will and also all his might and authority What being had the father which the sonne had not what knew the father which the sonne knew not what could the father doe that the sonne could not doe what had the father that the sonne also had not What is it to say that hee loued him tenderly but that the father loued him with most entire loue insomuch that he denied him nothing which he had nor hid nothing from him of that hee did know Let vs leaue off the loue of the Father and let vs speake somewhat of the loue of the mother who loued her precious sonne with a tender heart and wept for him with tender bowels O most sacred Virgine how shouldest thou not loue thy blessed sonne very tenderly seeing that vvhen thou diddest bring him into the world thou vvast young and tender When the Virgine that bringeth foorth a child is tender the child vvhich shee bringeth forth is tender the time also young and tender why should not the loue with which shee loueth it bee also tender If Iacob who had twelue children loued one of them with tender and sweet loue is it to bee thought that the mother of God hauing but one onely sonne would not loue it with most tender and sweet loue and so much the rather because Iacobs loue was deuided into the loue of many sonnes but our blessed Ladies loue was wholly drawne to the loue of one only S. Barnard vpon Missus est saith That there is no loue vpon earth which may not bee waighed and measured excepted only the loue which the sonne of God bare vnto his mother and the mother vnto her sonne the vvhich vvas such that all the Angels could not measure it nor yet all the saints weigh it Anselmus saith That those which are fathers and those which are called mothers cannot loue their children as much as the Virgine did loue hers nor yet they are not bound vnto so great loue because they are bound to loue their neighbours as themselues their brothers as themselues and their God more than themselues Loue which is deuided into so many parts cannot possibly bee equall with that loue which the Virgine bare her sonne Loue that is pure and not fained cannot bee spread abroad but gathered in one not in many but in one not deuided but entire not stroken but heaped vp not for a time but for euer not finding excuses or faults but suffering not suspitious but confident and trusting And he who obserueth not these lawes hath no cause to say that hee loueth These causes ought neither to want in him who loueth nor in him which is beloued for if they doe wee should not call them louers but acquaintance for vnder the law of loue there is neither a defect admitted nor a complaint suffered There is no defect admitted because loue maketh all whole there is no complaint suffered because loue maketh all gentle and mild there is no iniury done because loue dissembleth all there is no sloth in loue because heis watchfull he is not a niggard because he can denie nothing O glorious Queene O the light of my felicity who did euer better keepe these high bonds of loue like vnto thee The blessed mother of God Tenerè diligebat filium suum For being as he was flesh of her flesh bones of her bones bloud of her bloud bowels of her bowels how should she loue him but like vnto her owne entrals Tenerè diligebat filium suum She loued her sonne tenderly seeing she loued him as her sonne she loued him with the zeale due to a bride groome serued him as her husband vsed him as her brother reuerenced him like a father worshipped him as a God Shee loued him tenderly seeing she went to Bethelem and with the teat in his mouth she carried him into Egypt and being a child of twelue years she brought him into the Temple and neuer forsooke him al the time that he went a preaching and that which is most of all to be noted she wept for all his trauails and vexations and with her fingers ends supplied all his necessities And how did shee supply them but by watching in the night and weauing in the day She loued him tenderly seeing shee adored him in his presence she contemplated on him in his absence she succoured him in his necessities shee followed him in his iournies and comforted him in his aduersities What would the child that the mother would not likewise and what did the mother aske that the sonne did not giue her They liued in one house they did eat at one table and that which shee gained with her fingers was common betwixt them and that which was giuen to him for preaching they spent together What should I say more they praied for all sinnes together and they wept for all sinnes together CHAP. II. How that if the loue which the mother bare vnto her sonne was great so likewise the loue which the sonne bare his mother was no lesse and to proue this there is expounded asaying of the Canticles INtroduxit me rex in cellam vinariam ordinauit in me charitatem said the espoused of her espouse and bridegroome talking of rich iewels which hee gaue her and it is as if she would say The light of my eies and ioy of my heart toke me by the hand and led me into the wineseller and told me the order of true loue S. Barnard saith O welbeloued bride why doest thou tel it abroad that thy bridgroom carried thee to drinke into the wineseller taught thee how to bee farther in loue seeing thou shouldest be angry to haue it spoken of and to doe it thou shouldest be ashamed Other brides are wont to goe to the meddowes to gather flowers to gardens to cut fruits to shops to buy gownes to the common places of recreation to visite their friends and doest thou go to the winesellers among the cups Doest thou not know that the noble and fine dame is noted of Incontinency if she smell of nothing but of wine So strange a matter wine ought to be vnto thee O thou bride of the Lord for to thinke of it would be imputed vnto thee for a curiosity to aske for it an euill example to smell of it a fault to drinke it a scandall and to bee dronke a sacriledge Plato sayth That in the glorious times and golden age of the world kinsmen kissed their kinswomen for no other reason but for to know whether they had drunk any wine for if they had they either were put to death for it or banished into some island If Plutarch doe not deceiue vs it was an inuiolable law in Rome that if any Matron of Rome had any necessity to drinke wine either because shee was weake or because shee was sicke the Senate onely should giue license vnto her and she notwithstanding drinke it out of Rome Macrobius saith That two Senators chiding in Rome the one told the other that his wife
deepe wounds S. Barnard vpon the Canticles saith Note well that Christ doth not say thou hast brokē my head but thou hast pierced my heart to let vs thereby vnderstand that all the offences which we commit against him and also all the seruices which wee doe for him doe reach vntill his heart as hee doth loue vs with the heart Anselmus to this purpose sayth Our Lord doth iest with no man nor will not bee iested at by any man and therevpon he loueth vs with all his heart if we be in state of grace and hateth vs with his heart if we bee in his disgrace By reason whereof there is no offence which we doe commit against his Maiesty vvhich goeth not to his heart nor there is no seruice which we do to him but he doth keepe it in his heart Origen sayth The cause why the bridegroome doth complaine vpon the bride and not the bride against the bridegroome is because the soule hath no cause to complaine vpon God and God hath scarse no cause to bee pleased with the soule The bridegroome complaineth that the bride woundeth him in the heart because that one heart cannot be hurt but of another heart because that that cannot be called a fault but that which doth determinatly proceed from the will Then thy heart doth pierce and wound Christs heart when reason doth teach thee that thou shouldest not sinne and yet notwithstanding thy will dooth determine to sinne whereof God dooth not so much hold himselfe iniuried of that which thou doest as of the heart and will with the which thou doest it Thou doest so many times wound Christ as thou doest consent vnto sinne and therefore hee sayth that thou hast wounded his heart because his iniuries and offences proceeded from thy heart It is much to bee noted that hee sayth not thou hast killed my heart but thou hast wounded my heart for seeing that we see some die only because his heart is moued stirred it should be greater reason that they should die hauing their heart wounded If a griefe of the heart be hardly cured how shall that heart bee healed which is wounded If it be so that all the wounds in the heart are mortall and not to bee cured why doth Christ say that his louer had wounded his heart not confesse that he had killed him By this is knowne the difference betwixt offending God and offending man for a man dieth with euery wound because he will neuer forgiue and pardon but holy Iesus doth not complaine that they kill him but onely that they wound him Giuing vs therby to vnderstand that at the same instant when a soule doth repent her of her offences he doth hold himselfe satisfied for that fault What should become of vs if Christ should say that wee doe kill him as hee sayth that we doe wound him What other thing were it to take Christs life away but to sinne without hope of mercy God speaking with the Angell sayth Interfecisti cor meum and speaking with man sayth onely Vulnerasti cor meum because the sinne of the Angell had no remission but the sinne of man obtaineth euery day pardon O good Iesus O creator of my soule how much are wee bound vnto thee in saying that we doe wound thee and not that wee doe kill thee because that by this high speech thou doest let vs vnderstand that the wounds which we giue thee in the heart and the offences which wee commit against thee are as easily cured as they are easily amended Let no man despaire let no man be discomforted in thinking that he shall not bee pardoned and that there is no remedy for his offences seeing that the son of God doth confesse that wee haue not wholly slaine him but only wounded him of which wounds hee then beginneth to be cured when wee begin to amend O infinite goodnesse O great charity of thine O my good Iesus tell mee I pray thee what diddest thou see in my sinfull soule that thou shouldest trust the weapons in her hands which shee may wound thee with and also the medicines with the which shee may cure thee what are the weapons with the which she doth wound thee but the faults which shee dooth commit against thee And what is the medicine with the which shee dooth cure thee but only the amendment of her owne life Christ saith further that the weapō with the which the bride did wound him was one of her eies which she had in her head and with one of her haires which hanged at her throat so that her eies serued her for arrowes and her hair for bindings Origen vpon this place sayth O how tender the heart is which is wounded with the only sight of an eie and what small force and strength he hath who is bound with a hair The heart which is touched of our Lord although he be stronger then Sampson and lighter then Asael yet in louing of God and tasting of Gods holy loue it is easily taken and suffereth himselfe to be bound without resistance We haue two eies in our head to see with and wee haue two eies in our soules to loue with whereof the one is the eie of loue and the other is the eie of feare and when our Lord sayth that wee looke vpon him with one eie hee sayth that sometimes wee serue him with feare and sometimes with loue Men of high perfection doe looke vpon him with the eie of loue and men of lesser perfection with the eie of feare and the difference is that with the sight of the one there is no alteration at all and with the sight of the other she is presently delighted What can there be in the world more sweeter to the tast or wherin our soule may receiue greater recreation thā to fix all our intention to behold and look vpon God and serue him with all our heart When do we look vpon him with one eie only but whē for loue we serue him and not for fear What can Christ speake more tenderly vnto our soule or what more sweeter words can his holy mouth vtter vnto the soule than to say that she had wounded him with one eie and tied him fast with one haire O infinite loue of thine my Creator and Redeemer tell me I pray thee if thou be so easily satisfied with a soule that doth but once behold thee what wilt thou doe by her which doth behold thee euery day and serue thee all her life time S. Barnard sayth He doth bind God with one haire who thinketh on God and nothing else and hee doth wound him with the sight of one eie who loueth him and no other so that it lieth in our owne hands to serue Christ and attaine vnto his blisse and felicitie Trino vni laus FINIS
S. Barnard vpoÌ„ Qui habitat saith O what guards double guards O what watches double watches meÌ„ should put to their poor heart that is Liberality against the world which doth compasse vs with riches Chastity against the flesh which doth enuiron vs with pleasures Charity against the diuel who doth vex vs with malice If we had as great a care in guarding our harts as the diuel hath in fighting with it he shold neuer bring vs into such great disquietnes nor could neuer put vs in such danger and perill If thou wilt hear me tel thee the order of thy perditioÌ„ thou shalt perceiue clearly that it riseth for want of putting a guard ouer thy hart insomuch that at the same instant in which we withdraw the guard froÌ„ our hart presently our coÌ„scieÌ„ce runneth to perdition TheÌ„ the order of our disorder is that the sight breedeth thought thought breedeth delight delight breedeth coÌ„sent coÌ„sent breedeth work the work breedeth custome custome breedeth obstinatioÌ„ obstinatioÌ„ breedeth desperatioÌ„ desperatioÌ„ damnatioÌ„ Would it not be iust to keep a hart manacled fettered which bringeth forth such children nephews who holdeth you O my soul loaden with scrupulosities who holdeth you O my body tormeÌ„ted with trauails but only the towers of wind which my heart breedeth a thousand daÌ„gers into which he casteth himself It is very coÌ„uenieÌ„t saith Anselmus that we keepe our heart in work because that which we shal do may be good keep our tongue very well because that which we shal speak may be iust keep wel our thought because that which we shall think may be clean and pure because our hearts shal be such as our works are Audi popule stulte audiqui non babes cor said God by the Prophet Ieremy in the 5. chap as if he would say Heare my foolish cursed people heare mee people without heart which art come to such perdition that thou wantest reason and hast no heart God could not haue iested at the people of Israel nor giuen theÌ„ a greater scoffe than call them fooles without a heart For seeing that the life of the body is the heart as it is and the life of the heart the soule and God the life of the soule that the life of God is God himselfe what other thing is it to be without a heart than to be naught and vvithout a soule Origen vpon â—eremy saith That God speaketh not of the heart of flesh which is in the breast for this heart no Iew vvanted but God speaketh of holy spiritual hearts with the which vvee serue our Lord and saue our soules in this sence if any one want a heart hee wanteth also reason And if this be true as true it is that the heart is nothing else but reason vvhat loseth he who loseth his heart and vvhat hath hee vvho hath not his heart And therefore there are not any put into the house of innocents or into Bedlem because they wanted a heart to liue with but because they want reason to gouerne themselues with for this cause is not he a verier foole who liueth not according to reason thaÌ„ he who hath his heart molested and troubled Plato saith in his Timaeo If a man doth lose his eies or feet or hands or his wealth we may say of such a one that if he lose he loseth somewhat but hee who loseth his heart reason loseth all for in the wombe of our mother the first thing which is engendred is the heart and the last thing which dieth is the same heart Because wee haue great need of patience in the trauails which we do endure and constancy in the good works which we do take in haÌ„d God doth vs a principall fauour in making vs a stout heart it is also a great punishmeÌ„t of him to make vs of a faint hart Anselmus in his meditations saith O good Iesus O the glory of my soule stop I pray thee stop my ears that I heare not make my eies blind that I see not cut off my hands that I steale not with coÌ„dition that thou wouldst leaue me a wil to serue thee and a heart to loue thee How is it possible that I shold loue thee serue thee with al my hart if thou O sweet Iesus doest let my heart lose it self seeing thou art the God in whom I beleeue the Lord whome I serue and life with which I liue and the heart vvhich I most loue vvhat other thing is it for me to be vvithout a heart than to bee depriued of thee O my good Iesus Vae duplici corde labijs scelestis c said the wise man as if he would say Woe bee vnto that man which hath two hearts to think ill with two tongues to murmure much with and two hands to steale more with and goeth two waies to lose himselfe No man hath two hearts but hee who is malicious no man hath two tongues but hee who cannot rule his tongue no man hath two handes but the couetous man no man goeth two waies but the ambitious man who for to haue more and preuaile more leaueth no way not gone nor any estate not shot at or shakeÌ„ It is sure a new thing not heard of before that the wise maÌ„ dare say that some maÌ„ hath two tongues to murmure much with some two hearts to think much with in this case we dare well say that it is as monstrous a thing to haue two harts as to want one Remigius vpoÌ„ these words saith In things which do hinder the one the other to vndo them is to win theÌ„ to seperate theÌ„ is to flie from theÌ„ to cut theÌ„ asunder is to sow theÌ„ to diminish theÌ„ is to encrease them and to wast them is to better theÌ„ the example of all this may bee giuen in trees which haue many boughes and in a vine which hath many branches whose superfluitie if we doe cut off wee make them grow and the pruning of the vine maketh it fructifie The Prophet Ieremy accuseth Israel because he hath no heart at all and Salomon reprehendeth the malicious man because hee hath two hearts what meane shall we keep then to complie with the one and satisfie the other Hugo de arra anima answereth and saith Seeing our loue ought to be but one and he on whom we ought to bestow our loue should bee but one in like manner the heart with whom we should engage our loue should bee but one because that cannot be called true loue which is scattered into many hearts If we should be permitted by the law of Christ to haue many loues wee should also bee suffered to haue many hearts but seeing it is not permitted to haue more than one loue why would we haue more than one heart He in an Order of religion is said to haue many hearts who remaineth with his body in the monastery and with his will mind wandereth in the
and vs as if he would say If thou bee the Christ which the Iewes hope for deliuer thy selfe from death and quite vs from paine Cyprian vpon the passion of our Lord sayth O that that is a wicked word and a detestable praier which thou O naughty theefe doest vtter with thy mouth when thou doest persuade the son of God to come downe from the crosse for if he do suffer die it is for nothing that toucheth him but for that which toucheth thee and is most expedient for me Why dost thou aske him that hee would saue thee and also himselfe seeing that he suffereth of his owne accord dieth for thy naughtinesse The beginning of this naughty theeues perdition was when he said if thou be the sonne of God and not thou art the son of God in which words it seemed that hee doubted whether hee were the sonne of God or not and so hee doubted in his faith and made a scruple whether he were the redeemer of the world or not and so hee fell into infidelitie which is the highest wickednesse of all other Cyrillus vpon S. Iohn saith That the good theefe said not If thou be Christ neither did S. Peter say I beleeue if thou bee Christ but the one said faithfully Lord remember me and the other likewise said I beleeue because thou art the sonne of God insomuch that no man can be lightened or pardoned which maketh any doubt at all in the faith of Christ The Apostle saith in his canonicall Epistle if any man want wisedome let him aske it of God not doubting in faith as if he would say If any man haue need of any great matter let him take heed that he do not aske it with a faith that is luke warme for if our Lord do not grant vs that which we aske him it is rather because wee know not how to ask him than because hee hath not a desire to giue it Damascen sayth If he who asketh be not a Pagan and that which he asketh bee not vniust and hee who asketh be holy and the place where he asketh be also sacred and he for whoÌ„ he asketh be needy why should he doubt to obtaine it considering that of himselfe hee is so mercifull O good Iesus O my soules pleasure giue me thy grace that I may say vvith the blind man in Ieremie O sonne of Dauid haue mercy vpon mee and keepe mee from saying vvith the naughty theefe if thou be Christ saue thy self and me too seeing that like a true Christian I confesse thy mighty power and call for thy great mercy Christostome saith The naughty theese thought that as Pilate had condemned him for a robber by the high way so he had executed iustice vpon Christ for stirring the people to sedition and that Christ did no lesse esteeme of his life than hee did abhorre death vvherein certainly he vvas much deceiued for he did not so earnestly desire to liue as Christ did desire to die The Iews persuaded Christ that hee should come downe from the crosse and this naughty theefe did also persuade him that hee vvould slie from the crosse that vvhich the sonne of God did not loue to hear of nor would not do for if he had forsaken the crosse all the vvorld should haue beene crucified S. Barnard sayth I doe not desire thee my good Iesus that thou come down froÌ„ the crosse nor that thou slie from the crosse but that thou vvouldest put me there with thee because it would be more reasonable that they should giue sentence vpon me for thee than that they should giue sentence vpon thee for me It may bee gathered of all that which wee haue spoken what great courage we haue need of to begin any good worke and a far greater to finish it for our enemies are ready alwaies about to deceiue vs the flesh to mooue vs men to hinder vs and the world to trouble vs. CHAP. VIII Of the great charity which the good theefe had towards the naughty theefe in correcting him of euill doing and in aduising him of the good which he lost COmmendat deus omnem charitatem suam in nobis saith the Apostle writing vnto the Romanes in the fift chap. as if he would say The God and Lord which I preach vnto you O Romanes dooth commend nothing more vnto you than charity in louing your neighbours with all your heart the which loue you must shew them not so much because they loue you as because they serue God Holy Paule did preach and teach vs many things whereof some were to make vs afeard some to giue vs counsell some to teach vs some to comfort vs as this matter which we now handle the which being wel looked into and read with attention we shal find that hee giueth vs as much as hee hath and loueth vs as much as he ought For the better vnderstaÌ„ding of this speech we must suppose that the loue of God charity and grace go alwaies coupled together in so much that no man can haue heauenly loue without heauenly charity no man can haue heauenly charity but he must haue heaueÌ„ly grace he who hath heauenly grace cannot faile but goe to glory Damascen sayth That Loue and Charitie and Grace are only one gift and the greatest which came from heaueÌ„ is called Grace because it is giuen without any price and it is called Charity because it is high and it is called Loue because it doth ioine and vnite vs with God in so much that when he recommendeth his Charity vnto vs he trusteth his Loue with vs. WheÌ„ our Lord doth commend vs his Loue as a thing left to keepe with vs if we marke it well what else is it but a token whereby we should marke with what Loue he loueth vs and with what Charity he entreateth vs O happy pledge O luckie trust when our Lord credited vs with his eternall Loue his infinite Grace and vnspeakable Charity the which vertues he gaue vs because we should not liue ingratefully with them and that in our death we should buy heauen with theÌ„ When our Lord doth giue vs charge to keepe his Charity what else is that but to doe vs the fauour to giue it vs If he would not haue giuen it vs hee knew well where to keepe it without giâ—ing it vs to pledge but hee saith that hee dooth commend it vnto vs to keepe and not giue it vs because wee should bee very carefull in keeping it and fearefull to lose it because we cannot be saued without it Bede vpon the Apostle sayth One friend can giue to another his iewels of siluer and gold but he cannot giue him the loue which hee hath in his heart for although he can shew it yet hee cannot passe it vnto him but the sonne of God did not onely shew vs his loue but did also giue it vs. He did shew vs his great loue when hee tooke mans flesh vpon him and he doth giue vs his sweet
didst thou goe to the battaile not calling mee with thee and why diddest thou die not taking mee with thee My heart can receiue no comfort nor my eies cease from weeping when I remember how much I was bound vnto thee and call to mind the great loue that passed betwixt vs because that the loue which passed betwixt thee and me was of like quality as the loue which a mother hath when she hath but one child onely It is now to bee noted that for this last word wee haue brought all this story whereby wee may well gather and inferre that the loue which a mother beareth vnto her onely sonne exceedeth all other humane loue For if Dauid could haue found any greater loue vnto a greater hee would haue compared his King Dauid was a very holy man and his sonne Absalon a very bold young youth but in the end when newes came vnto him that Ioab had thrust him through and that he was hanged vpon an oake the poore old man made such pitifull complaint and did shew such griefe for it that euery man did perceiue plainly that he wished himselfe rather dead thaÌ„ his sonne lose his life The which he openly said when he cried aloud My sonne Absalon my sonne Absalon where truly he would willingly haue gone to his graue if his sonne might haue liued God had no better experience to proue the loue which the Patriarch Abraham bare him but to command him to kill his onely sonne which hee had in his house and when the old man had lifted vp his sword to slay the young youth the Angell tooke him by the arme and commanded him to be quiet for now our Lord was satisfied to see that he loued him better than his own son When news was brought to holy Iob how the wise men had robbed him of fiue hundred yoke of oxen and that a flash of lightning from heauen had burnt him seuen thousand sheepe and that the Chaldeans had taken from him three thousand Camels and had put to the sword all the shepheards of his flocke the good man was not grieued at all with it nor vttered any sorrowfull word forir But when the fourth post came to bring him news how they had slaine his sixe sonnes and three daughters in his eldest sonnes house the man of God could not dissemble his great griefe and did shew it more by deed than by word by rending his garments in sunder and cutting his haire from his head and wallowing oftentimes vpon the ground Wee doe not read that the great Patriarch Iacob did weepe in all peregrinations or complaine in all his tribulations vntill hee heard that the wolues in the desart had eateÌ„ his welbeloued sonne Ioseph the which euill news did strike him so near the heart that hee said before his other children that hee would die and goe into hell because hee might haue space and time inough to bewaile his sonne Sunamites the Inne keeper of Samaria and hosâ—esse vnto Heliseus did so much grieue at the death of her sonne which God had giuen her by the praier of Heliseus that shee went weeping like a foole about the fieldes in such manner that neither her husband could bring her in nor the Prophet comfort her The great Priest Heli was so greeued vvheÌ„ it was told him that the Philistims had ouercome the Iewes and taken the Arke and killed his two sonnes Obni and Phinees that he fell from his seat and immediately yeelded vp the ghost The wife of old Tobias and mother vnto young Tobias did weepe beyond all measure and went almost beside her selfe only at the long tarrying which her sonne made in Rages a citie of the Medes vvhether his father had sent him to take vp certaine money and this her griefe was so excessiue that she neuer ceassed to pray vnto God for to keepe him nor she neuer left off weeping vntill she saw him with her eies I haue thought it expedient to rehearse all these examples the better to proue and extoll the loue which fathers and mothers beare vnto their children and how it is not to bee compared with any other loue and how bitterly the Parents weepe not onely for the death of their children but also for their absence Horace saith That to the losse of a child and that of the onely child there can bee no losse comparable vnto it because that causeth griefe at the heart which is loued from the heart Anselmus sayth to this purpose that this fatherly loue is not found onely in men which are reasonable but also in brute beasts for we see the Henne fight with the Kite the Storke with the Goshauke the Mare with the Wolfe the Lionesse with the Ounce the Eliphant with the Rinoceront the Gander with the dog and the Pie with the Cuckow the which fight is not only because they be enemies but because they steale away their young ones S. Ambrose in his Exameron saith That the loue of the father is so great and so excessiue that oftentimes we see brute beasts follow men which haue taken away their yong ones wherein they let vs vnderstand that they had rather be taken themselues than see their little ones taken captiues If a brâ—te beast shew this griefe for his little oues what shall a reasonable man doe When Demosthenes wept bitterly the death of one of his sons another replied vnto him and said that he was a Philosopher it seemeth well said hee that thou hast neuer been a father nor what the loue of a sonne is because that to haue a sonne is the greatest of all loues to lose him the greatest griefe of all griefes To come at the last vnto our porpose what woman did euer loue her sonne as the mother of God did loue hers Ipsum solum tenet mater sua pater eius tenerè diligit eum said the Patriarke Iudas vnto the Patriarch Ioseph his brother as if hee would say O most renowmed Prince Ioseph I and my brothers and my brothers and I doe humbly beseech thee vpon our knees and request thee with many tears that thou wouldest forgiue our yonger brother Beniamin the taking away of the golden flask which was found in his bag because his dolefull mother hath no other son and his old father loueth him with most tender loue These words may better be spoken of the virgin and of her sonne than of Beniamin and his mother Rachel who had more than one sonne although shee knew it not seeing that Ioseph Beniamins brother was aliue the most richest mightiest of all Egypt The eternall father had no other sonne but this alone and the immaculate virgin had no other but Christ only for the father neuer engendred other naturall son but this and the mother neuer brought forth other sonne but this We may very well say of the father that hee did loue his son tenderly seeing hee gaue him all his nature all his wisedome all his power all his
to suffer it or vvhat eies can weepe and bewaile it sufficiently Venient tibi has vna die sterilitas viduitas said God by the Prophet Esay chapter sixteene as if hee would say When thou shalt least thinke vpon it there shall happen two great mishaps vnto thee O Synagogue that is thou shalt bee made a widdow and also barren vvithout a sonne The space of three thousand yeares in which God vvas married vnto the Synagogue hee raised Patriarkes and Prophets continually in her but vvhen the son of God vvas put to death shee vvas put from him like a naughty vvoman and the Church admitted in her place in so much that from good Friday forward vvhen he died on the crosse shee neuer after vvas great vvith any gifts or graces nor neuer brought foorth any holy man Our blessed Lord vvas his mothers bridegroome and deere sonne also and hee vvas so certainely her bridegroome that Ioseph vvas not more hers vvhen hee vvas betrothed vnto her and therevpon it is that vvhen Ioseph died shee vvas not fully a vviddow but vvhen the sonne of God died shee was fully a vviddow Why dooth the Prophet call her a vviddow but by reason of her sonne vvhich shee lost and vvhy doth hee call her barren but by reason that shee had no comfort and consolation O that the Prophet doth rightly call thee barren seeing that in one day and in one houre thou diddest lose thy husband and vvast bereaued of thy sonne But yet thou maiest comfort thy selfe vvith one thing O glorious Virgine that is that thou needest not vveare a mourning vveed though thou bee a vviddow because thee very stones haue broken in sunder and the heauens haue mourned for pure compassion Magna velut mare est contritio tua quis medebitur tibi Sayth Ieremy in his Lamentations as if hee would say thy griefe dooth so much exceed all other griefes as the sea doth exceed all other vvaters because all men can take pitie on thee but no man remedy thee Ieremy doth highly set forth the dolours vvhich the sorrowfull mother suffered on the Mount of Caluary by comparing her vnto the sea vvater because that as there is no drop of water in the sea which is not salt euen so there was no part of the Virgines heart which did not feele griefe and paine Hee calleth the Virgines dolour Contrition that is a kind of brusing or breaking hee calleth it great and hee calleth it a sea which is bitter in so much that as there is nothing which can bee compared to the sea in greatnesse euen so there is no griefe which can bee compared vnto the griefe which the Virgine suffered There are some griefes and sorrowes the which if they bee bitter yet they are not great and if they bee great yet they are not bitter but the Virgines dolour vvas the greatest in the world for it was so bitter that there could bee none so bitter and so great that none could bee greater What could bee more bitter seeing it went to her heart what longer seeing it continued all her life time O that thy contrition was great like vnto the sea for as there is in the sea both calme and tempest so was there in thy heart at one time ioy and sorrow ioy in seeing thy sonne redeeme the world and sorrow in seeing thy sonne die vvithout iustice What sorrow doest thou thinke should that heart feele in the which at one time there did striue sensuality and reason loue and feare liking and dissiking willing and nilling What sea can bee compared in depth or what water in bitternesse vnto the heart in the which is forged at one time a will to redeeme all the world and a will that her sonne should not suffer For as the sea is deepe and large so the Virgines griefe was deepe because it reacheth vnto the heart and great because it vvas of a great matter and bitter because it was the greatest griefe in the world Barnard sayth That as in the sea one waue followeth another and when they are come to the banke they breake against it euen so in the Virgines mind one sorrow ouertaketh another and one grief ouerreacheth another the which both together breake against the Virgines bowels And shee suffered all these anxieties and sorrowes alone because there was none who might take part of them with her nor any man able to giue her remedy for them Quis medibitur tibi as if Ieremy would say O sorrowfull mother and comfortlesse Lady what Phisition is able to cure thy wounds hauing them as thou hast them so farre within thy heart Who shall cure thee O thou of all other the most comfortlesse because the griefes of the heart are such that although they are easie to bee reckoned yet they are hard to bee cured Who shall heale thee O blessed Ladie seeing thy carefull loue is of such qualitie and the wounds of thy sorrow so great that no man can guesse at the curing of them but hee alone who was the cause of them Who shall ease thee of all others the most desolate seeing that the Phisitian which cured the dolours of the heart is now crucified among theeues and malefactors Who shall cure thee O blessed Virgine or who shall make whole thy sorrowfull heart but hee onely in whome thou hast put it seeing wee know that although Gallen and Hypocrates can purge the humors and let the vaines bloud yet they cannot cure the griefes of the mind Who shall ease thy sighes but only he for whome we sigh for Who shall heale thee O my good Ladie seeing that hee is dead on the altar of the crosse for whome thou doest weepe and hee hath yeelded vp the ghost for whome thou doest sigh Who shall heale thee O my sinfull soule if thou hast lost Christ and fallen from grace Thou must now know that thou hast no recompence for so great a losse Ioine therefore O my soule with our Lady and weep with her shee for her sonne and thou for thy losse because that after his resurrection he may comfort her and helpe thee would haue bestowed them all in seeking looking vpon in hearing and in louing and seruing her sonne O who could haue seene thee in that lamentable houre on foot and not sitting hard by the crosse and not farre off looking vpon him with thy sorrowfull eies kissing his feet with thy mouth and receiuing the drops of bloud vpon thy head The scripture doth not say only that shee did stand hard by the crosse but addeth further iuxta crucem Iesu by the crosse of Christ to distinguish the crosse of Christ from the crosse of theeues for it had been no matter whether a man had been on foot or sitting by those crosses Who should come to the crosse of Christ crucified but he who is also crucified And hee who will come to the crosse must liue like vnto them that are on the crosse vpon which they know nothing but how to
Aegypt in the red sea the which two punishments were so famous that our Lord hath not vsed the like vntill this day The sonne of God dooth not complaine of this kind of floud nor wee doe not read that he euer was in danger by water for being Lord of all the waters how is it possible that he should bee drowned in the waters The sonne of God complaineth of stronger flouds than these of more raging seas more salter waters of whose bitternesse none tasted so much of as hee did nor no man went so neere the bottome of them as hee did What waters were they then which compassed the sonne of God but onely most grieuous tribulations which passed through his heart and tormented his body In Scripture by many waters is oftentimes vnderstood many tribulations as when hee said elsewhere Saluum â—â—e facâ—domine quia intrauerunt aquae animam meam as if hee would say Saue me O Lord because I am drowned helpe mee O my great God because the waters ouerflow me because the waters of distresse enter in at my mouth and drowne my dolorous heart O in what great anguish of mind hee was who spake these words for to say that anguish went to his heart was nothing else but to bee grieued at the heart The waters of tribulation and the floud of vexation entred into no mans heart so deepely as into our Sauiours for seeing that we were the cause of them all as he did loue vs from the heart so hee did feele them from the heart It is to bee noted that hee doth not say that the water did wet him or bemite him or make him afraid for all these things doe not kill but onely put vs in feare All the perill of water is that a suddaine streame doe not carry vs away and that our life doth consist in nothing but in the suddaine growing or decreasing of the water Seneca sayth That no man can be in greater danger in this life than hee who seeth himselfe compassed with waters because that at the self same time our soule and life goeth out where the waters goe in and the waters goe out where our soules goe in To what other thing could the son of God better compare his anguish distresse than vnto one compassed about with waters It is to bee noted that he sayth Circumdederunt me Haue enuitoned mee because the water which raineth doth wet onely the water throwne dasheth onely and that which is dronke filleth but that which compasseth on euery side drowneth and therfore Christ saith they haue iuclosed me on euery side saith not they haue wet me because his blessed heart was drowned in the sea of sorrow and his sacred body in the floud of tormeÌ„ts The waters which compassed him about the flouds which fell vpon him were so great that my tongue is not able to rehearse them nor my heart to thinke them nor my fingers to write them nor my eies to bewaile them O good Iesus my soules delight how or when diddest thou see thy selfe enuironed with waters but when thou sawest one member pulled froÌ„ another on the Mount of Caluary O that it is an improper speech to say that thou wast compassed with water seeing that thou mightest with greater reason haue said that thou diddest see thy selfe drowned in bloud because that in that lamentable day of thy death thou diddest want water and flow in bloud It is nor without a deepe mystery and hidden secret that Christ saith that hee was compassed about with water although it were true that he was enuironed with bloud and the reason is because there is no man who is so greatly recreated by drinking a cup of cold water nor taketh so great contentment in it as good Iesus did in shedding his bloud to redeeme the world with it Christ sayth then they haue compassed me about like vnto water because that if he did looke vpward hee saw his Father who would not seeme to heare him if downward he saw but his mother who could doe nothing but weepe for him if hee did looke on the left hand he saw but a thiefe who would not beleeue in him if on the other hand hee saw another thiefe who could not helpe him He was compassed on euery side for if hee should haue looked behind he should haue seene the hangmen watching him and before him the Iewes a mocking him Christ saith they haue coÌ„passed me like vnto a water vpon which words S. Barnard sayth thus O good Iesus O my soules delight what pitty did moue thee what charity did force thee being nailed vpon the crosse loaden with thornes beset about with speares yet thou saiest that thou art compassed with waters Doest thou die vpon the crosse and that with great thirst couldest not get a cup of water to drinke and yet doest thou say that thou art coÌ„passed with water What loue hath transported thee or what goodnesse hath made thee past thy sence that thou shouldest thinke the bloud which issueth from thee should bee water that runneth out of thee What meaneth this O redeemer of my soule what meaneth this Doth thy hard nailes cruell speares grieuous thornes seeme to be fountains of sweet waters The loue which Christ bare vs in suffering was so infinite that all things seemed sweet and pleasant vnto him because it is a priuiledge of loue that nothing seemeth hard and painful vnto him which loueth but that which he doth vnwillingly The sonne of God doth nothing vnwillingly in this world vnlesse it bee when hee punisheth our offences for although he do many things daily being praied thereunto yet hee doth nothing being forced Christ doth complaine also that they compassed him with many flouds of waters comming together for hee sayth Circumde derunt me simul which kind of persecution is no lesse painfull than perillous nor perillous than painefull Plato to this purpose sayth That when griefes and vexations come by little and by little they seeme to bee somewhat tollerable but when they come by heapes they are vntollerable and the reason is because man had no time to foresee such dangers nor place to auoid them Basil vpon the Psalme sayth That griefes and vexations came vpon that most blessed humanity of Christ like a very great water and like many enemies which laid in ambush the which Christ would not nor did not resist nor yet flie away from but only beseech his Father to giue him more strength to endure and abide them Bede sayth in an Homily O that this thy loue which thou diddest shew in this speech of Quare me dereliquisti was vnspeakable and thy charity incomparable for if thou doest complaine to thy Father it was not because he should take away some part of the torment which thou diddest suffer but because hee would not giue thee longer life to suffer more Vbertinus sayth that Christ said very truly when he said that whole flouds of many waters had compassed him round about
bee brought to passe but by his sonnes meanes and he knew also very well that so old a strife would cost his sonne very deerely and notwithstanding all this he gaue his full consent that hee should bee condemned to die And that which most of all did shew his goodnesse and our wickednesse is that the diuels against whome he did plead striue did not giue sentence against Christ but man for whom hee did plead and whose cause he did defend Theophilus dooth seeme to say that it importeth more to say that the father did suffer his sonne to bee crucified than to say that hee doth suffer sinne which appeareth by the Apostle when hee sayth Quòd pro nobu omnibus tradidit illum and hee sayth not Quòd permisit but hee sayth that hee did deliuer and giue his sonne to bee crucified If the father did giue him to be crucified who was able to defend him If we doe giue credite vnto the Prophet Esayas the sonne dooth charge no man with his death and passion sauing only his Father seeing that hee sayth in the Fathers name Propter peccata populi mei percussieum as if hee would say Let no search bee made for the death of my sonne because I was he who stroke him and wounded him and crucified him and buried him because the sinnes of my people could not be clensed but with the bloud of my sonne Dauid was of the same opinion in the 88 Psalm saying thou hast shortened the daies of his life hast thrown his seat vpon the ground Who was able to cut off his daies or cast downe his seat but only he who gaue him life and honored him with a seat All this was figured not onely in Abraham who had drawne his sword to kill his sonne but also in king Moab who for the liberty of the people did kill his own sonne from the top of a wall Origen vpon the Apostle sayth Although it seeme to be a thing against humanity for the father to be a butcher of his owne sonne and make an anatomy of him yet it was no cruelty for the father to make his sonne to die for the redemption of the world but rather a great point of charity because it was decreed from the beginning that as our hurt came by disobedience so our bulwarke and defence should bee by obedience Theophilus sayth God left his sonne in the hands of death with an intention that because that if shee did set vpon him without cause hee should loose the right which he had vpon others and so it befell vnto him for because hee ventered vpon him who was iust hee lost his action against him who was a sinner S. Augustine vpon S. Matthew saith There were at Christs death first Christs father and then the sonne the Lieutenant Pilate Iudas the Disciple and all the people of the Iews and as they were all of diuers conditions so they were of diuers intentions Pilate gaue sentence on him for feare Iudas sold him for couetousnesse the Iews slew him by malice the Father deliuered him for charity and the sonne offered himself to die with pittie and he sayth further Doe not say O you Iewes doe not say If hee be the sonne of God let him come downe from the crosse for you would haue crucified him long before that time if his Father had not denied you him afterward whē he would and how hee vvould hee deliuered him vnto you What did Pilate in the death of Christ but sinne what did Iudas in the passion of his Maister but sinne what did the Iewes in crucifieng Christ but sinne The passion of Christ our redeemer the Father permitted the sonne suffered the holy ghost approued in so much that wee bee not bound for our redemption vnto those who put him to death for to reuenge their iniuries but vnto those who suffered it to redresse our faults O how much we owe vnto God the Father for his clemency seeing that because hee would not punish my offence in my selfe he punished his own sonne for it not according vnto his innocency but vnto my great offence the which his holy sonne did lay vpon his owne shoulders to the intent to disburden me of it Anselmus in his Meditations saith Say O my soule say with the Prophet I am he who sinned I am hee who haue offended thee I am hee who hath sinned for the Lambe thy sonne what hath he done Let thy fury bee turned against me O Father who haue committed the fault and not against thy sonne who is without spot and let not the cruell speare of yron pierce his heart who can doe nothing but loue and let him enter into my heart who can do nothing but sinne O fatherly affection and fauour neuer heard of before what is there in me to giue thee or what is there in all the world to serue thee with seeing that for to seeke out him vvho vvas lost to redeeme him vvho vvas sold to vnlose him vvho vvas bound and deliuer him out of captiuity who was taken prisoner thou diddest make thy owne sonne captiue O infinite goodnesse and vnspeakable clemency what pittie did constraine thee or vvhat charity did ouercome thee that to giue light vnto the blind to heale the lame put him in the right way who went astray to make cleane the vncleane to lift him vp who was fallen and pardon him who had offended thou wouldst not pardon thy owne sonne What priesthood can bee compared vnto thy Priesthood or what sacrifice is like vnto thy sacrifice seeing that in old time they did offer nothing vnto the Priest but some liue beast for the sins of the people and thou diddest not offer but thy own proper sonne The sonne then hath great occasion to complain of his Father saying Why hast thou put me contrary vnto thy self seeing that he commanded that sonne which hee loued best to die for those which most of all did hate him He followeth this matter in a morall sence FActus sum mihimet ipsi grauis sayth Iob as we haue already said Although saith hee I complaine of many yet I complaine of none more than of my selfe and although many things doe wage battaile against me yet I am the greatest enemy vnto my selfe Origen vpon this place sayth It is a thing neuer heard of and a very strange complaint for although a man bee neuer so culpable yet he desireth to excuse himselfe and accuse others Irenaeus in a Sermon sayth We fall euery day and stumble and sinne yet notwithstanding all these faults no man dooth confesse himselfe to bee naught nor acknowledge his brother to bee good Petrarch sayth That men complaine of the sea that it is dangerous of the aire that it is corrupt of his friend that he is a dissembler of the time that it is troublesome and yet I see no man sayth he who complaineth of himselfe therfore wee are like vnto young gamesters which neuer blame their owne play
a new married spouse to bed but the fire of thy diuine loue which shined in her What made those stones seeme vnto S. Steuen hony comoes but that holy loue which burned in his soule Iguis erat calefaciebat se O vvhat a difference there is betwixt the fire which Christ brought downe from heauen and the fire which Cayphas hath in his pallace For S. Peter warming himselfe at it of a Christian became a Pagan S. Paule warming himself at Christs fire of a Pagan became a Christian God send me of Christs fire seeing it doth make me know him and God keep Cayphas fire from me seeing it doth make me denie him For if S. Peter had not warmed himselfe at Cayphas fire the wench would not haue importuned him nor he denied Christ not haue lost the confession of the catholicke faith The Euangelist sayth that Petrus calefaciebat se that is That Peter did warm himselfe at the fire but he sayth not that the fire was able to take his cold from him and therefore the fire which the world hath for her worldlings is such that they are but few vvhich warme themselues at it but many which waxe cold by it S. Peter being from the fire said vnto Christ Tecum paraui iam in mortem me and by the fire he said Non noui heminem in so much that being at supper with Christ he did burne and being at Cayphas fire he was a cold The sonne of God then seeing that there was not below in the world heat which could recreate nor fire which could burne nor light vvhich could comfort nor flame which could giue light nor any thing which might content he brought from heauen with him the fire of his holy loue with the which wee should all be enflamed all lightened and all contented The son of God would neuer haue said I came to put fire on earth if hee had seene that there had been the true fire of his loue vpon the earth but seeing that the fire of the world doth burn and not heat hurt and giue no light wast and not burne grieue and not cheere burn and not purifie smoke and not shine he remembred to bring a fire which should heat all the world Woe be vnto him which will not warme himselfe at this fire and woe be to him who will not receiue light at the flames of his loue because that the only perfection of our saluation dooth consist in offering our selues to God and in louing him with all our heart It is much to be noted that Christ brought at one time fire to burn a sword to cut mēs throats seeing he saith Ignem veni mittere in terram and also Non veni pacem mittere sed gladium to let vs vnderstand that hee brought fire with him with the which his elect should serue him with loue a sword of the which the imperfect should haue feare Hee burneth with liuely flames who serueth God with loue and his throat is cut who serueth God with feare and not vvith loue Whereupon it is that in the arke of Noe there were many little roomes and in the house of God many dwelling places so also in the Catholicke church there are diuers maners of seruing of God he doth serue God much better who serueth him with loue than he who followeth him for feare but in fine so as we doe not offend our Lord be it with loue or be it with feare let vs alwaies serue him He is happy who suffereth his throat to be cut with the knife of feare but he is very happy who goeth to warme himselfe at the fire of his loue for the feare may be so great that he may erre in that which he taketh in hand but he who loueth him much cannot erre in that which he doth According vnto Ouid he cannot erre who loueth a good thing nor there can bee no errour where there is perfect loue Cyrillus sayth If the Synagogue did highly esteeme of the sword with the which Dauid did cut the Giant Golias throat wee which bee Christians ought much more to esteeme of the fire of loue with the which Christ did redeeme vs because it was his loue onely which gaue vs the hope of his glory and ouer our death the victory Leo sayth in a Sermon If they aske the sonne of God what he brought from heauen hee will say loue if they aske him what Art he knoweth he will say loue if they aske him what he is he will say diuine loue if they aske him what hee would haue vs to doe for him hee will say nothing but loue him Basil sayth O what great difference there is betwixt the seruing of God and seruing of the world for the world would haue vs serue him with our person flatter him with our tong giue him of our wealth and also venter for him our soules but the sonne of God is farre from asking any of these things of vs for he seeketh no more of vs but that wee answere the loue which he dooth beare vs and be gratefull for the benefites which he doth bestow vpon vs. Si obtuleris primitias frugum tuarum domino de spicis adhuc virentibus torrebis eas igui God spake these vvorder vnto Moises and then commanded Moyses to proclaime them before all the people as if he vvould say When the Summer shall come and the haruest draw neere if the eares of the first fruits vvhich they offer vnto God should be greene and not drie see thou drie them first in the fire before that thou offer them in the temple Isidorus sayth The giuer of the law to commaund that they should offer the first fruits of all their harnestes and to command them that they should not offer them vp greene but drie and to command that they should not bee dried in the sunne but at the fire and that they should be throughly dried but not burned the Scripture would neuer haue set downe this so particularly vnlesse there had been some my stery contained vnder it Origen vpon Exod. saith That because in holy writ there is no blot to scrapeout nor no letter to be added we must so interpret that which God speaketh that which the law ordaineth that without wresting of the letter vvee may apply it vnto our learning What other thing is it to offer vnto God the first fruits of our corn but to present before him al our desires who dare begin any heroical work vvho doth not first cōsult vvith God cōmend it vnto him vnles they had first craued the fauour of the God Iupiter the Gentiles durst not so much as vvrite a letter darest thou which art a Christian not asking for Gods grace enterprise any thing he stealeth his first fruits frō God vvho taketh any thing in hand not recōmend himselfe vnto God he paieth his first fruits vnto our Lord vvho vvithout his holy grace beginneth nothing for it is hee only vvho vvill
sinne and wickednesse in hell so also there is nothing but naughty and wicked men Wee are much more bound vnto our Christ than Samaria vnto their king Iehu because that that king did only rid Samaria of naughty men but the sonne of God made cleane purged all the earth from sinne Who are the children of Achab whose heads king Iehu cut off and who are the priests of Baal which the also slew but Idolatry which hee tooke away from the Gentiles and the Mosaicall law which hee tooke from the Iewes What is the charriot which the son of God went vp into to accomplish such high and strange things but onely the crosse vpon the which our holy Lord attained such and so many great victories It is to be noted that the king Iehu did not aske Ionadab whether their apparell were alike or neat of one fashion but if they loued one another alike to let vs vnderstand that without comparison our Lord doeth much more regard the loue which wee beare him than the seruices which wee doe him Saint Basil vpon the Prophet which saith Bonorum meorum non eges Thou wantest not of my goods saith I see wel my God I see well that how much the more need I haue of thee the lesse thou hast of me and if thou hast need of mee it is not in respect of the goods of fortune but the loue of my mind Note also that the king of Israel and no other tooke Ionadab by the hand to lift him vp into the charriot whereby we are to vnderstand that onely the sonne of God no other Saint of heauen is able to giue vs grace to loue him giue vs strength to follow him Who is able to follow thee or hath power to imitate thee O redeemer of the vvorld if thou doe not first stretch out thy hand vnto him who is able to lift himselfe vp vnto the charriot where thou doest triumph or vnto the crosse whither thou goest to die if thou doe not take vs by the arme to lift vs vp and if thou doe not hold vs by the hand least wee fall How had it beene possible for Mary Magdalen to haue forsaken her prophane life or Matthew his renting of custome or Paul his persecution or the thiefe his assailing of men by the high vvay if the sonne of God had not taken them by the hand and lifted them vp vnto the crosse with him When in the holy scripture by the feet are vnderstood good purposes and desires and by the hands good works what meaneth he by giuing Ionadab his handes and not his feet for to mount into the chariot but that our good Lord doth rather take hold of the good works which wee doe then of the good purposes which wee haue Gregory in his Register saith If thou wilt get vp vpon the chariot of the crosse with thy captaine Ionadab thou must not get vp with thy tongue which are good words nor with thy feet which are good wishes and purposes but with thy hand which are good deeds because S. Iohn dooth not say Veebaâ—ecoruÌ„ Their words nor Desideria coruÌ„ Their desires but Opera corum sequuntur illes Their works follow theÌ„ It is also to be noted that the king of Israell would not suffer the captaine Ionudab to goe vp into the chariot to him vntill hee had certified and assured him that hee was his true friend in so much that they vnited their hearts before they ioined their hands After the â—â—itation of these two friends we must haue amity and loue with Christ if we wil haue him to helpe vs vp into the chariot and the amity and friendship which wee ought to haue with him is to loue him as hee loueth vs for Christ our Lord will first bee loued of vs then serued by vs. S. Basil saith That if any maÌ„ did labor in the church of God and take pains and forgetteth to loue wee may well say of such a one that he shall not only not bee accepted but that God will thinke him also importunate and troublesome because God will not be serued by men of greatstrength such as are forcible but of such as are free of heart And further the king of Israel was not content to ask Ionadabs heart but that hee should giue it him vpright sincere and entire which Christ also demandeth of vs because the son of God will neuer take him for his friend who hath his heart crooked sinister and not vpright And who hath his heart vpright and sincere but the seruant of our Lord and hee which hath no other thing in this world nor seeketh after any thing but onely Iesus Christ Who is hee who hath his heart crooked and awry but hee who is without life who hath care neither of Christ neither of himselfe but goeth euery houre more and more sinking and as it were drowned in the world Dauid knew this very wel when he said Cor mundum crea in me deus spiritum rectum innoua in visceribus meis as if he would say O great God of Israel O great Lord of the house of Iacob I beseech thee that thou wouldest create a new heart in mee and fauor me with the gift of a new spirit which may be both right and true for the heart which I brought from the womb of my mother is such a one as I dare not offer it vnto thee nor he dareth not appear in thy presence because it is vnclean with sinne and loaden with thoughts and care O good Iesus O my soules hope what better praier can I make vnto thee or what iuster petition can I make vnto thee then that thou wouldest create a new heart in mee That is that you wouldest giue mee a cleane heart with the which I may praise thee and a new spirit with the which I may loue thee Giue me O good Lord giue me a new spirit because mine is old vnpleasant vnto thee giue me a cleane and a chast heart because mine is foule and stinking before thy face for if thou do not no praier of mine can bee acceptable vnto thee nor no worke that I doe can bee meritorious vnto thee Cassiodorus noteth That king Dauid was not content that hee was noble in bloud a Prophet by office a king in degree and in surname and calling of a roiall tribe but he asketh of God aboue all things that hee would giue him a cleane heart and poure the holy ghost into him to let vs vnderstand that it doth little auaile vs to bee gratefull vnto the world if withall wee bee hatefull vnto God Then wee are hatefull vnto God and out of his sauour vvhen our hearts bee vncleane and loaden with many spirits and then wee haue many spirits when vvee please others better then wee please God Which the Prophet liketh not but praieth vnto God that it would please him to giue him a cleane heart to beleeue in him and an vpright to serue him Why
irae dei vsque ad faeces said the Prophet Esay speaking with Israel as if he would say Rise vp O Ierusalem rise vp O Synagogue seeing that of meere drunkenesse thou art fallen vpon the earth considering that thou hast dronke the cup of the anger of God vnto the very bottome and dregs The sonne of God the night before his passion being at his praiers in the garden of Gethsemani when all the torments which he was afterwards to suffer came vnto his mind and the torment of the death which hee was to endure said vnto his eternall father Pater sivis transeat a me talix iste as if he would say My eternal and holy father I ask thee as thy son and beseech thee as thou art my father that thou wouldest consent that all those of my church may also drink of this cup of bitternes The doubt now is that seeing the cup that Israel tasted of was frō as good a God as the cup that Christ drank of why the cup that Christ drank of was approued liked the cup that Ierusalē drank of misliked disallowed The one was a cup the other a cup the one was of bitternes and the other was of ire the one fell to the synagogue the other to the church the one was of God the other was of God seeing it is so why do they threatē Israel for that which hee drunk and praise Christ for that which he supped vp The better to vnderstand this point we must vnderstād that there are two kind of cups or chalices in the holy scripture To wit the one which is called the chalice of bitternesse the other which is called the chalice of ire and the difference betwixt thē is that by drinking the one we appear betimes in the morning in Paradise by drinking the other we go down at night vnto hel What is the cup of bitternesse ful of but with hunger cold thirst persecution temptation all which things our Lord giueth to drinke vnto all those which hee hath chosen to serue him and vnto all those whom he hath predestinated vnto saluation S. Gregory in his Morals saith That it is a sign that he is predestinated to be saued vnto whom God giueth his cup of bitternes to drink in so much that we cannot escape grieuous hels vnlesse it be by the cost of great trauails It is to be noted that Christ said not vnto his father that he wold not drink of the cup neither yet did he offer himself to drink vp al but he praied him only by speciall grace that others might help him to drink it for if he should alone haue dronken the cup of bitternes he alone should haue entred into Paradise O giuer of all goodnes O distributer of al fauors what hadst thou that thou didst not cōmunicate vnto vs or what didst thou possesse that thou didst not deuide amongst vs Thou hast giuē vs thy body to eat thou hast giuen vs thy bloud to drink thou hast giuē vs thy law to keep thou hast giuē vs thy hart to loue thou hast giuē vs thy cup to tast thou hast giuē vs thy glory to enioy Anselmus saith That in the vain pallaces of the world those are thought to be most familiar which are most of all made much of by their Lord but in the company house of God those are best beloued which are worst handled insomuch that we wil say him to be his familiarest friend whom we shall see to drinke oftenest of his bitter cup. O high mystery O diuine Sacrament when the sonne of God did weepe teares from his eies in the garden and did sweat bloud from his body hee did not aske that his chosen flocke might bee cockered and made much of but only that he wold let thē sup some sup of his bitter cup. What else was S. Peters crosse S. Andrews crosse likewise Bartolomewes knife S. Laurence grediron S. Steuens stones but certain pledges which they receiued of Christ certain bitter sups which they dranke of his chalice Hilarius vpon S. Matthew saith That how many more sups a man hath supped in this life of Christs cup so many steps the higher shall hee bee in heauen in glory for what cause we ought to entreat and aske earnestly that if we cannot drink al his cup yet that he would let vs at the least rast of him with his elect S. Ierome sayth also That although the cup which Christ left his elect bee somewhat bitter in drinking yet after that it is drunke it is sauerous and profitable because the trauels of this world doe not giue vs so great griefe and paine when wee suffer them as they bring vs delight after we haue suffered them It is also to bee noted that hee sayth Transeat a me calix iste that is He would not haue his bitter cup turne backe againe but goe on forward wherby he giueth vs to vnderstand that the merit of his passion and the bloud of our redemption should not be bestowed vpon them which euery day goe worse and worse vntill the end but onely vpon them vvhich euery day grow better and better This word of Transeat Let this cup passe is a high word and worthy to bee marked in the which and by the vvhich our good Iesus doth admonish and warne vs that those shall not drinke of his cup of bitternesse enter vvith him into glory which hauing been good turn in the end to be naught but only those vvho being naught proue to be good nor those vvho vvhen they should go forward from vertue to vertue turne backward and perseuere in vices because that among the seruants of our Lord he vvho doth not profit doth disprofit There is no rich mā in this world which doth set so much by his wealth as Christ doth by his chalice of bitternesse and therfore seeing that he commandeth that his cup should passe further that those should drink of him vvhich doe go forward the seruant of our Lord ought to take pains to make himselfe better and to go forward not in ambitiō which doth tēpt him but in deuotiō which he doth want O good Iesus O my soules cōfort Let this cup go not frō me but to me because we may tast of thy pains trauels feel thy griefes weep for thy tormēr enioy thy loue wash away my wickednes insomuch that whē thy cup doth passe frō thee it may light vpon me Let euery mā make his prouision of wines of Illana of Candie of Dania yet I for my comfort and deuotion doe aske of God that all the daies of my life I may deserue to drinke of that bitter cup one drop There is another cup which is called the cup of the wrath and ire of God of the which when I begin to speake my bowels open my heart is troubled and my soule is sorrowfull my flesh trembleth and my eies also weepe How is it possible that
loue when he doth impart his grace amongst vs insomuch that with the first loue hee deliuered vs from being slaues and with the second loue he receiued vs to be his sonnes In figure of all this the altar of the Synagogue was all hollow but the altar of the church is massie and sound by reason of the feruent loue which God beareth vs and great charitie and mercy which hee doth vs. It is much to bee noted that God doth not commend vnto vs Faith Hope Patience and Chastitie but only Charitie in which words hee giueth vs to vnderstand that if we doe set much by that which our Lord giueth vs we ought to esteeme much more of the loue with the which hee doth giue it vs. Isidorus sayth That all the courtesies which our Lord doth promise vs and all the persuasions vvhich hee vseth vnto vs are to no other end but because vve should bee thankfull vnto him and because vve should be mercifull vnto our neighbours What vvanteth hee vvhich vvanteth not Charity and what hath he who hath no Charity The mercifull and pitifull man hath God alwaies at his hand that he fall not from his faith that hee lose not his hope that he defile not his chastity nor despise humility for in the high tribunall seat of God no man need to feare that they will deale cruelly with him if hee hath had any charity in this world Wherein doest thou thinke saith S. Ierome that all Christian charity doth consist and al the health of thy soule but only in seruing of Christ with all our heart and in labouring to profit and benefit our neighbour What greater good can I doe vnto my brother than put him in the right way if hee be out and correct him if hee bee naught Bede sayth vpon this matter That true and chast loue may bee deuided betwixt God and our neighbour so as our neighbor be not prowd and naught for if he be so we are to wish his saluation and flie his conuersation Wee haue spoken all this to declare the great charity which this good theefe had and also vsed towards the naughty theefe seeing that vpon the crosse hee taught him that which was conuenient for him reprehended him in that which he spake Neque tu times deum qui in eadem damnatione es said the good theefe vnto the bad as if he would say O my friend and companion I wonder much at thee that hauing beene of such a naughty life and conuersation and being vpon the very point to die I say I maruel that thou darest to crucifie this holy Prophet more with thy tongue than the hang men doe with their nailes because the nailes doe open his vains but thy euill tongue doth rend his entralls The good theefe vsed but few wordes but they contained many mysteries and therefore it is needfull that they be read with attention and written with grauity It is to bee noted that although our Lord God be present in all things with his power yet hee is much more in mans heart and tongue by grace because those are the two parts with the which we doe most of all please or offend God with S. Aug. saith That the eies doe loth oft to see the ears to hear the hands are loth to work the feet to go yea the body to sinne but the heart is neuer weary of thinking nor the tongue with speaking Cor mundum crea in me deus pone custodiam ori meo said the Prophet Dauid as if he would say I beseech thee O good Lord that thou wouldest renue this heart within me put a watch vnto this mytongue because that al the other parts of my body can but trouble offend me but the heart tongue can trouble me damne me S. Ambrose saith That it is a certein token that we are in Gods fauor when he doth giue vs grace to keep our hearts clean our tongues brideled because the foundation of all Christian goodnes is to beleeue our Lord God with all our hearts praise him with our tongue Ego dabo eis cer nouuÌ„ said God vnto Israel I will open thy mouth said God vnto Ezechiel as if he would say I will lighten thy heart O Israel to the end that thou maist beleeue in me and I will open thy mouth O Ezechiel to the end that thou maist preach my name for thou hast obtained no small gift if thou come to know me learn wel to set forth my name To come theÌ„ vnto our purpose the grace of a new heart which God gaue vnto Israel and the gift of praising his name which he gaue Ezechiel Christ also gaue vnto the good theef which was neer vnto him seeing he touched his heart with the which he beleeued in him opened his mouth with the which he preached his name Vbertinus saith That this good theefe was an excellent preacher in the church of God who in a sort seemed to goe before the Apostles in faithfully beleeuing and preaching Christs might and power What greater maruell wouldst thou haue the bloud of Christ worke saith Rabanus thaÌ„ to make preachers of theeues robbers the pulpit in the which hee preached was the crosse the preacher was the theâ—f the holy one of whoÌ„ he preached was Christ the church where he preached was Caluary the audience before whom he preached were the Iews the Theame vpoÌ„ which he preached was Neque tu deum times Neither doest thou fear God and that which there hee preached was the setting forth of Christ and the reprehending of that which his fellow spake The office of a preacher is saith Saint Gregory Secreta reserarae vitia extirpare virtutes inserere The duty of a preacher is to open the secrets of the scripture extirpate vice out of the Commonwealth and teach how our soules are to be saued What greater secret can there bee than to confesse and preach a man crucified to bee God Who reprehended vices like vnto this theefe seeing that hee confessed himselfe to be a sinner and accused the other theefe to bee a blasphemer who did teach the way to heauen better thaÌ„ this theef seeing hee was almost the first that went thither The good theefe deuided his sermon into foure parts the first was when hee rebuked the other theefe when hee said Neque tu deum times the second when hee accused himselfe to bee naught saying Nos quidem iustè patimur The third when he excused Christ saying Hic autem quid mali fecit The fourth when hee craued pardon for his sinnes Domine memento mei Lord remember mee Seeing then that the preacher is but a new preacher the pulpit new and the thing that he preacheth new it is reason that wee should heare that which hee preacheth with attention and do that which he counselleth with great deuotion Auferetur zelus meus ate quiescam ne irascar amplius said God by Ezechiel chap.
haue to serue our Lord is rather baslard will than a lawfull will for to tell the troth my brother wee haue more skill in sinning than in louing The good theefe would not so plainely teach the euill theefe the art of loue as hee did the duty of feare partly because the time was too short to learne so high a matter as then being in great torment and neer vnto death and partly because the quality of mans mind is easily induced to feare and very slowly to loue O vnto how many may wee say now adaies that which the good theefe said vnto the other that is neither thou doest feare God letting them to vnderstand by these words that they neither feare God nor loue God nor serue God nor yet remember whether there bee a God considering they let no sinne vndone vnlesse it bee because they dare not or because they cannot What friend is there in this world which giueth his brother such brotherly correction What friend dare tell his friend take heed brother for thou art prowd or ill-tongued or a babbler badly beloued and euery man marketh thy doings S. Barnard vpon those words of Ieremy Omnes amici eius spreuerunt eum c sayth Woe be vnto me O my good Iesus woe be vnto me because that all the holy maisters which brought me vp are now dead all my faithful friends which were wont to giue me counsell are now gone and if I haue any left they rather couer my faults than correct them There are few good theeues left to correct mee and many naughty friends to hide my faults and which cannot be said without teares which art not content only to hide my sinnes but also are ready to entise mee to sinne A certaine man of Athens asking Plato wherein he should shew his friendship vnto him answered him Thou shalt aduise me of all that I shall speak amisse and helpe mee in all that I shall doe amisse because the duty which I require of my friend is that he would helpe mee to be vertuous and hinder me from being vicious There are but few friends which doe this and very few which aske this of their friends for there are few which will haue those for their friends which may and will correct them for the enormities they doe but defend them in the vices they commit What doth it auaile me if my friend deliuer mee from my enemies which lay wait for me if he deliuer me vnto vices which kill me We see that one theefe doth correct another from the crosse and yet one Christian will not correct another but will rather be vicious betwixt themselues than breake the friendship which is betwixt them Nonne qui oderunt te domine oderam inimici facti sunt mihi said Dauid in the 138 Psalme as if hee would say O great God of Israel and mighty Lord of the house of Iacob one of the duties which I haue done for thy seruice is that all the daies of my life I haue hated those which loue not thee I haue vtterly disliked those which followed not thee I went from them which loued not thee yea I did flie from him which serued thee not Cassio dorus vpon these words sayth Thou hast great reason in that which thou saiest and greater in that which thou doest O renowmed and gracious king Dauide for if naughty men had no cōpanions to helpe them and wanted friends to bandy for them in short time wee should see them ended or amended That one friend doe not helpe another in matters touching his wealth it may be born but not to counsell him in things concerning his conscience may not be endured for if the matter doe offend God and endanger our conscience we should neither suffer our father who engendred vs nor yet consent with friend or brother who loueth vs. Nathan did rebuke Dauid Samuel Saul Micheas Achab Helias Iezabel S. Iohn Herod and S. Paul S. Peter not for any thing that they had done against themselues but for that which they had committed against God because we should know that we ought to hold him for an enemy who is not beloued of God How wilt thou haue God for thy Lord and friend if thou bee a friend vnto that that he detesteth We haue great need to say with the Prophet Did I not hate those which did hate thee and they are become my enemies For to tell thee the truth my brother thou canst neues rightly Ioue vertue and vertuous men vnlesse thou doe first detest vice and vicious men For as Seneca sayth Hee shall neuer or very late bee good who will haue a naughty man for his friend S. Augustine vpon S. Iohn sayth What greater maruails wouldest thou see or heare thā those which the sonne of God did at his death where preachers became theeues theeues turned to be preachers Wicked Iudas was a preacher and he became a theefe and hee who suffered with Christ was a theefe and he became a preacher and as they tooke new offices so they ended in diuers effects for the one sold Christ in the temple and the other excused Christ vpon the crosse Who was the last theefe of the Synagogue and the first preacher in the church but that holy theefe which suffered by Christ Who made a Sermon of greater weight than this theefe did considering that in the presence of all men and against them all he accused himselfe and excused Christ Hic autem quid malifecit These are the words not of a Pagan but of a Christian as if he would haue said Who euer being God made himselfe a man eternall made himselfe temporall being infinite limited his power and being a iudge suffered himselfe to bee iudged What hurt did he Who taught those which knew little who set those aright which went astray who did comfort those which wept who did pardon those which did offend What hurt did he He who did restore the deafe vnto their hearing fed the hungry gaue sight vnto the blind and raised the dead to life What hurt did he He who preached vnto the Samaritane woman defended the woman taken in adultery and hee who helped the Cananean and forgaue Mary Magdalen What hurt did he Hee who preached the faith taught the law opened the Prophets and hee who put vp a schoole throughout all the world Quid mali fecit what harme had he done He who made vs a path-way to walk in a truth to hold by a life to liue by and glory for vs to enioy What hurt did he He who endured hunger because I might eat took great iournies because I should take rest and who suffered because I should not bee endangered and hee who died because I should liue What hurt did he O cursed Israelites O forsaken Iewes what hurt hath hee done vnto your Synagogue who neuer ceaseth to doe good vnto all the world If hee could haue beene accused to haue done any hurt it was because he had done so
seruices done vnto him by increasing their wealth or prolonging their daies or deliuering them from warre or sauing them from plague O happy speech This day thou shalt bee with mee in Paradise because that all which God gaue from the beginning of the world was as it were from the tiles of our house downewards but that which he giueth now is from the heauens vpward that is such a gift as no tongue is able to expresse Do tibi partem vnam extra fratres tuos said Iacob vnto his sonne Ioseph when hee was at the point of death as if hee would say For the troubles which thou hast endured with this mystery was that when the children of Israel saw the sea before them which they could not passe ouer and the Egyptians behind them who came with intent to sley them they began to complaine of Moises and in his prefence crie out aloud why he had brought them out of Egypt where they had their sepulchres and lead them into the desarts where they should bee eaten vp of wild beasts Moyses seeing himselfe in such a narrow strait spake not one word vnto our Lord but began to weepe and with his heart only to pray vnto God and commend himself vnto him which praier was of such great force efficacy that it seemed to moue God greatly to condiscend vnto that which hee had asked him Good Moises did pray yet did not crie he wept and yet spake not he sighed and made no noise hee desired and entreated not and hee hoped and yet hee did not importunately vrge This was a high kind of importuning by not importuning and a high kind of asking in not asking for to obtaine that which wee desire at Gods hands sighing is better than crying out more is gotten by offering vnto him tears than by speaking many words S. Gregory in his Morals sayth That God did not beare false witnesse against Moises in saying that he did importune him in not importuning him and that he astonied him by crying he not crying at all because there is no higher kind of asking than by praying nor any sweeter manner of speaking with God than by weeping Barnard sayth How is hee not busie who is busie with his heart and what doth not he obtaine who asketh with tears S. Augustine vpon the Apostles words saith That our Lord doth oftentimes heare the heart when hee praieth although the tongue doe not speake outwardly but hee neuer heareth the tongue which speaketh outwardly if the heart doe not pray inwardly because our Lord is neerer vnto the heart with the which we loue him than vnto the tongue with the which we speak vnto him Our Lord had great reason to say vnto Mâ—ises Quid clamas ad me What doest thou cry vnto me for Because he had more respect vnto the tears which Moises wept than vnto the cries which the people made and so he regarded more that which Moises desired with silence than that which the people demanded with a noise What meaneth this O great God of Israel what meaneth this Doest thou not answere one word to the people which call vpon thee doest thou answere Moises which doth not speake one word vnto thee Doest thou hold thy peace when the Iewes and torturers speake vnto thee at the foot of the crosse and doest thou answere the theefe for speaking once vnto thee There is no such great difference betwixt torturers and theeues and theeues and torturers that the one should be heard and the other repulsed for if torturers and hangmen take their liues from such as are hanged so doe great theeues also take away mens riches and apparell by the high way The wicked Iewes did not deserue an answere at Christs hands seeing they said come downe from the crosse because no man should bee so bold as to bid him come downe but goe vp because such as are to goe into hell goe downe and those which are to go to heauen goe vpward The hangmen did not deserue to be answered of Christ which said Thou who dost destroy the teÌ„ple of God because he came not into the world to take away the stones of Salamons Temple but to win soules vnto his father which is in heauen For it auailed Christ very little to that which he pretended whether the temple stood or were fallen downe Neither did the naughty theefe deserue an answere who said vnto Christ Saue thy selfe and vs because there was no man able by any force to put Christ vpon the crosse vnlesse he had gone vp of his own wil that not to fly from it but to redeem the world vpon it Why should the son of God answere so naughty a theefe seeing he demanded nothing but to haue his life saued not making any mention at all of his soule When the naughty theefe said vnto Christ saue thy self saue me too what els did he preteÌ„d or demaÌ„d but that by some miracle or by some words of enchantment he should deliuer them from the crosses and put them in safety Irenaeus in a sermon sayth thus According vnto the great loue that Christ died with according vnto the great quantity of bloud which issued out of his body it had been but a small enterprise for Christ to haue loosed the theefe haue sent him to keepe his Easter in his owne house because hee came not into the world to set theeues at liberty but to saue sinners Cyprian sayth That if as that naughty theefe did ask Christ that hee would pull out those nailes and slacken those cords and deliuer him from those torturers and asswage his torments he would haue asked somewhat touching his soule or that he would haue had mercy shewed vpon him our gratious Lord would not haue refused to answere him to that which hee said nor haue denied him that which hee demanded O what a theefe hee is sayth Haymo and a theeues fellow who can aske nothing of Christ but honour to get him credite power to defend himself and might to offend others riches to enioy liberty to command and health to liue onely in this world Such as dare to aske these things of our Lord be either Christians without souls or theeues without shame of whom I doe now prophecy that if they bee not hanged like theeues they shall bee condemned like sinners Let vs take example by this dreadfulll example that wee doe not aske with the naughty theefe that our Lord would take vs from the crosse but that hee would keepe vs on the crosse nor let vs not aske of him that hee would giue vs a long life but that he would amend our consciences For look how willing our Lord is to giue vs things necessary to saue vs so is hee vnwilling to giue vs that which wee doe aske of him to cocker vs. CHAP. XI Of these words Domine memento mei Lord remember me which the good theefe spake vnto Christ the which words are deuoutly and deepely expounded QVia
a blow but in the Virgins heart a thrust Simeon doth threaten none that the sword of grief shal pierce but only the mother of Christ to let vs vnderstand that as she was the creature vnto whom Christ imparted most of his comfort so it was she vnto whom he gaue most of his dolors insomuch that as she did most deserue so she did most suffer O great Simeon why doest thou threaten the mother onely with the sonnes sword seeing that not only the martyrs did feele his death and passion but it seemeth also that the Angels themselues did lament and weepe for it For what martyr is there in heauen O sweet Iesus which did not feele thy death and die for thy holy law It is therefore said that the holy Virgine did by a speciall grace and priuiledge feele more grieuously the death of her sonne than any other creature of the world because it is a propertie of our Lord to impart most bitter feeling of his passiō vnto those soules whom hee doth most tenderly loue When Simeon said that shee should feele her sonnes passion more than any other it vvas to say that Christ would leaue his passion and torment in keeping with her aboue others to the end that they might bee knowne afterward vnto the world in so much that it was vnto thee blessed Virgin vnto whom the sonne of God bestowed his greatest loue on earth and vnto whome hee imparted most of his sorrowes Vnto whom then should wee run for a true sufferer of his sorrows but vnto thee O mother of God now full of ioy and consolation though then full of sorrowes and passion O that thy soule is glorious and thy heart most happie blessed Lady seeing thou was not martyred with the Emperour Neroes sword as the Apostle Saint Paule was but vvith the selfesame that thy sonne was in so much that as in the incarnation loue coupled you together so in his passion dolour seperated you one from the other Flebat Anna mater Tobiae irremediabilibus lachrymis Tobie chapter 10 as if hee would say The honourable Matrone Anna old Tobias wife and young Tobias mother vvept the absence of her welbeloued sonne vvith remedilesse teares saying Woe bee vnto mee vvoe bee vnto mee my sonne and my heart vvhat vvill become of mee without thee or is it possible for mee to take any rest in thy absence Whither art thou gone from mee vvhere hast thou absented thy selfe the light of my cies and staffe of my old age comfort of my life and hope of my house How is it possible that thy father could obtaine of himselfe or of mee to send thee to recouer a little money so farre from vs What greater disaster could fall vnto vs than to lose our sonne for the recouering of a little coine I vvould to God that that money ha◠neuer beene due vnto my house for for the ease of my heart there is no treasure like as to haue thee vvith mee O my deere sonne O my sonne O my heart how vnfortunately did I consent that thou shouldest depart out of my sight considering that it vvas most certaine that hauing thee vvith mee I vvanted nothing What shall my sorrowfull eies doe now seeing they cannot see thee but fill themselues vvith vveeping for thee Such sorrowfull vvords and grieuous complaints could not be vttered but of a tender heart nor could not be spoken but of a child deerly beloued Mimus the Philosopher saith That because the tongue is a crier and a publisher of that vvhich is in the heart it is most certaine that if there bee loue in the hart that he crieth Loue and if there be nothing but sorrow griefe in the heart he publisheth also nothing but sorrow For the better vnderstanding of this dolorous figure it is to bee noted that as Isaac vvas the figure of Christ in that vvhich hee vvas to suffer so Tobias mother vvas the figure of that that the immaculate Virgine was to weepe insomuch that the virgins glorious martyrdome was prophecied by Simeon and figured in holy Anna. The mystery did well answer vnto the Sacramēt seeing the blessed virgin was a mother Anna a mother the one wept the other wept the one had but one only son the other had but one onely son the Virgines son went a far iourney Annas son went a far iourney Tobias mother vvept remedilesse tears the mother of Gods tears were also without remedy Yong Tobias took his iourney at his fathers cōmandement the son of God was incarnate by his fathers commandement if Tobias went to gather vp money which his father had lent Christ also came to recouer soules which his father had lost What shall I say more but that Christ and Tobias and Tobias and Christ vvere sent by their owne fathers and lamented by their owne mothers O that the Virgine had better reason to vveepe for her sonne vvith remedilesse teares than Tobias mother had because her sighes and reares found remedy and comfort but the mother of God found no remedy nor comfort O sorrowfull vvoman and comfortlesse mother for what comfort could thy teares find seeing thou diddest see him end his life in one day vpon the crosse whome thou wast thirty yeares a bringing vp O comforelesse mother and mother of discomfort thou art shee which should weepe with remedilesse teares and not the mother of young Tobias because her sonne came home well married but thy precious sonne remained dead vpon the crosse O honourable Anne and blessed old woman it is an Angell which led him an Angell which accompanied him an Angell which married him and an Angell which guarded him and an Angell which brought him backe againe Therefore leaue thy teares for her who is the mother of him which is crucified considering that a traitor sold her sonne a sinner denied him a tyrant condemned him and a wicked people put him to death Our Lady wept with remedilesse tears seeing that she not Tobias his mother did lose the staffe which did support her the glasse which she looked in the light with which shee saw the rest wherein she tooke ioy her only hope and that which shee most of all loued Seneca to this purpose sayth That the griefe is not so great when thinges are lost by little and by little as when they are lost all at once and therefore it is a great matter for a man to bee accustomed to endure and hardened in suffering Who doth doubt at all but that the suddaine losses which fall vnto vs are more grieuous than those vvhich come not all together if they had apprehended the sonne of God in one day accused him on another giuen sentence on him the other and executed him on the other although the griefe could not but haue beene great yet it had been tollerable but to see that in foure and twenty houres they apprehended him accused him gaue sentence on him and put him to death vvhat heart is able
suffer heare blasphemies consent to haue themselues nailed see themselues crucified suffer themselues to bee pierced with a spear yea and not resist to die Who be they which sit by the theeues crosses but other theeues By the crosses of theeues doe sit impatient men chiding couetous men a deceiuing gluttons a eating libidenous men a playing the adulterers malicious men a lying and slothfull men a taking their ease It was a crosse by which Christs poore familie stood and they were crosses by which souldiors of the deuill stood to let vs vnderstand that they suffer more crosses and paines vvhich goe to hell than those which go to heauen S. Augustine saith That if thou wilt see who they are which doe saue thēselues and what multitude they bee which condemne themselues thou maiest see it by that that by the crosse of Christ there stood but a few persons and by the crosses of the theeues there were a thousand people and more in so much that it is in thy choise either to goe vveeping a foot to heauen or goe sitting and laughing to hell Anselmus vpon the mystery of the crosse saith On the Mount of Caluary there were very many which looked on the crosse of Christ a farre off but very few which stood neere vnto it and the reason is because that by the crosse of Christ it is not permitted that any should sinne and by the crosses of the theeues it is lawfull for euery man to steale and sinne O my soule and O my heart why doest thou not melt and yeeld vp the ghost seeing the drops of bloud which descend vpon our Lady and the sighes of our Lady which ascend vnto our Lord Doest thou not marke O my soule doest thou not marke how the sorrowfull mother is bathed with the bloud which runneth from her sonne and how the earth is watered with the teares which fall from her eies Barnard sayth What offences can there bee so great in the world which the bloud of the sonne cannot remedy and the teares of the mother cannot wash away Behold O my heart saith Bonauenture and thou shalt see the sonne vpon the crosse and the mother at the foot of the crosse shee is on foot and he lifted vp she holdeth her peace and he speaketh no word and that which is most of all they looke vpon one the other with their eies and vnderstand one another vvith their hearts O my fingers and you my pennes giue ouer vvriting I pray you because I may meditate the better how the mother saw her sonne shed drops of bloud and the sonne saw the mother shed teares from her heart What hearts should they haue which had such eies Who can write this and not sigh and who can read it and not be heauy for it that is how the mothers heart was full of griefe for that which shee saw and the sons heartful of loue for that which he suffered And by that meanes there was a cruell debate betwixt the sorrow of the mother and the loue of the sonne Note well sayth Vbertinus that he who was vpon the crosse and those vvhich were neere the crosse they were all standing and none sitting which is to giue vs vnderstanding of the sweet tast of the crosse and of the high mysteries contained in him whereof hee did impart none vnto those which leaned or sate at their ease but vnto those which stood on their feet Non coques haedum in lacte matris Deutronomy chap. 24. as if he would say Let no man bee so bold as to seeth the flesh of the kid in the milke of his damme but let them eat the goats milke by it selfe and eat the kid by himselfe and the law did permit the damme to be milked and the kid to be killed If there vvere no other mystery in this what did God care whether the kid were sod in his mothers milke or not Origen saith If it be wel noted the law doth forbid the kid to bee sod in the milke of the goat but the law did not forbid to seeth the goat in the bloud of the kid In which mystery he did let vs vnderstand that the holy mother the church was to be sod saued in the bloud of Christ and not Christ in the bloud of the church On that dismall and vnluckie day vpon the high Mount of Caluary the goat and the kid met together which vvere Christ and his mother in which place against all reason and law they did at one time seeth the son in the mothers milke and the mother in the sonnes bloud From whence issued out the bloud but out of the vaines of the sonne and frō whence came the milke but from the mothers eies O goodnesse neuer hard of before O vnspeakable sorrow who did euer see or heare of a mother who shed so many tears as were inough to bath her sonne in them or of a sonne from whom came so much bloud as was inough to seeth his mother in It appeareth well that they vsed themselues like mother and child and that they loued like bride and bridegroome seeing shee gaue him distilled teares and hee gaue her strained bloud Barnard in an Homily saith O of all women most blessed O mother of my dolours vvhat sonne had euer such a mother as he had or what mother had euer such a sonne as thou hast seeing thou diddest conceiue him being a Virgine broughtest him forth with ioy broughtest him vp with milke followedst him with sweats and buriedst him with teares What could she doe more for him than follow him with infinit trauell and paines and bury him with remedilesse teares And what could hee doe more for her than chuse her for his mother and redeeme her vvith his bloud Anselmus vpon the Conception saith That from the beginning of the vvorld vntill this day there was neuer milke better paied for than that which Christ sucked of his mother for if shee gaue him milke out of hir precious breasts hee gaue her bloud out of his holy members Who euer heard before or saw bloud paied for milke or milke for bloud Who can estimate or set a price on the bloud which streamed from the sonne or of the tears which ran from the mother O good Iesus O redeemer of my soule had it not beene better for thee and lesser griefe for thy mother to haue sod thee in the milke of her breasts rather than in the tears of her eies What canst thou aske more of her or what hath shee more to giue thee seeing she gaue thee milke when thou wast borne griefes and sweating all thy life time and teares when thou diddest die It had been lesser hurt for her and lesser grief vnto thee to haue giuen thee rather milke than teares because the milke commeth running from the vaines and the teares come strained from the heart For who weepeth but weepeth frō the heart Seneca saith That a man may talke and do his businesse being at quiet but only a
grieued and troubled heart weeepeth because there are none more certainer witnesses of the sorrows which wee suffer than the teares which wee weepe with our cies CHAP. VIII Why Christ tooke his mother with him to see him die seeing that she was not to helpe him to redeeme vs. QVi inuenerit auiculam eubantem cum pullis suis tollat filios dimittat matrem Deutronomy 22. God spake these wordes vnto the Iewes which vvere hunters as if he would say If any man goe to the fields a hunting and by chance meet with a Sparrowes nest he may take the young ones so as he let the old one goe in so much that he should neither take her nor much lesse kil her What other thing is it to goe a hunting for Sparrowes nests but to seeke out diuine bookes Origen sayth Who or what is the nest but the booke what the Sparrow but the letter which the young ones but the sences and who the hunter but the Christian which occupieth himselfe in holy Scripture When God commaundeth the hunter to leane the mother and take the young ones he doth plainly aduise vs that wee should leaue the letter in the nest of the holy Scripture and take the meaning Hee doth leaue the Sparrow in the nest which careth not for that which the letter soundeth but for that which the holy Gospell saith Because there bee some such obscure phrases in scripture that they are not onely not to be taken as they sound but also that not to be done which the very letter commandeth When Christ sayth If thy eie doe scandalize thee it was not his meaning that wee should pull out our corporall eies which we see with but the spirituall with the which we damne our selues for Christs sweet law doth command no man to teare his own members but to pul out sinnes by the root When wee loue a child well wee say that wee loue him like our owne eies and thereupon Christ saith if any of thy eies doe scandale thee pull him out Saint Augustine saith That all the Synagogues perdition consisteth because that in the nest of the Scripture they take the mother and leaue the young ones that is they take the letter as it soundeth and take not the sence which is hidden vnder it making more account of the drie barke then of the tender marrow When the Apostle saith that the letter killeth and that it is the spirit which doth giue life what else doth he say but that we should take heed of taking the old Sparrow and that wee should take the young ones which vvas the sence When the sonne of God saith Search the scriptures he meaneth not that we should read the bookes only but that vvee should seeke out the true sence thereof If wicked Arrius had searched out the meaning of those words My father is greater than I am of those other words That they may be one as I and my Father are one there should neuer so many good men haue been persecuted nor so many scandales haue risen in the church by it Seeing that all liuing beasts are created for mans vses and seruice if our Lord had meaned no other matter in the sparrowes nests then the letter speaketh of hee would neuer haue bidden vs eat of the one and not touch the other It had beene a greater losse to the Commonwealth to kill fiue or sixe young ones than one old one but because the giuer of the law did intend rather the mystery which was signified in the sparrowes than the prohibition which hee made when he commanded the young ones to be taken the old one to bee let louse Conformably then vnto that which our Lord commandeth let the curious Reader leaue the letter and take the true sence otherwise it were better for him not to read the Scripture than vnderstand it as the Synagogue doth To come then vnto our purpose what is the nest but the holy crosse of Christ Who the sparrow but our blessed Lady And who the young one but her precious sonne Ezechiel saw a nest put vpon a high tree in which nest euery bird laid an egge and in the nest of the crosse of Christ all the Saints lay their egges that is then good desires of which the sonne of God like a good Henne of euery one gathereth his good worke According vnto the old law the young sparrowes might bee taken and killed and so they did by Christ and wherefore then was his poore mother so grieuously tormented there who was figured in the sparrow seeing she was exempted by law O wicked Ierusalem and cursed Synagogue seeing that in the nest of the crosse thou diddest find the old bird and the yong why art thou not content to kil the young one but doest also torment the mother O holy tree O precious nest O blessed sonne O comfortlesse mother what heart could destroy that holy nest in the which all the holy Trinitie was inclosed In the high nest of the crosse the father was he who commanded the sonne to suffer the holyghost which assisted the flesh which died the foule which gaue life and the bloud which redeemed vs. All this nest was ouerthrowne by the Synagogue vvhen his bloud lay vpon the ground his carkasse on the crosse his flesh in the sepulchre his soule in ioy and his diuinity vnited to all What shal we say of his sorrowfull mother of whose heart there was one peece on the ground with his bloud another on the crosse vvith his skin another in the sepulchre with his body and another in hell whither Christ went with his soule another on the Mount of Caluary vvith those of her family vvhich wept What else shal I say O my soule but that into how many parts her son was scattered the sorrowful mothers heart into so many was deuided Vbertinus saith That the doleful mothers hart was scattered deuided deuided again because that louing her son as shee did better than her selfe shee kept the least part of her heart vnto her selfe Why doe I say that shee kept some part of her heart vnto her selfe seeing that all her heart liued and died with her sonne If the heart doe run to desire that which the cies behold and if whither the heart goeth there goeth also the very bowels to continue where was all the Virgines heart but in her sonne whom she best beloued Because the dolefull mother had no other sonne but him all her loue was fixed in him and because the Iewes found the Sparrow and her young one in the nest of the Crosse they crucified the flesh of Christ and tormented the mothers heart Saint Barnard sayth That if the Virgines breasts had been opened in that sorrowfull houre lamentable day it is religiously to bee thought they might haue found her heart of flesh but not the force and vigour of a heart because her vitall spirits had mortified it and her true loue buried it vvith her sonne O
because that in the compasse of foure twentie houres he was watched apprehended denied accused whipped and receiued sentence spoiled crucified and dead insomuch that if we compare the moments of times with his torments wee shall see that the torments which hee suffered vvere more than the moments and quantities of the time in which he suffered S. Ambrose vpon the Psalme sayth That no man could euer say these words of Circumdederunt me aquae tota die simul with so good reason as Christ because on that day which he suffered in there passed no houre nor moment nor minute of time in the which he was not either strockē or whipped or spit vpō or blasphemed insomuch that those ministers of wickednes were so busie hasty in giuing him tormēt that they themselues had no time to rest them in nor Christ to breath in Pope Leo vpon the Passion of our Sauiour sayth That hee had great cause to say that hee was compassed with many waters because that all kind of people and all nations conspired in one against that most sacred humanity Iews Gentiles Priests Pharisies Disciples Pontifes Kings Captains Souldiours hangmen yong old stranger and all others S. Augustine vpon S. Iohn sayth this What people were therein the world which were not at the death of Christ or what tormēt was there inuented which he suffered not In so tempestious a sea in so dangerous a floud in such sudden waues and in such distresses heaped one vpon another who would not haue the sonne say vnto the Father Why hast thou forsaken mee seeing hee did not speake one word to comfort him nor left him any one friend which did fauour him CHAP. V. How Christ complaineth of his Father because he did permit those to crucifie him which were wont to bee his friends and how he calleth them friends QVae sunt plagae istae in medie manuum tuarum His plagatus sum in domo eorum qui me diligebant sayth Esay chap. 20. These words were spoken by all the Angels vnto the Lord of all Angels who was the sonne of God and it is as if he would say O sonne of God O eternal wisedome being descended frō heauē into this world aliue whole how doest thou come now from thence with such a pittifull body and so wounded in thy hands If thou wilt know where how and by whome I haue receiued these wounds and gashes know thou that I haue receiued them in the house of such as loued me and they gaue them me who bare me good will Looke how new and strange this question is so maruellous is the answere and how maruellous the answere so strange the question for it is a very strange thing that God should goe to heauen with wounds vpon him and to say that his friends gaue them him is also a very maruellous thing because it is the part of a friend to cure our wounds and of an enemy to make them What is this O good Iesus what is this How can hee vvho loueth thee vvound thee and hee who wisheth thee well hurt thee and hee who woundeth thee take pitie on thee and hee vvho serueth thee offend thee Anselmus handling this place sayth O eternall goodnesse of thee my God and patience neuer before this time seene seeing thou doest call them openly thy friends which rent thy flesh vvrest thy sinewes vnioint thy bones To say O good Iesus that thou vvast vvounded in the house of such as loued thee is a speech vvhich sheweth thy clemency and giueth me great confidence for if thou doe call those thy friends which doe wound thee and kill thee what wilt thou doe by them which faithfully haue serued thee Christ had one house in Iury which was Ierusalem and hee had a friend in heauen which was his Father and he had another friend vpon the earth which was the Synagogue and in that house he was put to death and hee was wounded by those two friends for the Synagogue did crucifie him and his Father did determine that he should be crucified If the Gentiles which were not his friends acquaintance should haue put him to death it would haue been tollerable but to see that he was wounded slain in the city where he had liued by his friends which he had made much of by the wil of his Father which begat him did grieue him very much although he did dissemble it Barnard saith The more I think vpō thy works O good Iesus the more I wonder seeing that man hauing done the deeds of an enemy towards thee thou canst not call him enemy but friend cōsidering that thou saist I haue been wounded in the house of such as did loue me By which words hee doth let vs vnderstand that he regardeth more the loue which hee beareth vnto the world than the offences which the world doth vnto him If as good Iesus said vnto the Angels my friends haue thus wounded me hee would haue said vnto his Father that his enemies had done it what should then haue become of the poore Iewes and what afterward of vs all As when friends in iesting doe hurt and scratch one another so Christ would make the Angels and his Father beleeue that his enemies had not wounded his sacred hands but that his friends had done it as it were in sporting O how truly we may say with the Prophet Dauid Non est deus noster sicut dijeorum Our God is not like vnto their gods seeing that here vpon earth men take in earnest the words which their friends speak in iest to them and if they scratched with a pin or with ones naile they make no lesse a matter of it than if it were a thrust with a lance The which quality could not sincke into Christ seeing that before his father he called his enemies his friends his whipping scratching his deep wound a raising of the skin and earnest testing S. Augustine vpon these words Amice ad quid venisti sayth this word Enemy O good Iesus wil not enter into thy mind because thou art accustomed to call euery man friend for seeing that thou diddest call Iudas thy greatest enemy thy friend whome wilt thou call enemy Osculantes se ad inuicem fleuerunt pariter Dauid Ionathas sed Dauid fleuit amplius 1. Reg. chap. 20. These holy words are rehearsed in scripture talking of the friendship that was betwixt Dauid and Ionathas and this is their meaning As king Dauid was departing out of the kingdome and going from Ionathas his faithfull friend at the time of their departure they embraced one the other and wept and although Ionathas did weepe much yet Dauid did weepe more Mimus the Philosopher sayth That the loue which one friend beareth another is neuer better knowne than when the one departeth from the other for if the one want words the other aboundeth in teares Cicero in his booke of Friendship sayth That true friendship is knowne in going the one
grieued to see his body plagued than to see his goods taken from him This then was the reasoning and dialogue which passed betwixt God the diuell touching Iobs tentation whereof we may inferre how much more that is to be esteemed which the sonne of God offered than Iephthes sacrifice because the one offered his daughter and the other his owne proper life The victory which Iephthe had was a costly victory vnto him but Christs was more costly because that Iephthe did ouercome and liue but the sonne of God did ouercome and die and there is no dearer victory in the world than that which is bought with the exchange of a mans proper life Although Iephthe did loue his onely daughter well yet Christ did loue his precious flesh better because it was vnited vnto the diuine eslence and therefore the better hee did loue it the more was his griefe in losing it Aristotle sayth That wise men doe loue their liues better than others of the vulgar people because they see themselues more necessary vnto the Commonwealth and euery common good is to be preferred before a particular And according vnto this saying of the Philosopher as the sonne of God was wiser than all men and better than all men so without doubt by so much the more he loued his life by how much it was most profitable to all men Sathan said well Pellem pro pelle dabit homo A man will giue one skin for another For if a man would haue asked the captaine Iephthe which of these two thinges he would rather haue done either haue sacrificed his daughter or his owne person it is to bee thought that hee would rather haue sacrificed his daughter twise than his owne person once Seneca in his booke of Clemency sayth That because it is a naturall thing vnto vs to liue and a dreadfull and fearefull thing to die wee are much afraid of our owne death and beare another mans easily Theophilus saith That it is much to be maruelled that Christ would die but it is much more to bee wondered at that hee would die with so good a will because that without augmenting his glory yea rather diminishing it hee offered himselfe willingly vnto them to the end that they should take his life from him The figure sayth further that Iephthes daughter went two months weeping and wailing her virginity on those solitary mountains with other virgines and maids which bare her company What was the meaning that that pare virgine bemoned and bewailed her virginity but onely that shee was sorry that shee had not been married and had a husband and that she had no children to mourne for her death or inherite her goods It seemeth to bee a dishonest matter for a virgine to weepe and bewaile her owne virginity if there were no other hidden sence vnder this letter because that in scripture the more obscure a saying is the more fuller it is of mystery Wee haue already said that Christs sacred flesh is figured by that tender virgine and now wee say againe that as Iephthes daughter bewailed her owne virginity so did Christ likewise his only it is to be noted that there is a difference betwixt weeping and weeping virginitie and virginity The sonne then doth complaine on his father saying Why hast thou forsaken me which he vttered because hee had not emploied his most pure virginity and most holy innocency as he desired to doe for as he was borne a virgine a virgine hee died and if hee came innocent into the world with his innocency hee returned vnto heauen againe Let no man thinke that Christ bewailed and wept his virginity because hee did inuiolably keepe his most holy flesh for if his mother did not lose it in bringing him into the world neither could hee lose it by liuing in the world The chastity which the scripture speaketh of and the virginity which Christ bewaileth with Iephthes daughter is not the corruptible virginity but the incorruptible not the virginity of the body but of the soule the which doth make our Lord great with holy speeches and diuine inspirations and therefore if hee bee great with these diuine inspirations he bringeth forth afterward holy workes S. Augustine vpon those wordes Desponsauit te mihi in fide sayth Spirituall and holy men haue as great need to marry their foules with Christ as worldlings haue to seeke husbands for their daughters and if I haue said as great now I say more need because a maid may bee saued without the company of a husband but a soule cannot be saued vnlesse she take Christ with her S. Barnard sayth O how farre more higher is the spirituall matrimony than the corporall the one is betweene the wife and her husband the other betwixt the soule and Christ of the one come children which sometimes do breed griefe anger of the other there do proceed workes which doe alwaies good If Iephthes daughter doe weepe her departing out of this world a virgine euen so doth Christ weepe and lament his virginitie because hee hath left no greater a spirituall posteritie after him for he would willingly haue left all the hearts in the world great with child with good vertuous desires and all soules deliuered of good workes When God said by the Prophet Esayas Numquid ego qui alijs generationem tribue sterilis ere That is Shall I be barren my selfe and giue issue vnto others hee did not speake this for any desire which hee had to marry himselfe with any woman but for the great zeale which hee had to marry and couple himselfe with our soules because that in all ages and all times the chastity of the body is a holy thing and in all ages all times the barrennesse of the soule is naught and discommendable What doest thou weepe for then O good Iesus what doest thou weepe I weepe my virginity with the daughter of Iephthe because I haue scarse found any in all the world who will marry with my diuine grace nor who will be great with child with my diuine inspirations and that which I mislike most of all is that if I begin to dally and make loue with any sinfull soule she turneth her backe towards mee and is ready to flie from mee I bewaile my virginitie because that in three and thirty yeares which I haue liued in the world with al the sermons which I haue preached and with all the dead which I haue raised vnto life and with all the diuels which I haue cast out and all the sinnes which I haue forgiuen it seemeth vnto mee that I haue made small gaine and done little good in respect of the paines which I haue taken I bewaile my virginity because that being come in person into the world hauing instructed all the people shed my bloud rent and torne my flesh lost my reputation and bestowed my life yet I see now that there is scarse any one found who would benefit himselfe with my bloud or who
old Testament who knew so much as Christ did When the sonne of God did prophecy that there should not remaine one stone vpon another in Ierusalem did hee not as well know that there should not bee left in his body one drop of bloud with another When good Iesus did prophecy vnto S. Peter that he should die in his old age vpon the tree did he not know as well that himselfe should bee crucified vpon the crosse If then the sonne of God did know that he should die and that his death should be to be crucified vpon the crosse what ioy or mirth could there be in him The sonne of God had two things alwaies before his eies that is the crosse and the nailes with the which they would crucifie him and his enemies which would crucifie him whose conuersation hee neither vvould nor could eschue seeing that he came to redeem theÌ„ with his bloud and conuert them with his doctrine What man is so stout or who is of that courage that can liue conuerse with him that must take his life froÌ„ him O great goodnesse and infinit charity good Iesus who but thou alone hath defended them who persecuted him protected those who haue accused him giuen honour vnto those who haue diffamed him and pardoned their offences who haue taken his life from him What wilt thou do good Iesus what vvilt thou doe for those which follow thee and serue thee if thou deale thus with those which lay wait to intrap thy person impugne thy doctrine take away thy same depriue thee of thy life Anselmus sayth That the sonne of God did liue among sinners not because he did like theÌ„ but because he would amend theÌ„ because no man euer tooke greater delight in reuenging than he in pardoning To speake more particularly it was not without a high mystery that Christ said Et ego in flagella paratus sum hauing a greater regard vnto the laslies which he was to endure thaÌ„ vnto the death which they were to giue him because that a noble modest man doth grieue much more at one lash with a whip giuen him in open place than if they should strike off his head inprison Men are woon in criminall causes to behead worshipful free meÌ„ or vse some other punishment vpon them contrariwise whip hang or mark with a hâ—te yron bondslaues so that in the manner of punishmeÌ„t a mans griefe is greatly augmented or diminished Wee vse to speak it for a great reproch to say vnto one gâ—e thy way thou hast been whiphed the which words wee neuer vse vnto one who 〈…〉 because that bâ—nshment is giueÌ„ only for a 〈…〉 but whipping is gâ—ueÌ„ for a punishmeÌ„t an intaiâ—y WheÌ„ the Apostleâ—nd Ter virgis caesus sum semel lapidatus um ter naufrâ—giumpe tuli although he make mention of three kinds of tormeÌ„â—s yet if we looke well vnto it he maketh his thrise whipping the foundatioÌ„ of his martyrdome By the law of a noble man as Christ was by the law of modesty shamefaâ—â—ouile which he made reckoning of it is to be thought that he felt greater griefe wheÌ„ they brought him forth whipped with Ecce homo than when they brought him to the crosse vpon the Mount of Caluary because the crosse tooke away his life and the whipping tooke away his reputation credite The Iewes gaue Christ three solemâ— tormeÌ„ts which they did not vse to gaue vnto other theeue that is lashes with a whip with the which they opeued his shoulders the thornes with the which they did raze his head and the gauâ—e and vineger wiâ—h the which they did make his mouth bitter In the two thee 〈◊〉 they purposed nothing but to take then liues from 〈…〉 seemed not mough to take away Christs life but they would also take away his same good name If the sonne of God had not felt the discipline of the whipp more than any other punishment he wold neuer haue said Ego in flagella paratus sum in which holy words he gaue vs to vnderstand that he was ready nor only to suffer all kind of punishment which they should lay vpon him but also to beare all iniury that they would vse towards him O what great reason good Iesus had to bee more grieued with the whipping than with the other torments coÌ„sidering that in other punishments he was only tormented but in this hee was tormented shamed hee felt the griefe when they did whip him the shame wheÌ„ they put him naked O good Iesus O my souls health being as thou wast so teÌ„der of skin so smooth soft so subtile in bloud so quick in thy iudgement what didst thou feele when they did whip thee so cruelly and vncloth thee so vnseemely If it were not wheÌ„ thou didst preach that thy face was vncouered wheÌ„ thou diddest trauel that thy feet were without shoes who euer saw thy precious flesh naked vntil they took thy garmeÌ„ts from thee wheÌ„ thou wast tied vnto Pilates pillar O my good Lord vnto what diddest thou offer thy selfe wheÌ„ thou didst say Ego in flaâ—ella paratus sum because that at Pilates pillar thou wast turned out of thy garmeÌ„ts tied whipped iniurited shamed beaten blacke and blew at one time O redeemer of my soule O maker of my life when shall I see the day that I may see my life so spoiled of faults so naked from vices as thou wast theÌ„ froÌ„ garmeÌ„tes S. Barnard vpon those words of Ecce homo sayth Thou art not content O good Iesus thou art not content to goe bound from the garden but they carry thee to Annas bound vvith a cord thou doest goe to Ierusalem also tied vvith a rope and thou doest returne vnto Pilate in the same order and now thou art content to bee spoiled againe of thy apparell and whipped in open place with Ecce homo Behold the man One friend may suffer banishment for another and bee taken for another yet notwithstanding no man doth suffer himselfe to be turned naked whipped for any other because a friend should venter his person for his friend and spend his goods with condition alwaies that his credite and honour be conserued and kept The sonne of God only was he who said Ecce ego in flagella paratus sum seeing that he did suffer himselfe publickely to bee stripped naked and bound and whipped and so whipped to bee brought vnto shame not respecting the griefe which he felt nor the shame reproch which he endured What else did he meane when he said I am ready to be whipped but that hee had as ready a will to receaue martyrdome and such great loue in redeeming the world that if they would haue giueÌ„ him twise as many lashes more and doubled his torment hee was ready to receiue it Why diddest thou say O good Iesus why diddest thou say I am ready to be whipped but that by force of stripes they should open thy
sides to the end that thy enemies should see thy louing bowels and heart When thou doest say Ego in flagella paratus sum what other meaning hast thou sauing onely that the speare should pierce thy sides and the lashes cut and open thy shoulders to the intent that they might see thy blessed heart and how that the loue which thou doest die withall is farre greater than the torments vvhich thou doest suffer The Author followeth this matter and maketh an end of the authorities which he alleaged before ETdolor meus in coÌ„spectu meo semper saith Christ in the same Psalme as if hee would say Among all the dolours which I suffer there is one of them of so euill a condition that it neuer departeth out of my sight Although the complaint which Christ formeth in this place doe containe but few words yet it is full of many graue sentences for he complaineth not of many griefes but of one hee sayth not that it is another mans griefe but his owne hee sayth not that it is in an others mans sight but in his owne and hee hath it not by fits but cootinually If the Prophets doe not rise againe to tell vs and if the Angels doe not declare it vnto vs how can wee be able to gueste what griefe it is which lasted so long and the complaint which hath no end If the sonne of God had been diseased of a dropsie or gout or palsie we could haue said that as his infirmity was such had ben his griefe but seeing that wee doe not read that hee was euer sick who can guesle what his griefe should be It cannot easily bee comectured what this griefe was seeing hee calleth it but dolor one griefe wee know not whether it was the griefe of his agony or of the pillar or of the piercing of the speare or the yeelding vp of his ghost because euery one of these griefes doe breed a feare in vs when vvee thinke of theÌ„ how much more to suffer them When Christ saith that my griefe is alwaies in my sight it is a thing to make vs both wonder feare for seeing that Christs griefes were so many in number and so cruell in torment what should he meane to complaine vpon one seeing that they were without number and count Wee cannot deny but that Christ suffered many bitter torments but there is one more principall than all the rest the which is such a one and so grieuous a one that vntill this present day it runneth bloud in thy presence and cannot bee taken away whilest this life doth last What griefe can be compared vnto this grief seeing it hath his beginning in this world and doth not end in the other This long griefe is the great vngratefulnesse which is in vs for our redemption the smal câ—re which we had that hee â—as put vpon the crosle for vs in so much that the griefe whereof he complaineth vnto his father was caused neither by the thornes nor nailes which pierced him but by vngratefull and vnthankfull men who did not acknowledge him S. Barnard speaking of our dury to God sayth If thou wilt know what God hath made thee looke vvhat he hath done for thee for in thy miserable nature the vvorkes of his infinite benignity doe appeare How much the baser thy God made himselfe in humility so much the greater he made thee in goodnesse and how much the more viler hee made himselfe for mee so much the more familiar and like hee made me vnto him Take heed then man that thou be not prowd seeing that thou art made of dirt and see that thou bee not vnthankfull and vngratefull vnto God seeing that thou art so neer coupled vnto him because an vngratefull man was neuer pleasant nor acceptable vnto God It is the part of a peruerse mind to seeke occasions and shifts to excuse himselfe not to be gratefull for the benefites which he hath receiued the which kind of treason and naughtinesse is proper only vnto shamelesse men and to such as haue dead hearts and as it were without a soule Who is he who cannot be thankfull for a benefite receiued but he who neuer knew to doe good vnto others All this is S. Barnards speech Cassiodorus sayth in an Epistle That it is a hard matter to suffer and not easie to dissemble that a wise discreet man should gather no fruit of his trauaile but that hee should rather receiue hurt from whence hee hoped for remedy in so much that he suffereth hurt without an offence giuen punishment without a fault griefe without cause paine without sin persecution without an enemy Naughty mens manners would bee much worse than they are if there were none to chastise vice and reward vertue Lactantius sayth That which Imaruell at in men is that if they bee sicke they commend themselues presently vnto God if they haue warres they run to God if they want water they aske it of God if they bee molested with a plague they turne to God if they goe by sea they offer themselues vnto God but that which cannot bee spoken without griefe is that after God hath deliuered them out of those dangers no man thinketh more of God Do not thinke it sayth Seneca to bee a small misfortune vnto thee if by chance thou hast lighted vpon an vngratefull friend because that as a benefite or good turne is woont to make of a foe a friend so the same benefite is wont to make an enemy of him who was thy friend For it is the property of an vngratefull man that the more that he is bounden vnto any man for any benefite receiued of him the more he hateth him of whom he hath receiued it and the worst of all is that they would see him dead of whom they receiued it and not be thankfull at all for it Thou doest complaine O my friend Lucilius that thou hast fallen vpon more than an vngratefull man and that of an old friend hee is become thy new enemy and if thou wouldest enter into the coÌ„sideration of this losse thou shouldest abstaine from euer doing any good turn vnto any which I doe not counsell thee to doe nor yet that thou counsell any man to doe it because it is better that men accuse the other of vngratefulnesse than thy selfe of couetousnesse and that the benefite bee lost in the other rather than rot in thee There is no vice more common among men than for one man to be vngratefull vnto another which doth proceed oftentimes hereof that men know not how to make choice of their friends or for that they doe not bestow their benefites well and therefore oftentimes we haue greater reason to complaine vpon our selues for not knowing how to giue rather than of others because they bee vngratefull for the good turnes which they haue receiued of vs. Cicero in his third booke of laws sayth Clarissimi viri Athenis pulsi carere ingrata ciuitate maluerunt quà m manere in
doth tell vs in this authoritie when he sayth Quid vltra debut facere vincae meae and S. Paul when he said Tradit semetipsum pro me where the one speaketh of the great care which our Lord hath in gouerning and maintaining vs and the other of the bitter paine hee tooke in redeeming vs. Our Lord sayth very well what should I haue done more vnto my vineyard seeing that he tooke humane flesh for vs washed away our offences endued vs with his grace incorporated vs in his church and made vs capable of glory What should he hauedone more considering that he hath left vs his body to receiue his merites to help our selues with his Saints to imit-te his Gospel to keepe and his Sacraments for a medicine Quid vltra debus facere considering how he made our bodies of nothing created our soules to his owne likenesse giuen vs Angels to guard vs and bestowed all the earth vpon vs What should he do more seeing that hee hath commanded the sunne to giue vs light the earth to sustaine vs the fire to heat vs the water to wash vs the aire to recreate vs What should he doe more for vs seeing thâ—t ouer and aboue all other beasts hee hath giuen vs iudgement to discerne good from bad memory to rememberthings pâ—st and a will to loue that which is holy and good If these benefites doe seeme great vnto thee yet I tell thee further that he hath done more than this for thee which thou hast forgotten of which our Lord wil call for an account at the great day of his generall accounts What are these new sauours or when doth hee vnto vs any other good turnes but when hee turneth some dangerous hurt from vs Griefe of mind anxietie of heart feares of life suddaine passions touching our credite and fame with such like as are woont to assault vs euery minure of an houre although we thinke not on them so that if our Lord should not keepe vs with his mighty hand wee should liue with paine and die with perill What are those mischiefes which doe most of all weary vs and which are neuer from vs but dreadfull death vnspeakable griefe bitter teares extreame sorrow and vntollerable feare These fine dolours doe bait and ouerthrow all mortal men because they are so common among great men and so vniuersal among the meaner sort that vntill this day we haue known none exempted from them and wee haue heard of none who haue died and not tried them If euery man will examine his owne person he shall find it to bee true that he knoweth all these mischiefes and euils not by any science which hee hath heard but by experience within himselfe seeing that we see nothing else euery houre but euery man to weepe and bewaile his infinite paines and griefes And because we may not seeme that we doe speake at pleasure we will speake of euery word a little to bring thee to remembrance how euery one of these griefes is experimented in thy selfe As concerning the first which is death what mortall man was euer borne in this life whom death in the end hath not made an end of and put into his graue With this condition we come into the world and liue in the world that in the end wee must leaue the world and that by reason of a common law which he hath giuen vs. The second griefe are teares and what mortall man did euer liue in this world with such great ioy but hath wept at some time or other and that heartily Horace sayth That weeping is so naturall a thing vnto all mortall men that we be borne weeping liue weeping and die weeping Demosthenes sayth That a man hath need of a maister to learne all offices and duties vnlesse it be weeping because there is nothing wherof a man hath such abundance and plenty as of cares in his mind complaints in his tongue and teares in his eies The third paine is sorrow for what mortall man did euer attaine vnto such sure and quiet state of life that hee should neuer need to fetch at any time a deepe sigh O that it is well seene in the life of holy Iacob that to mourne sigh and weepe are offices and duties so annexed vnto the miserable life of man that we shall first see our selues dead than free from them The griefes which trouble our mindes are so many and the anxieties which charge our bowels are so huge and strong that lamenting and vvailing is taken for a remedy and sighing for a comfort and weeping for an ease because it happeneth often to afflicted minds that the more teares they shed the more ease their hearts receiue The fourth paine which is griefe what man hath euer beene so strong and healthy who hath not beene throwne downe with some sicknesse or beaten vvith some great affliction O that the Apostle said very well that vvee haue a treasure in fickle vessels seeing that vvee are so weake in strength and feeble of health that wee doe nothing but keepe our selues from the sunne least hee burne vs and from cold least it goe through vs and from the aire least it distemper vs from the vvater least it stop vs and from meat least vvee disgest it not Auerroes sayth That because these inferiour bodies are subiect vnto the superiour influences of the heauens they passe great perill and are endangered by the starres and planets for the elements often changing in themselues the bodies which are made of them doe also the like Of all the riches of this life there is none equall or to bee compared vnto health because that all other paines and griefes either time doth cure or discretion doth moderate The fist paine vvhich is feare vvhat mortall man had his heart euer so at rest that no feare hath euer come vpon him or in vvhome no suddaine passion hath raigned Menander sayth That of necessitie there must raigne in mens hearts mirth or sorrow loue or hatred paine or ease and hope or feare but of all these sorrow and hatred paine and feare are those which doe most of all raigne in our bowels because we see mirth and loue pleasure and hope either late or neuer come to our dore Cicero in his Commonwealth sayth put case that wee loue many things yet without comparison wee feare more thinges and that which is worst of all is that our loue doth change euery day but our feare doth neuer depart from vs. Plautus sayth How merry so euer our countenance bee and how full soeuer of laughter thy mouth bee and howsoeuer the tongue talketh yet neuerthelesse the sorrowfull heart is loaded with feare for hee feareth least his credite and honour shall bee taken from him or least they steale away his vvealth or least his life be neere an end or least that vvhich hee loueth should be long absent Xenophon saith What pleasure or contentment can raigne in any mortall mans heart seeing that wee suffer so many griefes
was perpetuall ingratitude because there was neuer so great a matter performed as when Christ died because vve should liue and yet there vvas neuer deed so vngratefully requited as his death was by vs. Saint Barnard sayth O good Iesus O my soules ioy Art thou not content to loose thy life for my life but that thy sorrow and griefe should continue also vntill they take thy soule from thee vpon the crosse If the sonne of God had said only Tristis est anima mea it had beene tollerable but to say Vsque ad morteÌ„ it is a thing not to be any way indured For it was only he and no other in whom the paine ended at the same time that his soule departed from him Cyprian saith That by this speech Vsque ad mortem the son of God dooth bind himselfe to die sorrowfully and comfortles taking no ease at all in his passion because there was no portion of the inferiour part which griefe did not wholly possesse nor any bone in all his bodie vvhich vvas not brused and broken with griefe and paine Christ sayth Eleg it suspendium anima mea because that as all the time that hee liued in this vvorld hee kept the glory of his soule in suspence because it should not fall vpon his body so at the time of his passion hee did keepe his reason in suspence because it should not comfort his soule For if Christ vvould haue giuen his glorious soule license to impart some small sparkle of her glory vnto the body hee had neuer been comfortlesse and if hee would haue giuen license vnto his reason to haue comforted him in his passion hee should neuer haue felt his passion so sharpe and bitter But because our redemption should bee more copious and aboundant hee would admit no comfort nor consolation at all Ne fortitudo lapidum fortitudo mea nee caro mea sayth holy Iob As if hee vvould say O great God doe not punish mee so rigorously nor shew thy selfe so cruell against mee because my heart is not so hard as a stone to feele no paine nor my flâ—sh as hard as copper that no torments are able to hurt it Hee who spake these words did craue aid for his griefe and fauour for his anguish seeing hee did confesse that his heart vvas not able to beare them nor his strength able to sustaine them There are some men so sencelesse that they feele no kind of tribulation no more than if their hearts vvere made of stone and contrary there are some of so tender a nature that if a man doe but touch their coat they crie out that they may bee heard vnto heauen in so much that the first like vnto beasts feele nothing and the other like impatient men neuer cease crying When the holy man sayth That his heart vvas not like a heart of stone hee meant that hee did feele all tribulation and anguish euen vnto the heart and vvhen hee said that his flesh vvas not made of copper or brasse his meaning was that although he did feele all tribulation yet hee did neuer complaine of it in so much that if hee did feele it as a man yet hee did dissemble it like a wise man S. Gregory in his Morals saith Iob doth very wisely vnder these vvords shew vs the manner how bad men and good men doe suffer their anguish and hee compareth those which feele no tribulation vnto a stone and those which complaine on them alwaies vnto sounding copper for indeed hee who feeleth no griefe at all is like vnto a stone and to feele it and hold his peace is the part of him who is wise and discreet Christs heart vvas not of stone because hee should not feele neither was his flesh of copper to complaine for hee did feele all paine and anguish more than any man and did suffer it better than any for in all the time of his passion he did neuer complaine vpon any when hee suffered nor did neuer command a reuenge to bee taken on any when he died CHAP. XIII How the son complaineth of his Father because that he had condemned him to die before that Iudas had sold him QVare me posuisti contrarium tibi factus sum mihimet ipsi grauis These words are vttered by holy Iob in the person of the sonne of God speaking vnto his Father vpon the crosse their meaning is this O my Father why art thou so contrary vnto me as if I were thy enemy doth it not content thee that for my friends sake I am grieuous vnto my selfe and complaine on my selfe It is an ordinary thing to see one man complaine vpon another and to see me complaine vpon my selfe is no new thing but to complaine on thee and my selfe at once is a hard case for although my tongue can count my griefes and tribulations yet my heart cannot suffer them If Christ did complaine of Herod for mocking him or of Pilate for giuing sentence on him it was no maruell but to complaine on his Father it seemeth that there is no patience able to endure it For seeing that hee should haue defended him it seemeth a very hard part to suffer him to bee crucified The sonne of God dooth frame two great complaints in these wordes the one of his eternall Father the other of himselfe and therefore it is very conuenient that we declare how the eternall Father did send his sonne to die and how hee himselfe went to suffer on the crosse and in so doing wee shall find that the one did that which hee did moued therevnto with charity and the other to suffer that which hee suffered was mooued with pitty Qui proprio filio non pepercis sed pro omnibus nobistradidit illum saith S. Paul and his meaning is this The loue which God bare vnto all the world was so exceeding great that he would not pardon the death of his owne proper sonne but would haue him crucified for all Being as he was his naturall sonne his only sonne and so holy a sonne and so welbeloued a sonne was it not a thing most wonderfull that hee would suffer him to be crucified Dauid had many sonnes besides Absalon and yet when the captaine Ioab had slaine him in field Dauid was almost besides himselfe and cried out O my sonne Absalon O my sonne Absalon who will doe mee the fauour to kill me and restore me thee again He that gaue such sorrowful words for the death of a sonne would he not thinke you haue powred out farre more pittifull lamentations if he had been handled as Christ was crucified To haue killed a seruant for to saue his sonne any Father would haue done but to kill his sonne for to saue his seruant onely the Father of Christ did who hauing no other sonne but him gaue them him as freely to be carried to be crucified as if they had led him to be crowned Damascen sayth The eternall Father did well know that our businesse could not
but when they loose do curse the dice. This speech of Iob doth containe much matter and therefore it is conuenient that wee tell you how many sorts of warre there is seeing he saith that he maketh war against himselfe There is therefore one kind of vvarre which is called a roiall warre another called ciuill warre another more than ciuill vvarre another personall and another cordiall or of the heart Of all which warres I will tell you what we haue read and what we thinke It is called a royall war because it is made by one king against another or by one kingdome against another as the warre betwixt Darius and Alexander Troianus and Decebalus Rome and Carthage the which two prowd cities although they had no kings yet they were heads of kingdomes There is another kind of warre called ciuill warre which is betwixt neighbour and neighbour or when a cittie deuideth it selfe and fighteth the one against the other as in Carthage betwixt the Hannones and Hasdrubales and in Rome betwixt Scilla and Marius and afterward betwixt Caesar and Pompey all which ended their liues before they ended their quarrell There is another warre called more than ciuill warre as betwixt the sonne and the father brother and brother vncle and cousin as betwixt Dauid and his sonne Absalon who purposed to take away the kingdome from his father although hee atchieued not his enterprise but in the end was hanged vpon an oke It was more than a ciuill warre that was betwixt the Aiaces the Greekes Bries the Licaonians Athenones the Troians Fabritioes the Romanes This is the most dangerous kind of warre that is because those hatreds which are conceiued betwixt kinsmen by so much the more are more deadly by how much they are neerer tied in kindred There is another kind of war which is called personall or a combat vvhen two valiant men doe fight a combate for the auerring of some vveighty and important affaire vvhere for to saue their honour they loose sometime their life and honour both This kind of combate the valiant Dauid fought against the Giant Golias the one armed and the other vvithout armes yet in the end Dauid did ouercome Golias and killed him with his sling and cut off his head vvith his owne sword There is another kind of vvarre more stranger than those vvee haue spoken of vvhich is called the vvarre of the heart or entrals which is begun in the heart fought in the heart and also ended in the heart In this sorrowfull vvarre sighes are the darts they cast tears the weapons they fight with the bowels the field vvhere the battaile is fought and those vvho fight are the hearts and he who can weepe best is accounted the best souldiour Factus sum mihimet ipsi grauis because there there fighteth one against the other and both against him loue and feare slouth and courage talking and silence anger and patience O what great reason Iob had to say Factus sum mihimet ipsi grauis seeing that not in the corners but in the very middest of our hearts theft and almes deeds doe fight and striue the one against the other And reason and sensuality care and sluggishnesse strife and quietnesse anger and patience couetousnesse and liberality pardon and reuenge O vnhappy battaile and dangerous combate vvhere I am made Mihimet ipsi grauis seeing vvee fight heere not in company but alone not openly but secretly not vvith swords but vvith thoughts and there is nothing seene but all is felt And that vvhich is vvorst of all is that to ouercome vvee must sometimes suffer our selues to bee ouercome Where but in this more than ciuill vvarre in vvhat fight but in this in vvhat strife but in this did all the holy and vertuous men end their liues Who then will say that it is not very true that Factus sum mihimet ipsi grauis seeing that we are so much the better accepted of God by how much wee are contrary vnto our selues The Apostle complained of this vvarre when hee said O infaelix homo quis me liberabit de corpore mortis huius his meaning was O vnfortunate and sorrowfull man as I am vvhen vvill the day come vvherein I may see my selfe free and as it vvere exempted from my selfe to the end that I may doe that which I would doe and not as now to desire that which I ought not Saint Augustine speaketh of this ciuill warre in his Confessions when he said Factus sum mihimet ipsi grauis seeing that I am bound and fettered not with yrons and chains but with my owne sensuality but I gaue my vvill voluntarily vnto the Diuell and of my vvill he maketh now that which I will not Anselmus in his Meditations sayth I am made grieuous and painfull vnto my selfe because there is no man so contrary vnto mee and so against mee as I am to my selfe and I am like a foole besides my selfe in so much that liuing within my selfe yet I goe wandring abroad out of my selfe Isidorus in his book De summo bono sayth I am made grieuous vnto my selfe and for that cause my iudgement is so darkened my memory so weakened my thoughts so changed that I know not what I vvould haue although it be giuen me nor I know not whereof I should complaine although I bee demanded Doest thou not thinke that my iudgement is sore troubled that I am an alien from myselfe seeing that I doe oftentimes by desiring to know that of my selfe that I know of others enquire of my selfe for my selfe Barnard sayth in a Sermon Am not I good Iesus grieuous and painful vnto my selfe seeing that if hunger doe make mee faint and weake eating doth also loath mee if cold doe weary me the heat doth also molest me if solitarinesse doe make mee sad company doth also importune me in so much that I am pleased and contented vvith nothing and am alwaies discontented with my selfe How can I bee pleased with my owne doings seeing that if I do behaue my selfe once like a wise man I doe behaue my selfe an hundred times like an vndiscreet man S. Ambrose in an Epistle to Theodosius sayth Because I am grieuous and painefull vnto my selfe I doe withdraw my selfe from the company of men because they should not change and disguise mee I flie from the diuell because hee should not entrap me I forsake the world because hee should not damne mee I renounce wealth and riches because they should not corrupt mee I refuse all honour and dignities because they should not make mee prowd But alas alas notwithstanding all this and although I suffer very much yet my bodie is neuer at rest my mind is very vnquiet by reason vvhereof I grow vvorser and vvorser euery day in vertues and plunge my selfe more and more into the world Whosoeuer hee vvere vvho made these verses hee made them most grauely In warre that I am vnder taking Against my selfe my sorce doth spend meâ— Since with my selfe warre
I am making O from my selfe then God desend me When such graue and wise men doe complaine on themselues wee haue small reason to trust to our selues because a wise man should distrust none more than himselfe I will iustly say Factus sum mihimet ipsi grauis for if I bee in the kings displeasure I forsake his countrey if I am pursued by iustice I flie from it if I be troubled with a naughty neighbour I remoue into another street but hauing my owne proper wil to my enemy how should I possibly flie from my selfe Who will not say I am made grieuous vnto my selfe seeing that within my owne heart I harbour loue and hatred contentment and discontment my will and my nill my liking disliking my ioies and my griefes and also my delight and my sorrow For my owne part I say and confesse that I am grieuous vnto my selfe considering that I vvillingly would that I had no such vvill for pride doth puffe mee vp enuy dooth consume mee gluttony doth wast mee anger causeth mee hatred incontinency dooth disquiet mee in so much that if I doe abstaine from sinne it is not because I haue not a vvill vnto it but because I am vveary and can sinne no more O how true it is Quòd factus sum mihimet ipsi grauis for if I bee sicke it is because I haue eaten too much if I bee poore it is because I tooke my pleasure too much if I bee imprisoned it is because I haue stolne if I bee sad it is for that I loued if I bee ashamed it is for somewhat that I haue coÌ„mitted if I be disconteÌ„ted it is through my own choise and if I haue committed an errour in my owne choise whom should I blame but my selfe If the truth bee well examined there is no man who ought to be more grieued with any man than with himselfe for as of one part we doe nothing else but complaine of the troubles and trauels which we suffer so on the other part we our selues doe continually seeke them If it be true that I am grieuous vnto my selfe with whome shall I haue a good peace if I my selfe doe make warre against my selfe Who shall deale with me that I bee not grieuous and troublesome seeing that I my selfe cannot bee content vvith my selfe By what meanes can I possibly set my neighbours at one if my sensuality and reason doe bandy one against the other Who vntill this day hath euer had more cruell enemies against him than I haue now of my owne thoughts and desires considering that they draw me to that which is good afeared and amazed and vnto that which is vvicked vvith great confidence and boldnesse I doe conclude then and say that considering the time which I lose and the small profite which I make the care I haue in sinning and careleslenes I haue in amending the great goodnesse I receiue at God his hands and how little I serue him the euill which I doe and the good which I hinder I am greatly ashamed to liue very sore afraid to die The end of the fourth word which Christ our redeemer spake vpon the Crosse Here beginneth the fift of the seuen words which the sonne of God spake vpon the Crosse to wit Sitio that is I am a thirst CHAP. I. Why the sonne of God did bid all those which were a thirst come vnto him and yet said vpon the crosse that he himselfe was a thirst SCiens Iesus quia omnia consummata sunt vt consummaretur Scriptura dicit Sitio These are one of the seuen words which Christ spake vpon the crosse which S. Iohn rehearseth in the 19 chapter as if he would say The sonne of God knowing that all that touched the redemption of all the world was now finished hauing an intention that all the scripture should be accomplished he spake the fift word saying Sitio that is I am a thirst Christ did well know that it was written in the Psalme In siti mea potauerunt me aceto seeing that to fulfill the Scripture he suffered that great thirst to the end that all the mysteries should bee accomplished vvhich were prophecied of his death The Prophets had prophecied many things in Christs name which hee should doe when hee came into the world among the which they had prophecied that he should suffer very great thirst and therefore to say that he had thirst to fulfill the Scripture was to say that hee did suffer that torment to vngage his vvord Christ did deale like a friend with all the Prophets and holy men of old time considering that to the cost of his life and great trauell of his holy person he did accomplish and fulfill all that which they had laid downe in Scripture to the great credite of the Prophets and great glory of holy writ and with the great trauell of his owne person Christ said preaching that there was no tittle no point nor sentence of holy Scripture vvhich should not be fulfilled according vnto the letter The first mystery of the incarnation Ecce virgo conciptes was fulfilled litterally seeing himselfe vvas a virgine and borne of a virgine and also the last mystery of his passion was accomplished litterally Dederunt in escam meam fel in siti mea potauerunt me aceto Seeing that they gaue him vpon the crosâ—e gaule and vineger to drinke What did Christ meane when he said that to fulfill the Scripture hee had such great thirst but that hee might now freely depart and goe out of this vvorld seeing that all the redemption was ended and the Scripture accomplished The simple Reader ought not to imagine that the sonne of God would not haue come into the world nor redeemed the world nor endured this torment and thirst if it had not been written in the Prophets for hee must learne that the Scriptures are tied vnto Christ and not Christ vnto the Scriptures because that they should not haue been written if hee should not haue been borne and crucified and yet he should haue been borne and crucified although the scripture had not spoken it Venerable Beed sayth Seeing that all Christs actions are great and those of his death and passion most great it is much to be noted and to bewondered at why it was the pleasure of the sonne of God that his thirst should be his last work and that he would depart out of this life with great thirst S. Augustine sayth The last griefe and paine which Christ suffered was his thirst the last complaint which hee made vvas of his thirst and the last request vvhich hee made vvas for a cup of vvater and the last torment vvhich he endured vvas of the gaule vineger and mire vvhich hee dranke because that immediately after that hee had tasted of that cup he gaue vp his ghost vnto his Father Seeing therfore that this thirst is the last torment the last request the last complaint and the last vvorke that Christ did in
art vnto the children of vanity and lightnesse who doe shew their essence and yet are nothing shew their power and yet can doe nothing shew their wisedome and yet doe know nothing CHAP. XIII Where he goeth forward with the figure mentioned before ADhue sitit expergifactus sayth Esay in the place before named as if hee would say When the redeemer of the world did awake vpō the crosse hee did awake very drie and thirsty which was so great a thirst that it continueth vntill this day it is most certaine that when a man doth suffer many griefes at one time that he speaketh of that which grieueth him most and pointeth with his hand where his greatest paine lieth The anguishes which Christ suffered in his mind were innumerable and the griefes which hee endured in his body were intollerable and that which is most of all to be meruelled at is that his torments being so many and so sharpe as they were yet he complained of none of them on the crosse but only of the thirst which he endured Saint Barnard sayth O good Iesus O redeemer of my soule hauing so many things to complaine on doest thou onely complaine of thirst Thy shoulders are naked and whipped thy hands broken thy head bleeding thy flesh brused and yet doest thou complaine on nothing but of the thirst which troubleth thee and of want of water Doest thou complain that thou art thirsty and not that thou art bloudy hast thou not greater want of thy bloud than of water Seeing the bloud which runneth from thy head doth bath thy face wet thy tongue why doest thou aske againe for water For a quarter of an houre that thou hast to liue doest thou complaine that thou wantest water O that the thirst which I suffer saith Christ is not to drinke wine or water but to see your amendment and carry you with mee to my glory for seeing that I am now taking my iourney to heauen I haue a great thirst to take my elect with mee The thirst which I haue the drinesse which I endure is not so much to drink any liquor as to redeem you and saue you and reconcile you with my Father and therefore if thou haue no pitty on mee yet at the least take some on thy selfe O that I had rather that thou haddest some pitty on thy selfe than on mee because it is a greater griefe to see thee lost than to see my self suffer S. Augustine sayth Thou diddest adde vnto all thy anguishes this word Sitio shewing thereby such a great thirst and representing outwardly the exceeding loue that thou diddest beare me inwardly and vnspeakable charity which caused thee to make but small account of all that thou diddest suffer in respect of that desire which thou haddest to suffer And he sayth further O my good Iesus I know well that thy thirst is not for thy selfe but for me and this thy anguish is for no other cause but for the saluation of my soule and when thou saiest that thou hast a desire to drinke that is as much to say as to suffer more for mee in so much that the care that thou hast ouer me is so great that by meanes thereof thou doest wholly forget thy selfe What meaneth this O redeemer of my soule what meaneth this Thy ioints being loosed one from another thy eies broken thy mother hauing her farewell and hauing complained on thy Father doest thou say anew I am a thirst What pitty may be compared vnto this or what goodnesse equall vnto this Oredeemer of my soule Wee see by this word Sitio that death was sufficient to take all thy dolors and griefes from thee and yet that it was not inough to cut off the loue which thou haddest to redeeme vs. Who is able to say truly that thy loue did end vpon the crosse considering that for the loue of thy elect thou diddest yet thirst after more griefes and anguishes All this Saint Augustine spake Chrisostome sayth When the eternall word said vpon the crosse I am a thirst I doe not beleeue that hee did so much aske for water to drinke as hee did aske for time of his Father to suffer more griefe and torment For as the candle when it is going out doth cast the greatest light so Christ the more his death drew neere the more his loue and charity doth kindle towards vs. Remigius vpon Saint Matthew sayth Although the diuine prouidence did reduce all the trauailes of his life vnto three yeares and that also hee brought all the torments of the crosse vnto three houres yet it is not to bee beleeued that Christ his infinite charity was contented with this short time and therefore I thinke for my owne part that the thirst which hee shewed vpon the tree vvas not so much to drinke of any water of the riuer as to declare and make manifest his loue vnto the world Fulgentius in a Sermon sayth The sonne of God did thinke that seeing his Father had not giuen him charity by waight so hee should not giue him torment by measure by reason whereof hee cried aloud on the crosse Sitio to let vs vnderstand by this thirst that seeing the gifts which hee receiued had no end that the torments likewise which he receiued should not be limitted CHAP. XIIII Of the crueltie and ingratitude that the Iewes vsed in giuing Christ gaule and vineger and how he satisfied for euery sinne in particular DEderunt in escam meam fel in siti mea potauerunt me aceto sayth Christ by the Prophet as if hee would say Being vpon the altar of the crosse full of torments loaden vvith griefes compassed with enemies I had scarsely spoken the word Sitio but they gaue mee gaule to eat and vineger to drinke There is much matter to bee spoken vpon this that is what drinke they gaue him when they gaue it him where they gaue it him why they gaue it him in what they gaue it him and how quickly they gaue it him The drinke which they gaue him was gaule and vineger the place where was vpon the crosse the time was when hee was yeelding vp the ghost the cause why was to helpe him to die they gaue it him in a reed and a spunge and that presently when he had thirst so that all these circumstances doe aggrauate the fault in them Wee find that the diuell made two banquets in this world the one in the terrestriall paradise vnto our Father where he gaue him the fruit of the tree to eat the other to Christ in the desert where he inuited him to stones of the field the which might haue ben ground sifted and so mingled that they might haue been eaten The Iewes gaue Christ worser meat than the diuell offered him in the desart for they gaue him gaule to eat and vineger to drinke which are bitter and soure horrible in tast and mortal in eating For as the Philosopher sayth The truest loue is the loue of children the smell
seeing it was spoken by the theefe which suffered by Christ In the third which was Behold thy mother what part hath the church therein seeing hee spake it onely vnto the disciple which was there present and to his mother which wept by him In the fourth which was Why hast thou forsaken me what hath the church therein seeing he speaketh only vnto his Father and complaineth of his Father vnto his Father In the fift which is I am a thirst what part hath the church therein seeing that thereby hee dooth shew the exceeding great thirst which hee sustaineth for the torments which hee suffereth In the seuenth vvord which is Into thy hands O Lord I commend my spirit what part hath the church therein seeing the sonne goeth out of the world and commendeth his spirit vnto his Father If we haue any part of all the seuen vvordes it is in Consummatum est in giuing vs knowledge by his owne mouth of the perfection and end of the old lavv and of our full redemption seeing he spake then vnto vs only and forthe end of all our sins vvhich vvere at one time redeemed euen as Christ did end his life and gaue vp his blessed ghost O profound mystery O vnspeakable secret and neuer heard of before in Consummatum est seeing that it is nothing else to say Consummatum est but to giue notice vnto all the vvorld that the church is novv begun and the Synagogue cast dovvne the Scripture fulfilled his life ended His precious bloud is ended the vvhich is so dravvne out that there remained no one drop in his vaines for hee came vvith a determination into the vvorld fully to accomplish all the loue vvhich hee bare vs and to shed for vs all the bloud vvhich hee possessed That is Consummated vvhich I came into the vvorld for and my fathers commandement is also accomplished for vvhom I came into the vvorld to manifest his holy name for so I haue done and if I came to lighten the vvorld to preach I haue preached and giuen it light The greife of my body is ended the torments of my members the persecutions of my enemies the wearinesse of my bones the multitude of my trauels are all at an end All that which the Prophecies prophecied all that which the Patriarkes signified all that which the holy men desired and all that which our Fathers craued of God is finished and consummate The riches of the Temple the highnesse of the kingdome the rigour of the law the purenesse of Preisthood and the honour of the people is at an end The hatred of the Iewes the enuy of the Pharisies the hypocrisie of the Saduces the malice of the Scribes is fully at an end What was euer seen that Christ began which he brought not in the end to full perfection Wee are those which doe hardly begin any good thing and if we doe begin it scarse bring it to the middle and if wee bring it to the middle we neuer end it The sonne of God is he only who beginneth all thinges when he will continueth them as he ought and finisheth them as he lusteth When Christ went to Ierusalem to suffer he said vnto his disciples Ecce ascendimus Hierosolimam consummabuntur omnia quae scripta sunt de me and when he praied ouer the supper he said Opus consummaui quod dedisti mihi and on the altar of the crosse he said also Consummatum est giuing vs to vnderstand by that speech that like vnto a man hee doth giue that which he is commanded pay that which he doth owe and accomplish that which he doth promise S. Cyprian sayth Much greater O my good Iesus much greater is the taking of the torments which thou hast endured than the wasting of the grace which wee haue lost and farre greater is thy paine than our fault and thy offering than our offence and therefore thou doest say Consummatum est because that now the fault of the seruant is ended with the death of the sonne Anselmus sayth O how truly thou doest say O my good Iesus Consummatum est for hauing thy eies broken as thou hast thy shoulders opened thy hands piersed and the world redeemed what doth there remaine to end seeing that thou art at an end Damascen sayth When vpon the crosse the sonne of God sayth Consummatum est If he would haue vsed the rigour of his iustice as he did vse his accustomed clemency had it thinke you haue been much that all the world should haue ended with him seeing the Lord ended and died there which did create it Remigius sayth O bill of paiment O precious money O sure account O acquittance of God which thou doest giue vs O good Iesus when thou doest say Consummatum est seeing that thou doest assure vs by that speech that the bond obligation which the deuil had ouer our humane nature is payd by thee and cancelled and blotted our and also cast into dust ashes Fiue thousand yeares and more we were bound to hell and subiect vnto the deuill but the sonne of God going to the crosse to die he vnbound vs from the seruice of the Deuill and as he went by little and little towards his end the obligation went wearing away in so much that with this speech Consummatum est the soule went out of his body and sinne tooke his end in vs. O high Lord O great redeemer when thou saiest Consummatum est what is that which doth not end seeing that thy life doth end Gods humane life dooth end death to hell sinne to the world idolatry to gentility ceremonies to the law and figures to the Scripture Pope Leo sayth by this word Consummatum est was ended the reproch of the crosse the banishment from heauen the power of the diuell the treason of the disciple the denying of Peter the sentence of Pilate the indignation of the people the life of the sonne and the comfort of the mother O comfortlesse mother O virgine borne without the like what griefe did thy sorrowfull heart feele when thou heardest thy sonne say that his life was ended thou continuing as thou didst without thy sonne What meaneth this O good Iesus what meaneth this With this speech Consummatum est the paine endeth to those which languished in desiring thee the offence of the wicked ceaseth the bloud of thy vaines drieth vp and yet doe not the teares of thy mothers eies end With this speech of Consummatum est All is finished dost thou drie the teares of those which haue offended thee their fill and dost thou make no reckoning of thy blessed mother who vnto the crosse hath followed thee If vnder that speech doe enter all whome thou hast created why doest thou leaue out thy mother of whom thou wast borne Most blessed mother of God certainly is not left out because that here on the crosse is finished and accomplished the quietnesse of her heart the light of her eies the contentment of her
because there are vnited in him all the goodnesse of glory and grace As all that which is made in the word is life al that which is out of it is death so all that which is wrought in Christ for his honour and glory is life and all that which is not done in him and by him is all death S. Iohn goeth forward and sayth And the life was the light of men which he speaketh for the light of reason which hee did imprint in the soules which were blind by sinne the which blindnesse was remedied with the light of the humanity of Christ the which although it do not shine like vnto the most simple diuine light yet it was sufficient to lighten all humane nature and hee addeth further That the light doth shine in darkenesse Et tenebrae eum non comprehenderunt which words may be no lesse verified of the humanity of Christ than of the diuinity of the word Hilarius vpon those words sayth In respect of the diuine clearnesse all other creatures may bee called darkenesse because it is impossible that the diuine should not alwaies shine but the humane hath euery houre need of light God doth shine in the darkenesse of our sinnes seeing that none but hee can forgiue them and in this point it is no other thing to say Tenebrae eum non comprehenderunt but that his most great mercy cannot be made empty S. Barnard in a Sermon sayth God is mighty in forgiuing sinnes but he is most mighty in forgiuing those which are often committed wherein is shewed his infinite mercy seeing that he is not comprehended by them nor limited in pardoning them but hee doth pardon them when he will how he will and vnto whom he will In that that hee is man Christ hath also darkenesse where he may shine that is to wit all pure creatures be they neuer so holy and chosen seeing that of themselues they haue no light at all if they doe not receiue it of the sonne of God S. Ierome sayth The perfection and light of Christ is so great that being compared vnto that which other Saints haue it seemeth that it maketh them somewhat vnperfect which is to bee vnderstood not because there is any want in them but because there is a great abundance of excellency Irenaus in a Sermon sayth Although God tooke from the spirit of Moyses to giue vnto those elders which should be iudges with him yet notwithstanding Moyses continued wiser than they so it is in Christ from whom how much grace so euer the holy men doe take or haue taken yet they did neuer draw his grace drie nor at any time compared themselues with him We haue vsed all this long discourse to prooue how well the Apostle said of Christ Quod CoÌ„summatus factus est seeing that by these words it doth appeare that he had all perfections in him and by his Consummatus est which he spake vpon the crosse that all our wickednesse is now finished and at an end CHAP. IIII. Herein is entreated of the greatnesse and wealth of Salomons temple and how that in the sacred and holy temple of Christs humanity the holyghost hath bestowed greater workmanship riches and spirituall gifts then were in the temple which Salomon did build EDificauit Salomon domum domini consummauit eam 3. Reg. chap. 6. that is King Salomon builded a house for our Lord hee made such speed in the building of it that he neuer ceassed vntill he had finished it Origen vpon this place sayth The loue which God beareth mankind is so great that it pleased him to make himselfe a neighbor and an inhabitant of this world and therfore he would haue Salomon build an house here vpon earth where he might with ease communicate with euery person And because that this materiall temple was a figure of the true temple which was Christ and because the Scripture sayth of the one Quod consummauit eam and Christ also sayth of his Consummatum est we will first tell you how magnificent Salomon was in building of his and then wee will declare vnto you how liberall the holy Ghost was in framing that of Christ The case thnâ—estandeth thus that in the yeare foure hundred and fourescore after that the Iewes went our of Aegypt and in the fourth yeare after that Salomon inherited the kingdome in the second month of that yeare which was in Aprill the building of the Temple began and was finished in all perfection in the seuenth yeare There were alwaies busied in the working of that temple a hundred fiftie and three thousand and sixe hundred workmen and all this in time of peace for otherwise in time of warre it might haue been that some should haue builded and others defended Of this great number of workmen fourescore thousand brought stones out of the mountaines and seuenâ—y thousand carried burdens on their shoulders and the three thousand and sixe hundred were as it were ouerseers and commanders The vassales of the king of Tyrus are not compreheÌ„ded vnder this number who did cut wood on the Mount Lybanus and yet they were many in number as it may appeare in that Salomon did send them at one time twenty thousand load of corne and twenty thousand of barley and twenty thousand quintales of oile and forty thousand measures of wine Neither are there included in this number the Marriners which brought timber nor the engrauers which engraued images nor the goldsmithes which wrought in siluer which were a great number seeing that the metall which they wrought was much The Scripture maketh no mention of the siluer that was spent there but he sayth only that there was such abundance of it in Salomone house as there are stones on the earth What shall wee say of the gold that was spent there which would seeme incredible to all the world Before that king Dauid died he left three thousand measures of gold for the building of the Temple which hee offered of his owne and not of that which he had taken in warre All the nobles of the Realme did offer also for the building of that holy edifice fiue thousand measures of gold besides others mettals of lattin copper and tinne whereof there is no waight laid downe because the quantity of it exceedeth number What riches was spent there may bee easily gathered in that that the Temple was all couered with gold from the top vnto the bottome that not of plain gold like a painted table but curiously cut kerned In this prowd building this word gilding is sildome vsed but this word clad with gold and enterlaced with gold and couered with gold is oft spoken and therefore that which Salomon did of pure gold is more theÌ„ now adaies is wont to bee gilded The Glosse sayth That the floore of the greatest place which they called Sancta and the floore of the lesser which they called Sancta sanctorum were both paued with fine gold and all this for the
pan put to the fire The sacred humanity of Christ being put in the fryingpan of the crosse notwithstanding all the torments which they gaue him and all the iniuries and reproches which they spake against him they neuer diminished any part of his vertue for although for the space of three daies his soule was seperated from his body yet they deuide not his Diety from his soule nor from his body Isichius vpon Leuiticus sayth Before that the sonne of God was fried in the frying pan of the crosse his flesh was so raw that it could not bee eaten but after that the fire of his passion did season it vs and frie it there is nothing in heauen more sauerous nor nothing on the earth more profitable Cyrillus in another sence saith There were four things in this sacrifice fire the pan oile and flour These four things were found in the passion of Christ that is the fire which the Iewes kindled to the end hee should dieithe frying pan vvas the crosse which they sought out where hee should die and the oile the loue and charity with the vvhich hee died there for to redeeme the world and the floure his most sacred flesh vvhich there was fried O glorious sacrifice O eternall meat that thou art O sonne of the liuing God seeing that fried and whote and seasoned thou diddest giue thy selfe in the frieng pan of the crosse to the end that all men might eat thee and none excused from seruing thee When the sonne of God said Nisi manducaueritis carnem filij hominis his Disciples being scandalized Abierunt retrorsum dixerunt durus est hic sermo But after that that most sacred flesh was seasoned fried in the frying pan of the crosse it was soft sweer to tast of sauerous to eat and profitable to be taken Sume tibi sartaginem ferream ponas eam murum ferreum inter te eiuitatem said God by the Prophet Ezechiel chap. 4 as if hee should say Goe thy way out of the city and thou shalt put a frieng pan of iron betweene thee and the city because thou maiest neither see her nor shee hurt thee Who euer saw or heard the like that the Lord should command the Prophet to fight with a frying pan and defend himselfe behind the same Tell me O Ezechiel what hurt couldest thou do with a frying pan seeing it hath no point or how couldest thou defend thy selfe vnder it considering that it will scarse couer thy head If thou wilt goe to fight take a launce with thee and if thou wilt go to defend thy selfe from thy enemies take thy Target because the frying pan is fitter for the kitchē thā the warre and better to dresse meat with than to fight O glorious crosse O holy frying pan where the flesh of my God was fried where his bloud was shed where his charitie vvas enflamed where our fault was melted and where his life was ended The frying pan of the Synagogue was neither good for warres nor profitable for peace But thou holy crosse and happy frying pan wast hee with the which the diuell was ouercome God pacified the world redeemed and the heauen opened What thing can I put betwixt thee and mee O good Iesus but this precious crosse frying pan where thou diddest end thy life that my sin might not come vnto thee nor thy punishment passe to me Doe thou not think my brother doe thou not think that God commanded the Prophet to put betweene him and the city a frying pan for any good that it would doe him but for that which the frying pan signified for thereby was signified the crosse and the crucified which should be a mediator betweene God and the world O sweet Iesus O my soules delight where but in the frying pan of thy dolors and griefes and where but in the oile of thy charity and loue diddest thou end consume and fry my enormious sinnes Where but in the frying pan of the crosse where thou saiedst Consummatum est giuing vs to vnderstand by that last speech that there thou haddest ended and made a full account of our sinne and thy anger of our perdition and thy passion of our ignorance and thy life CHAP. VIII Wherein is declared a figure when Moyses did annoint the altar seuen times with one finger and how that vnction was a figure of Christ and fully accomplished in his most sacred humanity DIgito suo vnxit Moyses altare septies oleo vnctionis this is written in the 40 chapter of Exodus as if hee should say In the same day that Moyses did institute his brother Aaron bishop and ordained also his children Priests hee did annoint the great altar seuen times and that with one finger and did consecrate it with oile Cyrillus vpon this place sayth That although all the holy Scripture be full of mysteries yet there is greatest attention to bee giuen when it speaketh of the altar or of a Priest because that that mystery cannot be handeled and not talk of the mysteries of Christ If we doe looke into the words of the text we shall find that that which is annointed is the altar that with the which it is ointed is holy oile and the manner how is with one finger only and that seuen times and that which was further ointed were all the ornaments of the altar These were the qualities of the altar neere vnto it were the holy breads before it burned lampes on the side of it they did put the candlestickes on the top of it the offered sacrifices at the foot of it they shed the bloud behind it were the people ouer against it was the vaile vpon it was the Cherubin about it were the curtaines This altar was made of wood which would not rot there could come none to it but the Priests they could not goe vp to it by steps nor staires night and day lampes burned there other fire which should not be put out Although the altar of the Synagogue had many priuiledges and great freedomes yet it had a counterpeise with it which was that vpō it they slew all the beasts which they did offer vnto God therefore it was sometimes so bloudy so loaden with flies that it seemed rather a bord in the butchery to cut flesh on then an altar of the church Who is the true altar the holy altar and the cleane altar but only the sonne of the liuing God Origen sayth In the Temple of the Synagogue the altar was one thing and the Priest another another thing that which they offered but in the altar of the church the altar where they offer and the Priest which doth offer and the sacrifice which is offered and he vnto whom it is offered is one and the same thing Leo in a Sermon of our Lords Supper sayth In this high supper and in this holy altar the sonne of God is the ultar and the meat and he who inuiteth and he who is inuited
bloud of the son of God dooth wash and make cleane offences and saue our souls The first bloud with the which God was offended was the bloud of Abel and the first bloud with which God was pleased was the bloud of Christ and that which is most to be wondered at is that the bloud of Abel did benefite but himselfe alone but the bloud of Christ did profite all the world S. Ambrose sayth What bloud can be compared vnto the bloud of Christ for the bloud of Abel did stirre vp and not appease seeing that thereby hee lost his life and his brother his soule The bloud which thou didst shed for mee O sweet Iesus did not stirre vp but appease because it did pacifie the fathers anger tooke away thy owne life and redeemed my soule Anselmus sayth The bloud of Abel is bloud and the bloud of Christ is bloud the one the bloud of a iust man and so likewise the other that was shed by enuy and this shed through enuy But the difference was that the bloud of Abel cried from the earth and the bloud of the sonne of God praied from the crosse Weigh well this speech Clamabat ad me de terra and also that Melius loquentem quam Abel and thereby thou shalt perceiue how the bloud of Abel doth crie for vengeance vpon his brother Cain and the bloud of the sonne of God doth pray for mercy for all the world Consider well of this word Melius loquentem that is that the bloud of Christ should haue been but of small profit if hee should haue died for none but for those of that time The Apostle doth not say that the bloud of Christ did then speake onely but that it doth speake now and will speake vntill the worlds end and therevpon it is that we do represent this bloud euery day and offer it in our praiers for otherwise as there is no day in which wee doe not commit some sinne against him so there should no day passe in which wee should not suffer some punishment Saint Basil sayth His offence is very great which committeth a fault if hee doe not immediately helpe himselfe with the bloud of Christ for if it bee frosen for Pagans and Heretikes yet it is fresh and whot for Christians and sinners It is also to bee marked that the Apostle sayth not Accessistit ad sanguinis effusionem but ad sanguinis aspersionem which speech he vsed not for the wicked Synagogue but for the holy mother church because the Synagogue was in the time of shedding of bloud but the holy church came to the sprinckling gathering of it together O how happy we Christians be and how vnhappy the Iewes were seeing that they came Ad sanguinis effusionem to the shedding of bloud and we Christians Ad sanguinis aspersionem so that they shed the bloud of the son of God did not gather it vp we gather it and did not shed it S. Augustine vpon S. Iohn saith By this speech of Aspersionem sanguinis the Apostle doth let vs vnderstand that the bloud of Abel had no other force thē to be shed vpon the earth but with the bloud of the son of God all the catholicke church was as it were with Isope sprinckeled so that all the bloud of the Synagogue was but shed cast on the ground but the bloud of Christ was shed imparted amongst vs. Cyrillus vpon Leuit. saith The church was at the sprinckling of bloud but the synagogue at the effusiō of bloud seeing that of the bloud of the Synagogue there was no drop gathered of the bloud of the church there was no drop lost S. Barnard saith As for the bloud of Abel let it be lost but as for the bloud of the son of God it is not lawful that any should be lost And he goeth gathering it drop by drop who by little litle doth imitate Christs life he doth gather one drop who doth imitate him in one vertue he doth imitate him in two drops who doth follow him in two hee doth gather many drops who doth bestow himselfe in the getting of many vertues insomuch that as on the crosse he gaue it in recompence of wickednesse so he doth now giue it in exchange of vertues CHAP. IIII. Where Christ complaineth on the Christian mans soule because she was vngratefull for the benefite of her creation and redemption VVlnerasti cor meum seror mea vulnerasti cor meum sponsa mea in vno oculorum tuorum in vno crine colli tui Cant. 4. as if hee should say Thou hast wounded my heart O my sister thou hast pierced my heart O my spouse and the cause of my captiuity was because thou diddest behold mee with one of thy eies and because I did behold one of thy haires Origen vpon these words sayth Such sweet words and such pittifull complaints as these are from whence should they proceed but from a man sorely greeued with heauenly loue greatly enflamed The louing wordes which Christ speaketh vnto the soule and the anxiety and griefe which the soule vttereth vnto Christ who can better declare than the soule which is familiar with Christ Such deepe reasons such pittifull wounds such true complaints and griefes so lamentably vttered as these are which are contained vnder these words how is it possible for my pen to write or my heart to tast of How sweet our Lord is to the soule which seeketh him and how delightfull vnto the soule which calleth vpon him and how pleasant vnto the soule which dooth keepe him is so high a language that none is able to vnderstand but only that soule which dooth deserue to tast of the same First of all it is here to be noted why Christ dooth call a holy soule once sister and another time spouse for if she be a sister she cannot be a spouse and if she be a spouse shee cannot be a sister The mystery of this secret is that she is called spouse because of the faith which shee tooke of Christ and she is called sister because of the flesh which Christ tooke in so much that Christ is our bridegroome in that that hee is our Creator and he is our brother in that that hee is our Redeemer Twise the bridegroome complaineth to haue beene wounded of his bride saying Thou hast wounded my heart my sister thou hast wounded my heart my spouse for in respect of two loues hee hath compassion on her and in respect of two loues he suffered for her that is for hauing made her to his likenesse and semblance and for hauing redeemed her with his bloud For Christ to say twise Thou hast wounded me thou hast wounded me is to say thou hast been vnthankfull for the fauour I did to create thee and thou hast been vngratefull for the benefite which I did thee in redeeming thee insomuch that to bee vnthankfull vnto Christ for these two benefites is to wound Christs heart with two
world and so hee liueth with paine by reason of the one and casts out sighes by reason of the other The dissembling hypocrite hath also two hearts who with the one desireth to bee in low degree and with the other laboureth to be exalted with the one he speaketh fair with the other he bireth secretly with the one he proclaimeth cōscience with the other he maintaineth malice which is worst of all with the one he doth forward concord and with the other he stirreth vp war Woe therfore be vnto him who hath two hearts for if hee had but one either hee would bee wholly good or wholly bad but hauing two hearts he cannot in religion do that which he ought nor in the world doe that which hee would Hee hath also two hearts who hath good words and naughty vvorks he vvhich crieth the spirit is al flesh he vvho liueth wickedly hopeth vvell he vvho is rigorous vvith other men and mild vnto himselfe strait vnto his brothers liberall vnto himselfe Hath not he think you two harts vvho promiseth much performeth litle he vvho sweareth that he loueth and yet in the end loueth not but deceiueth To come then vnto our purpose all that vvhich I haue spoken is to let you know hovv vvisely and vvarily the good theefe kept his heart and hovv highly he did imploy it seeing he denied it the diuel offered it vnto Christ Christ and the deuill vvere at a great variance vvhich of thē should cary avvay the theeues hart because the deuil alledged that hee did belong vnto him because hee vvas a ringleader of theeues and Christ said that he did belong vnto him because he vvas the father of sinners But vvhen the theefe said Lord remember mee the deuil fled Christ defended the theefe Chrisostome sayth That Cain offered corne vnto God Abel lambes Noe Weathers Abraham doues Melchisedech vvine Dauid gold Iepthe his daughter and Anna her sonne If all these men did offer much vnto God that vvhich the good theefe did offer vvas much more for all that vvhich they offered vvere externall thinges and not their ovvne but that vvhich the good theefe offered vvas his ovvne and in this case there is great difference betvvixt offering that vvhich a man possesseth and keepeth in his house and offering of his ovvne proper person If any man aske thee vvhat that is that the theefe offered Christ let him first ansvvere vvhat that vvas that he kept for himselfe for giuing as he did all vvhich he had vnro Christ he vvas not seene to reserue any thing for himselfe Seneca saith in an Epistle Who is he vvho giueth another all vvhich he can vvho doth not giue him also his vvil and al that he hath The good theefe gaue Christ al that he could all that he vvas vvorth all his povver all that hee possessed also al his might vvill at vvhat time he acknovvledged himselfe a sinner vpon the altar of the crosse and Iesus Christ to be his redeemer O good sinner O glorious confessor vvilt thou not tel vs vvhat thou diddest offer vnto thy God seeing thou didst obtain such grace by it The theef offered not his eies because they vvere couered neither his mony because the iailor had it nor his coat because the hangman had it nor his body because it vvas crucified he had only left his tongue vvith the vvhich he confessed Christ and his hart vvith the vvhich he beleeued in him If he vvould haue giuen Christ his honour hee knevv not vvhere it vvas if hee vvould haue serued Christ vvith his life it vvas novv at an end if hee vvould haue bestovved his goods vpon him hee had none left for he lost his honor and credit by his theft his life Pilat commanded to be taken from him and all his goods the office of the Fiskall possessed O high my stery saith Origen O diuine example vvho being put vpon the tree had nothing left but his heart and vvith that he beleeued in Christ and his tongue and vvith that he commended himselfe vnto God It is to be beleeued that if this good theefe had had any thing else left but his tongue and his hart that vvith more he vvould haue serued Christ insomuch that vve cannot cōdemn his offering for a mean and miserable gift seeing he offered God al which he had For vvhat doth he not offer vvho offereth his heart what doth hee not deuide vvho deuideth his heart O my tongue O my heart vvhy doe you not take for your companion this theefe crucified vpon the tree because he may teach you how sins are bewailed the heauens stolne away Irenaeus saith I think I shal neuer bee condemned but I haue a great hope I shall bee saued seeing that the good theefe being alone crucified vpon the crosse by no other means but by offering his heart tongue vnto God in lesse than halfe an houre went into glory S. Barnard sayth O good Iesus O the hope of my soule why should I torment my selfe and bee sorrowfull if I want feet to goe to glory or haue no eares to heare sermons nor haue no riches to giue almes nor iewels to offer in the temples Seeing that I hold it for certaine that with one holy wish I shall content thee O sweet Iesus Moyses sister was scabby noble Lia was blearecied good Moises stutted in his speech holy Tobias was blind Mimphiboseth was lame yet notwithstanding al these defects and imperfections nothing hindered them from being vertuous and holy If our hearts be cleane and whole what careth God if our members bee rotten The great Patriarke Iacob blessed his sons being blind dogs licked the wounds of holy Lazarus legs patient Iob did wipe and shaue off the wormes of his flesh with a tile stone holy Tobias saw nothing but what his children directed him vnto but none of all these things hindered them from seruing their Lord and God and from helping their neighbors brothers to saue themselues Remigius saith Behold O my soule behold the good theefe had sentence to die vpon the crosse with his ioints seuered the one from the other his eies couered his flesh rent torn his bloud shed and yet notwithstanding al this with his hart which only liued he knew how to remedy and saue himselfe In so few houres in so short a space the pennance which the good theefe did could not be great nor the sighes which hee gaue could not bee many yet because hee gaue them so from his heart and with such great deuotion Christ tooke them in a sort for a iust account not only those which thē he gaue but also those which he had a will afterward to giue if death had not cut him off CHAP. VII How the naughty theefe lost himselfe only for want of faith and of two chalices which the scripture maketh mention of of which both the theeues dranke of COnsurge consurge Hierusalem quiae bibisti calicem