even that Sunne whereof it is said unto you that feare the Lord shall the Sunne of righteousnesse arise health shall be under his wings and whereof the proud and wicked shall say The light of righteousnesse hath not shined unto us and the Sunne of understanding rose not upon us Hee shall bee our Summer Now fruits in Winter time appeare not in the root Thou observest how dry Trees are in winter He that knows not the observation of these things prunes the dry Vine before the fruit come and perchance next Spring it becomes so dry as it brings forth neither flower nor fruit when it should come Both these are alike in winter this liveth that is dead But the life of this and the death of that are both in secret The Summer approacheth life appeareth in this death is discovered in that Beauty of leaves precedeth plenty of fruit succeedeth the Vine is attired with that beauty in her leafe which she retains in her root Therefore my Brethren we are now while we are here in our condition like other men Like as they are borne eat drinke live and are cloathed and so passe over their life even so the Saints Sometimes doe these things deceive men whence it is they say Behold since this man became a Christian did his head never ake Or now being a Christian enjoyes hee more than I doe O dry Vine Thou observest the Vine planted neere thee how naked it is in winter but never how dry it is by heat of summer The Lord our beauty will come who lay hid in the root and then will He exalt the horne of his people after this our captivity wherin we mortally live Whence it is that the Apostle saith Iudge nothing before the time untill the Lord come who will lighten things that are hid in darknesse and then shall everie man have praise of God But thou wilt say where is any root where is any fruit If thou beleevest thou knowest where thy root is For there it is where thy Faith is where thy Hope and Charity is Heare the Apostle for yee are dead They appeared as it were dead in winter Heare how they live And your life is hid saith he with Christ in God Behold where thou hast thy root When then shalt thou bee adorned with beauty When shalt thou be multiplied in fruit Heare what followeth When Christ which is our life shall appeare then shall yee also appeare with him in glory THE Soules Jubilee Gathered from Saint Augustine in his Tract Upon the 85. Psalme Upon these words Rejoyce the Soule of thy servant for unto thee ô Lord doe I lift up my Soule For thou Lord art good and mercifull of great kindnesse unto all them that call upon thee REjoyce the Soule of thy Servant Rejoyce her because unto thee do I raise her She was in earth and in earth shee felt bitternesse Now lest she should pine away through bitternes and so lose all thy gracious sweetnesse I have raised her up unto thee Rejoyce her with thee For thou onely art joyfulnesse the World is full of bitternesse Surely very rightly doth he exhort his members that they have their hearts on high Let them then heare it doe it let them lift that up unto heaven which is in an evill state while it is upon Earth For there the heart doth not corrupt if it be lifted up unto God If you have corne in low places lest it should corrupt you remove it higher doe you then seeke to prepare a place for your corne and will you suffer your heart to corrupt on Earth you remove your corne to an higher room lift up your heart unto heaven But how may I doe this will you say What Cords what Pulleis what Ladders are needfull These staires are thy affections thy way is thy will By loving thou ascendest by neglecting thou descendest Standing on Earth thou art in Heaven if thou love God For the heart is not lifted as the body is raised The body that it may be raised changeth her place but the heart that it may be roused changeth her will For unto thee O Lord doe I lift up my soule for thou Lord art good and mercifull therefore rejoyce her As one wearied and tediously affected with the bitternesse of earthly things shee desires to bee sweetned and hath sought the fountaine of sweetnesse but could not find it on earth For what way soever she turned herselfe she found scandals tribulations feares tentations In what man living safe security Of whom certaine joy And if not of himselfe how much lesse from another For either men are evill and of necessity wee must suffer them yet hoping withall that they may be changed or they are good and so wee ought to love them yet fearing withall lest they become evill because they may be changed There the wickednesse of those begetteth bitternesse of soule here care and feare equally surprize us lest hee fall away from us who walked sometime uprightly among us What way soever then the heart shall turne her she findes bitternesse in earthly things shee has not wherewithall to sweeten her unlesse shee lift her selfe up unto God her Maker For thou Lord art good and mercifull What is this mercifull Thou supportest mee till thou perfectest me For truly my Brethren I will speak as a man unto men and of men Let every one bring hither his heart and behold himselfe without flattering and without glozing Nothing is foolisher than flattering seducing ones self Let every one then consider and see what and how many things are acted in mans heart and how for most part our very praiers are hindred by various thoughts so as our hearts will scarcely stand firme before God It desires so to enjoy it selfe that it may stand and in some sort it flyes from it selfe yet for all this it findes no lettices by which it may confine her thoughts or barres by which it may restraine her distractions and wandring motions and stand joyfully before her God Rare it is that a prayer should occurre devoutly fixt amongst so many prayers Now every one would say that what befalleth him befalleth not another unlesse we found in the Sacred Scripture of God that David in one place prayed and said O Lord I have found my heart that I may pray unto thee Hee said hee had found his heart as if it used sometimes to fly from him and he to pursue it as a fugitive and could not lay hold on it and to cry unto the Lord My heart hath forsaken me Therefore Brethren considering what hee here saith Thou art good and mercifull I conceive that for this cause he cals him a mercifull God for that hee suffereth these things in us and yet expecteth prayer from us that hee might perfect his good work in us And when we have given it him by offering our oblation of prayer unto him hee receiveth it freely and heareth it friendly
very Wind h 'as as great a share in them as shee h'as Nor did they deserve so much loving when they were in their very height of enjoying Being such as were got with Care kept with Feare and lost with Griefe proper things to dote on The fulnesse of them could not stay one poore Fit of an Ague nor get a reprive at Deaths hand for a minute Besides that long unwilling Adieu of the unhappie possessour at his heavie departure O Death how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that liveth at rest in his possessions Seeing then no outward thing should so much delight man as to withdraw his thoughts from the Maker of man Or so trouble him in his passage or translation from Earth as to divert his affections from heaven in his remove from Earth Seeing all things are not onely vanity but affliction where such as are highliest possest of them are most ensnared and deluded by them Seeing the beauty riches pleasures and contentments of earth are no sooner appearing than vanishing no sooner found than lost Why doest thou tremble O my flesh why are thou so troubled O my Soule and why art thou so disquieted within mee put thy trust in the Lord and hee will deliver thee Yea but I heare thee in a silent secrecy framing this reply These worldly respects are not the things that make Death appeare so terrible unto mee Noe I can freely bid farewell to the world there is nothing in it that makes mee enamour'd of it I see nought at all in it but sinne or occasions of sinne Neither did I ever possesse ought which did not afflict mee more in the forgoing than it delighted mee in the enjoying Tell me then poore fearfull soule what is it that so much troubles thee in this thy passage What is it that makes thee so shake and shudder in this thy dissolution O my sinnes my sinnes it is the remembrance of my sinnes which makes mee unwilling to depart from this place where I committed them or to fix mine eyes on that place which is so pure as it cannot abide them I cannot thinke of that place wherein I have not sinned nor of that houre wherein I have not highly transgressed And can one minutes repentance discharge such long arrerages O my perplexed soule remember to thy comfort that divine Cordiall At what time soever a Sinner repenteth c. As I live I would not the death of a sinner c. My mercie I will not take from him There is mercie with the Lord and therefore is hee feared Hee shall call upon mee and I will dedeliver him in the time of his necessitie Draw yet nearer and thinke of the saying of that sweet Father O humble teare thine is the Kingdome thine is the Power thou art not affraid to enter in and appeare before the presence of the Judge thou though thou enter alone shalt never returne alone whatsoever thou askest thou shalt have thou overcommest the invincible and bindest the Omnipotent This Angelicall Wine will bring thee to the societie of the Angels Doubt not stagger not Raise and rouse up thy selfe with the wings of faith Whence comes it that the Soule dyeth because Faith is not in it Whence that the bodie dyeth Because a Soule is not in it Therefore the Soule of thy Soule is Faith No evill then can befall thee so thy faith doe not faile thee Where watry eyes make faith their Anchor they promise a calme Sea and a safe arrivall to the Christian passenger And though late repentance be seldome true yet true repentance never comes too late That devout and well-prepared Father when hee was readie to die with much sweet assurance and Christian confidence spake thus to Stillico and others about his bed I have not lived so among you that I am ashamed to live longer to please God and yet againe I am not affraid to dye because wee have a good LORD Though thou canst not in thine owne approvement so truly say this crowne thy passage with a devout wish Desire to bee dissolved and to bee with Christ Present him with a pious devotion to thy inward'st thoughts Imagining him even now bowing his precious head to kisse thee spreading his gracious armes to imbrace thee his Angels comming forth to meet thee the whole Hoast of Heaven to conduct thee to the Palace of Eternitie after this thy approaching dissolution from this vale of misery Let nothing divide thee from that love which is in thee to Christ Iesus One Houre in his Courts is better than a thousand in the Courts of Princes Humbly commend thy selfe to his protection who made thee to his affection who redeemed thee to his direction who sanctifi'd thee Feare it not timorous soule but thy Fathers power will defend thee his Sonnes Wisedome will enrich thee the Holy Spirits goodnesse will comfort thee even in these pangs of death which assaile thee Oh how sweet is the remembrance of these things to mee There is nothing now that may divide mee from Him to whom I am spiritually espoused There is no Friend so deare to mee as Hee who gave his life for mee No Honour so highly valued of mee as his who became a reproach for mee that by his owne dishonour hee might honour mee No pleasure so delightfull as his presence whose sight shall ever cheere mee No possession like his fruition who is my portion in the Land of the Living to whom to bee joyned shall ever joy mee Every minute then seemes grievous every moment tedious till I bee dissolved that I may see him after whom I have so longed to whom to bee united I have so thirsted in whose sweet presence to remaine in whose Courts to abide I have so desired These pangs I feele are to mee cheerefull these Messengers of my approaching dissolution to mee gratefull these humane wrastlings which I now endure to mee delightfull I know well I am such metall as I must bee tried before I bee fined O! as I draw by little and little nearer my end so may I in true love draw nearer to thee To thee my Redeemer in whom my trust is placed my confidence planted my hopes crowned my Pilgrim-dayes happily closed my heritage after these dayes of my Pilgrimage possessed I feele now my longing Soule fleeting from this darke Cell this noysome shell of corruption every gaspe now promiseth a dissolution My breath is corrupt my dayes are cut off and the Grave is readie for mee I enter'd this world with a Shrique and I leave it with a Sigh Nor doe I sigh for that I love it or am unwilling to leave it but for that I have beene too long divided by living in it from Him in whom my desires are here fixed there filled The houre is come and it is welcome the houre of my translation to glory Come LORD JESUS come quickely Amen FINIS Errata's PAge 102. line 7. for He reade They. p. 116. l. 8. for
fulfill thee throughout that Where sin hath abounded grace likewise may superabound Yet I would beloved I would be trusted I would with sighs and teares be intreated than which no sweeter melody can unto me be tendred Sinner O my crucified JESU I know I am dearer to thee than I am to my selfe for to thee I am alwayes deare who as it is written Lovest all things that are and hatest nothing of those which thou hast made But man is not alwaies equally deare to himselfe as he is unro thee because hee that loveth iniquity hateth his ownâ— soule Christ. This have I shewn in the continuall sorrowes of my whole cruâ—ified life For I received the Crosse of my Passion in the Womb of my mother and continually bore it in my heart and confirmed it with much austerity in my body So as that I might purposely shew the unmeasurablenesse of the sorrowes of my soule my finall passion then approaching it was my will to sweat blood thorow all my members and that which lay hid as a secret of my crucifying from the wombe of my Mother with sensible signes to reveale to my faithfull ones which seemed fittest to be at my passage and poinâ— of death Sinner I conceive my good JESU how in that bloudy sweat with which thou wert deep-died and engrained in all thy members thy blessed soule wholly suffered because it is whole in every part of the body yea and the very life of the body But tell me what thou requirest of me for so great anguish continually sustained for me Christ. Onely to love me againe For to this end have I suffered my passion that I might purchase thy affection Sinner Surely most worthy art thou to bee loved because thou art good in thy selfe and none good but God alone And because thou art the Lord delivering from the power and slavery of the Devill And because thou art God forgiving sinnes which none forgiveth but God alone And because thou lovest those that love thee Whence it is that thou sayest I love those that love mee And because thou hearest those that begge of thee whence one saith I have loved the Lord because hee will heare mee Thou also as the peace of charity comming into the world to warme and inflame the cold and lukewarme hast said I came that they might have life to wit the life of grace in this life and more abundantly to wit of glory in the life to come Christ. Surely there is nothing which may so inflame the fire of Gods love in thy heart as a continuall consideration and meditation of this speech of mine I came that they might have life and that more abundantly And of that much like unto this So God loved the world as he gave his onely begotten Sonne Sinner Truly wretched and miserable is hee in whose heart the fire of love is not kindled when hee considereth these things wherein the Charity of God hath chiefly appeared But ô thou only begotten of God suffer not my heart to bee so frozen or benummed with this icy congelation but rather through thy mercy in the remembrance of these thy Words like Snow melting by the heat of the Sunne let me say with that princely Prophet My heart is become as melting wax Christ. Humane impiety before the time of my passion tooke occasion of being unthankfull For man being created but not as then redeemed said I am no more bound to God than other creatures be For he spake the word and I was made hee hath bestowed no more labour on me than any other brute creature But now the mouth of these that speak wickedly is stopped and no place now is left for unthankfulnesse For I have laboured more in the sole redemption of man than in the whole frame and fabrick of the World For of a Master I became a servant of Rich poore of Immortall mortall of the Word flesh of the Sonne of God the son of man I suffered reproaches of such as upbraided me I suffered underminers in my Works contradicters in my Words scorners in my Woes necessities of the flesh horrour of death ignominy of the Crosse. Sinner O how admirable was this love What shall I render to my Lord for all his sorrowes Christ. If thou recall to mind how great things the Lord of Majesty the Sonne of God suffered for thee though thou shouldâ—t dye a thousand deaths yet wert thou not equally sufficient to answer me for the estimate of so great a benefit exceedeth all meanes of requitall Sinner As thou best knowest how much I owe unto thee the Lord of glory who subjectedst thy self to death for me that I might enjoy that happinesse which neither eye hath seene nor eare hath heard recount unto me I beseech thee the reasons which caused that most dolorous paine in thy most holy soule For thou saidst right now that in the wombe of thy blessed Mother thou receivedst the Crosse of thy Passion and bore it continually to the houre of thy dissolution Christ. To this end that thou mightst by affection compassion become an acceptable sacrifice unto God wholly inflamed with the fire of Charity all the rust and rubbish of sin being consumed and wasted Consider diligently with a lively heart how I suffred a double Martyrdome one in my body another in my soule or Spirit As touching the Martyrdome of my Body consider that there was never the suffering of any martyr so sharp so painfull that it might be compared with my suffering which I will prove unto thee by authority by signe by reason First by authority For I my selfe crying out of the greatnesse of my sorrows said O all yee who passe by this way consider and see if ever there were sorrow like unto my sorrow as if I should have said there was never any Secondly by Signe Forasmuch as there were never so many Signes seene in the Martyrdome of any as at my Passion implying the sharpnesse and painfulnesse of it to wit When the Sunne was darkned the Earth moved c. As if by the dolorous clamours of my passion they had conceived a sense of devout compassion bemoning me the Son of God hanging on the Crosse. For it was not in the creature to indure the injury done to the Creatour Wherein wicked and obdurate hearts are justly reproved who will not be wrought to compassion nor softned with a pious devotion in the remembrance of my death Thirdly I prove unto thee the bitternesse of my passion by reason Forasmuch as my complexion was most excellent both by reason of the incorruption of my flesh as also by reason of the most proportionable union or mixture of the Elementary qualities For I tooke corruptible flesh of the Virgin for the freeing of all Originall sinne that is of inordinate concupiscence Now to such a complexion was required comelinesse of beauty and strength of body Because therefore by how much more proportionable the union is of those Elements and qualities whereof
man is composed and compacted by so much more difficulty and violently is he dissolved hence it appeareth that the separation of my body and soule was more painfull than the death of others Also my blessed flesh by how much more it was freer from all spot or blemish of sin by so much also it became more sensible of torments Now concerning my Spirituall martyrdome which I suffered in my Soule as I said before unto thee it began at such time as I was first conceived in the wombe of my mother or that my Soule was infused into my body and continued without intermission 33. yeeres and a halfe till such time as my Soule was separated from my body upon the Crosse. So as I became a Martyr even in the Wombe of my Mother Wherfore I was not so much as one moment without the most bitter martyrdome of my Spirit Because whatsoever I suffered in the Night when I was taken or the Day following when I was slaine in mocking reviling spitting nayling and stretching upon the Crosse c. This throughly and wholly my most holy Soule long before suffered But thou art especially to consider that those dolorous piercing darts of the Virgin my blessed mother became the excessivest Object of my sorrowes who having a tender and respective eye to all my dolours in perfect Charity as became the condition of her motherly excellency so much grieved for my sorrowes as was sitting for such a woman to grieve And all the sorrowes of my Mother continually wounded my mind So as my Mothers Crosse ministred unto mee a new Crosse. Another Object of my continuall sorrow was all those martyrdomes which were at any time done or to bee done upon any of mine Elect for me So as in very truth I say unto thee that all those paines griefes tribulations persecutions and miseries which any man was to suffer or should suffer aswell in body as in soule from Adam even to the very last man that shall bee borne to the end of the World all these I suffered alwayes in my Soule must fully and through my compassion they did more hurt me and more sharply grieve me than any mans corporall paine which hee actually suffereth ever personally did And there are two causes which give sufficient testimony of the truth hereof One is because I in the glasse or mirrour of my Divinity did behold all things created and to bee created things past present and to come which were to me present And I from the very first instant of the infusion of my Soule into my Body began alwayes to observe till such time as I gave up my Ghost upon the Crosse all the paines which I was to endure and whatsoever all my Elect from the beginning of the world had at any time suffered and such as being not yet borne were to suffer even to the end of the world all this I suffered in the inferiour faculties of my Soule And in each of these was I more inwardly and grievously tormented in my Spirit than any one could be in his owne proper body at such time as hee is to suffer tortures or torments Another cause which procured so great paine in my Spirit was abundant love For love begetteth griefe and heavinesse in the spirit So as by how much thy love towards me was more intensive or greater by so much more is thy soule tormented with my Death and Passion And because I have alwaies and above comparison loved thee and every man more than hee can love himselfe therefore have I suffered greater paine than all that which any one hath ever suffered upon earth or was to suffer or shall suffer to the end of the world Thou knowest that when Paul had consented to the death and stoning of Stephen and did persecute Christians I said unto him Saul Why persecutest thou me And yet he persecuted not me in my owne proper person but in the persons of my beloved friends because what good or evill soever befalleth my friends befalleâ—h me And this proceedeth from the great love which I beare unto men Thus therefore maist thou consider how and by what meanes my Passion exceeded in paine the passions of all that ever suffered or shall suffer because I suffered both in my Body and Soule and that immaculate and by nature delicate and for so long time to wit for thirty foure yeeres did I suffer martyrdom in my Spirit both for my selfe and all my Elect. Laurence in one night was broyled on a gridiron Bartholomew in one day was slaine Katherine in one houre was broken on a Wheele c. All these tortures never hurt any one of them so much in their owne bodies as they tormented me in my Soule for thirty foure yeeres Whence Isay Truly he hath suffered for our infirmities and borne our sorrowes And therefore I could never laugh but often weepe appearing as one of forty yeeres when I was scarce thirty Which came to passe by reason of the continuall Justice which I incessantly bore for my Passion that was to come and the suffering of my Elect which I alwaies clearly beheld and painfully suffered by strength of imagination Whereupon I oftimes said unto my Father Many are my grones and my heart is sorrowfull To thee likewise doe I say that thou maist bee moved with compassion and affection towards mee that my life is waxen old with heavinesse and my yeeres with mourning Sinner Surely O my good Jesu as I have heard and understood no conceit can sufficiently apprehend the depth of those anguishes and sorrowes of thy most holy Soule nor griefes and passions of thy Body But a very deepe question doth trouble my mind to wit how heavinesse paine or anguish could befall thy blessed soule seeing it was alwaies in great joy through Contemplation of thy Divinitie which was so amiable to behold that if the damned in Hell could but behold the amiable countenance of God as the blessed Spirits doe in the Kingdome of Heaven they could bee tormented by no griefe nor heavinesse either by the fire of hell or sight of the Devils in hell Christ. It is true that my pure and blessed soule was glorified albeit my Body was mortall For my Soule from the very instant of her conception and ever after even when I was upon the Crosse was as glorious and in as great joy and delight in respect of her superiour faculties as she is at this day in heaven sitting at the right hand of God my Father But in respect of her inferiour faculties she was in a continuall and incessant heavinesse and sorrow for the causes aforesaid Which could not bee by course or order of Nature that in one and the selfe-same soule together and at once there should be so great joy and so great heavinesse for this was miraculous and supernaturall Because according to the course of nature joy and delight doe expell sorrow and griefe so as they cannot suffer together in one and the
to goe back Let it not then delight thee to stand in the course of piety but endevour alwaies to walke in the way of the Lord. In thy conversation bee cheerefull to all distastefull to none familiar to few Live to Godward devoutly to thy selfe chastly to thy Neighbour justly Use thy friend as a pledge of affection thine enemy for a triall of thy patience all men to a well-disposed benevolence and wherein thou maist more effectually worke to beneficence While thou livest dye dayly to thy selfe and to thy vices So in thy death maist thou live to God Let meekenesse appeare in thy affection mildnesse in thy countenance humility in thy habit modesty in thy habitation patience in tribulation Let facility be in thine accesse decency in thy dresse humility in thy presence affability in thy discourse benignity in thy wayes charity in thy works Let constancy be in thine eie content in thy chest temperance in thy cup. Observe moderation in thy desires discretion in thy delights Think alwaies of those 3. things past Evil committed Good omitted Time mis-speÌ„ded Think alwaies of these 3. things present â—he shortnes of this present life the difficulty of being saved the fewnesse of those that are to be saved Think alwayes of these three things to come Death than which nothing is more horrible Judgement than which nothing is more terrible the paine of Hell than which nothing more intolerable Let thine Evening Prayers redeeme the sinnes of the forepast day let the last day of the weeke reforme the offences of the dayes gone before Thinke in the Evening how many soules are that same day thrown head-long into Hell and give thankes unto God for that hee hath given thee time to repent in There be three things above thee which ought never to depart from thy memory That Eye which seeth all things that Eare which heareth all things and those bookes wherein all things are recorded Wholly hath God communicated himselfe to thee communicate thy selfe likewise wholly to thy neighbour That is the best life which is wholly employed to the behoofe and benefit of others Render to thy superiour obedience and reverence to thy equall counsell and assistance to thy inferiour succour supportance Let thy body be subjected to thy mind and thy mind to God Bewaile thy evils past disesteeme thy goods present covet with all the desire of thine heart those goods to come Remember thy sin that thou maist grieve Remember thy death that thou maist cease from sinne Remember Gods justice that thou maist feare Remember Gods mercy lest thou despaire Withdraw thy selfe as much as thou canst from the World and devote thy selfe wholly to the service of God Thinke alwayes how chastity is endangerd by delicacy humility by prosperity and piety by employments transitory Desire to please none but Christ feare to displease none but Christ. Beseech God alwayes that as he bids what he would so he would doe what hee bids that hee would protect what is done and direct in what is to bee done Endevour thy selfe to bee what thou wouldst have thy self thought to be for God judgeth not according to the outward semblance but according to the inward substance In thy discourse beware of much speech because account shall be required of every vaine word Whatsoever thy works bee they passe not away but as certaine seeds of eternity are they bestowed if thou sow according to the flesh from the flesh shalt thou reape corruption if thou sow after the Spirit from the Spirit shalt thou reap the reward of eternall retribution After death neither shall the honours of this World follow thee nor heaps of riches favour thee nor pleasures enjoy thee nor the vanities of this World possesse thee but after the fatall and full period of this life all thy works shall follow thee As then thou desirest to appeare in the day of judgement appeare such in the sight of God at this present Thinke not with thy selfe what thou hast but rather what thou wantst Pride not thy selfe for that which is given thee but rather become humbled for that which is deni'd thee Learne to live now while thou maist live In this time is eternall life either got or lost After death there remains no time for working for then begins the time of rewarding In the life to come is not expected any worke but payment for the worke Holy Meditation may beget in thee knowledge knowledge compunction compunction devotion devotion may produce prayer Great good for peace of the heart is the silence of the mouth By how much more as thou art divided from the World so much more acceptable art thou unto God Whatsoever thou desirest to have aske it of God whatsoever thou already hast attribute it to God He is not worthy to receive more who is not thankfull for what he hath received Then stops the course or current of Gods grace to man when man makes no recourse by thankfulnesse to God Whatsoever befals thee turne it to good so often as prosperity comes upon thee thinke how occasion of blessing and praising God is ministred unto thee againe so often as adversity aâ—â—ayles thee thinke how these are admonitions for the repentance and conversion of thee Shew the force of thy power in helping the force of thy wisdome in instructing the force of thy wealth in releeving Neither let Adversity bruise thee nor Prosperity raise thee Let Christ be thy scope of thy life whom thou art to follow here in the way that thou maist come to him there in thy countrey Amongst all other things let profound humility ardent Charity be thy greatest care Let charity raise thine heart unto God that thou maist cleave unto him Let humility depresse thine heart lesâ— thou becom proud so leave him Esteem God a Father for his clemency a Lord for his discipline a Father for his sweet power a Lord for his severe power Love him as a Father devoutly feare him as a Lord necessarily Love him because he will have mercy Feare him because he will not suffer sin Feare the Lord and trust in him acknowledge thy misery and declare his mercy O God thou who hast given us to will give us likewise to performe THE SORROWFULL Soules solace Gathered from Saint Augustine in his Tract Upon the 62. Psalme Upon these words My Soule thirsteth for thee my Flesh also longeth after thee BEhold here how the Soule thirsteth and see how good it is for the Soule that thirsteth to wit because shee thirsteth after thee There are who thirst but not after God Every one that would in his owne behalfe have ought performed is in heat of desire till he have it effected and this desire is the thirst of the Soule Now see what various desires are in the hearts of men One desireth gold another silver one desireth possessions another inheritances one store of money another stock of cattle one a faire house another a wife one honours another children You see
these desires how they are in the hearts of men All men thirst after one desire or other yet can there scarce one be found who may say My Soule hath thirsted after thee For men thirst after this World and they understand not how they are in the wildernesse of Idumaea where their soule ought to thirst after God Let us therfore say My Soule hath thiâ—sted afther thee Let us all say for wee are all but one Soule in our fellowship with Christ Let this our soule thirst in Idumaea My Soule saith he hath thirsted after thee and my Flesh hath longed sore for thee He held it too little for the Soule onely to thirst but that his Flesh should thirst Now I would know seeing the Soule thirsteth after God how the Flesh may be said to thirst after God For when the Flesh thirsteth it thirsteth after water when the Soule thirsteth shee thirsteth after the fountaine of Wisdome of which fountaine our Soules shall bee made drunke as is said in another Psalme They shall bee satisfied with the plenteousnesse of thy house and thou shalt give them drink of thy pleasures as out of thy river We are then to thrist after wisdome to thirst after righteousnesse Nor shall we be satisfied with this nor filled with that till this our fraile life shall be ended and we come to that which God hath promised For God hath promised to make us equall with the Angels Now the Angels thirst not as wee doe nor hunger as wee doe but partake of the food of truth the food of light of immortall wisdome Therefore are they blessed And in so great blessednesse being in that heavenly City of Hierusalem from which we are here as Aliens they take care of us poore pilgrims they commiserate us and by Gods appointment they assist us that at last we may returne to our common Countrey there at last with them be satisfied with that divine fountaine of truth eternity Wherefore let our Soule now thirst let our flesh also thirst eagerly Yea My flesh saith he longeth after thee because to our flesh is resurrection promised by thee Even as blessednesse is promised to our soule so also is resurrection promised to our flesh Such is the Resurrection of the flesh which is promised unto us Heare learne and understand what may be the hope of Christians For what end are we Christians Not to this end are wee Christians that we should seeke earthly happinesse which even Theeves and malefactors oft-times enjoy No wee are Christians for another kind of happinesse which shall be then by us received when this our transitory life shall be ended For this then is the Ressurection of flesh promised to us And such is the resurrection of flesh to us promised that this same flesh which wee now carry about us may rise in the end and retaine her incorruptible glory without end Neither let this seeme incredible unto you because you see the dead falling to corruption and returning to dust and ashes Suppose that any dead corpse should be burnt to ashes or that dogs should teare it doe you therefore thinke that it shall not rise againe All these parts which you see peecemeale divided and into small graines of dust resolved remaine all whole with GOD for into them doe the Elements of the world passe from whence they first came when wee were made These wee doe not see yet wil God when he knowes his owne time produce them who before we were made when his sacred will was produeed us from them Such Resurrection of the flesh is promised to us that albeit this flesh which we now carry be the same which shall rise again yet must it not have that corruption which it now hath For now through the corruption of our frailty if we eat not wee faint and hunger if we drinke not wee faint and thirst sor water if we wake long we faint and fall a sleep if we sleep long we faint and so awake if we eat and drinke long albeit we eat and drinke for nourishment yet doth this long refection become a defection if wee stand long wee are weary and therefore wee fit and if we fit long we become wearied and therefore we rise Then consider how there is no constant state in our flesh because our infancy flyeth away into childhood and then if thou seeke infancy there is no infancy because it is now childhood which was even now infancy Againe that childhood passeth into youth and then if thou seek childhood thou canst not find it This youth becomes a man and then if thou seeke that youth hee is not to bee found This man becomes old thou seekst a strong man and hee is not to be found And this old man dyes thou seekest an old man and hee is not to bee found Our age then standeth not every where there is wearinesse every where tediousnesse every where corruption Considering therefore what hope of resurrection God promiseth unto us in these our manifold defects we thirst after that incorruption and so our flesh longeth much after God In this Idumaea in this wildernesse by how much she laboureth by so much more eagerly she thirsteth by how much she is wearied by so much shee thirsteth after that infatigable incorruption for which she was created Albeit my Brethren the flesh of every good and faithfull Christian in this World thirsteth after God Because if his flesh need bread if it need water if it need wine if it need money or what reliefe soever it need he ought to beg for these at the hands of God not from Devils and Idols or what other Powers of this World I know not There are who when they suffer hunger in this World leave God and call on Mercury or Iupiter or their heavenly Pan as they call him â—r some other such like Deâ—ils that they would releeve â—hem these mens flesh thirstâ—ot â—ot after their God For â—hey that thirst after God eveâ—y where ought to thirst both â—n soule and flesh because God both giveth his bread 〈◊〉 the Soule that is the Word of truth and God giveth to the flesh also whatsoever are necessary because God made both the soule and the flesh For thy flesh thou calst upon Devils tell me hath God made thy soule and the Devils made thy flesh Hee who made thy soule he likewise made thy flesh Hee who made them both he likewise feeds them both Let both these in us thirst after God and out of much labour be moderately refreshed that in him to whom we are solely devoted we may be wholly fixed Meditation O My Soule recollect thy selfe hast thou thirsted after thy Saviour Hast thou followed him in the sweet smell of his savor Hast thou left thy thirst after gold possessions honours beauty Hast thou tenderd to him thy sole and soveraigne dutie Hast thou onely relyed on his providence Rested in his goodnesse Feare not so thou faile not Thou shalt be ranked where the
Saints are onely numbred by an happy arrivall in the land of righteousnesse which hee give thee who gave himselfe for thee ☜ In terris Vita nostra Dies una ☞ In coelis Dies una Lux aeterna Mans Mutability A Meditation extracted out of S. Augustine in his Tract Upon the 121. Psal. Upon these words Ierusalem is builded as a city that is compact together in it selfe Vers. 11. NOw my Brethren whosoever erecteth the light of his mind whosoever laieth aside the darknesse of his flesh whosoever cleareth the eye of his heart let him lift up and see what this It selse is How shall I call it selfe but it selfe O my Brethren if you can understand what is this it selfe For even I my selfe if I should speake any thing else but it selfe doe not speake it selfe Yet doe we labour by some neere affinities of words and significant proprieties to bring the infirmity of the mind to meditate of this It selfe What is this it selfe That which is alwayes one and in the same manner and not now one thing and then another What is then it selfe but that which is And what is this which is That which eternally is For whatsoever is alwaies altering from one to another is not because what it is abides not Yet not so as locally it is not but summarily it is not And what is this which is but hee who when he sent Moses said unto him I AM THAT I AM And who also said Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel I AM hath sent me unto you Behold it selfe I AM THAT I AM He who IS hath sent mee to you But thou canst not conceive it it is farre from thee to understand it far from thee to apprehend it Retaine therefore that which he was made for thee since to conceive him it is farre from thee Retaine the flesh of CHRIST by which raised being sick thou maist bee relieved and left halfe-dead by Theeves wouÌ„ded thou maist be to an Inne conducted and cured Let us then runne to the house of the Lord and come to the City where our feet may stand in the gates that City which is builded as a City that is compact together in it selfe It selfe is this whereof it is said Thou art the same and thy yeares shall not faile Behold it selfe Whose yeares shall not faile Brethren doe not our yeares daily faile and fade in the yeare For those yeares which are come are not now and those which are to come are not yet Now are these failed which are come and those shall faile which are to come Houres past bee already gone and houres to passe are not yet come when they are come they likewise shall passe and faile What be those yeeres which do not faile but those which stand If yeares then doe there stand those yeares which stand is one yeare and that one yeare which stands is one day because that one day hath neither rising nor setting neither begun from yesterday nor excluded from to morrow but standeth alwayes the same day And whatsoever thou wilt thou maist call this day if thou wilt they are yeares if thou wilt it is a day thinke what thou wilt yet it standeth For this City partakes of stability being compact together in it selfe Worthily then because it becomes partaker of this stability doth he say who runneth thither Our feet were standing in thy Courts O Ierusalem For all things doe there stand where nothing passeth Wilt thou then stand there and not passe Runne thither None hath It selfe of himselfe Attend Brethren Hee hath a body but this is not it selfe because it stands not in it selfe It is changed by ages it is changed by removes of places and times it is changed by corporall diseases and defects therefore it stands not in itselfe Heavenly bodies do not stand in themselves for they have their certaine changes though secret certainly are these changed from place to place they ascend from East to West and againe they goe about to the East These then doe not stand these are not It selfe Neither doth Mans Soule stand itselfe For with how many alterations and cogitations is she varied with what pleasures is shee changed and from her selfe estranged with what desires infected and infested The very mind of man which is said to bee reasonable is likewise mutable it is not it selfe Now it will now it will not Now it knowes now it knowes not now it remembers now it forgets None then hath It selfe of himselfe Hee who would have had it selfe of himselfe that hee might bee it selfe to himselfe is falne He is falne from an Angell and become a Devill He drunke a health to man in pride hee threw himselfe downe by envying him who stood He would be it selfe to themselves have principality to themselves dominion in themselves They would not have the â—rue LORD who truly is It selfe to whom it is said Thou shalt change them and â—hey shall be changed but thou art the same Now therefore after â—o long affliction after so many diseases difficulties labours let the humbled soule returne to it selfe and be in that City that is compact together in it selfe ☞ Vera copia Cupiditatis inopia ☜ Vera inopia Cupiditatis copia Minds tranquillity A Meditation gathered out of Saint Angustine in his Tract upon the 147. Psal. upon these words Who hath set peace in thy borders Ver. 14. WHo hath set peace in thy borders How much have yee all rejoyced Love this my Brethren Wee are much delighted when this love of Peace cryeth from your hearts How much hath it delighted us Having as yet said nothing expounded nothing but only pronounced this verse yee have even cryed out And what is it that hath cryed from you the love of peace what doth it present unto your eyes Whence doe yee cry if yee do not love Whence doe yee love it yee doe not see Peace is invisible Where is that Eye by which it is seene that it may be lov'd Neither would it be cryed upon unlesse it were lov'd These are those representments of invisible things which God exhibits unto us With what beautie hath the conceit of Peace seized on your hearts What then shall I now speake of Peace or of the praise of peace Your affection preventeth all my words I shall not performe it I am not able to undergo it I am too weake to doe it Let us deferre all our praises of peace to that Countrey of peace There shall wee more fully praise it where wee shall more fully possesse it If wee thus love peace begun in us how much shall we praise it when perfected in us Behold this I say my beloved Children Children of the Kingdome Citizens of Hierusalem because in Hierusalem is the Vision of peace and all those who enjoy and love peace are made blessed in it This which ye so much love and affect to heare named pursue it desire it love it in your House love
Kingdome to wit when all thy desires shall bee satisfied both in praising and loving mee and when I shall bee all iâ— all Therefore it is that â—hou justly cravest and justly with thy whole heart deâ—irest in that Prayer which I gave â—hee Let thy Kingdome come Wherefore O daughter if thou lovest mee rightly â—aithfully fervently thou wilt desire with all thine heart this Kingdome that is this state or condition for this with sighs thou wilt pray to wit that my Kingdome may come wherein thou maist with most sweet love bee to mee united wholly in mee melted and molded And because as I said before this cannot come to passe but by death therefore this Death which is the gate and passage to life is to my Saints in desire and life in patience Hence thou seest how a soule perfectly loving mee feareth not death For whath hath such a Soule to lose by exchange of this miserable-unhappy life but the staâ—e of sinning snares of offending occasions of ruine deceits of enemies self-frailty feares with other innumerable Occurrents which straiten the Soule either ignorâ—â—t or weake or luke-warme not to speake here of the dangers of the body and therefore alwayes fainting and falling Manythings here would the soule have which shee ought not or which she even knowes nor though shee would have them Many things would shee which she cannot In many things is the soule ignorant blind and walking among Snares or in darknesse whence shee knows not how to free her selfe How then may shee not worthily wish how not rejoyce that shee is delivered from these sorrowes and dangers Why therefore O Soule doest thoâ— feare why dost thou not desire death For tell mee what evill shall death bring unto thee If thou fearest nothing in this world death can take nothing from thee If thou love any thing in this world it is with danger yea thou lovest thine owne danger Cease therefore to love the world before death that thou maist nothing at all feare death Furthermore if thou love me onely in this life joy for that thou shalt dye for that thou shalt never enjoy what thou lovest before thou dye But I know what thou fearest Truly thou lovest nothing in this world thou possessest nothing which thou wouldst not lose or grievest to lose yet feare and terror surprize thee because thou knowest not whether thou beest worthy of love or hate thou knowest not how thou art to bee entertained by mee whether to rest or punishment O daughter thou oughtst not to bee too curious after the knowledge of these things yea it is not expedient for thee to know them Stand constantly although thou feare in hope and affiance both living and dying set thy rest upon mee Thou canst not live well of thy selfe neither canst thou dye well of thy selfe Thou hast both from mee What if I shall give thee grace to live holily shall I not also give thee grace to die happily Seeing thou hast all things from mee expâ—ctâ—â— all things of mee how canâ—â— thou expect the one and despaire of the other Of thy selfe thou canst neither live well nor dye well Put thy trust thâ—reâ—ore in mâ— cast thy thought upon mee ground all thy feare and care upon mee As thou canst resist no tentation avoid no sinne living so neither dying If I forsake thee noâ— living if I faithfully prevent tentation and moderate it in thy life that thou maist beare it I am ready to doe the very same unto thee at thy death that thou maist vanquish it Never goe to fight with thine owne weapons but rely on mee If thou rely on mee I will fight for thee And if thou have mee fighting with thee and for thee what hast thou to feare who art nothing of thy selfe And as concerning the condition or quality of death feare nothing There is no kind of death that can hurt the just for the just man with what death soever hee shall bee surprized shall bee at rest Wherefore let it trouble thee nothing whether thou die at home or abroad in thy bed or in thy field neither art thou to feare whether the death bee naturall or violent which takes thee away For if one kind of death were more unhappy than another all my Saints surely were most unhappy the most part whereof in times past in the judgement of the world and eye of flesh most unhappily ended this life Which of mine holy Martyrs dyed a naturall and timely death Whom hath not the violence of the Crosse racke fire or sword extinguished Nothing therefore shall it hurt thee whether thou dyest of the plague or an apoplexy or any other kind of death in the bed or in the field Onely watch that thou maist bee found in faith hope and charity and no death or kinde of Buriall shall harme thee But forasmuch as speaking to thee I likewise speake to them who are as yet imperfect in my love I advise you all in this that yee love innocence and hate iniquity If thou hast at any time sinned what Soule soever thou bee cease grieve repent that thou hast sinned so long as thou livest Yet so repent if thou wishest to thy selfe a fruitfull repentance that thou returne not againe to thy sins or to thy former state of sinning Alwayes expect death and prepare thy self for it as if thou wert at this very present to dye But lest some devout institution should be waÌ„ting to the weake in spirit by which supported they may learne in some sort how to dye I will adde something more to these First therefore thou oughtest to remember what mine Apostle saith and what Truth it selfe speaketh Yee have not here an abiding City but ye seâ—ke for one that is to come unto which here in this world no otherwise than in a journey yee walke as Pilgrimes Now your Pilgrimage is ended when your life is clozed Death therefore is the very last line running betwixt this exile wherein yee are and the Countrey whereto yee goe so as there is no other gate by which yee may passe from this valley of your Pilgrimage and enter your Countrey your heavenly inheritage but by death Death then most certainly doth wait for you like as a most certaine end is limited to your life But this difference there is betwixt the good and evill that here in your Pilgrimage yee all travaile mixtly all I say albeit not all in a right way yee long after your blessed Countrey all yee so long as yee are in your journey although yee wander may returne unto the true way But when yee shall come to the end of your journey in the gate it selfe that is at the point of death yee are discerned that Some of you may passe from exile unto life others to misery and eternall death It is not then lightly to bee considered nor negligently observed how every one is to bee prepared before death come For there yee leave all things after you in which
yee trusted Bee they riches honours friends or any other vaine thing whatsoever they shall availe you nothing at the houre of death but leaving these behind you ye shall goe naked unto the Tribunall of God to receive according to your works What blindnesse nay what madnes is it then to rejoyce here in your journey to love fraile things which profit nothing to neglect the time and occasion of living well and as if without all sense of God through drousinesse and drynesse of mind to rellish those things onely which are of the flesh to have in pursuit those things onely which are outward and not at all to consider the dangerous state of the inward man and so to come unto death Alas how innumerable are those miserably wretched ones who are here deceived with the love of the world ensnared and â—y drawing after them the yoake of the Devill how unhappily slaved And thus unexpectedly they come unto death with hearts both hardned and blinded Alas how unhappy is the end of their life with whom there was never Meditation of death nor preparation for health Such things therefore are to bee rejected as hinder the spirit delight the flesh Such things to bee relinquished as are not expedient In such sort is every one to live every houre as if that were his very last wherein he should dye and goe to judgement This is the most fruitfull profitable soveraigne counsell O Daughter that thou maist live after this manner and that death may be to thee no terrour Now then if not continually yet frequently should that houre bee presented before thee as if it were before thine eyes wherein thy soule going out of thy body shall be judged for all thy workes words and thoughts This therefore oughtst thou even at this present to injoyn thy selfe that thou maist live so even now to the end thou maist be found so prepared is thou wouldst thy selfe to bee prepared whensoever death shall undoubtedly come It is the property of a most sottish and senselesse heart to deferre amendment of life to that time when time expireth when thou canst live no longer when now thou art not to amend thy life but to appeare before God as thou art already amended Surely not sinnes only but even all things doe leave thee going out of this life Thou art not then properly said to leave thy sins when thou canst now sin no more But if whilest thou hast ability to sin thou cease from sin true repentance is never to be called late but this which is deferred to the end of thy life it is to be feared that it is seldome true For if through feare of damnation only being even now to die thou sorrowest and art ready for the avoiding of punishment to performe any taske be it never so extreme to obtaine pardon Thou sorrowest not out of charity in that thou hast offended God but out of selfe-love for that thou wishest to thy selfe good and not evill For thou sorrowest because thou hast brought to thy selfe eternall damnation by thy sinnes Wheras if thou rightly sorrowest for this only wouldst thou sorrow in that thou so disobedient unto me so unthankfull to me so reproachfull to me hast not exhibited due honour and reverence unto me whom thou oughtest with al affection to have honored whatsoever should befall thee Whereas now forasmuch as thou only sorrowest for thy selfe if danger were avoided or no revenge on sinne inflicted thou wouldst never lament though thou hadst offended me a thousand yeares together True Repentance which reconcileth the soule unto me springeth from Charitie and bewaileth this especially that shee hath so greatly and grievously contemned and offended mee her best greatest gracioust and most faithfull LORD GOD her Creator and Redeemer Hence I say is his heart wounded for as much as so unthankfully so disobediently and so proudly being buâ— dust and nothing hee hath lifted up his head against me Whosoever therefore desireth to dye happily let him as mine A postle admonisheth him live soberly justly and holily An evill death followeth not a good and just life but precious in my sight is thâ— death of my Saints yea after what sort of death soever they die that is whether they dye by water or fire or in bed But to prepare thee all the better for death the Meditation whereof is the life of every wise man take here along with thee this short exercise by which every one may instruct and addresse himselfe that he may take a course to be found in that state in which he may not feare to dye Wholesome Admonitions teaching a Christian how to dye well WHATSOEVER dying thou wouldst wish that thou hadst done doe the same even now Whatsoever thou wouldst have done doe not commit this unto others to be done after thy death but doe thou it thy selfe for if thou thy selfe bee negligent of thine owne salvation and a traytour to thy selfe how shall strangers tender thy happinesse Doe not repose trust in uncertaine and vaine promises neither commit thy selfe to doubtfull events So live and so doe that thou maist bee safe in thy conscience and as if thou wert this day to dye Never goe to sleepe till such time as thou hast examined the expence of the day with the conditions and actions of thy life Discusse and call to judgement thine heart and examine all thy senses and whether thou art become better or worse this day Never goe with that conscience to sleepe with which thou darest not dye If thou findest thy selfe in that state wherein thou fearest to dye search out the cause of this feare For peradventure some sins are in thee whereof thou hast not as yet repented or refusest to confesse or else thou forbearest to abstaine from sinne and occasions of sin or thou takest upon thee some profession office or vocation which I admit not of or thou continuest in hatred or in the unjust possession of others goods or too much affected to the desire or delight of temporall affaires or taken with the inordinate love of some creature or drowned with the delight of earthly and visible things as of honour and riches thou canst not turne thy selfe to mee tasting nothing of those things which are of the Spirit but onely let loose to outward things and loathing those which are divine therefore it is that thou fearest death Because thy soule guiltie of evill in her-selfe foretelleth what torments shall befall her after death If any of these shall be in thee thou oughtest to abhorre pursue and with all thine endevour to free thee of them For which purpose and the better effecting of so glorious a designe it may helpe thee much to imitate my steps embrace my crosse and with rigour of mind and with holy hatred commenced against thy selfe to denounce warre upon all thy vices to have a purpose to sinne no more frequently and infatigably to renue the same with no infirmitie or
pusillanimity to be dejected to contemplate the examples of me and my Saints to commend thy selfe to the prayers and exhortations of good men to give way to my inward and divine inspirations to exercise prayer and holy reading never to admit of idlenesse to love silence and retirednesse These and such like doe change the naughtinesse of the mind and chase away the feare of death When thou shalt come in the end of every day say thus to thy selfe Now is my life become shorter by one day Earely when thou risest say thus to thy selfe O Gracious God now am I nearer to death by one Night An Exercise whereby earely or whensoever thou willest thou maist poure out thy heart unto God for a good death O Omnipotent eternall God my Creator and Lover I praise laud adore and blesse thee for that thou so mercifully and patiently hast suffered mee groveling in my sins and my unthankfulnes even unto this houre to which thou of thy goodnesse hast brought mee enriching me with thy benefits conferring this life with things necessary for this life upon me with an angelicall guardian protecting me and inlarging towards mee thy mercy who am injuriously â—nworthy and a spectacle of misery Ah gracious God who knoweth whether the terme of my life shall be proâ—ogued to the evening O what death shall I desire O â—ost mercifull Lord God and Father give unto mee contrition whereby with all mine heart I may bewaile my sins and my offending thee And doe not suffer my soule to goe forth from her bodie till she be reconciled to thee in mercy adopted to thee by grace adorned with thy merits and vertues inflamed with most perfect charitie and accepted according to thy all-good-will and pleasure O most gracious Lord Jesu Christ if this I desire of thee do please thee grant it unto me although I bee most unworthy to bee heard of thee grant unto me I beseech thee for thine infinite mercies and the merits of thy passion that I may bee purged in this life from all my sins that dying and through vehement and true contrition pricked and in most ardent charitie to thee united I may goe out unto thee my most sweet Redeemer being forthwith freed and secured from all damnation and future affliction Notwithstanding O most loving Jesu I doe offer and resigne my selfe unto thee whether it be to poverty penury or any other extremitie for thy glories sake according to thy good-will and pleasure beseeching thee only this that thou wouldst bee mindfull of my frailty vilenesse weaknesse and misery as also of thy goodnesse and charity that thou wouldest never forsake mee nor depart from mee but that thou wouldst alwayes wholly governe and possesse mee according to thy good pleasure Amen An oblation of Christ and his merits to his Father O Omnipotent most gracious Father I doe offer unto thee all those pains dolours reproches stripes and rebukes all adversities extremities and labours of thine onely begotten Jesu Christ the Lambe immaculate which hee suffered in his body for me likewise all his actions and every of his members afflicted for me his bloud shed for me and with prophane feet trampled also his most noble and devout Soule separated from his lovely Body for me his merits likewise and infinite vertues Likewise the powers or faculties of his Soule and body and all those vitall parts in him given up unto death for mee albeit inseparably united to his Divinity yea the whole Christ thy blessed Sonne God and man omnipotent and infirme despicable and glorious doing wonders and hanging upon the Crosse these I say doe I offer unto thy sacred Majesty to the expiation and satisfaction of all my sins and of all the world and to the mortification and extinction of all mine evill passions affections and vices to the supply of all my negligences and to thy praise and thanksgiving for all thy benefits O God be mercifull unto me a miserable sinner for his sake Have mercy on mee for the love of Jesu Christ thy beloved Son THE DYING mans Diary Or A Christians Memento mori Divided into a five dayes Exercise THere are who all the yeare long present the figure and feature of Death before them by some certaine Exercise and prepare themselves no otherwise for death than if they were even then to dye and that for the space of five dayes continually The first day they meditated of the griefes infirmities which goe before death and horrour of death unto all which they resigne themselves The next day they thinke of their â—ins confessing them with so great diligence and intention as if they were to dye presently after their confession Therefore they spend this day in sighs and teares The third day they come unto the blessed Eucharist with all the fervour they may receiving it as their Viaticum in their passage from this their exile The fourth day they make continuall supplications unto God for the unction of the Holy Spirit whereby they might be illuminated and the hardnesse of their hearts mollified And this they do as it were for extreme unction The fifth day they become most fervent Supplicants unto God for a spirituall death wherby they may perfectly dye to the world to themselves and live with God And to everie of these dayes may be applyed proper Psalmes and Prayers as also divine invocations giving of thanks for all benefits conferred by God upon them all their life long Profitable Counsell for one approaching neare the point of death O Daughter seeing thy selfe in this extremitie prepare thy soule for God so order and dispose here in thy life time of thy goods temporall that after thy death no difference nor debate may arise It is most profitable for thee to dispose of thy goods in thy life time and to redeeme thy sins whilest thou livest with works of mercie Whatsoever thou wouldest recommend to others to doe for thee labour to doe it of thy selfe For if after death thou go to eternall torment the Provision of a Will a pompous Funerall Almes and Doales after death what will these availe thee when thou art damned Offer these Oblations to me now whilest thou art living that thou mayest not onely be delivered from thy sins but by increasing in my grace never fall into damnation but by my preventing grace preserving thee from sin persevere in good works even to the end When death draweth neare see that thou wholly free thy selfe then from all unnecessarie cares and imployments strive to meet me immaculately affectionately faithfully promising nor presuming nothing of thy works but through my assured mercie to obtaine Salvation And in this faith committing and commending thy selfe and all thou hast in this world to my providence and good pleasure receive the Sacraments humbly and devoutly Those peculiar priviledges and graces also which have power in them through my merits and are given by mee as a treasure unto the Church albeit many oft-times abuse them
the most precious bloud of our Lord Jesus Christ and that for his great love towards mee no merit of mine doe confesse and acknowledge publikely or by this hand-writing or in these words before the Omnipotent God and before the whole hoast of Heaven and before you so many as stand here as witnesses about me if necessitie shall so require that I am and desire so to dye a son truly obedient to the holy Catholique Church with that â—inceritie as becommeth a Christian. And I beleeve and confesse generally all and everie part particle portion or article of the Christian faith to the beleefe whereof everie Christian stands bound especially all those particular points whether plainly expressed or necessarily implyed in the twelve articles of Christian faith for as much as they were delivered unto us from the holy Spirit by the twelve Apostles and recommended to us for Evangelicall truth And I farther beleeve and adhere to their inter pretations or expositions yet not to all or everie one but to those onely which were published by the holy Fathers received admitted â—pproved and confirmed by the most sacred Councells and tried by the truest touch-stone of infallible Scripture And to be briefe I beleeve whatsoever a Christian ought truly to beleeve In which faith so immoveable and firme I rejoyce with all mine heart to dye holding and offering this writing in mine hand as a most impregnable and invincible shield against all the insults assaults deceits and subtilties of the Devill And if it so come to passe which God forbid that by instigation of the Devill or violence of sicknesse I should thinke speake or doe any thing contrarie to mine Attestation aforesaid or should fall into any apostacie diffidence or desperation I wholly revoke and reverse that whatsoever or howsoever it shall be here in the presence of you all and make it as voyd and of no effect as if I were distraught of my wits when I did it Wherefore I appeale unto you all that are here present and to thee O holy Angell to whose guard I am committed that yee beare witnesse of this my Protestation before the Omnipotent Judge Now for as much as concerneth my selfe I doe pardon and forgive all injuries of what nature qualitie or condition soever as have beene done mee desiring heartily that the like may bee done to mee by those whom I have at any time offended either in word or deed I doe likewise crave and desire with all mine heart that I may bee made partaker of all good works which either are already done or shall be hereafter done by holy men through the whole Church whensoever or whereinsoever their office or ministerie may be usefull to mee but principally of the most bitter Passion and most innocent death of our Lord Jesus Christ. And may this my naturall voluntarie and desired approch of death stand through his merits and mercies for all my sinnes And I wish to God that I had never at any time sinned either against God or his Lawes or my Superiours or my Neighbours or my selfe Lastly I give thanks to mine Omnipotent God for all his benefits bestowed upon me and I commend my body and soule into his hands and to the bitternesse of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ to whom be praise and honour and dignitie for evermore Amen AN ELEGIE OF St. Dionysius a Carthusian of the judgement of death and the sundrie casualties thereof TO Earth returnes whats'ere from Earth had birth Flower fades shade vades what 's bred is brought to Earth Nought judge I long that doubtfull bound can stay To morrow day may be my onely day Short is that day to day which well may be My day my doome a fearefull day to me A fearefull horrid day when all my store Is clos'd in clay and I can earne no more Who thinks his dayes long 'las he thinks amisse Nor long nor safe is one whole day of his In vaine speake I of dayes dayes not exprest When not one day nor houre can promise rest Thy long liv ' d hopes if so thou like extend Yet nought of nought shall come to nought i'th'end Thouâ—ands ten thousands thousand thousands were On Earth now Earth whose names lye buried here This onely rests that each receive his hire Good works deserve good gifts ungodly fire Behold the fearefull judge thy finall doome Prepare thy selfe this dreadfull day will come Feare then and quake compose direct thy mind Live to dye now and suffer what 's assign'd An Epistle of Ludovicus Blosius written to an especiall friend upon the perfecting and publishing of his worke entituled The Parlour of the Soule BEhold thou hast my dearely beloved in Christ The Parlour of the Soule which thou hast so long time desired Having now lately written The spirituall Glasse both for thy selfe and mee I had purposed to have added nothing thereto howbeit afterwards I could by no meanes satisfie thy desire unlesse I annexed unto it The spirituall Iewell Crowne and Casket all which this our Parlour containeth Which truly came later to the Presse than thou wished but take it in good part being done by the pâ—rpose and ordinance of God Now if thou setting aside sometimes thy more weightie cares and employments become delighted with the reading of such simple bookes as are published by mee as thou seemest to be delighted I doe advise thee that first thou enter into this Parlour and diligently consider and discusse those things which are therein And afterwards that thou take into thy hand that Psychagogia which I have collected some yeares agoe out of Augustine and Gregorie For the doctrine of the Fathers set downe in these two Books shall mightily comfort and confirme thee being of so good disposition and inflame thee to the love of God thy heavenly Countrey Let it not be tedious to thee ofttimes to read over these and such like devout works yea though thy reading afford small or no sweet relish to the palate of thine heart For too delicate is he who casteth aside all such holy and wholesome directions as he had once read or heard and will not read nor heare them any more I give thanks unto my Lord Jesus for that thy Brother after such time as he had read over that Tract of mine entitled Comfort for the weak hearted and now by mee published hee becomes now lesse afflicted with inordinate feare than before Let him ascribe that reliefe as received solely from God and his holy Doctors who speake unto him in that Tract of comfort He does well surely to grieve and sorrow for that hee hath offended God without measure or number all the by-past time of his life neverthelesse hee is to have his affiance and confidence in the boundlesse sweetnesse of Gods mercie Let him thinke how most of those who had slaine Christ afterwards received pardon by beleeving in Christ to the end truly that all men should learne that no crimes or offences are so
I can by no meanes nor measure compare mine understanding to it yet I desire in some sort to understand thy truth which mine heart beleeveth and loveth Neither doe I beleeve to understand that I may beleeve but I beleeve that I may understand For this likewise I beleeve that unlesse I beleeve I shall not understand Therefore O Lord thou who givest understanding to faith give unto mee that I may understand so much as thou knowest to be expedient for mee for thou art as wee beleeve and this thou art which wee beleeve true God who livest and reignest world without end DEAHTS Memoriall The Child of God thinkes willingly of death To rest with Him who after death gives breath NOw to shut up all with that which closeth all by imposing a Period upon all We are to consider now when the sinfull soule beginneth to be loosened from these bonds of flesh with what bitter terror shee is afflicted with what stings of a biting conscience shee is distracted Shee remembers the things forbidden her which shee hath committed Shee considers the things commanded her which shee hath negligently contemned she bemoanes those opportunate times of repentance offer'd her and which shee so fruitlesly apprehended shee bewailes that immoveable article of strict revenge inevitably approching her She h 'as had sufficient time of sojourning here shee is now compelled to goe hence Shee would regaine that which shee h'as lost but she is not heard Behind her shee beholds the whole course of her forepast life all which shee accounts as one short pace She casts her eyes upon her selfe and collects the space of an infinite perpetuity She laments therefore in that she h'as lost what in so short a space she might have got the joy of all ages She bemoanes her selfe in that for so short a pleasure of fleshly delight she h'as lost the unspeakable sweetnesse of perpetuall solace Shee blusheth in that for this substance which is subject to wormes shee h'as neglected that which was to have beene ranked amongst Quires of Angels Now she lifteth up the beames of her minde and no sooner beholdeth the glory of immortall riches than shee becomes confounded for that she h'as lost them for the poverty of this life Againe when shee casteth her eyes under her in a despicable reflex upon the valley of this world and eying it to be nothing but darknesse but above her wonders at the beautie of that eternall light she clearly sees that it was night and darknesse which shee loved O that shee might but purchase some small remainder of time for repentance what a sharp course of conversation would she take upon her what and how great things would shee promise with what vows of devotioÌ„ would shee enwreath her In the meane time while her divine eyes grow darke while her heart beats while her hoarse throat gaspes her teeth grow by little and little black and draw as it were unto them a certaine rust her countenance becomes pale and all her members stiffe While these then and such like as forerunning offices of approching death attend her all her works and words present themselves before her nay not her very thoughts are absent and all these bring in bitter testimony against their author All these are heaped together before the eyes of her viewing them so as even those things which she shunneth to behold she is inforced though against her will to take notice of Besides all this there is here an horrid troupe of Devils and there a glorious traine of Angels By that which appears betwixt them may be clearly perceived which of them h'as most property in her For if tokens of piety bee discovered in her shee is cheared with the delights of an angelick invitation and allured with the sweetnesse of an harmonious melodie to go forth But if the blacknesse of her merits and the impurity of her foule and filthy life adjudge her to the left hand presently with an intolerable terrour shee becomes surprized with the violence of a sudden force she is disturbed dejected invaded and from the prison of miserable flesh violently haled that to eternall torments with bitternesse shee may be tugged Now after her departure from the body who can utter what armed troopes or Squadrons of wicked Spirits lye in ambush for her what treacherous traines furnished with cruell tortures besiege the way that receives her And lest the soule should escape theÌ„ legions of furies as it were in military rankes or battalions inclose her This and â—uâ—h like frequently to meditate of in thine heart what else is it than to shunne delightfull blandishments to be divorc'd from the world and to shake off unlawfull motions of the flesh and constantly to retaine the sole purpose of attaining perfection Which that wee may doe God for his mercy grant us Amen Sedeo Sileo Signo Deaths distinction O My soule good is the death of the just in respect of tranquillity better in respect of novelty best in respect of security Contrariwise the death of sinners is the worst and rightly the worst evill in losing the world worse in parting from the flesh but worst in that twofold anâ— guish of a worme never dying and a fire ever burning and which is worst of all in being deprived of divine contemplation HOLY MEMORIALS Or Heavenly Memento's Memor fui Domini Delectatus sum A bono die bonum opus suscipiamus ab illo die in quo veluti Christus ascenderit piis desideriis ascendamus Of his Conception MEMORIALL I. I Was not and thou didst make mee I had no being and thou gave it mee I was conceived in sinne before I conceived what was Sin Nature laid on mee a staine before she brought mee to a visible state My bloud was corrupted before ever I entred Tainted it was when Eve was tempted and weakely consented Thus did my parents make mee forlorne before ever I was borne Even then wheÌ„ the second skin was my coat was Sin my Cognizance Seeds of sin sprung in mee before the Light tooke notice of mee And these had their rooting from those that bred mee Long before I had abilitie to sin were all my members made instruments of sinne Before I had the use of any sense sin had made a slave of every sense For mine eyes while they were as yet sealed sights of sin had enter'd theÌ„ For mine eares though they were as then closed ayres of sin had pierced them For my taste before I enjoy'd it an Apple had poyson'd it For my Touch before I employ'd it had Eves pulse soiled it For my Smell before I knew how to use it had the steames of earth choaked it I was shut up as one in darknesse and darke I was within as well as without by means of mine originall uncleanenesse I conversed with none none with mee my mothers wombe was that living tombe which inclosed mee Thus before ever I saw the Sun became I a growing lump of sin