if thou lovest Heavenly things how is it now that thou remainest not in Heaven who art in this life resembling celestiall spirits SOVLE ALas Alas now miserable and unhappy that I am know perceive my selfe for a long season to have been miserably blinded who for so long a time knowingly have erred in temporall and earthly things entangling my selfe by love in worldly and base things from which I have received very little comfort but much grief and some confusion but very little joy yet various and often great sorrow of heart Tell me therefore I pray thee O man what is that Heavenly consolation and how by any means I may be able to attaine to it in this vale of teares and misery What is that which I find in my God when so willingly and so easily I contemne all things for him when I say within my self with joy O God of my heart O God my portion for ever What is that which I tast in that most short houre in my beloved when with all my strength I desire joyfully and heartily to endure all sharp bitter and austere things for him and say It is good for me to cleave to God And who shall seperate me from the charity of Christ MAN O My Soule this consolation according to Saint Bern. is nothing else but a certaine love of Devotion proceeding from the hope of Pardon and tast of the good though but little and a most certaine sweet Delectation wherewith our bountifull God recreateth the afflicted soule whereby the soule is invited to seek God and is vehemently provoked to a divine love Hugo de S. V. O my soule what thinkest thou is so sweet and so pleasant that is accustomed to move the devout soules in the remembrance of their beloved and so sweetly affect them that now they altogether begin to be rapt and alienated from themselves The conscience is exhilerated and the memorie of all their greifs is forgotten The mind rejoyceth the understanding waxeth cleare the heart is illuminated and the affection is made jocund Now they know not where they behold themselves and as though the embraces of love hold something within them and they are ignorant what it is and yet they earnestly desire with all their force to retaine it The mind delightfully struggles in some sort least it should depart from it as though it should find the end of all its desires therein St. Bern. Sometimes as though Hood winckâ— O good Jesu thou sendest me desiring thee into the mouth of my heart yet to know what it is that I feel it is not lawfull for me For truely I perceive a savour being so comfortable a sweetnesse that if is were perfected in me I should seek nothing else Is not this the Jubilee of the heart St. Gregory Jubilee is said to be an unspeakable joy of the mind which cannot be hidden nor uttered in words Yer notwithstanding it may be shown by some motions though not expressed by any proprieties Wherefore the Psalmist saith Blessed is that people that knoweth Jubilation He doth not say who speaketh but who knoweth because Jubilation truly may be known by the understanding but cannot be expressed by word or speech St. Bern. For when I perceive this savour thou sufferest me by no sight of the Body by no sense of the soule by no understanding of the Spirit to consider what it is when I shall receive it and am willing to ruminate thereof and to judge the sweetness of it it presently slideth away yet truly I swallow it in hope of eternall Glory but by long ruminating of the vertue of its operation I desired to infuse it into all the veins and marrow of my soule as though it were a certaine vitall Juice that it might deceive it of all other affections and it might only savour that but presently it hasteneth away and when with Inquisition or acception or the sight there of I gladly desire more strictly to commit some formall imprinted lineaments thereof to memory or otherwise to help my forgetfulnesse by writing by experience I am compelled to confesse that of the Gospell Thou knowest not from whence it cometh or whither it goeth What Declaration O my Soul dost thou think is there so sweet and so pleasant Truly this is the divine consolation SOVLE O Man who will bestow this upon me that this so un-experienced a consolation may enter into my heart that I may forget my miseries and may despise worldly comfort and may happily begin to be estranged from my selfe MAN O My soule Great is that which thou desirest it is an inestimable gift which thou wishest for wherefore as I suppose it cannot be obtained by humane endeavour it can scarcely be gotten but by humble prayers to God and of those that are worthily disposed by the only grant of divine mercy For all Gold in comparison of it is but as a little sand and silver compared to it is accounted as nothing SOVLE O Man tell me I desire thee what manner a one ought that disposition to be wherewith the affection of him that prayes ought to be disposed for obtaining of it MAN OF this matter much might be spoken of them that have tryed it but that I acknowledge my self unexperienced yea I blush to speak a few things Wherefore I feare least it should be objected against me Wherefore dost thou relate what thou hast not tasted Wherfore like an unworthy man dost thou praise what thou art ignorant of SOVLE O Man fear not but with reverence and Humility devoutly propose what thou hast both heard and read For there are many that have to the profit of others determined of great and high matters which they have not learned of their own experience but by the knowledge of others MAN NOw I shall speak with some boldness for those abilities which lack of knowledge denieth Charity supplieth Wherfore as I think so I relate I think under favour of a better Judgment if thou wilt prepare thy self to tast this Celestiall Sweetness thou oughtest to be cleansed exercised and lifted up In the first this Heavenly sweetness is smelled in the second is is tasted and in the third somtimes even to inebriation it is taken and swallowed up First I say thou oughtest to be cleansed from sins from inordinate affections from temporall consolation and from the inordinate love of Creatures because according to St. Bernard he erreth altogether that beleiveth that he is able to mixe the Celestiall sweetness with this dust that divine Balsom with this venemous Joy those Graces of the Holy Ghost with the Allurements of this world But after the Soule shall bee purged by such things cleansed from tear-distilling grones and purifyed by sorrowfull sobbings because as St. Aug saith it is convenient that that mind should always find sorrow in it self who forsaking his Creator did alwaies seek joyes in himselfe and in the Creature Excellently therfore St. Gregory in his Morals speaketh of that Sentence of Job
particularly of the exceeding greatnesse of the inestimable divine piety For all things are common to all in respect of him who is all in All For there the Virgin shall rejoice at the merit of the holy Widdow there the Widdow shall rejoice at the priviledge of the Chast Maid There the Confessors shall be made glad at Triumph of the Martyr there the Martyr shal dance for joy at the Crown of the Confessors there the Prophet shall give thanks for the pious and holy conversation of the Patriarchs there the Patriarchs shall be glad for the faith and speculation of the Prophets there the Apostles and Angells shall rejoice at the merit of all that are inferiour unto them there all the inferiour shall make joy for the glory of all those that are above them For from that tye and bond of holy and perfect Charity it shall come to pass that every one shall have that within another which he hath not of his own merit SOVLE O Man as yet these are not sufficient to ease my mind wherefore I pray thee do not pass over to explicate some things particularly and distinctly of the forsaid banquet MAN O My Soule Thou hast known that as wee are able though unperfectly we resound or Eccho forth the high mysteries of God nor is it a wonder seeing we are very unapt to understand how should we be sufficient to speak when those things which blindly we contemplate are truer then they can be understood and they are more truly understood then they can be expressed by words Notwithstanding that I may not protract thee too long heare what my Intellect imagineth although as yet my affection tasteth but little I think that those seaven Sons of whom we have before mentioned are all the Saints and Elect spirits of God the heirs and sonnes of the most Omnipotent Father These do make banquets every one at appointed time when they feed one another with Heavenly joyes wherein of their own merits every one particularly no preferre or give most delicious dishes according to the Glory bestowed on them In the first day therefore the first begotten that is that number of Heavenly Angells who not unworthily are entitled the first borne because they are the first in Creation and consersation with God from whom they have never departed by sinne but alwayes with constant Charity have cleaved unto God the Father and before all have happily possessed that blessed Heritage of the Celestiall Kingdome These O my Soul bestow upon thee in that feast divers delicious and pretious dishes when every order doth administer particular Joyes from that which it more excellently hath received of his reward Now weigh O my soule what dainties those high Seraphicall spirits bestow on thee who are so nigh unto the eternall Father that there are no other spirits as a Medium between him and them who do more immediatly contemplate him and more perfectly enjoy his eternall good things What joy thinkest thou do these give of the noblenesse of nature what of the clearnesse of Contemplation what of the sincerity of love These therefore that is those that are nominated Seraphims do adorne this banquet with the ardour of divine Charity The Cherubims with the splendour of eternall cleerness The Thrones with the equity or uprightness of the divine Majesty Dominations also glorifie this banquet by the excellency of ruling over others The Principalities by the magnificence of taking charge or councelling the inferiours The Angells by the authority of expelling evill and maligne spirits The Arch-Angells by the dignity of declaring high mysteries The Angells by the Agility of reveiling the lesser secrets of the divine knowledge Behold thou seest how every one particularly doth feed the minds of the Saints with Celestiall joyes with such things which they have received in that Celestiall Court Nor is it to be marvelled at that these spirits do give unto us for our joy these things before spoken of and many other as yet more unknown unto us who so faithfully so sweetly and so lovingly do guard and preserve us in this vale of tears and with all their power earnestly desire to bring us to that Country of eternall beatitude St. Bern. O if any one could know in what manner they prevent us the chiefest being joyned to the singers in middle of the young Virgins playing on Timbrells hee should see forthwith with what care or with what respect they are amiddest them singing are present with them praying are in them meditating are over them or remaine with them reposing are present with them for their help O Empty and â—â—ngerstarven soule if thou couldest but inwardly receive one crumme falling from the Table of their Lord in this Banquet I think from that present thou wouldest impapatiently endure this peregrination I think if thou hadst but tasted one drop of the Wine of their drink thou wouldest loath and disdaine all the sweetness of this world St. Greg. in his Morals if the heart understand by tast once be fastened in celestial things it is by and by discerned how abject and base those things are which before seemed of great account O my beloved soule what shall I say of the Banquet of the Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Martyrs Confessors Virgins which by other six Sonnes are not unworthily prefigured For every one of these will render so many dishes in this feast as he had vertuous works in this life And who is able to declare how great joy every soule shall receive of the most perfect humility of the holy Patriarchs of the most certaine confidence of the Prophets of the most ardent charity of the Apostles of the couragiousnesse and patience of the Martyrs of the Piety and clemency of the Confessors of the Chastity and continency of the Virgins and the same Saint Gregory saith Truly my voice and tongue faileth In a Homily on St. Luke because my understanding is not able to comprehend how great joy it is to be present with the Quires of Angells to assist with the most blessed spirits the Glory of our Creatour to discerne the countenance of God present to see the unlimited light to be affected with no feare of death to rejoyce and be glad at the gift of perpetuall incorruption O how happy will that day be unto thee when thou shalt returne to the Heritage of thy Fathers and when thou shalt be received of them all with an inestimable joy and happily brought into the bed of the highest King Rouze up thy selfe O my soule and with that famous Queen of Sheba ascend into that Heavenly Hierusalem with the perfumes of vertue with the treasures of good works with great preparations of Celestiall desires and diligently contemplate every particular and behold that truth exceedeth fame that the glory exceedeth all report if perhaps by the greatnesse and noblenesse of admiration thou canst be ravished of thy humane spirit and after a certaine wonderfull manner be transformed into a divine spirit
that thou mayest begin to cry out with St. Peter in great Jubilation of heart O Lord it is good that we remaine here here is our Father here our Sister here our Brother here our Country O Lord permit us to be here and never to depart from hence St. Amb. Let us fly O my soule into our most true Country because there is our Countrey for that which we were created there our Father by whom we were created there is that Hierusalem that Heavenly City which is our Mother O my soule thy love here in this mortall life ought to be so great Saint Ansel and desire to come to that for which we were created and so great thy griefe because as yet thou art not there and so great thy feare least perchance thou never comest there that thou oughtst to feel no Joy but from these things which do either bring thee aid or hope to come thither CHAP. III. Of the Interminable Eternity SOVLE O Man whilst that sometimes I think of these things whilst that silently I consider with my selfe what is that which then shineth in me and woundeth my heart without hurting me and I am afraid yet am inflam'd I admit sometimes mentally into my affection something which is unusuall St. Aug. but I know not what sweetness it is which if it were perfected in me I know not what it shall be that this life shall not be But I fall into a relapse with ponderous burthens and am swallowed up with my wonted cares Here I am able to be but not willing there I am willing to be but am not able miserable in both Haec August MAN O My Soul consider that these celestiall things can not so much as be thought upon of those that are worthily disposed without foretasting of the sweetnesse But I am ignorant what that shall then be when they can be perfectly without intricacy tasted or perceived in thee wherfore it is not to be marvled at if the foretasting of such things cause in thee a wearinesse of this Exile because nothing is more bitter then after that the Soul hath been accustomed to be comforted with the joy of such delights if again it shall begin to be intangled with worldly and transitory things From hence it is that the Soul laboureth struggles and is vexed there she alwaies desires to be and yet it sufficeth not here she is compelled to be yet after this she endeavoureth to ascend to that which she hath already tasted for now having tasted of the Spirit all flesh is distastfull Thou hast seen the joy of the blessed from these that are below thee and from these which are neer thee now behold if thou canst what joy is to come from these which are within thee For man shal be rewarded in body and in mind and with the eternall and inseperable union of these two for our body is composed of four Elements wherfore it shall be remunerated with four gifts of Nature the Earth then shall have eternall immortality the water all manner of impassibility the Air exceeding great agility and the fire most transparent and bright shining clearness then shall the Just shine like the Sun and shall run like sparkles among the reeds for God will wipe away all tears from the eyes of his Saints and then there shall not be any more either lamentation or roaring or greif but everlasting peace and gladness In this sempiternall Kingdome the hearts of the blessed shall shine in clearnes one against another and shalâ— in purity be transparent there every ones Countenance is beheld and conscience penetrated there the bodily substance of any one hideth not his intent from the eyes of another Also at an instant wheresoever the mind would be there the body shal be also presently St. Aug. For as then the mind most perfectly obeyeth its Creator so also the body shal most readily obey its Moover God will make the Soule then so powerfull that from the most full beatitude thereof it shall returne into the body from the superabundance whereof it shall receive the vigor of impassability the splendor of clearness the aptitude of subtilty the promptitude of agility there all the senses shall be imployed in their proper actions for there the eye shall see a most beautifull comliness the tast shall feele a most most sweet Savour the sence of smelling shall be perfumed with a most pleasant odour the touch shall imbrace a most delicious object the Hearing shall be changed by a most delicate Sound for there when the mind is ravished by exultation the Tongue is elevated into a Song of praise SOVLE O Man I have heard these wonderfull things long ago and seeing that these are all true what other thing is this present life but a certain shadow of death MAN O My Soul thou hast sayd well because temporall life compared to the eternall is rather be called death then life for what other thing is this defect of our daily corruption then a certain prolongation of death therfore holy men because they incessantly look into the shortness of this life live as though they were dayly dying and therefore more carefully prepare themselves not minding an abode be cause they alway consider that all these things are nothing in the end But men carnally minded therefore love things present frr that they never weigh how fleeting mans life is for if they should looke into the swiftnes of their passege yea they would in no wise love this prosperity Haec Gregorius Let therefore O my Soule the love of this present life passe from thee and let the fervency of the life to come take place where no adversity disturbeth noe necessity distresseth no trouble disquieteth but ever lasting gladness raigneth and consider how great the future felicity is to be where there shal be no evill thing nor good thing shall be hidden all being imploeyd to the praises of God who shall be All in All for there shall be no end of rest nor shall any want pinch there our being shall have no Death our knowledge shall have no Errour our Love shall have no offence There all slowness all corruption all deformity all infirmity shall be absent There is a new Heaven and a new Earth there we shall be like unto the Angells of God and although not in age yet truly in happines St. Aug. O my Soul Thou shouldest imbrace that Life where there is Life wthout Death Youth without old Age Joy without Sadnesse Peace without Discord Will without Injury Light without Darknesse a Kingdom without Change Consider how much the spirit may rejoyce when it shall resume such a body as now thou hast heard not such a one as thou hast sustained with great griefe and hast overcome with great strife of whom oftentimes thou patiently impatient and meekly angry hast said to thy self Who will free from the body of this death Not surely such a one but now perfectly obeying and spirituall such a
one I say such a one which shall be to thee for a comfort of contemplation and for an augmentation of Eternall felicity SOVLE I Cannot sufficiently admire all these things yet in respect of the magnitude of admiration I faint in the search thereof Notwithstanding one thing I desire to know in what manner the mind which in this present life is held under by the body from the contemplation of God shall there be assisted by it in contemplation MAN O My Soule this thy Question is scrupulous but fithence it is more curious then devout the answer shall be short For the soule shall then by the divine power have another manner of form to understand then in the passage Nor is it to be wondred at if for the time and place he alter and change the order and forme of action in the Creature who is the framer and Author of universall Nature For in things mutable the whole being of the thing done is in the power of the Doer It is certaine that the Soule would never desire resumption of body if being resumed though never so glorious it should hinder divine contemplation For according to the opinion and doctrine of St. Augustine those holy soules earnestly desire resumption of Body and expect an iterated Union thereof because their felicity cannot be consummated without it nor their pleasure satisfied without it For the soule doth so vehemently desire the body that in some sort it also hindreth and retardeth it's contemplation St. Bern. O miserable stinking and loathsome flesh rom whence is this thy Glory that the holy soules whom God hath marked with his owne Image hath redeemed with his own blood do desire thee do expect thee and their happinesse cannot be consummated without thee nor their sweetnesse satisfied without thee St. Augustine to this When the soule shall receive this body not now carnall but spirituall she shall possesse the perfect forme of her nature obeying and commanding revived and reviving Then it shall come to passe with unspeakeable felicity that that is to her a glory which was before to her a burthen O my soule consider what a glory that shall be then unto thee when thou shalt be arayed and invested with those new and pure Robes of honour adorned with all pretious stones that is with a glorified body wherein there shall shine so many most pretious Jewels as there are vertues in thy mind Then I beleive thou wilt sing unto our Lord with Jubilation a new Song saying Rejoyceing I will rejoyce in our Lord because he hath attyred me with a Garment of health and hath compassed me about with a Vestment of gladness and as a spouse hath graced me with a Crowne Yet in the third place view and diligently consider that if thou art to have so great joy as from another what shalt thou receive from thy own for who can be able to declare how great joy how stupendious a glory how incomprehensible a praise and magnificence thou art to have of the most blessed Trinity of the most happy Society of all the Saints for that thou hast so manfully overcome thy own body with the sheild of Chastity and Continency For that thou hast so potently vanquished the world with the sword of poverty and Indigency for that thou hast so valiantly put to flight the worst of devills with the spear of Humility and Obedience for that thou hast so powerfully withstood and resisted all thy evill Thoughts all thy Passions all thy dissolute Manners consider if thou canst how much glory thou art to have from those whom by Word and Example thoâ— hast exhorted to a virtuous life And what is more thou shalt receive a speciall and an eternall praise for all the virtuous thoughts speeches and actions and that which shall be wanting unto thee in thy self that celestiall and divine society of the blessed will with mutuall charity fulfill and supply because every one shall there receive from his Neighbour what is deficient unto him in his own merit O my Soul when Adversity happens unto thee though thou piously think of these things keep them in mind when thy body greives or overchargeth thee fly mentally unto these when the world rage have recourse unto these when Sathan lyes in wait for thee recreate and mitigate thy mind with these for our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternall weight of Glory But because truly that is the only and true joy which is conceived not of the creature but of the Creator to whom all pleasure otherwise compared is a Sorrow all sweetnesse greif and to conclude all that can delight is but troublesome according to St Bern. Therefore I counsell thee O my Soul that now by the aforesaid as though moved disposed and invited thou convert thy self to thy Creator and thou art diligently to weigh and consider how great joy those blessed Spirits receive from him because all joy proposed is either accidentall and for that doth not satisfie but only move or encourage as is that which the blessed Spirits receive from these that are below or neer unto them or it is consubstantiall and for that it sufficeth nor and yet it affecteth as is that which they conceive from these which are within themselves For this joy which they draw from them that are above them is only termed substantiall because by this only the rationall desire of the creature is satisfied All the joy all the sweetness Hugâ— de S. V. all the pleasantness of things created may affect a humane heart but cannot satisfie it SOVLE TEl me I pray thee O man what and how great is that joy because I desire this only this is it which I earnestly covet above all for that I know that these things are not only sufficient although they might be had without it but also do leave the Soul empty hungerstarven and miserable MAN O My Soule Thou seest what and how great that joy is I have asked and examined all my inmost thoughts and they are not sufficient to tell me for if all St. Anselme that are before spoken of are good and pleasant consider seriously how great that delightfull good is which contains in it self the pleasure of all good not such a one as we experience in things created but differing as much as the Creator differeth from the Creature hee that shall enjoy so great a good shall be what he will and what he will not he shall not be Caesarius It is more easie to obtain a good life then to express it whose course is without end use without loathing refection without meat having alwaies after ancient and perpetuall joyes new delectation and a continuated felicity without feare of loosing St. Aug. He is the Reward of virtue who hath giuen virtue and hath promised himself then which nothing can be greater or better For what other thing is it that is spoken by the Prophet I will be
weigh and consider by another mans judgement what thou oughtest to esteem of thy self Thou hast a Spouse of whose beautie if thou didst not doubt thou wouldst know that so fair so comly so only a Son of God would not be ravished with thy countenance if a singular comliness and above all others to be admired did not invite him These S. Aug. But perhaps these mean things O my soul who art too ingratefull do seem to thee too small and mean wherefore in the third place heare an admirable dignitie that thou art of such a simplicity that nothing can inhabit the seat of thy mind nothing can make therein any mansion but only the simplicitie and puritie of the Eternal Trinitie Behold what the Bridegroom saith I saith he and my Father will come unto him and will make a mansion with him And in another place in the Gospel Zacheus make haste to come down because to day it behoveth me to stay in thy house For to insinuate into the mind is only possible to him that created it For he it is who being more intimate in thy thoughts doth give himselfe to thee as S. Aug. saith Rejoice the refore O happie soul that thou canst be an entertainer of such a Guest S. Bern. O happie is that soul which daily doth cleanse her heart that she may receive God to dwel therein which host can want no good because he hath in himselfe the Author of all goodness O how blessed is that Soul with whom God hath found rest which can say Hee that created mee hath rested in my Tabernacle So that the Heavens cannot deny her a resting place in Heaven who hath prepared for himselfe a rest in this life O my soule thou art too covetous if the presence of such a Guest cannot content thee because I know he is so liberall that he wil give and communicate unto thee of his good things that he is so holy that he will enrich thee with his gifts For it would in no wise become so great a Prince if he should permit his Entertainer to want Adorn therefore thy Bed and receive the King thy Maker of whose presence thy whole Family shall rejoâ—ce and be glad O truly wonderfull very admirable sentence The King whose beauty the Sun and Moon do admire whose greatness the Heaven and earth do reverence of whose wisdom the Troops of Heavenly Spirits are illuminated of whose clemency the Colledge of all the blessed are satiated such a one O my Soul desireth thy entertainment thy Supping Parlour more then he coveteth or wisheth for a Heavenly Pallace For his delights are to be with the Sons of men But if yet these do not move thee to praise thy Creator convert the light of thy contemplation to the fourth benefit and know that thy palace is of such a capacity that no creature is sufficient to satisfie thy desire Hugo de Sancto Victore All pleasure all sweetness all power all the abundance of things created may affect a humane heart but cannot satisfie it S. Anselm Every Creature which is not my God is to me poverty And wherefore Truly according to S. Gregory in his Morals a humane Soule which is made earnestly to desire God whatsoever it desireth beneath God is less then God and therefore by right that sufficeth her not which is not God Now as I thinke O my Soul thou hast sufficiently seen thy Nobility which is very laudable Convert now the light of contemplation to thy power Hugo de Arrha animae above all other Creatures which truly is admirable O my Soule what hath thy Spouse given thee Behold this World every thing doth direct his course to that end that it may serve for they profits and that it may continually offer it it selfe to thy pleasures according to the distribution of times See now O my Soule diligently consider that the Creator thy Spouse and friend hath ordained the whole Fabricke of the world for thy service Behold the Angels doe cseanse and inflame thy affection illuminate and inform thy Intellect doe perfect and keepe thy bodie It is a great dignitie to have such Doctors Comforters and such Conservers O my Soule if thou couldst perceive with what joy and with what gladness they assist our prayers are present at our Meditations with what care they conserve us in Good with what desire they expect Us and Our Eternall salvation The Heaven seeks to please thee by his motion the luminaries by their influence the Sun gives the day the Moon lights the night the fire tempers the coldness of the Aire the Aire mitigates for thee the internall heat of fire the water cleanseth thy foulness cooleth the heat of thy thirst and doth fructifie the Earth The Earrh likewise doth beare thee with his solidity recreate thee with his fertility delight thee with his pleasantness Behold O my soule thou hast briefly runne through all from the Inferior to the Superior and hast found that every Creature to this end doth direct his course by the Divine ordination how far they may be beneficiall unto thee and incessantly offer themselves for thy pleasures But take heed O my soule least thou be called not a Spouse but an Adultresse if thou lovest more the gifts of the giver then the affection of the Lover Saint Aug in his 2. Book of Confessions Woe unto thee if thou wander from his foot-steps if thou love his Invitations and not him and dost not consider with the understanding of a pure mind what that most blessed light doth insinuate whose Invitations and foot-steps are the forme and beauty of all Creatures Yet if by chance thou art ignorant of thy selfe O fairest of Woemen Go forth and hasten after the footsteps of the Flock that is of unreasonable Creatures who are the Foot-steps of thy Creator but thou art the mirrour of the most blessed Trinity Therefore thou art accounted more worthy and more Excellent then all they And feed thy Kids nere unto the Tabernacles of the Shepheard that is convert thy cogitations to the Troops of Angels to whom in some sort thou now art like in Nature and shall be fellow Citizen in Glory SOVLE NOw I have been sufficiently silent I have long enough held my peace Even now with shamefastnesse and blushing I am compelled to confesse and say that I have little considered this dignity Alas unhappy soule and miserable that I am I have too unworthily prostituted my love I have not glorified my Maker for all these his benefits I have not blessed my God for all his gifts and have not adored him in all my life but have lived too unworthily and irreverently too vainly and negligently And that I may confesse the truth according to Saint Bern. by how much more perfectly I behold my dignity by so much I am confounded and blush that I have led an unnaturall life For I feare that the fault is so much the more grievous by how much my nature is more worthy
and noble I am afraid that by so much the offence is so much the more dangerous by how much the Excellency of him who is offended is the greater I much feare that the Injurie is by so much the worse by how much greater the benefits of him have been whom I have wronged Alas Alas O Lord my God I now weigh by the dignity of thy substance the vilenesse of my malice by the comelinesse of Nature I know the deformity of sinne by the remembrance of Benefits received are manifested the Ingratitude of my Actions Wo is me miserable soule now I see now I know that whatsoever I have received for the use of life of the chief Giver I have miserably imployed them to the abuse of sinne and wickednesse The tranquillity of humane peace I have converted to the use of vaine security the Pilgrimage of the Earth I have loved as if it should be my perpetuall Habitation the health and beauty of body I have subjected to the servitude of my pleasure the abundance of plenty I have consumed not for the necessity of my body but to the superfluity of my miserable covetousness Faire weather and refreshing Aire I have abused to serve me for the love of earthly delights I feare alas and much doubt least these become Instruments of my punishment which did serve as evill Instruments to my vices MAN O My Soule in some sort I now perceive that thy knowledge is good For I perceive by thy words that my admonition hath not been in vaine It seemeth to me by the divine power thou art somewhat enlightned and moved by the touch of the true light Because according to Saint Greg. in his Morals Every one whilst he is illuminated by the touch of the true light he is showed from whence that Justice is whereby he is enlightened what that sinne is whereby he is blinded From whence holy men by how much the higher they profit in the dignity of vertues with GOD by so much more clearly they discerne themselves to be unworthy for they when they approach nearest unto the light do more plainely perceive what lay hid within them CHAP. II. How vitiously the Soule is deformed by sinne MAN THerefore O my soul if being touched with the light of truth thou know thy dignity which hitherto thou hast not considered if thou understandest the same whereby thou hast offended thy Creator and hast seen how gratiously thou art framed by Nature So now how vitiously thou art deformed by sinne St. Ansolme Bring to thy own memory O wearisome and miserable soule thy enormous offence and conduct it even to Heaven with sorrow and lamentation Consider O my soule who hast forsaken God and being an Adultress unto Christ what thou hast done Thou hast forsaken thy chast love in Heaven hast despised thy maker hast cast of thy Spouse hast offended thy God thou hast irreverently used thy holy Angel Guardian Thou wast once the Temple of God the Spouse of Christ the Closset of the Holy Ghost Whence is this suddain and quick change of a Virgin of God thou art made corrupted of Satan of a spouse of Christ the Execrable Whore of the Devillâ— Remember O my Soule for what thou hast sould thy beauty for what thou hast cast away thy honour for whom thou hast so filthily defiled thy comlinesse how great a good thou hast sould at so vile a rate O my soule why hast thou robbed thy self of so many good things wherefore hast thou in vaine deprived thy selfe of such honours why hast thou neglected so many good works hast lived so many years so many dayes so many houres without fruit SOVLE I Acknowledge St. Bern. O man that thou speakest truth and not unworthily reprehendest me of so great a Transgression O Lord my God how many times have passed that I behold wherein I have lived before thee without fruit how shall I subsist how shall I be able to lift up my face before thee in that great and terrible Examen when thou shalt command all my dayes to be numbred seeking fruit therein O Lord God why have I at any time omitted thee to be conversant in my heart to embrace thee with all my mind to be delighted with thy sweetnesse Where then were all my internall thoughts when they were not with thee when every Creature hath from thee whatsoever he hath desireable laudable or delectable Alas O Lord now I understand but blush to confess the forme and comlinesse of Creatures have deceived my Eye and I have not considered that thou art more beautifull then all Creatures to whom thou hast communicated but one drop of thy inestimable beauty For who hath adorned the Heaven with starrs the Aire with Birds the Water with Fishes the Earth with Plants and Flowers Men in body with divers complexions in mind with divers Vertues Are not O most mercifull Father these Troops of Heavenly Spirits by thee adorned with divers gifts O good Jesu the fountaine of all pulchritude pardon me miserable soule that I have so lately known and so slowly loved thy beauty wherefore I have most miserably erred The sweetnesse also of the Creatures have deceived my tast and I have not considered that thou art far sweeter then honey For thou hast given to honey and every Creature its sweetness yea thine also and there is not any other sweetnesse or delight in any Creature but the little demonstration of thy sweetnesse which thou hast laid up for them that feare thee whence it comes to passe that the sweetnesse of all the Creatures if any one truely consider it is to no other end but to invite us to thy Eternall sweetnesse O Jesu the fountaine of all sweetnesse and Piety pardon me that I have not observed thy inestimable and mellifluous sweetnesse in the Creature nor tasted them with the affection of my internall mind wherefore I have most miserably erred and gone astray and I have filled my soule till now with the Husks or drasse of Swine But alas I feare as yet I have not been fed with the Bread of thy Children therefore I have alwayes remained empty and Hunger-starven in the delights of the World St. Gregory Because we will not inwardly tast of thy prepared sweetnesse therefore we hunger-starved and miserable Creatures are in love with our own penurie and wants O most sweet Jesus S. Aug. in his Booke of Confessions now I see now I acknowledge that all sweetness which is not from thee hath been to me a great affliction and misery For thou O most mercifull God even in my sins wast alwayes present with me most piously sustaining all my wicked and evil delights imbracing them with thy most bitter griefs teaching me by thy stripes that if I would have delight without bitternesse I could not have it but in thee O Lord. But alas I have not understood this learning therefore have I erred yet in my evill delights I have alwaies feared the
now as I think O my soule in some sort thou hast converted the beames of thy contemplation to perceive how the soule is informed by nature and how deformed by sinne now convert thy mind as I hope cleansed from filth by contrition to behold how thou art reformed by Grace Yet thou oughtest to know by how much the more perfect the darknesse of thy understanding is wiped away by the bath of contrition by so much the clearer the benefit of divine reparation is beheld For according to Saint Augustine sinne is a darkness whereby the understanding is dulled and the whole inferiour man is overclouded Wherefore it is necessary that by so much more carefully the mentall Eyes are to be continually cleansed from the darkness of sin by the tears of compunction by how much the more the light of contemplation is darkened thereby Therefore now O my soule being purified in thy affections direct the light of contemplation to behold how by the profound clemency of God how by the high wisdome of God how by the wonderfull power of God thou art reformed by Grace First consider how by the benefit of Redemption he hath freed thee from originall sinne knowest thou not that by originall sinne thou wert robbed of all naturall and spirituall guifts brought into subjection by the power of the Prince of Darknesse repulsed and exiled from thy Country But according to Saint Bern. that singular and excellent Majesty would dye that we might live serve that we might raigne be banished that we might be restored to our Country and he hath subjected himsele to all base works that he might place us above all his works For the sonne of man came to seek and save what had been lost I say that he might humble thee being proud For this the only Son of God St. Greg. in his Register hath taken upon him our infirmity for this he being invisible hath made himselfe not only visible but also hath appeared despised for this he hath suffered scornefull reproches contemptible derisions tormenting passions that he an humble God might teach man that he ought not to be proud God hath despised all earthly Goods Saint August that he might shew us how to contemne all ours he hath sustained all earthly evills that he might teach us how to beare them so that Felicity ought not to be sought in the one nor Adversity be feared in the other Secondly he came Saint Aug. that he might reconcile thee to his Father When thou wert an enemy to the Father I have reconciled thee when thou wert afarre of I came that I might reduce thee when thou wanderdst among Mountains and desarts I have sought thee Amongst Rocks and Woods I found thee upon my Shoulders I have carryed thee I have restored thee to my Father I have laboured I have swet I have exposed my head to Thornes my hands to Nailes I have suffered my side to be opened with a launce I have poured out my blood for thee and I have been torne in peeces with all these I will not say Injuries but Austerities yet alas through sinne thou seperatest thy self from mee Thirdly he came that being sould Saint Aug. he might redeeme thee Let us admire give thanks love praise adore because we are called by the death of our Redeemer from death to life from darkness to light from exile to our Country from Corruption to incorruption from misery to Glory from lamentation to joy O wonderfull and unheard of mixture St. Gr. Nazianzen he that is the Creator is become a Creature he that is Immense is apprehended he that is rich towards all men is become poore He hath taken the forme of my flesh that he might repaire the Image which he had made that he might endow mortall flesh with immortality A wake now O my soule look upon the face of thy Saviour Behold that face in times past full of light with very much splendor now veiled for thee contrary to Charity Beautifull with comelyness now swolne contrary to comeliness esteemed for sweetness now spit upon contrary to favour desireable for love now made abominable contrary to desire See now O my Soule and diligently consider the strange and unheard of wonders our Lord hath done upon earth God is mocked that thou mayest be honoured the Innocent is whipped that thou mayst be comforted the just is crucified that thou mayest be freed the Immaculat Lamb is slain that thou mayest banquet Blood and Water are launced from his side that thou mayest drink c. Look therefore into the price of thy Redemption appeasing the offence of prevarication Behold the example of Information giving help of sanctification Behold the aide of protection laying open the Gate of Imprisonment receive the reward of retribution bringing the grace of Justification Behold O Soule too delicate by continuall contemplating and do by perfectly imitating according to the example of consummated Iustice that which is shewed thee in the Mountaine that is to say in the most victorious passion of Christ Dost thou not consider that thou art puft up with corporall delights and Christ thy Lord thy King thy spouse thy Master and Friend is afflicted with all kind of pains in every part of his Senses by all sorts of men The King mocked him the chief Ruler Iudged him the Desciple sold him the Apostles left him the chtefe Priests Scribes and Pharisees delivered him the Gentiles whipped him the rabble rout and common People condemned him the Souldiers crucified him Saint Bern. That head feared by Angelicall spirits is Crowned with Thorns that face more beautifull then the sonnes of men is spit upon by the Jewes Those Eyes clearer then the Sunne wax dimme in death Those Ears which heare Heavenly Hymnes heare the outragious infultings of sinners That mouth which instructeth Angels it moystned with Vinegar and Gall Those Feet whose footstoole is adored because it is holy are fastened to the Cross Those hands that have framed the Heavens are extended on the Cross and fastened with Nailes his body is beaten his side opened with a launce And what more There remained not in him any thing free but only his Tongue that he might pray for sinners and commend his Mother to his Disciple These Saint Bern. And what more O faithfull soule our Saviour with none of these intisements of his adverse Enemies cold be withdrawn from the care of our Salvation But by how much the more his Aemulation is shown by so much if we despise this the more grievous damnation follows us SOVLE O Man I have been long silent because those things which thou hast proposed both with joy and griefe I have received with a devout mind Rejoycing therefore I will rejoyce in our Lord because he hath loved me so much that he spared not his only begotten Son for me O inestimable love of Charity thou hast delivered thy Son that thou mightest redeem a hand-maid and yet not worthy the name of a
to be entangled with so great greifs Saint Augustine libro Confessionum Although without the love of Charity St. Hierome every one may rightly believe yet he cannot attaine unto Beatitude because such is the force of Charity that even Prophesie and Marytrdome without it are esteemed as nothing no Vertue can Equall Charity For Charity obtaineth the Excellency of all Vertues O my God give thy selfe unto me St. Aug. Render thy self unto me I love thee and if that be too little I will love more forcibly I am not able to limit that J might know how much J want of thy love to that which is sufficient that my life might runne into thy embraces and not to divert untill it were hidden in the secrets of thy Countenance This J only know that whatsoever J have without thee and all plenty which is not my God is poverty SOVLE NOw therefore O Man seeing as thou sayest J ought to love my beloved Lover for all these things tell me J pray thee how much and in what manner J may love him to the end J may repay the multiplicity of his so great an Affection MAN O My Soule St. Bern. although according to Saint Bern. the cause of loving God be God himselfe yet the method to love him is to love him without method notwithstanding we can find by the Revelation of holy Scripture a certaine method For he that hath given thee love hath shewed thee a manner how to love saying Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart with all thy soule and withall thy strength Love therefore O my soule with a singular love God the Father who hath so nobly created thee of nothing Love God the Sonne who so inestimably hath reformed thee in dying for thee Love God the Holy Ghost who so mercifully and so sweetly by often comforting thee hath preserved thee from sinne and hath strengthened thee in Good Love therefore God the Father valiantly that thou mayest not be dangerously overcome by any other strange love Love God the Sonne wisely that thou mayest not be craftily seduced by any other love Love God the Holy Ghost sweetly that thou mayst not be poysonously infected with any other strange love Or thus according to Saint Bern. Learn of Christ O Christian soule in what manner thou oughtest to love Christ Love sweetly wisely and valiantly Sweetly That all other love may be base to thee in respect of his love and let him only be to thee Honey in thy mouth melody in thy Eare and Jubilee in thy heart Love him wisely that thy love may continually burne in him only and in no other Love valiantly that thy frailty may joyfully undergo all sharp and bitter torments for him that thou mayest say My suffering is scarce the space of an houre or if it were more I feel it not for the love I owe him These Saint Bern. Thus let a Christian by love towards Christ continually resolve Saint Hiero. that he may willingly endure all things for him untill he shall come unto him Let us love Christ and alwayes seek to cleave fast to his embraces and every thing shall seem easie that is difficult Saint Ambrose O my soule alwayes keep in thy mind how sweetly Christ loved thee in his Incarnation how wisely in his Conversation and how valiantly in his Passion There is no love greater no Charity more sincere no Affection stronger the Innocent hath dyed for thee finding nothing in thee that he might love SOVLE TEll me I pray thee O man under favour I ask not out of curiosity but of humility not of presumption but rather of Devotion what is it that I love when I love my God Hugo de S.V. MAN O My soule if thy Question were presumptuous then it were too vitious but because it hath it originall from devotion it deserveth a devout answer Heare therefore In his Book of Confessions what that great Lover of God Saint Augustine saith When I love my God saith he I love not a form or comelinesse not time nor the Candor of that light which is lovely in sight nor â—weet Melodies nor unguents fragrantly senting nor Manna nor Honey nor bodyes acceptable to the Embraces of the flesh These things I love not when I love God But what do I love I love a certaine light a certaine voice a certaine odour a certaine food a certaine Embrasing of my inner man Where there is something shyneth to my soule which no place can comprehend where there is something soundeth which time is not capable of where there is something casteth an odour which a blast cannot disperse where there is something savours which Appetite cannot diminish where there is something cleaveth fast which saciety cannot pull away SOVLE TEll I pray thee O man yet a little of the vertue of Charity which being known the mind may more strongly be enflamed in the love of God MAN TRuely O my Soule the fruit of Charity is great but hidden For according to Saint Augustine it endureth adversity it mitigateth prosperity it is strong in hard suffering pleasant in good works most safe in temptation most liberall in Hospitality amongst true friends most mercy amongst false most patient It is secure among reproches liberall to them that hate it pleasant in time of Anger innocent among treacheries weeping at iniquity taking comfort in truth St. Aug. in praise of Charity O happy love from whence ariseth strength of Manners Saint Bern. purity of affections subtilty of understanding sanctity of desires clearnesse of works fruitfullnesse of Vertues dignity of merits sublimity and height of rewards and honours O sweetnesse of love O the happy love of sweetnesse let my heart feed on thee and let the bowells of my soule be replenished with thy Nectar O my soule how sweet is the food of Charity which refresheth the weary strengtheneth the weak and exhilerateth the sorrowfull For it maketh the yoak of truth sweet and his burden light I confesse O Lord I have not sustained the waight and heat of the day but I carry a sweet yoak and a light burden For my work is scarce the space of an houre and were it more I perceive it not in respect of thy love But what is more O my soule such is the force of love that it is necessary thou be like unto that which thou lovest and to whom thou art joyned by affection in some sort by the society of love thou shalt be transformed in to its similitude The end of the first part The Second Exercise How the Soule by mentall Exercise ought to convert her contemplation to things that are externall that she may know 1 How unstable worldly wealth is 2 How mutable worldly Excellency is c. 3 How miserable worldly Magnificence is CHAP. I. How unstable worldly wealth is SOVLE NOw I see how miserable every soule is setting her heart on worldly things which are attained with labour possessed
I sigh before I eat It is the office of the Soule to eat and to be fed with the Contemplations of supernall Light Let it therefore sigh before it feed because he that doth not humiliate himself in this Exile by the bewailing of Heavenly desires cannot tast the joyes of the eternal Kingdom For they are barren of the food of Truth who are delighted in the scarcity of this Peregrination 2. The mind ought to be exercised in the acting of good things and in the suffering of evil Blessed are they that mourne for they shall bee comforted Because those whom the love of truth moveth to affection the refreshing of Consolation feedeth St. Bernard O good Jesus how often after innumerable tears and groans hast thou annointed my wounded Soul with the Oyntment of thy merey and somtimes almost despairing hast received me and being comforted and presuming of mercy hast utterly left me Behold in what manner the reward of good things is in it self wherfore truly though in the beginning the way be straight which leadeth to life yet in process of time it is enlarged with the sweetness of inestimable love O how blessed therfore is the consolation which divinely is infused into them that suffer for Christ The third thing wherein the Soule is inebriated with this sweetness is the elevation of the mind when happily the Soul is drawn form earthly delights and after a certain wonderfull manner is elevated above it self above the world yea above every Creature that now the Soul can say The King hath brought me into his Wine-Cellars This is that Wine-Cellar wherinto the Soul is brought where she shal drink of the seasoned wine of the Inestimable Deity and of the most pure Milk of the incontaminated Humanity Hence O my Soul his Friends drink but his most dearest Beloved are therwith in ebriated O happy drunkenness which is accompanied with so chast and holy a sobriety of mind and body Hence it is that the Soul like a drunken man is made gladsom and joyfull in adversity strong and secure in dangers wise and discreet in prosperity free and pious in pardoning Injuries and at last lying drowsie and sleepy in the divine Embraces when the left hand of the Spouse doth friendly beare up the Bride under her head and the right hand of the lover familiarly embraceth his Beloved SOVLE O Man I confess with humility and reverence that sometimes that hapned unto me though alas very seldom That with great violence about the beginning of my conversion I have drawn my mind from earthly things and with very much endeavour have lifted it up to contemplate on Heavenly things I have entred with trembling I have gaz'd about me with blushing I have seen the Quier of Angels the Palaces and Joyes of the Patriarks and Prophets I have beheld the Tabernacles of the Apostles the Feasts of Martyrs the Solaces of Virgins and Confessors Surely I have craved the Almes of some comfort from every one of them I have desired the crumms falling from the Table of their Lord yet I have not obtained them But which is most lamentable to be heard by and by I have been repulsed of all of them as a stranger and one unknown What therfore hath the laborious elevation of the mind profitted me when no comfort hath succeeded it MAN O My Soul this so comfortless a repulse was not without cause I beleive this was the cause for that thou wouldst be a Companion of Comfort befo rt thou were a Companion of Suffering Thou wouldst be a partaker of remuneration before thou wert an Imitator of virtue Strive therefore first to be a Companion of Angels by purity and innocency a companion of the Patriarks and Prophets by humility and confidence of belief study to be a Daughter of of the Apostles and Martyrs by charity and patience a Daughter of the Confessors and Virgins by Piety and Continency and then be confident that in this thy Exile thou shalt with the Prodigal Child obtain Almes of thy Heavenly Father SOVLE O Man now I acknowledg how vain and unsavory all transitory things are and for this I despise the World I little esteem the comfort therof and I fly and contemn worldly joy as Death bringing poysons also I bewail my self past as death and I wash and cleanse my miserable mind with groans and tears and if at any times betwixt tears and groans I perceive the odour of Divine Sweetness though but a little notwithstanding as yet I unhappy and miserable hungry thirsty tast not the food of the Angels and the Wine of thy Friends St. Bern. As yet O Lord my God my heart hath not come neer unto the Abundance of thy Sweetness which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee For outwardly I am comforted howsoever with the Sent therof because it is sweeter to me then Balsom or all other Perfumes whatsoever O Lord God if the smell therof be so excellent how pleasant is the tast of thy sweetness If a little tast be of such virtue how much joy hath the Happy inebriation therwith O who will grant it unto me that thou mayest come into my heart and that thou mayst inebriate me with thy Wine and I may embrace thee O my God MAN O Devout Soule I speak under correction you are too covetous St. Aug. and I would to God you were not too presumptuous Examine your strength consider your vileness weigh your virtues and then if it please you it may suffice you rather humbly to run after the Odor of the Divine Oyntments with the young men then presumptuously to rely on your own merits ask that which you about your merits have not deserved SOVLE O Man how harsh and burdensom a Comforter art thou to me a miserable Soul How niggardly a Dispenfer if it be lawfull to say so are thou of the Divine Bounty I boldly speak it I am not able to refraine the smell thereof doth not suffice me a little tast doth not fully refresh me but affect me my love coveteth and requireth Inebriation I know him that saith Drink yee my Friends and be yee Inebriated O my dearest Beloved Though the unworthyness of the Asker do depress yet the piety of the Promiser raiseth hope O man how can I doubt but that he is ready to give me his good things who hath not disdained to suffer me my evills Art thou ignorant of that which thou hast taught many of the goodnesse of God which thou hast learned of Saint Augustine thus speaking Do vera Religione Let humane slothfullnesse blush God will bestow more then man dares ask God hath given us a pledge of this Spirit wherein we may feele his sweetnesse and may tast of the very fountaine of life wherein we may be sweetned and moystned with a sober ebriety like unto a tree that is planted by the runing streames St. Chrysostome Nothing maketh the Omnipotency of God more manifest then that he maketh those omnipotent
contemplation the comfort of the Celestiall Kingdome forget by contempt and detestation thy People and thy Fathers house that is to say the World the Devill thy selfe and vain Ambition See therefore and devoutly consider how those divine and Heavenly Spirits which have escaped the danger of this present life and misery although they can never convert themselves from that splendour of that eternall Sonne sometimes notwithstanding they convert the light of their contemplation to things below them sometimes to things above themsometimes to things interiour somtimes to things exteriour They convert themselves I say to things below them and rejoyce for three reasons First That they have overcome by the divine power such impious horrible and cruell enemies Secondly that they have avoided all their defects and sins either by the divine wisdome or long ago have amended their faults transgressions Thirdly That they have escaped such lamentabe and eternally interminable torments by the divine mercy and clemency O my Soul With how great Joy thinkest thou do they daily rejoice when they perceiue so many to be overcome of the flesh the world and the devill so many to be defiled with such diversity of sins of which they shall never obtain pardon so many without end eternally to be damned Truly then I beleive to have passed from death to life redoubleth the joy of life O Lord God if the danger in war be now so greivous how great shall the joy be in Triumph when after the world is overcome and utterly vanquished wicked Pharoah and his Army being drowned in the Red Sea all the Elect shall hold their Timbrels playing singing praising and blessing our Lord saying with one voice Let us sing unto our Lord for glorious c. Then two Cherubims shall be framed that is to say two quiers of the elect to wit the Innocenes and Penitents the one answering the other Holy Holy Holy Lord God of the Sabboth Holy God the Father that hast powerfully delivered us from the world the flesh and the devill Holy God the Son which hast so wisely justified us both from the sinne and punishment Holy God the Holy Ghost which hast so mercifully preserved us from the Eternall Torments All the Earth is full of his Glory who hath called us from the misery of the world to the joyes of the celestiall Kingdome O my Soule what a one shall that day be unto thee when thou shalt be assumed into this quier when all thy torments if thou shalt live well if thou wilt patiently suffer shal be converted into Eternall Jubisee Then thou shalt praise with exultation the Lord thy God for all these things saying I will sing the mercies of our Lord for ever Then which Song according to Saint Aug. that is fung to the praise of the glory of Christ by whose precious blood wee are delivered nothing shall be more pleasant to that City nothing more sweet Thou therefore when thou art tryed with Temptations when thou art overcom with Persecutions and when thou art molested in this World with divers Tribulations then mentally fly into Heaven and consider that this is no other thing but the Subject of eternall joy and then the consideration of the Reward lesseneth the violence of the punishment If we would consider what and how great the Rewards are which are promised us in Heaven all things on Earth would seem vile in our mind and truly not only the goods which delightfully we possesse but also the evills which lamentably wee sustain The troubles of this world are not equivalent to the fault past which is forgiven to the present Grace which is bestowed and for the future glory which is promised which thou then O my Soul with joy shalt possess when thou perfectly understandest that thou hast lived in the world with so great danger wherewith the most are oppressed that thou hast overcome the deceitfull wiles of Satan wherewith many are deceived that thou hast escaped the eternall torments wherewith innumerable are afflicted CHAP. II. Of the ineffable Delight SOVLE O Man how sound and wholsome is thy Consolation for when I consider these things which thou hast proposed by hope I receive very much comfort But O Lord God what thinkest thou shal then that be when I shall truly possess that which now I but hope for MAN O My Soule These are but little which thou hast heard yea comparatively they are as none which thou hast mentally perceived but erect the eyes of thy understanding a little and weigh and devoutly consider how great the joyes are which thou shalt perceive by these which are nere unto thee Attend therefore and consider the beautiful place which the divine wisdome hath built for thee Consider also the delicate food the curious bravery the precious Treasure which the eternal power hath gathered for thee Consider likewise the renowned Colledge with whom thy mind shall eternall rejoice by the divine clemency O my Soul consider how glorious how renowned how gladsome that house of God is the Heavenly City the secure mansion the Countrey coutaining all that delighteth Consider how clear how light how glorious that City is which needeth neither Sun nor Moon that they may shine therein but the Lord himselfe the Sun of Justice the Candor of Eternall light is the light thereof and the Lamb is the Lamp thereof O my Soule consider how high and how spacious how fair and how beautifull how comely and how renowned that City is which the most blessed Trinity of himself adorneth O City of God how glorious are the things which are spoken of thee O Israel how magnificent is the house of God and great is the place of his possessions O my Soule contemplate there the Tabernacles of the Patriarcks and Prophets the Habitacles of the Apostles and Martyrs the stately and lofty Chambers of the Confessors and Virgins the Palaces of the most heavenly Spirits that most beautifull Throne of the most blessed Trinity O my Soul though thou art here corporally yet be there mentally O my Soul fly over all things search all things visit all things enter into all the Gates in order untill thou shalt come into the Palaces of the highest King let thy mind St. Aug. be there and here shall be thy rest O my Soule willingly endeavour to be stayed willingly to be conversant in that holy City because there is life without death youth without old age light without darknesse peace without disturbance For my People shall sit in a Tabernacle of confidence and in a rich rest saith our Lord. Secondly consider the delicate food the curious bravery and the pretious treasure And who shall there be out food but that most blessed Lamb that pure and Immaculate Jesus the Son of God the Father of whom they shall administer most excellent dainties to the holy spirits in all sufficiency very excellent truly of the most pure humanity but most of the more then most blessed Divinity For then the soule
shall enter in to tast the Divinity shall go forth to tast or assay the humanity and she shall find a Pasture full of all sufficiency and satiety O how blessed are they that shal be called to the marriage e-Supper of the Lamb. There also a blessed life is drunkin its fountaine Whereupon sometimes part thereof is sprinkled as it were on this our humane life whereby we may become in temptations stronger mere Juste temperate and wiser There alwayes thirst and satiety are joyned together but after a wonderfull manner necessity shall be far from thirst and loathing far from satiety For they shall be inebriated with the plenty of thy house and thou shalt give them to drink of the Torrent of thy pleasure according to the Prophet SOVLE ANd when shall this be MAN I Beleive nor before that time Manciple untill when that sweet dispenser of the highest King the splendour of the Paternall glory the candour of the eternall light the Figure of the divine substance the mirrour without spot of the extraordinary Godlike clearnesse on whom all those celestiall spirits desire to look when such a one and so great a one shall gird himselfe and shall make them to sit down and personally passing by them shall minister unto them O my soule here devoutly consider how great joy those good spirits shall then conceive of so stupendious a dignity of him that serves them of so admirable a charity of every particular companion banqueting of the plenty of very delitious dainties of the numerous Assembly of the servitours of the sweet sounding-Eccho of the Musicall Instruments and of others playing singing and praysing the King of Glory God the Son of God In this great Celestiall and admirable banquet thou shalt hear Angels rejoycing Virgins dancing Apostles singing Martyrs sporting Confessors praysing Patriarchs and Prophets making merry all the Saints and Elect of God unanimously collauding the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost and with one voyce saying Holy Holy holy Lord God of Sabath all the Earth is full of thy Glory O how glorious is that Kingdome wherein all the Saints raigne with Christ cloathed with white stoles following the Lamb which way soever he shall go O my soule how can there be the want of any good when there is such variety of matter for the rejoycer For then shall be opened all those treasures of the Eternall God where there are all riches all delights laid up and divers and pretious gifts shall be given to every one according to their deserts But if yet these are not sufficient consider in the third place all the Colledge of Saints nere unto thee which the Divine clemency hath assembled together for an addition of thy beatitude Because the possession of any Good is not pleasant without a Companion as saith Seneca See then what tongue or what vnderstanding is able to conceive how great the joyes are of that supernall City to be present with the Quiers of Augels alwayes to assist with the most blessed Spirits the glory of our Creator and never to depare from the most blessed society of them but continually with them and of their joy to rejoyce for ever Saint Anselme For there all are known of every one there every one are known of all Nor shall it be a secret to any of them to know of what Country of what Nation of what kindred every one is borne For there shall be so blessed and perfect a charity of the Just that every one of them will love his Neighbour as much as himselfe Whereof that inestimable good shal follow that every one shall so rejoyce at the joy or good of another as though it were of his own merit Therefore when there is such an innumerable number of the Elect who thinkest thou is sufficient to declare the joy of the blessed St. Hierome describing these Joyes saith Go forth I pray hee O my soule In the end of an Epistle to Eustochius a little from the Pavilion of thy body that standing in the doore thou mayest perceive the Glory of God passing by and before thy eyes describe the reward of thy present labour What a day shall that be unto thee when out Lord shall meet thee accompanied with his Heavenly Quier when the Spouse himselfe shall meet thee with all his Saints saying Arise come make hast my beloved my deare my Dove now the Winter is over the shower is gone and past Then the Angels shall admire at thy Glory saying Who is this that ascendeth from the desert flowing with delights and leaning on her beloved The Daughters of Sion shall see thee and praise thee Then those 144 thousand in sight of the Throne and Elders shall hould their Harps and sing a new song Then thou shalt flye securely into the embraces of the Spouse saying with Jubilation I have found him whom my Soule loveth I have held him and will not let him depart Haec Hieronimus Then those seven Sonnes of that great Job who is more excellent then all that remaine in the blessed Easterne Region every one on his proper day shall make Feasts and shall invite thee their Sister thee their Companion And every one of them shall say unto thee Drink now and sit down with pleasure for thou hast found favour of the highest Prince And thou shalt answer with Joy saying I will drink and become merrier because to day my soule is magnified more then all the dayes of my life O truely unheard of magnificency O joyfull and pleasant Excellency the like whereof was never heard on Earth I beleive that all the Pompe of this World in comparison thereof would scarce be as a little drop SOVLE O Man now I have long held my peace now I haue been sufficiently silent because those things which thou hast proposed I have heard with exceeding much delight and admiration Do not prolong me I pray thee but expound to me more particularly and perfectly something of this banquet of the Heavenly spirits for that a little before thou hast touched something thereof but hast passed them over toe quickly MAN O My Soul I would rather again passe over with silence what thou requirest then with a polluted tongue utter the least thing of the Celestiall secret mystery yea or conceive in mind because I that am alas as yet too often entangled with worldly superfluous things that am alas as yet with other worldlings fed O pitty with husks of swine I very much blush and am confounded to discourse of such familiar operations of the divine Spirit Yet because I am not able to contradict thy pious desires I will speak breifly what some times the Holy Ghost instigating me though unworthy I often mentally thinke of For although in that celestiall Court where fulness of all good is perfectly in all of them although there for the difference of merits some things are bestowed in excellency yet nothing shall be possessed according to Sr. Gregory there
their God unlesse I bee whence shall they be satisfied I will be whatsoever is honestly desired of all De Civitate Dei he is the end of our Desires who shall be seen without end shall be beloved without contempt shall be praised without wearisomness this Gift this Affection this Action shall truly be All in All. I thinke notwithstanding that I may not overlong protract thee although truly that bee an inestimable and unspeakable joy yet I conceive iâ—proceedeth of a threefold cause and a triple joy shall make glad and delight those blessed Spirits for they shall delightfully rejoice in the perfect and most excellent contemplation of the divine clearnes they shall sweetely rejoice in the mellifluous and most pleasant taste of the divine goodness they shall eternally rejoice in the quiet and most secure imbracing of the divine Majesty For thou knowest O my soul that thou excellest in thy substance with three naturall powers for thou hast a rationall power which is not perfectly illuminated but by the manifest knowledg of the first Truth and a concupiscible power which is not satisfied but by the perfect love of the cheifest goodness also an irascible power which is not quieted but by the secure comprehension of the Divine Majesty Of these three blessed Saint Bernard speaketh upon the Canticles He that replenisheth thy desire with good things shall be to thy reason fulnesse of light to thy will fullnesse of peace to thy memory a continuation of Eternity Why art thou sad O my soule and wherefore dost thou trouble me hope in God because yet I will confesse unto him when all errour shall depart from thy reason all griefe from thy will all feare from thy memory and that shall succeed which we hoped for wonderfull quietnesse full sweetness and eternall security O my soule how much thinkest thou shall their joy and gladnesse be who perpetually contemplate this mirrour of Eternity wherein all things past present and to come which do appertaine to the chiefest beatitude are most manifestly beheld St. Aug. When we shall arrive at the supernall light of the Father of lights we shall understand al that can be in the creatures Then the Just shall know all that God hath made to be known And what is that they cannot know who see him that knowes all things Saint Anselme SOVLE ANd how can simplicity admit this MAN EVen as by a looking-Glass a threefold vision is demonstrated unto us Fulgen tius in that we see one selves the Glasse and whatsoever is present so by the mirrour of divine clearnesse we know God himselfe and whatsoever is present that is our selves and all creatures SOVLE O Blessed truth I now perceive that to be wise without thee is to be foolish and to know thee perfectly is to become wise MAN O My soule those things which thou desirest naturally to know earnestly endeavour to see in this mirrour seek continually to study and read therein because to have seen this once is to have learned all things Truly Plato's Contemplation 1 Theory 2 Theoremes 3 Scrutineis Aristotles Philosophy Empedocles Speculation Hypocrates Searches Ptolomies Astrology c. shall be seen there and accounted but foolishnesse Because whatsoever we understand here concerning the truth is the least part of those things which we are ignorant of But then O my soule thou shalt see and abound and thy heart shall admire and be enlarged SOVLE AND WHAT SHALL I SEE MAN THe King of Heaven in his Glory Beda The splendour of eternall pulcritude is of such and so great pleasantness and of so great sweetnesse that the very Angells themselves who are incomparably more clear then the Sunne cannot be satisfied therewith Therefore thou shalt then abound with delights in the admirable and wonderfull knowledge of the Divine cleernesse thou shalt admire at the delightfull consideration of thy own glory thou shalt be enlarged in the perfect speculation of all Creatures O stupendious and admirable Contemplation O sweet and delectable consideration O joyfull and unspeakable speculation O Lord my God how worthily is it spoken of thee One day in thy Courts is better then a thousand elsewhere Because according to Saint Augustine so great is the beauty of Justice so great is the pleasure of the Eternall light that although it were not lawfull to be delighted there in more then an houre of one day for this only innumerable dayes of this life though full of delights and on every side abundancy of temporall good things should rightly and worthily be despised For it is so beautifull and sweet that it being once seen nothing more can be desired and it excelleth all other desires SOVLE ANd is there no other thing whose Vision delighteth whose Contemplation maketh glad MAN O My Soule although these above be sufficient if there were no other thing there yet there remaines one thing though I should for beare to speak of the sweet and pleasant vision of all the others almost innumerable which wonderfully gladdeth the minds of all the Celestiall Spirits and after a certaine wonderfull manner I know not with what inestimable joy inebriateth every blessed creature to wit to see the exceeding glory of our Heavenly Father and the glorified humanity of his most blessed Sonne Who O my soule is sufficient as to think how great joy it begetteth to see the Viâ—gin Mary not now lying with her Infant crying in the Manger not now going about weeping seeking and saying Have ye not seen him whom my soule loveth when shee had lost her most beloved Infant for three daies but now looking on him with Eternall Joy For now shee shall not be troubled as flying into Aegypt from the face of Herod because he is ascended into Heaven but Herod into Hell Now she is not troubled about many things which the Jews have done to her Sonne because all things are subject to him Not now surely watching crying out complaining and saying Who will grant it me that I may dye for thee O my Sonne Absalon when she stood neere unto her only Son hanging and dying on the Crosse now not lamentably lamenting when the Disciple was given her instead of her Master a Servant in stead of her Lord a Creature in stead of the Creator as though it were a stranger instead of her only and most sweet Sonne But now she that in times past was so miserable for us being full of so great sorrow is inestimably exalted above every Creature raigning with Christ in the Pallace of the exceeding blessed Trinity singing rejoycing and saying I have held him and will not part from him And Christ himselfe saying Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy loaden and I will refresh you And this Come unto me all ye that desire me add ye shall be filled from my Generations O my Soule devoutly consider in thy mind what a joy full of all sweetnesse it is to behold a man the Creator of man a woman the
hand-maid O Lord Jesus Christ who for me hast not spared thy selfe so vulnerate my heart and so Inebriate my mind with thy blood that what way soever I shall turne my selfe I alwayes may behold thee Crucified and whatsoever I shall look upon may appeare to me ruddy with thy blood that so I may wholly intend thee that I might not find any thing beside thee nor behold any thing but thy wounds This is my comfort I have crucified my self O Lord with thee and let it be to me intimate affliction to mediate upon any thing except thee There is no Affection greater no charity more sincere Hugo de Sancto Victore no love stronger the Innocent hath dyed for me finding nothing in me that he might love But alas as often as I consider this wonderfull favour of divine Piety towards us I am not a little confounded and ashamed of my too much Ingratitude MAN O My Soule thou hast forsaken thy Spouse Hugo de Arrha Animae thou hast prostituted thy love and hast not given thanks for these great benefits yet that he might release thee from thence whence thou hadst falne he hath pleased to descend and piously to suffer that which thou didst endure Think therefore how much he loved thee which by no way but by dying would free thee from death Wherefore O my soule by how much the more worthy thou knowest the benefits of thy Redeemer are by so much the sinnes of thy Ingratitude are the worse See therefore that thou be not ingratefull on whom so many benefits are bestowed for the sinne of Ingratitude is very great because according to Saint Bern. Ingratitude is as it were a burning Wind drying up the Rivers of divine mercy the fountaine of clemency the torrents of Grace Consider therefore O my Soule often ponder and revolve in thy mind the horrible sentence which is pronounced against ingratefull persons in the Person of our Saviour saying O Soule see how great things I suffer for thee I call unto thee who dye for thee See the paines wherewith I am tormented See the Nailes wherewith I am pierced heare the reproaches wherewith I am confounded But although the externall griefe is great yet the Internall torment is far greater when I find thee so ingratefull and else where It is inveighed against ingratefull men in the person of Christ saying Et alibi Bernard O my people what have I done unto thee or in what have I molested thee answer me What is the cause thou wouldest rather obey my Enemy then me Consider that I am he who have created thee I have enriched thee with all good things if these be accounted but little to ingratefull persons yet I have redeemed thee with my most pretious blood Ah! O my soule let not these things depart from thy heart slip from thy mouth alwayes render thanks never cease to blesse and magnifie the only begotten Sonne of God for these his great benefits Let they dearly beloved be for all these benefits sometime to thee a Bundell of Myrrhe in thy heart sometime joy in thy mind praise in thy mouth Melody in thy Eare. SOVLE NOw I am not able longer to containe my self tell I pray thee what shall I render our Lord for all that he hath bestowed on me MAN O My Soule as St. Bern. saith In his Meditations thou owest to him thy whole life and not unworthily because he laid down his own life for thee and hath sustained cruell torments that thou mightest not endure eternall punishment What therefore can seeme hard unto thee when thou shalt call to mind that he that is comely in the favour of God would be crucified for thee O how undue a pitty how free a favour how unlooked for a Charity how wonderfull a sweetness is it that the King of Glory should dye and be crucified for a most despicable worme O how sweet a friend how strong a helper how wise a reconciler is this SOVLE O Man J confesse and truely acknowledge if J had the lives of all the Sons of Adam in me all the dayes of an Age the endeavours of all men that are have been or shall be it were nothing in comparison of that which my Spouse hath sustained for me which the Son of God hath suffered for my sinnes When as therefore J shall give all that J am and whatsoever I am able it will not be as a starr to the Sun as a drop to an Ocean or as dust to a Mountaine MAN O My Soule because I now begin to consider that the Eye of Contemplation being more perspicuous thou acknowledgest the Grace of divine redemption whereby thy Spouse hath delivered thee from originall sinne yet a little now I will begin to speak for my God and show thee to that heap of divine mercy whereby thou art freed from actuall sinne also Convert therefore the light of Contemplation unto the benefit of justification and consider the favour of thy Lord how paternally by secret inspiration he hath recalled thee from sinne how sweetly and how lovingly he hath recalled thee comforting thee by internall communication saying Return Return O Shunamite that is O soule by sinne miserably infected captivated or mortified Returne saith hee O Soule to mee I am thy Creator returne I am thy Redeemer Returne I am thy Comforter And if these seem but little returne last of all because I am thy very liberall rewarder Returne therefore to me I am hee that have so nobly created thee Returne I am he who so mercifully by my most bitter death have delivered thee from eternall damnation Return to mee I am he that so manifoldly have enriched thee with spirituall and corporall good things Returne at last to me O soule I am he who so liberally have now rewarded thee by prepared felicity Returne saith hee from the sin of thought Returne from the sinne of Speech Returne from the sinne of Action Return from the sinne of Custome Returne to me O Soule the Saints with great desire expect thee and at thy comming the Angels rejoyce Return Jesus Christ calls thee with hands extended on the Cross Returne the Abiss of the whole Trinity wait for thy returne O Soule if thou well remembrest this is the voice of thy welbeloved inviâ—ing thee Consider now how great hath been the longanimity of him expecting thee O what a long time he hath expected thy comming alas what a time hath he suffered thee in thy sinnes O how many and for what hath he damned for their sinnes before thy conversion yet mercifully hath he expected thee alwayes sinning Returne yet O Soule Christ expecting thee on the Cross hath his head inclined to kiss thee a a sinner and uncleane hath his Armes stretched forth to embrace thee his hands open to forgive thee his body extended wholly to bestow himselfe upon thee his feet fastened to remain with thee his side opened to suffer thee to enter therein Be therefore now O
my soule a Dove nesting in the crevices of the Rock flye into the hollowness of his hands flye into the wounds of his feet flye into his side there is thy rest there is thy security These Saint Bern. O my soule if thou couldest worthily think how many what sort in comparison of thee are rejected Hugo de S.V. which have not deserved to attaine unto that Grace given thee Therefore thy Spouse hath elected and preelected thee he hath chosen thee in all he hath taken thee from all he loved the before all Art thou ignorant how foul thou wert before how polluted and dissolute thou remaindest before He hath washed thee with the water of Regeneration he hath fed the with the food of his most sweet body He hath clothed thee with the Garments of Vertue wherewith thou mightest cover and adorne thy nakednesse He hath bestowed on thee the sweet smelling Odours of good works whereby thou mightest eschew the stench of sinn he hath given the a mirrour even the Scripture wherein thou mightest see thy selfe Thus farre Hugo O my soule thou hast seen the longanimity of him Expecting thee Even now convert the light of thy contemplation to the mercy of him justifying thee Think diligently from whence after all these things is this so inestimable a favour that thou deservest to be his Bride on whom the Angels desire to look What therefore wilt thou give unto our Lord for all these things which he hath given thee For he hath given thee by Grace that thou mayest be a Companion of his Table a companion of his Kingdome a companion of his Bed See with what Armes he is to be embraced of thee with what lipps he is to be kissed who hath esteemed thee at such a rate that he would cleanse thee with his blood and for thee take upon him the sleep of death SOVLE I Confess now and acknowledge I approve and understand that I have received much more then these from my God but that I have repayed for all these nothing worthy so great benefits Wherefore Saint Bernard saith I will sing the mercies of our Lord for ever for that I consider six mercyes done unto me 1. That he hath preserved me from many sinnes 2. That he hath not presently condemned me sinning but I prolonging my iniquity he hath prolonged his Piety and Compassion 3. He hath changed my heart that those things might be sweet unto me which formerly were bitter 4. That he hath mercifully received me repenting 5. That he hath given me ability to forbeare and amend 6. That he hath given me hope to that I shall be pardoned Tell me now O man concerning this divine clemency what I shall render to our Lord for all these things least I be found unworthy to receive if I shall be found ingratefull for those that are received What therefore shall I render to our Lord but that I shal love and give thanks confess and sing prayses to his eternall and blessed name because he is so ready to forgive me my evills and bestow upon me such inestimable good things I attribute it to his grace that he dissolves my sinnes like Ice I attribute it to his grace what evills soever I have not committed and therefore I count all things to be forgiven me whatsoever he being my guide were not committed by me Saint Aug. in his book of Confessions MAN O My soule know that whatsoever thy beloved hath bestowed on thee whatsoever he hath sustained for thee he hath consumated the whole in perpetuall charity wherewith he hath loved thee wherefore as I think whatsoever is given of love only is repayed neither better nor more decently then by love SOVLE BEhold O Lord my God if these things be so how much ought I unhappily and miserable soule love my God who hath created me when I was not hath redemed when I should have perished and hath delivered me from many dangers when I did wander he reduced me when J was ignorant he taught me when I sinned he corrected me when J was sad he comforted me when J stood he held me when J fell he lifted me up when J went he led me when J came he received me These and many other things God hath done for me of which it shall be pleasant unto me alwayes to speak alwayes to think alwayes to give thanks God grant that I may be able to laud and love him for all his benefits For truly according to the Author of the Spirit and Soule he governeth all things he filleth all places he is every where present taking care of all and providing as well for every one in particular as for all yet so I see him wholly employed for my custody as though he had forgotten all and would have care of me only For thus he doth exhibit himself present unto me he alwayes offers himselfe prepared if he find me ready that whensoever I turne my selfe he will not forsake me unlesse I first forsake him Neither have I wherewith to repay him for all these but only that I love him O good Iesu how often after immense and innumerable tears how often after divers sobs and groans hast thou annointed me being wounded and almost at the point of despairing with the unction of thy mercy and hast gladly received me almost altogether fainting nor yet hast thou forsaken me presuming of pardon But above all these O Good Iesu the Cup of thy passion which thou hast drunk being the work of our Redemption which thou hast undertaken not unworthily doth render thee Amiable unto me For this is that which chalengeth to it selfe all my love this is it which more fairely allureth more justly bindeth and more vehemently moveth my devotion For where thou hast humiliated thy selfe where thou hast put from thee thy naturall brightnesse there Charity hath more appeared and Grace hath more amply shined I charge you saith the Soule O yee Daughters of Hierusalem In the Canticles if ye find my beloved that ye tell him that I am sick of love The Soule doth not hyde whom she loveth because she beleeveth him present to all whom she doth not let passe from her thoughts I love thee O Lord and love is impatient which cannot be pacified with tears untill that be granted unto it which it is in love withall Nothing com forteth its sorrow so long as it beholdeth not what it desireth SOVLE BUt whether or no O Man is he held to love God who rejoyceth that he in no wise hath committed such things as I have committed MAN O My Soule let not any one scorne thee it is convenient that the sick be cured of him from whom it is appointed that he should not be sick or perhaps that he might more cautiously avoyde greater troubles And therefore even so much yea truly the more let him love God because by whom hee perceiveth me to be deprived of so great paines of my sinnes by him he perceiveth himselfe not