vncertaine our youth may deceiue vs as it hath done many our manhoode or middle age is not priuiledged our ould age cannot last longe What then must we doe but with S. Augustine quitt the vncertaine and forth-with fixe vppon the certaine meanes a good penitentiall life to preuent the danger of that which cannot otherwise be auoyded by mortall man THE SECONDE POINTE. Nothinge more certaine for the thinge nothinge lesse certaine as to the manner Consider that as we are most certaine that dye we must as vncertaine when soe are we noe lesse ignorant where and how this irreuocable sentence is to be executed Shall it be in France or in England at Paris or in the Coūtry at home or abrode in our chābers or in the Church or Garden Shall it be by a violent accidentall or naturall death Shall we be found dead in our beds as we haue seene some heard of many Or else be wrought downe by a lōge and lingeringe disease in the presence of many Shall we finally haue the benefit of the Sacraments which we now haue with soe much ease yea want not without blame To all this the wisest amonge men is not able to answer That dye we must is appointed by a reproachlesse iustice but when but where but how mercy saith S. Augustine hath concealed that we might expect attend prouide for it in all times places occurrences AFFECTION and RESOL. If certainely we must dye my soule yet neither Know when where nor how and if vppon that certaine vncertaine houre an eternity of blisse or woe depends what a necessity is put vppon vs if we will not for moments loose eternities to be ready in all tymes places We Know not my soule we Know not when where or how death may surprise vs onely this wee Know that we haue yet an houre left vs to rise out to four slumber and it is now his present houre Now then without further delay will we by Gods grace dye to that that that c. that death findinge vs already dead may not be able to hurt vs but onely translate vs to à life which Knowes nor feares not death THE II. MEDITATION FOR THE SAME DAY Nothing more dreadfull to the obstinate sinner then death THE FIRST POINTE. COnsider that as death contaynes the greatest certaintie and withall the greatest vncertaintie imaginable so it bringes alonge with it the greatest dreade and the greatest comforte possible That to the obstinate sinner this to the humble penitent The sinner vpon the approche of death hath all the sinnes of his whole life placed before his eyes which he still placed behinde his backe and would neither see them nor sorrowe for them which now the vile Tempter aggrauates and makes appeare in their vttermost inorminitie And hence the sinner begins before hand to suffer the tormentes which he alwayes beleeued tho fruitlessely through his obstinacie to be due to his crymes And thus Knowing his guilt and the punishment most iustly due to the same he deeply apprehends it a thinge full of horrour to fall into the hands of a liuing God Thence he rages and despaires seeing himselfe vpō the verie brinke of endlesse perdition and readie to be deliuered vp into the hands of his cruell Tormenteres for all eternitie AFFECTION and RESOLVT O horrour which hath nothing equall to it To apprehend ones selfe to be vpon the verie brinke of eternall perditiō O daunting dreade incomparably surpassing all that ought to be dreaded To be within a moment of falling into the hands of that euer-liuing Maiestie which is able to throw both the body and soule into Hell fire What riches honours pleasures were they neuer so opulent superlatiue and prosperous and remayned they too till that moment in their full possession wheras indeede they all are vanished away like nightly dreames were able to conteruayle so daunting and damning a disaster O my soule those accursed wretches shall then say with in themselues repenting and sighing too late for anguish of spirit What hath pride profited vs Or what aduantage hath the vaunting of riches brought vs Or what comfort hath the most prosperous pleasure of our whole life now left vs. Alas alas none at all but contrarilie a comfortlesse fruitlesse endlesse peniteri THE II. POINTE. Nothing more confortable to the humble penitent Consideration But when the innocent and iust soule or the poore humble penitent perceiues death to creepe vpon her she lifts vp her lōge deiected heade with ioy because her redemption is euen at hand She had vsed her best endeuours mournfully to purge her sinnes in the bloud of the lambe who was slaughtered for vs and thence she cōceiues an humble confidence to meere with mercy and to be ioyfully admitted in to that celestiall mariage of his In fine she eyes death as the immediate obiect of her ioy since it alone has power to deliuer her out of her loathed prison of flesh and to deliuer her vp into the deare hands and diuine imbraces of her dearest spouse whom she loues alone AFFECTION and RESOLV Sitt downe seriously my soule and count to what a high degree of consolation it will then amounte to heare those heauenly inuitations of the heauenly spouse saying come come my spouse thou shalt be Crovvned Crowned I say vvith that crovvne of iustice vvhich is layd vp for and by a iuste Iudge shall be rendered to them that loue his coming The shewers of repentāt teares are now blowen ouer the sharpe winter of temptations tribulations vexations and crosses which we willingly endured for the loue of God are quite gone ryse vp my friend and come O what excesse of deare delight shall that happie soule inioye at that houre THE FIRST MEDITAT FOR THE FIFTH DAY Of Iudgment THE FIRST POINTE. COnsider that dye wee must that is this soe much neglected soule of ours must be turned out of the body which was pampered caressed too carefully looked to by vs presently after death Iudgment saith the great Apostle we must all of vs be brought and be made manifest before Christs Tribunall that euery one beare away accordinge to his woorks We haue left the world vnwillingly while willingly the world leaues vs the dearest freind that euer we had will not goe alonge with our abandoned soule nor euen permitt the body which they loued to ly foure and twentie houres in the Roome with them They that offended with vs will not answer for vs but leaue vs alas to answer all alone AFFECTION and RESOL. Aye me vppon what is it that we fixe our hopes is' t vppon our selues but alas these muddle walls fall the immortall inhabitant is turned our Vppon the freinds that we haue purchased by sinne or other wise but they haue left vs our body is throwne into the earth our poore soule is left alone to be iudged Ah how much better were it saieth S. Augustine to chuse him for our freind aboue all
did so touch him at the hart that he forceably cryed out The vnlearned men of the world doe teare heauen out of our hands and we with our great knowledge without braynes or courrage are still content to wallow in flesh and bloud AFFECTION And why doe not we my soule obseruing in our selues the same errours make vse of the same remedies why doe we not fly the occasions of euill and speedily lay hold vpon the occasions of good compagnie and good counsell If in the one we meete with a moment of false delight experience assures vs it is payd with houres and dayes and yeares of discomfort and remorse of conscience wheras in that other we might euen here below haue some participation of heauen and be left with our thoughts full of a solide and permanent delight MEDITATION V. WHAT BEFELL HIM soone after his perfect conuersion to God To vvitt a change vvrought by the hand of the highest I. POINT COnsider a soudaine and strange change of the hand of the highest which happens to all who absolutly conuert themselues to God It became sweete to me saith he to be depriued of the sweetnes of wordly toyes What formerly I feared to loose I now departed from with ioy For thou didst cast them from me thou ô Lord who art my true and prime sweetnes Thou threwest them out I say and in lieu of them didst thy selfe enter who art sweeter then all delightes though not to fleshe and bloode more sublime and high then all honour but not to those who are high in their owne conceipt AFFECTION Take courrage then ô my soule take courrage God is not Augustins God alone but ours also the bowells of his fatherly mercy lyes open euen to vs too His loue is not lessened his arme is not shortened Le ts but in good earnest conuert our selues vnto him and his goodnes cannot auert himselfe from vs. Be conuerted to me and I vvill be conuerted to you saith our Lord. Let 's but absolutely dispossesse our selues of the world and worldly toyes and he will infalliby inhabite our harts possesse them of heauenly ioyes and make vs experience a deare and delightfull change II. POINT Consider secondly that he was restored to the libertie which by the slauerie of sinne he had lost Now saith he was my mynd freed from the biting cares both of honor and riches as also from procuring to welter in carnall sins and prouoking the heate of lust AFFECTION and RESOL. Oh what a change is this from that wherin he formerly found himselfe ingaged when he said now all the arguments which I was wonte to bring were solued and their remayned onely a speachles trembling and it his soule feared euen as death it selfe to be restrayned from the course and fluxe it had longe taken towards sinne wherby it was dayly pining away and growing neerer to destruction And againe I turned and winded my selfe in my chayne till such tyme as that litle which helde me might be broken but still it helde me I was saying I would doe it and euen almost did it yet indeed I did it not but remayned breathing neere the place where I should haue bene We often my soule find the same wrastling with flesh and blood but le ts be faithfull to Gods inspirations and we shall also be restored to the same libertie III. POINT Consider thirdly that as he is more and more remoued from the troubles and cares of the world he approcheth neerer and neerer to the deare delights of heauen and inioying the true libertie of the sons of God I conuersed saith he in a familiar and tender manner with thee who art my beautie my riches my saluation my Lord and my God AFF. and RESOL. Marke ô my soule the delightfull degrees of this heauenly change We are first touched and excited by grace being fallen we are carried on by delight being risen accompayned by delight we are lead to libertie which affords vs wings of holy desire to flye vp and repose in the bosome of our dearely beloued and shelter and solace our selues betwixt those sacred breastes of consolation to which I will cling and nothing shall be able to separate me THE VI. MEDITATION Hovv absolutely he betooke himselfe to a good life I. POINT COnsider that no sooner was he restored to this blessed libertie and had he receaued the Sacraments at Saint Ambrose his hands but he began to lay the fundation of a holy life by bidding a most absolute Adieu from the verie botom of his hart as saith Possidius to all worldly pretentions nether now desireing a wife nor sons of his body nor riches nor worldly honors but made a firme purpose to giue himselfe wholy to Gods seruice fasting prayer and good workes meditating day and night in the law of our Lord. saith Possidius AFFECTIONS and RESOL. O my soule lets vs take the same resolution and humbly confidently and perseuerantly make vse of the same meanes and we shall not fayle happily to be restored to Gods fauour He who made vs without vs will not saue vs without our consent and cooperation we must worke then not we alone but Gods grace with vs. II. POINT Consider that this resolution being taken in generall he found no better way to sett vpon it in particular then by selling what he had and giuing it to the poore to follow Christe take his owne word for it I saith he Epis 89. Who write these things did vehemently loue that perfection wherof our Lord spoke when he said to the rich young man in the Gospell Goe c. and I imbraced it not by myne owne strength but by the assistance of his grace AFFECTION and RESOL. Behold ô my soule how thy holy Patron springs on in the wayes of Gods counsells Their is now no more cold cras crases to morow and to morow heard but fourth with he setts vpon it No more halfe wills wherof the one serues to destroye the other but he resolutely and vehemenly loues it No more irresolution as fearing into what hands he might putt himselfe or that he might loose by the bargaine but he sells and giues all that he hath If we find our selues thus affected how good reason haue we to reioyce in our Lord but if contrarily we be delaying cold irresolute in what we haue vndertaken how good reason haue we to spurre our selues on by his example I will therfore c. III. POINT Consider that he did not build woode haye or stubble that is terreane preferments or respects of flesh and blood vpon these holy fundations but euen gold siluer and pretious stones saith Possidius that is the most choyce christian vertues to witt a feruent loue of God intimated by gold the loue of the neighbour signified by siluer and all the rest of the vertues imported by pretious stones AFF. and RESOL. This is the paterne which our holy Patron left vs let 's examine how well we take it out Is it thus indeed ô my
and accursed nothing Yet such a nothinge it is that man becomes nothing therby nihil fiuntbomines cum peccant yea worse then nothing since it is the verie death of the soule peccatum mors est animae Or take it from him with the whole Catholike Church in more ample and expressiue tearmes Sinne is a vvord a thought a deede against the eternall lavv or prime reason which is God himselfe What doe we then when we sinne but speake thinke or doe against Gods eternall Lawe or God himselfe AFFECTION and RESOL. Ah my soule my soule it is too hard for thee to kicke against the pricke which by how much more we assault it by so much more we are wounded by it It is against God himselfe that sinne ryseth vp against that great dreadfull all-mightie reuengfull God whom were it in its power it would destroye since the sinner as such would neither haue God wise to know nor iust and powerfull to punish his iniquitie Alas what aduantage can wormes and pismires expect by wrasling with Elephants Our strength is like to a spiders webbe how dare we then strugle with omnipotencie whose will none resistes In wrasling we shall onely meete with our owne ruine In disputing neuer find repose nor be able to ansvver one for a thousand for to conclude with S. Paule ô man vvho art thou that dost ansvver God THE II. POINTE. Of the lamentable effects of sinne Consider what grieuous domages the poore soule receiues by mortall Sinne. It depriues of grace ban̄isheth the holy ghost out of the hart which it did inhabite It breakes the league of freindshippe which was betwixt God vs leaues vs his enemyes and slaues of the Diuell his our worst enemie It robbs vs of the right we had to possesse God for euer leaueinge only Hell for our inheritance It wounds makes hideous euen Kills that otherwise im̄ortall soule of ours in a word it makes vs crucify Iesus Christ againe in effect tread the sacred bloud of Iesus vnder our feete AFFECTION RESOLVT Oh accursed fruites of Sinne O saith God himselfe by the mouth of Ieremie Know see how euill bitter a thinge it is for thee to haue left the Lord thy God Ah my soule these are not dreames imaginations or rethoricall amplifications but euen Christian truthes which none dare deny how doe we then dare to dally with danger to seeke occasions to drinke downe sinne like water If therefore the world the flesh or the Diuell tell of I Know not what delightes let vs haue this generouse replye still before our eyes but they are too dearely bought with the losse of the holy ghost and all his giftes Gods friendshippe and his eternall inheritance become the obiecte of his hate This moment of false libertie is not worth beinge aslaue to the Diuell for euer This honnor lookes fawningly vppon mee but it were madnesse to purchase it with eternall disgrace This gold glitters agreeably yet it is not worth the hauing since it will serue onely to buy Hell THE FIRST MEDITAT FOR THE THIRD DAY Sinne is detestable to God THE FIRST POINTE. COnsider in what horror and detestation wee should haue it since wisdome it selfe doth soe abhorre detest it The Almighty eternall God whose goodnesse cannot be questioned without impiety nor his iustice be impeched without blasphemy nor his mercy be exacted without presumption he beinge indeede not soe much good as euen effentially goodnesse it selfe nor soe much iust as iustice it selfe nor soe much mercifull as mercy it selfe for one sinne of pride throwes downe the third parte of the Angells into hell irrecouerably without any further hope of mercy AFFECTION RESOLVT If my soule this be not lesse a truth which all the Christian world willingly imbraces then the former how comes it to passe that mans follie dare be soe damnably aduenturous as to fall in loue with Sinne which wisdome soe highly detests How how I say dare we liue in league with it be willinge to meete with it at euery turne If it haue made Angells Diuells what priuiledge haue men not to dreade the like effects not for one or a few but euen for thousands of sinnes euery man makeinge reflection in himselfe of the multitude of his sinnes downe then my soule downe place thy mouth in the dust and whilst thou canst not penetrate the rigour of Gods iustice to the Angells turne thy selfe more earnestly to admire his incōparable mercy to thee humbly confessinge that otherwise Hell had beene longe since thy habitation makeinge a firme resolution to singe his mercyes eternally THE II. POINT Adam by sinne turned out of Paradise Consider how the same God who is equally goodnesse mercy and iustice for one acte of disobedience throwes Adam out of the happie state wherin he had placed him and subiects him and all his posteritie to multitudes of miseries of body and mynde such as we all daylie expeperience to heate cold calamities innumerable sorts of sicknesses and euen to death it selfe and that too not onely to the death of his body but euen to a second death the death of the soule so that there was not any saluation left for all the sonns of men at any lesse rate then the death and bloud of a God-man Iesus-Christ AFFECTION and RESOL. O my soule if this truth be taught vs by faith if we feele it by a sadd and vniuersall experience if it be made manifest to vs by the death of a God let it printe in our hartes an absolute horrour and detestation of sinne which is so horrible and detestable in the sight of God and which his iustice punishes so rigourously And let vs noe lesse adore that sterne iustice of his then extolle and dearly imbrace his mylde mercy who to expiate the sinne of an vngracicus disloyall seruant sacryficeth the bloud of a dearely beloued and dearely louing and wholy obedient and onely child Be that Iustice alwayes admired and dreaded and be that mercy magnified and loued by men THE II. MEDITATION FOR THE THIRD DAY Sinne putt a God to death THE FIRST POINTE. COnsider that our sweete Sauiours paines the deare price of our redemptió are vniuersall noe parte of his body passes without its particular punishment His head is tormented with pullinge of the haire with blowes with thornes His face with foule spittings boxes His tongue with thirst veneger gale His torne shoulders with the heauie loade of the Crosse His armes with rude extentiōs rackinge His hāds feete with cruell nayles His whole body all ouer with stripes His Sinewes with conuulsions His arteries and veynes with witherednesse His vitall partes with an incredible effusion of his pretious bloud soe that what the prophet foretolde was fully verified from the sole of his foote to the crowne of his head there was noe soundnesse See then whether there be any sorrow like his sorrowe AFFECTION Alas it is but too euident my dearest
Lord thy sorowes passe all our sorowes yet my soule it is maiestie that is thus smitten it 's innocencie which thus suffers It 's indeede the God of Gods whose immensitie cannot be comprehended whose perfections excellencies cannot be numbred whose goodnesse is boundlesse whose mercyes cannot be matched Alas my deformed hidden crucifyed Lord whither hath mercy goodnesse loue to miserable man ledd thee was it thought fittinge to this goodnesse that thy wounds should be without number as are thy perfectiōs mercyes to man soe to make an absolute demonstration that as there is noe loue soe are there noe sorrowes like to thyne Let me not liue but to loue thee suffer for thy sake THE II. POINTE. Consider further that he sufferd inall his senses by the presence of all the obiects of sorrow He saw his choysen Apostles sleeping while he was sweating bloud He saw the Trayter whom he had newly fedd with his owne blessed body bloud come in the heade of a barbarous band to apprehend him He saw the execrable crueltie of an vngratefull nation which he had alwayes oblidged and loued by preference Finally his cares were full of blaspheemies scoffes and scornes and his eyes and harte of the sorrowes teares and bloud of a God dying AFFECTION And yet my soule it is the very naturall sonne of God that suffers all this He is the splendour of his fathers glorie and the figure of his substance And shall we his poore sonns taken in by adoption onely see with drye eyes his full of teares and bloud or shall we after this sad sight permitt them any more to be filled with vanitie Shall our eares lye open to destractions adulations and found rumours which hurt our soules whyle his for our sake are filled with contumelies and blasphemies Shall we Christians pamper the rest of our senses with sweetes and delicacies while our Christs so hugely suffers in them all Ah! be it euer farre from vs to pay his loue with such intolerable ingratitude THE III. POINT He suffers in his soule But if his body vniuersally and all his senses be ingaged in the sufference is his soule at least free Ah noe it s sadd to death it s replenished vvith euill or sorrow the bitter vvaters of tribulations haue broken in vpon it The horrour of death the ingratitude of mē the scorne of Nations Pilates iniustice Herods mockerie Annas and Cayphas blasphemie the Scribes and Pharisies circumuentions the Ministers and Soldiers crueltie the peoples preference of Barabbas and their tumultuous and vniust Crucifige See then vvhether there be any sorrovv like to his sorrovv AFFECTION and RESOL. O man of dolours and accustomed to sufferances from thy youth Were not thy sorrowes and in them thy loue to man sufficiently expressed in abandonning that innocent chast and tender virginall body of thyne to the cruell persecutours wills vnlesse thou didst withall permitt the bitter flouds of tribulatiō and deadly saddnesse enter into and take possession of thy blessed soule Consider my soule and see whether their be any sorowe like to this sorrow or any loue like to his loue who gaue vp his soule to such sorrowes for thy sake If the horrour of death inuade thee thy Master went before thee waded through to death it selfe Proue friends vngratefull so they were to thy Lord. Are others of lesse worth preferred before thee but so was Barrabas before thy Master Christ Remember remember my soule that the seruant is not greater then his master c. THE IV. POINTE. He suffers vvithout a comforter Consider his body 's tormented his senses offended his soule afflicted and oppressed Is none left to comfort him Noe none relictus est solus he 's abandoned left all alone to wrastle with all the legions of sorrowes Non est qui consoletur eum There is none left to comfort him Was there euer so pittious a spectacle His Apostles are fled Peter followes a farre of and sweares he knowes him not The dolorous mother stands neere the Crosse indeed but her presence affords so smale solace that her sorrowes serue to redouble his The Angells come not neere His heauenly father abandonns him nay yet more Heauens stand amaysed at it he is euen forsaken by himselfe while he stopps the influence of his diuinitie that it flow not vpon his humanitie leauing it to suffer all alone without all comfort See then vvhether there be any sorrovv like to his sorrovv AFFECTION and RESOL. O my soule looke vpon the face of thy Christ Admire his his vn wearied suffering loue Hartily acknowledge that there is noe sorrow like his sorrow Imprint in thy harte at what a deare rate thou wast bought Ah my soule it was not with gold and siluer and such corruptible thinges but with the sorrowes and teares and bloud and death of a a God-man our Sauiour Iesus With sorrowes which spredd thēselues so vniuersally ouer body senses and soule with teares and bloud so plentifully and freely powred out with death so ignominious so deuoyd of all comfort so abandonned that it forced from the mouth of a most obedient and dearest child My God my God vvhy hast thou forsaken me Resolue firmely then that neither sorrowes nor bloodshed nor abandonments nor death it selfe shall separate vs from the loue of that dearest Lord. THE FIRST MEDITAT FOR THE FOVRTH DAY Of Deathe THE FIRST POINTE. Nothinge more certaine then death lesse certaine then the tyme therof COnsider and striue to imprint in our harts that which we all know yet seeme not to know it that which we all beleeue and yet as it were beleeue it not to witt that as there is nothinge soe certaine as death soe is there nothinge soe vncertaine as the houre therof Consult our owne Knowledge vppō these truthes we Know that neither Salomons witt nor Samsons strength nor Absolons beauty were founde proofe against it They were and now are not mortui sunt is certaine Consult the word of truth and we shall finde that we are bound to beleeue what we otherwise Know. Consult our selues againe vppon the vncertaintie of it and we finde that we haue Knowne many taken away when they and their friends least feared it some by violent some by naturall deathes some in their childhoode before they well knew what it was to liue some in theire flourishinge spring when vigourous youth promised them they could not dye Some in the decline of their age while death threatned and yet was not feared soe certaine it is that the houre of death is vncertaine to all as Christ himselfe makes it sure to faith Watch saith he because you neither know the day nor the houre AFFECTION and RESOLV Dye then we must my soule thereis nothinge soe certaine departe we must out of this cottage of clay Gods iustice hath pronounced the sentence Remember man that thou art dust in-to dust thou shalt returne But when must this sentence be put in execution that is noe lesse
our freinds vvho vvhen all forsake vs vvill be sure to make good his trust at the day of our death vvho vvhen all departe from vs vvill not leaue vs but vvill defend vs conduct vs by a countrie vvhere vve haue yet noe acquaintance Thou art my Iesu noe other be thou therefore my choyce in tyme in eternity THE II. POINTE. Cōsider in what a dauntinge anxiety dreadfull expectation the poore soule must needs be findinge herselfe all alone to be sentenced by a Iudge who is all knowinge all things lyinge open naked before his Eyes All powerfull for who resists his will all holy souerainly hates Sinne. Iustice it selfe which can neither be corrupted by bribes nor moued by prayes And to behold this knovvledge this povver this sanctitie this iustice armed with implacable vvroth and inflexable Zeale against the sinner AFFECTION and RESOL. Alas and woe my soule whither shall we run for shelter To his mercy but her tyme is past she leaues the place to iustice To his sanctitie But our sinnes are quite opposite to the holynesse of that thrice Holy To his Iustice But alas our iniquitie stopps our mouthes Shall we call vpon the mountaines and rockes to hide vs But his power is a hammer bruising the rockes in sunder his knowledge penetrates the mountaines and his Zeale and furie spares none Such certainly my soule and infinitly more dreadfull then we can imagine it will that dismale day be found Howbeit we are yet in a tyme of mercye we can yet safely flye from Christ to Christ from his iustice to his mercye from his power to his impotencie in his cradle c. From the zeale and wroth of Maiestie to the sweetnesse and myldnesse of the Lambe who comes to take away the sinnes of the world Finally we haue yet the meanes to hide our selues in the holes of the the saueing rocke and to saue our selues THE II. MEDITATION FOR THE SAME DAY Of Hell THE FIRST POINTE. COnsider that as mercy iustice are equall in God or euen God himselfe soe by the law of contraryes they will be followed with equall effects If God out of his mercy then haue possessed the blessed of the collection of all good thinges vnder his heauenly raigne which is beatitude he will throw the accursed into the possession of a collection of all euill vnder the tyranie of the Diuell which is damnation Let vs therefore imagine all that we are able of horrour of hope turned vnto dispaire of the loue of God and all we euer had deare into hatred detestation let vs add wormes which neuer dye weepinge wailing gnashinge of teeth brimstone and flouds of fire yet we must conclude that it is not that which the damned suffer which will indeede bee that which neither eye hath seene nor eare hath heard nor hath entered into the hart of man AFFECTION RESOLVT Ay me my soule into what a vast sea of misery disaster dispaire doth sinne cast downe poore man we imagine all that euer we can of terrour of horrour torment of im̄ortall wormes fire brimstone yet we fall short We adde the collection of all euills yet we cannot reach to it What is it alas what is it that lulles vs asleepe makes vs senselesse of things soe sensible O that we could descend into Hell aliue consider who amongst vs were able to liue in the midest of deuouringe flames And yet into such is the sinner throwne by the doome of eternall Truth Goe you accursed into eternall fire THE II. POINTE. Consider yet more particularly that as the accursed had misused all that God had giuen them for his seruice to offend him as body soule senses soe shall they all meete with theire seuerall tortures The body soule become fewell for deuouringe flames All the senses are replenished with obiects of horrour the eys are full of dreedfull gastly Ghosts the ears of howlinges roareings execrable maledictions blasphemies the smell of the stinckinge odours issuinge from the bodyes of the damned the taste is glutted with what can be imagined most bitter abbominably loathsome Finaly the sense of touchinge meets with nothinge but flouds of tormentinge flames AFFECTION RESOLVT O horrour consternation despaire O lamentation of lamentations woe woe woe woe to the corruptible body which waighed downe the poore soule woe to the soule that quickened that fleshly lumpe gaue way to its badd inclinations Woe to the eys eares which lay open to vanities franticke madnesse conueyed poyson into the harte Woe to all the rest of the senses members which conspired to the seducinge of the soule to bringe it themselues to lye tormented in this flame THE II. POINT Consider that if the miserable state of the damned be most vnhappie by the continuall presence of the whole collection of all euill What an infinite addition is made to it by the priuation of all good and that for an eternitie To be for an Eternitie separated from all the blessed were they neuer soe deare vnto vs while they liued with vs for an eternitie to be depriued of the peerelesse beautie of the Queene of Heauen the societie of all the Quires of Angells For an eternitie to be exiled from the glorious face of God which is man Angells essential beatitude to detest curse blaspheame it for euer Neuer to haue one moment of ease consolation or rest or euen the least hope of any for all eternitie AFFECTION and RESOL. O God of mercy now turned the Lord of reuenge what hart hath assurance ennough not to endure but euen to beholde this calamitous condition of the damned ouerwhelmed with all sortes of torments remoued from all hopes or euen desires of comfort not for some millions of millions of yeares but for an eternitie O eternitie eternitie how longe thou art Noe number of yeares are able to expresse thee the sands of the sea cannot equalise thee after all thou still remainest what thou art Eternitie Ah my soule let vs vse a timely preuention not make our selues away to eternall ' torments for light short delightes such or such c. nor yet for the auoydinge of such or such smale crosses afflictions or temporall losses Let vs couragiously plucke out the Eye and cutt of the hand which scandalises hazards our eternall losse conclude with holy S. Augustine Let me here be burnt let me here be cutt in peeces soe that I may not perish eternally THE FIRST MEDITAT FOR THE SIXTH DAY Of Heauen THE FIRST POINTE. COnsider what this Kingdome is which is prepared for the Blessed and which they are called to possesse come possesse the Kingdome prepared for you and this at least we shall finde that whateuer this possession may be it is greater then we haue any capacitie to comprehend Let vs looke vpon all the beauties and magnificencies that euer our eyes beheld
and they are not it Le ts make reflection of all that euer we haue heard of honours riches pleasures and all of them are not it Let vs by helpe of imagination put all togeither that we haue either seene or heard and euen adde to them millions of millions more and yet we are not arriued at it Noe for S. Paule assures vs that neither eye hath seene nor eare hath heard nor hath it entred into the mynde of man vvhat God hath prepared for those that loue him AFFECTION and RESOL. O my most bountifull Lord and Master Hath thy goodnesse made me capable of a Kingdome which thy wisdome hath not inabled me at present to comprehend O too too happie we could we truly vnderstand our owne happinesse But ô more then most vnhappie we if we permitt sinne to robbe vs of it or that we otherwise make it a way for a messe of potage or the bitter Mandragores of mixt moments of painefull pleasures for such inconsiderable toyes I meane as are daylie obiects to meanest eyes and fill euery eare Nay euen for the greatest thinges our hartes can conceiue since in a smale tyme they vanish away like dreames and leaue nothinge in our hands Alas were it not a strange miserie and madnesse to make away such inconceiuable permanēt possessions for such knowne transitorie toyes THE II. POINTE. What heauen is Consider againe what this Kingdome or possession prepared for vs may be and we finde it is a state of life perfectly accomplished with the whole collection of all good thinges Not a passage but a state a permanencie without change without end without irkesommesse Perfectly accomplished not by halues and peecemeales With the vvhole collection of all good thinges Not with a few as here below and those good and ill paines and pleasures mixt togeither but with the whole collection of all good thinges so that what euer we desire shall be present and all that we desire not shall be absent eternally AFFECTION and RESOL. We haue Gods word for it my soule and it cannot fayle vs that he will shew vs all good that is all that is aduantagious gaynefull and rich in steede of the transitorie riches of this world all that is beseeming honorable and illustrious in lieu of the vaine and vadinge honours here belowe all that conteynes in it selfe any cause of ioy and iubilie and and all that is deare and delightfull to witt that ineffable vnmeasurable eternall waight of glorie according to S. Paule in place of those short light deluding and euen painefull pleasures as Salomon and S. Augustine experienced them for which poore man looses himselfe Thus my soule doth faith assure vs let not then follie perswade vs the contrarie THE II. MEDITATION FOR THE 6. DAY Of Heauen againe THE FIRST POINTE. COnsider the kingdome prepared for vs is Beatitude come ô you blessed and Beatitude is noe other thinge then to know what is best and to inioy the same And wheras none but God himselfe is our summum bonum or optimum our cheife good or our best it followes that God himselfe the father sonne and holy Ghost is our Beatitude or the Kingdome prepared for vs accordinge to that I my selfe vvill be thy exceeding greate revvarde Him we shall see face to face and in that sight our vnderstanding meets with all truth him we shall see and in seeing him our will meetes with all good Hence the vnderstanding hauing noe more to seeke and the will noe more to loue they fall as it were into a blessed necessitie of truly seeing what they loue and louing what they see for all eternitie AFFECTION and RESOL. Forgett not then ô man thy dignitie By Gods mercy and the merits of Christ thou art made the sonne of God coheire with Christ to share in his heauenly inheritance to possesse the same Kingdome with him that is to knowe the prime truth and loue the cheife good for euer and euer Let not then the fables fictions and vaine lyes of the world take vp thyne vnderstandinge made to knowe so great and diuine a Truth nor the vaine loue of creatures ingage thy will made to loue so souueraigne à Good But crye incessantly here belowe with holy S. Augustine Let me knovv thee ô Lord and knovv my selfe and let me loue thee as much as I desire and as much as I ought Thus my soule may we in some measure while we liue amidst our miseries begin before hand to possesse our Beatitude which consists in knovving louing and inioying our chiefe Good which is God himselfe THE II. POINTE. Hovv Heauen is to be purchased Consider out of the Gospell that the Kingdome of heauen suffers violence and the violent beare it avvay Yes but we must learne of S. Ambrose how we are to make this violence We are to assault it not with swords with clubbe or stone but with myldnesse with good workes with chastitie These are the armes which our faith makes vse of in that onsett But yet to make a right vse therof we must first of all make force against our owne flesh and bloud that so gayning dominion ouer our selues we may imploye all our abilities to force Heauen as it were out of the stronge hands of the Almightie We are not to hope saith S. Gregorie to come to great honours but by great labours and paines We must mortifie our members and all the mutinous people of our hartes our vnrulie passions and badd inclinations So did all the saintes of God scale and winne his Kingdome So did that greate Doctour of the Gentiles beare it away I chastise my body and bringe it into seruitude So did the sainte of saintes enter into his owne Kingdome He suffered and so entred into his owne Kingdome AFFECTION and RESOL. Let vs not hope my soule that we who are but younger and adoptiue children should find any other safe way to heauen then that which the naturall sonne of God and all his saintes were to passe That is through tribulations contumelies and contempts If vve suffer vvith him vve shall raigne vvith him Noe noe the pure wheate reserued for the heauenly granaries must be winnowed the gold found worthy to haue course in that celestiall Kingdome must passe through the hotest fires Sweete S. Augustine putts it at the lowest rate that euer it can be expected and yet according to him it will cost vs noe lesse then all we are The Kingdome of heauen saith that excellent Sainte is vvorth as much as thou art giue thy selfe and thou shalt haue it Doe not stand barganing my soule and grudging at the price The naturall sonne of God purchaced it at noe lesse a rate for himselfe and thee THE FIRST MEDITAT FOR THE 7. DAY A serious reflection to be made as vvell of Gods gracious gifts beflovved vpon vs as minaces pronounced against vs. THE FIRST POINTE. COnsider by way of a serious reflection of all the former Meditarions that since God hath bene so gracious to
and is a fruite which is onely found in the bosome of the Catholike Church None but a virgine mother brings out virgines Obedience directs all secures all confirmes all and makes a fitt tabernacle for God in the harte of man by banishing thence selfe iudgement and selfe will But heauenly charitie as a glorious mother farr outstrips them all giues them all their begining increase and perfection For why indeede my soule did we first enterprise this holy worke but because we loue What could be able to robbe vs of all we haue but loue What did wowe vs to virginall chastitie but the loue of a virgine spouse What could moue men to depriue them selues of beloued libertie and to liue at the dispose of anothers will but the loue of him alone who chused rather to dye thē not to accomplish the will of his heauenly Father Loue then saith your holy Father and doe vvhat thou vvilt THE II. POINTE. That vvithout charitie nothing is done to secure our happie eternitie Consider that if humilitie put the foundation of your spirituall Towre it was by charities guidance and order for as humilitie goes not without charitie so charitie neuer leaues humilitie If pouertie raysed the walls it was with the treasure wherwith charitie furnished her If chastitie adorned it within it was with the pure burning gold which she had of charitie Finally if obedience confirmed and secured the whole worke it was by the force she receiued of charitie vvhich is as stronge as death In a word all is from charitie and all is for charitie AFFECTION RESOLVT He S. Paule knewe this truth my soule as certainly as he affirmes it vndauntedly to wit that not onely the foresaid vertues profit vs nothinge without charitie but euen that tho vve should haue all faith so that vve could remoue mountaines though vve should distribute all our goods to be meate for the poore finally though vve should deliuer our bodies to burne and yet vvant charitie it profits vs nothing Charitie saith holy S. Augustine is that which discernes the sonns of God from the sonns of the Diuell Charitie is that one necessarie thinge which alone sufficeth Charitie in a word is that Euangelicall gemme for which if a man should giue all his substance he shall repute it as nothing Come thē ô come then ô thou holy spirit Deus Charitas and replenish the hartes of thy faithfull and inflame them vvith the fire of thy loue THE FIRST MEDITAT FOR THE 7. DAY That all the vertues are loue THE FIRST POINTE. COnsider that so true it is that nothing is done without charitie that your holy Father makes noe difficultie to teach you that vvithout charitie the rest of the vertues are not indeede reputed vertues nay further that the rest of the vertues are but indeede loue and charitie so or so qualified For what is humilitie but charitie stooping and reputing her selfe nothing What is pouertie but charitie contemning all and stripping herself of all What is chastitie but loue preseruing corruptible man from corruption of bodie and mynde What finally obedience but loue freely and reasonably sacrifycing vp the will of man and making it supple and inclinable to euerie creature AFFECTION and RESOL. Charitie then my soule is that transcendant heauenly vertue without which there is noe true vertue at all It is she which gouernes as Queene giues life vigour and worth to all the other vertues He who loueth not remaynes in death It is she who perfumes them all with the odour and sweeenesse of holy loue since we doe not meerely imbrace them because they are vertues but rather in qualitie of thinges that are desired imbraced and beloued by God To discouer à man truly vertuous we vse not to inquire what he beleeues or what he hopes for but what he loues If earth h'es earthly if Heauen he 's heauenly if God he 's Godlike for as such they become all desirable louing and louelie Let me loue thee then ô Lord let me loue thee and loue all other thinges which I loue and practise for thee and in thee that my beloued may be myne and I wholie his THE II. POINTE. That vve ought incessantly to desire and breath after charitie Consider that if as we haue seene Charitie be all in all our thoughtes ought to be sett vpon the continuall desire of it For what ought we or doe we indeede desire but what euery one proposeth to himselfe for his end and the end of the lavve is loue What ought any Christiā to desire but the accomplishment of the lawe of God and the fulnesse of the lavve is charitie Nor fares it in those heauenly desires as in vaine worldly wishes a million of them puts not one pennie into our purses Wheras by the verie desire of the loue of God we begin to loue God indeed and still the more we desire it the more we loue Yea when this desire waxes stronge and hartie the desire is turned into fire and inflames the couering harte He that desires God vvith his vvhole harte has alreadie him vvhom he loues saith S. Gregorie And S. Augustine a holy desire is the vvhole life of a good Christian AFFECTION and RESOL. But alas my poore soule tho we clearely discerne this desire to be most iust aduantagious and most worthy of a christiā harte yet we somtymes perceiue our selues not to be so happie as euen to haue this desire Let vs then at least say with the Prophete my soule hath desired earnestly to desire thy iustifications at all tymes Let vs not fayle to haue this desire of desiring continually in our harte saying with S. Au. Giue me thy selfe restore me thy selfe for vvhat is not thy verie selfe is verie nothing to me and it will happen with vs as it did with the holie Prophete that in these holy thoughtes and desirs fire will flashe out and so throughly inflame our soule that as the stagge thirsteth after the fountaines of fresh water so shall we vehementlie couet and thirst after our good God that drainlesse fountaine of liuing water which flowes into life euerlastnig THE II. MEDITATION Of vvhom vve are to learne Charitie tovvards one another THE FIRST POINTE. COnsider that we ought to learne this most important lesson this one necessarie thinge of him who doth as well teach it as giue it our Sauiour Iesus who brought downe this sacred fire into earth and his vvill vvas it should burne the hartes of men And indeede neuer did he seeme so peculiarly to make himselfe the Master of any thinge as of this vertue and humilitie This is my precept said that deare master of ours that you loue one another My litle children I giue you a new precept that you loue one another In this all men shall know that you are my Disciples if you haue loue one to another Holy Father I pray c. that they may be one as we also are one I in them and thou in me AFFECTION and RESOL. This is the great commandement indeede my soule this Christs speciall precept Loue one another this the badge by which he will haue all his seruants to be knowne If they loue one another If we come without this wedding garmēt we shall be repulsed If we knocke not hauing this oyle of charitie in our Lampes wherby we may be knowne to men to be Gods Disciples God vvill not knovve vs the dore vvill be shut What thinge more wishfull could we haue desired to haue heard thē by affording mutuall loue and assistance to one another which we haue all such neede of to secure our saluation And yet the most louing and beloued Apostle assures vs It is the precept of our soueraigne Lord and Master doe this faith he and it sufficeth Beare one anothers burden and so you shal accomplish the lavve of Christ THE SECONDE POINTE. Hovv vve ought to exercise Charitie to one another Consider that this ought to be done by his example who gaue the commande of it and afterwards came graciously downe to teach it by his owne practise Thus we are taught by the great Apostle Receiue helpe comfort support and loue one another as Christ receiued assisted supported and loued vs. But how did Christ loue vs c Marrie he loued vs first with a free and disinterested loue which looked vpon noe preceedant merites 2. With a right loue not to receiue any thinge from vs but to discharge the ouer-flowing riches of his mercifull breastes vpon our pouertie 3. With a perseuerant loue for louing his vvho vvere in the vvorld he loued them to the end 4. With a stronge loue euen as stronge as death it selfe he loued vs and deliuered himselfe for vs for vs men and for our saluation AFFECTION and RESOL. If then my soule we hope for any consolation in Christ if any solace of Charitie if any societie of spirit if any bowells of commiseration let vs endeuour to fulfill the B. Apostles ioy by being of one meaning having the same charitie of one mynd agreeing in one That nothing be done by contention nor by vaine glorie but in humilitie each counting others better then themselues In a word let vs receiue comfort support and loue our poore brethren and that too as Christ gaue vs the example with a pure and disinterrested loue because it is his blessed pleasure that so it should be With a right loue not seeking that vvhich is profitable in particular to our selues but that vvhich is profitable to many With a perseuerant loue which is not to end but with the end of our liues Finally with a stronge loue readie to wrastle with obuious difficulties and euen with death it selfe for the good of our brother as our deare Lord gaue vs an example
arriue at that vvhich he beleeues AFFECT and RESOLVT Blessed be our good God who doth not alone freely and without obligation or debt bestowe a power vpon vs by Faith to see all good things a farre off but by Hope maketh them in a manner present and as certaine as though alreadie possessed Thou dost not onely giue vs a sight and by that sight begetst in vs an appetite of a most excellent GOOD but dost possesse vs also with a certaine expectation of that future BEATITVDE grounded vpon thy grace and our owne merits by the ayde there of II. POINT Consider with the same saint how our Hope is to be grounded and confirmed in vs and you will find that it is to be done by a good conscience Let him saith he vvho hopes for the Kingdome of heauen haue a good conscience and to haue a good conscience let him beleeue and vvorke AFFECTION and RESOLV Let vs not then ô my soule remayne secure in the certaine knowledge we haue of God by Faith nor in the strong confidence we haue to obtayne it by the helpe of Hope but let vs further in good earnest putt our hand to the worke least a good Faith and Hope turne our aduersaries and confound vs while we produce no actions proportionable to the infallible light and certaine expectation which we had by Gods gifts which were not to be buried III. POINT Consider whervpon we are to fixe our Hope and he will tell vs that it is not to be placed in present things for they post on to passe by nor in aduersitie a kind of death nor in prosperitie for that is deceiptfully fawning not in the whole earth since we see that is turned topsie turuey and is in a perpetuall agitation not in man nor consequently in ones selfe since we are but men Where then Transcende thy selfe and put thy selfe in his hands who made thee AFFEC and RESOL. Alas no our hopes are not fixed but tossed while they are placed vpon sublunarie and transitorie things which are subiect to a perpetuall vicissitude and change and therfore that which is placed vpon them must needs be subiect to the same motion and alteration Where are the delights vpon which yesterday we placed our Hopes I say not where will they be when the world is past with its concupiscence but where are they euen now one moment after the possession Where are they Yesterday is turned out of dores by this day present this present moment is pushed away by a succeeding one and with it that is snach◠from vs wheron our dearest hopes were fixed wherwith we thought to haue fedd but indeed famished our deceiued hart In thee therfore ô Lord from henceforth will I repose my whole considence and I will not be confounded for euer Thou art that vnchangeable Good which is aboundantly satisfactorie and yet art subiect to no change Thou art that Truth which can nether deceiue nor be deceiued THE XII MEDITATION What Christians are to hope for in this vvorld 1. POINT COnsider that if we be true Christians indeed we ought to expect for nothing in this world but pressures and persequutions without hope of better tymes being assured by the Gospell that in the latter dayes many euils scandalls pressures and iniquities shall abounde This is the condition of our present state and vocation that therby being wayned from the loue of this world our hopes might be wholy sett vpon a better AFF. and RESI .. What we suffer then is no surprise made vpon vs how strangly soeuer we looke vpon it It is but the ignorance or not reflection of what we are or ought to be which makes vs impatient of our present condition We are Christians my soule we were admitted vpon no other condition then to be followers of Christ If they persequuted him they will persequute vs too The seruant is not greater then the Master Truth deceaued vs not when he foretold vs and willed vs to remember that he had foretold vs so that for his sake the world should hate vs that for his name we should be lead before Kings c. Nor can he deceaue vs when he saith Blessed be they that suffer persequution c. because theirs is the Kingdome of Heauen II. POINT Consider that if in the midst of thes tribulations and pressures we lodge our confidence in the bosome of Gods prouidence or in the wounds of our Sauiours side not man nor diuell will be able to hurt vs Nether the one nor the other doth any thing but what God permitts them nor doth he permitt them to attempt any thing against vs but for our aduantage AFFECTION and RESOL. In thee ô Lord will I hope and I will not be confounded for euer I will logde as in an impregnable Castle in the sacred holes of thy side there will I repose without feare there will I securely sleepe If the wicked make warre against me in this I hope If the flesh make head against me to this will I flie If the Diuell barke and bale before my hart by these holes will I haue recourse to the hart of my Sauiour he will be with vs in the midst of our tribulations because we call vpon him he will deliuer vs and glorifie vs replenish vs with the length of dayes and shew vs his saluation III. POINT Hence le ts consider and euen putt downe and print in a Christian hart for a prime and infallible truth that we Christians were not made for the world nor for the goods of the tyme present nor for that bewitching felicitie which makes men forgett God but for a certaine happines which God promiseth for the present but man is not now capable of because of it is said Nether eye hath seene c. AFFECTION and RESOL. Alas no my hart nether are these momentarie Goods which we see our true Goods nor these euils which we suffer our euils indeede No for of these goods we see the wicked most plentifully possessed with these euils we see the iust most powerfully oppressed Our Good indeed is the cheife Good that onely we are to hope for that to loue alone and our euil too is the souueraigne euil that alone we are to feare and flie Whence we are warned not to feare them that can onely kill the bodie and can reach no further but to feare him vvho can caste both body and soule into eternall fire THE XIII MEDITAT What motiues he tooke to confirme Hope I. POINT COnsider that the first motiue of our Hope yea euen the sourse of all our motiues is the infinite goodnes and Charitie of God wherby he was moued to conuerse amongst vs. We ought not to be without Hope but rather to presume in Christ with a great confidence because if through charitie he is with vs in earth by the same charitie we are with him in heauen according to that of the Apostle Your life is hidden vvith Christ in God Therfore he is yet below we are
nothing els Render me thy selfe giue me thy selfe for thee I vvish thee I seeke thee I hope for to thee hath my hart said I haue sought thy countenance ô Lord And therfore what euer my Lord God is disposed to bestowe on me let him take it all away and let him giue me himselfe THE XX. MEDITAT In vvhat manner and measure God is to be loued I. POINT COnsider that the best manner of louing God is to loue him chastly that is with puritie of intention with as litle of our owne respects and interest as may be but because he is God that is infinitlie good or infinite goodnes Let vs loue him so a◠that we loue no other thing besides himselfe I that we may be made worthy of his heauenly imbracemets let vs discharge our selues of the care of all earthly things and le ts adheare to him alone gratis AFFECTION and RESOL. Too litle he loues thee ô Lord who loues any thing besids thee yea euen with thee which he loues not for thee for alas the innocent lambe who was slaughtered for vs is worthy to receaue glorie and honor and benediction not that in respect of his good gifts onely but euen because in himselfe he is infinitly wise infinitly powerfull infinitly beautifull infinitly good contayning in him selfe in a most eminent manner all the respects of good by which a reasonable man can be drawen to loue Let vs loue him therfore let vs loue him euen for his selfe sake and for no other reason as farre as we are able II. POINT Consider that the best measure of louing God is to imitate his loue to vs and loue him without measure for sith the obiect of our loue is infinite should not our loue also if it were possible be infinite Thou art immense ô Lord and vvithout measure ought thou to be loued and praysed by those vvhom thou hast redeemed vvith thyne ovvne pretious blood AFFECTION and RESOLV Come le ts loue him le ts loue him he deserues all loue yea more then all for he hath loued vs to make vs he hath loued vs being made he hath loued vs first and most he loued vs so farre as to giue his son and to be readie to giue himselfe if we loue againe Ah! let vs blush and be as hamed if after all this we find our selues slowe to loue MEDITATIONS FOR SEAVEN DAYES TO BE VSED BY THE Canonesses Regulars of the Order of Sainte Augustine in the Monasterie of SION Established at Paris A. 1634. As well before their clothings and Professions os otherwise I vvill leade her into the vvildernesse and I vvill speake to her harte Osee 2. AT PARIS By GABRIEL TARGA M. DC LXV THE FIRST MEDITATION FOR THE FIRST DAY The preparatorie prayer shall be the Hymne Veni Creator with the prayer Deus quicorda THE FIRST POINTE. Of Gods Benefits to man in his Creation CONISDER that God who is infinitly great and infinitly and evernally happy in himselfe seeinge thinges which are not as thinges that are out of his meere Goodnesse without any neede of vs beinge neither preuented by any merits of ours not prouoked by hopes of returnes raysed vs out of nothinge to his owne likenesse presented vs with the whole world made vs absolute Lords ouer it and ouer all the great varietie of thinges comprised in it for our vse Finally he endowed vs with a reasonable soule capable of himselfe to enioy him for euer AFFECTION Where were wee where were wee soelonge or soe longe agoe my soule where were wee and all that wee glory in while wee yet were not Ah while wee slept in our nothinge he who watches ouer Israël slept not But loued vs vvith a perpetuall loue he made a world for vs not vs for the world he made vs Lords ouer it not slaues to it He gaue vs all thinges to vse not to inioy to solace our pilgrimage not to stay vs from our contry Heauen my soule is our contry the Kinge of Heauen our possession which we are made to inioy Be it farre from vs to loue the benefits more then the bountiful benefactor or to glory in our selues or any thinge while we and they are Equally his free gifts THE SECONDE POINTE. Of mans regeneration Consider that though the benefit of creation be great yet that of regeneration farre exceeds it whereby we are borne to a new and better life life euerlastinge By that we were made and called men by this wee were made and called by Christ his owne name Christians or men of Christ By that he gaue vs power to liue and raigne ouer all the creatures by this to be little lesse then the Angells yea to be like to our creator in iustice and sanctity We were borne dead but by pure grace we were reuiued in baptisme made domestikes of his house the Catholike Church strengthened by confirmation fedd and fatned by his holy word and euen his owne pretious body and bloud Whereby wee are not onely called his seruants but are indeede his freinds nor his freinds onely but his sonns nor his sonns alone but his spouses AFFECTION If all my soule that we are be due to God for our creation by which we are all that wee either are or haue in the order of nature what will be due for our better beeinge by our regeneration which makes vs citizens of the Saintes and Gods owne domestikes his friends his sonns his spouses O what hart is able to conceaue the highth of the dignity to be made by grace of sonns of the earth the sonns of God of disloyall subiects he spouses of Christ and yet my soule such wee are which was not granted to all such wee are by his free goodnesse and mercy If therefore all that wee haue in the order of nature or grace we had absolutly from his free gift let all be employed and hartily referred to his honour THE II. MEDITATION FOR THE SAME DAY Of the obligations vvhich vve contract in Baptisme THE FIRST POINTE. COnsider that as the benefite of regeneration in Baptisme is a benefite of preference and of singular excellencie since of slaues of the Diuell it renders vs childeren of God and reintitles vs to our right in the Kingdome of Heauen so it bringes with it greate obligations to which we are all indispensably subiect We solemnely promessed therin in the face of the Church First to renounce the diuell and all his pompes wiles and allurementes wherby he endeuours incessantly to worke our eternall ruine That is to detest and flye the concupiscence of the flesh the cōcupiscence of the eyes and pride of life which are the Diuells baites wher-in he insnares the whole world and inslaues it to his accursed dominion These renounciations ô my soule are the promesses we solemnely made in our Baptisme These are the christian duties to which we are all absolutly oblidged be we religious persons or be we secular according to these we shall be iudged at the last
recōcilement with God But alas who is so impertinētly proude as to presume to haue them without his gifte who commands them assuring vs by S. Iohn that vvithout him vve can doe nothinge Say there-for giue ô Lord I humbly beseech thee what thou commandest that I may loue thee as much as I desire and as much as dutie obliges me to Giue humilitie that inseparable companion of Charitie and sure Guardien of virginitie Giue finally fountaines of teares that day and night I may bewaile my offences giue them I say because without thee we are able to doe nothing Noe for if with B. Magdalene we come to Christ it is because his heauenly Father drawes vs. If the deepe inwarde sense of our crymes make vs insensible with her of all outward confusion which they bringe with them it is the sorrovv vvhich is accordinge to God and from God that workes it in our hartes If we washe his feere with teares it is God who powres downe that heauenly dewe If we loue him it is because he loued vs first And yet ô ineffable goodnesse and benignitie by these his owne gifts he drawes vs to him and then crownes the same by his free pardon saying thy sinns are forgiuen thee A Prayer Grant ô Lord we beseech thee that the worke of thy mercy may direct our hartes because with out thee we are not able to please thee per Christum Dominum nostrum Amen Other Prayers O almightie and eternall Father daigne by the merits of the life and passion of thy onely beloued sonne deeply to imprinte in our hartes true sorrow to haue offended thee meerely out of the motiues of loue for alas if we auoyde sinne onely out of feare of Hell fire we feare not to offende but to burne nor are we iustified therby since it is not feare of punishment but loue of iustice vvhich makes vs iust in thy sight ô Lord. Grant me also deare Lord a perfect detestation of sinne and a firme resolution to auoyde it here-after especially in such and such thinges which I am most subiect to and stand most guiltie of in thy sight euen purely for thyne owne goodnesse sake who art infinitly worthy of the loue of all thy creatures Grant me finally a true contempt of the world and a willing flight from it and all its pompes and vanities which are the diuells weapons to destroye vs and therby faithfully acquitt my selfe of the solemne promises made in my baptisme Amen FINIS A SPIRITVALL EXERCISE before profession THE FIRST MEDITAT The Preparitorie prayer Veni Creator and Deus qui corda c. THE FIRST POINTE. CONSIDER that since now the yeare of your nouishippe or tryall is come to an end and that by Gods speciall grace and assistance to his honour and glorie and the good of your soule you haue conceiued a generous resolution to sett vpon the building of the Euangelicall Towre you are highly concerned maturely to examine how it is to be done Nor can you proceede more securely then by taking it from the mouth of Prime Truth saying which of you mynding to build a tower doth not first sitt downe and reckon the charges that are necessaire whether he haue to finish it least that after he hath layd the foundation and is not able to finish it all that see it begin to mocke him saying this man began to build and he could not finish it You ought therfor to consider the strength of your body the bent of your mynde the motiues which brought you hither that so you may discouer whether your body be not in truth too infirme your mynd too weake and wauering your motiues too light and incōsiderate out of some disgust rather then a disinterrested choyce out of confidence of your owne abilitie and strength rather then Gods inspirations and dependance of his grace AFFECTION Let this be done my soule in sinceritie and truth with grauitie and care still taking your counsells with God and from God It is not a childs play you are going about but the worke of a perfect man Your choyce is not for a day but for life The consequence of it not for a tearme of some fewe yeares but for eternitie eternitie my soule In thinges in a manner indifferent the choyce is indifferent In such things of smale importance it litle importes whether this or that be done so either of them be done to Gods glorie God is pleased and we merite If we should stand a waighing Doubles saith B. Sales trading would proue too troublesome Marrie goes on the same the choyce of ones vocation the proposition of a matter of great consequence a worke of much difficultie c. deserue a serious ponderation that Gods will which is our dutie happinesse and perfection may be discerned therin And let our firme resolutions be made accordingly THE II. POINTE. Consider with what it is that this Euangelicall Towre or spirituall building ought to be built and S. Augustine will teach you that it is to be done vvith noe other treasure then the forsaking of all and follovving of Christ which he takes from Truth it selfe saying Euery one of you that doth not renounce all that he hath can not be my Disciple And the same Truth expresses what he meanes by renounceing of all in these words If any man come to me and hateth not his Father and mother and vvife and children and brethren and sisters yea and his evvne life besides he cannot be my Disciple AFFECTION This my soule is the conctition of the obligation into which we are to enter for the building of this spirituall Towre This must be performed by vs and euen by all Christians in generall at least in perparation of mynde or els in vaine doe we pretend to be the Disciples or seruants of Christ Giue all and gayne all At any lesse coste this spirituall Towre will not be finished at any lesse rate the Euangelicall pearle will not be purchaced Vnlesse all this be performed saith Christ himselfe You cannot be my Disciples you cannot be true Religious and true followers of Christ Vnlesse this generous resolution be absolutley vndertaken let our designe be absolutly forsaken To serue God by halues will proue vnprosperous to vs God desires the hart which was made by himselfe and for himselfe and he will haue it whole The virgines whole thoughtes and sollicitudes ought to be imployed vpon the thinges vvhich pertaine to our Lord that she may be holy both in body and in spirit Remember that it was S. Paule who saith it THE II. MEDITATION FOR THE FIRST DAY Of the solide and sure fundation of this spirituall building THE FIRST POINTE. COnsider what fundation ought to be layd to supporte this waightie and most important building and your holy Father will tell you againe that it ought to be noe other then humilitle Doe you saith he pretende to erecte a fabrike of a huge highth Thinke first of the foundation humilitie And by how much higher we
to raigne and happie is that blessed necessitie vvhich compells vs to the better Our false libertie then is turned into a necessitie but it is to be truly free to haue nothing common with the world not to be tortured with the greedie desire of vaine toyes to haue noe commerce with wickednesse to passe our tyme in innocencie Our fortunes are noe more ours noe but they are gaynfully spent vpon the purchace of the riches of Heauen The disposition of our body is not in our owne hands true but it is to imitate the Angells The goods of our mynd our verie will is at anothers dispose Yes but it is that by wanting it for a tyme we may inioy it for an eternitie THE II. MEDITATION FOR THE THIRD DAY Of the vovve of pouertie THE FIRST POINTE. COnsider that if humilitie be the basis and fundation which secures all that is built vpon it pouertie must be at the charges to rayse the walls But with what treasure will pouertie performe this worke Marrie with noe other as S. Augustine hath told vs but with relinquishing of all we either haue or can hope for So is the toppe and perfection of our spirituall building to be attained to as wisdome it selfe assures vs saying if thou wilt be perfect goe and sell all that thou hast and giue it to the poore and take vp thy crosse and come and follovv me AFFECTION RESOLVT O glorious and rich pouertie which alone art able to vndertake and accomplish so great a worke The riches of a kingdome are scarcely sufficient to finish one princely Louure and yet the pouertie of one poore free giuing harte is able to rayse a stately Towre reaching into the sight of God and to possesse it selfe of his kingdome O gaynfull cōmerce ô diuinely-rich trading Ingenious pouertie is able to improue her smale talent to an hundred-fold aduantage and to the sure possessiō of life euerlasting He sayes it whom we dare not misbeleeue euery one that hath left house or landes for my names sake shall receiue an hundred fold and shall possesse life euerlasting THE II. POINT That Euangelicall pouertie ought to be learnt of Christ Consider that though diuers Phylosophers both praysed and in some sort practised pouertie as not reputing him worthy of God who did not dontemne riches yea and some among them qualified it laeta paupertas ioyfull pouertie Yet hardly should we either haue tasted the ioy of it or haue put our selues to the practise therof had we not had a better Master to haue proposed it to vs by way of counsell preached it to vs with a blissing vpon it and practised it in his owne sacred person all his life longe who being rich became poore to inrich vs by his owne pouertie He was poore in his natiuitie being borne in a poore caue or stable wrapped vp in poore clothes layd on a poore locke of hay lodged in a poore manger accompaigned with a poore oxe and asse All the course of his life was spent in pouertie and want neuer hauing any possession noe not so much as a place to shrude his heade and at his death he was stript naked vpon the crosse AFFECTION and RESOLVT And yet was he not eternall prouidence and foresawe all this Was he not eternall wisdome and so could haue preuented it all Was he not the riches of heauen and our God who could stand in want of nothing that is ours Conclude then my soule with much ioy and consolation either are we making a good choyce of this poore life we intende to leade or els the wisdome of heauen may seeme to haue mist in his choyce But wisdome could not deceiue nor be deceiued reioyce then my soule to haue made so sure so happie so Christ like a choyce And let vs neuer cease to vse our vttermost endeuours to imitate his extreame pouertie in his natiuitie in his life and at his death THE FIRST MEDITAT FOR THE 4. DAY To vvhat this vovve of pouertie doth absolutly binde vs. THE FIRST POINTE. COnsider that the pouertie to which you oblidge your selfe is accordinge to S. Augustins Rule That is not to mendicitie not to penurie or extreame want of necessaties in meate drinke or clothes c. But to possesse what you possesse in common according to that Apostolicall and primitiue Christian proceeding in the fourth of the Actes All thinges vvere common vnto them neither vvas there any needie among them and to euerie one vvas deuided according as euery one had neede From these blessed first fruites of Christianitie did your holy father as himselfe declares take the model of your life So that as you can haue nothing of your owne nor euen the power to call it so so on the other side you haue right to your share in the comon distribution of the whole AFFECTION and RESOL. How happie are we my soule to haue fixed vpon so happie a proceeding where we are neither to haue nor want riches to witt we neither suffer the danger of hauing them not the incommoditie of wanting them Happie condition which frees vs from the perill of riches which makes the way of heauen almost impossible and yet subiects vs not to the incommoditie of the want of them wherby life becomes loathsome and necessitie compells to vnworthy and base thinges This golden meane was certainly the production of the holy Ghost in those boylinge primitiue hartes whence it was deriued downe to vs and wherby we can ioyfully pronounce with the Apostle vve haue nothinge and yet vve possesse all thinges by the harmelesse vse which we are permitted to make of thē THE II. POINTE. What pouertie a true Religious ought indeede to ayme at Consider that though the possessing of nothing in proper or want of proprietie be all that you canonically promisse or are bound to yet your aymes indeede are the contempt of riches and of the verie desire of them It is not gold and siluer that the Apostle tearmes the roote of all euil but the inordinate coueting of them Nor are rich persons alone subiect to danger but these also that couet to be riche vvho saith he fall into snares and temptations The pouertie which our sauiour preacheth with a benedictiō vpon it is spirituall pouertie or pouertie of the d'isinterrest mynde which neither has them nor cares for them nor seekes the commodities and pleasures they bringe with them further then a meere necessarie liuelyhoode as we see in our B. Sauiours example which is our patterne indeede AFFECTION and RESOL. The actuall want of riches my soule and the banishing of those contentious words myne and thyne is a good steppe to beatitude since therby innumerable occasiōs of contentions and quarrells are cut off Yet alas that is not all that the spouses of Christ should ayme at who in their pouertie ought to expresse the pouertie of Christ who neither had them nor desired them nor the commodities and delights which accompanie them It profits vs
your vowe and is absolutly necessarie AFFECTION and RESOLV O my soule if our owne reason were made the Rule of our obedience with what confusions and endlesse wranglings would not Monasteries be replenished They would not so much be found sacred and silent solitudes as cententious Academies It is at the death of our rebellious wills that pestilent source of mans miserie and mortall poison of a sprituall life that obedience aymes which is not effected by proude disputes but by humble submissions hauing continually in mynd that all povver is from God and he vvho resists povver resists Gods ordonnance Let vs then my soule humbly and promptly obeye God in our superiours person standing alwayes in a blissed indifferencie with S. Paule to heare him by their mouthes and to obeye him in their persons saying What is thy holy vvill I should doe THE II. POINTE. Of the diuers degrees of it Consider that tho necessarie obedience to which you are tyed by vowe consists in obeying Superiours cōmands according to Rule and Constitutiōs or what conduces to the due obseruance therof Yet are not the pious spouses of Christ to stoppe there but to be still striuing to emulate the better gifts and to render themselues wholy agreeable to their diuine spouse Be perfect as your heauenly father is perfect saith our sauiour by endeuouring still to obeye in the most perfect manner which that great seruant of God Ruisbrochius putts downe as followes In the first place it must be prudent and discreete 2. simple 3. cheerfull 4. prompt 5. couragious 6. deuoute 7. humble AFFECTION and RESOL. O what a blessed life is ledd where all these conditions meete O what a Heauen appeares in earth where earthly Angells thus liue Let this be our cheife endeuour my soule as it is the happinesse securitie and ornament of a religious life Let vs with prudence and discretion discerne Gods will by our superiours mouth and whether we be commanded to watch to fast to pray or worke c. or els vpon occasions at their pleasure to leaue them off let it be done simply and with assurance that by how much more simply by so much the more fruitfully and excellently it s done Let that discreete simplicitie be secōded with quicke and cheesfull execution for God loues a free and merrie-harted giuer If the thinge commanded appeare hard yet imbrace it with a manly courage heauen is worth more and he who gaue the commande can giue strength to performe it Finally let all this be done with humilitie and deuotion not so much to please men as that our heauenly father may be glorified THE FIRST MEDITAT FOR THE 6. DAY Of the excellencies of Obedience THE FIRST POINTE. COnsider with deuoute Ruisbrochius that obedience is a vertue of so great excellēcie that the verie least worke be it of what kinde it will being done by vertue therof is much better and more acceptable to God then euen other geate workes done without it as for example hearing of Masse reading praying contemplating or any other worke you can thinke of Which lesson we are yet taught by a greater Master Kings 1.15 Will our Lord haue Holocausts and victimes and not rather that his voyce should be obeyd For better is obedience then victimes and to harken rather then to offer the fatt of rammes Because c. it is as it vvere the vvickednesse of Idolatrie to refuse to obey AFFECT and RESO It is not so much the greatnesse of the thinge then my soule we ought to looke vpon as the greatnesse of the obedience with which we are to performe it Commandes of great and herociall actions rarely occurre wheras obedience may be daylie exercised and merite increased in a number of smale matters Nor is it easily to be conceiued what riches are to be treasured vp for heauen therby Deuoute obedience knowes how to render the poore widowes myte a gratfull offering Industrious obedience negotiates vpon trifles and yet like the honie bee stores her hyue with huge riches Many other vertues daughters of Charitie gather maine heapes of treasure togeither yet obedience so farre outstripps them all that she makes her selfe more gratefull to God then a sacryfice THE II. POINTE. Of vvhom vve ought to learne Obedience Consider that we ought to learne this best of morall vertues of the best of Masters of moralitie Iesus Ch. Who is as well the Master as the Disciple of it He was the Master of it at his coming into the world while he liued in it and at his departure out of it At his coming S. Paule tells vs in his person in the heade of the booke it is vvritten of me that I should doe thy vvill then said I behold I come that I may doe thy vvill o God His whole life was spent in the doing the will of his heauenly father who sent him and in obeying his mother S. Ioseph and euen all creatures for his sake At his departure he vvas obedient euen vnto death and the death of the Crosse And he was the Disciple of it too sithens as S. Paule affirmes though he were the sonne of God he learnt obedience by the thinges vvhich he suffered and vvas made the cause of eternall saluation to all that obey him AFFECTION and RESOL. O what an excellent lesson of obedience hath the sonne of God left for the sonnes of men to imitate He who as God could be obedient to none being God-man becomes obedient to all men for his heauenly fathers sake All his life was a cōtinued obedience till by his painfull death he consummated the great worke of mans redemption for which he was sent Father I haue consummated the vvorke vvhih thou gauest me to doe saith that intirely obedient sonne The worke which we are to doe my soule which is as it were our whole businesse is to obey God in our superiours commandes and by such submission and their care to secure our blessed eternitie By their eyes we best discerne By their iudgements we most wisely iudge by their directions and orders we most surely walke to mans beatitude THE II. MEDITATION FOR THE 6. DAY That Charitie must be the roofe of this spirituall building THE FIRST POINTE. COnsider that be the foundationes neuer so deeply digged be the walls neuer so firme and confirmed and the interior partes neuer so fairely adorned yet if the roofe be not sutable to the rest and be not established aboue the rest it lyes but vselessely open to receiue winds and shewres and is vnfitt for the vse of man being indeede noe perfect buildinge but onely the materialls or ruines therof vpon which passers by looke with derision and say this man began to build but could not finish the same AFFECTION RESOLVT It is the end my soule that euery wise man acts for without which his worke is imperfect nor can he repose Pouertie indeede seemes more then humane Pure nature knowes noe such production Virginitie is truly Angelicall and diuine