liberty and in freedome why doest thou call him Lord which is fastened to the crosse and crucified like thy selfe Seeing that he who should be a Lord ought to bee mighty and rich why doest thou call him Lord who was poor in his life time and naked in his death But this Prophet whō I call vpon and vnto whome I commend and commit my selfe is a mighty Lord and a king of great power seeing the son lost his light for compassion the stones broke with griefe the vaile rent in sunder for a mystery the graues opened with feare and the Centurion confessed him to be Christ O great God of Israel O great Lord of the house of Iacob◠for this cause thy name is admirable and worshipped in all the circuit of the earth because thy power and dominion is doubled and redoubled more than any mans in the world Cassiodorus noteth vpon this matter That the holy scripture doth neuer call any twise Lord Lord but Christ alone because he alone and none with him is Lord of heauen and earth of life and death body and soule and of peace and warre Wee cannot call Hector the Troian Anchises the Grecian Alexander the Macedonian and Caesar the Romane Lord more than once because they were kings onely of their owne kingdomes but vnto the sonne of God wee say twise Domine domine noster Lord our Lord because his siegnory is so great that no man is able to limit it nor set any bonds vnto it Euery other Prince hath his kingdome limited and set with bonds either to the top of a steeple or couering of a house and if it bee not so let him send a post from thence vpward and hee shall perceiue that his kingdome reacheth no higher which cannot be said to be true of the sonne of Gods Empire seeing it goeth from one end of the world vntill the other and reacheth vp vnto the highest heauen Considering that Dauid calleth Christ Lord Lord twise why doth he call him only once Lord. The mystery of this mystery is that Dauid called him Lord Lord twise because hee should keepe his body from his enemies and cary his soule vnto those which are blessed but the good theefe did call him but once Lord because his intention was not that Christ should keepe his life but only that hee would vouchsafe to saue his soule Why doest thou thinke sayth S. Basil vpon the Psalme that Dauid said vnto our Lord Lord calling him twife Lord but because he was Lord of the truth and of the figure of the church and of the synagogue of the Prophets and of the Apostles and of the old Testament and of the new The good theefe would not call Christ Lord twise because hee would let vs vnderstand that the figure is fulfilled and the truth come that the church is come and the synagogue ended that the Prophets are dead and the Apostles succeeded in their place that the old law is buried and the Gospel proclaimed Why think you doth the good theef call Christ Lord but once but because we haue but one Lord to beleeue one redeemer to worship To say once Christ remember me was to say that hee would haue him and no other for a master to serue for God in whō he would beleeue for his Lord whom hee would obey for a friend whome hee would trust vnto for an aduocate in whose hands he would put himselfe into The second word which the theefe said vnto Christ was Remēber me as if he would say Seeing that I doe confesse thee here before all men to bee my Lord and vpon this crosse acknowledge thee to be my redeemer haue mee in remembrance my good Lord seeing I haue remēbred thee and turned vnto thee Remember me O sweet Iesus seeing thou hast created me remember me seeing thou hast redeemed mee remember mee and seeing thou hast lightened me remember mee and seeing thou hast chosen me remember me for it would auaile me very little that thou shouldest giue me light to know thee if withall thou shouldest not giue me grace to serue thee Remēber me O good Iesus because I am hard by thy side remember me because I beleeue in thee remember me because I trust in thee remember me because I hope in none but in thee and seeing I haue offered my selfe for to be thy perpetuall seruant remember I beseech thee to accept me for thine Remember mee because thou hast raised me from the dust remember me because thou hast made me a Christian remember me to make mee good and remember mee to giue mee heauen and aboue all things I beseech thee that seeing thou hast giuen thy life for me remember me that I lose not my soule O good Iesus giuer of life with my tongue I beseech thee and with my heart I aske it of thee that seeing thou doest shed thy precious bloud vpon the crosse for me remember me that it be not euilly bestowed on mee and when shall thy bloud be euilly bestowed on mee but when it is not by thee accepted for me Seeing thou hast sweat oft for me suffered most grieuous pains for me endured inspeakable persecutions for mee and hast dissembled my abominable offences what doest thou gaine O good Iesus what doest thou gaine if I lose my soule and thou the fruit of thy precious bloud Remember me O Lord seeing that in pardoning my fault and by sauing my soul thou shalt make a Christian people heauen the more enrich thy church spread abroad thy fame and exalt thy mercy Remember the sabboth day said God in the law remember the daies past said Moyses vnto God remember because my life is a wind said holy Iob remēber how I haue walked before theesaid king Ezechias when he was sick and remember me said good Ioseph when he was in prison and remember mee when thou commest into thy kingdome I say vnto thee here now crucified vpō the crosse What should I say O the light of my life What doest thou aske me that I haue not giuen thee and what doe I possesse that is not thine I haue already giuen my money to the iailor my coats to the hang man I haue salne out with my companion who iniuried thee I haue made the best answere that I could for thy honour and therefore I can do nothing more but say Lord remember me Domine memento mei and seeing I offer thee the confession of Miserere that vpō my knees and my eies washed with tears why shouldest thou shut the gates of thy mercy against me my confession being thus iust being condemned for a naughty person as thou art my members disiointed the one from the other like thine crucified vpon the crosse like thy selfe I beleeue faithfully in thee and commend my selfe wholly vnto thee saying Lord remember mee Lord-remember mee and I beseech thee haue pitie on me seeing that in suffering I am like vnto thee I dy for being a theefe and thou for the same cause they
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
giue ouer sinning more or lesse why haue wee friends and companions but because they should keepe vs vp with one hand from falling and lift vs vp with the other if they see vs downe S. Barnard in an Epistle saith Let no man leaue off the correcting of his neighbour and friend because he thinketh that by so doing he doth displease him for after he hath considered of the matter hee shall perceiue that hee hath done a good worke because that oftentimes the counsell which they giue vs is more worth thā the money which they lend vs. CHAP. IX 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. ECclesia quidem magis quotidiè aedificabatur ambulans in timore domini consolatione spiritus sancti saith S. Luke in the ninth chap. of the Acts of the Apostles as if he would say After that S. Steuen was stoned to death and the Apostle Saint Paul was conuerted by so much the more the church of God encreased in building by how much the more shee was founded vpon the feare of our Lord and the church did receiue no comfort but such as the holy ghost did send her Bede vpon this place sayth That the scripture doth aduise vs with a high stile how much it doth import vs that we feare our Lord and keepe his commandements because the primitiue church neuer began to encrease and flourish vntill that Commonwealths began to feare the Lord and seeke for the consolation of the holy Ghost S. Augustine vpon the words of our Lord sayth That in the triumphant church loue without feare worketh but in the militant church loue and feare goe together and a signe of this is that the greater loue I beare my friend the greater feare I haue to displease him Cyrillus vpon S. Iohn saith Although the son of God said Ignem veni mittere in terram which was as much as to say that he builded his church vpon loue yet he tooke not his feare from her because that seeing that there is both mercy and iustice in God wee are bound aswell to feare his rightfull iustice as we are to loue his mercy When God gaue Moises the old law hee gaue it him with great thunders and terrible lightnings and with al mixed it with many threats ordained it with many punishmēts because the Iews should determine with themselues to keepe it and not in any wise to breake it King Pharaoh commanded all the midwiues of the kingdome of Egypt to slay al the male children of the Iews at the time of their birth and because they would not doe it for fear of the Lord the Lord gaue them great riches in their houses The scripture commendeth very much a steward vvhich the king Achab had vvhose name vvas Abdias the vvhich seeing the cursed Queene Iezabel cut the throats of the Prophets of Israel did hide some number of thē vntill all the butchery vvas past the vvhich the good Abdias did not so much for the loue vvhich hee bore vnto the Prophets as for the feare vvhich he bore vnto God When king Iosaphat constituted iudges in all the cities of Iudea he gaue them no other instruction but that they should feare God and be very mindfull of the good of their Commonwealth because that by this means they should bee well liked both of God and of all the people The scripture reporteth of holy Tobias that he began at the same time to weane his son and fear the God of Israel and that hee contracted friendship vvith none nor none vvith him vnlesse he knew that he feared God S. Ierom vpon the Prophets sayth Al holy men and of great perfection doe not only loue the Lord and feare him as their Lord God but doe also refuse to conuerse vvith those vvhich vvill not fear our Lord and for that cause Abraham went from the Caldeans holy Lot fled from the Sodomites We must entise flatter the vertuous man vvith loue fear the wicked peruerse mā with threats because that of tentimes the wicked man doth rather amend his life for seare of hell than for the desire vvhich he hath to go to heauen Irenaeus in an Homily saith That if as God made Paradise he would not haue made also an hel few there vvould haue been vvhich vvould haue serued our Lord very many vvhich vvould haue offended him Because that if an euil mā might enioy the world he would little care if heauen vvere taken from him A vaine vvordly man engraued in a medall of gold the wordes of the Psalme Caelum caeli domino terram autem dedit filijs hominum The heauen of heauen vnto our Lord he gaue the earth vnto the sons of men and hee wrote for a posie take thou Lord heauen for thee vpon condition that thou vvouldst leaue the earth vnto mee O cursed tongue and wicked speech what an vngodly mouth was that which durst vtter such horrible blasphemy for by the rigor of iustice he may iustly be caried into hel who renounceth to go to heauē and is wel pleased to hue in the word Anselmus saith O what a great fauour God doth vnto that mā whō God doth not exclude frō his loue doth not leaue him without fear for the mā which hath both loue and feare in him although he want other perfections neither ought to fear least he should be damned nor distrust at all to be saued We haue spoken all this in the cōmendation of the good theef of his piety charity who did not rebuke the other theefe his cōpamon for that hee was prowd or enuious but only because he did not feare God saying Neque tu times deum Neither doest thou fear God Giuing vs to vnderstand by this that he went down right into hell for no other cause but because he made smal reckoning of Christ And it is much tobe noted why the good theef did not rebuke the other for that that he did not loue Christ as he did reprehend him for that he did not fear Christ Hilarius answereth this doubt and sayth That because loue doth belong vnto those vvhich are perfect and feare vnto such as are not so perfect the good theefe did not persuade the other that hee should loue but that he should feare because the duty and office of louing is of such high quality that although many goe about it yet few attaine vnto it Glorious Saint Peter did persuade himselfe that hee had loued Christ as hee ought to haue loued him and therevpon to take away his vaine-glory Christ asked him three times whether hee loued human which deinand Chirst gaue vs to vnderstand that the merit of loued oth not consist in louing with all our heart but if good Iesus do accept it that thē it is perfect The wil which wee
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
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
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
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
seruices done vnto him by increasing their wealth or prolonging their daies or deliuering them from warre or sauing them from plague O happy speech This day thou shalt bee with mee in Paradise because that all which God gaue from the beginning of the world was as it were from the tiles of our house downewards but that which he giueth now is from the heauens vpward that is such a gift as no tongue is able to expresse Do tibi partem vnam extra fratres tuos said Iacob vnto his sonne Ioseph when hee was at the point of death as if hee would say For the troubles which thou hast endured with this mystery was that when the children of Israel saw the sea before them which they could not passe ouer and the Egyptians behind them who came with intent to sley them they began to complaine of Moises and in his prefence crie out aloud why he had brought them out of Egypt where they had their sepulchres and lead them into the desarts where they should bee eaten vp of wild beasts Moyses seeing himselfe in such a narrow strait spake not one word vnto our Lord but began to weepe and with his heart only to pray vnto God and commend himself vnto him which praier was of such great force efficacy that it seemed to moue God greatly to condiscend vnto that which hee had asked him Good Moises did pray yet did not crie he wept and yet spake not he sighed and made no noise hee desired and entreated not and hee hoped and yet hee did not importunately vrge This was a high kind of importuning by not importuning and a high kind of asking in not asking for to obtaine that which wee desire at Gods hands sighing is better than crying out more is gotten by offering vnto him tears than by speaking many words S. Gregory in his Morals sayth That God did not beare false witnesse against Moises in saying that he did importune him in not importuning him and that he astonied him by crying he not crying at all because there is no higher kind of asking than by praying nor any sweeter manner of speaking with God than by weeping Barnard sayth How is hee not busie who is busie with his heart and what doth not he obtaine who asketh with tears S. Augustine vpon the Apostles words saith That our Lord doth oftentimes heare the heart when hee praieth although the tongue doe not speake outwardly but hee neuer heareth the tongue which speaketh outwardly if the heart doe not pray inwardly because our Lord is neerer vnto the heart with the which we loue him than vnto the tongue with the which we speak vnto him Our Lord had great reason to say vnto Mâ—ises Quid clamas ad me What doest thou cry vnto me for Because he had more respect vnto the tears which Moises wept than vnto the cries which the people made and so he regarded more that which Moises desired with silence than that which the people demanded with a noise What meaneth this O great God of Israel what meaneth this Doest thou not answere one word to the people which call vpon thee doest thou answere Moises which doth not speake one word vnto thee Doest thou hold thy peace when the Iewes and torturers speake vnto thee at the foot of the crosse and doest thou answere the theefe for speaking once vnto thee There is no such great difference betwixt torturers and theeues and theeues and torturers that the one should be heard and the other repulsed for if torturers and hangmen take their liues from such as are hanged so doe great theeues also take away mens riches and apparell by the high way The wicked Iewes did not deserue an answere at Christs hands seeing they said come downe from the crosse because no man should bee so bold as to bid him come downe but goe vp because such as are to goe into hell goe downe and those which are to go to heauen goe vpward The hangmen did not deserue to be answered of Christ which said Thou who dost destroy the teÌ„ple of God because he came not into the world to take away the stones of Salamons Temple but to win soules vnto his father which is in heauen For it auailed Christ very little to that which he pretended whether the temple stood or were fallen downe Neither did the naughty theefe deserue an answere who said vnto Christ Saue thy selfe and vs because there was no man able by any force to put Christ vpon the crosse vnlesse he had gone vp of his own wil that not to fly from it but to redeem the world vpon it Why should the son of God answere so naughty a theefe seeing he demanded nothing but to haue his life saued not making any mention at all of his soule When the naughty theefe said vnto Christ saue thy self saue me too what els did he preteÌ„d or demaÌ„d but that by some miracle or by some words of enchantment he should deliuer them from the crosses and put them in safety Irenaeus in a sermon sayth thus According vnto the great loue that Christ died with according vnto the great quantity of bloud which issued out of his body it had been but a small enterprise for Christ to haue loosed the theefe haue sent him to keepe his Easter in his owne house because hee came not into the world to set theeues at liberty but to saue sinners Cyprian sayth That if as that naughty theefe did ask Christ that hee would pull out those nailes and slacken those cords and deliuer him from those torturers and asswage his torments he would haue asked somewhat touching his soule or that he would haue had mercy shewed vpon him our gratious Lord would not haue refused to answere him to that which hee said nor haue denied him that which hee demanded O what a theefe hee is sayth Haymo and a theeues fellow who can aske nothing of Christ but honour to get him credite power to defend himself and might to offend others riches to enioy liberty to command and health to liue onely in this world Such as dare to aske these things of our Lord be either Christians without souls or theeues without shame of whom I doe now prophecy that if they bee not hanged like theeues they shall bee condemned like sinners Let vs take example by this dreadfulll example that wee doe not aske with the naughty theefe that our Lord would take vs from the crosse but that hee would keepe vs on the crosse nor let vs not aske of him that hee would giue vs a long life but that he would amend our consciences For look how willing our Lord is to giue vs things necessary to saue vs so is hee vnwilling to giue vs that which wee doe aske of him to cocker vs. CHAP. XI Of these words Domine memento mei Lord remember me which the good theefe spake vnto Christ the which words are deuoutly and deepely expounded QVia
the reward of Paradise but vnto another crucified Saint Barnard vpon the Passion sayth for mine owne part I thinke not my selfe deceiued but I know that the naked giueth not his kingdome but vnto another naked he whose ioints are vnloosed vnto another whose ioints are also loosed one from an other hee that is couered with bloud vnto another couered with bloud also and the crucified vnto another crucified Thou that sittest sporting thy selfe what doest thou aske of him who suffereth on the crosse Thou that art clothed and reclothed what doest thou craue of him who is bowelled vpon the crosse Thou that art faire and fat what doest thou aske of him who is on the crosse one member rent from one another Thou that art at freedome and liberty what doest thou aske of him who is nailed and fastened vpon the crosse If thou wilt heare sayth Anselmus O my soule Hodie mecum eris in Paradiso Lift vp thy affections from the earth let thy heart bee free from all passions let thy flesh keepe watch and vvard ouer her inclinations crucifie thy liberty on the crosse let bloud thy fancie of all presumptions and bury thy affections that they may not appeare If thou wilt ascend as high as heauen it is necessary that with the theefe thou take the crosse for thy ladder to steale it for otherwise although thou bee a companion with him in sinning yet for all that thou shalt not so be in raigning CHAP. XIIII Why the sonne of God did not say vpon the crosse vnto all men Amen dico vobis as hee did say vnto the theefe Amen dico tibi aad how he was the first martyr which died with Christ and the first Saint which he canonized LOquetur ad eos in ira sua in furore suo conturbabit eos said king Dauid in the second Psalme as if hee would say when the great God of Israell shall bee angry and troubled hee will speake vnto the wicked men with anger and when hee shall trouble their iudgements it shall bee with great anger Our Lord doth threaten the wicked whome hee meaneth to punish with two grieuous scourges that is that hee will speake in anger to feare them and trouble their iudgement that they shall not bee able to guesse at any thing aright If our Lord speake vnto vs with anger it may bee borne with but if he trouble our iudgement it is a thing much to be lamented for in this wicked world if he doe not lighten our steps to see where wee goe wee shall fall downe vpon our face Barnard crieth out and saith What shall become of thee O my soule if he who should lead me put mee out of the way if hee who should succour me forsake mee if hee who should pardon me accuse me and he who should quit mee condemne me and he who should giue mee sight make mee blind Saint Augustine De verbis Apostoli sayth When it is said in Scripture that God speaketh vnto vs with anger it is meant that he doth not speake with mercy and when it is said that hee doth trouble vs with fury it is to say that hee doth not lighten vs with his diuine grace because there cannot happen vnto vs greater hurt in this world than for God to withdraw his hand from doing vs good There is no anger in God as there is in man with the which hee doth trouble himselfe nor furie to moue him withall and when wee say that he is angry it is because he vseth that punishment which in others is done with anger and if we say that he is in fury it is because hee vseth rigorous punishment towards vs or else because hee doth not punish at all in this world for wherin can our Lord shew greater anger than by not vsing his accustomed clemency Our Lords wrath is appeased when hee punisheth presently after the offence committed and he is very angry when hee deferreth the punishment vnto hell S. Ambrose sayth That in the house of God not to punish is to punish to dissemble is to bee angry with not to speake is to chide to pardon is to threaten to suffer is to let it putrifie to defer is to reuenge the more Is there thinke you any greater punishment than not to bee punished in this world When doth our Lord speake vnto vs with anger but when wee fall from his grace into sinne by our fault God spake with anger vnto our first father when hee said vnto him thou shalt eat thy bread in the sweat of thy face as if hee would say Because thou hast fallen from my grace and eaten of the apple which I did forbid thee to eat of for a perpetuall punishment thou shalt eat and drinke alwaies with care in thy mind sweat on thy face and trauaile of thy body insomuch that at the best morsell thou shalt giue ouer eating and fall to sighing God spake also with anger vnto the murderer Cain when hee said vnto him behold the bloud of thy brother Abel doth crie from the earth vnto mee as if he would say Because thou hast flaine thy brother Abel through malice and enuy I cannot but doe iustice vpon thee because his bloud crieth aloud for it of me and thy punishmēt shall be that thou shalt wander to and fro all the daies of thy life and thy head shal neuer cease shaking God spake with anger vnto the great king Nabugodonoser whē he said Eijciam te ab hominibus as if he would say Because thou hast robbed my tēples of their treasures and led away my people of the Iews captiue thou shalt be throwne out frō the conuersation of men shalt liue with beasts on the mountaines thou shalt eat hay like oxen and bee clothed like wild sauages with haire vntill thou doest acknowledge mee for to bee thy Lord and thy selfe to bee a sinner God spake with anger vnto the great Priest Heli when hee said Ego praecidam brachium tuum c as if hee would say Because thou diddest not punish thy children when they stole away the sacrifices and behaued themselues dishonestly vvith women in the Tabernacle I will take thy Priesthood from thee I will kill thy steward and will make that no old man come into thy house in so much that thou shalt haue no children in thy stocke to inherite after thee nor ancient men to counsell thee To come then vnto our purpose God vsed this kind of speech vnto the Synagogue but now speaketh otherwise vnto the church as is easily seene in the death of Christ when hee said vnto the theefe Hodie mecum eris in Paradise Wee doe not read that Christ did euer vse this woord of anger so oft as hee hath done the woord of mercy the which hee hath vsed often as Per viscera misericordiae dei nostra said holy Zachary in his song as if he would say The sonne of God came downe from the highest of heauen into the earth moued thereunto by
the theefe Doest thou defer it to her who brought forth Christ take pity on him who bare him coÌ„pany on the crosse seeing thou doest augmeÌ„t tears in her diminish offences in him It was a word of great fauor which hee did vse vnto Mary Magdalen that Remissa tibi peccata multa Many sins are forgiuen thee but yet that was greater which he did vse to the good theefe because hee vsed greater liberty with him thaÌ„ with hir for if he loued her pardoned her he loued the theef like a friend pardoned him like a Christian rewarded him lika a iust man Barnard saith vnto this purpose That it is a signe of great loue to pardon but a greater sign to giue pardon because that pardon is sometime giueÌ„ by force but a gift neuer coÌ„meth but of free wil. OrigeÌ„ vpoÌ„ Mathew crieth out O deepe mystery O diuine sacrameÌ„t who euer heard or saw the like vnto this that is betwixt the sunne rising the sunne setting the theef was condemned by Pilat shamed by the criers iusticied by the hangmen confessed by his owne mouth by Christ pardoned and also brought vnto Paradise What meaneth this O good Iesus what meaneth this Who is able to reach vnto the reason why Abel vvith his innocency Nee with his iustice Abraham with his faith Dauid with his charity Moyses with his meekenesse Iâ—b vvith his patience Tobias with his franknesse Lazarus with his pouerty should so long desire to see Christ and the theefe presently enioy him S. Ambrose sayth That Christ receiued in a new kind of martyrdome all the torments vvhich were giuen the theefe as a naughty man from the houre and moment that he defended Christ and confessed with Christ insomuch that if he began to suffer like a theefe and a rouer hee ended and died like a glorious martyr This happy theefe was a very glorious martyr seeing he suffered neere Christ and with Christ where Christ suffered and in the same manner that Christ suffered and which is most of all hee was the first martyr after Christs passion and the first Saint which the sonne of God did canonize after his death S. Stouen was the first martyr after Christs ascention but from Christs death vntill he ascended into heauen there was no other Mattyr in the vvorld but the theefe whose conuersion Christ caused whose teares hee accepted whose martyrdome hee approued whose passion hee canonized and whose soule hee glorified S. Augustine sayth O good Iesus O my soules delight considering that thou doest saue him who accuseth his owne faults and him who excuseth thy innocency the maintainer of thy credit the confessor of thy essence the companion of thy person wilt thou not saue also this sinfull soule of mine For so great a battaile as thou hast won this day for so great a victory as thou hast obtained and also for so much bloud as hath issued from thee it is a small prize to carry away with thee but one theef only because that by so much the greater the triumph is by how many more prisoners the triumpher is followed with all And if it will not please thee to take mee thither with thee tarry thou here with me O good Iesus for I desire no other glory of thee in this miserable world but that thou wouldest let mee haue alwaies a good conscience Origen sayth in an Homily that it is much to be noted and a thing to be wondered at that Christ did not say vnto the theefe Amen dico vobis although there were many more there but hee said Amen dico tibi to let vs vnderstand that by forgiuing him alone hee shewed his mercy and by not pardoning others hee shewed his great iustice There were store of sinners about the crosse as well as hee which peraduenture would haue beene pardoned as well as he but amongst them all the theefe onely deserued to heare his pardon but by this hee maketh vs know that there is no man which hath cause to dispaire of pardon seeing hee forgaue him and yet that we presume not too much of pardon seeing he forgaue him alone Let the conclusion of all this be that wee remember before wee sinne that our Lord did not pardon the multitude that was there present and after wee haue sinned let vs remember that hee pardoned the theefe which suffered with him and in so doing we shall feare his iustice and remember his mercy the which I humbly beseech him that it would please him to vse here with grace afterward with glory Amen Amen The end of the second word which Christ our redeemer spake vpon the Crosse ⧠Here beginneth the third word which the sonne of God spake vpon the Crosse vnto his blessed mother Mulier ecce filius tuus Woman behold here thy sonne CHAP. I. That the loue which the mother of God had did exceed the loue of all other men and also the loue of Angels SIcut water 〈…〉 it a agâ— te diligebaâ—â— these are the words of holy Dauid 2. Reg. chapâ—â—â— 1. when 〈…〉 brought him that king Saul his enemy and Prince Ionathas his great friend were slaine in a battaile which they had with the Philistims The Iewes gaue this battaile to the 〈…〉 the wild mountaines of Gâ—â—boe and when the sorrowfull newes came to king Dauid that king Saul had lost the battaile hee began aloud to crie and shed many grieuous teares and said as followeth in dolefull wise O famous and renowmed Israel why doest thou not weepe for the losse of so many excellent men which this day they haue slaine thee and noble Princes which this day are perished within thee How is it possible that the strongest of Israel haue fallen downe so ignominiously and the most famous of Iuda haue ended their life by sword O how well king Saul Ionathas should haue loued one the other when they were aliue seeing that they left not the one the other in death although the cruell sword was able to take away their liues from them yet certainly it was not able to take away their hearts from them with the which they loued one the other What sword durst wound their hearts or what launce durst touch their flesh considering that Saul and Ionathas were in running more light than eagles and in sight more strong than lions Ionathas arrow was neuer shot but he hit Sauls sword drawn but he stroke Weepe then O ye daughters of Israel weep vpon the death of your king Saul who clothed you in scarlet in your passeouer and gaue you iewels of gold in your weddings O ye mountains O ye mountains of Gilboe I curse froÌ„ henceforth anathematize you for euer to the end that it neuer raign water vpoÌ„ you by day nor any dew fal vpoÌ„ you by night seeing that you consented that the enemies of Israel should there kill Saul and slay my good friend Ionathas in the same place O my faithfull and old friend Ionathas why
mighty Redeemer and supreme Creator vvho is able to tell the secret or reach vnto this that is to say why thou diddest take the mother vvith thee thither to see thee die in that great and high day of thy passion and leaue all thy other disciples behind thee because they might not see thee suffer In so great a conflict and so narrow a straight as this was vpon the Mount of Caluary why wouldest thou haue rather womē with thee to weep thā mē to defend thee Who but thou O good Iesus saith S. Barnard who but thou did euer goe into the field to fight against his enemies without weapons accompanied with tears The mother wept the sonne wept the kinsman wept the disciple wept the aunt wept all the family wept so that Moyses did drowne his enemies in waters and the sonne of God his with teares Anselmus sayth That hee that could haue beene at the death of Christ vpon good Friday should haue seene the Iewes make an outcry the Pharisies blaspheme the hangmen lay on the heauens vvaxe darke and all the faithfull weepe in somuch that there was nothing in the synagogue but blasphemies and nothing in the church but teares Non immolabitur vna die ouis cum filio fuo said God in Leuiticus chap. 22. As if he would say Let those take heed which will offer to the Tabernacle that they doe not kill the lambe and the ewe the same day Origen sayth That because our Lord is mercifull hee would haue his disciples bee so likewise and therefore he did forbid them any thing that might tend vnto cruelty or induce them vnto it What can be more cruell than to take the lambe and the owe at one time Who is the ewe which hath brought forth the lambe but only the mother of Christ and who the lambe but her precious sonne God did warn the synagogue often that they vvould take heed vnto the Lambe and ewe and especially that if they would touch the sonne that they vvould pardon the mother God had no greater wealth nor any equal neither in heauen nor in earth vnto that lambe and sheep of whom he himselfe had a care and in whose seruice and guard all the powers of heauē were by him emploied This commandement was broken on the Mount of Caluary where they at one time killed the innocent lambe and spared not the sorrowfull mother What cruelty and inhumanitie like vnto this was euer seen or heard of haung but one sheep in the Synagogue the church hauing but one lamb to kill the lambe in the presence of his mother and torment the ewe in the sight of the Lambe What equall torment could there bee to the mother than to kill her son before hir face or what greater martyrdome could the son suffer than to sacrifice his mother in his sight O how glorious and happy should I be if my soule would turn to be such an ewe and my heart such a lambe because I might bee sacrificed on the Mount of Caluary with the true Lambe O sweet Iesus saith Vbertinus O mercifull Lord seeing that all lawes doe speake in fauour of thy precious mother why wouldest thou breake them seeing thou art the iudge of them all Is not the law made in the fauour of thy mother which commandeth that the lambe should not bee sod in the milke of his damme Is not that law made in the fauor of thy mother which cōmandeth to take the yong Sparrows and let the old one go The law which cōmandeth not to kill the Lambe and the ewe at one time is it not made in fauour of thy mother Thou then that art the giuer of the law doe not breake the law which thou doest if thou sacrifice thy selfe which art the lambe and thy mother which is the ewe There is bloud inough in the bloud of the lamb there needeth not the bloud of the mother for if it be necessary for the son to die to redeeme vs the mothers life is also necessary to cōfort vs. Bonauenture Anselmus Vbertinus cannot wonder inough what should bee the reason why the sonne would take his mother with him to the foot of the crosse seeing that shee could not helpe him in his death nor hee had no need of her to redeeme vs. It is not to bee thought that hee brought her thither without cause neither that shee did goe thither vvithout some mystery because that all things done betwixt the sonne and his mother should bee esteemed as a mystery of mysteries like vnto Salomons Canticles which are songs of songs The reason why our good Iesus would take his mother with him was as Anselmus sayth Because hee would leaue her his onely inheritrize as being the next of kindred O my singers O my heart how is it possible for you to bee able to write or my tongue able to speake of the wealth which the sonne leaueth or of the inheritance which the mother doth inherite But what could hee leaue vnto his mother who was borne in Bethelem among beasts died on the Mount of Caluary betwixt theeues What can his sorrowfull mother inherite of him who shrowdeth himselfe in a borrowed shrowd and burieth himselfe in another mans sepulchre What could hee bequeath by Testament who hauing two coats gaue one to the hangmen which crucified him and the other to the knights vvhich kept him What could hee leaue vvho neuer had a foorme to set downe on nor a boulster to lay his head on The inheritance then which she did there inherite from her sonne was the bloud which there hee shed and the dolours which hee there suffered for all men so that with the bloud which came downe from the crosse hee watered her body and with the dolours which hee suffered hee martyred her soule Saint Barnard De passione domini saith That in so great and high a work as this was and in so narrow a strait as this which Christ was in it was very necessary that the Virgine should bee there and giue her sonne part of all that was in her not onely to haue compassion on him but also to suffer with him S. Augustine vpon the passion of our Lord sayth That because the great prophecy of Simeon was not as yet accomplished it was done by the permisson and counsell of the holy ghost that the mother should be with the sonne on the Mount of Caluary where at one time the sword of grief bereaued the son of his life and pierced the mothers soule As it was not reason saith Anselmus that the mother of God should want the crowne and reward of martyrdome so was it not reason that she should be put into tyrants hāds therfore it was giuen her as a meane that because shee had serued her sonne with excessiue loue her own sonne should martyre her with his inspeakable griefs Who euer saw or heard that as it were at one sound and after one measure the hangmen should martyrize the son
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
of vvater and his heart brake in two vvhen hee remembred the vow vvhich he had made in the vvarre and that he could do no lesse than kill his daughter The father then said vnto his daughter O my daughter and sole inheritrize how vnfortunate vvas thy destinie and how vnlucky vvas my fortune in that I must open my mouth and make that promise to such great preiudice to thy life and hurt vnto my house His daughter answered him and said If thou hast opened thy mouth my father to make any vow vnto the great God of Israel let mee bee no hinderance for the performance of it for I vvill like it well onely because I see thee victorious ouer thy enemies And she added further and said only I aske of thee my father that thou wouldest giue mee two months space before thou doest sacrifice mee in the Temple to bewaile my Virginity in these sorrowful mountains with others my companions And when those two months were past the tender virgine bewailing and weeping the losse of her life and virginity vnbestowed the Father performed his vow and sacrificed his daughter Because Iephthe that captaine had that famous victory but yet with vufortunate losse of his onely daughter all the young maids and virgines of the people of Israell agreed a meeting to weepe and lament the death of Iephthes daughter foure daies in the yeare and although the people of the Iewes did omit thinges of greater weight than that was yet they did neuer forget to mourn and lameÌ„t those daies The holy scripture doth promise vs many great matters in this figure of Iephthe worthy to be knowne hard to expound Who is vnderstood by the famous captaine Iephthe but the sonne of the liuing God and redeemer of the world He who said all power is giueÌ„ me in heauen and earth is more valerous and mighty than Ieph the was because that Iephthes authority extended no further than the land of Iury but the sonne of Gods did reach ouer heauen earth The scripture maketh mention that when Iephthe was a yong man those of his countrey put him from his fathers inheritance banished him out of the land and how that in progresse of time hee deliuered them from their enemies and vvas captaine ouer them all That which the neighbours of Gilead did to Iephthe the inhabitants of Ierusalem did to Christ whome they banished out of the Synagogue and depriued of his Fathers inheritance and yet neuerthelesse hee deliuered them from their sinnes and vvas the redâ—emer of them all The truth doth very vvell answere to the figure in this place and the sence vnto the letter For as they which did banish Iephthe out of all the kingdome did afterward entreat him to bee their guide and captaine so those which said to Pilate crucifie crucifie him did afterward on the Mount of Caluary strike their breasts and say aloud Verè hic filius deifuit This man was truly the son of God Who was vnderstood in Iepthes daughter a virgine faire and young but only that flesh and humanity of the Word S. Ambrose vpon those words Speciosus sorma sayth Who is so beautifull who is so pure who so holy as that most sacred flesh vvas and is The daughter of Iephthe was not knowne of any man and Christs humanitie was also vnknowne of man seeing that it was not conceiued by consent of husband but formed and framed by the vvebe of the holy ghost Iephthe did promise to offer in the Temple his only daughter for the victory which hee had obtained against his enemies and Christ did promise to offer vpon the crosse his owne flesh for the victory and conquest vvhich he had against sinnes so that Iephthe did offer only the daughter vvhich hee had begotten and the sonne of God did offer his owne proper body Is it not thinke you a greater matter for a man to offer his owne flesh than that vvhich is born of his flesh Iephthe vvas very loath and grieued to offer his onely daughter and it vvas a great corrasiue to the daughters heart to see her selfe sacrificed by her owne Father but in the end shee vvas more ioyfull and glad of the victory vvhich her Father receaued against his enemies than grieued that her owne life should bee sacrificed O how vvell one mystery doth answere vnto another for vvhen the flesh said Let this cup passe from mee vvith the daughter of Iephthe hee vvas loath to die but vvhen hee said Not as I vvill but as thou vvilt hee was glad to suffer so that that sacred flesh vvas very vvilling to bee sacrificed because that the diuine Word should obtaine victory ouer sinnes Doest thou not thinke my brother that one mystery doth very vvell answere another and that one secret is very vvell compated vvith another seeing that that virgine vvas sacrificed for her fathers honour and that diuine and sacred flesh also sacrificed for the honour and glory of his father Iepthe had a great reuenge ouer his enemies but Christ a farre greater ouer sinne and yet it is to be noted that by how much the greater those two victories vvere so much the more greater vvere the prices vvhich they vvere bought for because the one did cost his daughters life and the other his owne What can be deerer than that vvhich doth cost a mans life Pellem pro pelle cuncta dabit home pro animasua saith Iob chapter 2. The Scripture maketh mention in Iob that as there appeared before the iudgement of God many vvicked men the deuill made one among them for good men doe neuer assemble themselues to doe good but Sathan is there also to doe them some hurt Our Lord said vnto Sathan from vvhence doest thou come and vvhither hast thou gone To this Sathan answered I haue gone about all the earth and vvalked through it to see whether I could happen vpon any more that vvere mine Our Lord replied hast thou seene my good seruant and trusty friend Iob vnto vvhome no man on the earth may bee compared And doest thou not know Sathan that Iob is a holy man sincere in condition vpright in his conscience fearfull in that vvhich the law commandeth vvithout malice one vvho continueth till this day in his innocency Thou hast stirred me vp against him that I should kil his sonnes destroy his sheepe and deere and that his oxen should be stolne froÌ„ him and all his vvealth taken from him and that I should depriue him of all his honour Sathan answered vnto this and said Know Lord that a man vvill giue all his vvealth substance vvith condition to saue his life Pellem pro pelle dabit hemo that is A man vvill giue al his sheepe skins all the cowes hides in the vvorld to keepe his owne flesh If thou vvilt trie Lord vvho thy friend Iob is lay thy hand vpon his owne person and fill his bodie with a leprosie and then thou shalt see that hee will bee more
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
the loue of God and of the profit that this loue of God doth in the soule HAurietis aquas in gaudio de fontibus saluatoris Esay 12. chapter The Prophet Esay spake these words speaking vnto good Christians of the Catholicke church and of the great good that Christ will doe in her and they are as if hee would say When the Messias promised in the law shall come into the world all such as were drie and thirsty shall receiue great ioy with great abundance of waters to refresh and recreate their persons The Prophet dooth promise foure things in this place that is that they shal not draw water but waters not out of one well or fountaine but fountaines not by force but willingly not out of euery well but of the fountaine of our Sauiour Agar wanted the fountaine how much more fountains the children of Israel found water but soure the Patriarke Iacâ—l found sweet water but he had great strife in getting it They brought king Dauid water but it was of a cesterne insomuch that the Synagogue was so poore that shee could not get a cup of cleane water The catholicke church may hold her selfe very happie and rich seeing that God hath promised her abundance of waters cleare and cleane flowing from the fountaine of her Sauior and Redeemer It is much to bee noted and also to bee meruelled at to see that our Redeemer Iesus Christ said vpon the crosse Sitiâ— and yet saith that hee hath waters and fountains to refresh and quench the thirst of all the world What meaneth this O good Iesus what meaneth this Hast thou not one drop of water for thy selfe to drinke of and yet doest thou inuite all the world to drinke of thy fountaines It doth wel appeare O my good Iesus that thou hast all that good for me and keepest all trauailes vnto thy selfe seeing that of thy sweet water thou doest inuite all men to drinke but the gaule and vineger thou doest giue no man to tast What are the fountaines that thou wouldest haue vs drinke of but thy holy wounds with the which we were redeemed O sacred fountains O holy wounds which are so delectable to behold and so sweet to tast that the Angels are desirous to drinke of them and all creatures are willing to bath themselues in theÌ„ They are fountains which alwaies flow they are waters which alwaies run what do they flow but bloud water whither do they flow but to the Catholick church Holy Iesus did giue vs much more than Esay did promise vs for Esay did promise vs nothing but waters but he gaue vs afterwards waters of his bowels blond of his vains O good Iesus O holy fountaine from whence but from the fountaine of thy bowels did the water flow to wash our spots and from whence but from thy precious vaines did the bloud runne to redeeme our offences It is gathered in scripture that the waters of Rasim were most swift the waters of Iorda troubled the waters of Bethleem were pooles and standing the waters of Marath were bitter the waters of Siloe were soure The waters of thy wounds O my Redeemer are not of these qualities for they are safe to saile in cleane to behold sweet to tast and profitable to keepe What meaneth hee to say that you shall draw waters In gaudio but that as we were redeemed with his great loue and will so we should serue him with great ioy and mirth Hee doth draw waters of the fountaines of Christ with ioy and miâ—th who doth serue him with good will and hee doth draw bloud out of Christs wounds with sorrow and griefe who doth serue him with an evill will whose seruice is neither acceptable to God nor profitable vnto him which doth it for as our Lord doth giue nothing which hee doth giue but with ioy and mirth so he will not that any man serue him but with pure affection and entire good will With what great loue the sonne of God hath redeemed vs and with what a liuely will he wil be serued wee may gather by his owne doctrine and see it in his owne louing words Ignem veni mittere in terram quid vâ—lo nisi vt accendatur Luke 12. This high word no man could say but hee only who was the word of the eternall Father and the meaning is this If thou wilt know why I came downe from heauen vnderstand thou that it was for no other cause but to burne and set all the world on fire and therfore I bring this light with me because it may burne day night and that thou maiest blow it that it goe not out Christ speaketh to the same purpose in another place when hee sayth Non venipacem mittere sed gladium as if hee should say Let no man thinke that I came into the world to giue it peace and quietnesse but to put a gallowes and asword in it the gallowes to doe iustice on the wicked and the sword to martirize the good These words are worthy of the noting and also to be feared of all mortall men for hauing created the world what meaneth he to say that hee came into the world but to put it all to fire and bloud What man is there this day in the world so noble in birth or so rich in wealth but if he proclaime publickely that hee will burne both man and woman but they wil presently lay hands on him bind him hand foot or coÌ„demn him for want of discretioÌ„ What can be more straÌ„ger or what inueÌ„tioÌ„ may be like vnto that for our Lord to tel vs. also warne vs that he hath brought nothing else with him but a firebrand to burne and a sharpe sword to cut our throats Vpon those wordes Non veni mittere pacem sed gladium S. Augustine sayth If wee will well vnderstand that which Christ sayth in this place we should not only not bee scandalized at it but also highly thanke him for it for to say the truth with that fire he doth seare our dead flesh and with that knife he doth let out our corrupt bloud Beda vpon the Apostle sayth What is the sire which Christ brought from heauen into the world but his exceeding great loue The quality of this high fire is to heat and not burne to giue light and not hurt to burne and not consume to putrifie and not wast to warme and not to grieue O good Iesus and light of my soule what sensuality can ouercome mee or what tentation can throw mee downe if at the coales of thy fire I warme my selfe and giue my selfe light with the flame of thy loue What can hee doe what is in him or what regard is there of him in this life who doth not warme himselfe at the fire of thy loue What made S. Andrew goe cheerfully and singing to be crucified but the fire of the loue which burned in him What made S. Agnes goe more ioifully to martyrdome than
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
the secōd to make vs clean of al that which we haue already sinned O what small need Christ hath to bee so many times annointed nor by the church helped for from the first instant of his incarnation was annointed not only the altar of his most holy humanity to enioy presētly the diuine essence but also all the members of his holy body were annointed because they might neuer sinne nor neuer be seperated from God The figure of annointing the altar with all the furniture was spoke of none but of Christ nor fulfilled in none but in Christ alone because it doth easily appeare that as the holyghost left no part in his soule nor body which he did not sanctifie and make holy so there was no power in his soule nor body which to our benefite hee did not imploy Wee may better say of Christ than of Moyses hee dooth annoint the altar Cum omni suppellectile seeing that with his feet hee visited the altars of the Temples with his hands cured the sick with his tongue preached to the people and with his heart forgaue sinners The end of the fift word which Christ our redeemer spake vpon the altar of the Crosse These foure chapters are all which the Author left made vpon the seuenth word which Christ spake vpon the crosse that is In manus tuus c. For whilest that he was a making it it pleased our Lord to take him out of this life CHAP. I. How God is the only and true comforter and how hee was Deus vltionum to the Synagogue and is to the church Pater misericordiarum BEnedictus deus pater domini nostri Iesu Christi pater misericordiarum deus totius consolationis qui consolatur nos in omni tribulatione nostra These are the words of the Apostle speaking of the goodnes and mercy of our Lord God as if hee should say Blessed and praised bee the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ who is the father of all mercies and God of all comfort and who is the true consolation of all our tribulations With a high stile and lofty wordes the Apostle doth extoll the greatnesse and power of God in calling him Father and Father of mercies and God and the God of consolations and aboue all that he keepeth them not for himself only but doth succour vs with them in all our tribulations O how happy is the Apostle who vttereth these words and how blessed wee Christians for whom hee spake them and how blessed is Christ by whose merits they were spoken What grauer sentences or sweeter words could bee spoken seeing that by them he maketh himselfe of God our Father of a iudge our aduocate of a Lord our brother of a reuenger mercifull of him which was cruell gentle meek of him which could not be spoken with most affable and of one which was inuisible treatable Thou maist haue pitty on me and I haue pitty on thee and I can comfort thee thou canst comfort me but to haue pitty on all who can doe it but only the father of mercies and comfort all men who is able to doe it but only the father of all consolations If I be sicke one may cure me if I be naked another can cloth me if I be sad a freind can somewhat comfort mee but tell mee I pray thee who is able to helpe mee in all tribulation and distresse but only our Lord who doth cōfort vs in all our tribulations Who sayth by the Psalme Cum ipso sum in tribulatione of whom speaketh the Apostle Quod consolatur nos in omni tribulatione of who was he euer called whom he did not helpe The father of our Lord Iesus Christ is he who in calling vpon him doth open in speaking to him doth answer who being demanded any iust thing doth graunt it By peeces by patches and by crownes men can giue vs of their pleasures and the world his delights onely hee who is the God of all comfort can comfort vs in our distresses and succour vs in our necessities It is much to be noted that the Apostle doth not say the God of consolation but the Lord of all consolation whereof wee may inferre that all comfort which dooth not come of him is dissolute or fained or imperfect Wee should haue great pitty on those men which say Let vs go sport our selues at the water let vs goe walke in a garden who seeme rather to play the Idolaters then to recreate themselues seeing they put all their felicity and case in seeing a greene meddow in the running of the riuer in flourishing trees and to sit in a banketting house Seneca in an Epistle sayth Let no man thinke that consolation dooth consist in that which wee see with our eies or heare with our eares or touch with our hands or smel with our nose but only in that which the heart desireth for no man can bee at rest if his heart haue not contentment With variety of meats the tast is recreated the sight reioiceth in faire sights the hearing is delighted with sweet musick the smell is pleased with aromaticall perfumes and the feeling ioieth in soft thinges but what shall the poole heart doe which neither taketh tast in meats nor pleasure in musicke nor delight in that which it seeth nor contentment in that which it smelleth what other thing saith the church when she sayth Sursum corde but that we should lift vp our hearts vnto God seeing that there is no perfect consolation for them below in the world Al wicked men would bid God much good doe it him with his glory if they could find any perfect case vpon earth for their hearts but because they cannot find it bee he neuer so bad hee sighteth to goe to heauen We say all this because the Apostle saying that hee is the God of all consolation how can any man haue any consolation in this life vnlesse hee giue it him who is the God of all consolation How great soeuer a lord Hector was in Troy how great soeuer Alexander was in Asia and how mighty soeuer Caesar was in Rome notwithstanding Christ was greater in his church because all those Princes were such ouer their cities only but the sonne of God is the God of all consolations What greater pleasure then to giue pleasure to whom thou louest what greater contentment then to giue contentment to whome thou likest Our Lord kept this treasure for himselfe alone and reserued this segniory for himself that is Quod sit deus totius consolationis and therevpon it is that if he will not shew that which hee can doe and impart among vs that which he hath no iust mā should liue cōtētedly nor any Angell happily If as one is lord of many possessions and inheritances he were also of many pleasures and consolations what would wee not giue for them what would wee not bestow to attaine vnto them and vnto what would we not put our selues to take them