THE AVDI FILIA OR A RICH CABINET FVLL OF SPIRITVALL IEVVELLS Composed by the Reuerend Father DOCTOVR AVILA Translated out of Spanish into English Omnis terra adoret te psallat tibi Psal 65. Let all the earth adore thee sing to thee O Lord. Permissu Superiorum M.DC.XX THE DEDICATORY TO ALL ENGLISH CATHOLIKES HAVING receaued the honour and happines to be a member of your Holy Communion and on the other side hauing done you nothing but dishonour by leading an vnprofitable life at least and most vnvvorthy of the high vocation of being a Catholike I haue had too much reason to cast my thoughtes vpon thinking hovv I might make you some little part of amendes Nothing came to my mind vvhich might also be vvithin the measure of my povver but the presenting you vvith this Book vvhich togeather vvith my selfe I cast at the feet of you all vvith an humble and most reuerend affection Our Lord doth knovv hovv much need I haue of all your prayers and the high account vvhich I make of them vvhereby you may ghesse hovv much in earnest I desire the same And because there is amongst you a Religious Person a true seruant spouse of Christ our Lord by vvhose meanes through the goodnes of God I am grovvne to an increase of some good desires to doe him Seruice and vvho made much impression vpon my mind tovvards the making me translate this very Booke I do also dedicate it to the same person in a particuler manner as a token of Eternall Gratitude And I beg of that Soule that vvhen by vvay of Exchange for the great Treasures vvhervvith God hath trusted her she shall be remitting her deuout Petitions to that diuine Maiesty the necessityes of myne may not be layd aside Our Lord Iesus graunt by the precious merits of his bitter Passion vvhich I beseech him to apply to vs all by the intercession of his Immaculately conceaued Mother the Queene of Heauen that vve vvho by his grace are in these difficult tymes made members of his Militant Church vvhich to vs indeed is so truely Militant may one day by his goodnes arriue to be also meÌ„bers of the Triumphant Where clearely and at once vve shal be sure to see and vvonder at the inestimable riches of Mercy vvhervvith our Lord did choose vs fevv out of so many millions of soules to professe his Truth and Fayth vvith so much preiudice to our selues in all those thinges vvhich the Foolish and Childish World is vvont to hold so deare Only vve must take care that vve continue in it to and in the end and in the meane tyme also to accompany our Fayth by such good vvorks as may become this high Profession for else vve shall but double our damnation Our Lord deliuer vs from falling into that Abysse of misery and enable vs by his holy Grace so to serue and suffer for him heere that Eternally vve may adore him in Heauen The affectionate humble seruant of you all L. T. THE PREFACE TO The discreet and pious Reader THE (a) The great fam that this Booke enioyeth throughout the world extraordinary fame of this Excellent book gaue me a curiosity to be acquainted with it charity I hope is that which makes me thus deliuer it ouer to be acquainted with you The Title thereof will haue told you the Authours Name and when you shall haue perused it you will acknowledge I belieue that spirit to haue been eminent which the only Giuer of all good thinges bestowed vpon him The (b) The Nation of the Author and the tyme wherin he liued and when he dyed Country of his birth was Spaine and the time of his life was this last age of ours for he dyed in the yeare of our Lord Iesus 1569. some thirteene years after (c) B. P. Ignatius dyed in the yeare 15â—6 Doctour Auila in the yeare 1569. and B. Mother Teresa in the yeare 1â—8â— Blessed Father Ignatius about as many before Blessed Mother Teresa With (d) The communication which he had with the holiest persons of his tyme. both these Saints being mirrours of their tymes and the lasting miracles of these endes of the world he had particuler communication For the later of them he aduised and directed in the way of spirit concerning some difficultyes which occurred to her and she was both comforted and instructed greatly by him And as for the former he bore such affection and euen admiration to his holy Institute that his owne being already at that tyme so far in yeares was (e) He carryed great deuotion to the Society of Iesus the only cause that clipt the winges of his desire which would faine haue beene carrying him on to flye apace after such a guyde But what he could he did by addressing diuers of his disciples to become members of that Society wherein they happily both liued and dyed as appeareth both by the history of his life and yet further by some of his owne printed letters and in a Church of the Society of Iesus he would needs be buried namely at Montillia in Andaluzia The (f) Fray Lewis de Granada wrote his life life of Doctour Auila is written by Fray Lewis de Granada a Religious man of the glorious Saint Dominickes Order and one renowned in the world both for the memory of his great vertues and the presence of his holy bookes It is no meaning of myne to giue you heere the full relation of this life but I only shew euen by the circumstance of the eminent man who wrote the same what account our Authour deserueth at our hands which must needs rebound vpon this Booke so farre as to increase your estimation therof For this reason also you shall vnderstand that when he was yet in health and subiect to the greatest importunity of busines he (g) He was a man of very great Prayer mentally prayed foure houres euery day and he slept but foure euery night When afterward he grew into sicknes which he was subiect to and that in greate extremity for those seauenteene yeares which did immediately precede his death it is probable that he must sleep much lesse and 〈◊〉 is faithfully recorded in the life it selfe that â—e prayed much more for all was prayâ—r with him from the morning till two of the clocke afternoone and againe from six till bed-tyme which with him was not till about an eleuen So as this (h) With how great light of vnderstaÌ„diâ—g and heaâ—e of Charity this Boâ—k was written Booke and the rest of his excellent workes in this kind were not so much the issue of a studious and speculatiue brayne as of a bâ—eeding and boyling hart Boyling through the loue of God and bleeding for the sins of the world Which two obiects being so perpetually before the eyes of his mind and he so hourely treating with the purity of God by way of amorous contemplation and vvith men whose consciences were
loaden vvith sinne by vvay of conuersation and compassion it is the lesse wonder if his words vvere like so many burning coales which might serue to seare those soules which are full of festred soares and to set such others as are sound on fire vvith the loue of Almighty God And in the same spirit he hath also written a large Booke of Sermons vpon the B. Sacrament and vpon some festiuityes of our B. Lady as also a Booke of Epistles to seuerall persons vpon seuerall occasions vvhich I would to God some Reader who hath knowledg of that language would take the paines or rather pleasure to translate For I am much deceaued if there be any vertue to be obtayned or any vice to be auoyded or any necessity to be remoued or any affliction to be asswaged wherein a man may not find some excellent addresse for his purpose in the reading of those works aforesaid which he was inspired to write by the loue for the loue of God This loue of God being in him so hoat did make him profoundly loue that which God loued so much the ardent desire which he had to (i) How hethirsted after the saluation of soules gaine such which were the soules of men for whom Christ dyed to God made him employ the credit which he found with some great Prelates and other great persons as the vvriter of his life relates in procuring them to found (k) Life of D. Aiâ—laâ—-part cap. 2. some Colledges for such as might instruct youth in learning and vertue and others vvhich might be as Seminaryes for the education intertaynment of vvorthy exemplar Priests And speaking often of this subiect he vvas vvont to say I (l) Out of the feare which then he had that it would not be satisfied before his death perceaue I shal dye with this desire But after when the Institute of the Fathers of the Soc ty of Iesus came to his knowledg he did greatly reioyce in his very soule perceauing how for that which he was not able to compasse but only for some short tyme with no small difficulty our Lord had prouided a (m) The high veneration wherein 〈◊〉 had B. F. Igâ—atius whom he compared to a mighty strong man and himself to a child who was not able to moue that great Stone which the other was able to take vp and weild at his pleasure and to lay it in the proper place By this Stone he uÌ„derstaÌ„ds the worke of wining soules Vide hist Soc. Iesu l. 14. fol. 464. man who should go through with it in a perfect manner and with a perpetuity of continuance and strength and these are the very vvordes of (n) Supra part 3. c. 2. the Life This Booke is framed and the considerations which the Authour hath fallen vpon are drawne from his contemplation of that (o) The ground or Argument of the Booke verse of the psalme which is prefixed by way of argument before the first chapter The (p) An addresse to the particuler discourses that he makes in this work particulers wherof he treates are many and the heades of them shall go in a page apart between this Preface the Book But the maine drift of the Authour is to make vs know (q) The chiefe drift of the Authour both God and our selues and that not by the lying glasse of fancy but by the cleare and sweete beame of Truth Our selues that we may see our misery and fly at full speed from the cause thereof which is our pride and other sins And God that we may tremble vnder that infinite Maiesty belieue that infallible Verity and hope for a part of that inexhausted Mercy and euen as it were furiously loue that incomprehensible Abysse of Charity and Beauty This charity of God the Authour doth gladly make appeare vpon all occasions and by great variety of most iust motiues but especially doth his soule euen regorge againe when he enters into speach of the (r) He excelleth himselfe whensoeuer he growes to speake of the Incarnation Life and Passion of Christ Iesus our Lord. Incarnation Life Passion of our Lord Iesus Which he pondereth so coÌ„templatiuely and yet so sensibly so profoundly and yet so plainly so strictly and yet so tenderly as is able to make euen brasse to blush and iron to burne and lead to melt for the greife and shame of the much that we haue sinned and for loue of him in respect of the infinite that he hath suffered for vs. That so in fine we may heerafter make the consideration of the sacred Passion of our Lord a great part of our busine in this life since it is by it that we must be happy in the next vnles we haue a mind to remayne in torment for all eternity And that we may at length both with our hart and tongue make this prayer to the diuine Maiesty to which our Author exhorts (s) A holy prayer which he makes in this Treatise following vs in his discourse vpon the Passion That the mercy of God may not permit vs to be so miserable as not to be content so much as to thinke or meditate vpon those vast affronts tormeÌ„ts which the Son of God being the King of glory and God himselfe was content not only to consider but to suffer Yea and so to suffer as that the infinite desire of loue wherewith he suffered them may euen put the things theÌ„selues as it were to silence how lowd soeuer they otherwise deserue to be crying out in the eares of our hart And this he did without all interest of his owne and only for our eternall good as the Author doth excelleÌ„tly declare that so insteed of enemyes and rebels most wicked slaues which naturally by our descent from Adam we were in the fight of God we might be translated into the condition of being made his seruants his friends his adopted sonnes vpon the price of his owne pretious life This is the nayle that he beats most vpon and I beseech our Lord that our harts may be euen riuetted to his diuine hart thereby In the meane tyme you the Reader must not spend your hope vpon the meeting heer with (t) Concerning the stile any curious or elaborate stile For though euen in this kind the Author be far inough froÌ„ fault yet composition was the thing which he might well disdaine to affect as knowing that the inualuable stone which he was exposing did deserue to be most highly esteemed though it were not artificially either cut or set Nor (u) Concerning the quality of the Authors conceptions yet are you heer so much as to think of encountring certain flourishing fading coÌ„ceits though I am much deceaued if the most fastidious mind wil not heere find matter whereupon to feed with great delight But the Authours ayme was at a fairer marke It is not the clapping of handes which he begs he (x) He shootes
should exalt him yet would he not exalt himselfe But as a true iust person he depriueth himselfe of that honour which he findeth not to be his owne and he giueth it to our Lord whose it is And in this light he findes that the more high he is the more he hath receaued of God and the more he oweth him and the more poore and base he is in himselfe For (k) This is a most pure and perfect truth he that doth truly grow in other vertues doth so also in humility saying to God Thou must increase in me and I must decrease in my selfe dayly And if euen with al these considerations already meÌ„tioned thou find not the fruite of the contempt of thy selfe which thou desirest be not yet dismayd thereat But call vpon our Lord with continuance of prayer for he knoweth how and he is accustomed to teach both interiourly and by way of exteriour comparisons the little that all thinges created are to be esteemed And in the meane tyme till this mercy come liue in patience and know thy selfe for proude which is a kind of humility as for one to hold himselfe humble is a kind of pride CHAP. LXVIII Wherein he beginneth to treate of the consideration of Christ our Lord and of the mysteries of his life and death and of the great reason we haue to exercise our selues in this consideration and of the greâ—â— fruites which grow from thence THEY (a) He beginneth heere and continueth till the the 8â— Chapter a discourse vpon the meditatioÌ„ of the sacred Passion of our Lord Iesus as excellently written perhaps as any hath been seene in this age I am sure I neuer saw any that I liked so well who are much exercised in the knowledge of themselues in respect that they are coÌ„tinually viewing their defects so neer at hand are wont to fall into great sadnes and disconfidence and pusillanimity for which reason it is necessary that they do exercise themselues also in another knowledge which giueth comfort and strength much more then the other gaue discouragement And against this inconuenience there is no other knowledge which may compare with that of Iesus Christ our Lord especially if we consider how he suffered and dyed for vs. This is the cheereful newes which in the new law was preached to all such as are of broken hart and hereby is ministred a kind of Physicke which is more efficacious towards their comfort then they can be discomforted by the woundes and soares of their ownesoules This crucifyed Lord is he who cheereth them vp whom the knowledge of their owne sins afflicteth and he it is that absolueth whome the law condemneth maketh them sonnes of God who were slaues of the Diuell This Lord they must procure to know and they who are subiect to the spirituall debtes which they haue made by finne and they who find straitnes and bitternes of sorrow at their hart when they consider themselues must approach to him and they shal find themselues well therewith as heeretofore others that were afflicted and indebted did resort to Dauid and found help in his society For as we vse to giue counsaile that they who are to passe a riuer should looke vpward or at least out of the water least their heads may els be subiect to some trouble by staring vpon the running streame so whosoeuer shall find himselfe dismaid by the contemplation of his own miseryes if he will cast vp his eyes to Iesus Christ vpon the Crosse he may recouer strength For it was not sayd in vaine My soule was troubled within me and for this reason I remembred thee of the land of Iordan and of the hilles of Hermon of the little hill For the mysteries which Christ did worke in his Baptisme Passion are able to quiet any tempest of distrust which riseth in the hart of man And so it doth both for that reason aforesayd as also because there is no (b) This is the booke of Bookes booke so efficacious towardes the instructing of a man in al kind of vertue nor how hartily sinne ought to be abhorred and vertue loued as the Passion of the Sonne of God And againe because it is an extreme ingratitude to put such an immense benefit of loue into obliuion as that was in Christ to suffer for vs. It is therefore fit for thee after the exercise of the knowledge of thy selfe to imploy thy mind vpon the knowledge of Christ Iesus our Lord. S. Bernard teacheth vs this by saying whosoeuer hath any feeling of Christ doth know how much it belongeth to Christian piety and how necessary it is and what fruit it bringeth to the seruant of God and a seruant of the redemption of Christ to remember with attentioÌ„ for at least the space of one houre in a day the benefits of the Passion and Redemption of Christ Iesus our Lord to enioy it sweetly in our soules and to settle it faythfully in our memoryes This S. Bernard sayd this he did And besides this thou art to know That God when he was pleased to communicate the riches of his Diuinity to men imbraced the meanes of making himselfe a man that by such basenes and poorenesse he might conforme himselfe to the small capacity of such as were base and poore and by ioyning himselfe to them he might raise them vp to his owne height so that the way by which God hath vsed to communicate his Diuinity to men hath beene by meanes of his sacred Humanity This is that gate by which whosoeuer entreth shall be saued and it is the staire by which we must ascend to heauen For God the Father is pleased to honour the humanity and humility of his only begotten Sonne so far as not to make friendship with any creature who belieueth not in him nor to grant his familiar conuersation but to such as meditate vpon him with much attention Since therefore there is no reason that thou shouldst forbeare to desire so great blessings see (c) If we meane not to be wholy miserable we must become slaues to the PassioÌ„ of Christ our Lord. that thou make thy selfe a slaue to this sacred Passion For as much as by it thou wert deliuered from the captiuity of thy sinnes from the torments of hell and those other blessings do also come to thee by this Do (d) Note and be ashamed of thy ingratitude not esteeme it a trouble to thinke of that which he through his great loue of thee did thinke no trouble to endure Be thou one of those soules to which the Holy Ghost speaketh in the (e) Cant. 3. Canticles Go forth you daughters of Sion and behold Salomon the King with that garland vpon his head wherewith his Mo ther crowned him in the day of his espousall and in the day of the ioy of his hart In no place of the Holy Scripture is it read that King Salomon was crowned with any crowne or garland by the handes
But (g) Tremble and take heed if we receiue him ill or do not serue our selues wel of this benefit iust the contrary effect doth follow and such an one shall find himselfe more enthralled by dishonesty then he was before he communicated If with all these considerations and remedies this bestiall flesh grow not quiet thou art to vse it like a beast laying good sound loads vpon it since it will not hearken to so iust reason Some find helpe by pinching themselues very hard in memory of the excessiue paine which those nayles did cause to Christ Iesus our Lord Others by whipping themselues seuerely calling so to mind how our Lord was scourged others with spreading their armes into the forme of a Crosse others with fixing their eyes on heauen others with beating their face and such other thinges as these which put the flesh to paine for at that tyme she vnderstands no other language This (h) The example of Saints is the manner which by reading we find that the Saintes did hold wherof one did strip himselfe starck naked and did all tumble in thorny bushes and so by meanes of his bloudy and afflicted body the warre which was made against his soule did end Another did cast himselfe in the depth of winter into a poole of water which was extreamly cold wherein he stayed till the body came forth halfe dead but the soule was freed from all danger Another thrust his fingers into the fyre and with burning them that other fyre which tormented his soule was quenched And a martyr there was who being bound hand and foote then tempted to vnlawful pleasure by cutting of his owne tongue with his owne teeth became victorious in that combate And although some of these things are not to be imitated because they were inspired by particuler instinct of the holy Ghost and not by the ordinary law vnder which we liue yet hereby we may learne That in the tyme of spirituall warre when there is question or hazard of the soule we are not to be lazy or to expect till our enemyes do giue vs thrustes but we must leape backe from sinne as from the face of a serpent as sayth the Scripture and euery one must apply that remedy to himselfe wherein he findes most profit according to the addresse which shall be giuen him by his prudent Ghostly Father CHAP. XI Of other meanes besides the former whereby some grow to loose their Chastity that we may fly from them if we aâ—so will not loose ours and by what meanes we may strengthen our selues NO care or labour though neuer so great which is employed towards the proseruatioÌ„ of Chastity will be esteemed too much by any if he know how to put the true price vpon the merit and reward thereof Now since our Lord hath made thee vnderstand the valew of this treasure hath giuen thee grace both to choose it and to make (a) This Ladv had vowed Chastity promise therof againe to him I shall not be put into so much necessity to declare the excellency thereof as to giue thee good directions how thou mayst be sure not to loose it and to tell thee of some errours besides the former through which it is lost by others that so thou knowing them mayst auoyde them least thou also come to loose it and thy selfe with it Some (b) Of the diuers wayes whereby chastity groweth to be lost loose it in respect that hauing fierce violent inclinations against it and they on the other side being not earnest in making such a continuall and sharp warre against themselues do with a miserable resolution deliuer themselues ouer bound hand and foot to the will of their enemyes Not considering that the purpose of a (c) A noble word for a Christian to write in his hart â—ither to couqâ—er sinne or to dye in the battaiâ—s Christian is to be either to dye or els to ouercome by meanes of his grace who helpeth such as fight for his honour Others there are who although they be not greatly tempted haue yet naturally a certaine basenes straitnes of hart which is inclined to vile poore things And for as much as this pleasur is one of the most vile poore most at hand they quickly find meanes to meet with it to bestow themselues vpon it as a thing that is proportionable to the basenes poornesse of their owne hart which doth not rayse it selfe so high as to imbrace a life of such men as are ruled euen by naturall reason Which alone taught one so good a lesson as to make him say That in carnall pleasures there was nothing worthy of a magnanimous hart And another sayd That the life which consists in carnall pleasure is a life of beasts For not only doth the light of heauen but euen that of naturall reason condemne such as employ themselues vpon this basenes as people who liue not in the circle of men whose life must be agreable to reason but of beasts whose very life is sensuall appetite And if iustice might be done there would be a great deale of cause to take away the name of men from these fellowes in regard that although they haue the shape of men they yet lead a life of beasts are the true dishonour and reproach of men Nor would (d) How strang this is and yet after a sort it is dayly seene it be a thing moderatly strange or giue small wonder to them that saw it if a beast should lead a man bridled vp and downe and carry him whither it would directing him who ought to gouerne it And yet there are so many ruled by the bridle of bestiall appetite both of high and low condition that I know not whether it is through the multitude thereof that it cannot be so easily discerned Or els I rather belieue that it is because there are few who haue light to see how miserable a soule in a body is when it is killed by carnall pleasures and the more if that body be fresh and fayre O how many soules of these and others are burning in this infernal fire nor is there any to cast tears of compassion vpon them or to say with their hart To (e) Iod. 1. thee O Lord will I cry out because the fire hath denoured the beautifull thinges of the desert For (f) Note certainly if we had amongst vs of those (g) Luc 7. widdowes of Naim who would bitterly bewayle their dead children Christ would vse mercy for the reuiuing them in soule as he did the body of that widdowes sonne who is mentioned in the Ghospell It is not his part to sleep who hath the office in the Church to pray and intercede for the people with the tendernes of a Mother Least God do chastize both him them saying (h) Ezech. 22. I sought among them for a man who might place himself as a wall (i) See the infinit
enemies and triumphing ouer them we shal say O death where is thy victory O death where is thy sting which sting is sinne in them where death is still in force whereby it doth wound as the Bee is wont to do with her sting for by sinne death entred into the world Both the one and the other enemy which were wont to gouerne and to wound the world remayne drowned in the blessed bloud of Iesus Christ and slayne by his precious death And in (u) See heer how copious the Redemption is which our Lord hath purchased for vs. their place succeedeth that euerlasting iustice whereby heere the soule is iustifyed and afterwards shall succeed the vision of God face to face in heauen and a life which shal be eternally blessed both in body and soule What shall we say to this O Virgin but that which S. Paul hath taught vs Thankes be giuen to God who hath graunted vs victory through Iesus Christ Him thou art to adore and with a gratefull and enamoured harte say to him Let all the earth adore thee and prayse thee and singe a hymne to thy name And see thou say this often euery day and especially when at the Altar his most holy body is eleuated by the hands of the Priest CHAP. XXIII Of the great mischeise which despayre doth worke in the soule and how we must ouercome this ene my with spirituall alacrity and diligence and feruour in the seruice of God THis despayre and loosing of hart is such a dangerous instrument of our enemy that when I remember the great mischeifes which haue growen by it to the consciences of many I desyre to speake a little more concerning the remedy thereof if perhaps any good may come thereby It (a) This is a case too common happeneth so that sometymes there are persons who be loaden with a multitude of great sinnes and neither know what despayre nor so much as a little feare is nor doth it once passe through their thought But they goe on as being assured by a false hope offending God and yet not fearing punishment for the same And (b) We see by lamentable experience that such as are not Catholiks do passe from one extremity of presâ—â—â—tion to the other of de peration without resting in true hope if once the mercy of God shine vpon their soules and they beginne to see the grieuousnes of their sinnes though it be reason that since they aske pardon of God with purpose of amendement and that they receiue the benefit and comforte of the Sacramentes they should be strengthned thereby both against that which is past and that also which in the seruice of God might afterward present it selfe yet fall they vpon the other extreame of feare as before they were subiect to that of false security Not (c) Note considering that they who oftend God and do not repent haue reason indeed to feare tremble though all the world smile vpon them because the wrath of the omnipoteÌ„t is prouoked against them which wrath there is no power that can resist and that they who humble themselues to God and receiue his holy Sacramentes and who will procure to do his will ought to haue the hart of Lions for as much as they are commaunded to confide in God by that token that God is with them Whome as they hold for an enemy to the wicked and for that themselues haue byn such they are in feare so it is all reason that they should hold him for a friend of the good and that in regard of the holy purposes which he hath inspired them with they may confide that he is also their friend and that so he will be giuing increase to the good seed which himselfe did plante and perfecting that which he hath begunne This is certainely true that when once a man coÌ„meth to say in earnest that which Dauid sayd I haue held vp my hands towardes the performance of thy commanamentes which I haue loued God putteth his eyes and hart where that man putteth his hands that so he may help him and as one who is good by an infinite goodnesse he taketh him into protection with care and ranketh that man on his syde who will fight for his honour making warre vpon himselfe to giue contentment to God And (d) The difficulties which vse to occur to such as begin to serue God although it be true that when a man beginneth to serue God through some particuler calling which may incite him with the contempt of all thinges to seeke that pretious pearle of the Ghosâ—ell by the perfection of a spirituall life there may grow against such a man such traines and warres of the Diuells both immediately from themselues and also by the meanes of wicked men and they lock him vp in such straytes that when he rayseth the first foote from ground and placeth it on the lowest of those fifteene steppes whereby men rise to perfection he is forced to say When I was in tribulation I called vpon our Lord and he heard me O Lord deliuer my soule from wicked lipps and from the deceitefull tongue which wicked lippes are they which doe expressely hinder that which is good and a deceitfull tongue is that which procureth in a disguised manner to deceyue and sometymes so great impediments are presented or at least it seemeth so towards the making one depart from his course begunne that they are like those great Giantes wherof the children of Israel sayd Compared with them we are no more then a few little grashoppers and the walles of the Citty which we are to assault seeme to threaten heauen with their height and the earth in that place seemeth to open to swallow vp her inhabitantes notwithstanding I say all this thou art to consider and let vs all consider it with well opened eyes how much that faint-hartednes despaire displeased God which the Sonnes of Israel were subiect to by the meanes aforesayd For as much as the sinns which they committed in the wildernes howsoeuer they were great many and one of them was that they adored a Calfe for God which seemeth to be the very outside of wickednes yet God endured all this at their hands and did them fauour towards the prosecuting of their enterprize begun But (c) Note how predominaÌ„tly despaire is displeasing to Almighty God he would not endure their disconfidence and despaire of his mercy and power and he sware to them in his wrath as Dauid sayth that they should not enter in to his rest and as he sware it so he performed it Doth it not seeme to thee that we haue reason to curse this vice which is opposite to the honour of the diuine goodnes That being so much greater then our wickednes as God is greater then man And be thou assured that as the way of perfect vertue is a kind of stiffe battaile made against our enemies who are full of strength both within vs and without vs yet
gather who liue well although they looke not for it And after the rate of the one increaseth the other Now from a contrary cause followeth a contrary effect as it is written The (u) Eccl. â— wicked hart giueth sorrow and from hence groweth disconfidence and other miseries in company thereof CHAP. XXIV Of two remedies for the getting of Hope in the way of our Lord and that we must not turne coward although the remooue of the temptation be differred and how there be certayne hartes which know not how to be humbled but by the knocks of tribulation and therefore that they must so be cured THE conclusion that thou must draw out of all this is That since it doth so much import to go on comforted with a good hope and with alacrity in the seruice of God thou must procure two thinges towards it The one is the consideration of his diuine goodnesse and loue which he hath manifested by giuing vs Christ Iesus for our owne The other that castng off all slacknesse and sloath thou serue our Lord with diligence and when thou fallest into any fault be not deiected with disconfidence but procure remedy and hope for mercy And if many tymes thou fallest procure thou many tymes to rise For (a) If this be not true what is no discourse of reason will endure that thou shouldest be weary of asking pardon since God is neuer weary of giuing it And since he commaunded vs to pardon our neighbours not only (b) Matt. â—â— seauen tymes in the day but seauenty tymes seauen which signifyeth that we must doe it without limitation much and much better will our Lord graunt vs pardon as often as it shal be asked since his goodnes is greater and is placed before vs for an example which we are to follow And if integrity of life and the remedy which thou desirest do not come so soone as thou couldest wish let not that make thee conceiue that it will neuer come Nor (c) Take heed that such a thought as this do not once enter into thy hart be thou like them that sayd If God send not remedy within fiue dayes we will giue our selues vp to our enemies For the holy (d) Iud. 7. Iudith reprehended such men as these with great reason and she sayd who are you that will thus tempt our Lord For such wordes as these are not to mooue him to mercy but rather to stirre vp his wrath and to kindle his fury Haue you perhaps appointed a tyme wherein our Lord is to shew mercy and haue you set downe the day according to your owne mind Learne to hope in our Lord till his mercy come and be not weary of suffering since patience importeth you as much as life And (e) Note if the straytes be great which weaken thy hope euen (f) A comfortable consideration for English Catholikes which ought to fill our soules with patience and with an humble peaceful expectatioÌ„ of the good will of God those very straites should in reason giue thee courage because they vse to be the very Eue and introduction of the remedy For the houre wherein our Lord deliuereth is when the tribulation hath lasted long and at the present afflicteth most As it appeareth plainly in the case of his disciples (*) Luc. 5. Whom he permitted to suffer during three parts of the night and in the last he gaue them comfort He also deliuered his people out of the captiuity of Egypt when the tribulation which they suffered was growne vp to the highest so wil he do with thee when thou thinkest not of it And if thou conceaue that thou wouldest faigne leade a holy life and perfect life and which all might be to the glory of God thou (g) Examine thy consciéce by this light and see if the case be not thyne art to know that there are some so proud and lofty that there is no humbling of them but vpon the price of temptations discomfortes and falling into sinne and so weake they are withall that they will not goe on in the way of God with diligence if they be not ridden vpon the spurre and their hart is so hard as that they must be hammered vpon with a great deale of misery Nor haue they any caution or discretion but vpon the experience of many of their owne errours In fine they haue a mind which is filled and puffed vp with a few graces and they haue need of many afflictions to make them proceed with humility in the sight of God and of their neighbours Thou seest already that the cure of these inconueniences cannot be wrought but with (h) If gentler pnisicke be not able to cure vs we must be cotent that God do play the Surgeon with vs. burning irons and by Gods permitting men to fall into desolations obscuritics of mind and euen into sinnes that so being much afflicted they may humble themselues and then be freed from their miseries The Prophet Micheas sayth Thou (i) Mich. 4. shalt goe as farre as Babylon and there thou shalt be deliuered and God will redeeme thee from the hand of thine enemies For by the confusion of this kind of life and by these falles in to sinne a man vseth to be humbled and both to seeke remedy of God and to find it which if he had not fallen he might perhaps haue lost by pryde or not haue sought with diligence and greâ—fe Eternall thankes be giuen to thee (k) Amen O Lord who out of such preiudiciall miseries art wont to draw these celestiall benefits and that thou art glorified as wel in pardoning sinners as thou art in making and keeping them iust and who sauest by the way of a contrite and humbled hart him who was not in disposition to serue thee with a hart of innocency and who makest a mans sinnes giue him occasion of being humble diligent and aduised that so as thy selfe did say He (l) Luc. 7. to whome more is forgiuen may loue more that so it may be fulfilled which the Apostle sayth Mercy in iustice maketh that iustice of thyne appcare more glorious as it maketh thy goodnesse seeme more in pardoning and sauing such as haue sinned and returne to thee In another place he also sayth That (m) Roun 8. all things prooue to the good of such as loue God Yea so do (n) Infinite goodnes of our God the very sinnes themselues which they haue committed as S. Augustine sayth But (o) Absâ—â— yet this must not be taken as a ground for thy tepidity or facility in sinning to buyld vpon for that must in no case be done But to the end that if thou fall into so great misfortune as to offend our Lord thou do not yet commit a greater sinne then that can be by dispayring of his mercy CHAP. XXV How the Diuell procureth to draw vs to despayre by tempting vs against fayth and the diuine mysteries of the remedies
of the other Yet be not thou dismaid but present thy selfe with them all before ou◠Lord though not without groaning sighes (i) A sweet and significāt comparison as the Child would do who letteth the mother see where the thorne hath haspt it self into his hand and he beggeth of her with teares that she will pull it out and so will our Lord do with thee For as he is a glasse to declare thy faults so by his example and helping hand he is the true remedy thereof And now considering through how great shame he was content to passe for the loue of thee thy hart wil be kindled towards the casting away off all affection to honour and his patience will kill thy anger his gall vinegar will cure thy glottony and thy seeing him obedient to his Father euen to the death of the Crosse will tame thy necke towards the obedience of his holy will euen in those thinges wherin thou mayst find the greatest difficulty And when thou shalt behold how that most high God humaned the Lord of the heauens and of the earth all that which they conteine did (k) See heer whether or no thou haue any reasō to be impatient or proud obey those wretches when they were pleased to strip him starcke naked and then to apparaile him againe and when they bound him and when they vnbound him and when they commaunded him to spread himselfe vpon the Crosse and to stretch out his armes that they might be nailed thereunto I am deceaued if it will not giue thee a desyre and that with the deepest sighes of thy hart if it be capable of any feeling to be obedient not only to thy betters and equalls but to thy inferiours also and to submit thy selfe for the loue of God as S. Peter (l) 1. Pet. 2. sayth to all the reasonable creatures in the world and that so farre as euen to be ill vsed by them By this meanes also will couetousnesse come to dye in thee if thou behold those handes boared through for the good of men that they may accomplish that which formerly he commaunded when he said (m) Ioan. 13. Loue you one another as I haue loued you And in a word thou wilt find by experience that S. Paul (n) Rom. 6. said true when he told vs that our old man was crucified with Christ. Yf thou do not fynd this cure and conquest ouer thy selfe to grow instantly as thou wouldest desyre be (o) We are so wicked that we had need to haue much patience with our selues not yet dismaid and giue not ouer thy good beginnings But (p) If we haue little feeling of those thinges at the first we must not yet despaire but be humble diligent in prayer as now thou art come to know that the hardnesse of thy hart and thy wickednesse is greater then thou couldst haue thought so do thou sigh out so many more groanes and with so much the more humility begge thou of our Lord that his mercy may not permit thee to remaine sicke since he being God did suffer and dye to make thee whole And haue thou hope that he will not make himselfe deafe who hath commaunded thee to cry out vpon him and that he will not carry such bowells of cruelty about him as to see thee sicke to hear thee cry out at that gate of the hospitall of his mercy which are his wounds but that some one day or other he will take thee in to cure thee But (q) The perfect cure of thy soule wil not be wrought vpon a suddaine I aduertise thee of this that it is not a businesse to be dispatched in so short a tyme. And although S. Paul (r) Gal 18.9 said in few wordes That they who were of Christ had crucified their flesh with the vices and desires thereof yet such as are not content with departing only from mortall sinne but haue a desire to obtayne a perfect victory ouer themselues by ouercomming those seauen generations of enemyes which haue taken possession of the land of promise do find by experience that the thing which is sayd in one word is not completely performed in many yeares But our soueraigne Lord is wont to giue such persons hope of perfect health vouchsafing them now and then the cure of some particuler infirmity We (ſ) A place of Holy Scripture excellently applyed read of the Captaine Iosue that hauing ouercome fiue Kinges he sayd thus to his souldiars Set (t) Iosue 10. your feet vpon the neckes of these Kinges and do not feare but take hart and comfort for as our Lord hath ouercome these so will he also all those others whome you fight against Do (u) If thou consider the reward euen in this life which is heer mentioned thou wilt not think thy labour ill imploied and therefore resolue vpon the word of this holy Authour which is Either to conquer of dye thou in this manner and resolue either to conquer or to dye for if thou obtayne not the victory ouer thy passions thou wilt not be able to proceed in the exercise of this familiar conuersation with our Lord. For it is not reason that the most sweet repose which is taken with ioyfull peace in the armes of our Lord be affoarded but to them who first haue fought and with difficulty haue ouercome themselues Nor can they obtaine to be the quiet Temples of that peaceable Salomon if first they be not hammered by the blowes of the mortification of their passions and by the breaking off their wills For (x) The smoake of the passions depriue the soule of being able to see that sweetnes and sublimenes Gods beauty the smoake which vnmortified passions raise vp in the soule do not suffer the sight to be so cleare as it fit for the beholding of the King in his beauty Nor doe they permit the soule to haue that purity which is requisite for the vniting of it with God like a chast Spouse and in a manner which is particuler and secret kept safe for them to whom our Lord vouchsafes to giue it after they haue laboured many yeares as Iacob did for Rachel CHAP. LXXVIII That the most excellent thing which we are to meditate and imitate in the passion of our Lord is the loue where with he offered himself to the Eternall Father AFTER hauing entred into the first exteriour part of the Temple of this true Salomon which is to consider Christ in the exteriour man and after hauing sacrificed thy disordinate passions by the knife of the word of God which office was executed in that part of the Temple which was called Holy it remaines if we meane to proceed in our way that we procure to enter into the Sancta Sanctorum the Holy of Holyes which is a more pretious place and the period of all the rest If now thou aske me which is this place (a) The pretious hart of
his hauing been pleased to performe them first He hath commanded vs as hath beene sayd that we should heare him and behould him and encline our eare vnto him which is all most reasonable and easy For such a maister who will not heare Who will not be delighted in beholding such a delightfull light Who will not encline his eare to that infinite wisdome But (a) The example of the holy life of our Lord Iesus to the end that the thing which is light might be yet more light he was pleased to passe by the same law which he hath imposed vpon vs he performed it with great diligence He heareth vs he seeth vs he enclineth his eare to vs to the end that we may no loÌ„ger say there is none who looketh towards me none who hearkneth to my complaintes A (b) Look attentiuely to this consideraon great comfort it is for one that is in distresse to haue some body who at all tymes of both day and night will be at good leasure and in good humour to heare his difficultyes related and if without the fayling of any moment he stand looking vpon his miseryes and infirmityes and if he doe not so much as say I am weary of seeing those afflictions thy wounds and soares do turne my stomacke And although such a person were hard of heart we would yet be glad that he should euer heare and see vs. For we would hope that the gutter of our sorrowes which would fall vpon his heart by the conduit of his eares and eyes would one day eate into him and breed compassion since how hard soeuer he were he would not be more hard then stone which yet is wrought vpon by the fall of water although sometimes that water cease to fall And although we knew that he were not able to relieue our miseries yet should we comfort our selues much by the only compassion which he might haue of our case Now (c) The case applyed if we should owe much gratitude to such a person how great must that be which we owe to our Lord And how ioyfull ought we to be in that his eyes and eares are bent vpon the sight of our afflictions and that he doth not at any tyme retire them from vs. And this is done by him not with any hardenesse of hart but with internall and profound mercy and not with mercy of the hart alone but with entire power to relieue our necessities Be (d) God doth euer heare our coÌ„plaints he is inclined to pitty our ease he is highly able to help vs. thou O Lord eternally blessed who art neither deafe nor blind to our afflictions since thou doest euer heare and see them Nor art thou cruell since of thee it is said Our Lord is a worker (e) Psal 10â— of mercies and he is of a mercifull hart he expecteth vs and he is very mercifull Nor is he weake withall since all the miseries and sinnes of the world are both weake few if they be compared to his infinite power which hath no end nor measure We read that in tymes past God gaue a meruailous victory to King (f) 4. Reg. 10. Fzechias ouer his enemies who as some relate did not yield those thankes and sing those praises to our Lord which were both due and accustomed to be presented in such cases For which offence God (g) A great example of â—ods mercy and mans misery did cast him into a sicknesse and that so dangerous that humanely speaking it could expect no cure And least through a vayne hope of life he might forget to set his soule in order the Prophet Isay was sent to him and he said by the commaundment of God This saith our Lord Dispose of the affayres of thy house for know that thou shalt dye and not line The King being frighted by these wordes turned his face towards the wall and wept with great lamentation imploring the mercy of our Lord. He considered how iustly he had deserued death since he had not bin gratefull to him who had giuen him his life and he reflected vpon the sentence which had already passed on him which said Thou shalt not line Ho found not that there was any thing superiour to him who had passed that sentence that so he might procure to haue it reuersed And although there had bin any such yet would not his title haue bin good For from the man who is vngratefull that is iustly taken away which was mercifully afforded to him He saw that he was but a man of middle age and that the line of Dauid was to fayle in his person for then he was to haue dyed without children And besides all this he was assalted by all the sinnes of his life past the feare wherof is wont to presse men most in that last houre And by these things his hart was euen broken with griefe and troubled like a tempestuous sea and which way soeuer he looked he found reasons of sorrow and feare But (h) They are sure of remedy who haue recourse to prayer especially if they resort to it immediately after the occasion is ministred yet in the middest of so many miseries the good King met with a remedy and it was to aske physicke at his handes who had made him sicke and security of him by whome he had bin frighted and to conuert himselfe to him by hope and pennance from whome he had fled before through pride Yea and of the iudge himselfe he desires that he will become his aduocate and he falls vpon an inuention how to appeale from God not as to any other more high then he but from himselfe being iust to himselfe being mercifull And the reasons of his defence are no other then the accusations of himselfe and the Rhetorike that he vseth are but sighes and teares And by these meanes he is able to preuaile so farre in that court of Chancery of the diuine mercy that before the prophet Isay who was the proclaymer of the sentence of his death could go but haâ—fe way ouer the Kings chamber our Lord sayd to him Returne and say thus to King Ezechias that Captaine of my people I haue heard thy prayer and I haue seene thy teares I grant thee health and I giue thee moreouer fifteene yeares of life and I will deliuer this Citty out of the handes of thine enemies What is this O Lord So soone doest thou sheath thy sword agayne so soone doest thou turne thy anger into mercy Can a few teares which are shed not in the Temple but in the corner of a bed whilest the eyes looke not vp to heauen but vpon a wal make thee so soone reuoke that sentence which thy maiesty had giuen and commaunded to be notifyed to that guilty person What (l) The pardon of God to man is instant and amorous without vpbrayding is then becomâ— of coppying out the whole processe what of the costes of the suite what of the
tearmes that haue bin giuen what of the producing of the testimonies both of the plaintiffe and defendant and what can be said to this That the iudge ought to esteeme himselfe to haue receiued an affront if his sentence be reuoked Thou doest passe ouer it all by the loue which thou bearest and by the desire which thou hast to powre blessings downe vpon vs. And thou saidst I haue heard thy prayer and I haue seene thy teares All tearms seeme long till thou mayst free him that is faulty for neuer did any man so desire to receaue pardoÌ„ as thou dost to giue it and more doest thou ioy to pardon them to whome thou desirest to giue life then the sinner doth himselfe for hauing escaped from death Thou obseruedst no ordinary delayes or lawes but the law shall be That he who hath broken thy lawes shall afflict his hart with griefe for what is past and shall purpose an amendment of life for that which is to come and shall apply the wholesome receites of thy Sacraments which thou didst leaue in thy Church or at least shal haue intention to take them And the delayes shall be these That (k) Ezech. 33. whensoeuer a sinner shall be deeply sorry for his sinnes thou wilt remember them no longer And to the end that sinners may take hart in crauing thy pardon for their offences thou wert pleased to graunt this man more fauour then he asked of thee by fifteene yeares of life and the deliuery of his Citty and the retraite of the Sunne as far as it is wont to walke in ten houres in token that vpon the third day after that the King should go vp into the Temple safe and sound And thou wert mercifull by vouchsafing him other secret fauours who neither yet wouldst suffer sinne to approach to vs but only for the bringing of greater good from thence letting vs see thy mercy by our misery and thy pardon and goodnes by our wickednes and thy power by our weakenesse Therefore (l) A conclusionful ful of comfort thou O sinner whosoeuer thou be who art threatned by that sentence of God which (m) Ezech. 18. sayth The soule that sinneth the same shall dye be not yet all dismayed vnder the burthen of thy great sinnes and that insuportable waight of the wrath of God But taking courage in the consideration of the mercyes of him who (n) Ezech. 33. desireth not the death of a sinner but that he may be conuerted and liue do thou humble thy selfe by weeping in his sight whome thou hast despised by committing sinne And then receaue thy pardon from the hand of that piteous Father who (o) Infinit goodnes of God hath so very great desire to giue it yea and to impart greater blessings to thee then thou hadst before As he did to this King who rose vp sound in body sound â—n soule as appeared by the thankes he gaue in these wordes Thou (p) Isa 38. O Lord hast deliuered my soule that it might not perish and thou hast cast away my sinnes behind thy backe CHAP. LXXXIII Of two threats which God vseth to expresse One absolute and the other conditionall and of two kinds of promises like those threats and how we are to carry our selues when they arriue THov art not to be scandalized in that the word vvhich was spoken to this King Thou shalt dye and thou shalt not liue was not accomplished But thou art to know That sometymes our Lord commandeth that to be declared which he hath determined to be effected in his high counsell and eternall will and that vvillbe sure without all fayle to arriue In this sort he commanded that it should be told King Saul That he would cast him off and choose a better in his place And so also did he threaten Hely the Priest and accordingly it was fullfilled And in the same manner he also menaced King Dauid That he would kill that sonne of his whome in adultery he had begotten of Bersabee And notwithstanding the earnest suit which the King made for the life of the child by prayers by hairecloth and by fastes it was not graunted for God had resolued that the child should dye But (a) That which sometime may seem to be denounced by God as absolute is but meant to be conditionall at other tymes he commandeth that to be published vpon which he hath not absolutly resolued but only vpon condition of the mending or not mending such a fault And in this sort he sent word to the Citty of Niniue That within fourty dayes it should be destroyed But afterward by their pennance he did reuoke that sentence for he had not determined to destroy them because he did it not But he declared what their sinnes deserued and what also would haue happened if their liues had not beene reformed And although considering thinges after an exteriour manner it seemed to fauour of inconstancy to say that it shal be destroyed and not to destroy it yet is it not so in that high will of God because he did not absolutely meane to do it For as S. Augustine sayth God varieth his sentence but he changeth not his counsell Which in this case was not to destroy it but not to destroy it by means of their pennance which he resolued to incite them to by that menace And this is that which our Lord sayth by (b) Hier. 18. Heremy Suddainly will I say to Nations and Kingdoms That I will destroy them and roote them out but if that people do pennance for their sinnes I will also repent my selfe of the euill which I meant to bring vpon them and I will instantly say of Nations and Kingdomes That I will plant them and build them vp But if they worke wickednes in my sight and do not hearken to my voice I also will repent my selfe of the good which I sayd that I meant to do them The (c) What vse we are to make of not knowing whether any thing which God denounceth be an absolute sentence or a coÌ„ditionall threat vse which we are to make heerof is this That because we know not when that vvherewith God doth threaten vs is but only a threat or whether it be a finall determinatioÌ„ we must not cast our selues vpon despaire nor forbeare to implore his mercy that so he may be pleased to reuoke the sentence which he gaue against vs as he did to this King and to the citty of Niniue who did both of them get their suits And though Dauid did not obtaine his yet did he not sinne in beseeching our Lord to reuoke the sentence coÌ„cerning him because it appeared not to him whether it were a decree or a threat And in the same manner if God make a promise to affoard vs any blessing we must not vse neglect in seruing him by saying I haue a byll that is written by the hand of God which can deceaue no body For the same Lord (d)
hartes of such as follow it and of the punishment that they shall incurre pag. 4. Chap. 3. Of what remedies we are to serue our selues towards the contempt of the Vayne-glory of the world And of the great force which Christ our Lord doth giue for the ouercomming thereof pag. 8. Chap. 4. In what degree and to what end it is lawfull for a man to desire Honour in the world and of the extreme danger which there is in holding places of Authority and Commaund pag. 13. Chap. 5. How much we ought to fly from the pleasure of flesh and bloud and what a most dangerous Enemy this is of what helpes we are to serue our selues for the subduing thereof pag. 20. Chap. 6. Of two causes that there are of sensuall tentations what meanes we must vse against them when they rise from the Malice of the Diuell pag. 25. Chap. 7. Of the great peace which our Lord God giueth to them that sight manfully against this Enemy of the much that it importeth vs for the ouercomming of him to fly from familiarity with women pag. 30. Chap. 8. How the Diuell vseth to deceaue spirituall men by meanes of this enemy of our Flesh and Bloud of the course that we are to hold in keeping our selues from errour pag. 33. Chap. 9. That one of the principall remedies for the conquering of this Enemy is the exercise of deuout and feruent Prayer whereby we many find gust in diuine considerations which maketh vs abhorre all worldly pleasures pag. 39. Chap. 10. Of many other meanes which we are to vse when this cruell Enemy doth assault vs with his first blowes pag. 44. Chap. 11. Of other meanes besides the former wherby some grow to loose their Chastity that we may fly from them if we also will not loose ours and by what meanes we may strengthen our selues pag. 49. Chap. 12. That God vseth to punish such as are proud 〈◊〉 by permitting them to loose the treasure of Chastity thereby to humble them and how necessary it is to be humble for the ouercomming of the enemy to this vertue pag. 55. Chap. 13. Of two other dangerous meanes which are went to make way for the losse of Chastity in such as endeauour not to auoyd them pag. 60. Chap. 14. How much we ought to fly from the vaine confidence of obteyning victory against this enemy by our owne only industry and labour and that we must vnderstand it to be the guift of God of whom it is to be humbly asked by the intercession of the Saintes and in particuler of the Virgin our Blessed Lady pag. 63. Chap. 15. How our Lord disposeth not equally of the guist of Chastity vnto all because to some he giueth it only in their soules and of the great profit which the temptations against Chastity do bring if they be well borne pag. 67. Chap. 16. How the guift of Chastity is graunted to some not only in the interiour part of the soule but in the sensuall part also this after two manners pa. 71. Chap. 17. Wherein he beginneth to discourse of the languages spoken by the Diuell how much we ought to fly them that one of them is to make a man proud so to bring him to great mischeife and errour and of the meanes how to auoyd this language of Pride pag. 77. Chap. 18. Of another snare all contrary to the former which is Despaire whereby the Diuell procureth to conquer Man and how we shall carry our selues against him pag. 87. Chap. 19. Of the much which God the Father gaue vs in giuing vs Iesus Christ our Lord how thankefull we ought to be to help our selues by this fauour and to strengthen our selues thereby for the excluding of all desperation wherewith the Diuell is wont to assault vs. pag. 92. Chap. 20. Of some meanes which the Diuell vseth against the remedy that is spoken of whereby to fright vs how for this we must not faint but animate our selues the more considering the infinite mercy of our Lord. pag. 96. Chap. 21. He proceeds in the discourse of Gods mercy which he sheweth to them that cordially aske pardon This is a consideration of power to conquere all Despaire pag. 100. Cap. 22. Where he prosecutes the treaty of the mercy of God which he vseth towards vs his Maiesty ouercomming our enemyes after an admirable manner pag. 106. Cap. 23. Of the great mischeife which despaire doth worke in the soule and how we must ouercome this enemy with spirituall alacrity and diligence and feruour in the seruice of God pag. 110. Chap. 24. Of two remedies for the getting of Hope in the way of our Lord and that we must not turne coward although the remooue of the temptation be differred and how there be certayne hartes which know not how to be humbled but by the knocks of tribulation and therefore that they must so be cured pag. 118. Chap. 25. How the Diuell procureth to draw vs to despayre by tempting vs against fayth and the diuine mysteries and of the remedies that we must vse against these temptations pag. 122. Chap. 26. How the Diuell endeauours by meanes of the aforesaid temptations to remooue vs from our deuotion and good exercises that our remedy is to increase therein laying aside all superfluous desyre of feeling spirituall sweetnesse in the soule and to what end these also may be desyred pag. 126. Chap. 27. That the conquest of these temptations doth consist more in hauing patience to beare them and in the hope of the fauour of our Lord then in procuring forcibly that they may not come pag. 132. Chap. 28. Of the great remedy which groweth against these tentations by seeking a wise and well experienced ghostly Father who must be entirely informed and credited and how the ghostly Father ought to proceed with such persons of the fruit which riseth from these temptations pag. 135. Chap. 29. How the Diuell procureth by exteriour meanes to make vs giue ouer good exercises And how we must strengthen our hart by confidence in our Lord for the ouercomming of him And of other things which help to free vs from this feare and of the fruite of this temptation pag. 139. Chap. 30. Of many reasons which there are why we must hope that our Lord will deliuer vs out of all tribulation how greiuous soeuer it be of two significations which this word Belieue may be accounted to haue pag. 150. Cap. 31. That the first thing which we are to heare is diuine Truth by meanes of Faith which is the beginning of all spirituall life and which teacheth vs so high things as that they exceed all humane discourse pa. 159. Chap. 32. How agreable to reason it is to belieue the Mysteries of our Fayth although they exceed all humane reason pag. 163. Chap. 33. Of how firme and constant and authorized witnesses our faith hath had who haue giuen their liues for the truth thereof
that we must vse against these temptations AT other tymes the Diuell vseth to fright vs by drawing thoughtes vnto our mind which are soule and abominable against fayth and the mysteries of God And he maketh him who hath them conceyue that they proceed from the man himselfe and that he consenteth to them And hereby he giueth him so great affliction as to depriue his soule of all alacrity and he maketh it belieue that it is cast of by God and condemned by him and doth put him into an humour of despayre by telling him that it is impossible for him to belodged in anyother place but hell since he holdeth blasphemies and such other incidentes to that place The (a) Note diuell is not such a Dunse as not to vnderstand that a Catholike Christian can neuer come to consent to thinges which are so detested by his Christian hart but the meaning is to dismay him that so he may loose the confidence which he had in God and being tormented with such importunities may grow to loose his patience and so carry a hart in his body which is full of tempest and disgust that being a thing whereby the diuells vse to make much haruest through the disposition which vpon this occasion men haue to receyue what euill impression the same diuells will The (b) A mayne poynt of all points first thing then which we are to do if it be not done already is to consider our conscience with care and great repose of mind and to cleanse it by confession from all that euill which we find therein and to put it into such order neither more nor lesse then if we were that day to dy and from thence forth to liue with greater care in the seruice of our Lord then before For it hapneth sometymes that our soueraigne iudge permitteth these fearefull things to come vpon vs against our will in punishment of other thinges which we haue willingly fallen into and for the negligence which we haue vsed in his seruice which our Lord is disposed to cure by a scourge that shall smart so much as that being bruized thereby we may for beare to feed vpon forbidden fruite and that we may put on a pace in our way as an vnreasonable creature would doe when he were followed by the whippe Sometymes our Lord sendeth this torment for other endes which to his high wisedome are not vnknowen But whether it be sent for these or the former reasons euery one is to do as hath byn sayd by purifying his conscience growing diligent in Gods seruice for this remedy can hurt none and it will do good to all And their confiding in the mercy of God and desyring succour of him if yet he cannot giue ouer to heare this Language because the diuell is able whether we will or no to bring these thoughts and inward speaches to our mind let the man at least proceed by way of action as if he heard them not and let him remaine in peace without afflicting himselfe vpon that occasion without (c) There is nothing to be gotté by arguing with the diuell changing of words or making answears to the enemy according to that of (d) Psalm 37. Dauid As one that is deafe I did not heare and as one that is dumbe I did not open my mouth These things are hard to be belieued by such as are ignorant of the diuells craft but if they giue not ouer to thinke or do the good thinges they were about and if they employ not themselues in hearing and catching at and killing those former thoughtes as they would do flyes they presently thinke that they haue consented thereunto But they know not what great difference there is (e) Great errours grow in the mind◠of many for want of wel cōsidering this difference betweene hearing and consenting And so much the more as those thoghts are highly abominable so much more cōfidence may they haue in our Lord that he will preserue them from consenting to so extreame wickednesse to which they carried no inclination but detestation The (f) Note best remedy is therefore through a quiet kind of dissimulation not to seeme to valew them for there is nothing which doth more afflict the diuell vvho is so proud then to contemne him with such a downright contempt as not to make any reckoning eyther of him or of that which he bringeth for our trouble Nor is there any thing so dangerous as to hold argument with one that can so easily ouer reach vs and the best of our case wil be that he will make vs loose our tyme and giue ouer the good that we were wont to do We must therfore shut the dore of our vnderstanding as hard as we can and vnite our selues to God and make no answeare to our enemy And for our satisfaction and consolation we must diuers times euery day declare our selues to belieue that which our holy Mother the Church belieueth and that we haue no will at all to consent to any such false and foule conceits Let vs say vnto our Lord as it is written O Lord I suffer violence answeare thou for me And we must hope in his mercy that he will do so For the victory in this combat dependeth not vpon the only labour of our armes but the principall is to inuoke our Lord omnipotent and to shrowd our solues vnder him Whereas if we should vse much discourse and make many answeares to our enemies how can we desire of God that he will answeare for vs. You saith (g) Exod. 14. the Scripture shall hold your peace and our Lord shall fight for you And in another place Isay saith (h) Note In silence and hope thy strength shal be And in failing of either of these two thinges instantly a man groweth weake and troubled but by this silence with a not seeming to heare togeather with hauing a good hope I haue seene many cured in shortty me of this great affliction and that the Diuell hath growen to hold his peace finding that they neither heard nor answeared him And it is after the manner of little country dogges that barcke if he that passeth hold his peace they do so too or else they barke but so much the more CHAP. XXVI How the Diuell endeauours by meanes of the aforesaid temptations to remooue vs from our deuotion and good exercises and that our remedy is to increase therein laying aside all superfluous desyre of feeling spirituall sweetnesse in the soule and to what end these also may be desyred BVT some (a) Note this Chapter well for it may profit much weake man will say These wicked thoughts take deuotion from me and the nearer I am to be deuout and diligent in good workes the more they presse me to the end that I may not heare them I grow to haue a desyre to giue ouer the good worke that I began But the answeare is cleare For this is that very