them he found not what he sought he may goe at last with an intyre hart to him who alone is able to impart more to the soule then it is able to receiue Your ladyship must not therefore be carryed away by that great errour which yet is imbraced by many great ones of this world who are mightily affected to their owne will and who abound with particular appetites and who thinke belike that they are to abound as much more then others in desire of things as they are heere of more eminent ranke state but for my part I see not what they gather from hence but greater torments For after the rate of the desire is the paine And as S. Bernard saith Let our proper will cease and there will noe more be any hell And soe wee may say let this proper will cease and there will not be in the world either any sinne or any sorrow For that which comes to vs is not in it selfe the thing which giues vs paine but the coming of it when we would not haue it come And therefore doth God require our harts of vs that soe hee may free them from many miseries and may giue vs in exchaunge his owne which is peaceable reposed and Ioyfull in tribulation And a grosse foole is hee who had rather liue in his owne straitnes then in the latitude of Almightie God and who had rather dye in himselfe then liue in life And if at any tyme or in any thing we haue committed this sinne and haue enlarged the raynes to our owne desires let vs humble our selues before the father of mercies acknowledging our sinnes and hoping for pardon at his hands and taking that paine which grew vpon vs by the inordinatenes of our appetite towards the discounting and discharging of our fault For by this meanes God is wont to take away our sinnes like one who should take the boughes or branches of a tree and setting them first on fire should apply them afterwards to the tree it selfe and soe burne it vpp by the rootes Much better it is for a sinner that hee should grow into â—aine by occasion of his sinne then into peace and rest For as S. Augustine faith there is not a more wofull thing then the temporall felicitie of a sinner And as for vs let vs learne heereafter to giue all our desires to God And as a stone falls downeward and as fire flyes vpward and as euery thing in sine makes towards his proper place soe let our harts fly at full speede towards the center thereof which is God Who would not be amased to behould a great rocky Mountaine hanging loose in the ayre without falling downe to his proper place and who will not wonder to see a hart which was created to repose and rest in God detaine it selfe in the ayre and lesse then ayre Therefore whether it be that wee cannot take true rest in any other then in God or because this Lord of ours deserues of himselfe all our loue since he is the loadestone to which all spiritts looke let vs not fall heereafter into such a folly as that whereof I spake lett vs not spott our honour let vs not committ such a treason against such a lord as that heereafter any other desire may enter into our harts but of him or for the loue of him And soe will the sadd cloudes of these vnprositable hart-breaking melancholies and these both vaine hopes vaine feares fly from these harts of ours in their place a new morning will rise which will giue vs Ioy. For to see the light of heaué is the cause of Ioy but the blinde man cannot discerne it Tob 5. For this did Tobias say what ioy cann I have in this life since I cannot see the light of heauen It is a great truth that noe man who is not indeede vnbeguiled concerning this world can haue any true ioy of hart for though he thinkes hee sees yet indeede it is but a sight of earth and not a light of heauen But after this other sight a man growes cured at the very roote It will be fitt that your ladyshipp doe not thinke to make the like exercises of minde in the way of spiritt as before now that you are subiect to an vnlike disposition of body And many haue ignorantly afflicted them selues for not hauing beene able to weigh what their strength and state would permitt It is cleere that with this condition of body wherein you are you must not thinke of keeping the same method which you held before nor doth our lord aske any such things at your hands since his will is very wise and tempered alsoe with great mercie and demands nothing of vs but that for which hee giues vs meanes And not onely hee will not reape where he doth not sowe but euen when hee sowes he is content to reape lesse then hee hath sowed Your ladyship must not be discóforted for that which you are not able to performe for you might as well put your selfe to paine because you haue noe wings where with to flye Doe not place the ioye of your hart vpon hauing consolation or vpon making Prayer but vpon the accomplishment of the will of our Lord. And since his pleasure is that the tyme which before you spent in praying shall now be spent in vomiting let it be soe in the name of God and lett his contentement be ours and lett vs more esteeme that he be pleased then we would to possesse heauen and earth And if we be troubled with any scruple that such or such a punishement came to vs for our hauing committed such or such a sinne and that God chastises vs now for the thing which wee inordinately desired before in that case what haue we more to doe then to cast our selues at his feete desiring both correction and pardon And our lord will either giue them both or els the pardon without the correction but neuer the correction without the pardon if the fault be not our owne We must therefore take any tribulation as an earnest penny or introduction to peace and prouided that there may be peace betweene God vs let any thing come which he will send One onely thing wee haue to feare in this case which is least wee should slubber ouer our negligences vnder this occasion and pretence of I can doe noe more Wee must heere looke vpon our selues with many eyes for this EVE which liues within vs is soe desirous to be cherished and regaled and to be walking vp and downe the garden and to be eating of the forbidden fruite that she wants not a thousand inuentiòs to make reason beleeue that she demaunds not any thing of superfluity but of meare necessitie and she is in a mightie chafe if they beleiue her not Madam there is neede heere of two things The one that when wee clerely see that wee are able in such cases to performe our spirituall exercises wee must not omitt
walke in the middest of the shadow of death you may yet feare noe ill See you call vpon him for though you should bee in the whales belly yet he harkenes to his seruants euen when they are there Call vpon his Blessed Mother Ionas 3. who is also ours Call vpon the Saints who are our Fathers and our brethren for with such helpes as those you cannot feare to loose the celestiall kingdome And if our lord will haue you passe through Purgaâ—ory let his name be blessed still for soe that you may haue hope to see him you shall gladly endure any thing which may be imposed I beseech Christ our Lord who dyed for you to accompany you at your death and receiue you into his owne armes when you departe out of this life Say you to him as hee sayd to his Father In manus â—uas Pater commendo spiritum meum Luc. 23. And I confide in his mercy that you shall be receiued by him as a sonne and treated as the heire of God and coheyre with Christ our Lord. A Letter of the Authour to a Religious woeman who was neere her death He encourages her and shewes how she is to carry her self at that time DEuout seruant of Christ our Lord you sent mee word that you were in the last dayes of your life and that this was the time wherein you desired mee to remember you Soe I doe And though the newes you giue mee is not pleasing to flesh and bloud yet when I looke vpon you with christian eyes it is to recreate my soule And soe is it also to recreate yours as our Lord saith in the Ghospell when those things beginne to shew themselues Luc. 21. looke about you and lift vp your heades for your redemption is neere at hand For though Christ haue freed you by his goodnes the merit of his bloud from mortall sinnes yet still you are in daunger of committing euen then and you actually committ venial sinnes and you are still in the captiuity of your body which is soe subiect to miserie as that it makes euen a S. Paul and others who are like him sigh and groane and say as him self relates it Rom. 8. that they liued in expectation of the redemption of tâ—eir body But there you shall neither sinne mortally not venially For by meanes of the bloud of that lambe which was shed for vs hell where they euer sinne shall haue nothing to doe with you but onely Purgatory where though they suffer yet they sinne not And from thence you shall goe forth to see your Spouâ—e to enioy that blisse which he wonne for you with the nailes in his hands and with his feete fastened to the Crosse And forasmuch as it is a stranger thing to see God nailed vpon a Crosse then to see you placed in heauen I confide in his goodnes that since he had mercy enough to make him doe the more he will not want it for that which is the lesse Thither will he carry you thither I say will he carry you to remaine with himself For the espousalls which heere were celebrated betweene you when you soleÌ„nely made Profession that you would liue and dye in the state of Religion was one day to be concluded by that being together both of him the spouse and of her his fellow spouse in heauen There shall you see your self in soe great liberty and aboundance that you will esteeme your inclosure afflictions heere for well employed And there will they giue you a body which though in substance it shall be the very same which heere you haue yet shall it be very different in health and life and other things And you will incomparably more reioyce in it there then you haue suffered in it heere All entire all entire in bodye and soule are yow to bee blessed there and soe beautified as is fitt for the honour of him who tooke you for his spouse Iesus Christ the lord both of this the other world Be not therefore dismayed when you are to dye by thinking of what your owne sinnes deserue Christ our lord can doe all things and he loues you will not forsake you And since he hath preserued you in this time of your nauigation amongst all the tempests of this life be sure that he will not suffer you to perish now that you are goeing to disinbarke Putt your self wholly into his haÌ„d offering your self entirely to him both in life death and to whatsoeuer he will And beg pardon of him by his bloud for all that wherein you haue offended him and being confessed communicated cast your self headlong at his feete and desire of him one drop of his bloud whereby you may be washed and haue great confidence that you shall bee soe Be as reserued to yourselfe as free from all conuersation as the state of your sicknesse will permit For our Lord before he was to dy left his disciples that he might pray in solitude to his father giuing vs so to vnderstaÌ„d that in this traunce we must reseÌ„ble him And let your discourse be with Christ our lord with his Bl Mother And to the end that your infirmity diuert you not from them it will be well that you behould an image of the Crucifix of his Mother staÌ„ding by him Giue thaÌ„kes to our lord with your whole hart for the fauour he hath done you whether they be generall or particular and cast your self into the wounds of Christ oul Lord which is that Sanctuary out of which his Iustice must not drawe such malefactours as are repentant And repose you there and conceiue strong hope that by meanes of his bloud and death you shall goe and enioy that life in heauen which neuer is to haue an end Our Lord IESVS be euer with you Amen A Letter of the Authour to a woeman who did greatly feele the absence and disfauour of our Lord. He animates her to confide in our Lord and he assigned diuerse causes why God afflictes his seruants and of the fruit which his Diuine Maiesty reapes from thence DOe not conceiue that to be anger in our Lord which indeede proceedes from true loue For as he who beares ill will to another doth flatter sometimes and fawne vpon him so true loue sometimes corrects and chides And the holy scripture saith That the woundes which are giuen by him who loues are better then the false kisses of him who hates And therefore we doe him an extreame wrong who reproues or punishes vs out of the bowells of his loue if we thinke or say that he persecutes vs as if he loues vs not Doe not forgett that the Mediatour betweene God the Father and vs is Iesus Christ our lord by whome we are beloued and tyed with so strong a bond of loue that nothing is able to vndoe it if man himself do not cutt the knott by the guilt of mortall sinne Haue you so soone forgotten that the bloud of
O my deere God and when shall we maintaine our soules in perfect faith and puritie towards thee and be sincerely loyall to Iesus Christ our Lord who is the spouse thereof giuing him our loue all intyre and wholly free from mingling itselfe with the basenes of creatures When shall we be able to vnderstand this truth that he who is to owne our soules is Christ our Lord and that he created vs for himselfe and that he onely is fitt for vs Is it not enough that we haue tryed so often by experience how ill the world is wont to serue vs and that our soule could neuer finde any true repose or peace but onely when coming to knowe her owne misery and poorenes it went to God and was imbraced by him Is not one of those short fitts of tyme more worth then their whole life who sacrifice themselues to vanitie and to the confusion of this ignorant world wherein they liue Or shall it not now at length bee tyme to saye to all things created I know you not that soe I may prouide a cleane and ready place for the reception of him who created you all of nothing I am extreamely glad that we haue to doe with a Holy ghost which is soe very holy as that he would not come euen to the disciples them selues of our Lord till euen his owne pretious body were taken out of their sight That so we may know the condition of this holy spirit to be such as that we must prouide a temple for it where noe other thing may dwell or els it will not enter there And I am highly glad that you by the grace of this spirit will haue prepared your selfe and that you will haue receiued him and that you and he are well content with one another Reioyce you with this Holy ghost for he is Ioy it felfe And remember Eph. 4 that the Apostle S. Paule requires vs not to contristate the holy spirit of God whereby wee are marked out for the day of redeÌ„ption which is of the iudgment of the latter day He contristates this Spirit whoe with a dull and deiected hart goes faintly and negligently about his seruice whoe doth things which displease this most soueraigne guest who as himselfe is fire soe will he haue his seruant full of feruour and requires that he goe about his worke with great life And that he euer be casting on the wood of good workes and blowing it with holy thoughts that soe this celestiall fire may not be quenched in vs since our very life consists in keeping it aliue And soe if we maintaine this fire in vs it will maintaine vs in him though yet still it be true that he first giues vs that which afterward we giue to him So that in this respect your ladyship will haue beene fedd at a good table this weeke since you will haue celebrated the Feast of the holy ghost not according to flesh and blood as they doe whoe vse to content themselues â—vith the talke and tumult of great Festiuities but you will haue celebrated it in Spirit according to the aduice of our Lord Iohn 4. who requires to be Spiritually adored Lett vs now consider how it stands with you concerning the sent odour of the Festiuitie of the Body of our Lord which is now neere at hand For it will be an extreame shame for a Christian hart not to hunger and aspire toward this holy bread Matth. 2. before the Festiuitie it selfe arriue since the three kings those wise men of the Ghospell had a sent of it so farre of yea and the Prophetts and Patriarcks had the like a longe tyme before his Incarnation What more happy newes can there be then to see Christ our Lord passe amongst vs in our streetes and through our hands communicating and conuersing with men And to haue him sett before our eyes to finde him whome neither the whole earth nor all the heauens can comprehend shut within the narrow â—urtaine of the accidents of bread and after all â—his to make his entrance into our vnworthy woefull brests Take heede you heare not this newes with deafe eares but awake your hart and require it to be very attentiue to soe great a fauour and worke of God and that it instantly cast vp whatsoeuer other meate it may haue swallowed that soe being full of hunger it may grow all full of this celestiall bread where vpon the Angells feede And bid it be sure to watch now that soe it may not then fall a sleepe And since it is the worke of the holy Ghost you must begg grace whereby you may be able to finde the effect of that Feast of the body of our Lord which was conceiued by the same holy Ghost And soe when that Feast of his most holy body shall be come the Holy Ghost will alsoe come with it because the Holy Ghost descended into the world through the meritts of Christ our Lord. And when his Body shall be giuen vs we shall receiue the holy Ghost together with it according to the rate of that good disposition which we shall haue Soe that one Festiuity must helpe and be a preparation for another and must giue vs hunger to feede vpon the fruite of the other For it is not heere as it happens in the banquets of this world which are made by flesh and bloud Where they whoe haue fedd full at noone haue noe minde at all to their meate at night But the soule goes feeding with afresh appetite from one Festiuitie to another and soe that is accomplished Leuit. 26. which God promised The threashing of your corne shall last till you goe to vintage and till the new time of seede and you shall eate your bread in aboundance The goodnes of God be blessed which soe liberally prouides for vs and that not in any meane fashion but by giuing his very selfe to vs. The sonne is giuen to vs and the Holy Ghost for his sake and these two persons giuing themselues the father cannot choose but be alsoe giuen In fine the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost are ours Wee already begin euen heere that mutuall contract which we are to perfect in heauen Let vs giue him humbly thankes for his mercies Lett vs prepare our selues for the receauing of new fauours and with harts exalted aboue the earth let vs celebrate the Festiuities of heauen to the end that we may passe from these temporall Ioyes to those eternall wherein I humbly beseech our Lord that you may one day see your selfe Amen A letter of the Authour to a virgin lady who asked of him what Charitie was He answeares to her demaunde and shewes her the Loue and Charitie which she is to haue to God and her neighbours heere on earth by that loue and charitie whith the saints haue in heauen DEVOVT spouse of Christ our Lord you aske me in your letter what Charitie is to the end that you may
what confusion doth he grow to haue How straightly will he hould himselfe to be obliged for such a benefit what caution will he vse that he may keepe him selfe wholly for him whoe hath done him soe much honour as to put himselfe into his hands and to come to them by them wordes of Consecration Sir these things are noe bare wordes nor noe dead considerations but they be arrowes shutt stiffly out from the strong bowe of Almighty God which wound and wholly chaunge the hart and which make it desire that at the end of Masse it may at lardge consider that worde of our Lord Scitis quid fecerim vobis John 13. Doe you know what I haue done to you Deare lord that a man could conceiue quid fecerit nobis Dominus What our Lord had done for vs in that houre That a man might tast him with the palate of his soule O that a man had true weights where with he might weigh out this great benefitt How happy should he be euen in this world and how after the end of Masse would he loath euen the sight of creatures and would esteeme it to be a torment that he must treate with them And his ioy and life would consist in pondering Quid fecerit ei dominus what our lord had done for him till the next day that he should retourne to say Masse And if our Lord doe at any tyme giue you this light you will know what sorrow and shame you ought to carry in your hart when you approach to the Altar without the same For he whoe neuer enioyed it doth not know what a misery it is to want it You may add to this Consideration of the person whoe comes to the Altar the reason why he comes and you will there see a resemblance of the loue of the Incarnation of our Lord and of his holy Natiuity and of his life and death renewing that which passed heeretofore vpon his sacred person And if you shall enter into the most inward corner of the hart of our Lord and if hee vouchsafe to teach you that the cause of his coming is a violent and impatient kinde of loue which permitts not him whoe loues to be absent from the party beloued your soule will euen faint vnder such a consideration as that A man is indeede moued much by pondering after this manner Heere I haue Almighty God But yet when hee considers that he comes meerely out of the great loue which he beares like one betrothed who cannot liue a day without seeing and conuersing with his Spouse the man I say who feeles this would be glad to haue a thowsand harts wherewith to correspond with such loue and to say with S. Augustine O Lord what am I to thee that thou shouldest commaund mee to loue thee what am I to thee that thou shouldest soe much desire to make mee a visitt and to giue mee an embracement and that being in heauen with them who know soe well how to loue and serue thee thou yet vouchsafest to descend to this creature who knowes very ill how to serue thee but very will how to offend thee Is it possible that thou canst not content thy selfe O lord to be without mee Is it possible that thy loue of mee should draw thee downe Blessed maist thou bee for euer who being what thou art hast yet placed thy loue vpon such a creatures as my selfe And is it possible that thou shouldest come hither in thy royall person and that thou shouldest put thy seife into my hands as if thou wouldest say I dyed for thee once already and I come to thee now is lett thee know that I repent not my selfe thereof but if it were needefull I would dye for thee yet a second tyme. What launce could remaine in the rest after such a deare expression of loue as this Who O lord will euer be able to hide himselfe from the heate of thy hart which warmes ours with thy presence the sparkes fly out to all them who are neere it as out of some mighty furnace And as such a lord as this my good Father doth the God of the heauens come to our hands and we being such wretches as wee are doe yet conuerse with him and receiue him Let vs now conclude this good subiect which is soe sitt to be felt and put in execution And let vs beseech this lord of ours who hath already done vs one fauour that now he will doe vs another forasmuch as his blessings vnlesse we valew them and thanke him and serue him for them will not be of profitt to vs. Or rather as S. Bernard saith The vngratefull man by how much the better hee is by soe much hee is the worse Let vs consider well how wee liue throughout the whole day least els our lord punish vs in that tyme when we are at the Altar And throughout the whole day let vs carry this thought in our harts I haue receiued our Lord. At his table I sitt and to morrow I shall be with him againe By this meaneâ— wee shall be able to avoyd all ill and wee shall take hart towards the practise of all good For that which is done from the Altar our lord is wont to rewarde at the Altar To conclude I say you must remember how our lord complained of Simon the Pharisee for that Luc. 7 entring into his house hee gaue him noe water for his feete nor any kisse to his cheeke To the end we may know that he desires that in the howse where he enters we should giue him teares layd at his feete for our sinnes and loue which makes vs salute him with the kisse of peace I beseech our lord to bestow this peace on you both with your selfe and with your neighbours and soe as that it may spring from perfect loue which I desire may torment you heere for the offences which your selfe and others committ against our Lord. And in heauen I desire that he should make you enioye it esteeming the good of God for your owne and more then your owne because you loue him more then your selfe For his loue I begg of you that if in this letter there be either litle or much which needes amendement it may not want your helpe and if there be any thing good in it giue the thankes for that to our Lord and remember mee when you shall be at the Altar A letter of the Authour to some deare freindes of his who were afflicted by a persecution which was raysed against them he animates them much to a loue of the Crosse and the imitation of Christ our Lord whereof hee speakes with great tendernes BLessed be God the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ 2 Cor 1. the father of mercyes and the God of all consolation whoe comfortes vs in all our tribulation in such sort as that wee alsoe are enabled to comfort them who are in any kinde of affliction And this we doe in vertue
of them suffers ease which he loues not and iust soe is affliction sufferred by the other Now this is part of that which Christ our lord deliuered when he commaunded vs to take vp the Crosse if we meant to be his disciples I say it is a part thereof for the other and chiefe part whereof this Crosse consistes is the mortification and death of our self conceyt and will and of our passions and powers This is that old man who must die as Christ our lord died vpon the Crosse what is this old man the body which is passible and mortall and that other inward man whereof I haue spoken before must be also dead in vs. But although this be the cheife part of carrying the Crosse we must not put away that other part howsoeuer it be lesse principall then this And though S. Paul say Timoth Exercitatio corporis ad modicum vtilis est yet the seruant of Christ our lord will not leaue to please him euen in the least things which can be thought And least we should fall into errour the same Apostle saith elswhere 1. Cor. 9. Castigo corpus meū in seruitutem redigo I conceiue not that he said this because he was tempted with the flesh as some vnderstand the difficulty whereof he complaynes but that he would punish and soe cure himselfe by way of preseruatiue vsing this exercise of his body least his mind might otherwise grow sick And elswhere he saith when he recountes the afflictions which he endured 2. Cor. 4. Semper mortificationem Iesu Christi in corpore nostro circumferentes where hee calles that the mortification of Christ which is the very Crosse of corporall afflictions In another place he saith also Psal 5. Qui Christi sunt carnem suam crucifixerunt And if he had meant this onely of crucifing the affections it had sufficed to say Cum vitiis concupiscentiis but by saying carnem it proues that he meant afflictions of the body This he explicates very well in his Epistle to the Corinthians where amongst other things Cor. 6. wherein men were to exercise themselues he reckens vp corporall afflictions namely fasting and watching so that the whole man must vnder-goe the Crosse since Christ our lord died vpon it Our soule must dye by the compassion and memory of Christ crucified and by the mortification of the ould man as hath beene said and the body also must dye vpon the Crosse of corporall afflictions that soe the whole man may be conforme to Christ our lord as he is in paine and misery since heereafter he is to be conforme to him as he is in glory I haue said thus much that you may take a scantling of those forces which God hath giuen you and that soe you may imploy them vpon doeing and suffering all you can And this not onely considering that it may be addressed to some other good intention but euen though it be for noe other reason let it be done to the end that you may be in conformity with Christ our lord as he was afflicted and not vpon necessity but for loue And though neyther the hairecloath nor hard bed nor such thinges as these howsoeuer they be vsed for the loue of Christ our lord should saue vs sola enim Crux Christs est saluifica yet at least lett vs vse them in imitation of that extreme pouerty and sharpe affliction which Christ our lord endured in being crucified which consideration will not be lightly esteemed by vs if we be not wholy voyd of the loue we owe him Gloria enim magna est sequi dominum And thus much of this matter There were two other points of which I thought to haue written but there is noe time for them now I will note them downe least I should forgett them vpon condition that you write me word what there is to be amended in this letter A Letter of the Authour to a Lord of great quality who was sicke and very fearfull of death He teaches him how he is to carry himself I Haue receiued your lord-ships letter I haue read it and I haue vnderstood it and I hope our lord hath mercy for you in store For it is noe great wonder that his greatnes should doe fauour to one who deserues it not since he hath done it soe often to such as haue deserued the expresse contrary I am not sorry a whitt that your lord-ship is affrayed of death for although this feare be a thing paynefull there is noe hurt for a man to apprehend it and many times it is sent by our lord to the end that by the spurre of feare we may bee vrged on to doe that which wee will not doe for the spurre of loue And he as being a father of mercy vsefull to guide those affaires in such an admirable manner as that both feare and hope may helpe vs to ride that way which it is necessary for him to prepare and to make playne and in fine thus feare serues for many good purposes and it is hurtfull for none I desire that your lordshipp would commaund that house to bee built where your pages are to bee lodged As also that you would defrey the cost of those armes and horse wherewith those townes of yours are charged I wish more ouer that you would not cause any sumptuous cloathes or furniture or such like things to bee prouided now Besides if you remember any thing which you may haue wonne ill at play which either is not restored or els not lost againe to the same partyes I aduise you to make restitution thereof And forasmuch as the men who are Lords of states as your Lordship is are not able to reach to the knowledge of all the wrongs which may bee done to others by you noe nor yet your seruants through theire negligence I could wish you would commaund it to bee published in all the Churches of your state that whosoeuer had receiued any wrong by you should de clare the same and that satisfaction should be giuen him And you shall doe well to appoint the Prior of Saint Dominique and the Pastor of your Church where you dwell and some man learned in the lawes who knowes the affaires of your state to heare and see what were fitt to bee done Some particular causes your Lordship shall doe well to heare your self though it should be of some trouble to you that so they may not say elswhere that this course puts you to more payne then it doth I desire by all meanes that all this may bee done for it seemes to mee to be a fitt remedy of all those wrongs which may concerne your neighbours now it is as easy to doe it well as it vill be hard if it be adiorned till after this life Let it be noe impediment to this that the world may chaunce not to like it since he whoe respects the pleasure of God will easely despise that of the world As
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
Iesus Christ cryes out in the demaunde of mercie for vs and that his crye is so lowde as that it drownes the crye of our sinnes so that it cannot be heard Doe you not know that if our sinnes should still remayne aliue notwithstanding that Christ Iesus dyed to defeate them his death should be of litle worth since it could not worke that effect Let no man sett a light price vpon that which was so highly valued by Almighty God that he holdes it for a sufficient yea a superaboundant discharge forasmuch as concernes his parte therein of all the sinnes of the whole worlde and of a thousand worldes if there were so manie They who are lost are not lost for want of payment but for want of seruing themselues thereof by meanes of Faith and Pennance and the Sacraments of the holie Church Settle once this truth in your hart and doe it soundly that Christ our lord tooke the businesse of our redemption to his owne charge as verily as if it had beene his owne and he calles our sinnes his by the mouth of Dauid saying Longè a salute mea verba delictorum eorum And he demaunded pardon for them though himselfe committed none and he desired with a most profound internall loue that his seruants might be beloued as if he had desired it for himself and as he desired it Iohn 17. he obtayned it For according to the ordinance of God he and we are so much one thing that either he and we must be beloued or he and we must be abhorred And since he neither is nor can euer be abhorred neither can we also be so if we be incorporated into him by Faith and Loue. But indeede because he is beloued we are also beloued and that iustly because he weighes more towards the making of vs to be beloued then we doe to make him be abhorred And the Father loues his Sonne more then he abhorres such sinners as are conuerted to him And as one who was much beloued by his Father he said to him to this effect Either loue them or loue not me for I offer myself in pardon of their sinnes to the ende that they may be incorporated into myself The greater loue ouercame the lesser hate we are beloued pardoned and iustified we haue great hope not to be forsaken there where there is so strong a knott of loue If through our weakenesse we be afflicted with excessiue feares as now you are conceiuing that God hath forgotten you our lord hath prouided you a comfort saying thus by the Prophet Isai 49. Shall the mother perhaps be able to forgett to take pittie vpon the childe of her wombe well if she doe yet will not I forgett thee for I carrie thee written in my hands O writing which art so firme whose penne be hard nayles whose inke is the bloud it self of him who writes and the paper is his owne very flesh and his word saith thus I haue loued thee with an eternall loue â—eve 31. and therefore I haue drawen thee towards me with mercie Such a writing therefore as this must not be litle esteemed especially when one findes in himself that his soule is drawen by the sweetenesse of good purposes which are signes of that eternall loue where with our Lord hath chosen and loued him Be not therefore scandalized or afflicted for any of these things which happen to you since they all are dispensed by those very hands which were nayled to the Crosse for you in testimony of the loue hee bate you And if you desire to vnderstand what you gett heereby in the inteÌ„tion of God who sendes them you must know that they are tryalls whereby you may be examined that afterward as one who hath beene faithfull in the conflict you may be crowned by the haÌ„d of our lord with a Crowne of Iustice And to the ende you may not thinke that the particulars which you endure are signes of reprobation and that they are sent by our Lord to none but wicked men heare what Dauid saith in his owne person and of many others who walked in the way of God I sayd in the excesse of my soule Psal 30. that I am cast of before the countenance of thine eyes And though this dismay of hart and the disfauour which wee finde in the middest thereof be a thing which doth much afflicte and that the soule can take no ayme of how it standes in the sight of God nor how it shall stande nor what ende that Crosse shall haue yet neuerthelesse there are few things in the world which are so forcible to purge sinnes or which teach a man soe manie tâ—utâ—es as doth this darke obscuritie and inward affliction which makes the soule sweate droppes of bloud Our lord sendes this to his seruants that they may not departe this life without feeling what crosses and tribulations are And therefore he wounds them in the spiritt wherein they liue For if he should but wound them in temporall things to which they are dead they would haue no sence at all thereof You must therefore be sure to giue a good accompt of that dangerous passage wherein God hath beene pleased to bestow you and you must adore his iudgements And being comforted through confidence in his goodnesse bowe downe that head of yours without anie more sifting into the matter and open the mouth of your hart to swallow downe this pill of darkenesse and desolation and disfauour of God through the obedience which you owe to the same God And knowe for certaine that vnlesse you haue a minde to breake your word and vnsay your self in this tryall which God sendes to you you must resolue to make yourself strong as the Angell did Iosue Ioâ—uâ— 1. and you must liue dying euerie day 1. Coâ— 15. as S. Paul did You must be baked in the fire of tribulation that so you may grow hard like anie bricke and fitt to resist the raynes and windes of temptation and troubles and that you be not soft like the dawbing of a wall which is instantly dissolued by water and no way fitt for a strong building For the people who are to be placed in that house of heauen must be beaten and hammerd here on carth by the knockes of manie tribulations and temptations as it is written Our lâ—â—dâ—ryâ—d them and found them worthie of him self Sap. 3. Learne you therefore to sustaine your self with strong foode and striue to conuerte these stones of tribulation into bread if you desire to haue the testimonie of being the childe of God And if he giue you an appetite to eate the white and new bread of consolation remitt it back againe to the will of our lord and be content with being sure that you shall haue so much of that in the next world as that the sweetnesse thereof will farre and farre exceede the recompence which might be due for anie bitternesse sustayned in this And in steede of those hard
the Father gaue vs his Sonne and with him gaue vs himself and the Hoâ—iâ—-Ghost and all things Receiue this grace with giuing of thankes and enioy you God since he bestowes himself vpon you And if your demeritts fright you remember that one of the benefitts which the Father impartes to vs in Christ our lord is the payement of our debts and the sweetening and appeasing of that wrath which our sinnes deserued Why doe you doubt of a pardon since you doubt not of that Passion which he endured for our sinnes Pet. 2. What doth it profitt you to confesse that Christ our lord dyed for vs be who was lust for vs that were vniust if you beleiue not that his death killed our sinnes and now if they be dead why do you feare them For the Children of Israel Exod. 15. whome our lord drew out of Egypt seing that their enemies were drowned in the sea did not feare but sung praises to our lord taking occasion thereof from those very enemies who had persecuted them before and whome formerly they had feared And though we haue not so assured Faith that our sinnes are pardoned as we are sure that our lord dyed for them because we do not so certainly know that his merits are applyed to vs yet the new hart which God gaue vs when he called vs to himself may be a good signe of his friendshipp and pardon whereby we may well hope that our sinnes also are forgiuen And besides that spirit of being his children which he gaue vs when he imparted his loue as the loue of a Father to vs may well be taken for a particular assurance that in the hart of God we are esteemed as his sonnes since in our harts we esteeme him as our Father For it is blasphemie to affirme that I louing God he should not loue me since that loue wherewith I loue him is neuer giuen me but by his hand I beseech you thinke not of our lord Sap. 1. with a short hart a straite but in great beleife of his goodnesse as we are commaunded And cast vp your eyes to that signe of our saluation Curist our lord who is the assurance of our hope and who is so acceptable to his Father and by whose participation we are also made acceptable to him and we haue assured hope through his bloud to enioy eternall life before the Throne of God And if it seeme to you that your workes are weake and poore it is reason you should thinke so still But what reason is this why you should loose your confidence By Christ our lord we were made freinds of enemies and by him we are conserued in his friendshipp We had greater impediments to be well with God when we were subiect to our sinnes before we knew God then now we haue by the defects into which we fall So that if our former sinnes could not hinder that grace which was communicated to vs in Christ our lord much lesse shall our present faults be able to breake of this friendshipp we being now incorporated in Christ who is beloued by his Father A good thing it is for vs to feele our pouertie and miserie but yet it must be with condition that withall we beleiue highly of the bountie and riches of the mercie of God And let vs glorifye his goodnesse in our wickednesse since with so much loue he tolerates his children who are so faultie so weake and so miserable Why should you depriue God of the glorie to haue great latitude of loue towards his children For by reason of the faith and loue which wee carrie to his sonne he hath patience with the faults which we committ when once we haue bewailed them and done true penance for them Beleiue therefore now at length that as there is goodnesse enough in God to make you loue him so there is meritt enough in Christ our lord to make you be beloued for his sake and liue you with gratitude for the benefitts which you haue receiued as also for the pardon of those errours which you daily committ And be daily accepting of all good occasions and fight the warres of our lord with ioy as that Iudas Machabeus did And God giuing you that which he giues you may hope you shall enioy his kingdome though perhaps you may be putt to suffer in temporall fire for the hay and straw and wood which shall be found in your soule Be you euer breathing more and more towards Profitt in spiritt but yet so as that it may be accompanyed with quietnesse grounded vpon Confidence For though it should grow to be no more then now it is euen that being carefully kept will suffice for your saluation But if you looke onely vpon yourself we are all so full of faults that your soule will neuer bee without dismay nor will you perceiue that you are greatly beloued by our lord And then proceeding after such a manner as that how will you be able to serue him and giue gust to his holie spirit which is dwelling in you For this spirit is chearefull and we checke it by our anguish and dismay against which S. Paul thus disswades vs saying That we must not contristate the holie spirit of our lord The summe of all is this that you must know and consider your faults and that they must seeme very great in your eyes and you must bewaile and lamente them by Confession and Penance But yet still you must consider that those benefitts which we possesse in Christ our lord are greater by reason whereof you must confide yourself to be beloued and you must doe it with much thankefullnesse And if God doe no more but continue that to you which you haue alreadie euen that may suffise as hath beene sayd to make you hope for eternall life A Letter of the Authour to an afflicted woman He declares that afflictions come either through the fault of the partis or else for tryall and how one is to carrie himself in tribulation THe grace and peace of our lord Iesus be euer with you Amen The true loue wherewith I loue you in Iesus Christ hath caused so great compassion in me towards you in respect of what you suffer that it hath moued me to write this letter with desire that it may serue you to some purpose I know not my good sister whether I shall putt you into anie comfort or rather whether I shall not helpe you to weepe Nor doe I know whether or no I should tell you that the trouble which you haue is good and that you are to carrie it with ioy and that I should not graunt that it is ill as it seemes to you and that as such you are to fly from it I see that if manie good men endure such accidents as this there are also very ill men who endure the same And if to some it be a signe of loue to others it is an effect of the wrath of God Our lord punishes
some by these meanes and to others who deserue no punishment he sendes them as tryalls and he presentes them with an occasion of meritt And though the thing which you endure may proceede from either of these two causes vet I am not sorrie that you perswade yourself that it is not so likelie to be a proofe of your vertues as the punishment of some light fault if that fault may well be accounted light which deserues so heauie a punishment For if the saints themselues aknowledge that there is no goodnesse in themselues but manie faultes and much wickednesse how much more must you doe it who know yourself to be farre from sanctitie and so full of sinne And now if you holde it for more probable that these fruits growe from this roote the remedie must be that you examine well if you haue done anie thing for which you may deserue punishment And know that for the most parte it vses to be some litle dust of vaine-glorie and if you see not the true reason of it esteeme your case to be so much the worse when not withstanding you are so full of faultes you can discerne none But now since the blow is come humble-yourself vnder the mightie hand of God as knowing that you are worthie of greater torment Beseech him to haue mercie on you and that he cast you not of from himself Say O lord I haue sinned and anie punishment how sharp soeuer is in itself too light for me considering the greatnesse of my sinnes If thou be pleased to punish me here I am extende the hand o lord discharge the blow Cutt burne and kill onely permitt not that I be diuided and driuen away from thee If I haue sinned let not thy punishment be to let me sinne anie more for the naturall punishment of a fault is payne and not a second fault But now neuerthelesse I would not that by your thinking your faultes to haue beene the cause of your crosses you should discomfort yourself and be so farre dismayed as to make you fall and that as by some precipices into despaire I desire on the one side that you humble yourself beleiuing that your sinnes haue deserued them and on the other side that you be comforted by remembring that you are the childe of God and none of them who are forgotten since your father hath beene carefull to correct you as a childe for feare least else you would haue beene worse And beleiue me in one thing though I be no Prophet that if our lord in his mercie had not humbled you as he hath done you would perhaps haue fallen into some parte of Lucifer's pride which had beene infinitely worse and therefore hath he kept you so humble that you neither dare nor euer so much as can holde vp your head Giue thankes therefore to our lord for this fauour and be happie in that you haue his grace But alreadie I know you will say thus to me If I could be sure that I were his childe and not his enemie and that this were the correction of a father and not the punishment of a Iudge If I could perswade myself out right that I were in his fauour what could I wish for more then that But I verily beleiue that vnlesse it might be hell there is not so wicked a creature as I am to be found and how then can I possesse such a thing as grace This life of mine is not a life of the sonnes of God but it is a life or to speake more truly it is a verie death of the damned O my good sister if you know the guift of God and what kinde of people they are who for the most parte are putt to suffer such things as these you would perhaps reioyce If I saw that the enemyes onely of God did endure them infallibly I should be much afflicted but I finde that his best friends are tempted in this kinde and why then should I not be comforted thereby Iob the holie man Iob. 7. saw himself one day in so sad a case that he sayd I haue despaired Such things had passed in his hart that he seemed to be fallen into despayre But to the ende that we may see that indeede he did not despaire he instantly goes to aske mercie and he who askes mercie despaires not Dauid sayd as we all know Psal 30. that God had cast him cleane out of his sight and that he saw himself couered with obscuritie and darkenesse and enuironed euen by the sorrowes of death and the danger of hell And he sayth that such things happened to him as no man will vnderstand but he through whose hart they had passed I will omitt the tribulations of S. Paul which were caused by Satan and which made him hang downe the head for of these you haue heard many other times In the liues of those holie Fathers I haue read manie things which I should neuer haue beleiued if the Authour were not a man of much authoritie And euen at this day we heare and see strange things which arriue to certaine deuout persons and seruants of our Lord and he hath drawen them out of these temptations with great spirituall gayne Whereby we gather that a man in such cases Rom. 4. must like Abraham beleiue that which he sees not and hope euen against hope itself Tell me my good Sister haue you seene these potters heate their fornace Haue you seene that smoake which is so thicke black That kindling of fyre and euen the resemblance of hell it self which passes there who would beleiue but that the potts which stand there within would be mouldred euen to dust by the rage of that fyre Or that at least they would not grow to be as fowle as pitch by the grossenesse of the smoake And yet when that furie is past and the fire quenched and the time come when they vnfurnace the potts you see that though they were soft and made of durt they come forth as hard as stone and they who formerly were so very browne shew themselues as white as snow and so neate and daintie otherwise that they become the table of kings We are called by S. Paul Rom. 9. by the name of potts of clay and certainely with great reason since we are so soft and weake in suffering the knockes of affliction Make account that you also are some poore litle pott that they haue putt you out to bake For you were so weake as that you could not well retaine and conserue the liquour of grace which was infused into you by Almightie God They will bake you my good Sister and you must haue patience They haue trust you into the furnace of tribulation Endure now those fyres those foggye flames and those obscurities and by confiding in the wisedome and goodnesse of our good potter you shall not be turned into ashes which may be carried away by the winde nor disfigured by anie ill marke which may be