the fire which proceedes from thyne irritated face Who continues the furnace where they are plunged in its wounted heate by the torrent of burning brimstone which flowes from the face of thy iust indignation O God of reuenge let this thought make so liuely an impression in our â—magination that we may be therby roused out of the lethargie of pleasures concupiscence and wordly ambition which keepe vs asleepe Let the fire which walkes before thee as executioner of thy terrible Iustice and which doth consume thyne enemyes to witt the reprobate neuer depart from our memorie may it be vnto vs a torch and pillar of light in the darknesse of the world and our errours a Lampe to our feete and a light to our wayes wherby we may discouer the gulfe which will swallow vs vp vnlesse we prohibite the feete of our affections to follow wicked wayes and command them to walke in the wayes of thy law Thou ô Lord who didst deliuer the three children out of the Babilonian furnace a figure of that wherin the reprobate burne for euer preserue vs from those abominable flames where thou art continually blasphemed and exempting vs from the sharpe and burning ones of thy wroth place vs in the light and bright ones of thy loue where like Pyralides and sacred Salemanders we shall liue happie without paine or consummation singing honour praise and benediction vnto thee for the Canticle of our deliuerance Of interiour paines XXVIII LEt vs now come Athanasia to the consideration of interiour paines And let vs iudge of the torments of the soule as well by the aduantages which it hath ouer the bodie as by the large share it hath in the malice of sinne which is consummated in the will If a Stoicall philosopher had light enough to discerne that euery disordered mynd is its owne TormeÌ„ter what a torture shall the reprobate find in their owne hearts in this accursed place of disorder which is replenished with the horrour of an eternall confusion There their vnderstanding shall be darkned with cloudes because they shall be ouertaken with a night of obscuritie and be couered with the thicke shades of death I will omitt the subtile schowle questions whether they shall be intangled in errours and ignorances wherof those accursed inhabitaÌ„ts of that black prison seeme to complaine in the booke of wisdome when they say that the Sunne of vnderstanding doth not enlighten them Vpon this subiect I will onely stike to that vndoubled truth which teacheth vs that they are fallen for euer into a reprobate sense which causeth their will still following that which the vnderstanding proposeth vnto it being bent to vice like a crooked bowe as the Psalmist tearmes it to hate God with an implacable and extreame hatred But if some subtile disputant goe about to teach vs that since the will cannot hate Good which is its proper obiect it is impossible that it should coÌ„ceaue a true hatred against God who is the soueraigne good we will answere him with the Angelicall S. THOMAS that the damned doe not hate God in himselfe because they know him not such as he is as doe the Blessed who by reason of that knowledge cannot leaue to loue him but onely in his workes for the vnderstanding of the damned conceauing God as Authour of the torments they endure causeth their will to be incensed against him with a mortall and raging hatred And wheras nor God nor the payne which they suffer can cease to bee their courrage ceaseth not and their will is continually tortured with this vnsufferable auersion Their memorie also shall haue its peculiar tormeÌ„t for if the blessed in Heauen reioyce in the labours reproaches which they endured for the loue of God and that through the fire and water of tribulations they are entred into rest the memorie of pleasures past shall be an extreame torment to the reprobate when they call to mynd that for those transitorie moments they are fallen into pinching and endlesse paines They shall roare out with ESAV to haue sold their heauenly inheritance for a mease of potage For comparing in their mynd pleasures past with those that are eternall and apprehending the approach of torments whose cruell panges they feele will not this memorie thinke you draw vpon them an insupportable affliction With what Phantomes and monsterous imaginations shall their fantisie be tortured Frame a iudgement of it by that which happens to such as in this life finding themselues guiltie of greeuious crimes feare to fall into temporall Iustice They may indeede sometymes be in a secure place but neuer in securitie They may be hid from the eyes of men and be placed out of their reach but neuer shall they be able to hide themselues from themselues or escape the assault of their owne conscience While they wake they are vexed with feares and suspicions their sleepe is interrupted with wicked dreames dreade doth still haunt them at each ones approach they quake with feare and the Furies hauing seased vpoÌ„ them grant them nether Peace nor Truce their dissipated thoughts put their hearts vpon the Racke Now if the apprehension of humane Iustice which hath power onely ouer the bodie giue so daunting Alarumes to the imagination what will the sense of the dartes of the Diuine Iustice doe which are so many vessells of death and burning arrowes shot at the damned soule But who can expresse the strange Chaos and horrible confusion which shall inhabite the inferiour appetite of the lost crue For if all the disorder of mans life spring from his passions which as blustering blastes are shut vp in the two caues Concupiscible and irascible what disorder iudge you must those wretched soules needs feele in that part what contradictions in themselues what conuulsions what rage what furie Alas that noble passion LOVE Queene of all the rest the Sunne and salt of life that passion which might haue made them happie for euer if they had turned it towards God that soueraignely amiable obiect being as it were razed out of them the perpetuall auersion they haue to loue shall afflict them as the panges of a woman in childbirth who cannot yet be deliuered S. CATHERINE OF SIENNA being vpon a day present while a possessed person was exorcised the Diuel being commanded to declare his name he answered with a hideous how leing I am the accursed DEPRIVED-OF-LOVE At which the Sainte was so moued that she thought she should haue fallen downe in a Traunce Touching the passion of hatred it shall be outragious in the daÌ„ned whence shall proceede their continuall blasphemies against God and the perpetuall maledictions and imprecations which they shall make against the creatures And if they haue any Desires they shall be execrable ones to see all the world partakers of their paynes not that they are at all solaced therby but onely to giue way to the incredible malice of which they are full Their auersion from all good shall be as much tormenting as in
God himselfe so shall the beatified will be inseparably ioyned to the Essence of the Diuine Goodnes and shall be eternally fedd and sustayned with God's owne substance in some sort as a tender child who hangs at his mothers breaste is nourished with the substance of the mothers milke And thus shall be accomplished that of the Prophete I will leade her into a place a part and will speake vnto her heart and I will giue her the milke of my dugges Reioyce Hierusalem with alacritie that thou maist be filled with the milke of consolation and that thou maist sucke and take delight in the full aboundance of his glorie thou shalt be carried to the pappes and thou shalt be dandled and lulled vpon the knee O Church Militant in earth poore bleare-dyed LIA with weeping in this vally of teares not discouering the Sunne which shines in the Triumphant be comforted in that thou art not forsaken or abandoned of thy IACOB no for he is with thee to the worlds end Thou enioyest his imbracements which makes thee fruitefull in the feaste of his grace to wit the most holy Eucharist for in this banquet thou art fed with the substance of his flesh and blood applyed to the substance of his children to th end they may learne by this wonderfull misterie that in the perpetuall feaste of Glorie he will in like manner applie vnto the Essence of their soules his Diuine Essence and that there they shall taste and see how sweet he is True it is that here below that Diuine humanitie is vayled with Sacramentall species but aboue in the banquet of the Lambs marriage all shall be discouered Enigma's shall cease and the vnderstanding and will shall see and taste without image and species the beautie of the Diuine Goodnes the goodnes of the faire Diuinitie Then as S. AVGVSTINE saith the prize and crowne of vertue shall be God himselfe who gaue the vertue Who shall be seene aboue of the Blessed without end loued without distaste praysed without intermission So that this recompence is the greatest that can be since it is nether Heauen nor Earth nor any other creature but the very Creatour and Lord of all Who though most-one and most simple yet doth he comprehend in himselfe in an infinite eminencie all the perfections of all things Whēce it comes that the Blessed shall in him alone behold and enioy all things according to each ones measure of Glorie And as creatures are in some sort here below the mirrour wherin is seene the beautie of the Creatour so aboue God shall be the Mirrour wherin the creatures shall be seene much more perfectly then in them selues But in fine Athanasia the toppe of the felicitie of the beatified will shall be placed in her perfect loue the accomplishmēt of her true end and in that inuariable and immutable coniunction with her rauishing Obiect the Soueraigne Good which will make her wholy Diuine wholy transformed into the Will of God and to speake with the Contemplatiues wholy deified The felicitie of the inferiour portion of the soule LII LEt vs now descend Athanasia to the lowest degree of the soule and le ts giue a light touch of her Beatitude Who is able to comprehend what goodly and rauishing Idea's the three faculties of the soule shall make resulte in the imagination and how withall this light and gliding Mercurie shall be stayed in God whose presence shall arrest all the motions of this stirring vnquiete and flitting facultie And if we make a step lower into the appetitiue part where the Concupiscible and Irascible passions are lodged motions which doe stirre vp such tormoyles tempests and disorders in our inward house in this life who would be able to expresse the heauenly order and goodly gouernmēt that Reason which then shall be their absolute Mistrisse and Gouernant shall establish amongst them And what a sure and happie Peace shall raigne amongst those people who whileome were so subiect to rebellion while they sat in the darknes of this life and in the region of the shadowe of death Then there will be no Loue but of God in God and for God no Hatred but of that which shall be contrarie to this soueraigne Loue. No more desire but that which doth accompainie the fruition of the Diuine obiect which is continually to enioy and eternally to behold that glorious face which the Angells continually desire to behold albeit they continually behold it There shall be no more auersion or flight but from that which shall be contrarie to that sacred desire or rather there will be no more auersion at all because this passion presupposing euil it shall haue no Obiect in this place of felicitie where infelicitie is not permitted entrance Ioy shall be perpetuall and alwayes in our Lord since this sacred Residence is called the ioy of our Lord nor cā the scourge of sorrow approach his Tabernacles of confidence and ioy far other then those which S. PETER wished vpon the Mont-Thabor Anger is a monster banished from this Pallace of Loue. Euen Hope it selfe shall vanish in the possession of that which with patience was expected Despaire throwen headlong into Hell for euer shall not recouer it selfe from that fall to inhabite this place of delight Chaste Feare full of respect and wholy canded in Loue shall remayne in Beatitude for euer and euer And with what courages shall not those valiant Champions be enriched who are there adorned with so many crownes hauing alreadie past their cōbats and lawfully fought But to speake in a more noble and high strayne of those motions which we tearme passions here below because we suffer by their mutinie and reuoults we should rather say that they shall be happily changed into reasonable affections and that humane reason being vnited to the prime and soueraigne that is the Diuine Reason shall make vse of all those faculties for the seruice and glorie of the Creatour applying all to his honour and praise and making them in a glorious manner waite vpon CHARITIE whose proper Empire is to rule soueraignely ouer reasonable affections and to bestow vpon them an honorable imployment So shall the soule as the Psalmist sings and all her interiour faculties blisse God Of the dowries of the beatified soule LIII I Haue espoused thee in Faith I haue espoused thee for euer said God to a faithfull soule by one of his Prophetes Whence you see Athanasia that herebelow the betrothing is as it were passed betweene God and the soule when she adheares to him by a liuely Faith that is quickned with loue and Charitie but that the consummation of the marriage which is followed with an indissoluble knot is performed onely in the Blessed Eternitie These two sortes of espousalls are figured by the eare-letters and bracelets with which ABRAHAM presented REBECCA by the hands of ELIEZER for the pledges of their marriage For eare-rings are symboles of Faith which doth insinuate it selfe by the eare where the word of God entereth
said to be eternall and death to be defeated for euer as also the fire which shall torment the damned is named eternall it is also cleare in right reason that Beatitude which is a sufficient good or rather the collection of all good would not be compleat vnlesse it did exclude all euil and miserie especially the miserie of miseries which is death or annihilation For take away the perpetuitie of the life of the Blessed and they would be afflicted with a continuall sorrow for the losse of the beloued felicitie and a most distastefull bitternesse would disturbe the sweetnesse of the peaceable fruition Adde that Beatitude cannot be imperfect on the part of the Obiect which is God all whose workes are perfect and his guiftes without repentance which he neuer reuokes but for sinne which can neuer haue accesse to the Blessed cōfirmed in grace by Glorie And vnchangeably vnited to God whose nature is goodnesse his workes mercy And who can nether will nor can abide iniquitie Againe that word of our Sauiours to his Disciples is an Oracle of infallible truth and a promisse which shall remayne for euer Your ioy saith he shall not be taken from you God's seruants the Elect shall adore him in beholding his face and they shall raigne for euer and euer that is eternally saith S. IOHN in his Reuelations And S. BERNARD explicating that of the Psalmist I will fill my friends with the length of dayes and will shew them my SALVATION what is longer saith he then that which is eternall what continuance more longe then that which hath no end O how good an end is eternall life how good is that end which is infinite How faire is the day which hath no Sunne-setting nor is followed out by night and what is this day but the eternall VERITIE the true ETERNITIE O Societie of the Blessed eternally true and truely eternall those are they onely who may be truly said to be liuing and enioying a life truely long in heauē which knowes no end as they are truely dead and that of a long death who continually die in Hell where they continually liue without tasteing the fruite of life S. BERNARD's meditation shall make way to S. AVCVSTINE's touching the Eternitie of that blessed life O life saith he which God hath prepared for his friēds thou art a life full of happinesse crowned with assurance a quiete life and excellent life a pure life a chaste life a holy life a life that knowes no death a life without sorrow without labour without greife without vexation without corruption without varietie or chāge a life adorned with euerie beautie accomplished with honour a life that is not laboured with enuie nor subiect to anger where Loue raignes in its perfection and from whence feare is banished where the day is eternall and the hearts of all is but one where God is seene face to face and this vision is foode to those that behold him with an ardent affection O how thy shineing brightnes doth delight me and how aggreable are thy felicities to the desires of my heart The more I consider thee the more I loue thee I swoone with desire in contemplating thee yet that desire insteede of afflicting me affords me an extreame content and thy memorie is more sweete vnto mee then the honie-combe O happie life ô Empire of eternall felicitie where death hath no iurisdiction which shall neuer haue end Where the succession of tyme hath no raigne nor vicissitude where the day hath no night where change can get no footing where the victorious Champion accōpaigned with the troopes of Angells his heade being enuironed with a crowne of glorie incessantly sings to God the Song of the heauenly Sion How happie shall my soule be if after her departure out of this mortall pilgrinage she may haue the happines to see thee and to contemplate thy beautie thy walls thy gates thy Pallaces thy places thy noble citizēs and thyne omnipotent King seated in his admirable Throne of Maiestie Thy walls are built of pretious stones of an inestimable value thy Gates are inriched with peerlesse gemmes Thy streetes are paued with purest gold and in them the Diuine prayses doe continually resound Thy houses are made of fouresquare stones beautified with Saphires wrought with vinebranches and grapes of gold None enters within thy confines who are not pure for all that is defiled is repulsed The light which doth enlighten thee is nether from Lampe nor torch nor Sunne Moone nor starrs it is God alone proceeding from God that light which doth spring from light who is thyne eternall and vniuersall light The King of Kings resides continually in the midst of thee waited vpon with a numberlesse number of Courtiers and Officiers more resplendant then the lightning more bright then the flame Will you yet further giue eare to the same Sainte heare then what he saith of that liuely Eternitie that eternall life The wicked saith he shall goe into eternall fires but the iuste into eternall felicities That is the eternall life which is promised vs. And wheras men take no greater content here below then to liue behold how life is promised them and wheras they dread nothing so much as death see how an Eternitie of life is proposed vnto them What dost thou loue ô man To liue Thou shall enioy this great benefit What dost thou feare To dy Thou shalt be exempt from it Yet is it not all to liue long to liue for euer but the toppe of felicitie is to liue happie for euer What can we add to this Oracle of truth deliuered in so good tearmes by that incomparable witt but fruitlesse words in a subiect so fruitfull that the abundance therof doth oppresse him that handles it Meanes wherby to arriue at this happie Eternitie LXV BVt we are rather Athanasia to search out the meanes to attaine to this great happinesse then to enlarge our selues vpon curiosities to know it or loose our selues in the admiration therof since it is written that not all that shall say Lord Lord shall enter into the Kingdome of Heauen but those that doe the will of our Lord that is such as shall liue according to his law and shall make force against his holy citie Dost thou desire to enter into true life said our Sauiour to the young man who asked his counsell which way he was to hold keepe the Commandements Of all the wayes which are taught vs by the holy scripture and the writings of Doctors to worke our saluation in feare and trembling I will onely touch two which next vnto God's grace without which we are able to doe nothing I find verie necessarie The Philosopher Epictetes made all his philosophicall Precepts turne vpon these two poles or pinnes SVSTAYNE and ABSTAYNE I am persuaded that all morall Christianitie may turne vpon the same pinnes The one doth teach vs to suffer difficulties labours paines the other the perfect contempt of worldly vanities pleasures and riches If we
to earthly obiects It discryes nothing but the fayding shapes of this world And as hounds fall easily at default in the Spring when the fresh smells of flowres make them loose the sent of the game they poursue So the mynd that is carried to the search of heauenly things runns counter misled by the neerenesse of present things That we put a rate vpon present things rather by their neerenesse then worth VIII FOr though many of those that are carried away by their allurements know well that they are not comparable in worth to eternall things yet rather by their neighbourhoode then valour they make a stronge impression Who would not say that the full moone is greater thē the starrs it appearing as another Sunne amongst the lesser lightes which the night discouers in the heauens yet is it not so as the Astrologers assure vs but her proxmitie causeth this mistake Present things obnoxious to the decay of tyme are so short in continuance that they are but flying vapours as soone bet downe as blowen vp seeming rather appearances or the shadowes of a dreame then solidities while yet beeing neerer they appeare to the eyes of such as muse or rather abuse themselues therin more worthy of consideration then eternall things which are not limited in their extention nor haue end in their beeing And who knowes not to keepe in our comparison that the influences of this starre the nights great eye are more forceable then any other excepting that which is the fountaine of all light and which doth communicate it to all the rest We must say the like of things present that by reason of their neerenesse they strike the soule by the senses a more violent blow then the future doe which are beheld as a thing in absence Whence we haue a MAXIME that present obiects moue the powres which things in distance doe but slowly shake But all this proceeds from want of Fayth as hereafter we will declare for if this vertue were closely vnited in the mynds of those that doe beleeue her propositions she would make things hoped for appeare as present inuisible things visible according to the definition therof deliuered vs by the great Apostle The Moone appeares in diuers shapes or altogether disappeares according to the different oppositions of the earth betweene it and the Sunne We may say the like in the matter we treate of that Eternitie is seene or shut vp from soules according as they are more or lesse infected with earthly affections ô Loue of the world how long wilt thou obscure the faire light of heauenly loue ô thicke cloude why dost thou shut from so many eyes the aspect of the glorious rayes issuing from eternall lights behold this torch throwen downe the waxe which while it was below the flame did feede it is the very bane of it The loue of inferiour things guided according to the order of Charitie doth not impeach eternall loue but when perishable things are preferred before those that are permanent then this cleare lampe which shines to our feete to conduct vs in the way of eternall peace being smothered with materiall things dies out ô Smoke ô vnfortunate dung how many Tobies thou beatest blind Iron doth naturally run after the Loadstone yet many things hinder this stones attraction as when it is rubd with garlike or greese when it is neere vnto a Diamant or when it is placed in too great a distāce from the iron And our soules who of their owne natures are immortall by their owne instinct doe tend to Eternitie as to that which they most affect but as soone as the garlike or greese of the pleasures and delights which are tasted in things present doe attrape them or when the lying luster of worldly honours keepes them at a gaze it is not strange that Eternitie which they behold as a thing a far of doth so litle worke vpon their affections Shall I speake in a word what is the Remora which stops the shippe of our hearts vnder the sayles of our desires sayling towards Eternitie it is that euery one seekes himselfe and not the glorie of God It is as that old Antipheron that in euery thinge hauing our eyes turned vpon our selues in euery thing we seeke our owne interest Few hate their soules in this world to gayne them to Eternitie Few renounce all things present and yet fewer themselues who are more not onely present but pressing to follow Iesus Christ and to doe the will of God in earth as it is in heauen The weaknesse of Fayth makes Eternitie lesse considerable IX BVt what doe I say to doe the will of God Alas how many wicked how many mad men say in their heart their is no God Our lipps are to our selues who is our Lord Come let 's crowne our selues with present roses before death the death of all pleasures make them fade away let not a flowre of vanitie of loose desire of lucre put vp the heade in the meades of this mortall life which we take not a taste of before the graue shut vs vp And it is there that this want of beleife maks vs loose the veiw of the North-starre of Eternitie which I giue for a third cause Yes quoth our Sauiour himselfe to his Disciples doe you thinke that the sonne of man coming to iudge the world in his last coming shall find Faith in the earth and doe we thinke there is Faith in this end and dreges of ages wherin we liue Verily if we forme a iudgement of Faith by workes as the scripture teacheth vs it will easily be gathered by the fruite the world brings out that there is nether Truth nor Faith nor Memorie of Gods iustice or Eternitie left in the heart of man All erre from their mothers wombe and stray from the pathes of equitie being heauie hearted slow to beleeue that which is taught them by faith touching things to come They loue vanitie and seeke after falsitie and lyes ô how deceitfull are the children of men in their waightes suffering themselues to be deceaued in the Vanitie of their senses Let vs consider this more neerely and practically Faith tells vs many glorious things of the Citie of God where he raignes eternally with his Elect where he makes his loue take roote as in a fertile feild It tells vs that this Kingdome is of all ages that all the Blessed are Kings heires of God and coheires with Iesus Christ. That God is there all in all filling them with an eternall felicitie that his power is an eternall powre That his Kingdome shall haue no end And in our Crede we protest that we beleeue life euerlasting the life of the world to come That such as doe well shall enter into the blessed Eternitie and the wicked into an eternall tormēt That is one of the principale articles of our Faith and as it were the pinne vpon which the rest moue and turne for if all should die to vs togeither with the
Yet the Saints who are in glorie whose faces are marked with his splendour and doe shine like the Sunne for perpetuall eternities are yet incomparably more liuely pictures of the Diuinitie For euen as the Sunne meeting with a thicke and darksome cloude in the aire doth sometymes so deeply imprint its beames vpon its face that it appeares another Sunne so are the Blessed in Heauen so transformed into God that they shewe as so many Gods and as so many dearest children of the Highest as DAVID deliuers it This excellent beautie with which the Diuine presence doth adorne them was cause that S. IOHN espying an Angell whom he tooke for God had adored him if that spirit no lesse humble then glorious bright had not giuen him to know that he was his fellow-seruant And in my opinion in this neere resemblance to God the verie toppe of the eternall glorie of the blessed is placed For what thinke you is God's owne glorie and felicitie but the life which he hath eternally of him selfe the most cleare knowledge which he hath of his immutable Truth and the most ardēt loue which he hath towards his owne infinite Goodnes His Beatitude consisting in the vision loue and fruition which the Diuine and increated Persons of the Blessed Trinitie haue of their owne mutuall knowledge Loue and eternall perfect and infinite complacence Now the soule of the Blessed being raysed to the vision loue and fruition of the same Diuine Persōs and of their Diuine and most indiuisible Essēce ought not her supernaturall and inineffable life by the resemblance which is betwixt her and God's felicitie to be said to be the accomplishment of her glorie since that without all feare of change she is wholy attentiue to the cleare contemplation of the prime and soueraigne Truth inflamed with the loue of the supreme and increated goodnes and hath the fruition of the infinite and vnspeakable sweetnes of God O truly liuing and happie life when shall it be that we shall liue in thee and by thee when shall we ô my soule inhabite this heauenly Hierusalem built as a Citie and with her glorious Citizens be made participant of him who is still himselfe immutable and whose yeares neuer decay Of the felicitie of the powres of the soule and first of the memorie XLV THis essentiall Beatitude Athanasia is extended and doth spread it selfe out yet diuersly in the lower degree of the soule to witt there wherin the three principall faculties or powres doe reside For euen as the Prophete to rayse the widowes deade child did shorten himselfe vpon this litle body and did apply his mouth to its mouth his hands to its hands and his feete to its feete So God who shall be all to all shall fill all the soule with the abundance of his bountie and shall cōmunicate vnto it a Diuine life which shall not feare the assaultes of death The memorie being entered into the liberties of our Lord shall call to mynd the effectes of his iustice and no lesse those of his mercy for she shall sing no neuer will I forgett thy iustifications ô Lord since in them thou hast giuen me life Fild with this rauishing and no lesse pressing then present obiect she shall breath out the remembrance of his sweetnes and shall exalt his adorable iudgements This remembrance shall be her soueraigne delight O how she shall call to mynd the sweetnes of the duggs of this incomparable goodnes farr passing the fuming wines of worldly delightes In how high a strayne shall she take the memorie of this supreme sanctitie Alas how can she forget him whom she hath so inwardly present and who shall be more in her then her selfe and to whom she shall be so strongly tyed in adauantine and diamantine chaynes that nothing shall euer be able to diuerte her Blessed memorie replenisht with the fairest Idea's that can possibly inhabit a heart and which then shall be a Magazine and memoriall of heauenly wonders whether she make reflection vpon things past how dearely shall she conserue the memorie of the incomparable obligations which she shall haue to this Creatour Conseruer Redeemour and Glorifier of her beeing Such as grace shall haue led from greatest sinns to repentance fauours before bounding where malice did superabound ô God! how highly shall they sing the sacred Canticle of the Diuine mercy And those who by the same grace shall haue conserued the first stole of their innocencie and being preserued from the abomination of desolation whose deluge doth ouerflowe the whole vniuerse shall haue bene drawen to the safe harbour of saluation by the chaynes of loue and humanitie will not they haue reason to beare a part in the fame Canticle and to pronounce that that mercy which conserued them vnstayned amidest the worlds impurities is a portion of that which is eternally grounded and built in Heauē The royall Prophete calling to mynd out of what an Abisse of miseries the Diuine goodnes had reclaymed him recalling him so sweetly to the accnowledgment of his faults coniures his soule and all his interiour powres to blesse God exciting his memorie neuer to permitt his benefites to fall into a disloyall obliuion for he it is that pardons saith he all thyne infirmities who cures all thy wounds who recouers thee from eternall death and who crownes thee with his mercyes O God what must this King of penitents needs say in heauen if he spoke thus in this vaile of teares reduced by a holy repentance from his iniquities to the state of grace When the Saintes whom God hath pardoned many faultes for there are in Heauē penitent sinners of all kinds shall see them selues deliuered from the innumberable torments which they contemplate in the accursed Eternitie and which they had as oft deserued as by their malice they had bene separated from God will they not haue great reason to say with the Psalmist Thy mercy ô Lord and thy iustice shall for euer be the subiect of our song vpon this shall our Psalme-singing be imployed whilst we walke in this immaculate way in which thou hast put vs. And if the memorie of paynes and perills past euen in this world be so delightfull how much more shall the Saintes and martyrs who haue suffered much for the Almighties sake haue cause to reioyce in this memorie While they walked in the way of this mortall life they sowed in teares but in the heauenly Sion they shall reape an eternall ioy They shall sing this pleasant Song We haue past through fire and water but in the end we are entred into refreshment And they shall blesse those light and transitorie moments of tribulation which brought them to eternall glorie And if their memorie doe stay vpon the present felicitie which they feele and of which they haue a liuely sense with what contentment shall they not be crowned in tasting the ineffable goodnes of God who rewards them infinitely beyond their merits Yea if they enlarge themselues vpon the
which passe betwixt those heauenly inhabitants No for all their pretentions being one and their imployments being wholy about that one necessarie thing of that Marie's best Parte which shall neuer be taken from her their connection is rather to be tearmed an vnitie then an vnion since in them is accomplished that excellent word of our Sauiours beseeching his heauenly Father that such as follow and beleeue in him should be one as he and his eternall Father is one So shall all their desires be filled with perfect vnitie which is God and all their thoughtes meeting in that vnitie the Diuine Spouse by good reason may say to that holy assemblie his owne misticall bodie My Sister my Spouse thou hast wounded and borne away my Heart in one onely of thy heires For as a woman that doth graspe and gather together in her hand her long tresses makes them all end in one onely haire so all those elected troopes hauing but one onely desire which is to please God the louing heart of this God all of fire and which is Charitie it selfe can it possibly but be pleased in this their preparation of mynd From this perfect vnion doth arise the excellencie of a compleate Communitie which is the true and consummated Cōmunion of Saintes A Communion by which each one in his owne person doth possesse God and his Kingdome with such peace and so exquisite a Charitie that not the least apprehension of any partialitie can enter into their hearts There shall all proprietie be left and of the contrarie side there shall be so bountifull a communication that those that are highest seated in glorie are full of affection towards the lowest and as far forth as they are able make them participant of their abundance and the lowest againe shall as much reioyce in the exaltation of the highest as in their owne for in this perfect Communitie myne and thine shall be giuen ouer each ones particular good belonging to all and the goods of all belonging to each one in particular each one reioycing as much in an others good as in his owne by reason of the great Charitie which shall be infused into their hearts by the holy Ghost Hence they are all cōtinually sett at one table fedd with the same substance the Diuinitie drinking in the same cup eternall delightes imployed in the same exercises seruing one and the same Maister and that with the same spirit who being in all and being all in all he vnites them all together by vniting them all to himselfe This sacred band of the Diuinitie and this Charitie of God tying and vniting them together adornes this happie Societie with another excellencie which is that of Peace and Concord Peace of God which passeth all vnderstanding and which doth connect them together like vnto the graines of a Pungranade which appeare when it is cutt open to which the holy Spouse in the Canticles cōpares the redde cheekes of the Church his Spouse And if the word concord come from the vnion or agreement of heartes how should not they be vnited who haue one onely heart and that quickned with one onely soule all their hearts being set on God their onely Treasure and their adhering to that onely principle of all Good making them one verie spirit with God As concerning the Peace which followes this Cōcord as the beames the Sunne it is the very name of this higher Hierusalē which signifies VISION OF PEACE and of which it is written that it is bounded with peace And in ISAIE that God doth visite it in peace and in peace which can neuer be changed or troubled with any dissention because Gods absolute commāde shall find an absolute submission in all their hearts In that heauenly Citie saith S. AVGVSTINE CHARITIE is the Soueraigne LAW TRVTH the QVEENE PEACE the FELICITIE ETERNITIE the LIFE therof There shall be a true peace and such an one as shall neuer be trauersed by any a peace which passeth all delight From that Peace springs a serenitie of mynd a trāquillitie of heart a band of Loue a communication of Charitie and a rest in God which can neuer be changed So speaks that Great Doctor of that eternall Peace which the world nether giues nor indeed knowes A continuation of the excellencies LXI BVt Athanasia should I be able to conceale the excellencie of the beautie of that holy compaignie ô cryes out the wiseman how beautifull is the chaste and faire generation truely the memorie therof shall be immortall before God and mā If he affirmed this of earthly families who liue in honour what may be said of the generation of the Blessed which shall be crowned with eternall benedictions How should the Angells and Elect choose but be faire since their soules shall be decked with all the ornaments of vertues and their bodies inriched with the glorious qualities which before we haue declared There can be no stayne vpō them for nothing that is defiled or is imperfect can enter into this Sanctuarie of Eternitie And if MARDOCHEVS litle foūtaine became an Ocean of light what beautie can the Elect want who are vnited to the fountaine of all that faire or good is which is he whose essence is verie Beautie and Goodnes And who rules in heauen by the sweete and delightfull Empire of his incōparable beautie No Athanasia if all the beauties which doe sparkle in the whole world were gathered together I except nether the Sūne nor the Starrs they would be in no sort comparable to the least grace of the Elect. Iudge then what a shine of beauties must needs arise from so innumerable a number of so different beauties that some Doctors haue proceeded so far as to say that all the Angells are of a different species ô God what numberlesse species of beauties And as touching the diuersitie of humane sisages it is so visible euen in this world that it needs no other proofe but experience And what diuersitie of beauties shall there be in the diuers quires of Angells and the diuers degrees of the Blessed Let vs make an end without ending for who knowes not that a Draught though neuer so perfect in the nature of a Draught is yet but an imperfect picture and let vs giue the last touch to these excellencies by that which may be called the excellencie of Excellencies of this Blessed Societie It is that it shall be endowed with all the perfectiōs which grace and glorie can shewre downe vpon creatures For sith Beatitude is a perfect collection of all kind of good things why shall we not also affirme that those that doe enioy it are by consequence possessed of all the perfections which might in any sort perfect this felicitie Now though soueraigne and essentiall Beatitude as well that of this life as of the life to come doth not consiste in any created good and consequently nether in Honours Riches nor Pleasures the three Classes to which are reduced euery good be it honorable profitable or delightfull
we loue him not and complaynes that he is made a solitude in Israel and that he is not beloued and that the wayes of the eternall Sion weepe that none doe frequent their solemnities Let vs therfore goe with confidence to the Throne of his Grace if we desire to haue part in his Glorie Let vs permit him to wash the feete of our affections if we will with S. PETER haue Societie with him This God then who is an essentiall Charitie doth not onely permit vs to loue him but euen commands it and that vnder paine of death death euerlasting The first and greatest of his Commandements is all of the Loue we owe him This loue did once vnite the Diuine and humane nature in the Person of the WORD and did so farre exinanite the eternall Sonne of the eternall Father as to become man to take vpon him the forme of a seruant to appeare in earth and to be conuersant with men A loue which may well rayse man towards God since it could bring God downe to man A loue the band of perfection which vnites the equall and doth equalise such as it doth vnite A Loue which hauing once personally vnited as S. AVGVSTINE saith the light of the Diuinitie to the clay of our mortalitie is able to eleuate our desires euen vnto God and make vs participant of the Diuine nature which is done by Charitie infused into our hearts by the Holy Ghost It is this Diuine Loue which separating our affections not onely from dangerous and superfluous things but euen from things which are not euil yet are subiect to be loued with excesse and with too strong and inordinate a passion shall make vs behold all created things in God and will so gouerne our inclinatiōs that we shall affect no creature but in God for God and according to God wherin consisteth the perfect practise of that Diuine Cōmandement which commands vs to loue God with all our heart with all our soule with all our spirit with all our strength and euen aboue all things For a soule that is come to this degree of perfection that she loues nothing but in God and God in all things in proper speach loues not many things nor is not in the folicitude inseparable from the multiplicitie of louely obiects but she loues but one onely thing which is God the one true necessarie thing and out of whom all is but miserie and affliction of spirit And because in all that which the order of Charitie proposeth vnto her to be loued she loues God alone she loues him equally in all and as couragiously in her enemy as tēderly in her friend because she loues him onely out of all other things and without all other things but nothing at all without him or out of him If it be ESTHER alone that ASSVERVS loueth saith my blessed Father in his Theotime why should he loue her more when she is parfumed and adorned then when she is in her comon attire If it be our Sauiour onely that a soule loueth why should she not as well loue the Mount-Caluarie as Thabor sith he is as truly in the one as the other and why should she not pronounce as cordially in the one as in the other It is Good for vs to be here She can loue our Sauiour in Egipt without louing Egipt why then shall she not loue him in the banquet of SIMON the LEPROVS without louing the banquet And if she loue him amidst the blasphemies which are vomited out against him without louing the blasphemies why shall she not loue him parfumed with MAGDELAINES precious oyntments without louing the parfumes or smells It is a true signe that one loues God onely in all things when one loues him equally in all things since he being alwayes equall to himselfe the inequallitie of loue towards him must needs spring from some thing which is not he Whence the soule that loues God purely and singulary loues him no more with the whole vniuerse to boote then all alone without the vniuerse because all that which is out of God and is not God is as nothing to her O pure soule who loues not euen Paradice it selfe but because God is there loued and is so soueraignely loued in his Paradice as that if he had not a Paradice to bestow yet would he nether be lesse loulie or lesse beloued of this generous soule who knowes not how to loue the Paradice of her God but onely her God of Paradice and who puts no lesse rate vpon the Caluarie where her Sauiour was crucified then the Heauen where he is glorified O how well doth this saintly Bishope speake my Athanasia whose tearmes I durst not paraphrase nor disguise or change his venerable words least I might loose his deuoute sēse expressed in words of so great energie and so full of spirit and vertue that all the flanting tearmes of worldly wisdome seeme to me far lesse persuasiue powrefull How forcibly and sweetly doth he teach vs in this discourse not to looke vpon the two hands of God that of Iustice and vengance and that other of Mercy and reward but to search after his face alone and to feare and loue him for himselfe not for the punishments which he threatens vice nor for the reward which he proposeth to vertue because he is altogether to be honored worshiped and serued for the loue of him selfe yea although he had nether Paradice for reward nor yet Hell for Punishment The blessed and accursed Eternitie are onely to be considered as things accessorie Our prime intention and cheife attention are to be set vpon the Diuine Eternitie or the eternall Diuinitie vnlesse we would loose the title of the children of God and through feare of eternall punishments or desire of eternall rewards beesteemed slaues and hirelings Let 's loue God Athanasia and let him dispose of vs as he pleaseth Let vs be in his hands as clay in the hand of the Potter Let him make of vs vessells of honour or ignominie Be it nobly or ignobly so we be his it sufficeth Le ts turne our eyes from rewards or punishments and let vs fixe them vpon our Lord. Let vs behold his amiable face Let vs set our view vpon his hands but as a faithfull hand-maide vpon those of her Mistrisse Let vs receaue indifferently that which comes from the right hād of prosperitie and the left of aduersitie Although he should euen kill vs le ts hope in him And let vs hope without hope yea euen against all apparence that nothing shall separate vs from his Charitie Let vs cast all our thoughtes vpon him And in steed of staying our thoughtes vpon the created and as it were the accidentall Eternitie of Heauen or Hell let vs onely be fastened vpon the essentiall Eternitie which is God himselfe who hath in his hand the extreamities of the earth And who keepes the keyes of eternall life and death Let vs not so dwell vpon the thought of Heauen or