expanges vngulae fodiant cruces suspendant ignes lambant gladij guttura detruncent bestiae insiliant Paratus est ad omne supplicium ipse habitus orantis Christiani Whyle we are thus prayinge with our armes spread abroade lett the hookes digge vs the Gibbetes hang vs the fyers consume vs the swordes cutt our throates the beastes flye vppon vs the verye behauiour of a Christian in prayer sheweth him readye to all kynde of tormentes A wyse shipmaister when he setteth forth from the shore and goeth to sea layinge asyde the remembrance of wyfe children house and familye employeth his bodye and mynd onlye to the due performance of his office in auoydinge the daungers and directinge his shippe to a gaynfull hauen You are now lanched out of the porte of worldlye prosperitye into the sea of temporall discomforte in Gods cause and therefore it behoueth you to vncomber your selues of all earthlye cares You must displaye the sayle of your soule vppon the mast of Christes Crosse betake you to the tacklinge of vertue keepe your hande vppon the sterne of good order and discipline and beinge aparted from earth lifte vp your eyes towarde heauen You must directe your course by the motion of the starres and planettes that is by the example of former Saintes that so hauinge Christ for your Pilott the inspirations of the holy Ghost for your gale you maye goe through the stormes of persecution ouercome the surges of worldlye pleasure passe the shelfes of alluringe occasions auoyde the shipwracke of deadlye offence and finallye safelye arryue to the porte of lyfe and perfitt repose Now is the tyme wherof the spouse in person of the Churche sayde Surge Aquilo veni Auster perfla hortum meum et fluant aromata illius Arise north and come southwynde blowe my gardeyne and lett the spice therof flow downe These windes now blow it is now tyme that the spice fall the vertues constant examples of Saints that laye hidden and couered amongst the leaues be with this persecution shaken from them and layde open for euery one to gather We must now ascend ad Montem mirrhae to the mounte of mirrhe which is in taste bitter and Ad collem Thuris to the hill of frankincense that giueth no sweete sauour but whē it is by fyer resolued Our heauenly smith hath now brought vs into the forge of triall and kyndled the coales of persecution to proue whether we be pure golde and fitt to be layde vp in his trea surye Now whyle this winde is stirring commeth the winnoer with his fanne to see who is blowen awaye lyke lyghte chaffe and who resisteth to the blastes lyke massye wheate That which lyeth hidd in the younge blade of corne is displayed in the ripe eare that which is concealed in the flower is vttered in the fruite Many beleeuers are deemed aequall whome triall prooueth of vnequall fayth the tribunall sheweth what was couered in the budd agreeablye to that sayinge by theire fruite you shall knowe them Manye flowers promise a multitude of fruite but when they are once putt to the proofe by stormes of wynde verye few perseuer to the full grouth So manye seeme faythfull in the calme of the Churche but when the blastes of aduersitye bluster agaynst them few are founde in the fruite of martirdome The conninge of the Pilott is not knowne till the tempest riseth nor the Captaynes courage till the warre beginneth nor the Catholickes constancye till the Persecutor rageth Persecution as Tertullian noteth is Pala quae Dominicam aream purgat scilicet ecclesiam confusum aceruum fidelium euentilans discernens frumentum martirum paleas negatorum The shulue which purgeth our Lordes floore that is the Church fāning the confused heape of the faithfull and seueringe the corne of Martirs from the chaffe of deniers This is the ladder which Iacob dreamed of which shewed to some the waye into heauen and to others the descent into hell This is the water of contradiction by which Gods seruauntes are proued according to that Probasti in tentatione iudicasti ad aquas contradictionis Thou hast taken triall by tentation and iudged vs at the waters of contradiction This is the water at which our heauenlye Gedeon trieth who are fitt soldiers to assist him agaynst the Madianites and he seuereth such as fall on theire knees for greedines and thirst of worldly vanityes from those that reach with their hande so much onlye as their necessity requireth Of whome God sayeth in tre centis viris qui lambuerunt aquas liberabo vos In those three hundred men that haue licked the waters will I deliuer you S. Chrisostome reporteth that the shepherdes of Capadocia for the care they haue of their flockes many times lye three dayes together couered with snow and they of Libia are contented whole monethes to wander after their flockes in those desertes that are full of cruell wilde beastes preferring the care of their catell before their owne daungers How much more are the Pastores yea al the Catholikes of this time boud to endure the pinchinge and freesinge colde of what aduersitye soeuer yea and the hazardes of cruell persecutors that lyke wylde beastes haue turned this vinevard of our contrye into a bar ren desert rather thē to suffer so much as in vs lyeth Christes flocke ether to be scandalized by our example or destitute of our necessarye endeuours For as in a serious earnest battayle wher vppon the state of the common welth depended and the King him selfe were in cōplet harnesse with his weapons ready in person to fight for his kingdōe If anye of his nobles should come into the fielde with a fanne of fethers in steed of a buckler and a poesye of flow ers in steede of a sworde and in euerye other respect more like a carpet knight then a man of armes The Kinge could not but take it in verye euill parte So surelye must Christ if in this spirituall warre agaynst his Churche for which he fought in person and receyued so manye woundes we should looke on more lyke worldly wantones then true soldiers and not be as readye as our Kinge Capteyne to venture our liues in the same quarell Now therefore is the tyme that it standeth vs vppon to shew proofe of our selues Now must it be knowne whether we be vasa in honorem or contumeliam Vessels of honour or reproch whether we be signed with the name of the lambe or touched with the marke of the beast Antichriste whether we be of the wheate or of the cockle and finallye whether we belong to the flocke of Christ or to the herd of Beliall Cap. 8. And a thousande tymes happye are you whose prisons are proofes whose cheynes are pledges of your future immortallitye A thousand tymes happye I saye whose estate is both glorious here a sure waye to an vnspeak able glorye of the worlde to come For as S.
AN EPISTLE OF COMFORT TO THE REVEREND PRIESTES TO THE HONORABLE Worshipful other of the Laye sort restrayned in Durance for the Catholicke Fayth Matt. 11 Regnum coelorum vim patitur et violenti rapiunt illud The Kingdome of heauen suffereth violence and the violent beare it awaye Deus tibi se Tu te Deo IMPRINTED AT PARIS TO THE READER Hauing written this Epistle of comforte to an espeaciall frende of myne and not thincking at the first to lett it passe anye farther not onlye the tyme to whiche it principallye serueth but the entreatye of diuerse enforced me so farr that I could not but condescende to the publishing of the same though it cost me no smale labour in altering the style Accept therfore gentle reader my good will and hartye desire of thy comforte And albeit as thou wilt easelye by the reading perceyue neyther the style nor the conceipte answereth to the wayt importance of the subiect Yet I hope that thou shalt not finde it so barren fruitelesse but that therin thou mayest gleane some eares of comfort picke some few cruÌ„mes for thy spirituall repast And if through thy good disposition tendernesse of mynd thou finde anye farther contentment therby then of it selfe it would yelde whatsoeuer thou demest prayse worthy attribute it to the spiritt of that body wherof I am an vnworthy meÌ„ber to which next vnto God I owe what good soeuer is in me But if any thing be a misse impute that to myne owne error or ignorance Thus wishinge thee the full effecte which by reading hereof thou desirest I cease to with holde thee with any longer preface THE PRINCIPALL CHAPTERS ENTREATED IN THIS Epistle The First cause of comforte in tribulation is that it is a greate presumption that we are out of the deuils power Cap. 1. The Second that it sheweth vs to be Gods children tenderlye beloued of him Cap. 2. The Third that we are moued to suffer tribulation willinglye both by the president of Christ and the title of a Christian. Cap. 3. The Fourth that tribulation best agreeth with the estate and condition of our lyfe Cap. 4. The Fifte that we suffer litle in respecte of our desertes Cap. 5. The Sixte that the cause we suffer for is the true Catholicke fayth Cap. 6. The Seuenth that the estate of the persecuted in a good cause is honorable Cap. 7. The Eyght is the honour of imprisonmeÌ„t for the Catholicke fayth Cap. 8. The Nyneth that death in it selfe to the good is comfortable Cap. 9. The tenth that tormentes in a good cause are tolerable Cap. 10. The Eleuenth that Martyrdome is glorious in it selfe most profitable to the Church and honorable to the Martyrs Cap. 11. The vnhappinesse of the lapsed and Schismatickes and comfortes agaynst their example Cap. 12. That Heretickes can not be Martyrs Cap. 13. The Twelft comfort is the glorye due vnto Martyrs in the next worlde Cap. 14. A Warning to the persecutors Cap. 15. The Conclusion Cap. 16. AN EPISTLE OF COMFORT TO THE REVERENDE PRIESTES AND TO THE Honorable Worshipfull and other of the layesorte restrayned in DuraÌ„ce for the Catholike Fayth IT hath bene alwayes a laudable custome in Gods Church for such as were afflicted in time of persecutioÌ„ not onlye by continuall prayer and good works but also by letters bookes to comforte one an other And although â—he estate of imprisoned Confessours or as the Fathers call them designed Martyrs hath bene so honorable and they euermorâ— presumed to be so especially lightened and assisted by the holye Ghost that the fountaine of spirituall delightes was thought alwayes to lye open vnto them yet because inward helpes are nothing preiudiced yea rather abettered by externall motiues I thought it no presumption to shew my reuerent affectioÌ„ towardes Gods prisoners by presenting vnto theÌ„ this epistle of comfort And though others haue largely entreated of the same subiecte and that in very forcible sorte yet because where the same calamities are stil continued the remedies agaynst them can not be to often repeated I deemed it not vnprofitable in this heate seueritye of molestations to employe some labour in a thing of the lyke tenour For as to the wayfaring pilgrim wandering in the darke and mistye night euery light though neuer so litle is comfortable to the stranger that traueyleth in a land of diuers language any that can though it be but brokenlye speake his contrye tongue doth not a litle reioyce him So peraduenture in this foggye night of heresie and the confusion of tongues which it hath here in our Iland procured this diÌ„me light which I shall set forth before you and these my Catholicke though broken speaches which I shall vse vnto you will not be altogether vnpleasant And though I maye saye with Tertullian that as the sickest are most willing to talke of health not for that they enioye it but because they desire it So I exhorte you to patience rather as one that wold haue it then as one that possesseth it yet because somtimes a diseased Phisician maye prescribe helthsome phisicke and a deformed engrauer carue a fayre image I hope no man will blame me if for my owne good and your comfort I haue taken vpon me to addresse vnto you this short treatise Wherein I will enlarge my selfe but in a few poyntes which seeme vnto me the principall causes of consolation to those that suffer in Gods quarell Cap. 1. ANd first it must needes be a great comfort to those that ether reclaimed from schisme or heresie or from dissolute lyfe to the constaÌ„t professioÌ„ of the Catholike fayth are for that caâ—se by the deuill his instrumeÌ„ts persecuted for that it is a very great signe that they are deliuered out of his power by him accounted for sheepe of Gods flocke seinge that otherwise he would neuer so heauilye pursue them The poore creple had lyen long at the pond vppon Probatica and none would saye a worde of rebuke vnto him but so soone as he was by Christ cured both in bodye and in soule begaÌ„ne ioyfully to execute his commaundement they streyte reproued him for carying his bedd on a sabaoth daye The lyke we reade of that selye blynd man who so longe as he coÌ„tinued in his blindnesse was neuer called in questioÌ„ but so sone as his eyes were opened not onlye he himselfe but his parents also were presentlye conueÌ„ted WheÌ„ Mary Magdalen came to wash Christs feete with teares and anoynt them with pretious oyntmente there was a Simon to murmur at her for the one and a Iudas to reprehend the other who notwithstanding spake not agaynst her while she helde on her lewd and damnable course The deuill desireth allidere paruulos ad petram to dash our litle ones against the rocke that is to blast vertue in the budd before it growe either to fruite or flower So beganne he with Eue in paradise in
theire sinnes without correction There is a people sayeth Dauid whose sonnes are like florishing young spyres their daughters decked and trimmed like temples theire granaries and sellers full of prouision their sheepe cattell fatt fertill no ruines in theire howses no noyse nor crye in their streetes But for all this doe not you saye Beatus populus cui haec sunt Blessed is the people that hath these thinges The oke is stately of grouth full of fayre leaues and casteth a pleasante shadowe but the fruite therof serueth for nothing but for swine to feede vppon And Clemens Alexandrinus compareth such to the prophane temples of the Egiptians on which if you looke you shall first seâ— verye sumptuous and stately buildings garnished about with varietye of marbles portraytures and curious workes with in the first roomes adorned and decked with gorgeous furniture and greate maiestye But if you goe into the secretest Chappels to view the God for whose honour all this solemnitye preparation is vsed you shall finde some vglye viper or crocodyle or some other venemous serpent So is it with those that enioye prosperitie in this worlde If you coÌ„sider their houses they are costlye and glorious if you marke their attyre it is fayre and precious yf you view theire bodyes they are personable and comelye But if you enter into their inmoste roome and consider what is harboured in all this brauerye you shall not finde a cleane image of God but in place therof a monstrous vglye sinfull soule in the state of damnation and therfore be not deceyued wtth their vayne externall glose Though you see the fishe merelye catch the bayte and with fleetinge and turning to and fro to seeme to reioyce at it maruaile not sayeth S. Augustine neyther deeme it happye the fisher hath not yet pulled the thred the hooke is not yet fastened in the fishes guilles but surely it will be one day verefied in such Sicut pisces capiuntur hamo aues laqueo sic capiuntur homines in tempore malo As the fishes are catched with the hooke the birdes with the snare so are men taken in time of miserie And in the ende how-soeuer they nowe dalye and playe in pleasure the fisher as Abachuc foretolde Totum in hamo subleuabit trahet illud in sagena sua et congregabit in rete suum He shall drawe all vpp with his hooke and shall hale and gather it into his nett And then alas for theire libertye they shall reape restraynte and for one daintye bitt be an eternall praye of the woroing deuouringe helhoundes And for this cause doth God chastice his children in this life if they can not be wonne with easier remedies whom he seeth redye to ruÌ„n astraye he holdeth backe with a hard bitt of aduersitye hedgeth theÌ„ in with the thornes of tribulation I will hedge in thy waye with thornes sayth God to the sinfull soule and I will inclose it with a wall First like a most faythfull paramour of our soule hangiâ—â— in moste rufull maner naked wounded and redye to dye vpon the Crosse he hath often sent vs em bassyes of loue sayinge Dicite dilecto meo quia amore langueo Tell my beloued that I languishe for loue And we most vngratefullye haue refused his messengers He hath shewed vs his feete nayled to attend our comminge his side open to geue vs entrance his armes stretched forth readye to embrace vs his head inclined to afford vs the kisse of peace his eyes shutt to all our offences his eares vnstopped to heare our petitions his handes open to enrich vs with his gyftes finallye a multitude of bleeding woundes to shewe vs how entierlye he loued vs and how dearlye he bought vs. But we like the stifnecked Iewes nothing moued with his excessiue loue haue contemned all his in uitings yea when vttering his most ardent desire of our soules he sayde sitio I thirst we answered him with a drafte of eyfell and gall and when yelding vp the ghoste to conclude our redemption he sayde Consummatum est It is coÌ„summated we with most brutish sauage hartes fought with his dead cors not sparing with one yea with a thousande speares of our sinnes to wound him to a second yea to many deathes Yet hath not all this vngratefulnes altered his affection but seing that he can not moue vs with so manye griefes susteyned in our behalfe he obscureth the sonne of our comfortes he sendeth earthquakes of tribulations he maketh the graues open and setteth death before our eyes to wynne in a maner by force sith by loue he coulde not and to make vs euen amongst the mydst of his enemies with the Centurian to confesse him and saye Vere filius Dei erat iste Vndoubtedlye this was the sonne of God The vanities of this worlde cast the soule into such a delightsome phrensie and lull it so daungerouselye a sleepe that maynye in a franticke fitt of licentiousnes runne hedlong to perdition Et dum letantur insaniunt And while they reioyce they raue And other in a carelesse and remisse kynde of life sleepe them selues to death Sicut vulnerati dormientes in sepulchris like wounded wretches sleepinge in theire graues And therefore God holdeth ouer his children the rodd of tribulation both to temper and staye to raging moode of the franticke and to rouse the dead sleepers out of their letargye And as it can of no reasonable man be construed but in good parte to bynde keepe in awe yea to whipp and beate the mad man when he falleth into his rage likewyse to pynch nipp wring yea and with redd hott yrons to burne the sicke of a letargye when he entereth into his dead sleepe So for God to correcte our former or to preuent our future infirmities by the scourges or hott yrons of affliction can not but be thought the parte of a mercifull prouident father for as S. Augustine oteth Non omnis qui parcit amicus est nec omnis qui verberat inimicus Meliora sunt vulnera amici quam blanda oscula inimici Melius est cum sinceritate diligere quam cum lenitate decipere et qui phreneticum ligat et letargicum excitat ambobus molestus ambos amat Not euery one that spareth is our friend nor euerye one that striketh our enemy Better are the woundes of a friend then the flattering kisses of a foe Better it is to loue with sinceritie then to deceiue with lenitie he that byndeth the franticke or waketh the sicke of the letargye though to both ttoublesome yet to both is verye friendlye To weane vs from an vnnaturall nurce God anoynteth her teate with the bitternesse of tribulation and as a mother desirous to affectionate her childe to her selfe aboue all other maketh all of her householde to vse it curstly in shew that finding good intreatye of none but her it maye the willinglyer
suum amori tuo copularet Loue the loue of him that for the loue of thy loue descended into the wombe of a Virgine and afterward asceÌ„ded to the ignominy of the Crosse that there he mighte couple his loue and thy loue together What Christian harte can thincke much to suffer beyng moued with this example yea who woulde not glorye with S. Paule in his infirmities and take greatest comforte in his desolations seynge the most louinge faythfull spouse of our soule hath thus sweetned all our paynes with the excesse of his vnspeakable charitie and geuen vs such a presidente in suffering for vs as it must needs seeme litle whatsoeuer we suffer for him Shall the loue of a mortal friend not only a moue vs but enforce vs to loue him agayne and his perils for vs make vs eagre of perils for him because therbye both our loue to him is best witnessed and his loue to vs most confirmed and shall not this loue of an imortall welwiller who tendereth vs more then we our selues and in all respectes better deserueth to haue his loue counteruayled shall it not I saye be able to inflame vs with desire to suffer for him to testifye our affection with continuinge the same in the middest of our tormentes if need so require We see a dogge that is voyde of reason by onlye instinct of nature readye for hauinge receyued a bone or a crust of breade to runne vpon the sword in his maisters defeÌ„ce We thincke it the dutye of our seruant if we geue him but fortye shillings in the yeare to hazarde him selfe in our perils to fight in our quarels and we condemne him as an vngratefull miscreant if he stand not betweene vs and our enemyes as a buckler of our blowes though the daunger be neuer so apparant And shall a christian harte be eyther more vnnaturall then a beast or lesse thaÌ„kfull theÌ„ a hired seruant shal a crust of breade preuayle more with a brute thinge or a litle money with a hyrelinge then with vs the foode of Angels wherwith Christ hath fedd vs then his precious bloode wherwith he hath bought vs then eternall felicity wherwith he will rewarde vs Yea and shall men be so readye to serue the deuill that we see thousands euery daye carelesse to cast awaye both bodye and soule in followinge his trayne shall we to serue our omnipotent and louing Lord refuse to venture our goods or bodyes with so vnestimable benefitt and vantage of our soules S. Ciprian sayeth When Christ in the daye of Iudgement shall shew him selfe laye open to the worlde the benefits which he hath bestowed the rewardes which he hath promised the tormentes and paynes which he hath suffered for man then shall the deuill on the other syde most greeuouslye charge vs and saye vnto god Loe how much more right I haue in man theÌ„ thou I neuer loued him and yet he serued me I neuer did him good turne yet he obeyed me Without woing or wages I easely woÌ„ne him What I suggested he performed whatsoeuer I profered he imbraced No perils could stopp when I allured no feare or loue of thee coulde moue him to abandon and forsake me For obteyning a vayne pleasure he hath yelded to most seruyle drudgerye to please an appetite he hath contemned all gods and mans punishmentes hath bene readye to venture libertye liuing creditt yea lyfe and limme for the atchiuinge a delighte that I cast in his fantasie And yet did he vndoubtedlye beleeue that in steed of thy loue I bare him implacable malice in steede of thy sufferinge tormentes for him I desired to be his eternall tormentour wheras thou didest promise eternall felicity I coulde afforde him nor wishe him anye thing but endlesse damnation Yet coulde not this though foreseene and thought of withdrawe him from me but still he was readye to be drawne with my lore and so soone as I set him anye seruice to doe he forthwith putt it in executioÌ„ On the other syde what hast thou preuayled with the miseries of thy poore natiuitye with the grieâ—e and shame of thy paynfull circuncision with thy three and thirtye yeares pilgrimage bestowed in his seruice Hath thy fastinge or prayinge thy whippinge or crowninge thy bloodye death or passion bene able to counteruayle my suggestions Hath not for all this my motions bene sooner obeyed then thy preceptes my will preferred before thy commaundementes If therfore I haue ruled him reason it is that I should rewarde him And if with me he contemned thy mercye with me also lett him feele thy seueritye In this maner shall the deuill accuse vs happye is he that in this lyfe hath so testified his loue by his patience in gods cause willing sufferance of aduersitye that he maye eyther preuent the accusatioÌ„ or be prouided of a sufficient answere Consideringe therfore how glorious how decent yea and necessarye it is for a Christian to take vp his crosse with Christ and tread the path of tribulatioÌ„ which he hath playned vnto vs by his owne example lett vs not be dismayde with these crosse aduentures that befall vs lett not the crueltye of our enemyes the sharpnesse of our miseries the continuance of our afflictions daunt our courage in gods cause We are not better then our maister who suffered farr more nor wiser then god him selfe who iudged and embraced the distresses of this worlde as fittest for the passengers therof Finally we are Christians whose captayne is a crucifixe whose stendard the Crosse whose armoure patience whose battayle persecution whose victorye death whose triumphe martirdome Cap. 4. BVt though this example of Christ and the title of a Christian were not so forcible motiues to suffer aduersitye as they be yet consideringe where we are what state we stand in the daungers that hang ouer vs and our ordinarye misses and wantes we shall finde that our whole lyfe is so necessarilye ioyned with sorowes that it mighte rather seeme a madnesse to liue in pleasure theÌ„ odious to liue in paine Consider O man sayeth S. Bernard from whence thou comest and blushe whether thou goest and feare where thou liuest and lamente We are begotten in vncleanesse nourished in darkenesse brought forth with throbbs and throwes Our infancye is but a dreame our youth but a madnesse our manhode a combate our age a sicknesse our lyfe miserye our death horror If we haue anye thing that delighteth vs it is in so manye hazardes that more is the feare of leasinge it then the ioye of the vse of it If we haue anye thing that annoyeth vs the agreuance therof increaseth with the doubt of as euill or worse that maye strayte ensue after it Which waye can we cast our eyes but that we shall finde cause of complaynt and heauinesse If we looke vp towardes heauen from thence we are banished If we looke tawards earth we are there imprisoned On the right hand we haue the sayntes whose steppes
pedibus eius nouissima eius amara quasi ab sinthium Her filth is in her feete and the last of her pleasures are as bitter wormewoode Seeing therfore that all our troubles penaltyes restrayntes afflictions be but meanes to remember vs of our place state daungers and profession and but seedes of comforte and eternall glorye howsoeuer they seeme here couered and corrupted in earth Lett vs solace our selues in hope of our ioyfull haruest We are but pilgrimes and haue no citye of aboade but seeke a future place of rest If the waye had bene besett with pleasures with true delyghtes with vnfadinge odoriferous flowers we should haue easilye bene slacked in our iorney towardes heauen beinge drawen and with-helde with the pleasant view desire of these allurementes And therfore god hath made our throughfare tedious vncomfortable and distresfull that we hasten towardes our repose and swyftly rūne ouer the cares of this lyfe imitatinge the dogges of Aegipt that of the riuer Nilus drincke runninge lest if they stayed to take their full draughte at once they should be espyed and stunge by venemous serpentes Whereuppon S. Peter warneth vs Tanquam aduenas peregrines abstinerenos a carnalibus desiderijs quae militant aduersus animam Like strangers and pilgrimmes to absteyne from fleshlye desires which fyghte agaynst the spirite remēbring that this world is a deluge of miseries and heauen onlye our arke of securitye out of which though the vncleane crowe can vppon carren and dead carcases finde footing and litle care to returne yet the cleane and chaste doue abhorring such a lothsome abode without this arke can not fynde anye rest but with the wynges of penitent harte and longing desire flickereth still at the wyndowe vntill it please our Noe to put out his mercifull hand and receyue it into the Arke of his heauenlye felicitye Cap. 5. But suppose that the pleasures of this world place or state of our lyfe were such that they rather inuited vs to comforte and ioye then to sorowe and patient sufferance yet if we consider what our lyfe hath ben what our sinns are what punishments therby we haue deserued we shall thinke god to deale moste myldlye with vs and be moste ioyfull of our troubles which be allotted vs in liew of most vntollerable chastisementes What hath our whole lyfe bene but a continuall defiance battayle with God Our senses so manye swordes to fyght agaynst him our wordes blowes and our workes woundes What haue our eyes and eares ben but open gates for the deuill to sende in loades of sinne into our mynde What hath our sente taste and feelinge ben but tinder and fuell to feede and norishe the fyer of our cōcupiscence Our bodye that ought to haue ben a temple of the holy ghost a chaste cleane harbour of an vnspotted soule a bed of honour and a gardeyn of delyght for him that sayde delitiae meae esse cum filijs hominum My delyghte is to be with the children of men What hathe it ben but a haunt of deuils a stewes of an aduoultresse and a filthye sepulcher of a corrupted soule as full of carrein and venome as any poysened carcas What hath it ben but a forge of Satan wherin the fyer of our passions kindled with his wicked instinctes he hath enflamed our soule and made it so plyable to his purposes that vppon the Anduyle of euerye pleasure and sensuall delighte he hath wrought it to most vglye and detestable shapes And as for the soule that was betrothed and espoused to Christ in baptisme that was beutified with grace fedd with the repast of Angels and a treasurye for all gods riches that was a receyte of the blessed Trinitie and ordeyned to the felowshipp of Angels in eternall blisse What hath it ben but a most ryetous disloyall and vngratefull losell Our vnderstandinge hath ben lyke a most lewd Priuado to prsent vnto the will incentyues and instrumēts of sinne Our will a most lewd common curtesan coueting lusting after euerye offer that she aliked Our memorye a register and record of wicked and abhominable sightes sayings and deedes for our sinfull thoughtes and phansies to feede vppon Finallye what parcell of our bodye what power of our soule wherof god hath giuen vs the vse haue we not abused to his dishonour warring agaynst him with his owne weapons employing our lyfe motion and beinge to the continuall incensynge of him In quo viuimus mouemur sumus In whome we lyue we moue and we are Seeing therfore we haue not onlye bene sinfull but euen a lumpe masse of sinne what thinke you was due vnto vs if god had dealte with vs according to his iustice Which the better to consider lett vs call to mynde how odious a thing vnto God sinne is and then maye we the better perceyue how mercifullye we are dealt withall to haue our heynous faultes rather chastised here then in hell and how worthy we may thinke our selues of all our heauye scourges Of God it is sayde that nihil odisti eorum quae fecisti Thou hast hated nothinge of all that which thou hast made Onlye that nothinge of which as S. Augustine expoūdeth it the Gospell speaketh sine ipso factum est nihil without him was made nothing that is sinne this nothing I saye is the cause that to some things he beareth an vnplacable hatred The deuill in his nature is more amiable thē man beinge of nobler substance of higher excellencye and endewed with higher prerogatiues then we Yett who knoweth not how muche God doth hate him We knowe what tender affection God hath alwayes shewed to mankind for whose sake he hath made this world and enriched and garnished it with so glorious ornaments besydes other infinite tokens of a moste tender loue howerlye shewed vnto vs. And yett it is sayed Odisti omnes operantes iniquitatem Thou hast hated all that worke iniquitye And in the booke of wysdome Odio est deo impius impietas eius Hatefull is to God the impious his impiety If therfore both the wicked man and the deuill him selfe is so deepelye of God detested and for no other cause but onlye for sinne How abhominable must we thincke that sinne is When we will make a comparison of a thing that is euill in the highest degree we can fynde nothing to lyken it vnto worse then the deuill And when we haue named him we thincke to haue reckened the last and greatest euill that can be imagined For the which cause of Tertullian and the auncient fathers he was called Malum the euill it selfe As who would saye that no other name was sufficient to expresse his noughtinesse And as badd odious and detestable as he is more odious detestable is sinn which is the onlye cause of his odiousnesse of which if he were ridd he were a more glorious and louelye creature then anye
the same thinges are helpes and comfortes vnto vs that were scourges and most cruell torturres to our forefathers When two guiltye wretches are conuented before the same iudge for crymes of lyk tenour and qualitye if the one be condemned to endure the extremity of the lawe hath not the other greate cause to tremble and quake yea and vndoubtedlye to looke for the same entreaty But now if contrarye to his desertes the iudge mitigate his sentence in liew of a rigorous chastismente appoynte some farr mor easye then that which to his felow was allotted Hath not he rather greate cause to be gratefull to the iudge for the benefite of his deliuerye then anye waye to murmur or repyne at his verdict How then can we hauing so manye examples of condemned persons for the lyke sinnes whereof we are also guilty but highlie prayse the mildnesse of our heauenlye iudge that hauing so hardlye vsed others he hath mercifullye spared vs and relented the heauye hand of his iustice to laye so easye a burthen vppon vs. Yea when we ether looke vpp to heauen or downe to earth or on the ayre fyer or water about vs remembring howe terrible they haue ben agaynst others how can we but muse how they haue ben with-helde from wreaking vppon vs the lyke indignation But to passe from preambles to the thinge in deede from shadowes to the truthe from gentle warninges to the penaltye it selfe I will leaue the reuenge of sinne shewed in this lyfe and come to that which is prepared in the next in respect wherof al the formētioned miseries are but very small resemblances and forerunninge signes This we maye gather of Christs owne wordes who reckening all these calamityes saying Natiō shall ryse agaynst nation and kingdome agaynst kingdome and ther shal be great earthquakes in places and greate pestilences and famines and terrours from heauen and there shal be signes in the sunne moone and starres and vppon earth distresse of nations for the confusion of the sounde of the sea and waues men wythering for feare and expectation what shall come vppon the whole worlde for the powers of heauen shal be moued Hauinge I saye reckened all these he addeth Initium autem dolorum haec These are but a beginninge of the griefes as who would saye these wonders and straunge euentes are but pronostications of thinges to come as a smoake in respect of a terrible ensuinge fyer and lyke a musteringe of soldiers before the sadde battayle What therefore will the paynes be that these beginninges portend and how rigorous a sentence that hath so fearefull remonstrances before the iudgement But lest I be to tedious I will not stand to make a full declaration of the tormentes of the next world but onlye briefly touch so much thereof as maye be enough for vs to ghesse at the rest And first not onlye these aforesayde afflictions or at the lest the terrour and payne therof but all other paynfull and vnpleasant thinges that are in this worlde scattered and dispersed in diuers places and creatures shal be there vnited and ioyned to the reuenge of sinne And that in such sorte that whereas here diuers of them are sufficient alone to worke our temporall death and he that hath indured one is past feare of susteyning anye other there euery sinner shall susteyne them all in farr more cruell maner then any of them can here punishe and besydes them also infinite other panges proper and peculier to hell So that whatsoeuer there is in the whole worlde or euer hath ben or shal be that can payne sighte hearing sent taste or feeling what disease or vexation so euer can here torment the hart the hed ioints bones sinews veins or any parcel or mēber of our bodye whatsoeuer can most or lest trouble or annoye our will memory or vnderstāding or any poure of our mynde all these and a thousand tymes more shall ioyntlye at one instant and that foreuer most vnmercifully torment eche sinner in euery part of bodye and soule And to descende to some particulers First if we consider the place the verye names therof maye giue vs to vnderstande how miserable a thing it is to be thrust into it It is called a bottomlesse depth or pitt a profound lake of the wrath of God outward darcknesse A pond burning with fyer and brimstone A well of perdition a huge Chaos of confusion a prison a fornace of fyer and is by Iob thus described An obscure lande couered with the fogg of death a lande of miserye and darcknesse where the shadow of death and no order but euerlasting horrour inhabiteth Nether as S. Cirill noteth can anye deliuer him thence by flyght nor prouide anye escape because he is fast shutt vpp The prison wall is vnsuperable the Gayle full of darcknesse the fetters vnsoluble the cheynes able by no force to be vnfastened finallye whatsoeuer can make anye place odious and detestable shal be all there vnited to store that roome with furniture fittest for sinners desertes Nether shall the comfortes of the companye anye whitt relieue the discomforte of the place For first they shall haue the Deuill and his Angels in most horrible frightful shapes which how fearfull they shal be may be gathered by the wordes and description sett downe in Iob. Who sayeth God shall open the gates of his countenance throughout the compasse of his teeth appeareth feare His bodye is lyke founded shieldes compacted together with scales pressing one an other His neesing is like the blasing of fyer and his eyes lyke the eye liddes of the morning Out of his mouth come lampes lyke flaming torches of fyer Out of his nostrills issueth smoake as out of a kindled boyling pott His breath maketh the coales to burne and flame goeth out of his mouth In his necke shall remayne his strengthe and before his face goeth needinesse His harte shal be hardened lyke a stone pressed hard together lyke the hammerers anuyle In hell sayeth Cassianus dwell the hideous fiendes whose armes are lyke Dragons heddes whose eyes shoote out fierye dartes whose teeth sticke out lyke Elephantes tuskes sting to their tormente lyke scorpions tayles Finallye whose sighte striketh terrour dolour death into the beholders Of men out of this world they shall haue as S. Ihon noteth the timorous incredulous accursed murderers fornicatours wiches Idolaters lyers to whom S. Paule addeth adulterers effeminate sodomites theeues couetous persons dronckerdes raylers extortioners the verye rifraffe and dregges of mankynde Neyther is here an end of theire number The Prophet Esaye yett telleth vs of more there sayeth he shall the bestes rest and their howses shal be filled with Dragons There shall struthions dwell and the apes shall leape There shall the skrichoules giue an Echo in the houses and the Sirens in the temples of their pleasure O vnhappye place and more vnhappye companye what tormentes in this lyfe come
the light is a meane to discerne the good from the badd the mierye from the cleane waye our friend from our foe So doth the true faythe geue remedyes agaynst all stench and corruption of vice and sheweth the path of vertue and trueth from the dirtye waye of sinne and erroure Cap. 7. Now as concerning your estate how can that be but honorable where your quarell is so good seing the cause honoreth the combate and assureth you of the finall victorye Your counterpeeres are mightye their force very greate their vantage not vnknowne their malice experienced theire tormentes to fleshe and bloode vntollerable but your Captayne hath alwayes conquered your cause hath ben always in the end aduanced your Predecessors neuer loste the fielde wherfore then sholde you haue lesse hope of the victorye Christianitie is a warfare and Christians spiritual Soldiers their conflictes continuall though their enemies be diuers In the beginninge our faythe was planted in the Pouertye Infamye Persecution and Death of Christe In the Progresse it was watered and dunghed with the blood and slaughtered limmes of Gods Saincts And it cannot come to the ful grouthe vnlesse it be fostered with the continuall showres of Martirs woundes You are the choise captaines whom God hath alotted to be chiefe actours in the conquest Your veynes are conduittes out of which he meaneth to driue the streames that shal water his Church he hath placed you as the fayrest and surest stones in the forefront of his building to delighte his friendes and confound his enemies with the beautie and grace of your vertuous lyfe and patient constancie Now is the tyme come for the lighte of the world to blaze out beames of innocencie for the salt of the earth to season the weake soules bending to corruption Yea and for the good shepheard to spende his life for the defence of his selye flocke Tempus putationis aduenit The loppinge time is come and to the intent the tree of the Churche may sproute out more aboundantlye with yong twigges the branches and bowes of full grouth are lopped Nowe is that tyme come of which Christ fore-warned vs. Erit vt qui occiderit vos arbitretur se obsequiuÌ„ praestare deo It shal come to passe that he that kileth you shal thinke he doth god a good peece of seruice And as S. Ciprian sayeth fiunt ecce quae dicta sunt et quando fiunt quae ante praedicta sunt sequentur et quaecunquae permissa sunt Domino ipso pollicente ac dicente Cum autem videritis haec omnia fieri scitote quoniam in proximo est regnum dei Loe the thinges that were sayd are now done and now sith that it is fulfilled that was fore tolde that which was promised wil be also performed Our Lord him-selfe assuring it and saying when you see all these thinges to come to passe then knowe you that the Kingdome of heauen is neere at hande When we see the flower we hope for the fruite and take it as a presage of a calme temperate and pleasant season Our floures that foreshew the happye calme of our felicitye growe out of these thornes and of these bryars must we reape our fruite If the stalke wouÌ„d the flower healeth if the reapinge be troublesoÌ„e the fruite is the more delight some Lett no man denye the sea to be deepe sayeth S. Ambrose because the shores be shallowe nor heauen to be cleere because it is sometymes cloudy nor the earth to be fertill because it is some where vnfruitefull nor the cropp of corne to be good because it is mixed with barren otes So thinke not the haruest of a good conscience to be lost though it be interrupted with some sorowfull and bitter shoures The ignorant peraduenture will condemne vs that thincke it no follye to make account of the gall of Tobias fishe Lett theÌ„ muse at our madnesse that most willing lye feede on Sampsons honicombe when it is taken out of the Lyons mouth Lett vs not regarde their phreneticall laughtures and rauinge scoffes Animalis homo non percipit ea quae sunt Dei A sensuall man vnderstandeth not the thinges apperteyning to God We know that the floure of Iesse gaue his most pleasante sent and came to his full grouth vpon the Crosse we knowe that the fruite of lyfe was not gathered without thornes we knowe finallye that gall was chosen in extremitye by the most experienced and perfitt taster and the honicombe not eaten till after his resurrection wheÌ„ it was in a manner fetched out of the Lions mouth whome he had by his death victoriouslye foyled Our choyse agreeth with our Captaynes examples and both the tyme and our cause moueth vs therunto If two keyes were offred vs the one of golde sett with diamaÌ„ts rubies perle curiously wrought hanged in a cheyne of greate price the other of olde rustye iron vnhandsome and shapelesse to beholde tyed in a rotten corde and yett this the true keye to infinite treasure the other to a sincke of corruption and a dungeon of dispayre whiche of these two keyes were in reason to be desired This rusty key is trouble and affliction the key of golde worldlye prosperity That openeth heauen gates For Per multas tribulationes oportet introire in regnum Dei By manye tribulations must we enter into the kingdome of God This other openeth hell dores Multos enim perdidit aurum argentum For manye hath golde and siluer cast awaye We must now remember the last will that as S. Ambrose sayeth Christ made vppon the Crosse. Author pietatis in Cruce pendens testamentum condidit singulis pietatis opera distribuens Apostolis persecutionem Iudeis corpus Patri spiritum Virgini Paranymphum Peccatori inâ—ernum Latroni Paradisum Christianis vere paenitentibus Crucem commendauit Vnde inquit Maximus omnis Christiani vita qui secundum euangelium vixerit crux est atque martirium The author of lyfe hanging vpon the Crosse made his will allotting to euerye one workes of pietye to his Apostles persecution to the Iewes his bodye to his father his soule to the Virgin a Paranymphe to the sinner hell to the theefe Paradyse to the repentante Christians he commended the Crosse. Whereuppon S. Maximus well sayeth that all the lyfe of a Christian that will lyue agreeably to the Gospell is a perpetuall crosse and martirdome We must now acknowledge our profession and not be ashamed of our inheritance which Christ allotted vnto vs. We must saye with S. Paule Mundus mihi crucifixus est ego mundo the worlde is crucified vnto me and I to the world To put them selues in mind of this the olde Christians in Tertullians tyme were wonte to praye with theire armes streatched out as men all readye crucified in mynde and readye in Gods cause to be crucified also in bodye Where vppon Tertullian speakinge of this gesture in prayer sayeth Sic Itaque nos
Ciprian sayeth Longo temporum ductu glorias vestras non subtrahitis sed augetis tot vestras laudes quot dies quot mentium curricula tot incrementa meritorum By the longe tract of tyme you diminishe not your glorye but increase it So manye are your prayses as dayes so many encreases of merites as courses of monethes Of you there is no doubt whether you be for the barne or for the fyer for you being there layde vpp lyke cleane wheate and precious corne Hospitium carceris horreum computatis Your lodginge of the prison you accounte your barne For though the prisons be in them selues foldes of Satan to harbour his lewde flocke yett when the cause ennobleth the name of a prisoner the prisoner abolisheth the dishonour of the place What thing of olde more odious then the Crosse what place more abhorred then the mounte Caluarie what roomes more reprochefull then the Criptes grottes and dungeons of Saintes Yett now what thing more honorable then the holye Crosse what place more reuerenced then the foresayde mounte what sanctuaries more desired then the dungeons of Saintes So doth God defeate the Deuill of his vsuall hauntes and of kenels ordeyned for the couching of his hell houndes frameth mansions of greate merite portes of saluation for his owne seruaunts A reprochefull thing it is to be cheyned in sinne gyued in wickednesse and shutt vpp in the deadlye prison of mortall offence A miserable thing it is to be enthralled in the vassalage of the deuill in the seruile subiection to our lawlesse appetites and in the slauishe bondage of worldlye vanityes But O pedes faeliciter vincti qui itinere salutari ad Paradisum dirrigantur O pedes compedibus trauersarijs interim cunctabundi sed celeriter ad patriam glorioso itinere cursuri O feete happelye cheyned which are directed a safe waye to paradyse O feete for a tyme foreslowed with fetters and boltes but shall hereafter with a glorious iorneye swiftelye runne vnto their contrye Honorable it is in Gods quarell to be abridged of bodilye libertye for mainteyning the true libertye and freedome of our soule The birdes beinge vsed and naturallye delighted with the full scope of the ayre though they be neuer so well fedd in the Cage yett are they all wayes pooringe at euery cranie to see whether they maye escape For why they vnderstand not that in the Cage they are both surer from the kyte hauke and fouler then abroade neyther marke they the benefitt of theire assured repayre from harde weather and worse foode But for a reasonable creature and withall a Christian Catholicke so much to affecte a daungerous libertye as not to accounte of the benefitt of his prison in so good a cause it can not but be thought an imperfection especiallye consideringe how manye perils of our soule are cutt of and how highlye our spirituall welfare is aduaunced Lett vs not in this be lyke the senselesse byrdes but rather imitate them in an other propertye which is that in the cage they not onlye singe their naturall note both sweetlyer and oftener then abroade but learne also diuerse other farre more pleasant and delightsome So we both keepe and oftener practise our wonted deuotions and besydes learne new exercises of vertue both for our owne comfort and example of other And when might you so freelye range emongest the quires of Angels as when you are sequestred from the distractions of vaine companye when could you take a fuller repast of the sweete fruites of prayer and contemplation then when the onions garlicke and fleshe pottes of Egipt are farthest out of sent and sight Your eyes are not to much troubled with impious and wicked sightes your eares not annoyed with bloodye outcryes and heynous blasphemies You are quitt from many scandals and seuered from occasion of diuers tentations Finallye thincke not of the name of a prison and you shall finde it a retyringe place fittest to serue God If it restrayne you of temporall comfortes your bootye is gainfull that by losse of transitorye deserue eternall If your bodye be chastised your soule is cherished and the pyninge of the one is the pamperinge of the other You forsake a paradyse of of poysening delightes for a place that yeldeth cause of grounded and true solaces Yea and as Tertullian noteth if you way from whence you came and where you are you shall fynd that you are rather deliuered out then committed into prison Greater darknesse hath the worlde which inueigleth and blindeth not onlye the eyes but the hartes of men Heuyer cheynes and shackles doth the worlde lay on vs which doe fetter and entangle our verye soules Farr worse ordure and stenche doth the worlde breath out I meane ribaldrye carnallitye and all kynde of brutishe behauiour Finallye more prisoners guiltye persons hath the worlde the whole generation of mankynde not to be iudged by the vmpiershippe of anye earthlye magistrate but by the censure and verdicte of almighty God Happye therfore are you if you can recken your selues translated out of prison into a place of preseruation which if it be combred with darcknesse your selues are lampes to light it If it charge you with gyues yett are you loose and vnbound towardes God If you be pestered with vnsauery smell you are frankincense and sauour of sweetnesse If it affright you with expectatiō of iudges Your selues hereafter shall iudge nations and rule ouer peoples With this saying of Tertullian doth S. Ciprian agree O blessed prison sayeth he which your presence hath honored O blessed prison that sendeth the men of God to heauen O darknesse brighter then the sunnne it selfe and more cleere then the light of this worlde where the temples of God are now placed and your members sanctified with your diuine confessions of your fayth Lett them complayne of the difficultyes of the prison that haue fastened their affection vpon worldlye vanityes A Christian Catholicke euen out of prison hath renounced the worlde in his baptisme and it litle importeth in what place he be in the world who by promise and profession hath vowed neuer to be of it Lett them complayne of the prison that knowe not the glorye and soueraigne prerogatiue of that place but for a Catholike that hath Christ for his auctor the Apostles for his witnesses all former Saintes for testimonyes howe honorable it is to suffer in Gods quarell It is a greate shame not to thincke worthilye and reuerentlye therof One that knoweth not the vertue of herbes when he walketh in the fieldes or hils without any regard treadeth vnderfoote whatsoeuer groweth in his waye making no more accounte of one herbe then of an other but if he come into a Phisicians house where he seeth manye not onlye holsome herbes but to his thinckinge stronge and vnsauerye weedes he neuerthelesse conceyueth that there is in them some secrett vertue to cure diseases And if he see the experience of theire operation muche more accounteth
he of them and wheras before he trampled with contempt vppon them he now would be as carefull to gather them Euen so one that knoweth not the vertue and honour of the Crosse cheynes prisons of Christ despiseth and abhorreth them as contemptible dishonorable thinges but if he come into this schoole of our heauenlye Phisician I meane the scripture and there see these thinges had in accounte and view the strange operation of them not onlye in Christ him selfe but in S. Paule S. Ihon Baptist others how can he choose but haue them in greate esteeme and be readye if occasion serue to trye the force thereof in his owne selfe howsoeuer the ignorant iudge them as vnprofitable weeds and badges of disgrace What place of more price then Kinges Pallaces yea what place so glorious as heauen and yett S. Chrisostome sayeth that kings courtes and heauen it selfe yeldeth to the glory of the prison that harboreth Christes prisoner For as the Princes presence honoreth the basest cottage and maketh it more esteemed and resorted vnto then the most statelye buildinges So the presence of Gods prisoner in the most infamous dungeon maketh it a courte and resorte of Angels and a paradyse where God him selfe delighteth to walke and taketh pleasure in the constancye of his afflicted seruantes For such is the honor that the cheynes giue him that is a captiue in Gods quarell that his roome what soeuer it be is honorable and he by his fetters more richely adorned then he could be with anye Princely or imperiall robes Mardocheus was not so much honored with Assuerus royall garmentes nor Salomon so glorious in his costliest habitt nor Herode so adorned when he sought in his gorgeous attyre to boast him selfe for a god as S. Ihon Baptist was when he had atchiued that title Ioannes in vinculis Ihon in cheynes Yea imagin not onlye what pompe hath of any Emperour or worldly potentate ben shewed In golde iewels or anye ornamentes of highest price but also what might be shewed if mans wishe might be putt in execution yett maye it still be sayed with S. Chrisostom Pudet diuitias et auream munditieÌ„ huiusmodi conferre vinculis I am ashamed to compare riches or the purenesse of golde with such cheynes For in truth they are but base comparisons in respect of other things of greter preeminence whiche neuerthelesse amouÌ„t not to the dignitye of beinge cheyned for Gods cause It was a great prerogatiue to be an Apostle a Doctour an Euanglist It was a singuler fauour to be rapt into paradyse and to the third heaâ—en to heare secrettes that it is not lawfull for man to speake It was a rare priuiledge to heale anye disease not onlye with the touch of his handes but with the touche of his verye handkerchers and girdles And yett S. Chrisostome of these thinges sayeth Admiranda quidem fuerunt ista sed non qualia illa Cae sum autem multis plagis coniecerunt in carcerem Merueylous thinges were these but not lyke to those other whipped with manye stripes they cast him into prison And this S. Paule him selfe seemed to acknowledge in thâ—t he writinge to Philemon he omitteth his vsuall style of Paulus Apostolus or seruus Iesu Christi Paule an Apostle or seruant of Iesus Christ begineth his epistle with Paulus vinctus Iesu Christi Paule a prisoner of Iesus Christ. Wherin he seemeth to follow the custome of great personages who when from inferiour dignityes they are enhanced to more honorable titles they alwayes in theire letters omitting the other sett downe their principall style proper to theire new atchiued prefermente But now to speake of the highest glorye whiche men chiefely esteeme what place more acceptable then heauen what seate more to be wished then the thrones on Gods right hande what company comparable to the felowshippe of Angells what dignitye so greate as to be one of the celestiall spirittes that haue theire roome next vnto God And yet S. Chrisostom thought S. Paules prison a worthyer place his clogges and cheynes worthyer seates his fellowe captiues more honorable companye and the state of Christes prisoner a more surpassing dignitie And if you aske the cause he will answere for that it is more glorious to a stout soldier more pleasant to a true louer to suffer for their Captayne and laboure in seruice of their Loue then to be honoured by them Potius mihi habetur affici pro Christo quam honoraria Christo. I account it more honorable sayeth he for Christ to be trobled then of Christ to be honored For if Christ becomminge man stripping him selfe in a manner of his maiestye thought it not so honorable to be in his glorye as for vs vppon the Crosse how much more ought we to deeme it a singuler preferment to suffer for his sake The Apostles did greatlye reioyce that they were vouchsafed with this honour Ibant gaudentes a conspectu consilij quod digni habiti sint pro nomine Iesu contumeliam pati They wente reioycing from the presence of the couÌ„cell for that they were thoughte worthye to suffer reproche for the name of Iesus But we neuer reade that they so reioyced at their power ouer deuils the gyfte of miracles or other lyke especiall fauours which well declareth how muche they prised theire persecution more then theire authoritye And therfore Christ sayde Beati estis not for commaunding deuils not for raysinge the dead or healing the lame or working of infinite wonders But beati estis cum maledixerint vobis homines persecuti vos fuerint dixerint omne malum aduersus vos mentieÌ„tes propter me You are blessed wheÌ„ men hate you and persecute you and speake all the euill they can agaynste you belying you for my sake But if it were a blessednesse to worke wonders in this respect also the cheynes of Christ were able to make vs blessed What greater miracles then for those that are fast bounde to vnloose for those that haue their handes manacled and theire feete fettered to shake the foundations of the prison to open without key or other materiall instrument locked fast barred dores To vncheyne not onlye the fast bound bodyes but the enthralled captiue soules What stranger thing then the same cheyne that byndeth the bodye in earthe to bynde the soule to God in heauen to make a prison of miscreantes a church of Christians and the nest of vipers a nurcerye of Saintes What greater wonder then Iaylours to desire to be vnbounde by theire cheyned Captiues and yelde them selues voluntarye prisoners to those whome they violentlye kept in durance And if these seeme smale matters consider what reuereÌ„ce the verye senselesse and vnreasonable creatures beare vnto Christes cheynes The Viper durst not stinge the hand of S. Paule that those cheynes had bound Nether tempest storme sea nor shipwracke coulde drowne those passengers whome these cheynes defended How did Felix tremble and quake at
worthye thing that is the sworde whiche by the lightnes of the scaberd is easely perceyued So that pernicious fierflash of sinne thoughe it leaue the bodye and goodes sounde and impayre not the outwarde state yett kylleth it the soule and leaueth it dead wherof the gaudye lightnes of their outwarde behauiour is no obscure signe Lett vs not yelde to suche follye but rather reioyce in our enclosure and glorye in our bandes remembring that the longer we weare them the more honour we shall purchase by them and the better we lyke them the more benefitte shall we reape of them Semel vincit sayeth S. Ciprian qui statim patitur at qui manens semper in paenis congreditur cum dolore nec vincitur quotidie coronatur He hath but one victorye that strayte suffereth but he that alwayes dwelling in payne doth encounter with sorowe is not conquered is euerye daye crowned And agayne blessed is that parte emongest you sayeth the same Sainte that remayneth in prison ad meritorum titulos ampliores tormentorum tarditate proficiens habitura tot mercedes in coelestibus praemijs quot nunc dies numerantur in paenis Proceedinge by the lingringe of your tormentes to more ample titles of meritt and sure to haue so manye rewardes in the heauenlye paymente as there are dayes reckoned in presēt paynes These are the true ornamentes for Christians to bost of This captiuitye is our principall freedome and the prisons are portes where God harboureth with vs here and from whence he conueyeth vs into the shore of eternall faelicitye Of this sayeth S. Ciprian Imposuerunt quoque compedes pedibus vestris ac membra felicia ac Dei templa infamibus vinculis ligauerunt quasi cum corpore ligetur spiritus aut aurum vestrum ferri contagione maculetur They haue putt shacles vpon your fecte and haue bounde your happye members temples of God with infamous cheynes as though the spiritt coulde be bounde with the bodye or your golde could be stayned with the contagion of their iron But comforte your selues and thincke this intreatye no hard vsage howbeit in them it proceede of a malicious hatred For Dicatis deo hominibus fidem suam religiosa virtute testantibus ornamenta sunt ista non vincula nec Christianos pedes ad infamiam copulant sed clarificant ad coronam To men consecrated vnto God and with religious vertue professing their fayth these are not cheynes but ornamentes neyther doe they fetter Christian feete to their infamye but honour them to their croune and glorye Of this did Salomon forewarne vs shewinge vs the protection and care that God hath of those that suffer for him and how glorious estate they be in Descenditque cum eo in foueam in vinculis non dereliquit illum donec afferret illi sceptrum regni potentiam aduersus eos qui eum deprimebant mendaces ostendit qui maculauerunt eum dedit illi claritatem eternam He descended with him into the pitt and forsooke him not in his cheynes till he brought him a scepter of a kingdome and powre agaynst those that did oppresse him and shewed thē lyers that did defame him and gaue vnto him an eternall glorye Remēber therfore the goale and you shall comfortablye passe ouer the race regarde not so muche where you are as where you shal be Thinke not so much of the comfortes that you want as of the wage that you winne Grieue not at the companye from which you are barred but reioyce in that to which you are prepared and assure your selues that how few soeuer you see yett are you not alone to whome Christ and his Angels haue continuall accesse Solus non est cui Christus comes est solus non est qui templum dei seruans vbicunque fuerit sine deo non est He is not alone sayeth S. Ciprian who hath Christ for his pheere he is not a lone that keeping the temple of God vndefiled where soeuer he be without God he is neuer Finallye considering that our lyfe is but a warfare and we alwayes in the field agaynst our professed enemyes to whom in our baptisme we badd battayle by defiynge and renouncing them Seing also the times be such that those whiche sticke vnto the truthe are in a manner designed to the slaughterhouse in so muche that we maye truelye saye Propter te mortificamur tota die aestimati sumus velut oues occisionis For thy sake we are mortified all the daye are accounted as sheepe for the butcherye These thinges I saye considered lett vs take our prison as a place of preparatiō a priuate schoole of exercyse to trayne and instructe vs for the publicke serious and moste sharpe frayes For as Tertullian sayeth It is not for the aduantage or behoofe of a valiant soldier to come from disportes to bloodye strokes or from the carpett to the campe but it is necessarye to be hardened firste in roughe treatye of them selues in harde vsage and toylesome trauayles For so in peace they shall learne to disgest the disasters and incommodityes of warre and by these forerunning laboures inure their bodye to vnease and foster the courage and prowesse of theire myndes Happye therefore are you what troubles soeuer you susteyne for the exercyse of youre vertue and better inhabling both of bodye mynde Such was the preparatiō of the champions soldiers of profe in former ages They were restrayned of libertye withhelde from chamber worke straytned in their diett from sweete meates and pleasant drinckes The more they were laboured the better they were liked and the more tormoyled in trouble the more hope they had of the victory knowinge that vertue and constancye that with hardnesse and rigoure gathereth force with softnesse and ease doth languishe and fall to ruyne This did they in regard of a corruptible croune which they were nether certayne to attayne nor sure to possesse We therefore ayminge at an incorruptible rewarde lett vs recken the prison a place of triall that we maye be broughte vnto iudgment well fortefied agaynst all encounters and be able to saye vnto the iudge that Quantum formidinis terroris attulit tantum fortitudinis ac roboris inuenit As much feare and terrour as he brought so muche force and fortitude hath he founde Cap. 9. AND Now to drawe to the ende of your conflicte for your final comfort I put you in mynd of a moste comfortable thing that if you be putt to deathe in this cause of the Catholicke fayth your death is Martyrdome and your foyle victorie And therfore seing that dye we must lett vs imbrace as S. Ciprian sayeth this happye occasion vt fungamur exitu mortis cum praemio immortal litatis nec vereamur occidi quos constat quando occidimur coronari To passe ouer our mortall ende with the rewarde of immortallitye neyther lett vs feare to be killed who by killing
afflictions true it is that thâ—y see the mercyful workes of our Lorde in cherishing theÌ„ and his maruayles in coÌ„firming theÌ„ But all this they see in the depth of theire distresses He sayd and the spirite of tempest stoode vpp in their persecutours and the waues of aduersitye were raysed hye agaynst them They mounte as hye as heauen and fall as lowe as hell and for the tyme so amaze them that their life pined away in miseries For they are tossed and made to stagger lyke a drouncken man with continual varietye of newe surges and grieues and all their wisdome in patiently suffering firmely hopinge of Gods helpe is deuoured and to the eye vnprofitable against their enemyes rage And therfore they cryed vnto our Lord when they were distressed in this dauÌ„gerous manner and desired to haue a shorte cut to theire voyage end and esteemed it a singuler benefitt that he led them by death out of their necessities and so altered their storme into a calme wind and guided them in the hauen of theire owne willes that is the hauen of securitye in which they most desired to be If they consider the poore their lyfe is lead in such agonye payne needynesse that it maketh euery one to loath it If they beholde the rich and mightye their felicitye is follye and their ioye is vanity If they looke on Potentates that seeme the very flower of mankinde they finde oftentimes that they are poore in their riches abiect in their honours discontented in their delightes Their bodye a sacke of dunge their soule a sincke of sinne miserable their birthe wicked their lyfe and damnable their ende Looke sayeth S. Augustine into the graues sur-vew all the Emperours Dukes States and Worthyes of former ages see who was maister who man who riche or who poore Discerne if thou canst the Captyue from the King the strong from the weake the fayre from the deformed Which wordes import that if after lyfe there is no more difference of persons then there is in the ashes of veluet and course canuase or of diuerse woddes burnte vp in one fyer then surelye it is follye to care for these bodyes or to desyre theire long continuance whiche in the end must be resolued into earth and dust and can not here liue without a multitude of combers The lyke we fynd almost in euery other thinge and therfore surely all miseryes of our lyfe well perused we maye thinke it a great benefitt of God that whereas there is but one waye to come into this worlde yett are there verye manye to goe out of the same What can there be in lyfe eyther durable or verye delightsome when lyfe it selfe is so frayle and tickle a thinge Our lyfe sayeth the scripture is like the printe of a cloude in the ayre lyke a mist dissolued by the sunne lyke the passing of a shadowe lyke a flower that soone fadeth lyke a drye leafe caried with euerye Wynde lyke a vapoure that soone vanisheth out of sighte S. Chrisostome calleth it one whyle a heauye sleepe fedd with false and imaginarye dreames an other while he cal leth it a comedye or rather in our dayes a tragedye of transitorye shewes disguised persons Somtimes he likeneth it to a birdes nest made of strawe and dung that the winter soone dissolueth S. Gregorye Nazianzen calleth it a childes game that buildeth houses of sande in the shore where euerye waue washeth them away yea and as Pindarus sayeth it is no more but the dreame of a shadow It passeth awaye like one that rideth in post like a shipp in the Sea that leaueth no printe of the passage like a bird in the ayre of whose way there remaineth no remembrance like an arrowe that flyeth to the marke whose tracte the ayre sodaynlye closeth vp Whatsoeuer we doe sitt we stande we sleepe we wake we our shipp saith S. Basill alwayes sayleth towardes our last home and the streame of our life kepeth on an vnflexible course Euery daye we dye and howrely loose some parte of our life and euen then when we grow we decrease We haue lost our Infancye our childhood our youth and all til this present daye what tyme soeuer passethe perisheth and this very daye death secretly by minutes pourloyneth from vs. This S. Gregorye well expresseth saying Nostrum viuere a vita transire est vita nostra ipsis suis augmeÌ„tis ad detrimenta impellitur et inde semper deficit vnde proficere se credit Our liuing is a passing from lyfe For our lyfe with her increase diminisheth by that alwayes impayreth wherby it seemeth to profit Future things sayth Innocentius are alwayes beginning present thinges alwayes endynge and thinges paste are quite dead and donne For while we liue we dye and then we leaue dyeinge when we leaue liuinge Better therfore it is to dye to lyfe then to liue to death because our mortal lyfe is nothing but a liuing death And lyfe continually flyeth from vs and cannot be with-helde and death howrely commeth vppon vs and cannot be withstood No armoure resisteth no threatning preuayleth no intreaty profiteth against deaths assalte If all other perilles chauÌ„ces spare our lyfe yet tyme and age in the ende will consume it We see the fludd that riseth in the top of a Mountayne to fall roule downe with a continuall noyse It gusheth out with a holowe and horse sound then it runneth roaring down ouer craggye and rough clyffes and is continuallye crushed and broaken with diuers encounters til at the foote of the hill it entereth into the Sea And so fareth it with mans lyfe he commeth into the worlde with payne and beginneth his course with pitifull cryes and continually molested with diuers vexations he neuer ceaseth running doune til in the ende he fall into the Sea of death Neyther is our last houre the beginning of our death but the conclusion and then it is come that hath bene longe in the comming and fullye finished that was still in the ending Why therfore shold we be vnwlling to lese that which cannot be kept Better it is since death is debte and natures necessarye wracke to folowe S. Chrisostomes counsell Fiat voluntariuÌ„ quod futuruÌ„ est necessarium offeramus deo pro munere quod pro debito tene mur reddere Lett vs make it voluntarye which must needes be necessarye and lett vs offer to God for a present which of due and debte we are bound to render What maruayle if when the winde bloweth the leafe fall if when the day appereth the night ende Our life sayeth the same saynct was a shadowe and it passed it was a smoake and it vanished It was a buble and it was dissolued It was a spinners webb and it was shaken a sunder No wise-man lamenteth that he liued not a yeare sooner then he was borne and whye shoulde he lament that within a yeare or lesse he shall
liue no longer For he leeseth nothing that then he had and he shall be to the world but as thē he was God made Adames garment of dead beasts skinnes to put him in minde that he was condemned to dye and to make the remembrance of death familiar vn to him that the losse of lyfe might not affright him who alwayes caryed the liuerye of deathe vppon him And as Daniell by spreadding ashes in the Temple discouered the treacherye and falshood of the Priestes of Babilonia So by poudering our thoughtes and memorye with the duste of our graue and often repetition of our decease we shall soon discrye the vanitye of this lyfe the traines of the diuell and our secrete temptations to be such as we would rather wishe by losing of lyfe to cutt of then by auoyding death to continue If any thing make death tedious it is the wante of the consideration of it The old men haue it right before them the yonge men hard behinde them all men daylye ouer them and yet we forget it Familiarytye with Lions taketh awaye the feare of them the being vsed to tempestes geueth harte and courage to endure them and in warre the seinge so manye howrely bereaued of lyfe maketh the soldier litle or nothing to sett by it If therfore we wil be out of all feare of death lett vs continuallye remember it If we vse our horse to the race before we runne for the wager If we accquaint our selues with the weapons before we fighte for the victorye Much more sholde we take heede that we come not dispourueyed to this laste combat The good Pylot when he guideth his shipp he sitteth at the sterne in the hinder parte therof and so the prouident Christian to directe his lyfe must alwayes sit at the end of the same that the mindfulnes of death being his sterne he may feare it the lesse and prouide for it the better This is the dore wherby we must go out of bondage therfore as the prisoner that standeth vppon his deliuerye taketh greatest comfort in sitting vpon the threshold that when the dore is opened he maye the sooner gett out So ought we alwayes to haue our minde fixed vppon the laste steppe of our lyfe ouer which we are sure that passe we muste though how or when we know not For this cause that holy man Ioannes Eleemosinarius Patriarke of Allexandrya hauing his Tombe in building commaunded that it shold be lefte imperfect and that his seruauntes euerye daye shoulde putt him in minde to finishe the same that hauinge hys eye alwayes fixed vppon this dore of death he might the better prepare for the passage through it The memorye of death is the ashes wherin the fire of vertue being raked vpp it continueth the better and wil be fitter to enkindle the courage of our mind that when death commeth in deede these ashes shal be vnraked we maye rather reioyce that our flame hath found a vente to mount to hir natural Sphere where it will shine to our glorye then sorowe that it parteth out of the chimnye of our fleshe where it was in daunger to be quenched with our iniquitye It was not without cause that God likened death to a theefe For as the theefe when hee findeth the man of the house watchinge and vppon his garde he saluteh him in curteous sorte and taketh vppon him the person of a friende but yf he finde him a sleepe he cruellye murdereth him and robbeth his treasurye So death to those that are prepared for it is verye cōfortable and to those onlye terrible that sleepe in sinne and are carelesse of their ende And to these belongeth that sayinge The deathe of the sinners is worste Euill because it seuereth from the worlde worse because it seuereth from the bodye and worste of all because it seuereth from God For why they make the worlde their Parradise their bodye their god and God their enemye To suche death is hatefull for that therin they are tormented with the panges of of the dyeing fleshe amazed with the fittes and corrasiues of the mynd frighted with the terrour of that which is to come greeued with remorse of that which is paste They are stunge with the gnawing of a guiltye conscience discomforted with the rigoure of a seuere Iudge annoyed with the thought of their lothsome sepulchre And thus though death of it selfe be not bitter yet is it bitter to the wicked And yet as S. Ambrose noteth euen to them is lyfe more bitter then death For more greeuous is the liuinge to sinne then the dyinge in sinne For the wicked while he liueth increaseth his offence and when he dyeth offendeth no more and therfore by his lyfe he agumenteth his tormentes and by his death he abridgeth the same It is the feare of death that maketh it terrible is not in deed so greeuous to dye as to liue in perpetuall feare and expectation of death For he that feareth God shall make a good ende and in the daye of his decease he shal be blessed And happye are the dead that dye in our Lord from hence forth sayeth the spirite they shall reste from their laboures for theire woorkes doe followe them The noone daye lighte shall ryse vnto thē at the euening of their life when they thinke themselues quite cōsumed they shal ryse as bright as Lucifer They as S. Augustine sayeth bycause their desire is to be loosed and to be with Christe endure to liue with patience are readye to dye with ioye They feare not death because they feared God in lyfe They feare not death because they rather feared lyfe And an euil deathe is but the effecte of an euil lyfe Their lyfe was a studye how to dye well and they knew that since death passed thorough the veines of lyfe it loste the bitternesse of death and tooke the taste sweetnesse of lyfe Neyther are they amazed with the fore-goinge gripes extremityes because they take them as the throwes of childebirth by whiche our soule is borne out of this lothsome bodye and brought forth to an eternal felicitye They feare not the diuels to whome they haue stoutelye resysted They haue confidence in God whose wrath they haue with repentaunce appeased The horror of the graue dothe nothing moue them because they doe but sowe therein a carnall and corruptible bodye to reape the same in the resurrection incorruptible and spirituall This made Simeon so ioyfullye sing Now thou releasest thy seruant O Lord according to thy worde in peace This made S. Hilarion so confidentlye say vnto his soule Egredere quid times egredere animamea quid dubitas septuaginta prope annos seruisti Christo mortem times Departe why fearest thou departe O my soule why doubtest thou Almost three score and tenne yeares hast thou serued Christe and fearest thou death This made S. Ambrose on hys death bedd geue this aunswere to those that wished his longer
Moyses quando caeperunt audiri tonitrua micare fulgura nubes densissima operire montem When thunderinges began to be heard lyghtnings to flashe a thicke darke cloude to couer the Mounte Nowe are you called vnto Mounte Thabor where in-ioyeinge his glorye whose terroure you haue alreadye sustayned You maye saye with S. Peter Bonum est nos hic esse It is good for vs to be here The haruest of the Churche wherof the Spouse speaketh in the Canticles Messui mirrham meam cuÌ„ aromatibus I haue reaped my mirrhe with my spyces is not yet donne You are growne vpp in this fielde and are part of the croppe that by martirdome must be reaped to be layde vp in Gods barne You are the mirhe to enbalme not the deade bodies but the dead soules of heretickes You are Spyce to seasone by the example of your constancy the bitter griefes and passions of poore Catholickes Remember howe often you haue bene with Christe at his Supper and reasone nowe requireth you shold folowe him to Gethsemanie not to sleepe with S. Peeter but with him to sweate bloode Your lyfe is a warfare your weapons patience your Captayne Christe your standerd the Crosse. Now is the larum sounded and the warre proclaymed dye you must to winn the fielde Neyther is this newes to you that haue professed to be Christs champions seeinge the Captaynes generall of his armye I meane the Apostles and all the most famous Soldiers since their tyme haue esteemed this the moste soueraygne victorye by yelding to subdue by dyeing to reuiue by sheddinge bloode and leesinge lyfe to winne the goale of eternall felicity Elyas must not thinke much to let fall the worthlesse Mantle of his fleshe to be caryed to Paradyse in a fyery chariot Gedeon maye willingly breake his eartheÌ„ flagons to shewe the lyght that must put to flyght his enemyes Ioseph must leaue his cloake in the strumpets hands rather then consent vnto her lewd entysements the yonge maÌ„ of Gethsemani rather ruÌ„ne away naked theÌ„ for sauing his Sindon to fall into the Sinagoges captiuity The Beuers when they are hunted see theÌ„ selues strayted haue this propertye they byte of their owne stones for whiche by kinde they knowe themselues to be chieflye pursued that the hunter hauinge his desyre maye cease to folowe them anye farther Now if nature hath taught these brute thinges to saue theÌ„selues with so paynful a meanes from bodilye daunger howe muche more oughte reason and Faythe to teache vs willinglye to forgoe not onlye lybertye and lyuinge but euen our verye lyfe to purchase therby the lyfe of our soules and deliuer our selues from eternall perdition You haue euerye daye in your prayers sayd Adueniat regnum tuum lett thy kingdome come Now is the tyme come to obteyne your petition The Kingdome of this worlde is in the wayning and the age thereof beginneth to threaten ruine The forerunners of Anti-christ are in the pryde of their course and therfore S. Cyprian sayeth Qui cernimus iam caepisse graâ—ia scimus imminere grauiora Lucrum maximum computemus si istinc velocius recedamus We that see alreadye greate myseryes and foresee greater to be at hande let vs account it tyme happilye gayned if we maye quicklye departe to preuente their comminge Neyther is the winter so full of showers to water the earthe nor sommer so hot to ripen the corne nor the springe so temperate to prosper young growthe nor Autumn so full of rype fruite as heretofore it hath bene The hilles tyered with diggynge yelde not such store of marble the wearyed mynes yelde not so great plenty of precious mettall the scante vaynes waxe daylye shorter In the Sea decayeth the maryner in the tentes the souldier Innocencie in courtes Iustice in iudgementes agreement in friendshippe cunning in artes and disciplyne in maÌ„ners The hot Sunne geueth not so cleere lighte the Moone declineth from her accustomed brightnesse the fountaynes yelde lesse aboundance of waters Men are not of so perfytt hearing so swift running so sharpe sighted so well forced nor so bygge and strong lymmed as heretofore We see graye heades in children the heare falleth before it be full groune neither dothe our tyme ende in olde age but with age it beginneth and euen in our verye vprist our natiuitye hasteneth to the ende Fynallye euerye thing is so impayred and so fast falleth awaye that happye he may seeme that dyeth quicklye least he be oppressed with the ruynes of the dyinge worlde Lett them make account of this lyfe that esteeme the world their frende and are not onlye in the worlde but also of it As for you the world hateth you and therfore how can you loue it being hated of it We are here Pilgrimes straungers how can we but willinglye imbrace the death that assigneth vs to our last home and deliuering vs out of these worldlye snares restoreth vs to paradyse and the kingdome of heauen Our countrye is heauen our parentes the Patryarkes why doe we not hasten to come speedylye to our countrye and to salute these parentes There a greate number of our friendes exspecteth vs a huge multitude desyreth our comminge secure and certayne of they re owne saluation and onlye carefull of ours What vnspeakeable comforte is it to come to the syghte and imbracing of them How great is the contentment of theire aboade without feare of dyinge and with eternytye of lyuinge There is the glorious quire of Apostles a number of reioycing Prophetes the innumerable multytude of Martyres crowned for the victorye of theyr bloodye frayes and passions There are the troupes of fayre Virgyns that with the vertue of chastity haue subdued the rebellions of flesh and bloode There are the companyes of all Gods Saynctes that bathe in eternall felicytye hauing happelye passed ouer the daungerous voyage through this wicked worlde There is the center of our repose the onlye seate of vnfaylyng securitye and who can be so vnnaturall an enemye to himselfe as to eschewe death being the bridge to so vnspeakeable contentmeÌ„t Seeinge therfore there is so lytle cause ether to loue lyfe or to feare deathe and so greate motyues to lamente that oure inhabitance is prolonged oure decease adiourned Lett not their threatninges appall vs who can onlye kille the bodye and haue nothinge to doe with the soule Whose greatest spyte worketh our profitt and whoe when they thinke to haue geuen vs and our cause the greatest wounde then haue they deeplyest wounded themselues procured our hyghest aduancemente They vnarme vs of blunte and bending weapons they stryppe vs of slyght and paper harnesse and agaynst they re willes they arme vs with more sharpe prycking swordes and with armoure that yeeldeth to no kinde of vyolence When they thinke to haue rydde vs from encounteringe theire wicked endeuoures they doe but a better our habilitye to resiste and vanquish them altering vs from earthlye souldiers to heauenlye warriers
from tymorous subiectes to mightye soueraignes from oppressed captyues to glorious Saints They thinke by killâ—â—g Abell that Caynes sacryfice wil be accepted not remembringe that Abels bloode cryeth out agaynst them By pursuinge Elyas with manye soldyers they thinke to haue the vpper hande not remembring that the fyre wil fall from heauen in his defence They thinke by stoning SteeueÌ„ to haue ended their chiefe enemye not considering that his principall persecutour will succeede in his roome and be vnto them a more victorious aduersary Lett them still contynewe their rage let them thinke themselues wise in this ignorante follye But Lett vs though we lamente at theyr offence yet reioyce in oure felicitye Cap. 11. WHat greater preeminence is there in Gods Churche then to be a Martyr what more renoumed dignity then to dye in this cause of the Catholike faythe And this crowne doe our greatest enemyes sett vppon oure heades The glorye wherof thoughe none can sufficyentlye vtter but suche as by experieÌ„ce haue proued the same yet maye we gather by coniectures no small parte of the greatnesse â—fit For yf we consider it in it selfe it is the noblest acte of Fortitude death beinge the hardest thinge for nature to ouercome It is also the greatest poynte of Charytye by Gods owne testimonye who sayde Maiorem charitatem nemo habet quam vt animam suam ponat quis pro amicis suis. It is the principallest acte of obedience commended so highlye in Christ. Factus obediens vsque ad mortem Become obedient euen vnto death It is by S. Augustins verdict more honourable then virginitye It is finallye the verye chiefest acte or effect of all vertues If therfore as the Diuines saye that worke or action is more perfit or meritorious which proceedeth of the greatest number of good causes concurring to the same Then must Martirdome be a most glorious thing which requireth the coÌ„course of all vertues and that in thâ—â—â—â—hest degree to the accomplishement therof Martirdome hath the priuiledge of the sacrameÌ„t of baptisme by S. Augustine is compared therwith In Martyrdome sayeth he all the misteryes of baptisme are fulfilled He that must be baptised confesseth his faythe before the Prieste and aunswereth wheÌ„ he is demaunded This doeth also the Martyr before the persecutoure he acknowledgeth his fayth and aunswereth the demaunde The baptised is eyther sprinkled or dipped in water but the Martyr is eyther sprinkeled with hys blood or not dipped but burned in fyre The baptized by imposition of the Bishoppes handes receyueth the holye ghost The Martyre is made a habitacle of the same spirite while it is not he that speaketh but the spirite of his heauenly Father that speaketh within him The baptized receyueth the blessed Sacramente in remembraunce of the death of oure Lorde the Martyr suffereth death it selfe for our Lorde The baptised protesteth to renounce the vanityes of the worlde the Martyr besyde this renounceh his owne lyfe To the baptised all his sinns are forgeuen In the Martyr all his sinnes are quite extinguished Sainte Cipryan also aleadging a reason why no cryme nor forepassed offence coulde preiudice a Martyre sayeth Ideo martirium aâ—pellatur tam corona quam baptisma quia baptiz at pariter coronat Therfore is Martirdome called as well a crowne as a baptisme for that it baptizeth crowneth together So that as no offence committed before baptisme can doe the baptised anye harme so also dothe Martirdome so clense the soule from all spot of former corruption that it geueth ther-vnto a most vndefiled beautye Yea and in this Martirdome seemeth to haue a prerogatyue aboue baptisme For though baptisme perfectlye clense the soule and release not onlye the offence but also the temporal punishment due vnto the same Yet sticketh the roote of sinn in the flesh the partye baptysed retayneth in him the badge and cognizance yea the scarres and tokens of a sinner But Martirdomes vertue is such that it not onlye worketh the same effecte of baptisme but purchaseth also to the soule forth with a perfect riddance of all concupiscence and inclynation to sinne and maketh it not only without offeÌ„ce but vnable to offende anye more It dothe not onlye gather the fruites or lop the braunches or fell the tree but plucketh it vpp by the verye rootes and dishableth it from springing vp agayn With the broode it killeth the dame it consumeth both the weede and the seede together clenseth vs both from the myre and from the stayne and spot that remayneth after it And therfore of Martirs doth the Scripture say Isti sunt qui venerunt de tribulatione magna et lauerunt stolas suas et dealbaucruÌ„t eas in sanguine agni These are they that came out of a great tribulation and haue washed theire stoles and whited them in the bloode of the Lambe Vppon whiche place Tertullian sayeth Sordes quidem baptismate abluuntur maculae vero marâ—irio candidantur quia Isaias ex rufo coccino niucum lancum repromittit The filth is washed away by baptisme but the staynes are cleered by Martirdome for Esay promiseth that redd and scarlet should become as white as snowe or woll As who sholde saye so much more forcible is martirdome then baptisme as the water that taketh out dirte and stayne together then that which washing the dirte awaye leaueth the stayne behinde it Not that this stayne importeth any sinne but the infirmity which originall sinne hath caused and of which actuall sinne proceedeth So that baptisme taketh away our falte martirdome our frayltye baptisme geueth vs the keye but martirdome letteth vs in That maketh vs members of the millitant this of the tryumphante Churche that geueth vs force to walke to our iourneis end and to fight for the victorye but this setleth vs in repose and crowneth our conquest Baptisme bringeth vs forthe as the mother dothe the childe to which though she geue most of those partes which are in men yet some she geueth not and those that she geueth are so impotent weake that though they may be vsed in childishe actions yet not to the principall thinges that man needeth till by processe of tyme they be farther enhabled For so baptisme geueth vs grace wherby we maye weakely turne the powers of our mind to God and haue an obscure and in a manner a childish kinde of knowledge loue of him But the chiefe actions wherin our felicitye consisteth ensewe not strayghte vppon our baptisme but with longe toyle we must laboure for them before we can attayne to so great habilytye But martirdome bringeth vs forthe as the Lyonesse dothe her whelpe Which breeding but one in all her lyfe beareth it six and twentye monethes in her bellye till it grow perfect in proportion hable and stronge of all the lymmes armed with all the clawes and not so muche but with all euen the cheeke teeth full growen So that it commeth forth with
full make and free from the impotencye of other broode as Epiphanius writeth And thus martirdome doth with our soule bringing it forth with such perfection that it is strayght enhabled to haue the perfect syght and loue of God wherin consisteth our blisse and happynesse without any delaye of further grouth or sufficiency In the baptisme of water saith S. Thomas the Passion of Christe worketh by a certayne figuratiue representation in the baptisme of spirite by a desyre and affection in the baptisme of bloode by perfecte imitation Lykewyse the power of the holy ghost worketh in the first by secret vertue in the seconde by commotion of the mynde in the thirde by feruour of perfect loue So muche therefore as immitation in deede is better then representation in the figure and desyre in the thoughte So muche doth the baptisme of blood surpasse those of water and spirite Baptisme is the cloude by which Moyses guided Gods people and shrouded them in the deserte but martirdome is the ryuer Iordan thorough which Iosue leadeth them into the lande of promise Baptisme appareleth Mordocheus in Kinges attyre yet leaueth him a subiecte But martyrdome with the robes inuesteth him also with royall dignytye No Naaman is so foule a leaper that this water of Iordan cannot cure No man so blynde but that the washing in this poole of Siloe can restore to sight No disease so vncurable but this ponde vppon Probatica can perfectlye heale It accomplysheth the laboures of the vertuous godlye satisfieth for the sinnes of the sinfull and wicked is to those a rewarde and to these a remedy Vidimus sayth S. Cyprian ad hunc nominis tituluÌ„ fide nobiles venisse plerosque vt deuotio nis obsequiuÌ„ mors honestaret Sed alios frequentur aspeximus interritos stetisse vt admissa peccata redimentes cruore suo loti haberentur in sanguine reuiuiscerent interempti qui viuentes putabaÌ„tur occisi Mors quippe integriorem facit vitam mors amissam inuenit gloriam We haue seene manye of noble faythe to haue aspired to this title of Martirdome that their deathe might honoure their seruiceable deuotion We haue seene others to haue stoode without feare that redeeminge their offences with their bloode they might be knowen to haue bene washed in the same and might be reuiued by killing that alyue were accouÌ„ted dead For this deathe maketh lyfe more perfect and recouereth the grace that was loste And if S. Chrisostome extollinge baptisme sayeth that it not onlye maketh vs free but also holye not onlye holye but iuste not onlye iuste but children nor only children but heyres not onlye heyres but heyres of the same inherytaunce with Christe Not onlye heyres with Christe but members of Christe Not only members but temples not onlye temples but also instrumentes of the holye Ghost Then may I farther enlarge my selfe in the prayse of Martirdome and saye that martirdome geueth a freedome voyde of all seruitude a holines and iustice without any faulte or feare of losse It so maketh vs children that we cannot become enemyes It makeâ—h vs heyres not only in right but in full possession It maketh vs heyres with Christ not onlye of hys grace but also of his glorye It maketh vs meÌ„bers that can not be cut of temples that cannot be defyled suche instrumentes of the holy Ghost as cannot be abused Finally it geueth vs the crowne wherof baptisme is the pledge In all which poyntes it is superior vnto it To praye for the baptised is a benefitt Quia nescit homo finem suum no man knoweth what his ende shall be but to praye for a martyr S. Augustine termeth it an iniurye seeing we ought rather to commende vs to his prayers Iniuria est orare pro martyre cuius debemus orationibus commendari It is an iniurye to praye for a martyr to whose prayers we must be commended For these causes dothe the Churche call the dyinge dayes of martyrs their byrth dayes For though we be borne agayne by baptisme yet are we not come to a ful birth and perfecte healing For as S. Augustine sayeth Filij dei quamdin mortaliter viuunt cum morte confligunt quamuis veraciter de illis dictum sit quotquot spiritu dei aguntur hi sunt filij dei The children of God so longe as they lyue a mortall lyfe they struggle with death and though of theÌ„ it be truelye sayde that so manye as are ledd by the spiryte of God they are Gods children Yet so longe as the bodye opresseth the soule Often times tan quam filij hominuÌ„ quibusdam motibus humanis deficiunt ad se ipsos et ideo pereunt Lyke children of men with carnall motions they fall into their oune fraylty so perishe Likewyse vpon these wordes of S. Ihon in iudiciuÌ„ non venit sed transit a morte ad vitaÌ„ Ecce inquit in hac vita non duÌ„ est vita transitur a morte ad vitam vt in indiciuÌ„ non veniatur He came not into iudgmeÌ„t but passed from death to lyfe Lo sayth he in this lyfe there is yet no lyfe we passe from death to lyfe to auoyde the coÌ„minge vnto iudgment We therfore sayth Origen Doe not celebrate the day of the Sayntes natiuitye which is an entrance of all griefes and molestations but the day of their death which is a rid daÌ„ce of their sorowes a farwell to the deuiles assaltes We celebrate the daye of theire death because thoughe they seeme to dye yet in deed they dye not When you here therefore named sayth an other Father the birth daye of the Sainctes vnderstand not that which breedeth them of fleshe into the earth but which bringeth theÌ„ from the earth into heauen from laboure to reste froÌ„ teÌ„tations to quiet from tormentes to delightes from worldlye laughters to a crowne of glorye For as S. Ciprian noteh scimus eos non amitti sed praemitti recedentes praecedere We know they are not loste but sente to leade vs the way and gone from vs to make way before vs. Natales vocamus dies sayeth Eusebius Emissenus quando cos martyrij vita gloriae fides dum ingerit morti genuit eternitati perpetua gaudia breui dolore parturiit We call their natall dayes wheÌ„ the life of martyrdome and the glorye of their Fayth while it putteth theÌ„ to a temporall death begetteth them to eternall lyfe and with a shorte payne bringeth them forth to perpetuall pleasure Worthely are they called birth dayes by the whiche they that were borne into this myserye of mans frayltye sodaynly are borne agayne to glory taking of theire end death a beginning of an endles lyfe For if we call those birth dayes in which in sinn sorow we are borne to sorowe in this worlde more iustly may these be called birth dayes wherin froÌ„ corruptible lyght they come into
greate is the force of martyrdome that therby euen he is forced to beleene with thee that was readye to kill thee But to proue this though for the present disgracefull yet in the sequell a more gloryous tryumph euen heare on earth then euer anye the Romans had Lett vs consider the gloryous shewes ther be to sett it forth The martyrs for their tryumphall charyots haue most sūptuous and statlye Churches For the applause of the people the prayers and prayses of al true Christians For their musycke the solemne quires and instrumentes vsuall in the Church For their triumphall arches most riche shrynes and altars For the banners of theyr foyled enemyes the Armes and honours of Prynces conuerted by their meanes For theyr captyues Kinges Emperoures and Monarches For their spoyles and pryses the Empyre Kingdomes common wealthes Finallye for their pompe the reuerend maiestye of the Catholike Churche Loe now whether our tryumphe though base in the eye be not in effecte most gloryous and whether any conqueroures euer wann more by killinge others then the martirs haue done by being killed themselues Quid infirmius Sayth S. Cyprian quā vinciri dam nari caedi cruciari occidi et cum ad arbitriū carnificis collum praebetur Haec species inter dum misericordiam mouet etiam saeuissimis tyrannis verum vbi iam ad monumenta martyrum pelluntur morbi rugiūt Daemones terrentur monarchae coruscant miracula concidunt idola tunc apparet quam sit efficax potens martyrum sanguis What argueth more impotencye then to be bounde cōdemned whipped tormēted killed and to laye the head on the blocke at the hange-mans pleasure This sighte somtyme stirreth mercye euen in the moste cruell tyrantes But when at the martyrs tombes disseases are cured the diuels rore the monarches tremble miracles are wrought Idols fall doune then appeereth it howe forcible the blood of martirs is While the golde is yet mingled with earth in the mines men treade it vnder foote as they dyd the earth But when it is tryed with the fyre depured by the artyficers hand Kinges them selues thinke it a greate honour to weare it on theire heades and so the martyres while they were alyue enwrapped in that masse of earth I meane their corruptible bodyes they were contemned and troaden on as the refuse of the world but when their golde was seuered from drosse that is their soule from their body by vyolent death in Gods cause ther is no Catholycke Prynce so hautye but that with bowed knee and stooping head is readye to adore them and accounte their very ashes as cheefe ornamētes of hys crowne and succoures of his realme They are not therfore subdued that ouercome their enemyes yea and theyr victorye is moste gloryous for the vnusuall manner You shall dye lyke men sayeth Dauid and lyke one of the princes shall you fall You shall dye lyke men because your death shall seeme full of humane myserye but in deede lyke one of the Prynces shall you fall that is like one of the Princes of Gods people Or you shall dye not as the sensuall worldlynge who is compared to the foolishe beastes and is become lyke vnto them but lyke mē iudging it in reason good for your fayth to dye in hope of a better lyfe Yea not onlye as men but as Prynces amongest men whose successours neuer faile whose tombes are glorious whose memorye is perpetuall Nolite me considerare quia fusca sum Regard you not how blacke I am for though I be black yet am I the fayre daughter of Hierusalē Of all the partes of a tree the roote is to the sight the foulest and most vglye and therfore semeth nature to haue hyd it from the eye that it might be no disgrace to the beauty of the other partes But yf you consider the fayre flower the sweete fruite the pleasant leaues the goodlye braunches the verye lyfe and sappe of the whole tree you shall fynd that all proceedeth frō that shaplesse vnseemely roote and therfore it ought of all other partes to be cheeflye prysed So is it with the martyres they seeme in theyr torments the most myserable of all other men couered with disgrace infamy and reproch But if we cōsider the beauty of virgins the fruite of the confessors the leaues of temporall commodityes the braunches of all nations yea the verye lyfe grace of the Churche of God we shall fynd that for all these we maye thanke the blood of Martyrs Well may they be called the neat or kine of the church whose teates serue it of necessary milke For as the neate at all seasons euen in the foulest weather ranging in the medowes fieldes pastures and feeding vppon grasse and wilde hearbes vnfitt for mans eatinge by vertue of they re inwarde heate turne them into sweete mylke and suffer the same quietlye to be drawen out of them for the benefitt of mankinde So the Martyrs euen in the most stormye tyme of persecution are contented to feede vppon the sower and bitter paynes of they re enemies rage and disgestinge all they re crueltie with the inwarde heate of charitye and zeale turne they re owne afflyctions to our instruction and spirituall nurture and suffer their bloode to be drawen from them the vertue wherof hath more force to fortifye our soules thē sweetest milke to strengthen oure bodyes This is Vinum germinans virgines wyne that breedeth virgins sanguis vuae mori acuens Elephantos in bellum the bloode of the grape and mulberye sharpeninge the Elephantes that is Christians to spirituall battell This is the pledge that gott the priuyledge Iudicabunt nationes dominabuntur populis they shall iudge nations and rule ouer peoples And as Tertullian sayeth Tota clauis paradisi est sanguis martyrum The blood of Martyres is the very keye of Paradise So that we maye euen of the earthlye crowne vnderstande that sayinge of S. Hierome Persecutionibus creuit ecclesia martyriis coronata est The church encreased by persecutions and was crowned by martirdomes For when was that veryfied Erunt reges nutritii tui et reginae nutrices tuae Kinges shal be thy foster fathers and Queenes thy Nurces but after the death of infinite martyrs whose very ashes afterwardes the Kinges and Monarches haue honored doing as it were due homage and acknowledginge them as captaynes by whome they were conquered Whiche also in the same place Esaye fore shewed in the wordes following Vultu in terra demisso adorabunt te puluerem pedum tuorum lingent With a lowly countenance they shall worship thee and shall lycke the verye duste of thy feete And whoe are the feete of the Churche but onlye the Martyrs Apostles and Pastoures that Vpholde it and carye it still forward through out all nations of whom it is sayde Quam speciosi pedes euangelizan tium pacem uos estis qui portabitis nomen meū antereges
disputatione coÌ„tendas We must vnderstand quod he that we cannot without great daunger dispute of the trueth of that religion whiche we see confirmed with the blood of so manye Martyrs It is a verye perylous thinge if after the oracles of so many Prophetes after the testimonies of the Apostles after the wounds of Martyrs thou presume to discusse the auncient faythe as a noueltie and remayn in thy errour after so manifest guydes and contende with idle disputation after the toyles of so manye as haue dyed in the cause Finallye how beneficiall both in this and infinite other respectes the blood of Martyrs hath bene vnto the Church the wonderous force therof no man is able sufficieÌ„tly to expresse Holy was the austeritye zeale of Elias S. Iohn Baptist Godlye was the estate of the olde Patriarches and Prophetes vertuous the lyfe of virgins and widdowes Honourable the condition of confessors and Religious persons Yett as S. CypriaÌ„ sayth Martyrio totuÌ„ nâ—cesse est cedat cuius inaestimabilis gloria infinita mensura iÌ„maculata victoria nobilis virtus inaestimabilis titulus triuÌ„phus immeÌ„sus All must of force yelde to martyrdome whose glory is vnualewable whose measure infinite whose victorye vnspotted whose vertue honourable whose tytle inestimable whose triump exceding great To our blood the gates of heauen flye open with our blood the fyre of hell is quenched in our blood our soules are beautifyed our bodyes honoured the diuel suppressed and God glorified It is poyson death to heretickes it is restoratyue and comfortable to Catholikes a seede of all vertue and the bane of vyce To conclude assure your selues de martyrio tantum posse dici quaÌ„tum potuerit estimari Of martyrdom so much maye be sayde as maye be conceyued But now hauing shewed how honourable it is in it selfe and how profitable to the Church Let vs see how glorious it is euen in this world vnto those that suffer it And to omitt the tryumph of the Church which being procured by they re blood redoundeth also to their prayse What a glorye is it to Martyrs that the verye prophesies that wente of Christ are so playnlye verified in them that it is no small coniecture how particulerlye they resemble Christ in glorye whose titles haue so neere affinitie with his style And to touche of infinite some fewe of Christ it is sayde Ascendet quasi radix de terra sitienti he shall come vpp like a roote out of a thirsting grounde and yet of him it is also written erumpet in germen faciet fructum it shall breake out into a budd and shall bring forth fruit Who semeth more lyke a withered roote in a drie and barren soyle theÌ„ the Martyrs that are pestered in prisoÌ„s as it were buried in miseries yet froÌ„ this roote who seeth not how many budds of vertues and fruites of gayned soules continuallye springe Of Christ it is sayde we haue seene him and there was no comelynesse in him yea we tooke him for a leaper the basest of all other men and yet we desyred him And how fitlye agreeth this to Martyrs whose tortured bodies opprobrious deathes if you coÌ„sider there are none more abiect and deformed then they But for all this not anye disfiguring or outward vnhappyenesse could so preuayle but that they are euer shal be desired honored and highlye esteemed Of Christ it is sayde if he yelde his soule to death he shall see a long aged seede and I will geue him verye many he shall diuide the spoyles of the stronge And is not this also veryfied in Martyres whose bloode is seede whose death reuyueth whose plucking vpp is the plantinge of they re posteritye Was not Abel the first figure of Christ and he a Martyr Was not Ioseph a principall paterne of Christes passion and he sett to sale and an innocent prisoner Were not all the sacrifices of beastes birds types and shadowes of Christes oblation none of them without shedding of blood how perfectly therfore doth Martyrs resemble theyr Captayne seeinge these figures and types that foreshewed him maye also be aptely applyed vnto them But to procede to their other prerogatiues there are but three especiall poyntes wherin the dead can be honoured by those that be alyue First by monumentes and worthye me moryals erected for they re renoune Secondlye by famous wryters to register they re actes Thirdlye by being reuereÌ„ced generally esteemed to be of soueraygne great power And as coÌ„cerning the first poynte though the Emprerours and men of marke emongest the Gentiles haue had dyuers honourable memoryes Yet were they for the most part of theyr owne or others buildinge before they dyed or if it were after they re decease it was rather to flatter some of their suruiuing frendes theÌ„ for anye greate care that they had of the dead partyes glorye And howbeit to the false gods in token of duty there haue bene set vpp most sumptuous temples longe after they re deathes Yet with the memory of that wherin they were beneficial to the common wealth there was also sett forth to be honoured in them theyr brutishe and vnnaturall wickednesse which did geue to reasonable persons of good iudgemente more cause to abhorre them for theyr lewdenesse then to honoure them for they re vertues So was it a common thing to sett forthe the rapes of Iupiter the adultryes of Venus the lasciuiousnes of Apollo such lyke to haue theÌ„ paynted in the verye aultars and prospectes of their temples but for Martyrs the monumentes are so generally raysed in dyuerse countryes that it can not be deemed flatterye and of them nothing but good either hath or could be sett forthe whiche they euer wolde haue reckoned in they re vertues or turned to they re glorye If Potentates greate personages haue had suche remembrances it is no greate maruayle seeinge they were mightye in power they had ryche and wealthye posterity which as well for theyr owne aduauncement as for the goodwil to the deade were contented to renoune theyr houses and familyes with such stately workes But a wonderful thinge it is that common yea abiecte and base persons suche as in theyr lyfe were counted the reuersion and refuse of the worlde such as had neyther friendes nor posteritye to shewe them anye lyke fauoure yea suche as dyed with infamye and dyshonoure deuoured by beastes and not thought worthye of so mcuh as a place of buryall in the earthe that such men I saye sholde after theyr deathes be honoured with suÌ„ptuous Churches altars and daylye solemnityes and not onlye in the place where they conuersed but in dyuers distant nations and countryes where they were neuer knowen before their departure it is a thing wherof as there can be no naturall reasone so surelye muste it needes be construed a testimonye of Gods myghtye hande to honoure his Saynctes This dyd Saynte Chrisostome obserue when he saide Christe when he
in pilgrymage to see anye Kinges Pallaces but to enioye the sight of the Martyres tombes many Kings haue become Pylgryms Prudentius also of this writeth Illitas cruore nunc arenas nicolae Cōfrequentāt obsecrātes voce votis munere Exteri nec non et orbis huc colonus aduenit Fama nā terras in ōnes praecucurrit proditrix Hic patronos esse mundi quos precātes ambiant The tounsmē flock to the imbrued sāds There makinge sute with voyce with vowe with gifte Men also come from farre and forreine landes To euerye coast fore-ranne the fame so swifte That heere the patrons of the worlde did lye By whose good prayers eche wighte might seeke supplye S. Beede also and our own Chronicles make mentiō how King Cedwall King Cenred wente to Rome in Pilgrimage to those holye reliques of the Apostles which honour to what Emperoure was it euer geuen or so longe continued Moreouer what wonderfull force the Martyrs be of the effectes that haue bene wroughte by they re verye ashes bones garmentes and other thinges of theyres doth aboundantlye testifye S. Chrisostome sayeth that S. Peters cheynes his sworde and his garmentes wrought manye myracles S. Ambrose writeth that at S. Geruasius and Protasius reliquies so diuerse diseases were cured that the people caste they re Beades and garmentes vppon they re bodyes deeminge them of force to cure maladyes by the only touch of those saintes The verye ashes of S. Cyprian dryue the diuells out of the possessed cured diseases and gaue fore-knowledge of future euentes as Cregorye Nazianzen wryteth And S. Chrisostome compareth Martyrs bodyes to the Emperoures owane armour the verye lyghte whereof maketh the theeues that is the diuels to flye though neuer so eager of praye Nō ad naturam eorum intendunt sed in arcanam dignitatem gloriam christi qui in agone certantium induta corpora martyrum suorum sicut arma portauit For they re eye aymeth not at theyr nature but at the secret dignitye and glorye of Chryste whoe puttinge on the bodyes of hys Martyrs beare them as armoure in the agony of theyr combates And in sūm what hath bene wrought by anye Martyre in his lyfe but that ordinarilye his ashes and reliques haue ben of the lyke yea and somtimes of greater force whether it were raysinge of the dead restoring of the lame geuing sighte to the blynde hearinge to the deafe or speache to the dūme or what other miracle so euer Now therfore yf Dauid demaunde his olde question Shall any vtter thy mercye in the graue or thy trueth in perdition shall thy maruayles be knowen in darkenesse or thy iustice in the lande of obliuion We maye aunswere that the Martyrs in their tombes extoll his mercye who by theire verye ashes cureth diseases and releeueth manye miseryes In perdition by the losse of theyr lyues shedding of theyr blood they confirme and geue testimonye vnto his truethe In darkensse of infidelitye and errour or of temporall disgrace and worldlye punyshmentes they make the maruayles of hys power and maiestye to be knowen and in they re graues whiche are the lande of oblyuion they renewe a continuall memory of his iustice who is so forwarde to aforde his rewarde to the deseruers and to crowne the conquerours in his quarrell that euen he maketh theyr deade bones and duste gloryous in this worlde before they be indued with they re final incorruption Where-vppon Gods Churche hauinge to her great aduancement founde the singuler power of Gods Martyrs hath alwayes made an especiall accounte of them had them euermore in chiefe reuerence This also moued the Fathers to geue them suche honourable tytles S. Basill calleth them the helpe of Christians the guardians of mankinde partners of our cares furtherours of oure prayers our embassadoures vnto God the starres of the worlde the flowers of the Church and Towers against inuasiō of heretickes S. Ambrose calleth them gouernoures and watchers of our lyues cryers of Gods kingdome inheritours with God intercessours of the worlde Patrons and fortresses of Cityes Theodoretus calleth them our Captaynes our Prynces our defenders keepers and aduocates Finallye S. Chrisostom calleth them Pillers Rockes Towers and lyghtes of the Church and Protectours of Kinges and Emperoures Cap. 12. O How vnhappye are they that for the sauing of goods credite tēporall authority or such worldly respects forsake these so glorious diuine honours purchase a most lamētable ignominious stile For what are they but cōtrary to that which S. Basill sayth of Martyrs the spoyle of Christiās the destroyers of mens soules the occasioners of our cares hinderers of our prayers factours of the diuell cloudes of darkenesse weedes of the Church and fortresses of heresye What are they but ruynes of relygyō dismembred offales and lymmes of Sathan Manye of them yeldinge before the battayle and foyled before they foughte haue not lefte them-selues so muche as this excuse to saye that they went to church vnwillingly They offer them selves voluntarylye they runne wittinglye to they re owne ruine and seeme rather to imbrace a thing before desired then to yeelde to an occasion that they wolde fayne haue eschewed And did not your feete stumble your eyes dasele your hart quake your body tremble whē you came into the polluted Sinagoge And could Christes seruant abyde in that place to do anye reuerence and renounce Christe or to doe anye homage to his enemy whom he had in baptisme renounced And could you come thether to offer your prayers vnto God where your verye presence offered you bodye and soule to the diuell And could catholicke eares sustayn without glowing the blasphemous reprocheful rayling speaches against your true mother the Catholicke Churche Was it no payne to heare the corrupte trāslations abuses and falsifyings of Gods owne worde Was not the lawe of goinge to churche and of beinge there present at that which they call diuine seruice made and published purposelye to the abolyshinge of the Catholique Faythe to the contempte reproofe and ouerthrow of the true Churche to the establishing of they re vntrue doctrine And can any Catholicke knowing this as none can be ignorant therof imagyne but that in obeyinge this lawe he consenteth vnto it and to the accomplyshing of that which the lawe intendeth that is the impugning of the true the setting vpp of a false faythe Doe you not remēber S. Paules wordes They are worthy of death not onlye that doe suche thinges but also those that consente to such as doe them Euen as he is worthye to be punyshed who though in mynde he fauoure his Prince yet in deede he cleaueth to his enemye Moreouer was not thys lawe made to force men to shewe and professe a conformablenesse in external behauiour to this new faith Is it not required as a signe of renouncinge the true church and approuinge this newe forme of seruice sacraments and
Yet the Legate and the foresayde Fathers gaue this aunswere that they wold haue this resolution no lesse acounted of then if it were the censure of the whole Councell I omit also that dyuers heretickes shal be witnesses againste you in the daye of Iudgement who with letters and sett treatises haue by many Scriptures proued it to be vnlawfull for one of a true beleefe to frequente or repayer to the seruice or sacramentes of a false churche Whose argumentes and actions in this matter will so much the more condemne you in that they were more religious in an erroneous and vntrue then you in a syncere and vndoubted faythe They re oppinion in this matter who desyreth more at large to peruse lett him reade the treatyse of Ihon Caluine whiche he made de vitandis superstitionibus quae cum sincera fidei confessione pugnant of auoydinge superstitions whiche repugne against the sincere profession of faithe and his booke which he did wryte as an Apologye ad Pseudonicodemitas to false Nicodemites who alledged in theyr defence the example of Nicodemus that came to Christe by night◠In which amonge other poyntes he sayeth that goinge to a churche of a contrarye beliefe is partiri inter deum diabolum animam vni corpus alteri assignādo To part stakes betweene God and the diuell assygning the soule to one and the body to the other He hath also of the lyke tenoure written two Epistles vnto two of his friendes You maye lykewise in the same volume see the counsel of Melancthon Peter Martyr Bucer and the Ministers of the Tigurine Congregation whose censure being by Caluine demanded they all agreed to his opinion M. Fox also recordeth diuerse letters of Bradfod Hullier others that wholy approue the same assertiō And albeit their reasons were misapplyed in the particular churche to which they proued it vnlawfull to resorte Yet are they very sufficient and forcible to confirme that the repayring to a false church in deed is moste sinnfull and damnable And there-fore consider with youre selues what wilfull blyndnesse you are in that mayntayne a poynte whiche not onlye Catholickes but euen the verye heretickes them-selues that caryed anye forme or shew of conscience and religion haue detested as moste preiudiciall to the trueth offensyue to God pernicious to your selues And not contented your selues to offer your soules to sacryfyce your fayth to make an hoaste to the diuell of youre eternall saluation and your portion in heauen You carye also with you youre selye innocentes and force your children to the lyke impyetye as though it were not enough for you to perishe alone Shall not they as S. Cyprian noteth in the daye of iudgemente crye out againste you We of our selues haue donne nothing We dyd not of our owne accorde leaue the meate and cuppe of God to runne to prophane infection the infidelytye of others hath caste vs awaye We felte our owne parents our murderers They denied vs the church for our mother God for our Father and haue reuyued the olde sinne of the Iewes and Gentiles Immolauerunt filios suos filias suas demoniis They offered vpp theire sonnes and theyr daughters to diuels O how cruell and how vnnaturall a thing cōmitt you in thus trayning vp your litle ones in so impious a sorte You gaue them but a temporall lyfe and you take from thē a spirytuall you bred their bodye and you are the bane of they re soule You brought them forth for heauen you guyde them the waye to hell Was this the fruite of your paynful laboure to bring one into the world that shold through your education curse the father that begat him and the mother that bred him the howre of his birthe and wishe that the wombe had ben his tombe his natiuitye his decease and his beginninge his endinge O howe much better did that good mother of the Machabees that rather exhorted her children to martyrdome then to offende for sauing they re lyues Muche better dyd S. Felicitas who in the tyme of persecution beinge as desirous to send her children before her to heauen as other mothers are to leaue theyres after them here in earthe confirmed them in spirite whose bodyes she had borne and was they re mother in theyr byrth to God as well as in theyr natyuitye towarde the worlde And as S. Gregorye sayeth seeinge her seuen deare pledges martyred before her was in a sorte martyred in them all and though she were the eyghte in place yet from the firste to the laste she was alwayes in payne and her owne killinge was not the beginning but the ende of her martyrdome The lyke examples we reade of S. Symphorosa S. Sophia who as they were mothers in affectiō so were they also in care of theyr childrēs soules exhorting thē to cōstancy geuing exāple of the same Alas how contrarilye doe the parentes of our dayes who as thoughe they re children were nothing but fleshe and bloode bodyes with-out soules pamper them in all sensuall delight feare nothige more then that they re soules should be in the state of grace mēbers of the Catholicke Churche But they that are cruell to them-selues how can they be mercyfull to others and suche as are them selues fallē from God how can theye eyther exhorte or vphold others in Gods seruice O blindnes dulnes of harte And had you rather haue God then man for your enemye Had you rather be the diuels then Gods prisoners Had you rather lyue caytyues here in earth then dye to be Sayntes in heauē What are your riches as you vse them but giues to cheyne you and fetter you in sinne Are they not most strayte and stronge boltes by whiche as S. Cyprian sayeth Et virtus retardata est fides pressa mens victa anima praeclusa Both vertue slacked and fayth suppressed the minde ouercome and the soule imprisoned Yea and besydes this bringe not these cheynes with them a moste cruel keeper that is the loue of mony whose qualytye is whom he hath once gotten not to suffer him to depart the pryson but to holde him sure with a thousand bandes lockes and dores casting him into an inwarde holde to make him take pleasure in his bōdage O what a miserable change make you You sell with Esau your heauenly inheritāce for a litle broth You sell your soule that coste no lesse then the life blood of God him-selfe for the shorte vse of a fewe ryches you sell God and all he is worth for a small reuenew of a fewe yeeres It is not the feare of temporall losse can excuse you God gaue it you and for him you must not be vnwilling to forgoe it It is foly to thinke that God can allowe for an excuse the losse of a lyttle pelfe when the soule which he bought with his owne blood is lost for the sauing of it Clemens Alex
andrinus reporteth that Apelles seeinge one of his schollers paynting Helena limming her image with muche golde sholde saye vnto him that sithence he was not able to paynte her fayre he meant at the least to make her ryche Whiche wordes we maye well vse to those that alleadge they re ryches as a cause of they re reuolte Whose faulte beinge so palpable that they can not paynt it with anye seemlye shape of vertue they seeke at the least to gylde it and make it seeme tolerable with the pompe of theyr riches as though wher true beawtye and grace wanteth theyr heauenly Apelles could be blinded from espying the deformyty of they re image by the glyttering of they re golde No no well seeth God your grosse erroure the follye of your bargayne Qui regna coelorum sayeth S. Chrysostome permutant pecunia idem faciunt ac si quis regno actus amplissimo stercoris cumulo glorietur They whiche change the kingdome of heauen for monye are lyke vnto him that being dispossessed of a large kingdome shold glory in a heape of dunge They that desire to gayne seeke in puttinge forth they re monye suche as will geue them greatest vsurye and take they re monye thankefullye at they re handes But you seeme to take a quite contrarye course You forsake God that offereth not the hundred parte but the hundred folde gayne and put out your monye to suche as can not so muche as restore the principall What can your bellye retourne you whyche consumeth most parte of your riches but dunge and corruption what your vayne Pompe and glorye but malice and enuye what your vnchastitye but hell and the worme of conscience And yett haue you chosē these for your detters and for the vsury and lone of your wealthe presente euils and future punishmentes What comforte can your wealth geue you who how richelye soeuer you are attyred without Christe you are naked with what Iewels or ornamentes soeuer you are sett forth without Christes beautye you are deformed How soeuer your face is paynted and your beautye blased without grace you are vgly and monstrous And alas how can you take anye pleasure in these vanytyes consideringe that you haue loste your selfe and that you cary aboute you your owne funerall whyle your body is a filthye tombe of a more filthy soule not only dead but almoste rottē in sinne And will you thus lende your riches to your owne reuenge not rather put thē out to Christ that offereth heauē life euerlasting for your lone If the time of his payment seeme some what long that withhold you Remēber that he which lyeth not biddeth you firste seeke the kingdome of God and for necessaries you shall not wante Remember the longer he keepeth it the more gayne he hath to returne for it And if you not onlye beare but wishe for this delaye in your vsury with men haue you so lytle confidence in God suche feare he should become banckeroute that you dare not truste him so longe as you would an ordinarye marchant Consider with your selues that the articles of your fayth are no fables the wordes and contentes of the Scripture no Poets fictions They are vndoubted truethes and shal assuredlye be veryfied Christ sayeth whosoeuer loueth father mother ryches wyfe or children more then him is not worthye of him And who so gathereth not with Chryste scattereth And he that is not with him is against him Suche as deny him here shal be denyed of him in the nexte worlde And whosoeuer confesseth him here shal be acknowledged of him in the daye of iudgemente And both these sayinges being of equal trueth and credite then as S. Cyprian sayeth Si fides quae vicerit coronatur necesse est vt victa perfidia puniatur If the fayth that conquereth be crouned thē must the foyled perfidiousnesse be chasticed Wherfore whosoeuer hath fallen lett him nowe ryse If he haue shewed himselfe a man in sinninge Lett him not shewe himselfe a diuell in obstinatlye perseueringe in his faulte So many delightes as you haue to leaue so many sacrifyces you haue to appease God Your number of vices maye you turne into a nūber of vertues imployinge all that to serue God in your repentance which you abused to the contempte of God in your wickednesse Flye out of the middest of Babylon sayeth S. Bernard and saue your soules Flye vnto the cytye of refuge where you maye doe penance for that whiche is paste obtayne grace for the presente and expecte the comfortes that are to come Lett not the burden of your conscience withholde you for where sinne hath much abounded there aboundeth also Gods grace in repentance Lett not the feare of difficulties and rigour dismaye you The passions of this world are not condigne neither to the sinnes paste which are released nor to the present sweetenesse of grace which is restored nor to the future glorye wher-with they shal be rewarded If you beleeue not wordes beleeue examples of so manye How manye haue you in pryson both by nature and custome verye dayntye and tender Nothinge is impossible to true beleeuers Nothinge sharpe to true louers Nothinge harde to the meeke Nothing rough to the humble to whome grace affordeth healpe and deuoute obedience easeth the wayghte of Gods commaundementes Remember what iudgementes God hathe shewed on those that denyed him One as soone as he had denyed Christe was presentlye stricken dumme and in that began his punishment in whiche beganne his faulte An other woman hauinge committed the lyke cryme was sodaynlye in the bathes seased on by an euill spirite and toare of her tongue with her owne teeth by whiche she had renounced her faythe And thus being made the reuenger of her own offence within a litle space extremelye tormented with wringinge in her bowels she gaue vp the ghost And to omitt perticulers Harken what S. Cyprian sayeth of those that in his tyme were guilty of this reuolte Quam multi quotidie immūdis spiritibus adimplentur quam multi vsque ad insaniam mentis excordes dementiae furore quatiūtur Nec necesse est ire per exitus singulorū cū per orbis multiformes ruinas tam delictorum paena sit varia quam delinquentium multitudo numerosa How manye are euerye daye fraught with foule fiendes howe manye waxinge witlesse fooles are in the ende shaken with a furious madnesse Nether neede I to goe ouer the particuler endes of euery one seeing that in the manyfold ruines and reuoltes through the worlde the punishmentes of they re sinnes are as various as the multitude of offenders is greate Let euery one of you cōsider as well what he himselfe hath deserued as what others haue suffered Lett no man flatter himselfe in the adiourning of his chastisement Yea lett him rather feare the more seeinge God reserueth his sinne to an eternall reuenge Be not moued with they re example that
of his faythe but a penalty of his faythlessnesse And therefore if anye of theire actions be committed to writinge it is not a reporte of theire prayses but a rehersall of theire iniquities For as Dauid foretolde Perijt memoria eorum cum sonitu and agayne iniusti autem peribunt simul reliquiae impiorū interibunt Theyr memory vanyshed with a sound the vniust shall perishe and they re verye reliques be quite extinguished wherfore to you only and to your predecessors who suffer in this gloryous cause of the Catho like fayth whose only quarrell as before is proued is the true quarrell of religiō to you I saye to no other appertayneth the glory of Martyrs in this worlde and the vnspeakeable felicitie prepared for them in the worlde to come Cap. 14. WHich how great it is may easelye be coniectured For they re deade bodyes here in earthe are so highlye honoured and had in suche estimation what maye we thincke of the maiestye of they re soules in heauen For first all the comfortes ioyes and delightes that are here scattered in diuers creatures and contryes all the bewtye and comlynesse that any worldlye thinge here hath shal be there vnited and ioyned together in euerye Sayncte without any of these imperfections wher-withal they are here coped Nowe what a happye man woulde we thinke him that with a worde mighte haue all the wealth and treasure solace and comfort that this worlde is able to afforde If he might be loued of whom and as much as he wolde honoured of all and partner of euerye mans ioye as much as them selues and haue euerye thing in what tyme place and manner that it pleased him to appoynte We see how muche anye one pleasure is prysed Some will venture to anye perill to please they re taste other to contente they re eye manye to satisfye they re eare infinite to fulfill they re sensualitye And yet what are all the content-mentes of these senses but shadowes and dreames of delight neyther sufficient to quenche sorowe nor able to cotinue longe nor wonne without hazarde nor ended without feare nor lost without greefe But in heauen all the senses are euermore and without feare of losse fullye satisfied with they re seuerall pleasures and drowned in the depth of vnspeakeable delighte The place how glorious it is maye be ghessed by the description of S. Ihon of heauenlye Hierusalem whose walles are of pretious stone whose gates Pearles whose porters Angels whose streetes paued with golde and interlaced with Christal riuers the banckes wherof are sett with the trees of lyfe whose fruite reneweth the leaues preserue from all kind of sicknesse God is their Sunne and euer shineth they re temple and is euer open they re daye neuer endeth they re felicitye neuer decayeth and they re state neuer altereth Which description though it be sett forthe with the most precious things of this world the better to resemble the glorye of that place yet in trueth it hathe litle comparison to the thinge it selfe But because we beinge ruled by sense more then by vnderstandinge conceaue not spirituall matters but by the similitude of earthlye thinges Lett this for the glorye of the place suffyse that all the ornaments delightes and inuentions that eyther nature hathe bredd or arte deuised or man imagined shall there meet to the furniture of these roomes And whatsoeuer hath bene is or shal be of rare beautye to sett anye thinge forth shall there be present all this in a thousande folde more delicious exquisite maner then euer hath bene seene or conceyued in this world Now range with your inwarde eye in the suptuous Pallaces and statelye buildinges of monarches Emperours see what you can and thincke a thousand times more then you see it is all but a fancye in respecte of that which heauen is garnished withall Now for your companye you must not thincke that because the lame blynde poore and despised abiectes of this worlde are those that goe to heauen and on the other syde the Princes peeres and Potentates for the most part those that sinke into hel that therfore all the beste companye is banished from thence and the remissals of mankinde onlye lefte to fill vpp the seates of the falne Aungels For firste all those of al states and degrees whose companye shal be grateful shal be there present but suche as were vnworthye of they re earthlye prefermentes and abused them to they re damnation as moste doe Muche lesse are they worthye of heauenlye glorye and they re companye we shall vtterlye deteste therfore neuer be troubled with it Secondlye if God of a childe that cometh naked out of his mothers wombe and hath no more to healpe him selfe then the poorest bratt that is borne in the worlde can make such mightye Emperours and worthyes as we reade to haue ben in tymes paste how much more able is he to aduaunce the moste impotent wretch to a greater dignitye in heauē God estemeth not the toyes that men accounte of his iudgemente onlye searcheth euerye mans desertes When we dye it is as in the change of a Prince for they that were in authoritye are then deposed those that were base and abiect before are then aduaunced and the Prince that is newly created regardeth litle whome his predecessoure fauoured but who seemed to him beste worthye of prefermente Euen so little esteemethe God what accompte the worlde hathe made of vs but howe well we haue deserued to be well thought of and worthelye rewarded Besydes men we shall haue the companye of so manye quires of Angels of our Ladye Christe and the moste blessed Trinitye and these so beautifull to see so amiable and louing to conuerse with that we shall no lesse ioye of oure companye then of oure owne glorye Of this S. Anselme speaketh thus Whosoeuer deserueth to come thither whatsoeuer he wold wish shal be and what he will not shall not be neyther in heauen nor earthe For such is the loue of God to his Sainctes and of them amonge themselues that all loue one another as them selues loue God more then them selues And none will haue but what god will haue and that whiche one will haue all wil haue and that which one or al wil haue God also will haue it so to be So that euery on s wishe shal be fulfilled in hym selfe in all other creatures yea and in almightye God And so shall all be absolute Kinges because euerye on s pleasure and will shal be fullye accomplished Finallye in the syghte of God we shall haue the fulnesse of felicity which neither eye hath seene nor eare heard nor mans harte atchiued The vnderstanding shal be without erroure the memorye without forgetfulnesse the will without euill desyres the thoughtes pure and comfortable the affections ordinate and measurable all the passions gouerned by reason and setled in a perfecte calme No feare shall affrighte vs no presumption