the excesse of admiration and amazement And if this would happen to such as in their owne person had not receiued this benefit from the King but by the only thinking what he had done for another man what may be belieued that it would worke in the hart of that very slaue vnlesse he were franticke for whome that King should so haue dyed Doest thou not thinke that such a knocke of loue as this would awake him would change him would so entitely captiue him to the loue of that King as that he could neuer get leaue of himselfe to conceaue his prayses nor thinke of his merits but with teares Nor employ himselfe vpon any other thing then the expressing of supreme gratitude and loue by doing and suffering for him all that possibly he could Hast thou heard this Parable which in the world did neuer take effect Then (m) A miserable man thou art if this do not mouethee to the very soule know That what the Kings of the earth haue not done that very thing hath beene done by Christ Iesus the King of heauen Of whom S. Iohn (n) Apoc. 19. sayth That in his thigh he carryed this title written King of Kinges and Lord of Lordes For euen as he is man as he hath taken humane nature which is signifyed by the word Thigh so great is his altitude as that it surmounteth all Lords Kings created not only them of this world but (o) The celestiall spirits also of heauen Enioying a Name which is aboue all Names and a height and power of dominion aboue all the highest men and Angells Behold this height which hath no equall and cast downe they eyes to behold that (p) The infinite God for base and sinnefull man basenes for which it suffers And thou wilt see as S. Paul sayth That (q) Rom. 1. we are weake and wicked and traitours against God and his enemyes Which titles are of so much dishonour basenes as that they cast a man backe and downe into the hindmost place and into the lowest price that can be set vpon any creature Since there is nothing so base as to be wicked nor nothing so wicked as a sinner is in respect that he is such Comparing therfore these extremes which are so different of so high a king and so wicked slaues behold now the much that he loued them Come (r) If thou refuse this inuitatioÌ„ thou art vndone hither into the hart of our Lord and if thou haue the eyes of an Eagle heere in matter for them to worke vpon Nay they will not serue thy turne to make thee sufficiently see the brightly burning high heaped loue which inhabited that most holy soule with such extent and latitude that although those highest Angells of heauen for the great power which they haue to Loue are called Seraphims which signifyeth that they are set on fire yet if they had come to mount Caluary at the time when our Lord did suffer there his excessiue loue would haue cast them into wonder in comparison whereof their owne would haue bin no more then meere tepidity For as that most sacred soule possesseth greater altitude and honour then can be had by any other eyther in heauen or earth for as much as instantly vpon the creation thereof it was vnited to the person of the Word of God so was the Holy Ghost infused into it beyond all measure and such degrees of grace and loue were giuen to it that neither they could increase nor could the soule contayne more So that it is with great reason applyed to this most holy soule which is written The (Å¿) Cant. 1. King did place me in the cellar of wine and in me he ordayned Charity Or as we read in another translation he placed his Ensigne or Banner of loue vpon me For in regard that this soule as soon as it was created did clearly see the Diuine Essence and was carryed to it with an vnspeakable force of loue the banner of holy loue was planted on it To giue vs to vnderstand that this soule was the most ouercome by loue that euer man or Angell was either in Heauen or on Earth And (t) They only conquer who are captiued by the loue of our Lord Iesus because in the warre of the loue of God he that is most ouercome is most worthy and most valiant and most happy therefore doth this most blessed soule carry the Ensigne of loue which standes vpon it That al they may know who either on Earth or in Heauen do pretend to loue God that they must follow the conduct of this Lord if they meane to do it well as the disciple would do his maister or the soldiar his captaine since he exceedeth them all in loue as he exceedeth them otherwise in dominion Now since so great a fire of loue was lodged in that most sacred soule it is (u) If thy hart loue deeply it will find meanes to expresse iâ— selfe not strange if the flame fly out and scorch and burne the cloaths which are his most sacred body which was loaden with such torments as giue testimony of the interiour loue For it is written Who shall be able to carry fire in his bosome and that his garment should not be burnt And when thou shalt see that in the exteriour they guide in his handes with cruell ropes thou art to vnderstand that within he is taken prisoner by the nets of loue which are so much stronger then those other as chaynes of iron are beyond threeds of flaxe This (x) Shall we not paâ— such loue with loue loue this was it which defeated him which ouer cam him which tooke him which tost him from Iudge to Iudge and from the torment of scourges to the torment of cruell thornes and which cast the Crosse vpon him first and which carryed him to Mount Caluary where he was after cast vpon the Crosse There stretcht he out his armes abroad to be crucifyed in token that his hart had beene opened by his loue and that so widely towardes all as that the brightly burning and puissant beames of loue did sally out from the center of his hart and went to determine themselues vpon euery (y) wherof thou and I are two man in particuler both such as were past such as were present such as were to come offering vp his life for the good of them all And if (z) Note the high Priest do exteriourly carry the names of the (a) Eâ—â—d 28. twelue Sonnes of Israel written both vpon his shoulders and vpon his breast much more excellently doth this Priest of ours carry men vpon his shoulders by suffering for men And he carryeth them also written in (b) And our Lord make vs able to write him iâ—â—â—tâ— his hart for he doth so cordially loue them that if the first Adam sold them all for an apple and if they sel themselues at a base price and if so
sweetnes which is in God and which is enioyed by the Saints and by the Angells and by God himselfe the Creatour of them all It is a businesse belonging to beasts which thou dost so prize and loue and thy passions are no better then very beastes And so often doest thou cast the most high God vnder the feet of thy most vile beasts as thou doest offend him for carnall pleasures Fly therefore O thou Virgin from a thing so infamous as this and ascend thou vp to the mount of prayer and beseech our Lord that he will giue thee some tast of himselfe that thy soule being strengthned by the sweetnes that distills from him thou mayst despise those durty pleasures which inhabit flesh and bloud Then wilt thou haue a cordiall and deep compassion of them who go casting themselues away through the bâ—senes of the durty vallies of a bestiall life And (n) Thou hast a hart of stone if this do not moue thee being all amaz'd thou wilt cry out O you men and what is it that you loose And for what The most sweet God for most stinking flesh bloud And what payne do they deserue for so (o) False weights are an aâ—hâ—min â—ioÌ„ to God and how false are these which make vayne empty creatures to outweigh the God of eternall glory false weights and measures but eternall torment and of that they shall infallibly be sure CHAP. X. Of many other meanes which we are to vse when this cruell Enemy doth assault vs with his first blowes THE aduises which thou hast already heard by way of remedy of this infirmity are thinges which ordinarily thou must vse though it be not in the tyme of tentation Hearken now to that which thou art to do when it sets vpon thee by giuing thee the first blow Then blesse thy (a) Diuers profitable and practicall remedyes against temptations of sense forehead or thy hart with the signe of the Crosse calling with deuotion vpon the holy name of Iesus Christ and say Not I I sell not God so good cheape O Lord thou art more worth and I loue thee more then so If (b) Note the tentation do not then giue ouer descend with thy thoughts into hell and behold how terribly that liuing fire doth burne and maketh those miserable creaturs which were heere inflamed with the fire of lust cry out and howle and blaspheme why lest in the meane tyme the sentence of God is executed vpon them which sayth Let (c) Apoc. 18. somuch torment and desolation be laid vpon them as they glorifyed themselues in their delights Be thou astonished at the grieuousnes of the punishment though yet withall it be most iust that the pleasure of one moment should be chastized with eternall torments And say within thyselfe as S. Gregory doth Momentary is that which delighteth but eternall is that which tormenteth If this contemplation help thee not send vp thy hart to heauen and represent to it the purity of that Chastity which remayneth in that happy Citty where no beast can haue any entrance I meane no person that is bestiall And there continue thou for some time till thou mayst find strength of spirit and so that heere thou mayst abhorre that which there is so abhorred through the loue of God It doth also help to suppose that thy body were in the graue and to behold at leasure how miserable and stincking the bodies of men and woman are there to be So also is it good to go instantly to Christ Iesus nayled vpon the Crosse and especially as he is tyed to the pillar and whipped and bathed in bloud from head to foote and then to say with a deepe internall groane Thy virgineall and diuine body O Lord so tormented and so loaden with grieuous paynes and that I should put myne into pleasure this were worthy of all rigorous punishment Since thou with scourges so full oâ— cruelty doest pay for the delightes which men take in offence of thy law I will not O Lord delight my selfe so much to thy cost In like manner will it auayle to represent thy selfe instantly in presence of the most pure Virgin Mary considering the purity and integrity both of her body mind and instantly to abhorre the dishonest thought which came to thee as darknesse is driuen away by the approach of light But (d) Pray to God to giue thee grace to practise this aboue all if thou canst shut the dore of thy vnderstanding and shut it well as we vse to do in the most internall recollection of our prayer as hereafter we will declare thou shalt find help at hand with more facility then by al those other remedies For it happens many tyms that by opening the dore to a secoÌ„d good thoght an ill one doth vse to enter in but keeping out both the one the other it is a turning from the enemy not opening the dore till he be gone and so he is put to a scorne So doth it also help to spread the armes into the forme of a crosse to beÌ„d the knees and to beate the breast But that which most importes or at least as much as all the rest togeather is to (e) The deuout receauing of the B. SacrameÌ„t is the most soueraigne remedy against tentations of sense receiue with due preparation the holy body of Christ Iesus our Lord which was formed by the holy Ghost is very far estranged from all impurity This is an admirable remedy against those mischeifes which would grow vpon vs by occasion of our flesh conceyued in sinne And if we could well ponder the blessing that we receyue by the comming of Christ Iesus into vs we should esteeme our selues to be as so many pretious Reliquaries and we would fly from all kind of filthynesse for the honour of him whome we had receiued What (f) Read this with great feeling hart can any one haue to prophane his body when it hath byn honoured so far as to close with the most holy body of God humaned what greater obligation could haue byn cast vpon me what more forcible motiue cold haue byn offered to make me liue inpurity then to behold with myne eyes to touch with my hands to receyue with my mouth to ledge in my breast the most pure body of Iesus Christ He vouchsafing me that vnspeakeable honour to the end that I might not descend to basenesse and knitting me to himselfe and consecrating me as a place into which he vouchsafes to enter How then with what body shall I endure to offend our Lord. since he being the authour of purity hath entred into the same body I haue fedd vpon him and fedd with him at the same table and shall I now be a traytour to him No I will neuer be so for the whole world Thus is it fit that we esteeme this fauour to the end that we may haue a crown put vpon this weake and frayle condition of ours
particuler endeauours and remedies He therefore that shall find himselfe subiect to this necessity must in the first place treate his body with seuerity by lessening both food sleep and by giuing it a hard bed hayr-clothes other conuenient helps of this kind whereby it may be afflicted For (l) HarkeÌ„ to this holy Father though he were no Protestant S Hierome saith By fasting the plague of this body of ours is cured and S. Hilarion spake thus to his flesh and bloud I will tame thee and take order that thou shalt not kiâ—ke but that through hunger and payne thou maist haue more mind of mâ—ate then lust And S. Hierome counselleth Eustochium the Virgin That although she had bin brought vp in daynty fare yet she should be very carefull to vse abstinence in diet and not to abstayne from giuing the body further troubles assuring her that without taking of this course she would not be able to make good the possession of chastity Yf by occasion of such pennance the body should grow to weakenesse and the health to preiudice the same S. Hierome maketh answeare in another place That it were better the stomacke should suffer then the soule and to commaund the body then to be subiect to it and that the legges were better to treÌ„ble for weakenesse then that chastity should reele for lacke of strength It is true indeed that in another place he withall requires That the fasting be not so excessiue as to weaken the stomacke yet againe in another place he reprehendeth some whome he had knowne to haue runne hazard of loosing their wittes through the excesse of fasting absteyning In this it is impossible to giue a general rule that may square with all For (m) It is therfore necessary to haue often recourse to his ghostly Father some find help by one meanes another not some one may be hurt by it in his health and not another And one thing it is when the warre is so great as to place a man in daunger of loosing his Chastity for in that case it is fit to put the body to any inconuenience that the soule may so be able to remaine with life and another thing it is for a man to struggle with a moderate tentation whereby he feareth not so much danger nor for the conquest thereof is in necessity of taking so much paynes Now for the vsing of the most conuenient help in such occasions it will much depend vpon the discreet conduct of him that guides the person tempted who are both to pray with al humility to our Lord that heerin he will impart some light And since thâ— vessel n 1. Cor. â— of Election S Paul did not trust his flesh and bloud o S. Paul was no ProtestaÌ„t both because he thought it necessary to chastize beat his body and for that he made not himselfe sure of his saluation as these others doe but that he punished and made it subiect least preaching vertue to others himself might become vicious by falling into sinne how shall we conceaue that we can be chaste without chastizing our body since we haue both lesse vertue and greater causes of feare then he Very p Note hardly is humility held fast in the middest of honours temperance in the middest of abundance chastity in the middest of delicacies And if he should be worthy of derision who procuring to quench the fyre wherein his house were burning would cast in a supply of more dry wood much more worthily shall he be derided who on the one side desyreth chastity and on the other stuffes his skin with curious and choice meates and giues himselfe moreouer to idlenesse For these things doe not only not quench the fire which already is kindled but would suffice to kindle it euen where it were already quenched And since the Prophet q Ezech. 1â— Ezechiel is a witnesse to vs that the cause why that vnfortunate Citty of Sodome grew vp to the highest of that abominable sin was the r AboundaÌ„ce and Idlenes are the mother and the nurse of lust fullnesse aboundance of bread and the idlenesse wherein they spent their tyme who will now presume to liue in idlenesse or in delicacyes yea or euen to see them though but a far off For as much as these things which in them were able to produce that greater sinne with facility will be able to induce vs to commit the lesser Let such an one therefore as is a friend to Chastity loue Temperance and the ill treating of his body For if he would haue the one without the other it will not proue with him but rather he will be depriued of both For those thinges which God did ioyne man should not desire to separate neyther shall he be able though he would CHAP. VI. Of two causes that there are of sensuall tentations what meanes we must vse against them when they rise from the Malice of the Diuell VVE are much to marke that the remedy of which I haue spoken in afflicting the body is wont to help when the tentation springeth from the body as it vseth to do in young men who haue good health and haue vsed to regale themselues Then a According to the seuerall root motiue of the tentation so is the remedy to be applyed I say it is fit to reforme the body when the roote of the infirmity riseth thence But sometymes the tentation groweth by meanes of the Diuell and it may partly be perceaued by this that it fighteth with vs more by thoughts foule imaginations of the mind then by impure motions of the body Or if you find these later also in your body it is not because the tentation began there but hauing begun by thoughts it groweth at last to result into the exteriour Which exteriour of the body being sometymes extremely weake and little better then dead euill thoughts are yet now and then most liuely in it as it happened to S. Hierome according to his owne relation It is also another signe that such tentations are of the Diuell when they come vpon a suddayne and when a man giueth least occasion or hath cause to expect them least Nor b There is no sin at all if no occasion nor coÌ„sent be giuen nor pleasure taken in the suggestioÌ„ of carnall thoughts can he as it may happen obserue due reuerence in the very tymes of his Prayer no nor at the Altar nor in other holy places where yet euen a very wicked man would coÌ„sider where he were abstayn from thinking of such things Sometymes c Note these thoughts are such in quality and so many in number as that a man neuer knew nor heard nor imagined any such things as do then present themselues And by the force wherewith they come and by the very things themselues which interiourly are told him a man findes that they spring not from himselfe but that
But (g) Tremble and take heed if we receiue him ill or do not serue our selues wel of this benefit iust the contrary effect doth follow and such an one shall find himselfe more enthralled by dishonesty then he was before he communicated If with all these considerations and remedies this bestiall flesh grow not quiet thou art to vse it like a beast laying good sound loads vpon it since it will not hearken to so iust reason Some find helpe by pinching themselues very hard in memory of the excessiue paine which those nayles did cause to Christ Iesus our Lord Others by whipping themselues seuerely calling so to mind how our Lord was scourged others with spreading their armes into the forme of a Crosse others with fixing their eyes on heauen others with beating their face and such other thinges as these which put the flesh to paine for at that tyme she vnderstands no other language This (h) The example of Saints is the manner which by reading we find that the Saintes did hold wherof one did strip himselfe starck naked and did all tumble in thorny bushes and so by meanes of his bloudy and afflicted body the warre which was made against his soule did end Another did cast himselfe in the depth of winter into a poole of water which was extreamly cold wherein he stayed till the body came forth halfe dead but the soule was freed from all danger Another thrust his fingers into the fyre and with burning them that other fyre which tormented his soule was quenched And a martyr there was who being bound hand and foote then tempted to vnlawful pleasure by cutting of his owne tongue with his owne teeth became victorious in that combate And although some of these things are not to be imitated because they were inspired by particuler instinct of the holy Ghost and not by the ordinary law vnder which we liue yet hereby we may learne That in the tyme of spirituall warre when there is question or hazard of the soule we are not to be lazy or to expect till our enemyes do giue vs thrustes but we must leape backe from sinne as from the face of a serpent as sayth the Scripture and euery one must apply that remedy to himselfe wherein he findes most profit according to the addresse which shall be giuen him by his prudent Ghostly Father CHAP. XI Of other meanes besides the former whereby some grow to loose their Chastity that we may fly from them if we aâ—so will not loose ours and by what meanes we may strengthen our selues NO care or labour though neuer so great which is employed towards the proseruatioÌ„ of Chastity will be esteemed too much by any if he know how to put the true price vpon the merit and reward thereof Now since our Lord hath made thee vnderstand the valew of this treasure hath giuen thee grace both to choose it and to make (a) This Ladv had vowed Chastity promise therof againe to him I shall not be put into so much necessity to declare the excellency thereof as to giue thee good directions how thou mayst be sure not to loose it and to tell thee of some errours besides the former through which it is lost by others that so thou knowing them mayst auoyde them least thou also come to loose it and thy selfe with it Some (b) Of the diuers wayes whereby chastity groweth to be lost loose it in respect that hauing fierce violent inclinations against it and they on the other side being not earnest in making such a continuall and sharp warre against themselues do with a miserable resolution deliuer themselues ouer bound hand and foot to the will of their enemyes Not considering that the purpose of a (c) A noble word for a Christian to write in his hart â—ither to couqâ—er sinne or to dye in the battaiâ—s Christian is to be either to dye or els to ouercome by meanes of his grace who helpeth such as fight for his honour Others there are who although they be not greatly tempted haue yet naturally a certaine basenes straitnes of hart which is inclined to vile poore things And for as much as this pleasur is one of the most vile poore most at hand they quickly find meanes to meet with it to bestow themselues vpon it as a thing that is proportionable to the basenes poornesse of their owne hart which doth not rayse it selfe so high as to imbrace a life of such men as are ruled euen by naturall reason Which alone taught one so good a lesson as to make him say That in carnall pleasures there was nothing worthy of a magnanimous hart And another sayd That the life which consists in carnall pleasure is a life of beasts For not only doth the light of heauen but euen that of naturall reason condemne such as employ themselues vpon this basenes as people who liue not in the circle of men whose life must be agreable to reason but of beasts whose very life is sensuall appetite And if iustice might be done there would be a great deale of cause to take away the name of men from these fellowes in regard that although they haue the shape of men they yet lead a life of beasts are the true dishonour and reproach of men Nor would (d) How strang this is and yet after a sort it is dayly seene it be a thing moderatly strange or giue small wonder to them that saw it if a beast should lead a man bridled vp and downe and carry him whither it would directing him who ought to gouerne it And yet there are so many ruled by the bridle of bestiall appetite both of high and low condition that I know not whether it is through the multitude thereof that it cannot be so easily discerned Or els I rather belieue that it is because there are few who haue light to see how miserable a soule in a body is when it is killed by carnall pleasures and the more if that body be fresh and fayre O how many soules of these and others are burning in this infernal fire nor is there any to cast tears of compassion vpon them or to say with their hart To (e) Iod. 1. thee O Lord will I cry out because the fire hath denoured the beautifull thinges of the desert For (f) Note certainly if we had amongst vs of those (g) Luc 7. widdowes of Naim who would bitterly bewayle their dead children Christ would vse mercy for the reuiuing them in soule as he did the body of that widdowes sonne who is mentioned in the Ghospell It is not his part to sleep who hath the office in the Church to pray and intercede for the people with the tendernes of a Mother Least God do chastize both him them saying (h) Ezech. 22. I sought among them for a man who might place himself as a wall (i) See the infinit
and earth A good witnesse of this may the glorious S. Hierome be who relates of himselfe such extreme afflictions by temptation of the flesh as reduced him to so great extremity that neither great fasting nor large watching nor sleeping vpon the ground nor that his body was euen halfe dead could deliuer him from the same But then as a man depriued entirely of all succour and finding no remedy in any remedy he cast himselfe at the feet of Iesus Christ our Lord and made him (e) He alludeth to S. Mary Magdalen a bath of his teares and wiped them with the hayre of his deuout thoughts Yea and sometymes it happened that he spent whole dayes and whole nights in crying out after Christ In (f) God is a liberall rewarder of his seruants if indeed they be his seruants the end he was heard God gaue him the desire of his hart with so great serenity and spirituall consolation that it seemed to him as if he were assisting among the quires of Angells In this sort doth God relieue such as call vpon him with entire affection and who remaine faythfull in the warre till he send them succour And (g) The inuocatâ—oÌ„ of Saints is very vsefull especially of the immaculate Mother of God not only must we inuoke God to fauour vs but the Saints also who are signified by the Mountaynes spoken of heere by Dauid especially must the most pure Virgin be called more vpon then any of them Importuning her with seruices and prayers that she will obtayne this blessing for vs. And these seruices she will receaue and these prayers will she gladly heare as a true louer of that which we desire by her meanes I haue in most particuler manner seen great fauours obtayned through the meanes of this â—lessed Lady by persons troubled with the temptations of sense with (h) The deuotion to the sacred and immaculate conception of the Mother of God is much most worthily recommended by this Holy Authour hauing offered some prayers to her in memory of that purity wherin she was conceaued without originall sinne and of that virginall chastity wherewith she did conceaue the Sonne of God Take therefore this B. Lady for thy particuler aduocate to the end that by her prayers she may obtayne and conserue purity in thee And consider that if among the women of this world we find some who are such friends to honesly as that to the vttermost of their power they assist and protect any creature that will forsake the basenesse of the contrary vice and walke on by the purity of chastity how much more incomparably is it to be hoped of this most pure Virgin of Virgins that she wil cast her eyes and her eares vpon the seruices and prayers of such as desire to preserue chastity which she so cordially loues Be therefore sure that thou abound in desire of this blessing Fayle not of confidence in Christ nor of earnest prayer nor other endeauours as hath beene sayd For neither in his Saints will there be wanting any loue or care to pray for vs nor mercy from heauen for the graunting of this guift which God only giues And his pleasure is that euery one who receaueth it should know that of him they haue it and they are to giue him glory for the same since in all reason it is so due to him CHAP. XV. How our Lord disposeth not equally of the guift of Chastity vnto all because to some he giueth it only in their soules and of the great profit which the temptations against Chastity do bring if they be well borne IT is to be considered with attention that God doth not equally impart this guift to all but with difference according to the pleasure of his holy will For to some he giueth more and to others lesse To some he giueth chastity in the soule only which is A deliberate and firme resolution not to fall into the contrary vice for the whole world but yet togeather with this good purpose such an one may haue foule imaginations in his mind and painefull temptations in the sensitiue part of his soule Which although they cannot draw the reasonable part to consent to sinne yet do they afflict her and giue her inough to do in defending her selfe against their importunityes This (i) A good picture of the present case carryeth some resemblance to that of Moyses and the people For he being in the top of the mountaine in the company of God the base people were at the foot thereof adoring I dolls But whosoeuer is in the state aforesayd must giue great thankes to our Lord for the fauour that he hath vouchsafed to his soule and he must patiently suffer the little obedience which is performed to him by his sensitiue part For (k) Note as if only Eue had eaten of the forbidden tree Original sinne had not beene committed vnles Adam also had consented and eaten thereof so whilest the good purpose of not coÌ„senting to any thing that is euill doth raigne in the superiour part of the soule it is not in the power of the sensitiue part how much soeuer it (l) That is how much soeuer it sollicite vs. eate to produce a mortall sinne since the (m) That is Reason man consents not to it but it is displeasing to him he repreheÌ„deth it wherby thou seest that thou art to be very carefull not to suffer these imaginations or motions to remayne in thee but to driue them away For he that seeth the danger wherein he is by keeping that fyre of hell within himself and by cherishing that serpent in his bosome especially (n) Note this and note it well if he haue obserued at other tymes that from thence hath vsed to growe a consent to do that euill worke or to take pleasure in that vicious delight such negligence is adiudged to be a mortall sinne since when he saw the danger he loued it by not driuing it away But as long as there is a purpose aliue of not consenting to the euill worke or to the euill delight but to resist although weakely when thou seest the daunger wherein thou art thou art to thinke that our Lord did not suffer thee to fall into mortall sinne And because herein it is very hard to giue a cleare sentence without particuler information of him that suffers the temptation it (o) No security of light vnder God without aduising with a good Ghostly Fathâ—â—â— is fit to acquaint the learned Ghostly Father with it and to take his counsell And if notwithstanding all this it offend any man to suffer so continuall warre within himselfe let him consider that by the trouble of temptations the sinnes which he hath committed are purged and man is animated towardes a better seruing of God when he seeth that he hath more need of him And (p) 〈…〉 humble by the importunity of the temptations of sense as madd as we are we
arriue to man Hereby God gained more honour then by hauing created heauen and earth and all that is therein And therefore this worke is for the eminency and excellency of it called the work of God as our Lord sayd This is my foode to do the will of my Father in my finishing his worke which is the redemption of men Not but that God hath wrought other workes but because the Inâ—ernation and redemption which follow hereupon is the greatest worke of them all and that which he prizeth most as the thing whereby he receiueth most honour For (h) The same excellent discourse continued although to haue scourged Egypt for the loue of his people and to haue drawne it out from thence to haue conducted it through the desert did giue honour to God as Isaias saith yet already thou canst not chuse but see which is the more high and heroicall act of loue for God to whip his enemies for the loue of his people or to suffer himselfe to be scourged in his owne flesh for the loue both of his domestiques and of strangers and both of his friends and of his enemies One thing it is for God to carry his children through the desert like an eagle that would teach his yong ones how to fly taking them vp vpon his shoulders when they are weary that so they might vnweary themselues whylest yet God groweth not weary thereby and another thing it is to ouerloade his owne shoulders with a heauy Crosse which did euen flea them of their skin togeather with all the sinnes of the whole world which like the beame of a wyne-presse did straine him so far as to depriue him of life vpon the same Crosse and this to the end that men might be out of paine Who is he that will not discerne that this was a most excellent heroicall act of loue the like whereof was neuer seene which gaue more honour to God then all that was past That other was to him but a common thing and there was no need of so great loue for the doing of it But this later was a busines that would haue byn imbraced by few and hardly wil there be found a man vpon earth who would suffer himself to be publikely whipped or put to death for any good man or any frend And yet if such a man could be found there would still be no comparison to be made betweene that and the much that our Lord did loue and suffer for vs. For he hath no equal Nor is it to be greatly meruaâ—led at if a Lion carry himselfe like a Lion but that a Lion should be content to suffer like a Lambe and that the only cause therof should be his loue this is a busines of a strang extent and worthy of eternall honour And since in former tymes they sayd Let (i) Exod. 15. vs sing vnto our Lord for he hath byn magnified in a glorious manner Let vs also say with a most profound gratitude Let vs sing vnto our Lord who hath byn magnifyed in a most humble manner For as much as formerly God did neither abase himselfe nor take paines in the ease which he gaue vs nor although he imparted riches did he impouerish himselfe but here he impouerished himselfe he did sweat yea he abased himselfe to death and death of the Crosse to raise his seruantes from sinne and to conduct them to heauen and he preuailed in his enterprize and that which Isaias (k) Isa 55. sayd was fulfilled that insteed of the little shrubbe there should grow the Firre-tree and insteed of the nettle there should grow the myrtle And that our Lord should be renowned by an eternall token which shall neuer be taken away For the honour which God did gayne in placing of of this signe which is the Crosse and to dy thereon and to make men good of bad shall last for euer and there shall none be able to ouerthrow it CHAP. XLI That not only the glory of our Lord doth shine in the humble thinges of God which our Faith teacheth but also our owne great profit our strength and vertue NOT (a) He stil prosecuteth the same excelleÌ„t discourse in an excellent manner only doth the honour of God shine after an excellent manner in the workes of his humanity and humility but from thence also doth result the great profit and glory of man whome nothing doth so much exalte as that God hath put himselfe into Brotherhood with him Nor is there any thing which doth so much strengthen his hart against the swooning afflictions which sinne causeth in it as to see that God died for the remedy thereof and that he gaue himselfe to man as his owne Nor is there any thing which can so mooue him to loue God as to see himselfe beloued by him euen to the death nor to make a man despise prosperity or suffer aduersity nor to humble himselfe to God and to his Neighbour nor indeed to any good thing be it great or smal as to see God abased humaned that he was pleased to passe through these thinges giuing vs commandements to performe examples to behold and strength to go through And since this way of remedying our humility and basenes turneth more to the glory of God and to the good of men it is a signe that this is a worke of God since in that which God worketh he pretendeth the manifestation of his owne glory and mans good And therefore he that either denyeth this worke or hindreth it is an enemy of God and of all mankind Since thereby he will depriue God of the greatest honour which by his workes can come to him and man of the greatest glory and benefit that can be imagined And since he declareth himself as an enemy both to God and man it is but reason that he be punished and that with eternall death in hell And the answere that he will be able to giue when God shall aske him this question Why (b) Read this with great attention didst thou not belieue those high things of me must be this Because O Lord they seemed so high to me that I did not thinke thou hadst been so high And being asked why he did not belieue those mysteryes of his humanity and humility since they were the testimonyes of his goodnes of his loue he must answere That he did not thinke the loue and goodnes of our Lord to haue beene so great that he could find in his hart to do and suffer so much for the loue of men So that he stumbleth both vpon the high and vpon the low And the roote of all is because he thinketh basely of God And that he tooke his height and his goodnes to be a limitted kind of thinge Which root and that which proceeds thereof shall iustly burne in the fire of hell as being iniurious to the most high God whom it doth diminish and confine with in a certaine narrow compasse How much better
themselues esteeming that they are somewhat and resting so vpon their owne strength To this soule therfore the Spouse doth say If thou dost not know thy selfe get thee out and see the footsteps of thy heards of Cattell Which is as much as if he had sayd that he gaue herâ—â—uer to follow the trace and workes of sinners who commit iniquity by troopes like heardes of Cattel one helping on the other And (d) Companions in sinne companionâ— in torment so also at the last day shall they be tyed vp in bundles to be iointly burnt in the fire of hell who heere haue iointly giuen themselues to sinne And the spouse to such a soule doth say Thy heardes because sin is of vs and not of God and the good that we do is of God and not of vs since we do it by vertue of him Now this he is resolued that we should soundly know to be so not so much for that which it importeth him whose glory in himselfe is not increased although he be glorifyed by vs but for that which concerneth vs for whose good it makes and that greatly to know that the honour of all the good we haue or do must be ascribed to him and not to vs. And if of that which he placed in vs for his owne prayse we will erect an Idoll by attributing the glory of the incorruptible God to our selues who are corruptible men he will not suffer it to passe vnpunished but will say Continue thou with that which is thyne and perish since thou wouldest not remaine in me who had a mind to saue thee from perishing O with how (e) Read take heed and tremble high Truth are these words accomplished in proud men and how soone do they grow from being spirituall to be carnall from being recollected to be dissolute from being gold to be durt And they who were wont to feed vpon the bread of heauen with gust do afterwards take pleasure to eat the food of swine And it groweth to be afflictiue to theÌ„ not only to do the works of God but euen to heare men speak of him Whence doest thou thinke it did proceed that some persons who were chast in their youth although they were assaulted with stinging temptations when they came into old age haue miserably fallen into such deformed vilenes of this kind as that they were amazed and euen did abhorre themselues The cause was this In their youth they liued with holy feare and with humility and finding themselues so vpon the brimme of falling they called vpon God and were defended by him But (f) The fruit of pride when afterward vpon a long possession of the chastity which they had they grew to be high fed and to confide in themselues at that very instant were they forsaken by the hand of God and did that which was proper to themselues which was to fall And so is it accomplished That they feede their kiddes which are their light and dishonest appetites neere the Tentes of the sheepheardes which are the bodies of the creatures of God For in them they dwell as if it were in a Tente which is set vp in a field to be remooued vpon euery short warning and not as in a house or Citty of rest And so they are sayd with much reason to feede their senses vpon bodies and thinges belonging to the body because by their pride they lost the true sense which they had belieuing otherwise of themselues then they are which is indeed but to be sinners and good for nothing of themselues and robbing God of that glory which doth so duly and truly belong to him for all the good which we doe at all Awake therfore O daughter and be warned by the hurt of others and serue thy selfe of the threat least otherwise thou be put to feele the smart And be thou like the spouse to whome this speach was vsed who hearing so sad a word of Go thy wayes and see to fall from his mouth from whome all good thinges proceed she considered and she knew herselfe and she cast off certayne presumptions to which formerly she had beene subiect Being thus humbled by this reprehension the spouse doth comfort (g) Cant. 5. her by saying I haue resembled thee O thou my friend to my troopes of horse amongst Pharaos Chariots thy cheekes are fayre as of a Turtle By pride a man growes like the Diuell who as the Ghospell sayth did not remaine in the Truth which is God but did resolue to subsist in himselfe and vpon himselfe to leane and rest and so he fell For a creature cannot subsist in himselfe but in God And on the other side a man by the humble knowledge of himself growes like to those good Angells who did cast themselues vpon God and vntied themselues from themselues For they saw that they were but as a kind of broken reed so God vpheld them and confirmed them And they cryed out saying Michael which signifyeth Who like to God Wherein they contradicted the wretched Lucifer and his followers who would needes make Idolls of themselues ascribing that to themselues which did belong to God which is To be the beginning and the protection and the entiere repose of all creatures Not as if they conceaued that this could be they who knew themselues to be creatures but because they tooke pleasure in it as if so it had beene As proud men vse to do who although with the mouth or vnderstanding they crye out that they hold and hope for all their good from God yet by (h) Note and take heed their will they exalt themselues and they vainely reioyce in themselues as if of themselues they had that good Confessing with their vnderstanding that the glory is due to God but robbing him of it by the will But those good Angells cry out both with the will and vnderstanding Who like to God For with their harts they did humble and disesteeme themselues as they knew by their vnderstanding that they were to do And for this they were exalted to the participation of God without so much as a possibility of euer loosing it Now to these troupes of horse which is the Angelical army that destroyed Pharao and his chariots in the red sea Christ compareth his Spouse when she is content to know measure her selfe he praiseth her cheekes wherein she vseth to shew bashfullnesse For the spouse was ashamed of that reprehension as hauing demanded higher thinges then were conuenient for her meanenesse And her cheekes of bold grew bashfull and chast as of the turtle which is an honest and a modest bird And for this it was that the deuout S. Bernard (i) S. Bernâ—â— was therefore no Protestant sayd That he had found by experience that nothing was more profitable for the obtayning conseruing or reconering of grace then euer to liue in feare and holy care When (k) A Christian must euer liue with a holy kind of feare and
it shall be to night or to morrow and since it must certainly come it is reason that I take it into my thought Consider how thou shalt fall into thy bed and how thou must sweate that sweat of death Thy breast shall beate and rise vpward the very stringes of thyne eyes shal breake the colour of thy face shal vanish and through the excesse of payne that so friendly society of thy body and soule shall be cut off They shall prepare thy body for buriall lay it vpon a Beare and they shall carry thee to the earth some weeping and others singing they shall cast thee into a strait graue and load thee with dust and when they haue troaden well vpon thee thou shalt remaine alone and be soon forgotten Consider all this by which thou must passe and thinke what kind of thing thy body will be vnder ground and how soon it will come to such a passe as that whosoeuer he be that loues thee most will not endure to see thee or smell thee or come neere thee Behould then with attention to what end this flesh and the glory of it doth arriue and thou wilt see what fooles they are who being to go out of the world so poore do now walke on with so much anxiety of being rich and being so soone to be so defeated and forgotten haue such thirst to ranke theÌ„selues in higher places then others how deeply they are deceaued who regale their body and walke in conformity of their desires since therby they haue done nothing but make themselues cookes for wormes being curious to dresse the meate which they are to eate and the whyle they haue made by those short delights a purchase of certaine tormeÌ„ts which shall neuer end Consider and behold with great attention and leasure thy body stretched a long in thy graue and making account that already thou art there procure to mortify thy desires of flesh bloud as often as they shall come to thy mind and so also mortify thy desires of pleasing or fearing to displease the world and of making any reckoning of whatsoeuer thing is most flourishing since thou art to leaue both it and thy selfe so suddenly and so miserably And considering how thy body when first it shall haue beene fed vpon by wormes will be conuerted into filth dust do not thinke of it heereafter but as of a dunghill couered with snow the very remembrance whereof may turne thy stomacke And possessing thy body in this manner thou wilt not be deceaued in the estimation thereof but thou shalt obtayne the true knowledge of it and shalt vnderstand how thou art to gouerne it looking forward vpon the full point to which it must arriue as he that placeth himselfe in the poope of the ship that so he may direct it the better CHAP. LXI Of that which is to be considered in the meditation of Death about that which shall happen to the soule that so we may profit the more in the knowledge of our selues TO this (a) A most singular discourse which thou hast heard is thy body to arriue it remaines that thou heare what shall happen to thy soule which in that houre of thy death wil be full of anguish by the remembrance of those offences which in thy life thou hast committed against our Lord. And those thinges seeming grieuous at that tyme which before thou thoughtst to be of little moment it wil be depriued of the vse of thy senses nor will thy tongue serue thee for the asking succour of our Lord. Thy vnderstanding will grow so darke as that thou wilt scarce be able to thinke of God and in a word by little and little the end of that houre draweth on wherein by the commaundement of God thy soule is to spring out of thy body and when that resolution concerning it must be taken which shall fasten it either vpon eternall damnation or eternall saluation It must heare from the mouth of God eyther Depart from me to eternall torment or remaine with me in state of saluation either inpurgatory or in Paradise Thou art to be wholy depending vpon the hand of God and of him only thou mayst hope for remedy and therfore thou oughtest in thy life tyme to fly farre from offending him of whome then thou art to haue so much need The Diuells will not be wanting to accuse thee and demaund iustice of God against thy soule laying particulerly to thy charge euery sinne which thou hast committed and if then the mercy of God forget thee what wilt thou be able to do thou poore weake sheepe being enuironed by those rauenous wolues who are so full of desyre to swallow thee vp Consider then in this tyme of thy recollection how in that straite passage thou art to be presented before the iudgement of God all naked and (b) There is no company in death but the good or euill which we shall haue done depriued of all thinges sauing only that thou shalt be accompanied by the good which thou hast wrought or by the euill which thou hast committed and say to our Lord that now thou doest willingly present thy self to him to the end that thou maâ—est obteyne mercy in that other houre when perforce thou art to part out of the world Make (c) Help thy selfe to be confounded with sham sorrow for thy sinnes by these coÌ„parisons account that thou art some theefe who is taken in the manner whilest he is stealing whom they present with his handes bound before the Iudge Or else that thou art some woman whose husband found her dishonouring his bed and who through the excesse of confusion knoweth not how so much as to lift vp her eyes and much lesse how to deny the fact And do thou belieue that God hath much more cleerely seene all that wherein thou hast euer offended him then any eyes of man can see that which is done before him And be thou full of shame for hauing bin so wicked in the presence of so great a goodnesse Couer thy selfe with that very shame which before thou didest loose and procure to find in thy selfe confusion for thy sinnes as one that standes in the presence of her soueraigne Lord and Iudge Accuse thy selfe then as thou shalt afterward be accused and especially draw to thy memory the most greiuous of those synnes which thou hast committed though if they should be sinnes of the flesh it is safer for thee not to detaine thy selfe very particulerly vpon them but only do it all in grosse as of a thing that stinckes and the beholding whereof doth greately amaze thee Iudge thy selfe and sentence thy selfe for wicked and cast downe thyne eyes vpon those fyres of hell belieuing that thou hast well deserued them Lay (d) If thou haue a generous noble hart this thought will pierce it on the one syde the blessings which God hath bestowed vpon thee from the time of thy Creation walking with thy
afflictions most gladly didst thou resolue to suffer them because thereby thou diddest remoue ours Thou art he who saidst to thy beloued (b) Lue. 22. Apostles a little before thy Passion With (c) Note wonder at these wordes desyre haue I desyred to cate this paschall with you before I suffer Thou art he who saidst before (d) Lue. 12. I came into the world that I might bring fyre what do I desyre but that it should burne With a baptisme I am to be baptized and how am I straitned till it be effected This fyre of the loue of thee which thou desyrest may be kindled till it may inflame and burne vs wholy vp and till it transforme vs into thee thou still art blowing by the blessings which by thy life thou bestowedst on vs thou makest it burne by the death which thou enduredst for vs. And who amongst vs is so well natured as that he would haue loued thee vnles thou hadst died for the loue of vs therby to giue vs life who are dead for lacke of louing thee But now who wil be wood so cold and moist as that seeing thee so faire and flourishing a tree wherof whosoeuer doth eate shall liue to be thus kindled vpon the Crosse burnt vp by that fyre of tormentes which they gaue thee and yet more by that loue wherewith thou sufferedst them he will not yet be kindled now at last to loue thee and to do it euen to the death Who wil be so deadly obstinate as to shut himselfe vp against that importunate (e) Our Lord Iesus doth make no other suit to vs but that we will loue him only it must be with true loue request wherein thou didst persist from the tyme that thou wert borne of the wombe of the B. Virgin and that she tooke thee into her armes and layd thee in the maunger till the same handes and armes of hers tooke thee agayne when being dead thou wert taken from the Crosse and wert deliuered ouer to the holy Sepulcher as into another wombe Thou (f) Note didst burne thy selfe that we might not freeze in the cold Thou didst weep that we might reioyce Thou didst suffer that we might repose and thou wert baptized euen by the sheading of thy bloud that we might be washed from our sinnes and yet thou saydst withall O Lord How do I liue in the straitnes of affliction till this Baptisme be accomplished Giuing vs thereby to vnderstand what an imflamed desire thou hadst to giue vs remedy though thou knewest that it would cost thee thy life And as the Spouse desireth the day of his marriage that he may enioy his end so doest thou desire the day of thy Passion to deliuer vs by thy paynes from our miseryes One houre O Lord did seeme to thee a thousand years till thou camest to dye for vs conceauing that thy life would be well imployed if it were laid downe for thy seruantes And because that which is desired doth carry ioy after it when it is accomplished it is no meruaile if the day of thy Passion be called the day of thy ioy since it was so desired by thee And (g) The vast loue of God in Christ our Lord. although the griefe of that day were excessiue in so much as it is sayd in thy person O all you that passe by the way attend and see if there be any griefe like myne yet the loue which flamed in thy hart was incomparably greater For if it had been needfull in respect of our good that thou shouldst haue passed throgh a thousand tymes as much as that and that thou shouldst haue continued vpon the Crosse till the end of the world thou didst place thy selfe vpon it with firme determination to do and suffer whatsoeuer might haue beene necessary for our remedy So that thou didst loue more then thou didst suffer and more was thy loue able to preuaile with thee then the want of loue in those wretches that did torment thee So then did thy loue remaine conquerour and that being so liuely a flame those great riuers of many afflictions that came against thee were not able to quench it And therefore although the torments gaue thee sorrow and sound griefe yet thy loue tooke pleasure in that benefit which we were to receaue thereby For this it is called the day of the ioy of thy hart this day did AbrahaÌ„ see he reioyced not that he wanted compassion of thy paines but because he saw that the world was to be redeemed by them In this day therefore Go forth you daughters of Sion you being the soules who behold God from the tower of Fayth to see your peace-making King who by his affliction goeth no conclude the desired peace Looke I say vpon him since your eyes were giuen you for that purpose And amongst all the ornaments of his espousall which he weareth looke vpon that crown of thornes which his diuine head doth carry Which although it were platted and put on by those of the Court of Pilate who were Gentills yet is his Mother sayd to haue placed it vpon his head which Mother in that sense was the Synagogue of the race wherof Christ descended according to the flesh For by the accusation of the Synagogue and at the will therof Christ was so tormented Now (h) A strange kind of marriage if any man say that this is a new kind of ornament for a spouse to weare a dolorous crowne insteed of a garland for ornaments of handes and feet sharpe nayles which might passe and pierce them through scourges insteed of a girdle and the hayre of his head and face glued togeather with his owne bloud his sacred beard pulled off from his cheekes and they discoloured with buffeting and that soft bed which in the case of persons newly espoused vse to be filled with pretious odours being conuerted into a bitter Crosse and that erected in place where malefactours were put to death what hath this extreme abasement to do with the ornaments of an espousall What hath this being accompanied by theeues to do with being in the society of friends who should ioy in doing honour to the new spouse What fruit or musickâ—â— or pleasure may it be which heere we see since the Mother and the friends of the spouse do ease griefe and drinke teares and the Angells of peace weepe bitterly There is nothing further off from an espousall then all that which heere appeareth But yet this nouelty is not to be wondered at because the Spouse and the manner of the espousall is all new Christ is a new man both because he is without sinne and because he is both God man and we are they whome he espouseth to himselfe we who are deformed poore and full of misery and this he doth not to permit vs to remaine so but to kill that which is euill in vs and to impart to vs that which is good in him For this