compunction and pierc'd with sorrow which before while it was green was not in a capacity to receive the influences of the Sun of Righteousness and consequently could not be ripned till a passage was made for the evacuation of the peccant humour that so the beams of grace might efficaciously work upon it Let us then consider that if this delicate fruit does upon its piercing or wounding distil tears and that in order to its attainment of maturity it is much more requisite that the devout Christian should endure the stings of remorse and compunction in order to his being advanc'd to that perfection which is requir'd in the pure of Heart To this end is it that a Man ought sometimes as Saint Augustine sayes to make his appearance at the Tribunal of his own Soul where his own Thoughts will be his Accusers his Conscience the Witness and Grief the Executioner to wound the sinful Heart Then saith he let the blood as it were of the Soul fâ—w and issue forth by tears Notwithstanding all this Who saith Solomon will glory that he hath a clean Heart True it is no Man should glory herein but give the Glory onely to God Yet since the pure of Heart shall onely see God such purity of Heart is required as is produc'd by the expulsion of sin and infusion of Grace Therefore David humbly desired that his sin might be blotted out and that within him might be created a clean Heart Not a new Heart created but purity therein which being produc'd without any precedent merit of the finners part may be term'd a Creation Therefore Saint Paul tells us That Charity which is the same spiritual quality with Grace is transfus'd into our Souls which gives life and vigour in some sort as the Soul created and infus'd informs and gives life and motion to the body Me-thinks a Fig when but green pierc'd and wounded as it were by the Gnat lies expos'd to the bright and hot beams of the Sun as the Heart of a sinner doth to the Sun of Justice when 't is plerc'd by compunction Ah! what Light of Faith and heat of Love enters through those new â—ade passages of the Contrite Heart by which it becomes as it were a new Heart ripened by Virtue and embellished by Grace Now elevate thine Eyes to behold the wounded Heart of our Lord not with the sting of a Gnat but with a sharp Spear not to receive any light or heat of Consolation but to lay out the entire summ of that infinite treasure of his precious blood besides water to purifie thy impure Soul that thou mayst be blessed and see God thereby to enjoy eternal Beatitude CONSIDERATIONS ON THE VI. BEATITUDE On our Blessed Saviour's wounded Heart HAving in the Fifth Beatitude like a Dove nestling in the hole of a Rock as at the Gate of Mercy entred by Contemplation into Christ's wounded side now make a step farther or rather with reverence stay and view his wounded Heart most pure and clean where sin could never find entrance and say with the Patriarch Jacob Verily here is no other than the House of God and the Gate of Heaven This is the Blessed One pure of Heart who ever had the happy sight of God Consider what it is to be clean of Heart It is to be the Temple of the Holy Ghost To be in the state of Grace that is not guilty of any mortal sin And since the Heart is the Source and Fountain whence our thoughts perpetually flow to suppress all impure cogitations as they are rising is to have a clean Heart when it is accompanied with a pure intention directing all our actions to the Honor and Glory of God And as Saint Augustine saith Whatsoever we do whatsoever we laudably desire must tend to obtain the Vision of God beyond which nothing can be desired Think of the Question propounded by King David O Lord Who shall dwell in thy Tabernaele or who shall rest in thy holy hill And then attend to the Answer which is this He that liveth uprightly and worketh righteousness c. This is a hard saying Must the Heart be so clean as not to have one spot The Child but a day old is not free and in his Angels God found iniquity Who then shall be justified in his sight Or who can be clean of Heart while the All-seeing Eye of Heaven beholds it Appeal then to the pure Heart of thy Saviour rely on his Innocence not on thine own on his merits not on thine Seeing that Vessel of Election said he was guilty of nothing and yet in that he was not justified yet doubted not to say A Crown of righteousness was due unto him which the just Judge would give him I will therefore say with David O Lord turn away thy face of thy severe Justice from my sins And with him add further Shew me thy face that is to say of thy mercy and I shall be saved According to thy great mercy and multitude of thy mercies cancell my iniquity wash me again from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin that I may be clean of Heart to enjoy thy sight O my Soul Keep thy Heart as the Wise man adviseth thee with all kind of custody for out of it saith he proceeds life Keep it pure let not in one mortal sin to defile it for then from the Heart would proceed Death destruction of Grace and loss of the sight of God for Grace is the seed of Glory Let thy Heart be ploughed by Contrition harrow'd and cleans'd from the weeds of sin that this divine seed may be sowen in thy Heart which springs up by holy desires and is ripened by virtuous exercises O my God thou hast commanded me to love thee with an entire pure and sincere Heart Give me I beseech thee what thou commandest by creating in me a clean Heart and renewing a right Spirit in my bowels that I may love thee with all my Soul that my Will may be resign'd to thine without any contradiction with all my Mind and Memory alwayes to think of thee and with all my powers that I may employ them in thy service To perform all these things I must observe four things First Seeing all I am and have Body and Soul spiritual and temporal blessings I have from God I must be alwayes mindfull of his benefits Serve honour and thank him for all love him above all and for him my Neighbour Secondly I must consider the excellency of God And seeing he is infinitely greater than our Heart though we serve him with all our Heart and powers of our Soul yet are we defective and insufficient and must therefore think we never do enough Thirdly We must not suffer the world to usurp the least corner of our Heart by disordinate Love for that were injurious to God as was the placing of the Idol Dagon by the Ark. He is too covetous saith Saint Jerom whom God cannot satiate And he loves God less
desolations of soul Then make a generous resolution for the time to come with a humble resignation to desire or have nothing but with conformity to his holy Will and Pleasure and say O most poor and most enriching Lord who dost invest and cloath all yet on the Cross art naked Bounteous in thy spiritual Graces and Favours yet so poor in Spirit and Desire that thou hast no place whereon to rest thy dying head yet hast promised a Kingdom to those who with thee are poor in Spirit Behold I renounce here whatsoever the flattering World shall allure me with I abandon all rather than forsake thee Nay not only these exterior things but I also desire to be so naked and poor in Spirit as not to have a Memory but to call to mind and think often of thy infinite Mercy and Love towards me no Vnderstanding but to ruminate and seriously ponder thy manifold Sufferings and Benefits conferred on me no Will but to love thee and my Neighbour in and for thee In such sort that being entirely resign'd to thy holy Will and Pleasure I may say with thine Apostle I live now not I but Christ lives in me Were not he in some sort poor in Spirit that should if it were possible live and breathe move and speak by 〈…〉 own Such was S. Paul's in whom Christ I may say lived and breath'd mov'd and spake Contrariwise How rich were he in Spirit in Will and Desire whose Soul should be wholly addicted to Self-love and proper Interest That breathes nothing wherein Christ is concerned but pursues only Ambition a Spirit that swells and puffs up the heart That moves not but by the agitation of a coveting Spirit Like a Silk-worm in fine to involve it self in a web of darkness and oblivion It is a great and shameful abuse saith S. Bernard for Man a poor and abject Worm greedily to covet Riches for whom the Lord of Majesty vouchsafed to bee poor A shame to be always toiling and weaving like a Silk-worm which as it shrowds it self more and more is the nearer death to leave to Posterity a silken web for Pride as a Parent doth often-time his Inheritance after a life unhappily consum'd in avaritious Desires which like a gloomy Cloud had so darkened the eye of the Soul that she which had been infus'd into the Body like a ray from Heaven was even obscurity it self As S. Augustine complains The blindness of mans heart is so great and the inward ear of the Soul so deaf that he desires to have all things but himself which must be such a Self as he may truly say with David What is there in Heaven for me and being poor in Spirit what do I desire on Earth but thee My flesh and heart faints and languisheth my Spirit is poor and enfeebled to all that which this World presents me with Thou O Lord art the God of my heart my portion my God for ever Unhappy then are the avaritious who have a god Gold their Idol but not for ever rich in the desire of earthly trash but unhappily poor in Spirit that aspire not to the possession of that Treasure which no rust shall canker nor length of time consume How can I behold the naked Blossom springing from the Cornell-Tree in cold February and not remember how I came into this wretched World exposed to Hunger Thirst cold heat weariness Infirmities Death Poor Blossom Man How soon blasted how suddenly withered which all thy leafy Riches cannot prevent Who then would not rather be poor in Spirit as naked in his Affections to worldly pelf as his Saviour dying naked on the Cross But naked to enrich me hungring and thirsting there but to save me cold to infuse into my Soul the ardors of his Love expos'd to heat but to quench my immoderate Desires weary to refresh me weak to strengthen me and finally dying to give me a life of eternal Beatitude in a Kingdom which he hath promised to the poor in Spirit I will consider why King Danid is said to have swept his Spirit meditating with his heart in the night Was it not by sweeping to cast out of doors the dust of worldly cogitations and terrene desires which like dust obscures and even blinds the eyes of the Soul Was he not poor in Spirit when he had swept together and cast out the dust of transitory things that he might contemplate the eternal Therefore he said in the precedent verse That he had thought of the ancient days and time of Mans life wherein he enjoys Riches and worldly felicity to which he opposing the Riches of Heaven and Eternity says He retain'd in mind the everlasting years If we have our several rooms in the vast habitacle of our Soul none is so often to be swept as that where intrudes sollicitude to be harboured accompanied with care and anxiety of mind together with fear that presents us with the future losses or crosses which may occur And therefore for prevention all the powers of the Soul are summoned to be vigilant and cautious for the safegard and increase of wealth by which poverty in Spirit and Will is cast out of doors The Second BEATITUDE Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the Earth EMBLEME II. The Indian Fig-Tree Sic suvat esse tenacem-2 So do the Meek to fix their Roots Humbly let down as many Shoots As good Desires which spring from Love Take root in Heaven the Land above THis Tree above all others may be said to be possessed of or to inherit the Earth For the Branches of it bending downwards to the ground no sooner touch it but they immediately take root and grew up into other Trees which afterwards produce others so that in time they spread over all the ground they meet with and yet all though stragling over a great quantity of ground way be sold to be but one Tree Another thing commonly observ'd of these Trees is that they afford a secure retreat not only to the wild Boars and other Beasts but also to the Inhabitants of those Countries where they grow who having garrison'd themselves within them defie all Enemies In like manner a pious and fructifying Soul in order to her possession of the Land of the Living produceth many active thoughts diffuses her self into good actions which yet obeying the check of Humility descends to be more deeply rooted Thus the Meek 〈◊〉 on and lay hold of that which is their heavenly Inheritance de virtute in virtutem passing from one Virtue to another and saying with S. Augustine As yet I follow yet I profit yet I walk yet I am in the way yet I dilate my self yet I arrive not Behold how like this Indian Fig-Tree the devout Soul makes her progress and advances forward still taking new root still laying faster hold never accounting her self secure or that she hath done enough as submitting to the advice of the same S. Augustine to wit this Let that which thou
what Saint Jerome saith That it will not suffice to desire Justice but we must hunger and thirst after it Yet never think our selves just enough but must more and more thirst after Justice as our Lord commands He that is just let him be more just and he that is holy more holy Consider what a hunger and thirst that is of the Worldling who still covets more and more Wealth The Voluptuous Man more and more Pleasure And the Ambitious Man more and more Honour Neither of these can have their fill because the Soul is of infinite capacity and therefore cannot be fill'd with all the world can poure into it Unhappy then are those Men who hunger and thirst yet never are satisfied And contrariwise Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness to whom is promised such fullness as shall wholly inebriate and satiate the Soul and Heart whose Capacity is immense and being created to enjoy God is insatiable and restless till it enjoyes his sight As Saint Augustine saith Because thou O Lord hast made us for thee our Heart is never at quiet until it comes unto thee O my soul be ever languishing and thirsting after this compleat happiness Is it possible thou shouldst have such a drought that naturally desiring to be blessed and fill'd with the glory of God thou shouldst notwithstanding hunger and greedily desire things upon earth and not those above O blessed Saviour thou didst thirst and they gave the vinegar and gall but to quench my thirst thou hast promised me the water of life so that I shall never thirst more Give me O Lord of this water for hitherto I have digg'd and sought it in the broken and leaking Cisterns of thy Creatures or in riches dignities and pleasures which never satiate Thou wert hungry after a fast of forty days and the Enemy presented thee with stones to be turn'd into bread But for me if I truly hunger after righteousness thou hast and dost give me the bread of life thy real body to feed and strengthen my soul to life everlasting This is the daily and supersubstantial bread which I should hunger after and for which I daily beg and without which I cannot subsist This was prefigured by Manna which relieved the Israelites in the Wilderness without which they had been famish'd Such is the desart of this world such thy true Body which unless a man eat and worthily eat he shall not have life in him Jesu be unto me a Saviour and redeem me from worldly vanities which like air never fill or satiate an hungry soul Thou art the Way lead and direct me Thou the Life revive and quicken me Thou my greatest and only Good make me hunger and thirst after thee Only after thee because all that can be desired may be found in thee which may incite to love If beauty thou O God art the fairest If benefits thou daily and liberally conferrest them on me If love to invite to love again thine is the greatest As my Creator thou gav'st me a being As my Redeemer thou freedst me from thraldom as a Preserver thou didst and dost deliver me from perils spiritual and corporal Therefore thy Prophet David said My soul hath thirsted after thee the living fountain To thee he thirsted who art the most amiable the most noble and most excellent Good a God and all things To thee he thirsted a strong God a good permanent immutable and eternal To thee a living God operative vigorous intellectual loving and conferring on me innumerable benefits How then can I do less then hunger and thirst after thee who art so good so gracious so bountiful so loving Nay how can I contain my self within the limits of thy Creatures that was created to so noble an end as is the blisful sight of Thee How can I forbear from crying out with thy servant David When shall I come and appear before thy face If I am a pilgrim thou wilt conduct me to my desired Countrey If I am hungry and thirsty thou wilt satiate me with the fruition of thy sight If I am naked thou wilt there cloath me with glory These things have I call'd to mind said David Psa 41. and thereupon I poured forth my soul within my self like a streamling to return to God my Ocean as a river doth to the sea whence it was deriv'd I have dilated my soul and extended her thirsting desire which nothing can satiate and fill but God only Nay more I have poured out my soul upon my self And there alas what could she find but one so poor as not any way able to quench her thirst who is capable of a Good immense Or when I poured out my soul upon my self as water streaming on the superficies of the earth I suffered it not to be suckt and swallowed up by self-love but to stream sorth towards that River which makes joyful the City of God Because I will said David pass on to enter into the place of the admirable Tabernacle even unto the house of God Even as a poor Beggar travelling on the rode in the heat of Summer being very weary leaves the high way to find some good Gentleman's house to be refresht and to quench his thirst so doth David thirsting say He will pass through all difficulties and obstacles whatsoever to arrive at Gods house there to quench his thirst lodg in that admirable Tabernacle But his arrival at the house of God being deferred he resolves to make use of local memory And to this end designs two special places the River Jordan and Mount Hermonijm When he beholds the first it puts him in mind of the River above which makes joyful the City of God and of the Torrent of delight of which the blessed are given to drink And when he casts his eye on the second he calls to mind the holy and blissful Mount of Heaven where God manifests himself to his Angels and Saints Therefore saith he I will be mindful of thee O God from the land of Tordan while I behold this river and likewise when I see the little Mount Hermonijm Who then fixing his eye on Mount Calvary can forget his Saviours sufferings or who can but remember how he hungred and thirsted after righteousness when he hears him cry out I thirst that is to say the salvation of mankind and that righteousness for us sinners whereby we are adopted and made the children of God The Fifth BEATITUDE Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy EMBLEME V. Adam's Apple-Tree Dum detrahis exigis auge Man merciful t' augment his store So cloaths and feeds the naked-poor For giving less he more receaves Such Trees are known by fruit and leaves THere hath such a particular notice been taken of this Tree in the several Countries where it grows that it is accordingly called by several names which yet we shall not give an account of in regard it is not so much the denomination as the Vertues
I never mourn but for my sins nor grieve but for the loss of thee IV. On thy sacred Mouth crying out I thirst I read thou didst hunger and thirst after righteousness that I might be justified by thy Death and Passion Grant sweet Jesu I may ever hunger and thirst after this V. By thy wounded Side I find thou wert merciful giving all thy precious blood for my redemption May I be merciful to thee in thine that I may finally find mercy VI. Let thy pierced Heart most pure and exempt from all fin teach me to prepare a pure and clean heart for thee VII By thy sacred Hands nailed I understand thou wert the grand Peace-maker Vouchsafe to infuse into my soul true and perfect Charity that I may have peace withall for thee and during this life make my peace with thee VIII Lastly By thy Feet pierced with nails I read they are blessed that suffer persecution which thou didst even unto the death of the Cross Grant me grace to suffer for thee to bear afflictions patiently that with thee I may reign eternally Amen O good Jesu to reign with thee is to suffer with thee On the Cross thou art surrounded with the eight Beatitudes Here I must seek them exemplified in thy self on Mount Calvary to find them perfected on Mount-Sion the heavenly Jerusalem I. I behold the Cornel-tree where without leaves to shrowd it the blossom lies naked and expos'd to the blustring winds And on the Tree of the Cross as naked I behold my Saviour poor in Spirit poor in Will and Desire as naked dying as born for us Uncloath thy self then O my soul and be as naked in thine affections to the leafy vanities and riches of this life which is but a so journing for poor mortality II. I see the arch'd Indian-Fig-tree greedy to possess the Land with a thousand shoots which descend to take deep root in the earth And on the Tree of the Cross I behold our Lord meekly bowing down his Head humbled even to the death of the Cross to take possession of the Land of the Living for me an exile by as many shoots as sighs prayers tears and drops of blood as he shed for me a lost sinner O my soul where are thy humble shoots that should descend that they may ascend to the Land of promise where are thy submissive thoughts that should lowly bend to the earth by acknowledgment of thy unworthiness and ingratitude to so good and merciful a Lord Thou art now in possession of a barren Land thy body where thou canst not nor must not take deep root Heaven is thy Land this thy place of banishment Thither let thy thoughts ascend to be deeply rooted by an eternal possession III. I view the Myrrhe-tree weeping drop after drop but when prick'd and wounded it more abundantly distills Thus came I weeping and mourning into a vale of tears like a taper by the wind soon extinguish'd like a spark in the Sea as soon swallowed up like a froth suddenly vanishing and a vapour scatter'd in the air Have I not then cause to weep to prevent a future mourning and acquire a happiness and consolation which is promised to Mourners Then I cast mine eyes on Christ crucified and weeping on the Cross why for my sins Why like a Myrrhe-wee wounded over all his body distilling blood To give light to my glimmering taper fire to my spark substance to my frothy soul and purer air to my dusky vapour Thirdly I will summon my heart and expostulate with my soul why she would be usher'd by her eyes to the aspect of vainer objects yet never made use of them to bewail her sins with tears And if the Myrrhe tree stab'd or launc'd with a knife dissolves it self into tears why doth she not procure by her sighs and prayers that my heart woulded with true compunction may be liquified into tears of grief IV. I seem to behold the Clove-tree hungring as it were and thirsting after the strengthning moisture of the earth which it continually attract Then I seem to hear my Saviour cry out I thirst to express his ardent desire of our Salvation And then O my soul say I canst thou hear thy Lord crying out I thirst and yet present him with no other potion then a cup full of absinth thy sins which are more bitter to him then Vinegar and Gall of which he tasting would not drink O my soul taste and see how sweet our Lord is who to revive and refresh thee which wert like dry and barren earth showred down his precious blood from his wounded body veins and heart till it was totally exhausted O what an excessive thirst did this cause in thy Saviour what a Consummatum est was this what bounty when hereserv'd not to himself so much as one drop of blood O my soul if he gave thee all that was most precious doubt not to say with his royal Prophet What shall I give unto our Lord for all he hath given me what less then an entire heart and soul with all her powers to love honour and serve him V. Next I imagine I see the fruit of Adams Apple-tree cut in two which presents us with a cross which bare the Saviour our of the World in whom I behold as many crosses as stripes and scourges enterlac'd in his tender flesh It was the fruit of the forbidden Tree wherein being eaten were included as many crosses as miseries now incident to wretched man As hunger thirst cold heat infirmities c. which render him miserable and consequently to be pitied O my soul commiserate at least thine own self encompassed with so many frailties casualties and anxieties of mind Turn which way thou wilt thou canst not be long exempted from one calamity or other Wherefore seeing to be Misericors that is to say merciful is to have an agrieved and pitiful heart as it were always bearing a cross let thine he dolor sorrow and compunction for thy sins VI. Imagine you behold the green Fig pick'd and pierc'd by a little Gnat or Fly whence distills a drop as it were of hony And then say O my green hard and immature Heart where is that compunction that is requisite for thee O that thou wert thus pierc'd and wounded with grief for thy fins that sweet delight like a honey-drop might issue forth for while it resides within thee thou canst never come to maturity for where sin predominates Grace must needs be an Exile Then reflect your Eye on our Saviour's Heart wounded with a Spear and say Lord Were not thy larger wounds in thy Hands and Feet sufficient pledges and testimonies of thy excessive Love Why then after thy death wouldst thou receive so deep a wound in thy Heart Ah! If Death were stronger than Love in thee when by him thou wert vanquisht he seizing by Heart Love again even after Death was more powerful by opening that sacred rift whence issued the Sacraments and where the Gate of
was then in the Universe the Earth opening Rocks splitting the Temples Veil rending the Thief reviling and the Jews blaspheming And if at that time the Stars were shining they were like so many Eyes to admire the wonderful meekness and patience of our Redeemer In fine If the corporal Eye dull'd and dazled with a long and tedious aspect of glittering objects If I say that be refresh'd by looking stedfastly on a green Emerald shall not the sight of his sacred Head meekly inclining be as powerful to banish from the inward Eye that dark cloud of passionate wrath that circumvolves and stupifies the intellectual part I will go said Moses and behold this great Vision why the bush that burns consumes not For could he expect less than a crackling noise from a thorny Bush environed with Flames If this were miraculous what is it to behold that very God of Abraham God of Isaac and God of Jacob which appeared in the Bush with a Head meekly bowing down wreath'd with a Crown of Thorns amidst flames of Love burning but not consuming meekly hearing the Jews and patiently suffering while they blasphem'd revil'd and scorn'd him O my Soul what a great Vision is this to iuvite thee to meekness and patience Thou likewise art inclos'd as in a thorny Bush thy Body where for a light injury or small affront thou dost not only burn but art even consum'd with the flame of wrath and indignation sparkling and crackling like a Fire amongst Thorns To prevent the like flames of fury go sometimes to see this great Vision the Head of thy Saviour crown'd with Thorns meekly bowing down and as it were beckning unto thee to come and learn of him to be meek and humble of heart learn to possess thy self and thereby take possession of the Land which he hath promised to the meek and humble of heart God placed in the Clouds his bended Rain-bow that he might be mindful of his Covenant and on the Cross he hath fix'd his only begotten Son whose head meekly bending while he beholds he becomes a meek and merciful God to man who by his manifold sins provokes him to wrath How then canst thou elevate thine eyes sparkling with wrath against them that injure thee and not be pacified when thou beholdest this meek wounded Head bowing down to give thee the kiss of Peace meekly hearing and patiently bearing blasphemous words and wrongs that were so outragious and injurious to Innocence What then should a guilty soul patiently suffer for his sake If His sacred head be crown'd with sharp thorns wouldst thou have thine notwithstanding be encompassed with Roses If his head meekly bow down shall thine be rais'd up by pride or threaten revenge to them that offend thee Finally if his brow pierc'd with thorns be not any way contracted with wrinkles against his enemies smooth thy furrowed brow by meekness and for his sake and according to his example love even those that hate thee The Third BEATITUDE Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted EMBLEME III. The Myrrhe-Tree Tam lachrymosus homo 3 So of himself as soon as born The tender Bahe begins to mourn But after pierc'd with griefs and sears Hee 's more and more distilling tears THe Myrrhe-Tree of it self naturally distil's and as it were sheds tears but more abundantly when it is prick'd and wounded Behold the Embleme and Type of Man who is born weeping as being to use Saint Austin 's expression a Prophet presaging his own future calamities Man likewise naturally weeps for the loss or death of a dear friend so doth a Parent for his lost or deceased Child as Jacob did for Joseph and David for his Son Ahsalon Such tears ought to be moderate according to the saying of the Son of Sirach Modicùm plora super mortuum Weep not much over the dead Temporal losses and afflictions do also force tears from those who suffer them as they did from Job cap. 24. v. ult My harp also is turned to mourning and my organ into the voice of them that weep But when a man sheds tears out of remorse and compunction he is wounded like the Myrrh-Tree Thus was David wounded when he said In the night-time I will wash my bed with my tears What sins how great and enormous soever but may be swallowed up in such a flood as Pharaoh and his Army was in the red Sea Or what Flames can be so great as not to be extinguish'd by such a fountain There are likewise tears of Compassion as Job says I wept over him that was afflicted and my soul took compassion on the poor After this manner David weeps for Saul and Tobias for his Countrey men oppress'd with miseries With like tears of Commiseration we may mourn with our Lord while we meditate on his bitter Passion for as S. Agustine says He is not a true member of Christs Body that weeps not with the Head There are likewise tears of Devotion which issue forth out of an ardent desire to enjoy the happy Vision of God Or when a devout Soul replenished with the sweetness of God mourns for the absence of her beloved Spouse For Love saith S. August is impatient neither is there any moderation in tears unless the Lover may enjoy that which he loves Tears likewise are shed by devout persons when they behold grievous sins committed which are so injurious and offensive to Almighty God After this manner Esdras wept and the Apostles for their Lord when he was so cruelly treated by the Jews as he had foretold saying you shall mourn and weep Moreover tears are shed by those who out of Devotion and excess of spiritual joy even melt with the contemplation of heavenly Mysteries Which kind of joy S. Augustine had experienced when he assures us that the more a devout Soul is filled with holy and fervent desires the more abundantly he weeps in Prayer and mourns as David did crying out Ay is me that my sojourning and abode on earth is prolonged I have dwelt with the inhabitants of Kedar my soul hath been a long time a stranger Therefore my tears have been bread to me day and night while it is said unto me Where is thy God Our blessed Saviour speaking of his Passion calls it a Baptism by which his sacred body was bathed in blood and his face in tears like the Myrrhe-tree wounded on all sides and parts of his body with thorns whips nails and spear Behold him in this sad and heavy plight mourn and weep with him while he exemplifies in himself the third Beatitude Blessed are they who mourn for they shall be comforted CONSIDERATIONS ON THE III. BEATITUDE Of the Eyes of our Blessed Saviour weeping IN this third Beatitude consider a happiness opposite to flesh and blood viz. to weep and mourn which our Lord did many times but never was seen to laugh He mourn'd and wept on the Cross and was comforted seeing by the effusion of tears and blood he was
to redeem us from the tyranny of Satan Mourning is an attendant as unseparable from man as the shadow from the body He that condoles the death of a dear friend mourns in black for a year How long then shall he mourn that lives as an exile upon earth If he call to mind his manifold sins how can he do less then mourn Or if he seriously think of the dreadful day of Judgment how can he but fearfully consider what he shall be and mourn not knowing the event Or if he fix his thoughts on the many miseries and dangers of this Life should he not mourn considering where he is Or finally elevating his eyes from the residence of mortality can he contemplate the joyes of Heaven and not aspire and sigh with David because his sojourning is prolong'd not mourn because he is not where he would be O my Soul What hast thou been Sinful Where shalt thou be As yet it is unknown Where art A Prisoner in thy Body in a vale of tears Where art thou not Not in Heaven not with God thy Centre but in the way a Pilgrim going towards him Run then that thou mayst comprehend And seeing to be dissolv'd and he with Christ is thy happiness weep with him that with him and by him thou mayst be comforted Here pause a while and then consider To contemn the world is to be poor in Spirit To have Repose of Mind is to be meek after which follows Mourning For if a Man attend to himself and others he shall find nothing but what is lamentable while he beholds his own and all the enormous crimes of the world which is altogether bent to malignities Who then can be so insensible as not to mourn so drie as not to shed one tear O my Soul Is it thou which art so barren If to suffer with Christ be to reign with him to be comforted thou must weep with him If he call thy sins his own if he mourn for thine as if they were his own if he shed tears to wash away thy sinful blotts canst thou forbear weeping Canst thou be so stony-hearted as not to be transfixt with grief seeing his tender Heart wounded and his Eyes shedding tears for thy sins Not one tear for thy self while he showers down so many to purifie and cleanse thy festering Heart soyl'd with so many Crimes O blessed Saviour Thou art the true Moses and hast a Rod to strike as well as to guide wound I beseech thee this stubborn Rock of mine this obdurate Heart that it may bleed with grief and sorrow for my sins That mine Eyes may gush forth with tears for this is the onely grief which I desire this the mourning which produceth Consolation for thou hast said it Blessed are they that mourn for they shall he comforted in this Life with spiritual solace given to true penitents and in the future with perpetual joy in perfect Beatitude Perfect Beatitude Compleat Happiness O! shall I not mourn to find comfort there Or shall I rather seek the fleeting Pleasures and transitory Consolations of worldly felicity which to enjoy is instantly to be reduc'd to mourning Shall I not then mourn and sigh after those Comforts which once obtain'd shall exempt me from all mourning Alass Whither can I cast mine Eye in this vale of tears and not behold an Object that extracts tears and invites to mourning Here I behold manifold diseases There dysastrous and untimely deaths In this place mortal Hatred accompanied by Revenge In that I hear Detractions horrible Oaths and Blasphemies with infinite miseries and calamities And if I reflect an Eye on my self what mutinies of rebellious Passions and disordinate Appetites I discover in my own bosom which made even Saint Paul himself mournfully to cry out Ay me unhappy Man Who shall deliver me from the body of this death that is from a body which causeth a spiritual death to the Soul Notwithstanding all this shall I think to transform this our vale of tears into a Paradise of delights This our gloomy shade and shadow of death into a solid substance of joy and contentation Do I not know that Enosh a Man in the Hebrew Tongue signifies one subject to diseases infirmities and miseries What then is this wretched world but an Hospital for the sick and a House of Lazars with which what suites better than mourning How can I then but reflect on my self and bewail what I am a Child of Adam born of a Woman saith Job and living but a short time subject to many miseries Amongst which shall I live in jollity with the Voluptuous sport with the Libertine gourmandize with the Epicure joy in worldly pelf with the covetous or in honors with the ambitious No I have reputed laughter an error saith the Wise-man and to joy I said Why art thou in vain deluded The end of joy is seiz'd on by sorrow and mourning And it is better to go to the house of mourning then to the house of banquetting Better is it amidst of afflictions to mourn with our Lord weeping on the Cross than amidst vain joys and transitory delights to exult with the impious Better to shed one tear with thy Redeemer drench'd in a briny flood than a thousand for temporal disasters Ah! me-thinks I see dropps of blood distilling from his Head wounded with thorns and from thence descending to his weeping Eyes to make a mixture such as was in his Heart of blood and water Tears from his Eyes trickling down his pale cheek to ascend from thence to the Throne of his Father to speak in my behalf As David said it may be in the person of Christ Hearken unto my tears And shall I joyn with him in this Petition exhibited for the washing away of my sins and yet not distill one tear Shall the Master of Requests present to his Majesty the Humble Petition of some great Delâ—nquent with tears in his Eyes and the party guilty stand by not onely tearless but also with a merry countenance Nay should he second it with laughter what were it but to make expression of the little or no resentment and feeling he had of his crime and present peril Such is the state of voluptuous sinners who are so far from mourning that they rejoyce in evil-doing spend their dayes in mirth and jollity and in an instant descend to Hell Oh! rather let us sit with the Israelites by the Rivers of Babylon fleeting delights of the world elevate our Eyes to our Heavenly Country and mourning say How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange Country the world into which we came weeping surcharg'd but with one sin and shall we not mourn here overloaden with many Not return to Earth from whence we came powring out if it were possible a flood of tears for the expiation of our manifold crimes The Myrrh-Tree wounded distills abundantly tears so may the Sinner pierc'd to the heart by compunction The Turtle mournes for the absence
and Qualities that make it contribute to our design And therefore we shall with Gerard call it Adam's Apple-tre The merciful man which in the Latine Tongue is called Misericors is he who hath a sorrowful and compassionate heart for anothers misery a heart inclining him to relieve and succour such as stand in need of his assistance in their extream wants Such a merciful man may be design'd by this Tree whose Roots being as it were but small threads or fibres do shoot forth leaves that are five or six foot in length and near three in breadth Insomuch that they serve for Table-cloaths and Napkins and being dry'd they may serve for Mattresses and Quilts very convenient and soft to lye upon Behold here the Emblem of a merciful Man who parts with his leafy substance to cloath the naked to relieve the poor to supply the wants of the needy to succour the necessitous This is the man who by his charitable endeavours conceals the miscarriages and imperfections of his Neighbour For mercy when it is the issue of Charity hath the same prerogative with the Parent which is as St. Peter saith To cover a multitude of sins Moreover this Tree which groweth above the reach of an Elephant would continue a low shrub and the Leaves would bend downwards to the ground if they were not cut off from time to time by which means the Tree grows up higher and the Leaves become larger What can more pertinently denote the Merciful man who by a voluntary defalcation of the things of this World is rais'd so much the nearer Heaven I and the more freely he parts with the transitory goods of this life the greater treasure does he lay up for that hereafter By these advantages doth he still ascend higher and higher while others keeping all to themselves do like shrubs lye groveling on the Earth in their covetous desires There is this further Remark made upon this Tree that it needs be planted but once though it bears but one year For it continually shooteth forth new stalks as the old decay and in some Countries they are soon ripe after they spring and the Inhabitants will have ripe fruit from some of the Plants at all times The case is the same with the Merciful man who as soon as he hath done one act of Charity is ready to do another and so successively as if he were oblig'd to exhaust himself to supply others and this from time to time till his own be come to its period and that he leaves the young shoots of his posterity to succeed him in his good works Hereto we may add this further observation that besides this Tree there is only one other that hath a strange property to wit that which way soever their fruit be cut when it is come to maturity the meat thereof which is white as snow represents in the midst of it the figure of a Cross especially if it be cut in thin slices as commonly we do Cow-cumbers Thence is it that the Spaniards and Portugueze think it a crime to put a knife into it and are extreamly scandaliz'd to see it broken otherwise then with the teeth Hath not this some resemblance to the heart of a Merciful man who hath a certain fellow-feeling of the miseries and calamities of the poor whom he views with affliction of mind Which way soever he casts his eye of pity and beholds the distressed he compassionates them as if the like cross of adversity were fix'd in his heart If he behold his Saviour on the Cross his heart is wounded with pity as if the passion were figured in it Again if he view his Neighbour oppressed with wrongs or miseries he is so sensible thereof as if that very cross of affliction were engraven in his heart In a word he sees no man poor whom he pities not no man miserable whom he does not compassionate still like the fruit of this Tree cut bearing in his heart a cross by which he suffers with him Nay more while he beholds Christ in a poor man whom he pities and relieves he bears Christ's shape in his heart whom he likewise relieves Happy therefore is the merciful man that bears such a cross as renders him for ever blessed who no doubt may say with St. Paul God forbid I should glory in any thing but in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ Now fix thine eye on the bleeding side of Christ whose blood issued from a wounded heart where was always engraven a cross not only the instrument of his passion but as many crosses as were the sins of the World And as many as were the acts of mercy and compassion which he produc'd towards sinners Verè pius verè misericors And shall he evacuate not only his veins but likewise his heart Shall he disburse all the treasure of his most precious blood and yet wilt thou be so penurious and pitiless as not to relieve the necessitous with part of thy dross Ah! view and view again that bountiful and pitiful heart that streameth forth at his side and proclaims them blessed who are merciful and promiseth they shall obtain mercy CONSIDERATIONS ON THE V. BEATITUDE On the side of our Blessed Saviour bleeding FRom his sacred Mouth descend to his pierced side which may be likewise term'd a mouth as were all the wounds of his body that speak and proclaim him a bounteous and merciful Lord who having given all the blood of his body and veins for our Redemption would finally suffer his heart to be pierc'd that the last drops of his precious bloud might stream from thence for a fuller satisfaction or rather expression of his infinite Love Whereas the least drop thereof might have redeem'd many Worlds and reconcil'd to his Father as many Nations as he shed drops of blood Consider what a merciful giver was God the Father who so exceedingly loved man that he gave unto him his only begotten Son a Son likewise so good bounteous and merciful that he would annihilate and lessen himself by taking upon him the form of a Servant And after as the Factor did for one precious Pearl gave all his precious blood and life to purchase and redeem thy Soul and thereby obtain mercy for it Which notwithstanding thou shalt never find unless thou also be Merciful To whom To thy self and thy Neighbour To thy self according to the words of the Son of Syrach Take pity and compassion on thine own soul pleasing God Think how many Souls are languishing in sin How many starve for want of the food of Life the Blessed Sacrament How many groan under the heavy burden of sin And how merciless they are to themselves that rescent not the dangerous estate of their own souls To these thou art merciful when thou prayest for them or by word or example endeavourest to reclaim them Thou art merciful likewise when thou forgivest injuries or when thou dost commiserate and condole the defects and imperfections of others Contrari-wise
Father why hast thou forsaken me so soon If it be thy will I desire to live and suffer more pains more injuries reproaches for man who to requite me for all I have endured will I foresee repine at the least oppression and be dejected with the least cross and affliction which he undergoes for my sake Why hast thou forsaken me so soon yet I desire to survive and suffer more the more to attract and incite the hearts of men to love and suffer with me as branches united to me the Vine that being pruned by suffering with me they may become fruitful and be glorified with me CONSIDERATIONS ON THE VIII BEATITUDE On the wounded Feet of our Blessed Saviour LAstly from our Blessed Saviour's sacred Hands descend to his wounded Feet and there reade Blessed are they who suffer persecution c. Which properly belongs to the Feet either to fly as our Lord advis'd from one City to another or to stay and suffer as he himself did till his hour was come Wherefore when any affliction or cross hapneth unto thee be assured that thy hour is come for thee to suffer persecution and consequently to be blessed if thou bear it with patience Now since it is decreed and recorded in holy Writ that all who will live piously in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution one way or other Consider in particular what tribulations thou heretofore hast or now dost suffer which were they far greater then they are or have been yet thou mayst say with the Apostle The passions and sufferings of this time are not worthy of the future glory which shall be revealed in us And therefore we ought to be willing and ready to suffer more for his sake who for us suffered so much persecution Consider that in the end of this last Beatitude our Saviour intimates a triple persecution proceeding from the Heart Word and Deed. You are Blessed saith he when men shall revile you and persecute you and speak all manner of evil against you or persecute you by casting you out of the Synagogue c. Against these three sorts of persecutions a triple patience is necessary The first to forgive them that hate me The second to compassionate and pity them that revile me The third to pray for them that persecute me by any corporal or temporal affliction The better to put this in practise often call to mind our Saviours persecutions on the Cross which began in the hearts of the Jews for whom notwithstanding he pray'd Father forgive them Next it was expressed by word in Blasphemies whom nevertheless he pitied saying For they know not what they do Thirdly his manifold persecutions caus'd by the Jews were made too apparent by the many wounds they inflicted and ignominious death they put him to All which notwithstanding his first care on the cross was to pray for them Consider what King David saith Thy rod and thy staff O God have comforted me That is the Rod of affliction and persecution which that we may patiently bear it is accompanied with a staff to wit his all-strengthning grace to support and bear us up that we may go on with alacrity Here be confounded for that in light sufferings and slighter afflictions thou hast been dismaid and dejected though this staff were not wanting to support thee And so out of heart that thou hast desired to be freed from them before thou hadst tasted the least drop of Christ's bitter cup. Whereby in suffering with him thou mightest have tasted and seen how sweet our Lord is in his consolations to them who suffer persecution Call to mind what God saith by his Prophet Zachary Chap. 11. ver 7. And I took unto me two staves one I called Beauty and the other I called Bands and I fed the flock All Christians are his flock and have all straid If to recall or try us he with his rod chastise us or suffer us to be persecuted to refine and purifie us from the dross of sin it is in our power assisted by his heavenly grace to bear all with patience which if we do perform the rod of chastisement is called Beautie because it beautifie and purifies our souls But if we murmur and repine at every cross and affliction that falls upon us and think we deserve not to be punish'd the other rod is ealled Bands wherewith we are faster tied and more and more entangled in our sins O my soul why droopest thou Christ suffered for thee leaving thee an example that thou mayst follow his steps It a little wind of persecution penetrate thy tender heart remember where thou art where thou sailest what thy vessel is In a stormy and dangerous Sea where winds bluster surges rise both within and without passions and persecutions which disturb the crasie Ship thy Body and as much afflict thy Soul the Passenger Thou art traduc'd or derided 'T is a wind Anger is the billow and thou art in danger Thou preparest to render scoff for scoff malediction for malediction and one revenge for another Now thou art in danger of shipwrack Christ in the Ship thy Heart is asleep awake him and he will relieve thee and keep it from sinking Thy Lord hears and patiently suffers yet thou his servant art angry Thou must suffer with me if thou wilt reign with me The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent take it by force The body of Christ that is to say his Church saith S. Augustine is detain'd in the wine-press of persecutions and oppressions But in this wine-press affliction is beneficial While the Grape is on the Vine it suffers not it appears sound and whole nothing then distills from it untill it be put into the press and there crush'd and trampled on This might seem injurious to the grape but not without benefit Nay were it not thus handled it would remain but to it self barren and grateful to none A SHORT RECAPITULATION OF THE VIII BEATITUDES By way of MEDITATION O Blessed Saviour thou hast left for us a Ladder of eight steps to ascend to Heaven If by thy assisting grace I ascend but to the first step mine is the Kingdom of Heaven and being arrived at the highest step by suffering persecution for righteousness sake I can asceud no higher I end where I began for to suffer persecution is to be poor in spirit ready rather to lose all then deny thee ready to be deprived of transitory things then lose the eternal I. Thy Nakedness tells me thou wert poor in Spirit and desire coveting nothing but me and my Salvation What then would I have on earth but thee II. By thy Head inclined I understand thou wert Meek and humble humbled even unto the death of the Cross So may I assisted by thy powerful grace bear all afflictions with patience and be angry with none but such as seek to deprive me of thee my God and all things III. On thine Eyes distilling tears I read Blessed are they that mourn May