goe Now this is the very meanes wherby we are to learne this Science of Prayer And although it be very true that for the obtayning of the guyft of Prayer or any other which is supernaturall no labour of ours is sufficient but it must come from the gratious and liberall hand of God Prou. ◠Quia Dominus dai sapientiam ex ore eius prudentia scientia because it is our Lord who giueth wisdome and prudence and science proceedeth out of his mouth Yet his diuine Maiesty is pleased that we should exercise our selues therein as carefully as if we were to obteyne it only by that meanes For he disposeth of all things sweetly Sap. 8.1 Attingit à fine vsque ad finem fortiter disponit omnia suauiter And so he disposeth of the workes of Grace aswell as of the workes of Nature And as other arts sciences are obteyned by practise so is also this of Prayer By playing on the lute a man learnes to play by going to goe and by Praying a man learnes to Pray And so Gerson sayth that the cause why at this day there are so few Contemplatiues is through the want of this practise We find that anciently in those Monasteryes of Monkes there were so many persons of great Prayer and Contemplation and now you shall haue difficulty to find a man of great Prayer and when you shall speake to men of Cōtemplation it seemes to them as if you were talking of Metaphisicks or Morisco's which is not to be vnderstood The cause hereof is for that anciently those holy Monks did exercise themselues much in Prayer and the young men who entred into those Monasteryes were presently tasked and instructed therein and were made to practise it much as we read in the rule of S. Pacomius other Fathers of those Monks And so Gerson giues this aduise as very important for Monasteries That they are to haue amongst them certayne persons of spirit who may be learned and of great practise in Prayer and who may instruct young men from their very entrance into Religion how they are to exercise themselues in Prayer And our B. Father 3. p. Constit c. 1.12 4. p. c. 10.7 tooke this Counsell so much to hart did leaue it so well recommended in the Constitutions that not only at the first in their houses of Nouitiate there should be some to instruct such as enter newly but in all the Colledges also and Professed Houses of the Society he commaunds that there be a Prefect ouer spirituall things who may attend to this and obserue how euery one proceedeth in Prayer for the great importance wherof he tooke that pointe to be Another thing also is to help vs much towards our continuance in this exercise of Prayer and to perseuer in it much and this is to haue a great loue to God and to spirituall things And so said the Royall Prophet Quomodo dilexi legem tuam Domine tot a die meditatio mea est Psal 118.97 How much O Lord do I loue thy Lawe I am not satisfyed with thinking on it all day and night This is my only intertainment and delight Et meditabar in mandatis tuis quae dilexi Psal 118.47 So that if we did loue God much we also would be glad to be thinking of him day and night and we should not want matter wherof to thinke Oh with how good a will doth the mother stand thinking of that Childe of her wombe Note whome she tenderly loues And how little need hath she of discourses or considerations to comfort herselfe in the thought of him If you speake but one word of that Child her very bowels are instantly in a commotion and the tears of ioy are streaming downe frō her eyes without any more discourses or considerations Do but begin to talke to a widow of her husband deceased whome she most dearly loued and you shall see how instantly she will sigh and weep Now if these effects can be wroght by this naturall kinde of loue why do I say Naturall loue nay if we see that the furious loue of some lost and wretched creature doth carry him so absorpt and inebriated vpon the person whome he loues as that he seemes vnable euen to thinke of any thing els how much more should the supernaturall Loue of that infinite Goodnesse and Beauty of our Lord God be able to produce these effects For more powerfull is grace then eyther nature or vice If God were all our treasure our hart would instantly fly vp to him Mat. 6.21 Vbi enim est thesaurus tuus ibi est cor tuum All the world thinkes willingly of him Pro. 31.18 whome it loues and of that wherein it takes delight And therfore the holy scripture sayth Gustauit vidit Gustate videte Psa 31.9 quoniam suauis est Dominus The Gust may precede the seeing but the seeing causeth more guste and more loue And so S. Thomas speaking of this S. Tho. 2.2 9.160.7 ad 1. sayth That Contemplation is the daughter of Loue because Loue is the roote therof And he also sayth that Loue is the end of Contemplation for by the louing of God a man is inclined to thinke and contemplate vpon him and how much more he contemplates so much more he loues him For good thinges haue this property that when they are seene they inuite to loue the more we se them the more we loue them and the more do we ioy in continuing to see and loue them CHAP. XVIII It is shewed after a practicall manner how it is in our power to pray euer well if we will and to gather Fruite from thence THAT most excellent and extraordinary Prayer Cap. 4. seqq wherof we spake before is a most particuler guifte of God which he imparteth not to all but only to such as it pleaseth him But this ordinary and playne Mentall Prayer wherof now we treat our Lord denieth to none And it is the errour of some that because they obteyne not that other rich Prayer and Contemplation it seemes to them that they cannot pray at all and that they are not fit for this holy exercise whereas yet euen this is a very good and very profitable kind of Prayer and with it we may become perfect And if our Lord be pleased to impart that other high Prayer vnto vs this inferiour kind of Prayer is a very good and a very proper disposition for the obteyning of it I will therefore now declare how with the grace of our Lord it is in our hand to make this Prayer euer well and to gather Fruite from thence which is a matter of much comfort By two meanes we may very well inferre thus much vpon that which hath beene said The first is because the manner of Prayer which our B. Father hath taught vs is to exercise therein the Three powers of our soule placing with our
meanes of the Exercise of our powers and we are gently to cooperate with him because God is pleased to require the cooperation of his creatures this is that which our B. Father teacheth vs in his booke of the spirituall Exercises Those other kinds of Prayer which take away all discourse and which vse certaine negations with certaine silences and are taken out of Mysticall Theology are not vsually to be taught no nor so much as to be sought Cap. 4. 8. as was said before And new beginners who haue not proceeded far in the knowledge of their Passions and in the practise of Vertue being directed into these particuler ways are made subiect to illusions and deceytes And when they thinke they haue gayned much vpon themselues they find by experience that all their passions remaine entire which by meanes of that sweet bayte and guste of Prayer lay a while as if they had beene asleepe but afterward they awake with much danger to the owners Besides that by these particuler and singular kindes of Prayer there is created in men a kind of stiffnes and closnes to their owne Iudgment which is a great disposition towards a mans being deceiued And therefore our B. F. Ignatius did apprehend it much and he said that ordinarily such persons haue a touch of this I say therefore that the first thing which we are to do in Prayer in any Pointe which we shall take in hand must be to place before our memory that point or mystery vpon which we meane to make our Prayer then we must enter into Meditation by discoursing with the Vnderstanding vpon the particularityes of that mystery then come in the affects of the Will So that the Memory first propounds then instantly enters Discourse and Meditation of the Vnderstanding for this is the ground from whence all those acts Exercises are to flowe which we produce in Prayer and in the vertue and strength of this all the rest is performed Now the reason of this is cleere in good Philosophy For our Will is a blind kind of Power which cannot stir a foote vnlesse it be guided by the Vnderstanding Nihil volitum Note nisi praecognitum This is a common maxime of the Philosophers The Will cannot desire that thing which hath not already passed by the Vnderstanding which is as the Page with a torch in his hand who goes before to giue light to the Will guides it and discouereth to it what it is to loue or what to hate And so S. Augustine sayth Inuisa diligi posse incognita nequaquam Aug. li. 10. de Tri. c. 1. Greg. ho. 36. super Euangel And S. Gregory sayth Nemo potest diligere quod prorsus ignorat Well may we loue the thing we haue not seene but that wherof we haue no Knowledge we cannot loue For the obiect of our Will is some Good apprehended or vnderstood For therfore do we like or loue any thing because we apprehēd it as good worthy to be loued and on the other side we do therfore abhor and fly from any thing as iudging and apprehending it to be ill worthy to be abhorred And so when we desire that any man should change his will and purpose we perswade him with reason and we procure to conuince his Vnderstanding that the thing which he desires is not conuenient nor good and that the other thing is better and more conuenient that so he may forsake the one and imbrace the other So that the act discourse of the Vnderstanding is the foundation ground of those other acts and Exercises which we make in Prayer and therfore is Meditation so necessary Which point we will declare yet further in the Chapters following CHAP. VIII Of the necessity of Meditation Hugo de Sancto Vict. tra de laude orationis HVGO of S. Victor sayth that Prayer cannot be perfect if Meditation do not eyther go before it or with it And this is also the doctrine of S. Augustine who sayth That Prayer without Meditation is but a tepide kind of thing This they proue very well for if a man do not exercise himselfe in knowing Augustin and considering his misery and weakenesse he will go in errour and will not be able to aske in Prayer that which is fittest for him when he asketh it will not be with such feruour as were conuenient There are many who by reason that they know not themselues consider not their faults do go on in the wrong way and do presume of themselues in certaine things which they would not do if they knew themselues so they treate in their Prayer about certaine things which are very different from those wherof they haue most need If therfore you will know how to pray and to beg of God what is sit for you see you exercise your selues in the consideratiō of your owne faults frailtyes And by this meanes you shall know what to aske and by vnderstanding and considering your great necessity you will aske it with feruour and as you ought as poore needy beggers vse to do who well know and feele their necessity and misery S. Bernard Bern. ser 1. de sancto Andrea treating thus that we are not to go flying but walking towards perfection Nemo repentè fit summus ascendendonon volando apprehenditur summitas scalae sayth That we walking and rising towards perfection are to be vpon these two feete Meditation and Prayer Ascendamus igitur velut duobus quibusdam pedibus Meditatione Oratione Meditatio siquidem docet quid desit Oratio ne desit obtinet For meditation points vs to what we want and Prayer preuailes ro obteyne it Illa viam estendit ista deducit Meditation showes vs the way and Prayer guides vs in it Meditatione denique agnoscimus imminentia nobis pericula oratione euadimus Finally by meditation we know the daungers which threaten vs and by Prayer we escape and free our selues From hence it is that S. Augustine sayth Augustin that Meditation is the beginning of all good Intellectus cogitabundus est principium omnis boni For he who considers how good God is in himselfe Note and how good mercifull he hath beene to vs how much he hath loued vs how much he hath done and how much he hath suffered for vs will quickly enkindle himselfe in the loue of so good a Lord. And he that considers well his owne faults miseries will soone growe humble and hold himselfe in small accompt And he that considers how ill he hath serued God and how grieously he hath offended him will esteeme himselfe worthy of the greatest punishment And thus by Meditation we grow to enrich our soules with all vertue For this cause doth the holy Scripture recommend Meditation so much to vs. Blessed is the man who meditates day and night Psa 1.3 in the law of our Lord sayth the Prophet Dauid Et erit
there are two causes of this Deuotion the one is extrinsecall which is God that is the principall The other is intrinsecall on our part which is Meditation For this prompt and ready will towards the actiōs of vertue doth grow from the consideration and Meditation of the Vnderstanding and this is that which next after the grace of God may be truly said to kindle and blow the fire in our hart So that true Deuotion and feruour of spirit Note doth not consiste in the sweetnes and sensible guste wherof some haue experience and sense in Prayer but in hauing a will which is prompte and ready prest towards all those things which concerne the seruice of Almighty God And this is the deuotion which continues and lasts whilest the other comes quickly to an end For that doth but consist of certaine affects of sensible deuotion which rise from a quicke desire which one hath of any thing which is desirable and amiable And many tymes it proceedeth from a mans naturall complexiō in that he hath a sweet disposition and a tender hart which is quickly moued towards softnesse and tears when this kind of deuotion is once dropped downe the good purposes are assoone dryed vp This is but a tēder kind of loue which is grounded in gustes and consolations and as long as that guste and deuotion lasts the man wil be very diligent and punctuall and he wil be a friend of silence and recolection But when that deuotion is ended there is an end of all Whereas they who are so grounded in Truth by meanes of Meditation and consideration and are conuinced disabused by solide reason these are the men who continue and perseuere in vertue and although those gustes consolations faile them yet they are still the same that they were before because the same cause and reason lasts which at the first induced moued them to it This is a masculine strong kind of loue and by this Touch of triall the true seruants of God are seene not in those gusts and consolations They are wonte to say that our passions are like certaine little dogs which stand barking at vs and in the tyme of spirituall consolation they haue their mouthes muzled vp And make account that God doth caste certaine bits of bread before euery one of them and with that they are quiet craue nothing but take you away that bread of consolation and then one of them will begin to barke and the other of them wil be as sure to follow and then is the tyme to see how euery one doth carry himselfe They also compare these gustes and consolations to moueable goods chattels which are soone spent but solide vertues are as freehold or land of inheritance which continues and lasts so they are of more price From hence groweth a Truth wherof we take experience many tymes it is worthy of consideration Note We see some persons who on the one side haue great comforts in their Prayer and afterward in temptations other occasions of sinne we see them weake and fallen And on the contrary part we see others who suffer great drynesse in Prayer and know not what belongs to any spirituall consolation or guste and yet we find these last to be stronge when they are tempted far from falling The cause of this is that which we were saying before That the former sort of men did ground themselues in gusts and inwarde feelings but the latter laide their foundation vpon reason were disabused conuinced and possessed with the reall truth of thing◠and with that they last and perseuere in those things which formerly they did resolue So that one of the meanes and that a very good one which vsually we giue to make men perseuere in those good purposes which they conceiue in Prayer Note and to put them in execution is That men must procure to conserue in memory the motiue and reason which caused that good desire and purpose in them formerly for that which moued them before to desire it will helpe them afterwards to conserue put it in execution Nay there is more in this then what is said For when a man goeth thus vnbeguiling cōuincing himselfe in Prayer although afterward he remember not particulerly the medium or reason which moued him then yet in vertue of his hauing beene vnbeguiled before and of the resolution which then he tooke being conuinced by truth and reason he continueth firme and strong to resist the temptation afterward and to perseuere in vertue Therefore doth Gerson Gerson p. 2. alphab 34. litera M. de sollicitudine religiosa p. 41. alpha 6.37 lit A. esteeme so much of Meditation For being consulted about what exercise might be more vsefull or profitable to a Religious man who liueth recolected in his Cell eyther reading or vocall Prayer or some worke of the hand or els to attend to Meditation he answered that sauing the duty which they owe to Obedience they were best attend to Meditation And he giues this reason therof That although by meanes of Vocall Prayer or reading of some spirituall booke a man for the present may peraduenture find greater profit and deuotion then by meanes of Meditation yet in giuing ouer to pray vocally or laying the booke aside that deuotion may quickly be at an end whereas Meditation doth profit and dispose men well for the future And therfore he sayth That it is fit that we accustome our selues to Meditation to the end that although the sound of wordes and the sight of bookes may faile vs yet Meditation may be our booke and so we may not want true deuotion CHAP. XI Of the manner which we are to hold in Prayer and of the Fruite we are to gather thence CONCALVIT cor meum intra me Psal 38.4 in meditatione mea exardescit ignis In these words the Prophet Dauid teacheth vs the manner which we are to hold in Prayer according to the explication of many Doctors and Saints who interpret this place Hieron Ambros Greg. a. 23 mor. c. 5. interlin alij of the fire of Charity and the loue of God our neighbour which was kindled by the Meditation of heauenly things did burne in the brest of the Royall Prophet My hart sayth he grew into heat was all kindled within me This is the effect of Prayer But how got he this heat How did that fire come to kindle it selfe in his hart Will you know how It was by meanes of Meditation Et in meditatione mea exardescit ignis This is the meanes and the instrument for the kindling of this fire So that as S. Cyrill of Alexandria sayth Cyrillus Alexandrinus Meditation is as the steele which giues against the flint to the end that fire may be produced By discourse and Meditation of the Vnderstanding you are to strike vpon the hard steele of your hart till such tyme as the
we are to do them and say them as one who speakes to God already present and not as one who raiseth his hart or his thought to send it far off or without himselfe This aduise is of great importance in this Exercise For this is properly to go in the Presence of God and this is that which makes this Exercise easy and sweete and which makes it moue and profit more Yea euen in our other Prayers when we meditate of Christ vpon the Crosse or at the Pillar they who treate of Prayer giue counsaile that we should not imagine that to be at Ierusalem and that it passed a thousand and so many hundred yeares agoe for this wearyes more and moues lesse But we are to imagine it as present where we are that it passeth there before vs and that we heare the strokes of the scourges the knocks of the hammers And if we meditate the Exercise of death they say that we are to imagine that we are already vpon the point to dye and giuen ouer by the Physitians and with the holy candle in our hand How much more reason then shall it be that in this Exercise of the Presence of God we performe those acts which we haue named not as men who speake with an absent person and that far off from vs but as men who speake with God present since the very Exercise it selfe requires it and in reality of Truth he is Present CHAP. V. Of some differences and aduantages which there are in this Exercise of going in the Presence of God TO the end that we may the better see the perfection and profit of this Exercise and way of going in the Presēce of God which we haue shewed and to the end that it may be the more declared Note we will touch some differences and aduantages which there are therein The first is this In the other Exercises of the Presence of God which some vse to propound all seemes to be but an act of the Vnderstanding and all seemes to end in this that they imagine the Presence of God But this Exercise presupposeth this Act of the vnderstanding of fayth That God is present and then it goes further on and maketh Acts of the Loue of God and in these it doth principally consist And this doth euidently appeare to be better and more profitable then the former Iust so as we said in the Treatise of Prayer Tract 5. c. 14. that we are not to dwell in the acts of the Vnderstanding which is the Meditation and Consideration of things but in the acts of the Will that is in the affects and desires of vertue and the imitation of Christ our Lord and this is to be of the fruite of Prayer And so heere the chiefe and best and most profitable part of this Exercise consists in the acts of the will and this is that wherupon we must insist most The second benefit which followes vpon this Exercise Note is that it is more sweet and facill then the rest For to those others is necessary discourse and labour of the vnderstanding and imagination to represent formes before it which is the thing that vseth to weary and to breake the braynes and therfore it cannot last so longe Whereas towards this Exercise there is no neede of discourse but of affects and acts of the will which are produced without difficulty For although it be true that there is some act of the Vnderstanding euen there yet that is presupposed by Fayth without wearying vs therby And as when we adore the B. Sacrament we presuppose by Fayth that Christ our Lord is present there and all our attention and imployment is in adoring reuering louing and begging fauours of that Lord whome we know to be present so it is in this Exercise And from hence also it is that the same being more facill one may continue and perseuere in it longer tyme. For euen to sick persons who are not capable of any other Prayer we are wont to aduise that they are often to lift vp their harts to God with some affects acts of the Will because they may be produced with facility And therfore although there were no other aduantage belonging to this Exercise but only that one may continue and perseuere in it longer tyme then in the rest we should haue reason to esteeme it much and therfore how much more are we to do it hauing so many aduantages besides The third and principall thinge that which we are to obserue very well is That the Presence of God is not only considered to the end that we may dwell in that but to the end that it may serue vs for a meanes to do those other things well which we are to performe For if we should content our selues with hauing an attention to the presence of God and therby did neglect our workes themselues and did performe them with faults this would be no good deuotion but an illusion We are alwayes to make account that although we carry one of our eyes towards his diuine Maiesty we must place the other vpon the worke it selfe that we may performe it well for the loue of him And our seeing that we stand in the Presence of God must be the meanes to make vs do all that which we are to do the better and with the more perfection And this is much better done by this Exercise then by others For in the performing of others the Vnderstanding is much imployed about those corporall sigures which a man hath a mynde to set before himselfe or about those conceytes which he will drawe out of that which he hath present to him and whilst he will needs drawe this or that good consideration from thence many tymes he markes not well what he is doing and so he falls out to do it ill But this Exercise since it busieth not the Vnderstanding doth not hinder any way the good performance of the workes but rather it doth greatly helpe that they may be exactly done For he is doing them for the loue of God and in the Presence of God who lookes vpon him And so he procures to do them in such sort and so well as that they may be fit to appeare before the eyes of that diuine Maiesty and that there may be nothing therein which is vnworthy of his Presence Concerning which Tract c. 3. we spake else where of another point which sheweth another way of going in the Presence of God which is very good and profitable and recommended by the Saynts and therfore we will forbeare to repeate it heere CHAP. VI. Certayne pious Considerations of Gods Immensity and of his Presence in all places and in all things 1. TO consider that God is so immense and great as he filleth all his creatures with his infinite Greatnes and is more inwardly present in all things then they be in their owne Essence And notwithstanding all this he is not imprisoned heere in the world and though there were many millions of worlds more yet should he be still infinitly greater then they in so much as it is impossible to fly frō him sith he is by his Essence Presēce and power in all places and all creatures be filled with his greatnes This consideration should make vs more present to our selues in all our actions both priuate and publike by representing to our selues that Gods eyes be vpon vs and making vnto our selues an Oratory in all places sith he is euerywhere We must excite in our selues affections of ioy and of admiration at so wonderfull a greatnes 2. We must consider our selues as liuing and doing our actions in God who enuironeth vs round as doth the water of the Ocean compasse in the fish that swym and liue therin And this consideration should keep vs from going and wandring out of our selues seeing we haue God present within vs as though we were his house or by considering our selues enuironed without penetrated within by God as though he were our owne and belonging vnto vs. 3. To consider how God sheweth himselfe in heauen to his Elect with vnuealed and open face working in them most glorious things and he giueth in some places on earth particuler signes of his presence as Iacob saw him on that mysticall ladder whereof the Scriptures make mention God also hath his aboad particulerly in the Churches and Oratories and in a more excellent manner in the iust with whome he abideth by his grace and worketh strange and wonderfull thinges in them But aboue all he is with some great friends of his in this life producing spiritually within them miraculous effects as illustrations discourses of the soule reuelations of diuine mysteries which be all signes and testimonyes of his particular presence All this ought to make vs the more attentiue and present to God and our selues and more composed both within and without THE COLLOQVY O my soule thou hast within thee all good things how doest thou not enioy them Within thee is thy soueraigne freind and Father reioyce to haue him with thee ioyne thee ioyntly with him and giue vnto him thy whole hart If thou art poore thou hast God with thee who is rich in mercy runne vnto him that he may impart vnto thee of his riches If thou art weake and pusillanimous thou hast God with thee who is fortitude it selfe and vnited with him thou maist doe all things in vertue of him wherfore then doest thou seeke without thee with anxietie helpe of the creatures hauing within thee the omnipotency of the Creator O my Creator my God and my all things perfect in me this strayte coniunctiō which thou hast with me vniting thy selfe also with me by the perfect vnion of grace that I also may conioyne my selfe with thee by the perfect vnion of charity Amen FINIS
loue of God may be kindled in it a desire be produced of humility of mortification and the rest of the vertues you are not to giue ouer till you haue kindled and bred this fire Although Meditation be very good and necessary yet the whole tyme of Prayer is not to passe away in discourse and consideration of the Vnderstanding neither are we to dwell in that for this would be rather study then Prayer But all the Meditations and considerations which we are to haue must be taken but as a meanes for the awaking and kindling these affects and desires of vertue in our hart For the sanctity and perfection of a Christian life doth not consist only in good thoughts nor in the intelligence of holy things but in sound and solide vertue and especially in the acts and operations therof S. Tho. 1.2 q. 3. art â— wherin as S. Thomas sayth the last perfection of vertue doth consist and so we must principally imploy our selues and insist vpon the procuring of this in our tyme of Prayer This is therfore to be our first principle in this matter Note Yea and euen the Philosopher sayth which is alledged by Gerson Inquirimus quid sit virtus Gerson super Magnificat alphab 86. litera D. non vt sciamus sed vt boni efficiamur We go inquiring and searching after the knowing what vertue is not to the end that we may be more learned but that we may become good and vertuous Thogh the needle be necessary to sow withall yet it is not the needle which sticheth two things togeather but the thred And so should he be very indiscreet who would passe the needle in and out without thred for this should be to labour in vayne And yet this very thing they do who in Prayer attend only to meditating and vnderstanding and little to louing Meditation is to be as the needle which is to enter first but it must be to the end that the thred of loue and the affection of our will may follow after wherby he must ioyne vnite our selues to Almighty God Our B. F. Ignatius doth put vs in mind herof after a very particuler maÌ„ner After he had placed the Poynts which we are to meditate with some very short considerations vpon them he then sayth these words And I am to apply all this to my selfe to th' end that I may reape some fruite therby In this the Fruite of Prayer doth consist that men may know how to referre apply that which they meditate to themselues euery one according as he hath need Born serm 23. super Cantion The glorious S. Bernard sayth very well that as the Sunne doth not heat euery one whome it illuminates so Knowledge and Meditation althouh it teach that which is to be done yet doth it not moue all men nor breed an affection in them to do that which they are taught One thing it is to haue notice of great riches and another to possesse them That which makes men rich is not the hauing notice of riches but the possessing them So is it sayth he one thing to know God and another thing to feare and loue him and the knowing many things of God doth not make vs true Saints and spiritually rich but the louing and searing of God He bringeth also another good coÌ„parison to this purpose That as he who is hungry shall help himselfe but a little by placing before himselfe a large table full of exquisite and choyce meates if he eate none of them so he who vseth Prayer shal be litle the better for hauing a sumptuous and curious table set before him full of excellent and choyce considerations if he do not feed thereupon by applying them to himselfe with his Will That we may descend a litle more to particulers Note I say That the thing which we are to draw out of Meditation and Prayer is to be Holy affections and desires which are framed first interiorly in the hart and afterwards are put in practise in due tyme. The Blessed S. Ambrose sayth Ambros in Ps 128. super illud Et meditabar in praeceptis tuis Ezech. 1.8 That action is the end of Meditation Meditationis praeceptorum caelestium intenâ—io vel finis operatio est Those holy Mysterious beasts which the Prophet Ezechiel saw amongst other conditions of theirs had wings as he sayth and vnder them they had the hands of a man Et manus hominis sub pennis eorum to giue vs to vnderstand that the flying and discoursing with the Vnderstanding must be directed to working We must therfore setch from Prayer affects and desires of humility despising our selues and desiring to be despised by others Desires of suffering paine and troubles for the loue of God and being glad of such as at the present lye vpoÌ„ vs. Desires of pouerty of spirit wishing that the worst things of the house may be for vs and that something may be wanting to vs euen of those which are necessary Griefe and contrition for sinnes and firme purposes rather to burst then to sinne againe Gratitude for benefits receiued and true intiere resignatioÌ„ into the hands of God And finally a desire to imitate Christ our Lord and our Maister in all those vertues which shine so brightly in his life To this must our Meditation be addressed and ordeyned and this is the fruite which we must draw from thence Vpon this it followes Note That since we take Meditation and the discourse of our Vnderstanding for a meanes to moue our Will to these affections that this is the end of this businesse we must so far vse Meditation and the discourse of our Vnderstanding as shall be fit for this end and no further For the meanes are to carry a proportion and to receaue their measure from the end and so when we finde our Will moued and mollified with some good affection to any vertue as namely to griefe for sinnes contempt of the world loue of God desire to suffer for his sake or the like we must presently cut off the thred of the discourse of the Vnderstanding as a man would draw a Bridge from before a passenger and we must detayne our selues and pause vpon that affection and desire of our Will till such tyme as we be satisfyed till we haue drunke it deeply downe into our soules This is a very important aduise P. N. Ignatius lib. Exercitiorum spiritual addit 4. our B. Father doth place it in his booke of spirituall Exercises where he sayth That as soone as we haue found that deuotion and feeling which we desire we are then to pause and to deteyne our selues therein without hauing anxiety of passing towards any thinge els till we remaine fully satisfyed Iust so as the Garduer Note when he will water a peece of ground as soone as the water is entred in vpon it he deteynes the thred of the current and giues it meanes to
soake imbrue it selfe in the in tralls of that dry soyle till that be sufficiently done he suffers not the water to passe away So when the water of good affections and desires beginnes to enter in to the soule which is as earth without water according to that of the Prophet Psa 142.0 Anima mea sicut terra siue aqua tibi we are to deteyne the current of the discourse and Vnderstanding and to remay ne enioying that motion and affection of our will as long as we can till such tyme as our hart may be bathed and imbrued therwith and so we may remaine sully satisfyed The B. Saint Iohn Chrysostome Chrysostome brings another good comparison to declare this Hast thou seene sayth he when the little lambe goes to seeke the brest of his daÌ„me what doth it but stir and seeke heere and there now takes the tet and then leaues it But when once the streame of milke comes clere the lambe is presently at a pawse and doth enioy the milke at ease So is it in the case of Prayer For till that dew come from heauen the man goes discoursing heere and there But wheÌ„ once that heauenly dew descends we are presently to pawse and to enioy that delight and sweetnesse CHAP. XII Of how great importance it is to deteyne our selues in the acts affections of our Will IT is of great importance do teteyne our selues and to make a stand in the acts and affections of the Will And the Saints and Maisters of spirituall life do esteeme of it so much as to say that in this consisteth good and perfect Prayer yea and that also which they call Contemplation when a man no longer is seeking incentiues of Prayer by Meditation but stands inioying that loue which he hath soght and found and doth repose therein as in the end of his inquisition and desire saying with the Spouse in the Canticles Inueni quem diligit anima mea Cant. 3.4 tenui cum nec dimittam I haue found him whome my soule loues I haue him and I will hold him fast And this is also that Cant. 5.2 which the Spouse sayth in the same place Ego dormio cor meum vigilat I sleepe but my hart is well awake For in perfect Prayer the Vnderstanding is laide as it were to sleepe because discourse and speculation being lefte the Will is both watching and euen melting with the loue of her fellow Spouse And he likes this sleepe of hers so well that he commaunds it to be nourished in her and that she may not be awaked tell she will her selfe Cant. 3.5 Adiuro vos filiae Ierusalem percapreas ceruosque camporum ne suscitetis neque euigilare faciatis dilectam donec ipsa velit In such sort that Meditation and all those other parts which they touch of Prayer be ordeyned and addressed to this Contemplation and are as it were August de seala Paredisi the ladders wherby we clyme vp to it So sayth S. Augustine in a booke which he calleth the ladder of Paradise Lectio inquirit meditatio inuenit oratio postulat contemplatio degustat Reading seeks Meditation findes Prayer desires but Contemplation enioyes and gustes that which was sought desired and found And he brings that of the Gospell Matt. 7.7 Quaerite iuuenietis pulsate aperietur vobis Seeke by reading and you shall find by meditating knock by Prayer it shal be opened vnto you by Contemplation And the Saints obserue and Albertus Magnus doth alledge it Albertus magnus l. de adherendo Iâ—eo ca. 9. that this is the difference betweene the Contemplation of Faythfull Catholiks and that of heathen Philosophers That the Contemplation of the Philosophers was wholy addressed towards the perfecting of the Vnderstanding Note by the knowledge of such truthes as might be knowne and so it did end in the Vnderstanding for this is the end therof to know and know more yet more then that But the Contemplation of Catholikes and of Saints wherof now we treat doth not rest in the Vnderstanding but passeth on to moue and rectify and enkindle inflame the Will with the loue of God according to that of the Spouse Cant. 5. â— Anima mea liquefacta est vt loquutus est My soule did euen melt as soone as my beloued began to speake And S. Thomas treating of Contemplation noteth this very well S. Tho. 2.2 q. 180. art 7. and sayth That howsoeuer Contemplation doth essentially consist in the Vnderstanding yet that the last Perfection therof is in Loue and in the affection of the Will so that the chiefe intent and end of our Contemplation is to be the affect of the Will and the loue of God In this sort sayth S. Augustine did Christ our Lord teach vs to pray Aug. lib de orando Dâ—um ca. 10. quâ—â— est Epistola 121. ad Probum Matt. 6. when he said in his Gospell Orantes autem nolite multùm loqui when ye pray talke not much S. Augustine sayth also Aliud est sermo multus aliud diuturnus affectus absit ab oratione multa loquutio sed non desit multa precatio One thing it is to speake much and to discourse and flourish much with the Vnderstanding and another thing it is to deteyne our selues much in affects of the Will and in the acts of Loue. That which he mentioneth first which is to talke much we are to procure to decline and auoid in Prayer Et negotium hoc plus gemitibus quà m sermonibus agitur and this businesse of Prayer sayth the Saint is not a businesse of much talke nor shall we in Prayer negotiate so well with Almighty God by sigures nor plenty of discourse not delicacy of conceits as with tears and sighs and groanes and profound desires of the hart according to that of the prophet Ieremias Neque taceat pupilla oculi tui Tren 2.28 Hieron in Psa 50. Let not the apple of thine eye be silent S. Hierome vpon these words askes the question how the Prophet could say That the apple of the eye must not be silent Is not the tongue sayth he that which speakes how then can speach be vsed by the apple of the eye The Saint answers thus When we shed tears in the sight of God it is then rightly said that the apple of our eye cryes out to him for howsoeuer we speake not a word with our tongue with our hart we may cry out to God So sayth S. Paul Ad Gal. 4.6 Misit Deus spiritum filij sui in corda vestra clamantem Abba pater And in Exodus God said to Moyses Quid clamas ad me Exodus 14.15 Why dost thou cry out to me yet he spake not a word but only in his hart he prayed with so great feruour efficacy that God said to him why dost thou so cry out before me Let vs also thus cry out to
Memory before the eyes of our Vnderstanding the Point or Mistery vpon which we meane to make our Prayer and then to enter in with out Vnderstanding it selfe discoursing meditating and considering those things which may serue most for the mouing of our Will and then are the affects and desires of the Will it selfe to follow and this third we haue already said to be the chiefe part and Fruite which we are to gather from Prayer So that Prayer consisteth not in that sweetnes and sensible guste which sometymes we feele and do experiment within our selues but in the acts which we make with the powers of our soules Now the doing of this is euer in our power though we be neuer so dry and discomforted For although I should be more dry then any sticke Note and more hard then any stone yet would it be in my power with the fauour of our Lord to make an act of detestation and griefe for my sins and an act of the Loue of God and an act of Patience and an act of Humility and to desire to be disgraced and despised in imitation of Christ our Lord who would needs be disgraced and despised for loue of me It must heere be also obserued that the businesse of making good Prayer and the Fruite therof doth not consist in that one make so much as these very acts themselues with guste or sensible consolation nor in that he feele much euen of what he is doing nor doth the goodnesse and perfection of the acts themselues nor the merit which followes vpon them consist in this This I say is to be noted much For it vseth to be an errour very common to many who discomfort themselues as conceauing that they do no good in Prayer because they feele not so much actuall sorrow for their errours and sins or so great affection desire of vertue as they would But these feelings do belong to the Sensitiue Appetite whereas the Will is a spirituall Power and dependeth not vpon the other And therefore there is no necessity that a man should feele his owne acts in such a fashion but it sufficeth that they be produced by the Will And so the Deuines Saints who treat of Contrition and Griefe for sin do thus comfort their pennitents Who comming to make great account of the greuiousnes of mortall sinne are discomforted for not being able to dissolue themselues in teares nor to feele in themselues that sensible griefe which they desire For they could find in their harts that euen their very bowels might split in their bodyes for sorrow of their sins And those Authors say That True contrition griefe consisteth not in the sensitiue Appetite but in the Will Let it trouble you to haue sinned because sinne is the offence of God who is worthy to be loued abone all things for this is true Contrition That other feeling when our Lord shall impart it do your receiue it with giuing of thanks and when he doth not be not troubled for God exacteth not that of you For it is euident that he is not to exact that of vs which is not in our power and that kind of feeling which you would haue is a guste and sensible deuotion which is not in your power Therfore God expecteth not that of vs but he expecteth that which is in our power which is the sorrow of our Will which hath no dependance vpon that other And the same is to be said of the acts of the Loue of God Loue you God aboue al things with your Will for this is that strong and appreciatiue Loue and that which God exacteth of vs. That other is a tender kind of loue which is not in our power The same is to be said of the acts of other vertues and of all the good purposes which we haue This truth is clerely seene by the contrary For it is most certayne Note that if a man do with his will desire and consent to a mortall sinne although the same man haue no other feeling nor take no other guste therein yet he shall sinne mortally and shall deserue to be condemned for it to hell By the same reason he whose Will cōsenteth and desireth that which is good although he haue no other guste of feeling of it shall please almighty God and merit heauen Especially since God is more ready to reward vertue then to punish vice Nay many tymes these acts are more meritorious and more acceptable to God when they are done after that dry manner without guste or sensible consolation because they are more pure and more durable a man placeth in thē more of his owne stocke and he is at more cost as a man may say then when he is carried on by sensible deuotion And so it is a signe of more solide Vertue and of a Will more firme and faythfull to the seruice of God For he who without those helpes of gustes and spirituall consolations doth make those acts what would he do with them Father Auila sayth very well M. Auila That God carryeth the other man in his armes as if he were a Child but this later goes vpon his owne legs like a man Blosius saith That they are like such as serue some Lord Blosius in monil spiritual c. 3. at their owne charge And it importeth much that we be accustomed to pray after this manner For the most vsuall kind of Prayer with many is wont to be in drinesse those other are extraordinary fauours So that as men who goe by Galleys in deepe seas when the wind comes to fayle them do make their way by the force of Oares so they who meane to exercise themselues in Prayer when the prosperous winde of the illustrations and fauours of God are wanting must procure to passe on by the Oares of the Powers of their soule which still are helped by the fauour of the Holy Ghost though not alwayes so copiously as at some tymes The secōd way we may shew thus Cap. 14. Prayer as hath beene sayd is not the end but a meanes which we take for our spirituall profit and to obteyne victory ouer our passions and euil inclinations that so hauing smoothed the way and remoued all impedimēts we may deliuer or selues wholy vp into the hands of God When those Cataracts were strucken downe from the eyes of S. Paules soule by that light of heauen and that diuine voice which said Ego sum Iesus quem tu persequeris Act. 9.9 I am Iesus whome thou persecutest O how did he remaine all changed in hart how truly conuinced and resolued and rendred vp to the accomplishment of the will of God Domine quid me vis facere O Lord what wilt thou haue me do This is the fruite of good Prayer And we said before that we must not content our selues Chap. 1◠with drawing certaine generall desires and purposes out of Prayer but we must descend to that particuler wherof
our mouthes those words Cum quibus nostras voces vt admitti iubeas deprecamur supplici confessione dicentes Sanctus Sanctus Sanctus c. O Lord that which they say I say and that which they do I would â—aine do iust as they praise and loue so would I fayne blesse and prayse and loue thee And sometymes it wil be also good that we remit our selues euen to our selues as we were at some former tyme when we conceiue our selues to haue beene in good Prayer saying O my Lord that which I did then and as then I offered my selfe wholy to thee so do I offer my selfe now and as then I grieued for my sins so do I grieue now and as then I desired Humility Patience and Obedience in the same manner O Lord do I craue and beg it of thee now But aboue all it is a most singular good practise to vnite our workes with those of Christ our Lord and to supply our faults imperfections by the merits of his most sacred Passion aswell in that which concerneth our Prayer as in our other actions offering to the eternall Father our Prayers in vnion of the loue and seruour wherewith Christ our Lord did pray to him and praise him here on earth and our Fasts in vnioÌ„ of those Fasts which he made beseeching him that he wil be pleased to supply our Impatience with the Patience of Christ our Lord our pride with his Humility and our Malice with his Innocency Blosius c. 9. instituâ— spiritual This practise as Blosius relateth was reuealed by our Lord to some deare seruants of his to the end that we may so make our workes of much worth and merit relieue our pouerty by his meanes through the infinite treasure of the merits of Christ our Lord. CHAP. XX. That we must content our selues with this Prayer wherof we haue spoken and not goe with complaint and griefe for not being able to obtayne that other Prayer which is more high ALBERTVS Magnus sayth that the true humble man Albertus magnus de adhaerendo Deo doth not presume to lift vp his hart to a desire of that high and rich Prayer and of those extraordinary fauours which our Lord doth vse Note sometymes to coÌ„municate to his deare seruants For he esteemeth so little of himselfe that he holdeth himselfe vnworthy of all fauour and spirituall consolation And if at any tyme without any desire of his our Lord do visite him with any comfort he receiueth it with feare acknowledging that he deserueth not those visitations and that he knowes not how to profit by them as he ought And if we had true Humility we would content our selues with any of those kinds of Prayer wherof we spake Nay rather we should hold it for a particuler fauour of our Lord that he leades vs by the way of Humility For therby we shall conserue our selues and by that other way we might perhaps growe light-headed and so be lost S. Bernard sayth Bern. ser 5. quadrag that God doth carry himselfe towards vs as the Fathers of this world do towards their little children That when the Childe asketh bread Note they giue it him with a good will but when the Child asketh for a knife wherewith to cut his bread they will not giue it him because they see it is not necessary and that perhaps it might do him hurt by cutting his fingers But the father takes the knife and cuts the bread that so the child may neither be put to any trouble nor made subiect to any danger in this forte doth our Lord proceed He giues you the bread already cut and will not giue you those gusts and consolations which are in that most high Prayer because perhaps you would cut your selues they would do you hurt by making you wanton and guiddy and to hold your selues for spirituall persons and to prefer your selues before others Our Lord doth you a greater fauour in giuing you the bread already cut then if he gaue you the knife wherewith to cut it If God with your Prayer giue you a great resolution and strength rather to dy then to commit sinne and if he keepe you through the whole course of your life without committing a mortall sinne what better Prayer and what better Fruite can you desire then this This is that answere which the Father of the Prodigall Sonne gaue to his elder brother Who seing that the Younger was receiued with so much feasting and ioy was deepely offended with it and already was refusing to enter into his Fathers house saying to this effect So many years are now past since I serue you and haue euer beene subiect to your commaundements and obsequious to your person and you haue neuer bestowed vpon me so much as a Kid to the end that I might make merry with my friends And as for that other who hath dissipated your state and beene disobedient to your selfe you haue killed the fat calfe and made him a sumptuous banquet with great musique and ioy The Father makes this answere Luc. 15. â—â— Fili tu semper mecum es My sonne know that I do not this as louing the other more then you You are euer remaining in my house and with my person It will also be reason that you know and esteeme worthily of that which I do for you Is it perhaps a small grace and fauour which I do you in continuing you euer about my selfe The same I say in your case Doth it seeme a trifle for our Lord to keepe you euer with himselfe and in his house It is a greater matter for our Lord to giue you the guift of perseuerance and to keepe you from euer parting from him and falling into sin then if after you were fallen he should lend you his hand as he did to the Prodigall Sonne It is more for him to keepe you from breaking your head then if he should heale it when it were broken If then our Lord with this Prayer which you haue do giue you this of what can you complayne If with this Prayer he giue you great promptitude towards al things which concerne his seruice and great indifferency with intiere resignation towards all the orders of Obedience what can you desire more If with this Prayer God conserue you in Humility and in his feare and in walking warily and in preseruing your selues from occasions out of the dangers of sinne what reason haue you to sigh for more This is that Fruite which you were to gather out of Prayer if it were neuer so high and sublyme And when our Lord were pleased to giue you many gusts and comforts in it to this end you were to addresse theÌ„ all Now this is that which God doth worke in this playne and ordinary Prayer He giueth you the end and the Fruite without those extraordinary meanes of eleuations and gusts and consolations as they find by experience who perseuere in it And therfore
to weary the mind and to dry vp deuotion Hugo of S. Victor bringeth an example of a seruant of God who was admonished by Reuelation Hugo de S. Victore li. 5. erudit Didascalicae c. 7. that he should leaue the Reading of such things and should resort to the Liues and Martyrdoms of Saints and such other plaine deuout writings wherby he profitted much S. Bernard sayth further Bernard Epist seu tract ad fratrem de monte Dei. Sed de quotidiana lectione aliquid quotidie in ventrem memoriae dimittendum est quod fideliùs digeratur rursus reuocatum crebriùs ruminetur quod proposito conueniat quod intentioni proficiat quod detineat animum ita vi aliena cogitare non libeat We are alwayes to commit somewhat to our memory of what we read to the end that we may ruminate digeste it the better afterward Note and especially that which we see may help vs most and wherof we haue most need to the end that betweene the howers of the day we may go thinking vpon good and holy things and not vpon such as are impertinent and vayne Iust so as we must not eate our corporall food to the end that we may spend that tyme in eating but that in vertue of the same foode which then we take we may labour all the day Now Reading is the meat and spirituall foode of our soule because they are the words of God which we Read and we must not only Read that we may spend that tyme well in Reading but to the end that we may profit by it Note all the day after It will also be very well done and it will giue vs great help towards all goodnes that we lift vp our hart to God and desire grace of him to the end that it may be profitable to vs and that the things which we Reade may go imbruing and bathing the very rootes of our hart and that we may remayne more tenderly affected to vertue and more vnbeguiled concerning the vanity of the world resolued vpon those things which import vs most Gregorius And so we read of the blessed S. Gregory that before he went to Reade he euer prepated himselfe by Prayer Psa 118 1â—5 and vsed to say this verse Declinate à me maligni scrutabor mandata Dei mei Departe from me you maligne spirits for I will consider the law and Commaundements of my God To the end that we may more esteeme of this kind of Reading animate our selues more therunto Note the Saints go comparing it with hearing the word of God preached And they say that though Reading haue not that force which the liuing voice hath yet doth it enioy other commodityes which Sermons haue not For first a man cannot alwayes haue a Preacher at hand as he may haue a good booke Secondly the good speach of a Preacher passeth through myne ears at once workes not therfore so great effect in me But that which is well said in a good booke I may reflect vpon and reuolue it in my mind by Reading it once or twice agayne and by ruminating and pondering it and so it will grow to make a great impression in me Thirdly by Reading in a good booke I haue a free and faythfull counsellor And that other Philosopher said well Demetrius Phaler That which many times my friend or my counsellor will not venter to tell me my booke tells me plainly without feare aduertising me of my vices and defects and chiding me on the one side and exhorting me on the other Fourthly by this Reading I am conuersing with them who wrote the booke Sometymes you may go and haue a tyme of conuersation with S. Bernard another with S. Gregory another with S. Basill and you may stand hearing listning to them as truly as if you had beene their disciple of old tyme. And so they say and with great reason That good bookes are a kind of publique treasure for the great benefits and riches which we may drawe from thence To conclude the profit and aduantage which groweth vpon this Reading of spirituall bookes Hieron epist ad Damasum Papam is so very great that S. Hierome treating of that interior inflammation of the soule doth aske where this inflaÌ„mation and fire is And he answereth that there is no doubt to be made but that it is conteyned in holy Scriptures the Reading wherof inflames the soule towards God and so it remaineth purged from all vice And he bringeth for proofe of this that which the disciples said to one another wheÌ„ going to the Castle of Emans Christ our Lord appeared to them in forme of a Pilgrime and went speaking to them of holy Scripture Luc. 24.32 Nonne cor nostrum ardens erat in nobis cùm loqueretur in via aperiret nobis Scripturas Was not say they our hart all inflamed and in fire wheÌ„ he went speaking and declaring the holy Scripture to vs vpon the way And he also bringeth those words of the Prophet Eloquia Domini eloquia casta Ps 11.7 argentum igne examinatum The words of our Lord are chast wordes and pure they are as siluer purifyed by the fire And S. Ambrose affirmeth That this sacred lection is the life of the soule Ambros 15. ser by the testimony of Christ our Lord himselfe Quod autem sacrarum litteraruÌ„ lectio vita sit Dominus testatur dicens Ioannis sexto Verba quae ego locutus sum vobis Ioan. 6.64 spiritus vita sunt The wordes which I haue sayd to you are spirit life To the end therfore that we may lead a spirituall life and that we may walke euer on in true spirit be all kindled and inflamed with the Loue of God let vs giue our selues much to this kind of Sacred Lection and let vs vse it in such sorte as hath been said Now by that which you haue seene it will follow That they do very ill who as soone as they haue Read ouer any good booke do cast it into some corner and say I haue dispatched that booke A good booke is not to be read ouer only once The second tyme that you read it will profit you more then the first and the third then the second Yea and it wil be euer new to you as they finde by experience who desire to profit by Reading And it is a good custome which some haue who when they meete with any thing in any booke which moues them much and giues them particuler satisfaction do note it and set it downe to the end that they may always haue at hand some of the most substantiall things and wherein they may finde the iuyce of deuotion at more ease may haue some comfort in store for such occasions and tymes as may occurre We might bring many Examples Note in confirmation of the great benefit profit August li. 8. confess c.
Note towards the obteyning of an Vnion of the soule with God by the bond of perfect loue and these belong to the Vnitiue way And this they ordayne to the end that euery one may imploy himselfe in that exercise which is most agreable and fit for his owne disposition and state But yet know this the while that how perfect soeuer a man be he may safely exercise himselfe in sorrow for his sinnes and in desiring pardon of God for them and begging grace that he may neuer offend him and this wil be a very good Exercise of his mind and very acceptable to God And both he and that other man who is still procuring but to purge his soule from vice and inordinate affections he also who laboureth to obteyne Vertue may also exercise himselfe in acts of the Loue of God to make that other exercise which he is chiefly about more easy and sweete Therfore all men may imploye themselues sometymes in this purgatiue exercise by making such Acts as these O Lord that I had neuer offended thee Do not permit O my Lord thus euer I may offeÌ„d thee any more Let me dye as much as thou wilt but neuer let me sinne against thee Let is please thy diuine maiesty that I may rather die a thousand deaths them euer commit one mortall sinne At other tymes one may raise his hart to God by giuing him thankes for all his benefits both generall and particuler which he hath receiued or els by begging the gifte of some vertue sometymes profound humility at other tymes perfect Obedience at other tymes Patience at others Charity Agayne at other tymes a man may raise his mind to God by acts of loue and conformity to his most holy will saying this or the like Cant. â— 141 Luc. 22 4â— Psa 72.29 Dilectus meus mihi ego illi Non mea voluntas sed tua fiat Quid enim mihi est in caelo à te quid volui super terram These and such others are very good aspirations and iaculatory Prayers wherby a man may go alwayes in this exercise of the Presence of God Note And they vse to be the best and most efficacious which the hart being moued by Almighty God doth conceaue within it selfe although it be not done in words so well composed and ordered as those which we haue heere set downe And there is also no necessity at all that these iaculatoryes should be many in number For one alone being very often repeated and with great ardour of mind may suffice a man for the going in this exercise may dayes yea and euen all his life Note If you finde your selfe well with alwayes saying those words of the Apostle O Lord what wilt thou haue me do Or those other of the Spouse My beloued to me and I to him Or els those words of the Prophet What haue I to desire O Lord in heauen or in earth but only thee you haue need of no more deteyne your selfe here and entertayne your selfe herein and let this be your continuall Exercise and your going in the Presence of God CHAP. IV. The practise of this Exercise is further declared and heere a way is laid downe of going in the Presence of God very easy very profitable and of much Perfection AMONGST other Aspirations and Iaculatory Prayers which we may vse that one is a very principall one and very much to purpose for the practise of this Exercise 1. Cor. 10â— 31. which is taught vs by the Apostle Saint Paul in his first Epistle to the Corinthians Siue manducatis siue bibitis siue aliud quid facitis omnia ad gloriam Dei facite Whether you eate or drinke or whatsoeuer els you do let all be done to Gods glory Procure Note in all things that you do or at least the most frequently that you can to lift vp your hart to God saying For thee O Lord do I this To content thee and to please thee Because thou wilt haue it so Thy will O my Lord is mine Thy contentment is mine I haue no other will nor no other not-will but that only which thou wilt and that which thou wilt not This is all my delight all my contentment all my ioy the accomplishment of thy will to please thee and there is no other thing but this for which I care nor which I can desire nor which is worth so much as the looking on eyther in heauen or in earth This is a good way of going allwayes in the Presence of God and very easy and very profitable and of much perfection For it is to go in a continuall exercise of the loue of God And because I haue treated hereof else where Tract 3. cap. 8. Tract 8. cap. 4. I will only add in this place that this is one of the best and most profitable wayes of going euer in Prayer of all the wayes that can be thought For it seemes that there wanted no other thing to extoll and canonize this Exercise but only to say that by it we shal be in that continuall prayer which Christ our Lord demaunds of vs in the holy Gospell Oportet semper orare non deficere Luc. 18.1 For what better Prayer can there be then that one should be euer desiring the greatest honor and glory of God and to be euer conforming himselfe to Gods will Not hauing any other eyther will or not-will but that which God will and willeth not and that all his contentment and ioy is the contentment and good pleasure of our Lord God Therfore sayth a learned Doctour Dionis Richel l 1. de contempla cap. 25. and with great reason that he who shall perseuere with care in those affects and interiour desires shall reape so abundant fruite therby that in short tyme he will feele his hart all conuerted and changed and will find therein a particuler auersion froÌ„ the world and a singuler affection to Almighty God This is to begin already to be a kind of Cittizen of heauen and a standing seruant in the house of God Eph. 2.9 Iam non estis hospites aduenae sed estis ciâ—es Sanctorum domestici Dei. These are those Courtiers whome S. Iohn saw in the Apocalyps who carried the name of God written in their forheads which is the continuall memory and Presence of God Et videbunt faciem eius Apoc. 11.4 Phiâ—ip 3.2 Cor. 4.18 nomen eius in frontibus eorum For their conuersation and discourse is not now on earth but in heauen Nostra autem conuersatio in caelis est Non contemplantibus nobis ea quae videntur sed ea quae non videntur quae enim videntur temporalia sunt quae autem non videntur aeterna It is further to be considered in this Exercise Note that when we produce these Acts saying For thee O Lord do I this For thy loue Because thou wilt haue it so the like