commerce O admirable and for euer to beloued benignity of the diuine mercy We were not worthy to be seruants and yet behold we are made the Sonnes of God Nay we are the heires of God and coheirs of Christ Whence came this to vs and who brought vs to this But I beseeche thee O thou most mercifull God the Father by this inestimable goodnes and piety and charity of thine make vs worthy of the many and great promisses of thy Sonne our Lord Iesus-Christe imploy thy strength and confirme that in vs which thou hast wrought Perfect that which thou haste begun that we may deserue to attayne to the fulnesse of thy mercy Inable vs by thy Holy Spiritt to vnderstand deserue and reuerence with due honor this great mystery of piety which is manifested in the flesh iustified in the spirit hath appeared to Angells is preached to Gentiles is beleeued in the world and is assumed to glory CHAP. XVII Of the thanks which a man owes to God for the benefitt of Redemption O How deepely are we thy debters O Lord our God being redeemed by so high a price being saued by so rich a guift being assisted by so glorious a benefitt How much art thou to be feared loued blessed praised honored and glorified by vs miserable creatures whom thou haste so loued saued sanctifyed and exalted For to thee doe we owe all our power all our beeing and all our knowledg And who hath any thinge which is not thyne Thou art our Lord and our God from whom all things proceed For thy selfe and for thy holy Name giue vs So me part of thy heauenly riches that by meanes of those blessings and guifts of thyne we may serue please thee in truth and that by way of returne we may dayly render thee all due praise for so many benefits of thy mercy Nor can we serue thee or praise thee by any other meanes then by thy owne guift For euery good grace and euery perfect guift is from aboue descending from thee the Father of lights wiht whom there is noe change nor so much as any shadow of mutability O Lord our God! deare God good God Omnipotent God vnspeakable God whose nature cannot be circumscribed God the ordeyner of all things the Father of our Lord Iesus-Christe who diddest send the same beloued Sonne of thyne our most sweete Lord out of thy bosome for our vniuersall profitt to take our life vpon him that he might bestowe his life vpon vs and that he might be perfect God of thee the Father and perfect Man of his Mother all God and all Man and one and the same Christe eternall and temporall immortall and mortall Creator and creature stronge weake triumphant and yet ouercome the nourse and the creature which is nourished the Pastor the sheepe he that dyed for a tyme and dyed in time and yet is liueinge for all eternity He promiseinge to such as loued him that they should be prouided for said thus to his Disciples What soeuer you shall aske the Father in my name he wil giue it to you By this Supreame Sacrifice and true Preist and good Pastor who offered himselfe in Sacrifice to thee laying downe his life for his flocke by him I beseech thee who sitteth at thy right hand and interceedeth for vt being our Redeemer and Aduocate before thy pitty and goodnesse I beseech thee I say O God the most deere and benigne louer of mankinde that thou wilt giue me grace with the same Sonne of thyne and the Holy Ghoste to praise and glorify thee in all things with great contrition of hart and a fountaine of teares with much reuerence and trembling because theirs whose the substance is theirs also are all the accessaryes therof But because the body which is corrupted doth depresse the soule I beseeche thee to rowse vp my dullnes by thy vertue and make me perseuere with strength in thy Commaundements and praises day and night Grant that my hart may wax warme within me and that whilest I am in meditation the fire may burne And because thy onely Sonne himselfe did say No man cometh to me vnlesse the Father who sent me drawe him and no man cometh to the Father but by me I beseech and humbly pray thee be thou euer draweing me to him that at last he may bring me thither to thee where he is sittinge at thy right hand where there is an eternall life eternally happy where there is perfect loue and noe feare where there is an euerlastinge day and one spirit of them all where there is certaine and supreame security and secure tranquillity and serene alacrity and sweet felicity and happy eternity and eternall beatitude and a blessed praise and vision of thee which neuer ends where thou with him and he with thee and both in the communion of the same Holy Ghoste doe sempiternally liue and being God dost reigne for euer and for euer Amen CHAP. XVIII A Prayer to Christe our Lord. O Christ my God my hope Sweete louer of mankinde Light life way health And beauty most refin'd Behould those things which thou Did'st suffer vs to saue The chaynes the wounds the Crosse The bitter death the graue Riseing within three dayes From conquering death and hell By thy Disciples seene Reforminge mindes so well Vpon the fortieth day Climeing the Heauens soe high Thou liuest now and thou Shalt raigne eternally THou art my liueing and true God my holy Father my deare Lord my greate Kinge my good shepheard my onely instructor my best helper my most beautifull louer my liueinge breade my Eternall Preist my guide into my country my true light my holy sweetnes my right way my excellent wisdome my pure simplicity my peaceable concord my safe custody my good portion my euerlasting saluation my great Mercy my inuincible patience my imaculate Sacrifice my holy Redemption my firme hope my perfect charity my true Resurrection my eternall life my excessiue ioy and most blessed Vision which is for euer to remaine I pray thee I begg of thee I beseech thee that I may walke by thee passe on by thee and repose in thee who art the way the truth and the life without whome no man cometh to the Father For thou art he whome I desire O thou most sweete most beautifull Lord O thou splendor of thy Fathers Glory who sittest aboue the Cherubins and beholdest from thence the most profound Abysses which are belowe thou light which declareth truth illuminateing light light which neuer leaues to shine whome the Angells desire to behold Loe my hart is before thee disperse the darknes therof that by the clearnes of thy loue it may be yet more fully strucken and beaten through with light Giue thy selfe to me O my God restore thy selfe to me Behold I loue thee and if it be to little make me loue thee more I cannot measure out to know how much of my loue is wanting to thee of that which ought to make it
hatest in me and ingrafte in me the spiritt of chastity continency that whatsoeuer I may chance to aske of thee yet in the very askeing of it I may not offend thee Take from me that which hurts and giue me that which helpes Giue me O Lord some Phisicke whereby my woundes may be cured O Lord giue me thy feare compunction of hart humility of minde and a pure conscience Grant O Lord that I may euer maintayne fraternal charity and that I may not forget mine owne sinne nor busy my selfe with those of other men Pardon my soule my sinns my crymes visite me who am weake cure me who am sicke strengthen me who am languishing and reuiue me who am dead Giue me a hart O Lord which may feare thee a will which may loue thee a minde which may vnderstand thee eares which may heare thee and eyes which may see thee Haue mercy on me O God haue mercy on me and looke downe on me from that holy seat of thy Maiesty and illuminate the darknes of my hart with the beame of thy splendor Giue me O Lord discretion that I may discerne betweene good and bade and grant that I may haue a vigilant minde O Lord I begg of thee the remission of all my sinns from whome and by whome propitiation may be granted me in the tyme of my necessity and of my greatest streights O holy and immacutate Virgin Mary the Mother of God the Mother of our Lord Iesus Chirste vouchsafe to interceede of me with him whose Temple thou deseruedst to be made Holy Michaell holy Gabriel holy Raphael O you holy Quires of Angells and Archangells of Patriarches and Prophetts of Apostles and Euangelists Martys and Confessors Preists and Leuitts Monckes and Virgins and of all the Saints I presume to begg of you hy him who chose you and by the contemplation of whome you are in such ioy that you will vouchsafe to make supplication to God himselfe for me that I may obteyne to be deliuered from the iawes of the Deuill and from eternall death Vouchsafe O Lord to grant me eternall life according to thy Clemency and most benigne mercy O Lord Iesus Christe grant concord to Preists and to Kings Bishopps and Princes who iudge iustly giue tranquillity and peace O Lord I beseech thee for the whole holy Catholike Church for men and woemen for Religious and secular people for all the gouernors of Christians and all such as beleeuing in thee doe labour for the holy loue of thee that they may obteyne perseuerance in theyr good workes Grant O Lord O Eternall Kinge chastity to Virgins continency to such as are dedicated to thee O Almighty God sanctimony to maried follâ—es pardon to sinners releife to orphans and widowes protection to the poore safe arriual to such as are in iourney comfort to such as mourne euerlasting rest to the faithfull soules departed a safe hauen to such as are at Sea to thy best seruants that they may continue in their vertue to them who are but indifferently good that they may growe better to them who are wicked and sinfull as to me poore wertch that they may quickly reforme themselues O most sweete and most mercyfull Lord Iesus Christe the Sonne of the liueinge God the Redeemer of the world I confesse my selfe to be a miserable sinner in all things and aboue all men but thou also O most mercifull and supreame Father who takest pitty vpon all doe not suffer me to become an alien from thy mercy O God thou King of Kinges who haste giuen me this truce of liueing till now grant me deuotion to reforme my selfe stirr vp in me a minde which may earnestly desire and seeke thee and loue thee aboue all things feare thee and doe thy will thou who art all euery where in Trinity and Vnity and that for euer Especially therefore I beseech thee O Lord O Holy Father who art glorious and blessed for euer that all they who remember me in their Prayers and who haue commended themselues to my vnworthy ones and who haue performed any office of charity or worke of mercy towards me and they also who are ioyned to me by kindred and by the naturall affection of flesh and blood and as well all they who are now aliue as those others who are departed may be mercifully and graciously gouerned by thee that they perish not Vouchsafe to giue succour to all the Christians who liue grant absolution with eternall rest to the faithfull who are dead And moreouer I doe in most particuler manner begg of thee O Lord thou who art Alpha and omega that when the last day and pointe of my life shall arriue thy selfe will vouchsafe to be my mercifull Iudge against that maligne accuser the Deuill and be thou my continuall defend or against the sleights of that ancient enemy of mine and make me continue in that holy heauen of thyne in the society of al the Angells and Saints thou who art blessed for euer and euer Amen CHAP. XLI A Prayer in memorie of the Passion of Christe our Lord. O Lord Iesus Christe my Redemption my mercy and my saluation I praise thee I giue thee thanks though they carry noe proportion to thy benefits Though they be very voide of deuotion though they be leane in respect of the fatnes of that most sweete loue of thee which I desire yet such as they are not such I confesse as I owe but such as I am able to conceaue my soule is now paying to thee O thou hope of my hart and thou vertue of my soule and the life and end of all my intentions lett thy most powerfull dignity supply that which my most fainte weaknes doth endeauour And if I haue not yet deserued so much of thee as to loue thee so much as I ought yet at least I haue an earnest desire to performe the same O thou my light thou seest my conscience because O Lord all my desires are before thee And if I endeauour to doe any thing which is good it is thou who bestowest it vpon me If that be good O Lord which thou inspirest or rather because the inclination which I haue to loue thee is good grant me that which it is thy will that I should desire and grant that I may obteyne to loue thee as much as thou requirest I giue thee praise and thankes for what I haue lest otherwise thy gnift might proue vnfruitfull to me which thou hast bestowed of thyne owne free will Perfect that which to hast begunn and giue me that through thy mercy which thou madest me desire without any merit of mine Conuert O most benigne Lord my dull heauinesse into a most feruent loue of thee To this O my most mercifull Lord my prayer my memory my meditation of thy benefitts doe all tend that thou maiste kindle thy loue in me Thy goodes O Lord created me thy mercy when I was created did cleanse me from original sinn thy patience after that
restore my selfe I make a grant of my selfe to thee through whome I am through whome I liue and through whom I haue the vse of reason I hope I trust and I place all my confidence in thee by whome I may be able to rise againe and to liue and rest It is thou whom I desire whome I loue and whome I adore and with whome I am to remayne raigne and be happie The soule which seekes not thee nor loues not thee doth loue the world and serueth sinne is a slaue to vice and is neuer quiet or secure O thou most holy God let my minde be euer performing seruice to thee let this pilgrimage of mine be euer sighing towards thee let my hart burne through the loue of thee let my soule O my God repose in thee let it contemplate thee in excesse of mind and let it singe prayses to thee in full ioy and let this be my comfort in this banishment of mine Let this minde of mine fly to the shadowe of thy winges from the scorching cogitations of this world Let this hart of mine be at a calme in thee this hart which is such a deepe Sea full of swelling waues O thou who art so rich of heauenly food thou most aboundant imparter of that spirituall celestiall satiety giue nourishment to him who is defeated with hunger gather him vp who is scattered free him who is entrald stitch him together who is torne Behold he standeth at the doore and knocks I beseech thee by those bowells of thy mercy in which thou being the Orient didst visit vs from on hygh commaund that it be opened to this miserable creature who is knocking that so with nimble feete I may enter into thee and repose in thee and be refreshed by that bread of heauen For thou art both the bread and the fountaine of life thou art the splendor of immortall light In fine thou art all those thinges wherby iust persons liue who loue thee CHAP. V. Of the Desire of a soule O God the light of those hartes which see thee and the life of those soules which loue thee the strength or vertue of their thoughts who seeke thee graunt that I may be incorporated into the holy loue of thee Come I beseech thee into my hart and inebriate it with the springing plenty of thy delights that so I may forget all worldly thinges I am ashamed and I am afflicted to find my selfe suffering such thinges as this world is doing All that which I see concerning transitory thinges makes me sorry and all that which I heare makes me sad Help me O Lord my God infuse ioy into my hart and come to me that so I may grow to see thee For this house of my soule is strait till thou come into it and so it be inlarged by the. It is ruinous till it be repaired by thee It hath many things which may offend thyne eyes I know it and confesse it but yet who is he that can cleanse it or to whom but thee shall I cry out Cleanse me O Lord from my hidden sinnes and pardon also thy seruant those sinnes which he hath caused in others Make me sweet Christ O deere Iesus make me I beseech thee lay downe the burden of carnall desires and of the concupiscence which I haue after earthly thinges Giue dominion to my soule ouer my body and to my reason ouer my soule and to thy grace ouer my reason and subdue me both in my outward and inward man to thy will Graunt to me that my hart may praise thee togeather with my tongue and all the strength I haue Dilate my mind and hoyse vp the sight of my hart that at least by some glymse my spirit may with a swift and suddaine thought lay hold vpon that eternall wisedom whach is aboue all thinges and whach lasts beyond them all Discharge me I beseech thee from he chains wherin I am bound by sinnes chat at last I may giue ouer all thinges that I may hasten to thee and behold and adhere to thee alone CHAP. VI. Of the felicity of a soule which is freed from the prison of flesh and bloud HAPPY is that soule which being freed from this earthly prison arriues to heauen and seeth thee her most deere Lord face to face And which is no longer subiect to the least feare of death but doth reioyce in the incorruptibility of eternall glory She is then in peace she is secure doth no longer feare either death or any other enemy For she possesseth her deere Lord whom she hath long sought and whome she hath euer loued and being associated to those Quires of Angels she doth eternally sing those melodious Hymnes of thy euer lasting solemnity O Christ thou King thou deare Iesus to the prayse of thy glory For then she is inebriated by the fresh and springing plenty of thy house and thou giuest her to drinke of thy delights O happy society of those heauenly Cittizens O glorious solemnity of them who returne to thee from the sad labour of this pilgrimage of ours to that sweetnes of beauty to that delightfulnes of all splendour and to that dignity of all pleasing grace where thy Cittizens O Lord do continually behold thy countenance There is no eare in that place which can heare any thing that may offend it What songs what Organs what Hymnes what melodies are sung there without any end Eternally are there sounded forth mellifluous cōcents of Hymns that most sweet melody of the Angells those most admirable canticles of Canticles which are sung forth by those heauenly Cittizens to thy prayse and glory No bitternes nor any kind of vnsauorynes or gall can haue any place in that Countrey of thine for there is no wickednes nor any wicked man There is no aduersary or enemy there is no tempting bayte of sinne there is no want no shame no quarell no reproach no exception taken no feare no vnquietnes no payne no doubt no violence no dissention But there is souueraigne peace pertect charity eternall iubilation and prayse of God secure euerlasting repose and perpetual ioy in the holy Ghost O how happy shall I be if once I may arriue to heare those most sweet songs of thy cittizens those mellifluous Hymns which with due honour shall declare the prayses of the most blessed Trinity But O how happy euen too happy shall I be if my selfe may obtaine to sing to our Lord Iesus Christ some one of those sweet songs of Syon CHAP. VII Of the Ioyes of Heauen O Vitall life O eternall life and eternally happy where there is ioy without griefe rest without labour dignity without feare riches without want life without death perpetuity without corruption and felicity without calamity Where all thinges are good in perfect charity where there is showing seeing face to face where there is complete knowledge in all and by all where the soueraigne goodnes of God is discerned where the illuminating
me For thou art as we beleeue thou art that very thing which we beleeue wee beleeue that thou art some what then which nothing greater and nothing better can be conceaued What therfore art thou O Lord God since nothing can be cōceaued either greather or better then thou art but only that soueraigne good which existing by it selfe alone did create al other things of nothing VVhat good can therfore be wanting to that soueraigne good whereby all good thinges are Thou art therefore iust true blessed whatsoeuer els which it is better to be then not to be that thing thou art But yet if thou be all supremely iust how commeth it to passe that thou pardonnest sinners Is it because thy goodnes doth exceed our vnderstanding This mistery lyeth hid in that inaccessible light which thou dost inhabit yea in that most deepe and most secret profoundity of thy Goodnes that fountaine doth lye hid from whence the riuer of thy mercy floweth For although thou be wholy and supremely iust yet therefore art thou mercifull to wicked men because thou art also wholy and supremely Good And thou shouldst be lesse good if thou wert not good to any who is wicked For he is better who is good both to the good to the had then he who is good but to the good And better is he who is good both in pardoning and in punishing wicked men then another who is only good in punishing And therefore art thou also mercifull because thou art wholy and supremely Good CHAP. XXXIII Of the delightfull fruition of God O Thou immense goodnes who exceedest all vnderstanding Let thy mercy which so aboundantly preceedeth from thee descend downe on me let that flow into me which floweth from the. Pardon me by thy mercy least els thy iustice be forced to take reuenge vpon me Styr thy selfe vp now O my soule erect thy whole vnderstanding and consider to the vttermost of all thy power what kind how great a good that is which is God himself For if euery particulier good thing do carry with itsome delight doe but seriously consider how delightful that good must needs be which contayneth the delight of all good thinges that too no such kind of delight as we experience in thinges created but a delight so very different as the Creatour is more excellent then the creature Now if that life which is created be good how good is that other life which created this If this health be delightfull which is made how delightfull must that needs be which made all this health If the VVisedom be amiable which is exercised in the consideration knowledge of created things how amiable must that other VVisedom be which created framed all of nothing And in fine if the delight which is taken in delightfull things be very great and of great variety how various how great is that delight which is taken in him who created all these delightfull thinges O how happie shall he be that shall arriue to ēioy this good Yea how happy shall he not be Infaillibly whatsoeuer he would haue to be shall be and whatsoeuer he would not shall not be He shall there be so endued with such felicity both of body soule as neither the eye hath seene nor the eare hath heard nor hath it entered into the hart of man CHAP. XXXIV That this supreme good is to be desired WHY dost thou therfore wander O thou man in the search of any good concerning either thy body or thy soule Loue thou that one good wherein all good things are it is inough Desire thou that one single good which conteyneth all good and it will suffice For what dost thou O boby of myne desire what dost thou desire O my soule There is in that good whatsoeuer thou canst desire or loue If thou be delighted with beauty the iust shall shin bright like the Sunne If speed or strenght or ability to do what thou wilt with thy body nothing shall be able to resist thee since the. Saints shal be as the Angels of God For a corporall body is sowed but it shall rise vp a spirituall body not that it is so by nature but by participation If thou desire a long healthfull life in heauen there shal be a health full eternity an eternall health for the iust shall liue for euer their saluatio is of our Lord. If thou desire to haue a satiety fullnes of all things Men shal be satisfyed when the glory of our Lord shall appeare If thou desire to be inebriated mē shall there be inebriated by that euer growing plenty of the house of God If musicke the Angells shal be singing there for all eternity If pleasure which is chast pure our Lord shall giue then to drink of the torrent of his pleasure If wisedome the very wisedome of God will to them declare himself who is wisedome If friendship they shall loue God more then themselues God will loue them better them they can loue themselues because they loue him themselues one another in him he loueth himselfe them by himselfe If concord with one another be esteemed they haue all but one will because they haue no other will but the supreme will of God If power they shall haue the same dominion ouer their owne will which God hath ouer his For as God can do what he will by himselfe so shall they be able to do what they will by him And as they cannot will any thing but what he wills so wil he will whatsoeuer they will so what they will cannot chuse but be If wealth honour God doth place his good and faythfull seruants ouer many goods yea they shall be called the sonnes of God and Gods and they shal be his heires the coheirs of Christ If true security they shall be as certainly assured that no good thing shall be euer wanting to them as they shall be sure that neither they wil forgoe it willingly nor that he who loueth them will take it away against their will whome he so loueth nor yet that there is any thing mightier then God which is able to separate him and them from one another Now what kind of ioy and how great must that needs be where such a good as this is to be inioyed CHAP. XXXV Of the mutuall Charity of the Saints in Heauen O Thou hart of man thou poore hart thou hart which knowest what belonges to cares and miseries by experience or rather which art euen ouer-welmed by them how much wouldst thou reioyce if thou didst abound with all those blessings Aske thy most inward powers if they would be able to containe the ioy which would grow to thee by such felicity as that But now if any other whom thou didst absoluty loue as thou didst loue thy selfe should possesse the selfe same beatitude with thee thy ioy would be doubled because thou wouldst
yet agayne it is afflicted because it falls back and returnes to be an Abysse or rather it findes that still it is so My faith which thou hast kindled in this night of myne before my feete doth say Why art thou sad O my soule and why doste thou afflict me Hope thou in God his word is a lanterne to my feete Hope and continue to doe so till the night which is the mother of the wicked doe passe a way till the wrath of our Lord passe away wherof sometymes we were the Children For sometymes we were darknes Till this fury of water pass cleane a way we still dragg on in our body which is dead through sinn the reliques of that darknes Till such tyme as the day shall approach all shadowes may be remoued I will hope in our Lord. In the morrow of the next life I shall assist and contemplate and I will euer confesse to him In that morrow I shall assist and behold the health of my countenance which is my God who will reuiue euen our mortall bodyes for that spiritts sakes which dwelleth in vs that now we may be light euen whilest we are saued here by hope That we may be the Sonns of light and the Sonns of God and not of night and darknes For sometymes we were darknes but now we are light in thee O our God and yet we are so here but by Faith and not face to face Because that hope which is seene is not hope All that immortall people of thy Angells praiseth thee O Lord and those celestiall Powers glorify thy Name They haue no need to read any such writing as this towards the makeinge them knowe the holy indiuiduall Trinity For they see thy Face for euer and there they read without any syllabes of tyme what that eternall will requires They read they choose and they loue They euer read and that neuer passeth which they are readinge By choosing and by loueinge they read the very immutability of thy counsell and their booke is neuer shutt and their scrowle neuer folded vp for thy self is all that to them and so thou art to be for euer O how excessiuely happy are those powers of heauen which are able to praise thee most purely and holyly with excessiue sweetnes and vnspeakable exultation They praise thee for that in which thâ—â— ioy because they euer see reason 〈◊〉 they should reioice and praise them But we being oppressed by this burthen of our flesh and being cast farr of from thy face in this pilgrimage of ours and being so racked by the variety of worldly things are not able worthily to praise thee Yet we praise thee as we can by Faith though not face to face but those Angelicall spiritts praise thee face to face not by Faith For our flesh putteth this vpoÌ„ vs obligeth vs to praise thee farr otherwise then they doe But how soeuer euen we sing praise to thee in a different manner and yet thou art but one O God thou Creator of all things to whome the sacrifice of praise is offered both in heauen and earth And by thy mercy we shall one day arriue to their society with whome we shall for euer see and praise thee Grant O Lord that whilest I am placed in this fraile body of mine my hart may praise thee my tongue may praise thee and all the powers of my soule may say O Lord who is like to thee Thou art that Omnipotent God whome we worshiâ— as Trine in Persons and Onâ—â— the Substance of thy Diety We adore the Father vnbegotten the Sonne the onely begotten of his Father and the Holy Ghoste proceedinge from them both and remaininge in them both We adore thee O Holy and indiuiduall Trinity one Omnipotent God who when we were not did'st most puissantly make vs and when by our owne fault we weare lost by thy pitty and goodnes thou did'st recouer vs after an admirable manner Doe not I beseech thee permitt that we should be vngratefull for so great benefitts and vnworthy of so many mercyes I pray thee I beseech thee I begg of thee that thou wilt increase my faith hope and charity I beseech thee make vs by that grace of thyne to be euer firme in beleiueinge and full of efficacy in working that so by meanes of incorrupted Faith and workes worthy therof we may through thy mercy arriue to euerlastinge life And there beholding thy glory as indeed it is we whome thou haste made worthy to see that glory of thyne may adore thy Maiesty and may say together Glory be to the Father who created vs Glory be to the Sonne who redeemed vs Glory be to the Holy Ghoste who sanctifyed vs Glory be to the supreame indiuiduall Trinity whose workes are inseparable and whose empire is eternall To thee our God praise is due to thee a Hymne of glory to thee all honor benediction clarity thanksgiueing vertue and fortitude for euer and for euer Amen CHAP. XXXIV He complayneth against himselfe for not being moued with the contemplation of God whereat the Angells tremble PArdon me O Lord pardon me through thy mercy pardon and pitty me pardon my great ignorance and imperfections Doe not reiect me as a presumptuous creature in that I aduenture being thy slaue I would I could say a good one and not rather that I am vnprofitable and wicked and therfore very wicked because I take this boldnes to praise and blesse and adore thee who art our Omnipotent God and who art terrible and excessiuely to be feared without contrition of hart without a fountaine of tears and without due reuerence and trembling For if the Angells who adore and praise thee doe tremble whilest they are filled with that admirable exultation how comes it to passe that I a sinfull creature whilest I am present with thee and sing prayses and offer sacrifices to thee am not frighted at the hart that I am not pale in my face that my lipps tremble not and my whole body is not in a shiueringe and that so with a flood of tears I doe not incessantly mourne before thee I would fayne doe it but I am not able because I cannot doe what I desire Herupon I am vehemently wondringe at my selfe when by the eyes of Faith I see how terrible thou art but yet who can doe euen this without thy grace For all our saluation is nothing but thy great mercy Woe be to me how comes my soule to be made so senseles as that it is not frighted with excessiue terrour whilest I am standing before God and singinge forth his praise Woe be to me how comes my hart to be so hardned that myne eyes cannot incessantly bring forth whole floods of tears whilest the slaue is speaking before his Lord Man with God the. Creature with the Creator he who is made of durte with him who made all things of nothing Beholde O Lord how I place my selfe before thee that which I conceiue of
with thy finger in my hart the sweete memory of thy mellifluous Name which may neuer be blotted out againe Write thy will and thy lawe in the tables of my hart that I may haue both thy lawe and thy selfe O Lord of immense sweetnes at all tymes and places before myne eyes Burne vp my mynde with that fire of thyne which thou did'st send into the world and did'st desire that it might be much kindled that I may daily offer to thee abundance of tears the sacrifice of a troubled spirit and contrite hart O sweete Christe O deer Iesus as I desire and as with my whole hart I craue so giue me thy holy and chaste loue which may replenish and take and possesse me wholy And giue me that euident signe of thy loue a springing fountayne of tears which continually may flowe that my tears themselues may witnes thy loue to me and they may discouer and declare how deerly my soule loueth thee whilest through the excessiue sweetnes of that loue it cannot conteyne it selfe from tears I remember deare Lord that good woeman Anna who came to the Tabernacle to begg a sonne of thee of whome the Scripture saith that after her tears and prayers her countenance was cast no longer towardes seuerall things But whilest I call to mind her so great vertue and constancy I am racked with greife and confounded with shame because I finde my selfe too miserablie cast downe towards vanity But if she wept so bitterly and did so perseuer in weepinge who onely desired to haue a sonne how ought my soule to lament and continue in lamentation which seekes and loues God and earnesty desires to get home to him How ought such a soule lament and weepe who seeketh God day and night and is resolued to loue nothinge but Christ our Lord It is no lesse then a wōder if such a persons teares become not his bread day and night Looke back therefore and take pitty on me for the sorrowes of my hart are multiplyed Giue me of thy celestiall contemplation and despise not this sinfull soule for which thou dyedst Giue me I beseeche thee internall teares which may springe from the most secret corner of my hart whereby the chaines of my sinns may be broken and lett them euer fill my soule with celestiall ioy that I may obteyne some little portion in thy Kingdome if not in the Society of those true and perfect Moncks whose stepps I am not able to followe yet at least with deuout woeman I doe also call to minde the admirable deuotion of another woemā who sought thee with tender loue whē thou wert layd in the Sepulcher Who retired not from the sepulcher when the Disciples retired who satt downe there all afflicted and wounded she wept there long and much and riseing vp with many tears she did agayne and agayne play as it were the spy with her watchfull eyes vpon that solitary place to see if perhapps she might be able to finde thee any where whom she sought with such ardour of desire She had already entered into the sepulcher once and agayne but that which in it selfe seemes too much seemes not enough to one that loues The vertue of a good worke is perseuerance and because she loued thee beyond the rest and loueing wept and weeping sought and seeking perseuered therefore did she deserue to be the first of all others to finde the out and to speake with thee And not onely that but she was the first proclamer of thy glorious Resurrection to thy Disciples thy selfe thus directing and sweetly commaunding that it should be so Goe and will my brethren that they pass on into Gallile they shall see me there But now if that woeman wept and continued in weepinge who sought the liueing amongst the dead and who touched thee but with the hand of Faith how ought my soule to lamente and persiste in lamentation which beleeueth with the hart and confesseth with the mouth that thou art her redeemer praesiding now in heauen and regninge euery where How ought such a soule to lament and weepe which loues thee with her whole hart and couetts to see thee with her whole desire Thee who art the sole refuge and the onely hope of miserable creatures to whome one can neuer pray without hope of mercy Afford me this fauour I beseech thee for thyne owne sake for thy holy Name that as often as I thinke of thee speake of thee write of thee read of thee conferr of thee as often as I remember thee and am present with thee and offer praise and prayers and sacrifice to thee so often may I weepe abundantly and sweetely in thy presence that so my tears may be made my bread day and night Thou O King of glory and thou instructer of soules in all vertue haste taught vs both by doctrine and example that we are to lament and weepe sayinge Blessed are they who mourne for they shal be comforted Thou didest weepe ouer thy deceased freind and thou didest shedd abundant tears ouer that miserable Citty which was to perish And now O deare Iesus I beseech thee by those most pretious tears of thyne and by all those mercyes whereby thou didest vouchsafe so admirably to releyue vs wretched Creatures giue me the grace of tears which my soule doth greatly affect and couet For without thy guift I cannot haue it but be thou pleased to impart it to me by that holy Spirit of thyne which mollifyes the hard harts of sinners and giues them compunction to weepe as thou didest giue it to our Fathers whose footesteps I am to imitate that so I may lament my selfe duringe my whole life as they lamented themselues day and night And by theyr merits and prayers who pleased theo and did most deuoutly serue thee I beseeche thee take pitty vpon me thy most miserable and vnworthy seruant and grant me the grace of tears Grant me that superior kinde of irrigation or watering and that inferior also that my tears may be my bread day and night and that by the fire of sorrowe I may be made a fatt and marrowy Holocauste in thy sight O my God let me be all offerred vp vpon the altar of my hart and let me be receyued by thee as a most acceptable sacrifice to thee in the odour of sweetnes Grant me O most sweete Lord both a continuall and a cleere founteyne wherein this vncleane Holocauste may be cleansed For although I haue already offered my selfe to thee by thy fauour and grace yet in many things doe I offend dayly through my excessiue frailty Giue me therefore the grace of tears O blessed and amiable God through the greate sweetnes of thy loue and by the commemoration of thyne owne mercyes Prepare this table for thy seruant in thy sight putt it into my power that as often as I list I may be filled therewith Grant through thy pitty goodnes that this excellent and inebriating chalice may quench my thirste
lett my spiritt pante towards thee my hart burne bright in thy loue forgetting all vanity and misery Hearken to me ô God hearken ô thou light of myne eyes hearken to that which I desire and make me desire such things as thou wilt grant O Lord thou who art holy exorable in thy selfe doe not become inexorable to me for my sinns but for thyne owne goodnes sake receaue the Prayers of thy seruant grant me the effect of my desire and sute by the prayers and merits of my Lady the glorious Virgin Mary and of all thy Saintes Amen CHAP. XXXVII A most holy and most excellent Prayer to Almighty God whereby the soule is greatly mooued to deuotion O Lord Iesus O Holy Iesus O good Iesus who didest vouchsafe to dy for our sinns and to rise agayne for our Iustification I beseech thee by that glorious Resurrection of thyne raise me vp from the sepulchre of all my vices and sinns dayly giue me a part in thy Resurrection by grace that I may obteyne to be made a true pertaker of thy Resurrection to glory O thou most sweete most benigne most loueinge most pretious most amiable and most beautifull Lord who didest ascend vp to heauen in a triumph of glory and beinge a most puissant Kinge dost sitt at the right hand of thy Father Drawe me vpward that I may runn after thee in the pursute and sent of thy odoriferous oyntments I will runn and not faynt Whilest thou art leading and draweinge me I will be runninge Drawe vp this mouth of my thirsty soule into those celestiall spirings of eternall satiety Nay rather drawe me to thy very selfe who art the true liueinge fountayne that so accordinge to the vttermoste of my capacity I may drinke that where-vpon I may for euer liue O thou my God and my life For thou haste said with thy holy and blessed mouth If any man thirst let him come to me and drinke O thou fountayne of life grant to my thirsty soule that it may alwayes drinke of thee that accordinge to thy holy and faithfull promisse the liueing waters may flowe from me O thou fountayne of life fill my minde with the torrent of thy delight and inebriate my hart with the sober ebriety of thy loue that I may forget all vaine ād earthly things and may perpetually haue thee and thee alone in my memory as it is written I haue beene mindfull of God and I was delighted Imparte to me the holy Spiritt which was signifyed by those watters which thou didest promisse that thou wouldest giue to such as thirsted after them Grant I beseeche thee that with my whole desire and endeauour I may tend thyther whither I beleeue thee to haue ascended vpon the fortieth day after thy Resurrection That so my body onely be held in this present misery and that I may euer be with thee in desire and thought That my hart may be there where thou art who art my incomparable disireable and extreamely amiable treasure For in the great deluge of this life wherein we are tossed with stormes to and fro surrounding vs and where there is noe secure castinge of anchor nor place more eminent wher-vpon the Doue may place her foote repose her selfe in some smale measure there is noe where any safe peace noe where any secure quietnes but euery where warrs and strife all places full of enemyes fighting without and fears within And because one parte of vs is celestiall and the other terrestriall the body which is subiect to coruption doth dull and stupify the soule Therefore doth this soule of myne which is my companion and my freind and which colmes all weary from trauellinge vpon a long and laborious way lye languishinge and torne in sunder by those vanityes which it passed by and it doth hunger and thirst extreamely and I haue nothinge to sett before it because I am a poore creature and a meere begger Thou ô Lord my God who art rich in all things and art a most plentifull imparter of celestiall satiety giue foode to it being weary recolect it being scattered and repair it being torne in peeces Behold it is at the doore and knockes It beseeches thee by those bowells of thy mercy whereby thou didest visite vs riseinge from aboue to open thy hand of pitty to this miserable soule which knockes and commaund out of thy benignity grace that it may enter in to thee that it may repose in thee and that it may be recreated and fedd with thee who art that true celestiall bread and wine That when it is satisfyed therewith it may recouer strength and so ascēd vp to the things aboue it being snatched vp out of this valley of misery by the wing of holy desires it may fly into those celestiall Kingdomes Let my spiritt ô Lord let my spiritt I beseech thee take the wings of an Eagle let it spring vp and neuer fainte let it fly till it arriue euen as farr as the beauty of thy house that place of the habitation of thy glory that it may there be full fedd vpon that table where thy celestiall Cittizens are refreshed with those secret delights of thyne in that place of rich feedinge close by those full fountaynes and there ô my Lord let my hart repose and rest in thee My hart is a high sea swelling vp with waues Thou who didest commaund both windes and seas where vpon great tranquillity did followe come downe and walke vpon these Waues of my hart that all my thoughts may become serene and quiet to the end that I may embrace thee my deare and onely Lord and that I may contemplate thee who art the sweete light of myne eyes being freed from the blinde mistes or foggs of all vnquiet cogitations Let my hart fly vnder the shadowe of thy wings from the scorching heate of the cares and cogitations of this world that so being hidden vp in that sweete refreschinge of thine it may exult singe In thy peace in thy very selfe will I sleepe and rest Let my memory sleepe let it sleepe I beseeche thee O my Lord God from all sinn and vice Let it hate iniquity and loue sanctity For what is more beautifull what is more delightfull then in the middest of the deepe darkenes and the many bitter sorrowes of this life to pante towards that diuine sweetnes of thine and to aspire to that eternall beatitude and there to haue our harts fixed where it is most certaine that true ioy is to be found O thou most sweete most loueinge most benigne most deare most precious most desirable most amiable and most beautifull Lord When shall I be able to see thee When shall I apppeare before thy face Whē shall I be satisfyed with that beauty of thine Vvhen wilt thou lead me out of this darke prison that I may confesse to thy Name that so from thence forth I may haue noe more cause of greife Vvhen shall I passe on into
that admirable and most goodly house of thine where the voice of ioy and exultation is euer ringing out in those Tabernacles of the Iust Blessed are they who dwell in thy house O Lord for euer and for euer shall they praise thee Blessed are they truely blessed whome thou hast chosen and assumed into that celestiall inheritance Beholde how thy Saints O Lord doe florish like the Lilly they are filled with the euer springinge plenty of thy house thou giuest them to drink of the torrent of thy delights For thou art the fountayne of life and in thy light they shall see light in so high degree as that they who are but a light illuminated by thee ô God who art the illuminateing light doe yet shine in thy sight like the Sunn it selfe O how admirable how pretious and how beautifull be the habitations of thy house O thou God of all strength This sinfull soule of mine is carried with extreame desire to enter thyther O Lord I haue loued the beauty and order of thy house and the place of the habitation of thy glory One thinge I haue begged of our Lord and I will neuer leaue to begg the same that I may dwell in the house of our Lord all the days of my life As the Stagg runns panting towords the fountaines of water so doth my soule runn thirstinge after thee O God When shall I come and once appeare before thy face When shall I see my God after whome my soule is in a deadly thirst When shall I see him in the land of the Liueinge for in this land of the Dyinge he cannot be seene with mortall eyes Vvhat shall I doe miserable creature that I am beinge bound vp hand and foote by these chaynes of my mortality What shall I doe Whilest we remaine in this body we wander from our Lord. Vve haue not here any permanent Citty but we are looking after another which is to come for our habitation is in heauen Vvoe be vnto me for that my abode nere is prolonged I haue dwelt with the inhabitants of Cedar and my soule hath beene too true a dweller there Vvho will helpe me to the winges of a doue that I may fly and rest Nothinge can be so delightfully deare to me as to be with my Lord. It is good for me to adheare to my God Grant to me ô Lord whilest I am confined to this mortall flesh that I may adheare to thee as it is written He who adhears to our Lord becometh one spiritt with him Grant me I beseech thee the wings of Contemplation that beinge indued therewith I may fly vp a pace towards thee And because all that which is sinfull and weake is workeinge downeward ô Lord hold hold thou my hart that it may not rush into the bottomes of this darke valley that by interposition of the shadow of the earth it may not be seuered from thee who art the true Sunn of Iustice and so may be hindred from beholdinge celestiall things by the drawinge of black cloudes ouer it Therefore am I aspireinge to those ioyes of peace and to that most calme and delight-full state of light Hold thou fast my hart in thy hand for vnlesse it be by thee it will neuer be able to rayse it selfe to thinges aboue Thither doe I make all haste where supreame peace doth reigne and where eternall tranquillity is resplendent Hold fast and guide my spiritt and raise it accordinge to thy good will that so thy selfe beinge the guide therof it may ascend into that region where there is an eternal spring and where thou feedest Israel for euer with the food of truthe that there at the least with some swifte and catchinge thought I may now lay hold of thee who art that Souereigne Vvisdome remaineinge ouer all things and gouerninge and conducteinge all things But to the soule which is striuing and struglinge towards thee there are many thinges which call vpon it by way of giueinge it impediment O Lord I beseeche thee that they may all be putt to silence by thy commandement Lett my very soule be silent to it selfe Lett it passe by all things Lett it transcend all thinges created and dispatch them all away from it selfe Lett it arriue to thee and vpon thee who art the onely Creator of all things let it fasten the eyes of Faith let it aspire towards thee let it be wholy attentiue to thee let it meditate vpō thee let it contemplate thee let it place thee euer before her eyes and lock thee vp in her hart thee who art the true and soueraigne good that ioy which must neuer haue an end Many Contemplations there are whereby a soule which is deuoute to thee may be admirably intertayned fedd but in none of them is my soule so delighted and laid to rest as in the thought of thee and when it thinks and contemplates thee alone How great is the multitude of that sweetnes of thine wherewith thou dost admirably inspire the harts of thy louers How admirable is that deernes of thy loue which they enioy who loue nothinge but thee who seeke nothinge nor desire so much as to thinke of any thinge but thee Happy soules are they whose onely hope thou art and whose onely worke is Prayer Happy is that man who sits in solitude and silence and stands still vpon his guard day and night and who whilest he is imprisoned in this poore litte body of his may yet be able in some proportion to haue a taste of thy diuine sweetnes I beseech thee ô Lord by those pretious wounds of thyne which thou wert pleased to beare vpon thy Crosse for our saluation and from whēce that precious Blood did flow whereby we are redeemed be pleased to wounde this sinfull soule of myne for which thou didst also vouchsafed to dye Wound it with the fiery and most puissant dart of thy excessiue charity For the Word of God is full of life and efficacy and it is more penetratiue then any sharp two-edged sword Thou art that choise arrow and that most sharp sword which is able by thy power to pearce through the hard buckler of mans hart Strike through my hart with the dart of thy loue that my soule may say to thee I am wounded with thy loue And doe it in such sort as that out of this very wound of thy loue abundance of tears may streame downe from mine eyes day and night Stricke through O Lord strike through I beseeche thee this most hard hart of mine with the deare strong pointed launce of thy loue and pearce downe yet more deepely into the most interiour parte of my soule by the mighty power of thy hand And so drawe forth out of this head of mine abundāce of water and from these mine eyes a true fountaine of tears which may continually flowe through my excessiue loue and desire of the vision of thy beauty To the end that I may mourne day and night admittinge of
no comfort till I shall obteyne to see thee in thy celestiall bedd of state Thee who art my beloued and most beautifull Spouse my Lord and my God That beholding there in the society of such as thou hast chosen that glorious and admirable most beautifull countenance of thine which is topp full of all true sweetenes I may with profound humility adore thy Maiesty And then at last being replenished with the celestiall and vnspeakable iubilation of eternall ioy I may cry out with such as loue thee and say Beholde that which I aspired too I see That which I hoped for I haue That which I desired I inioy For to him am I conioyned in heauen whome being yet on earthe I loued witth my whole power I imbraced with entire affection and I inheared to with inuincible loue Him doe I praise adore and blesse who liueth raigneth God for euer and euer Amen CHAP. XXXVIII A Prayer to be made in affliction HAue mercy on me O Lord haue mercy on me deer Lord haue mercy on me most miserable sinner who cōmitt vnworthy things and doe endure such as I am worthy of for I am daily sinninge and daily feeling the scourge of sinn If I consider the euill which I cōmitt daily it is noe great matter which I suffer It is much wherein I offend and it is little which I endure Thou art lust O Lord and thy iudgment is right yea all thy iudgments are iust and true Thou art iust and true O Lord our God and there is noe iniquity in thee Thou O mercifull and Omnipotent Lord dost not afflict vs sinners cruelly and vniustly But when we were not thou didst make vs with thy hand of power and when we were lost through our owne fault thou didist admirablie restore vs by thy pitty and goodnes I know and am well assured that our life is not driuen on by rash and irregular motions but it is disposed and gouerned by thee O Lord our God So that thou hast a care of all butt especially of thy seruants who haue placed their whole hope in thy mercy I doe therefore beseeche and humbly pray thee that thou wilt not proceed with me according to my sinns whereby I haue deserued thy wrathe but accordinge to thyne owne great mercy which surpasseth the sinns of the whole world Thou O Lord who doest inflict exterior punishments vpon vs giue vs interior patience which may neuer faile that so thy praise may not departe from my mouth Haue mercy on me O Lord haue mercy on me and helpe me accordinge to what thou knowest to be necessary for me both in body and soule For thou knowest all things thou canst doe all things thou who liuest for euer CHAP. XXXIX A verie deuoute Prayer to God the Sonne O Lord Iesus Christe the Sonne of the liueing God who didest drinke vp that Calice of thy Passion thou being extēded vpon thy Crosse for the Redemption of all mortall men vouchsafe this day to giue me helpe Beholde I come poore to thee who art riche miserable to thee who art mercifull Let me not goe empty or despised from thee I am hungry now when I beginn let me not giue ouer empty of thee I come to thee almost starued let me not departe from thee vnfed And if now before I eat I sighe grant at least after I haue sighed that I may eate First of all O most sweete Iesus I confesse myne owne iniustice against my selfe before the magnificence of thy mercy Behold O Lord how I was conceaued and borne in sinne and thou didst wash me and sanctify me and after that I did yet pollute my selfe with greater sinnes For I was borne in Original sinn which was necessary to me but afterwards I weltred in actuall sinn which was voluntary Yet thou O Lord beinge not vnmindfull of thy mercy didst take me from the house of my father of flesh and blood and out of the Tabernacles of sinners and didst inspire me to follow thee with the generation of them who seeke thy face and who walke in the right way and who dwell amongst the Lillyes of chastity and who feed with thee at the table of profound pouerty And I vngratefull for so many benefits did after I had receaued Baptisme worke many wicked deeds and committed many execrable crymes And whereas I ought to haue remoued those former sinns I did after add new sinns to those These are my wickednesses O Lord whereby I haue deshonored thee defiled my selfe whome thou haste created after thyne owne Image and likenesse by pride vaine glorye and a number of other sinnes whereby my vnhappy soule is afflicted torne and destroyed Behold O Lord how my iniquityes haue ouergrowne my head and how they oppresse me as any heauy burden might doe And vnlesse thou whose property it is to haue mercy and to forgiue be pleased to put the hand of thy Maiesty vnder me I shall not faile to be miserably drowned in that bottomlesse pitt Consider O Lord God and see because thou art holy and behold how my enemy insulteth ouer me saying God hath forsaken him I will persecute him and take him for there is none to deliuer him But thou O Lord how long Conuert thy selfe to me and deliuer my soule and saue me for thy mercyes sake Haue mercy vpon thy Sonn whome thou didst begett weth noe small sorrow of thine and doe not so consider my wickednes as thereby to forgett thyne owne goodnes Who is that Father which will not deliuer his Sonne Or who is that Sonne whome the Father will not correct with the staffe of pitty Therefore O my Father and my Lord though it be true that I am a sinner yet I leaue not for all that to be thy Sonne because thou haste both made me and made me agayne As I haue sinned so doe thou reforme me and when thou shalt haue mended me by thy correction deliuer me then to thy Sonne Can the Mother forgett the Childe of her wombe Yet supposeing she could thou hast promised O Father that thou wilt not forgett him Behold I cry out and thou hearest me not I am tormented with sorrowe and thou comfortest me not What can I say or what shall I doe most wretched creature that I am I am vtterly without all comfort and I am cast of from the sight of thyne eyes Woe is me from how great happinesse into how great misery am I fallen Whither was I goeinge and yet where am I arriued where am I or rather where am I not To whome did I aspire and yet now what kinde of things be they for which I pant and sighe I haue sought for happinesse and behold I hawe mett wish infelicity Bebold I am euen dyinge and Iesus is not with me without fayle it is better for me not to be at all then not to be with Iesus it is better for me not to liue at all then to liue without life But thou O Lord Iesus and what
made is good To be therefore whithout the Vvord is to be euill which yet is not properly to be because nothing is without it But what is it to be separated from the word If thou desire to knowe this learne first what this Vvord is The Vvord of God sayth I am the Vvay the Truth and the Life To be separated therefore from the Vvord is to be out of the Vvay and without Truth and life and therefore without it is nothing and so it is euill in being separated from the Vvord whereby all things were made very good To be separated then from the Vvord whereby all things were made is noe other thing then to faile and to passe from being a fact to be a defect because nothing truely is without it As often therefore as thou departest from good thou doest separate thy selfe from the Vvord because the Vvord is good and soe thou growest to be nothing because thou art without the Vvord without which nothing is made Now therefore O Lord thou O light hast illuminated me that I might see thee I sawe thee and I knowe my selfe for soe often haue I growen to he nothing as I haue separated my selfe from thee and because I forgett that good which thou art therefore did I growe to be wicked Woe be to me wretched man how came it to passe that I knewe not that by forsakeing thee I grewe to be nothing but why doe I aske how I could be ignorant thereof if I were nothing we knowe what it is to be nothing that it is not which is nothing and that the thing which is not good is not because it is nothing If therefore I were not when I was without thee I was as nothing and as an idoll which is nothing Vvhich hath eares indeede but it heareth not nostrells but it smelleth not eyes but it seeth not a mouth but it speaketh not hands but it feeleth not feete but it walketh not and it hath all the lineaments or parts of a body but yet without that sense which belongeth to them CHAP. VI. Of the fall of a soule by sinne WHen therfore I was without thee I was not any thing but I was nothing therfore I was blinde deafe insensible because I discerned not that which was ill nor felt the afflictioÌ„ of my wounds nor could I discerne myne owne darkenes because I was without thee who art the true light which illuminateth all men comeing into the world Vvoe be to me they haue any other parte thereof but onely soe farre forth as they are conserued by the Word whereby all things are made Let me therefore adheare to thee O Word that thou mayest conserue me For as soone as I departed from thee I had vtterly perished in my self but that thou who haddest made me once didest vouchsafe to make me yet againe I sinned and thou didest visit me I fell thou didest rayse me I was ignorant thou diddest teach me I was blinde and thou diddest illuminate me CHAP. VII Of the manifold benefitts of Almighty God DEclare to me O my God how much I miserable creature am bound to loue thee Declare to mee how much I am obliged to praise thee make me see how much I must procure to please thee Thunder downe O Lord from aboue with a shrill steady voyce into the interiour eare of my harte Teach me saue me and I will prayse thee who didest create me when I was nothing who didest illuminate me when I was in darkenes who didest reuiue me when I was dead and who hast fedd me from my very youth with all thy good blessings Yea and doest now nourish this vnprofitable worme who is stinkeing and rotteing in his sinnâ—s with all thy most excellent guifts Open to me O thou key of Dauid thou who openest and noe man shutteth to whome thou openest and who shuttest and noe man openeth to him to whome thou shuttest Open I say the gate of thy light towards me that I may enter in and see knowe and confesse to thee with my whole hart because thy mercy towards me is greate and thou hast drawen my soule out of that lower hell O Lord my God how admirable and prayseworthy is thy Name throughout the word And what is man that thou shouldest be mindefull of him or the sonne of man that thou shouldest visit him O Lord thou hope of thy Saints and thou tower of theyr strength O God thou life of my soule whereby I liue and without which I dye Thou light of myne eyes by which I see and without which I am blinde thou ioy of my hart and thou delight of my spirit I beseeche thee that I may loue thee with my whole hart and with my whole mynde euen with all the very bowells of my affection since thy selfe didst first loue me And how came I to obteyne this fauour at thy hands O thou Creatour of the Heauens and of the Earth and of that deepe abysse Thou who haste noe neede of any thing which is myne VVhence came I to be soe happy as that thou shouldest carry loue to me O thou VVisdome which openest the mouthes of dumbe men O thou VVord whereby all things were made open thou my mouth endewe me with the voyce of prayse that I may recount all those benefits which thou O Lord hast bestowed on me from the beginning For behold I am because thou hast created me and that thou wouldest create me and number me out in the multitudes of thy other creatures thou diddest preordeyne from all eternity before thou madest any thing in that beginning of the world before thou didest extend and spread the heauens abroade nether yet was there any abysse of the sea nor hadest thou made the Earth nor layd a foundation for the mountaynes nether yet had the fountaynes broken forth Before all these things I say which thou madest by thy Word thou didest foresee by the most certayn prouidence of thy truth that I was to be thy creature thou wert resolued that I should be soe And whence grew this benefit to me O thou most benigne Lord most high God most mercifull Father most puissant withall for euer meeke Creatour VVhat merits were there of myne What meanes was there to make me soe acceptable that it should be pleasing in the sight of thy mighty Maiesty to create me I had noe beeing and thou madest me of nothing But what kinde of thing didest thou make me Not some dropp of water not some sparke of fyre not some birde some fish some serpent or any other vnreasonable creature not some stone or peece of wood Nor any thing of that kinde which onely hath a beeing or of that other kinde which hath not onely a beeing but growth and sense but beyond them all thou wert pleased that I should be of them who haue a beeing because I am and of them who haue a beeing and encreasing because I am and growe and of them
sad people he pretends himselfe to be sad for company To the end that he may delude such as are in ioy he faynes himselfe also to reioyce That he may beguile such as are spirituall he transformeth himselfe into an Angell of light That he may insinuate himselfe and by that meanes crush such as are strong he takes the semblance of a lambe that he may deuoure such as are meeke he borrowes the face of a Wolfe All these things he takes vpon him according to the similitude and proportion of the temptations which he meanes to vse As some he frights with a nocturnall feare others by the arrow which flyes by day others by the busines which walkes by night others by expresse assault and others by that deuill of high noone Now who is he that can thinke himselfe a match for this enemy so farr as that he may so much as know him and who did euer reach to the bottome of his craft Who shall reueale the makeing of his garment to vs and who shall make vs knowe the walke of his teeth Behould he hideth his arrowes in his quiuer and he couers his snares vnder a shew of light soe he is lesse subiect to be vnderstood vnlesse O Lord O thou hope of ours we beg light from thee whereby we may discerne all things For not onely doth he striue to deceiue vs in the sensuall workes of flesh and blood nor onely in the exercise of vice which is easily discerned but euen amongst our most spirituall actions he hideth certain subtile snares vnder the colour of vertue he puts on vice transformes himselfe into an Angell of light these and many other things O Lord our God doth this very sonne of Beliall this Satan endeauour to bring against vs. And now as a Lyon then as a Dragon both manifestly and secretly interiourly and exteriourly both by day and night he is laying traynes for vs that soe he may destroy our soules But thou O Lord deliuer vs thou who sauest such as hope in thee that our enemy may haue cause to be sorry for as much as may concerne vs but that thou O Lord our God maist be praised in vs. CHAP. XVIII Of the benefits of God BVt let mee the sonne of thy handmayd who haue commended my selfe into thy hands confesse to thee O my deliuerer with my whole harte in these little poore confessions of myne and let me call to minde all those good blessings which thou hast voutchsafed to bestow on mee from my youth and in my whole life For I well know that ingratitude doth much offend thee which is the roote of all spirituall mischeife and a kinde of dry and parching wynde which blasteth all goodnes and it shutteth vp the fountayns of diuine mercy towards man and by this meanes both our ill deedes which were dead gett life againe our good deedes which liue doe quickly growe to dy and haue noe more life afterward But as for mee O Lord I will giue thankes to thee Let not mee O thou my deliuerer be vngratefull to thee since thou hast freede mee How often had that Dragon euen swallowed mee vp and thou O Lord diddest drawe mee out of his mouth How often haue I sinned when he was ready to haue deuoured mee but thou O Lord my God diddest defend mee When I did wickedly against thee when I transgressed thy commaundements he stood ready to snatch mee away into hell but thou forbadest him I offended thee and the while thou defendedest mee I did not feare him and yet thou diddest preserue mee I departed from thee made offer of my selfe to myne enemy but thou diddest fright him so as that he should not dare to carry me away These benefits diddest thou bestowe vpon me O Lord my God and I wretched creature knew it not Full often hast thou freed mee from the uery iawes of the Deuill and snatched me out of the mouth of the Lyon and full often hast thou brought me back againe from hell though I was ignorant thereof For I descended euen towards the very gates of hell and thou heldest me back from goeing in I drewe neare the gates of death and thou wert the cause why they opened not themselues to receiue mee Thou also O my Sauiour hast often deliuered me from corporall death when I was subiect to great sickenes And when I found my self in many daungers by sea by land by fyre by sword and many other wayes thou wert euer deliuering mee euer present to mee and euer saueing mee with great mercy For thou O Lord diddest well knowe that if death had then seised vpon mee hell had possessed my soule and I had bene damned for euer But thy mercy and thy grace O Lord my God preuented mee and gaue mee deliuerance from that death of my body and consequently from the death of my soule These and many other benefits diddest thou imparte to mee but I was blinde and knew them not till I was illuminated by thee But now O thou light of my soule O Lord my God my life by which I liue and the light of mynes eyes by which I see Behould thou hast illuminated mee and now I knowe thee and cōfesse my selfe to liue by the guift of thy hand and I giue thankes to thee Which though they be meane and poore full of disproportion to thy benefits yet they are the best which my frailty can affoord For thou alone art my God my benigne Creatour who doest loue our soules and hatest none of those things which thou hast made Behold I who am the greatest of those sinners whom thou hast saued to the end that I may giue an example to others of thy most benigne piety will confesse thy great benefits to me For thou hast snatched me out of that lower hell once twice and thrice and a hundered and a thousand times And indeede I was euer tending towards Hell and thou wert euer drawing mee back And thou mightest iustly haue damned me a thousand times if thou haddest beene soe disposed But thou wouldest not because thou louest soules O Lord my God and thou dissemblest the sinnes of men that soe they may come to pennance and there is much mercy in all thy wayes Now therefore I see these things O Lord my God and I knowe them by thy light and my soule doth euen faynt and is sicke with loue vpon the consideration of thy great mercy towards mee since thou hast snatched my soule out of that lower Hell and hast brought mee back againe to life For I was all plunged in death and thou hast wholy reuiued mee Be therefore all my life and beeing thyne and I doe wholly offer my whole selfe vp to thee Let my whole spirit my whole harte my whole body and my whole life liue to thee O thou my sweete life for thou hast deliuered me wholly that thou mightest possesse me wholy thou hast intirely repaired me that so againe thou mayest haue mee intirely
Let mee therefore loue thee O Lord my streÌ„gth let mee loue thee O thou vnspeakeable exultation of my soule And let me liue now not to my self but to thee My whole life which perished by my misery was raised vp by thy mercy thou who art that mercifull God and full of pitty which thou doest extend in thy goodnes to thousands of such as loue thy Name Therefor O Lord my God and my sanctifyer hast thou comaunded in thy Lawe that I should loue thee with my whole harte with my whole soule with my whole minde with my whole strength and with all the powers I haue Yea and with the most internall marrow of all my affections and this in all the houres and moments of my time wherein I am enioying the benediction of thy mercyes For I should euer perish but that thou doest euer gouerne mee I should euer dy but that thou doest euer quicken mee And thou doest oblige mee to thee in euery moment of my life since in euery moment therof thou impartest great benefits to mee As therefore there is noe houer or point of time in my whole life wherein I am not assisted by thy benefits soe also ought there not to be any moment wherein I should not haue thee before the eyes of my mynde and wherein I should not loue thee with my whole strength But euen this I cannot doe saue by thy guift onely to whome euery good guift belongeth and euery excellent grace is descending from thee the Father of Lights with whome there is noe transmutation nor shadow of chaunge For it is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of thee taking mercy that wee loue thee Thine O Lord is this guift to whome euery good thing belongeth Thou commaundest that thou be beloued Giue vs that which thou commandest and then commaund vs what thou wilt CHAP. XIX Of the feruour of charity I Loue thee O my God and I am euer desireing to loue thee more For in very deed thou art more sweete then any honny more nutritiue then any milke and more cleere then any light Therefore art thou more deare to me them gold or siluer or pretious stone And whatsoeuer delightfull thing I had in the world was displeasing to mee in comparison of thy sweetenes and the order of thy house which I loued O thou fyre which euer burnest and art neuer quenched O loue which is euer boyling hote and neuer growest luke-warme doe thou inflame mee Let mee I say be wholy inflamed by thee and let me wholy loue thee For he loues thee too little who loues any thing together with thee which he loues not for thy sake Make me loue thee O Lord because thou didst first loue mee And how shall I finde wordes whereby I may vnfold the notions which I haue of thy singular loue to mee testifyed by those innumerable benefits by which thou hast trayned me vp from the beginning For after the benefit of the creation when in the beginninge thou didest make me of nothing after thyne owne Image doeing me honour and exalting me beyond the rest of thy creatures which thou madest and innobling me with the light of thy countenance which thou didest stampe vpon the entrie of my hart whereby thou didest disseuer me both from insensible creatures and from brute beasts which are endewed with sense and thou madst me not much inferiour to the Angels yet euen this seemed not enough in the sight of thy deity For since that time thou hast entertayned and nourished mee with daily and singular and great presents of thy benefits without intermission And thou hast giuen me comfort and made me sucke like somme little tender infant of thine at the breasts of thy consolation For to the end that I might yeild thee my entire seruice thou hast appointed that whatsoeuer thou hast made should serue mee CHAP. XX. That God hath submitied all things to the seruice of man THou hast made all things subiect to the feete of man to the onely end that man might become wholly subiect to thee And to the end that man might be wholly thine hee is entitled to a dominion ouer all thy workes For thou hast created all exteriour things for the body the body for the soule and the soule for thy selfe to the end that man might tend onely to thee might loue onely thee possessing thee by way of comforte to himselfe and thy creatures by way of receiuing seruice from them For whatsoeuer is conteyned vnder this vaute of heauen is inferiour to the soule of man which was created that it might possesse the supernall soueraigne good aboue by the fruition whereof it might be happy and wherevnto when it shall adheare outstripping and ouerlooking all relations and respects to all inferiour things which are subiect to mutation it shall calmely and constantly behold the face of that eternall immortality and the vision of that supreame Majestie to which it hath aspired here Then shall they be in fruition of those most excellent delights in the house of our Lord in comparison whereof all those things which here we see may well goe for nothing Those are they which the eye hath not seene nor the eare heard nor haue they entred into the hart of man which God hath prepared for them who loue him And these things O Lord wilt thou imparte to the soule of man And with the consideration of these things dost thou who louest soules delight the soules of thy seruants But yet why should I wonder at those things O Lord my God therein thou dost but honor thyre owne Image and that similitude of thyne according to which they are created For whilest we are yet in thâ—s corruptible and ignoble body to the end we might see thou hast giuen this light of heauen by the hands of thy vnwearied ministers the Sunne and Moone which doe perpetually obserue thy precept in serueing thy children day and night To the end that we might breath thou hast giuen the purity of the ayre That we might heare the variety of sounds That we might smell the sweetnesse of odours That it might tast the variety and quality of sauoures That it might touch thou hast giuen the bulke of all bodies For the other necessary occasions of man thou hast giuen beasts to carry him And thou hast imparted the birds of the ayre the fish of the sea and the fruites of the earth for his refection Thou hast also created out of the earth seuerall medicines which may be applyed to the seuerall infirmities of men and thou hast prepared particular comforts which are to encounter and reuerse those particular-inconueniences which may occurre And all this thou hast done because thou art full of mercy and pitty thou being our potter dost knowe the matter whereof wee are made For in fine wee are but as soe much durt in thy hand CHAP. XXI That the greatenes of the diuine counsell may be inferred by the consideration of temporall
the Kingdome of heauen whilest the children of the same Kingdome are cast out into exteriour darkenes But how come all these things to passe but onely because they would needes ascend into that mountayne into which that first Angel did goe vp and came downe a deuill But whom thou hast predestinated them thou hast called and sanctifyed and clensed that they may be a fitt habitation for thy Maiestie in whom with whom thou takest holy and pure delight in whom thou art pleased and thou dost recreate they re youth Dwelling so with them in theyr memory that they proue a holy Temple for thee which is a matter of much dignity and honour to our humanity CHAP. XXX That a faithfull soule is a Sanctuary of God THe soule which thou hast created not of thy self but by thy Word not of any elementary matter but of nothing this soule which is rationall intellectuall spirituall euer liueing euer in motion which thou hast stamped with the light of thy countenance and consecrated by the vertue of thy Baptisme is made so capable of thy Majesty that it can onely be filled by thee and by noe other When it possesseth thee the desire therof is fully satisfied and there resteth then noe more exteriourly which it can desire But when it is found to desire any thing exteriourly it is cleere that it possesseth not thee interiourly vpon the haueing of whome there remayneth nothing more to be desired For since thou art the soueraigne and totall Good the soule which possesseth that totall Good can aske noe more But if it desire not that totall Good it remaineth that it must desire some-what which is not that totall Good and which therefore cannot be that soueraigne Good and consequently not God but a Creature Now as long as it desires a Creature it is subiect to continuall hunger For although it obtayne that of the Creature to which it pretendeth yet still it is not full because nothing can fill it but thou according to whose Image it is made But thou doest onely fill them who desire nothing els but thee and thou O God makest such to be worthy of thee and holy blessed immaculate and in fine thy freinds as repute all things but dunge that they may gaine thee alone For this is that Beatitude which thou hast bestowed on man This is that honour where-with thou hast honoured him both amongst and aboue all thy other Creatures that thy Name may be admirable ouer all the earth Behold O Lord my God Supreame most Excellent and Omnipotent I haue found that the place wherein thou dwellest is the soule which thou created after thyne owne Image and likenes and which seeketh desireth thee alone For in that soule which seeketh or desireth thee not thou doest not dwell CHAP. XXXI That God is not to be found eyther by the exteriour or interiour senses I Haue wandred like a lost sheepe in exteriour thinges seekeing thee who art interiour and I did putt my selfe vpon much labour by seekeing thee without my selfe who dwellest in mee if indeede it be true that I desire thee I haue walked round about the streetes and open places of the citty of this world in search of thee but I found thee not because I did foolishly looke that abroade which was within I sent all my exteriour senses as my Ambassadours abroad that soe I might seeke thee but I found thee not because I sought thee ill For I see O my light and my God who hast illuminated mee that I sought thee ill by theyr meanes because thou art within and yet they scarce can tell how thou diddest enter For the eyes will say if he were not of some colour he came not in by vs. The eares say thus if he made noe noise he did not passe by vs. The nose saith if he had no smell I know nothing of him The taste saith if he had noe sauour he entred not in by mee The sense of touching also addeth if it haue noe corpulency there is noe cause why you should interrogate mee These kind of things O my God are not in thee and therefore the beauty of bodyes or the order of tyme or candour of light or colour or the concerts of sweete musicke or whatsoeuer other thing of delightfull sound or the odour of flowers pretious oyntments or other aromaticall odours or hony or Manna which is soe delightfull to the taste or other things which is soe amiable to be embraced or touched or in fine any other obiect which are subiect to these senses of ours are the things which I seeke when I seeke my God Farre be it from mee that I should beleiue these thingâ— to be my God which are comprehended by the sense of brute beasts And yet neuertheles when I seeke my God I seeke a certayne light aboue all other light which the eye doth not receaue and a certaine voyce beyond all voyces which the eare doth not contayne a certayne odour beyond odours which the nose doth not apprehend a certain sweetenes beyond all sweetenes to which the taste doth not reach and a certain imbracement beyond all imbracements whereof the touch cannot iudge For this light shineth where place doth not contayne this voyce soundeth where the ayre doth not carry away this odour giueth smell where it is not scattered by any wynde this sauour giueth tast where it is not diminished by being eaten this embracement is touched where it cannot be diuorced This is my God and noe other can be compared to him This doe I seeke when I seeke my God and when I loue my God I loue this Too late am I come to loue thee O thou beauty which art soe auncient and I so new too late am I come to loue thee Thou wert within and I without without I sought thee and I rushed with deformity vpon those things which thou madest fayre Thou wert with me but I was not with thee Those things did keepe mee farre from thee which yet had noe being at all but onely in thee For I raunged ouer all things in seekeing thee and for the loue of them I lost my selfe I asked the earth if it were my God and it told mee noe and all things which are vpon the earth made the same confession I asked the Sea and those Abysses and the creeping creatures which are therein they answered Wee are not thy God thou must looke him aboue vs. I asked the stable ayre and the whole ayre with all the inhabitants thereof sayd Anaxinenes is deceyued I am not thy God I asked the heauen the Sunne and Moone and the Starres and they sayd Neither are wee thy God Then I sayd to all them who stand about the doores of my flesh and blood tell me somewhat of my God which you knowe tell me some-what I say of him And they all cryed out with a loude voyce He made vs. Then I sayd thus to the whole bulke of the World Tell mee whether
lipps But my harte hath quaked and sayd Woe be vnto me who am a man of polluted lipps because I haue not held my peace but sayd that I knewe thee And yet O Lord woe be to them who are silent concerning thee For the greatest talkers may be accounted but dumbe if they doe not speake of thee And as for me O Lord my God I will not be silent concerning thee because thou hast made mee and I haue therefore knowne thee because thou hast illuminated me But yet how haue I knowen thee I haue knowen thee in thy selfe Yet I haue no knowen thee in thy selfe as thou art to thy selfe but I haue knowen thee as thou art to mee But yet howsoeuer it is not without thee but in thee because thou art the light which hast illuminated mee For as thou art to thy selfe thou art onely knowen to thy selfe but as thou art to mee by thy mercy and grace thou art knowen to mee But what art thou vnto mee Tel me O mercifull Lord who am thy miserable seruant tell me by thy mercy what thou art to mee Say to my soule I am thy saluation Doe not hide thy face from mee lest if thou doe I dye Suffer me to speake me who am dust and ashes suffer me to speake to thy mercy For thy mercy towards mee is greate and I will presume to speake to thee though I be but dust and ashes Tell mee who am thy supplyant say O mercifull Lord to thy miserable creature say by thy mercyes what thou art to mee And thou hast thundered downe with a mighty voyce vpon the inward eare of my hart and thou hast broken through my deafenes and I haue heard thy voyce And thou hast illuminated my blindenes and I haue seene thy light and haue knowen that thou art my God It is therefore that I sayd that I haue knowen thee For I haue knowen that thou art my God I haue knowen that thou art the onely true God and Iesus Christ whome thou hast sent For thrre wat a time when I knewe thee not bu woe be to that time when I knew not tgee Woe be to that blindenes when I sawe not thee Woe be to that deafnes when a heard not thee For being blinde deafe I did rush with great deformity vpon those things which yet thou had dest made fayre and thou wert still with mee but I was not with thee And those things kept mee farre from being with thee which yet if they had not bene in thee could haue had noe beeing at all Thou diddest illuminat mee O thou light of the world and I saw thee and I loued thee And indeede noe man loueth thee but he who sees thee and noe man sees thee but he who loues thee Too late am I come to loue thee O thou beauty which art so auntient and yet so new Too late am I come to loue thee and woe be to that time when I loued thee not CHAP. XXXII A Confession of true faith I Giue thankes O thou who art my light because thou hast illuminated mee and I haue knowen thee How haue I knowen thee I haue knowen thee to be the onely liueing God and my true creatour I haue knowen thee to bee the Creator of heauen earth of all things visible and inuisible to be the true Omnipotent God immortall inuisible vncircumscribed vnlimited eternall inaccessible incomprehensible inscrutable vnchangeable immense infinite the first beginning of all both visible inuisible creatures by whome all things are made and by whome all the Elements subsist Whose Maiestie as it neuer had any beginning soe neither shall it end for all eternity I haue knowen thee to be one onely true God the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost three Persons indeede but one essence and the same wholly simple and vndiuided nature And that the Father is of none that the Sonne is onely of the Father and that the Holy Ghost is iointly of them both euer without beginning and for euer to be without ending to be Trine and onely One and that the true Omnipotent God That thou art that one beginning of all things and the Creatour of all things both visible and inuisible spirituall and temporall who by thy Omnipotent vertue diddest in the beginning of Tyme create both the spirituall and corporall creature that is to say the Angells in heauen and the fabricke of the world and then thou madest man as being compounded both of body and soule I haue knowen thee and I doe confesse thee O God the Father to be vnbegotten and thee O God the Sonne to be begotten of the Father and thee O holy Ghost the Paraclete to be neither begotten nor vnbegotten And I beleiue with my harte to Iustice and I confesse with my mouth to saluatiō the holy and indiuiduall Trinity in three persons coequall consubstantiall and coeternall Trinity in Vnity and Vnity in Trinity I haue knowen thee the true God and our Lord Iesus Christ to be the onely begotten Sonne of God the Creatour the Sauiour and the Redeemer of mee and all mankinde whome I confesse to haue bene begotten of the Father before all ages God of God light of light true God of true God not made but begotten consubstantiall coeternall with the Father and the Holy Ghost by whome all things were made from the beginning And I beleiue firmely and confesse truely that thou O Iesus Christ the onely begotten God wert incarnate ioyntly by the holy Trinity for the saluation of man and that thou wert conceiued through the cooperation of the Holy Ghost by the perpetuall Vithin Mary and that thou wert made true man consisting of a reasonable soule and humane flesh Who being the onely begotten of God and consequently both impassible and immortall yea for the great loue wherewith thou louest vs thou being still the same sonne of God wert yet according to thy humanity made both passible mortall who being the onely sonne of God diddest voutchafe to suffer Passion and death vpon the tree of the crosse for the saluation of mankinde to the end that thou mightest deliuer vs from eternall death And being the author of light thou diddest descend to Hell where our fore-Fathers satt in darkenes And the third day being a glorious conquerer thou diddest rise vp from the dead resumeing thy sacred body which had lyen dead in the sepulchre for our sinnes and thou diddest quicken it the third day according to the scriptures that thou mightest place it at the right hand of thy Father For haueing ledd with thee out of captiuitie them whom our auntient enemy the enemy of all mankinde had captiued in Hell thou being the true Sonne of God didest ascend aboue all the heauens with the substance of our nature that is to say both with thy soule and that humaine flesh which thou haddest taken of the glorious Virgin And thou diddest surpasse all the quyers of Angels where thou sittest at the right hand of thy Father
might be thought fit to be made pertakers of so high a good and so great a glory Let therfore the deuills lye in wayte for vs let them prepare theyr temptations let fasting breake our bodyes let garments loade our flesh let labours weigh heauy vpon vs let watching drye vs let one man cry out vpon vs and let another man disquiet vs let cold contract vs let the conscience repine let heat burne vs let the head ake the breast be inflamed let the stomacke be swolne let the face growe pale and let the whole body be distempered let my yeares be spent in groaning yea let rottennes enter into my bones and multiply therin so that yet I may rest in that day of tribulation and may ascend to our elected people For how great wil that glory of iust persons be how great will be that ioy of the saints when euery one of their faces shal be resplendent like a Sunne When our Lord shall begin to muster vp his people by different ranks in the kingdome of his father shall assigne the promised rewards according to the workes and merit of euery one Celestiall rewards for workes which were performed heere on earth Great rewards for little workes eternall for such as were but temporall That indeed will be a whole huge heape of felicity when our Lord shall bring his Saints into the vision of his Fathers glory and shall place them vpon their seats in heauen that so he may be all in all CHAP. XVI How the kingdome of God may be obteyned O HAPPY sweetnes O delicious happines which it will be for vs to behold the Saints be with Saints and to be Saints to see God and to possesse him for all eternity and euen if it might be beyond eternity Let vs be continually thinking on these things let vs aspire to them with our whole desire that so we may speedily arriue to enioy them If thou aske how this may be done by what merits or by what helpes giue eare and I will tell thee This affaire is put into thine owne power for the kingdome of heauen suffereth violence The kingdome of heauen O man doth exact no price at thy hands but onely thy selfe So much is it worth as thou thy selfe art Giue thy selfe and thou shalt haue it Why art thou troubled about the price Christ our Lord did giue himself away that he might purchase thee to be a kingdome for his father and so do thou also giue thy selfe that thou maist become a kingdome for him that sinne may not raigne in thy mortall body but the Spirit in the renouation of life CHAP. XVII What a happy place Heauen is O My soule returne toward that heauenly Citty wherin we are written and enrold as Cittizens And as Cittizens amongst the Saints the houshold seruants of God and as the heires of God and coheires of Christ our Lord. Let vs consider that excellent felicity of this citty of ours to the very vttermost of what we are able Let vs therefore say with the Prophet O how glorious thinges are sayd of thee thou Citty of God the habitation which is made in thee is of them who are all full of ioy For thou art founded in the exultation of the whole earth No old age is in thee nor any misery which is wont to wayte vpon old age In thee there is no man lame of arme or legg nor crooked nor other wise deformed when once they meet together becoming perfect man in the measure of the age of the fulnesse of Christ What is more happy then such a life where there is no fear of pouerty nor no incommodity of sicknes where no man is offended no man is angry no man enuious no desire doth solicite vs there is no appetite of meate no man is importuned by thirsting after honour and power there is no feare of the Diuell or the craft of those infernall spirits all terrour of hell is farre off there is no death either of body or soule but a life which is made full of ioy by the guift of immortality In fine there is no kind of ill or discord but all thinges are full of agreement proportion for as much as the concord of all the Saints is intierely one all things are full of peace and ioy all things are quiet and serene An euerlasting splendor there is not like that of this Sunne of ours but another which is so much more bright at it is more blessed For that Citty as we read shall need neither Sūne nor Moone but our Lord omnipotent will illuminate it and the Lambe is the bright lampe therof Where the Saints shall shine like starres and they who instruct many others like the splendour of the firmament No night shal be therefore there no darknes no concourse of clowds no incommodity at all of heat or cold but such a temper of things there wil be as neither the eye hath seene nor the eare hath heard nor can it enter into the hart of any other mē but such as shal be thought worthy to enioy it Whose names are written in the booke of life But it exceedeth all these thinges to be associated to the Quires of Angells and Archangells to behold the Patriarkes and the Prophets to see the Apostles and all the Saints yea to see our owne parents friends These things indeed are glorious but yet still incomparably a more glorious thing it is to behold the present face of God to looke vpon that vnlimitted light of his A superexcellent glory it will be when we shall see God in himselfe we shall see we shall possesse him in our selues and of that sight there wil be no end CHAP. XVIII We cannot make any requitall to Almighty God but only by loue THE soule which is beautifyed by the Image and dignifyed by the ressemblance of God hath groūd inough within it selfe which is also imparted by the same God wherby she may be aduised to remain perpetually within him or at least to return towardes him if she chance to haue beene separated by her affection or rather by her defectes And not only hath she ground of solace in the hope which she may conceaue of pardon and mercy but yet further she may also presume to aspire euen to the marriage of the Word and to contract a league of friendship with God and togeather with that king of the Angells to be drawing in the same sweet yoake of loue Now all this is performed by the same loue if the soule do make it selfe like to God by her will as already she is like him by nature and if she loue him as she is beloued by him For only loue amongst all the motions passions feeling senses of the soule is the thing whereby a creature may answere the benefits of a Creatour and repay after a sort what it oweth though it be not in any equall manner Where loue entreth in it draweth captiueth all other
affections of the mind to the dominion therof Loue alone is sufficient is pleasing of it selfe and for it selfe Loue is the merit it is the reward it is the cause it is the fruit it is also the vse of the fruit for by loue we are conioyned to God Loue maketh that two spirits grow to be one Loue maketh that the same thinges be willed and not willed by them Loue maketh vs first to order and compose our liues afterward it enableth vs to consider of all thinges which are present as if they where absent and in the third place it enableth vs to behold internall and supernall thinges with a cleane and pure eye of the hart By loue we are first taught how to vse those contentements well which may be taken in the world afterward those worldly contentements grow to be despised and at the last euen the secretes of God come to be disclosed CHAP. XIX What it is which God requireth of vs that so we may be like him selfe GOD the Father is loue God the Sonne is loue God the holy Ghost is the loue of the Father and the Sonne This charity this loue doth require somewhat of vs which is like that that is to say it requireth charity whereby as by a kind of coniunctiō in bloud we may be associated and ioyned to him Loue forgets that supreme dignity it considers not the reuerence which it is bound to beare He that loues doth of himselfe draw confidently neere to God and expresseth himselfe in a familiar manner without perturbation or feare He looseth his labour and liues in vane who loues not But he that loueth doth still carry his eyes erected towardes God whome he loueth whom he desireth vpon whom he meditateth in whome he delighteth by whome he is fedd and euen made fat Such a louing and deuout person doth so sing and so he reades and in all his actions he is so ful of circumspection and care as if God were euer present before his eyes and so indeed he is He doth so pray as if he were taken and presented before the face of that Maiesty in his soueraigne Thron Where thousands of thousands are seruing him and a million of thousands are present with him When loue visiteth a soule it awaketh her if she be asleep it counselleth softneth and doth wound the hart It illuminateth those thinges which are darke it vnlocketh those thinges which are shut vp it inflameth those things which are cold it mitigateth a harsh vntoward impatient minde it puts sinne to flight it represseth all carnall affection it amendeth manners it reformeth and reneweth the spirit and it bridleth the light acts and euill motions of slippery youth All these thinges are done by loue when it is present but vpon the departure thereof the soule begins already to be faint weake as if the fire were withdrawne from vnderneath a pot which had beene seething CHAP. XX. Of the confidence of a soule which loueth God A Great thing is loue wherby the soule of her selfe doth confidently approach to God doth constantly inheare to God doth familiarly aske questions of God and consulteth with him vpon all occasions The soule which loueth God can neither thinke or speake any other thing she contemneth all thinges else she loatheth all Whatsoeuer she considereth whatsoeuer she saith it smells of loue it sauours of loue so truly doth the loue of God make her all his owne Whoso euer desires to haue the knowledge of God let him loue In vaine doth any man giue himselfe to reading to meditating to preaching to praying if he do not loue The loue of God begetteth loue in a soule makes her bend her selfe towards him God loueth to the end that he may be loued againe When he loueth he desireth no other thing but to be beloued as knowing that they who loue him are to be made happy by that loue The soule which loues doth renounce al her owne particular affections and doth wholy apply her self to loue that so she may be able to pay loue with loue And yet when she shall haue spent whatsoeuer she either hath or is vpon the loue of that torrent which flowes out from that ouer tunning fontaine of loue we must take heed of thinking that there is any equality of springing plenty afforded betweene that loue and this loue betweene God and the soule betweene the creatour and the creature And yet on the other side if the soule do loue as much as it can there can be nothing said to be wanting where al is giuen Let not that soule feare which loues but let that other tremble which loueth not The soule which loues is caried on by praiers she is drawn by her desirs she dissembleth her merits she shuts her eyes against his Maiesty she opens them to delight in his beauty she lodgeth her self in him who is her sauing health and she treateth with him after a confident manner By loue the soule doth step aside and doth grow into excesse beyond the senses of the body so that she which feeleth God doth no longer feele her selfe This is done when the soule being allured by the vnspeakeable sweetnes of God doth steale her selfe as it were from her selfe or rather when she is forcibly carried and so doth slip from her selfe that she may inioy God with supreme delight Nothing were so highly sweet if withal it were not extremely shorte Loue giueth familiarity with God familiarity giues a daring to aoproach that daring giueth gust that gust giueth hunger The soule which is touched with the loue of God can think of nothing els can desire nothing els but doth often sigh and say As the Hart desireth the fountains of water so doth my soule desire thee O my God CHAP. XXI What God did for man GOD for the loue of men came downe to men he came into men and he was made man The inuisible God was drawne by loue to become like his slaues Through loue he was wounded for our sinnes Weake and wicked men may finde a safe strong retreate in the woūds of our Sauiour There do I securely dwelle for I see his very bowells through his wounds VVhatsoeuer is wanting to me I fetch from those wounds of my Lord which flow with mercy nor want they holes through which it may be able to flow By those holes which were made in his body we may discerne the very secrets of his hart we may discerne a great mystery of goodnes we may discerne the bowells of the mercy of our God where with that Orient from on high hath visited us The wounds of Iesus Christ are full of mercy full of pitty full of suauity and full of charity Men digged through his handes and feet they transpierced his side with a launce By these ouertures I haue meanes to tast how sweet my Lord God is for indeed he is meeke and sweet of aboundant mercy to all such as call vpon him in
truth to all such as seeke him but especially to them that loue him A copious redēption is giuen to vs in the wounds of Iesus Christ our Sauiour A great multitude of sweetnes a fullnes of grace the perfection of vertues CHAP. XXII Of the remembrance of the woundes of Iesus Christ our Lord. WHEN I am sollicited by any impure thought I make my recourse vnto the woundes of Christ when my body oppresseth me I recouer strength by calling the wounds of my Lord to mind whē the Diuell is laying some ambush whereby to take me I flye vnto the boweles of my Lords mercy and so the Diuell departeth from me If the ardour of lust make any alteration in my body it is quenched by the memory of the wounds of our Lord the Sonne of God In all the aduersityes which I haue beene subiect to I neuer found so effectuall à remedy as in the wounds of Christ In them do I sleep secure in them do I repose voyd of feare Christ dyed for vs there is nothing so deadly bitter which may not be cured by the death of Christ All the hope I haue is in the death of my Lord. His death is my merit my refuge my sauing health my life and my resurrection My merit is his great mercy I shal neuer be voyd of merit as long as he who is the Lord of mercy shall not be wanting to me And since my merits goe after the rates of his mercyes looke how much more mighty he is towardes the sauing of me so much the more may I be secure CHAP. XXIII The remembrance of the woundes of Christ our Lord is our remedy in all aduersity I Haue committed a grieuous sinne nay I am guilty of many sinnes neither yet wil I despaire because where sinnes haue abounded there hath beene superaboundance of grace He who despaireth of the pardon of his sinnes denieth God to be mercifull He much wrongs God who distrustes in his mercy Such a one doth his best to deny that God hath Charity Verity and Piety wherin all my hope consisteth Namely in the Charity of his adoption in the Verity of his promise in the Piety of his redemption Let therfore my foolish thought be murmuring as much as it will whilest it is saying What a poore thing art thou and what a great glory is that and by what merits dost thou hope to obtaine it For I will confidently answere I know well who it is whome I haue trusted And because he hath adopted me for his sonne with excesse of Charity because he is true in his promises and powerfull in his performances because he may doe what he will I cannot be frighted by the multitude of my sinnes if withall I be able to call the death of my Lord to mind for those sinnes of mine cannot conquerre him Those nayles that launce doe cry out to tell me that in deed I am reconcyled to Christ if I resolue to loue him Longinus opened the side of Christ with his launce there doe I enter in and there I do safely rest He that feares let him loue for charity will put feare away There is not so potent and effectuall a remedy against the ardour of lust as the death of my redeemer He stretcheth forth his armes abroad vpon the Crosse he spreads his handes which are ready to imbrace vs sinners Between those armes of my Sauiour I resolue to liue I desire to dye There will I securely sing I will exalt thee O Lord because thou hast taken me vp hast not giuen myne enemyes their pleasure ouer me Our Sauiour bowed downe his head at his death that he might kisse his beloued so often do we giue à kisse to God as we haue compunction of our sinnes for the loue of him CHAP. XXIIII An exhortation of the soule to the loue of Christ our Lord. O Thou my soule which art dignified with the image of God redeemed by the bloud of Christ espowsed by faith endoweth with a spirit adorned with vertues rancked with Angells be sure thou loue him by whome thou art so much beloued Make him thy busines who hath made thee his Seeke him who seeketh thee loue thy louer by whome thou art beloued by whose loue thou art preuented and who is the cause of thyne He is thy merit thy reward thy fruit thy vse thy end Be thou carefull together with him who is so carefull of thee be attentiue to him who is attentiue to thee be pure with him who is pure be holy with him who is holy Such as thou dost appeare in the sight of God such art thou to expect that he will appeare to thee God who is so sweete so meeke and so full of mercy doth require that thou shouldst be sweet and meeke and gentle humble and full of mercy Loue him who hath drawne thee out of the lake of misery and the filth of durt Choose him for thy friend aboue all thy friends who when all they shall fayle thee will be euer sure to make good thy trust at the day of thy death When all thy friends are departing from thee he will not leaue thee but he will defend thee against those roaring lyons who are sharpe set vpon theyr prey And he will leade thee by a Country wherewith thou art not yet acquainted and he will bring thee to those streets of the celestiall Sion there he will place thee together with his Angels before the face of his owne Maiesty where thou shalt heere that Angellicall Musicke of Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Sabaoth There is the Canticle of ioy the voyce of exultation and saluatiō and thanksgiuing the voyce of prayse and that euerlasting Alleluya There is that high heape of happynes that supereminēt glory that superaboundant gladnes all good thinges put togeather O sigh thou ardently O my soule desire vehemently that thou mayst arriue at that heauenly citty whereof so glorious thinges are sayd where of all the inhabitants are so full of ioy By loue thou mayst ascend Nothing is impossible nothing is hard to one who loues The soule which loues ascendeth often and doth familiarity runne too fro through those streets of the Celestiall Hierusalem Sometimes visiting the Patriarkes the Prophets sometymes admiring those armyes of Martyrs and Confessors contemplating somtymes the Quires of Virgins The heauen and the earth withall which is therein doe neuer cease to let me know that I ought to loue my Lord my God CHAP. XXV That nothing can suffice the soule but the supreme Good THe hart of man which is not fixed in the desire of eternity can neuer be stable and firme but is more wauering then the wind and it passeth from one thing to another seeking reste where it cannot be foūd For in these fraile transitory thinges where the affection thereof is imprisoned it can neuer finde true repose Because our soule is of so great dignity that no