God is a great Lord and he will be serued with much diligence and hee inflicted noe lesse punishment vpon the sloathfull seruant then to cast him bound hand and foote into exteriour darkenes which signifies a being excluded from all the blessings of God and of his howse And since to the end that wee may be fauorits with an earthly king and to acquire the possession of a little earth there is a necessity of taking care of watching of troubles yea and sometymes euen of shedding bloud lett not them grow faint in the combatt since God whose cause it is will be their captaine in the strength of whose arme they shall infallibly goe victorious out of the feild The enemy whome they are to ouercome and the Cittie which they are to subdue is their owne proper will Let them place that will before themselues and against that lett them leuell all their shott and to that let them say Thou art the enemy of God since thou desirest that which is contrary to him and therefore thou art my enemy For I wholly belong to God I am the freâ—nd of his freinds and the enemy of his enemyes I will haue noe peace with thee that soe I may haue noe warre with God Lett God raigne in my hart and not myne owne disordered will I will gouerne my selfe according to that which hee commands and not according to that I list I will beg of my God that hee will be pleased to shew mee his holy will and that shall be my lawe though myne owne will would faine haue it otherwise Let it paine mee or let it please mee I am resolued to â—â—e my selfe fast to God since besides that I owe to him otherwise he was fastned to the Crosse for mee Nay I am vndone if I goe not to him since all that which comes not to him heere with loue shall be deuided from him in the next life by his hate Let it cost me my bloud Nâ—â—b 25. soe that I may not loose my God but that I may heare this word from his blessed mouth Reioyce thou good and faithfull seruant enter thou into the ioye of thy Lord. In fine all that which passes is very short and all this is temporall and the rest eternall all this is light and that is full of waight And therefore let vs say from the hart with Dauid Ps 26. One thing haue I desired of our Lord and that will I seeke that I may dwell in the howse of our Lord for euer And lett this be our conclusion that heauen did neuer cost deare Our Lord graunt it to you and to vs all euen by his owne deâ—re bloud Amen A Letter to a great Lord wherein he treates of the knowledge of God and of a man's selfe and how he was to proceede towards his vassalls THE peace of our Lord Iesus Christ be euer remayning with your lordship The holy S. Augustine desired two things of our Lord saying Graunt to mee O Lord that I may know thee that I may know my selfe These two are things which we must all desire and noe man is to be found without them vnlesse withall he desire to be found without saluation The Temple of Salomon consisted of two partes Both of them were holy but yet one of them was more holy then the other That parte which was lesse holy was the way to the other which was more holy The first is the knowledge of a man's selfe which certainely is a holy thing it is the way to that Sancta Sanctorum which is the knowledge of God where our Lord makes answeare to our demaunds and remedies our necessities and where we finde the fountaine of life For this saith our Lord is true life that wee know thee and whome thou hast sent Iesus Christ But now this soe high thing namely the knowledge of God is not to be obtained without that other which seemes soe lowe namely the knowledge of ones selfe It is most certaine that noe man euer saw God vnlesse first he saw himselfe Nor is it safety for any man to fly high vnlesse he haue the counterpoyse of knowing himselfe which makes vs thinke basely of our selues Amongst all the other fauours of our Blessed Sauiour there is noe doubt but that his disciples would be standing to looke at him with exceeding great gust whilst he was ascending vp to heauen vpon Ascension day since there was noe remedy but that they must needes forgoe his conuersation that conuersation which can carry noe disgust with it And they found great comfort in looking vpon the way by which he passed and towards the place to which he went But what did our lord commaund them Not certainely that they should be still casting vp their eyes to heauen though that seemed to be an excellent thing But he said thus to them You men of Galilee why doe you stand looking vp to heauen Giuing vs thereby to vnderstand that although it be a very sauoury thing to looke towards God yet it concernes vs alsoe to study our selues First for the reuerence which wee owe to God vpon whome we cannot looke but with great confusion considering how vnworthy we are thereof And secondly because when a man forgetts himselfe he is instantly apt to become wanton not seeing his owne faultes and frailty he growes to loose all holy feare and he prooues light and giddy like a ship which being without ballist looses the ankar when any tempest rises and the end thereof is to be carried hither thither till at last it be brought to suffer wrack I neuer saw any soule remaine in safety but by the knowledge of it selfe Noe building can be sure without deepe foundation and that tyme is well imployed which is spent vpon the reproofe of a man 's owne soule It is full of profitt towards the amendment of our faults if we will examine them What kinde of thing is a man who examines not and knowes not himselfe but a howse without a window but the sonne of some widdow ill brought vp who for want of correction is growne wicked but a measure without all measure and rule and which therefore is a false measure And finally what is he but a man whoe is indeede noe man For he who considers not himselfe doth neither gouerne himselfe like a man nor doth he vnderstand or possesse himselfe but why lest he is able to tell many storyes of other things he can giue noe account of himselfe at all These are they who hauing forgotten themselues take such paines to vnderstand the liues of others and hauing shut vp their eyes to their owne defects haue yet more then a hundred eyes open which stand in continuall watch ouer the errour of other folkes These are they who obserue and aggrauate the errours of their neighbours and neglect their owne For in regard those errours of others are beheld by them more continually more close at hand they seeme greater to them then
what confusion doth he grow to haue How straightly will he hould himselfe to be obliged for such a benefit what caution will he vse that he may keepe him selfe wholly for him whoe hath done him soe much honour as to put himselfe into his hands and to come to them by them wordes of Consecration Sir these things are noe bare wordes nor noe dead considerations but they be arrowes shutt stiffly out from the strong bowe of Almighty God which wound and wholly chaunge the hart and which make it desire that at the end of Masse it may at lardge consider that worde of our Lord Scitis quid fecerim vobis John 13. Doe you know what I haue done to you Deare lord that a man could conceiue quid fecerit nobis Dominus What our Lord had done for vs in that houre That a man might tast him with the palate of his soule O that a man had true weights where with he might weigh out this great benefitt How happy should he be euen in this world and how after the end of Masse would he loath euen the sight of creatures and would esteeme it to be a torment that he must treate with them And his ioy and life would consist in pondering Quid fecerit ei dominus what our lord had done for him till the next day that he should retourne to say Masse And if our Lord doe at any tyme giue you this light you will know what sorrow and shame you ought to carry in your hart when you approach to the Altar without the same For he whoe neuer enioyed it doth not know what a misery it is to want it You may add to this Consideration of the person whoe comes to the Altar the reason why he comes and you will there see a resemblance of the loue of the Incarnation of our Lord and of his holy Natiuity and of his life and death renewing that which passed heeretofore vpon his sacred person And if you shall enter into the most inward corner of the hart of our Lord and if hee vouchsafe to teach you that the cause of his coming is a violent and impatient kinde of loue which permitts not him whoe loues to be absent from the party beloued your soule will euen faint vnder such a consideration as that A man is indeede moued much by pondering after this manner Heere I haue Almighty God But yet when hee considers that he comes meerely out of the great loue which he beares like one betrothed who cannot liue a day without seeing and conuersing with his Spouse the man I say who feeles this would be glad to haue a thowsand harts wherewith to correspond with such loue and to say with S. Augustine O Lord what am I to thee that thou shouldest commaund mee to loue thee what am I to thee that thou shouldest soe much desire to make mee a visitt and to giue mee an embracement and that being in heauen with them who know soe well how to loue and serue thee thou yet vouchsafest to descend to this creature who knowes very ill how to serue thee but very will how to offend thee Is it possible that thou canst not content thy selfe O lord to be without mee Is it possible that thy loue of mee should draw thee downe Blessed maist thou bee for euer who being what thou art hast yet placed thy loue vpon such a creatures as my selfe And is it possible that thou shouldest come hither in thy royall person and that thou shouldest put thy seife into my hands as if thou wouldest say I dyed for thee once already and I come to thee now is lett thee know that I repent not my selfe thereof but if it were needefull I would dye for thee yet a second tyme. What launce could remaine in the rest after such a deare expression of loue as this Who O lord will euer be able to hide himselfe from the heate of thy hart which warmes ours with thy presence the sparkes fly out to all them who are neere it as out of some mighty furnace And as such a lord as this my good Father doth the God of the heauens come to our hands and we being such wretches as wee are doe yet conuerse with him and receiue him Let vs now conclude this good subiect which is soe sitt to be felt and put in execution And let vs beseech this lord of ours who hath already done vs one fauour that now he will doe vs another forasmuch as his blessings vnlesse we valew them and thanke him and serue him for them will not be of profitt to vs. Or rather as S. Bernard saith The vngratefull man by how much the better hee is by soe much hee is the worse Let vs consider well how wee liue throughout the whole day least els our lord punish vs in that tyme when we are at the Altar And throughout the whole day let vs carry this thought in our harts I haue receiued our Lord. At his table I sitt and to morrow I shall be with him againe By this meaneâ— wee shall be able to avoyd all ill and wee shall take hart towards the practise of all good For that which is done from the Altar our lord is wont to rewarde at the Altar To conclude I say you must remember how our lord complained of Simon the Pharisee for that Luc. 7 entring into his house hee gaue him noe water for his feete nor any kisse to his cheeke To the end we may know that he desires that in the howse where he enters we should giue him teares layd at his feete for our sinnes and loue which makes vs salute him with the kisse of peace I beseech our lord to bestow this peace on you both with your selfe and with your neighbours and soe as that it may spring from perfect loue which I desire may torment you heere for the offences which your selfe and others committ against our Lord. And in heauen I desire that he should make you enioye it esteeming the good of God for your owne and more then your owne because you loue him more then your selfe For his loue I begg of you that if in this letter there be either litle or much which needes amendement it may not want your helpe and if there be any thing good in it giue the thankes for that to our Lord and remember mee when you shall be at the Altar A letter of the Authour to some deare freindes of his who were afflicted by a persecution which was raysed against them he animates them much to a loue of the Crosse and the imitation of Christ our Lord whereof hee speakes with great tendernes BLessed be God the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ 2 Cor 1. the father of mercyes and the God of all consolation whoe comfortes vs in all our tribulation in such sort as that wee alsoe are enabled to comfort them who are in any kinde of affliction And this we doe in vertue
at length open our eyes And if prosperitie did once tell vs that there was somewhat heere which might content vs let now the gall of tribulation be applyed to our eyes and giue vs light to see that in this world wee are truly miserable and that we are not in our owne Country but in a very painefull banishment and soe raysing first our hartes to heauen let our conuersation be alsoe there This is the end why our Lord hath punished you that you may make more and more account of him the more you see your selfe in want otherwise doe not conceiue that God takes pleasure in your paine but because he is mercifull he hath a tender feeling of your teares Onely he will put this touch of wormewood into your cupp that soe hauing discharged your hart of all humaine comfort you may haue your leaning place vpon him alone God hath taken one comfort from you but it is to giue you another for soe he is wont to doe He hath made you a widow but it is that he may make himselfe your Father since Father of the forsaken Psal 67. is his name Many afflictions will not faile to offer themselues to you in this widowhood and in many things you will finde the want of him who was wont to remedy you in them And in many of your freinds you shall finde little helpe and little fidelity and lesse gratitude but in all these things God will haue you make recourse to him and conferre with him about the troubles you shall be in and that as with a true Father you ease your hart with him And if with that hart you call vpon him and trust your selfe in his hands infallibly you shall meete with a sure refuge in all your difficulties and a perfect guide in all your wayes And in any tymes without your knowing by whose meanes or how it comes to passe you shall finde your busines done to your hand much better then you could haue imagined and you shall then vnderstand by experience how great a freind God is to the afflicted and how truely he dwells with them and makes himselfe a solicitour of their causes And if at any tyme he doe not giue you that which you desire it will be to giue you that which shall be fitt For so doth this celestiall phisitian proceede with them who goe to him for their recovery and whoe haue a greater desire to be cured then that their taste be pleased Depart not you from his hands and cure though it should put you to much paine Desire him not to doe what you will but what he will Let your weapons be your prayers and your teares and they not lost teares for that which our Lord hath taken from you but liuing teares for that our Lord may be pleased to pardon him and to saue you For what doth that superfluous paine serue which they tell mee you giue your selfe but onely for the adding of sinne to paine But now you know that as wee haue no liberty to laugh idely or vainely soe neither haue we any to weepe superfluously But both in the one and in the other we must be obedient to the holy will of our Lord. Why doe you complaine why I say doe you complaine Either you are a sinner and then you are to be clensed by this affliction or els you are a iust person and then you must bee tryed that you may be crowned whether it be the one or the other you must giue thanks to our lord with your whole hart and resolue to loue the end and reason of this correction though the thing it selfe be vnpleasing This we are taught by holy Scripture Hester 5. which relates how Hester kissed the end of Assuerus rod. Let not your tyme passe away in glutting your eyes with teares but for the loue of our Lord apply your selfe to send your hart vp to him and to prepare your selfe for that passage whereby you see others march before It is enough Lady it is enough that you haue already made soe large a feast to flesh and blood Dry your eyes at last and let not that tyme passe in bewayling death which was graunted you for the gayning of life Call to minde that our Lord droue them out of the howse who lamented the death of a yong maide and he said that she was not dead but that she slept For indeede amongst Christiās to dye is but to fall a sleepe till that day come when we shall awake againe to take our bodyes and so to raigne with Christ our Lord both in body and soule And confider that hee for whome you weepe is not dead but sleepes and that in a sleepe of peace since he both liued end dyed a good Christian Why should it trouble you soe much that our lord would draw the man whome you loued out of this place which is soe miserable and would carry him into the way of saluation And if he haue left some troubles to you take them vp with a good will soe that he may goe on to his repose And if his absence afflict you much yet be comforted with this that shortly you shall see him againe since our dayes in this life are soe very fewe and one of vs hath soe little aduantage ouer the other in dying a little sooner or later You shall doe alsoe well to conceiue that our Lord tooke him away because hee was well prepared and that he hath lest you heere to the end that you may well prepare your selfe And since you serued our Lord with alacrity in the state of matrimony serue him now in the state of widowhood and in the trouble of that state with patience That soe if then you gayned thirty fold you may now gaine sixty And soe you shall leade a life if not of gust yet at the least of great profitt towards the purging of your sinnes towards the imitation of the Crucifixe and towards a most certaine purchase of his eternall kingdome But for the obteyning of all this you must demaund grace of our Lord with prayers with teares with vsing to read deuout bookes and with receiuing the celestiall bread of the most Blessed Sacrament And soe lift vpp your deiected hart and walke roundly on For before you can gett to heauen you will haue a longe way to make And if you be to enter there this will not be the last affliction which you shall haue For the Iewell which you expect is of soe inestimable a valew it being God himselfe that how much soeuer it cost it can neuer be deere And since you are one day to possesse it you are now to reioyce in the hope thereof And complaine not of your afflictions but say soe great is the good for which I hope that I feele not the misery which I haue Let Iesus Christ our Lord accomplish all this in you as I desire and begg of him Amen A letter of the Authour to a virgin whoe was disposing
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
to our good as S. Paule saith Infallibly that man shal neuer die of hunger who is fed by this loue of thine He shall feele noe nakednes he shall neuer finde want of any thing which this world can giue For possessing God by loue noe good thing can be wanting to him Let vs therefore O my beloued brethren be taken with a great desire of goeing to see this vision of the bush which burnes and yet is not consumed That is Exod 2 how they who loue God suffer iniuries and yet feele them not how in the middest of hunger they are full fed how they are cast of by the world and yet afflict not themselues thereat how they are assaulted by the fire of fleshly appetites and yet they are not scortched by it They are troaden vnder foote and yet they stand fast vpright they seeme poore and they are rich They seeme deformed but they are full of beauty They seeme straungers but they are citizens They are not knowne to men but they are familiarly acquainted with Almighty God All this and more is brought to passe by the noble Loue of our lord Iesus Christ in the hart where it is lodged But noe man can arriue vnto this vnlesse he put of his shoes that is to say his vnmortified affections which spring vp out of â—â—lselouâ— For this is the root of death as the loue of God is the cause of life A life which is spirituall holy admitts to weare aâ—e â—hâ—es that is to say noe desires of seâ—feloue He who loues Christ our Lord must abhorre himselfe He who will not be cruell to Christ our Lord lett him not be coÌ„passionate to himselfe They who dandle themselues shew vnkindnes to Christ our Lord and they who take soe much care of themselues cannot make God their businesse Let vs therefore giue our All that which we are which God knowes is but a little All for that other great All which is Almighty God Let vs giue ouer the following of our owne proper will and let vs betake our selues with diligence to follow the will of God Let vs esteeme all things as meer dung that soe wee may possesse that pretious pearle which is Christ our Lord. And to the end that we may see him in his beauty and glory let vs heere be content to embrace dishonour labour Infallibly he shall neuer finde himselfe deceiued who makes such an exchaunge as this But when God shall come with his Saints and shall come to reward euery one according to hiâ— workes then will that appeare to haue beene foolery which now is held in soe great account and then it will be their turne to lament who now shall haue spent their mortall liues in delight And he only will be avowed by Christ our Lord who shall haue liued according to his holy will O how great shall the ioy of good men bee at that day when receiuing high honour at the hands of God they shall be seated vpon those thrones which were prepared for them from all eternity and when in society of all the quires of Angels they shall sing prayses to their Lord and their God O how great will their ioy be who shall behould the king in his beauty In the contemplation whereof they will be soe happy that noe one of them shall bee without euen regorging through his being soe full of that pretious liquour and that soueraigne Balsamum which created all good thinges In comparison of this all beauty is deformity the very brightnes of the sunne it selfe is direct downe-right darknes the very topp of other delights is the very bitternes of gall And in fine that I may not reckon vp euery particular thing by it selfe in comparison of this beauty all the things of the whole world put together are not to be esteemed for any thing at all neither are they any thing in very deede O eternall God thou who art all thinges and yet who art none of these thinges and when shall that day arriue wherein we may bee soe happy as to see thee when is this earthen pott to be cracked which shuts vs vpp from enioying soe great a good When shall theese chaines be broken which hinder vs from flying vpp to thee who art the true repose of such as are to repose indeede Let vs not my Brethren looke any other way but onely vppon Almighty God Let vs call vpon him in our harts and let vs keepe him close imbraced by vs that soe hee may neuer part from vs. For woe be to vs wretched thinges what shall wee be able to doe without him but onely to turne againe into our nothing Let vs now at last cast this world behinde vs which yet wee carry before our eyes and let vs at last beginn to trye how sweete our Lord is Let vs runn after him who came running downe towards vs from heauen it selfe that he might carry vs thither Let vs goe to him who cals vs and who doth it with soe much loue from the topp of that Crosse with his flesh all torne and euen as it were broyled with the fire of loue to the end that it might be more sauoury to our taste O that we might feede thereon O that we might euen consume thereby O that we were all traÌ„sformed O that wee could growe to be one and the self-same spiritt with God Who is he that detaines vs who is he that hinders vs who is hee that deceaues vs soe as that wee cannot perswade our selues to draw neare to God If it bee our goods let vs cast them away if they be in our power if they bee not let vs keepe them though onely as soe much dunge which may bee layd vp with diligence for good vses but yet still without any loue at all to the thing it selfe If is be our wiues S. Paule lets vs know that wee must haue wifes as if wee had them not If it be our children let vs loue them but for the loue of God And let vs euen out of water bee able to kindle a fire whereby all that may be burnt vpp which shall pretend to deuide vs from Almighty God Let the teares of greife wash vs and the fire of loue consume vs and soe wee shall growe to be those holy creatures which were offered vpp to God with fire O eternall God whoe coÌ„sumest our couldnes and how sweetly doest thou burne and how dearely doest thou inflame and how delightfully doest thou consume vs O that wee all might altogether burne with thee Then would all our powers cry out and say O Lord who is like to thee For whosoeuer hee bee that sayth he knowes thee and yet loues thee not is a lyar Lett vs therefore loue thee and let vs alsoe knowe thee since loue growes from that knowledge And afterward make vs able to possesse thee since they who possesse thee are soe rich and possessing thee let vs be possessed by thee and soe let vs employ
will be subiect to some disgust because themselues are not soe growne in sanctity as others are since thereby the glory of God would alsoe haue encreased in them This doth not follow considering that first effect of loue which is the vnion of two wills in one for they are transformed into the will of God and would haue nothing done but that which their lord will and they see that this will is the cause why one hath more glory then another and from hence they grow to be highly content with that which he assignes to them as alsoe because the diuersity of the degrees of glory in the blessed doth more beautify the whole Citty of God then if they were all of one rancke as the musick of a vyall is much the sweeter because it hath diuers strings and distinct soundes then if they were all but any one And since it is soe that because there are different degrees of glory and diuers mansions in the triumphant Church 1. Cor 13. it is of greater beauty then if they all possessed but one Iohn 14. and the same degree of glory by this they see that our Lord is more honoured in them then if they were all equall and consequently they are not troubled for their owne being lesse in glory then those others are For they in their colours and others in other colours of a deeper dye doe all concurre to manifest the infinite goodnes and beauty of him who made them Heere you see Apoc. 22 that riuer which S. Iohn discouered in the Apocalyps to issue out of the throne of God Apoc. 19. and of the lambe whereof all the blessed spirits in heauen drinke And being inebriated by this loue they sing an euerlasting Alleluia admiring and glorifying our lord God And you will haue discerned a little of that enamell wherewith those pretious stones are accompanied wherevpon that temple of the celestiall mountaine is founded And now after the resemblance of this temple Apoc. 11. which you haue seene in that mountaine you must build a dwelling place in your soule for our lord Exod. 25. iust as they said to Moyses that he should prouide to make the Tabernacle after that forme which he had seene in the mountaine You must my good sister if you meane to goe through the way of this life in perfect charitie and loue of our lord procure to carry about you a continuall desire or at least the most continuall that you can whereby you may euer wish and like that our lord God in whose presence you are still to walke may be in himselfe as good as holy and as full of glory as indeede hee is And soe with great ioy and complacence in all the attributes of almightie God you are to goe reioycing and your soule is to seast it selfe inseeing that your lord your true love possesses himselfe whoe is infinitely good powerfull from whome all creatures receiue their being and their beauty who in himselfe is soe full of glory and goodnes that all creatures haue neede of him he none of them This must be the whole scope at which your loue must ayme S. Tho. 1. And heerein S. Thomas saith that perfect charitie doth consist As for the loue which new deuotes call Charitie which is when they are kindled in deuotiō in louing our lord tēderly though this be a holy thing yet is it not of soe high condition as that other most holy loue which transformes soules into the beloued To this loue the holy scripture inuites vs in many places saying Ps 96. Phil. 4 Reioyce you iust persons in our lord And S. Paule saith Reioyce in our lord And conceiuing that this aduise was worthy to be giuen more then once he repeates it saying yet againe I tell you that you must reioyce The Prophet Dauid expressed the same when he said Ps 36 delight you in our lord and he will giue you whatsoeuer you shall aske This is that ioye wherewith the most holy virgin reioyced when she said My spirit reioyces in God my Sauiour Luk. 1. And with this ioye did Christ our lord reioyce when S. Luke said that Iesus reioyced in the holy Ghost Luk. 10. And the royall Prophet saith that his hart Ps 83. euen his flesh reioyced in the liuing God This happēs whē the soule with the will for there the hart signifies the will are actually louing desiring that our lord may in himselfe bee what he is And from the great redundāce which proceedes sometymes from this ioye of the soule the very flesh it selfe is kindled in the loue of our lord And because this loue is soe excellent celestiall a thing therefore doth the Church which is directed by the holy ghost inuite vs in the begining of Mattins with a perswasion to loue our Lord saying thus Come lett vs reioyce in our Lord and sing canticles of praise to God our saluation If you will finde the excellency of this loue put it in practise you shall see that the soule doth not satisfy it selfe but in praysing God For when it sees all that to be accomplished in God which it can wish it breakes instantly out into thanks-giuing to him for hauing perfected the desire it hath to praise him which is the same effect which flowes from the loue they haue in heauen as the Prophet Dauid saith Blessed are they O Lord Psal 8. whoe dwell in thy howse for they shall praise thee for euer and for euer S. Augustine was inflamed with this loue when speaking to our Lord he said If thou O Lord wert Augustine and I God I would make thee God and my selfe Augustine I thinke there is noe neede to bring testimonies which may proue the excellencie of this Loue for euen plaine reason tells vs that this is the loue which drawes a man out of him selfe and transformes him vnto God who is his beloued And out of this loue it must follow that all your workes and deuotions and prayers must be made by you to the honour and glory of this God who deserues to be adored and serued for his owne pure goodnes by as many creatures as he hath made without carrying any respect at all to the hope which might be had of a reward from him For though it be good and holy to serue our Lord euen for retribution Psal 118. yet is not this an act of soe perfect charity as that which seekes noe kinde of interest but onely the honour and glory of our Lord God If at any time you place before your soule the reward which they will giue it for the good it doth to the end that it may be animated towards good workes let not this be your last end but the will which you haue to serue our Lord. For the more glory you haue the more honour and glory shall our Lord God receiue Soe that the last ayme of all must be to
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
and how to take the part of such as are absent But now why take you not that counsaile for your selfe which you giue to others why will you needes tire me out with your incredulitie as others doe For the loue of him who was crucified for vs let not things passe in this manner but be confident that our lord loues you and imparts true loue to mee for the doeing of all that which is necessary for you that this must last till you shall haue gayned the crowne to which our lord hath called you which is not to be any little one nor doe I finde in my selfe any little ioy that I am helping you to gaine the same You must alsoe forbeare both to say and thinke that the state wherein you are is a state of condemnation For that is a meere temptation of the deuill who desires nothing more then that you may leaue your manner of life that soe he may carry you away with him And if it seeme to you that you haue not that recollection which you ought for my part I am glad that you desire it and sigh for it But yet you must not doe it soe as withall to conceiue that you are not pleasing to God in doeing what you doe Many tymes men serue God more whilst they haue noe recollectió soe that yet withall they procure it then with hauing it For sometymes yea and many tymes the pleasure of God is that to the end wee may vse Charitie to his children we shall forsake the sweetenes of attending to himselfe alone And the Patriarch Iacob was enamoured of Rachell Gen. 29 who was faire he serued seauen yeares that they might giue her to him for his wife and at the end thereof they gaue him Lia the sister of Rachell against his liking And when he complayned thereof they tould him that it was not the fashion of that country to bestow their youngest daughters first as he desired But they wished him to marry this other at that tyme and that if indeede he loued the yonger as much as he said he should labour seauen years more for that and then they would alsoe giue her to him and this hee did and soe he obteyned her Hee who hath a minde to giue himselfe as it were in marriage to the beautifull life of recollection and deuout prayer desires that which is very good But he must bestow himselfe in marriage to the life of action and labour And first hee must employ himselfe vpon the good of his neighbours and afterwards by perseuerance he shall obtaine the other when our Lord shall finde it fitt for him But in the meane tyme hee is contented with vs if we will sigh for this and if we will attend to that Neither is he in the right who is gladd of busines and imployments neither yet is that other in the right whoe when he is in the middest thereof goes still complayning But he alone complyes with that which God commands whoe bestowes his hands and workes vpon the seruice of his neighbours and his desires vpon the seruice of our Lord with more desires vpon the seruice of our Lord with more recollection Yet still I say not soe farrâ— as that this desire must make him complaine or be disgusted But he must haue patience in his busines and in his desire and loue he must haue quietnes his hands in one of them and his eyes vpon the other He obeys in the one and he sues for the other And as I haue said else where God serues himselfe of some in the first life of labour rather then in the second life of repose because wee vse to disguise that desire which indeede we haue to be at liberty and to follow our owne will not to be put to endure the impertinences and vexations of others vnder the colour of giuing our selues to Contemplation Our Lord therefore who knowes soe much better then our selues what is good for vs and sees that the desires of our hart some tymes are such as I haue said hath care to conduct our life according to that which he iudges to import vs most And soe his seruants must yeilde obedience to him and accept of that with thankesgiuing which he imparts And if any man confesse that the employment which he hath is good but that hee for his part is weake and that he serues not God therein soe well as he ought or as he would I acknowledge that he saith true and I desire that he will belecue and say soe still For woe be to that soule which presumes to thinke that he may contest with God any other way then by begging mercie Know you your selfe for wicked and God will wrapp you vp warme in the mantie of his goodnes and mercic And euery day he will growe in doeing you greater fauours And conceiue that such as you are euen now our lord vouchsafes to like and loue you but see that you must continue in the warre without turning your backe to his seruice and then youst must esteeme that both hee and I are contented with you And since both your father who is in heauen and your spirituall father who is on earth are contented with you you must alsoe be contented with your selfe Not soe as that you may giue ouer to proceede and profitt in the seruice of our lord but that you may not be discouraged or dismayed in the manner of life which now you hould And d ee you alsoe confidently beleeue that our Lord is serued by your aboade where you are and this I declare to you in his name and that he will comfort you much and vouchsafe to doe you very great fauours And remember this word well Be faithfull to God and turne not your backe towards him Beleeue not the counsaile of the deuill nor yet of flesh and bloud Be bould to trust and to offer your selfe to dye for God rather then to forbeare what you haue begunne For you shall quickly see how well God deales with them who stand fast in fighting for his honour The holy ghost be your conseruer and comforter Amen A Letter to a deuout freind of his wherein he shewes how weake man is without God and how full of strength when he is placed in the hidden part of his face and what this face is THE peace of our Lord be euer with you Soe great is our weakenes and soe crafty and strong are they who wage warre against vs that it is noe maruaile if some tymes we be ouercome but it is rather strange if we ouercome at any tyme. Or rather in very deede wee neuer ouercome but Christ our lord ouercomes in vs Apoc. 5. who is the strong lyon of luda and whoe if he should leaue vs we were instantly to be swaâ—â—â—wed vp Psal 17. as Daâ—id saith But he forsakes vs not because he loues vs and especially such as place men hope in him as the same Dauid saith Ibidem
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
greater the benefitt is the more hurt it will doe vs in the end O Lord open thou myne eyes that they may consider thee descending out of the bosome of thy father and entring into that of thy virgin mother that I may giue thee great thankes for this benefit Make mee able to humble my selfe for thee Make mee able to consider thee lying in a maunger insteade of a bed crying out through could being opprest with pouerty make me learne thereby how to cast all delicacy farre from mee Make thy teares sighes shew sound themselues forth in myne eares that soe they may mollify my hart that soe it may deliuer it self couer as wax to euery inclination of thy will And doe not thou permitt that God should weepe and that man should haue noe feeling of it for I know not at which of these two things wee might wonder most Seale vp O lord thy wordes in my soule that I may neuer sinne against thee Let the blood which thou didst shed for mee be gathered vp into my hart and be thou all my onely loue that soe thou maist not repent thy selfe of all these great afflictions which thou enduredst for mee It is I whom thou soughtst and whome thou seekest still and for mee thou hast made all those tiltings and triumphes and shewed forth all thy liueries and vndergone all that cost Let me neuer see my selfe belonging to any other then thee since thou hast deserued me soe well Come Madam let that hart of yours now prepare it selfe for God is vpon the point of being borne and hee hath neither howse nor bedd wherein to lye Let your hart be all inflamed with loue for the Infant suffers much cold And yet if your hart be but euen soe much as luke warme this Infant with his cold will giue it greater heat For how much the more cold he suffers for vs so much the more loue he shewes to beare vs where I finde my selfe to be more beloued there am I obliged more to loue Exteriourly hee suffers cold and yet through the great loue he beares vs he can endure noe cloathes but he lyes naked as soone as he is borne naked they lay him vpon the Crosse because in his bearth in his death he shewed the greatest excesse of loue Madam you must prouide a cradle wherein you may rock him a sleepe which signifies the repose of contemplation and see that you tend and treat him well for he is the sonne of a great high king and he is the sonne alsoe of a virgin and he takes much gust to lodge himselfe in the hart of virgins for the meat he eates is flesh which is crucified dead And because he hath a great deale of poore people amongst his kindred whome yet he loues deerely well you must be alsoe sure to loue them for they are the brethren of our creators As soone as he is borne in your hart you must take care to nurse him and I beseech him to keepe and saue you for his mercies sake Amen A Letter to a certaine Lady who is taught with what disposition she is to receiue Christ our lord into her soule and with what care she is to keept him and of the great misery where into that soule falls which committs mortall sinne and what a great treason it is to leaue God and follow the deuill especially for such as haue beene particularly fauoured by almighty God THE grace and peace of the holy ghost be in your hart and assist you in this holy tyme that you may prepare your soule for that Infant who is now to be borne For he hath noe howse but in those soules which are well disposed to receiue him He comes as a straunger and in great pouertie Giue him your hart Mat. 25 that soe he may say in the last day I was a straunger and you receiued mee But yet consider withall that as there is nothing so much to be desired by you as to lodge this Infant in your soule so is there nothing which requires more care and diligence then to prepare the lodging ready in such sort as he desires He comes in humility and pouertie and they who receiue him must be humble and poore He comes to vndertake great labours and with labour that howse must be adorned wherein he voutchafes to dwell He is chast and he loues such as are chast And though he be very little and a very Infant yet withall he is very great and he is God and soe it must be no little thing to prepare a lodging for a great God Our lord is choise and nice and by reason of some-one mortall sinne which some man makes litle difficulty to committ he refuses to enter into the soule And if he be there already one mortall sinne sends him away And when he is gone he comes not back againe soe soone but makes it plaine by the difficulty which he hath to returne with how great diligence he is to be kept by vs when we haue him there O my good lady and how riche is he who possesses God and how often in the day were he to looke downe vpon his hart asking our Lord if hee be there What chaynes should he cast about him of humble petitions and teares begging of him as Dauid did in these words Psal 21. O lord depart not from mee How full of caution ought a man to walke least he should doe somewhat which might offend our Lord least being offended he should be gone For if hee be all good what shall it be to loose him but to fall into the Abisse of all miseries They are sadd things which a soule feeles when it hath lost God and such as will hardly be beleiued though all the world should speake of them This appeares well in our first parents Adam and Eue. For Eue looking vpon the fruite of the forbidden tree it seemed very beautifull to her eye and that if she might eate thereof it would proue very pleasing to her and giue her great contentment But as soone ast she had eaten her eyes were opened to behould those great miseries which came vpon her by that meanes experience taught her that the bitternes of breaking the cōmaundment of God was greater then the pleasure to haue eaten the fruite And then she saw that the apparance which the forbiddē fruite had of being soe very faire and full of gust was but a deceite of the deuill who made a false glasse for her to looke through And hee alsoe gaue her a loathing of those other fruites which God commaunded her to eate Soe as they seemed vnsauoury to her and she thought that all the gust and hidden good had consisted in that which God forbad O how many haue beene deceiued by the deuill through false imagination he promising them contentment gust they afterwards making bitter lamentation for giuing credit to him whom euen before they knew to be a
knowledge lyes in a place which is hidden from all discourse of reason that soe wee may learne to belceue that most firmely whereof wee finde least certainty For if as the starre guided them soe they had beene guided but by their reason they would haue gone to looke for this new borne king in some royall pallace for a person and a place wherein he dwells are to carry proportion to one another Our lord vouchsafes to shew a great fauour to them vpon whom he bestowes a starre which is the guift of faith that soe they may seeke God both when he is wrapped vp aswell in those swadling-cloutes in the pouerty of his birth as in the contempt and torment of the death of the Crosse the kings finde him in one of thofe places and the good theefe in the other For both they and hee had the eyes of Faith and that made them prostrate themselues all along and adore him protesting that they were as nothing in his diuine presence For if they had knowne him but for a temporall king how great soeuer hee had beene it would haue suffized for them to haue done reuerence to him as one man vses to another but for soe great men to prostrate themselues before an Infant betokens that they had interiour faith whereby they knew the high Maiesty which lay hidd in that Infancy But now your Ladyship must be sure that you appeare not empty before this Lord and that you thinke not that you giue him any thing if you doe not giue him your loue Nothing but God is able to make your Ladyshipp happy and nothing but your selfe is able to keepe him contented This loue of his is not ioyned with any interest which regards himselfe or the value of the presents which are made to him but it is a true and perfect loue which requires an vnion of harts And this is that language as S. Bernard saith whereby God and the soule communicate themselues speake to one another in the same tune If our lord threaten and punish mee I am not to doe the same but my duty will bee to humble my selfe soe much the more as hee doth more exalt himselfe but if he loue mee I must bee like him in that and I must loue him saying with the spouse My beloued to mee and I to him O great dignitie of a creature Cant. 2 which is abled thus to draw in the selfe same yoke with his Lord and may answeare him like for like for loue is that thing which abases hills and rayses valleys Offer your loue to him whoe for loue of you did though hee were soe great become an infant and being God became man and shedd the blood of circumcision for you within eyght dayes as being not content that he had shedd teares for you when he was borne Steale not your selfe away from this lord since you are soe truly his least you grow to be of them of whome the Prophett Ieremy faith he went like one whoe runnes away with him selfe Where are you engaged more deepely where can you employ your selfe more profitably where can you exalt your self more highly then by louing Christ our lord who loued you and washed you with his bloud and giues euen himselfe to such a one as loues him and makes him of a man grow to be a kinde of God Bee very carefull of your selfe in this busines and soe that you offer gould to the Infant Iesus For as a little gould is more worth then a great quantitie of other mettall soe a little true loue is more pretious then much copper and such other mettalls of feare and proper interest or any other succh affects as rise from these Many are wont to measure themselues by their doeing many good workes and they neuer consider that God respects nothing in them but onely the hart from whence they rise and that one man shall please God more who doth lesse good workes then another whoe doth greater if he who did the lesse haue the greater loue Some man by fasting from some one meale or by giuing some very little almes shall be more pleasing to our lord as the widdow was Marke 12. then many others whoe gaue great almes because he doth it with more loue then they And heerein appeares the greatenes of our Lord since noeseruice which wee can doe him how great soeuer it may be is great in his sight if the loue of the partie be not great For hee whoe hath neede of nothing and cannot possibly encrease at all in riches or any other good why should he care for ought which can be giuen him but onely to be beloued which is soe acceptable a present as cannot be refused by any And soe much is God in earnest when he requires it of vs as that he punishes with eternall death the person whoe grauntes him not his loue What thing is soe farre from selfe loue in the desires of any thing as hee whoe needes noe seruice which can be done him thereby and whoe againe hath soe much desire of any thing as he whoe soe requires a man's loue as to punish him with the torments of hell who will not giue him that loue and giue it truely yea and that soe as it may exceede all other loues And therefore Saint Augustine might say with reason O lord what account doest thou make of mee since thou commaundest mee to loue thee and doest threaten mee with huge miseries if I loue thee not Let his be therefore your prime care to attend to the loue of our Lord. For this very purpose he made himselfe soe very little For by how much the more he conceales and as it were dissembles his Maiesty soe much more doth he declare his goodnes and thus doth he the more inuite our loue which lookes more at ease vpon the littlenes which he tooke the vpon the greatnes which he naturally possessed His wisedome lyes hidden by his being made an Infant whoe could not speake His power is alsoe bound vp by certaine swathing-cloathes and he endures bitter colde And all this to the end that the more of his other attributes he hides from vs the more he may declare his loue to vs that soe we alsoe may loue him the more as we finde him to haue suffered more for vs. It is certaine that to see him tremble with colde doth kindle vs much more then if wee saw him well and warmely cladd and if he felt noe paine And therefore hee shall doe very ill whoe denyes him his loue since it was bought at soe much cost of this Infant and after the rate thereof will it cost that man whoe shall deny to giue it Hee whoe offers this loue offers the bolocaâ—st with the marrow to our lord Psal 65. as Dauid saith For as fire burnes vp a whole beaste soe doth loue consume the whole man both within without The fire of true loue will not endure that the straw of exteriour vanities
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
in him of him comes all our good and not from our selues And the more good we haue the greater debters of his wee are and soe much more we haue whereof to accuse our selues as not corresponding to greater fauours by greater seruices and to greater benefits by greater acknowledgments He who is taught by the diuine truth attributes nothing to himselfe but Not being and sinning For if wee remoue all that which God gaue vs when he created vs and which euery day he conserues in vs wee shall not finde any being in vs but onely a nothing and that to nothing we should returne as of nothing we are made And taking alsoe away the fauour of God which through Iesus Christ is communicated vs what should become of the greatest Saint on earth but that which became of Peeter when he denyed his Lord and of Paule who persecuted him that had redeemed him and that which euery one findes by experience that himselfe was before our Lord carryed his hand ouer him taking from him his old hart and giuing him a new one in place thereof Iustification is nothing else but a resurrection of the soule which was dead in sinne and now liues by the spiritt of that life which God infused into it by the death of his blessed sonne And as that body should bee both madd and foolish which would attribute life and motion to it selfe and not to the soule which dwells in it and giues it life soe is that soule deadly blinde which esteemes that the life of good workes which she findes her selfe to haue doth proceede from her selfe and not from the spirit of that life which was infused into her by Almighty God And sometymes God punishes such soules as these by taking away that which formerly hee had giuen them to the end that obseruing that they can neither see nor heare nor taste nor in fine doe that which formerly they did it may be plaine to them that it was some other who imparted that life which was in them and that they did but receiue it that the soule is noe other thing without the grace of Iesus Christ then the body is when the soule departs from the same And therefore my freind be sure that thou see noe other thing in thy selfe but faultes and know that thou hast nothing else of thine owne If our Lord discomfors thee consider how weake and poore thou growest and with how little conformity thou receiuest that which thou doest soe well deserue If he comfort thee consider with how little humility thou receiuest it it being reason that thou shouldst soe much the more abase thy selfe as God honours thee and that by soe much more thou shouldst be confounded with shame as thou seest that God treates thee as though thou wert good when indeede thou art not soe Consider how little profitt thou makest of the inspirations and inward speeches of our Lord and how often our Lord saith somewhat to thee and how soone thou forgettest to put it in execution it being reason that euery word of his should last with thee all the dayes of thy life without any neede of repeating it How often doeth our Lord infuse pretious liquor into thee and thou hauing a hart all full of holes doest suffer that to bee spilt which in reason thou shouldest keepe a long tyme And though it would be sitt that how much more God comforts thee soe much more thou shouldst forgett and neglect the comforts of this world and soe much more vnite and shutt vp thy soule to the end that thou mightest againe and againe receiue God into it it happens sometymes that by the comfort which he giues vs wee are made more giddy through our owne lightnes and wee scatter and powre out our harts more then before What shall wee say of our frailties but that euery thing being well examined we finde that wee doe nothing right and that it were much reason that we should rather be confounded by considering how faultily it is performed then that once it should passe by the least parte of our thoughts that we had done any thing which were worth the looking on It is certaine that if a Page serue a king and that he make him not due reuerence they will punish him If he answeare not or doe it not soone enough or giue not a quicke account of any message they will alsoe punish him And in fine they whome we serue are not contented though we doe what they bidd vs but withall we must doe it well if we meane not to be reprehended and reproached And tell mee now my freind which of vs is he who carryes such a profound reuerence to our Lord as is fitt where is that adoration of such an incomprehensible Maiesty and such a profound internall kind of trembling as they haue in heauen of whome it is said in the holy Masse That the Powers tremble Where is that confusion and shame which we should haue to appeare before that infinite wisedome which well doth see what kind of things we are which discouers vs to the very bottome where is that soe exact obedience as that we should not neede to haue the same thing commaunded twice where is that discretiō wherewith we ought to serue such a thing as God where is the gratitude which is due for soe innumerable and soe vnspeakeable benefitts And lastly where is that seruice both of body and soule which is deserued by soe high a lord and soe great a God Certainely hee who hath eyes to see will neuer discouer in himselfe any thing els but a profoundity of miseries and faultes And when in the euening hee takes account of himselfe what kind of man he hath beene all that day he findes nothing but errours which he hath committed in thinking speaking and doeing and he findes diuers good workes which hee hath failed to doe by not hauing loued and being thankfull to God and by not hauing loued and not hauing supported the weakenes of his neighbour as he ought to haue done besides innumerable other things which he should haue performed and hath omitted And if with the fauour of our Lord he haue done any thing which was good he sindes that hee spotted it with pride or vaine glory or tepidity or with not answering God as he was bound to doe or with two thousand other faultes which God makes him know and with two thousand others which yet he is not able to discerne but yet he beleiues that there they are and for soe wicked doth hee esteeme himselfe as that the least parte of his sinnes he holds to be that which he discouers For as he knowes that God is more good then he is able to conceiue soe alsoe doth he beleiue that himselfe is more wicked then he can arriue to vnderstand And though God doe him fauours yet doth he not attribute to himselfe any parte thereof but onely the faultes which he committed in not answearing and profiting thereby as
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
the loue of him And if God will vouchsafe to open our eyes that so Psal 118. with Dauid wee may consider the wonderfull things of his lawe wee shal finde that not onely there is daunger hanging ouer vs through this self leue in those things which are playnely and grossely visible and exteriour but more and much more euen in those other things wherein many thinke that true sanctity doth consist And if you aske mee what those things are I say that they are noe other then vertues the peace of soule the kingdome of heauen yea and euen our lord himself And thus you may see how great our daunger is since there is daunger euen in that which is security and how great the mischeif is of proper and inordinate loue since the stinge thereof thrustes it self into such holy things Not that it is able to make them ill for that it cannot doe but in regard that by causing vs to desire good things as our owne last end and for loue of our selues wee make our selues ill since wee inuert that order which the loue of God prescribes which is to loue that which is good and our selues withall for the seruice of God and for his loue and all this in the same manner and with the same measure which is best pleasing to his Diuine Maiesty The loue of God doth not consist whatsoeuer we will needes be saying in the desire of much vertue noe nor euen of God himself if it be inordinately done and with excesse of affliction as wee are wont to desire other things For if I be moued for the loue of God to desire any thing my maine desire to haue that thing must bee to haue it if God will and how and when and to what proportion he will and not to bee greedy of it for my owne good but to the end that the will of God may bee accomplished though his pleasure were that my soule should remayne without vertue and that I should neuer enter into heauen I say though his pleasure should be so for indeede it is not But at the least our will must soe be lodged in the will of God as that it may bee prepared to will any thing which God would haue vs will without any manner of exception For if our owne self-loue bee aliue in vs that mischeif is so much the wors and more inward by how much the better the thing is which wee desire For in these things as seeming to bee very safe a man is wont to extend his appetite as farre as he lists And whilest wee say that wee desire the loue of God wee are full of self-loue which makes vs desire him for the loue of our selues without any rule or measure whereas it ought to bee iust the contrary I remember some Doctours tell mee that Lucifer was the first whoe committed this sinne and how the thing which he desired was good namely felicity but that he desired it not how nor when nor in whome nor for whome it was fitt that he should haue desired it but with an vnbridled appetite which aymed at his owne priuate good as any couetous wretch might desire much pelfe or any ambitious man much honour Certainely if the ends and rootes of our desiring one and the same thing be different the thing it self which is materialy desired falles out after a sorte not to be the same But rather as I sayd before the better the thing it self is the more daungerous is the inordinate desire thereof For there is nothing worse then for a man to desire any thing as his owne last end for the loue of himself This last end is that soueraigne God of Goods which is God whoe ought to bee the ayme and end of all our desires And now if any should say by not vnderstanding well what I affirme that I seeme to teach that wee must not be feruent in desiring to become more and more vertuous but that wee must as well leaue all to God which belong to the soule as that which concernes the body my answere is That as in these exteriour things wee must bee diligent but not afflict our selues with excesse of care and anguish but must putt our selues wholy into the hands of God and take with patience whatsoeuer comes so in those things which importe the soule wee must be sure to be more diligent but yet with condition that if notwithstanding our diligence wee cannot haue all wee would wee must not suffer our selues to growe impatient For that would be a worse fault then the former which gaue vs soe much trouble But wee must conforme our selues wholy to the will of God to whome humility and patience in the midst of our frailties is more pleasing then a proud deuotion and complacence in the strength which wee conceane our selues to haue And if wee cannot obtayne at the hands of God that wee may liue without faults yet lett vs render him most humble thankes for hauing giuen vs the knowledge of them For was perhaps any other thing the perdition of that proud Pharisee but the cōtentment Luc. 18. which he tooke in his owne good workes And did any thing saue the Publicane but the knowledge which hee had of his ill deedes and the displeasur which he conceiued against himself for them desiring mercy of our Lord It is not the case of euery one to conserue humility in the middest of great vertues but there be very few whoe are not disgusted with their owne faultes And therefore though the former of these two wayes be higher yet the later is safer All which is dispensed by our God who is of soueraigne wisedome and who guides vs by seuerall wayes to the same end which is himself And though wee be neuer so couetous mee thinks this ought to stay our stomach with a sufficiency of comfort that wee may hope to goe to heauen whether it be whith the height and perfection of vertue as some goe or by the knowledge of what we want and doeing pennance for the same as many others doe But notwithstanding all this wee must not forbeare to imitate the best wee see since our Lord hath giuen vs a desire thereof and since an account is to be demaunded of vs if wee doe it not Wee must therefore desire to be better soe that yet withall wee loose not our inward peace though wee obtayne not all wee desire For otherwise I doe not thinke that euer there was a man in the world leauing him onely aside whome euery body knowes who desired not to be better then he was but yet this did not take theire peace from them because they desired nothing out of any particular appetite which neuer confesses that it hath enough but onely for the loue of God with whoe 's distribution and portion they would be well content though he gaue them lesse esteeming that to bee true loue which contents it self with what he giues more then to desire to haue much though
to the feeling of flesh bloud but according to faith which ouercomes and fooles all such discourse This Madam is the wisedome of the Crosse which makes the soule with shurt eyes submitt it selfe to the holy will of God And by thus not iudging but confiding in him it growes wise beyond the wisedome of the whole world For let him who desires to know and please God not rayse his eyes but let him abase them with humility and not sifte his iudgments and that man shall arriue to true knowledge and shall finde that our lord of power is entirely sweete towardes his seruants and doth then endue them with the greatest blessings when to the eyes of flesh and bloud hee may seeme most to haue forsaken them It is now long agoe since your ladyship hath sung this song My beloued to mee Cant. 2. and I to him But it is now that you should especially singe it for these delicate warbling notes are best vsed in these tunes of trouble Your beloued lookes vpon you and takes care of you looke you also vpon him and confide in such a taker of care He is your Father though he scourge you be you his daughter in receiuing his correction with obedience and giuing of thanks And if you be in much payne whilst you feele the scourge let it be tempered by considering the hand from whence it comes your beloued he is and he loues you more then he is beloued by you He corrects you with loue doe you also receiue it with loue that so you may answere our lord in the same tune wherein he speakes He hath a minde to purify you by fire do not fly of from the Crusyble whatsoeuer payne it may put you to For it is better to become pure from the vncleanes of earth which is ones owne will and withall to bee broken in pieces then to be whole otherwise Sing you thus to our lord Ps 16. Thou hast tryed my hart and thou hast visited mee by night thou hast examined mee with fire and thou hast not found wickednes in mee For thus doth God purify his elect and he who is not proued and purifyed thus is noe Sonne and shall be noe heire of his And for as much as it is now soe long a time since your ladyship hath soe fayre euidence that you are borne to inheritt procure you to pay with readines that rent charge which is layd vpon your land This inheritance is very rich and glorious but the heires thereof must suffer much tribulation in this world They are to be vntyed and taken of from the Crosse heere when they goe vp to raigne there and men must not think of goeing from one pleasure to another The bulls which are of a generous kind goe all darted and wounded out of the Place but such as are base and cowardly retourne home in whole skinnes Iust soe is the good Christian who is to be pierced on all sides And when tyrants and executioners are wanting they shall haue enough to suffer in they re owne houses by they re children they re husbands and they re freyndes who will by certayne sweete and and smooth wayes torment them worse then those others It is most certaine that to see one suffer whome wee loue is a very knife at our harts and loue is our executioner and the more loue there is soe much is the executioner more cruell Butt yett lett vs not turne away our face from him For this loue was the executioner of Iesus Christ our lord which putt him to more payne then all those visible executioners and this was the executioner of his blessed Mother alsoe and of as many elect as God hath had I would haue your ladyship prepare your head to be cutt of and your harte to be tormented by this executioner and you must procure to fight stoutely in the presence of God and of all his coelestiall court since such an excellente Crowne of glory is prepared for you Our lord who sends you this tribulation knowes the time which is most fitt for comforte and hee will prouide it for you when it shall be best In the meane time I beseech him to giue your lady ship patience and to remayne with you for euer Amen A Letter of the Authour to a Religious woman who was his ghostly childe Of the mercy which God shewes to such as he calles to Religion and of the exercices and obligation of a Religious woman SERVANT OF IESVS CHRIST I Haue beene thinking sometimes whither our lord might not ere this haue taken you out of this life to giue you the fruition of himselfe For to be aliue and to remaine soe long without letting me know how your soule doth seemes to me a kind of incredible thing Though yet it be true that our lord some times giues a soule soe great feeling of himselfe that it remembers nothing els because it is wholy employed vpon him who is all thinges I beseech his goodnes that this may haue beene the cause of your silence For then I shall not onely not complayne but greatly reioyce For what other thing can I soe well desire for your soule which in our lord I loue as to see it all employed in louing and in being beloued by him This is the end of all the paines which he hath taken with your soule and of all the fauours which he hath bestowed vpon it Tell me O spouse of Christ our lord how you doe Doe you loue him much and doe you hould him fast in your bosome is you heart euen wounded with the care you haue to keepe him content and to seeke his holy will though it be in contradiction of your owne For though the loue of our lord be the ioy and solace of our soules yet on the other side it suffers them not to repose but like a continuall spurre is solliciting and vrging them on that soe euery day they may please him whome they loue more and more For this reason this loue is compared to fire which neuer is at rest but the liuely flame thereof is euer working and striuing vpward This loue will haue nothing to doe with slackenes nor knowes it how to take any rest but in our lord And this is the loue of a Loyal sponse which it is reason that you be in performance since you are soe in profession since you haue an inward vocation to put that in practise to which you were called Doe not forgett the day on which you offerred your selfe to your spouse by the hand of your Prelatt Nor that other day when your spouse conueyed his hand into your heart making you vnderstand both your selfe and him He said in your soule let light be made and then all darkenes and sorrow fled away and now like one who sees the light of heauen you liue in ioy because you know which way you may goe without danger of falling For if you be carefull to keepe those dayes in mind you
we list Let vs giue itt to him who will haue goodnes to tolerate it and wisedome to conduct and cure it And certainely our lord would thereby vndergoe the weight as a man may say of a heauy end vnsufferable burden if his loue were not incomprehensible It is a great help towardes out denyeing of our selues when we consider that we are our owne enemies and our very being soe miserable may well serue to keepe vs from being so couetous to enioy our selues and to make vs cast our selues away and turne our selues out of house whatsoeuer it cost vs. And yet the truÌ„pet of the diuine goodnes soundes this out in our eares that Dauid goes forth into the field as being persecuted without any fault of his and that the poore people who were much in debt and such as were in anguish and bitternes of heart ioyned themselues to him Blessed be our lord Iesus Amen who is soe rich and patient in goodnes that his father thought fit to trust such poore sheepe as we are in his handes But that which is lamentable is that we are soe blinde withall that he begging that we will be his and binding himselfe to be ours vpon that condition yet woe woe be to vs we still resolue to seeke Quae nostra sunt non quae Iesu Christi Those thinges which are our owne 1. Cor 13. and not these things of Christ our lord And we will needes possesse our selues still without any reason at all but onely through blinde affection and without once resoluing to trye how sweet how iust and how profitable a thing it is to belong entirely to Christ our lord and to walke in the way of his holy will Christ our lord giue you light in all Amen and be wholy with you A Letter of the Authour to a great man his freind who entred into the state of Religion in the Society of Iesus HAuing vnderstood of the chaunge which you haue made I haue giuen many thankes to the immense bounty of our lord who hath so earnestly taught you soe mercifully found you and so powerfully conducted you thither where without any impediment of other employmeÌ„ts you may present him with your whole hart for a quiet peaceable habitation wherein he may conuerse and take delight as he vses to doe with his elect These are not sleight fauours nor must wee passe them ouer without particular acknowledgment and gratitude For this I hould to be that sacrifice which our lord expressely requires in recompence of his fauours and for want thereof he hath depriued very many of those which formerly he had imparted Soe much more must you haue a care of this as the fauour was greater through the great dangers which threatened you by reason of the greatenes of your person the many imployments which accompanyed you in the world And therefore as our lord hath not performed a lesse act in giuing you light that so leauing all things you may goe in pursuit of him then he did in fauour of the three Magi whome he enabled by a starr to doe the same you must bee sure to adore God to spread your self all prostrate vpon the ground acknowledging your owne nothing before that high Maiesty and giuing him thankes from the very bottome of your hart for the fauour you haue receiued and offering your self as an euerlasting present to him whose you are by so many Titles As for me I esteemed it not for one of the least that he hath voutchsafed to seeke the Post childe and that he hath placed him in the ranckâ— of them who are most honoured in his house and all this through his owne onely goodnes What hart is there in the world which would not melt into tendernes by the coÌ„sâ—deration of such a fauour as this to see himselfe pâ—â—euented by such a hand and so as if the question and doubt had beene whether God's mercy â—â—r our misery should preuaile but he hath mightilâ—â— happilly ouercome And not being conteâ—ted to send vs messengers both within and from without himselfe takes vs by the hand like another Lott Gen. 1 and drawes vs out of the place of danger vp the hill where wee may be saued Doe not you forget this goeing out of Egypt for it is a certaine thing where many wonderfull things of God are seene And this departure of ours is not obtayned for vs but by the bedding of the bloud of the lambe which â—ath cryed out before the Father with desiâ—e that it may bee applyed to our soules Cleansing them from all earthly appetites and consecrating them wholly to the desire of his diuine loue Christ our Lord hath beene heard whilest he was praying for you as wee may very well beleiue Giuing this stone to his Father that so of vilde and basâ— he may make it pretious and that it may bee sett and worne in the head of Christ our Lord as a fruite of those great afflictions which hee endured for the good of soules Great was that warre and hee conquered therein for he giues soules â—o his Father who may runne after him and adore him vt vinctis mambu post â—â—lâ—â— Câ—â—iant Prepare your selfe to receiue our Lord since you are redeemed by him you are already belonging to him you are the spoyles of his victory a piece of lande you are which is come to him by lott that he may câ—ltiuate and water it and make it fruitfull O how happy are you if you can but valew your owne happynes and consider from whome and through whome it hath proceeded Beseech him that since he hath done you soe much fauour without all desert of yours his goodnes may neuer permitt that your hart should serue any but him nor your eyes behould any other beauty then the beauty of God who hath beene so good to you A great burden it is which herein they haue Layd vpon you in exchaunge of those many other burdens whereof they haue eased you For now you are growne a deepe debtor of a most profound internall loue and of diligent seruice to that Lord who hath eased you of all those other obligations and giuen you the speede of a slag wherewith to â—unne in his wayes Thinke you vpon this and bee thankfull for this Abâ—â— 3. And since you are as poore towards paying as you were vnworthy towards receiuing you shall make an act of renounciation of all your goods into the hands of our Lord. Beseeching him that he will accept you all for his and soe take you vpon his owne accompt to serue himselfe of you according to his owne gust and desiring that he will dispose of you as shall please him best I beleiue I haue already sayd too much to a soule to which our Lord is already speaking For to such soules all humane discourse is accounted tedious and troublesome and it hath reason to be soe But the ioy which in our Lord I haue conceiued and the commandment which you sent
that I should write haue beene the reasons of this letter I beseech that soueraines goodnes which hath already vouchsafed you soe much fauour that to his owne eternall glory hee may finish the good worke which it hath begunne You see in what fashion I am talking to you I haue layd aside those Titles of honour and rancke which according to the stile of the world now forsaken by you belonged to your quality And I write as to one who is already estranged wholly from the world and in soe playne a manner as is conuenient to a domestick seruant of Christ our lord and as is fitt for the Institute whereof you are And since your selfe desired it and I haue obeyed you in it be carefull that now when you haue abhorred the Tytles of this world you may also abhorre the affections thereof and that now you may passe wholly on into that age cuius pater Christus est Esay 9. whose father is Christ our lord Which consists not soe much in whether the time be present or future as itt doth in Spiritt which cometh after flesh For as the Apostle saith non prius quod spirituale sed quod animale 1. Cor. 15. That is not first which is spirituall but that which is animal And therefore the spirituall is called seculum futurum a future age Soe much the more care must you take of this as it will be more hard for you to doe it since he who hath most to leaue doth it with most difficulty And the man who hath most impediments is least able to runne lightly away And this is the good which they gett who are the great men of this world though they come not to knowe it till they putt themselues to runne after others who are before them And then the faster he runnes the more he shall feele it And by his owne experience he will be able to vnbeguild himselfe in that which the world beleiues Namely that it is better to be great then meane and poore And soe I beleiue it hath happened to you if indeede you haue begun to follow Christ our Lord or at least will finde it when you shall begin The thing which must comfort you herein is this That since our Lord vouchsafed to take you for his seruant when you were most vntoward vncapable thereof hee will giue you greater strength wherewith to serue him now then hee would haue giuen to another who had not beene soe incapable And soe must you represent your selfe before our Lord who hath called and accepted you beseeching him that howsoeuer it may putt you to more payne and shame he will yet bestow that vpon you whereby you may serue him much since you owe him much And consider your selfe as a person who bringes but halfe that meanes wherewith to negotiate this busines which another bringes And begg pardon for ill employing euen your little stocke but yet with giuing thankes to our liberall lord whose workes are great towards his poore creatures That soe liuing with feare and trembling to see your selfe soe vnworthy of such a place there may grow from thence a due reuerence to all your neighbours carrying them vpon the topâ—e of your heade and doeing for them as any slaue would doe for his lord considering how mercifully Christ our lord hath done the same to you you may haue good hope to proue well in your great busines if you obtaine that knowledge of your selfe whereof I haue spoken And then shall you spend your life happily when you hould euery daye thereof to be the last Christ our Lord bee with you Amen A Letter of the Authour to some Disciples which he had in the Citty of Ezija THE peace of our Lord Iesus Christ be euer with you Amen Since I parted from your presence I haue euer had you all present with me in my memory for the loue I beare you permits me not to doe otherwise Giue your selues still to God since you once gaue your selues to him and I was a witnes thereof nor will I by any meanes that you repent the hauing offered yourselues to him since hee offered himselfe to death for you You shall be sure to haue battailles and those sharp enough for our enemies are in great multitude and full of rage Bee not therefore negligent for if you be you are instantly vndone If they who watch best haue enough to doe to defend themselues what doe you thinke will become of wrechlesse persons but that they should entirely bee ouercome Remember that the pleasure which sinne presents is small filthy and shorte and the sorrow which it leaues behinde is very great and the misery which growes to vs thereby is incomparably greater What sorrow how great soeuer it be can equal that which wee ought to conceiue vpon our losse of Almighty God O misery which should make vs tremble euen in hearing it named For if we delight in sinne we shall haue noe part in God Let vs therefore consider how we liue for we shall shortly be led before the Throne of God to giue account of our selues Let not the vncleanes of the flesh nor the vanitie of the world nor the subtility of the deuil deceiue vs. But let vs behould Christ our Lord vpon the Crosse and we shall see him tormented in his body dishonoured by the world that soe he subdued the deuill Who euer looked towards Christ our Lord and was deceiued Infallibly there was neuer any Let vs therefore neuer draw our eyes of from him vnlesse we meane to turne blinde Let it neuer seeme to him that wee valew his loue soe little as that although he died for vs we cannot find in our harts soe much as to bee looking towards him For he died for this that wee by looking vp to him might striue to dye to our sinnes Let therefore our ould man die in vs since our new man who is Christ our Sauiour died for vs vpon the Crosse Let vs approach towards his wounds for by his wee shall be cured of ours And if wee thinke it a heauy thing to part from our sinnes it was much more hard and heauy for his soule to part from his body when he died to the end that wee might euer liue Let vs therefore goe on apace take hart to follow such a captaine as this who leades vs the way not onely in doeing but in suffering Let vs crucifye our flesh with him that now wee may noe longer liue according to the desires of the flesh but of the spirit If the world shall persecute vs let vs goe hide our selues in his holy woundes and there wee shall finde those iniuries as delightfull to our harts as any musicke is sweete to the eare And soe rude stones will be to vs as pretious Iewels and prisons will be pallaces and death it selfe will be conuerted into life O Iesus Christ and how strong is that loue of thine and how truly doth it coÌ„uert all things
imployed but that wherein you suffer something for your beloued which alone ought to giue you comfort and ground to thinke that you loue our lord For as for other things though you should be taken vp to the third heauen you knowe not whether you loue your selfe therein or him For perhaps it is but the delight in hauing that fulfilled which you desire and not purely because that is done which is pleasing to God And since you are already dedicated to the loue of God and are redeemed by him see that you still be doeing your duty exactly well that soe like a good huswife you may appeare at the day of iudgment all rich with loue and euen cut in pieces in this warre after the imitation of Christ our lord who dyed in this battaile by the hands of loue Inuiting as many as loue him to suffer of that which he suffered and to answere with loue to his loue and being ready to giue himselfe as an eternall reward to them who passe through these amorous aflictions for his sake and your ladyship shall be one of them by the greate mercie of him who hath made election of you for this purpose A Letter of the Authour to a Cauallier his freind who was sicke and desired to enter into Religion The Authour shewes that the carrying of the Crosse in the company of Christ our Lord is exercised best in sicknes when it is borne with patience He also defends the Fathers of the Society of Iesus aduifing him also to esteeme them the rather because he had beene instructed by them YOu doe well in being contented to serue in that house of our great Lord in the Office of being sicke For to passe from doeing to suffering is a signe that Christ our lord aduaunces his seruants raises them from belowe the staires to attend aboue Certainly there is nothing in this exile of ours which is soe fitt for vs as to carry the Crosse in company of our lord who did soe loue it who for loue dyed vpon it Now this is better exercised in sicknes which is soe vnsauoury to flesh and bloud and which caÌ„not cause vain glory in the patieÌ„t then in health how well soeuer it be employed Great were the workes which Christ our Lord performed in this mortall life but in his sufferring he exceeded them all all the world That soe wee might vnderstaÌ„d what the Apostle S. Iames saith Brethren â— Iames 1. esteeme it as a reason of supreme ioy to see your selues in many afflictions And the same Apostle saith that the worke of patâ—ence is perfect Soe that you must be gratâ—full to our lord for hauing sent you sicknesse and if you beare this Crosse burden well he may perhaps aduaÌ„ce you to the carrying of others which are more interiour and irkesome and which he prouides for such alone as are his nearest freinds that so they may comforme themselues to him whose Crosse was extremely great euen in that which was to be seene but incomparably more extreame in that part thereof which was inuisible And though it may seeme to you that God hath taken away your other Offices or imployments because you gaue him not a good account thereof yet forbeare not to be thankefull to him who hath ordered the matter as now wee see For to be corrected by the hand of such a father and with soe great loue puts vs rather into neede of humility for the moderating of our ioy and comfort then of patience wherewith to endure the punishment But yet neuertheles I am in some feare that perhaps you may not profit by this feauer of yours For some beginners are wonte to giue liberty to the soule in the infirmities of their body though yet they be not such as threaten daunger or death It is a thing very contrary to reason for a man to turne Phisick into poyson and to take occasion of growing worse by that which was sent a man by our Lord to make him better Call therefore vpon him with your hart and beseech him that since he strikes you Gen 33. in the strength of your body it may be to make you goe more lightly towards him with your soule And forasmuch as this siâ—â—enes is sent you that your body by the payne thereof may pay for that sinne which hath beene committed by the same body you must not suffer it to be the occasion of your incurring new debts since it was meant that it should discharge the ould You must liue with great reflection vpon your self and giue noe credit to flesh and blood in all that which it shall desire of you but offer it to the Crosse of our lord in the company of his owne holy spirit And he who was content to let his Crosse be sided by the Crosses of two murdering theeues will not driue you from him And since you cannot now continue your custome of meditation or spirituall reading as you would yet faile not to be doeing somewhat the best you can so that it be without euident disaduantage to your health For our lord is soe powerfull and soe good as that he giues strength to such as haue a mynde to take paines And sometimes he bestowes more fauour vpon sick men in they re beds who cannot pray then vpon others who spend many houres in that holy exercise And perhaps he will vouchsafe this mercy to you since it costs him noe more then his very will And I beseech you for the loue of our lord Eph. 4. Vt non circumferaris omuivento doctrinae that you be not whirled about with euery wynde of doctrine and that you esteeme of those persons by whose meanes our lord hath shewed mercy on you Imitating the man who was borne blinde in the ghospell Iohn 9 From whome noe persuasion of any man could take the good opinion which he entertained of that person who had cured him of his continuall blindnes He tooke that benefitt for a great token of the goodnes of his Maister when he sayd si peccator est nescio vnuÌ„ scio quod cum cacus essem modo video whether or noe he be a sinner I cannot tell but one thing I knowe that I who was blinde doe now see And though he said as we haue heard yet he beleiued well that his Maister was a iust person as may appeare by the holy kinde of earnestnes which he vsed towards the Iewes and besides by our lords making himself knowen to him in the temple in reward of that faith which he defended My selfe haue heard some things which are said by such as oppose and emulate those Fathers but I find not yet that any one of them is grounded vpon reason neither doe I beleiue that there is any but yet I like well that yet when you defend them it bee rather with meekenes and few words then otherwise For our lord hath these thinges in great recommandation and his pleasure is that they should be carried
for that person with whome your lordship willed mee to speake I haue not done it yet for I haue now kept my bed ten or twelue dayes together But yesterday I rose and I will take great care to doe what you cōmaund very shortly and you shall knowe what I finde Since you went from hence our lord hath beene pleased to giue mee a much more particular care to recommend you into the hands of his mercy I did not then vnderstand the cause it is like to be this that there is more neede thereof Be it what it will your lordship is to animate your self with new courage to offer your self vp to the will of our lord like one who performes seruice to his father who is some great man whome hee loues much your lordship was not borne for your self but for God For euen before you were borne you were already purchased by Iesus Christ who bought vs with himself a price of inestimable valewe to the end that wee who liue might as S. Paul sayeth not liue to our-solues but to him Who is hee that will pretend to remayne his owne now that he sees himself to haue beene bought by Almighty God and by the price of God himself There are men who offer themselues to the losse of their liues in some warr for slight causes and shall wee be soe destitute of courage as not to giue our-selues to God he gaue himself for vs into the hands of those base executioners and shall not wee aduenture to putt our-selues into his He did it that he might die and wee are to doe it that wee may liue I would not haue your lordshipp to be nigardly herein but make now this account There is a God and for that misery which he hath endured for mee and for those sinnes which he hath forgiuen mee and for those blessings which he hath vouchsafed mee I owe my self to him three thousand times ouer If hitherto I haue not giuen him the entire dominion ouer my self I am sorry for it From this instant I giue my self free and without any impediment or obligation otherwise that he may treate me wholy according to his will and that mine may submitt it self to his as well in the doeing of any thing which he commaundes by his holy lawe as in the suffering of any affliction which he shall either continue or add to mee Where can I be kept better then in the hands of God into which I putt my self since he suffers not his creatures to be lost and was content to loose his life that I might be enabled to doe this He would not aske it of mee if he did not like it and he would not take pleasure in itt if he did not desire it For it is not a proceeding for God to vse to desire vs to giue him that which he hath noe mind to receiue any more then it is his custome to commaund that wee aske and yet he forbeare to giue And since he hath notified his deare will to vs wherewith he desires our good and consequently that wee may bee his let vs not doubt to belciue but that he who is so carefull to demaund and he who demaunds with the menace of hell if it be not graunted and with promise of the kingdome of heauen if it be will not be slacke in receiuing that very thing which he demaunds Let it not seeme to your Lordship that the sinnes of your former life ought to diuert you from this amorous embracement of Almighty God since he stands crying out to a sinner with his armes all open and since he doth so before the sinner calles on him For thus he saith Fornicata es cum amatoribus multis Ierem 3. tamen reuertere ad me ego suscipiam te Thou hast committed fornication with many louers but yet returne to mee and I will receiue thee The shepheard will not easily be weary in seeking his lost sheepe nor the falkoner in procuring to recouer his hauke and when he findes her he takes her and returnes home with much ioy I say this because by what I conceiue of your lordship you are endewed with a greater measure of the knowledge of your self then of the knowledge of God and therefore that you will be more subiect to feare then to hope and loue I wish you not to retract the ill opinion you haue of your selfe confesse and beleiue that you haue cause and doe not seeke to remoue your feare with false hopes and lyes to diminish your miseryes by that meanes This would not indeed proue any diminution but an addition of one mischeif vpon the backe of another and the latter would be worse then the former and an impediment in steed of a remedy since God neuer graunts his pardon and mercy but to such a one as vnderstands his owne miserie But beleiue that as wee are more wicked then wee can arriue to knowe soe is God more good then wee can possibly imagine Another kind of hart hath he then wee conceiue and especially in pardoning which men knowe very ill how to doe because they knowe not well how to loue And from hence it growes that they are not able to reach to that height of mercy which God vouchsafes to sinners For as they know nothing by experience of themselues but anger against such as offend them and if they pardon there yet remaynes a thousand reliques of the disgust and withall a great cooling of they re loue therfore doe they iudge of God as they would doe of themselues and if they say with they re mouths that there is difference betweene God and man and that they forgiue as well as they can yet theyr harts doe not beate to the same time When your lordships sonnes shall bee more growne and shall haue giuen you some disgusts you will haue had some sent and taste of this The father doth not vnloue the sonne although that sonne make him angry but he correctes him and still carries the hart of a father towards him And soe is our lord wont to proceede and whensoeuer the sinner hath a mind to returne to him he refuses not to receiue him into his paternall hart Yea and euen when he retournes not he is desiring that he would retourne and all his sinnes are not able to quench this desire in him fort his loue is that which still exceeds Now wee gayne this loue and this retreate in to the hart of God by him who is the Mediatour betweene God and men Iesus Christ our lord Who being the naturall sonne did gayne the adoption of sonnes for vs and that God should haue the hart of a father towards vs his sonnes whensoeuer wee would dispose our selues to enioy this benefitt by meanes of pennance and the Sacraments This loue is as the roote from whence it proceedes that Almighty God is content to expect vs to call vs to receiue vs to pardon vs and to saue vs. For if wee consider well the hart
and loue wherewith this fauour is done vs it will enamour vs and oblige vs more to him then the fauour it self which he affordes what a thing is it that God doth soe much loue man as through the much loue he beares him and notwithstanding the great offences which man committes against him he yet doth not take this loue from him nor doth it euer make him say I will loue such a one noe more though he come to mee agayne I will not seeke him out nor will I send to entreate him that he may retourne to my house He saith noe such thing as this But that perseuering loue doth still burne with a liuely flame and this soe very clearely that as these great waters of his torments could not soe quench them as to make him forbeare to dye for vs soe neither can the much greater waters of our sinnes extinguish this enflamed charity of God towards vs. But it remaynes euer conquerour both in his paynes and in our offences sussering there and forgiuing heere Hee who shall wonder at this will haue reason For it would be a wonderfull thing if this kind of loue were shewed euen from an inferiour to a superiour or at the most from but an equall to an equall Butt now this loue from God to man is more then wonderfull And yet on the other side he who shall not beleiue it in respect that it is so straunge a thing putts a great affront vpon Almighty God since he beleiues it not because it is soe wonderfull a worke Whereas on the other side it is as cleare way whereby to knowe the workes of God if they be soe great as to make such wonder as know them For if he be wonderfull his workes are also to be soe And if the reste of his workes be wonderfull these of his loue are wonderfull in the highest degree forasmuch as they spring out of his goodnes in the manifestation whereof he takes more delight and glory and vses it more then in the manifestation of the other attributes As the Prophet Dauid saith Psal 144. Miserationes eius super omnia opera eius His mercyes are ouer all his workes How ill therefore are they aduised who refuse to beleiue that which God doth because it is much and who refuse to expecte and hope because that which he promises is much comparing and parallelling the great acts of God by the soe short measure of they re owne poore vnderstanding The woeman of Samaria cannot arriue to knowe how Christ our lord can come by any water and much lesse Iohn 4. how he can bestow any such water as that whosoeuer dranke thereof should thirst noe more But our lord saith that the woâ—man knowes not the guift of God nor who it is that aduises her to faith and penance and who is ready to infuse the holy Ghost into her hart And soe there are still men soe cowardly and weake in faith that they cannot beleiue any thing of God but onely in conformity with they re owne poorenes Placeing they re eyes vpon they re little strength and they re little desert and so like beasts of earth they creepe vpon the earth and rise noe higher But he that lookes vpon God who giues vs his sonne who is his loue and who sweetnes God to wards vs and in whome he is soe highly content and in whome his diuine eyes take delight how can he doubt of that hart but that it will bee fauourable to vs when wee call vpon it with pennance and pitifull in all those necessities which may occurre to vs. He therefore who knowes this and desires it as he ought may well hope that he shall haue it And with hauing that he hath all good and will haue nothing to feare as that slaue must doe who wantes loue Make therefore haste to loue this Lord who loues you soe much and hath conserued you so well And if euer you had a desire to reforme your self and to follow our Lord yet closer besure that you renew it and encrease it now For our Lord commaunded twice that his people should bee circumcised Gen. 17. Once when he enioyned Abraham to doe it and the second time â—osue 5 when he brought Iosue into the land of promise The first signifies the first coming of a man from a worldly and wicked life to follow the way of the will of God which is the streight way especially in the eyes of the world The second is when God will carry a soule to his kingdome and then he commaunds it to behould it self with new feruour and to amend it self and to cutt of all superfluity to the end that with purity and ioy it may expecte that crowne of a kingdome which the goodnes of God hath prepared for his seruants Your Lordship must vse to confesse and communicate often for it is a thing which giues most strength and comfort to heare the sentence of our absolution and to receiue our Lord Iesus Christ into our bosomes You must pray and read and giue almes and doe whatsoeuer other good worke our Lord shall inspire you to And let mee knowe how the world goes with you And if your Lordship recouer your health wee will yet remaine with hauing put our soule well in order and with hauing gotten strength against feare The Holy Ghost that great comforter which through Iesus Christ our Lord was giuen to such as are well disposed to receiue it dwell euer in your Lordship and teach you how you may best please him and guide you by the right way Amen A Letter of the Authour to a lady who was sick He comforts her in her afflictions and animates her to beare them for the loue of Christ our lord who was soe afflicted for her MAdam I haue vnderstood that you are sick and I am not sory for it For if it come to you through any excesse of pennance the punishment is well employed and if you be sick vpon noe other reason but onely because our lord seÌ„des it to you let vs bid it welcome in a good houre as being a part of his Crosse And though in some respect your paine puttes me to paine as our lord knowes yet on the other side I am glad of it because I cleary discerne the profits which will be made vpon this occasion by one whome I soe much desire to see improued They are not comforts which I wish to my children but they are corrections the time of comfort comes afterward For the present take not your eyes from of the Crosse nor your heart from him who placed you on it Giue not ouer till you finde that sufferance is of a sweet taste for that is the true touch of loue Take noe compassion vpon your selfe for there are both in heauen and earth who haue compassion on you from their very hearts and that which is laid on you was very well considered of before and it passed through the handes of one who
for it is not fitt that eyther you or I should haue an eye to our owne ease but that although wee should know that after this life wee must suffer paine yet heere we must also take courage to suffer afflictions for loue loue is content with nothing but loue Christ our lord suffered for our loue Christ our lord carried the Crosse and lett vs help him to cary it on Christ our lord is dishonoured and I renounce honour Christ our lord suffered torments and therefore they shall be welcome to me He was subiect to many necessityes and I submitte my selfe to the same For me he made himselfe a stranger and I desire not to be the owner of any single thing wherein my heart may rest He dyed for me and lett my life be a continuall death for the loue of him Gal. 2. Let me liue yet now not me but let Christ our lord liue in me and that Christ who was crucified exhausted abandoned by all the world and receiued alone by Almighty God This Christ I loue vpon the Crosse will I seeke him and from thence haue I noe desire to finde him Let him dispose of me how he will for my part I will suffer affliction for him Let him choose whether he will giue me any reward or noe for the very suffering it selfe is an abundant reward And if he would graunt me a great suite I would desire noe other then to haue afflictions for thereby I may know that I loue him and that he alsoe loues me since he layes me vpon the Crosse where himselfe lay For though I haue noe ayme at mine owne profitt yet I know full well that if I continue vpon the Crosse he will cary me to his Crowne To him be glory through the eternity of all eternityes Amen A Letter of the Authour to one who formerly had beene a disciple of his and then being of the Society of Iesus was growen to be at the poynt of death He congratulates his departure hence and his goeing to enioy the fruites of his labour in his Order and he giues him great hope of the eternall kingdome by meanes of the bloud of Christ our Lord. THE grace of the holy Ghost be euer with you Though heere they say that you are vpon the point of passing into the land of the liuing soe as a man may thinke that whilest I am writing this you may already be enioying the deare imbracements of our allswcete Iesus yet I thought it not amisse to venture this letter towards you congratulating with you your promotion to that Prebēd in the Church of the celestiall Ierusalem where without all ceasing God is praised and seene face to face Goe in a good houre most deare father goe I say in a good houre both to see all Good and to possesse it for all eternity Goe in a good houre to the bosome of the celestiall father where he entertaines those lambes of his with glory which heere he fed with his grace and corrected with his discipline Now my good Father shall you see the fauour which God did you in calling you to a Religious life and in giuing you grace in the strēgth whereof you dispising the world might follow him by the way of the Crosse For now in recompence thereof he will giue you heauen for your Religious Order and glory for that Crosse which you haue borne for his sake Blessed be our lord Iesus Christ who hath goodnes enough to induce him to giue such glory to such wormes of the earth raising vp the poore man out of the dust that he may sitt amongst the Princes of his people Happy is the houre of our corporall death since thereby wee are exalted intitled to take our seate amōgst those princes who liue eternally in the high presence of God O day which is the end of labours and the end also of sinnes and in which wee ascend to serue our Lord in good earnest and not as wee are wont to doe heere below where wee are all discomforted through the imperfections of those seruices which we performe to God For heere a man goes halting faynting with hunger through his desire to please that diuine Maiesty to serue him with all the soule But in heauē this desire is perfected that in so cōpleat a manner that all the whole man is imployed in the seruice praise of God without being subiect to the least impedimēt which may interpose it self Blessed be God who hath soe soone beene pleased to gather you vp into his granary least mallice might els haue chaunged your mind and to shew you the riches of his bounty Sap. 4. who for soe few yeares of seruice imparts an eternity of reward Sir this is God this I say is God this is the fruit of his passion this is the valew of his grace this is our happy encounter to haue fallen into the hands of such a Lord to know him to loue him though it be with many imperfections But he washes them away by his bloud making vs partakers of his Sacramēts And the paternall loue which he beares vs both makes him easily encline to pardon our faults to be very copious in rewarding our seruices And he cōducts vs through the middest of the red sea Psal 102. to the land of promise diuiding vs from our sinnes as farre of as the East is from the West and drowning them in his bloud Soe that although wee may see them still yet wee shall see them dead they will serue but to giue vs matter reason to praise our Lord Exod. 14. who hath cast both the horse and horseman into the sea Goe Sir with the benediction of our lord God to enioy the riches of your deer Father which he gayned for you with the launce in his hād by shedding his owne bloud who neuer fay les to succour all such as place theire hope loue in him It is true that wee shall misse you that wee shall thinke our selues to be all alone when we are heere without you but since God hath desined you to this great happynes let vs who loue you hould it for our owne And wee who in our owne right shall lament will yet reioyce with you in yours like the brothers of Rehecca who is goeing to be espoused with Isaak which signifies i◠And therefore wee say to you you are our brother and wee desire that you may encrease to thousands of thousands Gen. 24. and that your seede may possesse the gates of your enemyes I doe not pretend to tell you how you must prepare your self for this Feast for there you haue them who can doe it and who will helpe you to passe on out of the hands of men into the hands of God And let our lord who came into the world for you and who ascended vp to the Crosse for you Ps 22. be he who succours you in such sorte that though you
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 so 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 self and you will draw water out of the rocke and hony out of the stonie hilles Num. 20. Doe but loue and you shall not be subiect to afflictioÌ„s but you shall be superiour to them as their lady you shall prayse him who deliuers you froÌ„ them If they threaten you with death you will bid it wellcome that so you may enioy true life If with bannishment you will say That you esteeme yourself bannished wheresoeuer you are till you may arriue to see the face of God And that it imports you litle whether you goe to heauen from this or that parte of the earth And that if you haue God in your companie wheresoeuer you are you shall be happie and if not your owne country will giue you miserie enough If you see yourself contemned say Christ our Lord is my honour and he honours me let the world despâ—se me so hee value me Doe not afflict yourself about the necessity which you may sustaine of present things for of yourself you must despise them through the desire which you haue to liue in conformity with Christ our Lord who made himself a poore man for you What is there in the world which ough to fright you if the loue of Christ our Lord haue wounded you you will treade the deuill vnder foote you will despise his threates and you will passe with courage through all your enemies Put your trust in him who loues his louers There is nothing which you will not be able to doe in him Goe and buy whatsoeuer you want of him though he aske you all this world for it see that you be not found without the loue of him though it should cost you your life He is a hidden treasure but he who findes him selles all to buy him For in him alone he findes himself more rich then with the multitude of all other things And now if it concerne euery one of vs to loue him how much more doth it importe that she doe it whome he hath chosen for his spouse It becomes the seruant to feare his Maâ—ster and the sonne to honour his father but the Spouse to Loue her fellow spouse See you loue our Lord and take no rest till he haue graunted you this guift Loue him with reuerence for that is the kinde of loue which he likes Esteeme not him the lesse because he communicates himself to you but wonder how so great an altitude as his can stoope to such a profound basenesse as yours It is the propertie of ill-natured and ill-mannerd seruaÌ„ts to value their Maisters at a lesse rate for vouchsafing to descende and become familiar with them then if they had liued with them like Lords But they who liue in true light esteeme that Lord so much the more as he doth the more vouchsafe to diminish himself The true loue of Christ our Lord carries this badge with it in token that it is indeede of him That as it apprehendes and highly esteemes the goodnesse of God so it also apprehendes and profoundly disesteemes the wickednesse of man Therefore loue adore and serue our Lord with Ioy but yet reioyce with trembling Not a trembling as of a slaue in the midst of torments but as of a true and tenderharted childe who highly feares to giue any disgust to her father how litle soeuer it may bee Of yourself you can doe none of these things but if you humble your hart in the acknowledgement of your owne miseries if you present yourselfe often in prayer before Christ our Lord if you lodge him in your breast by the Communion if you heare him speake to you in your spirituall reading and in fine if you will but giue him leaue to helpe you you are to haue confidence that by litle litle he will be healing your soule notwithstanding all the harsh encounters which may occurre Doe not starte out of his hands though the cure putt you to payne for in fine he will worke the cure at the fittest time And for the afflictions which he sendes you and the delights whereof he depriues you he will giue you his owne most plentiefull delight which shall inebriate you as if it were with some swelling riuer and you shall be in full ioy for all eternitie without the want of anie good and without the feare of loosing what you haue You shall there finde yourself to be highly well content and payde and more felicity shall be imparted to you then yourself could tell how to desire Which felicity is not a creature but the Creatour himself of all things that true God who liues and raignes for the eternity of all eternities Amen A Letter of the Authour to a Lady He shewes how Christ our Lord being placed vpon the Crosse is that glasse wherein wee may see all the sports of our soules and wherein wee may alsoe finde the cure of all our miseries And that it is an enterprise of great honour to bee carrying a part of his Crosse IF in the night of the Natiuity of our Lord they carried you to Mount Caluary and haue giuen you compassion to the Crucifix and teares wherewith to wash his feete it may well be beleiued that now when you are in Lenit and neere the time wherein the holy passion of our Lord is represented he will keepe you as such a fixed Inhabitant of that hill as to suffer you to depart noe more from thence This is such a thing as that you may safely say with Saint Peeter it is good for vs to bee heere and it shall be a better suite to our Lord Mat. 17 then his was For he desired to remaine on that hill where repose and delight were to be found but in this other there is affliction and therefore this carryes a testimony with it of greater loue For not in resting but in labouring and suffering is the loue of our Lord employed and shewed Doe you Lady remaine in those woundes of our Lord since for the cure of your woundes he accepted his And though you be not to endure the like for his sake yet let them serue you at least to make you thanke him and to lament him and to haue compassion on him since your sinnes are they which placed him in soe extreame distresse Continue there and passe not on with such haste as you would doe by some ill-prouided country inne They whoe passed on by their owne way shooke their heads and blasphemed our Lord. But fixe you yourselfe close by the Crosse like that virgin-mother and like that beloued disciple and those other holy woemen For they who runn ouer this soe great benefit in
whoe can remaine in fire and not growe warme at least to some proportion O that we could dwell there and how happye should we be therein what is the reason that we depart thence soe soone Because we take not vp those fiue lodgings in that high mountaine of the Crosse where Christ our Lord was transfigured indeede though not towards beauty but towards deformitie basenes and dishonour which lodgings are granted to vs nay we are desired to take them though those other three tabernacles which S. Peter desired were denyed to him If some little sparke of this fire be kindled in our harts let vs take great care that the winde blowe it not out since it is soe little Let vs couer it with the ashes of humilitie let vs hould our peace and hide it and soe we shall finde it still aliue Leuit. 6 And we must dayly add some wood to it as God commaundeth his Preists to doe And that signifies to vs the doeing of good workes and the not loosing of any tyme and aboue all things we must approach to the true fire which may kindle and enflame vs and this is Iesus Christ our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament Let vs open the mouth of our soule which is our desire and let vs goe all gaping towards the fountaine of liuing water for soe without doubt if we take hony into our mouths we shall haue some taste thereof And in fine if the fire be in our bosome it will heate vs. But both before and after we communicate we must vse some preparations and reflections and there cannot be any better then a liuely Faith that we goe then to receiue Iesus Christ our Lord together with a consideration and loue of his passion since that misterie was instituted in memory thereof Being thus refreshed lett vs then prouide our selues for our communicating the next tyme after For he whoe onely prepares himselfe for the present tyme shall seldome finde himselfe well prepared Let vs therefore runne after God for we may be sure enough that he will not flye from vs. He is nayled vpon the Crosse and infallibly we shall finde him there Let vs conveigh him into our harts and then shutt the doore that he retyre not thence Let vs dye to all visible things since there will come a tyme when we must leaue them perforce Let vs renew our selues in newnes of spirit since we haue liued soe longe according to the old man Eph. 4 Let vs be growing in knowledge and loue of Christ our Lord who is the soueraigne good And all this is to be obteyned by humble prayer and perseuerant endeauour More is receiued into the soule from without the soule then doth proceede of the soule It is more for it to be moued and disposed then to worke when that is done And therefore let vs remoue all impediments and compose our owne harts within our selues expecting Christ our Lord there who enters when the gates are shutt to visit and comfort his Disciples and soe without doubt he will come to vs. For Dauid saith of him Psal 144. Our Lord heard the desire of the poore and his eares harkened to the preparation of his hart And since Christ our Lord is principally he who must worke this in vs Psal 9. we haue noe reason to distrust but taking courage and confidence in such a conductor as he is let vs beginne to runne that course with feruour which ends not but in the obteyning of God And if we cannot soe soone make our harts as subiect to vs as we would lett vs yet endure it with patience till God rise vp and soe our enemies may fall and till he awake and commaund this sea to calme it selfe But then on the other side his expresse pleasure is that we haue confidence in him euen in the greatest temptations yea though our little barkes should be vpon the very point to sincke Let vs not therefore be disturbed or dismayed Let vs not put others to paine for the trouble which this continuall warre giues vs in threatning that we shall be ouercome The day will arriue when God will put this country of ours into peace when wee shall sleepe without any body by to wake vs. And now since this peace cannot be obteyned yet it will be a better course for vs to goe sweating and striuing to roote out our passiōs then to keepe our selues in ease and to content our selues with leading a tepid life for the auoyding of that paine which the seeking of perfection would put vs to But first lett vs vtterly distrust ourselues and confide in God and let vs beginne in the name and power of the omnipotent And this begining of ours shall be humilitie which is figured in the ashes that we take and our end shal be loue which is figured in the resurrection of our Lord and soe we shall inioye both a good lent and a good Easter In the meane tyme I kisse the hands of all my Masters your Collegialls and I recommend my selfe to their prayers And say you to them in my name that I beseech them that we may loue both God and our neighbours in great measure That soe at the day of iudgment we may know well how to answeare and that we may be made doctours be receiued into the Colledge of the Angells and Saints where we shall euer study the booke of life which is God himselfe who will for euer stand open before our eyes that we may knowe him loue him and for euer be in possession of him Our Lord Iesus remaine euer with you Amen A Letter of the Author to a certaine lady Hee shewes how the hunger of our hart cannot be satisfied but by the spirit of our lord who that hee may lodge himselfe therein requires that it bee free from all affection to creatures And how tepid and negligent persons greiue that spirit how the Feast of the holy Ghost is a very good preparation for the Feast of Corpus Chisti which followes MADAM I desire to know how your hart standes affected at this tyme. For if wee looke to the weeke wherein wee are it is belonging to the holy Ghost whose property is to giue light to the vnderstanding and to infuse loue into the will and euen strength into the body alsoe by meanes of which three loaues of bread we shall haue some what to set before our freind who comes hungry and weary from the high way For the hunger that our hart feeles which walkes as it were out of it selfe whilest it imployes it selfe vpon creatures this holy Ghost is wont to take away and to giue vs the bread of fulnes and satisfaction And woe be to vs if we feele not that great defect which is in things created and if we conuert nor our selues to god in our very harts at least now when they are weary with finding imperfections wants in those things wherein we hoped that they might obtaine repose
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
glorify our most blessed Lord. And in this manner if you will you may encline your hart to the commaundments with respect to the retribution as the Prophet Dauid said Psal 118. But perhaps you will aske Who is he that can haue his soule awake to goe euer cheerfull and in delight reioycing still in her God since many tymes shee is soe tepid and soe sad that by noe meanes she is capable of any ioye what remedy may then be thought of that we may not faile of this perfect and supreme loue For this it was that I told you that you were to carry with you a desire whereby you must wish that our Lord might still be what he is in himselfe because Charâ—tie consists in this desire Which desire a soule may haue though it be neuer so tepid dry and sad as a man may desire that his father may liue happily though himselfe feele noe ioy And herein I onely take for graunted that we must suppose man to haue the grace of God which our Lord will neuer deny to one who striues to walke by this way I meane that although your selfe be sadd you must desire that our Lord may be what he is And as for the delight and ioy in our Lord which vses to follow heerevpon this indeede is a fruite of the holy Ghost Gal. 5. which growes from this charitie when our Lord is pleased to communicate himselfe more familiarly to a soule When his Maiestie bestowes this fauour let vs blesse him for it and when he doth not lett vs yet perseuer in that other exercice of euer blessing and adoring him who is so worthy of infinite glory and praise For it is a very great errour into which they fall who thinke that when there is noe sensible ioy that act of the will is worth nothing whereas Charitie doth yet consist in that act And for as much as the deuill knowes this well he is euer procuring to giue vs great tepidity and drynes that soe we thinking that we loose our tyme may giue ouer this holy exercise You must therefore perseuer in it and grow deafe to those temptations of the deuill For if you perseuer not you will not arriue to enioye that crowne and heauen which such as are proficient in this holy loue grow to obtaine euen heere on earth You must consider and looke with a hundred thowsand eyes that the end and scope of your loue bee to glorifie our Lord in whatsoeuer you doe For soe great was the wrench which our nature tooke by the sinne of our â—â—st father in wholly procuring our owne â—â—terest and good that if you stand not well â—wake in the watch-tower you will finde â—any tymes that you doe but seeke your â—â—lfe euen in this very deuotion hich preâ—ends wholly to cast out selfe-loue And you â—hall take your selfe in the manner with reâ—oycing that you loue our Lord after this sort â—ecause you shall acquire great rewards in â—eauen thereby and because your soule â—eceiues much consolation and for other â—easons of proper interest which though â—hey be not ill yet are they acts of Charity which is imperfect You see heere in short the Loue of God which you are to carry in your soule a Copie of that Originall which the Blessed Spiritts haue in heauen It now remaines that I declare to you the loue of your neighbour which growes out of this other profound Loue. The loue my good sister which you must carry to your neighbour must bee by desiring and louing all that good which you see in him because thereby our Lord God is glorified and adored And the more that is the greater must your ioy be as on the other side any offence or sinne which you shall discouer in your neighbour must be abhorred by your soule because he is offended whose honour and glory you desire And soe as I tould you that the loue of God consisted in our applause and will that our Lord should be the very thing which he is and that the ioye which is taken thereby is a particular guift of our Lord soe also doth the loue of your neighbour consist in the application of your will to desire the good of your neighbour which is to reioyce in his true good and to feele much griefe for the sinne which he committs This is a very particular fauour of our Lord which he bestowes vpon whome he will So that if you haue obserued the matter well you will haue seene that the marke at which both the loue of God and of our neighbour shootes is that God may be glorified and adored And heereby you will also perceiue how short he falls of true loue who greiues to see his neighbour growne vp apace in deuotion and vertue considering that himselfe is not so growne vp For though it be true that the true louer of our Lord will not faile to carry a knife about him which peirces him through at the very hart because he serues not our Lord so well as hee ought and might yet followes it not from hence that by seeing another seruant of God thriue faster in spirit then himselfe he must therefore be sorry for it or dismayed by it But rather the ease and comfort which is to serue you for a remedy against that much greife which your soule receiues because your selfe doe not serue our Lord soe well as you should must be to consider that though you through your weakenes doe not â—hat to which you are obliged yet there are others who comply with that very thing which you desire which is greatly to glorifie â—nd serue our Lord. But as for that other kinde of dismay to which some are subiect I conceiue that it growes but from selfe-loue for it is certaine that if the end why a true louer of our Lord desires much to serue him be that his God may be honoured and glorified who is glorified as well by the sanctity which is in the soule of another as if it were in his owne it followes that he is to haue much ioy to see that others goe increasing in the seruice of our lord though it be true on the other side that he may be in paine because he serues him not soe well You see heere my good sister what that is to which you must attend in this paradise of the millitant Church where our Lord placed you when he called you to his loue and to his grace if you will also goe on to enioye the fruite which is gathered from his hand in the triumphant Church of his glory In which I beseech our Lord that wee all may glorify him and praise him and enioye him for all eternitie Amen A letter of the Authour to a certaine poore man who was called Iohn of God He was of Granada and begged almes for the poore He animates him to the loue and seruice of poore people but yet soe as that he must not forgett his owne particular deuotions I Haue receiued
would goe vp and downe full of care in search after this good and be soe wounded with the loue of him that all this world with the beauty and flower thereof might seeme but a smoake to you which vanishes as a shaddow which hath noe bulke or body and indeede a meere deuice how to make men fooles working such as loue it to be the enemyes of God and to preferre the temporall before the eternall Was there euer seene any mischeife soe great as this was there euer seene any exchaunge soe pernicious as this where are those eyes which see not this and that hart which hath noe feeling of this And yet soe great is our frailtie that if Christ our Lord did not awake vs and make vs vnderstand this truth it would be noe more possible for vs to be deliuered from errour and deceite then it is possible in nature for a blinde man to see or a dead man to liue O thou miserable man who art worthy to be lamented with a flood of teares who art soe vehemently inclyned to that which hurts thee most and yet conceiuest withall that it is good for thee Thou thinkest that all hath gone well and that thou art growne happy when thou art accommodated with the things of this life and thou hast hardly any feeling nor doest thou thinke it worth the lamenting to be in enmity with almightie God Thou knowest how to regard and valew the honour of this world which passes away at sea-full speede yea and euen whilest it lasts it makes not the owner thereof one haires bredth the better in the high presence of God and thou hast noe care at all whether thou be honoured or dishonoured in the Court of that diuine Maiestie Thou fearest some little affront which heere may threaten thee but thou seekest for noe remedy against that huge affront which is reserued and threatned at the latter day to all such as shall not haue done honour to our Lord with a liuely faith and true obedience Thou makest much account of thy selfe and little of almightie God for thou fulfillest thyne owne will in dispight of his And any trifle which concernes thy self offends thee much and the while thou hast noe care at all of that which highly concernes the honour of God Thou liuest after thine owne fashion that thou maist be wholly miserable and thou liuest not as God would haue thee whoe is supreme felicity One of these two things is infallibly true Either that the light of the holy ghost must be that which vrges enforces this blindnes vpon vs which cannot be or els that the great torment which is prouided for sinne will one day open the eyes of such deceiued persons when there will be noe remedy for their misery For as S. Gregory saith The eyes which sinne shutts paine opens And therefore Sir if you loue your soule if you feare almightie God if your hart be not of flint looke carefully vpon the shortnes of this life and how many you haue knowne whoe being well accommodated and supported heere God hath commaunded to goe hence and that not with soe much contentment and ioy as they would haue wished but complayning that the world had deceiued thē that for loue thereof they had neglected the seruice of our Lord. That which they were wee are where they be arriued we shall arriue and the same earth must receiue vs all conuert vs all into it selfe For what therefore doe we stay By what are wee deteyned What is that which deceiues vs and makes vs soe profoundly carelesse of a busines which soe highly imports What makes vs thinke that it concernes vs little notwithstanding that noe other thing imports vs at all in comparison of this And if wee shall confesse that we hould it to be highly important why then doe wee labour soe little for it why doe wee spend soe few howers about it Why doe we try soe few conclusions to obtaine it why doe we aske soe little aduise how we may contriue it Is it reason that any little fitt of tyme which wee employ about this busines should seeme soe great a matter whereas yet wee neuer thinke much and be neuer weary how much soeuer tyme we spend vpon the busines of this world If any question be moued about expence to be made vpon some present occasion of vanitie how magnificent are we wont to shew our selues but how miserly on the other side in any thing which it concernes vs to doe for the honour of God and the good of our neighbours In that former case noe consideration is had either of children or prouision otherwise for the howse but all that is laid aside for the respect which is had to some curiosity But in the latter such a heape of considerations reasons are brought into discourse as serue to shutt the purse and to tye vp the hands from that good worke But what shall I say of this other proofe of our frailty Our whole life proclaimes with a loud voyce that wee value the present world more then the future the exteriour then the interiour riches then goodnes For that thing doe we loue best which we desire most to obtaine when we want it and which we labour to gett with most anxiety wherein wee ioye most when wee haue it and for which wee sorrow most when wee loose it And if the case arriue wherein we must loose the one or the other we put our good conscience in hazard for putting that in executiō which the honour or profitt or pleasure of this world suggests The day will come and that quickly when those worldly persons will finde themselues straungely disappointed and hauing lost all their labours and leauing the fruites heereof behind them they shall be presented all naked and poore and in the extremity of confusion before him who sent them hither not to the end that they should goe fooling after vanities but that they might passe through these temporall things without staying or setting their harts vpon them and that hauing their bodyes heere vpon earth their soules might be aspiring to heauenly things And that though they liue in flesh yet they should not liue according to the desires thereof and though they dwell in the world yet not to haue the conditions of the world but that like children who imitate their father they might be pure and true and pious and humble and meeke and that they might seeke after the glory of God the good of their neighbours What will hee be able to doe at that day who shall not haue performed the thing for which he was sent into this world what will he be able to doe by whose thought it hath not soe much as passed that he must once beginne to attend to it but who forgetting the purity and perfection of a christian life whereby hee was to imitate almighty God hath defiled himselfe in the mudd of earth and hath proceeded like some foolish boy
word of God from his mouth they had chaunged their life to the better and had begun to walke in the way of God and soe gaue much ioy to S. Paule For besides that he reioyced in their good he alsoe hoped to receiue a reward at the last day for hauing beene that instrument by meanes whereof God had gayned those soules and therefore did he call them his crowne Because as a crowne doth beautify and honour the head of such as put it on so they whoe are saued by meanes of any man's preaching will be a meanes of honouring and ioying that man as some beautifull crowne of rich stones might doe Now this being soe I confesse you owe me not many thanks for my wishing well to your soule because the good thereof is mine in regard that God hath done me the fauour to bestow you vpon me for my spirituall childe and will impart you to me as one of the pretious stones of that crowne which one day he will vouchsafe mee if I continue faithfull in that vocatiō by which he hath called mee And now because you are a stone which he will sett in a crowne it is the pleasure of our Lord to worke and polish you very well For it is noe way fitt to put such stones in a crowne as are either rough or of noe worth but such as these will be throwne into hell since they receiued not their being wrought and enamelled by the spiritt of our lord But those liuing stones whereof the celestiall Ierusalem is built are wrought heere with soe many blowes that 〈◊〉 seemes as if our lord would breake them and that againe he giues them new blowes without compassion euen before the paine of the former be gone But yet he hath noe intention to breake them but to polish them nor to destroy them but to beautify them to make them such as that by how much the more they seemed to be ill handled heere soe much the more brightly they may shine at the latter day in the high presence of almighty God Then will that appeare to be mercy which heere seemed cruelty And God will see those pretious stones which he hath wrought euery one in his proper place that so full of blisse that the meanest of them is to be incōparably more esteemed then kingdomes and empires and whatsoeuer other earthly things which can be conceiued O happy stroakes which are to end in such a high repose O happy labour which shall be paid by the imbracements of God himselfe Wound vs heere O Lord as much as thou wilt soe that thou cherish vs there Heere make vs weepe that there thou maist wipe away our teares Discomfort vs heere in all things soe that we may enioy thee whoe art all things and be rigorous to vs heere soe that there thou haue mercy for vs in store In this world we are as banished men and crowded vp into a corner and we are as it were vpon an Easter eue Heauen is our countrey and our liberty our festiuity And therefore howsoeuer things happen we will make a shift to passe it heere to the end that when the glory of God shall appeare we alsoe may appeare in glory that we may celebrate that ioyfull Easter with soe many Cittizens of heauen who first celebrated the vigill vpō earth Madam you must giue thankes to our lord for hee treates you as he hath treated and as he meanes to treate his best freinds And as for that onely begotten sonne of his who is the principall stone of all stones doe but see what blowes they gaue him For they wrought bett vpon him from head to feete these very blowes did alsoe worke vpon that other second stone of heauen which is the most Blessed virgin our Bl. Lady And soe according to the place which euery one is to haue there he must be wrought and polished heere Now if this be necessary euen for iust persons what shall become of vs sinners but onely that we must bowe downe the head and say O Lord thou punishest mee little in comparison of the much punishment which I deserue All that which I can suffer is little though I alone should suffer all the afflictions of the whole world For to him who deserues hell what temporall paine can seeme great Lett vs know that God is full of pittie towards vs euen then when he seemes most rigorous without doubt he is full of pitty since whomesoeuer he punishes heere he will not punish but comfort there For it is written That God doth not punish a man for the same thing Nahum 1. twice All that which we endure we deserue but yet God is soe very full of pitty that for the stripes which he sends vs he pardons our sinnes and he accounts it soe as a peece of seruice from vs as that he giues vs a crowne for the sufferance And since the afflictions of this world preuent Purgatorie and entitle vs to heauen who will not loue them when they come yea and beg more of God then yet he had and euen be sorry when he hath them not He who knowes Christ and his kingdome hath noe compassion of himselfe in this world because he knowes himselfe to be more fitt for God the more afflictions he endures for his sake And soe did that enamoured Ignatius say Fire Crosse fury of beasts cutting quartering breaking and destroying of euery parte of my whole body and the scourges of the deuill himselfe Let all these things come vpon mee and lett me onely enioy Christ our lord There is nothing in this world which can doe me good not soe much as euen a kingdome It is more happines for me to dye for Christ our Lord then to exercise dominion ouer the earth from one end thereof to the other This saith that Saint as one who knew well and did much loue our lord Iesus Christ and who saw that all was well employed which could be disbursed for the gayning of him In this manner I desire that you would encourage your selfe to suffer the Purgatorie of your sinnes yea and though you should not haue committed sinne you should yet apply your selfe to endure affliction for the pure loue of Iesus whoe endured soe great things for you without hauing giuen the least shaddow of cause in himselfe And I would haue you say to him that howsoeuer you are bound to suffer what he will send yet out of a free hart you would gladly suffer for the pure loue of him though you were not bound to it And thus according to the intention of your hart our Lord will accept it at your hands as an Embleme which you carry for his loue In the loues of this world men vse to make other Emblemes but in the loue of God the Embleme is sufferance in affliction And he who is not of a strong hart to suffer much lett him neuer stand telling mee that he loues much For in this world there is
their owne vpō which they neuer looke but from farre of soe how great soeuer they be in themselues they seeme little to them From hence it proceedes that in their conuersation they are soe intractable and soe rigourous for iust after the rate of their hauing noe consideration of their one infirmities they haue noe compassion of others I neuer yet saw man who was curious in the cōsideration of himselfe who would not alsoe easily passe ouer the fault of another and whatsoeuer that man be who is seuere against another when he falls giues strong euidence whereby it is proued that he considers not his owne defects Soe that if wee desire to fly from this soe daungerous kinde of blindenes we must be sure to view reuiew what kinde of things our selues are that soe when we finde how miserable we be we may cry out for remedy to our lord Iesus Because indeede hee is Iesus that is to say a Sauiour but yet of noe other then such as know and bewaile their owne miseries and who receiue indeede if they can and in desire if they cannot the holy Sacraments of the Church that soe they may be cured and saued And although for the making vs know our selues God and his Saints haue declared many and many things to vs yet he whoe shall attentiuely behould that which he may obserue to passe within his owne hart will finde soe many things for which he must despise him selfe that with horrour he will cry out from the bottome of that Abisse and say there is noe end of my miseries Who is he that hath not erred in those things wherein he thought him selfe most sure who hath not desired searched after things as cōcerning that they were good for him which yet afterward he found to be full of preiudice Who will presume to know any thing since he hath beene deceiued innumerable tymes what thing is more blinde then a man who knowes not soe much as what he is to aske of God as S. Paule tells vs and this comes to passe Rom. 2. because we know not soe much as what is good for our selues as it happened euen to the same S. Paule Who begging of God that he would free him from a particular temptation Rom. 2. Cor. 12. conceiued that he had asked a right but it was giuen him to be vnderstood that indeede he knew not what he asked nor soe much as what was good for him And now who will put cōfidence in his ability to know euen soe much as what he should Iudge desire concerning himselfe since he whome the holy ghost inhabited did aske that which was not good for him to obtaine Certainely our ignorance must needes be very great fince we erre soe oftē in those things wherein it imports vs soe much not to erre But now though sometymes our lord should teach vs to know what is good yet who doth not see how very great our weakenes is and how we fall flat vpon our faces in those things wherein it concerned vs to stand vp right To whome hath it not occurred many tymes to propound the doeing of some good thing and yet to finde himselfe ouerthrowne and ouercome by that wherein he tooke himselfe to be most inuincible To day wee lament our sinnes with teares in our eyes and we purpose to refraine them afterward and yet euen whilst the same teares are still wett vpon our cheekes some new occasion of sinne is offered and weeping because we fell we committ that very thing for which we may haue cause to weepe againe receiuing the body of our lord Iesus-Christ with much cause of being confounded for the irreuerence which we haue committed For the tyme hauing beene but short since we harboured his pretious body in our bosomes it happens sometymes that by some sinne we driue his grace out of our soules What care is soe weake and light which chaunges soe often vpon the warning of all windes as wee Sometymes merry and sometymes sadd now deuout and then distracted now full of desire tending to heauen and then following the world and euen dropping downe to hell Now hee abhorres a thing and instantly he loues that which he abhorred He casts vp that which he had eaten because he found it charge his stomack and presently he eates it vp againe as if he had not cast it before What thing can there be with such variety of coulours in it as a man who is made after this sort what Image can they painte with soe many faces and soe many tongues as this kinde of man How truely said Iob Man neuer remaines in one and the same state Iob. 14. Iob. 7. And the reason heereof is because he is ashes or dust and his life a winde Now what a sott should hee bee who would seeke for any repose or rest betweene dust and winde I doe not thinke that there could be a more hedious thing then if we were able to discerne to how many seuerall dispositions one man is subiect in one onely day His whole life is a very masse of mutability and frailty And that which the scripture saith agrees well to him Eccl. 27. The foole is as chaungeable as the Moone But now what remedy shall wee finde heereof Certainely we can haue none better then to know our selues for Lunaticks And as in former tymes they carryed a Lunatick person to our Lord Iesus Christ that he might cure him soe lett vs goe for cure to the same lord Iesus The scripture saith that the euill spiritt tormented that man and that sometymes he cast him into the fire and sometymes into the water and the very same happens to vs. Sometymes wee fall into the fire of couetousnes of wrath of enuy at other tymes into the water of carnality of tepidity and of malice And if wee consider vpon how large accompts wee stand obliged to almighty God for the tyme past and how little amendment there is in the tyme present we will be sure to say and we may doe it with much truth The sorrowes of death haue enuironed mee the dangers of hell haue hemmed me in O danger of hell which is soe mightily to be feared And who is not hee that will not watch with a hundred thowsand eyes that he may not be put to welter in that profound Lake where hee shall eternally bewaile the temporall delight which he hath vnlawfully enioyed who will not take care of his way least otherwise he be found wādering from all happines where are the eyes of that man who sees not this where are his eares whoe heares not this where is his pallate who tastes not this It is a cleare testimony of death not to performe the actions of life Our sinnes are innumerable our frailties are great our enemies are stout crafty and many and they hate vs home That whereof wee are in question is either the gayning or loosing of God for all eternity How comes it then to
Ps 41. therefore will I remēber thee the land of Iordan Hermō the little hill Hee who behoulds himselfe and there discouers soe many abhominations is troubled at himselfe and he hath reason And not finding one houre exactly well spent in his whole life but seeing his sinnes to be many great his good deedes to be so few weake what should he doe but be troubled when he findes himselfe soe vnable to make a good accounte before soe strict a Iudge Only he must remēber Christ our lord cōsidering what he wrought in the land of Iordan vpon that little hill and bewayling his sinnes and receiuing the holy Sacraments hee must liue in obedience to the commaundemēts of God and of his Church and soe as a sonne he may hope for the inheritance of heauen He must alsoe call to minde that which was wrought by our lord in those hills of Hermon which are many in the little hill alsoe Which whether it be that of Horeb where God gaue the lawe or whether it be some other hill doth not soe much import vs who are Christians whose vnderstanding Iesus Christ hath opened towards the conceiuing of the scriptures and he vnderstands them who vnderstands Christ our Lord in them who is shutt vp therein as a graine of corne may be in an eare or as wine is in the grape And therefore the end of our law is Christ our Lord for all the lawe rests in him Cor. 10 The hills of Hermon both they which are within the land of promise and without it as also the little hill doe all signify but one hill which may iustly be said to be a little one and to be of Herman And this is Mount Caluary where our redemption was wrought by the shedding of the blood of the sonne of God Now to the end that wee may knowe how well this name may be applyed to Mount Caluary it is to be vnderstood that Hermon signifies malediction And how can Mount Caluary be better expressed then by the name of malediction since it was the place to which they carryed malefactours to be executed whome the scripture calls accursed because they were to be soe punished And because Christ our Lord saw that we were to be accursed and adiudged to euerlasting malediction hee was pleased through the immensenes of his Charitie to take our maledictions vpon himselfe I meane the punishment of our sinnes that soe his benediction might descend on vs. S. Paule expresses thus much after this manner Gal. 3. Christ was made malediction that so his benediction might be communicated to the Gentiles He was blessed and we were cursed But now the case is altered and we chaunge persons with one another He tooke the place of the accursed in being tormented vpon the Crosse which was dew to vs and wee are admitted to the freindship of God and to be his sonnes and the inheritours of the kingdome of heauen with a thowsand other benedictions which came from our Blessed lord Iesus Christ in whome they remaine for euer O wonderfull exchaunge that life should dye to the end that death may liue Benediction is accursed that soe malediction may be blessed The sound man is wounded that soe the wounded man may be cured The sonne is treated as a slaue that soe the slaue may be adopted for a sonne They most cruelly handle him who deserues all pitty and all the fauour and Regalo falls vpon that person who deserued hell In fine what shall we say They apprehend the innocent and they release the guilty The iust man payes for sinnes Innocency is cōdemned and the wicked man is iustified What did Christ our lord choose for himselfe Our afflictions and our miseries to be his recreations delights What shall wee say to such a charity as this but that we are to praise and blesse this lord day and night who hath wrought our redemption and saluation by a way which put him to soe much cost This is indeede that hill of Hermon that little hill and this soe truly as that he was esteemed by the relation of the Prophett Esay Esay 53. for the meanest amongst men And for this reason our Lord himselfe saith Ps 21 I am a worme and noe man but the dishonour of men and the abasement of the people O thou honour of men and angels and how canst thou be the dishonour of men Thou who art the aduancement of thy people and who art the glory both of heauen and earth what could make thee grow to be the abasement of thy people but onely thine owne great Charitie For thou to honour vs didst endure soe great dishonour that as wee are wont to say of some very base vnworthy man that he dishonours his whole stocke soe did they alsoe say of thee that thou dishonouredst the whole race of mankinde Bee thou Blessed without end For all the honour which all the race of mankinde possesses comes from thee and through thee Thou gauest it by the coniunction of thy selfe to them making thy selfe man and dying for men and exalting them to an equallity with Angells and euen with Seraphins if themselues will and ordeyning that the sonnes of sinnefull Adam they may become the sonnes of God and the heyres of thy Father and coheyres with thee as being thy bretheren and yet thou O Lord art called the dishonour and abasement of the people Thou didst abase thy selfe O Lord to exalt vs thou didst abase thy selfe belowe all men that thou mightest rayse vs about the Angells What shall wee render to thee O Lord for soe great fauours but onely that we must tenderly and profoundly knowe that if wee haue any thing if wee be fitt for any thing and if we be any way acceptable to almighty God it is wholly by thee And wee must yeild thee all thankes and praise for that thou being what thou art wouldest yet vouchsafe to offer thy selfe to sufferance of soe great afflictions for such wretched things as wee are Thou diminishedst thy selfe in that little hill that thou mightest exalt vs to that great hill Thou dyedst on Mount Caluary to the end that wee might liue in the mountaine of heauen And by the malediction which fell vpon thee there thou diddest purchasse and thou wilt impart to vs that happy benediction of thine Come you blessed of my father possesse the kingdome which is prepared for you They cursed thee O Lord and thou blessedst vs. Thy death giues vs life and thy affliction ease Since thou wert content to be iudged it is reason that thou alsoe be our Iudge Lett vs therefore reioyce since hee who loues vs soe much is to be our Iudge and wee will goe confidently to iudgment since the Iudge is of our owne flesh and bloud If wee know not what wee may doe for the pleasing of Almighty God lett vs looke vp to Christ our Lord and he will teach vs meekenes from that Crosse Who being
he shall pay soundly for it if he giue iust cause Nay he pardoned not soe much as his owne sonne though hee owne nothing for himselfe but onely because he obliged himselfe to pay for the sinnes of others Without faile he must needes be farre from acceptation of persons whoe punished with soe great seuerity his onely begotten sonne and such a sonne and soe deerely beloued and that for the sinnes of others There is nothing which should haue power to make him who gouernes forbeare the doeing of his duty but he is to stand like the stalke of a ballāce which leanes not either to the one scale or to the other that so cuery man may haue his owne There is noe state but it would perish and be vndone if publique busines should be ledd after the pace of particular affections And at an instant doth that person leaue to be publique when he hangs neuer soe little towards the particular Now since the respect of priuate profitt must not bend him who gouernes much lesse must the respect of any other man's profitt make him bend since he owes more to himselfe then to any other Christ our Lord is the patterne which is made for all not onely forasmuch as concernes the priuate cōscience of a particular man but forasmuch alsoe as concernes any publique person For hee was a king and soe he is though not after the manner of this world But being in the chaire of his Crosse hee said to his mother Woeman behould thy sonne To giue vs to vnderstand that hee who is in the place of a publique person must renounce all particular inclinations though it should regard his very Mother And the same example he alsoe gaue vs when at some other tymes he would speak with lesse tēdernes to that Blessed Mother of his To teach vs how carefull wee must bee to keepe our selues cleere from particular affection though some be angry at it and though our selues endure paine by it rather then to cherish them with disgust to God There is nothing to which great lords ought to attend so much that so they may be well both with God and man as truly cordially and like men who liue in the presence of God to remaine euer faithfull firme to him with out hanging either to this way or to that And this will be easily performed by that great man who shall attentiuely consider that he is but the Minister of God as one who but meerely executes and must not exceede the commission which is giuen to him God places not great Lords in the world to the end that they may doe and vndoe what they list but to execute the lawes of his holy will And though they may account themselues lords yet are they still vnder the vniuersall Lord of all in comparison of whome they are more truly vassailes then their vassailes are theirs and their power is as truly limitted as their vassailes power is forasmuch as concernes the dispensing with what they ought to doe Soe that he is to be more fauoured and beloued who hath most right on his side and he is to be most punished who deserues it most And thus may any lord resemble the true lord of all if without acceptation of persons he giue to euery one according to his workes yea and if sometymes he punish most such as are most fauoured by him Both because reason would require that they should offend him least and for that alsoe they must not thinke that because they are beloued by him they may take occasion to doe what they list that which reason alloweth not Freindship should last as long as vertue doth and enmitie or opposition as vice For if it be otherwise woe be to ihem who call good euill euill good Your lordship must consider besides that God hath placed you in the eyes of many whoe take that to be a rule of their liues which they see you doe Make account that you are seated in a high place and that your speech and fashions are seene by all and followed by the most part of men If such a fashion be taken vp in Court if such a manner of speach be vsed there all men procure to follow it And if it were the custome amongst great lords that when one should giue them a buffet vpon one cheeke they would tender the other and if it were the fashion for thim to abhorre sinne and to take it for a point of greatenes to obey the lawes of Christ our Lord without doubt inferiour men would hould it an honour to doe that which they saw practised by great persons And for this reason I beleeue that the Prelats of the Church and the lords of the world are a cause of perdition to the most part of soules I beseech your lordship that as you are a particular man you will looke into your selfe with a hundred eyes and that you will looke into your selfe with a hundred thowsand as you are a person vpon whome many looke and whome many follow And take care to carry both your person and your house soe ordered as the law of Christ requires that hee who shall imitate your lordship may alsoe imitate Christ our Lord therein and may meete with nothing to stumble at The vulgar is without doubt but a kinde of ape Let great men consider what they doe for in fine that will be followed either to their saluation if they giue good Example or for their condemnation if it be euill And this consideration alone should suffice to make great lords liue like soe many Saints though it might cost them some trouble considering how our lord Iesus the sonne of God would not be a king but resolued by his labour and sweat to giue rest and peace to his subiects And he fledd from prosperities and honours least otherwise he might haue giuen occasion of sinne to his seruants who would haue thought if Christ our lord had followed them that is would also haue beene their part to pursue the same All things are to be thought little worth so that we may procure thereby that God be serued And let this be the finall conclusion That soe much the more attentiuely a man shall consider and imitate Iesus Christ so much the better man and so much the better Lord he shall bee For in him wee beganne and soe also we will end in him A Letter of the Authour to a Lady in the tyme of Aduent and vpon this occasion he perswades her to dispose her selfe to receiue the Infant Iesus and to loue him with feruent loue HOw busy will your ladyship bee in this holy tyme preparing a lodging for that guest who is coming to you Mee thinkes I see you as earnest as S. Martha yet as quiet as S. Mary Magdalen that soe by your endeauours both exteriour and interiour you may doe him seruice who is drawing neere since hee is soe worthy both of the one and of the other and is in
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
should remaine vnburnt How shall that man be able to loue pompes and shewes who cordially loues the Infant Iesus being layd in a poore maunger if it be true that loue must make louers like to one another It is a great blessing and light which makes vs able to see God heere beloue that soe we may know how to walke for the pleasing of his diuine Maiesty And since he walkes in a very contrary way to that of the world let vs resolue to make our choice of that guide whome we meane to follow since wee cannot walke in both and since the world runnes headlong vpon errour and since Christ our Lord is the truth which saues such as beleeue and follow it Iohn 14 And let his â—â—locaust haue marrow in it for marrow is a soft thing and doth soone melt And soe doth that hart which loues our lord and whether the matter concerne the scruice of the same lord or els the good of a man's neighhour such a one will not expresse either drynes or harshnes but sweete mildenes bee alsoe hath care to keepe his loue as safe as the marrowe is within the bone But before you can arriue to that marrow it is garded first by the skynue and then by the flesh and lastly by the bone it selfe The man who loues places all things which he possesses and desires before that which he loues that he may sooner loose all that then that the person beloued by him should once be touched And he hath a strong and firme purpose as if it were made of iron not to venture the loue of our lord though it should cost him whatsoeuer he either is or may euer be Such gould as this it is which you must offer to the Infant who is borne soe poore and you must open your treasures for that purpose as those kings did For if this hart be not opened which is the treasure-howse all the labour is lost For in that case whatsoeuer it bee Marke 2. which is offered is not gold but counterfect stuffer he takes the best to himselfe and giues the worst to Almighty god Open therefore your hart and conueigh the Infant newly borne into it since that hart alone liues in which hee is And since he is of soe little weight doe not lay him downe but weare him in your bosome like that handfull of Myrrh whereof the spouse speakes Conuerse with him with all reuerence because he is God Cant. 1 and yet take courage to communicate freely with him because he is an Infant for within he hath his hart as serene and sweete as you may well conceiue by his exteriour apparance Take heede you lett him not fall for he must be kept with great care but if your loue be not great you will either forgett him quickly or els lay him soone aside as thinking that he weighes too much And soe that you negotiate with him in such sort as that you giue not ouer till you perceiue by good coniectures that both you loue him and are beloued by him For till a soule feele this it euer liues in feare and sadnes and as vnder the burden of a law but when it comes to this passe there is nothing which can casily trouble it when it considers that God loues it and it loues God I beseech him that it may soe happen to your Ladyshipp Amen A letter of the Authour to a Lady wherein hee shewes what the coming of the holy Ghost wrought in the Apostles and what it workes in them whoe dispose themselues to receiue it and how they are to dispose themselues GOd send you a good Feast of whitsontide not by hearesay but by experience that in this solemnitie your hart may feele that which the faithfull seruaÌ„ts of Christ our Lord when they were assembled in that meeting-place did feele by the infusion of him into their soules who depriued them of their weakenes and deliuered them from their ignorances and fulfilled the bosome of their soules with soe great ioy as might well giue the world to vnderstand that the blood of Christ our lord was not shedd in vayne nor his prayers to his Father made in vayne since by meanes thereof a participation of the diuinitie was communicated O how often when they saw themselues soe deifyed and that they were made soe richly the louers and beloued of God did they sing a world of prayses to Iesus Christ their lord and Maister as knowing well that he had sent them this guift as he was God and had deserued it for them as he was man For according to what our lord himselfe had ptomised the holy ghost as soone as he should become was to make knowne Iesus Christ our Lord and to giue testimony of him Iohn 16 that soe the Disciples and the world might knowe him and by knowing him might vnderstand withall that all good was to come to them by his meanes and that they were to render him seruice and expresse all gratitude to him as to their true and aboundant benefactour and that soe they might remaine faster tyed to him by the cordes of loue in his absence then formerly they had beene in presence might know by experience what a puissant loue the holy ghost is and how ardently he makes that Blessed word of God to be beloued from whome himselfe proceeded and in whome he reposes and that they should make noe difficultie to publish and proclaime him to the world though it should cost them their liues If we had a parte of this solemnity heere within our very harts we should be sure to celebrate it exteriourly as we ought And if our soule were bedewed with some dropp of the water of this plentifull Riuer which issues out of the throne of God Apoâ— 20. of the lambe the thirst of this whole world would be soone quenched in vs and wee should be refreshed by this heauenly dew from that drynes and stiffnes wherein wee yet remaine soe negligent soe barren and soe accursed O how much would we finde our selues obliged to our Redeemer when wee should sensibly feele that wee were indeede redeemed by him and that our sinnes were drowned that our sorrowes were spent and aboundance of ioy imparted insteede thereof Wee would not then complaine of paines of banishments of absence from what we loue of wanting those things which seeme most necessary to vs and in sine of any inconuenieÌ„ce For soe powerfull is this spiritt and the fire thereof that it striues vpward and makes vs soe loue confide in God that noe water of sorrow and affliction hath power to quench it but it remaines euer quicke and conveyed with such strength into the bowells of the soule which are soe mightily inflamed that it kills that which liues ill and causes that euen death it selfe cannot conquer him who is mortyfied by the coming of this holy spiritt This is that deare guest whoe cures the wound which the absence of Christ our
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
be ouer carefull for paines must be taken but sollicitude is forbidden and for the taking of it away our lord willes vs to confide in our heauenly Father He who hath this confidence perceiues well that the busines dependes vpon God and that his diuine wisedome knowes how to addresse him and therefore a Christian man is to be perswaded that it giues noe aduantage euen to the very busines it selfe if we fall into any vnquiet kinde of anguish or euen to superfluity of thinking of it which is thus forbidden by holy scripture Ne affligas temetipsum in consilio tuo Doe not afflict thy selfe in thine owne counsell but say thus to your selfe It is God who must doe it and not I. Perhaps our lord will not haue it remedied by this meanes And if he will yet his will alsoe is that it be done with peace and with my spirituall gaine and without my losse And soe procure that your heart may euer goe in celebration of that Christian Sabaoth whereof S. Paul speaketh and then we may say to our lord Descend â—hou into my heart for it is all free for thee and it hath nothing which may distract me from hearing thee and from speaking to thee You haue reason to desire the helpe of prayers to this purpose for it is not soe easily obtained I beseech our lord who called you to his owne seruice continue you in his grace and carry you afterwardes with himselfe to eternall rest A Letter of the Authour to a Virgin who liued in Recollection Of the valew of a soule and the care wherwith it is to be kept from falling And that if it fall it must haue hope and soe rise againe I Know not with what wordes I may be able to expresse the fault which accuses mee and the punishment which I feare I looke back vpon the much time which hath passed without writing to you whilst yet you were recommended to me that soe by meanes of my care you might proceede and proffit in the seruice of our heauenly king since he was pleased to receaue you for his through that word which I preached vnto you And I in the meane time like an ill seruant of Christ our Lord haue beene negligent in negotiating this businesse which he held to be soe truly his as that it filled him full of care and soe full as to make him giue his life for the dispatch thereof And not onely haue I sinned against him but against you alsoe To him I haue beene an ill seruant and to you I haue beene an ill Father since I haue not preserued the stock nor sustained you with the food of his word his who made mee his steward to the end that in the true time â— 4 I might wisely and faithfully dispence it â—12 to euery one according to that which he should neede I am much grieued for my negligence as it becomes a guilty person and I apprehend the punishment of my fault Not that I feare soe much least our Lord should punish or scourge or afflict me for it with vexations and torments as that he may permitt your soule to receiue some disaduantage thereby For when a man hath noe knowledge of what belongs to children nor cares how he may bring them vpp it is but reason both that he see them dye and that they may alsoe continue dead in his sight that soe the greife thereof may bee a torment to him may keepe those eyes open which his carelesnes had shutt My good sister for I will presume to say that you are mine because you are the Spouse of my Lord O how happy were he who might know how it is with you that soe he might either be delighted in your good or receiue the torment of sorrow for your ill how happy were he who might know if those feruent teares of yours still continue which washed your soule in the high presence of your Spouse and which watered it with deuotion that soe it might giue fruit to the Lord thereof And if your long watches last wherein you were wont to treate in secrecy and solitude with him whom your soule loues Reflecting vpon those sorrowes which he endured for loue of you and you desiring to endure somewhat like that for the loue of him I beseech him of his mercy that you may not haue lost that holy silence of yours which was discourse with God your rich pouerty which gaue you more full satisfaction then all the wealth of this world That coÌ„tempt of your selfe which gaue you price valew in the sight of our Lord and that holy change of your life which cast them into wonder who saw you praised God in you Let it not please him that mine eares may euer heare that the seruant of Christ is other then shee vsed to bee Let it neuer come to passe that shee should liue with any other nor regard any other nor thinke of any other then onely Christ our Lord to whome shee offered her selfe Make noe exchange whereby you may bee soe deceiued as that hauing tasted of that heauenly guift hauing fed vpon the cruÌ„mes of the table of God you should now afterward come to tast the bitternes of Egypt those meate which are deuoured by meÌ„ cast of from him Who when heere they shall haue satisfied themselues with the foode of swine shall burne heereafter in the coÌ„pany of deuills Seruant of Iesus Christ how is it with you indeed tel me how it is with you I beseech Iesus you bee wel in his sight S. Paule said that euen his very life consisted in the good of his children and euen I though not with that great fire but with the little which God giues mee doe yet adueÌ„ture to say that my life consistes in that you be well in the sight of God I can take noe pleasure in this body if the soule of my daughter be dead nor shall delight haue any place in me til I may know that your Spouse whome I lodged in you doth still inhabite your hart If it be any otherwise it is I who haue made the fault I will performe the peÌ„nance but yet see that you bee not angry with him Doe not my good Sister afflict me more then already I am afflicted through mine owne fault by the loue which I carry to your soule and if you bee offended with my negligeÌ„ce be appeased by this coÌ„session which is full of shame and greife And beleiue that through the fauour of our Lord you shall wel finde that I wil mend And vpon this motiue you must forget that I haue beene an ill Father to you since vpon the same God forgets that we haue been ill sonnes ill seruaÌ„ts to him And if yet you will require further satisfactioÌ„ be your owne caruer and require of me what you will Onely retourne to the way of God if you should haue left it or els make mee know that you continue in it that so I
may be sure that thinges goe wel with you that I may haue strēgth to beare that pēnāce which you shall impose vpon me for my negligece Negligence I meane in writing to you but not in remembring you For in this our Lord hath not permitted that I should be forgetfull For soe great was the loue which I carryed towards you vpon seeing that you were growne to be the true seruant of God and you entred soe deepely into my hart when I considered those mercyes which our Lord had vouchsafed to you that it neuer parted more from thence though it haue failed to strengthen and comfort you in this way as it should haue done Pardon me my good Sister for the loue of Iesus Christ and bee not cruel against yourfelfe but be as cruell against me as you shall thinke fit Be sure to loue our Lord for he deserues not to be ill vsed for the negligence of his seruant And if you should haue forgotten your duety to him you know his condition already well enough and that he hath promised to receiue the soule which will retourne and that if you will forgiue me he wil pardon you And he will shew you such mercyes as he shewed before and wil enable you to sing those Canticles to him which you sung in your first beginning and birth to Christ our Lord. Doe not now giue cause of ioy to those infernal spirits since there was a time wherein you wounded them with sorrow Doe not greiue your good Angel since he hath giuen God much praise for you and hath reioyced at your vocation Doe not reuerse that solemne Festiuity which was celebrated in the kingdome of heauen vpon the day of your cōuersion And if through my sinnes any of these things should haue happened yet still you must not be dismayed For our Lord will stretch forth his armes and will receiue you since he stretched them out for you vpon the Crosse And it is vsual with him to loue that person more who hauing runn away out of the warr doth yet returne to fight with greater courage then that other who though he neuer forsook the feild yet was neuer but slack in doeing him seruice This is a kind of warr wherein the losse of the victory consists not in the not receiuing any woundes but in flying out of the battaille rendring himselfe to the enemye in the quality of a man who is ouercome Take courage and begin yet once againe for you shall find Christ our Lord close at hand to help you And seing your humility and how much you are ashamed of yourselfe he will not put you to confusion Nor when he shall perceiue that you are lying prostrate at his feete will he cast you off or kick you out of his sight And if you call vpon those intercessours of yours who are in heauen they will not make themselues deafe to the cryes which you send vp from hence As for me because I haue made the fault whereby you haue incurred the inconuenience if there be any I wil alsoe performe the pennance as I said before And I wil beseech our Lord to restore and raise that vp which my negligence made fit for ruine Let all your thoughts beate vpon his hauing begunn the worke and not vpon my hauing neglected it And then he will put things in good order because he is the true louer of soules and pretends not to see mens sinnes that soe they may retract them by sorrow I beseech him euen by what himself is that he wil keep you in close protection vnder his wings and make you gratious in his sight and that he wil punish me in whatsoeuer sort he shal thinke fit And I beg of you by him that you wil write to me though I confesse myselfe to be vnworthy of your answeare A letter of the Authour to a woman who was afflicted with grieuous and dangerous temptations He encourages her to suffer and shewes that the fraite of afflictions is great when they are well borne BEE comforted Esaye 40. bee comforted O you my people sayth the lord your God speake to the hart of Ierusalem and call her hither for her punishment is ended and her sinne is pardoned Confide my good sister for these words are spoaken to you and they commaunde you to be comforted through his fauour who will defende you though your owne infirmities and those infernall powers striue to plucke you downe But if they be carefull to persecute you more carefull is Christ our lord to ouershadow you and to defende you and to fetch you of from this combatt adorned with new Crownes which are incomparably more to be esteemed and reioyced in then your tribulation deserues to be lamented What is the matter what is that which afflicts you what is that which frights you your God is the curer of these wounds be not troubled there at For at the instant that he closes them he will shine to you as a sunne seauen times more bright then before you were subiect to this affliction your spirituall prosperities will incomparably excell those which are past since that which you suffer now doth so farre exceede in bitternesse that which formerly you suffered For these flowds of anguish vse to serue but for a preface to an aboundance of spirituall delight as the tribulations of Iob were messengers to him Iob 24. of a doubling of his estate and comfort which God bestowed vpon him God afflicted him first and then he comforted him he tryed him and then he crowned him he hid himself from him a litle but afterwards he shewed himselfe more deare and sweeter then he had seemed before to be offended This is the stile which our lord holdes with his seruants He mortifies them so farre that he seemes as if he would place them in the verie torments of hell but then instantly againe he drawes them out and putts them into perfect ease and so as that the whale is neither able to retaine him nor yet so much as to touch him with anie offence whome she had swallowed Our aduersaries the deuills Ionas 2 are full of pride and they threaten to devoure vs but let vs say to them in their teeth Come and spare not for you shall be ouercome Take what councell you list it shall come to nothing for God is on our side Let it not my good sister passe once so much as in your thought to be afrayd of these infernall wolues For hee who conquered them once vpon the Crosse hath conquered them in you and will do so againe and will despoyle them to their great shame And how soeuer it may seeme to you that the encounter is fierce and the enemie so strong as to fright you be not yet dismayde E saye 19. For it is our lord who sayth Shall perhaps the prize be taken out of the hand of the strong man And shall that which was seised by the mightie be resumed Most certainly the
that I may end this letter since I am vnder promise to goe write another Iesus be glorified by all and in all Amen A Letter written to a Lady encouraging her to beare with patience the afflictions which were sent her by our lord MAdam I would fayne aske your ladyshipp what kinde of taste the fruites of the Crosse carry with them since you are feeding so aboundantly thereon Our lord sayd thus I will clymb vp to the Palme tree Cant. 7. and gather the fruit thereof and it seemes that he hath taken your ladyship by the hand and drawne you vp with him to the end that if heeretofore you went vp with him by contemplation to consider how he fedd vpon them he is now no more content that you onely accompany him by hauing compassion of his paynes but he will haue you eate with him at that table of the Crosse be a witnesse by experience of that which he suffered when he was feeding vpon that fruite I dare confidently say that that soule is happy which standes at the foote of the Crosse of the Sonne in society with the Mother of God who fed at the same table and was suffering torment yea and was euen crucifyed in her soule with him For there is not a more acceptable thing in the eyes of the Father then to behould his Sonne and to see them who accompany the same Sonne in the imitation of his affliction and Crosse Let noe man deceiue himselfe by thinking that God is in loue with fooleryes and conceytes or that euery absurd idle fellow shall raigne with him in his kingdome The fauour of God is reserued for such as loue tribulation No man shall raigne with him but such a one as is crucifyed That in fine the world may know that forasmuch as he settes that king dome at so high a rate it is no ordinary place but most aboundant in treasures and delights since God himselfe is the glory thereof and that they may resolue with fresh courage to despise all transitory gust and to endure all kinde of Crosses How would your ladyship haue our lord proceede towardes you but so a hee is wont and will be sure to proceede with his beloued Children What would you haue him doe but treate you as his Father treated him Iohn 15. As my Father loued mee so doe I loue you saith our lord And now if any man will make a pawse to consider how the Father treated his Sonne and such a Sonne he will patiently endure his owne condition how sharpe soeuer it may seeme Madam haue patience yett a while for this tempest will passe you will reioyce that you had it to passe through Bow downe that necke of yours to the will of your heauenly Father for so did Iesus Christ our lord when they passed that rope ouer his head which euen flead his necke and hee the while held his peace both with his harte and with his tongue through the obedience which he carryed to his Father What doth that hard halter vpon so delicate a necke and that heauy crosse vpon those weake and weary shoulders declare to vs but that wee must bee obedient in suffering afflictions though they should euen defeate vs and pluck our very hartes out of our bodyes It is not iust nor fitt that your ladyship should take vpon you to dispose of your owne liâ—e and to choose say This I will and that other I will not doe or haue since you haue offered vp your selfe so often as the true slaue of our lord to the accomplishment of euery inclination of his holy will For it is against all reason that now you should vnsay that in your affliction which formerly you affirmed in time of peace Eccl. 2. Nor must you be like that counterfected kinde of freind who in time of prosperity is wont to make many offers but when they would bring him to performance he vnsayes himselfe Woe be to them sayth the scripture who haue lost their sufferance imploying such persons as being weary of enduring and expecting went headlong with their hartes to the ground as men who would no longer beare their burdens Madam The Iust man liues by fayth Act. 2. and our lord requires to be expected though he stay for in fine he promises that he will come But if a man haue a clocke which goeth too fast and if the time seeme too longe before God giue the remedy that must then be sayd to him which is in Esay He who beleiues lett him not be too hasty but lett him place his felicity in longanimity as S. Peter sayth 2. Pet. 2. Madam our lord will come and comfort you The sea is all in tumult Matth. 8. and the waues will needes drowne the ship and our lord is in a profound sleepe like one who throwes a stone and then hides his hand or who strikes flyes It is he who raysed the tempest then instantly layd himselfe to sleepe It is he and no other who hath designed your ladyship to these tribulations It is he who afflictes and woundes and without him nothing can be done And he who hath knowne so well how to strike and hath beene so diligent to afflict is now fallen asleepe when they are seeking remedy at his handes and the more they begg comfort of him the more he doth sometimes encrease discomfort And yet notwithstanding all this he will haue vs possesse a liuely fayth which in all these miseries must not fayle vs. And if wee haue not this fayth wee shall be sure that when he wakes he will reproue vs and say Matth. 8. O men of little fayth why are you afrayd You may see Madam by this how liuely our Lord will haue our faith to bee which may enable vs to confide in him how fresh how well tryed and passed euen through the very fire For as chastity is tryed by the temptations which are contrary thereunto as humility is tryed by dishonours patience by afflictions and charity by rendring good for euill so is faith and confidence made euident when God sendes such aduersities as may seeme to putt men in a manner euen out of their witts and when he the while hides himselfe and seemes to add to them so much the more as he is the more desired to diminish them Euen by this pace wee must passe if wee will he are this worde from our Lord's mouth O woman great is thy faith Matth 15. In this match of wrastling must wee ouercome if wee will pretend to the name and crowne of such as are perfectly and truly faithfull And wee must accept of scourges which may slice vs euen to the very soule and yet wee must beleiue that they are embracements of great and tender loue In this which exteriourly may seeme to be the wrath of God wee must beleiue his diuine harte to be most peaceable and his bowells most paternall towards vs nor must wee argue according
will see that by the former of them you were bound to lodge your loue vpon our lord after a very particular manner because the contract of marriage obliges either partie to loue the other And on the second day our lord shewed the loue which he bore to you and he gaue you strength to pay according to your weakenes the loue which you owe to him For what haue you out of your owne stocke but obligations and what meanes haue you to pay any thing towards the coming out of debt you being a poore ingaged creature who indeed deserued to be euer kept in prison in miserie and in chaynes Psal 106. as Dauid saith But the rich Iesus Christ hath giuen you the plenty of his grace whereby you may know and loue him and may ouercome your contraries and plucke downe that strong Golias which is the Deuill who biddes battaille against all such 1 king 17. as resolue to serue Christ our Lord. It is not reason I say it is notreason that you should forgett what you owe nor how God hath enabled you to pay And for that which God hath giuen you you are much the more bound to serue him For to be a religious woman is the coÌ„dition of many but to receiue soe particular lights and fauours from heauen wherewith to serue our lord is the case of few Abraham bestowed guifts euen vpon those children which hee had by lesse principall wiues but he left his inheritance and estate to the lawfull sonne of that wife of his who was most beloued that wee may vnderstand thereby the difference of the guifts of God which hee imparteth in this life to seuerall persons Our lord be thanked for that your lines and lottes are fallen into the best ground forasmuchas grace was giuen yow whereby to make you chaunge your state of life and to despise the world with your whole heart and to despise also your selfe and to obey the superiour of your Monastery as your mother and to loue all your sisters and Almighty God more then the very apples of your eyes This is that caelestiall fauour which was done you that you might be rich and well supplied with all thinges necessary in Christ our Lord crucified and from thence comes this soe hopefull and happy change which you haue made in the manner of your life and that inuisible beauty wherewith your soule is endewed And what now remaines but that you be like one who hath acquired great worldly riches and who instantly entertaines seruants to â—eepe it And soe you must be carefull to keepe that which our lord hath giuen you least els your soule turne beggar after it hath beene soe rich which is a kind of life of more affliction and greife then theirs whoe neuer knew what belonged to riches Remember what your spouse saith and conceiue that he saith it to you as indeed he doth Now thou art whole soe thou sinne noe more least a worse thing happen to thee Liue with a holy doubt and care how you may keepe that safe which our lord hath giuen you and how yet withall you may gaine fine other talents to the fiue you haue and whether or noe you haue oyle in your lampe and that such as may bee able to last many yeares And till the very houre of your death let this worde sound in your eares Behold your spouse comes Matt. 25. goe forth to meete him For if you liue with this care you will still be well employed and you will not haue leasure to cast your eyes vpon any thing of this life For this alone suffices to giue vs enough to thinke vpon yea and to grow weake withall The holy scripture saith that this alone is enough to breake our sleepes And if you haue not this care I shal be full of sorrow for it For by the want thereof vanity and curiosity doe streight enter in and as many tales of the liues of others as they make who take noe heede to their owne And soe by little and little a soule growes to be seauen times worse then it was before I expect not to receiue such fruites and soe full of bitternesse at your charitable handes but rather the fruites of benediction and sweetnes like a tree which is planted neare the streames of water which with the leaues and with the fruite giues that man a gladd heart who tooke care thereof But yet if by humane frailty you be fallen into any negligence as it happens sometimes see that instantly you wake and breake of that sleepe least it proue inâ—â—tall to you And beg pardon of our lord who is full of mercy and benignity For though he be angry with the defectes of such as haue already knowne him and will punish them yet he driues not away his children and he giues them correction not with fury but with the rod of a Father Goe you therefore instantly to him though you know you haue offended him for perhaps hee may haue shewed you his anger to the end that yow should remoue it from him by your humility and purpose of amendment He will instantly forgiue you and sometimes he impartes particular fauours euen as if it were in recompence of our carelessenes Take heed you grow not stiff and fixed in tepidity for this is a disease very hardly cured And yet on the other side you must not be dismayed if you be not alwayes in soe great feruour as were fit For you are but a woman and noe Angell you are but weake and not indewed with much strength The greatest courtesy you can doe your greatest enemy is to remaine fallen in the way as some cripple might be in a slough of mire with the bones as it were of your soule broken through distrust as if now you had noe more to doe with the busines of getting vp to heauen Our lord's pleasure is that you should thinke highly of his goodnes and that he driues them not away who knowing their owne weaknes goe and seeke for strength and remedy at his hands And indeed our pride is soe very great that for the cure thereof he lettes vs fall many times to the committing of these very things which had formerly beene very farre from vs that soe being fallen we may rise againe And then knowing by experience what kinde of thinges we are we grow to thanke our lord for that which he is to vs and from that time forward we despise our selues we begin to liue with greater doubt and care and feare least we happen to loose that a second time which had beene lost by vs once before Thus doth our most wise phisitian and most louing father draw our cure out of our very woundes themselues and life out of our death and he shewes his goodnes by our wickednes And though we fight sometimes against him with the weapons of sinne which giues him prouocation yet his goodnes steps out like a conquerour and impartes a thousand millions of benefits
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
contenting of him and to be dead towards the seeking of your owne contentment soe much the more happy shall you be Spend not time at all in thinking whether it were best to accept or els to refuse that busines whereof they wrott to you that without doubt it would be done For this is the signe of a hart not deliuered vp to recollection and which easily is induced to loose the present tyme with care of the future Forget it and beseech our Lord that it may not proue a temptation to you since he knowes your weaknes And liue without perplexity or affliction of minde solemnizing such a Feast to our Lord as that your hart beeing asked what care it hath it may answeare you none at all but onely that I may be soe happy as to giue this little tyme to our Lord. All that swarues from this is not sound whatsoeuer coÌ„plexion it may carry And heere it comes fittly in to weigh what it is to bee changing from one thing to another All those are effects of a heart which is but slack and not imployed about that whereunto it was called which is a continuall intercourse with our Lord who lookes vpon it in euery moment of tyme and desires it to looke as often towardes him and to open it self to him because indeede it is his owne and to deny it self to all that which is not God O base abhominable man in whose hart God desires to repose and to giue it rest and yet the man goes labouring heere and there and God tells him the while that to the end he may finde rest he must enter into himselfe and must dye there to himself and that so he shall finde his true safety life and that a certaine Sunne shall then rise to him which will discharge all those former clouds and sorrowes he shall come to vnderstand certaine things whereof he knowes nothing yet Humility and diligence are needfull heere for the keeping of our harts shutt vp And our Lord dyed for this that wee might haue strength to dye to our selues for his sake to keepe our harts recollected Christ our Lord be your light But take you heede of being desirous to knowe things concerning Mentall Prayer more by speculation then by practise For our lord is the teacher of Infants absâ—ondit se sua a prudentibus he hides both himselfe and his secrets from all such as are but worldly wise A Letter of the Authour to a Cauallier whome hee sought to carry on to the state of Religion THese great fishes are hard to be taken and a man had neede make many turnes with them vp and downe the riuer till they be weary that soe through the little strength they haue left the hooke may quiettly fetch them vp And therefore wee must not meruaile if our lord giue you soe many knockes contradicting that which you had formerly in your thought and desire And the cause of all I conceiue without doubt to be your owne proper will and iudgment which be hard thinges to subdue and still are ready to rebell Wee haue need that our lord should tire them out with a multitude of blowes and should kill them to the end that they may noe longer liue in you but that we may continue in the faith of our lord and in obedience to his holy will I would haue you vnderstand what this curbe meanes and these tokens of reproofe which our lord shewes you For as he is praysed who is an intelligent seruant and growes acceptable to our lord thereby so is he discommended whoe vnderstandes not I say not onely the wordes but the corrections also of our lord You must conceiue that there is nothing which importes you soe much as to be vntyed from your owne opinion and conceit and that Omnis sapientia tua deuorata sit vt sic clames ad Deum de necessitatibus tuis liberet te That all your wisedome is at a non plus and that soe crieing out to God he may deliuer you out of your necessityes For what Idolatry is more preiudiciall then that a man should relye vpon his owne opinion And what mariage is soe monstrous as for a man to be married to his owne will such fearfull and abominable monsters rise from hence as that they precipitate him who breeds them into the very bottomles pit of hell If you beleiue not me doe but take order that a man may not follow his owne opinion and not loue his owne will and then I will vndertake that there shal be noe hell for him You must therefore offer your selfe as a piece of clay into the handes of that soueraigne Potter and say that to him Isay 64. which is writen Fictor noster es nos vero lutum Thou art our framer and we are not better then a piece of clay Resolue that to be the best which is contrary to your owne will For so ill affected is our will that for the onely reason why a thing is much desired a man may safely apprehend and doubt that it is not good For that which pleaseth it is ill what confidence can he then repose therein Haue great care to consider of the way wherein God guides you for you shall be called to an account thereof And when you haue learned this science you shal be wise in the sight of God You must be enamoured of nothing vnder heauen how pretious soeuer it may seeme but onely with seeking the good pleasure of God And if it should soe happen that we should obtaine noe part of that which we particularly sought yet that very thing it self is all the riches both of this world and of heauen for God is pleased thereby and the contentmeÌ„t of God is God himself and he who loues it loues God and he who professes it professes God Concerning those coÌ„plaintes which you are making against your self I well beleiue that you haue reason since you are a man and not yet in heauen And you doe well to reproue your selfe for by this meanes the reproofe which our lord makes of sinners may be remoued from you which reproofe of his would be farre greater theÌ„ we know how to imagine For who can reach to vnderstand eyther the riches of the goodnes of God or our faultes and miseries I beseech our Lord giue vs light from heauen where with to see these two Abysses which are soe different that soe the sight of our wickednesse dismay vs not but that we may be coÌ„forted by meditating vpon the goodnes of our lord For otherwise the stoutest gallant vpon earth might say well enough Cor meum derelâ—quit me My hart hath failed me Psa 38. to see soe many debts incurred by himselfe both past and present besides the danger of such as are to come I know not what we should doe with this miserable thing which is called Our selues nor why we will take Our selues for our owne or stand charged with doeing what
sweetely and with patience I beseech our Blessed lord to remayne with you since he dyed for you A Letter of the Author to a disciple of his He treates of the security which is greater when God is serued in the way of affliction then when in the way of Consolation I Haue receiued some of your letters I haue payed my thankes to our Lord both for hauing giuen you health and his blessed help withall to be in fauour with him continuing that good which alreadie he had begun in you and soe you must confide that he will doe euen to the end for his workes are perfect This which he will doe for you is a fauour of his and noe meritt of yours Nor will he leaue the care and gouerment of you in your owne hands But he for his glory will take the busines of your saluation to himselfe Now this he doth as a most wise Physitian sometymes by making much of you sometymes by shewing signes of disgust giuing you sometymes the light of comfort and at other tymes the worme-wood of sorrow Now hyding himselfe from you for the tryall of your faith and then shewing himselfe to you for the encrease thereof And by a thousand other meanes which he knowes how to vse hee will giue you your soule saued without in a manner your perceiuing how you come by it till you haue it Be not disordered in your iudgment eyther by way of valewing your selfe the more when you thinke your busines goes well or yet on the other side must you giue sentence of condemnation against your selfe conceiuing that all is already lost when you conceiue that you haue reason to be disgusted with your self The hart of man is wicked and cannot be searched and sifted but by the wisedome of God himselfe and to him and to his iudgment you must remitt the sentence concerning the case in which you stand And you must walke on both with great confidence of his mercy and with a religious feare of his high maiesty Depart neyther to the right hand nor to the left Doe not beleeue that there is any Sanctity at all where there is any want of this chast and holy feare which makes a man grow hūble For thereby he knowes that the good which he hath depends vpon another and it makes him hang as it were vpon the eares of God beseeching him with continuall prayer that though he may without iniustice depriue him of the good he gaue him yet that through his goodnes he will not doe it Nor must you beleiue any Spirit which by meanes of any temptations or Spirituall discōforts may come to you nor yet if any darkenes or anguish which may be conueyed into your soule shall pretend to dismay you or perswade you to disconfidence in our Lord who loues you But tell that Spirit that if it had wished you to disconfide in your selfe it should haue had all reason because you are nothing but meere weaknes But in saying that you must not hope for safety at his hands who is the common saluation of all the world tell him he lyes and therein you shall but say a truth Christ our Lord loues you more then you can thinke onely it is fitt sometymes that he hide it from you For perhaps if you knew it you might fall into a greater occasion and danger of vanity then the suspition you haue of your not being beloued by him may be of your despayre for without doubt they are fewer who can enioy prosperity without any mixture of vanity or inordinate delight in the sweet meates which are giuen them then there are who can beare the bitternes of tribulation without despaire Cōceiue you therefore that our Lord keepes you safe in the hauen of security vnder the sharp rocke of tribulation to the end you may not putrify with too much sweetnes but be preserued by the bitternes of myrh And at this you are not to be troubled For of your self you should make election of that which will be good for you in Eternity rather then of that which may afford you some little temporall gust Yea and euen in spirituall consolations we reap not sometymes soe much profitt as we doe delight Nor will you be demaunded at the last day what comforts you shall haue enioyed but what discomforts you haue suffered without fayling eyther in point of faith or loue And beleiue you that God receiues that for seruice which being contrary to your sensuality and selfe will you did yet accept as being conquered by his loue and not that which a man how sensuall soeuer he might be would be glad to enioy For if to be regaled by Almighty God were to doe true seruice to his diuine Maiesty he would not haue soe few seruants since there are soe many who by this way that way and euery way are seeking comforts But they vnderstand not how farre it is from God to be able to abstaine from comforting his afflicted and deiected seruants when it is best for them And as farr also he is from liking them who taking of theire eyes from his tormenting Crosse send them in search after Comforts as conceiuing that the more they haue thereof the more beloued and more happy they are And they neuer consider how poore they shall be found at that day when God will sifte Ierusalem with the light of Lampes whē he will call vs to account whether we loue him from the profoundest part of our hearts Soph. 1. and our selues for him in him and through him or els whether we haue loued him for our selues to our owne vse And then will many of those workes appeare to haue beene carnall infected with selfe loue and interest which shined like soe much fine gould in their eyes who performed them You are therefore more secure from interest or complacence when such thinges come to you as cause bitternes But thē let the loue of God a lone perswade you to endure them till he prouide otherwise In whom you must haue so much strength of the holy Ghost as may make you abound in charity and peace and ioy treading your passions vnder foot and hauing your soule euen all enbalmed with grace Yet when you shall be in ioy doe not enioy it for your selfe but employ it with greater strength vpon him who gaue it fetching also reason from thence why it should make your loue encrease I beseech that Lord who remembred you when you forgot him to giue strength vnto your inward man that soe you may know how to adore obey and loue him and that he will send his holy Spirit into your heart that it may guide you into that land of Eternall light Amen A Letter of the Authour to a Religious woman a spirituall child of his He shewes that it is noe assured signe of disfauour for God to estraunge himself sometimes that our safety depends more vpon his goodnes then our deserts and he persuades her to
of mighty anguish when the soule findes noe repose in any thing to which it can apply it selfe As when a man is drowning in a profound sea without finding soe much as any little rest for the feete Or like one who is bound fast hand and foot and would faine rise vp but knowes not once how to stirr For as he who is highly comforted by Almighty God cannot be discomforted by any paine or torment soe can nothing comfort him who is discomforted by Almighty God And yet must these seruants goe after their lord through such a desart as this which is euen a very image of death and by such darknes and distresse they must passe on to the place of rest This Martyrdome I say must be endured for loue of the Spouse by that soule which desires to carry the Embleme of Loue in her hart and amōgst these thornes shee must make her nest if shee will be conforme to her Head who was crowned with thornes And these draughts must shee swallow downe into these sweates must shee bee cast who resolues to keepe that Lord company who being in fierce agony vpon that holy Thursday at night did sweate drops of blood from his whole body in testimony that his soule was truly sad euen to the very death Did you thinke perhapps that it was some dainty and delightfull thing to serue Christ our Lord or that you vndertooke some trifling busines when you began to place your loue on him They who fight the battailes of loue must dye dayly as S. Paule did And they must bee euen cruell against themselues as a man who were carelesse of soe many base and broken pots to the end that they may neuer faile of fidelity to the Loue of our Lord. Which Loue was neuer complyed with well by any who was eyther negligent or inconfident For the former of these two seekes his owne Regalo whereas it were his part to seeke the contentment of his beloued And the latter faints in his loue because he cannot beleiue that he is beloued But Faith being ioyned to Obedience frees vs from such mischeiues as these making vs beleiue that God loues vs and then most when he most hides his loue from vs and when he seemes to be most rigourous and cruell towardes vs. For the condition and property of true faith is to beleiue not onely vpon those signes and pawnes which may be giuen but as well without them and not onely without them but euen against them And herein it doth but resemble euery other vertue which then declares best of what strength and beauty it is when it is put on by the fewest helpes and when it is encountered by the greater impediments That is true loue which loues a person who euen deserues not to bee beloued And that is true Patience which suffers impertinences and endures wrongs And then doth Chastity deserue a rich and gallant crowne of glory when in despight of seuerall temptations it standes fast And soe you must learne to know the true valew of true faith which beleiues and puts confidence in the truth and goodnes of God against that distrust or despaire which humane reason or the senses of flesh and bloud might pretend to cause By this Faith wee see that which is inuisible how deepe soeuer it be hidd And euen through the midst of these pikes which are the disfauours of God the sharpe points whereof we feele sticking in vs wee yet enter and passe on into that most retired secret of the hart of our Lord and there wee finde that indeed he loues vs though hee shew vs signes which looke as if they proceeded from disaffection And then soe wee esteeme and vse them as wee ought when we take them for the tryal of our Faith and for the exercise of our Loue and for the encrease of our Crowne and for matter wherevpon our Obedience to God must worcke If you beleiue mee not I pray you tell me how shall the chast woeman be tryed but by contradictions and combates against Chastity And how shall your Faith be tryed but by receiuing these tokens of disfauour which pretend to depriue you of confidence Be not troubled to finde that your Spouse is thus resolued to make tryall of your fidelity to him For this is a very vsuall thing betweene Spouses and the fruite thereof vses to be but an encrease of loue which it is not fit to keepe idle for in our employment and exercise thereof doth our life and treasure consiste And now God made choice of you to discharge this office towardes him And if indeed you would exercise it well it must be by louing him though you feele not your selfe to be beloued by him and by following him whome you conceiue to be flying from you For he who loues not but onely when hee finds himselfe to be beloued is indeed noe true louer but his respects runn all towards himselfe And heereby it will appeare whether you be that true Cananean or noe if when you heare hard language and be cast of by our lord you doe yet importune him and if following him who flyes from you and humbling your self to him who treats you noe better then some base vnre asonable creature you doe yet proceede to loue him as sincerely and purely as if you tasted of great delights and Regalos at his hands For in the end hee will answeare you thus O woeman greate is thy faith let that be done which thou desirest But in the meane time be you resolute in continuing faith full and say to him with your whole hart O Lord I will loue thee though thou shouldest not loue me I will seeke thee and looke chearfully towards thee though thou flye from me Let me loue thee still vpon that condition doe with me what thou wilt By this meanes the disfauours of our lord shall be conuerted into the exercise of true loue and herein you are to remaine more contented then you are to be in paine for being disfauoured Nor shall you onely please our lord by this meanes but more ouer you will obtaine a crowne in heauen which will be straungely greate For by the measure of your discomforts that robe of glory is to bee cut out wherewith you must be vested in heauen and from the seede of teares we must gather the sheaues of ioy And we are not to be crowned for hauing beene in deuotion and consolation but for hauing beene as it were threshed with variety of temptations and for hauing beene content with the taste of such gall as carried the very image of hell with it and of the torments thereof and for bearing all these things with an equall minde and for beleiuing that they are light and few 2 Cor. 4. in comparison of that superexcellent weight of glory which is to be reuealed in them who shall be humbled and mortifyed after this manner And wee must thinke our selues happy in being obedient to the ordinance of our lord God
not onely in that which giues vs gust but in the contrary alsoe For otherwise what wonder is it to see the spouse obey her fellow spouse in that which giues contentment to her selfe since for that there is noe greate neede of loue for the respect of proper interest is able to breed such obedience as that Nor doe I know with what eyes Christ our lord will looke vpon such a spouse as that since he obeyed his Father Matth. 26. for her sake in cases of soe extreame affliction saying Let it be not as I wil but as thou wilt Whereas shee saith iust the contrary Not as thou wilt but as I will for shee will be squared out by another rule then her head was and will needs make the will of God which is eternally good to be crocked that it may conforme it selfe to her will which seekes not that which is truly good for her and which eternally is to be soe but that which seemes likely to giue her some little temporall delight A wake O Virgin out of that sleepe wherein you are for it is broad day Take the sheild of Faith Rom. 13. since God hath armed you with it and driue away these dismayes beleeuing that you are beloued though you be not regaled by our lord And turne your complaint backe vpon yourself since a little present disfauour is of more power towards the drawing you downe then the many fauours which are past to keepe you fast on foot You now doe iust the contrary of what you should For whereas it were reason that in this time of tribulation you should remember your comforts of former times beleiuing that the trouble which now you haue is but to trye what proportion of trust you repose in God You doe yet call it into question whether his loue were true to you then or noe beleiuing rather in the shew and leafe then in the substance and roote You haue noe iust cause to be dismayed though you bee afflicted For our lord is nor gone from you but he went away with a meaning onely to stande by and to see how you carried yourselfe like a mother who hides herselfe behind a hanging to obserue and heare what her childe sayth and doth whilst he thinkes that he hath lost her but then shortly shee steps out and makes much of him If you feare that he hath forsaken you and giuen you a bill of separation for the faults and ignorances into which you may haue fallen you are much deceiued For in farr greater falls then those Ierem. 3. his course hath beene to comfort soules by saying Thou hast committed fornication with many louers but yet retourne to me and I will receiue thee Though God like well that his seruants should know and weigh the faults into which they fall yet it is not his pleasure that they should be dismayed or too excessiuely afflicted by them Nay he esteemes this to be of more disseruice to him then the very fall it selfe Neither is it alsoe his pleasure that a sinne which is as little as a graine of seede should be made by vs as bigg as an Elephant and much lesse that we should make that to be a sinne wich indeed is none Soe that if you haue not fallen into sinne and yet will needs be troubled as if you had you offend against his truth And if you had fallen you should offend against his mercye by not beleiuing that he hath pardoned you You offend alsoe against his loue by suspecting that he hath forgotten you And lastly you offend against the Crosses which he hath sent to you esteeming them to be messengers and signes of wrath whereas indeed they are effects of his goodnes Take therefore the courage now at last to sally out from the owne narrow thought beleiue of God according to his goodnes as it imports his honour that you should doe And liue not still in such blindnes as to measure the large hand of God by the rules of your owne poore woefull hart Nor conceiue you that now he will be a rigorous iudge who at others times and in your greatest occasions hath beene a most indulgent Father to you It was not you vpon whome he looked when he pardoned you and called you but he regarded his owne blood which he shedd Nor doth he now stand hanging vpon your handes as if he loued you for them but you are placed and written in his as he sayth by his Prophet Isay And in those handes he loues you and with those handes he guards you euen then when you thinke he giues you buffets But it is his mercye which is your remedye and safety and noe meritt of your owne You are a Daughter and you are to possesse heauen by way of inheritance and not as a meere day labourer Confide in God and giue him glory in that he lodges his eyes vpon soe vnworthy a thing as you and for that he purposes to exalt soe base a creature to such height of glory And know that he hath noe neede of anything in you and that if he desire anything it is but that you may offer him that sacrifice of praise for your owne good confessing him to be your gratious pardoner and your piteous rayser vp from your falls and your Centinell who neuer sleepes when there is questioÌ„ eyther of doeing you fauours or of drawing good out of your sinnes and your most wise conductour who carries and saues you by such pathes as seeme in the eye of your ignoraunce to be very farr about or rather quite out of the way And all this he doth through his owne goodnes alone considering what himselfe is Which carries a greater weight towards your saluation then your wickednes doth towards your condemnation and you are bound to beleiue that soe it is And it must not seeme straunge to you that the greater surmounts the lesse and the Creatour the creature But let it stand for the last conclusion that as noe goodnes in you was the cause why God loued and called you to his seruice soe will he take care that your wickednes and weakenes shall not hinder the course of those mercies which he resolues to shew you for all eternity Continew your Communions and I beseech our Lord to giue them his benediction For my part I like well thereof and vpon the dayes which are sett downe communicate from time to time and God will giue you strength that it may doe you no hurt for he hath noe quarrel to you I beg that he may be your Loue since he is your Louer A Letter to a Lady who was a Religious woman and in great affliction He shewes how troubâ—es are the proofe of Faith and Loue in the seruants of God and how confident they ought to be of his diuine Maiesty in the middest of their troubles AS soone as I receiued your letter I offe red thankes to our Lord for hauing giuen you a signe that your vocation came
from his hand and this signe is that you haue suffered tribulation You must not be a little gladd of this since our Lord loues you Nor yet must you be slacke since you are in the middest of many dangers but carry your eye towards him who hath called you with so great loue You must alsoe haue a stronge harte For he called you not with intention to giue you ouer in the middest of your iourney but to guide you vnder the protection of his owne wings till he may haue conducted you to heauen where you shall see his face Let not the faith of Christ our Lord nor the loue you owe him sleepe in you for he neuer sleepes when there is question of doeing you any good These are tokens which he vses to send to whome he loues to try if they alsoe loue him in their afflictions and if they confide in him in their dangers That Spouse is not worthy of thaÌ„kes who loues her fellow spouse but onely when he is present with her not doth it cost him much to confide in him when she findes her selfe regaled by him But the matter is that when he absents himselfe from her yea and when he seemes to haue forgotten her she must loue him soe much the better as he is further absent from her and confide in him soe much the more as she hath fewer exteriour signes of his fauour It is enough for you my good sister to haue knowne already by experience how louing our Lord hath beene to you by his hauing drawne you to the knowledge of himself And be you not crauing new testimonies of his Loue but making your selfe sure enough thereof and be not troubled though he correct you and though it seeme as if he estraunged himselfe from you and forgott you but rather say thus Hee hath a minde to trye me and not to oppresse mee You must loue our Lord though he correct you you must coÌ„fide in him though you feele noe comfort from him Seeke him though he hide himselfe suffer him not to rest till you haue waked him and till he confesse that you are faithfull in his absence And thus you shall finde him returne to you with soe much aduantage as that when you enioye his presence againe you will esteeme your former afflictions well imployed Procure greate courage wherewith to suffer for after the rate of your sorrows shall your comforts be Bee not a louer of your selse but be a louer of God loose yourselfe and soe you shall be sure to finde your selfe And if once you would but trust God home and if once you would offer your selfe to him with true loue there could nothing happen which would fright you All bitter frosen afflictions proceede but from distrust in God And for this our Lord said Let not your harts be troubled and doe not feare You beleiue in God beleiue alsoe in mee Soe that faith and loue is the cause of peace Iohn 14 and quietnes to the hart There is noe one thinge which is soe necessary for you towards the making you able to arriue at the end of that dayes worke wherein God hath placed you as to confide in him with loue Our lord hath many proofes to make of you and many tribulations shall growe where you looke least for them but if you stand armed with faith and loue you shall ouercome them all Doe but remember how the children of Israell Num. 1 when they were issued out of the land of Egypt by the meanes of soe many miracles and were passing through soe many afflictions before they arriued at that land which our lord had promised them said thus The people which possesse this land is greater and stronger then wee they haue mightie Citties whose walis doe euen threaten the skye we cannot ouercome such a stout nation as this to what end doe wee put our selues vpon this iourney And though some amongst them whoe had faith did encourage the rest by saying that since God was of their side they should easily be able to ouercome as they had done till then yet feare preuailed soe farre as that they offended our lord thereby and through their little considence they lost the land and God destroyed them in the desert without suffering them to enioye that for which they had laboured and which himselfe had promised Let vs take warning my good sister by the danger of others and lett vs know that our lord hath gust Psal 147. in such as feare him and hope in his mercie and is offended with such as doe not soe It is he whoe drewe you out of the captiuity of Egypt when he inspired your hart with a desire of being his and hee leades you still through this desert which is soe impleasant where sometymes you want the bread of doctrine for lacke of such as might breake it to you other tymes you want company which may speake of spirituall things that soe your way might be made to seeme the shorter At other tymes you want the trees of other recreation which might giue you shade and in steede of these coÌ„modities you haue a thousand discomforts Now temptations rise against you from within and then from without now from strangers and then from domesticks But yet attend you onely to your busines for he who did that for you which was more can neuer faile to doe that for you which is lesse He who made you a freind of an enemy will better keepe you now when you are his freind He who did not abandon you when you fled from him will much lesse fly now from you when you follow him Who is he that can say with any truth that God did not helpe him if he were desired See you haue noe feare o you seruant of Christ in any thing which may happen to you but confide in him who Loued you soe 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 whoe contradict you Doe not thinke of how great the giants and how stronge the Citties are which you must encounter for it is not you who must fight Numb 14. But hold you your peace and our lord will fight for you Doe not fly from the warre nor abandon your selfe as one who were ouercome and soe you shall see the fauour of our Lord â—â—wards you For in this warre he onely looses the battaille Exod. 14. who quitts the feild It is true that you are weake but in that weakenes of yours God will shew his strength It is true that you know not much but God himselfe will be your guide By your miseries God will make his mercies appeare Whoe are you that you should be able to passe through such difficulties but yet say with Daâ—id Pâ—â— 17. In the strength of my God I will leape ouer a wall Who are you that you should be able to fight but yet say with him
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
poore man for you What is there in the world which ought to fright you If the loue of Christ our Lord haue wounded you you will treade the deuill vnder foote you will despise his threates and you will passe with courage through all your enemies Put your trust in him who loues his louers There is nothing which you will not be able to doe in him Goe and buy whatsoeuer you want of him though he aske you all this world for it and see that you be not founde without the loue of him though it should cost you your life He is a hidden treasure but he who findes him sells all to buy him For in him alone he findes himselfe more rich then with the multitude of all other things And now if it concerne euery one of vs to loue him how much more doth it import that she doe it whome he hath chosen for his spouse It becomes the seruant to feare his Maister and the sonne to honour his father but the spouse to loue her fellow spouse See you loue our lord and take noe rest till he haue graunted you this guift Loue him with reuerence for that is the kinde of loue which he likes Esteeme not him the lesse because he communicates himselfe to you but wonder how soe greate an altitude as his can stoope to such a profounde busines as yours It is the propertie of ill natured and ill mannered seruants to valew their Maisters at a lesse rate for vouchsafeing to descend and become familier with them then if they had liued which them like lords But they whoe liue in true light esteeme that lord soe much the more as he doth more vouchsafe to diminish himselfe The true loue of Christ our lord carries this badge with it in token that it is indeede of him That as it apprehends and highly esteemes the goodnes of God soe it alsoe apprehends and profoundly disesteemes the wickednes of man Therefore loue adore and serue our lord with ioye but yet reioyce with trēbling Not a trēbling as of a slaue in the middest of tormēts but as of a true tender harted childe who highly feares to giue any disgust to her father how little it soeuer may be Of your selfe you can doe none of these things but if you humble your hart in the acknowledgment of your owne miseries if you present your selfe often in prayer before Christ our lord if you lodge him in your brest by the Communion if you heare him speake to you in your spirituall reading and in fine if you will but giue him leaue to helpe you you are to haue confidence that by little litle he will be healing your soule notwithstanding all the harsh encounters which may occurre Doe not start out of his hāds though the cure put you to paine for in fine hee will worke the cure at the fittest tyme. And for the afflictions which he sends you the delights whereof he depriues you he will giue you his owne most plentifull delight which shall inebriate you as if it were with some swelling riuer and you shall be in full Ioy for all eternitie without the want of any good and without the feare of loosing what you haue You shall there finde your selfe to be highly well content paid and more felicity shall be imparted to you then your selfe could tell how to desire Which felicity is not a creature but a Creatour himselfe of all things that true God whoe liue raignes for the eternity of all eternities Amen A Letter of the Author to a disciple of his who was growne a Preist He shewes that exteriour afflictions must be desired for the seruice and loue of God RIght Reuerend Father I haue receiued your letter which hath wrought in me the same effect with those others which formerly I had from you Namely rendering of thankes to our lord for the guifts which he hath bestowed vpon you according to the testimony which your words giue of that which dwells in your heart It wrought also great confusion in me to see you call me the Maister and Father of him to whome I should thinke it a great fauour of our lord if I could deserue to be a Sonne and a Disciple And especially I was confounded yea and put to paine to heare you say in the end of your letter that you would haue written me many if it had not beene for the Decorum which you thought your self bound to keepe of an Auditour and a Scholler This is not a course wherein you must proceed with me for there is noe reason that you should put me to losse onely because I desire to serue and profitt you And if you treat me in this manner you will make me heare and hold my peace I know not if I wrote not to you the other day of an errour which I haue discouered in some who yet hold themselues to be spirituall And it is that they despise the corporall afflictions and troubles which are vndertaken for the loue of our lord If I wrote to you thereof there wil be nothing lost though I say it ouer againe and if not it is necessary that I write it Since that light of our eyes Christ our lord liued in this world vnder soe many afflictions and died with soe many torments his seruants remaine soe hungry of suffering somewhat that it exceedes the appetite wherewith men of this world runne after ease And not onely are they content to suffer affliction when it comes vpon them and much more that kind of affliction which may be necessary to them for the auoyding of sinne but they seeke it out by all the wayes they can and soe they make proofe thereby of the loue they beare to Christ our lord considering how he was in soe much paine by the afflictions which he endured for the loue of vs. For as the faint and tepid kind of man would of himselfe be glad to suffer noe afflictions but yet he beares them with patience when they come least otherwise he may offend our lord soe the feruent louer of Iesus Christ would faine take noe ease at all and if perforce he must take any he endures it but with patience because soe Christ our lord doth commaund In such sort that as he who is but slack in the seruice of God hath delight and ease in his desire and takes affliction but with patience soe the true Christian is but patient to see himself at ease and hath affliction in his desire This growes from the spiritt of Christ our lord and when this is perfect in a soule it workes that which it wrought in him which was a loue of affliction for vs the better to shew vs his loue And therevpon it also followes that when men would comfort one who is but slack and negligent vpon the arriuall of any affliction they must doe it iust soe as they would comfort a good Christian when he happens to be in repose and ease For the one
walke in the middest of the shadow of death you may yet feare noe ill See you call vpon him for though you should bee in the whales belly yet he harkenes to his seruants euen when they are there Call vpon his Blessed Mother Ionas 3. who is also ours Call vpon the Saints who are our Fathers and our brethren for with such helpes as those you cannot feare to loose the celestiall kingdome And if our lord will haue you passe through Purgaâ—ory let his name be blessed still for soe that you may haue hope to see him you shall gladly endure any thing which may be imposed I beseech Christ our Lord who dyed for you to accompany you at your death and receiue you into his owne armes when you departe out of this life Say you to him as hee sayd to his Father In manus â—uas Pater commendo spiritum meum Luc. 23. And I confide in his mercy that you shall be receiued by him as a sonne and treated as the heire of God and coheyre with Christ our Lord. A Letter of the Authour to a Religious woeman who was neere her death He encourages her and shewes how she is to carry her self at that time DEuout seruant of Christ our Lord you sent mee word that you were in the last dayes of your life and that this was the time wherein you desired mee to remember you Soe I doe And though the newes you giue mee is not pleasing to flesh and bloud yet when I looke vpon you with christian eyes it is to recreate my soule And soe is it also to recreate yours as our Lord saith in the Ghospell when those things beginne to shew themselues Luc. 21. looke about you and lift vp your heades for your redemption is neere at hand For though Christ haue freed you by his goodnes the merit of his bloud from mortall sinnes yet still you are in daunger of committing euen then and you actually committ venial sinnes and you are still in the captiuity of your body which is soe subiect to miserie as that it makes euen a S. Paul and others who are like him sigh and groane and say as him self relates it Rom. 8. that they liued in expectation of the redemption of tâ—eir body But there you shall neither sinne mortally not venially For by meanes of the bloud of that lambe which was shed for vs hell where they euer sinne shall haue nothing to doe with you but onely Purgatory where though they suffer yet they sinne not And from thence you shall goe forth to see your Spouâ—e to enioy that blisse which he wonne for you with the nailes in his hands and with his feete fastened to the Crosse And forasmuch as it is a stranger thing to see God nailed vpon a Crosse then to see you placed in heauen I confide in his goodnes that since he had mercy enough to make him doe the more he will not want it for that which is the lesse Thither will he carry you thither I say will he carry you to remaine with himself For the espousalls which heere were celebrated betweene you when you soleÌ„nely made Profession that you would liue and dye in the state of Religion was one day to be concluded by that being together both of him the spouse and of her his fellow spouse in heauen There shall you see your self in soe great liberty and aboundance that you will esteeme your inclosure afflictions heere for well employed And there will they giue you a body which though in substance it shall be the very same which heere you haue yet shall it be very different in health and life and other things And you will incomparably more reioyce in it there then you haue suffered in it heere All entire all entire in bodye and soule are yow to bee blessed there and soe beautified as is fitt for the honour of him who tooke you for his spouse Iesus Christ the lord both of this the other world Be not therefore dismayed when you are to dye by thinking of what your owne sinnes deserue Christ our lord can doe all things and he loues you will not forsake you And since he hath preserued you in this time of your nauigation amongst all the tempests of this life be sure that he will not suffer you to perish now that you are goeing to disinbarke Putt your self wholly into his haÌ„d offering your self entirely to him both in life death and to whatsoeuer he will And beg pardon of him by his bloud for all that wherein you haue offended him and being confessed communicated cast your self headlong at his feete and desire of him one drop of his bloud whereby you may be washed and haue great confidence that you shall bee soe Be as reserued to yourselfe as free from all conuersation as the state of your sicknesse will permit For our Lord before he was to dy left his disciples that he might pray in solitude to his father giuing vs so to vnderstaÌ„d that in this traunce we must reseÌ„ble him And let your discourse be with Christ our lord with his Bl Mother And to the end that your infirmity diuert you not from them it will be well that you behould an image of the Crucifix of his Mother staÌ„ding by him Giue thaÌ„kes to our lord with your whole hart for the fauour he hath done you whether they be generall or particular and cast your self into the wounds of Christ oul Lord which is that Sanctuary out of which his Iustice must not drawe such malefactours as are repentant And repose you there and conceiue strong hope that by meanes of his bloud and death you shall goe and enioy that life in heauen which neuer is to haue an end Our Lord IESVS be euer with you Amen A Letter of the Authour to a woeman who did greatly feele the absence and disfauour of our Lord. He animates her to confide in our Lord and he assigned diuerse causes why God afflictes his seruants and of the fruit which his Diuine Maiesty reapes from thence DOe not conceiue that to be anger in our Lord which indeede proceedes from true loue For as he who beares ill will to another doth flatter sometimes and fawne vpon him so true loue sometimes corrects and chides And the holy scripture saith That the woundes which are giuen by him who loues are better then the false kisses of him who hates And therefore we doe him an extreame wrong who reproues or punishes vs out of the bowells of his loue if we thinke or say that he persecutes vs as if he loues vs not Doe not forgett that the Mediatour betweene God the Father and vs is Iesus Christ our lord by whome we are beloued and tyed with so strong a bond of loue that nothing is able to vndoe it if man himself do not cutt the knott by the guilt of mortall sinne Haue you so soone forgotten that the bloud of
I beare to my creatures I couer it for whome nothing is so good as not to know any thing which concernes themselues but to remitt themselues wholy to me In that ignorance doth their knowledge consist in that suspence their strength and in that subiection their dominion And it ought to suffise a soule that it lyes in no other hands but mine which are also hers since for her they were nayled vpon the Crosse Yea they are more hers then mine since they laboured more for the purchase of her good then of mine owne And to the ende that I may draw her out of all self conceipt and make her follow my direction it is I who conduct her into this darkenesse that so she may know nothing of herself But yet still if she putt her confidence in me and departe not from my seruice I will deliuer her and I will glorifye her and all this will I performe to her Be faithfull to death Psal 90. and I will giue thee the Crowne of life This sayth our Lord to all faithfull soules and this he sayth to yours which I pray God to keepe Amen A Letter to a Lady who was a Religious woman and in great affliction He shewes how troubles are the proofe of Faith and Loue in the seruants of God and how confident they ought to be of his Diuine Maiesly in the middest of their troubles AS soone as I receiued your letter I offered thanks to our lord for hauing giuen you a signe that your vocation came from his hand and this signe is that you haue suffered tribulation You must not be a little glad of this since our Lord loues you Nor yet must you be slack since you are in the midst of many dangers butt carry your eye towardes him whoe hath called you with soe great loue You must alsoe haue a strong hart For he called you not with intention to giue you ouer in the midst of your iourney but to guide you vnder the protection of his owne wings till he may haue conducted you to heauen where you shall see his face Let not the Faith of Christ our Lord nor the loue you owe him sleepe in you for he neuer sleepes when there is question of doeing you anie good These are tokens which he vses to sende to whome he loues to trye if they also loue him in their afflictions and if they confide in him in their dangers That spouse is not worthy of thankes who loues her fellow-spouse but onely when he is present with her nor doth it cost her much to confide in him when she findes herselfe regaled by him But the matter is that when he absentes himself from her yea and when he seemes to haue forgotten her she must loue him so much the better as he is further absent from her and confide in him so much the more as she hath fewer exteriour signes of his fauour It is enough for you my good sister to haue knowen alreadie by experience how louing our lord hath beene to you by his hauing drawen you to the knowledge of himself And be you not crauing new testimonies of his loue but make yourself sure enough thereof and be not troubled although he correct you and though it seeme as if he estranged himself from you and forgott you but rather say thus He hath a minde to trye me and not to oppresse me You must loue our lord though he correct you you must confide in him though you feele no comfort from him Seeke him though he hide himself suffer him not to rest till you haue waked him and till he confesse that you are faithfull in his absence and thus you shall finde him to returne to you with so much aduantage as that when you enioy his presence againe you will esteeme your former afflictions well employed Procure great courage wherewith to suffer for after the rate of your sorrowes shall your comforts be Be not a louer of yourself but be a louer of God loose yourself and soe you shall bee sure to finde yourself And if once yow would bud trust God home and if once you would offer yourselfe to him with true loue there could nothing happen which would fright you All bitter frozen afflictions proceede but from distrust in God And for this our lord sayde Let not your harts bee troubled and doe not â—eare You beleiue in God beleiue also in me So that Faith and loue is the cause of peace and quietnesse to the hart There is no one thing which is so necessarie for you towards the making you able to arriue at the ende of that dayes worke wherein God hath placed you as to confide in him with loue Our lord hath manie proofes to make of you and manie tribulations shall growe where you looke least for them but if you stand armed with Faith and loue you shall ouercome them all Num 13. Doe but remember how the children of Israel when they were issued out of the land of Egypt by meanes of so manie miracles and were passing through so manie afflictions before they arriued at that land which our lord had promised them sayd thus The people which possesse this land is greater and stronger then we they haue mightie Citties whose walles doe euen threaten the skye we cannot ouercome such a stoute nation as this to what ende doe we putt ourselues vpon this iournie And though some amongst them who had Faith did encourage the rest by saing that since God was on their side they should easily be able to euercome as they had done till then yet feare preuailed so farre as that they offended our lord thereby and through their litle confidence they lost the land and God destroyed them in the desert without suffering them to enioy that for which they had laboured and which himself had promised Let vs take warning Psal 147. my good Sister by the danger of others and let vs knowe that our Lord hath gust in such as feare him and hope in his mercie and is offended with such as doe not so It is he who drew you out of the captiuitie of Egypt when hee inspired your hart with a desire of being his and he leades you still through this desert which is so vnpleasant where sometimes you want the bread of doctrine for lacke of such as might breake it to you At other times you want companie which may speake of spirituall things that so your way might bee made to seeme the shorter At other times you doe want the trees of other recreation which might giue you shade and thus in steede of these commodities you haue a thousand discomforts Now temptations rise against you from within and then from without now from strangers and then from domestiques Butt yett attende you onely to your businesse For he who did that for you which was more can neuer fayle to do that for you which is lesse He who made you a friend of an enemie will better
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
such haste doe neither vnderstand it nor thankfully acknowledge it and there remayne noe more with them but the meere sound thereof Iohn 19 And some that is such as are Infidells blaspheme him for it because they stay not to looke at leasure vpon this mighty wonder of loue But the Christian who hath taken vp his lodging heere sayth and that from his very hart This is my rest for euer and for euer will I dwell heere because I haue chosen it And if the spouse shall not remaine with at least her hart nailed to that Crosse to which the body of her fellow spouse was nailed how will shee possibly bee able to escape the name of vngratefull and vnkinde There shall you finde remedye against the poyson of those false prayses which men giue you And you will profoundly bee ashamed to perceiue yourself honoured proclaimed for good wheÌ„ you see him who indeede is good holy to be proclaimed for wicked false There shall you see how little reason you haue to think that what you doe is vnworthy of estimation in any kinde forasmuch as concernes your part thereof since it is soe weake lame when it is coÌ„pared with that which Christ our Lord wrought vpon the Crosse yea euen with that which yourself as you are ought to doe Looke into this glasse and you will easily be able to discerne the spots which are in the face of your soule For when you haue beene the most meeke of all if you compare that meeknes with his your meekenes will be noe better then meere wrath and your obedience compared with his will be very disorderly and your humility very proud Yet the blind world will needes beleiue that there are noe other sinnes but those which it conceiues to be such Whereas the eyes of God are of another kinde and he measures vs by another rule whereby many times he findes that to bee faulty which seemed in the eyes of men to bee excelleÌ„tly and coÌ„pleatly done When therefore they shall deliuer out any of these poisoned smooth-lying prayses say you instaÌ„tly in your hart as S. Paule did â— Cor. 4. he who iudges me is our Lord. And make haste to call to minde how our Lord was proclaimed for a wicked person And beseech him not to permitt that you be published for one who is good be sure you hould your toÌ„gue for our lord will obserue how the world goes Nay procure you be carefull that when you are despised you may be very glad thereof and perhaps our lord doth not now permit any body to giue you ill words because he findes that you haue not strength wherewith to beare them He who desires any part of the Crosse of our lord must receiue it as he would doe some pretious Reliquâ— with great reuerence giuing of thankes And he must valew it more then he would all the treasures of the world And because there are soe few who esteeme of those Reliques of the Crosse as they ought therefore our Lord oftentimes doth not impart them whose-pleasure is that they be honoured and beloued and borne with ioy And for this reason it is that he leaues vs still in our infancy without putting vs to the taskes of men But how much more then are we to blame if we be drawne downe to impatience or superfluity of sorrow for any of those thinges which he sendes Soe that if you shall carry a great loue to the Crucifix he will giue you a part of his Crosse But then see that you embrace it as an enterprise of great honour according to what he sayth to the spouse Place mee as a seale vpon thy hart and vpon thine arme for loue is strong as death Cam. 8. And as for that paine wherein you are because you may not receiue the Body of our Lord in the blessed Sacrament soe often as you would be not troubled thereat For I haue already tould you that our Lord is resolued that it shall cost you some what And it is but reason that it doe soe since our soules cost him soe much Doe you thinke perhaps that by our Lords onely saying Let all soules â—ee mine they instaÌ„tly render themselues into his hands Doe you thinke that the loue which you carry to our Lord the dominion which he exercises ouer you cost him but toyes I can assure you it is not soe But he shed his bloud as any slaue might doe vpon condition that your soules might be his and he yours Iust soe must that soule doe which hath a minde to obtaine him that is it must sweate first it must weepe it must importune him it must endure ill wordes yea and alsoe euill deedes at the hands of others yea and it must seeme little to haue endured this but once And if it be not put to endure them at least it shall haue gained much in hauing disposed it selfe to suffer somewhat for him thus it proues noe fruitlesse thing to seeke God Negotiate your businesse with him for if he say Yea there is none who can hinder it and if any body offer to doe it it will not proue with him but yet if it chaunce to proue you may conclude thereby that you haue not negotiated well with our Lord. What shall I say to you Cry out louder to him Follow my counsaile and whensoeuer he giues you a great desire to communicate procure then to be iust as if you were communicating indeed And beseech our Lord since he is omnipotent that he will giue you that when you communicate spiritually which he would haue giuen if you had communicated Sacramentally For soe you shall bee pleasing to his goodnes and he will not suffer you to goe empty from him if you come well prepared and it were not the worse if it might be two or three dayes before Yett now you must not thinke that you may therefore faile to confesse your sinnes afterward to your Ghostly Father But till you haue meanes to declare them to him I aduise that you ralate them to our Lord. And aboue all things keepe your hart in peace and conserue yourself in the way of obedience and humility towards your Superiours and Prelates For this is the way of our Lord and you must take heede you leaue it not Take courage to passe on in your other deuotions For though when you are in them you thinke you make noe profitt by them I say you doe and afterwards you shall taste the fruite thereof And our Lord will find a time to looke back with pittye vpon such as shall haue made much way after him And one day of those when our Lord vouchsafes to looke back vpon vs is worth more then three of those others wherein we laboured to goe after him The crowne is prepared for you in heauen God will be your defendour and will not forget you Perseuer you in obedience till you see our Lord of all Lord in Syon
the Father gaue vs his Sonne and with him gaue vs himself and the Hoâ—iâ—-Ghost and all things Receiue this grace with giuing of thankes and enioy you God since he bestowes himself vpon you And if your demeritts fright you remember that one of the benefitts which the Father impartes to vs in Christ our lord is the payement of our debts and the sweetening and appeasing of that wrath which our sinnes deserued Why doe you doubt of a pardon since you doubt not of that Passion which he endured for our sinnes Pet. 2. What doth it profitt you to confesse that Christ our lord dyed for vs be who was lust for vs that were vniust if you beleiue not that his death killed our sinnes and now if they be dead why do you feare them For the Children of Israel Exod. 15. whome our lord drew out of Egypt seing that their enemies were drowned in the sea did not feare but sung praises to our lord taking occasion thereof from those very enemies who had persecuted them before and whome formerly they had feared And though we haue not so assured Faith that our sinnes are pardoned as we are sure that our lord dyed for them because we do not so certainly know that his merits are applyed to vs yet the new hart which God gaue vs when he called vs to himself may be a good signe of his friendshipp and pardon whereby we may well hope that our sinnes also are forgiuen And besides that spirit of being his children which he gaue vs when he imparted his loue as the loue of a Father to vs may well be taken for a particular assurance that in the hart of God we are esteemed as his sonnes since in our harts we esteeme him as our Father For it is blasphemie to affirme that I louing God he should not loue me since that loue wherewith I loue him is neuer giuen me but by his hand I beseech you thinke not of our lord Sap. 1. with a short hart a straite but in great beleife of his goodnesse as we are commaunded And cast vp your eyes to that signe of our saluation Curist our lord who is the assurance of our hope and who is so acceptable to his Father and by whose participation we are also made acceptable to him and we haue assured hope through his bloud to enioy eternall life before the Throne of God And if it seeme to you that your workes are weake and poore it is reason you should thinke so still But what reason is this why you should loose your confidence By Christ our lord we were made freinds of enemies and by him we are conserued in his friendshipp We had greater impediments to be well with God when we were subiect to our sinnes before we knew God then now we haue by the defects into which we fall So that if our former sinnes could not hinder that grace which was communicated to vs in Christ our lord much lesse shall our present faults be able to breake of this friendshipp we being now incorporated in Christ who is beloued by his Father A good thing it is for vs to feele our pouertie and miserie but yet it must be with condition that withall we beleiue highly of the bountie and riches of the mercie of God And let vs glorifye his goodnesse in our wickednesse since with so much loue he tolerates his children who are so faultie so weake and so miserable Why should you depriue God of the glorie to haue great latitude of loue towards his children For by reason of the faith and loue which wee carrie to his sonne he hath patience with the faults which we committ when once we haue bewailed them and done true penance for them Beleiue therefore now at length that as there is goodnesse enough in God to make you loue him so there is meritt enough in Christ our lord to make you be beloued for his sake and liue you with gratitude for the benefitts which you haue receiued as also for the pardon of those errours which you daily committ And be daily accepting of all good occasions and fight the warres of our lord with ioy as that Iudas Machabeus did And God giuing you that which he giues you may hope you shall enioy his kingdome though perhaps you may be putt to suffer in temporall fire for the hay and straw and wood which shall be found in your soule Be you euer breathing more and more towards Profitt in spiritt but yet so as that it may be accompanyed with quietnesse grounded vpon Confidence For though it should grow to be no more then now it is euen that being carefully kept will suffice for your saluation But if you looke onely vpon yourself we are all so full of faults that your soule will neuer bee without dismay nor will you perceiue that you are greatly beloued by our lord And then proceeding after such a manner as that how will you be able to serue him and giue gust to his holie spirit which is dwelling in you For this spirit is chearefull and we checke it by our anguish and dismay against which S. Paul thus disswades vs saying That we must not contristate the holie spirit of our lord The summe of all is this that you must know and consider your faults and that they must seeme very great in your eyes and you must bewaile and lamente them by Confession and Penance But yet still you must consider that those benefitts which we possesse in Christ our lord are greater by reason whereof you must confide yourself to be beloued and you must doe it with much thankefullnesse And if God doe no more but continue that to you which you haue alreadie euen that may suffise as hath beene sayd to make you hope for eternall life A Letter of the Authour to an afflicted woman He declares that afflictions come either through the fault of the partis or else for tryall and how one is to carrie himself in tribulation THe grace and peace of our lord Iesus be euer with you Amen The true loue wherewith I loue you in Iesus Christ hath caused so great compassion in me towards you in respect of what you suffer that it hath moued me to write this letter with desire that it may serue you to some purpose I know not my good sister whether I shall putt you into anie comfort or rather whether I shall not helpe you to weepe Nor doe I know whether or no I should tell you that the trouble which you haue is good and that you are to carrie it with ioy and that I should not graunt that it is ill as it seemes to you and that as such you are to fly from it I see that if manie good men endure such accidents as this there are also very ill men who endure the same And if to some it be a signe of loue to others it is an effect of the wrath of God Our lord punishes
some by these meanes and to others who deserue no punishment he sendes them as tryalls and he presentes them with an occasion of meritt And though the thing which you endure may proceede from either of these two causes vet I am not sorrie that you perswade yourself that it is not so likelie to be a proofe of your vertues as the punishment of some light fault if that fault may well be accounted light which deserues so heauie a punishment For if the saints themselues aknowledge that there is no goodnesse in themselues but manie faultes and much wickednesse how much more must you doe it who know yourself to be farre from sanctitie and so full of sinne And now if you holde it for more probable that these fruits growe from this roote the remedie must be that you examine well if you haue done anie thing for which you may deserue punishment And know that for the most parte it vses to be some litle dust of vaine-glorie and if you see not the true reason of it esteeme your case to be so much the worse when not withstanding you are so full of faultes you can discerne none But now since the blow is come humble-yourself vnder the mightie hand of God as knowing that you are worthie of greater torment Beseech him to haue mercie on you and that he cast you not of from himself Say O lord I haue sinned and anie punishment how sharp soeuer is in itself too light for me considering the greatnesse of my sinnes If thou be pleased to punish me here I am extende the hand o lord discharge the blow Cutt burne and kill onely permitt not that I be diuided and driuen away from thee If I haue sinned let not thy punishment be to let me sinne anie more for the naturall punishment of a fault is payne and not a second fault But now neuerthelesse I would not that by your thinking your faultes to haue beene the cause of your crosses you should discomfort yourself and be so farre dismayed as to make you fall and that as by some precipices into despaire I desire on the one side that you humble yourself beleiuing that your sinnes haue deserued them and on the other side that you be comforted by remembring that you are the childe of God and none of them who are forgotten since your father hath beene carefull to correct you as a childe for feare least else you would haue beene worse And beleiue me in one thing though I be no Prophet that if our lord in his mercie had not humbled you as he hath done you would perhaps haue fallen into some parte of Lucifer's pride which had beene infinitely worse and therefore hath he kept you so humble that you neither dare nor euer so much as can holde vp your head Giue thankes therefore to our lord for this fauour and be happie in that you haue his grace But alreadie I know you will say thus to me If I could be sure that I were his childe and not his enemie and that this were the correction of a father and not the punishment of a Iudge If I could perswade myself out right that I were in his fauour what could I wish for more then that But I verily beleiue that vnlesse it might be hell there is not so wicked a creature as I am to be found and how then can I possesse such a thing as grace This life of mine is not a life of the sonnes of God but it is a life or to speake more truly it is a verie death of the damned O my good sister if you know the guift of God and what kinde of people they are who for the most parte are putt to suffer such things as these you would perhaps reioyce If I saw that the enemyes onely of God did endure them infallibly I should be much afflicted but I finde that his best friends are tempted in this kinde and why then should I not be comforted thereby Iob the holie man Iob. 7. saw himself one day in so sad a case that he sayd I haue despaired Such things had passed in his hart that he seemed to be fallen into despayre But to the ende that we may see that indeede he did not despaire he instantly goes to aske mercie and he who askes mercie despaires not Dauid sayd as we all know Psal 30. that God had cast him cleane out of his sight and that he saw himself couered with obscuritie and darkenesse and enuironed euen by the sorrowes of death and the danger of hell And he sayth that such things happened to him as no man will vnderstand but he through whose hart they had passed I will omitt the tribulations of S. Paul which were caused by Satan and which made him hang downe the head for of these you haue heard many other times In the liues of those holie Fathers I haue read manie things which I should neuer haue beleiued if the Authour were not a man of much authoritie And euen at this day we heare and see strange things which arriue to certaine deuout persons and seruants of our Lord and he hath drawen them out of these temptations with great spirituall gayne Whereby we gather that a man in such cases Rom. 4. must like Abraham beleiue that which he sees not and hope euen against hope itself Tell me my good Sister haue you seene these potters heate their fornace Haue you seene that smoake which is so thicke black That kindling of fyre and euen the resemblance of hell it self which passes there who would beleiue but that the potts which stand there within would be mouldred euen to dust by the rage of that fyre Or that at least they would not grow to be as fowle as pitch by the grossenesse of the smoake And yet when that furie is past and the fire quenched and the time come when they vnfurnace the potts you see that though they were soft and made of durt they come forth as hard as stone and they who formerly were so very browne shew themselues as white as snow and so neate and daintie otherwise that they become the table of kings We are called by S. Paul Rom. 9. by the name of potts of clay and certainely with great reason since we are so soft and weake in suffering the knockes of affliction Make account that you also are some poore litle pott that they haue putt you out to bake For you were so weake as that you could not well retaine and conserue the liquour of grace which was infused into you by Almightie God They will bake you my good Sister and you must haue patience They haue trust you into the furnace of tribulation Endure now those fyres those foggye flames and those obscurities and by confiding in the wisedome and goodnesse of our good potter you shall not be turned into ashes which may be carried away by the winde nor disfigured by anie ill marke which may be
putt vpon you but rather you shall become hard in being able to suffer that so though you should fall you may not breake yourself And you shall be also purged from that disgracefull colour which before you had and finally you shall be made fitt and capable to be a vessell of honour and to be serued vp to the table of Almightie God Procure not to come broken out of the furnace least they cast you heere and there as a thing of nothing Those potts are onely broken which loose their patience in the furnace of tribulation but I confide in our Lord that you will be able to come forth without any hurt Suffer now a litle for quickly the whole businesse will be at an ende Be not you dismayde how busie soeuer the deuill be Let him persecute you as much as he will but confide you in God It is a signe that the deuill hath no parte in you since he followes you so hard For if he had you in his hand he would not follow you It is a signe that you are departed out of his kingdome since he hath dispatched so many squadrons of armed men after you You are passing out of the darkenesse of Egypt Exod. 12 14. that you may goe to the land which our Lord hath promised you and now beholde how Pharao followes you with his whole armie You finde all wayes shutt vp against you The redd sea is before you and your enemies are behinde you and you finde not anie meanes whereby to escape But feare not haue good hope and you shall see the wonders which our Lord will worke Exod. 14. Our Lord will fight for you and you shall but holde your peace Our Lord will open a way for you through the midst of the sea The waues thereof shall serue you for a wall both on the right hand and on the left and you shall passe without so much as wetting your foote through the midst of your tribulations and temptations whereas your enemies shall be drowned therein Doe but conceiue what ioy that will be when all the people of God being passed through the dangerous sea of this world the most Blessed Virgin Marie who was figured in the person of that other Marie the sister of Moyses shall beginne to sing that Canticle of so great triumph Exod. 5. and when you in companie of other Virgins shall answear her And to the ende that you may be yet more comforted know from me that you haue no cause of any scruple for your case is rather that you suffer torment then that you coÌ„mitt sinne For so that you consent not freely to those temptations nor delight yourself in those thoughts which the deuill offers and desire not for your parte so much as to thinke thereof what cause of scruple can you haue And you shall beleiue me as a man who knowes your conscience well that how soeuer you may thinke that you haue giuen consent it is but feare which makes you thinke so as it happens to them who are sicke of feauers or be subiect to any strong passion Let this serue to excuse you for that which is past but not to discharge you from being diligent in the future And though some litle thing should haue stucke to you and though you had suffered some light hurt yet so long as you render not nor yeilde yourself to be ouercome the very wounds which haue beene receiued by anie man at armes in the seruice of a king haue beautie and glorie in his sight The benefitt and meritt which you draw out of the victory is greater then the preiudice which you suffer in the conflict and therefore let nothing trouble you Be not deceiued in beleiuing that those imaginations or temptations are any things of yours or wrought by you Workes they are of Lucifer and â—ordes they are of his speaking and images of his representing Beholde you all that businesse as a thing belonging to others and wherewith you haue nothing to doe And carrie yourself iust so as you would doe when you should heare a man blaspheme or speake anie other fowle deformed wordes for which though you would be much in paine in regarde of the offence which thereby is done to Almightie God yet in fine it would be a kinde of comfort in some respect to you when you saw that it was not you who offended him Lett it grieue you that the deuill doth both say and doe so like himself and let it comfort you to consider that it is not you but he and that he will smart for it S. Paul saith that he gloried in his afflictions tribulations because the vertue and strength of Christ our Lord shined more therein My good Sister if indeede you loue Christ our Lord you will reioyce for that glorie which he gathers from your infirmity Doth it not seeme to you that God shewes his strength in you since by the weakenesse of a poore miserable woman who is indeede but a very childe and a sick creature and a kinde of nothing he ouercomes the strength and courage of those infernall powers Will not you be then content to be assaulted vpon condition that Christ our Lord may be glorified Yes certainly I know you will and that most willingly Nor can I beleiue lesse of that charitie which you pretende to haue nor of that desire which you carrie that our Lord may be pleased to serue himself of you whether it be in prosperitie or aduersity in sweete or bitter by way either of loue or greife either in peace or warre Our Lord is pleased now that you serue him in warre and vnder the incommodities of heate and colde with your weapons by your side both day and night being content with broken sleepes and being subiect to surprises as if you stand vpon the toppe of a pike yea and though it will afflict you most you must contente yourself to be farre absent from your king But after this season there will come another and our Lord will commaunde that you shall serue him in his banketting-house where you shall enioy as much as you can desire In the meane time you shall ioye in this that you are doeing him seruice And I beseech him to strengthen your soule that so it may be able to fight the battailles of our Lord and to make you a conquerour therein that so you may deserue that Crowne of glorie which he hath promised to such as ouercome Amen FINIS