to inhabite and to illuminate it and that for euer Nor can I finde what I may more fittly call this heauen of the heauens to our Lord then that howse of thine which is contemplateinge thy delighte without any defect at all and without the least inclination to departe from that to any other that pure minde most intirely one that establishemēt of those blessed spirits in the foundation of peace in those heauens aboue which are yet aboue these heauens which we see Hereby my soule whose pilgrimage is so far of from thee may vnderstande if now it thirst affer thee if now her teares are not made her bread if now she desire that one thinge and begg it agayne and agayne that she may inhabite thy howse all the days of her life And what is the life of that howse but thou thy selfe and what are the dayes therof but thy eternity as thy years are which neuer faile Let therfore the soule vnderstand here as well as it can how sublymely thou art Eternall before all tymes since that howse of thyne which neuer wandred from thee although it be not coeternall with thee yet by reason that it adheareth to thee without any failing or euer faintinge vndergoeth noe variety of tyme but sucking vp thee her immutability with a perpetuall perseuering purity of minde she doth at no tyme and in noe place depart from thee to whom she cleaues with vnseparable loue to whom thou art euer present And so haueing no future which it may expecte nor any transitory thing passing by which it may remember it is not varied to and fro by turnes nor extended into future tymes CHAP. XX. Here man prayeth that the said spirituall howse of God may pray for him O Thou bright and beautifull howse of God I haue loued thy comelynesse and the place of the habitation of the glory of my Lord God who did both build thee and doth possesse thee Lett this pilgrimage of myne send sighes to thee day and night lett my hart pant towards thee lett my minde thinke on thee and lett my soule desire to attayne to the Society of thy beatitude I say to him who made thee that he would possesse me in thee for it is he who made both thee me Or rather doe thou desire and beseeche of him that he will make me worthy of the participation of thy glory For I doe not challenge thy holy Society nor thy admirable beauty by any meritt of mine but I despaire not to obteine it by the Blood of him who redeemed me Onely let thy meritts help me let thy most holy and most pure Prayers which cannot but be effectuall with Almighty God succour my sinfulnesse I confesse that I haue wandred like a lost sheepe and my habitation here is prolonged and I am cast farr of from the face of my Lord God into this blindenesse of banishment where being driuen from the ioyes of Paradise I am dayly lamentinge with my selfe the miseryes of my captiuity and I singe a mornefull songe and I make huge lamentations when I remember thee O Ierusalem who art my mother whilest I finde my feete standinge in thy outward Courts O thou faire and holy Sion but am not able so much as to looke into those interior parts of that Temple But yet I hope that I shall once be brought into thee vpon his shoulders who is my Pastor and who was thy builder that I may triumphe with thee in that inspeakable ioy wherewith they reioyce who stand with thee before God our Sauiour himselfe who discharged our enmytyes in his flesh and who pacifyed all things which are both in Heauen and in earth by his blood For he is our peace who made both to become one and who ioyned in himselfe those two walls which went by contrary ways Ordeyninge thy permanent felicity and promissing that he would giue himselfe to vs accordinge to the same measure sayinge And they shal be equall to the Angells of God in Heauen O Ierusalem thou eternall house of God be thou after the charity of Christe our Lord my ioy and my comfort and let the sweet memory of thy blessed Name be a solace to my sorowes and heauinesse of hart CHAP. XXI How full of biternesse this life of ours is O Lord I am extreamely weary of this life and of this woefull pilgrimage This life this miserable life fraile life vncertaine life laborious life vncleane life Life which is the lady of wicked men the queene of proude men full of miseryes and errours which deserues not to be call'd a life but a death since we are dying in euery moment by diuers kinds of death through the seuerall miseryes and changes which we are subiect too Doth therfore this which we liue in this world deserue to be called life when humors make vs swell and greife extenuates and vnnaturall heat dryes vp and impressions of the ayre infect Meat maketh fatt fasting maketh leane mirth makes dissolute sorrowes consume care straitneth security makes dull Riches puffs vs vp pouerty casts vs downe youth extolls vs and old age makes vs stoope sicknes breakes sorrow oppresses vs. And to all these miseryes furious death succeeds and at a clapp doth so impose an end vpon this miserable life that as soone as it hath left to be it is scare beleeued that euer it was This vitall death and this mortall life although it be all sprinckled with these and many other bitter miseryes alas alas it doth yet take very many by the inticeinge pleasures therof and it deceiues them by the false promisses which it makes And although of it selfe it be so very biting so bitter as that it cannot be concealed from her blinde louers yet are there an infinite nomber of fooles in the world whome she intertaynes inebriates with the golden chalice which she hath in her hand Happy are they but they are to fewe who refuse her familiarity who dispise her sleight entertaniements and ioys who forsake all society with her lest they be forced to perish together with her who deceiued them CHAP. XXII Of the felicity of that life which our Lord hath prepared for them that loue him O Thou life which our Lord hath prepared for them who loue him O thou vitall life happy life quiett life secure life beautifull life pure life chaste life holie life life which knowes not what belongs to death which knowes not what belongs to sorrow life without spott without greife without anxiety without any perturbation without corruptiō without variety and mutation life toppfull of all excellency and dignity where there is noe aduersary to impugne vs noe inticeinge baite of sinn to allure vs where there is perfect loue noe feare an euerlastinge day and one spiritt of vs all where God is seene face to face where the soule is full fedd with this food of life without all defect I am resolued to looke earnesly towards thy light Thy felicity
the body of his glory wee expect when our Lord returneth from the marriage that he may carry vs in with him Come Lord and doe not stay Come O Lord Iesus Christ come visit vs in peace come and carry vs out who are bound in prison that wee may reioyce before thee with a perfect harte Come O thou Sauiour come thou who art the desired of all nations doe but let vs see thy face and wee are safe Come my Light and my Redeemer lead my soule out of this prison that I may confesse to thy holy Name How long shall I wretched creature be tossed vp and downe in these waues of my mortality cryeing out vpon thee O Lord whilest thou hearest mee not Harken to mee O Lord who am cryeing to thee out of this deepe Sea and waft mee into the Hauen of eternall blisse to theyr society who being conducted out of this dangerous Sea haue obtayned to repose in that most safe harbour which is thy selfe O God O how truely happy are they who be deliuered from that Sea to the shore from banishment to their country and from the prison to the Pallace Happy are they who in theyr desired place of rest are eternally to reioyce for haueing soe with such prosperous ioy obtayned that prize of eternall glory towards which they here made they re course through such a multitude of tribulations O how truely happy are they O thrice and three thousand tymes happy who being freed from all misery and being secure in the possession of that inuiolable glory haue deserued to arryue to that Kingdome of order and delight O Eternall Kingdome Kingdome which out liueth all ages where there is a light which neuer fayleth and a peace which passeth all vnderstanding where the soules of the Saincts repose and eternall ioy hāgeth ouer theyr heads For they shall obtaine delight and exultation and greif and sorrow shall fly away How glorious O Lord is that kingdome wherein all thy Saints shall for euer reigne with thee being cladd with light as with a garment and heauing a crowne of pretious stone vpon theyr heads O kingdome of eternall beatitude where thou O Lord who art the hope of the Saints and the diademe of theyr glory art beheld by them face to face delighting them on all sides with thy peace which passeth all vnderstanding VVhere there is infinite ioy without greif health without payne workeing without labour light without darkenes life without death all good without any ill VVhere youth neuer waxeth old where life neuer cometh to an end where beauty is neuer diminished where loue is neuer weakened where health is neuer blasted where Ioy is neuer impayred where payne is neuer felt where groane is neuer heard where sadnes is neuer seene where ioy is euer had where noe euill is feared because the souueraigne good is possessed there which consists in euer seeing the face of our Lord the God of all strength Happy therefore are they who haue obtayned to come to soe greate ioye out of this life where so many shipwrakes are suffered And O vnhappy and wretched creatures wee who are steereing our ships through the floods of this great sea through these stormy whirlepooles not knoweing whether or no wee shall be able to arryue to the porte of saluation Miserable I say wee are whose life is spent in banishement and whose way in daunger and whose end in doubt for wee knowe not our end because all things are reserued in suspense for the future VVee are still tossed in these sea-waues aspireing to thee who art the hauen O thou country of ours wee see thee though it be from farre of VVee salute thee from this sea wee sigh to thee from this valley and wee striue with teares if perhaps wee may be able to get thither O Christ thou God of Gods thou hope of mankinde thou refuge and strength of ours whose light like some beame of the sea starre doth strike our eyes from farre of amongst the foggy mists and tempests of this sea wherein wee liue that soe our course may be directed to thee who art our hauen gouerne I beseech thee our ship with thy right hand by the instrument of thy Crosse that wee may not perish in these floods that the stormes of water may not drowne vs that the profound pitt may not swallow vs vp but drawe vs out of this sea to thee who art our onely solace whome wee see with our lamenting eyes to be expecting vs though from farre of vpon the shore of that celestiall country as it might be some Sunne of Iustice or morneing starre Behould wee cry out to thee who are redeemed by thee and who are now those exiles of thine whom thou hast redeemed with thy pretious blood Harken to vs O our Sauiour the hope of all the sands of the sea how farre soeuer it be of Wee are tossed in this turbulent sea and thou standing vpon the shore doest see our dangers and saue vs for thy names sake Graunt to vs O Lord that wee may hold soe euen away betweene Sylla and Caribdis that haueing escaped the danger of them both wee may securely arriue in the port with our ship and our aduenture safe CHAP. XXXVI Of the glory of our celestiall country WHen therefore we shall be come to thee O thou foūtaine of wisedome to thee O indeficient light to thee O thou who art the splendour which cannot be defaced that we may then behould thee not by representation as in a glasse but face to face then shall our desire be fully satisfyed with good things because no other thing will remayne to be desired by vs when we shall possesse thee O Lord our soueraigne good who art to be the reward of the blessed and the diademe of they re glorye and the sempiternall Ioy which hangeth ouer theyr heads possessing them both inwardly outwardly in that peace of thyne which passeth all vndestanding There shall wee see and loue and praise Wee shall see light in thy light because with thee is the fountaine of life and in thy light wee shall see light But what kinde of light an immense light an incorporeall incorruptible and incomprehensible light a light indefcient a light which cannot bee put out an inaccessible light an vncreated light a light which sheweth truth a diuine light which illuminateth the eyes of Angells which reioyceth the youth of saints which is a light of lights and the fountaine of life which is thy selfe O Lord my God For thou art that light in whose light wee shall see thy self who art that light hat is to say thee in thee in the splendour of thy countenance when wee shall see thee face to face What is it to see face to face but as the Apostle sayth to knowe thee as I am knowen To knowe thy truth thy glory is to knowe thee face to face To knowe the power of the Father the wisedome of the Sonne the meekenes of the Holy Ghost
Good but only the supreme Good can satisfy it and withall it is of so great liberty that it cannot be constrained to commit any sinne It is therefore the proper will of euery one which is the cause of his saluation or damnation so that nothing more rich can be giuen to God then a good will A good will draweth God downe to vs it addresseth vs vp to him By a good will we loue God we chuse him we runne to him we arriue to him and we possesse him O how excellent a thing is this good will wherby we are reformed according to the resemblance of God and are made like to him So amiable to God is this good will as that it refuseth to inhabit that hart wherin a good will is not to be found A good will doth make that supreme Maiesty of the Trinity stoop downe to it For wisedome doth illuminate it towards the knowledge of truth Charity doth inflame it towards the loue of goodnes and the Paternity doth preserue that which it did create that it may not perish CHAP. XXVI VVhat the knowledge of truth is WHat is that knowledg of truth It consisteth first in a mans knowing himselfe in being that which a man ought to be and in reforming that which should be amended It doth therefore consist in knowing and louing the Creatour for this is the whole good of man See then how vnspeakable the loue of this diuine loue is It made vs of nothing and it gaue vs whatsoeuer we haue But because we loued the guift more then the giuer we fell into the snare of the diuell and became his slaues Then did God being moued to mercy send his Sonne to redeeme those slaues and he also sent the holy Ghost to the end that he might make those slaues his sonnes He gaue the Sonne as a price of our redemption and the holy Ghost for the priuiledge of his loue and so he imparteth his whole selfe as the inheritance of our adoption So doth God as being most pittifull most mercifull through the desire which he hath of the loue of man not only impart his mercyes but his very selfe that so he might recouer men not so much to him who is God as to themselues That men might be borne of God God was first born of man Who then is he that hath a hart so hard as that it cannot be softned by this loue of God this loue I say of his so preuenting so vehement which made him be content to become man for the loue of man Who now wil be able to hate a man whose nature and resemblance he seeth in the humanity of God Infaillibly whosoeuer hateth him hateth God and so he destroyeth whatsoeuer he doth For God was made man for man that as already he was mans Creatour so also he might be his redeemer and that he might purchase him out of his owne stocke And to the end that God might be beloued by man in a more familiar manner he appeared in the similitude of man that so both his externall and internall senses might be made happy in God the eye of his soule being intertained fed by his diuinity the eye of his body by Gods humanity to the end that whether he should worke inwardly or outwardly this human nature which he created might be able to feed deeply sweetly vpon him CHAP. XXVII VVhat the mission of the holy Ghost doth worke in vs. THis Sauiour of ours was borne for vs he was crucified and he died for vs that so by his death he might destroy ours And because that bunch of grapes of his flesh and bloud was carried to this wine-presse of the Crosse because the expression thereof being made the new winer of his Diuinity began to flow from thence the holy Ghost was sent downe wherby the vessels of our harts were to be prepared and new wine to be put into new skins that first our harts might be cleansed least els the wine powred in should be polluted and that afterward they should be tyed vp least otherwise when it were infused it might be spilt That they might I say be cleansed from all ioy which could be taken in sinne and that they might be fastened against all ioy which could be taken in vanity For that which is good can neuer come vnles first that be sent away which is euill The ioy which is taken in sinne polluteth and the ioy which is taken in vanity scattereth vs. The ioy which is taken in sinne maketh the vessell fowle and the ioy which is taken in vanity maketh it to be full of holes Ioy is taken in sinne when sinne is loued and ioy is taken in vanity when transitorie things are beloued Cast the refore away that which is euill that thou mayst receaue that which is good Powre out all bitternes that thou mayst be filled with sweetnes The holy Ghost is ioy loue Cast out the spirit of the diuell the spirit of the world that thou maist receaue he spirit of God The spirit of the Diuell breedeth a ioy in sinne and the spirit of the world breedeth a ioy in vanity Now both these ioyes are naught for the one of them hath vice in it the other giueth occasion to vice The spirit of God will come when these wicked spirits are cast out and it will enter into the tabernacle of thy hart and will produce a good ioy and a good loue whereby the loue of the world the loue of sinne shall be put to flight The loue of the world doth intice and deceaue the loue of sinne doth pollute and carry on to death But the loue of God doth illuminate the mind it doth purify the conscience it makes the soule reioyce it demonstrates God CHAP. XXVIII Of the working of that soule which loueth God HE in whome the loue of God remaines is euer thinking how he may arriue to God how he may leaue the world how he may decline the corruption of flesh and bloud and to the end that he may find true peace he euer hath his desire his hart erected towards heauenly things When he is sitting when he is walking when he is resting in fine whatsoeuer he be doing his hart departeth not from God He exhorteth all men to the loue of God he recommendeth it to all men he proueth to all the world both by his hart and by his tongue and by his workes how sweet the loue of God is and how bitter that is of the world He despiseth the glory of the world he discouereth it to be full of affliction and he declareth how fond they are who place their confidence therin He wondreth at the blindnes of men for louing such thinges as those he wondreth how it is possible for all men not to forsake these transitory and fraile things of the world He conceaueth that euery one should find tast in that which is so sauoury to himselfe that
strong tempest shall compasse thee inn round about when thou shalt call the heauen earth at such tyme as thou wilt iudge thy people And behold all my iniquities shal be discouered then before so many thousands of nations and all my greiuous crimes not onely deeds but euen words and very thoughts themselues shal be manifested to so many legions of Angells Before so many iudges shall I desolate creature stand as there wil be men who haue farr outstripped me in good workes By so many reprouers shall I be confounded as haue giuen me examples of good life And by so many witnesses shall I be conuinced as haue taught me by good speeches and instructed me toward an imitation of them by their good examples O my Lord I can lighte vpon nothinge which I may say nothing doth occurr which I can answere And now whilest I am subiect to this sharp triall my conscience racks me the secrets of my hart torment me couetousnesse streightens me pride accuses me enuy consumes me concupiscence inflames me lust importunes me gluttony dishoners me ebriety ouercomes me detraction tears me ambition supplants me greedinesse disquiets me discorde scatters me anger disturbes me mirth dissolues me heauinesse oppresseth me hypocrisy deceiues me flattery alters me fauour exalts me slaunder wounds me Behold ô thou who art my deliuerer from these feirce nations behold who they be whome I haue liued with all from the very day of my birth whome I haue obserued and to whome I haue dedicated my selfe Those very imployments which I loued condemn me they which I praised dishonored me These are those frends with whome I did so carefully comply those Maisters whose direction I followed those Lords whome I haue serued those Counseillers whome I haue beleeued those citzens with whome I haue dwelt those domesticks whome I haue consented too woe is me ô my King and my God that my habitation here is so much prolonged Woe is me O thou light of mine eyes that I haue dwelt amongst the inhabitants of Cedar And if holy Dauid could say that he had dwelt much with them how much more may I wretched creature say O thou my God and my strong fundation that my soule hath dwelt too much with them for in thy sight noe man liueinge can be iustifyed My hope is not reposed in the sonnes of men for if thou iudge them when thy mercy is laide a side whome wilt thou be able to finde iust And if thou preuent not the wicked man by showeing mercy thou wilt not finde any good man vpon whome to bestowe thy glory For I beleeue O thou who art my saluation that which I haue beene told that it is thy mercy which bringeth me to pennance Those lipps of thy mouth more sweete then Nectar haue sounded forth these words Noe man can come to me vnles my Father who sent me drawe him Because therfor thou haste instructed me because by that instruction thou hast mercifully framed me as now I am I doe with the most inward marrow of my soule and with all possible strife of my hart inuoke thee ô Omnipotent Father with thy most beloued Sonne and thee ô most sweete Sonne with the most excellent souueraigne Holy spirit that thou wilt draw me towards thee that so I may runn after the fragrance of thy pretious odours and that I may doe it most dearely CHAP. V. The Father is inuoked by the Sonne INuoke thee ô my God! I inuoke hee because thou art present to all such as call vpon thee in the way of truth for thou art Truth Teach me ô holy Truth by thy mercy how I may inuoke thee in thee because I know not how that must be done and therefore I doe most humbly begg of thee to be taught by thee For to be wise without thee is to play the foole but to knowe thee is perfectly to be wise Teach me ô diuine Wisdome and instruct me in thy lawe for I beleeue that he whome thou teachest and whome thou instructest in thy lawe shal be happy I desire to inuoke thee and I beseech thee that it may be in all Truth What is it to call vpon Truth in Truth but to call vpon the Father in his Sonnes Thy speach therfore ô holy Father is Truth and Truth is the beginninge of thy words For this is the beginninge of thy words that in the beginning was the word In the very beginning doe I adore thee who art the prime and supreame beginninge In that very worde of Truth doe I also inuoke thee ô perfect Truth in which word I beseech thee who art that very Truth that thou will direct and teach me that Truth For what is more delightfull then to inuoke the Father in the name of his onely begotten Sonne to induce the Father to mercy by the remembrance of his Sonne to mollify the Kings hart by the mention of his dearest Sonne For thus doe prisoners vse to be freed from their restrainte So are slaues freed from their chaines and men who are lyable to the sadd doome of death are not onely absolued but growe intitled sometymes to extraordinary fauour when they putt angry Princes in minde of the loue they beare to theyr progeny And when the intercession of the Sonne is imployed the poore slaue is wonte to auoide the punishment of his Lord. Iust so ô thou Omnipotent Father I begg of thee by thine Omnipotent Sonne that thou wilt drawe my soule out of prison that I may confesse to thy name I beseech thee by that onely begotten Sonne of thine who is coeternall with thee that thou wilt discharge me from these fetters of my sinns and that by the mediation of thy most pretious issue who is sitting at thy right hand thou wilt of thy goodnes restore me to life who for my great demerits am threatned with the sentence of death For I know not what other intercessor I should be able to vse towards thee but him who is propitiation for our sinns and who sitteth at thy right hand pleadinge for vs. Behold ô God the Father him who is my aduocate with thee Behold that supreame Bishop who hath noe need to be expiated by any others blood because he is resplendent by being all bathed in his owne Beholde here the holy Sacrifice which is holy perfect and wel pleasing which is offered in the odour of sweetnes so accepted Behold the lamb without spott who is silent before the shearrer and who being beaten vpon the face with blowes and defiled with spittle and reproached with scorne did not yet so much as open his mouth Behold he who neuer committed sinn hath borne our sinns and by his owne wounds hath cured our diseases CHAP. VI. Here man representeth the Passion of the Sonne to the Father BEholde deare Father thy most holy Sonne who hath suffered such bitter paines for me Behold ô most clement Kinge who it is that suffers and mercifully remember for whome he suffers
my selfe in the most secret corner of my hart that doe I not conceale from thy paternall eares Thou art rich in thy mercy and liberall in thy rewards grant me some of thy good guifts that therby I may doe seruice to thee For we cannot serue nor please thee by any other meanes then of thy guift Strick through I beseech thee this flesh of mine with thy feare Let my hart reioyce that it may feare thy name O that my sinfull soule might so feare thee as that holy Man did who said I haue allwayes feared God like the waues of a Sea which were flowing ouer me O God thou giuer of all good things grant me whilest I am celebratinge thy praises a fountayne of tears together with purity of hart and ioy of minde that loueing thee perfectly and praiseinge thee worthily I may feele and taste and sauour with the very palate of my soule how sweete delicious thou art O Lord accordinge to that which is written Taste and see how sweete our Lord is Blessed is the man who hopes in him Blessed is the people which vnderstandeth this ioy Blessed is the man whose helpe is from thee He hath disposed of certayne degrees whereby to rise vp in his hart in this valley of tears in the place which he hath appointed Blessed are the cleane of hart for they be the men who shall see God Blessed are they who dwell in thy house O Lord for they shall praise thee for euer for euer CHAP. XXXV A prayer which greatly moueth the hart to Deuotion and to Diuine loue O Iesus our Redemption our Desire and our Loue thou God of God giue helpe to me who am thy seruant I inuoKe thee I call vpon thee with a mighty crye and with my whole hart I inuoke thee into my soule enter into it make it fitt for thy selfe that thou maist possesse it without spott and wrinckle For to a most pure Lord a most pure habitation is due Sanctify me therfore who am the vessell which thou hast made Euacuate me of malice and fill me with grace and still keepe me full that I may be made a Temple worthy to be inhabited by thee both here and in the other euerlasting world O thou most sweete most benigne most loueing most deer most powerfull most desireable most pretious most amiable most beautifull God thou who art more sweete then hony more white then any milk or snow more delicious then Nectar more pretious then gold or jewells and more deere to me then all the riches and honors of the earth But what doe I say O my God O thou my onely hope and my so abundant mercy What doe I say O thou my happy and secure sweetnes What doe I say when I vtter such things as these I say what I can but I doe not say what I should O that I could say such things as those Quires of Angells doe vtter in those celestiall Hymns O how willingly would I euen spend powre out my whole selfe vpon thy praises O how faine would I most deuoutly and most indefatigablie proclaime those Hymns of celestiall melody in the middest of thy Church to the praise and glory of thy Name But because I am not able to doe these things compleatly shall I therefore hold my peace woe be to them who hold their peace of thee who loosest the tongues of dumm persons and makest the tongues of children eloquent Woe woe be to them who hold their peace of thee for euen they who speak most may be accompted to be but dumbe when they doe not speake thy praise But now who shal be able worthily to prayse thee O thou vnspeakable Wisdome of the Father But yet although I finde noe wordes whereby I may sufficiently vnfold thee who art the Omnipotent and Omniscient Word I will yet in thy meane tyme say what I can till thou biddest me come to thee where I may say that of thee which is fitt and which I am bound to say And therefore I humbly pray that thou wilt not haue an eye so much to that which I say now in deed as to that which I say in my desire For I desire and that with a great desire to say that of thee which is fitt and iust because it is fitt that thou be praised and celebrated and all honor is due to thee Thou seest therefore O God thou who knowest of all secrett things that thou art more deer to me not onely then the earth and all that is therein but that thou art more acceptable and amiable to me then heauen it selfe and all that it conteynes For I loue thee more then heauen and earth and all those other things which are in them Nay these transitory things are without doubt not to be beloued at all if it weare not for the loue of thy Name I loue thee O my God with a greate loue and I desire to loue thee yet more Giue me grace that I may euer loue thee as much as I desire and as much as I ought that thou alone maist be all my intention and all my meditation Let me consider thee all the day long without ceasinge let me feele thee euen when I am sleeping by night let my spiritt speake to thee lett my minde conuerse with thee let my hart be illustrated with the light of thy holy vision that thou being my Director and my Captayne I may walke on from vertue to vertue and that at last I may see thee the God of Gods in Syon Now as in a glasse or in a cloude but then face to face where I shall knowe thee as I am knowen Blessed are the cleane of hart for they are the men who shall see God Blessed are they who dwell in thy howse O Lord for euer and for euer shall they praise thee I beseech thee therefore O Lord by all thy mercyes whereby we are freed from eternall death mollyfy my hart which is hard stony and rocky and steely with thy powerfull and most sacred vnction and grant that by the fire of contrition I may become a liueing sacrifice before thee in euery moment of my life Make me euer to haue a contrite and humbled hart in thy presence with abundance of tears Grant that through my great desire of thee I may be vtterly deade to this world and that I may forgett these transitory things through the greatnes of my loue and feare of thee and this so farr forth as that I may neuer reioyce nor mourne nor feare any thinge which is temporall and that I may not loue them least so I be eyther corrupted by prosperity or deiected by aduersity And because the loue of thee is strōg as death I beseech thee that the fiery and mellifluous force of thy loue may suck vp and deuoure my whole minde from all those things which are vnder heauen that I may in heare to thee alone and be fedd with the memory of thy onely sweetnes O Lord
I beseech thee I beseech thee and still I beseech thee that the most sweete odour of thee and thy mellifluous loue may descend and enter into my hart Lett that admirable and vnspeakable fragrance of thy sauour come into me which may kindle an euerlastingly a burning desire of thee in my hart and which may draw out from thence those vaynes of water which spring vp to eternall life Thou art immense O Lord and therfore it is but reason that thou be loued and praised beyond all measure by them whome thou hast redeemed with thy pretious Blood O thou most benigne louer of man O thou most mercifull Lord and most vnpartiall Iudge to whome the Father gaue all power of Iudgment Thou seest how vniust a thinge it is that the children of this world the children of night and darknes should with a more ardent desire indeauour and study and seeke perishing riches and transitory honors then we thy seruants doe loue thee our God by whome we are created and redeemed But if on the other side a man will affect some man with so great loue as that one of them will scarce indure the absence of the other if the Spouse be transported with so great ardour of affection to her fellow Spouse that through the greatnes of her loue shee can take noe rest nor beare the absence of that dearest freind without deep sorrowe with what loue with what labour with what feruour ought that soule which thou haste espoused to thy self by Faith and other mercyes loue thee her true God and her most beautifull Spouse who hast so loued and saued her and haste done so many and so great thinges for her good For although this world haue certayne delights and loues belonging to it yet doe they not so delight as thou O God In thee the iust man is indeed delighted because thy loue is sweete and quiet for the harts which thou dost possesse thou fillest with tranquillity sweetnes and delight On the other side the loue of this world and of the flesh breeds anxiety and pertubation and depriues thoses soules of quietnes into which it enters for it doth euer sollicite them with suspitions perturbations and many fears Thou art therefore the delight of iust persons that iustly For the strength of rest and peace is with thee and a life vncapable of perturbation He who enters into thee O deere Lord enters into the ioy of his Lord and shall haue nothing more to feare but shall finde himselfe to be perfectly well in the most excellent place which can be thought and he will say This is my rest for all eternityes this shal be my habitation for I haue chosen it And agayne Our Lord gouernes me and nothing shal be wantinge in that place of full feedinge yea there it is that he hath lodged me Sweete Christ deare Iesus fill my hart for euer I beseech thee with the vnquenchable loue and the continuall memory of thee in such sort as that I may all burn vp like any eager flame in the sweetnes of thy loue which many waters may neuer be able to extinguish in me Grant O most sweete Lord that I may loue thee and that through the desire of the I may discharge my selfe of the waight of all carnall desires and of the most greiuous burthen of all earthly concupiscences which impugne and oppresse my miserable soule that running lightly after thee in the odour of thy pretious oyntements till I be effectually satisfyed with the vision of thy beauty I may with all speed arriue thither by thy cōduct For there are two kindes of loues one good and another badd one sweete and another bitter and they cannot both remayne in one hart And therefore if any man loue any thinge in dishonour of thee thy loue O Lord is not in him That loue of sweetnes and that sweetnes of loue not tormenting but delightinge a loue which remaineth sincerely and chastely for all eternity a loue which euer burnes and is neuer quenched O sweete Christe O deer Iesus O Charity my God inflame me all with thy fire with thy loue with thy sweetnes and delight with thy ioy exultation with thy pleasure and ardent desire which is holy and good chaste and pure secure and serene that being all full of the sweetnes of thy loue and all burnt vp in the flame of thy charity I may loue thee O God with my whole hart and with all the marrow of my affections haueing thee still and euery where in my hart in my mouth and before my eyes so that there may neuer be any place open in me for any adulterine or impure loue Hearken to me O my God hearken to me O thou light of mine eyes Hearken to what I aske and teach me what to aske that thou maist hearken to me O thou pittious and most mercifull Lord doe not become inexorable to me for my sinns but for thyne owne goodnes sake receiue these prayers of thy Sonne and grant me the effect of my petition and desire by the intercession prayer and impetration of the glorious Virgin Mary my Lady and Mother and of all thy other Saints Amen CHAP. XXXVI A most deuoute Prayer by way of thanks-giueing O Christ our Lord the Word of the Father who camest into the world to saue sinners I beseech thee by the most indulgent bowells of thy mercy amend my life better my actions compose my manners take all that from me which hurteth me and displeaseh thee and giue me that which thou knowest to please thy selfe and profitt me Who is he but onely thou O Lord who can make a man cleane he being conceiued of vncleane seed Thou art an Omnipotent God of infinite piety who iustifiest the wicked and reuiuest such as are dead through sinn thou changest sinners and they are so no more Take from me therefore whatsoeuer is displeasing to thee in me For thyne eyes haue seene my many imperfections Send forth I beseeche thee thy hand of piety towards me and take from me whatsoeuer is offensiue in me to thyne eyes Before thee O Lord is my health and sicknes conserue that I beseech thee and cure this Heale me O Lord and I shal be healed doe thou saue me and I shal be saued thou who curest the sick and conseruest the sound thou who with the onely beck of thy will restorest that which is in decay and ruine For if thou vouchsafe to sowe good seede in thy feild which is my hart it will first be necessary that with the hand of thy pitty thou shouldest pluck vp the thornes of my vices O most sweete most benigne most loueing most deer most desirable most amiable and most beautifull God infuse I beseech thee the multitude of thy sweetnes and of thy loue into my hart that I may not so much as desire yea or euen thinke of any carnall thinge but that I may loue onely thee and haue onely thee in my hart and mouth Write
restore my selfe I make a grant of my selfe to thee through whome I am through whome I liue and through whom I haue the vse of reason I hope I trust and I place all my confidence in thee by whome I may be able to rise againe and to liue and rest It is thou whom I desire whome I loue and whome I adore and with whome I am to remayne raigne and be happie The soule which seekes not thee nor loues not thee doth loue the world and serueth sinne is a slaue to vice and is neuer quiet or secure O thou most holy God let my minde be euer performing seruice to thee let this pilgrimage of mine be euer sighing towards thee let my hart burne through the loue of thee let my soule O my God repose in thee let it contemplate thee in excesse of mind and let it singe prayses to thee in full ioy and let this be my comfort in this banishment of mine Let this minde of mine fly to the shadowe of thy winges from the scorching cogitations of this world Let this hart of mine be at a calme in thee this hart which is such a deepe Sea full of swelling waues O thou who art so rich of heauenly food thou most aboundant imparter of that spirituall celestiall satiety giue nourishment to him who is defeated with hunger gather him vp who is scattered free him who is entrald stitch him together who is torne Behold he standeth at the doore and knocks I beseech thee by those bowells of thy mercy in which thou being the Orient didst visit vs from on hygh commaund that it be opened to this miserable creature who is knocking that so with nimble feete I may enter into thee and repose in thee and be refreshed by that bread of heauen For thou art both the bread and the fountaine of life thou art the splendor of immortall light In fine thou art all those thinges wherby iust persons liue who loue thee CHAP. V. Of the Desire of a soule O God the light of those hartes which see thee and the life of those soules which loue thee the strength or vertue of their thoughts who seeke thee graunt that I may be incorporated into the holy loue of thee Come I beseech thee into my hart and inebriate it with the springing plenty of thy delights that so I may forget all worldly thinges I am ashamed and I am afflicted to find my selfe suffering such thinges as this world is doing All that which I see concerning transitory thinges makes me sorry and all that which I heare makes me sad Help me O Lord my God infuse ioy into my hart and come to me that so I may grow to see thee For this house of my soule is strait till thou come into it and so it be inlarged by the. It is ruinous till it be repaired by thee It hath many things which may offend thyne eyes I know it and confesse it but yet who is he that can cleanse it or to whom but thee shall I cry out Cleanse me O Lord from my hidden sinnes and pardon also thy seruant those sinnes which he hath caused in others Make me sweet Christ O deere Iesus make me I beseech thee lay downe the burden of carnall desires and of the concupiscence which I haue after earthly thinges Giue dominion to my soule ouer my body and to my reason ouer my soule and to thy grace ouer my reason and subdue me both in my outward and inward man to thy will Graunt to me that my hart may praise thee togeather with my tongue and all the strength I haue Dilate my mind and hoyse vp the sight of my hart that at least by some glymse my spirit may with a swift and suddaine thought lay hold vpon that eternall wisedom whach is aboue all thinges and whach lasts beyond them all Discharge me I beseech thee from he chains wherin I am bound by sinnes chat at last I may giue ouer all thinges that I may hasten to thee and behold and adhere to thee alone CHAP. VI. Of the felicity of a soule which is freed from the prison of flesh and bloud HAPPY is that soule which being freed from this earthly prison arriues to heauen and seeth thee her most deere Lord face to face And which is no longer subiect to the least feare of death but doth reioyce in the incorruptibility of eternall glory She is then in peace she is secure doth no longer feare either death or any other enemy For she possesseth her deere Lord whom she hath long sought and whome she hath euer loued and being associated to those Quires of Angels she doth eternally sing those melodious Hymnes of thy euer lasting solemnity O Christ thou King thou deare Iesus to the prayse of thy glory For then she is inebriated by the fresh and springing plenty of thy house and thou giuest her to drinke of thy delights O happy society of those heauenly Cittizens O glorious solemnity of them who returne to thee from the sad labour of this pilgrimage of ours to that sweetnes of beauty to that delightfulnes of all splendour and to that dignity of all pleasing grace where thy Cittizens O Lord do continually behold thy countenance There is no eare in that place which can heare any thing that may offend it What songs what Organs what Hymnes what melodies are sung there without any end Eternally are there sounded forth mellifluous cōcents of Hymns that most sweet melody of the Angells those most admirable canticles of Canticles which are sung forth by those heauenly Cittizens to thy prayse and glory No bitternes nor any kind of vnsauorynes or gall can haue any place in that Countrey of thine for there is no wickednes nor any wicked man There is no aduersary or enemy there is no tempting bayte of sinne there is no want no shame no quarell no reproach no exception taken no feare no vnquietnes no payne no doubt no violence no dissention But there is souueraigne peace pertect charity eternall iubilation and prayse of God secure euerlasting repose and perpetual ioy in the holy Ghost O how happy shall I be if once I may arriue to heare those most sweet songs of thy cittizens those mellifluous Hymns which with due honour shall declare the prayses of the most blessed Trinity But O how happy euen too happy shall I be if my selfe may obtaine to sing to our Lord Iesus Christ some one of those sweet songs of Syon CHAP. VII Of the Ioyes of Heauen O Vitall life O eternall life and eternally happy where there is ioy without griefe rest without labour dignity without feare riches without want life without death perpetuity without corruption and felicity without calamity Where all thinges are good in perfect charity where there is showing seeing face to face where there is complete knowledge in all and by all where the soueraigne goodnes of God is discerned where the illuminating
affections of the mind to the dominion therof Loue alone is sufficient is pleasing of it selfe and for it selfe Loue is the merit it is the reward it is the cause it is the fruit it is also the vse of the fruit for by loue we are conioyned to God Loue maketh that two spirits grow to be one Loue maketh that the same thinges be willed and not willed by them Loue maketh vs first to order and compose our liues afterward it enableth vs to consider of all thinges which are present as if they where absent and in the third place it enableth vs to behold internall and supernall thinges with a cleane and pure eye of the hart By loue we are first taught how to vse those contentements well which may be taken in the world afterward those worldly contentements grow to be despised and at the last euen the secretes of God come to be disclosed CHAP. XIX What it is which God requireth of vs that so we may be like him selfe GOD the Father is loue God the Sonne is loue God the holy Ghost is the loue of the Father and the Sonne This charity this loue doth require somewhat of vs which is like that that is to say it requireth charity whereby as by a kind of coniunctiō in bloud we may be associated and ioyned to him Loue forgets that supreme dignity it considers not the reuerence which it is bound to beare He that loues doth of himselfe draw confidently neere to God and expresseth himselfe in a familiar manner without perturbation or feare He looseth his labour and liues in vane who loues not But he that loueth doth still carry his eyes erected towardes God whome he loueth whom he desireth vpon whom he meditateth in whome he delighteth by whome he is fedd and euen made fat Such a louing and deuout person doth so sing and so he reades and in all his actions he is so ful of circumspection and care as if God were euer present before his eyes and so indeed he is He doth so pray as if he were taken and presented before the face of that Maiesty in his soueraigne Thron Where thousands of thousands are seruing him and a million of thousands are present with him When loue visiteth a soule it awaketh her if she be asleep it counselleth softneth and doth wound the hart It illuminateth those thinges which are darke it vnlocketh those thinges which are shut vp it inflameth those things which are cold it mitigateth a harsh vntoward impatient minde it puts sinne to flight it represseth all carnall affection it amendeth manners it reformeth and reneweth the spirit and it bridleth the light acts and euill motions of slippery youth All these thinges are done by loue when it is present but vpon the departure thereof the soule begins already to be faint weake as if the fire were withdrawne from vnderneath a pot which had beene seething CHAP. XX. Of the confidence of a soule which loueth God A Great thing is loue wherby the soule of her selfe doth confidently approach to God doth constantly inheare to God doth familiarly aske questions of God and consulteth with him vpon all occasions The soule which loueth God can neither thinke or speake any other thing she contemneth all thinges else she loatheth all Whatsoeuer she considereth whatsoeuer she saith it smells of loue it sauours of loue so truly doth the loue of God make her all his owne Whoso euer desires to haue the knowledge of God let him loue In vaine doth any man giue himselfe to reading to meditating to preaching to praying if he do not loue The loue of God begetteth loue in a soule makes her bend her selfe towards him God loueth to the end that he may be loued againe When he loueth he desireth no other thing but to be beloued as knowing that they who loue him are to be made happy by that loue The soule which loues doth renounce al her owne particular affections and doth wholy apply her self to loue that so she may be able to pay loue with loue And yet when she shall haue spent whatsoeuer she either hath or is vpon the loue of that torrent which flowes out from that ouer tunning fontaine of loue we must take heed of thinking that there is any equality of springing plenty afforded betweene that loue and this loue betweene God and the soule betweene the creatour and the creature And yet on the other side if the soule do loue as much as it can there can be nothing said to be wanting where al is giuen Let not that soule feare which loues but let that other tremble which loueth not The soule which loues is caried on by praiers she is drawn by her desirs she dissembleth her merits she shuts her eyes against his Maiesty she opens them to delight in his beauty she lodgeth her self in him who is her sauing health and she treateth with him after a confident manner By loue the soule doth step aside and doth grow into excesse beyond the senses of the body so that she which feeleth God doth no longer feele her selfe This is done when the soule being allured by the vnspeakeable sweetnes of God doth steale her selfe as it were from her selfe or rather when she is forcibly carried and so doth slip from her selfe that she may inioy God with supreme delight Nothing were so highly sweet if withal it were not extremely shorte Loue giueth familiarity with God familiarity giues a daring to aoproach that daring giueth gust that gust giueth hunger The soule which is touched with the loue of God can think of nothing els can desire nothing els but doth often sigh and say As the Hart desireth the fountains of water so doth my soule desire thee O my God CHAP. XXI What God did for man GOD for the loue of men came downe to men he came into men and he was made man The inuisible God was drawne by loue to become like his slaues Through loue he was wounded for our sinnes Weake and wicked men may finde a safe strong retreate in the woūds of our Sauiour There do I securely dwelle for I see his very bowells through his wounds VVhatsoeuer is wanting to me I fetch from those wounds of my Lord which flow with mercy nor want they holes through which it may be able to flow By those holes which were made in his body we may discerne the very secrets of his hart we may discerne a great mystery of goodnes we may discerne the bowells of the mercy of our God where with that Orient from on high hath visited us The wounds of Iesus Christ are full of mercy full of pitty full of suauity and full of charity Men digged through his handes and feet they transpierced his side with a launce By these ouertures I haue meanes to tast how sweet my Lord God is for indeed he is meeke and sweet of aboundant mercy to all such as call vpon him in
truth to all such as seeke him but especially to them that loue him A copious redēption is giuen to vs in the wounds of Iesus Christ our Sauiour A great multitude of sweetnes a fullnes of grace the perfection of vertues CHAP. XXII Of the remembrance of the woundes of Iesus Christ our Lord. WHEN I am sollicited by any impure thought I make my recourse vnto the woundes of Christ when my body oppresseth me I recouer strength by calling the wounds of my Lord to mind whē the Diuell is laying some ambush whereby to take me I flye vnto the boweles of my Lords mercy and so the Diuell departeth from me If the ardour of lust make any alteration in my body it is quenched by the memory of the wounds of our Lord the Sonne of God In all the aduersityes which I haue beene subiect to I neuer found so effectuall à remedy as in the wounds of Christ In them do I sleep secure in them do I repose voyd of feare Christ dyed for vs there is nothing so deadly bitter which may not be cured by the death of Christ All the hope I haue is in the death of my Lord. His death is my merit my refuge my sauing health my life and my resurrection My merit is his great mercy I shal neuer be voyd of merit as long as he who is the Lord of mercy shall not be wanting to me And since my merits goe after the rates of his mercyes looke how much more mighty he is towardes the sauing of me so much the more may I be secure CHAP. XXIII The remembrance of the woundes of Christ our Lord is our remedy in all aduersity I Haue committed a grieuous sinne nay I am guilty of many sinnes neither yet wil I despaire because where sinnes haue abounded there hath beene superaboundance of grace He who despaireth of the pardon of his sinnes denieth God to be mercifull He much wrongs God who distrustes in his mercy Such a one doth his best to deny that God hath Charity Verity and Piety wherin all my hope consisteth Namely in the Charity of his adoption in the Verity of his promise in the Piety of his redemption Let therfore my foolish thought be murmuring as much as it will whilest it is saying What a poore thing art thou and what a great glory is that and by what merits dost thou hope to obtaine it For I will confidently answere I know well who it is whome I haue trusted And because he hath adopted me for his sonne with excesse of Charity because he is true in his promises and powerfull in his performances because he may doe what he will I cannot be frighted by the multitude of my sinnes if withall I be able to call the death of my Lord to mind for those sinnes of mine cannot conquerre him Those nayles that launce doe cry out to tell me that in deed I am reconcyled to Christ if I resolue to loue him Longinus opened the side of Christ with his launce there doe I enter in and there I do safely rest He that feares let him loue for charity will put feare away There is not so potent and effectuall a remedy against the ardour of lust as the death of my redeemer He stretcheth forth his armes abroad vpon the Crosse he spreads his handes which are ready to imbrace vs sinners Between those armes of my Sauiour I resolue to liue I desire to dye There will I securely sing I will exalt thee O Lord because thou hast taken me vp hast not giuen myne enemyes their pleasure ouer me Our Sauiour bowed downe his head at his death that he might kisse his beloued so often do we giue à kisse to God as we haue compunction of our sinnes for the loue of him CHAP. XXIIII An exhortation of the soule to the loue of Christ our Lord. O Thou my soule which art dignified with the image of God redeemed by the bloud of Christ espowsed by faith endoweth with a spirit adorned with vertues rancked with Angells be sure thou loue him by whome thou art so much beloued Make him thy busines who hath made thee his Seeke him who seeketh thee loue thy louer by whome thou art beloued by whose loue thou art preuented and who is the cause of thyne He is thy merit thy reward thy fruit thy vse thy end Be thou carefull together with him who is so carefull of thee be attentiue to him who is attentiue to thee be pure with him who is pure be holy with him who is holy Such as thou dost appeare in the sight of God such art thou to expect that he will appeare to thee God who is so sweete so meeke and so full of mercy doth require that thou shouldst be sweet and meeke and gentle humble and full of mercy Loue him who hath drawne thee out of the lake of misery and the filth of durt Choose him for thy friend aboue all thy friends who when all they shall fayle thee will be euer sure to make good thy trust at the day of thy death When all thy friends are departing from thee he will not leaue thee but he will defend thee against those roaring lyons who are sharpe set vpon theyr prey And he will leade thee by a Country wherewith thou art not yet acquainted and he will bring thee to those streets of the celestiall Sion there he will place thee together with his Angels before the face of his owne Maiesty where thou shalt heere that Angellicall Musicke of Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Sabaoth There is the Canticle of ioy the voyce of exultation and saluatiō and thanksgiuing the voyce of prayse and that euerlasting Alleluya There is that high heape of happynes that supereminēt glory that superaboundant gladnes all good thinges put togeather O sigh thou ardently O my soule desire vehemently that thou mayst arriue at that heauenly citty whereof so glorious thinges are sayd where of all the inhabitants are so full of ioy By loue thou mayst ascend Nothing is impossible nothing is hard to one who loues The soule which loues ascendeth often and doth familiarity runne too fro through those streets of the Celestiall Hierusalem Sometimes visiting the Patriarkes the Prophets sometymes admiring those armyes of Martyrs and Confessors contemplating somtymes the Quires of Virgins The heauen and the earth withall which is therein doe neuer cease to let me know that I ought to loue my Lord my God CHAP. XXV That nothing can suffice the soule but the supreme Good THe hart of man which is not fixed in the desire of eternity can neuer be stable and firme but is more wauering then the wind and it passeth from one thing to another seeking reste where it cannot be foūd For in these fraile transitory thinges where the affection thereof is imprisoned it can neuer finde true repose Because our soule is of so great dignity that no
thy onely Goodnesse we are made by thy Iustice we are punished and by thy mercy we are deliuered Nothing neither in Heauen or which is Elementary eyther of fire or earth or any other thing subiect to our sense is to be worshipped instead of thee who truely art what thou art and art not changed and to whome it doth most principally agree that thou be called that which the Grecians call On and the Latins Ens which signifieth The thing which is for thou art euer the same and thy years will neuer fayle These and many other things haue beene taught me by my holy Mother the Church wherof I am made a member by thy grace It hath taught me that thou the onely one and true God art not corporeall nor passible and that nothinge of thy substance or nature is any way violable or mutable or composed and framed and therefore it is certaine that thou canst nor be perceiued by corporeall eyes and that thou couldest neuer be seene in thy proper essence by any mortall creature Hereby it is clearely to be vndestood that as the Angells see thee now so are we to see thee after this life But yet nether are the Angells themselues able to sâ—e thee iust as thou art and in fine the Omnipotent Trinity is not wholy seene by any but by thy onely selfe CHAP. XXX Of the vnity of God and the plurality of Persons in him BVt thou art truly Vnity in thy diuinity though manifold in the plurality of thy Persons so that thou canst not be numbred by any number nor measured by any measure nor waighed by any waight For we doe not pretend to finde out any beginninge of that supreame goodnesse which thou thy selfe art from whence all things by which all things and in which all things but we say that all other things are good by the participation of that goodnes For thy diuine Essence did euer and doth still want Matter although it doe not want Forme namely that Forme which was neuer formed the Forme of all Formes that most beautifull Forme which when thou dost imprint vpon particuler things as it might be some seale thou makest them without all doubte differre from thy selfe by their owne mutabilitie without any change in thee eyther by way of augmentation or diminution Now whatsoeuer is within the coÌ„pass of created thinges that also is a creature of thyne O thou one Trinity and three in Vnity thou God whose Omnipotency possesseth and ruleth and filleth all things which thou didst create And yet we doe not therefore say that thou fillest all things as if they did conteyne thee but rather so as that they be conteyned by thee Nor yet dost thou fill them all by partes nor is it to be thought by any meanes that euery creature receiues thee after the rate of the bignesse which it selfe hath that is to say the greater the greater parte the lesse the lesse since thou thy selfe art in them all all of them in thee whose Omnipotency concludeth all things nor can any man finde a way whereby to make escape from thy power For he who hath thee not wel pleased wil be sure not to escape thee being offended as it is written neither from the East nor from the West nor from the desert mountaynes because God is the Iudge And els where it is sayd Whither shall I goe from thy spiritt and whither shall I fly from thy face The immeÌ„sity of thy diuine greatnes is such that we must knowe thee to be whithin all things and yet not included and without all thinges yet not excluded And therefore thou art interior that thou maiste conteyne all things and therefore thou art exterior that by the immensity of thy greatnes thou maiste conclude all things By this therefore that thou art interior thou art showed to be the Creator but by this that thou art exterior thou art proued to be the Gouernour of them all And least all things which are created should be without thee thou art interior but thou art exterior to the end that all things may be included in thee Not by any local magnitude of thyne but by the poteÌ„tiall presence of thee who art present euery where and all thinges to thee are present though some vnderstaÌ„d these things and others indeed vnderstand them not The inseparable vnity therfore of thy nature cannot haue the persons seperable because as thou art Trinity in Vnity and Vnity in Trinity so thou canst not haue separation of persons It is true that those persons are named seuerally but yet thou art so pleased to show thy selfe O God thou Trinity to be inseperable in thy persons as that there is noe name belonginge to thee in any one of them which may not be referred to another according to the rules of relation For as the Father to the Sonne and the Sonne to the Father so the Holy Ghoste is most truely referred both to the Father SoÌ„ne But those names which signify thy substanec or person or power or Essence or any thing which properly is called God doe equally agree to all the persons As great God Omnipotent and eternall God and all those things which naturally are saide of thee O God Therefore there is noe name which concernes the nature of God which can so agree to God the Father as that it may not also agree to God the Sonne as also to God the Holy Ghoste As for example we say the Father is naturally God but so is the Sonne naturally God and so also is the Holy Ghoste naturally God and yet not three Gods but naturally one God the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghoste Therfore art thou ô Holy Trinity inseperable in thy persons as thou art to be vnderstoode by our mind although thou haue seperable names in worde because thou dost by no meanes indure a plurall number in the names belonging to thy nature For herby it is showed that the persons cannot be deuided in the blessed Trinity which is one true God because the name of any one of the Persons doth euer relate to an other of them For if I name the Father I shew the Sonne if I speake of the Sonne I proclame the Father if I speake of the Holy Ghoste it is necessarily to be vnderstoode that he is the Spiritt of some other namely of the Father and of the Sonne Now this it that true Faith which flowes from sound doctrine This indeed is the Catholique and Orthodoxall Faith which God hath taught me by his Grace in the bosome of his Church which is my Mother CHAP. XXXI A prayer to the blessed Trinity MY Faith doth therefore call vpon thee which thou O Lord haste giuen me through thy goodnes for my saluation Now the faithfull soule liues by Faith He now holds that in hope which hereafter he shall haue indeed I call vpon thee O my God with a pure conscience and with that sweete loue which groweth out of Faith whereby thou
haste brought me to the vnderstanding of truthe casting away the darknes of ignorance and whereby thou haste drawen me out of the foolish bitternes of this world and so accompanyinge it with the sweetnes of thy charity thou haste made it delightfull and deer to me I doe with a lowde voice inuoke thee O blessed Trinity with that sincere loue which groweth out of Faith which Faith thou haueing nourished euen from my cradle did'dst inspire by the illustration of thy grace and which thou hast encreased and confirmed in me by the documents of my Mother the Church I inuoke thee O holy and blessed and glorious Trinity in Vnity the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghoste our God our Lord and our Paraclete Charity Grace and Communication the Father the Sonne and the Illuminator the Fountayne the Riuer and the Irrigation or wateringe All things by one and all things in one from whome by whome in whome all things The liuing life the life proceeding from the liuing life the life liuing One from himselfe One from one and One from two One being from himselfe One being from another and One being from two other The Father is true the Sonne is Truth and the Holy Ghoste is Truth Therfore the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghoste are one essence one power one goodnes one beatitude from whome by whome and in whome all things are happie what things soeuer are happie CHAP. XXXII That God is the true and souuereigne life O God the true and Souuereigne life from whome by whome and in whome all things doe liue which haue any true and happy life O God who art that goodnesse and that beauty from whome by whome and in whome all things are faire and good which haue any beauty or goodnesse in them O God whose faith doth excite vs whose hope doth erect vs and whose charity doth vnite vs O God who requirest that we seeke thee and who makest vs finde thee and who openest to vs when we knocke O God from whome to be auerted is to faâ—l and to whom to be conuerted is to rise and in whom to remayne is to be immoueable O God whome noe man looseth but he who is deceaued no man seeketh but he who is admonished and noe man findeth but he who is purged O God whome to know is to liue whome to serue is to reigne whome to praise is the ioy and saluation of the soule I praise thee I blesse thee and I adore thee with my lipps with my hart and with all the whole power I haue And I present my humblest thanks to thy mercy and goodnes for all thy benefitts and I sing this Hymn of glory to thee Holy Holy Holy I inuoke thee O blessed Trinity beseechinge that thou wilt come into me and make me worthy to be the Temple of thy glory I begge of the Father by the Sonne I begge of the Sonne by the Father I begge of the Holy Ghoste by the Father and the Sonne that all vice may be farr remoued from me and that all holy vertue may be planted in me O Immense God from whome all things by whome all things in whome all things both visible and inuisible are made Thou who doste inuiron thy workes without and fillest them within who dost couer them from aboue and dost susteyne them from belowe keepe me who am the worke of thy hands and who hope in thee and who onely confide in thy mercy Keepe me I beseech thee here and euery where now and euer within and without before me behinde me aboue and belowe and round about that no place at all may be left for the treacherous attempts of my enemies against me Thou art the Omnipotent God the keeper and the Protector of all such as hope in thee without whome noe man is safe none freed from danger Thou art God and there is noe other God but thou neyther in heauen aboue nor on earth belowe Thou whoe performest workes of prowess and so many wonderfull and vnscrutable things which exceed all number Praise is due to thee honor is due to thee and to thee Hymns of glory are due To thee doe all the Angells the heaueÌ„s all the power therof sing Hymns and praises without ceaseing and all creatures and euery spiritt doth praise thee the holy and indiuiduall Trinity as it becomes the creatures there Creator the slaues their Lord and the souldiers their King CHAP. XXXIII The praises of men and Angells TO thee doe all the Saintes and they who are humble of hart to thee doe the spiritts and soules of iust persons to thee doe all the Cittizens of heauen and all those orders of blessed spiritts sing the hymn of honor and glory adoreinge thee humbly without end All the Cittizens of heauen doe praise thee O Lord after a most honorable and magnificent manner and man who is an eminent parte of thy Creatures doth also praise thee Yea and I wretched sinner and miserable Creature that I am doe yet labour with an extreame desire to praise thee and wish that I could loue thee with excessiue loue O my God my life my strength and my praise vouchsafe to lett me praise thee Grant me light in my hart putt thou the word into my mouth that my hart may thinke vpon thy glory and my toÌ„gue may singe thy praises all the day longe But because it is noe hansome praise which proceeds out of the mouth of a sinner And because I am a man of polluted lipps Clense thou my hart I beseeche thee from all spotts sanctify me O thou Omnipotent sanctifier both within and without and make me worthy to sett forth thy praise Receaue with benignity and acceptation from the hand of my hart which is the affection of my soule receiue I say the sacrifice of my lipps and make it acceptable in thy sight and make it ascend vp to thee in the odour of sweetnes Let thy holy memory and thy most diuine sweetnes possesse my whole soule and draw it vp at full speed to the loue of inuisible things Let it passe from the visible to the inuisible from the earthly to the heauenly from the temporall to the eternall and lett it passe on so farr as to see that admirable vision O eternall Verity O true Charity O deer Eternity thou art my God to thee doe I sigh day and night to thee doe I pant at thee doe I ayme to thee doe I desire to arriue He who knowes thee knowes Truth and he knowes Eternity Thou O Truth dost preside ouer all things We shall see thee as thou art when this blind and mortall life is spent wherein it is said to vs where is now thy God And I also said to thee Where art thou O my God In thee am I refreshed a little when I power out my soule towards thee by the voice of my exultation and confessioÌ„ which is as the sounde of a man who is bankquetting end celebratinge some great festiuity And