her selfe to leaue the world and to consecrate herselfe to God he animates her in that purpose and shewes the great blessings which shee would finde both in life and death by the espousalls which shee meant to make with Christ our Lord. DEuout seruant of Iesus Christ The contentment which my soule tooke in vnderstanding of the new purpose you were growen to haue of taking the king of heauen for your spouse yow who might soe well haue matched your selfe heere on earth was so very great that I know not with what words to expresse it And though when it was tould mee it were new to mee as not hauing vnderstood thereof before yet neither was it wholly new for already I had in a manner eyed you out for that lord who created you and I had begged of him as a particular fauour that he would bestow you vpon mee for himselfe Blessed be his holy name for euer who hath now done it soe very completely as I knew not soe much as how to wish But that ioy which your soule founde before in seeing it self soe disintriqued from all the basenes of this earth and finding it selfe already to haue receiued that pledge and pawne of loue from that heauenly king what was it els but a cleare signe that this mutation which you haue made proceeded not from any incōstancy of your humour but from the worke of God who hath conveighed his hand into your hart and therein hath produced that desire of heauen which now you haue And he also gaue you that great ioy as a testimony and earnest penny of those many and great and pure ioyes which if you proue faithfull to him he resolues to giue you in heauen the least whereof is incōparably more to be esteemed then a husband of this world and children and estate and whatsoeuer els the whole earth can giue O if you had but tryed how sweete God is to that soule which turnes her backe to the world to place her eyes vpon her Creatour O if you did but know what that sweetnes is of the celestiall spouse towards the comforting of those soules who cast all transitory delight away and like chast turtles refuse to take comfort vpon earth but send vp sighes for loue of their Lord who is in heauen who are like the doue which returnes home to the hand of the owner as cleane as shee went forth without touching any dead body soe much as with her feete What is there soe flourishing in this world which is any better then a dead and stincking carkasse And for what then doth it serue vs to ioyne our selues to that which will infect vs and which may leaue vs thirtie thousand tymes more disgusted with the bitternes which followes then with the pleasure which it yeilded for the present You must render Christ our Lord many thankes whoe hath giuen you light whereby you know how to distinguish betweene that the pretious and the base betweene eternall and-temporall betweene an immortall God and a mortall man And for hauing giuen you grace to make soe happy an election as whereby God is accepted and man despised and in that for the loue of that heauenly bedd of state the care of any earthly bedd is throwne aside◠how rich soeuer it might haue beene Be therefore faithfull to him whoe takes you for his spouse and who will be sure to be so faithfull to you as to make you finde by experience that hee is not in iest when he calls himselfe the pure Spouse of pure Virgins for you shall finde the assembly of all blisse in him Nor can it proue like the marriages which are made betweene flesh and bloud wherein vsually the little contentment which is had at first is followed by the bitternes of repētance But this worke of ours giues not onely contentment at the first but the more you conuerse with this Lord the better you shall know him and the better you know him the more you will loue him For he is not like men who when they are more frequented let vs easily see that they haue more faults and he who was a good husband vpon the marriage day within a yeare proues such as that there is noe liuing with him But in Christ our Lord you shall see nothing which may disgust you and as little in that Blessed mother of his who is the mother in lawe to all the spouses of her sonne O blessed houre wherein that good purpose was sowed in your hart and much more blessed will that other bee when you shall finde your selfe so visited by your spouse as to make you say O my Lord and when could I deserue these fauours of thee that I should finde this hidden treasure for the purchase whereof to pay the price of a thowsand liues were to buy it very cheape O how happy and prosperous is this marriage to be and of how excessiue ioy both to heauen and earth God the Father is pleased to see that there be soules on earth whoe loue his onely begotten sonne soe well as that for his loue they leaue the loues of flesh and blood not onely those which are forbidden by his lawe but euen those of marriage which are lawfull For it is a signe of greater loue when for his sake we forbeare that which we might lawfully vse The sonne is he to whome the soule is espoused and for this hee dyed that he might haue some soules which would loue him at least with spirituall purity and others whoe might doe it not onely spiritually but euen with the body alsoe vntouched The holy Ghost is most pure and farre estraunged from flesh and when he findes a soule which resolutely despises carnall delights there doth he lodge his eyes and fills them with spirituall comforts and will neuer permitt that the soule be empty which shall refuse to feede vpon carnall foode Our Blessed Lady is the mother of the spouse and they are very like one another for shee alsoe is all amiable benigne a beginner a protectour and an aduocate of virgins and shee highly reioyces that there is virginity vpon earth for that is the flower which she planted There want not pages to giue attendance at this marriage for the Angells are seruants to the king of heauen and ready for all that which the spouse shall neede Neither yet is there want of children which the world is wont to desire soe much and they come without throwes of trauaile and without paine in bringing vp and without that greife which growes when either they liue not well or dye too soone The children of this marriage are good workes which be rightly called a man's or woman's fruite What comfort will he feele when for the loue of Christ our Lord he conceiues a good purpose to giue an almes or some such other thing and when afterward he shall put it in execution what pleasure will he take by the birth thereof These children giue both ease and honour to their
O my deere God and when shall we maintaine our soules in perfect faith and puritie towards thee and be sincerely loyall to Iesus Christ our Lord who is the spouse thereof giuing him our loue all intyre and wholly free from mingling itselfe with the basenes of creatures When shall we be able to vnderstand this truth that he who is to owne our soules is Christ our Lord and that he created vs for himselfe and that he onely is fitt for vs Is it not enough that we haue tryed so often by experience how ill the world is wont to serue vs and that our soule could neuer finde any true repose or peace but onely when coming to knowe her owne misery and poorenes it went to God and was imbraced by him Is not one of those short fitts of tyme more worth then their whole life who sacrifice themselues to vanitie and to the confusion of this ignorant world wherein they liue Or shall it not now at length bee tyme to saye to all things created I know you not that soe I may prouide a cleane and ready place for the reception of him who created you all of nothing I am extreamely glad that we haue to doe with a Holy ghost which is soe very holy as that he would not come euen to the disciples them selues of our Lord till euen his owne pretious body were taken out of their sight That so we may know the condition of this holy spirit to be such as that we must prouide a temple for it where noe other thing may dwell or els it will not enter there And I am highly glad that you by the grace of this spirit will haue prepared your selfe and that you will haue receiued him and that you and he are well content with one another Reioyce you with this Holy ghost for he is Ioy it felfe And remember Eph. 4 that the Apostle S. Paule requires vs not to contristate the holy spirit of God whereby wee are marked out for the day of redeÌ„ption which is of the iudgment of the latter day He contristates this Spirit whoe with a dull and deiected hart goes faintly and negligently about his seruice whoe doth things which displease this most soueraigne guest who as himselfe is fire soe will he haue his seruant full of feruour and requires that he goe about his worke with great life And that he euer be casting on the wood of good workes and blowing it with holy thoughts that soe this celestiall fire may not be quenched in vs since our very life consists in keeping it aliue And soe if we maintaine this fire in vs it will maintaine vs in him though yet still it be true that he first giues vs that which afterward we giue to him So that in this respect your ladyship will haue beene fedd at a good table this weeke since you will haue celebrated the Feast of the holy ghost not according to flesh and blood as they doe whoe vse to content themselues â—vith the talke and tumult of great Festiuities but you will haue celebrated it in Spirit according to the aduice of our Lord Iohn 4. who requires to be Spiritually adored Lett vs now consider how it stands with you concerning the sent odour of the Festiuitie of the Body of our Lord which is now neere at hand For it will be an extreame shame for a Christian hart not to hunger and aspire toward this holy bread Matth. 2. before the Festiuitie it selfe arriue since the three kings those wise men of the Ghospell had a sent of it so farre of yea and the Prophetts and Patriarcks had the like a longe tyme before his Incarnation What more happy newes can there be then to see Christ our Lord passe amongst vs in our streetes and through our hands communicating and conuersing with men And to haue him sett before our eyes to finde him whome neither the whole earth nor all the heauens can comprehend shut within the narrow â—urtaine of the accidents of bread and after all â—his to make his entrance into our vnworthy woefull brests Take heede you heare not this newes with deafe eares but awake your hart and require it to be very attentiue to soe great a fauour and worke of God and that it instantly cast vp whatsoeuer other meate it may haue swallowed that soe being full of hunger it may grow all full of this celestiall bread where vpon the Angells feede And bid it be sure to watch now that soe it may not then fall a sleepe And since it is the worke of the holy Ghost you must begg grace whereby you may be able to finde the effect of that Feast of the body of our Lord which was conceiued by the same holy Ghost And soe when that Feast of his most holy body shall be come the Holy Ghost will alsoe come with it because the Holy Ghost descended into the world through the meritts of Christ our Lord. And when his Body shall be giuen vs we shall receiue the holy Ghost together with it according to the rate of that good disposition which we shall haue Soe that one Festiuity must helpe and be a preparation for another and must giue vs hunger to feede vpon the fruite of the other For it is not heere as it happens in the banquets of this world which are made by flesh and bloud Where they whoe haue fedd full at noone haue noe minde at all to their meate at night But the soule goes feeding with afresh appetite from one Festiuitie to another and soe that is accomplished Leuit. 26. which God promised The threashing of your corne shall last till you goe to vintage and till the new time of seede and you shall eate your bread in aboundance The goodnes of God be blessed which soe liberally prouides for vs and that not in any meane fashion but by giuing his very selfe to vs. The sonne is giuen to vs and the Holy Ghost for his sake and these two persons giuing themselues the father cannot choose but be alsoe giuen In fine the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost are ours Wee already begin euen heere that mutuall contract which we are to perfect in heauen Let vs giue him humbly thankes for his mercies Lett vs prepare our selues for the receauing of new fauours and with harts exalted aboue the earth let vs celebrate the Festiuities of heauen to the end that we may passe from these temporall Ioyes to those eternall wherein I humbly beseech our Lord that you may one day see your selfe Amen A letter of the Authour to a virgin lady who asked of him what Charitie was He answeares to her demaunde and shewes her the Loue and Charitie which she is to haue to God and her neighbours heere on earth by that loue and charitie whith the saints haue in heauen DEVOVT spouse of Christ our Lord you aske me in your letter what Charitie is to the end that you may
guide you whole life thereby For the saying of the Apostle S. Paule is true 1. Cor 13. and whatsoeuer wee doe without Charitie is nothing worth though wee should deliuer our bodyes into the fire Your demaunde is very great and I could wish that the same Apostle S. Paule whose sentence moued you to aske me the question might enable me also to make the answeare For I know not what greater thing then this you could haue asked mee since the sublime parte of all our christian religion consists in it 1. Cor. 13. And as the same Apostle saith He who liues according to it is a fulfiller of the whole law Soe that you o deuout spouse of Christ our Lord must beseech the holy ghost whose proper attribute is Loue that he will teach and write that thing in your hart whereof you aske as he taught it vpon the day of Pentecost Act. 2. when hee infused it into the harts of his Apostles For know that this is the true teacher of this language and soe as there is none but he For alas what can my tongue which is made of earth expresse of that which is onely vsed with perfection in heauen This is a celestiall language and they whoe speake it perfectly are the blessed spiritts which attend to nothing els but truly to loue our Lord God with all their strength and all that which his pleasure is that they shall loue How shall I be able to speake to you of that Loue which is subiect to noe interest and is accompanyed with noe selfe-loue and lookes towards noe other marke and aymes at noe other scope but onely God How I say shall I speake of it whome my father Adam hath left all wrapped vp in mine owne interest and who apply my selfe to seeke my selfe in all things See how much For euen in those things which concerne the seruice of God wee doe soe hang towards our selues that many tymes wee performe them for our owne interest or end And though the workes themselues be holy yet the loue wherewith wee doe them is impure And the difference doth onely consist in this that when wee seeke our selues by euill workes our Loue runnes through a conduit of clay when we seeke our selues by good workes it runnes indeede through a cōduit of gould but in fine it runnes towards our selues Iohn 6 I beseech our true doctour Iesus Christ our Lord who euer sought the honour of his Father and whose loue abased him to this world not for the accomplishing of his owne will but his who sent him that he will vnty my tongue to the end that I may tell you some part of that which you demaunde For certainly if your good desire did not oblige me to lett you know what I haue read my poorenes would oblige mee to hould my peace And now to the end that you might better vnderstand what Charitie is and how you may euer goe imployed therein I could wish you knew some parte of that Loue which the Blessed spiritts haue in heauen to the end that you may know thereby wherein true Charitie doth consist For how much neerer we shall come to that loue so much the more perfect will our loue be you must know that the loue which is in heauen doth transforme the Saints into the same will with that of our lord God For one of the effects of loue as S. Dionisius saith is to make the seuerall wills of such as loue to be but one I meane that they should haue the same will and the same not will which the other hath And now since the will and loue which our lord hath is but onely of his owne glory and of his essence which is supremely perfect and glorious from hence it followes that the loue of the Saints is a Loue and will wherewith they loue and desire with all their strength that our lord God may in himselfe be still as good as glorious and as worthy of honour as hee is And for as much as they see all that to be already in him which they can desire there followes there vpon Gal. 5. the fruite of the holy ghost which is an vnspeakeable ioy to see him whome they loue soe much to be soe full of treasures and felicitie in himselfe as they desire If you will haue a touch or at least some little sent of this diuine ioye doe but consider how great that ioy is which a good Sonne receiues in seeing his father whome he loues much full of honour beloued by all rich powerfull hoble and very much esteemed by the king Certainely there be sonnes soe gratefull and well disposed to their parents as to esteeme that nothing can be compared to the ioy of seeing their fathers soe esteemed which reaches indeede soe farre as that to whatsoeuer necessitie or affliction themselues may be subiect it serues not to depriue them of that great ioy because they aspire to noe other end but onely the honor of their parents Now if this ioy be soe great what doe you conceiue that the ioy of the Saints may be when being transformed by loue into that true lord of theirs the vniuersall creatour of all things they shall see him soe full of goodnes soe holy and soe rich in beauty and that he is a Lord and creatour soe infinitely powerfull as that by one onely act of his will all that which is created hath his beauty and his being and noe one leafe of any tree can so much as wagg but by his will Infallibly this is such a ioy as noe eye hath seene nor eare hath heard nor can such an vnspeakeable knowledge as this euer enter into the hart of any man but such a one as enioyes and possesses it You see heere the loue which the Saints haue in heauen speaking according to the poorenes of our vnderstanding And from this aboundant swelling Riuer which delights the Citty of God doth flow that loue which the soules in heauen beare to their neighbours For as all the desire and ioy of the Saints consisteth in their seeing God who is their true loue full of honour and glory from hence they grow to loue with a most feruent loue and to desire with an excesse of appetite that all the Saints may be as full of glory and beauty as they alsoe are And they ioy in this to a strange proportion because he is honoured and glorified in them whose honour and glory they onely seeke And in reguard that this is the cause why they loue the Saints from hence it growes that they ioy more and doe more desire the glory and beauty of the greatest Saints then of their very selues because they see that our Blessed Lord is more glorified in those others then in them And by this tyme you may perceiue how fart this holy cōpany is from selfe-loue from enuy which springs from that roote But you will tell me perhapps that it followes from hence that they
who being sent about busines would needes stay to passe his tyme and play with other boyes or els loyter for seeing of some vaine show and neither did that which he was commaunded nor soe much as remembred where about he went till returning home at night without any answeare coÌ„cerning his busines he is receiued with reprehensions and stripes by him who sent him Let vs awake whilest wee haue tyme and lett vs haue an eye to that which imports vs most and which is to last for euer And lett vs leaue vanity to vaine persons for both it and they shall perish Let vs raise our eyes to wards him who gaue vs the life and being which wee haue and afterwards gaue his owne life to the end that we might not loose ours And with great labour he taught vs the way whereby we were to walke and by a death which was full of torments and reproaches did he encourage and strengthen vs towards the purchase of vertue and he obteyned grace for vs whereby we might be able to serue and please almightie God Lett vs search into the most hidden corners of our harts and lett vs cure that in it which is wounded Lett vs vntye the fetters of our sinnes Let vs procure to redresse our selues in that which giues vs most cause of feare And let vs appease the clamorous remorse of our Conscience with doing that which God commaunds by the Dictamen thereof that soe all things being once well ordered and agreed we may like true and watchfull seruants expect the coming of our Lord and that we may be found with tapers lighted in our hands and with our loynes girt and that we may heare that sweete word Reioyce thou good and faithfull seruant Luk. 12 Matth. 25. whoe hast benâ— faithfull in lesser things I will place thee ouer greater Enter thou into the ioy of thy Lord That is the daye for which good christians hope and in coÌ„templation whereof they who liue heere in paine doe in tyme passe through it with much patience And this expectation of that crowne giues them hart to endure the combatts of this world and of the flesh Making election of abasement heere for that eternall aduancement and of this short lamentation For that delight which shall haue noe end of loosing their will heere that they may haue it euerlastingly vnited to the will of God in heauen Where they shall haue nothing which may disgust them but all that shall be done which may content them For they shall possesse almightie God as their most rich treasure in whome is conteyned all Good If our Lord haue yet begunne to visit that soule of yours you will vnderstand what I say and you will profitt by it If not which God forbidd it will be but the hearing of a story which is instantly forgotten I desire that Christ our Lord may be the Loue of you and of my lady your wife whose desire to see mee I pray God reward But thinke no more of your coming this way till first God shall haue soe disposed that I may goe thither to you the rather because I alsoe desire that it may be soe A letter to an afflicted lady whose sicknes hindered certaine deuotions which shee had beene wont to vse He teaches her how to finde peace and true repose which is noe where but in God And of the great care wherewith she was to prouide that the forbearance which she vsed of her exercises of spirit in her sicknes might not proceede from tepiditie THE best comfort in those afflictions which come vpon vs against our will is not to haue committed any fault which might occasion their coming For a conscience which stands right will easily beare any weight which you can lay vpon it but to a conscience which is impure any little burden is intollerable If men knew as well how to seeke the meanes of true repose as they know how to desire the thing they should enioye it and not remaine with the sole desire thereof It is the expresse lawe of God that they who haue desires of any other thing then him shall be subiect to torment whether the thing be obteyned or not obteyned For supposing the thing be had which they desired yet can they not compleately enioye it through the remorse which their conscience brings and if it can not be had they are racked by the delay of the thing desired The pure desire of God is very contrary to this Psal 104. For if Dauid say Lett the hart reioyce which goes but euen in search of God what kinde of thing will it be to finde him out If the hunger of seeking giue them ioye what will the being satisfied at that table doe He therefore who desires to finde peace and true repose must resolue to forgoe his owne appetytes must boldly and faithfully lodge himself in the will of our Lord and soe he shall neither be tumbled vp and downe in the darke nor be afflicted otherwise by the arriuall of strange euents But who will now procure that the sonnes of men may attend to that which God exacts at their hands How longe will you be heauy harted and loue vanity Psal 4. and seeke after lyes who shall vnbeguile such men and free them from their blindenes as goe seeking peace and finde warre yea and by the same way wherein they seeke it they loose it Let the whole world vnderstand once for all that as there is noe more then one God soe is there noe more then one true repose And as without the true God there is noe God soe out of his repose there is noe repose Certainely the mountaines were lyers and soe was the multitudes of the valleys and onely in our Lord God there is true saluation This say they whoe after they are well wearied vpon the experience of their owne vaine desires arriue to know at length both what God is and what hee is to them who seeke him Madam we haue not in our house a bitt of bread which wee may giue our freind to eate who is coming from abroad vnlesse we goe borrow it of our neighbour who is God made man and one who withall is soe neere vs as that he is our head and both our father and our brother He who will lift his eyes vp to him and depend vpon his hand he who will be a begger at his gate he who will be in desire of him and growe euen fainte through hunger after him shall be refreshed by the aboundance of him which doth as farre exceede the satisfaction which creatures giue as God him selfe exceedes them But out of God lett noe man presume to haue any hunger For as S. Augustine saith where soeuer flesh and blould shall expect to finle a suâ—â—nes amongst the creatures it will finde it selfe deceiued Soe that a man may vnderstand by experience what difference there is betweene the Creatour and the creatures and soe being vntyed from them since in
them by any meanes Be not faint in labouring for the loue of our lord since true loue knowes not what it is to be remisse as you are to be compassionate pious to wards your beloued soe are you to be seuere and nothing delicate towards your selfe Your ladyship shall doe well to call to minde what heroicall acts the loue of Christ our lord hath wrought in this world in those harts where it hath dwelt It hath made them endure prisons torments dishonours and that with much ioy whilest the great worth of the beloued hath beene placed before the eyes of the louer And since it hath wrought soe great effects in others let it not be soe weake in your ladyshipp as that it cannot enable you to passe through a little affliction for the pleasing of soe high a Lord by whome you shall be soe much the better accepted as you shall come to him with more affliction Yet soe as that our Lord is not desirous of our paine but onely of our loue but yet it is still true withall that the truth of loue is hardly knowne but in somewhat which puts vs to paine Eccl. 6. For the freind who stands fast in tyme of tribulation he is the true freind indeede And though God doe well know what wee are without making any particular experiment yet he loues to trye vs that wee may know it too that soe wee may haue comfort in finding our selues faithfull to him in point of loue and soe may liue in hope that wee shall goe to enioye our beloued for Patience breedes Hope Rom. as S. Paule saith So that this must be your method till you haue perfect health that when you are free from your vomitts paines you may exercice your minde in spirituall things and at those tymes you must alsoe beseech our Lord to giue you light to know when it is the flattery of flesh and blood and when it is Iust necessitie which hinders you For he who vses the knowledge well which he hath shall obtaine light for that which he knowes not But as for others with what face can they aske new light since it may be answeared them thus why desirest thou to know further what my will and pleasure is since in that which thou knowest already thou complyest not And when you are in any ease though it bee not much let your mind alsoe bee in some exercise of spirituall things though it be not much nor with much attention but onely recording your desires and presenting your selfe before our Lord. And by this and withall by not letting your hart sincke for euen the very life of the soule consists in that your ladyship shall passe on vntill that God prouide otherwise The woman of Samaria asked where she was to pray Iohn 4. and our Lord answeared her that it was euery where to be done and that in spiritt And soe is the christian to doe who in all his workes is to pray to our Lord not in the mountaine or in the temple alone but in eating drinking and sleeping in health and in sicknes referring all to God and ioying in all things because he receiues them from that holy hand Your ladyship is to haue great care that you straighten not the goodnes of God since he is immense Doe not thinke that you are to seeke him and to finde him but onely in such an expresse place or determinate worke He is euery where and you are with him and if you seeke him euery where Sap. 7. you shall euery where be sure to finde him I reioyced saith the wise man in all things because this wisedome went before mee And soe doth hee alsoe reioyce whoe in all things behoulds God performing that which he commaunds and euer keeping the hart in attention towards him and from the contrary flowes sadnes and disgust and deiection of minde which is a thing to be auoyded Eccl. 30. with much diligence For as it is written There is no profitt in such sadnes Nay it brings much hurt both to our body to our soule and to our neighbour Whereas ioy and comfort giue strength and perseuerance makes our spirituall enemies grow sadd it cherishes the spirit of God which dwells in such as are his seruants For his spiritt in cheerefull Besides this your ladyship shall doe well to receiue the Body of our Lord now and then And since the lodging which he takes vp is in the hart you are not to be in paine for that your body is noe better And though there may be some impediment why wee cannot labour yet there can be none why wee may not loue So much the more must wee loue our Lord because hee is both omnipotent and very desirous to giue strength to that hart which seekes to loue him for this tends to the accomplishment of that very thing which he likes best of all others both in heauen and earth and that is Loue. Wherewith I desire that your ladyship may soe abound on earth that you may deserue to be lodged neerè our Lord in heauen Amen A Letter of the Author to a Lady whome he had greately in charge and who feared her selfe to be troublesome to him He takes all feare from her and animates her to perseuer in the way of vertue which she had begun and adnises her to the seruice of her neighbours as a good meanes whereby she might obtaine the guift of Contemplation IF you knew how great ioy I haue felt in my soule by your letters I beleeue you would write often to mee how carefull soeuer the deuill might be to discourage you And if you knew how great fauour you doe mee in letting me see that you are c̄ofident of my truth to you and if withall you would be pleased to make tryall of mee I beleeue you would cast away a great number of those imaginations which the deuill brings to you about the making you thinke that you are troublesome to mee I for my part haue not taken vpon me so in iest that charge of you which our lord hath put into my hands as that any difficulty could make me weary of it how great soeuer it might bee and how much lesse can I bee weary when the thing it selfe is not painefull to mee but delightfull I beseech you for the loue of our lord that you will aske him whether I loue you or noe For I hope for soe much fauour at his hands as that he will tell you I doe forasmuch as he is a freind of truth and hee knowes that the thing indeede is soe Doe you not already vnderstád that this is but a tricke of the deuill vnderstád that this is but a tricke of the deuill whereby he would pull downe weake persons Doe you not know how much hurt this conceite doth to some of your neighbours when they beleiue it you know well enough how to chide them who will not conceiue that they are beloued by their freinds
he should haue done And this is to walke according to truth giuing that to God which is his That is to say all manner of good without the least mixture of any ill And by this consideration being rooted well in the bowels of a man's hart as a truth which were deliuered by the very mouth of God a man rises from leaning vpon himselfe as from some broken reede and he euer goes leaning vpon him who vphoulds all things He behoulds himselfe and hee sees nothing but that which is to be lamented and he behoulds God in whose goodnes he confides without any feare to be forsaken And for asmuch as God is soe faithfull as that he neuer leaues them whoe goe to him and for that he hath soe great care of them as that infinitely sooner there will be want of water in the Sea and of light in the sunne then of mercy in him therefore doe they runne and fly because God carryes them and they falle not because be sustaines them and they wander not because he directs them and they shall not be condemned because our Lord giues his kingdome to such as become like little children Bee therefore sure my freind that thou vnderstand thy selfe right since our Lord doth soe much expect it of thee And of all that which passes in thee lay the glory aside for God and take the shame and dishonour to thy selfe And place thy hope of being able to proceede as thou hast begun in that Lord who put thee in the way with noe meaning I assure thee to leaue thee in the middest thereof but to carry thee on to enioy the society of his spouses in heauen There doeth he intend to doe thee extraordinary honour and therefore procure not thou to be honoured heere For being taken by the sēt of such an excellēt feast as that it is vtterly against all reason that thou shouldst glutt thy selfe with the basenes of any thing which this world affoardes For there is nothing vpon earth which can sauour well in his mouth who hath tasted though but a litle of that celestiall foode Turne thy backe to all things which thou art soone to leaue place not thy hart on that which is soe instantly to passe away It is very litle which heere thou art able to endure for God yea though thou alone shouldest endure all that which can be endured heere For considering hell which thou hast deserued and heauen with which he meanes thou shalt be rewarded since he hath placed thee in the way thither and againe waighing that which heere he hath endured for thee it is not to be accounted of noe nor so much as to be greately considered which thou either doest or mayest endure for him Esteeme thou God for soe pretious a thing that whatsoeuer he growes to cost thee thou maiest still beleeue it to bee very little yea though he cost thee thy life yet doest thou buy him very cheape In the next world thou shalt see that thou wert not deceiued in the exchaunge which thou hast made but finding them to be treated like madd fooles and miserable persons who lodged their harts and besotted themselues vpon this present world and forgot the promises which God made concerning the future thou wilt giue praises to our Lord in that thou being once deceiued he vouchsafed to vndeceiue thee and whilest thou wert casting thine eyes downe to earth he was pleased to raise them vp to heauen and thou being a slaue to vanity hee made thee a sonne of his owne and when thou wert liuing without any hope of diuine promises he grew to place thee in that way wherein thou maiest hope that he will helpe thee now to liue well and afterwards to dye well And that when this exile is ended he will conduct thee to the land of the liuing which is the cleere fruition of the face of God Where thou shall enioy soe great happines that it belongs to God alone to know it perfectly as to him alone it belongs both to be able and to be willing to giue it And this will our Lord doe not for thy sake but for his owne because hee is good and his mercy endures for euer To whome for all and of all and in all be glory and praise for all eternities of eternities Amen A Letter of the Authour to a person whome he exhortes to bee gratefull and carefull to preserue the guift of the Grace of God It seemes he was in some feare that the partie was returning to sinne I Remember you often and the loue I beare you makes me neuer thinke of you without some feare and trembling at my hart considering the many dāgers wherein your soule may be for which our Lord hath done so much that if he were still in case to be weary without doubt he would now be very weary But he was weary once for all when he tooke our mortall flesh vpon him and from those wearynesses of his doth result that care which now without any wearinesse at all he takes of such as he is drawing to himselfe O Sir how much reason haue you to be gratefull for the good which you haue receiued and carefull at the least to keepe it and fearefull least it should slippe out of your hāds And I sayd Carefull at the least to keepe it because he who can make coniecture that he hath receiued the guift of Iustification must employ himselfe like a diligent negociatour that with fiue talents he may gayne other fiue Improuing that good which God beganne in his soule and getting euery day a new parte in heauen since the gate is open for our getting more and more in euery minute of our life It is most certaine that if we should tell a man that there were a very long way in the steppes whereof there were great felicity to be obtayned yea and that for the making of one single pace they would giue him the worth of a whole kingdome and that though a man should goe all his life time in that way they would neuer depriue him of his rewarde but that still it should holde on after the rate of the first pace which he had made I doe not thinke that in the whole world there is any one worldly man who in this case would not be so great a walker as that he would hardly be euer perswaded to sitt still Now if couetousnesse of visible things be able to worke so great effects what will it be fitt that the loue of that which is inuisible and eternall should worke in our soules but a vigilant care to be still walking on in the way of God with resolutions as liuely and more then they were which we entertayned the first day when we entred into his seruice Who is he that can be so absurdly inconsiderate as not to holde himselfe a deepe debter to Almighty God for the many guifts which he hath receiued from him in recompence as I may say of so many sinnes of
self-loue tell vs that wee desire it but for the seruice of Almighty God And for my part I beleiue that there is noe peace to be had in this world but by patience Nor doe I thinke that it is true patience when a man is content to beare with his neighbours if withall he be not content to beare with himself Not to the end that he must fayle to punish and to mend his faultes but that his hart may not be deiected and he vnreasonably afflicted and that whatsoeuer happen hee may bee able to keepe himself content both within and without but soe that yet withall as I was saying he still doe his diligences to mend himself Which yet if he should not wholy doe it is better that he bee sorry for it and that instantly he rise vp with new alacrity which vses to encrease and double our strength then that whilest conceiues himself to lament his faultes for the loue of God he should indeed displease the same God by seruing him with a sowre kind of hart and with fallen wings and such other braunches as vse to rise from this roote Let the Conclusion be that which S. Paul deliuers Let vs frequent prayer in all things giuing thanks to God Thess 5. and soe wee shall be sure to doe well Our Lord Iesus bee with you and with vs all Amen A Letter to a Cauallier his freind wherein he teacheth how the afflictions which God sendes to his seruants are to put good men in hope and wicked men in feare THankes be giuen to Christ our lord for hauing made you a partaker of paine and trouble for it is the most certaine title to heauen which can be had vpon earth since it doth enable vs to be like our lord who descended from heauen to giue vs light that we might loue him and strength by his example and grace by his merites Let not the dispensation of the workes of God seeme cruelty in your sight for as the rewarde which he giues is not light soe neither must the meanes be light whereby it is to be obtained Nor is there any thing further of from being a matter of toyes or iest then that which our lord hath prepared for such as loue him Now to the end that this may be knowen and rightly vnderstood it is fitt that they who are to enioy it may be soe treated as he was that soe the world may be vnbeguiled if it still conceiue that by liuing in iest they are to enioy that great reward in earnest Our lord giues aduise to his seruants and he threatens such as will needes be strangers to him For to the former sorte of men he saith that they must thinke highly of his rewarde since he will not giue it but vpon high tearmes And as for these other he askes them how they thinke to escape the rigour of his handes they who are his enemies since euen his children be strictly treated who are yet elected for soe great a good If we cast our eyes towardes this beame of rigour and iustice which are the afflictions whereof we now speak we shall finde that they conteyne greate occasions both of hope and feare And on the one side the mercy of God is much glorified thereby and his iustice on the other Let trouble expect to finde repose and let him feare affliction hereafter who doth not feele it now For since in any man how iust soeuer he be there are many thinges which may deserue punishment though not in hell and this punishment is to be personally indured if it be not purged with soe great an excesse of loue as that the contrition may stand for the punishment as it did in S. Mary Magdalen and some others it is plaine that eyther heere or in purgatory they must passe through fire And though they who finde not in themselues soe great loue of God as to cause this greife which may stand for a satisfaction may thinke perhaps that they receiue hard measure in beeing saued by fire whilst others shall be saued without it yet indeed they are much deceiued in their account For the great loue of God euen heere on earth when men see that God is offended doth cause greater greife then that to which you are subiect And that truth is seene by this then when one loues God greatly he would be glad of the paine you suffer soe that he might be free from that which he feeles for the offences which are committed against God And at this wee must not wonder since there are persons who euen to free you from the paine wherein you are would indure themselues And this also may serue for a proofe that the loue which one beares to another puts him to more trouble then the paine it selfe would doe which the other feeles that if your selfe loue another very much you would not be ridd of your owne paine if it were vpon condition that the other must indure it for yow which proues as I was saying that it would trouble you more in the personne of that other then in your owne Now if the loue of a creature can reach soe farre how much more will the loue of the creatour be able to doe it being infused by the most holy spirit of our lord which farre exceedes all other force And thus it growes to be a most certaine truth that eyther in this fashion or in that there is noe meanes to escape from suffering before we ariue to enioying And tell him who would complaine of this law ather complaine that he is a man that he was not made an angell and lett him complaine against iustice and reason which doe absolutely require that vertue must be obtained with labour and the reward must correspond with the vertue But who o lord who shall euer presume to cōplaine of thee as if thou didst treat them with rigour◠since instantly thou stoppest their mouthes with shewing that thou so loued the world as to giue thy onely begotten sonne to the end that in the strength of these afflictions and sorrowes and death which they charged vpon him the world might escape the torments of hell and might triumph in heauen Who I say o lord will presume to complaine when he shall see thy best beloued freindes to be soe seuerely handeled and obserue that in thy court it is hard to say which of these two haue the pre-eminence eyther afflictions or fauours and that it was said by thy commaundement to one of thy fauourites Because thou wert accepted by God it was necessary that temptation should try thee Doe not permitt your heart to sinke vnder your crosses but remember that heretofore you haue desired to doe and suffer somewhat for the loue of God God is not deafe to the desires of our hartes He hath giuen that which he knew to be best for you and if you thinke it heauy confide that he who sendes it will giue you shoulders wherewith to beare it That
to vs. Be sure therefore that you serue this lord with all the force you haue And if hitherto you haue done soe giue him thankes for it and if you haue failed thereof see you retourne to him with shame and firme purpose of amendment Comfort your self also with the holy Sacraments of the Church they beeing the remedies which he hath left And put your selfe into a new way and now at last learne to trip noe more vpon that at which you stumbled most before Soe that you may be of their number of whome S. Paul saith that all thinges cooperate to â—e good of them who loue God For howsoeuer they may fall Rom. 8. they are not bruysed to death because our lord conueyes his hand vnder them to receiue them In the middest of these thinges I beseech you call my miseries to mind that you may obtaine mercy for me of our lord And deliuer my salutations to all those persons in your house who serue our lord I beseech him to be your aeternall loue Amen A Letter of the Author to a freind of his whome God had called to lead a spirituall life by meanes of his preaching TO those many obligations into which you put me by your letters I answeare late and ill And though I be confounded therewith yet I hope Christ our lord hath giuen you some little crumme of Charity Now the first condition thereof is by the testimony of him who had store of it 2 Cor 1. and who knew it well Quia patiens est That it is patient I beseech that immense fountaine of Charity to encrease it in you till you be enabled thereby euen to lay downe your life for your enemyes as Christ our lord layd downe his for vs. You complayne of drynesse in deuotion though yet I conceiue you speake it not by way of complaynt but onely as relating to one who loues you the disposition wherein you finde your soule And I say that so longe as this drynes reaches not to weaken your desire or vertue it is noe such thing as ought to putt you to much payne For that which is questioned thereby is but the losse of a certaine sweetenes in the things of God though yet this is wont to be a spurre to make such men quitt themselues and to fly faster on towards our Lord who knowe how to make right vse thereof And because I desire all good to you whether it be in much or little I wish that you were endewed with a Loue of God which were both strong and wise and sweete also since a loue with all these qualities is due to him to whome wee owe our loue But yet if he impart that loue alone which is strong and wise it will be because he intends to doe vs other secret fauours by meanes which are vnknowen to vs and to vnty vs from our selues and to exercise our vertue whereof there will bee great neede for a man whoe treates with him who is infinitly wise and doth extreamely like that noe man should be so in his owne eyes Your care must therefore bee to follow on according to that strength which our Lord giues yow for his grace will not faile And yow must giue him thankes both for that which yow vnderstand and for that also which you vnderstand not and in this doth your safety consist And as you grow elder and to haue more experience of the very little which any man is able to doe towardes the contriuing of things how small soeuer they may bee you will be confirmed more and more in the good custome which you beginne to take to hould your peace And you will perceiue that a busines will then be well dispatched when wee speake at lardge with God and but a little with men This ignorancy of ours is an vnspeakeable kinde of thing and soe is our setting our selues out and our ignorant kinde of zeale to doe good And wee haue much and much a doe to beleiue it till wee haue bought this knowledge vpon the price of many errours which wee shall haue committed For wee inherit from our first parents a certaine fly and secrett desire of a kinde of diuinity Cen. 3. which cannot be sought without theft This makes vs imitate our first fathers therein and to denie that things may be done how and when wee list with certaine other deepe and most secret rootes of pride which are neuer to bee discouered without light from heauen and this cannot be obtayned without much Prayer As for the particular of those soules which you desire to reduce I tell you as I did before that you must cordially recommend the busines to our Lord and hope well that you shall haue good successe And be you not troubled or afflicted since you know that you haue a father in heauen who calls you towards him and he will be your guide in the way Spend your tyme at the present the best you can and as for the future doe not vexe your selfe but make account that nothing but your owne negligence cann take God from you Fight therefore against this negligence if you ouercome it you will finde by experience that the Exchaunge or Burse is a very Celâ— to you and that busines is but as a Riuer which may serue to wash you cleane The way wherein God hath placed you requires that more diligence bee vsed then that which your letter sayth you vse concerning the constancy of your deuotions And if I were with you I could tell you of straunge things which haue happened to men who had beene slacke in performing their good exercises Whereby you might perceiue that our Lord esteemes it not as any small infirmity for a man to be a Lunaticke sometymes doeing his duty and sometymes not A cleare signe it is of a soule in subiection to selfewill to doe a thing when the humour serues and afterward vpon mere humour to lett it alone And forasmuch as such men want the abnegation of themselues they are in fault both when they cease from doeing any thing and soe are they alsoe when they doe it because they liue butt in themselues And the punishment which our Lord inflictes vpon these men is that hee is not liberall of himselfe to them when they desire it because they are not liberall of themselues to him when he requires it Wee must therefore be sure to aske pardon for the little constancy which wee haue vsed in the seruice of our Lord and to reforme our selues with an entire resignation into his hands concerning the successe of our endeauours whether they be more or lesse Take courage once to loose your selfe for the loue of our Lord obeyng that which he commaunds and neuer looke vpon what is to follow vpon it For whether it be drynes or deuotion it cannot faile to be a fauour since it is sure to be the pleasure of our Lord. And by how much the more you shall be able to liue towards the
them he found not what he sought he may goe at last with an intyre hart to him who alone is able to impart more to the soule then it is able to receiue Your ladyship must not therefore be carryed away by that great errour which yet is imbraced by many great ones of this world who are mightily affected to their owne will and who abound with particular appetites and who thinke belike that they are to abound as much more then others in desire of things as they are heere of more eminent ranke state but for my part I see not what they gather from hence but greater torments For after the rate of the desire is the paine And as S. Bernard saith Let our proper will cease and there will noe more be any hell And soe wee may say let this proper will cease and there will not be in the world either any sinne or any sorrow For that which comes to vs is not in it selfe the thing which giues vs paine but the coming of it when we would not haue it come And therefore doth God require our harts of vs that soe hee may free them from many miseries and may giue vs in exchaunge his owne which is peaceable reposed and Ioyfull in tribulation And a grosse foole is hee who had rather liue in his owne straitnes then in the latitude of Almightie God and who had rather dye in himselfe then liue in life And if at any tyme or in any thing we haue committed this sinne and haue enlarged the raynes to our owne desires let vs humble our selues before the father of mercies acknowledging our sinnes and hoping for pardon at his hands and taking that paine which grew vpon vs by the inordinatenes of our appetite towards the discounting and discharging of our fault For by this meanes God is wont to take away our sinnes like one who should take the boughes or branches of a tree and setting them first on fire should apply them afterwards to the tree it selfe and soe burne it vpp by the rootes Much better it is for a sinner that hee should grow into â—aine by occasion of his sinne then into peace and rest For as S. Augustine faith there is not a more wofull thing then the temporall felicitie of a sinner And as for vs let vs learne heereafter to giue all our desires to God And as a stone falls downeward and as fire flyes vpward and as euery thing in sine makes towards his proper place soe let our harts fly at full speede towards the center thereof which is God Who would not be amased to behould a great rocky Mountaine hanging loose in the ayre without falling downe to his proper place and who will not wonder to see a hart which was created to repose and rest in God detaine it selfe in the ayre and lesse then ayre Therefore whether it be that wee cannot take true rest in any other then in God or because this Lord of ours deserues of himselfe all our loue since he is the loadestone to which all spiritts looke let vs not fall heereafter into such a folly as that whereof I spake lett vs not spott our honour let vs not committ such a treason against such a lord as that heereafter any other desire may enter into our harts but of him or for the loue of him And soe will the sadd cloudes of these vnprositable hart-breaking melancholies and these both vaine hopes vaine feares fly from these harts of ours in their place a new morning will rise which will giue vs Ioy. For to see the light of heaué is the cause of Ioy but the blinde man cannot discerne it Tob 5. For this did Tobias say what ioy cann I have in this life since I cannot see the light of heauen It is a great truth that noe man who is not indeede vnbeguiled concerning this world can haue any true ioy of hart for though he thinkes hee sees yet indeede it is but a sight of earth and not a light of heauen But after this other sight a man growes cured at the very roote It will be fitt that your ladyshipp doe not thinke to make the like exercises of minde in the way of spiritt as before now that you are subiect to an vnlike disposition of body And many haue ignorantly afflicted them selues for not hauing beene able to weigh what their strength and state would permitt It is cleere that with this condition of body wherein you are you must not thinke of keeping the same method which you held before nor doth our lord aske any such things at your hands since his will is very wise and tempered alsoe with great mercie and demands nothing of vs but that for which hee giues vs meanes And not onely hee will not reape where he doth not sowe but euen when hee sowes he is content to reape lesse then hee hath sowed Your ladyship must not be discóforted for that which you are not able to performe for you might as well put your selfe to paine because you haue noe wings where with to flye Doe not place the ioye of your hart vpon hauing consolation or vpon making Prayer but vpon the accomplishment of the will of our Lord. And since his pleasure is that the tyme which before you spent in praying shall now be spent in vomiting let it be soe in the name of God and lett his contentement be ours and lett vs more esteeme that he be pleased then we would to possesse heauen and earth And if we be troubled with any scruple that such or such a punishement came to vs for our hauing committed such or such a sinne and that God chastises vs now for the thing which wee inordinately desired before in that case what haue we more to doe then to cast our selues at his feete desiring both correction and pardon And our lord will either giue them both or els the pardon without the correction but neuer the correction without the pardon if the fault be not our owne We must therefore take any tribulation as an earnest penny or introduction to peace and prouided that there may be peace betweene God vs let any thing come which he will send One onely thing wee haue to feare in this case which is least wee should slubber ouer our negligences vnder this occasion and pretence of I can doe noe more Wee must heere looke vpon our selues with many eyes for this EVE which liues within vs is soe desirous to be cherished and regaled and to be walking vp and downe the garden and to be eating of the forbidden fruite that she wants not a thousand inuentiòs to make reason beleeue that she demaunds not any thing of superfluity but of meare necessitie and she is in a mightie chafe if they beleiue her not Madam there is neede heere of two things The one that when wee clerely see that wee are able in such cases to performe our spirituall exercises wee must not omitt
noe loue without greife I hope in God that as heere hee giues you greife and trouble soe hee hath prouided a place of rest and ioy for you in the other world Though indeede the very suffering for such a Lord is reward enough And soe that as there is nothing soe much to be desired in the other world as to enioy that kingdome with Christ our Lord soe neither is there any thing in this which may be compared to the excellency of suffering with him and for him Suffer therefore with a good will since you are to be crowned for the same For the afflictions which you endure come to you but as a fitt meanes whereby you may obtaine that crowne A Letter of the Authour to a Cauallero his freind He shewes how that person who feeles himselfe growne could in the way of vertue hath reason to apprehend it much and to greiue much for the present ill and for the daunger wherein he is of falling into greater mischeife and namely of a hardned hart which is the next doore to hell That vsually this decay of spirit growes either from ingratitude or negligence And lastly he speakes of the remedies HE who in some former tyme hath seene his soule a proficient in vertue and at the present findes it to be in decay hath much cause to be in paine and to procure remedy by all the meanes hee may For if a man be apt to feele the diminution which he may suffer in his temporall goods how much more ought wee to apprehend the decay of the goods of our soule which are goodes indeede Iob said with a deepe sigh Iob. 29 that he wished to be as he had beene in the tyme of his youth when our Lord protected him and when he made his candle shine ouer his head These and other things which he affirmed himselfe to haue possessed before and were wanting to him then at the present must rather be thought to haue beene certaine choice delightfull and deuout communications which formerly he had receiued from God and then were missing then that he was then in present want of his former vertues For since he gaue soe good account of himselfe in that tyme of tryall which is true tyme wherein indeede it may be seene what strength one hath he is found to haue had noe cause to coÌ„plaine as if our Lord did not then protect him or carry his light ouer him and therefore he saith vpon the former ground who will graunt that I may be as I was before c. Now if he complaine of this what will that man haue reason to doe who findes himselfe wasting in pointe of vertue it selfe and who perceiues that his soule goes estraunging it selfe by little and little not onely from those communications which he had enioyed and wherewith he comforted himselfe in former tyme but euen from the very custody of God's lawe and from conformity with his holy will And although this mischeife be great euen for the present yet is it greater by much for the future losse which may be feared For a little fall in relation to a great one lyes as close as the eeue doth to the holy day Apoc. 3. and as neere he is to be vomitted out who leades a life of tepidity God for his pretious passion keepe euery mortall man from this misery which is so great as to make Saint Peter say 2. Peter 2. that such men as they had beene better neuer to haue knowne our Lord then after they had knowne him and walked in his way to haue forsaken him and to haue betaken themselues to wicked courses And that was not without great mistery which our lord said to the man who had beene sick eight and thirty yeares Now thou art whole but take heede thou sinne noe more least a worse thing happen to thee These words are to be weighed feared withall for they containe a rigorous threat and are deliuered by the mouth of Truth it selfe and are wont many tymes to be executed vpon such as feare him not nor take a course to preuent their falling into them There happens a wors thing to them because the sinnes into which they fall afterward are more highly qualifyed and more deepely rooted then the sinnes committed in former tymes As there is a difference betweene a man when he falls with his eyes open and when with his eyes shutt or betweene a man whoe hath witt and yet doth the workes of a foole and another who either hath no witt at all or very little or betweene a man who ought his life to another in the way of gratitude and seruice for great fauours receiued and another who had receiued noe such fauours One thing it is to meete the king in the streete seeing and knowing who he is not onely to doe him noe reuerence but to proceede irreuerently towards him and another thing it is not to know him at all or not very well or at least not to consider who it was that passed A great fauour it is which God doth to them to whome he giues both the knowledge of their sinnes and of his diuine loue but yet withall he obliges them to much thereby sinâ—e according to the guift he saith tâ—aâ—â—he account must be made Luke 12. And if it be ill done not to pay good with good what will it be to render euill for good receiued and to answeare with offences insteede of seruices There happens a wors thing to them since they are wont to sinne more and with more faulty circumstances then before and they come by little and little towards a hardnes of hart and to dry themselues vp in such sort that they are not in disposition to doe the good which they did before I meane not when they were soe prosperous and happy in our Lord but euen before that when yet he had not called them to his seruice Then doe they sigh though it be with a hard vntoward hart to obtaine a little spirituall good againe and they finde it not But that which they finde is That heauen is to them made of brasse and the earth of iron for there is not a dropp of water to be found which may soften their soules or yeild them any fruite whereby they may be susteyned And they whoe in former tymes were visited watered with many good inspirations to which they vouchsafed not to answeare doe now desire some one and cannot compasse it Thus are negligent fastidious rich men punished by being killed with hungar as the rich couetous man was afflicted with thirst Luc. 16 And it is not many myles from this hardnes of hart to hell it selfe since the Scripture saith It shall goe ill with the hard harted at the latter day And the being cured of this euill costs deere and it is a thing which is of great priuiledge and grace when it is graunted by our lord as S. Bernard saith Noe man of a hard hart
fine your lord O blessed tyme wherein is represented to vs the coming of God in flesh to dwell amongst vs Luke 1. to illuminate our darkenes and to addresse our feete in the way of peace and to adopt vs for his brethren and to designe vs for the enioying of the same inheritāce with himselfe It is not without cause that you desire his coming and that you prepare your hart for his habitation For this lord was desired long before he came Agge and the Prophet called him The desire of all Nations Psal 9. and indeede hee giues himselfe to none but such as desire him God heares the desire of the poore for his eares are laid close to the sighing of our harts and he cares for nothing els in vs but that To such a hart hee comes and cannot deny himselfe as it is said in the Canticles Cant. 4 Thou hast wounded my hart O thou my sister and my spouse thou hast wounded my hart by the cast of one of thyne eyes and by a haire of thy head Is it possible for any thing to be more tender then that which is wounded by the sight of a single eye Is it possible for any thing to be more weake then that which is tyed fast by one single haire where now are they who say that God is hard to be obteyned that he is rigourous to be delt with and insupportable to be endured Wee must quarrell with our selues since because wee will be looking many seuerall wayes we place not our sight vpon God nor will wee shutt that eye of ours which behouldes creatures that so with all our thought wee may cōsider God alone Hee who shootes in a Crosse bowe shutts one of his eyes that hee may see better with the other how to hitt the white we the while will not shutt vp all that sight of ours which hinders vs from being able to hunte wound our lord with loue Let him recollect and make sure his loue and lett him lodge it in God whosoeuer hath a minde to obtaine God For as God is loue soe is he onely to be hunted and taken with loue and he will haue nothing to doe with them who loue him not And if they say that they know him already as they ought 2. Iohn 4. S. Iohn will tell them that they say not true But our lord who is wounded with an eye is tyed with a haire For that which loue takes the recollected and reflected thought conserues that it may not be lost And to the end that men might be put into confidence that they should be able to arriue to almighty God and that hee hath noe minde to slipp away he makes himselfe one of them and layes himselfe in the armes of a virgin swathed vp hand and foot without power to fly from that man who is disposed to seeke him O celestiall bread which descendest out of the bosome of thy Father and art laid in the publique places of this world inuiting as many as will that they may come to enioye thee and feede vpon thee And whoe is hee whoe can endure to withhould him selfe from goeing to thee and from receiuing thee since thou giuest thy selfe vpon noe harder cōdition then onely that wee be content to hunger after thee For doest thou peraduenture aske more of vs then onely that a soule may sigh for thee and confessing her sinnes may receiue and loue thee Great is the misery of those men who when bread comes to seeke them in their owne howses they choose rather to dye of hunger then to stoope to take it vp O sloath what a deale of mischeife thou doest O blindenes what a deale of benediction doest thou loose O sleepines what a deale of aduantage doest thou steale away since considering the promise that whosoeuer seekes shall finde Mat. 7 21 Mark 11. Luc. 11 Iohn 14. 16 and he who askes shall obtaine and to him who knockes it shall be opened it is cleare that if wee proue not well the fault is ours But what shall things passe still after this manner Though God himselfe is come to cure vs shall wee still continue sicke He being at the gate of our hart crying out and saying Open to mee O thou my freind and my spouse shall we being all wrapt vp in vanities Cant. 4. suffer him to stand calling there and not soe much as open him the gate O my soule come hither and tell mee for I aske thee on the part of God what in fine is that thing which detaines thee from goeing all with all thy forces after God What doest thou loue if thou doe not loue this Spouse of thine Or rather why doest thou not loue him much who did soe mightily loue thee He had noe busines on earth but to attend to the loue of thee and to seeke thy profitt with his owne losse And what hast thou to doe in this world but to exercise thy selfe all in loue of this king of heauen Doest thou not see how all that which heere thou seest must haue an end as also all that which thou hearest which thou touchest which thou tastest and wherewith thou doest converse Doest thou not see that all this is but cobwebs which cannot cloath thee and keepe thee warme Where art thou if thou haue not thy being in Iesus Christ our lord what art thou thinking what account art thou making what doest thou seeke out of that onely one complete God Let vs rowse vp our selues at last breake of this badd sleepe Let vs awake for it is broad day since Iesus Christ our lord who is the light is come Let vs doe the wookes of light since there was tyme wherein wee did the workes of darknes O that the memory of that tyme wherein wee know not God might sèrue vs now for sharp spurrs to make vs runne greedily after him O that we could runne O that wee could fly O that wee might burne and be transformed into him What must a creature doe when he sees his creator made man and all for loue of him alone who euer heard of such a loue as this that one louing another should by loue be converted into that other It is true that God loued vs when hee made vs after his Image but a farre greater worke it was to make himselfe after our image He abases himselfe to vs that hee may exalt vs to him He makes himselfe man that hee may make vs Gods He descēdes from heauen that he may carry vs thither in his cōpany and in fine he dyed that he might giue vs life And now shall it be possible that in the midst of these things I should lye sleeping and without any sense of gratitude for soe great loue O lord illuminate myne eyes that they may not sleepe in such a death as this And thou who hast done vs this great fauour Ps 12. giue vs alsoe a right feeling of it For otherwise the
lord had made in their harts whoe loued him and fills vpp that empty place which was made therein by his departure And now if he were able to comfort and free men from that sorrow which was caused by the absence of Christ our lord himselfe more easily will hee be able to comfort vs in case of the absence of creatures if we be in any paine thereby This is hee who is soe full of care of his orphanes who ouershadowes them with strength from on high and who covers and keepes them warme vnder the mantle of his protection and makes them know that they haue of in heauen whome they may with confidence but without presumption call Father hee repaires that which is ruined he illuminates that which is darke he heates that which is colde he straightens that which is crooked be refreshes that which is ouer wearyed and he is dayly giuing vs new strength which makes vs fly vp toward the mountaine of God Madam it will be reason that such an excellent present as this should put vs into great appetite and that wee sell all the affections of our hart for the purchase of this Iewell which onely is able to make vs happy The newes of it passes before our doores and the noyse sounds in our eares of how he comes downe to men and is glad of a habitation in their hartes Let vs not suffer him to passe by but let vs constraine him to visitt and comfort vs that we may serue him yet more And considering in whose name wee may desire him to stay with vs he will not neede to be much entreated for the Father sends him through Iesus Christ his sonne our Lord. Christ our Lord is he who obtayned the holy ghost for vs. For otherwises what had that most high spirit to doe with coming downe to vs whoe are but soe much flesh which is impure and weake and enclined to all kinde of ill This spiritt exceedes vs incomparably more then the heauens exceede the earth if it were not for that he who is of heauen being engendred by the Father did abase himselfe soe farre as to become man the signification of which word is to be earthly And so God being humaned and tempored with our weakenes did labour and sweate and vpon the cost of his life did obtaine for vs that this spiritt which created the heauens should abase it selfe soe farre as to dwell in those potts of clay Let vs giue thankes to Iesus Christ our Lord and lett vs gather the fruite of his labours And since the holy ghost comes downe willingly to dwell with vs in contemplation of the meritts of Christ our lord let vs not be soe vngratefull for either of these two great fauours as thereby to loose them both The most high will abase himselfe to these meane persons that he may bee their Father and their guide and how then can wee be such woefull sotts as to say Noe to him Let vs goe forth to receiue him with loue whoe comes with loue and lett vs doe it with great desire for where he is desired he is well content to stay Lett vs be like him whoe said say 26 My soule hath desired thee by night and in spiritt and with the very bowells of my sowle I watch towards thee in the morning By night he desires to enioy thy holy Spiritt who findes himselfe to be afflicted and places not his confidence in his owne arme but sends out sighes to this spirit as to the comforter of the sorrowfull and the easer of all such as are in paine And in the morning hee will bee content to watch whoe makes it not one of his last cares how it may be fitt for him to furnish vp that inward howse but the cheefe of them all is to consider how he may be able to obtaine this fauour of our Lord. And being thus desired and inuoked infallibly he will come for soe did Christ our lord himselfe who was called the Desired of all the nations Aggae 2. and he loues all such as desire to possesse him Let vs call vpon this holy Spirit with the speach both of our tongues and of our soules but we must be sure that the howse be not ill furnished and soe without prouision that after hee shall be inuited and satt downe at table we may haue nothing for him to eate Let vs mortify our flesh for that is the foode whereon hee feedes and which he likes soe well For as for the flesh which liues he flyes from it as farre as he can and it stinckes worse to him then a dead dog would to vs. Let vs mortifye our owne opinion and iudgment that soe we may be ruled by his for two heades will neuer gouerne a house well if that which knowes least be not swayed by that which knowes most And let vs renounce all our selfe conceipts for these are the Capitall enemyes of this heauenly spirit which teaches vs to say Matth. 26. Not my will but thy will be done Let vs be diligent to cleanse our conscience by penance and confession from all impurity and euery graine of dust how little soeuer it may bee For this guest is most pure and cleane and it is not fitt to lodge him in such a howse as may disgust him Let vs keepe peace both at home and abroad for euen vnquiet and wrangling folkes are wont to dissemble their little brawles for the honour of some principall guest Hauing lodged him in our howse let vs giue him good attendance since he hath made it a pallace For he is a mighty king and it is against all reason that hauing him with vs at home we should be gadding abroad to see vanities Let vs then shutt vp the doores and cast our selues prostrate at his feete and let vs tell him with truth that there is nothing which shall draw vs from him and that we haue giuen this answeare to all the world that it must leaue vs and him alone together And soe lett vs enioye him for he is able to make vs happy and so as that nothing can depriue vs thereof If you carry the busines thus you shall be comforted in all that wherein yet you haue discomfort and you shall drinke of the Riuer of the delights of God till euen you be inebriated thereby And I shall alsoe be comforted when I shall see you in the hands of him whoe knowes soe well how to keepe you and instruct you and eternally to saue you It is he whome I beseech to be your succour A letter of the Authour to a certaine Preist Hee shewes how he may prepare himselfe and what considerations are most profitable when he goes to celebrate at the Altar REuerend Father I beseech our Lord that the delay which I haue vsed in making my answeare may be recompēced with being true and profitable to you for your demaunde is of great importance and soe would the answeare alsoe bee if it were such
must be warned There is noe sanctity assured but in the holy feare of God wherein Eccl. 2. I would haue you euen grow old as the holy Scripture saith Soe to giue vs to vnderstand that wee must not onely feare God when first we come to his seruice but euen to the very end This feare is noe sadd or irksome kinde of thing but full of sauour and gust and it takes away all leuity and effusion of hart and it makes a man not venterous to approue his owne actiōs as good though perhapps in themselues they be well done But he leaues the iudgment both of himselfe and of all the world to Almighty God As S. Paule said I iudge not my selfe but he whoe iudges mee is our Lord. This is hee whome you must feare if you will perseuer in doeing well and if you will not haue your building fall but stand safe till it may rise and reach to the most high God But now this must be done by loue which I beseech our lord Iesus Christ to giue you Amen Pray for mee very cordially as already I beleiue you doe For I hope in God that hee will heare you and that he will giue mee to you for your seruice as in former tymes A Letter to a Lady who was growen a widow He comforts her in the death of her husband and animates her to carry her afflictions with patience I Haue deferred to write to you out of a beleefe that my letter would be of little power towards the mitigating of that great sorrow to which they said you were growen subiect And I thought I should take a better course to be vttering my selfe to our Lord who is the Lord of all comfort and to be recommending you to him then to be speaking to you by my letters But yet because they haue beene demaunded with soe great instance which serues to assure mee how much they are desired and because our lord hath power enough to doe what he lists by the meanes euen of dead letters I would not faile to doe as I was commaunded and that to which I was obliged beseeching our lord that by meanes thereof he will be pleased to breede that comfort in your hart which I desire Our Lord hath soe disposed as to haue you try what tast these afflictions haue which are gathered in this vale of teares and they not of the gentler but ruder sort Let his name be blessed his iudgments adored and his will obeyed since that which the creature owes to his Creatour is all reuerence and subiection not onely in those things which are delightfull but in those others alsoe which are most painefull Now to make try all of this obedience God is wont to teach vs in that which lyes next our harts To the end that wee may vnderstand that for soe great a lord we must be content both to doe and suffer great things Abraham carryed excessiue loue to his sonne Isaack Cenisis 22. and God was pleased to try him in that A great loue it was which Iob carryed to his seauen sonnes and yet God tooke them all away in one day And after this manner is he wont to proceede with such as he loues For by this meanes both they are made capable of testifying their loue to him and by the same hee takes occasion to doe them great fauours I know well that flesh and blood haue noe vnderstanding of this language and that they onely imploy themselues vpon feeling the greife and losse which they sustaine without caring for other things But if God be in vs we must restraine our sence and make it obedient to reason and to the will of our Lord. And though it trouble vs much yet must we not let this flesh of ours ouercome but remembring the anguish of our Lord which made him sweate dropps of bloud and say Father not my will Luc. 22. but thy will be done we are to say the same if we meane to be knowne for his disciples since he will know none for his vassalls on earth nor for his companion in heauen but the man who carryes the crosse vpon his backe Matth 10. and whoe will follow him as the sheepe his sheapheard though it should cost him his life Tell mee of what wee can iustly complaine in our afflictions since by them our sinnes grow to be discharged and our selues made to ressemble the sonne of God For what a bould irreuerēce should it be that slaues would not passe by that lawe by which their Lord did passe and that adopted sonnes should not be content to endure that which the naturall sonne endured who was more beloued by God the Father then his first begotten sonne and whoe was more loaden with variety of paines then hee Esay 53. Hee was the man of greife and be who knew by experience what belonged to affliction And if you be able to count the dropps of the sea you may alsoe perhaps count his sorrowes Will it then seeme reason to you that the sonne of God being soe in anguish and all wounded with greife euen to the death wee should passe all our liues without drinking once of vinager and gall Matth. 26. What is become of that shame which wee ought to haue if heere wee should lett him suffer alone and yet pretend to raigne with him in heauen Let all creatures be at last vnbeguiled and know that if the king of heauen did enter into his kingdome by tribulations we also must enter in by the same way There is noe other way but Iesus Christ and hee crucified whoesoeuer seekes any other will not finde it and whosoeuer walkes by any other will loose himselfe and hee will see that though it may be a kind of vnsauoury thing to suffer in this life it is worse to suffer in the next O blindenes of the sonnes of Adam whoe take noe care of the future soe that the present may passe to their contentement Not valewing that which brings in true profitt but that which giues vs gust Not looking towards reason but passion And therefore doe they lament when they ought to thinke themselues happy and they reioyce when they haue more cause to mourne What is all this present prosperity but a smoake which by little and little will be dispersed in such sort as that wee shall see nothing of it And what are all the yeares of our life but a short sleepe out of which when wee awake wee finde our selues but to haue beene abused And vpon any little trouble which arriues we are drawne to forgett our former pleasures yea and it giues vs a kinde of paine to haue enioyed them If then wee finde soe great in constancy in this why doe wee not seeke that other And since wee see every day that this is slipping out of our hands why doe wee not seeke that which lasts indeede and will make our felicity eternall If hitherto wee haue beene in blindenes let vs now
mother This Spouse hath noe neede of a dowry for the children which shee brings will bring it and that soe richly as wherewith she may gaine and purchase heauen it selfe And they make their mother liue in soe perfect ease that I giue you my word that when you compose your selfe to sleepe at night you shall finde your selfe in greater peace and rest then if you were Mystres of the whole earth and whatsoeuer can be desired therein And tell me now what can be thought of in this world which may arriue or euen approach to the least of these aduantages For if there be any little paltry pleasure heere euery hower of such pleasure carryes with it the counterpoyse of more then a hundred howers of greife and paine And if heere there be any pleasure without paine it will at last haue an end and either the spouse will dye before her fellow spouse or els he before her and soe all proues paine And besides the death of children it is a greife to a mother to part from them euen vpon other occasions in such sort as that they enioy not one another But reioyce you O virgin in Christ our Lord. For your spouse shall neuer dye And when you dye you will be hemmed in by your children which are those good workes that you haue wrought and they will not put you to paine by your leauing them for they goe with you into the other world and they accompany you euen to the very throne of God and they will plentifully repay all the labour and charge which you haue beene at with them and the mother shall be made happy for the loue of the children More ouer death makes noe diuorce in this case but rather puts the spouse and her fellow spouse together And he shall deliuer vs for he is the Lord of life and death And noe deuill shall presume to steale her away whome God hath taken vnder the protection of his fauour and hath honoured with the name of his spouse Then will the Angells come and serue and present her before Almighty God singing prayses to him and powring forth benedictioÌ„s vpon her and saying to her after this manner Come O spouse of Christ receiue that crowne which is prepared for thee by our Lord. The virgin mother will not then absent herselfe being accompanyed with a world of other virgins who haue done in this world that which you are doeing now and are farre from repenting themselues thereof In fine you shall goe out of this world in company of your Peeres where our Lord hath already prepared that celestiall bedd of state for yow that you may eternally be full and rich and royally prouided for in the house and presence of our Lord God contemplating that infinite beauty of his from one moment to another one hower whereof is so high a reward that by way of recompence it farre exceedes the proportion of what you suffer yea and all those afflictions which all the men of the whole world did euer suffer in tyme past or can euer suffer in tyme to come There shall you possesse all good and there shall you haue obtayned all that for which you were created and you shall bee soe very full of God as that it cannot be expressed nor soe much as thought For there shall you finde the whole bosome of your soule euen to regorge with ioy like one whoe were ingulfed into a whole sea of vnspeakeable sweetenes whereby he were enuironed on all sides Then shall you see and exclayme and enioy and possesse the Lord of all things and say whome I haue loued I haue obteyned and whome I haue sought I haue found and hee for whome I left the world is growen my pay and my reward and him will I praise and loue through the eternitie of all eternityes Amen A Letter written to a deuout person wherein is treated of Humility and Pride and of the perfection of the loue of God GOD giue you Sir a good Lent and that soe you may exteriourly take ashes in the begining of this holy tyme that the vertue of holy humility which is signifyed thereby may euer haue a resting place in your soule For to whome our Lord giues true knowledge and greife for what he was at that tyme when he went estraunged from God him hath he deliuered from the daungerous blindenes of pride and him doth he make capable of all those spirituall blessings which it may concerne him to haue The holy Scripture saith The begining of all mischeife is pride and he whoe is possessed by it shall be possessed by all manner of maledictions that is of vices For as kings are not wont to goe alone soe is Pride accompanyed with many sinnes And soe alsoe on the other side humility is neuer alone since according to Saint Iames. God giues his grace to such as are humble which Grace is the Mother of all vertue The proud man seekes after honour and afflicts himselfe when he is contemned but the person who is humble is out of countenance when hee is well treated and is glad when he is despised because he findes that Iustice is done thereby which Iustice he loueâ— as a person whoe is truly Iust The proud man is euer in want of somewhat because how much soeuer he haue either of his owne or by the guift of others he still conceiues himselfe to be worthy of more but the huÌ„ble man is alwayes in aboundance yea and in superfluity for he acknowledges himselfe to be vnworthy euen of the very earth whereof he treades yea and he esteemes hell it selfe to be a punishment which comes short of his sinnes The proud man cannot endure nor liue with any body noe nor euen with himselfe in peace But the humble man can liue with all the world for he abases himselfe to all he endures all esteeming them for his betters in his very hart To the proud man it seemes an vnsupportable thing to obey the will of others whether it be of God or man but the man whoe is humble submitts and diminishes himselfe and soe is enabled to goe in by the straite gate of doeing the will of others whether it be of the Creatour or of the creatures Great are the blessings which comes to vs in these ashes of humility and men must take heede that they be not found without it vnlesse they meane to be without God For S. Augustine saith How high art thou O Lord and yet â—he â—umble of hart are the house wherein thou choosest to aweâ— And the holy Scripture saith Vpon whome will I looke or vpon whome shall my spiriâ—â— rest but vpon the person who feares and trembles at the voice of my wordes This humility which makes a man thinke basely of himselfe is farre from being abase thing nor is it a fruite which growes on earth but in heauen it is and God impartes it to such as digg deepely in their owne dunge raking vp and ruminating vpon their faultes and
ours as that he will not serue so benigne a Lord with all diligence who is he that coÌ„sidering whence our Lord hath drawen him will not resolue to be daily further and further of from hell and from the impiety of sinne He seemes not to haue bene sorrie for his offence who procures not with diligence to be farre from the like He doth not sufficiently thanke our Lord for this guift who hath layde aside the memory thereof with whome it decayes with time not stirring himself vp to giue new thankes and to presente new seruices knowing more and more thereof euery day as a person who hath receiued encrease of light This is so great a fauour that Dauid calles it the Benedictions of sweetenesse And it is great reason that we should grow strong with that new grace Psal 20. which our Lord gaue vs and not content ourselues still with being little ones I sayd that at least we must be carefull in the continuance and conseruation of this guift because according to good reason we should be encreasers thereof daily more and more And from hence it growes that when I see that the light of your soule is sett vpon by so many windes and when I consider your weakenesse in the midst of so many and so great and so subtile enemyes I finde my selfe to be all trembling ouer you as any mother would be ouer her sonne who aduentures not to reioyce for the good she sees him enioy through the feare she hath that he may chance to loose it Tell me good Sir how is it with you are you still on foote in the presence of your God doe you liue in the presence of true life is God lodged in your hart is there an vnion of loue betweene God and your soule Or is there not perhaps some litle drynesse or disagreement growen betweene you which your much care of this world and your little care to please your Lord may haue caused I feare to heare the answeare which you may chance to giue and yet I cannot content my selfe to be without hearing it If you giue me good newes my soule will reioyce in our Lord and I will giue him thankes for hauing conserued what he hath gayned But if you tell me otherwise I must be extremely sorry and yet still howsoeuer I must needes know it For I will not remaine without greife if you be subiect to any spirituall losse or inconuenience I hope to haue a parte of your Crowne and I submitt my selfe to beare a parte of your payne If there be any thing of this kinde take heede you suffer not the wound to fester and make no intricate knotts vpon the swathing-bands of your sinnes Make haste to breake that quickly which is ill tyed vp for you can haue no leaue to diuide your self from him who fixed himself to that Crossë for you with so cruell nayles Say alowde to all things Departe from me for neither am I yours neither ought I be so much as mine owne Lett the thing be what it will let the person be who it will and let the interest be as great as it can be no other can haue Title or iustice to carry you away but onely Iesus Christ who created you and tooke you for his sonne and after you had beene a prodigall admitted of you againe and honoured you and gaue you a new garment and a sweete embracement of peace and keepes a state of great repose prepared for you in heauen if you will keepe his commaundements That man namely your selfe belongs to this Lord of ours Though euery man in this world should putt in his clayme for you there is none who hath so dearely bought you as he to whome you also belong by another title For what is it for God to dye for vs but to repurchase that at an extreame rate which was already his by the benefitt of Creation and to draâ—v vs out of hell and againe to admitt vs to his freindshipp what is this but to multiplie diuerse Titles to the same thing and those so very great that euery one of them hath reason enough to carry the whole man after it O treason of the sonnes of Adam what is that which you doe when somewhat else preuailes in your hart against Iesus Christ how are you able to say No to him whome you are so bound to serue though it were with the losse of your liues Shall any small title which any thing may make towards you be able to carry you away and so blinde you as to make you forgett so many and so great benedictions as our Lord layes vp in heauen for you Let the world departe euen now from our harts since it is so soone to departe from our eyes And when we shall see anything therein which flourishes let vs bury it vnder ground and treade vpon it there in the sepulcher For by the coÌ„sideration thereof we shall obtaine a true relation of it and such a one as will deliuer vs from it and free vs from the care of all that which heere is sought with such a pestilent kind of desire What better weights or measure can you desire that so you may not be deceiued nor be drawen to take one thing for another then to carry it instantly to the Passion and death of Iesus Christ our Lord who then condemned that which the world esteemed and to carry it also to the hower of our owne death which conducts vs all naked solitary and defeated and to be trod vpon by the seete of our seruants And you in particular may doe well to remember this point since besides the feare which we all ought to haue of that passage your self haue another particular reason for it because you haue a more particular knowledge of death for lately you wanted not as a man may say a fingar's breadth of passing through it to eternity Take heede take heede that you be not deceaued by those false apparances and by those painted maskes for they are no better then maskes which enueagle deceaue our soules And if you like these shadowes so well raise vp your hart to heauen where the Truthes of these things are whereof heere there is but some litle resemblance And so you will neither conceiue any enuie against him whome you finde to prosper in warldly things neither yet will you haue any great appetite to possesse that which in fine you must be forced to leaue Do not entangle your selfe with this earth since God hath giuen you some good hopes and pledges that he meanes to carry you to heauen And those are his most sacred death the knowledge and loue of the Crucifix the receauing of the holy Sacraments whereby in the holy Church there is giuen a pardon of our sinnes and the adoption of the Sonnes of God and consequently of heyres Let him seeke for shadowes who hath no hope to lay holde on things of substance Let him respect a short tyme who hath
for the good sight of himselfe and of his Saints that he will keepe it for heauen and that heere he will be pleased to conduct vs by the plaine way as he doth his faithfull freindes And by other good meanes we must also procure to auoyd those thinges But yet when all this is done if the visions last and if the soule reape profitt by them and if the sight thereof induce it not to vanity but to increase of humility if that which they say be agreable to the doctrine of the Church if they coÌ„tinue any long time and with that interiour kinde of satisfaction which may better bee felt then declared by this time me thinkes I see hoe â—â—use why we should flye them any longer Though â—â—t noe bodye is to trust his owne priuate opinion hâ—â—rein but he must instantly communicate the matter with some person who is able to giue him light This is the generall course which must be taken in all these thinges we may well hope in God that whoe hath humility to submitt himselfe to the iudgment of others God will not suffer him to be deceiued since he procures to walke in the right way But the while noe man should easily condemne those thinges vpon the onely reason of obseruing that the person to whome they bâ— vouchsafed are not perfect For it is noe new thing for the goodnes of our lord to draw men out of ill delights and euen out of sinnes and they great ones by giuing them very sweet consolations of his owne as I haue seene him doe For whoe shall limitt the goodnes of our lord especially since these thinges are not vouchsafed for the meritts of the partie or because he is better growen in spiritt then another but sometimes to such as are most weake And as they doe not necessarily make a man more a Saint then he was soe neither are they alwayes giuen to greatest Saints But yet they haue noe reason who discredit such thinges as these because they are very high and for that it seemes to them incredible that soe infinitt a maiesty should abase it selfe to such an amorous communication with a poore creature It is written that God is loue and if he be loue he must needes be infinitt loue and infinitt goodnes And from the hand of such loue and such goodnes it is noe meruaile if some soules receiue such excesses of loue as may trouble others who vnderstand them not And though men may vnderstand by faith that theâ—e are such thinges in the world yet the particular experience of this amorous and more theâ— morbus proceeding which God houldes with whome he will this I say vnlesse it be possessed a man cannot well vnderstand to what degree or point it arriues I haue seene many scandalized at the heroicall actes of the loue of our lord God towardes his creatures And because themselues are very farre from receiuing those fauours they caÌ„not thinke that God will doe that to others which they finde him not to doe towardes them And though it were reason that euen because it is an act of loue and such loue as castes vs into admiration it should be taken for a signe why to thinke it were of God since he is wonderfull in all his workes and much more in those of his mercy yet from thence fetch they reasons why they should not beleiue them from whence they should fetch reasons to beleiue them prouided alwayes that there be a concurrence of other circumstaÌ„ces which shew that the thing in it selfe is good For your part my opinion is that by what I can perceiue in your booke you haue made resistance to such thinges as these euen more then it was fitt you should Me thinkes they haue profitted your soule and especially they haue made you know your owne miserie and faultes and enabled you to mend them I finde that they haue lasted loÌ„g that euer they haue beene with spirituall profitt They incite you to the loue of God to the coÌ„tempt of your selfe and to the doeing of pennance I see noe reason why I should condemne them but I incline to thinke that they are right But yet â—uer with this condition that you vse great caution and that you goe not with entire confidence especially if that which happens be not vsuall with you or when it requires you to doe any particular thing which is not very plaine but subject to some question In all these cases the like you must suspend your beleife and instantly aske counsell I also thinke good to lett you know that though these thinges be of God yet the enemy may mingle somewhat with them therefore you must neuer be without care feare in such thinges as these And you must further know that though they be of God you must not yet reflect vpon them with too much estimation because sanctity consists not in these thinges but in the humble loue of God and your neighbour And as for these others they are to be feared euen when they are right and you must passe from the thought thereof to the procuring of humility other vertues with the loue of our lord You must alsoe be sure not to adore any of those visions but onely adore Christ our Lord in heauen or in the Sacrament And if it be a vision of any Saint you must lift vp your heart to heauen to that which is represented in your imagination and you neede noe more but that the image may serue to cary you vp to that which is represented by it I must alsoe tell you that these thinges coÌ„teyned in this booke happen to many others in these times and this with great certainty that they are from God whose hand is not shortened to doe that now which he did in former ages this in the weaker sorte of vessalls that soe he may be glorified the more Goe you on in your way but soe as that you bee euer in feare of theeues and that still you be asking if the way be right And giue thaÌ„kes to our Lord for that he hath bestowed vpon you the loue of him and the knowledge of your selfe and a loue of pennance and of the Crosse And as for those other thinges make noe very high account thereof though yet on the other side you must not despise them because they are signes which shew that many of them are sent by our lord and euen theÌ„y which are not cannot hurt you if you aske counsaile I know not how to beleiue that I haue beene able to write this by any strength of mine for I haue none at all but your prayer hath done it I beseech you euen for the loue of our lord Iesus Christ to laye it as a charge vpon yourselfe to pray for me For he knowes that I aske it as being vrged by great necessities and I thinke this word alone will suffice for the obliging you to doe what I desire And now I beg leaue of you
againe Though thousands should rise against me yâ—t my hart shall not feare Beleiue my good sister Ps 26. that how much the harder this businesse is for you soe much the easyer is it for Almighty God And therefore you must haue great distrust in respect of your owne weakenes but great confidence withall in God's strength Infallibly he will crowne you if you continue in his loue and if you confide that by his grace you shall obtaine that Crowne Forget not this promise of Christ our lord him whoe confesses mee before men Man 10. that man will I confesse before my father who is in heauen but him who denyes mee before men that man will I alsoe deny before my father whoe is in heauen Can you thinke that one is to esteeme that for affliction which he endures for the confession of Christ our lord since it is to haue soe high a reward as that with soe much honour he shall be avowed by him at the day of iudgment before his father Happy is that sufferaÌ„ce happy that dishonour and pouerty to which soe high an honour doth succeede What kinde of ioye will it be for you O my goost sister to heare these wordes from the mouth of Christ our lord himselfe and that in presence of the whole world Matth 25. Come you blessed of my father and possesse the kingdome which is prepared for you What will it bee when the angells shall thus singe to her who hath beene a faithfull seruant of that celestiall king Come O spouse of Christ receiue thâ— crowne which our Lord hath prepared for thee and that not for one day but for all eternitie What will the spouses of Christ our Lord conceiue when hauing passed through the sea of this life and their enemies who disturbed vs remayning drowned therein they shall singe thus with great ioye for hauing runne through this dangerous world without being ouerwhelmed by the vices thereof Psal 123. The suare is broken and we are deliuered our helpe is in the name of our lord What a day will that be when that true Mary the virgin of virgins shall goe before with her Timbrell which is her sacred body praysing God both in body and soule and singing thus Psa 31. Come magnisye our Lord wish mee and lett vs exalt his name in mutuall sacietie with one another Happy are you if you be found faithfull to the Spouse whoe chose you Happy are you if you haue the courage to cast away that which is present vnder the most certaine promise of Christ our Lord for that which is future Be confident my good sister in taking his word for you are not the first to whome he hath passed it and fulfilled it neither shall you be she with whome that word shall want effect He gaue his word to S. Katherine S. Agnes S. Barbara and S. Lucy and to innumerable other Lady virgins and tell me now how completely he hath performed it They had the courage to despise the poore present world and you see that now they raigne with God They liued heere in trouble and they are nowe in the eternitie of repose Through how many combatts did they passe and they now enioye the euerlasting crownes of their conquests They fled from spouses of the earth and they brought the king of heauen to be in loue with them If they had followed the trace of this world their delight had bene already passed and their memories would haue bene forgotten But they loued that which was eternall and therefore their felicitie shall not dye and their memory shall not decay They were written in the booke of God and therefore neither water nor winde nor fyre nor tyme can make them waste For that booke is incorruptible and soe in the name which is written in it You must therefore procure to haue a stronge heart towards God who is your saluation and doe not thinke that he sells heauen deere to you for you haue not yet shed your bloud for him as those others shed theirs Our lord treates you like a weake creature and you should be ashamed to haue giuen him such cause If you had had more faith and confidence in him and more loue to suffer for him he would haue procured you more afflictions to the end that you might haue purchased richer Crownes Doe not content your selfe with suffering little considering how great your rewards all bee and how much Christ our Lord suffered for you He gaue his life for you and he was deepely tormented and despised How then come you thus to complaine of the touch of a flye doe but loue and you will desire to suffer Let your loue be doubled and you will suffer sorrowes which are doubled The loue of our lord makes such as possesse it more greedy of suffering then the loue of ones selfe of reposing It makes that any burden weighes light for loue is stronger then death He who loues not groanes vnder the burden like some lasy beast but he who loues runnes and flyes and it suffers him not to feele the weight euen of his owne body nor of whatsoeuer els they can lay vpon it It is not my good sister that the afflictions which wee suffer are greater but that our loue is little The weight of a pound is noe great weight but yet lay it vpon some little childe and he will say O how heauy it weighes Whereas if a man tooke it vp he would scarce feele it And soe take you it for a signe that if you loue little your afflictions will weigh heauy vpon you but if you loue much you will scarce allowe them to be afflictions For you will be soe inebriated with loue that nothing can be able to distract you from the taste thereof You will finde a good sauour in the very suffering it selfe and you will draw water Num. 20. out of the rocke and hony out of the stony hills Doe but loue and you shall not be subiect to afflictions but you shall be Superiour to them as their Lady and you shall praise him who deliuers you from them If they threaten you with death you will bid it welcome that soe you may enioy true life If with banishment you will say That you esteeme your selfe banished wheresoeuer you are till you may arriue to see the face of God And that it imports you little whether you goe to heauen from this or that part of the earth And that if you haue God in your company wheresoeuer you are you shall be happy and if not your owne country will giue you misery enough If you see your selfe contemned say Christ our Lord is my honour and he honours mee let the world despise mee soe hee value mee Doe not afflict your selfe about the necessitie which you may sustaine of present things for of your felfe you must despise them through the desire which you haue to â—liue in conformitie with Christ our Lord whoe made himselfe a
into so great affliction and feare as the newes of what thou art ought to giue them comfort If thou O lord wert well knowne there is no soule which would not loue thee and confide in thee vnlesse it were strangely wicked For this it is that thou sayst It is I therefore doe not feare I am he who kill and giue life I cast men downe as low as hell and I draw them back againe that is I afflict a man till he thinkes he dyes and then againe I refresh I recreate and I giue him life I cast men into certaine discomforts which seeme hell to them but when they are there I forgett them not but I fetch them from thence and they are but therefore mortified that they may be quickened I sende them not thither to remayne there but that their entry into that shadow of hell may be a meanes to make them escape the substance of that true hell after death and that they may fly vp to heauen I am he who can deliuer you from all affliction for I am of infinite power And I am he who will deliuer you for I am of infinite goodnesse and I am he who know how to do it for I am of infinite wisedome I am your Aduocate for I embraced your cause as mine owne I am your surety for I haue made myself subiect to all your debts I am your Lord who haue purchased you with mine owne bloud and with no meaning to forgett you but to doe you honour if you will serue me because you were bought at so high a price I am he who haue so profoundly loued you that for the loue of you I haue beene contented to be transformed into you and to become passible and mortall I who in mine owne nature was very farre from being subiect to such miserie I am he who deliuered myself ouer to innumerable torments of bodie and farre greater torments of minde that you might take hart to endure some for loue of me and to confide that you shall in fine be freed from them since I am he who vndertake it I am your Father as I am God and your elder-brother as I am man I am your Christ your redemption and what feare can you then haue of your debts if by penance and Confession you demaunde a generall release of them I am your reconciliation and of whose wrath can you then be afraide I am that true-loues-knott of friendshipp and how then can you thinke that you are fallen out with God I am your defender and what opposites can you apprehende I am your freind and how then doe you feare that you can want anie thing which I haue vnlesse you will needes departe from me My bodie and my bloud is yours and why then doe you feare hunger nay my verie hart is yours and why then doe you feare to be forgotten yea and my diuinitie is yours and what doubt can you then haue of miserie For accessories vnto that Principall my Angells are yours to defende you My Saints are yours to pray for you My biessed mother is yours to be the carefull and indulgent mother of you all The earth is yours that you may serue me vpon it The heauen is yours for you shall enioy it and me in it The deuills and hell is also yours for you shall treade it and them vnder foote like slaues who are chayned vp in that prison This life is yours because with it you gett another which shall neuer ende Your honest entertainements and delights are yours For you direct them to my glorie Your paynes are yours for you endure them for my loue and for your owne true good Your temptations are yours because they are occasion of your meritt and of an euerlasting Crowne in heauen Your death is yours because it is to be the immediate steppe to your eternall life And all these things you possesse in me and by my meanes For neither did I gaine them for myself alone neither will I enioy them alone for when I putt myself into your companie by taking your flesh vpon me I did it to make you partakers of all the meritt which I should acquire by my labours my fasting eating sweating weeping and by the enduring of all my torments and death if the fault be not your owne Now you cannot account yourself poore who possesse so great riches if you doe not wittingly throw them away by your wicked life Be not dismayed for I will not forsake you It is true that you are no better then some thinne glasses but I will holde you fast in my hand Your weakenesse setts of my strength the more From your sinnes and miseries I draw the manifestation of my goodnesse and mercie There is nothing which shall be able to hurt you if you will loue me and confide in me Thinke not of me according to your owne opinion and the iudgments which are made by flesh and bloud but thinke of me by a strong faith with loue nor by the apparance of exteriour signes but by that hart of mine which was opened for you vpon the Crosse that you might dismisse all doubt whether you are beloued by me or no forasmuch as concernes my parte since you see such workes of loue without and a hart which was so wounded by that launce within Iohn 18. and yet more wounded by my loue How shall I denye myself to them who seeke me to do me honour since I went out to that way where those others sought me to offende me I offered myself to ropes and chaines which afflicted me and shall I refuse myself to the hart and armes of Christians where I desire to repose I yeilded myself to those scourges and to that hard pillar and shall I denye myself to that soule which will be subiect to me I turned not away my face from him who strooke me and shall I turne it away from him who will holde himself happy that he may beholde and adore me What litle confidence is this that seing me to be voluntarily torne in pieces by the hād of dogs for the loue of my children yet those children should be doubtfull whether I loue them or no though they be confessed to loue me Consider o yee sonnes of men and tell me whome I euer despised if he desired to be well with me whome haue I abandoned if he called on me from whome haue I fled if he sought me Matt. 9. I conuersed and I fedde with sinners yea I called and I iustified them who were forlorne Matt. 11. and euen fowle in sinne Nay I am importunate to winne their harts who loue me not I make myself a beggar to all the world and what cause is there then to suspect me of forgettfullnesse towards my children when there is so great diligence vsed both to loue me and to make expression of that loue And though I may cōceale it sometimes yet do I not leaue to loue but euen for the very loue
keepe you now when you are his friend He who did not abandon you when you fled from him will much lesse flye now from you when you follow him Who is he that can say with anie truth that God did not helpe him if he were desired See you haue no feare O you seruant of Christ in any thing which may happen to you but confide in him who loued you so well as to dye for you It is true that you haue but one who protects you but that one is of much more power then all they who contradict you Do not thinke of how great the gyants and how strong the citties are which you must encounter Nu. 14. for it is not you who must fight But holde you your peace and our lord will fight for you Do not fly from the warre nor abandon yourself as one who were ouercome and so you shall see the fauour of our lord towards you For in this warre he onely looses the battaile who quitts the field It is true that you are weake but in that weakenesse of yours God will shew his strength It is true that you know not much but God himself will be your guide By your miseries God will make your mercies appeare Whoe are you that you should be able to passe through such difficulties But yet say with Dauid Psa 1◠In the strength of my God I will leape ouer a wall Who are you that should be able to fight but yet say with him againe Psa 26 Though thousands should rise against me yet my hart shall not feare Beleiue my good sister that how much the harder this businesse is for you so much the easier it is for Almightie God And therefore you must haue great distrust in respect of your owne weakenesse but great confidence withall in God's strength Infallibly hee will crowne yow if yow continue in his loue and if you doe confide that by his grace you shall obtaine that crowne Forgett not this promise of Christ our lord Mat. 10 him who confesses me before men that man will I confesse before my Father who is in heauen but him who denyes me before men that men will I also denye before my Father who is in heauen Can you thinke that one is to esteeme that for affliction which he endures for the confession of Christ our lord since it is to haue so high a rewarde as that with so much honour he shall be crowned by him at the day of iudgement before his father Happie is that sufferance happie that dishonour and pouertie to which so high an honour doth succeede What kinde of ioy will it be for you O my good sister to heare these wordes from the mouth of Christ our lord himself and that in presence of the whole world Mat. 15. Come you blessed of my Father and possesse the kingdome which is prepared for you What will it be when the Angells shall thus sing to her who hath beene a faithfull seruant of that Celestiall king Come o Sponse of Christ receiue that crowne which our lord hath prepared for thee and that not for one day but for all eternitie What will the spouses of Christ our lord conceaue when hauing passed through the sea of this life and their enemies who disturbed vs remayning drowned therein they shall sing thus with great ioy for hauing runne through this dangerous world without being ouerwhelmed with the vices thereof Ps 12◠The snare is broken and we are deliuered our helpe is in the name of our lord What a day will that be when that true Marie the virgin of virgins shall goe before with her Timbrell which is her sacred bodie praysing God both in bodie and soule and singing thus Come magnifye our lord with me and lett vs exalte his name in mutuall society with one another Happie are you if you be found faithfull to the spouse who chose you Happie are you if you haue the courage to cast away that which is present vnder the most certaine promise of Christ our lord for that which is future Be confident my good sister in taking his word for you are not the first to whome hee hath passed it and fulfilled it neither shall you be she with whome that word shall want effecte He gaue his word to saynt Catherine saynt Agnes saynt Barbara and saynt Lucie and to inmumerable other ladie virginis and tell me now how completely he hath performed it They had the courage to despise the poore present world and you see that now they raigne with God They liued heere in trouble and they are now in an eternitie of repose Through how manie combats did they passe and they now enioy the euerlasting crownes of their conquests They fled from spouses of the earth and they brought the king of heauen to bee in loue with them If they had followed the trace of this world their delight had beene alreadie past and their memories would haue beene forgotten But they loued that which was eternall and therefore their felicitie shall not dye and their memorie shall not decay They were written in the booke of God and therefore neither water nor winde nor fire nor time can make them waste For that booke is incorruptible and so is the name which is written in it You must therefore procure to haue a strong hart towards God whoe is your saluation and doe not thinke that hee selles heauen deare to you for you haue not yet shed your bloud for him as those others shed theirs Our lord treates you like a weake creature and you should bee a shamed to haue giuen him such cause If you had had more faith and confidence in him and more loue to suffer for him he would haue procured you more afflictions to the ende that you might haue purchased richer Crownes Do not content yourself with suffering litle considering how great your rewarde shall be and how much Christ our Lord suffered for you He gaue his life for you and he was deepely tormented and despised How then come you thus to complaine of the touch of a flye doe but loue and you will desire to suffer Let your loue be doubled and you will suffer sorrowes which are doubled The loue of our Lord makes such as possesse it more greedie of suffering then the loue of ones selfe of reposing It makes that anie burden weighes light for loue is stronger then death He who loues not groanes vnder the burden like some lazie beast but he who loues runnes and flyes and it suffers him not to feele the weight euen of his owne bodie nor of whatsoeuer else they can lay vpon it It is not my good Sister that the afflictiōs which we suffer are great but that our loue is litle The weight of a pound is no great weight but yet lay it vpon some litle childe and he will say O how heauie it weighes whereas if a man tooke it vp he would scarce feele it And so