whoe can remaine in fire and not growe warme at least to some proportion O that we could dwell there and how happye should we be therein what is the reason that we depart thence soe soone Because we take not vp those fiue lodgings in that high mountaine of the Crosse where Christ our Lord was transfigured indeede though not towards beauty but towards deformitie basenes and dishonour which lodgings are granted to vs nay we are desired to take them though those other three tabernacles which S. Peter desired were denyed to him If some little sparke of this fire be kindled in our harts let vs take great care that the winde blowe it not out since it is soe little Let vs couer it with the ashes of humilitie let vs hould our peace and hide it and soe we shall finde it still aliue Leuit. 6 And we must dayly add some wood to it as God commaundeth his Preists to doe And that signifies to vs the doeing of good workes and the not loosing of any tyme and aboue all things we must approach to the true fire which may kindle and enflame vs and this is Iesus Christ our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament Let vs open the mouth of our soule which is our desire and let vs goe all gaping towards the fountaine of liuing water for soe without doubt if we take hony into our mouths we shall haue some taste thereof And in fine if the fire be in our bosome it will heate vs. But both before and after we communicate we must vse some preparations and reflections and there cannot be any better then a liuely Faith that we goe then to receiue Iesus Christ our Lord together with a consideration and loue of his passion since that misterie was instituted in memory thereof Being thus refreshed lett vs then prouide our selues for our communicating the next tyme after For he whoe onely prepares himselfe for the present tyme shall seldome finde himselfe well prepared Let vs therefore runne after God for we may be sure enough that he will not flye from vs. He is nayled vpon the Crosse and infallibly we shall finde him there Let vs conveigh him into our harts and then shutt the doore that he retyre not thence Let vs dye to all visible things since there will come a tyme when we must leaue them perforce Let vs renew our selues in newnes of spirit since we haue liued soe longe according to the old man Eph. 4 Let vs be growing in knowledge and loue of Christ our Lord who is the soueraigne good And all this is to be obteyned by humble prayer and perseuerant endeauour More is receiued into the soule from without the soule then doth proceede of the soule It is more for it to be moued and disposed then to worke when that is done And therefore let vs remoue all impediments and compose our owne harts within our selues expecting Christ our Lord there who enters when the gates are shutt to visit and comfort his Disciples and soe without doubt he will come to vs. For Dauid saith of him Psal 144. Our Lord heard the desire of the poore and his eares harkened to the preparation of his hart And since Christ our Lord is principally he who must worke this in vs Psal 9. we haue noe reason to distrust but taking courage and confidence in such a conductor as he is let vs beginne to runne that course with feruour which ends not but in the obteyning of God And if we cannot soe soone make our harts as subiect to vs as we would lett vs yet endure it with patience till God rise vp and soe our enemies may fall and till he awake and commaund this sea to calme it selfe But then on the other side his expresse pleasure is that we haue confidence in him euen in the greatest temptations yea though our little barkes should be vpon the very point to sincke Let vs not therefore be disturbed or dismayed Let vs not put others to paine for the trouble which this continuall warre giues vs in threatning that we shall be ouercome The day will arriue when God will put this country of ours into peace when wee shall sleepe without any body by to wake vs. And now since this peace cannot be obteyned yet it will be a better course for vs to goe sweating and striuing to roote out our passiōs then to keepe our selues in ease and to content our selues with leading a tepid life for the auoyding of that paine which the seeking of perfection would put vs to But first lett vs vtterly distrust ourselues and confide in God and let vs beginne in the name and power of the omnipotent And this begining of ours shall be humilitie which is figured in the ashes that we take and our end shal be loue which is figured in the resurrection of our Lord and soe we shall inioye both a good lent and a good Easter In the meane tyme I kisse the hands of all my Masters your Collegialls and I recommend my selfe to their prayers And say you to them in my name that I beseech them that we may loue both God and our neighbours in great measure That soe at the day of iudgment we may know well how to answeare and that we may be made doctours be receiued into the Colledge of the Angells and Saints where we shall euer study the booke of life which is God himselfe who will for euer stand open before our eyes that we may knowe him loue him and for euer be in possession of him Our Lord Iesus remaine euer with you Amen A Letter of the Author to a certaine lady Hee shewes how the hunger of our hart cannot be satisfied but by the spirit of our lord who that hee may lodge himselfe therein requires that it bee free from all affection to creatures And how tepid and negligent persons greiue that spirit how the Feast of the holy Ghost is a very good preparation for the Feast of Corpus Chisti which followes MADAM I desire to know how your hart standes affected at this tyme. For if wee looke to the weeke wherein wee are it is belonging to the holy Ghost whose property is to giue light to the vnderstanding and to infuse loue into the will and euen strength into the body alsoe by meanes of which three loaues of bread we shall haue some what to set before our freind who comes hungry and weary from the high way For the hunger that our hart feeles which walkes as it were out of it selfe whilest it imployes it selfe vpon creatures this holy Ghost is wont to take away and to giue vs the bread of fulnes and satisfaction And woe be to vs if we feele not that great defect which is in things created and if we conuert nor our selues to god in our very harts at least now when they are weary with finding imperfections wants in those things wherein we hoped that they might obtaine repose
noe loue without greife I hope in God that as heere hee giues you greife and trouble soe hee hath prouided a place of rest and ioy for you in the other world Though indeede the very suffering for such a Lord is reward enough And soe that as there is nothing soe much to be desired in the other world as to enioy that kingdome with Christ our Lord soe neither is there any thing in this which may be compared to the excellency of suffering with him and for him Suffer therefore with a good will since you are to be crowned for the same For the afflictions which you endure come to you but as a fitt meanes whereby you may obtaine that crowne A Letter of the Authour to a Cauallero his freind He shewes how that person who feeles himselfe growne could in the way of vertue hath reason to apprehend it much and to greiue much for the present ill and for the daunger wherein he is of falling into greater mischeife and namely of a hardned hart which is the next doore to hell That vsually this decay of spirit growes either from ingratitude or negligence And lastly he speakes of the remedies HE who in some former tyme hath seene his soule a proficient in vertue and at the present findes it to be in decay hath much cause to be in paine and to procure remedy by all the meanes hee may For if a man be apt to feele the diminution which he may suffer in his temporall goods how much more ought wee to apprehend the decay of the goods of our soule which are goodes indeede Iob said with a deepe sigh Iob. 29 that he wished to be as he had beene in the tyme of his youth when our Lord protected him and when he made his candle shine ouer his head These and other things which he affirmed himselfe to haue possessed before and were wanting to him then at the present must rather be thought to haue beene certaine choice delightfull and deuout communications which formerly he had receiued from God and then were missing then that he was then in present want of his former vertues For since he gaue soe good account of himselfe in that tyme of tryall which is true tyme wherein indeede it may be seene what strength one hath he is found to haue had noe cause to coÌ„plaine as if our Lord did not then protect him or carry his light ouer him and therefore he saith vpon the former ground who will graunt that I may be as I was before c. Now if he complaine of this what will that man haue reason to doe who findes himselfe wasting in pointe of vertue it selfe and who perceiues that his soule goes estraunging it selfe by little and little not onely from those communications which he had enioyed and wherewith he comforted himselfe in former tyme but euen from the very custody of God's lawe and from conformity with his holy will And although this mischeife be great euen for the present yet is it greater by much for the future losse which may be feared For a little fall in relation to a great one lyes as close as the eeue doth to the holy day Apoc. 3. and as neere he is to be vomitted out who leades a life of tepidity God for his pretious passion keepe euery mortall man from this misery which is so great as to make Saint Peter say 2. Peter 2. that such men as they had beene better neuer to haue knowne our Lord then after they had knowne him and walked in his way to haue forsaken him and to haue betaken themselues to wicked courses And that was not without great mistery which our lord said to the man who had beene sick eight and thirty yeares Now thou art whole but take heede thou sinne noe more least a worse thing happen to thee These words are to be weighed feared withall for they containe a rigorous threat and are deliuered by the mouth of Truth it selfe and are wont many tymes to be executed vpon such as feare him not nor take a course to preuent their falling into them There happens a wors thing to them because the sinnes into which they fall afterward are more highly qualifyed and more deepely rooted then the sinnes committed in former tymes As there is a difference betweene a man when he falls with his eyes open and when with his eyes shutt or betweene a man whoe hath witt and yet doth the workes of a foole and another who either hath no witt at all or very little or betweene a man who ought his life to another in the way of gratitude and seruice for great fauours receiued and another who had receiued noe such fauours One thing it is to meete the king in the streete seeing and knowing who he is not onely to doe him noe reuerence but to proceede irreuerently towards him and another thing it is not to know him at all or not very well or at least not to consider who it was that passed A great fauour it is which God doth to them to whome he giues both the knowledge of their sinnes and of his diuine loue but yet withall he obliges them to much thereby sinâ—e according to the guift he saith tâ—aâ—â—he account must be made Luke 12. And if it be ill done not to pay good with good what will it be to render euill for good receiued and to answeare with offences insteede of seruices There happens a wors thing to them since they are wont to sinne more and with more faulty circumstances then before and they come by little and little towards a hardnes of hart and to dry themselues vp in such sort that they are not in disposition to doe the good which they did before I meane not when they were soe prosperous and happy in our Lord but euen before that when yet he had not called them to his seruice Then doe they sigh though it be with a hard vntoward hart to obtaine a little spirituall good againe and they finde it not But that which they finde is That heauen is to them made of brasse and the earth of iron for there is not a dropp of water to be found which may soften their soules or yeild them any fruite whereby they may be susteyned And they whoe in former tymes were visited watered with many good inspirations to which they vouchsafed not to answeare doe now desire some one and cannot compasse it Thus are negligent fastidious rich men punished by being killed with hungar as the rich couetous man was afflicted with thirst Luc. 16 And it is not many myles from this hardnes of hart to hell it selfe since the Scripture saith It shall goe ill with the hard harted at the latter day And the being cured of this euill costs deere and it is a thing which is of great priuiledge and grace when it is graunted by our lord as S. Bernard saith Noe man of a hard hart
amongst wicked persons did not curse them who cursed him nor did he reuenge himselfe though he had power enough ouer such as did him mischeife He despised honour and to be rich and to be regaled And to obey the will of his father he offered himselfe to the Crosse Hee who wants knowledge let him come to heere this Doctour as he is sitting in this Chaire He whoe will heare a good sermon let him come to Christ our Lord being in the pulpitt of the Crosse and he shall be free from errour because Truth which is Christ our Lord himselfe shall free him And if wee be chaungeable and weake in working let vs looke vpon this author of our faith and see how he is nayled to that Crosse both hand and foote and that immoueably to the end that by his grace we may be constant perseuerant in doeing well He who will goe to Christ our Lord for the cure of his inconstancy shall obtaine a perseuerance like that of Anna 1. kings 1. the mother of Samuell of whome it is said That she turned her countenance noe more towards seuerall wayes He who dwells in Christ our lord doth not wander hither and thither but stands fast in goodnes according to the Scripture which saith that such a one is euer cleere like the sunne Eccl. 27. and that his light is not diminished For hee who is in Christ participates of Christ And so as Christ is Iust he is alsoe Iust if Christ be firme he is alsoe firme though in a farre inferiour degree For as in one body there is but one spirit which diffuses it selfe through all the partes of that body and they all liue by one humane life and not one of them by the life of a man and another by the life of a lyon or any other beast soe all they who are in Christ our lord liue by his Spirit as the braunch liues by the life of the vine and as the members liue by the head And hee who possesses this Spirit is like to Christ our Lord and partakes of his conditions although as I said it be in a farre inferiour degree And hee who hath not the spirit of Christ Rom. 8 let him hearken to S. Paule who saith If any man haue not the spirit of Christ that man is not of Christ Lett a man therefore view and reuiew himselfe to see if he finde a conformity of his soule with that of Christ our Lord and if hee haue it it will be easy for him to keepe the commaundements of Christ since hee is of the same condition with him And though he be not yet of conformity with Christ lett him goe to Christ and beg his spirit of him whereby he may be strengthned according to that which Dauid desired thus Confirme mee with thy principall or cheife spirit For it will profitt mee little Psal 50. that Christ came into the world if withall he come not into my hart Christ brought downe goodnes peace and Ioy in the holy Ghost with many other benedictions If I liue in wickednes warre vngodly melancholy or inordinate delight Christ our Lord dwells not in my soule And it is in effect with mee as if he had not come into the world at all sauing that it will turne to my greater miserie for I shall be punished soe much the more because I would not admitt of that saluation which was offered mee with so good a will Christ our lord dyed for vs all and is ready to receiue vs all Let vs make towards him though it be but to doe him curtesy and let vs not permit that soe great and pretious labours and afflictions of his may remaine fruitelesse The price of them are our soules if wee will carry them to Christ Let vs cast our selues downe at his feete detesting our sinnes and our former wicked life distrusting our owne knowledge and worth and strength and so perseuering to beg to knock and to cry out he will fill vs with knowledge how to addresse our selues and with power to worke and with perseuerance that wee may not fainte as it is written Esay 40. They who confide in our Lord shall proceede from strength to strength they shall take the wings of an egle they shall fly and not faint And since there are more excellencies in Christ our Lord then there are miseries in vs let vs goe on towards him acknowledging that hee is our onely remedy for by this meanes we shall not dispaire through our owne miseries but take comfort and partake of his excellencies This my lord seemed sufficient to me for the addresse of a person who hath a minde to draw neere to God But because in your lordship there is the capacity of two persons your lordship will haue neede of two rules That which is said may suffice forasmuch as cōcernes your owne particular person but in respect that you are a man who haue soe great charge ouer soe many others it wil be necessary for you to haue more more care of your selfe For there are many who for as much as cōcernes their owne particular cōscience are good men yet they faile in being good Lords good Magistrats And this second parte is more hard and it is the worke of one who is a kinde of perfect man for it takes that first kind of goodnes for graunted and then passes further on For hee whoe forasmuch as concernes himselfe is not Iust will not be Iust in what he ought to doe towards others But yet it suffices not for one who hath charge ouer many that hee be Iust for as much as concernes onely his owne particular person Ely for his owne part was a good man but he was not good for as much as concerned his sonnes since he for boreto punish them therefore he was greiuously punished by almighty God So that great lords haue neede of a manyfold kinde of goodnes since they haue a manifold kinde of person As for this second part which to be concernes a cōmon or publique person me thinkes there is noe better glasse wherein a man who is a lord ouer others ought to looke then vpon that lord of men and angells whose person he represēts Hee who sitts in the place of another it is but reason that he haue the properties of him whose place he holds A lord of vassailes is a Lieutenant of God who ordaines that some shall gouerne and commaund and that others shall obey He who resists those former doth by the testimony of S. Paule resist she ordination of God Rom. 13. who disposes of all things according to subordination Now therefore lett a man consider what office God exercises towards man and soe a great lord shall know how hee is to carry himselfe towards his people God chastises such as erre without any acceptation of persons and in this he is soe strict that he hath not any who is so great a fauourit of his but that
lord had made in their harts whoe loued him and fills vpp that empty place which was made therein by his departure And now if he were able to comfort and free men from that sorrow which was caused by the absence of Christ our lord himselfe more easily will hee be able to comfort vs in case of the absence of creatures if we be in any paine thereby This is hee who is soe full of care of his orphanes who ouershadowes them with strength from on high and who covers and keepes them warme vnder the mantle of his protection and makes them know that they haue of in heauen whome they may with confidence but without presumption call Father hee repaires that which is ruined he illuminates that which is darke he heates that which is colde he straightens that which is crooked be refreshes that which is ouer wearyed and he is dayly giuing vs new strength which makes vs fly vp toward the mountaine of God Madam it will be reason that such an excellent present as this should put vs into great appetite and that wee sell all the affections of our hart for the purchase of this Iewell which onely is able to make vs happy The newes of it passes before our doores and the noyse sounds in our eares of how he comes downe to men and is glad of a habitation in their hartes Let vs not suffer him to passe by but let vs constraine him to visitt and comfort vs that we may serue him yet more And considering in whose name wee may desire him to stay with vs he will not neede to be much entreated for the Father sends him through Iesus Christ his sonne our Lord. Christ our Lord is he who obtayned the holy ghost for vs. For otherwises what had that most high spirit to doe with coming downe to vs whoe are but soe much flesh which is impure and weake and enclined to all kinde of ill This spiritt exceedes vs incomparably more then the heauens exceede the earth if it were not for that he who is of heauen being engendred by the Father did abase himselfe soe farre as to become man the signification of which word is to be earthly And so God being humaned and tempored with our weakenes did labour and sweate and vpon the cost of his life did obtaine for vs that this spiritt which created the heauens should abase it selfe soe farre as to dwell in those potts of clay Let vs giue thankes to Iesus Christ our Lord and lett vs gather the fruite of his labours And since the holy ghost comes downe willingly to dwell with vs in contemplation of the meritts of Christ our lord let vs not be soe vngratefull for either of these two great fauours as thereby to loose them both The most high will abase himselfe to these meane persons that he may bee their Father and their guide and how then can wee be such woefull sotts as to say Noe to him Let vs goe forth to receiue him with loue whoe comes with loue and lett vs doe it with great desire for where he is desired he is well content to stay Lett vs be like him whoe said say 26 My soule hath desired thee by night and in spiritt and with the very bowells of my sowle I watch towards thee in the morning By night he desires to enioy thy holy Spiritt who findes himselfe to be afflicted and places not his confidence in his owne arme but sends out sighes to this spirit as to the comforter of the sorrowfull and the easer of all such as are in paine And in the morning hee will bee content to watch whoe makes it not one of his last cares how it may be fitt for him to furnish vp that inward howse but the cheefe of them all is to consider how he may be able to obtaine this fauour of our Lord. And being thus desired and inuoked infallibly he will come for soe did Christ our lord himselfe who was called the Desired of all the nations Aggae 2. and he loues all such as desire to possesse him Let vs call vpon this holy Spirit with the speach both of our tongues and of our soules but we must be sure that the howse be not ill furnished and soe without prouision that after hee shall be inuited and satt downe at table we may haue nothing for him to eate Let vs mortify our flesh for that is the foode whereon hee feedes and which he likes soe well For as for the flesh which liues he flyes from it as farre as he can and it stinckes worse to him then a dead dog would to vs. Let vs mortifye our owne opinion and iudgment that soe we may be ruled by his for two heades will neuer gouerne a house well if that which knowes least be not swayed by that which knowes most And let vs renounce all our selfe conceipts for these are the Capitall enemyes of this heauenly spirit which teaches vs to say Matth. 26. Not my will but thy will be done Let vs be diligent to cleanse our conscience by penance and confession from all impurity and euery graine of dust how little soeuer it may bee For this guest is most pure and cleane and it is not fitt to lodge him in such a howse as may disgust him Let vs keepe peace both at home and abroad for euen vnquiet and wrangling folkes are wont to dissemble their little brawles for the honour of some principall guest Hauing lodged him in our howse let vs giue him good attendance since he hath made it a pallace For he is a mighty king and it is against all reason that hauing him with vs at home we should be gadding abroad to see vanities Let vs then shutt vp the doores and cast our selues prostrate at his feete and let vs tell him with truth that there is nothing which shall draw vs from him and that we haue giuen this answeare to all the world that it must leaue vs and him alone together And soe lett vs enioye him for he is able to make vs happy and so as that nothing can depriue vs thereof If you carry the busines thus you shall be comforted in all that wherein yet you haue discomfort and you shall drinke of the Riuer of the delights of God till euen you be inebriated thereby And I shall alsoe be comforted when I shall see you in the hands of him whoe knowes soe well how to keepe you and instruct you and eternally to saue you It is he whome I beseech to be your succour A letter of the Authour to a certaine Preist Hee shewes how he may prepare himselfe and what considerations are most profitable when he goes to celebrate at the Altar REuerend Father I beseech our Lord that the delay which I haue vsed in making my answeare may be recompēced with being true and profitable to you for your demaunde is of great importance and soe would the answeare alsoe bee if it were such
in him of him comes all our good and not from our selues And the more good we haue the greater debters of his wee are and soe much more we haue whereof to accuse our selues as not corresponding to greater fauours by greater seruices and to greater benefits by greater acknowledgments He who is taught by the diuine truth attributes nothing to himselfe but Not being and sinning For if wee remoue all that which God gaue vs when he created vs and which euery day he conserues in vs wee shall not finde any being in vs but onely a nothing and that to nothing we should returne as of nothing we are made And taking alsoe away the fauour of God which through Iesus Christ is communicated vs what should become of the greatest Saint on earth but that which became of Peeter when he denyed his Lord and of Paule who persecuted him that had redeemed him and that which euery one findes by experience that himselfe was before our Lord carryed his hand ouer him taking from him his old hart and giuing him a new one in place thereof Iustification is nothing else but a resurrection of the soule which was dead in sinne and now liues by the spiritt of that life which God infused into it by the death of his blessed sonne And as that body should bee both madd and foolish which would attribute life and motion to it selfe and not to the soule which dwells in it and giues it life soe is that soule deadly blinde which esteemes that the life of good workes which she findes her selfe to haue doth proceede from her selfe and not from the spirit of that life which was infused into her by Almighty God And sometymes God punishes such soules as these by taking away that which formerly hee had giuen them to the end that obseruing that they can neither see nor heare nor taste nor in fine doe that which formerly they did it may be plaine to them that it was some other who imparted that life which was in them and that they did but receiue it that the soule is noe other thing without the grace of Iesus Christ then the body is when the soule departs from the same And therefore my freind be sure that thou see noe other thing in thy selfe but faultes and know that thou hast nothing else of thine owne If our Lord discomfors thee consider how weake and poore thou growest and with how little conformity thou receiuest that which thou doest soe well deserue If he comfort thee consider with how little humility thou receiuest it it being reason that thou shouldst soe much the more abase thy selfe as God honours thee and that by soe much more thou shouldst be confounded with shame as thou seest that God treates thee as though thou wert good when indeede thou art not soe Consider how little profitt thou makest of the inspirations and inward speeches of our Lord and how often our Lord saith somewhat to thee and how soone thou forgettest to put it in execution it being reason that euery word of his should last with thee all the dayes of thy life without any neede of repeating it How often doeth our Lord infuse pretious liquor into thee and thou hauing a hart all full of holes doest suffer that to bee spilt which in reason thou shouldest keepe a long tyme And though it would be sitt that how much more God comforts thee soe much more thou shouldst forgett and neglect the comforts of this world and soe much more vnite and shutt vp thy soule to the end that thou mightest againe and againe receiue God into it it happens sometymes that by the comfort which he giues vs wee are made more giddy through our owne lightnes and wee scatter and powre out our harts more then before What shall wee say of our frailties but that euery thing being well examined we finde that wee doe nothing right and that it were much reason that we should rather be confounded by considering how faultily it is performed then that once it should passe by the least parte of our thoughts that we had done any thing which were worth the looking on It is certaine that if a Page serue a king and that he make him not due reuerence they will punish him If he answeare not or doe it not soone enough or giue not a quicke account of any message they will alsoe punish him And in fine they whome we serue are not contented though we doe what they bidd vs but withall we must doe it well if we meane not to be reprehended and reproached And tell mee now my freind which of vs is he who carryes such a profound reuerence to our Lord as is fitt where is that adoration of such an incomprehensible Maiesty and such a profound internall kind of trembling as they haue in heauen of whome it is said in the holy Masse That the Powers tremble Where is that confusion and shame which we should haue to appeare before that infinite wisedome which well doth see what kind of things we are which discouers vs to the very bottome where is that soe exact obedience as that we should not neede to haue the same thing commaunded twice where is that discretiō wherewith we ought to serue such a thing as God where is the gratitude which is due for soe innumerable and soe vnspeakeable benefitts And lastly where is that seruice both of body and soule which is deserued by soe high a lord and soe great a God Certainely hee who hath eyes to see will neuer discouer in himselfe any thing els but a profoundity of miseries and faultes And when in the euening hee takes account of himselfe what kind of man he hath beene all that day he findes nothing but errours which he hath committed in thinking speaking and doeing and he findes diuers good workes which hee hath failed to doe by not hauing loued and being thankfull to God and by not hauing loued and not hauing supported the weakenes of his neighbour as he ought to haue done besides innumerable other things which he should haue performed and hath omitted And if with the fauour of our Lord he haue done any thing which was good he sindes that hee spotted it with pride or vaine glory or tepidity or with not answering God as he was bound to doe or with two thousand other faultes which God makes him know and with two thousand others which yet he is not able to discerne but yet he beleiues that there they are and for soe wicked doth hee esteeme himselfe as that the least parte of his sinnes he holds to be that which he discouers For as he knowes that God is more good then he is able to conceiue soe alsoe doth he beleiue that himselfe is more wicked then he can arriue to vnderstand And though God doe him fauours yet doth he not attribute to himselfe any parte thereof but onely the faultes which he committed in not answearing and profiting thereby as
sweetely and with patience I beseech our Blessed lord to remayne with you since he dyed for you A Letter of the Author to a disciple of his He treates of the security which is greater when God is serued in the way of affliction then when in the way of Consolation I Haue receiued some of your letters I haue payed my thankes to our Lord both for hauing giuen you health and his blessed help withall to be in fauour with him continuing that good which alreadie he had begun in you and soe you must confide that he will doe euen to the end for his workes are perfect This which he will doe for you is a fauour of his and noe meritt of yours Nor will he leaue the care and gouerment of you in your owne hands But he for his glory will take the busines of your saluation to himselfe Now this he doth as a most wise Physitian sometymes by making much of you sometymes by shewing signes of disgust giuing you sometymes the light of comfort and at other tymes the worme-wood of sorrow Now hyding himselfe from you for the tryall of your faith and then shewing himselfe to you for the encrease thereof And by a thousand other meanes which he knowes how to vse hee will giue you your soule saued without in a manner your perceiuing how you come by it till you haue it Be not disordered in your iudgment eyther by way of valewing your selfe the more when you thinke your busines goes well or yet on the other side must you giue sentence of condemnation against your selfe conceiuing that all is already lost when you conceiue that you haue reason to be disgusted with your self The hart of man is wicked and cannot be searched and sifted but by the wisedome of God himselfe and to him and to his iudgment you must remitt the sentence concerning the case in which you stand And you must walke on both with great confidence of his mercy and with a religious feare of his high maiesty Depart neyther to the right hand nor to the left Doe not beleeue that there is any Sanctity at all where there is any want of this chast and holy feare which makes a man grow hūble For thereby he knowes that the good which he hath depends vpon another and it makes him hang as it were vpon the eares of God beseeching him with continuall prayer that though he may without iniustice depriue him of the good he gaue him yet that through his goodnes he will not doe it Nor must you beleiue any Spirit which by meanes of any temptations or Spirituall discōforts may come to you nor yet if any darkenes or anguish which may be conueyed into your soule shall pretend to dismay you or perswade you to disconfidence in our Lord who loues you But tell that Spirit that if it had wished you to disconfide in your selfe it should haue had all reason because you are nothing but meere weaknes But in saying that you must not hope for safety at his hands who is the common saluation of all the world tell him he lyes and therein you shall but say a truth Christ our Lord loues you more then you can thinke onely it is fitt sometymes that he hide it from you For perhaps if you knew it you might fall into a greater occasion and danger of vanity then the suspition you haue of your not being beloued by him may be of your despayre for without doubt they are fewer who can enioy prosperity without any mixture of vanity or inordinate delight in the sweet meates which are giuen them then there are who can beare the bitternes of tribulation without despaire Cōceiue you therefore that our Lord keepes you safe in the hauen of security vnder the sharp rocke of tribulation to the end you may not putrify with too much sweetnes but be preserued by the bitternes of myrh And at this you are not to be troubled For of your self you should make election of that which will be good for you in Eternity rather then of that which may afford you some little temporall gust Yea and euen in spirituall consolations we reap not sometymes soe much profitt as we doe delight Nor will you be demaunded at the last day what comforts you shall haue enioyed but what discomforts you haue suffered without fayling eyther in point of faith or loue And beleiue you that God receiues that for seruice which being contrary to your sensuality and selfe will you did yet accept as being conquered by his loue and not that which a man how sensuall soeuer he might be would be glad to enioy For if to be regaled by Almighty God were to doe true seruice to his diuine Maiesty he would not haue soe few seruants since there are soe many who by this way that way and euery way are seeking comforts But they vnderstand not how farre it is from God to be able to abstaine from comforting his afflicted and deiected seruants when it is best for them And as farr also he is from liking them who taking of theire eyes from his tormenting Crosse send them in search after Comforts as conceiuing that the more they haue thereof the more beloued and more happy they are And they neuer consider how poore they shall be found at that day when God will sifte Ierusalem with the light of Lampes whē he will call vs to account whether we loue him from the profoundest part of our hearts Soph. 1. and our selues for him in him and through him or els whether we haue loued him for our selues to our owne vse And then will many of those workes appeare to haue beene carnall infected with selfe loue and interest which shined like soe much fine gould in their eyes who performed them You are therefore more secure from interest or complacence when such thinges come to you as cause bitternes But thē let the loue of God a lone perswade you to endure them till he prouide otherwise In whom you must haue so much strength of the holy Ghost as may make you abound in charity and peace and ioy treading your passions vnder foot and hauing your soule euen all enbalmed with grace Yet when you shall be in ioy doe not enioy it for your selfe but employ it with greater strength vpon him who gaue it fetching also reason from thence why it should make your loue encrease I beseech that Lord who remembred you when you forgot him to giue strength vnto your inward man that soe you may know how to adore obey and loue him and that he will send his holy Spirit into your heart that it may guide you into that land of Eternall light Amen A Letter of the Authour to a Religious woman a spirituall child of his He shewes that it is noe assured signe of disfauour for God to estraunge himself sometimes that our safety depends more vpon his goodnes then our deserts and he persuades her to
Psal 83. I beseech him to make you dearly his and that you may be kept safe and proue a saynt Amen A Letter of the Authour to a Cauallier a freind and a Disciple of his FOR what doe spurres serue if the beast be so lazie as I am And then adding to this the burden which lyes vpon me of litle health it is no maruaile if I neither write nor answear This letter is written in such straytes of time that I know not whether it can be good for any thing or noe I haue reioyced much that the Infant is weaned though some dye at that age as not hauing strength to eate the bread with the crust But since our Lord takes you for a Childe of promise Gen. 17. as he did Isaac I hope in Iesus Christ that you will not dye of it though you should be putt to eate stones but that you will feede vpon them as Christ our Lord fedde vpon the wine with myrrhe God will deliuer you from consenting to sinne and your temptations shall serue you in steede of the torment of the Crosse for his glorie who dyed vpon it And though our enemies may bid vs come downe we will rather choose to confesse Christ our Lord by continuing vpon it then to putt ourselues into ease by denying him You are acquainted alreadie with that supreme omnipotent goodnesse of our Celestiall Father whose power is such as to draw good out of euill and heate out of colde And therefore be not dismayde though you see yourself absent from the protection of your spirituall Father on earth and though you finde barrennesse where you expected plentie and aboundance Bee not afrayde to be alone with Christ our Lord not that you are to vnder-value helpe when it may bee had by meanes of his seruants but we must obey his ordinance whensoeuer he shall be pleased that we remaine in this world without succour Because our Lord is vsually wont in such cases to doe more visible and greater fauours immediatly then he did before by meanes of his seruants And such a man comes to learne that Non sum solus quia Pater mecum est Iohn 16. I am not alone because my Father is with me Then Faith beginnes to encrease and Prayer dilates it self by Loue which is sett forward by seing how the soule is beloued And thus it encreases by that by which it seemed and it was feared that it would be diminished And he findes society when he is alone and he hath learnt to walke without a staffe though he be but weake Let there be no want of care to receiue him who is all our good and be you euer saying and that with truth Loquere Domine quia audit seruus tâ—us 1. King 1. Speake Lord for thy seruant heares thee Shutt vp yourself in the castle of your hart which though it be as weake as glasse yet he who comes to dwell there will make it so strong that all that shall proue glasse which can assault it and it self shall remaine more firme then stâ—ele And for lacke of doeing this the soule is full of weakenesse and it may say that Osee 10 which is written Diuisum est cor eorum nunc interibunt Their hart is diuided and they shall instantly perish There is no place secure where your hart may rest but in that secret place of retreate that most hidden corner where none can enter but Christ our Lord â—anuis clausis the doores being shutt Iohn 20. For if it departe from thence it runnes as great hazard as some light yong mayde might doe amongst dissolute men And if some iust punishment were imposed well executed for euery time that the hart should be gadding vp and downe the streete perhaps we should take warning by ourselues as euen a very horse or mule will doe Though indeede a man who watches himself well shall instantly be able to finde a punishment which comes downe from heauen â—re 14. vpon the very hart it self quando diligit mouere pedes when it hath a nunde to be gadding and then that which followes is this Domino non placuit This guift of recollection must be gotten with much practise For afterward the hart will stay within euen of it self though we open the doore to let it out as a tame bird will stay in a cage And this is the roote of all our spirituall profitt and at the feete of Christ our Lord we must haue it if we meane that it shall be true profitt Christ Iesus be with vs all Amen A Letter of the Authour to a Ladie encouraging her to fight the battailes of our Lord. He shewes the subtilty of the deuill and how styly he temptes soules with pride MADAME because I conceiue that you fight the combatts of Christ our Lord and doe franckely offer yourself to all affliction so that he may raigne in your hart all encouragement and assistance is due to you from such as be the seruants of God who are commaunded to aduertise the wicked man of the miserie which is growing towards him that so he may amende and avoyde it and to encourage such as are good and to goe sounding the trumpett before them when they see them entring into the battaile that is to say Esay 58. they are to giue hart by the word of God to such as they perceiue to fight for his honour For otherwise as account shall be demaunded of them for the wicked whome they had not warned so also for the good Ezech. 3 whome they had not encouraged And so they should be punished both for the euill which were committed by the one and for the good which were omitted by the other Take you therefore hart in that combatt which the ancient Serpent makes against you he procuring to diuide you from God and you resoluing to sticke close to him you must be very watchfull for his chiefe ayme is at the hart And it troubles him not greatly that a man serue God by recollecting his eyes by keeping silence by praying by singing the diuine office and the like but to the hart doth he conuey his poyson which is a certaine vaine kinde of complacence or proper estimation and loue of ourselues The foolish virgins Matth 23. were virgins but because they had not oyle in their lampes they heard this sad word out of the mouth of our Lord. In the word of truth I say to you that I know you not Now what is this lampe but the hart and what is this oyle but the spirit of truth which maintaynes and feedes it with good workes if we meane that they shall indeede be good in the sight of God And what is this Spirit of truth but that which makes a man displeasing to himselfe and to seeme ill in his owne eyes and that from his very hart and soule he may conceiue that he is all vglie and abominable and that he is amazed to consider how
worth accounting himselfe rich in possessing that a lone insteede of many other things which he had before O God ô Lord ô thou the true repose of the most interiour part of our soules and when shall wee beginn I say not to loue thee but at least to desire to loue thee When I say shall we conceiue a desire of thee such a one as may be worthy of thee When shall veritie be able to preuaile more with vs then vanity beauty then deformity repose then restles care the Creatour who is soe richly full and all-sufficient before the creature whoe is soe very empty and poore Deare Lord and whoe at length will open our eyes that we may knowe that there is nothing out of thee which either hath any countenance in it selfe or is able to giue any true contentment to vs who will make some little discouery of thee to vs that soe being all enamored of thee wee may goe may runne may flye and may remaine eternally with thee Woe be to vs for wee are extreamely farre from God and wee are in soe little paine for that distance as that wee can scarce be said to feele it What is become of the profound and tender sighes of those soules which had tasted once of God and were afterwards estraunged a little from him what is become of that holy affection Psal 31. wherewith Dauid said If I shall giue sleepe to mine eyes or slumbering to myne eyelids till I haue found a house wherein our Lord may dwell And this house wee our selues are when wee destroy not our selues by scattering our harts vpon variety of things but recollect them to the vnity of one desire and of one loue and then it is that we finde our selues and are indeede the house of God For my part I beleeue that he said true who affirmed the cause of our tepidity to be this That he who hath not tasted yett of God doth not knowe in very deede what it is either to haue hunger or saciety And so wee are neither hungry after God nor are wee entirely satisfied by creatures but we remaine as certaine frozen things being neither heere nor there full of dulnes and discouragement without all taste of spiritt and fitt to cause a vomitt in his stomacke who likes not seruants who are Luke warme but desires to haue them inflamed with the fire of loue This fire himselfe brought into the world Luke 22 and desires nothing but that it may burne and to the end that it may doe soe himselfe did burne and was consumed vpon the Crosse num 19. like that redd Cow which was carried out of the campe And this he did of sett purpose to the end that wee taking of that wood of the Crosse vpon our selues might make a fire and might warme our selues and keepe correspondence with soe great a louer with some loue of ours considering how iust a thing it is that we should be wounded by the sweete dart of loue since wee see him not onely wounded but killed by it It is but reason that wee be taken by the loue of him who was taken thereby for vs deliuered ouer for our sakes into such fierce hands Lett vs enter into that prison of his loue since he entred into the prison of ours and thereby was made as tame as any lambe before them who treated him soe ill And this prison was that which made him remaine quiet vpon the Crosse For more strange and rude were those ropes and prisons of his lòue then the nailes and ropes which restrayned his person These later laying hould but vpon his body but his loue being that which seized his soule And therefore lett our harts be tyed by his loue that tye of saluation and lett vs not desire such liberty as may carry vs out of his prison For as he is very ill in health who is not wounded and made sick of his loue soe is he very ill at liberty who is not restrayned in that prison Lett vs now resist him noe longer let vs yeild our selues conquered by his armes which are his benefitts whereby he procures to kill vs that soe we may euer liue with him He desires to burne vs vp that soe the old man who was conforme to Adā being cōsumed the new man who is conforme to Christ our Lord may rise againe by loue He desires to melt our hardnes to the end that as vpon mettall which is made liquid by heate that forme is imprinted which is desired by the worke-man soe wee being softned by that loue which makes vs melt by hearing our beloued speake to vs may be ready without all resistance that soe Christ our Lord may imprint vpon vs what figure shall be most pleasing to him Now that figure which he desires to imprint is noe other then that of Loue. Iohn 15. For Christ our Lord is very Loue it selfe he cōmaunded that we should loue one another as he loued vs. Gal. 2 And S. Paule tells vs that we must soe be in loue with Christ our Lord as he loued vs and deliuered himselfe vp for vs. Soe that vnlesse we loue we are vnlike him our countenance hath noe resemblance to his but we are poore naked blinde deafe and dumbe and dead For loue a lone is that which quickenes all things and loue is that which is the spirituall-cure of our soules For the soule without loue is iust such a thing as the body is without the soule Let vs therefore loue and we shall liue let vs loue and we shall grow like God nay we shall wound him whoe is to be wounded by loue alone Lett vs loue and all things shall be ours since they are all to serue vs as it is written They that loue God shall proue well in all things If we loue this loue lett vs apply the axe of diligence to the roote of our owne selfe-loue and soe bring this enemy of ours to the ground What haue we of our selues let vs hedge our selues in God and make noe account at all of any thing els Let not our owne losses trouble vs but the losses of God which are the soules who depart from him And because it is a hard thing for a man to leaue to loue himselfe let vs shed many teares whereby it may be made easy for vs to dig vp this earth Let vs groane out to God from the very profoundest of our harts for our teares doe euen wound almighty God though they be soe weake and soft and though he be omnipotent Lett vs entertaine good thoughts for as Dauid saith Psal 38. My thought is a very fournace But aboue all let vs place our selues and not come quickly out againe but make our habitation in the woundes of Christ our Lord and particularly in his sacred side For there his hart being deuided and peirced for vs will receiue ours into it and soe it will growe warme through the greatnes of his loue For
O my deere God and when shall we maintaine our soules in perfect faith and puritie towards thee and be sincerely loyall to Iesus Christ our Lord who is the spouse thereof giuing him our loue all intyre and wholly free from mingling itselfe with the basenes of creatures When shall we be able to vnderstand this truth that he who is to owne our soules is Christ our Lord and that he created vs for himselfe and that he onely is fitt for vs Is it not enough that we haue tryed so often by experience how ill the world is wont to serue vs and that our soule could neuer finde any true repose or peace but onely when coming to knowe her owne misery and poorenes it went to God and was imbraced by him Is not one of those short fitts of tyme more worth then their whole life who sacrifice themselues to vanitie and to the confusion of this ignorant world wherein they liue Or shall it not now at length bee tyme to saye to all things created I know you not that soe I may prouide a cleane and ready place for the reception of him who created you all of nothing I am extreamely glad that we haue to doe with a Holy ghost which is soe very holy as that he would not come euen to the disciples them selues of our Lord till euen his owne pretious body were taken out of their sight That so we may know the condition of this holy spirit to be such as that we must prouide a temple for it where noe other thing may dwell or els it will not enter there And I am highly glad that you by the grace of this spirit will haue prepared your selfe and that you will haue receiued him and that you and he are well content with one another Reioyce you with this Holy ghost for he is Ioy it felfe And remember Eph. 4 that the Apostle S. Paule requires vs not to contristate the holy spirit of God whereby wee are marked out for the day of redeÌ„ption which is of the iudgment of the latter day He contristates this Spirit whoe with a dull and deiected hart goes faintly and negligently about his seruice whoe doth things which displease this most soueraigne guest who as himselfe is fire soe will he haue his seruant full of feruour and requires that he goe about his worke with great life And that he euer be casting on the wood of good workes and blowing it with holy thoughts that soe this celestiall fire may not be quenched in vs since our very life consists in keeping it aliue And soe if we maintaine this fire in vs it will maintaine vs in him though yet still it be true that he first giues vs that which afterward we giue to him So that in this respect your ladyship will haue beene fedd at a good table this weeke since you will haue celebrated the Feast of the holy ghost not according to flesh and blood as they doe whoe vse to content themselues â—vith the talke and tumult of great Festiuities but you will haue celebrated it in Spirit according to the aduice of our Lord Iohn 4. who requires to be Spiritually adored Lett vs now consider how it stands with you concerning the sent odour of the Festiuitie of the Body of our Lord which is now neere at hand For it will be an extreame shame for a Christian hart not to hunger and aspire toward this holy bread Matth. 2. before the Festiuitie it selfe arriue since the three kings those wise men of the Ghospell had a sent of it so farre of yea and the Prophetts and Patriarcks had the like a longe tyme before his Incarnation What more happy newes can there be then to see Christ our Lord passe amongst vs in our streetes and through our hands communicating and conuersing with men And to haue him sett before our eyes to finde him whome neither the whole earth nor all the heauens can comprehend shut within the narrow â—urtaine of the accidents of bread and after all â—his to make his entrance into our vnworthy woefull brests Take heede you heare not this newes with deafe eares but awake your hart and require it to be very attentiue to soe great a fauour and worke of God and that it instantly cast vp whatsoeuer other meate it may haue swallowed that soe being full of hunger it may grow all full of this celestiall bread where vpon the Angells feede And bid it be sure to watch now that soe it may not then fall a sleepe And since it is the worke of the holy Ghost you must begg grace whereby you may be able to finde the effect of that Feast of the body of our Lord which was conceiued by the same holy Ghost And soe when that Feast of his most holy body shall be come the Holy Ghost will alsoe come with it because the Holy Ghost descended into the world through the meritts of Christ our Lord. And when his Body shall be giuen vs we shall receiue the holy Ghost together with it according to the rate of that good disposition which we shall haue Soe that one Festiuity must helpe and be a preparation for another and must giue vs hunger to feede vpon the fruite of the other For it is not heere as it happens in the banquets of this world which are made by flesh and bloud Where they whoe haue fedd full at noone haue noe minde at all to their meate at night But the soule goes feeding with afresh appetite from one Festiuitie to another and soe that is accomplished Leuit. 26. which God promised The threashing of your corne shall last till you goe to vintage and till the new time of seede and you shall eate your bread in aboundance The goodnes of God be blessed which soe liberally prouides for vs and that not in any meane fashion but by giuing his very selfe to vs. The sonne is giuen to vs and the Holy Ghost for his sake and these two persons giuing themselues the father cannot choose but be alsoe giuen In fine the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost are ours Wee already begin euen heere that mutuall contract which we are to perfect in heauen Let vs giue him humbly thankes for his mercies Lett vs prepare our selues for the receauing of new fauours and with harts exalted aboue the earth let vs celebrate the Festiuities of heauen to the end that we may passe from these temporall Ioyes to those eternall wherein I humbly beseech our Lord that you may one day see your selfe Amen A letter of the Authour to a virgin lady who asked of him what Charitie was He answeares to her demaunde and shewes her the Loue and Charitie which she is to haue to God and her neighbours heere on earth by that loue and charitie whith the saints haue in heauen DEVOVT spouse of Christ our Lord you aske me in your letter what Charitie is to the end that you may
guide you whole life thereby For the saying of the Apostle S. Paule is true 1. Cor 13. and whatsoeuer wee doe without Charitie is nothing worth though wee should deliuer our bodyes into the fire Your demaunde is very great and I could wish that the same Apostle S. Paule whose sentence moued you to aske me the question might enable me also to make the answeare For I know not what greater thing then this you could haue asked mee since the sublime parte of all our christian religion consists in it 1. Cor. 13. And as the same Apostle saith He who liues according to it is a fulfiller of the whole law Soe that you o deuout spouse of Christ our Lord must beseech the holy ghost whose proper attribute is Loue that he will teach and write that thing in your hart whereof you aske as he taught it vpon the day of Pentecost Act. 2. when hee infused it into the harts of his Apostles For know that this is the true teacher of this language and soe as there is none but he For alas what can my tongue which is made of earth expresse of that which is onely vsed with perfection in heauen This is a celestiall language and they whoe speake it perfectly are the blessed spiritts which attend to nothing els but truly to loue our Lord God with all their strength and all that which his pleasure is that they shall loue How shall I be able to speake to you of that Loue which is subiect to noe interest and is accompanyed with noe selfe-loue and lookes towards noe other marke and aymes at noe other scope but onely God How I say shall I speake of it whome my father Adam hath left all wrapped vp in mine owne interest and who apply my selfe to seeke my selfe in all things See how much For euen in those things which concerne the seruice of God wee doe soe hang towards our selues that many tymes wee performe them for our owne interest or end And though the workes themselues be holy yet the loue wherewith wee doe them is impure And the difference doth onely consist in this that when wee seeke our selues by euill workes our Loue runnes through a conduit of clay when we seeke our selues by good workes it runnes indeede through a cōduit of gould but in fine it runnes towards our selues Iohn 6 I beseech our true doctour Iesus Christ our Lord who euer sought the honour of his Father and whose loue abased him to this world not for the accomplishing of his owne will but his who sent him that he will vnty my tongue to the end that I may tell you some part of that which you demaunde For certainly if your good desire did not oblige me to lett you know what I haue read my poorenes would oblige mee to hould my peace And now to the end that you might better vnderstand what Charitie is and how you may euer goe imployed therein I could wish you knew some parte of that Loue which the Blessed spiritts haue in heauen to the end that you may know thereby wherein true Charitie doth consist For how much neerer we shall come to that loue so much the more perfect will our loue be you must know that the loue which is in heauen doth transforme the Saints into the same will with that of our lord God For one of the effects of loue as S. Dionisius saith is to make the seuerall wills of such as loue to be but one I meane that they should haue the same will and the same not will which the other hath And now since the will and loue which our lord hath is but onely of his owne glory and of his essence which is supremely perfect and glorious from hence it followes that the loue of the Saints is a Loue and will wherewith they loue and desire with all their strength that our lord God may in himselfe be still as good as glorious and as worthy of honour as hee is And for as much as they see all that to be already in him which they can desire there followes there vpon Gal. 5. the fruite of the holy ghost which is an vnspeakeable ioy to see him whome they loue soe much to be soe full of treasures and felicitie in himselfe as they desire If you will haue a touch or at least some little sent of this diuine ioye doe but consider how great that ioy is which a good Sonne receiues in seeing his father whome he loues much full of honour beloued by all rich powerfull hoble and very much esteemed by the king Certainely there be sonnes soe gratefull and well disposed to their parents as to esteeme that nothing can be compared to the ioy of seeing their fathers soe esteemed which reaches indeede soe farre as that to whatsoeuer necessitie or affliction themselues may be subiect it serues not to depriue them of that great ioy because they aspire to noe other end but onely the honor of their parents Now if this ioy be soe great what doe you conceiue that the ioy of the Saints may be when being transformed by loue into that true lord of theirs the vniuersall creatour of all things they shall see him soe full of goodnes soe holy and soe rich in beauty and that he is a Lord and creatour soe infinitely powerfull as that by one onely act of his will all that which is created hath his beauty and his being and noe one leafe of any tree can so much as wagg but by his will Infallibly this is such a ioy as noe eye hath seene nor eare hath heard nor can such an vnspeakeable knowledge as this euer enter into the hart of any man but such a one as enioyes and possesses it You see heere the loue which the Saints haue in heauen speaking according to the poorenes of our vnderstanding And from this aboundant swelling Riuer which delights the Citty of God doth flow that loue which the soules in heauen beare to their neighbours For as all the desire and ioy of the Saints consisteth in their seeing God who is their true loue full of honour and glory from hence they grow to loue with a most feruent loue and to desire with an excesse of appetite that all the Saints may be as full of glory and beauty as they alsoe are And they ioy in this to a strange proportion because he is honoured and glorified in them whose honour and glory they onely seeke And in reguard that this is the cause why they loue the Saints from hence it growes that they ioy more and doe more desire the glory and beauty of the greatest Saints then of their very selues because they see that our Blessed Lord is more glorified in those others then in them And by this tyme you may perceiue how fart this holy cōpany is from selfe-loue from enuy which springs from that roote But you will tell me perhapps that it followes from hence that they
glorify our most blessed Lord. And in this manner if you will you may encline your hart to the commaundments with respect to the retribution as the Prophet Dauid said Psal 118. But perhaps you will aske Who is he that can haue his soule awake to goe euer cheerfull and in delight reioycing still in her God since many tymes shee is soe tepid and soe sad that by noe meanes she is capable of any ioye what remedy may then be thought of that we may not faile of this perfect and supreme loue For this it was that I told you that you were to carry with you a desire whereby you must wish that our Lord might still be what he is in himselfe because Charâ—tie consists in this desire Which desire a soule may haue though it be neuer so tepid dry and sad as a man may desire that his father may liue happily though himselfe feele noe ioy And herein I onely take for graunted that we must suppose man to haue the grace of God which our Lord will neuer deny to one who striues to walke by this way I meane that although your selfe be sadd you must desire that our Lord may be what he is And as for the delight and ioy in our Lord which vses to follow heerevpon this indeede is a fruite of the holy Ghost Gal. 5. which growes from this charitie when our Lord is pleased to communicate himselfe more familiarly to a soule When his Maiestie bestowes this fauour let vs blesse him for it and when he doth not lett vs yet perseuer in that other exercice of euer blessing and adoring him who is so worthy of infinite glory and praise For it is a very great errour into which they fall who thinke that when there is noe sensible ioy that act of the will is worth nothing whereas Charitie doth yet consist in that act And for as much as the deuill knowes this well he is euer procuring to giue vs great tepidity and drynes that soe we thinking that we loose our tyme may giue ouer this holy exercise You must therefore perseuer in it and grow deafe to those temptations of the deuill For if you perseuer not you will not arriue to enioye that crowne and heauen which such as are proficient in this holy loue grow to obtaine euen heere on earth You must consider and looke with a hundred thowsand eyes that the end and scope of your loue bee to glorifie our Lord in whatsoeuer you doe For soe great was the wrench which our nature tooke by the sinne of our â—â—st father in wholly procuring our owne â—â—terest and good that if you stand not well â—wake in the watch-tower you will finde â—any tymes that you doe but seeke your â—â—lfe euen in this very deuotion hich preâ—ends wholly to cast out selfe-loue And you â—hall take your selfe in the manner with reâ—oycing that you loue our Lord after this sort â—ecause you shall acquire great rewards in â—eauen thereby and because your soule â—eceiues much consolation and for other â—easons of proper interest which though â—hey be not ill yet are they acts of Charity which is imperfect You see heere in short the Loue of God which you are to carry in your soule a Copie of that Originall which the Blessed Spiritts haue in heauen It now remaines that I declare to you the loue of your neighbour which growes out of this other profound Loue. The loue my good sister which you must carry to your neighbour must bee by desiring and louing all that good which you see in him because thereby our Lord God is glorified and adored And the more that is the greater must your ioy be as on the other side any offence or sinne which you shall discouer in your neighbour must be abhorred by your soule because he is offended whose honour and glory you desire And soe as I tould you that the loue of God consisted in our applause and will that our Lord should be the very thing which he is and that the ioye which is taken thereby is a particular guift of our Lord soe also doth the loue of your neighbour consist in the application of your will to desire the good of your neighbour which is to reioyce in his true good and to feele much griefe for the sinne which he committs This is a very particular fauour of our Lord which he bestowes vpon whome he will So that if you haue obserued the matter well you will haue seene that the marke at which both the loue of God and of our neighbour shootes is that God may be glorified and adored And heereby you will also perceiue how short he falls of true loue who greiues to see his neighbour growne vp apace in deuotion and vertue considering that himselfe is not so growne vp For though it be true that the true louer of our Lord will not faile to carry a knife about him which peirces him through at the very hart because he serues not our Lord so well as hee ought and might yet followes it not from hence that by seeing another seruant of God thriue faster in spirit then himselfe he must therefore be sorry for it or dismayed by it But rather the ease and comfort which is to serue you for a remedy against that much greife which your soule receiues because your selfe doe not serue our Lord soe well as you should must be to consider that though you through your weakenes doe not â—hat to which you are obliged yet there are others who comply with that very thing which you desire which is greatly to glorifie â—nd serue our Lord. But as for that other kinde of dismay to which some are subiect I conceiue that it growes but from selfe-loue for it is certaine that if the end why a true louer of our Lord desires much to serue him be that his God may be honoured and glorified who is glorified as well by the sanctity which is in the soule of another as if it were in his owne it followes that he is to haue much ioy to see that others goe increasing in the seruice of our lord though it be true on the other side that he may be in paine because he serues him not soe well You see heere my good sister what that is to which you must attend in this paradise of the millitant Church where our Lord placed you when he called you to his loue and to his grace if you will also goe on to enioye the fruite which is gathered from his hand in the triumphant Church of his glory In which I beseech our Lord that wee all may glorify him and praise him and enioye him for all eternitie Amen A letter of the Authour to a certaine poore man who was called Iohn of God He was of Granada and begged almes for the poore He animates him to the loue and seruice of poore people but yet soe as that he must not forgett his owne particular deuotions I Haue receiued
their owne vpō which they neuer looke but from farre of soe how great soeuer they be in themselues they seeme little to them From hence it proceedes that in their conuersation they are soe intractable and soe rigourous for iust after the rate of their hauing noe consideration of their one infirmities they haue noe compassion of others I neuer yet saw man who was curious in the cōsideration of himselfe who would not alsoe easily passe ouer the fault of another and whatsoeuer that man be who is seuere against another when he falls giues strong euidence whereby it is proued that he considers not his owne defects Soe that if wee desire to fly from this soe daungerous kinde of blindenes we must be sure to view reuiew what kinde of things our selues are that soe when we finde how miserable we be we may cry out for remedy to our lord Iesus Because indeede hee is Iesus that is to say a Sauiour but yet of noe other then such as know and bewaile their owne miseries and who receiue indeede if they can and in desire if they cannot the holy Sacraments of the Church that soe they may be cured and saued And although for the making vs know our selues God and his Saints haue declared many and many things to vs yet he whoe shall attentiuely behould that which he may obserue to passe within his owne hart will finde soe many things for which he must despise him selfe that with horrour he will cry out from the bottome of that Abisse and say there is noe end of my miseries Who is he that hath not erred in those things wherein he thought him selfe most sure who hath not desired searched after things as cōcerning that they were good for him which yet afterward he found to be full of preiudice Who will presume to know any thing since he hath beene deceiued innumerable tymes what thing is more blinde then a man who knowes not soe much as what he is to aske of God as S. Paule tells vs and this comes to passe Rom. 2. because we know not soe much as what is good for our selues as it happened euen to the same S. Paule Who begging of God that he would free him from a particular temptation Rom. 2. Cor. 12. conceiued that he had asked a right but it was giuen him to be vnderstood that indeede he knew not what he asked nor soe much as what was good for him And now who will put cōfidence in his ability to know euen soe much as what he should Iudge desire concerning himselfe since he whome the holy ghost inhabited did aske that which was not good for him to obtaine Certainely our ignorance must needes be very great fince we erre soe oftē in those things wherein it imports vs soe much not to erre But now though sometymes our lord should teach vs to know what is good yet who doth not see how very great our weakenes is and how we fall flat vpon our faces in those things wherein it concerned vs to stand vp right To whome hath it not occurred many tymes to propound the doeing of some good thing and yet to finde himselfe ouerthrowne and ouercome by that wherein he tooke himselfe to be most inuincible To day wee lament our sinnes with teares in our eyes and we purpose to refraine them afterward and yet euen whilst the same teares are still wett vpon our cheekes some new occasion of sinne is offered and weeping because we fell we committ that very thing for which we may haue cause to weepe againe receiuing the body of our lord Iesus-Christ with much cause of being confounded for the irreuerence which we haue committed For the tyme hauing beene but short since we harboured his pretious body in our bosomes it happens sometymes that by some sinne we driue his grace out of our soules What care is soe weake and light which chaunges soe often vpon the warning of all windes as wee Sometymes merry and sometymes sadd now deuout and then distracted now full of desire tending to heauen and then following the world and euen dropping downe to hell Now hee abhorres a thing and instantly he loues that which he abhorred He casts vp that which he had eaten because he found it charge his stomack and presently he eates it vp againe as if he had not cast it before What thing can there be with such variety of coulours in it as a man who is made after this sort what Image can they painte with soe many faces and soe many tongues as this kinde of man How truely said Iob Man neuer remaines in one and the same state Iob. 14. Iob. 7. And the reason heereof is because he is ashes or dust and his life a winde Now what a sott should hee bee who would seeke for any repose or rest betweene dust and winde I doe not thinke that there could be a more hedious thing then if we were able to discerne to how many seuerall dispositions one man is subiect in one onely day His whole life is a very masse of mutability and frailty And that which the scripture saith agrees well to him Eccl. 27. The foole is as chaungeable as the Moone But now what remedy shall wee finde heereof Certainely we can haue none better then to know our selues for Lunaticks And as in former tymes they carryed a Lunatick person to our Lord Iesus Christ that he might cure him soe lett vs goe for cure to the same lord Iesus The scripture saith that the euill spiritt tormented that man and that sometymes he cast him into the fire and sometymes into the water and the very same happens to vs. Sometymes wee fall into the fire of couetousnes of wrath of enuy at other tymes into the water of carnality of tepidity and of malice And if wee consider vpon how large accompts wee stand obliged to almighty God for the tyme past and how little amendment there is in the tyme present we will be sure to say and we may doe it with much truth The sorrowes of death haue enuironed mee the dangers of hell haue hemmed me in O danger of hell which is soe mightily to be feared And who is not hee that will not watch with a hundred thowsand eyes that he may not be put to welter in that profound Lake where hee shall eternally bewaile the temporall delight which he hath vnlawfully enioyed who will not take care of his way least otherwise he be found wādering from all happines where are the eyes of that man who sees not this where are his eares whoe heares not this where is his pallate who tastes not this It is a cleare testimony of death not to performe the actions of life Our sinnes are innumerable our frailties are great our enemies are stout crafty and many and they hate vs home That whereof wee are in question is either the gayning or loosing of God for all eternity How comes it then to
should remaine vnburnt How shall that man be able to loue pompes and shewes who cordially loues the Infant Iesus being layd in a poore maunger if it be true that loue must make louers like to one another It is a great blessing and light which makes vs able to see God heere beloue that soe we may know how to walke for the pleasing of his diuine Maiesty And since he walkes in a very contrary way to that of the world let vs resolue to make our choice of that guide whome we meane to follow since wee cannot walke in both and since the world runnes headlong vpon errour and since Christ our Lord is the truth which saues such as beleeue and follow it Iohn 14 And let his â—â—locaust haue marrow in it for marrow is a soft thing and doth soone melt And soe doth that hart which loues our lord and whether the matter concerne the scruice of the same lord or els the good of a man's neighhour such a one will not expresse either drynes or harshnes but sweete mildenes bee alsoe hath care to keepe his loue as safe as the marrowe is within the bone But before you can arriue to that marrow it is garded first by the skynue and then by the flesh and lastly by the bone it selfe The man who loues places all things which he possesses and desires before that which he loues that he may sooner loose all that then that the person beloued by him should once be touched And he hath a strong and firme purpose as if it were made of iron not to venture the loue of our lord though it should cost him whatsoeuer he either is or may euer be Such gould as this it is which you must offer to the Infant who is borne soe poore and you must open your treasures for that purpose as those kings did For if this hart be not opened which is the treasure-howse all the labour is lost For in that case whatsoeuer it bee Marke 2. which is offered is not gold but counterfect stuffer he takes the best to himselfe and giues the worst to Almighty god Open therefore your hart and conueigh the Infant newly borne into it since that hart alone liues in which hee is And since he is of soe little weight doe not lay him downe but weare him in your bosome like that handfull of Myrrh whereof the spouse speakes Conuerse with him with all reuerence because he is God Cant. 1 and yet take courage to communicate freely with him because he is an Infant for within he hath his hart as serene and sweete as you may well conceiue by his exteriour apparance Take heede you lett him not fall for he must be kept with great care but if your loue be not great you will either forgett him quickly or els lay him soone aside as thinking that he weighes too much And soe that you negotiate with him in such sort as that you giue not ouer till you perceiue by good coniectures that both you loue him and are beloued by him For till a soule feele this it euer liues in feare and sadnes and as vnder the burden of a law but when it comes to this passe there is nothing which can casily trouble it when it considers that God loues it and it loues God I beseech him that it may soe happen to your Ladyshipp Amen A letter of the Authour to a Lady wherein hee shewes what the coming of the holy Ghost wrought in the Apostles and what it workes in them whoe dispose themselues to receiue it and how they are to dispose themselues GOd send you a good Feast of whitsontide not by hearesay but by experience that in this solemnitie your hart may feele that which the faithfull seruaÌ„ts of Christ our Lord when they were assembled in that meeting-place did feele by the infusion of him into their soules who depriued them of their weakenes and deliuered them from their ignorances and fulfilled the bosome of their soules with soe great ioy as might well giue the world to vnderstand that the blood of Christ our lord was not shedd in vayne nor his prayers to his Father made in vayne since by meanes thereof a participation of the diuinitie was communicated O how often when they saw themselues soe deifyed and that they were made soe richly the louers and beloued of God did they sing a world of prayses to Iesus Christ their lord and Maister as knowing well that he had sent them this guift as he was God and had deserued it for them as he was man For according to what our lord himselfe had ptomised the holy ghost as soone as he should become was to make knowne Iesus Christ our Lord and to giue testimony of him Iohn 16 that soe the Disciples and the world might knowe him and by knowing him might vnderstand withall that all good was to come to them by his meanes and that they were to render him seruice and expresse all gratitude to him as to their true and aboundant benefactour and that soe they might remaine faster tyed to him by the cordes of loue in his absence then formerly they had beene in presence might know by experience what a puissant loue the holy ghost is and how ardently he makes that Blessed word of God to be beloued from whome himselfe proceeded and in whome he reposes and that they should make noe difficultie to publish and proclaime him to the world though it should cost them their liues If we had a parte of this solemnity heere within our very harts we should be sure to celebrate it exteriourly as we ought And if our soule were bedewed with some dropp of the water of this plentifull Riuer which issues out of the throne of God Apoâ— 20. of the lambe the thirst of this whole world would be soone quenched in vs and wee should be refreshed by this heauenly dew from that drynes and stiffnes wherein wee yet remaine soe negligent soe barren and soe accursed O how much would we finde our selues obliged to our Redeemer when wee should sensibly feele that wee were indeede redeemed by him and that our sinnes were drowned that our sorrowes were spent and aboundance of ioy imparted insteede thereof Wee would not then complaine of paines of banishments of absence from what we loue of wanting those things which seeme most necessary to vs and in sine of any inconuenieÌ„ce For soe powerfull is this spiritt and the fire thereof that it striues vpward and makes vs soe loue confide in God that noe water of sorrow and affliction hath power to quench it but it remaines euer quicke and conveyed with such strength into the bowells of the soule which are soe mightily inflamed that it kills that which liues ill and causes that euen death it selfe cannot conquer him who is mortyfied by the coming of this holy spiritt This is that deare guest whoe cures the wound which the absence of Christ our
haue confidence in God I Haue receiued many of your letters since I saw you last And in some of them you tould mee that your soule was troubled and in others that our lord had begunne to giue you comfort Yea and I thinke you sayd in some one of them that the peace and comfort which formerly you had receiued was entirely retourned I answeared none of those letters eyther because my sinnes hindered mee from the grace of giuing you comfort or els because I knew you had sufficient confidence in mee without receiuing my answeares But now at last I receiue a letter from you whereby you tell mee that you are as much afflicted as euer if it be not rather more and you desire mee to write I am in paine through your paine and this hath moued mee to entreate that for the loue of Christ Iesus crucified you suffer not your selfe to be blinded by that darknes which superfluity of sadnes is wont to drawe ouer our soules but remember how faithfull that lord is to whom you haue offered yourselfe And that it is an vsual thing with his infinit wisdome to saue the soules of his seruants by meanes which they cannot reach to vnderstand hiding his loue from them sometimes and shewing them a countenance of some rigour and all this not because he is cruell but out of pure and perfect mercye Because he knowes that our infirmityes are better cured when wee are layd vnder the scourge of tribulation then when we are carryed vp in the hands of prosperity and comfort You tell me that desolation wherein you are seemes very bitter to you and that you cannot beare the rigour of that angry face of our lord which you say he shewes to you and that absence alsoe from him wherein you liue But I tell you my good sister that though tribulation may be of as much daunger to you as you declare yet the state of comfort is still subiect to as much Nay prosperity is much more to be feared then aduersity For in the former the soule runnes hazard to depart from God but in the latter though it suffer payne yet that very payne it selfe incites one to drawe nearer to him And if you say that the great weight of discomfort doth sometimes put the soule in daunger of sinning through impatience you say nothing but truth But yet you must knowe withall that much oftener and by assaults of greater daunger the soule is brought into daunger by the sweetnes of gust Remember the Apostle saint Paule who through the grace of him who was crucifyed did esteeme it for glory to suffer the afflictions of the Crosse Cor. 7. And though he were enuironed by warrs without and feares within yet his soule was safely kept as in a hauen most secure But soe great was the daunger which he rann by the faire and cleare weather of consolations and reuelations that if God had not permitted him to be seized vpon by the tempest both of inward and outward troubles which layd such load vpon his neck as made him stoope that great Saint might haue beene in daunger through the occasion of comfort whom soe many discomforts could not once pluck downe 1. Cor. 12 By this meanes the bitter was the cure of the sweete and the Angel of Satan was the occasion of benefit to him to whom that great communication of Almighty God might haue beene the occasion of falling if through humane frailty he had puffed vp himselfe If now this might haue happened to that vessel of election and if it were necessary for him to suffer that soe he might bee freed from the daungers of comfort how can you meruaile if God haue watered your ioy with teares if your harpe be set to sad tunes and if those sweet communications Iob 18. which you had before with Almighty God be turned into such an vnsauoury departure from him His eyes are able to discerne that which your cannot And hee knowes full well the vanity of that hart of yours which would not perhapps be able to endure the weight of diuine fauours Or els perhapps he may see that you are likely to suffer decay of health by the excesse of the sweetnes of that diuine gust which he gaue you Or else that you esteemed more of your selfe then you did of others who want these comforts Or els in fine it may haue happened for any one of many other faults which may haue taken hould of the imperfection of your hart Iere. 17. which cannot be throughly sifted by any but by that God alone who made it Yea and if you should not be in any necessity of this kind of phisick because though our lord should comfort you still yet perhapps you were not to fall into these inconueniences yet there are many other reasons why our lord may thinke fit to treate his seruants after this manner All which are grounded vpon his loue to vs though in the blind eye of flesh and bloud they may seeme to grow from disfauour You know it is a common saying He who loues thee will make thee cry And the holy scripture saith that a wound giuen by a freind is better then the treacherous kisse of an enemy And beleiue you for certaine that our lord loues you and therefore doth he treate you after this manner For it is written Heb. 12. our lord punnishes whom he loues and he corrects such a one as he receiues for his sonne And as in former times God sent most hideous Martyrdomes to his beloued seruants by the hands of base and bloudy executioners ingaging them in bitter warrs that afterward he might honour them with pretious crownes soe now when those exteriour Martyrdomes are ceased he sēdes others which bee interiour And these how soeuer they are not visible be yet as great or greater then those For then men tormented them and God gaue them comfort and by the strength of this Omnipotent God those torments were ouerwrought and maistered which were inflicted on them by weake men But now he who discomforts is our Lord who hides himselfe and the Deuils like cruell executioners doe by a thousand deuices torment the minde which is farr more sensible then the body And from that torment doth many times redound a torment euen to the very body it selfe And soe the whole man both within and without is layd vpon the discomforts of a Crosse And he sighes and grones and askes succour of our Lord. And our Lord the while makes himselfe deafe and is more hiddē from the soule then if there were seauen wals betweene him and it Yea and it doth alsoe expresly feele that our Lord hath absented himselfe from it and that not onely in the way of not doeing it any fauour Matth. 15. but rather expresly seeming to disfauour it As he proceeded with the Cananean when at the first he did but forbeare to answeare but afterward he compared her to a dog That indeed is an hower
poore man for you What is there in the world which ought to fright you If the loue of Christ our Lord haue wounded you you will treade the deuill vnder foote you will despise his threates and you will passe with courage through all your enemies Put your trust in him who loues his louers There is nothing which you will not be able to doe in him Goe and buy whatsoeuer you want of him though he aske you all this world for it and see that you be not founde without the loue of him though it should cost you your life He is a hidden treasure but he who findes him sells all to buy him For in him alone he findes himselfe more rich then with the multitude of all other things And now if it concerne euery one of vs to loue him how much more doth it import that she doe it whome he hath chosen for his spouse It becomes the seruant to feare his Maister and the sonne to honour his father but the spouse to loue her fellow spouse See you loue our lord and take noe rest till he haue graunted you this guift Loue him with reuerence for that is the kinde of loue which he likes Esteeme not him the lesse because he communicates himselfe to you but wonder how soe greate an altitude as his can stoope to such a profounde busines as yours It is the propertie of ill natured and ill mannered seruants to valew their Maisters at a lesse rate for vouchsafeing to descend and become familier with them then if they had liued which them like lords But they whoe liue in true light esteeme that lord soe much the more as he doth more vouchsafe to diminish himselfe The true loue of Christ our lord carries this badge with it in token that it is indeede of him That as it apprehends and highly esteemes the goodnes of God soe it alsoe apprehends and profoundly disesteemes the wickednes of man Therefore loue adore and serue our lord with ioye but yet reioyce with trēbling Not a trēbling as of a slaue in the middest of tormēts but as of a true tender harted childe who highly feares to giue any disgust to her father how little it soeuer may be Of your selfe you can doe none of these things but if you humble your hart in the acknowledgment of your owne miseries if you present your selfe often in prayer before Christ our lord if you lodge him in your brest by the Communion if you heare him speake to you in your spirituall reading and in fine if you will but giue him leaue to helpe you you are to haue confidence that by little litle he will be healing your soule notwithstanding all the harsh encounters which may occurre Doe not start out of his hāds though the cure put you to paine for in fine hee will worke the cure at the fittest tyme. And for the afflictions which he sends you the delights whereof he depriues you he will giue you his owne most plentifull delight which shall inebriate you as if it were with some swelling riuer and you shall be in full Ioy for all eternitie without the want of any good and without the feare of loosing what you haue You shall there finde your selfe to be highly well content paid and more felicity shall be imparted to you then your selfe could tell how to desire Which felicity is not a creature but a Creatour himselfe of all things that true God whoe liue raignes for the eternity of all eternities Amen A Letter of the Author to a disciple of his who was growne a Preist He shewes that exteriour afflictions must be desired for the seruice and loue of God RIght Reuerend Father I haue receiued your letter which hath wrought in me the same effect with those others which formerly I had from you Namely rendering of thankes to our lord for the guifts which he hath bestowed vpon you according to the testimony which your words giue of that which dwells in your heart It wrought also great confusion in me to see you call me the Maister and Father of him to whome I should thinke it a great fauour of our lord if I could deserue to be a Sonne and a Disciple And especially I was confounded yea and put to paine to heare you say in the end of your letter that you would haue written me many if it had not beene for the Decorum which you thought your self bound to keepe of an Auditour and a Scholler This is not a course wherein you must proceed with me for there is noe reason that you should put me to losse onely because I desire to serue and profitt you And if you treat me in this manner you will make me heare and hold my peace I know not if I wrote not to you the other day of an errour which I haue discouered in some who yet hold themselues to be spirituall And it is that they despise the corporall afflictions and troubles which are vndertaken for the loue of our lord If I wrote to you thereof there wil be nothing lost though I say it ouer againe and if not it is necessary that I write it Since that light of our eyes Christ our lord liued in this world vnder soe many afflictions and died with soe many torments his seruants remaine soe hungry of suffering somewhat that it exceedes the appetite wherewith men of this world runne after ease And not onely are they content to suffer affliction when it comes vpon them and much more that kind of affliction which may be necessary to them for the auoyding of sinne but they seeke it out by all the wayes they can and soe they make proofe thereby of the loue they beare to Christ our lord considering how he was in soe much paine by the afflictions which he endured for the loue of vs. For as the faint and tepid kind of man would of himselfe be glad to suffer noe afflictions but yet he beares them with patience when they come least otherwise he may offend our lord soe the feruent louer of Iesus Christ would faine take noe ease at all and if perforce he must take any he endures it but with patience because soe Christ our lord doth commaund In such sort that as he who is but slack in the seruice of God hath delight and ease in his desire and takes affliction but with patience soe the true Christian is but patient to see himself at ease and hath affliction in his desire This growes from the spiritt of Christ our lord and when this is perfect in a soule it workes that which it wrought in him which was a loue of affliction for vs the better to shew vs his loue And therevpon it also followes that when men would comfort one who is but slack and negligent vpon the arriuall of any affliction they must doe it iust soe as they would comfort a good Christian when he happens to be in repose and ease For the one
the Father gaue vs his Sonne and with him gaue vs himself and the Hoâ—iâ—-Ghost and all things Receiue this grace with giuing of thankes and enioy you God since he bestowes himself vpon you And if your demeritts fright you remember that one of the benefitts which the Father impartes to vs in Christ our lord is the payement of our debts and the sweetening and appeasing of that wrath which our sinnes deserued Why doe you doubt of a pardon since you doubt not of that Passion which he endured for our sinnes Pet. 2. What doth it profitt you to confesse that Christ our lord dyed for vs be who was lust for vs that were vniust if you beleiue not that his death killed our sinnes and now if they be dead why do you feare them For the Children of Israel Exod. 15. whome our lord drew out of Egypt seing that their enemies were drowned in the sea did not feare but sung praises to our lord taking occasion thereof from those very enemies who had persecuted them before and whome formerly they had feared And though we haue not so assured Faith that our sinnes are pardoned as we are sure that our lord dyed for them because we do not so certainly know that his merits are applyed to vs yet the new hart which God gaue vs when he called vs to himself may be a good signe of his friendshipp and pardon whereby we may well hope that our sinnes also are forgiuen And besides that spirit of being his children which he gaue vs when he imparted his loue as the loue of a Father to vs may well be taken for a particular assurance that in the hart of God we are esteemed as his sonnes since in our harts we esteeme him as our Father For it is blasphemie to affirme that I louing God he should not loue me since that loue wherewith I loue him is neuer giuen me but by his hand I beseech you thinke not of our lord Sap. 1. with a short hart a straite but in great beleife of his goodnesse as we are commaunded And cast vp your eyes to that signe of our saluation Curist our lord who is the assurance of our hope and who is so acceptable to his Father and by whose participation we are also made acceptable to him and we haue assured hope through his bloud to enioy eternall life before the Throne of God And if it seeme to you that your workes are weake and poore it is reason you should thinke so still But what reason is this why you should loose your confidence By Christ our lord we were made freinds of enemies and by him we are conserued in his friendshipp We had greater impediments to be well with God when we were subiect to our sinnes before we knew God then now we haue by the defects into which we fall So that if our former sinnes could not hinder that grace which was communicated to vs in Christ our lord much lesse shall our present faults be able to breake of this friendshipp we being now incorporated in Christ who is beloued by his Father A good thing it is for vs to feele our pouertie and miserie but yet it must be with condition that withall we beleiue highly of the bountie and riches of the mercie of God And let vs glorifye his goodnesse in our wickednesse since with so much loue he tolerates his children who are so faultie so weake and so miserable Why should you depriue God of the glorie to haue great latitude of loue towards his children For by reason of the faith and loue which wee carrie to his sonne he hath patience with the faults which we committ when once we haue bewailed them and done true penance for them Beleiue therefore now at length that as there is goodnesse enough in God to make you loue him so there is meritt enough in Christ our lord to make you be beloued for his sake and liue you with gratitude for the benefitts which you haue receiued as also for the pardon of those errours which you daily committ And be daily accepting of all good occasions and fight the warres of our lord with ioy as that Iudas Machabeus did And God giuing you that which he giues you may hope you shall enioy his kingdome though perhaps you may be putt to suffer in temporall fire for the hay and straw and wood which shall be found in your soule Be you euer breathing more and more towards Profitt in spiritt but yet so as that it may be accompanyed with quietnesse grounded vpon Confidence For though it should grow to be no more then now it is euen that being carefully kept will suffice for your saluation But if you looke onely vpon yourself we are all so full of faults that your soule will neuer bee without dismay nor will you perceiue that you are greatly beloued by our lord And then proceeding after such a manner as that how will you be able to serue him and giue gust to his holie spirit which is dwelling in you For this spirit is chearefull and we checke it by our anguish and dismay against which S. Paul thus disswades vs saying That we must not contristate the holie spirit of our lord The summe of all is this that you must know and consider your faults and that they must seeme very great in your eyes and you must bewaile and lamente them by Confession and Penance But yet still you must consider that those benefitts which we possesse in Christ our lord are greater by reason whereof you must confide yourself to be beloued and you must doe it with much thankefullnesse And if God doe no more but continue that to you which you haue alreadie euen that may suffise as hath beene sayd to make you hope for eternall life A Letter of the Authour to an afflicted woman He declares that afflictions come either through the fault of the partis or else for tryall and how one is to carrie himself in tribulation THe grace and peace of our lord Iesus be euer with you Amen The true loue wherewith I loue you in Iesus Christ hath caused so great compassion in me towards you in respect of what you suffer that it hath moued me to write this letter with desire that it may serue you to some purpose I know not my good sister whether I shall putt you into anie comfort or rather whether I shall not helpe you to weepe Nor doe I know whether or no I should tell you that the trouble which you haue is good and that you are to carrie it with ioy and that I should not graunt that it is ill as it seemes to you and that as such you are to fly from it I see that if manie good men endure such accidents as this there are also very ill men who endure the same And if to some it be a signe of loue to others it is an effect of the wrath of God Our lord punishes