What a sottish thing is it therefore for a man to thinke that hee whoe affects those things which his owne will suggests is able to runne that carriere wherein the seruants of God must runne and whoe because he contents himselfe thinkes that God will also be contented with it and who liuing after his owne fashion will yet conceiue that he may liue soe with God Away away lett vs awake at last for the loue of God lett vs awake before hell-fire awake vs. And lett vs knowe that the kingdome of God is a hidden treasure and that he who findes it must bestowe all that he hath vpon the purchase thereof esteeming himselfe more happy and rich in this alone then in all things els A man who hath a minde to gaine this kingdome is not bound to become bankrupt or to be a beggar but that which he needes is that for the loue of this kingdome hee cutt of all occasion of inordinate loue which he may carry to riches and to honour and to a delicate and delightfull life and in fine to his owne proper will Christ our lord will haue vs all naked that soe we may runne on apace to him who dyed naked for vs. That man is naked who houlds his life and his honour laid vnder and in subiection to the will of Christ our Lord doeing what Christ will and not that which is suggested by pleasure or honour and who makes as light account of these things as if he had them not and is ready to cast them all into a light fire rather then to goe against the freindship of our Lord God by committing soe much as one sinne And though perhaps a man may attend to the improuement of his estate it must not be for the loue which he carryes to it but because God commaunds it If he liue it must not be because he loues life as making that the end of his care but he must keepe it for the seruice of God and sooner throwe it away then offend him If he be to aparell himselfe he must not take counsaile with vanity how he may be esteemed for his cloathes but with the word of our Lord which commaunds that we vse them not with superfluity but for the supply of iust necessity And soe this kinde of man doth not hould himselfe to be his owne but as one who belongs wholly to God He cares not for what himselfe desires but for that which God commaunds He layes all things and himselfe withall to be trodden vpon vnder foot for soe he may hould God aboue his head God commaunds and hee obeyes God directs and hee submitts and as the shadow followes the body soe hee followes the will of God Theis are true sonnes of Obedience to whome it is promised that they shall sitt at the table of God And that as the true sonne suffered by Obedience and entred soe into his kingdome soe the adopted sonnes must alsoe enter in by the same meanes There is noe coulour of reason why a man for hauing obeyed the orders of the great Turke should goe to aske a reward of the Christian Emperour and yet if hee should it would be easy to make him this answeare Let him pay you whome you haue serued And soe will God answeare them whoe liued heere in obedience to their owne appetites when they shall aske him that reward of glory Great thankes doe we owe to Christ our Lord for hauing warned vs of this soe longe before that soe if we will thinke thereon we may not finde our selues deceiued by him who soe deerely loued vs. His aduertissement is this Not euery one whoe saith to mee Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdome of heauen but he shall enter in who doth the will of my Father who is in heauen What neede haue wee of any more since the word of Christ our Lord can neuer faile And who is that man who will not awake with this For the question is not now concerning any earthly kingdome but the kingdome of heauen since noe man enters thither but he who shall haue done the will of God Let this therefore be our study let this be our discourse let vs counsaile men to this and let vs in fine obserue vigilantly if we doe any thing which carryes not true conformitie with the will of our Lord. And because our owne watchfulnes will not suffice lett vs call vpon our Lord that hee may assist vs. Let vs acknowledge our owne misery and let vs cordyally implore his mercie Our lord who must helpe vs is noe such person as that he can deny himself to such as seeke him with their harts And if we did indeede knock call vpon him infallibly he would anfweare open to vs. And he knocks indeede who knocks both by prayer by the practise of vertue And he shall be heard when he calls who was content to hearken to his neighbour when he was called vpon by him and whoe assisted him in his necessities and who pardoned his errours and who neither did ill to him nor refused patiently to suffer ill from him This is the generation of them who seeke our Lord Psal 13. and they shall finde him Let vs therefore goe and runne this carriere For happy are those labours which are endured for the obteyning of this Crowne And they shall soone passe away but their reward is to last for euer Let vs lay vp our treasure there It will be highly enough for vs to possesse God and let vs not loose our tyme for it was not giuen vs to be lost But let vs liue to the end that we may euer liue and soe wee shall passe on from contumely to glory from pouerty to plenty from banishment to our owne country which we shall possesse through the eternities of all eternities Amen A letter to a certaine person wherein is treated of the Loue of God towards man and of that which hee is wont to doe towards the releife of our miserie THE Infant Iesus whoe was borne for our good make you partaker of the blessings which he brings since he tooke those miseries vpon him to which we were subject I beseech him to giue you that liuely fire of his loue wherein you may burne vp with a quick flame since to kindle this loue in vs he came into the world soe poore and soe frosen with cold How much more cold this Infant suffers soe much more warme doth he cloath our harts towards the loue of him And by how much the more we loue him soe much the more doe we desire to suffer for him For loue flyes from taking ease as from a thing which is very contrary to the intention and end thereof For whilest others are seeking for libertie and delight he whoe loues abhors this and desires to be eternally a slaue and to be euer labouring for whome he loues I pray you tell me who constrayned Almightie God to become man noe other thing but onely Loue Who
had no taste of spirituall benedictions which last for euer And let him triumph like a sott in the prosperities of this world who hath not felt in his hart how delightfull a thing it is to shed teares for hauing offended God and how happy a man is in relying vpon Christ our Lord and in liuing to him And since our Lord hath called vs to his mercy and hath giuen vs the knowledge of his Sonne Christ Iesus let vs not liue according to the flesh nor allowe of any counsell against this counsell That in a thing so manifest as it is that we ought to seeke and esteeme the contentment of Christ our Lord despising the world and all that is therein there is no neede of taking any man's opinion and we must not be moued by any vanities of the world how many Iohn 2. and how vsuall and how well receaued soeuer they may be The world passes with the delight thereof as S. Iohn saith but he who will doe the will of our Lord shall remaine for euer Who relyes vpon that which is vnstable shall fall downe togeather with it and he who will adore an Idoll shall growe like that very Idoll but he who loues Christ our Lord and that man loues him who hates the world he indeede is wise and worthy and shall be exalted to sitt in that kingdome with the same Iesus Christ our Lord as he sittes at the right hand of his Father It is much more worth to be the least there then to be the greatest heere If therefore it delight vs to raigne let vs desire to doe so in that eternall kingdome I beseech Christ our Lord to bestowe it on you Amen A Letter of the Author to a deuoted religious Friend of his who animates him to seeke God by obedience humility and he teacheth that recollection of minde must not be tyed to any certaine place I Haue receiued your letter and that which I am to answeare is this You must know that there is not any one in this life who can think to liue without troubles that to complaine of them is to complaine of being a man since we were borne to beare them And if it seeme to you that when you were shutt vp you carried your soule more recollected you are to cōsider on the other side that Obediēce in doeing those things which displease ones self and the humility of performing meane offices is noe small fruite to the soule And beleiue you this truth that the man who is carefull to recollect himself and who puttes his confidēce in God doth many tymes finde himself more recollected in streetes and publique places then if he were in his Cell And they who tye their deuotion to any particular kind of place doe instātly loose it when they leaue the place yea and many times in that very place it failes them And this growes in regard they are resolued to haue it there and striue not to finde it in all places and in all those workes to which they attend by theyr Obedience vpon this Obedience you must greatly procure to ground your self without choosing this or that Since Obedience is a thing soe acceptable to God that it exceedes all that which a man may doe vnder the conduct of his owne will how good soeuer it may seeme Father Lewis of Granada will passe shortly by you and I would haue you doe that with great confidence which he shall aduise you The Holy Ghost be euer with you I am such an enemy of these changings of place I hould the very desires thereof soe fitt to be suspected as that I am made slow in giuing answeare to what you write concerning them till by your prayers we may get more light to guide vs. For otherwise we shall goe as bad as blindefould and perhaps you may fall vpon worse encounters then they are which you would auoyd I beseech you sollicite the matter with our Lord when I shall haue satisfied mine owne hart I will impart it vnto you In the meane tyme I recommend to you much that you keepe your soule in peace For it happens to some that they both loose they re tyme and the good opportunity which God giues them by thinking much vpon that other which they desire to obtaine soe they growe to loose both the one and the other Make you accōpt that there is but one day of life left for you and that that day is the morning when you awake And spend you that as if it were your last with all the care that possibly you cā And when the desire of doeing any other thing occurres make this answeare Doe not thinke of to morrow and exercise your self in breaking your will For when a man flyes from the opportunity which he hath to breake it it is like flying out of the feilde And because such a one flyes like a coward and carryes his weakenes in his company therefore when the occasion presents it self afterward he findes that he is as farre from strength as before the reason heereof is because he changed his place but not his minde giue you a good accompt of that house and of the opportunity which there you haue and soe you shall gett a tongue wherewith you may aske a better at the hands of our Lord For otherwise they may say vnto you that he who conducts ill that which he hath already in his care to what end should one trust a greater matter in his hands A Letter of the Author to a deuout Lady animating her to fight against the Deuill and to resist his temptations I Beseech our Lord that you may find your self as I desire for it was not said in vayne that loue is full of a carefull kind of feare But in fine I haue confidence that our Lord as he saith to vs by the Prophet Ieremy will regard that loue wherwith he espoused himself in those beginnings of his and will remember how the people followed him without any high way in the Desart which was full of affliction to them and carryed a kind of resemblance of death God is very thankefull to such as serue him with loue and in the tyme of our weakenesses and when our strength is euen vpon the point to faile then doth he looke backe vpon the time when formerly wee had beene in vigour and to that amorous intention which wee had in former time releiuing our misery with the aboundance of his mercy Continue therefore with a harte full of courage and as S. Paule saith doe not loose your confidence Heb. 10 for there belongs a great reward to it And this is that which the Deuill would faine either take away from vs or weaken in vs so to pull vs downe who pull him downe and much more you being a woeman by whose hand he would esteeme it Iudges 9. more dishonour to be ouercome As Abimelech sayd to his second doe thou kill mee that soe it may not
to vs. Be sure therefore that you serue this lord with all the force you haue And if hitherto you haue done soe giue him thankes for it and if you haue failed thereof see you retourne to him with shame and firme purpose of amendment Comfort your self also with the holy Sacraments of the Church they beeing the remedies which he hath left And put your selfe into a new way and now at last learne to trip noe more vpon that at which you stumbled most before Soe that you may be of their number of whome S. Paul saith that all thinges cooperate to â—e good of them who loue God For howsoeuer they may fall Rom. 8. they are not bruysed to death because our lord conueyes his hand vnder them to receiue them In the middest of these thinges I beseech you call my miseries to mind that you may obtaine mercy for me of our lord And deliuer my salutations to all those persons in your house who serue our lord I beseech him to be your aeternall loue Amen A Letter of the Author to a freind of his whome God had called to lead a spirituall life by meanes of his preaching TO those many obligations into which you put me by your letters I answeare late and ill And though I be confounded therewith yet I hope Christ our lord hath giuen you some little crumme of Charity Now the first condition thereof is by the testimony of him who had store of it 2 Cor 1. and who knew it well Quia patiens est That it is patient I beseech that immense fountaine of Charity to encrease it in you till you be enabled thereby euen to lay downe your life for your enemyes as Christ our lord layd downe his for vs. You complayne of drynesse in deuotion though yet I conceiue you speake it not by way of complaynt but onely as relating to one who loues you the disposition wherein you finde your soule And I say that so longe as this drynes reaches not to weaken your desire or vertue it is noe such thing as ought to putt you to much payne For that which is questioned thereby is but the losse of a certaine sweetenes in the things of God though yet this is wont to be a spurre to make such men quitt themselues and to fly faster on towards our Lord who knowe how to make right vse thereof And because I desire all good to you whether it be in much or little I wish that you were endewed with a Loue of God which were both strong and wise and sweete also since a loue with all these qualities is due to him to whome wee owe our loue But yet if he impart that loue alone which is strong and wise it will be because he intends to doe vs other secret fauours by meanes which are vnknowen to vs and to vnty vs from our selues and to exercise our vertue whereof there will bee great neede for a man whoe treates with him who is infinitly wise and doth extreamely like that noe man should be so in his owne eyes Your care must therefore bee to follow on according to that strength which our Lord giues yow for his grace will not faile And yow must giue him thankes both for that which yow vnderstand and for that also which you vnderstand not and in this doth your safety consist And as you grow elder and to haue more experience of the very little which any man is able to doe towardes the contriuing of things how small soeuer they may bee you will be confirmed more and more in the good custome which you beginne to take to hould your peace And you will perceiue that a busines will then be well dispatched when wee speake at lardge with God and but a little with men This ignorancy of ours is an vnspeakeable kinde of thing and soe is our setting our selues out and our ignorant kinde of zeale to doe good And wee haue much and much a doe to beleiue it till wee haue bought this knowledge vpon the price of many errours which wee shall haue committed For wee inherit from our first parents a certaine fly and secrett desire of a kinde of diuinity Cen. 3. which cannot be sought without theft This makes vs imitate our first fathers therein and to denie that things may be done how and when wee list with certaine other deepe and most secret rootes of pride which are neuer to bee discouered without light from heauen and this cannot be obtayned without much Prayer As for the particular of those soules which you desire to reduce I tell you as I did before that you must cordially recommend the busines to our Lord and hope well that you shall haue good successe And be you not troubled or afflicted since you know that you haue a father in heauen who calls you towards him and he will be your guide in the way Spend your tyme at the present the best you can and as for the future doe not vexe your selfe but make account that nothing but your owne negligence cann take God from you Fight therefore against this negligence if you ouercome it you will finde by experience that the Exchaunge or Burse is a very Celâ— to you and that busines is but as a Riuer which may serue to wash you cleane The way wherein God hath placed you requires that more diligence bee vsed then that which your letter sayth you vse concerning the constancy of your deuotions And if I were with you I could tell you of straunge things which haue happened to men who had beene slacke in performing their good exercises Whereby you might perceiue that our Lord esteemes it not as any small infirmity for a man to be a Lunaticke sometymes doeing his duty and sometymes not A cleare signe it is of a soule in subiection to selfewill to doe a thing when the humour serues and afterward vpon mere humour to lett it alone And forasmuch as such men want the abnegation of themselues they are in fault both when they cease from doeing any thing and soe are they alsoe when they doe it because they liue butt in themselues And the punishment which our Lord inflictes vpon these men is that hee is not liberall of himselfe to them when they desire it because they are not liberall of themselues to him when he requires it Wee must therefore be sure to aske pardon for the little constancy which wee haue vsed in the seruice of our Lord and to reforme our selues with an entire resignation into his hands concerning the successe of our endeauours whether they be more or lesse Take courage once to loose your selfe for the loue of our Lord obeyng that which he commaunds and neuer looke vpon what is to follow vpon it For whether it be drynes or deuotion it cannot faile to be a fauour since it is sure to be the pleasure of our Lord. And by how much the more you shall be able to liue towards the
not onely in that which giues vs gust but in the contrary alsoe For otherwise what wonder is it to see the spouse obey her fellow spouse in that which giues contentment to her selfe since for that there is noe greate neede of loue for the respect of proper interest is able to breed such obedience as that Nor doe I know with what eyes Christ our lord will looke vpon such a spouse as that since he obeyed his Father Matth. 26. for her sake in cases of soe extreame affliction saying Let it be not as I wil but as thou wilt Whereas shee saith iust the contrary Not as thou wilt but as I will for shee will be squared out by another rule then her head was and will needs make the will of God which is eternally good to be crocked that it may conforme it selfe to her will which seekes not that which is truly good for her and which eternally is to be soe but that which seemes likely to giue her some little temporall delight A wake O Virgin out of that sleepe wherein you are for it is broad day Take the sheild of Faith Rom. 13. since God hath armed you with it and driue away these dismayes beleeuing that you are beloued though you be not regaled by our lord And turne your complaint backe vpon yourself since a little present disfauour is of more power towards the drawing you downe then the many fauours which are past to keepe you fast on foot You now doe iust the contrary of what you should For whereas it were reason that in this time of tribulation you should remember your comforts of former times beleiuing that the trouble which now you haue is but to trye what proportion of trust you repose in God You doe yet call it into question whether his loue were true to you then or noe beleiuing rather in the shew and leafe then in the substance and roote You haue noe iust cause to be dismayed though you bee afflicted For our lord is nor gone from you but he went away with a meaning onely to stande by and to see how you carried yourselfe like a mother who hides herselfe behind a hanging to obserue and heare what her childe sayth and doth whilst he thinkes that he hath lost her but then shortly shee steps out and makes much of him If you feare that he hath forsaken you and giuen you a bill of separation for the faults and ignorances into which you may haue fallen you are much deceiued For in farr greater falls then those Ierem. 3. his course hath beene to comfort soules by saying Thou hast committed fornication with many louers but yet retourne to me and I will receiue thee Though God like well that his seruants should know and weigh the faults into which they fall yet it is not his pleasure that they should be dismayed or too excessiuely afflicted by them Nay he esteemes this to be of more disseruice to him then the very fall it selfe Neither is it alsoe his pleasure that a sinne which is as little as a graine of seede should be made by vs as bigg as an Elephant and much lesse that we should make that to be a sinne wich indeed is none Soe that if you haue not fallen into sinne and yet will needs be troubled as if you had you offend against his truth And if you had fallen you should offend against his mercye by not beleiuing that he hath pardoned you You offend alsoe against his loue by suspecting that he hath forgotten you And lastly you offend against the Crosses which he hath sent to you esteeming them to be messengers and signes of wrath whereas indeed they are effects of his goodnes Take therefore the courage now at last to sally out from the owne narrow thought beleiue of God according to his goodnes as it imports his honour that you should doe And liue not still in such blindnes as to measure the large hand of God by the rules of your owne poore woefull hart Nor conceiue you that now he will be a rigorous iudge who at others times and in your greatest occasions hath beene a most indulgent Father to you It was not you vpon whome he looked when he pardoned you and called you but he regarded his owne blood which he shedd Nor doth he now stand hanging vpon your handes as if he loued you for them but you are placed and written in his as he sayth by his Prophet Isay And in those handes he loues you and with those handes he guards you euen then when you thinke he giues you buffets But it is his mercye which is your remedye and safety and noe meritt of your owne You are a Daughter and you are to possesse heauen by way of inheritance and not as a meere day labourer Confide in God and giue him glory in that he lodges his eyes vpon soe vnworthy a thing as you and for that he purposes to exalt soe base a creature to such height of glory And know that he hath noe neede of anything in you and that if he desire anything it is but that you may offer him that sacrifice of praise for your owne good confessing him to be your gratious pardoner and your piteous rayser vp from your falls and your Centinell who neuer sleepes when there is questioÌ„ eyther of doeing you fauours or of drawing good out of your sinnes and your most wise conductour who carries and saues you by such pathes as seeme in the eye of your ignoraunce to be very farr about or rather quite out of the way And all this he doth through his owne goodnes alone considering what himselfe is Which carries a greater weight towards your saluation then your wickednes doth towards your condemnation and you are bound to beleiue that soe it is And it must not seeme straunge to you that the greater surmounts the lesse and the Creatour the creature But let it stand for the last conclusion that as noe goodnes in you was the cause why God loued and called you to his seruice soe will he take care that your wickednes and weakenes shall not hinder the course of those mercies which he resolues to shew you for all eternity Continew your Communions and I beseech our Lord to giue them his benediction For my part I like well thereof and vpon the dayes which are sett downe communicate from time to time and God will giue you strength that it may doe you no hurt for he hath noe quarrel to you I beg that he may be your Loue since he is your Louer A Letter to a Lady who was a Religious woman and in great affliction He shewes how troubâ—es are the proofe of Faith and Loue in the seruants of God and how confident they ought to be of his diuine Maiesty in the middest of their troubles AS soone as I receiued your letter I offe red thankes to our Lord for hauing giuen you a signe that your vocation came
for that person with whome your lordship willed mee to speake I haue not done it yet for I haue now kept my bed ten or twelue dayes together But yesterday I rose and I will take great care to doe what you cōmaund very shortly and you shall knowe what I finde Since you went from hence our lord hath beene pleased to giue mee a much more particular care to recommend you into the hands of his mercy I did not then vnderstand the cause it is like to be this that there is more neede thereof Be it what it will your lordship is to animate your self with new courage to offer your self vp to the will of our lord like one who performes seruice to his father who is some great man whome hee loues much your lordship was not borne for your self but for God For euen before you were borne you were already purchased by Iesus Christ who bought vs with himself a price of inestimable valewe to the end that wee who liue might as S. Paul sayeth not liue to our-solues but to him Who is hee that will pretend to remayne his owne now that he sees himself to haue beene bought by Almighty God and by the price of God himself There are men who offer themselues to the losse of their liues in some warr for slight causes and shall wee be soe destitute of courage as not to giue our-selues to God he gaue himself for vs into the hands of those base executioners and shall not wee aduenture to putt our-selues into his He did it that he might die and wee are to doe it that wee may liue I would not haue your lordshipp to be nigardly herein but make now this account There is a God and for that misery which he hath endured for mee and for those sinnes which he hath forgiuen mee and for those blessings which he hath vouchsafed mee I owe my self to him three thousand times ouer If hitherto I haue not giuen him the entire dominion ouer my self I am sorry for it From this instant I giue my self free and without any impediment or obligation otherwise that he may treate me wholy according to his will and that mine may submitt it self to his as well in the doeing of any thing which he commaundes by his holy lawe as in the suffering of any affliction which he shall either continue or add to mee Where can I be kept better then in the hands of God into which I putt my self since he suffers not his creatures to be lost and was content to loose his life that I might be enabled to doe this He would not aske it of mee if he did not like it and he would not take pleasure in itt if he did not desire it For it is not a proceeding for God to vse to desire vs to giue him that which he hath noe mind to receiue any more then it is his custome to commaund that wee aske and yet he forbeare to giue And since he hath notified his deare will to vs wherewith he desires our good and consequently that wee may bee his let vs not doubt to belciue but that he who is so carefull to demaund and he who demaunds with the menace of hell if it be not graunted and with promise of the kingdome of heauen if it be will not be slacke in receiuing that very thing which he demaunds Let it not seeme to your Lordship that the sinnes of your former life ought to diuert you from this amorous embracement of Almighty God since he stands crying out to a sinner with his armes all open and since he doth so before the sinner calles on him For thus he saith Fornicata es cum amatoribus multis Ierem 3. tamen reuertere ad me ego suscipiam te Thou hast committed fornication with many louers but yet returne to mee and I will receiue thee The shepheard will not easily be weary in seeking his lost sheepe nor the falkoner in procuring to recouer his hauke and when he findes her he takes her and returnes home with much ioy I say this because by what I conceiue of your lordship you are endewed with a greater measure of the knowledge of your self then of the knowledge of God and therefore that you will be more subiect to feare then to hope and loue I wish you not to retract the ill opinion you haue of your selfe confesse and beleiue that you haue cause and doe not seeke to remoue your feare with false hopes and lyes to diminish your miseryes by that meanes This would not indeed proue any diminution but an addition of one mischeif vpon the backe of another and the latter would be worse then the former and an impediment in steed of a remedy since God neuer graunts his pardon and mercy but to such a one as vnderstands his owne miserie But beleiue that as wee are more wicked then wee can arriue to knowe soe is God more good then wee can possibly imagine Another kind of hart hath he then wee conceiue and especially in pardoning which men knowe very ill how to doe because they knowe not well how to loue And from hence it growes that they are not able to reach to that height of mercy which God vouchsafes to sinners For as they know nothing by experience of themselues but anger against such as offend them and if they pardon there yet remaynes a thousand reliques of the disgust and withall a great cooling of they re loue therfore doe they iudge of God as they would doe of themselues and if they say with they re mouths that there is difference betweene God and man and that they forgiue as well as they can yet theyr harts doe not beate to the same time When your lordships sonnes shall bee more growne and shall haue giuen you some disgusts you will haue had some sent and taste of this The father doth not vnloue the sonne although that sonne make him angry but he correctes him and still carries the hart of a father towards him And soe is our lord wont to proceede and whensoeuer the sinner hath a mind to returne to him he refuses not to receiue him into his paternall hart Yea and euen when he retournes not he is desiring that he would retourne and all his sinnes are not able to quench this desire in him fort his loue is that which still exceeds Now wee gayne this loue and this retreate in to the hart of God by him who is the Mediatour betweene God and men Iesus Christ our lord Who being the naturall sonne did gayne the adoption of sonnes for vs and that God should haue the hart of a father towards vs his sonnes whensoeuer wee would dispose our selues to enioy this benefitt by meanes of pennance and the Sacraments This loue is as the roote from whence it proceedes that Almighty God is content to expect vs to call vs to receiue vs to pardon vs and to saue vs. For if wee consider well the hart