Selected quad for the lemma: heart_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heart_n	apostle_n	faith_n	grace_n	2,198	5	5.4104	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
B00457	The art of dying well. Deuided into tvvo books. / Written by Roberto Bellarmine of the Society of Iesus, and Cardinall. ; Translated into English for the benefit of our countreymen, by C.E. of the same Society.; De arte bene moriendi. English	Bellarmino, Roberto Francesco Romolo, Saint, 1542-1621.; Coffin, Edward, 1571-1626.	1621 (1621)	STC 1838.5; STC 1838.5; ESTC S90457	138,577	338

vertues which teach vs the art to liue well we will adioyne somwhat out of the doctrine of the Sacraments which concurre no lesse then the former to the atteyning of this art The Sacraments ordeyned by Christ are seauen Baptisme Confirmation Eucharist Pennance Order Matrimony Extreme-vnction all which are as it were diuine instruments which God vseth by the ministery of his seruants to giue his people grace to increase it to restore it That being freed from the bondage of the Diuell and adopted with th● honour of being the sonnes of God the● may at length come to be partakers of euerlasting blessednes with the holy Angells in heauen Out of these Sacrament then our purpose is briefly to shew who profiteth and who faileth in this art of good life that so he may know how to hope for a happy death and who on the contrary may looke for a miserable end vnlesse he do the sooner change his life behauiour Let vs beginne with the first Sacrament Baptisme Baptisme in order and number of the Sacraments is the first and is fittly called the gate or entrance of the Sacraments for vnlesse baptisme go before no man can be fit to receaue the other Sacraments In the Sacrament of baptisme these rites or ceremonyes are obserued first of all who is to be baptized must eyther by himselfe or his God-fathers make confession of the Catholike fayth then he must renounce the Diuell his Pompes workes thirdly he is to be baptized in Christ in which Baptisme he is translated from the thraldome of the Diuell vnto the grace of the children of God and al his synnes being blotted quite out he receaueth the gifte of heauenly grace by which he is now made the adopted son of God the heir I say of God and fellow heyre of Christ Fourthly there is giuen him a white stole he is willed to preserue the same cleane vnspotted vntill death fifthly there is giuen him a burning candle which signifyes good workes which whiles he liueth he must ioyne with the former purity signified by the white stole for so sayth our Lord in the Ghospell Let your light so shine before men as that they may see our good workes and glorify your Father which is in heauen These are the chiefest ceremonyes which the Church doth vse in the administration of this Sacrament I omit the rest which apperteyne not vnto this matter out of this euery man may conceaue whether he haue alwayes liued wel from the tyme he receaued his Baptisme vnto this present yeare of his age I do very much doubt that there are very few to be foūd who haue performed these things which they haue promised to do Matth. 20. Matth. 5. or truly which they were bound to do For many are called but few are chosen and narrow is the way that leadeth vnto life and few there be that do fynd it out Let vs beginne with the Apostles Creed how many countrey people how many beggars how many inferiour artificers are there who eyther cannot say their Creed or neuer learnt it or know how to say the wordes but vnderstand little or nothing at all of the sense And yet they in Baptisme by their God-fathers God-mothers answered vnto euery article that they did belieue and if Christ be to dwell in our harts by fayth as S. Paul doth testify Ephes 3. how shall he dwell in their harts who can scantly rehearse the words of their Creed and haue nothing at all thereof in their harts and if God by faith do purify our harts as Saint Peter the Apostle sayth Actor 15. how impure will their harts be who haue not in their hatts receaued the fayth of Christ although in flesh they haue receaued his Baptisme I speake of such as haue the vse of reason not of infants for infants by the habit of grace of fayth hope charity are iustifyed but when they are growne in yeares they ought to learn their Creed in hart belieue the Christian faith for righteousnes and confesse it in word for saluation Rom 10. as the Apostle teacheth in the Epistle to ●he Romans Let vs come to another rite All Christians eyther by themselues or by the helpe of others who answere for them being demaunded whether they renoūce the Diuell his pompes and workes doe answere I renounce but how many be there that in word renounce but renounce not indeed Or rather how few be there who with al their hart do not loue and follow the pomps and workes of the Diuell And yet God seeth all and cannot be illuded he then who desireth to liue and dye wel let him enter into the closet of his hart and let him not deceaue himselfe but seriously and attentiuely thinke and thinke againe whether he be delighted with the pompes of this world or with the works of the Diuell and whether in his hart in his deeds in his wordes he haue giuen place vnto them for so eyther a good conscience shall comfort him or a bad conscience bring him to repentance In the third rite is layd open vnto vs a benefit of God so high so deepe so long so lardge that in case we bestowed whole dayes and nights in admiratio● thereof and in yelding his diuine goodnes thankes for the same we should do nothing in respect of the thing it selfe good God who can conceaue who is not astonished who doth not languish away and is not resolued into deuout teares when he considers how a wretched man most iustly condemned vnto hell sodenly by vertue of this Baptisme of Christ t● passe from this most miserable thraldome to the right and claime of a most happy and euer enduring Kingdome And by how much this benefit is the greater by so much is the vngratitud● of most men more detestable for there are not a few who as soone as they arriue vnto the vse of reason returne this admirable benefit backe vpon God againe and deliuer themselues vp for slaues to the diuell for what is it in the flower of our age to follow the concupiscence of the flesh the concupiscence of the eyes and pride if life but to contract league and friendship with the Diuell and in deeds and facts to deny Christ They are rare to finde who preuented with the speciall grace of God doe diligently keepe this Baptismall grace Thren 3. and as Hieremy speaketh beginne to beare the yoke of our Lord ab adolescentia sua from their youth but vnlesse we keepe well this grace or by true pennance do againe renounce the diuell and retourne to the seruice of Christ and remayne therein vntill our death it cannot be that we liue well or be deliuered from an euill death The fourth ceremoniall rite consisteth in this that he who is baptized receaueth a white stole and is commaunded to beare the same vntill he come before the face of our Lord. By which as we said is signified innocēcy or purity

Cap. omnis de Panit. remiss where expounding the fourth Chapter thus he writeth As it is lawfull for vs euer to fast or euer to pray and without intermission hauing receaued the body of our Lord ioyfully to celebrate the sonday so is it not lawfull for the Iewes to sacrifice their lambe c. And this opinion liked well Saint Thomas in the third part of his Quaest 80. art 10. theologicall Summe As touching the other point of preparation to receaue so great a Sacrament that it may be receaued to the health of our soule and not to our iudgement an● condemnation first of all is required tha● our soule be liuing with the life of grace not dead with the death of mortal sin because for this respect it is called meat giuen vnder the forme of bread for that it is not the meate of the dead but of the liuing as sayth our Sauiour in S. Iohn He that eateth this bread shall liue for euer in the same place my flesh is truly meat the Coūcell of Trent addeth further that it is not a sufficient preparation to receaue duly this celestiall food that he who is defiled with mortall synne content himselfe with cōtrition alone but that he be carefull to purge his synnes by the Sacrament of pēnance in case he can haue a Ghostly Father Againe for that this Sacrament is not only bread but also a medicine and that an excellent one and most wholsom against all the diseases of vices therefore secondly is required that a man do desire perfect health and to be cured from all the maladyes of synne and principally from ●he chiefest of them as leachery couetousnes pride That this Blessed Sacrament is a medicine Saint Ambrose cleerly auoucheth Lib. de Sac. Cap. 4. He that is wounded sayth he seeketh for a me●icine the wound we haue is because we are vnder ●ynne the medicine is the heauenly and venerable ●acrament So he and Saint Bonauenture He ●ho reputeth himselfe vnworthy let him thinke ●hat so much the more he needeth and hath necessary occasion to seeke for the Phisitian by how much more he feeleth himselfe to be sicke And Saint Bernard warneth his brethren that they attribute it to the grace and vertue of this Sacrament that they fynd their bad inclinations other infirmityes of the mynd to be diminished Lastly this most holy Sacrament is not only the food of trauellers and medicine of the sicke but is also a most learned and most louing Phisitian and therfore when he cometh to visit vs he is to be receaued with all ioy and reuerence and the howse of our soule is to be adorned with all manner of vertues and in particuler with the ornaments of faith hope Charity Deuotion Piety and with the fruites of good works as of prayer fasting and almes For these ornaments doth this sweet guest of our soule require who yet wanteth nothing of that which we ar● able to giue him againe consider that thi● Phisitian who cometh vnto vs is bot● King and God whose purity is infini● and requireth a most cleane tabernacle 〈◊〉 our brest Let vs heare Saint Iohn Chrysostome in this matter Then what should not he be more pure who enioyeth this sacrifice Serm. 66 ad pop Antioch then wh●● sunne beame ought he not to be more resplenden● who deuideth this flesh The mouth that is replenished with this spirituall fire Now let any one who is desirous to liu● and dye well make recourse to his owne soule and shutting the dore against all distractiue businesses let him consider alone with his owne hart before God who searcheth the reynes and harts of all how often and with what preparation he doth cōmunicate receaue this Sacrament of our Lords body and if he fynde that by Gods grace he doth often and with fruit receaue it and thereby in spirituall life to be nourished and by little and little to be cured from the diseases of synne and morouer that he doth more and more daily profit and proceed in vertue and good deeds let him reioyce with trembling go on to serue God in feare not with that seruile of slaues but with that sincere and chast which is of children But if he be one of those who contented with communicating once in the yeare do neuer more thinke on this most wholsome Sacrament but forget to eate this bread of life by how much more they grow fat broad in body by so much the more are their soules weakened and do wither away and let such a one know that he wāteth wit and is farre of from the Kingdome of God the yearely communicating is not decreed by the holy generall Councell for this end that none should communicat but once in the yeare but that once in the yeare they should be compelled thereunto vnlesse they would be cast out of the Church and deliuered ouer to Sathan And Such men for the most part do not receaue their Lord in the Sacrament with filiall loue but with seruile feare soone after returne to the huskes of hoggs to the pleasures of the world to temporall commodityes and ambitiously to gape after false fugitiue honours that so at the day of their death they may heare with the rich Glutton Memento fili quia recepisti bona in vita tua Remember so● that thou hast receaued good thinges 〈◊〉 this life therefore must not expect f●● any more in the next and if any be foun● who maketh oft recourse to the mistery● of this most holy Sacrament and that e●● uery Sonday or else euery day if perhap● he be Priest and yet neyther refrayneth from mortall synnes nor seriously exercyseth himselfe in good workes nor 〈◊〉 not yet truly gone out of the world but a●other men who are of the world thirste●● after riches is caryed away with carnall delights seeth and sigheth after higher degrees of honours and dignityes he truly eateth the flesh of our Lord to his iudgment and by how much the more he vnworthily frequenteth these mysteryes by so much the more neerly doth he imitate Iudas the traytour of whome our Lord sayd Melius erat eisi natus non fuisset homo ille it had been better for him if ho had neuer beene borne Let no man despayre of his saluation whiles yet he liueth and therfore let him with himselfe cal to account his yeares and workes and then he shall fynd that hitherto he hath runne much astray out of the path of saluation let him know that yet there is tyme left to returne so that he will seriously do pennance come againe into the way of ●ruth I thinke it conuenient to end this ●hapter withall that I adioyne what S. Bonauenture writeth in the life of the holy Father S. Francis I meane of the admirable deuotion and loue of this most holy man towards this diuine Sacrament that by the example of his feruour our tepidity or coldnes rather may be kindled

sonnes of Iudas the Patriarcke is ●●arply reprehēded for that whē he knew is wife he cast out the seed on the earth ●●at no child might be born for this is not ●o vse but to abuse Matrimony and if sō●●mes it happen that the vertuous parents ●re ouerburdened with multitude of their ●ssue in so much as by reason of their po●erty they cannot mainteyne them there 〈◊〉 a remedy in it selfe good and gratefull vnto God by continuall consent to sepa●ate thēselues from the bed knowledge of each other and for the tyme to come to attend vnto prayer and fasting for it it be gratefull acceptable vnto God for man and wife to continew stil euen vnto their old age in virginity after the example of the mother of God and Saint Ioseph whose example Saint Henry the Emperour and Chunegunda his Empresse Saint Edward the Confessour King and Editha his Queene Elizearius Earle and his Lady Dalphina many others did follow why shold it displease God or men that marryed folke hauing now children by mutuall consent should refraine from copulation that they may bestow what resteth their life in fasting prayer Moreouer it is a grieuous synne for any in the state of Matrimony to ●●glect his children and let them want eyther vertuous education or necessary maintenance of clothes diet and the li●● many examples there are extant of th● matter at well in sacred as prophane historyes but for that I intend to be briefe 〈◊〉 will content myselfe with one which 〈◊〉 in the first booke of Kings Thus in that place doth God himselfe speake In that 〈◊〉 I will raise vp all these thinges which I haue spoke● against the house of Heli. I will begin and I will end For I foretold him that I was to iudge his house for euer for the iniquity thereof because he knew that his children did wickedly behaue themselues he did not correct them therefore haue I s●●orne to the house of Heli that the iniquity of his houses shall not be blotted out for euer with victimes or gifts This did our Lord fortell and a little after did execute for the children of He●● were slaine in warre and Heli himselfe s●ting on his seat fell backeward brake his necke dyed miserably if then Heli who was otherwise a good man iust Iudge of the people for the synnes of his children which he had not brought vp so wel as he should haue done and when afterwards they became worse and worse he ●ad not cheked and amended them came ●ith his Children to a miserable end and 〈◊〉 the gouernment or principality ouer ●he people what shall become of them ●ho not only do not endeauour to bring vp their children well but by their own example of bad life teach them to do ill Surely they can expe●● nothing else for themselues or their children but a dreadful death vnlesse they amend be tyme and do pennance condigne to their former offences Another good of matrimony is fidelity which consisteth in this that ech of the maried couple do know that their bodyes are not their owne but that the body of the wife is the husbands and the body of the husband is the wiues and as the one cannot deny coniugall duty vnto the other so can neyther of them both yield their bodyes to be vsed by any other the signe of this fidelity is the ring giuen in the solemnity of Marriage this doctrin is cleerly deliuered by the Apostle saying Let the husband render duty to his wife shee likewise to her husband the woman hath not power ouer her but the husband 1. Cor. 7. and likewise the husband hath not power ouer his body but the woman defraude not one another vnlesse it b● mutuall consent for a tyme that you may atten● prayer This is the Apostolicall doctri●● which all Christian maried folkes m●● diligently obserue if they desire to liue dye well if there be any publike adulterers eyther the Iudges do iustly puni●● them or else the friends and kinsfolk● of the party reuenge the wronge offered by that disgrace but for secret adulterers who are many more then the open the Almighty and most iust Iudge from whome no secrets lye hid will doubteles in the end condemne them to euerlasting torments The third good or perfection of Matrimony and that most noble is the grace of the Sacrament which God powreth into the harts of the marryed couple if in the tyme of their Marriage they be duly disposed and prepared thereunto this grace besides other good which it bringeth with it is of wonderfull force to effect mutuall loue betweene both the partie notwithstanding that different iudgemēts maners diseases diuersitys of dispositions of body mind may easily sow dissensions betweene them but aboue all the ●mitation of the wedlocke or Marriage ●hat is betweene Christ and his Church maketh this corporall Marriage most ●weet and blessed of which matter thus writteth S. Paul Viridiligite vxores vestras c. Ephes 5. Husbands loue your wiues as Christ hath loued his Church and deliuered vp himselfe for it that he might sanctifye it cle●nsing it by the lauer of water in the word of life that he might present or exhibite vnto himselfe a glorious Church not hauing spot or wrinkle Which Blessed Apostle also admonisheth women saying Let women be subiect to their husbands as vnto our Lord because the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the Church But as the Church is subiect to Christ so let the women be subiect in all thinges to their husbands and in fine thus he concludeth Let euery one loue his wife as himselfe and let the wife feare or reuerence her husband This doctrine if it be so considered and practised as is requisite will make the Marriages happy both in earth heauen Let vs in briefe explicate this Apostolicall doctrine of Saint Paul first of all he exhorteth husbands to loue their wiues as Christ loued his Church Truly Christ loued his Church Amore amicitiae with a fi●endly loue as Schooles do speake and ●more concupiscentiae with the loue of desiring any thing for himself he sought the goo● of the Church the profit of the Church the saluation of the Church not any profit or pleasure of his owne And therfore they do not imitate christ who loue their wiues for their great beauty allured with the loue of her fairenes or for her dow● of many thousand crownes or for some rich and wealthy inheritance for such do not loue their wiues but themselues desiring to satiate or satisfy the concupiscence of the flesh the concupiscence of the eyes which is tearmed couetousnes So S●lomon wise in the beginning and a foole● the end loued wiues and concubines not for the loue of them but for the loue o● his owne lust desiring not to gratify a●● do them good but to fulfill his owne carnall desire with which he was so blinded as he