of his enemies perish was farre greater vnto him thē to see his mothers eies run downe with tears Let no man thē wonder nor maruel that our good Iesus did remēber himself first of the people which murdered him before his mother which bare him because he came not into the world to drie mēs eies frō weeping but to sauesoules from perishing Secōdly the son of God shewed his mercy in asking pardon for his enemies with kind sweet words that is not by calling him God or Lord or creator but only father which is a word answerable vnto mercy pity contrariwise this word God or Lord doth alwaies signifie iustice Whē Christ said Father forgiue them hee would haue said Lord forgiue them or my God forgiue them it would haue seemed that he would haue had the pardon according vnto the rigor of iustice the which if he had required or his father granted there is no doubt at al but before the son of God should haue yeelded vp his ghost the ground would haue opened swallowed thē vp Whē the son of God would ask any great thing of his father he began his praier alwaies with Father as whē he said I confesse vnto thee O father whē he said Father into thy hands I cōmend my spirit What meaneth this O redecmer of my soule what meaneth this Is thy pity so great towards vs and thy mercy so abundant that thou doest pray for thy enemies with the same wordes as thou doest pray for thy own affairs S. Chrysost vpon S. Mathew noteth That the excōmunicated Iews did alwaies change their stile maner of speech whē they spake vnto Christ for once they said Benedictus qui venit in nomine domini anone after they said Vah qui destruis tēplū but as for the son of God as his mind was sincere clear inwardly so his words were holy outwardly were not think you his words holy his thoughts pure cleare whē he said vnto his Father Father forgiue them seeing hee praied with his tongue pardoned with his heart S. Barnard crieth out O sweet Iesus O redeemer of my soule what couldest thou haue said or what shouldest thou haue done more for thy enemies thā pardon them with all thy heart make intercession for thē with such sweet louing words Thirdly Christ shewed his goodnes mercie in asking pardon in the presence of such as were there that is in the presence of his sorrowful mother of his welbeloued disciple his deer friend Mary Magdalen his cousins and kindred shewing that as all men were by him redeemed so also all should be by him pardoned Vbertinus to this purpose saith O good Iesus in the death which thou didst suffer and in the pardon which thou diddest giue to thy enemies thou diddest not only helpe thy selfe there with thy tongue but also with thy heart seeing thou didst entreat thy father with thy tongue that he would haue pity on them and diddest also beseech thy mother with thy heart that she would forgiue them Rabanus vpon S. Matthew saith That it was not without a high mystery hidden sacrament that the son of God when he died would haue his mother his kindred there the reason was because they should all be witnesses of his pardon as they were of his passion for our holy Lord had a greater desire that his bloud should benefite his enemies than that his kindred should entreat at his death for him Wherfore O good Iesus saith Anselmus wherfore didst thou bring thy mother all thy family to the foot of the crosse but only because as thou didst suffer in thy flesh so they should also fuffer in their hearts as thou didst forgiue thē thy death they should also forgiue thē their iniuries wrongs done by thē Bonauenture saith that as the son of God said father forgiue thē opēly so he said mother forgine thē insecret in so much that as the hangmē did martirize the sonne so the son martirized the mother leauing her bound to weep his death but not licensed to reuēge it O my Iesus O my soules health I beseech thee that as thou didst get pardon of thy father and mother for thy enemies so thou wouldst get me pardon for my sinnes saying Father forgiue mother forgiue him seeing I am hateful vnto thy father by reason of the sins which I commit against him vngratefull vnto thy mother for the benefites which I haue receiued of her O happy holy day in which thou didst die seeing that on that day the Father forgaue his iniury the son pardoned his death the mother pardoned her martyrdome Saint Iohn pardoned his reproch and perill Mary Magdalen her anguish and distresse and the good theefe was pardoned of his sinne How was it possible that the Father should not forgiue the world of their sinnes seeing that on one day in one houre and at one time they said Father forgiue them the son by letting his bloud streame from his vaines the mother by suffering her tears flow from her eies and the sadde familie by piercing the heauen with their sighes Because saith Ciprian the office of the son of God was to put together that which was broken and reconcile those which disagreed hee would not depart out of this world before hee had made an attonement betwixt his friendes and his foes beseeching his father to forgiue thē cōmanding his mother not to accuse thē The sorrowful mother had great reason to challenge the Iews for the life which they took frō her son and also the father for the wrongful death which they put him to therefore our most merciful redeemer besought of his father that he wold not cōdemn thē into
irae dei vsque ad faeces said the Prophet Esay speaking with Israel as if he would say Rise vp O Ierusalem rise vp O Synagogue seeing that of meere drunkenesse thou art fallen vpon the earth considering that thou hast dronke the cup of the anger of God vnto the very bottome and dregs The sonne of God the night before his passion being at his praiers in the garden of Gethsemani when all the torments which he was afterwards to suffer came vnto his mind and the torment of the death which hee was to endure said vnto his eternall father Pater sivis transeat a me talix iste as if he would say My eternal and holy father I ask thee as thy son and beseech thee as thou art my father that thou wouldest consent that all those of my church may also drink of this cup of bitternes The doubt now is that seeing the cup that Israel tasted of was frō as good a God as the cup that Christ drank of why the cup that Christ drank of was approued liked the cup that Ierusalē drank of misliked disallowed The one was a cup the other a cup the one was of bitternes and the other was of ire the one fell to the synagogue the other to the church the one was of God the other was of God seeing it is so why do they threatē Israel for that which hee drunk and praise Christ for that which he supped vp The better to vnderstand this point we must vnderstād that there are two kind of cups or chalices in the holy scripture To wit the one which is called the chalice of bitternesse the other which is called the chalice of ire and the difference betwixt thē is that by drinking the one we appear betimes in the morning in Paradise by drinking the other we go down at night vnto hel What is the cup of bitternesse ful of but with hunger cold thirst persecution temptation all which things our Lord giueth to drinke vnto all those which hee hath chosen to serue him and vnto all those whom he hath predestinated vnto saluation S. Gregory in his Morals saith That it is a sign that he is predestinated to be saued vnto whom God giueth his cup of bitternes to drink in so much that we cannot escape grieuous hels vnlesse it be by the cost of great trauails It is to be noted that Christ said not vnto his father that he wold not drink of the cup neither yet did he offer himself to drink vp al but he praied him only by speciall grace that others might help him to drink it for if he should alone haue dronken the cup of bitternes he alone should haue entred into Paradise O giuer of all goodnes O distributer of al fauors what hadst thou that thou didst not cōmunicate vnto vs or what didst thou possesse that thou didst not deuide amongst vs Thou hast giuē vs thy body to eat thou hast giuen vs thy bloud to drink thou hast giuē vs thy law to keep thou hast giuē vs thy hart to loue thou hast giuē vs thy cup to tast thou hast giuē vs thy glory to enioy Anselmus saith That in the vain pallaces of the world those are thought to be most familiar which are most of all made much of by their Lord but in the company house of God those are best beloued which are worst handled insomuch that we wil say him to be his familiarest friend whom we shall see to drinke oftenest of his bitter cup. O high mystery O diuine Sacrament when the sonne of God did weepe teares from his eies in the garden and did sweat bloud from his body hee did not aske that his chosen flocke might bee cockered and made much of but only that he wold let thē sup some sup of his bitter cup. What else was S. Peters crosse S. Andrews crosse likewise Bartolomewes knife S. Laurence grediron S. Steuens stones but certain pledges which they receiued of Christ certain bitter sups which they dranke of his chalice Hilarius vpon S. Matthew saith That how many more sups a man hath supped in this life of Christs cup so many steps the higher shall hee bee in heauen in glory for what cause we ought to entreat and aske earnestly that if we cannot drink al his cup yet that he would let vs at the least rast of him with his elect S. Ierome sayth also That although the cup which Christ left his elect bee somewhat bitter in drinking yet after that it is drunke it is sauerous and profitable because the trauels of this world doe not giue vs so great griefe and paine when wee suffer them as they bring vs delight after we haue suffered them It is also to bee noted that hee sayth Transeat a me calix iste that is He would not haue his bitter cup turne backe againe but goe on forward wherby he giueth vs to vnderstand that the merit of his passion and the bloud of our redemption should not be bestowed vpon them which euery day goe worse and worse vntill the end but onely vpon them vvhich euery day grow better and better This word of Transeat Let this cup passe is a high word and worthy to bee marked in the which and by the vvhich our good Iesus doth admonish and warne vs that those shall not drinke of his cup of bitternesse enter vvith him into glory which hauing been good turn in the end to be naught but only those vvho being naught proue to be good nor those vvho vvhen they should go forward from vertue to vertue turne backward and perseuere in vices because that among the seruants of our Lord he vvho doth not profit doth disprofit There is no rich mā in this world which doth set so much by his wealth as Christ doth by his chalice of bitternesse and therfore seeing that he commandeth that his cup should passe further that those should drink of him vvhich doe go forward the seruant of our Lord ought to take pains to make himselfe better and to go forward not in ambitiō which doth tēpt him but in deuotiō which he doth want O good Iesus O my soules cōfort Let this cup go not frō me but to me because we may tast of thy pains trauels feel thy griefes weep for thy tormēr enioy thy loue wash away my wickednes insomuch that whē thy cup doth passe frō thee it may light vpon me Let euery mā make his prouision of wines of Illana of Candie of Dania yet I for my comfort and deuotion doe aske of God that all the daies of my life I may deserue to drinke of that bitter cup one drop There is another cup which is called the cup of the wrath and ire of God of the which when I begin to speake my bowels open my heart is troubled and my soule is sorrowfull my flesh trembleth and my eies also weepe How is it possible that
Anselmus in his Meditations saith What greater weakenesse of maine can there bee or what greater mishap than that if I defile my selfe I cannot make my selfe clean againe if I be sicke I cannot make my selfe whole againe if I ray my selfe I cannot wash my selfe againe yea and if I sinne I cannot repent of my selfe if our Lord doe not first giue mee his light as hee did the good theefe on the crosse and if hee doe not first looke vpon mee as hee did looke vpon S. Peter from the piller Heale mee good Lord and I shall bee made whole Saue me and I shall be saued saith king Dauid as if he would say No man is able to heale mee O my good Lord if thou doe it not nor no man is able to saue me if thou dost not saue me O my redeemer because no mā knoweth my wound but thou nor my felicity consisteth in none but in thee Cassiodorus vpon the Psalme saith That we should note how that the Prophet doth first aske of our Lord that he would make him whole before hee saue him for if our Lord doe not first wash the fault from vs it is in vaine to thinke that hee should giue vs his glory S. Basil vpon this place Sana me domine sayth That if thou doe not goe vvith me nor I with thee the more I goe about to heale my selfe the sicker I grow when I think to goe forward I turne backward vvhen I imagine that I goe streight then I find my selfe most out of the way when I labour to goe most cleane and neat I find my selfe then most of all vncleane and that vvhich is the worst of all is that I know not vvherein I doe best nor cannot guesse vvhen I doe amisse Anselmus vpon the same place Heale mee good Lord and I shall bee vvhole saith Who but thou O my sweet Iesus can cure mee and giue mee any temedy to such hidden wounds and such manifest offences to faults of such quality as mine are to such carelesse care such vncleane thoughts such wicked crimes such damnable bowels and such inconsiderate speeches Heale mee good Lord and I shall bee made vvhole for it auaileth me very little to vse helpe and not bee made vvhole to fight and kill my selfe to swimme drowne my selfe 〈◊〉 to studie and not profit to take a iourney and neuer come to the end to aske and neuer haue any thing giuen mee to serue and neuer deserue any thing Heale me good Lord I shall be made vvhole of the pride which ouerthroweth mee of the enuy vvhich rotteth in me of the anger vvhich vvasteth mee of the gluttony vvhich disquieteth me of sloth vvhich dulleth me of couetousnesse vvhich maketh me cruell and of all sensuality vvhich neuer leaueth me Heale me Lord I shall bee free from the world vvhich deceiueth me from the deuill which tempteth me from the flesh which pampereth mee from my enemies which persecute me from my friends which importune me from my euill thoughts which torment me and from malicious men vvhich diffame me Heale me good Lord and I shall bee healed not of a scab but of a sin not of blindnes but of filthines not of the members of my body but of my thoughts not of my body but wickednes not of swollen feet but of disordinate appetites Heale me Lord and I shall be healed of my vnruly desires of the wantonnesse of my eies of my ouermuch speaking of the coldnes of my workes of the stealth of my hands of the malice of my thoughts and of the worme of my couetousnes O good Iesus my only trust heale my soule because I haue offended thee in thought I haue offēded thee in delight I haue offended thee in omission I haue offended thee in consent I haue offended thee in deed therefore vnto thee my fault I confesse and therfore good Iesus take pity vpon me Sprinckle me with isope I shal be made clean Lauabis me super niuē dealbabor saith the Psalmist as if hee would say When it shal please thee whē thy son shal come into the world thou shalt sprinckle me with holy Isope wash me with thy precious hād by which sprinckling and washing I shall not only bee clean and without fault but I shal remain whiter than all the snow of the highest mountains Who is he saith Aymon who cōmandeth vs to wash our selues but only the eternal father who is he who washeth vs but only his precious son with what doth he wash vs but with his holy bloud and who bee those which he doth wash but such as are of his holy church O glorious Isope and happy washing place in the which the Angels if they had license to come down and the heauenly powers if they durst would wash themselues in There were many riuers in Samaria but Naaman was healed in none but in the riuer of Iordan there were many cesterns pooles in Ierusalem but the diseased were helped only in the Probatica There were many fountaines in Palestine but Dauid could neuer slackē his thirst but in the fountain of Bethelem Wee will inferre of all this that there hath been very much bloud shed in the world but none could euer make vs cleane but only the bloud of Christ All water washeth not euery fish poole maketh not cleane euery fountaine filleth not neither doth all bloud make whole a beasts bloud hurteth mans bloud defileth but the bloud of Christ doth make whole doth wash doth fill and content If wee looke curiously into the Scripture and especially into the Apocalips thou shalt find it to bee true that S. Iohn did not see any Saint of heauen wash himselfe in the water which did run in the riuer but onely in the bloud which did run from the lambe O of what great vertue this holy bloud is of seeing that for to wash vs and bath vs in it we need no great quantity but a very smal deale which is easily seene in that the Prophet doth not ask that he would make him a pole of bloud to wash him in but that it would please him to sprinckle him with a little Isope dipped in it A very little is sufficient O my good Iesus and it sufficeth to be sprinckled with it and not washed seeing that one drop of thy precious bloud sufficeth to fil thy glory with many and to people thy church with many good men It is much to be noted that he vseth this word Sprinckle me with Isope and I shall be made cleane for by casting water with Isope one drop falleth here and another there this man is wet with it and that man is drie euen so it falleth out in the bestowing of Christs holy bloud for although it were shed for all the world yet notwithstanding it was not emploied vpon all men The bloud of the sonne of God is sprinkled with Isope seeing that the Christian is saued with it and the Pagan condemned the inst
grieued and troubled heart weeepeth because there are none more certainer witnesses of the sorrows which wee suffer than the teares which wee weepe with our cies CHAP. VIII Why Christ tooke his mother with him to see him die seeing that she was not to helpe him to redeeme vs. QVi inuenerit auiculam eubantem cum pullis suis tollat filios dimittat matrem Deutronomy 22. God spake these wordes vnto the Iewes which vvere hunters as if he would say If any man goe to the fields a hunting and by chance meet with a Sparrowes nest he may take the young ones so as he let the old one goe in so much that he should neither take her nor much lesse kil her What other thing is it to goe a hunting for Sparrowes nests but to seeke out diuine bookes Origen sayth Who or what is the nest but the booke what the Sparrow but the letter which the young ones but the sences and who the hunter but the Christian which occupieth himselfe in holy Scripture When God commaundeth the hunter to leane the mother and take the young ones he doth plainly aduise vs that wee should leaue the letter in the nest of the holy Scripture and take the meaning Hee doth leaue the Sparrow in the nest which careth not for that which the letter soundeth but for that which the holy Gospell saith Because there bee some such obscure phrases in scripture that they are not onely not to be taken as they sound but also that not to be done which the very letter commandeth When Christ sayth If thy eie doe scandalize thee it was not his meaning that wee should pull out our corporall eies which we see with but the spirituall with the which we damne our selues for Christs sweet law doth command no man to teare his own members but to pul out sinnes by the root When wee loue a child well wee say that wee loue him like our owne eies and thereupon Christ saith if any of thy eies doe scandale thee pull him out Saint Augustine saith That all the Synagogues perdition consisteth because that in the nest of the Scripture they take the mother and leaue the young ones that is they take the letter as it soundeth and take not the sence which is hidden vnder it making more account of the drie barke then of the tender marrow When the Apostle saith that the letter killeth and that it is the spirit which doth giue life what else doth he say but that we should take heed of taking the old Sparrow and that wee should take the young ones which vvas the sence When the sonne of God saith Search the scriptures he meaneth not that we should read the bookes only but that vvee should seeke out the true sence thereof If wicked Arrius had searched out the meaning of those words My father is greater than I am of those other words That they may be one as I and my Father are one there should neuer so many good men haue been persecuted nor so many scandales haue risen in the church by it Seeing that all liuing beasts are created for mans vses and seruice if our Lord had meaned no other matter in the sparrowes nests then the letter speaketh of hee would neuer haue bidden vs eat of the one and not touch the other It had beene a greater losse to the Commonwealth to kill fiue or sixe young ones than one old one but because the giuer of the law did intend rather the mystery which was signified in the sparrowes than the prohibition which hee made when he commanded the young ones to be taken the old one to bee let louse Conformably then vnto that which our Lord commandeth let the curious Reader leaue the letter and take the true sence otherwise it were better for him not to read the Scripture than vnderstand it as the Synagogue doth To come then vnto our purpose what is the nest but the holy crosse of Christ Who the sparrow but our blessed Lady And who the young one but her precious sonne Ezechiel saw a nest put vpon a high tree in which nest euery bird laid an egge and in the nest of the crosse of Christ all the Saints lay their egges that is then good desires of which the sonne of God like a good Henne of euery one gathereth his good worke According vnto the old law the young sparrowes might bee taken and killed and so they did by Christ and wherefore then was his poore mother so grieuously tormented there who was figured in the sparrow seeing she was exempted by law O wicked Ierusalem and cursed Synagogue seeing that in the nest of the crosse thou diddest find the old bird and the yong why art thou not content to kil the young one but doest also torment the mother O holy tree O precious nest O blessed sonne O comfortlesse mother what heart could destroy that holy nest in the which all the holy Trinitie was inclosed In the high nest of the crosse the father was he who commanded the sonne to suffer the holyghost which assisted the flesh which died the foule which gaue life and the bloud which redeemed vs. All this nest was ouerthrowne by the Synagogue vvhen his bloud lay vpon the ground his carkasse on the crosse his flesh in the sepulchre his soule in ioy and his diuinity vnited to all What shal we say of his sorrowfull mother of whose heart there was one peece on the ground with his bloud another on the crosse vvith his skin another in the sepulchre with his body and another in hell whither Christ went with his soule another on the Mount of Caluary vvith those of her family vvhich wept What else shal I say O my soule but that into how many parts her son was scattered the sorrowful mothers heart into so many was deuided Vbertinus saith That the doleful mothers hart was scattered deuided deuided again because that louing her son as shee did better than her selfe shee kept the least part of her heart vnto her selfe Why doe I say that shee kept some part of her heart vnto her selfe seeing that all her heart liued and died with her sonne If the heart doe run to desire that which the cies behold and if whither the heart goeth there goeth also the very bowels to continue where was all the Virgines heart but in her sonne whom she best beloued Because the dolefull mother had no other sonne but him all her loue was fixed in him and because the Iewes found the Sparrow and her young one in the nest of the Crosse they crucified the flesh of Christ and tormented the mothers heart Saint Barnard sayth That if the Virgines breasts had been opened in that sorrowfull houre lamentable day it is religiously to bee thought they might haue found her heart of flesh but not the force and vigour of a heart because her vitall spirits had mortified it and her true loue buried it vvith her sonne O
must deliuer the father of all fault and allow the sonnes complaint to bee good To vnfold our selues of this businesse it is to bee noted that Christ said by the Prophet Abinfantia creuit mecum miseratio Because he began to suffer from his childhood and yet hee neuer complained vntill the time came that hee should die Leo vpon the Passion of our Lord sayth That the noble mens children of this world crie our presently when they see any trouble come vpon them and aske for succour but neuer any man saw our Lord open his mouth to complaine vntill a quarter of an houre before they would pull his heart out of his body S. Chrisostome vpon Luke crieth out sayth What newes is this O redeemer of the vvorld vvhat news is this When they lay hands on thee thou takest it quietly vvhen they blaspheme thee thou makest as though thou vvere deaffe vvhen they vvhip thee thou doest hold thy tongue whon they doe crucifie thee thou doest suffer vvhen they kil thee thou doest dissemble and yet doest thou open thy mind euen as thou art yeelding vp thy ghost Why doest thou complaine vpon thy father alone hauing as thou hast so many enemies which haue offended thee that is Iudas who sold thee Peter which did denie thee Pilate which gâ—ue sentence on thee Herod vvho scorned thee and all the people vvhich put thee to death Demosthenes the Philosopher sayth That a man ought neuer begin that vvhich hee cannot bring to an end nor say that vvhich he cannot proue nor aske that which cannot be giuen him nor loue that vvhich cannot be gotten noâ— contend with him vvhome hee cannot reuenge nor yet complaine of that which cannot bee remedied Seneca in an Epistle sayth That no man should say that hee complaineth vnlesse he thinke that he shall haue remedy against his complaint for otherwise he doth himselfe hurt in complaining stirreth him vnto anger of vvhom he complaineth Tell mee then O good Iesus what remedy hâ—st thou for thy coÌ„plaint seeing that thou hast not halfe an houre to liue Doest thou make thy request vnto thy Father when thy soule is euen now departing from thy body Who euer heard of or euer saw the like that the end of thy vexitions to bee the beginning of thy complaint in thirty and three yeares that thou diddest conuerse with vs thou diddest neuer braule with any thou diddest neuer iniury any man nor neuer complaine of any man and now being at the very point of death doest thou complaine only vpon thy Father O what great mystery and deep secret this thy complaint doth couer seeing that in such a time and such a narrow strait thou doest complaine when all other are woont to pardon their iniuries and reconcile their enmities and aske pardon for their offences Pauper in laboribus a iuuentute mea exaltatus autem humiliatus conturbatus these wordes the Prophet Dauid sayth in the person of Christ Psalme 88 as if hee would say I haue been brought vp in trauails and pouerty from my childhood and then I was lifted vp and then made low and afterward troubled and persecuted Thy fears haue made me afraid and thy angers haue broken vpon me and thy trauails haue compassed me about and they haue compassed me about altogether as it were a vie and ouer and aboue all this thou hast set my friend farre from me and hast seperated him who was my neighbour farre from me If wee doe deepely looke into the complaints which the sonne maketh in this place against his eternall Father wee shall find that they are many in number great in quality and in respect incomparable cruell in their kind and vnworthy of him vnto whom they are sent Basil vpon the Psalme sayth That speaking like a man it seemeth in humane reason that the innocency of good Iesus did not deserue neither could it be in the clemency of his good Father that the diuine pittie should load vpon weake humanity so many torments together and heape so many troubles vexations The first complaint which the sonne made against his Father is Quod pauper in laboribus sum a iuuentute mea to wit That he brought him vp poorely from his childhood he made him liue with hunger and go like a banished man from place to place Cicero sayth in an Epistle When a young man doth suffer trauails and endure pouerty if he bee not a foole and an idiot he beareth it with a great courage by remembring that his Father was poore in the same manner but if his Father had been rich and now hee himselfe poore this is such a misfortune that there is no patience able to endure it nor heart which can dissemble it What should the sonne of God thinke when hee remembreth what a rich Father hee had and that hee did spend all his treasure vpon other mens children and suffer him to goe poorely naked and a hungred and scorned by all men The Apostle speaking of Gods riches sayth Deus qui dines es in omnibus as if hee would say Thou art the God only which doth possesse great riches and art the Lord which hath many lordships because thou shouldest want nothing thy selfe and to impart much of the ouerplus vnto others Gloria diuitiae in domo eius saith the Prophet his house is full of glory and there is infinite wealth in his chamber If God then haue glory for those which are in heauen with him and bee also a father who hath wealth for such as are with him in this world what was the cause why he did not impart some of this vnto his sonne Ambrose vpon this word Pauper in laboribus sayth That most sacred humanity came in pouerty of glory seeing that his Father did not suffer his soule to impart somewhat of his glory vnto his body and his person also liued in pouerty seeing hee had nothing proper vnto himselfe in this life in so much that as the father was rich in all things so the sonne was poore of all things Plato in his Timaeo sayth That although pouerty bee no euill thing in a good man yet notwithstanding mans nature doth much abhorre it because there can none but he be called very fortunate who is able to giue vnto others neither is there any other very vnfortunate but hee who must of necessity aske of others It is to bee thought that Christs humanity did feele his pouerty and necessity which hee endured aswel because his father had very much to bestow vpon him as for that hee must oftentimes aske for that which hee had need of S. Bonauenture sayth in the life of Christ Christ had much a doe to maintaine himselfe and those of his Colledge for sometimes he asked that which he had need of and they gaue it him not and at other times he asked not and yet they sent him in so much that there did striue in his tender heart at one time the hunger
which hee suffered and the shame which he had to aske Hunger did bid him to aske and shame did bid him to forbeare in so much that there passed very few daies in the which his stomacke was not very hungry or his holy face couered with shame Ginomius the Philosopher being asked what pouerty was answered That pouerty of his owne nature was very euilly conditioned because it giueth no contentment vnto the person in whome it is no sauour at the table no tast in the cup no warmth in the gowne nor any life in the purse What contentment can a poore man haue seeing they scorne him before his face What sauour hath he at his table seeing that oftentimes it is time to haue dined before the fire be made in his house What tast can he haue in his cup seeing that sometime hee doth not send once a weeke vnto the tauern What trust can a poor creature haue in his purse seeing that his purse did cost him more than that which is in it Christ had great reason to say that hee vvas brought vp poorely and with great paine from his infancy seeing that he was borne poore liued poore and died poore insomuch that as hee was the most holiest of all holy men so was he the poorest of all poore men Exaltatus autem humiliatus conturbatus which is the second complaint which the sonne maketh of the Father And it is as if he would say Besides that my Father hath brought me vp in pouerty great misery he hath remembred to giue me honour the better afterward to diffame me and to exalt mee to throw mee afterwards downe in so much that my fame hath beene spread abroad throughout all this kingdome and my infamy hath flowne afterward throughout al the world This is a very pittifull complaint and a very deepe speech and therefore it is necessary for vs to expound it well and read it vvith great heed Seneca in his second booke of Anger saith Laetiores reliquit fortuna quos nunquam aspexit quà m ques aspexit postea deseruit as if he would say It was better with them and they were more merrier which fortune did neuer exalt nor neuer thought on than with those whom fortune had once lifted vp to great honour and afterward thrown down again Boetius in his first booke of Comfort sayth In falicissimum genus infortunij est hominem fuisse faelicem As if he would say There is no torment in the world to bee compared vnto that that when a man doth remember that hee hath beene happy in time past and that he is fallen from that estate because such a mans heart doth bewaile his present misery and sigh after the felicitie which he was wont to enioy What griefe can he take for honour who neuer knew what it was Macrobius in his Saturnales sayth That if wee want any thing all that we can doe is to desire it but if we doe once obtaine it then lose it the heart is not content with desiring it only but doth also lament the losse of it because it is a farre greater griefe to lose that which once we haue enioied than that which we neuer had although we doe desire it neuer so much The son of God did complaine on his owne father because he had exalted him and afterward throwne him downe because there was neuer sonne more honored by his father than Christ nor neuer sonne so much abased as Christ was afterward on the Mount of Caluary The better to vnderstand this speech exaltatus humiliatus wee must suppose that God did neuer giue nor neuer will giue vnto any those graces and preheminences which hee gaue vnto his welbeloued sonne because there is no creature worthy to receiue them nor any Angell of that capacity that he is able to haue them imparted vnto him The sonne was exalted by his Father seeing hee gaue him his owne diuine essence and power and in that his flesh should be vnited vnto that diuine nature and because the holy Ghost was the maker and framer of all that mystery and because he should take flesh of a Virgine and she remained a Virgine The sonne was highly exalted by his father considering that hee gaue him so much power vpon earth as hee had aboue in heauen The sonne of God was highly exalted by his father considering that hee gaue him the most excellent soule that euer was or shall bee created and gaue him power to cast out diuels and authoritie to raise the dead and power ouer al the elemeÌ„ts also gaue him license to pardon sinnes The sonne of God was greatly honoured when hee gaue him himselfe for his father a pure Virgine for his mother holy Ioseph for his maister the great Baptist for his embassadour the great Euangelist for his Secretary holy Peter and Saint Paule for his Preachers Christ was highly honoured by his Father considering that he made Iohn baptize him in the riuer of Iordan and caused the holy Ghost to bee present with him and his glory to shine there vpon him and openly acknowledge him to bee his welbeloued son Behold then how the sonne of God was exalted and honoured by his father but alasse as hee endeth his speech with exaltatus he sayth presently that he was humiliatus conturbatus that he was throwne downe and troubled so that according vnto this prophecy the end of his honour was the beginning of his infamy Christ was abiected and abased by his father because that from his young tender infancy his father began to hold a rigorous hand ouer him for in the first three and thirty years which he liued he neuer gaue him license to shew his power nor employ his knowledge nor set forth his learning nor win credite and fame in the world Christ was abiected and made low by his father seeing that of God he made him a man of eternall temporall of one that was inuisible visible and of one that was immortall mortall of one who was strong mighty weake and of a free man a bondsâ—aue according to his humanitie The sonne of God was abased and abiected by his father considering how he suffered the Pharisies to persecute him by malice the Priests by enuy the Scribes by couetousnesse the Gentiles through ignorance and the Synagogue by obstinacy Christ was brought low and abased by his father seeing he gaue his enemies leaue to point at him as if hee had been an enchanter diffame him as an Idolatour accuse him of blasphemy rebuke him of sedition and condemne him for a Traitor CHAP. II. How Christ doth complaine vpon his father because he doth breake all his anger vpon his body IN me transierunt irae tuae terrores tui conturbauerunt me saith Dauid as if he would say Thou was not content O my Father thou wast not content to bring mee vp in such great misery as thou didst thou wast not content to exalt mee and throw mee downe againe but
was perpetuall ingratitude because there was neuer so great a matter performed as when Christ died because vve should liue and yet there vvas neuer deed so vngratefully requited as his death was by vs. Saint Barnard sayth O good Iesus O my soules ioy Art thou not content to loose thy life for my life but that thy sorrow and griefe should continue also vntill they take thy soule from thee vpon the crosse If the sonne of God had said only Tristis est anima mea it had beene tollerable but to say Vsque ad morteÌ„ it is a thing not to be any way indured For it was only he and no other in whom the paine ended at the same time that his soule departed from him Cyprian saith That by this speech Vsque ad mortem the son of God dooth bind himselfe to die sorrowfully and comfortles taking no ease at all in his passion because there was no portion of the inferiour part which griefe did not wholly possesse nor any bone in all his bodie vvhich vvas not brused and broken with griefe and paine Christ sayth Eleg it suspendium anima mea because that as all the time that hee liued in this vvorld hee kept the glory of his soule in suspence because it should not fall vpon his body so at the time of his passion hee did keepe his reason in suspence because it should not comfort his soule For if Christ vvould haue giuen his glorious soule license to impart some small sparkle of her glory vnto the body hee had neuer been comfortlesse and if hee would haue giuen license vnto his reason to haue comforted him in his passion hee should neuer haue felt his passion so sharpe and bitter But because our redemption should bee more copious and aboundant hee would admit no comfort nor consolation at all Ne fortitudo lapidum fortitudo mea nee caro mea sayth holy Iob As if hee vvould say O great God doe not punish mee so rigorously nor shew thy selfe so cruell against mee because my heart is not so hard as a stone to feele no paine nor my flâ—sh as hard as copper that no torments are able to hurt it Hee who spake these words did craue aid for his griefe and fauour for his anguish seeing hee did confesse that his heart vvas not able to beare them nor his strength able to sustaine them There are some men so sencelesse that they feele no kind of tribulation no more than if their hearts vvere made of stone and contrary there are some of so tender a nature that if a man doe but touch their coat they crie out that they may bee heard vnto heauen in so much that the first like vnto beasts feele nothing and the other like impatient men neuer cease crying When the holy man sayth That his heart vvas not like a heart of stone hee meant that hee did feele all tribulation and anguish euen vnto the heart and vvhen hee said that his flesh vvas not made of copper or brasse his meaning was that although he did feele all tribulation yet hee did neuer complaine of it in so much that if hee did feele it as a man yet hee did dissemble it like a wise man S. Gregory in his Morals saith Iob doth very wisely vnder these vvords shew vs the manner how bad men and good men doe suffer their anguish and hee compareth those which feele no tribulation vnto a stone and those which complaine on them alwaies vnto sounding copper for indeed hee who feeleth no griefe at all is like vnto a stone and to feele it and hold his peace is the part of him who is wise and discreet Christs heart vvas not of stone because hee should not feele neither was his flesh of copper to complaine for hee did feele all paine and anguish more than any man and did suffer it better than any for in all the time of his passion he did neuer complaine vpon any when hee suffered nor did neuer command a reuenge to bee taken on any when he died CHAP. XIII How the son complaineth of his Father because that he had condemned him to die before that Iudas had sold him QVare me posuisti contrarium tibi factus sum mihimet ipsi grauis These words are vttered by holy Iob in the person of the sonne of God speaking vnto his Father vpon the crosse their meaning is this O my Father why art thou so contrary vnto me as if I were thy enemy doth it not content thee that for my friends sake I am grieuous vnto my selfe and complaine on my selfe It is an ordinary thing to see one man complaine vpon another and to see me complaine vpon my selfe is no new thing but to complaine on thee and my selfe at once is a hard case for although my tongue can count my griefes and tribulations yet my heart cannot suffer them If Christ did complaine of Herod for mocking him or of Pilate for giuing sentence on him it was no maruell but to complaine on his Father it seemeth that there is no patience able to endure it For seeing that hee should haue defended him it seemeth a very hard part to suffer him to bee crucified The sonne of God dooth frame two great complaints in these wordes the one of his eternall Father the other of himselfe and therefore it is very conuenient that we declare how the eternall Father did send his sonne to die and how hee himselfe went to suffer on the crosse and in so doing wee shall find that the one did that which hee did moued therevnto with charity and the other to suffer that which hee suffered was mooued with pitty Qui proprio filio non pepercis sed pro omnibus nobistradidit illum saith S. Paul and his meaning is this The loue which God bare vnto all the world was so exceeding great that he would not pardon the death of his owne proper sonne but would haue him crucified for all Being as he was his naturall sonne his only sonne and so holy a sonne and so welbeloued a sonne was it not a thing most wonderfull that hee would suffer him to be crucified Dauid had many sonnes besides Absalon and yet when the captaine Ioab had slaine him in field Dauid was almost besides himselfe and cried out O my sonne Absalon O my sonne Absalon who will doe mee the fauour to kill me and restore me thee again He that gaue such sorrowful words for the death of a sonne would he not thinke you haue powred out farre more pittifull lamentations if he had been handled as Christ was crucified To haue killed a seruant for to saue his sonne any Father would haue done but to kill his sonne for to saue his seruant onely the Father of Christ did who hauing no other sonne but him gaue them him as freely to be carried to be crucified as if they had led him to be crowned Damascen sayth The eternall Father did well know that our businesse could not
bee brought to passe but by his sonnes meanes and he knew also very well that so old a strife would cost his sonne very deerely and notwithstanding all this he gaue his full consent that hee should bee condemned to die And that which most of all did shew his goodnesse and our wickednesse is that the diuels against whome he did plead striue did not giue sentence against Christ but man for whom hee did plead and whose cause he did defend Theophilus dooth seeme to say that it importeth more to say that the father did suffer his sonne to bee crucified than to say that hee doth suffer sinne which appeareth by the Apostle when hee sayth Quòd pro nobu omnibus tradidit illum and hee sayth not Quòd permisit but hee sayth that hee did deliuer and giue his sonne to bee crucified If the father did giue him to be crucified who was able to defend him If we doe giue credite vnto the Prophet Esayas the sonne dooth charge no man with his death and passion sauing only his Father seeing that hee sayth in the Fathers name Propter peccata populi mei percussieum as if hee would say Let no search bee made for the death of my sonne because I was he who stroke him and wounded him and crucified him and buried him because the sinnes of my people could not be clensed but with the bloud of my sonne Dauid was of the same opinion in the 88 Psalm saying thou hast shortened the daies of his life hast thrown his seat vpon the ground Who was able to cut off his daies or cast downe his seat but only he who gaue him life and honored him with a seat All this was figured not onely in Abraham who had drawne his sword to kill his sonne but also in king Moab who for the liberty of the people did kill his own sonne from the top of a wall Origen vpon the Apostle sayth Although it seeme to be a thing against humanity for the father to be a butcher of his owne sonne and make an anatomy of him yet it was no cruelty for the father to make his sonne to die for the redemption of the world but rather a great point of charity because it was decreed from the beginning that as our hurt came by disobedience so our bulwarke and defence should bee by obedience Theophilus sayth God left his sonne in the hands of death with an intention that because that if shee did set vpon him without cause hee should loose the right which he had vpon others and so it befell vnto him for because hee ventered vpon him who was iust hee lost his action against him who was a sinner S. Augustine vpon S. Matthew saith There were at Christs death first Christs father and then the sonne the Lieutenant Pilate Iudas the Disciple and all the people of the Iews and as they were all of diuers conditions so they were of diuers intentions Pilate gaue sentence on him for feare Iudas sold him for couetousnesse the Iews slew him by malice the Father deliuered him for charity and the sonne offered himself to die with pittie and he sayth further Doe not say O you Iewes doe not say If hee be the sonne of God let him come downe from the crosse for you would haue crucified him long before that time if his Father had not denied you him afterward whē he would and how hee vvould hee deliuered him vnto you What did Pilate in the death of Christ but sinne what did Iudas in the passion of his Maister but sinne what did the Iewes in crucifieng Christ but sinne The passion of Christ our redeemer the Father permitted the sonne suffered the holy ghost approued in so much that wee bee not bound for our redemption vnto those who put him to death for to reuenge their iniuries but vnto those who suffered it to redresse our faults O how much we owe vnto God the Father for his clemency seeing that because hee would not punish my offence in my selfe he punished his own sonne for it not according vnto his innocency but vnto my great offence the which his holy sonne did lay vpon his owne shoulders to the intent to disburden me of it Anselmus in his Meditations saith Say O my soule say with the Prophet I am he who sinned I am hee who haue offended thee I am hee who hath sinned for the Lambe thy sonne what hath he done Let thy fury bee turned against me O Father who haue committed the fault and not against thy sonne who is without spot and let not the cruell speare of yron pierce his heart who can doe nothing but loue and let him enter into my heart who can do nothing but sinne O fatherly affection and fauour neuer heard of before what is there in me to giue thee or what is there in all the world to serue thee with seeing that for to seeke out him vvho vvas lost to redeeme him vvho vvas sold to vnlose him vvho vvas bound and deliuer him out of captiuity who was taken prisoner thou diddest make thy owne sonne captiue O infinite goodnesse and vnspeakable clemency what pittie did constraine thee or vvhat charity did ouercome thee that to giue light vnto the blind to heale the lame put him in the right way who went astray to make cleane the vncleane to lift him vp who was fallen and pardon him who had offended thou wouldst not pardon thy owne sonne What priesthood can bee compared vnto thy Priesthood or what sacrifice is like vnto thy sacrifice seeing that in old time they did offer nothing vnto the Priest but some liue beast for the sins of the people and thou diddest not offer but thy own proper sonne The sonne then hath great occasion to complain of his Father saying Why hast thou put me contrary vnto thy self seeing that he commanded that sonne which hee loued best to die for those which most of all did hate him He followeth this matter in a morall sence FActus sum mihimet ipsi grauis sayth Iob as we haue already said Although saith hee I complaine of many yet I complaine of none more than of my selfe and although many things doe wage battaile against me yet I am the greatest enemy vnto my selfe Origen vpon this place sayth It is a thing neuer heard of and a very strange complaint for although a man bee neuer so culpable yet he desireth to excuse himselfe and accuse others Irenaeus in a Sermon sayth We fall euery day and stumble and sinne yet notwithstanding all these faults no man dooth confesse himselfe to bee naught nor acknowledge his brother to bee good Petrarch sayth That men complaine of the sea that it is dangerous of the aire that it is corrupt of his friend that he is a dissembler of the time that it is troublesome and yet I see no man sayth he who complaineth of himselfe therfore wee are like vnto young gamesters which neuer blame their owne play
are predestinated and he shall be placed in the kingdome of heauen Saint Augustine saith in a Sermon As the sonne of God did command vs to keepe new precepts so he did promise vs new rewards for it and as hee gaue great commandements so hee gaue great rewards wherevpon it is that vntil hee came into the world no man commanded that which hee commanded nor no man promised that which he promised Christ said not in vaine Ecce noua facio omnia but because hee instituted the Sacrament which was a hard thing to reach vnto and commanded vs to beleeue the blessed Trinity which is a high matter to vnderstand willed vs to beleeue him both God man which is a new thing to bee receiued charged vs to loue our enemies which is a hard matter to doe and commanded vs to keepe his law only which was a new thing in the world to doe S. Thomas in his book against the Gentiles sayth That as the sonne of God did not command those of the old law to beleeue great things so he did not promise them but small things and because hee commanded his chosen Christians to beleeue hard things and performe things which were not easily done he promised that they should possesse and emoy very high rewards To come then vnto the text of Vestimentis pignoratis c. It is to bee noted that as the seruice of the iust was to bee done here vpon earth and the reward which they are to receiue to be giuen aboue in heauen because wee should not thinke that hee mocked vs in deferring our paiment to the other world his pleasure was to leaue vs a good gage and pledge in this world vntill he should reward vs for our good life in heauen The pledges which Christ left vs in this world were his precious garments his holy works and his most holy Sacraments Why did Christ thinkest thou leaue vs so many pledges in this life but because hee will vnpawne them afterward aboue in his glory In his glory aboue all those pledges shall bee taken away and haue an end because that in heauen we shall need to hope for nothing because we shall see that with our eies which now we desire nor we shall haue nothing to beleeue because there shall be nothing hidden wee shall haue no cause to feare because there shall bee no death wee shall need to aske for nothing because life is there euerlasting neither shal we desire any thing seeing that glory is there perpetuall O how happie be all Christian people seeing they haue not only Christs garments for a pledge and hostage but also Christ himselfe remaining with vs vnder the visible signs of the Sacrament vntil he giue himselfe vnto vs in heauen glorified Let no man maruell to heare vs say that we haue Christ for a pledge pawne for that which his Father promised vs seeing that the Apostle saith also that we haue the Holy ghost for a pledge for that which the son commanded vs Ipse est pignus haereditatis meae as if he would say God the eternal Father hath giuen vs the gifts of the holy Ghost and all the garments and merites of his sonne for a pledge of that which hee hath promised vs and this no longer but vntill hee will carry vs to his eternall glory and giue vs the fruition of his diuine essence What Christian is there who will bee afraid to loose himselfe and not haue a hope to saue himselfe hauing as wee haue for an assurance of our saluation as Christs robes in pawne and the gifts of the Holy ghost in hostage Super vestimentis pignoratis all holymen doe leane when they ioine their workes with Christs workes for all that we doe is little worth vnlesse we tie it vnto Christs merits It is to be weighed that the Prophet Osee did not see the garments by themselues and elbowes by themselues but garments with elbowes and elbowes with garments to giue vs to vnderstand that we cannot merite with our own works and that Christ wil not alwaies saue vs by himselfe by reason whereof it is necessary that wee fasten our armes vpon his workes and that he sticke his workes vpon our elbows armes CHAP. V. Where is brought a sigure of Tobias and declared to the purpose EXentera hunc piscem cor eius fel iecur repone tibi Tobias 6 chap. The Angell Raphael spake these words vnto young Tobias as if hee would say Crie not nor bee not afraid of this fish but take him out of the water flay him cut him in the middle and take out his heart his gaule and liuer and keepe it all for thy selfe because it is all very medicinable to cure a sicke man The story of Tobias is very well knowne to the learned in Scripture When he sent his young sonne Tobias to Rages a towne of the Medes for the recouering of tenne markes of siluer which he had lent his friend Gabelus when hee was captiue in Babilon and when yong Tobias came to the riuer Tygris to wash his feet there came foorth a very great fish to the banck side toward him with such boldnesse as if hee would haue eaten and swallowed him vp before that hee could flie from him When the Angell saw the fiercenesse of this fish and the great feare that the youth was stroke into hee began to encourage him saying Feare not the fish because the fish ought rather to be afraid of thee and therefore it is necessary that thou do by him that which he would haue done to thee because another cannot recouer health before this fish bee killed Tobias tooke heart by the encouragement of the Angell and fastening on the fish by the gilles drew him out of the water and stripped him and tooke out his heart and his gaule and his liuer as the Angell his master had commanded him to doe Now that Tobias fear was past when the fish was dead and drawne he said vnto his Angell Tell mee brother Azarias to what purpose thou diddest command mee to keepe the fishes heart gaule and liuer and diddest not bid me eat at all of him To this the Angell answered Thou must vnderstand my sonne Tobias that this thy iourney and this chance which hath befaln vnto thee wanteth not a great mystery as hereafter it shall appeare But for the present let it suffice thee to know that the meat of this fish is good for trauailers to eat of and the heart good to cast out diuels and the gaule good to heale the blind and the liuer soueraine for to cure other externall diseases There are presented vnto vs many deepe mysteries in this figure if it may please God to giue mee the knowledge to expound them for in it is set foorth the wonderfull death which the sonne of God suffered and the inspeakeable fruit and benefite vvhich vvee receiue by it Here is to bee vnderstood who Tobias is vvhich taketh the iourney what the fish
body because that if he had not hindered that his body had not ben passible at all It was for no other cause but Propter nostram salutë that our great Redeemer suffered the death vpon the crosse as if he had been a sinner Candolfus sayth Christ sometimes gaue place that the glory of his soule should redound and fall vpon the members of his body as it happened in the hill Thabor by reason vvhereof his precious flesh vvas so tender in suffering and so passing desirous to returne to the fruition of the same glory that the absence and delay of that diuine and heauenly comfort did bring Christ most grieuous torment Vpon those vvords of the Psalme Abyssus abyssum inuocat Saint Basil sayth for as much as the soule of the sonne of God vvas full of glory and his precious body loaden with grieuous paine and anguish O how oftentimes the depth of his trauailes and griefes did feruently desire and sigh after the depth of his comfort and consolation the vvhich his eternall Father vvould not impart vnto him vntill hee had ended the redemption of the vvorld O great goodnesse O infinite charity who but thou O my good Iesus vvas hungry vvith bread in his hand thirsty vvith vvater in his mouth naked vvith garments in his chests sad and afflicted with glory in his soule Vpon those vvords Tristis est anima mea S. Barnard sayth It is no maruell if my soule bee sorrowfull and full of anguish because the houre of my glory and felicity is not yet come but in thee O good Iesus why should thy flesh bee so wearied And why should thy soule be comfortlesse seeing that thou carriest with thee all the glory which is in heauen or in earth Vbertinus vpon this place sayth The Redeemer of the world being in the agony of death and very neere the end of his life remembring himselfe of that heauenly comfort and diuine influence vvhich from the glory of his soule was woont to bee imparted to his precious body spake this word Sitio as if he would say O how great the thirst is vvhich I suffer in this last houre and terrible agony to vvit of that influence and heauenly comfort which was woont to bee imparted from my owne soule vnto my owne flesh because this death and passion which my owne Father doth lay vpon this my weake flesh is not onely grieuous but doth also exceed all other humane punishment The great thirst that Christ suffered vpon the crosse and the cooling vvater which hee desired was not the water of the fountain of the hill Lybanus nor yet that which ran in the riuer Silo but that heauenly consolation which the glory of his soule vvas vvont to cause in him for that other humane thirst could not so much grieue him considering how neere hee vvas to the end of his life Wee haue vsed all this discourse to extoll the word of the figure which sayth Et traxit piscem in siccum It is to bee vnderstood that young Tobias did kill the fish vpon the sand vvhich would haue killed him in the water When thinkest thou did Tobias draw the fish vpon drie land but vvhen the eternall Father did leaue his blessed sonne vpon the crosse without any humane consolation O how drie was that drie tree vpon which the heauenly fish hanged vvho hauing been brought vp in the deepe sea of the diuine essence had not there so much as one drop of water to drinke What can be pitied more in this life than for a fish hauing been brought vp in the water yet afterward to die for vvant of vvater Tobias fish was hard by the vvater side and yet died vvith thirst and Christs flesh vvas coupeled with his holy soule and died also vvith thirst because the eternall Father to giue vs drinke of his water of heauen killed his owne onely sonne with thirst and brought him to die vpon the sands of this world If Tobias should not haue drawne the fish to the land hee could not haue mastered him if Christ had not become man neither could he haue died for howsoeuer it be naturall for vs to die yet it is much more naturall for God alwaies to liue What meaneth it that the selfe same fish of whome Tobias thought he should haue been deuoured lay dead afterward at his feet but that that God which all the powers of heauen did feare and tremble at we see now meek gentle hanged vpon the tree When God was nothing but God in his own diuine essence being all the world did feare him and tremble but after that hee came vpon our sandie humanity set foot vpon the drinesse of this world hee who before made others afeard was himselfe afraid and he who before did throw downe others fell himselfe and he who before enriched others became poore and he who gaue all comfort wept himselfe and hee who killed before died Desertum faciam mare eius siccabo venum eius said God by the Prophet Ieremy chap. 51. as if he would say I will make all his sea as drie and without vvater as desart and solitary mountains are woont to bee and I will cut off all the vaines and streames of his depth because there shal flow no water at any end These words must curiously be expounded for God to say that the sea shall bee as drie as a solitary mountaine and that hee will cut off all the vaines of his course throughout all the world seemeth to bee a new speech and a thing that was neuer seene to be beleeued Leauing the letter speaking according vnto the sence of these words the eternal Father doth forewarne his precious sonne that he wil not onely deale with him like one which will not he are him nor giue him any comfort but also that he will cut off all occasions whereby hec may any way receiue comfort in so much that to make the sea become a desart is to make of God a true man and to cut off the vaines of the sea is to cut off all heauenly consolation What other thing was that deepe sea but onely the diuine essence And what else was it to make a drie desart of the raging sea but to make him who was the eternal God a true mā God said by the mouth of his Prophet Desertum faciammare eius speaking of his son and as he did prophecie so he did accomplish it for when he hanged vpon the altar of the crosse he neuer made answere to any petition which hee made him nor yet to quench his thirst gaue him so much as one cup of water What a strange thing is this O eternall Father what a strange thing is this For thy bastard abortiue childrē thou didst drawwater out of the liuely rock for thy lawful son hast thou not so much as one drop Whē Agar her son Ismael were ready to perish with thirst in the mountaines of Bersabee neere vnto the Mount Lybanus
falleth from his estate than of him who loseth his wits because that he who is become a foole dooth not remember that euer hee was wise but the disgraced man and he who is troddeÌ„ down doth alwaies bewaile his infortunate mishap To come theÌ„ vnto our purpose there was neuer nation so much made of at Gods hands as the people of Israel was because hee called them his louing sonne his peculiar people his chosen vineyard his enclosed orchard and Commonwealth whom he most of all affected He went for their sakes into Egypt he opened them the red sea he gaue them Manna from heauen hee gaue them Angels to keepe them Priests to guide them dukâ—es to defend them countries to inhabite and great riches to ioy in What did hee not giue them if they asked it and what did he denie them if they requested it seeing that in the day time he made them a shadow of a cloud and in the night gaue them light with a pillar of fire All these priuiledges dured no longer thaÌ„ Abraham Isaac and Iacob liued and the rest of the fathers and with theÌ„ all familiarity died Tertullian sayth That as long as there were holy men among the Iewes they were welbeloued of God but when the people of Israel went worser and worser our Lord did forget them and had no care at all ouer them For as the church sayth Sicut to colimus ita nos visita Is it much that God should be carelesse in doing of vs good if we grow cold in his seruice S. Augustine sayth in an Homilie When the sonne of God came into the world to take flesh vpon him the Synagogue had fallen into decay long before which they shall easily see to bee true who will diligently read the Scriptures For the Prophet Malachias doth call her soot Ieremy drosse Baruch a putrified worm Ezechiel a moth Amos a wild vine Abdias smoke Osee a sinke for as hee was wont to inuent names to honour thee so now hee seeketh names of infamy to discredit thee And like vnto one who is angry and discontented God calleth his people of Israel dregs and sinke and soot and smoke for as the Iewes grew more and more in sinnes so God punished them more and more and quipped and taunted them with new names What greater iniury could he doe to them or what greater reproch could hee vse towards them than call them filthy dregs and rotten lees Fulgentius in a Sermon sayth According vnto the prophecy of Esayas Can you O you Israelites denie mee that there is any thing left of your Priesthood of your royall scepter of your rich temple of your ancient kingdome of your famous people but the lees which smell and the dregs which stinke Christ found very stinking dregs in al the Iewish Priesthood seeing we read of it in the books of the Machabees that they gaue not the roome of the high Bishop vnto him who best deserued it but vnto him who bought it for most money The sonne of God found very rotten dregs in the roiall scepter of Iuda considering that it was vsurped of the Romanes and tyrannized by Herods Christ found filthy grounds in all the Scriptures seeing that the Rabines had falsified them and interpreted them according vnto their owne meaning Christ found the Hebrew tongue stained in lees and dregs and the reason was because that as the vnfortunate Iewes had been captiues in diuerse parts so they spake diuerse languages Was not the Synagogue now become stinking and filthy dregs seeing that there was no vice in the world which was not found in her In the Princes Christ found pride in the Priests enuy in the Pharisies hypocrisie in the old men malice in the young men ignorance in the popular and vulgar sort couetousnesse CHAP. XI How the Synagogue gaue Christ that to drinke that shee her selfe was that is gaule and that which she had that is vineger ECce ignis ligna vbi est victima holocausti Genesis 22. These lamentable speeches passed betwixt the Father and the sonne the sonne and the Father in manner of a dialogue the one asking and the other answering The case was then this that when Abraham had brought his sonne Isaac from among the people and being gone vp to the hill with his hands bound the wood set on a heap and the fire kindled and the sword drawn to sacrifice his sonne he said vnto his Father behold father here is the wood and the fire made where is the beast which shall bee sacrificed To this demand the sorrowfull Father answered this Dominus prouidebit sibi victimam holocausti sili mi as if he would say Take thou no care my sonne take no care for the Lord will prouide a sacrifice which shall be more acceptable vnto him than all the sacrifices of the world This prophecie which the Patriark Abraham vttereth is so excelleÌ„t high that although many haue read it yet very few vnderstand it for although it be short in words yet the mysteries which it containeth are many What meaneth this O old Abraham what meaneth this God doth command thee to kill and burne and sacrifice and offer thy owne sonne and doest thou prophecy that our Lord will prouide for a sacrifice farre better than this which thou doest bring O high mystery diuine Sacrament for the holy man hauing his sonne in a readinesse to be sacrificed the wood prepared to cast him into the fire made to burne him the sword drawne to kill him and a commandement from God to offer him yet carelesly saith that the Lord will prouide another sacrifice Abraham dooth not speake here with the Synagogue his mother for for her the sacrificing of Isaac was prepared which was the figure of a sacrifice but he spake with our mother the holy catholicke church for whom God would prouide another new sacrifice which was Christ crucified in whome all the sacrifices of the law were to end and the Sacraments of the church take their beginning Because all meÌ„ might know that Abraham did not speake of the sacrifice of Isaacs sonne but of the sacrifice of Christ which was to come our Lord said not that hee had already prouided a sacrifice but that he would prouide neither did he say that he would prouide it for another but for himselfe neither that hee would prouide many but one neither that he would indifferently prouide for any but a killed sacrifice laid whole on the altar Theophilus vpon the Apostle sayth That in all the old Testament there was no sacrifice so excellent nor so strange nor so costly as that of Abraham Isaac his sonne And seeing that Abraham the maker of that sacrifice doth prophecie that there shall bee another sacrifice which shall excell his why do not you O you Iewes receiue Christ as a true sacrifice Neither did Abraham say that he would prouide many sacrifices but only one for if we marke it well it was the poore Synagogue which
guide our works in his seruice he vvho vvill direct thē to our profit Chrisostom saith vpon S. Luke for God to ask the first fruits of that vvhich vve cut in the field is to ask of vs that vvee loue him vvith all our hearts for that vvhich is not begun vnder him and in his holy name vvill end afterward by the hands of the diuel He doth pay our Lord his first fruits vvho vvhen hee riseth out of his bed doth cōmend himselfe vnto our Lord offer vnto him all that vvhich he vvill doe that day and he stealeth his first fruits from our Lord vvho neither careth for to serue God nor to say any one praier but as soone as hee riseth beginneth to lie and cousin He paieth our Lords first fruits vvho of four and twenty houres vvhich are in the day bestovveth one in thinking vpon him and hee stealeth from God the first fruits vvho hath neither regard of his soule nor thinketh vpon God at any houre It is also to bee vveighed that our Lord is not contented vvith his first fruits of greene corne vnlesse it bee offered vp dried at the fire to giue vs knovvledge that all that vvee doe is nothing vvorth if vve doe not vvarme our selues at the fire of his loue What is all that vvorth vvhich I doe or vvhat am I vvorth vvhich doe it if I doe it not for God Hee doth offer vp all his eares of his corne dried who dooth all his vvorkes for God and hee doth offer them greene who doth them not but only for men vvhom vvee do assure that for those God will neuer pay nor yet men be thankfull What other thing bee the greene eares and not ripe but all our weake and humane actions Greene and hard and vnseasoned are all our workes and therefore wee haue need of the heat of fire to drie them because God dooth neuer accept that which is offered if he who doth offer it bee not accepted He offereth vnto our Lord greene eares who hath no patience in trauels for as the value of gold is knowne in the goldsmithes melting pot so is a good Christian known in tribulation Hee is a greene Christian who doth interprete the Gospell according vnto his owne will and he is a very green religious man who striueth against his superiour because that the true seruant of our Lord should haue no will of his owne nor desire authority nor dare to possesse any thing proper Then we will say that the eare is drie when it goeth easily out of the straw then we will say that a man is perfect when he is weaned from all couetous and worldly things Thou art very greene my brother if with thy humility there bee mingled any ambition with thy charity any enuy with thy pouerty any couetousnesse with thy chastity any wantonnesse and with thy honesty any hipocrisie by reason whereof thou must draw neere vnto the heauenly fire vntill thou hast cast this dreame from thee It is a great sign that the block which lieth smoking in the sire is not throughly drie and the religious person which yet tasteth of the world is not well grounded in religion because the true seruant of our Lord hath his heart as dead to the world for Christs sake as a mans body is dead which lieth buried in the graue The end of the fift word which Christ our redeemer spake vpon the Crosse Here beginneth the sixt word which Christ spake vpon the crosse that is Consummatum est vz. All is now finished and at an end CHAP. I. Here there are put diuers vnderstandings of this speech CVm accepisset Iesus acetum dixit Consummatum est This is the sixt word which the Redeemer of the world spake at the houre of his death on the altar of the crosse and it is as if he would say As hee ended to take and tast of the gaule and vineger which they had giuen him in the spunge and offered him vpon a reed he said Consummatumest that is That all is now accomplished and made perfect seeing the redemption of the world is ended the malice of the Synagogue fulfilled If we looke curiously vnto it we shall find these words true Consummatum est and few in number but yet the mysteries enclosed in them very many because wee are assured by those words by his holy mouth that we are pardoned of the eternall Father that is that satisfaction is now ended and that wee are now by his precious sonne redeemed Being a rule of the Philosopher Quod omnia quae fiunt fiunt propter finem If Christ had not spoken these words Consummatum est we should not haue knowne so plainly of his own mouth whether al mankind was fully redeemed or whether there remained any mystery of holy scripture to be accomplished But seeing the sonne of God said Consummatū est we may stand vpon a sure ground that there is neither any workes of our redemption vnaccomplished nor any one tittle of Scripture not fulfilled O what a great comfort it is to humane nature that Christ had said Consummatum est by his owne holy mouth For Dauid Ieremy Esay Daniel Ezechiel durst neuer say that sinne was at an end but only that it should haue an end in the time of the Messias the which as it was by them prophecied so it was by Christ fulfilled Septuaginta hebdomedae abbreuiatae sunt super populum tuum super vrbem sanctam tuam vt consummatur preuaricatio c The Angell Gabriell spake these words to the Prophet Daniel chap. 9. as if hee should say Seuenty weekes hence which shall bee accomplished foure hundred and seuen and twenty yeares hence the holy of all holies shall be annointed iustice shall bee perfect noughtinesse shall bee blotted out and sinne ended Compare thou now O curious reader the prophecy of Finem accipiet peccatum with Consummatum est which Christ spake and thou shalt plainely see how it is said only of the sonne of God that he shal redeeme vs and how hee doth assure vs that hee hath already redeemed vs. S. Augustine sayth Who was able to say that sinne is at an end but only hee who died to end sinne It is here to bee noted what is said who speaketh it where hee speaketh it and in what meeting he spake it and for what mystery hee spake it That which is spoken is Consummatum est hee who spake it is Christ the place where is the crosse the time was euen as he was yeelding vp the ghost the cause why was for the comfort of all his church for of al the seuen words which Christ spake vpon the crosse there is none which maketh so much for our purpose as Consummutum est In the first word which was Father forgiue thē what interest had the church in it seeing that Christ spake it onely for the pardon of the Synagogue In the second which was Lord remember mee what had the church in it
creation for if it had not been by him and for him God would haue created nothing for the means being taken away the end was also taken away Touching the second the humanity of the word wanteth weight he cannot be weighed for all the Saints being put in one balance and the sonne of God in another it would bee that that a drop of water is in respect of all the water which is in the world Who is hee which can be weighed with Christ or bee compared with the least of his merits If before his sight the heauens be not cleane how dare any saints be weighed with him Concerning the third the humanity of the word cannot bee measured because that the grace which was giuen to him alone was so much that neither in heauen nor in earth there is found any measure for it How can there bee found any measure in the sonne of God seeing that it is hee with the which is measured all humane and Angelicall nature Wee may gather of that which wee haue said that seeing Christ hath remoued from himselfe number weight and measure yet that it is a folly and a rashnesse to thinke to find an end in his greatnesse We speak all this because that considering that there is two natures in Christ one diuine and the other humane wee will not talke immediately of his diuine essence but of his humane as it is compared to the diuine and so wee shall vnderstand somewhat of Christ although we cannot comprehend all that doth belong vnto him Suscepit de manu demini duplicia sayth the Prophet Esayas chap. 40. speaking of that which the eternall Father had giuen his only sonne as if hee should say All other creatures receiued single fauours and only the son of God receiued them double for all other besides himselfe were nothing but bare men but he was man and God God and man Duplicia suscepit de manu domini because hee was more than that which he seemed to bee and hee was more than that which was hidden because his diuinitie was hid and his humanity did appeare and to his diuinity was vnited his humanity He receiued two gifts of our Lord seeing that vnder that earth is hidden a precious pearle and vnder that rough couering is enclosed the heauenly cloath of gold He receiued double fauour at our Lords hands seeing that vnder the penitent weed we shall find the great king of Niniuy and vnder those dead skins wee shall find the good Patriarke Iacob aliue He receiued two things at our Lords hāds for if wee take away the couering wee shall see all the diuine essence and if we breake the vaile of the Temple wee shall know the heigth and the purest part of the heauen He receiued two singularities of our Lord seeing hee alone and no other is at one time a traueller and at his iournies end at one time with the superior portion enioieth and with the inferior suffereth He receiued two gifts seeing it was giuen to him and to no other to be passible and impassible visible and invisible mortall and immortall temporall and eternall Suscepit de manu domini duplicia seeing it was giuē vnto him alone to be the end of the vnhappy Synagogue and the beginning of the catholicke church and to be him who doth inflict punishment vpon the bad and giueth glory vnto the good Behold then how Christs humanity is a perfect image a high resemblance such as is not to be found neither in heauen nor vpon earth because it is made to the liuely likenesse of God and because it is alwaies like his mould and type which is the Word Hilarius in his second book of the Trinity saith Euen as a glorious body vnited vnto a glorious soule is as it were spirituall and hath spirituall conditions so the humanity of the diuine word being vnited vnto God hath the same conditions and qualities as he vnto whom he is vnited Damascen in his sentences sayth As it was commaunded that all should be giuen to the noble dame Iudith which did belong to Holofernes seeing that she had ouercome him so vnto the man Christ it was giuen and attributed that all that should be said of him which was said of the Word seeing that hee did also ouercome the diuell And because wee may the better see what conformity there is betwixt the humanity and the diuinity we wil speak one word vpon euery word of that which S. Iohn did put in the beginning of his holy Gospell speaking of the eternall Word In the beginning was the Word sayth S. Iohn speaking of the eternal generatiō of the son of God Wherein he giueth vs to vnderstand that that eternall word hath his being by the first internall emanation of the Father seeing that hee proceedeth of him by the way of vnderstanding which is the first emanation and before the will seeing it is presupposed That which we say of the diuinity we may also say of the humanity seeing that it was in the beginning of God by an Hypostaticall vnion in the word and by an excellency of perfection aboue all that which God created And the word was with God saith also S. Iohn as if he should say Because thou maiest see that the person of the Father is not the person of the sonne nor the person of the sonne the person of the Father if I haue said that In the beginning was the word I say now that neere vnto God was the same word in so much that that which is neere vnto mee is without all doubt distinguished from me The humanity is so neere vnto the diuinity that it is one person with it and thereupon it is that as in the Father and in the sonne there is but one essence although they be two persons so in the word of God and in the humanity of Christ although there bee two natures there is but one person and this diuine and not humane S. Iohn saith further And God was the Word which may also be said of the humanity well vnderstood as of the diuinity by the high communication of diuine and humane qualities which are in Christ because there are many things in Christ by grace which are in God by nature Vpon those words In quo habitat omnis plenitudo diuinitatis S. Ambrose sayth The diuinity of the word doth dwell so perfectly in the humanity of Christ that because that is so neerely vnited and deified which is contained it taketh the name of that which containeth it and hee sayth further Quod factum est in ips◠vita erat The which hee speaketh because that being as he is God the fountaine of all life and that of his onely will dooth proceed all life it is certaine that all that should be in him should be life S. Augustine vpon S. Iohn sayth As all things in God shall be called life because they are accompanied and ioined in him so in his holy humanity all things are life
truth sooles mocke wisedome the guilty whip innocency the wretched spet vpon glory and the dead kill life S. Barnard in a sermon of the passion sayth What heart is able to endure it or what fingers able to write it to see that the liberty of captiues is sold the glory of Angels scorned and mocked the morning starre of the world spet at the Lord of all scourged whipped and he who is the rewarder of trauels murthered S. Ambrose vpon S. Luke sayth Of Christ only of no other Ieremy sayth Quod saturabitur opprobrijs seeing that he was sold like a malefactor mocked like a foole spet at like a vile person whipped like a theefe and put to death like a traitor S. Hilary in an Homily sayth According vnto the prophesie of Ieremy the sonne of God shall be filled with iniuries seeing that he is sold of the Symoniacles mocked of hypocrites whipped of tyrants spet at by blasphemers and put to death by heretikes Let our conclusion then be that not without a high mystery nor profound sacrament Christ before hee should suffer said these words of Consummabuntur and in the end of his suffering Consummatum est to let vs vnderstaÌ„d that at one time Christs life did end and if we be such as we ought to be our faults CHAP. VI. Here hee entreateth of that high praier which Christ made vpon the table saying Pater sancte non pro mundo rogo sed pro illis vt serues eos a malo In which praier if he obtained constancy and stoutnesse for his Apostles yet he forgot not the weake saying Non rogo vt tollas eos a mundo PAter sancte claritatem quam tu dedisti mihi dedi eis vt sint Consummati in vnum Iâ—h 17. These words are spoken by the mouth of the son of God praying vnto his Father after he had made a sermon before supper the highest and longest that euer hee preached in all his life time as if hee should say O my holy eternall mighty and blessed Father that which I entreat and request of thee in this last houre is that seeing I haue giuen to my Disciples part of the light and science which thou hast giuen mee thou wouldest also giue them grace to bee perfect in that kind of perfection as thou are wont to make perfect the elect By occasion of those words which Christ spake vpon the crosse that is Consummatum est and by reason of that other which he spake praying vnto his Father Consummati sunt it shall bee necessary for vs to declare in this place what that is which the redeemer of the world spake in his praier and what the Scripture sayth of it It is here to be noted who hee is which praieth where hee praieth when he praieth and how he praieth and for whome he praieth what he praieth for oftentimes in Scripture the circumstances how a thing is done makes it either weighty or very weighty Hee who praieth is Christ the place where is the pâ—râ—or the time is at supper how is with lifting vp his eies the things which hee praieth are very high they for whom are his disciples In this high praier Christ spake dainty words most graue sentences very secret mysteries very necessary aduises and very profitable counsels by reason whereof it is conuenient to read them with attention and note them with deuotion Christ then sayth in the beginning of his praier Pater sancte serua eos in nomine tuo qui tui sunt pro eis rogo non pro mundo as if he should say My holy and blessed father that which I ask of thee for these thy children and my disciples is that thou deliuer them from sin keep them in thy seruice seeing that they bee my brothers by nature and thy children by grace and if I aske any thing of thee it is not for those which are of the world but for those which thou doest keepe vnder thy safegard O sweet words for the good and sorrowfull for the bad seeing that by them are diuided and seperated the perfect from the foreseene the elect from the reprobate Gods friends from the children of perdition and also the neighbours of heauen from the louers of the world Howsoeuer Christ our redeemer praied from the hart for those which he loued from the heart yet he set this word Sancte Pater before his praier because it is a very naturall thing that this word Pater maketh a father attentiue to here the child and maketh his eies tender to behold him and his heart gentle to loue him and openeth his entrails that hee can deny him nothing What sweeter words can come to a fathers eares than to heare his sonne call him father As a sonne welbeloued and tendered once Christ calleth his father my father another time iust father another time Lord and father sometimes holy father and sometimes father and nothing else so that such as his praier was such was the name which hee gaue him It is not then here without a mystery that hee calleth him Pater sancte because hee who praied in this praier was most holy hee to whom hee praied was holy that which hee praied were holy things the place where hee praied was a holy place and hee for whom he praied was his holy colledge What doest thou aske O good Iesus what doest thou aske Pardon for my sheepe that God would deliuer them from Wolues pardon for my disciples that God would keepe them from the diuell pardon for my elect that God would seperate them from sinne and pardon for my friendes that God would take them vp into heauen As thou art going thy iourney to the crosse at the point of death in the euening of thy agony and wheÌ„ they come to apprehend thy person among so many thinges which thou doest aske of thy Father doest thou ask nothing for thy selfe O heauenly care O vnspeakable loue O charity neuer heard of before such as thine is O creator of my soule towards all mankind seeing that in such a dismal day in such a narrow strait as thou art in thou hast cause sufficient to craue of thy father for thy selfe sauing only that to remember me thou doest forget thy selfe And Christ sayth that he doth aske for such as are his that is for those which in the depth of his eternity are predestinated and are in the number of the elect to the end that they may bee one thing in the father as the father and the sonne are one thing Let the curious reader marke in this place that this abuerbe Sicut dooth not in this place make an equality betwixt God and man but onely a resemblance and a likenesse for vnlike the which because Arrias would not vnderstaÌ„d became to be an infamous heretike When Christ said Sint vnum in me his meaning was this That which I aske of thee O heaueÌ„ly Father is that as those of my colledge be thy children and
my brethren by grace I am thy only begotten sonne by nature Saint Augustine vpon this place saith As the father and the sonne are one and the same thing not only by equality of substance but also for equality of will so the disciples are one thing with Christ not by nature but by a bond of loue and fellowship And he addeth further that because the perfection of a iust man is no other thing but the participation which he hath with the diuine likenesse we are good in so many degrees in how many we draw neere to the likenesse of God Christ sayth plainly for whom hee praieth seeing he sayth Quia tui sunt and also for whom he doth not pray seeing he sayth That he doth not aske for the world so that those be participant of his praier which do serue Christ and he excludeth those which follow the world O how happy those be which follow Christ and which loue Christ and serue Christ because they only be partakers of his praier the which loue and seruice euery man should proue in himselfe not in the words which hee speaketh of Christ but in the workes which he doth for his seruice Chrisostome saith We should bee afeard very much my brethren that Christ did not say I pray vnto thee father for those who cal themselues thine but onely for those which are thine because there are many now adaies in the church of God who are baptised call themselues Christians and doe goe to church who whē they are gone from thence are prowd enuious couetous carnall and blasphemers of which wee may say that they call themselues of Christ but they bee not of Christ For such beasts as these Christ doth not pray nor such naughty men as these haue no part in Christs praier not because Christs holy praier doth not reach vnto all but because they remaine out of it because they continue in their sinnes Cyrillus vpon Saint Iohn sayth Why doest thou aske for thy disciples for if they bee thy Fathers thou hast no need and if they bee not his what hast thou to doe with them That which I aske for them is that as they are his by faith they may be his also by charity for it would little auaile them to bee constant in faith if they should not be also feruent in loue Remigius sayth There is no doubt but the sonne of God was neuer asked by any nor importuned by any nor suborned by any to pray for those of his colledge but of himselfe hee moued himselfe to pray and commend them to his Father giuing vs thereby to vnderstand what great care he hath to looke vnto vs if wee be not carelesse to serue him But how should not that other part make vs afeard astonied when Christ said I pray not for the world seeing hee excludeth from his praier all vaine light worldlings which are al worthily shut out of his church seeing they would not follow his doctrine When the sonne of God sayth Non rogo pro mundo hee sayth that he doth not pray for the proud man hee sayth that hee doth not pray for the enuious man for the fleshly man for the couetous man for the blasphemer for vnto such persons their paradise is their vices and hell Gods commādemēts How saith Christ shall I aske for the world seeing I am not knowne of any neighbour in it Rupertus vpon S. Iohn sayth Seeing that Christ sayth I doe not aske for the world let euery man mark what life hee leadeth for thereby hee may see what part hee hath in Christs praier for the rewarder of vertues is Christ and the pay-maister of vices is the diuell Tel me I pray thee why the sonne of God should pray for them which are blinded in the world and whose glory is this wicked world seeing the captaine and ringleader of such is the diuell S. Augustine vpon S. Iohn sayth Why doth the sonne of God say in his praier I do not entreat for the world but because the transgressor of the precept is hee who committeth the sinne and hee who committeth the sinne is the louer of the world and the louer of the world is the seruant of the diuell and the seruant of the diuell is a neighbor and inhabitant of hell Bonauenture in the life of Christ sayth When the deuill goeth about to make me sinne and when the flesh goeth about to ouercome mee and when the world goeth about to pamper and make much of me I presently doe call to mind that speech of Christ I pray not for the world and that Rise to iudgement and that Goe into euerlasting fire Although these three enemies are strong to ouercome yet these are three mighty arrowes to shoot at them for if we remember I doe not pray the father for the world Rise to iudgement Go into euerlasting fire who dare commit a sinne nor yet take his sleepe by night Christ sayth further Non pro eis tantum rogo sed pro eis qui crediturisunt in me as if hee should say O my holy and blessed Father behold that my church must be very much encreased and must dure vnto the worlds end by reason whereof I doe not aske thee only for these which sit at my table but also for all those vvhich vvill beleeue in mee hereafter And hee sayth further Non rogo vt tollas eos de mundo sed vt serues cos a malo as if hee should say Although my elect bee not of the vvorld nor haue no part in the vvorld and the vvorld hate them yet I doe not aske thee that thou vvouldest take them out of the vvorld but that thou vvouldest deliuer them from all euill Speaking litterally our Lord asketh here of his Father that hee vvould not take all his Disciples so soone out of the world partly because they bee not well grounded in matters of perfection and partly because the Gentiles should be lightned by thē if they should haue died with Christ all the world should haue ben vnconuerted Theophilus saith When the son of God sayth vnto his Father I doe not craue of thee that thou wouldest take them out of this world but that thou wouldest keepe them from euill aboue all things I say that blessed be that mouth which spake that blessed be they for whom he spake it seeing thereby wee bee certified that how bad so euer wee bee our Lord doth labour alwaies to bring vs to his seruice Marke then the infinite goodnesse and charitie of our Lord who when hee had said I doe not aske for the world sayth presently I doe not desire that thou wouldest take them out of the world The which words he spake immediately after the other because wee should not bee bold to sinne trusting vnto Gods mercy and yet if wee doe chance to fall that wee should not perseuere and dispaire To say that Christ should not entreat for the world it is a dreadfull speech and yet to pray that
All mortal men go after their pleasures and hunt for delight but alasse they seeke them in the house of the God of trauels which is the world and forsake the Lord of consolations which is God and therefore they goe astray in that which they seeke and goe discomforted in that which they desire Barnard in a sermon sayth O what a great comfort it is to the good that they haue him for their God and Lord who is the God and Lord of all consolations for it is not to be beleeued that being the God of al comforts that he doth not impart some of them vnto his and especially seeing that hee doth not discomfort those which offend him who will not beleeue but hee will comfort those which serue him When the Apostle sayth that our God is the God of all consolations and not onely that but also the father of mercies we haue great cause to loue him and to be thankfull vnto him seeing that not long before hee called himselfe the God of reuenge as now he dooth call himselfe the Father of mercies S. Ambrose sayth What greater news could we hear or what could he giue vs for a greater reward then for our Lord to giue himselfe vnto vs for our father his sonne for our brother the holy-ghost for our maister his church for our mother the Sacraments for a medicine his death for a pardon his bloud for our redemption Isichius vpon Leuiticus sayth Marke the depth of the Scripture and thou shalt see that when he speaketh of mercies it doth not call God Deus misericordiarum The God of mercy but Pater misericordiarum the Father of mercies and when it talketh of iustice it doth not call him Pater vltionum but Deus vltionum The God of reuenge because it is the office of God to punish and the duty of the father to pardon The Prophets did oft vse this word Deus God and helped themselues little with this word Pater Father and Christ contrariwise did oft benefite himselfe with this word Pater Father and sildome with this name Deus God giuing vs thereby to vnderstand that the time of iustice was now ended and that the time of mercy was come Isidorus De summo bono sayth O eternall goodnesse and depth of all vvisedome vvhy should I distrust in thy great clemency being that thou art my Father and Father of all mercy Let the Pagans distrust in thee who beleeue thee not let the vvicked distrust in thee vvho serue thee not for I vvill hope in thee vvith those vvhich serue thee and loue thee For although I cannot wholly serue thee I labour as much as I can not to offend thee Anselmus vpon the Apostle sayth After I heard thee say O my good Iesus Pater ignosce illis and the Apostle say Pater misericordiarum Although my naughty life make mee afraid yet thy great mercy commeth immediately to my mind for the same day that thou diddest make thy selfe man thou diddest change thy name from the God of Reuenge into the Father of Mercies O glorious and happy chaunge that is the changing the name of God into the name of Father and the name of a Reuenger into the name of a Defender the name of Iustice into the name of Mercy the name of a Creator into the name of a Redeemer all which thou diddest chaunge vvhen thou wast made man and diddest suffer on the crosse for mee Saint Augustine vpon the Apostles vvordes sayth Tell mee O good Iesus tell mee O great Redeemer after thou haddest chaunged the name of Deus vltionum into the name of Pater misericordiarum what diddest thou see so hard that thou diddest not bring to passe or vvhat sinne diddest thou see so enormious that thou diddest not pardon In calling thy selfe the Father of mercies thou diddest forgiue Matthew his exchanges Mary Magdalene her vanities the Samaritane her Adulteries the good theefe his theft and the fisher-man Peter his denying of thee the Apostles forsaking of thee and thy enemies putting thee to death Irenaeus sayth Seeing that the time of Deus vltionum is past and that the time of Pater misericordiarum is come haue mercy on mee O great God of Israel haue mercy on mee and when shall this bee but vvhen thou vvilt giue me strength to serue and praise thee and endue mee vvith grace to saue mee O Father of mercies O the God of all consolation vvhen shall my soule heare for her selfe Pater ignosce illi as the vvicked Synagogue did heare thee say Father forgiue them What doth it auaile mee that thou hast pardoned those vvhich did then put thee to death if thou doe not also now forgiue vs vvhich most vvickedly offend thee Children for children sinners for sinners there is as great reason that thou shouldest pardon those of thy holy church as those of the Synagogue for if they vvere children of the God of reuenge vvho did put thee to death then they are also children of the Father of mercies who do offend thee now Saint Augustine in his Confessions sayth O Father of mercies and God of all comfort if it bee true that I vvas vvith those vvhich tooke thy life from thee vpon the crosse vvhy shouldest thou not as well forgiue mee my fault as thou diddest then theirs Vnto thee O eternall Father I say Mea culpa and vnto thee O holy sonne I confesse my offence in that that if I vvas not vvith Iudas vvhen hee sold thee yet I vvas vvith the vvicked and vngratefull Iewes vvhen they did crucifie thee for if they did fasten thee on the crosse vvith nailes I did there crucifie thee vvith my sinnes Anselmus in his Meditations sayth O good Iesus O the blisse of my soule vvho carried thee to the crosse but the loue which thou haddest to redeeme vs And what tormented thee but thy dolours And what tooke thy life from thee but my sinnes And by whom haue I life but by thy merits O Father of mercies if it be true that for my demerits thou diddest lose thy life and that by thy great merits I recouered my soule dost thou not thinke that thou hast much in my faults to pardon in my soule to redresse and amend Barnard sayth O creator of all things O redeemer of all sinnes vnto thee O my God I offer my selfe and before thee O my Lord I present my selfe not such a one as thou diddest leaue mee when thou diddest create mee but such as one as thou foundest mee when thou redeemedst mee What a one diddest thou leaue mee but made to thy image and semblance and what a one diddest thou find mee but with my innocency lost and loaden with sinne O father of mercies pardon mee seeing that I am a worke of thy owne hands pardon me seeing that I am one of thy children and seeing I say vnto thee vpon my knees Tibi soli peccaui it is reason that thou answer me O my God with Miscriatur tui CHAP. II. Of the
Mount Caluarie THE SECOND PART Compyled by the Reuerend Father Don Anthonio de Gueuara Bishop of Mondonnedo Chronicler and preacher vnto Charles the fift In this Booke the Authour treateth of the Seuen Words which Christ our Redeemer spake hanging vpon the Crosse Translated out of Spanish into English IL VOSTRO MALIGNARE NON GIOVA NVLLA LONDON Printed by Adam Islip for Edward White and are to bee sold at his shop by the little North dore of Pouls at the signe of the Gun Anno. 1597. ⧠A Table of the Chapters contained in this Booke PAter ignoice illis quia nesciunt quid faciunt Chap. 2 How the sonne of God said vnto his Father that those which crucifie him bee not his enemies but his friends Fol. 7 Chap. 3 How the son of God put himselfe a mediator betwixt God and mankind and what torment he receiued therby Fol. 13 Chap. 4 Of many qualities conditions which the praier of Father forgiue them had in it how it is meet for vs to follow it in our praiers Fol. 20 Chap. 5 Why the father answered not his son when hee praied for his enemies Fol. 24 Chap. 6 How Christ praied for his enemies on the crosse more heartily then hee did in the garden for himselfe seeing the one praier was made with condition and the other not Fol. 30 Chap. 7 How God is more mercifull now than hee was in time past and why Christ did not say that he did pardon his enemies when hee asked pardon for them of his Father Fol. 35 Chap. 8 How our Lord reckoneth with the Synagogue and of fiue cruelties which the Iewes vsed in the death of Christ Fol. 42 Chap. 9 How that Christs mercy was farre greater towards the Synagogue than their naughtinesse towards him seeing hee pardoned her though she desired no pardon Fol. 51 The Contents of the second word OF the conuersion of the good theefe and of the great wonders which our Lord did vnto him in this case Fol. 64 Chap. 2 How Iudas Iscarioth was a great theefe of the thefts hee committed and how hee fell from the apostleship Fol. 69 Chap. 3 Here are reckoned many other great offences which Iudas committed and diuers treasons which he did against Christ. Fol. 76 Chap. 4 Of the great vertues which the good theef had which died with Christ and how he beleeued of that which the Prophet Ieremy speaketh to this purpose Fol. 83 Chap. 5 How three houres in which the good theefe was with Christ vpon the crosse did profite him more than the three yeares profited Iudas in the which he followed Christ and how some steale vntill they come to the gallows and how this theefe stole vpon the gallows Fol. 90 Chap. 6 How the good theefe had nothing remaining on the crosse but his heart and his tongue and that by these two hee gained glory and there are curious points vttered touching the heart Fol. 96 Chap. 7 How the naughty theefe lost himselfe onely for want of faith and of two chalices which the scripture maketh mention of of which both the theeues dranke of Fol. 105 Chap. 8 Of the great charity which the good theefe had towards the naughty theefe in correcting him of euill doing and in aduising him of the good which he lost Fol. 113 Chap. 9 Why the good theefe did not chide with the naughty theefe because hee did not loue Christ as hee did chide with him because hee did not feare God there are many notable things brought touching the feare of our Lord. Fol. 121 Chap. 10 How the son of God was more grateful vnto the good theefe which bare him company on the crosse than Pharoahs cupbearer was to Ioseph who accompanied him in prison Fol. 130 Chap. 11 Of these words Domine memento mei Lord remember mee which the good theefe spake vnto Christ the which words are deuoutly and deepely expounded Fol. 139 Chap. 12 How our Lord heard the theeues praier vpon the crosse and how Christ answered in the seuen wordes for siue which he spake vnto Christ Fol. 149 Chap. 13 How the son of God neuer vsed this word Paradise vntill he promised it vnto the good theefe of many learned expositions of this saying Hodie mecum eris Paradiso This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise Fol. 157 The Contents of the third Word THat the loue which the mother of God had did exceed the loue of all other men also the loue of Angels Fol. 174 Chap. 2 How that if the loue which the mother bare vnto her sonne was great so likewise the loue which the son bare his mother was no lesse and to proue this there is expounded a saying of the Canticles Fol. 181 Chap. 3 Of the first and second word which holy Simeon spake vnto our Lady and how many fall from the law of Christ without his fault Fol. 189 Chap. 4 Of the third word which old Simeon spake vnto the Virgine in the Temple and of three authorities touching this purpose Fol. 195 Chap. 5 How Salomon did inherite the kingdome of his father Dauids pleasures and how Christ did inherit the kingdome of trauails Chap. 6 Of the sword of griefe which killed the son of God and went through his blessed mother Fol. 212 Chap. 7 How the Virgine and her family stood hard by the crosse and others sate a farre off Fol. 220 The Contents of the fourth Word HOw Christ in this speech more than in all the rest seemeth to change his stile of speaking Fol. 233 Chap. 2 How Christ doth complaine vpon his father because he doth breake all his anger vpon his body Fol. 242 Chap. 3 How Christ complaineth of his Father because he took all his friends from him in his passion and all others which he knew Fol. 247 Chap. 4 How Christ complaineth on his Father because he bathed his body with the bloud of his vaines and drowned his heart in waters of distresse Fol. 255 Chap. 5 How Christ complaineth of his Father because he did permit those to crucifie him which were wont to bee his friends and how he calleth them friends Fol. 260 Chap. 6 How Christ complaineth vnto his father because they made more account of Iepthes daughter in the Synagogue than they doe at this day of his death in the church Fol. 265 Chap. 7 How Christ complaineth vnto his father because they did open his wounds through malice as they did stop vp Isaacs wels through enuy Fol. 273 Chap. 8 How the son of God complaineth to his father because they did load his body with stripes and his heart with care and anguish Fol. 286 Chap. 9 How the son of God complaineth vpon the Synagogue that hauing carried them vpon his backe yet they bee vngratefull vnto him Fol. 297 Chap. 10 How Christ complaineth vnto his Father vpon vs for our vngratefulnesse considering that he hath taken vpon himselfe all our offences Fol. 303 Chap. 11 Christ complaineth vnto his Father how badly
to call him wise which hath seene much read much and knoweth much but him onely who knoweth how to vse it well and apply it in time and place for there is nothing more preiudicial to a Commonwealth then to be gouerned by one which hath great knowledge and small wisedome The famous S. Augustine sayth in an epistle when the sonne of God said Estote prudentes sicut serpentes Be yee wise like serpents what else would hee say but that simple and wise men were better for the gouernment of his church than the learned arrogant Seneca in a booke De virtutibus sayth The wise man loueth with moderation serueth with care suffereth with patience speaketh with measure visiteth without disquietnesse promiseth that which hee is able to performe concealeth his intention trusteth whome hee ought holdeth his tongue in that he knoweth and neuer striueth with him which is mightier than himself Noui Dauid viruâ— bellicâ—sum prudentem verbis said a knight of the Iewes vnto king Saul being possessed with the diuell as if he had said I know one of Isaies sons called Dauid who can deliuer thee of this euill who is in age a youth in bloud noble in countenance shining bright red heared low of stature strong in forces and aboue all very considerate and wise in his words It is much to bee noted that the holy scripture doth not commend Dauid for that he shewed wisdome in his behauiour and countenance or in gouernment but only in speaking because there is no one thing whereby a man is knowne to bee endued with the vertue of prudence and wisdome more than by the words he vttereth with his mouth Seneca sayth That all the things of this life haue a place of remaining a being in which they are maintained and time in which they are made a qualitie and condition vnto which they incline and an end where they rest which wee say by reason of speaking in the which also is required a conuenient time for that which we are to vtter and order in knowing how to speake Vae mihi quia tacui said the Prophet Ieremy as if hee would say Woe be to me woe bee to me O mighty God of Israell for all the sins which I haue known and all the naughtinesse which I haue concealed and dissembled the which if I had reuealed would haue been amended and the which if I had discouered should haue ben punished Also the wicked Cain said Maior est iniquitas mea quam vt veniam merâ—ar the which words it had beene better for him neuer to haue spoken than to haue vttered for he did sinne much more in not acknowledging mercy in God than in depriuing his brother Abel of his life behold then how Ieremy was found fault with for holding his tongue and Cain rebuked for speaking whereof we may inferre what great need we haue of the vertue of prudence because she may instruct vs what to say and aduise vs likewise what wee ought not to vtter Salomon said like a very wise man Yempus taceÌ„di tempus loquendi in which words he giueth vs license to speak and brideleth vs to hold our tongue because it is an extremity to be alwaies silent and the signe of a foole to talke ouermuch Cicero in an epistle sayth That a man is knowne to bee good or bad by the workes he doth but he is knowne to be wise or a foole by the words hee speaketh To come then to our purpose all this long discourse which we haue made is to proue that the sonne of God was very patient in holding his peace and very discreet in speaking for he neuer spake vnlesse therby hee thought hee should doe good nor did neuer hold his peace vnles he thought that scaÌ„dale should rise of his speech Bâ—de sayth vpon these words dâ—râ—ine verba vitae habes That the son of God was so discreet and wary in his words that he neuer opened his mouth vnlesse it were to preach nor neuer held his peace vnlesse it were to pray Christs owne enemies reported openly of him Quòd nunquà m homo sic loquutus est that no man euer spake as hee spake for he neuer murmured against any man he neuer accused any man nor iniuried any for iniury done vnto him S. Barnard sayth O sweet Iesus redeemer of my soule the Prophet saith very well of thee Ignitum eloquium tuum considering that all thy holy words moued vs to pitty stirred vs to charity inuited vs to goodnes trode downe wickednesse prouoked teares conuerted Commonwealths lightened our consciences and made our hearts meeke and gentle They presented Christ before foure seats of iudgement the day of his holy passion that is before Pilate before Herod before the high priests houses the Pontife Caiphas and the tree of the crosse before his father before whom he spake onely and in the presence of the others was for the most part alwaies silent and that for certaine not without a high mistery and hidden secret The mistery then of this secret is that he wold not answer in the first two Tribunals when they accused him of wickednesse and scandale but vpon the crosse where he was an aduocate he began presently to speake and plead for vs saying Pater ignosce illis Father forgiue them in so much that for to excuse my offences he omitteth to answere for himselfe What meaneth this O good Iesus what meaneth this Thou doest not answer wheÌ„ thou art spoken vnto in that that toucheth thy selfe and in that that concerneth mee doest thou answere not spoken vnto Doest thou make intercession for my fault doest thou not remember thy owne life Who but thou did euer excuse those which accused him and defend them which condemne him Anselmus in his meditations sayth O quam ignitum est eloquium tuum My sweet Iesus seeing that on the crosse thou diddest excuse mee which was in the fault and returnedst no answere for thy self being without fault the which thou didst being enflamed with loue and very full of griefe Now that thou doest intreat now that thou doest craue why doest thou not entreat thy good father that hee would mitigate thy griefes as well as forgiue sinners Hast thou no pittie of thy owne holy members which are loosed one from another and hast thou it towards thy enemies which are not as yet conuerted vnto thee Seeing thou art aswell bound to defend the innocent as make intercession for the wicked why hast thou no pittie vpon thy owne innocent flesh aswell as of my enormious crimes Vbertinus sayth O quam vehementer est ignitum eloquium tuum My good Lord seeing thou doest excuse him who is culpable entreatest without entreaty forgiuest without satisfaction heapest vp for those which will not repay thee and also diest for those which haue put thee to death Seeing the law of Moses commandeth that the malefactor should pay a tooth for a tooth a hand for a hand foot for foot eie for
goodnesse and mercie although he haue ben neuer so great a sinner so as he liue and die a Christian for seeing he pardoned those which would not bee pardoned hee will much rather pardon those which aske for pardon S. Barnard as if hee were in a maze sayth thus vnto Christ O good sauiour O my soules delight if thou wilt pardon thy death why doest thou pardon it before thou bee dead they tooke thy life from thee to the end that thou shouldest forget such a greeuous iniury done vnto thee and make no reckoning to be reuenged It is a tollerable thing to forgiue the iniury done vnto thy self but why doest thou forgiue the iniury done vnto thy sorrowfull mother and thy blessed father not calling the parties offended vnto it Thy mouth is now ready to receiue vineger thy person to be mocked thy side to bee pierced thy bodie to bee buried and yet doest thou make intercession for that wicked people Doest thou entreat for those which crucifie thee and doest thou not remember those which weepe by thee Now that thou hast pitie on the offences of the synagogue why hast thou not also compassion of the tears of thy blessed mother S. Cyprian vpon the passion of our Lord sayth All things end with thee and all forsake thee O sweer Iesus vpon the altar of the crosse sauing only thy patience with the which thou did dest suffer thy torments and thy charitie with the which thou diddest forgiue thy enemies seeing thou doest pray for those which crucifie thee entreat for those which blaspheme thee hold thy peace against those which spit on thee excuse those which accuse thee and pardon those which pardon not thee O my redeemer what a pitifull heart hast thou that considering how the Iewes themselues gaue thee licence to take reuengement on them saying Sanguis eius super nos His bloud vpon vs yet thou diddest not only not vse this libertie giuen thee but forsookest it there pardoned thy iniury O how contrary these two speeches are Sanguis eius sit super nos Let his bloud fall vpon vs and Ignosce illis Pardon them seeing that by the first the Iewes craue punishment of God and in the last Christ asketh pardon of his father for them in so much that the bloud of Christ which they asked to bee against them the son of God asketh that it may be for them What hast thou to do O good sauiour what hast thou to do with the Iews sayth Vbertinus and hangmen and torturers They goe about to condemne thee and thou to saue them they to accuse thee and thou to excuse them they to carry thee to Pilate to bee condemned and thou to thy father that they may be pardoned they to say crucifige crucifige crucifie him crucifie him and thou to say Ignosce ignosce Pardon them Pardon them At what time the son of God hanging vpon the crosse praied on one side vnto his father and on the other side the Hebrews praied Pilate there was a great conflict betwixt Gods iustice and mercie for iustice willed the praier of Sanguis eius Let his bloud fall vpon vs to be heard and contrary mercy forbad it and would haue Pater ignosce illis but in the end mercie had the vpper hand and reuengement had no part therein Whose heart saith Bonauenture would not bleed and who would not loue thee O good Iesus to see thee say to thy father my father forgiue them and not my father examine them and to see that thou doest forgiue theÌ„ without asking yeeldest vnto them without entreaty and pardonest them without amendment It is such a high mysterie sayth S. Augustine and a hidden Sacrament to see the sonne of God release iniurie with mercie and clemencie and not punish their crime with reuenge and that the praier of Ignosce illis Forgiue them preuailed against that of Sanguis eius His bloud light vpon vs that although it may well be rehearsed yet it cannot bee well comprehended and vnderstood CHAP. IIII. Of many high qualities and conditions which the praier of Father forgiue them had in it and how it is meet for vs to follow it in our praiers CVm clamore valido lachrimis efferens preces supplicatienes exauditus est pro sua reuerentâ—â— sayth the Apostle in his Epistle to the Hebrewes chap. 5. as if hee would say When the sonne of God was crucified vpon the tree of the crosse hee made many requests vnto his father with many supplications entreated him praying vnto him with a loud voice and pouring down many tears before him This praier was well heard of the eternall father and very acceptable vnto his diuine clemencie partly because hee who praied was a person worthy of great reuerence and partly because the praier which he made was founded vpon great pitie and mercie It appeareth well that he which praied was of an excellent and perfect condition and hee very mighty vnto whom he praied and that which hee praied of great merit and the manner which hee obserued in praier a perfect platforme of praier seeing that the Apostle in this place laieth down such high conditions of this praier which Christ made vpon the crosse Whereof although much be spoken yet there remaineth much more not spoken of First then he saith that Christ praied once on the crosse because he saith Cum clamore with a crie and with a high and loud voice because he saith valido strong and that with tears Cum lachrimis and that hee praied and offered his praier at the same time vnto his father and that the quality of the praier was to entreat and beseech preces supplicationes and that his praier was heard of his father at that very instant when hee made it because hee sayth exanditus est pro sua reuerentia The condition and qualitie of the praier which the sonne of God made vpon the crosse which the Apostle toucheth here is very great and worthy to bee marked and obserued with great heed and followed with great diligence for if we faile in any one of these conditions we are said rather to crie out then to pray Theophilus vpon the Apostle sayth That when the Apostle saith that the sonne of God praied with a loud voice vpon the crosse hee meaneth that hee offered and directed his praier with all his heart and with all his will vnto God only and vnto no other For to say the truth hee is said to pray aloud whose mind is not distracted and drawne into many thoughts When the Apostle saith that Christ praied aloud on the crosse and with a strong voice he letteth vs vnderstand with what a feruent desire and great deuotion he praied for there is nothing requested aloud and by crying out which is not either through abundance of loue or ouermuch griefe Both together forced Christ to crie out vpon the crosse that is the great loue he bare vnto his friends and the ouermuch paine
turned your gall into honny and your poison into triacle Feare not nor yet haue no suspition that I will reuenge for that iniurie or that I will take satisfaction for that reproch and shame but I haue rather a will to looke vnto your wants giue nurriture vnto your children It is not necessary to expound this glorious figure vnto those which are curious in the scriptures seeing al this was fulfilled literally in our good Iesus Yet notwithstanding we will say something touching this figure because all mē may perceiue how well the truth answereth vnto the figure the sence vnto the letter the proofe vnto the prophecie and that which was prophecied vnto that which after happened What did it mean that Ioseph was enuied of his owne proper brothers but that the son of God was hated of al the Iews Who was sold vnto the Ismalites like Ioseph but the blessed Iesus who was also bought with money Who like vnto Ioseph was cast into prison because hee would not commit adultery with his mistris but only the sonne of God which was condemned vnto death because he would not consent to sinne with the Synagogue who like vnto Ioseph did pardon the manslaughter cōmitted by his brothers but only the son of God who was not cōtent only to pardō his enemies but also praied vnto his father for thē The pardon which Christ gaue his enemies was of greater value thē that which Ioseph gaue vnto his brothers because without comparison it is a greater mischiefe to take ones life frō one thē to sell his person O how rightly may the son of God say vnto the Iews which killed him Vos cogitastis de me malum sed deus vertit illad in bonum You thought todo me hurt but God doth turne it to my good considering that they thought at one time to put him to death vpō the crosse and take all power from him vpon earth but hee maugre theirmalice rose the third day and like vnto another Ioseph had al power giuen vnto him vpon earth and in heauen You O yee Iews Cogitastis de me malum When you bereaued me of my life but my blessed father did turne it to my good when at the same time my life ended the Synagogue was buried and the Church tooke her beginning With iust occasion and with no lesse reason good men may say vnto the euill the iust vnto the vniust those that are persecuted vnto the persecutors Vos cogitastis de me malum You thinke to hurt mee but God turneth it vnto my good for when they thinke to suppresse tread them down they exalt and life them vp and thinking to diffame and discredite them they giue them credite and honour for the Tyrant Herod did much more good to the innocent children when hee caused their throats to bee cut then if hee had caused them to haue ben kept and brought vp There was neuer done in the world saith S. Augustine in his Confessions nor neuer shal be done a wickeder part then the killing of Christ and yet there was neuer so great good done nor neuer shal bee as hath been gathered by the death of Christ that is the redemption of all the vniuersall world in so much that God neuer permitteth any euill to be done whereof he doth not draw some profite Cyprian in his booke of Martyrs sayth If the diuell do tempt thee if the flesh disquiet thee if the world hate thee Iacta cogitatum tutum in dominum Cast thy thought vpon God for although Tyrants and naughty men thinke to doe thee hurt yet haue a sure confidence and hope Quòd deus vertet illud in bonum That God will turne it to good seeing that the euill Christian goeth out of tribulation moued and stirred vp but not amended and the good and vertuous man chastised bettered and amended The excommunicated Iewes Cogitabant de Christo malum whē at the foot of the crosse they said Vah qui destruis templum dei Thou which doest destroy the Temple of God but the son of God turned that into good when hee said Pater ignosce illis Father forgiue them in so much that the hast which they vsed in speaking ill and cursing of him and reuiling him our good Iesus vsed in blessing and praying for them It is here now to bee weighed how it can be true that the sonne of God was heard of his father as S. Paule sayth Pro sua reuerentia Seeing that God answered him no one word at all For the better vnderstanding of this point it is to bee presupposed that in some requests which were made vnto the sonne of God if he would not yeeld vnto that which was demanded he answered them presently by word but when it pleased him to condiscend vnto their petition he performed it with deed without any word speaking we haue example of both these in the Zebedeans his cousins vnto whom he answered Nescitis quid petatis You know not what you aske when the great Iohn Baptist sent to know of Christ Es tu qui venturus est He answered no one word vnto the Embassie more then that he began immeadiately before the Embassadors to work such great miracles that they knew by them that he was the Messias promised vnto the Iewes When the collectors of the tributes of Capernaum said vnto Iesus that hee was to pay his Didrachma which was the tribute due vnto the king he answered them no word at all but sent S. Peter vnto the sea and of that which the disciple fished the maister pared his tribute To applie this vnto our purpose wee say that what magnificency Christ vsed vnto Iohus desciples and vnto the rent-gatherers of Capernaum the selfesame vsed the father towards his proper son on the crosse not answering him by word vnto Pater ignosce illis Father forgine them but by deed forgiuing the wicked their offences if they would at any time be sorry and repent them of their sinnes and by confirming the good in grace Beda vpon Luke sayth That the praier which the sonne of God made was not mad in vaine considering that by the merit of that praier and by him who praied it all our praiers both are and haue been heard and for this cause the Apostle sayth Quòd offerebat oblationes preces Because hee praied for all men and in the name of all men and so he wept for all and in the name of all O good Iesus O glory of my soule what doe I want if I doe not want thee and what haue I not saith Barnard if I haue thee I haue and possesse thee O my good Iesus seeing that I am partaker of thy praiers I haue part in thy teares I haue thy gifts in pledge I am the successor of thy sorrowes and heire apparant vnto thy sweatings Damascen sayth as the Apostle doth Exauditus est prosua reuerentia Christ was heard vpon the crosse seeing that by the merites of Father forgiue
the punishment on him and take his life from him Basil sayth That sinners build vpon one shoulder only when they haue no other goodnesse in them but the bare name of Christians only and iust men build vpon both his shoulders when they are at one time both Christians and vertuous men Thou must know brother that in the law of Christ it is not sufficieÌ„t that a man be called a Christian vnlesse he be also such a one indeed Sinners build vpon one of Christs shoulders onely when they serue God in wish and desire onely and serue the world with all their might and power which is a mean rather to condemne them then to saue them for in the Church of God there are many condemned by good wishes desires but not one by good workes Christ complaineth that cursed Heretikes doe build vpon one shoulder when they confesse only his humanitie take away his diuinity which is great wickednesse falshood for he is as true a God as he is a man and as true man as he is true God Christs complaint of the Synagogue doeth not end here but hee saith further Et prolong auerunt iniquitatem suam as if he would say Thou was not content O ingrateful Synagogue to impute thy offence vnto mee and lay all the punishment due for it vpon my backe but thou hast also prolonged thy naughtinesse and perseuered in thine infidelity heaping sinne vpon sinne malice vpon malice enuie vpon enuie and idolatry vnto idolatry When did the forsaken Iewes prolong their iniquitie but when at the foot of the crosse they were nothing forrie to haue crucified Christ but were grieued to see him rise againe S. Barnard sayth that Christ had great reason to say that the Iewes had prolonged their iniquitie because that at the time of his passion for the better reuengement vnto their malicious hearts and the more to torment Christs blessed members they would haue been glad that day had been longer and that Christs life had continued a longer time The hatred which those wicked Iewes bate vnto Christ was so great that sometimes they desired nothing more then to see him yeeld vp the ghost and sometime they were neuer satisfied and full in doing him iniury insomuch that if they did crucifie him with their haÌ„ds they did also crucifie him much more with their hearts Wee should haue great compassion vpon the Iewish nation which doe prolong their iniquity vntill the end of the world for as the Apostle sayth the Synagogue shall neuer be all lightened vntill all the Gentiles bee conuerted It may be said not only of the Hebrewes but also of many Christians that Prolong auerunt iniquitatem suam who in stead of amending themselues goe on euery day empairing themselues so that they are like vnto those which are sick of the dropsie who the more they drinke the more they thirst so they the more they sinne the greater lust they haue to sinne And as Christ with great reason said that the Hebrewes did prolong their iniquitie against him with the like reason may they say of Christ that towards them he prolonged his mercy seeing he was as hastie in procuring their pardon as they were in causing his passion What shold become of me O sweet Iesus what should become of me saith Anselmus if as euery day I adde naughtinesse to naughtinesse and so prolong my iniquitie thou diddest not adde goodnes vnto goodnesse and so prolong mee thy misericordiam O sweet Iesus and my soules delight of whom may it so truly be said as of thee that thou hast prolonged thy mercy seeing that thou wast vpon the crosse as it were gaping for death and yet pardoning thy enemies And although I doe euery day prolong my iniquity and thou euery moment prolong thy mercy notwithstanding thy mercy exceedeth my iniquitie for otherwise my sorrowfull soule should long agoe haue knowne what thy rigorous iustice had beene Cyprian saith vpon the passion of our Lord that hee hath much more prolonged his mercy seeing hee said not in his praier Father forgiue them if thou wilt but absolutely that hee would forgiue them and that not by the rigour of iustice due vnto them but by the sole mercy of him which made the petition Behold then O my soule behold that with greater deuotion affection the sonne of God praied for thee vpon the crosse than hee did for himselfe in the garden seeing that he said there Father if thou wilt let that chalice passe but on the crosse he said not If thou wilt but Father forgiue them In so much that it seemeth that hee left the care of his passion vnto the will of his father but the pardon of his enemies hee desired presently to be giuen What meaneth this O sweet Iesus what meaneth this It seemeth that thou doest put it in consultation whether thou shalt die or not saying vnto him Father if thou wilt and doest thou not giue thy father leaue to thinke whether he shall pardon that wicked people or not but that he should there presently forgiue them The sonne of God saith vnto his father as Gregory reports Father forgiue them and not If thou wilt because we should vnderstand that when wee forgiue and be reconciled vnto our enemies we should doe it so sincerely and heartily and with such good wil that we should neuer turne our face from them nor neuer deny them our communication I will not saith Hugo call that a Christian forgiuing when we forgiue our enemy vnder condition neuer to speake vnto him nor goe by his gate nor dwell where hee hath to doe for our redeemer excepted no condition in the pardon of his passion It is also deepely to bee weighed that the sonne of God did not say vpon the crosse Father forgiue him but Father forgiue them That is he asked forgiuenesse not for one in particular but for all the whole world in generall Whereof it is inferred that seeing hee praied for all that there was sinne in all When Christ said Pardon them and not pardon him he gaue cause of great hope vnto all sinners that they should bee pardoned by him seeing hee forgot not to redeeme any nor to pardon any man nor leaue out any man not spoken for of his father but made all men partakers of his passion As the sonne of God said vnto his father Pardon them so if he had said Pardon him he would haue put all the church in an vproâ—e and hurliburly and al the world in a confusion and doubt in knowing who were condemned and who pardoned Rabanus vpon S. Matthew sayth That when the Maker hanged vpon the crosse if hee had said Pardon him as he said Pardon them then we should not haue known whether hee had pardoned Iudas which sold him or Herod which scorned him or Pilat which condemned him or S. Peter which denied him or Caiphas which blasphemed him And he saith further that the cause why Christ said vnto his father Pardon
therfore he coÌ„mitted the pardoÌ„ vnto him which was most iniuried protesting that himself was not offended with theÌ„ O sweet Iesus how canst thou say that thou wast not offended nor iniured by theÌ„ being as thou wast iniuried crucified by their hands and although thou do not coÌ„plaine vpon theÌ„ nor reuenge thee on them nor yet accuse theÌ„ yet O my redeemer why dost thou excuse them Barnard saith That the son of God was replenished with such great charity and such inspeakable pity towards those which crucified him that he could not obtaine leaue of himselfe to impute any fault vnto them seeing he had charged himselfe with the pain due for it Cyprian saith That seeing Christ was the true mediator pacifier stikler betwixt his father the world it would haue beene euilly thought of to say that any one of them were his enemies and therevpon it is that seeing hee had no enemie there amongst them hee had no necessitie to say on the crosse I pardon them If the sonne of God saith S. Chrysostome hanging vpon the crosse should haue said I also pardon them it would haue beene thought that hee receiued greater griefe for the torment which hee himselfe suffered than of the iniuries which were done vnto his father which for a certentie was not so for if it were possible Christ would more willingly returne againe into the world to die than endure to see one iniury done vnto his father Who dare now O good Iesus saith S. Barnard who dare aske a reuenge of the iniuries done vnto him seeing thou diddest make such small account of those which were done vnto thy selfe Doest not thou recken of the cruell thornes which pierced thy holy head and shall I make account of an angry word which my brother speaketh against me How shall I dare to say that I haue enemies seeing thou doest handle those which nailed thee vnto the crosse like brothers It ought to be a strange speech in the mouth of a Christian to say This is my enemy for in making thy brother thy enemie thou doest loose Christ and causest him to be no more thy friend It is much to be noted that Christ entreated not his father to pardon them after they were dead but asked that he would pardon them quickly yea that very quickly because he would let vs vnderstand that the value of his precious blood was of such great price that at that instant that it began to be shedde at the same time it began to doe good The redeemer of the world would not leaue vs out of the fauor of his father nor an enemy vnto any in token wherof hee came into the world saying Et in terra pax hominibus Peace vnto men vpon earth and went out of the world saying Pater ignosce illis Father forgiue them The son of God saith Cassiodorus vpon the Psalms is not like vnto the children of this world who leaue vnto their children a little wealth with much strife seeing that by that speech of Father forgiue them hee redeemed vs with his blood baptized vs with his teares annointed vs with his sweat instructed vs with his doctrine loosed vs from the deuill and reconciled vs vnto his father O how much are wee bound vnto thee sweet Iesus for praying vnto thy father that he would forgiue his enemies before and not after thy death that is before the teares of thy eies were dried vp and whilst the wounds of thy body were yet fresh What would haue become of mankind if Christ at his death had bin angry with vs When he said in his last Sermon Pacem meam do vobis I giue you my peace What else meant he but that he left vs reconciled vnto his father and vnited vnto himselfe How could the eternall father saith Anselmus deny his blessed sonne the pardon which hee demaunded seeing he asked it with such milde wordes with such sorrowfull teares with such fresh wounds with such louing bowels with such continual sighes and with such great and passing griefe Wee may then conclude that when Christ praied his father to pardon quickely and without delay he teacheth vs that before we die and go out of this life it is conuenient for vs to pardon all iniuries for otherwise those in the other world shall haue great occasion to weepe which would not in this world speedily forgiue CHAP. VIII How our Lord reckoneth with the Synagogue and of fiue cruelties which the Iewes vsed in the death of Christ SIt Dominus iudex inter te inter me said the most renowmed king Dauid vnto his Lord and king king Saul Reg. chap. 24. as if hee would say I will haue no other iudge betwixt me and thee O great king of Israel but onely the mighty God of heauen vnto whom it is well known how faithfully I doe serue thee and how cruelly thou doest handle me Origen saith that king Dauid ought to haue great priuitie with God seeing hâ—e chose him for the iudge of all the words he spake of all the thoughts he conceiued of all the workes which he did of all the enmities he suffered yea and of all the friendships he followed Dauid could not iustifie his cause better than to referre the iustice of it vnto the hands of God who is so iust in his person so vpright in his iudgement that neither praiers bow him neither threatnings feare him nor gifts mooue him nor words deceiue him When good king Dauid cited Saul to appeare before the iudgement of God Dauid could haue cut off his head if hee would as hee did the gard of his garment but yet hee would not doe it because hee did set more by Gods fauour than by Sauls euill will Saul was a capitall enemie vnto king Dauid hee caused him to flee his countrey forsake his kindred depriued him of his riches banished him his court separated him from his wife and proclaimed him to be his publike enemie And yet notwithstanding all this Dauid if hee had listed could haue beene reuenged of Saul as especially when hee stole the bottle from vnder his beds head and cut away a piece of his garment yet the pitifull king Dauid would not onely not do it but shewed himselfe angry with those which durst counsell him vnto it Origen saith that onely because Saul was annointed king by the God of Israel it seemed vnto good king Dauid that hee deserued pardon and that that was a sufficient cause to make him reuerenced of all and offended by none Wee are annointed with a better ointment than king Saul was for hee was annointed with the oyle of the Oliue tree but wee are annointed with the blood of Christ and therfore he who doth persecute a Christian doth persecute one who is annointed by Christ Good king Dauid respected it not that Saul did abuse his regall vnction and annointing but onely because that hee was annointed by a good Spirit in so much that Dauid regarded it not that Saul
crucifie him saying crucifige crucifige was to persuade him that hee would crucifie him with his hands and that they would crucifie him with their hearts They crucified him with their hearts when with their hearts they hated and detested him then they hated him with their hearts when they diffamed his person and discredited his doctrine in so much that it was not without cause that they cried twise crucifie crucifie him seeing that at one time they tooke away his life and blemished his credit And although Pilate should haue been determined to put him to death either by cutting his throat or casting him into a well or by hanging him which are easier deaths to suffer and lesse infamous to endure yet the doggish Iews would not leaue it vnto Pilates arbitrement and free will for feare least he wold haue beene too pitifull in the maner of his death When certaine words are doubled in holy scripture it is a great signe of loue or hatred in those which vse them as when Christ said Desiderio desideraui I haue desired with desire and when he said Martha Martha in which words he shewed the loue and affection which hee bare vnto his disciples and what tender loue he bare to Martha who guested him in her house The Iews also by iterating of those words shewed the great hatred which they bare vnto Christ and let vs vnderstand with what heart good wil they crucified him Behold thē their deeds towards Christ behold also the deserts which were found to be in them Yet notwithstanding all this in recompence of the cruel death which they gaue him the great shame and infamy they put him to he saith with a loud voice Father forgiue them for they know not what they doe CHAP. IX How that Christs mercy was far greater towards the Synagogue then their naughtinesse towards him seeing hee pardoned her though she desired no pardon FRons meretricis facta est tibi noluisti erubescere tamen reuertere ad me dic pater meus es tu God spake these words by the mouth of the Prophet Ieremy complaining vnto him of the enormious and great sinnes the Iewish nation had committed against him And they are as if he should say O wicked and infortunate people of the Iews which art come vnto that boldnesse of sinning that like vnto a publick whore thou hast no shame in doing naught Turne therefore vnto me O sinfull Hierusalem turn thy selfe vnto me thou vnfortunate Synagogue for I can doe no lesse when thou doest aske any thing of me like as of a father but I must graunt it vnto thee like a sonne S. Ierome vpon these words saith O what an infinit goodnesse and mercy is this O my God and Lord that seeing thou hast tanted condemned Ierusalem as one which was full of sinne and without shame yea and hast compared her vnto a publicke strumpet yet thou doest entreat her to amend giuest her license to call thee Father Whome wilt thou cast from thee and denie to be thy son seeing thou doest vouchsafe to be a father vnto a strumpet If thou dost admit publick lewd womē into thy company is it like that thou wilt cast frō thee the honest and vertuous ones of thy house If thou loue those which are sinfull and shamelesse who is a greater sinner or lesse bashful or more lewd then this my wicked soule If the remedy of my soule consist in nothing else but in calling thee Father from this time forward I do cal thee Father and if thou dost require nothing else of me but that I should turne vnto thee O good Iesus I turne vnto thee and aske thee forgiuenesse of all my sinnes and seeing I doe turne vnto thee as vnto my Lord and confesse my selfe before thee to bee a great sinner I beseech thee most humbly that thou wouldst not cast me from before thy face that thou wouldest not take thy holy spirit from me for if thy holy grace forsake me my soule is turned vnto that that she was before that is vnto a shamelesse and lewd woman It is much to be noted here that God doth not cōplaine of the Iews that they were enuious angry or gluttennous but that they were bold and without shame which wanteth not a high mystery because there is no greater signe in all the world that a mans conscience is very corrupt then when to sin he hath no shame at al. I haue a great hope saith S. Augustine that that sinner will amend his life which sinneth secretly and is ashamed of it which hope I haue not of him who is resolute in his speech and dissolute in sinne because that that man doth either very late or neuer amend his manners who by long vse hath hardened his conscience To come then vnto our purpose with very great reason and for iust occasion God called the synagogue a shamelesse and dissolute strumpet seeing that in the death of his sonne shee shewed not onely her malice but also her impudency in killing him in the open day not being sorrowfull for it at all Christ knew very well that which his father had promised vnto the Iewes that is that if they would call him Father hee would forgiue them as his children By reason whereof Christ our God began his praier with Father forgiue them giuing thereby to vnderstand that seeing hee called him Father hee should bee heard like a sonne If it seeme vnto you my louing brethrē saith S. Ambrose that the Iews had no occasiō to put Christ their Lord to death neither did he see in thē any condition whereby he should pardon thē and touching this mercifull pardon I can tell you that I doe not so much maruell of the pardon which hee giueth on the crosse as I doe of the circumstances with the which hee dooth giue it The Iewes shewed their naughtinesse towards Christ in many thinges but the son of God shewed his mercy clemency towards thē in many more things for there is no mā in this life able to cōmit so great an offence but Gods mercy can go beyond it The first thing wherin he shewed his mercy towards thē was in the petitiō which he made vpō the crosse for them that is pardō remission of their sins being his enemies preferring them before his blessed mother which brought him into the world his welbeloued disciple which followed him before Mary Magdalen whom he so much loued What charity saith Remigius shold haue burned in his diuine bowels who at the very instāt of his own death remēbreth first to releeue his enemies thē cōfort his friends what meaneth this O good Iesus what meaneth this doest thou first remēber those who opēly blaspheme thee thē those which stand at the foot of the crosse weeping for thee O infinit charity O inspeakable goodnes what hart could do that which thou dost S. Barnard saith that it was in maner of a cōtention whether were
play the Apostatae immeadiately after that hee entered into the Apostleship and that Christs goodnesse did much shine vpon him in looking so long for his amendment which Iudas neuer did nor neuer forsooke his theeuing The first thing that the Scripture accuseth Iudas of was that hee was a murmurer and a detractor saying Vt quid perditio haec c. as if hee would say If it bee so that Christ my maister hath made profession of a vertuous man and preacheth pouerty vnto all the world and also reprehendeth sharpely all such as spend any thing wastfully it would bee better for him because he might conforme his life vnto his doctrine to command this ointment to bee sold for a great deale of money and diuide it afterward among the poore and needy Here Iudas doth murmure notoriously seeing hee murmureth at the ointment which was shed and how euilly it was bestowed and at Mary Magdalen which shed it and hee murmureth at Christ vpon whome it was cast When excommunicated Iudas said Ad quid perditio haec hee iniuried the other Apostles which would not murmure as hee did hee scandalized Simon the leaper in hearing such thinges spoken of his maister hee iniuried Mary Magdalen in finding fault with her for spending of the ointment and hee rebuked Christ and noted him to be a curious and a daintie man in suffering it to be spent vpon himselfe Anselmus talking vnto Iudas sayth Tell mee I pray thee Iudas if the shedding of the ointment vpon thy maister was a good worke why doest thou not like of it as the rest of the Apostles doe If pardy it were done scandalously was not S. Peter there to haue reprehended it who was thy ancient and was not S. Iohn there also to haue hindered it and counselled him who was more familiar with him than thou wast O wicked Iudas what iustice is it to sell thy maister for money and yet to hold it for an euill thing to annoint him with ointments Doest thou make a conscience of it that they should annoint Christ his tender flesh and doest thou make it no scruple at all to steale away the almes O blessed Magdalen O happy woman O happy had he ben which had ben worthy to haue ben there at that hour when thou diddest annoint thy maister and my God and happy had I beene when thou diddest annoint him with holy ointment if I could haue tempered and mixed it with my tears and as thou diddest annoint him with an ointment I could haue washed him with my tears I do not so much meruell at the malice of Iudas as I doe at the patience of Magdalen for not regarding what Iudas did the more hee murmured the more hast shee made in annointing him O what a number of murmurers there be now adaies saith S. Ierome in an epistle which say with Iudas Vt quid perditio haec What needeth this losse condemning finding fault at all that which is not done according vnto their will and pleasure in so much that the murmurer thinketh nothing well done vnlesse it be done as hee will Hilarius saith Many murmurers doe murmure at the sumptuosity of churches and at the riches of holy places saying with Iudas Vt quid perditio haec all which wheÌ„ they murmure it is not so much because they see it in the churches but because they haue it not in their owne houses Because the sonne of God dooth represent all holy and vertuous men saith Origen what other thing is ment when hee suffered Magdalen to annoint him and refresh his body but that he would bee well pleased that we should serue all holy and good men and well content that we should vse all courtesie towards them Why dost thou murmure O thou murmurer if thou doest see thy brother ease his body of continuall paine and trauell and recreate somewhat and refresh his bones seeing thereby thou art not preiudiced at al he which iudgeth in euill part of the recreation which his neighbor taketh murmureth at Christ with Iudas seeing that the perfection of great personages doth not so much consist in hauing their bodies broken as it doth in hauing their hearts pure and cleane Put the case saith S. Chrisostome That there were a fault in that vnction yet without comparison Iudas did far more sinne in murmuring at it then Mary Magdalen in doing it or Christ in consenting vnto it Let no man iudge his neighbor saith Barnard Let no man find fault at another mans doing because that murmuring is so odious in Gods sight that oftentime hee which murmureth at anothers doing sinneth more then he which doth the thing The second accusation in scripture against this traitor Iudas was that he was a notonous theefe which was a vice by God in the old law straightly forbidden and with greeuous punishments chastised Ea quae mittebantur portabat Iudas saith S. Iohn chap. 12. As if he would say The office which Iudas Iscarioth had in Christs house was to receiue and take charge ouer all the alms which denout persons did send vnto Christ and to bestow them and deuide them to Christs vse and his Apostles S. Iohns woords are to be noted wheÌ„ he saith That Iudas caried those things which were sent them wherein he noteth the great perfection of Christ and of his Colledge considering that he asked nothing from dore to dore but did eat only of the alms which were sent them vnto their house The son of God saith Damasceu nor those of his holy colledge were not of those poor which were troublesome and importunate because he busied himselfe more in preaching than in begging for if they had no almes sent vnto them they did eate the eares of the come and the hearbs of the fields We do not read in the course of the whole Gospell that Christ commanded or commended any other matter vnto Iudas his disciple but the gathering of the almes and the charge of those temporall matters in so much that were it much or little which they did send vnto Christ Iudas did both receiue it and deuide it and withall steale the best part of it Chrysostome saith thus If wee marke it well our Lord commended his holy soule vnto his Father his blessed mother vnto Saint Iohn his holy Church vnto Saint Peter his glorious body to Nicodemus and his poore substance and wealth vnto Iudas in so much that hee committed the goods of this life vnto the wickedest man that was theÌ„ aliue It is not to be thought that it is a good sign if our Lord giue any great aboundance of temporall wealth in this world seeing that naughty Iudas â—â—charioth had more wealth lone than Christs whole company and colledge all togither It is much to be noted that seeing Christ had neither house nor vineyard nor land not other rent but onely the almes which they gaue him in the commonwealth also it is to be thought religiously that that which Iudas stole from Christ could not
we know whether he commanded him to do these things for the sins which he hath committed or for sins which hee hath seene in the Iudaicall people Who euer saw Christ weepe or command any man to weep but he had occasion to doir and reason to command it The reason why Ieremy weepeth is Quid ablata est fides de ore corum Because there is now no faith in the house of Iacob because the goodnes truth of Israel is perished Behold how God doth not complain here of vs for that we do not offer sacrifice nor because wee pay not our tithes nor because we break the holy fasting daies nor because they are couerous nor because they are carnall glurtons because nature inuiteth inclineth vs to all these carâ—lesnesse humane frailty excuseth vs. That which our Lord coÌ„plaineth of is that they are faithlesse in heart idolaters and that they can speake nothing with their mouth but lies which two vices are perrillous for vs to be saued with very hard to ameÌ„d Ciprian vpoÌ„ the Creed saith Although the Apostle saith that faith without works is dead yet I had rather do sinful works being a faithful Christian theÌ„ vertuous works being a faithlesse Pagan because that our Lord doth easilier lighten him which beleeueth that which he coÌ„mandeth theÌ„ him which blasphemeth him and his church Damascen saith That the diuel dare neuer tempt mightily any but such as he perceiueth to be weak in faith and in that case hee careth not much to teÌ„pt him hardly with other vices if he see him weak cold in faith because the diuel is better at ease to see a man doubtful wauer in faith theÌ„ to see him coÌ„mit all other sins in the world What dooth the diuell watch at or ouerwatch but to see whether thou bee doubtfull in the faith of Christ what hast thou if thou hast not true faith what wantest thou if thou wantest not the true faith of Christ O good Iesus O the light of my soule I beseech thee that thou wouldest not depriue me of thy faith that thou wouldst not cast me out of thy church that thou wouldst not take thy mercy froÌ„ me for if thou wilt not suffer me to fall from thy faith I shal alwaies haue a hope that in the end I shal be saued To come theÌ„ vnto our principal purpose who made vnhappy Iudas hang himselfe what was the cause the good theefe was saued but only the great faith the theefe had the sinful infidelity which the other fel into because Iudas wold not beleeue that Christ was our maker and because the good theefe beleeued that Christ was our redeemer Iudas sold Christ and the other beleeued in Christ insomuch that in beleeuing knowing litle men come to offend much So much saith Gregory the faith of a good ChristiaÌ„ is more meritorious by how much the fewer argumeÌ„ts reasons it is grounded on because the merit of the catholick faith doth not coÌ„sist on that which we see with our eieâ— but in that which we beleeue with our hearts If we compare the faith of the good theef with the faith of the old fathers we shal find it to be true that he did so far exceed theÌ„ in faithfully beleeuing as they did go beyond him in good liuing How should not Abraham beleeue in God considering how God spake vnto him from heaueÌ„ aboue and vsed him as if he had beene his particular friend The thecues faith was greater thaÌ„ his because that Christ neuer spake vnto him one word of beliefe neither did hee euer see him in heauen but only hanged vpon the crosse The Prophet Esay did beleeue in God when he saw him sit on high in his throne beset with thousands of Seraphins but the the eues faith was greater because hee neuer saw Christ but crucified and accompanied with theeues The Prophet Maises had faith when hee saw the God of Israel speake vnto him out of a bush and that the bush wasted nor burnt not but the faith of the good theefe was greater than this considering that hee saw Christ loaden with thorns which burnt nor in show but in troth pierced his braine S. Peter had faith when hee saw Christ goe vpon the waters but the good theefes faith was greater considering he saw Christ not spurn the waters but saw him bathed in bloud from the feet to the head Mary Magdalen had faith when she saw him raise her brother Lazarus from death to life who had beene foure daies dead but the good theefe had greater faith then this considering how he neuer saw Christ raise the dead but only saw himselfe die vpon the crosse like a malefactor S. Iohn the Euangelist had faith when he had ssept vpon our Lords breast after he had supped vvith him in the parlar but the theefes faith vvas greater then this seeing that hee beleeued in the sonne of God not sleeping vpon stis breast but suffering vvith him by his side vpon the crosse S. Iames had faith vvhen hee savv Christ transfigured in the hill Tabor and the Fathers of the old law adore him but the good theefes faith was greater then this considering hee saw not the sonne of God transfigured but disfigured hee saw not his face shine but his body torne in pieces O happy and glorious theefe who but thou hath stoine the faith from the synagogue which of old shee was wont to haue and stolne Christ from them in whom then they beleeued not Impart and deuide vnto me part of the faith which thou didst steale from the Synagogue and Christ which thou diddest rob away on the Mount of Caluary for although I was not thy companion in suffering yet now I will bee in beleeuing That which I would haue thee impart vnto mee is the entire faith which thou hast the holy wordes which thou speakest the abundance of bloud which thou sheddest the true confession which of God thou makest and the Christian charity with the which thou doest correct the other theefe O that this theefe hath a happy inheritance seeing that with the theft of worldly things he easily got the gallowes and with the theft which hee stole vpon the crosse hee got glory Chrysostome of the praise of the theefe saith thus In whom O good Iesus in whom did thy holy faith remaine when thou diddest depart out of this life but in thy sorrowfull mother who wept at the foot of the crosse in that holy theefe who suffered on thy side O good Iesus O redeemer of my soule saith Barnard what a small number of friends thou hadst with thee on the crosse and what a multitude of enemies about thee considering that thou hadst there but two faithfull Christians that is thy blessed mother which did beleeue in thee with her heart and that iust theefe which did confesse thee with his mouth Seeing it was nothing else to be a Christian but to beleeue in Christ and serue Christ
world and so hee liueth with paine by reason of the one and casts out sighes by reason of the other The dissembling hypocrite hath also two hearts who with the one desireth to bee in low degree and with the other laboureth to be exalted with the one he speaketh fair with the other he bireth secretly with the one he proclaimeth cōscience with the other he maintaineth malice which is worst of all with the one he doth forward concord and with the other he stirreth vp war Woe therfore be vnto him who hath two hearts for if hee had but one either hee would bee wholly good or wholly bad but hauing two hearts he cannot in religion do that which he ought nor in the world doe that which hee would Hee hath also two hearts who hath good words and naughty vvorks he vvhich crieth the spirit is al flesh he vvho liueth wickedly hopeth vvell he vvho is rigorous vvith other men and mild vnto himselfe strait vnto his brothers liberall vnto himselfe Hath not he think you two harts vvho promiseth much performeth litle he vvho sweareth that he loueth and yet in the end loueth not but deceiueth To come then vnto our purpose all that vvhich I haue spoken is to let you know hovv vvisely and vvarily the good theefe kept his heart and hovv highly he did imploy it seeing he denied it the diuel offered it vnto Christ Christ and the deuill vvere at a great variance vvhich of thē should cary avvay the theeues hart because the deuil alledged that hee did belong vnto him because hee vvas a ringleader of theeues and Christ said that he did belong vnto him because he vvas the father of sinners But vvhen the theefe said Lord remember mee the deuil fled Christ defended the theefe Chrisostome sayth That Cain offered corne vnto God Abel lambes Noe Weathers Abraham doues Melchisedech vvine Dauid gold Iepthe his daughter and Anna her sonne If all these men did offer much vnto God that vvhich the good theefe did offer vvas much more for all that vvhich they offered vvere externall thinges and not their ovvne but that vvhich the good theefe offered vvas his ovvne and in this case there is great difference betvvixt offering that vvhich a man possesseth and keepeth in his house and offering of his ovvne proper person If any man aske thee vvhat that is that the theefe offered Christ let him first ansvvere vvhat that vvas that he kept for himselfe for giuing as he did all vvhich he had vnro Christ he vvas not seene to reserue any thing for himselfe Seneca saith in an Epistle Who is he vvho giueth another all vvhich he can vvho doth not giue him also his vvil and al that he hath The good theefe gaue Christ al that he could all that he vvas vvorth all his povver all that hee possessed also al his might vvill at vvhat time he acknovvledged himselfe a sinner vpon the altar of the crosse and Iesus Christ to be his redeemer O good sinner O glorious confessor vvilt thou not tel vs vvhat thou diddest offer vnto thy God seeing thou didst obtain such grace by it The theef offered not his eies because they vvere couered neither his mony because the iailor had it nor his coat because the hangman had it nor his body because it vvas crucified he had only left his tongue vvith the vvhich he confessed Christ and his hart vvith the vvhich he beleeued in him If he vvould haue giuen Christ his honour hee knevv not vvhere it vvas if hee vvould haue serued Christ vvith his life it vvas novv at an end if hee vvould haue bestovved his goods vpon him hee had none left for he lost his honor and credit by his theft his life Pilat commanded to be taken from him and all his goods the office of the Fiskall possessed O high my stery saith Origen O diuine example vvho being put vpon the tree had nothing left but his heart and vvith that he beleeued in Christ and his tongue and vvith that he commended himselfe vnto God It is to be beleeued that if this good theefe had had any thing else left but his tongue and his hart that vvith more he vvould haue serued Christ insomuch that vve cannot cōdemn his offering for a mean and miserable gift seeing he offered God al which he had For vvhat doth he not offer vvho offereth his heart what doth hee not deuide vvho deuideth his heart O my tongue O my heart vvhy doe you not take for your companion this theefe crucified vpon the tree because he may teach you how sins are bewailed the heauens stolne away Irenaeus saith I think I shal neuer bee condemned but I haue a great hope I shall bee saued seeing that the good theefe being alone crucified vpon the crosse by no other means but by offering his heart tongue vnto God in lesse than halfe an houre went into glory S. Barnard sayth O good Iesus O the hope of my soule why should I torment my selfe and bee sorrowfull if I want feet to goe to glory or haue no eares to heare sermons nor haue no riches to giue almes nor iewels to offer in the temples Seeing that I hold it for certaine that with one holy wish I shall content thee O sweet Iesus Moyses sister was scabby noble Lia was blearecied good Moises stutted in his speech holy Tobias was blind Mimphiboseth was lame yet notwithstanding al these defects and imperfections nothing hindered them from being vertuous and holy If our hearts be cleane and whole what careth God if our members bee rotten The great Patriarke Iacob blessed his sons being blind dogs licked the wounds of holy Lazarus legs patient Iob did wipe and shaue off the wormes of his flesh with a tile stone holy Tobias saw nothing but what his children directed him vnto but none of all these things hindered them from seruing their Lord and God and from helping their neighbors brothers to saue themselues Remigius saith Behold O my soule behold the good theefe had sentence to die vpon the crosse with his ioints seuered the one from the other his eies couered his flesh rent torn his bloud shed and yet notwithstanding al this with his hart which only liued he knew how to remedy and saue himselfe In so few houres in so short a space the pennance which the good theefe did could not be great nor the sighes which hee gaue could not bee many yet because hee gaue them so from his heart and with such great deuotion Christ tooke them in a sort for a iust account not only those which thē he gaue but also those which he had a will afterward to giue if death had not cut him off CHAP. VII How the naughty theefe lost himselfe only for want of faith and of two chalices which the scripture maketh mention of of which both the theeues dranke of COnsurge consurge Hierusalem quiae bibisti calicem
halfe houre what wilt thou giue vnto him O good Iesus who loueth thee with all his hart praiseth thee with his tongue and emploieth all his might and power in thy seruice CHAP. XII How our Lord heard the theeues praier vpon the crosse and how Christ answered him seuen words for fiue which hee spake vnto Christ DOminus exaudiuit vocempueri de loco in quo est Genesis 21. said the Angel vnto Ismael his mother as if he would say Take no care O Agar take no care for although thou hast lost thy way and art banished in this desart feare no peril because our Lord hath heard the praier of the youth thy sonne because he hath praied where he hath praied The Patriarch Abraham had a bastard child by Agar his maid and slaue both which were throwne out of dores after that hee had a lawfull child borne vnto him and these two went vp a mountaine alone in great dispaire our Lord sent vnto them an Angel to comfort them and to giue them drinke Origen sayth That if wee looke well into the scripture we shall neither read that the mother did pray vnto the Lord neither is it made mention that the sonne did commend himselfe vnto God but that Gods great mercy is so great that by seeing the youth Ismael weepe and the sorrowfull mother lament and cry our Lord was moued to comfort them by word and also releiue them in deed Plato in his Timao sayth That it doth smally benefit the grieued and comfortlesse to visit them seldome and speake much vnto them and giue theÌ„ no comfort at all vnlesse that comfort be wrapped in some remedie and reliefe Seneca sayth That if a friend doe visite his friend and find him heauy and sad and so leaue him if hee find him poore and so leaue him if hee find him weeping and leaue him weeping wee will say of such a one that hee goeth rather to iest than to visite and comfort because a comfortlesse heart is much better appeased with that which we giue him with our hands than with that which we speake vnto him with our tongue S. Ambrose in his Exameron sayth That to the end a worke of mercy may bee perfect more acceptable vnto our Lord it ought neither to bee asked of any nor craued but voluntarily liberally be bestowed because there is nothing more deare in this world than that which is bought with entreaty O that hee buieth very deerely who buieth by the change and price of his shame because that shamefast men and of liberall hearts doe without comparison grieue more when they vncouer shew their face than when they vntie their purse Cicero to Atticus sayth That there is nothing wherein a Gentlemanlike man taketh more delight than in giuing and greater griefe than in asking because that in giuing he maketh himself Lord of him vnto whome hee giueth and in taking hee maketh himselfe a slaue to him of whoÌ„ he receiueth Hilarius saith That to deale with God there need no words but teares nor many entreaties but many sighes for wheÌ„ we pray vnto our Lord he hath greater regard vnto the heart which desireth than vnto all that which the tongue speaketh Agar the slaue and Ismael her sonne spake no word vnto God nor yet made any petition vnto him but ech of them being set downe vnder a seuerall oke the sonne did neuer fill himselfe with weeping and the mother neuer ceassed from sighing the which holy teares were not vnpaied nor sighes vnaccepted To come then vnto our purpose if our Lord did heare Ismaels teares which was in the desart will he not also hear the memento mei which the theefe spake vnto him in the Mount of Caluary Let no man maruell that we compare the theefe with Ismael and Ismael with the theefe for as the one was brought vp in the mountaines a hunting so the other went by the high waies a robbing as Ismael had one very vertuous brother so also this theefe had a blasphemer to his companion Isâ—â—ael was yong for hee was not aboue three yeares of age the theefe was also yong for he had not been as yet three houres a Christian because that before our Lord the yeares when we are borne are not reckoned but the time from whence we are baptized After Christs resurrection hee called his disciples children and yonglings not respecting that some of them were old and had gray haires but that they had not ben long baptized that is when hee washed their feet in the parlar and ordained them Priests after his supper If Ismael did weepe at the foot of the oake in the desart so did the good theefe weepe also vpon the crosse on Caluary and that which is more excellent is that if hee gaue the one water whereof hee should drinke he gaue the other his bloud wherewith he should bee saued As Abraham had one lawfull child which was Isaac and another a bastard which was Ismael so God the father had or lawfull child which was Christ and the other a bastard which was the theefe and of these two the one was borne in the church and the other in the Synagogue The blessing which fell vnto Ismael was that he should be against all men and all men against him the which blessing also the good theefe had who being vpon the crosse and all purposing to kill and crucifie Christ hee against all though all against him defended him and excused him Ismael was a father of many barbarous people and the good theefe was an example of many great sinners but not that they should liue wickedly as hee had done but that they should turne vnto our Lord as hee did Agar the mother could not see Ismael her sonne die neither could the sonne of God see his companion the theefe bee condemned and therefore as the teares of the one were gratefull vnto him euen so the words of the other vvere pleasing vnto him to wit when hee said on the crosse Lord remember me and O good Iesus haue mercy vpon mee With great reason and for good occasion the son of God did giue care vnto all that the good theefe would speake vnto him and vnto all that which hee did request of him because hee vsed such measure and discretion in his petition that hee asked nothing which should bee for his comfort but for his saluation If hee vvould haue asked any thing for his comfort he vvould haue asked that the cudgels which winded his cords should haue been slackened or that they would haue pulled out the nailes or healed his wounds or that they would pull him downe from the crosse or that they would giue him longer life but he asked none of all this but only that Christ would haue his soule in remembrance not mentioning his person at all Our Lord could not denie him so reasonable a petition nor delay him but he answered him immediately for euen as he said Domine memento moi Christ
Nathan the Prophet vnto Dauid the great Prophet Esaias vnto Manasses his holy Prophet Ieremy vnto King Ozias the Prophet Daniel vnto Balthasar and the Satiricall Prophet Helias vnto king Achab. The sonne of God sent a greater imbasie and greater Embassadours vnto the theefe than God the father did vnto the Kings seeing that vnto the theefe which was crucified on the crosse with him he sent no other embassador than himselfe so by this meanes the embasie and the Embassador were all one thing Was it not think you the selfesame thing seeing that it was Christ which sent the message the selfesame Christ which carried it Origen in an Homilie sayth thus The greatest message that euer came from heauen into the world was that of the incarnation and the next vnto it was that which Christ did vnto the good theefe insomuch that by the comming of the sonne of God the gate of glory was opened and in the promise made vnto the good theefe the possession of it was taken The embasie which Iohn Baptist brought vs was that the kingdome of heaueÌ„ was at hand but the good theef saith not that he is neer vnto heauen but that he is within heauen S. Iohns was a great embasie when he said Behold the lambe of God which taketh away the sinnes of the world but that of the theeues was better wheÌ„ he said Behold him here who hath already redeemed the world The embasie that Samuel brought vnto Dauid was good wheÌ„ as of a shepheard he annointed him king but the embasie which Christ did vnto the good theef was farre better because that there passed almost fourty years betwixt the time that the kingdome was promised vnto Dauid and the time that it was deliuered vnto him but the theef had his kingdome promised him at two of the clock in the afternoone and was giuen him presently toward night The reward for bringing thee news of such a great embasie as that of Christs was that is the promise of glory he would let no man haue but he would win it himself insomuch he who promised glory gaue glory was the glory it self O good Iesus redeemer of my soule dost thou well see that in promising glory Paradise that thou doest promise nothing but thy self what meaneth this O good Iesus what meaneth this Dost thou trust malefactors coÌ„meÌ„d thy self vntorouers offer thyself vnto sinners coÌ„mit thy self vnto theeues If thou thinkest thy selfe ouercharged with this theefe giue him the Prouince of Achaia giue him part of Assyria giue him the kingdome of Palestine giue him the monarchy of Asia for in giuing him as thou doest giue him thy selfe if thou were not God as thou art it would seeme that thou shouldest preiudice many Is there any other Paradise but to enioy thee is there any other glory than to see thy face is there any greater contentment than to be in thy company is there any goodnesse but that which commeth from thy hands This day thou shalt bee with me in Paradise where thou shalt see me face to face enioy my essence dwell with my person haue the fruition of my glory thy death shall die and thy life shall rise againe This day thou shalt bee with mee in Paradise where thou shalt be alwaies mine and I will be thine where thou shalt serue mee and where I will loue thee without end where thou shalt leaue sinning and I neuer cease to doe thee good This day thou shalt bee with mee in Paradise where thou shalt see ioy without sorrow health withour griefe life vvithout death light vvithout darkenesse company vvithout suspition plenty vvithout want and glory without end This day thou shalt bee with mee in Paradise where youth doth neuer waxe old old age doth neuer appeare beauty neuer fadeth health neuer decaieth ioy neuer waxeth lesse griefe is neuer felt no vvailing euer heard nosorrow euerseene and death feareth nor This day thou shalt bee with mee in Paradise where thou shalt go from the goulfe to the â—â—auen from the battaile to the triumph from the streame to the spring from darkenesse vnto light from vvaâ—â— to vvealth from a dreame vnto the truth from faith to hope from cold loue to perfect and seruent Charitie This day thou shalt bee vvith mee in Paradise vvhere thou shalt not know how to vveepe but laugh not complain but bee â—oifull nor aske but gâ—â—e not blaspheme but blesse not sigh but sing not hate but loue not mislike but praise not die but liue This day thou shalt bee â—â—th mee in Paradise vvhere thy handes shall touch that which they desiced thy eies see that thâ—â— they looked for thy eares heare that which they loued and thy heart possesse that which hee groned for This day thou shalt bee vvith mee in Parachse vvhere thou shalt nor feare the deceits of the Diuell the cockering of the flesh the vanitie of the world the ambushes of thy enemies the suddaine passions vvhich fall out euery day the necessity of euery hour nor yet the anxiety and griefe of mind This day thou shalt bee vvith mee in Paradise vvhere there is no night which is darke nor day which decreaseth no rough Winter nor troublesome Summer no cold to freeze thee no heat to distemper thee no famine to weaken thee no thirst to make thee drie no death to make thee afraid nor life which shall haue any end O my soule O my heart wilt thou not tell mee vvhat thou doest thinke vpon or what thou doest contemplate on seeing thou hearest not this which is spoken doest thou not marke vvho speaketh it nor vnto vvhom hee speaketh it nor doest thou regard vvhere it is spoken Hee vvho speaketh is the sonne of God hee vvith vvhom hee speaketh is a theefe that which he sayth is that he promiseth Paradise the place vvhere hee speaketh is the Mount of Caluary the houre vvhen hee speaketh is at the point of death and those before whome hee speaketh is the vvhole Synagogue Is it possible that an imbasie accompanied vvith these many circumstances should not bee new and heard For in Scripture there is nothing necessary that is not full 〈◊〉 mystery Certainly this was a very new thing seeing that Christ neuer had this word Paradise in his mouth not from the time of his incarnation vntill the last houre that hee departed out of this world and then hauing no other there but the theefe which bare him company at that time he promised him Paradise O my soule if thou wilt haue part in Paradise behold vvhat a one the sonne of God is vvho giueth it and behold vvhat hee doth vnto the theefe vnto vvhom hee gaue it and as thou diddest see vvhat they doe so doe thou force thy selfe to doe the like O my soule O my heart doest thou not see that our Lord who giueth Paradise is vpon the crosse and that the theefe vnto whom heauen 〈◊〉 giuen is also vpon the crosse therefore that the crucified doth nor giue
didst thou goe to the battaile not calling mee with thee and why diddest thou die not taking mee with thee My heart can receiue no comfort nor my eies cease from weeping when I remember how much I was bound vnto thee and call to mind the great loue that passed betwixt vs because that the loue which passed betwixt thee and me was of like quality as the loue which a mother hath when she hath but one child onely It is now to bee noted that for this last word wee haue brought all this story whereby wee may well gather and inferre that the loue which a mother beareth vnto her onely sonne exceedeth all other humane loue For if Dauid could haue found any greater loue vnto a greater hee would haue compared his King Dauid was a very holy man and his sonne Absalon a very bold young youth but in the end when newes came vnto him that Ioab had thrust him through and that he was hanged vpon an oake the poore old man made such pitifull complaint and did shew such griefe for it that euery man did perceiue plainly that he wished himselfe rather dead thaÌ„ his sonne lose his life The which he openly said when he cried aloud My sonne Absalon my sonne Absalon where truly he would willingly haue gone to his graue if his sonne might haue liued God had no better experience to proue the loue which the Patriarch Abraham bare him but to command him to kill his onely sonne which hee had in his house and when the old man had lifted vp his sword to slay the young youth the Angell tooke him by the arme and commanded him to be quiet for now our Lord was satisfied to see that he loued him better than his own son When news was brought to holy Iob how the wise men had robbed him of fiue hundred yoke of oxen and that a flash of lightning from heauen had burnt him seuen thousand sheepe and that the Chaldeans had taken from him three thousand Camels and had put to the sword all the shepheards of his flocke the good man was not grieued at all with it nor vttered any sorrowfull word forir But when the fourth post came to bring him news how they had slaine his sixe sonnes and three daughters in his eldest sonnes house the man of God could not dissemble his great griefe and did shew it more by deed than by word by rending his garments in sunder and cutting his haire from his head and wallowing oftentimes vpon the ground Wee doe not read that the great Patriarch Iacob did weepe in all peregrinations or complaine in all his tribulations vntill hee heard that the wolues in the desart had eateÌ„ his welbeloued sonne Ioseph the which euill news did strike him so near the heart that hee said before his other children that hee would die and goe into hell because hee might haue space and time inough to bewaile his sonne Sunamites the Inne keeper of Samaria and hosâ—esse vnto Heliseus did so much grieue at the death of her sonne which God had giuen her by the praier of Heliseus that shee went weeping like a foole about the fieldes in such manner that neither her husband could bring her in nor the Prophet comfort her The great Priest Heli was so greeued vvheÌ„ it was told him that the Philistims had ouercome the Iewes and taken the Arke and killed his two sonnes Obni and Phinees that he fell from his seat and immediately yeelded vp the ghost The wife of old Tobias and mother vnto young Tobias did weepe beyond all measure and went almost beside her selfe only at the long tarrying which her sonne made in Rages a citie of the Medes vvhether his father had sent him to take vp certaine money and this her griefe was so excessiue that she neuer ceassed to pray vnto God for to keepe him nor she neuer left off weeping vntill she saw him with her eies I haue thought it expedient to rehearse all these examples the better to proue and extoll the loue which fathers and mothers beare vnto their children and how it is not to bee compared with any other loue and how bitterly the Parents weepe not onely for the death of their children but also for their absence Horace saith That to the losse of a child and that of the onely child there can bee no losse comparable vnto it because that causeth griefe at the heart which is loued from the heart Anselmus sayth to this purpose that this fatherly loue is not found onely in men which are reasonable but also in brute beasts for we see the Henne fight with the Kite the Storke with the Goshauke the Mare with the Wolfe the Lionesse with the Ounce the Eliphant with the Rinoceront the Gander with the dog and the Pie with the Cuckow the which fight is not only because they be enemies but because they steale away their young ones S. Ambrose in his Exameron saith That the loue of the father is so great and so excessiue that oftentimes we see brute beasts follow men which haue taken away their yong ones wherein they let vs vnderstand that they had rather be taken themselues than see their little ones taken captiues If a brâ—te beast shew this griefe for his little oues what shall a reasonable man doe When Demosthenes wept bitterly the death of one of his sons another replied vnto him and said that he was a Philosopher it seemeth well said hee that thou hast neuer been a father nor what the loue of a sonne is because that to haue a sonne is the greatest of all loues to lose him the greatest griefe of all griefes To come at the last vnto our porpose what woman did euer loue her sonne as the mother of God did loue hers Ipsum solum tenet mater sua pater eius tenerè diligit eum said the Patriarke Iudas vnto the Patriarch Ioseph his brother as if hee would say O most renowmed Prince Ioseph I and my brothers and my brothers and I doe humbly beseech thee vpon our knees and request thee with many tears that thou wouldest forgiue our yonger brother Beniamin the taking away of the golden flask which was found in his bag because his dolefull mother hath no other son and his old father loueth him with most tender loue These words may better be spoken of the virgin and of her sonne than of Beniamin and his mother Rachel who had more than one sonne although shee knew it not seeing that Ioseph Beniamins brother was aliue the most richest mightiest of all Egypt The eternall father had no other sonne but this alone and the immaculate virgin had no other but Christ only for the father neuer engendred other naturall son but this and the mother neuer brought forth other sonne but this We may very well say of the father that hee did loue his son tenderly seeing hee gaue him all his nature all his wisedome all his power all his
will and also all his might and authority What being had the father which the sonne had not what knew the father which the sonne knew not what could the father doe that the sonne could not doe what had the father that the sonne also had not What is it to say that hee loued him tenderly but that the father loued him with most entire loue insomuch that he denied him nothing which he had nor hid nothing from him of that hee did know Let vs leaue off the loue of the Father and let vs speake somewhat of the loue of the mother who loued her precious sonne with a tender heart and wept for him with tender bowels O most sacred Virgine how shouldest thou not loue thy blessed sonne very tenderly seeing that vvhen thou diddest bring him into the world thou vvast young and tender When the Virgine that bringeth foorth a child is tender the child vvhich shee bringeth forth is tender the time also young and tender why should not the loue with which shee loueth it bee also tender If Iacob who had twelue children loued one of them with tender and sweet loue is it to bee thought that the mother of God hauing but one onely sonne would not loue it with most tender and sweet loue and so much the rather because Iacobs loue was deuided into the loue of many sonnes but our blessed Ladies loue was wholly drawne to the loue of one only S. Barnard vpon Missus est saith That there is no loue vpon earth which may not bee waighed and measured excepted only the loue which the sonne of God bare vnto his mother and the mother vnto her sonne the vvhich vvas such that all the Angels could not measure it nor yet all the saints weigh it Anselmus saith That those which are fathers and those which are called mothers cannot loue their children as much as the Virgine did loue hers nor yet they are not bound vnto so great loue because they are bound to loue their neighbours as themselues their brothers as themselues and their God more than themselues Loue which is deuided into so many parts cannot possibly bee equall with that loue which the Virgine bare her sonne Loue that is pure and not fained cannot bee spread abroad but gathered in one not in many but in one not deuided but entire not stroken but heaped vp not for a time but for euer not finding excuses or faults but suffering not suspitious but confident and trusting And he who obserueth not these lawes hath no cause to say that hee loueth These causes ought neither to want in him who loueth nor in him which is beloued for if they doe wee should not call them louers but acquaintance for vnder the law of loue there is neither a defect admitted nor a complaint suffered There is no defect admitted because loue maketh all whole there is no complaint suffered because loue maketh all gentle and mild there is no iniury done because loue dissembleth all there is no sloth in loue because heis watchfull he is not a niggard because he can denie nothing O glorious Queene O the light of my felicity who did euer better keepe these high bonds of loue like vnto thee The blessed mother of God Tenerè diligebat filium suum For being as he was flesh of her flesh bones of her bones bloud of her bloud bowels of her bowels how should she loue him but like vnto her owne entrals Tenerè diligebat filium suum She loued her sonne tenderly seeing she loued him as her sonne she loued him with the zeale due to a bride groome serued him as her husband vsed him as her brother reuerenced him like a father worshipped him as a God Shee loued him tenderly seeing she went to Bethelem and with the teat in his mouth she carried him into Egypt and being a child of twelue years she brought him into the Temple and neuer forsooke him al the time that he went a preaching and that which is most of all to be noted she wept for all his trauails and vexations and with her fingers ends supplied all his necessities And how did shee supply them but by watching in the night and weauing in the day She loued him tenderly seeing shee adored him in his presence she contemplated on him in his absence she succoured him in his necessities shee followed him in his iournies and comforted him in his aduersities What would the child that the mother would not likewise and what did the mother aske that the sonne did not giue her They liued in one house they did eat at one table and that which shee gained with her fingers was common betwixt them and that which was giuen to him for preaching they spent together What should I say more they praied for all sinnes together and they wept for all sinnes together CHAP. II. How that if the loue which the mother bare vnto her sonne was great so likewise the loue which the sonne bare his mother was no lesse and to proue this there is expounded asaying of the Canticles INtroduxit me rex in cellam vinariam ordinauit in me charitatem said the espoused of her espouse and bridegroome talking of rich iewels which hee gaue her and it is as if she would say The light of my eies and ioy of my heart toke me by the hand and led me into the wineseller and told me the order of true loue S. Barnard saith O welbeloued bride why doest thou tel it abroad that thy bridgroom carried thee to drinke into the wineseller taught thee how to bee farther in loue seeing thou shouldest be angry to haue it spoken of and to doe it thou shouldest be ashamed Other brides are wont to goe to the meddowes to gather flowers to gardens to cut fruits to shops to buy gownes to the common places of recreation to visite their friends and doest thou go to the winesellers among the cups Doest thou not know that the noble and fine dame is noted of Incontinency if she smell of nothing but of wine So strange a matter wine ought to be vnto thee O thou bride of the Lord for to thinke of it would be imputed vnto thee for a curiosity to aske for it an euill example to smell of it a fault to drinke it a scandall and to bee dronke a sacriledge Plato sayth That in the glorious times and golden age of the world kinsmen kissed their kinswomen for no other reason but for to know whether they had drunk any wine for if they had they either were put to death for it or banished into some island If Plutarch doe not deceiue vs it was an inuiolable law in Rome that if any Matron of Rome had any necessity to drinke wine either because shee was weake or because shee was sicke the Senate onely should giue license vnto her and she notwithstanding drinke it out of Rome Macrobius saith That two Senators chiding in Rome the one told the other that his wife
was an Adulteresse the other replied and told him that his was a drunkard and being debated in the Senate which of the two was most iniuried it was agreed on by them al that it was a greater infamy for a woman to be a drunkard than an adulteresse If this bee so as true it is why did this chosen dame dainty bride not onely drinke wine but goe also to the seller for it Why doth she goe to fet it if she for it why doth she drink of it if she drink of it yet why is she drunke with it What doe I say that she is drunke with it seeing she doth inuite all men to drink of it The spouse which saith openly Bibite amici inebriamini charissimi what els doth she say but drinke my friends you my dearest of all be drunke Thou my sweet loue saiest that in tauerns sellers where the wisest are wont to lose their wit and sence the greatest loue is showne How dost thou say Quòd ordinauit in me charitatem seeing a tauâ—rn is the place where patience is lost anger kindled lying hath the vpper hand gluttony filleth it selfe vertue weakened Maruaile not my brother maruell not to hear me say that he brought mee into the winesellers for into the seller whither my deare bridegroome brought mee there enter none but such as are predestinated and none but the chosen drinke of those wines Barnard saith That the diuine seller whither this bridgroom brought his bride is the sacred holy scripture in which the vessels are also the holy scriptures the wine within those vessels was the son of God promised in the old law that wine began to bee sold wheÌ„ good Iesus began to preach Why did the maister of the feast keep that wine to drink of in the end of the mariage but only to let vs vnderstaÌ„d that the cups mysteries of holy scripture were to bee opened in the end of the old law WheÌ„ Christ said vnto his Apostles Other meÌ„ haue takeÌ„ pains you are entred into their labors in these words hee would say that the Fathers of the old Testament haue planted pruned the vines gathered the grapes but yet the Apostles only drank of the wine seeing they did reach vnto the secret mysteries of holy scripture Our Lord did put all the twelue Princes of the church in this seller when in the parler he made them drunk with the grace of the holy ghost by reason of which drunkennesse there was no secret which they did not reach vnto nor mystery which they did not vnderstand O precious wine O happy drunkennes considering that at that very hour wheÌ„ the Princes of the church entred into that seller of fearful meÌ„ they became stout of simple men learned of dul men very wise being without deuotion became very ferueÌ„t of dumbe meÌ„ very eloquent of fishers preachers In that holy seller pride lifteth not vp it selfe they call for no enuy no gluttony coÌ„meth neere theÌ„ they know no wantonnesse of the flesh there entereth in no sloth nor they know not what malice is In the seller of God the gate is humility patience the gouernes charity coÌ„mandeth abstinence ruleth diligence watcheth and deuotion triumpheth Who would not drink of such wine as this is who would not enter into so blessed a buttery Origen vpoÌ„ the Canticles saith That the seller of wine vnto the which the bridegroom brought his bride is no other thing thaÌ„ this holy catholick church where the cups are the sacrameÌ„ts the wine which is kept in theÌ„ are the seuen gifts of the holy ghost by whose means the church can neuer erre without theÌ„ no maÌ„ can euer be saued What shold become of the child new born who hath neither faith nor hope if he were not put presently into that glorious shop What are the cups which we drink in but onely his great benefits fauors through his meere mercy free liberality bestowed vpoÌ„ vs When we be baptized we drinke of his cup wheÌ„ we are strengthened by his diuine power against the inward enemy we drink of his cup wheÌ„ wee receiue grace to repent vs of our sins we drink of his cup wheÌ„ we passe out of this life in his loue and sorowfulnesse for our sins we drink also of his cup. Behold then how this wine is kept how the last cup endeth with our life and our life with the last cup. This grape out of the which this precious wine came out of was first formed in Nazareth borne in Bethelem brought vp in Palestine the vintage made on the Mount of Caluary pressed vpon the crosse where all the bloud which ran from the sonne of God was turned into wine for to drinke of in his catholicke church It is a common Prouerbe vsed by one friend vnto another that he will giue him all that he asketh yea also his bloud which offer wee see made but fulfilled of none Why doest thou offer thy friend that thou wilt shed thy bloud for him if hee require it at thy hands and afterwards if he aske thee any thing thou turnest thy face from him The sonne of God is none of these certainly who saying and doing gaue vs his body to eat and his bloud to drinke with the which we were redeemed and by the which all the elect are saued O good Iesus with what wine doest thou make the soule of thy best beloued drunke but with the wine of thy precious bloud Vidi mulierem ebriam c I saw a woman drunke with the bloud of the saints sayth S. Iohn in his Apocalips chap. 17 as if he would say Being in banishment in the Isle of Pathmos among other visions which I saw there I saw a woman which was drunk but not with the wine which was made of grapes but with bloud which issued out of vains We see men drunke with wine euery day for with this kind of drunkennesse the good Patriarch Noe was drunke the couetous Nabal Cornelius and the prowd captain Holofernes We see men drunke with anger also euery day and with this kind of drunkennesse king Iehu was drunke when hee slew in one day seuenty of king Achabs children and when the captaine Ioab slew the captaine Abner Wee see many drunke with enuy euery day as Iosephs brethren when they sold him for enuy the wicked Pharasies which put Christ to death for enuy We see many drunke with loue as Hemor was with Diaâ— Iacobs daughter Iacob with Rachel Labans daughter and good king Dauid with his neighbour Bersabe and young Amon with Tamar his sister See then how some are drunke with wine some with vaine loue some with anger some with enuy some vvith the wine of wicked Ambition the vvhich are so farre out of their vvits and sences that for to better their honour a little they care little to lose their credite and also to damne their soules
greater and a better watch in our Paradise than Adam had in his because that the Cherubin did but stand at the gate but the sonne of God is the gate it selfe When he said I am the gate what did hee mean else but that he was the key with the which we should open he was the gate through the which we should enter in and he the guide which should direct vs and he the Paradise which we should enioy It is also to bee noted that the sword with the which the Cherubin kept Paradise was neither of siluer nor gold nor yron but was of pure fire which is a new and an vnusuall thing which no man would beleeue if it were not in Scripture It is a thing often tried for yron to haue fire in it and for yron to bee in fyre but that a fyre should bee called a sword is neuer read but of that sword which kept Paradise To apply thē the figure vnto the thing figured al mē are as it vvere yron ouercast with rust that is fallen into original sinne or actuall great or small the sword of the liuing God excepted in vvhō there was neuer found any sin nor the rust of any fault but was alwaies like vnto a sword of fire made in the forge of the holy Ghost What was the sword vvhich kept Paradise but onely Iesus vvhich suffered on the crosse When thou diddest say O my sweet Iesus I come to put fire on the earth art not thou happily all fire seeing that thou dost come to put all the vvorld on fire O how much better the sword is vvhich the church hath than that vvhich the synagogue vsed Because her sword did let no man enter into Paradise but ours doth open the gates vnto vs. What shall I say more but that her sword vvas of fire vvhich did burn ours is but of Loue vvhich giueth comfort O sword of holy loue my sweet Iesus hovv happy I should be if I vvere dead vvith thy knife because that that killing should bee a rising from death that bowelling of me a letting of bloud my end a nevv beginning and my dying a liuing Our Lords mercy is such that he saith not Ego mortifico but he saith I doe giue life nor he saith not I will strike but hee saith I will make whole in so much that if he kill vs it is to raise vs to life againe and if he◠wound vs it is to make vs whole againe Then our Lord doth mortifie vs when he killeth our inclinations in vs and thē we are stroken with his hand whē we are punished with his great mercy and like a good surgeon hee neuer seareth the quicke flesh but the rotten member which infecteth the rest And because Simeon saith that the dolours and the sword of her sonne went through the mothers heart it is expedient for vs to stay somewhat in declaring the greifes which Christ suffered because that thereby we shall know them which he imparted vnto his mother Cum esset Dauid in spelumcā Obdollam conuenernat ad eum omnes qui erant in angustia oppressi aere alieno saith the Scripture 1. Reg. 22. as if he would say When king Dauid hid himselfe in the den of Obdolla there came vnto him all such as were banished by the order of iustice or fled for debts of all which sorrowfull Dauid was the Prince and captaine for of all the afflicted he was the most afflicted This is a high figure and deepe mystery worthy of great consideration because in it is figured very much by Dauid and namely the great griefes which Christ endured O that it were farre better for me poor sinner which write this that my soule did tast of them than for my fingers to write them Because that the doctrine which the sonne of God teacheth is of that quality that although it bee very good to preach it yet it is farre better to follow it There were many figures of Christ in the old law but none so liuely as Dauid was in proof whereof they did not call Christ the sonne of Adam nor the sonne of Moyses but the sonne of Dauid partly because hee was of his princely Tribe partly because he was not so liuely figured in any as in him God said vnto Dauid by special priuiledge I haue found a mā according vnto my own hart the Father said of Christ only this is my welbeloued sonne in so much that that loue which God bare in times past vnto Dauid was figured afterward in the loue which hee bare to his deere beloued sonne Dauid was also a figure of the sonne of God in that that as Dauid was persecuted by his maister the king of Israel without cause euen so Christ vvas persecuted of the Israelites not hauing offended them at all insomuch that if Saul did persecute Dauid of pure enuy the Iewes did persecute Christ of pure malice Dauid was also a figure of Christ in the denne of Obdollam where if Christ had been Dauid had neuer beene the captaine and prince of all the afflicted and banished men but the son of God had been their ringleader as hauing endured more griefe and vexation than all they because he did exceed all heathenish gods in power and all the Angels in merite and all the Martyrs in suffering King Dauid vvas badly handeled by his brothers defied and chalenged by Golias banished by Saul skoffed at by Michol stoned by Simei persecuted by Absalon robbed by the Amalechites vvarred by the Philistims watched by the Ceilitas and iniuried by the Ammonites But notwithstanding that king Dauid suffered many griefes and troubles yet they may bee numbred But what shall we say of those which good Iesus endured which were so many in number that no man is able to reckon them nor yet at all follow them Being a verified matter that king Dauid had tenne kindes of people which did persecute him that he had twelue tribes or kingdomes which did obey him it is now to be knowne who was his son vvho inherited his kingdomes and vvho was his sonne who succeeded him in all vexations and griefes Salomon sonne vnto Bersabee and Dauid succeeded him in the inheritance of his twelue kingdomes vvith vvhome his father left him no warres to maintaine no enemies to resist him no succeeds to contend with him no factions to pacifie nor debts to pay What did not the good old man leaue his sonne considering that he left him al his kingdomes in peace and great treasures laid vp for him But vvhen forgetfull Salomon saw that his father had left him great store of vvealth and no vvarres hee bestowed all that in vices vvhich hee should haue bestowed against his enemies King Salomon inherited kingdomes and vices vices and kingdomes seeing hee had threescore Queenes crowned to his wiues and seuē hundred concubines Salomon did inherite vices and all other daintinesse seeing he himselfe doth commend himselfe that his eies coueted nothing which was denied
him nor his heart desired nothing which he did not obtaine in so much that he did not liue according vnto that which reason did prescribe him but according vnto that the flesh did lead him vnto Hee vvasted his fathers treasures which hee did inherite in building stately houses to dwell in and strong castels to retire himselfe vnto large orchards to recreate himselfe in great pooles to fish in cunning musitians to sing to him sweet instruments to play vpon and nimble young maids to daunce in his hall King Salomon did inherite great peace and concord from his father Dauid considering that in fifty years vvhich hee raigned hee vvas neuer challenged by any king hee neuer saw enemie in his kingdome hee neuer placed army in field there neuer vvent banner out of his pallace neuer captaine had pay of him no drum euer brake his sleepe Salomon did inherite great riches from his father seeing that he couered the Temples with gold he inherited great power seeing that all the kings of the earth did serue him he inherited great wisedome seeing he neuer erred in matter of iustice hee inherited eÌ„xceeding great knowledge seeing that men came to see him as a miracle Salomon did inherite from his father more delights and dainties than kingdomes seeing it is not read that euer he was sick that euer he endured any necessitie that any enmity did disquiet him that any persecution did afflict him that any grief did trouble him that any king durst offend him that any kingdome rebelled against him or subiect disobeied him To conclude wee say that Dauids successor in his kingdomes was his sonne Salomon vvhome by excellency they called the rich the wise and quiet because that in all his life time he neuer put hand to sword nor neuer shed mans bloud Now that wee haue told you who succeeded Dauid in his delights and kingdomes it is also needful that we proue vnto you who was his sonne which succeeded him in his iniuries and greifes for seeing wee haue reioiced with the prosperous it is reason that we suffer somewhat with the afflicted Dauid was twise made a Prince once in the city of Ebron where hee was annointed king of the twelue Tribes secondly in the denne of Obdollam where hee was made chiefe of those which were in tribulation and from hence it groweth that when the time came when hee should deuide these two kingdomes betwixt his two sonnes he gaue Salomon his rich and flourishing kingdome and Iesus Christ his poore afflicted one Our Lord will giue him his father Dauids seat said the Angel vnto the Virgine as if he would say Thou art to vnderstand O high Virgine that the pledge and dowrie which the eternall father will giue his eternall sonne shall bee the seat of his old father Dauid the seat I say not of iudgemeÌ„t but to be iudged nor the seat of commanding but of obeying not of weale but of woe not of honour but of pouerty not of pleasure but of paine O how the Iudaical natioÌ„ was deceiued in thinking that Christs kingdome should bee a temporall kingdome and that hee should deliuer them out of their captiuity For seeing that he inherited but one seat of his father Dauid how was it possible that he should deliuer the synagogue by force of armes If the Messias promised in the old law should bee Dauids sonne and rich and mighty why did they not receaue king Salomon for their Messias seeing that hee inherited from his father armes to deliuer them power to defend them treasure to enrich them and great wisdome to gouerne them How is it possible that the sonne of God who inherited nothing of Dauid but a poore seat should make warre vnto any and deliuer them from seruitude The sonne of God succeeded his father Dauid in the seat of obedience which hee had with those who obeied him in the seat of charity which hee had with the diseased in the seat of mercy which he had with the afflicted the seat of humilitie which he had with the prowd and the seat of patience which hee had among the ouertrauelled Christ did onely inherite the principality of the afflicted and comfortlesse and was content withall with it seeing that he was banished by Herod sold by Iudaâ— denied by Saint Peter accused of the Iewes and sentence giuen on him by Pilate and mocked of his seruants If all the troubles vexations of the world should bee put on one heape and those which Christ alone suffered on another all men would giue him the prime and to none of the rest because that of all other men bee they neuer so holy there is no man that feeleth more than his owne griefe and paine but the sonne of God did feele his owne and those of his elect When the Apostle saith that the sonne of God Factus est omnia nobis is made all things for vs what else doth hee say but that hee doth suffer with him who suffereth weepeth with him who weepeth dieth with him who dieth Because he is the father of vs al he feeleth all our griefes and because we cost him much he is grieued that wee suffer much and therefore being a Prince and a captaine of the afflicted he doth helpe vs to weep our greifâ— and remedy the excesse For he saith in his Sermon Veâ—ite and mâ— omnes qui laboratis â—nerati estis ego reficiam vas as if he would say Come vnto me al you which are laden and I will vnlade you and come vnto â—ee all you which labour and I will comfort you O glorious captaine and happy proclamation which Christ maketh throughout the world seeing that hee bindeth himselfe to vnload those which are burdened comfort those wich are afflicted turne to those which are persecuted refresh those which are hungry lift vp those which are troden downe and bâ—e a father of all which be father lesse If such as were in tribulation and necessity and fled vnto king Dauid were sad and sorrowfull sad and sorrowfull they returned again if they were banished banished they returned againe if they were in debt indebted they returned againe and if they were discontent discontented they returned in so much that good king Dauid could neither coÌ„fort them nor releeue them He vvho is persecuted with Iesus cannot for a certaine say so nor hee who is banished vvith our banished Lord because none coÌ„meth vnto him comfortlesse who returneth not comforted nor no man commeth vnto him indebted whose debt he paieth nor O this this is a happy calling Come you vnto me al you which are laden seeing that the son of God doth let vs vnderstand thereby that he hath a schoole for the ignorant an exchange for the needy an hospitall for the diseased a tower for such as are fled a pantry for the hungry and a safe conduct for the banished S. Barnard sayth The God of all creatures and the Lord of the heauenly gouernements is the true Phisitian of my
griefes sorrowes because all other men haue power only to hear theÌ„ but no skill to remedy them Irenaeus sayth If I be a cold he who wisheth me vvel can bring me to the fire if I be hungry giue mee a little bread if I bee thirsty giue mee a cup of vvater if I bee naked giue mee a shirt but if my soule bee sad and comfortlesse vvhat comfort can he giue me but only bid me haue patience S. Augustine to the Hermites saith Hee who will comfort the soule ought to be in the soule and he vvho will remedy the heart should dwell in the heart but because no man hath his abiding there but onely the sonne of the liuing God of him and of no other our remedy and ease must proceed Cicero in an Epistle saith O how hee is deceiued which saith and thinketh that the griefes of the heart are lenified and eased by seeing faire meddowes vvalking by fresh riuers eating dainty meats hearing pleasant musicke For all these things can but suspend my griefes for an houre or two but they cannot root them out and much lesse remedy them Tell mee I pray thee how can the instruments vvhich found in my eares remedy my griefes vvhich are inclosed in my bowels How can the pleasures and ioies which my eies receiue in beholding meddowes and forrests giue ease to my paines vvhich lie in my bones What doth dainty faire mitigate the anxiety of mind What comfort can an aâ—â—licted mind take if they giue him no other remedy but bid him haue patience What careth my sorrowfull heart for my friends words if when they are gone from mee my sorrowes remaine Seeing that all the pleasures and ioies of the vvorld reach no further than vnto the fiue sences it is a certaine thing that as pleasures are seated in those sences so likewise griefes are rooted in the heart Plato sayth That griefes and delights are great enemies and that they dwell farre one from another and therevpon it happeneth that there is no delight and pleasure which entâ—reth into the inward part of the heart nor no griefe which commeth out further than the heart Cassiodorus saith That as we seeke for an expert Pilote to saile with and a skilfull Phisition to cure vs with so for to comfort our griefes and heauinesse we should seeke out cunning men in them because that no man can take more pitty on another than he who hath been wearied iniuried by suffering WheÌ„ the son of God came into the world hee came not to learne to read nor to write nor to swim nor to preach for all this is but drosse and mire in comparison of that which hee knew before hee came into the world That which hee came hither to learne by experience was that which hee knew before onely by science that is to accustome himselfe to suffer corporall passions and vexations because he might haue the more compassion vpon the afflicted Chrysostome sayth That the sonne of God came to trafficke in this vvorld like vnto a rich wealthy merchant that is by carrying to heauen that which there wanted by bringing from thence that which wanted here for there ther wanted meÌ„ therfore took some thither with him here there wanted merits therefore left store behind him The son of God came into the world because there wanted men in heauen to enioy his glory and because we wanted grace to deserue it so we gaue him humane flesh to suffer with and he gaue vs his holy grace wherby wee might merit O holy and glorious exchange seeing that he changed with vs quietnesse for trauell innocency for infamy spirit for flesh life for death and glory for painâ—â— Now that 〈◊〉 haue declared how the sonne of God came into the world to learne vexations and troubles the better to haue compassion on them in others it is conuenient that wee declare now how that the mother of God did inherite her sons sword of sorrows as hee did inherite his father Dauids seat of griefes and trauails CHAP. VI. Of the sword of griefe which killed the sonne of God and went through his blessed mother ETtuam ipsius animam doloris gladius pertransibit said Simeon to the Virgine in the second chapter of S. Luke as if he would say The sword of the passion of this thy sonne shall bee so cruell O high Virgine that at one stroke it shal take his life from him pierce thy soule The like prophecy was neuer heard of in times past nor read in any booke nor any so sorrowfull a prophecie euer spoken of as this was which the Virgine newly deliuered heareth this day which the good old Simeon vttereth vnto her for what saith the prophecy but that at one time in the selfesame day in the same hour and with the selfesame sword they will doe iustice vpon the sonnes flesh and vpon the mothers bowels There are found swords commonly to cut off a theefes eare to behead a murderer to quarter a traitor to cut a blasphemous tongue but a sword that can pierce the soule and mind there is no other to bee found but this sword of Christs The sword which Cain killed his brother with the sword which Moyses killed the Egyptian with and the sword which king Dauid slew the Philistime with and Helias sword with the which he slew the Idolaters and Phiâ—â—es sword with the which he slew the Ammonites did all wound the body but alas Simeons sword brused the flesh of the sonne and did not fauor the bowels of the mother Vbertinus noteth that Simeon doth not say that a sword of sorrow shall strike thee but Pertransibit that is that that sword vvill not bee content onely to wound but as it were with a mortall thrust shall peirce thy blessed soule from one side vnto the other And then that deadly sword peirced her from one side vnto the other when all the sorrowes and griefes which the sonnes flesh endured did load the heart of the dolorous mother with griefe The wordes of Auegratia plena which the Angel vsed and those which Simeon spake doloris gladius pertransibit went togither and were of equall force for euen as the Virgines soule was so full of grace that she could receiue no more so her heart was so full of griefe that shee could endure no more There could not a greater griefe be spoken of than that which the mother was to suffer which was vttered in saying that a sword should pierce her heart from one side vnto the other and indeed as old Simeon had prophecied so it came to passe because there was neuer Martyr which suffered more torment in the martyring of his body than the blessed Virgine suffered in seeing her son martyred And this speech tuam ipsius animam is very much to bee noted for although other holy men were grieued at the death of Christ yet none so much as his holy mother for in other men the griefe was as it were
a blow but in the Virgins heart a thrust Simeon doth threaten none that the sword of grief shal pierce but only the mother of Christ to let vs vnderstand that as she was the creature vnto whom Christ imparted most of his comfort so it was she vnto whom he gaue most of his dolors insomuch that as she did most deserue so she did most suffer O great Simeon why doest thou threaten the mother onely with the sonnes sword seeing that not only the martyrs did feele his death and passion but it seemeth also that the Angels themselues did lament and weepe for it For what martyr is there in heauen O sweet Iesus which did not feele thy death and die for thy holy law It is therefore said that the holy Virgine did by a speciall grace and priuiledge feele more grieuously the death of her sonne than any other creature of the world because it is a propertie of our Lord to impart most bitter feeling of his passiō vnto those soules whom hee doth most tenderly loue When Simeon said that shee should feele her sonnes passion more than any other it vvas to say that Christ would leaue his passion and torment in keeping with her aboue others to the end that they might bee knowne afterward vnto the world in so much that it was vnto thee blessed Virgin vnto whom the sonne of God bestowed his greatest loue on earth and vnto whome hee imparted most of his sorrowes Vnto whom then should wee run for a true sufferer of his sorrows but vnto thee O mother of God now full of ioy and consolation though then full of sorrowes and passion O that thy soule is glorious and thy heart most happie blessed Lady seeing thou was not martyred with the Emperour Neroes sword as the Apostle Saint Paule was but vvith the selfesame that thy sonne was in so much that as in the incarnation loue coupled you together so in his passion dolour seperated you one from the other Flebat Anna mater Tobiae irremediabilibus lachrymis Tobie chapter 10 as if hee would say The honourable Matrone Anna old Tobias wife and young Tobias mother vvept the absence of her welbeloued sonne vvith remedilesse teares saying Woe bee vnto mee vvoe bee vnto mee my sonne and my heart vvhat vvill become of mee without thee or is it possible for mee to take any rest in thy absence Whither art thou gone from mee vvhere hast thou absented thy selfe the light of my cies and staffe of my old age comfort of my life and hope of my house How is it possible that thy father could obtaine of himselfe or of mee to send thee to recouer a little money so farre from vs What greater disaster could fall vnto vs than to lose our sonne for the recouering of a little coine I vvould to God that that money ha◠neuer beene due vnto my house for for the ease of my heart there is no treasure like as to haue thee vvith mee O my deere sonne O my sonne O my heart how vnfortunately did I consent that thou shouldest depart out of my sight considering that it vvas most certaine that hauing thee vvith mee I vvanted nothing What shall my sorrowfull eies doe now seeing they cannot see thee but fill themselues vvith vveeping for thee Such sorrowfull vvords and grieuous complaints could not be vttered but of a tender heart nor could not be spoken but of a child deerly beloued Mimus the Philosopher saith That because the tongue is a crier and a publisher of that vvhich is in the heart it is most certaine that if there bee loue in the hart that he crieth Loue and if there be nothing but sorrow griefe in the heart he publisheth also nothing but sorrow For the better vnderstanding of this dolorous figure it is to bee noted that as Isaac vvas the figure of Christ in that vvhich hee vvas to suffer so Tobias mother vvas the figure of that that the immaculate Virgine was to weepe insomuch that the virgins glorious martyrdome was prophecied by Simeon and figured in holy Anna. The mystery did well answer vnto the Sacramēt seeing the blessed virgin was a mother Anna a mother the one wept the other wept the one had but one only son the other had but one onely son the Virgines son went a far iourney Annas son went a far iourney Tobias mother vvept remedilesse tears the mother of Gods tears were also without remedy Yong Tobias took his iourney at his fathers cōmandement the son of God was incarnate by his fathers commandement if Tobias went to gather vp money which his father had lent Christ also came to recouer soules which his father had lost What shall I say more but that Christ and Tobias and Tobias and Christ vvere sent by their owne fathers and lamented by their owne mothers O that the Virgine had better reason to vveepe for her sonne vvith remedilesse teares than Tobias mother had because her sighes and reares found remedy and comfort but the mother of God found no remedy nor comfort O sorrowfull vvoman and comfortlesse mother for what comfort could thy teares find seeing thou diddest see him end his life in one day vpon the crosse whome thou wast thirty yeares a bringing vp O comforelesse mother and mother of discomfort thou art shee which should weepe with remedilesse teares and not the mother of young Tobias because her sonne came home well married but thy precious sonne remained dead vpon the crosse O honourable Anne and blessed old woman it is an Angell which led him an Angell which accompanied him an Angell which married him and an Angell which guarded him and an Angell which brought him backe againe Therefore leaue thy teares for her who is the mother of him which is crucified considering that a traitor sold her sonne a sinner denied him a tyrant condemned him and a wicked people put him to death Our Lady wept with remedilesse tears seeing that she not Tobias his mother did lose the staffe which did support her the glasse which she looked in the light with which shee saw the rest wherein she tooke ioy her only hope and that which shee most of all loued Seneca to this purpose sayth That the griefe is not so great when thinges are lost by little and by little as when they are lost all at once and therefore it is a great matter for a man to bee accustomed to endure and hardened in suffering Who doth doubt at all but that the suddaine losses which fall vnto vs are more grieuous than those vvhich come not all together if they had apprehended the sonne of God in one day accused him on another giuen sentence on him the other and executed him on the other although the griefe could not but haue beene great yet it had been tollerable but to see that in foure and twenty houres they apprehended him accused him gaue sentence on him and put him to death vvhat heart is able
the son martyrize his mother S. Barnard vpon those words Maior est iniquitas mea which Cain spake sayth thus O good Iesus that that charity is greater vvhich thou diddest vse than that which thou diddest command me O redeemer of my soule seeing that on the Mount of Caluary the Friday which thou diddest suffer vpon the crosse thou diddest not only put thy owne life for vs but also thy blessed mothers When didst thou condemne thy selfe to die not pardon thy mother but whē the knife of thy passion did take away thy owne life from thee and pierce thy mothers soule The greatest matter that the sorrowfull mother could inherite was some thorne fallen from thee or some of thy blood shed vpon her or some peece of thy flesh which stucke vpon the crosse or some of the haires of thy head which were cast abroad Shee did also inherite the hatred which the people bare vnto her sonne because that from that day forward shee was called the mother of him which was put to death of him which was possessed with a deuill of the Southsayer Publicane His sorrowfull mother did inherit also all the holy colledge of the twelue Apostles Isichius vpon Leuiticus sayth thus Christ tooke his precious mother to the Mount of Caluary because she should be a witnesse of his passion and credite her with the bloud of our redemption for to beleeue hold for a certainty that we are redeemed it sufficeth if the Virgin tell vs that she saw her son die The son of God came into the world and paied his father the debt which was due for all the sinnes of the world of which paiment his will vvas that his mother should be a witnesse because she might giue testimony after his death how his father was paied the world redeemed sinne at an end the heauen already opened and the deuill ouercome The end of the third word which Christ our redeemer spake vpon the crosse ⧠Here beginneth the fourth word which the sonne of God spake vpon the Crosse when hee complained vpon his father saying Deus meus deus meus vt quid me dereliquisti That is to say My God my God why hast thou forsaken me CHAP. I. How Christ in this speech more than in all the rest seemeth to change his stile of speaking HEloij beloij lamazabathani Hoc est deus deus meus quare me dereliquisti This is the fourth word which the redeemer of the vvorld spake on the altar of the Crosse vvhich speech is no lesse dreadfull than pittifull nor pittifull than dreadfull and it is as if hee would say My God my God My father my father what haue I done irreuerently against thee that thou shouldst forsake me in so narrow a strait as this is There are offered vnto vs in this diuine speech high mysteries and deepe secrets to entreat of whereof wee can giue no reason if vvee bee not fauoured vvith Gods diuine assistance whom with teares wee doe humbly beseech that it would please him to lighten vs vvith his grace and succour vs vvith his helpe and aid The reason is to bee knowne vvhy the sonne of God did change his manner of speaking rather in this speech than in all the others which hee vsed as the Euangelists do record it saying Heloij heloij lamazabathani Was it because hee should be vnderstood of all men seeing that hee vvas crucified for all men It is also to bee knowne vvhy hee doth repeat this vvord God twise saying My God my God as though God vvere deaffe in hearing him It is also to bee vveighed vvhy hee called him God and not Father seeing hee vvho complained vvas the sonne and hee vnto whom hee complained was his Father It is also to bee maruelled at that seeing hee did not cal him father but God why he did adde this vvord My saying My God my God as though his Father were his God onely and not the God of all others It is also very much to be noted why hee doth rather complaine that his Father had forsaken him than put him to death seeing that hee knew very well that Pilate was not of power to take away his life from him if his eternall father had not giuen him license to doe it And although hee did complaine of his Father vvhy did hee not say My Father why doest thou forsake mee but My God vvhy hast thou forsaken mee making account of that vvhich hee hath suffered and not of that vvhich then hee did suffer Although all these thinges are easily rehearsed yet they are not easie to bee expounded but because they are diuine secrets and done betwixt diuine persons onely they passe mans capacity yea the Angels vnderstanding To come then vnto the mysteries it is first to bee seene vvho complaineth and vnto whome hee complaineth vvhereof hee complaineth and vvhere hee complaineth and before whome hee complaineth and vvith vvhat wordes hee complaineth Hee vvho complaineth is Christ hee vnto whome hee complaineth is his Father that whereof hee complaineth is because hee had forsaken him the place where was on the crosse and hee complained before his mother with these words My God my God why hast thou forsaken mee These are most pittifull words to heare and tender to prouoke vs to weepe for if vve consider how the sonne of God spake them being nailed vpon the crosse his body naked and his enemies round about him and that vpon a dunghill what heart is there that would not breake to thinke on it Seeing wee know beleeue and confesse that Christ was true God and that his father was also God and both were but one God how can it enter into mans vnderstanding that one who is God should complaine vpon him who is also God If between one God and another there bee complaints is it any great matter if men sometimes fall at ods Wee see it fall out daily that the sonne complaineth of the Father and one friend vpon another yea one man vpon himselfe but that Christ who is God should complaine vpon his father who is God it is a thing neuer heard of before nor humane weakenesse is not able to conceiue it For seeing no man cōplaineth on another but for some wrong done vnto him what grieuance could the eternall Father haue done vnto his sonne whom he loued so well For seeing we know that Christ is the sonne of God and his onely beloued sonne and with whome God hath left all his treasures in keeping how is it possible that God should haue dealt hardly with him seeing that he deserued it not neither his father desired it According vnto that which we haue said our reason is good which way so euer wee doe wind our selues for if wee say that the father did that vnto his sonne which hee ought not wee can neither say it nor affirme it then if we say that the sonne complained vvithout occasion we dare not presume so to say in so much that we
now anew thou doest breake all thy anger vpon me and doest lay vpon my back all thy dreadfull feares It is a new speech and a grieuous complaint to say that the father should breake his anger vpon his sonne and that hee maketh his soule afeard And therefore it is necessary for vs to shew what anger is and how it can be verified that there is anger in God Possidonius the Philosopher being asked what anger was answered In my opinion anger is nothing else but a short and a suddaine folly Aristotle defyning it said that anger was but a kindeling of the bloud an alteration and mouing of the heart a forgetting of wit sence and a troubling of the iudgement Eschines being demanded from whence anger proceeded said that it proceeded from the heat of the bloud and of the abundance of choller and a vapour of the gaule and fiercenesse of the heart Macrobius sayth That no man should chide with one that chideth nor with him who is chidden vntill the cause be knowne on both sides for the cause is not in the anger which wee shew in chiding but in the iustice or iniustice of the cause for which wee chide Seneca in his first booke of Anger sayth That the conditions of an angry man are not to beleeue his friends to bee sodden in all his businesse helpe himselfe with his hands not to respect dangers speake suddenly and maliciously and bee angry for a smal occasion and admit no reason Chilo the Philosopher sayth That if any man aske him what hee thinketh of anger hee will answere that it is a thing easie to be written of and easie to persuade and sweet to bee counselled against but very hard to bee bridled Saint Basil vpon the Psalme Neque in ira tua corripias me sayth That Anger is such a dangetous thing that if wee doe giue it entrance into our will it doth afterward make our nill of our will Then wee yeeld our will vnto anger when wee begin to trouble our selues with small matters and then anger doth that which is not our wil when in great matters we would not be angry in so much that if wee doe not resist anger in the beginning we shall neuer or late cast it out of our house Wee haue spoken all this to the end that wee should maruell the more how it should be in God and how he should bee moued like a man seeing that as there is no man able to take his eternall being from him so there is no man able any way to trouble him Who should bee able to trouble him seeing wee know that God is a spirit and hath no heart in his breast no bloud in his vaines no vapour rising from his gaule no gaule in his lights no forgetfulnesse in his memory no alteration in his iudgement S. Ierome vpon the Prophet O see saith That God is so wise that no man is able to deceiue him so mighty that no man is able to resist him so constant that no man is able to mooue him so inuisible that no man is able to touch them so iust that no man is able to oppresse him Then if it bee so that hee cannot bee deceiued oppressed nor moued how is it possible that any anger should raigne in him as it doth in a man When the sonne sayth vnto the Father In me transierunt iraetuae hee sayth plainly that hee hath vnloaden his great anger vpon him and hath cast all his griefes vpon his shoulders For the better vnderstanding of this complaint which Christ maketh it is to bee noted that for the space of many yeares God had enmities and hatred and found himselfe agrieued moued and disquieâ—ed for at the same houre that he created creatures the Angels would haue been equall with him man began to disobey him sinne began to preuaile and also to persecute his friends God had three notorious enemies in the world which are man the deuill and sinne whereof man went about to lift vp himselfe in Paradise the diuell to take heauen from him and sinne to rule and gouern the whole world O that these were vnspeakeable griefes which these three enemies caused God to haue and their disobedience toward him exceeding great heaping daily sin vpon sinne wickednesse vpoÌ„ wickednesse neuer going about to amend themselues nor God to be pacified Our Lord did dissemble all kind of disobedience and all manner of sinne vntill his sonne came into the world vpon whose humanity hee did so fully vnload and vnburden his anger and griefe as though hee had been the only inuenter of sinne Gregory in his Morals sayth That the world is a strong enemy the deuill a stronger and sinne the Traitor the strongest of all for if there were no sinne in the world God would not bee angry nor man should not bee condemned nor the Deuill vvould not goe about so diligently neither should there bee any hell for the vvicked Damascen sayth thus It dooth vvell appeare that the eternall Father did breake all his anger vpon his precious sonne and that hee did vnburden himselfe and load all his vvrath vpon his humanitie seeing that before his sonne did take flesh hee did nothing but punish and after that hee died did nothing but pardon Haue you seene since God hath broken his anger vpon his sonne either the vvorld drowned vvith vvater as in the floud or burnt vvith fire as in Sodome and Gomorra Hath there beene seene since God brake his anger vpon his sonne such captiuities as the people of the Iewes vvere in or such plagues as vvere in Aegypt or such famine as were in Dauids time or such warres as were in the Machabees time Christ had great reason to say vnto his father In me transierunt irae tuae seeing that hee broke all his anger and discharged all his wrath vpon him Eripuit me de inimicu meis fortissimis ab his qui oderunt me saith the Prophet Dauid speaking vnder the person of Christ That is in recompence that my Father hath vnloaden vpon mee all his wrath and anger he hath deliuered me from my mightiest enemies and hath put from my side such of my enemies which did hate mee exceedingly What doest thou say O sweet Iesus what doest thou say doest thou die by the hands of thy enemies and yet doest say that thy father hath deliuered thee from them My father hath not deliuered me from the deuill seeing that he doth tempt me nor from the Pharisies seeing that they haue accused mee nor from the Scribes seeing that they haue diffamed mee nor from the Gentiles seeing that they haue crucified me but he hath deliuered me from sinnes which are the strongest of all my enemies Are they not the strongest of all seeing they rule and maisterall Augustine vpon the Apostles words sayth Of three enemies which we haue sinne is the strongest of them al because many holy men haue gone before vs in old times vpon whom although the deuill and the
world haue had no power yet notwithstanding sin hath had a dwelling place in them because there did neuer man liue so cleane who knew not what sinne was Cassiodorus sayth I for my part thinke sinne more mightier than any other enemy because the world and the diuell can but deceiue me but wicked sin can hurt me damn me For if there were no manner of sin in the world we should need neither gallowes nor sword Christ onely may say hee hath deliuered me from my enemies because he no other was free from sinne because all other creatures knew what sinne was and all knew what punishment for it was O how happy a man he should be who could say with the Prophet he hath deliuered me from my strongest enemies for it is nothing else to say that God hath deliuered him from his enemies but that our Lord hath deliuered him from his sinnes The Prophet had great reason to call sinne not only an enemy but also his strongest enemy seeing that without other helpe he threw the Angell out of heauen cast Adam out of Paradise depriued Iudas of his Apostleship and condemned all the world to death Is not sinne thinke you the mightiest of all other enemies seeing that hee is able and strong inough to carry mee to hell The power of my visible enemy reacheth no further than to take my life from mee but sinne the Traitour is an enemy so strong that hee is able to take my life from me depriue me of grace cast me out of glory hurt my soule and condemne mee vnto paine Who had such enemies as the sonne of God had that is so wicked in their cogitations so malicious in their speech and so cruell in their deedes Were not the lashes which opened Christs shoulders very cruell enemies the nailes which broke his sinewes the thornes which tore his temples and the speare which opened his side and the Synagogue which tooke his life from him Yet Christ called none of all these his enemies nor did not handle them like his enemies but only sins which hee did not only call enemies but mighty and strong enemies giuing vs therby to vnderstand that we should hold none for our enemie but onely sinne When good king Dauid said Persequar inimicos meos comprehendam illos Hee spake it not in respect of the enemies which persecuted his person but for sinnes which did damnifie his soule For seeing that good king Dauid did pardon Saul and Simei and others his mortall enemies how could hee counsell vs that wee should persecute ours When he saith I will persecute my enemies vntill I destroy them he spake of no other enemies but of his sinnes the which it is conuenient for vs to persecute and cast from vs. And it is not without a mystery that hee sayth Persequar comprehendam Because that as the enemy which is offended if he be not taken turneth againe and biddeth vs a more fierce battaile than hee did before euen so dooth the diuell and sinne deale with vs the which if we doe not driue away vtterly from vs and root out from our hearts they turn againe against vs like vnto most mighty and strong enemies What doth it auaile the huntsman if hee run after the Hare if he take her not what doth it is profite thee if thou run after sinne and detest sinne and speake euill of it if thou doest not ouertake sinne and what else is it to ouertake sinne but to ouercome and destroy sinne vtterly O how many there be which say I wil persecute my enemies and how few there bee which say and I haue taken them for if they cast out sinnes to day on one side of their house they turne againe to morrow and knocke at the ring of the dore and it is opened presently vnto them CHAP. III. How Christ complaineth of his Father because hee tooke all his friends from him in his passion and all others which he knew ELongasti ame amicum proximum notos meos a miseria These are the words which the sonne of God spake continuing his former complaint vttered by the Prophet Dauid Psalm 87 as if he would say Thou shouldest haue contented thy selfe O my Father when thou didst vnload al thy wrath vpō my weake body not seperate anew my friends frō me hinder those to come vnto me which were my known acquaintance Christ cōplaineth in this place of his Father that he tooke his friends from him seeing that he sayth thou hast remoued my friends from me he complaineth that he took his kinsmen from him that hee tooke his acquaintance from him and at that instant when hee vvas in greatest misery This is a pittifull complaint which the sonne of God now maketh because there is no griefe to be compared vnto that nor no hurt equall vnto the taking away of a mans trusty and faithfull friend Horace asketh what hee is able to doe or what hee hath who hath no friends To what purpose doth he liue which hath no friends Mimus the Philosopher sayth That a man dieth as oft as he loseth any of his good friends and sayth further that as the body is made of diuers members so the heart of friends and there vpon it is that as the body cannot liue without it haue many members so likewise the heart cannot liue vvithout friends They killed Dauids greatest enemy which was Saul and his deerest friend who was Ionathas in one day and hee was so agreeued at the death of his friend that by turns after hee had wept the death of his friend hee wept his enemies death also We doe not read that our redeemer did weep for the death of holy Ioseph his maister nor for all the trauails which he eudured in this world but he wept for the death of Lazarus his good friend whose death hee could not endure but immediately did raise from death againe If Plutarch the great Philosopher doe not deceiue vs Plato came from Asia vnto Cicilia for no other cause but to see Phocion the Philosopher who was his deere friend Cicero in his booke of Friendship sayth That the Philosophers do cōmend nothing more vnto vs nor wise men did esteeme of no riches more than of the conuersation of their friends because that without friends it is not lawfull for vs to liue nor yet very sure to die Aristorle being asked what friendship was answered That it was nothing else but one soule which ruled two hearts and one heart which did dwell in two bodies Diogenes sayth That seeing there is no greater paine than to deale with naughty men nor no greater comfort than to conuerse with good men for my owne part I confesse and say that I had rather die vvith him whom I hold for my friend than liue with him whome I esteeme my enemie Eschines the Philosopher being demanded how one friend should be towards another answered betwixt true friends there is but one yea and one
and chiefest goodnesse that was and man inclined vnto wickednesse God did command him to better and amend himselfe vnto which he answered that he would bee merry and take his pleasure by reason whereof man went euery day worse and worse and God more angry and incensed euery day against him Pope Leo sayth That God doth not weigh whether we be weake or strong in health or sicke rich or poore simple or wise but that which he desireth is that we should be good and he is angry if we be naught and therupon it is that hee neuer casteth any good man out of his presence nor hee admitteth no naughty man into his house Gregory sayth That hee could not suffer one sinne in him who was an Angell and doest thou thinke he will suffer so many sinnes in thee who art but a man And hee sayth further that God would rather suffer that an Angell should take heauen from him and man the world than suffer one only sinne either in the one or in the other because that to make a new heauē he is of sufficient power but to like and approue a sinne neither is his power able to doe it neither can it bee comprehended vnder his clemency Seeing then that God is such an enemie vnto sinne and seeing that man doth so much couet to sinne how can they bee but contrary the one vnto the other and vse one another like enemies Holy Iob doth weepe and sigh saying Non est qui possit vtrumque arguere that is there was no man who durst be a mediator betwixt them nor put himselfe betweene them to the end that man might giue ouer sinning God withdraw his hand from punishing Damascen sayth When God and man and man and God were at strife and variance and the one alwaies aboue in heauen and the other continually vpon the earth there vvas no meane to make them meet nor no court to agree them in because there came none downe from heauen to vs nor any fit person went hence from vs to heauen The son of God came thē into the world and put himself a mediator between them both that is betweene God and flesh O how much wee are bound to Christ for that which he did for vs and much more for the manner with the which he did it for the more to bind the one and the other he tooke the diuinity of his Father with the which he might pardon vs and tooke flesh of man with the which hee might suffer with vs. In so much that because he tooke his kindred and alliance of both hee was able to make them both friends O how costly this friendship and kindred was to the son of God and grieuous also seeing that it did cost him his bloud which was in him the life which hee possessed so farre forth that for to make mee friends with God he became an enemy vnto himselfe It is certaine that when two enemies doe draw their vveapons to fight if another venter in betwixt them that both their blowes do light vpon him in so much that hee vvho parreth them is hurt or slaine and those which were at debate proue afterward good friends On the Mount of Caluary and on the altar of the crosse as God and man and man and God had summoned the one the other to a place of defiance blessed Iesus put himselfe betwixt them both to cut off the strife because hee knew that if hee had not taken away all anger at that place they vvould haue remained perpetuall enemies As man threw sinnes at God and God punishment vpon man it fell out that the sinne which man fought with and the punishment with the which God did chastise fell all vpon the Mediatour who had not deserued it O good Iesus and glory of my soule vpon whome but vpon thee did thy Father lay his old anger vpon whome but vpon thee did man lay his fault Doe not then vexe thy selfe O holy Iob and saie Non est qui ponat manum suam in ambobus seeing hee is already come from heauen and already borne in the world vvho hath put his hand betwixt God and man yea and hath both his hands cut off by them Haue not they both trow you cut off his hand seeing his Father ordained that hee should die and man put the fault on him for which hee should bee crucified O diuine mediatour O holy stickeler which of the Angels could doe the like or vvhat man could attempt that which thou hast done That is willingly and vpon good and long deliberation thou diddest offer thy selfe to lose thy life to set God and man in concord and vnitie The sonne of God then doth complaine vpon his Father with iust cause saying Why hast thou forsaken mee seeing that hee did load all his wrath vpon his backe and man likewise lay all the burden of his sinnes vpon his shoulders vpon him in that place God did emptie all his wrath and in that place mans sinnes tooke their end O that this is a glorious time and a happie age which vvee of the Catholicke church liue in for hauing Christ for our Mediatour there can no sinne goe vp to the Father but it must first meet with Christ nor any punishment come downe vpon man but it must also come by him The sonne of God being a meane betwixt his Father and vs who doubteth but that hee will stop our sinne in himselfe that it ascend not to heauen and also keepe backe the punishment of his Father that it doe not descend into the world As otherwise it would if Christ should not make himselfe a meane betwixt vs. CHAP. IIII. How Christ complaineth on his Father because hee bathed his body with the bloud of his vaines and drowned his heart in waters of distresse CIrcumdederunt me sicut aqua tota die circūdederunt mesimul Psalme 88. The sonne of God spake these words continuing his complaint against his Father and it is as if hee would say What meaneth this O my Father what meaneth this Wast thou not content to breake thy anger vpon me and remoue all my friends from me but now anew thou wilt compasse mee with a great floud of water in the which my life is drowned Christ doth set foorth at large all his trauails and bewaileth the want of friends for hee sayth that the waters were great and he saith twise that they besieged him and that they came all together vpon him and that they came so ragingly that they tooke away all his forces First of all we must examine here of what kind of waters our Lord speaketh in this place whether they bee sea waters or of a riuer or fountaine or of a lake because that in all these a man may drowne himselfe and lose his life We read onely of two punishments which God hath inflicted by waters the one in the floud of Noe in which almost all the world perished the other which he vsed against the people of
is thankful vnto me for my benefites bestowed vpon him I bewaile my virginity because I haue found none to bestow my virginity on none to giue my innocency vnto none to impart my patience vnto none vnto whome I may communicate my charity nor any one with whom I may leaue my humility in keeping but if I came rich and adorned with vertues in the world so I must return rich again with theÌ„ to heauen The figure which wee haue spoken of saith further that all the maids of Sion did meet in Ierusalem to mourn and weep the death of Iephthes daughter foure daies one after another in the which they made great lamentations so that no yeare did passe in which this solemnity was not obserued It is here to be noted that although there haue beene in the synagogue many personages noble in bloud valerous in warre discreet in the Common-wealth learned in all sciences and cleane and vnspotted in life yet it is not read of any of theÌ„ that after they were dead and buried were mourned for at any other time Al the kings Dukes Patriarks and Prophets were buried by their friends and kinsfolkes and forgotten of them excepted onely the daughter of Iephthe for whose death all the virgines and maids did mourne and weepe euery yeare once by a speciall priuiledge Wee speake all this because that if the daughters of Sion thought it conuenient to thinke vpon and weepe for the death of that virgine once euery yeare should it not bee greater reason that wee should weepe for the death of Iesus Christ euery houre and euery moment of an houre Those virgines did weepe for the death of that young virgine for no other reason but because she was young beautifull and vertuous so that they were induced to make that solemne lamentation rather through compassion than reason What other reason could there bee for that solemne yearely lamentation seeing that the daughter of Iephthe died not for the Commonwealth nor yet had in estimation for any rare vertue aboue the rest Iust occasion and reason doth inuite vs to weep euery houre and euery moment of an houre for the death of Christ considering that he died for the Commonwealth and paied for our offence For the son to say vnto his father Why hast thou forsaken me is to say nothing else but to complaine of vs because wee remember not his precious death as Iephthes daughter was wept for once a yeare Although the sinfull soule doth not remember the death of Christ yet the holy church doth not forget nor omit to celebrate his death once at the end of euery year in the holy weeke And in steed that the daughters of Sion did weepe for the death of that virgin foure times in the yeare the church doth represent vnto vs the passion written four times of the foure Euangelists CHAP. VII How Christ complaineth vnto his father because they did open his wounds through malice as they did stop vp Isaac his wels through enuy HAbuit Isaac possessionâ—â— onium armentorum familiam plurimam ob hoc inuidentes Palestini obstruxerunt omnes putees eius implentes humo Genes 26. The Scripture hath these wordes telling vs of a great discouresie which the king of Palestine did vnto Isaac the Patriarke and it is as if hee would say Isaac was a great and mighty man and had many flockes of sheepe and many heards of kine and many bondslaues both man and woman by reason of which prosperity of his the Palestines did greatly enuy him and did stop vp his wels by casting much earth into euery one of them O that the Apostle said very true when hee said all things happen vnto them in figura seeing that all things that were done in the Synagogue were nothing else thaÌ„ a figure of that which should happen in the Catholicke church For if it were not so there are many things in Scripture which vvould seeme but a iest to write of and a superfluous thing to read If there should not be some deep mystery some hiddeÌ„ secret in this figure what were it vnto vs or what profite should wee receiue in knowing that Isaac had many sheepe kine and slaues What were it also vnto vs if hee had many enemies and that they did shut vp his wels enuy his riches haue an ere vnto his greatnesse considering that it is an old custome that euery rich man is enuied This figure doth lead vs vnto higher mysteries than the letter doth shew and therefore it is needfull to haue a high spirit to declare it and great attention in reading it To come then vnto the purpose Isaac in the Hebrue tongue doth signifie a man ful of laughter and ioy the which ioifull name can agree only vnto the sonne of God and hee only in this world in a high degree can be called Isaac When rhe sonne of God was in heauen aboue and before hee came downe into this world no mortall man knew any cause to laugh nor yet durst not laugh for because that they saw that God was angrywith all the world al the world was in a dump and mourned When God had said vnto Noe the Patriarke Paenitet me fecisse hominem that is I am sorry and repent that euer I made man how could any man dare to laugh and bee merry How durst holy Iob laugh seeing that hee said with many teares Vtinam de vtero translatus essem ad tumulum I would to God I had been buried as soone as euer I was borne His meaning was this O great God of Israel why hast thou brought mee out of my mothers wombe and now that thou hast brought me out why doest thou not destroy me why did dest thou not carry mee presently from my mothers bowels to my graue How could the Prophet Helias laugh seeing that running flying away through the mountains from Queene Iezabel Petiuit anima sua vt moreretur His meaning was Am I better than my predecessors that I should liue rather than they Die then my soule die for because that my life is grieuous vnto me and I would see it at an end How should the Prophet Ieremy laugh seeing that hee said with deepe sighes Quis dabit capiti meo lachrimas oculis meis fontes lachrimarum vt plorem interfectos populi mei His meaning was Who can bring to passe with the great God of Israel that he would make a sea of water of my head change my eâ—es into fountaines of teares to sigh by night and weepe by day for those whom sinne hath deceaued and the sword slaine How could old honorable Tobias laugh when he said Quale mihi gaudium erit quia in tenebris sedeo lumen caeli non video In those pittifull words hee meant to say this What ioy can there be in my heart or what laughter can there bee in my mouth seeing that I find my selfe poore and feele my selfe aged blind and cannot see the light of
at the very instant that thy enemies appreheÌ„ded thee in the gardeÌ„ thou didst request nothing else at their hands but that they would take thee and set thy family at liberty In his last supper and in his last Sermon when he said Pater Father keepe them which beleeue in mee and such as will beleeue in me hee did well shew the loue which he bare vnto his family seeing hee praied vnto his Father for those which were already borne and for those which should be born afterwards for these which were absent and for those which were present as well for the dead as for those which were aliue O happy is that soule vvhich doth dwell in the family of the sonne of God seeing that hee loueth him before that hee is borne and vvhen hee is borne giueth him iustice and after his death glory The figure sayth further that all those of the kingdome of Palestine did greatly enuy the Patriarke Isaac and all his house not because hee had done them any hurt or vvrong but because hee vvas mightier than all they Sâ—neca in his booke of Anger sayth That there is no enuie more dangerous than that vvhich proceedeth of another mans prosperitie for as long as the good lucke of the one doth last the others enuy and malice is neuer at an end All the intent and purpose of an enuious man is to turne him backe vvhich goeth before beat downe him which is on high throw him downe which â—s more fortunate than himselfe discredite him vvho is in greater honour and empouerish him vvho is richer than himselfe Hâ—race sayth That the property of an enuious man is that as anothers prosperity dooth encrease so his enuy doth also grow whereof it followeth that because hee cannot abide him hee hateth him with his heart diffameth him vvith his tongue iniurieth him vvith his hands and stirreth vp also others against him Good Isaac did neuer hurt the Palestines his neighbours hee did neuer forray their mountaines nor eat vp their pastures nor violate their vviues nor speake euill against them nor breed any discord amongst them but did succour them as if they had bâ—en his brothers and entreat them as if they had been his children Yet notwithstanding all this being besotted and dronke with enuy and obstinate in malice they commanded good Isaac to goe out of the land forsake his vvealth and breake vp his houshold And further the people of Palestine not content vvith all this agreed by the consent of the people and by a clattering of a counsell to stop vp his vvels vvhich his seruants vsed and his flockes dranke of They could not haue shewed their malice nor bewraied their enuie more in any thing than in demming vp Isaacs vvels of vvater because that vvithout the element of vvater neither men can liue nor beast sustaine himselfe To come then vnto our purpose vvhat mortall man hath there euer been is or shall bee who hath been so much enuied as the sonne of the liuing God was What was the cause of such vntollerable enuie in the Israelites but his excellency in knowledge his skilfulnesse in learning his vprightnesse in iustice and the purity of his life The Iewes raged and were ready to hurt themselues to see Christ vtter such great mysteries of Scripture as hee did preach so many sermons vnto the people doe such strange miracles in the city preach publickly against vice and draw vnto his companie those which were alwaies accounted honest The Iews malice against Christ was greater than the Palestines against Isaac because they did nothing but command Isaac to go out of the land but the Iewes did not commaund Iesus but they themselues with their owne hands drew him out and not satisfied with that they agreed afterward to crucifie him They did shut vp the water where Isaac did drinke but they did open Iesus hands and side and therefore comparing hurt with hurt and losse vvith losse it was a greater losse to take Christs life from him than to take Isaacs vvater from him Is it not thinke you a greater hurt to open a mans vaines of bloud vvith the vvhich hee liueth than to shut vp a mans wels vvhereof hee drinketh If men shut vp my wels I open others if I haue no vvater I drinke vvine if they expell me out of this country I goe vnto another but if they draw my bloud from me vvho vvill giue me more bloud and if they breake my vains vvho vvill lend me others and if they take my life from mee vvho vvill helpe me vnto another Christ then vvas vvorser handled through enuy than Isaac for if Isaac did liue in honour he vvent away vvith honour and if he came aliue into the land he vvent away aliue but vvhat shall we say of holy and blessed Iesus vvhose family they did scatter abroad through enuy vvhose mother they seperated away from him vvhose bloud they shed vvhose doctrine they contaminated and vvhose fame they obscured and al through enuy and malice Chrisostome sayth As all the riches of man doth consist in his soule his credite his life and goods so the Pharisaicall enuy and malice did leaue Christ none of all these for they tooke his soule from him they discredited him in his fame they depriued him of his life and left him no goods at all How farre thinkest thou did all his goods reach but onely vnto a torne cassocke and a bare coat And yet most cursed enuy came and tooke the garments away from him and gaue the one vnto the hangmen which did put him to death and the other coat vnto the souldiers vvhich kept him What pouerty then in all the vvorld can bee equall vnto this vvhich Christ our Lord suffered hanging vpon the crosse seeing they haue drawne his soule from him shed his bloud bereaued him of his life and diuided his garments Although the enuy and malice vvhich the Palestines bare to Isaac vvere great yet they did neuer lay hands vpon him but they did lay hands vpon the sonne of God vvhen they did apprehend him they did lay their feet vpon him vvhen they did kicke him they did lay their tongue vpon him vvhen they did blaspheme him and they did lay their hearts vpon him vvhen they did hate him The Author continueth this matter and expoundeth another figure to this purpose TVlit mulier velamen expandit super â—s putei quasi siccans ptisanas sic latuit rex 2. Reg. chap. 17. For the better vnderstanding of these vvordes you must know that there vvere sent from Dauids campe two young men into Ierusalem to know vvhat determination and counsell Absalon and Achitophel had taken against Dauid to the intent that Chusi vvho vvas Dauids true friend and Absalons fained friend and yet dwelling vvith him might let Dauid vnderstand what Absalon purposed to do And as Chusi did send to these two yong men vvho vvere Achimaas and Ionathas Absalons determination a certaine young man had spied them neere
not take away the sheet of the letter to see the holy and diuine water which is contained vnder it To speake more particularly what were the wels which Isaacs predecessors did open but all the holy books which the Prophets and all other holy men did writâ— What meaneth the opening of a new vvell in the catholick church of God but to giue an high and a true sence and meaning vnto the text The learned man doth open so many wels of water as he doth waies expound the holy scripture and the more obscure the scripture is the more deeper vve will say he fetcheth his water I will not deny but he taketh paines who draweth water out of a deepe wel but the learned man doth take greater pains in expounding a text of holy Scripture because the one is done by force of drawing and the other by paines in studieng If any man doe striue and contend with thee my brother that the labour of the body is greater than the trauell of the spirit thou maiest answere him that he is Tanquam asinâ—â— ad lyram And that hee is Saul among the Prophets and Sathan among the children of God Now that wee haue proued that these wels are the holy bookes of the Prophets wee will adde further and say that these are the wels which the blind Iewes did fil and stop vp and when did they stop them vp but when they did depraue and corrupt the holy Scriptures The Palestines did demme vp Isaacs welswith earth and the selfe same doe the Iewes to the Scriptures which they expound of the Synagogue and not of the church according vnto the letter and not the fence not according vnto the spirit but according vnto their owne will What other thing is it to demme the water with earth but to blinde the sence with the letter Christ left vs which are Christians the vvels of his church open pure and cleare and not stopped at all but alas the Iewes through their obstinacy and Heretikes through their malice labour to denie them and trouble them going about to discredit our faith by interpreting the Scriptures after their owne fantasie The sonne of God doth complaine vnto his Father vpon the crosse of all these things saying Why hast thou forsaken mee to wit why doest thou suffer them to stop vp the wels of my doctrine on one side and opeÌ„ my side with a speare on the other CHAP. VIII How the sonne of God complaineth of his Father because they did load his body with stripes and his heart with care and anguish IN flagella ego paratus sum dolor meus in conspectu meo semper sayth the Prophet Dauid speaking in the name of the son of God and it is as if hee would say Doe by me O good Father doe by me what thou thinkest good for I am ready to suffer all the stripes that thou wilt lay vpon mee because I can neuer forget nor put out of my mind the griefe which I haue conceiued in knowing that I must suffer Such dolefull words as these are doe well seeme to proceed from a man which is in great anguish and from one who seeth himselfe condemned to die confessing and protesting that he dieth for obedience sake and that he taketh his death with patience doth not he die for obedience who offereth himselfe vnto death and doth not hee take his death in patience who knoweth not how to coÌ„plain There are some persons vvhich feele no labour and paine but of the mind as great lords and there are others which feele no paine but of the body as labourers and some which neither feele them in mind nor bodie as fooles and some there be which feele them both in the mind and the body as vertuous men doe Seneca in his booke of Clemency sayth That the labour of the mind doth weary a man by night and is at rest in the day because then he is also occupied and the labour of the body doth weary a man by day and is at ease in the night because hee is at rest but he who doth labour spiritually and corporally doth passe the day time in sweating and all the night in sighing Cicero sayth vnto his friend Attiâ—us That of all the infelicities of this world the greatest is to haue his body ouerlaid with labour and his heart loaden with care Reason is wont to moderate the anxiety of the mind and good cherishing the labour of the body but what comfort can the body giue vnto the mind or the mind vnto the body when the one sweateth and the other sigheth According vnto the litterall sence good king Dauid did complaine of both these trauails that is the trauell of the body when hee sayth Et ego in flagella paratus sum and the trauell of the mind when he saith Et dolor meus in conspectu meo semper the which vexations hee suffered at the hands of king Saul when hee wandered like a banished man and hid himselfe in mountaines and rockes Dauid endured great labour of the body as well for the iournies which he tooke as for the hunger which he suffered hee had great griefe of mind to see himselfe a stranger in his owne land a sugitiue from his house banished out of the kingdome and in disgrace with his king Although this be all true yet who can better say Et in flag ella paratus sum I am ready to be whipped than Christs tender body or who can say with him Et dolor meus in conspecta meo semper and my griefe is alwaies before my eies as his afflicted mind was We cannot deny but that Dauid was persecuted yet we doe not read that he was whipped the which we may affirme of Christ our redeemer who was not only whipped at Pilates pillar but was also showne vnto the people with Bcce home Behold the man If Dauid cannot say of himselfe Ego in flagella paratus sum neither can hee say Et dolor meus in conspectu meo semper But only the son of God can so say because there was no houre nor moment of the day in which his body was not trauelled and his heart grieued It is long agoe since I commended vnto my memory that saying of Plato Quòd in humanis plura sunt quaeterrent quam nocent as if he would say In dangers which happen vnto man and in humane chances there bee many more things which put vs in feare than that happen vnto vs in deed for so many times the hart is martyred as he thinketh vpon danger to come When any malefactor hath receaued sentence of death from the time that the sentence is read vntill his head be cut off he doth swallow death so many times as hee thinketh that he must die in so much that if the sword doth kill him but once in the end yet his imagination doth kill him a thousand times before Then to apply this vnto our purpose what Prophet was there at any time in the
improba as if hee would say Many famous men in watres and learned in sciences haue been banished from Athens not for any fault which they committed but for malice conceiued against them the which were rather willing and glad to liue in banishment than to dwell in an vngratefull citie Valerius Maximus sayth That the most notablest man that the renowmed Lacedemonia did euer bring forth was that great Philosopher Lycurgus because among all those which liued before his time those which succeeded him there was none equall vnto him in knowledge nor none which went beyond him in life The Oracle of Pithius Apollo being asked in what reputation he did hold Lycurgus made answere I am very doubtfull vvhether I should put him among the number of men or place him among the companie of Gods Notwithstanding that the Oracle had giuen this high testimony of Lycurgus and that he was pure in his life eloquent in learning constant in paines and very wise in his lawes yet all these vertues and excellent gifts could not keepe him from proouing the vngratefulnesse of his thanklesse citizens And therefore they did not onely iniury him in words but also they did shew by cruell deeds the hatred which they bare him and the hurt which they wished him for once they burned his houses and another time they followed him with stones and another time they dashed out one of his eies another time they expelled him from among the people and in the end for a recompence and reward of gouerning that Commonwealth eight and thirtie years they banished him out of the country and so hee died Plautus sayth That there is no loue worse bestowed than that which is bestowed vpon an vngrateful man because that man loueth nothing at all who loueth an vngratefull man I haue spoken all this against the vice of vngratitude and vsed so many examples because euery man might perceiue what great reason God hath to complaine vpon vngratefull men for seeing that the Philosophers doe inueigh so bitterly against them it would be but small reason that they should be defended by Christians S. Cyprian sayth Christ doth complaine of our ingratitude because that for so great vnspeakable a benefite as he did for vs in dying vpon the crosse hee did not bind vs to follow him in that kind of death or that we should die for him by the sword but that which good Iesus did bind vs vnto is that we should haue his blessed passion in a remembrance and loue him with all our heart How shall any man sayth Barnard beleeue that thou wilt venter thy life for Christ and for his faith seeing thou doest not remember his death in all thy life If thou wilt sayth Vbertinus haue the death of Christ help thee in thy last houre remember that death of his euery day because the sonne of God doth alwaies take pittie vpon those in their last houre vvhich doe remember his passion in their life time Christ saith And my griefe is alwaies before my eies because that among all the griefes which are ingratitude is cause of the greatest of them and among all the sinnes and naughtinesse which are this is the greatest for if there were no vngratefull men vnto God there should bee no sinne at all in the world Christ doth cal the sinne of vngratefulnesse dolour and griefe because that hee is alwaies grieued with it for the griefe which hee had of the thornes is past his whipping had an end and the paine of the crosse dured no longer than his life did last but the griefe of ingratitude is renued in him daily Christ doth also say that the griefe which hee doth complaine of is his owne griefe Dolor meus by which louing speech he doth let vs vnderstand that he is much more grieued to see vs sinne than it grieueth vs to be sinners Why doth Christ say in his complaint my griefe and not our griefe but onely because that wee doe not feele so great paine and griefe when we are punished by him as good Iesus feeleth to thinke that he must punish vs. I would to God that it would please his diuine clemency that I were so sory to commit an offence as it doth grieue him to punish me for then I thinke that I should not know how to sinne nor God should haue nothing to punish He complaineth also that he doth not only suffer griefe but he sayth that that grief is alwaies in his sight and therefore because wee doe neuer giue ouer sinning it is certaine that his griefe of compassion wil neuer haue an end Cease then my brother and giue ouer sinning and then the paine which thou doest endure will presently haue an end When thou shalt heare vs say that God hath any griefe or paine thou must not thinke that it is a griefe or paine which hee suffereth but onely a most entire and louing compassion which he hath vpon vs. When the sonne of God sayth vpon the crosse vnto his Father Why hast thou forsaken mee the chiefest complaint that hee formeth in that place is because hee causeth him to suffer so cruell a passion for such vngratefull people CHAP. IX How the sonne of God complaineth vpon the Synagogue that hauing carried them vpon his backe yet they be vngratefull vnto him AVdite me domus Iacob residuum domus Israel qui portamini ab vtere meo vsque ad senectam God spake these words by the Prophet Esayas chap. 46 as if he would say Hear me now he are me all you of the house of Iacob and all you which haue escaped of the house of Israel giue credite vnto my words seeing that I am the God which carry you vpon my shoulders from the houre of your birth vntill your death Vnder these few words God doth touch very many great matters for first he beginneth to call them then he biddeth them giue eare then he saith that it is hee who calleth them then he noteth who they bee whom hee calleth then how vvell he loueth them when hee sayth Qui portamini ab vtero adsenectutem But we must note first of all in this place why the Lord doth seperate the house of Iacob frō the house of Israel and why hee doth call the house of Iacob an entire house and the house of Israel a broken and dissolued house for he sayth heare mee all you of the house of Iacob all you of the house of Israel which haue escaped and remaine If Iacob and Israell and Israel and Iacob bee all one thing and all one house fauing that one man had two names how vvas it possible for the one to stand the other to fal In very truth in old time all the Synagogue had but one God one people one linage one king one law but when they began to sinne and play the Idolaters our Lord did immediately deuide thē By the one house by the other are vnderstood the church and the Synagogue whereof the one which
was Iacobs came wholly vnto the church and Israels fell vnto the Synagogue but almost ouerthrowne not because she deserued it not but because all which was written might bee fulfilled According vnto this Prophecy the Angell said vnto the virgine in his embasie He shall raigne in the house of Iacob he said not he shall raigne in the house of Israel because the Synagogue did then draw towards an end and the church vnto her beginning in the sonne of God God then calleth the house of Iacob which is the church calleth those which remained of the house of Israel which is the Synagogue because Saint Peter was the residue of Israel and Saint Paul was the residue of Israel and all those of his Colledge were the remnant of Israel the which the sonne of God vvent throughout all the Iewish nation to gather together as it had been crummes of bread hurled abroad Now that wee know what the house of Iacob is and those who remained of the house of Israel it is now reason also that wee know what hee will doe vvith them and why he doth call them and why he vsed a speech vnto them which was neuer hard of before that is that hee doth beare them vpon his shoulders from their mothers wombes God will haue nothing else with them but onely that they beleue in him and heare him seeing he sayth Audite me Heare me and withall hee doth put them in remembrance of the great benefites that hee doth for them to wit carry them vpon his shoulders Portamini ab vtere and therfore if we will haue Gods fauour we must beleeue the words which he doth speake and bee thankfull vnto him for all the benefites that hee shall bestow vpon vs. Robertus vpon Esay sayth If wee will compare that which God requireth at our hands with that that hee doth giue vs vvithout comparison hee doth bind himselfe vnto more than that which hee doth bind vs vnto for hee doth bind vs to nothing but to beleeue in him and hee doth bind himselfe to maintaine and gouerne vs Ab vtero vsque ad senectam that is from the time that wee bee first borne vntill our dying day our Lord doth bind himselfe to bring vs vp like his children and maintaine vs like his brothers in so much that like a pittifull Father and a mercifull Lord hee giueth vs that which we haue need of and counselleth vs that which we haue to doe O infinite goodnesse and exceeding charity of thine my good God considering that by this speech Ab vtero portamini thou doest bind thy selfe to giue vs food to liue vvith and by Audite me thou doest bind thy selfe to giue vs counsell to saue our selues vvith and therefore vvee haue of thee a Lord to helpe vs and a Father to counsell vs. Our Lord vvhich did create vs is a better Father vnto vs than man vvhich doth beget vs seeing that hee sayth Qui portamini ab vtere By vvhich fatherly speech hee doth let vs vnderstand that hee doth not only prouide for our necessities but doth also dissemble our iniquities O that our Lord doth say very vvell Qui portamini ab vtero seeing that hee doth beare vs on his shoulders as oft as hee doth vvinke at our wickednesse for if hee should punish vs for euery fault according vnto his iustice wee should by this time haue had no memory left of vs. If our Lord should not beare vs vpon his shoulders and dissemble vvith our faults to prouoke vs to repentance hee should scarse haue any at all to punish aboue two or three houres and for the first sinne only if it had pleased him he might haue condemned vs to hell What temporall father doth so long suffer his owne children as our Lord doth all vs. What father doth carry his child in his armes aboue an houre as our Lord doth vs all our life time Before wee bee borne wee offend him in originall sinne after we be borne we offend him al the rest of our life with other grieuous sinnes yet notwithstanding all this hee doth bring vs vp like his children and deale vvith vs like brothers What vvouldest thou haue mee say more vnto thee but that from our mothers wombe our wickednesse doth striue with his goodnesse hee in forgiuing vs and wee in offending him O great goodnesse and vnspeakable clemency what father or mother did euer the like for their children that thou my good Iesus hast done for my sinfull soule There is no liuing creature this day in the world that doth giue milke vnto his young ones aboue two yeares but our eternall Father and Christ his precious sonne from our birth vntill our old age doth giue vs the milke of his grace the bread of his doctrine the helpe and succour of his church the pardon of his clemency and the reward of his glory Dilexit me tradidit semetipsum pro me sayth S. Paul◠as if hee would say Doe not maruell you Galathians that I did preach so vehemētly vnto you that I did exalt Christs name with such great feruency for I tell you if you know it not that besides that hee loued mee very much hee suffered himselfe to be crucified for me This is so strange a thing that S. Paul speaketh of in this place that vnlesse a man bee acquainted with the phrase of Scripture hee would take scandale at it for when Paul saith that Christ died for him not mentioning any other he seemeth to exclude the redemption of all the world beside What meaneth this O diuine Paul what meaneth this if the sonne of God did giue himself for thee why doest thou preach him to bee the redeemer of all mankind Were thy sinnes so grieuous and so enormious that they had need of all Christs bloud to redeeme them If God should send into the world a new redeemer for the taking away of euery sinne how were it possible that God could send so many seeing that hee had no more sonnes but Christ Tell me I pray thee how could so glorious a humanity so profitable a life such sound doctrine such a copious redemption such a dreadfull death bee emploied in thee alone and not benefite any but thy selfe If it bee so O Paule that Christ gaue himselfe for thee and not for me what haue I more to doe with Christ than with a holy Prophet If hee died for thee alone is it not reasonable that thou alone sholdest be thankfull for his death God forbid that it should be so neither doth his mercy permit that the Apostle onely should be redeemed and all the world besides depriued of the bloud of Christ for his redemption was so copious and there was such abundance of bloud shed for vs that on Christs part redemption did abound and there wanted on ours to be redeemed Did not redemption think you abound on his part seeing that one drop of his bloud was sufficient for all redemption and did there not want
father and enuied Christ because hee did reprehend them before the people The Iewes malice towards Christ vvas greater than Iosephs brothers against him for Ioseph was onely sold but innocent Iesus was not onely sold but also crucified Iosephs brothers could not giue him one faire word neither could the Iewes hear Christs doctrine with patience and therefore if his diuine prouidence should not haue kept him from their fury they had taken Christs life long before away from him Nolunt audire te quiae nolunt audire me filij hominis quia omnis Israel est attrita fronte duro corde said God vnto the Prophet Ezechiel as if hee should say Bee not angry O Ezechiel bee not angry if thou perceiue that thou doest no good with thy speech and hast no credite among them for seeing that they doe not beleeue me it is not to bee maruelled though they doe not heare thee for the house of Israel is growne now vnto that madnesse that it hath neither conscience in her soule nor shame in her face These are the words of the eternall Father directed vnto his blessed son letting him vnderstand by them what small fruit hee should reape by his doctrine and what smal credite they would giue vnto his speech the reason is because that all those which were of the house of Israel were inwardly without a good spirit and outwardly without shame According vnto this speech of the Prophet such Prelates as gouern preach do toile labor exceedingly whē the subiects which heare thē are a people without any conscience of lesse shame For besides that they do no good among thē there is also great danger to liue among them Ezechiel did very well couple small conscience with small shame and small shame with a small conscience because that you shall neuer or very sildome see a shamelesse man but hee is without conscience nor a man without conscience but is also shamelesse Wickednesse for wickednesse and sinne for sin A Christian can haue no greater sinnes than to bee obstinate in heart and without shame in his face because that hell is full of none but of such as are of an obstinate heart and impudent countenance The man which is of a tender and soft heart and shamefast in his behauiour is easily amended and doth now and then sinne by stealth but he who is hard harted shamelesse in condition doth late or neuer amend his sinne because he careth not for being counted a sinner When Christ said Gaudete exultate quia nomina vestra scripta sunt in caelis he gaue vs heence to be glad of nothing but only that we were good Christians and registred in the booke of Saints and likewise that wee should be sorry of nothing so much as to be naughty Christians and blotted out of the booke of life for he was borne in an euill houre who doth not endeuour to amend his life and doth not care at all to sinne We speake all this to proue that the Iewes vvere of a shamelesse forehead and hard hearted seeing that Pilate did know plainely that they did accuse Christ through enuy and malice which hee gathered by the shamelesse speeches which they vsed against Christ and the false proofes which they alledged against him Facta est fames magna in Samaria ita vt caput asini vaenundaretur octoginta argenteis 4 Reg. 6. The Scripture rehearseth this to shew the great misery and distresse that Samaria was in as if it would say When Samaria vvas at warres with the Arabians being besieged and afflicted with famine an asse head vvas worth fourescore rials and a certaine measure of Pigeons dung fiue rials so that they had no meat to eat but asses and nothing to dresse it with but Pigeons dung Although the flesh of an asse bee lothsome to eat and Pigeons dung filthy to burne yet notwithstanding vvee vvill draw some mystery of this figure to aduance Christs honour by it because there is no word in holy Scripture which hath not some secret hidden vnder it In this figure of the asse is represented the great warre that Christ found in mans nature What other thing was the warre vvhich Samaria had vvith the king of Arabia but the displeasure anger which God had against the Synagogue What was the great dearth famine which they endured but the exceeding want which they had of good doctrine What did it meane that an asses head was sold so deerly but only that a good man was little worth a naughty man highly esteemed By the Pigeons dung wherewith they did dresse the asses head is meant nothing else but the Mosaicall ceremonies with the which they did offer vp their sacrifices There fell nothing vnto the Synagogues lot but the dregs and the wine vnto the church to the Synagogue the barke and vnto the church the fruit the thorne vnto the Synagogue and the rose vnto the church the Pigeons dung to the Synagogue and to vs the Pigeon The warre betwixt God and mans nature was farre more cruell than that which was betwixt the city of Samaria and the king of Arabia because men did nothing but sight with God with their sinnes and God did nothing vnto man but inflict punishment vpon him If they aske the sonne of God why hee came into this world and took humane flesh vpon him he will answer them that his comming was to relieue this famine and appease this warre in testimony whereof the Angels in heauen did sing when Christ was borne Peace Peace seeing that I am a meane between you there must be no more anger left Whē the sonne of God came into the world the warre ceased and when he began to preach the famine began to cease because that this famine which humane nature was afflicted with was not caused for want of corporall food but for want of vertuous mē The want of victuals dured in Samaria but the space of one yeare but the want of vertuous men continued in the Synagogue from the time of the valerous Machabeans vntill the comming of Christ for from that time vntill Christs comming they had no Prophet to giue them light no captaine to defend them no Priest to teach them nor any other famous man to reioice in Who did euer find a greater dearth in the world than that which Christ found among the Iewes Seeing that he found the princely scepter broken the priesthood at an end the Temple robbed the city peruerted and her libertie lost There was a great dearth in the Synagogue considering that there was not in her one person of account For he did not chuse the twelue Apostles for his companions because they were holy but because hee meant to make them holy There was a great famine in Samaria seeing the gouernour was Pilate who was a Tyrant the bishop was Cayphas who was a prophane person the Pharisies were counsellers who were Hypocrites the Preachers were Sadduces who were Heretikes and their
come into the world condemned to death Zaram onely who was the figure and the sonne of God who was the thing figured were those who had their finger tied with a coloured thred because he and no other was to die for the world and redeeme vs out of sinne What other meaning had the thred of scarlet sauing onely the shedding of his precious bloud The difference betwixt thee O my sweet Iesus and other condemned persons is this that they are tied in a hempen cord and thou in a thred of scarlet and they about the necke and thou about the finger and they are lead to be hanged and thou to be crucified A thiefe is led away bound with a great tope because he is drawne to death by force but the sonne of God is tied with a small fine thred because hee dieth not by force but of his owne free will for if it were not his good pleasure so to doe neither the Angels nor men nor the diuels were able to put him to death O high mystery O diuine Sacrament who euer saw or heard that before a child were borne or knew what sinne was yet that he should come out of his mothers wombe already condemned What mercy can be compared vnto this that before his mother should giue him milke to sucke his owne father threatened him that he should die crucified Elegit suspendium anima mea ossa mea mortem nequaquam vltra iam viuam saith Iob chap. 7. And he spake them when his children were dead and his body plagued and his goods lost and himself vpon the dunghill and it is as if hee would say My paines and dolours doe so narrowly beset mee about and my griefe is come to that bitternesse that my soule hath chosen to be hanged and my life to come at an end because I am a weary to suffer any longer and doe loath my life Such pittifull complaines as these are and such tender vvordes cannot proceed but from an afflicted and grieued heart and from a man which desireth death Because it is the property of one which is distressed to complaine vnto all those which comfort him fill himselfe with weeping with all those which come to visite him What else would holy Iob say when he sayth Elegit suspendium anima mea ossa mea mortem but that his soule desired to bee hanged and his bones chuse death and his life to bee at an end O holy man thou hast nothing left thee but thy soule and wouldest thou haue it hanged nothing left but thy bones and doest thou desire to haue them dead thou hast nothing left but thy life and vvouldest thou loose it Thou must vnderstand my good brother that Iob did not speake these dolefull vvordes in his owne name but in Christs name vnto vvhome this speech dooth most properly belong Because that from the beginning of the vvorld vntill this day there vvas neuer soule so sorrowfull as his nor neuer body so martyred as his vvas Saint Chrisostome vpon these vvords of the Apostle Fidelis deus qui non permittit nos tentari vltra id quod possumus sayth thus Our Lord is very faithfull and pittifull because hee tempteth no man aboue that vvhich hee is able to suffer nor suffereth no man to haue greater paine than he is able to beare the sonne of God excepted onely vpon vvhome the Father laid in the iudgement of men torment and paine not able to bee indured and withall innumerable temptations What vvilt thou require more in this case but that God the Father laid martyrdome vpon Saints by ownces but vpon his blessed sonne by great loads and burdens Whaâ— great distresse vvas his soule in thinke you and vvhat griefe did oppresse his heart vvhen hee sighed for the gallowes and his body desired his graue When did thy soule desire to bee hanged but vvhen thou diddest crucifie thy blessed humanity vpon the crosse when did thy bones couet death but vvhen thou diddest loose thy life for the elects sake When the Scripture sayth Elegit Hee did chuse it is signified that thou diddest die willingly for vs and when he saith Suspendium his death was signified and withall his determination which he had to redeeme the world and that our redemption should be hanged vpon the tree And vvhen he sayth Ossa mea the multitude of people is set forth which were at his death as well the good as the bad the quicke as the dead the good to see themselues redeemed by him and the bad to see themselues reuenged of him All humane pains are brought vnto three principall heads that is to the trouble and trauell of the body to the griefe and sorrow of the mind and to the losse of life These vexations are woont to happen at diuerse times and also be deuided and laid vpon diuerse persons and hee who hath griefe of body feeleth no sorrow of mind and if hee haue anguish of mind yet not so great that it should take his life from him because our Lord is so pittiful that hee dooth not looke vnto the multitude of our offences but vnto the vveakenesse of our forces God was more pittifull vvith all mankind than vvith his owne only sonne considering that hee gaue other men their troubles and paines by peeces and vnto his sonne all at once For hee gaue him sorrow and griefe of mind seeing hee sayth My soule hath chosen to bee hanged and hee gaue him the paines of the body seeing hee sayth that his bones desired death and hee tooke away his life considering that hee sayth Iam non viuam What vnspeakable sorrow and what sea of tempest should tosse and vexe that blessed soule vvhen hee said My soule hath chosen to bee hanged that is that it vvould bee a comfort vnto him to bee crucified What cruell griefe should crush his bones when hee said and my bones death thinking it an ease to see his bones in their graue rather than to suffer such intollerable torment What a iest did they make of his doctrine and how little did they regard his person seeing hee sayth I vvill liue no longer that is that hee vvould forsake vs because vvee are incorrigible and because vvee doe not deserue his company hee vvill not bestow his grace among vs. This speech may otherwise bee very vvell vnderstood because the time vvhich hee did suffer and die in did take from him all that might mittigate his paine and comfort his heart No other Martyr could euer say My soule hath chosen hanging because there vvas none of them vvhich vvanted comfort in their sorrows and helpe in their pains and aboue all this vvas a great comfort to them to thinke for how good a maister they suffered and vvhat a great reward they expected for their martyrdome That vvhich did comfort Martyrs in their Martyrdome did discomfort Christ in his passion For if hee did die it vvas for a lost and peruerse nation and the reward hee looked for
but when they loose do curse the dice. This speech of Iob doth containe much matter and therefore it is conuenient that wee tell you how many sorts of warre there is seeing he saith that he maketh war against himselfe There is therefore one kind of vvarre which is called a roiall warre another called ciuill warre another more than ciuill vvarre another personall and another cordiall or of the heart Of all which warres I will tell you what we haue read and what we thinke It is called a royall war because it is made by one king against another or by one kingdome against another as the warre betwixt Darius and Alexander Troianus and Decebalus Rome and Carthage the which two prowd cities although they had no kings yet they were heads of kingdomes There is another kind of warre called ciuill warre which is betwixt neighbour and neighbour or when a cittie deuideth it selfe and fighteth the one against the other as in Carthage betwixt the Hannones and Hasdrubales and in Rome betwixt Scilla and Marius and afterward betwixt Caesar and Pompey all which ended their liues before they ended their quarrell There is another warre called more than ciuill warre as betwixt the sonne and the father brother and brother vncle and cousin as betwixt Dauid and his sonne Absalon who purposed to take away the kingdome from his father although hee atchieued not his enterprise but in the end was hanged vpon an oke It was more than a ciuill warre that was betwixt the Aiaces the Greekes Bries the Licaonians Athenones the Troians Fabritioes the Romanes This is the most dangerous kind of warre that is because those hatreds which are conceiued betwixt kinsmen by so much the more are more deadly by how much they are neerer tied in kindred There is another kind of war which is called personall or a combat vvhen two valiant men doe fight a combate for the auerring of some vveighty and important affaire vvhere for to saue their honour they loose sometime their life and honour both This kind of combate the valiant Dauid fought against the Giant Golias the one armed and the other vvithout armes yet in the end Dauid did ouercome Golias and killed him with his sling and cut off his head vvith his owne sword There is another kind of vvarre more stranger than those vvee haue spoken of vvhich is called the vvarre of the heart or entrals which is begun in the heart fought in the heart and also ended in the heart In this sorrowfull vvarre sighes are the darts they cast tears the weapons they fight with the bowels the field vvhere the battaile is fought and those vvho fight are the hearts and he who can weepe best is accounted the best souldiour Factus sum mihimet ipsi grauis because there there fighteth one against the other and both against him loue and feare slouth and courage talking and silence anger and patience O what great reason Iob had to say Factus sum mihimet ipsi grauis seeing that not in the corners but in the very middest of our hearts theft and almes deeds doe fight and striue the one against the other And reason and sensuality care and sluggishnesse strife and quietnesse anger and patience couetousnesse and liberality pardon and reuenge O vnhappy battaile and dangerous combate vvhere I am made Mihimet ipsi grauis seeing vvee fight heere not in company but alone not openly but secretly not vvith swords but vvith thoughts and there is nothing seene but all is felt And that vvhich is vvorst of all is that to ouercome vvee must sometimes suffer our selues to bee ouercome Where but in this more than ciuill vvarre in vvhat fight but in this in vvhat strife but in this did all the holy and vertuous men end their liues Who then will say that it is not very true that Factus sum mihimet ipsi grauis seeing that we are so much the better accepted of God by how much wee are contrary vnto our selues The Apostle complained of this vvarre when hee said O infaelix homo quis me liberabit de corpore mortis huius his meaning was O vnfortunate and sorrowfull man as I am vvhen vvill the day come vvherein I may see my selfe free and as it vvere exempted from my selfe to the end that I may doe that which I would doe and not as now to desire that which I ought not Saint Augustine speaketh of this ciuill warre in his Confessions when he said Factus sum mihimet ipsi grauis seeing that I am bound and fettered not with yrons and chains but with my owne sensuality but I gaue my vvill voluntarily vnto the Diuell and of my vvill he maketh now that which I will not Anselmus in his Meditations sayth I am made grieuous and painfull vnto my selfe because there is no man so contrary vnto mee and so against mee as I am to my selfe and I am like a foole besides my selfe in so much that liuing within my selfe yet I goe wandring abroad out of my selfe Isidorus in his book De summo bono sayth I am made grieuous vnto my selfe and for that cause my iudgement is so darkened my memory so weakened my thoughts so changed that I know not what I vvould haue although it be giuen me nor I know not whereof I should complaine although I bee demanded Doest thou not thinke that my iudgement is sore troubled that I am an alien from myselfe seeing that I doe oftentimes by desiring to know that of my selfe that I know of others enquire of my selfe for my selfe Barnard sayth in a Sermon Am not I good Iesus grieuous and painful vnto my selfe seeing that if hunger doe make mee faint and weake eating doth also loath mee if cold doe weary me the heat doth also molest me if solitarinesse doe make mee sad company doth also importune me in so much that I am pleased and contented vvith nothing and am alwaies discontented with my selfe How can I bee pleased with my owne doings seeing that if I do behaue my selfe once like a wise man I doe behaue my selfe an hundred times like an vndiscreet man S. Ambrose in an Epistle to Theodosius sayth Because I am grieuous and painefull vnto my selfe I doe withdraw my selfe from the company of men because they should not change and disguise mee I flie from the diuell because hee should not entrap me I forsake the world because hee should not damne mee I renounce wealth and riches because they should not corrupt mee I refuse all honour and dignities because they should not make mee prowd But alas alas notwithstanding all this and although I suffer very much yet my bodie is neuer at rest my mind is very vnquiet by reason vvhereof I grow vvorser and vvorser euery day in vertues and plunge my selfe more and more into the world Whosoeuer hee vvere vvho made these verses hee made them most grauely In warre that I am vnder taking Against my selfe my sorce doth spend meâ— Since with my selfe warre
Barnard sayth If this that is said Cumipso sum in tribulatione be not performed in thee thinke with thy self that thou doest not suffer that tribulation for Christ but for thy friend and thy selfe and therfore in that case let him help and succour thee for whome thou doest suffer that danger If thou doe not make reckoning of Christ nor thinke on him nor suffer for his sake what hath Christ to doe with thy paint and trauaile If thou do suffer for the flesh let the flesh help thee if thou suffer for the world let the world deliuer thee if thou suffer for thy friend let thy friend giue thee aid if thou doe suffer for Christ to Christ commend thy selfe for if thou doe serue others what reason is it that thou shouldst ask fauour of him Saint Basil sayth What friend had God at any time whom hee forgot or in what tribulation did hee euer see him when hee helped him not Gregory in his Register sayth Hee who did not forget Noe in the floud nor Abraham in Chaldea nor Lot in Sodome nor Isaac in Palestine nor Iacob in Assyria nor Daniel in Babilon doest thou think that he will forget thee in thy affliction and tribulation Remigius sayth If this promise of Cum ipso sum in tribulatione bee not kept with thee thinke that our Lord dooth it either for thy greater profite or his owne seruice for the greater the tribulation is which thou endurest the more thou doest merite for thy soule and if it be not for this cause it is because thou shalt fall into some greater danger from the which our Lord doth keepe his holy hand and diuine succour to deliuer thee And because that the curious Reader may not thinke that wee swarue from our purpose it is to bee noted that the Prophet Helius whose figure we handled was beset with three grieuous persecutions that is with the warre which was in Iury with the famine which was ouer all the land and with Iezabels hatred He durst not preach for feare of the Queene hee durst not goe abroad for feare of the warre hee durst not hide himselfe for feare of famine and hunger in so much that this holy Prophet was so much without hope of remedy that he knew not whether hee should haue his throat cut openly or whether he should die for hunger secretly Our Lord therefore to fulfill his promise Cum ipso sum in tribulatione tooke him out of Iury vnwitting to the souldiors and did hide him in Carith where no man could see him and sent him meat by crowes to feed on and did prouide him a streame of water to drinke of Wee may gather by this example what a good Lord wee haue and what care hee hath ouer vs if wee serue him seeing that hee doth pay vs for all wee doe and succour vs for all that we suffer for him To come now vnto the purpose all this figure was fulfilled in Christ at the foot of the letter for as Heliac was persecuted by Iezabel so was Christ of the Synagogue and Christ found as great a famine of good men as Helias did in Samaria of victuals Hugo de sancto victore sayth vpon those words of Ieremy Paruuli petierunt panem The bread which the little ones cried for to ear and the lamentation which Ieremy made because there was no man to giue it him was not vnderstood of the materiall bread which was woont to bee in the arke but of spirituall bread wherewith the soules are fed and to say that there was no man found to giue it them was as much as to say that there was no good man left to preach vnto them Chrisostome in an Homily sayth In Commonwealths well gouerned the want of a good man is greater than the famine of bread and wine because we haue seene that God hath sent a famine for the demerits of one man alone and after abundance for one good mans sake alone Ambrose sayth Famine warre and pestilence are much to bee feared in naughty Commonwealths and where there are no good persons for although our Lord doth suffer them to come for a time yet he doth not consent that they should long time endure What goodnesse haue Commonwealths in them if they haue no good men in thē And what want they if they doe not want good men Saint Augustine in his Confessions sayth When I hear a knill rung for the dead my soule is presently driuen into a perplexity whether I should weepe first for the good which die or the bad which liue because there is as great reason that we should weepe for the life of the bad as for the death of the good Now that we haue prooued that the want famine of good men is more dangerous in a city than a dearth of victuals who doth doubt but that the scarsenesse which Christ sound in the Synagogue was greater than that which Helias found in Palestine What good thing or what good man could there be in the Synagogue where the Viceroy Pilate was a Tyrant the famous high Priest Caiphas a Symoniacle the maisters the Pharisies Hypocrites and the counsellours the Sadduces Heretikes and their kings and Prophets all ended The sonne of God did kill this hunger when hee gaue the world a church for a Synagogue Apostles for Prophets a law of loue for a law of feare a new Testament for an old the spirit for the letter the truth for the figure and his holy grace for our old offence What would haue become of vs if Christ had not left so many good men in his church Hee left vs many Martyrs many confessours many virgines many doctors in so much that when Christ died although hee left not the vvorld many bookes to read in yet hee left vs many Saints to follow The figure sayth further that Helias went to hide himselfe in the water-brooke of Carith which was a figure that the sonne of God should come to take flesh and hide himselfe in the entralls of the Virgines wombe and as it was figured in Helias so it was accomplished in Christ because that vnder his humanity vvhich hee tooke vpon him hee did hide his diuinity which hee carried with him When the Prophet Esayas said Verè tues deus absconditus hee knew well that God would hide himselfe for a time and remoue himselfe from their eies seeing that the catholicke Church did acknowledge him and the vnhappy Synagogue was vngratefull vnto him Recede hinc absconde te in torrentem Carith the eternall Father spake these words vnto his precious sonne as if hee had said vnto him Goe my sonne goe and hide thy selfe in the world because thou maist redeeme the world Where thou shalt hide thy power because thou maist suffer thou shalt hide thy wisedome because they may mock thee thou shalt hide thy prudence because they may take thee to bee vnwise thou shalt hide thy iustice because they are to iudge thee like a blasphemer
and thou shalt hide thy strength because thou maist the better die O how well this was fulfilled in Christ hide thy selfe in the water-brooke of Carith for if he should not haue hidden his great power before Pilate who would haue been able to take his life from him If the son of God should not haue hidden his eternal wisedome durst the Pharisies haue mocked at his doctrine as they did If Christ should not haue hidden the rigour of his iustice who would haue beene able to doe iustice vpon him If Christ should not haue hidden his inexpugnable strength how should it haue beene possible for any man to draw his life out of his body The Prophet Zachary spake vnto this purpose Ibi abscondita est potentia eius As if hee would haue said Thou maist not looke O Synagogue thou maist not looke for a Messias which will bee mighty but weake not rich but poor not in health but sicke do not imagine that he should be honourable but throwne downe doe not proclaime him for to bee a great Lord but a seruant hee shall not bee a warriour but a man of peace and hee shall not goe much openly but for the most part in hucker mucker Seeing that Esaias sayth thou art truly a hidden God and also Zacharias that his power is hidden why dooth the Synagogue looke that the Messias should come openly considering that their Prophets said that hee was to come secretly Origen in his Periarchon sayth Because the sonne of God came not to fight with visible men but with inuisible sinnes and enemies there was no necessity that he should come fighting but preaching it was not needful that hee should wander ouer all the world but only publish his Gospell among them all and if the arrogant Iewes did not reach vnto the knowledge thereof it was not because they could not but because they would not Theophilus sayth speaking with the church the Prophet Dauid sayth Deus noster manifeste veniet and speaking vvith the Synagogue the Propht Esay sayth Vere tu es deus absconditus and therevpon it happeneth that the vnhappie Israelites although they were learned in knowledge yet of no credite in conscience and so they deserued not to know him because they vvould not beleeue him The figure goeth further and sayth that the place where Helias went to hide himselfe vvas at water-brookes of Carith which is as much to say as a thing cut in sunder or parted in the middle which had bin once whole The water-brooke where Christ did hide himselfe was the depth and vehemency of his passion where our good Lord entered diuing and ducking as in a dirty and dangerous riuer where hee remained drowned and dead in the water of his passion and the sonne of God pâ—â—ted himselfe in two when his soule went into hell and his body remained in the graue and when those parts which made him a man were dissolued although they were neuer seuered from the Hypostaticall vnion seeing that he was aswell God in hell and in the graue as hee is this day in heauen He was so hidden in the brooke of his passion that there was no part of his diuinity seene and the beauty of his humanity scarsely perceiued and because our blessed Redeemer would suffer his enemies to be reuenged on him hee did suspend for that time the operation of those miracles which might haue hindered his passion The figure sayth further that the Prophet Helias being in the brooke secret and close crowes of the fields brought him his dinner in the forenoon and his supper at night so that the birds gaue him to eat and the water to drink If this mystery were not a figure and foretelling of some other great mystery it were to bee thought that as God did send the Prophet Daniel meat by Abachuch the Prophet so hee would haue sent Helias meat by some other Prophet or holy man If by Helias Christ be figured by Iezabel the Synagogue by the persecution his passion and by the brooke the crosse and by the water his bloud and by his hiding himselfe his death why should not the crowes signifie the Iews Seeing there were Eagles inowe in the aire and Pigeons plenty in the world what great ability did God see in the crow that he should make him steward vnto Helias his faithfull friend What was the meaning that God did commit Helias to the crowes but that hee should also commit his sonne into the hands of the Iewes The qualities of a Crow are to bee in colour blacke in flying flow in his flesh hard in smelling quicke in eating rauenous and in condition vngratefull And because the rauen or crow is an vngratefull bird the Prouerbe is that if thou bring vp a Crow hee will pecke out thy eie The people of the Iewes were an vngratefull Crow vnto Christ seeing that for a recompence that he tooke flesh of them and taught them so long time although they did not pecke out his eies yet they crucified all his members on the crosse What bad thing is there in the crow that is not also in the Iewes They are blacke in faith slow in iudgement hard in beliefe cruell in condition ready to malice and most couetous What meaneth this O my Father what meaneth this After that thy sonne had liued thirty three whole years doest thou command him to be cast vnto Crowes Certainly the Crowes which we see with our eies are not so cruell as the Iewes which wee speake off because the Crowes doe eat of nothing vntill it be dead but the wicked Iewes did venter vpon Christ when hee was yet aliue O that Helias did farre better with his Crowes than the good Iesus with the Iewes because Helias Crowes did giue him bread and flesh to eat but Christs crowes gaue him nothing but vineger and gaule to tast Let the conclusion of all our speech be that it was better with Helias in his banishment and water-brooke thaÌ„ with Christ on the Mount of Caluary because Helias went out aliue from the water and Christ remained dead on the Mount of Caluary and Helias did neuer know what hunger was but the sonne of God did neuer kill his hunger nor quench his thirst CHAP. III. How the hangmen dranke the wine which was brought vnto him and the other theeues and did suffer Christ to die with thirst SVper vestimentis pignoratis accubuerunt tuxta altare vinum damnatorum bibebant in dome dei sui Osei 2. God spake these words complaining on the Israelits as if hee would say My people of Israel are come to such mad and shamelesse behauiour that within the Temple and hard at the altar they dranke the wine which was prepared for the condemned and they lay downe and leaned vpon the garments which were laid to pledge It is an vsuall thing and common in tauerns that drunkards doe cast themselues downe to sleepe vpon other mens apparrell and if it bee in hote Summer to sleepe vpon the
vnto the hangmen and that because vvee should vnderstand that to the catholicke church there fell the entire and whole coat seeing that shee dooth fully beleeue that Christ is both God and man and vnto the Synagogue there happened his torn coat seeing they beleeue that hee is no more than a bare man Saint Augustine sayth By Christs two garments are vnderstood both his bodies that is his true body made and compacted of his holy members and his mysticall body which are all good Christians and because thou maiest perceaue my brother how much thou art bound vnto Christ know thou that hee did esteeme better of his mysticall body vvhich are Christians than of his owne true body which vvas made of his owne members What vvas his meaning that hee suffered them to take away and teare in pieces the one of his coats and yet neuer touch the other but only that hee is more grieued when any man doth speake euill of his church than to haue laid hands vpon his owne proper person Remigius sayth O how whole and entire hee did leaue vs the vnsowne coat of his church and yet naughty Christians and perfideous Heretikes doe rent his coat into as many pieces as they doe raise dissentions and stirre vp heresies in the church It was Christs holy vvill to die not only without a coat but also not to haue one thred of a coat vpon him which hee did suffer to the great preiudice of his grauity and losse of his credite Who was euer or vvho euer shall bee so graue in his doctrine as the sonne of God vvas and so honest in his person And seeing that Esayas sayth that hee was offered vp because hee would it is to bee beleeued that seeing they could not crucifie him if he himselfe vvould not so they could neither haue stripped him naked vnlesse he had consented vnto it Wherof it followeth in a good consequence that if hee would die for our redemption that hee did let himselfe bee stripped for our comfort What did it signifie that the sonne of God did put off all his garments but that hee did dispossesse himselfe of all his good workes I and thou thou and I my brother haue great need to die clothed and clad to wit vvith our owne faith and good vvorks and also bee helped by others For as for holy Iesus as hee came out of the vvombe of his mother vnited vnto the diuine essence so hee had no necessity of his owne vvorkes to saue himselfe nor of other mens merits to pardon vs. Cyrillus vpon S. Iohn sayth Of as much as the sonne of God did merite praying on the mountaine preaching among the people healing the diseased in hospitals by suffering among his enemies and dying vpon the crosse I say hee did spoile and make himselfe naked of all that and put it vpon vs insomuch that wee are heires of his bloud with which he redeemed vs and successors of all the merits which hee heaped together O glorious inheritance and happie wealth which thou good Iesus diddest leaue to the parishioners of thy church seeing that by the meanes thereof vvee are made sonnes of the Father brothers of the sonne puples of the Holy ghost companions to the Angels parishioners of the church and heires of thy glory O vvhat great difference there is betwixt the inheritance of heauen and an inheritance in the world Worldlings leaue their children store of goods and reuenues and much debate and strife to defend them and many enemies to persecute them but our good Lord in lieue of great wealth did leaue vs his grace and in steed of enemies did leaue vs his merites What should haue become of all the sinners of the world if as Christ died spoiled and depriued of his goods so hee would haue died clothed vvith all his merits What should become vnto prowd men if hee would not haue left them his humilitie and vvhat of cruell men if hee would not haue left them his charitie What end should angry men come to if he should not haue left them his patience and vvhat vvere it of all sinners if hee should not haue left them his clemency Cyprian sayth If Christ would haue ascended to heauen vvith all that which hee merited in this world and not impart it among vs and as it were vnclothed himselfe of them as of certaine garments there should not haue been in the world at this day a church to preach in nor Priest to bee ordained nor Sacrament to bee administred Cyrillus sayth to this purpose If the sonne of God would haue merited for himselfe alone and died for himselfe alone wee might haue said with reason that hee had come into the vvorld and tooke flesh vpon him for himselfe and not for vs. But let such blasphemy bee farre from our tongues and thoughts and farre from our heart because our good Lord died not for himselfe but for vs nor did not merite for himselfe but for vs. Hugo de sancto victore sayth Because that the great Redeemer of the world did leaue vs his garments for reliques and his merites for Treasures the Church his spouse hath at this day Sacraments to giue sacrifices of a contrite heart to offer sweet doctrine to preach and rewards to promise for amendment of life CHAP. IIII. He followeth the authority of the Prophet Osee and speaketh of the garments which Christ left in pledge PArtiti sunt vestimenta mea super ea miserunt sirtem said Christ in the 21 Psalme complaining vnto his Father on the crosse as if hee would say O my good Father thou wast not content only that they should spoile me of my garments and turne me naked to my great shame but also that the hangmen should deuide my coat and the souldiours cast lots vpon him We must see in this place how many coats there were and whose they were and among whome they were deuided because all our saluation dooth consist in being excluded or admitted vnto that deuision There were but two garments in all and Christ was the maister of them and they were deuided betwixt hangmen and souldiours the place where was by the crosse and the manner how was by lots These two garments were deuided betwixt the Gentlemen which kept and guarded Christ and the hangmē which crucified Christ insomuch that according vnto the merite or demerite of euery one of them they receiued their part of the garment Theophilus saith Who are meant by these gentlemen and knights but the vertuous and iust and who by the hangmen but sinners and naughty men O infinit goodnesse O clemency neuer seene before such as thine was O good Iesus vpon the altar of the crosse where thou diddest barre no man of the inheritance of thy sweatings and deuiding of thy merits depriue no man exclude no man nor disinherite no man but there fell aswel one part to the hangmen which lifted thee vp vpon the crosse as to Nichodemus who tooke thee down from the same Isichius
vpon Leuiticus saith As the sonne of God was the Redeemer of all men so his pleasure was that his garments should be deuided for all and that none should be excluded from the generall redemption which he did presently himselfe declare seeing that he saued the theefe who was a Iew and conuerted the Centurion who was a Gentile O what great hope wee haue to be saued and what great confidence that Christ will pardon vs for seeing that hee hath distributed part of his merites and garments among butcherly hangmen it is to be beleeued that hee will giue with a better will vnto his chosen friends The difference in deuiding his garments was this that those cruell hangmen did immediately deuide and teare in pieces his garment as it was giuen them and the Gentlemen kept it whole as it fell vnto them in so much that in the handling of the garments the persons qualities might easily haue been knowne That which the Iewes did in those daies the selfe same doe Christians at this day for those which are good doe keepe all that Christ commanded them and those which are wicked keep no more than please them insomuch that the good and vertuous Christian doth keepe Christs garment entire whole by endeuouring himselfe to keepe the commandements and the wicked and peruerse doe keepe it rent and torne and be content with the bare name of Christians S. Ierome sayth If thou do see thy self my brother prowd in presumption enuious in ambition angry in impaciency a glutton in eating couetous in giuing tell me I pray thee what doest thou hold of a Christian and what doest thou want of a Pagan What greater disaster and losse could happē vnto thy soule or what like euill fall vpon thy body than of all the distribution and deuiding of Christs coats and merites there should fall nothing to thy lot but the name of a Christian Doest thou not know that they call thee a Christian in a mockery if thou do not follow Christ as they call him white Iohn who is all blacke O how vnhappy they be vnto whome there fell nothing but a shred of Christs garment that is to brag that hee hath heard the Gospell preached and that hee was baptised like a Christian For Christ is not content only with that but his pleasure is that as he gaue vs all his garments freely so he will that wee serue him with all our might and forces With the hangmen there fell a shred of Christs garment vnto him who keepeth but one commandement onely and vnto him his whole coat which keepeth all that Christ commandeth for Christ said not vnto the young man who asked him what he should doe to goe to heauen Keep the commandement but keep obserue the commandements There fell a shred or ragge of Christs garment vnto him who thinketh to obserue the Gospell onely by wishing well and vnto him it fell whole and entire who serueth him with workes and deeds and not with desires for as Saint Barnard sayth The heauens are replenished with good workes and hell is full of good desires S. Augustine sayth As of children which doe equally inherite their fathers goods some doe encrease their portion some wast and consume it so is it in the church of God for although all were inheritours of the garments merits of the son of God yet some doe dissipate and tear them to their own perdition and some conserue and keep them to their saluation The authority alledged before sayth Super vestimentis pignoratis accubuerunt as if hee would say The Gentiles sat down vpon the garments which were laid togage and the Iews leaned also vpon them For the Prophet to lay downe as a great fault and offence that the Synagogue durst bee so bold as to leane vpon certaine garments which were laid to pawne it must be expounded with great diligence and read with great heed because that in Scripture the newer and more vnusuall a tearme is the greater mystery it doth contain It is requisite for vs to declare what these garments are and why they were laid to pawne and when they were laid to pawn and also vnto whome because that all these circumstances doe greatly beautifie the mystery and lead vs to the secret For the better vnderstanding of this new prophesie Super vestimentis pignoratis c Wee must handle another place which is as new as this the newnesse whereof vvil bring vs to the knowledge of the other The new speech is this Ecce noua facio omnia Which vvords Saint Iohn in the Apocalips heard Christ speak Behold mark vvel all you vvhich be of my Church how I doe not that which others haue done nor vndertake that vvhich others haue vndertaken nor teach that vvhich others haue taught nor liue as others haue liued because that in my life and family there is no corrupt rotten thing but all sound and whole nor any old thing but all new This is such a new kind of speech that no man euer spake the like vntill the sonne of God came and to say the truth vnlesse it vvere he who had created all things who was able to renue all things For if all the Angels and all men are not able to make a flie how should they be able to make a new vvorld Rupertus sayth O how well Christ sayth in saying Behold I make all new for beginning in himselfe he was a new man he had a new soule tooke new flesh gaue new light taught new doctrine liued a new life and promised new glory Was hee not a new man seeing that no man but hee was both God and man Who but hee had a new soule seeing that his and no others vvas vnited to the diuine person took he not new flesh seeing that none but he vvas of a mother and a virgine Who but he gaue the vvorld a new law seeing that he vvas the first vvhich preached the Gospell did he not also promise a new reward vnto his elect seeing none before him promised the kingdome of heauen Si volueritis audieritis me bona terrae commedetis said God Esay 1. as if hee should say If you vvill beleeue me keep my cōmandements I vvill giue you victory against your enemies I vvill giue you health to your bodies I vvill giue you corne in your fields and I vvill giue you peace in your kingdomes This is that thē that God promised them all the reward vvhich he gaue thē for their trauails insomuch that the reward and glory of the Synagogue neuer vvent out of the kingdome of Palestine The sonne of God dooth not deale vvith vs vvhich are Christians as his Father did vvith the Iewes seeing that he saith Matthew 10. Qui fecerit docuerit hic vocabitur in regno caeloruu◠As if he would say The Christian who shall keepe my commandements and the preacher which shall set forth my law his name shall be written among those which
is which put him into a fright what garbish he tooke from him what skin he stripped him of what is the flesh which hee broiled what is the heart which hee tooke out of him what the liuer and vvhat the gaule which hee kept Although wee speake but a word on euery word yet this seemeth to bee a figure full of great secrets To come then to the point who is Tobias who goeth to recouer his fathers goods but onely all mankind who goeth euery day a iourney to recouer the grace which his father Adam lost Dum sumus in seculo peregrinamur ad dominum sayth the Apostle As long as vvee liue in this mortall vvorld no man can say that hee hath a dwelling place or neighbour but onely that hee is a pilgrime and a way-faring man and the end of our iourney and pilgrimage is to seeke for the grace vvhich our first father lost vs and the glory which our eternall father promised vs. Then wee say a man is a pilgrime when he maketh no abode any where but goeth on and staieth no longer in a place than hee can get necessaries for his iourney If vvee aske a man what hee doth it is an ordinary answere to say that hee either plaieth or doth his businesse or some such like which in truth is not so but his better answere is to say that he wasteth and consumeth himselfe and that he is a dying for a mans life goeth away in playing and labouring Seneca sayth Doth not thy life thinkest thou goe away seeing that euery houre thy life is an houre shorter and euery day a day shorter Saint Augustine vpon the Apostles words sayth If a man be asked how old he is or what yeares hee hath he is wont to answere either thirty or fortie or such like which is cleane contrary vnto that which hee should answere for hee should not say he hath so many yeares but that he wanteth so many yeares for if he haue any years at all it bee those which hee looketh for for as for those which are past they are now none of his The Philosopher saith that De tempore non habemus nisi Nunc Whereby hee meaneth that wee haue no time but the present moment because that the time past is already gone and the time to come is vncertain Cicero de senectute sayth What hath a man that hath liued an hundred yeares but only time lost a grieued heart a weary body smal help a loathing life a vading credite and death at his gates O how well the Apostle sayth As long as wee bee in this world Peregrinamur ad dominum seeing that by how much the more wee increase in age so much the more vvee decrease in life And to say the truth to die young or to die old is nothing else but to come to our Inne betimes or late Remigius sayth The Apostle doth call vs pilgrimes and strangers with great reason because he seeth that we haue no goods in this world which are proper to our selues for if euery man would leaue that which were another bodies for a certaine he should be left very naked For sayth Alchimius the Philosopher if the sheep should take thy garments from thee the kine thy shoes the worms thy silke the earth thy linnen the vines thy wine the corne thy bread the trees their fruit the fountaynes their waters tell mee I pray thee of thy selfe and by thy selfe what shouldst thou haue what shouldest thou be worth or what shouldest thou bee able to doe Horace sayth to this purpose Be not prowd like a lion nor exasperate thy selfe like an ounce for if euery one would take from thy house person that which is his there would be no liuing creature more base thā thou seeing that thou hast neither industry to maintaine thy selfe nor weapons to defend thy selfe Wee haue said all this to proue that if Tobias was a pilgrime wee are also pilgrimes But alas alas hee is accompanied with the good Angel who keepeth him and we compassed with a thousand enemies vvhich besiege vs. Doe not wee trow you take our voiage beset with a thousand perils and hindered with as many troubles considering that the deuill doth tempt vs the flesh molest and prouoke vs the world deceiue vs friends faile vs our heart sorroweth our health decaieth and our life daily shorteneth The figure sayth that as Tobias went on his iourney the fish came to the bancke to swallow him vp whereof in the end hee receiued more profite than feare insomuch that by the same fish of vvhich hee thought hee should haue beene deuoured his father receiued remedy What was that great fish of which Tobias thought he should haue been deuoured but only the sonne of the eternall God vvhen he came to redeeme the vvorld The fish vvas bred in the bottome of the riuer and the sonne of God was borne in the bosome of the eternall Father and how deepe soeuer the riuer Tygris vvas yet the sea of the diuine essence is farre more deeper Augustine in his booke of the Trinity sayth Wilt thou see how much more deeper the eternity of the Father and of his sonne is than the sea For it is possible to empty the sea for all his greatnesse but for the secrets of the holy Trinity it is impossible fully to vnderstand The fishe comming out of the vvater droue young Tobias into a great feare but Christ caused a greater feare when hee came into the vvorld seeing the Angels bowed themselues the kings adored him the starres vvere changed the Iewes were mooued and the deuils vvere aseard The feare vvhich the fish put Tobias in continued but halfe an houre but the fear which Christ put the vvorld in dureth vntill this day for being afeard and amazed the Iews and Pagans cannot yet persuade themselues that Christ should be the God whō they should beleeue in and the Lord which shall iudge them When that fish went out of the riuer to the bancke of two which were there present the one which was the Angel knew him the other which was Tobias was afeard and euen so in like maner when the sonne of God came downe from heauen vnto the earth the Synagogue was scandalized and the church receiued him in so much that according vnto old Simeons prophecie this diuine fish came to the shore of the world for the resurrection of the good and the scandale of the wicked Praeparauit dominus piscem grandem vt deglutiret Ionam sayth the holy Scripture Ionas 2. As if hee would say At the very instant when the cruell Marriners did cast the Prophet Ionas into the bottome of the sea immediately our Lord prepared a great fish which swallowed him aliue and which kept him in his bowels safe and sound As before wee met with Tobias and his fish so now wee haue lighte vpon Ionas and his fish whereof the one was greatly afeard and the other swallowed vp by reason whereof wee must seeke out some
sonne of God did so immediately after die vpon the crosse that in ending his draught of gaule and vineger hee began out of hand to yeeld vp his ghost If old Hystoriographers doe not deceiue vs Socrates among the Athenienses Midonius among the Lacedemonians â—rias among the Thebanes Escarrus among the Romanes by drinking of poyson ended their liues not because that their desire vvas to drinke of that poyson but because their enemies through force caused them to doe it God forbid that my penne should vvrite such blasphemy of my good Iesus vnto whome no man offered gaule and vineger no man entreated him vnto it no man forced him to take it but he of his owne will said Sitio I am a thirst and drie for if hee would haue dissembled his thirst and held his tongue they would neuer haue giuen him that detestable drinke Isidorus sayth What man or what Angel is able to reach vnto this secret that is that the sonne of God being then to giue vp his last breath yet should say that hee thirsted after a cup of water Why doest thou say so late Sitio and aske either for wine or water for seeing that thou art euen at the last farewell of thy life it cannot otherwise be but as thou art a drinking thy soule must depart from thee It had been a far lesser trouble and griefe to haue endured thirst halfe a quarter of an houre which Christ had to liue than haue suffered the thornes which boared through his head and all the rest of the torments which he had passed through that day but that his pleasure was to suffer them all and complaine of his thirst only because the thornes were onely a torment but his thirst signified a mystery vnto his Church There is a mystery in Christs being a thirst there is a mystery in that that he manifested it there is a mystery in that they gaue him wine mingled with mire and another in that they mixed it with gaule there is a mystery in that they offered it him in a reed and giuing him it with Isope containeth a mystery and in that he tasted of it and did not drinke it there is also a mystery contained If it be diligently looked into the mystery of the Sacrament where Christ communicated with his disciples excepted and the Sermon with the which he did comfort theÌ„ and the praier which he made when hee did sweat bloud also excepted there is no mystery written with so many circumstances as this of the thirst which Christ suffered whereof he complained And therefore marke with great heed all that the holy Scripture writeth of Christs thirstines because that with how many more circumstances a thing is vttered in Scripture to so many more weightier considerations it dooth inuite vs. CHAP. X. How the Synagogue could giue Christ nothing to drinke but rotten dregs PArum est mihi vt suscites faeces Israel dedi te in lucem gentium vt sis salus mea vsque ad extremuÌ„ terrae Esay 48. These wordes are vttered by the eternall Father speaking with his only sonne when he sent him into the world and they are as if hee would say being my onely begotten sonne taking vpon thee so hard an enterprise as is the redeeming of the world thou shouldst be content to restore the house of Iacob only and the dregs of Israel because the end why I send thee into the world is to giue light vnto al the Gentiles and redeeme all the whole world There are brought in in that communication the Father which speaketh the sonne vnto whom he speaketh the Synagogue of whom he speaketh and the end why hee is sent and also the great importance of the iourney seeing that by the meanes thereof hee will lighten the blindnesse of the Gentiles and streine the dregs of the Iewes And when he sayth Vt sis salus mea our Lord doth highly extoll the loue which hee beareth vs seeing that as wheÌ„ one man doth commend an important affaire vnto another the Father saith here vnto his son that it toucheth his owne safety and life that a full generall redemption be made of all men not excluding any one at all When the father sayth vnto his sonne Dedi te in lucem gentium vt sis salus mea what will he say but that it is most agreeable vnto his clemency that he holdeth it for a point of his honour that all enter in and be comprehended vnder his generall redemption the wine and the dregs the good and the bad the Gentile and the Iew the quicke and the dead The Father who dooth commend vnto his sonne the grounds and dregs dooth hee not more earnestssy commend cleane and holy things In Gods shop the lees which hee casteth abroad are better than all the wine that the diuell keepeth together I meane that one whom our Lord hath humbled and brought low is better than all those which the diuell hath lifted vp And because that our Lords calling of the Iewes lees and dregs of Israel seemeth to be a scandalous iniurious speech it is necessary for vs to declare how these dregs tooke their foundation for it is not possible for vs to expound the holy Scripture as we should vnlesse wee doe first vnderstand the letter For the better vnderstaÌ„ding of this which the Prophet Esay saith that which Boetius saith in his first booke of Comfort maketh much for our purpose that is Quòd infaelicissimum genus infortunij est hominem fuisse faelicem and his meaning is that there is no greater disaster or infelicity in the world thaÌ„ for a man to haue been on the top of felicity and then to be thrown down because such one doth nothing els but sigh after the honor which he hath lost neuer ceaseth bewailing the infamy which he hath gotteÌ„ WheÌ„ holy Iob thought with himselfe called to mind the time when he was rich and of great estimation and very healthfull of body and then saw himselfe vpon a dunghill vviping wormes off his owne body vvhat griefe of mind should oppresse him and vvhat a sea of thoughts vveary him When our Lord degraded and put out of their kingdomes Nabuchodonoser and Antiochus if wee looke vvell vnto it wee shall perceaue that the teares which they wept and the griefes which they complained on were rather to thinke of the honours which they had lost than of the punishment which they presently endured Cleopatra queen of Egypt Brias captaine of the Greeks and stout Hannibal of the Carthaginenses and the Consul Cato among the Romans slew themselues with their owne hands after that aduerse fortune had taken away their honours What will not a shamefast man doe what will hee not suffer what will hee not settle himselfe vnto after hee seeth himselfe disgraced and fallen from his honour Seneca in his booke of Clemency saith If all men were of my opinion there should bee more compassion taken on him who
was loaden with many sacrifices and beleeued in many Christs and offered many Holocausts but the holy church hath but one sacrifice beleeueth but in one Christ and doth offer but one Holocaust Neither doth Abraham say that the Lord would prouide a sacrifice for any other but for himselfe seeing hee sayth Dominus prouidebit sibi for vntill the very instant and houre that his sonne was crucified on the crosse he was neuer pleased nor pacified for the offēce which was done vnto him Neither did Abraham say that he would prouide indifferētly any sacrifice but specially that sacrifice which was called Holocaustum because that in al other sacrifices there remained alwaies one part for the priest to eat of another for him which offered it for to take away But it was not so in that sacrifice which they called Holocaustū because that in it all the whole beast was quartered cut in peeces burnt so being made ashes was wholly offered vnto God Was it not think you an Holocaust a great Holocaust which Christ offered seeing there was no spot in it wherby it should be cast away nor any mēber in his body which was not tormented To come then vnto our purpose it is to be noted that we haue made all this discourse to proue that in the mystery of this word Sitio which end because that the Iewes did but borrow them vntill our Lord should prouide them a sacrifice which by Abraham he promised vnto all the world Isidorus vpon Genesis sayth The sacrifice which God promised to send into the world ought to bee worthy of him vnto whom it was offered and profitable vnto him who did offer it which could not bee by dead calues and the bloud of goats and vnpleasant liquors nor yet with bloudy hands How was it possible that the sacrifices of time past should please the Lord or profit the sinner which did offer them seeing their altars did seeme rather butchers shambles than temples of Priests Rabanus sayth Abrahams sacrifice was profitable vnto himselfe and hurtfull vnto his sonne seeing he should there haue lost his life and because we may know that this is true the Lord did ordaine that Abrahams sword should onely threaten his sonne Isaac and afterward kil the son of God Our Lord seeing what smal benefite should be gotten by the death of that child what griefe it would cause vnto this old Father although hee gaue him license to draw his sword yet hee did not consent that it should come neere the child the which our Lord would neuer haue hindered if the death of that child could haue ben sufficient to redeeme al the world God the Father was older than Abraham and loued his sonne better than Abraham did his yet notwithstanding all this seeing that in that only sacrifice did consist mans saluation he consented that they should take his life from him Esichius vpon Leuiticus sayth That that which Abraham did was only good vnto himselfe alone because hee did accomplish that which was commanded him but when he said that the Lord would prouide a sacrifice vnto himselfe that was profitable vnto all the world considering that by that prophecie wee were warranted and made sure that we should be redeemed by the sonne of God Origen sayth That it is much to be noted how that all the sacrifices of the old law did proceed from two things only that is from the beasts which they did kill and the fruit which they plucked from trees Of their beasts they did offer the head and feet vnto the Lord the caule the flesh and the entralls and of trees incense storax fruit grapes aloes mirrhe oile and sweet odours And God was not content only that euery mā should offer what pleased himselfe but onely of that which God in the law commāded that is of beasts that they should offer the greatest of fruits the best of perfumes the sweetest of mettales the richest of liquors the most excellente If we beleeue the Philosopher in his book De animalibus The first thing that is engendred is the heart and the last the gaule when a beast dieth it is contrary for the first thing that corrupteth is the gaule and the heart the last thing that dieth The Commentator sayth That as the gaule is the last thing that is ingendred in man so it is also the most filthiest and basest thing that is in him Of all liquors the wine is the most precious and contrary no liquor worser than the dregs of soure corrupted wine Doest thou thinke my brother that we haue trauelled in vaine in prouing vnto thee that the gaule is the worst part of the beast and putrified dregs the worst of liquors The end why wee haue spoken all this is because that when the Redeemer of the world was dead with thirst vpon the altar of the crosse they gaue him these two thinges to drinke that is bitter gaule which is the last and worst part of the beast and dregs and vineger which is the worst of all liquors S. Augustine vpon S. Iohn sayth The purest clearest and cleanest of the Synagogue was already ended and gone and turned into vineger and lees by reason wherof they gaue Christ nothing to drinke but gaule vineger giuing vs therby to vnderstand that they did not giue him only that which they had in the Synagogue but also that which themselues were For what was all the Synagogue but soure vineger and bitter gaule It was not without a high mystery that they offered that which they did to Christ vpon the crosse for as the gaule is the last and the vildest thing that is in the beast so the Synagogue was now at an end and at the vvorst of all her life in so much that shee was become nothing els but a gaule of malice and also vineger of couetousnesse Saint Ierome sayth Euen as vineger hath been good wine because it was gathered of the best of the vine so the people of the Iews were somtimes good because they had good mē among them in so much that there is no other meaning in that they gaue Christ wine mingled with mire and soure vineger to drinke but that the people were now corrupted and scarse one good man left among them How came this hap among you O you Iewes that all the wine of your vessels is become soure vineger and all the hony of your hiues turned into bitter gaule Then your wine began to turne into vineger when you would not receiue Christ for your Redeemer and then all your hony turned into gaule when you did defame his doctrine and bereaue him of his life The Synagogue striketh great pity into my heart to see that in time past they did offer vnto their God sacrifices Holocausts and offerings and afterward gaule and vineger and dregs by which cursed and wicked offering they took away their makers life brought their Commonwealth vnto an end CHAP. XII How that the thirst
which he doth deceiue the world for thou wilt one day thinke that the Lord is carelesse and hee will send some grieuous punishment vpon thee And thou art now to vnderstand that there are so many in thy house which will awake him as thou hast faults and sinnes in thy soule In the house of our Lord who is the waker of his clemency but only our amendment and who is the waker of his iustice but only our offence Vpon those words of the Psalme Ecce non dormitabit S. Barnard sayth As the enemy which dooth impugn Israel Non aormitabit neque dormiet so the Lord who defendeth Israel Neque dormitabit neque dormiet and if it seeme that his clemency is asleepe when he doth fauour vs it is because we should liue better and if it seemeth that hee dooth defer his iustice it is because we should amend What should Isay more vnto thee but look what workes thou doest such wakers of God thou hast If thou be good thou doest awake him to doe thee good if thou bee naught thou doest awake him to doe thee hurt because that in the sight of our Lord the fault crieth for punishment and goodnesse asketh reward Ioining then mystery vnto mystery and Sacrament vnto Sacrament now that wee haue declared how God slept in the old Testament it is reason that wee declare also how his son did sleepe and awake vpon the crosse seeing that there is no lesse to be wondered at in the sleeping of the sonne thā there was to be spoken of in the sleeping of the Father For to think that the sonne of God did sleepe vpon the crosse as one that is weary and in health is woont to doe were a vanity and also an heresie for giuing him as they did gaule to eat and vineger to drinke there were more reason that his stomacke should be ready to ouerturne rather than his head haue any inclination to sleepe When Esay sayth Expergefactus lassus hee speaketh nor of materiall sleepe but of spirituall and if hee say that Christ did awake his powers within him without doubt did not awake because they were broken with tormēts but those powers did awake which lie hidden within him And although the Apostle doe say Quòd ex ipso in ipso per ipsum sunt omnia to wit of him in him and by him all things are yet there are sixe principall things aboue the rest in him These sixe are his essence his power his wisedome his humane flesh his patience and his clemency and of these sixe excellences and graces three of them slept when the sonne of God suffered and the other three alwaies watched His pure and diuine essence slept vpon the crosse seeing hee did not shew himselfe by it to be an absolute God for if hee had shewed himselfe to haue been onely God and not man he could neuer haue died vpon the crosse His high and eternall wisedome slept vpon the crosse in his passion seeing that hee neuer answered vnto any iniurious word were it neuer so grieuous against him Esichius sayth Christ did suffer that to be done by him on the crosse that a sheepe doth by himselfe in the butchery for if the sonne of God should haue showne before Pilate and Herod any sparke of his wisdome the Iews had neuer been able to haue put him to death His inspeakable and incomparable power did also sleep in his passion vpon the crosse not reuenging at all on his enemies for if it would haue pleased him to haue vsed it in lesse than a moment hell would haue swallowed thē all aliue Now that wee haue told what three powers slept with Christ on the crosse it is also conuenient for vs to shew what three they were which watched with him the same time His tender flesh did not sleep at the time of his passion vpon the crosse which was not one moment at ease nor an instant without torment How was it possible that Christ should not bee but awake on the crosse seeing that there was no vaine in his holybody which did not bleed nor no part of his flesh which was not brused and beaten blacke and blew His incomparable patience did watch and not sleepe vpon the crosse the which our blessed Iesus did neuer lose seeing that he neuer spake iniurious word vnto his enemies nor neuer shewed them an angry countenance Augustine sayth All deuout persons ought to follow Christ in the vertue of suffering for besides that the vertue of patience is meritotious before God shee is also an occasion of great quietnesse in mans life Christs diuine and louing clemency did also watch and not sleep in his passion the vvhich he did shew vvhen hee pardoned his enemies and praied for his malefactors O infinite goodnesse O inspeakable pitie O my good Iesus for if vve should grant that all the other vertues should haue slept on the crosse yet thy clemency vvould neuer haue giuen ouer vvatching for it is farre easier for the sonne to lose his light than for thee not to forgiue and pardon Plutarch in his Apothegms sayth That the Emperor Titus on a time gaue a great sigh and said Diem amisimus amici as if he vvould say It is not reason that this day should be reckoned among the daies of my life seeing that I haue done no good nor vsed any liberality in it This speech was spread throughout all the world much commended of the Philosophers and worthy of so high a Prince That which the Emperour Titus spake of his francknesse Christ might farre better haue spoken of his infinite clemency for if the Emperour did let no day passe in the which he did not some good neither did Christ let slip any houre or moment wherein hee did not pardon some offence And because the Prophet saith that the sonne of God did not onely sleepe but also that he did awake let vs now see how these three powers did awake in Christ and when and for what cause His incomparable diuine essence did rise and awake when he spake that terrible word at the time that his soule was drawne out of him and therevpon as it were in a traunce and a maze the great Centurion said of Christ That this was the son of the true God Christ did also awake his high wisdome vpon the crosse whē he spake those seuen wordes in the last houre of his death in the which there is contained more profound and deepe science and knowledge than is in all humane Philosophy or knowledge Christ did also awake his incomparable power when hee made the sunne to be darkened the earth to tremble and quake the graues to open and the dead to rise again Who dooth doubt but that the sonne of God doth shew in these wonderfull meruels the highnesse of his power the depth of his essence and the greatnesse of his wisedome and the valour of his person O my good Iesus O the light of my soule how vnlike thou
of smels is of bread the sauor of sauors is of salt the sweetest of all sweetes is of hony and the bitterest of all bitters is of gaule For what is there vnder heauen sweeter than hony or more bitter than gaule For what stomacke is there in the world so strong who after a cup of gaule and vineger would not either burst or die Rabanus vpon S. Luke sayth If the Iewes had remembred that his Father gaue them fresh water in the desart to drinke of and bread from heauen to eat of and that his sonne likewise gaue fiue thousand of them fish their fill and bread vntill they left off it they would not haue giuen him gaule to eat and vineger to drinke Damascenus sayth That it is proper to naughty men to be very sparing in matters of vertue and in matters of vice very lauish which doth easily appear in Christ for he asking for nothing but drink they gaue him also somewhat to eat Anselmus sayth That the abundance of malice and the want of conscience made the Iewes put that bitter gaule to Christs mouth which other men do loath to touch The Iewes did also shew the depth of their wicked naughtinesse in giuing Christ that horrible drinke being as hee was so neere death vpon the crosse because that all men are wont in that extremity bee they friends or enemies to helpe him who is in torment to die well and no man in that houre dare to trouble or vexe him Origen sayth That it is a custome among sauage and barbarous men that such as were enemies in their life time doe reconcile themselues and pardon one another in death Because as Plato sayth Death alone doth end all trauaile and all anger This generall rule failed only in the Iewes as men which were more barbarous and inhumane than all other who at the very time that Christ was yeelding vp his spirit did spet vpon him blasphemed him with their tongues hated him with their hearts tormented him with gaule and vineger King Dauid and king Saul were mortal enemies but when the Philistims had slain Saul in the hils of Gelboe they saw Dauid weepe bitterly for him and caused him to bee buried with great care and diligence All writers doe affirme that there were not greater enemies in all Greece than Demosthenes the Philosopher and Eschines the Orator but when Eschines vnderstood in Rhodes that Demosthenes his enemy was dead in Athens he did not only weepe many teares for him but did also bestow sumptuous funerals vpon him The great hatred and warres which were betwixt Iulius Caesar and Pempeius the great are knowne vnto all the world yet neuerthelesse when pittifull Casar had Pompeius head in his hands hee spake many pittifull words in his fauour and shed many teares ouer his head Cyrillus vpon S. Iohn sayth That there was neuer read of the like hatred as the Iews bare Christ seeing that although they saw his breath going out of his body yet they gaue him gaule to eat and vineger to drinke because that as they had tormented his outward members with torments they might also poyson his inward bowels with griefe and paine S. Cyprian sayth It is not credible that the wicked Iews had mens hearts in them but the hearts of some madde dogges seeing that the more the sonne of God did draw neere vnto death the more they did waxe cruell because that the end why they gaue him gaule and vineger was because hee should die sooner and also raging If as it did please Christ onely to tast of that drinke it had been his will to haue drunke it all considering how there was no bloud left in his vaines and also his weakenesse at that time it is no doubt but it would haue shortened his life and put him to a more painfull death O that this doctor said very well that they had not mens hearts in them for otherwise considering the extremity they saw him in they could not haue done lesse than haue giuen him some wine to drinke or water to refresh him or vsed some words of comfort O pittifull case and vnspeakable cruelty seeing that at the houre of thy death thou haddest no friend to encourage thee no drop of water to refresh thee but onely a little gaule for thy breakefast and a little vineger to drie thy mouth with Let not mee vse then any delicate meates and let all superfluous diet bee farre from mee for seeing my God and Lord doth neither eat nor drinke but gaule and vineger from euening to euening how dare I fare daintely at set meales How dare I looke for death seeking a thousand dainties euery houre and change a thousand meats euery day Seeing that thou O my good Iesus haddest thy mouth poysoned with gaule and wet with vineger O sacred mouth O holy tongue who is so wicked as to dare bath that mouth with gaule and vineger hauing preached with the same so many Sermons giuen so many holy lessons taught so many people and done so many miracles You should put gaule and vineger O yee cursed Iewes vpon this my mouth which is neuer opened but to deceiue and vpon my tongue which can doe nothing but lie for as for that of your Creator and our Redeemer what sinue was there that hee did not tell you of and what vertue is there that hee did not teach you Saint Barnard sayth O what great difference there is betwixt mouth and mouth tongue and tongue For mans tongue said vnto Pilat crucifige eum Christs tongue said vnto his Father Nesciunt quid faciunt In so much that the peoples whole drift was to induce Pilate to kill him and Christs whole intention was to persuade his Father to forgiue them Vbertinus sayth Should not Christ haue had better reason to haue giuen the people gaule and vineger seeing they accused him openly thā they to Christ considering that with teares hee did excuse them Quid vltra debui vineae meae quod non feci Said Christ to the Prophet Esaya◠as if hee would say O my chosen vine O my deere Synagogue what diddest thou aske of mee that I did not giue thee or what could I doe for thee that I haue not done These wordes are deepely to bee considered of seeing that by them our Lord dooth call the Synagogue to a reckoning like vnto one friend which chideth with another who with intention not to breake off their friendship will trie out where the fault lieth And to the same purpose God spake by the Prophet Ieremy when hee said Iudicium contraham tecum as if hee would say I will O Israell that thou and I and I and thou sit down to iudge and take an arbitrator betwixt vs to the end that both parts being hard he may iudge what small reason thou hast to offend me what great cause I haue to complaine on thee O infinit goodnesse O vnspeakable clemency of thee my great God what creature can iustly say
seeing it was spoken by the theefe which suffered by Christ In the third which was Behold thy mother what part hath the church therein seeing hee spake it onely vnto the disciple which was there present and to his mother which wept by him In the fourth which was Why hast thou forsaken me what hath the church therein seeing he speaketh only vnto his Father and complaineth of his Father vnto his Father In the fift which is I am a thirst what part hath the church therein seeing that thereby hee dooth shew the exceeding great thirst which hee sustaineth for the torments which hee suffereth In the seuenth vvord which is Into thy hands O Lord I commend my spirit what part hath the church therein seeing the sonne goeth out of the world and commendeth his spirit vnto his Father If we haue any part of all the seuen vvordes it is in Consummatum est in giuing vs knowledge by his owne mouth of the perfection and end of the old lavv and of our full redemption seeing he spake then vnto vs only and forthe end of all our sins vvhich vvere at one time redeemed euen as Christ did end his life and gaue vp his blessed ghost O profound mystery O vnspeakable secret and neuer heard of before in Consummatum est seeing that it is nothing else to say Consummatum est but to giue notice vnto all the vvorld that the church is novv begun and the Synagogue cast dovvne the Scripture fulfilled his life ended His precious bloud is ended the vvhich is so dravvne out that there remained no one drop in his vaines for hee came vvith a determination into the vvorld fully to accomplish all the loue vvhich hee bare vs and to shed for vs all the bloud vvhich hee possessed That is Consummated vvhich I came into the vvorld for and my fathers commandement is also accomplished for vvhom I came into the vvorld to manifest his holy name for so I haue done and if I came to lighten the vvorld to preach I haue preached and giuen it light The greife of my body is ended the torments of my members the persecutions of my enemies the wearinesse of my bones the multitude of my trauels are all at an end All that which the Prophecies prophecied all that which the Patriarkes signified all that which the holy men desired and all that which our Fathers craued of God is finished and consummate The riches of the Temple the highnesse of the kingdome the rigour of the law the purenesse of Preisthood and the honour of the people is at an end The hatred of the Iewes the enuy of the Pharisies the hypocrisie of the Saduces the malice of the Scribes is fully at an end What was euer seen that Christ began which he brought not in the end to full perfection Wee are those which doe hardly begin any good thing and if we doe begin it scarse bring it to the middle and if wee bring it to the middle we neuer end it The sonne of God is he only who beginneth all thinges when he will continueth them as he ought and finisheth them as he lusteth When Christ went to Ierusalem to suffer he said vnto his disciples Ecce ascendimus Hierosolimam consummabuntur omnia quae scripta sunt de me and when he praied ouer the supper he said Opus consummaui quod dedisti mihi and on the altar of the crosse he said also Consummatum est giuing vs to vnderstand by that speech that like vnto a man hee doth giue that which he is commanded pay that which he doth owe and accomplish that which he doth promise S. Cyprian sayth Much greater O my good Iesus much greater is the taking of the torments which thou hast endured than the wasting of the grace which wee haue lost and farre greater is thy paine than our fault and thy offering than our offence and therefore thou doest say Consummatum est because that now the fault of the seruant is ended with the death of the sonne Anselmus sayth O how truly thou doest say O my good Iesus Consummatum est for hauing thy eies broken as thou hast thy shoulders opened thy hands piersed and the world redeemed what doth there remaine to end seeing that thou art at an end Damascen sayth When vpon the crosse the sonne of God sayth Consummatum est If he would haue vsed the rigour of his iustice as he did vse his accustomed clemency had it thinke you haue been much that all the world should haue ended with him seeing the Lord ended and died there which did create it Remigius sayth O bill of paiment O precious money O sure account O acquittance of God which thou doest giue vs O good Iesus when thou doest say Consummatum est seeing that thou doest assure vs by that speech that the bond obligation which the deuil had ouer our humane nature is payd by thee and cancelled and blotted our and also cast into dust ashes Fiue thousand yeares and more we were bound to hell and subiect vnto the deuill but the sonne of God going to the crosse to die he vnbound vs from the seruice of the Deuill and as he went by little and little towards his end the obligation went wearing away in so much that with this speech Consummatum est the soule went out of his body and sinne tooke his end in vs. O high Lord O great redeemer when thou saiest Consummatum est what is that which doth not end seeing that thy life doth end Gods humane life dooth end death to hell sinne to the world idolatry to gentility ceremonies to the law and figures to the Scripture Pope Leo sayth by this word Consummatum est was ended the reproch of the crosse the banishment from heauen the power of the diuell the treason of the disciple the denying of Peter the sentence of Pilate the indignation of the people the life of the sonne and the comfort of the mother O comfortlesse mother O virgine borne without the like what griefe did thy sorrowfull heart feele when thou heardest thy sonne say that his life was ended thou continuing as thou didst without thy sonne What meaneth this O good Iesus what meaneth this With this speech Consummatum est the paine endeth to those which languished in desiring thee the offence of the wicked ceaseth the bloud of thy vaines drieth vp and yet doe not the teares of thy mothers eies end With this speech of Consummatum est All is finished dost thou drie the teares of those which haue offended thee their fill and dost thou make no reckoning of thy blessed mother who vnto the crosse hath followed thee If vnder that speech doe enter all whome thou hast created why doest thou leaue out thy mother of whom thou wast borne Most blessed mother of God certainly is not left out because that here on the crosse is finished and accomplished the quietnesse of her heart the light of her eies the contentment of her
for the loue vvith the vvhich he shed it Cyrillus saith also If as Christ said Behold I goe to Ierusalem to die of my owne voluntary vvill hee should haue said Behold they draw me to be iusticied by force vve should haue ben bound vnto him for the martirdome which he suffered not for the wil vvith the which he suffered But seeing he saith plainly that he goeth of his own voluntary vvill to the butchery of the Mount of Caluary to bee executed it is certaine that if vvee owe him much for that hee did suffer we owe him much more for the loue vvith the which he did suffer S. Ierome sayth likewise in this speech of Ecce ascendimus our great sheepheard dooth admonish all other sheepeheards that when necessity doth so require they should not oppose themselues against any tyrant if they vvould put thē to death but also offer themselues to death for the saluation of their flocke because there is no higher degree of martyrdome than to die for the sauing of his neighbour Simon de Gassia sayth For the sonne of God to say vnto his disciples Behold I goe to die and not They carry mee to kill me was to let them vnderstand that to the Christian religion profession of the Gospell vvee should not bee drawne by force but goe willingly because our Lord doth not so much regard the feet with the which wee seeke him as hee doth behold out intentions with which we loue him And Christ saith further Et consummabuntur omnia quae scripta sunt de me as if he would say The cause vvhy I goe to Ierusalem is because all things vvhich are vvritten of mee by the Prophets may bee fulfilled and accomplished Origen sayth All thinges vvhich vvere vvritten of Christ are brought vnto three things and all those to be fulfilled by him to wit that vvhich he should doe that vvhich he should suffer and the reward vvhich he should haue aswell for that vvhich hee did in his life as for that vvhich he suffered at his death That which Christ did vvas to plant the church that vvhich he suffered was a most cruell death the reward vvhich he receiued vvas his glorious resurrection insomuch that in his holy life in his dreadfull death and passion and glorious resurrection all the holy Scripture is contained These two speeches vvhich Christ spake doe very vvell agree that is that vvhich he sayth here Consummabuntur omnia and the other vvhich he vttered vpon the crosse Consummatum est For in that that he died and rose againe all vvas fulfilled that was vvritten of him But speaking more particularly Christ sayth that in entring into Ierusalem he should be deliuered vnto the Gentils and that he should bee mocked vvith iniurious vvords and spet vpon with grosse spettle and whipped with much discipline and that he should also bee crucified and put to death with great nailes Who euer saw or heard the like vnto this that they should vnload such a heape of iniuries and such a multitude of torments vpon so tender a body and so iust a person Dedit percutientibus se maxillam saturabitur opprebrijs saith Ieremy chap. 3. Speaking of Christs iniuries as if hee should say The redeemer of the world will bee so patient in his trauails and so obedient vnto his persecutors that hee himselfe will offer his cheeke to be buffetted and he will put himselfe before them because they should fill him with iniuries How well so euer Ieremy did prophesie this yet Christ did fulfill it better seeing that he offered vnto his enemies not onely his cheeke that they might buffet it but also all his holy body that they might kill it What meaneth this O good Iesus what meaneth this The Prophet Elias did she from the citie of Ierusalem because Queene Iezabel should not cut off his head and doest thou goe to Ierusalem where thou knowest that they wil depriue thee of thy life Great king Dauid fled from the city of Ierusalem and went out of it because hee would bee no more persecuted of king Saul and doest thou goe to Ierusalem to bee crucified In this point sure thou art not Dauids sonne nor Helias companion for if they flie from Ierusalem to saue their liues thou goest to Ierusalem to offer thy selfe to death If thy death had been a common death it might haue been born with but seeing that it was more grieuous to suffer the circumstances of thy death than death it selfe what necessity constrained thee or what charity mooued thee why thou shouldest not haue fled with thy Father Dauid or absented thee with the Prophet Ely It is a thing worthy to bee noted that Christ putteth it for the greatest point of his Martyrdome that he should be iniuried and also that he should be scorned and mocked By which complaint hee doth let vs vnderstand that the sonne of God did grieue more at the iniurious words which they spake vnto him than at the lashes and discipline which they gaue him Ieremy doth not say that Christ should be filled in his passion with stripes flagellis but opprobrijs reuilings and iniuries and the reason is because stripes lashes passe no further than the shoulders but iniuries entred vnto the entrails Who is he in the world which wil not be more grieued at an iniurious word thā with the point of a speare Ieremy maketh no reckoning of the thornes nor of the nailes nor of the lashes but onely of the iniuries which Christ suffered seeing that hee saith Saturabitur opprobrijs because hee passed through those torments but one day but hee suffered iniuries and blasphemies euery day In these words of Ieremies He shall be filled with iniuries he signified vnto vs the cruelty of his torments and the multitude of his iniuries for as hee who is full hath no more place in his stomacke to fill so there was no torment which to the sonne of God they left vngiuen nor no iniury vnspoken For what torments were there which they gaue him not or what iniuries could there be spoken which they vttered not Hugo de sancto victore vpon Ieremy sayth Because the son of God would declare that hee was the iustest of all others and of all martyrs the greatest martyr he said that he should be filled with iniuries and reuilings because that in all other martyrs they did lay hands with no other intention but to martyr them but in Christ they laid hands to kill him tongues to iniury him S. Ierome on this place sayth Ieremy saith very well of Christ Quod saturabitur opprobrijs for wee doe not read of any Martyr that he was martyred with tongues but with hands the son of God alone is he whose life they tooke away with their hands and fame with their tongues Isichius vpon Leuiticus sayth With great reason the Prophet Ieremy sayth of Christ That he should be filled with iniuries seeing wee see that in his holy passion liers doe sell the
kill a beast but in Christs holy law one death tooke away all deaths one life did buy all liues and one paine tooke away all paines and offences When the Apostle calleth Christ Hostiam viuentem he wanteth not a deepe secret and a profound mystery because that in the old law they called Hostiā the sacrifice which was offered against those which were enemies they offered nothing but dead sacrifices because the beast which they did offer was neither called sacrifice nor Hostia vntill his life had been taken from him The sonne of God gaue the name of Hostia a sacrifice when he died and the name of life when he rose againe and therefore wee may very well call him a liuely sacrifice a holy sacrifice a pure sacrifice and holy bread seeing that hee is the sacrifice and Hostie which giueth life vnto all and is the holiest sacrifice of all other and the purest and the cleanest bread of all others Anima cum obtulerit oblationem sacrificij domino similae erit eius oblatio fundet super eam oleum ponet thus Leuit. 2. God spake these words vnto Moyses because he should tel them the people of Israel as if hee should say If any will offer any sacrifice which shall bee acceptable vnto mee offer mee it of the purest floure mingled with oile and therewithall he shal adde a little frankincense If wee doe curiously looke vnto it of three things onely our Lord requireth an offering of vs that is pure floure good oile and sweet incense the which things are easiy to bee found light to offer and not costly to buy S. Ambrose sayth In this wee may see what a great desire our Lord hath to pardon the sinnes which we commit against him in that he himselfe doth teach vs what sacrifices we should offer vnto him What is vnderstood by that fine sifted floure but that most sacred humanity of the sonne of God This holy floure was so sifted and putrified that all the Angels which shall come to see it and all the men in the world which shall come to clense it shall not find in that sacred humanity one smal grite of originall sinne nor on spot of mortall sinne nor one little dust of any other small sinne Of this most pure floure Christ did knead the sacramentall bread in his last supper which he left vs in the church which doth differ farre from that which mother Eue did leaue her children because that in eating of that we doe sinne and receiuing of this we doe liue What is the incense which God commaunded vs to offer with the floure in his Temple but the diuinity which is ioined with the humanity in Christ Vntill the gate of the Temple the floure was carried by it selfe and the incense by itselfe but being brought to the gate of the Temple the one was incorporated with the other which mystery was most notably accomplished in the comming of Christ because that so farre asunder was mankind which was here vpon earth from the diuinity which was in heauen but the son of God comming into the world immediately God with man and man with God became one What is the oile with the which God commanded the floure and incense to be tempered but that which in the blessed Trinitie wee call the holy-ghost The coniunction bond of loue betwixt the Father and the son and hee who did incorporate the floure with the incense was no other but the holy-ghost for so said the prophesie Vnxit te deus deus tuus eleo letetia and so said the Angell vnto the virgine when he said Spiritus sanctus superueniet in te That which the Prophet called oile the Angell afterward did cal the holy-ghost insomuch that the cake which God demanded of floure oile and incense was nothing else but the humanity of him which was made by the father and by the son and by the holy-ghost A cake so well seasoned a sacrifice so highly well made which of the saints would not offer and which of the Angels would not adore The sacrifice which God did demand in times past was not that which the Synagogue did offer but that which the catholike church doth now offer for they did offer him dow wet in vineger and foustie oile and most sharpe incense but the sacrifice which wee doe now offer him is the humanity and diuinity of Christ vnited and put together by the handes of the holy-ghost It is no reason that the Christian and deuour reader should be ignorant why God commanded but a part of the floure to bee offered but all the incense To put a measure in the floure was to say that the humanity of it selfe was limitted and had an end and to put no measure in the frankincense was to say that in the diuinity there is neither beginning nor end which is most true because the workes which the sonne of God did were limmitted and circumscribed in that that he was man but being kneaded with the oile of the holy-ghost he made them infinite in value and weight To come then to our first purpose the text sayth si oblatio tua fuerit de sartagine simile conspersa oleo absque fermento diuides eam minutatim fundas super cam oleum as if he should say The fritter which thou shalt offer vnto me shall bee made of the floure of the meale without leauen kned with very good oile and then being well pricked thou shalt sprinckle it ouer with new oile If there should bee no mystery hidden vnder this Iudaicall sacrifice wee might haue occasion to thinke that our Lord were a glutton and giuen to variety of meats seeing that in the beginning of this chapter he asked of thē fritters or cake dressed with good oile and now againe a cake made of the floure of wheat and that without leauen small broken and fried in a frying pan in very whote oile Of this high and new sacrifice what is the floure but the humanity which suffered what the oile but the loue with the vvhich hee died and what the frying pan but the crosse where hee died To say that God the Father did aske for a cake made in a frying pan and to say that the crosse of his sonne was the frying pan and that the fine floure of his precious flesh was fried in that fryingpan and that the oile with the which it was fried was the loue with the which he redeemed vs is no vnreuerent speech to vse neither is there any errorin affirming it seeing wee he certain that there is no word writtē in holy Scripture which is not full of high mystery The property of the fryingpan is being put vpon the fire the fire dooth not wast him nor melt him as hee doth many other thinges and beside hee maketh those meats which are cold hard and not to be eaten whote soft and very sauourous What was the death and passion of our redeemer Iesus Christ but a frying
he who eateth and is eaten hee who annointeth and is annointed he who offereth and is offered What preheminences had the altar of the old Synagogue which are not greater in the Catholicke church Their altar was of the wood of the Mount Lybanus ours of the most sacred humanity of Christ theirs was of wood which would not corrupt and ours of flesh which cannot sinne theirs was made bloody with other bloud than their owne and ours is washed with his own bloud vpon theirs they did kil beasts vpon ours they forgiue vs our offences to theirs there could none go vp but the Priests of the tēple but vnto ours al the sinners of the world may come vnto in theirs there burned a fire of light which must euery houre be kindled and put together but in ours there burneth the fire of his loue and charity which can neuer be extinguished O holy altar O glorious altar of the crosse in which there is offered not dead beasts but mens sins not to proue thē but to pardon them where our weake seruices are offered not because thou wouldest praise thē O Lord but because thou wouldest accept them and where also the merits of thy holy sonne are offered not for his own sake who was without sin but for ours who can doe nothing but sinne The altar of the Synagogue had no step nor staire because the common sort did beleeue nothing in God but his essence but to the altar of our catholick church which is a congregation of the faithful they go vp by three steps because we beleeue in one essence three persons The text also saith that the altar of the synagogue was annointed with one finger only who shal we say that this finger is but the selfesame holyghost Hilarius de Trinitate saith In al the Trinity there is but one arm that is the Father of whom the Prophet saith Et brachiū meū cōfortauit eum neither is there any more but one hand which is the son of whom also the Prophet saith Filius meuses tuego hodie genui te nor there is in all the Trinity but one finger of whō the scripture saith Digitus dei hic est In the vnctions creations of vs there are many fingers occupied that is my great grandfather begat my grandfather and my grandfather my father my father begat me I begat my son and my sonne begat my nephew but in the generation of Christ there was applied one only finger which was the person of the holy-ghost August in a sermon sayth Seeing that he which doth beget is one and hee who is begotten is one and she who doth bring forth is one and he for whom hee is borne is one which is the world why should there haue been more then one finger which was the Holy-ghost The text sayth further that the altar was not annointed once only but seuen times a row What is meant that Christ was annointed seuen times a row but only that all the seuen gifts of the holy-ghost were bestowed vpon him It is to bee noted that in all the sacrifices which they made of kine sheepe and goats and pigeons the altar was alwaies annointed with bloud sauing when they ordained Aaron a priest at what time they did annoint it with oile alone the which was not done without a mystery The reason thē is this that because al their sacrifices were done to take away the Iews sins the which were to bee taken away with shedding of bloud Quia sine sanguinis effusione non fit remissio sayth the Apostle there was no need of effusion of bloud in the sacrifice which did only represent Christ because in him there was no sinne at all Why should they haue annointed with bloud the altar of the humanity of Christ considering that not onely there was no sin in him but in him all the sins of the world were to be taken away If the curious Reader would deeply vnderstand this high figure let him turn Moyses name into the Father and Aarons name into Christ and the altar into humanity and the name of annointing into gift and bloud into the water of baptism the finger into the holy-ghost and then hee shall truly find how well the truth doth answere vnto the figure and the letter to the spirit The text sayth further in the same chapter Vnxit altare cum omnisuppellectili as if hee should say After that Moyses had made an end of annointing the altar with holy oile hee did also annoint all things that did belong to the altar that is ewars basins candlestickes towels hookes chafindishes Let no man thinke it to bee a iest that God commanded to annoint with holy oile not only the altar but also all things which did appettaine to the altar because that by this is discouered one of the greatest priuiledges that Christ had which no man did euer but hee enioy in the world What should it meane that at the altar of the Synagogue there remained nothing which was not annointed with oile but that there was nothing in the humanity of the word which was not fully replenished with the holy-ghost Why is Christ called Sanctus sanctorū but because his holy vnction was more holy thā that of all the other saints When the church doth wash her creatures in baptism shee doth with water wash and as it were only there annoint soules which were defiled with original sin the which soules are made so clean pure with that vnction that if they should depart presently out of this life they should imediately by Gods fauor go to glory O vnhappy that we be for although they wash annoint our soule in baptism yet there remaineth our memory to be annointed seeing that wee forget God there remaineth our vnderstanding to be annointed seeing we think of other things thā of God there remaineth our will to be annointed seeing that wee put our loue on other things besides God also our hart remaineth to be annointed seeing we giue it to another thā to god What shall we say of our poore body seeing there is no part or mēber of it which is annointed seeing my eies can see nothing but vanity my ears hear nothing but lightnes my toung nothing but lie my mēbers cōmit sin my hands theft what shal I say of such a body is he not rather rottē thē annointed whē the Apostle S. Paul said with weeping tears alas woe be vnto me vnhappy vnfortunate man who wil deliuer me frō the seruitude of this body would he haue spoken such pitiful words if the powers of his body had been annointed with holy oile of loue charity the church like a pittiful mother doth annoint vs with the wholsome water of baptisme when we be born afterward she doth wash and annoint vs vvith loue charity whē she doth giue vs grace to loue god forgiue our neighbors the first vnctiō is to help vs that we do not sin
difference that is betwixt Dauids testament and Christs testament seeing the one commandeth to reuenge other mens iniuries and the other pardoneth his owne death NOn deduces canicies eius pacifice ad inferos 3. Reg. chap. 2. King Dauid being in the last point of his life commanded his sonne and heire apparent Salomon to be called vnto him vnto whome hee spake these words Thou rememberest my sonne Salomon when my seruant and capraine Ioab did slay captaine Abner and Amasias who were scruants vnto king Saul the which offence because I cannot reuēge in my life the charge shll be laid vpon thee to see that hee goe not quietly to his graue and Dauid said further vnto him Thou shalt also remember that when I fled from thy brother and my son Absolon my enemy Simei came against me and followed mee all the field ouer cursing me and casting stones at me Look vnto it like a wise and a discreet man and that hee depart not in peace out of this world That which Dauid commanded his sonne Salomon to doe was not commanded to one who was deaffe for if hee did command him to kill two hee did kill three or foure that is the infant Abdonias the captaine Ioab Simei and the Priest Abiathar In al his kingdome Dauid had no captaine which had done him so great seruice nor no seruant which had loued him better than old Ioab yet neuerthelesse he had more respect to reuenge the iniuries done to others than vnto their seruices past If Dauid had not been welbeloued and by Scripture commended his Testament should much haue scandalized vs seeing that at the time of his death when men forbid iniuries hee commandeth by his Testament to take away mens liues It is to be beleeued that he being so acceptable to God as he was that he had consulted with God for otherwise being in so narrow a straight as he was in it was more than time for him to prepare himselfe to confesse his sins than to command the death of his enemies O how vnlike Dauids Testament is vnto Christs for Dauid commaunded in his to reuenge other mens deaths but Iesus Christ our Redeemer commanded his owne proper death to be pardoned How happy we be which be the inheritours of Christ and how vnhappy they be which bee the successours of Dauid which is easily seene by their Testaments for Dauids soule goeth out of his body saying Filine ignoscas illis and Christ yeeldeth his last breath saying Pater ignosce illis What similitude is in this when the one commaundeth to slay Ioab who neuer once touched so much as his garment and the sonne of God willeth to forgiue those which tooke away his life How would Dauid forgiue his owne death seeing he commandeth to reuenge another mans wilt thou see the difference betwixt the charity of the one and the goodnesse of the other Thou maiest see it in that that king Dauid would not pardon Ioab and Simei whose sinnes were so old that they were forgotten and meeke Iesus did pardon the Iewes whose wickednes was new and fresh How wouldest thou haue the wounds of him vvho pardoneth more fresher and the wickednesse of those which are pardoned more newer but to haue them at the same time crucifieng as he is pardoning Aymon sayth Much good may Dauids Testament doe him which hee made being annointed for I will hold with that which Christ made when he was crucified for the one seeketh out those which are culpable to kill and the other seeketh out faults to pardon Saint Augustine vpon our Lords wordes saith O how much better it is to fall into the hands of God then into the hands of men which is easily seene in the death of king Dauid and in the death of the sonne of God where the one commandeth to slay his owne seruants and the other willeth pardon to his cruel enemies Hugo de sancte victore sayth I do not enuy king Salomon for the kingdome which king Dauid his father left him nor for his will which he commāded him to accomplish because he left him the heire of his kingdome with such a condition that whē he should giue the last gaspe the other should presently begin to murder and kill In the same day and in the same houre that good king Dauid died as the captaine Ioab was in the Temple a praying kind Salomon sent immediately to sley him insomuch that before they could put Dauid in his graue they tooke away poor Ioabs life O my good Iesus the conditions of thy Testament be not like vnto these seeing that in the last farwell on the altar of the crosse thou diddest not command thy successors to reuenge but to forgiue nor to take away mens liues but to pardon iniuries so that as the Synagogue was a house of buying and selling so thou madest thy church a house of pardon Christ himselfe did whip those who bought and sold in the Temple and the selfesame son of God did pardon those whom he found in his house of pardon whereof wee may inferre that he is no inhabitant of his house who dareth reuenge an iniury Christ did shew himselfe to be the sonne of Dauid in being meeke as hee was but he shewed it not in being vindicatiue as he was for when he died vpon the crosse he did not leaue in al the world any one sinne to forgiue nor any iniury for his heires to reuenge If as Dauid did command to reuēge the misdemeanour which his seruants did him Christ should haue commanded to reuenge the sinnes which the Iewes committed against him it had not been possible to haue been done because the sinners had too many sinnes and the tormentors wanted torments CHAP. III. Of the difference betwixt the bloud of Abel and the bloud of Christ and how vnlike their cries vnto God are ACcessistis ad sanguinis aspersionem melius loquentem quam Abel sayth the Apostle writing vnto the Hebrewes chap. 9 as if hee should say We are very happy which beleeue in Christ and receiue his gospel seeing wee bee redeemed by his death and bought with his precious bloud And because thou maiest the better esteeme of the price of this bloud know thou that it crieth before the eternal father better than the bloud of Abel because that cried Iustice Iustice and the bloud of the sonne of God crieth Mercy Mercy S. Ierome sayth The Apostle dooth highly set forth the bloud of Christ whose soueraine price and high merit hee would not compare with the other blouds of the old Testament but with the bloud of the first iust man that euer was in the world the bloud of the holiest saint that is in heauen Origen saith The Apostle should haue done Christ great iniury if hee should haue compared his bloud with the bloud of calues and goats of the old Testament because the bloud of those beastes did serue to no other purpose but to defile the staires and to take away their liues but the
euerlasting damnatioÌ„ obtained with his mother that she shold not challeÌ„ge hisdeath before any iustice But what iustice could she ask of those malefactors seeing they had been already pardoned of her sonne Anselmus saith That wheÌ„ Iesus gaue vp the ghost vpon the crosse he left no death for his mother to reueÌ„ge nor iniury to forgiue but only a bitter passion to weep and bewaile which shold be great inough to rend her bowels in sunder dry vp the tears of hir eies The 4. goodnes which Christ shewed the Iews was in that he gaue pardoÌ„ to his enemies which did not demaÌ„d it yeelded that vnto his crucifiers which they wold not haue For how is it possible for those men to seek for pardon which will not acknowledge themselues culpable And how should they acknowledge theÌ„selues culpable which cast al the fault vpoÌ„ him which deserued it not The Iews were so fleshed in the bloud of Christ so far out of their wits that they did not not only procure ask pardoÌ„ for their offeÌ„ce but rather hindered it put it froÌ„ theÌ„ when it was offered theÌ„ taking delight in the hurt which they did vnto Christ griefe that they were not able to do him more When they led the innocent lambe to be crucified for very ioy they said O thou which doest destroy the Temple of God And when Pilat would haue deferred his crucifying with great enuy they said If thou let this man goe thou art not a friend vnto Caesar in so much that if they did shew themselues grieued and sorrie it was not for that they thought themselues culpable of any crime but because they had deferred and prolonged Christs life so long time The wickednesse of the Iewes was not content in not hauing pardon of God for their offences but they demaunded openly vengeance for them when they said vnto Pilat Let his blood fall vpon vs and vpon our children and therefore by these dreadfull words they desire to be punished of God and at no time pardoned at his hands O wicked Synagogue O impious saying Let his blood be vpon vs. Tell me I pray thee why doest thou desire that the blood of Christ which hee shed for to redeeme thee be â—urned to condemne thee The sonne of God appealeth from these words which they speake and he will not stand vnto that agreement which the Iewes made with Pilat hee will not agree that his blood should be shed against them but for them and therefore as they said Let his blood fall vpon vs so contrariwise he said Father forgiue them O wicked Synagogue O vnfortunate Iewish nation saith Remigius who hath led you vnto such great folly and madnesse that you should more esteeme of the blood of kine which your priests shed in the Temple than of the blood which Christ shed in the mount of Caluarie Saint Ierome saith On the altar of the crosse the Prophecie of Simeon was fulfilled who said that Christs comming into the world was to some mens good and to others hurt seeing that wee doe pray that the blood which hee sheddeth should be in the remission of our sinnes and the Iewes doe intreat that it turne vnto their condemnation and vpon their children It is much to be noted that wee see it often times fall out that one enemy hurteth not another and that a good Christian doth pardon another of his offence when hee repenteth wee see it also by experience likewise we see it fulfilled that a perfit man doth loue his enemy but yet wee neuer saw that euer any but Christ pardoned him which would not be pardoned And how would they be pardoned who pardoned Barrabas and condemned the sonne of God What contrition of their sinnes haue they who desired of Pilat that the curse of God should light vpon them and vpon their children O infinite goodnesse O vnspeakable charity did they say pardy with king Dauid Tibi soli peccaui To thee alone haue I sinned or with the thiefe Domine memento mei Lord remember me to the end that he should say God be mercifull vnto you Misereatur vestri What wit is able to conceiue or what heart able to acknowledge such great mercy when thou saidst Forgiue them in stead of their sanguis eius His blood light vpon vs O my good Iesus O my soules health who is hee who dare say that hee hath enemies now seeing that thou doest make cleane the vncleane settest those at libertie which will not be free loosest those which wil be bound vnburdenest those which will bee burdened and aboue all giuest pardon vnto those which will not be pardoned If thou doest pardon that people which would not be pardoned wilt thou not with a better will pardon him who hath repented him of his sinnes and whome it grieueth with all his heart to haue offended thee Saint Augustine vpon S. Iohn saith Will not he who meant to meete them who came to apprehend him in the garden of Gethsemani come out to receiue and embrace those who goe to serue him Will not he who defended the adulterous woman from outrage and pardoned the wicked people not beeing thereunto asked pardon and defend that sinner whome hee seeth amended and hath beene of him with many teares thereunto entreated CHAP. X. How it is meet for vs to conforme our wills vnto Christs will to the end that we may know how to loue him and serue him COr tuum numquid est rectum cum corde meo sicut cor meum est rectum cum corde tuo Wee reade in the fourth booke of the Kings that a certaine king of Israel called Iehu going from Samaria to kill the children of Achab and the priestes of Baal met on the way with Ionadab vnto whome he spake these words Tell me I pray thee Ionadab is thy heart and mind so faithfull and vpright with mine as my heart is with thine Ionadab answered him vnto these words Know thou O king Iehu that my heart is conformable vnto thine Iehu replied and said Seeing it is true that thy heart is agreeing vnto mine giue me thy hand and come to me into this charriot where we will talke and communicate of things profitable for vs both This is a wonderfull figure worthy of great attention and consideration seeing that our Lord doeth teach vs by it the great good turnes which hee doth vnto vs and that which in recompence thereof wee are to doe vnto him againe Who is that king Iehu who taketh his iourney from Iudea vnto Samaria to kill and to take vengeance vpon the wicked men which were there but onely the sonne of God who came downe from heauen aboue to destroy our sinnes Assure mee saith Saint Augustine that there be no sinners in the world and I will assure thee that there be no naughty men in the world for as in heauen there is no sinne remitted nor any wicked man there suffered and as contrariwise there is nothing but
without vs and so many feares torment vs within vs. Loe then you see these fiue principal griefs prooued vnto you although it was not needfull to prooue them seeing wee see that all men doe die all men weep that all men are full of sorrow that all men complaine and that all men liue in feare If wee could happily meet with any man now adaies vvho would bind himselfe to keepe vs from these griefes and cure vs of these feares vvhat vvould vvee denie him or vvhat vvould vvee not giue him If we pay bountifully and bee thankfull vnto the Phisitian vvho doth cure vs of one griefe vvhat should vvee pay or giue him or what thankes should vvee render vnto him who vvould cure vs of all Verè languores nostros ipse pertulit dolores nostres ipse portauit sayth Esayas chapter 54. As if hee would say The Redeemer of the vvorld and the heire of all eternities vvas he vvho tooke our infirmities vpon himselfe and did load and burthen himselfe with all our griefes sorrows In old time Esculapius the inuenter of Phisick was much set by the Greekes esteemed of Hipocrates their first Phisitian the Thebanes of Anthony Musa their first surgeon and the Romanes of Archagnatus their first Phisitian whome they adored for a time like an Idoll and in the end stoned him in Campus Martius The Greekes the Romanes the Thebans had neuer such a Phisitian as wee Christians haue of Christ for all other Phisitions of the vvorld can but counsell vs but our great Phisition hath science to counsell experience to cure and power to heale S. Augustine sayth There was neuer any such manner of curing in the world as Christ brought with him because that all other Phisitions before his time if they found any man sicke they left him sicke and if they found him in paine they left him in paine but holy Iesus did neuer lay his band vpon any that was diseased but hee left him whole Hilarius sayth WheÌ„ the Gospell saith of Christ Totum hominem saluum fecit bee spake it not so much for corporall infirmities as hee did for spirituall diseases the which are woont to proceed not of corrupted humours but of sinnes vvhich had taken root S. Ambrose sayth The sonne of God did then heale me of all my griefes when he tooke them vpon himselfe for seeing that they had such possession of me so long time rooted and wxt old in me how was it possible that any man should take them from me if hee had not cast them vpon himselfe Hee did cast my death vpon himselfe when he did die vpon the crosse hee did cast my sorrow vpon himselfe when he was in his agonie he did cast my teares vpon himselfe vvhen hee did vveepe for my sinnes hee did load my griefe vpon his owne backe when hee did taste vineger and gaule and hee did take my feare vpon himselfe when he did feare death like a man When a temporall Phisitian commeth to visite a sicke person hee dooth comply with him by taking him by the pulse and by giuing him a regiment of life and if hee find him to haue an ague hee leaueth him vvith it insomuch that they may better bee called counsellours seeing they doe giue counsell onely than Phisitians seeing they cure not God forbid that any such thing should bee said of our Phisitian seeing that from the time that he came down from heauen to cure the world he himselfe became sicke cured him who was sick and he who was sicke did rise vp aliue and the Phisitian remained there dead and the reason of that was because he changed the health which he brought with him with the sicknesse which the other had O that this exchange was a glorious and happy exchange which thou diddest make with me good Iesus seeing that thou didst change thy goodnesse for my naughtinesse thy clemency for my iustice thy health for my infirmity thy innocency for my malice and thy paine and punishment for my fault And because we haue made mention before of fiue notable paines euils with the which all mortall men are beaten and afflicted it is reason that wee see in this place how the sonne of God did bear our weaknesses vnburdening vs of them and burdening himselfe with them Verè languores nostros ipse pertulit when he said in the garden of Gethsemani my soule is heauy vnto death for with those dolefull words he loaded his soule wâ—â—h my heauinesse and did vnload vpon me all his ioy WheÌ„ did our ioy begin but in his greatest sorrow So long as God did not know by experience what sorrow was we did neuer know what mirth was and from that day that hee began to weepe we began to laugh Hee did truly take our infirmiries vpon him when good Iesus vpon his knees in the garden said vnto his Father Transeat a me calix iste for in that agonie hee did cast all my feare vpon himselfe to the end that I should afterward be lesse timorous Before that God tooke flesh he was feared of all men and did feare no man and wicked man did feare all things and was feared of no body but since the time that Christ like a fearefull man said my soule is sorrowfull and heauy there is no reason that we should fear any thing for his feare was sufficient to make all the world couragious S. Barnard vpon that saying Cum ipso sum in tribulatione sayth Seeing that thou doest bind thy selfe O good Iesus by these words to be alwaies at hand with me and to be by my side when I shall be afflicted and persecuted why or for what cause or whereof should I bee afeard There is no cause to feare the flesh seeing that thou diddest make thy selfe flesh there is no cause to feare the deuill seeing that thou hast ouercome him there is no cause to feare sinne because thou hast brought it to an end there is no cause to feare the world because thou hast ouercome it there is no cause to feare man seeing thou hast redeemed him neither will I feare thee O my good Iesus but loue thee Before that thou diddest make thy selfe man I was man who did feare now I am he who is feared sinne doth feare mee because I admit him not the flesh feareth mee because I cherish him not the diuell feareth me because I beleeue him not and the world feareth me because I follow him not He did then truly take our infirmities vpon him when as vpon the altar of the crosse he did crie with a loud voice and many teares and when hee praied and shed many teares with the which hee did wash away our offences He did then take our infirmities vpon him when as in the last houre he did yeeld vp his ghost Inclinato capite accepting the death which his Father did offer him to transferre life into vs. Damascen sayth From what time did we loose the shame of death but since Christ
did fear death No man ought to maruell that the sonne of God did feare death but that which we should maruell at is that hee made his martyrs not feare death and that they should goe so freely to death seeing that they goe more cheerefully to be martyred than Princes doe goe to be crowned The sonne then doth complaine vnto his Father saying Why hast thou forsaken me because that hauing takē our infirmities sinnes and sorrowes vpon himselfe it is no reason that wee should bee so vngratefull and vnthankfull vnto him CHAP. XI Christ complaineth vnto his Father how badly enuy did vse him and how in Samaria they sold an asse head for fourscore pence and they gaue but thirty for his INuidebant ei fratres sui nec poterant ei quidquam pacificè loqui Genesis 37. chap. The Scripture declaring the great hatred which Iacobs eleuen sons bare vnto their brother Ioseph speaketh these words and the meaning is this The elder brothers did hate the yong very much because his father did loue him best and make most of him and their hatred and enuy grew to that depth that they could not endure to see him nor speake one friendly word vnto him Saint Paul thought that enuy was the root and foundation of the perdion of mankind seeing hee sayth that Propter inuidiam mors intrauit in mundum and therefore it shall be great reason that we declare what enuie is and what hurt it doth and who is Queene of enuy Aristotle sayth That enuy is nothing else but a passion of the mind a mortall anguish to see another man in credite and honour imagining that to be his discredit Horace sayth The greatest griefe that we haue with enuy is that it is not in the eies for so it would bee seene nor in the hands for it would bee felt nor in the tongue for it would bee heard but his chaire and seat is in the secretest place of the heart and mind where it abideth complaining of euery man and tormenting him who possesseth it Menander saith The mother of enuie is swelling pride and cursed ambition and therefore they neuer goe asunder or very seldome but where pride is there is enuy and where enuy there pride S. Augustine sayth Take away enuy and presently all that is mine is thine and all that is thine is mine Origen sayth Enuy doth grow so fast vpon me by reason of the disordinate loue which I beare vnto my owne person for thereby I beare malice vnto my inferiors for feare least they become my equals and I enuy my equals least they goe beyond mee and I spight my superiors because they doe me no good S. Ierome in a Sermon sayth That the difference betwixt a malicious man and an enuious man is that the malicious man doth loue nothing but that that is naught and the enuious man doth hate nothing but that which is good S. Gregory in the fift booke of his Morals sayth The naughty man doth enuy none but such as he seeth in higher estate than himselfe or whom hee seeth to bee of better life than himselfe or whome hee heareth better spoken off than himselfe whereof it insueth that how much the other doth grow encrease in goodnesse so much the enuious man doth vexe and torment himselfe Isidorus sayth Take heed of enuy my brother take heed for it is nothing else but a certaine disease which doth trouble thy sences burneth thy breast gnaweth thy bowels grindeth thy heart wasteth thy life darkeneth thy memory and condemneth thy soule Seneca sayth That a man doth seldome enuy him whom he can ouercome but him whom he cannot vanquish And the selfesame Seneca sayth further It is more expedient for vs to beware of the enuy of our friends than of the hatred and displeasure of our enemies because the enemy carrieth his hatred in his tongue and I take heed of him but because my friend hideth his enuy in his heart it cannot be known nor I cannot beware of him Laertius saith I would to God that all enuious men had their eies scattered ouer all the world that because other mens goods and welfare is a torment vnto them they might bee tormented with so many tortures as they see other mens hap and felicity encrease Diogenes sayth There hath no man liued in this world in fame and credite but hee hath presently felt the worme of enuy whereof it followeth that the poor and miserable man doth only escape the enuious mans hands Demosthenes in an Oration sayth What shall I doe wretched man as I am or whether shall I goe For if I desire to liue in pouerty misery doth weary me and if I chuse to be rich enuie doth torment mee To come then vnto our purpose all this discourse hath tended vnto no other end but to admonish all men of honest life and of a cleane conscience to beware of enny because the Deuill is such a friend vnto this vice that if hee see a man to bee very enuious hee will tempt him with no other sinne Cicero sayth What hath caused all the vvarres which we haue had with strāgers all the dissensions which wee haue had among our selues but aboundance of wealth and the enuy which men haue borne vnto Rome Although Christ vvas poore yet hee vvas hated of the vvicked accused of malice and persecuted vvith enuy But his pouertie being so great as it was and hiding his power as he did wherof should any man enuie him They did not enuy Christ for the feature of his body seeing there vvere other beautifull also nor for his stocke and kindred seeing there vvere others noble also not for his eloquence seeing there were others learned nor for his vvealth seeing there vvere others more vvealthy but that vvhich they did most of all enuy at vvas his Catholicke doctrine vvhich hee did preach and holy life which hee did lead because that none of the Prophets vvhich vvent before him did preach of such high points as hee did nor yet any one of them did liue so sincerely as hee did Saint Augustine vpon those words Sciebat enim quod per inuidiam tradidissent eum sayth The enuy conceiued against good life is more dangerous than that vvhich is bred by reason of our vvealth for if hee bee a naughtie man vvhich is possessed of this vvealth hee vvill endeuour himselfe rather to encrease his substance than amend his life Let vs compare then the enuie vvhich Iacobs sonnes bare vnto their brother Ioseph vvith the enuie vvhich they did beare vnto Christ and vvee shall see how vvell the figure dooth answere vnto the thing figured and the spirit vnto the letter seeing that the one vvas fold by enuie into Aegipt and the other also through enuie crucified Ioseph did mislike his brothers doings and therefore they did enuie him and Christ did not like the Iewes doings and therefore they did hate him and they did persecute Ioseph because hee did accuse them before their